CHAPTER XVI.

Progress of the Maugerville Settlement.

The township of Maugerville, as described in the grant of October 31, 1765, began “at a Pine Tree on a point of land a little below the Island called Mauger’s Island,” extending 12½ miles up the river with a depth of nearly 11 miles. It embraced the principal part of the parishes of Maugerville and Sheffield, including Oromocto Island and “the Island lying off Wind-mill Point called Middle Island.” In the grant the “Rights” or “Shares” were fixed at 500 acres but the surveyor-general of Nova Scotia, Charles Morris, had intended that the grantees should have 1,000 acres each on account of their being the first adventurers and also on account of the large proportion of sunken lands and lakes within the limits of the township.

At the time the Maugerville grant was made out the obnoxious Stamp Act was about coming into force in America and the Crown Land Office at Halifax was besieged with people pressing for their grants in order to save the stamp duties. In the hurry and confusion existing Mr. Morris says that the shares of the township were inadvertently fixed at 500 acres each, whereas it had been his intention to lay out one hundred farm lots, each forty rods wide and extending one mile deep into the country, and to give each grantee the balance of his 1,000 acres in the subsequent division of the rest of the township. It is quite likely the Maugerville settlers were glad to accept the smaller shares allotted them in view of the fact that they had been so near losing the whole by the decision of the British government to reserve the lands for the disbanded regulars of the army.

By the terms of the grant it was provided that all persons who failed to settle on their lots, with proper stock and materials for the improvement of their lands, before the last day of November, 1767, should forfeit all claim to the lands allotted them. The township was supposed to consist of 200 shares but only 61 shares were included in the grant of 1765. At least two other grants were passed prior to the coming of the Loyalists—one in 1770, the other early in 1783; but there were still some vacant lots which were gladly taken up by these unfortunate exiles. For their accomodation also a grant was made Dec. 22, 1786, of the rear of the township and such men as Samuel Ryerson, Justus Earle, Joseph Ryerson, Wm. Van Allen, Abraham Van Buskirk, Samuel Tilley and Lodewick Fisher[59] were among the grantees.

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Nearly all the original settlers in the township of Maugerville were from Massachusetts, the majority from the single county of Essex. Thus the Burpees were from Rowley, the Perleys from Boxford, the Esteys from Newburyport, while other families were from Haverhill, Ipswich, Gloucester, Salem and other towns of this ancient county which antedates all others in Massachusetts but Plymouth. These settlers were almost exclusively of Puritan stock and members of the Congregationalist churches of New England.

The list of the grantees of the Township of Maugerville, alphabetically arranged, includes the following names:—

The majority of the surnames in the above list will seem wonderfully familiar to the residents of the St. John river counties where their descendants today form a large and influential element in the community.

In his lecture on New Brunswick history delivered in 1840, Moses H. Perley says that in the year 1763 the Maugerville township was settled by 200 families, comprising about 800 persons, who came from Massachusetts in four vessels. There cannot be the slightest doubt that Mr. Perley has greatly over-estimated the number of the original settlers. We have every reason to believe that the population of the township continued steadily to increase and about two years later (Dec. 16, 1766), a census was submitted to the government of Nova Scotia by Lieut. Governor Francklin showing that there were then living at Maugerville 77 men, 46 women, 72 boys and 66 girls, a total of 261 souls; and it may be added that during the year 17 new settlers had arrived and 14 children were born, while the number of deaths was but 3. That the new settlers were anxious to fulfil the conditions of their grants is shown by the fact that they already possessed 10 horses, 78 oxen and bulls, 145 sows, 156 young cattle, 376 sheep and 181 swine. Their crop for the year included: Wheat 599 bushels, Rye 1,866 do., Beans 145 do., Oats 57 do., Pease 91 do., Flaxseed 7 do. A grist and saw-mill had been built and two sloops were 160 owned by the settlers. Some attempt had also been made at raising flax and hemp.

The settlement at Maugerville was visited by Hon. Charles Morris, the surveyor general of Nova Scotia, in 1767, and it is not improbable the census taken by order of Lieut. Governor Franklin was made under his supervision. Mr. Morris was evidently much surprised at the progress the settlers had made, for in a letter of the 25th January, 1768, he says:—

“Opposite to Oromocto River, upon the northerly side of the River St. John’s, is the English settlement of disbanded soldiers from New England, consisting of about eighty families, who have made great Improvements, and are like to make an established Settlement there. And by some tryals they have made of hemp upon the intervale it succeeded beyond their expectation. I measured myself Hemp that was nine feet high, that had not come to its full growth in the latter end of July. They generally have about twenty bushels of Maze and about twenty bushels of Wheat from an acre of land, that was only cleared of its woods and harrowed without ever having a Plow in it. When I was on the River last year, I saw myself eighty bushes of Indian Corn raised from one acre of land that had been ploughed and properly managed. I would observe that the Corn raised on this River is not the same kind as the Corn in New England; neither the climate or soil would be suitable to it; they get their seed from Canada and they sow it in rows about three feet distant as we do Pease in our gardens; it takes about a bushel to sow an acre; the ears grow close to the ground as thick as they can stick one by another, pointing outwards like a Cheveaux de Frise upon each side of the rows; the richness of the soil, the manner of sowing it and of its growing, may account very easily for its producing so much to the acre. Some of the old French Inhabitants of the River have informed me that they have raised, in a seasonable year, near one hundred bushels of Indian Corn per acre.”

