History of Halifax City Part 20

The troops mounted guard every morning on the Grand Parade and went through the salute and troop before relieving guard. This formed a great attraction to strangers and people from the country. The band usually played for half an hour before the ceremony of inspecting the guards commenced. At sunset and at gun fire, at eight o'clock in the evening, the drum and fife proceeded from the town clock, in Barrack Street, to Government House or the General's quarters, and back again to the barracks. This had been an ancient custom in the Halifax garrison and was partly kept up until about the year 1845. Guard mounting on the parade at 10 o'clock in the morning during summer continued until Governor Le Marchant left Halifax in 1856.

One feature of the town which frequently afforded amus.e.m.e.nt to visitors must not be omitted. The negro population of Hammonds Plains and Preston, the latter particularly, had been, after the peace, supplied with the American uniform coats taken at Castine or somewhere in Maine in the year 1813. The sky blue coats with red and sometimes yellow facings, in conjunction with old torn and patched trousers of every description, presented the most grotesque appearance. A short time before this a fensible regiment known as the York Rangers, having been disbanded in the town, their old green uniforms, faced red, and the sugar loaf shaped caps, were given to the negroes, who presented the most ridiculous appearance on market days.

M. Geneni kept dancing school at Mason Hall and gave many pleasant school b.a.l.l.s in the winter season to the great delight of the young people. M. Perro, a polite old French naval officer, was most popular as a teacher of French and was much esteemed in the community. M.

Chenalette was the most famous confectioner ever known in Halifax. In his latter days he kept his establishment in Sackville Street, opposite Bedford Row, and was celebrated for his French cordials and fancy confectionery. Such was Halifax in 1821 and thereabouts.

CHAPTER VIII.

FORTIFICATIONS AND DEFENCES OF THE TOWN--PUBLIC BUILDINGS, ETC.

From the year 1749 to '54 or '5, the defences of the town consisted of palisades or pickets placed upright, with block houses built of logs at convenient distances. This fence extended from where the Roman Catholic Cathedral now stands to the beach south of Fairbanks' wharf, and on the north along the line of Jacob Street to the harbor. These palisades were in existence in 1753, but were removed at a very early period, not being within the recollection of the oldest natives of the town living in the year 1825.

A large portion of the front of the present Citadel Hill was originally private property; a small redoubt stood near the summit with a flag staff and guard house, but no traces of any regular or permanent fortification appear until the commencement of the American Revolution.

There were several block houses south of the town--at Point Pleasant, Fort Ma.s.sey and other places. A line of block houses was built at a very early period of the settlement, extending from the head of the North West Arm to the Basin, as a defence against the Indians. The foundation of the centre block house was still to be seen in 1848 in the hollow below Philip Bayers' pasture. During Governor Lawrence's time, the Indians made an attack upon the saw mills at the head of the North West Arm, which stood near the site of the present mills, and murdered three men; their bodies were buried by the soldiers near one of the block houses, and were three times dug up by the Indians in defiance of the guard, for the purpose of securing the scalps. These block houses were built of square timber, with loop-holes for musketry,--they were of great thickness, and had parapets around the top and a platform at the base, with a well for the use of the guard.

In 1755, four batteries were erected along the beach--the centre one, called the middle or Governor's Battery, stood where the Queen's Wharf now is, being then directly in front of Government House; another where the Ordnance Yard was afterwards built, called the Five or Nine-gun Battery; the third was situated north of the present Fairbanks' wharf; and the fourth called the South or Grand Battery, still in existence at the Lumber Yard. They were composed of stone and gravel, supported by cross logs, covered with earth and planted with gra.s.s, having battlements in front and the two ends, elevated about twenty or twenty-five feet above the water. These fortifications were removed about the year 1783, and the grounds appropriated to their present purposes. The Ordnance Yard, then a swamp around the battery, and the King's Wharf, were both filled up and levelled by stone and rubbish removed from the five-acre lots of the peninsula which were beginning to be cleared about this time.

There were block houses along the beach, near the Dock Yard wall, built by Col. Spry about 1775. The drawings of the town, published about the year 1774 or '6, show a strong fortification on George's Island.[90] It was not until the commencement of the revolutionary war that regular works appear to have been constructed for the defence of the town and harbor. About the year 1778, the Citadel Hill appears to have been, for the first time, regularly fortified; the summit was then about eighty feet higher than at present; the works consisted of an octangular tower of wood of the block-house kind, having a parapet and small tower on top with port holes for cannon--the whole encompa.s.sed by a ditch and ramparts of earth and wood, with pickets placed close together, slanting outwards. Below this there were several outworks of the same description extending down the sides of the hill a considerable distance.

