The Old Curiosity Shop in Germain Street--A Quaint Old
Place--"Rubbish Shot Here"--Notman's Studio--The Mother of
Methodism--Destruction of the Germain Street Methodist
Church--Burning of the Academy of Music--The Old Grammar
School--Presbyterians among the Loyalists--The "Auld Kirk"
--Saint Andrew's--The grants of Land--Legislation--The
building of the Kirk--Ministers--The "Victoria" in Flames
--Fascination of the Fire--The "Victoria" in Ruins--What
might have saved it.
The fire has destroyed Mrs. Lyons's "old curiosity shop,"--an
establishment known far and near as a place where everything, from a
needle to an anchor, might be got. Mrs. Lyons is an old inhabitant, and
for years was a constant attendant at every auction sale, and her
judgment has more than once influenced and controlled the bidding. She
bought everything, and, what is more curious still, she managed to sell
it afterwards at a fair profit. Old books, old pictures, cheap prints,
crockery, bedding, carpets, furniture; all had a home in that asylum for
decayed rubbish. It was a pleasant place in which to while away an odd
hour or two. The things were, at least, worth looking at; and one could
sometimes turn over a good book or two, or dip into the pages of an old
magazine and find a bit of poetry here and there, or a pleasant essay
that was worth glancing over. Of course, nothing out of this stock could
be saved, and the curious and out-of-the-way knick-nacks of the people
were swept away in a very short time. Mrs. Lyons is a very heavy
loser by the calamity, and narrowly escaped with her life. Indeed she
was reported missing at one stage of the fire.
Mr. Notman's beautiful studio with its gems of neat things in art, and
its hundreds of elegant picture frames, went next. The premises had only
recently been opened, and the reception room was a perfect gallery of
beautifully arranged pictures and chromos, and India ink copies. A
number of oil paintings, some of them of considerable value, a good many
choice bits in water colour, some decidedly clever engravings together
with pieces of statuary, and a bronze or two perished in an instant. Not
a negative was saved, and the fine picture of Mr. John Melick's handsome
boy, which was so artistically finished in India ink by Mr. James
Notman, shared a like fate. The studio was full of handsome work, and
lovers of the aesthetic whenever they had a spare minute or two always
wandered into Notman's and inspected the new things he had there. It was
a place of resort for the cultivated mind, and the eye always rested on
something pleasing and charming. This building went so rapidly that the
occupants barely escaped with their clothes. The fire crossed the street
on both sides, and after sweeping down Mr. Edward Sears's house on the
corner, and carrying with it Mr. Tremaine Gard's jewelry establishment,
it rushed along levelling all before it, till Horsfield Street was
reached. On this corner the Mother of Methodism was situated--the old
Germain Street Methodist Church--called in olden times "The Chapel."
This structure was located a few feet off the street, and when the fire
caught and hugged it in its grasp the concourse of people beheld a sight
not easily effaced from their memory. The flames shot up, and for awhile
nothing but an avalanche of fire was to be seen. The hot, thick volume
roared out and crackled as timber after timber went down before the
whirlwind, and rent asunder in an hour, an edifice which had withstood
the blasts of the elements for seventy years. In 1808, on Christmas day,
this chapel was opened, and dedicated to the service of God, by the Rev.
Mr. Marsden. The leading layman at that time was the late John Ferguson,
an influential citizen and a prosperous merchant. He did much for
Methodism in his time, and it was through his exertions that the chapel
was built. For many years this commodious building was the only place of
worship that this body of Christians had in the city, and the various
clergymen who from time to time preached from its old-fashioned, homely
pulpit, developed sterling qualities and superior talents. Among its
body of laymen were men distinguished alike for their zeal and religious
principles. Such clergymen as Revs. Messrs. Priestly, Wood, Dr. Alder,
John B. Strong, Bamford, Wm. Temple and H. Crosscomb, will be
affectionately remembered by old members of this congregation, as
ministers whose interests were ever closely identified with those of
their hearers. The present Chief of Police, John R. Marshall, has been a
member of this church all his life, and for thirty years he has led the
singing. It was an unpretentious building with no attempts at
architectural display. A few years ago, to meet the wants of the
community, it was enlarged and extended back, and the gallery was placed
nearer the pulpit. While this building was burning the hospitable
residences of James Lawton, Esq., and Wm. Davidson, Esq., were being
reduced to ashes, and Dr. McAvenny's fine dental rooms adjoining those
houses, went down also.
