BEGINNING OF ABSTRACT.
An account of the death of Capt. James Cunningham and brief information on his family appeared in The Nova Scotia Historical Review, Vol. 9, Number 1, 1989, pages 73-81, and has been very briefly excerpted in the following account from the article entitled "PIRATES DEFEATED" by Marion Robertson.
In the early spring of 1840, Captain James Cunningham of Churchover (on the western shore of Shelburne Harbour) was hired as master mariner of the schooner "Vernon", and was to deliver a cargo to the West Indies. The schooner was built and owned by Augustus Vernon whose shipyard was located on the eastern shore of Shelburne Harbour. On April 25, 1840, off the western tip of Cuba, the "Vernon" was taken and boarded by Spanish pirates. Captain Cunningham was later beaten and stabbed to death.
Marion Robertson, the author of this article writes that, "Information about him (Capt. Cunningham) and his family has been gathered from church and cemetery records; assessment rolls, deeds, and probate records, Naval Office records for the Port of Shelburne, Dalhousie University Archives; and Manuscript Group 1, Volume 955, document 1496, Public Archives of Nova Scotia. For information about a letter written by James Cunningham in 1804, the author of this article is indebted to the late Herbert Banks, a descendant of Captain Cunningham."
"It would seem from this letter, written by Cunningham to his mother Ann, and from the baptismal record of his sister Jane, that he was born in 1788 and was the son of Cornelius Cunningham. The latter came to Shelburne in late 1783 . . . He settled at Ragged Islands (Lockeport), where he was listed as a farmer and mariner . . .
"In 1808 James Cunningham married Adra Jane Guyon, a daughter of Peter and Jane Guyon, who were both descendants of Huguenot families which fled to America to escape religious persecution . . . James and Adra Cunningham had a family of ten children, three sons and seven daughters:"
1. James Cunningham, b. 1809.
2. Jane Jones Cunningham, b. 1810; m. 1834, George Henry Deinstadt, master mariner
3. Mary Ann Cunningham, b. 1812; m. 1835, Alexander McDonald of Round Bay.
4. Agnes Catherine Cunningham, b. 1814, m. 1836, Peter Guyon (Guion), master mariner, of McNutts Island.
5. Addra Jane Cunningham, b. 1817, m. 1841, Richard Kenny of Barrington.
6. Elizabeth Cunningham, b. 1819, m. 1852, John Snow.
7. Maria Cunningham, b. 1822, m. Michael Wrayton of Barrington, later ship-owner and merchant of Doctors Cover.
8. James Cornelius Cunningham, b. 1825, Lavinia Kenney of Barrington. He settled in Barrington and was a mechanic and merchant.
9. Sophia Emily Cunningham, b. 1829, m. Nehemiah Banks of Doctors Cove, master mariner.
10. Joseph Rudolph Cunningham, b. 1831, d. 1843.
Addra Jane (Guyon) Cunningham, wife of James Cunningham, died in 1839 and is buried near her parents in Christ Church cemetery, Shelburne. James and Adra Jane Cunningham lived in Shelburne and later settled in Churchover on the western shore of Shelburne harbour.
END OF ABSTRACT. bwl
For more information on articles concerning the history and genealogies of Nova Scotia, see The Nova Scotia Historical Review - click on the following web address:
http://www.blupete.com/Library/History/NSHR.htm