History of Halifax City Part 16

On 7th September, the merchants of Halifax pet.i.tioned the Governor and Council for permission to export to the States portions of the prize goods as being particularly adapted to the American market. The following names, among others, appear attached to this pet.i.tion: John Lawson, Temple F. & Lewis E. Piers,[71] Jas. Forman, Samuel Head, M. D., Hartshorne, Boggs & Co., James and Michael Tobin, James Hamilton, Roy Leslie & Co., Carrett & Alport, Scaiffe & Bain, G. Gra.s.sie, James Ewing, William Annand, Matthew Richardson, William Phillips, James Russell, Miles W. White, Smith & Thom, John Brown, W. H. Reynolds & Co., Harding & Hill, A. McDonald, Henry Ford, Stephen W. DeBlois & Co., Wm. Bremner, John Moody & Co., Collins & Allison,[72] Henry Austin, William Stairs, Richard Tremain & Co., G. N. Russell, Jonathan & John Tremain.

[Footnote 71: Messrs. Piers were the grandsons of Mr. L. Piers, who came with Cornwallis in 1749. Descendants of Temple F. Piers still reside in Halifax.]

[Footnote 72: This firm was Hon. Enos Collins and Joseph Allison, both of whom became members of His Majesty's Council. They succeeded to the business of Prescott & Lawson on the wharf afterwards known as Collins'

wharf, where Mr. Collins, in 1823, built the range of stone stores, a part of which is occupied by the Halifax Banking Company.]

On the 7th September, Sir Borlase Warren with his fleet arrived in Halifax Harbor in eight days from the Chesapeake. The fleet consisted of the St. Domingo, 74 guns, Diadem, 64, Diomede, 50, Junon, 38, Romulus, 36, Success, 32, Fox, 32, Nemesis, 28, Loupcervier, 18, Mariner, 15, Highflyer, 10, and several transports.

The following pa.s.sage from Murdoch's history affords a lively picture of the condition and aspect of Halifax at this period, drawn no doubt, in some measure from his personal recollection:

"The effects of the war upon the people of Halifax were very marked. Our harbor had become the temporary home of the ships of war, and the place where their prizes were brought and disposed of. Our youths were eager to partic.i.p.ate in the path that seemed to lead by a few steps to honor, glory, and fortune; and indeed when it is borne in mind that several Halifax lads rose to be admirals, we can hardly wonder at the school-boys' desire to wear the white stripe on his collar, and the ivory-handled dirk that indicated his authority to command men. The little capital, then occupying a restricted s.p.a.ce, became crowded. Trade was active, prices rose. The fleet increasing, provisions were in great demand, and this acted as a large bounty in favor of the agriculturist and the fisherman. Rents of houses and buildings in the town were doubled and trebled. A constant bustle existed in our chief streets, cannon were forever noisy; it was a salute of a man-of-war entering or leaving, practising with guns or celebrating something or somebody. There is another side to this picture which must not be omitted. The moral condition of the town had become dreadful in the extreme. Eight or ten thousand soldiers, sailors, and prisoners of war let loose in a little town of less than 10,000 inhabitants can well be imagined."

The upper streets were full of brothels; grog shops and dancing houses were to be seen in almost every part of the town. A portion of Grafton Street was known under the appellation of Hogg Street from a house of ill-fame kept by a person of that name. The upper street along the base of Citadel Hill between the north and south barracks was known as "Knock him Down" Street in consequence of the number of affrays and even murders committed there. No person of any character ventured to reside there, nearly all the buildings being occupied as brothels for the soldiers and sailors. The streets of this part of the town presented continually the disgusting sight of abandoned females of the lowest cla.s.s in a state of drunkenness, bare headed, without shoes, and in the most filthy and abominable condition.

The Acadian School was this year established by Walter Bromley, Esq., on the Lancaster system. It was intended chiefly for the instruction of the poor. Mr. Bromley had been paymaster of the 23rd Fusiliers, and having retired from the army while that regiment was in garrison at Halifax, devoted all the energy of his philanthropic mind to the amelioration of the condition of the poor. He first opened his school on 13th January, 1814 in the old building in Argyle Street, then lately used as a theatre for amateur performers, where he held Sunday school for poor children of all denominations and had a large cla.s.s of blacks, both children and adults, to whom he devoted particular attention. Many colored men and women who afterwards became valuable servants, and some of whom entered into business in Halifax, owed their success and subsequent christian life to the exertions of Mr. Bromley. His labors to improve the condition of the Mic-mac Indians will be remembered by not a few individuals now living. His house was open to them at all times, where those who were not addicted to the habitual use of spirits were hospitably treated, clothed and furnished with means of following their hunting and other occupations. This continued until he left the country.

