Many of the Thoma family were remarkable for their longevity. When the writer of this history was a boy there lived at the Indian village, three miles below the Town of Woodstock, a very intelligent and industrious Indian, whose bent, spare figure was a familiar object to travellers along the country roads. It would be hard to count the number of baskets and moccasins the old man carried on his back to town for sale. He was born at Medoctec in 1789 and died at Woodstock not long ago at the age of nearly one hundred years. The old fellow was famous for his knowledge of herbs, which he was wont to administer to the Indians in case of sickness; indeed it was not an uncommon thing for the white people to consult “Doctor Tomer” as to their ailments. In the year 1877 “Tomer” came to pay a friendly visit to Charles Raymond, the author’s grandfather, who was then in his 90th year and confined to his room with what proved to be his first and last illness. The pleasure of meeting seemed to be mutual. The two had known one another for many years and were accustomed from time to time to compare ages. “Tomer” was always one year younger, showing that the old Indian kept his notch-stick well. He is believed to have been the last surviving grandson of the old chieftain, Pierre Thoma.
While speaking of the Maliseets and their chiefs, mention may be made of the fact that the Indians, as a mark of especial confidence and favor, occasionally admitted one of the whites to the order of chieftainship. This compliment the Maliseets paid to the French Governor Villebon, when he commanded at Fort Nachouac, and a like compliment was paid some sixty-five years ago to the late Moses H. Perley. In early life Mr. Perley was very fond of the woods and frequently visited the Indian villages on the upper St. John to buy furs, which he paid for in silver dollars. So great was the confidence reposed in him by the Indians that he became their agent with the provincial government, and was in the end adopted as their chief. In 1840 he visited England and was presented to Queen Victoria in the character of an Indian chief, wearing on the occasion a very magnificent costume of ornamental bead-work, plumes, and so forth. He received at the Queen’s hands a silver medal three inches in diameter, on the edge of which was engraved, “From Her Most Gracious Majesty to M. H. Perley, Chief Sachem of the Milicetes and Wungeet Sagamore of the Micmac nation. A. D., 1840.” This medal is still in the possession of Mr. Perley’s descendants.
It will be noticed that the St. John river Indians are termed “Milicetes” in the above description. The form Milicete, or Melicete, used by Dr. Gesner and Moses H. Perley, has been followed by the majority of our provincial writers. Dr. Hannay, however, in his history of Acadia, retains the spelling of Villebon and the early French writers, Malicite, which is almost identical with the Latin form, Malecitae, on the stone tablet of the chapel built by the missionary Jean Loyard at Medoctec in 1717. Either of these pronounced in French fashion is practically identical with Maliseet, the form adopted by modern students of Indian lore, and which the writer has followed in this history.
The enormous lumbering operations carried on upon the St. John river and its tributaries in modern times had their small beginning, two centuries ago, when masts for the French navy were cut by order of the King of France.[114] The war of the Revolution obliged the English government to look for a reserve of trees suitable for masts in the remaining British colonies. In the year 1779, arrangements were made with William Davidson to provide a number of masts at the River St. John.
Colonel Francklin was quite aware of the necessity of giving careful attention to the Indians at this juncture, for the Machias rebels threatened to destroy the “King’s masts” and endeavored to get the Indians to harass the mast cutters and obstruct, them in every possible way. In consequence Francklin sent the following letter to Pierre Thoma by James White, his deputy:—
“Windsor, 29th November, 1779.
“My Brother.—Mr. Davidson is now employed on the River St. John for the King my Royal master. I therefore request you will afford him and all his people every assistance and protection in your power.
“My Brother,—I request and flatter myself if any party of Rebels or Indians should attempt to disturb Mr. Davidson that you and your people will prevent it, and if necessary take up arms for that purpose.
“My Brothers,—The Governor of Nova Scotia sends to Major Studholme some presents for you; they are intended to encourage you to protect Mr. Davidson; receive them and be true to the trust that his Excellency reposes in you.
“My Brother,—Major Studholme is your friend and your advocate and desires that all your faults may be overlooked and buried, therefore they are all forgot and will be thought of no more.
“My Brother,—Present my best compliments to all the Captains, Councillors, and other Indians of the River St. John, and I do not forget their wives and children.
[Seal.] “MICH. FRANCKLIN.”
The Indians promised to protect the workmen who were employed in cutting masts. Francklin soon afterwards sent a consignment of goods from Windsor to Fort Howe in the schooner Menaguashe, as a further inducement to them to protect Mr. Davidson’s men in their work. In the letter accompanying the presents he says:—
“Brethern,—King George wants masts for his ships and has employed people to provide them on your river, depending on you to protect them in cutting them and conveying them to Fort Howe. The Governor sends you some presents, which Major Studholme will deliver you. They are intended to bind fast your promise that you will protect the Mast Cutters.”
The presents were delivered at Aukpaque by James White[115] and the masts were brought safely to Fort Howe. The first cargo of masts arrived at Halifax on 22nd November, 1780, in one of the navy transports.
The River St. John now assumed an importance in the eyes of English statesmen it had not before possessed. England’s power, then as now, centred in her navy, and the larger warships required masts of such magnificent proportions that pine trees suitable for the purpose were rare. The rebellion of the old colonies having cut off the supply in that quarter the reservation of suitable trees in the remaining colonies became a matter of national concern.
As long ago as in the time of George I. the British parliament passed an act (A. D. 1722) prohibiting the cutting or destroying of White Pine trees 12 inches in diameter and upwards in the King’s Woods in North America. In 1729 it was further enacted that the same penalties should be extended to trees growing on granted lands. So great was the anxiety manifested by the British government for the preservation of trees suitable for masts, that in the grants made in New Brunswick at the close of the American war the words were inserted, “Saving and reserving nevertheless to us, our heirs and successors (i. e. to the Crown) all White Pine Trees.” Under the regulations of parliament the Surveyor General of the Woods and his deputies had a legal right to seize all White Pine timber found in the possession of any one, although it might have been cut on his own land. It was the custom of the Surveyor of the Woods to grant licenses to the proprietors of lands to cut and take away such pine timber as was “unfit for His Majesty’s service and the standing of which was detrimental to cultivation;” but this was only done after a previous inspection, and marking with the “broad-arrow” such trees as were fit for the navy.
