Diary of a Country Clergyman 1848-1851 9780773568136

Table of contents :
Contents
Abbreviations
Chronology
Maps
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
VOLUME 22
VOLUME 23
Appendix A: Excerpt from the Missiskoui Post and Canada Record, 5 August 1835
Appendix B: Biographical sketches of selected local figures
Appendix C: Bibliography of the published writings of James Reid
Notes
Index
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R

Citation preview

THE DIARY OF A COUNTRY CLERGYMAN, 1848-1851

The texture of life in pre-Confederation settlements has been traced chiefly through the published diaries of women in Upper Canada. The Diary of a Country Clergyman, a welcome complement to these narratives, introduces a male perspective on rural life in Lower Canada. A crusty yet diffident Scot, James Reid began his career as a sectarian evangelical missionary. The diary finds him thirty years later as a moderate, if conservative, Anglican clergyman. Through this remarkable document, village routines and intrigues, as well as Reid's circle of friends and his clerical colleagues, come vividly to life. His private reflections on the tensions and growing pains experienced by the colonial church at a formative stage in its evolution, and his reaction to events on the wider political scene, give us valuable insights into his life and times. Reid was a man of considerable complexity and his foibles and vanities are apparent in his narrative. The glimpses of his home life shed much light on gender relations and the history of the family. The diary has been edited and annotated by M.E. Reisner, who provides the background to Reid's narrative. Her informative biographical sketches, collected in an appendix, highlight representative local figures and the community dynamics of his town. The Diary of a Country Clergyman will be of interest to the general reader and social historian alike. M.E. REISNER is a lecturer in English literature at Universite Laval.

The Revd James Reid Lithograph of a portrait by F.W. Lock of Montreal, 1853 (By kind permission of the Missisquoi Historical Society)

THE DIARY OF A COUNTRY CLERGYMAN 1848-1851 JAMES REID

Edited by M.E. Reisner

McGill-Queen's University Press Montreal & Kingston • London • Ithaca

In Memoriam Thomas R. Millman and Sarah P. Eadie

© McGill-Queen's University Press 2000 ISBN 0-7735-2000-7 Legal deposit first quarter 2000 Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec Printed in Canada on acid-free paper This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. McGill-Queen's University Press acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for our publishing activities. We also acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program.

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Reid, James, 1780-1865 The diary of a country clergyman, 1848-1851 Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7735-2000-7 i. Reid, James, 1780-1865 - Diaries. 2. Frelighsburg (Quebec) - Biography. 3. Frelighsburg (Quebec) - History. 4. Quebec (Province) - Social life and customs - 19th century. 5. Church of England - Quebec (Province) - Clergy - Diaries. 6. Clergy - Quebec (Province) - Frelighsburg - Diaries. I. Reisner, M.E. II. Title. Bx5620.R39A3 2000

283'.092 099-900863-3

This book was typeset by True to Type in 10/12 Baskerville.

Contents

Abbreviations ix Chronology xi Maps xxviii Preface xxxi Acknowledgments xxxix Introduction xli VOLUME 22 V O L U M E 23

4 59

Appendix A Excerpt from the Missiskoui Post and Canada Record, 5 August 1835 175 Appendix B Biographical sketches of selected local figures 179 Appendix C Bibliography of the published writings of James Reid 243 Notes Index

251 373

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Abbreviations

ANQM ANQQ ANQS AO AV BCHSA BCP bR CE CR cw DR ETA LC MCCA MCG MCHS MDA MHSA NA OED PCS PMJ

Archives nationales du Quebec a Montreal Archives nationales du Quebec a Quebec Archives nationales du Quebec a Sherbrooke Archives of Ontario, Toronto Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible Brome County Historical Society Archives, Knowlton, Quebec Book of Common Prayer Brome Parish Register (Anglican) Canada East Compton Parish Register (Anglican) Canada West Dunham Parish Register (Anglican) Eastern Townships Historical Collection, Bishop's University, Lennoxville Lower Canada McCord Museum of Canadian History, Archives, Montreal McGill University Libraries, Rare Books and Special Collections, Montreal Missisquoi County Historical Society Montreal Diocesan Archives (Anglican), Montreal Missisquoi Historical Society Archives, Stanbridge East, Quebec National Archives of Canada Oxford English Dictionary Parochial Church Society Pre-archives, Ministere de la Justice, Montreal

x QDA shR SPGA SPG SR St AER St AWR TCPR TRMP TSR USPG

Abbreviations Quebec Diocesan Archives (Anglican), Bishop's University, Lennoxville Shefford Parish Register (Anglican) Archives of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Stanbridge Parish Register (Anglican) St Armand East Parish Register (Anglican) St Armand West Parish Register (Anglican) Trinity Church Parish Records, Frelighsburg, Quebec Thomas R. Millman Papers, Quebec Diocesan Archives Transcript of CJ. Stewart's letters to James Reid United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel

Chronology

Local events and regional church events

National and international events

1780 (26 Nov) James Reid, fifth child of Janet Dick and Peter Reid, born near Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland

Loyalist families continue to settle in St Armand area

Act of NY Legislature for removal of families of persons who have 'joined the enemy'

1783 Twins, Thomas and Jean, born to Peter and Janet Reid

Rev. John Doty reports to SPG, as requested, on the state of the Church in Canada

Peace of Versailles: England recognizes American Independence

1784

First permanent settlement Imperial parliament in St Armand disolved: elections give Pitt large majority; first American bishop, Samuel Seabury, consecrated by 3 nonjuror bishops in Aberdeen

1785

Montreal Gazette founded

Reid family events

1786 (28 Feb) Isabella McDermid, Rev. John Stuart ministers fourth child of Janet Clarke to Loyalists at Cataraqui and Hugh McDiarmid, born in Killin, Perthshire

Guy Carlton appointed governor-in-chief of British North America

Chronology

Xll

Reid family events

Local events and regional church events

National and international events

1787 Death of Thomas and Jean, Charles Inglis, first British American Constitution JR's siblings North American bishop, adopted consecrated bishop of Nova Scotia; first services in StArmand (by American Methodist Lorenzo Dow)

1789

Inglis conducts first visitation of Canada

Washington becomes president of USA; Fall of the Bastille

1791 Death of Elizabeth and Catharine, JR's sisters (born 1772, 1775)

Simcoe urges appointment of a bishop for the Canadas: a number of candidates emerge

Canada Constitution Act: Upper and Lower Canada separated

1793 Birth of Jean, JR's youngest first Masonic Lodge in Eastern Townships (at sister Philipsburg); Erection of diocese of Quebec; (1 Nov) Jacob Mountain, first bishop, arrives at Quebec 1794

Jacob Mountain's first visitation

Louis xvi executed; France declares war on Britain; Christianity abolished in France

Danton and Robespierre executed; Habeas Corpus Act suspended Robert Prescott appointed Governor of Canada

1797 1798

Rev. John Doty performs first Anglican service in St Armand

Nelson destroys French fleet at Aboukir; Pius vi dies a French prisoner

1799

John Strachan opens a school in Cornwall

Bonaparte's coup d'etat; Church Missionary Society formed

Chronology Reid family events

Local events and regional church events

1800 McDiarmid family emigrates to Upper Canada

1801 Preacher from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel at Home (founded in 1797) arrives in Dunkeld; JR attends meetings and becomes an adherent

Xlll

National and international events

Act of Union (effective 1jan. 1801); Death of Robert Burns James Tunstall first resident Anglican missionary in St Armand (until 17 May 1802); Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning incorporated by statute

1802 JR admitted to Haldane seminary in Edinburgh to train as a foreign missionary (stays until Jan 1806)

Jefferson becomes president of USA; Pitt resigns; Habeas Corpus Act again suspended; French Concordat restores Roman Catholicism Peace of Amiens between Britain and France; Bonaparte appointed consul for life; freedom of worship established in British Army

1803

Bishop Mountain in England (until 1809)

Renewal of Napoleonic War; Louisiana Purchase

1804

Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Quebec, consecrated; Rev. C.C. Cotton appointed to St Armand

Bonaparte crowned emperor as Napoleon I Spain declares war on Britain; British and Foreign Bible Society formed

1805

1806 (Jan) Haldanes send JR to serve in Aberfeldie; (25 May) JR ordained, immediately embarks at Greenock for Quebec; by late Oct has reached Glengarry, his intended mission

Nelson destroys FrancoSpanish fleet off Trafalgar Hon. and Rev. CJ. Stewart recommended to Mountain (then in England) as a missionary to Canada

Death of Pitt and Fox; Napoleon closes Continental ports against English imports

XIV

Reid family events

Chronology Local events and regional church events

1807 (Jan) Unable to support himself by preaching and applications for help refused by Haldanes, JR supplements his income by teaching school

National and international events Abolition of slave trade in British empire; England declares blockade of coasts of France and her allies; Sir James Craig appointed governor of Canada

1808

Stewart settles in Frelighsburg, St Armand East (St AE) , begins building Trinity Church; Cotton moves to Dunham

British expedition lands in Portugal

1809

(29 Jan) first service in Trinity Church; (18-20 Aug) first episcopal visit to St Armand, 60 confirmed; Steamer Accommodation links Quebec City and Montreal

USA issues Non-Intercourse Act against British commerce (renewed 1811); Napoleon annexes Papal State

Stewart begins building St 1810 (28 Jun)JR marries Paul's Church, St Armand Isabella McDermid; with West (St AW) opened 28 news of James Haldane's July 1811; petitions for doctrinal shift, JR loses his pupils and congregation; government funds for their school by St AE and JR voluntarily abandons St AW preaching

Spanish colonies in America refuse to acknowledge Joseph Bonaparte; Decrees of Fontainebleau, to confiscate and burn English goods

1811 JR moves to Cornwall, befriended by John Strachan; (14Aug) birth of JR's first child, Charles Peter

(Dec) Stewart visited by Rev.J.P.K. Henshaw, later bishop of Rhode Island

Regency Bill; Prince of Wales becomes Regent Prince for insane George in

1812 (mid June) JR travels to St Armand via Montreal to take up duties as schoolmaster (accommodations provided) in Armand; (7

(1 May) Stewart, on Strachan's recommendation, procures JR's appointment as schoolmaster in St Armand; Hon. Thomas

(Jan.-Aug) British victories in Spain; (18 June) USA declares war on Britain; Sir George Prevost appointed governor

Chronology

XV

Reid family events

Local events and regional church events

National and international events

June) JR's "Narrative," prefacing Hypocrisy Detected, is published

Dunn presents glebe to St Armand

of Canada; (Sept-Oct) Napoleon in Moscow

An American force attacks Lower Canada near Philipsburg (St AW)from Missisquoi Bay taking ninetythree prisoners

Imperial government grants to clergy in the Canadas now managed by the SPG

1813 (15 Mar.) JR's son John Hugh born; JR, with Stewart's encouragement is preparing for Holy Orders while continuing as schoolmaster

1814 Stewart's protege, ten-year- Further military incursions old Stephen Randal, boards into St Armand: (22-26 with Reids (to 1819) Mar) Philipsburg occupied

Napoleon abdicates; First Peace of Paris; Louis xvii king; Congress of Vienna opens; Pius vii restores Jesuit Order

1815 (7 May) Mountain ordains JR deacon in cathedral at Quebec; (20 Nov) JR appointed Stewart's curate; (July) Stewart to England, JR, left in charge of St AE & St AW, occupies Stewart's house in Frelighsburg

SPG to pay Cotton for preparing JR and fellow deacon Micajah Townsend for the priesthood

(1 Mar) Napoleon lands in France; (18 June) Battle of Waterloo; (20 Nov) second Peace of Paris; Papineau becomes Speaker of the Assembly (until 1836)

1816 (21 Jan) JR ordained priest at Quebec; JR's Thanksgiving sermon (for end of war with France), printed by request; 'JR learns his brother plans to emigrate

Bishop Mountain (in England until 1820) gains right to grant marriage licences; schoolhouse in St Armand burns

First protective tariff in USA; Sir John C. Sherbrooke appointed governor of Canada

1817 (5 Apr.) death of JR's infant daughter (no record of baptism); Stewart stays with Reids who are still in his house, for three or four weeks

(7 Nov) Stewart returns from England to St Armand, decides to open a new mission himself and to leave JR in place

Monroe becomes president of USA

XVI

Reid family events

1818 JR appointed to St Armand responsible for churches in Frelighsburg and Philipsburg; his name first appears on SPG rolls; (By 15 Aug) JR's mother, brother John and sister Jean with him; (26 Sep) JR's daughter Isabella Christiana born; JR proposes founding a periodical to Stewart

Chronology Local events and regional church events

National and international events

Stewart decides against going to Stanstead, JR's initially intended mission; Stewart is appointed missionary to Hatley (remains until 1820)

Duke of Richmond appointed governor of Canada; Frontier between Canada and USA defined

(18 Aug) Circular from 1819 JR prepares inventory for Stewart of his effects in the Jacob Mountain to clergy seeking opinion on manhouse; (15jul) Isabella agement of Clergy Reserves; Christiana dies; JR aiding District Committee of his brother and sister SPCK formed in St financially; Stewart Armand encourages JR to write an article for Strachan's Recorder

Peterloo Massacre; Six acts passed to preserve public order in Britain

1820 (28 Oct) JR's son James Malcolm born

Stewart assumes task of Travelling Missionary in the Canadas

George HI dies, succeeded by George iv; earl of Dalhousie appointed governor of Canada

1821 JR in Quebec, visits Bouchette re survey of Trinity Church property; JR delivers sermon to the Free and Accepted Masons at St Johns; boy, Abijah Willard, boarding with JR

Bishop Mountain confirms sixty at St Armand (his last visitation); McGill College obtains charter

Napoleon dies on St Helena

1822 JR travels to Granby to spend two days with Stewart; JR & Townsend (who preached) assist C.C. Cotton at opening of Dunham Church

GJ. Mountain (promoted archdeacon in 1821) tours Eastern Townships including St Armand

Casdereagh commits suicide

XVII

Chronology Reid family events

Local events and regional church events

National and international events

1823 (1 Apr) JR's son James Stewart born; Reids move into newly built parsonage; JR arranges sale of Stewart's house; JR and two others named arbitrators for the estate of Joseph Winch

