Produced by Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
HISTORY OF HALIFAX
CITY.
by
Dr. Thomas B. Akins
(1809-1891)
Halifax, Nova Scotia
1895
HISTORY OF HALIFAX CITY.
CHAPTER I.
Halifax, the metropolis of Nova Scotia, and the chief City of the
Acadian or Lower Provinces, was founded in the year 1749, at the expense
of Government, under the direction of the Lords of Trade and
Plantations, and was named in compliment to George Montague, Earl of
Halifax, then at the head of the Board, under whose immediate auspices
the settlement was undertaken.
From the Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, when Acadia was ceded to the Crown
of Great Britain, to the year 1749, no progress had been made by the
British in colonizing the country. The inhabitants consisted of a few
thousand Acadian peasants, scattered around the shores of the Basin of
Minas, Chignecto and the Valley of Annapolis. The Governor resided at
Annapolis Royal, a small fortified port, with a garrison of two or three
hundred regular troops, and was, in a great measure, dependent on New
England for his necessary supplies. This was the only British port
within the Province, with the exception of that of Canso, where, during
the fishing season, a number of French, with a few Indians and New
England fishermen, assembled, and where a captain's guard was usually
stationed to preserve order and protect the rights of property. The
French population, though professing to be neutral, had refused to take
the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain, and were
continually in a state of hostility to the British authorities in the
country. Their poverty and ignorance placed them completely under the
control of a few designing emissaries of the French Governor at Quebec,
who incited the people to resent British rule, and frequently put all
law at defiance, by assuming to themselves the sole management of
municipal affairs in the settlements most remote from the seat of
Government. The Governors of Canada had undertaken to claim all the
country from the River St. Lawrence to the Bay of Fundy, as comprehended
within their jurisdiction, confining the territory of Acadia as ceded
under the Treaty of Utrecht, to the Peninsula alone, and had actually
commenced to erect forts on the River St. John and the Isthmus while the
nations were at peace.
The necessity of a permanent British settlement and Military Station on
the Atlantic Coast of the Peninsula, had long been considered the only
effectual means of preserving British authority, as well as for the
protection of the coast fishing, which, at this time, was deemed of
paramount importance to British interests. But lately the continual
breaches of neutrality on the part of the French, together with the loss
of Louisburg, under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle, in October, 1748,
rendered such an establishment indispensably necessary to the support of
the British Crown in Nova Scotia.
The scheme for settlement at Chebucto is said to have originated with
the people of Massachusetts,[1] who, in calling the attention of
Government to the claims and encroachments of the French, suggested the
necessity for, as well as the great commercial advantages to be derived
from such an undertaking; and it has also been asserted that a committee
of influential citizens had been formed in Boston for the purpose of
more effectually advocating the design. No authentic information on the
subject, however, has been found beyond the suggestions contained in
Governor Shirley's letters to the Secretary of State, in 1747 and 8, in
which one extensive plan of British colonization throughout Nova Scotia
is proposed and details suggested, many of which, however, did not
receive the approval of Government.[2]
[Footnote 1: One Thomas Coram, whose name appears frequently in the
history of the state of Maine, is said to have suggested a scheme for
building a town at Chebucto in 1718, and applied to Government for a
grant of land, but was prevented by the agents of the Government of
Massachusetts Bay, who supposed that such project might interfere with
their fishing privileges, and he was compelled to abandon his
enterprise. This, however, has not the weight of much authority.]
[Footnote 2: Copies of several of Shirley's letters were furnished
Governor Cornwallis on leaving England, as part of his instructions.]
A plan for carrying into effect this long-cherished design was, however,
matured by the Board of Trade and Plantations, in the year 1748, and
submitted to Government in the autumn of that year, and being warmly
supported by Lord Halifax, the President of the Board, advertisements
soon appeared under the sanction of His Majesty's authority, "holding
out proper encouragement to officers and private men lately discharged
from the Army and Navy, to settle in Nova Scotia." Among other
inducements was the offer to convey the settlers to their destination,
maintain them for twelve months at the public expense, and to supply
them with arms and ammunition for defence, and with materials and
articles for clearing the land, erecting dwellings and prosecuting the
fishery. The encouragements appeared so inviting, that in a short time
1176 settlers, with their families, were found to volunteer, and the sum
of L.40,000 being appropriated by Parliament for the service, the
expedition was placed under the command of Col. the Honble. Edward
Cornwallis, M. P., as Captain General and Governor of Nova Scotia, and
set sail for Chebucto Bay, the place of destination, in May, 1749.[3]
[Footnote 3: Cornwallis was gazetted 9th May, 1749.]
The fleet consisted of 13 Transports and a Sloop of War. The following
is a list of the vessels, with the number of settlers.[4]
[Footnote 4: Smollet's History mentions 1,000 settlers with their
families; this probably was intended to include the Germans and other
settlers who arrived between 1749 and 1753.]
======================================+========+============
Sphinx Sloop of War, with Gov. | |
Cornwallis and Suite. |Tonnage.| Number of
--------------------+-----------------| |Passengers.
