Papers Relating to the Townships of the River St
Papers Relating to the Townships
of the River St. John in the Province of Nova Scotia.
Edited by W. O. Raymond, LL. D.
_____________________
Maugerville
On the 12th day of October, 1758, Governor Lawrence of Nova Scotia issued the
first of his celebrated proclamations, offering favorable terms to any
industrious settlers who would remove to Nova Scotia and cultivate the lands
vacated by the French, or other ungranted lands.1 This proclamation had the
effect of directing attention to the River St. John, as well as to other
promising situations in the old province of Nova Scotia. A second
proclamation, issued by Governor Lawrence on January 11, 1759, declared that
the townships to be laid out were to consist of 100,000 acres each — or about
12 miles square — and were to include the best lands and rivers not already
taken up. The form of government was declared to be like that of the
neighboring colonies as also were the courts of justice, and full liberty of
conscience was guaranteed to persons of all persuasions, Papists excepted, by
the Royal Instructions and a late act of the Assembly. As yet no taxes had
been imposed nor fees exacted. Forts, garrisoned with troops, were established
in the vicinity of the lands it was proposed to settle.
Lawrence's proclamations were posted at various places and published in the
newspapers of the day. Much interest was aroused in consequence, particularly
in New England and in New York and Pennsylvania. Many schemes were soon afoot,
but of all who came to the front as would-be colonizers of Nova Scotia, no
single individual played so conspicuous a part as Colonel Alexander McNutt,
the "enthusiastic adventurer from the North of Ireland," as he is termed by
Haliburton. Like others of a speculative turn, who besought the Lords of Trade
and Plantations for their favors at this time, McNutt's interest in the vacant
land of Nova Scotia seems to have been awakened by the proclamations of
Governor Lawrence. His first attempt at colonization was in the year 1760,
when he brought out a considerable number of settlers from Londonderry2 and
other places in the north of Ireland; he also tried to induce the people of
New England to emigrate to the River St. John.
McNutt's colonization schemes were on a scale truly gigantic. He proposed to
establish seven townships of 100,000 acres each, by the introduction of
colonists from the north of Ireland. His endeavors to secure colonists in that
quarter were so successful that the Lords of Trade and Plantations became
alarmed at the expense for which the government had become responsible, and
also at "the danger to Ireland of withdrawing so many of the population." They
soon afterwards imposed restrictions, one of which was the reservation of a
large proportion of the ungranted lands "as a reward and provision for such
officers and soldiers as might be disbanded in America upon a peace." This
action disgusted McNutt, and was not very agreeable to Governor Lawrence, who
wrote to the Lords of Trade: "According to my ideas of the military, which I
offer with all possible deference and submission, they are the least
qualified, from their occupations as soldiers, of any men living to establish
new countries, where they must encounter difficulties with which they are
altogether unacquainted; and I am the rather convinced of it as every soldier
that has come into this province since the establishment of Halifax (1749) has
either quitted it or become a dramseller."
It seems that Col. McNutt had something to do with the settlement of the
Township of Maugerville, although this fact has never been mentioned by any of
our local historians.
Alexander McNutt was a man of boundless energy and had all the qualifications
needed on the part of a successful modern "promoter." He was hopeful and
enthusiastic, and had the gift of inspiring governments as well as individuals
with faith in his designs. In the number and variety of his schemes he was
unequalled by any of his contemporaries. In connection with his associates he
obtained extensive land grants on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, in the
counties of Pictou and Colchester, on the River St. John and at Miramichi — a
matter of more than 2,000,000 acres in all. More than a million acres passed
to him under the Great Seal of Nova Scotia in a single day. Ultimately most of
the lands were escheated. According to Dr. Allison3 his fortunes were clouded
over by the war of the American Revolution, during the greater part of which
he was absent from the province. His sympathies are believed to have been with
the revolutionary party. At any rate, he was on terms of intimate acquaintance
with Benjamin Franklin, Anthony Wayne, and others who were concerned with him
in some of his colonizing schemes. His final abode in Nova Scotia was on
McNutt's Island in Shelburne Harbor.4 In crossing from thence to the adjacent
mainland he is said to have been drowned and his body is buried on the island.
