The next colonist who came to establish himself in Minas was Pierre
Terriot from Port Royal. He is an important and interesting figure in
the history of the country. His coming dates but a short time after
Pierre Melanson's arrival. Terriot selected the fine situation near
Kentville, upon the present Cornwallis River, with natural conditions
similar to the Gaspereau Valley. Good upland for farms, and extensive
areas of marsh near the head of the tidal stream, afforded favorable
means for the development of his farming operations. His home on the
south side of the river was ten miles from Melanson's, and the expansion
of growth was each toward the other. The farm areas soon extended
alongside the marshes into what became the Grand-Pré district.
Pierre Terriot, like Melanson, came out from Port Royal, where his
father had settled before him. Port Royal was the parent colony (1632,
under Commander Razilly) from which all the Acadian districts received
their first colonists.
Pierre Terriot was a colonizer, and an interesting figure in the early
days of Minas. Although he had no children by his wife Cécile Landry, he
encouraged migration from Port Royal to the wilderness, the rich country
of Minas that surrounded him. Young couples soon came, relatives of the
Terriots and Landrys, and others, who for a time enlarged their holdings
more rapidly than those who came to Grand-Pré and Gaspereau. The
founder, Terriot, who was in good circumstances, aided the newcomers
with grain and stock, and as has always been the custom of the Acadians,
the settled people cut the timber, built the foundations and homes, and
helped the young couples to start in life.
Pierre Terriot's home was, moreover, the asylum for orphans and widows,
till the children grew up and were able to set up for themselves. The
settlers married young, and were encouraged to do so, for they were a
home-loving people, and industrious.
"Their dwellings were open as day, and the hearts of the owners;
Where the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in abundance."
The Terriots numbered about fifty, and were also settled in other parts
of Nova Scotia. This region seemed to attract the younger people from
the older and more thickly settled country of Port Royal. It was
favorably situated, more remote from the New England colonies, and so
conditioned that all who came could acquire land and make homes.
[Illustration: At Annapolis Royal
The Old Port Royal
At Annapolis Royal--once the busy capital--one is struck by the
peace and content which seems to reign everywhere, and perhaps the
most peaceful spot is amongst the grass-grown ramparts of the old
Fort--softened and rounded by time, and in summer carpeted with wild
flowers. A magnificent sweep of the wide river mouth lies in front,
and the Fort, built on a high bluff, looks over the valleys of the
Lequille and Annapolis Rivers on either hand. The buildings still
standing are the officers' quarters, which are interesting, and no
doubt were considered luxurious in those days, and the old powder
magazine, built nearly three centuries ago, and still in excellent
repair. A horrible dark dungeon, chill and damp, is built under the
ramparts at one angle, and the picturesque sally port is still much
as it was in olden days.]
Next to the Grand-Pré Park land, the New Minas relics of the Terriot
settlements and the work of their descendants are the most numerous and
interesting. Many cellar foundations remain as they were left in 1755
after the houses and barns were burned. The English colonists of 1760
raised their houses farther away from the marshes, so that the Terriot
landmarks for the greater part still remain undisturbed. Some of their
houses were forty-five feet square, with huge chimneys built outside ten
feet square at the ground, traces of which still remain.