TRANSPORTS. | Captains. | |
| | |
--------------------+-----------------+--------+------------
Charlton Frigate |Richard Ladd | 395 | 213
Winchelsea |Thomas Cornish | 559 | 303
Wilmington |Thomas Adams | 631 | 340
Merry Jacks |---- Granger | 378 | 230
Alexander |Samuel Harris | 320 | 172
Beaufort |Elias Brennan | 541 | 287
Rochampton |Samuel Williamson| 232 | 77
Cannon Frigate |Andrew Dewar | 342 | 190
Everly |S. Dutchman | 351 | 186
London |John Barker | 550 | 315
Brotherhood |.... | .... | 27
Baltimore |Edward Cook | 411 | 226
Snow Fair Lady |Isaac Foster | .... | 10
| | |------------
| | | 2576
====================+=================+========+============
The total number of males, exclusive of children, was 1546; of this
number above 500 were man-of-war sailors.[5]
[Footnote 5: But one death, a child, occurred during the voyage. This
was attributed to the care of the Board of Trade and Plantations in
providing ventilators and air pipes for the Transports, a new invention
then lately introduced.]
The names of the principal settlers, with the rank and calling as they
appear in the register, are as follows:
Leonard Lockman and Ezekiel Gilman, Majors in the Army; John Lemon,
Foot Major and Commissary; Otis Little, Edward Amherst, Thomas Lewis,
Benjamin Ives, Frederick Albert Strasburger, and Francis Bartelo,
Captains in the Army; David Lewis, George Burners, George Colly, Richard
Partridge, Thomas Newton, _John Collier_, _Robert Ewer_, _John
Creighton_, Thomas Voughan, _John Galland_, Richard Reves, William
Joice, Joseph Wakefield, Augustus Graham, _Alexander Callendar_, David
Haldame, Robert Campbell, William Bryan, and T. Vaughan, Lieutenants in
the Army; James Warren, Thos. Reynolds, and Henry Wendell, Ensigns; John
Hamilton, Adam Cockburn, and Wm. Williams, Lieutenants in the Navy; John
Steinfort, Dennis Clarke, William Neil, Gustavus Mugden, and John
Twinehoe, Lieutenants of Privateers; Chas. Mason, Robert Beatie, Charles
Covy, Samuel Budd, John Ferguson, Nicholas Puxley, William Watson,
Joseph Tomwell, Henry Chambers, Nicholas Todd, Roger Lowden, Joseph
Gunn, John Thompson, Robert Young, Thomas Burnside, Timothy Pearce,
Richard Drake, Newbegin Harris, William Vickers, Richard Cooper, Richard
Mannering, Thomas Dumster, and Robert Cockburn, Midshipmen in the Royal
Navy; John Jenkins, Cadet; Rene Gillet, Artificer; John Grant, John
Henderson, Edward Gibson, William Hamilton, and William Smith,
Volunteers; Lewis Hayes, Purser; John Bruce, Engineer; William Grant,
Robert White, Patrick Hay, Mathew Jones, Thomas Wilson, M. Rush, James
Handeside, H. Pitt, George Philip Bruscowitz, Cochran Dickson, Joshua
Sacheveral, Thomas Inman, John Wildman, David Carnegie, and John Willis,
Surgeons; John Steele, Lieutenant and Surgeon; William Lascells,
Augustus Carsar Harbin, Archibald Campbell, John Wallis, John Grant,
Daniel Brown, Timothy Griffith, Henry Martin, Robert Grant, and
Alexander Hay, Surgeon's Mates and Assistants; Robert Thorckmorton,
Surgeon's Pupil; Mr. Anwell, Clergyman; _John Baptiste Moreau, Gentleman
and Schoolmaster_; William Jeffery, Commissary; William Steele, Brewer
and Merchant; Daniel Wood, Attorney; Thomas Cannon, Esquire; John
Duport, and Lewis Piers, Gentlemen; Archibald Hinshelwood, John Kerr,
_William Nisbett_, and Thomas Gray, Governor's Clerks; David Floyd,
Clerk of the Stores.[6]
[Footnote 6: Governor Cornwallis in his letter to the Lords of Trade,
dated Chebucto, 24th July, 1749, says: "The number of settlers--men,
women and children--is 1,400, but I beg leave to observe to your
Lordships that amongst them the number of industrious, active men proper
to undertake and carry on a new settlement, is very small. Of soldiers
there are only 100, of tradesmen, sailors and others able and willing to
work, not above 200." The rest he reports as idle and worthless, persons
who embraced the opportunity to get provisions for a year without
labour, or sailors who only wanted a passage to New England, and that
many were sick and unfit for settlers, and many without sufficient
clothing. He describes a few Swiss who were among the settlers, as
"regular, honest and industrious men," and observes that there are
"indeed, many come over of the best sort, who, though they do not work
themselves, are useful in managing the rest." "I have," he says,
"appointed two or three of them as overseers of each ship's company."]
