I propose in this article to give you a mere outline of the History of its early settlement
from its beginning to the last years of the 19th century. The nature of the subject itself makes it
apparent that it must be a bare outline, as we are dealing with people who were pioneers and the
Biography of every one of them would fill a large book if their life stories were known. Such men
as Philip Wiseman, John Campbell, William Anstey, William Strong, George Jones and a host of
others. Perhaps some day one of their descendants will write the life story of their ancestors and
what fine reading it will make, and it will not be a mere catalogue of facts as this article must of 
necessity be.

     It will barely give the names of the first settlers of each family name, where they came
from, the names of their descendants, and where they settled on the Island. I must apologize here
for any errors that may be made in dates or any other facts, as it was very difficult to get the exact
dates and so in many cases they may be wrong by a year or two. I think that the main facts are
correct and there is nothing written in this article that was not first sifted out from several sources.

     The first people to live on our Island were doubtlessly the Beothucks. There are many
evidences of their settlement for at least the summer months. It was natural that they used this
Island as it was in the center of their summer resorts. The many places named after the Indians tell
us what an Indian country surrounds us, Indian Burying Place, fifteen miles to the North, Indian
Tickle to the South East, and Indian Head to the West. Then there is the Oil Islands only 1 
miles to the South West. This is supposed to be the last known resort of the Red Indians. Then
we have the evidences on the Island itself. People here have dug up arrow heads, old stone dishes
and there is one in the possession of the Wiseman family (W.W. Wiseman), a rectangular stone
drinking cup that his brothers dug up in their garden. There are many more evidences as rocked
wells or springs, old forms or shapes of pitches [pitched?] wigwams.

     Of course there are many stories about the Beothucks, which have been passed down by
word of mouth from one generation to another, stories of Beothucks stealing fishing gear, etc.,
but this seems unlikely as there were very few Beothucks left in our country when the first settlers
came here. It may be that the people fished here a number of years before finally settling and then
it was not impossible to have contacted the Indians in fair numbers. The last known Beothuck was
captured in 1823 and our first settler was 1825, so we have only to compose the dates to know
that our first settlers are not likely to have come in contact with the Indians. But it is very
probable that the first white people here came for the summer months to fish and later to settle,
and very likely they did contact the Beothucks and some of our local stories may be partly
correct. Such a story is the one about the killing of the last Beothuck known to have been shot in
the Bay. One story has it that a Mr. Budgell shot him on a well known rock in the harbour, and
another that it was Mr. John Campbell. Both these men came here since 1825 so it is very unlikely
that the last Beothuck was shot here by someone whom both Mr. Budgell and Mr. Campbell
knew. 

     Then there is the story that the Barrelman discovered in the obituary notes of a Mrs.
Mitchell of Portugal Cove. Her father took his family to our Island in the Fall of 1805 to stay the
winter and cut wood. He was a Mr. King, an Englishman, who had settled at Round Harbour.
During their first night on the Island, the Beothucks stole his boat and all his winter supplies and
the next morning the boat was found but not the supplies which compelled him to go back to
Round Harbour for more supplies. This is very likely to have happened on the West side of the
Island in some of the wooded coves. The above facts are ample proof that our Island was an
important resort of our country's native sons, and no doubt they used the Island until the very
last.

     The first known settler was a Micmac Indian who settled at Sulian's Cove on the back of
the Island, and gave it his name. The first white settler was a Mr. Budgell who came here from
Triton about the year 1825. He has left no descendants on the Island and it is very likely that he
left the Island shortly afterwards, for some other part of the Bay, probably Pilleys Island, as there
are Budgells living there now. He did not live long on the Island, perhaps ten or fifteen years, yet
we must think of him as the first real settler. We should like to know more about this pioneer of
ours, why he came here and how he lived before being joined by other settlers.

     In the early 1830's about 110 years ago, there came to the Island the next family, that of
John Campbell from St. John's, who settled on what is now known as Campbell's Point. It seems
that a certain Mr. Knight of St. John's was a trader around this section of Notre Dame Bay at that
time, and also had schooners built at Halls Bay. He told John Campbell of the fish and game here
and finally persuaded him to migrate North. This man Campbell had a great influence on the early
life of the community and played a prominent part in all the improvements that came with the
influx of population twenty or thirty years later. He kept the first Post Office, probably built the
first schooner on the Island, a small one, but nevertheless large enough to go to St. John's. It was
on one of its trips from St. John's that the schooner was lost with all hands, which included two
of John Campbell's sons and his wife.

