The Chignecto Isthmus and its first settlers Part 2

Henry King. Joshua Best.

Jonathan Cole. Elieu Gardner.

Jonathan Eddy. William Huston.

Alex. Huston. Simeon Charters.

Thomas Proctor. Brook Watson.

William Allan. Jonathan Gay.

Daniel Gooden. Martin Peck.

Ebenezer Storer. John Walker.

Benine Danks. Henry M. Bonnell.

John Allan. Amos Fuller.

Charles Oulton. Samuel Gay.

David ----------. a.s.sell Danks.

Daniel Earl. Isaac Danks.

Anthony Burk. Ebenezer ----------.

John Fillmore. Robert Watson.

Samuel Raymond. William Welch.

John Collins. William Sutherland.

Thomas Clews. Nehemiah Ward.

Abel Richardson. Joseph Ayer.

Winkworth Allen. William Milburn.

Liffy Chappell. George Allen.

The Glebe. Jabez Chappell.

The School. The Presbyterian Minister

Col. Joseph Morse was a native of Delham, Ma.s.s., and took an active part in the Seven Years' War. He lost heavily in the expedition against Oswego. In crossing the Atlantic he was captured by the French, and obtained a good taste of the quality of French dungeons in which his health became shattered. He was exchanged, after which he visited London and received many marks of personal favor at the hands of George II, amongst these a pension, and tracts of land in Virginia and Nova Scotia. His last days were spent in Fort Lawrence, where he settled after the expulsion of the French. He left one son, Alpheus, and a daughter, Olive. The former married Theodora, a sister of Col. Jonathan Crane the father of Hon. Wm. Crane; the latter married Col. Wm. Eddy, of Revolutionary fame, who was afterwards killed in the British attack on Machais, and the Fort Lawrence property inherited by his wife was escheated to the Crown. After Alpheus Morse's death his widow married Major How, an officer in Eddy's command. Upon the failure of the rebellion, Mrs. How and Mrs. Eddy fled to the United States. Alpheus Morse's sons were Alpheus, James, Joseph, Silas, and John. The two first lived in c.u.mberland, where their descendants are still found.

Judge Morse and Dr. Morse, of Amherst, are sons of James. Joseph emigrated to Ohio, where his descendants now live. Silas married a sister of Judge Alexander Stewart, C.B. Among his descendants are Sir Charles Tupper's family, Rev. Richards (sic) Simmonds' family, and Charles Fullerton, K.C. John Morse married a daughter of Sheriff Charles Chandler, the father of Lieutenant-Governor Chandler. Among his descendants are the family of the late Judge Morse of Dalhousie, and the C. Milner family of Sackville. A daughter of Alpheus Morse married Judge Stewart. Among his descendants are Judge Townsend of Halifax, and Senator d.i.c.key's family of Amherst.

There were three Ayers--Elijah, Obediah and Joseph--who came with the emigration of 1763 and settled in Sackville. Obediah joined the Eddy rebels in 1776, and was made a commodore by the Continental Congress after he left c.u.mberland. The Ayers in Sackville are descendants of these grantees.

Josiah Throop was an engineer in the British army. He surveyed the towns.h.i.+p of c.u.mberland, and Throop's plan is still referred to. His grant was in Upper Point de Bute, where some of his descendants still live. He represented the towns.h.i.+p in the Halifax a.s.sembly in 1765.

There were three Hustons--John, William and Alexander. They lived near Fort c.u.mberland. The name occurs still in the county of c.u.mberland.

Joshua Winslow, as we have stated, was the first representative sent from c.u.mberland to the Legislature at Halifax, and was a member of the Winslow family, so distinguished in colonial history. He was engaged at Chignecto with Capt. Huston, in the commissary business. The latter in one of his trips to Boston picked up a waif in the person of Brook Watson, a young man who had had one of his legs bitten off by a shark in West-Indian waters. Watson was trained under Winslow, and the foundation of his success was hereby laid. General Joshua was Commissary-General of the British in Nova Scotia. He left Fort c.u.mberland in 1783. He was paymaster of the troops in Quebec in 1791 and died there ten years later. A grandson of his, a Mr. Trott, lives at Niagara Falls in a fine old colonial mansion full of treasures of the Colonial period, with many relics and personal effects of General Winslow.

The Bents were from New England. There were two brothers, John and Jesse. John settled in Amherst and Jesse in Fort Lawrence. There are a large number of their descendants in the country.

