History of Halifax City Part 17

Skerry's wharf in Dartmouth was a short distance south of the steam boat wharf. The other ferry was the property of Mr. James Creighton, known as the Lower Ferry, situate to the south of Mott's Factory. It was conducted for Mr. Creighton by deputy and was afterwards held under lease by Joseph Findlay, the last man who ran a ferry boat with sails and oars in Halifax Harbor. These ferry boats were furnished with a lug sail and two and sometimes four oars. They were large clumsy boats, and occupied some thirty or forty minutes in making the pa.s.sage across the harbor. There were no regular trips at appointed hours. When the boat arrived at either side the ferryman blew his horn (a conch sh.e.l.l) and would not start again until he had a full freight of pa.s.sengers. The sound of the conch and the cry of "Over! Over!" was the signal to go on board. The boats for both ferries landed at the Market Slip at Halifax.

An act of the Legislature had been obtained this session to incorporate a Steamboat Company with an exclusive privilege of the ferry between Halifax and Dartmouth for 25 years. They could not succeed in getting up a company, steam navigation being then in its infancy, and in the following year had the act amended to permit them to run a boat by horses to be called the Teamboat. This boat consisted of two boats or hulls united by a platform with a paddle between the boats. The deck was surmounted by a round house which contained a large cogwheel, arranged horizontally inside the round house, to which were attached 8 or 9 horses harnessed to iron stanchions coming down from the wheel. As the horses moved round, the wheel turned a crank which moved the paddle. It required about twenty minutes for this boat to reach Dartmouth from Halifax. It was considered an immense improvement on the old ferry boat arrangement, and the additional accommodation for cattle, carriages and horses was a great boon to the country people as well as to the citizens of Halifax, who heretofore had been compelled to employ Skerry's scow when it was found necessary to carry cattle or carriages from one side of the harbor to the other. The first trip of the Teamboat was made on the 8th November, 1816. The following year an outrage was committed which caused much excitement and feeling in the town. All the eight horses in the boat were stabbed by a young man named Hurst. No motive for this cruel act could be a.s.signed, drunkenness alone appearing to be the cause. The culprit was tried for the offence and suffered a lengthy imprisonment. Mr. Skerry kept up a contract with the Company for several years, until all differences were arranged by his becoming united with the Company, and after a short time old age and a small fortune, acc.u.mulated by honest industry, removed him from the scene of his labors. The teamboat after a year or two received an addition to her speed by the erection of a mast in the centre of the round house, on which was hoisted a square sail when the wind was fair, and afterwards a topsail above, which gave her a most picturesque appearance on the water. This addition considerably facilitated her motion and relieved the horses from their hard labor. As traffic increased several small paddle boats were added by the Company, which received the appellation of Grinders. They had paddles at the sides like a steamboat, which were moved by a crank turned by two men. In 1818 the proprietors of the old ferries pet.i.tioned the House of a.s.sembly against the Teamboat Company using these small boats as contrary to the privilege given them by the Act of Incorporation. It afterwards became a subject of litigation until the question was put an end to by Mr. Skerry becoming connected with the Company. Jos. Findlay continued to run his old boats from the south or lower ferry until about the year 1835.

On the 3rd August, the Man-of War Brig Vesta arrived from England with the news of the Battle of Waterloo. The town was illuminated in honor of the victory, and the inhabitants kept up their rejoicings till a late hour in the evening. Preparations were made for a public dinner on the occasion, which took place at Mason Hall on the 15th. The Attorney General, R. J. Uniacke, took the chair and James Forman was Vice-President. The committee of management were Doctor William B.

Almon, John Pyke, eldest son of old John Geo. Pyke, the custos. David Shaw Clarke, G. Lewis and John Howe, junior, John Albro, Thomas Heaviside, Edward Alport, Joseph Allison and William Bowie were the Stewards. Subscriptions had been opened throughout Great Britain and the Colonies for the families of those soldiers who were killed and wounded in the action. The Town of Halifax including the garrison and public officers contributed the large sum of 3,800.

This year an Act of the Legislature pa.s.sed for regulating the appointment of Trustees and Master for the Grammar School of Halifax.

The first Act establishing this school bears date 1780.

The refugee Negroes brought to Halifax by Admiral c.o.c.kburn had been in a great measure a burden upon the community. A proposition was made this year by the British Government to remove them to a warmer climate, but no steps appear to have been taken to effect the object. Had this suggestion been carried out at the time much suffering would have been spared to these poor people, and the inhabitants of Halifax relieved from a burden.

