The New Brunswick magazine

THE

NEW BRUNSWICK
MAGAZINE

Volume 1.

July -December.

ST. JOHN, N. B.
WILLIAM KILBY REYNOLDS, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER.

F

5300

OF

THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

VOL. L JULY-DECEMBER, i

ABOIDEAU? - W. P. DOLE, M. A., 340

ACADIANS (Our First Families) - JAMES HANNAY, 121, 177, 256
ACADIAN MELANSONS, THE - HON. A. W. SAVARY, 360
ALLEN, SIR JOHN CAMPBELL - W. K. REYNOLDS, 233
AMERICAN COLONIAL TRACTS, - JONAS HOWE, 46
AMERICAN COLONIAL TRACTS, - - V. H. P., 297
ASHBURTON TREATY, THE - W. F. GANONG, PH. D., 297
AT PORTLAND POINT,

REV. W. O. RAYMOND, M.A., 6, 65, 132, 186, 263, 316

BABCOCK TRAGEDY, THE - " ROSLYNDE'" 214

BIBLIOGRAPHY, PROVINCIAL - 61, 113, 174, 292, 389

BROOK WATSON, THE STORY OF - CLARENCE WARD, 96

BURGLAR, THE QUEER W. K. REYNOLDS, 239

BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION - W. K. REYNOLDS, i

CHRISTMAS AS IT WAS - - CLARENCE WARD, 351

CHRONOLOGY, PROVINCIAL 226, 286, 381

COLONIAL TRACTS, AMERICAN - JONAS HOWE, 46

COLONIAL TRACTS, AMERICAN - - V. H. P., 166

D'AMOURS, THE BROTHERS - - JAMES HANNAY, 25

EDITOR'S CHAIR, IN THE - 53, 104, 169, 223, 279, 376
"ENGLAND," THE WRECK OF THE - W. K. REYNOLDS, 332

FEVER, THE YEAR OF THE - - W. K. REYNOLDS, 202
FIRE, A SHIPYARD - - - - W. K. REYNOLDS, 158
FIRST FAMILIES, OUR - JAMES HANNAY, 121, 177, 256
FOULIS, ROBERT (A Misplaced Genius)- PERCY G. HALL, 247

GENIUS, A MISPLACED PERCY G. HALL, 247

HALIFAX MYSTERY, A HARRY PIERS, 362

ii CONTENTS.

KEMBLE MANOR, - - JONAS HOWE, 146

LATOUR, THE SITE OF FORT - - JAMES HANNAY, 89
LATOUR, WHERE STOOD FORT ?

W. F. GANONG, PH. D., 20, 165

MAGAZINE, AN EARLY NEW BRUNSWICK

DR. GEORGE STEWART, 79

MALISEETS, ORIGIN OF THE - MONTAGUE CHAMBERLAIN, 41
MELANSONS, THE ACADIAN - HON. A. W. SAVARY, J.C.C., 360

NOTES AND QUERIES 64, 116, 172, 224, 282, 379

ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTH REGIMENT, THE

JAMES HANNAX, 305

PORTLAND POINT, AT

REV. W. O. RAYMOND, M. A., 6, 65, 132, 186, 263, 316

QUEER BURGLAR, THE - - W. K. REYNOLDS, 236

REGIMENT, THE io4TH - - - JAMES HANNAY, 305

ROTHESAY, EARLY NAME OF 295

ROYAL TAR, Loss OF THE - W. K. REYNOLDS, 81, 168

SHIPYARD FIRE, A - - - W. K. REYNOLES, 158
SOLDIERS, A STORY OF Two W. K. REYNOLDS, 49

TREATY, THE ASHBURTON - W. F. GANONG, PH. D. 297

WHERE STOOD FORT LATOUR?

W. F. GANONG, PH. D., 20, 165

WRECK OF THE "ENGLAND," THE - W. K. REYNOLDS, 332
YEAR OF THE FEVER, THE - W. K. REYNOLDS, 203

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, ETC.

BOUNDARY QUESTION, Map .... 297

COLLINS, DR. J. P., Portrait 208

GAGE, GEN. THOMAS, Signature of ... 147

HALIFAX, View of North Barracks .... 360

KEMBLE, COL. STEPHEN, Signature of - - 150

SIMONDS, JAMES, Portrait - - - . - 192

WARD, MAJOR JOHN, Portrait .... 344

WATSON, BROOK, Signature of 285

ERRATA.— Page 131, last line, for T. W. Peters read Ben-
jamin L. Peters; page 144, line 8, for mill pond read mast pond;
page 147, Thomas Hutchinson was the last royal governor of
Massachusetts, not Thomas Gage.

The l^ew Brunswick JVIagazine.

VOL. I. JULY, 1898. No. i

BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION.

It has been said, by one well qualified to give an
opinion, that the first number of a newspaper should be
carefully edited, set up, printed— and destroyed before
it is issued. In other words, a publisher ought to have
an experimental issue for his own benefit, in order that
he may see how much it lacks in manner and style, and
then, upon the basis of its deficiencies, he should issue
a number for the public. Whatever the reader may think
of the first issue of a periodical, it seldom comes up to
the ideal of its projector, if he be a man who has a
knowledge of his business and who puts some con-
science into it, and his consolation is that succeeding
numbers will more fully develop the plan on which his
publication is to be conducted. This is quite true of the
first issue of THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE, in regard
to the editorial departments. In future numbers it is
hoped these will be much more complete, and that they
will include a wider range of topics of general interest.
No apology is needed for the contributors to the
first number, however, for their topics are well chosen
and admirably treated. Each writer discusses some-
thing of which he has a special knowledge and to
which he has given careful study. More particular

2 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE

reference to the contributors and their work will be
found in the proper department.

The idea of a New Brunswick magazine became
developed during the latter part of April, and a brief
circular was sent out with a view to ascertaining how
far such a publication was likely to meet with support.
Such replies as were received were of a very encour-
aging character, and since then the list of subscribers
has been steadily growing until it has reached a size
which warrants the issue of the magazine without a
prospect of failure. It remains for the public to en-
courage the magazine to such an extent that it may be
more than merely self-sustaining, and that it may be so
increased in size and general features as to be well
worthy of the people and the country which it aims to
represent.

Mingled with the encouragement received so far,
has been just a little of the pessimistic side of the
question. Some who have kindly subscribed have in-
timated their belief that the venture will not be a
financial success. Having this view, they deserve
thanks all the more for being willing to take the
chances, even though they cannot be commended for
the prudence which has marked the conduct of those
who have made this a reason for declining to subscribe.
It may reassure both classes to learn that arrange-
ments have been made to issue the magazine for at
least one year, whether the venture proves profitable or
otherwise.

It is quite true that the history of magazines in
the Maritime Provinces gives ground for some predic^
tions of failure in this instance. That phase of the
question has been fully considered, however, and in the
light of the knowledge of past failures it is hoped that
at least some of the mistakes of others may be avoided.
This is why the magazine has been started with a

BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION. 3

miiimum of 48 pages and why illustrations are not
promised. At a later date it is intended that the num-
ber of pages shall be materially increased.

The objects of THE MAGAZINE are set out in the
prospectus. Its special field is the Maritime Provinces
and the colonies which have an historic connection with
them. While history will be dealt with in a popular
style, it will also be treated exhaustively, and it is be-
lieved that much will be brought out of which little has
heretofore been known. The term " history," used in
its broad and general sense, will include such topics as
are suggested in Prof. W. F. Ganong's "Plan for a
General History,"* such as the physical features and
natural history of the country, its material resources,
its ethnology, early exploration and later settlement,
family history, bibliography, chronological data, current
literature and much else in regard to the provinces and
their people. Under these heads, it will be seen, are
included all that relates to this part of Canada in the
past, with much that pertains to the present and has a
direct bearing on the future.

It will thus be seen that the scope of the magazine
is a broad one, and that when the relation of these
colonies to the rest of America is considered, the field is
larger than would at first thought be supposed. While
the title is that of THE " NEW BRUNSWICK" MAGAZINE,
this does not imply that only New Brunswick interests
are to be considered. To a large extent, doubtless, this
province will be to the front, but so far as opportunity
offers the interests of other Maritime Provinces will
have a due share of attention. Contributors from all
sections may rely on receiving a cordial welcome.

The purpose of the magazine is to deal with facts
rather than fancies. It has been the laudable motive
of some of the magazines of the past to develop and

•Trans. Royal Society of Canada, 1895.

4 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

foster native literature of all kinds, and to this end
speculative essays were welcomed on account of the
writers rather than from the merits of the subjects
treated. Verse, and some of it of a very high charac-
ter, was another feature of those publications. In this
way, however, much was printed that did not interest
the great body of readers, or when it did interest it
failed to instruct. To much energy was applied to
little purpose. An early instance of this was seen in
the " Amaranth," published by Robert Shives, in the
forties. It was a very good magazine of its kind, but
it has no value today except as a curiosity. Its articles,
of themselves, give no information which renders them
worthy of preservation. " Stewart's Quarterly" was
on a better plan, and was an admirable publication to
which some of the best writers in Canada contributed,
but it too included the whole field of literature and
there was necessarily much of the abstract and spectula-
tive in its composition, though unlike the "Amaranth,"
it has a value today for the many good things it did
contain. Had it been continued and developed by Mr.
Stewart to the present time, there would have been no
field for THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

The present publication does not aim to be a
vehicle for purely literary effort outside of the lines laid
down in the prospectus. It is on a wholly different
plan from any previous publication in these provinces,
for it is devoted to the diffusion of information in re-
spect to the country and its people. It will be an
educator in the highest sense of the term, and it will
contain much that can be had from no other source.
The contributors include those who go out of the beaten
paths for their material, and who gather their facts
from original sources which are not easily accessible to
the general student. For this reason every volume of
THE MAGAZINE will be a book of rare information and

BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION. 5

interest, and copies of the monthly numbers will have
a value which time cannot diminish and will in all
probability greatly increase.

That there should be a field for such a magazine is
beyond question. With a long experience in various
kinds of journalism and a Knowledge of what people
want, it is the belief of the publisher that THE MAGAZINE
will at least succeed sufficiently to become self-sustain-
ing, even though there may be little margin for profit
and no room whatever for a dream of wealth.

The publisher would be ungrateful indeed if he did
not put on record his warm appreciation of the offers of
assistance he has had from writers and students at
home and at a distance. Some notable names will be
recognized in the list of those who have already ex-
pressed their willingness to contribute from time to
time, and other notable names will be announced a little
later. In nearly every instance where names are given,
the offer of assistance has been voluntary. Indeed, up
to the present time, apart from one or two letters to
personal friends, there has been no soliciting of assist-
ance nor has there in any instance been a canvass for
subscriptions or advertisements, apart from the issue
of the early circular and a prospectus. The desire
was to get what was practically a voluntary expression
of opinion. Now that the magazine is established,
however, it will be in order to adopt the usual business
methods to ensure the continued success of the publi-
cation.

Having thus introduced THE NEW BRUNSWICK
MAGAZINE to its readers, the publication can hereafter
speak for itself. It is more easy than it is wise to
promise much at the outset, but the public may rest
assured that every effort will be made to increase the
value of the magazine in proportion to the support it
may continue to receive. W. K. REYNOLDS.

THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

AT PORTLAND POINT.

THE FIRST ENGLISH SETTLEMENT AT ST. JOHN.

All that has hitherto been published with regard
to the founding of the first permanent English Settle-
ment at the mouth of the river St. John is of a frag-
mentary character. The story really remains to be
written, and in view of the abundant materials available
it is a matter of surprise that some competent hand has
not long since been found to undertake the task.

As early as the year 1755, Governor Charles Law-
rence of Nova Scotia suggested to Sir Wm. Shirley,
Governor ot Massachusetts, the desirability of estab-
lishing a fortified post on the St. John river: he also
recommended that steps should be taken to induce the
people of New England to occupy the lands left vacant
by the removal of the Acadians as well as other eligible
situations in Nova Scotia — which colony at that time
included the present province of New Brunswick. In
reply, Sir Wm. Shirley expressed the opinion that all
that could then be attempted was to make known as
widely as possible the terms on which the lands would
be granted, coupled with an assurance of protection
for the settlers from the French and Indians, whom
they had come to regard as their hereditary enemies.
Unfortunately for the designs of the two royal gover-
nors, the exigencies of the war then being waged with
France required the withdrawal of most of the forces
stationed in Nova Scotia, and Governor Lawrence was
unable either to secure possession of the St. John river,
where Boisherbert, the French commander, had estab-
lished himself, or to garrison the fort at St. John har-
bor captured by Captain Rous the previous summer.

Meanwhile the Lords of Trade and Plantations, who

AT PORTLAND POINT. 7

largely controlled the British colonial policy, advised
Lawrence to promote the development of his province in
every practicable way, expressing their opinion that there
should be no difficulty in obtaining settlers from the
other colonies. Although this idea was quite in accord
with the governor's own mind, he was obliged to plead
his inability to induce the New England people to settle
on frontier lands as long as they " ran the risk of having
their throats cut by inveterate enemies who effected
their escape by their knowledge of every creek and cor-
ner." He added that as he could not spare the troops
necessary to defend new settlements nothing could be
done "till the country was possessed in peace."

The threatening attitude of Boisherbert, however,
determined the British to establish a fortified post at the
mouth of the St. John, where the French had again
taken possession of their old fort on the point of land
opposite Navy Island. Accordingly in the summer of '
1758, an expedition, consisting of three ships of war
and two transports, having on board a regiment of
Highlanders and one of New England troops, left Bos-
ton for the St. John river. A landing was effected near
Negro Point, and after making their way with some
difficulty through the woods, the attacking party ad-
vanced against the fort from the land side. They were
repulsed in their first attack, but in a second attempt
were more successful and the fort was carried by storm.
The defences were found to be very weak, there being
but two small cannon in position. The French lost
about forty killed and a number of prisoners, the re-
mainder escaping in boats and canoes up the river.
The sloop Ulysses which attempted to follow them was
wrecked in the falls. The fort was now occupied by a
British garrison of some 200 men, its defences were
improved and barracks built for the accommodation of
the troops.

8 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

On the 1 2th of October, 1758, the first ot the now
celebrated proclamations of Governor Lawrence was
issued, offering favorable terms to such industrious
settlers as might be disposed to remove to Nova Scotia
and cultivate the lands vacated by the French or any
unsettled parts of the province. This had the effect of
directing attention to the St. John river, as well as to
other localities. Young and adventurous spirits came
to the fore as pioneers of civilization, among them
James Simonds. of Haverhill, Massachusetts, to whom
undoubtedly belongs the honor of being the founder of
the first permanent settlement at the mouth of the St.
John. The circumstances that induced Mr. Simonds to
come to St. John are thus detailed in one of his let-
ters* now in possession of the writer of this article : —

IH the years 1759 and 1760 proclamations were published by his Majesty's
order through the colonies (some of which I can now produce) which promised all
the lands and possessions of the Acadians who had been removed or any other
lands lying within the Province of Nova Scotia to such as would become settlers
there. In cors3quence of these proclamations I went through the greatest part
of Nova Scotia, in time of war at very great expense and at the risk of my life in
search of the best lands and situations, and having at length determined to settle
at the River St. John, obtained a promise from Government of large tracts of
lands for myself and Brother Richard who was with me in several of my tours.

Mr. Simonds states in another document, a copy
of which is also in the writer's possession, that he
obtained from the government of Nova Scotia the
promise of a grant of 5000 acres of land in such part
of the province as he should choose, and that in the
year 1762, in company with his brother, he by virtue of
this arrangement took possession of the great marsh to
the east of St. John, called by the Indians Seebaskasta-
gan, where they cut a quantity of salt hay and began
to make improvements. The letter from which we
have just quoted continues: —

The accounts which I gave my friends in New England of the abundance
of Fish in the River and the convenience of taking them, of the extensive Fur

•This letter referred to is dated January 28, 1788, and is addressed by James
Simonds to his former partners, Messrs. Hazen and White. It was rescued frotn
an old pile of rubbish some months ago.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 9

trade of the country and the natural convenience of burning Lime, caused num-
bers of them to make proposals to be concerned with me in those branches of
business, among whom Mr. Hazen was the first that joined me in a trial. After-
wards in the year 1764, although I was unwilling that any should be shares with
me in the certain benefits of the Fur trade, which I had acquired some knowledge
of, yet by representations that superior advantage could be derived from a Cod
fishery on the Banks and other branches of commerce which I was altogether
unacquainted with I joined in a contract for carrying it on for that year upon an
extensive plan with Messrs. Blodget, Hazen, White, Peaslie and R. Simonds.

When Mr. Simonds first visted the St. John river
the Indians were hostile to the English, but the capture
of Quebec and the subsequent discomfiture of their
French allies inclined them to sue for peace, and a
treaty was made at Halifax by the Chiefs of St. John
and Passamaquoddy early in the year 1760. In accord-
ance with this treaty an Indian trading post was to be
established near Fort Frederick, at the mouth of the
river, and a tariff of prices was arranged which the
savages were to receive for furs and peltries and to pay
for such supplies, etc., as they needed.

The complete ascendancy of the English over the
Acadians on the river St. John was secured by one of
the most cruel and unjustifiable torays that ever sullied
the annals of civilized warfare. The story in brief is
as follows : —

In the month of March, 1759, a company of
rangers under Captain McCurdy started up the St.
John river, on snowshoes, to strike a blow at the French
settlements. The first night they encamped on a hill-
side near the mouth of the Belleisle river. Here the
party had the misfortune to lose their commander,
Capt. McCurdy, who was killed by the falling of a
birch tree cut by one of his own men. Lieut. Moses
Hazen* succeeded to the command and under him the
party proceeded to Ste. Anne's Point, where they set

* Moses Hazen was a cousin of James Simonds and a brother of Wm.
Hazen, one of the preloyalist settlers of St. John. He distinguised himself undejr
Gen. Wolfe on the plains of Abraham. He fought against the British in the
Revolutionary war, raised a corps known as "Hazen's own", and attained the
rank of Major General in the American army.

io THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

fire to the chapel and other buildings and ruthlessly
killed the inhabitants with little regard to age or sex.
On their return they treated the settlements atOromocto,
Grimross and Nerepis in much the same fashion. Sir
Jeffrey Amherst, Commander in Chief of the forces in
America, refers to this transaction in two of his letters
to Governor Lawrence. He says in the first: "You
will have heard of the accident poor Capt. McCurdy
met with as likewise of the success of his Lieut, in
demolishing the settlements at St. Anne's. On the
recommendation of Major Scott I have preferred Lt.
Hazen to Capt. McCurdy's Company." In the second
letter he writes: "Major Morris sent me the particu-
lars of the scouting party and I gave a commission of
Captain to Lieut. Hazen as I thought he deserved it.
I am sorry to say what I have since heard of that affair
has sullied his merit with me as I shall always disap-
prove of killing women and helpless children : poor
McCurdy is a loss he was a good man in his post."

Confirmation of the barbarity practised on the
occasion is found in the journal of Rev. Jacob Bailey of
Pownalboro, Maine, a prominent Loyalist and after-
wards Rector of Annapolis, N. S.* Mr. Bailey on the
night of Dec. 13, 1759, chanced to lodge at Norwood's
inn in Lynn, and speaking of the company he found
there he says: "We had among us a soldier belong-
ing to Capt. Hazen's company of Rangers, who declared
that several Frenchmen were barbarously murdered by
them after quarters were given, and the villian added,
I suppose to show his importance, that he split the
head of one asunder after he fell on his knees to implore
mercy. A specimen of New England clemency."

When James Simonds first visited St. John he was
a young man of about twenty-five years of age. He
was descended from Samuel Simonds of Essex,

•See Bartlet's "Frontier Missionary" p. 48.

AT PORTLAND POINT. n

England, who came to America in 1630 with Governor
Winthrop. His father, Nathaniel Simonds, of Haverhill,
Mass., married Sarah Hazen, whose brother Moses was
father of Capt. Moses Hazen just referred to as leader
of the party of Rangers that destroyed the French
settlements on the River St. John, and also father of
William Hazen of Newburyport, who came to St. John
in 1775. It is possible that the presence of Capt.
Moses Hazen with the garrison at Fort Frederick may
have led James Simonds to visit the place in the first
instance. Mr. Simonds was a man of good education,
resolute character, shrewd and enterprising. He was,
moreover, possessed of a robust constitution, as is seen
in the fact that in spite of the hardships and privations
of his early life in St. John he survived all his contem-
poraries, as well as every official and appointee of the
crown at the time of the organization of the province,
and every member of the first provincial legislature,
and quietly departed this life at his old residence at
Portland Point Feb. 20, 1831, at the patriarchal age of
96 years.

About the same time that Mr. Simonds was laying
his plans for establishing a fishing and trading post at
the mouth of the St. John, Captain Francis Peabody,
Israel Perley and others, were making arrangements for
the settlement of the Township of Maugerville, and it
appears that in the year 1762, James Simonds came
with Capt. Peabody and his son Samuel Peabody, Hugh
Quinton and some others to St. John in a small vessel
from Newburyport. There were about twenty in the
party besides the families of Captain Peabody and Hugh
Quinton.

A frame for a large dwelling house with boards, to
cover it, was brought by Capt. Peabody in the vessel,
also a small stock of cattle. The spot selected for the
erection of the house was near the site of an old French

12 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

fort at Portland Point, and by the united efforts of the
party it was erected, enclosed, and on the third day
after their arrival, inhabited. The women and children
had meanwhile found shelter at the barracks on the
other side of the harbor, and there on the same night of
their arrival, August 28, 1762, was born James Quinton,
the first child of English speaking parents whose birth
is recorded at St. John. Capt. Peabody's daughter
Hannah, then a girl ot fourteen, was among those who
found shelter at the Barracks until the house at Port-
land Point was fit for their reception. She afterwards
became the wife of James Simonds, and her sisters
Elizabeth and Hephzibah married respectively James
White and Jonathan Leavitt. Captain Francis Peabody
had served with distinction in the " Seven Years War,"*
and from the active part he took in effecting the settle-
ment of the Township of Maugerville, as well as from
his age and character, he must be justly regarded as
the most prominent and influential person on the St.
John river while he lived. He died in the year 1773.

The unstable condition of affairs during the war
with France had for some time precluded any serious
attempt at settlement along the northern shore of the
Bay of Fundy, and the New England traders and fisher-
men who resorted thither were for the most part ad-
venturers. With the return of peace the more enter-
prising spirits began to make arrangements for securing
a foothold against rival traders.

James Simonds and his brother, in the first in-
stance, established themselves at St. John merely with
the tacit approval of the Nova Scotia authorities and of
the commander of the garrison at Fort Frederick. It
was not until three years later that they obtained their
first grant of land.

In the grants issued by the government at this

'See Parkman's " Wolfe and Montcahn," page 428.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 13

period a provision was inserted requiring the payment
to the crown of "a free yearly quit rent of one shilling
sterling for every 50 acres, the first payment to be made
on Michaelmas day next after the expiration of ten
years from the date of the grant." In order to pro-
long the period when the payment of quit rents would
be necessary, many of the early settlers delayed taking
out their grants. James Simonds tells us that he de-
ferred taking out his grant for this reason, thinking
that, with the exception of a fishing station, the lime
quarries and the marsh, the lands in the vicinity of St.
John were not even worth the quit rents. However,
before long rival traders appeared upon the scene and
the securing of his situation became an object of im-
portance. An entry in the minutes of the Council of
Nova Scotia records that on Aug. 9, 1763, license was
given to John Anderson to occupy 50 acres of any lands
unappropriated on the St. John river until further
orders from government, and under date June 7, 1765,'
we have the following: —

Licence is hereby granted to John Anderson to Traffick with the Tribes ot
Indians on St. John's River and in the Bay of Fundy he conducting himself with-
out Fraud or Violence and submitting himself to the observance of such regula-
tions as may at any time hereafter be established for the better ordering of such
commerce. This licence to continue during pleasure.

A similar license was granted the same year to
Capt. Isaac Caton "to traffick with the Indians on
Saint John's River and the Bay of Fundy." These
licenses for trade with the Indians were issued in
accordance with the proclamation of George III, given
at the Court of St. James, October 7, 1763, as is
shown Dy the following extract : —

And we do by the advice of our privy council declare and enjoin that the
trade with the said Indians shall be free and open to ail our subjects whatever,
provided that every person who may incline to trade with the said Indians do
take out a licence for carrying on such trade from the governor or commander in
chief of any of our colonies where such person shall reside, and also give security
to observe such regulations as we shall at any time think fit bv ourselves, or
commissioners to be appointed for this purpose, to direct or appoint for the
benefit of the said trade.

i4 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

The growing importance of St. John as a trading
centre is indicated by other references to the locality
scattered through the minutes of the proceedings of the
Governor in Council; among them the following shows
that the excellence of the lime stone had attracted the
attention of the imperial authorities at an early date:

Licence is hereby granted Jonathan Hoar, Esq.,* to carry Lime Stone from
Musquash Cove at St. John's River to Annapolis Royal for the repairing of the
Fortifications there. Given under my hand and seal at Halifax, October ,, 1763-

(Signed) MONTAGU WILMOT.

Of those who came to St. John with Capt. Francis
Peabody in 1762, only Samuel Peabody and one or two
others appear to have settled at the mouth of the river,
the remainder removed shortly afterwards to Mauger-
ville, where a township had been assigned to them.
The small dwelling erected at Portland Point by Capt.
Peabody became the property of his son-in-law, James
Simonds, but was for some years the residence of
James White.

In the year 1763 James and Richard Simonds were
actively engaged in the fishery and trading business at
St. John and Passamaquoddy in conjunction with their
relative, William Hazen, a young and enterprising
merchant of Newburyport who provided the necessary
supplies. They had several men in their employ,
among them Samuel Middleton, a cooper, and Anthony
Dyer; these remained at St. John the first winter.
Others ot those engaged in the employ of Simonds and
his partners seem to have had a previous acquaintance
with St. John harbor; Moses Genough for example was
there in 1758, and Lemuel Cleveland in 1757 when he
says "the French had a fort at Portland Point where
Mr. Simonds house was afterwards built."

In order to carry on the business at St. John on an
extensive scale, James Simonds decided to form a com-
pany for the purpose, but first he made sure of his

•Colonel Jonathan Hoar: See Murdoch's Hist. N. S,, Vol. II, p. 378.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 15

situation by procuring the following license from the
governor of Nova Scotia : —

Licence is hereby granted to James Simonds to occupy a tract or point of
land on the north side of the St. John River, opposite Fort Frederick, for carrying
on a fishery and for burning lime stone, the said tract or point of land containing
by estimation ten acres. (Signed) MONTAGU WILMOT

Halifax, Feb. 8, 1764.

The accounts that James Simonds gave his friends
in New England of the admirable situation he had
secured for himself caused numbers of them to make
proposals to be concerned with him in the business
about to be undertaken, of whom Wm. Hazen was the
first that joined him in a trial. Mr. Hazen had in-
timate business connections with Samuel Blodget, a
merchant of Boston, and the latter became a partner in
the enterprise. It was agreed that Messrs. Blodget,
Hazen and Simonds should each have one fourth part
in the company about to be organized, and that the re-
mainder should be taken by Richard Simonds, James
White and Robert Peaslie as junior partners. The
partnership was in its way "a family compact,"
Richard Simonds being a younger brother of James
Simonds, while Robert Peaslie had married Mr. Hazen's
sister Anna, and James White had been for some years
a clerk in Mr. Blodget's employ, and was moreover a
cousin of Mr. Hazen.

Articles of partnership* were carefully drawn up
and signed on March ist, 1764, under which it was
arranged that Messrs. Blodget and Hazen should re-
main at Boston and Newburyport to forward supplies
and receive whatever was sent them in return, and
James Simonds, with Messrs. White, Peaslie, and R.
Simonds as his aides, should proceed immediately to St.
John and there " enter upon and pursue with all speed
and faithfulness the business of the cod fishery, seine
fishery, fur trade, burning of lime and every other

•See Collections N. B. Hist. Soc. Vol. i. p. 187.

16 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

trading1 business that shall be thought advantageous to
the company."

Accordingly Messrs. Simonds and White, with a
party ot about thirty hands, embarked on board the
schooner Wilmot, Wm. Story, master, for the scene of
operations. They left Newburyport about the loth of
April, arriving at Passamaquoddy on the i4th and at
St. John on the i8th. The names of these pioneers
of commerce at St. John were Jonathan Leavitt,
Jonathan Simonds, Samuel Middleton, Peter Middleton,
Edmund Black, Moses True, Reuben Stevens, John
Stevens, John Boyd, Moses Kimball, Benjamin Dow,
Simon Ayers, Thomas Jenkins, Batrheldor Ring, Row-
ley Andros, Edmund Butler, John Nason, Reuben
Mace, Benjamin Wiggins, John Levering, John Hookey,
Reuben Sergeant, Benjamin Stanwood, Benjamin Win-
ter, Anthony Dyer, Webster Emerson, George Gary,
John Hunt, George Berry, Simeon Hillyard, Ebenezer
Fowler, William Picket, and Ezekiel Carr.

Quite a number of these men became permanent
settlers in the country and their descendants today are
numerous and respectable.

Some months ago the writer of this article found
in a pile of rubbish that had been thrown out of the old
Ward Chipman house some old account books in a fair
state of preservation, containing in part the transactions
of Messrs. Simonds and White while in business in St.
John. One of these, a book of nearly 100 pages, ordin-
ary foolscap size, with stout paper cover, is of especial
interest. At the top of the first page are the words
1764, ST. JOHN RIVER,

DAY BOOK No. i.

This book is intact and very creditably kept. The en-
tries are in the hand writing of James White. It con-
tains the record of the initial transactions of the first
^business firm established at St. John one hundred and

AT PORTLAND POINT. 17

thirty-four years ago. The accounts during the con-
tinuance of the partnership were kept in New England
currency or " Lawful money of Massachusetts." The'
letters L.M. were frequently affixed in order to dis-
tinguish this currency from sterling money or Nova
Scotia currency. In early times the value of the Mas-
sachusetts or New England currency was in the pro-
portion £i sterling = £ i. 6. 8., L.M. The New Bruns-
wick dollar or five shillings was equivalent to six shill-
ings L. M. It is a fact worth recording that the Mas-
sachusetts currency continued to be used in all ordinary
business transactions on the St. John river up to the
time of the arrival of the Loyalists in 1783. This is
only one instance showing how close were the ties that
bound the preloyalist settlers of this province to New
England, and it is scarcely a matter of surprise that
during the Revolutionary war the Massachusetts Con-
gress found many sympathizers on the River St. John.
While accounts were kept according to the cur-
rency of New England, very little money was in circu-
lation and the amount of cash handled by Simonds andf^
White was small enough. For years they supplied the
settlers at Maugerville with such things as they needed,
very often receiving payment in furs and skins, in the
securing of which the white inhabitants became such
expert hunters and trappers as to arouse the jealousy of
the Indians. They also furnished barrel and hogshead
staves of white and red oak, boards, shingles, oar raft-
ers, spars, cedar posts and cordwood. Later, they were
able to furnish farm produce, sheep and cattle; they
also were frequently employed in the service of the Com-
pany in various ways by Simonds and White. With
the Indians the trade was almost entirely one of barter,! L
the staple article being the fur of the Spring beaver.
The account books that have been preserved probably
do not contain a complete record of all the shipments

i8 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

made from St. John by Simond and White, but they
suffice to show that during the period of ten years that
elapsed from their settlement in 1764 to the outbreak of
the American Revolution (when the ports of Massa-
chusetts were closed against them) they exported 18,250
Ibs. of spring beaver skins, and 8,390 Ibs. of fall and
winter beaver skins, a total of 26,640 Ibs. besides 2,265
Ibs. of castor, the whole amounting in value to £8,-
500, according to the invoice prices. As the average
weight of a beaver skin was a pound and a half, the
number of skins exported must have been at least
40,000. There were other traders engaged in the same
business, as appears from Mr. Simonds' correspondence.
If then this firm alone sent to New England an average
of 4,000 beaver skins annually, it is manifest that the
fur trade of the St. John river at this period had as-
sumed large proportions.

Duringthe ten years of uninterrupted trade, Simonds
and White shipped to New England, in addition to the
beaver which was their staple article, skins of all the
animals common to the country, including the follow-
ing:— 11,022 Musquash, 6,050 Marten, 870 Otter, 258
Fisher, 522 Mink, 120 Fox, 140 Sable, 74 Racoon, 67
Loupcervier, 8 Woolverene, 5 Bear, 2 Nova Scotia
Wolf, 50 Cariboo, 85 Deer, and 1,113 Moose, besides
some 3,000 Ibs. of feathers, of which articles the value
according to invoice prices was ^2,795.

The prices at which these furs were quoted one hun-
dred and thirty years ago seem, when compared with
those of modern times, to be ridiculously low ;* their
total value, however, amounted to the respectable sum
of $40,000.

In their business transactions Messrs. Simonds and
White kept four sets of accounts: one for the Indian

*The prices reduced to modern currency would be about as follows : — Bear
skin $1.30, Loupcervier $1.50, Woolverene .66, Racoon .50, Red Fox .60, Black
Fox $2.00, Fisher 66, Sable .30, Mink .50, Marten .50, Musquash .09. Deer $1.30,
Cariboo $1.50, Moose $2.00, Spring Beaver $1.66, Winter do. $1.38, Fall do. $1.00.

AT PORTLAND POINT. ig

trade, a second for their business with the white inhab-
itants of the country, a third for that with their own
employees, and a fourth for that with the garrison at
Fort Frederick. These old account books contain some
curious items. The consumption of rum by the em-
ployees, and indeed by all the inhabitants of the
country, was something astonishing. The use of rum
as a beverage seems to have been quite the universal
custom of the day, while on the other hand many ap-
parently did not use tobacco, although the use of snuff
boxes shows that the use of snuff was not uncommon.
Rum was sold at i shilling per quart, tobacco at 8'
pence per pound, tea (which was little used) sold at 8s.
per lb., coffee at is. 6d. per lb., molasses at 33. per
gallon, sugar at yd. per lb., gingerbread cakes 2d?.
each, lemons 3d. each, cheese gd. per lb., soap is. per
lb. Among other articles in demand were powdar and
shot, fishing tackle, flints, cuttoe knives, milled caps,
blankets, blue rattan and fear-nothing jackets, woollen
and check shirts, horn and ivory combs, silk handker-
chiefs, turkey garters, pins and needles, etc. In the.
course of a few years the variety of articles kept in
stock at the store at Portland Point increased surpris-
ingly till it might be said that the company sold every-
thing "from a needle to an anchor," including such
things as a variety of crockery and dry goods besides
such articles as knee buckles, looking glasses, men's
and women's pumps (or best shoes), tin candlesticks,
brass door knobs, wool cards, mouse traps, whip saws,
mill saws, skates and razors. Writing paper was sold
at a penny a sheet or yd. per half quire. The only
books kept in stock were almanacks, psalters, spelling
books and primers.

The old account books bear evidence of being wel]
thumbed, for Indian debts were often hard to collect
and white men's debts were at least as hard to collect

20 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

in ancient as in modern days. Old and thumbworn as
the books are, and written with ink that often had been
frozen and with quill pens that often needed mending,
they are extremely interesting as relics of the past, and
well deserving of a better fate than that which mani-
festly awaited them when by the merest accident they
were rescued from a dismal heap of rubbish.

W. O. RAYMOND.

WHERE STOOD FORT LATOUR?

It is not always the events greatest in historic
consequences that are enshrined the deepest in the
hearts of a people, but rather those that most exhibit
the primal human virtues of valor, patience and self-
sacrifice. Into such events every man can project him-
self, and not only understand but feel them. In our
own early history there were many occurrences of more
importance than the gallant defence by Madame de La
Tour of her husband's fort against his arch-enemy,
Charnisay, but there are none better known or oftener
related. The historians of St. John have done the
story full justice, and Mr. Hannay in particular has left
little for any other to say about it. But if anyone,
thoughtful of his country's past, wishes to stand on the
spot where these things happened, and to call up in
fancy the scenes of that April morning of long ago,
whither shall he turn? For no man can this day point
with certainty to the site of Fort LaTour.

Ample records exist to prove that the fort stood at
the mouth of the St. John, but they allow room for dif-
ference of opinion as to whether it stood on the east or
west side. It is placed on the east side on the map in
Volume I of the superb new Jesuit Relations (under the
name Fort St. Jean), and on the map in Greswell's His-
tory of Canada. Mr. Hannay thinks it was on the

WHERE STOOD FORT LATOUR? 21

west side of the "old fort," and other local historians,
including, I believe, the late Mr. Lawrence, have
thought that it stood on the site of Fort Dufferin.
Some years ago in examining ancient maps of New
Brunswick I was struck by the fact that most of the
earlier ones placed it on the east side; and, led thereby
to investigate the entire subject from the beginning,
I was forced to the conclusion that the fort stood
upon the east side, and probably on the knoll at the
head of Rankin's wharf at Portland Point. The full
evidence for this belief was given, along with the repro-
ductions of the old maps, in the Transactions of the
Royal Society of Canada for 1891, but as that work
is not readily accessible, and as the subject is of some
popular interest, I shall give here a synopsis of two of
its most important lines of evidence, along with one or
two points which have come to light since then.

The only direct reference to the site of Fort La-
Tour in any original document known to any of our
historians is contained in Nicolas Denys' " Description
geographique de 1'Amerique septentrionale," published
at Paris in 1672. All writers agree on Denys' truth-
fulness. He knew intimately both LaTour and Char-
nisay, had visited the St. John River, and after La-
Tour's ruin had employed some of his men. His au-
thority on this question must be of the highest. And
here is a literal translation of what he writes of St.
John Harbor :

The entrance is narrow, because of a little island which :s to larboard or
on the left side, which being passed the river is much larger. On the same side
as the island there are large marshes or flats which are covered at high tide ; the
beach is of muddy sand which makes a point, which passed, there is a cove (or
creek) which makes into the said marshes, of which the entrance is narrow, and
there the late Sieur Monsieur de la Tour has caused to be made a weir, in which
were caught a great number of those Gaspereaux which were salted for winter,
[here follows an account of the fish caught]. A little farther on, beyond the said
weir, there is a little knoll where d'Aunay built his fort, which I have not found
well placed according to my idea, for it is commanded by an island which is very

22 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

near and higher ground, and behind which all ships can place themselves under
cover from the fort, in which there is only water from pits, which is not very
good, no better than that outside the fort. It would have been in my opinion
better placed behind the island where vessels anchor, and where it would have
been higher, and in consequence not commanded by other neighboring places,
and would have had good water, as in that which was built by the said late Sienr
<ie la Tour, which was destroyed by d'Aunay after he had wrongfully taken
possession of it, etc.

If the impartial reader who knows the harbor well,
will follow carefully this account, or better if he will
read it in comparison with Bruce's fine old map of 1761
which shows the harbor untouched by modern improve-
ments, I think he will agree that Denys has given a
good description of the harbor, that the island on the
left of the entrance is Partridge Island, that the flats
were those at Carleton now partly included in the Mill-
pond, that the beach of muddy sand making a point
was Sand Point, that the cove or creek making into the
sand marshes was the creek, clearly shown on Bruce's
map, at the present outlet of the Millpond, that the
knoll a little farther on was the slight elevation on
which stands the "old fort" in Carleton. On this
knoll, says Denys, d'Aunay (Charnisay) built his fort,
and further evidence of the identity of this knoll is
given in his statement that the fort was commanded by
an island [i. e. Navy Island] very near, behind which
[i. e. in the channel] vessels could lie under cover from
the fort, and that it had bad water. It may seem an
objection that he makes the island higher than the fort
site, but the island has washed away much in recent
times, and the successive forts afterwards built at the
" old fort " point must have raised that site somewhat.
But aside from this we have important independent tes-
timony that the fort site was really commanded by the
island, in the following statement made in 1701 by
the Sieur de Brouillan in describing the French fort
which then stood on this point in Carleton, — "it is

WHERE STOOD FORT LATOUR? 23

commanded on one side by an island at the distance of
a pistol shot", and he also speaks of its bad water—
(Murdoch's History of Nova Scotia, Vol. I, page 249).
Moreover, while Denys description of the location of
d'Aunay's fort applies thus perfectly to the Carleton
site, it fits no other about the harbor. Charnisay's
fort then stood in Carleton, but where was LaTour's?
Here Denys is not so clear, and all that we can gather
with certainty from his account is that it was not on
the " old fort" site in Carleton.

The testimony of the maps is in brief as follows :
Many maps showing Acadia were published before
1700. Of these some are but copies of others and
hence of no value as authorities, but I know of at least
four made entirely independently of one another, which
place Fort LaTour on the east side of the harbor. In
fact, all the maps known to me belonging before 1700
which mark Fort LaTour at all, place it on the east
side, with but one exception. This is the fine Duval
map which in the editions of 1653 and 1664, as I have
been told (I have not seen them) places it on the west
side. But the third and improved edition of 1677 re-
moves it from the west to the east side. Now second
or later editions of maps, like later editions of books,
are likely to be more accurate than the first, and Duval
must have had good reason for making this change.
Another map of much importance has recently been
published (in a fine French Atlas by Marcel), drawn by
Franquelin, dated 1708, but really made earlier.
Franquelin was in Acadia in 1686 and made by far the
best map ot the St. John River which had up to that
time been drawn (a copy of which is contained in
the latest volume of the Transactions of the Royal
Society of Canada), and he therefore knew well the
geography of this region. On his 1708 map he marks
Fort Martinnon on the west side of the harbor,

24 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

and Fort LaTour on the east. The former was of
course that of the Sieur Martignon, who was granted
the west side of the harbor in seigniory in 1676, but
that Franquelin placed Fort LaTour on the east side is
significant. After 1700 several maps appeared which
placed this fort on the west side of the harbor, no doubt
through confusion of it with that built at Carleton by
Villebon, and this is the case in the fine maps of Bellin
made before 1755. In 1757, however, Bellin, the great-
est French mapmaker of the last century, issued a
much corrected map of Acadia, and in that he not only
removes Fort LaTour from the west to the east side
but places before the name the significant word
"Ancien", so that it reads "Ancien F. LaTour." Bellin
had access to the remarkably rich collections of ancient
maps in the French " Depot des Cartes" and that he
should have changed his earlier maps and especially
have added the significant word "ancient" must be
given weight in this argument. This is but the barest
outline, but I may summarize the whole matter by
saying that I know of no piece of evidence drawn from
maps tending to show that the fort was on the west
side; it all points to the east side.

If now we seek for a possible site for the fort upon
the east side, we find that but a single site of an old
fort has been recorded, that at Portland Point. Had
any other existed it could hardly have completely es-
caped notice. Thus Mr. Lawrence (Footprints, page
4) states "Mr. Simonds erected his dwelling on the
ruins of an old French Fort, Portland Point", and there
is other evidence to show that a fort of considerable
importance stood there. Moreover, and this is im-
portant, if this fort at Portland Point was not Fort
LaTour, our historians have no idea what fort it was.

Denys, then, tells us that Fort LaTour was not at
the "old fort" in Carleton; the early maps place it upon

WHERE STOOD FORT LATOUR? 25

the east side ; but a single fort-site is known on the east
side, — that at Portland Point. This is why I think the
fort stood on the east side, and probably at Portland
Point. It is true that these facts do not prove that con-
clusion; but they seem to me to give it a higher degree
of probability than any other theory at present pos-
sesses. In any case, these facts are too important to
be ignored, and if anyone wishes to establish another
view, it will not be enough to give simply the reasons
for his own belief, but he must meet and answer this
testimony of Denys and the mapmakers, and show
either that they were mistaken or else that they have
been misinterpreted. But whatever we may think
of the evidence, this much is sure, that future students
will impartially examine it and give a decision accord-
ing to its merits. W. F. GANONG.

THE BROTHERS D' AMOURS.

THE FIRST FRENCH SETTLERS ON THE ST. JOHN RIVER.

Most people in New Brunswick, when they speak
of the first settlers on the River St. John refer to the
Loyalists who came here in 1783, or to the New Eng-
land men who settled at Maugerville and Sheffield
twenty years earlier. Little is ever said, because but
little is known, of those French inhabitants of the St.
John river, who were living on its banks a full century
before the era of the Loyalists, and of whom we obtain
very fleeting and uncertain glimpses in the official de-
spatches sent by the commandants of Acadia to the
French government. Yet these people cannot but be
interesting to us who now inhabit the land which they
made their home, and if the whole story of their trials
and toils could be told we would no doubt find it as full

26 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

of romance as the world has found the story of Evange-
line, as related by America's greatest poet. Unfortu-
nately, there is no possibility of going into such detai's
with regard to the early French settlers of the St. John
as the poet was able to evolve from his imagination with
reference to the fictitious heroine of the Acadian exile.
Yet, enough can be gathered from the records of that
time to give us a fairly accurate idea of the manner o^
men who were living on this great river, amidst the
vast Acadian wilderness, two hundred years ago.

In 1670 Acadia, which had been seized by the Eng-
lish in 1654, was restored to the French under the
terms of the treaty of Breda, and the Chevalier de
Grand-fontaine became governor of the colony. The
English had held Ac.udin for sixteen years, yet they had
done nothing to increase the number of its inhabitants,
and when their fishing establishments were broken up
and their forts surrendered to the French, no traces of
their occupation remained, with the exception of the
fort at Jemseg which they had built, and which was
nothing more than a post for trading with the Indians.
Fort Jemseg stood on the east side of the St. John
river, and just south of the entrance to Grand Lake.
It was a 1 20 feet long by 90 wide, enclosed by pickets 18
feet in height. On it were mounted four small guns,
and within it was the house for the garrison 60 ft. by 30.
Old Fort Latour, at the mouth of the river, was then in
ruins, and in 1670 there does not seem to have been
a single settler, French or English, on the banks of the
St. John from the Bay of Fundy to the river's source.
Rich as the territory was in every natural resource, its
very vastness and the gloom of the inpenetrable forest
which shaded the waters of the great river seem to
have deterred the humble tiler of the soil from seeking
a home there. The great solitude was only broken
by the passing of the canoe of the savage or the

THE BROTHERS D'AMOURS. 27

movement of the wild animals of the wooded wilder-
ness.

The commandant on the St. John river in 1670
was Pierre de Joibert, seigneur de Soulanges and
Marson, an officer in the French army who had married
a daughter of Chartier de Lotbiniere, who had been
attorney general of New France. Joibert, although he
lived but eight years in Acadia, for he died in 1678, has
substantial claims to recognition as an historical figure
for he was the father of Elizabeth Joibert, who was
born in old Fort LaTour in 1673, and who became the
wife of the Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor general of
Canada, and the mother of the second Marquis de
Vaudreuil who was the last French governor of Canada.
Joibert seems to have wished to become an Acadian
seigneur, and he was the first grantee of territory in
that part of Acadia now known as New Brunswick,
under the terms of the edict made by Louis XIV. on
the 2Oth May, 1676. This document authorized Count
Frontenac, ihe governor general, to grant lands in
New France, on condition that they should be cleared
within six years. Such a condition was impossible of
fulfilment, for the grants were too large to be cleared
within the time specified unless the grantees had been
able to place a host of tenants upon them. On the
1 2th Oct., 1676, Joibert, who is described in the docu-
ment as major of Pentogoet (Penobscot) and command-
ant of the forts of Gemisick (Jemseg) and the river St.
John, received a grant of a seignory called Nachouac,
to be hereafter called Soulanges, fifteen leagues from
Gemisick, two leagues front on each side of the St.
John River, and two leagues deep inland. This grant>
which contained upwards of 46,00x3 acres of land, em-
braced not only the territory occupied by Mr. Gibson's
town of Marysville, but also the site of Fredericton, St.
Mary's and Gibson, so that if Joibert's heirs could lay

28 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

claim to it now they would be multi-millionaires. Four
days after the issue of this grant, Joibert obtained a
second concession granting him the house or fort of
Gemisick, with a league on each side ot the fort, mak-
ing two leagues front on the river and two leagues in
depth inland. This second grant was just one half the
size of the first, yet it formed a noble domain and in-
cluded a fort which might easily have been made a
formidable place of strength.

When Joibert died in 1678 it does not appear that
he had done anything to improve or settle the valuable
territory which had been granted to him by the French
king. His widow and her children returned to Canada,
and we hear nothing more of her in connexion with the
affairs of Acadia until 1691, when she received a grant
of land on the River St. John of four leagues in front
on the river and two leagues in depth, and opposite the
grant of M. de Chauffeurs (called Jemseck), the centre
of the grant being opposite the house at Jemseck.
This document shows that the grants to Joibert had
been escheated or lapsed, and that the territory they
embraced had been regranted to other persons. The
new grant to the widow was probably intended to
compensate her in some measure for the loss of the
land granted to her husband, but it does not appear
that she ever occupied it or that she was able to sell it
to a good purchaser. Land was then too easily ob-
tained from the government to be of much value as a
saleable commodity when in private hands.

The Sieur de Chauffeurs, who was in the occupation
of the Jemseg territory in 1691, was one of four brothers
who had come to Acadia from Quebec in 1684, or per-
haps a year or two earlier. They were sons of Mathieu
d'Amours, a native of Brittany who emigrated to Que-
bec and became a member of the Governor's Council
in 1663. He was created a member of the Canadian

THE BROTHERS D'AMOURS. 29

Noblesse. From his position in the Council d'Am°u
was naturally an influential personage, and, like many
a modern public man, he used his power to promote the
fortunes of his sons. They all received large grants of
land in Acadia, and they all resided on the St. John
River where they had very extensive possessions.
Louis d'Amours, who assumed the territorial name of
Sieur des Chauffeurs, had a grant of the Richibucto
and Buctouche Rivers, but he afterwards became pos-
sessed of the Jemseg seigniory which had been granted
to Joibert. Ren6 d'Amours, Sieur de Clignacourt, in
1684, obtained a grant of land on the River St. John
trom Medoctec to the Longue Sault, two leagues in
depth on each side. In the same year Mathieu
d'Amours, Sieur de Freneuse, was granted the land
along the River St. John between Gemisick and Nach-
ouc, two leagues deep on each side of the river. In
1695 Bernard d'Amours, Sieur de Plenne received a
grant of the Kennebecasis River " with a league and a
half on each side of the said river, by two leagues in
depth, and the islands and islets adjucent." Six years
earlier the same territory had been granted to Pierre
Chesnet, Sieur du Breuil, a resident of Port Royal, but
this grant seems to have lapsed because the conditions
as to settlement had not been complied with. At all
events Bernard d'Amours got the territory to which du
Breuil had possessed and the latter did not come to this
side of the Bay of Fundy.

The four brothers d'Amours may be properly re-
garded as the first settlers on the River St. John who
were not officers of the government. Governor Ville-
bon found them here when he came to Acadia in 1690,
and he appears to have conceived a strong prejudice
against them. Writing to the minister in Paris 1695
he complains of the brothers d'Amours, whom he calls
sot disants genteil hommes. He says, — " They are four

30 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

in number living; on the St. John River. They are
given up to licentiousness and independence for ten or
twelve years they have been here. They are disobed-
ient and seditious and require to be watched." In an-
other paper it is stated of the d' Amours that " although
they have vast grants in the finest parts of the country,
they have hardly a place to lodge in. They carry on no
tillage, keep no cattle, but live with trading with the In-
dians and debauch among them, making large profits
thereby, but injuring the public good." A year later
we find Villebon again writing to the minister in the
same strain. "I have," says he, "no more reason to
be satisfied wish the Sieurs d'Amours than I previously
had. The one that has come from France has not
pleased me more than the other two. Their minds are
wholly spoiled by long licentiousness, and the manners
they have acquired among1 the Indians; and they must
be watched closely, as I had the honor to state to you
last year."

It would not be quite fair to judge of the character
of the d'Amours brothers by these statements, although
Governor Villebon doubtless made them in good faith.
Acadia, at that time, was so full of jealousies and
cabals that no man escaped censure, not even Villebon
himself. The French government encouraged the for-
warding" of camplaints to France, not only against priv-
ate parties but against their own officials ; and the
French archives are full of letters written by all sorts
and conditions of men against the governors, the judges,
the priests and against each other. The d'Amours were
engaged in trading with the Indians and this was
enough to raise the ire of the governor, who deemed
such conduct an infringement of the monopoly of the
company which was supposed to control the trade of
Acadia. But as this company did not provide a suf-
ficent amount of goods and sold them at exorbitant

THE BROTHERS D'AMOURS. 31

prices, nearly every person in Acadia was engaged in-
trading, or at all events, every person was accused of
it, even Villebon himself being charged with having
secret transactions with the English in the sale of furs.
Even the captains of the men-of-war which arrived
from France every year with supplies for the fort were
engaged in trade, for they brought out goods for the
traders in Acadia who were ruining the company's
business.

Fortunately we are not without the means of cor-
recting Villebon's statement that the d'Amours brothers
had hardly a place to lodge in, kept no cattle and
carried on no tillage. In August, 1689, a little English
boy named John Gyles, then nine years old, was taken
prisoner in an Indian raid against Pemaquid, in Maine,
and carried to Acadia. He remained six years a cap-
time among the Indians of the Upper St. John, but in
1695 was sold as a slave to Louis d'Amours de Chauf-
fours, the oldest of the d'Amours brothers. Gyles lived
with this man tor more than three years, and served him
so faithfully that, at the end of that time, he gave him
his freedom and sent him back to his people in New
England. So far from having hardly a place to lodge
in, Louis d'Amours at that time had quite an extensive
establishment. His residence was at Jemseg on the
east side of the St. John river, and he seems to have
lived in much comfort. Gyles, who published a narra-
tive of his captivity many years afterwards, says that
he did a great trade with the Indians and kept a store
of which the English captive had charge while he lived
there. He also possessed cattle and raised crops, and
Gyles mentioned particularly one very fine field of wheat
of which the birds had made great havoc. Louis
d'Amours was married to Margaret Guion, a native of
Quebec, and they had two children when Gyles lived
with them. This lady treated the poor English captive

32 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

with great kindness, and the narrative of Gyles, which
has been widely circulated, has handed her name down
to the present day as that of a good and true woman.
Mathieu d'Amours, Sieur de Freneuse, lived on
the east side of the St. John river opposite the mouth
of the Oromocto. Gyles stopped a night at his house
In 1695, but he gives us no details as to how he lived.
The fact that he had his residence in this fine farming
country, rather than in a place more convenient lor
trading, would lead us to infer that he engaged largely
in agriculture. His wife was Louise Guion, a sister of
the wife of Louis d'Amours, and they had several
children. Louise Guion, under the name of Madame
Freneuse, occupies a large space in Acadian history,
and for nearly ten years there was hardly a despatch or
letter sent from Acadia to France which did not contain
some reference to her. Unfortunately these references
were not always complimentary, tor Madame Frenuese
was a sort of Acadian Cleopatra who came near under-
mining the foundations of the little colony. One com-
mandant she ruined and the Port Royal colony was
kept in a continual state of ferment over her, for she
had partizans and defenders as well as unrelenting
enemies.

Ren6 d'Amours, Sieur de Clignacourt, who had a
arge grant of territory on the Upper St. John, does not
appear to have lived upon it, but probably resided with
his brother Mathieu. Bernard, about the year 1701,
married Jeanne le Borgne, a grand daughter of Charles
de la Tour, the most striking figure in Acadian history.
Rene" appears to have been in France in 1696 or earlier;
he was probably the youngest of the four brothers.
Like his brother Louis he was engaged in trading with
the Indians. John Gyles, in his narrative, informs us
that when he was residing with the Indians at Medoc-
tec — "when they would come in from hunting they

THE BROTHERS D'AMOURS. 33

would be drunk and fight for several days and nights
together, until they had spent most of their skins in
wine and brandy, which was brought to the village by
a Frenchman called Monsieur Sigenioncour." The
reader will readily recognize in this name that of Rene*
d'Amours, Sieur do Clignacourt. Perhaps we may dis-
cern in this statement, also, the principal reason for
Villebon's dissatisfaction with the d'Amours brothers.
A man who was engaged in selling the Indians wine and
brandy, and keeping them drunk for days until he had
obtained from them all the furs they had gathered in
the winter's hunt, was not likely to be a favorite with
the Acadian governor. Yet the time soon came when
Villebon had good reason for looking on the d'Amours
with some degree of favor for at a very critical period
they rendered essential service to him and to the state.
In 1696 Villebon was established with a garrison
of one hundred men at Fort Nashwaak, which was then
the headquarters of Acadia. It had been chosen be-
cause it was near the principal Indian villages, and so
far from the mouth of the St. John river that it could
not be easily attacked by the English of Boston, with
whom a constant state of war existed. The story of
the combats which were carried on between 1690 and
1700 between Villebon and the English would make a
paper of itself, and therefore I shall not touch upon it
further than it relates to the fortunes of our first
settlers, the d'Amours brothers. If settlement was
tardy on the St. John River it was not without good
cause, for the tiller of the soil above all things needs
peace to enable him to prosper, and he is not likely to
be content to live in a land where his fields are being
constantly ravaged by an enemy, his buildings burnt
and his cattle killed or driven away. Yet that was
what he might expect if he lived on the banks of the St.
John two hundred years ago.

34 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

The English made several attacks on Acadia dur-
ing^ the last decade of the seventeenth century, but the
principal one was in 1696. An expedition was fitted
out at Boston in the autumn of that year and placed
under the command of Col. Benjamin Church who had
been a commander in the Indian war of 1675, generally
known as King Phillip's war. Church had about five
hundred men with him and they were embarked in open
sloops and boats. They ravaged the coast of Acadia
from Passamaquoddy to the head of the Bay of Fundy,
and were on their way back to Boston when they were
met by a reinforcement of two hundred men in. three
vessels under Col. Hathorne, one of the Massachusetts
Council. Hathorne, who now took the chief com-
mand, and had orders to beseige and capture Fort Nash-
waak, and the expedition returned to the St. John for
that purpose, and ascended the river. Villebon was at-
tacked in his fort on the i8th of October, but after can-
nonading it for two days the English retired. Villebon
was ably assisted in the defence of his fort by two of
the d' Amours brothers, Matthieu and Rene, who arrived
on the evening before the English appeared, with ten
Frenchmen, their servants and retainers. Louis d' Am-
ours was in France at this time and he had left his af-
fairs in the care of his faithful English slave, John Gyles,
then a lad of sixteen. I doubt whether I can tell the
story of what occurred to the family of Louis d' Amours
during the English invasion better than in the words of
Gyles himself, who in the narrative of his capacity* de-
scribes the affair thus : —

Some time after, Col. Hathorne attempted the taking of the French fort up-
this river. We heard of him some time before he came up, by the guard which
Governor Villebon had stationed at the river's mouth. Monsieur, my master,
had gone to France, and madam, his wife, advised with^ine. She desired me to
naJl a paper on the door of her house, which paper read as follows:

"I entreat the general of the English not to burn my house or barn, nor

a""ai'' *• *"»• '^-(Reprint from.

THE BROTHERS D'AMOURS. 35,

destroy my cattle. I don't suppose that such an army comes here to destroy a
few inhabitants, but to take the fort above us. I have shown kindness to the
English captives, as we ware capacitated, and have bought two, of the Indians
and sent them to Boston. We have one now with us, and he shall go also when
a convenient opportunity presents, and he desires it."

When I had done this, madam said to me, "Little English," [which was the
familiar name she used to call me by,] "we have showa you kindness, and now it
lies in your power to serve or disserve us, as you know where our goods are hid
in the woods, and that monsieur is not home. I could have sent you to the fort
and put you under confinement, but my respect to you and your assurance of love
to us has disposed me to confide in you, persuaded you will not hurt us or our
affairs. And, now, it you will not run away to the English, who are coming up
the river, but serve our interest, I will acquaint monsieur of it on his return from
France, which will be very pleasing to him; and I now give my word, you shall
have liberty to go to Boston on the first opportunity, if you desire it, or any other
favor in my power shall not be denied you." I replied :

"Madame, it is contrary to the nature of the English to requite evil for good.
I shall endeavor to serve you and your interest. I shall not run to the English,
but if I am taken by them I shall willingly go with them, and yet endeavor not to
disserve you either in your person or goods."

The place where we lived was called Hagimack, twenty-five leagues from,
the river's mouth, as I have before stated.

We now embarked and. went in a large boat and canoe two or three, miles,
up an eastern branch of the river that comes from a large pond, and on the fol-
lowing evening sent down four hands to make discovery. And while they were
sitting in the house the English surrounded it and took one of the four. The:
other three made their escape in the dark and through the English soldiers, and
coming to us, gave a surprising account of affairs. Upon this news, madam
said to me, "Little English, now you can go from us, but I hope you will remem-
ber your word." I said, "Madam, be not concerned. I will not leave you in this
strait." She said, "I know not what to do with my two poor little babies." I
said, "Madam, the sooner we embark and go over the great pond the better/-
Accordingly we embarked and went over the pond. • The next day we spoke
with Indians, who were in a canoe» and they gave us an account that Signecto
town was taken and burnt. Soon after we heard the great guns at Gov. Ville-
bon's fort, which the English engaged several days. They killed one man, then
drew off down the river, fearing to continue longer, for fear of being frozen in
for the winter, which in truth they would have been.

Hearing no report of cannon for several days, I, with two others, went down
to our house to make discovery. We found our young lad who was taken by the
English when they went up the river. The general had shown himseif so honor-
able, that on reading the note on our door, he ordered it not to be burnt, nor the
barn. Our cattle and other things he preserved, except one or two and the poul-
try for their use. At their return they ordered the young lad to be put on shore.
Finding things in this posture, we returned and gave madam an account of it.

Here we are brought face to face with the realities

*This "great pond" was Grand Lake.

36 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

of war and the fears and miseries it brought to those
who were its victims in ancient Acadia. It is pleasing
to know that the fidelity of John Gyles to his mistress
did not go unrewarded. When his master returned
from France in the spring of 1697, he thanked Gyles
for the care he had taken of his affairs, and said he
would endeavor to fulfil the promise which his wife had
made. Accordingly in the following year, after peace
had been proclaimed, an English sloop from Boston
came to the mouth of the St. John river and Louis
d'Amours sent Gyles back in her to his people from
whom he had been parted about nine years.

Mathieu d'Amours did not fare so well as his
brother. As he had taken part in the defence at Fort
Nashwaak, the English, in coming down the river,
burnt his residence and barns at Freneuse and killed
his cattle. The Sieur de Freneuse was left without a
house and was wholly ruined, but this was not all the
price he had to pay for his loyalty to his country and
his king. The exposure to which he was subjected
during the seige brought on an illness from which he
died, leaving a widow and a large family of young
children to struggle as best they might against the
world's troubles and cares. Rene" d'Amours, the other
brother who had taken part in the defence at Fort
Nashwaak, had also been ruined by the English in-
vasion, for his goods, which were stored at Freneuse,
were seized or destroyed. He afterwards joined the
Indian war parties that were making raids on the Eng-
lish settlements of Maine. Thus the ruin wrought by
war brings about reprisals and breeds more ruin and
destruction of life and property.

In 1698, Governor Villebon removed his garrison
from Fort Nashwaak to the old fort at the mouth of
the river, on the Carleton side of the harbor, which had
been originally built by Latour. Villebon died there

THE BROTHERS D'AMOURS. 37

in the summer of 1700 and his successor Brouillan,
who arrived at St. John in the summer of the following
year, resolved to abandon the fort there and remove
the military establishment to Port Royal. This was
immediately done, and as a consequence the settlers on
the St. John were left without protection. As the war
between France and England was renewed in the
spring of 1702, these unfortunate people had no re-
source but to abandon their properties on the St. John
and remove to Port Royal. By this time it appears
that Margaret Guion, the wife of Louis d'Amours, was
dead, for her sister, Madame Freneuse, had taken
charge of her children and was providing for them.
These children were indeed in a bad plight and were
destined soon to be doubly orphaned. Their father
was made prisoner by the English in 1703 and taken
to Boston where he was confined in prison for more
than two years. When he was liberated, under the
terms of an exchange, and returned to Port Royal he
was broken in health as in fortune and soon afterwards
died. We learn this fact from an entry in the register
of the parish of Port Royal recording the marriage of
" Pierre de Morpain, commander of the Marquis de
Beaupre", on the i3th August, 1709, to Mdlle. Marie
d' Amour de Chauffeur, daughter of the late Louis
d' Amour, ecuyer, and Sieur de Chauffeur, and of the
late dame Marguerite Guyon."

Madame Freneuse, who had not only her own
large family to look after but also the children of her
sister, appears to have removed to Port Royal about
the time of the transfer of the garrison to that place.
In 1701 she was a petitioner to the French government
for a pension on the ground of the death of her husband
and the losses he had suffered by the English invasion.
Two of her sons were at that time cadet-soldiers of the
companies in the Port Royal garrison, so Madame

38 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Freneuse must then have been nearly forty. Yet she
had captivated the too susceptible heart of M. de Bona-
venture, a brave naval officer, who was in command of
the King's ships on the coast of Acadia. Nor does it
appear that Governor Brouillan was insensible to her
blandishments, for he shielded her in every possible way
and defended her from her enemies. The French gov-
ernment encouraged what may be properly described as
the "pimp" system, so that every person in Acadia
was a spy on some one else. In November 1702 we
find de Goutins, the commisary of Port Royal, in a
letter to the French government, complaining of a scan-
dal caused by Madame Freneuse and Bonaventure.
This story was repeated by others and the priests of
Port Royal brought the matter to the notice of the Bis-
hop of Quebec, who wrote to the French minister sug-
gesting- that Madame Freneuse be sent to Canada. In
the autumn of 1703 Madame Freneuse had a child, but
the infant was spirited away and kept at the residence
of an inhabitant who lived up the river of Port Royal.
Brouillan, the governor, was, however, aware of the
affair, and so was one of the priests, for the child was
baptized by the r-an e of Antoine, en ihe 7th Sept. 1703.
Yet all through these preceedings Madame Freneuse,
instead of manifesting an humble and contrite spirit,
held her head high, and her partizans, who included the
two most influential men in the colony, the Governor
and Bonaventure, made it uncomfortable for any one
who dared to look unkindly upon her. Among the
letters in our archives is one from Pontif, Surgeon
Major of Port Royal, to the Minister, complaining of
the ill treatment which he had received from Bona-
venture on account of Madame Freneuse. Even M.
de LaTour, the seigneur of Port Royal, and the prin-
cipal man in the colony, was made to realize the danger
of offending a friend of Bonaventure, for in a letter to

THE BROTHERS D'AMOURS. 39

the Minister he protests against his interdiction and at-
tributes it to the fact that neither he nor his wife had
visited Madame Freneuse. In the autumn of 1704,
Madame Freneuse was sent by Governor Brouillan to
the River St. John, but she soon returned, alleging that
she could not live there because the place was deserted.
Brouillan had been ordered to send her to Quebec, but
he excused himself on the ground that he had no
opportunity of doing so. A journey from Port Royal
to Quebec was a serious matter in those days. For
nearly a year the cause of all this trouble lived up the
river, at a distance from Port Royal, at the house of an
inhabitant, but in the autumn of 1705 she went to
France. She did not remain there very long, for she
was again at Port Royal in the summer of 1706, and
was the subject of much correspondence. Subercase,
who had succeeded Brouillan as Governor, required her
to live at a distance from Port Royal, but she seems to
have returned to it occasionally. It was not until the
summer of 1708 that the instructions of the French
government with regard to this remarkable woman
were carried out and she was sent to Quebec.

It might be supposed that this would be the last
heard of Madame Freneuse in Acadia, for Quebec was
a place which no person could leave without the con-
sent of the Governor General. But this Acadian widow
was quite irrepressible, and it would almost seem as if
she had become as influential with the Quebec authori-
ties as she was with the leading personages in Acadia.
After the capture of Port Royal by the English in 1710
she turned up as emissary of the French government,
and the attempt which was made in the summer cf
1711 by the French inhabitants and Indians to recapture
that place was thought to be due to instructions she
had brought from Canada. Major Paul Mascerene,
an officer of the Annapolis garrison who afterwards

40 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

became Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, in his
narrative of the events of 1710 and 1711 at Annapolis,
has the following reference to Madame Freneuse :

About this time they dispatcht almost unknown to us— the "priest" from
Mam's to Canada with an Acco't as may be supposed, of all this— and at the same
time, a certain woman by name "Madam Freneuse," — came from the other side
of the Bay of Fundy in a Birch Canoo, with only an Indian and a young Lad,
her son— in the Coldest part of Winter. This woman as there is a great deal of
Reason to believe was Sent by Ordrs from Canada, brought by Mr. St. Castine
— to keep the French in a Ferment and make them backward in supplying the
Garrison with any necessary's and pry into and give an Accot of our Secrets, till
occasion should offer of endeavouring to drive us out of the Country. In all this
indeed She was but too lucky, tho she came with quite another story at first, she
said that want of all manner of necessary's had put her to the Extremity of
venturing all — for all to cross the Bay — at that unseasonable time of the year —
that the Indians of penobscot — were entirely Starving, and that she was forc'd to
come to try whether she could be admitted to live undr the new Govenmt she was
upon this received Very Kindly by Sr. Chas. Hobby— and had the Liberty she
desired granted to her.

Here we obtain our last glimpse of the first French
settlers of the St. John River, for the documents in the
archives of Acadia make no further mention of Madame
Freneuse. The river had ceased to be a French
possession and more than half a century was destined
to pass away before the first English settler made his
appearance on its banks. All the surviving members
of the d'Amours family doubtless returned to Quebec,
their original home ; their graves are there ; the fields
they cleared were soon reclaimed by the wilderness.
Yet, if in telling what is known of their story, I have
awakened an interest in the mind of the reader in the
men and manners of that bygone time, this paper will
not have been written in vain. JAMES HANNAY.

The St. John fire department was disbanded on
the 3oth of November, 1864, and the present paid force
was organized. The volunteer department had been
organized on August 7th, 1849. The first steam fire
engine, Extinguisher No. 3, was procured in February,
1863.

THE ORIGIN OF THE MALISEETS*

The tribe of Indians to which the name of Maliseet
is at present restricted reside chiefly on the banks of
the St. John River, in New Brunswick. At one time
the local authorities supposed that these people were of
Huron-Iroquois stock, but later investigation has shown
that they are of the Algonquian family, as are all the
tribes who are their immediate neighbors. We now
know also that these St. John Indians were members
of that nation or group of cognate tribes to whom the
name Wapanakif was applied — tribes that at the time
they were discovered by the Europeans were in pos-
session of the country between the St. John and the
Connecticut — through Maine, New Hampshire and
western Massachusetts, and whose warriors for more
than a century kept the border settlements in constant
terror.

The Wapanaki nation was originally composed of
seven tribes, viz: Nipmuks, Sokokis, Assagunticooks,
Wawanocks, Kenebeks, Penobscots, and Maliseets.

That the Micmacs were not Wapanakis has been
clearly established by comparison of the languages and
the traditions, though the tribes lived on intimate
friendly terms and Micmac braves were sometimes
found among Wapanaki war parties. Dr. Williamson,
in his History of Maine, quotes a Penobscot Indian's
statement that "all the Indians between the St. John
and the Saco Rivers are brothers ; the eldest lives on
the Saco, and each tribe is younger as we pass east-
ward. Always I could understand these brothers very
well when they speak, but when the Micmacs talk, I
can't tell what they say."

•Spelled also Melicite and Amelicite.

tSpelled also Wabananchi, Abnaki and Abenaqui.

42 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

It is probable that the Wapanaki nation was
founded by a band of Ojibwas who separated from the
main tribe, travelled eastward and settled on the
western slopes of the Adirondacks, from which they
were driven by the Iroquois when those fierce and
valorous warriors immigrated thither from the south-
west. The Ojibwas retired eastward and the Connecti-
cut river was fixed as the western limit of their territory.
This band of Ojibwas were the progenitors of the
large and powerful tribe which the Europeans found in
control of the country between the Connecticut and the
Piscataquis, including both banks of both rivers. This
tribe was known to the early writers as the Nipmuks,
though they are sometimes called Pennacooks, from
the name of their principal encampment, Pennacook,
which was situated where Manchester, N. H., now
stands and where resided their head chief Passaconno-
way. The Mohegans or Mohicans were of the Wap-
anaki race, but whether they are recognized as a
separate tribe or were under Nipmuk government is
not definitely known, though the weight of evidence
favor the latter conclusion.

The other tribes originated thus. First a band
wandered off from the Nipmuk country and settled on
the Saco, where they eventually organized an inde-
pendent tribe — the Sakoki. Latter a detachment from
the Saco established a separate tribe on the banks of the
Androscoggin, and from them sprang directly both the
Wawenocks and the Kenebeks. The later in turn
provided the nucleus for the Penobscot tribe, and from
the Penobscot camp went the braves who set up their
wigwams on the banks of the St, John and became the
founders of the people whom we now know as the
Maliseets.

Just when this separation took place is not known,
tut it must have been some time before they were

THE ORIGIN OF THE MALISEETS. 43

discovered by the Europeans, for Champlain, Lescarbot,
Captain John Smith and Cadillac, who visited the river
during- the first decade of the seventeenth century, found
large encampments at Meductik and Hekpahak, (Spring
Hill), and the early writers mention that the Maliseets
took a leading part in the affairs of the nation.

At whatever time the Maliseets entered New
Brunswick, they were confronted on their entrance by
the Micmacs. The tribe had come from the southwest
— so their tradition states — and finding the Atlantic
Shore, which they coveted, in possession of the
Iroquois — called Kwedecks in some of the Micmac
legends — drove these toward the St. Lawrence, and
established the Restigouche as the northern boundary
of the Micmac territory.

The Micmacs seem to have permitted the Maliseets
to secure the St. John without opposition, reserving
one village site at the mouth of the river. According
to the traditions of both tribes, their people have main-
tained friendly relations ever since, though the Micmacs
were inclined to be aggressively, combative and had
several misunderstandings with the more western of
the Wapanaki tribes which, according to the custom of
their times, was referred to the arbitrament of the
tomahawk.

In some of the earlier histories there are slight and
indefinite references to battles during the period be-
tween 1605 and 1615, in which Micmacs and Penob-
scots seem to have been at war with the Maliseets, but
these rumors lack confirmation, and it is more than
probable that some other tribes were engaged in these
conflicts.

The Passamaquoddy Indians were not organized
«s an independent tribe at the time of the European
occupation, and that is the reason why we do not find
any reference to them, as a tribe, in the pages of early

44 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE,

history. The tribe is a mixture of Maliseet and Penob-
scot, and originated thus: A Maliseet man, so the
tradition runs, married a woman of the Penobscots and
built a wigwam at the mouth of the St. Croix. The
pair were joined by other Maliseets and by parties of
Penobscots from Machias, Mattawamkeag and the
Penobscot river. The band thus formed continued to
hold allegiance to the Maliseet tribe until sometime
after the advent of the whites. It was not until the
Penobscots finally deserted Machias and most of the
families moved to St. Croix that the band, thus
augmented, elected a chief of its own and set up a
tribal establishment. The inaugural of this chief was
conducted by leading men of the Maliseet, Penobscot
and St. Francis tribes.

Of these tribes, numbering according to the esti-
mate made by Williamson and others, at some 36,000
at the time of the European invasion, there are at the
present time but small bands, numbering in all some-
thing less than 2,000 people. They are scattered thus:
The Passamaquoddies still occupy Sipayik or Pleasant
Point, as it is better known, but the tribe has been
separated ; for a few years ago, the band living at
Lewy's Island, on the upper waters of the St. Croix,
quarrelled with the Sipayiks over the election of a
chief, and now there are two divisions on the St. Croix.
The Penobscot chief still holds his council at Old Town,
and the Maliseet villages are scattered along the St.
John. A branch of the Maliseet is settled at Cacouna
on the south side of the St. Lawrence, near Riviere du
Loup. This tribe was founded in 1828 by some thirty
families who moved from the upper St. John. They
are written down Amalecites in the Report of the
Canadian Department of Indian Affairs.

Other branches of the Wapanaki are settled at St.
Francis and Becancour, near Quebec. These are the

THF ORIGIN OF THE MALISEETS. 45

remnants of the large tribes whom the first settlers
found in possession of the New England frontier, and
who were driven from their homes through the ill treat-
ment of the British Colonists.

While for convenience sake the term Nation has
been used when referring to the Wapanaki tribes col-
lectively, that term should be understood as applicabe
only in its widest sense. These people were related
through descent from a common ancestry, but the
tribes were not confederated. They were avowed
friends, and this term means vastly more when applied
to these sons of the forest than to any other race, but
they were not held together by any such compact as
that, for example, which bound the Iroquois League.
The Wapanaki tribes had no legislative union, nor
permanent general council, nor head chief. When a
convention or council was to be held, the delegates
from each tribe were chosen for the occasion, and when
assembled they elected their own president.

In the treaty that was signed at Portsmouth in
1713, the Indians participating are described as those
living on the " Plantations lying between the rivers St.
John and Merrimak." Attached to this treaty are the
signatures of the several delegates — two or more from
each tribe.

The last time at which representatives of the
Wapanaki nation met the white man in convention was
in 1775, when General Washington invited the tribes
to send delegates to Watertown to discuss with the
Massachusetts council the relations of the Indians to
the contending parties in the war of the revolution. At
that convention the spokesman for the Indians was
Ambrose Var, the Maliseet Sakum.

MONTAGUE CHAMBERLAIN.

The ter-centenary of St. John will be in 1904.

AMERICAN COLONIAL TRA-GT8 +

The first volume of this unique publication has
been completed, and twelve rare and important tracts,
written by the founders of the English colonies in
America, have been reprinted from original copies,, in
monthly parts, and placed in the hands of the reading
public. The publication, though modest in conception
and detail, is a most important historical contribution,
and will be valued for the vast store of English colonial
history it will contain. During the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries a large number of tracts relating
to America were printed in England, but only a few
copies of any of these have escaped the vicissitudes of
time, and those few were almost inaccessible to the
large number of readers interested in historical and
social studies.

The twelve tracts comprising the volume represent
the golden and romantic age of English colonial ad-
venture— a period so fraught with momentous conse-
quences to the English race. The earliest of these
tracts were printed in 1609 and the latest in 1742, and
while representing a diversity of opinion among the
writers, yet all make the advancement and glory of
England the predominant motive that influenced the
writers, and guided the enterprises which they advo-
cate with unbounded faith and enthusiastic zeal.

Five of the tracts relate to the history of coloni-
zation of Georgia and Carolina, five to Virginia, one to
New England, and one to the Propagation of the Gospel
in America and the West Indies, all dealing with the
difficult phases of colonization present in those early
days. Grandly, and even quaintly, as many of these

'Colonial Tracts, lamed monthly. George P. Humphrey, Publisher
Rochester, New York.

AMERICAN COLONIAL TRACTS. 47;

old tracts are written,, they nevertheless reveal the high
motives that influenced the writers, and the broad and
humane benefits they hoped would accrue to England
from their efforts in planting colonies in the new world.

The first tract in the series (printed in 1717) " A
Discourse Concerning the Designed Establishment of a
Colony to the South of Carolina," has for us a certain
provincial interest, as the author, Sir Robert Mont-
gomery, gives this account of his ancestry, and the
motives that influenced him to embark in a colonization
scheme i —

It will perhaps afford some satisfaction to know that my design arises not
from any sudden motive, but a strong bent of genius I inherit from my ancestors,
one of whom was among those Knights of Nova Scotia purposely created near a
hundred years ago for settling a Scots' colony in America ; but the conquest of
that country by the French prevented his design, and so it lies on his prosperity to
make good his intentions for the service of his country.

Notwithstanding Sir Robert's eloquent appeal for
his colony, which he named the "Margravate of
Azilia," and his bold assertion, "that it lies in the same
latitude with Palestine herself, that promised Canaan
which was pointed out by God's own choice to bless the
labors of a favorite people," his scheme perished, and
not until 1732 was a permanent English settlement
established south of Carolina, when James Oglethorpe
that year arrived at the mouth of the Savannah river
with a band of Englishmen and founded the colony of
Georgia.

The high hopes and lofty aspirations of those brave
adventurers are recorded in the pages of their tracts.
Although disappointment, failure, and in many cases
ruin came to some of them in their lifetime, by their
efforts, and by the genius which guided them, the
world has been made wealthier and wiser; the freedom
and the peaceful security of mankind have been made
permanent through their sacrifices, and the dominion
of the Anglo-Saxon race has been assured.

48 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Living as we do under the folds of the Union Jack,
and keeping our allegiance unsullied to old England,
these tracts have for us a far greater historic value than
for those who now possess the land those noble pioneers
of English civilization reclaimed with their labor and
defended with their swords, as they throw a flood of
light on the difficult paths the pioneers of English
greatness had to tread, and the sacrifices they so freely
made for their race.

In a literary sense the tracts are exceedingly in-
structive, showing the transformation that has taken
place in English composition during the centuries, and,
combining the beauties of expression with simplicity of
language, make the reading of them a pleasure. But
as a record of the greatness of English colonization
effort these tracts should be valued by every Canadian
and every lover of our empire.

The publication has been begun at a most singu-
larly opportune time in the history of the Anglo-Saxon
race; and may not these silent " Discourses " of the
past stir men's thoughts to that brilliant past, before
schism divided the race, and do their part in bringing
together, in an united whole, the race so long divided ?

J. HOWE.

The Germain street Methodist church, which stood
at the corner of Germain and Horsefield streets, was
the first place of worship in St. John to be lighted
with gas. The date was Jan. 3, 1847.

The keel of a steam ferry boat to ply on the harbor
of St. John was laid in Carleton Dec. 8, 1838. The
first master of this ferry was Nehemiah Vail, who died
Feb. 12, 1842, aged 43 years.

The corner stone of St. Ann's chapel, Fredericton,
was laid May 30, 1846.

