A New Year’s Day Local History Quiz

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On December 30, 1998, Tantramar Flashback featured a quiz on local history. Based on columns published during the previous year, it’s objective was to heighten awareness of the rich heritage found on the Tantramar and beyond. The quiz was well received and another is presented below.

In doing so, we are following a tradition found both within Canada and overseas. For sometime, English newspapers have published an annual New Year’s Day Quiz. A few years ago, the Globe & Mail picked up on the idea by testing readers’ knowledge of current affairs over the New Year’s holiday. Annually, CBC Radio assembles a panel of experts to be examined on important news stories of the previous year.

What follows is a year-end quiz with a difference. It’s designed to challenge readers’ knowledge of local history and is drawn from topics covered by Tantramar Flashback during 1999. The quiz is also easy to score — there are 20 questions, each worth five points. Answers (no peeking allowed) will be found hidden somewhere in the pages of this issue of the Trib.

  1. Sackville’s first mayor was a prominent lawyer, businessman, shipbuilder and member of the Canadian Senate. Who was he?
  2. Which local church celebrated the 100th anniversary of its present building on January 31, 1999?
  3. What was once described as: something new on the Tantramar… an arresting sight of beauty in steel… its red lights giving the atmosphere of a carnival… ?
  4. Who said: I… have interest in studying ancient documents, marking historic sites, (and) in developing historical museums. These interests have carried me through the perils of old age and saved me from the horrors of doddering senility.?
  5. Many people on the Tantramar and beyond were listening to a local radio station during the evening of April 8, 1939. Why?
  6. hat caused the wells on Dorchester Island to run dry?
  7. Define an aboiteau and explain how it functions.
  8. Name the group of Tantramar settlers who were once depicted as: persons with their heads in England, their feet in America and whose necks ought to be stretched.
  9. What event drew 5,000 people to the Sackville Railway Station at 11 o’clock on the night of June 13, 1939?
  10. Aside from the provision of free schools, name another important outcome of the New Brunswick School Act of 1871.
  11. Who was the Sackville journalist, broadcaster and author who became nationally famous as Mr. Canada?
  12. What do La Butte, Le Coup and Le Lac have in common?
  13. Name the anniversary commemorated by Mount Allison’s Centennial Hall.
  14. Which Yorkshire family has, since September 8, 1775, owned 57 acres of land at Point de Bute? Clue: Today it is part of Prospect Farm.
  15. Name the prominent Sackville sea captain distinguished for never having stranded a vessel, or to have put a vessel into port in distress… his seamanship, integrity and business ability were always recognized.
  16. In 1927 the Historic Sites and Monuments Board erected a cairn on the grounds of Fort Beauséjour. What did it commemorate?
  17. What local tragedy took place on September 24, 1913?
  18. Why will October 4-5th, 1869 be long remembered on the Tantramar?
  19. Who wrote: Here Stays Good Yorkshire and Ghosts Have Warm Hands?
  20. A local firm earned an international reputation for its Mephisto Brand of canned lobster. What was its name and location?

Answers

  1. Senator Josiah Wood (1843–1927).
  2. St. James Presbyterian Church, Port Elgin.
  3. The new CBC towers at Coles Island. They were so described by Tribune editor C. W. Moffatt.
  4. Dr. John Clarence Webster (1863–1950) leading historian of the Tantramar.
  5. To hear tthe first official broadcast from CBA Sackville, later CBA Maritimes.
  6. An Earthquake. The precise date is still in question — watch for further details.
  7. A dyking term dating from the French colonial period. It refers to the sluice gate that releases flood water from behind, and which prevents salt water from entering at high tide.
  8. The Loyalists were so depicted in a contemporary American cartoon.
  9. The visit of their Majesties King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
  10. The establishment of many one-room schools, now forever out.
  11. John Fisher (1913–1981).
  12. All were Acadian settlements. Le Lac survives as Aulac.
  13. Marks the centennial of the date when Rev. William Black (1760–1834) began his ministry. He is regarded as the Father of Methodism in the Maritime Provinces.
  14. The Trueman family.
  15. Captain Thomas R. Anderson (1840–1918).
  16. The role of the Yorkshire settlers in the Eddy Rebellion.
  17. The collision of two Intercolonial trains at Siddall’s Cut, Aulac.
  18. The Saxby Gale.
  19. Will R. Bird (1891–1984).
  20. Fred Magee Limited, Port Elgin.