Acadians
Maitland was settled by Jean Pitre (i.e., Peters), son of Jean Denis Pitre, prior to the Acadian Exodus. Oral tradition states that the Oak Island Graveyard was an Acadian burial ground, which was consecrated by Abbe Jean-Louis Le Loutre. Oral tradition also states that a path which connects the “French Field” in Selma to the cemetery in Maitland is the old Acadian roadway.
Several of Jean Denis Pitre’s children married the children of Noel Doiron and Robert Henry from the neighbouring communities of Vil Noel (Noel, Nova Scotia) and Vil Robere respectively. In 1750 the Acadians at Maitland joined the Acadian Exodus during Father Le Loutre's War and moved to Riviere Nord-Est, Ile St. Jean (present day Hillsborough River (Prince Edward Island)). The former of inhabitants of Maitland died in 1758 during the Expulsion of the Acadians in the sinking of the Duke William.
Read more about this topic: Maitland, Hants County, Nova Scotia