We learn from the documents that are to follow in these pages, that the
movement which resulted in the settlement of the township of Maugerville
originated among a number of officers of the Provincial troops of
Massachusetts, who had served in the French war and were disbanded after the
taking of Quebec. One of the inducements held out to the people of the
colonies to engage in military service was that at the expiration of their
period of enlistment they should receive grants of land in some of his
majesty's colonies. The officers to whom we have referred included Francis
Peabody, Jacob Barker, Israel Perley, James Simonds and others. Their
attention was directed to Nova Scotia by Col. McNutt, and they sent a party to
explore the River St. John.
The Governor of Massachusetts seems to have co-operated with Governor Lawrence
in the settlement of the waste places of Nova Scotia, and we are informed by
Moses H. Perley that a small exploration party was sent to the River St. John
in 1761 at his suggestion. "The leader of that party," says Mr. Perley, "was
Israel Perley, my grandfather, who was accompanied by twelve men in the pay of
Massachusetts. They proceeded to Machias by water, and there, shouldering
their knapsacks, they took a course through the woods, and succeeded in
reaching the head waters of the River Oromocto, which they descended to the
St. John. They found the country a wide waste, and no obstacles, save what
might be afforded by the Indians, to its being at once occupied and settled,
and with this report they returnedf to Boston."
There is in the possession of the Perley family at Fredericton an old
document, evidently written by one of the first settlers, which contains a
brief account of the origin of the Maugerville settlement: —
"In the year 1761 a number of Provincial officers and soldiers in New
England who had served in several Campains During the then french war agreed
to form a settlement on St. John River in Nova Scotia, for which Purpose
they sent one of their number to Halifax who obtained an order of Survey for
Laying out a Township in mile squares in any Part of St. John's River (the
whole being then a Desolate wilderness). This Township called Magerville was
laid out in the year 1761 and a number of settlers enert into it, encouraged
by the King's Proclamation for settling the land in Nova Scotia in which
among other things was this clause the People emigrating from the New
England Provinces to Nova Scotia should enjoy the same Religious Priviledges
as in New England — and in the above-mentioned order of Survey was the
following words — viz. 'You shall Reserve four Lots in the Township for
Publick use, one as a Glebe for the Church of England, one for the
Dissenting Protestant, one for the maintenance of a school, and for the
first settled minister in the place.'
These orders were strictly comply'd with but finding Difficulty in obtaining
a Grant of this Township from the government of Nova Scotia on account of an
order from home that those Lands should be Reserv'd for Disbanded forces,
the settlers did in the year 1763 Draw up and forwarded a Petition to the
Lords of Trade and Plantations.
The editor through the kindness of Mr. Prudent L. Mercure secured a copy of
the petition referred to from the Department of Archives at Ottawa. It reads
as follows: —
"To the Right Honourable and Honourable the Lords Commissioners of Trade and
Plantations:
The Memorial of Francis Peabody, John Carlton, Jacob Barker, Nicholas West
and Israel Perley, late officers in the American service and now disbanded,
In behalf of themselves and others disbanded from the said service and now
settled at St. John's River in Nova Scotia: Humbly sheweth:
That your Memorialists, previous to their entering into his Majesty's
Service, among other encouragements were induced thereto by a Proclamation
of his late Majesty promising that at the Expiration of the service they
should be entitled to a Grant of Lands in any of his Majesty's colonies for
them to Settle upon. That they have many of them been in Service during the
Present war, and as Americans are not entitled to half pay as his Majesty's
British Troops are, and therefore expected no other Recompense than a
Donation of Land agreeable to his late Majesty's promise to them.
That having been solicited to settle in Nova Scotia by Colonel McNutt, who
appeared to us to be authorized by your Lordships, having produced to us an
Instrument signed by your Lordships and under seal promising a Right of Land
to each Settler equal to those already Granted to Horton, Cornwallis and
Falmouth,5 we were induced to come into the colony of Nova Scotia, and
accordingly sent a Committee of us to view Lands proper for a Settlement.