The alluvial character of the soil of Maugerville, its freedom from stone and from dense forest growth, no doubt attracted the first English settlers and decided the choice of their location, just as the same features attracted the brothers d’Amours and others of the French nearly a century before. The French, too, recorded as the principal drawback of the location, the losses and annoyances consequent upon the inundation of their fields and premises by the spring freshets.[60] A short experience convinced the English settlers that the complaints of their predecessors were well founded.

As Maugerville divides with Portland Point the honor of being the first permanent English settlement at the River St. John, it is proper to describe in some fulness of detail the movements of its founders. They were a sturdy and adventurous race. The great majority had seen active service in the “old French war”—some of them had fought under Wolfe at the taking of Quebec. The Indian war-cry was a sound not unfamiliar to their ears, and so their interview with the savages of Aukpaque, upon their arrival, taught them the dangers of their situation. 161 It really required more hardihood to plunge into the wilderness than to settle under the protection of Fort Frederick at the river’s mouth.

The proximity of the Indian town of Aukpaque; a few miles above, probably induced the majority of the Maugerville people to settle in the lower part of the township. At any rate for some years no one resided farther up the river than lot No. 57, about five miles below the Nashwaak, where lived the Widow Clark, a resolute old dame whom nothing could dismay.

It is interesting to note that Simonds and White contemplated at one time the erection of a Truck-house at Maugerville for their Indian trade, and a frame was prepared for the building, but before it was raised some difficulties arose between the Indians and the Whites and the matter was deferred for a year or two. The frame was then sent up the river in the sloop “Bachelor” and landed on lot No. 66, belonging to Mr. Simonds, “near the then upper settlement of Maugerville.” This was the only place available as none of the settlers desired to have the Truck-house near them. However the carpenters found the frame so warped as not to be worth setting up and the project was abandoned.

The first band of settlers came to Maugerville in 1763, probably in small vessels hired for the occasion. From time to time the colony received additions from New England. The later comers usually took their passage in some of the vessels owned by Messrs. Hazen, Simonds and White, which furnished the readiest means of communication. There are many interesting items in the account books[61] kept by Simonds and White at their store at Portland Point in connection with the Maugerville settlers. For example Captain Francis Peabody is charged with the following items, under date January 15, 1765:—

“To passage in schooner of 4 Passengers from New England at 12s. £ 2 8 0
Freight of 9 Heiffers at 12s. 5 8 0
Club of Cyder for 5 men at 13s. 6d. each 3 7 6
5 Tons of Hay for cattle on passage 10 0 0
Freight of sheep 3 6 0

“To passage in schooner of 4 Passengers from New England at 12s.£ 280
Freight of 9 Heiffers at 12s.580
Club of Cyder for 5 men at 13s. 6d. each376
5 Tons of Hay for cattle on passage1000
Freight of sheep360

In the same schooner there came Jacob Barker, jun., Oliver Perley, Zebulon Estey, Humphrey Pickard and David Burbank, each of whom paid twelve shillings passage money from Newburyport to St. John and 13s. 6d. for “his club of Cyder” on the voyage. David Burbank brought with him a set of Mill irons, which is suggestive of enterprise, but his stay appears to have been but brief, for on the 20th April, 1767, he sold his land (about five miles below the Nashwaak) to William Brawn, the son of an original grantee of the township, and the deed was acknowledged before John Anderson, Justice of the Peace at Moncton[62] the 29th of April.

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The upper boundary of the Township of Maugerville now forms a part of the dividing line between the Counties of York and Sunbury. The lower boundary of the township began near the foot of Maugers’ Island, about two miles above the Queens-Sunbury county line. Middle Island, which occupies a middle position between Oromocto Island above and Mauger’s (or Gilbert’s) Island below, was in a sense the centre of the township, and it must not be forgotten by the reader that what was in early days the principal section of the Township of Maugerville is now the Parish of Sheffield. The lots are numbered beginning at Middle Island and running down the river to No. 39, then starting again at the upper end of the grant, at the York county line, and running down the river to Middle Island, so that the last lot, No. 100, adjoins the first lot. The oldest plan of the township in the Crown Land office shows the state of settlement at a date subsequent to that of the original grant, and during the interval a good many changes had occurred. The early grantees were about eighty in number.

Reference to the accompanying plan of the river will show the locations of the early settlers of Maugerville; they will be mentioned in order ascending the river.

The lower ten lots of the township and Mauger’s Island were granted to Joshua Mauger. Just above were the lots of Gervas Say, Nehemiah Hayward, John Russell, Samuel Upton, Zebulon Estey, John Estey, Richard Estey and Edward Coy.

At the head of Mauger’s Island were the lots of Matthew Wason, Samuel Whitney and Samuel Tapley.

Between Mauger’s Island and Middle Island the lots were those of Jeremiah Burpee, Jonathan Burpee, Jacob Barker, Daniel Jewett, Ezekiel Saunders, Humphrey Pickard, Moses Pickard, Jacob Barker, jr., Isaac Stickney and Jonathan Smith.

Opposite Middle Island, in order ascending, were Thomas Barker, John Wason, Daniel Palmer, Richard Kimball, Joseph Garrison, Samuel Nevers, Peter Mooers, Richard Estey, jr., Jabez Nevers, Enoch Dow and Hugh Quinton.

Between Middle and Oromocto islands were Thomas Christie, Elisha Nevers, Jedediah Stickney, Stephen Peabody, Capt. Francis Peabody and William McKeen.

