CHAPTER XXI.
The Firm of Hazen, Jarvis, Simonds & White.
The circumstances under which James Simonds, William Hazen and their associates organized the first trading company at St. John have been already related. Their business contract was signed on the 1st of March, 1764. In the course of a year or two the character of the original company was essentially altered by the death of Richard Simonds, the retirement of Samuel Blodget and Richard Peaslie and the admission of Leonard Jarvis as a new partner. Questions had also arisen as to the rights of the several partners in the lands granted in 1765 to James Simonds, James White and Richard Simonds. In order to settle these questions a new business contract was signed at Newburyport, on the 16th April, 1767, by James Simonds, Leonard Jarvis and William Hazen. The original contract is yet in existence amongst the papers of the Hazen family. It is in the handwriting of Leonard Jarvis and is a well worn document which bears marks of having been repeatedly handled. This is not to be wondered at for this contract proved a veritable storm-centre in the litigation that ensued relative to the division of the lands between the partners. The legal proceedings assumed various phases and occupied the attention of the courts for a period of twenty years.[87]
Under the new contract Hazen and Jarvis were to have a half interest in the business, James Simonds one-third and James White one-sixth, and all the lands on the River St. John that had been granted to any or either of the partners (Mr. Simonds’ lot in Maugerville excepted) were to be put into the common stock and divided in the following proportions, namely, one-half to Hazen and Jarvis, one-third to Simonds and one-sixth to White. The same division was to be made of any lands that should thereafter be obtained by the members of the company, either individually or collectively, during the continuance of the partnership.
Mr. Simonds sailed from St. John for Newburyport in the schooner Eunice on the 4th March, 1767, but owing to head winds he was twenty days in arriving at his destination. He submitted to Hazen and Jarvis the accounts of the business at St. John for the three years of the company’s operations and then repaired to Haverhill, about fourteen miles distant, to visit his relations. On his return he was accompanied by his sister Sarah and by his young bride, Hannah Peabody, who were about to settle with him at St. John. On his arrival at the store of Hazen and Jarvis, the new contract was presented to him for his signature. The proposition relative to the division of lands led to “a warm altercation and dispute.” Hazen and Jarvis positively declined to continue in the business or to furnish supplies unless they were allowed an interest in the lands. They stated 230 further that the goods on board the schooner Eunice should not leave Newburyport, nor would they furnish anything for the spring trade but insist upon immediate payment of the balance due them unless Mr. Simonds should execute the contract. Much as he disliked the proposal the situation of Mr. Simonds did not admit of delay. He was anxious to settle his family at St. John, his workmen and tenants needed his supervision and the Indian trade for the season would be lost unless the goods on board the Eunice were delivered as speedily as possible. Under these circumstances he deemed it best to sign the contract. Hazen & Jarvis claimed the company were at this time indebted to them in the sum of £3,135, but in the subsequent proceedings in the court of chancery this was disputed by Mr. Simonds and the statements of the parties interested are so much at variance that it is difficult to determine the exact truth in the matter.
James White declined to sign the new contract stating:
“That having one-fourth part of the duties, trouble and services to undergo and perform in transacting the business of the Copartnership, yet he was by the said Contract entitled to one-sixth part only of the lands to be divided under the contract. But that, although he disliked as aforesaid his having no greater share than one-sixth part in the Concern, he nevertheless joined with James Simonds in carrying on the business in full confidence that some equitable allowance would be made him for his services over and above his proportion of the said profits and lands.”
On the occasion of James Simonds’ visit to Halifax early in 1764 he obtained a license to occupy ten acres of land at Portland Point for carrying on the fishery and burning limestone, but it was not until the 2nd October, 1765, that a grant was made to him, in conjunction with his brother Richard, and James White, described as follows:
“Beginning at a point of upland opposite to his (Simonds’) House and running East till it meets with a little Cove or River; thence bounded by said Cove till it comes to a Red Head on the east side of the Cove—thence running North eleven degrees fifteen minutes west till it meets Canebekssis river, thence bounded by said river, the river St. John and harbour till it comes to the first mentioned boundary.”
The bounds of this tract are shown in the accompanying plan. It was supposed to contain 2,000 acres “more or less,” but in reality it contained upwards of 5,000 acres. Elias Hardy in 1785 claimed that the grant must have originated in misrepresentation, either in the application or survey, otherwise the quantity could not have been so much mistaken. To this Ward Chipman replied that the land had never been actually surveyed, but making allowance for lakes, sunken and broken ground, etc., it was supposed not to contain much if any more than the number of acres mentioned in the grant. The grant was made in accordance with the return of the surveyor describing its boundaries and expressing them to be “with allowance for bad lands, containing in the whole by estimation 2,000 acres more or less.” Chipman adds, “no misrepresentation can well be supposed to have taken place at the time of passing this Grant when the lands upon the river St. Johns were considered as of very little value and there could be no inducement to such a step.”
However, in view of the fact that when surveyed the grant was found to contain 5,496 acres, it must be admitted that the allowance for “bad lands” was tolerably liberal, and the grantees were fortunate to escape without the loss of at least half of their property. The line running from Mr. Simonds’ house eastward to Courtenay Bay is that now followed by Union street. It will be observed that the peninsula south of this street which now contains the business part of the city of St. John, and which was laid out for the Loyalists in 1783 as Parr-town, was not included in the grant. The primary object of the grantees was evidently to obtain possession of the limestone quarries and the big marsh, and they probably deemed the land south of Union street to be hardly worth the quit rents.