That our Committee accordingly viewed several Tracts of Lands in Nova Scotia
at our Expense and advised us to settle upon St. John's River about seventy
miles from the Mouth in on of the Extreme parts and Frontiers of Nova
Scotia, that we therefore applyed to the Governor and Council of Nova Scotia
for a Grant of the Lands not doubting of having the same confirmed to us, as
they had Granted several Townships in this Province of Nova Scotia to other
New England Proprietors who had not been in the Service. That the Governor
and Council of Nova Scotia gave your Memorialists encouragement by telling
your Memorialists, that the Lands about St. John's River were reserved by
your Lordships for disbanded Troops and they they would refer your
Memorialists Petition to your Lordships.
In confidence of this and being ourselves Soldiers, we apprehended we might
with great safety prepare ourselves for settling the Lands we Petitioned
for, and accordingly sold our Estates in New England, and have at near a
Thousand Pounds Sterling expence Transported ourselves, Families and Stock,
and are now Settled to the number of one Hundred persons, on St. John's
River seventy miles from the Mouth; and a large number of disbanded officers
and Soldiers in confidence of the same Encouragement have now sold all their
Possessions in New England and are hiring Vessells to Transport themselves
and Settle among us.
We were not a little astonished when we were informed by his Majesty's
Governor and Council here, that we could not have a Grant of the Lands we
have settled ourselves upon.
We therefore humbly apply to your Lordships to Lay our Cause before his most
Gracious Majesty, for whose service we have often exposed our lives in
America. That he would be pleased to direct the Governor and Council here to
Grant us these Lands we have now settled upon, as the Removal therefrom
would prove our utter Ruin and Destruction. We have been at no expence to
the crown and intend to be at none, and are settled two hundred miles from
any other English settlement.
And your Memorialists as in duty bound shall every pray."
Our earliest provincial historian, Peter Fisher,6 in his "Sketches of New
Brunswick," printed at St. John by Chubb and Sears in 1825, gives a pretty
accurate account of the founding of the Maugerville Settlement under the title
"A Narrative of the proceedings of the first settlers at the River St. John,
under the authority of the Government of Nova Scotia." Mr. Fisher tells us
that "In the year 1761, a number of persons from the county of Essex, province
of Massachusetts, presented a petition through their agent [Francis Peabody],
to the Government of Nova Scotia, for a grant of a Township twelve miles
square at the River St. John; they received a favorable answer and obtained
full authority to survey a tract of that dimension, wherever it might be found
fit for improvement. In consequence many of the applicants proceeded in the
course of the winter and spring following to prepare for exploring the country
and to survey such Township; they provided a vessel for that purpose and on
the 16th May, 1762, embarked at Newburyport and arrived in three days at the
harbor of Saint John. The party amounted to near twenty men, exclusive of two
families, who took passage in the same vessel, one of whom shipped a small
frame dwelling, and boards to cover it, with a small stock of cattle; the
frame and stock were landed the day of their arrival; on the third day the
house was finished and inhabited.7
"The exploring and surveying party proceeded to view the lands round the
harbour and bay of Saint John in a whale boat they brought with them; for they
could not travel on the land on account of the multitude of fallen trees that
had been torn up by the roots in a violent gale of wind four years previous.8
The same gale extended as far up the river as the Oromocto, and most of the
country below that place was incumbered with the fallen trees.
"After making all the discoveries that could be made near the harbour, it was
the unanimous opinion that all the lands near that part of the country were
unfit for making any settlement at that time and in about ten days from their
first arrival, they set out to view the country as far as Saint Anns, ninety
miles up the river, where they expected to find an extensive body of clear
land that had been formerly improved by the French inhabitants. On their way
they landed wherever they saw any appearance of improvement; all such spots as
far up as Mill Creek9 were supposed not to exceed one hundred acres, most of
which have ben very roughly cleared.
"On the arrival of the exploring parrty at St. Anns, they lost no time in
making a shelter for themselves nearly opposite the river Nashwaak. . .
. . and they commenced their survey at the small gravelly point against
Government House, with an intention to survey a Township to terminate twelve
miles below that place, but after surveying the courses of the river about
four miles downward, a large company of Indians came down about nine miles,
from their Priest's residence with his Interpreter, all having painted faces
of divers colours and figures, and dressed in their war habits. The chiefs,
with grave countenances, informed the adventurers that they were trespassers
on their rights; that the country belonged to them, and unless they retired
immediately they would compel them."
"The reply made to the chiefs was to this effect: that the adventurers had
received authority from the Governor of Halifax to survey and settle any land
they should choose on the River Saint John; that they had never been informed
of the Indians claiming the village of Saint Anns, but as they declared the
land there to be their property, though it had been inhabited by the French
who were considered entitled to it till its capture by the English, they would
retire further down the river.
"In answer to this the Chiefs suggested that the whole country belonged to the
Indians, they had some time ago, had a conference with Governor Lawrence, and
consented that the English should settle the country up as far as Grimross;
from this acknowledgment of the Chiefs, the adventurers were a little relieved
from the shock they received at first, and said they were unwilling to dispute
and would in a few days remove their camps towards Grimross. This answer did
not appear fully to satisfy the Indians, yet they made no reply. The surveying
party removed their camp, according to their promise, almost as far down as
the lower end of Oromocto Island on the east side of the river, whence they
finished the survey, twelve miles below the first mentioned bounds; and
returned to Fort Frederick, 20, 8, 15,10 where there was a vessel bound direct
to Halifax, and took passage in her with an account of all their discoveries
and surveys, and with a plan of the Township they had laid out into lots: but
they were so unfortunate as to arrive at that place just at the time11
accounts were received that the French had sent out a large fleet and a body
of land forces, and had taken Saint Johns, Newfoundland, and were almost
hourly expected to attack Halifax, where at that time was only one man of war,
the Northumberland, and very few troops. The militia were called out, public
offices shut, and nothing to be seen but bustle and preparations for the
defence of the town, that being the situation of Government, the agents and
surveyors for the adventurers were obliged to return without giving any
account of the proceedings, or obtaining any confirmation of their former
order for surveying a township, or any instruction to govern their conduct in
carrying out the intended settlement.
"This disappointment was in the autumn of the same year followed by one still
greater. Commissioners were sent to Fort Frederick to inform the former
applicants for grants of lands, that the space they had surveyed would not be
granted to them. On receiving this distressing information they sent a
petition to the King, stating the expence they had been at in full confidence
that all the promises and encouragements they had received from Government
would be confirmed. This petition was sent under cover addressed to the then
agent for the Province [Joshua Mauger], most earnestly soliciting his
influence in obtaining a speedy answer to the petition. He took a lively
interest in their cause, and in a short time obtain(sic) an order to the
Governor to grant all such shares in the tract they had laid out as should
from time to time be settled: and the same gentleman advanced a considerable
sum for the proprietors, to defray their expence of obtaining such order, and
the proprietors, as a mark of their gratitude and esteem of their patron, gave
their town his name, with a small addition to it, and grants were made to all
the resident proprietors in or about the year 1765."12
The statement of Mr. Fisher that the Township of Maugerville was laid out in
lots in the early part of the year 1762 is corroborated by Moses H. Perley and
finds further confirmation in an advertisement in the "Boston Gazette and
News-Letter" of September 20th, 1762, notifying the
"signers under Captain Francis Peabody for a township at St. John's River in
Nova Scotia, that they meet at the house of Mr. Daniel Ingalls innholder in
Andover, on Wednesday the 6th day of October at 10 o'clock p. m. , in order
to draw their lots, which are already laid out; and to choose an agent to go
to Halifax on their behalf, and also to do any matters and things that shall
be thought proper for them. And whereas it was voted at this meeting, April
6, 1762, that each signer should pay by April 20th, Twelve Shillings for
laying out their lands, and Six Shillings for building a mill thereon, and
as some of the signers have neglected payment they must pay the amount at
the next meeting or be excluded and others admitted in their place.
[Signed.] JAMES FRY
JOHN FARNUM, JR.
HENRY INGALLS
Andover, September 2nd, 1762."
In laying out the township Israel Perley was employed as surveyor, and among
his assistants were the brothers James and Richard Simonds. James Simonds was
a grantee of the township and was paid £40 for his assistance in the survey.
