The Chignecto Isthmus and its first settlers Part 17

"My father was a sincere Christian and a deacon in the Baptist Church, and died much lamented. His family consisted of twelve children, six sons and six daughters. May, the eldest, married a Mr. Gallagher and had several children, most of whom are dead. Emily, second daughter, married Mr. John Newcomb, father of the distinguished astronomer, Prof. Newcomb, of world-wide reputation. Joseph married Miss Harris.

Harriet married Mr. Thos. Trueman. William has been an accountant in the railway offices of this city. John's wife was Miss Embree, of Amherst, and his second wife is Mrs. Cynthia, formerly Mrs. Mariner Wood. James resided in St. John; George and Henry, both dead. George never married; Henry resided in Truro at the time of his death and married to Miss Raine, daughter of Capt. Raine, a retired naval officer. Rebecca, Sarah and Ruth never married.

"As a family we were all as well educated as the circ.u.mstances would admit. My father's people in the United States were nearly all Congregationalists, and my great-grandfather Prince was a minister of that body. He was pastor of a church in Newburyport, and is buried in a vault under his pulpit. A few years ago I visited that place, partly to see the church, which was built by my great-grandfather. When Sabbath morning came I went to the church; reached it just a little after the minister in charge had commenced the service. Seeing that I was a stranger, with somewhat of a clerical appearance, he came out of the pulpit to the pew where I was sitting, and said, among other things, 'We are going to have the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper to-day, and I would be glad to have you stay and a.s.sist,' which I did. At the close of the service I remarked to the minister that I was very much interested in being present, as I was informed that the remains of my ancestor were in the vault under the pulpit, and that I was his great- grandson. He seemed much surprised and announced the fact to the congregation, and further said that I would preach in the afternoon, which I did. He then directed the s.e.xton to show me down into the vault. In this vault there were the remains of three ministers in their separate coffins. One was a coffin containing the remains of the immortal Whitfield. In the coffin just opposite was the remains of the Rev. Joseph Prince, and in another the remains of another former pastor of the church, Rev. Mr. Parsons. I certainly was very much impressed by my surroundings, for it was a scene the like of which I never hoped to look upon again. This vault, I was told, had been visited by thousands, who came to look upon George Whitfield's bones, for there was nothing but bones. Whitfield died a very short distance from the church, and the window of the house where he breathed his last was pointed out to me. I remember with what strange feelings I lad my hand on the shade of my ancestor. This man had twelve sons, and there was one thing about them the pastor said he knew, and that was 'that they were all Princes.'

"We can trace our ancestry back three hundred years, and the head of the family was Rev. John Prince, Rector of a parish in Berks.h.i.+re, Eng.

I have a photograph of the stone church where he ministered. His sons were Nonconformists, and John Prince, the first to come to this country, was persecuted and driven out of his country by the cruelty of Archbishop Laud..

"Yours very truly,

"JOHN PRINCE."

CHAPMAN.

William Chapman was one of the Yorks.h.i.+re emigrants that came to Nova Scotia in the spring of 1775. He brought with him his wife and family of eight children, four sons and four daughters. He purchased a large block of land near Point de Bute corner, with the marsh adjoining, and on this property at once settled.

William Chapman was one of the early Methodists, and it was in 1788, on an acre of land given by Mr. Chapman, and deeded to John Wesley, that the first Methodist church was built in Point de Bute. Later, Joseph Chapman, Esq., a grandson of William, gave an additional piece of land, and the whole at the present time comprises the cemetery at Point de Bute.

The following letter from James Chapman, in Yorks.h.i.+re, to William Trueman, at Prospect, will perhaps be interesting to some of the descendants. It was written in 1789:

"Dear Friends,--What shall I say to you? How shall I be thankful enough for that I have once more heard of my dear old friends in Nova Scotia. When John Trueman let me see your letter it caused tears of grat.i.tude to flow from my eyes, to hear that you were all alive, but much more that I had reason to believe that you were on the road to Zion, with your faces thitherward. I am also thankful that I can tell you that I and my wife and ten children are yet alive, and I hope in good health, and I hope most of us are, though no earnestly pressing, yet we are feebly creeping towards the mark for the prize of our high calling of G.o.d in Christ Jesus. My son, Thomas, now lives at Hawnby, and follows shoemaking; he is not married, nor any of my sons. I have three daughters, Ann, Mary and Hannah. Ann succeeds her uncle and aunt, for they are both dead. Mary and her husband live on a little farm at Brompton, and Hannah at Helmsley. My son James is in the Excise at London. William and John are with me at home and George has learned the business of Cabinet maker. Prudence keeps a farmer's house in Cleaveland and Betty is at home and she is Taller than her mother.

