Princeton (Seal Cove) - Community History

After Newfoundland joined Canada big changes occurred. The seniors, women and children of the community were among the first to see the benefits. The elderly people, both men and women, qualified for the Old Age Pension cheques and the children under sixteen who were attending school qualified for the Family Allowance later called the Baby Bonus. The Family allowance cheque came to the mother and in many cases this was the first time many of the women had actually had cash to spend. Prior to this the women picked up supplies from the local merchant or shopkeeper and when the man of the family shipped his fish the supplies would be deducted from his pay. Now that the women had money, many opened what they referred to as a budget plan with the mainland firms of T .Eaton & Company Ltd or Simpson Sears Ltd. Both companies sent out catalogues and purchases were made by way of mail order. The local post office was a busy place with packages arriving and ladies purchasing money orders to make payments on their budget plan. Children were now able to have tailor made clothes and a few luxuries like toys. The older ladies who were receiving a pension were now able to buy a few pieces of furniture for the front room like beautiful new dining room sets. The older men who received pensions could relax a little and not work as hard as they did all their lives and they were in a position to help their sons with chores like mending the cod traps or helping them build houses and sheds.

For the working men and women the promise of a better future and more employment gave them encouragement and the Unemployment Insurance Program offered to them by the Canadian government gave them a source of income at times when they were out of work. The Newfoundland government of the day was telling fisher people they could burn their boats because there would be employment for everyone as a result of all the new jobs that would be created. Many of the Princeton fishermen did not turn away from the fishery. This was in their blood and it was their way of life and they had no desire to change it. In the mid 1950's the Canadian government made Unemployment Insurance available to people in the fishing industry and the fisher people now had a source of income during the long winter months.

After Confederation the Canadian government took control of the railway and working conditions improved for the workers and the railway line was improved somewhat but it was not brought up to the standard of the rail lines in the rest of Canada. The railway employees of Princeton were pleased with the better working conditions and they felt that their future was more secure then it had been in the past. The railway station still remained a busy place with all the mail and freight arriving from Eaton’s and Simpson’s and loads of supplies arriving for the local merchants and shopkeepers. Many people from other communities would arrive at the station to cash their government cheques each month because the station always had a supply of cash on hand. This was just as good as having a bank in the community. Besides the railway jobs several other residents were employed as public servants with both the federal and provincial governments. Some found employment each year as a result of provincial funding that was spent on local road work every fall. Work was plentiful around that time and people were living well.

By the late 1950's preparations were made to bring electricity and telephones to the community. This created work because brush had to be cut for the pole lines, poles had to be put up, and houses had to be wired. Before long all the Princeton homes had electricity and telephones. In a few short years the oil lamps and many old ways were replaced with electric lights and appliances.

The fishery was rapidly changing and with refrigeration now available salting cod was no longer the way to go. Many were selling their catch of cod to the newly constructed fish plant at Charleston where the fish was filleted and frozen for export. Princeton fisherman Lewellyn Prince played a major role in bringing the plant to Charleston. Lewellyn saw the need for a fish plant and the plan was to construct it in Princeton but at that time the pothead whale hunt was a big part of the fishery and the pothead slipway was located in the shoal cove of Charleston so it made more economic sense at that time to build the fish plant there as well. Lewellyn worked with Adolph Prince and others at Charleston to bring the modern plant to the community. When the fishermen started selling their fresh cod to the plant the women were no longer needed in the stages splitting, salting and drying. Many of the Princeton fishermen’s wives took jobs in the modern fish plant processing the fresh product.

