The Chignecto Isthmus and its first settlers Part 16

"The journal was begun in October, 1800, when Josiah Wood was twenty- four years old. He and his mother, after visiting in Canard, appear to have made their home for the time being in Newport, N.S., where in the cloth mill of Alexander Lockhart Josiah found employment. The young man seems to have had all the business ac.u.men and habits of industry that distinguish his posterity. When work in the mill was slack he taught school, beginning with four scholars. Evening amus.e.m.e.nts consisted of husking parties, etc., where Mr. Wood contributed to the festivities by flute playing and songs. His idea of a vacation was taking a load of cabbages to sell in Windsor, where his sole extravagance was buying a bandana handkerchief.

"Mrs. Wood filled in her time, though hardly profitably, by having smallpox. This dread disease did not seem to cause any dismay in those days. The neighbors came and went with kindly ministrations to the sick woman, and the son pursued his work in the mill, quite unconscious that according to modern science he was weaving the death-producing microbe into every yard of cloth.

"In February, 1801, Mrs. Wood and Josiah went to Halifax, where they put up the sign 'The Bunch of Grapes.' The diary speaks of their visiting 'Mr. Robie, Mr. Blowers, the Chief Justice and the governor,'

with regard to their land, but to no purpose, their claim being considered invalid.

"In the fall of the same year they returned to Dorchester, where Josiah not long after married Miss Ayre. He died in his early thirties, leaving two young children, Mariner and Ann. The widow married Philip Palmer and afterwards went to live in Sackville, N.B. They had eight children, Martin, who settled in Hopewell Cape; Dr. Rufus Palmer, of Albert; Stephen Palmer, of Dorchester; Charles Jabez, and the Misses Palmer, of Sackville, and Judge Palmer, of St. John.

"Miss Ann Wood went to live with her grandmother at Fort Lawrence, while Mariner continued with his stepfather, commencing business in a small way on his own account at an early age. He purchased in course of time the property adjoining Mr. Palmer's, in Sackville, where he built a store and dwelling which is known as "The Farm," and continued his ever growing business at the same stand till his death, in 1875. In 1871 the firm a.s.sumed its present name of M. Wood & Sons.

"During his genealogical research Senator Wood has found relatives whom his branch of the family had lost sight of for a century. The Senator's grandfather had a brother, Charles Thompson Wood, born at Lebanon, Conn., October, 1779. He married Elizabeth Tracy, and pursued the trade of hatter in Norwich, Conn. He died in 1807, leaving two children, Charles Joseph and Rachel Tracey, both of whom married and in 1830 moved to Kinsman, Ohio.

"The children of this Charles J. Wood are living at Kinsman, and Senator Wood visited his long lost relatives this autumn. The pleasure was mutual, and while the Senator would tell of many years' patient seeking for his father's kindred, they related the story which had been told them by their father of his uncle, who had gone to the wilds of Canada and never been heard of more."--MISS COGSWELL IN ST. JOHN DAILY SUN.

McLEOD.

Alexander McLeod was born on board s.h.i.+p in Dublin harbor, the 11th December, 1773. His father belonged to the 42nd highlanders, a regiment then on its way to augment the British force in America. This regiment was on active service during the American Revolutionary war, and at its close was disbanded and grants of land in the Maritime Provinces distributed among its members. The greater number of these grants were on the Nashwaak River, in New Brunswick. Alexander McQueen, an officer in the same regiment, grandfather of Alexander McQueen, of Shediac, and great-grandfather of Sheriff McQueen, of Westmoreland, settled in Pictou County, N.S.

