“Mr. J. L. Black spoke of his first visit to the old house. When not more than fourteen years old, he had been put on a horse and sent to the mill with a bag of wheat. On telling who he was he was sent to the house and fed with gingerbread and his pockets filled with cake. Mr. Black paid a high tribute to the sterling character of the men of the old days, but was of the opinion that the men of these days scarcely were their equals.
“Dr. Ganong, Mr. Milner and Mr. George not responding. Dr. Brecken was called upon. He claimed Yorkshire descent and supposed the stubbornness his wife complained of was due to the Yorkshire blood in him. He sometimes wondered, as Mr. Black had done, whether the race was not degenerating. He certainly could not stand as much exertion as his father could. The style of oratory was also very different from what it used to be. We have few of the finely finished speeches that characterized the old days.
“Dr. Allison said: ‘All the speakers claimed some connection with the Truemans or Yorkshire, but he had not a drop of English blood in his veins, using English in its narrower sense. None, however, had a keener appreciation of the Yorkshire element than himself. Charles Allison, the founder of the Institutions, the one who had done more than any other to make the name of Allison to be remembered, chose for his partner in life a member of the Trueman family. Mankind was not degenerating. Wonderful things have been accomplished since this country was first settled. Divine providence has not constructed the railway and telegraph, but man. Dr. Brecken was just as good a man as his father, and a much greater orator than the men of those days. The men of the past suited the past, but a different type is required to-day.
“The chairman then announced that lunch would be served, and the other speakers would say a few words later in the afternoon.
“After lunch Judge Trueman, of Albert, took the platform. He said it gave him much pleasure to be at the picnic, not only to meet so many friends, but to see the old place where he was born and spent his youth. He knew every knoll and hollow of the old farm. He thought everyone who had the Trueman blood in him ought to feel on excellent terms with himself after hearing so many nice things said about the family.
“Prof. Andrews, who followed, agreed with Dr. Allison in thinking the race was not degenerating, and claimed if the people to-day would spend as much time out of doors as did their fathers, they would be even stronger. He gave some proofs that actually the race is improving physically. In the old times the weakest all died off, and only the tough old nuts remained. He told some remarkable stories of what he had undergone when a young man, that he claimed to be saving for his grandchildren. It gave him much pleasure to attend this celebration which would pass into history.
“Rev. Mr. Batty, of Amherst, was introduced by the chairman as a true bred, native-born Yorkshireman. Mr. Batty said, judging from the number around him, if all the Yorkshiremen had prospered as the Truemans there would be a new Yorkshire more prosperous than the old. He had not realized what kind of a picnic this was until he saw the lines of carriages driving through Amherst. On inquiring he found it was the gathering of the clans at Prospect. He considered these historic gatherings most important in the development of a country. He then gave a most interesting account of Yorkshire and Yorkshire Methodism. He had never seen a wooden house until he came to this country, and it stirred old memories to stand again under the shadow of a brick house that reminded him strongly of his grandfather’s house in Yorkshire. If people here want to see Englishmen come to Canada they must do away with snake fences, sulphur matches, and bad roads. Agriculture is done for in England, and the fathers realize that their sons must come to Canada. No Westmoreland man would complain if he knew how well off he was.
“In closing he thanked all for their attention, Mr. Trueman for his invitation, and said he was going to write a full account of the gathering for the Yorkshire papers and send it at once.
“Votes of thanks were presented to Mr. and Mrs. Trueman, the host and hostess, and to Dr. Chapman, the chairman, after which all joined in the National Anthem.”
The Chignecto POST had the following description of the gathering:
“The oldest house now being occupied in this part of the Province is in Point de Bute, about seven miles from Sackville. It was built in 1799, so that the structure is a hundred years old. In a granite slab over the front entrance is the following: “June 14, 1799.” The main house is of brick and is a good solid looking structure yet. It has stood well the blasts of a hundred winters, and judging from its present appearance it will be able to stand many more.
“Some time ago the relatives and friends of Mr. Trueman urged him to celebrate the 100th birthday of his house. Circumstances prevented him from holding the celebration on June 14th, but on July 14th, last Friday, the event was celebrated in a manner that the two hundred people who were present will not soon forget.
“It was Mr. Trueman’s intention that his guests should make a day of it, but unfortunately Friday forenoon was foggy and wet, and this no doubt prevented a large number from being present. However, the rain did not interfere with the plans of some of the friends, for early in the forenoon they began to arrive from a distance, and they continued to arrive, although the rain came down in torrents. But shortly after noon the cheerful face of Old Sol peered forth from behind a fog bank. The clouds were soon dissipated, nature dried her tears, and everybody was glad. A merrier throng it would have been hard to find than the one now gathered around the old brick house, everyone intent upon doing his or her best to celebrate the anniversary.
“There were people present from St. John, from Moncton, from Albert Co., from Bay Verte, from Amherst, from Nappan, from Sackville, and from all the surrounding country. There was the grandfather and grandmother, whose silvery hair and bent form contrasted strongly with sprightliness of the young toddlers who were very much in evidence. But a smile was on every face and nobody was made to feel that he was a stranger. From the top of the highest tree floated the Canadian ensign, while nearer the house the ancient folds of the Union Jack were spread to the breeze.
“The old house was thrown open to all, and many persons had the pleasure of seating themselves in the chair which was brought to this country by the first of the name who touched upon its shores. This article of furniture, together with a grandfather’s clock, are the property of Mr. Trueman, and, needless to say, are very highly prized by him. They are remarkably well preserved, and the clock still keeps excellent time.
“On the grounds, quite near the house, a platform had been improvised, and during the afternoon short addresses were made by Howard Trueman, Jos. L. Black, Judge Trueman, of Albert Co., Rev. Mr. Batty, of Amherst, Prof. Andrews, Dr. Brecken, Dr. Allison and others.
“Tea was served on the grounds in true Bohemian style, but everybody enjoyed it. The evening passed very pleasantly with vocal, instrumental music, etc. It was a fitting celebration, and one which both old and young will no doubt often be pleased to look back upon. Mr. and Mrs. Trueman and the members of their family dispensed the kindest hospitality and did everything possible to make the event what it was, a grand success.”
The names of the children and grandchildren of William Trueman and Elizabeth Keillor, with other records of the families:
HARMON TRUEMAN, born Sept. 27, 1778 Married CYNTHIA BEST, born Sept. 7, 1787 Jan. 8, 1807.
THEIR CHILDREN.
NAME BORN M. TO WHOM MARRIED CHILD.
Stephen B. Feb. 17, 1808 1836 Eliza Wells 7 Amy E. April 17, 1810 1837 John W. McLeod 1 Sarah Aug. 27, 1812 1835 Rev. A. W. McLeod 6 Martin Oct. 30, 1814 1843 Bethia Purdy 5 Louisa C. Aug. 30, 1817 1841 Mariner Wood 2 Silas W. May 27, 1820 Did not marry Eunice Dec. 18, 1822 1872 Thomas Moore 0 R. Alder Aug. 22, 1825 1854 Mary Jewett 2 N. Amelia Sept. 28, 1828 1857 Rufus Black 5
WILLAM TRUEMAN, born Nov. 22, 1780 Married JANE RIPLEY, born April 25, 1788 Jan. 22, 1806.
THEIR CHILDREN.
NAME BORN M. TO WHOM MARRIED Child.
William Jan. 9, 1807 1831 Esther Ripley 9 Mary Ann Sept. 25, 1809 1834 Francis Smith 6 Jane D. Dec. 20, 1811 1834 Robert Fawcett 7 Alice Jan. 2, 1814 1835 Hugh Gallagher 10 Henry R. Dec. 17, 1815 1844 Jane Weldon 2 Joseph Mar. 24, 1818 1843 Janet S. Scott 8 Benjamin Aug. 25, 1822 1848 Elizabeth Weldon 2 Isaac Jan. 18, 1825 1849 Mary Black 4 Rebecca July 12, 1827 1855 Robert Scott 6 Sara Elizabeth Sept. 26, 1829 John Charters 4 Christianna Nov. 30, 1832 1856 James Scott 4
JOHN TRUEMAN, born Jan. 2, 1784 Married NANCY PALMER, 1806.
THEIR CHILDREN.
NAME BORN. M. TO WHOM MARRIED. CHILD.
Catherine P. April 30, 1807 John S. Coy 4 Gideon P. Aug. 24, 1811 Mary Harrison Elizabeth L. Sept. 8, 1813 Died young Thompson Feb. 15, 1816 Rebecca Wood 4 Milcah June 23, 1818 Chas. F. Alison 1 Marcus May 10, 1821 Rebecca Reynolds 2 Jane Evans 2
George A. Sept. 26, 1823 Sarah Ann Black 2 Margaret C. Mar. 2, 1826 Did not marry Annie J. Mar. 30, 1829 Samuel Sharp Sarah B. Sept. 6, 1832 Robt. A. Strong 7
THOMAS TRUEMAN, born April 16, 1786 Married POLICENE CORE, born July 10, 1788 July 11, 1805.
THEIR CHILDREN.
NAME BORN. M. TO WHOM MARRIED. CHILD.
Elizabeth E. Feb. 22, 1807 1825 Thomas Carter 4 Able G. Mar. 18, 1809 Died young William L. Feb. 9, 1811 Olivia Embree 4 Caroline Sharpe
Thomas F. Feb. 9, 1811 1835 Harriet Prince 4 Harmon Henry July 21, 1813 1837 Jane Chapman 6 Lucy A. Dec. 19, 1815 1835 Joseph Carter 4 John Starr Oct. 2, 1816 Died young Mary J. Dec. 15, 1818 1841 William Dixon 0 Rufus F. Feb. 2, 1821 1846 Eliza Trenholm 2 Francis Smith 3
Edward S. Feb. 11, 1823 1847 Sara L. Ann Bent 5 Frances B. May 6, 1825 1849 Samuel Sharp 6 Pamelia C. May 31, 1827 1851 William Smith 4 Charles E. Apr. 24, 1829 1853 Pamelia Smith Susan Bowser 4
GILBERT LAWRENCE, born Oct.27, 1785 Married SARAH TRUEMEN, born Mar. 16, 1784 April 14, 1808.
THEIR CHILDREN.
NAME BORN. M. TO WHOM MARRIED. CHILD.
David Feb. 11, 1809 1836 Mary Fullerton 7 William T. May 9, 1811 Died young Sarah Apr. 13, 1813 1833 Daniel Pugsley 6 Mary F. Oct. 1, 1815 1833 Joseph Coates 10 Amos F. Apr. 3, 1818 1841 Annie Fullerton 9 Jane July 14, 1820 1841 James Fullerton 3 Charles W. Nov. 19, 1822 1846 Mary Fullerton 1 1872 Amelia Donkin
Eunice M. Feb. 27, 1825 1847 Jesse Fullerton 7 Thomas J. Apr. 6, 1828 Did not marry Caroline A. June 2, 1830 1851 Douglas R. Pugsley 2 Cecelia R. Apr. 4, 1833 1856 David P. Fullerton 6
AMOS TRUEMAN, born May 23, 1791 Married SUSANNA RIPLEY, born Feb. 20, 1799 October 2, 1817
THEIR CHILDREN.
NAME BORN. M. TO WHOM MARRIED CHILD.