The Princeton fishermen played a main role in the pothead harvest. The men would sail out the bay and locate pods of pothead whales and herd them together. They would drive them in the bay until they reached the shoal water of Charleston and there the pothead whales would be slaughtered by fishermen using guns aboard their small boats. After the pothead whales were slaughtered they would be hauled to the slipway in the lower part of Charleston in the area where Christopher Prince had settled over one hundred years earlier. At the slipway the whales would be cut up and processed. The fat was shipped to markets in Europe and used for oil and the meat was sent to other parts of Newfoundland and used as food in the mink farms. Many Princeton men and boys worked at the pothead slip and the pothead drives provided employment for the people of Charleston and surrounding areas. Around this time Lewellyn and a few other men constructed an ice house near the pond in Princeton. Ice taken from the pond during late spring would be stored in the ice house for use at the pothead slip during the hot summer. Lewellyn also approached government and secured the funding for a new government wharf at Princeton.

The seal hunt was still a big employer and every spring many Princeton men sailed to the front on sealing vessels. For many years several Princeton residents sailed on vessels under the command of Captain William Moss of Princeton. Captain Moss was a well known captain and spent much of his life at sea. It was on a sealing expedition to the front where he passed away and the community mourned the loss of a great seaman. Many residents in later years would travel to St. John’s or other ports and find berths to the seal hunt where they would make a good springs wages.

After Confederation life got a bit easier for everyone and with the advantages of the social programs offered people had more time for recreation. The Princeton boys and men were a rough and hardy bunch and they always enjoyed a game of hockey on the pond but around this time they started to get more organized and they formed their own team named Princeton and their motto "work will win" was written on their team sweaters. Residents were very proud of the team and with funds raised in the community they built their own hockey rink. This team played many games with other hockey teams at the Princeton rink as well as at rinks and arenas in other towns. The first goal to be scored in the new Clarenville Stadium was by Princeton Team player, Stan King, who would have probably made the NHL if he had not passed away at a very young age. Years later another team known as the Princeton Black Hawks was formed and this team played in the Trinity Bay League.

People now had more time for recreational hunting and fishing. Moose hunting became very popular with the residents of Princeton. Moose had been introduced to Newfoundland back around the early 1900's and by this time there was a population of moose on the peninsula. For a small fee people could purchase a moose licence from Calvin Prince who was a Forestry Office for the provincial government at that time. This became a big part of every household and most people wanted a moose for the winter.

Children and young adults now had a little spending money and free time. The earlier generations did not enjoy such luxuries. The Pike & Matthew families from Charleston had a movie projector and on weekends they would travel to Princeton and put of a show for a small admission fee. This was actually a movie played in either the lodge or school. There was always a big turnout to the shows and the residents looked forward to the weekends when they would get to see anything from a good old western to a love story. This was a big change from the days not so far back when children had nothing more to play with then a button or a string.

At the beginning there was only the Anglican Church and Cemetery but by this time there were several religions practicing in the community. A United Church was constructed near the old United Cemetery. A Jehova Witness Kingdom Hall was built near the river as well as a cemetery further up the road and the Jehova Wittness missionary boat the "Hope" was a frequent visitor at the wharf. . There were a few Roman Catholic residents who attended church in nearby communities.

During the 1960's resettlement was on the agenda and as a result a few new families moved to the community from Long Beach which was located down from Princeton. The new families arrived in boat with their houses in tow. The homes were hauled ashore and placed on suitable land and the population of Princeton increased a little. A large three room school was built in Princeton and students from other communities would come to Princeton to complete their high school education, grade nine to eleven. Many families would take in student boarders as well as teachers during the school year.

It didn’t take many years for the residents of Princeton as well as other communities to discover that there was a price to pay for the luxuries of Confederation. By the 1970's there were wide roads and most families had their own vehicles but as a result the railway was not getting very many passengers and the freight was now being hauled by truck instead of train. The Bonavista Branch was about to close and in 1983 the train passed through the community for the last time and by 1986 the rails were removed. Some of the Princeton workers who qualified took early retirement while others were laid off.

By this time the Canadian government had placed a five year ban on the pothead harvest and people realized that it would never reopen again. The Canadian government also closed down the seal harvest because of pressure from various organizations. The Canadian government closed the commercial salmon fishery and was in the process of buying back salmon licences. The fishermen of Princeton could no longer supplement their incomes by participating in the whale harvest, seal harvest or salmon fishery.