Stewart to England (until 1824) to plead case of Clergy Reserves; first reference to a Sunday School on National School principles (attached to Trinity Church, not run

Monroe Doctrine

1825 (24 Jan) JR's daughter Jane born; (18 Feb) Stewart baptizes her; JR, a commissioner to erect a schoolhouse, receives a grant from Royal Institution

(25 June) death of Bishop Jacob Mountain at Quebec; Stewart gives lot 30 in Frelighsburg to the Protestant Episcopal clergy of LC

Trade unions legalized in Britain; first steam locomotive railway

1826 JR's parish divided into two; JR is relieved of duty at St AW (Philipsburg), continues to serve St AE; JR now promoting service at Stanbridge Upper Mills

(1 Jan) Stewart consecrated First Panamerican second Bishop of Quebec; Congress at Panama, Rev. Richard Whitwell convened by Bolivar appointed to St AW; a Methodist revival in St Armand

by JR)

1827 Stewart begins to finance (8 Feb) Stewart confirms Keble's Christian Year published; JR's son Charles' education thirty-one at St AE; (Sept) (in Quebec City); JR exThe Christian Sentinel Canning dies changes letters with begins publication (to Sept Dalhousie re loyalty on the 1831) frontier; JR asks Stewart about a Gaelic Prayer Book 1828 (14 Dec.) JR's daughter Stewart founds seminary for (and last child) Nancy Anglican clergy at Chambly born; Stewart sends JR to JR to investigate the charges of intemperance against a clergyman 1829 JR serves as local school trustee (continuing until 1845); Mountain

(17-19 Feb) Yen. GJ. Mountain at St AE during his visitation of the

Wellington forms Conservative ministry; Test and Corporation Acts repealed; Sir James Kempt Administrator of LC Roman Catholic Relief Bill passes in Britain

xviii

Chronology

Reid family events

Local events and regional church events

stands godfather to Nancy; scandal of JR's sister Jean's pregnancy & later marriage riage to a Roman Catholic; JR appointed subtutor to Eccles children with their mother tutatrix

Eastern Townships; representation of Eastern Townships first provided for in Legislature; JR starts a short-term singing school, twice weekly, in sacred music for twenty to thirty people

National and international events

1830 (20 Feb) JR buys nearby Stewart consecrates Christ farm for his brother John; Church, Montreal (24 Feb) JR baptizes Jean's twins; (21 Mar) JR's mother dies, age eighty, buried in Frelighsburg

(26 June) George iv dies, succeeded by William iv; Charles x abdicates, Louis Philippe elected king

1831 (16 Sept) JR made chapChurch at Stanbridge Mills lain to the militia of Missis- opens, JR & Whitwell quoi County by Lord Aylmer; officiate; (Sept) Lord Trinity Church & parsonage Aylmer visits St AE; five painted Camp Meetings held near St AE (two in US)

Russell introduces Reform Bill (becomes law 1832); Baron Aylmer appointed governor of Canada

1832 (by 25 Sept) JR's brother Government begins withJohn, in debt, has left the drawing annual grants to region; Stewart chastises JR colonial clergy: greater for letting Methodist burden falls on SPG preacher use church at Stanbridge Mills

Cholera epidemics in the Canadas; Irish Reform Bill to reorganize the Anglican church in Ireland

1833

Stewart ordains Wm McMurray at Frelighsburg, first such Anglican ceremony performed outside the cities of Quebec and Montreal

Keble initiates Oxford Movement with his his sermon on National Apostasy; Newman launches Tracts for the Times series

1834 JR appointed rector of St AE by Letters Patent; JR buys "the Cross Lot" for £53.3.6 cash

(9 Aug) Letters Patent issued erecting the parish of St AE; Stewart's Pastoral Letter urges need to be self-supporting

Quadruple Alliance formed; new British law of inheritance sets individual before family

Chronology Reid family events

XIX

Local events and regional church events

National and international events

1835 (17 Mar) JR given power of attorney to appoint a committee of 3 to found a local newspaper, (21 Apr) JR begins series of articles in Missiskoui Standard signed S.D. (continued until 1838); (24 June) JR's son Charles ordained deacon by Stewart; JR attacked in Missiskoui Post and Canada Record of Stanbridge

(8 Apr) Missiskoui Standard, published in Frelighsburg, LC, first appears; a Quebec Society for Propagating the Gospel among Destitute Settlers formed; Stewart, now ill, asks Archbishop of Canterbury for a suffragan bishop of LC, recommending Mountain

Appointment of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners leads to extensive changes in the distribution of revenues of the C of E; Peel resigns; Melbourne becomes Prime Minister; (Apr) Earl Amherst appointed governor of Canada; (Aug) Earl of Gosford appointed governor of Canada

1836 JR publishes pamphlet on temperance, a reply to Bishop Hopkins; (1 Nov) JR's son Charles ordained priest by GJ. Mountain; JR's "Reflections on the Season" appear in Missiskoui Standard (renamed "the Fireside")

(14 Feb) Mountain to England, consecrated suffragan bishop with title bishop of Montreal; (17 Oct) Stewart sails for Liverpool from New York

The Established Church Act and the Titles Act, first fruits of the Ecclesiastical Commission, passed; Chartist Movement (-1848); first train in London (to Green wich); opening of first Canadian Railway line, between Laprairie and St Johns, LC

1837 1837 (31 Jan, 27 June, 5 Oct)

(17 July) Bishop Stewart JR gives addresses locally dies in London, England; on temperance; JR's sermon The Church begins publion death of Stewart cation in Coburg published together with one by his son Charles, now serving Laprairie

(20 June) William iv dies, succeeded by Victoria; (20 Oct) rebellion breaks out at St Charles, on Richelieu River; Church Pluralities Act passed

1838 JR acknowledges receipt of Methodist Revival, held at final payment of his brother nearby Pigeon Hill, was John's debt on Frelighsburg "kept up" for three weeks farm; JR prints threat in press to prosecute anyone removing sand from his property

Earl of Durham appointed governor of Canada

Chronology

XX

Reid family events

Local events and regional church events

National and international events

1839 JR, fearful of political sitnation, asks for removal from the frontier area to Brome with Charles taking over St AE (Mountain's reply not known)

Diocese of Toronto erected: John Strachan first bishop; Revival of more than three weeks held three miles from Frelighsburg

Sir John Colborne appointed governor; Lord Durham's Report submitted to colonial office; Charles Poulett Thomson appointed governor

1840 (Mar) JR's son Charles stationed at Compton (until 1853); (11 Aug)JR marries Charles and Julia Gray; JR sent by Mountain to Stanbridge to investigate the Rev. E. Burke for clerical misconduct

Rev. S.S. Wood, with four students, opens a seminary at Trois-Rivieres; JR extends services to Sutton and writes Mountain on their behalf

Act of Union of uc and LC; first abjurations of Protestant faith under the influence of the Oxford Movement; The Church Discipline and Sinecures Acts

1841 JR publishes pamphlet: A Discourse on Infant Baptism; (28 Apr) JR subpoenaed to testify as witness for the plaintiff in case against Rev R.P. Balfe of Stanbridge tried in Montreal; (21 Jun) birth of JR's first grandchild Emily Reid (dies 14 Sep) daughter of Charles and Julia

Scandal in Stanbridge: Anglican priest is tried for alienation of affection of a parishioner and found guilty; his replacement also misbehaves and is paid off and dismissed by Reid acting as Mountain's agent

Responsible Government in Canada; Peel succeeds Melbourne as prime minister

1842 JR helping prepare William Jones for Holy Orders; (17 Sept) birth of Emma Reid (dies "aged 16 hours") daughter of Charles and Julia; (28Oct) JR & c meet J.B. Meilleur about founding a local school under 4 & 5 Viet.

Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec formed; (7 Nov.) St AE School Commissioners in letter to J.B. Meilleur suggest amending School Act: it cannot work under Municipal Councils

Webster-Ashburton treaty defines frontier between Canada and USA; Chartist riots in manufacturing towns; Sir Charles Bagot appointed Governor general

xxi

Chronology Reid family events

Local events and regional church events

National and international events

1843 JR finances his son Malcolm's first business venture in Montreal; JR prepares long memorandum on subject of McGill College for circulation; JR involved in an exchange of letters with Rev. John Bethune about McGill

Visitation of Eastern Millerite prophecy proclaims 1843 end of the Townships: thirty-five world; Faculty of Arts, confirmed at St AE; Missisquoi District Assn of McGill College, comes into being; Bishop's Church Society & local branch of Colonial Church College, Lennoxville, Society founded chartered; Church Temporalities Act receives assent; Sir Charles T. Metcalfe appointed governor general; disruption in Church of Scotland

1844 (Aug.) JR erects tablet in Stewart's memory in his church, paid for by subscription; JR writes memorial, visits Meilleur about schools.

Bishop Mountain's journey Lord Manners founds to the Red River; new firstFIRST Anglican Sisterhood school built by St AE School at Park Village West Commissioners

1845 (2 July) JR to deliver sermon (June) Bishop's circular to in cathedral during Visita- Quebec clergy for relief to tion of the clergy at Quebec: cholera sufferers; Quebec cancelled to allow clergy to City devastated by two fires; aid victims of second Que- Diocese of Fredericton bec Fire, still raging; JR's erected, first bishop John son James sent to board in Medley Ste-Hyacinthe to learn French.

Surplice riots at Exeter, England; Mexico and USA at war (until 1848); beginning of potato disease in Ireland; Newman received into RC Church; James Polk becomes us President

1846 (1 Jan) William Reid born, son of Charles & Julia; death of JR's brother John; (Sep) JR sends son James (age 23) to Lennoxville grammar school; JR hires Waterloo veteran Sandy Cooper

Earl Cathcart appointed governor general; Repeal of the Corn Laws; Lord John Russell prime minister

Bishop's visitation: twentyone confirmed at St AE; E.S. Reynolds elected secretary treasurer of St AE School Commission following Aquila Knapp's resignation

XX11

Reid family events

1847 (16 Apr) Malcolm declared a discharged bankrupt and leaves home for USA; JR does not vote in June election; (25 Sep) Charles contracts typhus ministering at quarantine station, nursed back to health at paternal home

Chronology Local events and regional church events

National and international events

(29 Mar) Bishop sends circular appealing for Irish Famine Relief; Rev. William Dawes of St Johns dies of typhus contracted while aiding transient immigrants

(Jan) Lord Elgin appointed governor general; Hampden Case in England; Potato Famine in Ireland; (Jun) Typhus spreads into LC; Collapse of the timber boom in Canada; Depression

1848 JR preparing old Missiskoui At 4th triennial visitation Standard essays for possible of the clergy, Mountain publication; JR buys justifies his Grosse He farmland to establish his policy of previous summer despite resulting deaths son James; (15 Sep) JR appointed chaplain of 3rd among clergy; schoolhouse Battalion of the Regiment in Philipsburg destroyed by fire of Missisquoi; (5 Nov.) JR begins volume 22 of diary

Gold discovered in California; liberal and nationalistic revolutions in Europe; Chartist petition presented to Parliament; BaldwinLafontaine Ministry takes office in Canada: Christian Socialist movement; Pius ix flees from Rome

1849 (May-June) JR writes several anonymous letters to Hon. R. Baldwin; (Jun) Nancy, JR's daughter, suffering from swollen neck, examined in Montreal; (Sep) Rev. Ernest Hawkins visits JR; (Oct-Dec) JR and Rev. John Bethune of Montreal feud over appointment of prospective bishop

(9 Jul) J.B. Seymour elected Secretary-Treasurer of School Commission replacing E.S. Reynolds; Diocese of Rupert's Land erected; (Dec) Mountain issues Thoughts on Annexation which reprimands efforts to affect appointment of a bishop

Elgin signs Rebellion Losses Bill: riots in Montreal culminate in burning of the Parliament Buildings; Navigation Laws repealed; Annexation Manifesto; cholera reappears at Quebec

1850 (11 Jan) William Reid, Charles & Julia's son dies, aged four; (27 Aug) Mal colm dies at Cooper's Wells, Mississippi; (18 Sep) JR presents two addresses: first welcomes Fulford,

Erection of diocese of Montreal, of which St Armand is a part; Francis Fulford appointed first bishop of the See of Montreal

(Mar) Pius ix re-enters Rome; crisis in Anglican Church over Gorham case; (29 Sep) Pope establishes thriteen English sees; Wiseman made cardinal & archbishop

Chronology Reid family events

Local events and regional church events

XXlll

National and international events

second bids farewell to Mountain from Missisquoi clergy 1851 (18 Apr) JR receives gown & scarf from ladies of Trinity Church; (5 jul) JR launches parish endowment fund and donates land for a glebe

(23 Sep-1 Oct) Conference first postage stamp issued of Bishops held at Quebec, in Canada; Hincks-Morin five are present Reform Ministry; Russell introduces Anti-papal Aggression Bill; debate on the revival of Convocation; Lord Palmerston resigns

1852 ( Feb ) JR giving financial assistance to his son John in USA; (12 Mar.) Annie McDermid Reid, Charles & Julia's daughter, born; (Nov-Dec) JR denied grant from Church Society for repairs; (29 Dec) JR maries his son James & Martha Gilman in Brome

(24 Jan) Meeting of clergy and lay representatives of diocese; (Feb) Church Society of the Diocese of Montreal incorporated; (1 Jul) Fulford confirms seventeen at St AE

Coup d'etat in France; Napoleon in proclaimed emperor; Russell Ministry resigns; Conservative Ministry (Lord Derby); Wellington dies; Coalition Ministry (Lord Aberdeen)

1853 (17 Apr) JR preaches at ordination held at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal; (25 May) JR forcibly retired as chairman of District Association; (11-13 Oct) JR sits for his portrait in Montreal

Gavazzi riots in Quebec and Montreal; RR line Montreal to Portland completed; Grand Trunk RR begun

Imperial parliament surrenders Clergy Reserves to the Canadian Legislature while securing the life interest of existing clergy

1854 Charles and family moved to parish of Sherbrooke; (9 Jul) JR installed as a canon of Christ Church Cathedral in absentia; acknowledgment by JR's son James of a debt to his father of £534.3.5

Installation of dean and chapter at Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal; Strachan holds first synod in British North America (in Toronto)

