History of Halifax City

History of Halifax City
Thomas Akins

History of Halifax City

CHAPTER I

Halifax, the metropolis of Nova Scotia, and the chief City of the Acadian or Lower Provinces, was founded in the year 1749, at the expense of Government, under the direction of the Lords of Trade and Plantations, and was named in compliment to George Montague, Earl of Halifax, then at the head of the Board, under whose immediate auspices the settlement was undertaken.

From the Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, when Acadia was ceded to the Crown of Great Britain, to the year 1749, no progress had been made by the British in colonizing the country. The inhabitants consisted of a few thousand Acadian peasants, scattered around the shores of the Basin of Minas, Chignecto and the Valley of Annapolis. The Governor resided at Annapolis Royal, a small fortified port, with a garrison of two or three hundred regular troops, and was, in a great measure, dependent on New England for his necessary supplies. This was the only British port within the Province, with the exception of that of Canso, where, during the fishing season, a number of French, with a few Indians and New England fishermen, assembled, and where a captain's guard was usually stationed to preserve order and protect the rights of property. The French population, though professing to be neutral, had refused to take the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain, and were continually in a state of hostility to the British authorities in the country. Their poverty and ignorance placed them completely under the control of a few designing emissaries of the French Governor at Quebec, who incited the people to resent British rule, and frequently put all law at defiance, by assuming to themselves the sole management of municipal affairs in the settlements most remote from the seat of Government. The Governors of Canada had undertaken to claim all the country from the River St. Lawrence to the Bay of Fundy, as comprehended within their jurisdiction, confining the territory of Acadia as ceded under the Treaty of Utrecht, to the Peninsula alone, and had actually commenced to erect forts on the River St. John and the Isthmus while the nations were at peace.

The necessity of a permanent British settlement and Military Station on the Atlantic Coast of the Peninsula, had long been considered the only effectual means of preserving British authority, as well as for the protection of the coast fishing, which, at this time, was deemed of paramount importance to British interests. But lately the continual breaches of neutrality on the part of the French, together with the loss of Louisburg, under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle, in October, 1748, rendered such an establishment indispensably necessary to the support of the British Crown in Nova Scotia.

The scheme for settlement at Chebucto is said to have originated with the people of Massachusetts,[1 - One Thomas Coram, whose name appears frequently in the history of the state of Maine, is said to have suggested a scheme for building a town at Chebucto in 1718, and applied to Government for a grant of land, but was prevented by the agents of the Government of Massachusetts Bay, who supposed that such project might interfere with their fishing privileges, and he was compelled to abandon his enterprise. This, however, has not the weight of much authority.] who, in calling the attention of Government to the claims and encroachments of the French, suggested the necessity for, as well as the great commercial advantages to be derived from such an undertaking; and it has also been asserted that a committee of influential citizens had been formed in Boston for the purpose of more effectually advocating the design. No authentic information on the subject, however, has been found beyond the suggestions contained in Governor Shirley's letters to the Secretary of State, in 1747 and 8, in which one extensive plan of British colonization throughout Nova Scotia is proposed and details suggested, many of which, however, did not receive the approval of Government.[2 - Copies of several of Shirley's letters were furnished Governor Cornwallis on leaving England, as part of his instructions.]

A plan for carrying into effect this long-cherished design was, however, matured by the Board of Trade and Plantations, in the year 1748, and submitted to Government in the autumn of that year, and being warmly supported by Lord Halifax, the President of the Board, advertisements soon appeared under the sanction of His Majesty's authority, "holding out proper encouragement to officers and private men lately discharged from the Army and Navy, to settle in Nova Scotia." Among other inducements was the offer to convey the settlers to their destination, maintain them for twelve months at the public expense, and to supply them with arms and ammunition for defence, and with materials and articles for clearing the land, erecting dwellings and prosecuting the fishery. The encouragements appeared so inviting, that in a short time 1176 settlers, with their families, were found to volunteer, and the sum of £40,000 being appropriated by Parliament for the service, the expedition was placed under the command of Col. the Honble. Edward Cornwallis, M. P., as Captain General and Governor of Nova Scotia, and set sail for Chebucto Bay, the place of destination, in May, 1749.[3 - Cornwallis was gazetted 9th May, 1749.]

The fleet consisted of 13 Transports and a Sloop of War. The following is a list of the vessels, with the number of settlers.[4 - Smollet's History mentions 1,000 settlers with their families; this probably was intended to include the Germans and other settlers who arrived between 1749 and 1753.]

The total number of males, exclusive of children, was 1546; of this number above 500 were man-of-war sailors.[5 - But one death, a child, occurred during the voyage. This was attributed to the care of the Board of Trade and Plantations in providing ventilators and air pipes for the Transports, a new invention then lately introduced.]

The names of the principal settlers, with the rank and calling as they appear in the register, are as follows:

Leonard Lockman and Ezekiel Gilman, Majors in the Army; John Lemon, Foot Major and Commissary; Otis Little, Edward Amherst, Thomas Lewis, Benjamin Ives, Frederick Albert Strasburger, and Francis Bartelo, Captains in the Army; David Lewis, George Burners, George Colly, Richard Partridge, Thomas Newton, John Collier, Robert Ewer, John Creighton, Thomas Voughan, John Galland, Richard Reves, William Joice, Joseph Wakefield, Augustus Graham, Alexander Callendar, David Haldame, Robert Campbell, William Bryan, and T. Vaughan, Lieutenants in the Army; James Warren, Thos. Reynolds, and Henry Wendell, Ensigns; John Hamilton, Adam Cockburn, and Wm. Williams, Lieutenants in the Navy; John Steinfort, Dennis Clarke, William Neil, Gustavus Mugden, and John Twinehoe, Lieutenants of Privateers; Chas. Mason, Robert Beatie, Charles Covy, Samuel Budd, John Ferguson, Nicholas Puxley, William Watson, Joseph Tomwell, Henry Chambers, Nicholas Todd, Roger Lowden, Joseph Gunn, John Thompson, Robert Young, Thomas Burnside, Timothy Pearce, Richard Drake, Newbegin Harris, William Vickers, Richard Cooper, Richard Mannering, Thomas Dumster, and Robert Cockburn, Midshipmen in the Royal Navy; John Jenkins, Cadet; Rene Gillet, Artificer; John Grant, John Henderson, Edward Gibson, William Hamilton, and William Smith, Volunteers; Lewis Hayes, Purser; John Bruce, Engineer; William Grant, Robert White, Patrick Hay, Mathew Jones, Thomas Wilson, M. Rush, James Handeside, H. Pitt, George Philip Bruscowitz, Cochran Dickson, Joshua Sacheveral, Thomas Inman, John Wildman, David Carnegie, and John Willis, Surgeons; John Steele, Lieutenant and Surgeon; William Lascells, Augustus Carsar Harbin, Archibald Campbell, John Wallis, John Grant, Daniel Brown, Timothy Griffith, Henry Martin, Robert Grant, and Alexander Hay, Surgeon's Mates and Assistants; Robert Thorckmorton, Surgeon's Pupil; Mr. Anwell, Clergyman; John Baptiste Moreau, Gentleman and Schoolmaster; William Jeffery, Commissary; William Steele, Brewer and Merchant; Daniel Wood, Attorney; Thomas Cannon, Esquire; John Duport, and Lewis Piers, Gentlemen; Archibald Hinshelwood, John Kerr, William Nisbett, and Thomas Gray, Governor's Clerks; David Floyd, Clerk of the Stores.[6 - Governor Cornwallis in his letter to the Lords of Trade, dated Chebucto, 24th July, 1749, says: "The number of settlers – men, women and children – is 1,400, but I beg leave to observe to your Lordships that amongst them the number of industrious, active men proper to undertake and carry on a new settlement, is very small. Of soldiers there are only 100, of tradesmen, sailors and others able and willing to work, not above 200." The rest he reports as idle and worthless, persons who embraced the opportunity to get provisions for a year without labour, or sailors who only wanted a passage to New England, and that many were sick and unfit for settlers, and many without sufficient clothing. He describes a few Swiss who were among the settlers, as "regular, honest and industrious men," and observes that there are "indeed, many come over of the best sort, who, though they do not work themselves, are useful in managing the rest." "I have," he says, "appointed two or three of them as overseers of each ship's company."]

On the 21st June, 1749, old style, the Sloop of War, "Sphinx," arrived in the Harbor of Chebucto, having on board, the Honourable Edward Cornwallis, Captain General and Governor-in-Chief of the Province of Nova Scotia, and his suite. They had a long and boisterous passage, and did not make the coast of Acadia until 14th. They had no one on board acquainted with the coast, and did not meet with a pilot until the 20th, when they fell in with a Sloop from Boston, bound to Louisburg, with two pilots for the Government of that place. Governor Cornwallis' intention was first to proceed to Annapolis, but the wind not serving for the Bay of Fundy, and the officers assuring him that in case of foggy weather setting in they might be a long time in getting to Annapolis, he concluded on proceeding at once to Chebucto, rather than risk the possibility of being separated for any length of time from the fleet. He also felt, that by so doing, he would save the Governor of Louisburg the bad and long navigation to Annapolis, and accordingly, he dispatched a letter to Governor Hopson, by the Sloop, apprising him of his intention and desiring him to transport his garrison to Chebucto as soon as possible. The "Sphinx," before making Chebucto, first came to anchor in Malagash Bay, where they found several French families, comfortably settled, who professed themselves British subjects, and had grants of land from Governor Mascarine; they had tolerably good wooden houses covered with bark, and many cattle, and expressed themselves greatly pleased on hearing of the proposed new settlement. It happened that the same day on which Cornwallis arrived in the Harbor of Chebucto, a sloop came in from Louisburg with a letter from Hopson in expectation of meeting him. Hopson was in great perplexity, the French having arrived to take possession under the terms of the treaty, and there were no vessels to embark his troops. It appeared he was fully under the expectation that the ships which were to bring out the settlers would arrive in time to be sent down to him for that purpose, and he had made no other arrangements. On receiving the letter, Governor Cornwallis immediately dispatched the Sloop to Boston, with letters to Apthorp & Handerik, whom Hopson recommended for the purpose, to hire vessels with all expedition to transport the garrison of Louisburg to Chebucto; also a letter directed to Governor Mascarine in case they should meet at sea with a vessel bound to Annapolis. At the same time, a Frenchman, acquainted with the country, was dispatched overland by Minas to Annapolis, with orders to Mascarine to come down with a quorum of his Council as soon as possible, that the new commission might be opened and another Council appointed in accordance with the Royal Instructions.[7 - This messenger arrived on the fourth day, at Annapolis. "It is," says the Governor in his letter, "25 leagues over to Minas, (now Horton), and the French have made a path for driving their cattle over."]

Governor Cornwallis' first dispatch to England, after arriving at Chebucto, was sent via Boston, and bears the date 22nd June, the day after his arrival. In this letter he says: "The coasts are as rich as ever they have been represented; we caught fish every day since we came, within 50 leagues of the coast. The harbour itself is full of fish of all kinds. All the officers agree the harbour is the finest they have ever seen. The country is one continued wood; no clear spot is to be seen or heard of. I have been on shore in several places. The underwood is only young trees, so that with difficulty one is able to make his way anywhere." "D'Anville's Fleet have only cut wood for present use; they cleared no ground, but encamped their men on the beach. I have seen but few brooks, nor as yet have found the navigable river that has been talked of. There are a few French families on the east side of the bay, about three leagues off. Some have been on board."

