Growth and Development
With the English and Scottish settlers' grievances finally resolved, Stanley began to prosper, and Commissioner Hayne took a leading role in this development. Keenly interested in the settlement's agricultural potential, Hayne was an active member of the York County Agricultural Society in the 1840s. The first "parish show" or agricultural fair was held in Stanley in October 1851, where grain, vegetables, stock, and butter were displayed by local farmers.
By 1858 an agricultural society had been established at Stanley as a branch of the Fredericton Society with Hayne as its first president. Within a few years the Stanley branch was organized as a separate society. Agriculture, however, failed to become the primary industry in the area. Many of the settlers had planned to sell their produce locally, but they had difficulty getting their goods to market in Fredericton and the Miramichi, as road construction and improvement had proceeded slowly. Consequently, some were forced to adopt the familiar New Brunswick pattern for rural survival - move into lumbering with agriculture becoming a secondary economic activity.