Glimpses of the Past Part 45

CHAPTER XXIX.

AT THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION--AFFAIRS CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS.

After the establishment of Major Studholme's garrison at Fort Howe, in the fall of 1777, the settlers on the river found adequate protection.

The Indians occasionally a.s.sumed a hostile att.i.tude it is true, especially when they were stirred up by Allan's emissaries from Machias, but they were rather overawed by the proximity of the fort and were for the most part peacefully disposed. The privateers continued their depredations on the coast, but kept clear of Fort Howe. The condition of the settlers on the river had gradually improved and they were now able to live within themselves. Money too began to circulate more freely, owing to the development of the masting industry. In several of the towns.h.i.+ps primitive grist and saw mills were to be found, and there was even a small tannery, owned and operated by one Nathaniel Churchill of Gagetown. Among the artificers of Maugerville were Sylva.n.u.s Plummer, joiner and housewright; James Woodman, s.h.i.+pwright; John Crabtree, weaver; Israel Kenny, blacksmith; Jonathan Whipple, cooper; Benjamin Bailey, housewright; Abel English, blacksmith.

Among the glimpses of Portland Point, during the closing year of the Revolution, a rather interesting one is to be found in the diary of Benjamin Marston, a loyalist of Marblehead, who visited the place in his vessel the "Britannia" in the autumn of 1781. An extract from his diary here follows:--

"Friday, Sept. 7--About 10 a. m. arrived safely into St. John's river, went ash.o.r.e and dined with Mr. Hazen whom I find to be every way the man I have ever heard him characterized.

"Sat.u.r.day, Sept. 8--Dined with Mr. Hazen. Sold him and Mr. White some tobacco, wine and chocolate. Mending sails today. Wind blowing very hard at N. W.

"Sunday, Sept. 9--Am in hopes of having a convoy to Annapolis, shall know more of it tomorrow; if one, shall wait for it. Dined ash.o.r.e at Mr. Hazen's.

"Monday, Sept. 10--Still waiting in hopes of a convoy and have some prospect of carrying garrison stores to Annapolis, in that case shall have a party sufficient to keep off pirate boats. Spent the day rambling about the country which hereabouts is very broken, barren and but little cultivated, but abounding in vast quant.i.ties of excellent limestone. Fort Howe is built on a single limestone--'tis a pretty large one. Delivered Mr. Hazen his two hogsheads of tobacco, which I couldn't do before, we have had such blowing weather the two days past.

"Tuesday, Sept. 11--Dirty, rainy, wind at noon S. and S. S. W.

"Wednesday, Sept. 12--Waited till 12 o'clock at noon to sail with the men of war and the mast s.h.i.+ps."

Benjamin Marston sold a portion of his cargo to Hazen & White; but he found his stay at St. John very monotonous during the fortnight he was detained by contrary winds. He tried to break the monotony by the composition of the following rhyme, for which, under the circ.u.mstances, we are disposed to excuse him; it was St. John's first attempt in the poetical line and is as good as some that has been attempted since:

"I'm almost sick and tired to death With staying in this lonesome place, Where every day presents itself With just the same dull-looking face.

Oh! had I but some kind fair friend With whom to chat the hours away, I ne'er would care how blew the wind Nor tedious should I think my stay.

Ah! that was once my happy lot When I with house and home was blest, I'd then a fair companion got With many female charms possesst.

Nor scantily did Heaven shower down Those gifts which render life a blessing, But did our cup with plenty crown, Nor let us feel what was distressing.

Yes, dearest Sally, thou wert fair, Not only fair, but kind and good; Sweetly together did we share The blessings Heaven on us bestowed.

Till base Rebellion did display Her banners fair with false pretence, Then kindly Heaven took you away From evils which have happened since.

And careless me, when I had lost Of all my blessings far the best, Did teach, and justly, to my cost, The worth of what I once possessed.

'Tis often so--we do not prize The present good at its just rate, But gone, we see with other eyes What was its worth when 'tis too late.

Now one more verse, fair Ladies nine, And there'll be one apiece for you; 'Tis the way I sometimes spend my time When I have nothing else to do."