On 26th February a resolution pa.s.sed the House of a.s.sembly directing the commissioners of the poor to cause an account to be taken of the number of black persons in the Town and the environs, who were brought to this country from the United States of America. The following return, dated March 6th, was signed by Richard Tremaine, Chairman of the Committee:

Men. Women. Children. Total.

In the Town of Halifax 179 56 101 336 Windsor Road 11 14 26 51 Dartmouth and Preston ... .. ... 270 Mr. Fairbanks' Estate at Lake Porter ... .. ... 27 --- 684

The men and women with families were generally in need; none appear to have been located at Hammonds Plains at this time.

James Archibald was tried for the murder of Captain Benjamin Ellenwood of Liverpool, N. S., before Chief Justice Blowers, in Easter term of the Supreme Court at Halifax this year. He was convicted and executed soon after on the Common.

Another attempt to incorporate Halifax was now made. It will be seen that in 1785 the merchants of the town suggested the subject for the consideration of the Governor and Council, but they disapproved of the measure; again in 1790, the Speaker of the House of a.s.sembly, in consequence of complaints regarding the settlement of the poor and the necessity of a police force, etc., drew up the following resolution, which was pa.s.sed: "Resolved, that it be recommended to this House to present a humble address to His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, to request that he will be pleased to grant a charter to the Town of Halifax for incorporating the same, and enabling the inhabitants thereof to make such by-laws as shall be sufficient to regulate the police of said town." No step, however, was taken by the Governor and Council relative to this resolution.

The merchants of the town had a meeting on the subject in 1816, which resulted in a definite proposition being made, in which all the details of the proposed charter were fully set out in a pamphlet of some length.

The following preface or introduction to this pamphlet affords a sketch of the plan proposed:

INTRODUCTION.

The following plan for regulating the munic.i.p.al affairs of this town has been drawn up in the form of a charter, as the clearest and best method to express the extent of the proposed improvements. The objects have been pointed out by a thorough investigation into the various modes of conducting the public business; which was entered into in consequence of a presentment made by the Grand Jury to the Court of Quarter Sessions in the December Term of 1812. The Court having appointed six different investigating committees of the Magistrates to meet the various objects contemplated by the grand Jury, their several reports combined clearly prove the necessity of some reform; but as it would now become an invidious as well as a useless task, to point out the _prevailing errors_ of the present practice, which are but too evident to admit of a doubt, the gentlemen who have undertaken the task of sketching out the _means of improvement_, have left it to the Public to compare the one with the other.

It will be perceived by a perusal of the following sheets, that the Charter has but two leading objects--to establish regularity in business, and to define and extend the powers of the Magistrates and Grand Jury (acting as a Common Council) to the same limits as (and not a step beyond) the powers granted to all corporations within the King's Dominions.

The only novelty introduced is that of preserving a gradual change of the ruling members of the corporation, without incurring the unpleasant duty of the electing system. This is done by the appointment of ten magistrates to act as trustees, two of whom will go out and two others come in annually, and the appointment of the Grand Jury of the existing year, (or if it is preferred that of the last year, or a draft from the whole list until it is gone through), to act as a Common Council.

By these means the whole of the leading members of the community (likely to take an active part in the affairs of the town) will, in turn, partake of the duties of a respectable office, and become intimate, and thereby feel interested in its affairs. The various articles of consumption and of commerce will be better inspected than they are at present; the revenues will be regularly attended to, and every desirable improvement in possession of other similar communities in His Majesty's Dominions will in time, no doubt be adopted.

The provisions of the Charter have been selected and drawn up with the utmost care to avoid objections by an attentive reference to the London, Philadelphia, New York and New Brunswick Charters, and the East Company's by-laws; and the whole is arranged and worded agreeably to the most approved forms, in order to obviate any difficulties on the part of Government, or from local partialities.

In debating the merits of the following pages, these three queries will naturally occur to and guide every reflecting mind:

1st. Whether the present management requires any improvement?

2nd. If so--is this an effectual plan?

3rd. If not--what is better?

N. B. When the terms of the Charter are agreed on and a.s.sented to by His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, it is proposed to apply to His Excellency to grant it for a term of three or five years by way of trial; during which period such amendments may be made to it as experience shall point out to be necessary;--after which, if it proves acceptable to the inhabitants, application may be made to renew it for another term of a few years, for the purpose of improving it still further, as its deficiencies may appear; then the Charter may be made perpetual if the inhabitants approve of it. It will be necessary to have an Act of the General a.s.sembly to confirm the Charter when first granted, and on every renewal of it.