The old play house having fallen into decay, the present stone building was erected on its site in 1816 and apartments for Mr. Bromley were therein provided. A printing press which had been established by him at the Acadian School became the means of disseminating his views regarding education throughout the province, and his little pamphlets, ent.i.tled Appeals to the People of Great Britain on behalf of the Indians of Nova Scotia, were very forcible and touching. The first edition of T. C.

Halliburton's history of Nova Scotia was issued from Bromley's press in 1824. When Bromley left Halifax in 1828, the poor lost a true friend and the Indians their chief patron.

Halifax was visited by a great gale of wind in the autumn of 1813. The Gazette of the 19th November says:

"On Friday evening last, a most tremendous gale, or rather hurricane from the south-east, rushed up the harbor with such destructive violence as has not been witnessed since the tornado which happened in September, 1798. The lapse of little more than one short hour left but few vessels at their anchors and of those scarcely one that had not sustained material injury. Its utmost fury being felt about dead low water, less damage was sustained by the wharves and stores than might otherwise have been expected, but several shallops and small craft were sunk, and many others wrecked and torn by the sea.

H. M. Ships St. Domingo, Hogue, Maidstone, two brigs and a schooner were driven on sh.o.r.e. Fourteen other men of war, including small ones, suffered by vessels being driven against them. The Barossa, Diadem and the old Centurian suffered least. There were forty-six merchant vessels, transports and prizes, all large vessels except about seventeen, stranded; most of them having been got off again. Twenty-four, including store ships and transports, suffered more or less injury, and a brig, a transport and one or two sloops sank and were totally lost. Several schooners were sunk at Prospect, and two large vessels were reported overset off the harbor. A number of lives were lost during the gale, and many seamen badly hurt on board the ships of war."

Among the deaths recorded this year was that of James Creighton, Esq.,[73] in his 81st year. He was the son of one of the settlers who came with Governor Cornwallis in 1749, and had acquired a large property in the neighborhood of the town which was inherited by his son who was the ancestor of the family of that name now in the city. The fields in the north suburbs adjoining the common were for many years known as Creighton's fields; long since laid off into building lots, including the streets known as Maynard Street, Creighton Street and Bauer Street, etc.

[Footnote 73: Mr. Creighton was not related to Lieutenant Creighton, who afterwards settled in Lunenburg and was known as Col. Creighton. He came out, however, in company with him in the same vessel, being friends; they were both from the same part of England.]

The death of Sir Samuel Hood George, Provincial Secretary of the Province, took place this year in England, where he went for the benefit of his health. He died of consumption in the 24th year of his age.

In the month of January, 1813, a murder was committed on the Market Wharf, which caused considerable excitement in the town. About 7 o'clock on Monday evening, January 25th, five soldiers, having had some dispute with the shallop men on the wharf, attacked them with their bayonets and badly wounded four men, Frederick and Henry Publicover, Cornelius Uhlman and George Teele. The main guard from the King's Wharf being called out, three of the soldiers were secured. Henry Publicover died of his wounds and the Coroner's Jury brought in a verdict of wilful murder against some persons unknown. One of those who had been apprehended, a young soldier named Oliver Hart, was tried and convicted of the murder at the Easter term of the Supreme Court, but was afterwards pardoned by the Governor. Much dissatisfaction existed in the community in consequence of the termination of this affair.

In the month of March the crew of a Spanish schooner, the Serifina, was brought into Halifax. They had killed six of their fellow-sufferers upon the alleged necessity of saving their own lives by subsisting on the flesh of those they killed. Investigations were entered into, the result of which does not appear.