The war of the Revolution was practically ended on the 19th October, 1781, when Lord Cornwallis surrendered his army to Was.h.i.+ngton at Yorktown, Virginia, in the presence of the united French and American forces. From this date until the peace, the military operations were few and unimportant. Major Studholme continued quietly to maintain his post at Fort Howe. In addition to a strong detachment of his own corps, the Royal Fencible American Regiment, he had a detachment of the 84th regiment, or Young Royal Highland Emigrants. Among Studholme's subordinate officers were lieutenants Peter Clinch, Samuel Denny Street, Ambrose Sharman and Constant Connor, all of the Royal Fencible Americans, and lieutenants Laughlan Maclane and Hugh Frazier of the Young Royal Highland Emigrants.

Lieut. Clinch, according to family tradition, was born in Ireland and educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He came to America before the outbreak of the Revolution, was gazetted lieutenant in his regiment May 15, 1776, and shortly afterwards appointed adjutant. He settled at St. George, N. B., after his regiment was disbanded, and among his neighbors were Capt. Philip Baily and a number of officers, non-commissioned officers and private soldiers of the regiment. The difficulties with which they were confronted on their arrival at St.

George are thus described by one of Mr. Clinch's sons:--

"My father had charge of a party of soldiers, who were disbanded in 1783 and sent to colonize a howling wilderness--the most unfit employment they could be put to. The delay which took place in furnis.h.i.+ng a vessel to convey them and their stores added much to their difficulties. It was not until the 10th of November that a landing was effected at the mouth of the Magaguadavic, where there was neither house nor habitation of any kind to receive them; and so glad was the skipper of the vessel to get rid of such a disorderly and almost mutinous crew, that he sailed away the moment he got them landed. He was under some apprehension that they would insist on coming away with him again rather than land on such an inhospitable sh.o.r.e. That night my father slept in the open air and such a heavy fall of snow came that he had some difficulty in removing the blankets next morning."

Peter Clinch, in 1793, raised a company for the King's New Brunswick Regiment which he commanded. He was for some years a representative of Charlotte County in the New Brunswick legislature, and a man prominent in public affairs up to the time of his decease in 1816.

Lieut. Sam'l. Denny Street was born and educated in England and admitted an attorney and solicitor at law in the court of Westminster.

He came to America in 1774, and enlisting as a volunteer was soon gazetted a lieutenant in the Royal Fencible American Regiment. He obtained for General McLean the pilots who accompanied him on his successful expedition to Pen.o.bscot, and was himself sent on several occasions from Fort Howe to Pen.o.bscot on confidential services. On the 25th of April, 1781, he was so unfortunate as to be betrayed by his guide, and was captured near Machias with six of his men. He was sent to Boston and put aboard the prison s.h.i.+p. Anxious to retain the services of so useful and enterprising an officer, Gen'l McLean on two occasions offered two "rebel" officers of superior rank in exchange, but in each instance the offer was declined, and it was learned afterwards that the failure was due to a memorial forwarded from Machias by Col. John Allan representing that Lieut. Street was too dangerous a man to be set at liberty.

After several months of irksome confinement Lieut. Street contrived, with the help of a fellow prisoner, to seize the "rebel sentinel" as he was pacing the deck one sultry night in August, without arousing the guard, who was asleep. Having bound and gagged their man and possessed themselves of his weapons, they released the other prisoners, and with their a.s.sistance surprised and disarmed the guard consisting of a corporal and twelve men. One of Street's men now swam ash.o.r.e and brought off a boat in which they all embarked. The guard were landed on a small island. Street and his party landed on the mainland and pushed through the woods to Marblehead, but the day coming on they were so unfortunate as to fall in with a detachment of American troops by whom they were captured and conveyed to Boston jail. Street was now measured for irons but information having reached General McLean on this head he threatened to retaliate upon the American prisoners at Halifax and the project was abandoned.

After enduring for some time the prison fare, which Street describes as "putrid and offensive," he made another unsuccessful attempt to escape. He was now sent once more aboard the prison s.h.i.+p. He contrived one dark night to lower himself from the cabin window, and with the tide at flood swam off undiscovered. After swimming a mile up the harbor he landed on sh.o.r.e and sought refuge at the house of an Englishman whom he knew and by whose timely aid he returned in safety to the garrison at Fort Howe.

