Glimpses of the Past Part 33

Notwithstanding all their misfortunes and persecutions the Acadians living on the St. John continued gradually to increase. After the return of the missionary Bailly to Canada they were without a priest until the arrival of Joseph Mathurin Bourg in September, 1774. This intrepid missionary was the first native of Acadia to take holy orders and as such is a subject of especial interest. He saw the light of day at River Canard in the district of Mines on the 9th of June, 1744. His father, Michel Bourg, and his mother, Anne Hebert, with most of their children, escaped deportation at the time of the Acadian expulsion in 1755 and sought refuge at the Island of St. John [Prince Edward Island], from which place they were transported by the English to the northern part of France. Young Joseph Mathurin became the protege of the Abbe de l'Isle-Dieu, then at Paris. He pursued his studies at a little seminary in the Diocese of St. Malo and on the 13th of September, 1772, was ordained priest at Montreal by Monseigneur Briand. After a year he was sent to Acadia as missionary to his compatriots of that region. He took charge of his mission in September, 1773. It at first extended from Gaspe to Cocagne, but in August, 1774, the Bishop of Quebec added the River St. John (including "Quanabequachies," or Kennebeccasis) and all the rest of Nova Scotia and the Island of Cape Breton. The bishop also appointed the Abbe Bourg his grand vicar in Acadia. Almost immediately afterwards he visited the River St. John and the little settlement at French Village near the Kennebeccasis where, early in September, he baptized a considerable number of children, whose names and those of their parents are to be found in the register which is still preserved at Carleton, Bonaventure Co., in the province of Quebec.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (Signature) Joseph Mth. Bourg pretre Grand. V.]

The missionary made his headquarters at Carleton (on the north side of the Bay of Chaleur) but from time to time visited different parts of his immense mission. During the Revolutionary war he paid special attention to the Indians on the River St. John, who largely through his efforts were kept from taking the warpath and going over to the Americans. The raids made by the Machias rebels under Jonathan Eddy and John Allan, in 1776 and 1777, interfered in some measure with the visits of the missionary, for Col. Michael Francklin in his interview with the Maliseets at Fort Howe in September, 1778, a.s.sured them that Mons'r. Bourg would have visited them sooner but for the apprehension entertained of his being carried off by the rebels.

The chapel at Aukpaque was not entirely disused during the absence of the missionary. We learn from John Allan's narrative that while he was at Aukpaque in June, 1777, a number of Acadians came on Sundays to worship at the Indian chapel and that he and his prisoners, William Hazen and James White, also attended. While there they witnessed the funeral of an Indian girl. The ceremony was a solemn yet simple one.

The body was borne into the chapel, the bell tolling the while; after a short prayer they sang funeral hymns, that done some of the chiefs bore the coffin to the grave where there was another prayer followed by a funeral hymn. The coffin was then deposited in the grave and a handful of earth cast upon it by the relatives and friends of her s.e.x.

Immediately afterwards the family wigwam was struck and removed into the thickest part of the village that the parents might be the better consoled for the loss of their child.

The important services rendered by Father Bourg to government during the American Revolution will be told in another chapter.

The first clergyman of the Church of England to visit the River St.

John was the Rev'd. Thomas Wood, a native of the town of New Brunswick in the then British province of New Jersey. Mr. Wood went to England in 1749--the year of the founding of Halifax--to be ordained by the Bishop of London. He bore with him testimonials declaring him to be "a gentleman of a very good life and conversation, bred to Physick and Surgery." He became one of the missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and was transferred from New Jersey to Nova Scotia in 1753. Halifax and Annapolis were destined to be the chief scenes of his labors, but he made frequent tours amongst the new settlements.

Mr. Wood was an excellent French scholar and his gifts as a linguist were of no mean order. While at Halifax he lived on terms of friendship and intimacy with Antoine Simon Maillard, the missionary of the Indians and Acadians. In the year 1762 Mr. Wood attended the Abbe Maillard for several weeks during his last illness, and the day before his death, at his request, read the Office for the Visitation of the Sick in the French language in the presence of a number of Acadians, who were summoned for the occasion by the venerable missionary. Mr.

