About Us

The John Cormac Carten Foundation is a U.S. 501(c)(3) private foundation that awards postsecondary scholarships to recent high school graduates who reside within a defined geographic boundary around Caledonia, Queens County, Nova Scotia, to support their education at trade schools, community colleges, or universities.

The Foundation was organized as a Trust in the Commonwealth of Virginia by the descendants of John Cormac Carten. John Carten migrated to Liverpool about 1830 from County Derry, Ireland. He married Martha Webster, daughter of the town doctor in 1833. They raised 8 daughters and 4 sons. Many of the daughters married into families of North Queens such as Baxter, Devenney, Ennis, McBride, and Nixon. 

More recently, Thomas "Tom" Carten, grandson of John Cormac Carten, operated a country store at South Brookfield corner from about 1933 to 1960. The building originally was a millinery (women's hats) and general store run by his cousins Mercy E. Smith and Olivia Hunt. After Tom's death, the store passed to his long-time friend and employee, Jane M. Mosher, for the sum of 1 dollar. 

Education was as important to John as it is to his descendants. Many received postsecondary instruction from institutions in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, including Université  Sainte Anne (Church Point), University of Saint Joseph's College (Memramcook), Sacred Heart Convent School (Halifax), Halifax Ladies' College (Halifax), and Dalhousie University (Halifax).