(27 Mar.) Britain and France declare war on Russia; (14 Sep) Allied armies land in Crimea; LiberalConservative coalition in Canada; Reciprocity Treaty with us; Parlia-

XXIV

Reid family events

Chronology Local events and regional church events

National and international events

ment ends C of E monopoly of Oxford & Cambridge: Sir Edmund Bond Head appointed governor general 1855 (17 Mar) JR lends £100 to Charles; (June) JR awarded honorary D.D. by Bishop's College; (18 Jun) Malcolm Reid, James & Martha's son, born; (30 Jun) Martha dies; (Oct) JR writes to Alexander Haldane

(19 Jun) Fulford confirms twelve at St AE; (9 Nov) Fulford's circular on Declaration and Constitution of Synod, for consideration 16 Jan; Eastern Townships Bank incorporated

Convocation asks leave from the Crown to make a canon (namely, to reform its own constitution) : refused; Liberal Ministry (Palmerston)

1856 (22 Feb)JR's daughter Nancy dies; (16 Apr) JR's son James marries Agnes Ralston; (Sep) JR donates Stewart's bell for use of new Academy

Rev. R.Whitwell resigns from StAw; (10 Dec.) Christ Church Cathedral is destroyed by fire

Peace of Paris concludes Crimean War; Legislative Council becomes elective

1857 (3 Oct) Agnes Ralston Reid dies; JR's nephew, studying for the Presbyterian ministry, visits; major repairs made to parsonage property; Charles repays his debt to JR

(22 May) Cornerstone of new cathedral laid; Act passed enabling members of the Church of England in Canada to meet in synod; furor over St Sylvester murder trial; Diocese of Huron erected, Benjamin Cronyn first bishop to be elected in Canada

Irish Republican Brotherhood (Fenians) founded; Indian Mutiny breaks out; Atlantic cable completed; Commission established to codify Civil Law of Canada East

1858 (12 Jul) JR writes to G.J. Mountain giving advice on resolving difficulties surrounding synod; JR discontinues keeping a separate marriage register

(24 Jun) Bishop Mountain faces serious opposition in forming first synod in Diocese of Quebec (met 6 July 1859)

Decimal currency; Ottawa chosen as capital of Canada; Brown-Dorion Government falls after two days; Cartier-

Chronology Reid family events

Local events and regional church events

(begun 1815) after the 436th entry

XXV

National and international events Macdonald Ministry formed, "the double shuffle"

1859 (4 Aug) JR marries son (19 Jan) Fulford holds James and Alice M. Knowl- Triennial Visitation of ton; JR sends bank draft clergy (his third) at St drawn on New York for Johns; (y-SJun) first $120 to his son John; JR meeting of Synod of has to have parsonage Diocese of Montreal; chimney rebuilt (27 Nov) new cathedral opened; Diocese of British Columbia erected

Darwin's Origin of Species published; Ministry defeated on Disraeli's Reform Bill; Liberal Ministry (Palmerston); riots at St George's-inthe-East, London, over ritual; first electric lighting plant (in New York City)

1860 (17 Jan) Trinity ladies establish fund to decorate interior of a new church; (15 Apr) JR preaches at cathedral; Bishop of Quebec conveys St AE'S glebe to JR to allow its sale; (20 May) birth of Charles James Reid, James & Alice's son; (11 Jun) JR gives his son James £500 cash to be the total of what he is to expect from his parents' estates

Fulford becomes first Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada

Abraham Lincoln elected president of USA; AngloFrench commercial treaty abolishes English protective duties

1861 (21 Apr) JR delivers sixteen-page address on subject of an endowment fund to ensure the support of his successor, JR sells St AE'S glebe lot (Dunn's gift) for benefit of Endowment Fund

(10 Sep) first Provincial Synod, five bishops, fiftythree clerical & forty-four lay delegates present; Letters Patent name Montreal as permanent Metropolitan See

(12 Apr) Outbreak of American Civil War; Viscount Monck appointed governor general; Prince Consort dies

1862 (5 Jan.) Rev.J.B. Davidson begins service asJR's curate; (20 Feb) thirty-three

Divisive debate between Fulford and Ven. Isaac Hellmuth; Diocese of

Defeat of MacdonaldCartier Ministry; John S. Macdonald forms

XXVI

Chronology

Reid family events

Local events and regional church events

National and international events

signators for Endowment Fund to be paid in seven years; (23 Aug) birth of Thomas Hugh Reid, James & Alice's son

Ontario erected: (25 Mar) first episcopal consecration performed in Canada (John Travers Lewis)

government

(6 Jan) Bishop GJ. Mountain dies; (5 Mar) James William Williams elected his successor as fourth Lord Bishop of Quebec

Bishop Colenso deposed by Bishop Gray (act declared null and void on appeal to the Crown); Confederate defeats at Gettysburg, Vicksburg & Chattanooga

1863 (20 Feb) death of James & Alice's son Charles James; (11 Jul) JR's son John enlists in Union Army as wagon master; (14 Nov) JR begins volume 36 of his diary (his last); JR's son James' illness causes anxiety

1864 Davidson frequendy absent St Albans Raiders flee leaving JR unaided; James' across St Armand frontier, health deteriorates; (15 arrested at Stanbridge East Aug) JR sees Synod report mistaking him for Whitwell; (17 Aug) Jane, JR's daughter leaves for Saratoga; JR burns 32 volumes of diary; (3 Sep) Jane returns; Davidson's absences continue; (i Dec) JR suffers a paralytic stroke; (14 Dec) JR's son John dies of disease in prison in Andersonville, Georgia

Archduke Maximilian accepts Mexican Crown; Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences; "Deadlock," and "the Great Coalition" (Macdonald-Brown); Pius ix issues Syllabus Errorum; Savannah surrenders to Union Army

1865 (14 Jan) JR dies; (17 Jan) Davidson preaches funeral sermon; (29 Jan) memorial service for JR at St AE, Charles Bancroft preaches; (18 Dec) JR's daughter-inlaw Alice dies

Letters Patent naming President Lincoln assasMontreal Metropolitan See sinated; Capitulation shown to be without of Confederate Army; British government sancauthority tions new canons (revised by Convocation)

1866 (12 Mar) death of JR's son James

Margaret Vincent of Eccles (4 Jun) Fenian attack Hill accidentally shot in on 1St Armand causes Fenian Raid panic and widespread

Chronology Reid family events

Local events and regional church events

XXVll

National and international events

damage to local property; Russell Ministry defeated on Reform Bill 1867

Municipality of Frelighsburg incorporated; Bishop Strachan dies

British North America Act passed; first Lambeth Conference meets; Parliament Reform Bill passed

1868 (13 Oct) Isabella Reid dies

Bishop Fulford dies

Lord Derby resigns succeeded by Disraeli; Gladstone forms ministry after Liberal victory at polls

Map 1: The Eastern Townships of Lower Canada, 1833. Source: Information respecting The Eastern Townships of Lower Canada, in Which The British American Land Company Intend to Commence Operations for the Sale and Settlement of Lands in the Ensuing Spring (London: W.J. Ruffy [n.d.]).

Map 2: Missisquoi County, 1867. Source: Map of the Eastern Townships of Canada compiled and Engraved expressly far the Eastern Townships Gazetteer (St Johns [QC]: Smith

& Co. 1867)

Map 3: Selective property map of Frelighsburg and area, c. 1851. Trinity Church and James Reid's parsonage are located on lot 30. Source: Compiled by the editor based on the municipal tax roll for 1851 (Missisquoi Historical Society) and Walling's Map of the Counties ofShefford,

Iberville, Brome, Missisquoi and Rouville Canada East (1864).

Preface

On Sunday, 5 November 1848, the Rev. James Reid, rector of Trinity Church in Frelighsburg, Canada East, began a new volume of his diary. It had been a long-standing habit of his to record events on a regular, if not always on a daily, basis, and in the upper right-hand corner of the first page is a four-digit figure, apparently carried over from his previous diary, identifying this as page number 3895. On the rough brown paper cover he had written "Volume 22." The diarist was at this time almost sixty-eight years of age, active in mind and body: in his own words, "a strong, healthy old man."1 A Scot by birth, and originally a Gaelic-speaking Presbyterian, he had served the past thirty-three years in the same Anglican parish in the Eastern Townships within a few miles of the American border. He had been part of the "vast nineteenth century movement of the peoples,"22 but, less typically for a British emigrant, had settled in Lower Canada, largely French-speaking and Roman Catholic. Of the thirty-six volumes of Reid's diary, only four remain, and of these, only two - volumes 22 and 23 - are consecutive. These cover the period from 5 November 1848 to 22 July 1851, and fill more than 230 closely written legal-size pages. The isolated volumes, numbers 25 and 36, add more than 275 further pages.33 This book presents the first two volumes; it is hoped that the remaining two, equally important and filled with interest, will also be made accessible through publication. The two volumes published here are of interest on several fronts. Historically, they coincide with the end of the old colonial system, the growing pains of responsible government, and more particularly, with the "Great Ministry" of Robert Baldwin and Louis H. Lafontaine. Moreover, they describe the feelings of an ordinary clergyman at a time when the

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Preface

Church of England was caught between its official ideology - the alliance between church and state - and the new imperatives of a recently autonomous colonial government. In the context of developments in the colonial Church and an emerging synodical system, they also reveal the fascinating mind-set of a minister devoted to episcopacy as a mode of organization, yet frequently suspicious of episcopal authority and the increasing centralization of ecclesiastical power. The diary gives ready insight into the rival interests of urban Montreal and its rural hinterland, the difficulties and developments in communications and transportation, the influence of local and international newspapers, as well as the rise and fall of excitement over the Rebellion Losses Bill, the burning of Parliament, and the rhetoric of the Montreal-based annexationists. On a wider canvas, Catholic emancipation and "Papal Aggression" in England, echoes of revolution in Europe, and the Gold Rush in California are also seen through Reid's eyes, as is, in the later volumes, the American Civil War. The final volume breaks off just after the St Albans Raid and the meeting of the Quebec Conference.4 Village life in English-speaking rural Quebec at this period has seldom been displayed in the wealth of detail available in Reid's diary. The hierarchy of small town society, from its dignitaries to its derelicts, is revealed, and local rivalries and politics, fetes and celebrations, scandals and law-suits, success stories and disasters, together form a narrative worthy of George Eliot. The diary is also a remarkable psychological document, through which Reid emerges as a complex human being. A shy man, all too conscious of his humble beginnings, his brusque and often severe manner could hurt or offend those who did not know him well, yet he had a large circle of close friends. Although "a mere backwoodsman" (as he once wryly described himself), the diarist gives first-hand insights into such of his acquaintanceship as John Strachan, CJ. Stewart, G.J. Mountain, and Francis Fulford, all bishops of the Church of England, Ernest Hawkins, secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, Dean John Bethune, Judge J.S. McCord, Dr Archibald Hall, David Kinnear (proprietor of the Montreal Herald}, Brown Chamberlin and John Lowe (proprietors of the Montreal Gazette], and Member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada James Moir Ferres. All four volumes are to be found among the James Reid Papers in the Montreal Diocesan Archives of the Anglican Church of Canada, housed in Montreal. The provenance of the papers is not fully docu-

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mented, but the diary was undoubtedly placed among them by Thomas R. Millman, historian and biographer, and a later rector of Frelighsburg. They had been brought to his attention in the early 1940s by the late Augusta F.W. Davidson, a daughter of the Rev. James Burrows Davidson, who was Reid's assistant and immediate successor. Miss Davidson was a goddaughter of Reid's unmarried daughter Jane, had cared for her during the last six years of her life, and had in 1901 inherited her house and its contents, which included the diary and other books and family papers. Learning of his interest in the history of the parish and its previous incumbents, Miss Davidson sent the volumes to Millman asking "what ... ought to be done with them" as she had always regarded them as "a trust."5 On his further inquiry about the other volumes (Reid's numbers on the covers clearly signalled their existence) she stated only that she had "no idea."6 It seems likely that, although the diary was in her possession for more than forty years, Miss Davidson had never actually read it, for on 9 October 1864, in volume 36, Reid asserts categorically that he himself had "burned 32 Vol[s]. of this Diary as not thinking it of any use to be handled after my departure." This holocaust would have left a total of four volumes including the one he was engaged in at the time. In light of Reid's own testimony, it is unlikely that further volumes will be found. Volume 36 was never finished: its final entry was written the day before Reid suffered a paralytic stroke. He died within six weeks. The authenticity of the diary and Reid's authorship of it cannot be in doubt, as its descent can be traced without a break from Reid's death to the present day. Other samples of Reid's hand and style are by no means rare. In addition to numerous items in the Montreal Diocesan Archives, specimens of his writing, ranging in date from 1812 to 1864, have lain for many years in such far-flung institutional collections as the archives of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, now in Oxford, England; the Archives of Ontario; the archives of the McCord Museum of Canadian History; the Quebec Diocesan Archives; the Archives nationales du Quebec in Quebec City; and the National Archives of Canada. Throughout the four volumes, Reid's hand is remarkably firm and clear. Transcribing them, although time-consuming, presented few intrinsic difficulties. The pages are covered with text from top to bottom, with small allowance for margins, yet although the leaves (with the exception of volume 36) are unlined, the words are well spaced, and the

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writing fairly straight. As one would expect, his script varies in size and neatness from page to page, suggesting at certain times great care, at others haste or urgency. Such marks of mood and temper, the printed text unfortunately cannot hope to convey. The sheer bulk of the diary and the limited hours during which it was available for consultation made transcription from the manuscripts impracticable, and I therefore worked from microfilm. Before beginning, however, I examined the originals to note the characteristics of the paper, the colour and quality of the ink, the pages marked with blots and erasures, and the evidence of additions, corrections, or deletions by Reid. The resulting typescript, with all the peculiarities of Reid's text duly noted, was then compared, verbatim et literatim, with a transcript made from the manuscript by Millman in the 1940s. This provided an invaluable countercheck on my reading and transcription of Reid's text. Disaccord between his transcript and mine was resolved through consulting the original. Finally, numerous random spot checks were made, comparing the corrected typescript with the original. The published format is as faithful to Reid's apparent intention as possible. For example, Reid allowed little or no margin, and often pared his indentations to the minimum; I have considered any marked indentation as signalling a new paragraph. Reid paginated throughout, usually in the same ink and apparently at the same time as he wrote the individual entries. In addition, each page usually carries a date heading. (Dates preceding a new entry were placed in the middle of a single-spaced line, thus further contributing to the compact appearance of his text.) These page numbers and page-top date headings have been silently suppressed, as superfluous interruptions of the text and a potential source of confusion to the reader. Reid usually dated his entries fully, indicating the day, month, and year. For consistency's sake I have inserted any part of a date Reid omitted, wherever it could be ascertained. If he miswrote the date or neglected to show a change in date, the corrected form appears in square brackets. The form, spelling, and punctuation, variable as they may be, have been retained. Old fashioned peculiarities of Reid's script, such as his practice of placing hyphens at the end of one line and the beginning of the next when he divided a word, and his use of repeated open quotation marks at the head of each line and paragraph quoted, have not been adhered to. I have also, not without some regret, eliminated the decimal points