Richard Simonds was a chainman.
It seems doubtful whether anything more than the advance guard of the proposed
settlement — in other words the surveying party — arrived at St. John in May,
1762; for although Peter Fisher says that two families took passage in the
same vessel (and Moses Perley here, as elsewhere, follows Mr. Fisher's
account), John Quinton, who was born in 1807, says very emphatically in a
letter to the late Joseph W. Lawrence that his grandparents, Hugh and
Elizabeth Quinton, with Captain Francis Peabody and his family, arrived at St.
John on the 28th of August, 1762. In support of his contention Mr. Quinton
states that accommodation was secured by Hugh Quinton for himself, his wife
and others, including Miss Hannah Peabody,13 at the Fort Frederick barracks,
where, on the night of their arrival was born James Quinton, the first child
of English speaking parents whose birth is recorded at St. John. It seems most
probable that the Peabody and Quinton families did not take up residence at
St. John until after the Maugerville surveying party returned from their work.
Moses H. Perley says that when the exploring party were going up the river
they found a solitary French settler living where the Burton Court House now
stands, the last and only one who remained. The place was once the site of an
Acadian settlement and hard by was an old Indian camping ground. Israel Perley
was familiar with the location as his residence in Maugerville was directly
opposite. Not only so, but he owned 100 acres in the immediate vicinity
conveyed to him by the agent of the proprietors of the Township of Burton,
Capt. John Munroe (late of the King's Royal Regiment of New York) on the 9th
of October, 1783, "in consideration of divers services done, and for to be
done, for the proprietors of Burton." The tract is described as "Beginning at
a stake and stones on the bank of the River St. John's one chain below the
Point of a Hill commonly called the Green Hill, opposite the said Perley's
House in Maugerville."
The authorities of Nova Scotia, Charles Morris excepted, had a very vague idea
of the condition of things at the River St. John. Governor Lawrence was a man
of action and enterprise, but after his death, in 1760, Lieut. Governor
Belcher pursued a much less energetic policy with regard to the settlement of
the vacant lands of the province. He even found fault with Colonel McNutt for
sending so large a body of settlers to the River St. John.
By the desire of the Lords of Trade and Plantations, Lt. Gov'r. Belcher
endeavored to ascertain as nearly as possible the number of acres that had
been cleared on the St. John river by the Acadians, and he applied to Charles
Morris and to Captain R. G. Bruce for information.
It is curious to find how widely the evidence on this interesting point
varies. Israel Perley's exploring and surveying party estimated that the lands
improved by the French did not exceed one hundred acres, most of which had
been very roughly cleared. Charles Morris estimated the cleared land at about
six hundred acres. Captain Bruce of the Royal Engineers, who explored the
river in 1761 and made an admirable plan of St. John harbor, estimated the
lands cleared by the Acadians, at the sites of the recent settlements, at more
than fifteen hundred acres. His letter to Lieut. Governor Belcher is of
interest in this connection: —
Captain R. G. Bruce to Lieut. Governor Belcher.
Annapolis Royal, 10 October, 1762.
Sir, — Mr. Fenwick acquaints me that you are desirous I should inform you of
the Quantity of clear Lands I judge there is on the River St. Johns. From
the transitory View I had of the River, it is impossible I can ascertain it
with any degree of certainty, but as near as I can recollect I shall
endeavour to give you an Idea of it.
In going up the River the first appearance of a Settlement is about 15 miles
above the Fort, where the French had a small Redout called Beau Beare; there
is not here above 12 or 15 acres of clear Land. The next appearance of a
Settlement is about 40 miles above the Fort, called Grimrace. Here there is
very little clear Land, as the French were just beginning the Settlement
when they left the River. The next, and indeed the first real Settlement is
about 60 miles above the Fort, where the River Remucta [Oromocot] falls into
the River St. Johns: here I'm told there is about 300 acres of clear Land,
chiefly on the River Remucta, which I did not see.
The last and principal Settlement is about eighty miles above the Fort,
called St. Anns: here I suppose there is 600 or 700 acres of clear Land.
There is besides these many little spots along the Banks of the River as
likewise several Meadows. Upon the whole I suppose there may be about 1,500
acres of clear Land on that River exclusive of the Meadows.
