In 1840 the township of St. Mary's was recognized into the District of St. Mary's.(70) This act was passed by the Nova Scotian Legislature on 27th day of March 1840, but was not to go into operation until the 1st day of January 1841. The preamble said: "Whereas the inhabitants of the township of St. Mary's in the County of Guysborough, are desirous that such Township, in consequence of its distance from the Township of Guysborough, and the great inconvenience which is experienced from their necessary attendance at the Court of General Sessions of the Peace now held at Guysborough aforesaid, may be set off and erected into a separate and distinct district, of the said county of Guysborough, and that there may be held therein a Court of General Sessions of the Peace, and the inhabitants thereof be enabled to have a separate assessment for county purposes".
The Act further provided for the appointment of a Clerk of the Peace, for three Justices to revise the list of the Grand Jury, and for the "Court of General Sessions of the Peace shall be held at the Court House in the Village of Sherbrooke, on the first Tuesday of July, in each and every year."
Hugh MacDonald (1789-1877), merchant and Justice of the Peace, who had been elected as a Member of the Assembly for Guysborough County in 1836 for the Reform Party which favoured Responsible Government, was appointed as Custos Rotolorum for the district of St. Mary's on June 14th, 1841 at the meeting of the Sessions at the Court House in Sherbrooke. The Sheriff was Murdoch McLean and William Bent was appointed Clerk of the Peace.(71) Hugh McDonald had taken over as Town Clerk of the St. Mary's River Settlement in 1822 from Wentworth Taylor.(72) He had been born in the Isle of Rum, and had emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1808 by way of Pictou. He married Elizabeth Elliott, daughter of David Archibald. Their children were John Angus (b. 1822), James Hugh (1826), William Thompson (1827), Margaret (1829), Isaac (1831) and Martha (1832).(73) Hugh recorded his wife's death in the official records in the following words: "died at Sherbrooke 20th day of November 1835 Elizabeth Elliott McDonald, wife of Hugh McDonald Esquire in the forty-fifth year of her age much and deservedly lamented".(74)
Through his influence, Hugh McDonald had the Offices of Registry of Deeds and Court of Probate for this part of the county moved from Guysborough to Sherbrooke. He acted as Registrar of Deeds from 1847 to 1869 when he became Judge of Probate. Although he was an elder in the Presbyterian Church he delighted in the music of the fiddle.(75)
Hugh McDonald also acted as postmaster, becoming the first in 1820. In 1868 he resigned and his son James McDonald succeeded him.(76) At first mail was brought to the village by men either walking over rough trails or on horseback. Mrs. Hart wrote: "During the first year the courier was paid a subscription from a few of the principal inhabitants. The route was to Antigonish, and the mails were received and despatched once a month. During the sitting of the Legislature, the people were anxious for more frequent communication and made arrangements for a fortnightly trip. After the first year the courier's salary was paid by the Government, the regular mails being fortnightly, with weekly trips during the session of Parliament."(77)