CHAPTER XXVIII.
Pioneers on the St. John River in Pre-loyalist Days.
Considerable information has already been given in the preceding chapters of this history concerning the first English settlers on the River St. John, and the names of such men as Francis Peabody, Israel Perley, James Simonds, James White, William Hazen, Jonathan and Daniel Leavitt, Beamsley P. and Benjamin Glasier, Benjamin Atherton, William Davidson, Gilfred Studholme and others will be familiar to the majority of our readers. Some further information concerning the early settlers may prove of equal interest.
BECKWITH.
Nehemiah Beckwith was an active and well known man on the St. John river in his day and generation. He was a descendant of Mathew Beckwith, who came to America from Yorkshire, England, in 1635. The branch of the family to which Nehemiah Beckwith belonged lived chiefly at Lyme in Connecticut. Two brothers, Samuel and John, emigrated from that place to Nova Scotia in 1760, in consequence of the inducements offered by Governor Lawrence to New Englanders to occupy the lands vacated by the Acadians. A fleet of 22 vessels from Connecticut, carrying a considerable colony, entered Minas Basin on the 4th day of June, and the settlers landed near the town plot of Cornwallis. Nehemiah Beckwith was born at Lyme, February 29, 1756, and was the seventh, and youngest, child of Samuel Beckwith by his wife Miriam, who was a daughter of Capt. Reynold Marvin. At the time of his arrival in “bluenose land” he was little more than four years old. The exact date of his arrival at Maugerville is uncertain, but it was probably not long before the 16th December, 1780, when—as we learn from old Sunbury County records—he purchased half of lot No. 78 in Upper Maugerville from Joseph Dunphy for £100. Nehemiah Beckwith is described in the deed of conveyance as “late of Cornwallis but now of Maugerville, Trader.” Mr. Beckwith was quite an enterprising man in the early days of New Brunswick. He was the first to attempt the establishment of regular communication by water between St. John and Fredericton, and for that purpose built in August, 1784, a scow or tow-boat to ply between Parrtown and St. Anns. A little later he built at Mauger’s (or Gilbert’s) Island a ship called the Lord Sheffield, which he sold on the stocks in May, 1786, to Gen’l Benedict Arnold. In consequence of sharp practice on the part of Arnold he was financially ruined. However, in a few years he succeeded in extricating himself from his difficulties and again became an enterprising and useful citizen. At the first general election in this province Mr. Beckwith and James Simonds were candidates for the County of Sunbury, their opponents being Capt. Richard Vanderburg and William Hubbard. The election was conducted after the old fashioned style of open voting, and lasted several days, during which the poll was held in succession at the principal 315 centres. After a sharp party contest between the old inhabitants and the loyalists, the former were outvoted and Simonds and Beckwith consequently defeated. This election helped to intensify the ill-will and jealousy already existing between the “old” and “new” inhabitants. Mr. Beckwith married Miss Julia Le Brun and, after a time, made his residence at Fredericton, where he met his death by drowning in 1815. His son, the late Hon. John A. Beckwith, born in Fredericton, December 1st, 1800, filled many high offices. He was for a time mayor of Fredericton, chairman of the provincial Board of Agriculture, a director of the Quebec and New Brunswick railway and for many years agent of the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Land Company. His son Harry Beckwith was for several years mayor of Fredericton; another son, Charles W. was for years city clerk, and a third, Adolphus G., filled for some time the position of chief engineer of the provincial public works department. A daughter married James Hazen of Oromocto, Sunbury County, and is the mother of J. Douglas Hazen, M. P. P.
QUINTON.
Hugh Quinton, who was one of the pioneers who came to St. John in 1762 with Captain Francis Peabody, was born in Cheshire, New Hampshire, in 1741. Being of an adventurous spirit he served, while only a lad in his teens, in one of the provincial regiments at Crown Point in the French war. His wife, Elizabeth Christie of Londonderry, New Hampshire, was born in the same year as her husband. They were married at the age of twenty and came to St. John a year later. According to the late John Quinton (who was Hugh Quinton’s grandson and derived much of his information directly from his grandmother’s lips) Hugh and his wife Elizabeth arrived in St. John on the 28th August, 1762, and on their arrival found shelter at the Old Fort Frederick barracks in Carleton where, on the night of the day of their arrival, their first child James Quinton was born: to him therefore appertains the honor of being the first child of English speaking parents born at St. John. Not long afterwards Hugh Quinton went up the river to Maugerville, of which township he was one of the first grantees. He is described in an old legal document as “Inn-holder,” from which it is evident he furnished entertainment to travellers, or kept a “tavern.” In those days the keeper of a tavern was usually quite an important personage. Many of the first religious services at Maugerville were held at Hugh Quinton’s house, as being centrally situated and more commodious than those of the majority of the settlers. He was himself a member of the Congregational Church. In 1774 he sold his lot of land opposite Middle Island, and removed to Manawagonish in the township of Conway where, as we learn from an enumeration of the settlers made 1st August, 1775, (yet preserved at Halifax) he lived with his family, comprising ten persons in all, in a small log house, his stock of domestic animals including 2 horses, 4 oxen and bulls, 5 cows, 6 young cattle, 13 sheep and 5 swine. In common with the majority of the settlers who came from New England, the sympathies of Hugh Quinton in the Revolutionary war were at first with the “rebels.” He was one of the “rebel committee,” formed at Maugerville in May, 1776, and accompanied Colonel Jonathan Eddy in his quixotic expedition against Fort Cumberland. After this unlucky escapade Hugh Quinton thought better of 316 his conduct, took the oath of allegiance and on several occasions turned out and fought the rebel parties. At the peace in 1783 he drew a lot in Parrtown, at the corner of Charlotte and Princess streets, (where the residence of the late Dr. John Berryman now stands), also one in Carleton. For many years he kept a well known house of entertainment at Manawagonish, Parish of Lancaster. He died in 1792, but his widow lived until the year 1835. He was the ancestor of all of the name who are now resident in the province.
JONES.