Wood also officiated at the burial of M. Maillard, reading over his remains in French the burial service of the Church of England in the presence of "almost all the gentlemen of Halifax and a very numerous a.s.sembly of French and Indians."

As the Indians were for the time being without any religious teacher Mr. Wood resolved to devote much attention to them. He applied himself diligently to the study of their language, in which he had the a.s.sistance of the papers left him by the Abbe Maillard and by devoting three or four hours daily to the task he made such progress that upon reading some of M. Maillard's morning prayers the Indians understood him perfectly and seemed themselves to pray very devoutly. He resolved to persevere until he should be able to publish a grammar, dictionary and translation of the Bible. He writes in 1764, "I am fully determined that nothing but sickness or the Bastille shall impede me in this useful service." Two years later he sent to England the first volume of his native grammar, with a Micmac translation of the Creed, Lord's Prayer, etc. He was now able to minister to the Indians in their own language.

In July, 1767, the Indians attended a special service held in St.

Paul's church, Halifax, at which there were present, the Governor of Nova Scotia, Lord William Campbell, the officers of the army and navy and the princ.i.p.al inhabitants. The service was in the Micmac tongue.

An anthem was sung by the Indians at the beginning and again at the close. On the 12th of August in the same year Mr. Wood married Pierre Jacques, an Indian, to Marie Joseph, eldest daughter of old Thoma, who deemed himself "hereditary king of the Mickmacks." There were present at the wedding, besides the Indians, Sir Thomas Rich--an English baronet, and other gentlemen. After the ceremony Mr. Wood entertained the company at his own house.

It was in the summer of the year 1769 that Mr. Wood made his first tour up the River St. John. Lord William Campbell provided him with a boat and party of men, under the direction of Capt. William Spry of the Engineers. Capt. Spry will be remembered as one of the active promoters of the settlement of the townships on the St. John river, where he had large land interests. His knowledge of the river made him an excellent guide.

The English missionary arrived at St. John harbor on the 1st day of July, and the day following, which was Sunday, held the first religious service conducted by an English speaking minister at Portland Point.

The account books of Simonds & White suffice to show that no business was transacted at their establishment on Sunday, and doubtless the day was honored as a day of rest, but up to this time there had been no opportunity for church-going. Among those who heard the first sermon preached at St. John in English were in all probability, the Messrs.

Simonds & White and their employes, Edmund Black, Samuel Abbott, Samuel Middleton, Michael Hodge, Adonijah Colby, Stephen Dow, Elijah Estabrooks, John Bradley, William G.o.dsoe, John Mack, Asa Stephens, and Thomas Blasdel. To these may be added the wives of James Simonds, of Black, Abbott and one or two other workmen; also a few settlers living in the vicinity. It may be observed in pa.s.sing that Edmund Black was foreman in the lime burning; Abbott, Middleton and G.o.dsoe were employed in making hogsheads and barrels for lime and fish; Hodge and Colby were shipwrights engaged in building a schooner for the company; the others were fishermen and laborers. Doubtless the service held by Mr. Wood was a very simple one, and if there were any hymns they were sung from memory, for there is reason to believe that there was not a single hymn book in the community, with the exception of a copy of Watt's psalms and hymns owned by James White.

Notwithstanding the difficulties of the situation, the Rev'd. Thomas Wood on the occasion of his first Sunday at St. John established a record which, after the lapse of nearly a century and a half, remains unequalled for interest and variety. In the morning he held divine service and preached to the English settlers and baptized four of their children. In the afternoon he conducted a service for the benefit of a number of Indians, who chanced to be encamped there, baptized an Indian girl and addressed them in their own language. In the evening, many of the French inhabitants being present, he held a third service and preached in French, the Indians again attending as many of them understood that language. These French people were chiefly Acadians living at what is now called French Village, in Kings county. They were at that time employed by Simonds & White in building an aboideau and d.y.k.eing the marsh. In one respect the Indians perhaps did better than the English or the Acadians, for at the close of their service Mr. Wood desired them to sing an anthem which, he says, "they performed very harmoniously."