The enforcement of the regulations for the protection and preservation of White Pine trees was entrusted to Sir John Wentworth,[116] Surveyor of the King’s Woods in North America. He was a discreet and able man, of polished manners and amiable disposition, but the office he filled was by no means a popular one, and brought him into conflict not only with individual owners of the soil, but on one occasion, at least, with the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick.
It was not many years after the establishment of the province that Lt. Gov’r Carleton wrote the English Secretary of State:—
“Under the regulations for preserving masting timber the deputies appointed by the surveyor of the woods have, or assume to have, authority to seize all the pine timber which they find in the possession of any one, though it may have been cut on his own ground. * * * I feel it my duty to submit it to the consideration of his Majesty’s ministers whether it may not be expedient to relinquish these restrictions on private property, which have an evident tendency to discourage the advancement of cultivation and settlement in the province.”
Sir John Wentworth justified the enforcement of the regulations as a matter of national importance. He quoted the experience of New England where, after the restrictions of the surveyor general’s office were removed, the mast timber had been so largely destroyed that it was scarcely possible to procure a cargo of large masts, and those that were to be had were held at enormous prices. Even if the government should grant all the land available for settlement, it did not follow, he argued, that the efficiency of the navy should be imperilled or the mast timber pass into the hands of speculators; nor did he think that its preservation should be left entirely to the discretion of the owners of the soil.
Wentworth’s representation to the Home Government proved effectual at the time; his deputies continued to range the woods, and many a tall, stately pine bore the mark of the “broad-arrow” in token that it was reserved for the royal navy. It was not until about the year 1811 that the reservation of White Pine trees was no longer insisted upon by the crown.
The masting business was a very important one in the early days of New Brunswick. Vessels were built expressly for the trade, and, being of large size, and usually sailing under protection of a man-of-war, soon became the favorite passenger ships.
The development of the masting industry proceeded very rapidly after the arrival of the Loyalists, but even before that date it had attained considerable proportions. Sir Richard Hughes wrote to Lord Germaine on the 30th April, 1781, that upwards of 200 sticks for masts, yards and bowsprits had been cut, squared and approved by the King’s purveyor at the River St. John in the course of the last fall and winter, and that one of the navy transports was then at Fort Howe loading a cargo of masts.
The year the Loyalists arrived, Captain John Munro, in reporting to General Haldimand the state of settlement of the country, said:—
“On the River St. John are the finest masts and spars that I have ever seen. I saw at Fort Howe about six thousand pounds worth. Two ships were loading when I left that place. I suppose there were masts sufficient there to load ten ships.”
The masts, spars, bowsprits and other timber, having been prepared in the woods by the workmen, were hauled to the water by oxen. Trees growing near the stream were “bowsed out”—that is, hauled with block and tackle to the river’s bank. In the month of March it was customary for the King’s purveyor to 304 certify the number and sizes of the sticks that had been brought to the stream, “trimmed four-square and fit for rafting,” and on receipt of the purveyor’s certificate the contractor was at liberty to draw one-half of the money due on the fulfilment of his contract, from the naval storekeeper at Halifax. The masts were rafted and floated—or towed by sloops—to Fort Howe, where they were stored for shipment in the mast pond.
The mast pond was a little cove to the west of Portland Point, just east of the site of the present Portland Rolling Mills. The situation will be seen in the accompanying plan. It was closed and fenced in by the British government for the purpose of receiving the masts.
St. John Harbor
A few words now concerning William Davidson, who may be said to have been the first man to engage in lumbering on the River St. John. Mr. Davidson came from the north of Scotland to Miramichi in 1764, the same year that James Simonds and James White established themselves at the mouth of the River St. John. Cooney, the historian of the North Shore, tells us that at the time of Davidson’s arrival the abandoned houses of the French had been destroyed by the Indians, and our Scotch immigrant found himself the only white man in a vast and desolate region. If this be so he did not long remain solitary, for the next year a grant of 100,000 acres on the south side of the Miramichi was made to him and John Cort. Mr. Davidson was a resolute and energetic man. He prosecuted the fishery, and about the year 1773 built the first schooner launched upon the Miramichi. At the time of the Revolutionary war the Micmacs were so hostile and troublesome that he removed with his family to Maugerville, where he became the purchaser of two lots of land near the head of Oromocto Island. His associations with James 305 Simonds, Wm. Hazen and James White were not of the pleasantest kind. In consequence of purchasing some land at Morrisania (below the present city of Fredericton) the title to which was in dispute, he became involved in litigation with James Simonds, and the result was a suit in the court of chancery,[117] which proved rather costly to both parties. As regards Messrs. Hazen and White there was, as we shall presently see, a lot of trouble arising out of the masting business in which both parties were actively engaged.
Mr. Davidson’s influence on the St. John river is shown by the fact that he was elected a member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for the County of Sunbury. He returned to Miramichi about the time the Loyalists came to the province, and died there in 1790. His tomb-stone in the old cemetery on Beaubair’s Island bears the following inscription:—
SACRED TO THE MEMORY
OF
WILLIAM DAVIDSON, ESQ.
Representative of the County of Northumberland, Province of New
Brunswick, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Contractor
for Masts for His Majesty’s Navy.
He died on the 17th of June, 1790, aged 50. He was one of the
first settlers of the river, and greatly instrumental in promoting
the settlement. He left a widow and five children to
deplore his loss.
“MEMENTO MORI.”
The success that attended William Davidson’s masting operations led Messrs. Hazen and White to engage in the same business. They were fortunate enough to secure the co-operation of Colonel Francklin, with whom they entered into partnership in the summer of 1781 for general trade and “masting.” Francklin’s political influence at Halifax and the personal friendship of Sir Andrew Snape Hamond, the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia and Commissioner of the navy yard, proved of very great advantage to the partners in their business. A few quotations from the original papers of the firm, which are now in the possession of the author, will throw light upon the nature of their subsequent operations.