Plan of Grants to Simonds & White
The first grant at the mouth of the River St. John included only a small part of the great marsh—then called by the Indians, Sebaskastaggan—and a further tract in that locality was applied for by James Simonds in a memorial to the government of Nova Scotia. The memorial stated that James and Richard Simonds and James White had obtained a grant of 2,000 acres of mountainous and broken land at the mouth of the River Saint John in the year 1765, which had been improved by building houses, a saw mill and lime kiln, and the company had settled upwards of thirty people on it who were engaged in carrying on those two branches of business, but that the wood and timber so necessary for 232 them was all consumed, therefore praying that 2,000 acres additional to the eastward of the said tract might be granted to the said James Simonds.
It can scarcely be believed that all the wood from the harbor of St. John to the Kennebeccasis had been consumed in the five years of the company’s operations at Portland Point. But probably the lumber in the vicinity of the saw-mill and the wood most convenient to the lime kilns had been cut and this was sufficient to afford a pretext for another grant. Mr. Simonds’ memorial was considered by the Governor in Council December 18, 1769, and approved. The grant did not issue till May 1, 1770. The bounds are thus described:
“Beginning at a Red Head in a little Bay or cove to the eastward of the Harbor at the mouth of Saint John’s River described in a former grant to James Simonds in the year 1765, being the south eastern bound of the said grant, thence to run north 75 degrees east 170 chains, thence north 15 degrees west 160 chains or until it meets the river Kennebeccasis, and from thence to run westerly until it meets the north eastern bound of the former grant.”
The boundaries of the second grant may be readily traced on the plan. Like the former grant it included a good deal more than the 2,000 acres it was supposed to contain, and in this case, too, the grant escaped curtailment. The grant was in the name of James Simonds, but the other partners relied upon the clause in their business contract as a sufficient guarantee of their interests.
It must be admitted that as the first adventurers to settle in an exposed and at times perilous situation the first grantees of the lands at the mouth of the River St. John were entitled to special consideration. James Simonds had to make repeated visits to Halifax in connection with the business at St. John and these visits were sometimes attended with risk as will be seen from the following extract of one of his earliest letters.
Halifax, Oct’r 1st, 1764.
“Last night arrived here after four days passage from St. John’s—the first 24 hours were at sea in a severe storm, the second passed a place called the Masquerades where there was seas and whirlpools enough to have foundered the largest ships—we were providentially saved with the loss of all our cable and anchor endeavoring to ride at anchor till the tide slacked, but in vain. It was unlucky for us that we happened to fall in with that tremendous place in the strength of flood tide in the highest spring tide that has been this year. Gentlemen here say it is presumptuous to attempt to return the same way at this season in an open boat; but as the boat and men are at Pisiquit (Windsor), and I have no other way to get to St. John in season for my business this fall, shall get our business done here as soon as may be and return the same way I came. The plea of the above difficulty will have a greater weight than any other to have business finished here immediately. This morning I waited on the Governor, Secretary and all officers concerned in granting license, etc., who assure me that my request shall be granted directly so that I hope to be on my way to St. John’s tomorrow.”
We cannot but admire the courage and enterprise of a man who after so fatiguing and perilous a journey, was ready, on the second day after his arrival in Halifax, to remount his horse and travel forty-odd miles over a very rough road to Windsor to face again the perils of the Bay of Fundy in an open boat at a stormy season.
The establishment of Fort Frederick on the west side of the Harbor of St. John, by Brig. General Monckton, in the fall of the year 1759, contributed not a little to the advantage of the first settlers. The Indians were disposed to be troublesome to the English, and the presence of the garrison rendered their situation less lonely and added very greatly to their sense of security. Not only so, but the garrison brought quite an amount of business to the store of Simonds & White. In the old accounts of the year 1764 are to be found the names of Lieut. Gilfred Studholme of the 40th Regt., Lieut. John Marr and Commissary Henry Green. Captain Pierce Butler, of the 29th Regt., was in command at Fort Frederick the following year and his name also appears in the accounts. For a year or two after the fort was established the garrison was furnished by the provincial troops of Massachusetts, afterwards by detachments of British regiments under various commanders. In addition to the trade with the officers and soldiers, Simonds & White furnished wood and other supplies to the garrison, and doubtless it was not the least satisfactory incident in this connection that the pay-master was “John Bull.” The Indians were unreliable customers and bad debts were not infrequent, the white settlers on the river had but little money and their pay was chiefly in shingles, staves, spars, clapboards, musquash and beaver skins; John Bull paid cash.
About three years after the arrival of Simonds and White at St. John their trade with the garrison was interrupted by the removal of the troops to Boston in consequence of some riots in connection with the enforcement of the Stamp Act. Mr. Simonds speaks of this circumstance in a letter dated July 25, 1768, in which he writes: “The troops are withdrawn from all the outposts in the Province and sent to Boston to quell the mob. The charge of Fort Frederick is committed to me, which I accepted to prevent another person being appointed who would be a trader. I don’t know but I must reside in the Garrison, but the privilege of the fisheries on that side of the River and the use of the King’s boats will be more than an equivalent for the inconvenience.” The defenceless condition of the port of St. John brought disaster to the settlers there some years later, but of this we shall hear more by and by.
