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Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

Pioneers, Ploughs, and Politics: New Brunswick Planned Settlements

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Chapmanville Conclusion

Other Social Institutions and Organizations
Along with the parish church, a number of other social institutions and community services were established in Johnville during the first decades of its existence. A regular weekly mail service was soon operating, and a post office was established in 1862 in postmaster William Boyd's house. A log schoolhouse also opened about this time. Soon a second schoolhouse was built to accommodate the growing number of children.
About the turn of the 20th century, a number of societies and organizations were established. The Johnville Debating Society, branches of the Ancient Order of Hiberians, the Father Matthew Total Abstinence Society, and the Canadian Order of Foresters were created in 1896, 1898, 1905 and 1906 respectively. Named for the place in Ireland where ancient Irish kings were crowned, Tara Hall opened in 1904 to serve as a community center. Here Johnville residents gathered for lively fiddle music, Irish dancing, parish suppers, concerts, plays and political rallies.
The community continued to grow and develop in the 1920s. The Holy Name Convent was constructed in 1928 to accommodate the Sisters of Charity, who had come to Johnville in 1924. A branch of the Holy Name Society was formed in 1920, and the League of the Sacred Heart was established in 1927. The community's sense of its Irish-Catholic heritage remains evident today.


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