History of Halifax City

by Thomas B. Akins

1815. The winter of 1814-15 was more severe than the previous one. The small pox had broken out in the town and many persons died of it. A number of the black refugee negroes had been, about the month of May, after the removal of the prisoners, placed on Melville Island. They were all vaccinated to prevent the spread of the disease among them. They remained here for a short time until they could be located in the country.

The treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States was ratified in February 1815, and executed at Ghent on the 24th December following. An immediate exchange of prisoners took place after the ratification, and many seafaring men belonging to Halifax, who had been confined in American prisons, were restored to their homes. Peace was proclaimed at Halifax on 3rd March. This spring an Act of the Legislature passed for establishing a Bridewell or House of Correction in Halifax. It was placed under the control of the sessions, and the old gamble-roofed building formerly used as a poor house, then situated at the western end of the space known as the old poor house grounds, was taken for the purpose and fitted up with cells, etc., for the prisoners. This building was taken down, having ceased to be used after the erection of Rock Head Prison and the Provincial Penitentiary on the North West Arm. It was one of the oldest buildings in the town afterwards, and was in early days the residence of Mr. Wenman, the keeper of the Asylum. When it was first built is uncertain, but being situate within the lines of the old forts, was probably a military residence of some sort during the first five or six years of the settlement.

A regular police court was this summer established in the brick Court House. John George Pyke, John Howe and John Liddell were appointed police magistrates. Mr. Pyke had long been custos of the county, and he and subsequently Mr. Liddell gave regular attendance at the office. Mr. Pyke was allowed eleven shillings and eight pence per day, and had three police constables at his command, with the additional assistance of Hawkins, a colored gentleman, who dressed in an old military uniform with cap and feathers, usually escorted the criminals to and from the workhouse, and when occasion required inflicted his 39 lashes on juvenile offenders at the old whipping post, which stood at the south-west corner of the building opposite Messrs. Stairs' office—a system of punishment less expensive than paying their board and lodging for eight or ten weeks from the taxes of the citizens.

The Spring of 1815 was very backward. The Basin had been frozen up all winter, and was not free from ice until the month of June. On the first of June the harbor was full of ice so as for an hour or two to impede the progress of the ferry boats. It was partially collected from loose ice which came down the Narrows from the Basin, and some drift ice which was brought in in the night previously from the sea by the tide and southerly wind.

There were two ferries at this time. The upper ferry was conducted by John Skerry, whose memory is still cherished by many, both in Dartmouth and Halifax, as one of the most obliging and civil men of his day. Skerry's wharf in Dartmouth was a short distance south of the steam boat wharf. The other ferry was the property of Mr. James Creighton, known as the Lower Ferry, situate to the south of Mott's Factory. It was conducted for Mr. Creighton by deputy and was afterwards held under lease by Joseph Findlay, the last man who ran a ferry boat with sails and oars in Halifax Harbor. These ferry boats were furnished with a lug sail and two and sometimes four oars. They were large clumsy boats, and occupied some thirty or forty minutes in making the passage across the harbor. There were no regular trips at appointed hours. When the boat arrived at either side the ferryman blew his horn (a conch shell) and would not start again until he had a full freight of passengers. The sound of the conch and the cry of "Over! Over!" was the signal to go on board. The boats for both ferries landed at the Market Slip at Halifax. An act of the Legislature had been obtained this session to incorporate a Steamboat Company with an exclusive privilege of the ferry between Halifax and Dartmouth for 25 years. They could not succeed in getting up a company, steam navigation being then in its infancy, and in the following year had the act amended to permit them to run a boat by horses to be called the Teamboat. This boat consisted of two boats or hulls united by a platform with a paddle between the boats. The deck was surmounted by a round house which contained a large cogwheel, arranged horizontally inside the round house, to which were attached 8 or 9 horses harnessed to iron stanchions coming down from the wheel. As the horses moved round, the wheel turned a crank which moved the paddle. It required about twenty minutes for this boat to reach Dartmouth from Halifax. It was considered an immense improvement on the old ferry boat arrangement, and the additional accommodation for cattle, carriages and horses was a great boon to the country people as well as to the citizens of Halifax, who heretofore had been compelled to employ Skerry's scow when it was found necessary to carry cattle or carriages from one side of the harbor to the other. The first trip of the Teamboat was made on the 8th November, 1816. The following year an outrage was committed which caused much excitement and feeling in the town. All the eight horses in the boat were stabbed by a young man named Hurst. No motive for this cruel act could be assigned, drunkenness alone appearing to be the cause. The culprit was tried for the offence and suffered a lengthy imprisonment. Mr. Skerry kept up a contract with the Company for several years, until all differences were arranged by his becoming united with the Company, and after a short time old age and a small fortune, accumulated by honest industry, removed him from the scene of his labors. The teamboat after a year or two received an addition to her speed by the erection of a mast in the centre of the round house, on which was hoisted a square sail when the wind was fair, and afterwards a topsail above, which gave her a most picturesque appearance on the water. This addition considerably facilitated her motion and relieved the horses from their hard labor. As traffic increased several small paddle boats were added by the Company, which received the appellation of Grinders. They had paddles at the sides like a steamboat, which were moved by a crank turned by two men. In 1818 the proprietors of the old ferries petitioned the House of Assembly against the Teamboat Company using these small boats as contrary to the privilege given them by the Act of Incorporation. It afterwards became a subject of litigation until the question was put an end to by Mr. Skerry becoming connected with the Company. Jos. Findlay continued to run his old boats from the south or lower ferry until about the year 1835.

On the 3rd August, the Man-of War Brig Vesta arrived from England with the news of the Battle of Waterloo. The town was illuminated in honor of the victory, and the inhabitants kept up their rejoicings till a late hour in the evening. Preparations were made for a public dinner on the occasion, which took place at Mason Hall on the 15th. The Attorney General, R. J. Uniacke, took the chair and James Forman was Vice-President. The committee of management were Doctor William B. Almon, John Pyke, eldest son of old John Geo. Pyke, the custos. David Shaw Clarke, G. Lewis and John Howe, junior, John Albro, Thomas Heaviside, Edward Alport, Joseph Allison and William Bowie were the Stewards. Subscriptions had been opened throughout Great Britain and the Colonies for the families of those soldiers who were killed and wounded in the action. The Town of Halifax including the garrison and public officers contributed the large sum of £3,800.

This year an Act of the Legislature passed for regulating the appointment of Trustees and Master for the Grammar School of Halifax. The first Act establishing this school bears date 1780.

The refugee Negroes brought to Halifax by Admiral Cockburn had been in a great measure a burden upon the community. A proposition was made this year by the British Government to remove them to a warmer climate, but no steps appear to have been taken to effect the object. Had this suggestion been carried out at the time much suffering would have been spared to these poor people, and the inhabitants of Halifax relieved from a burden.

On 26th February a resolution passed the House of Assembly directing the commissioners of the poor to cause an account to be taken of the number of black persons in the Town and the environs, who were brought to this country from the United States of America. The following return, dated March 6th, was signed by Richard Tremaine, Chairman of the Committee: