Our first trip was to Central PEI. We were looking for Margate which turned out to be a wide spot in the road with a church and a few houses. It was at the cemetery beside the Southwest River United Church that we hit the jackpot!
We found many graves of the Tuplins and Pickerings, as well as some Durants—all family branches.
In fact, one whole corner of the cemetery was filled with ancestors.
About a mile down the road we came to Blackhorse Corner, another family landmark. A tavern called The Black Horse was built in 1869 by Thomas Tuplin at the crossroads of the Old Town Road and the Irishtown Road. The tavern remained operational until 1890. Thomas was Bob’s second great grand-father. What remains now is the monument to the tavern.
In 1964 the community created a public space popular for picnics, which included a statue of Tuplin’s black stallion at Black Horse Corner. The statue was designed by Keith Harrington and Andrew Tuplin, a descendant of Thomas. The statue is so small we nearly missed it when we came to the intersection. Interesting stories surround the tavern and are retold by Josh Colson here https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/53ce4a1cd49f456a80abc1c0b2619f8d
This was a long but productive day. Most of the rest of our trips were scenery and lighthouse focused. More about that later..