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.”