Port George Bootleggers

Walking along a stream in Port George, photographed by Isabel Luce, May 2021

By the Community Centre in Port George, lived William Mosher and his son Frank. They owned a delivery business, bringing cargo from the Wharf down into shops in the valley, and then would bring produce grown in the valley back to the Wharf to be shipped off to St. John. When William died, Frank inherited the land and with his own son Leslie, they started a new business - bootlegging.

From their home, the pair would fasten rags to their horses’ hooves to quiet their steps, and in the dead of night they would silently make their way to Keating Sand Beach. A schooner off shore would send out a dory to unload a shipment of rum barrels on the beach. They made sure to only unload during the darkest or foggiest days, and if others came near, the schooner would disappear back into the fog. Little caves along the road were used to hide some of the illegal liquor.

Next to his home was a spring where Frank kept his beer cold and safely hidden in the water, so that he was ready to sell to thirsty travellers. He’d sit on his porch with a gun, watching in case someone wandered too close to his stash.

This photo above shows one of the springs that still runs from Port George, underneath Shore road, into the Bay of Fundy. Sadly, we didn’t find any beer or rum on the visit.