The next day the missionary sailed up the river, visiting the settlers in their homes as he proceeded. At Gagetown he baptized Joseph and Mary Kendrick, twin children of John and Dorothy Kendrick. Mr. Wood says the children were born in an open canoe on the river, two leagues from any house, a circ.u.mstance that ill.u.s.trates the exigencies liable to arise in a region so spa.r.s.ely inhabited as the valley of the River St. John then was.[98]

[98] Major Studholme in 1783 states that John Kendrick was a good subject, an old soldier and very deserving. He lived near Gagetown with his wife and five children. He settled there about the year 1768.

On Sunday the 9th of July Mr. Wood held service at Maugerville, where he had a congregation of more than two hundred persons but, owing to the fact that the people were chiefly "Dissenters from New England,"

he baptized only two infants. He thought, however, if a prudent missionary were settled among them their prejudices against the Church of England would speedily vanish. He speaks in his letter to the S. P.

G. of the rising townships of Gagetown, Burton and Maugerville as a most desirable field for a missionary and commends the Indians to the special consideration of the society. After making a call at Morrisania, a little below Fredericton, where two children were baptized, Mr. Wood and his companions proceeded to "Okpaak" which he terms "the farthest settlement upon the River." He thus describes the reception they met with on their arrival:

"The Chief of the Indians came down to the Landing place and handed us out of our boat, and immediately several of the Indians, who were drawn out on the occasion, discharged a volley of Musketry turned from us, as a signal of receiving their friends.

The Chief then welcomed us and introduced us to the other Chiefs, and after inviting us to their Council Chamber, viz. their largest wigwam, conducted us thither, the rest of the Indians following.

Just before we arrived we were again saluted with their musketry drawn up as before. After some discourse relative to Monsieur Bailly, the French Priest that Government have thought proper to allow them, finding them uneasy that they had no priest among them for some time past, I told them that the Governor had employed him to go to the Indians to the eastward of Halifax and had sent me to officiate with them in his absence. They then seemed well enough satisfied, and at their desire I began prayers with them in Mickmack, they all kneeling down and behaving very devoutly. The vice concluded with an anthem and the blessing."

Mr. Wood says that although there were then at Aukpaque Indians of three different tribes, Micmacs, Maliseets and Caribous,[99] they all understood the Micmac language, and he expresses regret that he had not been sent among them two years before, being satisfied that he could have gained their confidence and good will.

[99] Probably Canibas or Kennebec Indians.

The Reverend Thomas Wood closed a laborious and successful ministry of thirty years at Annapolis, where he died December 14, 1778.

Some account has already been given, in the chapter descriptive of the progress of the settlement at Maugerville, of the first religious teachers in that locality, Messrs. Wellman, Webster and Zephaniah Briggs. We shall have something more to say of their first resident minister, the Rev'd. Seth n.o.ble, when we come to deal with events on the river at the time of the American Revolution. As already stated the first Protestant church on the river was erected at Maugerville in the year 1775. This building was at first placed on a lot the t.i.tle of which was afterwards in dispute, and regarding the possession of which there was rather a bitter quarrel between the old inhabitants and the Loyalists. In consequence the building was removed to the lot in Sheffield where the Congregational Church now stands. An interesting account of this incident is given in the narrative of the Rev. Joshua Marsden, a Methodist pioneer missionary on the St. John river, who says:--

"The Presbyterian [i. e. Congregational] chapel at Sheffield, was a church-like building of frame-work, with a spire steeple and a s.p.a.cious gallery. This chapel had been drawn down upon the ice of the river more than five miles: it had first been erected at Maugerville, upon a litigated lot of land, which the society, not choosing to bring to the issue of a law-suit, they determined to remove the chapel bodily to their own glebe, five miles lower down the river. The whole settlement, men, horses and more than one hundred yoke of oxen, were present to a.s.sist in this more than herculean enterprise. The chapel was raised from its stone foundation by immense lever screws. Prodigious beams of timber were then introduced under the whole length of the building; into these were driven large staples, to which the oxen were yoked with strong chains of iron. When all things were ready for a movement, at a given signal, each man standing by his horse or oxen, this great building, capable of holding eight hundred persons, was drawn along and down the bank of the river to its appointed place, where another foundation having been prepared, it was again raised by levers upon it with very little damage. Not a single pew in the gallery or bottom having been removed in the process. In this emigrated chapel, I had the satisfaction of preaching the gospel of the kingdom to a large congregation. Perhaps you will wonder how the ice of this mighty river bore upon its bosom so ponderous a body; but your surprise will cease when I inform you that in the depth of winter, it is from two to three feet in thickness, making a bridge of aqueous crystal capable almost of bearing up a whole town."

