Middleton to re-enact Premier effigy burning

By Heather Killen

The Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

It would be a nice touch if Premier Rodney MacDonald could play his fiddle when the town re-enacts the burning of a stuffed dummy of one of his predecessors.

While plans for Middleton’s Centennial celebration are quietly being rolled out for next year, details of its rebellious past are also being brought to light.

Sylvestor Atkinson, member of the Centennial Celebration committee, said that the move towards Middleton’s independence from the county was actually sparked by a group of rowdies who set fire to an effigy of the Premier.

To jumpstart next year’s Centennial Celebration the town plans to invite Premier Rodney MacDonald to a re-enactment of the burning of the effigy on November 22.

More than 100 years ago, Middleton was located in Ward Two of the Old Wilmot Township, and was part of Annapolis County. The move towards incorporating Middleton as a town started in early 1906.

Members of the local Board of Trade felt taxes were too high in the county and spearheaded the move towards incorporating the area as a town.

“Some taxpayers were unhappy and wanted to separate from the county,” Atkinson said. “They needed 700 residents within 500 acres to qualify as a town.”

The board set up various committees to study the proposal, and eventually determined there was a large enough population within the area to qualify as a town.

A plebiscite was held on August 15, with 104 residents voting in favour of the move, and only 41 opposed. However when these results were reported to Halifax, there was no answer.

Atkinson said that Dr. Samuel Miller had filed an objection to the move to independence, saying that there were only 667 residents in the 500 acres, not the mandatory 700.

“On June 22, 1907 Premier G.H. Murray denied the petition for incorporation on the grounds that the 500 acres was not arranged in the area as outlined by the Towns Act,” he said.

This news was not taken kindly by the locals, who promptly gathered in protest in front of Dr. Miller’s residence.

The crowd paraded down Main St. and rallied in front of the Middleton House Hotel (now the site of Tim Hortons), where they set fire to an effigy of Premier Murray.

“In 1909, another plebiscite was held on May 8,” he said. “This time 145 voted in favour of incorporation, 27 were against.”

This time the province approved the incorporation, and the formal declaration was made on June 22, 1909. The seven members of the first town council were jointly appointed by the two provincial parties.

Thomas Jones, became the first mayor. Jones was joined by councillors Fred Bentley, George Freeman, Robie Morton, Arthur Pryor Dodge, George Reagh, and O.P. Goucher.

Atkinson added that it actually took several meetings to decide the mayor, and it was eventually the province that appointed Jones.

The first town meeting was held on July 31, and the town offices were originally set up in the old school building next to the Macdonald Consolidated School.

Atkinson said that he hopes that some of the enthusiasm and pride that once sparked the town’s move to independence may catch on to ignite pride in how the town has grown in the past 100 years.

“I’ve traveled all over the world and I don’t think you can beat what we have here,” he said. “What a great place we have here, how safe, friendly and convenient it is to live here.”