Opposite Oromocto Island were Israel Perley (at the foot of the island), Lt.-Col. Beamsley P. Glasier, John Whipple, Nathaniel Rideout, Capt. Francis Peabody, Alexander Tapley, Phineas Nevers, Joseph Dunphy, William Harris, Ammi Howlet, Samuel Peabody and Oliver Peabody.

Above Oromocto Island we find the lots of Asa Perley, Oliver Perley, George Munro, James Simonds, Joseph Buber, Joseph Shaw, Benjamin Brawn, Daniel Burbank, Thomas Hartt and the Widow Clark. Thence to the upper boundary of the township, a distance of two miles, there were at first no settlers, but in the course of time Richard Barlow, Nehemiah Beckwith, Benjamin Atherton, Jeremiah Howland and others took up lots.

PLAN OF MAUGERVILLE, INCLUDING SHEFFIELD.

The names of the majority of the Maugerville grantees appear in the account books kept by Simonds and White at their store at Portland Point and a lot 163 164 of interesting family history might be gleaned from the old faded pages. There are other items of interest in the records of the old County of Sunbury.

In nearly all the early settlements made on the River St. John some encouragement was offered for the erection of a mill, and when the signers under Captain Francis Peabody met at Andover in April, 1762, previous to their leaving Massachusetts, it was agreed that each signer should pay six shillings towards erecting a mill in their township. The streams in Maugerville are so inconsiderable that it may be presumed some difficulty would arise on this head. This is confirmed by the fact that in the grant of 1763 the point of land opposite Middle Island is called “Wind-mill Point.” However an old deed shows that Richard Estey, jr., had on his lot No. 100 (opposite Middle Island) a mill built on what is called Numeheal creek, of which the first owners were Mr. Estey and his neighbor, Thomas Barker. This mill was sold in 1779 to James Woodman and was employed in sawing boards and other lumber for the Loyalists at St. John during the summer of 1783.

Not all of the grantees of the Township of Maugerville were actual settlers. Of several we know little more than the names. This is the case with James Chadwell, whose name appears first in the grant, and with Moses Davis, Thomas Rous, Jonathan Parker, Hugh Shirley, Nathaniel Newman and James Vibart.

Two other non-resident grantees were men of influence and in their day made sufficient stir in the world to claim further notice. The first bore the imposing name of Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres. This gentleman is believed to have been a native of Switzerland. He obtained a commission in the English army and served with distinction under Wolfe at the siege of Quebec. At the time the Maugerville settlement was founded he was a lieutenant in the 60th Regiment, but being an excellent engineer, had lately been engaged by the Board of Admiralty to make exact surveys and charts of the coasts and harbors of Nova Scotia. In this work DesBarres was employed a good many years. Nearly two seasons were spent in making a careful survey of Sable Island—the grave-yard of the Atlantic—where DesBarres tells us the sands were strewn with wreckage and thousands had already perished for want of known soundings. Some of the results of his prolonged labors may be seen in the three huge volumes of the Atlantic Neptune (each as large as a fair sized table) in the Crown Land office at Fredericton. Commenting on the length of time spent in his surveys DesBarres remarks:

“Interruptions from fogs and precarious weather, unavoidably made tedious a performance in which accuracy is the chief thing desired, and rendered many years necessary to complete it for publication; but when the author reflects that the accuracy and truth of his work will stand the test of ages, and preserve future navigators from the horrors of shipwreck and destruction, he does not repine at its having employed so large a portion of his life.”

The engrossing nature of his occupation as engineer did not hinder DesBarres from being an ambitious land speculator. In 1765 he obtained, in conjunction with General Haldimand and one or two others, a grant of the Township of Hopewell, comprising 100,000 acres on the Petitcodiac river. But he derived little benefit 165 from his lands, as he was unable to fulfill the conditions of settlement, and eventually they reverted to the crown.

In 1784, Des Barres was appointed Lieut. Governor of Cape Breton, and afterwards Lieut. Governor of Prince Edward Island. He died at Halifax on the 27th October, 1824, and was honored with a state funeral at which the attendance was great and the interest felt very remarkable. This was due, in some measure, to the fact that had he lived another month he would have attained the extraordinary age of 103 years. Beamish Murdoch observes:

“Colonel DesBarres’ scientific labors on our coasts, and his repute as one of the heroes of 1759 under Wolfe at Quebec, gave him a claim on the gratitude and reverence of all Nova Scotians.”

This sentiment was not shared by the Acadians of Memramcook, who found difficulty in resisting the claims of the heirs of DesBarres to the lands they had settled. Two Lots in the upper part of the Township of Maugerville were granted to Governor DesBarres and had he settled there he would have been the next-door neighbor of the Widow Clark, but there is nothing to show that he made any attempt to improve his lands in that quarter and so his connection with the settlement is nothing but a name.

Joshua Mauger, the other non-resident grantee to whom reference has been made, was an English merchant who came to America as a contractor under government for furnishing supplies to the army at Louisbourg. When Cape Breton was restored to France, in 1749, Louisbourg was evacuated and Mauger came with the troops to Halifax. Shortly after his arrival he and other merchants asked permission to build wharves on the beach for the accommodation of their business. In 1751 he was appointed agent for victualling the Navy. Grog was at that time freely dispensed in the army and navy, and Mauger erected a distillery where he manufactured the rum required for the troops and seamen. As the business was lucrative he soon accumulated much property in and around Halifax, including the well known Mauger’s Beach at the entrance of Halifax harbor. He had also shops at Pisiquid and Minas—or, as they are now called, Windsor and Horton—where he sold goods and spirits to the French and Indians. He returned to England in 1761 and was appointed agent for the Province of Nova Scotia in London. The year following he was elected a member of Parliament.

