This is from a pamphlet. The original is here. I find the sermons rather tedious, but the Paper by Rev. Raymond is good. Both Ketchum's sermon and Raymond's Paper disagree with Letter by Ebenezer Dibblee, 1783, about Frederick. Ebenezer states that Frederick got a degree, and these accounts make it clear that he did not.
1791 - October 23rd - 1891
SERMON BY REV. CANON KETCHUM, D. D.
PAPER ON EARLY DAYS OF WOODSTOCK, Etc. BY REV. W. 0. RAYMOND, M.A.
REPRINTED FROM THE SAINT JOHN "DAILY SUN."
ST. JOHN, N. B.: Barnes & Co., Prince William Street, 1891.
1791 - October 23rd - 1891
The brief outline that follows is taken mainly from the columns of the St. John Daily Sun.
Woodstock, Oct. 23. - The services commemorative of the centennial of the ordination of Rev. Frederick Dibblee as first rector of Woodstock parish began here this morning in Christ church. Though the weather was cold and cheerless there was a large congregation present, including several descendants of the pioneer English missionary on the upper St. John. The church was beautifully decorated with potted plants and out flowers in addition to the tasteful array of the fruits of the earth left in place since the recent harvest thanksgiving festival. The service consisted of morning prayer, sermon and celebration of the holy communion, with an offertory for the improvement of the historic church burial ground. The music, in which the congregation heartily joied, was by the united choirs of Christ church and St. Luke's, with Miss Carman as organist. During the singing of the hymn, We love the place, O Lord, as a processional, the following clergy marched from the main door up the centre aisle to the chancel: Canon Ketchnm and Revs. S. J. Hanford, H. B. Morris, L. W. Fowler. W. O Raymond, S. INeales, W. J. Wilkinson, H. E. Dibblee, J. R. Hopkins and the rector, Canon Neales.
The sermin was preached by Rev. Canon Ketchum, D. D., a grandson of Rev. F. Dibblee.
Other men laboured and ye are entered into their labours. St. John IV. 38.
It was one of the most marked incidents in our Blessed Lord's earthly life. Wearied with His journey He sat at Jacob's well. To that woman of Samaria He had spoken words of deepest import; startling revelations He had made. The season was that at present here — the autumn. In Palestine, the time for sowing the seed. This work was going on in the well cultivated fields around. "Let four months pass and then cometh harvest." Others would reap benefits from the labor in these adjoining fields. Far above and beyond came up the vision of that field, which was the world, and of the seed, which was the blessed gospel, and the gathering into the heavenly garner.
Ever since that day at Jacob's well all this has been going on year by year. Under the Divine decree sowing and reaping, "seed time and harvest have not ceased." It is one of the many strange things connected with our being. Man goes on with his work till his strength fails. He passeth away. His place knows him no more. By powers of mind and body, by mental or physical toil he may have done much in the way of benefit. His work is over — "others enter into his labors."
Apply this to what we may call higher pursuits and acquirements connected with science, learning, literature and the arts. Compare the present state of things around us, or elsewhere in the world, with what it was one hundred years ago. What has been gained by steamers and railroads, telegraphs, and the marvelous use of electricity that is not due to that for which "other men have labored?" What toil of mind or body by day or night on the part of men of highest culture and brightest intellects have produced benefits which, in most instances, the prime toilers themselves failed to enjoy! It would seem us if their chief reward was that those who came after should "enter into their labors."
We rightly value the word of God in our Bibles as our choicest heritage. Next to that, the blessing we enjoy as members in that branch of the Church of Christ, with her position so clearly defined, her foundation resting so securely on the "Rock of Ages." As we read or hear the word of God so plainly set forth in our own language, do we often think of how other men labored for what we so readily possess? The diligent, laborious student knows only a little of the toil and care which must have been exercised by those men who have examined and searched through copies of ancient manuscripts and texts, comparing every word, every little particle, that "the truth as it is in Jesus" might be for us and for our children. Who can estimate the value of what we reap from labors of the Fathers of the Church in their expositions and commentaries? What a touching instance in the case of the saintly Bede, whose writings are of untold value. At the close of a life of incessant study, wholly for the benefit of others, laboring under disease — see this learned, holy man engaged in a translation of St. John's gospel — dictating his version to his pupils, and when, with exhausted strength the last verse was translated, ready to "depart in peace."
It is the highest glory of the branch of the Church of which we are members that to it has been especially committed the oracles of God — that this branch of the Church has done more than any other body of Christians — in the preservation, in the translation, and in the extension of the word of God throughout the world. The position of this branch of the Church is of far more importance than is generally considered. Through the teachings of the Anglican communion more than by any other means the faith has been maintained as "once delivered unto the saints." Benefits have thereby been widely extended. To those who read history aright and mark the state of things as existing now in the world, it must be soon that civil and religious liberty throughout the world has been largely reaped from what has come through the labors and the teaching of the Anglican communion. Led on by the words of the text we look back "to the Rock whence we were hewn." We mark the labor, the trials, the sufferings of those saints and martyrs to whom we owe to-day all we enjoy from a pure and primitive faith and Apostolic order. We look back and see learned and holy men going forth to a death of torture — one saying to the other as the flames came up around a form wasted with long study and labor, "Play the man. . . . We shall this day light up a candle by God's grace in England as I trust never shall be put out." That light, thank God, shines upon us to-day! Then let me give one more illustration. It has been said by the learned historian of the English people that "his great position made Cranmer more than any other a representative of the religious revolution which had passed over the land. His figure stood a frontispiece to the English Bible. The decisive change which had been given to the character of the reformation was wholly due to Cranmer. It was his voice that men heard and still hear in the accents of the English liturgy." Perhaps you will fail to find in history a position of greater difiiculty and danger. Well we know he was subject to frailties, to infirmities arising from natural disposition. Amid all the cares of state which rested on him so many years, surrounded by bitter foes, how unwearied must have been his study and his labors night and day! He possessed one of the largest libraries of the age, comprising all the writings of the early Fathers and MSS of endless value. Of late years access has been had to many of those cherished volumes, and it is said that it is most wonderful to notice so many marginal and other notes in Cranmer's writing, thereby aiding him in the translation of the Holy Scriptures, and in the compilation of that book of common prayer we are using here to-day. "Other men labored ye are entered into their labors."
But I have detained you too long on a subject which is to me of surpassing interest. I must now apply the teaching in the text to the event we are met to celebrate. Our thoughts go back to-day one hundred years. How was it then with this most lovely country around us; how with the Church of the living God? At that time little progress had been made here in reducing the unbroken forest for the cultivation of the earth and for human habitations. Still the grand old original trees reached closely to the water's edge, and there were scarcely pathways through the entangled brushwood. No slight work it was to cut down those old forest trees, and to root out the stumps, to prepare the soil for culture. One wonders how comparatively so few effected so much in a few short years. We have in many respects a trying climate It was more so one hundred years ago. Cultivation and drainage always soften the cold and increase warmth from the sun. Belgium, now the garden of Europe, in the days of Julius Caesar, is described in his inimitable commentaries as suffering from a climate more severe than ours. It was the effect of that climate which often stayed the onward course of the Roman legions. At any rate the work here was done, to which we allude, this lovely district, once covered with an unbroken forest and thicket, has been made to "blossom as the rose." I once met one who had travelled far and wide. He said, no doubt truly, that the plains of Lombardy afforded the most beautiful natural scenery in Europe. But he told me this district, from a little below the old Ferry landing to the town, surpasses in beauty of scenery the celebrated plains of Lombardy. The soil is most admirable and producive - capable of the highest cultivation and of greater improvements. What unremitting labor to bring this lovely district from the original forest to its present condition!
"Other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors."
The establishment of the Church in this Province is unique — wholly different from what we read of elsewhere. It did not come about, as in most other instances, by the advent of missionaries, and by converts from the natives of the country. Hither the Church came in a body — partially equipped. There came a noble band of layman, strong, true and earnest in the faith, and with them, or soon after, came their divinely appointed guides. From the nature of things, in most instances, both with clergy and laity there was much exposure to hardship and bitter contrast to the culture and climate of their early homes. The movement with them had been wholly a question of principle — loyalty to their sovereign, but, most of all, loyalty to the Church. The revolution successful, a republic established, they thought the Church would no longer be suffered to exist; its existence was, in their view, inseparable from the crown. You may hear something of the like feeling expressed at the present day with reference to disestablishment of the Church in England, as if that would be its death blow. The days to which we now refer were dark days for the members of the Church in New England. They had a hard time of it. All this has happily passed. There is now no diocese in Canada at all to compare in strength and numbers with that of Connecticut. It has its churches, colleges, schools and hospitals and church homes — all set up without one dollar of original endowment. Stamford, the birth place and early home of the first rector of this parish, is now one of the most important parishes in the diocese It is almost a suburb of New York. I have ministered in the church there in which my great grandfather served for over fifty years. It was a spacious and well ordered church — with an east window and a tablet in memory of long and valued service. Burnt down a few years ago, it is being now replaced by a stone edifice at the cost of well nigh $200,000. Already, surrounding the church, are grand buildings for schools, a church home and hospital. At the time of the revolution a widely extended district was under the charge of the rector. He was so beloved by his people that his position was not interfered with during his remaining years. Now, I was told, on a Sunday morning, you may drive through what was his missionary charge for miles and you will not cease to hear the church bells ring, as you come to successive towns and villages.
It was from all that which led to such a result, it was from a cultured home, from a college course at New York, not wholly completed, that the first rector of this parish came. We can hardly imagine the state of things here one hundred years ago. Yet all was cheerfully submitted to. One thing there was, wo know, a united community, and work was done and hardships endured with cheerful patience.
To-duy we commemorate an event of marked interest.
In Mr. G. Herbert Lee's interesting "Sketch of the first fifty years of the Church in N. B." it is said: "Woodstock was settled by the Loyalists in 1783. After some time they prevailed upon Mr. Frederick Dibblee of Stamford, Conn., one of their number, to become their clergyman. Accordingly he proceeded to Frodericton, and thence to St. John by canoe, there being no roads at that early period. Thence he took passage in a schooner for Halifax," and on this day one hundred years ago he was ordained by the Bishop of the Colonial Church. "Three months were occupied in his journey to and from Halifax. Mr. Dibblee was appointed the first missionary to all the settlers living on the river St. John above St. Mary's and Kingsclear, The great extent of bis mission made his work most arduous and difficult. The people, few in number, were scattered over an area of one hundred and fifty miles."
Travelling was most wearisome — not even a road for the toiling missionary. Bark canoes and riding on horse back were his chief means of conveyance in summer, snow-shoes in winter. A great deal of his attention was given to attempts to teach and educate the native Indians. On the first visit of the Bishop of Nova Scotia he found no leas than 250 families of Indians partially under instruction." Wherever he went to hold the services of the Church, we are told the missionary was ever most ordially received. It does not become one of his immediate descendants to speak in eulogy of the work of the first rector in this parish and in far extended districts.
For several years services were held in private dwellings. The church built under the care of the first rector was among the first churches erected in the Province. It stood close at hand. With regard to that structure our modern chuioh builders would find no end of fault. Church architecture and much relating to church services were not looked on as so very important fifty years ago. The early pioneers of the forest had much else to occupy their minds and their hands.
Well however we know the kind of church teaching imparted by the first rector of this parish for over thirty-five years. We also know that what he had sown was well and wisely cultivated by those who succeeded him. It was the same teaching to which I have before referred — that grounded on the Scriptures of truth, unfolded in the creeds of the primitive Church, and laid out for us so clearly in the book of Common Prayer and church catechism. To this I Can myself personally bear testimony to-day. I have passed through now a lengthened period of daily study of the word of God and of what the Fathers of the Church have taught. The more I study, the more I teach, the longer I live the more I am confirmed in the truth of what I was taught in early boyhood. Such teaching was evidently engrained in the minds of those whose descendants dwell along this lovely district — an instance scarcely found elsewhere in Canada of miles of cultivated country where the residents are all, without exception, members of the Church of England. On a Sunday, during the past summer for a needed rest, it was my privilege to worship with you here, and to see, to my delight, almost every adult of a large congregation remain to Holy Communion. Much, no doubt, of all this was wrought about by the energy and zeal of the late rector of this parish, whose memory is warmly and deservedly cherished. I would I could say more than I can in his presence of the constant wise and self-denying work of the present incumbent In his quiet, earnest persevering way he has made this parish a pattern for others to follow. He has shown us what the Church might be if the teaching and work of those who have gone before us were earnestly followed up. In years to come (may it be many years to come) it will be said of him and of his good work in grateful memorial.
