History of Halifax City

by Thomas B. Akins

In June, 1763, the Hon. Montague Wilmot was sworn in Lieut. Governor in place of Mr. Belcher. In the following year he received the appointment of Governor-in-Chief.

On the 29th day of September, 1766, the Germans, who had been located to the west of the peninsula, the settlement now known as the Dutch Village, petitioned the Government that a convenient road should be laid out for them to their settlement. The Surveyor was ordered to report on the petition. He reported that he found the road from the north German lots to the southward of George Bayers' stone wall, now laid out, in the most convenient place, and that the road should be at least four rods wide. That from George Bayers' stone wall the road should be on the south side of said wall and thence to run until it meets the public road leading to the town.

About this time, at the request of the Magistrates, the Hospital was granted for an alms house. This hospital was established very early for the use of the settlers, and stood on part of the land now occupied by the Government House, to the north of that building.

The church of St. Paul's had now been for some years finished, and the Town and vicinity had been, by an Act of Legislature, constituted into a parish with corporate powers in the church wardens and vestry. After the death of Mr. Tutty, the Reverend Thomas Wood, from the Province of New Jersey, was appointed to assist Dr. Breynton, and he and the doctor were jointly inducted into the parish in 1758; Dr. Breynton as rector, and Mr. Wood as vicar or curate, to assist. Mr. W. continued at St. Paul's until 1763, when he was removed to Annapolis Royal with the consent of the Governor and the church wardens and vestry, when the whole duties of the Mission at Halifax devolved upon Mr. Breynton. Mr. B. was in the habit of officiating to the Germans in their own language. In 1761, he preached in German and English to the small congregation in the old Dutch church in Brunswick Street, on occasion of its being dedicated as the church of St. George. In 1770, at the solicitation of the Governor and Council, the Chief Justice and the congregation of St. Paul's, he received from the University of Cambridge the degree of D. D., to which he was entitled from his standing in the University. Early in his ministry the Doctor established in the Town an orphan school, and provided for the tuition of 50 poor children, through the assistance afforded him by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Mr. Ralph Sharrock, a discharged soldier, was his first schoolmaster. In 1776, Dr. Breynton mentions in his report to the Society, having administered the Lord's Supper to 500 men of the Baron de Seiltz's German regiment in their own language "whose exemplary and regular behaviour" he says, "did them great honour." The following extract from a document, in reference to Dr. Breynton, said to have been written by a Dissenter, is given by Mr. Hawkins, from the records of the Propagation Society: "As a person who, during a residence of upwards of twenty years in this Province, has deservedly gained the good will and esteem of men of all ranks and persuasions. He preaches the Gospel of peace and purity, with an eloquence of language and delivery, far beyond anything I ever heard in America." He lived to a good old age, preserving the esteem of his fellow townsmen to the last. He appears to have lived on terms of Christian fellowship with the clergy of other denominations, as we find that at the annual meeting of the Church Society, which took place in St. Paul's in 1770, the dissenting ministers all attended at the Church to hear the doctor preach his Visitation Sermon. One of the last acts of his ministry was the establishment of a Sunday School in the city. This was about 1783, perhaps a little later, and was the first Sunday School instituted in Nova Scotia.

In the month of July, 1769, a large number of Indians, many of whom at this time appear to have been Protestants, attended divine service in St. Paul's Church, when prayers were read by the Reverend Thomas Wood, in the Mic-Mac language, the Governor and many of the principal inhabitants being present. The Indians sang an anthem both before and after the service. Before the service began a Chief came forward, and kneeling down, prayed for the prosperity of the Province and the blessing of Almighty God on King George, the Royal family and the Governor of the Province. He then rose up, and Mr. Wood, who understood the language, at his desire explained the prayer in English to the whole congregation. When service was ended the Indians returned thanksgivings for the opportunity they had of hearing prayers in their own language. In the following year Mr. Wood again performed divine service at Halifax in the Mic-Mac language at the residence of Colonel Joseph Gorham, where a number of Indians were assembled. He had obtained great influence with the Indians through his friendship with the Abbe Maillard, and particularly from his behaviour to him a little before his death. He was in consequence frequently called on both by the Indians and French to baptize their children and visit the sick in the absence of a priest of their own church. In one of his letters to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in 1762, he mentions having attended the Abbe Maillard during his illness of several weeks, and at his request, the day before his death read to him the office of visitation of the sick in presence of many of the French, and having performed the funeral service of the Church of England, in French, on his remains in the presence of the principal inhabitants of Halifax and a number of French and Indians. The Governor and all the public functionaries attended the funeral of M. Maillard, who was highly esteemed and beloved in the community, and the members of His Majesty's Council were the pall bearers.[42]

Mr. Wood was shortly after removed to Annapolis Royal, where he died in the year 1778. While there he applied himself to a closer study of the Mic-Mac language, and by assistance of papers left him by M. Maillard was enabled to prepare a Mic-Mac grammar and dictionary. He sent the first volume of his grammar, and a Mic-Mac translation of the Creed and Lord's Prayer to England in 1776. He continued occasionally to minister to the Indians in their own language until his death.

February 26th, 1769. Halifax harbour was so full of ice that vessels could not come in, which had not been the case for (says the Gazette for that day) ten years. The cold was intense, snow between four and five feet deep in the woods and on the peninsula, an instance of which had not been known for several years.

May 9th, 1769. Major Leonard Lockman died after a lingering illness in the 73rd year of his age; he was interred under the old German church in Brunswick Street, and a monument to his memory, with coat of arms, is yet to be seen in that church. Major Lockman was one of the leading settlers among the Germans. The street running between the German lots and Water Street in the north suburbs bears his name.

In the fall of this year the town was visited by a severe gale of wind from the S. W., which caused the destruction of much property and some loss of life.

Among the principal merchants in Halifax in 1769, the Hon. John Butler, uncle to the late Hon. J. Butler Dight, Robert Campbell on the Beach, John Grant, Alexander Brymer, Gerrish and Gray appear most prominent. Among the shopkeepers and tradesmen who advertized during the year were, Robert Fletcher on the Parade, Bookseller and Stationer, Andrew Cunod, Grocer, Hammond and Brown, Auctioneers, Robert Millwood, Blockmaker, who advertized best Spanish River Coal at 30s. per chaldron.