“CONTRACTED and agreed on the 9th day of August, 1781, with Sir Andrew Snape Hamond, Commissioner of his Majesty’s Navy, resident at Halifax, by us Michael Francklin, Esqr., of Windsor, and Wm. Hazen and James White, Esqrs., of the River St. John in the Province of Nova Scotia, And we do hereby covenant and agree to deliver, free of all charges to his Majesty, at the mouth of the River St. John, the undermentioned North American White Pine Masts, Yards, and Bowsprits, Ash Rafters, Elm Timber, Oak Timber, Anchor Stocks of White Oak, and Crooked or Compass Timber, in the quantities, of the dimensions and at the prices expressed against each size * * to be brought to the mouth of the River Saint John by or before the 1st day of July, 1782, and there to remain at 306 our risque until they shall be embarked on board such ships or vessels as shall be sent to transport them to England, Halifax or elsewhere. * * *
“It is further agreed by Sir Andrew Snape Hamond for the encouragement of the said Contractors, that in case the enemy should make a descent on the Port of Saint John in order to destroy the masts lying there, that the damages sustained thereby should fall on Government and not upon the Contractors, provided it shall appear that all proper endeavors on the part of the Contractors were used to save the masts.”
Great Britain was at this time engaged in a struggle for national existence. She was at war, not only with the colonies in rebellion, but with France, Holland and Spain, and that without a single ally. Under such circumstances it was absolutely necessary that the navy should be kept as efficient as possible. The dockyards were busy places and we need not be surprised that good prices were paid for masts, yards, bowsprits and ship timber in general. In the contract signed by Francklin, Hazen and White the prices offered by government are stated in detail, but the table of prices is too long to quote in full. The sums paid varied with the size of the tree as will be seen from the following examples selected from the table in the contract:
Masts of 36 inches diameter, 36 yards long, £136.
Masts of 35 inches diameter, 35 yards long, £110.
Masts of 34 inches diameter, 34 yards long, £95.
Masts of 32 inches diameter, 32 yards long, £68.
Masts of 31 inches diameter, 31 yards long, £61.
Masts of 26 inches diameter, 28 yards long, £25.
Masts of 18 inches diameter, 23 yards long, £10.
Yards of 25 inches diameter, 35 yards long, £52.
Yards of 23 inches diameter, 32 yards long, £40.
Yards of 21 inches diameter, 29½ yards long, £20.
Yards of 14 inches diameter, 22 yards long, £4.16.
Bowsprits 38 inches diameter, 25 yards long, £42.10.
Bowsprits 34 inches diameter, 23 yards long, £32.10.
Bowsprits 30 inches diameter, 20½ yards long, £30.
Bowsprits 25 inches diameter, 17 yards long, £10.2.
The rapid increase in price as the maximum dimensions were neared was due to the fact that timber of such size was exceedingly rare.
The certificate of the naval storekeeper, George Thomas, shows that on the 6th July, 1782, Francklin, Hazen & White had delivered under the protection of his Majesty’s Post at Fort Howe, in pursuance of their contract of the 9th of August, 1781, 37 masts valued at £1098.16.3; 65 yards valued at £1502.13.4; 8 bowsprits valued at £181.1.11½ and 20 M. feet white ash oar rafters valued at £156.5.0; so that the firm received upwards of $14,000 from government on their first year’s masting operations. Some of the sticks obtained were of very large size, including one mast, 35 inches in diameter and 91½ feet long, and a yard 26 inches in diameter and 108 feet long; for these two sticks they received respectively $450 and $350.
It was essential to the success of the masting business that a good practical man should be at the head of it, and Mr. White’s brother-in-law, Samuel Peabody, 307 was selected for the position. He was given an interest in the contract and was also allowed “seven shillings and six pence per diem in consideration of his care and trouble in taking upon him the management of the business.”
At the time the agreement was made with Mr. Peabody, Michael Francklin was at the River St. John.[118] The agreement specified that the masts, yards and bowsprits were to be converted into eight squares carrying their dimensions in their several parts conformable to the rules of the navy.
While the profits derived from the mast business may have been considerable, the expenses also were heavy. There were many unforseen contingencies. The demand for workmen and laborers in a short time nearly doubled the rate of wages, and the cost of provisions and supplies increased. In the course of a few months Col. Francklin sent three consignments of goods to St. John, amounting in value to about $3,000. A bill of lading in those days was a quaint document, witness the following:
“SHIPPED by the Grace of God, by John Butler Dight in and upon the good Ship called the Young William Naval Store Ship, whereof is master, under God, for this present Voyage, George Hastings, and now riding at anchor in the Harbour of Halifax, and by God’s Grace bound for Fort Howe, River St. John in the Bay of Fundy.
To say, one Hogshead, three Casks, one Case, three Bales, one Large Trunk, one Bag Coffee, six Boxes, twenty Barrels Pork, and twenty firkins Butter—by order of Mich’l Francklin, Esq., for account and risque of himself, Wm. Hazen & James White, consigned to Messrs. Hazen & White at Fort Howe as aforesaid, being marked and numbered as in the margin, and are to be delivered in good order and well conditioned at the Port of Fort Howe (the danger of the seas only excepted.)
In Witness whereof the master of the said Ship hath affirmed to three Bills of Lading, all of this tenor and date; the one of which three Bills being accomplished, the other two to stand void.
And so GOD send the Good Ship to her desired Port in safety. Amen.
“Dated in Halifax 23rd April, 1782.
“G. HASTINGS.”
