AT PORTLAND POINT.
When the attention of James Simonds, was directed to the River St.
John, by the proclamation oaf Governor Lawrence inviting the
inhabitants of New England to settle on the vacant lands in Nova
Scotia, he was a young man of twenty-four years of age. His father had
died at Haverhill; August 15th, 1757. The next year he went with his
uncle, Capt. Hazen, to the assault of Ticonderoga, in the capacity of
a subaltern officer in the Provincial troops, and shortly after the
close of the campaign proceeded to Nova Scotia in order to find a
promising situation for engaging in trade. The fur trade was what he
had chiefly in mind at this time, but the Indians were rather
unfriendly, and he became interested along with Captain Peabody,
Israel Perley and other officers of the disbanded Massachusetts troops
in their proposed settlement on the River St John. His future partners
of the trading company formed in 1764 were, with the exception of Mr.
Blodget, even younger men than himself. William Hazen, of Newburyport,
had just attained to manhood and belonged to a corps of Massachusetts
Rangers, which served in Canada at the taking of Quebec. Samuel
Blodget was a follower of the army on Lake Champlain as a sutler.
James White was a young man of two-and-twenty years and had been for
some time Mr. Blodget's clerk or assistant. Leonard Jarvis--afterwards
Wm. Hazen's, business partner and so incidentally a member of the
trading company at St. John--was not then eighteen years of age.
While engaged in his explorations, James Simonds obtained from the
government of Nova Scotia the promise of a grant of 5,000 acres of
unappropriated lands, in such part of the province as he should
choose, and it was under this arrangement he entered upon the marsh
east of the city of St. John (called by the Indians "Seebaskastagan")
in the year 1762 and cut there a quantity of salt marsh hay and began
to made improvements.
Mr. Simonds says in one of his letters: "The accounts which I gave my
friends in New England of the abundance of Fish in the River and the
convenience of taking them, of the extensive Fur trade of the country,
and the natural convenience of burning Lime, caused numbers of them to
make proposals to be concerned with me in these branches of business,
among whom Mr. Hazen was the first that joined me in a trial.
Afterwards, in the year 1764, although I was unwilling that any should
be sharers with me in the Fur trade, which I had acquired some
knowledge of, yet by representations that superior advantage could be
derived from a Cod-fishery on the Banks and other branches of
commerce, which I was altogether unacquainted with, I joined in a
contract for carrying it on for that year upon an extensive plan with
Messrs. Blodget, Hazen, White, Peaslie and R. Simonds."
Early in 1763, James Simonds and William Hazen engaged in a small
venture in the way of trade and fishing at St. John and Passamaquoddy.
They had several men in their employ, including Ebenezer Eaton, master
of the sloop Bachelor, and Samuel Middleton, a cooper, who was
employed in making barrels for shipping the fish. Among others in the
employ of Simonds and his partners, several seem to have had a
previous acquaintance with St. John harbor; Moses Greenough, for
example, was there in 1758, and Lemuel Cleveland in 1757, when he says
"the French had a fort at Portland Point where Mr. Simonds' house was
afterwards built."
The following is a copy of what is probably the first document extant
in connection with the business of Hazen and Simonds:--
Passamaquada, 26th July, 1763.
Sir,--Please pay unto Mr. Ebenezer Eaton the sum of Five pounds
one shilling & four pence Lawfull money, half cash & half Goods,
and place the same to the acct. of,
Yr. Humble Servant,
Jas. Simonds.
To Mr. William Hazen,
Merchant in Newbury.
The success of their first modest little venture encouraged Hazen and
Simonds to undertake a more ambitious project, namely the formation of
a trading company to "enter upon and pursue with all speed and
faithfulness the business of the cod fishery, seine fishery, fur
trade, burning of lime and every other trading business that shall be
thought advantageous to the company at Passamaquoddy, St. Johns, Canso
and elsewhere in or near the province of Nova Scotia and parts
adjacent."
Evidently the project was regarded as in some measure an experiment,
for the contract provided, "the partnership shall continue certain for
the space of one year and for such longer time as all the partys shall
hereafter agree." Examination of the document shows that when first
written the period the contract was to continue was left blank and the
word "one" inserted before "year," evidently after consultation on the
part of those concerned.