     John Campbell's family included the following sons: Alvin & Peter whose families later
migrated to the U.S.A. and no descendants here; and Daniel who was one of the sons who was
drowned but who left a wife who afterwards married William Wiseman who is the ancestor of one
of the branches of the Wiseman family now on the Island. One of John Campbell's daughters
married Richard Anstey and thus became the mother of the present Mrs. Douglas Tuffin. Another
daughter married a man Peck from St. John's, but have left no descendants here. The only
descendant of the Campbell family who bear the name now living in the Bay are Daniel & Esau,
grandsons of the above mentioned Daniel, now living at Roberts Arm.

     It is difficult to find out who the next settlers were and the exact year in which they came,
but it seems that there was a great migration of people from the outer part of the Bay to the inner
part (from Twillingate, Herring Neck, and Tizzards Harbour) between the 1850's and 60's. Men
had been coming here for many years, during the winter months sealing and fishing during the
summer months. Others came here to cut wood as the story of King and the Beothucks proves.

     Finally these people grew tired of moving back and forth each fall and spring and so
brought their families and became permanent residents. Mr. Thomas Grimes, now 91 years old,
who came here in 1854 (87 years ago) told me that his father had been up here several winters
before finally settling, and it is likely that many of the other first families here did the same thing.

     When Mr. Grimes came here he says the following families were here: Campbell, George
Mitchell, Thomas Tuffin, George Tucker, William Richmond, James Wiseman and son William,
John Wellman in this Harbour, (the southern or main Hr.), William Mursell and Philip Wiseman
at Mursell's Cove, William Anstey and John Locke at Anstey's Cove, John Marshall and Jerry
Roberts at Ben Batt's Cove. In all probability they all came here within a few years of each other
around 90 years ago.

     The first of these was William Richmond who came here about the year 1847 - 94 years
ago. He came from Herring Neck and lived on the point where James Strong Ltd. now has its
premises. He left one son, John, who lived at Shoal Arm, Little Bay.

     John Wellman came here around the same time from Twillingate and settled at what is
now known as Wellman's Bight. None of his descendants live on the Island at present, but one
son settled at Wellman's Cove, thus giving it his name and the Wellmans there are his
descendants. Another son is the ancestor of the Port Anson Wellmans, and the third the
Springdale Wellmans.

     Philip Wiseman and William Mursell came here in 1851, 90 years ago and settled at what
is now known as Mursell's Cove. They both came from Herring Neck. (There used to be an old
ditty on the Island which went something like this: A Wiseman, a Wellman, a richman [Richmond]
and a camel [Campbell] to carry them all.)

     Philip Wiseman had the following family: Son John, who is the father of Robert S., Fred,
Alfred Jas. and Edgar, and a son at Corner Brook; George, who is the father of Robert A.;  Alfred
whose sons now live at Howley and Badger; and Walter W. still living here. The following
daughters: Dorcas who married Richard Mursell still lives with her daughter, Mrs. Ben Butt at
Badger; Martha who married George Jones; Elizabeth who married James Rendell; Mary who
married Jacob Taylor, and Fannie.

     William Mursell had two sons, George and Richard. Their descendants are scattered
around the Globe and no Mursells now live on the Island. One daughter, Annie, was the first wife
of Hon. James Strong and the mother of William Strong and Lady Squires.
     
     William Mursell and Philip Wiseman both left Mursell's Cove to live in the harbour
because this harbour had become better populated and since then nobody has lived there.

     George Mitchell, an Englishman, came here from Herring Neck about 1850. He had one
son, George, whose grandson, James, now lives at Roberts Arm. He lived on Tuffins Point.

     Thomas Tuffin came here from Herring Neck the same time as George Mitchell. He
settled on Tuffins Point, and had two sons, James with no descendants, and Edward, who is the
father of the present day Tuffins.

     James Wiseman also came from Herring Neck about 1850. He had one son, William, who
is the grandfather of the Wisemans now living at Port Anson.

     George Tucker, an Englishman, came here from Indian Burying Place about 1850. He had
two sons, Abel and Robert. Abel married Sybil, daughter of the first George Jones. He is the
father of Edwin still living here, and the grandfather of Walter and Sidney, Mrs. James Forward,
Mrs Lemuel Locke and Mrs. Pierce Weir.