Mr. McLeod settled on the Nashwaak, and lived there the remainder of his life. Alexander, his son, went to Sheffield in 1796, and began a mercantile business. He married Elizabeth Barker, of that place. In 1806 he removed to the city of St. John, where for some years he conducted business on a scale large for the times, and was very successful. He was a Methodist local preacher, and in 1829 started a literary and religious journal, which enjoyed, like most of its successors in that city, but a brief existence. Mr. McLeod's family numbered six--Roderick, the youngest, died in infancy; Annie, the eldest, was a teacher and never married; Sarah married James Robertson; Margaret married Rev. Albert Desbrisay, who was for some years chaplain of the old Sackville Academy; Wesley was twice married, first in 1836, to Amy Trueman, who died, leaving one daughter; and again, in 1840, to Seraphina Trueman.

Wesley McLeod was a persistent reader, a good conversationalist, and a most interesting man to meet. He was a bank accountant, and the last forty years of his life were spent in the United States. His home was in Newark, N.J., where his widow and three daughters still live.

Mr. McLeod never lost his love for the old flag for which his grandfather fought, and although so many years of his life were spent in the United States, where he always took a great interest in all public questions, he never became a naturalized citizen of the Republic. He lived to be eighty-five years of age. Robert Trueman McLeod, of Dunvegan, Point de Bute, is a son of Wesley McLeod.

Alexander first married Sarah Trueman, of Point de Bute, by whom he had five children. His second wife was Georgina Hultz, of Baltimore, U.S.

Robert, the youngest son of the first family, was in the Confederate Army in 1860, and lost an arm at Fort Sumter. He afterwards graduated with honors from Harvard and died in Europe while travelling for the benefit of his health.

Alexander McLeod was a Methodist preacher, and a Doctor of Divinity when that t.i.tle was not so common as it is now. He was one of the editors of the PROVINCIAL WESLEYAN. Like his brother Wesley, the last years of his life were spent in the United States, where both he and his wife were engaged in literary work.

The following extract is taken from a letter written by a member of the McLeod family in reply to one asking for information:

"Your letter was received a couple of days ago and I would gladly send you all the information we have, but the most of it is so vague that it is quite unsatisfactory for your purpose. Of course we all know very positively that the McLeods sprang from the best and most honorable clan of old Scotland. We have improved some in manners, for we no longer drive our foes into caves, and smoke them to death. (We only wish we could.) We no longer brag that we were not beholden to Noah, but had boats of our own--that would relate us too nearly to Lillith-- but still we are proud of our ancestors."

AVARD.

Joseph Avard was born in the town of St. Austle, Cornwall, England, in 1761. At twelve years of age he was apprenticed to a clockmaker, with whom he remained eight years. He married Frances Ivey, in 1782.

Mr. Avard was appointed a cla.s.s-leader, and for seven years never failed to be present at the regular meeting of its members. He was intimately acquainted with Mr. Wesley, and attended his funeral, at which there was said to be thirty thousand people present. He also heard Charles Wesley preach his last sermon.

In 1789 Mr. Avard was one of nine charter members of the Strangers'

Friend Society, organized by Dr. Adam Clark. The object of the Society was the relief of distressed families in the town of Bristol where Mr. Avard lived. He was made a local preacher in 1790. For a short time he lived in London, and a daughter was buried in the City Road burying- ground. In 1806 Mr. Avard emigrated to Prince Edward Island, landing at Charlottetown on May 15th, where he remained until 1813. In the fall of that year he left Charlottetown, with the intention of going to Windsor, N.S., but on reaching Bay Verte he decided to stay the winter in New Brunswick. A part of the time was spent in Fort Lawrence, and in the spring he removed to Sackville, where he made his home until near the close of life. He died at his son's home, in Jolicure, in his eighty-seventh year.

Of the three children that came with Joseph Avard to America, Elizabeth married John Boyer, of Charlottetown; Adam Clark entered the ministry, and died in Fredericton, in 1821; Joseph was educated in Bristol, England, and soon after his arrival in America found his way to Chignecto and taught school several years in Point de Bute. In 1813 he married Margaret Wells, daughter of William Wells, of Point de Bute.

They had a family of seven sons and four daughters, four of whom are still living-John, William and Charles, of Shemogue, N.B., and Mrs. McQueen, of Point de Bute. William married Eliza Trueman.