Shortly before the formation of the trading company, James Simonds
went to Halifax to procure a grant of land at St. John and a license
to trade with the Indians, but did not at this time succeed in
obtaining the grant. However the governor gave him the following
license to occupy Portland Point:
"License is hereby granted to James Simonds to occupy a tract or
point of land on the north side of St. John's River, opposite Fort
Frederick, for carrying on a fishery and for burning lime-stone,
the said tract or point of land containing by estimation ten
acres.
[Signed] "MONTAGU WILMOT."
"Halifax, February 8, 1764.
Upon this land at Portland Point the buildings required for the
business of the company were built. The partnership was in its way a
"family compact." Samuel Blodget, was distantly related to Wm. Hazen
and the latter was a cousin of James and Richard Simonds; Robert
Peaslie's wife was Anna Hazen, sister of Wm. Hazen, and James White
was a cousin of Wm. Hazen. It was agreed that Blodget, Hazen and James
Simonds should each have one-fourth part in the business and profits,
the remaining fourth part to be divided amongst the juniors, Messrs.
White, Peaslie and Richard Simonds.
Blodget and Hazen were the principal financial backers of the
undertaking and agreed to provide, "at the expense of the company,"
the vessels, boats, tackling, and also all sorts of goods and stock
needed to carry on the trade, also to receive and dispose of the fish,
furs and other produce of trade sent to them from Nova Scotia. The
fishery and all other business at St. John and elsewhere in Nova
Scotia was to be looked after by the others of the company, and the
junior partners were to proceed with James Simonds to St. John and
work under his direction, so far as to be ruled by him "at all times
and in all things which shall relate to the good of the concerned
wherein the said White, Peaslie and R. Simonds shall differ in
judgment from the said James Simonds, tho' all parties do hereby
covenant in all things to consult and advise and act to the utmost of
their power for the best good and advantage of the Company."
It is evident that the plans of our first business concern at St. John
were not drawn up without due consideration.
There is no evidence to show that any of the partners except the
brothers Simonds had been at St. John previous to the year 1764. The
statement has been frequently made that James White visited the harbor
in 1762 in company with James Simonds and Capt. Francis Peabody, but
his own papers which are still in existence clearly prove that he was
almost constantly engaged in the employ of Samuel Blodget at Crown
Point during that year.
William Hazen and James Simonds were undoubtedly the prime movers in
the formation of the trading company that began its operations at St.
John in 1764. By their joint efforts they were able to organize a firm
seemingly happily constituted and likely to work together harmoniously
and successfully. As a matter of fact, however, the company had a very
chequered career and at length the war of the Revolution seemed likely
to involve them in financial ruin. This seeming calamity in the end
proved to be the making of their fortunes by sending the Loyalists in
thousands to our shores. But of all this more anon.
The financial backers of the company at the first were Hazen and
Blodget, who carried on business at Newburyport and Boston respectively.
These towns were then rising into importance and were rivals in
trade although it was not long until Boston forged ahead. The goods
required for trade with the Indians and white inhabitants of the
River St. John and the military garrison at Fort Frederick were
conveniently supplied from Newburyport and Boston, and these places
were good distributing centres for the fish, furs, lumber, lime and
other products obtained at St. John. The furs were usually sold in
London; the other articles were either sold in the local market or sent
to the West Indies.
The Company having been formed and the contract signed on the 1st day
of March, 1764, the Messrs. Simonds, James White, Jonathan Leavitt and
a party of about thirty hands embarked on board a schooner belonging
to the Company for the scene of operations. The men were fishermen,
laborers, lime burners, with one or two coopers--a rough and ready
lot, but with one or two of superior intelligence to act as foremen.