On the 21st June, 1749, old style, the Sloop of War, "Sphinx," arrived
in the Harbor of Chebucto, having on board, the Honourable Edward
Cornwallis, Captain General and Governor-in-Chief of the Province of
Nova Scotia, and his suite. They had a long and boisterous passage, and
did not make the coast of Acadia until 14th. They had no one on board
acquainted with the coast, and did not meet with a pilot until the 20th,
when they fell in with a Sloop from Boston, bound to Louisburg, with two
pilots for the Government of that place. Governor Cornwallis' intention
was first to proceed to Annapolis, but the wind not serving for the Bay
of Fundy, and the officers assuring him that in case of foggy weather
setting in they might be a long time in getting to Annapolis, he
concluded on proceeding at once to Chebucto, rather than risk the
possibility of being separated for any length of time from the fleet. He
also felt, that by so doing, he would save the Governor of Louisburg the
bad and long navigation to Annapolis, and accordingly, he dispatched a
letter to Governor Hopson, by the Sloop, apprising him of his intention
and desiring him to transport his garrison to Chebucto as soon as
possible. The "Sphinx," before making Chebucto, first came to anchor in
Malagash Bay, where they found several French families, comfortably
settled, who professed themselves British subjects, and had grants of
land from Governor Mascarine; they had tolerably good wooden houses
covered with bark, and many cattle, and expressed themselves greatly
pleased on hearing of the proposed new settlement. It happened that the
same day on which Cornwallis arrived in the Harbor of Chebucto, a sloop
came in from Louisburg with a letter from Hopson in expectation of
meeting him. Hopson was in great perplexity, the French having arrived
to take possession under the terms of the treaty, and there were no
vessels to embark his troops. It appeared he was fully under the
expectation that the ships which were to bring out the settlers would
arrive in time to be sent down to him for that purpose, and he had made
no other arrangements. On receiving the letter, Governor Cornwallis
immediately dispatched the Sloop to Boston, with letters to Apthorp &
Handerik, whom Hopson recommended for the purpose, to hire vessels with
all expedition to transport the garrison of Louisburg to Chebucto; also
a letter directed to Governor Mascarine in case they should meet at sea
with a vessel bound to Annapolis. At the same time, a Frenchman,
acquainted with the country, was dispatched overland by Minas to
Annapolis, with orders to Mascarine to come down with a quorum of his
Council as soon as possible, that the new commission might be opened and
another Council appointed in accordance with the Royal Instructions.[7]
[Footnote 7: This messenger arrived on the fourth day, at Annapolis. "It
is," says the Governor in his letter, "25 leagues over to Minas, (now
Horton), and the French have made a path for driving their cattle
over."]
Governor Cornwallis' first dispatch to England, after arriving at
Chebucto, was sent via Boston, and bears the date 22nd June, the day
after his arrival. In this letter he says: "The coasts are as rich as
ever they have been represented; we caught fish every day since we came,
within 50 leagues of the coast. The harbour itself is full of fish of
all kinds. All the officers agree the harbour is the finest they have
ever seen. The country is one continued wood; no clear spot is to be
seen or heard of. I have been on shore in several places. The underwood
is only young trees, so that with difficulty one is able to make his way
anywhere." "D'Anville's Fleet have only cut wood for present use; they
cleared no ground, but encamped their men on the beach. I have seen but
few brooks, nor as yet have found the navigable river that has been
talked of. There are a few French families on the east side of the bay,
about three leagues off. Some have been on board."
Governor Mascarine having received Cornwallis' letter on the 26th, on
the following day, ordered Captain Davis to make ready his galley and go
round to Chebucto with fresh provisions. Mascarine was waiting the
arrival of the new Governor at Annapolis, as appears by his letters to
Governor Hopson on the 14th and 26th June, in which he says: "Get ready
supplies for the new Captain General who will be here, but the fleet
will be at Chebucto." The "Snow Fair Lady" arrived shortly after the
Sphinx, and was dispatched to Annapolis to afford Mr. Mascarine the
means of transporting his council and part of his garrison to Chebucto.
On the 26th, the "Fair Lady" was in the harbour of Annapolis ready to
receive Governor Mascarine and suite. On the 27th, the transport began
to make their appearance off the harbour of Chebucto, and by the 1st
July, they had all arrived. As their passage had been extremely good,
and none of them had in the least suffered, the Governor found himself
in a position to afford vessels to Colonel Hopson the moment the
settlers should be put on shore.[8] Accordingly having countermanded the
order to Boston for transports, he dispatched to Louisburg the ship
"Brotherhood" on the 1st July, and on the 5th, the "London,"
"Wilmington," "Winchelsea," and "Merry Jacks." On the 8th he received
from Louisburg, copies of letters from Governor Shirley of Boston, to
Governor Mascarine, giving an account of the French having commenced a
fort at the mouth of the River St. John, and on the following day sent
Captain Rouse in the "Albany" and a small sloop to attend her, with
orders to the commanding officer at Annapolis to furnish him with troops
if required, and to proceed immediately to the River St. John, Governor
Shirley having previously sent the ship "Boston" to Annapolis for the
same service, there to await orders. It appears that the French had
fitted out an expedition, under M. Ramey, for this purpose, a short time
before the arrival of Cornwallis, and the vessel with ammunition, arms
and provisions, bound to St. John River, had passed Malagash Bay a few
days before the arrival of the "Sphinx" there; but having put into Port
Mouton on her way, the information of their designs was communicated to
the authorities of Annapolis.
[Footnote 8: The settlers who came out in the transport, afterwards sent
to Louisburg, were first landed on George's Island.]
Governor Mascarine having arrived with several of his Council on the
12th, the following day Governor Cornwallis opened his commission and
took the oaths of office in their presence, and on Friday, the 14th
July, the Civil Government was organized, and Colonel Paul Mascarine,
Captain Edward How, Captain John Gorham, Benjamin Green, John Salsbury
and Hugh Davidson were sworn in Councillors[9] on board the "Beaufort"
Transport, and the Commission and Royal Instructions were then read.