"Other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors."
Mr. Raymond then presented Canon Neales with a copy of Mr. Lawrence's Foot Prints, with the author's personal compliments.
A brief sketch ot Rev. George Cowell, second rector of Woodstock, was given by Canon Neales. He said that Rev. Alex. Homerville was acting missionary for a time, as was also Rev. Geo. Best (rector of Frederioton) prior to 1828, and Rev. A. D. Parker, who had charge of Prince William, also extended personal help. Rev. Mr. Cowell was rector from October 1828 till October 1829. Little was now known about him, but it is understood be was an army or navy chaplain. By the records it is shown that November 2nd, 1828, he baptized Robert Currie, son of Andrew Currie. This was his first baptism and that of George Johnson was his last baptism in this parish. He baptized 59 all told during his ministry in this parish and vicinity; married 4 couples, and attended 4 funerals. Mr. Cowell was an educated man, but the circumstances of living in this region were not such as he or his wife could enjoy, and common report says he left the parish partly on account of his wife's delicate health. He removed from Woodstock to the diocese of Quebec, and of his future movements the speaker was not informed. Col. Raymond, to whom was given the task of speaking on the work and history of the Rev. Mr. Street, the next rector, gave the next address, which largely consisted of extracts from the parish records and personal reminiscences. He was a strong personal friend of that faithful servant of Christ, whose memory is held dear by every churchman in the parish. Rev. Mr. Street came here in 1830 when he was 24 years old, full of energy and life and for 41 years ministered to the spiritual wants of his flock, dying, as he had often expressed the wish to do "in harness." Col. Raymond also spoke of the noble manner in which the present rector. Canon Neales, had taken up and carried on the work laid down by his lamented predecessor and earnestly besought the laity to rally with greater heart than ever to the support of their clergy. If the work of the church lagged it was the fault of the laity. The speaker's remarks bristlea with facts of interest in the church history of the province and were wocthy of a larger audience and a more permanent record.
The meeting closed with the singing of the hymn, "O God oar Help in Ages Past," and the benediction.
Saturday afternoon an impressive service, the installation of the new choir, was held in St. Luke's church.
The conversazione in the skating rink last night was an informal social gathering of the church people of Woodstock and their friends and was most enjoyable throughout. Rev. Canon Neales and the ladies of his congregation doing all in their power to make the affair a success. There were refreshments in abundance, much good music and general enjoyment. It was at first intended to oall on Rev. L. A. Hoyt to deliver his address on the First Century North of Woodstock, and Rev. Mr. Hanford that on the Twenty Curates of this parish, but it was finally decided to give up all the evening to social enjoymont save and except the reading of extracts by Rev. Mr. Raymond from his paper on Rev. Mr. Dibblee and the loyalist era.
The musical programme, though short, was most enjoyable. Miss Sharp saug Polly and I, so acceptably that she was recalled and gave The Brook, with charming effect.
Miss Walker of New York, who is visiting friends here, executed a brilliant piano solo, Miss Sharp and Miss Ganong sang a duet, and Miss Gillmor gave Sing, Sweet Bird, in her most pleasing style.
The bishop coadjutor was present during the evening and seemed to heartily enjoy himself. Dr. Kingdon is a general favorite with the churchmen of this parish. One of the pleasing sights of the evening was to see many of the former curates of St. Luke's moving around through the hall renewing old friendships afner the absence of years.
Rev. Mr. Hanford, the patriarch of them all entered into the enjoyment of the occasion with the zest of a school boy.
Letters of regret that they were unable to accept the invitation to take part in the proceedings were received from W. M. Jarvis and G Herbert Lee of St. John, and a telegram from Mr. E. Lee Street of Newcastle.
Woodstock, Oct. 25. — There has been a glorious change in the weather, the rude wintry blasts of yesterday morning and last night's hard frost having given place today to the fall brightness of a warmth-giving autumnal sun. The change haa had a cheering effect on the centennial celebration, and all the services today were largely attended.
Today tb«re were four services in 8t. Luke's church; an afternoon aervioe at Christ church conducted by the Rev. Mr. Dibhlee and an afternoon service at Jacksonville conducted by Rev. Mr. Hanford. The services in St. Luke's were early celebration of the holy oommunion,morning prayer at 11 o'clock with sermon by Rev. LeB. W. Fowler, confirmation service at 3 in the afternoon and choral evening service at seven with sermon by the biahop coadjutor. Large congregations were present at all the services.
In the afternoon four adults were baptized and sixteen persons confirmed, seven of whom were males. Dr. Kingdon and Canon Neales were assisted by a large number of visitiog clergymen. Prior to the laying on of handa in the rite of confirmation, Dr. Kingdon being seated at the entrance to the chancel delivered at addreas to the congregation from the worda: Third Phillipians twentieth verae: "Our conversation is in heaven." In the course of his scholarly, valuable and deeply intereating address, Dr. Kingdon pointed out that as the meaning of many words have greatly changed since the Church of England 280 years ago, put into the handa of the people the most glorioua translation of the Bible in the world, many people experienced difficulty in understanding the Bible aa they ahould. Ono instance waa the word "conversation" in the text, which really meant "citizenship." We are citizens of heaven, that is of the kingdom of heaven, waa the true reading of the text. The bishop coadjutor went on to show that in the epistles the expreaaion "the church" waa more frequently uaed than "kingdom of heaven," and that the church waa the kingdom of God here below.
After four adults had been baptized Dr. Kingdon confirmed a claaa of 16, of whom aeven were malea. In the course of his brief address to those just confirmed, the bishop coadjutor urged them to be thoughtful for the balance of the day and to beware of the wiles of the devil, who would seek this very occasion to tempt them. He suggested they should ever keep this day sacred in their minds, and said he would give to each a card to help them to do so. On that card was a short text: "Grieve not the holy spirit of God,"' etc., and the collect for the nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, which he hoped they would say each day.
The card also contained three short questions for self examination. He finally gave them five points to make resolutions about, namely : 1st, prayer; 2nd, daily reading of God's word; 3rd, to attend church regularly; 4th, to partake of the holy communion regularly, and 5th to give freely of their substance to God.
The aervice was particularly impressive throughout.
St. Luke's church was crowded to the door tonight. The aervice which waa full choral, was intoned.
Onward Chriatian Soldiera was sung as a processional, and hymn 274 aa a recessional at the close. There was a large attendance of visiting clergy. Holy Offeringa, Rich and Rare, was sung after the offertory, and hymn 165 before the sermon.
Dr. Kingdon took for hia text Psalm cii., 25th, 26th and 27th verses:
Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
They shall perish, but Thou ahalt endure: they all shall wax old aa doth a garment;
And as a vesture shalt Thou change them; and they sall be chaanged; but Thou art the same, and Thy years aball not fail.
After emphaaizing the fact that they had met together today in thankfulneaa for a century of blessinga and that while one hundred years was much in the lifetime of a young colony, it was not much in the lifetime of the nation of which we are the outcome, or the church of God of which we are members. Century by century the church had prospered and he asked the people to thank God not for the meroiea nf the past hundred years alone, but for His guiding hand which haa enabled the church to hand down untarniahed the faith once delivered to the saints. In concluaiou Dr. Kingdon urged churchmen in this province to gather heart and go on with increased confidence in the mercy and goodneaa of God. The preacher closed his sermon by quoting the verse:
|
" O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come; Our shelter from the stormy blast. And our eternal home." |
The music by the choir was given in a manner that reflected credit upon all its members, and teatified to the care that dad been taken in its preparation.
A confirmation service will be held by the bishop coadjutor tomorrow at Richmond and on Tuesday at Canterbury atation.
On Wednesday the church at Benton will be consecrated by his lordship.
with some account of the first missionary of the Church of England on the Upper St John, by Rev. W.O. Raymond, M.A. Rector of St. Mary's Church, Saint John, N.B.
Twenty-five years ago Messrs. John C. Winalow and the late James Edgar of this town were associated in the legal profession under the title of "Winslow & Edgar, barristers, etc." Both gentlemen were well known as public-spirited citizens, and were generally to the fore in everything calculated to advance the interest of the community. In the year 1866 the firm offered a handsome silver medal, known as the Parker medal, as a prize for the best essay written by a pupil of the Carleton county grammar school on the History of New Brunswick. This stimulated the ambition of the writer of this article - then a boy of 14, to make his first essay in the field of provincial history, not, however, with any great degree of success, for the medal was rightly awarded to John K. Tompkins of East Florenceville, whose abilities as an essayist, both when a pupil of the grammar school and subsequently as a student at the university, always placed him in the first rank among bis fellows.
The following year the subject selected for the Parker medal was, "The Settlement and Progress of Carleton county," and this time (there being no Mr. Tompkins in the field) the writer met with greater success.
The early days of Carleton county being a subject of local interest the essay, which gained the medal, was subsequently published in the Carleton Sentinel and the Woodstock Acadian. For tho information contained in that essay the writer was largely indebted to the older members of the Griffith, Dibblee and Beardsley families; that derived from an interview with the late Colonel John Dibblee being especially valuable.
The circumstances just narrated stimulated if they did not call into existence a love of historic research, which being indulged as time and opportunity permitted, has led amongst other things to the collection of the facts which are presented on this occasion, They have been gleaned with much care and pains and some considerable expense from a variety of sources, and may be accepted with confidence as accurate and reliable.
"On the 24th of June, 1604, a little French ship sailed into what is now St. John harbor. She was a paltry craft measured by modern standards, smaller than many of tho coasting schooners of tho present day, but she carried the germ of an empire, for Champlain, de Monts and Pontrincourt, the founders of New France, were on her dock." - (Hanney)
The chart made by Champlain proves that he carefully scanned the contour of the harbor and also assures us that little material change has been effected in the great natural features of the place after the lapse of well nigh three centuries. Champlain gave to the noble river of his discovery the name of Saint John, or more correctly, Saint Jean-Bapiste, in honor of St. John Baptist, on whose day he had entered its outlet. The Micmac name of the river was Ouygoudy (pronounced Wigoudi). The name, through an unfortunate misprint of the work of an early writer, ia usually given as Ouangondy. The meaning of the Micmac word is a "highway."
It is claimed by some that the first white man who ever passed down the St. John river was one David Ingram, who was put ashore at Tampico bay in the Gulf of Mexico in 1567, and wandered far to the northward till he reached a river called Gugida, which he descended to the sea. But there is very little evidence that the river Gugida was identical with the Ouygoudy of the Micnics beyond the similarity of the names.
It is not till about eighty years after the discovery of the Sr. John by Champlain and de Monts that we find any definite mention made regarding the presence of the French on the upper St. John.
"At this period," writes Hannay in his history of Acadia, "there was a strong disposition on the part of many of the Acadians to become rangers of the woods (coureurs de bois) rather than cultivators of the soil. This waa an evil which had reached enormous propoitions in Canada, and against which the most stringent laws had been enacted the penaly for bush-ranging beiog no less th»n death. The fascinations of forest life must have been strong indeed when men would brave such risks for their sake, but a coureur de bois, as he sat by his camp fire in the wilderness, could feel that he was at least a free man, and pity his too much governed brothers in the settlements."
Among the men of this adventurous class there came to Acadia about this time four brothers, sons of Mathieu d' Amour, a councillor of the province of Quebec. One of these brothers received a grant of land on the Richibucto, the others on the St. John. They began a trade with the Indians, taking their furs and giving them in exchange French goods and brandy. Of the brothers d'Amour, one, Mathieu, lived on the eastern side of the St. John river opposite Oromocto; another, Louis, had his headquarters at the mouth of the Jemseg. The third. Bene d' Amour, who unlike his brothers was unmarried, lived on the Upper St. John.