Comparatively few of the men seem to have become permanent settlers,
yet as members of the little colony at Portland Point and almost the
first English-speaking residents of St. John, outside of the Fort
Frederick garrison, their names are worthy to be recorded. The
following may be regarded as a complete list: James Simonds, James
White, Jonathan Leavitt, Jonathan Simonds, Samuel Middleton, Peter
Middleton, Edmund Black, Moses True, Reuben Stevens, John Stevens,
John Boyd, Moses Kimball, Benjamin Dow, Thomas Jenkins, Batcheldor
Ring, Rowley Andros, Edmund Butler, John Nason, Reuben Mace, Benjamin
Wiggins, John Lovering, John Hookey, Rueben Sergeant, Benjamin
Stanwood, Benjamin Winter, Anthony Dyer, Webster Emerson, George
Carey, John Hunt, George Berry, Simeon Hillyard, Ebenezer Fowler,
William Picket and Ezekiel Carr.
The Company's schooner, with William Story as master, sailed from
Newburyport about the 10th of April, arriving at Passamaquody on the
14th, and at St. John on the 18th. The men set to work immediately on
their arrival, and the quietude that had reigned beneath the shadow of
Fort Howe hill was broken by the sound of the woodsman's axe and the
carpenter's saw and hammer. Among the first buildings erected were a
log store 20 feet by 30 feet, a dwelling house 19 feet by 35 feet, and
a building adjoining it 16 by 40, rough boarded and used as a cooper's
shop, kitchen and shelter for the workmen.
Portland Point lies at the foot of Portland street at the head of St.
John harbor--the locality is better known today as "Rankin's Wharf."
Before the wharves in the vicinity were built the Point was quite a
conspicuous feature in the contour of the harbor. The site of the old
French fort on which James Simonds' house was built, with the
company's store hard by, is now a green mound unoccupied by any
building. The place was at first commonly called "Simonds' Point" but
about the year 1776 the name of "Portland Point" seems to have come
into use. Nevertheless, down to the time of the arrival of the
Loyalists in 1783, the members of the company always applied the names
of "St. Johns" or "St. John's River" to the scene of their operations,
and it may be said that in spite of the attempt of the French governor
Villebon and his contemporaries to perpetuate the old Indian name of
Menaquesk, or Menagoeche, and of Governor Parr in later years to affix
the name of "Parr-town" to that part of our city to the east of the
harbor, the name given by de Monts and Champlain on the memorable 24
June, 1604, has persisted to the present day. The city of ST. JOHN,
therefore, has not only the honor of being the oldest incorporated
city in the British colonies, but traces the origin of its name to a
known and fixed date three hundred years ago. Indeed as regards its
name St. John is older than Boston, New York, Philadelphia or any city
of importance on the Atlantic coast as far south as Florida.
However the first English colonists who established themselves on a
permanent footing at "St. John's" thought little of this historic
fact. It was not sentiment but commercial enterprise than guided
them.
Among those who came to St. John with Simonds and White in April,
1764, none was destined to play a more active and useful part than
young Jonathan Leavitt. He was a native of New Hampshire and at the
time of his arrival was in his eighteenth year. Young as he was he had
some experience as a mariner, and from 1764 to 1774 was employed as
master of one or other of the Company's vessels. He sailed chiefly
between St. John and Newburyport, but occasionally made a voyage to
the West Indies. He received the modest compensation of L4 per month
for his services. In the course of time Mr. Leavitt came to be one of
the most trusted navigators of the Bay of Fundy and probably none knew
the harbor of St. John so well as he. In his testimony in a law suit,
about the year 1792, he states that in early times the places of
anchorage in the harbor were the flats on the west side between Fort
Frederick and Sand Point, which were generally used by strangers, and
Portland Point where the vessels of the Company lay. It was not until,
1783 that vessels began to anchor at the Upper Cove (now the Market
Slip), that place being until then deemed rather unsafe. Jonathan
Leavitt and has brother Daniel piloted to their landing places the
transport ships that carried some thousands of Loyalists to our shores
during the year 1783.
Jonathan Leavitt gives an interesting synopsis of the business carried
on at St. John under the direction of Simonds and White: "The
Company's business included Fishery, Fur trade, making Lime, building
Vessels and sawing Lumber, and they employed a great number of
laborers and workmen in cutting wood, burning lime, digging stone,
cutting hoop-poles, clearing roads, clearing land, curing fish,
cutting hay and attending stock. The workmen and laborers were
supported and paid by the partnership and lived in the outhouse and
kitchen of the house occupied by Simonds and White. There was a store
of dry goods and provisions and articles for the Indian trade."
