Walks by Big Alex’s Pond by Henry Van Berkel – Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway

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Ten years after Big Alex MacDonald leaves his home in Ashdale, Nova Scotia, in the 1880’s to find his fortune, he amasses fabulous wealth almost overnight in the Yukon and becomes known as “the King of the Klondike”. At his death a decade later, there is not enough money in his estate to cover expenses. What happened to his immense riches? A century after Alex’s departure from Nova Scotia, the author purchases “Big Alex’s” family land and finds his own El Dorado amongst the riches of friends, neighbours and family, and the endless fascinations of nature. On hikes along the roads of the historic property he muses about the drama of his own past, and the life journeys of his family members and those of his neighbours.

Enjoy an Exclusive Excerpt

First, I must tell you the story behind the name for the pond. Alexander “Big Alex” MacDonald was born on this property on October 15, 1854, and baptized fifteen kilometres away in St. Ninian’s Cathedral, Antigonish, a week later. Alex was the son of upright, hardy Scottish immigrants who had laboured mightily to clear the land and build a prosperous farm on top of these Ashdale highlands, located approximately two miles north of Lochaber

Lake, the very lake Joseph Howe had described in 1821 as “Sydney’s sylvan pride.” (Antigonish County was called Sydney County in his day.) Alex’s family were known locally as the “Black Bills.” I think this was because Alex’s father, William, had black hair. It was a way to distinguish this MacDonald family from numerous other members of the MacDonald clan who had settled in Antigonish County, having been forced out of the highlands of Scotland during the century following the 1746 disaster at Culloden.

William MacDonald was born in Strattglass, Scotland, in 1814, migrated to Nova Scotia with his buddy, William Chisholm in 1834, and bought the Ashdale property from Edward Hayes. To earn the money to buy the farm, he walked eight hundred kilometres to Miramichi, New Brunswick, to work in the woods. There he saved his hard-earned cash, and after accumulating sufficient funds to give him prospects, he returned to Antigonish the way he had come—by foot.

William then laboured one summer for Murdock MacRae in the neighbouring community of Beaver Meadow. His payment was a cow. With these carefully gathered assets, he entered marriage in 1844 with a Margaret Catherine Chisholm of Antigonish Harbour, and together they developed their farm and raised a family of ten children: sons William, Donald, Daniel, Alexander, John, and Colin and daughters Margaret, Ellen, Ann, and Elizabeth. Alex was their fifth child.

It is likely that Alex learned Gaelic at his mother’s knee. Whatever English he picked up during his childhood at home or at the local school did not give him ease and fluency of expression in his second language. His speech, in adulthood, was described as hesitant and awkward, so much so, that some thought he wasn’t too smart.

About the Author:Ten years after Big Alex MacDonald leaves his home in Ashdale, Nova Scotia, in the 1880’s to find his fortune, he amasses fabulous wealth almost overnight in the Yukon and becomes known as “the King of the Klondike”. At his death a decade later, there is not enough money in his estate to cover expenses. What happened to his immense riches? A century after Alex’s departure from Nova Scotia, the author purchases “Big Alex’s” family land and finds his own El Dorado amongst the riches of friends, neighbours and family, and the endless fascinations of nature. On hikes along the roads of the historic property he muses about the drama of his own past, and the life journeys of his family members and those of his neighbours.

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