John Jones, the ancestor of the late Hon. Thomas R. Jones and many others of the name in the province, claims a little notice at our hands. His grandfather came to America from Wales about the year 1700, accompanied by his family. They landed at Newburyport, settling, a little later, at Amesbury. This immigrant ancestor met a tragic death at the hands of the Indians. John Jones, who came to St. John, was the youngest of his father’s children. He learned the ship-carpenter’s trade, and came to St. John with William Hazen in 1775 as a master workman to build ships for the firm of Hazen, Simonds and White. The first vessel he was employed in constructing was on the stocks and partly planked when she was burned by a party of marauders from Machias. Mr. Jones’ employers paid him his daily wages for some time, in order to retain his services, under the impression that the Revolutionary war would soon be ended and they would be able to resume the business of ship-building. During this waiting period Jones was not entirely idle—at least he found time to marry a New England girl, Mercy Hilderick by name, who was visiting at the home of her brother-in-law Samuel Peabody. The marriage ceremony was performed by Gervas Say, Esquire, a neighboring justice of the peace. The ravages of the Yankee privateers that infested the shores of the Bay of Fundy obliged Mr. Jones and nearly all his neighbors of the Township of Conway to move up the river. But previous to their departure there occurred John Allan’s famous invasion of the St. John. Allan left a guard of sixty men at the mouth of the river to oppose the landing of the troops under Major Studholme and Col. Francklin. The British landed eventually at Manawagonish Cove near the house of Samuel Peabody and were guided by Messrs. Jones, Peabody and others through the woods to the place where the enemy were encamped on the west side of the river near the falls. The Americans were apprised of their coming and had ambushed themselves—some of them climbing into trees. Major Studholme sent out flanking parties, which fired upon the enemy from either side, killing eight of their number, who were buried in one grave near the spot where they fell; the rest fled terror stricken with all possible speed to Machias. John Jones at first went up the river to Jemseg Point, which was then covered with white oak trees. Later he became acquainted with Edmund Price and, concluding to become his neighbor, removed to the head of Long Reach and settled at the place called “Coy’s Mistake” on Kemble Manor, where he had a property of 400 acres of land. It would be quite impossible in this chapter to follow the various ramifications of the Jones family, for John Jones had a family of eight sons and seven daughters, fourteen of whom married and reared large families. One of the sons, Samuel, born while the family 317 were at Manawagonish, in the first years of the last century had the responsible duty of carrying his Majesty’s weekly mail from St. John to Fredericton. There was, by the way, a curious circumstance connected with this mail, namely, that letters from Halifax to St. John were first carried to Fredericton, as the headquarters of the province, and then returned to St. John. This involved a delay of about a week in delivery. Naturally the beauties of such a system did not strike the citizens of the commercial metropolis at all favorably, and the consequence was a vigorous “kick” on the part of the citizens of St. John that led ere long to a change for the better. The house of John Jones, at the head of Long Reach, was a favorite stopping place for travellers in early times, and the reputation of the family for hospitality was proverbial. The loyalist settlers at Kingston during the summer of 1783 met with much kindness from the Jones family while they were living in their canvas tents and busily engaged in the construction of log houses and in making preparations for the ensuing winter.
BURPEE.
The first of the Burpee family in America appears to have been Thomas Burpee, who settled at Rowley in the County of Essex, Massachusetts. This town lies near the north-east corner of the “Old Bay State.” It was settled about 1639, and Thomas Burpee bought a lot there immediately after the first settlement was made. It was from this town and its vicinity that many of the first settlers of the township of Maugerville came in 1762–3. Included in the number were the Burpees, Barkers, Perleys, Jewetts, Palmers and others whose decendants are quite numerous in the province today. Rowley was a stronghold of New England puritanism and, if we are to credit the testimony of the Rev’d. Jacob Bailey, who was born there in 1731 and was a contemporary of Jonathan Burpee and of Jacob Barker, the citizens of Rowley were not remarkable for their enterprise. Mr. Bailey writes that in his day “every man planted as many acres of Indian corn, and sowed the same number with rye; he ploughed with as many oxen, hoed it as often, and gathered in his crop on the same day with his grandfather; he salted down the same quantity of beef and pork, wore the same kind of stockings, and at table sat and said grace with his wife and children around him, just as his predecessors had done before him.” “An uniform method of thinking and acting prevailed, and nothing could be more criminal than for one person to be more learned, religious, or polite than another.”[123]
Doubtless the emigration of the men of Massachusetts, who settled on the River St. John, deprived New England of some of the more enterprising of its people. An indication of the Puritan ancestry of these immigrants who settled on the St. John river is furnished by the Biblical names of a very large majority of the original grantees of Maugerville.[124] Among these names we find the following:—Enoch, 318 Moses, Joshua, Elisha, Samuel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Nehemiah, Jedediah, Isaac, Israel, Jacob, Joseph, Benjamin, Zebulun, David, Jonathan, Phinehas, Jabez, Nathaniel, Asa, Ammi, Thomas, Matthew, Stephen, Peter, James and John.
In the town and parish records of Rowley the name of Thomas Burpee frequently appears—the surname usually in the form of Burkby or Burkbee. The name of Jonathan Burpee (who was probably a great grandson of the first ancestor in America) appears in the list of the first grantees at Maugerville. He was a deacon of the Congregational Church and his name is first in order among the signers of the Church covenant agreed to at Maugerville shortly after the settlement was founded. He was the head of nearly all Church movements up to the time of his death in June, 1781. The papers connected with the administration of his estate are still in existence, and much of the information contained in Dr. Hannay’s valuable sketch of the Township of Maugerville is based upon them. His estate was appraised by Jacob Barker and Daniel Jewett, two of his old neighbors and life-long friends, and was valued at £525. He was considered, in his day, one of the well-to-do farmers of the township.
The simplicity of life which prevailed in this country in the year 1781, is shown by the fact that Jonathan Burpee had no carriage or wagon of any kind and no sleigh—probably the roads were too bad to admit of the use of wheeled vehicles. The deacon, however, had a saddle for himself and a pillion for his wife and daughters. Household furniture was indeed meagre, for that of Deacon Burpee was valued at only £5. 7. 8. But his three good feather beds with pillows, coverlets and bankets were valued at £16. 11. 3.
The cooking in those days was done at the old-fashioned fire place with swinging crane, and the cooking utensils were few and simple. All the dishes in use were of pewter and their number was quite limited. A similar remark applies to the wearing apparel of that time. A beaver hat or a broadcloth suit was regarded as a valuable asset that might be handed on to the second or even to the third generation. Deacon Burpee’s library included “a number of books valued at £2. 2. 6.,” and probably it was as good as any in the settlement.
Commenting on these facts Dr. Hannay justly observes, “We may gather from all this that life was somewhat hard and dry in the Maugerville Settlement, and that even the richest had very few of those things about them which a modern man regards as essential to his comfort.”
Jonathan Burpee’s grandson, David, was a man of mark in the community in which his lot was cast. He filled for a time the office of Sheriff of the old County of Sunbury. To him also appertains the honor of being the first school teacher, of whom we have certain knowledge, within the limits of New Brunswick. In the winter of 1778–9 he conducted a school distant only a few rods from the site of the famous Sheffield Academy of later times.