When he was at St. John, Leavitt lived in the family of Simonds and
White who lived together during the greater part of the ten years he
was in the Company's employ, and when they separated their families he
staid sometimes with one and sometimes with the other. Simonds and
White were supplied with bread, meat and liquors for themselves and
families from the store, and no account was kept whilst they lived
together, but after they separated they were charged against each
family; the (workmen also were maintained, supported and fed from the
joint stock of the store, as it was considered they were employed for
the joint benefit of the company, but liquors and articles supplied on
account of their wages were charged against the individual accounts of
the men. Part of the workmen and laborers were hired by William Hazen
and sent from Newburyport, others were engaged by Simonds and White at
the River St. John.
About the year 1772 Jonathan Leavitt married Capt. Francis Peabody's
youngest daughter, Hephzibeth, then about sixteen years of age, and
thus became more closely identified with James Simonds and James
White, whose wives were also daughters of Capt. Peabody.[66]
[66] The concluding part of Capt. Peabody's will is of interest in
connection with the above:
"Item, I give to my daughter Elizabeth White thirty
dollars to be paid by my two eldest sons in household
goods.
"Item, to my daughter Hannah Simonds five dollars to be
paid by my two eldest sons.
"Item, to my daughter Hephzibeth I give three hundred
dollars to be paid by my two eldest sons in household
goods on the day of her marriage.
As to my household goods and furniture I leave to the
discretion of my loving wife to dispose of, excepting my
sword, which I give to my son Samuel. I appoint my dear
wife and my son Samuel executors of this my last Will and
Testament.
As witness my hand,
FRANCIS PEABODY, Sr.
Delivered this 26th day of October
the year of our Lord 1771,
In presence of us
ISRAEL KINNEY,
ALEXANDER TAPLEY,
PHINEHAS NEVERS.
BENJAMIN ATHERTON, Registrar.
This Will was proved, approved, and registered this 25th
day of June, 1773.
JAMES SIMONDS,
Judge of Probate.
When Jonathan and Daniel Leavitt had for several years been engaged in
sailing the company's vessels, it is said that they became discouraged
at the outlook and talked of settling themselves at some place where
there was a larger population and more business. James White did his
best to persuade them to remain, closing his argument with the
exhortation, "Don't be discouraged, boys! Keep up a good heart! Why
ships will come here from England yet!" And they have come.
In addition to the Leavitts and the masters of some of the other
vessels, who were intelligent men, nearly all at St. John were
ordinary laborers: however, the company from time to time employed
some capable young fellows to assist in the Store at the Point. One of
these was Samuel Webster, whose mother was a half-sister of James
Simonds. He remained nearly four years at St. John, during which time
he lived in the family of Simonds and White. While he was at St. John
goods were shipped to Newburyport and the West Indies by the Company
in considerable quantities. There were he says at times a very
considerable number of workmen and laborers employed, and at other
times a smaller number, according to the time of year, and as the
nature of the employment required. The laborers were fed, supported
and paid out of the store, and lived in a house only a few rods from
Mr. Simonds' house. Emerson spent most of his time in the store,
buying and selling and delivering small articles. He generally made
the entries in the Day Book.
Another lad, Samuel Emerson, of Bakerstown, Massachusetts, came to St.
John with James Simonds in April, 1767, as a clerk or assistant in the
store, and remained nearly four years in the Company's service.
At the expiration of the first year several changes occurred in the
Company. Richard Simonds had died on the 20th January, 1765. Robert
Peaslie seems not to have come to St. John, although it was stipulated
in the contract that he should do so, and early in 1765 he withdrew
from the Company. In the autumn of 1764, Leonard Jarvis, a young man
of twenty-two years of age, became associated with William Hazen as
co-partner in his business in Newburyport and became by common consent
a sharer in the business at St. John. So far as we can judge from his
letters, Mr. Jarvis was a man of excellent business ability. The
accounts kept at Newburyport in connection with the Company's business
are in his handwriting and he attended to most of the correspondence
with the St. John partners.