Ann July 2, 1818 1850 Robert J. Mitchell 5 John Oct. 2, 1819 1840 Jane Finlay 6 Mary Aug. 20, 1821
Henry Sept. 10, 1824 1851 Sophia Finlay 7 Elizabeth Dec. 24, 1826 1851 Thomas Mitchell 9 Jane Mar. 10, 1829 Did not marry Ruth Sept. 9, 1831 1856 Embree Wood 8 Rebecca Apr. 21, 1834 1852 William Mitchell 4 Susanna Nov. 18, 1836 1863 Joseph Doyle 5 Sarah July 8, 1840 1865 David Patterson 6
ROBERT TRUEMAN, born July 15, 1794 Married EUNICE BENT, born Feb. 15, 1796 January 8, 1817.
THEIR CHILDREN.
NAME BORN M. TO WHOM MARRIED CHILD.
James Oct. 29, 1817 1844 Jane Black 2 Seraphina A. Apr. 28, 1819 1840 J. W. McLeod 6 Calvin G. Mar. 24, 1825 Did not marry
WILLIAM HUMPHREY, born Married MARY ANN TRUEMAN, born July 10, 1796 Nov. 21, 1820
THEIR CHILDREN.
NAME BORN. M. TO WHOM MARRIED. CHILD.
William Oct. 24, 1821 1863 Hattie H. Sears John A. Dec. 23, 1823 1855 Sarah Harris 4 Elizabeth May 19, 1825 1845 E. R. Bishop 5 Stephen Feb. 28, 1829 1851 Lucy Logan 6 Harmon July 12, 1831 1859 Salina Coates 4 1878 Emily Dixon 1
Jane Nov. 19, 1833 1854 Joseph L. Black 1 Christopher Apr. 15, 1837
GEORGE GLENDENNING, born May 14, 1799 Married BETTY TRUEMAN, born Aug. 11, 1798 1823
NAME BORN M. TO WHOM MARRIED CHILD.
Elizabeth S. Jan. 28, 1825 1852 Thomas Lowther 8 John Sept.22, 1827 1850 Elizabeth Black 4 Sarah Ann Sept.27, 1829 1875 David Lawrence William R. Dec. 20, 1831
Thompson Oct. 26, 1834 1864 Sarah J. Ripley 2 Mary Aug. 28, 1837 1865 J. Edward Smith
THOMPSON TRUEMAN, born 1801 Married MARY FREEZE, born 1798 1823
NAME BORN M. TO WHOM MARRIED. CHILD.
Ruth A. Jan 21, 1824 Did not marry Albert Apr. 18, 1826 Did not marry Hiram June 2, 1828 1854 Tryphena Black 6 Eliza Jan. 2, 1831 1855 William Avard 4 Margaret Nov. 11, 1835 1864 George M. Black 3 Howard Mar. 1, 1837 1863 Agnes Johnstone 1867 Mary J. Main 5
Mary A. Dec. 26, 1843 1873 William Prescott 6
It will be seen by studying this record that out of the eight-seven members of the second generation born in this country, six elected to live in single blessedness. These were Silas, Harmon’s third son; Thomas, a son of Sarah Lawrence; Margaret, a daughter of John; Jane, a daughter of Amos; and Ruth and Albert, Thompson’s two eldest born.
Silas was a man of sterling principles, generous almost to a fault, and of more than ordinary intellectual force. He was the kind of man that would have delighted the practical mind of the Apostle James. Under all circumstances his aim was to make his practice accord with his profession. His death took place at his home in Point de Bute in 1860.
Thomas Lawrence was a general favorite, and had the reputation of being better to others than to himself. Children trusted him at once. He died at his home in Nappan, N.S., in 1867.
Margaret Trueman was one of the most charitable of women, always ready with a kind word or deed whenever opportunity offered. She finished life’s journey in Mexico, in 1897.
Jane Trueman is still living.
Albert died in September, 1901, at his home, Prospect Farm. He was born in the brick house, and lived there his full life of seventy-five years and five months. He had many friends and no enemies.
Ruth lived her life of sixty-three years in the old home where she was born, and died in 1887. She was thoughtful and fond of reading, and did what she could to cultivate a taste for reading in those who came under her influence. Her religious convictions were decided, but not demonstrative. She delighted in conversation where literature and authors were the subjects. Macaulay was one of her favorite writers.
When Ruth’s brothers and sisters were young, and books were not so common as now, she very often read aloud to her mother and the family. Macauley’s Essays and History, Prescott’s works, the “Literary Garland,” and lighter works were read from time to time as circumstances or taste dictated. GLEASON’S PICTORIAL, the ANGLO-SAXON, the SCOTTISH- AMERICAN, and HARPER’S MAGAZINE were read with great interest. She was a subscriber to the CENTURY MAGAZINE at the time of her death. Some of Hannah More’s sacred dramas were frequently read on a Sabbath evening. The writer remembers well how we younger children enjoyed the moment when David,
“From his well-directed sling, quick hurled, with dexterous aim, a stone, which sank deep-lodged in the capacious forehead of the foe.”
And
“The mighty mass of man fell prone, with its own weight, his shattered bulk was bruised. Straight the youth drew from his sheath the giant’s pond’rous sword, and from the enormous trunk the gory head, furious in death, he severed.”
The language was rather beyond us, but we knew that David had killed the giant, and we did not bother about the big words. Or, when little Moses was left in the ark of bulrushes, exposed to all the dangers of the Nile swamp, how we almost trembled lest some evil should befall him before Pharaoh’s daughter could rescue him, and rejoiced to think that Miriam did her part so well as to get her mother as a nurse for the little brother. Ruth seemed to enjoy reading these dramas over and over quite as much as we enjoyed listening to them. She grew fonder of reading as she grew older, and would talk of the characters in a book as if they were as real to her as her personal friends.
Ruth was deeply interested in the confederation of the Provinces when that question was before the people. After giving the matter a good deal of thought she decided in favor of the union. In early days, because of sympathy for a friend, she had conceived a prejudice against Dr. Tupper, who began his public life in Point de Bute, and with whom she was personally acquainted. The family at Prospect were supporters of Howe and the Liberal party in Nova Scotia at this time, but Howe had turned his back on Confederation, and Dr. Tupper was the leader of the Confederate party in that Province. Ruth was exceedingly anxious that the principle of union should triumph, and it was a grief to her that Dr. Tupper should triumph with it. But she lived long enough to forgive him and to appreciate the good work Sir Charles did for Canada.
The Free School question was another problem in which she was greatly interested, and as one of her favorite cousins was in the election of 1872, in which free non-sectarian schools were on trial in New Brunswick (at least, so thought the friends of this measure), she was anxious as to the outcome of the elections, and well pleased when they resulted well for free schools.
Of the twenty members of the second generation now living, the women outnumber the men thirteen to seven. Five of the twenty are octogenarians, two–Martin Trueman, of Point de Bute, and Thompson Trueman, of Sackville–have reached the patriarchal age of eighty-seven years. The former in one particular is like the late Mr. Gladstone–he takes his recreation with the axe. He has prepared many cords of wood for the stove in the last few years.
The first Trueman family were not strong men, but they were persistent workers, and could accomplish more in a given time than men of much stronger build. The second generation were physically equal or superior to that of the first, which was rather a rare circumstance in this country. The gift of language–of talking easily and gracefully, either in private or public–was not one of their possessions. Not a man of the first generation could talk ten minutes on a public platform; and the second generation are in this particular not much of an improvement on their forbears. This, in part, no doubt, accounts for the fact that a family which turns out elders, class-leaders and circuit stewards in such numbers has not produced a minister of the Trueman name.
Agriculture was the work to which the family set their hand in the new country. The children were taught that manual labor was honorable, and that agriculture was worthy of being prosecuted by the best of men. The seven sons and three sons-in-law were all successful farmers, and heredity no doubt had its influence.
CHAPTER IX
FAMILIES CONNECTED BY MARRIAGE WITH THE SECOND GENERATION OF TRUEMANS.
WELLS
William Wells, the first of the name in Point de Bute, was one of the Yorkshire band. He was a mason by trade, and built the Methodist Chapel at Thirsk before leaving Yorkshire. He married Margaret Dobson. The Dobsons lived in Sowerby, near Thirsk, and were among the first to accept the teachings of John Wesley. Mr. Wells did not come direct to Halifax, but landed at Boston, and, after staying there some months, came to Fort Cumberland. This was in 1772. He bought property in Upper Point de Bute, very near to that of his father-in-law, George Dobson. This property is still in the name of its original owner, a rare thing in this country, as very few families hold the same property for a century and a quarter.
Mrs. Wells was the mother of thirteen children, six of whom died in early life. The remaining seven married and settled in the country. They were married as follows:–George to Elizabeth Freeman, of Amherst; William to Catherine Allan, of Cape Tormentine; Mary to George Chappel, of Bay Verte; Elizabeth to Jonas Allan, of Cape Tormentine; Margaret to S. Freeze, of Amherst Point; Jane to Bill Chappell, of Bay Verte; and Joseph to Nellie Trenholm, of Point de Bute.
William Wells was an active member of the Methodist Church. He enjoyed a special gift in prayer, and not infrequently, in the absence of the minister, read the burial service over the dead.
I find this entry in the old journal: “June 3rd, 1811–Mrs. Jane Fawcett departed this life May 31st, very suddenly; was well about ten o’clock, and died before eleven o’clock; was buried Sunday afternoon by Wm. Wells, Esq.”
The following letter, written a century ago by Mr. Wells, may have some interest for his descendants. The letter was addressed to William Trueman.
“DEAR BROTHER–Am sorry to hear of Mr. Bennet’s indisposition, but am glad his case is hopeful. I trust the Lord has more work to do for him yet. Respecting myself should be glad to come to see my dear friends, but the journey appears to be too much for me to perform, for I was exceeding bad yesterday, and altho this day I feel a little freer from pain, yet my weakness is great. If I should be better towards the latter part of the day maybe I may try to come, but I have hitherto felt worse at the latter part of the day. I pray God that our light afflictions may work out for us a far more and exceeding weight of glory.
“Yours affec.,
_W._ WELLS.
“Saturday morning,
“Nov. 13th, 1802.”
The descendants of William Wells are widely scattered over New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and a good number have emigrated to the United States. Charles H., Charles C., James, and Joseph D. Wells, great-grandsons, represent the name in Point de Bute and Jolicure. The late W. Woodbury Wells, M.P.P., and Mr. Justice Wells, of Moncton, also are members of this family, while Lieut.-Governor Snowball is a great- grandson of William Wells.
BLACK.
William Black was born in Paisley, Scotland, in 1727. When a young man he removed to Huddersfield, England, and engaged in the linen and woollen drapery business. In 1774 he prospected Nova Scotia with a view to settlement, and purchased a large block of land near the present town of Amherst. The next year he brought his family, consisting of wife, four sons and a daughter, to Nova Scotia, and settled on his new farm.
William Black was twice married, and lived to the great age of ninety- three years. He spent the last years of his life in Dorchester, where he left a large family by his second wife. He was the father of William Black, who has been designated the “Father of Methodism” in the Lower Provinces.
The Blacks have proved good citizens, and have contributed their full share to the development of the country.
