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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.