The writer of this history has among his historic documents and papers
a number of account books in a very fair state of preservation,
containing in part the transactions of the company during the years
they were in business at St. John. One of these, a book of nearly 100
pages, ordinary foolscap size with stout paper cover, is of special
interest for it contains the record of the initial transactions of the
first business firm established at St. John a hundred and forty years
ago. At the top of the first page are the words
Day Book No. 1.
1764. St. Johns River.
The book is intact and very creditably kept. The entries are in the
hand writing of James White. The accounts during the continuance of
the partnership were kept in New England currency or "Lawful money of
Massachusetts." The letters L. M. were frequently employed to
distinguish this currency from sterling money and Nova Scotia
currency. The value of the Massachusetts currency was in the
proportion of L1 sterling to L1. 6s. 8d. L. M.; the Nova Scotia
dollar, or five shillings, was equivalent to six shillings L. M. It is
a fact worth recording, that the Massachusetts currency was used in
all ordinary business transactions on the River St. John down to the
time of the arrival of the Loyalists in 1783. This fact suffices to
show how close were the ties that bound the pre-loyalist settlers of
the province to New England, and it is scarcely a matter of surprise
that during the Revolution the Massachusetts congress found many
sympathizers on the River St. John.
While accounts were kept according to the currency of New England, the
amount of cash handled by Simonds and White was insignificant. For
years they supplied the settlers on the river with such things as they
required often receiving their payment in furs and skins. In securing
these the white inhabitants became such expert hunters and trappers as
to arouse the jealousy of the Indians and to give rise to the
pseudo-nym "the bow and arrow breed," applied to them by some of the
half-pay officers who settled among them at the close of the American
Revolution. With the Indians the trade was almost entirely one of
barter, the staple article being the fur of the spring beaver.
The fur trade assumed large proportions at this period. The account
books of Simonds and White that are now in existence do not contain a
complete record of all the shipments made from St. John, but they show
that during ten years of uninterrupted trade from the time of their
settlement at Portland Point to the outbreak of the Revolution, they
exported at least 40,000 beaver skins, 11,022 musquash, 6,050 Marten,
870 otter, 258 fisher, 522 Mink, 120 fox, 140 sable, 74 racoon, 67
loup-cervier, 8 wolverene, 5 bear, 2 Nova Scotia wolf, 50 carriboo, 85
deer, and 1,113 moose, besides 2,265 lbs. of castor and 3,000 lbs of
feathers, the value of which according to invoice was L11,295 or about
$40,000. The prices quoted are but a fraction of those of modern days
and by comparison appear ridiculously small. Other traders were
engaged in traffic with the Indians also, and if Messrs. Simonds and
White sent on an average 4,000 beaver skins to New England every year,
it is manifest that the fur trade of the river was a matter of some
consequence.
James White was the principal agent in bartering with the Indians who
had every confidence in his integrity. Three-fourths of their trade
was in beaver skins and "a pound of spring beaver" (equivalent to 5
shillings in value) was the unit employed in trade. Mr. White was
usually called by the Indians "K'wabeet" or "Beaver." It is said that
in business with the Indians the fist of Mr. White was considered to
weigh a pound and his foot two pounds both in buying and selling. But
the same story is told of other Indian traders. The Indians were fond
of finery and ornaments. Among the articles sent by Samuel Blodget in
1764 were nine pairs of green, scarlet and blue plush breeches at a
guinea each; one blue gold laced jacket and two scarlet gold laced
jackets valued at L3 each; also spotted ermine jackets, ruffled
shirts and three gold laced beaver hats (value of the latter L8 6s.