PURDY
The Purdys were Loyalists from New York State. Three brothers came to this country–Henry, Gabriel, and Gilbert. Jacob, the fourth, remained in New York.
Henry Purdy settled in Fort Lawrence, Gabriel in Westchester, and Gilbert in Malagash. Mrs. Martin Trueman is a grand-daughter of Gilbert. The Purdys of Cumberland are all descendants of these brothers.
The family for the last century has always been able to count an M.D. among its members, and the civil service has seldom been without a Purdy on its roll-call.
WOOD.
“The earliest record of the Wood family is the marriage of Thomas Wood and Ann Hunt, May, 1654, at Rowley, Mass. Their son John, born in 1656, married, in 1680, Isabel, daughter of Edward Hazen, presumably a forbear of the St. John Hazens. Issue of this union was a large family, of whom, Josiah, born April, 1708, was the twelfth child. He married Eleanor ——, and their son, Josiah, born March, 1740, was married in 1767 to Ruth Thompson. Their son Josiah, born 1776, after coming to New Brunswick, married Sarah Ayre, daughter of Mariner and Amy Ayre. Their two children, Mariner and Ann, were the father and aunt of the present Josiah Wood.
“Mr. Wood has a number of interesting documents of ancient date, among them two grants of land from the King to Robert Thompson, the great- great-grandfather of Senator Wood. The earliest, dated 1759 (in the reign of George II), was for 750 acres, one and a half shares of the original grant of the township of Cornwallis. The later document attests that in 1763 Robert Thompson was granted 500 acres more, individually by George III.
“Mr. Thompson does not appear to have gone into possession, and some forty years later his widowed daughter, ambitious for the welfare of her fatherless family, set out from Lebanon, Conn., with her son Josiah to find this lost heritage.
“They appear to have come to Dorchester, N.B., by a schooner commanded by one ‘Lige Ayre, so called. Why they should have gone first to Westmoreland’s shire town, instead of direct to the Eldorado of their dreams is one of the unknowable things, but presumably the exigencies of travel in those days had something to do with it. Both passengers and mail matter went by dead reckoning, so to speak, and could seldom get direct conveyance to their destination.
“In the yellowed leaves of a century old diary, penned by the hand of Senator Wood’s grandfather, and also from letters, we find quaint comments and an interesting insight into the lives of the early settlers.
“The journal was begun in October, 1800, when Josiah Wood was twenty- four years old. He and his mother, after visiting in Canard, appear to have made their home for the time being in Newport, N.S., where in the cloth mill of Alexander Lockhart Josiah found employment. The young man seems to have had all the business acumen and habits of industry that distinguish his posterity. When work in the mill was slack he taught school, beginning with four scholars. Evening amusements consisted of husking parties, etc., where Mr. Wood contributed to the festivities by flute playing and songs. His idea of a vacation was taking a load of cabbages to sell in Windsor, where his sole extravagance was buying a bandana handkerchief.
“Mrs. Wood filled in her time, though hardly profitably, by having smallpox. This dread disease did not seem to cause any dismay in those days. The neighbors came and went with kindly ministrations to the sick woman, and the son pursued his work in the mill, quite unconscious that according to modern science he was weaving the death-producing microbe into every yard of cloth.
“In February, 1801, Mrs. Wood and Josiah went to Halifax, where they put up the sign ‘The Bunch of Grapes.’ The diary speaks of their visiting ‘Mr. Robie, Mr. Blowers, the Chief Justice and the governor,’ with regard to their land, but to no purpose, their claim being considered invalid.
“In the fall of the same year they returned to Dorchester, where Josiah not long after married Miss Ayre. He died in his early thirties, leaving two young children, Mariner and Ann. The widow married Philip Palmer and afterwards went to live in Sackville, N.B. They had eight children, Martin, who settled in Hopewell Cape; Dr. Rufus Palmer, of Albert; Stephen Palmer, of Dorchester; Charles Jabez, and the Misses Palmer, of Sackville, and Judge Palmer, of St. John.
“Miss Ann Wood went to live with her grandmother at Fort Lawrence, while Mariner continued with his stepfather, commencing business in a small way on his own account at an early age. He purchased in course of time the property adjoining Mr. Palmer’s, in Sackville, where he built a store and dwelling which is known as “The Farm,” and continued his ever growing business at the same stand till his death, in 1875. In 1871 the firm assumed its present name of M. Wood & Sons.
“During his genealogical research Senator Wood has found relatives whom his branch of the family had lost sight of for a century. The Senator’s grandfather had a brother, Charles Thompson Wood, born at Lebanon, Conn., October, 1779. He married Elizabeth Tracy, and pursued the trade of hatter in Norwich, Conn. He died in 1807, leaving two children, Charles Joseph and Rachel Tracey, both of whom married and in 1830 moved to Kinsman, Ohio.
“The children of this Charles J. Wood are living at Kinsman, and Senator Wood visited his long lost relatives this autumn. The pleasure was mutual, and while the Senator would tell of many years’ patient seeking for his father’s kindred, they related the story which had been told them by their father of his uncle, who had gone to the wilds of Canada and never been heard of more.”–MISS COGSWELL IN ST. JOHN DAILY SUN.
McLEOD.
Alexander McLeod was born on board ship in Dublin harbor, the 11th December, 1773. His father belonged to the 42nd highlanders, a regiment then on its way to augment the British force in America. This regiment was on active service during the American Revolutionary war, and at its close was disbanded and grants of land in the Maritime Provinces distributed among its members. The greater number of these grants were on the Nashwaak River, in New Brunswick. Alexander McQueen, an officer in the same regiment, grandfather of Alexander McQueen, of Shediac, and great-grandfather of Sheriff McQueen, of Westmoreland, settled in Pictou County, N.S.
Mr. McLeod settled on the Nashwaak, and lived there the remainder of his life. Alexander, his son, went to Sheffield in 1796, and began a mercantile business. He married Elizabeth Barker, of that place. In 1806 he removed to the city of St. John, where for some years he conducted business on a scale large for the times, and was very successful. He was a Methodist local preacher, and in 1829 started a literary and religious journal, which enjoyed, like most of its successors in that city, but a brief existence. Mr. McLeod’s family numbered six–Roderick, the youngest, died in infancy; Annie, the eldest, was a teacher and never married; Sarah married James Robertson; Margaret married Rev. Albert Desbrisay, who was for some years chaplain of the old Sackville Academy; Wesley was twice married, first in 1836, to Amy Trueman, who died, leaving one daughter; and again, in 1840, to Seraphina Trueman.
Wesley McLeod was a persistent reader, a good conversationalist, and a most interesting man to meet. He was a bank accountant, and the last forty years of his life were spent in the United States. His home was in Newark, N.J., where his widow and three daughters still live. Mr. McLeod never lost his love for the old flag for which his grandfather fought, and although so many years of his life were spent in the United States, where he always took a great interest in all public questions, he never became a naturalized citizen of the Republic. He lived to be eighty-five years of age. Robert Trueman McLeod, of Dunvegan, Point de Bute, is a son of Wesley McLeod.
Alexander first married Sarah Trueman, of Point de Bute, by whom he had five children. His second wife was Georgina Hultz, of Baltimore, U.S.
Robert, the youngest son of the first family, was in the Confederate Army in 1860, and lost an arm at Fort Sumter. He afterwards graduated with honors from Harvard and died in Europe while travelling for the benefit of his health.
Alexander McLeod was a Methodist preacher, and a Doctor of Divinity when that title was not so common as it is now. He was one of the editors of the PROVINCIAL WESLEYAN. Like his brother Wesley, the last years of his life were spent in the United States, where both he and his wife were engaged in literary work.
The following extract is taken from a letter written by a member of the McLeod family in reply to one asking for information:
“Your letter was received a couple of days ago and I would gladly send you all the information we have, but the most of it is so vague that it is quite unsatisfactory for your purpose. Of course we all know very positively that the McLeods sprang from the best and most honorable clan of old Scotland. We have improved some in manners, for we no longer drive our foes into caves, and smoke them to death. (We only wish we could.) We no longer brag that we were not beholden to Noah, but had boats of our own–that would relate us too nearly to Lillith– but still we are proud of our ancestors.”
AVARD.
Joseph Avard was born in the town of St. Austle, Cornwall, England, in 1761. At twelve years of age he was apprenticed to a clockmaker, with whom he remained eight years. He married Frances Ivey, in 1782. Mr. Avard was appointed a class-leader, and for seven years never failed to be present at the regular meeting of its members. He was intimately acquainted with Mr. Wesley, and attended his funeral, at which there was said to be thirty thousand people present. He also heard Charles Wesley preach his last sermon.
In 1789 Mr. Avard was one of nine charter members of the Strangers’ Friend Society, organized by Dr. Adam Clark. The object of the Society was the relief of distressed families in the town of Bristol where Mr. Avard lived. He was made a local preacher in 1790. For a short time he lived in London, and a daughter was buried in the City Road burying- ground. In 1806 Mr. Avard emigrated to Prince Edward Island, landing at Charlottetown on May 15th, where he remained until 1813. In the fall of that year he left Charlottetown, with the intention of going to Windsor, N.S., but on reaching Bay Verte he decided to stay the winter in New Brunswick. A part of the time was spent in Fort Lawrence, and in the spring he removed to Sackville, where he made his home until near the close of life. He died at his son’s home, in Jolicure, in his eighty-seventh year.
Of the three children that came with Joseph Avard to America, Elizabeth married John Boyer, of Charlottetown; Adam Clark entered the ministry, and died in Fredericton, in 1821; Joseph was educated in Bristol, England, and soon after his arrival in America found his way to Chignecto and taught school several years in Point de Bute. In 1813 he married Margaret Wells, daughter of William Wells, of Point de Bute. They had a family of seven sons and four daughters, four of whom are still living-John, William and Charles, of Shemogue, N.B., and Mrs. McQueen, of Point de Bute. William married Eliza Trueman.
Joseph Avard, jun., was man of strong character, and when he set his will to do a piece of work he was generally successful. He settled first in Jolicure, where he conducted a farming and mercantile business. He subsequently bought a large tract of land in Shemogue, N.B., and for many years he was farmer, ship-builder and merchant in that locality, where he spent the last thirty years of his life.
In 1838, while on a business trip to River Philip, Mr. Avard was greatly shocked, as were the public in general, with the report that an entire family had been murdered in the vicinity, and that the man, Maurice Doyle, who was suspected of the crime, had escaped and was on his way to the United States, his aim being to get to St. John and take shipping there. As Doyle was known to be a desperate character, no one seemed willing “to run him down.” As soon as Mr. Avard knew the state of affairs he at once volunteered to undertake the work. In the meantime Doyle had got a good start. At Amherst Head he hired a farmer, George Glendenning, to take him to the Four Corners, Sackville. Mrs. Glendenning was suspicious of the man, and advised her husband to have nothing to do with him, but Mr. Glendenning laughed at her fears. The dog, however, seemed to share his mistress’s suspicions, and what was very unusual, determined to see his master through with the business. In spite of every effort the dog could not be turned back from following the chaise. Afterward, when Mr. Glendenning learned the character of the man, he believed the dog had saved his life, for in crossing the Sackville marsh, several miles from any house, Doyle asked him if the dog would protect him if he were attacked.