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that often follow an integer; thus his original phrase "my labours for 34. years" appears without the decimal. Reid's frequent use of superscript letters in a wide variety of abbreviations and contractions has been retained. Such forms as Cap1 or Messrs are familiar; others, such as wh (which), Bapts (Baptists), Jan (January), or ster§ (sterling), for example, are clear from the context and are not expanded or explained. Adhering to Reid's punctuation posed occasional problems of interpretation. He appears to have been in the habit of resting his pen lightly on the paper, perhaps while pondering his next phrase, and thereby producing confusing marks. The unmistakably intentional commas and periods are more pronounced, but can be, like the colons and semicolons, difficult to distinguish from one another. Additional punctuation has been silently inserted where needed to avoid ambiguity. Reid's occasional concluding flourishes, often suggestive of exuberance or assertiveness, are represented as dashes, and his underscorings, sometimes multiple, are indicated by italics. Capital letters abound in the diary and, as they often give stress to certain aspects of the text, such as "it will break the poor Boy's heart," for example, they have been preserved with particular care. Reid sometimes fails to capitalize proper nouns or adjectives - "friday" or "english," for example. These features, common at the time, have also been preserved. In general, Reid's spelling tends to be accurate. For readability, occasional missing letters are supplied - for example, "resid[u]ary" or "ha[u]teur" — but such peculiar forms as "Erisipelas" and "gossoping," or such occasional substitutions as "bear" for "bare" and "waste" for "waist," are retained. He often repeated words or sequences of words (for example, "lay under under his counter"); the deletion has been silently made. Reid seems to have read over his entries and corrected many errors and omissions. He made at least thirty-eight obvious additions, deletions, and alterations in the two volumes, more than eighty per cent of which occur in volume 23. The corrected version is given without annotation. Despite his age and the difficulties of travel, Reid went about a good deal, and the diary is filled with names of the places he visited. Many of these may be familiar only to residents of the Eastern Townships, and may not be recognizable even to them, for some settlements and landmarks have not borne the names by which Reid knew them for several

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generations. Contemporary maps are provided at the beginning of the book, identifying places under the names Reid used, locating them in terms of their townships and districts, and showing their proximity to roads and major bodies of water as well as their relative distances from Quebec City, Montreal, and the American border. As Reid's diary often details his rounds in the parish, a plan indicating property holders in the immediate vicinity is also included. I make no consistent attempt to transpose Reid's place names to their present versions, either in his text or in the notes. Present-day St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, for example, appears in the diary, and is referred to in the notes, as St Johns; St-Bernard-deLacolle appears as Lacolle (or Lacole). Place names quoted in legal and notarial documents appear as they were written, as do the endorsements found on such writings. The endnotes explain or flesh out the many local, and frequently ephemeral, references in Reid's narrative. Read in the light of personal, community, and national events, the diary reveals a remarkably vivid texture of life and incident. Without commentary, its interest as a human, literary and historical document is much diminished. Reid refers to more than 300 people in these two volumes. Although some are well-known figures, most were simply Reid's friends and parishioners. The notes provide a minimum of commentary on the former, and more detail for the latter. Appendix A contains an excerpt from a contemporary newspaper which has by remarkable good fortune survived to the present day. The excerpt is a satirical sketch of the town in which Reid lived, and, although politically hostile, it gives valuable insight into the temper of the times as well as a recognizable caricature of Reid himself. As the diary affords such insight into village life in rural Englishspeaking Canada East, it would be remiss to neglect the representative figures that emerge from Reid's account. Appendix B contains biographical sketches of thirty-eight local figures, selected in part for their prominence or intrinsic interest in the diaries and in part for the variety of their roles in the community. They include matrons, widows, spinsters, and servants, as well as substantial landholders, farmers, store owners, and local businessmen. The notation q.v. in the endnote accompanying the first mention of their name in the diary signals his or her inclusion in the appendix. For an obscure country clergyman, Reid left a surprisingly large body of publications that have survived to the present. Appendix C provides a list of Reid's writings in print, which include sermons, pamphlets,

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essays, and a number of scattered letters and notices appearing in the press. Finally, an index of persons and places is also provided. As some of Reid's references, especially to individuals, are ambiguous, I have occasionally resorted to generic entries. Thus clear references to Moses or to Aquila Knap, for example, appear under their respective names, but those merely to "the Knaps" are to be found under "Knap family."

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Acknowledgments

This edition could not have been produced without the help and encouragement of a large number of individuals. First, I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to the Most Rev. Dr Reginald Hollis, formerly archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada and bishop of Montreal, for first giving me permission to edit the diary as my doctoral dissertation, and to the Rt Rev. Andrew S. Hutchison, his successor as bishop of Montreal, for his permission to publish the diary and to quote from other related documents in the Montreal Diocesan Archives. I wish likewise to thank the Rt Rev. Bruce Stavert, bishop of Quebec, and the Rev. Ian Pearson, former archivist of the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. I am also grateful to the Rev. Mary Irwin-Gibson, former rector of All Saints' Church, Dunham, for full access to the Trinity Church Parish Papers held in Frelighsburg and Dunham. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to my husband, Dr Thomas A. Reisner, who not only typed and assisted with reading the proofs of the copy-text of the diary, but who has also suffered, with relative equanimity, my total preoccupation with this project for several years. His criticism, his advice, and his sharp eye for detail aided me immeasurably in preparing this edition. I take pleasure in acknowledging my gratitude and indebtedness to the late Thomas R. Millman, who entrusted to me his annotated transcripts of the diary, a catalogue of the Trinity Church Parish Papers compiled by himself, and a wealth of miscellaneous notes dealing especially with the genealogies of local families - materials originally intended for "a small biography" and "a history of the parish, ... but time was not afforded for the completion of the project"7 He, furthermore, patient-

xl

Acknowledgments

ly answered numerous questions during the intervening period, and was an unfailing source of encouragement and support. I am grateful to Hugh D. McDermid, of Ottawa, a great-great-grandnephew of Reid's wife Isabella, for photocopies of two letters in his possession written by Reid, as well as for extracts from his grandfather's reminiscences which pertain to the Reids, and for genealogical details of the McDiarmid and McDermid families. I would like to thank the following individuals who kindly answered letters of inquiry, or consented to interviews, freely giving their time and knowledge on such subjects as parish history, parish silver, parish registers, family records, and genealogical data: Margaret Ellis, Carolyn Fouts, the late Florence and Harold Hunt, Hope Cotton Jenne, G.G. Lafferty, Barbara Ogilby, the Rev. John Serjeantson, the late Kathleen Shepherd, the Ven. J.W. Sparling, and the Rev. Grahame C. Thompson. I am also grateful to Donald R. Chamberlin, Joan Gibb, the Rev. Malcolm A. Hughes, Scott Kingsland, Robert Barry Murphy, Dr Christopher Nicholl, Helen G. Stuart, and Mary Louise VanDyke who provided assistance in a variety of ways. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the kindness and hospitality of the late Edith L. Grassette, who lived in the rectory once occupied by Reid and his family. Thanks to her I was able to board in the house, explore it from cellar to attic, and study the parish papers in the very place where the diary was written. Thanks are also due to the many archivists and librarians who provided particular materials or information: Dr Richard Virr, archivist, Montreal Diocesan Archives, and Gertrude Lebans, his predecessor; Rev. Canon Mervyn Awcock, former archivist, and his successors Rev. Canon Harold Brazel and James T. Sweeny, Quebec Diocesan Archives; Gilles Heon, archivist, Archives nationales du Quebec (Quebec); Patricia Kennedy and Marianne McLean, archivists, Pre-Confederation Archives, National Archives of Canada; Corrado A. Santoro, archivist, Archives of Ontario; Pamela Miller, archivist, The McCord Museum of Canadian History; Anna M. Grant, archivist, Bishop's University Library; Nancy F. Lyon, archivist, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library; Yolaine Toussaint, assistant archivist, Musee de la Banque de Montreal; Sabine De Groote, Elizabeth Biggs, and Jean Eakins, archivists, Missisquoi Historical Society; Marion L. Phelps, archivist, Brome County Historical Society; Norma Johnston, divinity school librarian, McGill University; and Leslie A. Gardner, library associate, State Historical Society of Iowa.

Introduction

When James Reid embarked, on 14 November 1863, on what would be the final volume of his diary, he began as follows: "I have here commenced a New Book, at the advanced page above set down; and if I who wrote so many would read all, ... O what a volume of useless, worthless senseless things as well as some good reminiscences would be found." Despite his disparagement of its content, however, there is remarkably little in the diary that could be qualified as useless, senseless or worthless. Sense and utility, in fact, form the pith of most entries. Even a cursory reading reveals recurring themes which knit the different elements together into a coherent, if not continuous, narrative. The diary chronicles a life of effort, thought, and engagement, set against the varying backdrop of community life and the all-pervading cycle of the seasons. There is little published material available on the Anglican culture of the Protestant minority in Lower Canada. Thomas R. Millman's biographies of bishops Jacob Mountain and Charles James Stewart are the major sources, while the engaging Ten Rings on the Oak, with its vivid glimpse of town and gown, concentrates on the family circle of Bishop George Jehoshaphat Mountain.1 By contrast, Reid's diary was written far from the seats of power. It reveals a world of ordinary parish activities and pressures, as well as the position and responsibilities of a country clergyman and his family. It also reveals the responses of that clergyman to the world around him: much of the religious history of Ontario, according to John Webster Grant, "has perished with those who made it ... for most Ontarians did not put their inmost thoughts on paper."2 Reid did, and his detailed diary is the more valuable for it. Reid today is virtually unknown except by a handful of ecclesiastical and regional historians. A few brief passages from the diary have been

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The Diary of James Reid

quoted or referred to in print,3 but otherwise this valuable and engaging document has rested, like its author, in obscurity. Reid's vision of his community and of the larger world beyond was tinged with his biases, but it was also shrewd and intelligent. He was, one might say, a worthy witness to a scene more complex than might at first be supposed. The diary ought to be widely accessible, and the diarist himself deserves to take his place among the modest crop of writers produced by Englishspeaking rural Lower.Canada prior to Confederation. It is hoped that this book may go some way toward accomplishing this end. THE DIARY

Though of interest primarily for what their text relates, the four surviving volumes of Reid's diary in themselves deserve more than a passing glance. All four are homemade, and appear to have been put together from materials ready to hand. Volume 22 is covered with coarse wrapping paper from a Sheffield cutlery firm; volume 23 is similarly protected by an Edinburgh stationer's wrapper. The sheets, measuring c 18 cm x C31-5 cm, are not gathered into quires but simply stitched together six or seven times down the centre through the spine, with doubled coarse white thread. The pages vary in number from volume to volume and differ somewhat in size, quality, and colour. These primitive bindings are remarkably stable, though not so tight as to restrict turning the pages. It is the uniformity of Reid's page format - pagination, dating, handling of spacing and margins - that gives the volumes, as physical objects, a sense of harmony and consistency. If its construction shows Reid to have been both economical and resourceful, the diary's contents and tone suggest it was a private resort, a confidant and growlery intended for his eyes only, and certainly not written with a view to publication. Other manuscript volumes into which Reid copied assorted material, such as his letterbook and a collection of his sermons, were commercially made and leatherbound. The diary volumes are by contrast homely objects: readily portable, compact, and plain. Interestingly, they resemble Reid's parish register, and on one occasion at least he may have mistaken the one for the other. On 24 September 1853, at the end of his diary entry for the day, he records that he had gone to a parishioner's house to perform a baptism. The passage reads: "James, son of Andrew Fitzsimmons labourer of this Parish, at Horace Chandler's and Sarah Jane McDougall his wife born on the 11th June, last past, and was baptized this 24th Sepr 1853 by me,

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J. Reid." Baptisms were usually performed publicly and in church, except in cases of grave illness. Perhaps Reid was pressed for time and laid hold of his diary as the next best place to record the event; perhaps he had taken it by mistake, but decided to write the entry nonetheless, for fear of forgetting the necessary details before they could be added to the register. Whatever the case, it suggests that Reid regarded his diary, modest as it might appear, as a permanent and trustworthy record, equally worthy of his public persona and his private thoughts. SCOPE, T H E M E S , AND USES OF THE D I A R Y

Reid's diary seems to have served several distinct purposes. At its simplest, he used it as a weather log, which enabled him to make comparisons over an extended period. On 5 February 1850, for example, he begins: "The coldest day we have had this winter. Mercury 32° below zero, equal to the coldest day of last winter which was the 19th Feb." Like most of his neighbours, Reid watched the weather with an eye to planting crops, securing the harvest, finding good pasture, and foddering cattle, for he always kept some livestock, and grew vegetables, some grain, and hay. He also had the farmer's appreciation of "beautiful, refreshing, sweet rain." The diary was an equally practical logbook of domestic chores, such as cleaning the stove pipes. On 14 April 1849, he writes: "I suppose my stove pipes are foul, and therefore liable to take fire ... They have not been cleaned for two months." It would have been easy enough for Reid to confirm this, for he had recorded cleaning and putting up the "Cook Stove pipes" on 5 February. His diary recorded the periodic performance of this household chore to the end: the last page of his final volume carries a memorandum of this kind. The theme of work and the daily round of tasks figure largely in the diary. Although such labour was by no means universal among the colonial clergy of the Church of England, it was recommended to them. In an article entitled "On the Education of Missionaries," published in the contemporary British journal of the Church of England, it was stated that "missionaries should, in nearly all cases, be carried so far beyond the bounds of clerical education established in England as to be taught some habitual manual labour."4 The Reids employed a hired man and a "girl" for some of the chores, but a good many of the labours "about the premises" were performed by Reid himself, from digging to mending fences, from field work to shovelling snow. He also took charge of firing