Col. Francklin procured at Halifax many articles needed for the mast cutters, such as chains, blocks and tackle, camp supplies, etc. Flour retailed in Halifax at this time at $11.00 per bbl., and the freight to Fort Howe was $1.50 per bbl. Pork cost at Halifax $25.00 per bbl. and upwards. The population on the St. John river was small, and men and oxen were in demand both in winter and summer. The cultivation and improvement of farms was retarded and a spirit of speculation introduced into the country, destined ere long to bear pernicious fruit. Francklin sent from Windsor some skilled hewers of timber. Nevertheless the masting operations were carried on after a primitive fashion, and Mr. Peabody 308 was constantly obliged to write for articles needed by his workmen. A few sentences culled from his correspondence with Hazen & White will shed a little light on the difficulties that attended the masting business:
“There is no prospect of the business being in one place as we expected when Mr. Francklin was here; at present have given up trying at St. Anns, for the Pine proves so rotten that it would never pay the expense of cutting a road to where it grows.” [Nov. 2d, 1781.]
“The men are very bad off for Bread, and people cannot work without good food, besides it takes much time in baking Indian cakes for them in the woods, one hand continually imploy’d. * * We are very badly off indeed for Chalk lines, having nothing of that kind to make use of but twine.” [Jan. 21, 1782.]
“Davidson is almost done—his situation is this: no workmen, no rum, no provision, he’s nearly possesst of Pandora’s Box.” [Feb. 5, 1782.]
“Men’s wear is much wanted, such as thick clothes, a few blankets if you can procure them, as some men are obliged to sleep without blankets in the camp.” [Feb. 9, 1782.]
“Pork, beef and corn is very scarce and dear, the two former not to be bought. Have engaged what wheat and Indian corn we could on the river.” [March 23d, 1782.]
“Our common laborers value their hire very high, as there is so many mast cutting, running from place to place to get sticks for the highest bidder.” [Dec. 25, 1782.]
“Some chocolate is wanted for our Masting Camp for at present we use Spruce Tea, which causes some murmuring.” [Feb. 2, 1783.]
In order to fill the contract at the time fixed, Samuel Peabody found it necessary to cruise the woods over a wide area selecting trees that grew not far from the banks of the streams which might be “bowsed in” by oxen with block and tackle. In consequence of the competition with Mr. Davidson the hire of a yoke of oxen became as high as seven shillings and six pence a day and difficult to obtain at that. The exigencies of the situation were such that Hayes and Peabody ventured to press into their service a pair of fat oxen that had been sent down the river from St. Anns by Philip Weade for an entirely different purpose. This was displeasing to Hazen & White who wrote: “We are much surprised that you stopped the particular pair of oxen which we desired last Fall to be stall fed for the use of the officers of the garrison here and ourselves, which hath left them and us without a good slice of beef.”
It is rather a curious circumstance that very soon after Francklin, Hazen and White embarked in the masting business they found themselves at logger heads with William Davidson, whose workmen they had for two years been endeavoring to protect from interference on the part of the “rebels” and Indians. In point of fact Mr. Davidson suffered greater annoyance at the hands of Samuel Peabody and his mast cutters than he ever experienced from the rebels or the Indians. Under the arrangements at first made with the government of Nova Scotia, a good deal of latitude was allowed the mast cutters. Mr. Davidson had a special order to cut masts, yards, etc., for his Majesty’s service, wherever he could find them. Under this roving commission his workmen came into contact 309 on several occasions with those of the other contractors and in a very short time there was bad blood between them.
Samuel Peabody, who had charge of the operations of Francklin, Hazen and White, was a man of resolute and somewhat aggressive spirit. William Davidson on the other hand, possessed all the energy and determination for which the Scotch race is noted. The state of affairs on the River St. John in consequence of the rivalry created by the masting business was not at all harmonious. The sentiments of the people were divided. There were some who sided with Hazen, White and Peabody while others took the part of Wm. Davidson and Israel Perley—the latter being in Mr. Davidson’s employ. A couple of letters of the period will serve to show how the rivals regarded one another.
Samuel Peabody writes as follows:
Maugerville, 2nd Nov’r, 1781.
“Messrs. Hazen & White, Merchants at Fort Howe,
“Gentlemen,—Since I wrote to you by John Hart, giving you account of the badness of the Pine Lumber back of St. Anns, I sent 3 hands up Nashwalk to try the timber in that place, and find the timber to be small near the waterside. Upon Davidson’s understanding I was determined to try that place, he immediately sent a party of French up that River, commanded by Israel Perley, to cut all the Timber that fell in his way, among which was a large Tree that I suppose was marked by Mr. Hayes, as he tells people that it had several Broad Arrows on it. At the same time that Davidson dispatched this party he sent another party back of Thomas Langin’s[119] upon the growth of Pine Mr. Hayes had pitched upon for us, and has his small party sallying out upon all quarters, and bids defiance to any Proprietors stopping him from such proceedings. Now if he is allowed to cut Timber upon the Society’s Land[120] it will be impossible for me to furnish half the quantity of sticks I could if I had the privilege of all the above mentioned lands.
“Tomorrow morning I am a going with 8 or 10 hands to cut sum fine Trees up Oromocto, near whear Davidson is stearing his course, as he should be paid in his own coin. I have imployed sum men to cut Trees by the jobb up Oromocto, and by searching, they say, that there may be had some fine lengthy Trees, but not the greatest diameter.
“I hope one of you will come up soon and reside a few days, for, as I mentioned to you in my last letter it is very difficult for me to procure hands at suitable times, as I am in the woods the cheaf of the time, and at present there is no prospect of the business being in one place, as we expected when Col. Francklin left this place. At present I have given up trying at Saint Anns, for the Pine proves so rotten that it never will pay the expense of cutting a road in to where it groes
“There is sum that pertended to undertake to ingage to get us sum sticks, by what I can learn has ingaged them to Davidson, especially that scoudril John Tibbits, although he gave Mr. Francklin good incurragement, as I thought, that we should have all the sticks that he could procure.
I am, with respect,
Your Humble Serv’t,SAM’L PEABODY.
A year later William Davidson writes in quite as emphatic terms to Samuel Peabody:
Maugerville, 9th December, 1782.
