JAMES PENNY

200th Anniversary of His Arrival on the Island

By John Herring (1.4.2.6,7.2.)

James Penny came to Prince Edward Island in 1806 and settled at Murray Harbour where he made a deal to buy 300 acres of land from John Cambridge. This was an unusually large amount of land for a new settler to receive but at that time there were very few people living in the Murray Harbour area and Cambridge was anxious to have it developed as soon as possible. Also, it seems reasonable to conclude that James Penny must have been young, strong and ambitious in order to convince Cambridge that he was capable of working so much land and paying for it.

John Cambridge was the owner of the territory known as Lots 63 and 64 which included all of the land on the north and south shores of Murray Harbour and totalled about 40,000 acres. Cambridge was eager to advance his business interests and encouraged new arrivals to settle in this area by granting them generous terms to buy land for farming.

Several other families arrived that same year coming from the island of Guernsey in the English Channel. They also made deals with John Cambridge who was willing to sell land to them in exchange for the trees that they would need to cut down in order to clear their land and farm it. Being a shrewd businessman, John Cambridge turned the trees into lumber at his saw mill and then turned the lumber into sailing vessels at his ship yard. Both of these operations were located at the nearby settlement of Murray River about 5 miles to the west.

Cambridge filled his ships with cargoes of lumber, salted fish, seal oil and furs sending them to England to be sold at markets there. For the return voyage, Cambridge filled his ships with manufactured goods such as clothing, furniture and tools that he then sold to the settlers at Murray Harbour, Murray River and the surrounding areas.

James Penny began the hard work of clearing his land and building a house as well as planting some crops and harvesting them. The next year he married Anna Catherine Heartz whose family were Loyalists who came to Prince Edward Island after the American Revolution. In 1808, James and Catherine had their first child a daughter named Elizabeth. In the following years, their family continued to grow with the addition of 3 sons: James in 1810, John in 1812 and Samuel in 1820.

During these years, the Pennys worked hard to build a good life for themselves in the pioneer community of Murray Harbour. By 1820, the Penny family had an excellent house and barn with a small stock of cattle and 40 acres of cleared land. Tragically James Penny died by drowning in that same year just 2 months before his fourth child was born.

This left Catherine in a very difficult situation as a widow with young children. Fortunately, Catherine had the support of her 3 older brothers who lived in the Charlottetown area. She received help also from the 2 sons of John Cambridge who served as administrators for the estate of her deceased husband. In 1822, Catherine rented the farm to a sharecropper and took her young children to live with one of her brothers. This was most likely her brother George since he had inherited from his father a farm of 100 acres situated along the North River.

When her sons were older and had the strength and skill necessary to work the farm at Murray Harbour, Catherine returned with her family and took possession of their land. In the course of time as each of the 3 sons of James Penny became of legal age they received as their inheritance 100 acres of the land that had belonged originally to their father.

James Penny (2) married Isabella MacKay in 1839 and eventually had 12 children. This was the James Penny who began the practice of setting a fire at night on Penny’s Point to help guide the fishing boats and schooners thru the channel leading into Murray Harbour. Later on he decided to hang a lantern at the end of his barn to serve the same purpose. We also know from entries that were printed in the Royal Gazette that James Penny (2) served as the local constable during the 1840’s and as the harbour master in the 1850’s.

In 1869, four years before Prince Edward Island became a province of Canada, the colonial government of the Island purchased from James Penny (2) a 40 foot square piece of land and built on it a wooden tower to serve as a lighthouse. In 1878 this open structure was enclosed and shingled taking on the appearance that it still has to this day.Through 4 generations, members of the Penny family served as the lightkeepers until the lighthouse was electrified and automated in the early 1960’s.

According to the census of 1841, James Penny (2) occupied 200 acres of land. As the oldest son, he was holding in trust the 100 acres that later was owned by his younger brother Samuel. The middle brother John had already inherited his 100 acres and was living with his family on the adjoining farm. We learn from the census records of 1841 that during the previous year James produced: 300 bushels of potatoes, 80 bushels of oats, 30 bushels of wheat and 12 bushels of barley. James also had 2 horses, 7 cows, 13 sheep and 3 hogs.

Robert Penny was born in 1861. He was the 9th child and 7th son of James Penny (2) and his wife Isabella MacKay. Robert worked with his father on the farm and eventually took it over. Robert married Violet Sanders in 1887 and they had 3 children: Isabella, James Robert and Clara.

James Robert Penny was born in 1893 and married Sadie Hume in 1915. Eventually, they had 3 children: Clara, Curtis and Vernon. James Robert was both a farmer and a fisherman. He died at the comparatively young age of 44 from pleurisy and resulting complications.

Clara Penny was born in 1918 and married Lewis Buell in 1939. They had 3 children: Irma, Curtis and Dale.

Curtis Penny was born in 1920 and married Nora Herring in 1942. They had 5 children: Lewis, Roy, Clara, James Curtis and Cora.

Vernon Penny was born in 1928 and married Shirley Dennis in 1951. They had 7 children: Valerie, James Bruce, Susan, Rosalie, Joyce, Faye and Sheila.

Today about 85 acres of the land originally owned by James Penny (1) still belongs to his direct descendants. Vernon Penny now owns the land at Penny’s Point beside the lighthouse.