A STORY OF TWO SOLDIERS*

On the Marsh road, to the eastward of St. John
;and just beyond the Rural Cemetery, (Fernhill) is what
a reflective stranger would take to be "a house with a
story." It stand on the slope of the hill which rises
gently from the dead level of the marsh through which
run the railway and the highway, and there is a dis-
tinctive old-time look about the building and its sur-
roundings. It is a wooden mansion dating back to the
first half of the century, and it is approached by a semi-
circular avenue lined with trees. In its early days it
was considered to be out in the country, and at different
periods in its history it was the property of well known
old-time residents of St. John, who used it as a place
of recreation and summer holiday resort. Among its
owners were such men as the Hon. Hugh Johnston,
Barton Powlett Wallop and others whose names are
familiar to students of the city's history. It is likely
the house of itself has much to interest the people of
today, could ks walls be made to speak, but the
strangest story about the place belongs to a large spruce
tree which used to stand in a forest growth further
back on the hill, but only a few hundred teet from the
highway.

Everybody with observant eye who has travelled
much in the woods with some better motive than to
seek out and slaughter harmless creatures, has noticed
the strange resemblances to human forms and faces
found in woody growth. Very often, too, the spread-
ing base of some very old tree is fantastic enough to

• This sketch appeared in one of the St. John papers, a few years ago, and
is now reproduced by the writer for the convenience ot some readers who desire
tto preserve it in a better fo«-m.

5o THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

suggest many odd fancies, and once upon a time there
was something of the kind at the place which I have
mentioned.

There was at the foot of this particular tree, on
the side next to the road, what appeared to be a por-
tion of the root from which the soil had in part fallen
away, yet which was not exposed because of a thick
covering ot luxuriant green moss. In the ridges and
hollows thus formed, it required no effort to trace the
likeness of two semi-recumbent human forms, not per-
fec'ly outlined, indeed, but so distinct in parts as to
convey but the one idea. It may be that in the good
old days of fifty, sixty and seventy years ago, pleasure
parties sought the grateful shade of the forest in the
hot summer months and talked about this curious freak
of nature. Children, too, may have romped and
shouted there, and plucked the bright red pigeon
berries, which seemed to be larger and richer there
than at any other place. The years went by; one after
another of those who sought their pleasure there passed
away. Again and again the property changed hands,
and the old walls of the mansion no longer gave echo
to the gay revelry of former days. The tree with the
curious figures at its base became forgotten.

In the autumn 1853, a party of surveyors, run-
ning lines in this part of the country, stopped one day
in the woods by this tree to rest themselves. Sitting
there smoking and chatting, the attention of one of
them was drawn to the singular shape of the ground,
and to the peculiar mossy growth. The vivid green,
in contrast with the sombre brown in other places, ex-
cited his curiosity, and suggested the occurrence of
some peculiar mineral deposit. With the small axe he
carried, he began tearing away some of the moss, when
he was surprised to find a bone which beyond doubt
was that of a human thigh. Speedily, but with great

A STORY OF TWO SOLDIERS. 5 l

care, the party removed all the moss around the green
ridg-es, and when they had done so there remained the
bones of two skeletons, with the substance of much of
the bony structure nearly wholly absorbed by the
growth it had so greatly enriched.

A few other articles were found. There were a
small bottle or flask, the remains ot leather boots, and
some metal buttons, so corroded that little remained of
them. On one of the buttons, however, which by
some chance in its surroundings was better preserved
than the others, what appeared to be figures were seen.
A careful examination subsequently disclosed the num-
ber "101."

This meant that the skeletons were those of
soldiers of the icist regiment. How long had it been
since that body of troops was stationed in St. John?
None of the party could remember it. Some people to
whom the surveyors afterwards went for information,
declared that the loist had not been at this garrison
since the early part of the century.

Several gentlemen, among them the Messrs. Drury
and Gilbert, took a deep interest in the discovery, and
one of them wrote a letter of inquiry to the War Office
in England. The reply received was that the loist
regiment had left St. John in the year 1809; that pre-
vious to its departure two men had deserted in the win-
ter; that no trace of them was afterwards found; and
that an entry to that effect had been made on the rolf
and returned to the office in due course.

The story was a plain one. The fugitives had
sought the shelter of the woods in the bitter cold of
winter, had sat down with their backs against the tree
and refreshed themselves with the spirits in the flask.
Waiting for a favorable chance to pursue their journey,
they had become drowsy, dropped asleep and never
awakened. The wood was little frequented in those

52 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

times. Years went by before a human being passed
that way, and then there was only to be seen the
singular contour of the ground and the vivid green of
the moss.

For nearly half a century the grim sentinels kept
their silent vigil, overlooking the thousands who passed
and repassed on one of the great highways of the
province. Two soldiers had been marked off from a
muster roll; two men had dropped out of existence.
On the hill beside them was marked out a city of the
dead, that those who passed away might be recorded
and remembered. Beyond its pale lay two who were
forgotten. Grim guardians were they of the valley
traversed by the multitude in quest of pleasure; so near
is death to life, though life seems all in all to us, and
death, unseen, is heeded not. W. K. REYNOLDS.

The road from Maguadavic to Lepreau, a part of
the main highway and mail route between St. John and
the United States, was completed through the wilder-
ness and made passable for teams in October, 1827.
Col. Wyer was the supervisor, and Rankin & Hinston
were the contractors.

Workmen began digging for the foundation of the
Provincial Lunatic Asylum, St. John, in September,
1846, at which date there were more than 90 patients
in the old asylum in Leinster street.

The St. John Mechanics' Institute was established
Dec. 10, 1838, and had a half-century of existence.
Its early meetings were held at the St. John hotel.

Dr. Collins, the hero of the ship fever epidemic
died on Partridge Island July 2, 1837. He was in the
-24th year of his age.

The St. John fish market was opened in 1838.

WITH THE CONTRIBUTORS.

The first of a series of papers on the early settle-
ment of St. John appears in this number, and will be
found to be a most valuable contribution to the history
of that part of New Brunswick. The writer is Rev. W.
O. Raymond, M. A., rector of St. Mary's church, St.
John, who is well known as one of the most thorough
and painstaking students of provincial history. Mr.
Raymond gathers his information from first sources and
has a quick eye in recognizing the bearing of stray
facts upon any subject in which he is interested. It is
not to be doubted that he finds not only "sermons in
stones," but that he can make even an old account
book the foundation of a most interesting historical
sketch. In this way he is continually bringing to light
much of which little has been known, and students will
find many facts that are new to them in the present
sketch. Among the published contributions of Mr.
Raymond to local history are "Kingston and the
Loyalists," "Early Days of Woodstock," "The
United Empire Loyalists'" " The London Lawyer,"
(Elias Hardy) and "Old Meductic." Mr. Raymond is
among those to whom the editor of the recent Cleve-
land edition (60 volumes) of the "Jesuit Relations and
Allied Documents" acknowledges his obligations for
information supplied. Mr. Raymond is a prominent
member of the N. B. Historical Society. Readers of
THE MAGAZINE will be glad to know that he will be a
frequent contributor.

Prof. William F. Ganong, of Smith College,.

54 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Northhampton, Mass., has been and is doing much in
the interest of New Brunswick history. Prof. Ganong
is of the Loyalist stock. He is a native of St. John and
one of a number of the graduates of the University of
New Brunswick who have achieved distinction. He is
an A. M. and Ph.D., of his alma mater, an A. B. of
of Harvard and Ph.D. of Munich. He has been in-
structor ot botany at Harvard and is now Professor of
Botany at Smith College. His contributions to various
learned societies on topics of history and natural history
have been numerous and of great value. He has for
some years been collecting material for a history of
New Brunswick on a magnificent scale and has gathered
a large amount of matter in this line. His " Plan for
a General History " appears in the Transactions of the
Royal Society of Canada for 1895, an<^ since then he
has contributed two important monographs to the
same body. One of these, the " Place-Nomenclature
of New Brunswick," is a marvel of industry and re-
search. His latest paper is on the Cartography of the
province, to which reference is made elsewhere. In
the current number of THE MAGAZINE Dr. Ganong deals
with the much vexed question of the site of Fort
LaTour, reiterating his opinion that it was on the
eastern side of St. John harbor.

Mr. James Hannay stands to the front as the his-
torian of Acadia, and is widely known as one of the
most ready and pleasing writers in Canada. Whatever
maybe the individual views of his treatment of the
question of the expatriarion of the French, his " His-
tory of Acadia " must be recognized as a book of ab-
sorbing interest, written in an exceedingly graceful
style. At the time it was written there were not the
facilities which exist at the present day for obtaining
information on the Acadian question, and the work of
Mr. Hannay was done amid difficulties which were

IN THE EDITOR'S CHAIR. 55

•overcome only by extraordinary effort and perseverance.
Despite of the demands of a most exacting" profession
upon his time and attention, Mr. Hannay has published
much else that is of permanent historic value, including
"The Township of Maugerville " and the " Life and
Times of Sir Leonard Tilley." The latter derives its
interest very largely from the picture the author draws
of the early times in which the subject of the sketch
lived, and is considered so valuable on that account
that the provincial government has caused it to be
placed in the school libraries. Among the newspaper
contributions of Mr. Hannay which are to appear later
in book form are a "History of the Loyalists" and
" The War of 1812." Mr. Hannay has been president
of the N. B. Historical Society, is historican of the
Loyalist Society, a corresponding member of the
Quebec Literary and Historical Society and of the N. S.
Historical Society. He is recognized as one of the
leading journalists of Canada, and has for some years
been editor of the St. John Telegraph.

Mr. Montague Chamberlain is another New Bruns-
wicker who has done much to make his native province
known to the literary and scientific world, though his
vocation causes him to be a resident of the United
States. Mr. Chamberlain is a native of St. John,
where he was educated and began life for himself in a
mercantile establishment. At a later period he was
connected with William Elder's Morning Journal, one
of the leading newspapers of the period, which was
finally merged into the Daily Telegraph. Leaving New
Brunswick in 1888, he became assistant secretary of
Harvard University in the following year and recorder
of Harvard College in 1890. Two years later he was
appointed secretary of the Lawrence Scientific School,
Harvard University, which position he holds at the
present time. Mr. Chamberlain early showed a taste

56 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

for the study of ornithology and ethnology, and is an
authority on both subjects. He was one of the found-
ers of the American Ornithological Union and associate
editor of its organ, "The Auk," He has been a vice-
president of the Natural History Society of New Bruns-
wick, and in his connection with the Nuttall Ornitho-
logical Club, of Cambridge, Mass., he has edited
Nuttall's " Hand-book of the Birds of Eastern North
America." Among his published productions are "A
Catalogue of the Birds of New Brunswick," "A Cata-
logue of the Mammals of N. B.," "A Catalogue of the
Birds of Canada," " Systematic Table of the Birds of
Canada," " Birds of Field and Grove," an annotated
edition of Hagerup's "Birds of Greenland," with
numerous lectures on kindred topics and on the lan-
guage and characteristics of the Indians. His paper on
"The Origin of the Maliseet Indians," in this number
of THE MAGAZINE, will be found both interesting and
valuable.

Mr. Jonas Howe, of St. John, is locally known as
an earnest student of provincial history, but one who
rather avoids publicity in his labors. Mr. Howe has
for a number of years been engaged in an extensive
manufacturing business in St. John, but has found time
to devote a great deal of attention to local history. He
was one of the contributors to Stewart's Quarterly and
has written for the press on various topics. He was
identified with the N. B. Historical Society in its early
history and is now its corresponding secretary. Among
the works by which he is known are "Early Attempts
to Introduce the Cultivation of Hemp in Eastern British
America," and the " King's New Brunswick Regi-
ment." His paper in this number of THE MAGAZINE is
on American Colonial Tracts, and while not purely
local in its character will interest all students of colonial
history.

IN THE EDITOR'S CHAIR. 57

Mr. Samuel W. Kain has kindly assisted in mak-
ing1 the first number more complete by contributing*
many of the notes included under the title of " Writers
and Workers."

Dr. George Stewart of Quebec, was to have had
a paper in this number, but owing to special demands
upon his time of late he has been obliged to defer it
until the August number.

Ip addition to the names of contributors announced
in the prospectus issued some weeks ago, THE MAGA-
ZINE has pleasure in stating that contributions may be
looked for in future numbers from Mr. George John-
son, Dominion Statistician, Ottawa, Mr. John T. Bul-
mer, bibliophile and historical writer, Halifax, Mr. S.
D. Scott, M. A., journalist and president of the N. B.
Historical Society, Mr. W. P. Dole, M. A., and Mr.
W. G. MacFarlane, M. A., journalist and bibliographer,
St. John.

WRITERS AND WORKERS.

The Maritime Provinces occupy no mean place in
the fields of science and literature, as will be seen by
the following incomplete notes of what has been done
of late either by those who are claimed as sons of this
part of Canada or by others who are interested in our
history and resources. Further reference will be made
later to some of the work of which there can now be
only a brief mention.

Prof. Loring W. Bailey was engaged by the
Dominion Geological Survey, last year, to make an ex-
amination of the mineral resources of New Brunswick.
His report is now in press and will soon be published.
The recently issued transactions of the Royal Society
of Canada contain a paper by him on the Bay of Fundy
Trough in American Geological History. Prof. Bailey

58 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

will spend his summer vacation in examining some of
the deposits of coal in the central part of the province.

Bliss Carman, one of the New Brunswick poets, is
living in New York. A few months ago he published
a volume of poems — " Ballads of Lost Haven. He
has another volume in preparation, which will appear
soon.

Robert Chalmers has been for a number of years
on the staff of the Geological Survey. He resides at
Ottawa. A recent number of the American Journal of
Science contains an article by him on the Pre-glacial
Decay of Rocks in Eastern Canada. Mr. Chalmers
has made an excellent record in his profession, and his
studies in glacial geology are among the most im-
portant made in this country.

Prof. A. Wilmer Duff, while in New Brunswick
last summer, made a number of experiments on sound.
The results were recently published in the Physical Re-
view. He also made some tidal observations, which
will be published in the forthcoming Bulletin of the
Natural History Society. Prof. Duff and family will
spend the summer in New Brunswick.

Prof. William F. Ganong is one of our most indus-
trious workers. Early in the year a sketch of the
Smith College Botanic Gardens, written by him, ap-
peared in Garden and Forest. In the Botanical Gazette
for April he has a learned article on Polyembryony in
Opuntia Vulgaris (one of the cactus family.) Prof.
Ganong is recognized as an authority on this group of
plants. Of more interest to Maritime Province readers,
however, are articles from his pen which appear in
the last volume of the Royal Society. In his study of
the Raised Peat Bogs he describes his investigations of
the bogs of Charlotte and St. John counties. The sub-
ject matter is well illustrated by maps and drawings.
His monograph ot the Cartography of New Brunswick

IN THE EDITOR'S CHAIR. 59

is a splendid piece of work, which must have cost him
much time and labor. It has so many important points
that it is a necessity for all students of provincial his-
tory, and it is a model of how such studies should be
made. At the May meeting of the Royal Society he
submitted a paper on the historical geography of New
Brunswick. In the U. S. Weather Review for April,
Prof. Abbe quotes Prof. Ganong's article on Remarkable
Sounds in the Bay of Fundy, and adds some comments.
Prof. Ganong is now in New Brunswick. He will
spend July investigating the structure and growth of
the bogs in Westmorland county, and in August will
do some further field work in the northern part of the
province.

D. Leavitt Hutchinson, Director of the Observ-
atory, St. John, is making cloud studies. He has taken
a very good series of cloud pictures, and his photo of
the fine display of cirrus clouds on June 5 is worthy of
special mention.

Samuel W. Kain, one of the most industrious
workers of the N. B. Natural History Society, has an
article in the March Weather Review, on some metero-
logical phenomena.

The recently issued Transactions of the Royal So-
ciety contain a paper by Dr. George F. Matthew on
the Cambrian Fauna, which he has made his special
study. Dr. Matthew will spend his summer vacation
in field work.

Some month ago, Dr. W. D. Matthew published
a paper on the Puerco Fauna, a group of primitive
mammals. He is now on a exploratory trip among
the northern counties of Kansas, where he is collecting
fossil saurians for the American Museum of Natural
History.

Charles F. B. Rowe has been actively engaged in
field work this season, so far as his time has permitted.

60 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

He is studying batrachians and reptiles, and has had:
good results.

The last volume of the Royal Society contains a
sketch of Goldie, the botanist, by George U. Hay.
Mr. Hay has issued his second number of Leaflets of
Canadian History, and finds that his good work in
this line is meeting with appreciation. He will spend
August in botanical work in the northern part of New
Brunswick.

Hon. Pascal Poirier's book, " Le Pere Feovre et
L'Acadie," has reached a third edition. It is a valu-
able addition to the Acadian literature of these provinces,,
as well as an important contribution to ecclesiastical
history.

Rev. W. C. Gaynor is preparing a sketch of the
life and work of Very Rev. Thomas Connolly, V. G.,
in connection with the celebration of Mgr. Connolly's
golden jubilee at St. John on July 10.

An interesting paper by Dr. I. Allen Jack was sub-
mitted at the May meeting of the Royal Society. It
dealt with early slavery in New Brunswick and the case
of the black woman brought before the judges, with
Ward Chipman as her counsel.

Sir John Bourinot is the first native of the Mari-
time Provinces who has been knighted on account of
his literary attainments.

Victor H. Paltsits, of the Lenox Library, New
York, has been engaged in preparing a new and com-
plete edition of the story of the captivity of John Gyles,
working from original sources and comparing with the
version in Drake. The story of Gyles, as given by
Drake, was published by James Hannay, in 1875, with
important annotations. Mr. Paltsit's work will be of
great interest and value. It is possible he may visit
Maine and New Brunswick this year, in connection
with his labors.

IN THE EDITOR'S CHAIR. 61

Dr. T. J. W. Burgess, of Montreal, read a paper
at the last meeting of the Royal Society, on the history
of lunatic asylums in Canada. The old asylum in
Leinster street, St. John, was the first institution of
the kind in what is now the Dominion. Dr. Burgess
refers to this, and also deals with the history of the
Provincial Lunatic Asylum.

PROVINCIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY.

MacFarlane's Bibliography of New Brunswick, pub-
lished in 1895, shows a great deal of faithful work and
is very accurate. It would be unreasonable to expect
that the first edition of such a work would be com-
plete, however, and the Addenda and Supplement show
that the author continued to make discoveries up to the
last moment. As it is improbable that a second edition
of the book will be issued for some years, and in view
of the opportunity for a Bibliography of all the Maritime
Provinces, it is suggested that THE MAGAZINE have a
department devoted to the subject, to which readers
can contribute such information as they may possess.
In this way those who have MacFarlane's Bibliography
may make their copies more complete from time to time,
while it is hoped that bibliophiles in the sister provinces
may be induced to furnish notes which may lead some
one to undertake a Bibliography which will include
Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. In the case
of New Brunswick, these notes would take the form of
additions to what has already been published. In re-
spect to the other provinces the better idea, perhaps,
would be to deal more particularly with rare and notable
books, rather than to attempt anything in the nature of
a classified list. Each note will be of more interest if
signed with the name or initials of the contributor.
This should be a very valuable department of THE

62 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

MAGAZINE, and it is hoped that readers everywhere will
aid in sustaining it by their contributions. This will
also be found a good medium for inquiries in regard to
books not commonly known. The editor submits a few
samples of the method in which the subjects may be
treated.

Additions to N. B. Bibliography.

CONNOLLY, Right Rev. Thos., D. D., Bishop of
St. John.

Pastoral Address to the Clergy and Laity of the
Diocese for the Lent ot MDCCCLIV. St. John, pub-
lished by T. W. Anglin, Freeman Printing Office, 1854,
8°, pp. 24.

Replies of Two Speeches of Hon. L. A. Wilmot,
(see Wilmot, L. A.)

WIGGINS, Rev. R. B., A. M.

A Review of the Rev. Dr. Gray's "Reply" to the
" Statement ot Some of the Causes which have led to
the late dissention is the Episcopal Church in this
City." St. John, Chubb & Co., 1851.

OWEN, Admiral W. F., of Campobello.

The Quoddy Hermit, or Conversations at Fairfield
on Religion and Superstition, by William Fitzwilliam
of Fairfield. Boston, printed by S. N. Dickenson,
1841. Small 8 ° , pp. 194 and 3 of errata. The latter
pages are composed of 2 which note 66 errors and an
inset with 22 more.

(This book is credited to William Fitzwilliam in
MacFarlane. There is another book by Owen, pro-
fessing to be an autobiography. Who can give any
information about it ?)

SKIVES, Robert.

Publisher of "The Amaranth," etc. Omitted by
MacFarlane. Can some reader give further particulars
about him?

Anonymous.

A Report of the Committee appointed by the

IN THE EDITOR'S CHAIR. 6$

Inhabitants of Carleton to Vindicate their Rights
secured to them by the City Charter. St. John,
Chubb & Co., 1852.

Corrigenda.

BATES, Walter. MacFarlane states that the au-
thor's second edition of Henry More Smith was
"published by Wm. L. Avery, St. John, about 1837.'"
An edition of this book was advertised as in press by
John McMillan in May, 1836.

GRAY, Rev. J. W. D.

Add to the notes of A Sermon preached at Trinity
Church, 24th Nov., 1839, the pagination, "pp. 13."

All matter appearing in this publication is specially
written for it, unless expressly stated to be otherwise.
The contents, it will be noticed, are protected by copy-
right, but it is permissable for newspapers to copy
paragraphs, or to give extracts from the signed articles
when such extracts do not exceed one-third of the
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MAGAZINE in each instance.

The initial number of THE MAGAZINE is consider-
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ber of pages. The regular size, as announced, is 48
pages of reading matter, and it will be understood that
while there will never be less than that number there is
no promise that there will be any more.

Publishers who mention THE NEW BRUNSWICK
MAGAZINE will oblige by sending marked copies of the
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THE MAGAZINE is printed from new type, ordered
expressly for this purpose, and the printing has been
done at the Gazette job office.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

QUESTIONS.

1. What is the date of the oldest tombstone in
the Old Burial Ground? B.

2. When were the "Three Lamps" erected at
Reed's Point?

3. From what circumstance does Souris, P. E. I.,
derive its name? W. D.

4. When did percussion caps take the place of
flints for the muskets of the British Army? J. M. B.

5. What is the true source of the Restig-ouche
river?

6. Was St. John or Halifax the first of the Mari-
time Province cities to use gas? J. W.

ANSWERS.

i. According to the Loyalist Memorial book, the
oldest stone in the Old Burial Ground, St. John, is that
of Conradt Hendricks, who died July 13, 1784. ED.

4. I have a memo, that in July, 1846, the soldiers
of the 1 4th Regiment, then at Quebec, exchanged
flints for percussion muskets. Some military reader
may be able to furnish further information on the sub-
ject. ED.

6. Halifax appears to have been in advance of
St. John in the use of gas for illumination. The former
city was lighted by this method late in 1841 or early in
1842, while in St. John the gas was turned on for the
first time in September, 1845. ED.

The I(ew Brunswick JVIagazine.

VOL. I. AUGUST, 1898. No. 2

AT PORTLAND POINT.

Second Paper.

It will be interesting- to state briefly the circum-
stances under which James Simonds and his partners
became possessed of an estate at St. John which laid
the foundation of the fortunes of their respective families
in later times.

A great impetus was given to the settlement of the
wilderness parts of Nova Scotia by the royal proclama-
tion issued at the Court of St. James on the yth Octo-
ber, 1763, offering free grants of land to the disbanded
officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers, who
had served in North America in the late French war, as
a token of his majesty's approval of their conduct and
bravery. The lands were to be subject at the expira-
tion of ten years to the usual quit rents and to the usual
conditions of cultivation and improvement, and were to
be allotted in the following1 proportions : — To every
field officer 5,000 acres ; to every captain 3,000 acres ;
to every subaltern or staff officer 2,000 acres ; to every
non-commissioned officer 200 acres ; to every private 50
acres.

One of the immediate consequences of the king's
proclamation was a general scramble for unappropriated

66 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

lands, in which government officials vied with retired
army officers in securing the most desirable locations.
In some instances the lands were already occupied
and grants promised to those in possession ; in other
instances they had been reserved for certain applicants
till the king's pleasure should be known. Now, how-
ever, all who were interested began to be anxious to
secure their grants in due form. James Simonds,
therefore, memorialized the Governor and Council of
Nova Scotia for a grant of 3,000 acres for himself and
associates. The memorial was duly considered and on
the 24th December, 1764, it was agreed that Mr.
Simonds should for the present have license to occupy
the said land.

The year that followed is remarkable in the history
of Nova Scotia for the reckless and prodigal fashion in
which grants were issued.* A species of land hunger
seems to have pervaded all classes of society, more
particularly the government officials and army officers.
The importunity with which many applicants pressed
for a formal grant of the lands promised or reserved for
them is probably accounted for by the following remark
in one of Hon. Charles Morris' letters, in which he
characterizes the year 1765 as " A time when there was
a great crowd of business in the publick offices on ac-
count of the STAMP ACTS' taking place and the people
pressing hard for their grants in order to save the stamp
duties."

Mr. Simonds was obliged to make at least two
visits to Halifax to interview the government in the
interests of himself and his partners. As a result, on
the 2nd October, 1765, a grant was made to him, in
conjunction with his brother Richard, and James White,
described as follows :

Beginning at a point of upland opposite to the house of James Simonds
1 ' at Portland Point, and running east till it meets with a little cove or river [the
*See Murdoch's Hist, of N. S. Vol. II. p. 455.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 67

Marsh Creek], thence bounded by said cove till it comes to Red Head on the east
side of the cove, thence running north eleven degrees and fifteen minutes west
till it meets the Canebekessis river, thence bounded by said river, the River St.
John's and harbor, till it comes to the first mentioned boundary, with allowance
for bad lands and containing on the whole by estimation 2,000 acres more or less.

When afterwards surveyed, this grant was found
to contain 5,496 acres, so that the allowance for bad
lands must be considered as tolerably liberal. The line
running from Simonds' house eastward to Courtenay
Bay is that now followed by Union street. It will be
observed that the peninsula south of this street (laid
out in 1783 as Parr-town) was not included in the grant.
The principal object of the grantees was to secure " the
marsh " and the limestone quarries, and they probably
deemed the land south of Union street so rocky and
forbidding as to be hardly worth the quit rents.

Red Head, mentioned as one of the bounds of the-
grant, was at that time a more prominent, but probably
not a more conspicuous object than at present. The
bluff extended further out into the bay and further up
shore towards the mouth of Little River, and it was
covered with shrubbery down to the water, with tall
trees on the summit. A settler named Robert Cairns
lived there in early times, and in his evidence in a cer-
tain lawsuit he states that in the spring of the year
1787 there was a tremendous land slide, or as he ex-
presses it, "the bank broke off." He was absent in
the city at the time and on his return, seeing what had
happened, was much alarmed, thinking his family had
been "buried in the ruins ; " fortunately this turned out
not to have been the case. The appearance of the soil
freshly exposed caused Red Head, in spite of its dimin-
ished proportions, to be even more conspicuous than
before.

It may be well, before we proceed to consider the
progress of events at St. John, to mention some im-
portant changes that took place in the company first

68 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

organized for business there. Richard Simonds died
Jan. 20, 1765, and Robert Peaslie (who, so far as we
can gather, never lived at St. John) retired at the ex-
piration of the first year. Meanwhile, Leonard Jarvis
had, in the autumn of 1764, been admitted to partner-
nership with Wm. Hazen at Newburyport, and became
by common consent a sharer in the business at St.
John. Samuel Blodget, the Boston partner, retired in
May, 1766, and his share was taken by Hazen and
Jarvis. The business was thenceforth conducted by
Hazen and Jarvis at Newburyport, and by Simonds
and White at St. John. In addition to their interest
at St. John, the Newburyport partners carried on a
considerable trade to the West Indies, in which they
employed some half a dozen small vessels. The same
vessels, with ten or twelve others, were also employed
in the business at St. John and Passamaquoddy. The
cargoes sent to the West Indies consisted chiefly of
fish, hogshead staves, boards, shingles and other lum-
ber obtained largely at St. John, but sometimes at
Penobscot. In return the vessels brought cargoes of
rum, sugar, molasses, etc.

The names of the sloops and schooners engaged
in the St. John trade, and of the masters who sailed
them, are worthy of a place in our commercial annals.
In those days there were neither lights, beacons nor
foghorns, and charts were imperfect, yet there were but
few disasters. The qualities of pluck and skill were,
however, indispensable in the hardy mariners who
were the pioneers of the coasting trade of the Bay of
Fundy and North Atlantic coast, and the names of
Jonathan Leavitt and his contemporaries are worthy of
all honor. The list following is properly as complete as
at this'distance of time it can be made.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 69

LIST OF VESSELS owned or chartered by Hazen,
§imonds & White in their business at St. John, A. D.,
1764-1774.

NAME OF VESSEL. NAMES OF MASTERS.

Schooner Wilmot, William Story.

Sloop Bachellor, Ebenezer Eaton.

Schooner Polly. Jas. Stickney, Jona'n. Leavitt, Hen. Brookings,

Sloop Peggy and Molly, Henry Brookings.

Sloop St. Johns' Paquet, Rich'd. Bartelott, Hen. Brookings, Jos. Jellings.

Sloop Merrimack, Jona'n. Leavitt, Samuel Perkins, Daniel Leavitt.

Sloop Speedwell, Nathaniel Newman.

Schooner Eunice, James Stickney.

Sloop Dolphin. Daniel Dow.

Schooner Betsey, Jonathan Leavitt.

Sloop Woodbridge, David Stickney.

Schooner Humbird, Jonathan Leavitt.

Sloop Sally, Nathaniel Newman.

Schooner Seaflower, Benjamin Batchelder, Jonathan Leavitt.

Sloop Deborah, Edward Atwood.

Sloop Kingfisher, Jonathan Eaton.

Schooner Sunbury. Jonathan Leavitt, Daniel Leavitt.

Of the vessels enumerated, the Wilmot, Polly, Peggy
and Molly, St. John's Paquet, Merrimack and probably
one or two others, were owned by the company. This
will account for the fact that the captains of these
vessels were frequently transferred from one to another.
This happened whenever a vessel was sent to the West
Indies, in which case she was sailed by Jeremiah Pecker,
Thomas Davis or Jonathan Blodget, who were familiar
with the voyage in that direction.

The register of the sloop Merrimack (the only one
that has been preserved) shows her to have been a
square sterned vessel of 80 tons, built at Newbury in
1762. She was in the company's service in 1767 and
was purchased in 1771 for £150. She was wrecked
near St. John about four years later ; her rigging and
stores were saved from the sea only to be carried off
soon after, by a party of Yankee marauders, to
Machias. The St. John's Paquet was sold in 1770, and
the Merrimack was probably bought to replace her. .
The smaller vessels of the company, such as the Polly,
were often employed in the fishery.

Immediately after the formation of the company,
in March, 1764, Richard Simonds appears to have gone

7o THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

to Passamaquoddy with the sloop Peggy and Molly and
a party of fishermen, who were engaged there for the
season's fishing ending August 2oth. For a year or
two the company continued to do business at Passama-
quoddy, sending from thence quintals of dry cod fish,
cod oil, pollock, etc., to Boston and Newburyport ; but
the number of competitors they encountered and the
growing importance of their business at St. John led (
them to concentrate their attention at the latter place.
Mr. Simonds, in a letter to Hazen & Jarvis dated at
St. John's River, 2yth May, 1765, writes, " There is
such a number of traders at Passamaquoddy that I don't
expect much trade there this spring ; have prevailed
with the Commandant to stop their going up this
river."

The principal rival they had to encounter on the
river St. John was John Anderson, who has been already
mentioned in this series of papers. Mr. Anderson had,
as regards the Indian trade, the advantage of being
settled only a few miles below the Indian village of
Aukpaque, his trading post occupying the site of Ville-
bon's old fort at the mouth of the Nashwaak.* This
situation he obtained through a memorial presented to
the Governor and Council of Nova Scotia on the i$th
October, 1765, soliciting a grant of 1,000 acres "on
the Rivulet called Nashwaak " with a frontage of half
a mile, of which he desired one half to be on the side'
on which his dwelling house stood.

Mr. Anderson had the honor to be appointed, on
Au§f- i7» X765» the first justice of the peace for the new
county of Sunbury ; the next appointed seems to have
i been Col. Beamsly Glazier, on i5th October following.
Mr. Anderson continued in business until the Revolu-
tionary war put a stop to his operations. He procured

r» *?n( \™IP ot the river St. John made in 1765 bv Charles Morris, Surveyor
General of N. S\, the site ot Villebons fort is shown with an explanatory note,

whlhlf fh f£S a F£ncr fu e and at present a Factory for the Indian trade,
which is the furthermost English Settlement up the River."

AT PORTLAND POINT. ;r

his supplies from Martin Gay of Boston, and early in
the year 1768 had the misfortune to lose a vessel
laden with goods for the Indian trade. Writing- to his
partners, Mr. Simonds mentions this incident and ob-
serves, " We imagine that the loss of Mr. Anderson's
vessel will cause more trade to come to us than we
should have had if she had gone safe, but as we have
more goods on hand than we expected to have we have
made only a small addition to our memo, [for supplies
needed] and some alteration."*

The Indians frequently came down the river as far
as St. John to trade with Simonds and White, but
more commonly they were saved this trouble, because
the company's sloops and schooners went up the river
in the spring and fall with goods and supplies. In the
autumn of 1767 a trading post was established at Ste.
Anne's point. Not long afterwards this was carried
away by an ice-jam and another was built to replace it.
Benjamin Atherton seems to have been in charge for
several years. In addition to trading with the Indians,
he sold goods on commission to the white inhabitants,
under the name and title of Atherton & Co. Furs and
produce were often brought down from Ste. Anne's
in gondolas, of which the company owned several, and
in winter they were brought down on the ice by the
use of horses and rude sleighs. The articles most com-
monly required by the Indians were guns, powder,
shot, flints, knives, hatchets, Indian corn, flour, pork,
molasses, stroud [a thick blue cloth] and blankets, with

*Anderson employed one Charles Martin as his bookkeeper and assistant.
Losses, probably consequent upon the Revolutionary war, embarrassed his busi-
ness and led him to mortgage his property, which afterwards passed into the
hands of Frederick Pigon and Henry Appleton ot England, who m the year 1790
sold it for £540 to Rev. Dr. John A'gnew and his son, Captain Stair Agnew. In
the deed of conveyance the property is described as " All that tract or farm called
Monkton containing by estimation 1,000 acres situate lying and being in the
Township of Newton in the County of Sunbury and Province of New Brunswick,
heretofore called Nova Scotia." John Anderson seems to have removed to Que-
bec. The name of Monkton which he gave to his place was retained for many
years and the ferry from Fredericton to the Nashwaak was long called the
Monkton Ferry.

72 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

a proportion of trinkets, beads, rings and ribbons, and
lastly the inevitable " fire water" or New England
rum. A few extracts from the correspondence of the
company will throw additional light upon the nature of
their Indian trade. Writing to Messrs. Blodget &
Hazen on Dec. 16, 1764, James Simonds says: —

" I have long waited with impatience for the arrival of the Sloop with
Goods, Stores, &c.; have now given her over for lost. * * We had a fine pros-
pect of a good trade the last fall, and had the goods come in season should by
this time have disposed of them to good advantage ; but instead of that we have
missed collecting great part of our Indian debts, as they expected us up the river
and have not been here on that account."

Again on June 20, 1767, Mr. Simonds writes to
Messrs. Hazen & Jarvis as follows: —

" The Indian debts we cannot lessen being obliged to give them new credit
as a condition of their paying their old debts. They are very numerous at this
time but have made bad hunts ; we have got a share of their peltry, as much as
all the others put together, and hope soon to collect some more. There is
scarcely a shilling of money in the country. Respecting goods we think it will be
for our advantage not to bring any toys or trinkets (unnecessary articles) in sight
of the Indians, and by that means recover them from their bankruptcy. They
must have provisions and coarse goods in the winter, and if we have a supply of
these articles by keeping a store here and up the River make no doubt of having
most of the trade. Shall have a store [at Ste. Annes] ready by September next
and hope to have it finished the last of that month."

There is possibly a little exaggeration in the state-
ments contained in onr next extract from a letter written
at St. John June 22, 1768. Father Charles Francois
Bailly, the priest referred to, was much beloved by the
Indians and used his influence always in the interests
of peace.

" We have made a smaller collection of furs this year than last occasioned
by the large demands of the Priest for his services, and his ordering the Indians
to leave their hunting a month sooner than usual to keep certain festivals, and by
our being late at their village, the reason of which we informed you in our last. *

There is a prospect of a scarcity of corn on this river the weather being
very unseasonable, and it's expected that there will be a greater number of In-
dians assembled at Aughpaugh next fall than has for several years past. We
shall therefore want a larger supply of corn than we have ever had before at
once. Provisions, blankets and stroud is all the other articles we shall want."

In a letter dated at St. John River, March 6thr
1769, Mr. Simonds writes : —

" Gentlemen, we have received your favor of the 2ist Jan'y by the Polly

AT PORTLAND POINT. 73

which had a long passage of 23 or 24 days. She might have sailed from here
some days ago if it had not been for a deep snow that fell while the furs were
coming down the river, so deep that it was with difficulty the horse was got in.
We have sent all the furs and everything received except about 60 Ibs. Castor and
a quantity of Musquash skins that could not be brought down. * * We have
credited little or nothing this winter as we shall not for the future, finding upon
examining our accounts that trusting seemingly but little soon amounts to a
large sum. We have by the nearest calculations we can make about ,£1,500 L.M.,
due to us from the English and Indians — about half that sum from each, which
will be hard to collect tho we hope not much of it finally lost."

The Maliseet Indians, when the first English set-
tlers established themselves on the St. John river, were
a different race of people from their mild mannered and
inoffensive descendants of today, and they sometimes
assumed a very threatening- attitude towards the set-
tlers. Possibly their manners were not quite so barbar-
ous as they were some twenty years before, when a
party of unfortunate English captives were abused at
the Indian village of Aukpaque in the manner which is
thus described by one of the victims.*

" We arrived at an Indian village called Apoge [or Aukpaque]. At this
place ye Squaws came down to the edge of the river, dancing and behaving them-
selves in the most brutish manner that is possible for human kind and taking us-
prisoners by the arms, one squaw on each side of a prisoner, they led us up to
their villege and placed themselves in a large circle round us. After they had got
all prepared for their dance, they made us sit down in a small circle about 18"
inches assunder and began their frolick, dancing round and striking us in the face
with English scalps till it caused the blood to issue from our mouths and noses in
very great and plentiful manner, and tangled their hands in our hair and knocked
our heads together with all their strength and vehemence ; and when they was
tired of this exercise they would take us by the hair and some by the ears, and
standing behind us, oblige us to keep our necks strong so as to bear their weight,
then raise themselves, their feet off the ground and their weight hanging by our
hair and ears. In this manner they thumped us in the back and sides with their
knees and feet to such a degree that I am incapable to express it, and the others
that was dancing round if they saw any man falter and did not hold up his neck,
they dashed the scalps in our faces with such violence that every man endeavored
to bear them hanging by their hair in this manner rather than to have a double
punishment. After they had finished their frolick that lasted about two hours-
and an half we was carried to one of their camps."

The party of English captives referred to were

*The narrator was Wm. Pote, Jr., of Falmouth. He was master of the
schooner Montague, which with her crew was taken at Annapolis by a party of
French and Indians in the summer of 1745.

74 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

taken to Quebec and regained their freedom about three
years later. It was with these very Indians and their
immediate descendants that Messrs. Simonds and White
undertook to establish their Indian trade in the year
1764. James White was the principal hand in the bar-
tering business, and the Indians had great confidence
in his integrity. Three-fourths of their trade consisted
of beaver, the beaver consequently became the standard
to which everything else that was bartered had to con-
form. Mr. White himself was commonly called by the
Indians Quahbeet, or "the Beaver." There is a tra-
dition to the effect that in the Indian trade the fist of
Mr. White was considered to weigh a pound and his
foot two pounds, both in buying and selling. However,
the same story is told of other Indian traders, including
an old Scotch merchant of Fredericton named Peter
Eraser, * and it is not very probable there is much
truth in it. The aborigines of New Brunswick, though
simple minded, were not fools. It was customary in
dealing with the savages to take pledges for the pay-
ment of debts, such as silver trinkets, armclasps, medals,
fuzees, etc. A Machias privateer, whose captain bore
the singular name of A. Greene Crabtree, in the autumn
of 1777 plundered the store at Portland Point and car-
ried off a trunk full of the pledges. This excited the
ire of the Indian chiefs Pierre Thoma and Francis
Xavier, who sent the following communication to
Machias: "We desire you will return into the hands
of Mr. White at Menaguashef the pledges belonging to
us which were plundered last fall out of Mr. Hazen's
store by A. Greene Crabtree, captain of one of your
privateers ; for if you don't send them we will come for
them in a manner you won't like."

The associations between the little colony at the

*See'Lt. Col. Bairds "Seventy years ot New Brunswick Life," p. 19.
tlndian name of St. John.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 75

mouth of the river and the settlers of the township of*1
Maugerville were naturally very intimate. The vessels
which were owned or chartered by the company supplied
the readiest means of communication with New Eng-
land, and the account books show that many individuals,
and sometimes whole families of settlers, came to the
St. John river as passengers in these vessels, bringing
with them their household effects and sundry articles on
which they paid freight. Captain Francis Peabody,
for example, paid Wm. Hazen £i i for the freight of
goods he shipped from Newburyport to St. John, in the
schooner Wilmot, in November, 1764, and in January
following he paid the freight on nine heifers and a lot ..
of sheep, besides the fare of four passengers at 12
shillings each. In the same schooner came Jacob Bar-
ker, Oliver Perley, Humphrey Pickard, Zebulun Esty
and David Burbank. The latter hrought with him a
set of mill irons. Each of these gentlemen was charged
135. 6d. for "his club of cyder on the passage."

The' names of nearly all the heads of families settled
at Maugerville appear in the earlier accounts of Messrs.
Simonds & White, and later we have those of the set-
tlers at Gagetown, Burton and Ste. Annes. After a time
it was found desirable for the convenience of the inhabi-
tants— and probably for the interests of the company as
well — to establish what were practically branches of
their business up the river, and the account books con-
tain invoices of goods shipped to Peter Carr at Musquash
Island (just below Gagetown), to Jabez Nevers at
Maugerville, and to Benjamin Atherton at Ste. Annes
Point. These goods were evidently sold on commission
and the returns made for the most part in lumber, furs
and produce. It was no doubt in view of this trade
with the white inhabitants that James Simonds, in a
letter to Mr. Blodget dated October ist, 1764, enquires
the Boston prices of "oar rafters, shingles, clapboards,

76 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

staves, spars, &c." The following spring he wrote to
Mr. Hazen : — " I have been up the river and seen the
scarcity there. The people have but little money, their
pay must be shingles, clapboards, rafters, &c.; pray
send word whether it will do to take such pay for
goods."

It was soon discovered that it would be necessary
to take whatever the settlers could give, for at times
life was with them a struggle for existence. In the
spring of the year 1769, for example, Mr. Simonds
says, "The English inhabitants are more distressed for
provisions than they have been since their settlement
on this river, " and he goes on to speak of the im-
possibility of collecting the debts due by them. The
invoices of shipments show, however, that pine boards,
shingles, clapboards, cedar posts, cordwood and spars
were from time to time sent to Newburyport, besides
some 50,000 white and red oak staves, most of these
articles undoubtedly having been taken in trade. A
few chaldrons of " pit coals" were also shipped show-
ing that the Grand Lake coal was attracting some at-
tention even at that early period.

The presence of the garrison at Fort Frederick
was quite an advantage to the company. It afforded
protection and also supplied quite an amount of pat-
ronage for the store at Portland Point. The old
account books contain the names of Lieut. John Marr,
Lieut. Gilfred Studholme, and Commissary Henry
Green, who were at Fort Frederick in 1764 ; a captain
Pierce Butler of the 2Qth Regiment was there the year
following. Messrs. Simonds and White also supplied
the garrison with wood and other articles, and no
doubt it was not the least satisfactory condition of their
business in this quarter that "John Bull " was the pay-
master. Mr. Simonds wrote to Hazen and Jarvis in
May 1765 :— " On ye 2oth March we rec'd the contents

AT PORTLAND POINT. 77

of Mr. Studholme's bill which is forwarded in ye
schooner. The officers and soldiers supplies and wood-
ing- is to be paid by a draft on the pay master at
Halifax. " Three years later the trade with the gar-
rison was brought to an end by the removal of the
soldiers. Mr. Simonds speaks of this circumstance in
a letter dated July 25, 1768, in which he says " The
Troops are withdrawn from all the outposts in the
Province and sent to Boston to quell the mob. The
charge of Fort Frederick is committed to me, which I
accepted to prevent another person being appointed
who would be a trader. I don't know but I must re-
side in the Garrison, but the privilege of the fisheries
on that side of the River and the use of the King's
boats will be more than an equivalent for the incon-
venience." The defenceless condition of St. John after
the withdrawal of the garrison brought disaster to the
settlers there some years later, but of this we shall
speak hereafter.

The situation of Messrs. Simonds and White was
no easy one. Their life was one of toil and exposure —
sometimes of real privation. Difficulties were con-
stantly to be encountered, disappointments to be en-
dured, problems to be solved. Good society there was
none. Religious and educational privileges were also
lacking. An inventory of certain household effects,
made in the year 1775, shows that Mr. Simonds owned
a Bible and Prayer Book, and that Mr. White had a
Bible and a copy of Watt's psalms and hymns ; that
they were not regular church goers was not their own
fault. We gather from their account books that no
business was transacted on Sunday, but there was
apparently no observance of any other day, unless we
may so consider the issue of an extra allowance of rum
to the hands at Christmas.

Probably the first religious services held at our

78 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

new settlement at the mouth of the St. John were those
conducted by the Rev. Thomas Wood of Annapolis, on
the 2nd July, 1769; and it is very doubtful if any
clergyman before or since has had so varied an ex-
perience as that of Mr. Wood the Sunday he, for the
first time, officiated there. In the morning he held
divine service in English and baptized four children.
In the afternoon he held an Indian service for some of
the natives who chanced to be there, and baptized an
Indian girl ; after service the Indians were asked to
sing an anthem which, he says, " they performed very
harmoniously." In the evening, many of the French
inhabitants being present, he held service in French,
the Indians also attending, many of them understand-
ing that language. It is propable that there were
present at the English service Mr. Simonds and Mr.
White with their employees, Edmund Black, Samuel
Abbot, Samuel Middleton, Michael Hodge, Adonijah
Colby, Stephen Dow, Elijah Estabrooks, John Bradley
William Godsoe, John Mack, Asa Stephens, Thomas
Blasdel and Thomas West, with perhaps a few other
settlers living near the harbor.

Of the men whose names are here given it may
be observed in passing that Edward Black was
employed as foreman in the lime burning ; Abbot,
Middleton and Godsoe were coopers employed in the
manufacture of hogsheads and barrels, intended usually
for lime — sometimes for fish ; Hodge and Colby were
shipwrights and were then engaged in building a
schooner for the company; the rest were fishermen and
laborers. Thomas West was a colored man, apparently
of an easy going temperament, as Mr. Simonds says in
one of his letters to Hazen and Jarvis, "That rascal
negro West cannot be flattered or drove to do one fourth
part of a man's work ; shall give him a strong dose on

AN EARLY MAGAZINE. 79

Monday morning which will make him better or worse,
no dependence can be put on him."

W. O. RAYMOND.

AN EARLY NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

On a more ambitious scale than the Amaranth,
Messrs. Edward Manning and R. Aitken, in 1860, be-
gan in St. John the publication of a monthly magazine,
devoted to education and general literature. The
printers were Messrs. Barnes &Co., and the title of the
venture was The Guardian. The editors were young
men and full of hope, and their object was to supply a
long felt want, for the magazines which our people read
in those days, were all imported, the " more valuable "
ones coming from Britain, and while a few American
serials were " excellent," a great many of them were
"very trashy." The scope of the Guardian was out-
lined in its prospectus, and was not unlike, in aim and
aspiration, the monthly in which these words appear.
New Brunswick, the editors thought, could afford topics
enough for the employment of the most prolific pen,
and while politics were eschewed, all else relating to
the province, would find a place. For the imagination,
the editors pointed out, there were the primeval forest,
the remnant of the red men, land and sea, hill and dale.
The soil, trade, navigation, the resources of the great
waters, and historic achievement were only awaiting
the pen of the annalist and student to lay bare their
truths. Nor in the prospectus, were the Loyalists for-
gotten. Indeed, the Guardian was to be largely pro-
vincial in tone and in character, and a lengthy programme
was prepared.. Papers relating to Nova Scotia and
Prince Edward Island were also freely admitted.

The magazine lived exactly nine months. It was
withdrawn in September, after a hard but patriotic
struggle, to the regret of its promoters and the few

8o THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

who took it in on personal grounds. The contributors
were not paid.

There were a few selected articles and poems pub-
lished, and these were indicated by an asterisk, but the
greater part of the contents was original and dealt
with matters of general and provincial interest.

The editors did not always confine themselves to
the policy laid down in their scheme, though the con-
tributors were residents or natives of St. John. Thus,
we have " Papers by a Recluse," — a series of speculative
articles, whimsical and satirical, — by Dr. Sinclair.
They enjoyed a vogue, and by a little circle of friends
were discussed and praised. The Doctor was an ob-
server, and his odd way of hitting off the follies of the
time had its attractions. Such subjects as " Poetry in
America," " British Poetry," " State of the World at the
Christian Advent," etc., appeared side by side with
articles more in line with the object of the promoters.
These papers were pretty heavy. Mr. William R. M.
Burtis, who had been a contributor of tales to the Ama-
ranth, furnished most of the fiction. He wrote " Grace
Thornton, a Tale of Acadia," in eleven chapters.

Mr. R. Peniston Starr published in the Guardian
four or five papers on Coal. The printer supplied him
with a pseudonym unconsciously. The last page of
Mr. Starr's first paper, contained his initials. But the
only letters which the compositor saw were on the page
immediately preceding the last page, and they were
11 P. T. O. "—(please turn over). P. T. O. was ac-
cordingly adopted by this author, much to the amuse-
ment of those who knew the secret.

There was a pretty good list of provincial subjects
discussed. Botany of the Lower Provinces, Education
in New Brunswick, the Geography of New Brunswick,
Summer Trips in Acadia, Geography of Nova Scotia,
Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, History of Acadia,

AN EARLY MAGAZINE. 81

New Brunswick and Nova Scotia since 1784, were the
principal of these. Caribou and the Canadian grouse
or spruce partridge had their historians also.

The Guardian was well occupied with variety.
The monthly instalments of papers, however, were very
short, some of them taking up less than two pages of
space. The nine numbers, bound, made a volume of
218 pages, and the cost to subscribers for the set was
two shillings and sixpence. The letter-press was set in
rather small type, and only now and then were the
pages leaded.

Another attempt to establish a magazine in St.
John, took place in 1867, when Stewart's Quarterly en-
tered the field. It lived five years, and was succeeded
by the Maritime Monthly, whose editors were the Rev.
James Bennett, D. D., and Mr. H. L. Spencer, to
which periodical the old contributors to the Quarterly
transferred their pens. GEORGE STEWART.

THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL TAR.

The loss of the St. John steamer Royal Tar, in the
year 1836, was in many ways one of the most remark-
able marine disasters in the annals of the Maritime
Provinces. For many years it held a leading place
in the stories of strange events handed down from
father to son, and even at this day the older people can
recall the intense interest with which, in their younger
days, they listened to the recital of incidents of the
notable casualty. A few years ago the writer published
a partial account of the disaster in one of the St. John
newspapers, * and since then he has gathered further
facts which now enable him to present the story in a
form worthy of preservation by the students of local
history.

*Daily Telegraph, Oct. 26, 1896.

82 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

The Royal Tar was the pioneer steamer on the
route between St. John, Eastport and Portland, Maine,
and the establishment of this line to connect at Port-
land for Boston was an enterprise of no small import-
ance on the part of some of the people of St. John.
This steamer was built at the shipyard of William and
Isaac Olive, Carleton, and launched in November, 1835.
It was of 400 tons burthen, 146 feet keel, 160 feet on
deck and 24 feet beam, and was fitted and equipped in
an unusually fine style for those days. The cost was
about $40,000. One half interest in the venture was
owned by John Hammond, and the remaining half was
held between Daniel McLaughlin and Mackay Brothers
& Co. The steamer was commanded by Captain
Thomas Reed, father of the late Thomas M. Reed.

There was great rejoicing in St. John when this
fine steamer was completed and ready for the route.
The trial trip took place in the harbor on Monday, the
2nd of May, 1836, and was an event in which a large
number of citizens took a lively interest. Between two
and three hundred guests were on board, and after the
boat had steamed around the harbor, and had made the
run from Partridge Island to Reed's Point in fifteen
minutes, there was a general jollification at the expense
of the owners. A hot luncheon was served, and a con-
temporary account says it was accompanied by " rivers
of sherry and oceans of champagne." The steamer
had been named the Royal Tar in compliment to the
reigning king, William IV, and among the toasts was
one to "The patriotic and beloved sovereign from
whom the < Royal Tar ' is named — The Sailor King."
On June 5 the steamer made its first trip to Eastport
and St. Andrews, and in returning made the run from
Eastport to St. John in less than five hours, a record
breaking trip for that era of steam navigation. The
steamer also made the run to Fredericton and back, and

THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL TAR. 83

thereafter was put regularly on the route to Portland
once a week and once a week on the river route.

The Royal Tar arrived at St. John from Portland
on its regular trip on Monday, October 17, 1836, and
sailed from its berth at Peter's wharf on Friday,
October 21, having on board the crew of 21, and 72
passengers, including a number of women and children.
Captain Reed was in command, and had with him
Francis Black, mate; N. Marshall, engineer; J. Kehoe,
second engineer; W. G. Brown, steward; and Margaret
Watts, stewardess. The pilot was a Mr. Atkins. The
passenger list was larger than usual, as it had the
members of Fuller's menagerie, or " caravan," as it
was called in those days. This show had been travel-
ling through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and
gave an exhibition in St. John before starting on its
return to the United States. The wild animals in-
cluded an elephant, two camels, and the usual variety
of captive beasts and birds which go to make up the
stock of a menagerie. In addition to these was a large
wax work exhibit. There was also a huge show
wagon called an omnibus, as well as wagons required
for carrying the cages, with the horses needed to draw
them. The caravan was exhibited on the ground at
the corner of Charlotte and Union Streets, * the field,
at that time extending along Union street as far as
the present site of Hamm's stables and along Charlotte
street to the alley north of Dr. Pidler's house, now
owned by S. F. Matthews. The Humberfiled Academy,
then a new buHding, was on the corner. Everybody
went to see the show, which was a great one for
those times, and there was a large crowd at the wharf,
at the foot of Duke street, to see the animals depart

*I have this on the authority of Mr. W. P. Dole, who distinctly remembers,
as a lad, being taken to see the show. He says there were three elephants,.,
though only one is mentioned in the contemporary accounts of the disaster. The.
large elephant, was a remarkably intelligent creature.

84 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

and to hear the band play on the deck of the steamers.

When the Royal Tar left St. John it had all this
large caravan aboard, and save for the greater pro-
portion of human beings must have appeared like a
modern Noah's ark. There was heavy weather along
the coast in the latter part of October, 1836, and when
the Royal Tar left Eastport on the evening of the 2ist,
the wind was found to be blowing so hard from the
westward that the steamer put into Little River for
safety. The gale continued for three days, but on the
afternoon of Monday, the 24th, another attempt was
made to resume the voyage. Finding a heavy sea
outside and the wind still from the westward, the
steamer put into Machias Bay and again came to
anchor, remaining until midnight, when the wind shift-
ed to northwest and the voyage was again resumed.

According to the narrative of Captain Reed, pub-
lished in the papers of that time, all seems to have
gone well until about 1.30 in the afternoon of the fol-
lowing day, Tuesday, Oct. 25, when the engineer re-
ported that the water had been allowed to get too low
in the boiler. This appears to have been a case of
carelessness, due to the neglect of the second engineer.
On hearing this report, the captain ordered the engine
stopped and the safety valve opened, the steamer being
brought to anchor about a mile and a half from Fox
Islands, in Penobscot Bay. The fire in the furnace was
extinguished, and it was supposed that all danger from
the overheating was over. The force pump was set at
work to supply more water to the boiler, but in about
half an hour the steamer was found to be on fire under
the deck over the boiler. The discovery was made by
Brown, the steward. An effort was made to extinguish
the flames by means of hose attached to the pump, but
it proved unavailing. The fire spread rapidly and it
was plain the steamer was doomed.

THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL TAR. 85

The scene of horror that ensued may be in part
imagined. The steamer was ablaze in the middle,
while the crew and passengers were madly rushing to
and fro at the bow and stern. The shouts of excited
men, the shrieks of helpless women and the wails of
little children were mingled with the roars of terror
from the imprisoned wild beasts, while the fierce crack-
ling of the advancing flames told of the increasing
peril that came with every moment. With 93 people
in peril of death, the only way of escape was by two
boats, capable of carrying less than a third of that
number. Captain Reed, with two of the crew, lowered
the small boat at the stern and got into it, in order to
prepare rafts and save as many people as possible. At
the same time sixteen able-bodied men lowered the
large quarter boat, into which they jumped and rowed
away, leaving their fellows, with the women and child-
ren, to escape as best they could. The selfish fellows
kept on rowing until they reached Isle Haut, several
miles distant, while many of those they had abandoned
were dying amid the flames or being engulfed by the
sea.

In the meantime the Royal Tar's cable was slipped,
the jib and mainsail were set and the steamer endeavored
to make for the nearest land. Captain Reed stood by
with the boat, and as the terrified passengers began to
jump overboard was able to save several lives, including
those of J. T. Sherwood, British consul at Portland,
and James H. Fowler of St. John.

The scene of horror increased every moment.
Those on the steamer crowded still more closely to the
bow and stern. Shrieks of despair and shouts for help
filled the air. The roaring and screaming of the beasts
and the glare of the flames suggested pandemonium let
loose on the sea. The larger animals, freed from their
fastenings, rushed around the deck. Six horses and

«6 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

two camels were pushed overboard and started to swim
to the land, but only two horses reached it. The big
elephant, after tramping and bellowing in terror, rushed
to the side of the steamer and jumped overboard. In
doing this, and in its struggles in the water, it upset a
raft of planks and ladders,^on which a number of people
had found refuge, and several were drowned. Finally,
the animal started to swim to the land, but never
reached there. Every animal of the caravan, except
the two horses, perished either from suffocation in the
flames or by drowning.

Help for the perishing people was near at hand,
however, for the fire was seen by the U. S. revenue
cutter Veto, commanded by Howland Dyer of Castine,
which reached the scene half an hour later. This was
a schooner of 40 tons, and its boats were so small as to
be of little use in the work of rescue. Captain Reed
and his men, however, used their boat with the result of
saving about 40 more persons. The last^boat load was
put aboard the cutter at 5.30 and landed at Isle Haut
about 7 o'clock in the same evening. By the time the
last survivor had been rescued, the burning steamer
had drifted five or six miles. It was then a sheet of
flame and was being blown rapidly out to sea. The
light disappeared from view about 10 o'clock.

A few days later a schooner passed a dead elephant
floating out to sea. Later, a traveller's trunk, with
about $90 in money in it, was picked up, and on the
1 2th of November a schooner arriving at Portland re-
ported having passed the remains of a burned steamer
near Cash's Ledge. The trunk was the only trace of
the effects ever brought to land.

The number of those who lost their lives was 32,
of whom 29 were passengers and three of the crew, in-
cluding Margaret Watts, the stewardess. Among the
•five cabin passengers lost was Mr. Price, of the St.

THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL TAR. 87

John river. Of the forward passengers, those lost were
four men, nine women and ten children. Several of
the women, despairing of rescue, threw their children
into the sea and jumped after them. One woman swam
twice around the steamer before she sank and was
drowned.

Among the St. John men who were saved were
several whose names were well known in later years,
including Andrew Garrison, Captain John Hammond,
John Ansley, George Eaton, James H. Fowler, and W.
H. Harrison. Stinson Patten, of Fredericton, was
also among the saved. Of this number the only sur-
vivor is Mr. William H. Harrison, now in his 86th
year, who is a resident of Sackville, N. B. When the
account before referred to was published in 1896, Mr.
Harrison expressed his satisfaction at the accuracy of
it, and the Sackville Post gave some of his personal
recollections of this disaster. Mr. Harrison was in his
24th year at the time of the memorable calamity, and
had taken passage for Portland as the shortest way of
reaching Upper Canada. While the steamer was burn-
ing he made several attempts to construct a raft, but
failing in the effort he made himself fast to the stern of
the vessel as far as he could get from the flames.
Others availed themselves of the same means of safety,
and among them was Alexander Black, of Pugwash,
N. S. This was probably the mate, whose name
appears in the list as Francis Black. While the only
remaining boat of the Royal Tar was transferring the
imperilled passengers to the U. S. cutter, the burning
steamer was drifting rapidly out to sea. Messrs.
Harrison and Black had to cling to it nearly three
hours before they were rescued.

In addition to the loss of the steamer and cargo, a
large amount of money in bills and specie was destroyed
in the fire. There was no insurance on the vessel or

88 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

other property and the total loss was estimated at about
$100,000.

In the work of rescue Captain Reed received great
help from W. G. Brown, the steward, and both were
greatly exhausted by their labors. They, with others
of the crew, reached St. John on the following Satur-
day, in the schooner Ploughboy from Eastport. Here
a fresh shock awaited Captain Reed. In the news-
papers of that week was this notice :

Died, on Tuesday morning, after a short illness, William Grant, son of
Captain Thomas Reed, in the i8th year of his age. Funeral on Saturday at 2.
o'clock, from his father's residence, when the friends and acquaintances of the
family are requested to attend.

The boy had been in apparent health when the
Royal Tar started on the 2ist, but had died after an
illness of 48 hours, on the very day the steamer was
burned. He was buried a few hours after his father's
return. His name is found on a stone in the Old Burial
Ground.

The friends of Captain Reed in St. John soon after
presented him with a purse of $621 in recognition of his
work in rescuing the passengers and crew, and Steward
Brown received $110 as a gift from a number of the
young men of the city. Captain Reed became harbor-
master of this port in 1841, and died in August, 1860.

For a number of years it was the custom of the St.
John men who survived the disaster to sup together on
the 25th of October in each year. One of the last of
these survivors, apart trom Mr. Harrison, was Mr.
George Eaton, who died on the 2oth of October, 1886,
five days before the fiftieth anniversary.

Sixty years ago St. John had among its local
poets a genius named Arthur Slader, who was the
author of a story in verse of the burning of the Royal
Tar. There was also a still more remarkable rhyme,
composed by somebody else, which was placed on a
canvas outside by The Hopley Theatre, at Golden Ball

THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL TAR. 89

corner, as an advertisement of a panorama of the burn-
ing- of the Royal Tar. The lines ran: —

The Royal Tar, she went too far,

Her boiler got too hot ;
She'll never see St. John again,

Because she's gone to pot.

How, in the face of such a calamity, such a rhyme
could ever have found popular acceptance is not clear
at this day, but a popular quotation it was for many
years after the event, as some who are still compara-
tively young men can attest. Possibly it took with the
crowd because of the jingle, but certainly not because
it was an appropriate commemoration of one of the
saddest of tragedies. W. K. REYNOLDS.

THE SITE OF FORT L AT OUR.

Although I would have preferred not to write a
controversial paper for THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE
at so early a period in its history, the article by Prof.
W. F. Ganong, entitled " Where Stood Fort LaTour?"
seems to leave me no choice but to reply to it, for
silence on my part, at this time, might be taken to
imply assent to his theories. I was the first New
Brunswick writer, I believe, to prove, by publishing the
mortgage of LaTour's fort, that it was at the mouth of
the River St. John and not at Jemseg where former
writers had placed it, and I early came to the con-
clusion that it was situated on the west side of the
harbor of St. John, behind Navy Island. Dr. Ganong
agrees with me that Fort LaTour was " behind " Navy
Island, but he appears to think that this description
applies to Portland Point, a locality better known to
most of the residents of this City by the name of
Rankin's Wharf. As the decision of this question of
site is thus largely reduced to the proper interpretation

90 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

of the meaning of a very common English word, I feel
that I can ask the readers of this paper to assume the
position of judges and to decide for themselves between
the reasonableness of Dr. Ganong's view of the subject
and my own.

For the proofs of his theory that Fort LaTour
stood at Portland Point, and that the fort on the Carle-
ton side, now known as Old Fort, was the one built
by d'Aulnay Charnisay, LaTour's enemy, Dr. Ganong
relies on a description or St. John written by Nicholas
Denys, who had visited Fort LaTour in the lifetime of
its owner, and also on the evidence of maps which
place Fort LaTour on the east side of the harbor of St.
John. Naturally and properly he depends mainly on
the testimony of Denys, which is that of a contemporary
and eyewitness, and I shall follow his example in this
respect. I therefore repeat the quotation from Denys
which appeared in Dr. Ganong's paper in the July issue
of this magazine and which is as follows: —

" This entrance is narrow, because of a little island which is to larboard or
on the left side, which being passed the river is much larger. On the same side
as the island there are large marshes or flats which are covered at high tide ; the
beach is of muddy sand which makes a point, which passed, there is a cove (or
creek) which makes into the said marshes, ot which the entrance is narrow, and
there the late Sieur Monsieur de la Tour has caused to be made a weir, in which
were caught a great number of those Gaspereaux which were salted for winter,
[here follows an account of the fish caught], A little f2rther on, beyond the said
weir, there is a little knoll where d'Aunay built his fort, which I have not found
well placed according to my idea, for it is commanded by an island which is very
near and higher ground, and behind which all ships can place themselves under
cover from the fort, in which there is only water from pits, which is not very
good, no better than that outside the fort. It would have been in my opinion
better placed behind the island where vessels anchor, and where it would have
been higher, and in consequence not commanded by other neighboring places,
and would have had good water, as in that which was built by the said late Sieur
de la Tour, which was destroyed by d'Aunay after he had wrongfully taken
possession of it, etc."

Dr. Ganong in his paper proceeds to identify the
various localities referred to by Denys, and up to a cer-
tain point I agree with him. I admit that the island

THE SITE OF FORT LATOUR. 91

referred to as being at the entrance of the harbor is
Partridge Island, and that the point of sand is the place
now called Sand Point, the site of the deep water wharf
of the Canadian Pacific railway. The cove or creek
where LaTour had his weir is also easily recognized as
that which runs through the Carleton flats from the Mill
Pond. The people of St. John are very familiar with
this place for it is the locality of the famous landslide
of 1896, and of the city's deep water wharves which
have done so much to make the name of this port
known abroad. So far I am with Dr. Ganong in the
work of identification, but when he proceeds to select
"Old Fort' in Carleton as the "little knoll" on
which Charnisay built his fort I must take issue with
him. I am quite willing to admit that if Denys had
stopped at this point I might have accepted Dr. Gan-
ong's theory, although I do not think that a " little
knoll " is a good description of the site of the Carleton
fort. Its elevation is slight, but as a point of land it
must have been very prominent when Denys saw it
before the Carleton flats were covered with wharves.
That accurate observer would therefore have probably
described it as being the extremity of a point of land if
he had been referring to it in that connexion. On the
other hand Portland Point is really no point at all, and
the site of the fort there might very well be described
as a "little knoll." Denys does not say that this
" little knoll " was on the west side, but that it was " a
little farther on beyond the said weir." Now the dis-
tance from Sand Point, where the weir was, to "Old
Fort," Carleton is 2,600 feet, while to Portland Point it
is 4,400 feet. As the shortest of these distances is just
half a mile, it appears to me that the term "a little
farther on '* is quite as applicable to the larger distance
as to the shorter. However, I am not concerned to
.find a location for Charnisay's fort at Portland Point or

92 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

elsewhere, I only desire to show that it could not have
been at "Old Fort", Carleton, where Dr. Ganong under-
takes to place it, although to accomplish this it becomes
necessary for him to give the word behind a different
meaning from that which it has in ordinary use. If
" behind" and "in front of" were interchangeable
terms I might yield to Dr. Ganong's views, but not
otherwise.

If Harbor Master Taylor ordered a foreign sea cap-
tain to moor his vessel at Rankin's wharf, and as a
farther direction told him that Rankin's wharf was
behind Navy Island, what chance would the foreign
captain have of finding that locality ? He would never
find it from that direction, because Rankin's wharf is no
more behind Navy Island than the South wharf is, or
than any other wharf on the east side. Yet Dr. Ganong,
in his paper on the site of Fort LaTour read before the
Royal Society of Canada, and in his article in the NEW
BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE, tries to make it appear that this
locality is behind Navy Island. Denys says that he did
not think Charnisay's fort well placed because it is
commanded by an island which is very near it, and
behind which ships can place themselves under cover
from the fort. It would have been, in his opinion,
better placed behind the island where vessels anchor,
and where it would have been higher and not com-
manded by other neighboring places. " Old Fort", on
the Carleton side, is behind Navy Island, the island
where vessels anchor, and there is no other local-
ity in the harbor that answers this description. The
text of Denys, which I quote above, leads us to infer
that Fort LaTour was on that site, and I have no doubt
that was the case. At all events Denys clearly shows
that Charnisay's fort was not there, thus effectually
disproving Dr. Ganong's theory. I must confess that
*t is a puzzle to me to understand how so accurate an

THE SITE OF FORT LATOUR. 93

observer and so candid a writer as Dr. Ganong has been
able to bring himself to the belief that the term " be-
hind " Navy Island could apply to Portland Point or any
other points on the east side of the harbor.

The evidence of maps upon which Dr. Ganong
relied to prove that Fort LaTour was on the east side
of the harbor of St. John, has not gone far to establish
his case. He says that all of the maps known to him,
dated before the year 1700, which mark Fort LaTour,
place it on the east side, " with one exception." This
exception, however, is rather important for it is the
Duval map, which in the editions of 1653 and 1664
place it on the west side. A third edition of this map,
issued in 1677, shows the fort on the east side, but
does not name it. The first two editions of the Duval
map are the earliest extant after the occupation of Fort
LaTour in 1635, anc* therefor their authority is of the
highest. Dr. Ganong thinks that the edition of this
map of 1677 is the most to be relied upon, because
" second or later editions of maps, like later editions of
books, are likely to be more accurate than the first."
This proposition is an entire reversal of the rules of
evidence which prevails in courts of law, and it is no
more to be accepted than Dr. Ganong's attempt to
make the word "behind" mean the same thing as in
front of. The ancient deed proves itself; the ancient
map is of higher authority than any modern edition of
it, where the question to be decided is the site of a fort
which existed when the ancient map was made but
which had become a ruin before the later map ap-
peared. Fort LaTour was completed about the year
1635. It was captured by Charnisay and destroyed in
1645. Its rum was so complete that the latter found
it necessary to build another fort on a different site to
maintain his occupation on the River St. John. When
LaTour again obtained possession of his property, after

94 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Charnisay's death, in 1650, we are left in doubt as to
whether he occupied his old fort or the new one which
Charnisay had built. When he sold out his rights in
Acadia to Temple and Crowne, a few years later, he
probably retained his residence in one of the forts
while the English occupied the other. The fort in
which he resided would likely be named Fort La-
Tour, whether it was the original Fort LaTour or
not, and this may account for Fort LaTour being
placed on the east side of the harbor in some maps.
LaTour died in 1666 and soon after his death Acadia
was restored to France under the terms of the treaty
of Breda. No mention is made of Fort LaTour in con-
nection with the surrender of the various Acadian forts
to the French, and therefore we may infer that this fort,
in 1670, had become a ruin. Probably, however, Fort
LaTour was the one occupied by De Marson or Soul-
anges, who from 1670 to 1678 commanded on the St.
John river under the Governor of Acadia. When Ville-
bon proposed to remove his garrison from Fort Nash-
waak to Fort LaTour, in 1697, he found that the old
fort was in fairly good condition, and he restored it and
improved it. Three or four years later it was aban-
doned and the French garrison removed to Port Royal.
It was, however, occupied by the French after the
expulsion of the Acadians in 1755, and when the French
were driven away from the St. John river, three years
later, it was occupied by an English garrison and re-
stored or rebuilt. The fort on the west side, therefore,
notwithstanding some defects incident to its situation,
was always preferred to the one on the east side. In-
deed our knowledge of the latter is so slight that there
are really some doubts as to whether there ever was a
fort on the east side. The selection of the west side site
by LaTour, by Villebon and by the English, is the best
answer that could be given to Dr. Ganong's criticisms,.

THE SITE OF FORT LATOUR. 95

based on it being commanded by higher ground and not
being well supplied with water. It thoroughly com-
manded the entrance to the river, which no fort erected
at Portland Point could do, because the range of can-
non two hundred and fifty years ago was slight. Dr.
Ganong supposes that an enemy's ship could lie in the
channel and attack Fort LaTour, and he gives this as
one reason why Fort LaTour was located at Portland
Point. He does not seem to be aware that the channel
between Navy Island and the east side is 160 feet deep,
that the current runs with fearful rapidity, so that no
man in his senses would anchor his ship there unless
he wished to have his vessel destroyed. The place
where vessels lay, referred to by Denys in his book,
was on the Carleton side just north and west of Navy
Island and close to the " Old Fort." That place
could be reached at high water by vessels passing
through the Buttermilk channel in spite of anything
that the occupants of a tort at Portland Point could do
to prevent them, and if they were armed ships they
could lie to the north-west of Navy Island and cannon-
ade Portland Point without being liable to suffer much
damage themselves. This was the fatal vice of the
Portland Point site — that it did not command the river
and that it could be attacked by the ships of an enemy
lying behind Navy Island. The description of Denys
shows that this was why he did not think Charnisay's
fort well placed, but preferred the site behind Navy
Island where he leads us to infer Fort LaTour was
situated.

This subject might be pursued further, but enough,
I think, has been said to show that Mr. Ganong's
view with regard to the site of Fort LaTour, is not
correct; in fact the witnesses which he calls to prove
his case, the description of Denys and the maps, put
him out of court and show him to be in the wrong.

96 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Those who have been accustomed to look upon " Old
Fort" at Carleton, as a hallowed spot, and as the
original Fort LaTour, the scene of Lady LaTour's
heroism and death, may therefore be reassured, for
they have not been worshipping- at a false shrine.

JAMES HANNAY.

THE STORY OF BROOK WATSON*

Among the many actors in the struggle for inde-
pendence, which terminated successfully for the Ameri-
can colonists in 1783, was Brook Watson, commissary
general to the British forces under Sir Guy Carleton.
Considering the prominent part taken by him in the
war of the American Revolution, and the very success-
ful and honorable position afterwards attained by him
in England, together with the romantic episodes of his
boyhood and youth, it is extraordinary how little is
generally known of him, and how seldom he is referred
to in historical writings, when the events of that stir-
ring time are recalled. The citizens of St. John, are
especially interested in his memory, for his counsel
and assistance were of great value to the unfortunate
exiles who sought these shores on the termination of
the contest which deprived them of home and patri-
mony. As an evidence of their appreciation of the
services rendered, and of the respect they had for him,
they named one of the streets in the city which they
were building " Watson " street, and one of the wards
" Brooks " ward, so that the name of Brook Watson is
perpetuated among us to the present day.

From his earliest years his life was one of adven-
ture and vicissitude, and nothing in fiction is stranger

*I am indebted to the Halifax Herald of Dec. 1888, and to the collections of
the Nova Scotia Historical Society for 1879-81, for many interesting facts in this

THE STORY OF BROOK WATSON. 97

than his career, which commencing- in 1750 a sailor
boy in Boston, depending- on the good will of those
about him, almost strangers, terminated in England in
1807, after he had been commissary g-eneral of the
forces in America, sheriff and lord mayor of London,
member of parliament for London, and a baronet of
the United Kingdom. From various sources I have
gathered the principal events in his history, but with
regard to his connection with New Brunswick my in-
formation is meagre, confined to a few documents, and
brief mention of important services rendered. That
his assistance was of great importance and practical
benefit to the Loyalists is undoubted, as is evidenced
by the great respect and esteem that was entertained
for him by the first settlers of the province.

Brook Watson was born at Plymouth, England,
in 1735. His father, John Watson of Kingston upon
Hull, was a Hamburg merchant who was unfortunate
in business, and both of his parents died when he was
not more than ten years of age. He appears to have
had but few friends, who were not much interested in
him and who sent him to Boston, Mass, to a Mr.
Levens, a distant relative, belonging to Hull, who was
engaged in business there. Mr. Levens sent him to
sea in a vessel in which he was interested, and while
the vessel was at Havana, Watson had a leg bitten off
by a shark when bathing in the harbor. He was taken
to the Havana hospital, and treated by the Spaniards
with much humanity, and when cured found means of
returning to Boston. On his return he heard that his
relative had failed and left the place, and he found him-
self utterly friendless and penniless, and a cripple.
The mistress of the house where Mr. Levens had been
boarding received him in the most unfeeling manner,
and fearing that he would be a burden to her made
arrangement to apprentice him to a tailor, very much

98 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

against his inclination. At this critical period of his
life, a friend appeared on the scene in the person of
Captain John Huston, of Chignecto, Nova Scotia.
Capt Huston was boarding at the house, and took pity
on the friendless boy, and proposed to him to go home
with him to Chignecto. He was a trader and owner
of vessels, and was then in Boston in one of his own
coasters. Young Watson gladly closed with this offer,
but before leaving, Huston was put under bonds not to
allow Watson to come back and be a charge on
the town. The youth returned home with Capt. Hus-
ton, who found him such an honorable and honest lad,
attentive and obliging and willing to learn and improve
himself, that he conceived a particular regard for the
boy and treated him rather as a son than as a servant.

This was in 1750, when Watson was in his
fifteenth year, the same year that LaCorne began the
erection of Fort Beausejour, the English building Fort
Lawrence on the south side of the Missiquash, just
opposite Fort Beausejour. There was constant skir-
mishing between these until 1755, when the French
were completely routed, and driven from the Isthmus,
and the unfortunate Acadians were expelled from the
province. During this time Watson was actively
engaged in Captain Houston's business and tending in
his store.

On the arrival of the British troops, there came
with them Captain Winslow, commissary, who took
much interest in Watson, taught him bookkeeping and
instilled in him business habits, which laid much of the
foundation of his future prosperity. He was also a
favorite with Colonel Robert Monkton, the commander
of the forces, who employed him in adjusting his booKs
and transacting his business. In fact, at the time he
appears to have been regularly employed in the service,
for in a letter written by him to the Rev. Dr. Brown,

THE STORY OF BROOK WATSON. 99

dated London, July i, 1791, published in the collections
of the Nova Scotia Historical Society for 1879-80, he
says, " In September (1755) I was directed to proceed
with a party of Provincials to the Baie Verte, then a
considerable and flourishing settlement, there to await
further orders, which I received the following day, to
collect and send to Beausejour for embarkation, all the
women and children to be found in that district and on
leaving the town to force it, this painful task per-
formed, I was afterwards employed in victualling the
transports for their reception."

As an instance of the courage and capacity of
Watson, the following incident, related by Rev. Hugh
Graham in a letter to Dr. Brown, dated Cornwallis,
March, 1791, is of interest: " Some time after the
English forces had taken possession of Fort Cumber-
land, and the French had retreated to the west side of"
the river, a number of English cattle had one day
crossed the river at low water, and strolled on the
French side. This was not observed on the English'
side till after the tide had begun to make, and then it
was much queried if it might be practicable to bring
them back. None went forward to make the attempt,,
only Watson said he would go for one, and indeed
they all stood back and let him go alone. He stripped,
swam over the riverside, and all got round the cattle,
and was driving them towards the river, when a party
of French were at his heels. One of them called out,
1 Young man, what have you to do upon the King of
France's land ? ' To which Watson replied, that ' His
present concern was neither with the King of France,,
nor about his land, but he meant to take care of the
English cattle '. This little feat of Watson was talked
of with a good deal of pleasantry on both sides, and
gained him not a little credit."

In an obituary notice which appeared in the

ioo THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Gentlemans Magazine of October, 1807, it is mentioned
that he was at the seige of Louisburg with the immor-
tal Wolfe in 1758. I can find no other record of his
services in this connection, but presume that he was
still employed with his friend and patron, Colonel
AVinslow.

About this time (1758) he entered into partnership
with Mr. Joseph Slayter of Halifax, N. S., a grand
uncle of Dr. W. B. Slayter. Slayter was to manage
the Halifax, and Watson the Cumberland branch of the
business. In 1759, Watson removed to London, and
the business was continued until the death of Mr. Slay-
ter, the senior partner, 20 May, 1763. He next became
connected with Mr. Mauger, who had been a resident
of Halifax, and whose name is commemorated, in
l< Mauger's Beach " in Nova Scotia and i( Maugerville "
in New Brunswick. He was a gentleman of property
and made large advances to Watson. They went into
partnership and did a large business in the North
American trade.

In 1760, Brook Watson married Helen, daughter
ot Colin Campbell of Edingburgh. In spite of his crip-
pled condition from the loss of his leg, his life in Eng-
land was an active one. He was among the first of
those gentlemen who, in 1779, formed the Light Horse
Volunteers, who were of great assistance in suppress-
ing the alarming riots in 1780.

In 1781 he was appointed commissary general in
the army of North America, under the command of Sir
Guy Carleton, and remained in that duty till the end of
the war.