Governor Mascarine having received Cornwallis' letter on the 26th, on the following day, ordered Captain Davis to make ready his galley and go round to Chebucto with fresh provisions. Mascarine was waiting the arrival of the new Governor at Annapolis, as appears by his letters to Governor Hopson on the 14th and 26th June, in which he says: "Get ready supplies for the new Captain General who will be here, but the fleet will be at Chebucto." The "Snow Fair Lady" arrived shortly after the Sphinx, and was dispatched to Annapolis to afford Mr. Mascarine the means of transporting his council and part of his garrison to Chebucto. On the 26th, the "Fair Lady" was in the harbour of Annapolis ready to receive Governor Mascarine and suite. On the 27th, the transport began to make their appearance off the harbour of Chebucto, and by the 1st July, they had all arrived. As their passage had been extremely good, and none of them had in the least suffered, the Governor found himself in a position to afford vessels to Colonel Hopson the moment the settlers should be put on shore.[8 - The settlers who came out in the transport, afterwards sent to Louisburg, were first landed on George's Island.] Accordingly having countermanded the order to Boston for transports, he dispatched to Louisburg the ship "Brotherhood" on the 1st July, and on the 5th, the "London," "Wilmington," "Winchelsea," and "Merry Jacks." On the 8th he received from Louisburg, copies of letters from Governor Shirley of Boston, to Governor Mascarine, giving an account of the French having commenced a fort at the mouth of the River St. John, and on the following day sent Captain Rouse in the "Albany" and a small sloop to attend her, with orders to the commanding officer at Annapolis to furnish him with troops if required, and to proceed immediately to the River St. John, Governor Shirley having previously sent the ship "Boston" to Annapolis for the same service, there to await orders. It appears that the French had fitted out an expedition, under M. Ramey, for this purpose, a short time before the arrival of Cornwallis, and the vessel with ammunition, arms and provisions, bound to St. John River, had passed Malagash Bay a few days before the arrival of the "Sphinx" there; but having put into Port Mouton on her way, the information of their designs was communicated to the authorities of Annapolis.

Governor Mascarine having arrived with several of his Council on the 12th, the following day Governor Cornwallis opened his commission and took the oaths of office in their presence, and on Friday, the 14th July, the Civil Government was organized, and Colonel Paul Mascarine, Captain Edward How, Captain John Gorham, Benjamin Green, John Salsbury and Hugh Davidson were sworn in Councillors[9 - The table around which this Council assembled is now in the small Council Chamber in the Province Building.] on board the "Beaufort" Transport, and the Commission and Royal Instructions were then read. "The formation of the Board was announced to the people by a general salute from the ships in the harbour and the day was devoted to festivity and amusement." The four first gentlemen named in the Council were officers from Annapolis; Mr. Green was from Massachusetts, and had been with General Hopson at Louisburg, and the two latter were of His Excellency's suite; Mr. Davidson acted as Secretary.

Early in the month of July, a spot for the settlement was pitched upon near Point Pleasant,[10 - "From seeing the place only, one would be apt to choose Sandwich Point as the best situation for a town, being very defensible and having the advantage of Sandwich River, (now known as the North West Arm), navigable a great way. This was the general opinion at first, and they began to clear there, the first day they worked, but upon examination we found the strongest objections against it." —Governor Cornwallis' letter to Board of Trade.] then called Sandwich Point, and people were employed in cutting down the trees; but the want of sufficient depth of water in front, its great exposure to south-east gales and other inconveniences being discovered, it was abandoned for a more eligible situation to the northward, commanding a prospect of the whole harbour and on an easy ascent with bold anchorage close to the shore. Here Mr. Bruce the engineer, and Captain Morris the surveyor, were ordered to lay out the town, which was surveyed, the plan completed and the lots appropriated to their respective owners by the 14th September. The town was laid out in squares or blocks of 320 by 120 feet deep, the streets being 55 feet[11 - The streets are supposed to be 60 feet broad, but none of them are found to exceed 55 feet in width.] in width. Each block contained 16 town lots, forty feet front by sixty deep, and the whole was afterwards divided into five divisions or wards, called Callendar's, Galland's, Ewer's, Collier's and Foreman's divisions, after the names of the persons who were appointed Captains of Militia, each ward being large enough to supply one company.

Buckingham Street was the north and Salter Street the south limit, and the whole was surrounded by a strong palisade of pickets with block houses or log forts at convenient distances. Foreman's new division was afterwards added as far as the present Jacob Street. The north and south suburbs were surveyed about the same time, but the German lots in the north were not laid off till the year following.

Great difficulty was at first experienced in the erection of dwellings; the European settlers being totally unacquainted with the method of constructing wooden buildings. Frames and other materials for building were, however, soon brought from Massachusetts, and before the cold weather set in a number of comfortable dwellings were erected. Provisions and other necessary supplies were regularly served out in the camp, and every exertion on the part of the Governor made to render the settlers comfortable before the approach of winter. Several transports were detained and housed over to accommodate those settlers whose houses were not complete, and the canvas tent and log hut were soon abandoned for more convenient and comfortable accommodations.

I have, says Governor Cornwallis, in his letter of the 20th August, contracted for frames and materials for barracks and officers' lodgings from Boston. Boards are very high owing to the drought. I have got none under £4 per thousand, and shall be obliged to furnish a vast number to help the people to get under cover, and have sent an officer on purpose to Boston to obtain them at a fair price. Many houses are begun and huts and log houses already up for more than half a mile on each side the town.

