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CHAPTER 2
EARLY SETTLEMENT IN POINT LEAMINGTON

The Beothuk were the native people of the island portion of the province of Newfoundland, Canada. They were a hunter-gatherer group who spent the spring and summer in the coastal areas and in the fall and winter moved further inland around Red Indian Lake (the Central interior of the island). They were said to have been tall, lean and athletic in stature, with dark eyes and hair, high cheekbones, aquiline-shaped noses and handsome teeth. Their main source of food was caribou supplemented with birds, bird eggs, berries and fish. This was the reason for their occupation of the Point Leamington area. The river running through the community supplied the Beothuk with an ample amount of salmon, which the natives caught with their hands or by using fish spears. They spent many seasons at Point Leamington until the arrival of the white man when they decided to remain inland for the entire year. Such was their existence until the tribe was considered extinct with the death of the last known Beothuk, Shawnadithit, in 1829.

In the 1700's migratory fishermen began making excursions to this area. The South West Arm of New Bay was frequented by the Rowsell family of Fogo and Leading Tickles from the early 1800's, for salmon fishing in the spring and early summer and for fur trapping in the winter. Contact with the Beothuk was sometimes violent. The killing of Thomas Rowsell is a stirring event in our local tradition. The Rowsell brothers, Thomas and George, worked the brooks for Matthew Ward of New Bay, who carried on a salmon fishery on South West Brook and West Brook. The Beothuk trusted George but Thomas became their deadliest enemy (according to Rev. W. Wilson in '' Newfoundland and Its Missionaries''). Thomas was reputed as being a great Indian killer, he never went anywhere without his long flint gun, so woe betide the unfortunate Beothuk who dared show himself where Rowsell was. He is said to have never spared the life of a native. However, one day, the natives sought revenge. In 1789 they caught Thomas off guard while he was dipping salmon from his weir on South West Brook, they ambushed and murdered him in Beothuk fashion, beheaded, stripped of clothing and his body pierced with arrows, (Source; ''River Lords'' by Amy Louise Peyton).Thomas' head was pierced with a stake and placed on the hill overlooking the river thus giving the hill its name, Rowsell's Hill. Residents stated that his headstone was inscribed:
Do not come over to this brook
Unless you guarded be,
For Indians lie in wait
To steal your life away.

After his death, his brother George assumed charge of the salmon stations. After George's death it was taken over by George's son Joseph, then by George's grandson Henry. It was still being run by the Rowsell family 100 years after Thomas' death. (Source; ''River Lords'' by Amy Louise Peyton).

The first year round settler is said to have been Isaac Stuckless, a fisherman (Formerly from Twillingate) in the 1860's, followed by John Cooper from England, Harveys from Twillingate and Joseph Baggs from Spainairds Bay in the early 1880's. By then trading ships were calling at New Bay exchanging supplies for fish and furs. Some other early families included Sharron, Andrews, Rowsell, Parmiter, Mugford, Hutchcraft and Walker.

Winters spent in the interior brought forth the realization of acres and acres of harvestable forest. Word soon spread of the ample supply of pine in and around the area. The boom began.

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Isaac Stuckless (1836-1902) & Rebecca (Tizzard) Stuckless (1838-1923)
mid 1860's
Point Leamington, Newfoundland, Canada

Credits:
Kaye Warford
The Point Leamington Heritage Center

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Plaque in memory of Isaac Stuckless
anytime after 1902
The Orangemens' Hall, Point Leamington, Newfoundland, Canada

Credits:
Rita Marsh

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The family of Aaron Stuckless (1868-1926)
1914-1916
Point Leamington, Newfoundland, Canada

Credits:
Kaye Warford

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Obed Stuckless (1872-1944)
1941
Point Leamington, Newfoundland, Canada

Credits:
Heritage Center

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The family of Eli Stuckless (1875-1947) & Julia Ann Stuckless(1879-1912)
1908
Point Leamington, Newfoundland, Canada

Credits:
Ruth Patey

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Julia May Stuckless (1892-1938) & Eli Stuckless (1875-1947)
1930's
Point Leamington, Newfoundland, Canada

Credits:
Primrose Woodworth

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L-R: Marjorie Stuckless (Garlands daughter), Eli Stuckless (1875-1947) Harris Stuckless (Eli's son)
1930's
Point Leamington, Newfoundland, Canada

Credits:
Heritage Center

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Selby Stuckless (son of Mark Stuckless)
1930's
Point Leamington, Newfoundland, Canada

Credits:
Ruth Rideout

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Eli Stuckless (1898-1967).
1930's
Point Leamington, Newfoundland, Canada

Credits:
Helen Stuckless

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Front: Montrose Stuckless, Dorothy Thompson, Lutie Patey, & others
1931
Point Leamington, Newfoundland, Canada

Credits:
Sadie Rowsell

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Marie (Stuckless) Thompson & Olive (Yates) Andrews
1940's
Point Leamington, Newfoundland, Canada

Credits:
Fern Brent

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Marshall Stuckless Family
early 1950's
Point Leamington, Newfoundland, Canada

Credits:
Lorne Stuckless

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Mr. & Mrs. Mugford, owners of Mugford's Hotel.
1890's
Point Leamington, Newfoundland, Canada

Credits:
James Andrews
The Point Leamington Heritage Center