"The formation of the Board was announced to the people by a general
salute from the ships in the harbour and the day was devoted to
festivity and amusement." The four first gentlemen named in the Council
were officers from Annapolis; Mr. Green was from Massachusetts, and had
been with General Hopson at Louisburg, and the two latter were of His
Excellency's suite; Mr. Davidson acted as Secretary.
[Footnote 9: The table around which this Council assembled is now in the
small Council Chamber in the Province Building.]
Early in the month of July, a spot for the settlement was pitched upon
near Point Pleasant,[10] then called Sandwich Point, and people were
employed in cutting down the trees; but the want of sufficient depth of
water in front, its great exposure to south-east gales and other
inconveniences being discovered, it was abandoned for a more eligible
situation to the northward, commanding a prospect of the whole harbour
and on an easy ascent with bold anchorage close to the shore. Here Mr.
Bruce the engineer, and Captain Morris the surveyor, were ordered to lay
out the town, which was surveyed, the plan completed and the lots
appropriated to their respective owners by the 14th September. The town
was laid out in squares or blocks of 320 by 120 feet deep, the streets
being 55 feet[11] in width. Each block contained 16 town lots, forty
feet front by sixty deep, and the whole was afterwards divided into five
divisions or wards, called Callendar's, Galland's, Ewer's, Collier's and
Foreman's divisions, after the names of the persons who were appointed
Captains of Militia, each ward being large enough to supply one company.
[Footnote 10: "From seeing the place only, one would be apt to choose
Sandwich Point as the best situation for a town, being very defensible
and having the advantage of Sandwich River, (now known as the North West
Arm), navigable a great way. This was the general opinion at first, and
they began to clear there, the first day they worked, but upon
examination we found the strongest objections against it."--_Governor
Cornwallis' letter to Board of Trade._]
[Footnote 11: The streets are supposed to be 60 feet broad, but none of
them are found to exceed 55 feet in width.]
Buckingham Street was the north and Salter Street the south limit, and
the whole was surrounded by a strong palisade of pickets with block
houses or log forts at convenient distances. Foreman's new division was
afterwards added as far as the present Jacob Street. The north and south
suburbs were surveyed about the same time, but the German lots in the
north were not laid off till the year following.
Great difficulty was at first experienced in the erection of dwellings;
the European settlers being totally unacquainted with the method of
constructing wooden buildings. Frames and other materials for building
were, however, soon brought from Massachusetts, and before the cold
weather set in a number of comfortable dwellings were erected.
Provisions and other necessary supplies were regularly served out in the
camp, and every exertion on the part of the Governor made to render the
settlers comfortable before the approach of winter. Several transports
were detained and housed over to accommodate those settlers whose houses
were not complete, and the canvas tent and log hut were soon abandoned
for more convenient and comfortable accommodations.
I have, says Governor Cornwallis, in his letter of the 20th August,
contracted for frames and materials for barracks and officers' lodgings
from Boston. Boards are very high owing to the drought. I have got none
under L.4 per thousand, and shall be obliged to furnish a vast number to
help the people to get under cover, and have sent an officer on purpose
to Boston to obtain them at a fair price. Many houses are begun and huts
and log houses already up for more than half a mile on each side the
town.
Tradition says that on clearing the ground for settlement a number of
dead bodies were discovered among the trees, partly covered by the
underwood, supposed to have been soldiers of the Duke D'Anville's
expedition which put into Chebucto Harbor in 1746,[12] but the Governor
in his letter does not mention the facts.
[Footnote 12: The remnant of this formidable fleet which was destined
for the destruction of the British settlements of Acadia and New
England, put into Chebucto Harbor in distress in September, 1746. The
troops it is said were encamped on the western side of the Basin, near
the small Cove about 4 miles from town, which still bears the name of
the French Landing. The Duke died of grief at the failure of the
expedition, and the Vice Admiral Destourville, ran himself through the
body, and was buried on George's Island. His remains, or what was
supposed to be have been, were afterwards removed to France by his
family. Several of the ships of war were sunk on the eastern side of the
Basin. The hulls of these vessels were visible in calm weather about 50
years ago, but they have long since disappeared. M. Jonquiare,
afterwards Governor of Canada, was also in this expedition.]
During the winter months the people were kept actively employed in
cutting pickets for fences and wood for fuel, and for erecting new
buildings. Mechanics were placed at the head of working parties to
direct their labours, and by a judicious division of the people into
small parties the more laborious portion of the work was executed with
uncommon dispatch. Mills were also erected at the expense of Government
for sawing lumber, and a mill master appointed with a salary, and every
facility held out to enable those settlers, who had not yet been
accommodated, to complete their dwellings on the approach of spring. The
Governor in his letter of 27th July, describes the site of the Town as
very advantageous. He says: "It has all the conveniences I could wish
except a fresh water river.[13] Nothing is easier than to build wharves;
one is already finished for ships of 200 tons. I have constantly
employed all the carpenters I could get from Annapolis and the ships
here to build log houses for stores. I have likewise offered the French
at Minas considerable wages to work, and they have promised to send
fifty men to remain until October. As there was not one yard of clear
ground you will imagine our difficulty and what we have here to do;
however, they have already cleared about 12 acres, and I hope to begin
my house in two days; I have a small frame and pickets ready."