“Sir—I’m not a little surprised at a piece of your conduct that has lately come to my knowledge; which is your triming my masts, etc., on the streame of Rushaganes and its vicinaty. I cannot conjecture upon what principle you pretend to have acted. I had (& have) a speciall order from Government to cutt masts, yards, etc., for His Majesty’s use wherever I could find them, when I cutt those sticks, which constitute as good a right in them to me as any that could be given. If (by some kind of means) the people you’re concerned with afterwards got a grant of the lands on which they were, it could not be supposed to extend to a prior right any other person had derived from as good authority. But in the mean time I shall not take the trouble to say any more on the subject than to desire you will from this time desist from meddling with any sticks that have been cut for me, and also relinquish what you have already medled with.
“I wish to live peaceably, but I have lately experienced so many instances of your most bare-faced and wanton oppression, to my prejudice, that there’s no longer a doubt with me what course I must be under the disagreeable necessity to take, that I may obtain redress and do justice to myself and family. I shall expect your immediate answer for my future government, and am, sir,
“Your Humble Serv’t
“WM. DAVIDSON.”
The fact that William Davidson was the first in the field gave him some local advantages that were increased considerably by the predilection in his favor displayed by Constant Connor, the commander of the small garrison posted at the Oromocto blockhouse. This we know from one of the letters of the government purveyor, John Hayes, who was exceedingly friendly to Hazen & White. He wrote “I am sorry to say that Lieut. Connor is much atached to Davidson and Andrews,[121] his orders from Sir Richard Hughes specifying to give Davidson all the assistance in his power, and on that account Davidson carries much more sway than he otherwise would.”
Sir Richard Hughes, it may be observed, was succeeded as Lieut. Governor of Nova Scotia by Sir Andrew Snape Hamond in 1781. Both Hughes and Hamond held in turn the office of commissioner of the naval yard at Halifax. Colonel Francklin had himself been lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia from 1766 to 1776, and seems to have kept on excellent terms with his successors. Through his influence at headquarters the government patronage passed largely to the firm of which he was the senior partner. Francklin was an adept in the art of diplomacy. During the Revolutionary war, as we have already seen, his tact and judgment prevented the Indians from becoming actively hostile to the English and restrained the New Englanders, settled in Cumberland and other parts of Nova Scotia, from taking up arms on the side of the rebellion. A specimen of his diplomacy in small matters is found in one of his letters to Hazen & White in which he writes: “However high Indian corn may be, I wish you would send twenty bushels to Sir Andrew for his poultry, in which Lady Hamond takes great delight, and pray don’t omit getting her some wood ducks in the approaching season.”
Some further light is thrown upon the state of affairs on the River St. John at this period, and the “modus operandi” of the mast cutters by the following letter, written by Hazen & White, to Colonel Francklin:—
“Fort Howe, 23rd March, 1782.
“Dear Sir,—Since our last we have been at Maugerville viewing the masts, etc, etc. Mr. Peabody has cut down and procured as many sticks as could be expected under the disadvantage of having the other contractor at his elbow. You will find enclosed Mr. Hayes account and certificates of the number and sizes of sticks on the banks, trimmed four square and fit for rafting. They have about 120 more cut, many of which cannot be got out this season. Mr. Peabody set off on the 14th inst. to view a glade of Pines on the Grand Lake, about 40 miles from Mr. Simonds’ house, where he has a number of men to work. * * The French people at Kanibikashes have about 100 sticks cut. They say they will be able to get out and bring here this Spring about 40 sticks, the others they can get out in Summer. Pork, beef and corn is very scarce and dear; the two former not to be bought. Have engaged what wheat and Indian corn we could on the River. * * Davidson expects to have 200 sticks out this season and near as many more cut in the woods; he gives the people larger prices for sticks (and takes them at Maugerville or elsewhere afloat) than we give Mr. Peabody delivered here. * * We must have two or three hundred pounds in cash here by the first conveyance.
“Yours etc.,
“Hazen & White.”
The pines of our primeval forests were evidently of magnificent proportions. Samuel Peabody mentions cutting a yard 110 feet in length and 26 inches in diameter, and a mast 38 inches in diameter, and other timber of nearly equal size. Many of the largest pines grew on the banks of the Rushagonish, a branch of the Oromocto. By the favor of Lieut. Governor Hamond and his council Messrs. Hazen, White and Peabody obtained possession of a tract of 8,000 acres of land in that quarter. The grant was made in the first instance to William Hazen, James White, Jacob Barker and Tamberlane Campbell, as officers serving in the provincial troops in the last French war. Tamberlane Campbell immediately sold his share to Samuel Peabody for a small consideration.
The extent of William Davidson’s masting operations must have been very considerable, for Hazen & White wrote to Colonel Francklin in March, 1782, “Davidson will have about 200 sticks out this season and near as many more fell in the woods, having employed almost half the Inhabitants in cutting. We should not be surprised to hear that he, with many of the Inhabitants, should memorialize the Navy Commissioner to have all his sticks received; if so, and he should succeed, another contract for us would be but of little advantage as he has raised the price of provision and men and Ox labour—oxen to 7s. 6d. pr. pair pr. day and men in proportion.”
The masting business seems to have been remunerative, and was the means of putting in circulation a considerable amount of specie, which was greatly appreciated by the settlers on the River St. John. On April 25, 1782, Col. Francklin wrote to his partners, Hazen & White, “There is no doubt of another contract, or of Sir Andrew’s friendship to me, therefore go on and get out as many sticks as you can, and throw down as many as you are sure of getting out between this and Xmass, at 312 least, for be assured we shall have another contract, and I mean to apply for a standing one when I go to Halifax again, which I expect will be in ten days or a fortnight, or even sooner if the annual ships (from England) arrive.” The letter from which this extract is taken is the last that has been preserved of Francklin’s interesting correspondence with William Hazen and James White. He died at Halifax, Nov. 8, 1782. The masting business was, however, carried on by Hazen, White and Peabody for several years longer. William Davidson also continued to engage in the business. Although some improvement was gradually made in the way the masting business was conducted by the pioneer “lumbermen”—if we may so term them—the methods employed down to 1825 were very crude. In that year Peter Fisher writes. “In this country there is no article that can in any degree furnish export equal to the pine, which is manufactured in the simplest manner with but little trouble. So simple is the process that most settlers who have the use of the axe can manufacture it, the woods furnishing a sort of simple manufactory for the inhabitants, from which, after attending to their farms in the summer, they can draw returns during the winter for the supplies which are necessary for the comfort of their families.” Mr. Fisher enters a strong protest against what was, even then a growing evil, namely, the wanton destruction of valuable young timber by persons who were merely speculators, and had little regard for the future.