4d.) These may seem extravagant articles for the Indians yet their
chiefs and captains bought them and delighted to wear them on special
occasions.[67] It was customary in trading with the savages to take
pledges from them, for the payment of their debts, silver trinkets,
armclasps, medals, fuzees, etc. In the autumn of 1777 a Yankee
privateer from Machias, whose captain bore the singular name A. Greene
Crabtree, plundered Simonds & White's store at Portland Point and
carried off a trunk full of Indian pledges. This excited the
indignation of the Chiefs Pierre Thoma and Francis Xavier who sent the
following communication to Machias: "We desire you will return into
the hands of Mr. White at Menaguashe the pledges belonging to us which
were plundered last fall out of Mr. Hazen's store by A. Greene
Crabtree, captain of one of your privateers; for if you don't send
them we will come for them in a manner you won't like."
[67] Col. John Allan, of Machias, had a conference with the Indians
at Aukpaque in June, 1777, and writes in his journal: "The
Chiefs made a grand appearance, particularly Ambrose St.
Aubin, who was dressed in a blue Persian silk waistcoat four
inches deep, and scarlet knee breeches: also gold laced hat
with white cockade."
The goods kept in the store at Portland Point for the Indian trade
included powder and shot for hunting, provisions, blankets and other
"necessaries" and such articles as Indian needles, colored thread,
beads of various colors, a variety of buttons--brass buttons, silver
plated buttons, double-gilt buttons, scarlet buttons and blue mohair
buttons--scarlet blue and red cloth, crimson broadcloth, red and blue
stroud, silver and gold laced hats, gilt trunks, Highland garters,
silver crosses, round silver broaches, etc., etc.
The old account books bear evidence of being well thumbed, for Indian
debts were not easy to collect, and white men's debts were harder to
collect in ancient than in modern days. In point of fact the red man
and the white man of the River St. John ran a close race in their
respective ledgers. For in a statement of accounts rendered after the
operations of the company had lasted rather more than two years, the
debts due were as follows: From the English L607 11s. 9d. and from the
Indians L615 7s. 9d. Old and thumb-worn as the account books are,
written with ink that had often been frozen and with quill pens that
often needed mending, they are extremely interesting as relics of the
past, and are deserving of a better fate than that which awaited them
when by the merest accident they were rescued from a dismal heap of
rubbish.
In their business at Portland Point, Simonds and White kept four sets
of accounts: one for their Indian trade, a second for their business
with the white inhabitants, a third for that with their own employees,
and a fourth for that with the garrison at Fort Frederick.
In glancing over the leaves of the old account books the first thing
likely to attract attention is the extraordinary consumption of West
India spirits and New England rum. This was by no means confined to
the Company's laborers, for at that time the use of rum as a beverage
was almost universal. It was dispensed as an ordinary act of
hospitality and even the preacher cheerfully accepted the proffered
cup. It was used in winter to keep out the cold and in summer to keep
out the heat. It was in evidence alike at a wedding or a funeral. No
barn-raising or militia general muster was deemed to be complete
without the jug, and in process of time the use of spirits was so
habitual that Peter Fisher was able to quote statistics in 1824 to
prove that the consumption of ardent liquors was nearly twenty gallons
per annum for every male person above sixteen years of age. While the
use of rum may be regarded as the universal custom of the day, at the
same time tobacco was not in very general use. The use of snuff,
however, was quite common.
In the course of a few years the variety of articles kept in stock at
the company's store increased surprisingly until it might be said they
sold everything "from a needle to an anchor." The paces at which some
of the staple articles were quoted appear in the foot note.[68] Among
other articles in demand were fishing tackle, blue rattan and
fear-nothing jackets, milled caps, woollen and check shirts, horn and
ivory combs, turkey garters, knee buckles, etc. Among articles that
strike us as novel are to be found tin candlesticks, brass door knobs,
wool cards, whip-saws, skates, razors and even mouse traps. Writing
paper was sold at 1s. 3d. per quire. The only books kept in stock were
almanacks, psalters, spelling books and primers.
[68] Flour pr. bbl., L2 2 6; Indian corn pr. bushel, 5 shillings;
potatoes do., 2s. 6d.; apples do., 2s. 6d.; butter pr. lb.,
9d.; cheese pr. lb., 6d.; chocolate pr. lb., 1s.; tea per lb.,
7s.; coffee per lb., 1s. 3d.; pepper pr. lb., 3s.; brown sugar
7d., per lb.; loaf sugar, 1s. 2d. per lb.; raisins, 9s. per
lb.; tobacco, 7d. per lb.; salt, 10d. per peck; molasses, 2s.