Among the later descendants of Jonathan Burpee the names of the Hon. Isaac Burpee, minister of Customs in the McKenzie government, and of E. R. Burpee manager of the “Western Extension” R. R., were not long ago as familiar in the province as household words. Descendants of Jonathan and Jeremiah Burpee are now to be found in nearly all the counties bordering on the River St. John.
PALMER.
The first of the name in America is believed to have been John Palmer, a sergeant in the British army, who settled in Rowley, Mass., in 1639. Daniel Palmer who was one of the founders of Maugerville, settled in what is now Upper Sheffield in 1763. He was one of the seven signers of the Maugerville Church Covenant and an Elder of the church. Many of the early religious services were held at his house. His name in common with most of the early settlers is found in the account books of Simonds and White in the year 1765. He supplied them with musquash and beaver skins, hogshead staves, clapboards and oar rafters in return for such goods and supplies as he needed. Like the majority of his neighbors he was disposed to sympathize with the Americans at the outbreak of the Revolution and was one of the “Rebel Committee” but afterwards accepted the situation and took the oath of allegiance to the King. His grandson, David Palmer, born at Grand Lake, Queens Co., in 1789, was a man of literary ability, who in 1869, published a volume from the press of J. & A. McMillan, entitled New Brunswick and other Poems.
NEVERS.
Several persons of this name were grantees of Maugerville, including Elisha, Jabez, Phinehas and Samuel. The Nevers family settled at Woburn, Massachusetts, nearly a century before the pioneers came to Maugerville. The first of the name was Richard Nevers (or Neverds) who is mentioned in the town records of Woburn, August 26, 1666. Several of his decendants served in the old French war, which ended with the conquest of Canada, and it is probable that the offer of free grants of lands to disbanded provincial troops led Elisha, Phinehas and Samuel Nevers to associate themselves with Captain Francis Peabody in the application for a township, “at St. John’s River in Nova Scotia,” made in the year 1762. Elisha Nevers was one of the seven signers of the original Maugerville Church Covenant, and religious meetings were often held at his house in early times. Phinehas Nevers was quite a leading man in the early days of Maugerville. He was one of the first magistrates, and in 1768 was chosen a member for the county of Sunbury in the Nova Scotia legislature. He practised medicine and was the first doctor, in all probability, who lived on the river. The practise of medicine was by no means a lucrative one in his day, for we learn from the account books of Messrs. Simonds & White, that in February, 1773, he attended one of the men in their employ, having come down from Maugerville for the purpose, and received £1. 4. 0. for board for sixteen days and £2. for his professional services. Dr. Nevers was a strong sympathiser with the Americans at the time of the Revolution and when John Allan invaded the River St. John in 1777, he joined him, and when a little later Allan was compelled by Major Studholme to flee to Machias, he was accompanied thither by Phinehas Nevers. Other members of the family however took the oath of allegiance and were thenceforth loyal to the king. Samuel Nevers was a man of enterprise and was one of those who furnished masts to enable Francklin Hazen and White to fulfil their contract for the royal navy.
PERLEY.
The founder of the Perley family in New England was Allan Perley, who came from London in 1635 in the ship “Planter.” A good deal of information regarding the family may be found in the historical collections of the Essex County Institute of Massachusetts. Israel Perley was a native of Boxford, in the vicinity of Rowley, and the house in which he was born was standing not many years ago and may be still in existence. He was born in 1740, was educated as a land surveyor, and came to the River St. John in 1761 at the head of an exploring party said to have been sent by the governor of Massachusetts to report upon the condition and resources of the country with the view of effecting the settlement of a township in that region. The story of the establishment of this township and the important services of Israel Perley in that connection have been already referred to in these chapters. At the time of his arrival in the country he was a young man of twenty-one years of age but in the course of time his education and natural abilities made him one of the most prominent citizens of Maugerville. He was elected a representative for Sunbury county in the Nova Scotia legislature in 1768, and his name occurs a few years later as a justice of the Peace for the county. Several of Justice Perley’s court documents are to be found among the old records of the county of Sunbury, one of which reads as follows:
“County of Sunbury:—Be it Remembered that on the Seventh Day of July, 1774, Nathaniel Barker of Maugerville in the County of Sunbury and Province of Nova Scotia, yeoman, cometh before Me, Israel Perley, one of his Majesty’s Justices assigned to keep the Peace in the sd County, and Informeth against himself that he had been this day guilty of a breach of the King’s Peace, viz., by Striking with his fist the body of Rich’d Estey Jun’r of the town, County and Province aforesaid, yeoman, for which offence he is willing to submit to such a fine as the Law Requires.
“The sd Richard Estey Jun’r personally appeareth at the same time and Declareth before me that he forgives the sd. Nathaniel Barker the Injury he had Done him, being Convinced that it was not of malice aforethought but the Effect of sudden passion: for which Breach of peace I have fined the sd Nath’l Barker to the king one Shilling.
“ISRAEL PERLEY.”
However all the cases that came before Esquire Perley were not settled in a manner so creditable to the offending party. The following case will serve for illustration:
On the 22 June, 1775, a resident of Morrisania,[125] who shall be nameless, was arrested on information laid by Richard Barlow for using seditious and profane language. Abigail Barlow, wife of the complainant, testified that the offender had in her presence uttered the following words “The king I believe is a d—d Roman, and if he was standing now in that corner by G— I would shoot him, or stab him,” with many other words to the same purpose. The prisoner was convicted of profane swearing, and the magistrate decreed that he should forfeit for that offence the sum of two shillings currency to the use of the poor of the town of Maugerville, and it was further ordered that the prisoner “stands charged with the Treasonable words spoken against the King till he shall be further called upon to answer the 321 same—there being at present no gaol in the sd. county wherein to confine said prisoner nor Courts held to determine such matters.”
Israel Perley was a leading member of the Congregational Church and frequently occupied the chair as moderator at important public meetings. He was one of the committee who, in 1774, arranged with the Rev. Seth Noble to become the pastor of the church at Maugerville. The friendship that existed between Mr. Perley and the Rev. Seth Noble very nearly involved the former in serious difficulty a few years later, as will be seen in the following letter addressed by Major Studholme to James White, Esquire.
“Fort Howe, 4 November, 1780.
“Sir,—The Inclosed letter from Mr. Perley to Seth Noble of Newbury having fallen into my hands in the course of inspecting the letters to be sent by the cartel, I have thought it necessary instantly to secure the person of Mr. Perley and shall send him to your house about 9 this morning, when I must request you will closely examine him on the subject of the Inclosed letter. I cannot but think it will be very difficult for him to reconcile his styling himself the ‘sincere friend’ of a notorious rebel with his own situation as one of His Majesty’s Justices of the Peace. * * * “I am sir, etc., etc.
“G. STUDHOLME.”