Joshua Mauger in his position as Agent for the province was able to render it essential service, and in the year 1766 the legislature of Nova Scotia voted the sum of £50 for a piece of plate as a testimonial of their appreciation of his “zeal and unwearied application” in their behalf. As already mentioned, it was chiefly due to his energy that the Massachusetts settlers on the River St. John were confirmed in possession of their township. For his services in this connection, however, he was not unrewarded; not only was the township named in his honor, but the large island, since known as Mauger’s or Gilbert’s Island, was granted to him, together with ten lots, at the lower end of the township. When the Loyalists arrived they looked with somewhat covetous eyes on these interval lands which were settled by tenants at a yearly rental of £3 for each lot. Mauger’s Island was purchased by 166 Colonel Thomas Gilbert, the well known Loyalist of Taunton, Massachusetts, and by him bequeathed to his eldest son, Thomas Gilbert, jr. The latter writes so entertainingly and so enthusiastically of his situation, in a letter to his sister and her husband, that we venture to depart, for a moment, from the chronological order of events in order to give some extracts.

“On Board Major’s Island, Sept. 30, 1799.

Dear Brother and Sister,— * * * I have made great improvements on board this island. Three summers ago I built a large house, the Carpenter just as he had finished the work took a brand of fire by accident and burnt it all to ashes with three hundred pounds of property in it. It happened the 15th of November, winter set in next day. I fled to a small house I had on the island. Ice making in the River there was no passing, but my Neighbors knew my situation and assembled of their own good will[63]—in four weeks put me into a good framed house forty feet long twenty wide with a good chimney, where I lived the winter very comfortably. In the spring I went to work and built a House 38 by 36 and set it on to the other, which occupies the same ground that the other did, and I finished it to a latch from top to bottom. * * * * The summer past I have built me a barn 80 feet by 34 completely finished and said to be the best in the Province.

‘I wonder you don’t come yourself or send some of your family to help us enjoy this fine country. We feel no war nor pay any tax. Our land brings forth abundantly; it is almost incredible to see the Produce; it makes but little odds when you plant or sow, at harvest time you will have plenty. This last spring was late, the water was not off so that I could plant till the 21st of June, and so till the 26th we planted, and you never saw so much corn in any part of the States to the acre as I have got, and wheat and everything to the greatest perfection. I wonder how you and my Friends can prefer digging among the Stones and paying Rates to an easy life in this country. Last year I sold beef, pork and mutton more than I wanted for my family for three hundred Pounds, besides two colts for forty pounds apiece. A few days ago I sold four colts before they were broke for one hundred and ten pounds and I have sixteen left. I have a fine stock of cattle and sheep—butter and cheese is as plenty here as herrings are at Taunton—a tenant lives better here than a Landlord at Berkley. I am blesst with the best Neighbors that ever drew breath—they are made of the same stuff that our forefathers were that first settled New England. * * * * I live under the protection of the King, and I am stationed by his Laws on this Island, the finest farm in the Province. I don’t intend to weigh my anchor nor start from this till I have orders from the Governor of all things—then I hope to obey the summons with joy and gladness—with Great Expectation, to meet you in Heaven where I hope to rest.”

Benjamin Atherton removed to St. Anns about 1769 where at the time the Loyalists arrived he is reported to have had a good framed house and log barn and about 30 acres of land, cleared in part by the French. This land was near the Government House, and here in early days, Messrs. Simonds & White established a trading post to which the Indians and Acadians and some of the English settlers resorted. The store was managed by Benjamin Atherton who had an interest in the business. Mr. Atherton was a man of ability and good education and filled the office of clerk of the peace of the county of Sunbury—at that time including nearly all New Brunswick.

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Hugh Quinton, Samuel Peabody, Gerves Say and William McKeen removed at an early date to the mouth of the river and we shall hear more of them in connection with that locality.

Edward Coy, Thomas Hart and Zebulun Estey removed to Gagetown. Some facts concerning Edward Coy are related in a curious old book published at Boston in 1849 entitled “A Narrative of the Life and Christian Experience of Mrs. Mary Bradley of Saint John, New Brunswick, written by Herself.” From this source we learn that the Coys were originally McCoys but that the “Mac” was dropped by Edward Coy’s grandfather and never resumed by the family. The Coys came from Pomfret in Connecticut to the River St. John in 1763 and the family removed from Gagetown to Sheffield in 1776. One of Edward Coy’s daughters is said to have been the first female child of English speaking parents born on the St. John river. The curious “cul de sac” in the river opposite the mouth of the Belleisle known as “The Mistake” was formerly called “Coy’s Mistake”—the name doubtless suggests the incident in which it had its origin. Many a traveller since the time of Edward Coy has incautiously entered the same cul-de-sac, thinking it the channel of the river, and, after proceeding two or three miles, found he too had made a “mistake” and retraced his way a sadder and a wiser man.