Mr. Avard always drove a good horse, and by changing horses and driving night and day he overtook and captured the fugitive at Sussex. At one place in the chase he prevented the man from getting on board the stage, but could not arrest him. When he finally apprehended the fugitive, he brought him back in his chaise and delivered him to the authorities in Amherst, where he subsequently paid the penalty of his crime on the scaffold. The documents following, as will be seen, refer to this piece of early history:
“PROVINCIAL SECRETARY’S OFFICE,
“HALIFAX, 10TH JULY, 1838.
“SIR,–It appearing by the report of the Local Authorities at Amherst that the prompt arrest of the supposed perpetrator of the atrocious murders recently committed in the County of Cumberland is mainly attributable to your zealous exertions, I have it in command to request you to believe that His Excellency the Lieut.-Governor and H. M. Council highly appreciate the important services which, at much personal risk, you rendered in pursuing, for upwards of 100 miles, and apprehending the Prisoner; and it is my pleasing duty to request you to accept of the best thanks of His Excellency and the Council for your admirable conduct on that occasion. I have the honor to be
“Sir,
“Your most obedient
“Humble Servant,
“RUPERT D. GEORGE.
“JOSEPH AVARD, Esq., J.P.,
“Westmoreland.”
Mr. Avard’s reply.
“WESTMORELAND CO., WESTMORELAND,
“N.B., July 18th, 1838.
“SIR,–I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 10th instant conveying to me in a most gratifying manner the approbation of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor and Her Majesty’s Council of my conduct in pursuing and apprehending Doyle, the supposed perpetrator of the murder in the County of Cumberland, and beg leave through you to acquaint His Excellency and Her Majesty’s Council that were it possible for me to possess any stronger sense of my duty (as a magistrate) to Her Majesty and the Government than I formerly felt, I must do so from the very handsome manner in which they have been pleased to appreciate and acknowledge my services on that occasion.
“I have the honor to be
“Your obedient
“Humble Servant,
“JOSEPH AVARD.
“THE HONORABLE
“RUPERT D. GEORGE,
“Provincial Secretary,
Halifax, N.S.”
DIXON.
Charles Dixon was one of the first of the Yorkshire settlers to arrive in Nova Scotia. He sailed from Liverpool on the 16th March, on board the DUKE OF YORK, and after a voyage of six weeks and four days arrived safely at the port of Halifax. Mr. Dixon says of himself: “I, Charles Dixon, was born March 8th, old style, in the year 1730, at Kirleavington, near Yarm, in the east riding of Yorkshire, in Old England. I was brought up to the bricklayer’s trade with my father until I was about nineteen years of age, and followed that calling till the twenty-ninth year of my age. I then engaged in a paper manufactory at Hutton Rudby, and followed that business for the space of about twelve years with success. At the age of thirty-one I married Susanna Coates, by whom have had one son and four daughters.” Three more children were added to Mr. Dixon’s family, and in 1891 his descendants in America numbered 2,807, of whom 2,067 were living and 740 had died.
Charles Dixon settled in Sackville, N.B., and very soon became one of the leading men in that community. He was a zealous Methodist; his biographer says: “His house was a home for the early Methodist preachers, to whom he always gave a warm and hearty welcome.” Mr. Dixon was one of the members who took an active part in the erection of the first Methodist church in Sackville, while he and his neighbor, William Cornforth, whose land adjoined, jointly set apart about four acres of land for a Methodist parsonage. One of the latest of his efforts at writing contained instructions to his executors to sell certain articles of his personal property to assist in furnishing the Methodist parsonage.
There are not many of the Dixon name now living in Sackville. The boys of the families have had a tendency to seek wider fields for the exercise of their energies. The late James Dixon, of Sackville, the historian of the family, was a man of strong character and more than ordinary ability.
William Coates Dixon married Mary J. Trueman in 1841, and resided in Sackville until the death of Mrs. Dixon, which took place in 1844. Subsequently he married Harriet E. Arnold and settled on a farm at Maidstone, Essex County, Ontario. James Dixon, in his “History of the Dixons,” published in 1892, says of William Dixon: “He is still active and vigorous, capable of much physical exertion, and has an excellent memory, is a diligent reader, with a decided preference for poetical works, and employs some of his leisure hours in writing poetic effusions, a talent which only developed itself when its possessor had nearly reached his three score years and ten.” We have not heard that Mr. Dixon has lost any of his vigor since the above was written, and understand he expects to round out the hundred.
PRESCOTT.
The Prescotts were originally from Lancashire, and descended from Sir James Prescott, of Derby, in Lincolnshire. John and his wife, Mary, came from England to Boston in the year 1640. Jonathan Prescott, their great-grandson, was a surgeon and captain of engineers at the siege of Louisbourg, in 1745. After the fall of Louisbourg he retired from the army and settled in Nova Scotia. He did a mercantile business in Halifax, and owned property in Chester and Lunenburg, where he built mills. “The Indians twice burnt his house in Lunenburg County.’ Mr. Prescott died in Chester, in 1806, and his widow in Halifax, in 1810. His son, Hon. Charles Ramage Prescott, was a prominent merchant of Halifax, but on account of failing health and to get rid of the fog moved to King’s County, N.S. He lived for years at Town Plot, where his beautiful place, called “Acadia Villa,” was situated. He was twice married. His first wife was Hannah Widden. The late Charles T. Prescott, of Bay Verte, was his youngest son by his second wife, Maria Hammill. Mr. Charles Prescott married Matilda E. Madden, April 30. William, Robert and Joseph, of Bay Verte, are sons of Charles T. Prescott. William married Mary Trueman, of Point de Bute.
PRINCE*
[FOOTNOTE: *Rev. John Prince was a respected minister of the Methodist Church. He joined the Church in Point de Bute and commenced his ministry there. END OF FOOTNOTE]
“Moncton, March 9th, 1899.
“Dear Mr. Trueman:
“I have just received your card requesting information respecting my family. In answer I may say that my late father was a native of North Yarmouth, near the city of Portland, United States. He emigrated to this country in the year 1813, located in Moncton, and was engaged in mercantile pursuits until the time of his death in 1851, paying one hundred cents on the dollar. After taking the oath of allegiance he was appointed a magistrate, the duties of which he discharged with great fidelity until the time of his removal from earth.
“My father was a sincere Christian and a deacon in the Baptist Church, and died much lamented. His family consisted of twelve children, six sons and six daughters. May, the eldest, married a Mr. Gallagher and had several children, most of whom are dead. Emily, second daughter, married Mr. John Newcomb, father of the distinguished astronomer, Prof. Newcomb, of world-wide reputation. Joseph married Miss Harris. Harriet married Mr. Thos. Trueman. William has been an accountant in the railway offices of this city. John’s wife was Miss Embree, of Amherst, and his second wife is Mrs. Cynthia, formerly Mrs. Mariner Wood. James resided in St. John; George and Henry, both dead. George never married; Henry resided in Truro at the time of his death and married to Miss Raine, daughter of Capt. Raine, a retired naval officer. Rebecca, Sarah and Ruth never married.
“As a family we were all as well educated as the circumstances would admit. My father’s people in the United States were nearly all Congregationalists, and my great-grandfather Prince was a minister of that body. He was pastor of a church in Newburyport, and is buried in a vault under his pulpit. A few years ago I visited that place, partly to see the church, which was built by my great-grandfather. When Sabbath morning came I went to the church; reached it just a little after the minister in charge had commenced the service. Seeing that I was a stranger, with somewhat of a clerical appearance, he came out of the pulpit to the pew where I was sitting, and said, among other things, ‘We are going to have the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper to-day, and I would be glad to have you stay and assist,’ which I did. At the close of the service I remarked to the minister that I was very much interested in being present, as I was informed that the remains of my ancestor were in the vault under the pulpit, and that I was his great- grandson. He seemed much surprised and announced the fact to the congregation, and further said that I would preach in the afternoon, which I did. He then directed the sexton to show me down into the vault. In this vault there were the remains of three ministers in their separate coffins. One was a coffin containing the remains of the immortal Whitfield. In the coffin just opposite was the remains of the Rev. Joseph Prince, and in another the remains of another former pastor of the church, Rev. Mr. Parsons. I certainly was very much impressed by my surroundings, for it was a scene the like of which I never hoped to look upon again. This vault, I was told, had been visited by thousands, who came to look upon George Whitfield’s bones, for there was nothing but bones. Whitfield died a very short distance from the church, and the window of the house where he breathed his last was pointed out to me. I remember with what strange feelings I lad my hand on the shade of my ancestor. This man had twelve sons, and there was one thing about them the pastor said he knew, and that was ‘that they were all Princes.’
“We can trace our ancestry back three hundred years, and the head of the family was Rev. John Prince, Rector of a parish in Berkshire, Eng. I have a photograph of the stone church where he ministered. His sons were Nonconformists, and John Prince, the first to come to this country, was persecuted and driven out of his country by the cruelty of Archbishop Laud..
“Yours very truly,
“JOHN PRINCE.”
CHAPMAN.
William Chapman was one of the Yorkshire emigrants that came to Nova Scotia in the spring of 1775. He brought with him his wife and family of eight children, four sons and four daughters. He purchased a large block of land near Point de Bute corner, with the marsh adjoining, and on this property at once settled.
William Chapman was one of the early Methodists, and it was in 1788, on an acre of land given by Mr. Chapman, and deeded to John Wesley, that the first Methodist church was built in Point de Bute. Later, Joseph Chapman, Esq., a grandson of William, gave an additional piece of land, and the whole at the present time comprises the cemetery at Point de Bute.
The following letter from James Chapman, in Yorkshire, to William Trueman, at Prospect, will perhaps be interesting to some of the descendants. It was written in 1789:
“Dear Friends,–What shall I say to you? How shall I be thankful enough for that I have once more heard of my dear old friends in Nova Scotia. When John Trueman let me see your letter it caused tears of gratitude to flow from my eyes, to hear that you were all alive, but much more that I had reason to believe that you were on the road to Zion, with your faces thitherward. I am also thankful that I can tell you that I and my wife and ten children are yet alive, and I hope in good health, and I hope most of us are, though no earnestly pressing, yet we are feebly creeping towards the mark for the prize of our high calling of God in Christ Jesus. My son, Thomas, now lives at Hawnby, and follows shoemaking; he is not married, nor any of my sons. I have three daughters, Ann, Mary and Hannah. Ann succeeds her uncle and aunt, for they are both dead. Mary and her husband live on a little farm at Brompton, and Hannah at Helmsley. My son James is in the Excise at London. William and John are with me at home and George has learned the business of Cabinet maker. Prudence keeps a farmer’s house in Cleaveland and Betty is at home and she is Taller than her mother. Thanks be to God both I and my wife enjoy a tolerable share of health and can both work and sleep tolerably well. ________ died about last Candlemas, which has made the society at Hawnby almost vacant for a class leader, but I go as often as I can and your friend, Benjamin Wedgewood, speaks to them when I am not there. Tho most of the old methodists at Hawnby are gone to Eternity, yet there is about thirty yet. James Hewgill is married and both him and his wife are joined in the society. There us preaching settled at Swainby and I believe a yearnest Society of aboyt Seventeen members. I often go there on Sundays to preach. There has just been a Confirence at Leeds and good old Mr. Wesley was there among them, very healthy and strong, though 86 years of age. At our Hawnby Love Feast I had Mr. Swinburn and his wife 2 nights at my house. They seem to be people who have religion truly at heart and both earnestly desired me to remember them Both to you in kind love and also to all their religious friends. I saw Nelly very lately at her house in North Allerton. She desires you all to pray for her, which she does for you all. My dear friends what Shall I say more to you, But only desire you to continue in the good ways of God, and never grow weary or faint in your minds, and then we hope to meet you in heaven. Pray give our kind loves to our old friends, your father and mother, and tell your Father when I see my Tooth drawers then I think of him, for he made them. My dear friends, farewell, our and our Family’s kind love to you and all your Family, and also all the Chapman Familys, James and Ann Chapman. Mary Flintoff and Sara Bently are Both alive and remains at their old Habitations, But Mary never goes to the meetings. Their children are all alive, But Sarah Flintoff and she died at York about three or four years Since. James Flintoft is with his unkle George Cossins at London.”