[Footnote 13: At this period when the settlement was confined to such
narrow limits the brook known to us as Fresh Water River, in the south
suburbs, was considered to be at a distance too far from the pickets to
be of much value as a means of supply to the settlers.]
The following extracts from a letter dated 25th July, 1749, written by a
settler,[14] affords several interesting facts relative to the state of
the settlement at this time:--"On our arrival we found the Sphinx, of 20
guns, which had come into harbor a few days before us; as I write the
transports are entering the harbor with the two regiments of Hopson and
Warberton on board from Louisburg. The assistance, as well as the
security we shall receive from them, will greatly forward our
settlement; the officers have brought all their furniture, a great
number of milch cows, and other stock, besides military stores. We have
already cleared about 20 acres, and every one has a hut by his tent. Our
work goes briskly, and the method of employing the people in ships'
companies has a good effect, and as the Governor is preparing to lay out
the lots of land, we shall soon have a very convenient and pleasant town
built, which is to be called Halifax. There are already several wharves
built, and one gentleman is erecting a saw mill; public store houses are
also building, and grain of various sorts have been sown. We have
received constant supplies of plank and timber for building, and fresh
stock and rum in great quantities, 20 schooners frequently coming in in
one day. We have also a hundred cows and some sheep, brought down to us
by land, by the French at Minas, which is about 30 miles distant from
the bottom of the bay, and to which we purpose to cut a road. The French
Deputies who came to make submission have promised to send us 50 men
for this purpose, and to assist us as far as they are able; we have
received the like promise, and friendship and assistance from the
Indians, the chief having been with the Governor for that purpose. In
short, every thing is in a very prosperous way. But I should be equally
unjust and ungrateful, were I to conclude without paying the tribute
which is due to our Governor. He seems to have nothing in view but the
interest and happiness of all; his zeal and prudent conduct in the
difficult task assigned him cannot be too much admired."
[Footnote 14: This letter appeared in one of the British periodicals for
October, 1749.]
The plan of the town having been completed and the building lots marked
out, in order to prevent dispute and discontent among the settlers, it
was deemed best that they should draw for the lots. Accordingly, at a
Council held on the 1st of August, it was resolved that on Tuesday
following, the 8th of August, all heads of families who were settlers,
should assemble at seven o'clock with the overseers, and single men
should form themselves into families, four to each family, and each
family choose one to draw for them. Mr. Bruce the engineer, being
present on the occasion, assisted in distributing the lots according to
the arrangement, and the whole were entered in a book of registry which
was to be kept for the purpose and to constitute evidence of title and
possession.[15]
[Footnote 15: This allotment book still remains entire in the office of
the Provincial Secretary, in Halifax. It was repaired in 1869 by the
Record Commission, and a fac-simile copy made for use and the original
placed out of the reach of injury.]
The next object of importance was the erection of proper defences for
the protection of the settlement. After they had taken possession of the
lots, and commenced to build, the Governor endeavoured to induce the
people to work for a few days in throwing up a line of defence around
their new abode; "but," says he, "there was no persuading them to do
it." It was not until the 13th August when the Council voted 1s. 6d. per
day to each man employed, that this necessary work was commenced by the
settlers. The harbour being broad and easy of access, the difficulty of
selecting proper positions for fortifications, which would command the
entrance, was at first seriously felt. This had been the great objection
on the part of the French to making any settlement at Chebucto, La Have
having been chosen by them for the principal post on the Atlantic Coast,
being, from its narrow entrance, more easy of defence. In Admiral
Darell's plan of Chebucto, the two points that flanked the entrance to
Bedford Basin were marked as the places proper to fortify. Mr.
Cornwallis says, their view must have been to have the settlement within
that Bay (the Basin); this would have been subject to great
inconvenience. In the first place, it would have been too far up for the
fishermen, it being about five leagues from the entrance of the Harbour
to those points, and the beach all along as well adapted for curing
their fish as can possibly be imagined; no fisherman would ever have
thought of going within these forts. Indeed no ship would choose to go
so far, as no finer harbour can be than that of Chebucto, which reaches
from these points to Sandwich River; so that notwithstanding any forts
upon these points, an enemy's fleet might be secure and indeed block up
all ships within the bay. He accordingly fixed upon Sandwich Point and
the high lands opposite, (now called York Redoubt), and George's Island
as the most proper positions for the erection of the necessary defences.
On the latter he immediately placed a guard, landed his stores and
planned and proposed to build thereon his magazine for powder.
The first act of Government, after the organization of the Council on
the 14th, was an audience of the three French Deputies, who had come
down to meet the New Governor. They were Jean Melanson, from Canard
River; Claude le Blance, from Grand Pre, and Philip Melanson from
Pisiquid. Colonel Mascarine read to the Council the oath which the
French inhabitants had before taken. Being asked if they had anything to
offer from their several departments, they answered that they were sent
only to pay their respects to His Excellency and to know what was to be
their condition henceforth, and whether they would be allowed their
priests. They were assured that their religion should be protected, but
that, as heretofore, no priest should be permitted to officiate within
the Province, without having first obtained a license from the Governor.