Zebulun Estey and Thomas Hart went to Gagetown while the war of the Revolution was in progress. The sentiments of the two were diverse during the war. Mr. Hart was one of the committee who helped to organize the party that went with the Americans, under Colonel Jonathan Eddy, against Fort Cumberland, in 1775. He is described in Major Studholme’s report as “a rebel.” Zebulun Estey on the other hand is described as “a good man and his character very loyal.”

Naturally the large number of those who removed from Maugerville on account of the inconveniences of the spring freshets went across the river to the Township of Burton, in some cases still retaining their property in Maugerville. Among those who so removed were Isaac Stickney, Israel Estey, Moses Estey, John Larlee, Amos Estey, John Pickard, Benjamin Brawn, Edward Barker, Israel Kinney, John Shaw and Thomas Barker. These were chiefly original grantees or their sons, who all removed to Burton during the progress of the Revolution, excepting John Larlee and Israel Kinney who went there in 1767. John Larlee was one of the old time doctors, a man highly respected whose descendants now are chiefly residents of Carleton county. Israel Kinney was probably the first blacksmith in the community.

Among those not included in the original band of settlers at Maugerville, but who arrived there shortly afterwards, was Moses Coburn, who came from Newburyport to St. John in the schooner Eunice early in 1767. This little vessel had quite a number of passengers for the River St. John, including James Simonds, Oliver Perley, Alexander Tapley and Stephen Hovey, but the voyage is of special interest from the fact that there was a bride on board, the young wife of James Simonds, formerly Hannah Peabody—a bride of sixteen. The Eunice had a fine passage and arrived at St. John on the 26th April, 1767.

Moses Coburn settled on lot No. 23, not far below the present Sheffield Academy. 168 The lot had been drawn by Edward Coy, one of the original grantees of the township, who took up his residence in Gagetown, but afterwards removed to Maugerville.

Alexander Tapley was one of the passengers in the Eunice. He lived at Maugerville prior to April 22, 1765, for on that date he sold 8½ lbs. of Beaver to Simonds & White for the sum of £2 2s. 6d., and purchased in return a number of articles including a pair of women’s shoes at 5 shillings, and a pair of “men’s pomps” at 7 shillings. A curious incident in connection with Alexander Tapley is to be found in the old court records of the County of Sunbury. It seems that having been appointed constable he declined to qualify and take the oath of office. In consequence he was summoned on the 20th May, 1774, to appear before Israel Perley and Jacob Baker, two of the magistrates, “to give a reason (if any he hath) for the refusing to serve as a constable for said town of Maugerville.” To this citation Tapley paid no regard, whereupon the magistrates, in high dudgeon, fined him forty shillings and issued a warrant to Samuel Upton, constable, who “took a cow of the said Tapley to satisfy the fine and costs, which sum was ordered to remain in the said constable’s hand till called for.”

Giles Tidmarsh was one of the transient settlers of Maugerville. The account books of Simonds and White show that he lived on the river at least as early as October, 1765—the first item charged in his acount is: “Oct. 23d, To 1 Fusee, £2.” On July 23, 1767, Tidmarsh was granted 1,000 acres in the township of Maugerville. Some years later his name appears as a Halifax magistrate, and in the year 1775 he was a Planter in the Island of Grenada. On Nov. 30th of that year he sold to Jacob Barker, jr., the half of lot No. 11, in Upper Sheffield, about 250 acres, for £32.

The descendants of the early settlers on the River St. John will find some very interesting information in the old accounts of Simonds & White as to the date and manner of the arrival of their forefathers in this country, and something too as regards their way of living.

In the early days of Maugerville it was quite a common occurrence for an intending settler to leave his family in New England till he had succeeded in making a small clearing and had built a log house for their accommodation, and a hovel for such domestic animals as he chose to bring with him. This in some measure explains the fact that while according to the census of Michael Francklin there were 77 men in Maugerville at the close of the year 1766 there were only 46 women. Here is an example from the account books of Simonds & White which will serve for illustration in this connection; it appears under date August 18, 1769:—

Nehemiah Hayward to Simonds & White, Dr.

To his passage to Newbury in the Polly last March. 20s.
His and wife’s passage to this place 20s.
1 Cow, 10s.; 1 Child, 5s. 15s.

To his passage to Newbury in the Polly last March.20s.
His and wife’s passage to this place20s.
1 Cow, 10s.; 1 Child, 5s.15s.

Evidently Mr. Hayward had made a home for his wife and child on the banks of the St. John and had now gone to bring them on from Newburyport. His farm was in the lower part of Sheffield.

Most of the live stock for the Maugerville people was shipped from Newburyport 169 to St. John in the vessels of Hazen, Simonds and White. One of the first horses in the settlement was owned by Ammi Howlet, who paid £2 as freight for the animal in a sloop that arrived in May, 1765.

