Loder

Loder
Current region	Newfoundland and Labrador
Place of origin	England
Founded	c.1845

The Loder Family of Random Island

The first "Loader" (later shortened to "Loder") to live on greater Random Island was Silas Loader ("Silas-b1819") who was born in Old Perlican in 1819. He married Rachel Cooper of Ireland's Eye in August 1845 in the Old Perlican Methodist Church and then moved across the Bay to settle in her home community of Ireland's Eye [see Cooper Family]. Two of Silas-b1819 and Rachel's children later moved to Random Island proper where they raised families - their oldest daughter (Ann) married and moved to Thoroughfare only a kilometer or so across the water from the island of Ireland's Eye, and their oldest son (John-b1850) moved to Snook's Harbour about 30 km to the west up Smith Sound. Their youngest son James-b1860 raised his family in the community of Ireland's Eye, and passed away at his son's home in Thoroughfare.

Pre Random Island

The Random Island Loders' earliest (Loder) ancestor to live in Newfoundland was Celas Loader (or, "Silas-b1766") who, in the late 1700s, went from Sturminster Newton in Dorset England to Harbour Grace. Celas was baptized in Lydlinch Dorset in 1766, as an "illegitimate" son of Mary Loder. He bought land in Bay de Verde in 1800, and married Mary Day of there in the Anglican Church in September 1810. It appears that they had at least 4 children:

• Elizabeth who was born in 1804 in Bay De Verde, baptized in the Anglican Church in 1805, and married Joseph Bursey in Old Perlican in 1822. They had 8 children there before Elizabeth died in 1842.
• James ("James-b1807") who was born ca 1807, first married Elizabeth Gregory in 1828 in the Methodist Church in Old Perlican, and then married Ann Bursey in 1842. James had at least 5 children - 3 with Elizabeth and at least 2 with Ann - while living in Hant's Harbour. He died there in 1869.
• Jane who was born in 1813 in Bay de Verde, baptized in the Anglican Church in 1813, and married Thomas Mills in 1834 in Old Perlican. They had at least 2 children there before Jane died in 1842.
• Silas-b1819 who was baptized in the Methodist Church in Old Perlican in 1819, and married Rachel Cooper of Ireland's Eye in 1845. They settled in Ireland's Eye where they had 8 children [also see Cooper Family].

It appears from the above marriage and baptismal locations that Silas-b1766 and Mary had at least 2 children before marrying in 1810, and that they moved from Bay de Verde (where they were associated with the Anglican Church) to Old Pelican (where they associated with the Methodist Church) sometime between 1813 and 1819. It seems most likely that their son Silas-b1819 lived in Old Perlican until he married and moved to IE. But there is some uncertainty about this since death and burial information for his parents has not been found.

It should also be noted that a baptismal record for James-b1807 has not been found (baptismal records from the area are spotty between 1798 and 1814). His birth year and lineage given above have been inferred from his death record, similar first names among his siblings and his children, and DNA connections among his and Silas-b1819's descendants.

It may be that Silas-b1766 and Mary had two other children for whom there are no baptismal records:

• William (Loader) of Carbonear (near Harbour Grace in Conception Bay) who married Eliza Burnell of there in the Harbour Grace Anglican Church in 1819, was a witness to over a dozen weddings in that church between 1827 and 1833, and was listed as living in Carbonear in 1835; and
• Grace (Loader) who married William Moores in the same church in Carbonear in 1829 with William Loader as a witness.

However. no information on the parents or descendants of William or Grace has been found, nor on any connections to the Loaders of New Perlican, beyond Silas-b1766's first landing place in Newfoundland being Harbour Grace which is between Carbonear (where William and Grace lived) and Bay de Verde (where Silas-1766 bought land). It may alternatively be that William and Grace are no closer than cousins of Silas-1819 and his siblings who lived in Trinity Bay.

Random Island Families

First Generation

Silas & Rachel, & a son (probably James-b1860), taken ca1870

Two framed photos of Silas-b1819 passed down to descendants (two different poses on the deck of a schooner)

Silas-b1819 was the first of the Loder Family to live in the Random Island area. His wife Rachel was one of at least 8 children of Edward and Ann Cooper of Ireland's Eye [see Cooper Family]. Silas and Rachel continued to live in the community of Ireland's Eye until their deaths in 1904 and 1910, respectively. We refer to them as the "First Generation" of the Random Island Loder Family.