6d. per gallon; New England rum, 1s. 6d. per quart; West India
do., 2s. 6d. per quart; beef, 4d. per lb.; pork, 6d. per lb.;
veal, 3-1/2d. per lb.; cider, 12s. to 18s. pr. bbl.
Boots, 20s.; men's shoes, 6s.; women's do., 5s.; men's pumps,
8s.; mittens, 1s. 6d. hose, 4s.; beaver hat, 20s.; black silk
handkerchief, 6s. 9d.; check handkerchief, 2s. 6d.;.
broadcloth, 10s pr. yd.; red stroud, 8s. per yd.; scarlet
German serge, 8s. per yd.; scarlet shalloon, 3s. 9d. per yd.;
English duck, 1s. 9d. pr. yd.; white blanket, 13s. 3d.; 1 oz.
thread, 6d.; 1 doz. jacket buttons, 7-1/2d.; pins, 1 M., 9d.
Axe, 6s. 3d.; knife, 1s.; board nails. 1s. 2d. per C.; ten
penny nails, 50 for 8d.; double tens, 1s. 7d. per C.; shingle
nails, 6d. per C.; 1 pane glass (7 by 9), 6d.; pewter
porringer, 1s. 8d.; looking glass, 16s.; steel trap, 15s.;
powder, 2s. 6d. per lb.; shot, 5d. per lb.; buckshot, 1s. 3d.
per lb.; 6 flints, 6d.
Still though the variety at first glance seems greater than might have
been expected, a little further inspection will satisfy us that the
life of that day was one of extreme simplicity, of luxuries there were
few, and even the necessaries of life were sometimes scanty enough.
One hundred and forty years have passed since James Simonds and James
White set themselves down at the head of Saint John harbor as pioneers
in trade to face with indomitable energy and perseverance the
difficulties of their situation. These were neither few nor small, but
they were Massachusetts men and in their veins there flowed the blood
of the Puritans. The determination that enabled their progenitors to
establish themselves around the shores of the old Bay States upheld
them in the scarcely less difficult task of creating for themselves a
home amidst the rocky hillsides that encircled the Harbor of St.
John.
Today the old pioneers of 1764 would hardly recognize their ancient
landmarks. The ruggedness of old Men-ah-quesk has in a great measure
disappeared; valleys have been filled and hills cut down. The
mill-pond where stood the old tide mill is gone and the Union depot
with its long freight sheds and maze of railway tracks occupies its
place. "Mill" street and "Pond" street alone remain to tell of what
has been. The old grist mill near Lily Lake and its successors have
long since passed away. It certainly was with an eye to business and
not to pleasure, that Hazen, Simonds and White built the first roadway
to Rockwood Park. Could our pioneers in trade revisit the scene of
their labors and note the changes time has wrought what would be their
amazement? They would hardly recognize their surroundings. Instead of
rocks and crags covered with spruce and cedar, with here and there an
open glade, and the wide spreading mud flats at low tide they would
behold the wharves that line our shores, the ocean steamships lying in
the channel, grain elevators that receive the harvests of Canadian
wheat-fields two thousand miles away, streets traversed by electric
cars and pavements traversed by thousands of hurrying feet, bicyclists
darting hither and thither, squares tastefully laid out and adorned
with flowers, public buildings and residences of goodly proportions
and by no means devoid of beauty, palatial hotels opening their doors
to guests from every clime, institutions for the fatherless and the
widow, the aged, the poor, the unfortunate, the sick the insane,
churches with heaven directing spires, schools whose teachers are
numbered by the hundred and pupils by the thousand, public libraries,
courts of justice and public offices of nearly every description,
business establishments whose agents find their way into every nook
and corner of old-time Acadie, railways and steamboats that connect
the city with all parts of the globe, splendid bridges that span the
rocky gorge at the mouth of the St. John where twice in the course of
every twenty-four hours the battle, old as the centuries, rages
between the outpouring torrent of the mighty river and the inflowing
tide of the bay.