Mr. Sabatier and a few others were princ.i.p.ally concerned in endeavoring to forward the object, but the Governor and Council appear to have been still influenced the belief that their own supervision of local affairs was preferable and better suited to the circ.u.mstances of the town at that time.

It will be seen that in the plan proposed the idea of a popular election of members of the corporation was not even thought of either by the Government or the people of the town.

CHAPTER VII.

1816. Soon after the peace the prosperity of Halifax began to wane. The price of provisions and all the necessaries of life, the value of real estate and the high rents of houses in the town all became more or less affected by the scarcity of money arising from the withdrawal of the troops and navy and the sudden alterations in trade. The reaction was not fully realized until about two years after peace was proclaimed, when the rapid fall off in the value of real estate and the sudden check given to commercial pursuits was found to have reduced many speculators to poverty.

Sir John Cope Sherbrooke having been appointed Governor General of Canada, the princ.i.p.al inhabitants of the town gave him a farewell dinner on 25th June. It was presided over by Chief Justice Blowers and the vice chair was occupied by Michael Wallace, the treasurer of the province. An address, largely signed by the inhabitants, was presented to the Governor on his departure. Sir John had rendered himself very popular in Halifax by his affable manners and his prompt and decisive way of treating all matters brought to his notice by the citizens. He embarked at the King's wharf on Thursday, 27th June, under a salute from the batteries and the cheers of the inhabitants.

The rough condition of the streets of the town at this period rendered immediate and extensive improvements necessary. Those in the least frequented parts of the town had been so much neglected that in many places they were impa.s.sable from the acc.u.mulation of rubbish and the broken condition of the wooden platforms or bridges at the gutters and crossings. In many places the streets were overgrown at each side with gra.s.s except in the centre. Brunswick Street, though one of the princ.i.p.al highways of the town, was overgrown at each side with gra.s.s.

Many of the old Dutch houses then still remaining in this street stood on banks a few feet above the sidewalk and where there were no buildings rough stone walls or fences marked the line of the street. Water Street, from the continual traffic and wear during the period of the war, had been worn into holes and was in wet weather almost impa.s.sable from the acc.u.mulation of mud, particularly between the Ordnance Yard and the foot of Prince Street. The market square at this time, as also that portion of Water Street between Collins' Wharf and the King's Wharf, was much lower than at present. It was found necessary to pave this portion of Water Street, which was accordingly accomplished during the years 1816 and 1817. The pavement, which was with round stones, extended from the Ordnance to Black and Forsyth's Wharf, (later Mitch.e.l.l's) at the foot of Prince Street. The Provincial Legislature contributed the sum of 1,200 towards the work, and the expense of flagging the sidewalks was charged to the owners of property fronting on the street. About the year 1835 this pavement had so sunk down as to be no protection from the acc.u.mulation of mud. The lower part of the market square bordering on Water Street and the way leading to the market slip or public landing were raised about five feet. Between 1820 and 1824 new Street Commissioners were appointed. The Macadamizing system begun to be introduced and extensive improvements in the way of levelling the streets and filling up hollow places were proceeded with.

The Acadian School, conducted by Walter Bromley, had now been under way for about three years. It was inspected on 31st July. There were 400 children in attendance. On this occasion Mr. Bromley stated that since the opening of the school in 1813, eight hundred and ninety-three children had received instruction there, and about one hundred apprentices and colored children in the Sunday schools. The latter were under the special superintendence of Mr. Bromley himself, who devoted all his leisure to the instruction of the black children and others who could not attend school throughout the week. The small sum of 200 was voted annually by the Legislature in aid of this school. Subsequently a grant of money was made by the a.s.sembly to the National School, which was about this time set on foot on the Madras system, under the auspices of the Bishop and members of the Church of England in Halifax, who had lately erected the large three-story building in Argyle Street, opposite the parade, for the purpose. In 1818 this school had 117 children in attendance. The daily attendance at these two schools exceeded 500, which was a large number considering the extent of the population at this period.