[Footnote 90: We have seen that Governor Cornwallis, at the very commencement of the settlement, selected George's Island as the most eligible position for the fortification. Prisoners were sent here at a very early period.]

Fort Ma.s.sey, George's Island and the East Battery exhibit the same kind of fortifications in the pictures of the town made about 1780. At the latter place there was a barrack, afterwards rebuilt by the Duke of Kent about 1800.

During the American Revolutionary War, Colonel Spry, the chief engineer, erected a battery and several small block houses near the old Dutch Church in Brunswick Street. Several fields on the north and east sides of the Citadel were then taken by government and equivalents given to the owners. There was another block house at the extremity of Brunswick Street, in the field adjoining the present Admiralty grounds; the first were demolished about 1783, and part of the land granted by the Crown as a parsonage lot for the minister of the Germans, but the latter remained many years after till it fell into decay.

The Lumber Yard, Ordnance Yard and King's Wharf were all commenced about the same time, (1784 or '5) but the present buildings were put up at a much later date. The north barracks were built soon after the settlement. The buildings known as the south barracks were erected under the directions of the Duke of Kent, as also the north barracks, destroyed by fire some years ago.

During the revolutionary war the main guard house stood on the spot now occupied by the Mason Hall. It was used as a military post at a very early period, as the French prisoners from Annapolis, etc., were lodged there. The guard house was removed over ninety years ago, and the present building afterwards erected.

A building called the Military Office stood at the south corner of the market wharf, near where the main guard house now is. It was used as a military office until 1790, or perhaps later. At this time a guard was kept at the Prince's old playhouse, where the Acadian School now stands.

The house lately owned by Capt. Maynard, where the Trinity Chapel now stands, in Jacob Street, was a barrack as early as 1769. It was the site of one of the old block-house forts erected at the first settlement. It continued to bear the name of the Grenadier Fort until removed to make room for the present brick edifice known as Trinity Church.

The old wooden fortifications were removed from Citadel Hill about the time Prince Edward was Commander-in-Chief.

The hill had been cut down and ramparts of earth constructed mounting five or six guns at each angle, with a deep ditch. There were also covered ways and pa.s.sages leading into the fort; willow trees were planted round the ramparts, and the whole was surrounded by a picket fence. The remains of this work were removed at the commencement of the present fortifications. Much of the old work was performed by the militia drafts from the country, embodied at Halifax at the close of the last century, particularly in 1793, during Sir John Wentworth's administration, and at subsequent periods. The Maroon negroes from Jamaica were for a short time engaged on these works.

The towers on George's Island,[91] Point Pleasant, the East Battery, Meager's Beach and York Redoubt were built at the commencement of the present century. The Prince established signal stations between Halifax and Annapolis, the first post being on the hill behind his residence on Bedford Basin. He levelled the ground called the Grand Parade, and it is said, built the walls at the north-east and south-west angles. The Chain Battery at Point Pleasant was first constructed, it is said, by Lord Colville, in or about 1761. The present ring bolts were put down the war of 1812-15. The old block house at Fort Needham and that on the hill above Philip Bayers' farm on the road leading to the Basin, called the Blue Bell Road, were built during the American Revolution, and re-constructed during the Prince's time. They were there in 1820, but soon after fell into decay, being composed of square timber only. All the other block houses had disappeared many years previous to that date.

The building used as an army hospital, which stood on the north slope of Citadel Hill, in rear of the north barracks, since destroyed by fire, was erected as the town residence of Edward, Duke of Kent, when commander of the forces. The low range of buildings since used as barrack stores and as a military library, were his stables and offices.

His residence was a very elegant building with a portico supported by Corinthian pillars in front, all which remained for many years after it became an hospital. About the same time he built his villa on the Basin, the ruins of which were to be seen a few years ago. The Rotunda, or band room, still remains. The lands where the buildings stood were the property of Sir John Wentworth, the Governor, to whom he left it on his removal from the garrison. The old Rockingham Inn was his guard house, since burned down.

[Footnote 91: Lately removed.]

In the year 1765 there were two hospitals in the north suburbs, near the beach at the foot of Cornwallis Street, called the Red and Green Hospitals. They were there in 1785. One stood on the site of the present North Country or Keating's Market, the other on property now owned by the heirs of late H. H. Cogswell.

Until the year 1780 the streets of the town were in a very rough condition, and some of them least frequented were impa.s.sable for carriages, from stumps of trees and rocks. As early as 1761, there was a good road to Point Pleasant;--it was a continuation of Water Street, and said to have pa.s.sed through or near the present Lumber Yard grounds, following the sh.o.r.e of the harbor.