The burning of the Academy of Music[C] took place almost at the same
time. Not a vestige of this splendid hall remains to tell of the
dramatic triumphs that have been witnessed on its stage, or the
matchless oratory that fell from the lips of Phillips, Beecher and
Carpenter. Here it was that a few years ago the great performance of
Richelieu took place, when Couldock enacted the Cardinal Duke, and Louis
Aldrich was the impetuous De Mauprat. Here on this stage Carlotta Le
Clercq won some of her grandest triumphs. Here Warner and Lanergan gave
their wonderful interpretations of the Moor and Iago. Here Chas. Koppitz
led his great orchestra the day before he died, and here some of the
sweetest voices have been heard emulating the notes of the nightingale.
This building, which for several years enjoyed a splendid reputation,
well stocked with scenery and properties, centrally and admirably
located, seemed to melt into nothing on the day of the fire. The walls
fell with a loud crash, and the grand temple of amusement, in which our
people felt so much pride, was a thing of the past. It was owned by a
joint stock company, and the late Dr. George E. Keator was the first
president. On his death, Dr. Allan M. Ring was made president, and he
has retained the office ever since. John R. Armstrong, Esq., has been
the secretary from the beginning of the institution. It is only about a
year ago that it was frescoed and painted and greatly improved inside.
The Academy presented a noble appearance from the street, and the reader
can form an intelligent idea of how it looked from the illustration
which we give. The Knights of Pythias, New Brunswick and Union Lodges,
occupied the upper story as a lodge room. It was neatly and attractively
fitted up, and the knights took great interest in having it properly
cared for. The loss with which this young organization has met, is quite
large and is therefore severely felt.
The last theatrical performance at the Academy of Music was on Tuesday
evening, 19th June, when Louise Pomeroy, an actress of charming genius,
sustained the _role_ of "Juliet" in Shakespeare's tragedy of the
affections, "Romeo and Juliet." On Wednesday night she was to have
performed "Rosalind" for the second time in St. John, in the delightful
comedy of "As You Like It." The company then playing were under the
management of Mr. William Nannary, with Mr. P. Nannary as assistant
manager, and Mr. W. E. Kelly, of Halifax, business agent. Mr. George B.
Waldron was stage manager, and his wife, Isabella Waldron, the leading
lady. The other members of the organization were R. Fulton Russell, F.
G. Cotter, G. T. Ulmer, Harry Pierson, Belvil Ryan, Mr. Padget, Mr.
Eberle, J. Reddy, Mr. Vanderen, Mr. Donaldson, W. F. Edwards, C. Mason,
Lizzie May Ulmer, Pearl Etynge, Little Bell Waldron, Mrs. Edwards, Mrs.
Vanderen, Miss Hill, Mabel Doane, and Florence Stratton. All of these
artists suffered by the fire. Some saved their wardrobes, only to have
them stolen afterwards.
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
ACADEMY OF MUSIC.]
After Dr. McAvenny's office was burned, the fire shot into Messrs.
Miller and Woodman's double house, the late residence of Hon. A. McL.
Seely, and it was soon shattered to its basement. The fire then spread
as far as Duke Street, burning on its passage Dr. W. Bayard's house, and
the old McGrath residence, which latterly contained Dr. James E.
Griffith's office. On the other side, the Grammar School was the first
victim after the Old Chapel.
This building was a plain wooden house of rather squat appearance. It
was erected on two lots of land, 80 feet front by 200 deep, which in
1807 were sold by Thos. Horsfield for L100. The first teacher was James
Brimner. In 1818 Dr. James Patterson took charge, and remained head
master till nearly the close of his life. Rev. Mr. Wainright,
afterwards rector of New York, and who died Bishop there, was at one
time a teacher in the Grammar School. The masters who have taught here
have been judiciously selected, and the school has been very successful
from the first. Messrs. Hutchison and Manning, and Rev. Mr. Schofield,
and latterly Rev. Dr. Coster, are all gentlemen of fine scholastic
attainments and excellent imparters of knowledge to the youth. For many
years the Corporation gave a gold medal annually to the bright boys of
this institution of learning, and many of our prominent lawyers,
doctors, engineers and merchants have been educated here. H. W. Frith,
Esq., was for many years secretary to the Board who controlled this
school, and continued in that office till the new school-law came into
force. The Grammar School in its last days was a free school of the
highest grade.
