Waterloo, Nova Scotia

The European roots of the community are predominantly from small German states which are comprised by the Germany of today and from the region known as Montbéliard in eastern France.

Waterloo Settlement's first settlers were sons and daughters of second and third-generation German and Montbéliardian immigrants brought to Nova Scotia as loyal citizens to the British crown in 1750–52.

The French-speaking Montbéliardians were considered good candidates to emigrate since they were known to be "very frugal, as well as strong independent laborers" (Withrow, 2002).

They do not talk much, but look as though they thought—easy going, and good tempered... they are hearty eaters, but they are not fussy and finikin over their food... so long as the dish is wholesome, and there is sufficient of it, they are satisfied... in the sensuous arts of painting and sculpture, the Germans are poor.

[1] These German, Swiss, and French settlers arrived just prior to the tumultuous years when Nouvelle France was being defeated by the British, resulting in the first Treaty of Paris (1763).

Many Acadians were expelled in 1755 and these German Protestant immigrants initially were the new population sought to outbalance the French and Mi'kmaq influence in the region—both of which were Catholic (Withrow, 2002).

Michael was soon followed by George Hirtle (DesBrisay, 1895), who eventually was granted 600 acres (2.4 km2) in total in the Long Lake area.

"[7] The third man to arrive was his brother, James Hirtle, who was granted a total of 364 acres (1.47 km2) south of Long Lake and north of the Waterloo Road, also in the Montreal Settlement area.

In one example, Charles Tupper, later to become the sixth Prime Minister of Canada, in his role as the provincial secretary granted Absalom Wile 150 acres (0.61 km2) of his final 735 in 1858 while Nova Scotia was still a colony.

This Johann Friederich Weil came from Lützellinden, Germany, today a suburb of Gießen, a city in North Hesse.

Church records and headstones show that Susannah was buried in the same Waterloo Cemetery as her step-son Philip, and her sons, George, Michael, William, David, and Isaac.

A Mr. James Dowling's father taught school in Michael's house for a couple of winters, periodically walking the 70-kilometre round trip from his home in Lunenburg.

Generally during those early years, most of the resolutions put forward involved the school building and maintenance; the letting of contracts for "fire making" and provision of firewood were common themes (Waterloo, 1894–98).

Douglas A. Conrad, the pastor of the Waterloo church, hosted the many visitors and guest speakers during the five days of celebration.

This adherence to the faith and a continuing desire for a local place of worship was evident in the results of the vote taken at the Planning Committee (c. 1969) that addressed the potential merger of five regional congregations.

Some interesting dialectal forms of words and unique phrases are spoken in the community and county at large—sometimes known as "Lunenburg English".

Some words are spoken without a conventional hard "r" consonant such as "ova" (over), "hause" (horse), "aw" (our), and "ca" (car).

For example, cutting wood into pieces or chunks is "junking it up" (perhaps from "chunking it up"); standing with one's back toward someone is "standing back to"; babies sometimes "crex" (perhaps akin to the Deitsch Grex, meaning a whimper or a creaking sound) and cry (whimper or whine); and "squauze" as the past tense for squeeze; and a "sneaky" person is someone who is a picky eater.

The community has shared in the longevity trend[15] that statisticians say exists disproportionally in the County of Lunenburg compared to other world statistics.

Another food is the Lunenburg sausage made from ground pork and beef, spiced with coriander and stuffed into the entrails of the hog.

The entire line was installed during the winter of 1949–50 and on one day in April at 4:30 PM residents saw all the lights come on in the homes that had been wired.

Privacy was afforded on an honor system where if the line was already in use by someone in the party, the "receiver" was placed back on the hook and the would-be caller tried later.

Planting the potatoes, cucumbers, corn and pumpkins was hard work since the soil often had many rocks and roots requiring the most effective tool: a sharp stick.

Turnip and grain seed was sown by hand and covered with soil scratched up by the "burnt-land harrow" made from the crotch of a tree with protruding spikes.

After two or three years, the crops were rotated to another piece of burnt land leaving the depeated soil either for rough pasture or the seeding down to hay (Martin, 1974).