Thanks be to G.o.d both I and my wife enjoy a tolerable share of health and can both work and sleep tolerably well. ________ died about last Candlemas, which has made the society at Hawnby almost vacant for a cla.s.s leader, but I go as often as I can and your friend, Benjamin Wedgewood, speaks to them when I am not there. Tho most of the old methodists at Hawnby are gone to Eternity, yet there is about thirty yet. James Hewgill is married and both him and his wife are joined in the society. There us preaching settled at Swainby and I believe a yearnest Society of aboyt Seventeen members. I often go there on Sundays to preach. There has just been a Confirence at Leeds and good old Mr. Wesley was there among them, very healthy and strong, though 86 years of age. At our Hawnby Love Feast I had Mr. Swinburn and his wife 2 nights at my house. They seem to be people who have religion truly at heart and both earnestly desired me to remember them Both to you in kind love and also to all their religious friends. I saw Nelly very lately at her house in North Allerton. She desires you all to pray for her, which she does for you all. My dear friends what Shall I say more to you, But only desire you to continue in the good ways of G.o.d, and never grow weary or faint in your minds, and then we hope to meet you in heaven. Pray give our kind loves to our old friends, your father and mother, and tell your Father when I see my Tooth drawers then I think of him, for he made them. My dear friends, farewell, our and our Family's kind love to you and all your Family, and also all the Chapman Familys, James and Ann Chapman. Mary Flintoff and Sara Bently are Both alive and remains at their old Habitations, But Mary never goes to the meetings. Their children are all alive, But Sarah Flintoff and she died at York about three or four years Since. James Flintoft is with his unkle George Cossins at London."

The Chapmans were very fond of military life, and in the old muster, days took an active interest in the general muster. As a consequence there was usually a colonel, a major, an adjutant or a captain in every neighborhood where the name was found.

A story is told of Captain Henry Chapman, on his way to general muster, meeting a man with a loaded team, whose hope was to get clear of mustering that day on the plea that he had not been long enough in the district. The captain ascertained the man's views on the matter, and then with an emphasis that indicated he was in earnest, he said, "If you are not on the muster field by one o'clock I will have you fined to the full extent of the law." One who witnessed this interview said it was laughable to see the frightened look on the man's face, and the rush he made to unhitch the team and get away to the muster field within the time stated. This same Captain Chapman was one of the kindest of men, but duty to Queen and country must not be neglected.

There was, too, a good deal of the sporting instinct in the family. A horse race or a fox hunt appealed to something in their nature that stirred the pulse like wine and furnished material for conversation on many a day afterward.

Like a good many of the first generation born in this country, the Chapmans were men of grand physique. The five sons of Colonel Henry Chapman, of Point de Bute, each measured six feet or over, and were finely proportioned. Two of the sons, Joseph and Stephen, were among the volunteers in the war of 1812, and they both lived to pa.s.s the four-score mark.

The children of the first Wm. Chapman were: William, who married a Miss Dixon, of Sackville, and settled in Fort Lawrence on a part of the old Eddy grant; and Thomas, who married Miss Kane, formerly a school teacher, from New England. They settled beside William. John married Sarah Black, of Amherst, and settled in Dorchester. Henry married Miss Seaman, of Wallace, and remained on the farm at Point de Bute.

Mary married George Taylor, Memramcook. Jane married John Smith, of Fort Lawrence, and was the mother of nine strapping boys, all of whom proved good men for the country. Sally married Richard Black, of Amherst. They settled first at River Philip, but later came back to Amherst and lived on the farm his father first purchased in c.u.mberland.

Nancy was twice married--first to Thomas Robinson, and after his death to James Roberts. Her home was in Amherst.

James Dixon, in his "History of the Dixons," says he thinks the descendants of William and Mary Chapman now number more than the descendants of any of the other Yorks.h.i.+re families. Rev. Douglas Chapman, D.D., Rev. Eugene Chapman, Rev. Carritte Chapman, Rev. W. Y.

Chapman, and Ephraim Chapman, barrister, are of this family.

The late Albert Chapman, of Boston, U.S., was very much interested in looking up family history, and spent a good deal of time in gathering information about the Chapman family. The following letters and extracts which were received by him some years before he died may add interest to this sketch:

"13 CHIPPING HOUSE ROAD, "SHARROW, SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND, "Jan. 15th, 1881.

"MR. CHAPMAN,

"SIR,--You will no doubt be surprised to receive a letter from an unknown relative.