I have previously mentioned the esteem in which
he was held by the Loyalists. In the following extract
from a letter written by him to the Rev. Dr. Brown in
July 1791, he modestly alludes to the friendly services

THE STORY OF BROOK WATSON. 101

he was able to do for them at the conclusion of the
war: —

In I755> I W£ts a very humble instrument in sending- eighteen hundred of
those suffering mortals (French Acadians) out of the Province. In 178^, as
Commisary General to the army serving in North America, it became my duty
under the command of Sir Guy Carleton, now Lord Dorchester, to embark
thirty-five thousand Loyalists at New York to take shelter in it, and I trust all
in my power was done to soften the affliction of the Acadians, and alleviate the
sufferings of the Loyalists, who were so severely treated for endeavoring to sup-
port the Union of the British Empire ; they had great reason to bless the con-
siderate mind and feeling heart of Lord Dorchester, under whose directions and
providential care, ever awake to their wants, I had the pleasing task of liberally
providing for them everything necessary to their transportation and settlement,
with provisions for one year after their arrival, and this allowance was still
longer continued to them by the public. To the eternal honour of the nation.
will be the record of their having considered the particular case of every individua
who claims to have suffered by their loyalty, and after a ruinous war which
added one hundred and twenty millions to the public debt, granted compensation
for their losses, and relief for their sufferings to the amount of between three or
four millions, besides annuities amounting to sixty thousand pounds a year.

After the war, many Loyalists who came to St.
John had claims against the British government for
heavy losses in lands and goods by reason of their ad-
herence to the crown, and from their knowledge of the
business abilities and honesty of character of Watson,
they put their claims in his hands for settlement. The
officers of the Colonial army, who ranked with those in
the Imperial service, were placed on half pay, and made
him their agent for recovering their allowance. As an
instance, I may mention the case of Christopher Sower,
king's printer for New Brunswick. At the close of the
war he went to London to get compensation for his
losses. He sought the aid of Brook Watson, who in
addition to an allowance in money, procured for him a
pension with the office of deputy postmaster general
and king's printer of New Brunswick. In gratitude
for the assistance rendered he named his only son
Brook Watson Sower.

At the meeting of the legislature of New Bruns-
wick in 1786, Brook Watson was appointed agent for

102 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

the province, a position he held until 1794. At the
session of that year the following resolution was
passed: — "Resolved, This House taking into consider-
ation the necessity of having an agent residing in Eng-
land, and His Majesty's service having required the at-
tendance of Brook Watson, Esq., late Member of Par-
liament and Agent of the Province, with his Majesty's
forces on the Continent, Resolved, that the thanks of
this House be communicated to Brook Watson, late
Agent of this Province for his past services."

On his return to England at the conclusion of
peace, he was rewarded by parliament by a grant of
^500 a year to his wife. In January, 1784, he was
elected member of parliament for the city of London,
and on the dissolution was re-elected. About the same
period he was made a director of the Bank of England,
and an alderman for Cordwainers ward. In 1785, he
was sheriff of London and Middlesex and had the honor
of being chairman of the committee of the House of
Commons during the debate on the Regency bill. He
was again elected to Parliament in 1790, but resigned
his seat on being appointed commissary general to the
army on the Continent, under the command of the
Duke of York. In 1796 he retired from the service,
and was elected lord mayor of London. During his
term of office two serious events occurred, the sailors
of the Royal Navy mutinied, and the Bank of England
(of which he was a director) was restrained from mak-
ing specie payments. In March 1798, he was commis-
sioned commissary general of England, and in Novem-
ber 1803, in approbation of his public services he was
-created a baronet of the United Kingdom. The baron-
etcy was conferred on Watson, with remainder in
default of male issue to his grand nephews William
and Brook Kay, sons of his niece Anne Webber by her
husband William Kay, of Montreal. These grand

THE STORY OF BROOK WATSON. 103

nephews were born in Montreal, William in 1777, and
Brook in 1780. William succeeded to the baronetcy on
the death of his uncle in 1807, and died unmarried in
1850. He was succeeded by his brother Brook, who
died in 1866, whose son Brook is the fourth baronet.
He was born in 1820, is married but has no children.
His half brother William is heir presumptive.

Brook Watson died at East Sheer, in Surrey,
October 2, 1809, leaving no children, An obituary of
him gives the following description of his character.
" He was through life to his king and country a con-
stitutional loyal subject; a diligent, faithful servant; a
firm merciful and upright magistrate; to his wife a
most affectionate and tender husband; to his relations
a kind and tender friend, to his friendships consistent;
in faith a firm Christian; in deeds a benevolent, honest
man." CLARENCE WARD.

The electric telegraph between the Maritime Prov-
vinces and the United States was completed in the
latter part of 1848, when the wires were stretched
across the falls at St. John. The line was tested Dec.
29, 1848. The first message between St. John and
Halifax was sent on Nov. 9, 1849.

The Intercolonial railway was opened from St.
John to Halifax on Nov. n, 1872. The opening of
the northern division between Moncton and Campbell-
ton was on Nov. 8, 1875.

There were hard times in St. John in the forties,
and in some years the soup kitchen for the poor was a
very necessary institution to prevent many of them
from suffering with hunger.

The St. John Fire Department was disbanded in
1864, n°t in 1862, as was made to appear by an error in
the July number of THE MAGAZINE.

WELCOMED AT THE START.

So many good things have been said of the initial
number of THE MAGAZINE that it is out of the question
to quote from the mass of favorable comments, or even
to specify the sources from which they have come.
The St. John press, in particular, has given a hearty
welcome to the venture, the majority of the papers de-
voting editorials to the subject. The press throughout
the province of New Brunswick has also had many
good words, though why some other journals have not
considered the venture worthy of attention is not quite
clear. Copies of the first number were sent to all
papers of any importance in the Maritime Provinces
and to some outside of those limits, but as there is no
object in giving away several dozens of an expensive
publication it will hereafter be sent regularly only to
such journals as give some evidence of wanting it.

In addition to the press notices, many encouraging
words have come from subscribers, which have been all
the more gratifying when accompanied by the amount
of the subscription, from those who have remembered
that the terms of THE MAGAZINE are payment in ad-
vance.

With the very best of motives, a number of the
papers have drawn attention to the fact that several
magazines have been started in the provinces in the
past and have resulted in failure. This is the legiti-
mate statement of a fact, and a similar statement has
already been made by THE MAGAZINE itself, but with
the important qualification that no magazine was ever

IN THE EDITOR'S CHAIR. 105

conducted on the local lines laid down in this instance,
the usual mistake having been in assuming that home
writers on all kinds of theories and philosophies gave a
publication a local coloring. There never has been a
provincial magazine on the same lines of local informa-
tion and with such a thoroughly competent corps of
contributors, and therefore comparisons, when not duly
qualified, are hardly fair to the present undertaking.
That is to say, the public are apt to draw the inference
that THE NEW BRUNSWICK will go the way of its pre-
decessors. There are some small souls in every com-
munity to whom the risk of paying a dollar and a half
and not getting twelve full numbers will overshadow
every consideration of trying to aid and encourage an
admittedly valuable publication, which has the high and
honorable motive of trying to make the country and its
history known, and of educating the people in matters
of which many have heretofore had little or no know-
ledge. THE MAGAZINE is in the field to remain, how-
ever, and whoever may lose it will not be the sub-
scribers who pay in advance.

A pleasing evidence of the abstract value of THE
MAGAZINE from an historical point of view is found in
the fact that subscriptions continue to come in from
various parts of the United States, which are wholly
apart from any personal influence of the publisher or
his friends. These are from individuals who have na
personal relations with the Maritime Provinces, but
who recognize them as one of the most fertile sources
of the history of the continent. In the same way the
value of this publication is recognized by such institu-
tions as the New York Public Library, Harvard Col-
lege, the Boston Athenaeum Library, the Smithsonian
Institution of Washington, and the like, additions to-
the list being made every week. At a later date it is
probable that a number of the institutions on the

106 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Canadian side of the line will be heard from in the
same way.

The outlook for THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE
during the first month of its existence has been very en-
couraging, especially in view of the fact that, apart
from one canvasser in St. John and one for a short
time in another part of the province, no systematic
effort has been made to hasten what has been of itself
a steady increase of circulation. If every man who is
really interested in THE MAGAZINE would secure at
least one of his friends as a subscriber, the problem of
making the publication a success in all respects would
be still more a simple one.

WITH THE CONTRIBUTORS.

The second paper on the early settlement of St.
John, by Rev. W. O. Raymond, M. A., appears in this
number, and will be found as important as his valuable
contribution which appeared last month. Mr. Ray-
mond is an investigator and writer who never slights
his work, and the papers of this series are not only
most interesting reading but have great value as mat-
ters of local history. It is for just such work as this —
the bringing out of facts which have hitherto been un-
known— that THE MAGAZINE is the available medium
for publication in a suitable and permanent form.

A new contributor this month is Dr. George Stew-
art, of Quebec. Dr. Stewart is so well known to most
readers that an introduction of him is unnecessary.
His early years were spent in St. John, and he started
Stewart's Quarterly at an age when the country papers
used to patronizingly refer to him as " our young friend
Stewart." The Quarterly was the best magazine ever
published in the Maritime Provinces, or in Canada, and
it was an undoubted success, even though it did not

IN THE EDITOR'S CHAIR. 107

bring money to the pocket of its projector. The fire of
1877 put him out of business in this city, but the same
calamity was the source of inspiration for his first
book, The Story of the Great Fire, a volume of
nearly 300 pages written under great difficulties in the
short space of a fortnight, yet wonderfully accurate in
its historical information as well as in its account of the
disaster itself. At a later date he went to Toronto,
where he was editor of the Rose-Belford Canadian
Monthly, and in 1877 he went to Quebec, where he
held the position of chief editor of the Chronicle until
1896. He is now editor of the Quebec Mercury. Since
the time of the Story of the Great Fire, he has written
a number of books including Canada under Dufferin,
besides a large number of essays and sketches for lead-
ing periodicals on both sides of the ocean. His work
appears in the Encyclopedia Britannica and other publi-
cations in the same line, and a list of all his writings
"would make a very formidable array. He has the doc-
tor's degree from no less than four universities, is a
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the Royal
Geographical Society of London, as well as an active
member of various other learned societies. His paper
this month is on a former magazine in New Brunswick,
the Guardian, a publication which professed to have
objects similar to those of THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGA-
ZINE, but which, it will be seen, did not confine itself to
local subjects and had but a brief career.

Mr. James Hannay is not satisfied to allow Prof.
Ganong's paper on the site of Fort LaTour to stand,
without presenting his case for the site on the west
side of the harbor. The arguments of both of these
gentlemen will be of much interest to the students of
Acadian history everywhere. Mr. Hannay has con-
sented to give the readers of THE MAGAZINE an account
of " the first families " of these provinces, the Acadians,

io8 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

and it need not be predicted that anything he does in
this line will be worthy both of attention and preserva-
tion.

Mr. Clarence Ward, of St. John, is one of the new
contributors this month. Mr. Ward, both by heredity
and acquired knowledge, is an authority on the post-
loyalist history of St. John. He is a grandson of
Major John Ward, known as "The Father of the
City," and a son of Mr. Charles Ward, who was a very
prominent citizen. The present Mr. Ward is practical-
ly the archivist of St. John, and in a city more alive to
its own historic importance he would be officially such
with a salary worthy of his labors. For many years he
has, as a labor of love, gathered historical and genea-
logical data from many sources and compiled it as far
as his time has permitted. The penalty for this is that
he is continually put to trouble by all sorts of people
who ask questions which concern themselves and their
ancestors more than they do the general history of the
city. In this number of THE MAGAZINE Mr. Ward has
an interesting paper on Brook Watson, and he gives
much that is wholly new to the public in the history of
that remarkable man who began his career as a friend-
less sailor boy and rose to be a baronet and lord mayor
of London.

The story of the loss of the Royal Tar is one of a
series of accounts of notable events in the history of
St. John in the present century, which are to appear in
THE MAGAZINE from time to time.

Papers of interest have been promised by Mr. H.
A. Powell, M. P., of Sackville, N. B., and by Mr. J.
E. B. McCready, editor of the Charlottetown, P. E. I.,
Guardian, and will appear at an early day.

Nova Scotia history will be given due attention
by future contributors from time to come.

IN THE EDITOR'S CHAIR. 109

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

The Maritime Merchant, that successful Halifax
commercial journal, in the course of a kindly and appre-
ciative notice, thinks that " the choice of a name for
THE MAGAZINE is not particularly happy in view of its
aims and scope." There have been other intimations
to the same effect, but nobody has yet suggested a
better title.

The choice of a comprehensive and not too cum-
bersome name for a magazine which aims to devote it-
self to all the Maritime Provinces is not an easy matter.
The word " Acadian " readily suggests itself, with the
argument that the field of the publication is the terri-
tory originally included in Acadia. Unfortunately for
this idea, the country is not now Acadia, and the use
of the term would be misleading and incorrect, unless
the aim of the magazine were to deal wholly with the
Acadian period or the Acadian race in the present era.
The word " Provincial " would be better, were it not
that it is used in a disparaging sense both in England
and America, while the term "Maritime Provinces" is
rather long and awkward, even though it is absolutely
correct. As to the word " Maritime " of itself, we have
entirely too much respect for the Queen's English to
apply it to a publication not specially devoted to the
sea and shipping. The fact that there has been a
"Maritime Monthly" which had nothing to do with
marine matters, or a "Maritime Farmer" which did
not plough the sea, does not make the usage correct.
This is not a reflection on the name of our critical Hali-
fax contemporary, for everybody knows there is such
an individual as a " Maritime Merchant." He is en
evidence on most of the Nova Scotia schooners which
lie in the Market slip at St. John, and he does an ex-
tensive business in apples, potatoes and other products

no THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

of the soil. It may be, however, that in view of the
aims and scope of a general commercial paper, the
choice of such a name is not a happy one on the part
of the journal in question.

The title of THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE means
that the magazine belongs to New Brunswick, but not
that it is confined to that province. In the same way
the Edinburgh Review, the London Times and the New
York Herald have each the name of a locality in their
titles, but we have yet to learn that their influence is
circumscribed by that fact, or that they fail to represent
any interests beyond those of the places in which they
are published.

SOME RECENT PUBLICATIONS.

The story of the Acadians of today is one of a
wonderful educational development among a people
who, as a class, had been almost wholly neglected in
this respect for nearly a century after the dispersion.
This is especially true of the French race in the prov-
ince of New Brunswick, the representatives of which
are found today in increased proportion in the priest-
hood as well as in the higher secular vocations, on the
bench, in the councils of the country, in the professions
and in the realm of literature. Apart from the
recognized representative men, the great body of the
people have made a most remarkable progress as com-
pared with their general condition only a generation
ago. In this work of elevating a people, the great
factor has been St. Joseph's college, Memramcook, and
the man by whose wise judgment it was placed in a
position to accomplish so much was the Rev. Camille
Lefebvre, who was sent in response to a request by
Bishop Sweeney, and who labored there for upwards of
thirty years, dying in the year 1895. His memory is

IN THE EDITOR'S CHAIR. in

justly honored, not only by the Acadians but by all who
are interested in the welfare of this country. His bio-
grapher is Hon. Pascal Poirier of Shediac, a member
of the Senate of Canada, and himself a graduate of the
college. Under the title of " Le Pere Lefebvre et
L'Acadie," Senator Poirier has written the story of the
man and his work, and has well accomplished his task.
In a handsomely printed volume of over 300 pages, he
deals with Father Lefebvre from his earliest days to his
last hour, and describes the characteristics of his loved
preceptor so faithfully and well that the book leaves
nothing to be desired from the standpoint of biography
alone. Apart from this it is the history of St. Joseph's
college in its essential features, and it gives a clear idea
not only of the growth and development of that institu-
tion but of the progress of the people for whose benefit
it was designed. It is an important addition to the
ecclesiastical, educational and racial history of the
province. The book has already reached a third edi-
tion. The proceeds of its sale are devoted to the
Lefebvre Memorial fund.

The Natural History Society of New Brunswick
has just issued Bulletin XVI. The leading paper is a
sketch by Prof. L. W. Bailey of the late Dr. James
Robb, Prof. Bailey's predecessor in the chair of natural
history at the University of N. B., and one of the
pioneers in scientific labor in this province. It is ac-
companied by a portrait. S. W. Kain gives a catalogue
of the earthquakes in New Brunswick. John Moser,
the veteran botanist and the discoverer of many new
species, gives a list of the mosses of the province. Dr.
Geo. F. Matthew has an article on some recent discov-
eries in the St. John group of rocks, in which he
describes some rare fossils and gives a sketch, illus-
trated by a map, of the geology of the Kennebecasis
valley. This paper is not only of interest to local.

ii2 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

students but must command attention abroad. Prof.
Ganong's contribution of ten " notes" is of unusual
interest and full of suggestions for students. Dr.
Philip Cox has a paper on the batrachians of New
Brunswick, with notes on their distribution. The ap-
pendix contains a number of important items, among
which may be mentioned a report on the work done at
the Quaco camp last year ; a bibliography of scientific
papers on New Brunswick published during the year ;
the determination of mean sea level at St. John, by E.
T. P. Shewen ; a list of donations and the report of
the council. There are also reports of the Natural
History Societies at Fredericton and Sussex, the publi-
cation of which is an excellent idea. The Bulletin is
printed by Barnes & Co., and is for sale by Alfred
Morrisey, price 50 cents.

Mr. George Johnson, Dominion Statistician, under-
took no light task in attempting to make his " Alphabet
of First Things in Canada," the third edition of which
has reached THE MAGAZINE. To name the first things
is of itself an achievement of some note, while to trace
their history and secure the data is a work of magnitude
and difficulty. In many kinds of historical work a
margin of uncertainty and speculation is allowable, but
in an undertaking of this kind absolute accuracy must
be the great essential. With each edition, Mr. Johnson
probably sees not only what he has accomplished in
comparison with the previous one, but much more that
he wants to accomplish. The book as now presented
is a most useful one to all who are interested in Canada
and its affairs, and is literally " a ready reference book
of Canadian events," which is of value to all classes of
readers.

"Patriotic and Personal Poems, by Martin Butler,"
is a book remarkable for more than the subject-matter
of the contents. Mr. Butler himself is a remarkable

IN THE EDITOR'S CHAIR. 113

man, who has followed the pursuit of literature by the
aid of a wonderful perseverance amid many difficulties.
He has fought his way through life as a toiler for
bread, with the great disadvantages of being poor and
having only one arm. His occupation is that of a
pedlar, going over the country with a hand waggon,
seeing human nature in the remote districts and re-
counting his experiences in his unique monthly known
as Butler's Journal, a paper which he both edits and
prints with little or no assistance. The present book
has been written, set up and folded by him, and it is
issued, as he explains, " to help by its sale to provide
food, fuel, raiment and shelter, for myself and family,
which the meagre revenue derived from The Journal
and my inability for hard labor, consequent on my
crippled condition, render extremely difficult." The
price of the book is 40 cents, and it may be had from
the author at Fredericton. Mr. Butler's pluck and
perseverance deserve to be rewarded by a large sale of
his venture.

PROVINCIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY.

The following are a few additions of old and new
books relating to the provinces, which are either not
noted in the already published " New Brunswick Biblio-
graphy," or which are noted in that book and concern-
ing which further information is given. It is hoped
that readers of THE MAGAZINE generally will aid as
contributors to this department from month to month.
In the case of books which relate to New Brunswick,
the notes sent should be in the line already named —
new books or information about old ones and their
authors. In respect to the other Maritime Provinces,
of which there is no published bibliography, all

1 14 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

information is of value, especially that relating- to old
and rare works.

In sending notes of books, please follow the style
given below. Quote the name of the author as it is
given on the title page, adding any other information
as to his personality and work. Copy the title page
itself, with date, describe binding in brief form, state
the size as near as may be, whether quarto, octavo,
etc., large or small, give the number of pages and
mention maps of illustrations. To this necessary des-
cription may be appended any further facts as to the
character of the book and its relation to the Maritime
Provinces.

DUNCAN FRANCIS, M.A., F.G.S., F.R.G.S., Mem-
ber of the Colonies Committee, Society of Arts ; D.C.
L., King's College, N. S., Lieutenant Royal Artillery.

Our Garrisons in the West, or Sketches in British
North America, London, Chapman and Hall, 193
Piccadilly, 1864. Cl., 8°, pp. viii — 319. Map.

This is a decidedly interesting book to readers in
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, which provinces re-
ceive attention in about 160 pages. The writer was
with the troops sent out at the time of the Trent affair,
In 1861-62, and he gives a most entertaining account
of the country and its people. St. John and Halifax
are given considerable notice, and the criticisms are in
a kindly spirit, though characterized by abundant
humor. S. W. K.

OWEN, W. F. W., (See p. 62, July.)
His autobiography is not a separate work, but is
contained in his Quoddy Hermit.

See Coll. N. B. Hist. Soc., article The Journal
of Captain Wm. Owen— the 2yth page of the article
(p. 27 of the reprint.) \y. F. G.

PROVINCIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY. 115

POIRIER, HON. PASCAL, M. A., Senator, of Shedi-
ac, N. B. Is well known as a legislator and a writer
on Acadian topics. He has been an industrious con-
butor to the French Canadian press, and is the author
of L'Orig-ine des Acadiens, etc.

Le Pere Lefebvre et L'Acadie. Montreal, C. O.
Beauchemin & Fils, 1898. Paper, Large 8°, pp.
x — 311. Portraits and illustrations.

BUTLER, MARTIN, Fredericton. (Vide MacFar-
lane's Bibliography.)

Patriotic and Personal Poems. Fredericton, N.
B., printed at the Journal Office, 1898. Paper, Sm.
8°, pp. 147.

(A remarkable feature of this book is that it was
written, set up in type, folded and printed by a man
with one arm.)

WILLIS, N. P., the American poet and essayist.

Canadian Scenery Illustrated. From Drawings
by W. H. Bartlett. The Literary Department by N.
P. Willis, Esq. London, James S. Virtue. No date.
(1842) 2 vols., 4°, pp. 244 in all. Richly illustrated.

This work has some 120 steel plate engravings of
Canadian scenery, from special drawings, and is beau-
tifully printed. Of these views, 20 pertain to New
Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with 23 pages of letter-
press devoted to these provinces. The work is a com-
panion to "American Scenery," also by Willis and
Bartlett and published by Virtue. W. K. R.

THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE is sent free of
postage to subscribers in Canada, the United States
and Newfoundland. When mailed to subscribers in
Great Britain and other postal union countries, there is
an additional charge of 36 cents a year for postage.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

QUESTIONS.

7. In the MS. notes of a lecture delivered at the
Mechanics Institute in 1841 by Moses H. Perley, occurs
this sentence: — ''Mention the skeletons at Portland
Point." Is there any contemporary record of the find-
ing of these skeletons, or does any person now living
remember it ? W. F. G.

8. Who can tell about what were called the
" Black Refugees," who came to St. John about the
year 1835 or a little earlier? C. J. L.

9. In what year was the trial, in Halifax, of Lieut.
Cross, of the British army, on a charge of murder ?

10. What is the meaning of the word Malagash?"

11. From what does the parish of Queensbury
derive its name ?

12. In what year was the elder Booth in St.
John?

ANSWERS.

3. The name Souris (French, Sourt's — mouse), is
connected with a plague of mice. Diereville, the travel-
er, writing in the early part of the seventeenth century,
affirmed that the island had a plague of mice or locusts
every seven years, a statement that, whether needing
confirmation or not, has long since ceased to be appli-
cable to the province. In April and May of 1815, when
the warm air loosened the frost, we read that the earth
sent forth mice instead of flowers, mice that were large
and savage, almost resembling rats, and, some say,
white in color. They increased at an alarming rate,
until, in August they were as thick as grasshoppers,
and destroyed everything eatable that was not carefully

NOtES AND QUERIES. 117

protected. Grain, vegetables and shrubs alike disap-
peared before their ravages, until the fields were as bare
as a board. " At last the mice began to die for want
of food. Fields were covered with them, and the air
was full of a sickening odor. In many parts thev
moved to the sea coast In vast numbers, as there was
an abundance of shell fish there. When they had de-
voured all the shell fish they could find, they died there,
and the tide swept them away or piled them in ' wind-
rows ' on the beach." In the Bay of Fortune, Rollo
Bay and Souris section of the island there was at the
time quite a large French population, and as they suf-
fered in an especially severe manner from the plague,
which, however, was general throughout the province,
they, no doubt, commemorated it in the way above
suggested. That, at least, is the opinion of the people
of today. S. M. B.

(The year of the mice is referred to in Paterson's
History of Pictou County, p. 293 et seq., and an ac-
count of it is given in the various editions of the Inter-
colonial Railway Guide Book, which have appeared
from time to time since 1883. The latter account has
been very freely appropriated by wandering scribes,
and I have even seen it used bodily by the staff corres-
pondent of a New Brunswick weekly as his own version
of the story. In " Zig-Zag Journeys in Acadia," by
one Hezekiah Butterworth, the same account has been
ingeniously rewritten, but without a sufficient know-
ledge of the snbject to avoid copying some errors, as
well as falling into new and absurd blunders. For in-
stance, he speaks of the French traveller Diereville as
a local historian, or something of that kind, and quotes
him as saying " Prince Edward Island has a plague,"
etc. Direville wrote in 1699-1700, a century before
the name of "Prince Edward" was thought of, for
what was then " L'lsle St. Jean." W. K. R.)

H8 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

6. "The Three Lamps" at Reed's Point were
made by the late Alexander Campbell, of Water street,
gas fitter and tinsmith, and were erected in the spring
of 1848, by the St. John Gas Company. A. G. B.

The date was April, 1848. The lamp at Reed's
Point dates further back, however, for it was placed
in position in April, 1842, before the era of gas. The
first lamp placed by the Gas Company at the Point
was erected in February, 1847. The height of the post
was about six feet. The lamp was four sided, had
three burners and was in a copper frame. The side to
the seaward was of stained glass, and on the four sides
were painted the four pilot boats of that time — the
Rechab, Cygnet, Grace Darling and Charles Stewart.
The structure was surmounted by a vane. It was con-
sidered a great affair for those days, and was the guide
for vessels entering the harbor until the three lamps
were put up in 1848. W. K. R.

THE BUSINESS END.

The terms of subscription are $1.50 per annum in
advance. Subscribers will oblige by not waiting for a
bill to be sent.

A number of subscribers have expressed their re-
gret that THE MAGAZINE is not to be sold through the
medium of the newsdealers. There was a good reason
for such an announcement in the prospectus. The
usual way in which dealers handle periodicals is on
commission. That is, they order a certain number,
charge the publisher a certain percentage on the copies
sold and have the privilege of returning all copies that
are unsold. In this way it is necessary to print more
than the edition really required in order to keep the
dealers supplied, and when they make their returns
many copies may be sent back unsold. With some

THE BUSINESS END. 119

classes of publications this is well enough, but it is
quite different with THE MAGAZINE. The margin of
profit is small at best, and to over-print every month
means not only no profit but actual loss. The Mag-
azine does not depend upon pictures or sensational
matter for its sale, but it caters to a class of people
who want it regularly, if they want it at all. It is
believed that people of this class will be willing to sub-
scribe, and it is felt that, as a rule, such people are
able to subscribe. Where they really want THE MAG-
AZINE and are not able to pay in advance such excep-
tional cases will receive every consideration. It would
be a poor encouragement to the publisher if he had to
print the greater part of his monthly edition on the
mere chance of selling it by single numbers, and he has
too good an opinion of the public to think they would
want him to do so. Under the most favorable circum-
stances, the venture is one with little profit, and even
small matters must be considered in respect to the
expenses. There is, however, no reason why people
who want single copies cannot have them. They will
be supplied to any dealer who orders them for his cus-
tomers, he purchasing without the privilege of returning
unsold copies, or they will be sent to any address from
the office of publication on receipt of fifteen cents in
silver for each copy. The edition, however, will be
kept pretty closely to the subscription limit, so that no
'arge number of single copies will be available. A
limited number of copies of the early issues will be re-
served for those who subscribe later and wish to have
the volume complete.

Agents are needed to advance the circulation of
THE MAGAZINE in all parts of the Maritime Provinces.
This is a publication for which school teachers, students
and others may canvass with great success.

Some readers have expressed the opinion that the

120 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

typographical appearance of THE MAGAZINE would be
better, or at least that the reading of some portions of
the pages would be easier, if a larger type were used
for matter quoted in the form of extracts. The type
now used is nonpareil, which looks to be even smaller
than it is, by reason of the contrast with the long primer
which is used for the body type. With a view of obvi-
ating all objection on this point, an order for a quantity
of brevier type was placed early in the month, and it
was expected to reach here in time for this issue. As
the type was among a lot being landed in Toronto from
Scotland, there was a delay not anticipated, so that,
after waiting several days, THE MAGAZINE was made up
without it. This accounts for the slight lateness in the
time of appearance, the aim being to reach the public a
little before the first of the month in which THE MAGA-
ZINE is dated. The new type has now arrived, how-
ever, and will be used in future issues in place of the
nonpareil.

THE MAGAZINE should circulate in every part of
the Maritime Provinces, and there is room for agents
in various sections. While the margin allowed is not
large, it is sufficient to reimburse one who can devote
some of his spare time to pushing the publication in
the place where he resides, besides giving him the
satisfaction which comes from the consciousness of
doing work that is helping to instruct the people in a
knowledge of their own country.

Contributors should bear in mind that it is de-
sirable to have manuscript in hand as early as they can
conveniently send it. It should be in by at least the
loth of the month and in no case later than the 2oth.
The later it is left, the more hurriedly it is necessary to
get it in type, and haste in such cases may mean errors
of typography, etc., which are annoying alike to the
contributor and the publisher.

The I(ew Brunswick JVIagazine.

VOL. I. SEPTEMBER, 1898. No. 3

OUR FIRST FAMILIES.
First Paper.

There is no denying the fact that in point of an-
tiquity the French Acadians of the Maritime Provinces
ante-date all the inhabitants of British origin. They
are our " first families," and are entitled to whatever
consideration naturally attaches to that distinction.
They occupy the same position with regard to this land
that the descendants of the Pilgrims of the Mayflower
hold to the people of New England, or the first Dutch
settlers of New York to the present inhabitants of that
state. They have been here for more than two hun-
dred and sixty years, and during that time they have
clung tenaciously to the soil of their beloved Acadia,
that land of forest and stream to which their fathers
came so long ago, and in whose soil ten generations of
their race are buried.

The first French census of Acadia was taken in
1671, the year after the restoration of that colony to
France under the terms of the treaty of Breda. It was
drawn up by Laurent Molin, a grey friar, who was
performing the functions of a curd at Port Royal, and
was forwarded to the French government by the

122 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Chevalier de Grand-fontaine, who was then governor
of Acadia. Grand-fontaine, in his letter to the minis-
try, complains of this grey friar, who seems to have
been a person of remarkable energy of character, for
he is accused of having caused an Indian to be hanged
without any trial, killed a negro and banished three
inhabitants. The census, which I propose shall serve
as a text for this article, is as follows: —
PORT ROYAL.

Jacob Bourgeois, surgeon, 50 ; wife Jeanne Trahan ; chil-
dren— Jeanne 27, Charles 25, Germain 21, Marie 19, William 16,
Margaret 13, Fra^ois 12, Anne 10, Marie 7, Jeanne 4 ; b. c. 33,.
br. 24, ar. v. 5.

Jean Gaudet, 96 ; wife Nicolle Colleson ; children — Jean 28 ;
b. c. 6, br. 3, ar. v., 3.

Denis Gaudet 46 ; wife Martine Gauthier ; children — Anne
25, Marie 21, Pierre 20, Pierre 17, Marie 14; b. c. 9, br. 13, ar.
v. 6.

Roger Kuessy 25 ; wife Marie Poiri£ ; children Marie 2 j
b. c. 3, br. 2.

Michel deForest 33 ; wife Marie Hubert; children — Michael
4, Pierre 2, Rene i ; b. c. 12, br. 2, ar. v. 2.

Widow Stephen Hebert 38 ; children — Marie 20, Margaret
19, Emmanuel 18, Stephen 17, Jean 13, Franchise 10, Catherine
9, Martin 6, Michael 5, Antoine i ; b. c. 4, br. 5, ar. v. 3.

Antoine Babin 45 ; wife Marie Mercier ; children — Marie 9,
Charles 7, Vincent 5, Jeanne 3, Margaret i ; b. c. 6, br. 8, ar. v. 2.

Oliver Daigre 28 ; wife Marie Gaudet ; children — Jean 4,.
Jacques 2, Bernard i ; b. c. 6, br. 6. ar. v. 2.

Antoine Hebert, cooper, 50 ; wife Genevieve Lefrance ; chil-
dren— Jean 22, Jean 18, Catherine 15 ; b. c. 18, br. 7, ar. v. 6.

Jean Blanchard 60 ; wife Radegonde Lambert ; children —
Martin 24, Madeline 28, Anne 26, William 21, Bernard 18, Marie
15 ; b. c. 12, br. 9, ar. v. 5.

Widow Francois Aucoin 26; children — Anne 12, Marie 9,
JeV6me 7, Huguette 5, Francois 2 ; b. c. 6, br. 3. ar. v. 6.

Michel Dupeux 37 ; wife Marie Gauterot ; children — Marie
14, Martin 6, Jeanne 4, Pierre 3, b. c. 5, br. i, ar. v. 6.

Claude Terriau 34 ; wife Marie Gauterot ; children — Ger-
main 9, Marie 6, Margaret 4, Jean i ; b. c. 13, br. 3, ar. v. 6.

Germain Terriau 25 ; wife Andr^e Brun ; children — Ger-
main 2, b. c. 5 ; br. 2, ar. v. 2.

Jean Terriau 70 ; wife Perrine Beau , children Claude 34,
Jean 32, Bonaventure 30, Germain 25, Jeanne 27, Catherine 21,
Pierre 16 ; b. c. 6, br. i, ar. v. 5.

OUR FIRST FAMILIES. 123

Francois Scavoye 50 ; wife Catherine Lejeune ; children —
Franchise 18, Germain 17, Marie 14, Jeanne 13, Catherine 9,
Francois 8, Barnabe" 6, Andrt^e 4, Marie 2 ; b. c. 4, ar. v. 6.

Jehan Corperon 25 ; wife Franchise Scavoie ; child — one
girl of six weeks ; b. c. i, br. i.

Pierre Martin 70 ; wife Catherine Vigneau ; children —
Pierre 45, Marie 35, Margaret 32, Andre^ 30, Matthew 35 ; b. c.

7, br. 8, ar. v. 2.

Francois P&erin 35 ; wife Andr^e Martin ; children — Hug--
ette 5, Marie 2 and one little infant of a few days ; br. i, ar. v. i.

Pierre Morrin 37 ; children — Pierre 9, Louis 7, Antoine 5,
Marie 3, Anne 10 months ; b. c. 3,br. 4, ar. v. i.

Mathieu Martin 35, not married and a weaver ; b. c. 4, br. 3.

Vincent Brun 60; wife Rene"e Erode; children — Madeline
25, Andre" e 24, Francois 18, Bastie 15, Marie 12 ; b. c. 10, br. 4,
ar. v. 5.

Francois Gauterot 58 ; Edme"e Lejeaune ; children — Marie
35, Charles 34, Marie 24, Rene^ 19, Marg-aret 16, Jean 23, Fran-
9015 19, Claude 12, Charles 10, Jeanne 7, Germain 3; b. c. 16,
br. 6, ar. v. 6.

William Trahan, farrier, 60 ; wife Madeline Brun ; chil-
dren— William 4, Jehan-Charles 3, Alexander i ; b. c. 8, br. 10.
ar. v. 5.

Pierre Sire, armorer, 27 ; wife Marie Bourgeois ; children '
— Jean 3 months ; b. c. n, br. 6.

Pierre Thibeaudeau 40 ; wife Jeanne Terriau ; children —
Pierre i and five girls ; b. c. 12, br. u, ar. v. 7.

Claude Petipas 45 ; wife Catherine Bugard ; children — Ber-
nard 12, Claude 8, Jean 7, Jacques 5 and three girls; b. c. 26,,
br. n, ar. v. 30.

Bernard Bourc 23; wife Franchise Brun; child — one girl ;;
b. c. 6, br. 2.

Bonaventure TeViau ; wife Jean Boudrot ; child — one girl ;
b. c. 6, br. 6, ar. v. 2.

Michael Boudrot 71 ; wife Michelle Aucoin ; children —
Francois 29, Charles 22, Jean 16, Abraham 14, Oliver 10, Claude

8, Francois 5, four girls ; b. c. 5, br. 12, ar. v. 8.

Pierre Guillebau 32 ; wife Catherine TeViau ; child — one
girl; b. c. 6, br. 5, ar. v. 15.

Jean Labathe 33 ; wife Ren^e Gautherot ; b. c. 26, br. 15,
ar. v. 15.

Martin Blanchart 24 ; wife Fran9oise Leblond, b. c. 5, br»
2, ar. v. 15.

Jean Bourc 25 ; wife Margaret Martin ; children — two girls ;
b. c. 3, br. 5, ar. v. 15.

Antoine Bourc 62 ; wife Antoinette Landry ; children — Fran-
9015 27, Jean 24, Bernard 22, Martin 21, Abraham 9 and 6 daugh-
ters b. c. 12, br. 8, ar. v. 4.

i24 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Laurent Grange^ 34 ; wife Marie Landry ; children— Peter
9 months and one girl ; b. c. 5, br. 6, ar. v. 4.

Perrine Landry, widow of Jacques Joffriau, 60.

Pierre Doucet, mason, 50; wife Henriette Peltret ; chil-
dren— Toussaint 8, Jean 6, Pierre 4, and two girls ; b. c. 7, br.
6, ar. v. 4.

Francois Bourc 25 ; wife Margaret Boudrot ; children —
Michel 5 and one girl ; b. c. 15, br. 5, ar. v. 5

Germain Doucet 30 ; wife Marie Landry ; children — Charles
6, Bernard 4, Laurent 3 ; b. c. n, br. 7, ar. v. 3.

Francois Girouard 50 ; wife Jeanne Aucoin ; children —
Jacob 23, Germain 14 and three girls ; b. c. 16, br. 12, ar. v. 8.

Jacques Belou, cooper, 30 ; wife Marie Girouard ; child —
one girl ; b. c. 7, br. i.

Jacob Girouard 23 ; wife Margaret Gauterot ; child — Alex-
andre ; b. c. 7, br. 3.

Pierre Vincent 40 ; wife Annie Gaudet ; children — Thomas
6, Michael 3, Pierre 2 and one girl ; b. c. 18, br. 9, ar. v. 16.

Pierre Martin 40 ; wife Anne Oxihnoroudh ; children —
Pierre 10, Rene^ 8, Andr^ 5, Jacques 2, b. c. n, br. 6, ar. v. 8.

Vincent Brot 40 ; w'fe Marie Bour ; children — Antoine 5,
Pierre i and two girls ; b- c. 9, br. 7, ar. v. 4.

Daniel Lebland 45 ; wife Francoise Gaudet ; children —
James 20, Stephen 15, Ren£ 14, Andr^ 12, Antoine 9, Pierre 7
and one girl; b. c. 17, br. 26, ar. v. 10.

Michel Poirie 20; b. c. 2.

Barbe Baiols, widow deSavinien de Courpon ; eight chil-
dren in France and two girls married in this place ; b. c. i, br. 5.

Antoine Gougeon 45 ; wife Jeanne Chebrat ; child — one
girl; b. c. 20, br. 17, ar. v. 10.

Pierre Commeaux, cooper. 75 ; wife Rose Bayols ; children —
Stephen 21, Pierre 18, Jean 14, Pierre 13, Antoine 10, Jean 6 and
three girls; b. c. 16. br. 22, ar. v. 6.

Jean Pitre, edge tool maker, 35 ; wife Marie Bayols ; chil-
dren— Claude 9 months and two girls; b. c. i.

Stephen Commeaux 21; wife Marie Lefebvre ; child — one
igirl ; b. c. 7, br. 7.

Charles Bourgeois 25 ; wife Anne Dugast ; child — one girl ;
b. c. 12, br. 7. ar. v. 2.

Barnabe Martin 35 ; wife Jeanne Pelletrat ; children — Ren£
8 months and one girl ; b. c. 3, br. 2, ar. v. 2)4

Clement Bertrand, carpenter, 50 ; wife Huguette Lambelot ;
b. c. 10, br. 6, ar. v. 6.

Antoine Bellineau 50 ; wife Andree Guion ; children — Jean
ig'and one girl; b. c. n, br. 8.

Rene Landry 53; wife Perrine Bour; children— Pierre 13,
Claude 8 and five girls; b. c. 10, br. 6 ar. v. 12.

OUR FIRST FAMILIES. 125

Thomas Cormie^ carpenter, 35 ; wife Madeline Girouard ;
child — one girl ; b. c. 7, br. 7, ar. v. 6.

Rene^ Rimbaut 55; wife Anne Marie; children — Philippe 16,
Francois 15 and three girls ; b. c. 12, br. 9, ar. v. 12.

Abraham Dugast, armorer, 55 ; wife Doucet ; chil-
dren— Claude 19, Martin 15, Abraham 10 and five girls; b. c. 19,
br. 3. ar. v. 16.

Michel Richard 41; wife Madeline Blanchart; children —
Rene^ 14, Pierre 10, Martin 6, Alexandre 3 and three girls; b. c.
15, br. 14, ar. v. 14.

Charles Melanson 28 ; wife Marie Dugast ; children — four
girls ; b. c. 40, br. 6, ar. v. 20.

Pierre Melanson, tailor, refused to answer.

Stephen Robichaut told his wife that he would not give an
account of his cattle and land.

Pierre Lanaux or Lanoue, cooper, answered that he was
well off and did not wish to give his age.

HABITATION OF POBONCOM NEAR THE ISLES TOUSQUET.

Philip Mius-ecuyer-Sieur de Lamdremont ou de Dantre-
mont 62; wife Madeline Elie ; children — Abraham 13, Philip n,
one other 17 and two girls; b. c. 26, br. 25, ar. v. 6.

CAP NEIGRE.

Armand Lalloue, ecayer sieur de, 58; wife Elisabeth Nicolas;
children — James 24, Armand 14, Arnault 12 and two girls ; ar. v. i.

RIVER AUX ROCHELOIS.
William Paulet, his wife and one child ; ar. v. 2

Before proceeding to discuss the individuals and
families named in this census, it will be proper to ex-
plain the meaning of the letters and figures which close
the record of each family. The letters b. c. signify
" betes a cornes " (horned cattle) ; br. is the abbreviation
for "brebis" (sheep) while ar. v. stands for "arpents de
terre en valeur " (arpents of cultivated land). Thus it
appears that Jacob Bourgeois, whose name stands first
on the list, had 33 horned cattle, 24 sheep and 5
arpents of cultivated land. In the whole Port Royal
settlement there were 580 horned cattle, 406 sheep and
363^2 arpents of cultivated land. An arpent is about
the equivalent of an acre. It is plain, therefore, that
the area of cultivated land embraced in the census
could not have included land in meadow or in pasture,
but only the land actually tilled the year the census was

126 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

taken. We can gather from these figures some idea
of the mode of life of the Acadians of those days.
Their cattle and sheep were their main resource, and
the wealth of each individual can be measured by the
number of his live stock. Tried by this test the rich
men of the settlement at Port Royal were Jacob
"Bourgeois, Antoine Hubert, Francois Gauterat, Claude
Petitpas, Jean Labathe, Francois Bourc, Francois
Girouard, Pierre Vincent, Daniel Lebland, Antoine
sGougeon, Pierre Commeaux, Abraham Dugast, Michel
Richard, and Charles Melanson. The last named had
.40 head of cattle and cultivated 20 arpents of land.
Oniy one man in the Port Royal settlements cultivated
.more land than Melanson. This was Claude Petitpas,
who tilled 30 arpents, but had fewer cattle.

There is one peculiarity about this census which
seems to have escaped the notice of M. Rameau and
-others who have quoted it, the fact that the names of
a large number of persons, thirty-six in all, are given
twice. Take for instance the family of Jean Terriau,
which is given in the census as numbering nine per-
sons, including the father and mother, five sons and
two daughters. As a matter of fact there were only
four persons in the family at home, for both the
daughters and three of the sons, Claude, Bonaventure
and Germain, were married and had homes of their own.
The failure to note this fact has caused M. Rameau
and others to give the population of the Port Royal
settlement as 361 when it was in reality 36 less, owing
to the duplication of names. The matter is not of very
great consequence, except for the purpose of showing
the extremely cursory fashion in which this census has
been dealt with, so that the way seems to be open for a
more careful analysis of it than it has yet received.

It is very much to be regretted that Laurent
Molin, the grey triar who took the census, did not

OUR FIRST FAMILIES. 127

carry it out on the same scale as he began it. In the
•enumeration of the first twenty-two families we have
the names of the girls as well as of the boys, but as to
the remainder only the names of the boys are given.
This makes it more difficult to trace family connexions
due to marriages, but perhaps we ought to be grateful
to M. Molin that he has given us so much, rather than
critical because he has omitted something we would
have liked to obtain. As it is, we have the materials
for, in a manner, reconstructing the story of the first
settlement of Acadia, and determining with almost
absolute certainty which were in reality our first
families.

The first settlement of Acadia was made by
De Monts and Champlain at St. Croix Island in 1604.
This place was abandoned in 1605, and the colony
established on the north side of Annapolis Basin, oppos-
ite Goat Island. This settlement was broken up by
Argal in 1613 and we have no authentic information in
regard to it tor many years. It is said that Biencourt,
who was the proprietor of Port Royal, and Charles La
Tour, his lieutenant and companion, lived among the
Indians for several years, trading, and that the settle-
ment was abandoned. This theory is supported by the
fact that a Scotch colony was established there by Sir
William Alexander in 1628. This colony was in its
turn broken up in 1632, when the French secured pos-
session of Acadia under the terms of the treaty of St.
Germain en-Laye. Most historians state that one or
more of the Scotch families of this abandoned colony
remained in Acadia and joined the French colony which
was established by Commander Isaac de Razilly at La
Have. La Mothe Cadillac speaks of one Scotch family
having remained in Acadia, and says that in 1685, he
saw at Port Royal two men of this family who had be-
come Catholics and married French wives. Their

128 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

mother had retired to Boston where she was then
living1, aged 90 years. M. Richard, author of a recently
published book on Acadia and its people, speaks of
three families of Scotch origin, the Colsons, Paisleys
and Melansons. Other authorities mention the families
of Martin and Vincent as being of Scotch origin. A
book published in London in 1758, which is quoted by
Murdoch, states that the Carty family in Acadia are
descended from Roger John Baptist Carty, an Irish
Catholic ; and that Peters, an iron smith, from England,
and Granger, also an Englishman, both married in
Acadia and became naturalized Frenchmen. We will
look more particularly at these statements later.

The colonists who were brought out by de Razilly
and settled at La Have seem to have arrived in 1635,
perhaps a year earlier. They were certainly not in
Acadia as early as the break up of the Scotch colony,
so that any of the latter who remained in Acadia must
have lived for a time among the persons who formed
the military portion of de Razilly's expedition. That,
however, is a minor matter ; the question is, who were
the Scotch colonists, if any, who remained in Acadia ?
The first name on the census list which attracts atten-
tion is that of Pierre Martin, aged 70. Martin is un-
doubtedly a Scotch name, and the Martin family is
almost the only one that would answer the description
of Cadillac which we have already quoted. Moreover,
Mathieu Martin, whose name appears in the census of
1671, and who was then 35 years old, is stated to have
been the first white person born in Acadia. He was
probably born in 1635, so that we have a date to start
with which fixes the year of the establishment of the
La Have settlement and gives the name of at least one
first family, the Martins. We could easily assume that
this was the family that Cadillac refers to as being-
Scotch, were it not for the fact that Catherine Vigneau,

OUR FIRST FAMILIES. 129

the wife of Pierre Martin, must haye been a French
woman. Catherine Vigneau may, however, have been
a second wife, for the oldest son of the family is Pierre,
jr., who is put down as aged 45, while the next child is
ten years younger. On the other hand, why should
Catherine Vigneau, a French woman, go to live in
Boston where there were no French people, while her
sons were residing in Acadia. It must be confessed
that there are some difficulties in the way of accepting
the Martins as Scotch, yet the probabilities are that
they were.

The Melansons, whom M. Richard mentions as
Scotch, may have been the two men referred to by
Cadillac. Charles Melanson, in 1671, was 28 years old,
and was therefore born in 1642. He was married to
Marie Dugast, by whom he had four daughters. Judg-
ing by the number of his cattle and the area of land he
cultivated, he was the richest man in the Port Royal
settlement. His brother, Pierre Melanson, who was a
tailor, refused to answer the questions put to him by
M. Molin. But in 1686, when the next census of
Acadia was taken by M. de Meulles, he had to respond,
and we know that in 1671 he was 38 years old, that in
1665 he had been married to Marie Mius d'Antremont,
a daughter of Phillippe Mius of Pubnico, whose name
appears in the census of 1671, and that Melanson and
his wife had then three or four children ; they had nine
in 1686. Now neither of the parents of these men
appears in the census of 1671, so that their father may
then have been dead and their mother residing in Bos-
ton. The father of the Melansons, under the title of
La Verdure, was a witness to the marriage contract
made between LaTour and Madame d'Aulnay in 1653.
He was also one of the parties to the capitulation of
Port Royal to the English in 1654, signing that docu-
ment " as well in his quality of Capt. Commandant in

i3o THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Port Royal for the King, as that of surrogate tutor of
the minor children of the defunct Monsieur d'Aulnay."
M. Jacques Bourgeois, who is described as La Ver-
dure's brother-in-law, was left with the English as a
hostage for the fulfilment of the terms of the treaty.
This brings us to the point that if La Verdure or
Melanson was Scotch he must either have married a
Frenchwoman, a sister ot M. Bourgeois, or the latter
must have married a Melanson, La Verdure's sister.
The last mentioned supposition is the more probable if
this wife returned to Boston after her husband's death.
This theory is further supported by the consideration
that Pierre Melanson, her oldest son, must have been
born as early as 1632, and could not therefore have
been born in Acadia, if the statement in regard to
Mathieu Martin is correct. On the other hand, there
is the difficulty that the Scotch colony was broken up
in 1632. Perhaps it is not necessary to take the state-
ment in regard to Mathieu Martin being the first white
child born in Acadia too literally. He was probably
the first child born of French parents in Acadia, for
surely there must have been some children born in the
Scotch colony during the three or four years of its
€xisten,ce.

The two other names, Paisley and Colson, men-
tioned by M. Richard as being Scotch, do not appear
in the census of 1671 among the heads of families in
Acadia. We have, however, in the census of 1671
Nicolle Colleson, the wife of Jean Gaudet, and she may
have been a Scotch woman, and a member of a family
left in Acadia after the departure of Sir Wm. Alex-
ander's colony. Colson and Colleson are so nearly
alike that the one might be easily mistaken for the
other, and neither is French. Indeed names like Col-
son, Melanson and others terminating in "son" bear in
themselves unmistakable evidences of their British or

OUR FIRST FAMILIES. 131

Scandanavian origin. The name Colson appears in
the census of Port Royal in 1686, but it does not occur
in any subsequent census.

The statement made in a book, which we have
already referred to, in regard to Granger and Peters
being the names of Englishmen who settled in Acadia,
is corroborated by the census of 1671. Jean Pitre or
Peters, edge tool maker, is among the heads of families
named. He was then 35 years old and was married to
Marie Bayols. He had then three children all young.
Laurent Grang£ or Granger was 34 years old and was
married to Marie Landry. They had two young
children. Peters and Granger were probably married
in 1667, about the time when it become evident that
Acadia was to be restored to France. They were
doubtless in the employment of Sir Thomas Temple,
who was, with LaTour and Crowne, a grantee of a
large portion of Acadia, and who was engaged in
developing its resources for ten years or more, up to
the time of the treaty of Breda. Most readers of
this article will probably agree with me in thinking
that the ancestors of the Granger and Pitre families in
Acadia were English, and that the Martins and Melan-
sons are probably of Scotch origin. In another paper
I shall proceed to deal with these names of Acadians
which are certainly French. JAMES HANNAY.

When the different troops were in St. John, sham
fights, in which they and the militia took part, furnished
great entertainment for the people. One of these
memorable occasions was on Nov. 12, 1839, when the
scene of conflict was in the vicinity of Fort Howe and
Portland Bridge. The contestants were the 59th regi-
ment of foot, under command of Major Brookes, and
the militia of the city and county under Lieut. -Colonel
Thomas W. Peters.

AT PORTLAND POINT.

Third Paper.

The circumstances under which James Simonds
and Wm. Hazen formed a company, early in the year
1764, for carrying on at St. John what was rightly
deemed quite an extensive business for those times,
have been already described in this series of papers.
In the course of the first two years the character of the
original company was essentially altered by the death
of Richard Simonds, the retirement of Samuel Blodget
and Robert Peaslie, and the admission of Leonard
Jarvis as a new partner. Questions also arose with
regard to the rights of the several partners in the lands
that had been granted in 1765 to James Simonds, James
White and Richard Simonds. In order to settle these
questions a new business contract was drawn up at
Newburyport, April 16, 1767,* and signed by William
Hazen, Leonard Jarvis and James Simonds. Under
this contract, Hazen and Jarvis were to have one half
of the business, James Simonds one third, and James
White one sixth, and all the lands at St. John (no
matter to whom originally granted) together with all
lands that might be granted during the continuance of
the partnership, were to be put into the common stock
and divided in the following proportions, viz., one half
to Hazen and Jarvis, one third to Simonds and one
sixth to White.

The new contract was signed by James Simonds,
as he tells us, with extreme reluctance and almost
under compulsion, but Hazen and Jarvis declined to
furnish any further supplies for the trade unless their

*See New Brunswick Hist. Soc. Collections, Vol. I., p. i9I.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 133

right to one half the lands was conceded. James
White was at St. John when the second contract was
agreed to by the other partners, and he declined to sign
it on the following grounds, viz. : —

"That having- one fourth part of the duties, trouble and
services to undergo and perform in transacting- the business of
the Copartnership, yet he was by the said Contract entitled to
one sixth part only of the lands to be divided under the Contract.
But that, althoug-h he disliked as aforesaid his having- no greater
share than one sixth part in the Concern, he nevertheless joined
with James Simonds in carrying- on the business in full confidence
that some equitable allowance would be made to him for his
services over and above his proportion of the said profits and
lands."

The question of the division of the lands was after-
wards the source of much controversy, ending in legal
proceedings which, in one form or another, were pro-
longed for a period of twenty years. The history of
the proceedings will be found in part in the records ot
the Court of Chancery preserved at Fredericton. The
first "Bill of Complaint" of Hazen & Jarvis against
James Simonds was filed by Ward Chipman, their
attorney, July 19, 1791. It is a formidable parchment
containing some 12,000 words. The "Cross Bill'' of
Simonds against Hazen & Jarvis was filed by Elias
Hardy, attorney to Simonds, Nov. 17, 1794. It is
written on large sheets of paper, attached to each other
so as to form a continuous roll 20 feet 6 inches long
and 20 inches in width, containing about 17,000 words.
To this Ward Chipman responded with an answer on
behalf of his clients of 19,600 words.

The law student will find much information in these
documents concerning the mode of procedure then in
vogue, and will form a high estimate of the abilities
and industry of Chipman and Hardy, men who, in their
day and generation, were giants in their profession.

In carrying on their business at St. John, Messrs.
Simonds and White found their task no light one. So
many and so diverse were the interests involved that it

134 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

was an exceedingly difficult matter to attend to them
all. At one time the fishery claimed special attention,
at another the Indian trade ; at one time the dyking
and improving of the marsh, at another the erection of
a mill or the building of a schooner ; at one time the
manufacture of lime, at another the building of a wharf
or the erection of a store house ; at one time supplying
the garrison at Fort Frederick, at another bartering
with the white inhabitants of the country ; at one time
building houses for themselves or their tenants, at
another laying out roads and clearing lands. In ad-
dition to their private business, each of the partners
had his public duties to perform — Mr. Simonds as a
member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, a
magistrate and judge of probate, and Mr. White as
sheriff, superintendent of Indian affairs and collector of
customs.

James White was the junior of his colleague by
several years. He was born in Haverhill, Massa-
chusetts, about the year 1738, and was a lineal de-
scendant of the Worshipful William White, one of the
well known founders of Haverhill. His grandfather,
John White, a grandson of the " Worshipful William,"
was also grandfather of William Hazen on the mother's
side. In early manhood Mr. White held a commis-
sion as ensign in a regiment of foot, and on his retire-
ment from active military service entered the employ of
Tailer & Blodget, merchants of Boston, for whom he
acted as agent in furnishing supplies to the garrisons
at Fort George and Crown Point from September 1761
to July 1763. After this he was in Mr. Blodget's
employ at Haverhill, New Salem and Bradford, until
he came to St. John in April, 1764. The statement
made by Moses Perley in his well known lecture on the
early history of New Brunswick, and repeated by the
late Joseph W. Lawrence in " Foot Prints," that James

AT PORTLAND POINT. 135.

White came to St. John in 1762, is therefore a mistake.
Occasional glimpses are afforded, in the letters
written by James Simonds to his partners in New Eng-
land of many privations endured in the early days of
the settlement at St. John. For example, on Sept. 23^
1764, Mr. Simonds wrote to Blodget and Hazen.

"I hope if I sacrifice my interest, ease, pleasure of Good
Company, and run the risque even of life itself for the benefit of
the Company, those of them who live where their circumstances
are every way the reverse will in return be so good as to take a
little pains to dispose of all effects remitted to the best advan-
tage. "

Again on May 27, 1765, Mr. Simonds wrote to
Hazen and Jarvis.

" I thank you for the willingness you express to relieve me
and that you think there is any difficulty to go through in these
parts . . . and I am obliged to you for sending some furni-
ture for truly none was ever more barely furnished than we were
before. Gentility is out of the question."

Communication with New England in those days
was slow and uncertain, and sometimes the non-arrival
of a vessel, when provisions and supplies were at a low
ebb, caused a good deal of grumbling on the part of ''.
the hands employed. This was particularly the case if
their supply of rum had chanced to run out. On one
occasion we find Mr. Simonds writing, "The men are
in low spirits having nothing to eat but pork and bread
and nothing but water to drink. Knowing this much
I trust you will lose no time in sending to our relief."

For several years after the white inhabitants had
effected a permanent settlement on the river, they were
liable at any time to be reduced to distress in the event
of a failure of the crops. An instance occurred in the
year 1770, which is thus described by Mr. Simonds :

"Most difficult to remedy and most distressing was the
want of provisions and hay. Such a scene of misery of man and
beast we never saw before. There was not anything of bread
kind equal to a bushel of meal for every person when the
schooner sailed the 6th of February (three months ago) and less
of meat and vegetables in proportion — the Indians and hogs had
part of that little'"

136 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

He goes on to say that the flour that had lately
arrived in the schooner was wet and much damaged ;
there was no Indian corn to be had ; for three months
they had lived without coffee or molasses, nor had they
any tea except of the spruce kind.

Gradually, however, the circumstances of the
settlers at Portland Point improved, and after the mar-
riage of the two partners to two of the daughters of
Capt. Francis Peabody * they were enabled to surround
themselves, little by little, with home comforts, and life
became less arduous. Samuel Peabody, their brother-
in-law, settled about the year 1770 at Manawagonish,
in what was then known as the Township of Conway,
now the parish of Lancaster, and Jonathan Leavitt,
another brother-in-law, built himself a house in the
same locality ; both were therefore neighbors to the
settlers at Portland Point. Samuel Peabody was a
man of spirit and enterprise. In common with others
of the early settlers he devoted some attention to clear-
ing and improving his lands, but he was also a land
• surveyor and one of the first mill owners and lumberers
on the St. John river, the centre of his operations being
at the Oromocto.

Jonathan Leavitt had a good framed house and
barn and about sixty acres of cleared land (marsh and
upland) at Manawagonish. Later he built a house at
Carleton, which was a more convenient residence
for the seafaring business in which he was generally
employed. Mr. Leavitt came to St. John from New
Hampshire, in 1764, to engage in the service of the
company, being then a youth of about 18 years of age.
He afterwards married Hephzibah the youngest daugh-
ter of Capt. Francis Peabody, receiving with his bride,
no doubt, the marriage portion provided by her father's

*James Simonds and Hannah Peabody were married in Haverhill, Mass.,
November 9, 1767. James White and Elizabeth Peabody were also married in
New England a little later.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 137

will. [See foot note below]* He usually had com-
mand of the Polly, Merrimack or some one of the
company's vessels. Later he built vessels for himself.
He and his brother, Daniel Leavitt, were the men
who piloted into the harbor of St. John the fleets
that arrived from New York during the year 1784
with some thousands of Loyalists. In his testimony
given in a law suit in 1792, Jonathan Leavitt says
that in early times the places of anchorage in the
harbor were at the flats on the west side between
Fort Frederick and Sand Point, and at Portland Point.
The first ot these was generally used by strangers, and
the latter by the vessels of the company. It was not
until the year 1783 that vessels anchored in front of the
upper cove, (now the Market Slip) that place being till

*Captain Francis Peabody died in the early part of the year 1773. His
will is a quaint old document beginning as follows : — " In the name or God,
Amen. — I, Francis Peabody of Maugerville in the county of Sunbury and
Province of Nova Scotia, being thro' the abundant g-oodness of God, though
weak in body yet of a sound and perfect understanding and memory, do con-
stitute this my last will and testament and desire it may be received by all as
such.

" First, I most humbly bequeath my soul to God my maker, beseeching His
most gracious acceptance of it through the all-sufficient merits of my Redeemer,
Jesus Christ. I give my body to the earth from whence it was taken in full as-
surance of its resurrection from thence at the last day.

" As to my worldly estate I will and positively order that all my just debts
be paid first."

The will goes on to provide for the distribution of his property ; to the
widow one-third of his real and personal estate in Nova Scotia and one-third of
his lands in Middleton and Rowley in New England and the use of $200 during
her lifetime ; to his sons Samuel, Stephen, Francis and Oliver is divided in
nearly equal proportions the remainder of the estate, and the will closes in the
words following : —

" Item, I give to my daughter Elizabeth White thirty dollars to be paid by
my two eldest sons in household goods.

" Item, to my daughter Hannah Simonds five dollars, to be paid by my
two eldest sons.

" Item, to my daughter Hephzibah I give three hundred dollars to
be paid by my two eldest sons in household goods on the day of her marriage.
As to my own household goods and furniture I leave to the discretion of my
loving wife to dispose of, excepting my Sword, which I give to my son Samuel.
I appoint my dear wife and mv son Samuel Executors of this my last Will and
Testament.

As witness my hand,

FRANCIS PEABODY, Sr.

Delivered this z6th day of October, the year of our Lord 1771.
In presence ot us,

ISRAEL KINNEY,
ALEXANDER TAPLEY,
PHINEHAS NEVERS.
BENJAMIN ATHERTON, Registrar.

This Will was proved, approved, and registered this 25th day of June, 1773.

JAMES SIMONDS,

Judge of Probate.

138 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

then deemed unsafe. Samuel Peabody and Jonathan
Leavitt were in business together in 1773. They built
a schooner called the Menaguash. This vessel, how-
ever, was not the first one built at St. John; that honor
belongs to a schooner called the Betsy. The construc-
tion of this little vessel was undertaken in the year 1769
by Simonds and White. The materials were cut, as
one might say, on the spot, the rigging was sent from
Newburyport by Hazen and Jarvis, and about half the
iron used came out of their old sloop Wilmot. A ship-
wright named Michael Hodge was engaged to build the
vessel for 23^ shillings per ton, and Adonijah Colby
was his assistant. She was launched during the
autumn, and sailed for Newburyport with her first
cargo on the 3rd February following, Jonathan Leavitt
going in her as master. She was sold the next year
for £200, and Mr. Simonds expressed his satisfaction
at the price secured as being better than was expected.
The launching of the little schooner Betsy was an event
of historic importance. Little did her designers and
builders imagine that they were the pioneers of an in-
dustry that in future years would place St. John fourth
amongst the cities of the empire as a ship owning port
and lead her to claim the proud title of " the Liverpool
of America. "*

*In the year 1853 on the occasion of the turning of the first sod of what is
now the Intercolonial railway there was an immense trades procession in which
there marched 1090 shipwrights, representing seventeen shipyards. This shows-
what an important industry shipbuilding was in those days.

When Jonathan and Daniel Leavitt were engaged
in sailing the company's vessels, it is said that they be-
came discouraged after a time with the outlook at St.
John, and proposed moving so some other place where
there was a larger population and more business. Mr.
White strongly dissuaded them, concluding his exhorta-
tion with the remark, "Don't be discouraged, boys,
keep up a good heart ! Why ships will come here from
England yet ! "

AT PORTLAND PONT, 139

In the first of these historic papers it was stated
that one of the chief inducements that led James
Simonds to fix upon the harbor of St. John as a place
of settlement was the abundance of limestone there.
Soon after the formation of the company some experi-
ments were made which proved the excellent quality of
the lime, and thenceforth it became an article of export.
The company had four lime kilns, the situation of
which will be best understood by a reference to modern
landmarks. One was at the base of Fort Howe hill
opposite the head of Long Wharf, another on the old
road from Fort Howe to the Indian House, another
near St. Luke's church and a fourth near the Suspen-
sion Bridge. In the course of their ten years business
Simonds and White sent to Newburyport more than
3, 500 hogsheads of lime, for which they received twenty
shillings (or four dollars) per cask ; they also sent
lime to Halifax, Cornwallis and other places in Nova
Scotia, and in May, 1773, they even shipped a cargo of
208 hogsheads of lime (with 5,000 bricks and some
pine boards) to Newfoundland in the sloop Merrimack.
The work of quarrying and burning limestone was
carried on by the laborers of the company, many of
whom were employed in the winter season in getting^
out the stone and hauling it with oxen to the kilns,
others in cutting wood for burning. The wood grew
almost on the spot where it was required, and its cut-
ting served to clear the land as well as provide fuel for
the lime kilns.

Such was the beginning of an industry that after-
wards grew to large proportions, and which, in spite of
McKinley tariffs and Dingley bills, may some day have
a great future in store for it. Messrs. Simonds and
White, however, labored under great difficulties in the
early days of this industry. The facilities for manu-
facturing were by no means good, the men employed

i4o THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

lacked experience and casks were difficult to procure.
However, the vast quantity of limestone, the con-
venience of the wood for burning and of the harbor for
shipment, inclined Mr. Simonds to prosecute the in-
*t dustry, and as early as August 18, 1764, we find him
writing to Mr. Hazen in the following terms: " If the
lime answers well we shall want 150 hogsheads ; it will
be well to get the cheapest sort such as are powder
posted, often sold at half price, with hoops and boards
for heads. . . . Next winter we can employ the
oxen at sleding wood and stone, Mr. Middleton at
making casks."

Mr. Simonds visited Halifax the same year,
whence he wrote Mr. Blodget, " I have been with the
King's mason ; have shewn him a specimen of our
lime ; he likes it well and gives me encouragement that
he will take all of me that he wants either for public or
private use, (he is the only dealer in town) at a rate
that will net at St. Johns three dollars or more
pr. H'hd."

The following spring Mr. Simonds writes again :
*' If the lime answers well, can burn any quantity what-
ever. The want of hogsheads is the greatest difficulty,
the want of a house to cover it the next, . . dis-
patch in shipping can never be made without a lime
house to have it ready when any vessel arrives."

Soon after, a warehouse was built for storing and
a wharf for shipping the lime, but the difficulty of pro-
curing casks remained. There was a cooper shop at
Portland Point, where the men employed by the com-
pany worked : " Middleton," says Mr. Simonds,
" makes one hogshead per day, Abbot one in two days,
Godsoe one in a day, so there cannot be many casks
ready for lime." He complains of having hoop poles
to cut and pick up all over the woods as being a great
hindrance to other work. On one occasion he says,

AT PORTLAND POINT. 141

with much disgust, "Old Abbot did not do one day's
work for sixty days after his wife arrived, no depend-
ence can be placed on him."

One more extract only can be given respecting the
lime industry which is also of interest as showing that
mild winters were not in olden times unknown.

"Have had but little snow this winter, but few days that
the ground has been covered ; have got to the water side a large
quantity of wood and wharf logs, about 300 hogsheads of Lime-
stone to the kiln, and should have had much more of both articles
if there had been snow. Our men have been so froze and
wounded that wre have not had more than three men's constant
labour to do this and sled sixty loads of hay, saw boards for
casks, look after the cattle and draw firewood. Shall continue
drawing or dragging wood and stone as long as the ground is
froze and then cut timber for a schooner and boat stone for a
Lime kiln which with the wharf will take 400 tuns."

It wTill be remembered that among their various
branches of business the members of our old trading
company at St. John had undertaken "To enter upon
and pursue with all speed and faithfulness the cod fish-;-
ery, seine fishery," etc.; it is therefore time to say
something about the fishery.

During the earlier years of the partnership small
schooners were employed in the Bay of Fundy at var-
ious points fishing for cod and pollock. The company
had quite an important station for drying and salting
fish at Indian Island * in Passamaquoddy Bay. Here
for the first few years they carried on an extensive
business, but later they paid more attention to their
weirs at St. John. Simonds & White, during the seven
years prior to the Revolutionary war, sent to Boston
and Newburyport 4,000 barrels of alewives or gasper-'"
eaux, valued at 14 shillings per barrel, the whole
amounting in value to about $12,000. They also
shipped considerable quantities of bass, shad, salmon
and sturgeon, and in addition sold to their employees
and to the inhabitants up the river quantities of the

•This island was variously known as Indian Island, Perkins Island,
L'AttereU Island and was by the natives called Jeganagoose.

i42 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

same fish in the way of ordinary trade. Many persons,
who were at other times employed in the company's
service, in the spring of the year, went fishing on their
own account, and this was a source of great inconven-
ience to the company because many of their best hands
for the time deserted them leaving them to shift as they
might with the remainder. We cannot do better than
quote from one of James Simonds letters on this head ;

lie says :

" In the spring we must go into the Wiers every tide ; this
we must do if it was for nothing- else but to keep our men from
.selling- bait to the fishermen for rum, which is not only attended
with the loss of the fish so sold, but of the men's time who would
drink so to excess as not to be able to do anything-. We hope
to catch nearly a thousand barrels ; shall not have barrels
enough but think we can save that quantity till they can be made
or procured. The two hundred hog-sheads asked for in our
memorandum is for salting- in the first pickel, shall have two hun-
dred more made for the same end. As the fish [Gaspereaux]
don't run long-er than twelve days none can be repacked until all
is caug-ht. We think it best for the Paquet to be here at furtherst
by the first of May with salt and lay here fourteen or fifteen days,
the hands to be shipped to assist in catching, salting, etc. This
will be a saving of the expense and wastage of landing- the salt,
and a saving of store room that will be much wanted. Large
allowance oug-ht to be made for contrary winds as some vessels
at that season have been upwards of twenty days on their pass-
age ; one week too late would defeat the design."

In addition to the gaspereaux — salmon and bass
•were taken at various places in great abundance and it
would appear from Mr. Simonds letter that the com-
pany had at one time a large weir at the Nashwaak
where there was a famous salmon and bass fishery.

The little schooner Polly was usually handled by
Jonathan Leavitt during the fishing season and em-
ployed in deep water fishing. Annapolis Basin and
Passamaquoddy Bay and Grand Manan were all in-
cluded in Captain Leavitt's field of operations. Under
date June 22, 1768, Mr. Simonds writes : —

" Leavitt in the Polly has just arrived from Annapolis ; he
says he has lost a fare of fish for want of a sufficient length of
cable to ride at anchor, and that he must have one by the middle
of August or he shall lose one or two more fares at Grand
JManan."

AT PORTLAND POINT. I43

In addition to other branches of business started
at St. John by Simonds & White, they built the first /
saw mill there, which was in operation as early at least
as the year 1767. The site of the mill is a matter of
some uncertainty. It may have been at the outlet of
Lily Lake, where a little later a grist mill was built,
but it is quite as probable it was a tide mill and in that
case the site would undoubtedly have been at the outlet
of the old Mill Pond not far from where the Union
Railway depot stands today. Probably a tide mill
would have been more inconvenienced by drifting1 ice
than a mill situated at the outlet of Lily Lake, hence
some argument may be deduced from the following
statement in one of Mr. Simonds' letters : "The mill
could not go before the middle of April and the ice has
been continually breaking the dam ever since."

The hands first employed in running the mill were
"slow and unfaithful " and gave so little satisfaction
that Simonds and White were compelled to write to
Newburyport for assistance and in their letter state :

The mill we cannot operate without more and better hands ;
we want three men, one that understands tending- a mill and two
teamsters, which we beg you will send in the next vessel. Four
oxen more than we have may be employed to good advantage."

The logs first sawn were cut on the surrounding u
hillsides and hauled to the mill by oxen. A good deal
of the lumber manufactured was used by the Company
in the erection of their buildings, but some of it was
exported. Up to the year 1774 most of the clearings
around the harbor were made incidentally by the cut-
ting of logs for the mill, fuel for the settlers and the
garrison, and wood for the lime burners. No lands
other than the marsh had at this time been cleared or
enclosed for cultivation, with the exception of a small
patch or two at Portland Point for the purpose of
raising potatoes.

About the year 1770 the company built a grist mill

i44 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

at Lily Lake and made a road to it. This road ran
around the rear of Fort Howe hill and a continuation
of it led out to the marsh. There was a branch lead-
ing from it to the head of the millpond where in early
w/days there was a brick yard — for brick making was
another industry started by our enterprising business
pioneers. They had a second brick yard near the old
mill pond and a third at " Bluff Head " near the falls.

The wages of the ordinary laborers employed by
J Simonds and White were generally 2s. 6d. (or half a
dollar) per day and they boarded themselves. Few of
them, however, received any money but took up their
wages in goods delivered at the company's store. By
all odds the item most frequently charged against them
was the popular beverage of the day, New England
rum. The writer of this article had the curiosity to
examine the charges for rum contained in one of the
old day books for a period of one month — the month
being selected at random, and it appeared that twelve
men then in the company's employ consumed about
half a gallon of rum per day. Apparently there was a
marked difference in individual habits, for while four of
the men averaged half a pint each per day, the other
eight consumed on an average only half a pint each in
three days. Tea, the great modern beverage, was rather
an expensive article and appears to have been used very
sparingly, rum on the contrary retailed at 8 pence a
pint and was used almost universally. It is evident
that human nature was the same then as now. The
men frequently drank to excess and some of them
probably would have been utterly unreliable but for the
fact that the company were masters of the situation
and could cut off the supply. They generally doled
out the liquor by half pints and gills to their labourers.

The popular idea that the climate of this province
was much more severe in ancient than in modern days

AT PORTLAND POINT. 145

is not borne out by the correspondence of Simonds and
White. From it we learn that 1 30 years ago the navi-
gation of the river, as now, opened early in April and
that the river could be relied on as a winter route to
St. Anns " only between the first of January and the
last of February and then many times difficult." The
winters were frequently quite as mild as they are now.
For example on March 6, 1769, Mr. Simonds wrote:
"We had but little snow this winter, but few days that
the ground has been covered"; and to show that this
was not a very rare instance of a mild season we quote
from another letter dated February, 18, 1771, ia which
he says: "There has not been one day's sledding this
winter and as the season is so far advanced there can-
not now be much more than enough to get the hay
from the marsh at best."

These quotations do not by any means bear out
the popular notion of an "old fashioned winter." The
fact is that the climate of New Brunswick has not
materially changed since the period of its first settle-
ment, and this conclusion is substantiated by the
weather observations which have been made by the
Dominion government during the past thirty years, or
since the time of the confederation of the province.

W. O. RAYMOND.

Partridge Island battery, which has been dis-
mantled for some years, is to be equipped with
modern guns, it is said. It was originally put there
about 1812, and was remodelled in 1858. The guns
put there in the latter year consisted of five 68 pounders
and five 8 inch guns. These took the place of the 25
pounders which had been there before. The lighthouse
stands within the confines of the battery.

KEMBLE MANOR.

AN EARLY LAND GRANT ON THE ST. JOHN RIVER.

The capture of Quebec by a British army under
General James Wolfe, in 1759, and the extinction of
French power in Canada that ultimately followed, re-
lieved the English colonies from the dread of French
and Indian invasion that had for years menaced their
feeble frontier settlements, and established English
supremacy on the northern portion of this continent.
With peace came a period of expansion to the older
colonies, as well as to those more recently acquired,
and the exploration of the vast domain opened new
and inviting lands for the adventurous colonists to ex-
ploit in search of wealth and fame. Acadia, with its
trackless forests and inexhaustable fisheries, presented
an inviting field for the bold pioneers of English civil-
ization, and the St. John soon bore on its broad bosom
exploring and trading parties from the older colonies
in quest of locations for settlement or speculation.
At no period in the history of these colonies was the
Anglo-Saxon greed for land more fully exemplified
than during the years that intervened between the
closing of the wars with France and the beginning of
the American Revolution.

In 1765, three years after the final overthrow of
French power, large land grants were given in New
Brunswick, then a part of Nova Scotia or Acadia, and
known as Sunbury county. Thousands of acres, in all
directions, appear to have been granted not only to the
deserving army officers who had conquered Canada,
but to all projectors who offered to make settlement.*

•Murdoch's History of Nova Scotia. Vol. I, pp. 451.

KEMBLE MANOR. 147

The grant now known as the " Kemble Manor" was ^
one of these, and on the 3oth of October, 1765, it was,
by letters patent, granted to General Thomas Gage
and nineteen others, all residents of New York.
General Gage, the leading spirit in the enterprise, was
commander-in-chief of the British forces in North
America, and a distinguished soldier. The other
grantees were Daniel Disney, John Johnston, Stephen
Kemble, James Glassford, Wm. Jones, Samuel Kemble,
Henry Gage, Wm. Bayard, Wm. Hervey, Arch'd
McCall, Giles Creed, Wm. Cockcroft, John Vanhorne,
Samuel Bayard, John Watts, Robert Bayard, Stephen
Johnston, Andrew Simpson, and Philip French.

All of the grantees were prominent men in their
day, and many of them were connected by blood or
marriage. General Gage had been an active officer
during the Seven Years War in America, and his name
is also interwoven with the early history and incidents
of the American ^x7

Revolution, as he
was the last royal
governor of Mass-

achuSSettS. His Signature of Gen. Gage.

wife was a daughter of Peter Kemble, president of the
council of New Jersey ; Stephen Kemble and Samuel
Kemble were her brothers. Henry Gage was the son
of General Gage, and was then a child of five years,
whose name had been placed among the grantees by
his father to insure him an interest in the enterprise.
He became a lieutenant in the Seventh regiment during
the Revolutionary war, and on the death of his uncle,
Viscount Gage, inherited the family titles and estates in
Sussex, England.

Stephen Kemble will be mentioned later. Samuel
Kemble was collector of the port of New York, and
the last to hold that office under British rule. In early

148 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

life he was an officer in the Royal Navy. At the close
of the Revolution he went to London and established
himself as a merchant, where he died.

Archibald McCall was a wealthy merchant of
Philadelphia, and was married to Edith Kemble, a
sister of Stephen and Samuel Kemble.

William, Samuel and Robert Bayard, were relatives
of the Kembles. William Bayard was the head of the
mercantile firm of William Bayard & Co., and was a
Loyalist at the Revolution, and in consequence lost his
estate. Samuel Bayard was major of the Kings
Orange Rangers during the Revolution, and died in
Nova Scotia, and from him the eminent president of
the New Brunswick Medical Society, Dr. William
Bayard, is descended.

John Watts was a member of the Council of the
province of New York, and a prominent man in the
colony, wealthy and honorable. He was also a Loyal-
ist during the Revolution, and lost in consequence his
estates, and died in England.

Of the other grantees nothing further can be
learned. But all were evidently wealthy and highly
respectable men.

In the grant given at Halifax by command of His
Excellency Montague Wilmot, Esquire, Captain-gene-
ral and governor-in-chief in and over his majesty's
province of Nova Scotia or Accadie, and signed by
Richard Bulkley, the boundaries of the Manor are
given as follows : —

" Beginning- at the southernmost boundary of lands granted
to Beamsly Glazier and others, and running- south eighty-seven
degrees west six miles and an half on said line, thence south
forty degrees and ten miles on ungranted lands till it meets with
the part of St. John river called the Longreach, thence to be
bounded by said Longreach and the other parts of the river to
first mentioned boundary, containing in the whole by estimation
twenty thousand acres, more or less," etc.

All manner of mines unopened were also given,

KEMBLE MANOR. 149

"excepting mines of gold and silver, precious stones,
lapis lazuli, lead, copper and coals," and the grantees,
on their part, agreed to pay His Majesty " a free year-
ly quit rent of one shilling sterling money on Michael-
mas Day for every fifty acres so granted." The grant
was also upon the express condition that each of the
grantees was to plant, cultivate, improve or enclose
one-third part of the land granted within ten years, one- "
third within twenty, and the remaining third within
thirty years from the date of the grant ; and each
grantee was also to plant within ten years from the
date of the grant two acres with hemp, and to continue *~
" a like quantity of acres planted during the successive
years," on pain of forfeiture.

