Glimpses of the Past Part 43

In regard to the expression, "your sincere friend," Israel Perley stated that the Rev. Mr. n.o.ble was "an old acquaintance before the present disturbances arose and I had no reference, in styling myself his friend, to anything but his person. I did not mean that I was a friend to his principles."

Evidently there was a vein of humor in Mr. Perley's character. He is said to have declined a second election to the House of a.s.sembly of N.

S., after having served one term. The chaplain's prayer, "Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings," etc., he construed to mean, "We should be prevented from doing the half we do there." Israel Perley died at Maugerville in 1813 in the 73rd year of his age.

Oliver Perley, who was his brother, came to the River St. John in January, 1765, in company with Jacob Barker, jr., Zebulun Esty, Humphrey Pickard and David Burbank, as pa.s.sengers in a schooner belonging to Hazen, Simonds & White. His wife was a Palmer, whom he married at Newburyport. In common with the majority of their neighbors they were inclined to sympathize with the New England "rebels" at the outbreak of the American Revolution, and the name of Oliver Perley appears as one of the "rebel" committee appointed at the meeting held at Maugerville in May, 1776. Soon after the peace, in 1783, he is said to have removed to Newburyport, at the solicitation of his wife, but they found so little to admire in the squabbles that prevailed between the followers of Adams and Jefferson that they soon returned to the River St. John declaring that the Americans were "cursed with liberty." One of Oliver Perley's sons, Solomon, was married by Rev.

John Beardsley, March 8, 1798, to Elizabeth Pickard; another son, Moses, was married by the same clergyman, March 10, 1802, to his cousin Mary, daughter of Israel Perley. This Moses Perley and his wife were members of the church of England and their son Moses H. Perley was eminent in the history of his native province. Amos Perley, another son of Oliver Perley seems to have inherited some poetical taste from the Palmers, and is credited with the following amongst other rhymes:--

"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, Ma.s.s., 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 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.

[126] Nathan Frazier of Andover, Ess.e.x Co., Ma.s.s., merchant, on 15th October, 1767, delivered sundry articles--such as crockery, sugar, spices, cloth goods, etc., to Richard Peabody "for his brother, Capt. Francis Peabody." The articles amounted in value to 311.18.1, old currency, and Richard Peabody gave his note for this amt.

Captain Peabody's was the first will admitted to probate in the county of Sunbury. It is a doc.u.ment 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 G.o.d. Amen.

I, Francis Peabody, of Maugerville in the County of Sunbury and Province of Nova Scotia, being thro' the abundant goodness of G.o.d, though weak in body, yet of a sound and perfect understanding and memory, do const.i.tute this my last will and testament, and desire it may be received by all as such.

First, I most humbly bequeath my soul to G.o.d 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 a.s.surance 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 princ.i.p.al 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 quant.i.ty 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.

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 Wa.s.son, Isaac Stickney, Humphrey Pickard, Samuel Tapley and several members of the Burpee family. Jacob Barker, sr., served as an officer in one of the Ma.s.sachusetts 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 pa.s.sage and freight amounting to 1. 10. 5; and 13s. 6d. for his "clubb of Cyder on the Pa.s.sage." 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.

Among the decendants of Jacob Barker may be mentioned Thos. B. Barker, who was born in Sheffield in 1820 and came to St. John in 1853, where he was a.s.sociated in the drug business with the late Sir Leonard Tilley, and eventually became the head of the firm of T. B. Barker & Sons. The Hon. Frederic E. Barker, judge of the supreme court, is also a descendant of Jacob Barker and a native of Sheffield.

ATHERTON.

Benjamin Atherton, the first English speaking settler at St. Anns, was born in Lancaster, Ma.s.sachusetts, December 20, 1746. His acquaintance with Nova Scotia dates back to the time of the Acadian Expulsion, when as a young man of less than twenty years of age he enlisted in Captain Willard's company in Lieut. Colonel Scott's battalion of Ma.s.sachusetts troops. He sailed from Boston on the 20th of May, 1755, in the sloop "Victory," and served a year in Nova Scotia under Colonel John Winslow.