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The Diary of James Reid

up the church stoves in winter, so that by the time the congregation arrived the interior would be well warmed. Although he complained of his failing capacity for heavy work, he seems to have remained vigorous, taking on a remarkable variety of chores. While he performed manual tasks willingly, he resented people's expecting him to do menial work, which he saw as disrespectful both to himself and to his vocation. His diary served Reid as a commonplace book. In one volume he recorded the conversion of the minot to the bushel, and in another of the dollar to the pound. He set down his family tree "as near as I can make out," preserved an article describing the funeral of a friend copied from a local newspaper, and recorded the inscription on a tombstone he intended to ban from his churchyard. Social occasions sometimes prompted him, in a rare burst of prodigality with paper, to list those who attended. In short, the diary seems to have served Reid, on various levels, as a means of working out, thinking through and jotting down a diverse collection of minutiae. Although Reid was apparently not sentimental about anniversaries, his diary enabled him to pinpoint the dates of particular family events. That he could state so precisely that his son Malcolm had left home "three years ago on the 14th of this present month" was probably thanks to his having recorded the event in the first place. Since the relevant volume was among those destroyed, the reader can no longer be sure, but later on Reid uses his diary specifically as an aide-memoire. On 2 May 1864, puzzled by a notation he has found in his cheque book of a $120 bank draft drawn on New York in February 1859, he turned to his diary: "what it was I had not the least recollection, till I looked into the entries of that month and year, and found that it was for poor John." Family relationships and concerns are steady themes in the diary. Mrs Reid remains a shadowy figure, and is most often mentioned in connection with her manifold ailments - "the Erisipelas," rheumatism, diarrhea, the "Cholera morbus," and headache - or her love of visiting, of which Reid sometimes complained: "I dont relish this way of losing my time," he wrote on 25 November 1852, "but I must sometimes give way." He also mentions in the later volumes purchases on her behalf of millinery and false teeth. The teeth cost $32.30, including a five per cent discount. Despite all his grumbling about "the cares and anxieties of parents," Reid was a loving and indulgent father, and his children, in contrast to Mrs Reid, take on distinct personalities: Charles, the eldest and the only one to follow his father's profession, was, in Reid's view, "not conversa-

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tional nor communicative"; John, of whom his father always hoped "the poor boy will do something yet," was by turns a lumberjack, a farmer, and a soldier; Malcolm, "a pleasant companion, blessed with a pleasant sweet voice, would sit down with me when at home and converse agreeably"; and James, who expected to be set up on a farm of his own at his father's expense. Of his daughters, Jane and Nancy, Reid invariably writes with affection: "They are dutiful and loving to us, and live together themselves in the Sweetest love." (There are hints, such as in the incident related on 8 September 1850, that Mrs Reid may have been less peaceably disposed.) His love for "the dear girls" had its price, however, for he records his consternation when the elder received a proposal of marriage. The diary contains evidence of rationalization, guilt, and selfdoubt in other family matters, but not for inflicting permanent spinsterhood on "the very dear girls." References to Reid's many social contacts are frequent, and friendship is another recurring theme. Reid kept in touch by letter and through visits exchanged with his circle of friends, which extended over the border into the United States, up the Richelieu to Montreal, and into the surrounding country districts of Dunham, Sutton, Brome, and Shefford. Reid wrote appreciatively of good manners in others, and prided himself on his knowledge of social forms, such as calling and returning calls. Conversely, he was stung by snubs, impertinence, and brusqueness. Like many British-born clergy of the period, Reid often bemoans the lack of opportunity for intelligent and profitable conversation in his own community, but accounts of the more congenial get-togethers he had with friends in town show that he was quite as capable of gossip as of serious talk. On 19 April 1853, for example, he recounts that while in Montreal he, Dr Hall, Dr Macdonald, and the Rev. David Robertson (chaplain to the Forces) had engaged in "a great deal of light conversation and fun" about a fellow Montreal clergyman, "whose wife was put to bed of a living child in51/2months after their marriage." Reid had many old friends, but the diary reveals a number of volte-face in his attitude to, and relationships with, certain individuals. Of those he found irritating, such as the Rev. James Jones of Bedford, he could write ungenerously: he suggested on one occasion that Jones had lied to him about a meeting with his parishioners, yet when the Rev. Isaac Constantine, Jones' more congenial replacement, told a similar story, as appears in a later volume of the diary, Reid sided unequivocally with him and against the members of the parish.

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The Diary of James Reid

Among his own parishioners Reid speaks affectionately of the Westovers, the Chamberlins, "the Bakers on the hill," the Knaps, the Barnums, and the Anson Kemps, but his comments on the community at large often centre on the divisions he saw among the people. Occasionally he records a cooperative project, but more often witnesses enmity and faction in the village. Yet the parsonage saw friendly comings and goings much of the time; as he writes of a not untypical period, "We had somebody with us, besides our own family, every day this week." Religious matters constitute, not surprisingly, one of the dominant themes in the diary. Reid frequently mentions his various "sacred functions": taking services, both in his own church and in nearby schoolhouses; officiating at baptisms, marriages, and funerals, some at a considerable distance from Frelighsburg; visiting the sick; and admonishing his parishioners. On the testimony of the diary, at least, Reid seems never to have refused the sacrament to anyone, although he undoubtedly had the power and moral authority to do so. The diary also records Reid counselling his fellow clergy, all of whom, in the district of Missisquoi, were his juniors. He speaks of the care he takes to prepare sermons appropriate to circumstances, of delivering extemporaneous discourses when the occasion requires, of keeping his registers up to date and providing extracts on request, of suggesting suitable epitaphs, and relieving needy families. He describes collecting signatures for the bishop's petition to the queen on the subject of the Clergy Reserves, and filling out questionnaires for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) . The District Association of the Church Society, of which Reid was chairman, comes in for its share of comment, as do the clergy that made up its roster, with all their idiosyncrasies and particular doctrinal colorations. Some of these men appear, as William Westfall has described their Upper Canadian counterparts, as taking on the wilderness "with an almost millennial vision of their calling," while others seem about to sink beneath the pressures of primitive conditions into physical and moral breakdown of various kinds.5 The continuance of the Church in his parish, a perennial concern for Reid, depended on enlisting the financial support of the people, but, as Robert Merrill Black has pointed out, members of the Church of England traditionally "looked to the government, not themselves, to provide churches and support the clergy."6 As early as 1831 a warning had come to the Canadian Church "that government financial aid would cease," although existing clergy would continue to receive support for

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life.7 Reid's own position was secure, but he was well aware that, once he was gone, the bounty of the government and the SPG would be withdrawn. The diary contains many a despairing comment on the Church's poor prospects for survival in the Eastern Townships, once dependent on local financing. Ensuring the future support of his successor involved raising funds to create a parochial endowment. Through 1850 and 1851 Reid regularly expended considerable effort collecting subscriptions for the Church Society, a proportion of which could be retained "for local purposes." He obviously found this "begging" role demeaning, especially when parishioners proved reluctant to honour their pledges. "It being my Master's business [he wrote] I was not ashamed to go about collecting, but if it was for myself, they would not have seen me that day nor any other." Altogether, Reid tends to be rather blameful of his parishioners. He frequently accuses them of taking for granted a minister of their own at no cost to themselves, and he is inclined to hold them responsible for the sense of failure he sometimes feels in his mission. Now and then, he reports with evident pleasure some special mark of kindness or respect shown him by the people of the parish, yet his delight on such occasions is invariably accompanied by the observation (quite erroneous, it would seem) that "this is the first time" he has received any such acknowledgment from them. Regardless of denomination, the church was a vital social and cultural focus for the community in mid-nineteenth century Canada.8 In North America as a whole "religion continued to be the dynamic of society and history."9 The lives of most women at this period, as Whitney R. Cross has pointed out, offered little beyond drudgery and constraint,10 and church activities were welcome opportunities for social contact. Under these circumstances it is not surprising that "women composed the great majority of members in all churches."11 Many clergy, Reid among them, found the smaller percentage of men in their congregations and "at the sacrament" a cause for discouragement. The Sewing Society of Trinity Church was a much-needed outlet for the energies of the ladies of the parish, and the diary frequently refers to its meetings. The making of "trinkets," and the convivial teas at which they were sold, also generated a modest fund for the physical improvement and embellishment of the church. As Grant has remarked of Upper Canada, before mid-century, churches were providing themselves with "many of the appurtenances to which we are now accustomed." Sunday schools were becoming

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The Diary of James Reid

usual, midweek groups familiar, and social gatherings increasingly popular.12 Reid arranged for a "Singing School" to prepare special Christmas music, and, as described in later volumes of the diary, groups met to decorate the church with yuletide evergreens, prepare a Christmas tree for the Sunday school children, and stage a summer picnic on the church grounds. All provided innocent pleasure, and occupied the energies of many of the young people in the parish. The diary also furnishes an excellent record of the rival, non-church oriented amusements available in a rural border community. Travelling entertainers making a circuit through the country districts would occasionally stop in Frelighsburg. The diary mentions a Hanoverian couple who performed on the harp and the violin, a welcome diversion "to vary the monotonous life which we lead here since my last entry." Some entertainments were presented as semi-charitable events, such as "a Music Concert given by a blind American Girl, as a matter of Charity," which Reid's daughter Jane attended. The circus was another matter: Reid regarded it as mere confidence trickery, and notes that none of the family went to see it.13 Lecturers also presented themselves, and Reid describes in some detail a demonstration of hypnotism which had been advertised as "a lecture on the new Science of Psychology." Other diversions in the parish appear to have been local initiatives. The Masons, too, were a presence, and although Reid makes it clear that he was not one of the order, many of his fellow clergy were: "Mr. Scott brought me a St. Albans Paper, containing his Sermon which he preached as a Mason in St Albans on St John Baptists day," Reid remarks testily on 5 August 1853. "The Sermon is glitter and shew ... But I am not a mason & consequently no judge." Agricultural fairs provided entertainment and an opportunity for competition. Despite his involvement in farming, however, Reid shows little interest in such events, even when the Missisquoi county fair was being held in Frelighsburg, and consequently the diary affords few particulars of these events locally. When thinking of travelling to a nearby town, he had only to hear that it was to be the scene of a fair to resolve not to go, "as I concluded the little Village would be all in confusion, and I did not want to be in a bustle." Many public entertainments (and, of course, private ones) were accompanied by drinking. The diary makes frequent reference to the miserable and degraded condition of many local inhabitants due to drunkenness; given the ready availability of liquor in taverns and general stores, there certainly was every opportunity in the village for the

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residents to indulge to excess. Reid's comments on the evils of alcohol, however, are always rooted in specific incidents he witnesses: inability to work, financial ruin, family violence, mental disorder, and human dissolution. Local temperance organizations such as the Rechabites did much to combat drunkenness, and Reid speaks approvingly of one such instance: "I was much pleased with Mr Seaton ... He had been very wild, but am glad he has joined the Rhechabites [sic] and has become sober." The temperance movement, which had early been "co-opted" in the United States by Finney and Lyman Beecher for "the evangelical crusade"14 had considerable Anglican involvement on both sides of the border.15 Reid himself had been active in the local Temperance Society (see the chronology) and often spoke at its meetings. The diary keeps some account of Reid's financial transactions, and money matters, whether concerning the parish or Reid's private affairs, loom large in its pages. He records such diverse particulars as the amounts taken up in the church collection and the comparative cost of fattening or buying beef, as well as his personal dealings with his neighbours, including money lent, purchases made, and goods and services offered or received. The diary describes payments to the doctor and contracts for wages with his hired help, itemizes outlays on construction and repairs, and renders an account of church funds carried to the bank in Montreal. Reid had an eye for bargains, and kept abreast of commodity prices. The diary records his making the effort to purchase directly from the manufacturer or the producer on many occasions. He watched the bank crisis of 1849 closely, and disposed of his shares in the City Bank before their drastic decline. He saved and invested his money with care, and was shocked at the lack of husbandry shown by some of the creditors of his son's bankrupt estate. When a local 'robbery' revealed that the secretary treasurer of the school board had allegedly not given the funds he held in trust the same care as he had taken with his own, Reid was incredulous that anyone would do such a thing. He himself took great care of church money, and, thrifty as he was, headed each subscription for church purposes with his own name. Besides serving as an account book of sorts, the diary also did duty as an archive for the correspondence Reid wished to preserve, a function more pronounced from volume 23 onwards. Reid did not transcribe any letters into volume 22, although he does mention his practice of doing so. Volume 23, by contrast, contains copies of fifteen letters, some received, but most written by himself. Occasionally both sides of an

1

The Diary of James Reid

exchange are given, as is the case with Reid's correspondence with his legal representative Brown Chamberlin. In one instance Reid copied successive drafts of a letter, on this occasion to the bishop. While the letters Reid copied generally concerned business, there were family letters too. Particularly moving is the last he received from his son Malcolm, written from a health resort in Mississippi. Perhaps the most engaging, found in volume 25, is that addressed to his daughterin-law Caroline, in which Reid refers to an earlier account of her by his son John: "from what I have learned of your mind and contented piety in the perusal of your Letters," he writes, "I am sure he cannot speak of you in terms of commendation more highly than you deserve." That Reid was occasionally reticent in committing painful or unpleasant matters to writing may point to an aspect of his personality verging upon the superstitious. On receiving a letter from his son Charles containing an account of his marital problems, Reid is about to transcribe his reply to him when abruptly he thinks better of doing so: "On second thought, I will not insert it. Things may mend, and if so, it will be better to keep no record of it." In fact, some of the letters he did preserve became awkward reminders of things he had dashed off in the heat of the moment. Of one such, he later remarked: "I wish the above letter to Mr. Geddes, bad as he has done, had not been written"; on rereading it, he concluded apprehensively that "it may be actionable for defamation of character." Reid had the layman's fascination with the intricate workings of the law. Some entries appear to have been written with an eye to the sort of exactitude required in legal testimony. When called upon to witness the will of the major landholder in the community, he recorded the circumstances in his diary as if the possibility of being questioned about them later had occurred to him. When the execution of the will was contested in court, he provided extracts from his diary as well as testimony. On another occasion, when a cow of his in the care of a hired boy charged a passing woman, Reid took care to copy into his diary - this time the final volume — the form of release given his representative by the victim's husband and a receipt for his payment for her torn clothing. Besides referring to several legal wrangles, the diary records - often quite matter-of-factly - a surprising range of local wrongdoing. The position of Frelighsburg near the border made it a prey to such "international" incidents as smuggling, customs violations, counterfeiting, and night-raiding by thieves. As Westfall points out, all religious groups "complained about the frontier where, they argued, the generally sinful