In the examination that followed Lieut. Samuel Denny Street, a lawyer by profession and at this time a lieutenant of the garrison, appeared for Major Studholme, and Mr. Perley was required to explain certain paragraphs and expressions in his letter, also to explain why he attempted a correspondence with “a declared and notorious rebel to whom in his letter he subscribes himself a sincere friend.” Mr. Perley replied, “I meant not to maintain any correspondence with him, but as his wife was going to him in the cartel I wrote the letter now produced to acquaint him of the broken situation of the church here, and that there would be no encouragement to him to think of returning.”
In regard to the expression, “your sincere friend,” Israel Perley stated that the Rev. Mr. Noble was “an old acquaintance before the present disturbances arose and I had no reference, in styling myself his friend, to anything but his person. I did not mean that I was a friend to his principles.”
Evidently there was a vein of humor in Mr. Perley’s character. He is said to have declined a second election to the House of Assembly of N. S., after having served one term. The chaplain’s prayer, “Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings,” etc., he construed to mean, “We should be prevented from doing the half we do there.” Israel Perley died at Maugerville in 1813 in the 73rd year of his age.
Oliver Perley, who was his brother, came to the River St. John in January, 1765, in company with Jacob Barker, jr., Zebulun Esty, Humphrey Pickard and David Burbank, as passengers in a schooner belonging to Hazen, Simonds & White. His wife was a Palmer, whom he married at Newburyport. In common with the majority of their neighbors they were inclined to sympathize with the New England “rebels” at the outbreak of the American Revolution, and the name of Oliver Perley appears as one of the “rebel” committee appointed at the meeting held at Maugerville in May, 1776. Soon after the peace, in 1783, he is said to have removed to Newburyport, 322 at the solicitation of his wife, but they found so little to admire in the squabbles that prevailed between the followers of Adams and Jefferson that they soon returned to the River St. John declaring that the Americans were “cursed with liberty.” One of Oliver Perley’s sons, Solomon, was married by Rev. John Beardsley, March 8, 1798, to Elizabeth Pickard; another son, Moses, was married by the same clergyman, March 10, 1802, to his cousin Mary, daughter of Israel Perley. This Moses Perley and his wife were members of the church of England and their son Moses H. Perley was eminent in the history of his native province. Amos Perley, another son of Oliver Perley seems to have inherited some poetical taste from the Palmers, and is credited with the following amongst other rhymes:—
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“Wrapt in dark mantles of the night Was Bonnel when he took his flight; Elijah-like he tried to fly To the bright mansions in the sky. But snow was scarce and sleighing bad, And poor success our deacon had; For lo! his chariot, as you see, Is lodged in this old willow tree.” |
The incident that gave rise to this effusion was a practical joke played on a pious itinerant preacher, whose sleigh the Maugerville boys had hoisted into the forks of a large willow. The family of Oliver Perley lived at the spot now known as McGowan’s wharf. Asa Perley, another of the early Maugerville settlers lived at the head of Oromocto Island in Upper Maugerville. The descendants of the Perleys in the province are so numerous and so highly respected that it will be needless to try to follow further their history.
PEABODY.
The founder of the Peabody family in America was Lieutenant Francis Peabody of St. Albans, Herefordshire, England, who came to America in April, 1635, in the ship “Planter,” Capt. Nicholas Travice. The same vessel brought the first of the Perleys, Beardsleys and Lawrences to this continent. Lieut. Francis Peabody was then about 21 years old. He lived a year or two at Lynn, Mass., and then removed to Hampton in Old Norfolk County, where he married a daughter of Reginald Forster and had a family of seven sons and six daughters.
Captain Francis Peabody, who came to the St. John river in 1762, as a prime mover in the establishment of the township of Maugerville, seems to have been a native of Rowley. By reason of his rank and character, and the active part he took in the settlement of the River St. John, he may justly be regarded as the most influential person on the river while he lived. He served with honor in the old French war, and is mentioned in Parkman’s “Wolfe and Montcalm,” (Vol.I., p. 428.) He was one of the magistrates appointed under the first commission of the peace for the county of Sunbury, August 11th, 1766, and was the first collector of customs at the River St. John. The names of Richard, Samuel, Stephen and Oliver Peabody appear in the list of Maugerville grantees of 1765. Of these Richard 323 was a brother of Captain Francis Peabody[126] and seems not to have become a permanent settler; the others were sons of Capt. Peabody. Samuel the eldest, has been frequently referred to in these chapters. He was a man of parts—a farmer, surveyor, mast contractor, ship-builder, trader and mill owner. He died at his residence, parish of Lincoln, in 1824, at the age of 82 years. Descendants of Stephen Peabody lived for some years in the parish of St. Mary’s, York County. Francis Peabody, the third son, went to Miramichi where he became a prosperous merchant and a very influential citizen. The youngest son, Oliver, married, Dec. 31, 1789, Hulda Tapley of Maugerville, removing to Woodstock, N. B., with his family about 1812, where his descendants still reside and are enterprising and successful farmers. Oliver Peabody died in 1819, but his widow survived for more than thirty years. Mary Peabody, wife of Captain Francis Peabody, lived to quite a ripe old age; she died on the 22nd December, 1803, aged 84 years.
Captain Peabody’s was the first will admitted to probate in the county of Sunbury. It is a document of sufficient historic interest to be quoted in full. And here it may be well to state that in the year of grace, 1771, a will was made out in more solemn form than is the case in modern times. As a rule it was read immediately after the funeral, in the presence of kith and kin, and rarely were its provisions disputed. Captain Peabody mentions his daughter Heprabeth in his will; she married Jonathan Leavitt about the year 1773.
In the name of God. Amen.
I, Francis Peabody, of Maugerville in the County of Sunbury and Province of Nova Scotia, being thro’ the abundant goodness of God, though weak in body, yet of a sound and perfect understanding and memory, do constitute this my last will and testament, and desire it may be received by all as such.
First, I most humbly bequeath my soul to God my maker, beseeching his most gracious acceptance of it through the all-sufficient merits of my Redeemer, Jesus Christ. I give my body to the earth from whence it was taken, in full assurance of its resurrection from hence at the last day. As for my burial I desire it may be decent, at the discretion of my dear wife and executors hereafter named. As to my worldly estate I will, and positively order, that all my just debts be paid first. I give my dear and loving wife one third part of all my estate in Nova Scotia, real and personal, (excepting my wearing apparel), and one third part of my land in Middleton and Rowley and Canada, and the use of two hundred dollars now in New England, during her natural life, and the principal if necessity calls for it.