In the year 1769, by arrangement with James Simonds, Benjamin Atherton settled at St. Anns Point, where he established a trading post near the site of Government House, Fredericton. The position of a trader on the outskirts of civilization, in the vicinity of Aukpaque, the largest Indian village on the St. John, required tact and courage, but Mr. Atherton was equal to the emergency. In 1783, when the Loyalists arrived, he had at St. Anns "a good framed house and log barn, and about thirty acres of land cleared--partly by the French." On March 30th, 1773, Benjamin Atherton married Abigail Mooers of Maugerville.

She was a daughter of Peter Mooers and a sister of Mrs. Israel Perley.

At the time of her marriage she was a girl of seventeen. She died at Prince William, N. B., June 28th, 1852, at the great age of 97 years.

By exchange with government Benjamin Atherton acquired a valuable property in Prince William in lieu of his lands at the upper end of Fredericton. His place in Prince William was well known to travellers of later days as an inn kept by one of his descendants, Israel Atherton, for many years. Benjamin Atherton was a man of excellent education. He filled the offices of clerk of the peace and registrar of the old county of Sunbury when it formed part of Nova Scotia; a little later he was a coroner. The old prayer book from which he used to read prayers on Sunday for the benefit of his a.s.sembled neighbors in the absence of a clergyman, is still in existence. Benjamin Atherton died June 28th, 1816, and his ashes rest beside those of his wife in the little burial ground in Lower Prince William, hard by "Peter Smith Creek." His descendants are numerous and widely scattered; among the number is Dr. A. B. Atherton, the well known physician and surgeon of Fredericton.

GARRISON.

Joseph Garrison was born in Ma.s.sachusetts in 1734 and came to the River St. John as one of the pioneer settlers. He married in 1764, Mary Palmer, who was born in Byfield, Ma.s.s., in 1741, and who was most probably a daughter of Daniel Palmer, sr., his next door neighbor at Maugerville. Whether the marriage ceremony was performed at the River St. John or in New England the writer of this history is unable to say; but if at the former place it was probably celebrated after the fashion described in the following doc.u.ment:--

"Maugerville, February 23, 1766.

"In the presence of Almighty G.o.d and this Congregation, Gervas Say and Anna Russell, inhabitants of the above said township, enter into marriage covenant lawfully to dwell together in the fear of G.o.d the remaining part of our lives to perform all the duties necessary betwixt husband and wife as witness our hands.

GERVAS SAY, ANNA SAY.

(Witnesses.) Daniel Palmer, Fran's Peabody, Sam'l Whitney, Richard Estey, George Hayward, David Palmer, Edw'd Coy."

The respectability of the witnesses, and the solemn terms of this marriage covenant, suffice to show that marriages thus solemnized were regarded as perfectly regular, and it is probable that in the absence of a minister competent to perform the ceremony this was the ordinary mode of marriage.[127] It will be noticed that Daniel Palmer, whose daughter Mary had married Joseph Garrison a little before this time, was the first witness to the marriage covenant of Gervas Say and Anna Russell.

[127] See Dr. Hannay's sketch of the Township of Maugerville; N. B.

Hist. Society Collections, vol. I., p. 72.

Joseph Garrison's lot in the township was No. 4, opposite the foot of Middle Island in Upper Sheffield. His father-in-law Daniel Palmer and his brothers-in-law Daniel Palmer jr., and Abijah Palmer were his nearest neighbors. His third son, Abijah Garrison, born in the year 1773, married f.a.n.n.y Lloyd who was born on Deer Island, near St.

Andrews, in 1776. Their youngest son, William Lloyd Garrison, was the celebrated advocate of the abolition of slavery. Joseph Garrison is said to have been the first of the settlers to engage in mining coal at Grand Lake. The coal was shipped to New England on board one of the vessels of Simonds & White. His name occurs among the first customers in their books after the establishment of their trading post at the mouth of the river in 1764, and he had frequent business transactions with the firm.[128]