The Commissioners of Streets for the town were appointed on the 12th May. They consisted of James Forman, John Albro, Michael Tobin, Frederick Major, James Fraser and John Allen. The three former remained in office until about 1829 or 1830, when a new system was inaugurated under the management of H. H. Cogswell and others. Matthew Forrester was the Overseer and Superintendent of Streets under the Commissioners for many years. The old Commissioners, a short time before their retirement, undertook to remove all obstructions to side paths; many old houses stood on banks with cellar doors projecting into what was supposed to be part of the street. Others again were approached by flights of steps, all of which were removed to the detriment of many buildings in the suburbs. At this time the town was adorned in many places by ranges of trees in the sides of the streets. St. Paul's Church was surrounded by large old willow trees; a range of fine old willows extended from William Pryor's corner down the eastern side of Hollis Street past the Lumber Yard Gate. A fine range of willows of less dimensions also ran along that part of Argyle Street between the late H. H. Cogswell's stone house and the residence of the late R. J. Uniacke, since sold for a country market. Again in Poplar Grove, and the old Grenadier fort house which stood on the site of the present Trinity Chapel in Jacob Street, on both sides of Brunswick Street, particularly on the east side, there were several fine cl.u.s.ters of Lombardy poplar trees of gigantic size, several being in front of the residence of James Kirby. There were also some fine trees in other parts of the town. These were all cut down without mercy by Mr. Forrester, under the directions of the Commissioners before the year 1830, and the lower stairs of a number of buildings were buried in levelling the streets. Albermarle and Grafton Streets were at this time in a very rough condition, particularly the former, where banks of earth and stones were to be seen in the centre of the street, sufficient in some places to obstruct carriages. These were removed by the new Commissioners.

The town was at this time supplied with water by public wells and pumps in various parts of the town. A pump stood at the north end of the Province Building Square, in George Street, known as Black's pump; another at the south end of the square; another, known as the White pump, stood in the centre of Prince Street, where it is crossed by Albermarle Street; this was one of the last to be removed. There were two known as the Sisters at the corner of Duke and Hollis Streets, near the site of the building occupied by the People's Bank. There were four or five along the east side of Brunswick Street, one at the foot of Cornwallis Street, and a number in the south suburbs and other parts of the town; also two in Barrington Street in front of the Parade.

1814. During the winter of 1813-14 some distress existed among the poor in the upper streets. This part of the town was chiefly occupied by people of the lower order, and in consequence of the war had become a resort for soldiers and sailors. Barrack Street, before mentioned, was known as "The Hill" and was as well known through His Majesty's dominions for its evil reputation as the worst haunts of Plymouth or Portsmouth in England.

On the 25th February a public fast was proclaimed by the Governor, after which we do not find any further proclamations of this kind for many years.

A press warrant was granted to Rear Admiral Griffiths on 28th February, when many of the idle and worthless vagabonds of the town were happily secured for His Majesty's service, where they would be brought under wholesome restraint.

It had been arranged this spring that a residence for the Admiral of the station should be erected. The British Parliament had granted the sum of 3000 for this purpose, which being found insufficient, the House of a.s.sembly of this province voted 1500 towards its completion. A site was selected in the field between the Naval Hospital grounds and Gottingen Street, and the present building known as Admiralty House was commenced this year, but not finished until some time after. Why the local funds of the province should have been devoted to this purpose does not clearly appear.

The arrival of the English packet on 21st May furnished news of the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte and the entry of the allied armies into Paris. It being Sunday, the event was celebrated all Monday by a military review with salutes, and the whole town was illuminated in the evening. A military band performed during the evening on the flat roof of the old market house, long since removed to make way for the present brick structure, and the streets were crowded to a very late hour. The merchants and many of the princ.i.p.al inhabitants met at the Exchange Coffee House and other places, where hot suppers were consumed in honor of the occasion.

Among the captures this year was that of the American privateer, Snap Dragon, six guns and 70 men, brought in by H. M. Sloop, Martin on 5th July, taken off Sambro Light, and on the 13th, the United States Sloop Rattlesnake, 18 guns, by the Leander frigate, taken near Shelburne Harbor. About the same time 340 British prisoners were brought to Halifax in Cartels from Salem in Ma.s.sachusetts. The Rattlesnake was afterwards sold and fitted out as a privateer by merchants in Liverpool, Queens County.

