The North Lake Connection

These memories are a provincial treasure, a rich tapestry of humanity and part of the shared legacy of Western New Brunswick's participation in the rum running trade of the Prohibition years.

The Volstead Act, was introduced in 1920 prohibiting the populace of the United States from making, selling, distributing or imbibing in any form of alcohol between the years 1920 and 1933.

The Volstead Act was the single greatest event to put money in the pockets of New Brunswickers and help ease the hardships of that dismal period of history known as the Dirty Thirties.

Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States single-handedly did more for the economy of New Brunswick between the years 1920 and 1933 than any Act of Parliament before, during or since.

It was Coolidge's Act of Congress that introduced the Law of Prohibition. As the states ran dry Canada increased all aspects of booze—either the legal manufacture or moonshining, distributing from breweries or back roads, marketing by legal advertisement or by word of mouth, transporting from an established brewery or out running the law in Packards, illicit smuggling or affixing the legal bill of lading. Whether the handlers of a booze supply were legal or running for years outside the law, activity was ramped up.

And everyone had a finger in the pie. Poor people, professional people, business people, politicians and the clergy. Booze, for 13 years, was the cash cow.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: When I became inspired to write this series I am sure there were people who, knowing my family background, must have remarked, "Well, if she wants to write about this so badly, she can start in her own family." I intend to do just that. In the York County Installment of this series I will write about my family's participation in rum smuggling , peddling and running in New Brunswick. For in fact it was this precious piece of hidden history that later inspired me to write my second novel, The Breadwinner, set in western New Brunswick of the late 20s and early 30s.

In the writer's family, it was understood that the sole reason for dabbling in the making of and the transporting and selling of illegal booze was crucial to making a living. Times were hard and any way that a man could put food on the table and a roof over the family was acceptable. On the other hand, allow this author to be perfectly clear: my family believed in honesty, charity to fellow man and a firm faith-based belief. I've yet to meet a man who said they weren't used well by Jack and Wilbur Murphy.

How lucky we are, that someone is willing to tell these old stories; stories that are so much a part of who we are as a people and where we've been.

There are many stories in Carleton County. The stories are in the nursing homes, the retirement communities, the bars and the back kitchens of farm houses. They are found in all walks of life: men who drink and men who have never drank, men who are on welfare and cheap wine, and men who attend church on a regular basis – they all have a story to tell. These men are a wealth of resources eager to be tapped into. This series will attempt to tell some of these stories from the western counties of New Brunswick.

Anne Marie Murphy wishes to thank all people interviewed for this series. Without you, this series would not have come to fruition. Thank you for your candid remarks and in return I shall put into print what I promised you: I will protect and preserve your anonymity

If you have a story to share, write the author at: annemariebeattie(at)sympatico(dot)ca

The series as they appeared in the Woodstock Observer-Bugle, May and June, 2009 are reproduced here for the benefit of those who may not have seen the articles and anyone interested in the historical aspects of that era.

1. The Thirties
2. Memories of Carleton County
3. Madawaska and Victoria Counties
4. Across the International Border
5. Bootlegging in York County in the 1930s
6. Rum Running in Charlotte County
7. The Border Towns of New Brunswick and Maine

Home ©Anne Marie Murphy 2009