The Chapmans were very fond of military life, and in the old muster, days took an active interest in the general muster. As a consequence there was usually a colonel, a major, an adjutant or a captain in every neighborhood where the name was found.
A story is told of Captain Henry Chapman, on his way to general muster, meeting a man with a loaded team, whose hope was to get clear of mustering that day on the plea that he had not been long enough in the district. The captain ascertained the man’s views on the matter, and then with an emphasis that indicated he was in earnest, he said, “If you are not on the muster field by one o’clock I will have you fined to the full extent of the law.” One who witnessed this interview said it was laughable to see the frightened look on the man’s face, and the rush he made to unhitch the team and get away to the muster field within the time stated. This same Captain Chapman was one of the kindest of men, but duty to Queen and country must not be neglected.
There was, too, a good deal of the sporting instinct in the family. A horse race or a fox hunt appealed to something in their nature that stirred the pulse like wine and furnished material for conversation on many a day afterward.
Like a good many of the first generation born in this country, the Chapmans were men of grand physique. The five sons of Colonel Henry Chapman, of Point de Bute, each measured six feet or over, and were finely proportioned. Two of the sons, Joseph and Stephen, were among the volunteers in the war of 1812, and they both lived to pass the four-score mark.
The children of the first Wm. Chapman were: William, who married a Miss Dixon, of Sackville, and settled in Fort Lawrence on a part of the old Eddy grant; and Thomas, who married Miss Kane, formerly a school teacher, from New England. They settled beside William. John married Sarah Black, of Amherst, and settled in Dorchester. Henry married Miss Seaman, of Wallace, and remained on the farm at Point de Bute. Mary married George Taylor, Memramcook. Jane married John Smith, of Fort Lawrence, and was the mother of nine strapping boys, all of whom proved good men for the country. Sally married Richard Black, of Amherst. They settled first at River Philip, but later came back to Amherst and lived on the farm his father first purchased in Cumberland. Nancy was twice married–first to Thomas Robinson, and after his death to James Roberts. Her home was in Amherst.
James Dixon, in his “History of the Dixons,” says he thinks the descendants of William and Mary Chapman now number more than the descendants of any of the other Yorkshire families. Rev. Douglas Chapman, D.D., Rev. Eugene Chapman, Rev. Carritte Chapman, Rev. W. Y. Chapman, and Ephraim Chapman, barrister, are of this family.
The late Albert Chapman, of Boston, U.S., was very much interested in looking up family history, and spent a good deal of time in gathering information about the Chapman family. The following letters and extracts which were received by him some years before he died may add interest to this sketch:
“13 CHIPPING HOUSE ROAD,
“SHARROW, SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND,
“Jan. 15th, 1881.
“MR. CHAPMAN,
“SIR,–You will no doubt be surprised to receive a letter from an unknown relative.
“We were much pleased to learn you had made enquiries about the Chapman family after so long a silence. We often heard father speak of uncle who left Hawnby Hall for America and could not get any letter answered. Most of the Chapman family have passed away since he left. We have the four grandchildren left belonging to Thomas Chapman, brother to your grandfather. The grandfather has been dead eighty years, and our father has been dead forty-five years.
“We should be glad to see you or any of the Chapman family if you could take a tour and see the place where your ancestors lived. The house and farm are still in the family and should be glad to accommodate you if you could come over, and we shall be glad to hear all the news about the family who lived and died in America.
“With best wishes to you and your,
“I remain yours,
“MARY WALTON.”
Extract from a letter from Thos. J. Wilkinson to A. Chapman, Boston:
“YORK UNION BANK,
“THIRSK, YORKSHIRE.
“I have visited Hawnby a few times; it is most romantically situated about ten miles from Thirsk, rather difficult of access on account of the steep ascents which have to be climbed and precipitously descended before it can be reached.
“As I am acquainted with the clergyman who has been there many years, the Rev. O. A. Manners (connected with the Duke of Rutland’s family) I wrote him and received the following letter:
“April 2nd, 1880.
“DEAR SIR,
“I have examined the register and found frequent mention of the name of Chapman of Hawnby Hall, viz., ‘March 22, 1761–John, son of William Chapman, Hawnby Hall, baptized. Feb. 3, 1763–Thomas Chapman, of the Hall, died aged 75 years.’
“It would seem that the foregoing William Chapman was the son of Thomas Chapman and the man who landed in Halifax in 1775.
“About the latter date a family by the name of Barr came to reside at the Hall.
“James Cornforth of this place, who is in his 80th year, is related to this family. The said William Chapman being his great-uncle (maternal).
“The Hall is now, and has been for many years, a farm house.
“_O._ _ A._ MANNERS.”
The following names appear in the directory among the residents of Billsdale:
Joseph Chapman, Farmer
Robert Chapman, Farmer
Robert Chapman, Shoemaker
Robert Strickland Chapman, Farmer
Garbuth Chapman, Farmer, Dale Town.
CARTER.
John Carter (the first) came from Yorkshire to Nova Scotia in 1774. His wife was Jane Thompson. They settled near Fort Cumberland, and had a family of three sons, Thomas, Christopher and John. Thomas married Miss Siddall and settled first at Westcock, Sackville Parish, but afterwards moved to Dorchester. Christopher married a Miss Roberts and settled at Westmoreland Point, near his father. John married Miss Anne Lowerison and remained on the homestead. The three brothers all had large families, the boys outnumbering the girls, which is the reason, no doubt, that the Carter name is more in evidence in the district than any other Yorkshire name.
John Carter’s descendants still own the farm their great-grandfather first purchased in Nova Scotia. John Carter, sen., was drowned while fording the Missiquash River while on his way home from Amherst. His widow afterward became the second wife of William Chapman, of Point de Bute. Mr. Carter and his sons were honest men, and the name still stands well for fair dealing. Inspector Carter, of St. John, N.B.; Herbert Carter, M.D., of Port Elgin, N.B.; Titus Carter, barrister, of Fredericton, N.S., and Councillor Carter of Salisbury, N.B., are members of this family.
TRENHOLM.
There were three Trenholm brothers in the Yorkshire contingent, Matthew, Edward, and John. Matthew settled at Windsor, Edward at River Francis, in the Upper Provinces, and John at Point de Bute on the Inverma Farm. This farm was probably confiscated to the Crown after Sheriff Allan left the country.
Just where Mr. Trenholm lived before he got possession of Inverma I have no information, but as Sheriff Allan had several tenants, it is quite probable that Mr. Trenholm was one of them. John Trenholm’s wife was a Miss Coates. They had three sons–John, William, and Robert–and three daughters.
John married a Miss Foster and settled on a Brook farm at Point de Bute Corner and afterwards built a mill on the Brook. His grandson, Abijah, now owns this part of the property and turns out flour at the old stand. William married a Miss Ryan and owned a large farm in Point de Bute, on the north-west side of the ridge. Robert settled at Cape Tormentine in 1810, and the following table shows the names of his children and grandchildren:
Children. Grandchildren. Children. Grandchildren.
Stephen 11 Abner 6 John 5 Job 10
Hannah 10 Ruth 12 William 10 Thomas 10 Phoebe 11 Jane 8
Robert 10 Benjamin 9
Total 112
Hiram and Abijah and their families are now the only descendants of the name living in Point de Bute.
The Trenholms were quiet, industrious men, very neat about their work, and made successful farmers.
LOGAN.
Hugh Logan was one of the eleven hundred and seventy six settlers who, with their families, arrived at Chebucto (Halifax Harbor) on the 2nd of July, 1749. “This plan of sending out settlers to Nova Scotia was adopted by the British Government, and the lords of trade, by the King’s command, advertised in March, 1749, offering to all officers and private men discharged from the army and navy, and to artificers necessary in building and husbandry, free passages, provisions for the voyage, and subsistence for a year after landing, arms, ammunition and utensils of industry, free grants of land in the Province, and a civil government with all the privileges enjoyed in the other English colonies.”
Parliament voted L 40,000 sterling for the expense of this undertaking. Colonel the Honorable Edward Cornwallis was gazetted Governor of Nova Scotia, May 9th, 1749, and sailed for the Province in the sloop-of-war SPHINX. On the 14th, of June, just a month after leaving home, the SPHINX made the coast of Nova Scotia, but having no pilot on board, cruised off the land until the 21st June. On that day they entered Halifax Harbor.
Cornwallis writes, June 22nd: “The coasts are as rich as ever they have been represented to be. We caught fish every day since we came within forty leagues of the coast. The harbor itself is full of fish of all kinds. All the officers agree the harbor is the finest they have ever seen. The country is one continual wood, no clear spot is to be seen or heard of.”
Mr. Logan entered into the spirit of the first builders of the new Province, and did his work to the best of his ability. His son, Hugh, came to Chignecto early in the history of the country and settled at Amherst Point. Hugh Logan was the founder of the family in Cumberland and became one of the solid men of the place. He is said to have been the owner of the first two-wheeled chaise in the district. Sheriff Logan, of Amherst, and Hance Logan, M.P. for Cumberland County, N.S., are descendants of Hugh Logan.
ALLISON.
The Allisons came from the County of Londonderry, in Ireland, near the waters of Lough Foyle. Joseph Allison was born about 1720, and when he reached manhood’s estate he rented a farm owned by a London Corporation, paying yearly rates, which were collected by an agent in Ireland. On the occasion of a visit from the agent to collect the rent he was invited by Mr. Allison to dine with them. The best the house afforded was given to him as an honored guest. On that day silver spoons were used. Turning to Mr. Allison the agent said, “I see that you can afford to have silver on your table. If you can afford this you can pay more rent; your next year’s rent will be increased.” “I will pay no more rent,” said Mr. Allison, “I’ll go to America first.” The agent increased the rent the next year, and Mr. Allison sold his property and with his wife and six children, in 1769, left the home of his fathers and embarked from Londonderry for the New World. He intended to land at Philadelphia, having friends in Pennsylvania with whom he had corresponded and who had urged him to come to that State to settle. The passage was rough, and the vessel was wrecked on Sable Island, and Mr. Allison and his family were taken to Halifax, N.S.
