Glimpses of the Past Part 27

5. Dr. Thomas Blair.

6. James Finlay.

7. Jacob Jordan.

8. George Johnstone.

9. Thomas Clapp.

10. Oliver Delancey, jr., Esq.

11. Col. Frederick Haldimand.

12. William Keough.

13. Rev. Phillip Hughes.

14. Charles Morris, jr., Esq.

15. William Johnstone, Esq.

16. Synge Tottenham.

17. William Spry, Esq.

18. George Gillman.

19. Frederick Haldimand, jr.

20. Guy Johnstone.

TOWNs.h.i.+P OF SUNBURY.

Lot. No.

1. Alexander John Scott.

2. Dr. Robert Bell.

3. Thomas Hutchinson, Esq.

4. John Collins, Esq.

5. John Irving, jr., Esq.

6. John Desbruyeres. Esq.

7. Francis Greenfield.

8. Daniel Carleton.

9. Thomas Smelt, Esq.

10. Richard Shorne.

11. George Fead.

12. Edward Bulkely, Esq.

13. John Leake Burrage.

14. Oliver Shorne.

15. Isaac Caton.

16. John Norberg.

17. Hugh Parker.

18. James Allen.

19. James Simonds.

20. Nathaniel Rogers, Esq.

TOWNs.h.i.+P OF BURTON.

"The Town Plot not being fixed this Towns.h.i.+p could not as yet be divided into lots, but is to be as soon as possible: the Proprietors who drew the Towns.h.i.+p were: John Porteus, Thomas Falconer, sen'r, Esq., John York, Esq., Daniel Robertson, Joseph Peach, Esq., William Parker, Charles Pett.i.t, Ralph Christie, Esq., Daniel Claus, Esq., William Evins, Esq., John Campbell, Esq., Joseph Howard, John c.o.x, Thomas Falconer, jun'r, John Treby, Esq., James Porteus, Richard Burton, John Livingston, Esq., Samuel Hollandt, Esq., Benjamin Price, Esq.

TOWNs.h.i.+P OF NEW TOWN, OR THE FORTY THOUSAND ACRE TRACT.

"This Towns.h.i.+p is under the same circ.u.mstances with that of Burton; the Proprietors who drew the Towns.h.i.+p were: Thomas Moncrief, Esq., Rev. John Ogelvie, D. D., Moses Hazen, James Jameson, William Hazen, Richard Williams, Charles Ta.s.sel, Esq., and James Hughes."

It was agreed that the various islands in the River St. John belonging to the towns.h.i.+ps should be surveyed as soon as possible and divided into 68 lots. It was also agreed that the Saw Mill, erected or in course of erection in the Towns.h.i.+p of New Town should remain the common property of all the members of the society for the s.p.a.ce of twenty years from the date of the grant, expenses attending the building or repairing of the mill to be borne by all the proprietors of the several towns.h.i.+ps, and after the expiration of twenty years to become the property of the grantees of New Town.

It will be noticed that in the division of the towns.h.i.+ps the Rights, or shares, of Moses and William Hazen were drawn in New Town and that of James Simonds in Sunbury. Mr. Simonds evidently was quite satisfied for he wrote to Hazen & Jarvis, June 22, 1768.

"The Towns.h.i.+p of Sunbury is the best in the Patent and New Town is the next to it according to the quant.i.ty of land, it will have a good Salmon-Fishery in the river which the mills are to be built on, which runs through the centre of the tract. The mills are to be the property of the eight proprietors of the Towns.h.i.+p after seventeen years from this time, and all the Timber also the moment the part.i.tion deed is pa.s.sed."

CHAPTER XX.

THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER SOCIETY.

Since the preceding chapters were printed the author chanced to discover some interesting ma.n.u.scripts in the collections of the Ma.s.sachusetts Historical Society which throw a good deal of light upon the history of the old towns.h.i.+ps on the River St. John. It is to be regretted that this discovery was not made a little sooner, but it is not too late to give the reader the benefit of it in a supplementary way.

The a.s.sociation that undertook the settlement of the towns.h.i.+ps of Conway, Gage, Burton, Sunbury and New-town has been referred to in these pages as "The Canada Company," but its proper name was "The St.

John's River Society." The original promoters of the gigantic land speculation--for such we must call it--set on foot at Montreal in 1764, were chiefly army officers serving in Canada, hence the name, "The Canada Company." When, however, it was determined to enlarge the a.s.sociation by the addition of the names of gentlemen in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Halifax, and when the valley of the River St.

John was selected as the place where the most desirable lands were to be had the Canada Company took a new name and was known as "The St.

John's River Society."

