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THE GRINDSTONE KINGWelcome to old Minudie-
We are so glade you came,
We would like to tell you a story
Of a man who brought us fame.
Amos Seaman boarded a ferry,
Year seventeen-ninety five-
Just a lonely lad who had left his home,
He landed on Minudie side.
Amos grew to a man of vision
Who had a poets soul,
He saw a future in the hayfields
The grindstone and the coal.
The hay from Minudie marshes
Was shipped to Boston Town-
Soon men were digging the grinding stone
The finest there was around.
Next Amos looked to the timber
He bought a mill run by steam-
Minudie was now so busy,
The realizing of a dream.
Ships were here built to carry the cargo-
Bringing imports from distant lands,
From needed tools, to finest rum
To silk gloves for miladys hands.
He set a grant for burial land,
Imported a linden tree-
From England came water lilies,
Placed in a lake for all to see.
Amos was dubbed The Grindstone King,
And here he was laid to rest-
With him died our industry
Bur our scenery is still the nations best.
So welcome to old Minudie-
Our village of King Seaman fame,
We bid you to bide awhile-
For we are so glade you came. -Hope Harrison-
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A sketch of Minudie.1850
Minudie, Nova Scotia
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This sketch of Minudie shows some of the homes and buildings that existed in Minudie around the 1850's.4
Seaman, Amos1850
Located in a heritage home in Minudie, Nova Scotia
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Amos "Peck" Seaman was born near Sackville, New Brunswick, January 14th 1788, and was the tenth of eleven children born to Nathan & Zena Seaman, who were of Welsh origin. He was named after his mothers brother, Amos Thomas, and her mother, who was a Peck.This comment from the Amos Seaman diary on his 58th birthday, January 1846 explains how the "Peck" was discarded!
....I was namd with the adition of "Peck" which when I Came to write my name I did not like & so left out the word "Peck" appeard [too] small to me.
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A photo of the village of Minudie in the early 1900's1900
Minudie, Nova Scotia
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Although a man of limited education, he never went to school until he attended night school in Maccan in 1813, but this did not deter Amos. He became one of the wealthiest men of his time, due to his ambition, business acumen and sheer determination, and Minudie shared in his prosperity by becoming a thriving community.Amos wrote the following in his diary Sunday 25th January, 1846:
...I have had to work my way .........& never went to School until I was old enough to work day time to pay my way for Evening School.
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The Pearl Street Wharf and the A. Seaman Co. Agency in Boston.1850
Boston, Massachusets
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Amos came to Minudie when he was only 8 years old, and his family moved from Lower Maccan. When he was 12, Seaman spent time in Boston with his maternal grandparents, and worked in ship building with his grandfather.In 1810, he started an agency in Boston with his brother Job, and they began shipping hay and vegetables from Minudie to Boston and the Carribean.
This photo shows the A. Seaman Company building on the Pearl Street Wharf, Boston. Piles of grindstones are visible stacked alongside the building and wharf.
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Seaman, Jane1850
Located in a heritage home in Minudie, Nova Scotia
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In 1814, Amos married Jane Metcalf from Maccan, daughter of James and Ann Metcalf from Yorkshire. Amos apparently listened to his mother in all things except his choice of a wife, but his marriage of over 50 years, was a happy oneThe last entry of Amos's diary on May 12th, 1864 reads:
1814
50 years ago this verry day I took to my Self a Wife & with her
I have lived a Happy but Buisey life that's a fact Amos
Jane was very fond of her home and in particular her gardens. This portrait was painted on her only visit to Boston.
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Amos Thomas Seaman, the eldest sone of Amos and Jane Seaman. (1815 to 1856)1845
Minudie, Nova Scotia
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Amos and Jane's family comprised of six sons and five daughters;This photo is of their eldest child, Amos Thomas who was born in 1815 and died in 1856. James, their second son, was born in 1816 and died in 1860.
Amos Thomas built a home in Minudie in 1843, that was sold to his brother Gilbert Seaman in 1877. This home, one of the few remaining in the village of Minudie, is now a Provincial Heritage Property.
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Anne Seaman, eldest daughter of Amos and Jane Seymour1888
Minudie, Nova Scotia
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