His SEIGNEURIAL GRANT reads as follows:
"Concession de M de la Barre, gouverneur du Canada, et de M de Meules, intendant de la Nouvelle France, a Rene d' Amour sieur de Clignancourt, de terres a la riviere Saint-Jean, pres de Medoctet, aveo l'acte de confirmation du 1 Mars 1693
20 Septembre 1684
Scacavoir faisons que sur la riquete a nous presentee par Rene d' Amour Ecuyer, Sieur de Clignancourt, a ce qu'il nous plait lui voulou accorder en titre de fief, seigneurie et justice, haut moyenne et basse, se qui se rencontre de terres nonconcedee le long de la riviere Saint-Jean, depuis le lieu de Medoctet, icelui compria, jusqu'au long sault qui se trouve en remontant ladite riviere de Saint Jean, icelui comprise, avec lea islets qiu se trouveront dans cet espace et deux lieues de profondeur de chaque cote de ladite riviere Saint-Jean."
From the foregoing French seigneurial grant it appears that on the 20th September, 1684, there was granted by the governor and intendant of Acadie to Rene d'Amours the fief and signeurie of Clignancourt comprising all the land on either side of the River St. John extending in length from the old Meductic fort, eight miles below Woodstock, to the Grand Falls, and in breadth two leagues, or six miles, back from either bank of the river. Rene d'Amours does not appear to have complied with the conditions of his grant, which required him to establish ettlers thereon within a limited period, but contented himself with carrying on an illicit traffic with the Indians, securing their furs and skins and supplying them in return with but an indifferent compensation largely consisting of brandy and trinkets.
The brothers d'Amour speedily fell under the displeasure of Villebon, who at this time commanded at the fort at the mouth of the Nashwalk, and he writes of them in 1695: "They are four in number living on the St John river. * * * For 10 or 12 years they have baen here. They are disobedient and seditious and require to be watched." The following year Villebon wrote: "I have no more reason my lord to be satisfied with the Sieurs d'Amour than I previously had. The one that has come from France has not pleased me more than the other two." It was further charged against the d'Amours
"That thoueh they have the best grants of land in the finest parts of the country, they have hardly a place to lodge in. They carry on no tillage keep no cattle, but live in trading with the Indians and bebauch among them, making large profits thereby, but injuring the public good."
Commenting on this Mr. Hannay observes:
"Acadie was so full of cabats that even these positive statements of Villebon must be taken with allowance. Two of the brothers, Mathieu and Louis, certainly had permanent residences and not only goods but cattle and wives also."
Rene, however, seems to have been a typical coureur de hois. The wild adventurous life for him possessed great attractiouns. Not only were the possible profits great, but in the pursuit of them there was a fascinating element of adventure and danger. His career on the upper St. John seems to have lasted about sixteen years, during which time the Meductic was chief centre of his transactions with the Indians His rights in the immense tract of land granted him lapsed when he abandoned the country. As already stated, there is nothing to show that Rene d'Amour ever attempted to place any settlers on his fertile and extensive seigneurie. Were it possible for the old bush ranger to travel today from the Meductic to the Graud Falls, he would be obliged to confess, unless he was very strongly prejudiced indeed, that some improvement had been made in his ancient seieneurie during the past 200 years.
In the early days of the last century there was a regular route along the river by which communication with Quebec was maintained by the French on the lower St John, and also by those in the Nova Scotian peninsula. From Beausejour, Baie Verte and perhaps even from Louisbourg messengers passed by way of the St. John to Quebec. The route was by way of the Petitcodiac, up which canoes passed to North river, thence by a portage of some eight miles to the Canaan and down that river to the Washademoak, thence up the St. John to the Madawaska and Temiscouata, and so on to the St. Lawrence. At the time of the great final struggle between England and France for the sovereignity of Canada and Acadia (1744-1763) this route was considerably used by the French, who must thus have passed the site of the town of Woodstock frequently and occasionally in large parties. They had a regular post at the Grand Falls in 1753.
Many years before this BISHOP ST VALIER OF QUEBEC descended the St John on his tour amongst the French settlements of Acadia. An acoount of this tour will be found in a book printed in Paris in 1688, entitled 'The present state of the Church and the French Colony in New France." The book is of intense interest to the historian. It contains amongst other things the first published description of the Grand Falls, a translation of which is as follows:
"The following: day, 17th of May, we saw the place which is called the great fall of St. John the Baptist (Saint Jean-Baptiste), where the river St. John, falling over a very high rock as a cascade into an abyss, makes a mist which hides the river from view and makes a roar which warns from afar the navigators descending in their canoes."
Bishop St. Valier mentions that in the course of his tour he slept at Medoctec one night.
French missionaries to the Indians were at work on the St. John within a few years of its discovery. Pierre Biard and Enemond Masse were sent out by the Duchess de Guercheville as early as 1611. Mass was celebrated by them in that year on one of the islands ou the St. John river close to Oak Point.,
One of the most important mission centres on the river was that at the Indian settlement at Meductic. Here the dusky forest children were taught and instructed in 1690 by Father Simon of the order of St. Francis. John Gyles, in the exceedingly interesting narrative nf his life amongst the Indians, speaks of Father Simon as
"A gentleman of a humane, generous disposition, who in his sermons most severely reprehended the Indians for their barbarities to captives. He would often tell them that, excepting their errors in religion, the English were a better people than themselves."
Father Simon, however took part in most of the expeditions against the English settlements in King Williain's war, and brought 36 warriors from his mission station at Augpaque (Springhill) to aid VilUbjn in the defence of Fort Nashwalk in 1696. He appears to have died at Jemseg a few years later.
Besides Meductic the only other trading place on the upper St. John at the beginning of the last century was at the mouth of the Madawaska, where, as Gyles mentions, "an old man lived and kept a sort of trading house."
French power in Acadia received its death blow on the 16th June, 1755, when Beausejour, the grim and formidable fortress at the head of the Bay of Fundy surrendered to Lieut. Col. Monckton, an event followed almost immediately by the surrender to Lieut. Col. John Winslow of the fort at Baie Verte. Monckton changed the name of Beausejour to Fort Cumberland and after placing a garrison in it despatched Col. Rous to the St. John river with three 20 gun ships and a sloop. The news of the fall of Beausejour had entirely disheartened the French at this port. No sooner did Rous enter the harbor than they burst their cannon, blew p their magazine, set the woodwork of their fort on fire and fled up river.
It ia quite likely that the French settlements at Madawaska were increased at this time by Acadian refugees from the mouth of the river, and their numbers may have been still furthor increased a few months later by refugees who fled from the Nova Scotian peninsula at the time of the expulsion of the Acadians from tne Annapolis valley.
No consideration of the early history of Woodstock and its vicinity would be complete without some reference to the aboriginal inhabitants of the country. Fur the facts about to be mentioned the writer is largely indebted to the investigations of James Hannay, W. F. Ganong, Edward Jack, and the narrative of John Gyles.
The Indians of the upper St John are Maliseets. As a rule they are fine specimens of their race; good hunters, brave warriors, fairly industrious, and, till debased by the white man's civilization, honest in their dealings, moral and virtuous in their habits. The Maliseets possessed the valley of the St. John nearly to its outlet, their hunting grounds extending northerly as far as Riviere du Loup and westward to the Penobscot. There is reason to believe that the Maliseets did not formerly occupy the St. John river, but that about the beginning of the seventeenth century , being pressed by the Mohawks of New York, they pushed their way eastward into the territory hitherto occupied by the Micmacs and, being the more warlike tribe, pressed the Micmacs back towards the gulf shore and the peninsula of Nova Scotia.
The Maliseets hud an almost unaccountable dread of the Mohawks. This is very well illustrated by an incident that happened just 200 years ago at Meductic. John Gyles (then a boy of 12 years) and James Alexander, two captives taken in King William's war, were obliged to carry water for the Indians from a cold spring that ran out of a rocky hill ubout three quarters of a mile from the fort.
"In going there," says Gyles, "we crossed a large intervale cornfield, and then a descent to a lower intervale before we ascended the hill to the spring. The season bei gnvery hot and the number at the fort unusually large, and being a very droughty (thirsty) people, James was almost dead, as well as I, with the fatigue of carrying water day and night. The next dark night James, going fur water, set hia kettle down on the descent to the lowest intervale and running back to the fort puffing and blowing as though in the utmost surprlse, told hi master that he saw something near the spring that looked like Mohawks (wnich were only stumps). His master being a most courageous warrior, went with him to make discovery. When they came to the brow of the hill James pointed to the stumps, and at the same time touching his kettle with hia toe gave it a motion down the hill; at every turn its bail clattered, which caused James and his master to see a Mohawkin every stump, and they lost no time in 'turning tail to,' and he was the best fellow who could run the fastest. This alarmed all the Indians in the village. They were about 30 or 4O in number, and they packed otf bag and baggage, some up the river and others down, and did not return under 15 days; and then the heat of the weather being over our hard service was abated for this season. I never heard that the Indians understood the occasion of their flight, but James and I had many a private laugh about it."
In this connection it is interesting to note the fact that Shiktehawk means "where he killed him." It is believed by the Maliseets that their last great battle with the Mohawks waa fought at the mouth oF the Shiktehawk, and that it was finally decided by a battle between two chiefs in which the Mohawk chief was slain and lies buried there.
ALL ALONG THE ST. JOHN RIVER there are places to which the Indians attach stories of this kind, many of which tell of their old fights with the Mohawks. The legendary lore of the older Acadian Indians is varied and interesting. Leland's "Algonquin Legends," although in some respects an unfortunate and misleading work, will give some idea of these rich legends. One of the most romantic and striking of the St. John river legends is that of the destruction of the Mohawks at Grand Falls through the heroism of a Maliseet woman whose life waa spared after her capture by the invading Mohawks on condition that she would pilot them to the Meductec village. The story of the way in which she at the risk and possibly the sacrifice of her own life led the fleet of canoes which bore the hated enemies of her tribe to the brink of the cataract whence they were hurled to sudden and fearful destruction^ is very well told by Col. Baird in his "'eventy years of New Brunswick life," and also with some variety of detail by Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon in his "Wilderness journeys." The Indians still call the Grand Falls Chick-un-ik-pe, which means "a destroying giant."
The dread of the Mohawks entertained by the Maliseets was handed down through many generations and even within the memory of men still living the St. John Indian would start at the sudden mention of the word Mohawk!
The Maliseets like other Indian tribes of Maine and Canada were usually leagued with the French against the English. From their cruel habits and peculiar modes of warfare they were always a terror to the early settlers. Nevertheless, there is every reason to believe that the popular idea regarding the number of Indians on the Upper St. John in the early days of its settlement are greatly exaggerated. Hannay goes so far as to say:
"I am firmly convinced, after a pretty thorough investigation of every available original authority, that there are more Indians in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia now than there ever were during any part of either the 17th or 18tb centuries."Without committing ourselves to this view we must bear in mind that if the census returns be in any degree reliable, no appreciable diminution has taken place in the number of Indians on the St. John during the past fifty years, although they have shifted their location somewhat from time to time. In 1726 John Gyles, who bad lived six years with them at Meductic, says that the number of Indians (presumably of males) of 16 years and upwards on the river St. John was 100, and at Passamaquoddy 30. Nn record is extant to show that more than 300 Maliseet warriors, gathered from the whole region from the St. John to the Penobscot, were engaged in any of the numerous raids that were made on the English settlements. The numbers of the Indians were however undoubtedly diminished in 1694 by a terrible pestilence which swept across Maine and Acadia. At Meductic alone over 100 Indians died, and the blow was so great that the Indians for a time forsook the plane and did not settle or plant corn there for several years. From their habits and customs the lodiaos could not become very numerous. The hunter must of necessity draw his subsisteuce from a very wide range of territory, and we must bear in mind that the hardship and privation to which the Indians were exposed in the winter season generally proved fatal to all but the strongest and most hardy.