Naval records indicate that Silas was the registered owner of the 17-ton schooner 'Four Brothers' from the time of its construction in Smith Sound in 1889 until 1906 (2 years after his death). This is consistent with family lore that his youngest son James-b1860 captained a schooner starting at an early age (also see below). The 2 framed photos on the right showing Silas-b1819 in 2 different poses in 1895 were probably taken on the deck of the Four Brothers.

The abandoned community of IE in 1989

Second and Third Generations

Two of Silas-b1819 and Rachel’s children (Ann, John-b1850) married and settled on Random Island proper, one son (James-b1860) settled in Ireland's Eye, one daughter (Elizabeth) married and settled on the other side of Smith Sound, two sons (Silas-b-1853 and William) died as young men, and one daughter (Rachel) died as a child.

In the order of their births, the children (the "Second Generation", probably all born in the tiny community of Ireland's Eye) were:

• Ann who was born in 1848, married Nathaniel Mills of Thoroughfare in 1870 and settled in Thoroughfare (on the northeastern tip of Random Island). They had at least 7 children [see below].
• John-b1850 who married Jane Tilley Smith of Elliott's Cove (but formerly of Hant's Harbour [see Smith Family]) in 1873, and eventually settled in Snook's Harbour. They had 8 children – 2 born in Ireland's Eye where they initially lived, and the others born in Snook's Harbour [see below].

Silas-b1852, and the initial portion of the article on his drowning

• Silas-b1852 who died in a tragic sealing accident off Ireland's Eye in March 1875. He and his 3 brothers were hunting among the ice floes off Ireland's Eye when a captured seal caused their boat to overturn. His brothers were able to cling to the overturned boat but they were not able to rescue Silas. An article on the accident has been re-published.
• Elizabeth who was born in 1856 and, in 1882, married Alexander Gardner of British Harbour (on the northern side of Smith Sound, across from Ireland's Eye) where they settled and had at least 7 children [see below].
• William who was born in 1858 and died in 1877, from poor health after being in the cold water for a couple of hours during the 1875 sealing accident in which his brother Silas drowned.
• James-b1860 who married Caroline Eveligh of Trinity in 1881, and settled in Ireland's Ete where they raised 4 children [see below].
• Rachel who was born in 1867 and died as a child in 1877.

The following subsections provide further information on the families of Silas-b1819 and Rachel’s children who lived in the Random Island area. Information is drawn from the various indicated sources and research by the author.

Ann (nee Loder) Mills and Family

Ann Loder of Ireland's Eye and Nathaniel Mills of Thoroughfare were married in the Church of England in Trinity in November 1870, with Thomas Cooper and Susannah Mills as witnesses. They settled in Thoroughfare where they had the following children (members of the "Third Generation") [see later for these children's spouses and children]:

Headstone of Nathaniel Mills & son James

• George (1870-1906),
• Jessie Elizabeth (1873-1918),
• Silas William (1875-1955),
• James (1878-1894),
• Walter Clarence (1879-1932),
• Eliza Jane (1883-1910), and
• Annie Maud (1885-1926).

Nathaniel was born in Thoroughfare in 1846. His parents, George Thomas Mills (1809-1894) from England and Rachel Ivany (1817-1884) from English Harbour, were the first permanent settlers in Thoroughfare, in the 1840s. Nathaniel passed away in 1901 and Ann in 1923, both in Thoroughfare.

John Loder and Family

John-b1850 and Jane Loder (ca 1900)

John-b1850 & Jane Loder with son Thomas (in the 1880s)

John-b1850 married Jane Tilley Smith, daughter of Thomas and Martha (nee Tilley) Smith, in 1873 in New Bonaventure. They lived in Ireland's Eye, where their first two children were born, until 1876 or 1877 when they moved further inland in Smith Sound to become the first settlers in Snook’s Harbour proper.

Jane had moved to Elliot's Cove, about 3 km from Snook's Harbour on the opposite side of Random Island, with her family in the 1860s. Her brother William Smith moved to Apsey Brook, down the shore about 2 km from Snook's Harbour in the 1870s, such that the Random Island Smith Family by this time had established stake in two locations on the northern side of the island not far from the family base in Elliott's Cove. Some years later, Jane and William's youngest brother Aaron started a brick-making business on the island's northern side near Souley's Brook, about 2 km around the shore from Snook’s Harbour. The Loder family in Snook's Harbour was thus part of the extended Smith Family settlement on the western half of Random Island in the late 1800s [also see Smith Family].

