Jay: Just a quick oddball reply to your 'oddball query' regarding 'Maddison Brook' from a possibility that just came to mind. To check it out, just in case: Bill Hamilton does not have "Maddison Brook" or Maddison anything in his "Place Names of Atlantic Canada", Nova Scotia section. Also, it's not in Google for Nova Scotia, although it is a surname. So, I'm suggesting there is no place name in Nova Scotia or Colchester County having that word, 'Maddison' or even 'Madison' [excluding street name, or whatever, of course]. I'm interested re where you came up with / saw that 'Maddison' / 'Maddison Brook'? SO, even if the above is not correct, my thought is this, as a simple explanation: [1] your 'Maddison Brook' of 'Londonderry area of Colchester Co' could be 'Matheson Brook'; 'Maddison' being a phonetic mispronounciated spelling of the surname "Matheson", i.e., if you say 'Matheson' quickly, you get 'Maddison' phonetically. I've been passing the road sign 'Matheson Brook Road' for years now on my way from Truro to Tatamagouche, Colchester Co [just past Earltown along Highway 311]. Lots of Mathesons there and about. [2] Also, Londonderry, Colchester Co, west of Truro, is the old village of several Matheson and allied families over the years; in fact, Trueman [Truemie] Matheson, deceased, founded and operated [in Londonderry] the well-known museum [deceased] of the old Acadia Iron Works [deceased]. The railway ran up into Londonderry to the Iron Works, of course. There are many branches of that Matheson surname in the Truro and north Colchester Co area. I have a few contacts re that Matheson family, the genealogy, and the railway connections, etc., if you want to email me off-list. Also, the 'Colchester Museum and Archives' in Truro has many genealogies of those early families in the Tatamagouche, Portapique, and Earltown areas, as you know. Note: the Tatamagouche / Londonderry area is not 'close' to the Portapique area, genealogically speaking., i.e., these places have different immigrant founding families. Here's an excerpt from a source I have re 'Matheson Brook': "Balmoral Grist Mill Museum 660 Matheson Brook Road, Tatamagouche, NS This wonderful grist mill near Tatamagouche has been in production since 1874. It is located in a picturesque gorge on Matheson's Brook. The mill boasts a Scottish kiln where oats are toasted using maple wood as fuel, giving the oats a flavour that guarantees the best Scottish oatcakes." Cheers, Jerry Byers Truro ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jay Underwood" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 9:24 AM Subject: [NS-L] MADDISON > Another odball query. > Is anyone researching the name Maddison, especially from the > Portapique-Londonderry area of Colchester County? > I am interested in knowing the family roots in that area, and finding > Maddison Brook...it's a railway thing! :-) > Jay Underwood > Elmsdale