Cadillac, writing in 1693, says the ''Malaseets are well shaped and tolerably warlike. They attend to the cultivation of the soil and grow the most beautiful Indian corn. Their fort is at Medocteck." The site of this old Indian fort is well known. It is situated on the west bank of the St. John, about eight miles below Woodstock, opposite the foot of an island which used to be called Watson's, or Meductic island. The fort was not at the mouth of the Meductic or Eel river, but four miles above. It guarded the lower end of the portage route to Eel river, the lower 12 miles of which are not navigable for canoes. The Indians had here a large permanent settlement and all the French writers speak of it. It always furnished a good number of warriors when any trouble was afoot on the St. John.
Mention was made a few moments since of KING WILLIAM'S WAR.
This was the second of the two great wars which stand out with such prominence in early New England history, and was so named from the English monarch in whose reign it took place. It began in 1688 and lasted 10 years. All the Indian tribes east of the Merrimack engaged in it. The struggle was a terrible one. Every English settlement in Maine, except Wells, York, Kittery and the Isle of Shoals was overrun. A thousand white people were killed or taken prisoners and the Indians suffered quite as severely. Like every other war with the Indians, the whites were responsible for its origin. One of the minor incidents of thid war is of great interest to us, but time will only admit of a brief reference to it, which here follows:
A little earlier than the founding of Boston a settlement called Pemmuquid was formed on the coast of Maine, midway between the Kennebec and Penobscot rivers, and a fort was subsequently built for its protection. On the 2nd August, 1689, this fort was attacked and captured by a party of 100 Indians, most of whom were from the St John. Amongst the prisoners taken was John Gyles, then a boy about 11 yeurs of age. He was taken by his Indian master eastward to Penobscot fort. In the acuouut which he subs'-quently wrote Gyles says: "My Indian master carried me up Penobscot river to a village called Madawamkee, which stands on a point of land between the main rivtr and a branch which leads to the east of it. The next day we went up that eastern branch of the Penobscot river many leagues, carried overland to a large pond, and from one pond to another, till in a few days we went down a river called the Medoctack which vents itself into the St. John's river. But before we came to the mouth of this river, we passed over a long carrying place to Medoctack fort which stands on a bank of St. John's river. My master went before and left me with an old Indian and 2 or 3 squaws. The old man often said (which was all the English he could speak), 'By and by come to a great town and fort.' After some miles travel we came in sight of a large cornfield, and soon after of the fort to my great surprise. Two or 3 squaws met us, took off my pack and led me to a large hut or wigwam where 30 or 40 Indians were dancing and yelling round 5 or 6 poor captives. I was whirled in among this circle of Indians, and we prisoners looked on each other with a sorrowful countenance."
Gyles proceeds to describe the tortures to which the poor prisoners were subjected, and which need not be enumerated here, and then goes on to say:
"The Indians looked on me with fierce countenances, as much as to say, it will be your turn next. I smiled on them, though my heart ached. I looked on one and another, but could not percieve that any eye {litied me. Presently came a squaw and a little girl and laid down a bag ot corn in the ring. The little girl took me by the hand, making signs for me to go out of the circle with them. Not knowing their custom I supposed they designed to kill me, and refused to go. Thuu a grave Indian came and gave me a short pipe and said in English, *8moke it.' Then he took me by the hand and led me out. He carried me to a French hut about a mile from the Indian fort. The Frenchman was not at home, but his wife, who was a squaw, had some discourse with my Indian friend which I did not understand."
Having tarried about 2hrs., GyIes and bis protector returned to the Indian village, where he received trom one of bis fellow captives "a melancholy account of their sufferings" during his ab«ence.
We come now to what ought to be a matter of some interest to this meeting, viz, the introduction of John Gyles to OUR TOWN OF WOODSTOCK just 202 years ago and the account shall be in his own words:
"After some weeks had passed we went up the St. John's river about 10 miles to a branch called Medocksetnecasis, where was one wigwam." Woodstock usually extends a warm welcome to strangers and John Gyles was much surprised at the warmth of his reception. "At our arrival," said he, "an old squaw saluted me with a yell, taking me by the hair and one hand, but I was so rude as to break her hold and free myself. She gave a grin and the Indians set up a laugh and so it passed over." (If John Gyles wore here tonight he would notice some improveneot in the manners of the ladies of the place.) Next we have his bill of fare. "We ived," he says, "on fish, wildgrapes roots &c., which was hard living to me." When the winter came on we went up the river till the ice came down, running thick in the river, when, according to the Indian custom, we laid up our canoes till spring. Then we travelled, oometimes en the ice and sometimes on the land, till we came to a river that was open but not fordable, where we made a raft and passed over bag and baggage. I met with no abuse from them in this winter's hunting, though I was put to great hardships in carrying burdens and for want of food. But they underwent the same difficulty and would often encourage me by saying in broken English, "By and by great deal moose." Yet they could not answer any question I asked them, and knowing little of their customs and way of life I thought it tedious to be constantly moving from place to place. It run in my mind that we were travelling to some settlement; and when my burden was overheavy and the Indians left me behind, and the still evening coming on, I fancied I could see through the bushes and hear the people of some great town; which hope though some support to mo in the day, yet I found not the town at night.
"Thus were we hunting 300 miles from the sea. We were 8 or 10 in number and had but 2 guns, on which we wholly depended for food If any disaster bad happened we should all have perished. Sometimes we had no manner of sustenance for 3 or 4 days. In one ot these fasts God's providence was remarkable. Our 2 Indian men, who had guns, in hunting started a moose, but there being a shallow-crusted snow on the ground and the moose discovering them, ran into a swamp. The Indians went around the swamp and finding no track out returned at night to the wigwam and told what had happened. The next morning they followed him on the track and soon found him lying on the snow. He had in crossing the roots of a large tree that had been blown down, broken through the ice made over the water in the hole occasioned by the roots of the tree taking up the earth, and hitched one of his legs fast among the roots and thus extraordinarily were we provided for in our great strait . . . When the supply was spent we fasted till further success."
Gyles gives many most interesting details of life in the woods. In their hunting the Indians kept going northward in quest of the moose till by spring they had got to the north of the Lady Mountains near the St. Lawrence. The narrative proceeds "When the spring came and the rivers broke up we moved back to the head of St. John's river aud there made canoes of moose hides, sewing three or four together and pitching the seams with balsam mixed with charcoal. Then we went down the river to a place called Madaweacook. There an old man lived who kept a sort of trading house, where we tarried several days. Then we went further down the river till we came to the greatest falls in these parts, where we carried our canoes a little way over the land, then putting off our canoes we went down stream still and as we passed the mouths of any large branches we saw Indians. At length we arrived at the place where we left our birch canoes in the fall and putting our baggage into them, went down to the fort.
"There we planted corn and after planting went a fishing and to look for and dig roots till the corn was fit to weed. After weeding we took a second tour on the same errand and thou returned to hill our corn. After hilling we went some distance from the fort and field up the river to take salmon and other fish which we dried for food, where we continued till the corn was filled with milk. Some of it we dried then, the other as it ripened. To dry corn when in the milk they gather it in large kettles and boil it on the ears till it is pretty hard, then shell it from the cob with clam shells and dry it on bark in the aun. When it is thoroughly dry a kernel is no bigger than a pea and would keep years, and when it is boiled again it swells as large as when on the ear and tastes incomparably aweeter than other corn. When we had gathered our corn and dried it in the way already described, we put some into Indian barns, that is into holea in the ground lined and covered with bark and then with earth. The rest we carried up river on our next winter's hunting."
The Indians, though sometimes exceedingly cruel to their prisoners, were not without some sense of right and justice. This is shown by the following incident, WHICH GYLES RELATES:
"While at the Indian village, I had been cutting wood and binding it up with an Indian rope, in order to carry it to the wigwam. A stout, ill-natured young fellow about 20 years old threw me backward, sat on my breast, pulled out his knife and said he would kill me, for he had never yet killed one of the English. I told him he might go to war and that would be more manly than to kill a poor captive who was doing their drudgery for them. Notwithstanding all I could say, he began to cut and stab me on my breast. I seized him by the hair and tumbling him off me, followed him with my fist and knee with such application that he aoon cried 'enough.' But when I saw the blood run from my bosom and felt the smart of the wounds he had given me, I at him again and bid him get up and not lie there like a dog; told him of hia former abuses to me and other poor captives, and that if he ever offered the like to me again I would pay him double. I drove him before me, and taking up my burden of wood, came to the Indians and told them the whole truth, and they commended me."
Gyles' description of Indian habits and customs ia extremely interesting, but the limits of this paper will only allow mention of one or two, which we give in the words of the narrator.
"If an Indian loao his fire, he can presently take two sticks, one harder than the other {the drier the better) and in the softest one make a hollow or socket, in which one end of the hardest stick being inserted, then holding the softest piece firm between the kneea, whirla it round like a drill, and fire will kindle in a few minutes.
"If they have lost their kettle, it is but putting their victuals into a birch dish, leaving a vacancy in the middle, filling it with watef and putting in hot stones alternately; they will thus thoroughly boil the toughest neck of beef.
"If a young fellow determines to marry, his relativea and the Jesuits advise him to a girl. He goea into the wipwam where she is and looks on her. If he likes her appearance he tosses a chip or stick into her lap, which she takes and with a reserved side look views the person who sent it, yet handles the chip with admiration, as though she wondered from whence it came. If she likes him she throws the chip to him with a modest smile, and then nothing is wanting but a ceremony with the Jesuit to consummate the marriage. But if she dislikes her uitor, she, with a surly countenance, throws the chip aside, and he comes no more there."
The entire narrative of John Gyles is full of interest and ia of great value for its plain, truthful record of the daily life and doings of the Indians. After living for about 6 years with them he was bought by Louis d'Amour, with whom he spent nearly three years, and was finally released through the kindness of his master's wife, Marguerite (Guyon) d'Amour. His narrative concludes with these words:
"On the second of August, 1689, 1 waa taken, and on the 19th of June, 1698. I arrived at Boston; so I was absent 8 years, 10 months and 17 days. In all which time, though I underwent extreme difficulties, yet I saw much of God's goodness. And mayy the most powerful and benificent Being accept of the public testimony of it, and bless my experiences to excite others to confide in His all-sufficiency through the infinite merita of Jesus Christ."
BEFORE CLOSING this brief account of the Maliseets of the upper St John it may be interesting to mention the most probable signification of the principal Indian names applied to the rivers and streams of this region. The meaning and real derivation of these Indian names it is in some cases no easy task to determine. The meaning of many of them the Indians themselves have forgotten. The word Muniac, for instance, is supposed to be a contraction of the Indian name of the river which is (according to Edward Jack) Am-wa-neck. But the meaning of Am-wa-neck the Indians themselves do not know.
Tobique, the Indians say, is a white man's word. Professor Ganoog says an old Indian informed him the river was named by the whites after an Indian family named Tobique who lived at its mouth in the last century. The Indians call the river Na-goot or Na-goot-cook.
Munquart, according to Edward Jack, is a corruption of Ob mut-qua-tuck, which siguifies "leaving the river at a sharp angle."
Beccaguimec - The meaning is very uncertain. According to Mr. Jack it is derived from A-bek-aguimek, that is, a branch coming down. Others think the name is connected with Quimec, which, according to an old Indian, meant a salmon bed, of which there was a famous example at the mourh of this river.
Meduxnekeag means "rocky at its mouth." Eel river the French maps all mark Medoctec. The Indians somtimes call it Cant-a-we-sip, meaning Eel river.
Shogomoc river takes its name from the lake of which it ia the outlet. The Maliseets call it Se-og-a mook, that is "muddy" or "still lake."
Pokiok means a deep gorge.
These are nearly all the Indian names that have persisted in the maps of that part of the St. John which we are considering.