Joseph Avard, jun., was man of strong character, and when he set his will to do a piece of work he was generally successful. He settled first in Jolicure, where he conducted a farming and mercantile business. He subsequently bought a large tract of land in Shemogue, N.B., and for many years he was farmer, s.h.i.+p-builder and merchant in that locality, where he spent the last thirty years of his life.

In 1838, while on a business trip to River Philip, Mr. Avard was greatly shocked, as were the public in general, with the report that an entire family had been murdered in the vicinity, and that the man, Maurice Doyle, who was suspected of the crime, had escaped and was on his way to the United States, his aim being to get to St. John and take s.h.i.+pping there. As Doyle was known to be a desperate character, no one seemed willing "to run him down." As soon as Mr. Avard knew the state of affairs he at once volunteered to undertake the work. In the meantime Doyle had got a good start. At Amherst Head he hired a farmer, George Glendenning, to take him to the Four Corners, Sackville.

Mrs. Glendenning was suspicious of the man, and advised her husband to have nothing to do with him, but Mr. Glendenning laughed at her fears.

The dog, however, seemed to share his mistress's suspicions, and what was very unusual, determined to see his master through with the business. In spite of every effort the dog could not be turned back from following the chaise. Afterward, when Mr. Glendenning learned the character of the man, he believed the dog had saved his life, for in crossing the Sackville marsh, several miles from any house, Doyle asked him if the dog would protect him if he were attacked.

Mr. Avard always drove a good horse, and by changing horses and driving night and day he overtook and captured the fugitive at Suss.e.x. At one place in the chase he prevented the man from getting on board the stage, but could not arrest him. When he finally apprehended the fugitive, he brought him back in his chaise and delivered him to the authorities in Amherst, where he subsequently paid the penalty of his crime on the scaffold. The doc.u.ments following, as will be seen, refer to this piece of early history:

"PROVINCIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE, "HALIFAX, 10TH JULY, 1838.

"SIR,--It appearing by the report of the Local Authorities at Amherst that the prompt arrest of the supposed perpetrator of the atrocious murders recently committed in the County of c.u.mberland is mainly attributable to your zealous exertions, I have it in command to request you to believe that His Excellency the Lieut.-Governor and H. M. Council highly appreciate the important services which, at much personal risk, you rendered in pursuing, for upwards of 100 miles, and apprehending the Prisoner; and it is my pleasing duty to request you to accept of the best thanks of His Excellency and the Council for your admirable conduct on that occasion. I have the honor to be

"Sir, "Your most obedient "Humble Servant, "RUPERT D. GEORGE.

"JOSEPH AVARD, Esq., J.P., "Westmoreland."

Mr. Avard's reply.

"WESTMORELAND CO., WESTMORELAND, "N.B., July 18th, 1838.

"SIR,--I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 10th instant conveying to me in a most gratifying manner the approbation of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor and Her Majesty's Council of my conduct in pursuing and apprehending Doyle, the supposed perpetrator of the murder in the County of c.u.mberland, and beg leave through you to acquaint His Excellency and Her Majesty's Council that were it possible for me to possess any stronger sense of my duty (as a magistrate) to Her Majesty and the Government than I formerly felt, I must do so from the very handsome manner in which they have been pleased to appreciate and acknowledge my services on that occasion.

"I have the honor to be "Your obedient "Humble Servant, "JOSEPH AVARD.

"THE HONORABLE "RUPERT D. GEORGE, "Provincial Secretary, Halifax, N.S."

DIXON.

