The History of St Martins
(1796-1967)

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Note: The following is from a paper found in an old trunk. It is ten pages long, type written on white stationary and very faded. I have made this copy for you, in the same context it was originally written. The author is unknown as there is no signature.


THE KINGS OWN RANGERS

This Corps was raised by the efforts of Lieut. Col. John Bayard, in Orange County, New York, whence
it derived its name. After the War of Independence in 1776, Lieut. Col. Bayard and some of the troops were forced by the Rebels
to flee from the United States. They settled in Wilmot, Nova Scotia. They embarked for Halifax on October 27, 1778. Later
this same Corps participated in the attack on Fort Montgomery.

In the year 1778, a detachment of the King's Own Rangers, then chiefly employed in garrison duty at Halifax, was assigned
a tract of land at Quaco Head, where they were disbanded in October 1783, and became the first white settlers in the Parish
of St Martins. Previous to this St Martins had been inhabited by Indians.

On June 5th, these early settlers sent an appeal to the Government, requesting that they be given grants of land on which
to settle in the Parish of St Martins. They met with little success until the year 1796. On the first of November, 1796, the crown
granted them 9020 acres of land. The original grant of Quaco Head was registered in the Crown Lands Office at Fredericton, New Brunswick, and a copy of the original grant sent to Mathias Moran, a member of the King's Own Rangers. The grant was dated November 1, 1796, and signed by his Excellency, Governor Thomas Carleton. This copy of the
original grant is now in possession of the family of Arthur Moran, a descendent of Mathias Moran.

The names of the original grantees are as follows: Mathias Moran, George Hewitt, Isaac Springstead Jr., Caspar Maybe, Isaac Springstead Sr., Roger Welch, George Prive, Allen McLean, George Rogers, William Carnell, Catharine Jacobs, George Price, Michael Ambrose, Daniel Vaughan, James West, Jacob Berry, and William Moran.

Of these seventeen names on the original grant, only three left descendants to carry on their names, those being Moran,
McLean, and Vaughan. Descendants of the others either died or moved away from the Parish.

In the beginning the above settlers were granted large tracts of land which they later sold and divided with others who came
and settled in the Parish, and who may be classed among the early settlers. Among these settlers we find the names: Howard,
Bradshaw, Carson, McCumber, and Floyd

St Martins was originally called Quaco. There are two legends concerning the name Quaco, which is an Indian word. One
legend relates that when the Indians settled in the place, a flock of wild ducks flew over-head quacking. The Indian word
for 'quack' was 'quaco', hence the name. The other legend relates to the driving out of the Indians stating that when the
Indians reached the top of a hill overlooking the village, they turned and uttered the word "Quaco", which was supposed to be
an Indian curse.

The name was changed from that of Quaco to its present name, St Martins, on the suggestion of Mathias Moran, who was
from the Parish of St Martins, Angouleme, France, and who was an original grantee.

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