CHAPTER XXIII.

ON THE EVE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

When the county of Sunbury was established in 1765, there was no English settlement north of St. Ann's and the river was but spa.r.s.ely settled from that place to the sea. Nevertheless the immense forest wealth of the St. John was gradually becoming known and appreciated.

The French ship of war "Avenant," as long ago as the year 1700, after discharging her cargo of supplies for Villebon's garrison and goods for the French traders, took on board some very fine masts for the French navy that had been cut upon the River St. John. Afterwards, when the control of Acadia pa.s.sed into the hands of the British, they in turn began to procure masts for the navy on the St. John. England's place among the nations then, as now, depended very largely on the efficiency of her navy, and the reservation of trees suitable for masts for the largest ships of war became a matter of national concern. In consequence Governor Legge, at the request of the home government, desired Charles Morris, the Surveyor general of Nova Scotia, to report as to ungranted lands in the province that might be reserved for the purpose of supplying masts for the navy. On the 21st May, 1774, Mr. Morris submitted his report. He states that his knowledge of the country was based upon personal observations during a residence of nearly twenty-eight years, in the course of which he had visited nearly all parts of the province. In the Nova Scotian peninsula there were very few pines fit for masts, but on the River St. John, above the settlements, and on the other rivers flowing into it were great quant.i.ties of pine trees fit for masts and great quant.i.ties of others growing into that state, which being so far inland, protected by growth of other timber and by hills, and remote from those violent gales which infest the coast would prove the most desirable reserve for the purpose intended. Mr. Morris adds: "I am of opinion that a reserve of all the lands on the River St. John above the settlements for the whole course of the river, at least twenty-five miles on each side, will be the most advantageous reserve to the Crown of lands within this province, especially as the river is navigable for boats and rafting of masts the whole course of it, as also for rafting of masts in the several branches of it; and in this tract is contained a black spruce, fit for yards and topmasts, and other timber fit for ship-building."

The importance to coming generations of the "black spruce, fit for yards and top-masts," was little dreamed of by Charles Morris.

However, it seems that in accordance with his recommendation the region of the upper St. John was at this time reserved to the crown because its towering pines supplied the best masts in the world for the British navy, and at the close of the American Revolution it was still unbroken forest.

After the formation of the County of Sunbury, April 30, 1765, magistrates and other officers were appointed and representatives chosen to sit in the House of a.s.sembly. Some of our local historians, including the late Moses H. Perley, have stated that the first representative of Sunbury County was Charles Morris jr., but although Mr. Morris may have been the first to take his seat he was not the first elected representative. The late Thos. B. Akins, of Halifax, a recognized authority on all points of local history, in a communication to the late J. W. Lawrence states that the election writs on file at Halifax give the names of Capt. Beamsley Glasier and Capt. Thomas Falconer as the first representatives of the County of Sunbury. It does not appear that either of these gentlemen attended the sessions of the House of a.s.sembly, and as it was the rule for members who were absent two years to forfeit their seats for non-attendance, a new election was held in 1768, when Richard Shorne and Phinehas Nevers were returned. The House of a.s.sembly was dissolved two years later, and at the ensuing general election Charles Morris, jr., and Israel Perley were returned; the former took his seat but Mr. Perley appears never to have done so and in 1773 James Simonds was elected in his stead. Mr. Simonds was in attendance in October, 1774, and took the customary oath, being the first inhabitant of the county to take his seat in the legislative halls of Nova Scotia. A little later William Davidson was elected a member and he and James Simonds were the sitting members when the old Province of Nova Scotia was divided at the isthmus and the Province of New Brunswick const.i.tuted in 1784.

