Prior to 1947, it was customary for choirs and individual music students to travel to Saint John, N.B. to compete in the New Brunswick Competitive Festival of Music. In the fall of 1947, with impetus from James Manchip and a financial commitment from the Fredericton Rotary Club, an organizational meeting was held for the first Fredericton Competitive Festival of Music. Members of the Rotary Club formed the nucleus of the first executive. Dr. A.S. MacFarlane became president; Justice W. J. West, vice-president; and James Manchip, executive-director.

The first festival, held April 21-24, 1948, in the auditorium of the Provincial Normal School attracted 448 entries. Organizers were able to cover all the expenses with entry and admission fees, leaving the Rotary donation intact. The long tradition of scholarships given in conjunction with the festival began with a $100 scholarship donated by the Knights of Pythias for the outstanding performer of the first festival

By 1952 there was such an increase in entrants that it was necessary to hire two full-time adjudicators. By 1954 there were 624 entries; in 1966, 725 entries; in 1981, 780 entries; in 1988, 1524 entries. By 1996, 1735 entries dictated the need for the services of seven adjudicators with sessions being held in six venues and lasting almost three weeks, including Saturdays and Sundays.

From its inception, the Fredericton Music Festival Committee, composed solely of volunteers, has been responsible for all aspects of the organization and operation of the festival.

On Feb. 15, 1997, the Fredericton Music Festival celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with a gala evening of entertainment and dinner. Many former stars of the festival returned to perform for this occasion. The evening also paid tribute to James Manchip as founder and long time organizer of the music festival.

Source:
Fredericton Music Festival Committee

The memories of the Grand Manan Boat Club have been lost to time. A succinct historical sketch is found in the article “Shaping the Island Society,” in “Grand Manan Historian, No. XIII: At the Turn of the Century (1877-1905)”. According to the article, boat racing increased in popularity after the gasoline engine made its first appearance on the Island in 1907, though races were held well before this. The reason for this increase appears to be the increased leisure time that gasoline engines afforded to those who made their living from the sea.
The article refers to the testimony of Chester Allen Dixon, who, writing in the St. Croix Courier in November of 1958, recalled the favourite boats of the earlier races. According to Dixon, the most popular boat was the “William E. Gladstone,” owned by Capt. Judson Guptill of Grand Harbour, which perhaps reached the height of her popularity in 1898. The vessel, built in Saint John, NB, was the only Grand Manan scooner to win a “Quoddy River” race in competition against Deer Island and Campobello boats. Races were usually held on May 24 or July 1, and the course started at Grand Harbour, with waypoints at White Head, Black Rock, Seal Cove Sound, and through the Narrows at Wood Island (in that order), before racing back to Grand Harbour. Race rules were drawn up by Capt. Warren Cheney of White Head, who was also active in raising money for trophies for the winners. The article also lists the following competitors in these races:

• “The B and C” of Capt. Warren Cheney
• “Rheta and Rhonda” of Capt. Isaac Newton
• “Arminta” of Capt. Judson Guptill
• “Hector” of Capt. Loren Wilson
• “Tramp” of Capt. Daniel McLaughlin
• “Valkyrie” of Capt. Melvin Benson
• “Ethel and Carrie” of Capt. Albert Wooster
• “Solitaire” of Capt. Allen O. Guptill
• “Ena and Elsie” of Capt. Colin Harvey
• “Britannia” of Capt. Frank Sinclair

The Grand Manan Boy Scouts started in 1935. They met once a week in the Grand Harbour Baptist Church, Grand Manan Island, with Meredith McLaughlin, who was the first scout master.

Each scout wore a uniform consisting of a hat, short pants, and long stockings as well as a handkerchief and a patch worn near the shoulder of the shirt sleeve. There were two groups, or “packs,” of scouts on the Island, the Hawk and Wolf packs, each of which had its own pack colours. Thus, one could recognize a scout’s pack affiliation from the colours of his handkerchief and shoulder patch. In addition, each scout carried a six-foot staff, the end of which was marked off in inches and the rest in feet. This was a common tool of early scouts, to be used as a walking stick or to test the depth of water before attempting to cross . A rope could be threaded through a hole in the staff for carrying bundles over the shoulder.

Frederick Ingersoll and Robert French conducted Boy Scouts in the early in 1960s, but it had to be discontinued because of rowdyism.

Newspaper articles show that Boy Scouts continued sporadically on Grand Manan until [ca. 1993].

The Free Christian Baptist or Free Will Baptist denomination in New Brunswick originated from the growth of the Free Will Baptist denomination in the New England colonies. This in turn can be dated to the conversion of Benjamin Randall about the late 18th century. In direct contrast to the doctrine of limited atonement held by Calvinist Baptists, Free Will Baptists believed in "universal atonement and a universal call to mankind".

Henry Alline was converted to essentially Baptist beliefs in 1775. A former resident of New England and a former Congregationalist, Alline began to preach his message of redemption in 1776, diverging from the Calvinist beliefs of Congregationalism. His "New Light" revival of religion in Nova Scotia and other parts of the Maritimes led to the founding of many Baptist churches.

Although Free Will Baptists are unable to date precisely the commencement of their work in New Brunswick, they can date the founding of their organizational body, the Free Baptist General Conference, to 13 October 1832 at Wakefield, Carleton County. During the early years, the movements in both New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were influenced by Free Will Baptists in the State of Maine.