It has been said of Scotchmen that next to love of country they revere
their religion. Indeed, the love is as warm for the one as it is for the
other. The Bible and Home. God and Scotland. Their religion has been
compared to their native Grampians, and some have said that it was as
hard, cold, determined and unyielding as those grand old hills
themselves, the very name of which sends a thrill through every
Scotchman's breast. Every Scottish poet has sung of home, every native
bard has written hymns and psalms. Burns's "Cotter's Saturday Night"
contains the germs of the Presbyterian faith, and Tannahill, Thomson,
Campbell, Hogg and all the other tuneful minstrels have sung in the same
key, and told of the old faith which the Covenanters felt on their
bleak hill-tops years ago, when it was deemed by some to be a crime to
worship God in more ways than one. It is as rare to find a Scotchman
unacquainted with the leading events in the Bible, the gist of the
shorter catechism, and the whole of the Psalms of David, including the
cxix, word for word, as it is difficult to enter a city all the world
over, and not find the sons of the old land filling the leading
positions in the place. Our readers may be sure that among the sturdy
loyalists not a few Presbyterians were to be found. When they reached
St. John, they settled in Lower Cove, and the first thing they did was
to consider the advisability of building a kirk. In 1784, the leading
men drew up a petition for a grant of land on which to lay the
foundation for a house of worship. It was sent to Governor Parr, and on
the 29th of June, of the same year, the grant was issued under the Great
Seal of Nova Scotia. John Boggs and others, for the Church of Scotland,
were the grantees. Their associates were Andrew Cornwall, James Reid,
John Menzie, Charles McPherson, William Henderson, John Gemmill, and
Robert Chillis, their heirs and assigns in trust. The document runs as
follows, and sets forth that the grant was, "for the erection, building
and accommodation of a meeting house or public place of worship for the
use of such of the inhabitants of the said town as now or shall
hereafter be of the Protestant profession of worship, approved of by the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland * * * and further for the
erection and building and accommodation of a dwelling house, outhouse,
casements and conveniences for the habitation, use and occupation of a
minister to officiate and perform divine service in the meeting house
aforesaid, according to the form and professing aforesaid * * * and
further for the building and erection of a public school house and
public poor house, with proper accommodation and conveniences for the
use of the inhabitants of the said Township of Parr,[D] forever, and
upon this further trust and confidence to secure and defend the said
piece and tract of land, and all such buildings, edifices, and
improvements, commodities and appurtenances, to and for the several and
respective public uses, intents and purposes aforesaid forever, but to
or for no other or private use, intent and purpose whatsoever."
It further states that in case of the lands coming into possession of
any other persons, they shall take the prescribed oath of allegiance
within twelve months, and in case of their neglect to do so, the lands
shall revert to the Crown. The grant was registered at Halifax, 29th
June, 1784, and at Fredericton on December 23rd, same year. These lands
were situate on the north side of Queen Street, extending east and west
from Sydney to Carmarthen Streets, and north from Queen Street 100 feet.
They contain 10 city lots and form a block of 100 by 400 feet.
Charles McPherson, once the owner of "Coffee House Corner," survived
the other trustees, who died before any of the buildings mentioned in
the grant were set up. A change had come over the people's views since
then, and the site was not approved of by those interested. It was not
central enough, and in 1815 it was decided to ask for a site in the
upper part of the town. Wm. Pagan, Hugh Johnston, senr., John Thompson,
James Grigor, John Currie, Alexander Edmonds, and William Donaldson were
the new Committee whose duty it was to provide "a meeting house for the
use of such of the inhabitants as are of the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland." In this year the survivor of the trustees of 1784,
Charles McPherson, relinquished his interest in favour of the new
Committee. James Grigor selected the present site of the church in
Germain Street, and in 1815 he purchased it for L250 from J. V.
Thurgar's uncle, Mr. John L. Venner. The lot is 100 feet in width and
200 feet in depth. Mr. Grigor and wife, by deed, on the 20th June, 1815,
just sixty-two years ago, on the day of the fire, conveyed the property
to Wm. Pagan and the rest of the Committee. On June 4th, 1816, another
grant of land was given to the Committee by the Corporation of St. John.
This lot was in Duke's Ward, and known on the plan as one of the public
lots, letter B, bounded on the east by Carmarthen Street, on the west by
Sydney Street, and on the south by lots 1086 to 1077 inclusive. The
latter lots are on St. James' Street. This also was in special trust for
the Kirk of Scotland in this city, and the grant was unconditional. This
block was four hundred feet square, and a vacant field. The Committee
built houses upon it some years after, and laid out the street from
Sydney to Carmarthen, known as St. Andrew's Street. William Campbell was
Mayor, and Charles J. Peters, Clerk.