In 1764 the people of the north suburbs applied to the Governor and Council to call their settlement Gottingen. The name soon fell into disuse; the main street obtained the name of Brunswick Street, the rear street only retaining that of Gottingen.

The first Government House was erected soon after the town was laid out; the frame and materials were brought from Boston, and the apartments prepared for the reception of the Governor early in October. He held a council there on the 14th of that month. It was a small low building of one story, surrounded by hogsheads of gravel and sand, on which small pieces of ordnance were mounted for its defence. It stood in the centre of the square now occupied by the Province Building. About the year 1757 or '8, this little cottage was removed to give place to a more s.p.a.cious and convenient residence. It was sold and drawn down to the corner of George Street and Bedford Row, opposite the south-west angle of the City Court House, and again, about 1775, removed to the beach and placed at the corner of the street leading to the steam boat landing, where it remained until 1832, when the present building, occupied lately by Thomas Laidlaw, was erected on the site. The new Government House was built during the time of Governor Lawrence. Lord William Campbell built a ball room at one end, and several other improvements were made to the building by subsequent governors. It was surrounded by a terrace neatly sodded and ornamented. The building was of wood, two stories high. The office of Capt. Bulkeley, the Secretary, stood at the north-east angle of the square inside the rails. Prince Edward resided in this house with Governor Wentworth in 1798. This old house was pulled down about the commencement of the present century and the materials sold to Mr. John Trider, Sr., who used them in the construction of the building on the road leading to the tower at the head of Inglis Street, formerly owned by Colonel Bazelgette, and afterwards the residence of the late Mr.

George Whidden.

St. Paul's Church is now, perhaps, the oldest building remaining in Halifax. It was erected at the expense of government in the year 1749, and was esteemed one of the best constructed wooden buildings in America. The oak frame and materials were brought from Boston, and the building was ready for divine service by the autumn of 1750. It received an addition to the north end with a new steeple somewhat similar to the old one in the year 1812. The first sermon was preached in this building by the Rev. Mr. Tutty[92] on 2nd September, 1750. It remained in nearly all respects as at its first erection until certain late alterations have changed its appearance, particularly an addition to the south end from which the fine old altar window, with its Doric pillars and small panes has been removed to make way for a large Gothic window full of painted gla.s.s, altogether incompatible with the architecture of the building itself. The old escutcheons in the galleries have been permitted to remain. The walls below are covered with monuments and tablets recording the deaths of governors, military commanders, who fell during the old American and French wars, and not a few of our leading citizens. The most conspicuous are those of Governors Sir John Wentworth, Wilmot, Lawrence, and Sir John Harvey, Capt. Evans of the s.h.i.+p Charleston, who was killed off the coast of Cape Breton in defence of a convoy against a superior French force, Lord Charles Montague, late Governor of Georgia, who died of fatigue after a journey in winter from Quebec to Halifax by land, the Right Rev. Charles Inglis, first Bishop of Nova Scotia, and his son Dr. John Inglis, third Bishop of the Diocese, Baron De Seitz, who commanded the Hessian troops in the old war, General McLean, the Hon. Richard Bulkeley, Attorney General Uniacke, with a number of others of lesser note. The first organ was purchased, partly by private subscription, during the inc.u.mbency of Dr.

Breynton, about 1765. It was replaced by a new one about 1829, but the old case of Spanish walnut was preserved.[93]

[Footnote 92: Mr. Tutty usually officiated on the parade in the open air until the church was sufficiently advanced to enable him to hold service in it.]

[Footnote 93: This organ has been lately removed to Trinity Chapel, in Jacob Street.]

The old German church of St. George, in Brunswick Street, bears the date 1760 on its spire. It was originally erected by private subscription among the German settlers of the north suburbs in or about the year 1752 or '3. After the removal of the Germans to Lunenburg there were but fifteen families of Germans remaining in the north suburbs. This small congregation, not knowing any English, erected the building on the German burial ground as a school house and chapel. The present steeple was erected in 1760, and the following year the building was dedicated as a church by Dr. Breynton of St. Paul's, after which the congregation followed the forms of the Church of England. Dr. Breynton on that occasion preached in German and in French, after which he addressed the congregation in English. In 1783 Rev. Bernard Houzeal, a Lutheran minister, came to Halifax among the Loyalists from New York and, having been ordained a minister of the Church of England by the Bishop of London, became the minister of St. George's, receiving a stipend from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign parts. He died about the close of the last century, a few years after the present round church, known as St. George's, was erected, and Mr. Gray was appointed to the charge, after which service in the old church was discontinued.