The names of most of the heads of families settled at Maugerville appear in the earlier account books of Simonds & White, and later we have those of the settlers at Gagetown, Burton and St. Anns. In the course of time branches of the company’s business seem to have been established at convenient centres up the river, and their account books contain the invoices of goods shipped to Peter Carr, who lived just below Gagetown, to Jabez Nevers of Maugerville, and to Benjamin Atherton at St. Ann’s Point. The goods appear to have been sold on commission and returns were made chiefly in lumber, furs and produce. The invoices of goods shipped to Hazen & Jarvis at Newburyport by Simonds & White included pine boards, shingles, clapboards, cedar posts, spars and cordwood, besides some 50,000 white and red oak staves, most of these articles having been taken in trade with the settlers on the river. Messrs. Hazen & Jarvis carried on quite an extensive trade with the West Indies where, in consequence of the manufacture 234 of rum and molasses, there was a large demand for hogshead and barrel staves, these were obtainable in considerable quantities on the River St. John, and the terms at which they were purchased may be seen in the following agreement:—
“St. Johns River, Nov’r. 10th, 1772.
“It is agreed between Simonds & White on the one part and Joseph Garrison & William Saunders on the other, that the said Garrison & Saunders make and lay at the bank of the said River, at convenient place to load on board a vessel, five thousand of White Oak barrel staves and the same number of White Oak hogshead staves, the hogshead staves to be well shaved and both to be merchantable according to the laws of Massachusetts Bay, for which the said Simonds & White are to pay, for Barrel Staves twenty-five shillings for each thousand and for the Hogshead forty shillings; the said staves to be ready by the 20th day of April next and at farthest to be received by the 20th day of June.
“To the performance of the above agreement each of the parties hereby bind themselves to each other in the sum of Twenty pounds currency, to be paid in default of fulfilment of either party. “Witness our hands,
JOSEPH GARRISON,
WM. SAUNDERS,
SIMONDS & WHITE.”
Joseph Garrison it may be observed was the grandfather of William Lloyd Garrison, the celebrated advocate of the abolition of slavery. He was one of the original grantees of Maugerville, and drew lot No. 4, opposite Middle Island in Upper Sheffield. He was on the River St. John as early at least as July, 1764, and is said to have been the first of the English speaking race to work the coal mines at Grand Lake. Another early miner was Edmund Price of Gagetown, who in the year 1775 delivered nine chaldrons of coal, to Simonds & White for which they allowed him 20 shillings per chaldron.
Nearly all the settlers on the river obtained their goods from the old trading company at Portland Point, and for their accommodation the little schooner “Polly” made frequent trips to Maugerville and St. Anns. Inspection of the old accounts shows that on the occasion of a trip up the river in May, 1773, goods were sold to thirty families at various points along the way. In November, 1775, goods were sold in like manner to more than forty families. At that time there were to be found in the company’s day book the names of 120 customers, nearly all of them heads of families. Of these, 25 were residents at Portland Point, 20 lived across the harbor in Conway, 45 belonged to Maugerville, 20 to other townships up the river and ten were casual visitors, fishermen and traders.
The partners amidst all their variety of business continued to make improvements upon their lands at St. John. They cleared up the Great Marsh and cut hay there, for in June, 1768, Mr. Simonds writes to Newburyport, “Please send half a dozen Salem scythes; Haskel’s tools are entirely out of credit here; it would be a sufficient excuse for a hired man to do but half a day’s work in a day if he was furnished with an axe or scythe of that stamp.” The next year plans were discussed for the general improvement of the marsh, and a number of indigent Acadians were employed to assist in the construction of a “Running Dike” and aboideau. These Acadians probably lived at French Village, near the Kennebecasis, and the fact that 235 they had some experience in dykeing marsh lands shows that they were refugees from the Expulsion of 1755. The situation of the first dyke was not, as now, at the mouth of the Marsh Creek but at a place nearly opposite the gate of the cemetery, where the lake-like expansion of the Marsh begins. The work was completed in August, 1774, by the construction of an aboideau. Those employed in the work were the company’s laborers, six or eight Acadians and a number of the Maugerville people—about twenty-five hands in all. William Hazen was at St. John that summer and he and James White gave their personal attendance, “not in overseeing the work only but in the active and laborious parts thereof,” the company providing the implements, tools, carts, several teams of oxen, gundolas and other boats, materials and supplies of every kind including rum for the workmen. This dyke and aboideau served the purpose of shutting out the tide from about 600 acres of marsh land. Ten years later Hazen & White built a new aboideau a little above the first one which had fallen into disrepair. A much better one than either was built at the mouth of the creek in 1788 by James Simonds at a cost of £1,300. The House of Assembly voted £100 towards building a bridge at the place and Mr. Simonds agreed to erect a structure to serve the double purpose of a public bridge and aboideau. The width of the structure was 75 feet at the bottom and 25 feet at the top. Not long afterwards Mr. Simonds built here two tide saw-mills. These were not a profitable investment, and in 1812 one had fallen into total decay while the other was so much out of repair as to be of little benefit to its owner.
After the first Marsh Bridge had been in existence about twenty-five years there arose a controversy as to what proportion of the cost of repairs should be borne respectively by the province, the City of St. John and the proprietors of the marsh. This controversy has continued to crop up at regular intervals during the last century and the end is not yet.