The Calvinistic (Regular) and Free Will Baptists grew rapidly, and by 1887 both groups could claim a sizeable number of followers. In 1905 the Baptists of the Maritime provinces and the Free Christian Baptists of New Brunswick amalgamated. A year later, the Free Baptists of Nova Scotia joined the new United Baptist Convention. This union brought together over 61,000 Baptists in three Maritime provinces.

Source: F. H. Sinnot, "The Union of the Regular and Free Will Baptists of the Maritimes, 1905-1906" in Repent and Believe: The Baptist Experience in Maritime Canada ed. By Barry M Moody, 1980.

Source:
Free Christian Baptist Conference of New Brunswick

The New Brunswick Land and Lumber Company, Ltd. was chartered in 1881 by George Stephen of Montreal; Samuel Thorne, merchant of New York City; New York bankers, John K. Tod and Oliver Nothcote; Fredericton engineer, Egerton R. Burpee and the Honourable Isaac Burpee of Saint John. Under an act of Parliament, the company was given rights over vast areas of New Brunswick land for the purposes of lumbering, farming, cattle raising, and mining. It took responsibility for the processing and transport of the lumber goods by constructing mills and ships and building tramways, canals and roads.

The company was also to establish stores and shops on its property and to promote immigration and colonization on company land. The company was given wide authority and was restrained only in the areas of railway building and banking. The capital for the venture was $1,500,000 in $100 shares, the majority held by the Burpees.

Isaac Burpee (1825-1885), a partner in the land and lumber company, was born in Sheffield, N.B. He established a hardware store in Saint John in 1848. He was a Liberal member of Parliament from 1872 until his death and the minister of customs in Mackenzie's government (1873-1878). He was also a director of the New Brunswick Railway.

Sources:
Graves Papers
The Canadian Biographical Dictionary by H. Cooper

The first recorded fall fair in the Fredericton, New Brunswick, area was a cattle show held on the site of the present Christ Church Cathedral (Anglican) in 1825 under the auspices of the Agricultural and Immigration Society. Yearly fairs began after 1827. The fair was soon a social success, drawing members of the community to enjoy its amusements and traditional activities. By the early 1910s, preparations for the week-long fair continued throughout the year. In 1922 the Agricultural Society created the Exhibition Society. Both societies were involved in many other community activities throughout the Depression. By the 1940s a fire had destroyed some of the exhibition buildings. This difficulty combined with wartime concerns to limit the scope of the Fredericton exhibition. By the mid-1960s the event was meeting with renewed success.

Freighter, farmer, and merchant Duncan D. Glasier (1819-1884), the son of Planter or Pre-Loyalist Benjamin Glasier, moved from Massachusetts to what is now New Brunswick with his parents and brothers -- John, Stephen, and Benjamin -- in 1779. The family settled in Lincoln, Sunbury County. Duncan and his wife, Sarah, had no fewer than three children: Murray (b. 1846), Parker (b. 1849) and Ada (Miles).

By the 1860s, Duncan Glasier was operating a steam tugs business at Indiantown or Portland (later part of the city of Saint John) and dealing in lumber, as well as managing a farm in Sunbury County. These records suggest that he also ran a general store in Lincoln. By the 1880s, he owned at least two steamers, the "Ada G." and the "Lincoln." His son, Parker Glasier, worked with him in the firm and carried on the business after his death. D. D. Glasier died intestate on 10 March 1884 in Lincoln.

The Glasier family of Lincoln, New Brunswick, was active in the lumbering industry. Benjamin Glasier bought 1000 acres of land in 1782. John (1809-1894) and Stephen (b. 1812), the sons of Benjamin Glasier, Jr., were engaged in lumbering near McAdam in York County. They were the first to drive logs over Grand Falls on the St. John River. John was also a member of the provincial Legislature (1861-1868) and a senator (1868-1894). His nickname, "The Main John", became the slang term for the boss of a lumbering operation. Both John and Stephen Glasier were shareholders in the Fredericton Boom Company, Ltd., which began operation in 1844.

The federal Department of Marine and Fisheries was established In 1868; the Marine branch of the department was responsible for pilots and pilotage, navigational aids, government harbours, ports and vessels, inspection services and marine services. Prior to Confederation these matters had been the responsibility of the Board of Works. The Department of Marine and Fisheries was separated into two departments in 1884 and reunited in 1892. The department merged with the Department of Railways and Canals in 1936 to form the Department of Transport.

The first Methodist Society meetings in Fredericton, were held in the home of Duncan Blair, as early as 1791, and the first Methodist chapel was built on a lot owned by Blair on Westmorland Street. In 1832, the site of the present Wilmot Church was purchased and a larger church was built. This building was destroyed in the great fire of 1850. The present church was finished and dedicated 1852.

In 1925, the Methodists, Congregationalists and a majority of Presbyterians in Frederiction united, and the Methodists church was renamed The Wilmot United Church in honor of Lemuel Allen Wilmot, Judge of The Supreme Court and first lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick after Confederation. Wilmot had been an active member of the Methodist congregation from his youth, serving as a class leader, a choir director, a Sunday school superintendant, and a trustee.