Those who do not treasure the memory of their ancestors do not deserve to be remembered by posterity

beginning on a course North 85 degrees West 10 Rods distant from the NE corner of said Marshman farm thence North 95? Rods until it comes to the NE corner of the fifty acre lot laid out to James Condon in the year 1800, thence West 94 Rods until it comes to the North line of the Marshman land , thence Easterly on the said Marshman line to the place of beginning, containing fifty acres more or less. Also, one other tract of land situate on the North side of Cornwallis River bounded and described as follows:

Beginning at the NW corner of a lot laid out to Abraham Buskirk thence East 105 Rods to the North of said Buskirk's lot to a lot laid out to Peter (Meher ?) thence North by said Meher's lot 92 Rods to a stake thence West 110 Rods, thence South 92 Rods thence East 5 Rods to the place of beginning, containing fifty seven acres.(57)

Also one other lot situate in Cornwallis called the Cox lot formerly laid out to Abraham Van Buskirk on the right of James Condon aforesaid, bounded thus:

Beginning at the NW corner of said Condon's land and runs West 4 Rods to a spruce tree marked A.V.B. thence North 90 Rods to a poplar tree marked A.V.B. then East 178 Rods to a spruce tree marked A.V.B. then South 90 Rods to said Condon's land then West by said land to the plan of beginning with a reserve for highways if needed containing one hundred acres (100) more or less, also all that tract or ---- of uplands lying on the North side of the Cornwallis River bounded on the East by the road South by line of (?sold ) by said DeWolfe to Alexander McPhail and North by the South line of the ---- lot of lands herein sold to Graham Boles etc. Dated 6 July 1831. Witnesses: Elisha DeWolfe Jr and John DeWolf
(Notes: 1. If I've read this correctly, Graham Boles -if it is all the same Graham Boles - bought a total of 321 acres from Elisha DeWolf in this transaction, part of which would have run along the Cornwallis River, near it's origin.
2.Judge Elisha DeWolf, (b. 1756) s/o Nathan, m. Margaret, d/o Capt Thomas and Desire (Gore) Ratchford. They had 12 children, including a son, Thomas (b. 1795) who married Nancy Ratchford, d/o Col James and Mary (Crane) Ratchford. See Eaton's Hx of Kings, pg. 633/34.

3. Alexander McPhail is listed in the 1861 census as living in Centerville.)

(Note: check Halifax County deeds?)

The Parish of St John Cornwallis records list the dates of birth of the children of "Alexander Bolls and Elizabeth, his wife":

I will now attempt to list the descendants of each of these children, and will reference each subsequent family branch by number to each of these eight. The dates of birth are taken from Eaton's History of Kings county, and that of Graham Bowles is confirmed by his obituary in the Presbyterian Witness, whihc is why I am tending to believe a secondary source rather that the CTR. It is possible that I mad a transcription mistake, but unlikely that I made so many.
I. MARY JANE BOLS b. 4 March 1774 (1779?) m. William NESBIT.
II. MARGARET BOWLS b.22 August 1777 (1779?) m.JOHN WOODWORTH Jr.
III. SARAH BOWLS b. 22 October 1778 m. ELIAKIM TUPPER.
IV. WILLIAM BOWLS b. 28 February 1780, m. PRUDENCE ROCKWELL.
V. ALEXANDER BOWLS b. 28 February 1780 (1792?) d. 25 November 1780 Twin to William.
VI. JOHN BOWLS b. 5 November 1782 (1792?) m. MARGARET WEBSTER.
VII. ELIZABETH BOWLS b.25 November 1784(1794?) m. ELIAS TUPPER Jr.
VIII.GRAHAM BOWLS b. 1 November 1788 (1799?) m. ALICE NEWCOMB.
The dates in brackets I copied from CTR, and I think there are errors in either how I copied them, or how they were originally recorded in the CTR. If they were all born in Scotland, it may be that these dates were supplied at some later date to the township clerk, when a vital stats law required it, but this is only a guess.
Now I will give more detail on each of these children:

I. MARY JANE BOLS ( 4 March, 1774- ) m.(1.) WILLIAM NESBIT (1770-1855). (Ref. Will of Alexander Bols, 1814) This is without much question, the William Nesbit who is buried in the old Covenanter churchyard at Grafton, Kings County. He died 1855 at age 85 so would have been born 1770. There is a Mary Nesbit also listed here but she died 1861 at the age of 54, so must have been a daughter to Mary and William. Eleanor Tree of Grafton sent me a history of Grafton written by Joan Balcolm, in which it states that Grafton was first inhabited in 1780. The following is quoted from her article in the Chronicle Herald 13 April 1966:

"Several families from the highlands of Scotland obtained land grants and settled in the central part of the Cornwallis (now Annapolis) Valley, and the adjacent portion of the North Mountain. Among the names of these pioneer families were Bligh, Buckley, Lawson, White, Illsley, and Foote.

