[edit]
See also: History of New Brunswick
Captain William Owen
There are no traces of settlement by the Passamaquoddy or Norsemen who may have visited the island. The first Europeans in the region were Pierre Dugua de Mons and Samuel de Champlain, who founded the nearby 1604 Saint Croix Island settlement. It has been speculated that the fort of Jean Serreau di St Aubin, known to have been built somewhere in the Passamaquoddy Bay but vacated in the years surrounding King William's War and Benjamin Church's 1704 expulsion of the French from the Bay, may have been situated on Campobello.
In 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) made the island part of British Nova Scotia. The first known settler from the British Isles was James Boud of Kilmarnock, who settled in 1760. By 1766, several families had taken up fishing on the northern part of the island.
Its first post office opened in 1795.
In 1770, the island was granted to Captain Owen who dubbed it "my island", and "just as a ship's master at-sea was the ultimate authority...Owen decided the best system for Campobello would be for the island to consider itself at-sea". Owen immediately set to work building a town he dubbed New Warrington (Wilson's Beach, today) but after only a year on the island in June 1771, Owen was recalled to active military service; he never returned to Campobello Island although still advertising for industrious farmers to help settle it before his 1778 death in Madras, India. His one year on the island "launched a feudal dynasty that was to reign well over a century".
In 1772, Plato Denny, of the original proprietors whom Owen had left behind to "direct, conduct and superintend the affairs of the island", quit his stake on Campobello in 1772 and declared his indentured servants' longing for England was reason enough to return with a number of discontent early colonists. An award-winning study published by the National Genealogical Society suggests the alleged sinking of the ship with the death of all aboard was not truthful, but that with Owen's departure it was intended for all settlers to soon abandon the island, and that Denney himself later became a prolific slave trader based in Liverpool, England.
During the War of 1812 the British Navy seized coastal lands in Maine as far south as the Penobscot River but returned them following the war, except for offshore islands. Capt. Owen wrote to the Prince Regent, noting that if the Crown insisted on ordering Campobello residents to perform military drills on the mainland as he had cautioned against, the Crown may find Campobello fighting against it, and stating "the Crown alone, without our consent, has no right to tax us".
In 1817, the United States relinquished its claim to Campobello, Deer, and Grand Manan islands, in exchange for islands in Cobscook Bay. The provincial government of New Brunswick funded the construction of Head Harbour Lighthouse, or East Quoddy Head Light, in 1829; this light station would be a counterpart to West Quoddy Head Light which the United States built in the previous decades. As of 1842, Thomas Wyer was one of three commissioners of the lighthouses on Machias Seal Island, Campobello and at Saint Andrews.
1837 advertisement by WFW Owen, seeking tenants for the island
In 1835, the illegitimate son of Captain Owen, Vice-Admiral William Fitzwilliam Owen, became sole proprietor of the island and took great interest in his advanced years in building the island community but struggled with an "addiction" to local women. He formed the Campobello Mill and Manufacturing Company to further development.
In 1866, a band of more than 700 members of the Fenian Brotherhood arrived at the Maine shore opposite the island with the intention of seizing Campobello but were dispersed by British warships from Halifax.
British naval officer John James Robinson became owner of the island in 1857 by virtue of having married Owen's daughter.
In 1867, Captain Robinson Owen was staunchly against Canadian Confederation. In 1881, the widow of Capt. Robinson Owen sold 1,200 acres of the island to a group of American businessmen including James Roosevelt and the island was developed as a resort summer colony, which ended "the dynasty" of Owens ruling the island. A luxurious resort hotel and many grand estates were built. Beginning in 1883, the Roosevelt family made Campobello Island their summer home.
As of 1898, the island's businesses were listed as general shops run by Guilford Babcock, Alva Brown, Jackson Howard, Lissie Kelly, WE Ludlow and Lincoln Parker - as well as "Trader" JA Calder, fish merchant CH Basson and JA Sherlock's hotel.
Religion[edit]
The journals of William Owen note that he held Anglican religious service in a shed for all the members of his new settlement on June 10 1770 just days after their arrival. William's son David Owen built a church in which he himself preached and performed marriages. Upon taking over, David's brother William Fitzwilliam introduced a lesser form of Droit du seigneur, insisting that he personally had the right to every wife's first kiss on the island following marriage.
Captain Robinson Owen built a Baptist church at North Road that was destroyed and rebuilt following the Saxby Gale and Wilson's Beach remained staunchly Baptist, while Owen built a new Anglican church centered at Welchpool.
