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The village of Elmsdale, N.S., where I practise, has European roots going back to 1785 when the first grants were made to settlers at the confluence of the muddy Shubenacadie River and the clear waters of the Nine Mile River. For centuries prior to this, it was a natural meeting place for the Micmac Indians who used the tributaries of Nova Scotia as a natural highway.
After the Napoleonic Wars, settlers appeared in the region in greater numbers, but the area remained only a few scattered farmsteads with no focal point until three fateful events occurred: the construction of a canal system, the building of a railroad and, not least, the appearance on the scene of a fiery and determined preacher, Rev. John Cameron.
On Sept. 17, 1844, just four days shy of his 27th birthday, Cameron was hired to serve the one poor church in the area. He was the only member of the clergy for many miles around. Cameron had inherited an almost lawless parish. The hard drinking and profane denizens of local gold mines and lumber camps patronized...