How or by whom the lands were chosen we have
now no record, but that some of those whose names
appear as grantees visited the St. John river there can
be little doubt, as the selection was made with judg-
ment and a knowledge of the capabilities of the section
of country chosen. But the grantees seem to have
soon grown tired of the large estate they had so easily
acquired, and on the 27th of May, 1767, fifteen of them,
including General Thomas Gage, assigned their inter-
ests in the lands granted them to Stephen Kemble, one
of the original grantees, "for divers good causes and
considerations them thereunto moving, and more
especially for and in consideration of Ten Pounds, cur-
rent money of the Province of New York, to them or
some or one of them in hand paid by the said Stephen
Kemble." In this document General Gage is styled
"The Hon'ible Thomas Gage, Esquire," and Stephen
Kemble, "Captain Stephen Kemble, Esquire."*

Colonel Stephen Kemble, who had become the
owner of the grant, was born at New Brunswick, New

•This document with the original grant is now in the possession of the
heirs of the late Chas. H. Peters, of St. John.

i5o THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Jersey, in 1740. He entered the British army as ensign
in the Forty-fourth regiment in 1757, during the
French war, and first served in the campaign under
Lord Howe, which ended in the repulse at Ticonderoga
and the death of that nobleman. In 1760 he was trans-
ferred to the Fifteenth regiment, and in 1765 became
captain in the Sixtieth, or Royal American regiment
of foot. In 1772, he received the staff appointment of
"Deputy Adjutant-General of the forces in North
America," and in 1775 became major of the Sixtieth
foot, first battalion, and lieutenant-colonel of the same
regiment in 1778. In the autumn of 1779, Lord Raw-
don resigned the adjutant-generalcy of the British army
in America, and Captain Kemble who had become
colonel, desired to ^

be promoted to the
vacant place. But ^^

the commander-in- -.

s^r— -^ j~ — x

chief, Sir Henry »—>

Clinton, declined tO Signature of Col. Kemble.

appoint him, whereupon he resigned the deputyship,
and rejoined his regiment then serving in Jamaica.
Colonel Kemble's successor as deputy-adjutant-general
was Major John Andre, whose sad fate is familiar to
every reader of American history. In April, 1780,
Colonel Kemble sailed from Jamacia in command of a
force to attempt the conquest of Nicaragua, in Central
America, on the Spanish Main. The expedition
proved disastrous, owing to the unhealthiness of the
country, but it added the colony of British Honduras to
the empire. Colonel Kemble remained in the British
army until 1805, when he sold out and returned, and
"resided the rest of his life at New Brunswick, New
Jersey, in the home in which he was born," writes the
chronicler from whom these facts are taken, "and in

KEMBLE MANOR. 151

which he died, on the 2Oth of December, 1822, in his
eighty-second year."*

The Kemble Manor, which had passed into the
possession of Colonel Kemble for the nominal sum of
ten pounds current money of the province of New York,
is beautifully situated on the west side of the river St.
John, in King's and Queens counties. It extends from .
a short distance below Oak Point, in the parish of
Greenwich, to Little River, in the parish of Hampstead,
a distance of ten miles, and includes the intervale island
known as Spoon Island, and a part of Long Island.
The lands of the Manor also extend some miles west-
ward of the river, within a short distance of the
Jerusalem settlement, in the parish of Petersville, and
include the range of forest clad hills that bound the
western lands of the St. John. Some of the most
fertile farms in the valley of the St. John are now on
the river front of the Manor.

The New England settlement at Maugerville was
founded in 1762, and progressed but slowly, and the
rude habitation of the early pioneers were scattered far
apart along the silent banks of our great river, but the
lands of the Manor remained in the primeval wildness
in which they had been found, until the arrival of the
Loyalists.

The first attempt to form a settlement or dispose
of the lands of the Manor was made in 1774, when
Colonel Kemble gave, on the 7th of May of that year, a
letter of attorney to Joseph Frederick Wallet Des-
Barres, of Falmouth, Kings county, Nova Scotia, ap-
pointing him his attorney (under certain limitations as
to sale, etc.,) with power to substitute and appoint one
or more attornies. DesBarres, on July 21, 1774, ap-
pointed James Simonds attorney, and the powers of the

*The Kemble Papers. New York Historical Society's Collections 1883-4.
2 Vols.

i52 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

latter are defined in a document which was placed on
record, amongst other documents, in the registry office
of the old county of Sunbury. (The book is extant).
It is entitled : —

"Instructions for carrying into execution the letter of
Attorney of Stephen Kemble, Esq., to Joseph Frederick Wallet
DesBarres, Esq., to be observed by James Simonds, Esq., his
substitute for this purpose specially appointed."

According to these instructions the whole of the
20,000 acres of lands possessed by Colonel Kemble
upon the River St. John, was to be divided on the plan
into lots of 200 acres, observing to allow communica-
tion with the river to as many of the settlers as
possible. Any number of these lots were to be sold,
not exceeding one half of the whole, upon the payment
of five pounds sterling when a proper deed in fee simple
was to be given the purchaser. Or if preferred a long
lease of each lot was given, renewable forever, upon
payment of one penny fine, at a rent of ten shillings
sterling per annum, the purchaser or lessee to pay
the quit rent and perform all the other conditions of
the original grant. This attempt to sell or lease a
portion of the lands was made to save the grant from
escheat, as none of the conditions on which the grant
had been given had been complied with. The docu-
ment was not registered until the 5th of September,
1782, in the Sunbury county register book, and nothing
appears to have been done in the meantime to carry
out the instructions of Colonel Kemble. But when it
became apparent that the conflict between England and
her colonies was drawing to a close, and that numbers
of Loyalists from the revolted provinces would be com-
pelled to seek refuge in Nova Scotia, Colonel Kemble's
possessions on the St. John river assumed a value they
would not otherwise have possessed, and James
Simonds entered upon his duties as agent.

KEMBLE MANOR. I53

Among- the sales effected and recorded in the old
Sunbury County register are the following:

Sept. i, 1782, Lot No 7, nearly opposite Belle Isle Point in
the Long Reach, containing- 200 acres, to Tamberlane Campbell.*

Sept. 1 8, 1783, to John Jones, Yeoman, on the N. W. side
of the river, about the head of Long Reach, 400 acres ; 80 rods
front, and in depth two and a half miles.

The termination of the conflict between the
mother country and her rebellous colonies, in 1783, in-
augurated a new era in the history of the remaining
North American provinces, and Nova Scotia became a
refuge for the Loyalists. But it was found that a great
portion of the land bordering the St. John had been
granted to persons who had not fulfilled the terms on
which the grants had been given, and these consequent-
ly had to be escheated to the crown before they could
again be granted to the Loyalists. The Kemble Manor
was not included in these escheated estates, as it had
been surveyed some years previously, and the portion
bordering on the river, laid off in 200 acre lots.
James Simonds, who had assumed control and manage-
ment of the Manor, disposed of a number of lots to
Loyalist refugees and disbanded soldiers, who were
arriving at St. John in large numbers, and seeking
locations on which to settle and build homes for their
families. The St. John river and its numerous tribu-
taries presented to those war-worn veterans and
refugees an inviting prospect, and the log houses and
clearings of the loyal settlers rapidly appeared along
the river's banks.

The lots on the Manor were in request, and a
number were soon occupied. The first settlers who
braved the hardships and privations of those early years
were men of rare courage and great bodily vigor, and
many of their descendants still occupy the farms they
reclaimed from the wilderness. In 1786 an attempt

*Tamberlane Campbell and John Jones were pre-Loyalist settlers on the St.
John, and during1 the rebellion remained loyal to the crown.

154 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

was made to escheat the lands of the Manor to the
' crown, but it failed, and this caused Colonel Kemble to
visit New Brunswick in 1788.

Captain George Sproule, first surveyor general of
New Brunswick, was among the early purchasers of
lots, and established a farm on which he resided a por-
tion of the time. Some discontent existed among the
settlers in that section, and Captain Sproule made the
first accurate survey of the grant, and in consequence
fifteen lots claimed by Colonel Kemble were thrown out
and granted to others, and the bounds of the Manor
were fixed.

In 1788 Colonel Kemble visited New Brunswick^
but his stay in the province was short. He arrived at
St. John on the nth of September, and embarked for
Digby on the i6th of October. During that brief
period he visited Fredericton and had an interview with
Captain Sproule, in reference to the lots thrown out of
the patent of the Kemble Manor, but apparently accom-
plished nothing, as the survey was allowed to stand
unchanged. He also spent some days at the Manor on
his way down the river, in adjusting matters with the
settlers. This was the only visit Colonel Kemble made
to this province, and its geographical position or re-
sources did not then impress him favorably. Before
he left he arranged to have the management of the
Manor transferred from James Simonds, with whom he
"had some differences, to Ward Chipman, and the latter
or his son, in conjunction with Captain Sproule, con-
ducted the business of the Manor until it was finally
sold off.

The prices paid for lots by the first settlers on the

Manor now seem small, but were large considering the

abundance of favorable locations to be had at that time

on the St. John Twenty-five pounds currericy appeared

••at first to be the ruling price, though some lots were

KEMBLE MANOR. 155

sold for a much higher price. In 1788, Colonel David
Fanning purchased lot 34 for £2$ currency ; Peter
Connor paid ^45.38 for lot 46. John Jones, yeoman,
paid ^40 for lot 35, James Brittain ^25 for lot 33,
and Edward Jones, for lot 55, " partly in Kings and
partly in Queens county," ^44. The value of lots,,
however, began gradually to increase. In 1797 Colonel
David Fanning sold lot 30 to Hezekiah Scribner for
" one hundred and twenty pounds current money."

The material advancement of the settlers on the
Manor, under the circumstances, could not be other-
wise than slow, and from the correspondence of Ward
Chipman with Colonel Kemble, (preserved by Rev. W.
O. Raymond,) we gather glimpses of the men who
linked their fortunes and passed their lives upon the
Manor. Industry and thrift were their characteristics.
And that they were a religious people is evident, for
unaided they Duilt a parish church at Oak Point, which
was used for public worship in 1797.

In writing to Colonel Kemble, December 2ist,
1789, Mr. Chipman gives this account of the Manor
and of some of the settlers : —

" Everything1 continues to go on well at the Manor. The
crops this season have been tolerably good and I have no com-
plaints from any quarter. I have given notice that I expect all
those who have not done it to come down and take their deeds
and execute their mortgages. Several have accordingly com-
plied and others have made their apology promising- to be here
as soon as the ice is formed. I do not apprehend there will be
any difficulty with any of them. Some are trying tp make up
the money to pay immediately if they can without a mortgage.
If we may judge from one instance they must be doing very well.
You recollect John Urquhart whom on account of his industry
and poverty you desired me to assist if necessary by furnishing
him with a cow and calf. Of this I informed him, but he has not
only declined this offer but very honestly at the expiration of the
year came down and paid off the interest due upon his bond."

In 1792 Thomas Flewelling, the settler at the lower
bounds of the Manor, erected a fulling mill, "and I
understand it is well accustomed and very useful/*
wrote Ward Chipman to Colonel Kemble. And in the

156 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

same letter he informed Colonel Kemble "that the
road is open thro' the Manor from the highlands along
the river, upon the communication between this place
[St. John] and Fredericton, and next summer there will
' be no difficulty in travelling on horseback the whole of
that distance."

In this letter Mr. Chipman refers to the backward-
ness of the settlers in the payment of principal and
interest due on their farms, but, he adds, " I should not
recommend commencing any suit upon the mortgagee to
get back the lots forfeited at present, for there is such a
scarcity of inhabitants in proportion to the lands for
sale upon easy terms, that it would be very difficult if
you was to eject any of them to sell the lands again
for the same money, with all the improvements made
upon them."

Gradually the remaining available lots of the Manor
--were disposed of, until the last was sold in 1811. But
the backland remained in one unbroken tract, and in
1820 this, consisting of about 10,000 acres, was sold to
Nehemiah Merritt, of St. John, for about ;£i,ooo New
Brunswick currency, and with that sale ended Colonel
Stephen Kemble's interest in the Manor. For fifty-five
years he retained ownership in a tract of country from
which he had drawn a large amount of money without
the expenditure of any capital, except the " ten pounds
current money of the province of New York," paid in
1767, and with only one generous act toward the set-
tlers on the Manor who had contributed to his wealth,
to his credit — that mentioned in Chipman's letter of
Dec. 2ist 1789, but which manly John Urquart declined,
But we must not judge the old veteran too harshly. In
a letter from which his autograph is taken, to Ward
Chipman, dated London Feb. 22, 1800, he writes,
"the bonds," meaning the mortgages on the farms of
the Manor, " I look upon as a sacred deposit for my

KEMBLE MANOR. 157

brother's children." These words give us a clue to his
character.

The Loyalists who linked their fortunes to the
Manor proved efficient and enterprising- settlers and
law abiding subjects. Most of them were men of good
birth and education, who left their mark on the com-
munity they assisted to found, and the story of the
Manor would not be complete without their names
which follow, and which have been collected from
various sources : —

Samuel Wiggins, Simon Flaglor, Frederick Hamm, John
Cheak, Thomas Flewelling, John Flewelling, John Crabb,
Joseph Brittain, James Moore, Simon Fraser, James Clarke,
Col. James Brittain, John Jones, George Webb Price, George
Sproule, Esq., Nathaniel Adams, Col. David Fanning, John
Urquhart, Adam Boyle, Robert Laidler, Philip Huestis, Law-
rence Foster, Charles Richards, Peter Berton, Leonard Linkner,
Martin Trecarton, Thos Flewelling, Charles Theal, John Morrel,
Robert Ward, John McMasters, Joseph Lyon, Tamberlane
Campbell, Samuel Emerson, Widow Price, Allan Price, Peter
Connor, Walter Bates, Jabez Clarke, Hezekiah Scribner, James
Carson, John Merritt, Isaac Clarke, Stephen Humbert.

I will not follow further the fortunes of Kemble
Manor. The loyal men who reclaimed from the wilder-
ness the fertile farms of the Manor have long passed
away. Some sleep on the homesteads where they
lived and labored, but many lie in the beautiful burying
ground at Oak Point. The ceaseless tide of travel
that furrows the waters of the broad St. John passes
close to their graves, and across the pleasant landscape
above the tinted foliage of the trees, the heedless
traveller sees the tapering spire of the parish church in
which they worshipped, but the story of their trials
and heroic constancy will live in our annals and hallow
the traditions of the old Manor. JONAS HOWE.

The deaths by cholera in St. John in 1834 were
about 50, half the total number of cases.

A SHIPYARD FIRE.

The shipyard fire of 1841 was the most disastrous
known in the history of Portland, up to that period;
and it was only surpassed by the great fire of August,
1877, which followed closely on the heels of the des-
truction of the business part of St. John in June of the
year last named.

In 1841 Portland was a village and was a suburb
of the city, with a population in the whole parish of
some 6,000 people. Many of the now well known
streets had then no existence. Douglas avenue and
Harrison streets, for instance, were not laid off as
highways, nor was Sheri ff street much of a thorough-
fare, but Simonds, Portland and Acadia streets, with
High street and the Strait Shore road, bounded blocks
which were the centre of a busy population. There
were houses along Main street, under the side of Fort
Howe, and on the road leading up over Fort Howe
hill. Shipbuilding was then a very prominent iudustry, \
and there were no less than seven yards in active j
operation between the Long wharf and the head of \
Strait Shore. The first of these was that of Owens & J
Duncan. Next, at Rankin's wharf, was that of George
Thomson, the builder and occupant of " Thomson's
Ark."* Along the shore, to the westward, were the
yards of Messrs. Hawes, Briggs, McLellan, Smith and
Ruddock. When these were all in operation they gave >/
employment to hundreds of men.

The Owens & Duncan yard was situated on the
ground south of Main street and east of Acadia street,

*Thomson's Ark consisted of the hull of a dismantled ship, on which
Mr. Thomson built a commodions and comfortable dwelling- for himself and
family. It was constructed about the year 1836 (?) and was destroyed by fire in
1846.

A SHIPYARD FIRE. 159

known as Lynch's yard in later years, the blacksmith
shop being at the foot of the narrow thoroughfare
known as Chapel street. When a ship was on the
stocks, its bow would be about where are now the steps
which go down from the street by the Kelly & Murphy
factory. Here, in the summer of 1841, was built a fine
copper fastened, iron-kneed ship of 900 tons, which the
firm intended to name the " Jane Duncan." It was to
be launched at the full tides which came at the first of
September, and by Thursday, August 26th, but little
remained to be done to fit the craft to leave the ways.
The lower masts and top masts were in place, with
much of the standing rigging, and the hull was fully
graved and painted. In the work of tarring a bottom,
more or less tar was always to be found spattered
around among the chips and shavings with which a
shipyard was littered, and the Owens & Duncan yard
was no exception in this respect. There had been very
dry weather for some time at the date named, and as a
result the whole surface of the yard in the vicinity of
the ship was a bed of most highly inflammable material.
Mr. Owens, whose name is perpetuated today in
the Owens Art Institution at Mount Allison University,
took an active interest in the details of shipbuilding,
and gave his personal supervision to the work. Asv
noon approached on this particular day, the 26th of
August, the rigging was being set up. It was found
that the lanyards would not pass through the dead-eyes
where the standing rigging came down to the ship's
rail, and Mr. Owens decided to have this remedied at
once. The dinner hour had arrived and the men were
leaving, when he called one or two of them to remain
a little while and do the job. One of these men was
John Doherty, then quite young and now living in
Main street, North End. Mr. Owens directed Mr.
Doherty to go to the blacksmith shop with a boy and

160 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

get some bolts which were being heated to enlarge the
holes in the dead-eyes. Doherty and others bought
these bolts as they were needed, carrying them through
the yard at a glowing heat.

The work at the forward chain plates was com-
pleted and attention was given to the main chains.
Whether, in the interval, a red hot bolt was dropped,,
or whether some of the glowing scales from a bolt fell
among the tarry shavings and chips on the ground is
not certainly known. It has always been supposed
that one of the workmen let a bolt fall. There are
others who assert that Mr. Owens himself picked up a
partially cooled bolt which lay on the rail, but finding
it so much hotter than he expected, laid it down so
hastily that it rolled from the rail and fell among the
tar and shavings in the yard below. Whatever was
the case, while the work was being done at the main
chains Mr. Doherty saw a blaze starting among the
chips under the bow, where the men had been a few
moments before. He at once shouted "fire." Mr.
Owens turned, saw the flame and instantly pulled off
his coat, ordering Doherty to throw it on the flames to
smother them. Doherty did so, but the blaze burst
out more fiercely from under the coat, and he ran to
the shipyard well to get a bucket of water. In the
few moments required to accomplish this, the fire had
spread with amazing rapidity, and when Doherty came
back the smoke was so thick that he could not get
anywhere near the ship. The flames spread to the bed
of chips all over the yard and seized greedily on the
newly tarred and painted hull, wrapping the ship in a
blaze from end to end, and sending up dense clouds of
black smoke which could be seen for many miles out-
side the city. The wind was south-west, and the fire
quickly spread to the houses in the vicinity, reaching
to and across Portland street, up the west side of

A SHIPYARD FIRE. 161

which it made its way to Main street and Fort Howe.
Thence it went up the Fort Howe road, burning- the
houses on the highway, and extending as far as what
was then known as the Jenny Spring Farm, now the
Millidge property. It also burned the old gun house
at the rear of Fort Howe hill, north of where the
present shed of the Militia Department stands. Re-
turning to Portland street, it burned the whole block
to the eastward and fronting on Main street, and
finally destroyed the Methodist chapel. So rapidly did
the flames advance, and so dense was the smoke, that
it was out of the question to get anything out of the
houses, and they were burned just as they were left by
the terrified inmates. Many of the buildings were
three and four story tenements, and several of them
were newly erected. There was scarcely a dollar of
insurance on any of them.

In the hold of the ship were no less than forty tons
of lignumvitae, put there for broken stowage. This
large quantity of highly combustible wood burned like
pitch, and with a terrific heat. The danger of the
blazing hull falling over and spreading the fire in new
directions was imminent, and to avoid this men were
put at the dangerous and arduous work of placing
wetted timbers against the sides of the hull, as shoring
to keep it in position. At the rear of the ship was a
small brig from which the lignumvitae had been taken,
and which was aground at that time of the tide. This
also took fire and was soon consumed.

The alarm bells were rung when the fire started,
but there was little need of them, for the huge volume
of smoke and flame could be seen from every part of
the city, and vast crowds gathered in the vicinity..
The fire engines of that day, such as they were, had no
lack of hands to man them, but as it was about low
tide when the fire began there was, as usual, a scarcity

162 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

of water. On the occasions of great fires in those
times the military took an active part. Over from the
barracks on this day came a detachment of the 36th
regiment, headed by Major Cairnes, marching on the
double-quick, with a detachment of the Royal Artillery
under Lieut. Smith. With the military came the ord-
nance engine, which was considered an efficient piece
of fire apparatus then but which would be a veritable
antique if placed beside even a hand engine of more
modern construction. It was in the form of an oblong
box, much like a large chest, with diminutive wheels
which made rapid progress difficult except on very level
ground. When those who were hauling it went too
fast, the machine would begin to " wobble" around,
and in such cases it was not unusual for a number of
the soldiers to pick up the engine and carry it bodily
until better ground was reached. The whole affair
weighed only a few hundred pounds. It was painted a
lead color, with the royal arms emblazoned upon it —
possibly through fear that some light fingered civilian
might steal it some dark night. In its principle of
action it was a veritable "tub," and the brakes at
each end permitted only a small number of men to do
the pumping. A large number of workers would not
have added to the efficiency of the machine, however,
for there was no suction hose or means of water supply
other than that furnished by buckets. These were
passed from h and to hand up a line of men, the water
of each bucket emptied into the engine and the empty
buckets passed down another line of men and boys to
the source of supply.

In addition to the soldiers with the engine, a
portion of the regiment came in marching order with
muskets and bayonets. These were stationed at
various points to guard property and keep back the
crowds. On this occasion some unpleasantness was

A SHIPYARD FIRE. 163

caused by the action of Lieut. Thistlethwayte, in charge
of a squad, who ordered away a number of members
of the Protection Fire Club from the neighborhood of
the house of John Pollock, which is still standing on
the corner of Portland and High streets. The mem-
bers of this body were most of them prominent citizens,
and their aims were similar to those of the salvage
corps of today. When they were ordered away they
remonstrated, whereupon the officer ordered the sol-
diers to charge, which command was only counter-
manded through the interference of Mr. Payne, the
magistrate. After the fire the occurrence was made
the matter of some indignant resolutions, but a little
later the difficulty was amicably arranged.*

Her Majesty's Brig " Racer," was in port at the
time, and a portion of the crew came to the rescue in
their boats, performing many feats of daring in their
efforts to prevent the spread of the flames. Lieut.
Elliott was in the midst of his men, and was himself
considerably injured by the falling of a piece of timber.

The usefulness of both the soldiers and sailors on
occasions of this kind was largely due to their numbers
and the fact that they worked under orders. When
the fire was over, however, the return to the barracks
was not always a striking display, for the soldiers were
not averse to accepting stimulating draughts as a
reward for their valor, and some extraordinary scenes
were at times the result.

At this fire they worked hard and did much good,
especially in the work of tearing down buildings to
stay the advance of the flames. In the excitement of
the occasion one of them, named John Johnston,

•Lieut. Alex. Thistlethwaythe, of the s6th. was of a g-ood English family,
and was much esteemed by his brother officers. He died, after a snort illness,
on Nov. 30, 1841, and was buried in Trinity burial ground. At his funeral the
body was borne on a six-pounder gun carriage drawn by four black horses, and
was followed by all the troops ot the garrison, with a large concourse of citizens.

164 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

dropped dead in the ranks. This was the only life lost
that day.

The navy also lost some men, but in a different
way. Several of the crew of the " Racer," who were
detailed for fire duty, were not to be found when the
sailors were recalled to the brig. It was evident that
they had taken advantage of the occasion to desert,
whereupon the ''Racer" at once made sail down
the Bay until Lepreau harbor was reached. At the
Lepreau mills inquiries were made and a lookout
stationed to intercept the fugitives on their way to the
border, but so far as appears, with no result.

The fire burned about five hours, and in that time
destroyed 53 houses occupied by 200 families. Some
1150 people were turned out of house and home, of
whom at least 600 were put in a condition of distress
by the loss of their worldly possessions. A rough
estimate at the time placed the loss at ^30,000, or
$120,000, made up as follows : —

53 houses burned or pulled down, . . . .$70,00x3

Wesleyan chapel, 8,000 ,

Ship on the stocks, partly rigged, .... 28,000 y

Rigging not in the ship, 4,000^

Furniture, goods, etc., 10,000

$120,000

There was an insurance of £600 on the chapel,
but nothing on the ship and yard. The loss to Owens
& Duncan was therefore very heavy. Taking every-
thing into consideration, in the destruction of buildings,
and property in the yard, it is believed they suffered to
the extent of over $60,000 The total loss by the fire
was undoubtedly much greater than was at first sup-
posed. That evening, while some of the men who had
been working in the yard, were looking at the ruins
Mr. Owens came along, and they bade him good even-
ing. His reply was, " You are pretty fellows, and you

A SHIPYARD YARD. 165

have made a nice job here." John Doherty, who had
been around the ship when the fire started, then asked,
"Do you blame me for it, sir?" "No," was the
prompt reply. " I was the cause of it myself. What
I am sorry for is that so many people have lost so
much." After a pause he continued : " Fifteen years
ago, I had the table taken from before me and the
watch taken out of my pocket for debt, but I have
built that ship and I am able to build another."

On the evening following the fire a public meeting
was called by Sheriff White, in pursuance of a requisi-
tion headed by Chief Justice Chipman, at which the
mayor of St. John, Hon. William Black, presided.
A subscription list was opened and committees were
appointed to collect money and clothing for the relief
of the fire sufferers. The circus also gave a benefit
performance in aid of the sufferers, and collections
were taken in the churches.

After the fire, the Methodist body of Portland held
its meetings in the upper room of the Madras school
building, near at hand. In due time another church
was built, John Owens taking an active interest in the
work. This church stood until it was burned in the
great Portland fire of October, 1877, which covered
the area burned in 1841 and much more territory in
that vicinity. W. K. REYNOLDS.

WHERE STOOD FORT LATOUR ?

Mr. Hannay's reply, in THE NEW BRUNSWICK
MAGAZINE for August, to my article under the above
title in the July number is naturally not convincing to
me. To reply to him, however, would doubtless be
but to begin a controversy of tedious length and small
profit. In such discussions readers are more apt to be
entertained by the skill in fence of the disputants than

166 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

convinced upon the merits of the question. I have
said the best I could for my view in my article in July,
and presumably Mr. Hannay has said the best he could
for his in his reply in August. I am content to let the
case go thus before the candid reader, asking him
simply to study the two papers point for point together.
Where, as in this case, the evidence is not logically
conclusive, one can but examine all that is available,
judge it dispassionately, and hold his conclusion as a
probability. I have never claimed that my view is
proven, but simply that it has a greater degree of
probability than any other yet advanced, and that in
the present state of the question it is historically unfair
to make assertions as to the site of the fort unqualified
by a doubt. There may yet be discovered in the
archives of Europe evidence which will indisputably
settle the site of Fort LaTour, and for this we can all
agree to hope and assiduously to search.

W. F. GANONG.

"AMERICAN COLONIAL TEACTS."

Mr. Howe's review, in the July issue of THE
MAGAZINE, relating to the "American Colonial Tracts,"
published by George P. Humphrey, of Rochester, New
York, is amusing, because it shows that he, like many
others, has innocentiy been led to believe that the vari-
ous pieces " have been reprinted from original copies " ;
that they "were almost inaccessible"; and that this
"publication has been begun at a most singularly
opportune time." Some very eminent American lib-
rarians, who have a thorough knowledge of the bibli-
ography of the original editions, have been duped for
once, and we judge that Mr. Howe is to be entirely
excused for having been singularly misled.

Mr. Humphrey, in every number of the series, has

AMERICAN COLONIAL TRACTS. 167

stated that " Colonial Tracts, issued monthly, is de-
signed to offer in convenient form and at a reasonable
price some of the more valuable pamphlets relating to
the early history of America which have hitherto been
inaccessible to the general public, although of so much
importance to the historical student."

As a matter of fact the Humphrey publication is
nothing more than a miserable reprint of the well-known
work of the Hon Peter Force, whose library now
forms a part ot the United States' Library of Congress,
at Washington, D. C. In 1836 Mr. Force published
his first volume of "Tracts and other Papers, relating
principally to the Origin, Settlement, and Progress of
the Colonies in North America." The pieces of this
first volume were also included, in 1839, in the first
volume of the " Transactions of the American Historical
Society," of Washington. The fourth and last volume
of his "Tracts" appeared in 1846, and the entire pub-
cation comprises about 52 pieces.

Force's volumes were and are still an important
accession to any library ; but everyone familiar with
them knows that they are not always absolutely ac-
• curate. Mr. Humphrey has not only embodied Force's
errors, but he has introduced a mass of others. Force
endeavored to give the text of the originals, but
Humphrey has " modernized" it — though he nowhere
intimates that he has done so. For example, in No. 2
Force gives " Cussetaho ", while Humphrey gives
"Cusstaho"; in No. 4 neither Force nor Humphrey
giv es the title-page correctly, and on p. 77 Force omits
"600" before "white People", and again "3000"
before "Pack-horses" — both of which Humphrey
(p. 86) also omits, though the figures are clearly given
in the original edition.

Force in his prefatory remarks to his first
volume of " Tracts " says : "Of the thirteen Tracts

168 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

contained in the present volume, Nos. 2 and 10 have
not heretofore been printed, and Nos. 8 and 9 now
appear for the first time in connected form."

In each of these four cases Force added on the
title-page his imprint " Washington : Printed by
Peter Force, 1835 ", and the omission of this gives,
in several cases, the impression that Humphrey has
printed from an original manuscript, which is of course
not true.

In the " Library Journal" for June, 1898, at-
tention was called to the deception, and Mr. Humphrey
offered a very lame explanation, which must be taken
by the discerning student cum grano salts. He says,
too, that his "sincere desire . . . to place these
pamphlets at a low price within the reach of the
student of American history must be his justification
for their reissue." But we add, Force can be pur-
chased at from $16 to $24, according to the condition
of the set, and character of the binding. The saving
of four or five dollars is no inducement to the Ameri-
canist who desires to write history accurately.

V. H. P.

In addition to the facts given about the steamer
" Royal Tar," in the August number of THE MAGAZINE,
it may be mentioned the steamer's weekly trip to Port-
land, Me., was in consequence of an arrangement
made with the Cumberland Steam Navigation Co., of
the last named city, entered into early in the season of
1836. A well known St. John steamer which was
contemporary with the "Royal Tar" was the Water
Witch ", owned by James Whitney and launched from
the yard of Justus Wetmore, Hampton, in April, 1836.
It was intended for the Frederidton route, but it also
made trips across the Bay to Annapolis and Gran-
ville Ferry.

WITH THE CONTRIBUTORS.

Mr. James Hannay's paper on " Our First Fam-
ilies," is the introduction to a series of which the great
historic value is apparent at a glance. It is a most
important subject in relation to the Maritime Provinces,
and one which has never before been dealt with as its
merits demand. Mr. Hannay, as the historian of
Acadia, is not only fully equipped to deal with this
subject, but he is a writer who can and does make any
topic of interest by bringing out all the points of value,
and clothing his story in a diction which impresses all
who read.

Rev. W. O. Raymond is making very clear the
story of the early English settlers at St. John, and the
narrative is not less interesting than it is important.
The value of local history in all parts of the country
becomes each year more apparent, but unfortunately
each year the material becomes more difficult of access,
and there are not always to be found those who can
gather and array it in attractive form. Any com-
munity would be fortunate in having such a man as
Mr. Raymond, who is not only one of patient research
but one who is absolutely fair in his presentation of
facts and most lucid in the expression of them.

The story of Kemble Manor, as told by Mr. Jonas
Howe, shows how much there is in the history of the
Loyalist settlements which has never been put in con-
nected form, and which THE MAGAZINE has the agree-
able mission of giving to the world for the first time.

170 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Mr. Howe tells his story clearly and well, and it will
be of special interest to a large number of readers.

Prof. W. F. Ganong has a last word in regard to
Fort LaTour, in which he modestly declines to enter
upon a controversy, but submits that a verdict should
be withheld until more definite proof is obtained on
either side. Some further papers on topics of general
interest may be expected from Prof. Ganong on his
return to Massachusetts after the summer vacation.

As a matter of justice both to the public and itself,
THE MAGAZINE publishes an explanation of the method
in which the " American Colonial Tracts " have been
issued. The writer is a literarian of note, whose
opinion in the matter would be authority even did he
not point out the grounds on which his statements are
made.

So many are alive who remember the disastrous
shipyard fire, in 1841, that the publication of the story
of it at this day should be of interest both to them and
to the present generation.

The publisher has much pleasure in announcing
the appearance, at an ear'y day, of some papers on an
interesting period of the early history of St. John.
The writer is the Count de Bury, who has made a
careful study of his subject and is well qualified to
discuss it.

SOME RECENT PUBLICATIONS.

The celebration of the golden jubilee of Very Rev.
Monsignor Thomas Connolly, Vicar General of the
Diocese of St. John, took place on the loth of July
last. In commemoration of the event, a bibliograph-
ical sketch has been prepared by Rev. W. C. Gaynor,
the present assistant to Monsignor Connolly at St.
John, which is not only highly interesting but of no

IN THE EDITOR'S CHAIR. 171

small value as a matter of ecclesiastical history.
Father Gaynor is a graceful writer, and he has told his
story well. In the fifty years of his priesthood, Mgr.
Connolly has been conspicuous not only as a pastor of
great wisdom and executive ability, but as a citizen of
our country whose counsels in matters of general public
import have had no light weight. Beloved by his peo-
ple in the various stations he has filled in various parts
of the province, he has had the invariable respect and
esteem of non-Catholics in every community where he
has been known. As a worker, alike amid the most
primitive conditions of the early parishes in the wilder-
ness and of later years in the busy life of the city, he
has labored so faithfully and well that the good wishes
of his jubilee have come from all classes and creeds.
Father Gaynor has told the story clearly, and withal
modestly. Without flattery or extravagance of expres-
sion he has made a sketch which would give a stranger
a clear idea of the character of Mgr. Connolly and of
his work, while those who know the subject of the
sketch recognize the fidelity with which the task has
been done. An appendix with an account of the jubilee
adds much to the value of the pamphlet as a work of
reference in future years. The sketch is embellished
by a number of portraits of the clergy, views of
churches, etc., and the whole is well printed on a
fine quality of paper, by Barnes & Co.

The Rev. Dr. Donald, minister of St. Andrew's
Kirk, was for more than a score of years prior to 1871
a very prominent and greatly esteemed resident of St.
John. He was a type of the fatherly, sympathetic
Scotch pastor, yet with a genial nature that made him
a welcome guest in society. A man of deep erudition
and of simple nature, he was beloved not only by his
immediate congregation but by all classes of the
people. Some time ago it was felt that a sketch of his

i72 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

life and character would be of interest to a large circle
of friends, and the preparation of it was accordingly
entrusted to Mr. W. K. Reynolds. This sketch has
now been printed for private circulation, with the idea
that, in addition to what has been gathered and put in
shape, much more may be obtained from those who
have a knowledge of Dr. Donald and the times in
which he lived. The book now issued is a pamphlet
of 84 pages, illustrated by several portraits of Dr.
Donald. It deals in brief form not only with the sub-
ject of the sketch, but to some extent with St. John and
its people in the past. It is for the readers to say how
far the writer has been able to accomplish his task
within the limited space. The object of the present
publication, as already stated, is to secure further in-
formation with a view to a subsequent enlarged edition
of the book, and those who have any facts on this line
are requested to communicate with Mr. Louis Donald,
Box 125, Mobile, Ala., where the pamphlet has been
printed.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

QUESTIONS.

13 From what is the word " aboideau " derived,
and where did it originate ?

14. Who can give particulars of "the Brazil-
ians" in St. John, in the twenties or early thirties?
They were people who went to Brazil from some part
of Great Britain, were disappointed in their expecta-
tions, and on their return voyage, reached St. John
sick with fever. They were quarantined at Ballast
wharf and some of them consequently settled in St.
John. A. G. B.

NOTES AND QUERIES. 173

15. What was the date of the opening of the rail-
way between St. John and Sussex ? A. H.

1 6. In what year was the steam fog alarm inaug-
erated at Partridge Island, and was it, as alleged, the
first steam fog alarm in the world ?

17. Can any reader give an account of the riot,
or disturbance, that took place at Miramichi about
1844, and which required military intervention?

S. D. S.

1 8. Who can supply any information about the
fire ship or phantom light in the vicinity or Pictou Is-
land, N. S. ?

19. Who built the aboideau at the St. John
marsh, and at what period was it constructed.

C. W.

20. Who can give any information about the
early grist mills at Marsh Bridge, and what was the
date of the construction of the Hazen grist mill, on
Mill street, St. John ? P.

ANSWERS.

10. "Malagash " is locally said to mean " milky,"
in the Indian tongue, and the supposition is that this
applies to the appearance of the water when disturbed
by a storm. I have doubts as to this, and would be
glad to have an explanation from one more learned on
the subject. C. D. L.

11. The name of the parish of Queensbury is
derived from the fact that the parish was settled by
disbanded soldiers of the Queen's Rangers.

12. Booth, the elder was in St. John in June,
1841, and I saw him play the leading part in " The
Iron Chest " at the Hopley Theatre, Golden Ball
corner. After the play he came to the front and an-
nounced that the next performance would be for the
benefit of " your humble servant," as he styled himself.

174 T^E NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

He had two boys with him on the stage when he made
this announcement, but I do not know their names,
though I believe they were his sons. A. G. B.

PROVINCIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY.

The following are a few additions of old and new
books relating to the provinces, which are either not
noted in the already published " New Brunswick Bib-
liography," or which are noted in that book and con-
cerning which further information is given. It is hoped
that readers of THE MAGAZINE generally will aid as
contributors to this department from month to month.
In the case of books which relate to New Brunswick,
the notes sent should be in the line already mentioned —
new books or information about old ones and their
authors. In respect to the other Maritime Provinces,
of which there is no published bibliography, all informa-
tion is of value, especially that relating to old and rare
works.

In sending notes of books, please follow the style
given below. Quote the name of the author as it is
given on the title page, adding any other information
as to his personality and work. Copy the title page
itself, with date, describe binding in brief form, give
the number of pages and mention maps or illustrations.
To this necessary description may be appended any
further facts as to the character of the book and its
relation to the Maritime Provinces.

HUMBERT, STEPHEN. (N. B. Bibliography, p. 46.)

The fourth edition of "The Union Harmony" was
published in 1840, and was a book of 338 pages.

STUBS, PETER, St. John, barrister and journalist.

The New Brunswick Manual ; a compilation of
Forms and information designed for the use of Justices

PROVINCIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY. 175

of the Peace, Merchants, Mechanics, &c. St. John, N.
B., published by D. McMillan, 1841 ; pp. 136.

WARK, HON. DAVID, of Fredericton, the oldest
senator of Canada, born in Ireland in 1804 and a resi-
dent of New Brunswick since 1825. " He has written
on behalf of Imperial Federation, on Reciprocity of
Trade between Canada and the United States, and also
on ' The Future of Canada and its Relation to the
British Empire', 1894." (Morgan, Canadian Men and
Women of the Time.)

Report of the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, by Hon.
David Wark, Henry Fisher, Joel Reading, George E.
Fenety, James McFarlane, Commissioners Appointed
to inquire into the Management of the Light Houses,
Provincial Penitentiary, Provincial Lunatic Asylum,
and the Marine Hospital. 1858, St. John, N. B.,
Chubb & Co., 1859. Paper, sm 8°, pp. 16.

(This is one branch of the report of a commission
appointed by resolution of the Legislature in 1857 to
make inquiry into the management of various institu-
tions receiving provincirl aid, "with a view, if possible,
of reducing the expenses of maintaining the same."
This was one of the undertakings of the reform govern-
ment which had then come into power. The full report
is contained in the Journals of the House of Assembly
for 1858-9. W. K. R.)

DUNN, HON. A. T., Surveyor General of New
Brunswick.

Gun and Rod in New Brunswick. Where Moose,
Caribou and Deer, Wild Birds, Salmon and Trout are
found, and how the Sportsman can easily reach them.
Issued by the Crown Land Department of the Province
of New Brunswick. St. John, N. B., 1898. Paper,
24°, pp. 152. Map. (Vide Reynolds, W. K., and
Smith, D. G.)

GAYNOR, REV. WM. C., of the Church of St. John

176 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

the Baptist, St. John, N. B. (Vide N. B. Bibliography,

P- 34)-

Fifty Years a Priest. A Biographical Sketch of

The Very Reverend Monsignor Thomas Connolly,
Vicar General. « During Fifty Years of His Priesthood.
Dedicated to Him on the Occasion of his Sacerdotal
Jubilee, by the Priests of the Diocese who have had
the Privilege of Serving under Him as Assistants. St.
John, N. B., Barnes & Co., printers, 1898. Paper, 8°,
pp. 43 : xix. Portraits and illustrations.

REYNOLDS, WILLIAM KILBY. (Vide N. B. Biblio-
graphy, p. 96.)

Big Game in New Brunswick. A Sportsman's
Guide to the Principal Hunting Grounds in the Prov-
ince. Prepared for the Crown Land Department of
the Province of New Brunswick, pp. i to 72. The
whole pamphlet consists of 152 pp., 24°, and was pre-
pared for the Sportsman's Show in Boston in March,
1898. The latter portion, on River Fishing and Game
Birds, was prepared by David G. Smith, Fishery Com-
missioner. (Vide Dunn, Hon. A. T., and Smith, D. G.

The Rev. William Donald, D. D., of St. Andrew's
Church, St. John, N. B. A Sketch of His Life and
Character, Prepared for Private Circulation. Mobile,
Ala., 1898. Paper, 8°, pp. 84. Four portraits and
facsimiles of verses.

SMITH, DAVID G., Chatham, N. B., Fishery Com-
missioner of New Brunswick.

River Fishing and Game Birds in New Brunswick.
(A report of the commissioner, prepared by direction of
Hon. A. T. Dunn, Surveyor General, and incorporated
in Gun and Rod in New Brunswick, a pamphlet of 152
pp., 24°, prepared by the provincial government for
the Sportsman's Show in Boston, March, 1898. The
Commissioner's report is contained in pp. 77 — 149.
Vide Dunn, Hon. A. T., and Reynolds, W. K.)

The D(ew Brunswick JVIagazine.

VOL. I. OCTOBER, 1898. No. 4

OUR FIRST FAMILIES.
Second Paper.

First on the list of names in the census of 1671, if
we take them alphabetically, is Aucoin, and this with-
out doubt is one of the oldest in Acadia. There was
no male head of a family of that name when the census
was taken, Francois Aucoin having been dead a year or
two, leaving a widow 26 years old and five children,
two sons and three daughters. The widow Aucoin
probably understated her age, for her oldest child was
12, and if she was only 26 in 1671, this child must
have been born when she was only 14. She, I think,
was Ann Blanchard, a daughter of Jean Blanchard,
another of the ancient inhabitants of the country. The
father and mother of the deceased Francois Aucoin
were both dead, or had removed from Acadia, but two
of his sisters were residents of Port Royal and married.
Michelle, the oldest sister, born in 1620, was the wife of
Michael Boudrot, who was lieutenant general or judge
at Port Royal ; while Jeanne, another sister, was
married to Francois Girouard. Both these women had
families ; Michelle must have been married as early as
1640, or perhaps earlier, while Jeanne's marriage took

178 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

place not later than 1646. The first of these dates is
within four or five years of the original emigration of
the ancestors of the Acadian people from France, so
that both the sisters must have been born in that
country and come out with their parents in 1635 or
1636.

The line of Aucoin in Acadia was, in 1671, depend-
ing on the lives of two small children, sons of the de-
ceased Francois — Jerome, aged 7 years, and Francois,
aged 2. The widow Aucoin was only moderately
prosperous, and she removed from Port Royal to Mines,
the new settlement which had just been established
there by Pierre Terriau, Claude and Antoine Landry
and Rene" leBlanc. When the census of 1686 was
taken there was no one of the name of Aucoin at Port
Royal, the family being at Mines, which continued to
be their residence for the next sixty or seventy years.
Among the Acadian families gathered under the pro-
tection of the fort of Beausejour in 1752 were three
named Aucoin, two from Memramcook and .one from
Shepody. But the principal home of the family was
always at Mines, the richest settlement in Acadia.
When the Acadians were deported from the country in
1755 there were among them nineteen families of the
name of Aucoin who had been residents of Grand Pre",
Mines, Rivers Canard and Habitant and places ad-
jacent. All these unfortunate people were carried away
to the English colonies to the south, and many of them
never returned. There are now only about one hun-
dred families of the name of Aucoin in New Bruns-
wick and Nova Scotia, nearly all of whom are in the
county of Inverness, Cape Breton. Five families of
that name reside in the county of Northumberland and
five in the Magdalen Islands.

The Aucoins were not as prominent in Acadia as
some other families of less antiquity. The deputies

OUR FIRST FAMILIES. 179

elected by the residents of the several Acadian settle-
ments to conduct their affairs with the English at
Annapolis were usually the leading- men of the place,
but the name Aucoin seldom appears among them. In
1749 Renanchon Aucoin was accused of joining with
the Indians in the attack which they made in December
of that year on the fort at Mines, which was held by a
garrison under Capt. Handfield. This Aucoin was
described as a resident of the River de Gembert at
Piziquid. The same year Pierre Aucoin was employed
as a messenger by Governor Cornwallis to carry letters
to the Acadians at Cobequid, and the priest and deputies
at that place were summoned before the council at
Halifax for detaining him.

Michael Boudrot was 71 years old when the census
of 1671 was taken ; his wife was Michelle Aucoin,
aged 50, and they had eleven children, seven sons
and four daughters. The oldest son was Frangois,
aged 29, who was still unmarried. The second son
Charles, aged 22, was also unmarried. All the sons
lived at home with their parents, but two of the
daughters, Margaret and Jeanne, were married and
had homes of their own. Margaret was the wife of
Francois Bourc, whose age was 28. She had two
children, a boy of five years and a girl. Jeanne had
become the wife of Bonaventure Terriau, and had one
child, a girl. Michael Boudrot occupied a most
important position in the colony, for he was its judge-
in civil and criminal cases. He had held this office for
many years, and only gave it up when he had at-
tained the great age of 88 and had become unable to
perform the duties of his position. What these duties
were may be gathered from the instructions to his
successor, Des Goutins, who was told to prevent law
suits as far as possible, to settle all differences amica-
bly, to act in concert with the governor, not to pass

i8o THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

sentences unless where it was necessary to the safety
and peace of families, and to discourage appeals to
Quebec as ruinous to suitors. Boudrot must have
been married about the year 1640, or within four years
of the arrival of the first colonists, and he was a con-
temporary both of d'Aulnay and LaTour.

When the census of 1686 was taken, Michael
Boudrot was still residing at Port Royal, but only two
of his children were then with him. There were
Michelle, a daughter aged 26, and Fran£ois aged 20.
His son Jean, who had married Margaret Bourgeois,
had removed to Chignecto and had died there leaving
one daughter Marie, who was nine years old when the
census of 1686 was taken. Marie, the third daughter,
was also a resident of Chignecto, having become the
wife of Michael Poirier in 1673. Other members of
his family had taken up their abode at Mines, which
.soon became the most prosperous of the Acadian settle-
ments. In 1730, when Governor Phillips induced the
.Acadians to sign an oath of allegiance, three persons of
the name of Boudrot, who were residing at Annapolis,
subscribed their names to that document. These were
Francois, Michael and Charles. At that time, how-
ever, most of the Acadians bearing the name of Boudrot
were at Mines, although a few had gone to other parts
of Acadia. In 1752, among the Acadians gathered
under the protection of Beausejour, were six families of
that name, of whom two had been residents of Cobe-
quid, two of LaButte, one of Mines and one of Napan.
In 1755, when the Acadians of Mines were deported by
Winslow, there \vere 25 families named Boudrot among
the exiles, some of whom were wealthy. Joseph
Broudrot, for instance, was the owner of 34 horned
cattle, 70 sheep, 18 hogs and two horses. Pierre
Boudrot had 27 horned cattle, 55 sheep, 13' hogs and
three horses. Several other members of the Boudrot

OUR FIRST FAMILIES. 181

family were quite as well off as Pierre, and in fact they
were all in good circumstances. These figures will
serve to show the prosperous character of the people of
Mines at the time of their removal from Acadia. The
482 families in Winslow's list, numbering- in all 2,743
persons, were the owners of 5,007 cattle, 8,690 sheep,
4,197 hogs and 493 horses. It would be difficult to
find anywhere a community of farmers so prosperous
and wealthy.

The name Boudrot, in its ancient form, does not
now exist in New Brunswick, but there are about 150
families of that name in the counties of Inverness and
Richmond, Cape Breton. In this province, however,
there are 350 families who spell their name Boudreau,
and these people, I have no doubt, are descendants of
Michael Boudrot, judge at Port Royal. About 150
families named Boudreau reside in Gloucester, and
the same number in Westmorland. There are 70
families of the name in Digby and Yarmouth and 50 in
the Magdalen Islands. Assuming Boudreau to be
the same name as Boudrot, there are now upwards of
800 families in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia who
are descended from the old Acadian judge.

Jacob Bourgeois, whose name stands first on the
census list of 1671, was then 50 years old. From his
profession of a surgeon he would naturally be the most
important secular person in the settlement, after the
governor and the judge. His wife was Jeanne Trahan,
whom we may safely assume to have been a sister of
William Trahan, the farrier, who in 1671 was 60 years
old. Both Jacob Bourgeois and his wife must have
been natives of France, and the former must have
been educated there to qualify him for his profession.
He was doubtless the son of Jacques Bourgeois, who
has been already referred to as the brother-in-law of
La Verdure, and who in 1654 became a hostage with

182 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

the English, for the fulfilment of the conditions of the
surrender of Port Royal. Jacques Bourgeois is described
in the articles of surrender as " lieutenant of the place,"
viz.: the fort of Port Royal, so that he held an official
position in the little colony, probably that of judge.
He was also a witness to the marriage contract
between La Tour and Madame d'Aulnay, in February
1653. Jacques Bourgeois was probably one of the
settlers originally brought out by de Razilly, and both
Jacques and Jacob Bourgeois were contemporaries of
d'Aulnay, who met his death by drowning in 1650.
This fact is proved by a letter written by M. de la
Touche at Port Royal in 1702, in which the sale of a
piece of land by d'Aulnay to Jacob Bourgeois is
mentioned. But Jacob Bourgeois has higher claims
to be remembered in Acadian history than from his
acquaintance with La Tour's enemy, for he was the
founder of the Chignecto settlement, the parent of the
great community which now occupies the most fertile
land in Westmorland and Cumberland. In a letter
written from Port Royal in 1702, to the French minis-
ter, Des Goutin, referring to the Chignecto settlement,
says, " It was the late Jacob Bourgeois who led there
the first settlers, when the Chevalier de Grand-Fontaine
commanded at Pentagoet, and Pierre Arseneau took
others there some time after." Two of the sons of
Jacob Bourgeois, Charles and Germain, and two of his
daughters, Marie and Margaret, settled at Chignecto,
as may be seen by the census of 1686, and this census
also gives an intimation of a tragedy in the Bourgeois
family, the nature of which I have been unable to
ascertain. The census of 1671 shows that Marie
Bourgeois was then married to Pierre Sire, armorer,
and that she had one child, Jean, who was three
months old. Before the census of 1686 was taken she
had became a widow, and had contracted a second

OUR FIRST FAMILIES. 183

marriage with Germain Girouard, who was four years
her junior. Three children of the first marriage and
two of the second were living with her in 1686. The
ages of these children would seem to show that the
first husband died about the year 1679. Margaret
Bourgeois, who was only 13 when the census of 1671
was taken, married Jean Boudrot about the year 1676
and became a widow two or three years later. She
made a second marriage in 1680 to Manuel Miranda, a
native of Portugal, and when the census of Chignecto
was taken, in 1686, she had there living with her one
child of her first marriage and four of her second.
Charles Bourgeois was married to Anne Dugast when
the census of 1671 was taken and had one child, a girl.
The census of 1686 shows that he had died about the
year 1679, leaving three children, and that his widow
had married Jean Aubin Mignault by whom she had,
when the census was taken, three children. Now the
deaths of three brothers-in-law in the same year could
hardly have been brought about by ordinary means,
for they were all young men wh.n their lives ended.
The circumstances suggest that they met a common
fate and lost their lives as the result of an accident.
This conjecture derives further support from the fact
that there was another woman living at Chignecto in
1686 who had lost her husband in 1679. This was
Andrde Martin, who when the census of 1671 was taken
was married to Francois Pelerin and had three children.
In 1686 Francois Pelerin was dead, but six of his
children were living with her, and she had married
Pierre Mercier by whom she then had four children. I
have no doubt that Fran£ois Pelerin shared the fate of
Charles Bourgeois, Pierre Sire and Jean Boudrot, and
the same accident, whatever it may have been, brought
all their lives to an end. Perhaps some future historian
of Westmorland county may be able to throw light on

1 84 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

this subject. The prompt manner in which the four
widows of Chignecto secured for themselves new life
partners is worthy of notice, and shows that marriage-
able young women were not a drug on the market in
ancient Acadia.

Germain Bourgeois was 21 years old and un-
married when the census of 1671 was taken. In 1686
he was a resident of Chignecto. He was married to
Michelle Dugas in 1673, and had four children, the
oldest being William, aged 12 years. Germain Bour-
geois continued a resident of Chignecto, but he had
returned to Port Royal to visit his son William at
Annapolis for, in 1711, after the capture of that place
by the English, he and his son and two others were im-
prisoned by the commandant, Col. Vetch, as hostages,
and in reprisal for hostility to the English, It is said
by Murdoch that Germain died as a result of his ill
treatment while in prison, a story we would like not to
have to believe. Indeed it is highly improbable, for
Paul Mascarene, who was then at Annapolis, says that
the hostages were well treated and soon released.

Jacob Bourgeois was dead in 1702, but he was
living in July 1699, when he addressed a memorial to
the French minister in Paris concerning Acadia. This
was written at the fort on the lower St. John, that is to
say in Fort La Tour, which had been rebuilt by Ville-
bon. The name of Jacob Bourgeois also appears in a
memorial written in October 1687, in which he signed
his name as one of the ancient inhabitants of Acadia,
with reference to the work that d'Aulnay had done at
Port Royal, La Have, Mercier, Ste. Anne and other
places in the colony. The other " ancient inhabitants *'
who signed this memorial with their own hands were
Francois Gauterot, Pierre Martin, Matthieu Martin,
Claude Teriot and Philip d'Entremont ; while Antoine

OUR FIRST FAMILIES. 185

LeBourg-, Pierre Doucet, Denis LeBlanc and Abraham
Dugast signed with a mark.

There are now about 200 families of the name of
Bourgeois in the Maritime Provinces, most of them
being residents of Kent and Westmorland, and all
descendants of the old judge at Port Royal.

The free and easy way in which the census takers
of ancient Acadia spelled the names of the inhabitants
is a source of much embarrassment to the student of
the history of that time. In the census of 1671 Blan-
chard is spelled in two different ways, Terriau is simi-
larly treated ; and the same is true of other names
which will be more particularly referred to hereafter.
A notable instance of mis-spelling occurs in connection
with the name of Jacques Belou, cooper, who lived at
Port Royal in 1671. His wife was Marie Girouard, a
daughter of Francois Girouard, and he had then one
child, a girl. The census of 1686 does not contain the
name of Belou, either at Port Royal or anywhere else
in Acadia, and the natural presumption would be that
Mr. Jacques Belou had removed with his family to
some other part of the world. A more particular
examination of the census of 1686, however, describes
Jacques Belou under a new name. He was then a
resident of Chignecto but his name has been changed
to Blou, which the transposition of a letter in Mur-
doch's history converts into Blon, so that we would
never recognize our old friend under his new name.
His wife however, is the same Marie Girouard, and his
little daughter Marie has grown to be a young woman
of 17. He has now another daughter, Jeanne, who is
5 years old, and a son Fransois 18 months old, who
has been named after his grandfather, Francois Gir-
ouard. It is to be feard that little Fran£ois Belou did
not live to manhood, for I am unable to find any
further trace of the name in the annals of Acadia.,

i86 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

The home of the family would be at Chignecto, yet
among the hundreds of families gathered under the
protection of Beausejour in 1751 and 1752, there is no
one of the name of Belou. Neither does the name
occur in Winslow's list of the persons deported from
Mines in 1755. The name is not now to be found in
New Brunswick or Nova Scotia, but in Madawaska
county are a number of families named Beaulieu which
may be a new way of spelling Belou.

JAMES HANNAY.

AT PORTLAND POINT.

Fourth Paper.

In the earlier numbers of the NEW BRUNSWICK
MAGAZINE we have traced the story of the founding of
the first permanent British settlement on the St. John
river. We have seen that, as early as the year 1755,
governors Charles Lawrence of Nova Scotia and
'Sir William Shirley of Massachusetts, had agreed on
the necessity of establishing a fortified post at the
mouth of the river in order to overawe the French and
Indians and promote the settlement of the country by
English speaking inhabitants. We have seen that in
the summer of 1758, after a sharp and decisive battle,
the French were driven from their stronghold at the
old fort near Navy Island, on the west side of the
harbor, which was thenceforth occupied by a British
garrison and called Fort Frederick. The French had
made some clearances on the hillsides back of the fort
which were used as gardens, and a few of the oldest
residents of Carleton can remember the time when one
or two old cherry trees of large size grew on the site of
these gardens and were said to have been planted there
in the days of the French occupancy.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 187

The garrison at Fort Frederick was composed
largely of New England troops, and among the officers
was Captain Moses Hazen, a brother of William Hazen
and a cousin of James Simonds.

Whilst the establishment of a military post at
Fort Frederick imparted a little life to the immediate
surroundings, everything on the eastern side of the
harbor remained in its virgin state, except at Portland
Point where there was a small clearing and the remains
of a French Fort. The rocky peninsula on which the
business part of St. John stands today was uninhabited.
The few Acadians who may have lingered round its
coves had fled before the advancing tide of British
conquest, and it was only when some wandering savage
pitched his wigwam on the shores of Men-ah-quesk, as
he called it,* that there was any tenant of the spot
save the fox, the bear or other wild creature of the
primeval forest. The rugged features of the ancient
Men-ah-quesk, with its swamps and crags, caused it to
be so lightly esteemed in the eyes of the Messrs. Sim-
onds and White that they did not deem it worth the
quit rents, although these amounted to but half a cent
an acre annually. In the words of Mr. Simonds, it
was "the worst of lands, if bogs, morasses and rocks
may be called lands." Accordingly, in the grants of
1765 and 1770, it was excluded in favor of the
"Marsh" which, in the eyes of the first settlers, was
of far greater value.

When the Loyalists arrived in 1783 and learned
that this wa.s to be the site of their city, the prospect
to some of them seemed appalling. The late Dr. Gove
of St. Andrews once related to the writer of this paper
how that his grandmother Tilley, having landed at the
Upper Cove, climbed up the steep ascent of Chipman's

*In imitation of the Indian word the whites called their settlement at St.
John " Menaguashe" for several years after their arrival.

1 88 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

hill, and after gazing at the surroundings in blank de-
pair, sat down upon the damp moss with her babe in
her arms and shed the only tears she had shed since
the outbreak of the Revolution.

To the gentler spirits among the Loyalist founders
of the town of Parr the outlook may well have seemed
disheartening. They had come, many ot them, from
-1the fertile banks of the Hudson, the meadow lands of
New Jersey, the vineyards of Maryland and the
plantations of the Sunny South. But to James
Simonds and his associates of 1762, as to many of the
Massachusetts and Connecticut Loyalists of 1783, the
contrast between their earlier and later surroundings
was not so marked. In their veins, too, there flowed
the blood of the old Pilgrim fathers, nor had they lost
the influence of the traditions handed down from the
days of the Mayflower and the landing at Plymouth
Rock. The same determined self-reliance that had
enabled their forefathers to make for themselves homes
about the shores of Massachusetts Bay sustained them
in their task of carving out for themselves a home amid
the rocky hillsides that surround the harbor of St. John.
But when James Simonds, in 1760, first made up
his mind to try his fortune here the place was indeed a
lonely spot, and could our old pioneer today revisit the
scene of his toils and difficulties and behold the changes
time had wrought what would be his wonder and
astonishment ? Imagine with what mingled feelings
he would view the wharves that line our shores; the
ocean steamships lying in the channel; the grain
elevators that receive the harvests of Canadian wheat-
fields two thousand miles away; the streets traversed
by electric cars and pavements traversed by thousands
of hurrying feet, hundreds of bicyclists darting hither
and thither at every corner; squares tastefully laid
out and adorned with flowers; public buildings and

AT PORTLAND POINT. !89

residences of goodly proportions and by no means
devoid of beauty; palatial hotels opening their doors to
guests from every clime; institutions that care for the
fatherless and the widow, the aged, the poor, the unfor-
tunate, the sick, the insane; churches with their heaven-
directing spires; schools whose teachers are numbered
by the hundred and pupils by the thousand; public
libraries, courts of justice and public offices; factories
of every sort and description; business establishments
whose accredited agents find their way into every nook
and corner of old time Acadie ; railways and steamboats
that connect the city with all parts of the globe ;
splendid bridges that span the rocky gorge at the
mouth of the river where twice in the course of every
twenty-four hours the battle, old as the centuries, rages
between the outpouring torrent of the mighty St. John
and the inflowing tide of the Bay of Fundy.

Our old pioneers of 1762 would scarcely recognize
the ancient landmarks ; the ruggedness of old Men-ah-
quesk is gone — valleys filled up and hills cut down.
The mill pond where the old tide mill stood has dis-
appeared, and the splendid Union depot with its long
freight sheds and maze of railway tracks occupies its
place. All that survives is nothing but a name and
" Mill " street and " Pond " street alone remain to tell
of what has been. The old grist mill at Lily Lake, too,
has gone, and the patrimony of Haiv.n and Simonds in
that vicinity would hardly be recognized by its original
proprietors. They were the pioneers of the improve-
ments made in that locality, but we can hardly claim
that it was for the benefit of the public of our day that
they laid out the first road to Rockwood Park.

Then and now ! For the better appreciation of
the astonishing changes time has brought about sup-
pose we contrast a modern Saturday night with one in

i9o THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

the infancy of our city, and we will take the old one
first :—

Saturday night in the year 1764.— The summer sun
sinks behind the western hills and the glow of the
evening lights the harbor. At the landing place at
Portland Point one or two fishing boats are lying on
the beach, and out a little from the shore a small square
sterned schooner lies at her anchor. The natural lines
of the harbor are clearly seen. In many places the
forest has crept down nearly to the water's edge.
Wharves and shipping there are none. Ledges of
rock, long since removed, crop up here and there along
the harbor front. The silence falls as the days' work is
ended at the little settlement, and the sound of the
waters rushing through the falls seems, in the absence
of other sounds, unnaturally predominant. Eastward
from Portland Point we see the crags and rocks of
Men-ah-quesk, their ruggedness in some measure hid-
den by the growth of dark spruce and graceful cedar,
and in the foreground lies the graceful curve of the
Upper Cove where the forest fringes the water's edge.
We may easily cross in the canoe of some friendly
Indian and land where, ten years later, the Loyalists
landed, but we shall find there no one to welcome us.
The spot is desolate, and the stillness is only broken by
the occasional cry of some wild animal, the song of the
bird in the forest and the ripple of the waves on the
shore. The shadows deepen as we return to the Point,
and soon the little windows of the settlers' houses begin
to glow. There are no curtains to draw or blinds
to pull down or shutters to close in these humble
dwellings, but the light, though unobstructed, shines
but feebly, for it is only the feeble glimmer of a tallow
candle that we see, or perhaps the flickering of the fire-
light from the open chimney that dances on the pane.

In the homes of the settlers' Saturday night differs

AT PORTLAND POINT. 191

not so very much from any other night. The head of
the house is not concerned about the marketing or
telephoning to his grocer. The maid is not particulary
anxious to go "down town." The family bath tub
may be produced, (and on Monday morning it will be
used for the family washing) but the hot water will not
be drawn from the tap. The family retire at an early
hour, nor are their slumbers likely to be disturbed by
fire alarm or midnight train. And yet in the olden
times the [men, we doubt not, were wont to meet on
Saturday nights at the little store at the Point to com-
pare notes and to talk over the few topics of interest in
their rather monotonous lives. We seem to see them
now, a little coterie, nearly all of them engaged in the
Company's employ — mill hands, fishermen, lime burn-
ers, laborers, while in a corner James White pores over
his ledger, posting his accounts by the dim light of his
candle and now and again mending his goose quill pen.
But even at the store the cheerful company soon dis-
perses ; the early closing system evidently prevails, the
men seek their several abodes and one by one the lights
in the little windows vanish. There is only one thing
to prevent the entire population from being in good
time for church on Sunday morning, and that is there
isn't any church for them to attend.

Then and now ! We turn from our contemplation
of Saturday night as we have imagined it in 1764 to
look for a moment at a modern Saturday night in the
city of St. John. What contrast greater can be
imagined ? Where once were dismal shades of woods
and swamps we have a moving gaily chattering crowd,
a mass of living humanity that throngs the walks of
Union, King and Charlotte streets. The feeble glim-
mer of the tallow candle from the windows of the
houses of the few settlers at Portland Point has given
place to the blaze of hundreds of electric lights that

192 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

shine far out to sea, twinkling- like bright stars in the
distance, and reflected from the heavens, illuminating
the country for miles around. Our little knot of
villagers in the olden days used to gather in their one
little store to discuss the days doings ; small was the
company and narrow was their field of observation ;
and their feeble gossip is today replaced by the rapid
click of the telegraph instruments, the rolling of the
steam-driven printer's press and the cry of the newsboy
at every corner ; the events of all the continents are
proclaimed in our streets almost as soon as they occur.

And yet, from all the luxury and ease as well as
from the anxiety and care of this busy energetic
nineteenth century life, we sometimes like to escape
and get a little nearer to the heart of nature ; we like
to adopt a life of rural simplicity, content for a brief
space with some little cottage remote from the bustle
and din of city life ; practically to approach as nearly
as we can to the primitive life of Portland Point in the
year 1764. True, we soon tire of it and long for our
substantial comforts and conveniences again.

But it is high time to " hark back " to our story of
the early history of St. John. To the writer, if not to
the reader, it is much more enjoyable to find ideas in
the field of imagination than to dig and delve amidst
the musty records of the past; nevertheless in the realm
of history what we want are facts, and to facts the
element of romance must be subservient. And as facts
are wanted it may be well here to amend the statement,
made in the first paper of this series, that James
Simonds was a descendant of Samuel Simonds of
Essex, England, who came to America in 1630 with
Governor Winthrop. Mr. C. E. A. Simonds of Fred-
ericton, who has made a pretty thorough investigation
of the genealogy of the Simonds family in America,
says : —

AT PORTLAND POINT. 193

" The most remote ancestor to whom we can with
certainty trace our descent is William Simonds, who in
the year 1644 settled at Woburn, Massachussets. The
statement that James Simonds was descended from
Samuel Simonds of Essex, England, is improbable,
though it was long thought correct in our family.
Samuel had a son William, but his career is different
from our ancestor's of that name, and it is asserted
that no male descendants of Samuel Simonds, Deputy
Governor of Massachusetts, now exist."

The maiden name of the wife of William Simonds
was Judith Phippen who came to America in the ship
Planter,* which sailed from London April 2nd, 1635.
There is a story that as the Planter was nearing the
American coast, land was first descried by Judith
Phippen which proved to be the now well known head
land called Point Judith.

In the year 1643 Judith Phippen became the wife
of William Simonds. They settled at Woburn, Mass.,
and built a house, which, when Mr. C. E. A. Simonds
visited the place in 1888, was still standing. Here
their twelve children were born, of whom the tenth,
James, was grandfather of James Simonds, our old
pioneer at Portland Point. The elder James Simonds
married Susanna Blogget, (Blodget) and their sixth
child, Nathan, married Sarah Hazen of Haverhill, Feb-
ruary 24, 1735. The family of Nathan Simonds con-
sisted of two sons, James and Richard, and two
daughters, Mary and Sarah. The family lived at
Haverhill until the death of the father, Nathan Simonds,
in 1757. James Simonds, who was the eldest of the
family, was born at Haverhill Dec. 10, 1735. He

*There came to America in the Planter the ancestors of several well known
families, descendants of some of whom are living in New Brunswick today.
Included in the number we find the names of Lieut. Francis Peabody of St.
Athens, Allan Perley of Wales, William Beardsley, his wife Maria, daughter
Maria and son John, Thomas Carter, M. A., James Hay ward, John and William
Lawrence, William Reed, Moses Cleveland, Joseph Tuttle, Nicholas Davis,
William Locke and Rev. Hugh Peters.

i94 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

joined one of the Provincial regiments when a young

man, and in 1757 or 1758, went with his cousin, Capt.

John Hazen, to take part in the attack on Fort Ticond-

eroga. After the death of his father and the settlement

of his estate, the means at the disposal of James

Simonds were inconsiderable, and he accordingly was

induced by the proclamations published by Governor

Lawrence about this time, offering special inducements

to the New Englanders to become settlers in Nova

Scotia, tcTvisit the Bay of Fundy, and after a pretty

thorough exploration of its shores, to take up his

residence at St. John. At the time of his father's

death, James Simonds was appointed guardian of his

brother Richard and sister Sarah, both of them being

minors, and they seem to have accompanied him to St.

John. Richard Simonds died at St. John, January 20,

1765, but Sarah Simonds was living there in February

1770, as is evident from an entry in one of the old

account books in the hand writing of James White,

in which sundry dress goods are charged to James

Simonds and marked, " D'ld his sister Sally."*

The story of the organizing of St. John's first
trading company in 1764, has been already related in
this series of papers. The leading spirits of the com-
pany were William Hazen, James Simonds and James
White. Mr. Hazen did not, it is true, take up his
\ residence at Portland Point until the year 1775, and
therefore he has as yet been only mentioned incident-
ally; he was, however, from the first a very active and
important member of the company and its chief financial
backer; more will be said of him hereafter.

The same spirit of enterprise that characterizes
St. John today was conspicuous in those who first

•Among the items in the old account books relating- to Mr. Simonds' fami-
ly is one under date February 22, 1773, which reads, "James Simonds, Dr. To
leather for pr. boys shoes, 4 years old." The boy referred to was James
Simonds, Jr., the oldest child of Mr. Simonds, born Aug. 8, 1768.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 195

settled here, for we have seen that Messrs. Simonds and
White, soon after their arrival, engaged in the manu-
facture and shipment of lime, pursued the fishery at
various points in the Bay of Fundy, established an ex-
tensive trade in furs and peltries with the Indians,,
furnished supplies to the garrison at Fort Frederick,,
erected a saw mill and grist mill, built and launched a
schooner, constructed weirs, supplied the settlers at
Maugerville and St. Anns with such things as they
required, and maintained regular communication with
Newburyport and Boston by means of the vessels they
owned or chartered.

The coming of so considerable a number of white
settlers to the River St. John in the course of two or
three years after the issuing of Governor Lawrence's
proclamations, rendered it necessary that measures
should be adopted for the government of the new com-
munity. The original province of Nova Scotia had
been divided into counties in the year 1759 at which '
time the entire province of New Brunswick seems to
have been an unorganized part of the County of
Cumberland. For the first year or two the settlements^
on the river St. John were obliged to look to Halifax
for the regulation of their civil affairs, but this proved
so inconvenient that the Governor and Council of Nova
Scotia agreed to the establishment of the St. John
river district as a new county, under the name of the
County of Sunbury. This county did not, as has been
been commonly supposed, include the whole of the
province of New Brunswick. Its eastern boundary was
a line running due north from a point on the shore of
the Bay of Fundy twenty miles east of Mispec point,
so that the eastern part of the present province of
New Brunswick remained a part of the county of
Cumberland until the division of the old province ot
Nova Scotia in 1784.

196 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

As a leader of the little co'ony at St. John and a
man of ability and good education, James Simonds
played a not unimportant part in the organization of
:the new county, and he went to Halifax several times
to attend <o matters of public interest as well as his
own private affairs. The journey in those days was no
trifling matter. He very nearly lost his life on one
occasion while proceeding across the Bay to Windsor
in an open boat. His experience is thus described in a
letter to Samuel Blodget, written from Halifax the ist
day of October, 1764.

" Last night arrived here after four days' passage from St.
John's — the first 24 hours at sea in a severe storm, the second
passed a place called the Masquerades, where there was seas
.and whirlpools enough to have foundered the larg-est ships, but
were providentially saved with only the loss of all our road chain
and anchor by endeavoring- to ride at anchor till the tide slacked,
(in vain). It'was unlucky for us that we happened to fall in with
that tremendous place in the strength of the flood tide in the
highest spring tide that has been this year. Gentlemen here say
it is presumptuous to attempt to return that way at this season of
the year in an open boat, but as the boat and men is at Pisiquit,*
and I have no other way to get to St. Johns in season for my
business this fall ; shall get our business done here as soon as
may be and return there the same way I came, where I hope to
meet some of our vessels. The plea of the above difficulty will
have a greater weight than any other to have business finished
here immediately. This morning I waited on the Governor,
Secretary and all other officers concerned in granting license,
&c., who assure me that my request respecting license shall be
granted directly, so that I hope to be on my way to St. Johns
tomorrow."

We cannot but admire the enterprise and courage
of a man who after so fatiguing and perilous a journey,
was ready, on the second day after his arrival in Halifax,
to remount his horse and travel some forty-five miles
over a rough road to Windsor and face once more the
the perils of the Bay of Fundy in an open boat.

Mr. Simonds revisited Halifax early the next

spring, and on his arrival wrote a letter to Wm. Hazen,

dated March 18, 1765, in which he says, "I am just

-\ arrived here on the business of the inhabitants of

*Now called Windsor.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 197

St. Johns." He mentions in this letter that Capt.
Beamsley Glazier was also at Halifax. This gentle-
man we shall presently have occasion to refer to more
particularly. He and Mr. Simonds seem to have
united in the endeavor to secure the speedy establish-
ment of a new county on the River St. John. The
success of their efforts is announced in Mr. Simonds'
letter to Mr. Hazen, in which he writes, " St. Johns is
made a county and I hope will soon make a formidable
appearance." This announcement slightly anticipated
the action of the Governor and Council, for it was not
until about six weeks later, viz., on April 30, 1765, that; '
the matter was carried into effect by the passing of
the following resolution: — "Resolved, That St. Johns
River should be erected into a County by the name of
Sunbury, and likewise that Capt. Richard Smith should
be appointed a Justice of the Peace for the County of
Halifax."

The terms of this resolution are suggestive of the
idea that, in the estimation of his Excellency and the
Council of Nova Scotia, the appointment of a Halifax
justice of the peace was about as important a matter as
the organization of the county of Sunbury, albeit the
latter comprehended a territory as large as the entire
peninsula of Nova Scotia.

The late Thos. B. Akins, of Halifax, who was an
extremely accurate and painstaking investigator and a
recognized authority on all points of local history, in a
letter * to the late J. W. Lawrence states that the
election writs on file at Halifax show that Capt.
Beamsley Glazier and Capt. Thomas Falconer were, in.
1765, elected the first representatives of the County of
Sunbury. It does not, however, appear that either of
these gentlemen attended the sessions of the House of
Assembly, and as it was the rule that members who

*This letter is in my possession. — W. O. R.

ig8 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

failed to attend and take the customary oath for two
sessions after their election should forfeit their seats for
non-attendance, a new election was held in 1768, when

'Richard Shorne and Phinehas Nevers were returned.
The House of Assembly was dissolved two years later,
and at the ensuing general election *, Charles Morris,

^jr., and Israel Perley were chosen to represent the
county of Sunbury. The former took his seat, but Mr.
Perley appears never to have done so, and in 1773
James Simonds was elected in his stead. Mr. Simonds
was in attendance at the session held in October, 1774,
being the first resident of the county to take his seat in
the legislative halls of Nova Scotia. At the time of
the division of the province in the year 1784 the other
member for the county was William Davidson.

Just why the new county was called Sunbury no
one seems to know. The name was given by Governor
Montagu Wilmot and his Council, but for what reason
or upon whose suggestion does not appear.

About this time public attention began to be
largely directed to the vacant lands on the river St.
John with the result, as already pointed out, that the
Nova Scotia government was beset with applications
for grants.

Among the more ambitious projects set on foot
was that of an association or society, composed of
more than sixty individuals who designed to secure and
settle well nigh half a million acres of land. The
'association included a Royal governor, t a number of
army officers and prominent civic officials, at least
three clergymen and several well to do private gentle-
men. A very wide field was represented by the as-
sociation, for among its members were residents of

•This was the fourth parliament of Nova Scotia. It held sixteen sessions
without a dissolution and may well be termed a " long parliament."
, tThomas Hutchinson, governor of the then province of Massachusetts

Bay.

AT PORTLAND POINT. I99

<2uebec, Halifax, Boston, New York and the Kingdom
of Ireland. A little later the association was commonly
known as the Canada Company, probably on account •
of the fact that General Haldimand and others of its
influential members lived in Quebec. James Simonds,
William Hazen and Capt. Moses Hazen were members
of the company, and in the end they derived consider-
able advantage from their connection with it, although
this was not the experience of the majority. A very
brief sketch of the fortunes of the company may not be
uninteresting, and it involves the story of the old town-
ships.

Capt. Beamsley P. Glazier, on Dec. 14, 1764,
memorialized the Governor and Council at Halifax on
behalf of himself, Capt. Thos. Falconer and their
associates, for a large tract of land on the St. John*-
river,, the location of which was somewhat indefinitely
described. Application was also made for a point or
neck of land three quarters of a mile from Fort'
Frederick with sixty acres of land adjoining it, " for the
making and curing of fish." The point referred to
may have been Reed's Point, but more probably Sand
Point or York Point, indeed it is possible that the in-
tention was to secure the entire peninsula on which
Parr town was afterwards built. The council ordered
that the lands on the river should be reserved for the
applicants, but that the sixty acres adjoining, or
within three-quarters of a mile from Fort Frederick,
should be a matter for future determination.

At this time the unfortunate government officials
were almost overwhelmed by the pressure brought to
•bear on them by innumerable applicants desirous of
obtaining their grants before the obnoxious Stamp Act
should come into operation. Grants were hastily pre-
pared and issued, so much so that in some cases it was
found the same lands had been included in different

200 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

grants. The bounds too were ill defined, no proper
survey having been made, and the difficulties afterwards
arising out of disputed boundaries furnished a not un-
profitable employment for the lawyers of the next
half-century.

The Canada Company were so fortunate as to
obtain the grant of five fine large townships, containing

^Mn the aggregate more than 400,000 acres. Three of
the townships, namely, Burton, Gage and Conway,

"Were granted October 18, 1765, the other two, Sunbury
and New Town, on October 31, 1765. The pre-
dominance of the military element in the company is
clearly seen in the naming of the first three townships —
Burton in honor of Brig. Gen'l Ralph Burton * ; Gage,
or Gage Town, in honor of General Thomas Gage
(himself a principal grantee) ; and Conway in honor of
General Henry S. Conway, then lately appointed His
Majesty's Secretary of State. The township of Sun-
bury was, of course, quite distinct from the county of
the same name.

The location of the townships maybe thus roughly
stated : —

1. Conway lay on the west side of the river St.
John, and extended from the harbor up the river as far
as Brandy Point, including in its bounds the parish of
Lancaster and part of Westfield.

2. Gage extended from Otnabog to Swan Creek,
and included the present parish of Gagetown.

3. Burton extended from Swan Creek to the
Oromocto river, and included the present parish of
Burton and part of Blissville.

4. Sunbury began at " Old Mill creek," a little
below Fredericton, extending up the river as far as
Long's Creek and including the city of Fredericton, the
parish of New Maryland and the parish of Kingsclear.

*A friend and contemporary of Generals Gage and" Haldimand.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 201

5. New Town lay on the east side of the St. John
opposite Fredericton, extending1 from the Sunbury and
York county line about eight miles up the river, and
including parts of the parishes of St. Mary's and
Douglas.

Among the proprietors of the townships were Hon.
Thomas Hutchinson, governor of Massachussetts, Sir
William Johnson, General Frederick Haldimand, Col.
Beamsley Glazier, Capt. Thomas Falconer, Capt. Isaac
Caton, Capt. William Spry, Capt. Moses Hazen, Rev.
John Ogilvie, Rev. Philip Hughes, Rev. Curryl Smyth,
Richard Shorne, Charles Morris, jr., Samuel Jean
Holland, John Fenton, Philip John Livingston, Daniel
Claus, Wm. Hazen and James Simonds. Incidental
references will be made to some of these gentlemen
hereafter. Capt. Isaac Caton has been already men-
tioned (in the first paper) as an early trader and fisher-
man; an island in the Long Reach a few miles below
Oak Point still bears his name.

Thomas Falconer, Beamsley P. Glazier and Richard
Shorne were perhaps the most active agents in the
attempts made to settle the townships sufficiently to
prevent their forfeiture..

It was while these gentlemen were thus engaged
that they had the honor to be chosen by the inhabitants
as their representatives in the general Assembly of
Nova Scotia. The only other members of the company
who possessed any local knowledge of the lands con-
tained in the five townships were Charles Morris, jr.,
Surveyor General of Nova Scotia, who frequently visited
the river and had made an excellent map of it as early
as 1765, Capt. William Spry, the chief engineer at
Halifax, and the Messrs. Hazen, Simonds and White.
The story of the old townships and their ultimate fate
must be reserved for the next number of this magazine.

W. O. RAYMOND.

THE YEAR OF THE FEVER.

The story of the year of the ship fever in Canada
is one not to be told in the brief compass of a magazine
paper, nor can I attempt to do more than sketch some
of its more notable features in the ravages of the
pestilence among the immigrants bound to the port of
St. John alone. The graves of the thousands of
victims of disease and want in that year are found at
widely separated points in Quebec and the Maritime
Provinces, while the bones of an army of unfortunates
lie scattered along the bed of the ocean in the track of
the ships bound westward across the sea from Ireland.
It was one of the most dreadful visitations ever suffered
by a people, and one of the saddest reflections regard-
ing it is that the horrors of it were largely due to the
selfishness and inhumanity of man. A repetition of
the pestilence, attended by the same appalling con-
ditions, would not be possible today in any civilized
nation of of the earth; not that the wrorld is any better,
perhaps, but that half a century has seen a revolution
in sanitary science, that the ocean passage has been
marvellously abridged, and that it is no long'er possible
for even cattle to be carried on a voyage under con-
ditions as horrible as were experienced by tens of
thousands of human beings in the memorable year of
the ship fever.

