PROGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENT--PERSECUTION.
And now the settlers proceeded to make small clearances round their
rough and primitive homesteads. In the midst of the dense and primeval
forest--unaccustomed to such work--unused to the woods, their hardships
and difficulties can scarce be described; but manfully and courageously
they set to work, undeterred by no obstacle and undaunted by no danger,
however great. They looked forward to the future with glowing
anticipations, but that future was darkened by clouds of adverse fortune
and annoyances they had then no expectations to encounter or to dread.
The three months provisions with which they had been furnished at
Greenock, by Dr. Hamilton of Leney, were nearly exhausted, and something
must be done for their families, and to procure seed for the fall and
coming spring. They had been informed that Chief McNab would furnish
them with a year's provisions, which they would be called upon to pay
for on realizing the proceeds of their crops. They put full reliance
upon this, and found soon after their arrival that the Laird could not
supply them with even the bare necessaries of life. They discovered,
when too late, that they had leant upon a reed and put faith in fallacy.
They now saw that they would be compelled to leave off the clearing of
their lands and go out to work for provisions; consequently some went to
a Mr. Thos. Burns, of Fitzroy, and worked with him at haying and harvest
and potato digging, and earned provisions--others went to Beckwith and
hired out--others purchased provisions on credit in Beckwith. Now it
became necessary to transfer to their families a sufficient supply to
last till winter, when the carriage would be easier as soon as sleighing
set in. There were no roads, but merely a pathway from Mr. Snedden's in
Ramsay to Beckwith; the remainder of the route to the Township of McNab
was down the Mississippi to the mouth, then up the Chats Lake to the
mouth of the Madawaska, thence up the Madawaska River to the Flat Rapid
Settlement; and to other places by land on blazed paths through the
bush. Boats knocked together in a rough fashion, and canoes rudely
manufactured, were improvised for the occasion, and small loads were
brought from "Murphy's Falls" in this manner to McNab. From Beckwith to
the present "Carleton Place," and even to Snedden's, loads were
transferred on the settlers' backs. These were hardships indeed, and
during the years 1825, 1826 and part of 1827, this was the continual
occupation of the settlers. They had not yet realized enough from their
crops to support their families, because much of the time necessary to
the clearing and cultivation of their respective lots was occupied by
hiring out to obtain the necessaries of life for their starving
families. They were often reduced to the greatest straits: for days the
wives and children of the settlers were kept alive by potatoes alone,
with a little salt as a relish, and when a bag of flour was got by one
neighbour, it was immediately divided among the whole. During the
winter, however, after the experience of the first fall and winter, they
laid in a sufficient stock to last them for a year, which was partly
paid for by the former summer's work and partly to be liquidated by the
ensuing summer's labor.
It was the custom of the settlers before going out to hire, to ask the
Chief's permission, as their liege-lord; and strict injunctions were
given to all not to leave the township on any account without asking
McNab's leave. This was carrying the Lairdship with a high hand indeed,
and reducing the free-born Highlanders to the abject condition of
Russian serfs; but they all complied without a murmur, judging from the
bond they had signed at Lenney House that they were bound to obey their
leader in all things. It was also another despotic rule laid down by the
Chief that the timber on their lands belonged to him, and consequently
they could not dispose of it. In this they all complied without
remonstrance, except Mr. Alexander Miller, one of the settlers, who was
well educated, and who before emigrating had taught the village school
of Nineveh, a small hamlet half way between Loch Earn head and
Callander. He remonstrated, and said that the locatees had a right to
the timber, and he sold all on his land to Mr. John Brill, formerly a
lumberman in McNab.
When the Chief heard of this disposition of the timber he at once made
for the spot and ordered Mr. Brill to desist or he would hold him
accountable.
"And who are you?" exclaimed Brill, an old man-o'-war's man and an
athlete of gigantic proportions.
"I, sir, am McNab of McNab, and this township and all that is in it
belongs to me," exclaimed the Chief pompously. "But who are you,
fellow?"
"I'm Jack Brill of the Brilliants, sir, and if you don't clear out in
five minutes I'll rope's-end you to your heart's content," said Brill in
a voice of thunder, and lifting up a huge ox gad in a menacing attitude.
The Chief looked aghast with astonishment and hastily retired from the
spot, vowing vengeance against all concerned; and before leaving this
part of the narrative I may as well state the sequel.
Owing to McNab's influence with the government, Brill had to pay him the
whole amount of the duty of all the timber he cut on the township.
