Capt. Aaron Flint Churchill
High upon a hill overlooking two lovely emerald green lakes and the broad reaches of the Bay of Fundy stands a stately old house. Built in 1889-90 as a summer residence for Capt. Aaron Flint Churchill, it is located at Darling Lake on the main highway Route No. 1, nine miles from the old seaport town of Yarmouth. Here at the spot he named the “Anchorage,” or as one old time sailor called it “Snug Harbour”, each summer Aaron Churchill, his wife Lois, other family members and servants, came to relax in this lovely haven of peace and quiet. The builders of the house were Curry and Perry of Port Maitland. The interior woodwork was done by Kinney & Haley of Yarmouth, and original paintwork done by Perry & Blenkhorn of Port Maitland.
Aaron descended from a long line of distinguished ancestors, including Sir Winston Churchill. His family history goes back to Roger de Courcil of England who was the eldest son of Wandril de Leon, Lord of Council in France. Roger de Courcil followed William the Conqueror to England in 1066. Aaron’s forebears had a full share of the English craving for lands and the early Churchill’s in Yarmouth secured goodly estates.
Almost two centuries ago, Aaron Flint Churchill discovered this lovely haven of peace and beauty —and rightly did he deserve this spot of tranquility! He was a hero, this man. Had he not, at the tender age of sixteen, performed a deed that thrilled a maritime nation? The deed brought him worldwide recognition, praise, a gift of money, etc., but he wanted none of these, not even thanks. He said, he “merely performed an act that was expected of him.” It was the code of the sea.
By the time Aaron was 21, he had become a sea captain but at age 24 he quit the sea and opened a stevedoring business in Savannah, Georgia. Later, he established the Churchill line of steamships there, and also gained a reputation as an inventor. One of his inventions was a cotton baling press that saved the industry many millions of dollars. He was later also a director of the Savannah Bank and Trust Company, and owner of the Churchill Compress Company with headquarters in Memphis Tennessee. He became one of the most prominent and widely known businessmen, and one of the wealthiest Canadians, in the United States by the early 1900's. So widely known, he was invited to dine with then President of the United States, The Honorable William Howard Taft.
He died on June 10, 1920. His remains were brought back to Darling Lake and buried in the family cemetery on a hill not far from his well beloved "Anchorage".
The Saga of “The Research” and Aaron “Rudder” Churchill
This is his story of the “Voyage of Indomitable Resolution,” for that’s certainly what it was.
The ship “Research”, 1459 tons, was built on the shore of Yarmouth’s waterfront in 1861 for Thomas Killiam. She was a fine ship and the largest built and owned in Yarmouth at that time. On November 10, 1866, she was commanded by Captain George William Churchill of Yarmouth. Captain Churchill, when but a lad, sailed with the famous Yankee skipper William Samuels in the equally-famous American packet ship “Dreadnought.”
On this voyage with The Research, Captain Churchill had with him Aaron Flint Churchill, his nephew, who had just passed his sixteenth birthday. Aaron Flint was ‘The Ship Boy’ and the hero of this story. The Research sailed from Quebec, lumber-laden, for the Scottish port of Greenock. After a stormy passage through the Straits of Belle Isle, she ran into a vicious nor’-west gale. A heavy sea struck the rudder and parted the chains, breaking it just below the case. Here the ingenuity of the Bluenose sailor-of-old came to the fore. Captain Churchill rigged a jury rudder, but who would volunteer to go over the stern to place it? “I will,” said young Aaron. Stripped nearly naked in freezing winter weather, a howling gale, on a ship at times almost on her beam-ends, and a rope about his waist, young Aaron was lowered over the stern. He managed to rig the jury rudder and was pulled back onto the deck half-frozen.
However, the gear soon parted and was lost. Captain Churchill, this time using a spare topmast with deals bolted to it, made a steering ore, which was placed over the stern with tackles to operate it. This did not work and still another jury rudder was made, and over the stern again went young Aaron. Again this was lost and still another was made. Eight times did Aaron go over the stern. With the determination of the Nova Scotian skipper and his crew, another was made and it worked. The weather moderated and the good ship Research was brought to the entrance of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland after a passage of 88 days from Quebec.
In recognition of the determination and courage of the captain, young Aaron, and the crew, the famed House of Lloyds of London awarded vellum certificates to both the officers and crew. Captain Churchill received a good watch and chain, a solid silver saiver, and a substantial sum in ready money. The mate, young Aaron, received a silver chronometer watch with a suitable inscription and two thousand dollars in cash. This voyage was christened “The Voyage of Many Rudders,” and Captain William Churchill became known as ‘Rudder Churchill’ for the several jury rudders he made and his heroic nephew went over the side to rig.