Gamaliel Smethurst represented the county of c.u.mberland at Halifax, in 1770. He returned to England and published a book in London, in 1774, describing a voyage from Nepisiquit to c.u.mberland. None of this name, so far as we know, now reside in the country.

Sennacherib Martyn was a captain in Winslow's expedition to capture Fort Beausejour. He brought with him to Westmoreland Point, as slaves, a negro family, to whom he afterwards gave their freedom, and gave them also his name (now spelled Martin). Captain Martyn married the widow Oulton and settled in Jolicure. He was G.o.dfather to George and Elizabeth, the children of Col. William Allan.

James Law was a commissary at the fort and a colonel of militia. He was a large property owner in Point de Bute on both sides of the ridge.

Reverses of fortune came, and finally he died a parish charge.

Benoni Danks represented the county of c.u.mberland at the Halifax a.s.sembly. Tradition says his death was caused by falling into the hold of a vessel. The Danks left the country about the year 1830.

Thomas d.i.c.kson was born in Dublin, and came to Connecticut when an infant. He married a Wethered.

The Kings were from New England. They settled in Fort Lawrence, and from there removed to different parts of the country.

Jonathan Cole lived on Cole's Island and gave his name to the place. He had two sons, Martin and Ebenezer, the former of whom settled at Rockport and the latter at Dorchester. The name is still in the county.

William Allan was a Scotchman who came to Halifax with the party that founded that place in 1749. He soon after came to c.u.mberland. John and Winkworth Allan were his sons. His grant was in Upper Point de Bute, where his son John lived when he was sheriff of c.u.mberland.

George Allan was a son of William Allan. He had a son George, and all the other Allans are the descendants of the first William. Winkworth Allan went back to England and became a rich merchant.

Brook Watson lived with his Uncle Huston for a time, and was employed by the Government to a.s.sist in the Expulsion. He afterwards left the country, going to London, where he was remarkably successful in business, and among other honors became Lord Mayor of the city.

Jonathan and Samuel Gay were brothers. Jonathan returned to New England, but Samuel remained in the country settling near the old Fort Beausejour. He was a very large man, measuring six feet six inches in height, and broad in proportion. Samuel was afterwards made a judge. It is said that Judge Gay's daughter f.a.n.n.y was in Boston at the time of the sea duel between the SHANNON and the CHESAPEAKE, and was with the crowd that lined the sh.o.r.e awaiting the result. When the news came that the British had won, she threw up her bonnet and cheered for the victors, greatly to the annoyance of the Americans.

Daniel Gooden was a soldier in the British army, and after his discharge settled in Bay Verte, where numbers of his descendants still live.

Charles Oulton remained in c.u.mberland, and a large number of his descendants are still living in the county of Westmoreland.

David Burnham remained, and a number of his descendants lived in Sackville and Bay Verte for a good many years. The name has now disappeared.

John Fillmore was from New England, and settled in Jolicure. He had a large family of sons and they settled in different parts of the Province. The name is still in frequent evidence.

The descendants of Samuel Raymond live in King's County.

The two Chappells, Liffy and Jabez, settled in Bay Verte and Tidnish.

The name is still common in these localities.

John Walker's grant was on Bay Verte Road, where the name was found until quite recently.

The Bonnells remained in the county for a time, but afterwards removed to King's County, where the name still exists.

Amos Fuller remained and the name is yet found in the county of c.u.mberland.

The Watsons settled in Fort Lawrence and were very successful in business. The Eddy rebels, under Commodore Ayer, sacked Mr. Watson's premises one night and took the old gentleman prisoner, compelling him to carry a keg of rum to the vessel for the benefit of the sailors.

William Welch remained in the country, and his descendants are still here.

The Wards were from New England, and remained in the country. Nehemiah lived in Sackville and kept a tavern near the Four Corners.

Simeon Charters was from New England and remained in the country. The name is still in the Province.

The Abel Richardson family came from New England. The Yorks.h.i.+re family of Richardson, whose descendants are still in Sackville, did not settle there until some years later.

The Bests were a New England family and the name is still in the country.

William Nesbit remained and the name is now found in Albert County.

Archibald Hinshelwood left the country.

The Roe name is still in c.u.mberland.

William How was probably son of the How that was shot by the Indians under a flag of truce.

None of the Proctor family now remain in the county.