When the Loyalists arrived in 1783 the dyked marsh lands produced about 400 tons of hay, but it was said that “if tilled and ditched they would produce much more.” Today the marsh raises at least four times the quantity of hay named above.
After building the first running dyke in 1769, Hazen, Simonds and White continued to devote considerable attention to the task of reclaiming and improving the marsh. In order to have ready access a road was laid out running back of Fort Howe hill and along Mount Pleasant to the marsh. Not far from the present station at Coldbrook they built a house with hovels for cattle and put up fences and settled a family there. A few years later they built two more houses and settled two more families there, each with a stock of cattle. The first tenants on the marsh were Stephen Dow, Silas Parker and Jabez Salisbury. The houses built for their accommodation cost from £15 to £20 apiece. About this time or a little later a small grist mill was built at the outlet of Lily Lake.
One of the inducements that led James Simonds to fix upon the harbor of St. John as a place of settlement was the abundance and excellent quality of the limestone there and its convenience for shipment. The license of occupation given under 236 the hand of Governor Montagu Wilmot on the 8th of February, 1764, was in the terms following:
“License is hereby granted to James Simonds to occupy a tract or point on the north side of St. John’s River, opposite Fort Frederick, for carrying on a fishery and for burning limestone, the said tract or point containing by estimation ten acres.” Soon after the formation of the trading company in the course of the same year, the manufacture of lime became an object of consideration. Some reference has been made already in these chapters to the progress of the industry.
The company had four lime kilns, the situation of which will be best understood by reference to modern land marks. One was at the base of Fort Howe hill at the head of Portland street, a second near the site of St. Luke’s church, a third near the present suspension bridge, and a fourth on the road leading to the old “Indian House.” The work of quarrying and burning limestone was carried on in a very primitive fashion by the laborers of the company. In the winter a number of them were employed in quarrying the stone and hauling it with oxen to the kilns. The wood needed for burning grew almost at the spot where it was wanted, and its cutting served to clear the land as well as to provide the fuel necessary. In the course of ten years Simonds & White shipped to Newburyport and Boston more than 3,500 hogsheads of lime for which they received four dollars per cask; they also sent lime to Halifax, Cornwallis and other places in Nova Scotia. The facilities for manufacturing in those days were very inadequate, the men lacked experience, casks were hard to get, and for a time the lack of a wharf and warehouse caused much delay in the shipment.
And now a word as to the present condition of the lime industry at St. John. It cannot be questioned that the splendid quality of the limestone, its vast abundance, its convenient situation for shipment and the abundance and cheapness of the fuel needed, clearly prove that the manufacture of lime is destined yet to become an important industry in this community. Fifteen years ago the industry was rapidly developing, when the McKinley tariff and the Dingley bill completely excluded the St. John manufacturers from the United States market which passed into the hands of their rivals of Rockland, Maine. It is, however, only a question of time when there will be a removal of the prohibitive tariff in the interests of United States consumers, and this will be hastened as the deposits of limestone at Rockland are exhausted. This circumstance, together with the increasing demands of the Canadian market, will cause the manufacture of lime at St. John to become eventually an industry as great as that of shipbuilding in its palmiest days.
About the year 1888 the prospects of the St. John lime burners seemed particularly bright. Extensive operations were being carried on at Randolph, Robertson’s Point, South Bay, Glencoe, Adelaide Road, Brookville and Drury’s Cove. Probably at least 400 men were employed and a dozen draw kilns and twenty square kilns were in operation. In order to show the prospective development of that which in the time of Simonds & White was an infantile industry, it may be stated that the capacity of the draw kiln is from 70 to 100 barrels of lime every twenty-four hours, while that of the square kiln is about 400 barrels per week. The draw kiln is more 237 expensive in construction than the other, but its capacity is greater, and it is not necessary to extinguish the fire, the lime being drawn out as it is burned and fresh stone put in. At several of the lime kilns at the Narrows, above Indiantown, the facilities are unrivalled. The stone is quarried from the cliff a few rods from the kiln, dumped in at the top by cart or wheelbarrow, drawn out at the bottom at the water’s level and loaded on scows. The wood for the kiln grows on the surrounding hillsides or may be obtained from the saw-mills in the vicinity at nominal cost. At the time the manufacture of lime was interfered with by the McKinley bill, the following persons were actively concerned in the development of the industry: Hornbrook and Wm. Lawlor & Son at Brookville, Jewett & Co. at Drury’s Cove, Isaac Stevens and A. L. Bonnell at South Bay, Frank Armstrong and J. & F. Armstrong at the Narrows, Hayford & Stetson at Glencoe above Indiantown, Charles Miller at Robertson’s Point, Randolph & Baker at Randolph, W. D. Morrow and Purdy & Green on the Adelaide Road.
It is impossible with the data on hand to form any proper estimate of the quantity of lime manufactured by these firms, but it may be stated that in the year 1887, Hayford & Stetson alone expected to burn 50,000 barrels in their draw kilns at Indiantown and 30,000 barrels in their square kilns. In the work of quarrying the use of the steam drill was then being introduced. Perhaps there is no better way of contrasting modern methods with the methods of those who first embarked in the industry one hundred and forty years ago, and at the same time showing the difficulties with which the pioneers had to contend, than by giving extracts from James Simonds letters to Hazen & Jarvis.
St. John’s River, 27th May, 1765.