It is manifestly impossible to follow the history of every family represented in the grantees of Maugerville. Of the 261 souls that comprised the population of the township in 1767, all were natives of America with the exception of six English, ten Irish, four Scotch and six Germans. The majority were of Puritan stock and members of the congregationalist churches of Massachusetts. Scarcely had they settled themselves in their new possessions when they began the organization of a church. Dr. James Hannay in his very interesting paper on the Maugerville Settlement, published in the collections of the New Brunswick Historical Society, gives a copy of the original church covenant certified as correct by Humphrey Pickard, the church clerk. The covenant is signed by Jonathan Burpee, Elisha Nevers, Richard Estey, Daniel Palmer, Gervas Say, Edward Coy and Jonathan Smith. The opening paragraph reads:

“We whose names are hereto subscribed, apprehending ourselves called of God (for advancing of His Kingdom and edifying ourselves and posterity) to combine and embody ourselves into a distinct Church Society, and being for that end orderly dismissed from the Churches to which we heretofore belonged; do (as we hope) with some measure of seriousness and sincerity, take upon us the following covenant, viz.:—

“As to matters of faith we cordially adhere to the principles of religion (at least the substance of them) contained in the Shorter Catechism of the Westminister Assembly of Divines wherewith also the New England Confession of Faith harmonizeth, not as supposing that there is any authority, much less infalibility, in these human creeds or forms; but verily believing that these principles are drawn from and agreeable to the Holy Scripture, which is the foundation and standard of truth; hereby declaring our utter dislike of the Pelagian Arminian principles, vulgarly so called.

“In a firm belief of the aforesaid doctrines from an earnest desire that we and ours may receive the love of them and be saved with hopes that what we are now doing may be a means of so great an happiness; we do now (under a sense of our utter unworthiness of the honour and privileges of God’s Covenant people) in solemn and yet free and cheerful manner give up ourselves and offspring to God the Father, to the Son the Mediator, and the Holy Ghost the instructor, sanctifier and comforter, to be henceforth the people and servants of this God, to believe in all His revalations, to accept of His method of reconciliation, to obey His commands, and to keep all His ordinances, to look to and depend upon Him to do all for us, and work all in us, especially relating to our eternal salvation, being sensible that of ourselves we can do nothing.

“And it is also our purpose and resolution (by Divine assistance) to discharge the duties of Christian love and Brotherly watchfulness towards each other, to train up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord: to join together in setting up and maintaining the Publick worship of God among us, carefully and joyfully to attend upon Christ’s Sacrament and institutions; to yield all obedience and submission to Him or them that shall from time to time in an orderly manner be made overseers of the flock, to submit to all the regular administrations and censures of the Church and to contribute all in our power unto the regularity and peaceableness of those administrations.

“And respecting Church discipline it is our purpose to adhere to the method contained in the platform or the substance of it agreed upon by the synod at Cambridge 170 in New England Ano. Dom. 1648 as thinking these methods of Church Discipline the nearest the Scripture and most likely to maintain and promote Purity, order and peace of any.

“And we earnestly pray that God would be pleased to smile upon this our undertaking for His Glory, that whilst we thus subscribe with our hands, to the Lord and sirname ourselves by the Name of Israel; we may through grace given us become Israelites indeed in whom there is no Guile, that our hearts may be right with God and we be steadfast in His Covenant, that we who are now combining together in a new church of Jesus Christ, may by the purity of our faith and morals become one of those Golden Candlesticks among which the Son of God in way of favor and protection will condescend to walk. And that every member of it thro’ imputed righteousness and inherent grace may hereafter be found among that happy Multitude whom the glorious head of the Church, the Heavenly Bridegroome shall present to Himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing.”

No date is attached to this church covenant, but it was in all probability drawn up within a year or two of the date of arrival of the first settlers. Jonathan Burpee, whose name comes first in the order of signers, was a deacon in the church, and for some years the leader in all church movements. He lived in that part of Sheffield just above the Academy and was the ancestor of the Hon. Isaac Burpee, who was minister of customs in the Mackenzie government, and of many others of the name. His son, Jeremiah Burpee, lived beside him and a grandson, David Burpee, was another neighbor.

It was not until some years after the organization of the church that there was any settled minister on the St. John river and those desirous of entering the holy estate of matrimony were obliged like James Simonds to proceed to Massachusetts or to follow the example off Gervas Say and Anna Russell, whose marriage is described in the following unique document:—

“Maugerville, February 23, 1766.

“In the presence of Almighty God and this Congregation, Gervas Bay and Anna Russell, inhabitants of the above said township enter into marriage Covenant lawfully to dwell together in the fear of God the remaining part of our lives, in order to perform all ye duties necessary betwixt husband and wife as witness our hands.

  • Daniel Palmer,
  • Fras. Peabody,
  • Saml. Whitney,
  • Richard Estey,
  • George Hayward,
  • David Palmer,
  • Edwd. Coye.
  • Gervas Say,
  • Anna Say.

Daniel Palmer, Fras. Peabody, Saml. Whitney, Richard Estey, George Hayward, David Palmer, Edwd. Coye. Gervas Say, Anna Say.

Gervas Say was one of the signers of the church covenant as also were three of the witnesses, Richard Estey, Daniel Palmer, and Edward Coye, and it may be assumed that the marriage was regarded as perfectly proper under the circumstances and it is not improbable that, in the absence of a minister, this was the ordinary mode of marriage. Gervas Say was afterwards a magistrate of the county and a man of integrity, ability and influence.

During the earlier years of the settlement at Maugerville there was no resident minister, but the place was occasionally visited by a clergyman. It is said that the first religious teacher there was a Mr. Wellman who came to Maugerville with 171 some of the first settlers but did not remain. There is nothing to show that when the church covenant was signed, in the year 1765, there was any resident minister. The Reverend Thomas Wood of Annapolis, a Church of England clergyman, visited the River St. John in the Summer of 1769, and on Sunday, July 9th, landed at Maugerville, where he held service and had a congregation of more than two hundred persons. He stated in his report to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, that owing to the fact that the congregation was composed chiefly of Dissenters from New England, and that they had a Dissenting minister among them, only two persons were baptised by him, but, he added, “if a prudent missionary could be settled among them I believe all their prejudices would vanish.”