Tradition says that on clearing the ground for settlement a number of dead bodies were discovered among the trees, partly covered by the underwood, supposed to have been soldiers of the Duke D'Anville's expedition which put into Chebucto Harbor in 1746,[12 - The remnant of this formidable fleet which was destined for the destruction of the British settlements of Acadia and New England, put into Chebucto Harbor in distress in September, 1746. The troops it is said were encamped on the western side of the Basin, near the small Cove about 4 miles from town, which still bears the name of the French Landing. The Duke died of grief at the failure of the expedition, and the Vice Admiral Destourville, ran himself through the body, and was buried on George's Island. His remains, or what was supposed to be have been, were afterwards removed to France by his family. Several of the ships of war were sunk on the eastern side of the Basin. The hulls of these vessels were visible in calm weather about 50 years ago, but they have long since disappeared. M. Jonquiare, afterwards Governor of Canada, was also in this expedition.] but the Governor in his letter does not mention the facts.

During the winter months the people were kept actively employed in cutting pickets for fences and wood for fuel, and for erecting new buildings. Mechanics were placed at the head of working parties to direct their labours, and by a judicious division of the people into small parties the more laborious portion of the work was executed with uncommon dispatch. Mills were also erected at the expense of Government for sawing lumber, and a mill master appointed with a salary, and every facility held out to enable those settlers, who had not yet been accommodated, to complete their dwellings on the approach of spring. The Governor in his letter of 27th July, describes the site of the Town as very advantageous. He says: "It has all the conveniences I could wish except a fresh water river.[13 - At this period when the settlement was confined to such narrow limits the brook known to us as Fresh Water River, in the south suburbs, was considered to be at a distance too far from the pickets to be of much value as a means of supply to the settlers.] Nothing is easier than to build wharves; one is already finished for ships of 200 tons. I have constantly employed all the carpenters I could get from Annapolis and the ships here to build log houses for stores. I have likewise offered the French at Minas considerable wages to work, and they have promised to send fifty men to remain until October. As there was not one yard of clear ground you will imagine our difficulty and what we have here to do; however, they have already cleared about 12 acres, and I hope to begin my house in two days; I have a small frame and pickets ready."

The following extracts from a letter dated 25th July, 1749, written by a settler,[14 - This letter appeared in one of the British periodicals for October, 1749.] affords several interesting facts relative to the state of the settlement at this time: – "On our arrival we found the Sphinx, of 20 guns, which had come into harbor a few days before us; as I write the transports are entering the harbor with the two regiments of Hopson and Warberton on board from Louisburg. The assistance, as well as the security we shall receive from them, will greatly forward our settlement; the officers have brought all their furniture, a great number of milch cows, and other stock, besides military stores. We have already cleared about 20 acres, and every one has a hut by his tent. Our work goes briskly, and the method of employing the people in ships' companies has a good effect, and as the Governor is preparing to lay out the lots of land, we shall soon have a very convenient and pleasant town built, which is to be called Halifax. There are already several wharves built, and one gentleman is erecting a saw mill; public store houses are also building, and grain of various sorts have been sown. We have received constant supplies of plank and timber for building, and fresh stock and rum in great quantities, 20 schooners frequently coming in in one day. We have also a hundred cows and some sheep, brought down to us by land, by the French at Minas, which is about 30 miles distant from the bottom of the bay, and to which we purpose to cut a road. The French Deputies who came to make submission have promised to send us 50 men for this purpose, and to assist us as far as they are able; we have received the like promise, and friendship and assistance from the Indians, the chief having been with the Governor for that purpose. In short, every thing is in a very prosperous way. But I should be equally unjust and ungrateful, were I to conclude without paying the tribute which is due to our Governor. He seems to have nothing in view but the interest and happiness of all; his zeal and prudent conduct in the difficult task assigned him cannot be too much admired."

The plan of the town having been completed and the building lots marked out, in order to prevent dispute and discontent among the settlers, it was deemed best that they should draw for the lots. Accordingly, at a Council held on the 1st of August, it was resolved that on Tuesday following, the 8th of August, all heads of families who were settlers, should assemble at seven o'clock with the overseers, and single men should form themselves into families, four to each family, and each family choose one to draw for them. Mr. Bruce the engineer, being present on the occasion, assisted in distributing the lots according to the arrangement, and the whole were entered in a book of registry which was to be kept for the purpose and to constitute evidence of title and possession.[15 - This allotment book still remains entire in the office of the Provincial Secretary, in Halifax. It was repaired in 1869 by the Record Commission, and a fac-simile copy made for use and the original placed out of the reach of injury.]

The next object of importance was the erection of proper defences for the protection of the settlement. After they had taken possession of the lots, and commenced to build, the Governor endeavoured to induce the people to work for a few days in throwing up a line of defence around their new abode; "but," says he, "there was no persuading them to do it." It was not until the 13th August when the Council voted 1s. 6d. per day to each man employed, that this necessary work was commenced by the settlers. The harbour being broad and easy of access, the difficulty of selecting proper positions for fortifications, which would command the entrance, was at first seriously felt. This had been the great objection on the part of the French to making any settlement at Chebucto, La Have having been chosen by them for the principal post on the Atlantic Coast, being, from its narrow entrance, more easy of defence. In Admiral Darell's plan of Chebucto, the two points that flanked the entrance to Bedford Basin were marked as the places proper to fortify. Mr. Cornwallis says, their view must have been to have the settlement within that Bay (the Basin); this would have been subject to great inconvenience. In the first place, it would have been too far up for the fishermen, it being about five leagues from the entrance of the Harbour to those points, and the beach all along as well adapted for curing their fish as can possibly be imagined; no fisherman would ever have thought of going within these forts. Indeed no ship would choose to go so far, as no finer harbour can be than that of Chebucto, which reaches from these points to Sandwich River; so that notwithstanding any forts upon these points, an enemy's fleet might be secure and indeed block up all ships within the bay. He accordingly fixed upon Sandwich Point and the high lands opposite, (now called York Redoubt), and George's Island as the most proper positions for the erection of the necessary defences. On the latter he immediately placed a guard, landed his stores and planned and proposed to build thereon his magazine for powder.