Item, to my son Samuel I give one-fourth part of all my lands not yet disposed of, excepting the land on Oromocto Island, and all the money I have in New England, except two hundred dollars given his mother, his paying all my just debts in New England, and fifteen dollars to his sister Elizabeth White, and two dollars and a half to his sister Hannah Simonds, and one hundred and fifty dollars to his sister Heprabeth on her marriage day.
Item, to my son Stephen I give the same quantity of lands as I gave to my son Samuel, his paying the same sums to his three sisters as ordered for his brother Samuel to pay. 324
Item, to my son Francis I give one half of my lands not yet disposed of.
Item, to my son Oliver I give all my lands not yet disposed of.
Item, I give to my daughter Elizabeth White thirty dollars, to be paid by my two eldest sons in household goods.
Item, to my daughter Hannah Simonds five dollars, to be paid by my two eldest sons.
Item, to my daughter Heprabeth I give three hundred dollars to be paid by my two eldest sons in household goods on the day of her marriage. As to my household goods and furniture I leave to the discretion of my loving wife to dispose of, excepting my sword, which I give to my son Samuel. I appoint my dear wife and my son Samuel executors of this my last Will and Testament.
As witness my hand,
FRANCIS PEABODY, Sr.
Delivered this twenty-sixth day of October, the year of our Lord 1771; in presence of us:
Israel Kinney, Alexander Tapley, Phinehas Nevers.
This Will was proved, approved and registered this 25th day of June, 1773.
BENJAMIN ATHERTON, Reg’r.
JAS. SIMONDS, J. Probates.
BARKER.
There were three of this name among the original grantees of Maugerville, Jacob Barker, Jacob Barker, jr., and Thomas Barker. All were natives of Rowley. They settled near one another in what is now Upper Sheffield, just above the Sheffield Academy, having as near neighbors John Wasson, Isaac Stickney, Humphrey Pickard, Samuel Tapley and several members of the Burpee family. Jacob Barker, sr., served as an officer in one of the Massachusetts regiments in the old French war, and after his arrival at the River St. John was a leading man in the affairs of church and state. He presided as moderator at important church meetings and was one of the ruling elders. He was also one of the early magistrates of the county. At the outbreak of the American Revolution his sympathies were with the revolutionary party, and his son Jacob Barker, jr., was termed by Major Studholme “a bitter rebel.” The father presided as chairman of the famous meeting held at Maugerville on the 24th, May, 1776, at which resolutions hostile to Great Britain were adopted. He regained the confidence of the authorities of Nova Scotia, however, for we find that on the 3rd of August, 1782, Lieut.-Governor Sir Andrew Snape Hamond made a grant of 8,000 acres on the Oromocto river to William Hazen, James White, Jacob Barker and Tamberlane Campbell, as disbanded provincial officers who had served the King in the late French war. Thomas Barker and his neighbor, Richard Estey, jr., owned the first mill in the township. This they sold to James Woodman in 1782. Thomas Barker also owned and improved a tract of land in the township of Burton. He died shortly before the arrival of the Loyalists.
Jacob Barker, jr., came to Maugerville from New England in January, 1765, along with Oliver Perley, Zebulon Estey, David Burbank, Humphrey Pickard and others, in the schooner “Wilmot.” He paid passage and freight amounting to £1. 325 10. 5; and 13s. 6d. for his “clubb of Cyder on the Passage.” On November 13, 1775, Jacob Barker, jr., paid the sum of £32. 10s. to Giles Tidmarsh of the Island of Grenada, planter, for half of Lot No. 11 in the Township of Maugerville, comprising about 250 acres. Giles Tidmarsh lived for a while at Maugerville and was one of the original grantees of the township.
Among the decendants of Jacob Barker may be mentioned Thos. B. Barker, who was born in Sheffield in 1820 and came to St. John in 1853, where he was associated in the drug business with the late Sir Leonard Tilley, and eventually became the head of the firm of T. B. Barker & Sons. The Hon. Frederic E. Barker, judge of the supreme court, is also a descendant of Jacob Barker and a native of Sheffield.
ATHERTON.
Benjamin Atherton, the first English speaking settler at St. Anns, was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, December 20, 1746. His acquaintance with Nova Scotia dates back to the time of the Acadian Expulsion, when as a young man of less than twenty years of age he enlisted in Captain Willard’s company in Lieut. Colonel Scott’s battalion of Massachusetts troops. He sailed from Boston on the 20th of May, 1755, in the sloop “Victory,” and served a year in Nova Scotia under Colonel John Winslow.
In the year 1769, by arrangement with James Simonds, Benjamin Atherton settled at St. Anns Point, where he established a trading post near the site of Government House, Fredericton. The position of a trader on the outskirts of civilization, in the vicinity of Aukpaque, the largest Indian village on the St. John, required tact and courage, but Mr. Atherton was equal to the emergency. In 1783, when the Loyalists arrived, he had at St. Anns “a good framed house and log barn, and about thirty acres of land cleared—partly by the French.” On March 30th, 1773, Benjamin Atherton married Abigail Mooers of Maugerville. She was a daughter of Peter Mooers and a sister of Mrs. Israel Perley. At the time of her marriage she was a girl of seventeen. She died at Prince William, N. B., June 28th, 1852, at the great age of 97 years. By exchange with government Benjamin Atherton acquired a valuable property in Prince William in lieu of his lands at the upper end of Fredericton. His place in Prince William was well known to travellers of later days as an inn kept by one of his descendants, Israel Atherton, for many years. Benjamin Atherton was a man of excellent education. He filled the offices of clerk of the peace and registrar of the old county of Sunbury when it formed part of Nova Scotia; a little later he was a coroner. The old prayer book from which he used to read prayers on Sunday for the benefit of his assembled neighbors in the absence of a clergyman, is still in existence. Benjamin Atherton died June 28th, 1816, and his ashes rest beside those of his wife in the little burial ground in Lower Prince William, hard by “Peter Smith Creek.” His descendants are numerous and widely scattered; among the number is Dr. A. B. Atherton, the well known physician and surgeon of Fredericton.
GARRISON.
Joseph Garrison was born in Massachusetts in 1734 and came to the River St. John as one of the pioneer settlers. He married in 1764, Mary Palmer, who was born in Byfield, Mass., in 1741, and who was most probably a daughter of Daniel Palmer, sr., his next door neighbor at Maugerville. Whether the marriage ceremony was performed at the River St. John or in New England the writer of this history is unable to say; but if at the former place it was probably celebrated after the fashion described in the following document:—
“Maugerville, February 23, 1766.
“In the presence of Almighty God and this Congregation, Gervas Say 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 to perform all the duties necessary betwixt husband and wife as witness our hands.
GERVAS SAY,
ANNA SAY.(Witnesses.) Daniel Palmer, Fran’s Peabody, Sam’l Whitney, Richard Estey, George Hayward, David Palmer, Edw’d Coy.”