PETER FISHER of Fredericton, whose son of the same name has figured so prominently in the history of Woodstock, published about 1825 a very interesting history of New Brunswick, some portions of which at least should be reprinted. In this description of the first English settlement on the St. John, which was at Maugerville in 1762, he relates that when the exploring party manifested a desire to settle upon the site of Fredericton, then known as St. Ann's, they were confronted by a large party of Indians, arrayed in all the pomp and panoply of war. "Their chiefs, with grave countenances, informed the adventurers that they were trespassers on their right«; that the country belonged to them, and unless they returned immediately they (the Indians) would compel them. They had some time ago held a conference with Governor Lawrence and had consented that the English should settle the country as far up as Grimross." After some negotiations the party succeeded in establishing themselves at Maugerville.
In a lecture delivered in the old Woodstock Mechanics' Institute, the late Judge John Bedell describes a visit paid to the Meductic fort about the beginning of the century by two commissioners from Halifax, who were sent to make a treaty with the Indians with a view to extend the settlement of the country.
"Arrived at the entrance of the fort the commissioners made known the object of their visit. Presently a number of stalwart men presented themselves dressed in gorgeous attire. After salutation the commissioners asked, 'By what right or title do you hold these lands?' A tall powerful chief standing erect and with the air of a plumed knight, pointing within the wall of the fort replied, 'There are the graves of our grandfathers; there are the graves of our fathers; there are the graves of our children.'"
In the earlier treaties with the Indians it was sometimes stipulated that the English settlers should not be allowed to kill any wild game in any part of the wilderness, beyond the limits of their farms and improvements. Orders were on one occasion sent by Governor Wilmot of Nova Scotia to restrain the settlers from huntiug wild animals in the woods.
At the commencement of the revolutionary war overtures were made both by the government at Halifax and also by the Americans to induce the Indians to take part in the conflict. Large presents and suppliea were made by both alike, and the Indians may be said to have remained neutral and continued to live largely at the expense of the two parties during the war.
At the time of the American war the British government, in order to maintain communication during the winter season between Quebec and Halifax, established a post route up the St. John. The mails were carried by runners on snowshoes, often accompanied by toboggans drawn by dogs. In connection with this winter service a series of post houses were established and maintained by the government. Those between Fredericton and Grand Falls were as follows: (1) Just above Long's Creek; (2) just above Nackawick; (3) just above Eel river; (4) a few miles above Woodstock; (5) at the mouth of the Munquart; (6) at the mouth of the Tobique; (7) at Grand Falls.
In the early days of the 18th century the great majority of Koglish poople knew little and cared less about the affairs of the colonists iu America. Thin general apathy and indifference on the part of the British public gave opportunity for selfish aud interested parties to use parliament as a means to promote their own ends. Hence it came to pass that legislation was for years entirely in the interests of the mercantile classes of England. Restrictions of the most harassing nature crippled the trade and enterprise of the growing coluniep. Native talent was largely ignored in the distribution of public offices, and vexatious regulations were from time to time enacted which affected the pride and sensitiveness of the colonists. No less thun 29 acts were passed at different periods by the British parliament which restricted aud bound down colonial industry. For years these laws were inoperative, and the deteermination of the British government to enforce them was the immediate cause of the revolution.
The sentiment of opposition to the oppressive ireaoures of the British ministry was almost unanimous throughout America in 1774, but at that time the idea of American independence had not entered into the minds of any but a very few of the most advanced republicans. Even Massachusetts which contained a larger republican element than any of the old provinces, instructed her delegates to the congress held at Philadelphia in 1774 to "deliberate and determine upon wise and proper measures to be by them recommended to all the colonies, for the recovery and establishment of their just rights, civil and religious, and the restoration of union and harmony between Great Britain and the colonies most ardently desired by all good men."
In the end, however, the Puritan element of Massachusetts largely cnntributed to bring about an open rupture with the mother country. It is worth while to note in passing that, a marked distinction is to be drawn between the pilgrim fathers of Plymouth and the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay. The former were, as a rule, tolerant, non prosecuting and loyal to the king, the latter quite the reverse.
At the commencement of the revolutionary movement the people of America might be arranged in three classes - a large and energetic minority which aimed at the separation of the colonies from the mother country; a somewhtit smaller, yet influential minority which desired above all else to perpetuate the unity of the empire, and a third class which awaited further developments. Those who belonged to the last class were compelled as the quarrel grew more intense to take sides with one or the other of the parties first mentioned. History in times of civil discord always proves the impossibility of neutrality. Many of the loyalists whose desire at first was to be neutral and to act as conservators of peace were denounced as the enemies of liberty and on their refusal to take the oath of allegiance to congress were exposed to persecutions that endangered their very lives and compelled them to seek protection within the lines of the royal army. The Declaration of Independence left no neutrals. The action of the congress at Philadelphia July 4th, 1776, obliged thousands of peace-loving men either to renounce allegiaice to the mother land or to be declared enemies of their country, because they would not foreswear allegiance to their king at the command of republicun leaders whom they neither liked nor trusted.
In the early days of the revolution the loyalists suffered greatly at the hands of organized bands, which, under the designation, "Sons of Liberty," dealt in the harshest way with all sunpected of allegiance to the crown. Confinement to residence, tines, imprisonment, banishment, and often gross personal injury and even murderous violence were the penalties undergone by thousands of the loyalists at the hands of the New England mobs. To give a tithe of the recorded instances of their brutality would far transcend the limits of this paper. In no way can we derive so vivid an idea of the intense cruelty with which many of the loyalists were treated as by reading the accounts that have been left us by those who have recorded their own personal experiences.
THE EXPERIENCE OF JACOB BAILEY in Maine, of Walter Bates in Connecticut, of Thomas Jones in New York, of James Moody in New Jersey, of John Connolly in Pennsylvania are only fair samples of what thousands were called on to endure. The consideration extended to the loyalists is seen in the following incident which is not without a certain grim humor:
The New York state congress met in 1777 in a convention chamber under which were jail rooms in which were then confined those loyalists arrested by the committee appointed to inquire into and detect conspiracies. The prison was so full aud the prisoners so neglected and in such a horrible condition that the convention passed the following resolution:
Whereais, From the past want of care In the prisoners now confined in the jail immediately beneath the convention chamber, the same is supposed to have become unwholesome, and very nausious and disagreeable effluvia arises whioh may endanger the health of the members of the convention;
Therefore Resolved, That for the preservation of their health the members of the convention be at liberty at their pleasure to smoke while the house is sitting and proceeding to business.
Governor Morris, who moved the resolution, was not a smoker.
The truly loyal subjects of King George III in America were as keenly sensitive to the injustice of the government of the day in its policy towards the American colonies as were those of their countrymen who took up arms. But their warm attachment to the mother land and their affection for British institutions and traditions led them to regard an appeal to the sword as a last resort. Believiog that the British nation would yet be aroused to a sense of its duty to its American subjects tbey wished to fight the battle for the redress of their grievances with the powerful weapons which had proved successful before as they have proved successful since in similar emergencies - freedom of speech, freedom of the pen, freedom of the press They regarded as their enemy the ministry of the day, not the king of England to whom they owed and had sworn allegiance. But royal folly in England and demagogic fanaticism in America joined hands to crush such a constitutional settlement of the dispute, brought about a bloody civil war and finally effected a termination of the quarrel unlooked for by either party at its commencement.
There has been a good deal of speculation on the part of students of American history as to the probable issue of events had Pitt been at the helm of state in the troublous times preceding the revolution. Of this we may be certain that had Pitt held the reins of power American independence would not have come when it did, and if it came at a later period it would in all proba- bility have been achieved peaceably, and not at the expense of a disastrous civil war. Many of those who sided with the mother country in the revolutionary war were men of noble character and of high position, but there was also a large loyal element in the humbler walks of life. It was found alike in the farmers of New England, the artisans of Mew York and Philadelphia, the Quakers of Pennsylvania and the blacks of Georgia and South Carolina.
In New England and the middle states the clergy of the Church of England were very outspoken in their disapproval of armed revolt and throughout the war were remarkably steadfast in their fidelity to the king to whom at their ordination they had sworn allegiance. Their congregations as a rule shared the sentiments of their pastors. The revolution in America assumed the character of a civil war to a much greater degree than United States writers are prepared to admit. By all estimates, probably below the mark, 25,000 natives of America were enrolled in the king's service at one time or another during the war. In December, 1780, the number of provincial troops, regularly enlisted among the British forces was by official returun 8,954. The strength of the Ameriuan army at the same time was but a little more than 21,000 men. Brymner, the Canadian archivist, in his report for 1883, gives the names of 29 loyalist corps which were disbanded in New Brunswick at the close of the war and were assigned grants of lands in proportion to their ranks and services. We may note in passing, the New Jersey volunteers received a grant at Kingsclear; the York volunteerts and Royal Guides and Pioneers received a grant at Keswick; the King's American Dragoons in the parish of Prince William and DeLancey's second battalion a grant at Woodstock. At the close of the revolution the victorious Americans continued to manifest intense hostility toward the loyalists, particularly those who had enlisted in the king's service. This bitterness pervaded the words and acts even of such men as Washington and John Adams, first and second presidents of the United States. Adams in a letter of December 15th, 1780, laments "that the executive officers had been too timid in a point which I so strenuously recommended at the first, viz, to fine, imprison and hang all inimical to the cause without fear, favor or affection. I would have hanged my own brother," he adds, "had he taken part with our enemy in the contest."
The hostility evinced by their late antagonists led the officers commanding his majesty's provincial regiments to unite in laying their case before Sir Guy Carleton in a letter dated March 14th, 1783, in which they state that "should the American provinces be severed from the British empire it will be utterly impossible for those who have served her majesty in arms in this war to remain in the country. The personal animosities that arose from civil discensions have been so heightened by the blood shed in the contest that the parties can never be reconciled." The letter proceeds to show that the LOYALISTS HAVE SACRIFICED their all at what they deemed the call of duty, modestly refers to their important services during the contest and expresses anxious coocern for the future of their families which include "wives born to the fairest expectations and tenderly brought up, and children for whose education and future happiness they feel responsible." The letter closes with a humble request "that grants of lands may be made to them in some of his majesty's American provinces, and that they may be assisted in making settlemeuts in order that they and their children may still enjoy the benefit of British government." Also, "that some permanent provision may be made for such of the non-commissioned officers and privates as have been disabled from wounds, and for the widows and orphans of deceased officers and soldiers," and, finally, "that as a reward tor their services the rank ot the officers be made permanent in America and that they may all be entitled to half-pay upon the reduction of their regiments." The prayer of these petitions was substantially granted, and to Sir Guy Carleton in a large degree is the honor due that their claims for generous treatment were not lost sight of.
DeLancey's second battalion as has been mentioned received a grant of land at Woodstock. A word may now be said regarding it. The brigade consisted of three battalions, each 500 strong, under command of Brigadier General Oliver DeLancey. The first and second battalions consisted chiefly of New York loyalists, with probably a considerable contingent from the Tory towns of Connecticut, such as Stamford, Greenwich, Norwalk aod Fairfield. The third battalion was entirely drawn from Queens county, Long Island. The brigade saw some active service from time to time and was warmly commended by the commander in chief of the British forces as having "behaved with credit, reputation, honor and courage." As a natural consequence the corps was very unpopular with the Americans, and this is curiously proven by a petition dated Jan. 2, 1782, in which the petitioners emphatically protest against the propriety of allowing any members of that "most infamous banditti known as DeLancey's corps" to return to their homes in Stamford or Greenwich.
At the close of the war the brigade was disbanded in Nova Scotia (then including this province.) DeLanoey's second battalion was commanded by Col George Brewerton and Stephen DeLancey, eldest son of the brigadier, was lieutenant colonel.