Gentlemen:—I Rec’d yours of 3d. of April the 1st inst., and of the 18th on the 9th inst. [The letters came by the schooner “Polly” and the schooner “Wilmot.”] The schr. Polly was dispatched immediately fishing: she is now near loaded. I am sorry the same dispatch could not be made with the schr. Wilmot. A cargo of Lime could not be prepared before hand for want of Oxen to draw wood. Have had bad luck in burning the Lime, the wood being wet, as the snow was but just off the ground. One-third of the kiln is not burnt. * * * If you can get freight to this place, we believe it will be best to keep the schooner [Wilmot] constantly running between here and Newburyport. If the Lime answers well can burn any quantity whatever. The want of Hhds. is the greatest difficulty, the want of a house to cover it the next.
“I doubt not of your making the greatest dispatch in all business relating to this concern, and wish I could make you sensible of the disadvantages we are under to do the same. I thank you for the willingness you express to relieve me and that you think there is any difficulty to go through in these parts. You may depend upon it that no pains will be spared in this quarter to make the Concern advantageous. * * * I shall be extremely glad to wait upon Mr. Hazen when the schooner returns.
“Have been obliged to credit the inhabitants up the River to the amount of a considerable sum, which is to be paid part in furs and part in lumber (the lumber is not brought down). The Officers and Soldiers supplies and wooding the garrison is to be paid by a draft on the pay-master at Halifax. * * * Since the lime is all put in hogsheads I find there is near seventy (empty) hogsheads remains. They chiefly want one head each—twenty or thirty more will be sufficient for another 238 kiln. If you send the Schr. directly back, boards must be sent for heads, and should think it would be best to send 100 refuse shook hogsheads for a third kiln with boards for heads and hoops, as they cannot be had here, also 5 M. boards to cover a frame that is now decaying and will serve for a Lime House and Barn. Have borrowed 12 C. boards of Mr. Green (of the garrison). Shall have a kiln ready to set fire to in three weeks after the Schr. sails. Dispatch in shipping lime can never be made without a Lime house to have it ready when any vessel arrives. * * *
In Great haste, I am, Gentlemen,
Yr. Most Obedient & Humble Servt,
JAS. SIMONDS.To Messrs. Hazen & Jarvis.
In the year 1769 the company built a wharf and warehouse at Portland Point. Their work was often interfered with by the nature of the season, the winters then, as now, being exceedingly variable. Mr. Simonds writes, under date March 6, 1769:—
“Have had but little snow this winter, but few days that the ground has been covered. Have got to the water side a large quantity of wood and wharf logs; about 300 Hogshead Lime Stone to the Kiln, and should have had much more if there had been snow. Our men have been so froze and wounded that we have not had more than three men’s constant labour to do this and sled sixty loads of hay from the marsh, saw boards for casks, look after cattle and draw firewood. Shall continue drawing or draging wood and stone as long as the ground is frozen, and then cut the timber for a schooner and boat stone for a Lime Kiln, which with the wharf will take 400 tons.”
The next winter was of a different sort, for Mr. Simonds writes on May 10, 1770, “This spring has been so backward that there has been no possibility of burning any lime. The piles of wood and stone are now frozen together.” The next winter was extremely mild, and Mr. Simonds writes on February 18, 1771, “There has not been one day’s sledding this winter, and the season is so far advanced there cannot be much more than enough to get the hay from the marsh; but shall haul logs to finish the wharf and for plank for Fish Cisterns if it can by any means be done.”
The popular idea that the climate of this Province was much more severe in ancient than in modern days is not borne out by the correspondence of Simonds & White with Hazen & Jarvis. From it we learn that 140 years ago the navigation of the River St. John, as now, opened early in April, and that the river could be relied on as a winter route of communication to St. Anns “only between the first of January and the last of February and then many times difficult.” In the extracts just quoted Mr. Simonds states that during the winter of 1769 there had been but few days that the ground was covered with snow, and two years later he says that up to the 18th of February there had not been a single day’s sledding. This testimony does not at all accord with the popular idea of an old-fashioned winter. It is not likely that there have been any material changes in the climate of this region since the days of Champlain, and this conclusion is strengthened by the fact that the weather reports made to the Dominion government since the time of Confederation do not indicate any alteration in our climatic conditions during the last 35 years.
The first Business Contract under which William Hazen, James Simonds, James White and their associates engaged in business at the River St. John was signed on March 1st, 1764. The members of the company immediately proceeded to engage their workmen and a very interesting illustration of the way they set about it has been preserved in an old indenture dated 13th March, 1764, in which James Simonds, “trader,” made agreement with one Edmund Black of Haverhill, “bricklayer,” to pay the said Black £16. 16s. for eight months labor at brickmaking, fishing, burning lime, or any other common or ordinary work at Passamaquoddy, St. John, Annapolis Royal or any other part of Nova Scotia, in the Bay of Fundy. In addition to his pay, at the rate £2. 2s. per month, Mr. Simonds agreed to furnish Black with “suitable victuals and drink and lodging.”
The exact date of the arrival of Simonds and White, and their party at St. John is put beyond doubt by the following memorandum in Mr. White’s handwriting, found by the author among a collection of old papers: “Haverhill, New England, 1764. Set off for River St. John, Nova Scotia, 1st day of April—Arrived 16th April.”