The appointment of Dr. Robert Stanser, Rector of St. Paul's, to the Bishopric of Nova Scotia, vacant by the death of Bishop Charles Inglis, took place in 1817. Interest had been made with Lord Bathurst, the Colonial Secretary, and the Archbishop of Canterbury to have Dr. John Inglis, son of the late Bishop, appointed to the See. The appointment was said to have been arranged in favor of Dr. Inglis, but a recommendation from both branches of the Legislature then in session in favor of Dr. Stanser, their Chaplain, prevailed, and Dr. Inglis was appointed Rector of St. Paul's, vacant by the elevation of Stanser to the Bishopric. Dr. John Inglis proved a highly popular Rector; his bland manners and kind disposition rendered him a favorite with all cla.s.ses and denominations, and when he afterwards, in 1825, obtained the Bishopric he carried with him to England addresses in his favor not only from his own parishioners, but largely signed by his friends among other denominations.

The remains of the old Bishop were brought to town from Aylesford, where he died, and buried under St. Paul's Church on the 29th February. The funeral was attended by the Governor, Sir J. C. Sherbroke, Sir John Wentworth, the retired Governor, His Majesty's Council and a large a.s.semblage of the citizens. A monument to his memory is on the west side of the chancel of the church.

On the morning of the 18th April great excitement prevailed throughout the town in consequence of a murder which had been committed in one of the streets during the previous night. Capt. Westmacott of the Royal Engineers who, as officer of the night, was going his rounds on horseback to visit the guards, met two men in Sackville Street whom he challenged in consequence of their suspicious appearance. They immediately attacked him and by a sudden effort threw him from his horse, having first wounded him fatally with a bayonet. He lingered until the 4th day of May, when he died. The murderers were soon after discovered and proved to be two soldiers, deserters from one of the regiments in garrison. They had been stealing fish through the night from a store on one of the wharves. They were identified by the Captain and, being tried and convicted of the murder, were executed on the Common.

The Nova Scotia Fensible Regiment, after the close of the war, remained in Canada for some time. Early in June of this year they embarked at Quebec for Halifax. The transport in approaching Halifax ran upon a reef of rocks known as Jeddore ledges, which lies off the harbour of that name eastward from Halifax. The weather was calm and the troops were landed in safety, with the exception of four private soldiers, two women and several children, but with the loss of considerable part of the baggage. It was found on landing the men that the tide was rising, and that in all probability the greater part of the ledge would be covered at high water. It was proposed that the women and children should be first landed and placed on the higher part of the rock. But on the soldiers perceiving that Colonel Darling, who commanded the Regiment, and several of the officers were intending to avail themselves of the higher parts of the ledge, immediately declared that all officers should be compelled to remain with their respective companies and share the fate of their men. One officer, a captain, is said to have shown symptoms of impatience or something worse on the occasion, and abandoned his wife and family and his men, seeking shelter for himself on the rocks amidst the reproaches and jeers of his comrades. The Regiment was, however, successfully landed on the ledges, chiefly through the heroic exertions of the Adjutant-Lieutenant Stewart, who volunteered to carry a cable from the bowsprit of the ship to the rock, when having there made it fast the sailors were enabled to construct means for landing men in safety. Part of the Regiment was brought to Halifax in coasting vessels about the first July, and others found their way by land, having been brought on sh.o.r.e from the rocks by the fishermen of the neighbourhood.

Col. Darling and some others being displeased at all the credit of the exploit being attached to Lt. Stewart, who was probably not a favorite of the Colonel, brought him to a Court-Martial for some trifling offence supposed to have been a breach of orders, and it is said he was compelled to leave the Regiment.

Two very extensive fires occurred at Halifax this year. One on the 8th October, remembered as the "Haliburton" fire in consequence of the brick building at the corner of Hollis and Sackville Streets owned by Mr. George Haliburton, having been the first house consumed. The fire destroyed nearly the whole block from Haliburton's corner to where Mrs.

Howard's new stone building stands, on the east or lower side of Hollis street. All the buildings on Sackville Street down to the corner known as Reynolds' corner, and the whole of the buildings on the upper or Western side of Bedford Row were consumed. The fire commenced at ten o'clock in the evening and continued to rage until six o'clock next morning. It was considered the most disastrous fire that had ever occurred in Halifax. The old buildings were all of wood except Haliburton's corner house. The block was soon rebuilt with a better description of buildings. Mr. W. K. Reynolds erected a fine stone store at the corner of Sackville Street and Bedford Row, which still remains; this was far the finest store in Halifax at the time. A range of brick buildings along Bedford Row were at the same time erected by the late Nicholas Va.s.s. Haliburton's corner was also rebuilt of brick, and the buildings on Hollis street, the property of Mr. LeNoir and others, were built about the same time by the late Judge William Hill and his brother T. T. Hill, then both at the Halifax Bar. Several old wooden houses were pulled down during the fire by order of the firewards to prevent the spread of the fire. The town was a.s.sessed to pay the damage. The other fire was on Water Street at Creighton and Gra.s.sie's wharf. It occurred in the night of 17th December, during very cold weather. All the stores at and near the head of the wharf were consumed, and the fire extended to buildings on the opposite side of the street. Mr. Gra.s.sie rebuilt with brick and stone, and afterwards lined the shutters of his new store with sheet iron.

