This property,
like all the other land in Horton Township, was granted to the New England
settlers known as Planters, who arrived from Connecticut in the 1760s after
the expulsion of the Acadians. A house on the property is mentioned
in the deeds as early as 1769 but it is likely that the large and imposing
eight room residence with full attic and cellar was built at least a generation
later by more established settlers. Aaron Cleveland, a cooper, lived
here with his family from 1809 to 1812, during which time he took out a
large mortgage, and it is possible that he was the builder. The house,
which overlooked the harbour, the wharves and the bustling commercial centre
of Upper Horton or Mud Creek, was strategically situated to be at the hub
of village life.
The term
"the Randall House" was first used in 1812 when Charles Randall,
carpenter, coachmaker and member of another Connecticut Planter family,
purchased it from Cleveland. His wife Sarah Denison died shortly
after the birth of their only child, Charles Denison Randall, and for a
time father and son lived here alone. They later moved to a smaller
house on the property and rented the Randall House. Among their tenants
was the Rev. John Pryor, principal of Horton Academy and one of the founders
of Acadia University, who is described as "a cultivated, courtly man".
He and his family lived in the house and may also have used it as temporary
classroom space for the Academy. From 1835 to 1845 Mrs. Henry Best,
widow of a Halifax naval officer, operated a seminary for young ladies
in the building.
Charles
D. Randall bought the house from his father in 1844, and moved there following
his marriage to Nancy Bill, the daughter of a prosperous farmer and
member of the Legislative Assembly. Members of the Randall family
continued to live in the family home until 1927 when Eardley and Anna left
the Randall House for the last time. Eardley's initials can still
be seen carved into the wall of the attic staircase, and his favourite
Jerusalem artichokes grow again in the old garden.
The Charles
Patriquin family purchased the house in 1927, restored it and installed
its first bathroom. The Patriquins are still remembered for their
warm-hearted interest in young people: there was a dress-up box for
local children from which they could create Hallowe'en costumes, while
Charles taught them how to care for wounded birds and animals. He
also looked after the ducks who spent the summer in the Duck Pond (the
old harbour) and grew a productive garden nearby. It was the Patriquins
who expressed the wish that the house should remain unchanged in the community
as a reminder of past times.
Photographs
of the Society's original museum, the T.A.S. DeWolf house, now hang in
the front hall with a framed square of the pictorial wallpaper-all that
remains of Prince Edward's gift. The Randall House is arranged and
furnished as an early Wolfville residence and most of the furniture and
artifacts have been donated by local people. A temporary exhibit
room in the back parlour features changing displays which relate to the
town and surrounding communities.
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