Homestead of William Ripley and Hannah Coates
If you drive south on Hwy 302 in Maccan from about Trider Road to the Cenotaph just north of Maccan Station, you will drive through the original 420-acre homestead of William Ripley and his wife Hannah Coates. If you would like to walk around on their former property you can visit the Maccan Tidal Bore Wetlands Park which is open to the public.
The Ernest Coates paper entitled Ripley Homestead at Maccan, N.S. (05-050-04-R04#1024) provides information about the homes of Robert Ripley and Rebecca Vickery and three of their sons which I have described on the Old Place(s) page. Ernest Coates concluded that "these homes were apparently all on the original homestead of William Ripley and his wife Hannah (Coates) Ripley." The Blenkhorn Place, sold by my great grandfather Robert Salter Ripley to Frank Blenkhorn, was the southernmost property of William's original purchase.
The Ernest Coates paper entitled Ripley Homestead at Maccan, N.S. (05-050-04-R04#1024) provides information about the homes of Robert Ripley and Rebecca Vickery and three of their sons which I have described on the Old Place(s) page. Ernest Coates concluded that "these homes were apparently all on the original homestead of William Ripley and his wife Hannah (Coates) Ripley." The Blenkhorn Place, sold by my great grandfather Robert Salter Ripley to Frank Blenkhorn, was the southernmost property of William's original purchase.
Original Lease and Purchase of the Homestead
When Captain John MacDonald visited the DesBarres leases in the Maccan/Nappan area in 1795, a United Empire Loyalist identified only as Noils, held the lease on a property that later became the homestead of William Ripley. MacDonald's report to Desbarres, p. 58, reads: "______ Noils. an American Refugee—in the place of George Mainard on your list. I am told his farm is not improved and is even worse than it was twenty years ago—that if it were worked, one might rear his family upon it with hard labor."
Apparently William Ripley was up to the challenge. On 11 January 1796 BritishLoyalist Nathaniel Niles turned over to William Ripley 420 acres of land in Maccan that had previously been leased to George Minard for 990 years but "set over" to Nathaniel. Nathaniel Niles in turn leased the land to William for the 981 years remaining in the lease. (Deed Book D, p. 315. Document #503707032 Registered 1798 Cumberland County.)
On 17 Mar 1818 William purchased the 420 acres from DesBarres for 425 pounds. (Deed Book G, p. 249, Document #503709117, Cumberland County). The 1818 deed gives the following description of William's 420 acres: "beginning on the shore of the River Macan on a small brook on the boundary of land owned by David Blinkhorn and Robert Blinkhorn thence running south forty three degrees East, forty five chains, thence south twenty nine degrees West, fifty one chains till it meets the boundary of land formerly owned by the Hon. Michael Francklin, thence West fifty two chains until it meets the shore of the River Macan thence following the course of the River Macan until it meets the first mentioned boundary containing four hundred acres of arable marsh and wilderness land more or less by reference to Plan of said land by Charles Baker Esquire…"Landlord DesBarres and Captain Gmelin
The original grantee of the land that became William's homestead was Captain Adam Gmelin. Gmelin's 20,000-acre grant was auctioned in a court-ordered sale to pay a debt to J.F.W. DesBarres. In the sale, DesBarres acquired the northern 8,000 acres of the grant and Lt. Gov. Michael Francklin acquired the remaining southern 12,000 acres. From William's deed of purchase we learn that his homestead was on the portion of the grant acquired by DesBarres and that the Blenkhorn homestead was north of William Ripley's. We also learn that William Ripley's homestead was bounded on the south by the land of Michael Francklin, which means that the southern boundary of William's homestead was the boundary between the 8,000 acres owned by DesBarres and the 12,000 acres owned by Francklin.