In consequence of the immense influx of loyalists in 1783, Governor Parr and his council at Halifax were at their wits end in endeavoring to provide both for their immediate wants and for their future locations. The facilities for travel were so very poor at this time that communication with the authorities at Halifax involved considerable delay - delay that was exceedingly irritating to the thousands of loyalists who at the mouth of the St. John river were impatiently waiting some definite direction as regards their settlement in this country. Rev. John Sayre wrote to the S.P.G. in October, 1783, that he found the loyalists at St. John unsettled and many of them on the brink of despair on account of the delays in allotting their lands to them, which, however, he hopes may soon be made easy, as he has had a conference with Gov. Parr on that subject. Col. Edward Winalow wrote to his friend Ward Chipman:
"I saw all those provincials, whioh we have so frenquently mustered, landing in this inhospitable climate in the month of October, without shelter and without knowing where to find a place to reside. The chagrin of the officers was not to mo as truly affecting as the distress of the men. Those reputable sergeants of Ludlow's, Fanning's, Hobinson's, etc. (once hospitable yeomen ot the country) addressed me in language that almost murdered me as I heard it: "Sir, we have aerved all the war; we were promised land; we expected you had obtained it for us. We like the country; only let us have a apot of our own and give us such kind of regulationa ss will protect us.'"
The sympathy felt for these unfortunate exiles stimulated Col. Winslow to propose to Gen. Fox, who was also a witness to their distress, the establishment of a separate government at St. John to more adequately deal with the situation. This, as is well known, was speedily brought about and the new province received the name of New Brunswick. From the fact that Col. Winslow refers to the arrival in October, 1783, of De Lancey's 3rd battalion, commanded by Capt. Ludlow, it would seem probable that the 2ad battalion also wintered in St. John.
Capt. Jacob Smith, Sergt. Thos. Fowler, Corp. Richard Rogers and others of this battalion drew adjoining city lots on the south side of Britain street near Wentworth. The following year the officers and men of this battalion were allotted lands ON THE UPPER ST. JOHN. The grant was passed under the great seal of Nova Scotia and is dated the 15th day of October, 1784. The names of the grantees as recorded in the crown land office at Fredericton are 120, and are placed in alphabetical order. As a rule each private received 100 acres of land, each non-commissioned officer 200 acres and each commissioned officer 550 acres. The grant comprised 24,150 acres with usual allowance of 10 per cent, for roads. Its boundaries, as sbown in the annexed plan are : "Beginning at an ash tree on the western bank of the river St John, about two milee below the island called Meductic, thence to run west by the magnetic needle 360 chains (or 4 1/2 miles), thence north 700 chains, thence north 25 degrees east, 365 chains, thence east to the river and thence down stream to the place of beginning, induding Meductic island and two other islands next above it."
It appears that life in the wilderness at the upper St. John did nut furnish sufficient atttractions for the majority of the disbanded soldiers and officers, for about half of the lots orifjiDallv granted were eacheated, no attempt having been made to settle or retain possession of them, and by a new grant made October 30, 1807, 21 lots were now aaaigned to Samuel McKeen and 18 others.
The soldier's lot of 100 acres was an exceedingly awkward one for a farmer, being 4 1/2 miles long and about 16 rods wide, and the gift of 100 aorea of land in that form was about equivalent to the gift of a town lot 120 ft in depth and with one foot frontage on the street. Consequently it need aurpriae no one that many of the grantees of the block of land assigned to Delancey's second battalion sold their lots for whatever they would bring, others simply ignored them altogether.
THE FIRST SETTLEMENT AT WOODSTOCK was however made by members of this corps either in the summer of 1783 or more probably the following spring. Amongst the pioneer settlers were Capt. Jacob Smith, Lieut. Benj. P. Griffith, Sergt. McShaflfrey, Corporal Richard Rogers, all of DeLancey's brigade. George Bull and Joseph Cunliffe who came about tbe same time or a little later were also retired officers, Mr. Bull having held a commission as lieutenant in the American Legion and Mr. Cunliffe a like commission in the New Jersey Volunteers.
In the selection of their lands the new comers showed excellent judgment in pass ing beyond the granite belt that crosses the St. John below Eel River and selecting the fertile intervales and flats at Woodstock. Very possibly their eyes may have been opened to the capabilities of the country by a glimpse of the Indian cornfields at Meductic village. The Woodetook intervales and islands were then much more extensive than now, for the destructive action of the water has WASHED AWAY HUNDREDS OF ACRES of most valuable land along the valley of of the upper St. John. The exposed banks of intervales and islands were formerly strengthened against the wear and tear of spring freshets by the roots of trees that grew luxuriantly to the very water's edge. The clearing of the land by the early settlers removed this source of protection, and also increased the destructive power of the freshets. Cleared lands are found now not only along the entire valley of the St. John, but along the valleys of the magnificent tributaries, the Tobique, the Aroostook, etc. It is evident that the winters' snow must melt far more rapidly in open fields. than in the dense forest; consequently a larger volume of water is poured into the channel of the river in a shorter time than was the case before the land was cleared. Naturally the floods are higher and more destructive than once they were. It is impossible in the limits of an article such as this to trace in detail the fortunes of the pioneer settlers at Woodstock. Suffice it to say that the firat winter season saw them safely established in their humble log cabins by the river side, and that the divine blessing almost from the first attended their labors.
In the old parish churchyard are the quiet graves of those whose sturdy arms felled the giant trees and CARVED OUT A HOME for themselves and their children in the wilderness. Well may we bare our heads as a token of respect to their memories. History itself has justified the attitude assumed by the loyalists since we their children have attained by peaceable means the redress of those grievances which occasioned the war of the American revolution. Canada today is as free a country as any the sun shines on. All honor to the brave hearts that sacrficed so much and suffered so severely for the preservation of a united British empire and who, in after years, laid strong and deep the foundations of our own Canadian home. All honor to the brave men and noble women who adhered so steadfastly to the principles in which they believed "faithful alike to God and king."
The father of the Rev. Frederick Dihblee was Rev. Ebenezer Dibblee, a native of Danbury, Coun., and a graduate of Yale college; he subxequently received the degree of D.D. from Columbia college, N. Y. For some time he was a lioentiate among the Congregationalists, but through conviction became a churchman, and for a time ut the earnest request of the parishioners acted as lay reader in the parish of Stamford. He went to England for holy orders in 1748, and on his return becume the rector of Stamford. The Stamford local historian (Rev. E.B. Huntington, M.A) says: "Testimonials to the gentlemanly bearing and christian character of Mr. Dibblee are abundant. He was held in very high esteem by chrintian people of every denomination." During his ministry Dr. Dibblee declined two offers from parishes which desired his services. The offer of a larger stipend did not avail, and Stamford was his parish first, last and always. During the revolution Mr. Dibblee's sentiments were decidedly opposed to armed insurrection. His personal popularity was however so greut that he appears to have escaped the more rigorous persecutions that befell hia brethren in Connecticut. In I778 Rev. Samuel Seabury,»peaking of the clergy of Connecticut, says: "I believe they are all either carried away from their cures or confined to their homes, except Mr Dibblee, who is gone to Sharon to be inoculated for the smallpox, possibly hoping thereby to enjoy a few weeks respite from persecution."
A tablet was placed in St. John's church, Stamford, Ct., containing the following tribute to the memory of Rev. Ebenezer Dibblee: As a missionary of the S.P.G. he entered upon the duties of his sacred office Oct. 16, 1748, and continued to discharge them with great fidelity and zeal until the close of the revolutionary war. He subsequently fulfilled his duties unconnected with the society in England until 1799 when he died full of years, in peace with God and charity with man. Rector of St. John's parish 51 years."
Frederick Dibblee was one of the younger sons of Dr. Ebenezer Dibblee and was born at Stamford, Dec. 9, 1753. In some points his life resembles that of his father. Like him he officiated as lay reader for a time previously to his ordination; like him he was a S.P.G. missionary; like him he never had but a single charge. And here we may digress to note that the rectors of WoodsStock have shown remarkable fidelity to their parish. Rev. Fred. Dibblee ministered in the parish nearly thirty-five years and after a brief interregnum was succeeded by Rev. S. D. Lee Street who passed his entire ministry of nearly forty-one years in the parish. Mr. Street's successor, Canon Neales, came to the parish in 1868 and still remains in charge.
Frederick Dibblee completed his education at King's (now Columbia) oollege, N.Y. He married Nancy Beech of Stratford, Ct., who was either a daughter or more probably a neice of the Rev. John Beech, whose heroic devotion to duty is recorded by old Sheriff Bates in his lately published manuscripts on Kingston and the Loyalists of 1783. Mr. Dibblee probably was more outspoken than the doctor, hia father, as regards his opinion of the revolutionary struggle, and in consequence the selectmen of Stamford ordered him and his family to depart that town forthwith and never return. It is probable that he came to St. John in May, 1783 He and his cousin, Walter Dibblee, drew lots 110 and 117, situated on Germain street, just below Horsfield street, St. John. After spending the first winter at the mouth of the river he removed to Kingston, where his sou, the late Colonel John Dibblee, was horn March 3, 1787. The old Kingston church records show that at the Easter Monday meeting in 1785 the parishioners "appointed Joseph Scribner's house to begin to reade prayer at, and Mr Frederick Dibblee was chosen to read prayers."
During the four years in which Mr. Dibblee resided at Kingston favorable accounts were received regarding the prospects of the loyalist settlement on the upper St. John, and Mr. Dibblee resolved to remove thither. Having arrived at Fredericton he procured a grant of land at the Meductic near JUDGE SAUNDERS' PROPERTY.
On nearing his destination he chanced to fall asleep in the canoe, and the Indian who was poling it, not having received very clear instructions, carried him several miles beyond Meductic before he awoke. Being then in the vicinity of Woodstock he decided to go on and see the settlement there. His impressions wen so favorable that he subsequently effected a change in the minute of the council in order to have his grant located at Woodstock.
The winter of 1787-8 was spent at the house of Samuel McKeen, just opposite Meductic Island, and the following year finds the family settled at Woodstock. Mr. Dibblee had been but a short time at Woodstock when, at the solicitation of the inhabitants he conducted the service of the Church of England as lay reader and he continued to officiate in this capacity for more than two years.
The house which he first erected stood on the bank of the river, almost directly in front of the present homestead. Like all the dwellings of the early settlers, it was a rude log house with small windows, rough hewn floor, chimney of stone or perhaps constructed of logs plastered with clay, huge fire place, the plainest and roughest kind of homemade furniture intermingled with a few more pretentious articles, relics of the comfortable home abandoned in Connecticut. The house was well banked, the chinks and joinings well caulked with moss and clay and the roof covered with spruce bark. This primitive dwelling with possibly some slight additions, rendered necessary by a rapidly increasing family, served as a home for more than twenty years. The house into which he moved in 1811 was one of the FIRST FRAME HOUSES IN WOODSTOCK.
The loss of the ordinances of religion to which they had been accustomed in their old homes was severely felt by the early settlers. For more than six years they were deprived of the ministry of God's word and sacraments, and seeing no immediate prospect of a clergyman being sent them, they strongly urged on Mr. Dibblee the propriety of his taking holy orders. With this request he at length felt it his bounden duty to comply. Accordingly, having by three years industrious toil secured a house and provided for the immediate necessities of his family, be proceeded to Halifax in the fall of 1791, and was there admitted to the Holy Order of Deacons by the Rt.Rev. Charles Inglis, first bishop of Nova Scotia, on the 23rd day of Oct., 1791. The journey to Halifax in those days was no trifle. The most direct route was down the river by canoe to Fredericton and St. John, thence across the Bay of Fundy by schooner to Annapolis, thence by land to Halifax. This under the most favorable circumstances was an arduous undertaking and as a matter of fact, Mr. Dibblee was absent from home nearly three months. The contrast between life a hundred years ago and life today is indicated by the simple fact that the train which brought the writer of this paper to Woodstock at 6 a. m., left Halifax at 2 p.m. the previous day. The journey that formerly occupied weeks of toilsome travel not unmixed with hardship, and danger, is now completed in fifteen hours with the greatest comfort on the part of the traveler.
