Acadian Gold

Old Postcard of Village of Grand Pre, Kings County, Nova Scotia

The Acadian Gold story takes place in the Annapolis Valley. It is not about one singular treasure but instead tells about the treasure left behind from the Acadians. Here is the background about the Acadians.

In 1680 Pierre Melanson, his wife and five children along with Pierre Terriau and his bride left the Acadian village at Port Royal to look for a new place to settle. They travelled up the valley to the marsh land around what is known as Grand Pre today. They decided to build their little settlement there.

After clearing bush and building dykes along the Bay of Fundy they were able to claim lots of the old marsh land which proved to be very fertile land. They planted wheat, peas, flax and barley. Orchards were also planted with fine trees producing apples and plums. In their gardens they planted cabbages and pumpkins and in their pastures they had herds of cattle and sheep.

Others heard about this fine rich land and came to also settle so that by 1720 their little settlement had grown to quite a fair size.

It was not long and they built wharfs along the shore and vessels would come from the garrisons at Annapolis Royal and Louisburg to purchase their supplies. The ships would pay the Acadians with gold for their purchases. Then the Acadians would take this gold and put it in iron kettles and bury it on their properties. This is where the term Acadian Gold came from.

The land was good and the Acadians were accumulating large amounts of Acadian gold, which they had no where to spend. They were for the most part all self–sufficient.

Life for the Acadians was good, but no so for the British in the garrisons. It was a time of unrest with the threat of a large attack form the French in the air. There had been small attacks already and raids by both the French and the Mi’kmaq who allied with them. The British were in fear of a large attack and even though the Acadians claimed to be neutral, the British were worried they would side with the French.

So on September 5, 1755 Colonel Winslow of New England held a large meeting in the Church at Grand Pre. All Acadian men and boys were to attend to discuss what the future would be. The church was filled with almost every Acadian man and boy in attendance when the doors were closed and locked.

The announcement was made that the Acadians were to be deported off their lands and moved to places unknown. At first the men did not believe the soldiers, but as they realized they were locked inside the church panic arouse.

Those few who had not attended the meeting plus the women and children scurried to hide their valuables including the Acadian Gold. Chest filled with linens and treasures were hidden in the woods and down wells, anywhere that provided a hiding place.

At this point some ran into the woods to hide and avoid the deportation. But for those who had their men folk locked up in the church they were reluctant to leave them. If they had known about the confusion and unruly way they were to be handled they may have thought twice and ran off. Many never got to see their loved ones again anyway.

When the ships came to take them away panic and confusion was everywhere and in several cases families were loaded on different ships to be taken to different lands far away from each other. It was total despair throughout the land as the Acadians were shipped out, most to never see their lands or Acadian gold again.

On October 29, 1755 there were 12 ships sailing out of the Minas Basin with a total of 2.921 Acadians aboard. As the ships got farther out to sea the Acadians watched desperately as their homes were lit on fire and the smoke filled the air.

For those few Acadians who did manage to hide out in the woods, they still never got back to their lands. Some had to hide for years in the woods, or with the native Mi'kmaq tribes, hiding from the British, who would have deported them as well.

These Acadians, and the few who eventually made their way back to Nova Scotia were never able to reclaim their farms or their Acadian gold. It was years before they were finally allowed to settle on Nova Scotia soil again, but they had to go down past Digby and along St. Mary's Bay on what we call the French shore now.

Still afraid of attacks from the French, Governor Lawrence wanted the empty Acadian lands settled by people who would be loyal to the British. He sent out invitations to the New England colonies to come settle on the Acadian lands. In 1761 the old Acadian lands were taken over by the New England Planters who were promised free cleared land if they settled here.

Some of these New England Planters were known to find iron kettles full of gold and chest full of treasures while re-clearing the old Acadian lands. Much of the Acadian Gold was found during this time, but it is believed there is still a lot of treasure and gold pieces still buried in the woods and down old wells in the Grand Pre area.

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