The first act of Government, after the organization of the Council on the 14th, was an audience of the three French Deputies, who had come down to meet the New Governor. They were Jean Melanson, from Canard River; Claude le Blance, from Grand Pre, and Philip Melanson from Pisiquid. Colonel Mascarine read to the Council the oath which the French inhabitants had before taken. Being asked if they had anything to offer from their several departments, they answered that they were sent only to pay their respects to His Excellency and to know what was to be their condition henceforth, and whether they would be allowed their priests. They were assured that their religion should be protected, but that, as heretofore, no priest should be permitted to officiate within the Province, without having first obtained a license from the Governor. They were furnished with copies of the Royal Declaration, a proclamation issued by Governor Cornwallis, and the oath which had been customary, with directions to return within a fortnight, to report to the Council the views of the inhabitants of the respective districts, and also to notify the other settlements to send deputies as soon as possible. The second meeting of the Council took place on the 17th, when Mr. Wm. Steele was sworn in a member of the Board, and on the following day the Governor's proclamation was read in the camp, prohibiting all persons from leaving the Province without permission, and against the retail of spirituous liquors without license.

On the 18th, Mr. Bruce the Engineer, Lieutenants Ewer, Collier and Mr. John Duport were appointed Justices of the peace, and all the settlers having assembled in separate companies with their respective overseers, each company chose its constables.

The Governor designed opening more perfect means of communication with Minas by constructing a road, which he described as being 30 miles only, in a direct line, and to build a Block House half way, but having only two companies of soldiers with him, one of Hopson's and one of Warberton's regiment, together with about 60 of Goreham's Indian Rangers, and the 50 French, who promised to assist in the work, having disappointed him, he was compelled to postpone the object until after the arrival of the army from Louisburg. Proper access to the interior, by the construction of a good road to Minas, was deemed of paramount importance to the settlement of the country. The inhabitants of the rural districts were so insulated as to be in a great measure independent of all authority. Colonel Mascarine, on returning to Annapolis, received directions to send a Captain, 3 Subalterns and 100 men to Minas, and to erect a Block-house and Battery there, the troops to be first quartered at Grand Pre, where the Block-house was to be built, and the French people were to be hired at fair wages to assist in the work.

Capt. How, who had been sent to St. John River in the Albany with Capt. Rouse, having returned overland with thirteen Indians, three deputies from the tribes at St. John, the Chief of the Chinecto Indians, and nine others of their tribes. They received an audience on the 14th; they consisted of Francis de Salle, Chief from Octfragli; the Chief Noellobig, from Medochig; the Chief Neptune Albodonallilla from the Chignecto tribe, for himself and tribe. The negotiation was carried on through Martin, the Indian, and André, the interpreter from Minas. They stated to the Council that they had come to confirm the treaty of 1726, and that several of them had been present at that treaty. Terms were drawn up by Mr. Secretary Davidson, and signed by the Chiefs on the 15th August,[16 - Note. – These Indians are described in a letter from one of the Settlers, to England, dated 19th August, as quite different from the Indians of the peninsula, their faces all rubbed over with vermillion and across their nose and forehead are regularly drawn black lines. Their ears are bored full of holes and adorned with tobacco pipes and ribbons of different colours; their clothes are of the light homespun grey but intolerably ragged. The French supply them with those articles. Their squaws or women dress equally as gay as the men. They are entire drunkards, and never cease drinking spirituous liquors as long as they can get it. They came on board to the Governor in great form. After the treaty was ratified they received presents and went on board the man-of-war, where they solaced themselves with singing and dancing. As to the songs it is one continued bellowing and noise. Upon their coming off, the man-of-war gave them a salute of 17 guns, as likewise they did on going aboard. They expressed a great deal of satisfaction at the honors done them; so they were discharged and sent in one of Colonel Goreham's sloops to St. John River with presents to the rest of their tribe.] 1749, and Capt. How was ordered to carry it to St. John to be ratified, and to take with him presents to the Chiefs. It was accordingly ratified on the 4th day of September following, and signed by all the Chiefs and Captains at the River St. John, six in number, in the presence of Mr. How and seven other witnesses; Madame De Bellisle acting as interpreter by request of the Indians. This document is still in existence; also a copy of that of 1726, sent to Governor Cornwallis by the Governor of Massachusetts Bay. This treaty appears to have been little regarded, for in the beginning of October following, news arrived from Annapolis and Canso of further incursions on the part of the Indians, and Government was compelled to raise two new independent companies of Volunteers for that service, which were placed under the command of Major Gilman and Capt. Clapham, on the same footing with the Rangers under Gorham.

After the evacuation of Louisburg the population received a considerable accession; a number of the English inhabitants came with Governor Hobson and became settlers, and many from New England were daily arriving, and upwards of 1000 more from the old provinces had expressed themselves desirous of joining the Settlement before winter. The Governor therefore gave orders to all vessels in the Government service to give them a free passage. The New England people soon formed the basis of the resident population, and are the ancestors of many of the present inhabitants. They were better settlers than the old discharged soldiers and sailors who came on the fleet; most of whom died or left the country during the first three or four years, leaving, however, the most industrious and respectable among them as permanent settlers. Many settlers and traders came out for the purpose of making money; these people infested the Settlement in great numbers, and gave Mr. Cornwallis and his successors much trouble and annoyance, in demoralizing the people by the illicit sale of bad liquors, and in other ways retarding the progress of the country.

