Saint Croix Courier, St. Stephen, NB
August 31, 1893
GLIMPSES OF THE PAST
Contributions to the History of Charlotte County and the Border Towns.
LXXX – ST. ANDREWS-Continued.
The incident of the capture and ‘elopement’ of Capt. Jones, mentioned in Col. Allan’s letter, (given in last week’s issue,) is noted by the Rev. Jacob Bailey, (a Loyalist clergyman settled at Annapolis Royal,) in his MS. history entitled A description of the present Province of New Brunswick, with an Account of the Sufferings of the American Loyalists who were transported thither. He says:
When I arrived at St. Andrews, on the river Santa Croix, I found a number of people from Penobscot and elsewhere forming a settlement. But while Mr. Jones, the surveyor, was employed in laying out the lands, a party of Indians under the direction of one Allen, a notorious rebel, took him prisoner. It is uncertain in what manner they intended to dispose of Mr. Jones. However, the second day of his captivity he had the good fortune to escape and proceed in his business without further interruption.
Writing in the autumn of 1784 to John Wentworth, (ex-governor of New Hampshire, and afterwards Sir John Wentworth, baronet,) who held the office of surveyor general of his majesty’s woods in North America, Mr. Bailey says:
I would beg leave to recommend to your notice Mr. Jones, an honest, worthy Loyalist, who has lost an ample fortune for his attachment to His Majesty and the British Government. He is endeavouring to obtain a grant of Grand Manan and is desirous of obtaining your interest and that of Governor Fanning. I can assure you there is not a person of my acquaintance better calculated to improve a wilderness country than Mr. Jones. He was formerly a Surveyor to the Plymouth Company, and has made several fine settlements at Kennebeck before the commencement of the late commotions.
Capt. Jones wrote to Mr. Bailey from St. Andrews, April, 1784, at which time Mrs. Jones was with him.
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
Article xxxvi.[sic - should be xxxvii.]-By further research among the voluminous documents relating to the Hazen and Simonds business at the mouth of the St. John in early days, Rev. W. O. Raymond has found the original memorandum of co-partnership in 1764 between Samuel Blodget, William Hazen, James Simonds, James White, Robert Peaslie and Richard Simonds, for the purpose of carrying on ‘the business of the Cod-fishery, Seine-fishery, the Fur trade, burning of Lime and every other trading business that shall be thought advantageous to the parties and Company at Passamaquoddy, Saint John, Canso and elsewhere in or near the province of Nova Scotia and parts adjacent.’ James Simonds had visited the coasts with a view to establishing a fishing and trading post as early as 1759, and had been engaged in trade to some extent before 1764.
Article xlii.-Change the first part of the last paragraph to read, ‘Capt. Ferrel died on Deer Island in 1823, at the age of 93 years, etc.’
Article liii.-From his grandson, Mr. Chas. Jameson, of St. Stephen, we learn that Joel Bonney was born in Pembroke, Conn., (now in Mass.,) and was of Welsh descent. He was a very stout and able man, six feet and one inch in height, and remarkably fine looking. He fought in the French and Indian wars, and was present as an ensign at the taking of Detroit; and tradition says that it was he who pulled down the French colors when the British entered the fort. As a carpenter and millwright, he came to Schoodic with the Machias men to help in building the first mill here; and he built a house for Squire Curry at Digdeguash. He lived for a time on Grand Manan, where two of his children were born, the elder of whom is said to have been the first white child born on the island. After living for some years at Digdeguash, he removed to Portland, Me., where he died about 1824, at the age of 84.
Article lxxii.-In the list of names, for ‘Hineham,’ read ‘Hinchman.’
Article lxxiv.-In the nineteenth line, for ‘Philips Bailey,’ read ‘Philip Bailey;’ and for the reference note read ‘Art. xl.’ Add the following note:-A contemporary notice in a St. John newspaper reads, ‘Died at Magaguadavic, on Tuesday, the 30th July, 1816, Peter Clinch, esq., of that place, aged 64 years; and the day preceding, Lucretia, his wife, aged 44 years.’
Article lxxiii.-The date of the petition for the establishment of a ‘School of liberal arts and science’ should be 1785, (not 1783.) The original draft, in Dr. Paine’s writing, was in the possession of a descendant, Nathaniel Paine, of Worcester, Mass., a few years since; and is probably still in existence. It pleads ‘the situation in which the Loyalist Adventurers here find themselves. Many of them upon removing here had sons whose time of life and former hopes call for an immediate attention to their education.’
Article lxxv.-In the sixteenth line erase the word ‘later.’
Article lxxvii.-In the second line of the last paragraph, for ‘was,’ read ‘way.’
The article in last week’s issue should have been
numbered lxxix.