To discuss the causes of the suffering and mortal-
ity would be foreign to the purpose of this paper.
Some things were preventible, seme were not. Certain-
ly, there was no lack of sympathy and aid from both
sides of the ocean, but the world moved slowly in
those days, and much of the willingly preferred assist-
ance came too late. It is not with what took place in

THE YEAR OF THE FEVER. 203

Ireland that I have now to deal, however, but with
what happened at our very doors and is clearly remem-
bered by many who are living- at this day. Even in
this respect the material which is available is more than
sufficient to occupy many times the space than can be
allowed at this time, though at a future period and in
another form the story may be told with more attention
to detail.

In the year 1847, death and emigration depleted \/
the population of Ireland to the extent of more
than two million people. The potato crop had been
a failure in 1846, and the result was widespread
destitution, followed by famine. Then came the pesti-
lence of typhus fever, and death began to reap its
harvest among the unhappy victims of destitution.
Famine came also to the Highlands of Scotland, and
every mail from across the sea brought to this country
worse and worse tales of human suffering-. The world
was appealed to for help, and the work of attempted
relief began, but the famine and the fever moved more
swiftly than man's aid. The land appeared to be
accursed, and the only hope of the stricken people
seemed in seeking a home beyond the ocean.

There had been bad seasons for the crops in Ire-
land during the preceding years, and the tide of emigra-
tion had been steadily increasing. In 1846 the outflow
was greater than in any of the previous years, for
nearly 130,000 persons embarked, of whom 33,000 were
for British North America. The arrivals at St. John
in 1844 had been 2,000, and in 1845 they had increased
to 6,000, but in 1846 they had risen to the number of
9,000, and there were indications that the following
season would greatly exceed all the others in respect
to immigration. The government immigration agent
for New Brunswick, Moses H. Perley, in his report at
the close of 1846, pointed out the urgent need of better

204 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

accommodation at the quarantine station at Partridge
Island, and the government made a grant of £200 for
repairs to the existing buildings. These were two old
structures, erected many years before by the St. John
board of health, and would contain one hundred
patients. They were poor affairs, even for that day,
and at that time they were very much out of order for
the needs of ordinary years. The grant was passed in
April, but even then the fever ships had begun to leave
Ireland, and before the repairs could be effected they
had begun to land their human cargoes upon the Island
by the hundreds. Then it became necessary to build a
new pest house.

Despite of the extraordinary efflux during the
years already named, no special measures seem to have
been taken by the authorities on the other side of the
water to ensure the comfort and health of the passen-
gers on the emigrant ships. The law, poor as it was,
was not enforced by any rigid system of inspection,
and grasping shipowners were permitted to send their
vessels to sea overcrowded and with provisions in-
sufficient in quality and quantity. During the year
1846 there were thirteen prosecutions and convictions
of shipmasters before magistrates in St. John, on
charges of this kind, and these probably represented
only the most aggravated cases which could not be
excused.

The year 1847 opened gloomily enough for Ire-
land and the Irish people. Most deplorable accounts
came from all sections. Of thirty inquests reported at
Roscommon at the beginning of the year, eighteen
were cases of death from starvation. In the same dis-
trict the number of cases of typhus fever reported daily
was 75, with an average of fourteen deaths. The
landlords were serving papers on delinquent tenants at
a rate treble beyond any of previous years. All over

THE YEAR OF THE FEVER. 205

the land graves were being dug, and the carpenters
were at work night and day making rough coffins,
but labor as they would, the work of death was
more rapid. In some instances, for the want of coffins,
bodies were carried to the grave on doors taken from
houses, a covering of straw sufficing for a pall. The
highways abounded with famishing men, women and
children, reduced to the state of living skeletons.
Driven to extremes, honest men took the cattle and
sheep of their more prosperous neighbors. When the
law called this theft, those who were sent to prison
were at least saved from starvation, whatever might
become of their families. Those who lived near the
shore ate seaweed. In the extremity of their hungar
they would eat anything. In one hut eight starving
wretches were found devouring a dog. At times the
living, the dying, and the dead were strangely grouped
together, as where seven were found lying side by side,
one dead for many hours, and the others unable to
move either themselves or the corpe. Pages upon
pages of dreadful detail could be given, but enough has
been told to give an idea of the condition to which a
large number of the people were reduced, and why they
were abandoning their native land in such enormous
numbers during the year 1847.

It will be readily understood that the emigrants
varied much in their conditions of life. Some had been
saving their money for years with a view to bettering
their state in a new land, and in occasional instances
they had sufficient to support them for a time in the
country of their adoption. Others were utterly desti-
tute, and had their passage paid in order to get them
out of the country. Of this class were the hundreds
evicted from various estates of non-resident landlords,
including Lord Palmerston and Sir Henry Gore Booth.
Some of these had scarcely clothes to their backs, and

206 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

being without means to provide themselves with food
and other comforts for the long ocean voyage, which
required an average of 43 days, they had to depend on
the ships' allowance of bread, which was often in-
sufficient and of bad quality. Under the most favor-
able circumstances the fever would have been a scourge
among the emigrants on shipboard that year, but when
its victims were people who could scarcely walk when
they embarked, and who were packed into overcrowded
vessels, with miserable accommodations and wretched
food, the results were such as to make one shudder
that such a condition of things was possible in the
middle of the nineteenth century.

The story of the great distress in Ireland did not
fall on unheeding ears in America, and early in 1847
subscriptions were called for at many places in the
United States and what is now Canada. The response
was a generous one, and the people of St. John, regard-
less of class or creed, gave liberally in aid of the suffer-
ers. On the second of February a meeting, called by
Sheriff White, was held at the court house and com-
mittees were appointed for all the wards. The
churches also made collections, while the proceeds of
a charity ball and a concert were devoted to the same
purpose. In less than four weeks more than ^1,100
had been collected, and this was increased by ^450
additional, a little later. A portion of the money was
sent to the sufferers in the Highlands of Scotland, but
the greater part went to Ireland where it was more
imperatively needed. The sum thus collected was
about ^1,556. In addition to this the Bank of British
North America issued drafts to individuals to the
amount of ^'1,083 in one day, chiefly in sums of £$,
the money coming from the Irish people here who sent
it to their friends and kindred at home. In the general
collection, too, the Irish people gave with a very free

THE YEAR OF THE FEVER. 207

hand. The largest amount from any city district was
from .£246 153. from Kings ward, while ^129 was
collected in St. Malachi's and St. Peter's churches. In
all, more than £2,600 was sent from St. John, and
probably much more was sent through the banks, by
individuals, of which no record has been kept. The
legislature of New Brunswick made a grant of ^1,500
sterling, and that of Nova Scotia granted ^1,000.
Over ,£200 was raised at Miramichi, and other parts
of New Brunswick, Nova S£Otia and the Canadas gave
according to their means. There was need of every
dollar, for the situation was growing worse and worse
every day. Though the poor-houses of Ireland were
crowded with a hundred thousand inmates, multitudes
were still suffering for the most common necessaries of
life, while the fever continued to carry off its victims by
scores in every part of the stricken country.

The first of the immigrant ships to arrive at St.
John was the brig Midas, on the 5th of May, 1847.
It was from Galway, and had made the passage in 38
days. During the voyage two adults and eight chil-
dren had died, and many of the passengers were sick
when landed at Partridge Island. Following this came
other vessels, and on the i6th the barque Aldebaran
arrived. It had left Sligo with 418 passengers, and of
these 34, chiefly children, had died during the 48 days
of the voyage. More than a hundred of the passengers
were sick on their arrival, and more than 80 of them
subsequently died and were buried on the Island. It
was charged that this vessel was overcrowded, that
the provisions and water were bad and that the deaths
of the children were due to the scarcity of soft food for
their sustenance. This was true of many of the vessels
which arrived later, and one of the saddest features of
these ocean tragedies was the proportion of infant
mortality. The graves on the Island are chiefly those

2o8 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE:

of adults, for the children perished at sea through lack
of proper care and nutrition.

During the month of May twelve vessels arrived
and were placed in quarantine, the passengers being
removed to the hospital on the Island. Among these
vessels were several veritable death ships, such as the
Pallas, the Thornley Close and the Amazon. Included
in the arrivals was the brig Mary Dunbar from Cork,
with small pox on board.

Dr. George J. Harding was the quarantine phy-
sician, and was assisted by Dr. George L. Murphy,
but the the cases multiplied so rapidly that further
medical aid was necessary. In the latter part of May
two doctors from the city were sent to the Island.
One of these was Dr. W. S. Harding, who is now a
well known citizen of St. John. The other was Dr.
James Patrick Collins, who was destined to give his
life in the effort to lessen the sufferings of the stricken
people of his race. Dr. Collins was then only 23 years
of age, and there was every promise of a most brilliant
career for him. He had been married in the previous
autumn to a sister of the Revs. James and Edmond
Quin, who is still living.

Drs. Harding and Collins were well aware of the
terribly infectious character of the fever, but they went
to the Island to do their duty, whatever might be the
result. They had more than enough to tax their
energies. During the month of June 35 vessels ar-
rived. On these 5,800 passengers had embarked, but
nearly 200 had died in quarantine and on the Island,
while some 880 of those who had been landed were
sick in the hospital at the close of the month. By that
time, however, both Harding and Collins were pros-
trated with the fever, and on the 2nd of July Dr. Collins
died, a martyr to his duty and a hero in the truest sense
of the word. The funeral took place on the following

JAMES PATRICK COLLINS, M. D.

THE YEAR OF THE FEVER. 209

Sunday, and was the largest ever seen in St. John.
The body was brought from the Island to Reed's Point,
followed up the harbor by a long line of boats. The
funeral procession reached from Reed's Point to the
head of Dock street, and was composed of nearly 4,000
people, all classes of citizens uniting to pay tribute to
the memory of the devoted young physician. Bishop
Dollard and his clergy were among those who followed
the body, and the pall bearers were all medical men.
The burial was at Indiantown cemetery, now the
Redemptorist grounds, but the body was afterwards
removed to Fort Howe cemetery, where a simple
monument marks the spot.

In the meantime, the infection was extending to
the city, and by the last of July 660 had been admitted
to the Emigrant Hospital at the old poor house, at the
corner of Great George's (now King) and Wentworth
streets. Of these 62 had died and the death rate was
increasing. When the hospital became too crowded
the sick immigrants were housed in sheds at the back
shore, near the marine hospital. The latter institution
had also its quota of sailors ill with the fever. Then
the disease became epidemic and many deaths took
place among the citizens, but of these there is no
specific record. No one who had any communication
with the sick was safe. Drs. Harding and Collins had
already contracted the fever at the Island, and in
August Dr. George Harding was prostrated, but re-
covered. Dr. Wetmore was sent to the Island with
Dr. W. S. Harding i+ this time. In the city, Drs. W.
Bayard, Wetmore and Paddock were ill, one after the
other, in their attenf at the poor-house, but all re-

covered. Andrew Barnes, steward of the marin6
hospital, contracted the disease and died.

Father James Quin went daily to the Island and
was unceasing in his ministrations *to the sick and

210 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

dying. He did not take the fever, nor did Fathers
Dunphy and Edmond Quin, who were in constant at-
tendance at the poor-house hospital. Rev. Robert
Irvine, of the St. John Presbyterian church, also at-
tended at the latter place, but contracted the disease
and narrowly escaped death.

During the month of July 4,058 more immigrants,
arrived, making a total of nearly 9,900 up to that time.
Among the vessels was the barque Ward Chipman,
from Cork, with 505 passengers. There had been 27
deaths on the voyage, 40 persons were sick and the
fever was increasing rapidly. Closely following this
vessel was the barque Envoy, from Londonderry, with
a most malignant type of small pox. As many as
six vessels with immigrants would sometimes arrive in
one day, and the greater number of them had the fever
among the passengers, though in some cases to only a
slight extent.

On the sixth of August a heavy gale sprang up
from the south-east. The brig Magnes, from Galway,
was lying to the eastward of the Island, all the passen-
gers having been removed. This vessel was driven
ashore and became a total wreck. One of the crew,
who was lying sick on board, was drowned. The
brigantine Bloomfield, from Cork, having on board 74
passengers in a destitute and starving state, was
driven up the harbor and into the timber ponds at
Portland Point, but with no loss of life.

The scenes on Partridge Island during the six
months that the immigrants continued to arrive and
the fever to rage are beyond description. When it is
remembered that in some instances as many as 500
people were landed from single vessels, and that num-
bers were so helplesss that they had to be carried, some
idea can be gained of that constant and awful proces-
sion of wretched beings during that memorable summer

THE YEAR OF THE FEVER. 211

and autumn. In many instances a whole day was
taken to land the passengers from one ship, and num-
bers were so weak that they would sit down utterly
helpless on the high ground just above the landing
place, to lie there for the night amid their scanty per-
sonal effects. Many of those who were not sick
camped out in various places over the Island, making"
such shelter as they could. A supply of tents was sent
down from the city, and partially served the purpose,
but the poor people had to pitch these tents for them-
selves, and made such rude work of it that when a storm
came and the shelter was most needed their tent pins
would be pulled out and their houses literally over-
turned. Others took the rough boards which had been
sent down to make coffins, and built rude camps. At
the outset, an attempt had been made to make coffins
for all who died, and James Portmore, the carpenter who
was building the pest house, was kept hard at work with
his double duties. As the pestilence increased even
this rude undertaking work was found to be out of the
question. The sick died faster than the coffins could
be made, and they were buried in their ordinary cloth-
ing. The soil of the burial ground was so thin in
many places that the bodies were little more than
covered with earth, and after a heavy rain portions of
the clothing could be seen protruding. As a result the
odor was carried on the southerly winds to the city.
Then quicklime was sent to the Island and scattered
over the graves, and more earth was piled upon the
shallow places. In many instances, where the deaths
were in rapid succession, trenches were dug and a
number of bodies buried together. On one occasion,
when the doctors and assistants were all prostrated, 45
bodies accumulated in the dead house. A huge pit
was dug close by the building and all the dead were
placed in it. The spot is clearly to be distinguished at

212 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

this day by the vivid green of the grass, which for half
a century has been nourished by the bones of the un-
fortunate immigrants.

Day after day the work of death went on, the
number of unfortunates being augmented by new
arrivals up to late in October. Mr. Alex. Reed, who
was then keeper of the light house, and to whom I am
indebted for some interesting facts, has told me how,
lying in his bed of a calm summer night, he would be
startled by an agonized wail, the lament of some
woman whose husband, son or father, had drawn his
last breath. In time such sounds became so common
that they ceased to disturb him.

From the estate of Sir Henry Gore Booth some
1,500 persons were sent to this country, and another
large number from the estate of Lord Palmerston.
These were of the class likely to become paupers at
home, and were thus shipped to America in order to
get rid of them. One of the last vessels to arrive, on
the 3rd of November, was the barque ^olus, Captain
Driscoll, from Sligo, with 240 passengers, most of them
without the common means of support, with broken
constitutions and almost in a state of nudity. They
are so described in a resolution of the common council,
in which Lord Palmerston is censured for his inhumanity
in sending these helpless people out to endure the
rigors of the winter, in this climate. In one ship, the
Lady Sale, which arrived in September, there were
more than 400 tenants of Booth, among whom were
no less than 176 females, including nine widows with
57 children.

As a result of this class of immigration, the city
had many poor on its streets long after the fever had
ceased. Beggars from door to door were common,
and some of them, reduced by their sufferings, were
most pitiful sights. A large number of the immigrants

THE YEAR OF THE FEVER. 213

who recovered, however, went to the United States,
where they had originally intended to go, coming to
St. John for the reason that, under the conditions of
trade at that time, passages in ships to this port were
easily obtained.

At various other ports of New Brunswick, outside
of St. John, fever ships arrived, and in some cases the
disease made great havoc. At Miramichi, for instance,
the ship Looshtauk came into port early in June with a
list of 117 who had died on the voyage. Between the
3rd and 5th of June 29 others died on the ship while in
port, and 96 more died after the passengers were re-
moved to the hospital. Dr. Vondy died from the fever
while attending the sufferers.

The quarantine hospital at Partridge Island was
closed during the first week in November, and the
patients were removed to the poor-house hospital in
the city. By that date the epidemic was under control,
though deaths continued to take place for some time
afterwards.

The number of Irish immigrants landed on Part-
ridge Island that year was 15,000. About 800 died on
the voyage. . The number of those who died at the
quarantine hospital after being landed was 60 1. There
is a record of that many, but it is probable that many
others who died on the vessels in quarantine and were
also buried on the Island are not included in it. The
number of deaths at the poor-house hospital was 595,
but there were many others who died at the sheds
and in lodgings, of whom there is no official account.
The total mortality among the immigrants was thus
considerably in excess of 2,000.

For more than half a century the grass has grown
over the unmarked and unhonored graves of the hap-
less immigrants who died on the Island. Some years
ago, there were to be seen a few rude wooden head-

214 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

boards which loving- hands had placed there when the
graves were new, but the last of these has long- moul-
dered away. The burial ground itself gives no indica-
tion of the fact that hundreds have there been laid to
rest, far from their home and kindred. To the eye it
appears like an ordinary barren piece of pasture. At
one time and another suggestions have been made that
a suitable monument should be erected on the spot in
memory of the unfortunate strangers, but no deter-
mined action has ever been taken. At last, however,
the long deferred project is likely to be carried into
effect. A number of the citizens of St. John, of Irish
birth and descent, have taken the matter in hand,
selected a site subject to the approval of the authorities,
and propose to seek the sympathy and aid of all classes
of citizens in the undertaking. It is intended to have
the monument completed by the first of July next. The
project is one which is likely to meet with encourage-
ment, for the reason that the idea must commend itself
alike to all friends of humanity, regardless of nation-
ality or creed. W. K. REYNOLDS.

THE BABCOCK TRAGEDY.

In August, 1884, Mr. J. W. Lawrence read a
paper before the New Brunswick Historical Society,
dealing with the Babcock tragedy at Shediac, in the
year 1805. This paper did not become the property of
the Society, and is not now available for publication.
Through the aid of Rev. W. O. Raymond, however,
the information upon which Mr. Lawrence based his
paper has been secured, and with some additional facts
the story is now told in more complete form than on
the occasion in question.

In the year 1805 there were but a few English
families in the parish of Shediac, among whom were

THE BABCOCK TRAGEDY. 215

those of Amasa Babcock and his brother Jonathan.
The principal man of the place wasjWilliam Hanington,
the ancestor of the now numerous family of that name
in this province. Mr. Hanington was an Englishman
who had, a number of years before, secured a large
grant of land described as " adjoining the city of
Halifax." Coming to the latter city, about 1784, to
take possession of his estate, he was amazed to find
that to get from the capital to his " adjoining " property
meant a journey of about one hundred and seventy
miles. This journey he accomplished on foot, in the
dead of winter, going over the Cobequid Mountains
and hauling a handsled containing a peck of salt and
other necessaries. Mr. Hanington made a later jour-
ney to Halifax on horseback, to procure a frying pan
and some other essentials of housekeeping, for though
there were stores at St. John at that time he probably
knew little of the Loyalist arrivals, and chose Halifax
as his most convenient base of supplies. His most
remarkable journey, however, was when he went to
Prince Edward Island in a canoe to get his wife, whom
he brought back and installed in his home at Shediac.
In 1805, Mr. Hanington had reached the age of 47,
was the father of a family and was in prosperous cir-
cumstances. He was then, as he was all through his
life, a very zealous member of the Church of England.
There was at that time no Protestant place of worship
in that part of the country, but the French had a small
church at Grand Digue. On Sundays, Mr. Hanington
used to read the Church of England service in his
house, for the benefit of his own family and such of the
other English speaking people as choose to attend.
The service would be supplemented by the reading of
one of the sermons of Bishop Wilson, of Soder and
Man. In addition to the Babcocks, the chief neighbors
were Samuel Cornwall, Simeon Jenks^and Amasa >

216 THE NEW£BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Killam, all of whom were adherents of the Baptist
denomination.

The home of Amasa Babcock was on the road to
Cocagne, about three miles from the present church of
St. Martin's in the Woods. It was a small block house,
built by one Peter Casey, and by him sold to a Mr.
Atkinson, who mortgaged it to a Mr. Barry of Halifax.
The Babcocks appear to have been hard working men,
of little education, and of the type easily moved to go to
extremes on occasions of excitement. They worked at
farming and fishing, and were in humble circumstances.
Amasa Babcock was a man in middle life. His family
consisted of a wife and nine children, (the eldest about
twenty and the youngest an infant) and his sister
Mercy, who had been married to one Hall, but was not
then living with her husband. She was of a melan-
choly disposition and was not allowed to eat with the
others of the family.

Mr. Hanington had taken a liking to Babcock, and
had purchased for him the place on which he lived.
Babcock was to repay him by catching gaspereaux, but
had so far paid nothing of any consequence, and Mr.
Hanington had sent some young cattle to his place to
be fed and cared for during the winter, as a means of
securing some of the amount due.

In the spring of 1804 a revival took place in the
settlement, among the Baptist people. The meetings
were held on Sunday evenings at first, but as the inter-
est became greater they were held on Thursday night
of each week as well. Towards autumn, the enthusi-
asm in the revival became more and more intense, and
the people were wrought up to a high pitch of excite-
ment. Many of them believed the world was coming
to an end, and all kinds of interpretations were attached
to the prophetic portions of the Old and New Testa-
ments. Among those who came among the people was-

THE BABCOCK TRAGEDY. 217

Joseph Crandall, a Baptist preacher, and later one of
the members for Westmorland in the House of Assembly.
Following him came two young men who were on their
way to Prince Edward Island. They stayed one night
at Shediac and held a revival meeting, which lasted
until the next morning and was attended by the most
extraordinary scenes of religious excitement.

In January, 1805, one Jacob Peck, another revival-
ist, came through to Shediac from Shepody, and he
appears to have exceeded his predecessors in the ex-
travagance of his appeals to the excitable nature of his
hearers. Indeed, his lurid declamation seems to have
been all that was needed to drive a number of the
people out of their minds. As a result of his work,
Sarah Babcock, (daughter of Amasa Babcock) and
Sarah Cornwall fell into a species of trance, and began
to prophesy that the end of the world was at hand.
The infatuated people believed that these unbalanced
minds were inspired, and were anxious to have the
prophecies preserved. As there was no one able to
take down their words, a message was sent to Mr.
Hanington, one evening, asking him to come and take
their depositions, as they were supposed to be dying.
Mr. Hanington, not being in sympathy with the
methods adopted in the revival services, refused to go,
saying, " It is all a delusion. They want mad-houses
rather than meeting-houses." The people were per-
sistent, however, and the messenger was again sent to
Mr. Hanington, after he had gone to bed, with the
word that the girls had something to say before they
died, and that they wanted it written down. There-
upon Mr. Hanington got up, remarking to his wife
that he had better go, as perhaps he could convince
them of their error.

It was then the middle of the night. Mr. Haning-
ton found the girls lying on a bed and Jacob Peck

2i8 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

walking to and fro in the room. " There is my
epistle," said Peck. Mr. Hanington proceeded to in-
quire what the girls had to say, and to commit it to
writing. The alleged prophecy was to the purport
that Mr. Hanington was to be converted, and that
Jacob Peck and the girls who were prophesying were
to convert the French.

The excitement among the people continued during
January, and in February the revival services were
kept up, night and day, for a week. By this time
Amasa Babcock and his household appear to have
been wholly out of their minds and utterly indifferent
to their temporal affairs. One Poirier, a Frenchman,
brought Mr. Hanington word that the cattle \vl;;ch he
had put in Babcock's care were suffering for the want
of food. When Mr. Hanington questioned Babcock as
to this, the reply was, "The Lord will provide." Mr.
Hanington then threatened to take the cattle away
from him unless he attended to their wants. This was
on the 1 3th February.

When Amasa Babcock went home that night, he
took his brother Jonathan with him to grind some
grain in a hand mill. Jonathan began to grind, and as
the flour came out of the mill Amasa sprinkled it on
the floor, saying, "This is the bread of Heaven!"
According to his wife's statement, Amasa then stripped
off his shoes and socks, and though the night was
bitterly cold, he went out into the snow, crying aloud,
"The world is to end ! The world is to end! The
stars are falling !" After shouting in this way for a
short time, he returned to the house.

The man had gone stark mad, and the others
must have been out of their minds for the time being,
as they assented to everything he did without appearing
to think it at all strange Then followed a most extra-
ordinary scene.

THE BABCOCK TRAGEDY. 219

Amasa Babcock, his eyes flashing- with the frenzy
of insanity, arranged his family in order on a long
bench against the wall, the eldest girl being at one end
near the fire and his wife and youngest child at the
other end. He then took a clasp knife and began to
sharpen it on a whetstone. Going over to his sister,
Mercy, he commanded her to remove her dress, go on
her knees and prepare for death, for her hour was
come. She obeyed without hesitation. He next
ordered his brother Jonathan to take off his clothes,
and the infatuated man did so. Nothing appeared
surprising to that strange household of deluded beings.

Amasa now acted as one possessed of a devil. He
went to the window several times and looked out, as
though expecting something to happen. Then he laid
his knife down on the floor, on top of the whetstone,
the two making the shape of a cross. Stamping on
the whetstone, he broke it, calling out that it was the
cross of Christ. Then he picked up the knife, went to
where his sister was still kneeling and stabbed her with
savage strength. She fell to the floor, the blood
gushing from the wound, and died in a few moments.

This fearful act seems to have brought the family
to their senses. As soon as Jonathan saw the blood
flow, he rushed to the door and fled, naked as he was,
in the darkness of that winter night, to the house of
Joseph Poirier, a quarter of a mile distant. There he
was supplied with clothing and went to Mr. Haning-
ton's house, where he aroused the inmates by crying
and shouting that his brother Amasa had stabbed his
sister.

At that time there was no magistrate at Shediac,
and Mr. Hanington at first refused to go to arrest
Babcock, but on second thought he decided to act in
the matter. Putting on snow-shoes, he started for the
house of Joseph Poirier, senior, but in his excitement

220 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

he found himself at the house of young Joseph Poirier,
there being no public roads to follow in that part of
the country in those days. He was after Pascal and
Chrysostom Poirier, whose assistance he might require
in making the arrest, and when he eventually found
them at the elder Poirier's house they consented to go
with him. It was then about two o'clock in the
morning.

On entering the house where the tragedy had been
committed, they found Amasa Babcock walking about
with his. hands clasped. Mr. Hanington told the
Poirier brothers to seize him. Babcock resisted and
asked what they were going to do. Their reply was
that they intended to hold him a prisoner, whereupon
he cried out, " Gideon's men, arise !"

On hearing these words, his two young sons,
Caleb and Henry, jumped up as if to assist him, but
were compelled to sit down again, and the prisoner
was secured.

The body of Mercy Hall was not in the house, nor
was it then known where it had been placed. When
Mrs. Babcock was asked if her sister-in-law was dead,
she simply said "yes." When some of the English
neighbors reached the house about sunrise, search was
made for the body, which was found in a snow drift
where Amasa had hauled it. He had first disem-
bowelled it, and having buried it in the snow he had
walked backward to the house, sweeping the snow
from side to side with a broom as he went, in order to
cover up his tracks.

The prisoner, with his arms securely strapped,
was taken to Mr, Hanington's house. While there he
kept repeating, "Aha! Aha! Aha! It was permitted!
It was permitted!" The statement of Jonathan Bab-
cock was written down, and the necessary papers were
prepared to authorize a committment to prison. On

THE BABCOCK TRAGEDY. 221

seeing the papers, Amasa shouted, "There are letters
to Damascus! Send them to Damascus!" It was
evident that he was thinking1 of Saul's persecution of
the Christians. Babcock was then taken to the house
of Amasa Killam, who had been one of those prominent
in the revival. There the prisoner became more violent
in his insanity, and to restrain him he was placed upon
a bed with his arms pinioned and fastened down to the
floor.

The weather was then very stormy, and travelling,
in the primitive condition of the roads of those days,
was out of the question. By the third day after the
tragedy, however, the storm had abated, and several of
the men of the neighborhood started out to take
Babcock to prison. Putting straps around his arms,
they placed him on a light one-horse sled, and putting
on their snow-shoes they hauled him by hand through
the woods to the county jail at Dorchester, a distance
of some twenty-six miles. Truly, one of the stranges
winter journeys ever made in the wilderness of this
country.

The slowness with which news travelled and found
its way into print in those days is illustrated by the fact
that the St. John newspapers contained no notice of
this remarkable tragedy until after the trial took place,
some four months later. The following appeared in
the St. John Gazette of June 24, 1805 : —

"On Saturday the i5th inst., at a Court of Oyer and Ter-
miner and Gaol delivery, holden at Dorchester, for the County of
Westmorland, at which his Honor Judge UPHAM presided, came
on the trial of Amos Babcock, for the murder of his sister Mtrcy
Hall, at Chediac in that County on the i3th day of February last,
The trial lasted about six hours, when the jury after retiring- half
an hour, returned with a verdict of guilty against the prisoner.
He was thereupon sentenced for execution on Friday the 28th
instant.

" It appeared in evidence that for some time before the
trial, the prisoner with several of his neighbors, had been in the
habit of meeting- under a pretence of religious exercises at
each others houses, at which one Jacob Peck was a principal
performer ; That they were under strong- delusion and conducted

222 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

themselves in a very frantic, irregular, and even impious manner,
and that in consequence of some pretended prophecies by some
of the company in some of their pretended religious phrenzies
against the unfortunate deceased : the prisoner was probably in-
duced to commit the horrid, barbarous and cruel murder of which
he was convicted. The concourse of the people at the trial was
very great, who all appeared to be satisfied of the justice of the
verdict and sentence.

"The above named Jacob Peck was on the same day in-
dicted for blasphemous, profane and seditious language at the
meetings above mentioned, and recognized with good securities
to appear at the next Court of Oyer and Terminer in that County,
to prosecute his traverse to the said indictment with effect.

"It is hoped and expected that these legal proceedings will
have a good effect in putting an end to the strange and lament-
able delusion, which made them necessary, and brought the
unhappy culprit to such an ignominious death."

On the trial of Babcock, Ward Chipman, solicitor
general, appeared for the Crown, and his brief is be-
lieved to be still in existence. The prisoner was un-
defended. The court room was crowded during the
trial, and it is said the verdict and sentence met with
general approval. The unfortunate lunatic was hanged
on the date appointed, and his body was buried under
the gallows on what are still the jail premises at
Dorchester. There is nothing available to show what
became of Jacob Peck.

That a crazy man should be arraigned, tried and
condemned without counsel for his defence seems in-
credible in the light of modern jurisprudence, as does
the fact that he was hanged for a crime for which he
was not morally responsible. In these days such a
man would be sent to an asylum for the insane, but in
those times not only were such institutions unknown
in this part of the world but there was a wholly differ-
ent spirit in the administration of criminal law. In
the case of Babcock there was the undoubted fact that
a person had been slain without provocation, and the
court took the most simple method of dealing with the
slayer, which was to hang him. ROSLYNDE.

WRITERS AND WORKERS.

During his vacation Dr. Geo. F. Matthew spent
some weeks in Newfoundland. His time was employed
examining the Cambrian deposits at Smith Sound,
Trinity Bay. These deposits show a more perfect fauna
than the beds of St. John. The fossils in these old beds
were mostly conical shells, and no trilobites were dis-
covered in them. Dr. Matthew attended the meeting
of the American Association at Boston in August,
where he read a paper on the " Oldest Palaeozoic
Fauna."

Mr. W. Frank Hatheway accompanied Dr. Mat-
thew to Newfoundland.

Dr. W. F. Ganong spent three weeks of July
studying plant life on the marshes of Westmorland-
In company with Mr. Geo. U. Hay he made a canoe
trip up the Nepisiguit and down the Tobique, studying
the botany of the region.

Mr. W. Albert Hickman, who is an enthusiastic
naturalist, has been studying bird life at the head of the
Bay of Fundy.

A recent caller at the MAGAZINE office was Mr.
Victor H. Paltsits, of the Lenox Library, New York.
Mr. Paltsits is the bibliographical adviser of the superb
Cleveland edition of the Jesuit Relations and Allied
Documents. His mission to New Brunswick was in
connection with an edition of the captivity of John
Gyles, which he is preparing from the earliest manu-
scripts, and he has been verifying the points of the
narrative by a personal inspection of the places where
Gyles sojourned in this province and in Maine.

224 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Another welcome visitor was Mr. Albert S.
Gatschet, of the Bureau of Ethnology, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, who has a wide reputation in
his special lines of research. Mr. Gatschet spent some
time among the Indians in Digby, N. S., investigating
their native dialect, and when in St. John was on his
way up the river to make further studies of the Indians
in the vicinity of Fredericton.

Mr. James Hannay has entered upon the work of
writing a history of New Brunswick, which he expects
to complete at an early day. It will be written in
popular style, and it is quite needless to assume that it
will be as readable as all of Mr. Hannay's work in the
lines of history has been. He has already made con-
siderable progress with the undertaking.

NOTES AND QUERIES.
QUESTIONS.

21. From Brookville there is an old and long
disused road through the woods to King's Beach,
so-called, near the entrance to Drury's Cove from the
Kennebecasis. When was this road made, and what
was the other terminus of the ferry ? S. D. S.

22. What is the meaning of the term " chebacco
boat," which is found in accounts of occurrences in the
early part of the century ? C. W.

23. In what year was Lieut. Cleves, of the Royal
Artillery, killed by being thrown from his horse, in
St. John ? R. L. C.

24. In MacFarlane's Historic Sketches of Fred-
ericton, published some years ago in the St. John Sun,
chapter xiii, it is stated that Capt. O'Halloran [mis-
printed D. Halloran] who was in New Brunswick in
1849 and spent much time among the Indians, wrote a

NOTES AND QUERIES. 225

book dealing1 with his experiences in this Province.
Can anyone give further particulars of this work ?

W. F. G.

ANSWERS.

13. We have in these provinces few words, aside
from place-names, which are truly indigenous, and of
these "aboideau" is a prominent one. It is used at
the head of the Bay of Fundy for those dikes across
rivers which contain a sluice so built with a valve-like
"clapper" that the fresh water can drain out but the
sea cannot enter. It is properly pronounced in French
fashion with accent on the first syllable, but is often
corrupted to "bi-to" (like bite-o) and sometimes to
batterdo. Most dictionaries do not contain the word,
but the Century Dictionary gives it as from New
Brunswick and "of uncertain French origin," though
assigning to it a meaning which belongs rather to the
word dike. Any suggestion as to the origin of this
word would therefore be of much interest. In examin-
ing some plans in the Crown Land office at Fredericton
a year ago, I found an undated but old one in which an
aboideau is marked as " boit de eau." No doubt this
is meant for "boite d'eau," a water-box, which the
sluice part certainly is. Of course this early use of the
above form by no means proves that to be its real
origin, and it probably represents no more than the
draughtsman's theory of its origin, but it seems a very
reasonable theory. Possibly, originally, it was " une
boite d'eau," but more probably " a la boite d'eau," or
" a boite d'eau " — at the water-box — applying to the
particular part of a dike across a stream in which the
sluice or water-box is built, and this is exactly the
present application of "aboideau." The earliest use
of the word I have been able to find in a cursory
search is in Diereville, 1708, whp has "aboteaux."

W. F. GANONG,

226 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

13. I have always understood that the word
"aboideau" came from the French words "aboi,''
"d'eau;" "aboi"— to keep at bay, "d'eau"— the
water. It is a poetical expression taken from hunting
— the moose keeping the dogs at bay — and would sug-
gest itself to out-door people and hunters, as the early
Acadians were, as the most natural word (or words) to
express the idea of the on-rushing waters held back.
Some have suggested that the word comes from the
Norman "Aboter " — to clog; others from the French
"abattre" — to beat back. Hebert, the apothecary,
who is credited with the idea of rescuing the land on the
L'Equille river, near Annapolis, from its diurnal flood-
ing, by means of dams, probably found the word
coming to his tongue as a happy inspiration while
describing what he purposed to do.

GEORGE JOHNSON, Ottawa.

15. The E. & N. A. railway between St. John and
Sussex was opened on the loth of November, 1859.
The first passage of a locomotive between Hampton
and Sussex Vale had been made on the ist day of
November in that year. W. K. R.

PROVINCIAL CHRONOLOGY.

Every day in the year is the anniversary of some
event of more or less importance in the history of the
Maritime Provinces and in the lives of individuals. In
view of this THE MAGAZINE intends to give, each month,
a chronological table, as well as a list of marriages and
deaths in various years of the past. In respect to the
latter, dates will be beyond the time of the present
generation. In each instance, the words of the
marriage or death notice will be given as they appeared
in the newspapers of the time, excepting that such
phrases as "At St. John " and " pn the inst," will

PROVINCIAL CHRONOLOGY. 227

not be repeated. When nothing appears to the con-
trary, the locality referred to may be assumed to be St.
John, while the date of the marriage or death is indi-
cated by the figures of the day of the month at the left
of the notice.

MEMORANDA FOR OCTOBER.

1. Ward Chipman appointed chief justice, 1834

2. Schr. Sarah wrecked at Machias Seal Island, 17 lost, 1834

3. "American Gale " in Gulf of St. Lawrence, 1851

4. Arrival of the Fall fleet of Loyalists at St. John, 1783

5. The Saxby Gale, 1869

6. Hon. Charles Simonds and John Robertson delegates

to Canada League, ^49

7. Great Fire at Miramichi, 1825

8. Robert Parker appointed judge, J834

9. Cape Breton made a county of Nova Scotia, 1820

10. Confederation Conference at Quebec, 1864

11. Reformed Presbyterian church, St. John, opened, 1835

12. Wesleyan church at Woodstock burned, "835

13. Subercase surrenders Port Royal, 1710

14. Road from Magaguadavic to Lepreau completed,.. .. 1827

15. Foundation stone Fredericton cathedral laid, ^45

16. Terence Leonard and James McMonagle hanged at

Kingston, Kings, for murder of Bernard Coyle, . . . 1839

17. Great Fire in Pictou coal mines, 1839

1 8. Great Temperance procession, St. John, 1700 in line, 1849

19. Chief Justice Chipman resigned, 1850

20. Great fire in Portland, l&77

21. St. James church, St. John, dedicated, 1851

22. Col. Vetch governor of Nova Scotia, 1710

23. MacDonald Monument at Kingston, Ont., J895

24. Lord Dalhousie governor of Nova Scotia, 1816

25. Royal Tar burned in Penobscot Bay, 1836

26. Market Slip, St. John, enlarged, 1842

27. R. Jardine first president E. & N. A. Railway, 1851

28. Capt. Pipon drowned in River Restigouche, 1846

29. N. S. government offers reward of ^20 for the person

who cut off the ears of John Mullin at Liverpool, 1782

30. Gorham sent to examine French on St. John R., *748

31. Salaries of N. S. judges fixed at £100, 1765

OCTOBER MARRIAGES.

1. DEVEBER-ILLSLEY — 1856. At Portland, Me., by the Rev.

Alex. Burgess, J. S. Boies DeVeber, Esq., of this city,
to Elizabeth R., daughter of R. Illsley, Esq., of that city.

2. MORRISEY-CONNOR — 1843. At Greenwich, K. C., by the

Rev. Mr. Cookson, Mr. George Morrisey of St. John, to
Miss Catherine, youngest daughter of Mr. Thomas
Connor of Kingston.

228 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

3. McCREADY-HARTT— 1835. In Fredericton, by Rev. Fred-

erick W. Miles, Mr. Raymond McCready, Merchant, of
St. John, to Miss Deborah Ann, second daughter of the
late Mr. Henry A. Hartt, of St. John.

4. WALES- WILSON — 1848. By the Rev. William Stewart, Mr.

John Wales, of the Parish of Portland, to Miss Mary
Wilson, of the Parish and County of Saint John.

5. ROBERTSON- ARMSTRONG — 1848. At Greenhead, by the

Rev. William Stewart, Mr. George Robertson, of the
Parish of Portland, to Miss Jane Armstrong, ot the
Parish of Lancaster, County of Saint John.

6. FITZGERALD-CARLETON— 1847. By the Very Rev. Jamet

Dunphy, V. G., Mr. Edward Fitzgerald, to Miss Sarah
Carleton, both of this city.

7. FOWLER-SEDERQUIST — 1851. At the Wesleyan church in

Germain street, by Rev. R. Knight, Mr. Henry B. Fowler
to Miss Sarah C. Sederquist, both of Hampton, Kings
County.

8. BLISS-DIBBLEE — 1851. At Fredericton, by Rev. Charles P.

Bliss, Missionary at Harvey, George J. Bliss, Esq., Bar-
rister at Law, to Susanna Mary, second daughter of
George J. Dibblee, Esq., of Fredericton.

9. DOHERTY-DEVER — 1843. By the Rev. James Dunphy, P.

P., Mr. James Doherty, of Woodstock, to Miss Ann
Dever, of St. John.

10. HATHEWAY-McGiVERN — 1844. At Portland, by Rev. Wm.

Harrison, Mr. James G. Hatheway, of Madawaska, to
Miss Ann McGivern, of St. John.

11. JAMES-SHAW — 1848. At Granville, N. S., by the Rev. J*

Sheppard, James Alexander James, Esq., of Richibucto,
N. B., Barrister at Law, to Phoebe Ann, eldest daughter
of Joseph Shaw, Esquire, of the former place.

12. STEWART- WALLACE — 1843. By the Rev. I. W. D. Gray,

Rector of this Parish, Henry Stewart, Esq., of Digby, N.
S., to Miss Charlotte McLeod Wallace of St. John.

13. MURRAY-HATFIELD — 1835. Bv tne RCV« Robert Wilson,

Mr. Edward Murray, (Branch Pilot for this port,) to Miss
Frances, third daughter of the late Mr. Uriah Hatfield,
of this city.

14. DAVIDSON-BARRON— 1846. At Halifax, by the Rev. John

Cameron, Mr. Thomas Davidson, of St. John, to Miss
Mary Jane Barron, daughter of the late Mr. John Barron,
of Halifax.

15. CoRAM-KiNDRED— 1839. At Carleton, by the Rev. Mr.

Wilson, Mr. John Coram to Miss Jane Kindred, both of
Carleton.

16. BEEK-BARKER— 1835. By the Rev. E. Wood, Mr. James

S. Beek, of Fredericton, to Margaret, daughter of Mr.
George Barker, of Marysville.

PROVINCIAL CHRONOLOGY. 229

17. BELL-BARBOUR — 1839. By Rev. R. Wilson, A. M., Mr.

James Bell, jr., Painter, to Catherine, eldest daughter
of Mr. Robert Barbour, of St. John.

18. PATERSON-HENNIGAR — 1835. At Trinity church, by the

Rev. Dr. Gray, Mr. George E. Paterson, to Jane
Augusta, eldest daughter of Mr. Michael Hennigar, all of
St. John.

19. HATCH-JONES — 1848. At St. Andrews, at the residence of

the bride's father, by the Rev. J. Alley, D. D., Rector,
Wellington Hatch, Esq,, Barrister at Law and Clerk of
the Peace for the County of Charlotte, to Alice, third
daughter of Captain Thomas Jones, late of the 74th Regi-
ment, and High Sheriff of the County.

20. CAMPBELL- WALLACE — 1846. By Rev. Samuel Robinson,

Mr. Samuel Campbell, of the Parish of Greenwich, to
Miss Mary Wallace, of the same place.

21. NEEDHAM-GALE — 1835. By the Rev. Dr. Gray, William

H. Needham, Esquire, of Woodstock, Barrister at Law,
to Miss Mary Ann, second daughter of Mr. Benjamin
Gale, of St. John.

22. DANIEL-EDMUNDS— 1834. At Charlotte Town, P. E. I., by

the Rev. L. C. Jenkins, the Rev. Henry Daniel, Wesleyan
Missionary, Sussex Vale, N. B., to Miss Honor Brandwell
Edmunds, ot Plymouth, England.

23. ScoviL-WiGGiNS — 1834. At St. John, by the Rev. the Rec-

tor of the Parish, Mr. David Scovil, Merchant, to Hannah,
second daughter of the late Samuel Wiggins, Esquire, all
of St. John.

24. HANNAY-SALTER — 1838. By the Rev. Mr. Wilson, the Rev.

James Hannay, Minister of St. Andrew's Church, Richi-
bucto, to Jane, daughter of Mr. Francis Salter, of New-
port, Nova Scotia.

25. CLARK-DODGE— 1843. By the Rev. Michael Pickles, Mr.

Daniel W. Clark, of Carleton, to Miss Amy Amelia Dodge,
of the Parish of Hampton.

26. WARWICK-HAYWARD— 1846. At Studholm, by the Rev. Mr.

Allen, Mr. William Warwick, of the city of St. John, to
Miss Susannah, daughter of Mr. David Hayward, Parish
of Studholm.

27. SEELY-BECKWITH — 1849. At the Cathedral, Fredericton,

by the Rev. Archdeacon Coster, Mr. Abner Seely, of
Burton, to Amelia C., daughter of John A. Beckwith,
Esquire, of Fredericton.

28. MCFARLANE-SEAMAN — 1847. At Christ's Church, Hartford,

Connecticut, by the Rev. Charles R. Fisher, Alexander
McFarlane, Esq., of Amherst, Nova Scotia, Barrister at
Law, to Ann, daughter, of Amos Seaman, Esq., of Minu-
die, N. S.

29. ROBERTS-JONES — 1851. By Rev. W. W. Eaton, Mr. David

Roberts to Miss Mary Elizabeth Jones, both of the Parish
of Portland.

2$o THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

30. CoNNELL-FiSHER — 1848. By the Rev. Mr. Busby, George

Connell, Esquire, Barrister at Law, of Woodstock, to
Mary Ann, only daughter of the late Mr. David Fisher,
of St. John.

31. PEATMAN-FLEWELLING — 1843. — By Rev. W. Scovil, A. M.,

Mr. Norris Peatman, of the Parish of Greenwich, to
Rachel Jane, eldest daughter of Mr. Ezra Flewelling, of
the Parish of Wickham.

DEATHS IN OCTOBER.

1. HICKMAN — 1844* At Dorchester, Mr. Thomas M. Hickman,

in the igth year of his age.

2. WELLS — 1846. In Carleton, of consumption, after a very

painful illness of seven months, which she bore with great
patience and eutire resignation to the will of her Divine
Master, Emeline Amelia, wife of Mr. John P. Wells, and
sixth daughter of John Wightman, Esq., leaving a hus-
band and one child to mourn their loss.

3. TISDALE — 1846. In Trafalgar, Canada West, after a long

and painful illness, Mr. William Tisdale, (formerly of St.
John, N. B.,) deeply regretted by a vast number of friends
with whom he was connected.

4. GARD — 1848. After a short illness, Margaret, wife of Mr.

Thomas Gard, in the 4ist year of her age, leaving a fam-
ily of six children to mourn their irreparable loss.

5. VARLEY — 1849, After seven days' severe affliction, Mr.

Mark Varley, in the 47th year of his age ; highly and
deservedly esteemed by all who knew him, while living,
and whose unexpected and sudden death will be deeply
lamented by his friends and a large circle of acquaint-
ances. Of him it may be said, (if not a perfect) he was
"an upright man, one that feared God and eschewed
evil."

6. DOOLIN — 1849. After a long and tedious illness, which he

bore with Christian fortitude and resignation to the Divine
Will, Mr. Michael Doolin, of the Marsh, in the Parish of
Portland, aged 68 years, leaving a large family and a
numerous circle of friends to mourn their loss.

7. SEGEE — 1846. At Fredericton, Captain James Segee, in the

76th year of his age. Captain Segee was for about twenty
years a master of a Steamboat on the River St. John, and
was universally respected He landed with the Loyalists
at St. John, in 1783, and on the day of his death he had
completed a residence in this Province of exactly 63 years.

8. McGEAGHEY— 1849. Mr- Thomas McGeaghey, in the 34th

year of his age. Mr. McGeaghey was for many years a
very efficient Marshal of this City, and his remains were
followed to the grave on Thursday by a numerous and
respectable number of friends.

PROVINCIAL CHRONOLOGY. 231

9. WELDON — 1848. At Dorchester, John Weldon, Esquire, in
the 75th year of his age. For upwards of half a century
he had been a consistent member of the Wesleyan Meth-
odist Society — was universally esteemed during" his life, —
and is regretted by a numerous circle of friends and re-
lations.

10. DUNHAM — 1839. At Carleton, after a long and painful illness,

aged 81 years, John Dunham, Esq., who for loyalty to his
King, left the land of his birth, and in 1783 came to this
Province to share in the hardships and privations peculiar
to the settlement of a new country. Mr. Dunham has
successively held the situation of Lieutenant and Captain
of the St. John County Regiment of Militia, and in every
department of life, has invariably sustained the character
of an honest man and a worthy member of society.

11. TQLE — 1851. In the 33rd year of her age, Mary consort of

Mr. Patrick Tole, who leaves two children and a large
circle of friends to mourn her loss.

12. PAUL— 1848. At St. John, on Thursday, i2th, Mrs. Abigal

Paul, Widow of the Late Mr, John Paul, in the 84th year
of her age. Mrs. P. came to this Province with the Loy-
alists in the year 1783, and through a long life enjoyed
the respect and esteem of all her friends and acquaint-
ances.

13. GILLIES — 1847. At Norton, Kings County, Mrs. Elizabeth

Gillies, relict of the late Mr. Jesse Gillies of Springfield, in
the 8ist year of her age. Mrs. Gillies had lived to see
her children of the fourth generation, having had 13 chil-
dren, 86 grand children, 145 great grand children, and 7
great great grand children, in all 251.

14. WINSLOW — 1859. At his residence, Upper Woodstock, John

Francis Wentworth Winslow, late Sheriff of Carleton
County, in the 67th year of his age.

15. McPHERSON — 1839, After a long illness, Mr. Joseph Mc-

Pherson, aged 49.

16. NORRIS— 1834. At Cornwallis, N. S., the Rev. Robert

Norris, in the 7oth year of his age, a native -of Bath,
(Eng.) and for many years Rector of St. John's church,
Cornwallis.

17. MARTER — 1857, At Hammond River, Thomas Peter

Marter, Esq., Assistant Commissary General, aged 85.

1 8. FORBES— 1847. At the residence of G. F. Campbell, Esq.,

St. Andrews, Jane, relict of the late Anthony George
Forbes, Esq., M . D.

19. ANDERSON — 1845. At the residence of Chas. Hazen, Esq.,

Union street, after a long and tedious illness, which she
bore with resignation to the Divine Will, Eliza, consort of
George Anderson, Esq., of Musquash, in the Parish of
Lancaster, aged 52 years.

232 NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

20. BACKHOUSE — 1844. At Dorchester, aged 22, Sarah Jane,

eldest daughter of the late Marmaduke L. Backhouse,
Esquire, M. D.

21. BRANNAN — 1859. At Fredericton, Mr. Philip W. Brannan,

for many years messenger of the House of Assembly.

22. LOCKHART — 1834. At St. John, Mr. Edward Lockhart, of

St. John, and formerly of Newport, N. S. — His remains
were interred on the 25th, with Masonic honors.

23. PADDOCK — 1838. After a short but severe illness, Thomas

Paddock, Esquire, Physician and Surgeon. Dr. Paddock
was in the 48th year of his age.

24. LEAVITT — 1850. Thomas Leavitt, Esquire, in the 56th year

of his age. Mr, L. has for several years past been Presi-
dent of the Bank of New Brunswick, &c. He left a wife,
four sons and three daughters, to mourn the loss of a
kind and affectionate husband and parent.

25. PARTELOW — 1849. At Burton, County of Sunbury, deeply

regretted, Henry T. Partelow,. Esquire, aged 45 years,
leaving a wife and seven children to lament their loss.
Mr. Partelow was brother of the Hon. J. R. Partelow,
Provincial Secretary, and filled, satisfactorily, many im-
portant public situations. He represented the County in
which he died several years in the General Assembly of
the Province.

26. CORAM — 1848. At Carleton, Mr. Joseph Coram, Senior, in

the yoth year of his age. Mr. C. emigrated to this
country from Englund many years ago, and has left a
large number of relatives and friends to mourn their loss.

27. HUNTER — 1839. In King street, after a short illness, which

he bore with the most exemplary patience and resigna-
tion, John Hunter, Esquire, M. D., of Letterkenny, (Ire-
land) in the 49th year of his age, deeply and deservedly
regretted by a numerous family, and all who had the
pleasure of his acquaintance.

28. LAWRENCE — 1843. Mr. Alexander Lawrence of St. John, in

the 56th year of his age.

29. WILLISTON — 1836. At Miramichi, Mrs. Jane, wife of Mr'

J ohn Williston, in the 29th year of her age.

30. BEATTIE — 1849. At Fredericton, Mary, wife of Mr. Nath-

aniel Beattie, and daughter of the late Mr. William Segee,
of that city, in the 44th year of her age.

31. BRUNDAGE— 1846. At Carleton, Mrs. Hannah A. Brundage,

relict of of the late Mr. Daniel Brundage, in the 48th year
of her age.

Notes on Provincial Bibliography are held over
this month.

LATE CHIEF JUSTICE OF NEW BRUNSWICK,

The I(ew Brunswick JWagazine.

VOL. I. NOVEMBER, 1898. No. 5

SIR JOHN CAMPBELL ALLEN.

The passing away of Sir John Campbell .Allen,
retired chief justice of New Brunswick, is one of the
events of contemporary history which are within the
province of this magazine. It would, indeed, be fitting
that more than a brief tribute should be paid to one
who was not only descended from a Loyalist ancestor of
no common renown, but whose own life as a public
man was a connecting link between the days of the
Loyalists themselves and the eve of the twentieth cen^
tury. These things, which it is hoped will be dealt
with at a later date by one well competent to do them
justice, would of themselves be sufficient to entitle the
late jurist to more than ordinaty mention, but above
and beyond these stands out the man himself, a grand
figure in the history of colonial jurisprudence, conspicu-
ous even in association with those illustrious judges
who preceded him in the exercise of his high judicial
function. This is not only the opinion of to-day, but
it will be the verdict of the future.

The Honorable Isaac Allen, grandfather of the late
chief justice, having served his king in the Revolution-
ary war as colonel of a New Jersey regiment, came to

234 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

the provinces with his family at the close of the struggle,,
and on the organization of the supreme court of New
Brunswick, in 1784, was appointed one of the four
judges. His son, John Allen, born in the last named
year, was subsequently Colonel Allen, a prominent
public man who was one of the judges of the inferior
court of common pleas, and for thirty-five years continu-
ously represented the county of York in the General
Assembly. He died at the advanced age of ninety-
one years. John Campbell Allen, his son, was born in
1817, and in 1838, at the age of twenty-one, was
admitted an attorney of the supreme court of New
Brunswick. This was the beginning of a long and
honorable service at the bar and on the bench of his
native province, which terminated only when, in
November, 1893, after fifty-five years of earnest work,
he was stricken by paralysis while at the post of duty.
Five years later, on the 27th of September last, he
passed away, leaving behind him the precious heritage
of a good name, which shall endure undimmed down
through the generations that shall follow us.

In all the varied epochs of his public life, as a
lawyer, a legislator, a crown officer and a judge, Srr
John Allen dignified and adorned the position he held.
His positions came all unsought by him, because he
was recognized as the right man in each instance.
When he had reached the highest position on the
bench, his name as a jurist and a gentleman found fit
association with such names as those of the chief
justices from Ludlow to Ritchie. He was made a judge
because he was worthy to be one, and when he became
a judge he had in him that which commanded respect,
wholly apart from the scant and formal courtesy which
would be of necessity due to the position. He belonged
to the old regime of judges, to whom the most swagger-
ing latter-day attorney felt impelled to doff his hat on the

SIR JOHN CAMPBELL ALLEN. 235

street. He added to the dignity of the bench, by his
sound learning, his good judgment and his absolute
fairness to all with whom he had to do. Equally in
private life he was a gentleman, who would have been
distinguished as such in whatever position he might
have held, for, with much force of character, he fulfilled
the primary meaning of the term "a gentle man."
Temperate, as well in his language as in his tastes, his
personal character was above reproach. What is still
more important, he was a man whose religion was dear
to him and who lived a life in accordance with the
teachings of his faith. In a word, he was of the cast
of man to make the upright judge, and as such he will
be remembered.

Much could properly be said of Sir John Allen in
his many relations of life, of the brilliant phases of his
career, of what he accomplished, and of his lifelong
interest in his native province, its history, its people
and its resources. His title, accorded to him atter half
a century of professional life, was not needed to adorn
or dignify the man. In the light of some instances of
the distribution of colonial honors in recent years, it
may be said that the man dignified the title. It was
not given to him only because he was chief justice of
New Brunswick, but because he was also John Campbell
Allen. Well would it be if such wise judgment were
always exercised in the conferring of titles in Canada.

It is something for those who come after us to re-
member that, whatever may be ttye stamp of men who
sit upon the bench in future years, we have at least had
such jurists as Chipman, Parker, Carter, Ritchie and
Allen as chief justices of New Brunswick — men differ-
ing essentially one from another in certain respects, but
all alike worthy of their high station and all alike add-
ing to its lustre.

THE QUEER BURGLAR.

Though some account of the Queer Bank Burglar

given by the writer, in one of the St. John news-
papers, a year or two ago, it was of an incomplete and
fragmentary character. Since then additional inform-
ation has been obtained, so that the story may now be
told in a more accurate and readable form.

The burglar in question was the only man who
ever undertook to rob the Bank of New Brunswick by
breaking into it, though, as with all banks, there have
been and are likely to be other attempts to get at the
money by more respectable, though not more honest,
gentlemen. Some of these latter efforts have been at-
tended with success, but the experiment of the Queer
Burglar was a most disastrous failure.

There was no police force in the city of St. John in
•the year 1848, but there were a number of men who
composed the " Nightly Watch," and who did more or
less efficient patrol duty during the hours of darkness.
The darkness of the streets in those days was of a fair-
ly complete description, for though the city was lighted
by gas, the lamps were at long distances from each
other and were not a very serious check upon the
actions of evil-doers. When a watchman discovered
anything wrong he summoned his comrades to his aid,
and though they might not always respond in time to
catch the thieves, the latter were at least sufficiently
alarmed to desist from their felonious purpose and get
away, figuring as the anonymous actors in what the
newspapers of the time would term a " daring attempt
at burglary."

About two o'clock in the morning of Thursday,
the I3th of January, 1848, the captain of the Nightly

THE QUEER BURGLAR. 237

Watch, weighted down with a blue greatcoat faced
with scarlet, and armed with sundry weapons and a
lantern, climbed the steep ascent between the ferry land-
ing and Prince William street, and stopped to take
breath at what is now the Post Office corner, where
there was then only a vacant lot with a board fence
around it. Peering through the darkness, he was
amazed to see a ladder leaning against the front of the
Bank of New Brunswick, and on closer examination he
was still more astonished to discover a man on the top
of the ladder, trying to get in one of the small windows
in the second story, the windows of the lower story
being protected by iron shutters. Assuming very prop-
erly that an honest glazier would have no business
there at such an inconvenient hour on a winter morn-
ing, the captain lost no time in deciding that the man.
on the ladder was a person who ought to be arrested.

The captain of the Nighly Watch was a man of
discretion, as well as of valor. Reflecting that the man
might have accomplices, he refrained from rushing at
him with blind officiousness, but raised his voice in a
loud cry for assistance from the watch house at the
Market Square. His men came promptly to his aid,
but by that time the man on the ladder had come to the
conclusion that it would be impracticable to continue
his operations under the circumstances, and had fled
down the street, leaving the ladder behind, as well as
his cap, which had fallen off in the haste of his de-
parture. These trophies were secured and carried in
triumph to the watch house.

This bold attempt at burglary was duly chronicled
in the press, and it is probable the Nightly Watch made
up their minds that the next time such an attempt was
made the fellow would suffer for it, but if they exercised
their eyes in looking for another ladder against the
front of the building they were on a vain quest. The

238 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Queer Burglar had another kind of scheme for the next
occasion.

The officials at the bank seem to have taken it for
granted that the Queer Burglar had been so frightened
by the mighty voice of the captain of the Nightly
Watch that he would never come back, for they took
no special precaution of having a guard on the premises
at night, and the janitor, one McArdle, lived in Queen
street. The Queer Burglar was aware of this, but he
was not in a hurry. The bank could wait until the
weather was milder, and to ensure the success of his
plan it was necessary for the weather to be so mild that
the fires were not kept up. In the meantime, pending
a resumption of his operations at the leading financial
institution, he employed his talents at some smaller
jobs in other parts of the city.

There had been some burglaries of stores before
the attempt at the bank, and these were continued dur-
ing the winter, without any clue to the perpetrator, but
it is a reasonable presumption that the Queer Burglar
was at the bottom of most of them, if not of all. Two
nights after he was frightened away from the bank, the
store of John Kirk, North wharf, within gunshot of the
watch house, was robbed of about $12 in cash and $160
worth of goods. It was supposed that the burglar hid
himself on the premises during the day, but as he took
his departure through a hole in the wharf, it is probable
that such was also his method of entrance. This was
also his way of getting into the store of Clark and Mc-
Mann, on the South wharf, which he plundered on the
following Thursday night, securing some $16 in money,
a roll of cloth and some other articles. As will be seen
later, the Queer Burglar had a fancy for getting into
buildings through holes, whether they were above or
below the premises.

During the following week, there were robberies

THE QUEER BURGLAR. 239

at the store of Henry jBlakslee, Princess street, Richard
Justice, Union street and Robert Rankin & Co., Port-
land. From the nature and quantity of the goods car-
ried off in some instances, it was apparent that the Queer
Burglar had an assistant. Then the newspapers began
to abuse the guardians of the peace, whom they termed
4t the unlucky watchmen."

The roberies were continued through February.
On the night of the 3rd, the house, in Paddock street,
occupied by Capt. Vaughan was entered by way of the
kitchen window, and valuables to the amount of $160
were taken. On the night of the I2th, Keltic's brewery
was entered by crawling under the gate and breaking
through a window, on which occasion the Queer Burg-
lar got $16 in cash and a gun and pistol. Smith's bake
shop was also robbed, a night or two later. On the
latter occasion the Queer Burglar took the loose change
and a quantity of floun On the night of the 23rd he
broke into the store of Harris & Allan, Mill street, but
got only a few shillings and the metal seal of Portland
Division, Sons of Temperance, whatever he wanted
with that. By this time the newspaper compositors
began to think that it would be a saving of composition
to keep the heading of " Another Burglary " standing
in type, to be used for each week's intelligence in this
line of local industry.

Having done a good deal of work without any very
heavy results, the Queer Burglar seems to have thought
it was high time to put his talents to better use, and
his next venture was at no less a place than the Post
Office, which was then located in the Custom House
building. In addition to the deputy postmaster-general
and surveyor, this establishment was then deemed to
be amply equipped with a staff of three clerks, one of
whom got $400 a year and the two others $360 each.
About ten o'clock on the night of March 3, one of these

240 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

clerks went to the office for some purpose, and on^
lighting the gas discovered a man in the back room,
packing up the loose coin to carry away with him.
The clerk locked the door upon the intruder and gave
the alarm, but the Queer Burglar did not wait for
reinforcements to arrive and capture him. He simply
broke a pane of glass in the window, got out on a
platform in the rear of the building, made a jump of
about fifteen feet to the ground on Water street, and
got away. He took about $12 in silver, but he left
behind him a screw driver and the latch key by which
he had got into the building.

By this time both the citizens and the Nightly
Watch began to feel very much annoyed at the pertin-
acity of the Queer Burglar, but as the next few weeks
passed without the occurence of any further robberies,
the Nightly Watch probably concluded that they had
made the city so hot for the fellow that he would not
be heard from again. It did not occur to them that he
was merely reserving his energies for another and still
more daring achievement.

Some time before this, two strangers had rented a
room in a house on Union street, next to the residence
of Mark Dole, and though they were somewhat of a
mystery to the neighbors, nobody appears to have
connected them with the burglaries. One of their
peculiarities was that they remained in the house during
the daytime and only went out after dark. One of the
two was a very stout man. The other, who was much
slighter, was a man of about 20 years of age, some
five feet six in height, of pale complexion, with high
cheek bones and light brown hair. The latter was the
Queer Burglar, and the other was his assistant, who
acted as outside man in the nocturnal depredations.

The moon was not visible on the night of March,
31, 1848, but it^was a pleasant enough evening for

THE QUEER BURGLAR. 241

ordinary purposes and a specially good night for the
work of the Queer Burglar. It was also an evening
when some of the young men who were the life of the
town in those days were strolling around, not up to
any particular mischief but ready for any adventure
that might suggest itself to them. One of these parties
consisted of James Reynolds, Robert Nisbet, William
Hutchinson, Thomas Sandall, George Ford and John
Murphy — known to a later generation as " Colonel"
Murphy. About nine o'clock this party chanced to
stroll in the vicinity of the Bank of New Brunswick,
where they found one of the Nightly Watch standing
on the street and gazing earnestly at the building.
This structure, which was destroyed in the fire of 1877,
had four large freestone pillars which formed a portico
at the front, and the youths, wishing to make merry
with the watchman, asked him if he was trying to
count these pillars to see if they were all there. His
reply was that he had heard a man shouting for help,
and that the sound appeared to come from inside of the
bank, but that he could hear the mysterious voice still
more plainly on Water street, in the rear of the build-
ing. To this place the whole party went, and sure
enough the sound could be distinctly heard, though
nobody could understaud from what particular place it
came.

To the south of the rear of the bank in Water
street was the Merritt building, and in front of this
was a plank sidewalk. By lying on the sidewalk and
putting their ears to it, the voice could be heard more
distinctly than before. As near as they could make out
the words, the voice kept repeating " I'm in the vault,"
and this left little doubt that the solution of the mystery
was to be found inside the bank building.

In the meantime, however, various other citizens
had heard the noise from other positions in the vicinity,

242 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

and a dreadful noise it was at times. To some it
appeared like the howl of a dog, while others made out
the words, "I'm in the vault! Let me out! Let me out!"
as if from a being* in mortal agony. A vain search was
made around the wharves in the vicinity, on the theory
that some person might have got into a place from
which he could not extricate himself, and there were not
wanting sceptics who asserted that the whole affair was
the work of a clever ventriloquist. Others carried the
word up town that a ghost was abroad, and as the
night advanced the crowd began to increase, and the
mystery to deepen.

The watchman and the young men already men-
tioned were satisfied that the noise came from some
part of the bank building, but as the fun seemed likely
to last for a while, Mr. Reynolds and his friends con-
cluded to fortify themselves with a supper. It was
then about eleven o'clock.

Having refreshed themselves, they then returned
to the scene of the mystery. In the meantime they had
been joined by Ned Carmichael, an active fellow who
had been to sea, and was as ready as the others to
engage in this adventure. By this time it had been
decided that the voice came from the chimney and they
decided to investigate. They accordingly got a ladder,
gained the roof of the mayor's office, south of the bank,
and then used the ladder to reach the roof of the bank
itself. The top of the chimney did not rise high above
the slates, and it was easy for anybody to bend over it
and listen for the sounds.

" Yes, boys, he's there," shouted Carmichael, and
the excitement of the now largely increased crowd in
the street grew intense. The practical suggestion was
made that a rope with a bowline on the end be lowered
down the flue, so that the man could take hold and be
pulled up. A line was accordingly procured and let

THE QUEER BURGLAR. 243

down until it slacked. Then some willing hands took
hold and began to pull. It came hard at first, as
though the man had hold of it, then it suddenly came
away as though he had let go. On calling to him his
voice seemed more faint than before, and it was argued
that he must have dropped down deeper and become
wedged more firmly in the flue. Another and more
startling theory was that, being wedged in with his
arms at his side, he could not have grasped the line,
but that it had caught under his chin and would have
hanged him had it not slipped off in time. It was then
decided to take no further chances with the rope, but
to send for somebody who could open the bank and get
at the chimney from the inside of the building.

As already stated, McArdle, the caretaker of the
bank, lived in Queen street, so some of the party went
to his house and woke him up. Now, Mr. McArdle
had a very good idea of the capacity of the young men
of that day for all sorts of pranks, and when he was
aroused at midnight on the first of April he flattered
himself that he was wise enough to detect an April
Fool trick when it was tried on him, especially when it
was in the nature of such an improbable yarn as that
a man was in the chimney of the bank. Mr. McArdle
declined to accept the statement of the delegation, but
when they insisted and protested, he began to think
there must be something in the story. He refused to
take the responsibility of opening up the bank, how-
ever, so Mr. Reynolds started to rouse up the president,
Mr. Thomas Leavitt, who lived at the corner of Orange
and Carmarthen streets.

When Mr. Leavitt was roused from his slumber,
he was inclined to be just as doubtful as Mr. McArdle
had been. He asked young Reynolds his name, and
on learning who he was seemed more suspicious of
a trick than ever, from which it seemed evident that

244 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

the youth's reputation as a joker had preceded him.
Reynolds seemed so much in earnest, however, that Mr.
Leavitt decided to go, but he insisted that the young
man should wait and go in his company, so that if there
was a practical joke he would have the author of it in
his grasp. It was then some time after midnight.

On reaching the bank, Mr. Leavitt opened the door
and the party entered, to look for the man who was
somewhere in the flue of the chimney.

The first point was to find out just where he was,
and the next was to get him out as soon as possible^
as it was evident he would never get out by his own
exertions. Not only did common humanity demand
such a course, but if the intruder's body were allowed
to remain there it would interfere with the draft,
besides becoming offensive in course of time. Masons
were accordingly sent for, and went to work with their
chisels to cut a hole through the inner wall to the inside
of the chimney.

As the precise location of the imprisoned man was
not known, the first step was to hammer on the chim-
ney in order to judge of his position by his responses.
He responded with more fearful howls than before, for
the concussion loosened masses of soot and ashes,
which fell on his head and around him until he was
well nigh suffocated. The hammering was then
stopped, and the cutting into the chimney was begun
on the theory that the man had got down to where the
flue narrowed, about twenty feet from the top of the
chimney, and had there become wedged hand and foot.
This theory was correct, and fortunately for the man
the cutting away was begun at a. height corresponding
to where his head was. Had they started at his feet,
the continued falling of the soot would have caused his
death before he could have been rescued.

It was bad enough for him as it was, and his

THE QUEER BURGLAR. 245

groans were heard to be more and more feeble.
Finally a small hole was made and the soot pulled out,
showing" something supposed to be a human face, but
so blackened that only the whites of the eyes could be
seen. The hammers and chisels were plied with
renewed vigor, and the poor wretch was in great peril
from the pieces of flying brick. At last the aperture
was made large enough for somebody to clear away all
the debris around the head and shoulders, and then as
the man seemed nearly dead, a glass of brandy was
administered to him. The masons continued their
work until enough of the brickwork was torn away to
allow the whole body to be pulled out, for it was so
wedged where the legs had gone down into the narrow
part of the flue that the man was held hard and fast.

When the captive was taken out, he was laid on
the floor and some of the soot brushed from his face.
He was a stranger to all, but James Reynolds thought
he must have seen him before, and started to question
him.

" Do you feel pretty weak?" he asked in a sym-
pathetic voice.

"No, I don't," was the reply in a gruff and sav-
age jone.

"Don't I know you?" continued the young man.

" No, you don't" was the same gruff response.

"Well, now, what is your name?" was the next
question.

"Go to (somewhere) and find out," was the
answer, given so viciously that it closed the conversa-
tion.

By this time it was between four and five o'clock
in the morning. The prisoner, pale despite the soot
with which his face was decorated, was taken to the
watch house, examined in due course before a
magistrate and committed to take his trial at the next

246 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

sitting of the circuit court, in August. There were
then only two sittings in the year for St. John. The
Queer Burglar was therefore locked up in gaol to
meditate tor the next four months, and the public con-
gratulated themselves that justice had at last overtaken
a desperate offender. He gave his name as John
Slater, and his occupation as that of a baker.

It appeared that he had first made his entrance
into the furniture warerooms of Joshua Hogan, two
doors south of the bank, and going to the garret had
got out on the roof. Making his way over the roof of
the next building, then used as the mayor's office, he
had easily gained the roof of the bank and descended
the flue, It was believed he had at least one accom-
plice, who was waiting to be admitted by way of a
window if the Queer Burglar's plan of entrance had
succeeded. The bank officials lost no time in putting
iron bars in the chimneys, in order to prevent any
repetition of such an experiment.

Tuesday, the first of August, was the day appoint-
ed for the court of oyer and terminer and general gaol
delivery, but on the night of Wednesday, July 26,
there was a special gaol delivery by the escape of Slater,
in company with two others confined for minor offences.
The sheriff, Charles Johnston, offered a reward of $40
for the recapture of Slater, but the latter disappeared
very effectually and was never again seen in St. John.
At the opening of the court, Judge Street recommended
that bills should be found against the three who
escaped, and the grand jury did as directed, though it
might as well have saved the time and ink required for
the operation. The Queer Burglar was never again
seen within the jurisdiction of the honorable court, and
the reward of ten pounds offered by Sheriff Johnston
for his recapture never had a claimant.

• W. K. REYNOLDS.

A MISPLACED GENIUS*

This first steam fog alarm in America and in the
world was that invented by Robert Foulis and built at
Partridge Island, at the entrance of St John harbor.
To him also is due the credit of the invention of the
system of signalling by steam at sea in foggy weather.
The fog alarm which is at the Island to-day is essentially
that which was placed there by Foulis. There have
been some modifications and adaptations since his time,
the clock-work attachment is no longer used, but the
great principle of the invention remains as it was.
More than this, the Foulis whistle is heard along the
coast of America and beyond the ocean, but the credit
and the emoluments have alike gone to others who
have profited by what was one of the great inventions
of the time, which the inventor had not the commer-
cial instinct to protect by patents which might have
made him, or those who followed him, wealthy beyond
the dreams of avarice.

Here and there throughout the world the visitor to
fog signal stations may read the name of this or that
man as the patentee of the alarm itself or of some petty
improvement. The name of Robert Foulis is not even
recorded above his grave in the Rural Cemetery of the
city of his adoption, and of the thousands who pass the
spot scarcely any know that there rests beneath the
earth the earthly frame of one who should have been a
great man, and would have been one had he possessed
the business instinct in even a small ratio to his ability
and the extent of his scientific attainments. Had
Foulis had a different environment, had he been under

•The substance of this paper was read by Mr. Hall before the Natural
History Society, at St. John, in April, 1898, and it is now published with some
changes and additional information. — ED.

248 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

the guidance of a clear sighted patron, he would have
been a famous man. As it was, he lived and died a
misplaced genius.

Robert Foulis was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on
the 5th of May, 1796. His father, Andrew Foulis,
was the successor to that celebrated firm of Glasgow
publishers, Andrew and Robert Foulis, which produced
so many beautiful and accurate editions of the classic
authors. His mother was a Miss Dewar. After pass-
ng through the usual school career he was sent to the
university of his native town, where for some time he
bent his energies to the study of surgery. Unfor-
tunately his strength was overtaxed, and he was forced
to abandon further study until his health should have
improved. In the meantime he received and accepted
an offer from a friend of his father to join a whaling
expedition in the capacity of surgeon. Returning
home after an extended voyage, he decided to abandon
the study of surgery, and apprenticed himself to a
relative named Thompson, who was engaged in the
engineering business. On becoming a journeyman he
removed to Belfast, where he followed the profession of
a painter under the patronage of a nobleman whose
name is now forgotten. Here he met his first wife, a
Miss Elizabeth Heatham, by whom he had a daughter.
The death of his wife occured not long after this, how-
ever, and he determined to try his fortune in the new
world, choosing Ohio as his destination. With this
intention he took passage in a vessel bound for a port
in the United States, but it was fated that he should
never reach the point for which he had started. Very
rough weather was encountered on the voyage, and the
vessel was finally cast away on the coast of Nova
Scotia. Making his way to Halifax, he was induced
by some of his countrymen to remain instead of pro-
ceeding to his destination. Here he lived by his

A MISPLACED GENIUS. 249

brush, where some of his portraits, it is said, may now
be seen. Although he succeeded beyond his expecta-
tions, his roving- disposition asserted itself, and he
removed to St. John about the year 1822, where his
card appears in the papers of the day as a miniature
painter. In this, judged by the portraits which still exist
and which show excellent work, he was well qualified
to succeed, but the field for portrait painting was
limited. Abandoning this vocation a little later, he
devoted himself to civil engineering, making researches
meanwhile into the various fields of the science of
chemistry. His residence was at the corner of Sydney
and St. Andrews streets.

In the year 1825, Mr. Foulis started the first iron
foundry in New Brunswick, on the premises near the
corner of Prince William and Duke streets, north of
the present Custom house. His operations were on a
small scale, it is true, but he was the first meltcr of
iron in the city and province, and the premises were
subsequently enlarged to accommodate an extensive
foundry business by Thomas C. Everitt and others.*

In 1826 the Provincial Government, having in view
the application of steam-navigation to the trade con-
nected with the upper portion of the St. John river,
determined to institute a survey from Fredericton to
Grand Falls. Foulis was appointed to carry on the
work, received his instructions 2ist June, 1826, and
on the 2ist August, precisely two months after, he
submitted his map and report. " It is a grand map,"
writes Prof. Ganong, "very detailed — gives by levels
the drop in the river for the entire distance covered by
the survey." Another authority who possesses a copy
declares that the map is well executed and shows that
the surveyor was a capable man. Apparently it has

•The first foundry on a large scale was that of Harris & Allan, in 1831.
The Foulis foundry was purchased and enlarged by Everitt and others in 1835.—
ED.

250 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

not outlived its usefulness, for the General Report of
the Minister of Public Works from 3oth June, 1867, to
ist July, 1882, contains a " Tabular View of the River
St. John from Fredericton to the Great Falls " which is
bassed upon this very survey. The report is lengthy,
about equal to fourteen type-written pages, and is to
be found in the Journals of the House of Assembly for
1826.

Foulis was personally interested in the develop-
ment of steam navigation, and was employed by the
Messrs. Ward to fit up the steamer John Ward, the
second boat placed on the St. John river. This won-
derful steamer for those times was most expensively
and thoroughly constructed, having a costly copper
boiler and other parts of the machinery on a like liberal
scale. It was put on the route to Fredericton in the
year 1831.

Mr. Foulis was both a worker and a talker. At
various periods of his career he lectured on scientific
subjects, keeping in view the practical application of
them to the useful arts and manufactures. One of his
aims was to instruct apprentices and artizans in the
higher knowledge of their vocations. After leaving the
foundry, he secured premises in the Hay building, in
Prince William street, later the site of Smith's building,
on the lot south of the present Globe office. An eye
witness* thus speaks of the place and the lectures : —

"My earliest reminisence of Mr. Foulis must be
somewhere between 1837-1840. I recall a curious
shaped building, the upper stories used as a paint shop
and the roof of the lower story on sunny days display-
ing a variety of chairs • fresh from the brush.' Open-
ing on Prince William street were two or three small
shops in which Mr. Foulis delivered a course of lec-
tures on chemistry. On one side of the shop, behind

•Mr. Allan McBeath of St. John.

A MISPLACED GENIUS.

the counter, were shelves, upon which a pile of instru-
ments, retorts, etc., were arranged ; on the counter
stood an electric machine, Leyden jars and other appa-
ratus, all of deep interest to the lads who composed the
audience principally. The other side was filled with
seats rising1 upward on an inclined plane ; a flag
stretched across the front hid the operation from out-
side gazers and excluded draughts from the doors. As I
have no recollection of door-keeper or display of admis-
sion tickets, I judge that the lecture was to a great
extent free, the object being to awaken an interest in
his auditors, — most of the older lads being apprentices
to whom a knowledge of chemistry might prove very
useful.' The stiffness of a lecttire was lacking, and at
its close considerable discussion ensued at the counter.
The audience behaved well, and if the experiments did
not always meet the promise, they cheerfully accepted
the apologies and hoped for better luck next time."

This was in 1838. Though the lectures were, in-
some cases, free to casual visitors, as suggested above,
yet Mr. Foulis evidently hoped to add to his small re-
sources by subscriptions from those who wished to
take regular courses, for his advertisement reads as
follows : —

SCHOOL OF ARTS.

R"POULIS intimates to his friends that
• *• he is now fitting up a commodious
Room in Mr. T. HAY'S building-, Prince William
Street, where he will commence in a few days his
proposed course of Lectures on PRACTICAL CHE-
MISTRY. He will also open Classes for teaching
Figures, Architectural and Mechanical Drawing,
thejprincipals of perspectve, and the Elements of
Mechanics.

Those persons who wish to attend either of the
above Classes, will please make early application.

August 4th, 1838.

A week or two later, the idea of the lectures
became developed into that of a School of Arts, or " a

252 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

'Seminary for the instruction of Youth in the rudiments
of Mechanical and Experimental Philosophy and the
Fine Arts ; also for instructing by popular Lectures and
Experimental Illustration, an Evening Class for Arti-
zans, where the practical application of the Sciences
to the useful Arts will be demonstrated." Mr. Foulis
further gives reasons why the patronage of the public
should be expected, and announces that the lectures
will be continued weekly for three months. The
charges for admission tickets are regulated as follows : —

" Transferable Tickets for the Course, 2os ; Artizan's
Tickets, (not transferable,) 55. — Free Tickets will be given to a
limited number of young1 men, on their producing1 a recommend-
ation from a subscriber. — Ladies who accompany their friends
admitted without tickets."