The Lands on the River St. Johns for near 40 miles above the Fort are
Mountainous and very different, but from Grimrace upwards there is an
appearance of a very rich soil and a fine Growth of Timber. The worst
circumstance attending the River is that the most valuable of the Lands are
overflowed every Spring and do not become dry enough for culture till late
in the Summer. The tide flows a few miles above St. Anns to a place called
Opag, where there are several French Families at present settled. Above this
place I am told there is no clear Land.
To make everything relative to the Lands on this River clear and distinct,
would employ a Surveyor the greatest part of the Summer, as there are many
Rivers and Lakes that communicate with it which ought to be examined.
Letter of Lieut. Gov'r. Belcher to Secretary of the Lords of Trade.
Halifax, Nova Scotia, 24th January, 1763.
Sir,- * * * *
In obedience to their Lordships orders, I transmitted an account of the
cleared Lands on the River St. Johns, represented to me by the Chief
Surveyor, by computation, to be about six hundred acres. Having since
received from Captain R. G. Bruce of the Engineers, residing at Annapolis
Royal, a more distinct account of these cleared acres in that part of the
Province, I think it my Duty to present the enclosed copy of it to their
Lordships, whereby it will appear that those Clear Lands, besides the spots
of Meadows upon the Banks, amount to more than Fifteen Hundred Acres. His
proposal for an exact survey is humbly submitted to their Lordships, and in
what degree it may tend to promote the speedy Settlement of the Lands upon
that River, so requisite for the defence of the navigation in the Bay of
Fundy and the interior Settlements of the Province. I expect an Estimate of
the expence of such an undertaking from Mr. Bruce, which shall be forthwith
transmitted to their Lordships for their pleasure and directions.
I have fully represented to the Board the precipitate and unjustifiable act
of Mr. McNutt, under colour of their encouragement to him, in sending so
large a body of Settlers on the Lands at St. John's River, without previous
notice to, or indeed the least suspicions of such a measure on the part of
this Government; which is to be chiefly lamented as it my greatly frustrate
the intentions of entirely settling those parts with disbanded soldiers in
case of peace, as had been proposed by Mr. Lawrence to the King's ministers,
and the lands reserved by him accordingly. This Subject leads me to pray
that you would be pleased to represent to their Lordships that Mr. McNutt
very unexpectedly arrived here in November last, at the head of above Two
Hundred persons embarked from Ireland for the Plantations in general, and
not for Nova Scotia in particular, as appeared from Mr. McNutt's demand from
the Government [of Nova Scotia] for payment of a sum of money for their
provisions, or that otherwise he would carry these passengers to
Philadelphia. However contrary this and some other proceedings have been to
his express engagement with the Lords of Trade, that no expence should be
incured to this Government for his Settlements, yet I conceived that it
might discourage the general plan resolved on by the [Home] Government, if
persons offering themselves should without some very pressing reasons be
refused, and therefore these people who are in extreme poverty, were
received upon the Terms required by Mr. McNutt, and are at present in New
Dublin. Mr. McNutt having involved the Government by his Two Transportations
hither14 in the expence of near Five Hundred Pounds, I thought it high time
to give him notice that unless his Plan could be better supported in point
of expence, it could not possibly be carried into execution here without
peremptory Orders from the King's Minister, and public Funds allotted for
that purpose. He took his departure fom here very suddenly and without any
notice to the Government of his going, and as I find he proposes to repair
again to England, I though it necessary to state this much of his
proceedings that they might appear in a true light to their Lordships, whom
I shall upon rendering the Accounts of Expence incurred by Mr. McNutt
address more particularly upon the impracticability of his schemes for
accomplishing any Settlements in the Province. * * *
JONATHAN BELCHER
In July, 1763, Charles Morris and Henry Newton, two of the Council of Nova
Scotia, were directed to go to the River St. John to notify the Acadians
living near St. Anns to remove to some other part of the province and to
inform the settlers from New England that their lands were reserved for
disbanded officers and soldiers. The consternation created in the Maugerville
settlement and the steps subsequently taken have been already referred to, but
there are still one or two documents to be quoted in this connection. On their
return to Halifax, Messrs. Morris and Newton strongly advocated the cause of
the settlers, and addressed the following communication to Joshua Mauger:
Halifax, 5th August, 1763.
