Settlement of the Jeffery Homestead 1860

      I came across the following note that Eva Jeffery had written-out to a cousin on July 12, 1977 to tell her family's history about coming to Alma.
     "My grandfather's name was Stephen Jeffery - his family came from England many years ago.  He set out from Bedeque for the western part of the Island, so i am told, and landed in Alma (1860) and built a little log cabin in the wilderness.  It was nothing but a forest at that time.  They must have endured great hardship to make a living for himself and his family in the wilderness with no cleared land.  I would liked to have written a History of the Jeffery family but did not think of it when my father and mother were alive as they had alot about the family - they are both dead now..."

Image cf. http://tonguekissesandtyranny.blogspot.ca/2010/09/little-about-me.html

     Settlement in the Alma area began early in the mid 1800's with settlers along the Western Road where they had easy access to the road - there was little settlement in the backwoods.  Older residents of the Centerline Road recall their forefathers saying that the Stephen Jeffery home was the oldest on the road.  

      Above: Stephen Emmanuel Jeffery (1830-1911) and his third wife Jane Collicutt (1842-1814) - they were married in 1868.  Stephen had 5 children by his first marriage to Maria Fields; no children from his second wife Mary Ann Lewis and 8 children with his third wife Jane Collicutt.  In total there were 12 children raised in this home - 10 sons: William, Albert, Spurgeon, George, Abram, Richard, Stephen, David, Joseph, Robert and 2 daughters: Elizabeth, Jane and Rebeccah who died at birth.

     Above: sketch by Carter Jeffery depicting the Jeffery homestead around 1890.  The house was built in the late 1860's and is today the home of Wilbert and Verna Jeffery - see photo below.