Charles Dixon was one of the first of the Yorks.h.i.+re settlers to arrive in Nova Scotia. He sailed from Liverpool on the 16th March, on board the DUKE OF YORK, and after a voyage of six weeks and four days arrived safely at the port of Halifax. Mr. Dixon says of himself: "I, Charles Dixon, was born March 8th, old style, in the year 1730, at Kirleavington, near Yarm, in the east riding of Yorks.h.i.+re, in Old England. I was brought up to the bricklayer's trade with my father until I was about nineteen years of age, and followed that calling till the twenty-ninth year of my age. I then engaged in a paper manufactory at Hutton Rudby, and followed that business for the s.p.a.ce of about twelve years with success. At the age of thirty-one I married Susanna Coates, by whom have had one son and four daughters." Three more children were added to Mr. Dixon's family, and in 1891 his descendants in America numbered 2,807, of whom 2,067 were living and 740 had died.

Charles Dixon settled in Sackville, N.B., and very soon became one of the leading men in that community. He was a zealous Methodist; his biographer says: "His house was a home for the early Methodist preachers, to whom he always gave a warm and hearty welcome." Mr. Dixon was one of the members who took an active part in the erection of the first Methodist church in Sackville, while he and his neighbor, William Cornforth, whose land adjoined, jointly set apart about four acres of land for a Methodist parsonage. One of the latest of his efforts at writing contained instructions to his executors to sell certain articles of his personal property to a.s.sist in furnis.h.i.+ng the Methodist parsonage.

There are not many of the Dixon name now living in Sackville. The boys of the families have had a tendency to seek wider fields for the exercise of their energies. The late James Dixon, of Sackville, the historian of the family, was a man of strong character and more than ordinary ability.

William Coates Dixon married Mary J. Trueman in 1841, and resided in Sackville until the death of Mrs. Dixon, which took place in 1844.

Subsequently he married Harriet E. Arnold and settled on a farm at Maidstone, Ess.e.x County, Ontario. James Dixon, in his "History of the Dixons," published in 1892, says of William Dixon: "He is still active and vigorous, capable of much physical exertion, and has an excellent memory, is a diligent reader, with a decided preference for poetical works, and employs some of his leisure hours in writing poetic effusions, a talent which only developed itself when its possessor had nearly reached his three score years and ten." We have not heard that Mr. Dixon has lost any of his vigor since the above was written, and understand he expects to round out the hundred.

PRESCOTT.

The Prescotts were originally from Lancas.h.i.+re, and descended from Sir James Prescott, of Derby, in Lincolns.h.i.+re. John and his wife, Mary, came from England to Boston in the year 1640. Jonathan Prescott, their great-grandson, was a surgeon and captain of engineers at the siege of Louisbourg, in 1745. After the fall of Louisbourg he retired from the army and settled in Nova Scotia. He did a mercantile business in Halifax, and owned property in Chester and Lunenburg, where he built mills. "The Indians twice burnt his house in Lunenburg County.'

Mr. Prescott died in Chester, in 1806, and his widow in Halifax, in 1810. His son, Hon. Charles Ramage Prescott, was a prominent merchant of Halifax, but on account of failing health and to get rid of the fog moved to King's County, N.S. He lived for years at Town Plot, where his beautiful place, called "Acadia Villa," was situated. He was twice married. His first wife was Hannah Widden. The late Charles T.

Prescott, of Bay Verte, was his youngest son by his second wife, Maria Hammill. Mr. Charles Prescott married Matilda E. Madden, April 30.

William, Robert and Joseph, of Bay Verte, are sons of Charles T.

Prescott. William married Mary Trueman, of Point de Bute.

PRINCE*

[FOOTNOTE: *Rev. John Prince was a respected minister of the Methodist Church. He joined the Church in Point de Bute and commenced his ministry there. END OF FOOTNOTE]

"Moncton, March 9th, 1899.

"Dear Mr. Trueman:

"I have just received your card requesting information respecting my family. In answer I may say that my late father was a native of North Yarmouth, near the city of Portland, United States. He emigrated to this country in the year 1813, located in Moncton, and was engaged in mercantile pursuits until the time of his death in 1851, paying one hundred cents on the dollar. After taking the oath of allegiance he was appointed a magistrate, the duties of which he discharged with great fidelity until the time of his removal from earth.