Part 18 (1/2)
Soon after the treaty of Paris, a proclamation of George III. (dated at the Court of St. James, Oct. 7, 1763) signified the royal sense and approbation of the conduct of the officers and soldiers of the army, and directed the governors of the several provinces to grant, without fee or reward, to disbanded officers and soldiers who had served in North America during the late war and were actually residing there, lands in the following proportions:--
To every field officer, 5,000 acres.
To every captain, 3,000 acres.
To every subaltern or staff officer, 2,000 acres.
To every non-commissioned officer, 200 acres.
To every private man, 50 acres.
Like grants of land were to be made to retired officers of the navy who had served on board a s.h.i.+p of war at the reduction of Louisbourg and Quebec.
Pet.i.tions and memorials of retired officers of the army and navy who were desirous of obtaining lands in Nova Scotia as a reward for their services, now flowed in upon the provincial and imperial authorities.
The desire to obtain land on the River St. John became so general that government officials, merchants and professional men joined in the general scramble. The result was not only detrimental to the best interests of the country, but in many cases disastrous to the speculators themselves.
The ideas of some of the memorialists were by no means small. For example, in 1762, Sir Allan McLean applied for 200,000 acres on the River St. John to enable him to plant a colony; and in the same year Captains Alexander Hay,[50] John Sinclair, Hugh Debbeig,[51] Alex.
Baillie, Robert G. Bruce and J. F. W. DesBarres applied for another immense tract on behalf of themselves and 54 other officers.
[50] Capt. Alex. Hay is said to have saved the life of the Duke of c.u.mberland, during the rebellion of 1745.
[51] In Des Barres' splendid chart of St. John harbor, published according to act of parliament in 1780, the well-known Reed's Point is called ”Point-Debbeig.”
War with the French and Indians had been so constant previous to the peace of 1763, that a large proportion of the young men of New England had seen service in the ”provincial regiments.” To those who had held commissions the inducements contained in Lawrence's proclamations were especially attractive.
Among the retired officers of the Ma.s.sachusetts regiments, who became interested in the River St. John at this time were Francis Peabody, William Hazen, James White, James Simonds, Nicholas West and Israel Perley. Captain Francis Peabody was somewhat older than the others; he had served with distinction in the late war, and is mentioned in Parkman's ”Wolfe and Montcalm” [p. 428]. From the active part he took in settling the towns.h.i.+p of Maugerville, as well as from his age and character, he must be regarded as the most prominent and influential person on the St. John river while he lived. He died in the year 1773.
Three of his daughters married respectively James Simonds, James White and Jonathan Leavitt.
A few years ago the writer of this history had the good fortune to find, in an old rubbish heap, a letter of James Simonds detailing the circ.u.mstances under which he came to take up his residence at St.
John.
”In the years 1759 and 1760,” he says, ”proclamations were published through the colonies which promised all the lands and possessions of the Acadians, who had been removed, or any other lands lying within the Province of Nova Scotia, to such as would become settlers there.
In consequence of these proclamations I went through the greater part of Nova Scotia, in time of war, at great expense and at the risk of my life, in search of the best lands and situations, and having at length determined to settle at the River St. John, obtained a promise from Government of a large tract of land for myself and brother Richard, who was with me in several of my tours.”
The attention of Mr. Simonds may have been particularly called to St.
John by the fact that his cousin, Captain Moses Hazen, commanded the garrison at Fort Frederick in 1759. It may be noted, in pa.s.sing, that this post was occupied for the first two years after it was rebuilt by Monckton, by the Ma.s.sachusetts troops. They were relieved by a company from one of the Highland regiments. In 1762 the post was garrisoned by a detachment of the 40th regiment of foot under Lieutenant Gilfred Studholme. The fort afterwards continued to be garrisoned by a company of British regulars under different commanders until 1768, when the troops were withdrawn and the fort remained for several years under the nominal care of Messrs. Simonds and White.
About the time James Simonds decided to settle at St. John, the harbor was carefully surveyed by Lieut. R. G. Bruce of the engineers, whose plan is reproduced in the accompanying ill.u.s.tration. A glance will suffice to show that the rocky peninsular on the eastern side of the harbor, where the business part of the city stands today, was at that time uninhabited. The military post at Fort Frederick imparted a little life to the immediate surroundings but on the other side of the harbor everything remained in its virgin state, except at Portland Point, where there was a small clearing and the ruins of a feeble old French Fort. The few Acadians who once lingered there had fled before the English invaders, and only when some wandering savage pitched his wigwam on the sh.o.r.es of ”Men-ah-quesk,” as he called it, was there any tenant save the fox, the bear or other wild forest creature. The rocky peninsular of east St. John with its crags and swamps was considered of so little value that it remained ungranted up to the time of the landing of the Loyalists. In the words of James Simonds it was ”the worst of lands, if bogs, mora.s.ses and rocks may be called lands.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: PLAN OF THE HARBOUR OF ST. JOHN IN NOVA SCOTIA, Surveyed & Sounded in September 1761 BY R.G. BRUCE ENGR. Scale 300 yds to an inch]
The circ.u.mstances under which James Simonds made choice of the Harbor of St. John, as the most promising place for an extensive trade, are detailed at some length in his evidence in the famous chancery suit which arose about the year 1791 in connection with the division of the lands of Hazen, Simonds and White, and occupied the attention of the courts for more than twenty years. It is chiefly from this source we learn the particulars that follow.
James Simonds was born in Haverhill, Ma.s.sachusetts, in the year 1735.
After the death of his father, Nathan Simonds, and the settlement of his estate, finding the property falling to him to be inconsiderable, he set out in company with his younger brother Richard to seek his fortune. In the course of the years 1759 to 1762, different parts of the old province of Nova Scotia were visited, including the River St.
John, with a view of ascertaining the most advantageous situation for the fur trade, fishery and other business. Finding that the mouth of the St. John river was an admirable situation for trade with the Indians, that the fishery in the vicinity was excellent, and that there was a large tract of marsh land, and lands that afforded great quant.i.ties of lime-stone adjacent to the Harbor of St. John, Mr.
Simonds eventually gave the preference to those lands on account of their situation and the privileges attached to them, and having previously obtained a promise from Government of a grant of 5,000 acres in such part of the province as he might choose he with his brother Richard took possession. In the month of May, 1762, they burnt over the large marsh (east of the present city) and in the ensuing summer cut there a quant.i.ty of wild hay. It was their intention immediately to begin stock raising, but they were disappointed in obtaining a vessel to bring from Ma.s.sachusetts the cattle they expected. They accordingly sold or made a present of the hay to Captain Francis Peabody, who had recently come to St. John and built himself a house at Portland Point. This house is said to have had an oak frame, which was brought from Newburyport. In 1765 it became the property of James Simonds (Captain Peabody having moved up the river to Maugerville) and later it was owned by James White. It was not an elaborate or expensive building[52] but it had the honor of being the first home of an English speaking family on the St. John river.
[52] When the affairs of Hazen, Simonds and White were wound up some twenty-five years later the house was valued at 40.