1852: An Acadia Tragedy Unfolds (Part 11, Jun 9/25)

Benjamin Rand’s body found on June 9

“All [sic] clung to the boat, and endeavoured to get upon it, when it turned completely round till it bottom upwards again: Rand and King were lost in this last movement.” (Distressing Calamity, Christian Messenger extra, 11 June 1852, 1) The story told by Charles Benjamin and recounted in the newspaper by Dr. Cramp helps us know that Mr. Rand lost his hold on the overturned boat as the victims fought for their lives. Archivist Wendy Robicheau shares what is known about Benjamin Rand.

He was born in 1828, in the Township of Cornwallis, Kings County, Nova Scotia. His body was found on 9 June 1852, although a time and place are not specified in the newspaper. A Coroner’s inquest ruled ‘accidental death’ on June 9, but there are no records to support this newspaper report. Benjamin Rand is buried in the Upper Canard Cemetery, Canard. His stone reads:

[side one] In memory of BENJ. RAND, Aged 24 yrs. youngest son of the Mr. John & Margaret Rand, of this Township

[side two] Mr. RAND was deservedly esteemed for best moral and religious character, and with the view of engaging in the Christian Ministry was persuing a course of study at Acadia College, when he in company with Prof. Chipman, the Rev. E.D. Very, and three others was unfortunately drowned in the Basin of Minas on the 7 of June 1852.

Rand attended Acadia College most likely in the collegiate course. He was a Junior in 1851 studying Classics with Dr. Cramp and Mathematics, Mental and Moral Philosophy, Rhetoric and Elocution, and writing essays with Professor Chipman. He may have also taken courses in Theology but had not yet begun to preach.

After death, Rand was described as diligent in his studies. With the other obituaries published in the Christian Visitor on 6 August 1852, the author wrote that “His intellectual qualifications were rather solid than brilliant; his attainments were of a truly respectable order.” His complete undergraduate essay, entitled “I Can, and I Will, the Talismans of Human Progress” was published in the Christian Messenger on 20 August 1852 and may reflect what Professor Chipman was teaching in his classes.

Rand was a member of the First Cornwallis Baptist Church and devoted. He was the youngest of a large family and predeceased by his parents.