Through the influence of the British Admiral Cochrane, then on the coast, Mr. Allison and the others that came with him were induced to settle in Nova Scotia. Mr. Allison purchased a farm in Horton, King’s County, on the border of the historic Grand Pre, where he lived until his death, in 1794. His wife was Mrs. Alice Polk, of Londonderry. She survived him for several years, and gave the historic silver spoons to her youngest child, Nancy (Mrs. Leonard), who lived to be ninety years of age. They are now in the family of her great-grandson, the late Hon. Samuel Leonard Shannon, of Halifax.
Mr. Joseph Allison was a farmer. Many of his descendants have been prominent in the political, religious and commercial life of Nova Scotia in the last hundred years. A goodly number of these have stood by the fine old occupation of their ancestor.
Charles Allison (second), who married Milcah Trueman, was the founder of Mount Allison Educational Institution, at Sackville, N.B. His biographer says of him: “The name of no member of the Allison family is so widely known throughout Eastern British America as his,” and “in him the noblest character was associated with the most unassuming demeanor.” Charles and Joseph, brothers, were the first of the name to settle in Sackville. Dr. David Allison, President of Mount Allison University, and J. F. Allison, Postmaster, represent the name now in that place. The mother of the late Hon. William Crane, of Sackville, was Rebecca Allison, daughter of the first Joseph Allison.
GALLAGHER.
The Gallaghers were a north of Ireland family. Hugh, who married Alice Trueman, was a most enterprising and capable man. He was a successful farmer and also a contractor. He built the last covered bridge over the Tantramar, a structure that was burned in the summer of 1901. He was also one of the contractors on the Eastern Extension Railway, from Moncton to the Nova Scotia border, and lost heavily by the Saxby tide. He was one of the pioneers in getting steamers to run to Sackville, before the railway was built, and part owner of the old steamer “PRINCESS ROYAL,” that ran on this route.
SMITH.
Captain Smith came from Ireland to America at the beginning of the last century. He married a Miss Shipley. He was master of a schooner that ran between St. John and the ports at the head of the Bay. On his last trip the schooner took plaster at Nappan Bridge for St. John and was lost with all on board.
Francis Smith, son of Capt. Smith, married Mary Trueman, and had a large family. Mr. Smith was an honest and most industrious man. He left a large property at Nappan, N.S., to his sons, who inherited their father’s virtues.
COATES.
Thomas Coates emigrated from Yorkshire, England, to Nova Scotia in the year, 1774, and settled at Nappan, Cumberland County. His son, Robert, by his second wife, married Jane Ripley, and inherited the homestead. This property is now owned by his grandson, Rupert Coates. Joseph Coates, a son of Robert, married Mary Lawrence. They had a family of ten children.
Mr. Coates was a successful farmer and amassed a large property. His sons, Thompson and Rupert, are at the present time prominent men and leading farmers of Nappan, N.S. Another branch of the Coates’ family removed to King’s County, N.B., and planted the name there.
FULLERTON.
James Fullerton was from the Highlands of Scotland. He came to Nova Scotia in 1790, and settled at Halfway River, Cumberland County. His wife was a Miss McIntosh. The eldest son, Alexander, was born before they left Scotland; and one son and three daughters were born in this country. Alexander had a family of three sons and five daughters. James married Jane Lawrence, and Jesse married Eunice Lawrence. The eldest daughter, Anna, married Amos Lawrence, and the youngest, Lavina, married Douglas Pugsley, of Nappan, whose first wife was Caroline Lawrence. James Fullerton (second) took an active interest in politics, and was a prominent man in the county for many years. He was one of the men that supplied the Halifax market with Cumberland beef. Although a stout man in late years, he was very active on his feet, and few men could out-walk him, even after he was seventy years old.
EMBREE.
Samuel Embree was a Loyalist from White Haven, New York. He commanded the Light Horse Dragoons during the Revolutionary War, and at its close his landed estate was confiscated. He then left the country and settled in Amherst, N.S. The British Government did not forget his services for the lost cause, and he drew a pension to the end of his life.
Cyrus Black says, in his “History of the Blacks,” that Mrs. Embree once distinguished herself on a trip from Eastport to the Isthmus. The captain was incapable of managing the boat through drink, and there was no man to take his place. Mrs. Embree took the helm and brought the schooner safe to Aulac.”
Thomas and Israel, Mr. Embree’s sons, remained on the homestead at Amherst. Elisha, a third son, settled at Amherst Head, now called Warren. A daughter married Luther Lusby. A grand-daughter of Israel married William L. Trueman.
RIPLEY.
Six brothers came to America from Yorkshire. Henry, John and William Ripley came in 1774; Joseph, Robert, and Thomas, later. Henry settled in Nappan, and his wife was Mary Fawcett, daughter of John Fawcett, of Lower Sackville, N.B. Henry and Mary Ripley had a family of sixteen children. Henry Ripley occupied a rented farm the first years in this country, but later purchased a farm from the DeBarres estate, 600 acres of marsh and upland, for L 600, and became a very prosperous farmer. The name is pretty well scattered, but there are Ripleys still in Nappan who, like their ancestors, are men of integrity.
PUGSLEY.
The Pugsleys were Loyalists. David Pugsley came from White Plains, New York, to Nova Scotia, when a young man, and settled in Amherst. The one hundred acres of land given him by the Government was at Wallace. He was twice married. His first wife, by whom he had one son, was a Miss Horton. His second wife was a Miss Ripley, and had twelve children, seven daughters and five sons.
Mrs. Pugsley had a brother John, who was a half-pay officer in the British army. This brother lived a short time at Fort Lawrence, and had one son, named Daniel. John Pugsley and his wife left this son with friends in Petitcodiac, and returned either to the States or to Great Britain. They were not heard from afterward. The Pugsleys of King’s County and St. John are descendants of this Daniel. Those in Cumberland are descended from David. The Pugsleys are good citizens, and generally have the means and the disposition to help a neighbor in need.
FINLAY–MITCHELL–PATTERSON–DOYLE.
The Finlays came from the north of Ireland about the year 1820. Jane Finlay, who married John Trueman, was born on the banks of Newfoundland, on the voyage out, and only just escaped being called Nancy, after the ship. David and Margaret Mitchell came from the neighborhood of Londonderry, in Ireland to Nova Scotia, in 1829. David Patterson came from Maghera, Culnady County Antrim, Ireland, in June, 1839. These families all settled in Cumberland County, bordering on the Straits of Northumberland. The Doyles emigrated to Nova Scotia, about 1790, and settled at Five Islands, Parrsboro.
It is said David Patterson studied for the church, and perhaps that, in part, accounts for the fact that four of his children are, or have been, teachers. A daughter has just offered and been accepted for the foreign missions. Mrs. Patterson writes: “Daisy has offered herself as a medical missionary and been accepted. She will leave for China next September, via San Francisco. It is something I can hardly talk about, yet I would rather she would go there than marry the richest man in the United States, for it is a grand thing to work for the Lord Jesus. I remember,” she goes on to say, “of being told that grandmother Trueman had faith to believe God would save all her children and grandchildren down to the fourth generation, and don’t you think we are reaping the fruit of grandmother’s faith and prayers to the present day?”
Two sons of Thomas Mitchell are in the Presbyterian ministry.
Of this Scotch-Irish stock Hon. Charles Bell says: “The Scotch-Irish were people of Scottish lineage who dwelt upon Irish soil. They stuck together and kept aloof from the native Celtic race.” Macaulay says: “They sprang from different stocks. They spoke different languages. They had different national characteristics as strongly opposed as any two national characters in Europe. Between two such populations there could be little sympathy, and centuries of calamities and wrongs had generated a strong antipathy. The Scotch planted upon Irish soil were Scotch still, and the Irish were Irish still.” One of their own writers says: “If we be not the very peculiar people, we Scotch-Irish are a most peculiar people, who have ever left our own broad distinct mark wherever we have come, and have it in us still to do the same, even our critics being the judges. These racial marks are birth-marks, and birth-marks are indelible. They are principles. The principles are the same everywhere, and these principles are of four classes: religious, moral, intellectual and political.”
I have been led to make these quotations referring to the Scotch-Irish because I have found so many of them among the early settlers of this country, and wherever they are found they have proved true to their lineage.
Others embraced in this emigration are: Clark, Moffat, Logan, Dickey, McElmon, McClennen, Allison, and Dickson or Dixon.
FAWCETT.
Three brothers name Fawcett–William, John and Robert–came to Nova Scotia from Hovingham, Yorkshire, in the spring of 1774. William, with his and three children, settled in Upper Sackville, on the farm now owned by Charles George. John settled in Lower Sackville, near present Mount Allison Academy, and built a mill on the brook that runs through the farm. The Fawcett foundry stands on what was the bed of the old mill-pond. Robert was a sea captain. He removed his family to the United States and was afterwards lost at sea. One of his sons lost his life in the same way.
William’s children were: John, William and Polly. John married Mrs. Eleanor Colpitts, nee Eleanor Forster, of Amherst, and had four children, George, Ann, William and Eleanor.
William (second) married Sarah Holmes. Their children were Rufus and Betsy.
Polly married John Dobson, who afterwards moved to Sussex. The Dobsons of Sussex and Upper Dorchester belong to this family.
John Fawcett (first), Lower Sackville, had four children–two sons, Robert and John, and two daughters, Mary and Nancy. Of these, Robert married —– Seaman; John married Jane Black; Mary married Henry Ripley, and Nancy married John Ogden. Robert, a son of the second Robert, married Jane Trueman, daughter of William Trueman.
In 1817 (March 22nd) Thomas Fawcett, of Stockton Forest, Yorkshire, sailed from Hull on the ship VALIANT, bound for Charlottetown, P. E. Island. The voyage lasted seventy-three days. About the middle of the voyage the VALIANT came across a Scotch brig in a sinking condition and took on board her sixty passengers and crew. There were one hundred and ninety-three immigrants on the ship when she arrived at her destination.
Thomas Fawcett settled first at Cove Head, P.E.I. He afterward moved to Sackville, and finally located at Salisbury. He had three sons, one now living in Carleton County, N.B., one in Salisbury, and John is one of the solid men to Tidnish.
Other passengers on the VALIANT were: John Milner, settled in Sackville; John Towse, settled in Dorchester; Robert Morrison, settled in Sussex; Robert Mitten and family, settled in Coverdale.
EVANS.
Isaac Evans came to this country, probably from the United States, shortly after the close of the Revolutionary war. The family was originally from Wales. He was married to Miss Lydia Jenks, and settled within a few rods of the old Botsford place at Westcock. They had seven children, all born in this country–James, Isaac, William, Lydia, Mary, Ann and Beriah. James married Miss Barnes, and Mr. Isaac N. Evans, the only man of the name now living in the parish, is a son of theirs. His name and his brother William’s are to be found in the list of students attending Mount Allison Academy in 1843. Isaac drowned off Grindstone Island when twenty-four years old, in 1819. William married a Miss Estabrooks, and they had ten children–James Isaac, who died recently at Shediac, where his family still live; Evander Valentine, who lived in Sackville and was well known as Captain Evans; Jane, who married Marcus Trueman, and now lives in California; William Murray Stuart, who at one time had charge of the Westmoreland Bank in Moncton; George Edwin, a mechanic, who moved early in life to the United States; Henry, who served on the side of the North in the War of Secession; Charles, who married a daughter of the late John Fawcett, but died young. Lydia married Lewis Jenks; Mary never married, but lived to be old, and was known by her friends as “Aunt Polly”; Ann married John Boultonhouse, and Beriah married John Stuart. Isaac Evans, the original settler, was drowned off Partridge Island, St. John, June, 1798, aged thirty-four. Lydia, his wife, died November 11th, 1842, in her seventy- fourth year.