The rapid increase in the lumber industry is seen from the fact that in 1824 there was shipped from the port of St. John alone 114,116 tons of Pine and Birch timber; 11,534,000 feet of Pine boards and planks; 1,923,000 staves; 491,000 Pine shingles; 1,918 masts and spars; 2,698 handspikes, oars and oar rafters; and 1,435 cords of lathwood; while in addition large quantities were shipped from Miramichi, St. Andrews, Richibucto and Bathurst. Up to 1825 there is scarcely any mention of Spruce lumber as an article of export. The first Spruce deals cut in New Brunswick were sawn in 1819, and the first cargo, which consisted of only 100,000 superficial feet, was shipped to England in 1822.
In 1782, Hazen, White and Peabody had a small saw mill in operation on the Oromocto stream, and about this time they erected another and larger one. The mills were not profitable at first, but they became more valuable after the close of the Revolutionary war, when the arrival of the Loyalists created a great demand for sawn lumber.
Before we turn from the consideration of the small beginnings of our great lumbering industry to other matters, a few words may be added concerning the Glasier family, so famous in the annals of the province for their enterprises on the River St. John. Colonel Beamsley Glasier’s connection with the mills erected on the Nashwaak in 1788, by the St. John’s River Society, has already been related. His brother Benjamin, who was a somewhat younger man, came to the St. John river from Massachusetts in 1779 as a shipwright. The Revolutionary war, however, rendered it impracticable to carry on ship building, so he moved up the river to what was then called “Morrisania,” about six miles below Fredericton, where in 1782 he purchased from Benjamin Bubier, for the sum of £200, a tract of 1,000 acres of land on which his desendants of the fourth generation still reside. Benjamin Glasier’s commission as a lieutenant in the Massachusetts infantry is yet preserved 313 in the family. It bears the signature of Thomas Hutchinson, the last Royal Governor of Massachusetts. Lieut. Glaiser served in the French and Indian wars and was taken prisoner at the siege of Fort William Henry.
Benjamin Glasier was the progenitor of the well known family, of which the late Senator John Glasier (familiarly known as “the main John Glasier”) and his brothers Stephen, Duncan and Benjamin were members. The operations of the Glasier family in lumbering and shipbuilding extended over very nearly a century. At one time they were undoubtedly the largest operators in New Brunswick, employing over six hundred men. For many years their production was principally pine timber, which was shipped to Liverpool.
The late Senator Glasier began his lumbering operations on the Shogomoc, in York County, and afterwards in company with his brother Stephen, extended them to the waters of the upper St. John. He was the first lumberman to bring a drive over the Grand Falls, and is said to have been the first white man to explore the Squattook lakes. The phrase “the Main John Glasier” originated with an Irishman named Paddy McGarrigle, who was employed as a cook.[122] It was soon universally adopted by the lumbermen and, strange to say, has spread over the continent. In the western states today men employed in lumbering apply the term, “He is the main John Glasier” to the manager of any big lumbering concern. It is said that only a few of those who use the term know its origin. It was undoubtedly carried to the west by men who went there from the River St. John. Senator Glasier died at Ottawa in his 84th year, during the session of 1894, while engaged in the discharge of his parliamentary duties.
It is a curious circumstance that the present members for Sunbury County in the provincial legislature, Parker Glasier and J. Douglas Hazen, are great-grandsons respectively of Benjamin Glasier and John Hazen, old neighbors and worthy residents of Sunbury one hundred and twenty years ago. At that time Sunbury included nearly the whole of the province, now it is a very modest little constituency indeed.
The origin of the famous “Wood-boats” of the St. John river is revealed in the correspondence of Hazen and White. Previous to the arrival of the Loyalists all the vessels used on the river were either small schooners and sloops or gondolos; but in November, 1783, Hazen and White determined to build two schooners or boats to bring wood to market to carry about eight cords. These little vessels they state were to be managed by two men and were not decked.
Considerable information has already been given in the preceding chapters of this history concerning the first English settlers on the River St. John, and the names of such men as Francis Peabody, Israel Perley, James Simonds, James White, William Hazen, Jonathan and Daniel Leavitt, Beamsley P. and Benjamin Glasier, Benjamin Atherton, William Davidson, Gilfred Studholme and others will be familiar to the majority of our readers. Some further information concerning the early settlers may prove of equal interest.