"We were much pleased to learn you had made enquiries about the Chapman family after so long a silence. We often heard father speak of uncle who left Hawnby Hall for America and could not get any letter answered.

Most of the Chapman family have pa.s.sed away since he left. We have the four grandchildren left belonging to Thomas Chapman, brother to your grandfather. The grandfather has been dead eighty years, and our father has been dead forty-five years.

"We should be glad to see you or any of the Chapman family if you could take a tour and see the place where your ancestors lived. The house and farm are still in the family and should be glad to accommodate you if you could come over, and we shall be glad to hear all the news about the family who lived and died in America.

"With best wishes to you and your,

"I remain yours, "MARY WALTON."

Extract from a letter from Thos. J. Wilkinson to A. Chapman, Boston:

"YORK UNION BANK, "THIRSK, YORKs.h.i.+RE.

"I have visited Hawnby a few times; it is most romantically situated about ten miles from Thirsk, rather difficult of access on account of the steep ascents which have to be climbed and precipitously descended before it can be reached.

"As I am acquainted with the clergyman who has been there many years, the Rev. O. A. Manners (connected with the Duke of Rutland's family) I wrote him and received the following letter:

"April 2nd, 1880.

"DEAR SIR,

"I have examined the register and found frequent mention of the name of Chapman of Hawnby Hall, viz., 'March 22, 1761--John, son of William Chapman, Hawnby Hall, baptized. Feb. 3, 1763--Thomas Chapman, of the Hall, died aged 75 years.'

"It would seem that the foregoing William Chapman was the son of Thomas Chapman and the man who landed in Halifax in 1775.

"About the latter date a family by the name of Barr came to reside at the Hall.

"James Cornforth of this place, who is in his 80th year, is related to this family. The said William Chapman being his great-uncle (maternal).

"The Hall is now, and has been for many years, a farm house.

"_O._ _ A._ MANNERS."

The following names appear in the directory among the residents of Billsdale:

Joseph Chapman, Farmer Robert Chapman, Farmer Robert Chapman, Shoemaker Robert Strickland Chapman, Farmer Garbuth Chapman, Farmer, Dale Town.

CARTER.

John Carter (the first) came from Yorks.h.i.+re to Nova Scotia in 1774. His wife was Jane Thompson. They settled near Fort c.u.mberland, and had a family of three sons, Thomas, Christopher and John. Thomas married Miss Siddall and settled first at Westc.o.c.k, Sackville Parish, but afterwards moved to Dorchester. Christopher married a Miss Roberts and settled at Westmoreland Point, near his father. John married Miss Anne Lowerison and remained on the homestead. The three brothers all had large families, the boys outnumbering the girls, which is the reason, no doubt, that the Carter name is more in evidence in the district than any other Yorks.h.i.+re name.

John Carter's descendants still own the farm their great-grandfather first purchased in Nova Scotia. John Carter, sen., was drowned while fording the Missiquash River while on his way home from Amherst. His widow afterward became the second wife of William Chapman, of Point de Bute. Mr. Carter and his sons were honest men, and the name still stands well for fair dealing. Inspector Carter, of St. John, N.B.; Herbert Carter, M.D., of Port Elgin, N.B.; t.i.tus Carter, barrister, of Fredericton, N.S., and Councillor Carter of Salisbury, N.B., are members of this family.

TRENHOLM.

There were three Trenholm brothers in the Yorks.h.i.+re contingent, Matthew, Edward, and John. Matthew settled at Windsor, Edward at River Francis, in the Upper Provinces, and John at Point de Bute on the Inverma Farm. This farm was probably confiscated to the Crown after Sheriff Allan left the country.

Just where Mr. Trenholm lived before he got possession of Inverma I have no information, but as Sheriff Allan had several tenants, it is quite probable that Mr. Trenholm was one of them. John Trenholm's wife was a Miss Coates. They had three sons--John, William, and Robert--and three daughters.

John married a Miss Foster and settled on a Brook farm at Point de Bute Corner and afterwards built a mill on the Brook. His grandson, Abijah, now owns this part of the property and turns out flour at the old stand. William married a Miss Ryan and owned a large farm in Point de Bute, on the north-west side of the ridge. Robert settled at Cape Tormentine in 1810, and the following table shows the names of his children and grandchildren:

Children. Grandchildren. Children. Grandchildren.

Stephen 11 Abner 6 John 5 Job 10 Hannah 10 Ruth 12 William 10 Thomas 10 Phoebe 11 Jane 8 Robert 10 Benjamin 9