They were furnished with copies of the Royal Declaration, a proclamation
issued by Governor Cornwallis, and the oath which had been customary,
with directions to return within a fortnight, to report to the Council
the views of the inhabitants of the respective districts, and also to
notify the other settlements to send deputies as soon as possible. The
second meeting of the Council took place on the 17th, when Mr. Wm.
Steele was sworn in a member of the Board, and on the following day the
Governor's proclamation was read in the camp, prohibiting all persons
from leaving the Province without permission, and against the retail of
spirituous liquors without license.
On the 18th, Mr. Bruce the Engineer, Lieutenants Ewer, Collier and Mr.
John Duport were appointed Justices of the peace, and all the settlers
having assembled in separate companies with their respective overseers,
each company chose its constables.
The Governor designed opening more perfect means of communication with
Minas by constructing a road, which he described as being 30 miles only,
in a direct line, and to build a Block House half way, but having only
two companies of soldiers with him, one of Hopson's and one of
Warberton's regiment, together with about 60 of Goreham's Indian
Rangers, and the 50 French, who promised to assist in the work, having
disappointed him, he was compelled to postpone the object until after
the arrival of the army from Louisburg. Proper access to the interior,
by the construction of a good road to Minas, was deemed of paramount
importance to the settlement of the country. The inhabitants of the
rural districts were so insulated as to be in a great measure
independent of all authority. Colonel Mascarine, on returning to
Annapolis, received directions to send a Captain, 3 Subalterns and 100
men to Minas, and to erect a Block-house and Battery there, the troops
to be first quartered at Grand Pre, where the Block-house was to be
built, and the French people were to be hired at fair wages to assist in
the work.
Capt. How, who had been sent to St. John River in the Albany with Capt.
Rouse, having returned overland with thirteen Indians, three deputies
from the tribes at St. John, the Chief of the Chinecto Indians, and nine
others of their tribes. They received an audience on the 14th; they
consisted of Francis de Salle, Chief from Octfragli; the Chief
Noellobig, from Medochig; the Chief Neptune Albodonallilla from the
Chignecto tribe, for himself and tribe. The negotiation was carried on
through Martin, the Indian, and Andre, the interpreter from Minas. They
stated to the Council that they had come to confirm the treaty of 1726,
and that several of them had been present at that treaty. Terms were
drawn up by Mr. Secretary Davidson, and signed by the Chiefs on the 15th
August,[16] 1749, and Capt. How was ordered to carry it to St. John to
be ratified, and to take with him presents to the Chiefs. It was
accordingly ratified on the 4th day of September following, and signed
by all the Chiefs and Captains at the River St. John, six in number, in
the presence of Mr. How and seven other witnesses; Madame De Bellisle
acting as interpreter by request of the Indians. This document is still
in existence; also a copy of that of 1726, sent to Governor Cornwallis
by the Governor of Massachusetts Bay. This treaty appears to have been
little regarded, for in the beginning of October following, news arrived
from Annapolis and Canso of further incursions on the part of the
Indians, and Government was compelled to raise two new independent
companies of Volunteers for that service, which were placed under the
command of Major Gilman and Capt. Clapham, on the same footing with the
Rangers under Gorham.
[Footnote 16: NOTE.--These Indians are described in a letter from one of
the Settlers, to England, dated 19th August, as quite different from the
Indians of the peninsula, their faces all rubbed over with vermillion
and across their nose and forehead are regularly drawn black lines.
Their ears are bored full of holes and adorned with tobacco pipes and
ribbons of different colours; their clothes are of the light homespun
grey but intolerably ragged. The French supply them with those articles.
Their squaws or women dress equally as gay as the men. They are entire
drunkards, and never cease drinking spirituous liquors as long as they
can get it. They came on board to the Governor in great form. After the
treaty was ratified they received presents and went on board the
man-of-war, where they solaced themselves with singing and dancing. As
to the songs it is one continued bellowing and noise. Upon their coming
off, the man-of-war gave them a salute of 17 guns, as likewise they did
on going aboard. They expressed a great deal of satisfaction at the
honors done them; so they were discharged and sent in one of Colonel
Goreham's sloops to St. John River with presents to the rest of their
tribe.]
After the evacuation of Louisburg the population received a considerable
accession; a number of the English inhabitants came with Governor Hobson
and became settlers, and many from New England were daily arriving, and
upwards of 1000 more from the old provinces had expressed themselves
desirous of joining the Settlement before winter. The Governor therefore
gave orders to all vessels in the Government service to give them a free
passage. The New England people soon formed the basis of the resident
population, and are the ancestors of many of the present inhabitants.
They were better settlers than the old discharged soldiers and sailors
who came on the fleet; most of whom died or left the country during the
first three or four years, leaving, however, the most industrious and
respectable among them as permanent settlers. Many settlers and traders
came out for the purpose of making money; these people infested the
Settlement in great numbers, and gave Mr. Cornwallis and his successors
much trouble and annoyance, in demoralizing the people by the illicit
sale of bad liquors, and in other ways retarding the progress of the
country.
A proposition was made about this time by a French merchant from the
West Indies to Governor Cornwallis to bring to Halifax some Protestant
families from Martinique with their effects, if he would give them
protection and grant them lands, and the Governor was furnished with a
list of their names, with what each of them was worth, which approached
in all nearly L.50,000. This gentleman proceeded to Louisburg to obtain
for them a passport, and proposed to have his people on before winter;
but it does not appear as far as any information on the subject can be
gathered from the public records that any of these French Protestants
ever arrived.