Among the earliest magistrates of the County of Sunbury were John Anderson, Beamsley Glasier, Francis Peabody, James Simonds, James White, Israel Perley, Jacob Barker, Phinehas Nevers and Gervas Say.

The Courts of General Sessions of the Peace meet regularly at Maugerville and transacted such business as was necessary, appointed constables and other parish officers, administered justice and so forth. Benjamin Atherton was clerk of the peace for the county, James Simonds registrar of deeds and judge of probate, and James White deputy sheriff. The first collector of customs was Capt.

Francis Peabody, who died in 1773. The attention given to the collection of duties was but nominal and Charles Newland G.o.dfrey Jadis, a retired army officer who had settled at Grimross on the St. John river, wrote to the secretary of state in 1773 calling his attention to the prevalence of smuggling of which "Major-Ville"

was the centre, connived at, as he alleges, by the magistrate and collector. This little incident is an indication that the sentiment of the Ma.s.sachusetts settlers of Maugerville was identical with that of their kinsmen in New England in regard to the enactment of the stamp act and the duties imposed by the British government.

A few particulars of interest regarding the settlers on the River St.

John are to be gleaned from the papers of David Burpee,[100] at one time deputy sheriff of the county. There were very few framed dwellings, nearly all the settlers living in log houses. As late as 1783 there were in Gagetown, Burton, and at St. Anns and vicinity about 76 houses occupied by English inhabitants, of which only 9 were framed buildings. The proportion of framed dwellings in Maugerville was little better, the vast majority being log houses.

[100] See Hannay's article on the Maugerville Settlement, Collections of N. B. Hist. Soc., Vol. 1, p. 63.

Horses were few and nearly all the ordinary farm work was done by oxen. It is doubtful if any of the settlers owned a carriage, wagon or sleigh at this time. Carts were generally used in summer and sleds in winter. Some of the men owned saddles, of which there was much borrowing, and there were a few pillions for the ladies. Traveling in the summer time on land was either on horseback or afoot for the roads were too bad to admit of the use of wheeled vehicles.

All the cooking in those days was done at old-fashioned fireplaces and the utensils included a gridiron, toasting iron, frying pan, iron kettle and a number of pots and pans. The dishes used in the farm houses were mostly of pewter and their number limited.

A broadcloth coat or a beaver hat was a valuable a.s.set which might be handed down to the second or even the third generation. A decent broadcloth suit would cost a man as much as he could earn in three months at the current rate of wages, after paying his board; consequently the early settler did not often indulge in the luxury of a new suit. Leather breeches were commonly worn, and from their lasting qualities were an economical garment.

The money handled by the early settlers was quite insignificant; nearly all transactions were of the nature of barter. Corn and furs were the staple articles of trade. The value of corn varied considerably, according to the season, from 4 shillings to 8 shillings a bushel, the average rate 5 to 6 shillings. Half a bushel of corn was the equivalent of a week's board. The ordinary rate of farm wages was 2s. a day except for such work as mowing, framing, hoeing corn, and raking hay, for which the rate was 2s. 6d. a day. The wages of a woman servant were 10s. a month and as all articles of clothing were very dear compared with modern prices, they became excessively so when the rate of wages was taken into account. It took a whole month's wages to purchase a pair of stays and two months wages to buy a gown. A pair of silk mits cost 5s. 6d. and a lawn handkerchief 6s. 6d. Calico was charged as high as 6s. a yard and cotton wool at 6s. 6d per lb. As a rule everything that had to be purchased out of a store was dear, while the prices of country produce were exactly the reverse. b.u.t.ter sold as low as 6d. per lb.; lamb at 2-1/2d. per lb.; beef, 1-1/2 to 3d. per lb.; geese at 3s. each; fowls 1s.; potatoes 1s. 3d. a bushel.

Dr. Hannay quotes the following as a transaction on the part of Mr.

Burpee, which would be regarded as unusual at the present day:

"September 30, 1778.

"Took a hog of Mr. Joseph Howlin of Burton to fat, the hog weighs now 113 lbs. and I am to have as many pounds of pork as he weighs more when I kill him.

"Dec. 1st, 1778, killed Mr. Howlin's hog. Weighed before he was killed 181 lbs."