It is noteworthy that, over a century later after the collapse of the offshore "Northern Cod" stock in the late 1990s, scientists established that a sub-stock of cod was actually overwintering and spawning in Smith Sound. This was in contrast to the bulk of the stock migrating 100s of kilometers offshore in winter to spawn over the continental slope. Thus, cod abundance was probably a factor, in addition to forest resources and farmable land, in the movement of families like the Bakers, Coopers, Loders and Smiths from "headlands" (like Ireland's Eye and Heart's Ease Beach) to communities along the protected shores of the western parts of Random and Smith Sounds. Of further note, Jane and William's maternal grandfather was "Scholar" John Tilley who in the 1850s moved across Trinity Bay from Hant's Harbour to become a noted entrepreneur in Shoal Harbour, on the mainland just across the water from the western end of Random Island.

John-b1850 and Jane’s children (members of the "Third Generation") were [see later (Third, Fourth and Fifth Generations) for more information on these children and their families]:

• William James (1874-1943),
• Silas Smith (1875-1892),
• Elkanah (1877-1899),
• Thomas Edwin (1879-1945),
• Lily Joyce (1881-1944),
• Martha Isabella (1884-1963) [see the story of her service as a nurse in World War I in Notable People],
• Rachel (1886-1887), and
• John Harold (1889-1890).

John, Jane and their children carried out a variety of activities on and from their 26-acre tract of land on the northwestern side of Snook's Harbour. These included farming, raising cattle and poultry, logging and sawmilling, fishing, seal hunting, buying and selling supplies and products (like fish and lumber), running a dry goods and grocery store (Jane), and building and operating schooners and other boats. The latter included participating in the summer fishery on the Labrador coast and along the "French shore" (the eastern side of the Great Northern Peninsula). They were also community leaders through their involvement with the church and schools; the Congregationalist mission started a school in their house, and John then built a small schoolhouse in which services were also held. John also served as a postmaster and deputy sheriff of the District Court.

John and Jane’s extensive interactions with relatives (including some of the Smith, Cooper and Baker Families) and others in the area is reflected in 2 photos of their garden party celebrating the launch of the 35-ton family schooner Mistletoe from their property in 1900. The photos, taken from the vicinity of the family house looking out over Smith Sound towards Apsey Brook, show a gala event with banners, flags, an archway, a food tent, top hats, and children playing "football" in front of a wooden goal frame. The Mistletoe remained in family possession until 1920. Family lore indicates that John-b1850 also had a connection to a schooner named Gladiola (perhaps one of the two with that name built in Smith Sound in 1879 and 1908), and it also seems likely that he had a connection to the 22-ton schooner Lilly Joyce that was launched in Snook's Harbour in 1885. Involvement with these vessels would be consistent with the indication that "in the late 1880s [and] early 1890s … the Loders … operated fishing schooners out of Snook’s Harbour".

Photos of the celebratory gathering on the Loders’ Snook’s Harbour property in 1900 for the launch of the schooner Mistletoe

Mistletoe at anchor & under sail in Snook's Harbour

Between 1909 and 1915, John-b1850 was a strong supporter of Sir William Coaker in the establishment of the Fishermen’s Protective Union (FPU) aimed at improving the lot of the fishermen of Newfoundland outports [see John Loder in Notable People]. John was referred to by Coaker as "friend John Loder, the esteemed Chairman of the Trinity District Council" and "the first to join the FPU in Trinity Bay". John was selected as a candidate for the FPU Party in the colonial election of 1913 but withdrew his candidacy in a strategy to form an alliance with another party in order to obtain stronger representation for outport Newfoundland.

Unfortunately, John’s health started to decline shortly thereafter, and he passed away in August 1916 at age 65 years. Jane lived for 2 more decades, including visits to her children in Massachusetts, before passing away in February 1837 at age 86. Their graves lie side-by-side in the United Church Cemetery in Snook's Harbour.

The two photos immediately below show, respectively, John's and Jane's house in Snook's Harbour (probably taken in the early 1900s), and their house together with the one built by son Thomas in the early 1940s.

The original house built by John-b1850 in Snook’s Harbour, with an extension added later.

The original house (on the right) together with the house built by John’s son Thomas in the early 1940s.

The next two photos (below), probably taken in the early 1920s, show most of the buildings on the Loder property at the time of John-b1850's death. With their wharf extending into deeper water than others in the community, there was a lot of activity there, involving both the extended family and others living nearby. As discussed below, the Loder presence in Snook's Harbour declined substantially starting in the early/mid 1920s, although others in the community continued to use their wharf and fishing facilities.

Views from the water of the Loder property in Snook's Harbour in the early 1900s. Proceeding from left to right, the structures are: the sawmill (or an associated building), Jane’s shop, the barn, the original house (behind a couple of trees) with a cellar to its right, the fishing store on the waterfront, and the wharf.