That document, the Simeon Perkins diary, was recovered in 1897 from the 1766 house in which Perkins lived and is today in the care of the Queens County Historical Society and is housed in the Queens County Museum, next door to the Perkins House.
A successful businessman in the town of Liverpool, Simeon Perkins was a diarist who recorded the everyday life of Liverpool in the years 1767 to 1812, the year of his death.
In front of the museum are a pair of iron muzzle loading cannons which likely date from the early nineteenth century, possibly the War of 1812 era. Between the two is a very large ship's anchor, likely from a nineteenth century schooner, possibly even an eighteenth century ship. Given that Liverpool was a major port for privateers from the American Revolution right through to the War of 1812, it could easily be from a large privateer. Given the condition of the anchor, it couldn't have been in the water very long. As opposed to an anchor raised from the deep, as were many anchors on display in Nova Scotia, it could have been taken from a ship upon its decommissioning.
Take a
Virtual Tour of the Queens County Museum (select Queens County Museum in the drop down menu).
The Queens County Museum, built in 1980, is a vibrant and enduring testimonial of a history intrinsically linked to the forests and sea. A natural component of this vast cultural heritage is the Mi’Kmaq or Eastern Woodland Indians. The contribution these ‘first peoples’ have made to the cultural mosaic and survival of this County are preserved in a variety of Mi’kmaq artifacts and stone drawings on exhibit at the Museum Complex. Throughout the years the people of Queens have recorded many stories of Privateering, forestry, fishing, shipbuilding and merchant shipping. One of the most significant historical documents is the Simeon Perkins’ Diary. But the Queens County Museum is more than a collection of artifacts, photographs and historical documents. It’s an educational resource. In addition to the exhibits, the Queens County Historical Society maintains extensive Archives dedicated to Liverpool Author and Historian, Dr. Thomas H. Raddall.
From the Queens County Museum![]()