A monument will be unveiled Sunday afternoon in Monticello commemorating John McIntosh, one of P.E.I.’s earliest activists, who worked tirelessly on behalf of tenant farmers to bring about a fair and just system of land holding.The monument is being erected by the Big Cape History Society.
The ceremony runs from 2-4 p.m. Aug. 26, starting at the Monticello Log Hall and moving to the actual site which is located on the former farm of John McIntosh in Naufrage.
Society director Jenny McQuaid said for 25 years she has wanted to memorialize the man who did so much for the people of Prince Edward Island.
McIntosh’s history is a colourful one.
Although a landholder himself, he fought for the rights of oppressed tenant farmers. He got himself into the provincial House of Assembly in 1835 where he became a supporter of William Cooper’s Escheat Party.
The Escheat Party’s aim was to get land away from the absentee landlords and other large holders and speculators, who were the proprietors of the day.
McIntosh is also credited in 1844 with getting Father John MacDonald, (a priest at St. Margaret’s Parish at the time and a supporter of the large land holders), ousted from the parish and returned to England.
On New Year’s Day, when the priest (who was a large landholder himself) was at his neighbouring St. Peter’s parish, McIntosh organized a meeting and elected new elders for the St. Margaret’s church.
“When Father John got back for mass at St. Margaret’s the new elders were already in place,” said McQuaid.
The priest at first refused to recognize them but was finally hounded outside where he was lambasted by McIntosh and his group.
MacDonald later took McIntosh to court on charges of “interrupting divine service.”
McIntosh was acquitted by a judge and jury in July, and by October of the same year, Father John was on a boat heading for England.
Unfortunately, the power of proprietors was so great, said McQuaid, that the Escheat Party always lost out and for years the injustices continued.
“Finally, in 1851 George Coles was successful in getting the Land Purchase Act passed, which was the beginning of a more fair approach to dealing with proprietors,” she said.
McQuaid has written a book, Naufrage and the Cape from 1719 to 1900, which details the people and events of that era from Cable Head to Rock Barra.
Information about McIntosh and his work plays a large role in the publication. It will be available at the monument unveiling.
By Nancy Willis, Charlottetown Guardian August 23, 2007
Copyright
Waldron H. Leard