The president of the society was Captain Thomas Falconer, who was at this time at Montreal with his regiment. The most active promoter of the society's plans for several years, however, was Beamsley P. Glasier. This gentleman has already been frequently spoken of in connection with events on the St. John. He was a captain in the Royal American Regiment and afterwards attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He had previously served in the Fifth Ma.s.sachusetts Regiment, in which he was commissioned ensign early in February, 1745. The regiment rendered gallant service under Sir William Pepperrell at the taking of Louisburg, and we have abundant evidence of Glasier's reputation as a brave determined leader in the following doc.u.ment, the original of which is to be found in the archives of the Ma.s.sachusetts Historical Society:

"AGREEMENT. We whose names are underwritten have enlisted ourselves voluntarily to go on ye attack of the Island Battery at the mouth of the Harbor of Louisburgh provided Beamsley Glaizer is our Capt. on said attack and then wee shall be ready att Half am Hours warning[77]" [Signed by forty individuals.]

[77] The date of this doc.u.ment is probably May, 1745. The Island Battery was one of the most formidable defences in Louisburg.

Captain Glasier served subsequently under Sir Wm. Johnson and Gen'l John Winslow.

The idea of securing large grants of land in Nova Scotia was taken up by officers of the Royal Americans, the 44th foot and other regiments at Montreal early in the year 1764. Among the promoters were Capt.

Thos. Falconer, Capt. Beamsley Glasier, Capt. John Fenton, Rev. John Ogilvie, D. D., (chaplain of the Royal American regt.), Major Thos.

Moncrief, Capt. Daniel Claus, Capt. Samuel Holland, Brig. Gen'l. Ralph Burton, Lieut. Wm. Keough, Lieut. Richard Shorne and others.

Captain Glasier seems to have obtained am extended leave of absence from his military duties and for three years most of his time was spent in trying to settle the society's towns.h.i.+ps. He sailed from Quebec on the 28th of August, 1764, and after exploring the southern coast of Nova Scotia and entering many of the harbors in order to get "the best information of the Goodness of Land, and Conveniency for carrying on the Fishery," he at length reached Halifax on the 26th of October. The events subsequent to his arrival we shall let him describe in his own words.

"Upon my arrival I waited on the governor, and gave him my letters; he rec'd me with great politeness and ordered a meeting of Council the next day in order to consult where I should pitch upon a tract of land suitable for such a Grand Settlement, for it is looked upon as the most Respectable of any in the province, and I must say that everybody in authority seem'd to interest themselves in the thing and give me all the advice and a.s.sistance in their power. Many Places was talked of, but none was so universally approved as the River St. Johns. It was therefore the opinion of the Council, and all that wished well to the establishment, that I should go across the country to Pisiquid (Windsor), and take pa.s.sage on board a Vessell that was going from thence with Provisions for the Garrison of Fort Frederick, which I accordingly did, and arrived the 18th of November. * *

"As soon as I arrived I procured a Boat and went up the River above the falls as far as where the good land begins to make its appearance; but an uncommon spell of cold weather had set in and frozen over the small rivers leading into the Main River. * *

"Besides what I saw, which answered exactly with the account I had of it before, I had the best information from the Indians and Inhabitants settled 40 miles up the River and the Engineer of the Fort, who had Just been up to take a plan of the River, so that I was not at a loss one moment to fix on that spot for the settlement."

Capt. Glasier spent about four days in examining the river. It will be noticed he speaks of "an uncommon spell of cold weather;" nevertheless the river was open for a good distance. This goes to show that the winter season did not begin any earlier 140 years ago than it does today.

Judging by the account of his journey from Fort Frederick to Halifax Capt. Glasier was a good traveller. He says, "We breakfasted at the Fort, dined at Annapolis and walked from thence to Halifax 5 days 145 miles in company with a brother of Lord Byron, who made the tour with me to see the country."

Beamsley Glasier would have made a good immigration agent, for he certainly describes the country in glowing colors, yet his description of the valley of the St. John is in the main quite accurate and it is exceedingly interesting to have a glimpse of that region in its pristine state.

"The entrance of St. John's River," he writes, "forms like a Bay between two points[78] about 3 leagues apart from thence it grows narrower gradually up to the Falls, which is 200 yards broad. The Falls, which has been such a Bugbare, is rather a narrow place in the River than Falls, for at half tide it is as smooth as any other place in the River, the tide then just beginning to make and grows gradually stronger until high water, from that till two hours ebb a Vessell of 500 tons may go up or down. I know of very few Harbours in America that has not a barr or some other impediment at the entrance so as to wait for the tide longer than at St. Johns; here if you are obliged to wait you are in a good harbour out of all danger of bad weather.

"On each side the falls the rocks are high and so continue about four leagues, all Lime stone; then begins the finest Prospect in the world, the Land becomes flat, not a stone or pebble for 60 miles * * the banks something higher than it is a little way in; it runs level from six to twelve miles back and some places farther, such land as I cannot describe. The New England People [in Maugerville] have never plowed but harrowed in their grain, such Grain of all kinds, such Hemp, Flax, &c, as was never seen."