It was then appropriated as a school house. About the year 1833 or '4 it underwent a thorough repair which was superintended by several persons in the parish who were descendants of the original German settlers.

Old St. Matthew's was coeval with the first settlement of Halifax.

Governor Cornwallis a.s.signed a lot at the south-west corner of Prince and Hollis Streets for a dissenting meeting house in 1749. It was built soon after at the expense of government, and was called Mather's Church in compliment to the memory of Dr. Cotton Mather, the celebrated New England Congregationalist divine, by the dissenters then in the town, who were princ.i.p.ally from New England and of that denomination. The Rev.

Aaron Cleveland, from New England, was the first minister who officiated in this building. The Presbyterians from Scotland and the North of Ireland, having become numerous in the town, soon amalgamated with the American dissenters, and gradually obtained exclusive possession of the building, after which it received the appellation of St. Matthew's Church. The late Rev. Mr. Russell, father of the late George N. Russell, of Halifax, officiated there for some time after it became Presbyterian.

Dr. Archibald Gray was the officiating minister there for about twenty years; he was succeeded by Rev. Ebenezer Renny, Rev. Mr. Knox, and finally by Rev. John Scott, the last minister who preached in the old building which was burned in the great fire which destroyed a considerable portion of Hollis Street, on New Year's day, 1859. The lot of land on which it stood was, some years after, sold to Doull & Miller, who erected there a large stone warehouse, which is one of the neatest and most substantial buildings in the city.

The first market house occupied the site of the brick building lately used for the City Courts and offices. It was built soon after the settlement. A balcony ran along the lower side which was used by merchants, etc., as a public promenade. About the commencement of the present century the remains of this old building were removed to make way for the brick edifice. The upper portion of the new building was let as a public coffee house; the large room now used as a City Council Chamber was appropriated for public meetings, festivals, etc., and the south end, above the police office, was occupied for many years as the Exchange or Merchants' Reading Room.

The first court house in Halifax, as before mentioned, stood at the corner of Buckingham and Argyle Streets, where Northup's store and country market stood later. Chief Justice Belcher held his court there in 1755, and the first Representative a.s.sembly held their session there in 1758. It was destroyed by fire about the year 1783. Chief Justice Belcher resided in the old house in Argyle Street to the north of the old Methodist meeting house, formerly owned by the Rev. William Black, Methodist minister. This building, at the time of its removal, was one of the very few old buildings then remaining in the town. It was taken down some years ago and a range of shops and a market house now occupy its site. The old Zoar chapel, the cradle of Methodism in Halifax, has been lately turned into shops.

The stone house at the corner of Prince and Argyle Streets, opposite the south-west angle of St. Paul's Church, was originally built by the Hon.

Richard Bulkeley, the first Provincial Secretary, and was his residence for many years. It was purchased by the Hon. H. H. Cogswell about 1818, and since his death has undergone extensive alterations to render it suitable for a public hotel. It is known as the Carlton House. There is an old house still standing on the western side of Grafton Street, in Letter ----, Forman's Division, which was the residence of William Nesbitt, the Attorney General of Nova Scotia and Speaker of the a.s.sembly, in 1760. After the death of Mr. Nesbitt, towards the end of the last century, it fell to his daughter, Mrs. Swann. This old lady died there nearly 80 years ago and the property was afterwards sold. The street was cut down about 50 years since and a story or breast work was erected on the street under this little old cottage which may yet be seen projecting from the main building, presenting the appearance of a balcony. The residence of Richard Gibbons, formerly Attorney General, stood at the corner of Buckingham and Grafton Streets, formerly known as George Isles' corner; it was lately taken down and replaced by a range of brick buildings now owned by Mr. Maloney. This was also one of the remnants of the first settlement of the town. The building at the corner of Barrington and Sackville Streets, formerly occupied as the Halifax Grammar School, is also a very old building. The House of a.s.sembly held its sittings there in 1765, perhaps earlier. After the court house was burned down the Supreme Court met there for several years. It was also used at one time for a guard house. It was devoted to the purpose of a school on the establishment of the Halifax Grammar School in 1785.

Houses of entertainment were numerous and well kept at an early period.

The Great Pontack was a large three-story building, erected by the Hon.