In the spring of 1826, Mr. Alex. Miller went to Kennell and asked the
Chief's permission to leave the township to seek work for provisions. He
was peremptorily refused, and now commenced the first of a series of
persecutions, which lasted for sixteen years, and which finally
culminated in the liberation of the people of the township from the
thraldom of Chief McNab. Miller upon his refusal did not know what to do
or how to turn. He had only six weeks' provisions in the house, and at
the end of that time he did not know where to look for a replenishing of
this stock. He left the township without permission and hired with
Messrs. William and John Thompson, of Nepean. While industriously
employed in providing for his family he was suddenly and unexpectedly
arrested on a _capias_, at the instance of the Laird of McNab, for a
debt L80, and brought to Perth and lodged in jail. These were the palmy
days of the "family compact," and a person could then be arrested for a
debt of forty shillings, and deprived of his liberty for months, merely
upon an affidavit of the plaintiff that he believed the debtor was
about to leave the Province. Better times have now supervened. The
present generation may look back to the exertions of their fathers and
grandfathers with gratitude for the great and glorious struggles in the
cause of liberty, and in erasing forever from the Statute Book that
barbarous law _Imprisonment for Debt_.
Poor Miller lay in Perth jail for two days without eating any food, and
would have starved to death had it not been for the kindness and
humanity of Mr. James Young, then the benevolent keeper of the county
prison. This high-handed proceeding was characterized by the greatest
cruelty as well as illegality on the part of the Chief. Let the reader
refer to the original agreement between McNab and Sir Peregrine
Maitland's government, and he will at a glance perceive that Miller had
no right to pay a cent, either of principal or interest on the bond he
had given to the Chief, and signed at Leney House, Scotland until seven
years after the date of his location; yet, notwithstanding this solemn
agreement--notwithstanding all Dr. Hamilton's promises, the agreement
was violated at the very outset, and his kinsman's promises--the
gentleman, who, out of his own resources, had paid the passage money of
Miller and his family and the rest of the settlers to Canada--were
treated as flimsy nothings, for at the end of only the second year of
Miller's emigration, he was arrested and imprisoned, and his family left
to starve. For six weeks he remained in jail before the settlers in
McNab knew of his incarceration, but as soon as the intelligence reached
the township the following settlers travelled to Perth, a distance then
of sixty miles, though scarcely any roads but mere pathways, and went
special bail, viz.:--John McIntyre, James McFarlane (Kier), Peter
McIntyre, Donald McNaughton and James McDonald, and poor Miller was
liberated. The above persons were marked down as black sheep in the
Chief's doomsday book, and set apart for the next batch to be sued. The
settlers engaged Mr. James Boulton to defend Miller, while the Laird of
McNab's legal adviser was the late Daniel McMartin, Esq. The upshot of
the affair was that the settlers were sacrificed for want of a proper
defence, and each of the persons who entered as bail for Miller were
compelled to pay about L50 each.
It was during this memorable affair that the following letter was
written by Mr. James McLaurin, one of the settlers who was located in
the Lochwinnoch section of the township. When Miller's case came up for
trial in April, 1827, it became necessary to prove the bond signed by
Miller in Scotland. Now Mr. Donald McLaren, the subscribing witness, was
in Scotland, and his handwriting was proven by others. The defence was
that McNab had not fulfilled his part of the agreement to put the
settlers on the land free of expense, and moreover, that he had ordered
some salt and a portion of their provisions to be destroyed. Mr.
McLaurin warmly esposed Miller's side, and in consequence was obliged to
leave the township a few years afterwards, and he settled in the
vicinity of the village of Renfrew. This is the letter:--
March 9th, 1827.
MR. PETER McINTYRE,
Dear Sir,--Please send me notice concerning Miller's affair, for I
am informed he is dropping all and coming to the land. I wish to
let you know that the Chief intends to cast you all as evidences
and take you as principals. Ross is to be taken in evidence on
behalf of McNab. I wish to let you know that I am the man who spilt
the salt by McNab's orders, saying there was plenty on the spot.
Sir, please send me notice concerning a petition I was informed you
got wrote in Perth. I hope you will count me worthy to sign it.
Take some witness besides yourself to Perth and send me a letter
without delay about all affairs. I will go as a witness.
Remember me to all friends in that quarter that wish to give Satan
a blow.
I am, yours truly till death,
(Signed), JAS. McLAURIN.
I insert this letter to show that the spirit of discontent was fast
creeping in among the settlers, and that something like an organized
resistance was commencing; but it was not until ten years afterwards
that it assumed form and consistency--but to our narrative. All the
efforts for Miller were vain; the Chief received a verdict, and in
consequence of an error made by Miller of one day only that he should
have surrendered and relieved his bail, the Chief abandoned his judgment
against him and issued summonses against the six individuals who went
his special bail. For many months he could not get them served, and
McDonald and McFarlane were never served. Whenever a stranger appeared
in the Flat Rapid settlement, a horn was blown as a signal, guns were
fired at every house and the male inhabitants hid until the stranger
disappeared. It was after many months of strategic manoeuvering that
four of the six "black sheep" were served, and they subsequently had to
pay the amount. Alex. Miller left the township entirely, and for many
years taught school in the township of Beckwith. His death occurred as
late as 1867. He was the first martyr to the Laird of McNab's despotism,
and he was thus victimized as an example to the rest.