By the second business contract, entered into by William Hazen, Leonard Jarvis and James Simonds on the 16th April, 1767, it was provided that “all trade and business in Nova Scotia shall be done and transacted by James Simonds and James White and whatever business is to be transacted at Newbury-Port shall be transacted by William Hazen and Leonard Jarvis.” The remittances of Simonds & White consisted for the most part of fish, furs, lime and lumber and were at first sent to Newburyport, but it was soon found to the advantage of the company that remittances should be made to Boston where Leonard Jarvis went to dispose of them and to forward supplies needed at St. John. This was the commencement of St. John’s trade with Boston. There was no market for the Spring catch of Alewives (or Gasperaux) at Newburyport, so they were usually sent to Boston. Seven eighths of the furs and a large proportion of the lime and lumber were also sold in Boston.
As might reasonably be expected the first outlay of the company was comparatively large while the returns were small, but as time went on the remittances from St. John gradually increased and the outlay for supplies slightly diminished. During the earlier years of the partnership attention was given to deep water fishing, and large quantities of cod and pollock were taken in the Bay of Fundy and at Passamaquoddy, but this branch of business was eventually discontinued and greater attention paid to the shore fisheries in which weirs were used to good advantage. In the first seven years of their operations the Company sent 745 barrels of Gaspereaux to Boston, but in the next four years more than 3,000 barrels were shipped.
About the close of the year 1775 the Revolutionary war put an end to all trade with New England and the business of Hazen, Jarvis, Simonds & White as a company practically ceased. In the course of the dozen years of their operations, the goods and supplies received at St. John from Boston and Newburyport amounted in value to at least $100,000. The partners were not agreed as to the 240 general results of the business; Mr. Simonds claimed that the receipts had more than repaid the outlay, while Hazen & Jarvis contended that no money had been made but that there had probably been a loss.
During the continuance of the business, 72 cargoes of goods and supplies were sent to St. John, an average of six cargoes per annum. The value of goods and outfit sent the first season amounted to £3,891. 16s. 0½d. The value of goods and supplies furnished under the first business contract, which lasted only three years, was £6,850. 9s. 10d. Messrs. Blodget, Peaslie and Simonds, jr., then cease to be concerned in the business and the partners under the second contract were Hazen, Jarvis, Simonds and White.
As early as the second year of their operations at St. John, Hazen & Jarvis began to feel the large outlay they had made and wrote, under date May 23, 1766, to Simonds & White, “We must beg you will do all in your power to remit us largely this summer. By having such a stock with you we are much straitened for cash, and we are sometimes obliged to do our business to a disadvantage.”
Not long afterwards Hazen & Jarvis were unfortunate in their mercantile transactions at Newburyport and this, together with the loss of some of their vessels, made it necessary for them to take special care of their interests at St. John, consequently after the signing of the second business contract William Hazen came frequently to St. John. Early in 1771 he determined to discontinue business altogether at Newburyport and remove to St. John with his family. James White says that it was the wish of both Mr. Simonds and himself that Mr. Hazen should settle near them, making choice of such situation as he might deem agreeable to his taste, but that as the partnership business was drawing to a close the house to be erected should be built with his own money. Mr. Hazen made his choice of situation and built his house accordingly.
In the evidence given in the law suit concerning the division of the lands obtained from time to time by the company, James Simonds states that so far as the business at St. John was concerned Mr. Hazen’s presence was not needed since the business was conducted there by himself and James White when there was five times as much to be done. To this Mr. Hazen replies that Mr. Simonds’ letter of July, 1770, speaks a different language,[88] and he quotes figures to show that while for the first four years after the signing of the second contract the value of the supplies sent to St. John was £8,053 and the remittances from St. John £7,650; leaving a deficit in the business of £403; during the next four years, when he (Hazen) spent a large part of his time at St. John, the cost of supplies was £6,803 and the remittances £8,245, showing a surplus of £1,442; a difference of £1,845 in favor of his being at St. John.
When William Hazen decided to take up his residence at St. John in order more effectually to promote the interests of the company by superintending, in conjunction with Simonds and White the various operations that were being carried on there, his partner Leonard Jarvis removed to a place called Dartmouth, one 241 hundred miles from Newburyport, leaving his investment in the business untouched so as not to embarrass the company at a critical time. The supplies required at St. John were now furnished by his brother, Samuel Gardiner Jarvis, of Boston.
As will presently appear, fortune did not smile upon the removal of William Hazen and his family from their comfortable home in Newburyport to the rugged hillsides of St. John. However, Mr. Hazen was a man of resolution and enterprise, and having once made up his mind in regard to a step of so much importance was not likely to be easily discouraged. He at once began to make preparations for the accommodation of his family by building a house of greater pretensions than any that had yet been erected at Portland Point.
The first known reference to the Hazen house is found in a letter dated Feb.’y 18th, 1771, in which James Simonds writes, “We shall cut Mr. Hazen’s frame in some place near the water where it may be rafted at any time.” The house was erected in July following by the company’s carpenters and laborers. When nearly finished it was unfortunately destroyed by fire. A new house was begun the next year, which like the other was built at Mr. Hazen’s expense by the company’s carpenters and laborers.