By the end of the 1970's the school at Princeton had closed completely and all children from kindergarten to grade eleven were transported by bus to other communities to attend school. Many of the government employees were losing jobs with both federal and provincial levels and the outlook for the future was very bleak. The cost of living was very high and many of the social programs such as unemployment insurance was about to be cut. Many people left Princeton around this time in search of work. The people who stayed were mostly fishing families and they were still accustomed to the ups and downs of the industry.

Princeton had always played a role in fire patrol and during the 1980's many residents worked with the people of the surrounding communities to form a volunteer fire department. This eventually led to the construction of a new Fire Hall in the community and the purchase of fire trucks and fire fighting equipment. The Fire Hall is one of the most modern to be found in any small communities around Newfoundland. Princeton and two other communities came together to form a Local Service District which provides services like garbage pick up to the residents. Princeton has been well served by both organizations for a number of years. Around this period a group of residents along with other communities formed a Softball League and softball games were held regularly on the Prince family field in Princeton. This became a big attraction and for a few years the group along with the Volunteer Fire Department held an annual community event referred to as Recreation Day or Carnival Day.

During the 1980's the squid industry and the capelin fishery became the main source of income for the Princeton fishermen. The old government wharf that Lewellyn Prince had fought so hard for back in the 1950's was a total wreck and Lewellyns nephew Gerald Prince who was now a fisherman lobbied the federal government until he succeeded it getting a new wharf for the community. Gerald at that time was participating in the winter cod fishery off Princeton. The dried squid, the winter cod and the female capelin were all high priced products and the wharf made it possible to harvest those species at Princeton. There was an abundance of squid and this led to the Prince family starting a small fish plant in the community. The plant was a drying operation similar to the Quinton operation of the early 1900's but the drying was now operated with electricity and furnaces instead of steam power. The plant also processed cod and provided a few jobs for the local residents. The fishermen harvested capelin in early summer and turned to shipping fresh and/or dried squid in the fall. The high price squid resulted in many people returning to Princeton and going back to the fishery. By 1990 Princeton had about fifty licenced full or part time fisher people and restrictions were placed on new licences making it impossible for new people to enter the fishery.

By this time commercial cutting and sawmill licences were also restricted and people could no longer turn to the forest to earn a living. Since the beginning of the community the local residents practiced selective cutting, the process of cutting the large trees and leaving the small until they were big enough to harvest. For years they operated this way and the small trees left by the grandparents provided marketable logs for the grandchildren. The provincial government believed in a harvesting plan that included clear cutting where you take a block of forest and large machines and take everything on that block and replant. Most local resident did not agree with this way of managing the forest but in spite of their view the government went ahead with their plans for clear cutting and more and more areas were being completely cut out and it would take many generations for the forest to grow back if indeed it ever did. By the early 1990's there remained only a few family owned commercial logging and sawmill operations in the community.

With all the difficulties and set backs nothing prepared the people of Princeton for the year of 1992. The federal government closed the cod fishery and for the first time since Samuel Prince arrived in the 1840's people could not catch a cod to sell or to eat. This was no doubt one of the biggest challenges the community faced in its history. By 1999 the government had bought back or eliminated through early retirement a large number of fishing enterprises. There had been a large number of fish plant closures which included the Charleston plant, and the government had educated most of the people in the fishing industry in one way or another but they could not offer them alternative employment. Many people once again left Princeton in search of work and at the end of 1999 there remained about fourteen fishing enterprises in the community.

Although Princeton lost a large number of their fishing enterprises they still fared better then a lot of other communities. Fourteen enterprises are a lot for a community the size of Princeton when there are some communities out there with only one or two and in other communities there are none. The remaining enterprise owners of Princeton are mostly descendants of the first settlers and they appear to be as determined and committed to the fishery as their ancestors. As the new millennium approached residents were once again uncertain about the future.