William's Descendants on the Original Homestead
The 1844 codicil to William Ripley's will stipulated that his property be divided equally among his three sons, Thomas, Robert and James. However, by examining a large number of deeds and the wills of his sons Thomas, Robert, and James (see Estate Files #1710-#1892 on this website), I have been able to determine that the bulk (and perhaps all) of William's property passed to his sons Robert Ripley and James Ripley and then to Robert's sons William Coates Ripley, James Crosscomb Ripley, and Jonathan Vickery Ripley.
Thomas Ripley may have owned a few small pieces of the original homestead in the northernmost section, and Art Ripley told me that Thomas owned a small wharf or shipyard on the Maccan River in the vicinity of Trider Road. However, it appears that William Ripley's sons came to an arrangement other than what was specified in the will, and Thomas purchased a large number of properties elsewhere. Additional small parcels just south of Trider Road on the east side of Hwy 302 and at other locations were also sold at some point but I have not been able to discover a deed trail for these purchases. Perhaps these were properties that belonged to Thomas. See Thomas Ripley and Jane Bulmer's Property on this website for details of Thomas's homestead.
The estate remained mostly intact during the lifetimes of Robert Ripley (1810-1865) and his bachelor brother James Ripley (1804-1878). Robert Ripley sold 1 acre to representatives of the Presbyterian Church in 1856, most likely the land where the Presbyterian Cemetery is located today, just south of Trider Road on Hwy 302. After the deaths of Robert and James, the property passed to Robert's sons William Coates Ripley, James Crosscomb Ripley, and Jonathan Vickery Ripley. Jonathan relinquished his interests in the property to his brother William Coates Ripley, sold another property to Jeptha Harrison in 1885, and moved to Amherst. In 1896, William Coates Ripley sold part of his share to his brother-in-law, my great grandfather Robert Salter Ripley, who sold the property to Frank Blenkhorn. William Coates Ripley's remaining share passed to his bachelor son Carl Ewart Ripley, who sold several small lots in 1954. Carl's remaining property was inherited by the heirs of his father and his property passed out of the Ripley family. James Crosscomb Ripley's share passed to his son Harold Garfield Ripley in 1930 and then to Hedley Ripley and Art Ripley in 1949. Hedley's share was sold after Hedley's death in 1987. In 2014 there were only two descendants of William Ripley and Hannah Coates who were still living on the original homestead.
The 1844 codicil to William Ripley's will stipulated that his property be divided equally among his three sons, Thomas, Robert and James. However, by examining a large number of deeds and the wills of his sons Thomas, Robert, and James (see Estate Files #1710-#1892 on this website), I have been able to determine that the bulk (and perhaps all) of William's property passed to his sons Robert Ripley and James Ripley and then to Robert's sons William Coates Ripley, James Crosscomb Ripley, and Jonathan Vickery Ripley.
Thomas Ripley may have owned a few small pieces of the original homestead in the northernmost section, and Art Ripley told me that Thomas owned a small wharf or shipyard on the Maccan River in the vicinity of Trider Road. However, it appears that William Ripley's sons came to an arrangement other than what was specified in the will, and Thomas purchased a large number of properties elsewhere. Additional small parcels just south of Trider Road on the east side of Hwy 302 and at other locations were also sold at some point but I have not been able to discover a deed trail for these purchases. Perhaps these were properties that belonged to Thomas. See Thomas Ripley and Jane Bulmer's Property on this website for details of Thomas's homestead.
The estate remained mostly intact during the lifetimes of Robert Ripley (1810-1865) and his bachelor brother James Ripley (1804-1878). Robert Ripley sold 1 acre to representatives of the Presbyterian Church in 1856, most likely the land where the Presbyterian Cemetery is located today, just south of Trider Road on Hwy 302. After the deaths of Robert and James, the property passed to Robert's sons William Coates Ripley, James Crosscomb Ripley, and Jonathan Vickery Ripley. Jonathan relinquished his interests in the property to his brother William Coates Ripley, sold another property to Jeptha Harrison in 1885, and moved to Amherst. In 1896, William Coates Ripley sold part of his share to his brother-in-law, my great grandfather Robert Salter Ripley, who sold the property to Frank Blenkhorn. William Coates Ripley's remaining share passed to his bachelor son Carl Ewart Ripley, who sold several small lots in 1954. Carl's remaining property was inherited by the heirs of his father and his property passed out of the Ripley family. James Crosscomb Ripley's share passed to his son Harold Garfield Ripley in 1930 and then to Hedley Ripley and Art Ripley in 1949. Hedley's share was sold after Hedley's death in 1987. In 2014 there were only two descendants of William Ripley and Hannah Coates who were still living on the original homestead.