Nehemiah Beckwith was an active and well known man on the St. John river in his day and generation. He was a descendant of Mathew Beckwith, who came to America from Yorkshire, England, in 1635. The branch of the family to which Nehemiah Beckwith belonged lived chiefly at Lyme in Connecticut. Two brothers, Samuel and John, emigrated from that place to Nova Scotia in 1760, in consequence of the inducements offered by Governor Lawrence to New Englanders to occupy the lands vacated by the Acadians. A fleet of 22 vessels from Connecticut, carrying a considerable colony, entered Minas Basin on the 4th day of June, and the settlers landed near the town plot of Cornwallis. Nehemiah Beckwith was born at Lyme, February 29, 1756, and was the seventh, and youngest, child of Samuel Beckwith by his wife Miriam, who was a daughter of Capt. Reynold Marvin. At the time of his arrival in “bluenose land” he was little more than four years old. The exact date of his arrival at Maugerville is uncertain, but it was probably not long before the 16th December, 1780, when—as we learn from old Sunbury County records—he purchased half of lot No. 78 in Upper Maugerville from Joseph Dunphy for £100. Nehemiah Beckwith is described in the deed of conveyance as “late of Cornwallis but now of Maugerville, Trader.” Mr. Beckwith was quite an enterprising man in the early days of New Brunswick. He was the first to attempt the establishment of regular communication by water between St. John and Fredericton, and for that purpose built in August, 1784, a scow or tow-boat to ply between Parrtown and St. Anns. A little later he built at Mauger’s (or Gilbert’s) Island a ship called the Lord Sheffield, which he sold on the stocks in May, 1786, to Gen’l Benedict Arnold. In consequence of sharp practice on the part of Arnold he was financially ruined. However, in a few years he succeeded in extricating himself from his difficulties and again became an enterprising and useful citizen. At the first general election in this province Mr. Beckwith and James Simonds were candidates for the County of Sunbury, their opponents being Capt. Richard Vanderburg and William Hubbard. The election was conducted after the old fashioned style of open voting, and lasted several days, during which the poll was held in succession at the principal 315 centres. After a sharp party contest between the old inhabitants and the loyalists, the former were outvoted and Simonds and Beckwith consequently defeated. This election helped to intensify the ill-will and jealousy already existing between the “old” and “new” inhabitants. Mr. Beckwith married Miss Julia Le Brun and, after a time, made his residence at Fredericton, where he met his death by drowning in 1815. His son, the late Hon. John A. Beckwith, born in Fredericton, December 1st, 1800, filled many high offices. He was for a time mayor of Fredericton, chairman of the provincial Board of Agriculture, a director of the Quebec and New Brunswick railway and for many years agent of the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Land Company. His son Harry Beckwith was for several years mayor of Fredericton; another son, Charles W. was for years city clerk, and a third, Adolphus G., filled for some time the position of chief engineer of the provincial public works department. A daughter married James Hazen of Oromocto, Sunbury County, and is the mother of J. Douglas Hazen, M. P. P.
Hugh Quinton, who was one of the pioneers who came to St. John in 1762 with Captain Francis Peabody, was born in Cheshire, New Hampshire, in 1741. Being of an adventurous spirit he served, while only a lad in his teens, in one of the provincial regiments at Crown Point in the French war. His wife, Elizabeth Christie of Londonderry, New Hampshire, was born in the same year as her husband. They were married at the age of twenty and came to St. John a year later. According to the late John Quinton (who was Hugh Quinton’s grandson and derived much of his information directly from his grandmother’s lips) Hugh and his wife Elizabeth arrived in St. John on the 28th August, 1762, and on their arrival found shelter at the Old Fort Frederick barracks in Carleton where, on the night of the day of their arrival, their first child James Quinton was born: to him therefore appertains the honor of being the first child of English speaking parents born at St. John. Not long afterwards Hugh Quinton went up the river to Maugerville, of which township he was one of the first grantees. He is described in an old legal document as “Inn-holder,” from which it is evident he furnished entertainment to travellers, or kept a “tavern.” In those days the keeper of a tavern was usually quite an important personage. Many of the first religious services at Maugerville were held at Hugh Quinton’s house, as being centrally situated and more commodious than those of the majority of the settlers. He was himself a member of the Congregational Church. In 1774 he sold his lot of land opposite Middle Island, and removed to Manawagonish in the township of Conway where, as we learn from an enumeration of the settlers made 1st August, 1775, (yet preserved at Halifax) he lived with his family, comprising ten persons in all, in a small log house, his stock of domestic animals including 2 horses, 4 oxen and bulls, 5 cows, 6 young cattle, 13 sheep and 5 swine. In common with the majority of the settlers who came from New England, the sympathies of Hugh Quinton in the Revolutionary war were at first with the “rebels.” He was one of the “rebel committee,” formed at Maugerville in May, 1776, and accompanied Colonel Jonathan Eddy in his quixotic expedition against Fort Cumberland. After this unlucky escapade Hugh Quinton thought better of 316 his conduct, took the oath of allegiance and on several occasions turned out and fought the rebel parties. At the peace in 1783 he drew a lot in Parrtown, at the corner of Charlotte and Princess streets, (where the residence of the late Dr. John Berryman now stands), also one in Carleton. For many years he kept a well known house of entertainment at Manawagonish, Parish of Lancaster. He died in 1792, but his widow lived until the year 1835. He was the ancestor of all of the name who are now resident in the province.
John Jones, the ancestor of the late Hon. Thomas R. Jones and many others of the name in the province, claims a little notice at our hands. His grandfather came to America from Wales about the year 1700, accompanied by his family. They landed at Newburyport, settling, a little later, at Amesbury. This immigrant ancestor met a tragic death at the hands of the Indians. John Jones, who came to St. John, was the youngest of his father’s children. He learned the ship-carpenter’s trade, and came to St. John with William Hazen in 1775 as a master workman to build ships for the firm of Hazen, Simonds and White. The first vessel he was employed in constructing was on the stocks and partly planked when she was burned by a party of marauders from Machias. Mr. Jones’ employers paid him his daily wages for some time, in order to retain his services, under the impression that the Revolutionary war would soon be ended and they would be able to resume the business of ship-building. During this waiting period Jones was not entirely idle—at least he found time to marry a New England girl, Mercy Hilderick by name, who was visiting at the home of her brother-in-law Samuel Peabody. The marriage ceremony was performed by Gervas Say, Esquire, a neighboring justice of the peace. The ravages of the Yankee privateers that infested the shores of the Bay of Fundy obliged Mr. Jones and nearly all his neighbors of the Township of Conway to move up the river. But previous to their departure there occurred John Allan’s famous invasion of the St. John. Allan left a guard of sixty men at the mouth of the river to oppose the landing of the troops under Major Studholme and Col. Francklin. The British landed eventually at Manawagonish Cove near the house of Samuel Peabody and were guided by Messrs. Jones, Peabody and others through the woods to the place where the enemy were encamped on the west side of the river near the falls. The Americans were apprised of their coming and had ambushed themselves—some of them climbing into trees. Major Studholme sent out flanking parties, which fired upon the enemy from either side, killing eight of their number, who were buried in one grave near the spot where they fell; the rest fled terror stricken with all possible speed to Machias. John Jones at first went up the river to Jemseg Point, which was then covered with white oak trees. Later he became acquainted with Edmund Price and, concluding to become his neighbor, removed to the head of Long Reach and settled at the place called “Coy’s Mistake” on Kemble Manor, where he had a property of 400 acres of land. It would be quite impossible in this chapter to follow the various ramifications of the Jones family, for John Jones had a family of eight sons and seven daughters, fourteen of whom married and reared large families. One of the sons, Samuel, born while the family 317 were at Manawagonish, in the first years of the last century had the responsible duty of carrying his Majesty’s weekly mail from St. John to Fredericton. There was, by the way, a curious circumstance connected with this mail, namely, that letters from Halifax to St. John were first carried to Fredericton, as the headquarters of the province, and then returned to St. John. This involved a delay of about a week in delivery. Naturally the beauties of such a system did not strike the citizens of the commercial metropolis at all favorably, and the consequence was a vigorous “kick” on the part of the citizens of St. John that led ere long to a change for the better. The house of John Jones, at the head of Long Reach, was a favorite stopping place for travellers in early times, and the reputation of the family for hospitality was proverbial. The loyalist settlers at Kingston during the summer of 1783 met with much kindness from the Jones family while they were living in their canvas tents and busily engaged in the construction of log houses and in making preparations for the ensuing winter.