Mr. Foulis offered himself for the office of assist-
ant alderman for King's ward at the civic elections of
1839, giving as his reason the belief that his knowledge
as an engineer would be of service to the city. It is
probable that he withdrew before polling day, however,
for the fight seems to have been between Messrs. John
Knollin and Joseph Fair weather, the latter of whom
was elected.

From letters patent, dated August 17, 1852, it is
learned that Foulis "had firstly invented a new and
useful apparatus for decomposing coal and other hydro-
carbons for the purpose of manufacturing therefrom a
superior gas for illumination, and also a new and econ-
omical mode of purifying the same, which apparatus
the petitioner styled his Hydro-Olifiant Gas Generator,
and secondly the petitioner had invented an apparatus
for the purpose of decomposing empyreumatic and es-
sential oils and other liquid Hydro-carbons and for
converting the same into illuminating gas. The second
-apparatus the petitioner styled the Unique Gas Maker,
as it contained the means of decomposing the material
so to be used." This document proceeds to explain at

A MISPLACED GENIUS. 253,

length the working of the apparatus, with frequent
reference to diagrams without which no clear descrip-
tion can be given, and is signed by Colonel Freeman;
Murray, of the 72nd, acting governor, J. R. Partelow,,
registrar, and John Ambrose Street, attorney general.

Another work of Mr. Foulis was to draw attention*
to the mineral wealth of Albert county. He spent both
time and money in sinking a shaft in that region, only
to find that he could not operate it because it was on
another man's property.

Prior to the year 1854 there was no fog horn on
Partridge Island, and warning was given to mariners
by means of a bell, which operated by clock-work, rang
out at intervals. The need of some more effective
means was greatly felt. Foulis was the first to solve
the problem, and between the years 1854-9 he agitated
the adoption of a steam horn or whistle. It seems,
however, that a gentleman named T. T. Vernon Smith
became possessor of Foulis's plans, and made applica-
tion to the Commissioner of Lights in the Bay of Fundy
to erect such a whistle on Partridge Island. The Com-
missioner finally accepted Mr. Smith's offer, and in 1859
the erection was begun by Fleming & Humbert,
engineers, under his superintendence. Mr. Foulis then
petitioned the House of Assembly to inquire into his
claim to the invention. The petition was presented by
Hon. John H. Gray on April 2, 1864, and on the nth
a list of documents connected with the matter was laid
upon the table. Later the select committee appointed
to consider the claim, submitted its report. After stat-
ing the facts as outlined above, it declared that the
whistle was made on the plan originally suggested by
Foulis, and that Mr. Smith did not pretend to be the
inventor. The committee also endorsed the scheme for
t( Telegraphing by means of the steam horn from vessel
to vessel by a pre-concerted plan of sounds and -

1:1 H

der
h r

QCl

3U11

I

A MISPLACED GENIUS. 255

that his discourses were too technical to be enjoyed by
the casual listener.

Mention has been made of the daughter who was
born at Belfast, in 1817. She was sent to her grand-
father's sister in Edinburgh, with whom she lived until
the death of that relation, and there she received her
early education. Her father went to Scotland and
brought her to St. John when she was about twelve
years old, and in course of time she founded an
academy for young ladies, which enjoyed considerable
popularity. Her father assisted, delivering lectures on
chemistry once a week, and some of the ladies of today
will vividly recall his impatience at stupidity or want of
attention on the part of the pupils. Miss Foulis died
in Kentville on the 22nd of October 1896, and is well
remembered as a gentlewoman of wide culture. Her
father married a second time, and two of the five
children of that union survive him.

Like his grandfather and father, Robert Foulis died
in poverty ; -not, indeed, in such destitution as the
newspaper accounts of that time (Jan. 26, 1866) would
lead us to belief, but still in very poor circumstances.
He lies buried in lot No. 1061 Juniper Path, Rural
Cemetery, but no stone marks his resting place.

Mr. Foulis is described rs a man of middle height,
spare, and of rather a florid complexion. His eyes
were blue, eyebrows long and well marked, hair brown
and somewhat wavy. A miniature of his father is said
to resemble him, particularly as regards the upper part
of the face, from which I gather that he possessed a
very remarkable forehead.

Surgeon, mechanical and civil engineer, artist,
engraver, inventor, foundryman, lecturer, scientist, —
in all more or less successful, — as a business man he
was a failure. Of a trustful disposition, he sometimes
placed confidence in those who took advantage of his

256 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

simplicity, and to this weakness is to be attributed
much of his want of business success. Let us, then,
remember Robert Foulis as a man of remarkable gifts,
as one of our pioneer scientists, and as one who was
deeply interested in the welfare, educational and other-
wise, of his adopted city. He did much for others with
little profit to himself. In another sphere and under
other conditions he might have had both wealth and
power. As it was, he seems to have been a misplaced
genius. PERCY G. HALL.

NOTE- — The maiden name of the first wife of Mr. Foulis,
misprinted as Heatham in the first part of this paper, should read
Leatham.

OUR FIRST FAMILIES.

Third Paper.

Among the persons named in the census of Acadia
taken in 1671, are Jean Blanchard, aged 60, his wife
Radegonde Lambert and six children, three sons and
three daughters. Blanchard was only moderately well
off ; being the owner of 1 2 head of cattle and 9 sheep,
and having cultivated the year the census was taken,
five arpents of land. As the age of his oldest child is
given as 28, he must have been married as early as
1642 and, perhaps, several years earlier, in the days oj
LaTour and Charnisay. He was undoubtedly one of
the original settlers of Acadia and was probably mar-
ried in France. As his name does not appear among
the other '• ancient inhabitants " who signed the certifi-
cate or memorial of October 1687 in reference to the
work dc ne by Charnisay in Acadia, it may be presumed
that Jean Blanchard was not then living. If alive in
1687, he would have been 76 years of age. Jean had
one son married, Martin, aged 24 years, who had taken
for his wife Fransoise LeBland, a daughter of Daniel

OUR FIRST FAMILIES. 257

LeBland or LeBlanc. Madeline, the oldest daughter,
whose age is given as 28, was the wife of Michel Richard*
and had seven children. As her oldest child was
14, she must have either been married very young or
there is some mistake in her age. But early marriages
seem to have been the rule in that family, for her sister
Anne, the widow of Francois Aucoin, although her age
is only given as 26, had a child 12 years old. Many of
the Acadian women of that time married when very
young, most of them were wives before they had
reached the age of 20.

The other children of Jean Blanchard, William,
aged 21, Bernard, aged 18, and Marie, aged 15, were
living at home with their parents when the census of
1671 was taken. When the census of 1686 was taken,
all the members of the Blanchard family were still living
at Port Royal, but the census of 1714 shows that some
of them had removed to Mines. Port Royal, however,
continued the home of most of the Blanchards for many
years. In 1730, when the inhabitants of the Annapolis
River took the oath of allegiance, the roll was signed
by six adult males of the name of Blanchard. There
were only two families of that name deported from
Mines by Winslow in 1755, but in 1752, among the
Acadians who were under the protection of Fort
Beausejour, were thirteen families of Blanchards, two
from Port Royal, two from Petitcodiac, one from Men-
urdy, three from Shepody and six from Memramcook.
There are now about one hundred families of the name
in New Brunswick, three fourths of whom live in the
County of Gloucester, and most of the remainder in
Kent. In Nova Scotia there are only a few families of
that name. In this province the Blanchards have
flourished, contributing members to the legislature and
to Parliament.

Antoine Babin, aged forty-five, was a resident of

258 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Port Royal in 1671, when the census was taken. His
wife was Marie Mercier, a name that does not appear
among the male heads of families in Acadia at tha;
time. But in 1686 Pierre Mercier, aged forty, was
residing at Chignecto, he having married Andree
Martin, the widow of Francis Pellerin, five or six years
previously. This Pierre Mercier was probably a
brother of Marie the wife of Antoine Babin, for she,
judging from the age of her oldest child, was not more
than thirty years old when the census of 1671 was
taken, which would make her forty-five in 1686. She
must have been married in 1660 or 1661, ten years after
the death of Charnisary. There is nothing to show
when Antoine Babin came to Acadia except that he was
residing at Port Royal in 1671. His name does not
appear among the ancient inhabitants who signed the
memorial of 1687, and this fact would lead us to infer
that he came to Acadia after 1650 and did not belong
to the original La Have colony. This belief is
strengthened by the fact that no woman who had been
born a Babin was living in Acadia in 1671. Antoine
Babin's children were Marie born 1662, Charles, Vin-
cent, Jean and Margaret, all younger than Marie.
Antoine Babin in 1671 was the owner of eight sheep
and six horned cattle, and he tilled that year two
arpents of land. The Babin family were still residing
at Port Royal in 1686, but in 1714 they had all left the
place and removed to Mines. The list of those who
were residing on the Annapolis River in 1730, and who
then took the oath of allegiance, shows no person
named Babin, but there were two by the name of
Babinot, which may have been a corruption of the
original name. When the Acadians were removed
in 1755, by Winslow, there were among them seventeen
families named Babin who were residents of Mines and
its vicinity. Among the great body of Acadians

OUR FIRST FAMILIES. 259

gathered at Beausejour in 1752 there was but one
family named Babin, from which we may infer that
very few persons of that name had strayed from Mines.
There are now less than one hundred families of the
name in the Maritime Provinces, more than half of
whom are residents of Yarmouth County. In New
Brunswick there are about twenty families of the name,
most of whom reside in the county of Kent. The name
of Babineau is much more widely diffused but we have
no means of knowing whether the persons who bear
the latter name are descendants of the original settler,
Antoine Babin. One thing is certain there were no
French inhabitants named Babineau in Acadia when it
passed into the possession of the English in 1710. For
this reason, we are inclined to think that Babin and
Babineau are the same name with a variation in the
spelling, such changes being very likely to occur among
an unlettered people.

Vincent Brun, aged 60, was a resident of Port
Royal in 1671. His wife was Renee Brode and they
had five children, four daughters and one son. The
oldest of the family was Madeline, aged 25. She was
thewife of William Trahan, who was thirty years her
senior. Andr£e, the second daughter, aged 24, was
the wife of Germain Terriau. Franchise, the third
daughter, aged 18, was married to Bernard Bourc.
The fourth daughter, Marie, wras only 12 when the
census was taken. The son, Bastie, was 15 years old.
Vincent Brun was the owner of 10 horned cattle and
4 sheep, and he tilled 5 arpents of land. His three
married daughters were also well off, as wealth was
reckoned in Acadia two centuries ago. Vincent Brun
must have been married as early as 1644, a year before
the death of Lady Latour. He was probably one of the
original La Have settlers, and therefore may be classed
with the ancient inhabitants. The fact that his name

260 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

does not appear in the memorial of 1687 would lead to
the inference that he had died prior to that date. The
Brun family was living at Port Royal in 1686, but the
name is not to be found in the census of Port Royal
taken in 1714. I fancy, however, that both at Port
Royal aud Mines it is concealed under the bad writing
of the person who took the census, Father Felix Pain,
and that the copyists have to bear the responsibility of
its disappearance. At all events there were no less
than five adult males named Brun, residents of the
Annapolis River, who subscribed to the oath of alleg-
iance in 1730; and in 1755 there were six families
named Brun residing at Mines. Among the Acadians
gathered at Beausejour in 1752 were one family named
Brun from that vicinity and four families of the name
from Shepody. The name is now rare in the Maritime
Provinces and one reason for this might be that Brun
is the same as Brown, so that a French family of Bruns-
residing in an English neighborhood would speedily
become Browns. There are now only seven families
by the name of Brun in the Maritime Provinces, three
in Kent, three in Northumberland and one in Gloucester*
Antoine Bourc was one of the ancient inhabitants
of Acadia who signed his name to the memorial of
1687, where his name appears as Antoine Le Bourg,
but in the census of 1671 is is given as written above.
Antoine Bourc was 62 years old when that census was
taken ; his wife was Antoinette Landray and they had
eleven children, five sons and six daughters. The old-
est son Francois, aged 27, was married to Margaret
Boudrot and had two children. Jean Bourc, the second
son aged 24, was married to Margaret Martin and they
also had two children. Bernard Bourc, the third son,
aged 23, was also married ; his wife was Francoise
Brun and they had one child. The fourth son, Martin,
aged 2 1 , was not married. The youngest son Abraham,

OUR FIRST FAMILIES. 261

then only 9 years old, was destined to become a histor-
ical character, in a small way after the English took
possession of Acadia. Molin, who took the census,
does not give the name of the daughters, but only one
of them appears to have been married in 1671. This
was Marie who was the wife of Vincent Brot, and who
had four children, one of these a boy of five years.
Marie was probably not more than 25, so that her hus-
band, whose age was forty, was fifteen years her
senior. Perrine Bourc, who was the wife of Rene Lan-
dry, aged 53, may also have been a daughter of Antoine
Bourc, but I am more inclined to think she was his
sister. She had seven children, the oldest, a daughter,
being the wife of Laurant Grange and having two chil-
dren. The Bourcs were all in comfortable circumstan-
ces, although not so wealthy as some of the other
Acadian families. Antoine Bourc was probably married
as early as 1642, and I have no doubt that he was one
of the original settlers that came to La Have with
de Razilly. When the census of 1686 was taken none
of the Bourcs had removed from Port Royal, but in
1714 some of them were settled at Mines. In the
meantime they had changed the spelling of their name
to Bourg and Bourq. In 1720 Alexander Bourg had
become a leading man among the French residents at
Mines and was named by Governor Phillips as one of
the persons whom he would be willing to receive as a
deputy. In 1627, Abraham Bourg of Annapolis River
was accused of inciting the inhabitants to rebellion and
disobedience. He was imprisoned but released, as the
record states, "in consequence of his great age." He
was then 65 years old. He was given permission to
leave the province. Of this permission, however, he
does not seem to have availed himself, for he was one
of the five oldest males of the name of Bourg who
took the oath of allegiance at Annapolis in 1730,

262 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

On the loth of Dec. 1730, Alexander Bourg de
Bellehumeur was appointed and formally commissioned
by Governor Phillips as Procureur du Roi at Mines and
Piziguid, Cobequit and Chignecto, to receive all dues
and quit rents due to his majesty and all confiscations
and aubaines. He was to account twice a year and to
retain a certain percentage as his commission. This
Alexander may have been a son of Abraham, the deputy
for Annapolis River. It will be observed that he had
assumed a title, probably the name he gave to his farm
at Mines. He continued to fill the important office to
which he had been appointed for fourteen years, or until
1744, when he was suspended for misconduct and neg-
lect of duty and Rene LeBlanc appointed in his place.
The inhabitants, however, still persisted in employing
him to do their legal business in spite of his suspension,
and this was made a ground of complaint against them.
Alexander Bourg appears to have removed from Mines
prior to the deportation ot the Acadians by Winslow in
1755,, for his name does not appear in the list of the
inhabitants of that place. Only two families named
Bourg are on Winslow's list. But in 1752 there were
fourteen families named Bourc or Bourg at Beausejour,
five from Cobequid and the others from settlements in
the vicinity of the Fort. The name Bourc has now
altogether disappeared from the Maritime Province, the
modern spelling of the name being Bourque. There
are now nearly three hundred families of that name in
the Maritime Provinces, about half of them being in the
county of Westmorland. One half of the remainder
live in Kent and Northumberland. A few of the latter
spell their name Bourke, but there is no doubt that all
these people Bourques or Bourkes are descendants of
the 'original settler, Antoine Bourc, whose name first
appears in the census of 1671. JAMES HANNAY.

AT PORTLAND POINT.

Fifth Paper

" The lands are very valuable if they may be had."
So wrote James Simonds to Wm. Hazen in the first
business letter extant (so far as we know) of the many
that passed between Simonds and White and their New
England partners. The date of the letter is August 18,
1764, and the original is in the possession of the writer,
a yellow, well worn affair in some places well nigh
indecipherable.

It will be remembered that James Simonds had
made choice of the harbor of St. John as a place of
settlement mainly, on account of the excellent marsh .__
lands in the vicinity and the abundance of the lime-
stone, combined with the advantages of the situation
for Indian trade and fishing. The first grant of land
was made October 2, 1765, to James Simonds, Richard
Simonds and James White, and it does not appear that
it was the original intention of these gentlemen to
admit their New England partners to a share in the
ownership of the lands, the procuring of which they
perhaps not unnaturally regarded as a little speculation
of their own. The other partners, however, soon
manifested a strong desire to possess some real estate
in Nova Scotia — land hunger seemingly was a weak-
ness with the descendants of the old Puritans — and the
following passage in Mr. Simonds' letter to Samuel
Blodget, of Boston, is evidently written in reply to
inquiries on this head. The letter is dated at Halifax,
October i, 1764.

" With respect to lands, there is no prospect of ever getting
a grant of any value from this government though doubtless
whatever asked for in England, if right steps is taken, may be -
had with little cost; several large grants have lately been made-
there. The land is very valuable."

264 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Mr. Blodget evidently did not come under the
terms of the royal proclamation, of October, 1763, where-
by lands were to be granted to those who had served
His Majesty in arms during- the recent war in America;
consequently Mr. Simonds was not able to extend to
him any encouragement, and this disappointment was
one of the causes of Mr. Blodget's early retirement
from the co-partnership.

In the second business contract, made in April,
1767, between Hazen, Jarvis, Simonds and White, it
1was agreed that all the lands that had been or should
be granted to any of the partners should go into the
common stock and be divided, one half to Hazen and
Jarvis, one third to Simonds and one sixth to White.

About the year 1765, the government of Nova
Scotia began to make grants to disbanded officers of
the army and navy, including officers who had served
in the provincial corps of the old colonies, in a very
rash and prodigal fashion. James Simonds was too
'keenly alive to his own and his partner's interests to
allow so good an opportunity of participating in the
general distribution to pass unimproved. Writing
from " St. John's River," Dec. i6th, 1764, he says:—

" I have been trying and have a great prospect of getting
one or two Rights (or shares) for each of us concerned (in our
Company), and to have my choice in the Townships ot this River,
the land and title as good as any in America, confirmed by the
King in answer to our petition."

On the occasion of a trip to Halifax three months
later, he wrote to Mr. Hazen : —

" I have seen Captain Glazier who informs me that he is
g-etting a grant of a large tract of land at St. John's for a num-
ber of Officers and that your brother* is one of them.

The upshot of the enterprise was the procuring of
a grant of the five townships of Conway, Gage, Burton,
Sunbury and New Town, comprising in alt more than

*Captain Moses Ha/en.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 265

400,000 acres.* The grantees were Captain Beamsley

4 <

Glazier. Captain Thomas Falconer, and some sixty
associates. The conditions rendered it necessary that
a certain number of settlers should be placed on them
within a limited number of years or the lands were liable
to forfeiture. An immediate attempt was made by Cap-
tain Falconer and Captain Glazier to procure settlers
and improve the townships. Men were brought from
New England, mills were built and some progress made,
but the task was gigantic and the progress necessarily
slow. As early as the 2yth of January, 1765, the
scheme had been so far perfected that Captain Falconer
engaged one Richard Barlow as a store keeper, promis-
ing him a lease of 200 acres of land at a nominal rent ;
Barlow thereupon removed with his family to the river
St. John, where the company's headquarters was
to be established. In all probability the trade name
of the corporation by which Barlow was employed was
" Beamsley Glazier & Co." The account books of .
Simonds and White show that they had business trans-
actions with a firm bearing this name, extending over
a period of six years, beginning with 1765.

In addition to being largely instrumental in pro-
curing the grants of the townships,! Colonel Glazier
was actively concerned in the attempts to effect their
settlement. He very probably lived at the mouth of
the Nerepis, where he owned an estate of 5,000 acres
known as Glazier's Manor, extending from Brundage's
Point up the river two or three miles above the Nerepis.
At what is now known as Woodman's Point there was
some land that had been cleared by the Acadians where
.stood an old French fort on the site of which musket balls

*Conway and New Town were estimated to contain 50,000 acres each ;
Gage and Burton 100,000 each ; Sunbury 125,000 ; but as a rule the townships
were found to contain more than the estimated number of acres.

tHazen and Jarvis paid Colonel Glazier £45 as their proportion of the
assessment made upon the proprietors of the townships for defraying necessary
•expenses incurred in their behalf.

266 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

and other warlike relics have been found. In Morns'
well known map of 1765, this fort is placed just above
the mouth of the Nerepis and is called "Beauhebert
Fort/' doubtless in honor of Pierre Boishebert, the last
French commander on the St. John, who made it his
stronghold in 1749. Woodman's Point, or Beaubear's
^1 Point as it used to be called, was considered in early
times as about the best salmon fishery on the St. John
river. The Nerepis river was formerly known as
"Beaubear's river." Shortly after the arrival of the

-^Loyalists, Glazier's Manor passed into the hands of
General Coffin, and was thenceforth known as Alwyng-
ton or Coffin's Manor.*

So far as our information goes it would seem that
the efforts of Messrs. Falconer and Glazier were prin-

" cipally confined to the townships of Gage and Conway.
The township of Gage was laid out in lots and the lots
drawn by the proprietors early in the year 1767, as we
learn from a letter of Simonds & White to Hazen &
Jarvis written from St. John's River, June 20, 1767, in
which the following passage occurs : —

"When Col. Glasier left this place he was in such a hurry,
the vessel being- bound directly to sea, that we could not make a
complete settlement, not having1 the people's accounts up the
River that had worked on the mills, logging, &c. We have in-
closed his order for what could be settled

"The lots in Gage Town are drawn, Moses and William
Hazen Nos. 53, 54, Mr. Simonds No. 12, none of them either the
best or worst in the Township. . . If young cattle are cheap
at your place we recommend sending some every opportunity ;
the growth of them is profitable, and the King's Instructions to

*In 1784 Elias Hardy was employed to investigate the state of the old
grants on the St. John river, with a view to their being escheated for the accom-
. ( modation ot the Loyalists. Mr. Hardy claimed Glazier's Manor was partly
escheatable as not having been fully settled. It was, however, shewn that in
1779 Nathaniel Gallop and others had made considerable improvements there,
built dwellings, barns, outhouses, etc., but the Indians had burnt their houses
and destroyed their crops, taking advantage of the distracted state of the country
consequent upon the American Revolution. The settlers were thus driven away
and others deterred from coming. Governor Parr, in 1783, assured Col. Glazier
his lands would not be escheated in view of the exertions he had made. General
Coffin then undertook to settle the Manor as required by the original patent, and
thus secure it from forfeiture. He induced a considerable number of persons to
settle on his lands, amongst them Henry Nase, who had served with him as an
officer in the King's American Regiment. In the course of the first year Ge« ..
Coffin expended over ;£ 1,200 sterling on the Manor.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 267

the Government are that three cattle be kept on every fifty acres
of land granted."

In April, 1768, there was a meeting of the proprie-
tors of the townships of Burton, Sunbury and New
Town, held at New York for the purpose of a division
of the lands, when the Rights (or shares) of Moses
and William Hazen were allotted and drawn in New
Town, and that of James Simonds in Sunbury. At
this time the township of Conway, with all the islands
in front of the townships, remained undivided. Evi-
dently Mr. Simonds was quite satisfied with the result
of the division, for he says in his letter to Hazen &..
Jarvis of June 22, 1768 : —

" The Township of Sunbury is the best in the Patent and
New Town is the next to it according to the quantity of land, it
will have a good Salmon and Bass Fishery in the river* which ;.
the mills are to be built on, which runs through the centre of the
tract. The mills are to be the property of the eight proprietors
of the Township after seventeen years from this time, and all the
Timber also the moment the partition deed is passed."

The lot drawn by James Simonds seems to have
included a part at least of the old Ste. Anne's plain,
now the site of the city of Fredericton. Benjamin
Atherton settled here about the year 1769 in conse-
quence of an agreement made with Mr. Simonds, and
kept a store under the name of Atherton & Co., in
which Hazen, Simonds and White seem to have had an
interest. At the time of the coming of the Loyalists a
committee appointed to examine into the condition of
the townships and the titles under which the settlers
held their lands, reported that " Benjamin Atherton
had a good framed house and log barn and about 30
acres of land cleared partly by the French." James
Simonds, a little later, exchanged his lot in the town-
ship of Sunbury for one in Burton. He also received

*The River was the Nashwaak and the site of the proposed mills was at
the town of Marysville where Alex. Gibson's well known Mills and Cottons
Factory now stand.

368 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Ox Island* as his share of the undivided islands,
A few words may be said concerning- Richard
Shorne, who was one of the proprietors of the town-
ships who endeavored to effect their settlement and
improvement, and who for that purpose came to the
river St. John, in the year 1767. He resided on the
river for several years and during- his residence was
elected a member of the House of Assembly, for Sun-
bury County. Simonds and White, in their letter of
June 20, 1767, to Hazen and Jarvis write: —

"Mr. Shorne f the bearer of this is a Proprietor in our
Lands and has left Ireland with an intention of settling1 a number
of Rights on this river and for that purpose is invested with pow-
er from his friends £ to draw for any sum that may be necessary
on this occasion. I must beg your kind assistance and advice on
his behalf as he does not appear to be much acquainted with the
settlement of Lands ; you may with great safety I think take any
Bill from him for a moderate sum."

In the same letter from which the above is taken,
Mr. Simonds observes that "Mr. Shorne has arrived
with some families from New York to settle his own
and some other Rights." Other incidental references to
Richard Shorne show that he was a resident on the St.

- John river for some years and that Simonds and White
had business transactions with him up to the year 1775.
He seems to have lived at St. Ann's Point where goods
and supplies from Newburyport were sent to him, for
which he paid freight to Simonds and White.

*Ox Island is a small island adjoining M auger's Island in Lower Burton.
Mr. Simonds made some improvements in the state of the island and sold it in

- October, 1782, to Sylvanus Plummer and Jacob Barker, Jr., for £291. It con-
tains about 60 acres of excellent land.

tThe late J. W. Lawrence and others give this gentleman's name as
Thorne. I have carefully examined the initial letter in a variety of documents
and papers : there can be no doubt that it is S, not T. Mr. Shorne, as stated
above, came from Ireland. — W. O« R.

JAmong Mr. Shorne's friends were Rev. Curryl Smith of Alminsta, West

Meath, Ireland, and his sons John and Robert Smith of the city of Dublin. Mr.

; Shorne acted as their attorney. Major Studholme says that John Smith came

, out from Ireland in the summer of 1782 to effect the settlement of his lands in the

townships.

The committee appointed by Gov. Parr to investigate the condition of the
townships in 1783, m ported that Philip Wade of St. Ann's had "a good house
and barn and about 30 acres of improved land, chiefly cleared by the French : his
claim based on an agreement with Richard Shorne, Esq., one of the original
grantees." The committee also reported that one Oliver Tibeaudo had large
i improvements at St. Ann's and a lease from Richard Shorne, Esq., for 999 years.

AT PORTAND POINT. 269

The only other individual of whom we have any
evidence as regards his being* concerned in any attempt
to settle the townships is Philip John Livingston. This
gentleman was a member of a distinguished New York
family. In the American Revolution he adhered to the
Loyalist cause with his entire family — father, brothers
and sons. His mother was Catherine de Peyster, and
his wife was a daughter of Samuel Bayard. His
brother, John W. Livingston, and his brother-in-law,
Abraham de Peyster, were captains in Colonel Edmund
Fanning's Kings American Regiment. Philip John
Livingston himself was high sheriff of Dutchess county,.
New York, and after the outbreak of the Revolution
filled important positions.* He appears to have sent to
the river St. John in 1767 some tenants for his lands,, j
among them Peter Carr and Thomas Masterson (who
lived at Musquash Island), John Hendrick and James
Marrington. Some dispute occurred between Living-
ston and Simonds & White concerning the charges of
the latter for supplies furnished his settlers which led
Mr. Simonds to write:

"We are surprised that he should mention anything as to
the sums not being- due, when not only that, but near as much
more has been advanced to save the lives of the wretched crew
he sent. We have ever found that ye doing business for others is
an office the most unthankful and equally unprofitable, "f

The proximity of the township of Conway to the
settlement at Portland Point naturally led Messrs.
Hazen, Simonds and White to make special efforts forij*
its improvement and it appears that through their in-
strumentality a number of very respectable people
settled there, including Jonathan Leavitt, Samuel Pea-
body, Daniel Leavitt, Hugh Quinton, Peter Smith,
Thomas Jenkins, William McKeen, James Woodman,

*See Jones' Loyalist History of New York.

fin a subsequent letter James Simonds writes : " Mr. Livingston's account
we sent with the order that was returned ; have enclosed a letter and order which*
must convince him that not only the sum drawn tor has been advanced him, but
as much more to his settlers."

270 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Elijah Estabrook, John Bradley, Zebedee Ring and
Gervis Say. Messrs. Peabody, Leavitt and McKeen
"^came in 1770, the others four or five years later.

Upon the close of the Revolutionary war in 1783
the authorities gave notice that all shares in the town-
^ships upon the St. John river held by grantees who
* were non-residents, and on which improvements had
not been made, were to be forfeited for the accom-
modation of the Loyalists. As the settlers of Conway
had nearly all been driven from their homes by rebel
privateesmen during the recent war, the rights of
Hazen, Simonds and White in that township were
placed in jeopardy. In this emergency Mr. Hazen
went to Halifax, where he represented to the Governor
and Council that he and his partners and the settlers
under them had expended upwards of ^3,000 in mak-
ing settlements in Conway and Gage, with such other
facts as were calculated to tell in their favor. Probably
Mr. Hazen availed himself of certain suggestions made
by James Simonds in a letter he wrote from Lower
Maugerville (now Sheffield), where he then resided, of
which letter the following is an extract : —

"I think that if any memorial should be necessary to
explain our situation it will be needful to be very explicit in setting
forth the time when the settlement was made ; . . the diffi-
culty or impossibility of families settling among1 the Indians
against their disapprobation ; the expenses of the settlements in
Conway ; the losses and suffering's of the settlers ; that we and
they were for a long1 time unprotected against the depradations
of the enemy ; and to assign any other reason that may occur
why our property ought not to revert to the crown. Instead of
our being stripped of our Rights to make amends for the losses
of the Loyalists who were plundered in New York or else-
where we have at least as weighty reasons as they can possibly
offer to claim restitution from Government for the value of all the
property taken from us, our distresses by imprisonment, &c.
They had a numerous British army to protect them, we had to
combat the sons of darkness alone. In a word we had much less
than they to hope for by unshaken loyalty and incomparably
more to fear."

Major Gilfred Studholme, the commandant at Fort
Howe, appears to have sympathized with the position

AT PORTLAND POINT. 271

of Hazen and Simonds since he wrote to Governor Parr
about this time: —

"Messrs. Hazen and Simonds, two of the original pro-
prietors of Conway, have at different times placed a number of
settlers on the lands of that Township and have used every effort
on their parts to comply with the terms of their Grant but the
continual robberies committed by the Rebel boats during the
war, to which these settlements were totally exposed, obliged a
number of their tenants to remove. However as every exertion
was used by them, I take the liberty, sir, to recommend their
claims on that Township to your consideration."

Whether or not the claims of Hazen and Simonds
would have saved their interests in Conway from for-(.
feiture we cannot tell, for a proposal having- been made
to Mr. Hazen that if they would offer no opposition to
the escheat of the entire township their shares in it
would either be regranted them or an equivalent else-
where, he accepted it and afterwards his affidavit of
the general state of the township was read at the trial
in the court of escheats and was the principal evidence
on which the jury found their verdict. The whole of
the township was accordingly escheated.

The township of Gage was in like manner escheated, , .
but the lands of bona fide settlers as also those in pos-
session of Colonel William Spry and his tenants were
regranted. In the case of the township of Burton,
eleven parts, out of twenty-one into which the whole
township was divided, were escheated in the court of
escheats at Halifax, early in the year 1784.

The township of Sunbury was entirely escheated;
regrants were made to Benjamin Atherton and Philip
Weade at Ste. Anne's but the Acadians who lived in f
the township were removed and the majority of them
went up the river to Madawaska.

New Town was entirely escheated. In this town-
ship William Hazen had two shares, one drawn by
himself, the other purchased from his brother, Captain
Moses Hazen. By relinquishing his rights here for the
accommodation of the Maryland Loyalists he, by the

272 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

interest and influence of Captain Patrick Kennedy of
that corps, was enabled to secure in return a grant for
himself and James White ot 11,000 acres of land lying
to the eastward of the marsh at St. John, the same
being equivalent to the number of acres in their two
lots at New Town. Mr. Hazen makes this statement
under oath in the proceedings of a Chancery suit in the
year 1795, but Mr. Simonds does not agree with him
and in his sworn testimony strongly affirms that Mr.
Hazen had no claim for compensation for his rights in
New Town which were certain to be escheated, no
improvements having been made upon them; that the
ii,ooo acres east of the marsh were really granted as
an equivalent for the surrender of the lands in the town-
ship of Conway and that he certainly should himself
have had a share with Hazen and White in this grant
of 11,000 acres.*

The landed interests of the members of our old
trading company became by degrees very extensive
and were by no means confined to their rights in the
old townships. Mr. Simonds, about the year 1770,

-purchased from Charles Morris, the surveyor general
of Nova Scotia, a tract of 10,000 acres known as Mor-
risania, situated just below Fredericton and including a
part of "the old plain." He also purchased another
tract from Charles Morris of 2,000 acres on the east
side of the river, just below Mauger's Island, to which
he retired for greater security during the Revolutionary
war. A grant of 8,000 acres on the northwest side of

^the Oromocto river was made in the year 1782 to
William Hazen, James White, Jacob Barker and Tam-
berlane Campbell, as disbanded subaltern officers who
had served in America during the last French war.

*The relations between the members of the old co-partnership were severe-
ly strained in consequence of the disputes that arose about the division of their
lands. These disputes culminated in legal proceedings which began about the
year 1791 and occupied the attention of the Chancery Court for more than twenty
years. The evidence in the Chancery suits abounds in charges and counter
charges.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 273

Notwithstanding1 the extent and variety of their landed
estate, Messrs. Hazen and Simonds had the assurance
after the arrival of the Loyalists to memorialize the
government for an additional 150,000 acres on the St.
John, 5,000 to be close upon the town of Carleton. In
transmitting their memorial to the home government*
Governor Parr stated that he had refused fo consider
it, as the memorialists had already about 60,000 acres \«-
of land, and he deplored the evil effects of such exten-
sive grants.

In the magnitude of their land speculations, how-
ever, the members of our old trading company had a
formidable rival in Captain William Spry (afterwards
Major General Spry). This gentleman was chief en-
gineer of Nova Scotia, and some of the early defences
of Halifax were erected under his supervision. He is
known to have frequently visited the St. John river
between 1768 and 1773, and in the summer of 1769
accompanied the Rev. Thomas Wood on a missionary
tour in which they visited all the English settlements
and proceeded up the river as far as the Indian village
of Aukpaque.*

Some of the leases issued by Captain Spry in early
times are extant. One of these dated July 12, 1770, is
the lease of a lot of 200 acres in Gagetown to Edward . .
Coy. Captain Spry is described as of Titchfield in the
county of Southampton, England. Among1 the condi-
tions demanded of Mr. Coy were the payment of the
King's quit rents, together with all such charges as
province, county, town or parish taxes; also that Coy
should " leave a row of trees on each side of the high
road that may hereafter be laid out at the distance of
about six rods from each other." The rent for the 200
acres demanded by Captain Spry, seems not extrava-
g^ant to modern eyes, viz., after the expiration of two

*See "The First Fifty Years of the Church of England in New Brunswick
by G. Herbert Lee, p. 29.

274 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

years four shilling's sterling, per annum, and atter four
years eight shillings sterling, per annum for ever.*
Some of Captain Spry's lands were escheated but in
most cases regranted. He died in England about the
year 1803 and letters of administration were taken out
in this province by his daughter. He was a man of
wealth and influence.

James Simonds acted as attorney and agent for
General Spry after the return of the latter to England.
He also acted in a like capacity for Colonel Stephen
Kemble in the management of his estate known as
j Kemble's Manor,! comprising 20,000 acres at the head
of Long Reach.

The history of Portland Point is so interwoven
with that of the other early settlements on the river
that it is difficult to speak of one without in some
measure considering the history of all, and this has
been especially the case in the present paper. In our
next we shall be able to confine our attention more
closely to the story of Portland Point in pre-loyalist
days ; in this connection, however, a few words may be
said regarding some of the more prominent individuals
writh whom the settlers at the mouth of the river were
brought in contact in the way of business or familiar
intercourse.

^ Captain Walter Sterling, of the navy, was at St.
John in August, 1775, and had some business transac-
tions with Simonds and White, which are recorded in
their old account books. He no doubt came for the
purpose of examining and perhaps to arrange for the

*The original Indenture to Edward Coy is in the possession of Dr. W.
F. Ganong of Smith College, Northampton, Mass. It is a printed document,
evidently one of several of like kind, and is signed by James Simonds as Attorney
for General Spry. At the end of the document occur the words " Registered at
ii o'clock in the forenoon on Tuesday, January the and, 1776, pursuant to the
laws ot this province by me, John Aderson, Dep'y Register." The witnesses were
Gervas Say, Esqr., and Deacon Samuel Whitney.

tSee the very interesting account of Kemble's Manor by Mr. Jonas Howe
in the September number of this magazine.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 275

settlement of his grant of 10,000 acres at the foot of
Kingston peninsula, now known as " Lands End."
The grant was eventually forfeited to the crown.

Another gentleman with whom Simonds and White
had business transactions bore the high sounding name
of Charles Newland Godfrey Jadis. He had served as
captain-lieutenant in the 52nd Regiment and came to
Nova Scotia in August, 1769, with his wife and a large
family to settle some lands which he had purchased
before leaving Europe. He brought with him an
assortment of goods for carrying on trade with the
Indians, built a house and store at Grimross, and was
succeeding very well when, on February 6, 1771, the
house and store with all his effects were destroyed by
fire. He estimated his loss at ^"2,000, and strongly
suspected the Indians to have been the incendiaries,
they having frequently threatened to destroy his
property. There had been many complaints of the
conduct of the Indians since the dismantling of Fort
Frederick in 1768, and Captain Jadis, in his memorial
to the authorities, recommended the construction of a
Block House* higher up the river to overawe them and
protect the increasing settlements. Captain Jadis re-
tired to England, where he endeavored to obtain some
compensation for his losses.

The name of Captain Jonathan Eddy appears in
one of James White's old account books as the pur-
chaser of 22 grindstones. Captain Eddy was at that
time a member of the House of Assembly of Nova
Scotia for the township of Cumberland and lived not
very far from Fort Cumberland, on the New Bruns-
wick side of the isthmus of Chignecto, where he
had settled in 1763. His subsequent relations with
Hazen, Simonds and White were not of so peaceable a

*A Block House was built at the mouth of the Oromocto during the
Revolutionary war and called Fort Hughes. Lieutenant Constant Connor com-
manded the post.

276 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

character. Eddy was a native of Norton, Mass., and
had strong sympathy with the Americans in the
Revolutionary war. In the latter part of 1776 he made

^'an attempt to capture Fort Cumberland, then held by
a rather weak garrison of the Royal Fencible Americans
under Col. Joseph Gorham. His party consisted of
some of the Machias people, about one hundred resi-
dents of Cumberland and a party of sympathizers from
the St. John river ; the latter consisted of a captain, a
lieutenant, twenty five men and sixteen Indians.
Among the party were Hugh Quinton, Daniel Leavitt,
Wm. McKeen, Elijah Esterbrook, Edward Burpee,
John Whitney, Benjamin Booby, Thomas Hartt, Amasa
Coy, John Pickard, John Mitchell, Edmund Price and
Richard Parsons. The attempt resulted in a disastrous
failure, and Jonathan Eddy and his leading supporters
fled to Machias. On May 24, 1776 — the same year the

•' attack was made on Fort Cumberland — a meeting of
the inhabitants of the river St. John was summoned at
Maugerville, when a committtee of twelve persons was
appointed to communicate with the Massachusetts
Congress. This committee prepared a series of reso-
lutions which were passed by the meeting, the most
treasonable being, "That it is our minds and desire
to submit ourselves to the government of Massachusetts
Bay, and that we are ready with our lives and fortunes
to share with them the event of the present struggle
for Liberty however God in His Providence may order
it." The meeting also voted "That we will have no
dealings or connection with any person or persons for
the future that shall refuse to enter into the foregoing
or similar resolutions." By means of threats and'
persuasions the great majority of the inhabitants were
led to sign these resolutions, indeed the rebel commit-
tee claimed in their report to the Massachusetts gov-
ernment that not more than twelve or thirteen heads of

AT PORTLAND POINT. 277

families had refused to sign, of whom nine were at the
River's mouth. The committee included Jacob Barker,
Phinehas Nevers and Israel Perley (who were magis-
trates), Daniel Palmer, Edward Coy, Israel Kinney,
Asa Perley, Moses Pickard, Thomas Hartt, Hugh
Quinton, Asa Kimball and Oliver Perley. The failure
of Jonathan Eddy's attempt on Fort Cumberland soon
caused a change of attitude on the part of the inhab-
itants of the St. John river who were inclined to
rebellion, and when in May, 1777, Col. Arthur Goold
was sent with a force to exact their submission, he
experienced little difficulty, the great majority taking
the oath of allegiance to the King. The apology of the
settlers for their disloyal conduct was evidently drafted
by Israel Perley and was presented to Col. Goold on
May 1 6, 1777. It reads as follows : —

"In the year 1775 the Privateers from the westward fre-
quented our coasts and cut off our trade from the other side of
the Bay, a vessel was taken in our Harbor and the King's Fort
burnt, the Inhabitants here were destitute of Ammunition to
defend themselves, a return was made to Government of this
deficiency but no answer received. In May, 1776, two Privateers
came into the Harbor, their boats proceeded up the River and
informed the people that this Province was soon to be invaded
from the westward, that Privateers were thick on the coast and
would stop all manner of commerce with us unless we joined
them ; not only so, but if the colonies must be put to the expense
of conquering1 us they must be paid for their trouble, consequently
our estates must be forfeited. About the same time some Indians
returned from Boston and brought letters to the others from
Gen'l Washington, &c., and the whole tribe was entering into
alliance with the Colonies and threatened some of the people to
kill them if they would not join the Boston men (as they called
them). In this condition neglected (as it appeared) by Govern-
ment we had a General meeting and unanimously agreed to sub-
mit ourselves to the Government of Massachusetts Bay. Since
that time we confess we have acted in opposition to his Majesty's
Government. And as your Honor is pleased to tell us that you
bring the Olive Branch of Peace, we humbly crave the benefit,
and as we were jointly concerned in the first transgressions we
now humbly request that no distinction be made as to pardon ;
there being in this place as in all others private prejudices and
contentions, and perhaps some persons may avail themselves of
this opportunity to get revenge by representing their private
enemies the greatest enemies of Government. We earnestly
request that no such complaints may prevail upon your Honor to

278 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

make any distinction with regard to any person on the River, and
we beg your Honor's answer to this petition from your Honor's;
most humble servants,

ISRAEL PERLEY,
SETH NOBLE,
JONATHAN BURPEE,
ELISHA NEVERS, Jun'r.

In his reply Col. Goold stated that he had come
with general instructions of clemency and oblivion for
what had passed, and that his ears would be shut to
all insinuations as to the honesty of their submission.
As their letter seemed to breathe the sentiments of a
sincere repentance for inconsiderate follies past, he had
no doubt it would meet with as favorable consideration
at the hands of the government as they could desire.

Israel Perley, who conducted the negotiations with
Colonel Goold, figures conspicuously in the early history
of the St. John river. He was a capable magistrate
and at one time a member of the Nova Scotia House
of Assembly — as he was afterwards of the New Bruns-
wick legislature. The part he played in the exploration-
of the river St. John in 1761, when a young man just
turned twenty one, and in the subsequent survey and
settlement of the township of Maugerville are so gener-
ally known, through the lectures of Moses H. Perley,
his accomplished grandson, that we need not further
consider them here.

Phinehas Nevers, whose name has been mentioned,
as one of the rebel committee of 1776, had been elected
in 1768 a member for the County of Sunbury in the
Nova Scotia House of Assembly. He was an original
grantee of the township of Maugerville and one of its
early magistrates. He was by profession a physician,
probably the first who resided on, the river. The med-
ical profession was not a lucrative one in his day. The
accounts of Simonds & White show that John Lowell,
one of their employees, died on February 25, 1773, and
that he was attended during his sickness by Dr. Nevers

AT PORTLAND POINT. 279

who came down from Maugerville for the purpose.
The doctor received £i. 4. o for his board for 16 days
and £2 for his professional services. Although Dr.
Nevers was elected a member of the House of Assembly
and was a Justice of the Peace, he did not prove a
loyal subject at the time of the Revolution, for when
the Machias rebels under John Allan invaded the river
St. John in 1777, he joined them, and when a little
later they were compelled to decamp he accompanied
them to Machias, where he thenceforth resided.

W. O. RAYMOND.

A CHRISTMAS NUMBER.

The December number ot THE NEW BRUNSWICK
MAGAZINE will be a double number, illustrated so far
as the nature of the contents will admit of illustration,
and with a variety of good papers by leading writers,
in addition to the regular series of continued articles.
Some of these will relate particularly to matters con-
nected with Christmas and the winter season in pro-
vincial history, among which will be : —

The March of the iO4th, by James Hannay; A
Notable Halifax Mystery, by Harry Piers ; The Wreck of
the Ship England ; The Story of a Monument, by Jonas
Howe ; The Early Days of the Electric Telegraph ;
Christmas as It Was, by Clarence Ward, etc. A
paper of special value will be that of Prof. W. F.
Ganong, on the effect of the Ashburton Treaty in re-
spect to these provinces. Other papers by new writers
are expected, but the subjects cannot be announced at
the time of writing.

The December number will be sold to non-sub-
scribers at twenty-five cents, and a double edition will

280 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

be issued. All who have friends at a distance should
see that copies are sent to them.

The December number will contain the announce-
ment of a number of deeply interesting topics which
are to be dealt with in THE MAGAZINE in 1899.

BACK NUMBERS WANTED.

THE MAGAZINE has reached its fifth number with a
much larger patronage than was ever gained by any of
the provincial magazines of the past in a much longer
period, and at this early date its circulation is equal to
the last of those magazines, the Maritime Monthly, in
the most prosperous days of its existence. The show-
ing is therefore excellent, and what is better the circu-
lation continues to gain each month. When it is con-
sidered that only a partial canvass has been made in
St. John, and none whatever outside of the city, the
prospects are of the most encouraging kind. Unfor-
tunately, success brings its troubles, and one of these is
to furnish full sets to all who want to start from the
beginning. The supply of July numbers is exhausted,
and at least a hundred copies are needed, in order to
accommodate new subscribers. For each of such
copies sent by mail or delivered at the office, Ferry
building, Water street, St. John, the publisher will be
glad to pay fifteen cents cash. This is the full retail
price, and it means a slight loss to us on each copy,
but the aim is to oblige patrons at any reasonable cost.
Those who have copies of the July number to spare
will very greatly oblige by forwarding them as already
directed.

THE YEAR OF THE FEVER.

It is gratifying to know that the statements made
In the September number of THE MAGAZINE, in regard

IN THE EDITOR'S CHAIR. 281

to the ship fever at St. John, in 1847, are commended
for their accuracy by the one man competent to judge
of them, Dr. W. S. Harding. As was stated in the
sketch, Dr. Harding shared with Dr. Collins the perils
of that fearful season, but was spared where his fellow
worker died. The following letter explains itself: —

EDITOR OF THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE :

SIR : — In the October number of your MAGAZINE
you furnish some brief details of the typhus fever
epidemic as it prevailed at St. John in 1847, your
narrative referring chiefly to Partridge Island.

The facts and incidents relating to the disease as it
prevailed on the Island, recorded by you, I can say
from personal observation, are very accurately stated.

From having been on the Island and taken an
active part, during most of that summer, in the things
which then occurred, the perusal now of your informa-
tion I found very interesting. It seemed to bring to my
mind a picture of horrors and ghastliness which may
only be witnessed once in a lifetime. As a parallel case,
however, in St. John history we may place beside it the
cholera epidemic of 1854. As you remark, to give
anything like a full account of the typhus epidemic of
1847 would make a long story, which I have no inten-
tion of trying to fill out, and will only repeat that your
statements, as far as they go, are very accurate.

The mention you make of the wholesale burial of
the dead resorted to, in one instance forty of the dead
being buried uncoffined in a single pit, was quite an
exceptional instance. The reason for so large a num-
ber of the dead remaining above ground so long was
that no doctor or superintendent was then on the Island
to look after matters. It was on my return, after recov-
ery from the fever, that interment was made in the only
way it could be done, owing to the insufficiency of men
able to work.

The death rate of the typhus epidemic of 1847 was
very large. As showing to what degree of intensity
the infection of that epidemic had attained, I present a

£82 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

copy of a clipping I made some years ago from a
Montreal paper : —

"A BRAVE PHYSICIAN DEAD."

"MONTREAL, Nov. 5th, i88o.— Dr. Smith, who died yester-
day, was born in Montreal in 1826, of German extraction. He
was one of the thirty physicians from Montreal, Quebec, Three
Rivers and elsewhere, who volunteered to go to the quarantine
station at Grosse Island, to attend ships as they arrived during
the ship fever outbreak of 1847. Of the thirty only he and an-
other returned alive to their homes."

Another striking fact in this connection — which

you have mentioned — was the effect of typhus fever,

together with the exodus, in reducing the population of

Ireland at that time, from eight million to five million.

I am your obedient servant,

W. S. HARDING.
St. John, N. B., October 14, 1898.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

QUESTIONS.

25. In the Educational Review for October, it is
stated (p. 87) on the authority of Mr. I. Allen Jack
that New Brunswick's plant emblem is the potato!! But
Mr. Jack is unable to give more than a single reference
to its use in this connection. Where else in print is
the potato thus honored ? W. F. G.

26. The University building at Fredericton used
to be called by the students " the Wan-i-gun." Is the
term still used ? How old is it ? What is its origin ?

W. F. G.

27. In January, 1839, James Wilson advertises
in the St. John Herald that he has " taken for a term
of years that establishment known as Mount Pleasant,
owned by the Hon. Wm. Black, and will open the
same under the name of Mount Pleasant Hotel." In-
what part of the city or vicinity was that situated ?

C. F. D.

NOTES AND QUERIES. 283

28. In what year were Poulett Thompson and
others hanged and burned in effigy on the King Square,
St. John ? A. G. B.

29. A boat much used in St. John harbor by the
early settlers was the " Moses " boat. Whence is the
name derived, and how was the boat built and rigged ?

C. W.

30. The St. John alms house, James O. Betts,
keeper, was burned March i, 1829. Where was this
building situated ? W. H. B.

31. What is the date of the opening of Trinity
church burial ground, beyond the Marsh Bridge ?

P. C.

32. When was the first battery built at Reed's
Point, and what was it called ? J. M. B.

33. How many words are there, excluding of
course place-names, which are strictly indigenous to
New Brunswick ? Aboideau is peculiar to New Bruns-
wick and Nova Scotia, and Albertite to New Brun s
wick alone. Are there any others ? W. F. G.

34. In the Dictionary of National Biography, it is
said of Willliam Knox, under secretary of state for
America up to 1782, " on his suggestion the province of
Brunswick was created in 1784." If true, this entitles
him to a place in our history not hitherto accorded him.
But is it true, at least in the important sense implied ?

W. F. G.
ANSWERS.

9. Edward Shey, schoolmaster of Rawdon, was
found dead at daylight on the morning of December
26, 1824 on the square in front of the officers' quarters
at the North Barracks, Halifax, with a wound in the
right breast. Ensign Richard Cross, of the 96th
Regiment, was arrested on suspicion of having com-
mitted the murder, and was tried on January 18, 1825,

284 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

before Mr. Justice Halliburton and Mr. Justice Stewart.
The evidence for the prosecution was contradicted in
some particulars, and Cross was acquitted.

HARRY PIERS, Halifax.

13. I have read with interest the answers given,
in your October issue, by Dr. W. F. Ganong and Mr.
George Johnson, regarding the origin of the word
" aboideau." It seems to me to be a word of Acadian
origin, rather than indigenous. As Dr. Ganong points
out, it may possibly be a corruption or alteration of
"une boite d'eau," or " a la boite d'eau." The Acad-
ians have, in their language, peculiar words and expres-
sions which are not to be found in the Province of
•Quebec; they have also, as in some of the French
"patois," abbreviated and corrupted French words to
replace or elude a locution or two or three words. Mr.
Johnson's explanation is, to my sense, completely out of
the way; his theory cannot be accepted by any one
familiar with the French language. The word " aboi "
means the barking of a dog ; and " to keep at bay "
is rendered in French by " aux abois;" " le cerf est
aux abois " — the stag is kept at bay, or simply is at
bay. Neither of the two can be used before the
•' d'eau" — water — and form a sentence. It has no
sense whatever. RAOUL RENAULT, Quebec.

1 6. St. John fog alarm. This question is fully
answered in Mr. Hall's paper on Robert Foulis, in
this number of THE MAGAZINE.

22. The " Chebacco " boat was one with a half
deck forward, extending back to about midships, with
the after part of the boat open, and it had one mast.
This boat was much used on the coast of Massachusetts,
and derived its name from Chebacco, a small town near
Ipswich. The design of the boat was brought here by
the Massachusetts Loyalists, who had been accustomed
to the use of it. GLOSTER.

NOTES AND QUERIES. 285

23. Lieut. William R. Cleeve, of the Royal Artil-
lery, was thrown from his horse while riding near the
Marsh Bridge, St. John, on Friday, August 16, 1833,
and died on the following Sunday. He was buried
with full military honors, and the funeral was the most
imposing, as well as the greatest in length, ever
.witnessed in St. John up to the time of the funeral
of Dr. Collins, in 1847. The procession started
from the officers' barracks, Main street, Lower Cove,
and reached well up to the Old Burial Ground, where
the interment took place. His grave is marked by a
stone with a lengthy inscription, the concluding sen-
tence of which reads — " His friends among the inhabi-
tants of this city, by whom he was more intimately
known, erected this tribute to his worth." J. A.

The present number of THE MAGAZINE is 64 pages,
or 1 6 pages more than the size on which subscriptions
were asked. It is hoped that the public will appreciate
this and other efforts to give them more than value for
their money.

The autograph of Brook Watson, which should
have accompanied the sketch of that notable, by Mr.

Clarence Ward, in the
August number, shows

no mean style of penmanship in the sailor boy who
became Lord Mayor of London.

In view of the increasing expense of publication,
it may be well to note that much too large a proportion
of the subscribers, especially some at a distance, have
failed to remit. This is doubtless due to inadvertence,
but it should be remembered that the terms are pay-
ment in advance, and that each month's expense of
publication means a large cash outlay.

PROVINCIAL CHRONOLOGY.

An event of general interest, a marriage and a
death, are given for each day of the month. The
marriage and death notices are given as they appeared
in the newspapers of the time, except that such phrases
as "At St. John" and " on the — inst." are not re-
peated. Where nothing appears to the contrary, the
locality may be assumed to be St. John, while the date
of the marriage or death is indicated by the figures of
the day of the month before the names and of the year
immediately after them.

MEMORANDA FOR NOVEMBER.

1. Waverley House, St. John, opened, 1850

2. Edward, Duke of Kent, born, ^67

3. Fire at Dalhousie ; 22 building's burned, 1886

4. Rioting1 in Montreal 1837

5. Redburn kills Patrick Carling at St. John 1846

6. Episcopal church at Woodstock opened, 1836

7. Dark day in St. John prevents church services, 1819

8. New N. B. Provincial Lunatic Asylum building1 opened, 1849

9. First telegraph message, St. John and Halifax, ^49

10. Ball in honor of Sir Fenwick Williams, at St. John,. . 1858

11. Great fire at Fredericton, 1850

12. Heavy gale ; 70 vessels ashore at Halifax, 1819

13. Streets of St. John lighted by gas lamps, 1846

14. First Lunatic Asylum in Canada opened at St. John. . 1835

15. Great fire in St. John, 1841

16. Jordan, pirate and murderer, convicted at Halifax. . 1809

17. Highland Society, St. John, organized, 1842

ig. David Waterbury, Loyalist, died, aged 75, 1833

19. St. John Chamber of Commerce thanks Sir S.

Cunard for ocean steamship service, J839

20. Rebels repulsed at Fort Cumberland 1776

21. First steamer at port of Quebec, 1816

22. Governor Carleton sworn in at Parr Town 1784

23. Baldwin and Lannon hanged at St. John for murder

of Clayton Tilton, 1808

24. Grand Manan, etc., declared British Territory, 1817

25. First judiciary of New Brunswick sworn in, ^84

26. Great gale ; steamer North America lost, 1846

27. Lord Wm. Campbell appointed governor of N. S 1766

28. Chief Justice Parker buried at St. John, 1855

29. Bishop Burke dies at Halifax, aged 77, 1820

30. Martial law proclaimed in Nova Scotia J775

PROVINCIAL CHRONOLOGY. 287

NOVEMBER MARRIAGES.

1. RAYMOND-SHECK. — 1855. At the residence of the bride's

father, by the Rev. Thomas McGhee, Thomas Raymond,
Esq., to Charlotte V. Fowler, daughter of Daniel Sheck,
Esq., all of Sussex.

2. CARVILL-MERCER.— 1848. By the Rev. Dr. I. W. D. Gray,

Mr. Lewis Carvill, of the parish of Portland, to Miss
Hannah G., second daughter of Mr. Joseph Mercer, of
the parish of St. John.

3. BENNISON-BARNES.— 1846. By W. W. Eaton, Mr. Edward

Bennison to Miss Marion Barnes, of this city.

4. SEAMAN-BROWN.— 1847. In St- John, by the Rev. Dr. I. W.

D. Gray, Rector, Amos T. Seaman, Esq., of Minudie,
Nova Scotia, to Martha Carritt, daughter of T. J. Brown,
Esq., of Truro.

5. WILMOT-BLACK.— 1835. At Belle Vue, in Halifax, N. S., by

the Rev. Mr. Knight, Wesleyan Missionary, Lemuel Allan
Wilmot, Esquire, of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Barris-
ter at Law and Member of the House of Assembly, to
Margaret Elizabeth, second daughter of William A. Black,
Esquire, of Halifax.

€. DEVEBER-MILNER.— 1844. At Westfield, by the bride's
father, Nathaniel Hubbard DeVeber, Esquire, of Sheffield,
to Miss Bertha, youngest daughter of the Rev. Christo-
pher Milner, Rector of Westfield.

7. OLIVE-SCAMMELL. — 1844. At the residence of Mr. B. Tilton,

Falls' Side, Parish of Lancaster, by the Rev. F. Coster,
James, son of Isaac Olive, Esq., of Carleton, to Miss
Harriet Scammell, of the above parish.

8. WRIGHT-FRITH. — 1859. At St. Johns, Netting hill, London,

by the Rev. W. H. Shore, incumbent of All Saints, Child's-
hill, John W. Wright, Esquire, of Ceylon, second son of
John Wright, Esquire, late Collector of Customs at
Miramichi, New Brunswick, to Anna Eliza, only daughter
of Frederic C. Frith, Esquire, late Deputy Store Keeper,
War Department.

9. HENNIGAR-PURDY. — 1834. — By the Rev. Dr. Gray, Mr. Ste-

phen Bamford Hennigar, to Ann Amelia, youngest
daughter ot Mr. Samuel Purdy, all of St. John.

10. MoRRis-McGuiRK. — 1846. — At St. Malachy's church, by the

Very Rev. James Dunphy. Vicar General, Mr. Hugh
Morris, of Mosquito Cove, to Miss Margaret, eldest
daughter of Mr. Michael McGuirk, of this city.

11. GEROW-TRAVIS.— 1851. By the Rev. Wm. Harrison, Mrj

George W. Gerow, to Miss Julia A., only daughter o.
James Travis, Esq., of Indian Town.

12. CUSHING-SCAMMELL. — 1856. At the Waverley House, by the

Rev. I. W. D. Gray, G. B. Cushing, Esq., of Frankfort,
(Me.) to Annie T., daughter of Joseph Scammell, Esq., of
this City.

288 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

13. GODARD-McMACKiN.— 1839. By the Rev. Mr. Harrison,

Mr. John F. Godard, of the Parish of Portland, to Anna-
bell, only daughter of Mr. Thomas McMackin, of this city.

14. MARSTERS-MARSTERS.— 1839. By the Rev. Samuel Bancroft,

Mr. John F. Marsters, to Charlotte Elizabeth, second
daughter of Mr. James Marsters, all of this City,

15. BuRTis-GooDRiCH. - 1842. At Hamden, by the Rev.Thomas

S. Judd, William R. ». Burtis, Esquire, Barrister, of St.
John, N. B., to Harriet Eugenia, youngest daughter of
Richard M. Goodrich, M. D., of Hamden, Delaware
County, New York.

16. TRUEMAN-BENT. — 1847. At Fort Lawrence, N. S., by the

Rev. William Smithson, Mr. Edward S. Trueman, to Miss
Sarah A. second daughter of Martin Bent, Esq.

17. BLISS-FORSTER, — 1849. At Trinity Church, by the Lord

Bishop ot the Diocese, the Rev. Charles Parke Bliss, A,
M., Missionary of Hopewell, and fourth son of the late
Geo. P. Bliss, Esq., Receiver General of the Province of
New Brunswick, to Dorothy Anne, only daughter of C. V.
Forster, Esq., of H. M. Customs at this port.

18. BARTLETT-HUTCHINSON.-— 1834. In Trinity Church, by the

Rev Dr. Gray, Mr. James H. Bartlett, to Charlotte M.,
youngest daughter of the late Mr. A. Hutchinson, of St.
John.

19. WETMORE-BONNELL. — 1846. At St. John's Church, Gage

Town, by Rev. N. A. Coster, T. R. Wetmore, Esquire,
Barrister at Law, to Mary Ann Sophia, only daughter of
the late William Franklin Bonnell, Esquire, of Digby>
N. S.

20. BLAKSLEE-BRAYLEY. — 1849. By the Rev. S Robinson, Pas-

tor of the First Baptist Church, Mr. E. B. A. G. Blakslee,
of this City, to Mary A. only daughter of Mr. James
Brayley, Merchant, and formerly cf Bideford, Devonshire,
England.

21. COLLINS-MCCARTHY. — 1839 By the Rev. James Dunphy,

Mr. John Collins, to Miss Eleanor McCarthy, both of this
City.

22. McWiLLiAMS-OLSON. — 1849. By the Very Rev. James

Dunphy, V. G., Mr. James McWilliams, of the Parish of
Portland, to Mary, eldest daughter of Mr. James Olson,
of this City.

23. CRAFT-SNOW.— 1860. By the Rev. James Baird, A. M., Mr.

Edward John Craft, of Carleton, to Miss Elizabeth Snow>
of Portland.

24. ALLISON-KNIGHT, — 1847. At the Wesleyan Chapel, in Fred-

ericton, by the Rev. William Smith, the Rev. John Allison,
Wesleyan Minister, to Martha Louisa, eldest daughter of
the Rev. Richard Knight, Chairman of the N. B. District
and General Superintendent of the Missions.

PROVINCIAL CHRONOLOGY. 289

25. RANKIN-BOWMAN. — 1848. By the Rev, Henry Daniel, Mr.

John Rankin, to Miss Mary S. Bowman, of this City.

26. McCosKERY-McWiLLiAMS.— 1846. At St. ^ alachy's Church,

by the Very Rev. James Dunphy, V. G., Mr. John Mc-
Coskery, of this City, Merchant, to Miss Eliza, youngest
daughter of the late Mr. John McWilliams of Portland.

27 HENDERSON-BOYLE.— 1850. By the Rev. John Irvine, Mr.
John Henderson, to Mary, eldst daughter of Mr. Boyle,
both of the Parish of Hampton, King's County.

28. McPHELlM-McGuiRK. — 1849. At St. Peter's Chapel, Richi-

bucto, by the Rev. H. McGuirk, Francis McPhelim,
Esquire, one of Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace for
the County of Kent, to Rosanna, second daughter of Mr.
Michael x cGuirk, of Saint John, N. B., and sister of the
Rev. H. McGuirk, of Richibucto, N B.

29. WARLOCK-CAMPBELL. — 1848. By the Right Rev. Bishop

Dollard, R. C., Mr. Daniel O. L. Warlock, to Miss Mary,
daughter of J. G. Campbell, Esq., barrister at Law.

30. FISHER- VALENTINE. — 1847. By the Rev. the Rector, Peter

Fisher, Esq., of Fredericton, to Miss Mary Valentine, of
St. John.

DEATHS IN NOVEMBER.

1. UPHAM. — 1808. In England, after a long illness, the Hon-

orable Joshua Upham, one of the Judges of the Supreme
Court in New Brunswick, aged 67 years.

2. DUSTAN. — 1847. In Portland, Mr. George Dustan, aged 63

years ; he was one of the Loyalists who came to this city
in 1783.

3. UNDERWOOD. — 1848. At Shediac, Mr. John Underwood,

at the patriarchal age of 101 years. The deceased was
one of those veteran Loyalists who had served during
the American Revolution, and was for many years a
recipient of Her Majesty's bounty.

4. MINNETTE. — 1851. Mr. Robert Garden Minnette, Jr., D. C.

L., Surveyor, &c., in the 3ist year of his age. His dutiful
and affectionate kindness and sincerity endeared him to
his parents, relatives and friends, while his undeviating
rectitude and integrity insured the respect and esteem of
all who knew him.

5. HUTCHINGS. — 1856 After an illness of ten days, Mr.

Thomas Hutchings, late of Falmouth, England, in the
52nd year of his age. For nearly 40 years he was a con-
sistent member of the Wesleyan Church, and for upwards
of 30 years he discharged with great efficiency the duties
of. Class Leader and Local Preacher. By the integrity
and piety which distinguished his character, he gathered
around him a numerous circle of friends who deeply sym-
pathize with his sorrowing wife and children in their
painful bereavement He died triumphing in the faith of
the Gospel, in prospect of a resurrection to eternal Life at
the appearance of Jesus Christ.

THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

/ 6. BOTSFORD. — 1861. At Westcock, Sackville, William Hazen
Botsford, Esquire, aged 58 years, eldest son of the Hon.
William Botsford. The deceased for many years repre-
sented the County ot Westmorland in the General
Assembly.

7. JARVIS. — 1853. Ralph M. Jarvis, Esq , in the 77th year of

his age.

8. CHIPMAN,— 1847. At Cornwallis, Mrs. Ann, widow of the

William Allan Chipman, Esq., in the gist year of her age.

9. SEGOGNE. — 1844. At Clare, Nova Scotia, the Reverend and

truly venerable Abbe Segogne. Mr. Segogne was one of
those respectable but persecuted Clergymen, who, during
the French revolution, had to take refuge in England for
safety ; soon after which he visited Nova Scotia, and took
charge of the Parish of Clare ; and for a long period dis-
charged the religious duties of Priest among the Roman
Catholic population both of Clare and the adjoining
County of Yarmouth in the most exemplary and concilia-
tory manner.

«io. BRITTENNY. — 1846. At Greenwich, (K. C.) after a long and
tedious illness, Mr. John Brittenny, in the 95th year of his
age. Mr. B. came to this Province with the noble band
of Loyalists in 1783, and has lived in Kings County for
upwards of sixty-three years.

11. ELSTON. — 1847. At Kennebeckasis, Mr. Benjamin Elston,

in the 79th year of his age, departing this life in the full
assurance of Christ's pardoning grace. He was a native
of New Jersey and one of the Loyalists, who came to
this Province in the year 1783.

12. JONES. — 1855. Mr. Samuel Jones, in the 76th year of his

age. Mr, Jones was born at Manawagonish, in the
County of St. John, in the year 1777, six years before the
landing of the Loyalists, and recollected our present city
when it was in a state of nature. From the year 1804
until 1815 he carried the mails from St. John to Frederic-
ton once a week ; the roads in the Spring- and Fall at that
time were in such a state, and horses being of no use, he
carried the mails On foot, which nothing but an iron
energy and constitution would have enabled him to per-
form.

•13. McFARLANE.— 1849. At Wallace, County of Cumberland,
after a short illness, aged 69 years, the Hon. Daniel
McFarlane, Custos Rotulorum of that County, and recent-
ly a member of the Legislative Council of Nova Scotia.

34. GILBERT. — 1857. At his residence in Dorchester, Robert
Keech Gilbert, Esquire, Barrister at Law and M. P. P.,
aged 48. Mr. Gilbert was elected at two general
Elections to represent his native County, Westmorland.
His death is deeply and universally regretted by his
numerous friends and supporters. He departed this life
in peace with entire faith in his Saviour and in full hope
of salvation.

PROVINCIAL CHRONOLOGY. 291

15. SMITH. — 1844. At Westmorland, N. B., Dr. Rufus Smith,

in the y8th year of his age.

16. McAviTY. — 1859. After a lingering- illness, John McAvity,

Esq., aged 52 years, greatly regretted by a large circle
of relatives and friends.

17. HAMMOND. — 1848. At Tobique, the Rev. Lothrop Ham-

mond, aged 83 years, one of the oldest Baptist Ministers
in this Province, and one whose Christian character will
long be cherished with respect by many of other denom-
inations as well as of his own.

1 8. GREGORY. — At Kingston, (K. C.) Richard P. Gregory, Esq.,

in the 96th year of his ag-e. He was one of the Loyalists
of 1783, and was much respected by all who knew him,
and is deservedly regretted by a large circle of friends.

19. SEELY.— 1848. At Indian Town, Sarah, wife of Mr. Alex-

ander McL. Seely, aged 35 years.

20. GRAHAM. — 1838. After a few hours illness, Richard, young-

est son of Mr. Joseph Graham, Merchant, late of Glasgow.

21. BABINE. — 1844. At Eel River, N. S., Madeline, relict of Mr.

Joseph Babine, in the looth year of her age.

22. SMILER. — 1859. After a very short illness, Mr. Samue

Smiler, of the Temperance Telegraph, in the thirty fourth
year of his age.

23. CHAMBERLAIN. — 1847. After a short and severe illness, Mr.

Samuel M. Chamberlain, formerly of Halifax, N. S.,
much and deservedly regretted.

24. TISDALE. — 1857 At his residence in Germain Street,

Walker Tisdale, Esq., in the 75th year of his age. Mr.
Tisdale was one of the few remaining Loyalists.

25. SWYMMER. — 1844. In London, Henry Swymmer, Esq., of

St. John, Barrister at Law, and Surrogate J udge of Pro-
bates for the City and County of St. John.

26. CHIPMAN. — 1851. At his residence in this City, on the

morning of Wednesday, the 26th instant, in the 65th year
of his age, the Honorable Ward Chipman, late Chief
Justice of this Province.

27. PALMER. — 1844. — In King's County, Mr. Thomas Palmer, in

the 82d year of his age - one of the earliest settlers of
the Province.

28. CONNELL. - 1846. At Woodstock, Jeremiah M. Connell,

Esquire, in the 47th year of his age. He was a Justice
of the Common Pleas for the County of Carleton, and a
Representative in the late General Assembly, and was
much esteemed as an uprig-ht and useful man, and a sin-
cere Christian. He was a member of the Wesleyan
Methodist Church.

29. HARDING. — 1844. This morning, at half past 7 o'clock,

with a humble trust in the merits of her Saviour, Maria,
wife of Mr. Theodore S. Harding, aged 33 years.

292 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

30. CLARK. — 1853. At the advanced age of 93 years, Mr. John
Clark. He was one of the first settlers of the City, and
for nearly sixty years officiated as clerk in Trinity Church.

PROVINCIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY.

The following are a few additions of old and new
books relating- to the provinces, which are either not
noted in the already published "New Brunswick Bib-
liography," or which are noted in that book and con-
cerning which further information is given. It is hoped
that readers of THE MAGAZINE generally will aid as
contributors to this department from month to month.
In the case of books which relate to New Brunswick,
the notes sent should be in the line already mentioned —
new books or information about old ones and their
authors. In respect to the other Maritime Provinces,
of which there is no published bibliography, all informa-
tion is of value, especially that relating to old and rare
works.

In sending notes of books, please follow the style
given below. Quote the name of the author as it is
given on the title page, adding any other information
as to his personality and work. Copy the title page
itself, with date, describe binding in brief form, give
the number of pages and mention maps or illustrations.
To this necessary description may be appended any
further facts as to the character of the book and its
relation to the Maritime Provinces.

Le Canada-Fran^ais, Revue publiee sous la direct-
ion d'un Comite* de Professeurs tie L'Universite' Laval.
Quebec. Imprimierie de L. J. Demers & Frere. 1888-
91. Four Vols. 8 ° .

Collection de Documents In^dits, sur 1' Acadie.

The Canada Francais was a publication of much value,
and a set of it is now difficult to obtain. Among the papers of
interest to readers in the Maritime Provinces was one on Miscou

PROVINCIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY. 293

by Dr. N. E. Dionne, of Quebec. The collection of unpublished
documents relating- to Acadia was issued concurrently with the
numbers of the magazine and stitched in at the end of each num-
ber, but there is a separate pagination and index, so that the two
may be kept distinct from each other when bound. This publica-
tion is catalogued in Gagnon's Essai de Bibliographic Canadienne.

W. K. R.

COLONIAL COLONIZATION BROADSIDE. — " Liverpool,
2oth, 1771. Ten or twelve Industrious Farmers are
wanted to settle upon the Lands belonging* to William
Owen, Esq., and Co., at New Warrington, on the
Island of Campo Bello and Province of Nova Scotia,"
&c. — one page folio, in fine state, $5.

In a recent catalogue issued by W. J. Campbell of Phila-
delphia. V. H. P.

COLONIAL COLONIZATION. Translation of the
Documents in French upon the back of a Map of
Canada, by Guillaume de L' Isle, Geographer to King
Louis XIV. Published in 1703. [Edinburgh: Printed
by James Walker, circa 1837] pp. 10; 8 ° .

Consists of Documents and attestations bearing- upon the
Acadian claims of the Alexanders, Lords Stirling1. A copy in
New York Public Library. V. H. P.

HICKMAN, WILLIAM.

Sketches on the Nipisiguit, a River of New Bruns-
wick. Halifax, John B. Strong. London, Day &
Son, 1860. Folio, 15 x n inches. Eight colored
lithographs; 15 pp. text.

Incorrectly printed in MacFarlane. W. F. G.

HICKMAN, J. G.

The Life of John Newton, a Loyalist of the
Memorable Revolution ot 1776 — His attachment to the
mother country — his banishment to Nova Scotia — his
eternal hatred to the United States Flag — his subse-
quent Piratical cruelties, etc. By J. G. Hickman,
Barrister at Law. St. John, N. B., Carrelton Briggs
& Co., 32 pp., 1846.

An account of the disgusting- crimes of three members of
this family, told with pompous fulness ; of no historical value.

W. F. G.

294 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

POTE, WILLIAM.

The Journal of Captain William Pote, Jr., during
his captivity in the French and Indian War from May,
1745, to August, 1747. New York: Dodd, Mead &
Company, 1896. 375 copies printed. An account of
the Journal by John F. Hurst. Historical Introduction
by Victor H. Paltsits. Appendices. Illustrations.
Map by Chas. Morris 1749.

A work of the greatest value on Acadian history, and a
model of scholarly editing and tasteful book-making. W. F.G.

SNELL, Miss M. S.

Essays, Short Stones and Poems, including1 a
sketch of the author's Life. Chatham [Ont.] 1881.
162 pp.; 8°.

The authoress lived at Campobello and the book contains
references to her life there ; not important. W. F. G.

WILLIAMS, MRS. CATHERINE R.

The | Neutral French; | or, | The Exiles of Nova
Scotia. | By Mrs. Williams, | x x x | Two volumes in
one. | Second Edition. | Providence: | Published by the
Author. | [Copyrighted, 1841.] | 12 mo; pp. 238, 109;
illustrated.

There is an edition in which " Second edition " is
omitted on the title-page, but it seems to be identical in
other respects.

Miss Catherine R. Williams was the granddaughter of
Oliver Arnold, who held the post of Attorney-General of Rhode
Island, in colonial days. Her father, Alfred Arnold, was a sea-
captain. The daughter was born in Providence about 1790, and
died there on n October, 1872. She was married to a Mr.
Williams, a lineal descendant of Roger Williams — but the mar-
riage soon ended in a permanent separation. Thrown upon her
own resources, she followed authorship as a profession. Her
writings comprehend poetry, biography and fiction. Mrs. Will-
iams was in the Provinces in 1839, and her book, although dealing
primarily with the Minas region, has not a little in it con-
cerning New Brunswick. She always considered this romance
as her best work. For a sketch of her, consult " Bibliographical
Memoirs of three Rhode Island Authors — By Sidney S. Rider."
Providence, 1880. (R. I. Historical Tracts, No. u.) V. H. P.

THE EARLY NAME OF ROTHESAY.

Some of the summer residents of Rothesay had a
discussion, last season, on the early name of that
place. The following is from the Supplementary Re-
port of the E. & N. A. Railway Commissioners, dated
March 8, 1859, and contained in the Appendix to the
Journals of the House of Assembly for 1859 :

11 With regard to the names given to the Stations,
the Commissioners take this occasion to explain that at
the outset they found great difficulty in deciding which
to adopt of the many names the several localities were
known by. For example the site of the first main
Station from Saint John was variously known as the
1 Nine Mile House,' 'Sheriff Drury's ' and ' Scribner's.'

" It was marked as a Way Office in the Post Office
Directory as ' Kennebeccasis Bay.'

"The Commissioners applied to the residents in
the neighborhood to fix on a name for the future Town
or City, but after much cogitation and many meetings
no decision could be arrived at.

"The Commissioners were therefore in this
instance forced to become name givers, and adopted
the Indian name of the magnificent sheet of water in
the vicinity, namely, ' Kennebeccasis,' or the Little
Kennebec.

" A similar difficulty met them at each of the other
stations. The next was known as ' Wetmore's,' 'Gon-
dola Point Road' and 'Lakefield.' The Commissioners
adopted the aboriginal name ' Quispamsis ' or the Little
Lake in the Woods. The next locality was variously
known as 'Little River,' ' Hammond River,' 'French
Village' and * Alden's.' As before, the Indian name of
the river, ' Nauwigewauk,' was chosen. And so, in
each case the Indian names of the rivers or localities
was (sic!) adopted, unless in one or two instances,
where the names 'Norton,' ' Sussex ' and 'Portage,'
had become sufficiently established.

" Some pains have been taken to get at the correct

296 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

spelling of the names. The Indian language is not a
written one, and therefore the only correct way to spell
it is to arrange such a combination of letters as shall as
nearly as possible give when pronounced the requisite
sound. The pronunciation of the Indian names in each
case has been derived from authentic sources."

Putnam's Historical Magazine, of which the adver-
tisement appears in this issue, is a well established
publication, dealing with the genealogy and history of
New England, and it has therefore an interest for many
families in these provinces. Mr. Putnam is a practical
genealogist, and his magazine shows him to be a man
of good taste in book-making as well. Published by
Eben Putnam, Salem, Mass., at $2 a year.

Le Courrier du Livre is the official organ of the
Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, and is an
excellent publication for every student of Canadian
history. It contains papers on topics of general inter-
est, both in French and English, by prominent writers,
and has many valuable features. It is published at
Quebec, under the direction of Ra^oul Renault, and is
issued monthly. Subscription, $2 a year.

Number 3 of Mr. Hay's Canadian History Leaflets
contains a sketch of Gen. Coffin, by Dr. I. Allen Jack ;
Fort Cumberland, by James Hannay ; D'Anville's Ex-
pedition, by Harry Piers ; Deny's Description of the
St. John, by Prof. Ganong ; Incidents in the life of
Lieut. James Moody, by G. U. Hay, and the Story of
the Big Beaver, by Rev. W. O. Raymond. It is need-
less to say that, with such writers, the subjects are well
treated. The leaflets ought to do a great deal of good
from an educational standpoint.

SECTION ©F THE PlITUfELL

This was the map used in neg-otrating- the Treaty of Paris, in
1783. The due north line of the American claim is shown by
dots from Kousaki, or Grand Lake, at the head of the St. Croix,
to the highlands south of the St. Lawrence.

The I(ew Brunswick JWagazine.

VOL. I. DECEMBER, 1898. No. 6

THE ASHBURTON TREATY.

There are probably but tew people in New
Brunswick, who, knowing- anything- at all about the
boundary disputes terminated by the Ashburton treaty
of 1842, would not claim that this province was sadly
defrauded by that treaty and through it lost a great
and valuable territory belonging to her by right. This
statement is passed along from one generation to an-
other, accepted without question and repeated without
investigation. Not only is it current in conversation*
but it has even been promulgated by high officials in
public addresses. But this condemnation of the Ash-
burton treaty is not confined to New Brunswick alone,
for it is equally intense and widespread in the other
country affected by it, the state of Maine, which claims
that it, and not New Brunswick, was the heavy loser.
Naturally, as a New Brunswicker, I formerly thought
our own view of the case necessarily the correct one,,
but an investigation of the whole subject, so far from
confirming this opinion, has forced me to the opposite
conclusion, namely, that Maine is right and we are
wrong, that the Ashburton treaty took from Maine
much territory awarded her by the treaty of 1783, and

298 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

so far from robbing- us of what was our due, it really
gave us territory not awarded us by the treaty.

My own attention was first turned to this subject
through studies upon the early maps of New Brunswick.
I noticed that the maps of the last century, almost with-
out exception, sustained the American and not the
British claims. I accordingly investigated all other
evidence and all documents accessible to me bearing
upon the subject, with the result stated above. I have
given in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Can-
ada for 1897 (Section II, page 383) a brief discussion
of the evidence. It is a pleasure to be able to add that
Mr. James Hannay, in various newspaper writings, has
expressed independently substantially the same opinion.