John Butler, uncle to the late John Butler Dight, previous to 1757, at the corner of Duke and Water Streets, afterwards known as Michael Bennett's corner, now Cunningham's corner. It was the princ.i.p.al hotel in 1764. In 1769 it was kept by John Willis. The town a.s.semblies and other public entertainments were held at the Pontack in 1758.[94]

[Footnote 94: Among the annual festivals of the old times, now lost sight of, was the celebration of St. Aspinquid's Day, known as the Indian Saint. St. Aspinquid appeared in the Nova Scotia almanacks from 1774 to 1786. The festival was celebrated on or immediately after the last quarter of the moon in the month of May. The tide being low at that time, many of the princ.i.p.al inhabitants of the town, on these occasions, a.s.sembled on the sh.o.r.e of the North West Arm and partook of a dish of clam soup, the clams being collected on the spot at low water. There is a tradition that during the American troubles when agents of the revolted colonies were active to gain over the good people of Halifax, in the year 1786, were celebrating St. Aspinquid, the wine having been circulated freely, the Union Jack was suddenly hauled down and replaced by the Stars and Stripes. This was soon reversed, but all those persons who held public offices immediately left the grounds, and St. Aspinquid was never after celebrated at Halifax.]

The Crown Coffee House, frequented by country people, was kept by William Fury in 1769 on the beach near the Dockyard. Jerusalem Coffee House occupied the northern extremity of the block near the Ordnance Yard, opposite Collins' wharf, between Hollis Street and Collins' stone stores. It was built by the Hon. Thomas Saul as a private residence about 1753 and afterwards occupied by the Hon. Alexander Brymer; some of the rooms were highly finished and ornamented with carved work, and the whole establishment was on a scale beyond any other private residence in the place. It was let out for a coffee house about 1789, or perhaps earlier. This old building was destroyed by fire in 1837. The present stone store known as the Jerusalem Warehouse occupies the site of the old mansion.

Public Gardens were much in fas.h.i.+on between 1753 and '80. Adlam's garden was an extensive enclosure south of the Citadel, near the present Artillery Park and south barracks. It was opened to the public, contained a pavilion and a great variety of fruit trees and shrubs. The Artillery Park was then kept on the Grand Parade; the Artillery Barracks stood in a line with the late engine house; the Parade was not levelled at that time; a foot path from George Street pa.s.sed through the centre, and the descent at the north-east corner was very abrupt.[95] Spring Garden was another place of public resort in 1768. At this time there was a Provincial Gardener, who received an allowance of 32 10s. per annum.[96] About 1764, Mr. Joseph Gerrish, of His Majesty's Dockyard, laid out an extensive garden in the north suburbs and imported fruit trees at great expense. This was a private enclosure, extending from Lockman Street to the beach, south of the Dockyard; his dwelling house stood in the centre and faced the harbor. Part of the old wall, a year or two since, was to be seen in Lockman Street. The old Governor's gardens, west of the English burying ground, were well kept up for about 30 years. There was a large summer house in the centre.

[Footnote 95: Whether there was a pa.s.sage for carriages across the Parade does not appear; probably not, as it was used for a public parade ground in 1749.]

[Footnote 96: Probably employed at the Governor's gardens.]

Mr. Grant, the victualling agent, had a large fruit garden south of Government House, where St. Matthew's Manse now stands, extending from Hollis to Pleasant Streets. It was surrounded by a stone wall.

Ornamental trees were, at an early period, very numerous in the suburbs, particularly in the south, and tended much to the beauty and comfort of the town. The poplar trees which stood in front of the residence of the late James Kerby and others, in Brunswick Street, and the willows on the eastern side of the street, near the round church, are within the recollection of many of the old inhabitants. The fine old willow trees which occupied both sides of Argyle Street near the residence of the late Attorney General Uniacke, those at the south end of Hollis Street, near the Lumber Yard, and those around St. Paul's Church, are also still within the recollection of many. These trees were all cut down by the Commissioners of Streets in 1829 and 1830, because they grew on the side paths and were therefore deemed an encroachment on the public highway.

Halifax was thus denuded of its shady walks by the gentlemen of taste who const.i.tuted the Commissioners of Streets at that period. Within the last few years several attempts have been made to re-produce trees on the sidewalks, but with partial success, there being no protection afforded to them by the city authorities.

Before the year 1760, the houses were generally built of square and round timber, some with small pickets placed upright between the stubs of the frame, and the whole covered over with clap boards; they were usually of one story with a hipped roof, the shops and half doors with no gla.s.s, swinging signs, and wooden shutters opening downwards, on which goods were exposed for sale. Several of these old houses were in existence in 1850, windows and doors being altered.

In 1768 and '77, there were lamp posts at all the princ.i.p.al corners, the town being then lighted at the public expense.