One William Nesbit, a pioneer, was given a tract of land extending from the top of the North Mountain, southerly into the Valley for a distance of two miles. This grant formed the greater part of what is now known as the Kings County community of Grafton. In the early days, these stout Scottish settlers found a great tractless forest, covering valey and mountain. A nearby settlement of friendly Indians, at what is now called Cambridge, still exists. Although the settlers lost no time erecting crude log cabins, roofed with birch bark, their hardships were many and their pleasures simple ones.

With the coming of the Loyalists the Nesbit estate was redistributed. One of the settlers on this tract was an energetic man named Jonathan Newcombe who, it is said, moved his belongings to Grafton in two tubs attached to poles, which were fastened to either side of the saddle. Mr Newcombe was industrious as well as an extremely ingenious man. He damned the village stream and soon established a mill for sawing logs and for grinding grain".

* check out land grant to William Nesbit.
(2) DAVID PORTER. (Probate Adm. B43, 1841)

David may have been the son of Stephen Porter and grandson of Simeon Porter.

A John Coleman of Smith's Cove, Digby County died 1822, age 85. Unknown of it was a relative of this John Coleman, but it is a possiblity. The Stayner collection at the Public Archives has a John R. Coleman listed who died 1872 at Cornwallis. (mf 805)

IA.4.b.i Hugh Nesbit returned from Saskatchewan and married Mary McFall. They had 3 children: John, Robert, and Margaret. They all went back to the west, yet must have returned as Hugh and Mary are buried in Berwick.

In 1995, Elizabeth McGee Rand of Port Williams wrote me in respect to this family. She said:

"My grandmother White's sister married a Coleman of Grafton. They had a daughter, (Mary Coleman), who married ______ Nesbitt and had a son Hugh. Mary married a second time to John Newcombe of Grafton, and all went to Saskatchewan. Hugh Nesbitt came back to N.S. and married Mary McFall of Somerset. They had three children -John, Robert and Margaret -all went back to the West. There are no Nesbitts left and no Colemans of that family. Hugh and Mary Nesbitt are buried in Berwick".

The Halifax Chronicle Herald 25 April 1958 p. 15 listed the death of a Dr Mary McFall Nesbitt, wife of Hugh Nesbitt (unknown as yet if he was one of family of William and Mary Jane Nesbit but the likelihood is high. However, it would have to be the next generation from I.B.) who died suddenly at Scranton, PA., while returning to N.S. She was "the only daughter of Rev. Thomas McFall B.D. of Somerset, pastor of the Cornwallis Coveanter church and of Mrs Anna Lyons McFall"". She was born in Somerset 75 years ago (1873). Graduated from Women's Medical College PA. I wonder if she ever practised medicine in Nova Scotia? This was not an age when many women became doctors.
I.A.5. Marietta Coleman (b. 1835) m. Henry White. Res. U.S.A.

I.A.6. Adelaide Coleman b.1835 m. Hiram Marshall, of Clarence, Annapolis County. Res. Lakeville.

I.A.7. Joseph William Coleman b. 1837 d. unm. in 1905

I.A.8. James Anderson Coleman M.D., (1839 - 1896) m. Anna Maria d/o Henry Bentley and Ina Mary (Barclay) Webster of Kentville. Henry Bentley Webster was s/o Isaac Webster M.D.and Prudence Bentley. Ina Barclay was from Shelburne. Dr Coleman graduated in medicine at Harvard University, practised first in Shelburne County, and then at Granville Ferry, Annapolis County, where he died.

A sister of Anna Maria Webster, Fanny C. Webster, married W.H.Chase, merchant of Wolfville.

John R. Coleman, according to Eaton, was born 1799 @ Sackville N.S. d. 1871 @ Lakeville, s/o Michael Coleman) He settled in 1820 at Lakeville. The 1861 census for Lakeville lists a John N. (?) Coleman with 5 in the family.

