Nova Scotia # 10 on 3 Aug 1867 cover from Truro, Nova Scotia to Salma, Nova Scotia. Addressed to Mr. John Smith, Salma, near Maitland. Backstamps Truro AU 03 1867, Maitland, Co Hants, AU 5, 1867. A post-Confederation use of Nova Scotia franking.
John Steven Smith was a 51-year-old farmer in Selma, Nova Scotia when he received this letter from Truro.
There is no more common name in North America than "John Smith"(although the most common surname in Nova Scotia is "MacDonald".) But this envelope gives us all the clues we need to locate this particular John Smith. He is "John S. Smith living in Salma, near Maitland in 1867.
Lovell’s Province of Nova Scotia Directory for 1871 has John S. Smith, farmer, living in “Selmah – A settlement situated on the south shore of Cobequid bay, district of Maitland, county of Hants. Distance from Shubenacadie, a station of the Nova Scotia railway, 22 miles. Fare $1.50. Mail tri-weekly. Population about 225.”
The A.F. Church & Co. Topographical Township Map of Hants County, 1871, has three “J. Smith households marked in Selma.
The LeJeune family lived in Selma prior to the Acadian Expulsion. In 1750, during Father Le Loutre's War, Selma had four dwellings and a mill. The field beside Stoney Brook where John Smith's farm was subsequently located, was named "La Pree a Breard".
After the American Revolution Selma was primarily settled by loyalists who fought for the British. Major-General John Small of the 84th Highland Regiment received the land at Selma from Malachy Salter. Oral history stated that Small built a manor house in the area which he named Selma Hall, after which the community is named.
During the second half of the nineteenth century, shipbuilding and supporting sub-trades were the mainstay of the economy on this small and bustling hamlet. At the mouth of Selmah Creek lay the site of three shipyards. The largest of these was owned by Alexander A. McDougall. From this shipyard 19 barques were built and launched. A. A. McDougall set up the first steam timber mill replacing the man-powered saw pit at his yard. Next to the McDougall yard was that of (David) Pratt & Cox. Beyond the Pratt shipyard was that of George Oxley Smith and his son, McCully Smith. George Oxley Smith was also a Justice of the Peace sitting in judgement on various disturbances, timber contracts and other legal matters.
The Smith Family of Selma
John Steven Smith's great grandfather, John Smith, was the eldest son of William and Jane (Griffith) Smith. He was born in Ireland, February 2nd, 1723, and was the first member of this family to settle in Nova Scotia. He had been twice married and had several children when he left Ireland in 1767 for the new world. He was accompanied by his eldest son, William, then a sixteen-year-old boy. They took up land in what is called Stanley. After witnessing the marriage of his son, William, to Lucy Lake in 1771, John returned to Ireland and in 1773, brought his wife and other children to Nova Scotia, with the exception of two daughters who had married in Ireland. John Smith's first wife was Martha Morris, daughter of Richard Morris, Esq., whom he married January 9th, 1743. They had two sons and five daughters. Martha died in 1758, and John remarried, June 16th, 1761, Isabella Holmes, the daughter of Rev. Mr. Holmes of Templemore. They had four sons and five daughters. John Smith died at Stanley, April 23rd, 1806, in his 84th year and was buried on his farm. His wife, born June 16th, 1741, died December 8th, 1829, in Halifax, where she resided with her two unmarried daughters after the death of her husband.
John Steven's grandfather, Col. William Smith, was the eldest son of John and Martha (Morris) Smith. He was born in Ireland, November 28th, 1750, came to Nova Scotia with his father in 1767. They settled on a farm in Stanley. William Smith married Lucannah "Lucy" Lake, daughter of Caleb and Patience (Gifford) Lake on October 21st, 1771. The Lakes had come a short time before from Tiverton, R. I. to Nova Scotia. Soon after this marriage, when William's father, John Smith, returned to Ireland in 1773, to bring his wife and children to Nova Scotia, William and Lucy gave their house over to John and his family and built another house for themselves nearby. William Smith was High Sheriff for Hants County for five or six years and, about 1810, was appointed Colonel of the Hants Militia. William and Lucy had twelve children. William Smith died December 25th, 1829, while visiting his sons in Selma. His wife, Lucy, was born in Tiverton, R. I. on February 22nd, 1747, and died April 28th, 1825. Both were buried in a plot set aside for that purpose on their property at Stanley, where also the father of William, John Smith, was buried. Lucy's tomb stone bears the following inscription:
"A wife affectionate, beloved, most dear, A parent tender and a friend sincere."
John Steven's father, Nathan Smith, the eighth son of William and Lucy, was born at Stanley, June 13th, 1789, and died in Selma, February 19th, 1876. Nathan was given a large farm by his father, part of the estate of his brother, Stephen Smith. He married his cousin, Rachel Susannah Smith, daughter of John and Rachel (Marsters) Smith of Falmouth. Rachel was born March 9th, 1791. They married March 1st, 1813. She died in Selma, January 6th, 1854. They had ten children.
John Steven Smith was the third child of Nathan and Rachel. He was born in Selma on December 5th, 1816, and lived his life there. He died early in 1892. He married October 8th, 1845, Margaret Desire Morton (1818-1901), the sister of Rev. Roland Morton. They had three sons. Nathan Smith was born in Selma 1848 and died there April 17, 1873. He was found dead in his bed after a day of heavy work. Roland Smith was born in Selma February 7th, 1852, and moved to California where he died on June 8th, 1932. He married Isabella Norman, born July 30th, 1862, died August 10th, 1940. And David Henry Smith, who was born in Selma December 20th,1853, and died there March 11th, 1858, at five years of age.
John Steven's brother, Rev. Richard Smith, was born in Selma November 5th,1819 and was ordained to the Methodist ministry in 1842. He had numerous pastorates in the Maritimes, retired in 1885 to live in Halifax, where he died January 19th, 1911. He is buried in Camp Hill Cemetery. As a lad he had lived with his uncle, Col. Richard Smith at the Stone House, which he later inherited and where he lived in retirement for a few years before returning again to the ministry. He married his cousin, Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Blowers Smith, in June of 1860. She was born May 21st, 1832, and died in Halifax November 6th,1920. The History of the Smith Family, Nathan Smith, 1862, Corrected and Updated by Helen H. Whidden, 1967, with additional corrections by June Berry, 1989. Downloaded from Family Search.
The Smith-Duckenfield House is a small stone cottage located in Selma, Nova Scotia. Built on a hilltop overlooking Cobequid Bay, the house has been a local landmark for many years. Both the building and the land are included in the provincial designation.
The Smith-Duckenfield House is valued for its associations with its original owner, Richard Smith, for its age and its stone construction. The Smith Duckenfield House, also known as Selma Hall, was built in 1825 for Richard Smith. Smith was an active and outspoken Member of the Nova Scotia Legislature (MLA) from 1827-1830. He fought for equal representation for communities outside of Halifax and against the dominance of the Church of England in provincial politics, as he was a member of the Wesleyan Methodist Church. On numerous occasions his home was used for various Methodist causes, including the British and Foreign Bible Society. Besides his political involvements, Smith was involved in lumbering, farming and especially mining as he was heavily involved in the local gypsum industry.
Selma Hall is a rare example of early nineteenth century stone architecture. The house was originally built with a simple gable roof; however a mansard roof was added in the later nineteenth century. With few alterations, other than the change in the roof profile, today the house looks much as it did during Smith’s ownership.
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