The Act 56 George III., cap. 28, passed 16th March, 1816, recites to
this effect:
"Whereas sundry inhabitants of the City of St. John and its vicinity,
being of the Protestant profession of worship, approved by the General
Assembly of the Church of Scotland, have, by voluntary subscription,
aided by a grant[E] of money out of the Province (1814), erected a large
and handsome building for a place of public worship, which shall be in
connection with the said Church of Scotland: And whereas, the title of
the lots on which the said church has been erected, situated in Queen's
Ward in the said city, and fronting on Germain Street, is now in the
possession of the inhabitants of the said city, who hold the same in
trust: Be it enacted, that the minister and elders of the said church,
commonly called by the name of Kirk, whenever such ministers shall be
chosen and appointed, the said lots shall be vested in them, they being
known by the name of the minister and elders of the Church of Scotland
in the City of St. John."
In 1818, Act 58 was passed, and this statute authorized the Kirk's
ministers and elders to have full power to purchase, receive, hold, and
enjoy lands, and tenements, and to improve and use the same for the
purpose of supporting and maintaining the building erected in St. John
for a place of public worship, and of its minister for the time being;
but such rents, with the rents of pews, shall not exceed annually the
sum of L500.
An important discovery was made in 1832, when it was found that the
legislation that had been had was entirely at variance with Presbyterian
usage, which separated the spiritual from the temporal affairs of the
church, leaving the spiritual department in the hands of the minister
and his elders, and vesting the management of the temporalities in a
body of trustees to be named. A new bill was prepared, and accordingly
the following was speedily enacted by 2 William IV. cap. 18, "that
according to the form and usage of the Church of Scotland the spiritual
and temporal affairs of the said church are kept separate, and that the
present acts of incorporation vesting the temporal affairs of the St.
Andrew's Church, in the City of St. John, in the minister and elders is
at variance with the form and usage of the said Church of Scotland."
All previous acts were repealed, and the following gentlemen, who were
the committee of management then: Thos. Walker, Robert Rankin, John
Wishart, John Robertson, James Kirk, Robert Keltie, James Burns, Henry
Hood, William Parks, William Walker, James Robertson and Daniel Leavitt,
with the elders, John Paul, Robert Robertson, Thomas Nisbet, William
Hutchinson, Angus McKenzie and John Gillis, were appointed interim
trustees until the election of twelve other trustees as provided by the
Act, could be had. This Act is still in operation, and it fixes the
annual rents at not more than L500, and prescribes the proceedings as to
the election and choice of trustees, ministers, and elders, the sales
and leases of pews, lands, &c.
In 1815 the kirk was finished, and the trustees were Messrs. Pagan,
Johnston, Thomson, Grigor, and Edmond, Rev. Mr. Waddell, father of Dr.
Waddell, many years resident physician at the Lunatic Asylum, preached
the first sermon. The Rev. Geo. Burns was the first regularly appointed
minister, he had been an assistant minister in Aberdeen, Scotland, Mr.
Hugh Johnston who had been commissioned to go to Scotland for a
clergyman, chose Mr. Burns who was a young man of 26 years of age, and a
doctor of divinity. The degree was conferred on him by the University of
St. Andrew on his departure for America, and the new Kirk was called
"St. Andrew" in compliment to Dr. Burns's _Alma mater_. The young doctor
arrived in St. John on Sunday, the 25th of May, 1817, and on that day
preached his first sermon from Psalm cxxii, 1, "I was glad when they
said unto me, let us go into the House of the Lord." Dr. Burns continued
minister until 1829. He left St. John May, 1831, and on the 5th
February, 1876, he died in Edinburgh at the ripe age of 86. The Rev.
Robert Wilson was the second minister of the Kirk, and he officiated
from 1830 to 1842. The Rev. Andrew Halket succeeded him from 1842 to
1848. He died in the fall of 1875, at Brecken, Scotland. The Rev. Wm.
Donald, D.D., was the fourth minister of this now influential church,
he was ordained at Aberdeen, in May, 1849, and on the 18th of June he
reached St. John, and took immediate possession of his charge. His
ministry was a long and able one, and no minister was ever loved more
and respected higher than this teacher of the sacred word. He was ever
kindly disposed towards his people and his congregation were ever
devoted to him, their interests were his interests, and his interests
were theirs. When he died 20th Feby., 1871, the whole city mourned, and
old St. Andrew's refused to be comforted. The Rev. R. J. Cameron, who
was Dr. Donald's assistant for some time, succeeded him in the ministry
of the church. The Rev. Mr. Mitchell, who began his labours on the 30th
January, 1877, was the last incumbent. During the long career of the old
kirk--the oldest Presbyterian church in the Province--it has changed but
little since it was erected. Some trifling alterations have been made in
the interior, but externally it has remained for over three score years
the same. Three memorial tablets had been placed upon the walls, the
first was in memory of William Pagan, the second William Campbell, and
the third Dr. Donald. The first Presbyterian minister who died in St.