The Stayner Collection at the Public Archives in Halifax has the marriage (1839) of Hugh Nesbitt of Cornwallis to Eliza Ann Harvey (N 12736)

I.C.1. William Burgess

I wonder if Rachel Burgess, the eldest d/o Earl Burgess of Lakeville, who married 1862 at first Baptist Church, Upper Canard, Ezra Churchill, was the daughter of one of these? Blomindon Inn in Wolfville, was built by a shipbuilder who I think was a son of Earl Burgess.

Eaton (pg. 722) in his write up on the Kinsman family, says that Ezekiel, son of Nathaniel Kinsman, married 1812 as his second wife, Mary, daughter of John and Rebecca Nesbitt. So perhaps John is yet another son of this Nesbitt family.

Eaton (pg. 639) in his write up on the Dickie family, says that the wife of Matthew Dickie (the founder of the Dickie family in N.S.) was Janet Nisbet, “who belonged to the brave old race of Covenanters”. It is conceivable that Janet was related to William Nesbitt, but this is speculation. If they were related, it point to the origin of William Nesbit, as Eaton says that the Dickie family came from Londonderry, Ireland about 1765, and settled in Cumberland county, and later “crossed Minas Basin” and settled in Cornwallis township. Many of the family are buried at Chipman’s Corner (where the Bowles are buried too). This information increases the probability that the Bowles were Scotch-Irish, and this would mean that Alexander Bowles settled in the area, and all his children were born there, starting in 1774.

Robert Nesbit b.1850 d. 1882 (note: Robert would be too old to be a son of Hugh's but was born too late to be a son of Mary Jane. Unknown how he fits in the picture at this point.

There was a William Nesbitt Esq., who received land grants in both Truro and Londonderry. Until 1840, land West of the Township of Londonderry was considered part of Kings County. Again, one wonders about the Ulster "Scots". In 1769, a William Nesbitt petitioned for land on behalf of James, Joseph, and Alex Finlay. James and Joseph had occupied lands of Col. McNutt until disturbed by the Indians. Memorial for 3 shares or rights at Point Econome.

A William Nesbit is also listed as receiving a land grant at Horton, 3 Aug 1767 500 acres. The name of William Nesbitt is also mentioned in a land grant at River St Croix (Scoodic), Passamaquoddy Bay in 1784, along with Benjamin Burgess, and Samuel Osborne. Given the connection of the names of Burgess and Osborne with Kings county families, this William Nesbit may well be our man.

Eaton's History of Kings County mentions that the Attorney General's name was Nesbitt. However, "Sketches of Attorney Generals of N.S." by Hon. John Doull, 1964, says that this man left no male heirs, so he was obviously not closely connected with the William Nesbit who married Mary Jane Bols.

The Attorney General, William Newbitt, died 1784 at the age of 77. He was a clerk to Lord Cornwallis at the founding of Halifax in 1749.

John Duncanson’s History of Falmouth mentions a William Nesbitt in his account of the Boyd family.

The 1861 census for Somerset lists a Hugh Nesbit with 4 in the family, 12 names away from a Thomas Coleman. In the same abstract (no. 11) is a William Wilkinson with 2 in the family, between the ages of 70 and 80. These are likely the grandparents of Elizabeth Allison who married, as his first wife, George Bowles.(see VIII.I below).

PANS MG 1, Vol 1175 has a letter written to one Robert D. Nesbit of Brooklyn, N.Y., who was searching out his Nova Scotian Nesbit roots. His grandfather was Herbert Arthur Nesbit, born around 1878 in Nova Scotia. It was the opinion of the writer that he was a son of John Nisbett b. around 1839 and his wife Emily, of Halifax and said that John may have been the son of James Nisbett b. around 1817 in Scotland. (The Stayner collection mentions a John H. Nesbitt who died 1892 at age 53). The writer goes on to say that there "appears to be a much earlier family in N.S. of Nesbett:

. On 4 June 1750 - William Nesbett received "vicualls" along with many other settlers,

. Archibald Nesbitt - Shelburne land grants 1785 (north of lake Rodney)

. May 1834 - Townships of New Dublin, Lunenburgh, and Chester - William Nisbet Esq. 1000 acres.

W. Nesbet and Ferguson & Co. - 10,000 acres near to Dublin Town.

. Census Halifax Co. 1871 lists:

Elizabeth Nesbit, age 20, b. N.S., Wesleyan.