A proposition was made about this time by a French merchant from the West Indies to Governor Cornwallis to bring to Halifax some Protestant families from Martinique with their effects, if he would give them protection and grant them lands, and the Governor was furnished with a list of their names, with what each of them was worth, which approached in all nearly £50,000. This gentleman proceeded to Louisburg to obtain for them a passport, and proposed to have his people on before winter; but it does not appear as far as any information on the subject can be gathered from the public records that any of these French Protestants ever arrived.

The Government found it necessary to check the indiscriminate sale of spirituous liquors by a license duty. On the 28th August an ordinance passed for that purpose, and all such licensed houses were to be closed at 9 p. m. under penalty. On the 31st August the Governor and Council for the first time sat as a Court of Law. This was named the General Court, all authority – legislative, executive and judicial – being vested in the Board. They met on this day for the trial of Abram Goodside, the Boatswain's mate of the Beaufort, who stabbed and wounded two men. A grand jury was summoned who found a bill of indictment; he was tried and found guilty by a petit jury, and hanged under the Governor's warrant on 2nd September, 1749. On 31st August, another Court was held for the trial of one Peter Cartal, for murder. The Acadian Deputies having returned from the country, they were called before the Governor and Council on September 6th, when they presented a letter signed by 1000 inhabitants claiming to take only a qualified Oath of Allegiance.

On the 30th August, a sloop from Liverpool, Great Britain, with 116 settlers, arrived after a passage of nine weeks. They were, however, all quite healthy, not one person being sick on board at the time of their arrival. Two streets were then added to the Town and lots assigned to these people. This was Forman's new division. We have no names of these settlers or the name of the sloop.

Information having reached the Government that the Indians of Acadia and St. John's Island, designed to molest the settlement at Halifax on the approach of winter,[17 - Governor Cornwallis' letter to Secretary of State.] it was deemed advisable to erect outworks for its defence; accordingly the troops and inhabitants were immediately employed to construct a line of palisades around the town in connection with square log forts which were to be placed at convenient distances. A space of thirty feet was cleared without the lines, and the trees thrown up by way of a barricade, which constituted a complete defence against any attempt on the part of the Indians. Those settlers who had built their houses without the town had arms given them, and their dwellings being built of logs were musket proof; also the Ordnance Artificers, those from New England and such of the settlers as had been in the army, and such others as could be trusted with arms within the town, also received them, and an order was sent to Boston for a supply of lamps to light the streets during the winter nights. Col. Goreham was sent to the head of the Basin with his company of Rangers for the winter, with an armed sloop to assist him, and every preparation possible was made for the protection of the people during the ensuing winter.

The Indians had appeared in the neighbourhood of the town for several weeks, but intelligence had been received that they had commenced hostilities, by the capture of twenty persons at Canso under frivolous pretences, and of two vessels having been attacked by them at Chignecto, when three English and seven Indians were killed. In consequence of this information it was resolved in Council to send a letter to M. Desherbiers, Governor of Louisburg, to recall LeLoutre. On the last day of September they made an attack on the sawmill at Dartmouth, then under the charge of Major Gilman. Six of his men had been sent out to cut wood without arms. The Indians laid in ambush, killed four and carried off one, and the other escaped and gave the alarm, and a detachment of rangers was sent after the savages, who having overtaken them, cut off the heads of two Indians and scalped one.[18 - This affair is mentioned in a letter from a gentleman in Halifax to Boston, dated October 2nd, as follows: "About seven o'clock on Saturday morning before, as several of Major Gilman's workmen with one soldier, unarmed, were hewing sticks of timber about 200 yards from his house and mills on the east side of the harbour, they were surprised by about 40 Indians, who first fired two shots and then a volley upon them which filled four, two of whom they scalped, and cut off the heads of the others, the fifth is missing and is supposed to have been carried off."]

These proceedings compelled the government to take more active measures, and orders were given to the commanding officers at the out stations, to destroy the Indians wherever they met them, and a premium of ten guineas was offered for every Indian killed or taken prisoner, this offer was in consequence of the large rewards offered by the French to the Indians for English scalps. Orders were given for raising two independent companies of rangers, one of one hundred men by Major Gilman, who was sent to Piscataqua for that purpose,[19 - These men were supplied with hatchets and snow shoes for winter warfare.] the other a company of volunteers by Captain Wm. Clapham, who with Goreham's Indian Rangers, now returned from their stations at the head of the Basin with a company of Philips' Regiment, were to scour the whole country around the Bay. The St. John Indians having kept the treaty, received from Governor Cornwallis a present of 1000 bushels of corn, and an order was also given to purchase at Minas 500 bushels of wheat, to be baked into biscuit for the same purpose. Captain How was intrusted with these and other presents, and was directed to bring back with him, if possible, some of the tribe to go against the Mic-Macs. The preparation necessary to the protection of the town against French-Indian hostilities tended to expedite the progress of the settlement; before the middle of October, about three hundred and fifty houses had been completed, two of the square forts finished and the barricade carried all around. A number of store houses and barrack buildings for the accommodation of the troops had been also erected and the Governor's residence completed. The Council met there on the 14th October. About 30 of the French inhabitants were employed on the Public Works, and in cutting a road from the town to the Basin of Minas. A number of influential and industrious families from New England and other places had already become settlers, and Halifax Harbor was the resort of a large number of fishing vessels.