Samuel Denny Street was the first lawyer to practice his profession in this province. At the peace in 1783 he was employed as Major Studholme's a.s.sistant in the settlement of the Loyalists on the St.

John river. His descendants have filled conspicuous positions in the history of the province, both political and judicial. One son, George Frederick Street, was a judge of the supreme court, another, John Ambrose Street, was attorney general of the province and leader of the government and still another, William H. Street, was mayor of the city of St. John.

Lieut. Ambrose Sharman filled a dual position, being surgeon of the garrison as well as a lieutenant. While he was at Fort Howe he had a variety of patients in addition to those of the garrison; for example, in 1778, he rendered a bill amounting to 5. 16.8 "for attendance & medicines to Pieree Thomas & four other sick Indians;" and again, August 4, 1780, he presents his bill to James White "To inoculating self and family for smallpox, 9."

After the Royal Fencible American Regiment was disbanded, Dr. Sharman settled in Burton, Sunbury county, along side his brother officer, Samuel Denny Street. Ten years later he was drowned while crossing the river to attend a sick call. Three of his orphan children were provided for and educated by Mr. Street, who also named his seventh son John Ambrose Sharman, in honor of his former friend and comrade.

In a former chapter some account has been already given of the first religious teachers on the River St. John. A few words may be added concerning the celebrated "New Light" preacher, Henry Alline, who was at Maugerville in 1779 and again in 1780, and 1782. A great deal has been written concerning this remarkable man, and widely divergent opinions have been expressed as to the value of his labors, though few are found to gainsay his sincerity, ability and zeal. Rev. Jacob Bailey, the S. P. G. missionary at Cornwallis and Annapolis, terms him "a rambling teacher, who has made great commotions in this province."

Mr. Bailey was a tory of the olden time, and strongly deprecated anything that chanced to be at variance with the sober ways of the Church of England, which were then in vogue. In an old paper written about 1783, still preserved by his descendants in Nova Scotia, we find the following from Mr. Bailey's pen:--

"This country is troubled with various sects of enthusiasts who agree in nothing except a frenzy of pious zeal and a most uncharitable spirit towards their unconverted neighbors, and a madness to introduce confusion, anarchy and nonsense into all the exercises of religion. * * He that is master of the strongest pair of lungs, and is able to exhibit the loudest and most doleful vociferation, is sure of prevailing success. Those who perceive themselves deficient in point of noise endeavour to secure renown by the advancement and propagation of some new and singular opinion."

In much the same strain Sheriff Walter Bates of Kings county writes:--"When I was first in Maugerville in 1783, I was informed of a preacher by the name of Collins, who had been some time with them; that on account of some jealousy among them he soon after left, but another preacher named Alline came, whose followers were called Allinites. In Sheffield and Waterboro the people became divided into three sects, named after their own preachers: Hart.i.tes, Brooksites and Hammonites, who were annually inspired by two travelling preachers from Nova Scotia."[134] The sheriff had very little that was good to say of these evangelists, whose methods and doctrines he cordially disliked.

[134] The two preachers were in all probability Rev. Theodore S.

Harding and Rev. Joseph Crandall. See Dr. Bill's History of the Baptists, page 698. The people referred to as "Brooksites"

by Sheriff Bates were the founders of the Baptist denomination in Waterborough and Canning, Queens county, N. B., over whom Rev. Elijah Estabrooks presided as teaching elder, with Joseph E. Brooks (or Estabrooks) as deacon, and Zebulon Estey as clerk. An interesting account of the origin of this church is to be found in Dr. Bill's Hist. of the Baptists pp. 594-602.

Another reference to the "Hammonites" and "Brooksites" will be found in the Winslow Papers, page 392.

Henry Alline, the Whitefield of Nova Scotia, was born at Newport, Rhode Island, June 14, 1748. He settled with his parents at Talmouth, N. S., in 1760. He was a preacher of fervid eloquence, which, as in the case of Whitefield, few who came under its influence were able to resist. He was brought up a Congregationalist, and from that denomination he never really separated, although he plunged into speculations on theological points in which, to quote the late Dr. T.