Sir, — We beg leave to trouble you with a memorial of a number of officers
and disbanded soldiers, who came from New England, and are settled on St.
John's River. We were sent to them lately as a Committee of Council, by
order of the Lieut. Governor, to inform them that they could have no Grant
of the Lands they were upon, and that they must remove therefrom, as those
Lands were reserved by His Majsesty for disbanded Troops. However, we are
very apprehensive that their case must by some means or other have been
misrepresented to the Lords of Trade, or not clealy understood.
They are chiefly American soldiers, officers or privates; they have sold
their Farms in New England and have transported themselves at their own
expence; they have brought considerable stock with them and their Families,
and if it is the intention of the Ministry to settle disbanded Troops on
that River, we are of Opinion these people will be of use and service, as it
cannot be expected that English Soldiers can bring any great stock with
them. The removing these people now they are settled will be their utter
ruin, the particular circumstances of which they have set forth in their
Memorial to the Lords of Trade, which we beg the favor of you to present to
them, and are with great Respect, Sir,
Your most obedient and very Humble Servts.
CHA. MORRIS
HENRY NEWTON
Joshua Mauger, Esqr.
The memorial of Francis Peabody and his brother officers combined with the
representation of Messrs. Morris and Newton and the powerful advocacy of
Joshua Mauger saved the situation. The Lords of Trade and Plantations, after
due consideration of the matter, drew up the following representation to the
King:
To the King's most Excellent Majesty:
May it please your Majesty:
A memorial having been presented to us on behalf of several disbanded
officers of your majesty's provincial forces in North America setting forth
that induced by several encouragements particularly stated in their
memorial, they have sold their Estates in New England and settled themselves
and their Families upon St. John's River in your Majesty's Province of Nova
Scotia at a distance of two hundred miles from any other Settlement
belonging to your Majesty's subjects, and praying that the possession of the
Lands on which they have seated themselves at a very great Expence may be
confirmed to them by your Majesty:
We have taken the said Memorial into consideration, and beg leave to
represent to your Majesty that the Memorialists appear to us to deserve
encouragement and protection, and we are of opinion that the settlement they
have made will be productive of publick advantage.
For these reasons we humbly recommend to your Majesty, that your Majesty's
Government of Nova Scotia should be instructed to lay out the Lands upon
which these Memorialists are settled into a Township consisting of 100,000
acres, or a platt of 12 miles square, one side of which to front the River.
That for the greater convenience of the Settlers and the more regular and
uniform establishment of the Township, a proper and commodious situation be
set apart and reserved for the building of a Town, consisting of such a
number of Lots of different size and extent for Houses and Plantations
adjoining to such Town as shall be sufficient for the accomodation of the
settlers; with proper reservation for a Church, a Town house, publick Quays
and wharves and all other Publick uses whatever.
That grants under the seal of the Province be made to the Memorialists in
proportion to their ability and the number of the persons in their Families,
not only of the said Town Lots, but also of a sufficient quantity of Lands
in the said Township for a Plantation near the said Town; taking care that
the Grant to any one person for such plantation do not exceed 1,000 acres,
such grant to be subject to the same condition of Quit Rent and cultivation
as other grants of Land in the said Province are subject to.
That the Lands remaining within the said Township after such disposition
shall be granted either to such new Inhabitants as shall be disposed to
settle there, or to the present Inhabitants as their circumstances and
industry shall render them capable of cultivating larger tracts than shall
have been originally granted to them.
That a competent quantity of Land be allotted in the said Township for the
maintenance of a Minister and Schoolmaster, and also one Town Lot to each of
them and their successors in perpetuity.
Which is most humbly submitted,
HILLSBOROUGH
ED. ELIOT
ORWELL
BAMBER GASCOYNE
Whitehall, Dec. 20th, 1763.