The Earl of Dalhousie, a Scotch n.o.bleman, who had distinguished himself in the Spanish campaign as a general of Division under Lord Wellington, had been appointed to succeed Sir J. Cope Sherbrooke in the Government.

He arrived in Halifax on 24th October, 1816, in the Frigate Forthe. Lord and Lady Dalhousie, immediately after their arrival, landed in state and proceeded to the Council Chamber under a salute from the Citadel attended by the heads of Departments, civil and military, when the Earl was sworn into office in presence of His Majesty's Council. The troops lined the way from the King's wharf to Cochran's building where the Council Chamber was then situated.

There had been no theatrical performances worthy of mention in the town since the Duke of Kent's old theatre in Argyle Street had been appropriated to the school under Mr. Bromley. In the autumn of this year a company of players, Messrs. Price, Chamock, Placide, etc., fitted up an old store on Fairbank's wharf as a theatre. Placide, Price and Mrs.

Young were considered good performers and attracted large audiences. At the close of their career the manager got into jail for debt, when Placide, the best comic actor of the company, distinguished himself by escaping from prison and pa.s.sing the sentry at the jail gate in the night, who supposed it was a Newfoundland dog, Mr. Placide being famous for imitating the bark and whine of the canine species.

1817. The winter of 1816-17 was much more severe than that of the preceding year. The south-east pa.s.sage was closed with ice all winter, and the ice remained until late in April. Great distress prevailed in the town as usual among the laboring cla.s.ses during this winter, which was also the case throughout the whole Province. The sum of 600 was contributed this winter by the inhabitants of Halifax for the support of dest.i.tute emigrants who had been brought up from Newfoundland.

An attempt was made by the Legislature in their session of 1817 to relieve the pressing necessities of the county by an Act authorizing the Governor and Council to procure copper coin to the value of 2,000 to be issued from the provincial treasury. The Act was disallowed by the Colonial Secretary in England. No good reason appears to have been a.s.signed for its rejection. The circulating medium at this time in the town and throughout the country was Spanish doubloons, old Spanish dollars, pistareens and other small Spanish coins, with a mixed collection of copper coinage, English and Spanish, with all kinds of half-penny tokens issued by private individuals in the town. No British coinage ever reached Halifax except the old English Guinea. The troops were paid in old Spanish money, which was brought from South America and the West Indies by the merchants in exchange for their cargoes of fish with occasional importations of Spanish silver by the British Government for the troops, etc. An issue of paper money was at this time made under an Act of the province.

It was in the year 1817 that the project was first broached for the establishment and erection of a college on the Grand Parade.

The sum of 9,750 was then remaining in the hands of the Governor from the revenues collected at Castine while the State of Maine was in the hands of the British troops. This sum Lord Dalhousie obtained the permission of the Colonial Secretary to appropriate towards the erection of a college in Halifax on the model of the Scotch Universities. The professors were to receive moderate salaries. The students were not to reside in the college building, but only to attend courses of lectures which were to be open to all students and all else who might feel disposed to purchase tickets for the courses.

This winter the theatre on Fairbanks' wharf was again in operation and as attractive as ever. Miss Powell was at this time giving lessons in dancing. She gave her spring ball at Mason Hall on 21st May. This lady, who was patronized by the fashionable part of the community, was the daughter of Mr. Powell who conducted the theatre in Argyle Street when under the patronage of the Duke of Kent. She lived many years in Halifax and died at an advanced age, having been dependent on the charity of her friends for several years before her death.

The naval force on the station had now been reduced to a few ships under the command of Rear Admiral Sir David Milne, father of Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Milne, who some time since commanded on the North American Station. Sir David's flagship was the Leopard, Frigate.

It may here be noticed that the British and Foreign Bible Society had lately organized a branch in Halifax. The second annual meeting of the branch society took place on the 5th May. It was attended by the Earl of Dalhousie, who occupied the chair, and a number of officials. The chief speakers on the occasion were Judge James Stewart, the Rev. Dr.