A few years since the writer of this history in an article in the New
Brunswick Magazine endeavored to contrast a Saturday night of the
olden time with one of modern days.[69]
[69] New Brunswick Magazine of October, 1898, p. 190.
[Illustration: A COTTAGE OF TODAY.]
"Saturday night in the year 1764--The summer sun sinks behind the
hills and the glow of evening lights the harbor. At the landing place
at Portland Point, one or two fishing boats are lying on the beach,
and out a little from the shore a small square sterned schooner lies
at her anchor. The natural lines of the harbor are clearly seen. In
many places the forest has crept down nearly to the water's edge.
Wharves and shipping there are none. Ledges of rock, long since
removed, crop up here and there along the harbor front. The silence
falls as the day's work is ended at the little settlement, and the
sound of the waters rushing through the falls seems, in the absence of
other sounds, unnaturally predominant. Eastward of Portland Pond we
see the crags and rocks of the future city of the Loyalists, the
natural ruggedness in some measure hidden by the growth of dark spruce
and graceful cedar, while in the foreground lies the graceful curve
of the "Upper Cove" where the forest fringes the waters edge. We may
easily cross in the canoe of some friendly Indian and land where, ten
years later, the Loyalists landed, but we shall find none to welcome
us. The spot is desolate, and the stillness only broken by the
occasional cry of some wild animal, the song of the bird in the forest
and the ripple of waves on the shore.
The shadows deepen as we return to the Point, and soon the little
windows of the settlers' houses begin to glow. There are no curtains
to draw or blinds to pull down or shutters to close in these humble
dwellings, but the light, though unobstructed shines but feebly, for
'tis only the glimmer of a tallow candle that we see or perhaps the
flickering of the firelight from the open chimney that dances on the
pane.
In the homes of the dwellers at St. John Saturday night differs little
from any other night. The head of the house is not concerned about the
marketing or telephoning to the grocer; the maid is not particularly
anxious to go "down town;" the family bath tub may be produced (and on
Monday morning it will be used for the family washing), but the hot
water will not be drawn from the tap. The family retire at an early
hour, nor are their slumbers likely to be disturbed by either fire
alarm or midnight train. And yet in the olden times the men, we doubt
not, were wont to meet on Saturday nights at the little store at the
Point to compare notes and to talk over the few topics of interest in
their monotonous lives. We seem to see them even now--a little
coterie--nearly all engaged in the company's employ, mill hands,
fishermen, lime-burners, laborers, while in a corner James White pores
over his ledger posting his accounts by the light of his candle and
now and again mending his goose-quill pen. But even at the store the
cheerful company soon disperses; the early-closing system evidently
prevails, the men seek their several abodes and one by one the lights
in the little windows vanish. There is only one thing to prevent the
entire population from being in good time for church on Sunday
morning, and that is there is not any church for them to attend.
Then and now! We turn from our contemplation of Saturday night as we
have imagined it in 1764 to look at a modern Saturday night in St.
John. No greater contrast can well be imagined. Where once were dismal
shades of woods and swamps, there is a moving gaily-chattering crowd
that throngs the walks of Union, King and Charlotte streets. The
feeble glimmer of the tallow candle in the windows of the few houses
at Portland Point has given place to the blaze of hundreds of electric
lights that shine far out to sea, twinkling like bright stars in the
distance, and reflected from the heavens, serving to illuminate the
country for miles around. Our little knot of villagers in the olden
days used to gather in their one little store to discuss the day's
doing; small was the company, and narrow their field of observation;
and their feeble gossip is today replaced by the rapid click of the
telegraph instruments, the rolling of the steam-driven printing press
and the cry of the newsboy at every corner; the events of all the
continents are proclaimed in our streets almost as soon as they
occur.
And yet from all the luxury and ease, as well as from the anxiety and
cares of busy modern days, we like sometimes to escape and get a
little nearer to the heart of nature and to adopt a life of rural
simplicity not far removed from that which once prevailed at Portland
Point, content with some little cottage, remote from the hurry and din
of city life in which to spend the good old summer time."