The respectability of the witnesses, and the solemn terms of this marriage covenant, suffice to show that marriages thus solemnized were regarded as perfectly regular, and it is probable that in the absence of a minister competent to perform the ceremony this was the ordinary mode of marriage.[127] It will be noticed that Daniel Palmer, whose daughter Mary had married Joseph Garrison a little before this time, was the first witness to the marriage covenant of Gervas Say and Anna Russell.
Joseph Garrison’s lot in the township was No. 4, opposite the foot of Middle Island in Upper Sheffield. His father-in-law Daniel Palmer and his brothers-in-law Daniel Palmer jr., and Abijah Palmer were his nearest neighbors. His third son, Abijah Garrison, born in the year 1773, married Fanny Lloyd who was born on Deer Island, near St. Andrews, in 1776. Their youngest son, William Lloyd Garrison, was the celebrated advocate of the abolition of slavery. Joseph Garrison is said to have been the first of the settlers to engage in mining coal at Grand Lake. The coal was shipped to New England on board one of the vessels of Simonds & White. His name occurs among the first customers in their books after the establishment of their trading post at the mouth of the river in 1764, and he had frequent business transactions with the firm.[128]
COY.
The progenitor of those of this name now living in the province was Edward Coy, who came to the River St. John from Pomfret in Connecticut in 1763. The name was originally McCoy; but the “Mc.” was dropped by Edward Coy’s grandfather and was not again resumed by his descendants. By his wife, whose maiden 327 name was Amy Titus, Mr. Coy had a family of six sons and five daughters. His third daughter was the first female child born of English or American parents on the River St. John. The well known inlet on the river, called “The Mistake,” was originally called “Coy’s Mistake,” the name doubtless suggests by the circumstance of Coy’s mistaking the channel in ascending the river, and after proceeding some miles finding himself in a “cul de sac.” Edward Coy was one of the original grantees of Maugerville, his lot being opposite the head of Gilbert’s Island, but for some years he lived at Gagetown, where his daughter Mary was born in 1771. This daughter published in 1849 a narrative of her life and christian experience, including extracts from her diary and correspondence during a period of upwards of sixty years. It is a curious and interesting old book. Edward Coy was an active member of the Congregational church and one of the signers of the original church covenant. As the children of the family grew up, Mrs. Bradley informs us, their parents instructed them in the ways of religion, furnishing them with such education as their situation and circumstances admitted, which was little more than they learned at home, except in the case of the two youngest. The early years of the family were rendered more arduous by reason of ill health on the part of the mother and failing sight on the part of the father. Edward Coy settled at Upper Gagetown under arrangements with Col. Wm. Spry, who gave him (July 12, 1770,) a lease of 200 acres of land. Under the terms of the lease Coy was to pay at the expiration of two years 4 shillings per annum, and at the expiration of four years 8 shillings per annum for ever. This was not a very large rental for a farm of 200 acres, but the tenant system was never popular on the St. John. Mr. Coy was required to “leave a row of trees on each side of the high road, thereafter to be laid out, at the distance of about six rods from each other.” About this time he sold his lands in Maugerville to Moses Coburn.
At the outbreak of the Revolution the attitude of the Indians was so threatening, and reports of the lawlessness of privateers so alarming, that Mr. Coy removed his family once more to Sheffield, which was then by far the most thickly settled place on the river. He attended the meeting held on the 24th May, 1776, at which resolutions strongly favoring the cause of the colonies in rebellion were adopted, and was appointed one of the “rebel committee.” His son Amasa went in arms with Jonathan Eddy against Fort Cumberland. Both father and son, however, subsequently took the oath of allegiance to the King and were thenceforth loyal subjects. The family returned to Gagetown in a few years, the public mind having become more settled respecting the American war. Mrs. Bradley, in her narrative, gives a good description of the general interest and excitement created in the Spring of 1779, by the coming of the celebrated New-light preacher and evangelist, Henry Alline, which made an indelible impression on her mind, although she was only a child at the time. Shortly afterwards the small-pox broke out in the settlements, and Edward Coy determined to have his family “inoculated.” Inoculation, it may be observed, was regarded as the best preventative of small-pox before vaccination was introduced by Dr. Jenner. The results, however, were not uniformly satisfactory. 328 In the case of the Coy family, Mr. Coy and his wife lay at the point of death for a considerable time, and their second son, aged 24 years, died.[129]
When the Loyalists arrived in 1783 Edward Coy was living in a log house on his lot at Upper Gagetown where he had cleared about 15 acres of land. The circumstances of the pioneer settlers were still rather straitened, but the exiled Loyalists were in a much more unfortunate condition. Speaking of their distress, Mrs. Bradley says; “My heart was filled with pity and affection when I saw them in a strange land, without house or home, and many of them were sick and helpless. I often looked upon them when they passed by in boats in rainy weather and wished for them to call and refresh themselves and was glad when they did so.” Edward Coy shared with a Loyalist family the accommodation of his humble dwelling until they could provide themselves a shelter.
ESTEY.
The ancestor of the Esteys in America was Jeffrey Estey, an English puritan, who sought refuge in New England from the persecutions of Old England. He was living at Salem, Mass., in 1636, but removed later to Long Island, N. Y., where he died in 1657. His son, Isaac Estey, married Mary Towne, who was born in Yarmouth, England, about 1634. She was among the unfortunate witchcraft martyrs of Salem in 1692; she wrote a remarkable letter to the judges and court denying the charges preferred against her. Isaac Estey was grandfather of Richard Estey who came to the St. John river with the Maugerville colony. Richard Estey lived at Rowley but he was born at Topsfield, Mass., the home of his parents and grand-parents. His wife was Ruth Fisk of Ipswich, Massachusetts. He was a member of the Congregational church in Rowley until he was dismissed to the church at St. John river in May, 1764. Among his children who were born at Rowley and came to Maugerville were the following:—
- Richard Estey, jr., born Feb. 9, 1728, married Hannah Hazen.
- Sarah Estey, born Oct. 12, 1736, married Thomas Barker.
- John Estey, born about 1739, married Mary Hart.
- Zebulon Estey, born Dec. 14, 1742, married Molly Brawn and died Oct. 10, 1806.
Richard Estey, sr., was one of the seven signers of the original church covenant at Maugerville and served on important church committees. The Esteys were well known and active men in the community, and were among the pioneers of milling on the St. John river. Richard Estey, jr., had a saw mill in 1779, on what was then called Numahael creek. His brother Zebulon moved to Upper Gagetown about 1778, where he built a grist mill—the first in that vicinity and used by farmers on both sides of the river. The committee sent by Major Studholme early in 1783, to explore the river and report upon the state of settlement, mention the fact that Zebulon had been settled about 5 years on his location. He had built a house and grist mill and cleared about 3 acres of land. He had a wife and 8 children. The committee 329 add:—“Said Estey is a good man, his character very loyal and we beg to recommend him to be confirmed in his possessions.”