The American claim, it will be remembered, was
that the due north line from the source of the St. Croix
should cross the River St. John above Grand Falls
(instead of stopping as it does at the river) and con-
tinue to the highlands just south of the St. Lawrence,
and that all west of this line was awarded to them by
the treaty of 1783. The British claim, which was first
introduced in this century, was that the north line
should stop at Mars Hill, south of the Aroostook, and
thence run west along the Aroostook-Penobscot water-
shed. The present line, secured by Lord Asburton,
roughly splits the difference between the two claims.
It does not give us a convenient nor natural boundary,
but tor that the British Commissioners who negotiated
the treaty of 1783 should be held responsible and not
Lord Asburton, who saved us from a part, though he
could not save us from all, of the consequences of their
action. Yet for these Commissioners, too, there is
excuse, for events and odds were fearfully against them.

The boundary in part between the United States
and British America was defined in the treaty of 1783
as follows: —

THE ASHBURTON TREATY. 299

"Art. II. And that all disputes which might arise in future on
the subject of the boundaries of the said United States may be
prevented, it is hereby agreed and declared, that the following- are
and shall be their boundaries, viz.: From the North-west Angle
of Nova Scotia, viz., that angle which is formed by a line drawn
due North from the source of St. Croix river to the Highlands,
along- the said Highlands, which divide those rivers that empty
themselves into the River St. Laurence, from those which fall
into the Atlantic Ocean, to the North- Westernmost Head of Con-
necticut river." (Here is the description of the remaining- bound-
aries ot the United States, of no importance to our present
subject until the following occurs.) " East, by a line to be drawn
along the middle of the river St. Croix from its mouth in the bay
of Fundy to its source, and from its source directly North to the
aforesaid Highlands which divide the rivers that fall into the
Atlantic Ocean from those which fall into the river St. Laurence,
comprehending all islands," etc. (Murdoch, Nova Scotia III,
24» 25).

Though drawn up in good faith and apparently
with unmistakable clearness, this description of bound-
aries fitted so badly the country it tried to describe that
it gave rise to over half a century of international dis-
putes, so bitter as to bring the two nations near to the
verge of war, so important as to require successive
weighty Commissions for their settlement, and so last-
ing that their final echoes have hardly yet died away.
This entire subject of the evolution of our boundaries
has not been adequately treated by any New
Brunswick writer, and it yet awaits a thorough and
judicial treatment. But so far as our present subject is
concerned we have to deal with only one phase of the
disputes, that which has to do with the length of the
due North line from the source of the St. Croix, and
the resultant position of the " Northwest angle of Nova
Scotia."*

* Two subordinate questions not directly connected with the present subject
are yet of sufficient interest and importance to deserve mention here, — namely,
the identity of the River St. Croix and the choice tor the boundary of the East
instead of the West branch of that river. It has been claimed by most American
writers that the Magaguadavic should have been made the boundary, on the
ground that the river named St. Croix on Mitchell's map (the map used by the
Commissioners in their negotiations) was really meant for the Magaguadavic. I
have been able to prove that the St. Croix of Mitchell's map is really the present
St. Croix and not the Magaguadavic, (in Magazine of American History, XXVI,
261 and XXVII, 72) for the name applied on that map to the lake at its head is
the Indian name of Grand Lake or the Chiputnaticook Chain. The position of
the mouth of that river is altogether inconclusive, since by a mistake of Mitchell
in copying an earlier map or Southack it empties by Letite Passage and not

300 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

The question then now before us is this, what was.
understood by the Commissioners who framed the
Treaty of 1783 to be the " Northwest angle of Nova
Scotia "? For answer we turn naturally to the best
documents and maps of the time. In October, 1763,
a royal proclamation fixed as the southern boundary of
Quebec, and hence as the northern boundary of Nova
Scotia and Maine (then a part of Massachusetts), the
highlands separating waters flowing into the River St.
Lawrence from those flowing south. In November of
the same year a royal commission to a governor of
Nova Scotia (then including New Brunswick) defined
the limit of that province as a line drawn north from
the source of the St. Croix to the southern bounds of
Quebec, and other official documents of 1774 and 1783
reaffirmed these bounds.* Naturally these boundaries
are given on the maps of the time, and indeed no others
appear on all of the large series of maps between 1763
and 1783.1 Between 1763 and 1783, then, there was
no question as to the meaning of the "Northwestern
angle of Nova Scotia" — it was the angle of intersection
between a line drawn north from the source of the St.

inside of Passamaquoddy Bay at all (discussed in Transactions Royal Society of
Canada, 1897, section II. page 369, 378). It is a satisfaction thus to know that
from all points of view, the right river was chosen, though no doubt it will be
many a day before the old error on this point will cease to be repeated by non-
investigating writers. As to which of the two branches of the St. Croix should
have been chosen when they are so nearly equal in volume, here again I think
the proper branch, the eastern, was chosen. A claim for the western branch was
made by the British on the ground that earlier documents relating to the bound-
ary between Massachusetts and Nova Scotia speak of the north line as starting
from the most westerly source of the St. Croix. But the Treaty does not speak
of a western branch, and we must accept what the Treaty of 1783 appears to have
intended to award. Aside from whether or not the eastern is the main stream
(a strong case could be made out that it is) there is the important tact that its
more northerly, longer and straighter course better carry out the idea of a north-
erly running boundary which the Treaty expresses. But more important than
this is the further fact that on Mitchell's and most other maps of the time, the
easterly is the only branch marked, the western being omitted altogether or
reduced to insignificant proportions, and hence it is the only branch of which the
commissioners framing the treaty could have had any knowledge, and hence
mmt have been the one meant by them. That on the maps it is the eastern and
not the western branch which is laid down is shown not only by its straight
northerly course, but also by the fact already mentioned that the name given on
all the maps to the lake at its head is the Indian name of Grand Lake at the
head of the Chiputnaticook chain.

* For authorities on this subject, see Winsor's "America." VII, 171, [et seq.]
fOne may see examples of such maps in the latest volume of the Transac-
ions of the Royal Society of Canada, 1897, section II, 381, 392.

THE ASHBURTON TREATY. 301

Croix river, and the line of the highland watershed just
south ot the St. Lawrence. It is precisely this bound-
ary which Maine has always claimed, and if the treaty
of 1783 had simply mentioned this " Northwestern
angle of Nova Scotia," and had not attempted to define
its position in words, I have no doubt that Maine today
would possess her full claim, and that the western
boundary line of New Brunswick would continue across
the St. John northward to near the St. Lawrence,
throwing all the Madawaska and Temiscouata region
into Maine. But, happily for us, the treaty attempted
to define in words the Northwest angle of Nova Scotia,
and described it as " that angle which is formed by a
line drawn due north from the source of St. Croix river
to the Highlands . . . which divide those rivers
that empty themselves into the River St. Lawrence
from those which fall into the Atlantic ocean." Now
if one takes a modern and correct map, and draws a
line due north from the source of the St. Croix to the
highlands south of the St. Lawrence, it does not reach
highlands separating rivers falling into the St. Law-
rence from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean,
but it reaches highlands separating rivers falling into
the St. Lawrence from those which fall into Bay
Chaleur. But the Commissioners in 1783 had not
correct modern maps before them, but only the very
imperfect ones of their time, a time far preceding any
surveys of any kind in the region of these highlands.
But what maps did the Commissioners have before
them in their negotiations? Happily we have most
satisfactory information upon this point, for commis-
sioners from both parties later agreed that while other
maps were from time to time consulted, the one actual-
ly used in the negotiations was that of John Mitchell
of 1755. This map has often been reproduced and a
copy of it may be seen in the Transactions of the Royal

302 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Society of Canada, recently issued, (III, section II,
page 378). Now the watershed intersected by the line
drawn north from the source of the St. Croix on that
map does separate rivers flowing into the St. Lawrence
from those flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, and this is
not only true on Mitchell's map, but also on most
others of that time. Of course the maps were wrong
in this, but nobody then knew it, and hence the
commissioners gave a perfectly correct description of
the " North west angle of Nova Scotia " as it would
appear if drawn out on Mitchell's map and in the only
way in which it could be known to them. In the face
of these facts I cannot see any escape from the truth
and justice of the Maine claim that the commissioners
meant to make the boundary line between Maine and
Nova Scotia run north to the highlands just south of
the St. Lawrence.

There is yet other evidence of the right of the
American claim. Not only did England never dispute
it until well into this century, and perhaps then, (as
has been suggested) only because the war of 1812
showed how the communication between eastern and
western British America would be cut off if the Ameri-
can claim were admitted, but documents are extant
showing that the American claim was recognized and
admitted as a matter of course by at least two of the
ablest lawyers and most devoted loyalists in New
Brunswick's early history. One of these was Ward
Chipman, the elder, whose part in the foundation of
New Brunswick and services in connection with the
settlement of the boundaries are well known. In
several of his letters in 1796-99 to the authorities in
England (of which his own manuscript copies are now
in my possession) he refers to the north line as crossing
the St. John and cutting off communication with Can-
ada, and to the need there will be for a future negotia-

THE ASH BURTON TREATY. 303

tion to secure an alteration of that north line ; and in
no case does he hint at the least doubt that the treaty
awarded that north line as the boundary. In the fol-
lowing- passage, from a letter of Oct. iQth, 1796,
addressed to William Knox (formerly undersecretary of
state for America), though expressing doubt as to the
intention of the framers of the treaty, he fully admits
the legal justice of the American claim :

"With regard to the principal question it is to be lamented
that by the most favorable decision we can obtain, that it, a
boundary line running- due North to the Highlands from the
source of the Western Branch of the Scoudiac River, our com-
munication with Canada by the River St. John will be interrupted,
as that line will probably strike the River St. John upward of 50
Miles on this side of the grand portage somewhere near a very
valuable settlement called the Madawaska which is a circum-
stance not generally known, and some future negotiation will
probably become necessary to preserve that communication
unbroken. Tho the line will unfortunately run in this manner,
it cannot be supposed to have been intended when the Treaty of
Peace was formed, either on the part of the United States to
claim or on ours to yield a boundary which should in fact cut
through the provinces it was intended to limit. But the decision
ot the present question agreeable to His Majesty's Claim will
render the tract of country in such case to be negotiated for of
much less value and importance and probably secure the acquisi-
tion of it upon much easier terms."

In a letter of December i, 1798 to Mr. Knox he
says: " If a negotiation is necessary for an alteration
of the north line as now established in order to preserve
our communication with Canada," and here also he
expresses no doubt as to the validity of the American
claim.

Again in a letter written by Col. Edward Winslow
at the close of 1798 or beginning of 1799 (for a copy of
which I am indebted to Rev. W. O. Raymond) occurs
the following: —

"My last two summers have been spent in the American
States in the execution of a very arduous and laborious duty as
Secretary to the Commissioners appointed under the fifth article
of the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, etc. to determine the eastern
boundary line. The business closed in October last and under
all the existing circumstances the decision may be considered as
favourable to great Britain. Had the Americans established their
claim to the Magaguadavic, the River St. John would have been

3o4 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

intersected within a few miles of Fredericton, the whole of St.
Andrews and other valuable settlements, together with two mili-
tary posts of some importance would have been embraced within
their limits. As it is we lose not a single British settlement. A
few miserable frenchmen at Madawaska on the route to Canada
fall within their territory. I presume that some future negotiation
will remove even this difficulty and give us a free communication
with Canada."

This statement of a leading- Loyalist, lawyer and
Secretary of a Boundary Commission, is indeed strong
for the American claim.

There are also documents in existence which show
that in 1787 Lord Dorchester was aware of the neces-
sity for carrying the Quebec-New Brunswick boundary
far to the south, even to Grand Falls, in order to pro-
vide a reason for stopping the due North line as far
South as possible.

It was Joseph Bouchette in his "Topographical
Description of Lower Canada," 1815, who first definitely
formulated the British claim which was adduced to off-
set that of the Americans. In brief, it was pointed out
that the "Northwest angle of Nova Scotia" as defined
by the Treaty does not exist, which is true, and this
point was emphasized throughout the discussion to the
total neglect of the fact that the " Northwest angle of
Nova Scotia " did have in men's minds in 1783 a definite
meaning independently of the precise details of the topo-
graphy of the country it covered, and a meaning, too,
which could very readily have been applied to the actual
topography had all so willed. The Highlands were held
to begin at Mars Hill, south of the Aroostook, and to
run westerly between that River and the Penobscot
headwaters. The two parties stood stoutly for their
own claims, submitted them to the arbitration of the
King of the Netherlands, refused to accept his decision,
came nearly to war in the Aroostook valley, and settled
the matter by splitting the difference in the Webster-
Ashburton Treaty of 1842.

THE ASHBURTON TREATY. 305

There remains one important point yet to be
noticed, — why did the British Commissioners in 1783
consent to a boundary which thrust Maine as a great
wedge far North into British America, cutting off com-
munication between its eastern and western parts ?
The answer seems to be plain. Massachusetts had
become an independent state, Nova Scotia remained a
loyal province. It was obvious that the imternational
boundary must separate these two. But the extent of
each ot them was perfectly well known at that time to
everybody, and it was universally understood that the
boundary between them was a north line from the source
of the St. Croix to the highlands just south of the St.
Lawrence, and thus this line became the natural inter-
national boundary. We can imagine with what fine
scorn the American Commissioners, representing the
victorious states, would have received a proposition to
cede a part of the free state of Massachusetts to Great
Britain in order that it might be added to Nova Scotia
to improve the communication between that province
and Canada. Probably it never occurred to the British
Commissioners to make so preposterous a proposition.

W. F. GANONG.

THE ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTH.

The people of New Brunswick have good reason
to be proud of the fact that, at a time when its popula-
tion was less than one-sixth what it is at present, this
province was able to raise a full regiment of infantry
for the defence of the country, and that this corps was
of such excellent quality that it was taken into the
British service as the iO4th Regiment of the line, and
distinguished itself in several engagements in the war
with the United States, which began in the year 1812.
They have less reason to be satisfied with the reflection

306 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

that soon after the close of the war this regiment was
disbanded; and that in after years the old regimental
number was appropriated by an organization which had
no connection whatever with this province, but was
originally raised in India. That transaction and the
transformation of the looth Regiment raised in Canada,
into a battalion of an Irish Regiment are significant
proofs that the Colonial loyalty until recently has been
but little regarded in the realm of British officialism,
and that the doctrine of the London Times that the
British North American colonies should be got rid of as
soon as possible had a higher sanction than the advo-
cacy of any single newspaper could give it.

The iO4th Regiment was the natural successor, if
not the lineal descendant of the King-'s New Brunswick
Regiment, the story of which has been so fully told by
Mr. Jonas Howe. This regiment was raised in 1793,
when war broke out between Great Britain and France,
and it was disbanded in 1802 when the short lived peace
of Ameins was made, the British government of that
day being under the delusion that their difficulties with
Bonaparte were at an end. It was not then realized
that these difficulties were only beginning and that in
1802 the Corsican usurper had his greatest battles to
win and his most wonderful triumphs to record, for
Jena, Austerlitz, Wagram and a dozen other great
victories all came after the peace of Ameins. All that
time our mother country had to fight for her existence,
and another complication was added to her troubles by
the hostile attitude of the United States, then full of
ambition to conquer Canada and drive the British flag
from this continent.

The war with France was renewed in 1803, an(^ it
immediately became apparent that the disbanding of
the King's New Brunswick Regiment was an act of
extreme folly. The only thing that remained was to

THE ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTH. 307

raise another regiment in its place and the New Bruns-
wick Regiment of Fencible Infantry was the outcome.
This was a much larger organization than its predeces-
sor, for it numbered twelve companies, instead of six,
and its strength was upwards of 1000 men. In 1805
the names of its officers were as follows : —

Colonel, Martin Hunter ; Lt.-Col., George Johnston ; Major,
Charles McCarty.

Captains, J. T. Fitzgerald, Thomas Hunter, T. Christian,
H. W. Hailes, Richard Leonard, Robert Moodie, G. V. Gerau,
A. Sutherland, Dugald Campbell.

Lieutenants, A. G. Armstrong, W. B. Phair, D. Miller, J. G.
Blake, Bennett Wallop. William Bradley, C. McDonald,
L. Basserer, George Shore, E. Fennell, C. D. Rankine, William
Proctor.

Ensigns, Edward Holland, J. H. Roche, George Jobling,
A. Drysdale, John Carmichael, Andrew Rainsford, H. Lodge,
John Jenkins.

H. Carmichael, Paymaster ; James Hinckes Quartermas-
ter E. Holland, Adjutant ; Fred Thomson, Surgeon ; Thomas
Emerson, Assistant Surgeon.

A reference to the list of officers of the King's New
Brunswick Regiment shows that only four persons who
were officers of the latter corps became officers of the
New Brunswick Regiment of Fencible Infantry. These
were Captain Dugald Campbell, who had formerly
belonged to the 42nd Regiment, William Barry Phair,
who had been an ensign in the King's New Brunswick
Regiment, W. B. Bradley, who had been a lieutenant
in the same regiment, and Thomas Emerson, assistant
surgeon. The name John Jenkins occurs in both lists,
but they can hardly have been the same person, for
John Jenkins of the King's New Brunswick Regiment
had been an officer in the New Jersey Volunteers in the
Revolutionary War, and therefore would be too old a
man to become an ensign in the New Brunswick Regi-
ment of Fencible Infantry in 1805. The John Jenkins
of the latter corps may have been his son.

The New Brunswick Regiment of Fencible Infan-
try was stationed in this province from the time of its
formation until February, 1813, after the outbreak of

3o8 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

the war with the United States. The only exception
to this statement is that, in June, 1808, Captain Shore,
with two companies of the regiment, was sent to gar-
rison Sydney, C. B. The headquarters of the regiment
had been at Fredericton and most of the companies
were stationed there, but in 1809 the loist Regiment
was removed from St. John to the West Indies, and
part of the New Brunswick Regiment came here to take
its place. During that summer the troops were em-
ployed in making a road from St. John to Fredericton.
In February 181 1, in view of the prospect of a war with
the United States, the regiment was gazetted as His
Majesty's io4th Regiment, the first Colonial regiment
of the line. This was an important step in the history
of the corps, and was justly regarded as a highly honor-
able distinction.

The war with the United States broke out in June,
1812, and the need of reinforcements in Canada became
urgent. New Brunswick also had to be defended, how-
ever, and it was not until February, 1813, that the io4th
could be spared. Its place was taken by a battalion of
the 8th Regiment, the other battalion of which was
then serving in Upper Canada. The officers of the
iO4th Regiment at the time they set out on their famous
winter march to Queoec, were as follows : —

Colonel, Martin Hunter ; Lieut.-General; Lieut.-Col.,
Alexander Halkett.

Majors, William Drummond, Robert Moodie.

Captains, Thomas Hunter, Staff, Richard Leonard, Staff,
A. G. Armstrong-, Peter Dinnis, William E. Bradley, R. A.
Loring, G. V. Gerau, John Maule, Major, George Shore, William
Proctor, Edward Holland.

Lieutenants, George Jobling, John Jenkins, Adjt., Frederick
ShafFalisky, James De Lancey, John Carmichael, Thomas
Leonard, Samuel Rig-by, Alexander Campbell, A. W Playfair,
J. Le Coutear, R. J. Ireland, Henry Long, Andrew Rainsford,
Charles Rainsford, John McKinnon, William B. Phair, L.
Basserer, C. D. Rankine, T. B. Sutherland, H. N. Moorsom,
George Croad, A. C. MacDonald, Frederick Moore, James Grey.

Ensigns, E. W. Solomon, A. Graves, James A. McLauchlin,
William Martin, - — Considine, James Miller, Charles Job-

THE ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTH. 309

ling, James Coyne, James Coates.

H H. Carmichael, Paymaster ; William McDonald, Quarter-
master ; John Jenkins, Adjutant; William D. Thomas, Surgeon.

Thomas Emerson, William Woodforde, Asst. Surgeons.

These officers were not all natives of this province,
nor is it to be presumed that the whole of the 1,000
men who formed the regiment were born in New
Brunswick. Lt. Governor Thomas Carleton had re-
turned to England before the io4th Regiment was
raised, and the functions which should have been
performed by him were delegated to successive presi-
dents, the Hon. Edward Winslow, General Martin
Hunter, Lt. Col. G. Johnston, General W. Balfour,
General G. S. Smyth, General Sir T. Saumerez and
Lt. Col. H. W. Hailes. The latter, who was one of
the captains in the regiment in 1805, was an English-
man, and a great many of the other officers had served
in British regiments. It was natural that military men
who were acting as governors of the province should
select for officers a considerable proportion of exper-
ienced soldiers, rather than give all the commissions to
natives of the province who were without experience.
The proportion of native officers and soldiers was,,
however, large enough to justify the pride which the
people of this province have always felt in the iO4th
Regiment.

The 1 04th Regiment was ordered to Quebec in the
early part of 1813, and took its departure on the i6th of
February. The day before it left Fredericton Captain
Agnew, who had been an officer in the Queen's Rangers
in the Revolutionary war, and was then a member for
York in the House of Assembly, moved the following
resolution in that body:

Resolved, That the House of Assembly of New
Brunswick cannot view the departure of the io4th
Regiment from this province, without feeling every
solicitude for a corps raised in this country, and destined
they trust long to continue its pride and ornament. The

310 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

House have observed with peculiar pleasure that the
merit of the officers and men of this regiment has been
such as to have induced his majesty to confer upon it a
high mark of his favor and approbation in numbering
it with the line; and the House take this occasion to
express the high sense they have of the propriety
of conduct observed by this regiment during its continu-
ance in this province.

It might have been supposed that the above reso-
lution would have been carried unanimously at such a
time, and considering all the circumstances, but such
was not the case. It was only passed by a majority of
one vote, nine members giving it their support and
eight opposing it. Among the latter were three mem-
bers for St. John, Messrs. Humbert, Ward and John-
ston. The other opponents of the resolution were
Messrs. Easterbrooks and Chapman of Westmorland,
Peters of Queens, Fraser of York, and Street of Sun-
bury. The Journals of the House simply record the
fact, but of course give no explanation of the reasons
which influenced the dissenting eight. The opposition
to the resolution seems the more remarkable from the
fact that in the following year, when the 8th Regiment
and a body of British seamen went to Quebec by the
same route that had been taken by the iO4th, the
House of Assembly unanimously voted three hundred
pounds to assist them on their way and increase the
comfort of their journey. The House of Assembly of
that day thus stands in the position of appearing to be
more friendly to the 8th Regiment and the sailors of
the Royal Navy than to a corp composed mainly of
natives of the province which was going forth to do
battle for the cause of king and country. It is to be
regretted that this division stands on the Journals of
the house as a testimony to future ages that party spirit
was more powerful than patriotism in this province in
the year 1813.

THE ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTH. 311

The march of the iO4th Regiment from St. John
and Fredericton to Quebec was an arduous undertaking,
considering the season of the year and the distance to
be travelled, a large portion of the journey being
through the wilderness. The distance from Fredericton
to Quebec was about 360 miles or about 24 days'
march at the usual rate of 15 miles a day. The regi-
ment reached Quebec on the lyth of March in good
condition, and early in the spring it was sent to Upper
Canada where it was speedily employed in the arduous
work of the campaign of that year. Although the
lieutenant colonel of the regiment was Alexander
Halkett, it was, during all the operations of the war,
under the command of the senior major, William
Drummond, a brother of Lieut. General Sir Gordon
Drummond who commanded the British army at
Lundy's Lane.

The first operation in which the io4th was engaged
after its arrival in UpperCanada was the attack on
Sackett's Harbor, which was the principal depot of the
United States army and navy on Lake Ontario. The
attempt on this important place was made on the 27th
May, 1813, and the troops which took part in it were
the Grenadier company of the looth Regiment, a sec-
tion of the Royal Scots (ist Regiment), two companies
of the 8th, four companies of the io4th, one company
of the Glengarry Light Infantry, two companies of the
Canadian Voltigeurs, a small detachment of the Royal
Newfoundland Regiment, and two 6-pounder field pieces
and their gunners, numbering altogether about 750
rank and file. A landing was effected with but little
loss, but the attempt to carry the fort and barracks failed
owing to the faint heartedness of the British com-
mander, Sir George Prevost, who ordered a retreat at
a time when a little perseverance would have won the
position. Major Drummond, at this juncture, said

3i2 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

to Sir George, "Allow me a few minutes, sir, and I
will put you in possession of the place." To this appeal
Sir George replied "Obey your orders, sir, and learn
the first duty of a soldier." The loss suffered in return-
ing to the boats was much heavier than it had been
during the advance, so that the repulse was more costly
than a victory would have been. The British loss was
50 men killed and 211 wounded, or 261 in all, a heavy
percentage out of a force of 750 men. The loss of the
iO4th was very large. Although the four companies
engaged probably did not exceed in strength 300 men,
the loss of the regiment was returned as 22 killed and
69 wounded, a total of 91. Seven officers were
wounded, Majors Drummond and Moodie, Captains
Leonard and Shore, and Lieutenants Rainsford, Moore
and de Lancey. This was a very good beginning for a
young regiment which had never before been in action.
After the affair at Sackett's Harbor the io4th Regi-
ment marched from Kingston to join General Vincent's
command on the Niagara frontier. They reached their
destination immediately after the American defeat at
Stoney Creek and were placed in the van of the army
which was following the retreating enemy. Detach-
ments were pushed forward to occupy the cross roads
at Ten Mile Creek and at the Beaver Dam, the latter
place being occupied by a subaltern and 30 men of the
iO4th. As this little force was somewhat isolated, the
Americans formed a design to capture it, and on the
23rd of June Lieut. -Colonel Bcerstler with a detachment
of infantry, cavalry and artillery, numbering 673 officers
and men, left Fort St. George for that purpose. The
fate of this detachment is the most extraordinary
episode of the war, for it was captured almost without
firing a shot by a clever ruse of Lieutenant Fitzgibbon
of the 49th Regiment, who summond Bcerstler to sur-
render and made him believe he was surrounded by

THE ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTH. 313

enemies, when in reality he was in no danger whatever.
The American commander and 542 of his men became
prisoners of war.

During the summer of 1813 the iO4th Regiment
remained on the Niagara frontier, suffering greatly
from sickness, fever and argue being very prevalent
that year. It is thus mainly, rather than by loss of life
in battle, that regiments and armies are reduced in
strength. Later in the year the regiment took part in
the operations by which General Wilkinson's attempt
on Montreal was defeated, but it was not actually en-
gaged. It missed the glorious victory at Chrystler's
farm which put an end to the hopes of the Americans
in that quarter.

The flank companies of the iO4th Regiment, num-
bering about 150 men, under Captains Leonard and
Shore, took part in the battle of Lundy's Lane. Being
on the extreme right, which was but feebly attacked by
the enemy, their losses were slight, being one man
killed and five wounded. Lieut. Col. Drummond of
the io4th was very active in the battle, and Lieut.
Moorsom of the regiment, who was on the staff, was
killed. The American army fled to Fort Erie and was
followed by General Drummond's force, of which the
flank companies of the iO4th formed a part. Fort Erie
was invested by the British and the American army was
cooped up within its walls. To facilitate the attack on
Fort Erie it was deemed necessary to capture or destroy
the American batteries at Black Rock, on the opposite
side of the Niagara River. The flank companies of the
1 04th were a part of the force detailed for this opera-
tion, but it failed, mainly because the enemy had re-
ceived warning of it and had intrenched themselves in
a position which could not be carried. A few men of
the regiment were killed and wounded in this affair.

The same companies of the iO4th were in the

3i4 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

assault on Fort Erie which took place on the
August, 1814, their strength being at that time reduced
to about 80 men. They formed a part of the centre
column under the command of Lieut. Colonel Drum-
mond. This column, after desperate fighting, took pos-
session of the salient bastion of the Douglas Battery,
but were nearly all destroyed by an explosion which
took place within it. The bastion had been mined, and
when General Gaines saw that it was in the possession
of the British he fired the train and blew it up. This
was no doubt a legitimate act of warfare, but this fact
did not justify him in falsifying the record and stating
in his official despatch that the British were driven out
of the bastion at the point ot the bayonet. The British
in the bastion were blown up and most of them killed
by the explosion. Lieut. -Colonel Drummond of the
1 04th had been killed before the explosion, while gal-
lantly fighting at the head of his men. Of the 80 men
belonging to the flank companies of the regiment
who went into action, 53 were killed or wounded.
Captain Leonard was wounded, and Lieutenant
McLaughlan was wounded severely. The British loss
in the assault on Fort Erie was 905, a larger number
than were killed and wounded in the battle of Lundy's
Lane.

The 1 04th Regiment lost heavily from disease and
other incidents of warfare from the time it took the
field, and it had no recruiting ground by means of
which its losses could be made good. As soon as it
took its departure from New Brunswick, another corps,
the New Brunswick Fencibles, was organized by Gen-
eral Coffin, and the recruits from this province which
ought to have gone to the io4th Regiment were taken
into the new organization. Thus the best method of
replenishing the wasted ranks of the iO4th became a
matter of serious concern, and Earl Bathurst, the

THE ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTH. 315

secretary of the Colonial department, proposed that the
negro slaves of Virginia who had fled to the British
ships to obtain their freedom should be permitted to
enlist in the New Brunswick Regiment. This sug-
gestion does not appear to have been carried out.

The military services of the io4th Regiment ended
with the close of the campaign of 1814, for the war
was ended nearly in 1815. The regiment was then
sent to Quebec where it remained a year. It after-
wards did garrison duty at Montreal until the 24th of
May, 1817, when it was disbanded. Most of the
soldiers received grants of land and became settlers in
Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Those
who were going to the two latter provinces were sent
in vessels to Halifax and St. John, receiving two
months' pay on their arrival. General Drummond had
been very anxious that the iO4th Regiment, and two
other provincial corps, the Glengarry Regiment and
the Canadian Fencibles, should be retained in the
British army, but his advice was not heeded, and so
these veterans of the war who were looked upon with
pride by their fellow countrymen were scattered and
their services lost to their country. Even the memory
of their achievements seems to have soon faded away, for
no attempt was made to obtain from the survivors of
the i04th a narrative of their services in two cam-
paigns and now the story of their battles can only be
gathered from the official despatches, which contain
but the barest outline of the facts recorded.

JAMES HANNAY.

AT PORTLAND POINT.

Sixth Paper.

The fact that William Hazen did not take up his
residence at St. John until the year 1775, more than
ten years after the formation of the co-partnership
under which James Simonds and James White entered
upon their business and settled themselves at Portland
Point, has rendered it difficult hitherto to connect him
with the story of the first English settlement at St.
John. Mr. Hazen, nevertheless, was a very important
member of the company, and next to James Simonds
•' its prime organizer, and had it not been for his financial
aid it is doubtful if the business could have been con-
tinued. To him and Leonard Jarvis, his partner at
Newburyport, were sent the various products received
at St. John — furs and peltries from the Indians, lumber
and country produce from the white inhabitants, fish
of all kinds, lime from the kilns about Fort Howe,
coal from the Grand Lake region, small vessels built at
Portland Point, etc. To dispose of all these articles to
advantage was in itself no easy task. Mr. Hazen had
also to procure and forward such goods as were re-
quired for the settlers on the river St. John, and for
the Indian trade, to supply machinery for the mills,
materials for building houses and stores, rigging for
schooners, farming implements, cattle, sheep, and
horses. Nobody can read the correspondence that
passed between Newburyport and St. John at this period
or glance at the old invoices without being surprised at
the great variety of articles he was obliged to provide
sometimes at short notice. He had also to procure
from time to time a variety of hands required at St.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 317

John — coopers, carpenters, fishermen, farmers, lime-
burners, shipbuilders, millmen, teamsters and laborers.

Leonard Jarvis became a co-partner with William
Hazen in the autumn of the year 1764, and he may be
considered to have replaced Samuel Blodget in the
company, as on the retirement of Mr. Blodget, a little
later, his share was taken by Hazen and Jarvis, they
paying- him the sum of £1,800 on account of the sup-
plies he had advanced. Leonard Jarvis seems never to
have been at St. John while he was a member of the
company,* but William Hazen visited Portland Point
frequently, more especially after the formation of the
second business partnership in April 1767. In April
1771, he informed Mr. Simonds that he should soon'?~"
altogether discontinue business at Newburyport having
determined to settle his lands in Nova Scotia which if
unimproved would be liable to forfeiture; he therefore
proposed to build a dwelling house for his family near
Mr. Simonds' residence at Portland Point. The pros-
pect of such an addition to their limited society doubt-
less was extremely pleasing to the families of Mr.
Simonds and Mr. White.

In a letter dated February 18, 1771, James Simonds
writes, "We shall cut Mr. Hazen's Frame in some
place near the water where it may be rafted at any
time." The house was erected in July following. It
was built at Mr. Hazen's expense mostly by the
laborers and with materials belonging to the company.
Shortly after its completion it was destroyed by fire and
Mr. Hazen's removal from Newburyport delayed in
consequence. A new house was begun the next year
which like the former was built by the company's car-
penters and laborers and the expense borne by Mr.
Hazen.

1790,

•Leonard Jarvis was at St. John, probabl}- for the first time, in August,
in connection with the suit in Chancery, Hazen and Jarvis versus Simonds.

318 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

There is a very suggestive entry in one of the old
account books, dated November 17, 1773, in which
William Hazen is charged 25 shillings for "4 gallons
West India rum, 3 Ibs. sugar, 3 quarts New England
rum, Dinner, &c., &c.,'' and the memo is appended:
"for Raising his House." The house was finished in
1774. It was by far the best and most substantial
dwelling as yet erected at Portland Point, indeed in
early times it used to be regarded as quite a mansion.
The day of "the raising" was doubtless a gala day
and we may be sure every man of the little community
was there to take his part in the work and share in the
refreshments provided.

The old Hazen house so erected on the i7th Novem-
ber, 1773, is still standing at the corner of Simonds
and Brook streets, having withstood the ravages of
time and escaped the numerous conflagrations that have
occurred in the vicinity. The house has, however,
been largely remodelled by the present owner Mr. John
Stewart. The foundation is all new except the stone
wall on Brook street which is part of the original wall.
The roof formerly pitched four ways running up to a
peak, this has been replaced by a flat roof. Some
of the old studs, which were cut out where new win-
dows have been put in, were found to be merely round
sticks flattened on two sides with an axe, and the
boards were roughly sawn. The sheathing of the
house has all been renewed, and the ell that used to
extend up Simonds street has been removed. The
lower flat is now used as a grocery, the upper as a
Presbyterian Mission Hall and Sunday School room in
connection with St. David's Church. In olden times
and for many years Mr. Hazen's garden and grounds
extended to the water. Mr. Hazen seems to have
personally superintended the construction of his house
and as soon as it was ready for occupancy began once

AT PORTLAND POINT. 319

more to prepare for the removal of his family to St.
John.

Leonard Jarvis had in the meanwhile quitted the
company and gone into business on his own acccount
at Dartmouth, near Rhode Island, one hundred miles
from Newburyport. This necessitated a new business
arrangement and in May, 1773, a verbal agreements
was made between Hazen, Simonds and White to carry
on the fishery and trade in their own names in the pro-
portions of one half part on account of Hazen, one
third part on account of Simonds and one sixth part on
account of White, and they continued to do business at
St. John under the name of Hazen, Simonds and White
until the latter part of the year 1777 when the events
of the Revolution put a stop to all business. As
Leonard Jarvis never visited St. John until some years
after this time we may regard his connection with the
company merely as incidental to his co-partnership with
William Hazen. After the discontinuance of the part-
nership between Hazen and Jarvis, the supplies needed
at St. John were furnished by one Samuel Gardiner'"
Jarvis, a leading merchant of Boston.

There can be little doubt that throughout the con-
tinuance of the company's operations at St. John,
William Hazen was its chief financial strength and that
the large outlay required was a source of some embar-
rassment to him. Quite as much difficulty was experi-
enced in collecting debts in olden times as in days more
modern; on this head we have the authority of James
Simonds who in a letter to his son Richard, says: —

"At the dissolution of my old partnensS-.it:> concern with
Hazen and Jarvis, their debts in this and other countries ^_
amounted to a large sum, but it never was in the power of the
partners to collect one half of it, and the loss was upwards of 50
percent, besides the immense trouble of recovering- the remaining-
part — and on the discontinuance of business on my own account
I had no better success. In the last instance only, my loss of
debts amounted to upwards of ^2,000."

320 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

The very large outlay required and the magnitude
of the debts outstanding, as just stated, taxed severely
the resources of William Hazen, who claimed that at
the time the business was terminated by the events of
the Revolutionary war, the company were in arrears to
Jl him for supplies in an amount equivalent to $16,600.*

While we cannot suppose the general business at
St. John to have been altogether unremunerative, it
would seem that Mr. Hazen expected to derive more
substantial benefits from the lands he had acquired,
and in this, as the event proved, his judgment was not
at fault. Scarcely, however, had he begun his prepar-
ations for removal to St. John when the rumblings of a
coming storm were heard, and ere long Old England
and New England were arrayed in bitter conflict. The
port of Boston was closed in 1774, and a vessel owned
,by the company with a large and valuable cargo was
obliged to return to St. John without being allowed to
Center. This almost put a stop to their business.

William Hazen is said to have left New England
with his family, June 17, 1775, the very day on which
was fought the battle of Bunker Hill. His arrival at
St. John a few days later is very evident from the
nature of the items that begin to appear in the old day
book kept by James White. The Hazen family evi-
dently proved good customers of the store at Portland
Point. The first item charged to the account of the
household is one of 67 Ibs. of moose meat at id. per
Ib.f Moose meat was a much greater rarity to the
family on their arrival than it afterwards became. It
was at the time one of the staple articles of food in the
country and almost any settler who desired fresh meat

*Mr. Hazen stated in his evidence in the Chancery suit in 1795, that at the
time the second business contract was signed in April, 1767, there was a balance
due by the company to Hazen and Jarvis of .£3,135. 10. 8 New England currency
(equal to .£2,612. 18. n New Brunswick currency), and that in April, 1778, this
sum had increased to .£4, 149. 16. i YZ New Brunswick currenc3'.

fit may be of interest to mention that moose meat was just half the
value of beef at this time, the latter being quoted at 2d. per Ib.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 321

could obtain it at short notice by loading- up his old
musket and going- to the woods. The purchase of 67
Ibs. of moose meat at midsummer indicates that Mr.
Hazen had to provide for a good sized family, and we
learn from an enumeration of the settlers made this
very year that his household included 4 men, 3 women,
3 boys and 2 girls, twelve persons in all. Probably
his nephew, John Hazen, who afterwards settled at
Oromocto, was one of the family.

William Hazen was decidedly unfortunate in regard
to the first buildings he erected at St.. John. Shortly
after his arrival he built a barn near his house, and a
few years later it shared the fate of his first dwelling
house, only in this instance the fire was not accidental.

Rev. James Sayre,* under date November 25,
1784, wrote to James White from Fairfield, Connecti-
cut : —

" It g-ave us great concern to be informed that any person
about you could be so wicked as to accomplish the shocking-
deed attempted before we left the country ; I mean the burning-
of Mr. Hazen's barn. Besides the great loss he must have sus-
tained it is justly to be feared it must have occasioned great ter-
ror and trouble to both your families. I should be glad to be
informed that Mrs. White in particular did not suffer materially
in her health (being- an invalid) by the flagitious deed."

So much as regards the circumstances attending
Mr. Hazen's removal from Newburyport to Portland
Point. A few words may now be said respecting the
ancestry of the Hazen family.

In the New England Historical and Genealogical
Register of April, 1879, Mr. Allen Hazen of New
Haven, Conn., says; "The origin ot the family beyond

•Rev. James Sayre was a brother of Rev. John Sayre, who settled at
Maug-erville. In the Revolutionary war he was a chaplain in the New Jersey
Volunteers, a well known Loyalist corps. He came to St. John at the peace in
1783 and drew a lot near York Point, but afterwards returned to Connecticut.
His family lived on terms of friendly intercourse with James White's family and
there are several pleasant allusions in Mr. Sayre's letter to their former intimate
associations. He says, "We feel ourselves much indebted to your house for
the frequent instances of kindness to us when in your neighborhood and wish to
have it in our power to testify it more strongly than in words."

322 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

the sea has not been traced."* The Hazens of New
I Brunswick belong- to the eighth and ninth generations
of the family in America.

(1) Edward Hazen, the immigrant ancestor, was
a resident of Rowley, Massachusetts, as early as the
year 1649. By his wife Hannah Grant, he had a family
of four sons and seven daughters. His youngest son,
Richard, born August 6, 1669, inherited the large estate
of his step-father George Browne of Haverhill.

(2) Richard Hazen married Mary Peabody
daughter, of Captain John Peabody,! and had a family of
five sons and six daughters, one of the latter, Sarah, was
the mother of James Simonds. The third son, Moses
Hazen, was the ancestor of our New Brunswick Hazens.

(3) Moses Hazen married May 17, 1701, Abigail
White (the aunt of James White who came to St. John);
their oldest son, Captain John Hazen, distinguished
himself in the Crown Point expedition of 1757, and on
other occasions during the French war. J He married
November 30, 1752, Anne Swett of Haverhill, and their
only son, John, born November 29, 1755, came with
his uncle William to St. John and afterwards took up
his residence in Burton, Sunbury County, where he
married September 2, 1787, Priscilla, daughter of Dr.
William McKinstry, by whom he had twelve children.
Among their descendants the best known is J. Douglas
Hazen, ex-mayor of Fredericton and lately member in
the Dominion parliament for the city and county of St.
John. Captain Moses Hazen, second son of the elder
Moses Hazen, has been frequently mentioned in this

•Possibly the Hazens may have come to America from the vicinity of
Newcastle on Tyne, where the name has K-n located early in the last century.

tCapt. John Peabody's father, Lieut u>ancis Peabody, was the first of
that family to come to America ; from him are descended Capt. Francis P eabody,
the father of the Maug-erville colony, and also George Peabod y, the great Lon-
don banker and philanthropist.

JBoth James Simonds and James White had commissions in the provinc-
ial forces of Massachusetts and were with Captain John Hazen, their cousin, in
this campaign.

AT PORTLAND POINT. 323

series of papers. He served with distinction during
the French war and was with Wolfe at the taking- of
Quebec where he was severely wounded. He sided
against the mother country in the Revolution, raised a
regiment called " Hazen's own," and was a Brigadier
General at the close of the war.

(4) William Hazen, third son of Moses Hazen,
was the co-partner of Simonds and White at St. John.
He was born in Haverhill, July 17, 1738, and died at
St. John, March 23, 1814. He married July 14, 1764,
Sarah Le Baron, of Plymouth. They had sixteen
children; of these Elizabeth married the elder Ward
Chipman, Judge of the Supreme Court and adminis-
trator of the government of New Brunswick at his
death in 1824; William was father of Hon. Robert L.
Hazen, recorder of St. John, a leader in our provincial
politics and a Canadian senator; Robert was the father
of Robert F. Hazen, mayor of St. John in 1837;* Sarah
Lowell married first Thomas Murray (grandfather of
Miss Frances Murray of St. John) and second Judge
William Botsford and their children were Senator Bots-
ford, George Botsford of Fredericton, and LeBaron
Botsford of St. John; Charlotte married General Sir
John Fitzgerald; Frances Amelia married Colonel
Charles Drury of the British army and the late Ward
Chipman Drury of St. John was one of their sons.

Connected with the decease of several prominent
members and relatives of the Hazen family there are
some rather remarkable coincidences as to dates. The
eldest daughter of William Hazen, widow of the elder
Ward Chipman, died at the Chipman house May 18,
1852, the 69th anniversary of the landing of the

*Robert F. Hazen had the honor, as mayor of St. John, of presiding on
the occasion of the proclamation of Queen Victoria, Aug. 8, 1837. The demise
of William IV occurred on June igth, but the news was seven weeks in reaching
New Brunswick. The same day a tragic accident happened at the falls, causing
the loss of seven lives and the wounding of seven persons. This was caused by
the falling of the bridge then being erected by the St. John Bridge Company,
of which Robert F. Hazen was one of the shareholders.

324 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Loyalists ; her son, the younger Ward Chipman, died
November 26, 1851, the 6yth anniversary of the organ-
ization of the Supreme Court of Judicature of New
Brunswick; Mrs. Chipman, widow of the younger
Ward Chipman, died July 4, 1876, the hundredth anni-
versary of the Declaration of Independence ; William
Hazen, son of the late William Hazen and grandson of
Robert F. Hazen, died June lyth, 1885, the anniversary
of the day his great-great-grandfather, William, left
his home in the old colonies for St. John, one hundred
and ten years before.

The removal of William Hazen to Portland Point
in June, 1775, did not seem at the first to be a fortu-
nate event either for himself or his family. For the
latter the change from comfortable surroundings, good
society, educational and religious advantages, to a
scene of comparative isolation with all its attendant
privations was in itself no light matter. But the situ-
ation was shortly to be aggravated by the tribulations
all the settlers were to experience in consequence of the
outbreak of the American Revolution. Of this we shall
have occasion to speak more fully hereafter.

At the time of the arrival of Mr. Hazen and his
family, the English speaking people at the mouth of
* the river did not exceed one hundred and fifty souls.
There is preserved among the archives at Halifax a
" Return of the state of the settlement at the mouth of
the River St. John on the first day of August, 1775,"
which gives some information on this head.* The
enumeration was made by James Simonds. It does
not give the names of all the adult males. In the case,
for example, of the households of Messrs. Simonds,
White and Hazen, twelve male adults are returned;
evidently some of them were employees of the company

*For a copy of this return I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Isaiah W.
Wilson, the local historian of Dig-by County, Nova Scotia.— VV. O. RAYMOND.

AT PORTLAND POINT.

325

who lived with their masters. Their names are not
specified, but James White's old day book shows the
following' to have been living at Portland Point at this
time in addition to those whose names appear in Mr.
Simonds' return, viz: Stephen Peabody, John Hazen,
Samuel Beverley, Jonathan Clough, Jacob Johnson,
Edmund Black, Levi Ring, Reuben Harbut and Michael
Kelly.

PORTLAND POINT.

Name of Master or Mis-
tress of the Family.

James Simonds 4

James White 4

William Hazen 4

George DeBlois

Robert Cram

Rebolun Rowe

John Nason

John Mack

Lemuel Cleveland

Christopher Blake

Moses Greenough

Men. Women. Boys. Girls. Total.

12

24

12
IO
12

3

IO

4
7

4
4
3

70

CONWAY.

Name of Master or Mis-
tress of the Family.

Hugh Quinton

Jonathan Leavitt

Daniel Leavitt

Samuel Peabody

William Me Keen

Thomas Jenkins

Moses Kimball

Elijah Estabrooks

John Bradley

James Woodman

Zebedee Ring

Gervas Say

Samuel Abbott

Christosher Cross

John Knap

Eliakim Ayer i

J oseph Rowe i

Men. Women. Boys. Girls. Total.

20

72

326 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE,

According- to Mr. Simonds' return all the in-
.dividuals at Portland Point with one exception, and he
an Irishman, were born in America. At Conway all
were natives of America with the exception of two per-
sons of English nationality. Mr. Simonds observes in
a note appended that there were at this time about
•• thirty families of Acadians on the river.

The Conway people had 2 horses (both owned by
-vHugh Quinton), 13 oxen and bulls, 32 cows, 44 young
cattle, 40 sheep, 17 swine. The return of domestic
animals at Portland Point seems defective. However,
a memorandum in one of the old account books dated
November 29, 1775, show that Messrs. Hazen, Simonds
and White owned at that time 14 cattle, 14 sheep, n
horses, 21 colts, i mule and i jackass — the last two
animals the property of Mr. Simonds. The other
settlers owned 8 cows, 4 young cattle, 4 sheep and 6
swine. Total number of domestic animals 232.

The dwellings of the settlers at this time were
small and built at little cost, some of them log houses.
Mr. Hazen's house was by all odds the most substantia
building that had yet been erected.

It was at least a year after the arrival of Simonds
and White in the first instance before it was deter-
mined to confine the business of the company to St.
John. According to the first articles of partnership the
sphere of their operations included " Passamaquoddy,
J'St. John, Canso and elsewhere in or near the province
of Nova Scotia and parts adjacent " — a pretty wide field
certainly. The first indication of making St. John the
chief centre .of business is contained in a letter dated at
" Passamaquada," August 18, 1764, in which James
Simonds writes to William Hazen: —

" If you and Mr. Blodg-et think it will be best to carry on
business largely at St. John's we must have another house with a
cellar; the cellar is now dug- and stoned and will keep apples,

AT PORTLAND POINT. 327

potatoes and other thing's that will not bear the frost; this build-
ing- will serve as a house and store, the Old Store for a Cooper's
Shop; we shall want also boards for the house, some glass &c.,
bricks for a chimney and hing-es for two doors."

A few months later Mr. Simonds wrote to New-
buryport for 5 M. feet of boards " to cover a frame that
is now decaying and will serve for a Lime House and
Barn." Until the erection of their saw mill a couple .
of years later most of the building- materials had to be
imported in the company's vessels.

Among1 the buildings at Portland Point when the
Hazen family arrived, there were, in addition to the
residences of the three partners, a smaller dwelling ad-
joining the Simonds house, another small dwelling and
barn, a store called the Lime Store, another the Log
Store, another the Salt Store (or Cooper's shop), another
the New Store, and a blacksmith shop. The " New
Store " was finished about the time of Mr. Hazen's
arrival; it stood near the old mast dock a little to the
west of the Point. On the 2ist July, 1775, the goods
were removed from the old store to the new.

At this time nearly all the settlers on the St. John
river obtained their goods from Hazen, Simonds and >•
White. The little schooner Polly made frequent trips
to Maugerville and St. Anns and no craft was so well
known on the river in those days as she. A glance
at the old account books shows that on one of her trips
up the river, May TO, 1773, goods were sold to thirty
families at various points along the way, and consign-
ments were also left with Benjamin Atherton & Co. of
St. Anns, with Jabez Nevers of Maugerville, and with
Peter Carr of Gagetown, to be sold on commission for
the company. A similar trip was made in November,
1775, before the close of navigation, and a considerable
quantity of goods sold to more than forty families
whose names appear in the accounts. Various articles
were received from the inhabitants in return, the

328 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

business being largely one of barter. Edmund Price, one
of the Gagetown settlers, for example, delivered to the
company nine chaldrons of Grand Lake coal at 20 shil-
lings per chaldron, showing that the mines were then
worked to a limited extent.* Quite a number of the set-
tlers in Conway were employed by the company in vari-
ous capacities and as they were nearly all tenants of
Hazen, Simonds and White they naturally procured
whatever articles they needed at the Portland Point store.

During the first six months after Mr. Hazen's
arrival the names of no less than 120 different cus-
tomers representing as many households, are found
entered in the day book kept by James White; of these
25 were residents at Portland Point, 20 lived across the
river in Conway, 45 belonged to Maugerville, 20 to
other townships up the river, and 10 were merely
transient visitors.

In the autumn of the year 1775 the company sold
three-eighths of their old schooner the Polly to Joseph
^tRowe and James Woodman, two of the Conway
settlers and the former seems to have sailed in her as
captain. James Woodman was by trade a shipwright,
and a man of enterprise and very fair education. He
associated himself in business with Zebedee Ring and
their names appear in the pages of Mr. White's journal
«as ''Woodman & Ring." They were engaged in 1775
in building a vessel for the company. To assist them
a man named John Jonesf was brought on from Mass-

*The Grand Lake Coal mines are said to have been first worked by Joseph

^-Garrison, who was a native of Massachusetts and a grantee of Maugerville in

1765. He was grandfather of William Lloyd Garrison, the celebrated advocate

of the abolition of Slavery.— See Sabine's Loyalists, also Collections of N. B.

Hist. Soc. for 1897, page 310.

tjohn Jones, with one Peter Connor, who also came to St. John in 1775,
afterwards settled on Kemble's Manor. Jones' farm of 400 acres was situate at
what is known as " The Mistake " at the head of Long Reach. The Kingston
Loyalist settlers, while they were building their log houses in the summer 0*1783,
lived in tents on the bank of Kingston Creek. They used to send over to Mr.
Jones' place for milk and other things, and the kindness of the Jones family was
rendered doubly acceptable on account of an epidemic of measles that broke out
among the children. The old Raymond house built at Kingston in 1788 is now

AT PORTLAND POINT. 329

achusetts. The frame of the vessel was on the stocks
and partly planked but she was destined never to sail
the seas : her fate will be referred to in the next paper
of this series. James Woodman lived near the site of
the present village of Fairville. He was employed in
1779 by James White in building1 the " Indian House "
at the landing above the falls.

The mention of the Indian House leads naturally
to a few words about the attitude of the Indians towards
the white settlers in these early times. In the main they
were peaceably disposed till the outbreak of the Revo-
lution, although occasionally the cause of some annoy-
ance. A treaty had been made with them at Halifax
in 1760 and for a while they seemed to have observed
it fairly well. No doubt the establishment of a garri-
son at Fort Frederick had its influence in overawing
them. In the year 1765, however, the white settlers,
who had only begun to establish themselves on their
lands, were very much alarmed by the Indians who
threatened to take the war path on the ground that the
whites had interfered with their hunting rights by
killing moose, beavers, and other wild animals beyond
the limits of their farms and improvements. Sentries
were doubled at Fort Frederick and precautions taken
against a surprise. Through the efforts of the govern-
ment the difficulty was satisfactorily adjusted and hos-
tilities averted.

In all Nova Scotia there was at this time but one
newspaper, the Halifax Gazette, of which the first num-/ <-
ber was published March 23, 1752, and among the
earliest local items of news furnished by St. John for

owned by David Jones, a descendant of the old pre-loyalist settler named above.
John Jones had a large family of sons and daughters whose descendants in the
province are numerous. One of his sons, Samuel, born while his father lived at
Manawagonish, in the township of Conway, from the year 1804 to 1815 carried
the mails from St. John to Fredericton once a week. At first the mail from
Halifax was not opened until it reached Fredericton, the headquarters ot the
province, whence letters were returned to St. John. The needless delay of a
week in transit naturally caused some grumbling on the part of St. John people.

330 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

the press was the following which appeared in the
Gazette:

"We hear from St. John's in this Province that on the 3oth
September last [1764] about Twelve o'clock at Noon, a very
severe shock of an Earthquake was felt there."

Another event of a still earlier date appeared in the
Gazette, which, although not apparently of so local a
nature, was much more disastrous in its effects, this
was the terrific gale of November 3, 1759, which in its
fury rivalled, if it did not surpass, the famous Saxby
gale of October 5, 1869. The tide is said to have
reached a height of six feet above its ordinary level.
Driven by the storm huge waves broke down the dykes
at the head of the Bay and caused much damage along
the coast. A considerable portion of Fort Frederick
was washed away, and the next spring Engineer
Winckworth Tonge was sent by Governor Lawrence
with orders to repair damages and put the fort in the
most defendable state the situation would allow, taking
from Fort Cumberland such tools and materials as
were necessary. The damage to the fort was not so
serious a matter as the destruction of the forest. The
woods near the Bay of Fundy were levelled by the gale
and all the country up the St. John river as far as the
Oromocto incumbered with fallen trees. Fires, subse-
quently kindled amongst the fallen timber, ran in the
most destructive fashion, and it is said that in the year
1772 all the country below the Oromocto on the west
side of the river was burnt over quite down to the
coast.

James Simonds had, in the year 1762, decided to
establish himself at St. John, having spent several years
in quest of a desirable situation. Accordingly, in con-
junction with his brother Richard, he took possession
of the "Great Marsh" to the eastward of the harbor and
cut there a large quantity of salt hay. At this time

AT PORTLAND POINT. 331

Mr. Simonds had no claim to the lands other than the
promise of a grant from the government of 5,000 acres
in such part of Nova Scotia as he might choose. He
continued to cut hay and make improvements on the
marsh from time to time, and occasionally speaks of
operations carried on there in his correspondence. For
example, in June, 1768, he wrote to Mr. Hazen,
" Please send half a dozen Salem scythes," adding,
with a touch of the dry humor that often crops out in his
letters, "Haskel's tools are entirely out of credit here;:
it would be a sufficient excuse for a hired man to da
but half a day's work in a day if he was furnished with
an axe or scythe of that stamp."

The first grant included so insignificant a part of
the marsh that a further grant of lands adjoining was
obtained May i, 1770. This grant was made in
response to a memorial of James Simonds, which was
duly considered by the Governor and Council of Nova
Scotia, December 18, 1769, setting forth that in con-
junction with Richard Simonds and James White he had
obtained a grant of 2,000 acres of mountainous and
broken land at the mouth of the River Saint John in
the year 1765, which had been improved by building
houses, a saw mill and lime kiln, and the partners had , ,
settled upwards of thirty persons on it, who were
employed in carrying on those two branches of business,
but that the wood and timber so necessary for them
was all consumed, therefore praying that 2,000 acres-,
more adjoining this tract might be granted to the said
James Simonds.

It requires a considerable stretch of the imagina-
tion to believe that all the wood north of the city of St.
John to the Kennebeccasis river had been consumed
during the five years of the company's operations at
Portland Point. But probably the supply of lumber in
the immediate vicinity of the saw mill, as well as the

332 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

wood most convenient to the lime kilns, may have been
'cut, and this afforded a sufficient pretext on which to
base an application for another grant. The bounds of
the second grant were as follows: —

" Beginning at a Red Head in a little Bay or cove to the
r eastward of the Harbour at the mouth of Saint John's River de-
scribed in a former grant of 2000 acres to James Simonds in the
year 1765,* being the south eastern bound of said grant, thence
to run north 75 degrees east 170 chains, thence north 15 degrees
west 1 60 chains or until it meets the river Kennebeccasius, and
from thence to run westerly until it meets the north eastern
bound of the former grant."

The location of Red Head— that is the Red Head
intended in this grant — was afterwards the subject of
dispute and in the year 1830 seriously engaged the
attention of the Common Council of St. John, but of this
more anon. W. O. RAYMOND.

THE WRECK OF THE ENGLAND.

The loss of the ship " England" in Courtenay
Bay, St. Jchn harbor, in December, 1846, was the
most serious marine disaster that ever took place in the
waters immediately around the city, and to many of
the older people in this vicinity it is to this day one of
the saddest reminders of the holiday seasons of the past.
Though more than half a century has passed, it is not
difficult to find those who remember well the night of
the occurrence and the incidents which attended the
affair, up to the time of the burial of the body of the
captain in the lot where a now crumbling stone records
in brief the story of the tragedy.

The " England " was a full rigged ship of 484 tons,
built at Ten Mile Creek, St. John county, in the year
1837. by Captain Robert Ellis, who was the principal

* Red Head is thus described in the former grant : " Beginning at a point
of upland opposite to his [Simonds] house and running east till it meets with a
little cove or river, thence bounded by said cove till it comes to a Red Head on
the east side of the cove."

THE WRECK OF THE ENGLAND. 333

owner. The vessel was iron-kneed and copper sheathed,
and had a particularly high forecastle, even for those
times, which were before the days of deck houses for-
ward and aft. The "England" had for some years
been owned by parties in Cork, Ireland, and was
engaged in the ordinary trade between Liverpool, Lon-
don and St. John.*

On this last and fatal voyage the ship had sailed
from London, in ballast, during the latter part of Sep-
tember, under command of Captain Andrew Irving, a
native of London and a stranger to the navigation of
these waters. This was his first voyage to St. John.
The autumn of 1846 was a particularly bad one, marked
by several severe storms, and thus it was that the long
period of eighty-four days passed before the ship came
in sight of the harbor of St. John. The ship's comple-
ment was twenty men, but a less number was sufficient
for general purposes, and on this occasion the total
number on board was seventeen, including two appren-
tice boys, one of whom was related to the captain.

Mention has been made of the stormy character of
that season. Just a month before Christmas, on the
night of the 25th and morning of the 26th of Novem-
ber, one of the heaviest gales known in the history of
the city was experienced in St. John and along the
coast. It was the worst known since the great storm
of 1819. In this gale the steamer "Atlantic" was lost
off the coast of Connecticut and many passengers
perished, while the St. John steamer "North America"
was wrecked off the coast of Maine. In the city of
St. John trees were uprooted, chimneys blown down
and roofs of houses partially wrecked. The new ship
"Howard" was driven ashore near Rankin's wharf and

* In addition to my own records relating- to this disaster, some important
points have been developed by interviews with Mr. Hugh Bustin, one of the
coroner's jury, and Mr. Patrick Trainor, who was with Pilot Haviland in
the "Rechab'" at the time.

334 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

fell over on its side, while the barque "Commerce"
was jammed across the ferry slip in the midst of a
quantity of timber. Other vessels were driven into the
timber ponds, a schooner and a woodboat were sunk
near the end of North wharf, and there was much other
damage done. The "England" had its experience of
this gale on the ocean, but came through it safely, and
as Christmas week approached it came up the Bay of
Fundy. Captain and crew alike were doubtless rejoic-
ing that, after nearly three months' buffeting with wind
and wave at that inclement season, they were at last
drawing near to port, where their perils would be over
and their hard experience forgotten in the joys of a
Christmas on land.

The "England" was sighted off Partridge Island
early in the afternoon of Saturday, the igth of Decem-
ber, in company with two other vessels, the barque
" Oromocto," from London, and the brig " Charlotte,"
from Yarmouth. These were a little in advance. The
barque was in charge of Captain David Cronk, a well
known shipmaster who thoroughly knew the harbor,
and the " England " would have been safe in following
him. The brig and the barque, passing the Island,
kept the course of the channel to the westward. The
" England " had no pilot on board. The pilot boat
" Rechab," with John Haviland, branch pilot, had
gone out to her, but a strong south-west wind was
blowing and Haviland could not board the ship. He
shouted what he thought were simple directions as to
the course to be taken, and then put his boat about,
signalling for the ship to follow in its course to the
westward.

Captain Irving knew nothing of the harbor, but he
had with him a mate, one John Robertson, who claimed
to know all about it, from having been in a surveying
vessel with Admiral Owen in the Bay of Fundy, some

THE WRECK OF THE ENGLAND. 335

years before. Relying on his statements, the captain
entrusted the guidance of the ship to him and paid no
further attention to the course ot the pilot boat or the
other vessels.

It was then about an hour and a half before low
water, and the wind was growing stronger every min-
ute. Under the mate's directions, the ship came along
before the gale, under its three topsails and standing
jib, and bore directly down upon the Foul Ground, on
which, about half-past four o'clock, it struck with great
force and remained hard and fast. At this juncture,
Pilot Haviland got aboard, with one of his apprentices,
Patrick Lennihan, with the hope of still saving the ship.
By this time darkness had set in and the force of the
wind was unabated. Nothing could be done until the
flood tide should come, which would be after six o'clock,
and the captain and crew had their supper as usual.
While at supper, the second mate directly laid the
blame of the disaster to Robertson, the first mate, who
was in some way related to the captain. Had he
assumed to know less and followed the pilot boat, the
ship would have been safe. There was no time for
discussing what might have been, however, and the
great question was as to what could be done to make
matters better. The only hope was that when the ship
was floated by the flood tide it might be worked to a
secure part of the harbor.

There was then no breakwater at the west channel,
and with a southerly wind the sea had a clean sweep
up the harbor. It was running furiously on this night,
and when the flood tide lifted the ship it tore away the
rudder, and the vessel came off the Foul Ground
wholly unmanageable and with water over the ballast
in the hold. It was out of the question to handle the
sails so as to make a course, and the "England" was
driven on the Round Reef, south of the Ballast wharf.

336 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

There it remained for a time, when it went on the
Dulse Reef, nearer the shore. It was then evident that
the ship must go to pieces, and all hands went forward
for safety. In this they made a fatal mistake. Had
they gone aft they would have been safe, as was after-
wards found, and they would have been perfectly
secure had they taken shelter in the cabin, for the
bedding in the berths was not even wet when the
wreck was visited on the following day.

It was then nearly midnight. The night was in-
tensely dark, and the scene of horror cannot be de-
scribed. The vessel broke in two on the reef, and the
foremast went by the board. As it did so, the broken
part of it, near the heel, struck Captain Irving, killing
him instantly and severing his body into two parts.
The survivors clung to the top of the forecastle, which
began to drift around Courtenay Bay, while the sea
made continual breaches over it. Some of the party
were lashed with lines, but all were in danger of perish-
ing by the exposure. At length the drifting forecastle
was driven on the east shore of the Bay, along which it
was carried by wind and tide until it came to where the
stern of the ship had been driven, at the rocks which
make out on the sands a little to the north of the alms
house. By this time four of the crew were dead. These
were John Smith, of Liverpool, seaman, Thomas
Rogers, cook, with Francis Burdett, of London, and
Charles Ward, of Coventry, apprentices. Young Lenni-
han, the pilot apprentice, who was a splendid swimmer,
urged Pilot Haviland to attempt to get ashore, and the
venture was made with success, use being made of the
wreck of the stern for a part of the distance. Then the
other survivors were got to the land, but not without
difficulty and danger. So exhausted were the men
with their terrible night's experience that on getting
ashore some of them lay down on the snow ready to

THE WRECK OF THE ENGLAND. 337

fall asleep, and had it not been for the strenuous exer-
tions of Pilot Haviland they would have continued to
lie there till the sleep of death overtook them. Rous-
ing them up, he conducted them to the alms house,
where they received every possible care.

The bodies of the dead were looked after on the
following morning and placed in an outbuilding. It
was a sad enough sight, that of the five frozen remains
of those who, at sunset the day before, had been
abounding in life and hope. Two of the bodies were
those of mere boys. An inquest was held on Monday,
when a verdict was returned in accordance with the
facts. The only member of the coroner's jury who is
now living is Mr. Hugh Bustin.

One of the sailors rescued from the wreck was
kindly treated by a family living in that vicinity. He
thus made the acquaintance of a daughter of the
owner of the house, to whom he was afterwards
married.

The " England" had been consigned to the Hon.
John Robertson, and it was supposed be would attend
to the burial of Captain Irving, as became the latter's
position and the sad circumstances under which he met
his death in a strange land. There appears to have
been some mistake made in the matter, however, and
there was great surprise and indignation among the
shipmasters when they learned that both captain and
crew had been buried as paupers in the Old Burial
Ground, that the undertaker had taken the captain's
body to the grave late in the afternoon, that it had not
been followed by a single mourner, and that no
minister of religion had been called to commit the body
to the earth. Upon learning these facts, a meeting of
the shipmasters was held at the St. John hotel on the
evening of Saturday, the 25th of December, an odd
enough kind of a Christmas gathering, but one which

338 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

they felt would not bear postponement. The object of
the meeting- was stated to be the eliciting of informa-
tion relative to the interment of Captain Irving and his
men, " reports having got into circulation that they
had not received a Christian burial," and Captain Abell
occupied the chair. Captain Taber opened the pro-
ceedings by some remarks in which he characterized
the affair as a foul blot on a Christian community,
asserting that a man who had lost his life in the exer-
cise of his duty had been dragged to his final resting
place like a felon, betwixt daylight and dark. He used
other strong language, and trusted the blame would be
put where it belonged.

At this stage of the proceedings, Hon. John Rob-
ertson sent a note requesting that he be heard before
the meeting, and he was accordingly admitted. His
explanation was that he gave orders to the undertaker
to have the bodies decently and respectably interred,
without either extravagant or unnecessary expense, as
soon as it could conveniently be done. After this Mr.
Charles McLauchlan had called on him and said there
was a feeling against the bodies being buried in the
-poor house burial ground, that the collector of customs
(Mr. H. Bowyer Smith) and other officials had made a
contribution toward funeral expenses, and that he, Mr.
McLauchlan, was willing to take charge ot the arrange-
ments. Mr. Robertson had replied that Mr. McLauch-
lan would have to see the undertaker, as the bodies
were in charge of the coroner. He also had suggested
that the bodies be buried side by side and a tombstone
erected, towards which he offered to contribute. He
had left the arrangements with Mr. McLauchlan, and
had not been aware of the interment until the next
evening.

Captain John Leavitt then took the floor, and a
lively passage of words ensued between him and

THE WRECK OF THE ENGLAND. 339

Mr. Robertson. After the latter had retired, Mr.
McLaughlan was admitted, and detailed the efforts he
had made to find the undertaker in time, but said he
had met him only when he was on his way to the grave
with the captain's body. The meeting1 then expressed
its approbation of Mr. McLaughlan's conduct, and pro-
ceeded to pass the following resolutions: —

"Resolved, That the remains of the late Capt. Irving- be
removed from their present resting- place, and conveyed to the
grave from some respectable dwelling, for the purpose of being
re-interred, and that a tomb-stone, containing a suitable inscrip-
tion, be erected to his memory, and also to the memory of those
of the crew who perished with him."

It was also resolved that a subscription list be
opened to defray the necessary expenses, and that the
proceedings of the meeting be published in the city
papers. In addition to Captains Abell, Taber and
Leavitt, some of the well known old time shipmasters
present were Captains Hippesly, Thomas Reed,
Stephenson, Dudne and Wiley. The sum of £22. i6s.
and 6d. was subscribed on the spot, and at a later date
a balance remaining after the payment of funeral
expenses was sent to Captain Irving's widow and
family in England.

The place where the bodies had been buried was
in the lower portion of the Old Burial Ground, next to
the building lots on Union street. This was the part
of the ground where free interments were made. The
bodies of the sailors were allowed to remain there, but
that of Captain Irving was disinterred and on Wednes-
day, the 2Qth of December, ten days after the disaster,
the funeral took place from the house of Mr. James
Milligan, King square. The day was marked by an
exceedingly violent snow storm, but a very large num-
ber of people attended and followed the body to the
Church of England Burial Ground, beyond the Marsh
Bridge. In due time a plain free stone tablet was

340 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

placed over the grave, bearing the following inscrip-
tion : —

IN MEMORY OF

ANDREW IRVING,

LATE MASTER OF THE SHIP OF ENGLAND OF
CORK.

Who perished on the wreck of that Vessel
In Courtney Bay, entrance of this Harbour,
On the night of the igth of December, 1846.

ALSO

John Smith, seaman, Thomas Rogers,
Cook, Francis Burdett and Charles Ward,
Apprentices, who perished at the time.
The remains of Capt. Irving' are interred
On this spot, those of the sufferers with
Him are interred in the old graveyard
In this City.

This stone is erected by the Shipmasters
And others in the port of St. John.

The stone is to be seen on the high ground in the
eastern part ot the burial ground. There is no en-
closure or any evidence of care, and of the hundreds
who have read the inscription, few have heard, until
now, the full details of the story of the wreck of the
" England." W. K. REYNOLDS.

ABO IDE AU?

The discussion of the derivation and the radical
signification of this word in the pages of THE NEW
BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE has revived in this community
recollections of previous efforts to settle the question-
now raised afresh. I remember two former occasions
on which considerable space in the columns of our
St. John newspapers was filled by contributions from
various correspondents, who all had theories according
to which the matter might be explained. Nearly all

ABOIDEAU ? 34I

the suggestions which have recently appeared have
thus been made before.

At the time of the first discussion I have referred
to, I was too young to take any deep interest in it,
although I can recall something of what was said con-
cerning it by those immediately about me, and of the
opinions they entertained. When, several years after-
wards, the question arose again, I sought rather care-
fully to find a satisfactory solution. And I could
discover no form of the word which appeared a better
one than ahoideau. I came to the conclusion that this
form is a condensation of the somewhat pleonastic
expression " 1 abbe" d' eau." Ab6e is a well-established
old French word, whose meaning is a mill-dam, or,
simply, a dam It is, probably, the basis of our law-
term abeyance, which appears in Norman French as
abbaiaunce\ and it is obviously a better foundation for
that word than the verb bayer, which has for its chief
meaning to gape; to look for a long time at a thing with
one^s mouth open. In law, as in popular usage, abey-
ance signifies a state of suspension, or condition like
that of a stream whose flow has been interrupted by a
dam. Ab£e might by an easy and regular stage of
transition come from abai, and, — the ai having oi for
its equivalent in sound in the older speech, — our phrase
would be in its original form, " /' aboi d1 eau-" and
being compressed with the articles omitted, aboideau.

The suggestion that this form of the word comes
from the phase "une boite d'eau," or "a la boite d'eau"
—''at the water-box" — is of no value, since it is plain
from Die>eville's account of the Bay of Fundy dykes—
in which account occurs the first description we have
of what he calls, or what he says the Acadians called,
aboteaux — that the name was given to the whole
structure of the dam, and not to the sluice alone. Be-
sides, in the French of two hundred years ago the word

342 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

for box was spelled boiste, and the s was distinctly
sounded whenever the word was spoken. The hissing
character would have been very likely to keep its place
in the unrefined, un-academized speech of the old
settlers in these distant provinces. If our Acadians
had derived a word from this source, it would, almost
inevitably, have become "boiste (Teem," and, if re-
trenched at all, "boisseau".

The passage in which mention of the aboteaux was
first made, and in which that name was apparently first
written, is found in the volume entitled " Voyage du
Sieur de Die*reville en Acadie, ou Nouvelle France."
Die>eville set out for Acadie in the year 1699, and
returned to France in the year following. His book
was published at Rouen in 1708. In his description of
the good qualities of the country which the French
settlers near the shores of the Bay of Fundy at that
early date occupied, he refers to the difficulty of clear-
ing and cultivating the high lands, and continues thus :

" If faut pour avoir des bleds, dessecher les marais que la mer
en pleine maree inonde de ses eaux, et qu'ils appellent les terres
basses ; celles-la sont assez bonnes, mais quel travail ne faut-il
pas faire pour les mettre en etat d'etre cultiv^es ? On n'arrete
pas le cours de la mer aisement ; cependant les Acadiens en
viennent a bout .par de puissantes digues qu'ils appellent des
aboteaux, et voici comment ils font : ils plantent cinq on six
rangs de gros arbres tous entiers aux endroits par ou la mer
entre dans les marais, et entre chaque rang ils couchent d'autres
arbres le long, les uns sur les autres, et garnissent tous les-
vides si bien avec de la terre glaise bien battue, que I'eau n'y
saurait plus passer. Ils ajustent au milieu de ces ouvrages un
esseau de maniere qu'il permet, a la mar^e basse, a I'eau des
marais de s'ecouler par son impulsion, et defend a celle de la mer
d'y entrer."

Those readers who can render this extract into
English themselves will pardon me for offering the fol-
lowing translation of it to those who do not habitually
translate from the French :

"It is necessary, in order to raise grains, to drain the
marshes which the sea at high tide overflows with its waters ;
and which they (the Acadians) call the lowlands. Those lands
are good enough ; but what labor does it not require to put them

ABOIDEAU?

343

in condition for cultivation ? It is not easy to stay the course of
the sea : the Acadians nevertheless accomplish the task by means
of strong dykes which they call abotenux ; and this is how they
make them. — They set up five or six rows of large trees, quite
entire, at the places by which the sea enters into the marshes,
and between the rows they lay other trees lengthwise, one upon
another, and they fill all the empty spaces so well with soft clay,
well packed, that the water can no longer pass through. They
fit in the middle of these works a flood-gate (un esseau) in such a
manner that it allows, at low tide, the marsh-water to flow out by
its own pressure, and prevents the water of the sea from entering."

A translation of a part of this quotation is given
as a note by Mr. Beamish Murdoch on page 540 of the
first volume of his valuable History of Nova Scotia.
But he offers no explanation of the exact meaning, or
of the composition of the words aboteaux and esseau.

From the way in which Die"reville introduces them
it is oovious that aboteau was in his day not a classic
or an usual term in the French language. Indeed, it
has always been considered and treated as an Acadian
word, which came into existence under peculiar circum-
stances among the early European inhabitants of the
alluvial lands that lie around the Bay of Fundy, in the
counties of Annapolis, Kings, Hants, Colchester and
Cumberland, in Nova Scotia, and in the counties of
Westmorland, Albert, St. John and Charlotte, in the
province of New Brunswick. That circumstance has
led almost everybody to look for the origin of the word
in some peculiar expression prevalent in those districts
of France from which the first civilized colonists in
Acadia came. Guided simply by the spelling of the
first part of the words as DieVeville's book presents it,
the main effort has been to get hold of a verb or a noun
beginning with abo, — from which either the form abo-
teau or the form aboideau; — which latter one has by
some means become predominant in printed pages, —
could be obtained. Accordingly, attempts have been
made to connect aboideau especially with aboyer, by
attaching to that verb the sense " to keep at bay," and

344 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

with the noun abois, which means the condition of a
hunted animal brought to bay. None of these attempts,
however, have been entirely successful. One corre-
spondent of this Magazine, Mr. George Johnson,
favors the easy, — too easy — deduction of the word from
dhoi and d'eau. And another contributor, M. Raoul
Renault, pointedly exposes the weakness of this
explanation.

There is less reason to support the far-fetched and
fanciful notion, which Dr. S. E. Dawson entertains,
that aboiteau is the correct form of the word, and that
it is derived from an obsolete Norman French verb
bot — a branch of a tree. In the islands of Guernsey
and Jersey, it is said, a billet of wood, or a branch of a
tree, fastened to a horse's foot, or leg, to prevent him
from leaping over fences, is called abot, and that to
clog, or hopple, an animal in that manner is expressed
by abater. From this tact, or because the dykes
described by Die"reville are built with untrimmed trees
as their framework, the conclusion is reached that
aboiteau is the word used by the Acadians, and that its
signification is a water-clog. For myself, I am strongly
inclined to doubt the existence of bot as a merely Breton
word. It is the old French form of the modern French
bout, meaning an end, extremity, piece, part, and not a
tree or a branch of a tree. The aboteau of Dtereville is,
moreover, something more than a mere water-clog,
whatever that may be; and neither the assumed Breton
root bot nor the ahot found in patois of the Channel
Islands furnishes a solid basis for it. I have not with-
in my reach George Metioier's ^Dictionaire Franco-Nor-
mand, else I might have more to say in reference to
these words. If, however, in that patois the clog
attached to a breachy horse's leg is called ahot, is it not
highly probable that the word is simply the equivalent
of the ordinary French botte, the Spanish and Portu-

MAJOR JOHN WARD.

At the head of tfa table sat the white-haired grandfather,
hale and Jiearty." — Pag-e 358.

ABOIDEAU?

345

g-uese hota, the Italian botte, the Welsh hotas, the Irish
blltats, and the English hoot ? Abater then would mean
to a-boot, or to put on a boot, or hopple, of any kind,
and not necessarily one specially made of a billet of
wood, a branch of a tree, or of a whole tree with its
branches. And either boot or clog is a very clumsy
name for a dyke.

Even after I had carefully read all that has
appeared relating to the subject in the previous num-
bers of THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE, I adhered
firmly to my long-standing opinion that the best, if not
the only proper, form of the word employed by the
Acadians was aboideau, and that it was derived from
abe*e, a dam, in the manner I have above mentioned.
When I informed the editor of the magazine of my
intention to write something in support of my opinion,
and expressed my regret that I had not found in Saint
John a copy, in the original, of Di^reville's book on
Acadie, which I had never seen, he kindly placed in my
hands his copy of the edition published at Quebec in
1885 by L. U. Fontaine. From it I extracted the para-
graph in reference to the Acadian dykes. And I was
gratified at finding, quite unexpectedly, that M. Font-
aine, in a note upon the word ahoteau, says that it is a
modification of the Celtic abee, — the word from which
I had derived aboideau. But before I had sent to the
editor my brief comments, I happened to be reading a
page of French in which there met my eye abat-jour, —
a word bearing the meaning, a sky-Hgbt. My attention
being arrested by the first part of the compound, there
occurred to me at once the other architectural term
abat-vent. And then I said to myself, Eureka ! If a
structure designed to admit, or to exclude, or to give a
certain direction to, the light of day is an abat-jour,
and a structure designed to shut off the wind is an
abat-vent, why should not a structure contrived to

346 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

keep out the influx of the tides be an ahat-eau?

I soon found other similar compound nouns, which
strengthened my conviction that here at last is a per-
fectly satisfactory solution of the question in regard to
the orthography of the word we are discussing. Let
us examine the definitions and the applications of sev-
eral of these compounds. Some of them are to be
found in English as well as in French dictionaries, hav-
ing everywhere the same senses, since they are distinct
technical terms.

Abat-jour, which, — the t being often omitted, is
also written abajour, — is thus comprehensively defined
in the " Century Dictionary": "Any contrivance to
admit light, or throw it in a desired direction, as a
lamp-shade, a sky-light, a sloping, box-like structure,
flaring upward and open at the top, attached to a win-
dow on the outside, to prevent those within from see-
ing objects below, or for the purpose of directing light
downward into the window."

Abat-vent: Dr. Ogilvie's "Imperial Dictionary"
gives this term as derived from abattre, to lower, and
vent, the wind, and defines it as, "The sloping roof of
a tower; a pent-house; so named because the slope
neutralizes the force of the wind." The "Standard
Dictionary's" definition is, "A device to break the
force, or prevent the admission of wind; a series of
slats with inclined faces, arranged vertically, with
intervals between, as in a belfry window; a sloping
roof; a chimney cowl."

Ahat-vjix : In the " Imperial Dictionary " derived
from abattre and voix, the voice; and defined as, " The
sounding-board over a pulpit or rostrum; so named
because it prevents the speaker's voice from rising and
being lost or indistinct."

Ahat-foin : In "Spiers and Surenne's " French
dictionary, this is given as an agricultural term,,

ABOIDEAU ? 347

meaning "an opening- over a hay-rack, through which
the hay is put in." It was fitted, I presume, with a lid,
or trap-door, which, being closed, shut off the hay-mow
from the stable below it.

t/Hjat-faim : This is given in the same dictionary
as an expression in familiar speech, to denote "a sub-
stantial, large joint of meat," — that is, something by
which hunger (faini) is abated, or kept off.