The British forces having captured Washington in August, 1814, a large number of black slaves, of both s.e.xes, from the plantations along the Potomac and Chesapeake Rivers, who had deserted their masters, took refuge on board the British men-of-war while they laid in Chesapeake Bay. Sir George Cochran, the naval commander, sent them on to Halifax, where many of them arrived in September, following in a transport ship and the Brig Jasper. They were afterwards located at Preston and Hammond's Plains. Many of the domestic slaves remained in the town as servants, attaching themselves to the inhabitants. Those who went to the country, being unused to cold and hard labor, were unable even with the a.s.sistance of the Government allowance to make their living; soon became paupers and a burden to the community, a condition in which their children and grand-children largely remain. At the close of the war a quant.i.ty of American soldiers' uniforms, taken at Castine, in Maine, were served out to the Chesapeake negroes. Their grotesque appearance in the blue and yellow coats, occasionally intermixed with the green and red facings of the corps called the York Rangers, (at the peace disbanded in Halifax,) must be within the recollection of many of our old inhabitants.

The grand event of this year for Halifax was the fitting out of the expedition for the invasion of the State of Maine. This expedition consisted of the 29th, 60th, 62nd and 98th British Regiments, with artillery and some militia. The two brigades were commanded by Major Goslin and Colonel Douglas; the whole being under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir John Cope Sherbrooke. Rear Admiral Griffiths commanded the squadron, which was composed of 3 seventy-four gun ships, the Bulwark, Dragon and the Spencer, with two brigs, a schooner and ten transports. Castine was taken on 1st September, and the town of Michias by Lieut.-Col. Pilkington, on the 11th. Thus all the State or District of Maine fell into the hands of the British as far west as the old bounds of Acadia. This territory was originally part of Nova Scotia, and at the peace of 1783 had been conceded to the Americans through the ignorance and imbecility of Lord Gambier, who had been intrusted by the British Ministry with the settlement of our lines. The British Government was erroneously induced to relinquish this conquest at the close of the war, a policy which has deprived this Dominion of the fairest timber lands of New Brunswick, and caused the loss of the most direct line of communication between the Canadian provinces through British territory, a loss which the whole expense incurred by the British Government during the war could not now repay. Sir John, having left a garrison to take care of his conquest, soon returned with his little army to Halifax. Several Halifax merchants availed themselves of the opening afforded to make money, sent agents with supplies of goods to establish shops at Castine, etc. The British authorities collected the Revenue of Maine while in occupation, which amounted to a considerable sum of money. This fund was placed by the colonial minister in the hands of the Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, who appropriated it in various ways as he thought most for the benefit of the country. It was from this fund that Dalhousie College was afterwards built and endowed by the Earl of Dalhousie, who succeeded Sir John Cope Sherbrooke in the government, the Legislature of the Province having been induced to vote the sum of 5,000 currency towards the same object.

In the autumn the small pox made its appearance in Dartmouth and Preston and was very fatal among the Chesapeake negroes.

The old Rockingham Club, which in the days of Prince Edward and Sir John Wentworth dined periodically at the Rockingham Hotel on the Basin, had ceased to exist, but it appears to have revived about this time under the name of the Wellington Club. A dinner at the Rockingham by the Wellington Club was announced in the papers of 26th August to take place on the 30th instant at half past four o'clock. Five o'clock was the fashionable dinner hour. The Governor's dinner cards of this date were all for that hour.

The old Rockingham was destroyed by fire nearly half a century ago. It stood on the sh.o.r.e of the Basin, a short distance north of the Rotunda.

After the departure of the Prince it became a house of entertainment, kept successively by Graves, Paine and others. It was a favorite resort being a convenient distance from town. The approach from the post road was by a carriage drive next to the Rotunda, between two beech trees, from which hung suspended a sign with the Wentworth Arms. When destroyed it was the property of the estate of David Muirhead.

In September the body of General Ross, who had been killed before Baltimore, was brought to Halifax for interment. He was buried in the old English burial ground with all military honors. No monument to his memory appears in St. Paul's Church.

On the 24th November, the Man-of-War Brig Fantome, 18 guns, went on sh.o.r.e at Prospect. She soon went to pieces, as also a schooner which accompanied her. No lives were lost.