Moses, Israel and Amos Estey, who were of a younger generation, removed from Maugerville to the Burton side of the river prior to 1783, induced thereto in all probability, by the inconveniences consequent upon the Spring freshets.
Zebulon Estey was a ruling elder of the Congregational church at Maugerville in 1775. Through the ministry of the Rev. Joseph Crandall, one of the fathers of the Baptist denomination in the maritime provinces, a considerable number of the old Congregationalists of Waterborough and the vicinity were led to organize a Baptist church. Their leader, Elijah Estabrooks, was foremost in the movement, which was much aided by the unexpected conversion of the “old squire” Zebulon Estey to Baptist principles. Father Crandall writes of that day: “Nearly thirty candidates were baptized, and the meeting did not break up until the going down of the sun. It was truly solemn and delightful to hear the praises of the Lord sung by great numbers of happy converts in boats returning home from the delightful scene. The work of that day I can never forget. The clear setting sun, the large expanse of unruffled water, the serenity of the atmosphere, the delightful notes of the feathered songsters, and the solemn sound of hymns sung by many happy voices, presented to me an emblem of the paradise of God. It seemed as though heaven had come down to earth, and that I was on the brink of the eternal world.”
Of the church organized at Waterborough in 1800, Elijah Estabrooks became the pastor, Edward Coy and Joseph Estabrooks deacons, and Zebulon Estey clerk, “all by a unanimous vote.”
Further particulars of the organization of this church, which was the first of the denomination in western New Brunswick, will be found in Dr. Bill’s History of the Baptists.
The Esteys proved a prolific stock and their descendants on the River St. John are numerous.
ESTABROOKS.
The first of this name in America is supposed to have been Joseph Estabrooks, who was born in Enfield, Middlesex County, England, and came to Concord, New Hampshire in 1660. It is said that he had two brothers, one of whom, Thomas, was at Swansea in 1683, but subsequently went to Concord. Elijah Estabrooks, who settled on the River St. John, had in his lifetime many places of abode. He was probably a native of Haverhill, Massachusetts, where his son, of same name, was born in May, 1756. The family came to Halifax about the year 1763, removing soon afterwards to Cornwallis, and from thence to St. John. On the 18th October, 1765, Mr. Estabrooks entered the employ of Simonds & White. In 1773 he made an agreement with Wm. Hazen and James Simonds to settle in the township of Conway, near the mouth of the river, Hazen and Simonds guaranteeing him a deed of 250 acres of land. An old return, or census, of the township, dated 1st August, 1775, shows that Mr. Estabrooks’ family included a wife, three sons and three daughters. 330 He had cleared and improved seven acres of land and built a log house. His domestic animals were one cow, two young cattle and two hogs. Before he had made more than a good beginning the Revolutionary war brought everything to a stand. We learn from Major Studholme’s report that Elijah Estabrooks was one of those who accompanied Hugh Quinton in the expedition against Fort Cumberland in 1776, and shared in the discomfiture of the party. His predilection for the American cause did not save him from being molested by the “rebel privateers,” and he was obliged in the Spring of 1777 to remove his family from their exposed situation at the mouth of the river to the vicinity of Gagetown. It is a little remarkable that Elijah Estabrooks and his immediate neighbors on the St. John should have come from Cornwallis and other parts of Nova Scotia, although they were in the first instance natives of New England. They seem to have had no legitimate title to the lands on which they settled themselves, while awaiting the issue of the struggle between Great Britain and the colonies in rebellion. The arrival of the Loyalists in 1783 rendered their situation exceedingly precarious. However, they were befriended by Governor Parr, who directed that such lots as were occupied by old inhabitants of the country (although the occupants might not have any legal claim) should not be appropriated by the Loyalists until they had paid for the improvements made by those in possession. This policy was continued, after the formation of the Province of New Brunswick, by Governor Carleton and his council. A valuation of the improvements made at Upper Gagetown by Robert Lasky, Robert Lasky, jr., Elijah Estabrooks, sr., Elias Clark, Arculus Hammond, John Richardson, Samuel Hersey, Francis Grant, Moses Clark, Samuel Kemble and Benjamin Boober was made by Thomas Hart, Samuel Upton and John Hart. As the valuators were old settlers and neighbors, the interests of their friends were not likely to suffer at their hands. They placed the value of the buildings and improvements of the eleven individuals named above at £603.12s.6d. which was more than the Loyalists who had drawn the locations were disposed to pay; consequently the old settlers remained in possession. The valuation put upon the house of Elijah Estabrooks, sr., was £10; that of his “improvements” £46.
Elijah Estabrooks, jr., was led by the visit of Rev. Henry Alline, in 1779, to connect himself with the church formed on “New-light” principles at Waterborough, and a few years later he commenced preaching. In May, 1780, he was baptized by Rev. Joseph Crandall, and his example being followed by several others a small Baptist church was constituted in Waterborough of which Mr. Estabrooks was the pastor. Several of the incidents of his ministry are related in Rev. Dr. Bill’s History of the Baptists. During the years he labored in Waterborough and the adjoining settlements he supported himself and his family by his own industry. He was held in universal esteem by persons of all denominations and all descriptions. Today his descendants and those of his brothers are very numerous on the St. John river.
DARLING.