WOOD.
William Wood was from Buriston, near Bedale, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His wife was Elizabeth Clarkson. They emigrated to America with the first Yorkshire contingent (1772-3). Shortly after coming to this country Mrs. Wood died, leaving three children–a son and two daughters. The son was born on St. Valentine’s Day, and was named Valentine. Mr. Wood’s second wife was the widow of an officer who had served at Fort Cumberland. Mr. Wood was at the “Fort” when the Eddy rebels attacked that place, and distinguished himself by his bravery. He was drowned in the Bay of Fundy.
Valentine Wood married and settled in Point de Bute. His family consisted of eleven children: William, who died in boyhood; Edward, Rufus, Joshua, Cyrus, Thomas, Albert, Mary Ann, Cynthia, Amelia, and the youngest, Rebecca (Mrs. Thompson Trueman, of Sackville, N.B.)
Edward was named for an uncle in England. He made his home in Bay Verte, N.B., and became a most useful and acceptable Methodist local preacher. Two of the Wood family were teachers. Thomas W. was a prominent and successful educationalist. The Wood family were more than ordinarily gifted intellectually. Albert, the youngest son, became celebrated as a skilful and successful sea captain. He published a book, entitled “Great Circle Sailing,” that quite changed the methods, in some particulars, from which ships had been navigated previously. Captain Wood finally settled in California, where he now lives, and is an enthusiastic temperance worker and writer. Joshua was musically inclined, and taught the old fashioned singing school. He possessed characteristics that made him quite a hero with many of his friends.
Most of the descendants of William Wood bearing the name have removed from the country.
HARRIS.
The Harris name is one of the oldest in Canada. Arthur Harris came from Plymouth, England, to Bridgewater, New England, in 1650. He removed from there to Danby, and from Danby to Boston in 1696. His son, Samuel, was with Captain Ben Church’s expedition to Acadia in 1704, and shortly after Acadia came into possession of the English he settled in Annapolis. Michael Spurr Harris, a grandson of Samuel Harris, was born at Annapolis Royal in 1804. His wife, Sarah Ann Troop, was born in Aylesford in 1806. Michael Harris started in business in St. John in 1826; in 1837 he removed his family to Moncton and opened a general store and carriage building establishment, and soon after added shipbuilding to the business. After his death the business was very successfully conducted for many years by his two sons, the late John Harris and Christopher Harris.
This firm was always abreast of the times, and the city of Moncton owes much to its enterprise and farsightedness. The late Mrs. John A. Humphrey was a daughter of Michel Spurr Harris.
MAIN.
The Mains are Scotch. The family tree goes back to the beginning of the fifteenth century, one branch including the present Lord Rosebery and Sir William Alexander, who are one time owned Nova Scotia and gave the Province its name. David Main with two of his sons, John and James, emigrated from Dumfries. Scotland, to Richibucto, New Brunswick, in the spring of 1821, and settled at Galloway, on the farm now owned by Robert Main, a grandson of David, and son of James. James married Jane Murray, of Shemogue. James Main, of Botsford, is also a son of theirs. John married Jean Johnstone, and lived in Kingston, now called Rexton. Mary Jean Main, wife of Howard Trueman, is his daughter. The late David Main, of St. Stephen, was a son of John Main.
SHARP.
Four brothers named Sharp came to the Isthmus from Cornwallis, N.S., about the year 1812. Matthew settled in Nappan, William in Maccan, Allan in Amherst, and John in Sackville. Samuel Sharp, who married Fanny Trueman, was a son of William Sharp.
WELDON.
Two of William Trueman’s sons married into the Weldon family. I am not able to give any more information about the Weldons than is found in the “History of the Blacks,” which is as follows: “A Mr. Weldon left London for Halifax in 1760. The vessel in which he sailed was wrecked on the coast of Portugal. Returning to London, in 1761, he found that his wife and family had sailed for Halifax, where he joined them in the fall of the same year.” Mr. Weldon settled first in Hillsboro and later removed to Dorchester, where the name has remained ever since. Dr. Weldon, Dean of the Halifax Law School, belongs to this family.
SCOTT.
Adam Scott was from Langholm, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. He emigrated to New Brunswick with his wife and family in 1834, landing first at Quebec. He settled in Shemogue, Westmoreland County. His wife’s name was Janet Amos. He had eight children. Two of the sons and the eldest daughter, Janet, married into William Trueman’s family. The daughter, Mrs. Joseph Trueman, is still living, bright and cheerful, in the 84th year of her age. Mr. Scott was one of the most prosperous farmers in the district in which he settled, and lived to be ninety-nine years of age.
BENT.
This name is believed to have come from bent grass, “a stiff, wiry growth, little known in America.” John Bent, the first of the name in America, was born in Penton-Grafton, England, in November, 1596. He came to America in his forty-second year, and settled in Sudbury, Mass. The Bents came to Nova Scotia around 1760. The names of Jesse and John Bent are found on the list of grantees for the township of Cumberland in 1763, to which reference has previously been made. Sarah A. Bent, daughter of Martin Bent, married Edward Trueman.
JEWETT–COY.
Mary Jewett, who married Alder Trueman, of Sackville, and Asa Coy, who married Catherine Trueman, of Point de Bute, were of the New England emigration that settled on the St. John River in 1762-3.
HARRISON.
John Harrison, of Rillington, Yorkshire, England, and his wife, Sarah Lovell, of the same place with their family arrived in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, in the spring of 1774, and settled on the Maccan River. They had family as follows: Luke, born August 25th, 1754, married Tryphena Bent, November 22nd, 1789; John, married twice, first wife Dinah Lumley, of Yorkshire, England, and second Charlotte Mills, of the State of New York; Thomas born March 28th, 1762, married Mary Henry; William, born March 25th, 1770, married Jane Coates; Mary, married Matthew Lodge; Sarah, married James Brown; Nancy, married John Lumley; Hannah, married John Lambert; Elizabeth, married Henry Furlong.
Luke Harrison (son of John) and his wife Tryphena Bent, had family as follows: Jane, married William Bostock; Margaret; George, married Sarah Hodson; Hannah married George Boss; Amy, married Thos. Dodsworth; Eunice, married Amos Boss; Elizabeth, married William Smith; Joseph; Jesse, married Elizabeth Hoeg.
John Harrison (son of John), whose first wife was Dinah Lumley, and second Charlotte Mills, had family as follows: Sarah, John, Maria, Lovell, Mary, Charlotte, Rebecca; William, married Elizabeth Brown; James.
Thomas Harrison (son of John) and his wife Mary Henry, had family as follows: Luke, married Hannah Lodge; Sarah, married Martin Hoeg; Clementina, married Joseph Moore; Harriet, married William Coates; Thomas, married Clementina Stockton; Tillott, married Eunice Lockwood; Mary, married Gideon Trueman; Ruth, married Hugh Fullerton; Henry, first wife Phoebe Chipman, and second A. M. Randall.
William Harrison (son of John) and his wife, Jane Coates, had family as follows: Sarah, married Robert Oldfield; Thomas, married Elizabeth Shipley; Edward; William, married Mary Tait; John, married Jerusha Lewis; Ann, married David Keiver; Joseph, married Jane Ripley; James, married Mary Lewis; Robert, married Hannah Wood; Jane, married Nathan Hoeg; Luke; Brown, married Mary Ann Coates; Hannah, married David Long.
Luke Harrison (son of Thomas and Mary), was born August 10th, 1787, and died November 12th, 1865. He and his wife, Hannah Lodge, moved from Maccan River, N.S., to Dutch Valley, near Sussex, N.B., and had family as follows: William Henry, married three times, first wife was Sarah Slocomb, second Rebecca Slocomb, and third Lavina M. Knight; Charles Clement; Mary Ann, married J. Nelson Coates, of Smith’s Creek, King’s County, N.B.; Thomas Albert, married Isabel Stevenson, of St. Andrew’s, N.B.; Joseph Lodge, married Charlotte Snider, of Dutch Valley, Sussex, N.B.
William Henry Harrison (son of Luke Harrison and Hannah Lodge), was born July 20th, 1813, at Sussex, N.B., and died May 2nd, 1901, at Sackville, N.B. He had no family by his first and second wives. He and his third wife, Lavina M. Knight, daughter of Rev. Richard Knight, D.D., of Devonshire, England, had family as follows: Richard Knight, married to Anne Graham, of Sussex, N.B., living at Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.A.; Hannah Lovell, dead; William Henry, of Sackville, N.B.; Charles Allison, dead; F. A. Lovell, of St. John, N.B.; Albert Thornton, of New York City; Mary Louisa, married to T. Dwight Pickard, of Sackville, N.B., living at Fairview, B.C.; Frank Allison, of Sackville, N.B., married to Flora Anderson.
John Harrison, of Rillington, Yorkshire, England, who settled at Maccan River, N.S., Canada, in 1774, was a relative of John Harrison, born at Foulby, in the Parish of Wragley, near Pontrefact, Yorkshire, May, 1693. John Harrison, of Foulby, was the inventor of the chronometer, for which he received from the British Government the sum of L 20,000. He died at his home in Red Lion Square, London, in 1776. The chronometer accepted by the Government from John Harrison was seen in July, 1901, at Guildhall, London.
The following letters were written by members of the Harrison family to friends in England.
William H. Harrison, a descendant of John Harrison, visited Yorkshire about the year 1854, and received the letters from friends there, bringing them back to Nova Scotia, where they were written so many years before. They are interesting as giving the experience of the emigrant in the new country. The first was written by Luke, a young man twenty years old, who had come to Nova Scotia with his father and had been in the country but three months. The second was written by John Harrison, a brother of Luke’s, in 1803, after they had tested the country.
EXTRACTS FROM OLD LETTERS OF THE HARRISON FAMILY.
“TO MR. WILLIAM HARRISON,
“Rillington, Yorkshire,
“England.
“June 30th, 1774.
“DEAR COUSIN,–
“Hoping these lines will find you in good health, as we are at present, bless God for it. We have all gotten safe to Nova Scotia, but do not like it at all, and a great many besides us, and are coming back to England again, all that can get back. We do not like the country, not never shall. The mosquitos are a terrible plague in this country. You may think that mosquitos cannot hurt, but if you do you are mistaken, for they will swell you legs and hands so that some persons are both blind and lame for some days. They grow worse every year and they bite the English the worst. We have taken a farm of one Mr. Barron, for one year, or longer if we like. The rent is L 20 a year. We have 10 cows, 4 oxen, 20 sheep, one sow, and one breeding mare. He will take the rent in butter or cheese, or cattle. The country is very poor, and there is very little money about Cumberland. The money is not like our English money. An English guinea is L 1 3s. 4d. In Nova Scotia money a dollar is equal to 5 shillings, and a pistereen is a shilling. In haying time men have 3 shillings a day for mowing. The mosquitos will bite them very often so that they will throw down their scythes and run home, almost bitten to death, and there is a black fly worse than all the rest. One is tormented all the summer with mosquitos, and almost frozen to death in the winter. Last winter they had what was reckoned to be a fine winter, and the frost was not out of the ground on the 20th day of June, which I will affirm for truth. I shall let you know the affairs of the country another year, if God spare life and health. Dear cousin, remember me to my uncle and aunt and to all that ask after me.