The Government found it necessary to check the indiscriminate sale of
spirituous liquors by a license duty. On the 28th August an ordinance
passed for that purpose, and all such licensed houses were to be closed
at 9 p. m. under penalty. On the 31st August the Governor and Council
for the first time sat as a Court of Law. This was named the General
Court, all authority--legislative, executive and judicial--being vested
in the Board. They met on this day for the trial of Abram Goodside, the
Boatswain's mate of the Beaufort, who stabbed and wounded two men. A
grand jury was summoned who found a bill of indictment; he was tried and
found guilty by a petit jury, and hanged under the Governor's warrant on
2nd September, 1749. On 31st August, another Court was held for the
trial of one Peter Cartal, for murder. The Acadian Deputies having
returned from the country, they were called before the Governor and
Council on September 6th, when they presented a letter signed by 1000
inhabitants claiming to take only a qualified Oath of Allegiance.
On the 30th August, a sloop from Liverpool, Great Britain, with 116
settlers, arrived after a passage of nine weeks. They were, however, all
quite healthy, not one person being sick on board at the time of their
arrival. Two streets were then added to the Town and lots assigned to
these people. This was Forman's new division. We have no names of these
settlers or the name of the sloop.
Information having reached the Government that the Indians of Acadia and
St. John's Island, designed to molest the settlement at Halifax on the
approach of winter,[17] it was deemed advisable to erect outworks for
its defence; accordingly the troops and inhabitants were immediately
employed to construct a line of palisades around the town in connection
with square log forts which were to be placed at convenient distances. A
space of thirty feet was cleared without the lines, and the trees thrown
up by way of a barricade, which constituted a complete defence against
any attempt on the part of the Indians. Those settlers who had built
their houses without the town had arms given them, and their dwellings
being built of logs were musket proof; also the Ordnance Artificers,
those from New England and such of the settlers as had been in the army,
and such others as could be trusted with arms within the town, also
received them, and an order was sent to Boston for a supply of lamps to
light the streets during the winter nights. Col. Goreham was sent to the
head of the Basin with his company of Rangers for the winter, with an
armed sloop to assist him, and every preparation possible was made for
the protection of the people during the ensuing winter.
[Footnote 17: Governor Cornwallis' letter to Secretary of State.]
The Indians had appeared in the neighbourhood of the town for several
weeks, but intelligence had been received that they had commenced
hostilities, by the capture of twenty persons at Canso under frivolous
pretences, and of two vessels having been attacked by them at Chignecto,
when three English and seven Indians were killed. In consequence of this
information it was resolved in Council to send a letter to M.
Desherbiers, Governor of Louisburg, to recall LeLoutre. On the last day
of September they made an attack on the sawmill at Dartmouth, then under
the charge of Major Gilman. Six of his men had been sent out to cut wood
without arms. The Indians laid in ambush, killed four and carried off
one, and the other escaped and gave the alarm, and a detachment of
rangers was sent after the savages, who having overtaken them, cut off
the heads of two Indians and scalped one.[18]
[Footnote 18: This affair is mentioned in a letter from a gentleman in
Halifax to Boston, dated October 2nd, as follows: "About seven o'clock
on Saturday morning before, as several of Major Gilman's workmen with
one soldier, unarmed, were hewing sticks of timber about 200 yards from
his house and mills on the east side of the harbour, they were surprised
by about 40 Indians, who first fired two shots and then a volley upon
them which filled four, two of whom they scalped, and cut off the heads
of the others, the fifth is missing and is supposed to have been carried
off."]
These proceedings compelled the government to take more active measures,
and orders were given to the commanding officers at the out stations, to
destroy the Indians wherever they met them, and a premium of ten guineas
was offered for every Indian killed or taken prisoner, this offer was
in consequence of the large rewards offered by the French to the Indians
for English scalps. Orders were given for raising two independent
companies of rangers, one of one hundred men by Major Gilman, who was
sent to Piscataqua for that purpose,[19] the other a company of
volunteers by Captain Wm. Clapham, who with Goreham's Indian Rangers,
now returned from their stations at the head of the Basin with a company
of Philips' Regiment, were to scour the whole country around the Bay.
The St. John Indians having kept the treaty, received from Governor
Cornwallis a present of 1000 bushels of corn, and an order was also
given to purchase at Minas 500 bushels of wheat, to be baked into
biscuit for the same purpose. Captain How was intrusted with these and
other presents, and was directed to bring back with him, if possible,
some of the tribe to go against the Mic-Macs. The preparation necessary
to the protection of the town against French-Indian hostilities tended
to expedite the progress of the settlement; before the middle of
October, about three hundred and fifty houses had been completed, two of
the square forts finished and the barricade carried all around. A number
of store houses and barrack buildings for the accommodation of the
troops had been also erected and the Governor's residence completed. The
Council met there on the 14th October. About 30 of the French
inhabitants were employed on the Public Works, and in cutting a road
from the town to the Basin of Minas. A number of influential and
industrious families from New England and other places had already
become settlers, and Halifax Harbor was the resort of a large number of
fishing vessels.
[Footnote 19: These men were supplied with hatchets and snow shoes for
winter warfare.]