Michael and the other first farmers were first preoccupied with producing bread with their own flour since the cost of imported wheat was prohibitive.

Michael Wile identified the land as "great moose country" where the community hunters killed upwards to 10 in a season—some of which weighed 800 pounds (Desbrisay, 1895).

Since the mid-20th century wild blueberries have been cultivated on the Isaac Wile Hill and Balsam Fir Christmas trees have been grown in various parts of the community.

[17] This is key to an industry which exports 80 percent[18] of its product to the USA—a market that is steadily become interested in artificial trees that don't drop needles.

Much pulpwood and timber has been harvested from the community especially since the Mersey Pulp Mill was built in 1929 in Liverpool, Nova Scotia (Bowater, 2007).

Looking across Matthew Lake from the Allan Wile Hill to the Isaac Wile Hill, Waterloo, Nova Scotia. Allan was the son of Isaac. The practice of building homes and clearing land on the tops of drumlins was the standard settler practice. Both these hills are approximately 125 metres above sea level. A narrow isthmus separates Matthew Lake from Frederick Lake. The Adelbert Wile road runs through this connecting the hills.
The Michael Wile Road is the new name for the former Veinot Road and reflects the original colonists Michael and Lucy Wile. St. Clair Veinot and his wife Sadie Wile Veinot owned and lived in the Michael Wile home place after Michael and Lucy passed on.
The gravesite of George "Michael" Wile, one of Susannah Fiendel Wile's eight boys; husband to Lucy Salome Hirtle Wile.
The gravesite of "Lucy" Salome Hirtle Wile, one of Michael Hirtle's seven daughters; wife of George "Michael" Wile.
On the horizon is the original drumlin cleared by George "Michael" Wile and his wife Lucinda "Lucy" Hirtle. This hill is the one Lucy refers to from the early days of the settlement when she speaks of spreading a quilt between the stumps to place her basket of children on, and then another quilt above them for shade, when she was "reaping and doing other work".
This primary source gives evidence of the use of the name "Montreal Settlement" in reference to west Waterloo at Long Lake in the 1890s. The origin of this name or even the use of the name is unknown to present Waterloo residents.
Overlooking Frederick Lake from the Isaac Wile Hill. The Allan Wile Hill is on left horizon and the William Wile Hill is just left of center. Allen was the son of Isaac and William was Isaac's brother.
Isaac Wile's grave site—the youngest of Susannah's children—in the middle and George Wile (father of Dean Wile of Wile's Carding Mill) and his wife Mary Ann Hirtle in the right background with their mother Susannah in the left background. Note the former school, now community hall, in the background.
Susannah Fiendel Wile's (1786–1878) gravesite, Waterloo, Nova Scotia. This grave is within meters of her sons George, Michael, William, Isaac, and David whose grave is unmarked.
This building has served as school and now community center since it was first built in the c. 1860s .
The St. Michael's Church in earlier 1900s. Notice the quality of the main road in the foreground.
The German head yoke. The German head yoke was similar to the Acadian head yoke in that both attached to the head at the horns. The alternative was the New England bow yoke that rested loosely on the necks of the oxen. These two Hereford oxen are about to be led in a summer parade.
Here Kate and Lady, a Belgian team, is still worked in the Annapolis Valley. The last draft horse in Waterloo to provide the horsepower for cultivation was Bill, a black Belgian in west Waterloo in 1968.
Drumlins, or little hills formed by glacial action, are a key feature in this and other communities in Lunenburg County. Here on the left is the "James Hirtle Hill" and on the right is the "Michael Wile Hill". The image is being taken from the "Bolivar Hill."
A Waterloo hobbyist in Waterloo prunes Balsam Fir trees in October. Christmas trees must have "three frosts" to stabilize the needles before commercial growers cut, haul, bale, and ship as far away as New England or Puerto Rico .
Wild blueberries are not "cultivated" but grow naturally on drumlins. These berries require the proper growing conditions to be successful. This usually involved removing any canopy that interferes with direct sunlight exposure.