Watson Smith, "the import of the words of inspiration is often lost amidst the reveries of mysticism." One of the errors of New-Light enthusiasm consisted in regarding mere animal impulses as leadings of the Holy Spirit, which must be followed at all hazards. Henry Alline was one of the best exponents of the New-Light idea. He was a good singer as well as a fervid preacher, and in his sermons appealed to the feelings of his hearers. "The early New-Light preachers," says Dr.

Smith, "resembled their leader. Such men, pa.s.sing from settlement to settlement, as if impelled by a species of religious knight-errantry, could not fail to make an impression. Viewed in themselves, the results of their visits were in certain cases painful. Families were divided; neighbors became opposed to each other; pastors preached and published in vain endeavor to stem the tide, and failing submitted to the inevitable; old church organizations were broken down and new organizations set up in their places. * * To disturb the slumbers of the churches and arouse them to active effort seemed to be his vocation." His doctrines were distasteful to the Presbyterians of his day, and were termed by one of their ministers, "a mixture of Calvinism, Antinomianism, and Enthusiasm."

It is certain, nevertheless, that Henry Alline stirred non-conformist Nova Scotia to its core. After his death the societies which he founded, as a rule, gradually became Baptist churches, and in this way many of the most intelligent and influential New England families became members of that denomination.

In the month of April, 1779, Henry Alline left Cornwallis in response to an invitation to go to the River St. John. On his arrival at Maugerville he was cordially received by the people, who related to him the broken state of their church and deplored the darkness of the times.

"When the Sabbath came," he says, "I preached, and the Lord was there, and took much hold of the people. The week ensuing I preached two lectures, and went from place to place, visiting the people and inquiring into their standing. O! it was a grief to see sincere Christians thus scattered up and down the mountains like sheep having no shepherd; and the accuser of the brethern had sown much discord among the Christians. There had been a church there, but the people had separated on account of the greatest part holding the minister to be an unconverted man, who afterwards went away, but the division still subsisted."

Mr. Alline spent some weeks in the towns.h.i.+p, preaching often and visiting the people. By his advice they renewed their church covenant in the form following:--

"Maugerville, June ye 17, year 1779.

"We who through the exceeding riches of the grace and patience of G.o.d do continue to be a professing church of Christ being now a.s.sembled in the holy Presence of G.o.d, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ after humble confession of our manifold breaches of the Covenant, before the Lord our G.o.d and earnest supplication for pardoning mercy through the blood of Christ and deep acknowledgement of our great unworthiness to be the Lord's Covenant People, also acknowledging our own inability to keep covenant with G.o.d or to perform any spiritual duty unless the Lord Jesus do enable us thereto by his spiritual dwelling in us, and being awfully sensible that it is a dreadful thing for sinful dust and ashes personally to transact with the infinitely glorious Majesty of Heaven and Earth.

"We do in humble confidence of his gracious a.s.sistance and acceptance through Christ; each one of us for ourselves and jointly as the church of the Living G.o.d explicetly renew our Covenant with G.o.d and one with another and after perusing the Covenant on which this church was at first gathered, we do cordially adhear to the same, both in matters of faith and discipline; and whereas some provoking evils have crept in among us which has been the procuring causes of the divisions and calamitys that G.o.d has sent or permitted in this place, especially the neglect of a close walk with G.o.d and a watchfulness over our brother. We desire from our hearts to bewail it before the Lord and humbly to entreat for pardoning mercy through the blood of the Everlasting Covenant, and we do heartily desire by G.o.d's grace to reform these evils or whatsoever else have provoked the eyes of G.o.d's glory among us."

Daniel Palmer, jr., Peter Mooers, Jabez Nevers, Moses Coburn, Benjm. Brown, Israel Perly, Daniel Jewett, Jacob Barker,jr., Asa Perley, Jonathan Burpe, Saml. Whitney, Daniel Palmer, Jacob Palmer, Humphrey Pickard, Edward Coy.