The next year the little settlement had a minister, Zephaniah Briggs, who remained from May to August, preaching on Sundays at the houses of Daniel Palmer, Jacob Barker, Hugh Quinton, Jonathan Smith and Elisha Nevers. After a while came a Mr. Webster who, like his predecessor, seems to have been an itinerant preacher and did not tarry long.

It was not until the arrival of the Rev. Seth Noble[64], in 1774, that the church had a resident pastor, but in the intervals religious services were held on the Lord’s Day at private houses, conducted by the deacons and elders of the church, consisting of prayer and exhortation, reading of a sermon and singing. Among the early deacons were Jonathan Burpee, Samuel Whitney, John Shaw, and Humphrey Pickard. The elders were chosen annually.

The records of the church, which are yet in existence, show that the promise, made by the signers of the original covenant, to maintain “Brotherly watchfulness toward each other,” was by no means lost sight of for many of the entries in the church records are devoted to matters of discipline. In September, 1773, for example, two rather prominent members of the church, Israel Kenny and Benjamin Brawn, were called to account, and after due acknowledgment of their faults before the congregation were “restored to their charity again.” One of the two offending brethren, who had been charged with “scandalous sins,” was elected a ruling elder of the church less than two years afterwards.

The year 1774, gave to Maugerville its first settled minister, the Rev. Seth Noble, and the circumstances connected with his appointment are thus stated in the minutes of the clerk of the church, Daniel Palmer:

“At a meeting held by the subscribers to a bond for the support of the Preached gospel among us at the House of Mr. Hugh Quinton inholder on Wednesday ye 15 of June 1774.

1ly Chose Jacob Barker Esqr. Moderator in Sd. meeting.

2ly Gave Mr. Seth Noble a call to settle in the work of the ministry among us.

3ly to give Mr. Seth Noble as a settlement providing he accept of the call, one hundred and twenty Pounds currency.

4ly Voted to give Mr. Seth Noble yearly salary of sixty five pounds currency so long as he shall continue our Minister to be in Cash or furs or grain at cash price.

5ly. Chose Esqrs., Jacob Barker, Phinehas Nevers, Israel Pearly, Deacon 172 Jonathan Burpee and Messrs. Hugh Quinton, Daniel Palmer, Moses Coburn, Moses Pickard a Committee to treat with Seth Noble.

6ly Adjourned the meeting to be held at the House of Mr. Hugh Quinton on Wednesday ye 29 Instat, at four of the clock in the afternoon to hear the report of the committee.

Met on the adjournment on Wednesday ye 29 of June 1774 and voted as an addition to the salary of Mr. Seth Noble if he should except of our Call, to cut and haul twenty five cords of wood to his house yearly so long as he shall continue to be our Minister. The meeting dissolved.”

THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AT SHEFFIELD.

The call having been accepted by Mr. Noble, the people the following year set about the erection of a meeting house, which was to serve also as a residence for their pastor. In January, 1776, it was so far advanced that the exterior was nearly completed, for in David Burpee’s book of accounts, under that date, there is a charge for work done by Messrs. Plummer and Bridges in “clapboarding one third of the east end of the meeting house.” When finished the building was doubtless a very unpretentious little structure not at all like a modern church edifice and very unlike its successor, the Congregational church in Sheffield, but it was the first Protestant place of worship erected on the River St. John.

In the order of survey of the Township of Maugerville, made by the Government of Nova Scotia in 1761, were the words “You shall Reserve four Lots in the Township, 173 for Publick use, one as a Glebe for the Church of England, one of the Dissenting Protestants, one for the maintenance of a School, and one for the first settled minister in the Place.”

In accordance with this arrangement Lot No. 15, where the Sheffield Congregational church now stands, was fixed on in the year 1764 as a glebe for the “Dissenting Protestants.” Improvements were made upon the lot and a part of it used as a burial ground. The first meeting house, however, was not built there. It probably stood on lot 13, the property of Jeremiah Burpee and later of his son, David Burpee. In the church records we have the following minute bearing upon the subject, the meaning of which, however, does not seem perfectly clear:—

“At a meeting of the Subscribers for the support of the Preached Gospel held at the meeting house in Sheffield on the 15th day of December, 1788—

Chose Mr. Daniel Jewett Chairman.

“2ndly. Voted that the meeting house be set on the public lot in Sheffield.

“3rdly. Voted to remove the meeting house in Maugerville to the public lot in Sheffield if the proprietor thereof consents thereto.

“4thly. Chose Messers. Nathan Smith, Silvanus Plumer, Eben Briggs, Elijah Dingee and Jacob Barker, Esq., managers to remove the same.”

The meeting house was removed early in the spring, placed upon a stone foundation, a steeple erected, and many improvements made.

If the Rev. Seth Noble had remained he would doubtless have had a grant of the lot reserved for the first settled minister in the township, but his removal in the year 1777 not only lost him the lot but caused it to pass eventually to the Rev. John Beardsley, rector of the church of England congregation.