Sources and other information:
Bailyn, Bernard. Voyagers to the West: A Passage in the Peopling of America on the Eve of the American Revolution, Toronto, Random House, 1986. Winner of the Pulitzer prize in history 1987. Portions of this outstanding book are available for online viewing. A short section is devoted to DesBarres and another includes information about the Blinkhorns, William Ripley's neighbours to the north. The section on DesBarres in Voyagers to the West includes a drawing of his holdings in Cumberland County.
Chappell, Myrtle. Fenwick 1778-1978. There is no publisher or publication date listed and this book appears to have been self-published with proceeds donated to the Fenwick United Church. I purchased my copy online through a used book dealer. I highly recommend it to anyone with relatives from the Fenwick area.
Coates, Ernest. The Papers of Ernest Coates that I have referenced are held by the Cumberland County Genealogical Society. Ernest had 8 files on the Ripleys and a separate map file.
R. J. Morgan, “DesBARRES, JOSEPH FREDERICK WALLET,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 6, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed July 28, 2013, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/desbarres_joseph_frederick_wallet_6E.html.
Kernaghan, Lois D. A Man and his Mistress: J.F.W. DesBarres and Mary Cannon. This article is available online and presents a very interesting perspective on Mary Cannon's struggles to manage his leases and DesBarres apparent indifference to the management of his huge estates. As I was reading, I couldn't decide whether our ancestors would have suffered extreme anxiety about the continuing legal disputes or whether they enjoyed the complete freedom afforded by their negligent landlord.
Trueman, Howard, The Chignecto Isthmus and its Settlers, 1902. (use the find command to search for Ripley as there are no page numbers in the online version)
Bailyn, Bernard. Voyagers to the West: A Passage in the Peopling of America on the Eve of the American Revolution, Toronto, Random House, 1986. Winner of the Pulitzer prize in history 1987. Portions of this outstanding book are available for online viewing. A short section is devoted to DesBarres and another includes information about the Blinkhorns, William Ripley's neighbours to the north. The section on DesBarres in Voyagers to the West includes a drawing of his holdings in Cumberland County.
Chappell, Myrtle. Fenwick 1778-1978. There is no publisher or publication date listed and this book appears to have been self-published with proceeds donated to the Fenwick United Church. I purchased my copy online through a used book dealer. I highly recommend it to anyone with relatives from the Fenwick area.
Coates, Ernest. The Papers of Ernest Coates that I have referenced are held by the Cumberland County Genealogical Society. Ernest had 8 files on the Ripleys and a separate map file.
R. J. Morgan, “DesBARRES, JOSEPH FREDERICK WALLET,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 6, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed July 28, 2013, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/desbarres_joseph_frederick_wallet_6E.html.
Kernaghan, Lois D. A Man and his Mistress: J.F.W. DesBarres and Mary Cannon. This article is available online and presents a very interesting perspective on Mary Cannon's struggles to manage his leases and DesBarres apparent indifference to the management of his huge estates. As I was reading, I couldn't decide whether our ancestors would have suffered extreme anxiety about the continuing legal disputes or whether they enjoyed the complete freedom afforded by their negligent landlord.
Trueman, Howard, The Chignecto Isthmus and its Settlers, 1902. (use the find command to search for Ripley as there are no page numbers in the online version)