The merchants presented several pet.i.tions to the Governor this year relative to the trade of the port. The following names appear appended to these pet.i.tions, among which we will find those of many of our princ.i.p.al citizens whose faces were once familiar to many now living:

James Forman,[74] Belcher & Wright,[75] John Clarke, William Rudolf, John Stayner, Rufus G. Taylor, William Strachan, William Young, Jr., Austin & Stairs,[76] Jessie Woodward, Richard Kidston, Lawrence Doyle, John Carrol, Henry Yeomans, Francis Stevens, Benjamin Etter, John Merrick, W. C. Wilkie, Charles Boggs, And. Smith, William Duffus, James Kerby, Charles Tropolet. Again, Thomas Wallace, Bowie & DeBlois,[77]

Hosterman & Etter, John & David Howe,[78] W. A. & S. Black,[79] James Baine, Martin Gay Black, Duncan McColl, Thomas Cleary, Robert Phelon, Levi Moses & Co., and John A. Barry.[80]

[Footnote 74: For many years Custos of the County.]

[Footnote 75: Hon. Andrew Belcher, son of the first Chief Justice and member of Council. His partner, William Wright, was son of old Parson Wright of the Grammar School. Neither left male descendants in Nova Scotia.]

[Footnote 76: Hon. Wm. Stairs, Sr., afterwards in Council.]

[Footnote 77: William Bowie, killed in a duel with R. J. Uniacke.]

[Footnote 78: Both brothers of the late Hon. Joseph Howe, Provincial Secretary, etc.]

[Footnote 79: Hon. William A. Black of the Legislative Council.]

[Footnote 80: Mr. Barry was afterwards in the House of a.s.sembly for Shelburne; died at LaHave aged 80 years.]

The Province Building and the Admiralty House were both slowly progressing during the summer and autumn.

Halifax did a brisk trade during the period of the American War. The following list of exports for the year 1813 is given by Murdoch in one of his notes: Vessels, 412; Tons, 54,457; men, 2,868; Boards and Plank, 1,881,722 feet; Staves, 232,562; Dry Fish, 82,059 quintals; Pickled Fish in tierces, 408; Barrels, 29,829; Smoked Herring in barrels, 142; Boxes, 6,425; Fish Oil, 49,668 gallons.

1815. The winter of 1814-15 was more severe than the previous one. The small pox had broken out in the town and many persons died of it. A number of the black refugee negroes had been, about the month of May, after the removal of the prisoners, placed on Melville Island. They were all vaccinated to prevent the spread of the disease among them. They remained here for a short time until they could be located in the country.

The treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States was ratified in February 1815, and executed at Ghent on the 24th December following. An immediate exchange of prisoners took place after the ratification, and many seafaring men belonging to Halifax, who had been confined in American prisons, were restored to their homes. Peace was proclaimed at Halifax on 3rd March. This spring an Act of the Legislature pa.s.sed for establishing a Bridewell or House of Correction in Halifax. It was placed under the control of the sessions, and the old gamble-roofed building formerly used as a poor house, then situated at the western end of the s.p.a.ce known as the old poor house grounds, was taken for the purpose and fitted up with cells, etc., for the prisoners.

This building was taken down, having ceased to be used after the erection of Rock Head Prison and the Provincial Penitentiary on the North West Arm. It was one of the oldest buildings in the town afterwards, and was in early days the residence of Mr. Wenman, the keeper of the Asylum. When it was first built is uncertain, but being situate within the lines of the old forts, was probably a military residence of some sort during the first five or six years of the settlement.

A regular police court was this summer established in the brick Court House. John George Pyke, John Howe and John Liddell were appointed police magistrates. Mr. Pyke had long been custos of the county, and he and subsequently Mr. Liddell gave regular attendance at the office. Mr.

Pyke was allowed eleven shillings and eight pence per day, and had three police constables at his command, with the additional a.s.sistance of Hawkins, a colored gentleman, who dressed in an old military uniform with cap and feathers, usually escorted the criminals to and from the workhouse, and when occasion required inflicted his 39 lashes on juvenile offenders at the old whipping post, which stood at the south-west corner of the building opposite Messrs. Stairs' office--a system of punishment less expensive than paying their board and lodging for eight or ten weeks from the taxes of the citizens.

The Spring of 1815 was very backward. The Basin had been frozen up all winter, and was not free from ice until the month of June. On the first of June the harbor was full of ice so as for an hour or two to impede the progress of the ferry boats. It was partially collected from loose ice which came down the Narrows from the Basin, and some drift ice which was brought in in the night previously from the sea by the tide and southerly wind.

There were two ferries at this time. The upper ferry was conducted by John Skerry, whose memory is still cherished by many, both in Dartmouth and Halifax, as one of the most obliging and civil men of his day.