The history of Smithfield was written by Jean L. MacIntosh, daughter of
George Brown MacIntosh, as a school essay assignment. It was written about 1930 and therefore when she wrote "now" or "at present" she is referring to that date. Jean later told some items to Elma Fraser Perry (who submitted this history). Elma wrote them down. Those items are in brackets. See MacIntosh & Glencross pages for more information.
SMITHFIELD
Squire Thomas Glencross was the first settler to come to Smithfield. He
came from Scotland and lived on what is now known as the Kirk property. The exact date is unknown, but it is thought that Mr. Glencross
landed in Nova Scotia about 1740 (circa 1811-See Web Page 5 "Land Papers dated July 10, 1811"EP)
William Smith and his wife Eliza Faircloe landed in Halifax with their ten children some years later.(The 10th child was born in Halifax around 1820. E.P.) They came from the north of Ireland. (Bagnelstown, County Carlow. E.P.) On landing in Halifax, he sent his second oldest son , Joseph, to look for a place to settle. Joseph came to the West River, St. Mary's, to the cabin of Squire Glencross, and on looking around, he found the land to be fertile and plenty of salmon in the river. He returned to Halifax for the rest of the family. Each son of William Smith cleared a farm for himself. Thus the name "Smithfield"
as given to the place. William Smith was the first man to build a board house. He also put up the money to build the present school building.
The MacIntosh's were the next to come to Smithfield. Three brothers came from Scotland. One of them, George MacIntosh, settled on what is now known as the King MacIntosh property. He married Jane Ettinger from Maitland, Hants County. The other brothers were John & James. James returned to Scotland after a few months.( REF: Letter to George dated Marnoch, May 11, 1855.) EP
David Palmer and wife, who was a niece of Squire Thomas Glencross,also came from Scotland. Their farm is now vacant and is still known as the Palmer property.
George Tait came from Ireland. He married Miss Fisher from Lochaber, Antigonish County. They had three sons, John, Henry and William; also three daughers: Agnes, Margaret and Sarah. John and Henry never married and are the only two of the family to live in Smithfield; both are dead. William married Miss Stewart from Lochaber. Their daughter Sarah (Mrs. Harry Stewart) lives at Melrose. Agnes, the only daughter of George Tait and Miss Fisher, married Samuel Archibald at Glenelg. A son Alex.G. Archibald and daughter Janet Archibald live at
Glenelg.
A family of MacLeod's also lived on what is now known as the property of Russell Jordan. There are no descendents living in Smithfield. There is a lake quite near that property known as the "MacLeod Lake".
A story is told of James Smith, son of William Smith and Eliza Faircloe, who lived on the property where the school building now stands. He and his wife, Martha Rude, were visiting at her home in Country Harbour. They left their pig to thrive for himself on beechnuts. On returning, they noticed that the door of their cabin was ajar. They looked in and saw the pig sleeping comfortably in their feather bed.
John Smith, son of William Smith and Eliza Faircloe, learned the mason trade and helped to do the mason work on the Parliament Buildings in Halifax. (The work was said to have been done in 1819. E.P.)