The first of the Burpee family in America appears to have been Thomas Burpee, who settled at Rowley in the County of Essex, Massachusetts. This town lies near the north-east corner of the “Old Bay State.” It was settled about 1639, and Thomas Burpee bought a lot there immediately after the first settlement was made. It was from this town and its vicinity that many of the first settlers of the township of Maugerville came in 1762–3. Included in the number were the Burpees, Barkers, Perleys, Jewetts, Palmers and others whose decendants are quite numerous in the province today. Rowley was a stronghold of New England puritanism and, if we are to credit the testimony of the Rev’d. Jacob Bailey, who was born there in 1731 and was a contemporary of Jonathan Burpee and of Jacob Barker, the citizens of Rowley were not remarkable for their enterprise. Mr. Bailey writes that in his day “every man planted as many acres of Indian corn, and sowed the same number with rye; he ploughed with as many oxen, hoed it as often, and gathered in his crop on the same day with his grandfather; he salted down the same quantity of beef and pork, wore the same kind of stockings, and at table sat and said grace with his wife and children around him, just as his predecessors had done before him.” “An uniform method of thinking and acting prevailed, and nothing could be more criminal than for one person to be more learned, religious, or polite than another.”[123]
Doubtless the emigration of the men of Massachusetts, who settled on the River St. John, deprived New England of some of the more enterprising of its people. An indication of the Puritan ancestry of these immigrants who settled on the St. John river is furnished by the Biblical names of a very large majority of the original grantees of Maugerville.[124] Among these names we find the following:—Enoch, 318 Moses, Joshua, Elisha, Samuel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Nehemiah, Jedediah, Isaac, Israel, Jacob, Joseph, Benjamin, Zebulun, David, Jonathan, Phinehas, Jabez, Nathaniel, Asa, Ammi, Thomas, Matthew, Stephen, Peter, James and John.
In the town and parish records of Rowley the name of Thomas Burpee frequently appears—the surname usually in the form of Burkby or Burkbee. The name of Jonathan Burpee (who was probably a great grandson of the first ancestor in America) appears in the list of the first grantees at Maugerville. He was a deacon of the Congregational Church and his name is first in order among the signers of the Church covenant agreed to at Maugerville shortly after the settlement was founded. He was the head of nearly all Church movements up to the time of his death in June, 1781. The papers connected with the administration of his estate are still in existence, and much of the information contained in Dr. Hannay’s valuable sketch of the Township of Maugerville is based upon them. His estate was appraised by Jacob Barker and Daniel Jewett, two of his old neighbors and life-long friends, and was valued at £525. He was considered, in his day, one of the well-to-do farmers of the township.
The simplicity of life which prevailed in this country in the year 1781, is shown by the fact that Jonathan Burpee had no carriage or wagon of any kind and no sleigh—probably the roads were too bad to admit of the use of wheeled vehicles. The deacon, however, had a saddle for himself and a pillion for his wife and daughters. Household furniture was indeed meagre, for that of Deacon Burpee was valued at only £5. 7. 8. But his three good feather beds with pillows, coverlets and bankets were valued at £16. 11. 3.
The cooking in those days was done at the old-fashioned fire place with swinging crane, and the cooking utensils were few and simple. All the dishes in use were of pewter and their number was quite limited. A similar remark applies to the wearing apparel of that time. A beaver hat or a broadcloth suit was regarded as a valuable asset that might be handed on to the second or even to the third generation. Deacon Burpee’s library included “a number of books valued at £2. 2. 6.,” and probably it was as good as any in the settlement.
Commenting on these facts Dr. Hannay justly observes, “We may gather from all this that life was somewhat hard and dry in the Maugerville Settlement, and that even the richest had very few of those things about them which a modern man regards as essential to his comfort.”
Jonathan Burpee’s grandson, David, was a man of mark in the community in which his lot was cast. He filled for a time the office of Sheriff of the old County of Sunbury. To him also appertains the honor of being the first school teacher, of whom we have certain knowledge, within the limits of New Brunswick. In the winter of 1778–9 he conducted a school distant only a few rods from the site of the famous Sheffield Academy of later times.
Among the later descendants of Jonathan Burpee the names of the Hon. Isaac Burpee, minister of Customs in the McKenzie government, and of E. R. Burpee manager of the “Western Extension” R. R., were not long ago as familiar in the province as household words. Descendants of Jonathan and Jeremiah Burpee are now to be found in nearly all the counties bordering on the River St. John.