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state of the colony reached frightening proportions."16 Within itself, however, the community was witness to such crimes as bigamy, burglary, breach of trust, horse theft, "riot and tumult," assault, and murder. References to neighbours obtaining writs, swearing out warrants, collecting affidavits, taking inventories, securing bail, or being conducted to Montreal "under keepers" are remarkably common. Although he took delight in the language of the law, savouring such phrases as "for her own use & benefit," and "an heir of her body lawfully begotten," Reid deplored the influence of legal disputes on the community, "destroying the peace of the neighbourhood by involving others, more or less, with them." Lawyers as a genus he disliked - he refers to them on one occasion as "horse leeches of the devil" - and several times he deliberately extricated himself, after a period of cooperation, from any position likely to involve him in their toils. The diary attests to a lively interest in politics. Reid's opinion of politicians, whether at the local level or in Parliament, was no more positive than it was of the legal profession. He was politically conservative,17 and, as S.F. Wise has suggested of the majority of Anglican clergy, "whether on public occasions, or in ordinary Sunday services" no doubt he "preached social and political conservatism as well as the gospel."18 At hindsight, the establishment of the principle of responsible government has come to be regarded as "a unique Canadian contribution to the development of the modern British Empire,'19 the high-water mark, as John S. Moir has put it, of the "Great Ministry" of Baldwin and Lafontaine.20 To Reid, this development was "dark and most discouraging to all true British subjects." He describes with dismay the acts of the new reform government which took office in 1848,21 especially the proposed Rebellion Losses Bill. That Lord Elgin could recognize the Assembly's right to enact such legislation was incomprehensible to him, as was the prospect of "the poor rebel-loving Governor," as Reid called him, being "sustained by the Government at home." Although "imperial patriotism was henceforth tempered by a feeling of betrayal,"22 Reid also deplored the violent aftermath of Elgin's signing of the bill, and viewed with distaste both the Annexation Manifesto and the convention at Kingston of the British American League. Political affiliations seem to have been deeply felt in the community: Reid mentions "a long conversation" he had with the town's chief citizen on the subject of "detestable politics," in the course of which he was invited to read The Pilot, a leading reform paper. "I said, I did not think the Pilot could alter my views," Reid reports indignantly,

Hi

The Diary of James Reid

"that I thought for myself, that I held the principles that I had held all my life." Reid's thinking conformed with the ideals of Bishops Charles Inglis and John Strachan, conceiving "the church as an instrument of allegiance ... [and] government and religion as the pillars upon which society rested,"23 or, in the words of Owen Chadwick, "that robbery and fornication and extravagance and drunkenness went with laxity in religion, that God-fearing families were sober, honest, [and] self-respecting."24 By the late 1850s, however, the British North American colonies had emphatically rejected the notion that "a stable, harmonious social order should be based upon an overt alliance between church and state."25 The traditional Tory churchman's position had become increasingly untenable, but Reid's thinking continued to justify a hierarchy of privilege and power as the basis of liberty and prosperity for all.26 One of Reid's gravest concerns in the politics of the Canadas was that he did not believe that members of parliament were as loyal to the system of government as their British counterparts. In Parliament and in his own community he saw the desire for personal gain and for patronage appointments as the true wellspring of loyalty: "This [he writes of the election of 1847] was the oil to the wheels of the burning loyalty which created the awful Zeal, and the ill will that was manifested against all that did not assist them." It was the "Collectorship ... The emoluments of Returning officer ... the help of the Member towards the Study of the Law for a nephew, and ... the Crown Land agency" that had motivated his Tory neighbours to support the previous government and to bewail its fall. Fundamental to Reid's political attitudes was his rejection of what he described as "the curse of democracy and republicanism"; he saw both as a new form of tyranny, where "the aristocracy of wealth and power" replaced "distinctions of rank ... established by long immemorial custom and usages."27 Reid projects a pessimistic picture of public affairs. He died on the eve of Confederation, yet his wry comment on the conference of the provincial delegates "holden in Quebec on the subject of the union of the British North American Provinces" betrays no enthusiasm for the momentous result that had been achieved: "I believe the union is agreed upon," he remarks, "and the Delegates are now after their labours, feasting in Montreal, and taking pleasure before separating for their homes." This would suggest that the lack of enthusiasm evoked by the proposals in Lower Canada was not entirely a matter of "French sus-

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picion," as A.R.M. Lower has suggested.28 The "articulate responses of church leaders to the idea of Confederation" may well have been, in Grant's words, "almost uniformly favourable,"29 but Reid's private views seem far from hopeful. Reid subscribed to a considerable number of publications commenting on public affairs, including The Albion from New York, Blackwood's from Edinburgh, the Herald and the Gazette (both Conservative papers) from Montreal, as well as the official government organ the Canada Gazette. It is clear from the diary that he read them all, and read them carefully. He mentions many politicians by name, and comments regularly on foreign and domestic news. That Reid did not admire the adjacent republic may be explained in part by his uncomfortable proximity to the frontier during both the War of 1812 and the Rebellion of 1837 (see the chronology), but the diary shows that he recognized its vitality and growing stature. News from Britain, however, having a greater impact on Canadian affairs, understandably receives more attention in the diary, except during the Civil War years when his son John was serving in the Union army. Reid writes approvingly of Lord Lyndhurst and Disraeli and disdainfully of Hume and Roebuck; he admired Peel and did not appear to expect much of Lord John Russell.30 After speculating at length on the inability of Lord Stanley, Lord Aberdeen, or Sir James Graham to form a ministry in the aftermath of the Ecclesiastical Titles controversy, Reid concludes, astutely enough: "It may be for the better that the Whigs should be left in power long enough to wear themselves out." As we have seen, on specific issues, Reid's views were sometimes contrary to those described as being typical of his time. Moir suggests that the reaction in Canada to 'Papal Aggression' (the division of Britain into Roman Catholic dioceses) "was as violent as it was in England," and that the controversy inflamed both Catholics and Protestants "to an extent beyond modern imagination.'31 Yet Reid merely commented, "I hope God will protect his own Church."32 In political matters, Reid tended to scepticism; as a churchman, he often found the ways of Providence inscrutable. Reid's attitude to the hierarchy of his Church was complex. He expressed unreserved admiration for the SPG, but felt that the bishops, in interposing between the society and its missionaries, did not invariably have the best interests of either at heart. Of G.J. Mountain he writes: "the present Bishop reports for the whole, and makes no complaint of omission on the part of the clergy. He knows perfectly well that

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The Diary of James Reid

it will be best that the Society should know no more than it will please him to tell." When Reid learned of Bishop Mountain's intention to remove his son Charles from his parish for reasons, he suspected, of expediency, he wrote bitterly of his diocesan, and it appears elsewhere that he entertained few illusions as to the fairness of the criteria for advancement in the Church. Summing up the virtues of his diocesan, he is, indeed, guardedly understated: "The present Bishop we know - is good in the main - means well -." On learning of Francis Fulford's selection for the new bishopric of Montreal, Reid observes dryly: "He is said to be a High Churchman. I care very little whether he be high or low. For let a clergyman have been ever so low while simply a clergyman, he will be high enough when he is once a Bishop and 'my Lord.'" For all his grumbling, however, Reid was no rebel against the authority of his hierarchical superiors. His heroes were themselves priests and bishops: Stewart, Strachan, and Macdonell. Reid held firm to the belief that the Church Christ founded was episcopal, but seems never to have lost sight of the fact that it was administered by fallible human beings. The references to Bishop Mountain in the earlier volumes, critical as they often appear, do not give a fair picture of Reid's affectionate regard for his bishop, however. Such feeling may be gathered from the diarist's final reference to him. "Ah! the old set of our Clergy have passed away," he wrote in 1864, "and those that have succeeded them do not, in my opinion, walk in the Steps of the old ... When will such as I could name, write such friendly [letters] as the one from John Toronto, and the last I had from the late Bishop Mountain? Alas! it is not in them." In the context of the controversies which convulsed the Church of England in the nineteenth century, Reid's diary suggests he was equally disquieted by the "monkish tricks" of the High Church party and by those Low churchmen who went so far as to question the apostolic succession. "We had Mrs. and [the Rev.] Mr. Slack here today," Reid wrote on a slip of paper dated 24 September 1853 and inserted into his diary. "He calls himself an Evangelical. He said it was erroneous to hold the doctrine of the apostolical succession of the Ministry, that [it] is only a figment... Having argued the point with him but to no purpose, he said that if he believed as I did he would go over to the church of Rome. I said to him if I were to answer you, as you did me, but I will not, ... I would fall back to the dissenters." It might be tempting to regard Reid's emphasis on episcopacy and the apostolic succession as evidence for a sympathy with the Oxford Movement,33 but this seems unlikely. If he was a High Churchman it was

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strictly of the old-fashioned eighteenth-century type.34 He had been away from Britain for twenty-five years when the Oxford Movement was born and had never been part of the university world that nurtured it.35 He did not institute frequent celebrations of the Eucharist as the Tractarians did,36 and did encourage hymn singing which the Tractarians disliked.37 Reid's veneration for Bishop Stewart led him to sympathize with his brand of missionary zeal, but his distaste for 'enthusiasm' made it difficult for him to accept the style of churchmanship exemplified by such of his fellow clergy as the Rev. James Jones or the Rev. John C. Davidson, both of whom had previously served in the pulpit as Methodists. It seems best to describe Reid as a moderate churchman, earnest and devout, who entered the Church of England at a low ebb in its history38 and who did his best to put behind him the traditions of both the Kirk and the evangelical Scottish Congregationalism in which he had been raised and trained.39 The Liturgy of the Church of England he loved: I have just been thinking with gratitude to God [Reid wrote in 1864], what a wonderful, if not a miraculous work, the Liturgy of the Church of England is! When we consider the age in which it was compiled, its state of ignorance, prejudices, superstition, intolerance, confusions and strifes, we may well see that the wisdom of God and His Holy Spirit gu[i]ded the hearts and hands of the Compilers of our Liturgy. Who can alter or mend any one of the prayers and Collects of that blessed Book? It has obtained the approval and praise of the best men in, and out of the Church ever since it came into use. The language of the Book of Common Prayer and of the Bible reechoes in his prose. One of Reid's favourite pastimes was reading. He mentions at least forty-five books and authors in the diary alone (considerably more if his essays and sermons are included) and frequently writes at some length on his current reading. His taste ran to history, both ancient and modern, biography, and belles-lettres. For example, in July 1851 he comments on "the history of Henry Quatre of France." In January 1853 he records borrowing LeBas's Life of Archbishop Laud from a fellow clergyman, and within two months refers to Thomas Moore's life of Byron and Lord John Russell's "Memoires of T. Moore's life." By July he was reading "Dr Ferguson's Roman Republic," and in September of the same year, "Rollin's Ancient History."

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The Diary of James Reid

Among essayists he mentions Lord Macaulay and Sydney Smith, an oddly Whig choice for a self-confessed Tory. Devotional works, Church history, and commentaries on the Scriptures crop up regularly, among them Robert Nelson's Festivals and Fasts, Richard Mant's annotated family Bible, John Cumming's The Daily Life, William Hales' Dissertation on the Principal Prophecies, Gilbert Burnet's History of the Reformation, Bishop Gleig's edition of Stackhouse's History of the Bible, Humphry Prideaux's Connexion, and John Slater's An Original Draught of the Primitive Church , to name a few. Given Reid's tastes and convictions it is curious that none of the major apologies, used by Upper Canadian churchmen to furnish "a clear and coherent theory of the proper relationship between the church and the state,"40 are mentinoed. Natural history, in the form of Edward Hitchcock's Harmony of Geology with Revelation is also represented. Reid expressed a desire to study the Scottish philosophers Thomas Brown, Thomas Reid, and Dugald Stewart; not surprisingly, he does not mention David Hume. The bestsellers of his day, such as Eugene Sue's The Wandering Jew and Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, he read with attention; the latter impressed him in particular. "I should think that this Book must set the hearts of all Christian people, south and north, against slavery," he wrote on 29 November 1852. "Since I have commenced to read this Book ... every thought that could possibly have found place in my heart has been driven away." Even the serials were not beneath him (in Blackwood's, at least) and he enjoyed the light diversion they provided: "The Chronicles of Carlingford, and Tony Butler," he remarked in 1864, "are all absurd and are meant by the authors of them to be absurd, and nothing more, and yet I am absurd enough to read them." He mentions beginning a novel of Thackeray's but furnishes no further comment on it. No reference is made to Dickens, or, more surprisingly, to the influential fellow Scot, Carlyle.41 Much of Reid's reading, however, was motivated by a desire for self-improvement rather than for diversion: he described himself as "ever learning, or trying to learn, under the disadvantages of the want of early education."He studied his Greek Testament conscientiously, fretted that the "symbolical and mysterious figures" of the Apocalypse were impenetrable to him, and was distressed that his efforts to increase his knowledge were limited by his declining powers: "I have been reading Pearson on the Creed and if I had memory, reflection and meditation," he wrote in 1850, "it wd do me much good." His inability to remember what he had just read, although he could recall what he