Some years after he left Maugerville Mr. Noble wrote to his former congregation respecting this lot but they gave him rather a tart reply: “You was indeed told,” said they, “that there was a lot of land in Maugerville reserved by Government to be given to the first settled minister in fee simple, and had you continued as such undoubtedly you would have obtained a grant of it. But when you left this country you then (in the eyes of the government) forfeited all pretentions to that privilege and the man that would ask for it in your behalf would only get abuse. By your leaving us the dissenters have lost that privilege and the Church of England minister gets the lot. Though we must observe that during Mrs. Noble’s residence here she had the improvement of it which was worth about five pounds per annum.”[65]

Lot No. 90, reserved as a glebe for the Church of England, is that on which Christ Church in the Parish of Maugerville stands today. The Congregational and Episcopal churches, at the time New Brunswick was separated from Nova Scotia, represented respectively the Puritan and Loyalist elements of the community, and their relations were by no means cordial. Mutual antipathy existed for at least a couple of generations, but the old wounds are now fairly well healed and the causes of discord well nigh forgotten.

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The intercourse between the Maugerville people and the smaller colony at the mouth of river was so constant that it is difficult to speak of the one without the other. For a few years the people living on the river were in a large measure dependent for supplies upon the store kept by Simonds and White at Portland Point, and the names of the following Maugerville settlers are found in the ledger of Simonds and White in the year 1765 and shortly after, viz.: Jacob Barker, Jacob Barker jr., Thomas Barker, Jeremiah Burpee, David Burbank, Moses Coburn, Thomas Christie, Zebulun Estey, Richard Estey, jr., John Estey, Col. Beamsley Glacier, Joseph Garrison, Jonathan Hart, William Harris, Nehemiah Hayward, Samuel Hoyt, Ammi Howlet, Daniel Jewett, Richard Kimball, John Larlee, Peter Moores, Phinehas Nevers, Elisha Nevers, Samuel Nevers, Capt. Francis Peabody, Samuel Peabody, Israel Perley, Oliver Perley, Daniel Palmer, Humphrey Pickard, Hugh Quinton, Nicholas Rideout, Jonathan Smith, John Shaw, Gervis Say, Isaac Stickney, Samuel Tapley, Alexander Tapley, Giles Tidmarsh, John Wasson, Jonathan Whipple and Samuel Whitney.

In return for goods purchased the settlers tendered furs, lumber, occasionally an old piece of silver, sometimes their own labor and later they were able to supply produce from their farms. Money they scarcely ever saw. Very often they gave notes of hand which they found it hard to pay. The furs they supplied were principally beaver skins at five shillings (or one dollar) per pound. They also supplied martin, otter and musquash skin, the latter at 4½ pence each. The lumber supplied included white oak barrel staves at 20 shillings per thousand, red oak hogshead starves at 20 shillings per thousand, “Oyl nut” (Butternut) staves at 16 shillings per thousand, clapboards at 25 shillings and oar rafters at £2 per thousand feet. Considering the labor involved—for the manufacture was entirely by hand—prices seem small; but it must be borne in mind that 2s. 6d. was a day’s pay for a man’s labor at this time.

The Indians had for so long a time enjoyed a monopoly of the fur trade that they regarded the white hunter with a jealous eye. Indeed in the year 1765 they assembled their warriors and threatened to begin a new war with the English. The settlers an the river were much alarmed and the commandant of Fort Frederick, Capt. Pierce Butler, of the 29th Regiment, doubled his sentries. Through the persuasion of the commandant, assisted by Messrs. Simonds and White and other leading inhabitants, the chiefs were induced to go to Halifax and lay their complaints before the Governor. One of the most influential inhabitants on the river accompanied them, whose name is not stated but it was very probably James Simonds, at least he writes to his partners at Newburyport in November of this year, “The dispute with the Indians is all settled to the satisfaction of the government as well as the Indians.”

At their first interview the chiefs insisted that the white settlers interfered with the rights of the Indians by encroaching on their hunting grounds, clamming that it was one of the conditions of a former treaty that the English settlers should not be allowed to kill any wild game beyond the limits of their farms and improvements. They demanded payment for the beavers, moose and other animals killed in the forest by the settlers. The inhabitants of Maugerville were able to prove that the charges brought against them were greatly exaggerated, most of the wild animals having 175 been killed not far from their doors, while the aggregate of all animals slain by them was much less than stated by the Indians. In the end the chiefs seemed to be satisfied that they were mistaken and appeared ashamed of their conduct in alarming the country without reason, but they still insisted that the young warriors of their tribe would not be satisfied without some compensation for the loss of their wild animals. The Governor gave his decision as follows: “That although the grievances the Indians had started were by no means sufficient to justify their hostile proceedings, yet to do them ample justice, he would order to be sent them a certain amount in clothing and provisions, provided they would consider it full satisfaction for any injuries done by the settlers; and that he would also send orders to restrain the settlers from hunting wild animals in the woods.” The chiefs accepted this offer and the Indians remained tranquil until the American Revolution some twelve years later.

One of the results of the conference seems to have been the reservation to the Indians in the grant of the Township of Sunbury of “500 acres, including a church and burying ground at Aughpack, and four acres for a burying ground at St. Ann’s Point, and the island called Indian Island.” The well known Maliseet chief, Ambroise St. Aubin, was one of the leading negotiators at Halifax as appears by the following pass furnished to him by Governor Wilmot:

“Permit the bearer, Ambroise St. Aubin, chief of the Indians of St. John’s river, to return there without any hindrance or molestation; and all persons are required to give him all necessary and proper aid and assistance on his journey.

Given under my hand and seal at Halifax this 7th day of September, 1765.

M. WILMOT.
RICH’D BULKELEY, Secretary.”

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