John was the Rev. Thomas Wishart.[F]
[Illustration: ST. ANDREW'S KIRK.]
There are some interesting items in connection with Old St. Andrew's
personal history which are worth recording. The solid silver communion
service which was used was the gift, in the year 1818, of the Earl and
Countess of Dalhousie, and Miss Campbell gave the two peculiarly shaped
silver plates which contained the bread when the Sacrament was
administered. These articles were saved, and are now in the possession
of William Girvan, Esq. Mrs. James Lawton, about the year 1839,
presented the Church with the Pulpit Bible. This was unfortunately
burned, as well as the two oil paintings which hung in the vestry, and
were portraits of Revs. Drs. Burns and Donald. It was to see these
pictures that Dr. Burns's nephew came to St. John on the very day of the
fire, but before he arrived they were no more.
[Illustration: VICTORIA HOTEL.]
Very little time was lost between the destruction of Trinity, the
Germain Street Methodist, and "Old St. Andrew's." They took fire nearly
at the same time, and within an hour of each other the three were
consumed. The fire was extraordinarily rapid in its work, and the frame
buildings seemed to add zest to its voracious appetite. An engine might
have saved the Victoria Hotel, but it was far away, and helplessly the
people looked on and saw one after the other of their cherished
churches, hotels, houses of entertainment and dwellings, sink down
before the red glare of the serpent, which wound its coils round-about
and encompassed all with its fangs and fork-like tongue. It was a sight
that the eye sickened at, and the heart grew faint, and despair fell
upon the people, and many moved away. But there were others who gazed on
the tottering ruins with a fixed and glassy stare, and as the huge
boulders came thundering down from the heights above, and the half
famished flames shot out in long, thin lines from the windows, and
darted back again like a wiry thing of life, and shouts rent the air
from the lips of the wounded, these men never moved from the spot on
which they stood. The church was in ashes, and the great walls of the
Victoria were red with the demon flames. They scaled the heights, they
flew back again. They hid in the chimneys, they ran along the roof, they
melted the sashes and tore down the door-ways. The marble steps were in
fragments, and all through the long corridors of the house the shrieks
of startled women rang, and hastening refugees from the flames leapt
with the courage and skill of acrobats into the crowded street. It was a
time in which men held their breath. The fascination of that sight was
terrible. All were dismayed. All were paralyzed. The "Victoria," that
Grand Hotel which was St. John to every traveller who came here--that
massive pile of brick and stone--was no longer the standing monument of
the city's enterprise. An engine might have saved it, but the engine was
not there.
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
GERMAIN STREET, SHOWING VICTORIA HOTEL.]
This spacious hotel was commenced by a Joint Stock Company in 1870, and
was built on the corner of Germain and Duke Streets. It was opened for
business July, 1871, with Mr. B. T. Creagen as Manager, and the
following Board of Directors:--Otis Small, Esq., President; John Magee,
A. Chipman Smith, John McMillan and William F. Harrison, Esqrs. The
hotel building cost one hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars, and
furnishing seventy-five thousand dollars. In the Fall of 1873, the
Victoria Hotel Club assumed control, and Mr. John Edwards was appointed
manager. At the time of the fire the hotel was under the management of
Mr. George W. Swett, a very popular and courteous gentleman. Many of the
guests sought refuge in the squares, and some escaped from the building
with scarcely more clothes than they had on.
FOOTNOTES:
[C] The outside dimensions of the Academy were 190x51 feet. The
front 65 feet high, showing three stories in front. The finish was
Italian in its general style, very rich and pleasing to the eye, with
heavy and elaborate carved work. A large bust of Queen Victoria adorned
the summit of the building, while over the main entrance an excellent
bust of Shakespeare indicated the uses for which the building was
intended. The front doors were massive in style, of solid walnut, and
weighed sixteen hundred pounds. Inside.--The parquette was reached by a
wide entrance; on either side of this entrance were broad and easy
stairs leading to the balcony; while above this was the gallery for the
gods, which was approached from a separate entrance. The parquette was
furnished with 600 opera chairs, and the seating capacity of the whole
building was 1,200. The scenery, ample in supply and excellent in
character, was painted by Gaspard Maeder. The building when finished
cost the Company over $60,000.
[D] St. John was formerly called Parr Town.
[E] ---- Legislature granted L250 towards erection of kirk.
[F] Three members of the congregation of this Church were lost
at the time of the fire--Mrs. Thos. Reed, Mr. Joseph Bell, Capt. Wm. M.
B. Firth.