Here are five compound nouns, in each of which
the force of the prefix ahat is clearly to impart the
sense of a barrier, a defence, a protective structure*
And there are other similar compounds almost as good
for the purpose of our argument. To me, this evidence
is quite conclusive in favor of dhat-eau as the original
and true form of the name given by the Acadians to
the structure by means of which they shut out from
their marshes the swelling tides of the Bay of Fundy.
Many of their descendants, as well as many English-
speaking people who now live in the vicinity of the
dykes they built, drop the initial vowel of the word
abat-eaUy and call a dyke of this special kind a " bato "
placing the accent upon the long final syllable, and
making the preceding vowel so brief in utterance that
its sound might be expressed in writing by an a, an e,
an /, an o, with perfect indifference. That M. Diere-
ville should have expressed that sound by an o, and
have written the full word, which he heard uttered
quickly, " aboteau " cannot surprise us. Or, that the
word, as it stands in his text, is merely the result of the
error of a printer who mistook a defectively-shaped a
for an o, is surely, a very reasonable supposition.

It really is a very strange thing that the word,
either as it is spelled in Diereville's volume, or as
aboideau is included in none of the French dictionaries,
except, as a friend has informed me, in the supplement

348 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

of M. Littr£'s great work. He gives aboteau and says
that it is a word used in Saintonge with the significa-
tion of a dyke. To call in question so eminent an
authority may be presumptuous; but it may be re-
marked as a very singular circumstance that, if used
at all in France in Diereville's day, it should have been
regarded, as it evidently was regarded, by him in the
light of a peculiar, local and new word. And why have
not its derivation and its orthorgraphy been long since
settled and commonly understood in Old France and in
Canada?

The only one of our English dictionaries in which
I have found it, is "The Century," where it is given in
this curt and unsatisfactory way: "Aboideau or Aboi-
teau (of uncertain French origin) : A dam to prevent
the tide from overflowing the marsh. (New Bruns-
wick)." This statement does not add much to one's
knowledge of the word. But our modern, or more
recent, compilers and editors of English and of French
lexicons, although some of them, doubtless, have been
very learned men, are not, as a class, particularly
perspicacious persons.

The derivation and meaning of the prefix abat
afford a subject worthy of investigation. In all the
instances cited, and always, the word bears with it the
sense of something constructed or contrived as a
defence or protection against the action of a substance
in motion, or in resistance to a force of some kind.
This inherent sense seems to connect it readily with
"ab£e," — from which, indeed, it may have been formed.
It appears, too, to be nearly related to ahattre — to beat
off, or keep off, — to abois, to the abatis used in fortifi-
cation, and to our abate.

It may, however, be entirely independent of any
affinity with those words.

There rises before me the possibility of a very

ABOIDEAU ? 349

different and a remote origin for abat. Artemisia, that
queen of Caria who flourished in the same age with
Xerxes, — in the fifth century B. C. — and who immor-
talised herself by her great deeds, especially in building
at Halicarnassus that magnificent tomb for her
husband, Mausolus, which was called the Mausoleum,
and which has transmitted its expressive title as a com-
mon noun to all the languages of the civilized world,
also erected in Rhodes a monument, or Tropaeum, to
commemorate her conquest of that island.

" When the Rhodians regained their freedom, they
built round the trophy, so as to render it inaccessible,
whence it was known as the — abaton"

This structure having been spoken of by Vitruvius,
the eminent writer upon architecture in the time of the
Roman Emperor Augustus, the Greek word passed
into the Latin language as a common name for an
inaccessible, or impassable, structure May not abaton,
as an architectural term, have passed from Rome farther
westward, and become abat in the language of France?

Here I leave abat-eau with the readers of THE
NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE, having a modest confi-
dence that not a few of them will agree with me that
this word, the composition of which is perfectly anal-
ogous with that of several other words of the same
class, is the true and proper form of the name given
by the old Acadians to the structures by which they
protected their valuable marshes against the inroads of
the sea.

ESSEAU.

It may not be amiss to present, as an appendix to
the fore-going remarks, a few observations upon the
other unusual word which Diereville introduced in his
description of the dykes he found in Acadie — the word

350 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

tsseau. According to a note supplied as an editorial
explanation by Monsieur L. U. Fontaine, this word
appears in the Glossary of the Norman patois to be the
name of a ditch through which the over-flow on a
marsh takes its course. This explanation, we perceive
at a glance, does not explain much.

There is a word esseau in French which has two
different, and apparently not closely connected, mean-
ings: i. "A small, curved hatchet"; 2. A board to
cover roofs, i.e. a shingle." These definitions lend us
no assistance in an attempt to interpret the Norman
patois. But, assuming the word to be good, ordinary
French after all, although it has not obtained admission
to the dictionaries, let us apply to it the same simple
mode of analysis that we have applied to the abat-eau.
Considering it as a compound, llesse-eau" we have
only the meaning and derivation of the first part to
discover. What then is an esse? An esse, or — as it is
in its abbreviated form — an ess, is, first, the name of
the letter S ; then it means a piece of iron, shaped like
an S, such as we often see used as a clamp, to hold to-
gether weak walls ; then an iron to grasp and hold
stones that are being lifted; then, as an "esse d'affut,"
it is the fore-lock, or linch-pin, of a gun-carriage wheel,
or of any truck — having, perhaps, in such uses the form
of an S; then as a key for any kind of bolt; and then,
a catch, or clasp — possibly also resembling an S — as
used in mediaeval armor to hold the helm, or beaver, to
the gorget, or to the breast-plate in front.

The "flood-gate," or valve, in an abat-eau per-
forms just this office of closing and clasping the struc-
ture that keeps out the water. It is, therefore, an
"ess-eau." W. P. DOLE.

CHRISTMAS AS IT WAS.

The year 1808, time about three o'clock in the after-
noon, of a fine winter day in the middle of December.
A portly gentleman, considerably past middle age, is
standing on the stoop of his residence on the corner of
King and Germain streets, and ayounglad is on the side-
walk, looking inquiringly at him.* " Run Charles, there
countryman coming down the street to ' Kent's.' See
what he has got in his saddle bags, before Col. Billop
gets hold of him." The boy starts off and brings the
countryman to the old Major, and submits his load for
examination. He has two geese, a fine turkey and
several pairs of chickens and partridges, which are
quickly bargained for and carried into the house.
Christmas is at hand and it is necessary to have the
larder well supplied.

At that period the country was but sparsely settled,
roads were few and did not extend far in any direction
from the city, except the main road to Sussex, in which
direction the country was being rapidly cleared and
opened up for farming. There was no market in St.
John, farmers came to town, some in wagons in sum-
mer and sleds in winter, and others from remote clear-
ings on horseback. The only market they had was the
public highway on King street.

About this time of the year there was great rivalry
amongst the householders to get first chance from any
countryman coming into town with poultry or game,
hence the words of the Major to his son.

• All versed in the history of St. John will recognize in the Major and his son,
the grandfather and father of the writer of this sketch— Major Ward and Charles
Ward. The Ward house was at the south-east corner ot King and Germain
streets, now occupied by Hall's book store. Kent's corner, later Foster's corner,
was on the opposite side of Germain street. The picture drawn by the present
writer is practically one of Christmas in the Ward household. — ED.

352 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

The summer business was over. The West Indian
fleet had sailed, the fishermen and coast settlers had
loaded their " Chebacco " boats with tea, sugar*
tobacco and with clothing, not forgetting- a " cag " (so
pronounced) of Jamaica "spirits" and other necessary
articles for winter supplies, and had gone to their sev-
eral destinations. The town was very small and all
were acquainted, and the long winters were devoted to
comfort and enjoyment. The houses were solidly built
to resist cold, with low ceilings and fire places wide
and open ; the best of hardwood was plentiful and cheap,
and all the people were fairly well to do.

The Christmas holiday at that period was long
looked forward to by old and young as a time of great
enjoyment, and every preparation was made to give it
due honor. The housewife, for many days before, was
in the kitchen with her maids and the cook, who was
always a colored woman. In most cases she had come
with the master from the old home by the banks of the
Hudson, or some other pleasant place in the land of.
their birth. The old Loyalists were fond of good living,
and in their reunions would boast to one another of the
capabilities and wonderful resources of their old black
cooks, somewhat in the manner that the nabobs of the
old world would talk of their "chefs".

The old fashioned kitchen had an open fire place,
in or before which all cooking was done. The poultry
and meat were roasted before the open fire on a spit,
which being slowly turned, greatly "did" the meat all
through and preserved all the natural juices and flavor.
In these degenerate days we bake our meats, and very
few now living, I suppose, ever ate a roasted turkey.

In the kitchen, the cook was paramount and de-
spotic. Even the mistress was somewhat in awe of her
on these occasions, and would never venture to give an

CHRISTMAS AS IT WAS. 353

order, but meekly suggest what she thought might be
done.

All supplies were laid in, early in the winter : Beef
by the quarter, a pig, poultry of all kinds, and may-
be some moose meat and caribou. All the meats, not
salted or pickled by the mistress, were kept frozen in a
place prepared in the barn. The cellar was well sup-
plied with potatoes, turnips and other vegetables, and
in one corner, carefully railed off, was a space especially
under the care of the master of the house, and his
deputy, the old family servant, who generally spent his
life in the household, and considered his master a
greater man than the governor of the province. In the
corner was stored a cask of madiera, another of port,
and one of sherry, and chief among them, the main
stay of the supply, a cask of Jamaica rum, very old,
and very fragrant. Brandy and whiskey and other
fiery liquids were not then in general use. There might
be a bottle of brandy in the house, but only to be used
^as a corrective of internal disturbance arising from too
generous an indulgence in the good things of the season.

Every preparation was made for a befitting cele-
bration of the important day. Those who had been
remiss or improvident, scoured the adjacent country to
see if any unfortunate fowl or bird had escaped the
promiscuous slaughter. The girls and their mother
were unremitting in their work in furnishing a bounti-
ful supply of pies of al kinds, and cakes and doughnuts.
In that day the doughnut was king of the feast, fat,
juicy and crisp, well cooked and wholesome. In these
degenerate times his glory has departed. We are half
ashamed of him, and though still considered a requisite
of the Christmas holidayswe eat him in a furtive manner,
and many loudly declaim that they never eat doughnuts,
call them bilious, and apply other heretical calumnies
to what in old times was considered indispensable to

354 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

the festival. Most old fellows carried doughnuts about
in their pockets, and ate them at all sorts of unseason-
able hours, and I have heard of some of the old families
who made them by the barrel !

But the principal party was old Dinah, the cook.
She was in her glory. Fat, and at ordinary times the
soul of good nature, on this occasion, under the weight
of the responsibilities put upon her, and to uphold the
reputation of her master's house for gastronomic super-
iority, she became a very tyrant in her domain ; none
dare dispute her orders, or suggest changes or improve-
ments in her dishes. They simply became humble
assistants in the great work of preparation for the
Christmas dinner. And this dependence was well
repaid when the festal day arrived and the products of
her culinary art were proudly placed on the table, and
elicited delighted encomiums from all who partook of
them, but her greatest reward was when the old master
turned to her and said, "Well done, Dinah!"

Early on Christmas morning, the young men
assembled in some open field and tried their skill as
marksmen by shooting at live turkeys buried to the
neck in the snow, leaving the head only visible. Their
guns were old flint muskets, which formerly had done
service in the war of the Revolution across the border.
The range for shooting was about 30 or 40 yards, so
the unfortunate turkeys had a poor show for their lives,
but as the killing of them was the main object of the
gathering it is to be hoped the aim was generally good.
Sixpence or a shilling was the price usually paid for a
shot, and some of the crack ones generally brought
home two or three birds as a result of their skill.
These sports came down to modern times, they were
quite in vogue forty or more years ago, and may still
be practised in some country districts.

The older people, before church time, visited each

CHRISTMAS AS IT WAS. 255

other and talked over the business of the year, and
the prospect of the West India trade, and told old
time stories of their adventures in the war, and of perils
and hair breadth escapes from pirates and privateers
on their West India voyages. In those days, the French
privateer and picaroons of all nations, were accustomed
to lie in wait in the out of the way harbors and lagoons
of the island of Cuba; and pounce from thence on our
unfortunate merchantmen as they proceeded on their
voyages to and from the islands.

It is scarcely necessary to relate that these dis-
courses were punctuated, as it were, by frequent
adjournments to the sideboard, where decanters of
wine and other cordials, flanked by jorums of good old
Jamacia, were set out for the refreshment of all who
desired. In that day the sideboard was never empty,
and an invitation to partake was not considered neces-
sary. It was presumed that each one knew what his
requirement was ; there were no pressing to drink, but
it was there for each one to help himself.

There must have been something really preserva-
tive in Jamaica rum; all drank freely of it, and it has
been remarked, that seldom or never in a representa-
tive body of men, have so many reached extreme old
age, as was the case with the majority of the men who
came here in 1783. This may be verified by any one
looking over files of papers published sixty years ago,
and noting the extraordinary number of deaths of old
men ranging from 75 to 95, in which it is stated in the
obituary notice that he came here a Loyalist in 1783.

It was not the crude rum of commerce, doctored
and adulterated, such as is the vile stuff too commonly
sold at the present time. The preparing and mollifying
of Jamaica such as was used by the old merchants of
St. John was almost an art, and great care and atten-
tion was given to the process. In the first place they

356 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

imported from the island the pure unadulterated juice
of the cane. That for their own comsumption was
kept a year or two in cask; then, when duly seasoned,
it was hoisted to the top story of the store or warehouse,
and stood at the edge of the hatch. On the floor below
of the three or four story building was a large butt.
A spiggot was driven into the cask above, and a very
slight stream of liquor, almost drop by drop, was
allowed to fall into the butt below. As it became full
it was carefully ladled out and bottled, and then put
away sometimes for a year longer. This process was
supposed to eliminate all the fiery spirit of the rum,
and in four or five years it became so mild and palatable
that it could be drunk without the addition of any water.
As an instance of filial affection, and also of the
high regard in which a seasoned cask of rum was held,
it is related that during one of the disastrous fires which
periodically devastated St. John many years ago, one of
the members of a firm came to his store on the wharf
when all the buildings around were fiercely burning.
His younger brother was busily engaged with a gang
of men rolling out the goods, to save as much as pos-
sible from the flames. The elder earnestly inquired of
his brother, " Have you got out your father's puncheon
of. rum ?" The younger man made some impatient
answer, and went on with the word of salvage, but the
senior insisted on all work being stopped, and taking
the men into the store, he brought out the puncheon of
rum, and had it conveyed to a place of safety, and then
allowed the work of saving ordinary merchandise to go
on.*

The hour appointed for church service found the
old people with their wives and families assembled at
Trinity church. The Rector, the Rev. Mather Byles,

• This incident occurred during the fire of 1837. The cask was owned by
Major Ward, the elder brother was John Ward, jr., and the younger was Charles
Ward.— ED.

CHRISTMAS AS IT WAS.

357

was rector of Christ church, Boston, at the time of the
Revolution ; he was a devout Churchman, and most
exemplary Christian, but some what eccentric. It is
said that he was opposed to having stoves or any man-
ner of heating in the church, and that he kept himself
warm by wearing a fur coat under his surplice, and
gloves with the tips of the fingers cut off on his hands,
to facilitate the turning of the leaves of his book. His
unfortunate congregation did not fare so well, especial-
ly the womankind, and it was part of the duty of the
small boy of the household to carry a pan of live char-
coal to the family pew sometime before service com-
menced, to keep warm the feet of the female members
of the family. One of the old settlers has told me that,
when a boy, he often carried the warming pan to the
church for this purpose. The pews were built very
high, not much more than the head and shoulders of a
man appearing above the top of the enclosure, and
running around the four sides were brass rods on
which were hung red or green baize curtains. These
curtains were drawn back during service, but on the
commencement of the sermon they were closed, and no
person was visible in the church, but the minister in his
high pulpit, and it was quite startling, on the conclu-
sion of the sermon, to hear the curtains sharply drawn
back, and see the people emerging from their seclusion
to join in the closing services. Church being over?
they wended their way homeward, the elders gravely
discoursing about the sermon, or maybe critising the
discordant notes of some over zealous member, who
more enthusiastic than skilful, raised his voice in the
psalms and hymns appointed for the occasion, for in
those days all the congregation (who could sing) were
expected to join in the choral part of the service.

The great event of the day was still before them—
the Christmas dinner — preparation for which had long

358 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

been going on in the household. Hospitality was one
of the great virtues of the time, and at the table of the
head of the family were gathered all the descendants,
including those who had married and gone out of the
household, and their children of befitting age, and also
two or three old friends and comrades who had re-
mained single and had not homes or families of their
own to make merry with — all were assembled on that
one day in the year in affectionate re-union at the old
homestead.

At the head of the table sat the white haired
grandfather, still hale and hearty, though many years
had gone over his head since he first drew his sword in
what he considered his duty to his king and country ;
behind his chair stood his old servant Richard, who
had faithfully served his old master for many years.

The usual hour for dinner was 4 o'clock. All
being assembled at the table, thanks were given for
many mercies and for the bountiful repast before them,
and the Christmas feast began. The viands were all
the product of the country. Turkey, beef, poultry,
game, venison, all the best of their kind ; good humor,
mirth and jollity were the order of the day. After the
solids were removed, came on desert, pies, puddings,
custards, nuts, apples and other good things, with port,
sherry and madeira. It was the day of toasts and
drinking wine with each other, the latter being a very
particular ceremony. One would request of his neigh,
bor "the pleasure of a glass of wine with you," which
being responded to, each would fill his glass, then,
bowing to each other as gravely as Chinese mandarins,
they drank the wine and silently replaced the glasses on
the table. This ceremony went around the table from
neighbor to neighbor and was often repeated, and al-
ways with due gravity and decorum, any flippancy on
the part of the younger members being severely frowned

CHRISTMAS AS IT WAS. 359

at as a thing not to be tolerated. Meanwhile, the
younger folk had gathered in an adjoining room with
the matrons, and made merry with games, and minuets
and country dances.

The elders generally sat long over their wine.
Over indulgence was not encouraged, and an intemper-
ate person was as much avoided as at the present time,
but if an old fellow got a little more than he could carry
it was not thought to be much out of the way. So as
the evening went on some one of them would quietly
drop off into a doze in his chair, the warmth of the
room, good cheer and generous wine having produced
a feeling of comfort and repletion. Presently the host
would make a suggestion that, all having had sufficient,
enough of the evening was left for a game of whist, or
if any of them felt inclined, for a round dance with the
young folk in the adjoining room. Accordingly they
would adjourn to where the young people were enjoy-
ing themselves ; perhaps some septuagenarian, recalling
the agility of his younger days, would lead one of the
elder ladies to the dance. They made a picturesque
couple, he in his blue tail coat, high collar behind
nearly reaching to the crown of his head, bright metal
buttons — those behind in the middle of his back — with
knee breeches, silk stockings and pumps, and she in
her old fashioned short waisted black silk gown, with
lace collar and cuffs, and mittens, (without fingers) of
knitted silk on her hands.

The old gentleman brightens up at the music,
remembrances of his old time skill at the dance at balls
and assemblies in old New York come to his mind, and
he astonishes his old comrades by his pirouettes, and
the sprightness with which he " cuts a pigeon wing,"
as he glides through the figures of the lively dance, and
finally it comes to an end, and somewhat breathless
and wheezy, but with old time courtly grace, he makes

360 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

his bow and conducts his partner to a seat. His old
friends congratulate him on his grace and agility, which
they say might equal that of a much younger man, at
which the old fellow is pleased, and straightens up his
back, and tries not to feel the twinge of lumbago which
the extra exertion has brought on.

Midnight comes and the party begins to break up.
Those who have to go home wrap themselves up in
shawls and furs, the sleighs come to the door, and with
much handshaking, blessings and good wishes, the
holiday comes to an end.

Those of the household who remain behind, gather
around the fire, and indulge in reminisinces of by gone
times. The old folk recall the days of their youth by
the fireside at the old homstead on the Hudson. When
they look around and see the sturdy young men and
handsome girls who have grown up around them,
they give thanks in their hearts for all the blessings
vouchsafed them, and for the happy termination ot
what, for many years, was a life of anxiety and struggles
and disappointments, and for the pleasant home they
have made in the wilderness far removed from the land
of their birth. CLARENCE WARD.

THE ACADIAN MELANSONS.

I must enter my humble but emphatic dissent from
the dictum of M. Richard, (Acadia, p. 29) adopted and
elaborated by Mr. Hannay in THE NEW BRUNSWICK
MAGAZINE, vol. i, pp. 129 et seq., that the father of the
two Melansons named in the census of Port Royal,
taken in 1671, was one rof Sir William Alexander's
Scotch Colony who had remained in the country and
joined and intermarried with the French. I submit the
following considerations :

i. He was, as Mr. Hannay himself shews, the

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Sieur of La Verdure, a title somewhat analogous to
that of Laird in Scotland, identifying" him with the
gentry or petite noblesse of France, or certainly a
position higher than that of the ordinary peasant,
artisan or soldier. His high authority as Captain Com-
mandant of the garrison corresponded with the social
rank indicated by his title. D'Aulnay would never
select one of Sir William's humble Scotch followers,
but rather a well educated and well bred Frenchman,
as tutor and guardian of his children.

2. The Abb£ Sigogne is my authority for the
assertion that Melancon (c cedilla) was the old and
correct spelling of the name, although the "s" being
idem sonans is permissible.

3. Names ending in "son" by no means bear
unmistakable evidence of being of British or Scandina-
vian origin, for there are hundreds of French names
with that terminal syllable not connected either in origin
or meaning with the ordinary English or Tuetonic
"son" or "sen".

4. The termination referred to came into use to
form a patronymic, by adding it to ordinary Christian
or given names of parents: so Danielson, English,
Danielsen, Danish, son of Daniel; Johnson, English,
Jansen, Dutch, for son of John; Thomson, for Thomas'
son; Nicholson, for Nicholas' son, and the like; but there
is no similar Scotch or English name which could have
been thus compounded to form Melanson.

5. I have overhauled a Directory of Scotland, and
cannot find there any name which could be identified
with Melanson or gallicized into that form, although it
is easy to imagine the English Coulston, or the Scotch
Colinson or Collison assuming among the French the
form Colson, or Colleson. The nearest approach to
the name Melanson that I could find in the Directory is
in the Irish and Scotch Mullan, and McMullin.

362 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

As to the Martin family being Scotch, I would like
further to remark that the name Martin is equally
English, Irish, Scotch and French; and perhaps the
same may be said of Vincent, although I think the
latter name is more common in France than in the
United Kingdom. The mere names in these two cases
prove nothing; but it seems impossible that the immi-
grant ancestor of the Melansons could have been of
Scottish birth. A. W. SAVARY.

A HALIFAX MYSTERY.

On Christmas day, 1824, one Edward Shea, a
schoolmaster of Rawdon, came to Halifax and went to
the house of an acquaintance with whom he usually
lodged when in town. He was a man of about sixty
years of age, who had formerly been in the navy, but
who now lived humbly on a small pension which he
eked out by teaching school in an out-of-the-way coun-
try district.

It was after dark, between six and seven o'clock,
when the solitary old man dropped into the before-men-
tioned house, and took a glass of punch with the land-
lord and some other men who were drinking about the
cosy fire-place. His costume consisted of a short blue
jacket with metal anchor buttons, light blue homespun
trousers, and an old black hat. He was much fatigued,
for during the day he had travelled some thirty to
thirty-five miles — a remarkable achievement for one of
his age and slight frame.

After drinking the liquor, he begged for more, but
this his entertainer refused to give him, as he did not
appear to be entirely sober. Being without money, he
then offered his black-silk handkerchiet as a pledge,.

A HALIFAX MYSTERY. 363

but the other still refused to comply with his wish, and
the old man left the house much offended.

About one o'clock at night, Shea, still somewhat
intoxicated, knocked at Dr. Stirling's, and asked the
apprentice who opened the door if he could there
obtain a night's lodging. The doctor's servant, not
knowing Shea, told him that there were several public
houses near at hand, at any of which he could doubtless
put up, and accordingly the man left and turned up the
hill toward the North Barracks. At the gate of the
latter was pacing a sentinel of the 8ist, whom Shea
approached and requested lodging in the guard-room.
The soldier directed him to the main guard, and the
man stumbled off, but instead of going as directed he
walked to some houses opposite and then turned and
went through a turn-stile and approached the officers*
quarters, after which he passed out of sight of the sen-
try who, giving him little further attention, paced up
and down in the keen frosty air, his mind filled with
thoughts of the hard luck that had placed him on duty
at such a time of universal merry-making, occasional
sounds of which came to him from the adjacent row of
houses.

The North Barracks were situated to the north-
east of the citadel hill, near the intersection of Bruns-
wick and Cogswell streets. Early in the history of
the town military quarters had been erected the>e, and
in the closing years of the last century the building was
well-known as the Red Barracks. The men's quarters
were built about a quadrangle, while to the northward, ,
outside the quadrangle, extended a separate building
of more recent date, three stories high with a hip-roof..
This was the officers' quarters. They were entered by
three doors with pillars on either side. From the upper
windows could be obtained a magnificent view of the
harbour and of the wooded hills of Dartmouth beyond..

364 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

In front of the building1 was a grass plot enclosed by a
low railing, and a number of large poplars stood a few
rods from the doors. Beside the innermost group of
these was a well about ten feet deep.

The old officers' quarters still stand almost un-
altered, being at present used as a military store-house.
The remaining barrack buildings were burnt down by
a terrific conflagration that took place in December,
1850, the officers' quarters escaping owing to the
direction of the wind and to their being- detached from
the neighboring structures. New barracks now occupy
the site of those that were destroyed.

To the south-east of the citadel was another long
building, known as the South Barracks, standing on
the site of an old fort that had been erected at the
settlement of the town. Between this and the North
Barracks extended a street, now part of Brunswick
street, that might be described as the western frontier
of the town, and just above, on the green slope of the
citadel, stood the old town clock, whose bell told the
inhabitants of the passing hours. This street was then
usually called Barrack street, but it was also appro-
priately nicknamed "Knock-me-down" street. Al-
though physically the highest, this was morally the
lowest quarter of the town, and even in day-time few
cared to risk themselves within its precincts. Here
lived white and colored people of the most degraded
and dissolute class, nearly every building being a tavern
or a house of ill-fame. Robberies and murders and
riots, which had from time to time occurred here,
caused the place to be shunned by everyone of respecta-
bility. Such was the scene of this story at the period
of which I write.

The garrison of Halifax then consisted of three
regiments of foot, with corps of the Royal Artillery and
Engineers. The line regiments consisted of the 74th,

A HALIFAX MYSTERY. 365

the 8ist, and the 96th. The latter, which had been
raised early in 1824, with its officers from the half-pay
list, had arrived at Halifax in two detachments in
August and September of the same year. It was com-
manded by Lieutenant-Colonel John Herries, who had
formerly commanded the looth foot from which he had
retired on half-pay, but who had later accepted the
lieutenant-colonelcy of the new regiment. Among the
ensigns of the 96th, was Richard Cross, who is said to
have been an Irishman, rather young, tall, well-made
and with pleasing manners. He had received a com-
mission as second lieutenant in the nth regiment,
otherwise known as '* the Cherubims," on 28th October,
1813, but had gone on half-pay when that regiment
with many others had been reduced at the close of the
Napoleonic wars. When the 96th was raised, he was
commissioned an ensign and came with the corps to
Halifax, when he entered into the life of an officer of
that garrison, with its rounds of balls, dinners, drives,
horse-races, rackets, and amateur theatricals.

On the Christmas in question, Mr. Cross spent the
evening at Lieutenant Spratt's of the same" regiment,
in company with three brother subalterns named
Nugent, Story and O'Brien. About half-past one
o'clock they left their entertainer and proceeded home-
ward, singing and talking, It was a cold night, with-
out a glimpse of moon. They passed through the
turnstile of officers' quarters at the North Barracks,
some ten or fifteen minutes after Shea had left the
sentry, and their mirthful demeanor was a fresh remind-
er to the lonely soldier of the gaiety he was missing at
that gayest of all seasons.

On entering the barrack square O'Brien fell, and,
thinking his arm was broken, called out "Oh, dear!
Oh, my arm !" Nugent, turning round, said to one of
his companions, "Go back and see what is the matter

366 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

with the boy." The injury was found to be trifling,
and the three men entered the quarters, whereupon
Story went to his room and Nugent and O'Brien
accompanied Cross to his apartment, which was at
the back of the south end of the building and behind
the staircase on the ground floor. Cross took off his
regimental dress-coat, as was usual when in quarters,
and sat in his shirt sleeves, and as he had not been on
duty, he was, of course, without his sword. Bottles
and glasses were on the table and the trio, or some of
them, drank therefrom.

About a quarter of an hour later, Ensign Costello,
who had been spending the evening with Colonel
Foster of the Artillery, entered the quarters, and,
hearing voices in Cross's room, went thither, where he
found the three subalterns. He stayed for about half
an hour discussing the occurrences of the evening,
and then saying good night left to go to his own room,
'which was upstairs. He had not, however, proceeded
three or four steps on the stairs when he stumbled
over a man lying in his way. Supposing it to be one
of the officers' servants who had been keeping Christ-
mas, he endeavored to arouse him, upon which the
fellow muttered something indistinctly. The ensign
then returned to Cross's room for a light. Taking up
a candle, Cross went into the hall in his shirt sleeves,
and together they raised the man, who we may say
was Shea, and requested him to leave the building.
As he seemed unwilling to do so, Cross took him by
the collar and, assisted by Costello, pushed him into
the porch. This was about two o'clock. Neither
Cross nor Costello carried or wore a sword.

Costello said he thought they had better shut the
door, and on examining the lock a small bolt was dis-
covered with which they made it secure. Before they
left the hall, the man returned and said he had lost his

A HALIFAX MYSTERY. 367

handkerchief, whereupon, Costello felt about the floor,
and finding the missing article tossed it out and then
fastened the door. While waiting for his servant to
bring his key, Costello heard the man muttering out-
side and knocking on the panel. He gave the fellow
little further consideration, however, and on receiving
his key, went to bed.

Cross returned immediately to his room and told
Nugent and O'Brien that he and Costello had turned
out a man who had been on the stairs. Nugent and
O'Brien remained half an hour longer, or until nearly
three o'clock, and then went to bed.

Next morning, Sunday, the town was startled by
a report that a man had been murdered at the North
Barracks.

It appears that one Edward Harlins of the 74th,
who was servant to Captain Crabb and who slept in
the officers' quarters, arose before daybreak, at about
a quarter to seven, and on looking out of the barrack
window saw indistinctly in the gloom a man lying near
the well in front of the building. Suspecting some-
thing was wrong he dressed, and on going down found
the man lying on his face with his right hand extended
to his neck and his left arm across his body. He
ascertained that life was extinct, but without making
any particular examination. Calling to a private of
the 8ist, named Rogers, who happened to be passing,
he drew the latter's attention to the man, and then left.
Rogers turned the body over and was shocked to find
that the poor fellow had been murdered, a deep wound
being in the breast immediately before the right should-
er. Although it had been freezing during the night, he
perceived that the body was not yet stiff, and some of
blood about the wound was not frozen. The man had
evidently not long been dead. On the snow near the
feet he observed drops of blood, and from thence he

368 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

traced a few spots about six yards toward the barracks.

The startling news spread with the rapidity usua
on such occasions, and soon an immense crowd had
gathered. The body proved to be that of Shea, the
old pensioner. One man, James Crosskill, made a
careful examination of the corpse. On placing the
back of his hand on the body he detected indications of
heat. He and Mr. Greenwood, the coroner, who had
been summoned, and others, traced small drops of
blood on the snow, from close to the body to within
three yards of the south door of the officers' quarters,
towards which they ranged. The drops ziz-zagged for
a short part of the distance. The coroner and others
carefully examined the whole square but could find no
other blood marks. Some drops were noticed on the
road outside the square, but they were doubtless from
some goaded oxen that had been driven by early in the
morning.

The body was moved to a neighboring barn, where
it was examined by Doctors Stirling and Head. They
found that the weapon that had caused death had gone
through the jacket and shirt, had struck and split the
fourth rib and also broke it transversely, and had then
gone into the cavity of the chest and penetrated the
vena cava about one and a half or two inches from the
heart, but had not passed through the vein. The
wound was two or three inches deep, and three-quart-
ers of an inch in length externally. From such a
wound death would ensue in a very few minutes. The
coroner's jury, which investigated the case the day the
body was found, brought in a verdict of " Wilful
murder by some person or persons unknown."

Soon after the discovery of the murder, an ugly
rumour rapidly spread that the old man had been killed
by an officer of one of the regiments. On Monday,
the 27th, a young gentleman whose name was not given,

A HALIFAX MYSTERY. 369

was examined at the police court for implication in the
murder, but was discharged.

On the following day, Tuesday, it was stated that
the reports in which an officer was mentioned had
originated with a colored girl of ill-fame, and on her
being examined she unhesitatingly pointed to Ensign
Richard Cross, of the 96th Regiment, as the guilty man.
It seems that Cross had gone to his colonel and told
him that rumors were abroad relative to his connection
with the death of Shea, and his commander advised him
to go to the public court and have the affair investi-
gated, which he had accordingly done. On the girl's
statement he was arrested and committed to the county
jail. The case excited the most intense interest, and
was discussed from end to end of the town until it
became almost the sole subject of conversation. The
brother officers of the accused man were naturally
much horrified and would not believe the terrible accusa-
tion. The newspapers, owing to the prisoner's high
social position, withheld his name and were extremely
reticent about the whole affair. On the 29th, the Nova-
Scotian stated that examinations were taking place,
but merely mentioned that an officer was implicated.
Only the most vague references to the supposed culprit
were made in the other papers. On the first of Janu-
ary, however, the Recorder, feeling it should maintain
no distinction of persons in such matters as this, boldly
gave the name and regiment of the suspected officer,
for which indiscretion it was strongly criticised by some
of its political opponents, the Free Press in particular.

On that day another person was committed under
suspicion. Who this was I do not know, but he must
have been discharged soon after, for I find no further
mention of him.

On January 5th the* Gazette contained two offers
of reward, of one hundred pounds each, from the

370 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

officers of the garrison and from the provincial govern-
ment, the first dated December 3ist, the second,
Jannary 4th, for information leading1 to the conviction
of the murderer. No clue, however, was obtained by
this means. The whole town continued to talk of
nothing but the mysterious case.

The supreme court met on January nth and the
grand jury presented a bill of indictment charging the
prisoner, Richard Cross, with having killed Shea.

At length the i8th of January came around, the
day set for the trial. The court sat in the apartment
which is now the legislative library, the room in which
I write these lines. The day was very mild, all the
snow having disappeared under the influence of a thaw.
The court room was crowded to the utmost, even
greater numbers attending than had been drawn by the
preliminary examinations before the magistrate.

HARRY PIERS.
(To be concluded next month.)

WHEN TELEGRAPHY WAS YOUNG.

With nearly half a hundred telegraph operators in
and around the city cf St. John, with a network of
wires all over the country and the clicking of relays and
sounders in the most remote villages of the Maritime
Provinces, we are so accustomed to think of the elec-
tric telegraph as an essential to do the business of the
country that we cannot imagine a civilized people exist-
ing without it. Yet it may be well for the young folk
to remember that the telegraph is a very modern affair,
that very many of the living can recall the time when
it was absolutely unknown, and that a still larger num-
ber remember the time when it was looked upon as an

WHEN TELEGRAPHY WAS YOUNG. 371

experiment of more than doubtful value from a financial
point of view.

With Christmas week of this year, it will be just
half a century since the first telegraph message was
sent from St. John to any point beyond the province, or
to any point within the province. The first telegraph
message in the world, between Baltimore and Wash-
ington, was sent in 1844, and there is living in St.
John a man who saw the first telegraph wire stretched
in the city of New York, in the spring of 1846. This
gentleman is Mr. Thomas M. Robinson, well known as
a veteran in the service, and who is very well informed
as to the early days of telegraphy.

Taking the history of the existing telegraph sys-
tems in the order of time, this paper would have to
deal with the agitation for a line between Quebec and
Halifax, in 1847, but as the purpose is rather to show
what was actually accomplished, this branch of the sub-
ject must be passed over. At a meeting held in Hali-
fax on February 10, 1847, it was agreed to form a
company to construct a line to Amherst, to connect
with a line in New Brunswick, with the branches to
St. John and Fredericton, the estimated cost of the
line to Amherst being ^4,000. New Brunswick, how-
ever, had not then awakened to the necessity of the
new invention, and nothing was done in this province
until the following year.

In July, 1847, a private letter received in St. John
from New York, stated that Mr. F. O. J. Smith, (who
was later Known as "fog" Smith) was about to visit
St. John to arrange for placing that city in telegraphic
communication with New York. So far as appears,
Mr. Smith did not come, but soon after this Col. J. J.
Speed undertook to form a company in New York to
build a line from Portland, Me. to Halifax, there being
already communication between Portland and New

372 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

York. The story of the efforts in the United States,
however, does not immediately pertain to the present
sketch, except so far as it is necessaay to say that in
due time a company was organized in Maine, and that
the importance of a line through the province was
early recognized in St. John. So far as this province
is concerned, however, it remained for a citizen of the
United States to work up the interest and carry the
project into effect. His name was L. R. Darrow.

Mr. Smith, representing the assignees of the
Morse patent, was heard from again in February, 1848.
At a meeting of the St. John Chamber of Commerce,
on the 23d of that month, the then U. S. consul, Israel
D. Andrews, presented a letter from Smith, proposing
the establishment of a line through New Brunswick to
connect Halifax with the lines then building through
Maine. It was thereupon resolved —

"That the Chamber has long looked forward to such a line,
and consider its establishment as of the first importance to the
interests of this Province, and do therefore recommend that every
facility and encouragement be given to any Company undertak-
ing to carry into effect such a desirable object ; and that Messrs.
Duncan, Thurgar and Jardine be a Committee to prepare a Bill
and Petition to be laid before the Legislature for the purpose of
obtaining an Act of Incorporation for the Company, and to
correspond with and lend assitance to any parties inclined to
embark in the undertaking."

The committee lost no time in having a bill pre-
pared to incorporate the New Brunswick Telegraph
Company. The corporators named in the bill were
Thomas Leavitt, Charles Ward, William M'Lauchlan,
John Duncan, Robert Jardine, John V. Thurgar, Israel
D. Andrews, Francis O. J. Smith, Nathan Cummings
and Amos Kendall, the last four being citizens of the
United States. The bill came before the legislature on
the 4th of March, and on the 3Oth of that month it
became law. On the loth of May, Mr. Darrow,
assignee of the Morse patent, arrived in St. John, and

WHEN TELEGRAPHY WAS YOUNG. 373

the work of getting the company into shape and raising
the money was begun.

This was harder work than one might suppose.
The Chamber of Commerce had indorsed the project,
but the merchants were not enthusiastic when it came
to the matter of putting their names down for stock.
The capital was fixed at ,£25,000, in shares of £10
each, but only a few prominent men, such as Hon.
John Robertson, Robert Jardine, Edward Allison, John
Duncan, J. & R. Reed and W. & R. Wright, sub-
scribed for ten shares each in what was destined to be
one of the best paying investments ever offered to the
people of this country. About one third of the stock
was raised in St. John, another third in Halifax and at
intermediate points, such as Westmorland and Cum-
berland counties and in Charlotte county, while the
remaiming third was taken by Mr. Darrow himself.

During the summer of 1848 arrangements for
building the line through the province were made, and
the construction of the line between Portland and
Calais was begun. In Nova Scotia, the government
undertook the construction of the line from Halifax to
Amherst, but agreed to give Mr. Darrow's company
the use of one wire for its messages.

It was estimated that the cost of construction of
the line from Calais to Amherst, a distance of 240 miles,
would be $150 a mile, or a total cf $36,000. Mr.
Darrow visited the various points along the route and
asked for subscriptions proportionate to their size and
importance. St. Andrews was then considered a
greater place than St. Stephen, for it was asked for
£1,000, while the border towns of both St. Stephen
and Calais were asked for only £800 between them.

In the light of the universal use of the telegraph
today, it is interesting to note what was expected of
the line in the way of revenue at the outset. Mr.

374 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Darrow figured that on the Portland and Calais line
the press messages from Halifax on the arrival of
English steamers would amount to $5,200 a year. It
was estimated that there would be ten private messages
a day from Halifax to the United States, including
messages from Europe by the steamers, and ten from
the United States to Halifax. Between St. John and
the United States it was estimated there would be five
private messages each way, which, at 50 cents a
message, would yield a revenue of $1,500 a year.
There were to be eight stations in Maine.

By the latter part of September, 1848, the con-
tracts for posts between St. John and Calais were com-
pleted and the work of building was pushed forward
in order to have the line in operation before the first of
the following year. At a meeting of the New Bruns-
wick Telegraph company in October, Hon. R. L.
Hazen presiding, the directors elected were F. O. J.
Smith of Boston, L. R. Darrow of New York, Robert
Jardine, Edward Allison and John Duncan. Mr.
Jardine was chosen as president, and was for long after
the active spirit of the enterprise, in association with
Mr. Darrow.

By the first of December all the posts were up
between St. John and Calais, the wire distributed along
the line, and twenty miles of it strung to the eastward
of the latter town. The shop of Mr. Smellie, on a por-
tion of the ground now occupied by the Stockton build-
ing, Prince William street, was rented for the St. John
office and Mr. James Mount, formerly of the British
army, and who was well known in later years as
Adjutant Mount, was selected as the operator. He
had learned to operate in Quebec, using a paper
recorder, as the art of taking by sound was not then
known.

The final link between St. John and the United

WHEN TELEGRAPHY WAS YOUNG. 375

States was completed when the wires were stretched
across the falls of the River St. John, on Dec. 23, 1848,
The first message received was from Harris H. Hatch,
at St. Andrews, to William J. Ritchie (afterwards chief
justice) at St. John, congratulatory on the completion
of the line, For a day or so there was a little trouble
with the line west of Calais, but by the end of the year
the electric circuit was complete from St. John to New
York.

The little office on Prince William street was the
wonder of the city for many days, and crowds blocked
the side walk to hear the clicking and whirring of the
Morse recorder, and to watch the strip of paper pass-
ing through it while Mr. Mount noted the mysterious
characters which were formed by the dots, dashes and
spaces.

Such was the beginning of the electric telegraph
in St. John, just half a century ago. In the following
year the line was completed to Halifax, and charters
were granted to companies in various parts of the
province. There is much more to be told of these
early days, and I had hoped to tell it, after a fashion,
in this paper, but the subject is one that grows beyond
the allowable limits of this occasion, and must be de-
ferred to a future date. How the news was sent in the
early days, where the offices were located, the expan-
sion of the business, with incidents of this and that
period, may, perhaps, be of more general interest than
the few facts now given as to the actual beginning of
the communication of St. John with the outside world
by the medium of the electric telegraph.

ROSLYNDE.

iM TlnlE CblTOK

THE CHRISTMAS NUMBER.

The first volume of THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGA-
ZINE is completed with this number, and to mark this
period, as well as to honor the appoaching holiday sea-
son, a double number is given. The word "given"
is used advisedly, for it is in a large sense a gift from
the publisher to the public for which no immediate
financial return can be expected. A double number
means double cost, and though the retail price is
advanced for this occasion, the sales are but a small
proportion of the edition, the greater part of which
goes to those who are already subscribers, and who
are presumably satisfied with publication as it ordin-
arily appears.

It was hoped that a much better Christmas edition
could be issued, with a larger number of illustrations,
but this would have been practicable only with a more
liberal advertising patronage than has been extended.
The publisher is anxious to show his friends how much
he appreciates them, but the line must be drawn some-
where, even in the holiday season.

The contents of this number are such as to need
no commendation. Prof. Ganong's paper on the Ash-
burton Treaty gives a view that is opposed to the popu-
lar idea that New Brunswick was a loser by the
arrangement, but Prof. Ganong has more than theory
to support his contention, and he makes a very clear
case which every man in the country ought to study.
His paper is a very important feature of this issue.

Mr. Raymond is so well known, and his work is

IN THE EDITOR'S CHAIR. 377

so fully appreciated, that no special mention is required
of his continuation of the story of the early settlers at
St. John. This series of papers must rank for all time
as one of the most valuable contributions ever made to
the recorded history of the province. With all that has
hitherto been told of the post-loyalist period, little has
been known of the important era of the first English
settlers, and Mr. Raymond is doing" a great work in
placing the events of that time so clearly before the
world in the pages.

Mr. W. P. Dole appears in THE MAGAZINE for the
first time, but it is hoped that he will be heard from
again at no distant day. Though Mr. Dole has won
fame as a poet and an essayist, he gives the public too
little benefit of his more than ample store of knowledge
on many subjects. His present essay, on the meaning
of the word " aboideau," is a masterly philogical dis-
quisition worthy of the accomplished linguist, and it
would seem, moreover, to definitely settle a question
which has for many years been a matter of debate with
those who have made a study of Acadia and the
Acadians.

Mr. Hannay's series of papers on " Our First
Families " is interrupted this month, while he tells the
story of the iO4th regiment, the body of New Bruns-
wick troops of which so many have heard, but of the
career of which so few are well informed. This paper
is a very accurate and comprehensive story of the io4thrJ
its men and what they accomplished.

His Honor Judge Savary, of Annapolis Royal, N..
S., is another new contributor, but he needs no intro-
duction to those who are interested in the history of the
Maritime Provinces. Apart from his prominence in the
past in the fields of law and politics, and apart from his
judicial position, he has done much service in the lines
of local history as the author of a Genealogy of the

378 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Savary and Severey families and of much other histori-
cal work, as well as having been the editor of Calnek's
history and other material in the same line. In his
short, but well considered paper, this month, he shows
cause why the name of Melanson is not Scotch but
Prench.

Mr. Clarence Ward gives a delightful picture of
Christmas as it was observed by the good old families
in the good old times, and though the period he men-
tions goes far beyond his own recollection, yet having
spent his early years among a long lived family, which
dated back in its then active members to the Loyalists
themselves, he knows whereof he speaks. To those
who do not know that Mr. Ward is a man of most
abstemious habits, it may be well to say that he dwells
upon the liquid features of old times in a wholly imper-
sonal way, and purely as a matter of abstract history

Mr. Harry Piers, of the Legislative Library, Hal-
ifax, tells a graphic story of a famous Halifax tragedy
which resulted in the trial ot one of Her Majesty's
officers for murder. The occurrence created an intense
sensation at the time, and the mystery of who did the
deed has never been solved. Mr. Piers is an all round
useful man in matters which are in the best interests of
these provinces, for he is not only an historian, but one
who is active in the lines of general literature, a bib-
liophile and an enthusiastic worker in the field of natural
history. The concluding portion of his paper will
appear next month.

The story of the wreck of the ship " England" at
St. John, may interest those who have heard more or
less of that disaster, as well as many older people who
have a personal recollection of the event.

With Christmas week, the electric telegraph will
have been in operation between St. John and the out-
side world for just half a century. In this connection

IN THE EDITOR'S CHAIR. 379

a sketch of the early days of the invention is given
from reliable data, and it will show how the world has
moved since Mr. Mount and his tape instrument were
wonders sufficient to cause the citizens to block the
sidewalk to get a glimpse of Morse's wonderful inven-
tion in actual operation.

Altogether, the double Christmas number should
suit a variety of tastes among its readers.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

QUESTIONS.

35. What is the origin of the term " Bluenose "
as applied to the people of the Maritime Provinces ?

36. The " Disbrow house," at the corner of Ger-
main street and Cooper's Alley, was the first brick
house built in St. John. It was burned in 1877. In
what year was it built, and by whom ? What is the
oldest brick house at the present time ? W. E. T.

37. " The Sailor's Return, or Jack's cure for the
Hystericks," by a youth in St. John, is the title of a
farce in two acts, published in St. John in 1816 and
sold by subscription. Does any one know the author
of this or where a copy can be seen? J. D.

38. What was the connection of Benedict Arnold
with what was known as the Arnold house in Frederic-
ton, which was burned some years ago ? L. C. J.

39. What was the period of duration of the
Cholera epidemic in 1854 and how many persons are
believed to have died of the disease ? R. W.

40. What regiments have at various times been
in garrison at St. John ? How long were the troops in
the barracks at Fort Howe and how long at the Lower
Cove barracks ? J. C. T.

380 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

41. What is the true Indian name of the St. John
river? B. G.

42. What is the highest mountain in New Bruns-
wick and the approximate elevation ? W. O. R.

ANSWERS.

29. The Moses boat, used by the early Loyalist
settlers around St. John, was a peculiar shaped craft,
broad and shallow. The model was brought here
from the West Indies, where it was used for lightering
puncheons of sugar and molasses in the shoal waters,
for which it was well adapted. As there was no lack
of water at St. John, and as the boat was of a very
clumsy fashion for general purposes, it soon fell into
disuse. C. W.

32. The battery at Reed's Point was erected in
1793, by Governor Carleton, as a defense against the
French, and was named Prince Edward battery, in;
honor of the Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria.

C. W.

35. The soubriquet "Bluenose," now so familiar-
ly applied to Nova Scotians and New Brunswickers,
originated with the Loyalists of Annapolis county, who
applied it to the pre-loyalist settlers as a term of
"derision" during the bitter struggle for pre-eminence
in public affairs between these two sections of the
population in the provincial election of 1785. Why the
particular term was selected or deemed appropriate I
have no idea. For an account of that election,, see
Memoir of Alexander Howe in the "History of Anna-
polis County," p. 355.6. A. W. SAVARY.

"The story of a Monument," promised for this
issue, does not appear, owing to an accident which has
prevented Mr. Howe from completing his work.

PROVINCIAL CHRONOLOGY.

An event of general interest, a marriage and a
death, are given for each day of the month. The
marriage and death notices are given as they appeared
in the newspapers of the time, except that such phrases
as "At St. John" and "on the — inst." are not re-
peated. Where nothing appears to the contrary, the
locality may be assumed to be St. John, while the date
of the marriage or death is indicated by the figures of
the day of the month before the names and of the year
immediately after them.

MEMORANDA FOR DECEMBER.

1. First steam ferry at Indiantown, St. John i&47

2. Gen. Balfour dies suddenly at Fredericton 181 1

3. Reed's Point Improvements decided on ^44

4. James Gough fatally assaulted in Portland. 1847

5. H. M. Brig- Plumper lost at Point Lepreau 1812

6. Alex. Croke, Administrator in N S 1808

7. St. John Mechanics' Institute building- opened 1840

8. Government House, Fredericton, completed 1828

9. Wm. Cobbett arrives at St. John 17&5

10. Cape Breton made a county of N. S 17^S

11. Patrick Slavin hanged at St. John 1857

12. Old Duke street bethel, St. John, opened 1847

13. Large amount of shipping in St. John and 40 ships! „

14. on the way from England /

15. Funeral of Governor Fraser, at Fredericton 1896

16. Counties of N. S. defined and published 1785

17. T. C. Haliburton (Sam Slick) born 1796

18. Latest date of closing of St. John river 1878

19. Loss of the ship " England," at St. John 1846

20. McFadyan hanged at Pictou, N. S. for murder of Keir, 1848

21. Capt. W. F. Owen made rear admiral J$47

22. First ship launched by English at Shelburne, N. S... 1786

23. Brick market house, Market Sq., St. John, opened.. 1839

24. National School building, King Sq., St. John, opened, 1819

25. Trinity church, St. John, opened 1791

26. Repeal of St. John Water Bill demanded 1844

27. Telegraph line, St. John and Calais, completed 1848

28. 43rd Regt. at Quebec, from Fredericton, in 12 days. . 1837

29. Charles Redburn hanged at St. John 1846

30. Col. W. H. Hailes died at Fredericton, aged 68 1821

31. Destructive storm at St. John 1819

(The year of the funeral of Chief Justice Parker was 1865,
not 1855, as printed last month.)

382 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

DECEMBER MARRIAGES.

1. TILTON-HARBELL. — 1849. By the Rev. Wm. Harrison, Mr,

Wm. Morris Tilton, of Musquash, Parish of Lancaster, to
Miss Mary Elizabeth Harbell, of this City.

2. PERKINS-DEFOREST. — 1840. By the Rev. Wm. Scovil, Mr.

D. C. Perkins, Merchant, to Matilda, first daughter of Mr.
S. J. Deforest, all of this city.

3. SpEER-McBETCH. — 1834. At Woodstock, by the Rev.

Samuel D. Lee Street, Mr. James Speer to Miss Jane
McBetch.

4. ANDREWS-SEELY. — 1850. At the residence of the bride's

father, by the Rev. W. E. Scovil, A.M., Mr. John B.
Andrews, to Mary Jane, eldest daughter of Mr. Linus
Seely, of the Parish of Kingston, King's County.

5. FAIRWEATHER- FOUGHT. — 1847. B7 tne Rev- !• W. D.

Gray, D.D., Mr. Edwin Fairweather, to Miss Margaret
Fought, all of this Cify.

6. SiBLEY-TuRNBULL. — 1846. By the Rev. A. Stewart, Mr.

Elisha Sibley, to Harriet Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Mr.
George Turnbull, all of this City.

7. DURKEE-PAYSON., — 1846. By the Rev. Henry Daniel, Capt.

Lyman Durkee, of Yarmouth, (N. S.) to Mrs. Mary Pay-
son, of this city.

8. STREET-WYER. — 1835. In All Saints' Church, Saint An-

drews, by the Rev. Dr. Alley, George Dixon Street, Esq.,
Barrister at Law, to Susan, youngest daughter of Thomas
Wyer, Esquire.

9. McLEOD-lNGRAHAM. — 1846. In the Parish of Studholm by

the Rev. H. N. Arnold, Mr. Alexander McLeod, to Miss
Ann Ingraham, both of that Parish.

10. KNOWLES-CHESLEY. — 1848. At Granville, N. S., by the

Rev. William Temple, Mr. Edward T. Knowles, merchant,
of St. John, to Miss Phoebe Jane, youngest daughter of
Samuel Chesley, Esq., of the former place

11. MORROW-GARROW. — 1849. By the Rev. Robert Irvine, Mr.

William Morrow to Miss Isabella Garrow, both of Portland.

12. VAUGHAN-MORAN. — 1839. At St. Martins, by the Rev. John

Masters, Capt. Henry Vaughan, to Miss Hannah Moran,
both of that place.

13. WIGMORE-SMITH. — 1834. By the Rev. Dr. Gray, Mr.

Samuel Wigmore to Ellen, relict of the late Richard Smith,
Esq., of Buctouche.

14. BEDELL-BERTON. — 1839. By tne Rev- S D. Lee Street,

George Augustus Bedell, Esq., of the Parish of Woodstock,
in the County of Carleton, to Elizabeth Euphermia, young-
est daughter of the late George D. Berton, Esq., of Fred-
ericton, in the County of York.

PROVINCIAL CHRONOLOGY. 383

15. CAiN-McMuLLEN.— 1819. By the Rev. Robert Willis, Mr.

Jeremiah Cain to Miss Elizabeth McMullen.

16. MORRISON-EVERETT. — 1846. — By the Rev. Mr. Irvin, Mr.

John Morrison, Merchant, to Lucy A., eldest daughter of
Mr. Thomas C. Everett, all of this city.

17. ALLISON-COGSWELL. — 1839. At Sackville, by the Rev.

John Black, Joseph F. Allison, Esq., to Margaret Arabella,
eldest daughter of Mr. Oliver Cogswell, of Cornwallis, N. S.

18. HARDENBROOK-PURDY.— 1838. By the Rev. Dr. Gray,

Captain Thomas Hardenbrook, of the barque Atld'-tic, of
this port, to Louisa, eldest daughter of the late Mr. Oba-
diah Purdy, of this City.

19. JACK-PETERS. — 1844. At Fredericton, by the Venerable

the Archdeacon, William Brydone Jack, M.A., Professor
of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, Kings College,
Fredericton, to Marion Ellen, youngest daughter of the
Hon. Charles Jeffrey Peters, H. M. Attorney General.

20. PADDOCK-BARTER.— 1838. By the Rev. Jas. Cookson, Mr.

John A. Paddock to Miss Rebecca Barter, third daughter
of the late Joseph Barter, Esquire, both of the Parish of
Kingston.

21. WHEELER-JARVIS. — 1839. In Trinity Church, by the Rever-

end the Rector, George Wheeler, Esquire, Barrister at
Law, to Caroline, eldest daughter of Ralph M. Jarvis,
Esquire, all of this city.

22. OLIVE-HEALES. 1847. By the Rev. Sampson Burby, Mr.

William G. Olive, of Carleton, to Charlotte Ann, eldest
daughter of Mr. James Heales, of Portland.

23. THOMPSON-DOUGLAS. — 1845. By the Rev. Robert Irvine,

of the Free Church, Mr. Charles Thompson, of the Parish
of Portland, to Miss Mary Ann Douglas, of this City.

24. PURDY-STICKNEY.— 1844. By the Rev. Dr. Gray, Mr. John

D. Purdy, Merchant, to Miss Hannah Amelia, only
daughter of Captain Samuel Stickney, all of this City.

25. SMITH-BRIDGES.— 1839 At Sheffield, by the Rev. F. W.

Miles, Mr. John T. Smith, of Fredericton, to Miss Letitia
Ann, eldest daughter of .Ylr. H. Bridges.

26. PERLEY-GROVER.— 1846. At Woodstock, by the Rev. S. D.

Lee Street, T. E. Perley, Esq., to ...aria, youngest
daughter of the late Mr. Grover.

27. DuRANT-HoOFER.--i845. In Trinity Church, by the Rev.

the Rector of this Parish, Mr. William Durant, to Eliza-
beth Jane, daughter of Mr. John Hooper, of Lancaster.

28. BETTS-PURDY.— 1839. By the Rev. the Rector, Captain

Albert Berts, to Jane F. youngest daughter of the late Mr..
Obadiah Purdy, all of this city.

384 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

29. MILNER-MORSE. — 1840. At Rocklyn, Westmorland, the

residence of the Hon. Edward B. Chandler, by the Rev.
John Black, Christopher Milner, Esq., Barrister at Law,
to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of John Morse, Esq.

30. PHAIR RAINSFORD. — 1847. At St. Peter's Church, Kings-

clear, by the Rev. E. J. W. Roberts, A. S. Phair, Esq., to
Harriet Jane, daughter of Capt. A. W. Rainsford.

31. SULIS-DYER.— 1840. By the Rev. Dr. Gray, Mr. John S.

Sulis, of this City, to Mrs. Arixene B. Dyer, third daughter
of the late Ezekiel Dyer, of Portland, Maine.

DEATHS IN DECEMBER.

1. WHITEHEAD. — 1847. At Dumfries, County of York, Eliza-

beth, wife of Turney Whitehead, Esq., aged 50 years.

2. BINGAY. — 1847. At Yarmouth, (N. S.) John Bingay, Esq.,

High Sheriff of that County, in the 6ist year of age. He
formerly represented the County of Shelburne in the Gen-
eral Assembly of Nova Scotia, and possessed much energy
and decision of character in the performance of his official
duties. His death is much deplored.

3. PUDDINGTON. — 1849. At Kingston, K. C., in his 8ist year,

Mr. William Puddington, leaving a widow and a numerous
progeny to mourn the loss of an affectionate husband and
parent. The late Mr. Puddington (son of William Pud-
dington and Mary Ames, of Devonshire, Eng.), was born
in Edinburgh, in the year 1769; he was quite a child when
he embarked for America with his father, who was attached
to the Ordnance Department. Mr. P. recollected being in
Boston during the battle of Bunker's Hill; and with many
anecdotes of the olden time, he delighted to remember the
period of touching at Cork, on the outward voyage. While
there, according to his story, Lord and Lady Effingham,
(themselves childless) were anxious to take him under their
protection, and educate him as a son of their own. It is
curious to reflect what might have been the fate of the
young expatriate had his parents yielded him to the care
of a descendant of the illustrious "Jockey of Norfolk."

4. HAZEN.— 1836. At Sussex Vale, the Honorable George

Henry Hazen, Esq., a member of the Legislature in this
Province, aged 52 years.

5. EDWARDS. — 1846. In Portland Village, Margaret Jane,

wife of Mr. John Edwards, and eldest daughter of the late
Mr. James Munro, aged 27 years.

6. GOUGH. — 1847. On Monday evening, between 5 and 6

o'clock, in the Parish of Portland, Mr. James Gough, (from
the effects of wounds received on Saturday evening,) in the
34th year of his age.

7« SAYRE. — 1838. At Dorchester Island, after a painful illness,
which she bore with Christian fortitude, perfectly resigned,
having a well grounded hope through her Saviour, Polly,
wife of James Sayre, Esq., in the 68th year of her age.

PROVINCIAL CHRONOLOGY. 385

Mrs. S. was born at Martha's Vineyard, in the now State
of Massachusetts, was the daughter of Dr. Nathan Smith,
who came with his family to this Province at the close of
the American Rebellion. She has left an aged husband, with
a number of children and relatives, to mourn the loss of a
truly affectionate partner, a kind and indulgent mother,
and a sincere friend.

8. ARNOLD.— 1848. At Boston, U. S., in the 49th year of his

age, the Rev. Horatio Nelson Arnold, for the last twenty
years Rector of the Parish of Sussex, leaving- a disconso-
late wife and five children, together with a large circle of
friends and acquaintances to mourn their irreparable loss.
His remains were brought to this city for interment.

9. BARLOW. — 1844. Thomas Barlow, Esq., in the 57th year of

his age. Mr. B. was for many years a Representative for
this City for the General Assembly, and for the last 36
years, in company with his late father and his brother,
was extensively engaged in business. Mr. Barlow has
left a widow and four daughters to lament his loss.

10. GRIERSON. — 1846. At Maskarene, Charlotte County, Mr-

James Grierson, aged 105. Mr. G. was one of the Loyal
ists, who on account of his attachment to the British Gov-
ernment, left the United States, among the sturdy band
who arrived on these barren shores, in the year 1783.

11. UNIACKE. — 1846. At Halifax, Norman Fitzgerald Uniacke,

aged 69 years, eldest son of the late Richard John Uniacke,
Attorney General of that Province. He was for many
years Attorney General of Lower Canada; one of the
Representatives in General Assembly; and a Judge of the
Supreme Court.

12. SIMPSON. — 1844. At St. John's, Newfoundland, suddenly,

Mr. William Simpson, Druggist, formerly a resident of
Chatham, Miramichi.

13. FINN. — 1847. I" tne 8otn year of his a8'e' Mr> William

Finn, Senr., a native of the Parish of White Church, County
Wexford, and for the last twenty years a resident of this
city. He was much and deservedly respected by his
numerous friends and acquaintances.

14. PETTINGELL. — 1847. Thomas Pettingell, Esq., in the 8$th

year of his age The deceased has been doing business
in this city for more than fifty years. He is the last male
of the members who composed the First Baptist Church
formed in this city, in 1810, of which Church he was a
Deacon from its formation to his death. In his death the
Church of God has lost one of its most liberal supporters,
and the poor one of their best friends. His loss will be
deeply felt by his sorrowing family, neighbors and friends.

15. MOVES.— 1850. At Studholm, King's County, Mr. William

Moyes, in the 63d year of his age, a native of Cornwall,
England, and for the last twenty years a resident of this
Province. His end was peace.

386 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

16. STORM. — 1850. After a lingering illness, which he bore

with Christian fortitude, Mr. Samuel Storm, in the Both
year of his age, leaving- a wife and affectionate family to
mourn their bereavement. Mr. S. was one of the old
Loyalists who emigrated in 1783 to this country.

17. WETMORE. — 1845. At Norton, King's County, ?n the Sand

year of his age, David B. Wetmore, Esq., one of the first
settlers in this. Province, and for many years a representa-
tive in General Assembly from King's County, and a Jus-
tice of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas. He has left
a numerous progeny, by whom his memory will be long
held in affectionate esteem.

18. FINN. — 1846. Margaret, wife of Mr, John Finn, in the 4ist

year of her age.

19. WILLIAMS.- 1847. At Hampstead, (Queen's County) Mary,

relict of the late Reuben Williams, one of the Loyalists of
1783, in the 96th year of her age.

20. PORTER. — 1850. At his late residence, King street, Henry

Porter, Esquire, aged 55 years, leaving an affectionate
wife and family to mourn their sudden bereavement, and a
large circle of friends to sympathize with them. Mr. Porter
has at various times filled public offices of honor and trust,
and was elected Alderman of King's Ward and Justice of
the Peace, for several successive years; he gained for him-
self by his unswerving integrity and uprightness of char-
acter, the respect and esteem of all classes of his fellow-
citizens.

21. LAHEY. — 1846. Mr. William Lahey, a native of Ballycotton,

County of Cork (Ireland), aged 45 years.

22. KING. — 1856. At Sussex Vale, John King, Esq., a native

of Perthshire, Scotland, in the 68th year of his age, and
for nearly fifty years a resident of this Province.

23. SEGEE. — 1834. Suddenly, at Newr Maryland, Mr. John

Segee, Senior, in the 7ist year of his ag'e.

24. HASTINGS. — 1853. Suddenly, on Saturday, John Hastings,

Esq , in the 6ist year of his age, formerly of Stranolar,
County of Donegal, Ireland, and for many years a
respectable Merchant in this City.

25. CANBY. — 1854. After a few days illness, Ruth Canby, relict

of the late Joseph Canby, in the 87th year of her age. She
was one of the earliest settlers in this city, having landed
here with the Loyalists in 1783.

26. OLIVER. — 1850. After a short illness, Mrs. Isabella Oliver,

relict of the late William Sanford Oliver, Esquire, in the
75th year of her age.

27. TAYLOR. — 1834. At Fredericton, James Taylor, Senior,

Esquire, in the 79th year of his age. Mr. T. was a native
of Port Glasgow, Scotland, whence he emigrated to New
York in early life, and was in that country at the com-
mencement of the Revolutionary WTar, in which he was

PROVINCIAL CHRONOLOGY. 387

actively engaged, and suffered the greatest hardships and
privations in many a well fought field in support of the
Royal cause. He came to this Province with the Loyal-
ists in the memorable year of 1783, and established him-
self in Fredericton, (then a wilderness) where he has
since resided. He erected the third house in that place,
which was only a few months since removed, in order to
make room for a new building- on the site where it had so
long remained.

28. PICKARD. — 1847. lu the Parish of Douglas, York County,

Mr. Moses Pickard, Senior, in the 85th year of his age.
Mr. Pickard was one of the first English settlers of the
Province, having arrived here when he was only three
years old; since which time he has borne the impress of
moral worth and religious principle.

29. SMITH. — 1855. At Burton, at the residence of N. Hubbard,

Esq., Mehetabel, widow of Captain J. Smith, aged 84
years, daughter of the late Joseph Clark, of Maugerville,
with whom she came to this Province in 1783.

30. KEANE. — 1855. At St. Martins, after a brief illness, Mr'

Jeremiah Keane, a native of Waterford, Ireland, aged 76
years. Mr. K. emigrated from his native country fifty
years ago, and was the earliest Irish settler in St. Martins,
having resided there for the last forty years.

31. FLEMMING. — 1839. At Londonderry, (Nova Scotia), aged

60 years, James Flemming, Esquire, one of the Justices of
the Peace for the County of Colchester, and for many
years a member of the House of Assembly for London-
derry— unusually esteemed as a kind friend and an honest
and independent man.

INDEX TO MARRIAGES IN VOL. I.

Allison-Cogswell, 383; Allison-Knight, 288; Andrews-Seely,
382; Bartlett-Hutchinson, 288; Bedell-Berton, 382; Beek-Barker,
228; Bell-Barbour, 229; Bennison-Barnes, 287; Betts-Purdy, 383;
Blakslee-Brayley, 288; Bliss-Dibblee, 228; Bliss- Forster, 383;
Burtis-Goodrich, 288; Cain-McMullen, 383; CampbellAVallace,
229; Carvill-Mercer, 287; Clark-Dodge, 229; Collins-McCarthy,
288; Connell-Fisher, 230; Coram-Kindred, 228; Craft-Snow, 288;
Cushing-Scammell, 287; Daniel-Edmunds, 229; Davidson-Barron,
228; DeVeber-Illesley, 227; DeVeber-Milner, 287; Doherty-Dever,
228; Durant-Hooper, 383; Durkee-Payson, 382; Fairweather-
Fought, Eisher- Valentine, 289; Fitzgerald-Carleton, 383; Fowler-
Sederquist, 228; Gerow-Travis, 287; Godard-McMackin, 288;
Hannay-Salter, 229; Hardenbrook-Purdy, 383; Hatch-Jones, 229;
Hatheway-McGivern, 228; Henderson-Boyle, 289; Hennigar-
Purdy, 287; Jack-Peters, 383; James-Shaw, 228; Knowles-Ches-
ley, 382; Marsters-Marsters, 288; Milner-Morse, 383; Morris-
McGuirk, 287; Morrisey-Connor, 227; Morrison-Everett, 384;,

388 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

Morrow-Garrow, 382; Murray-Hatfield, 228; McCoskery-Mc-
"Williams, 289; McCready-Hartt, 228; McLeod-Ingraham, 383;
McFarlane-Seaman, 229; McPhelim-McGuirk, 289; McWilliams-
Olson, 288; Needham-Gale, 229; Olive-Heales, 383; Oiive-Scam-
mell, 287; Paddock-Barter, 383; Paterson-Hennigar, 229; Peat-
man-Flewelling-, 230; Perkins-Deforest, 382; Perley-Grover, 383;
Phair-Rainsford, 384; Purdy-Stickney, 383; Rankin-Bowman, 289;
Raymond-Sheck, 287; Roberts-Jones, 229; Robertson-Armstrong-,
228; Scovil-Wiggins, 229; Seaman-Brown, 287; Seely-Beckwith,
229; Sibley-Turnbull, 382; Smith-Bridges, 383; Speer-McBeath,
382; Stewart- Wallace, 228; Street-Wyer, 382; Sulis-Dyer, 384;
Thompson-Douglas, 383; Tilton-Harbell, 382; Trueman-Bent, 288;
Vaughan-Moran, 382; Wales- Wilson, 228; Warlock-Campbell,
289; Warwick-Hay ward, 229; Wetmore-Bonnell, 288; Wheeler-
Jarvis, 383; Wigmore-Smith, 382; Wilmot-Black, 287; Wright-
Frith, 287.

INDEX TO DEATHS IN VOL. I.

Anderson, 231, Babine, 291; Backhouse, 232; Beattie, 232;
Botsford, 290; Brannan, 232; Brittenney, 290; Brundage, 232;
Canby, 385; Chamberlain, 291; Chipman, 290, 291; Clark, 292;
Connell, 291; Coram, 232; Doolin, 230; Dunham, 231; Dustan,
289; Elston, 290; Finn, 385; Fleming-, 387; Forbes, 231; Gard,
230; Gilbert, 290; Gillies, 231; Graham, 291; Gregory, 388;
Hammond, 291; Harding', 291; Hasting-s, 386; Hickman, 230;
Hunter, 232; Hutching-s, 289; Jones, 290; Jarvis, 290; Keane,
387; Lahey, 386; Lawrence, 232; Leavitt, 232; Lockhart, 232;
Marter,23i; Minnette, 289; Moyes, 386; McAvity, 291; McFar-
lane, 290; McGeag-hey, 230; McPherson, 231; Norris, 231; Oliver,
386; Paddock, 232; Palmer, 290; Partelow, 232; Paul, 231;
Pickard, 387; Pettingell, 385; Porter, 386; Seely, 291; Segee, 230;
Segogne, 290; Smiler, 291; Smith, 291; Smith, 387; Storm, 386;
Swymmer, 291; Taylor, 386; Tisdale, 230; 291; Tole, 231; Under-
wood, 289; Upham, 289; Varley, 230; Weldon, 231; Wells, 230;
Wetmore, Williams, 386; Williston, 232; Winslow, 231.

The following- is reprinted from the November list,
on account of the accidental omission of the year —

18 GREGORY.— 1847. At Kingston, (K. C.), Richard P. Greg-
ory, Esq., in the 96th year of his age. He was one of the
Loyalists of 1783, and was much respected by all who
knew him, and is deservedly regretted by a large circle of
friends.

PROVINCIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY.

CANADA, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, New-
foundland, etc., with History, Present State, and
Prospects of these Colonies in regard to Emigration.
London: Cradock & Co., 1843, 16°., 64 pp., map.

FAIRBANKS, E. R. and COCHRAN, A. W.

Report of the trial of Edward Jordan and Margaret
Jordan, his wife, for piracy and murder at Halifax, on
Nov. 1 5th, 1809, together with Edward Jordan's dying
confession ; to which is added the trial of John Kelly,
for piracy and murder on Dec. 9th, 1809.

Halifax, Nova Scotia, printed by James Bignall,
1810; 8°.

Edward Jordan was a native of Gasp^, in Lower Canada, he
was found guilty of the charges against him and sentenced to
death ; he was hung on the beach at Fresh Water River. His
wife Margaret was acquitted.

[Title and note from catalogue of Henry Stevens, Son &
Stiles, of London, item 21524. A good copy, priced at £i, IDS.

V. H P.]

LECLERCQ, CHRETIEN.

Nouvelle | Relation | de la | Gaspesie, | qui cont-
ent | Les Mceurs & la Religion, des Sau | vages Gaspe-
siens Prorte-Croix, | adorateurs du Soleil, & d'au-
tres | Peuples de 1'Amerique Septen- | trionale, dite
le Canada. | Dedie'e a Madame la | Princesse d'Epi-
noy, | Par le Pere Chrestien le Clercq, | Missionnaire
Recollet de la Province de | Saint Antoine de Pade en
Artois, & | Gardien du Convent de Lens. | [Orna-
ment.] |

A Paris, | Chez Amable Auroy, rue Saint | Jacques,
& 1'Image S. Jerome, attenant la Fontaine S. Sev-
erin. | M. DC. XCI. | Avec Privilege du Roy. |

Cottation .-—Title, with verso blank, i leaf ; dedicatory epistle,
pp. (24); " Privilege du Roi," pp. (2); text pp. i— 572 ; ' ; Table
des Chapitres," pp. (4). Pages 238 and 328 are mispaged 328
and 238, respectively. The two leaves of table of chapters are
usually lacking in copies.

390 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE.

The author describes the origin, manners and customs,
language, religion, and superstitions of the Gasp£ Indians ; and
also recounts his experiences amongst them as a missionary.
The work is important for the history of missionary activity in
New Brunswick and Northeastern Canada. Chretien LeClercq
was born in the province of Artois, France, about 1630, and died
at the convent of Lens, France, in 1695. He was a zealous
ReVollet missionary, and his Gaspesian Relation is criticized by
Charlevoix (Nouvette France, Vol. i) as being over-partial to the
R^collets, and as slighting the Jesuit order. But a reasonable
accounting may be obtained from an appreciation of the condi-
tions which existed under Frontenac — his opposition to and by
the latter order, and his partiality for and by the former.

Copies have been priced and sold as follows : Field sale
{1875), no. 1306, $5 ; Squier sale (1876), no. 653. $11.50 ; priced by
Leclerc (1878), no. 746 at 140 francs ; Brinley sale (1879), no. 102,
$21 ; Pinart sale (1883), no. 539, 42 francs ; Murphy sale (1884),
no. 600*, $5.75 ; priced by Dufosse of Paris (1887), 90 francs,
and Barlow sale (1890), no. 1436, $27.50. There are copies in
Lenox Library Building, New York ; Boston Athenaeum ; Library
of Congress, (U. S.) ; Brown (private), Providence, R. I. ; British
Mnseum ; and Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. V. H. P.

LE TAC (Le Pere SIXTE) R<bcollet.

Histoire chronologique de la Nouvelle France ou
Canada depuis sa D6converte (mil cinq cents quarte)
jusques en Tan mil six cents trente deux. Publie'e pour
la premiere fois d'apres le manuscrit original de 1689
et accompagne'e de Notes et d'un Appendice tout coe-
pose" de Documents originaux et ine"dits, par Eug.
R^veillaud. Paris, 1888, 12° pp. (6), ix, 265.

.£** Only 300 copies of the volume were issued. It contains a
good deal relative to Acadia. The appendix (pp. 173 — 262) pub-
lishes for the first time a quantity of important papers of the B^col-
l£ts, from the " Archives de la Prefecture de Versailles."

V. H. P.

It may be an indication of the value people place
on their copies of this Magazine that only one or two
copies of the July number have been received in
response to the request made last month. The offer of
fifteen cents for each of such copies is now repeated,
or the full set of six copies up to date will be purchased
for sixty cents a set. Here is a chance for any who do
not intend to preserve the Magazine to get their money
back, so that their reading for the last six months will
cost them onlv fifteen cents.

The following- index does not profess to be com-
plete, but merely to aid in a reference to some of the more
prominent topics treated in the volume. So many
names of persons occur, for instance, that it would be
a great task to attempt to give them here, and with
some of these only the general reference to the head-
ings of the papers in which they chiefly occur is made
to suffice.

Aboideau, Meaning of the word,

225, 226, 284, 340.
Acadian Families, 121, 177, 2^6,

360.

Allen, Sir John C., 233.
Ashburton Treaty, 297 et seq.

Babcock Tragedy, The, 214.
Bayard, 148.
Beavers, Trade in, 18.
Bibliography, Provincial, 61,

114, 174, 292, 389.
Birth, First at St. John, 12.
Blodget (See Portland Point.)
Bluenose, Origin of the word,

381-

Book Notices, no, 170.
Booth in St John, 173.
Boundary Dispute, 297 et seq.
Bridge, Fall of St. John, 323.
Brook Watson, 96, 285.
Burglar, The Queer, 236.
Burial Ground, Old, 64.

Census of 1775, 324.
Chaffours, Sieur de, 28.
Chebacco boat, 284.
Chipman, Ward, (Portland Pt.)
Cholera of 1834, 157.
Christmas as It Was, 351.
Chronology, Provincial, 226, 286.

38'-

Cleeve, Lieut. W. R., 285.
Coal Mines, Grand Lake, 328.
Collins, Dr. J. P., 208, et seq.

Colonial Tracts, 46, 166.
Con way, Township of, (Port-
land Point.)

Cross, Ensign. 283, 362.
Currency, Old Time, 17.

D'Amours, The Brothers, 25 et

seq.
Deaths, Anniversaries of, 230,

289, 384.

Earthquake at St. John, 330.
Eddy, Jonathan, 275.
"England," Wreck of the, 329.

Famine, The Irish, 203 et seq-
Ferry, Boat, St. John, 48.
Fever, Year of the, 203.
Fire Department, St. John, 40,

103, 162.

Fire, A Shipyard, 158.
Fisheries, Early, (Portland Pt.)
Fish Market, St. John, 52.
Flint locks, 64.
Fog Whistle, the First, 253.
Foulis, Robert, 247, et seq.
Foundry, First in N. B., 249.
Fredericton, Massacre at, 9.
Freneuse, Madame, 37 et seq.
Free Grants, (Portland Point.)
Furs, Trade in, 18.

Garrison, Wm. Lloyd, 328.
Gas, St. John and Halifax, 61.
Glazier, (Portland Point and
Kemble Manor.)

GENERAL INDEX.

Grand Lake Mines, 328.
Great Gale in St. John, 330.
Gyles, John, 31, 34.

Halifax Mystery, 362.
Haning-ton, William, 215, etseq.
Harding', Dr. W. S., 208 et seq ,

281.
Hazen, (Portland Point.)

Immigrants, Irish, 206 et seq.
Indians, 41, and in Portland Pt.
Intercolonial Railway, 103.

Jadis, Capt. 275.
Jarvis, (Portland Point.)
Joibert, Pierre de, 27.
Jones, 328.

Judith, Origin of Name of Point,
193.

Kemble, 146, et seq.

LaTour, Site of Fort, 20, 89, 165.
Leavitt, (Portland Point.)
Lunatic Asylum, St. John, 52,
286.

Magag-uadavic, Road to, 52.
Magazines, Early N. B., 79.
Malagash, 173.
Maliseets, Origin of, 41.
Marriage anniversaries, 227,

287, 382.

McCurdy, Capt., 9.
Mechanics' Institute, St. John,

52-

Melanson, 360.

Methodist Church, Germain
street, St. John, 48.

Mice, Year of the, 116.

Mills, Grist and Lumber, (Port-
land Point.)

Miramichi, Ship Fever at, 213.

Monkton, Sunbury Co., 71.

Mystery, A Halifax, 362.

Nevers, (Portland Point.)

Old Burial Ground, St. John,
64, 285.

Owens, John, 159 et seq.

Partridg-e Island, 145, 207, et

seq., 253.

Peabody, (Portland Point.)
Perley, (Portland Point.)
Phippen, 193.
Portland Point, 5, 65, 132, 186,

263, 316.
Pote, Wm. Jr., 73, 294.

Quit Rents, (Portland Point and

Kemble Manor.)
Queensbury, Parish, 173*

Railways, 103, 226.
Red Head, St John, 67.
Regiment, The iO4th, 305.
Relig-ious Services, Early, 78.
"Royal Tar," Loss of the, 81
et seq., 168.

Ste. Anne's Point, (Portland
Point.) i&i

Shea, Edward, 283, 362, et seq.
Ship Fever, 202 et seq., 281.
Simonds, (Portland Point.)
Soldiers, Story of Two, 49.
Soup Kitchen, 103.
Souris, Name of, 116.
Sproule, 154.

Telegraph, Electric, 103, 370.
Thistlethwayte, Lieut. 163.
Thomson, Georg-e, 158.
Three Lamps, St. John, 118.
Townships, Old, (Portland Pt.)
Trading-, Eariy, ( PortlandtPt. )
Troops, New Brunswick, 305.

Villebon, 30.
Vessels, Early, 69.

Wages, Early, 144.
Watson, Brook, 96 et seq., 285..
White (Portland Point.)
Woodman, (Portland Point.)

Year ot the Fever, 203.
Year of the Mice, 116.

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F The New Brunswick magazine

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