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learned "forty years ago," lead him to the melancholy conclusion: "Hence I know from experience that if people do not learn when they are young, they cannot learn when they are old." In April 1850 Reid began to complain of deafness, at first in conjunction with the high voices of the Sunday school children, but progressively with regard to all speech. Thus his increasing recourse to the printed word and his more frequent reference to specific books may be explained by his growing isolation from company. Reid's abiding aspirations to authorship found voice in the diary. In 1849 the publication of a history of the diocese of Quebec, written in England by the secretary of the SPG and based on reports forwarded to the society by various bishops. According to his diary, Reid found the book misleading, and felt a "true" account was needed. He would have liked to undertake such a work, but felt constrained by his position. Perhaps the diary was as far as he allowed himself to venture in this direction, for he began his last volume with the observation: "I have written for my own amusement, in order to keep in mind the circumstances and occurrences which, at the time, took place around me, and in the Canadian Church." To the last, he saw himself as a chronicler of his particular time and place. The prime use of the diary, however, seems to have been as an outlet for Reid's innermost feelings: his anxieties, frustrations, and indignation, no less than his self-questionings, personal vanities, amusements, and griefs. A number of his comments on his wife and children, in fact, suggest that he felt secure in the privacy of his remarks. If he intended the diary to serve as a record, it was one from which he planned to draw extracts, not one to which others would have access. As such, the diary carries with it all the inherent obscurities of a text intended to recall, rather than to explain, the events it recounts. Yet this in itself infuses the whole with an immediacy too often lacking in other, more artful and self-conscious productions. THE D I A R I S T : A B A C K G R O U N D SKETCH Athough almost fifty-three of Reid's eighty-four years were passed in the parish of St Armand, first as schoolmaster, then as curate, and finally as rector of Trinity Church, Frelighsburg, his roots lay elsewhere, in another country and another tradition. It is useful to touch upon some of the elements in Reid's history which brought him, first as an eager young Congregational missionary, from the Highlands to the backwoods set-

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The Diary of James Reid

dements of Glengarry County, and subsequently, as a disillusioned and nearly destitute preacher-turned-teacher, to a prosperous and well-settled township on the border of Lower Canada. His spiritual life underwent a great change as well. The settled state of mind revealed in the remaining volumes of the diary betrays little hint of the road he had travelled prior to becoming a conventional Anglican clergyman of the moderate and conservative school. James Reid was born on 26 November 17804 near the town of Dunkeld in Perthshire, Scotland, where his family ("My progenitors, as well as my parents") rented a small farm on the duke of Athol's estate.43 He was, according to the genealogy he drew up on 4 February 1850, the fifth of eight children born to Peter Reid and his wife Janet Dick (see the chronology). There was a considerable difference in their ages: Reid reports that on their marriage in 1768, his father "was 40 years of age & my mother 18." In reconstructing his family history, Reid gives "the best approximation I am able to come to as I have no dates or records to guide me except my own birth and from the recollections of childhood the age of my father at the time of the rebellion, at his marriage and the year my sisters died." Young James lived with his parents until he was about nineteen. His education "had not been neglected; I had learned to read, write, and cast accounts, and had the Shorter Catechism by heart."44 This was the "mode of education common in the Highlands" at the time, appropriate for a boy who planned to pursue the life to which he had been born.45 He was apparently raised a Presbyterian and, according to his own account, "regularly followed my parents to the Parish Church."46 By the time Reid reached nineteen, things were changing: missionary preachers had begun to evangelize the rural districts. In 1801, a "Mr. Campbell appeared at Dunkeld ... preaching the Gospel. I was pleased with his manner, and became one of his most diligent and passionate hearers. "47 Campbell was a lay missionary of the newly formed Society for the Propagation of the Gospel at Home, which was founded in the 1790s by the well-to-do and well-connected Haldane brothers, and which by 1799 was aligned with Congregationalism.48 The society was dedicated to carrying the Gospel into areas where it was either unknown or improperly understood, and raising the state of religion in Scotland, which its members regarded as being very low.49 As the society's publication The Missionary Magazine rhetorically inquired, "Then, are Greenlanders, Otaheitans, Asiatics, Africans, even Hottentots, to be instructed by Missionaries, to believe, to embrace salvation ... and shall we, neglected, perish in sin...?"5°

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Missionary activities had long been pursued on behalf of those in distant lands, but the Haldanes and their adherents, after a successful tour of rural Scotland, formed an association at Edinburgh. The first general meeting of the society was held 11 January 1798, at which time a committee of twelve directors was appointed, "all of whom were laymen, and nine of them engaged in secular pursuits."5l In their first address they declared, "It is not our design to form or to extend the influence of any sect. Our sole intention is to make known the Evangelical Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. In employing itinerants, schoolmasters, or others, we do not consider ourselves as conferring ordination upon them, or appointing them to the pastoral office. We only propose by sending them out, to supply the means of grace wherever we perceive a deficiency."52 Reid applied for admission to Campbell's congregation, gave satisfactory answers to the questions which he and two or three of the more informed church members put to him, and was received as a member.53 "They had expressed much satisfaction with my knowledge of divine truth," he wrote, "and this early approbation suggested the wish of becoming a preacher of the Gospel."54 As early as 1798, the idea of "educating a number of pious young men for the ministry, who might be selected, as in primitive times, from the various occupations of life, on account of their piety and promising talents," had occurred to the Haldanes.55 By the time Reid formed his desire to become a preacher, three classes had already commenced entirely at Robert Haldane's expense. The training period was not long, generally extending over two years, and the instruction given the seminarians "embraced English grammar and rhetoric, the elements of Greek and Hebrew, ... lectures on systematic theology, and essays upon prescribed subjects." Each student in turn "delivered Sermons before the class ... One day in each week all were required to speak in rotation from a passage of Scripture appointed for that purpose." Nearly 300 young men were trained under this plan. Many of them "were sent out," as the Haldanes' apologist admits, "with more meagre attainments than would have been proper in other circumstances, yet among them there were very many who would have done honour to any of the religious bodies of the day."56 Reid was encouraged in his resolve by Campbell, given a letter of introduction to Robert Haldane in Edinburgh, and, after further examination, was admitted to the seminary in time to join the fourth class which began in that city on 19 June i8o2.57 "There," he wrote, "I

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remained studying till January 1806" - rather longer, it would seem, than was usual - "and then, was sent to a congregational church, in Aberfeldie, Perthshire," where he served until May of the same year.58 This interval may have been intended to provide him with some experience before fully entering the mission field, for it appears that at some early stage - perhaps as a condition of his acceptance by the seminary he had promised to serve his Gaelic-speaking countrymen in Canada once his training was complete. According to Reid's own account, his parishioners in Aberfeldie urged him to remain with them as their pastor: Nothing prevented my accepting their call, but a promise I had previously given in Edinburgh to come to this country [the Canadas]. Their desire to keep me was so ardent, that they wrote several letters to Mr Haldane soliciting him to relinquish his design concerning me, and to choose another that would be willing to go. Correspondence by letters availing them nothing, they sent a man purposely all the way to Edinburgh, which was equally fruitless. I might have staid, had I thought it proper to retract my promise. Besides, I had several other inducements to keep me at home. For I had three different invitations of a similar nature from other places ... But the accounts I daily received of the religious state of this country, and the urgent applications made for preachers to come out, prevailed on my mind, to sacrifice all the conveniencies I had at home.59

Reid resolved to redeem his pledge to his benefactors, despite the added entreaties of his family: "I left those people in Aberfeldie who were so much attached to me, as well as my relations, bathed in tears. This was so litterally the fact, that I have no fear of being contradicted, in thus publishing my narrative."60 Finally, "on the 25th of May 1806,1 was ordained by the laying on of hands and prayer, with a view to preach the gospel to my country men in Canada. Shortly after, I embarked at Greenish for the place of my destination."61 The greater part of the information furnished by Reid about his involvement with the Haldanes comes from "The Narrative of Mr. James Reid," which prefaced an anonymous polemical pamphlet in verse that pilloried the missionary activities of Messrs Aldan and Ewing, one of their colleagues. The verse seems to have been the work of another writer, probably the Rev. John Astrakhan;62 Reid's preface is cited merely as 'proof of the allegations contained in it. Another (manuscript) account in Reid's hand and preserved with his papers is probably an ear-

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Her draft of the printed narrative, and differs from it in interesting respects.63 Both, however, are blameful in tone, so much so that one is surprised at a later statement by Reid that he held both Haldanes "in grateful remembrance," particularly Robert Haldane (to whom the published "Narrative" is primarily addressed), "by whose bounty I was educated in his Seminary at the Tabernacle Edinburgh."64 At least for a time Reid believed that the Haldanes had treated him shabbily. He was sent off with "one suit of clothes, and a few articles of inferior value," four volumes on the Gospels, his passage by steerage paid for, and a draft for thirty pounds "to be drawn in Quebec. "65 The discomforts and indignities of his passage, however, were nothing compared to the problems arising from the failure of his sponsors to provide him with credentials, even to the extent of proof of his qualifications as a minister. "As I had no means of proving myself a loyal subject of His Majesty, or even an honest man," Reid wrote, "it would not have been astonishing, or perhaps contrary to custom, had I been taken up as a suspicious character, who had been driven, by my crimes, to a foreign shore."66 He was able, nevertheless, to reach Glengarry towards the end of October. There, having no contacts or letters of introduction, he visited the writer of a letter to The Missionary Magazine who had urged that missionaries be sent to the area; on speaking with him Reid found, however, that the account that had inspired his coming was a "farrago of falsehood and nonsense."67 Moreover, he was soon to discover that the Highlanders in the county of Glengarry, who were not as dispersed as he had been led to believe, were "supplied with two clergymen of the most respectable characters; one a Catholic and the other a Presbyterian."68 In this situation, as he admits, he was seen "not as a Preacher of the Gospel, but as a sower of division, a promoter of schism."69 His thirty pounds having been "considerably exhausted" by the journey from Quebec, and the remainder required for the purchase of clothing against the oncoming winter, he collected a small congregation of "a few families, who had left Scotland very lately ... at some distance from the clergyman of the place,"7° and began his ministry in the New World. As Reid's parishioners were poor and unable to support him, he was eventually obliged to apply to the society for aid. He received some funds to defray the cost of building a church at McMartin's Mills (now Martintown),71 but after several applications for aid towards his own wants, he was told through the society's agent at Quebec that Mr Haldane "thought it a preacher's duty to remove to another place, if he meet with no support from the people among whom he labours."72 By this

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time, however, it had been necessary for Reid to contract debts, "both for my food and every other article that I wanted,"73 so moving away before they could be paid off was out of the question. After about three years he obtained a school and was able to improve his situation somewhat: "At the same period too, I began to keep house in which I boarded a few scholars. Their board and the school wages for two years more enabled me to live pretty comfortably, and to discharge the most of my debts. And all this was done without ever losing sight of my chief work, that of preaching."74 Unfortunately, this happier state of affairs was not to last. Its disruption Reid would once again blame on the Haldanes, who had created a schism in the Tabernacle by impugning the efficacy of infant baptism.75 A heated exchange of pamphlets, in 1810, gave wide publicity to the rift.76 News of it ultimately reached Glengarry, with the result that Reid was once more deprived of his livelihood: Finding me therefore, connected with a denomination so unfixed in their principles, so unsteady in their plans, and so variable in their practice,77 the parents of the children deprived me of my School. The number of my hearers also decreased, and those who remained were discontented and troublesome, lest I should get into the way of plunging them in the river. After this happened, having no other where to go, I continued another year acting as before, and teaching a few children. But I was now more disagreeably situated than ever. Besides, my wants being as great as they had formerly been, the whole country, with few exceptions, disliked me. Finding it therefore impossible to go on any longer, I gave up my place and retired. What else could I do7 8

Reid sold the church he had built, "much below its value," to the Presbyterian congregation79 and moved to Cornwall where he taught a small school.80 He had now the responsibilities of a family man: Isabella McDiarmid, whom he had married on 28 June 1810, had presented him with a son on 14 August of the following year.81 After he had been in Glengarry for some time, Reid had had the good fortune to meet the Rev. John Strachan, a fellow Scot close to his own age. Strachan had come to Canada as a private tutor but more recently had taken Holy Orders in the Church of England82 and, since 1803, had been serving as parish priest in Cornwall.83 He was a beacon of hope to the disillusioned young man. "Your encouraging words," Reid later attested, "frequently alleviated my distress when I was almost over-

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come with disappointments and insults; and infused in me fresh vigour. I am therefore more sensible of your kindness towards me than I can express."844 Strachan gave more than mere encouragement, however, for he furnished him with an introduction to the Hon. and Rev. Charles James Stewart, Anglican missionary at St Armand in Lower Canada. This led to Reid's appointment in May 1812 as schoolmaster in a newly established government school in Stewart's parish85 and an end to the economic vicissitudes that had plagued him since his arrival in the New World. It was also the beginning of the final phase of Reid's spiritual journey, for here he would be guided by Stewart, his new mentor, to become a communicant of the Church of England and eventually a candidate for ordination. The transformation must have been considerable, for when Reid composed his "Narrative" sometime before 1812 he was still fully imbued with the faith to which he had converted in Dunkeld. "Almost from the first time I heard this gentleman preach," he wrote of Campbell, "I cordially embraced his doctrines, being, as I then thought, and still think, the truth as it is revealed."86 The Haldanes' brand of Congregationalism in which Reid was trained was evangelical and strongly affected by revivalism.87 This sect, moreover, was aligned with the left wing of the Reformation, in active opposition to any connection between church and state. In Upper Canada, "their laymen and clergy were always prominent in the activities of such organizations as the Anti-Clergy Reserves Association."888 In cultural terms, a great gulf lay between a belief in the need for a transforming moment of conversion and the Anglican "culture of order" which found the concept of such an experience "almost unfathomable."89 The diary shows how completely Reid was to bridge this gap. There may well have been an element of expediency on Reid's part, and on Stewart's, when the former was brought to the notice of Bishop Jacob Mountain. Stewart, it appeared, had been looking for a replacement since 1811 to permit him to journey to England on family business;90 Reid longed for the security and status that adoption as a missionary of the Anglican church would bring. On 14 June 1813 Stewart wrote to Bishop Jacob Mountain pressing Reid's candidacy: I have met with further disappointment lately with regard to a Curate, & therefore also in respect of my going home ... It is too late now to look to England for a Person coming out thence for the Ministry this year. But I am happy to inform your Lordship that there are Two young men here who I believe will