John Nesbett, age 32, b. N.S., Presbyterian. Scotch origin

Emily, age 31

George A., age 3

John F., age 1

James Nesbett, age 54, b.Scotland, Presbyterian

Martha, age 55, b. N.S., English

Lydia, age 28

William, age 17

John, age 7

. Census Halifax 1860

James Nisbett -5 in family . 3 males/2 females

Dorothy - 7 in family. 4 males/3 females

Adelaide - 2 in family. 1 male/1 female

The Stayner collection also lists a Robert Nesbitt who died 1785 age 60 (St. Paul’s Cemetery) and a Richard A. Nesbit who died 1890 at age 59. Also Mary Nesbit, wid. Thos. Died 1851 age 71.

The Index for Births in N.S. (1864-1877) says that during this time there were 27 Nesbitt births in N.S., 13 in Cape Breton, 7 in Halifax, and 6 in Digby. So it was a name that did not last long in Kings County.

Stephen Porter is mentioned in a land grant (above #4042) so would have been a neighbour of the Graham Bols (Jr) family. According to Eaton (pg. 781), he was the son of Simeon and Sarah Porter who came to Cornwallis from Connecticut. Their son, Stephen, was born 6 June 1764 in Cornwallis, so they would have been Planters. Stephen Porter m. Ruby----, and had 12 children, including David Porter, b. 24 April 1792. This is unlikely whom Mary Jane Bols was married to, as the age difference was 18 years, but it is possible.

A John Woodworth (1 Nov. 1827) is buried at Chipman Corner, age 41, but is this the right John Woodworth. His date of birth suggests not.

Margaret is buried in the Riverside cemetery in Bridgetown, N.S., so it appears that after her husband died (note: she had 3 small children when he died), she moved to Bridgetown. It is quite possible that the move there came after her daughter married Hanson Chesley of Bridgetown.

Eaton says that Benjamin Newcomb (b. ca 1700 in Edgartown, Martha's Vinyard), father of Submit Newcomb Woodworth, was a son of Simon and Deborah Newcomb. Benjamin Newcomb m. Hannah (probably Clark), and came from Lebanon, Connecticut, to Cornwallis, in 1761, but after 1775, removed to Sunbury County, New Brunswick, where they died.

Mary Ann married (2) 1862, Dr Jonathan Borden (1807-1875), and had 2 more children. Eaton, says of Dr Borden "long one of the most important physicians in the county".

Dr Borden married first, 14 May 1847, Mary F. Brown, and had one son, who became the Hon. Frederick William Borden BA, MD, MPP. Children of John C. Woodworth and Mary Ann Caldwell:

II.B.1. Margaret Ann Woodworth (1842-1933, Canard) Buried Lakeville.

II.B.2. Thomas Caldwell Woodworth b. 1844 m. Julia, d/o Abner Tilden Jr; One son lived in Charlestown, MA., carpenter and builder.

II.B.3. John Candlish Woodworth b.1846 m.1868, Kentville, Prudence Morton (?Martin), and twice since. Phillip Thorpe’s data gives her name as Martin, d/o James and Elizabeth Martin.

II.B.3.a. Harry Fenwick Woodworth b. 1869, Port Williams.

II.B.4.b.i. Ann Woodworth m. ___ Neville, Halifax.

II.B.4.b.ii.Carol Woodworth m. R.C. Crosby, Waverley.

II.B.4.b.iii.Elizabeth Woodworth m. D.S.Paquet, Cornwallis

II.B.4.b.iv. William Woodworth, Kentville
II.B.5. Sarah Adelia Woodworth (1851-1931) m.1883 at Upper Canard, Charles R. Dickie (1854, Boston-1927), son of David Dickie and Catherine Howe Fellows. Charles was a merchant and postmaster Buried Hillaton.

II.B.5.a.Beatrice Dickie

II.B.5.b.David Dickie b. 1889 m. Marion___. Children:

II.B.5.b.i. Eileen Dickie

(ref. Philip Thorpe data)
II.B.6. Alexander Bowles Woodworth (1840-1859)

II.B.7. Maria A. Woodworth (1847-1859)

II.B.8. Agnes Woodworth (1854-1859)

II.B.9. Mary J. Woodworth (1856-1859)

Note: The above three died of diptheria in 1859. Perhaps this is also why their father, John Bowles Woodworth died in 1859 at the age of 47.

The following two children of Mary Ann Caldwell Woodworth and Dr Jonathan Borden would have been step-sisters to the above children.