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Albert Almon was born at Glace Bay, Nova Scotia in 1872. He married and had five children: Patrick, Joseph, Cleophas, Mary and Annie. Almon was a self-taught plumber and owned his own business in Glace Bay. An amateur historian, he earned him an honorary Masters of Arts degree from St. Francis Xavier University and recognition from Pope Pius XII. He died in 1960.

Mather Byles Almon, merchant, banker, politician, and philanthropist, was born in 1796 at Halifax, the son of William James and Rebecca (Byles) Almon. In 1825 he married Sophia Pryor; the couple had fourteen children. In 1832 M.B. Almon helped establish the Bank of Nova Scotia and became its president in 1837. He was a member of the Legislative Council from 1843 to 1866, governor of Dalhousie University, 1842-1848 and Kings College, 1869-1871, and involved in many Protestant charitable societies in Halifax.

William Bruce Almon was born in Halifax on 23 September 1875, the second son of Dr. Thomas Ritchie Almon(1843-1901) and his wife Frances (Egan) (1845-1942). He was a professional soldier and served in various locations in Canada with the Royal Canadian Artillery before the First World War. He married Mary Hill Dickey in Halifax on 30 November 1908 and they had two daughters. During the First World War he was in command of artillery formations in Halifax before going abroad with the Canadian expedition to Russia. After his retirement from the military he served for 23 years as the Aide-de-camp for Lieutenant Governors of Nova Scotia. He died on 31 August 1961 in Halifax and was buried in St. John's Cemetery in Fairview.

Little biographical information is available regarding Lt. Col. William Bruce Almon. He was the son of Thomas Ritchie Almon and Frances (née Egan). Almon was part of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces in World War One and went to Russia. He is known to have been involved with early theatre in Nova Scotia, particularly the Theatre Arts Guild and the Anglican Young People’s Association drama festivals in Chester. Almon studied at McGill University. He also had a first cousin named William Bruce Almon who graduated from Dalhousie’s medical school in 1899. That William Bruce Almon joined the Medical College in 1894 after studying engineering at King’s College in Windsor. The grandson of Senator Almon, he was known among his fellow students as a poet and artist.

A.M. Bell & Company grew out of Andrew Bell's retail business, which he first established in 1875 on Water Street, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. After expanding into the wholesale trade and taking on Arthur B. Wiswall as a junior partner, the firm became know as A.M. Bell & Company. In 1903 they erected a six-storey building on a site between Granville and Hollis—the first concrete building in Halifax. Bell sold the business in 1912 and died two years later.

N. & M. SMITH LIMITED

Nathaniel and Martin Smith were brothers, originally from Yankeetown, Hammonds Plains, Halifax County. Descendants of British Empire Loyalists from Maryland, they moved to Halifax, Nathaniel around 1865 and Martin following in 1870, to attend to growing business interests, establishing a branch cooperage and forming N. & M. Smith Limited.

Martin Smith died in 1889 at age 54. In 1904 the section of the Halifax waterfront with N. & M. Smith wharves and buildings – Lower Water Street between Sackville and Prince Streets – was completely destroyed by fire. This property was rebuilt, and N. & M. Smith Limited returned to it in 1905; however, in the interim they purchased and used a property on Upper Water Street known as Cronan Wharf, which was later leased and subsequently sold.

The original business of a cooperage expanded to the export of salted fish and the import of fishery salt. N. & M. Smith underwent voluntary liquidation in about 1915; Martin Smith’s widow and two sons Howard H. and Albert Martin (“Bert”) retained the premises. A.M. Smith Company Limited was formed in 1917, and in 1920 the company became incorporated and known as A.M. Smith and Company Limited.

A.M. SMITH AND COMPANY

Howard H. Smith died in the early 1920s and his interest in the company was acquired by his brother, Albert Martin Smith. Albert Martin’s sons Albert Martin Smith, Jr. (“Ad”) and Fletcher S. Smith entered the company business after graduating from Dalhousie University in 1929, the third generation of brothers to do so. Upon declaration of war, A.M. Smith, Jr., a lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve, entered active service and spent eighteen months on a Canadian destroyer before being transferred to Halifax as a Staff Officer in the Executive Branch, with the rank of Commander. A. Martin Smith, son of “Ad,” was also in the business for a year or so, before leaving to establish his own law practice. Ad Smith died in 1970.