About this time a destructive epidemic made its appearance in the town, and it is said nearly 1000 persons fell victims during the autumn and the following winter. On the 14th day of October, the Government found it necessary to publish an ordinance, commanding all Justices of the Peace, upon the death of the settlers, to name so many of the neighbourhood or quarter (not exceeding 12) to which the deceased belonged, to attend at the burial and carry the corpse to the grave, and whoever refused to attend without sufficient reason should have his name struck off the Mess Book and Register of Settlers as unworthy of His Majesty's bounty; again in December, another order was made commanding all householders to report their dead to a clergyman within twenty-four hours.

Owing to the frequent alarms of invasion from the Indians and French stragglers during the winter, it was resolved in Council to organize a militia force for the protection of the settlement, and on the Sunday following the 6th day of December, after divine service, all the male settlers, between the age of sixteen and sixty, were assembled on the parade, and drawn up in the following order: – "Those of Mr. Ewer's and Mr. Collier's divisions to face the harbor, those of the quarters of Mr. Galland and Mr. Foreman to face the Citadel, and those of Mr. Callendar's division at one end of the parade." The proclamation bears date the 7th day of December, 1749. On the 16th, information arrived that a French force had been dispatched overland from Canada, to attack Halifax, and that the Indians were to co-operate with them, also, that two vessels with six hundred men were in the Bay Verte under LeCorne, and with ammunition and stores of all kinds for a winter expedition. The people having been again assembled on the parade after divine service, the proclamation was read and the settlers commanded to fell all the trees around the town without the forts and barricades. No attempt was, however, made upon the town, either by the Indians or French during the winter. These hostilities were being carried on by the Government of Canada, while the two Crowns were nominally at peace, under pretence that the Treaty of Utrecht only ceded to the Crown of Great Britain the peninsula of Nova Scotia proper.

The Governor deeming it expedient that some permanent system of judicial proceedings to answer the immediate exigencies of the Colony should be established, a committee of Council was accordingly appointed to examine the various systems in force in the old Colonies. On 13th December, Mr. Green reported that after a careful investigation, the laws of Virginia were found to be most applicable to the present situation of the province. The report was adopted. It referred principally to the judicial proceedings in the General Courts, the County Courts, and other tribunals.

Before concluding this chapter, which comprehends all that can be collected relative to the affairs of the settlement during the first year of its existence, it will be proper to observe that in founding the City, the spiritual wants of the settlers were not lost sight of by the British Government. Preparatory to the embarkation of the settlers, a letter was addressed by the Lords of Trade and Plantations to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, dated Whitehall, April 6th, 1749, recommending to the Society to appoint ministers and school-masters for the new settlement at Chebucto, and for such other townships or settlements as should from time to time be formed in Nova Scotia, and requesting the Society to make some provisions for them until arrangements should be made for their sufficient support, by grants of land, etc.[20 - A copy of this letter will be found in the appendix (#litres_trial_promo).] The Society resolved immediately to act on this recommendation, and undertook to send six clergymen and six school-masters, when the settlements should be formed. The first missionaries appointed under this arrangement, were the Rev. William Tutty, of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and the Rev. Mr. Anwell, who both came out with the settlers in June, 1749. Mr. Tutty officiated in the open air until the necessary church accommodation could be obtained. On laying out the town, a spot was assigned by Government for the church. The site was first selected at the north end of the Grand Parade, where Dalhousie College now stands, but it was changed immediately after for the present site of St. Paul's Church, which was erected at the expense of Government and ready for the reception of the missionary, who preached his first sermon there on the 2nd day of September, 1750. The pews and inside finish were not completed for several years after. The name of Mr. Tutty does not appear among those of the settlers who came with Cornwallis. He probably, however, accompanied him. Mr. Anwell came with the expedition, but his name does not again appear; he died shortly after his arrival. Mr. Tutty spoke German and administered the Lord's Supper to the German settlers in their own language. The other missionary, J. Baptiste Moreau, who came out as school-master, and afterwards went to England for ordination, returned to the settlement and went down to Maligash with the Germans, 1752. Mr. Halstead was the school-master in charge of the Society's schools at Halifax during the first two or three years.

Governor Cornwallis in 1749, assigned the lot at the south-west corner of Prince and Hollis streets for a Protestant Dissenting Meeting house. The old building known as Mather's, or as it was afterwards called St. Matthew's Church (destroyed by fire in 1859,) was soon after erected on this site. It was appropriated originally to the Congregationalists, many of whom came from New England to settle in Halifax. It was called Mather's Church after the celebrated Cotton Mather, one of the leading divines of that denomination at Boston, in early days. The Presbyterians, and all who did not belong to the Established Church, attended divine service in this building. The Rev. Mr. Cleveland, who came from one of the old colonies, was the first minister who officiated in this building. It afterwards fell into the hands of the Presbyterians and became the property of the Church of Scotland, and the name of Mather's was changed to that of St. Matthew. This old Church was destroyed by fire, which consumed a large portion of the buildings in Hollis Street, in 1859. The lot of ground on which it stood was afterwards sold to Mr. Doull, who erected the fine stone store thereon, now known as Doull and Miller's building.

CHAPTER II

The winter of 1749-50, as has been before mentioned, was spent in continual apprehension of Indian and French invasion, and in preparations to receive the enemy. On the 7th January, 1750, a number of the inhabitants petitioned that Martial Law should be declared, but the Governor and Council did not consider the danger so great or imminent as to make it necessary. However, stringent regulations with regard to the militia were enacted, and an ordinance was issued compelling all settlers able to bear arms between 16 and 60, to be formed into 10 companies of 70 men each,[21 - The Artificers formed one company by themselves, and the whole militia amounted to about 840 men. The Officers behaved well, but, says the Governor in his dispatch, "I cannot say so of the men."] and a guard of – officers and 30 men to assemble every evening near the parade to keep guard until sunrise, and all militia men called upon to labour at the fortifications, were to be allowed 1s. per day. Labourers were constantly employed in raising a barricade and continuing it to the water side, and block houses were erected between the forts.