There were twenty-three proprietors of a township, which was originally called “Amesbury” in honor of James Amesbury, a Halifax merchant, one of the grantees. 331 Among the few inhabitants of the township, prior to the arrival of the Loyalists, mention may be made of Benjamin Darling, the first English speaking settler on the banks of the Kennebecasis. Mr. Darling was born at Marblehead, Massachusetts, in 1730, and came to the St. John river a few years before the war of the American Revolution. He used to trade with the Indians and became very friendly with the chief of a small village at Nauwigewauk. Here in early times the Indians used to raise corn and tobacco. They were inclined to resent the intrusion of the whites into their domain but Benjamin Darling, after prolonged negotiation, obtained from the local chief possession of the island, the consideration offered and accepted being two bushels of corn, one barrel of flour, a grindstone, some powder and shot and sundry knives, hatchets and other implements. Darling built himself a comfortable log dwelling, the upper part of which served as a store-room for goods for the Indian trade. After his wife’s death his daughter Hannah became the housekeeper with a young girl friend as companion. The Indians, though otherwise friendly enough, objected to all attempts to clear and till the land and would not even allow the young ladies to beautify their premises by the cultivation of flowers. On one occasion Benjamin Darling went in company with the Indian chief to visit a beaver dam not far away. During their absence an Indian entered the house with the avowed intention of taking one of the girls for his “squaw.” There being no man about the premises the prospect was certainly alarming, but woman’s wit proved equal to the emergency. As the intruder advanced to lay hands upon her Hannah Darling offered to go with him of her own free will, but immediately after leaving the house cleverly eluded the Indian, slipped in again at the door and fastened it. The despicable savage advanced to the window with diabolical threats, whetted his knife before their eyes and finally seized a club to make forcible entry only to find himself confronted at the doorway by the plucky girl with a loaded musket in her hands. Her spirit was now thoroughly aroused; she ordered him off the premises forthwith, and the Indian after glancing at her determined face slunk away. The old chief was greatly incensed at this occurrence, and a day or two later the culprit was brought before the young woman with his hands tied, the chief demanding “shall we kill him?” To which she answered, “Oh, no! let him go.” He was thereupon chased out of the neighborhood and forbidden to return under penalty of death. Hannah Darling, the heroine of this spirited adventure, afterwards married Christopher Watson, and is said to have attained the wonderful age of 108 years.
GAGE.
Among the large land grants on the River St. John, passed in the year 1765, was one of 20,000 acres to General Thomas Gage and nineteen other individuals, most of them residents of New York. The tract included the lower part of the parish of Hampstead and the upper part of Greenwich, extending in front along the river from about the foot of Long Island to Jones’ Creek, a little below Oak Point. Many of the original grantees were related by blood or marriage and the association was in its way a “family compact.” General Gage served in the seven 332 years war in America and was commander-in-chief of the British forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill. His wife was a daughter of Peter Kemble, president of the Council of New Jersey; Stephen Kemble and Samuel Kemble, who were proprietors of the township, also were her brothers.[130] Henry Gage, son of General Gage, although only a child of five years, was one of the proprietors.[131] Other proprietors were William, Samuel and Robert Bayard; they were related to the Kembles. The Bayards were leading Loyalists and among their descendants we have still with us Dr. William Bayard, the nestor of the practising physicians of the maritime provinces. Archibald McCall, a wealthy merchant of Philadelphia, was another proprietor; his wife, Edith Kemble, was a sister of Stephen and Samuel Kemble. Another notable proprietor was John Watts, a member of the Executive Council of New York, a gentleman of wealth and reputation; his daughter married Sir John Johnson, who was also one of the associates in the grants.
KEMBLE.
On the 27th of May, 1767, fifteen of the original grantees, including General Thomas Gage, transferred their rights to Stephen Kemble[132] for a very small consideration—ten pounds current money of the Province of New York—and the grant was thenceforth known as the Kemble Manor.
In the year 1774 Col. Kemble appointed Joseph Frederick Wallet Des-Barres to act for him in the settlement of the manor, with power to substitute and appoint one or more agents. Des-Barres immediately named James Simonds as his deputy; the duties of the latter are specified in the records of the old county of Sunbury under the following heading:
“Instructions for carrying into execution the letter of Attorney of Stephen Kemble, Esq., to Joseph Frederick Wallet Des-Barres, Esq., to be observed by James Simonds, Esq., his substitute for this purpose specially appointed.”
Under the instructions the manor was to be divided into one hundred lots of 200 acres each, to be laid out in such a way as to allow communication with the river to as many settlers as possible. Half the lots were offered at £5 sterling each to purchasers or to tenants at a renewable lease of ten shillings per annum, but it was not until about the year 1782 that any effectual measures were taken for the settlement of the grant, the explanation probably being that Mr. Simonds and his partners were too much engaged in securing their own lands from forfeiture 333 to pay much attention to those of Col. Kemble. However on the arrival of the Loyalists a number of lots were speedily disposed of and by the efforts of Ward Chipman, who succeeded James Simonds as agent, the greater part of the lands were saved from escheat. Col. Kemble visited the River St. John in 1788. His correspondence with Ward Chipman relative to the improvement of the Manor is of interest. The last of the lots on the river was sold in 1811, and in 1820 the rear of the property, comprising about one half of the whole, was sold to Nehemiah Merritt, of St. John, for £1000.
STERLING.
Another considerable grant in the year 1765 was that made to Captain Walter Sterling of the Royal Navy, and nine others[133], 10,000 acres at the foot of Kingston peninsula, now known as “Lands End.” This tract was forfeited for non-fulfilment of the conditions of the grant. Capt. Walter Sterling visited the River St. John in August, 1775, and some business transactions with him are to be found in the old account books of Hazen, Simonds and White.
GLASIER.
Another large grant of this period was known as “Glasier’s Manor” (subsequently as “Coffin’s Manor”), extending from Brundage’s Point in the parish of Westfield up the river to a point two or three miles above the Nerepis. Colonel Glasier is believed to have made his headquarters during his sojourn on the River St. John at or near the site of Fort Boishebert at Woodman’s Point. The Nerepis stream was at one time known as “Beaubear’s river;” for example, in a description of the River St. John, written a little before the arrival of the Loyalists, we have the following: “At the entrance of a small river called Baubier’s River or narrow Piece [Nerepis] the land a considerable distance back is good upland but no Interval. The land up Baubier’s River for three miles, which was included in Glasier’s original Grant, is good, both Interval and upland. On Baubier’s River mills may be erected and there is some good timber. On Baubier’s Point the salmon fishery is said to be the best on St. John’s River.”
Shortly after the arrival of the Loyalists Glasier’s Manor passed into the possession of General Coffin, and was by him named Alwyngton Manor. Before this transaction was consummated, however, Glasier’s Manor had nearly shared the fate of other grants. Elias Hardy, a clever lawyer employed by the government to investigate the state of the old townships with a view to the forfeiture of lands vacant and unimproved, claimed that the manor was escheatable in part as not having been fully settled. It was shown, however, that Nathaniel Gallop and others had made improvements, built dwellings, barns and out-houses, but the Indians had burned the houses and destroyed the crops and finally driven the settlers away. 334 Owing to the distracted state of the country at the time of the Revolution, no settlement was practicable near the mouth of the river. Governor Parr used his influence in Col. Glasier’s behalf, assuring him that every effort would be made to preserve his lands in view of his efforts to promote the settlement of the country. General Coffin succeeded, after he had purchased the manor, in getting some valuable settlers to take up lands at the Nerepis, among them Capt. Henry Nase, a brother officer in the late King’s American regiment, whose descendants still live at Westfield. In the course of the first year’s residence General Coffin expended more than £1,200 sterling in improving his property. He built on the Nerepis stream an excellent mill and displayed much enterprise in other ways.