Under the management of Ad Smith and Fletcher S. Smith, the company embraced three main departments – Export, Import, and Domestic. The Smiths were the largest exporters of dry and picked salted fish products in the Maritime Provinces, benefiting from the science of the Atlantic Fisheries Experimental Station which adjoined the plant. Smith’s specialized in pickled mackerel and herring, which was sold in national and international markets.

The Import Department dealt in Fishery Salt, of which A.M. Smith and Company was the largest importer in Eastern Canada, bringing in cargo lots from world production centers. The Domestic Department was responsible for the creation of the “Sea-Nymph” brand of boneless codfish, and later kippered herring, which put bulk salt fish back on grocer’s shelves. The “Sea-Nymph” brand was packed by Smith Canneries, associates of A.M. Smith and Company.

By 1970, A.M. Smith and Company was almost wholly dependent on Newfoundland for supplies such as salted cod. Subsequently, when the Federal Salt Fish Act (Bill C175) was passed, and resulted in the creation of a state-owned company with a complete monopoly over all phases of the cured fish business, A.M. Smith and Company became redundant. The government refused to compensate redundant firms, and thus A.M. Smith and Company Limited were obliged to discontinue their waterfront business, and their property was sold on November 15, 1973. Fletcher S. Smith died in 1987.

The area formerly occupied by A.M. Smith and Company is now part of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic on Lower Water Street, Halifax, NS.

ACADIA FISHERIES

Acadia Fisheries had a plant at Mulgrave, Nova Scotia, where it was for a time the largest employer in the area, with over 400 people on staff. The company purchased the Old Loggie Fish Plant in 1952, and used it as a base for the harvesting and processing of fish. The plant burned to the ground in the 1970s and was not rebuilt. The company was associated with A.M. Smith and Co.

SMITH CANNERIES

Smith Canneries existed with virtually the same shareholders and directorate as A.M. Smith and Company, but with canning operations principally confined to Prince Edward Island. Fish for the plant was caught off the coast of Prince Edward Island, and subsequently packed under the “Sea-Nymph” brand, which included herring, salt herring, Dutch-style herring, mackerel, codfish, boneless salt cod, and ling. Smith Canneries also has use of the “Sea Nymph 1” dragger, a ship operated by A.M. Smith and Company for the salted and fresh fish trade.

Paul Amberman was born of Dutch origin in the colony of New York in 1745. In 1771 he married Mary Ditmires (born 3 February 1746), the daughter of Douwe Ditmires. The Amberman family came to Annapolis Royal in June 1783 as Loyalists. Their family included three children: Mary (born 1773, married George Vrome in 1803), Paul Amberman, Jr. (born 1775), and Douwe (born 1779, married Rebecca Gilliatt). Mary Amberman, wife of Paul Sr., died in 1805 and was buried in St. Edward's cemetery in Clementsport. Paul Amberman died in 1811. From all accounts he must have been a wealthy man when he came to Granville, as he purchased several lots of land from Robert and Jane Young, formerly of New York. One of his acquisitions was land originally granted to Benjamin Rumsey in 1764, which Amberman purchased from Peter Ryerson in 1784. This property stayed in the Amberman family until 1964, when it was purchased by Robert Pallen Patterson who renamed it “North Hills.” Upon his death in 1974 the property was bequeathed to the Province of Nova Scotia and is now part of the Nova Scotia Museum complex.

The Amherst Body of Marsh was established on 18 January 1882, at Amherst, Nova Scotia. Thirty proprietors gathered to propose to the government a project to reclaim a large body of marshland located between what was then known as the Township of Amherst and the Township of Fort Lawrence. The marshland encompassed hundreds of acres of land owned by several dozen people. The proprietors were owners of two-thirds of the marshland, and their corporation was established to improve the drainage of the marsh, which would benefit all who owned sections of the marsh. Their proposal was passed and they worked jointly with the Hon. Hiram Black, Commissioner of Sewers of Cumberland County, to repair the existing dyke system and to perform continuous maintenance. Thomas Lusby of Amherst was appointed the first clerk. Interest in the upkeep of the dyke appears to have waned in the 1910s, and died out by 1923.