The Top Ten Things You Didn't Know About Albert County - How many did you know?

A fun list for Friday, the Top Ten Things You Didn't Know About Albert County. How many did you know? Do you know of any other interesting facts that we missed? Try and trump us!

In no particular order: 

1. On June 4, 1903, at a meeting of the "Albert County Teachers' Institute" in Surrey, Albert County, the "New Brunswick Teachers' Union" was established with an approved constitution and membership. The initiative and leadership towards the teachers' union came from two teachers at the Hopewell Hill Superior School. So, the present New Brunswick Teachers' Association began in Albert County!

2. Albert County was the location of New Brunswick’s Government House while Abner Reid McClelan was Lieutenant Governor.

3. Albert County has more natural resources to the square foot than any other county in New Brunswick.

4. Harvey, Hopewell Cape and Hillsborough all had wooden sidewalks.

5. Albert County has 99 known cemeteries.

6. Albertite has only ever been found in Albert County, nowhere else in the world.

7. The population of Albert County once far exceeded that of Moncton.

8. The moose population in Newfoundland is courtesy of Albert County. That's right it all started here, with 2 captured moose. 

9. When it was in operation, the Aptus Veneer Factory at West River was the only factory of its kind in Canada.

10. 1851 Census shows 32,378 yards (29.6 Km) of woolen fabric woven on 365 hand looms.

TOP 10 Historical Events in Albert County

The First Top 10 List ever of Historical Events in Albert County in chronological order...

Top 10 Historical Events in Albert County

1. First European Settlers in 1699.

2. The Acadian Expulsion in 1755. Ending 57 years of Acadian colonies in Albert County, this includes the Battle of Petitcodiac, September 4, 1755. The battle was fought between British colonial troops and Acadian resistance fighters led by French Officer Charles Deschamps de Boishébert on September 4, 1755 at the Acadian village of Village-des-Blanchard on the Petitcodiac River (present-day Hillsborough).

3. Arrival of the Steeves family in 1766.

4. The founding of the county 1845.

5. Development of Commercially Viable Kerosene from Albertite by geologist Abraham Gesner in 1846 which led directly to the petroleum age and the modern world and indirectly to saving all the whales. Thanks Albert County!

6. The Saxby Gale of 1869, which brought untold destruction of property and the loss of a number of lives. 

7. The Birthplace and Hometown of Canada's 11th Prime Minister RB Bennett (b1870), who founded the Bank of Canada, the CBC and numerous other important Canadian Institutions.

8. The Tom Collins Axe Murder Triple Trial which directly lead to Canada's Double Jeopardy laws. Double Jeopardy is a procedural defence that forbids a defendant from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following a legitimate acquittal or conviction.

9. Winning the Victory Loans Competition of 1919 by raising a greater percentage over their set goal than anywhere else in the Province. The county raised $347600.00 with a goal of $110000.00. That's triple the amount! (in today's dollars that is $6.2 million!).

10. Founding of Fundy National Park in 1948.

There was quite a list to choose from, and we would love to hear your views on it. What event did we miss?

How would you rank them in order of importance? Pick your  top 5 and list most important to least.

Did you hear the News? 250th Anniversary Steeves Family Reunion Record Breaking Attempt

The history of Albert County would not be the same without the Steeves Family and in 2016 there is a HUGE reunion planned for the 250th Anniversary of the family arriving in New Brunswick. With an estimated 300000 descendants of the original family scattered around the world the organizers are hoping to attract over 10000 of them to the reunion to set a Guiness Book of World Records for the most people with the same last name in one place at one time record. And in case you missed it, it's all over the news!

Global News Maritimes just did a nice report on it here. Click here to view. 

The official  website with all the action can be found here. 

If you want to learn more about the Steeves there are some excellent articles on our site already. You can search Steeves or click on the following links. 

http://www.albertcountymuseum.com/heinrich-regine-steif

http://www.albertcountymuseum.com/william-henry-steeves

http://www.albertcountymuseum.com/news/2015/11/17/lest-we-forget-on-this-day-100-years-ago-albert-harry-steeves-was-killed-in-action-11171915