THE FIRST LAWLOR
by Anonymous

Times were hard in Ireland long before the Famine. That was why James Lawlor left County Longford and came to Canada. The story goes that one day he was digging in a garden and found a deer's horn with some silver coins in it. There was enough money in the horn to take him to Liverpool where he got passage on a sailing ship to Quebec. After he got to Quebec he heard of the ship building industry on the Miramichi. He probably had some experience in this work because he left Quebec and started walking for the Miramichi. All he had with him was a sharp axe, a gun and a knapsack with some flour in it for bannock. He hunted what he could and built lean-tos for protection at night. Quite a feat for a man considering he was on his own in a strange country. Anyway, he made it here and got a job cutting spars for the ships they were building down around Newcastle and Chatham. He settled up around The Meadows. On October 7, 1825 he was cutting spars when the Miramichi Fire came through here. The men came out of the woods ahead of the fire and all the animals came with them. The fire jumped the river about five miles down river from Red Bank at a place called Shillelagh. The stumps from the burnt trees could be seen around there for years afterwards. Later on James saved enough money to bring his mother and father over from the Old Country. They all moved to this piece of land right here and it has been in the family ever since. They built a log cabin up over the hill back there by the Bog. The river provided the transportation and all their supplies were brought in by boat and carried up over the hill on their backs. I think he would have been smarter to build closer to the river. He was the first Flatwork in this country. Later on he married Ellen Dooley from Nelson and because of that here we all are. Something to think about,eh?