In 1842 the Anglican bishop consecrated the church and cemetery; the block of stone from which the baptismal font was carved was taken from the "Church of the Knights Templar at Malta" and transported by Owen's son-in-law. In 1846, Rev. Harry Leigh Yewens was sent to Campobello and Deer Islanda where he spent three years as a catechist and teacher.
Smuggling[edit]
"A stranger would at first view say that little or no business was done here [in Eastport], but being situated so near the British boundary and from the number of large stores, it is very evident that smuggling to a great extent is carried on. The inhabitants of Eastport however seem to be a decent people.— Allan Gilmour
The population was increased by United Empire Loyalists after the American Revolutionary War. Smuggling was a major part of the island's prosperity around this time, starting as soon as 1807 and contributing to residents' economic freedom from the Owens. In later years, it was remarked that merchant ships secretly putting ashore at Eastport, Maine would report in ledgers that they travelled to "Sweden" once or twice a day with their wares. Many of the smuggling ships used Swedish flags or those of other unaligned European nations to avoid seizure. Following his defection, General Benedict Arnold set up a smuggling operation on Campobello Island transiting Saint John goods.
The first major regional smuggling trial convicted Gillam Butler of Campobello in 1796 of illegally importing US whale oil under the pretense it was harvested in New Brunswick. Southwestern New Brunswick smugglers in the late 18th century were "the overwhelming majority of the local political machinery, including the judiciary" - and a 1796 seizure found contraband tied to the "leading figures and magistrates" of Campobello, Grand Manan and Indian Islands.
Treasury Department agents exchange letters and articles about the evangelical deacons smuggling operation.
In 1808 it was noted in US military channels that the settlement of Moose Island had grown solely through its ability to smuggle goods with Campobello. During the War of 1812, the need for American food to move into Canada and British goods to move into the United States led historian Charles W. Kendall to assert that "during the war there was a tacit treaty on the Maine and New Brunswick frontier...customs officials did not recognize it, but American and British merchants did." The close of the war brought an end to the first major period of smuggling on Campobello.
Through the 19th century, smuggling was a major industry on Campobello. In 1898 it was noted that "many of the inhabitants here may be considered...daring in carrying on a successful illicit trade, to rival even the far-famed Dirk Hatteraick.
Smuggling, or rum running, became notable again following the 1870 economic downturn and reached its heydey during the 1920s Prohibition. Police boats began waiting in the waters to intercept and search vessels travelling between the countries. In 1883, the US Treasury Department charged three evangelical deacons from Lubec with smuggling "immense quantities of wool, skins, rags and lead" purchased in New Brunswick and brought to Patch's Factory of Campobello to be sneaked across the border by locals at night.
In 2019, senator David Adams Richards raised concerns that the anti-smuggling provisions of Bill C-21 would unfairly target Campobello residents who needed to bring materials through the United States.
Shipwrecks[edit]
An illustration of a shipwreck from a tourism booklet.
On May 24, 1841 the Admiral Benbow was wrecked on the shore of Campobello, with all crew rescued.
On January 21 1865, the British-flagged schooner Liseon was wrecked on the shore of Campobello.
In February 1855, the British-flagged War Eagle wrecked on Campobello Island after departing Saint John for Liverpool, but was refloated.
In 1876, the Snow Bird was wrecked.
Franklin D. Roosevelt[edit]
See also: Roosevelt Campobello International Park
Campobello's potential for tourism was explored in the 1880s, while nearby The Algonquin and Bar Harbor resorts were being developed. Campobello became home to a smaller and more exclusive development by several private American investors. A luxurious resort hotel was built and the island became a popular summer colony for wealthy Canadians and Americans, many of whom built grand estates there.
Among those with estates were Sara Ann Delano and her husband James Roosevelt Sr. from New York City. Sara Delano had a number of Delano cousins living in Maine, and Campobello offered a beautiful summer retreat where their family members could easily visit. From 1883 onward, the Roosevelt family made Campobello Island their summer home.
Their son, Franklin D. Roosevelt, would spend his summers on Campobello from the age of one until, as an adult, he acquired a larger property — a 34-room "cottage" – which he used as a summer retreat until 1939. It was at Campobello, in August 1921, that the future president fell ill and was diagnosed with polio, which resulted in his total and permanent paralysis from the waist down. Roosevelt did strive to regain use of his legs but never again stood or walked unassisted.: 236  His visits were mostly as a child, only staying overnight once while president. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr., the fifth of six children born to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt, was born on the island in August 1914.