As soon as the house was ready for occupation Mr. Hazen repaired to Newburyport to bring on his family, and in the month of May, 1775, they embarked in the Company’s sloop Merrimack of 80 tons. Mr. Hazen’s tribulations were by no means ended, for on the voyage the Merrimack was unluckily cast away on Fox Island and a good deal of her cargo, together with papers containing accounts of the Company’s business, was lost. However, all the passengers were saved, as well as most of their valuables, and were brought to St. John in Captain Drinkwater’s sloop. Drinkwater was obliged to throw overboard a load of cordwood to make room for the rescued passengers and crew and their possessions. For this he was of course remunerated by the Company. The Hazen family proved a great addition to the limited society of Portland Point. We learn from an enumeration of the inhabitants made this year that the Hazen household included 4 men, 3 women, 3 boys and 2 girls, 12 in all. Mr. Hazen’s nephew, John, who subsequently removed to Oromocto, was one of the family at that time. With such a family to provide for the grocery bill at the Company’s store grew rapidly. The first item charged to the account of the household after their arrival was 67 lbs. of moose meat at 1d. per lb.; and it is of interest to notice that beef was then quoted at 2d. per lb., or double the price of moose meat. It is altogether likely that with the Hazens moose steak was a much greater rarity on their arrival than it subsequently became, for at the time it was one of the staple articles of food and almost any settler who wanted fresh meat could obtain it by loading his musket and going to the woods.
OLD HAZEN HOUSE AND GROUNDS.
This illustration is taken from a water color sketch of St. John now in possession of Mrs. William Hazen. The original sketch was made by a member of the Hazen family more than eighty years ago. In the foreground appears the Hazen house, square and substantial, and nearly in line with and beyond it is the Chipman house, overlooking the valley; these two houses are the oldest now standing in the city. To the right of the Chipman house may be seen the Block-house, which formerly stood at the corner of King and Wentworth streets. Still further to the right is the old wind-mill tower, where the Dufferin Hotel now stands, and to the right of this is old Trinity Church before its first spire was destroyed by fire.
The Hazen house still stands, considerably modernized it is true, at the corner of Simonds and Brook streets, having withstood the ravages of time and escaped the numerous conflagrations that have occurred in the vicinity for more than 130 years. The present foundation is new with the exception of the stone wall on Brook street 242 243 which formed part of the original foundation. The roof formerly pitched four ways, running up to a peak in the centre. Some of the old studs, lately cut out to admit of the placing of new windows, were found to be merely spruce poles flattened on two sides with an axe; the boards too are roughly sawn. The sheathing of the house has all been renewed and an ell, which used to extend up Simonds street, has been taken down. The lower flat is at present used as a grocery, the upper flat as a hall. In olden times, and for many years, Mr. Hazen’s garden and grounds extended to the water. His residence was by far the best and most substantial yet erected at Portland—indeed in early days it was considered quite a mansion. The exact date of its erection, curiously enough, has been preserved. An entry in the old day book in James White’s handwriting reads thus:—
“Nov’r 17, 1773—Wm. Hazen Dr. To 4 Gall. W. I. Rum, 3 lb. Sugar, 3 Qts. N. E. Rum, Dinner, &c., &c., 25 shillings—for Raising his House!”
The entry shows that old time customs prevailed on the day of the “raising.” It doubtless was quite a gala day in the settlement with everybody there to help and share in the refreshments provided.
The removal of William Hazen and his family from Newburyport to Saint John had been planned, as already stated, several years before it was carried into effect. It was not in any way influenced by the threatening war clouds which at that time hung low in the sky. Mr. Hazen’s departure from Newburyport, however, was nearly coincident with the clash of arms at Lexington, and it was not long ere the events of the war between the old colonies and the mother country closed the ports of Massachusetts. This unfortunate circumstance interfered greatly with the business of Hazen, Simonds and White at St. John.
The retirement of Leonard Jarvis from the company necessitated a new business arrangement on the part of the remaining partners, and in May, 1773, a verbal agreement was made between Hazen, Simonds and White to carry on the fishery and trading in the proportions of a half interest to William Hazen a third to James Simonds, and a sixth to James White.
There is in one of the old account books an interesting memorandum in the handwriting of James Simonds, covering several pages, which shows that the company had then a large and varied assortment of goods on hand. The list bears the following heading: “Invoice of Goods removed from the Old to the New Store, July 21st, 1775.” The “new store” was finished about the time of Mr. Hazen’s arrival; it stood a little to the west of the first store built at the Point.
Among the buildings at Portland Point when the Hazen family arrived were the residences of the three partners, the Lime Store, the Salt Store—or Cooper’s Shop, the Log Store, the New Store, a blacksmith shop, two or three small dwelling houses and one or two barns, besides a saw mill at the outlet of the mill pond, a grist mill at Lily Lake, and one or two hovels on the marsh. The English-speaking population settled around the shores of the harbor did not exceed one hundred and fifty souls. Our authority on this point is indisputable. Two documents are preserved amongst the archives at Halifax, one entitled “A Return of the State of the Settlement at the mouth of the Harbour of the River 244 St. John the First day August, A. D. 1775”; the other, “A Return of the state of the Township of Conway on the western side of the Harbour and River St. John on First of August, 1775.” The list of inhabitants given below is compiled from these returns and shows that the number of persons living on the opposite sides of the harbor was nearly equal, namely, on the east side seventy and on the west side seventy-two. The enumeration seems to have been made by James Simonds.