On his return from St. John, about the last week in November, Mr. Dibblee hastened his progress homeward by skating upon the river. Next to his immediate relatives, two young people of the parish were particularly pleased at his return. Their names are in the parish register which records: "Nov. 30th, 1791. Married Michael Smith and Phebe Ketchum.' The next entry is dated eleven days later and records the baptism of the late John Bedell, then fifteen weeks of age. The first services were of necessity held in the houses of the settlers, "Parson Dibblee" frequently holding service in his own house, AT OLD CAPTAIN KETCHUM'S and other convenient places. In summer, when the concourse was larger and the weather warm, the services were frequently held in barns. Nor need we fear that the humble service there was less acceptable to Him who only aska our best, than had it been offered up in the grandest cathedral of the old mother land. The hymns of praise that echoed amongst the rafters were not less heartily sung than they would have been in the beautiful little church where their children worship today. The very birds that twittered amongst the rafters recalled the psalmist's words "Yea, the sparrow hath found her an house and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young; even thy altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God."
The Indians at Meductis had hitherto derived all their knowledge of Christianity from the French missionaries, a few of whom as appears labored from time to time on the upper St. John. Mr. Dibblee endeavored for some years to instruct and christianize the Indians, and his first connection with the S.P.G was as superintendent of the Indian school which he established in his mission.
Bishop Inglisin 1792 writes to the S.P.G. "that the Indians in Mr. Dibblee's mission are numerous, 150 families reside near him, and about 100 families more occasionally visit these parts. Most of them have been instructed by Roman Catholic missiionaries, but their prejudices wear off. Many of them regularly attend our services and behave decently and Mr. Dibblee thinks that as he is now in priest's orders thiy will bring their children to be baptized and put themselves under his charge, for hitherto they had only considered him as half a priest. Mr. Dibblee," the bishop goes on to say, "is much beloved by the Indians and respected by the whites and has made some progress in the Indian language so as to be able to converse on common subjects and is pursuing the study of it." The S.P.G. report for 1792 further states that as Mr. Dibblee has been very diligent and may be very useful in the future the society have furnished him with a quantity of Indian prayer hooks and have granted him a gratuity of £20 for his services with an intention as soon as the preliminaries for a mission are fixed to take him into their service.
The Indiana iu the neighborhood of Woodstock had suffered severely about this time through the failure of game and many of them began to think seriously of relinquishing their wandering mode of life and giving more time and attention to the cultivation of their land. In this they received every encouragement from Mr. Dibblee and they cleared and planted a considerable tract.
The following year THE MISSION OF WOODSTOCK was duly founded and consisted of the parishes of Woodstock, Northampton and the parts adjacent. That is, it extended from St. Marys aad Kingsclear to the Madawaska. At first the work of ministering to the spiritual needs of the scattered settlements in this immense mission field was exceedingly laborious. The roughness of the uncleared country, the obstructions of mountains and forests and rapid streams made it difficult for the missionary to make distant excursions; indeed they could only be undertaken in summer.
In a letter to the S.P.G., dated Feb 25, 1795, Mr Dibblee assured the society of his strict attention to the four parishes under his charge for three years past. His only way of travelling was by the Indian birch canoe and the distance to his principal stations being 13, 30 and 45 miles respectively. He gives a good accouut of his people, who, he says, are honest and industrious and are making great progress in clearing and settling the country. He requests a grant for the school, which proves quite a burden to a few individuals, owing to the poverty of the settlers. To this request the society acceded, and also forward ed a number of bibles and prayer books for the mission.
In a letter written about nine months later the missionary complains of receiving no reply to his letters. The S.P.G. report states that letters were written and books forwarded, but in consequence of the war then prevailing the vessels were probably taken by French cruisers and never reached their destination. Mr. Dibblee mentions that Judge Saunders, a gentleman of great property in Prince William and Queensborough, has agreed to build a church in the former place, and the inhabitants of the lower part of Prince William, Queensborough and Kingsclear have undertaken to purchase a large house and barn with 500 acres of land (part cleared) as a glebe for that part of the mission. The house will answer for a church till one can be built. Indeed, they now assemble at it when he attends at Quedusborough. He further reports that he bad baptized 202 children and 31 adults, married 23 couples and buried but one. It is to be presumed the record is intended to cover the four years of his ministry. The number of communicants returned for the mission was 40.
The following year, 1796, the missionary mentions in his report to the S.P.G. that the performance of divince service once a month at Prince William and Queensborough has had a good effect in rendering the people more serious and thoughtful and more attentive to the observation of the Lord's day. He does duty at Northampton every other Sunday. Mr. Dibblee found the calls on his time so urgent that his Indian school was of necessity discontinued and from that day forward little or nothing appears to have been done by the Church of England for the poor Maliseets. The frame of the parish church was first erected on a knol! below the old rectory near the Hodgdon road and here, too, some of the old settlers were interred, but subsequently moved to the present burial ground. It having been wisely decided that the present situation was a more suitable one for the church, the frame was moved thither. The church itself was erected in 1804, but not finished or provided with pews till 1814. The money for finishing and seating the church came from an unexpected quarter. The house of assembly having a surplus in their exchequer, voted a certain sum for the completion of some unfinished churches, whereupon the rector, wardens and vestry of Woodstock very wisely presented their claim for ccnsideration and received a grant of £150. It was intended to add to the church "a tower 10 ft. square wiih a bell suitable thereto;" but either the funds did not hold out or they were more judiciously expended.
That Mr Dibblee's labors were not without fruit in indicated by the fact that the oommunicanrs in his mission increased from 48 in the year 1800 to S3 in the year 1810.
After the peace with America in 1814 a number of disbunded men of the 8th, 98th and 104th regiments, and of the West India Rangers and New Brunswick Fencibles were settled on the river chiefly between the military post at Presque Isle and the Indian reserve at the mouth of the Tobque. The district was subsequently formed imo a parish, which was named Kent in honor of his royal highness the FATHER OF QUEEN VICTORIA. The parish is yet a large one, but its limits have been dwarfed into insignificance compared with its proportions when it comprised the whole valley of the St. John river north of the parish of Wakefield.
After the military settlements were fairly established Mr. Dibblee paid them a visit. He was absent from home ten days, during which time he baptized 95 children and 8 adults. His total number of baptisms for the year reached the large number of 146 children and 20 adults. The following year (1821) he again visited these military settlements, and during his visit baptized 81 children and 12 adults. He describes the settlers at this time as prosperous.
During the time that Major General George Stracy Smyth was governor of the province the Madras system of education was introduced, and most of the schools of the province were conducted on this basis. Mr. Dibblee reported in 1822 that there were 10 Madras schools under his inspection, each with an average daily attendance of about 40 scholars. These schools were established, one at Scotch Settlement (now Richmond corner), one at Dows (lower Woodstock), one close to the parish church of Woodstock, one above the Maduxnekeag, one in the parish of Northampton, two in the parish of Wakefield, which then took in both sides of the river, and four in the military settlements.
Through the years of his ministry, the Rev. Mr. Dibblee kept a diary which is of interest as showing THK EARLY LIFE AND CUSTOMS of our forefathers. For the first few years life was almost a struggle for existence. Frequently the early settlers had to go several days' journey with hand sleds or toboggans to secure supplies granted by government. And these supplies weie often damaged by exposure before arriving at their destination. Flour in some cases injured by water, was "chiselled out of the barrel," etc. Many of the loyalists were so unaccustomed to manual labor that their log cabins were not constructed to withstand the cold. Cases are recorded where during the bitter nights in mid winter, one or more members of the family had to remain up all night replenishing with wood the roaring fire that blazed in the immense fire place, lest the remainder of the family should freeze. In some instances where the family was destitute of bedding the parents remained up in turn warming pieces of boards which they applied alternately to the smaller children to keep them warm. In a short time, however, all the cabins were made fairly comfortable and a supply of moose and bear skins robbed the New Brunswick winter of much of its terrors. Mr. Dibblee's diary shows that, in the earlier years of the country, game was abundant, sometimes too abundant, bears and wolves made havoc among the sheep, foxes carried off the poultry and wild pigeons in almost countless numbers settled upon the corn fields. The latter were caught by hundreds in nets spread for them. In the spring of the year nets were set in the river in which salmon, shad and suckers were caught in large numbers. As many as forty salmon were sometimes taken in a season by the parson and his boys.
In the spring several weeks were devoted to sugar making. Camps were made in the woods and during the season the business was so largely followed by the settlers that the congregations at the church were small in consequeoce. Mr. Dibblee's diary shows that his boys one spring made 635 lbs., of good sugar besides a quantity of honey. Much of the difficulty experienced in providing for his family in the early days of Mr. Dibblee's ministry was lessened by the industrious habits of his sons. So early as 1795 the fact is recorded in his diary that HIS SON JACK when eight years old assisted in "hoeing in" wheat on the intervale. The "hoeing in" was necessary because the stumps were then so thick that a harrow could not be used. This same Jack a few years later used to journey to Fredericton in a canoe in which he conveyed meal and produce for sale. The market was limited, Fredericton having but two stores at the time of his first visit. When the journey was made on horseback it was necessary to ford the river three times and the first scow ferry was hailed as one of the triumphs of science and civilizition.
A few years later and we find John Dibblee employed as a commissioner in laying out a road through the wilderness towards Canada, that road passing amid a thick forest over the site of Woodstock. Still later, on Oct. 26, 1846, he with a delegation from St. Andrews discussed with the citizens of Woodstock the construction of a railway from St. Andrews to Canada. Col. Dibblee alone of the promoters of this railway lived to see the original project fulfilled.
A few extracts from the diary of Rev. Frederick Dibblee may be of interest:
EARLY CLOSING OF THE RIVER.
Nov. 15, 1804 - Several families crossed the river in their sleighs to church.FIRST FRAME HOUSE IN WOODSTOCK.
Nov. 9, 1805 - Richard Smith's house raised.
CHRISTMAS SERVICE.
Dec 25, 1806 - A large congregation which made the house too warm for comfort.
REMARKABLE SEASON.
Jan. 12, 1807 - Only four inches of snow till storm of yesterday, when there fell eighteen inches; only five cold days as yet.
Feb 19, 1807 - After amazing heavy rains the ice ran in river. Nothing but ice in roads and fields.
May 3, 1801 - From sunset yesterday to sundown toJay, the water rose ten feet perpendicular; continues rising.
May 4 - River rose during the night four feet at least, and carried off almost all my fence from the front. The water is about six feet over the top of my bank, and all the high intervales are under water. We never had such a freshet.
A MARRIAGE IN YE OLDEN TIME.
Nov. 28, 1810- Married, Thomas Fields and Ann Wright. They came in a canoe and never better poling.
THE WAR OF 1812.
Jan. 1, 1813 - John left home with first draughted militia. Capt. Ketchum commands the company, John, lieutenant; Henry Morehouse, ensign.
March 1st- The 104th regiment are now marching through to Canada. Snow four feet deep on a level.
March 17 - Buried Lana, a soldier of the 104th regiment, taken sick and died at Mr. Rogers'
March 19 - No church on account of storm; never, never was there such a spring, snowdrifts in places 10 feet above fences {Wolverton's to Sam'l Lareies).
Feb. 8, 1814 - There passed through for the lakes of Canada 375 sailors with their officers, and 2 companies of the 8th battalion. Three or four more expected this week. Buried Wm.Abby, master in Royal navy, who died very suddenly at Mr. Philips'.
COLDEST SUMMER ON RECORD.
June 7, 1816- Snow fell last night so as to cover the ground. - 8th, hills on other side of river covered with snow. - lOth, hills on other side of river covered with snow. - Never was there such a June. - 11th, a very heavy frost, ground all white. At 10 a. m, grows warmer and we lay aside our greatcoats, which we have worn eleven days.
LATE OPENING OF NAVIGATION.
May 2, 1817 - Two yoke of oxen crossed the river on the ice today.
COMET.
July 6, 1819 - We have a comet; first seen on Sunday evening (July 4th.) Situation a little west of north when first seen at night. It has a tail about two feet in appearance.
DARK DAY.
Nov. 7, Sunday - Cloudy and a very thick fog. Never knew so dark a day. Had to go to the altar window to perform divine service.
DEATH OF KING GEORGE III.