     William Anstey and John Locke came here the same year, 1851 or 1852, Anstey from
Twillingate and Locke from Tizzards Harbour. They both settled at Anstey's Cove, but later
moved to this harbour. They both had large families, one fourteen and the other thirteen. William
Anstey had the following sons: George, who married Maria Jones daughter of the first George
Jones; He is the father of our present Alex Anstey; Richard married John Campbell's daughter and
Henry married Mary Taylor and settled at Pilleys Island, and is the grandfather of our present
minister, Rev. R. Rowsell; Peter had no descendants. The following are some of the many
daughters: Virtue, who married Thomas Jones, Esther who married John Jones, (about whom we
shall have more to say later).

     John Locke had two sons; William still living at New York, and John, who married Sarah
Jones, was the father of Lionel and Frank.

     John Marshall and Jerry Roberts came here from Twillingate in the early 1850's and settled
at Ben Batt's Cove. John Marshall has left no descendants, but Jerry Roberts had two sons: one
of them, George, is the father of Joseph, Clarence and Walter.

     The next family to come here was that of George Grimes, who came from Herring Neck in
1856. He had three sons: Thomas still living here, and the father of Peter, Charles, Mrs. Elias
Oxford and Mrs. Manuel Locke; William who later became superintendent of Police at St. John's
and John who still lives at Springdale.

     The Strongs came here from Twillingate 83 years ago, 1857. William Strong was the
original settler and his father who was married three times sent descendants to Jackson's Cove,
Exploits and here. William had two sons, Joseph, who married Helen Linfield of Twillingate and is
the father of J. Adolphe; James who first married Annie Mursell whose children were William A.
and Helena; He married as his second wife, Lydia Rooney of St. John's. The children of the
second marriage still living are Hubert L. and Bessie.

     George Jones came here from Twillingate about the same time as the Strongs. He had five
sons: James (drowned), William teh father of Mrs. Thomas Thistle, Thomas, whose sons are
George, James and Richard, John whose sons are Joseph and Edgar -- Thomas and John married
Anstey girls as mentioned above.

     There were two William Wisemans, the second came here from Tizzards Hr. about 80
years ago. He was married twice and had three sone: Fred, the father of Harold and Sidney; Job,
the father of Baxter and Walter; the third son, Philip, migrated to Sydney.

     Isaac Weir, Thomas Penney and Charles Hustins were the first families of Northern
Harbour. Hustins and Penney have no descendants here, but the Hustins of Port Anson are
descendants of Charles. Isaac Weir's sons were: Christopher the father of Theophilis; William the
father of John and Kenneth; James the grandfather of the Bungalow Point Weirs.

     There were two George Oxfords, the first an Englishman, came here 85 years ago from
Twillingate. His sons were: David, no descendants; George Thomas, father of Elias and Mrs. Job
Wiseman; Joseph, father of Mrs. J. Wells, Three Arms, and Mrs. H. Forward, Badger; John,
father of Frank and Willis.

     The second George Oxford came here from Herring Neck about 75 years ago and settled
at Sulian's Cove. He had two sons: Job, the father of Fred and James and Mrs. Frank Oxford;
Henry, father of Springdale Oxfords.

     James Rendell came here from Three Arms about 70 years ago. One son, Charles, living
here and a second son, Arthur, who migrated to U.S.A.

     Robert Hull, John Compton and John Hibbs came here from Twillingate about 85 years
ago. Robert Hull's sons were: John, father of Samuel, Mrs. Fred Oxford, Mrs. Lewis Locke and
Mrs. Edwin James; Lemuel, no descendants; William, father of Springdale Hulls and Mrs. W.W.
Wiseman and Mrs. James Taylor.

     John Compton's descendants live at Englee.

     John Hibbs had two sons: John, the father of John and James; and James, no descendants.

     James James was an Englishman who came here about 80 years ago and whose son
William is still living here.

     George Stone, a Scotchman, came here about 70 years ago. He had several sons, but only
one settled here, Robert, the father of the present Stones.

     Richard Locke came here from Tizzard's Hr. about 60 years ago. His sons are Alfred,
James, Manuel, Lewis and Ambrose at Springdale.

     The Stucklesses came here about 60 or 70 years ago from Tizzards Hr. The original settler
is the grandfather of the present Stucklesses. Amongst the original settlers was William Hynes
who came here from Twillingate and whose son Andrew lived here a number of years. There are
no descendants here at present. There was also a family of Dinneys who went to Pilleys Island and
their descendants still live there. There may have been other families who were here before fifty
years ago but they have left no descendants.

     The family names not mentioned in this article and who compose the population of this
Island at present, have come here in recent years, most of them during the last thirty years. If
there are any old families not catalogued here, I hereby apologize, as we have collected the facts
from all the sources available to us. The above list is as accurate as we could possibly, under the
circumstances, make it.