BY the year 1810,
Yarmouth had struggled for and obtained decidedly the
PRE-EMINENCE OVER CHEBOGUE.
On the Church hill, or Butler’s hill, as it is sometimes called, were
the building used as a court house, the stores of the principal
merchants, and taverns; and, in fact, that was the Town.
It is not to be doubted that the introduction of the Loyalist element
infused a new life into the County. “Knowledge is power”: and many of
that class were, at once, well informed and experienced men, who had
seen something of life. We feel then as we proceed into the century,
that things are rapidly becoming more defined in every respect; ideas of
business of all kinds more enlarged; it may be, too much so. For
instance, about the year 1810, an idea was started to the effect that if
the head of the Yarmouth harbour was connected by locks with Lake
George, the fortunes of the settlers and inhabitants generally, were as
good as made. It was a hold thought at least, and appeared so feasible
that in the following year, 1811, The Act for the encouragement of
Inland Navigation was passed, which embodied a corporation,
provided officers, limited their powers, regulated their tariffs, and
defined the corporation as “the Yarmouth Lock and Canal Proprietors.”
Some business was actually done; but the enterprise ultimately failed;
and I believe all the right and title to the privileges of the
corporation have become centred in one person, Samuel Willam, Esq.
Vestiges of the works may still be seen in the middle of the stream, on
the south side of the bridge at Milton.
We have already seen how very embarrassing to the inhabitants of this
County the revolutionary war proved. And, if not as embarrassing, at
least as annoying and harrassing was
THE WAR OF 1812-14.
Privateers were continually hovering around, ready to pounce on vessels
belonging to belligerents; and frequently unoffending inhabitants,
unarmed, were attacked. Thus, on the 8th of October, 1812, a boat’s crew
from an American privateer, landed on Sheep Island, at the mouth of the
Tusket River, which was inhabited by a poor Frenchman named Francis
Clement and his family; and although unoffending and unresisting, they
deliberately shot the man dead, ransacked the house, and carried off the
stock; leaving a widow and orphan children, the oldest of whom was a
helpless cripple. This privateer was afterwards captured by the Shannon,
and the murderer identified as the lieutenant.
At least seven vessels owned in this County or port were taken; several
of our townsmen were killed; and many of them endured Very great
hardships in prison. During the first year of the war, Militia
volunteers performed night duty on all the exposed stations from
Chebogue Point to Chegoggin; and mounted guard every night as regularly
as soldiers of the line. The second year they were relieved to a great
extent by a company of embodied Militia, raised from among our own
population, whose head-quarters were on Bunker’s Island where the sites
of the block house and battery are yet very clearly defined.
At THE COMMENCEMENT OP HOSTILITIES, the people of this County showed a
spirit of enthusiastic loyalty, which compares most favourably with the
colder calculations into which many of them entered in the petition of
1775. No sooner had reliable information been obtained that the conflict
had opened, than the Magistrates, of the County prepared a well-written
Memorial to Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, the Lieutenant Governor of the
Province, which, I think, is worthy of being preserved here
“May it please your Excellency,—
“The accounts of a commencement of hostilities having reached us in such
a manner as to leave little or no doubt of the fact, we, the Magistrates
of the Districts of Yarmouth and Argyle, impelled by a strong sense of
what we owe to the people over whom we are appointed to preside, and by
a zeal for the faithful discharge of our public duty, beg leave to apply
to your Excellency for such assistance as it may be thought proper at
the present crisis to afford us.
"If your Excellency will be pleased to cast an eye over this part of the
Province, you will readily see that our apprehensions are not without
foundation. The enemy is within a few hour’s sail of our shore, and the
coast of the District is so extensive and so indented with deep bays,
and covered with islands, and the population is so detatched, as to
render any efficient defence very difficult if not impossible, unless
aided by some Naval or Military force.”
“We are well aware of the present limited means of defenee within the
Province, and at a time when our fellow Colonists are menaced and even
invaded by the enemy it would be highly unreasonable for ue to ask or
expect any very material assistance unless your Excellency should deem
it expedient to establish a military post at thie place, for which it is
particularly calculated. We have, therefore, called together the Grand
Jury of the District to provide for the building of four gunboats, and
we now respectfully solicit your Excellency for the guns and other
materials necessary for their equipment..... And, we feel a great
satisfaction in assuring you that there appears a general disposition in
all classes and descriptions of people in this community to perform
their duty cheerfully in their respective stations. We have, etc.
“James Lent,
“Henry Q. Farish,
“Samuel Sheldon Poole,
“Benjamin Barnard,
“Richard Fletcher,
“Samuel Marshall.”
We have already anticipated the fact that part of this MEMORIAL WAS
ACCEDED TO, Joseph Norman Bond, Esqr., being appointed Colonel of
Militia. In addition to the fort on Bunker’s Island,— some pieces of
ordnance were kept, ready for necessary use, immediately in the rear of
Colonel Bond’s house. There was also a Block House on the eminence
situated in the heart of the Town of Yarmouth, known as the “Bock,” —
one of the most beautiful properties in the County, then owned by
Colonel Bond.
The defence of this coast and the appointment of Militia was by no means
an unnecessary proceeding. We have more than one reminiscence of
violence offered to the inhabitants and of successful defence of the
place and capture of prisoners by the Militia,—who were also required
from time to time to carry their prisoners to head-quarters. The Militia
embodied here, were frequently sent to Halifax to take the place of the
regular soldiers who were sent abroad. It was on such an expedition as
this that Captain James Cain, whilst in command of his company, fell
down dead near Chegoggin River.
It is somewhat amusing now to read some of the accounts rendered by the
Innkeepers of the day for hoarding prisoners and Militia men. Here is
one of them:—
Since that war, no
hostile vessels have infested our waters, nor have the enemies’ feet
trod our ground. The Military spirit is not that which characterizes our
people, or which brings them honour. Still, it is a fact worth
preserving, that when the old Militia system had fallen into desuetude
and inefficiency, Yarmouth has the distinction of having formed the
first company of Rifle Volunteers, in what is now the Dominion of
Canada, and, I believe, they also received the first issue of arms. The
company was commanded by Captain J. W. H. Rowley, whose commission bears
date of October 24th, 1859. |