March 23, 1820 - An express from St. Andrews brought the intelligence of the death of our good King George III. He died Jan.29 at llh. 33m 13s. The Duke of Kent died on the 22nd of same month. News reached us in 54 days.
ABUNDANT HARVEST.
Oct. 28, 1822 - We had this fall 1,500 bushels of potatoes and 500 dozen of wheat.
TRAVELLING IN OLDEN TIME.
May 29, 1824 - Wm. and Mrs. Bull set out for St. John on a raft of timber.
DROUGHT OF 1825 - FIRE AT MIRAMICHI.
July 28, 1825 - Clear and warm day and night last tea days. Sept. 17- From last date continued warm and dry weather, never the like before in this country. Crops all in but corn and potatoes without any rain. Oct. 15 - From last date the same remarkable dry weather. Fires run both in the woods and on the improvements in a surprising and destructive manner. In Fredericton near an hundred houses, stores and barns burned. On the Oromocto several houses and children burned and numbers suffered in other parts of the province. We never knew such a time before. The earth is so dry that fire burns a considerable depth, and nothing but a great rain can stop it, which God grant. Nov. 17 - It is ascertained that above 200 have perished by fire and in the river at Miramichi. All furniture, clothes, provisions and every kind of stock, houses, stores and barns at Newcastle and a number of other settlements entirely destroyed - Terrible indeed!
On May 4, 1826, Mr. Dibblee writes in his diary "very unwell." A few short entries follow, and the last entry in the diary is dated May 11th. These worda are added in the hand of Col. John Dibblee, "My revered father continued to grow worse from the above date till 17th May, at a few minutes before 8 o'clock, when his spirit fled to its creator. He bore his severe illness with the most exemplary patience and fortitude, and left this world with a full and perfect assurance of a happy resurrection through the merits and sufferings of Jesus Christ."
Thus peacefully closed the life and labors of the first missionary of the upper St. John.
May his memory be long and affectionately cherished.
He laid the foundation without which the work of his successors could not have been accomplished. Only a simple headstone marks his last resting place in the quiet church yard, but his more enduring memorial will be found in the impress left on this community by his early labors. A prosperous parish, a united neighborhood, a God fearing people. To any one who may desire a better memorial than the simple stone that marks his grave we can only say, circumspice - look around you.
In one of his earlier letters to the S.P.G. Mr. Dibblee gave a good account of his people, who were, as he says, "honest and industrious and had made great progress in clearing the country."
The writer, a short since, in conversation with one of the church wardens, inquired whether the descendants of the old Loyalist settlers had inherited the same integrity of character that marked their forefathers. To this Mr. Smith replied, "I have done business with them for more than twenty-five years. I have supplied them with goods to the amount of thousands and thousands of dollars and can conscientiously say that in all my business transactions with them I have scarcely lost a dollar!"
Were it possible to-day for the Rev. Frederick Dibblee to have looked upon our centennial commemoration ; to have listened to the earnest words of his grandson, now the oldest priest in the diocese engaged in active work; to have seen amongst the younger clergy present in the beautiful little parish church a great grandson bearing his own name; to have seen his many descendants assembled with one accord to render honor to their father's memory; to have seen the many changes that have caused the wilderness of olden days "to bud and blossom as the rose;" were it possible for him to have beheld all this he would have assuredly been filled with wonder, and from the depths of a thankful heart have exclaimed, "What hath God wrought!"
This lovely spot by the river side is fragrant with olden memories and hallowed associations.
In this its centennial year, we naturally recall those early days in the history of the parish, when they whose mortal bodies are at rest within their quiet graves were instinct with life and vigor.
The last resting places of many of the original founders of Woodstock are unmarked and some are unknown. This is to be regretted.
A few of the inscriptions on the older headstones are here given as likely to be of general interest.
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"A tablet small or head atone plain records In unpretending phrase. Their honest birth and deeds, their term of days, Then cites from pious hymn a homely verse, Or golden Scripture text doth happily rehearse. And Mother Earth sweet sympathy affords, In fitting robes she folds them to her breast; For here the simple flow'ret freely blooms. And green grass softly waves Upon the honored graves Where sturdy Loyalists lie in long unbroken rest." |
Side by side, each on a plain marble slab, we find the two following inscriptions:
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SACRED to the memory of The Rev. Frederick Dibblee who was born At Stamford in Connecticut, On the 9th of December 1753 and Died on the 17th of May 1826 In the LXXIIId year of his age and XXXVth of his ministry Erected as a tribute of Filial affection By His children |
Sacred To the memory of Nancy Beech Relict of the late Rev. Frederick Dibblee first Rector of this parish Who died at Woodstock 18th April 1838. Aged 81 years Was bom at Stratford Connecticut and came to this Province with her Husband one of the Loyalists. Erected as a tribute of affection by her children. |
An old moss-grown stone marks the grave of Col. Benjamin P. Griffith, one of the pioneers in the settlement ot Woodstock. The first burying ground was at the knoll near the Hodgdon road a little below the old rectory, and Col. Griffith was buried there April 21, 1809, in the family vault (built of cedar). Some years later his remains were removed to their present resting pUce by his son, Robert Griffith.
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Sacred to the memory of Benjamin P. Griffith who was born 4th July 1751 in New York; and at the close of the revolution came to this country and settled in Woodstock; then an entire wilderness and Died 29th April 1808. aged 51 years. Mary Carson his wife; who was Born in Philadelphia 10th Feb 1772 and Died lst Feb 1831 aged 68 years |
Not far from the northwest corner of the church yard an old headstone preserves the memory of another sturdy old loyalist whose descendents are numerous and respected. The inscription reads:
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IN MEMORY of CAPT. JACOB SMITH who was born April 26th, 1719, In Long Island in the State of New York & who during the Revolutionary war served as Captain in De lancey'a Brigade; departed this life on the 29ch Sept., in the year of our Lord 1837, & 88th year of his age "Go thou thy way till the end be, for thou shall rest and stand in thy lot at the end of thy days." Daniel 12, 13. |
A plain marble olab erected some years since recalls the memory of one who was prominent in the early days of Woodstock. The inscription reads:
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Sacred to the Memory of JOHN BEDELL, ESQUIRE Born December 9, 1755 At Richmond, Staten Island In the then British Colony of New York. He emigrated to this province at the close of the Revolutionary war In the year 1783 and settled at Woodstock. N. B. He was appointed one of the first Magistrates for the County of York and upon th« division of the County One of the Judges of the Common Pleas for the County nf Carleton. He died on the 23rd April 1838 Aged 83 years To oommemorate the deep feeling of respect and attachment for the memory of the affectionate Parent, the honest and upright magistrate The sincere Christian ana the truly good man This stone Is erected by his children. |
A marble slab near the centre of the church yard is erected in memory of the late James Upham whose wife, a daughter of Capt. Jacob Smith, was the first white child born in the parish of Woodstock. The brief inscription reads -
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In memory of James Upham Esq Born in Brookfield Mass: 1771 Died at Woodstock March 11, 1859 |
Another old loyalist founder of Woodstock whose descendents are numerous and much respected was the late Capt. George Bull whose grave is marked by a simple grey stone slab with the inscription -
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SACRED to the memory of GEORGE BULL ESQ who departed this life at Woodstock on the 13th of October 1838 aged 86 years Mr Bull was Born in Ulster County, State of New York & served as a Lieutenant in the American Legion and came to this Province, at the close of the Revolutionary war, in which he continued to reside on hlf-pay until his death. |
Some years ago some of the graves of the early settlers were marked not by head stones but by boards, on which were painted suitable inscriptions, but all or nearly all of these have perished. One which a few years since stood near the entrance of the church yard bore an inscription in memory of Richard Rogers, a non-commissioned officer in DeLancey's brigade, and one of the original settlers of Woodstock.
Mention may be fittingly made of a few of those who, though not included amongst the very first inhabitants of Woodstock, nevertheless filled a veiy important place in its early history.
No name was more prominent in the early New England days than that of Winslow. Two of the family, father and son, filled in turn the position of governor of the colony of Plymouth. Col. Edward Winslow, a great grandson of Governor Edward Winslow, was a prominent loyalist and afterwards judge of the supreme court of this province, also at one time administrator of the government. His son, J. F. W. Winslow, Esq., the first sheriff of Carleton Co., is buried in the church yard of Woodstock, and a handsome marble monument erected beneath the shadow of a lofty elm oontains this brief biography:
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In memory of John Francis Wentworth Winslow A direct descendant of Governor Edward Winslow of Plymouth Mass; Born at Kingswood near Fredericton 1793; Entered the New Brunswick Fencibles 1806; Appointed a Lt. in the 4lst Regt. of Foot 1811. Sheriff of the County of Carleton 1832. Removed for Political Not personal motives 1856. Died at his residence Woodstock Oct. 1859. A staunch friend, A generous opponent, a faithful official, In honor unstained Of loyalty unimpeachable and respected Even by his enemies. Jane O. Rainsford Beloved wife of John F. W. Winslow died April 4 A. D. 1891 Aged 90 years & 6 mos. |
The late A. K. Smedes Wetmore was a man of varied attainments, a barrister - for many years at the head of his profession, an active militia officer, for some years captain of the Woodstock artillery; a Free-mason well nigh at the top of the order, exceedingly active in the church of which he was for many years a vestryman, and withal a man of fine social parts, A handsome marble stone with elaborate Masonic emblems marks his last resting place. The inscription reads:
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In Memory of A. K. S. WETMORE, ESQ., Clark of the Peace for the County of CARLETON, N. B., who died Aug. 7, 1862, In the 60th year of his age |
In the recent centennial commemoration fitting reference was made to the life and labors of the late rector. A square marble monument marks his last resting place and bears this inscription:
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In Memory of the Rev. S. D. LEE STREET, for 41 years RECTOR OP WOODSTOCK, Died Dec. 8th, 1870, Aged 63 years. Erected by his late parishioners as a token of Christian love and respect. "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." |
RECTOR: Rev. Canon Thomas Neales, M. A.
WARDENS: B. H. Smith, G. H. L. Perkins.
| VESTRY: | ||||
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W. F. DiBBLEE, J. T. Garden, J. J. Bedell, J. D. Ketchum, |
J. N. W . Winslow, C. L. S. Raymond, B. Harry Smith, J. E. Griffith, |
W. H. DeVeber, C. H. Bull, G. F. Smith, R. Cluff. | ||
DELEGATES TO SYNOD and D. C. S. William F. Dibblee, Charles H. Bull.
SUBSTITUTES:Odber M. Carman, B. Harry Smith.
ORGANISTS: H.W. Bourne, St. Lukes Church, Miss Hattie L. Carman, Christ Church.
From Wikipedia
The Monitorial System was an education method that became popular on a global scale during the early 19th century. This method was also known as "mutual instruction" or the "Bell-Lancaster method" after the British educators Dr Andrew Bell and Joseph Lancaster who both independently developed it. The method was based on the abler pupils being used as 'helpers' to the teacher, passing on the information they had learned to other students. The Monitorial System was found very useful by 19th-century educators, as it proved to be a cheap way of making primary education more inclusive, thus making it possible to increase the average class size.
Bell's "Madras System" was so named because it originated at the Military Male Orphan Asylum, Egmore, near Madras. Gladman describes Bell's system from notes taken from "Bell's Manual" which had been published by the National Society two years after Bell's death, in 1832. "After observing children in a native school, seated on the ground, and writing in the sand .. he set a boy, John Frisken, to teach the alphabet on the same principle .. Bell was consequently led to extend and elaborate the system." Bell declared "There is a faculty, inherent in the mind, of conveying and receiving mutual instruction." In 1796, John Frisken was 12 years and 8 months. With assistants, he was in charge of 91 boys. The school was arranged in forms or classes, each consisting of about 36 members of similar proficiency, as classified by reading ability.
The young teachers were kept to task through registers. Reading, Ciphering and Religious rehearsals were tracked through the Paidometer register. Discipline was held through a Black Book, which had entries read to the entire school, and faults were commented on in moral terms.
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