The masts, spars, bowsprits and other timber, having been prepared in the woods by the workmen, were hauled to the water by oxen. Trees growing near the stream were “bowsed out”—that is, hauled with block and tackle to the river’s bank. In the month of March it was customary for the King’s purveyor to 304 certify the number and sizes of the sticks that had been brought to the stream, “trimmed four-square and fit for rafting,” and on receipt of the purveyor’s certificate the contractor was at liberty to draw one-half of the money due on the fulfilment of his contract, from the naval storekeeper at Halifax. The masts were rafted and floated—or towed by sloops—to Fort Howe, where they were stored for shipment in the mast pond.
The mast pond was a little cove to the west of Portland Point, just east of the site of the present Portland Rolling Mills. The situation will be seen in the accompanying plan. It was closed and fenced in by the British government for the purpose of receiving the masts.
St. John Harbor
A few words now concerning William Davidson, who may be said to have been the first man to engage in lumbering on the River St. John. Mr. Davidson came from the north of Scotland to Miramichi in 1764, the same year that James Simonds and James White established themselves at the mouth of the River St. John. Cooney, the historian of the North Shore, tells us that at the time of Davidson’s arrival the abandoned houses of the French had been destroyed by the Indians, and our Scotch immigrant found himself the only white man in a vast and desolate region. If this be so he did not long remain solitary, for the next year a grant of 100,000 acres on the south side of the Miramichi was made to him and John Cort. Mr. Davidson was a resolute and energetic man. He prosecuted the fishery, and about the year 1773 built the first schooner launched upon the Miramichi. At the time of the Revolutionary war the Micmacs were so hostile and troublesome that he removed with his family to Maugerville, where he became the purchaser of two lots of land near the head of Oromocto Island. His associations with James 305 Simonds, Wm. Hazen and James White were not of the pleasantest kind. In consequence of purchasing some land at Morrisania (below the present city of Fredericton) the title to which was in dispute, he became involved in litigation with James Simonds, and the result was a suit in the court of chancery,[117] which proved rather costly to both parties. As regards Messrs. Hazen and White there was, as we shall presently see, a lot of trouble arising out of the masting business in which both parties were actively engaged.
Mr. Davidson’s influence on the St. John river is shown by the fact that he was elected a member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for the County of Sunbury. He returned to Miramichi about the time the Loyalists came to the province, and died there in 1790. His tomb-stone in the old cemetery on Beaubair’s Island bears the following inscription:—
SACRED TO THE MEMORY
OF
WILLIAM DAVIDSON, ESQ.
Representative of the County of Northumberland, Province of New
Brunswick, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Contractor
for Masts for His Majesty’s Navy.
He died on the 17th of June, 1790, aged 50. He was one of the
first settlers of the river, and greatly instrumental in promoting
the settlement. He left a widow and five children to
deplore his loss.
“MEMENTO MORI.”
The success that attended William Davidson’s masting operations led Messrs. Hazen and White to engage in the same business. They were fortunate enough to secure the co-operation of Colonel Francklin, with whom they entered into partnership in the summer of 1781 for general trade and “masting.” Francklin’s political influence at Halifax and the personal friendship of Sir Andrew Snape Hamond, the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia and Commissioner of the navy yard, proved of very great advantage to the partners in their business. A few quotations from the original papers of the firm, which are now in the possession of the author, will throw light upon the nature of their subsequent operations.
“CONTRACTED and agreed on the 9th day of August, 1781, with Sir Andrew Snape Hamond, Commissioner of his Majesty’s Navy, resident at Halifax, by us Michael Francklin, Esqr., of Windsor, and Wm. Hazen and James White, Esqrs., of the River St. John in the Province of Nova Scotia, And we do hereby covenant and agree to deliver, free of all charges to his Majesty, at the mouth of the River St. John, the undermentioned North American White Pine Masts, Yards, and Bowsprits, Ash Rafters, Elm Timber, Oak Timber, Anchor Stocks of White Oak, and Crooked or Compass Timber, in the quantities, of the dimensions and at the prices expressed against each size * * to be brought to the mouth of the River Saint John by or before the 1st day of July, 1782, and there to remain at 306 our risque until they shall be embarked on board such ships or vessels as shall be sent to transport them to England, Halifax or elsewhere. * * *
“It is further agreed by Sir Andrew Snape Hamond for the encouragement of the said Contractors, that in case the enemy should make a descent on the Port of Saint John in order to destroy the masts lying there, that the damages sustained thereby should fall on Government and not upon the Contractors, provided it shall appear that all proper endeavors on the part of the Contractors were used to save the masts.”