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- Clifford Eldon Geldart, was born 4 July 1898, and raised in Flint Hill New Ireland, Albert
County, New Brunswick. He was the son of William Guy Geldart and Fannie
Louise Oulton, both of whom were born in Albert County.
As a very young man Clifford
started working as a ship builder in the shipyards of Alma. This is where he met his bride, Josephine Verna Marks. She was employed
as a cook with Sam McKinnley, who was head cook at a Point Wolfe boarding house. They married on June 4, 1919. Their first born was a daughter, Elenor June Geldart.
Clifford left Albert County to work at the Welland Canal, Ontario
about 1920. He returned to Alma, to his wife and first born child, in 1921 and started working with his father, William Guy Geldart, cutting
lumber. A fire swept through the area near the covered bridge about 1926, causing them to lose their home. They moved
to West River to live with Josie's family, Alfred Marks. Two more
children were born here Eldon Ora (Bud) Geldart and Clifford Lyle Geldart.
Clifford moved his family to Pleasant Hill, Nova Scotia, in 1927 where their fourth child, Blair William Geldart, was born. He later moved to Upper
Economy, Nova
Scotia,
where he had some lumbering contracts.
Three more children were born Howard Francis
Geldart, Edward Hayes Geldart and Boyd Marks Geldart. When Clifford's contracts were fulfilled he moved his family
back to Bucket Hill, Albert County in 1938, where he built a home and their
eighth child, Avora Ferne Geldart, was born. Sadly they lost a baby girl at childbirth after Avora. Clifford
started working lumbering contracts at the head of the 45 river drive in Albert County.
When
Avora was four years old, Clifford and his family moved to Stewiacke, Nova Scotia, and lived with
the widow, Smith, on her farm, for two years while he cut lumber for her. Clifford and Josephine bought the
Old Osbourne Hotel in down-town Stewiacke and ran it as a rooming house and home for his family. Clifford died in this home
on November 19, 1961.
About 1965, Josie sold the Rooming House and moved in with her family sending awhile and moving to the next. She
was living in Nova Scotia with her youngest daughter Avora at the time of her death. She died 17th June 1990.
A general store,
E.P. Crowe, Ltd. was next door. In later years “The old Boarding House” was torn down. Today, in 2009, there
is a Royal Bank of Canada on the site. The old general store is now the Home Hardware.
Below is a newspaper article
on the”last, largest river drive" in the Portaupique area of Nova Scotia that was run by Clifford Eldon Geldart.
Submitted by: Sheila Hannah
& Avora (Geldart) Greencorn March 18 2009
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Last Large Log Drive
Completed at Portaupique
1948 - 1949
PORTAUPIQUE, June 27 - What was probably the last large drive of logs at least for generations on
the Portaupique River, was completed some weeks ago.
All winter long a large crew of men working for Clifford E. Geldart of Stewiacke cut and piled the
logs along the river for George Eddy Company.
During May when the river was in flood these thousands of logs were floated down to the foot of Castleleagh Mountain where the company’s large mill is located. Now by means of a driving dam, which stores the
water over night then opened raises the level of the river for a few hours, many thousands of feet of these logs move into
the mill each day and are sawed into lumber. This in turn is moved to the shipping point by trucks.
When this cut is finished, probably this fall it will mark the end of major lumbering operations on
the Portaupique River.
Almost since the Shore was first settled the lumber industry in this area has provided jobs foe part
of the people living here. For many years one or more mills were located in Montrose, the logs came down there by water, were
sawn into the lumber which in turn was hauled with teams to Portaupique Landing and loaded on scows or vessels. After the
first great war the last mill in Montrose closed down and there was little activity on the river until the land was sold about
four years ago the Eddy Company. No lumber has been loaded and no vessel docked at the Portaupique wharf for many years and
it is doubted if it will be kept in repair in the future.
What was once a part of the life and livelihood of the local people will soon be but a memory.
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