Cold Case in Nova Scotia

  The Eastman Genealogical Newsletter put me onto a mystery at an 18th century fort in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. The article in the Annapolis County Spectator is definitely worth a read. It tells an interesting story of forensics and historical research that discovered the identity of a soldier who may have drowned in his attempt to desert in 1784. The story includes pictures from the exhibit related to the research.

  The soldier's arm bone was discovered back in 1994, but it was only recently that his identity was more or less confirmed. This is another example of how the world of historical research is shrinking due to the computer and the Internet. Recently, I was able to tell a family about all the people who lived in their home on Elm Street, including a shovel worker who was killed in action during the Civil War, thanks to the survey research paid for by the CPA. The core of this survey work comes from census and other genealogical material that has recently become available online.

The purpose of the survey that has become a boon for researchers like me was to help the Historical Commission better implement the Demolition Review Bylaw. The bylaw requires a determination of significance for any home over 75 years old before a demolition delay can be applied. For example, a renovation project on Pond Street was determined to be historical significant because it had been the home of one of the first documented Irish immigrants to Easton. Just as the Jenny Lind neighborhood became the home to early Swedish immigrants, the Pond Street area was the focal point for early Irish Americans. The Irish spread out through town quicker than the Swedes, however. Irish families were found in every part of town by 1850 even though the greatest concentration would remain in North Easton for another generation or two. All this has a wider significance because, sadly, Easton had a strong anti-immigrant bias that showed itself first in the Know-Nothing Party of the 1850s and then in the KKK of the 1920s.

The survey will be expanded south along Center Street this year and the Furnace Village area will also be done, replacing a much more superficial study done in the 1980s. Hopefully, local researchers will be able to add depth to more thorough surveys done by professionals in the 1990s.

This week the Historical Society will be setting up its new research computer with a high speed Internet connection and a big screen TV to follow shortly. The goal is to make all this new information readily available. With the research library moved downstairs and the renovation of the South Room as a potential classroom completed, I hope we can sponsor a renaissance of local history in Easton. As we learned at the dedication of Povoas Park on Saturday, local history in Easton is more than the story of the Ames family.