The recommendation of the Lords of Trade were adopted at a meeting of the King
in Council at the Court of St. James on the 10th of February, 1764, without
any alteration or amendment; but it was not until the 31st of October, 1765,
that a grant to the settlers was issued by the Government of Nova Scotia.15
The correspondence of Simonds and White at this period shows the difficulty of
obtaining lands on the River St. John from the government of Nova Scotia. Mr.
Simonds wrote to Samuel Blodget of Boston in 1764: "With respect to Land there
is no prospect of ever getting a Grant of any Valuable from this Government
though doubtless whetever asked for in England, if right steps are taken, may
be had at little cost, several large grants having lately been made there. The
land is very valuable." Mr. Simonds further explains that no land at that time
could be granted without the King's mandamus in consequence of an order to the
Governor of Nova Scotia not to grant lands of his own volition. This order was
issued in consequence of disputes that had arisen between the Governor and
Council of Nova Scotia and Alexander McNutt, but the order was countermanded a
little later.
Many facts of interest relating to the Maugerville settlement are to be found
in Dr. Hannay's valuable paper in the first number of the Collections of the
N. B. Hist. Society. Other facts of interest are to be found in the History of
the River St. John by the writer of these notes which is now in press.
_______________________
1. See Murdoch's History of Nova Scotia Vol. II, pp. 354, 355.
2. See Canadian Archives of 1894, p. 232.
3. See Collections of the Nova Scotia Hist. Soc., Vol. VII., p. 69.
4. Shelburne was first settled in 1764 by Alexander McNutt and his associates,
who called it New Jerusalem. They had a grant of 100,000 acres, but only
improved a small part of McNutt's Island, at the entrance of the harbor, and
other inconsiderable spots. The tract was mostly escheated, and regranted to
the Loyalists in 1783.
5. The grant of these Townships was ordered in May, 1759. See Murdoch's Hist.
Nova Scotia, Vol. II, p. 365.
6. Peter Fisher was the son of Lodewick Fisher, a Loyalist who served in the
Revolutionary war in Lieut. Col. Van Buskirk's battalion of the New Jersey
Volunteers. In an engagement with the rebels in January, 1777, on Staten
Island, Lodewick Fisher and his brother Peter were taken prisoners, but
escaped confinement and returned to duty in the autumn of the following year.
Three of Lodewick Fisher's children, Eliza, Henry and Peter, were born on
Staten Island and came with their parents to St. Ann's Point in October, 1783.
Details of their subsequent experience will be found in Dr. Hay's Canadian
History Readings, p. 165. Peter Fisher must be regarded as our pioneer New
Brunswick historian, and his little work, published in 1825, is surprisingly
accurate in its relation of facts.
7. The house was built by Capt. Francis Peabody and occupied by his family in
1762. It stood a few rods to the west of Portland Point, just south of the old
Hazen House, which is yet standing at the corner of Simonds and Brook Streets
— erected Nov. 17, 1773.
8. The exact date of this gale was November 3, 1759.
9. Mill Creek is a little below the town plot of Fredericton.
10. I can make nothing of these figures. They may have been inserted here
through inadvertence or they may have a meaning. — W. O. R.
11. July 10, 1762. An account of the panic at Halifax is contained in
Murdoch's History of Nova Scotia, Vol. II, pp. 416, 417.
12. Joshua Mauger, who so befriended the Maugerville people at this time, was
an English merchant who came to Halifax soon after it was founded by
Cornwallis in 1749. He traded extensively and had government contracts. In
1761 he returned to England and became the Agent of Nova Soctia. He held a
seat in the Imperial Parliament.
13. Hannah Peabody was at this time twelve years of age. She afterwards became
the wife of James Simonds.
14. From Ireland.
15. There seems to have been some strange hesitation on the part of the Nova
Scotia authoritis in regard to issuing the grant of this township, for as late
as the 6th March, 1765, a committee of the Council reported against the
application of Francis Peabody for himself and Associates "to have the
Township on St. Johns River laid out to them, part on each side, or the whole
on the east side of the river." See Minutes of Council at Halifax. See also in
this connection Canadian Archives for 1894 under date April 30, 1765, "Wilmot
to Lords of Trade," page 262.
[Published in Collections of the New Brunswick Historical Society Vol. 2, 18