During the winter intelligence frequently arrived from Minas, Pisiquid, and the eastern shore, of attacks being made by the Indians upon stragglers, and several young Acadians were brought from Minas to Halifax for trial, having been found in arms with the Indians. A large reward was offered for the apprehension of LeLoutre, the Indian missionary, and also £10 sterling for every Indian scalp or Indian prisoner. Capt. Sylvanus Cobb, an active and bold sea captain from Massachusetts, was taken into Government employ, and sent to Chignecto with his armed sloop for the purpose of surprising LeLoutre and his gang, and afterwards to search the harbors along the coast for Indians, and bring with him all he captured as prisoners to Halifax. Troops under Capt. Bartilo and others were sent into the interior and other active proceedings taken by the Governor and Council during the months of January and February for the peace of the province. A courier having been stopped at Cobequid, Priest Gourard and the French Deputies, were all brought to Halifax, by Capt. Bartilo, for examination before the Governor and Council; Gourard was detained at Government House until the courier returned, but the deputies were dismissed. He disclosed the fact to the Council that the Mic-Mac Indians of Nova Scotia went every year to Quebec, to receive clothing from the French Government, and that LeCorn had made the French of Acadia take the Oath of Allegiance to the French King. Gourard on this occasion took the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain, and thereupon received a licence to officiate as Priest to the Acadians, and promised not to leave the province without special leave from the Governor.

Among the municipal regulations this winter, was an ordinance that all persons found breaking the liquor license law, should be put one hour in the public stocks, and for the second offence receive twenty lashes. These severe regulations were found to be absolutely necessary, in consequence of the demoralized state of the settlement from settlers and others who infested the town and who were not settlers.

On the 2nd February, 1750, an ordinance was passed in Council, prohibiting the recovery of any debt contracted in England or elsewhere prior to the establishment of the settlement or to the debtor's arrival in Halifax, in any Court of Law within the province, except for goods imported into the Colonies. There appears to have been some difference of opinion at the Board on the subject; the Council divided, and the ordinance was carried by a small majority.

It was proposed in Council about this time, to build a quay along the shore in front of the town, but several merchants – Mr. Saul, Mr. Joshua Mauger and others, having applied for water lots, and liberty to build wharves on the beach, the subject was referred to Mr. Morris the surveyor, and Mr. Bruce the engineer. They thought the quay was a work of time and required means from England. Licences to build wharves were therefore granted, with a reservation of the right of the Crown in case the quay should be resolved on or the frontage required for government purposes. This scheme was afterwards abandoned by Government, and the licences remained unrepealed. At this period the line of the shore was so irregular, as in some places to afford only a footpath between the base line of the lots, which now form the upper side of Water Street and high water mark;[22 - According to the original plan of the Town published in October, 1749, a space appears to have been reserved between the line of the lots and the shore, but no Water Street was laid out – the upper side of the present Bedford Row being the western limit. There were five forts, having each four quadrangular blockhouses, with a barrack in the centre; these were connected by wooden palisades or pickets.] at the Market the tide flowed up nearly to where the [old] City Court House stood, forming a cove, the outlet of a brook which came down north of George Street. Near the Ordnance Yard another cove made in, and this part of the shore was low and swampy many years after the batteries were built.[23 - A number of licences to erect wharves and buildings along the beach had been granted by Government to individuals engaged in trade and the fishery, before the idea of a general Government breastwork had been abandoned. These titles continued to be held good; a number of wharf proprietors, however, obtained conformation grants from time to time as they required water extension. Mr. Charles Morris, the Surveyor-General, who had the sole management of the land office, in his reports to the Government, advised small spaces to be reserved on both sides in making these conformation grants as well as in subsequent water grants in fee, which have been found of much inconvenience to trade, and a drawback on the progress of the City. No reservation of water was originally made at the foot of the cross streets or hills. At the close of the last and the commencement of the present century, when conformation or extension water grants were asked for, he marked on his plans narrow strips or reservations on the sides of many of these water grants, which for there being in many instances inaccessible, have since proved of no value to the public and a great injury to the proprietors of water property.]

The winter passed without any attack on the settlement, and the people were all quite healthy. The number of settlers was daily augmented by almost every vessel which arrived from New England and elsewhere; every thing required was provided for them, that they should be tolerably comfortable before the cold weather set in. The winter was very fine, very few extreme bad days, no heavy snow storms, the navigation never stopped in the slightest degree. More fine days and fewer bad ones (says the Governor) than I ever saw in winter. Spring opened early with fine warm days and thaw, and the fishing schooners began early in March to go upon the Bank.[24 - Cornwallis' letter of 19th March.] The snow lay all the winter, from the middle of January; it was, however, only three feet deep in the woods. The healthy condition of the settlers may be inferred from there never being more than 25 in the hospital ship at any one time.

By the 19th March, a place had been erected for a public Hospital, and a school building commenced for the orphan children. The French from the interior engaged freely for money to square timber for the erection of the blockhouses, and preparations were in progress for the completion of the Church.

A meeting of the Governor and Council took place on 19th April, when the French Deputies again appeared with a petition to be permitted to sell their lands and leave the country. The names of these deputies were Jaques Teriot from Grand Pre, Francois Granger from River de Canard, Battiste Galerne and Jean André.