About this time a destructive epidemic made its appearance in the town,
and it is said nearly 1000 persons fell victims during the autumn and
the following winter. On the 14th day of October, the Government found
it necessary to publish an ordinance, commanding all Justices of the
Peace, upon the death of the settlers, to name so many of the
neighbourhood or quarter (not exceeding 12) to which the deceased
belonged, to attend at the burial and carry the corpse to the grave, and
whoever refused to attend without sufficient reason should have his name
struck off the Mess Book and Register of Settlers as unworthy of His
Majesty's bounty; again in December, another order was made commanding
all householders to report their dead to a clergyman within twenty-four
hours.
Owing to the frequent alarms of invasion from the Indians and French
stragglers during the winter, it was resolved in Council to organize a
militia force for the protection of the settlement, and on the Sunday
following the 6th day of December, after divine service, all the male
settlers, between the age of sixteen and sixty, were assembled on the
parade, and drawn up in the following order:--"Those of Mr. Ewer's and
Mr. Collier's divisions to face the harbor, those of the quarters of Mr.
Galland and Mr. Foreman to face the Citadel, and those of Mr.
Callendar's division at one end of the parade." The proclamation bears
date the 7th day of December, 1749. On the 16th, information arrived
that a French force had been dispatched overland from Canada, to attack
Halifax, and that the Indians were to co-operate with them, also, that
two vessels with six hundred men were in the Bay Verte under LeCorne,
and with ammunition and stores of all kinds for a winter expedition. The
people having been again assembled on the parade after divine service,
the proclamation was read and the settlers commanded to fell all the
trees around the town without the forts and barricades. No attempt was,
however, made upon the town, either by the Indians or French during the
winter. These hostilities were being carried on by the Government of
Canada, while the two Crowns were nominally at peace, under pretence
that the Treaty of Utrecht only ceded to the Crown of Great Britain the
peninsula of Nova Scotia proper.
The Governor deeming it expedient that some permanent system of judicial
proceedings to answer the immediate exigencies of the Colony should be
established, a committee of Council was accordingly appointed to examine
the various systems in force in the old Colonies. On 13th December, Mr.
Green reported that after a careful investigation, the laws of Virginia
were found to be most applicable to the present situation of the
province. The report was adopted. It referred principally to the
judicial proceedings in the General Courts, the County Courts, and other
tribunals.
Before concluding this chapter, which comprehends all that can be
collected relative to the affairs of the settlement during the first
year of its existence, it will be proper to observe that in founding
the City, the spiritual wants of the settlers were not lost sight of by
the British Government. Preparatory to the embarkation of the settlers,
a letter was addressed by the Lords of Trade and Plantations to the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, dated
Whitehall, April 6th, 1749, recommending to the Society to appoint
ministers and school-masters for the new settlement at Chebucto, and for
such other townships or settlements as should from time to time be
formed in Nova Scotia, and requesting the Society to make some
provisions for them until arrangements should be made for their
sufficient support, by grants of land, etc.[20] The Society resolved
immediately to act on this recommendation, and undertook to send six
clergymen and six school-masters, when the settlements should be formed.
The first missionaries appointed under this arrangement, were the Rev.
William Tutty, of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and the Rev. Mr. Anwell,
who both came out with the settlers in June, 1749. Mr. Tutty officiated
in the open air until the necessary church accommodation could be
obtained. On laying out the town, a spot was assigned by Government for
the church. The site was first selected at the north end of the Grand
Parade, where Dalhousie College now stands, but it was changed
immediately after for the present site of St. Paul's Church, which was
erected at the expense of Government and ready for the reception of the
missionary, who preached his first sermon there on the 2nd day of
September, 1750. The pews and inside finish were not completed for
several years after. The name of Mr. Tutty does not appear among those
of the settlers who came with Cornwallis. He probably, however,
accompanied him. Mr. Anwell came with the expedition, but his name does
not again appear; he died shortly after his arrival. Mr. Tutty spoke
German and administered the Lord's Supper to the German settlers in
their own language. The other missionary, J. Baptiste Moreau, who came
out as school-master, and afterwards went to England for ordination,
returned to the settlement and went down to Maligash with the Germans,
1752. Mr. Halstead was the school-master in charge of the Society's
schools at Halifax during the first two or three years.
[Footnote 20: A copy of this letter will be found in the appendix.]
Governor Cornwallis in 1749, assigned the lot at the south-west corner
of Prince and Hollis streets for a Protestant Dissenting Meeting house.
The old building known as Mather's, or as it was afterwards called St.
Matthew's Church (destroyed by fire in 1859,) was soon after erected on
this site. It was appropriated originally to the Congregationalists,
many of whom came from New England to settle in Halifax. It was called
Mather's Church after the celebrated Cotton Mather, one of the leading
divines of that denomination at Boston, in early days. The Presbyterians,
and all who did not belong to the Established Church, attended divine
service in this building. The Rev. Mr. Cleveland, who came from one of
the old colonies, was the first minister who officiated in this
building. It afterwards fell into the hands of the Presbyterians and
became the property of the Church of Scotland, and the name of Mather's
was changed to that of St. Matthew. This old Church was destroyed by
fire, which consumed a large portion of the buildings in Hollis Street,
in 1859. The lot of ground on which it stood was afterwards sold to Mr.
Doull, who erected the fine stone store thereon, now known as Doull and
Miller's building.