PORTLAND POINT.
| Name of Master or Mistress of the Family. | Men. | Women. | Boys. | Girls. | Total. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Simonds | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 12 |
| James White | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| William Hazen | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 12 |
| George DeBlois | 1 | 1 | 1 | .. | 3 |
| Robert Cram | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 10 |
| Zebulon Rowe | 1 | 1 | .. | 2 | 4 |
| John Nason | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| John Mack | 1 | .. | .. | .. | 1 |
| Lemuel Cleveland | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Christopher Blake | 1 | 1 | .. | 2 | 4 |
| Moses Greenough | 1 | 1 | 1 | .. | 3 |
| 20 | 12 | 14 | 24 | 70 |
CONWAY.
| Name of Master or Mistress of the Family. | Men. | Women. | Boys. | Girls. | Total. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hugh Quinton | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| Jonathan Leavitt | 1 | 1 | 1 | .. | 3 |
| Daniel Leavitt | 1 | .. | .. | .. | 1 |
| Samuel Peabody | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| William McKeen | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 9 |
| Thomas Jenkins | 1 | 1 | 3 | .. | 5 |
| Moses Kimball | 1 | 1 | .. | .. | 2 |
| Elijah Estabrooks | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| John Bradley | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| James Woodman | 2 | .. | .. | .. | 2 |
| Zebedee Ring | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Gervas Say | 1 | 1 | .. | .. | 2 |
| Samuel Abbott | 1 | .. | .. | .. | 1 |
| Christopher Cross | 1 | 1 | .. | .. | 2 |
| John Knap | 1 | .. | .. | .. | 1 |
| Eliakim Ayer | 1 | .. | .. | 1 | 2 |
| Joseph Rowe | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 21 | 13 | 20 | 18 | 72 |
Both of these little communities were of purely New England origin for it appears from Mr. Simonds’ return that every individual at Portland Point, with the solitary exception of an Irishman, was a native of America, and at Conway all the inhabitants, save two of English nationality, were born in America. The Conway people, it will hardly be necessary to remind the reader, lived in the district now occupied by Carleton, Fairville and adjacent parts of the parish of Lancaster. 245 At the time of the census they had 2 horses—both owned by Hugh Quinton, 13 oxen and bulls, 32 cows, 44 young cattle, 40 sheep and 17 swine; total number of domestic animals, 148. On the other side of the harbor Hazen, Simonds and White were the owners of 57 horses and mules, 18 oxen and bulls, 30 cows, 35 young cattle, 40 sheep and 6 swine; the other settlers owned 8 cows, 4 young cattle, 4 sheep and 6 swine; total number of domestic animals on the east side, 208.
It will be noticed that the names of all the adult male inhabitants do not appear in the census lists of 1775; in the case of the households of Messrs. Simonds, White and Hazen, for example, twelve males are returned. These included either relatives such as John Hazen and Stephen Peabody, who are known to have been then living at St. John, or employes and servants who lived with their masters—among the latter were probably Samuel Beverley, Levi Ring, Jonathan Clough, Jacob Johnson, Edmund Black, Reuben Harbut and Michael Kelly.
Quite a number of the settlers in Conway were employed by the company in various capacities, and as they were nearly all tenants of Hazen, Simonds and White they generally traded at the Portland Point store. These people suffered severely at the hands of American privateersmen as the war progressed, and most of them were forced to abandon their homes and move up the river for greater security.
In the years 1776 and 1777, business being nearly at a stand in consequence of the war and the stock of goods at Portland Point much diminished, it was agreed that James White should take charge of the store and keep the books at a commission of five per cent. His sales during the two years amounted to £3,150.
The war of the American Revolution was at the outset a source of intense disappointment to Hazen, Simonds and White, although in the end it was destined to prove the making of their fortunes by sending the exiled Loyalists in thousands to the River St. John and thereby rendering the lands they owned much more valuable. The war, however, completely overturned the plans the company had in view. Our old pioneers had learned by their experience of a dozen years to conduct their business to the best advantage, and they now had everything in train for a promising trade with St. Croix in the West Indies. The hardships incident to the establishment of new settlements were over, and the partners were now settled in comfortable homes with their wives and children.
It may be noted in passing that early marriages were much in vogue in those days, particularly with the ladies. Sarah Le Baron was not sixteen years of age when she married William Hazen. Hannah Peabody had not passed her seventeenth birthday when she married James Simonds. Elizabeth Peabody was about seventeen when she married James White and her sister Hephzibeth somewhat younger when she married Jonathan Leavitt. In most cases the families were large and the “olive branches” doubtless furnished sufficient occupation for the mothers to keep them from feeling the loneliness of their situation. James Simonds had fourteen children. James White and Jonathan Leavitt had good sized families, but the Hazens undeniably carried off the palm. Dr. Slafter in his genealogy of the Hazen family says that William Hazen had sixteen children; possibly he may 246 have omitted some who died in infancy for Judge Edward Winslow writes on Jan’y 17th, 1793, to a friend at Halifax, “My two annual comforts, a child and a fit of the gout, return invariably. They came together this heat and, as Forrest used to say, made me as happy as if the Devil had me. The boy is a fine fellow—of course—and makes up the number nine now living. My old friend Mrs. Hazen about the same time produced her nineteenth!”[89]
While the presence of young children in their homes may have served to enliven the situation of Saint John’s pioneer settlers it added greatly to their anxiety and distress in the ensuing war period. More than this the absence of church and school privileges was becoming a matter of serious consequence to the little community at Portland Point and their friends across the harbor. We shall in the next chapter say something of the religious teachers who endeavored to promote the spiritual welfare of the inhabitants upon the St. John river at this period.