“From your well wisher,
“LUKE HARRISON.
“Direct your letters to John Harrison or Luke Harrison, at the River a Bare, nigh Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia.”
“TO MR. JOHN HARRISON,
“Rillington, near Motton,
“Yorkshire, England.
“Maccan River, N.S.,
“June 24th, 1810.
“DEAR COUSIN,–
“Long ago I have had it in agitation of writing to you and now an opportunity is just at hand, which I gladly now embrace, hoping these lines will find you and your family all in good health, as me and my family are the same, thanks be to him that ruleth over all. I am now going to give you a little sketch of our country, of Bonny Nova Scotia, and the advantages and disadvantages. I settled here on this river about 23 years ago, upon lands that had never been cultivated, all a wilderness. We cut down the wood of the land and burnt it off, and sowed it with wheat and rye, so that we have made out a very good living. Here we make our own sugar, our own soap and candles, and likewise our own clothing. We spin and weave our own linen and wool, and make the biggest part of it into garments within our own family. This, I suppose, you will think strange, but it is merely for want of settlers and more mechanics of different branches. There were twenty- five petitioned to the Government for new lands when I settled here, and we all drew 500 acres of land each. I bought 500 acres joining mine, which cost me about eighteen pounds, and my part of the grant cost eight pounds. I have lived on it ever since and make out a very good living. We milk ten cows, keep one yoke of oxen, three horses, betwixt twenty and thirty sheep. I do not doubt but that in the run of ten years more I shall be able to milk twenty cows. We generally kill every fall six or eight hogs. We use betwixt four hundred and five hundred pounds of sugar every year for tea and other necessaries. The disadvantage we have here is in the winters being so long. There is six months to fodder our cattle, and what is worse than all the rest, the snow falling so deep, sometimes four feet. The last three or four winters have been very moderate, which we think is owing to the country and woods being cleared more away. We have very much trouble with bears, as they destroy our sheep and cattle so much.
“JOHN HARRISON.
“N.B.–I have two sons, up young men. Pray send them each a good, industrious wife. Pray send out a ship-load of young women, for there is a great call for them that can card and spin. The wages are from five to six shillings a week.”
CHAPTER X
THE FIRST SETTLERS OF CUMBERLAND.
IN the early part of the last century several emigrants from the Old Country found their way to Prospect Farm, with whom family friendships were formed and remained unbroken for many years. The Davis family is one of these.
Daniel Davis came from a small town near Bristol, England. He was a weaver by trade, but owing to the introduction of the power loom in Great Britain, which ruined the hand-loom industry, Mr. Davis came to America in the hope of finding some other means of gaining a livelihood. He with his wife and one child came to Prince Edward Island in 1812. They were greatly disappointed with the appearance of things on the island, and Mrs. Davis says she cried nearly all the time they stayed there. After a year on the island Mr. Davis moved to Point de Bute. Although he was a small man and not accustomed to farm work, he remained in Point de Bute for ten years and made a good living for his increasing family. At the end of that time he got a grant of good land in Little Shemogue, on what is now called the Davis Road. On this land Mr. Davis put up a log house and moved his family there. After undergoing most of the privations incidental to such an experience, success came, and with is a comfortable and happy old age. In his later years Mr. Davis made a trip to his old home in England, and received a substantial legacy that awaited him there. He had a family of ten children, five sons and five daughters. Henry, the second son, was a member of the family at Prospect for fourteen years, and came to be looked upon almost as a son. John settled in Leicester, N.S., and was a successful farmer, with a large family. One son is a Methodist minister in the Nova Scotia Conference, and another is stipendiary magistrate for the town of Amherst.
Henry Davis was a miller, and settled first in Amherst. One of his sons, T. T. Davis, is a professor in a western College. The other sons of Daniel Davis were farmers, two of whom remained at the old home in Shemogue, where some of their descendants still live.
John Woods was another of the early emigrants who found his way to Prospect. He was a Manxman. After a time he bought a farm at Tidnish, N.S., and subsequently moved to the Gulf Shore, Wallace. Mr. Woods visited Prospect Farm in the seventies, and was greatly delighted to see the old place again.
Samson Clark was also a member of the family for a time. He was a brother of the late Alexander Clark, D.D. When he left Prospect he located on a farm on what he called the “Roadside,” back of Amherst, N.S., now Salem. Samson, although a strong man physically, and with plenty of brains, did not make life a success. He became blind in his later years, and never prospered financially. Politically Mr. Clark would stand for a countryman of his who, when asked soon after landing in America what his politics were, answered, “Is there a government here?” He was told that there was. “Then,” said he, “I’m ag’in the government.”
Isaac Vandegrift came from Halifax to Point de Bute. His mother was a widow. He married Miriam Smith, from Sackville, and the ceremony took place at the “Brick House,” Prospect. Isaac settled at Hall’s Hill, but afterward moved back to Point de Bute. He was an excellent ploughman, and was one of the drovers north when the Richibucto and Miramichi markets were supplied with beef from the Westmoreland marshes. He contracted consumption and died comparatively young. Mrs. Edward Jones, of Point de Bute, is the only one of his five children now living.
A family named Ireland came to Prospect early in the centry, and Mr. Trueman took some trouble in assisting Mr. Ireland to locate. These entries are found in the journal: “May, 1811–Robert goes to Amherst for Mr. Ireland’s goods,” and, later, Mr. Trueman “goes with Mr. Ireland and Amos Fowler to Westcock for advice.” Mr. Ireland moved to King’s County, where he farmed for a time. Later he went to Ontario. The late Hon. George Ryan, when at Ottawa, met some members of the Ireland family and renewed old acquaintanceship after a separation of forty years.
COLPITTS.
Extracts from the historical paper read at the re-union of the Colpitts family in Coverdale, Albert County, Sept. 6th, 1900:
“In the spring of 1783, immediately after the close of the Revolutionary War, there came to Halifax, from Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, a tall, stalwart Englishman with his wife and family of seven children. The name of the man was Robert Colpitts, as far as we know the only one of the name to come out from the Mother Country, and the progenitor of all on this side of the Atlantic who bear the name. What his occupation or position in society was before his emigration we can only conjecture. Strange to say, there does not exist a scrap of writing which throws any light on these questions, and tradition is almost equally at fault. Later in life Robert Colpitts was a captain of militia, and it is thought he had some connection with the army before his emigration. Whatever his occupation was he must have been possessed of some means, as among the articles brought from England were things which would be counted as luxuries rather than necessities for a new settler among the wilds of New Brunswick. For instance, among these articles were three large clocks.
“Tradition says that this was not his first visit to Canada. Before the outbreak of the American Revolution he had been over, it is believed, in connection with a survey of the Bay of Fundy. At this time he had made a small clearing on what is now the Charles Trites’ farm, in Coverdale, and put up a small cabin on the place. He then returned to Newcastle-on-Tyne, and closed up his business with the expectation of returning with his family. In the meantime the war between England and her American colonies had broken out, and he could not reach Nova Scotia until the trouble was settled, which was not for seven years. For a part of this time the family had charge of a toll bridge near Newcastle. The following incident is declared to have actually occurred while they were keeping the toll bridge. A large man, riding a very small donkey, one day came up to the bridge and asked the amount of the toll. The charge was more than he felt inclined to pay, so he asked what would it be for a man with a load. Finding that it was considerably less he at once laid down the smaller sum, picked up the donkey in his arms, and walked over the bridge. From Halifax Mr. Colpitts and the two oldest boys made their way overland, walking the most of the way from there to Moncton, while the others came in a vessel soon afterwards. When they reached Coverdale the land he had improved had been pre-empted, and Mr. Colpitts had to push on. He settled at Little River, five miles from its mouth.”
The writer, after giving a fuller account of the family, says: “It is, we freely confess, the history of a race of humble farmers, and such, for the most part, have been their descendants; no one of the name has yet occupied a prominent place in the public life of our country. But the name has always been an honorable one, and those who have borne it have been, with few exceptions, honest, God-fearing, God-honoring men and women.”
Mr. James Colpitts, of Point de Bute, is a great-grandson of Mr. Robert Colpitts.
MONRO.
Alexander Monro was born in Banff, Scotland. His father, John Monro, and family came from Aberdeen to Miramichi, New Brunswick, in 1815. He remained in Miramichi three years and then moved to Bay Verte. The next move was to Mount Whatley, and, after a few years stay there, Mr. Monro purchased a wilderness lot on Bay Verte Road, to which they removed, and after years of strenuous labor made for themselves a comfortable home.
It was from Mr. Robert King, school master–referred to in another part of this book–that the son, Alexander Monro, received the inspiration and training that started him on the road to success in life. His biographer says: “When he was twenty-one years of age a Mr. Robert King came into the district to take charge of the school, and under his care young Monro studied in the winter evenings geometry, algebra and land surveying. Mr. King possessed a surveying compass, and gave him practical instruction in land surveying, leading him to decide to follow that business.
Mr. Monro obtained a recommendation from Dr. Smith, of Fort Cumberland, and others, and in the year 1837 went to Fredericton to obtain an appointment from the Hon. Thomas Baillie, then Surveyor-General of the Province. Mr. Baillie complimented him on his attainments, but refused to appoint him to the office. When Mr. Monro got back to St. John he had but two shillings in his pocket, and with this meagre sum he started on foot for home. Before he had gone far he found a job of masonry work and earned fifteen shillings. With this money he returned to St. John, and purchased Gibson’s “Land Surveying” and some cakes for lunch, and set out again for Westmoreland. On the way he worked a day at digging potatoes, for which he received two shillings, and later on built a chimney and was paid two pounds.
The next year Mr. Monro received the appointment of Deputy Crown Land Surveyor. In 1848 he was made a Justice of the Peace, and was the surveyor to run the boundary line between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. He was the author of a number of works, one on Land Surveying, also one on the “History, Geography and Productions of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.” For a number of years he edited an educational monthly magazine called the PARISH SCHOOL ADVOCATE. His biographer adds: “Such is the life and labors of one of our foremost and most useful citizens, and if there is a moral to be read from it, it is this, that to make a man of cultured tastes, a student, a scholar and a publicist of acknowledged rank and value in the country, universities with their libraries and endowments are not absolutely necessary; social position, influential connection and wealth are not necessary. Without such adventitious aids, what is wanted is a native taste for research and inquiry, and a determination of character superior to environment.”
PALMER–KNAPP.
The Palmers and Knapps were Loyalists. C. E. Knapp, a grandson of Loyalist Knapp, writes: “The largest part of Staten Island, New York, should have been the possession of the Palmers of Westmoreland. Their ancestor, John Palmer, who was by profession a lawyer, moved from New York to Staten Island. He had been appointed one of the first judges of the New York Court of Oyer and Terminer. He was also a member of the Governor’s Council, and afterwards Sheriff. When the Revolutionary War broke out his son Gideon held the commission of captain in Delancy’s Rangers, and when the war terminated he, in common with the other