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soon be worthy candidates for Holy Orders. They are both Schoolmasters, receiving a Salary from Government. They have been here a little more than a year, & they are Communicants in my Church; & on the alternate Sundays on which I do not go to St Pauls Church [Philipsburg] they have for some time read part of the Church Service & a Sermon in their respective Schoolhouses. Mr Reid, the older & best scholar, was recommended by Dr Strachan ... [and was] a Missionary to a Sect in the neighbourhood of Cornwall. His employers there & in Scotland used him ill by giving him no support, & in other respects ... He is a pious & a sensible man & the acquisition of more knowledge & experience renders him I believe a desirable member of our Church.91

Touching on Reid's theology, Stewart suggested that his protege had come a great way, but still had some distance to travel: "Mr Reid admires our Liturgy, & Subscribes to the Thirty nine Articles, but he entertains a calvinistic view of them; at the same time he is averse to meddling with disputed points, or infringing on the free-agency of Man."92 It is tempting to suggest that the Scottish Enlightenment (which took place in the third quarter of the eighteenth century) was another influence on Reid's intellectual and spiritual life. He was, after all, in Edinburgh when the Moderate Literati were still influential in university circles there, and Adam Ferguson, one of their original number, was a protege of the duke and duchess of Atholl,93 on whose estate Reid's family had made their home for generations. Reid did not, however, move in university circles, and the cultivated, latitudinarian attitudes they embodied would probably have been anathema to an earnest evangelical youth from the countryside preparing himself for a Gaelic ministry abroad. Reid was to come around to many of their views, particularly those of "subordination," loyalty to the Crown, veneration for the British constitution, and commitment to the principle of patronage,94 but he probably acquired these notions after he emigrated. Strachan took an interest in Reid's studies: one of his letters mentions "the plan of studies which I pointed out for you; and which Mr Stewart is so able to improve."95 As Michael Gauvreau has pointed out, Strachan's studies at the University of Aberdeen "had revealed an aptitude for both moral and natural philosophy, the two disciplines at the heart of the Scottish Enlightenment programme."95 Stewart, an Oxford graduate, took pains with Reid's education and placed his library at his protege's disposal. Throughout the diary it is clear that, with those whom he admired, Reid longed to please. He aspired to be, and eventually

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became, a man of cultivation and distinction. Perhaps his emphasis on episcopacy stemmed from the same desire to be a loyal Anglican. In joining the ranks of the Anglican clergy from another form of ministry, Reid was far from exceptional. The diocese of Quebec (as well as of Toronto) amassed a considerable debt to other denominations; "as Strachan did in Upper Canada, Stewart and both Mountains (among others) kept a lookout for local ministers in other communions willing to receive Anglican Orders. Thus they swelled the ranks of their clergy with less recourse to England."917 Besides Strachan himself were Archdeacon William Turnbull Leach of St George's, Montreal, Canon Archibald Campbell Scarth of Lennoxville, and the Rev. Hugh Montgomery of nearby Philipsburg, not to mention Reid's associate the Rev. James Jones of Bedford, and the Rev. John C. Davidson, father of Reid's assistant. When Reid took up his ministry in the seigniory of St Armand, it was an expanding settlement more closely tied to nearby Vermont - and to American ways - than to the larger centres of Lower Canada. Joseph Bouchette's description of the seigniory in 1815 stresses the closeness of this connection. "The population of St. Armand," he wrote, "has within a few years greatly added to its numbers, being at present 2500 souls: emigration from the United States has been one great occasion of this increase. Among the persons so settled, it should be noticed, that a great proportion of them have not sworn allegiance to the British government, a duty the magistracy of the district ought not to dispense with from those who choose to domicile so near the borders." Reid's home was one of a handful in a village that, though inferior in size to nearby Philipsburg, seems, even at this period, to have enjoyed a number of amenities. "The village of Frelighsburg," Bouchette continued, "is on the south side of Pike River, about twelve miles from Phillipsburg, consisting of only seventeen houses, a free school, forge, trip-hammer, mills, and some out-buildings; the church (Trinity) is a short distance from the river, on the north bank."98 The village grew during Reid's lifetime. Fifty-four years after Bouchette's account of it, and only four years after Reid's death, Mrs. C.M. Day, an early historian of the Eastern Townships, described the recently incorporated town as containing, besides the parish church, a parish hall, a customs-house, academy, post office, five general stores, a public house, mechanics' shops, and "some fifty or more inhabited houses." She also goes into some detail about the parish of St Armand East, that portion of the seigniory for which Reid would ultimately become responsible:

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In the parish of St. Armand East, the assessable property is valued at $547,340. It has 259 voters. The amount of assessment for educational purposes is $756.22; the annual government grant $216,32. There are ten school districts within the parish, beside the High school at Frelighsburg. The local assessment with the government grant, form a fund sufficient for the support of the schools in the more populous districts ... and in the smaller districts a monthly fee or scholar tax covers deficiencies. There are in all four church edifices in the parish; four post offices; two grist mills and four saw-mills. A volunteer infantry company is under organization ... The interests of the people of this seigniory are essentially agricultural, and modern improvememts respecting tillage, stock raising, and dairy conveniences are being generally adopted. ... The well known Pinnacle in the extreme east is the highest land ... Near and around it are formed the head waters of Pike River which receives the waters of many small rivulets in its course through the eastern parish ... The population of St. Armand East is given as 1,825, of whom 279 are of French origin.99

When Reid arrived in St Armand, the journey to Montreal was long and arduous, but from 1836 farmers in the area enjoyed ready access in summer to the city as a market for their produce, thanks to a railway line - the only one in Canada before 1847 - from nearby St John's up the Richelieu to Laprairie, opposite Montreal.100 Changes in the diocese had been no less dramatic. In 1851 Reid recalled his early days in his parish "when there were but seven [Anglican] clergymen, three chaplains to the forces, and the Bishop of Quebec in the Diocese."101 At the diocesan synod held in 1864, shortly before Reid's death, Bishop Fulford traced the gains in the number of clergy since his see was erected in 1850. Then, there had been fortyseven clergy officiating in the diocese of Montreal; now, there were seventy-two, ten of whom had been added since the last annual synod.102 Reid also saw in the course of his ministry an erosion of the privileged relationship the Anglican clergy had once had with government officials. When, in 1827, Reid sent a letter about loyalty on the frontier to the secretary of the governor-in-chief, it was apparently taken seriously enough to elicit a personal reply (marked "Private") from Dalhousie himself.103 Reid's parsonage received a visit from His Excellency Lord Aylmer in September 1831 "and," Reid reported in a glow of pride, "his Lordship was pleased to express his approbation of the whole."104

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Access to those in power was no longer open to men of Reid's rank in the i86os. On transcribing Dalhousie's letter into his letterbook, Reid lamented: The times alluded to in the foregoing Letter are passed away. We, the Clergy then had ready communications with the Government but the changes that have taken place as the fruits of the rebellion, by bringing in responsible Government, and a Cabinet ministry, have cut us off from all intercourse with the then, what I call a paternal Government. The foregoing Letter shews that it was both paternal and Patriotic. Since the rebellion I have never seen the face of a Governor, nor have I ever had any communication with the Secretary, or any one in office. Times are changed, as all other things are.105 While the world about him was changing, Reid's career as the incumbent of 1st Arm and East was relatively uneventful. Some of his fellow clergy in the Townships served in various administrative capacities in the diocese, but Reid seems to have possessed neither the gift nor the inclination to assume such roles. His chairmanship of the District Association of the Church Society (a body he had been instrumental in founding) was by virtue of his being the senior clergyman in the district of Missisquoi; when the post became elective, he was relieved of it with little ceremony.106 When the diocese of Quebec was divided and the diocese of Montreal came into being, the Letters Patent specified a cathedral - "Christ Church" - and "proper persons to be Dignitaries of the Cathedral Church"; Reid was made one of the four honorary canons of the chapter. 107 The following year, Reid was accorded a distinction which meant a great deal to him: the degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa, conferred on him by the University of Bishop's College.108 Reid continued as incumbent of 1st Arm and East until his death. Although he would have been content to retire - as he told his parishioners in 1861 - doing so would have cost the diocese his government salary: If I continue to hold this Rectory, as the Lord Bishop said to me long ago, I must hold it, and obtain an assistant to help in performing the duty, I shall continue to draw the government allowance as before. But if I die or resign, the Government allowance is lost altogether. If I resign and retire I may hope to obtain a retiring pension, not from the Government, but from the S.P.G. as others do receive and enjoy it, four in this Diocese, who are neither so old as I am, nor have been so many years in the Service. My own choice would glad-

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ly be to resign and retire on the Society's pension, and end my days in godly quietness, but the Bishop thinks otherwise.109

During the last years of his life, Reid was relieved of some of his professional duties by his assistant, the Rev. James Burrows Davidson. A considerable portion of his salary went towards Davidson's maintenance, however, with his parishioners contributing half again as much.110 Unfor tunately, although Davidson was clearly a young man of energy and ability, personal concerns and family affairs at the time often took him away from his duties. "The truth is," Reid commented in his diary on 3 July of 1864, "the young man goes away very often, but young men love to be on the move. Last week he was at the Convocation of Bishop's College and did not return till late last night; and the week before he was at the Synod. Allowance must be made, and is made for these two journies, but his constant running up and down to his father's, is hard to be put up with." Things grew worse when Davidson's brother died in September of that year and, as Reid wrote: "my assistant had to leave me for the next three months in order to manage the concerns of the [brother's] Shop [in Montreal]." Thus, at the age of eighty-four Reid found himself obliged to perform all the services unaided. That this may have hastened his end is suggested by the final entry in his diary, written the evening before he suffered the stroke from which he never recovered: "I had no body to help me last Sunday, the 27* and I committed a great blunder by reading the Ate Dem twice. I cannot help that now." On 28 August 1864 the Rev. Charles Bancroft, who had paid an impromptu visit to the parsonage, did duty in Reid's pulpit for him. In the course of the day, as Bancroft would recount later, Reid pressed him to preach his funeral sermon when the time came. Bancroft was sure that Reid would survive for several years more, but the old man was convinced that his life was drawing to its close. His presentiment proved right. Three months later, on i December, Reid suffered a paralytic stroke; he died on 14 January, never having left his bed. It was actually his assistant Davidson who preached Reid's funeral sermon. Bancroft, prevented by the weather from attending, fulfilled his promise at a special service held on January 29. The old church was draped in deep mourning, and those assembled heard Bancroft's "quiet and earnest" memorial sermon, taken from the text "Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?"111 On the following Friday, a fine tribute to Reid's memory appeared in the Montreal press which, among other things, stressed the

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changes experienced during his lifetime. "With Dr. Reid," the writer observed, "may be said to have gone a connecting link between two distinctive epochs of modern history, and more than the average of two generations of men. When he was born Louis xvi still reigned, and George the Third was king. He was 9 years old when the first French revolution broke out, ... He was in the prime of manhood during Napoleon's dream of universal empire, and 35 years old when the battle of Waterloo was fought." Of those of his parish who attended the final obsequies not one could recall a time when Reid had not been a presence among them. "He married and we believe baptized grandfathers of the present generation, and buried both grandfathers and fathers and children, before his own almost iron frame yielded up its life, and was buried in the old church yard among the rest."112 Reid as a Writer

On the south wall of the Bishop Stewart Memorial Church of the Holy Trinity in Frelighsburg is a white marble tablet. It reads: ERECTED / in grateful remembrance / of the / REVd JAMES REID D.D. / who succeeded the / Venerable Bishop Stewart / in this Parish, / and was permitted for the long space / of nearly 50 years, / by his Labours, his Example and his / Writings, / to sustain the honour of the Church, / largely to benefit and strengthen / the / cause of True Religion

This tribute was raised soon after Reid's death. At a special vestry meeting held 30 January 1865, the churchwardens and twenty-one of the most prominent members of the community passed several resolutions, among them: Resolved that in the decease of the late Rector we lament the loss of an Ancient and true friend: an able and beloved Minister and a powerful and zealous advocate of the Church and its principles. Resolved that we will ever keep in remembrance his faithful instructions and the Christian characteristics evinced by his Godly life and conversations, and that the memory of the same be transmitted to future generations that a Mural tablet corresponding to the one of his Sainted Predecessor Bishop Stewart be erected in this church as a perpetual Memorial of his works and labours of love.113

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That "his Writings" were singled out on the memorial would no doubt have pleased Reid. His parishioners would have been aware of his pamphlets, his addresses, his series of essays printed in the local newspaper, his carefully prepared sermons (some of them published), and his meticulously kept records on all aspects of his duties in the parish. He was a man, they would have recognized, who held the written word in great respect, and apart from his sacred calling, he would have wished to be remembered for his work as a writer. When the old wooden Trinity Church was torn down in 1880 to make way for a handsome brick structure, Reid's tablet, together with an earlier one he had erected to honour Stewart's memory,114 was carefully preserved. Today, the chiseled tribute to Reid's writing carries little, if any, resonance, for almost all his publications were ephemeral. Yet his literary gifts were not inconsiderable; he could argue convincingly, describe with vividness, turn a graceful phrase. Although by nature not much inclined to expressing himself in a humorous or an emotional vein, neither was beyond his range. That his publications never reached a wider audience was probably due more to a lack of opportunity than of merit. Reid's first publication, his "Narrative" antedates his arrival in St Armand. Soon after establishing himself there, he sought a new outlet for his authorial aspirations - and perhaps, if luck would have it, even of an editorial role for himself - by pressing the idea of a diocesan periodical on the energetic Stewart. At first it looked as if the plan might be realized, with Reid taking a leading part. In 1818 Stewart wrote: "As to a periodical publication it wd certainly be a good thing. Mr Mountain expresses himself ready to assist in it. I wd endeavour to contribute in different ways - original matter &c, but you must be the Editor & principal manager."115 Stewart subsequently either changed his mind about the editorship, or decided that determining who should manage the publication was premature. In a letter written later that month Stewart states that Mountain should be the editor, but that Reid should nevertheless describe fully how the proposed magazine "shd be carried on."116 Reid apparently despatched his proposals to Stewart, who in turn transmitted them to Mountain. Even before receiving Reid's ideas on the subject, the latter seems to have been lukewarm about the project; afterwards he grew, if anything, less enthusiastic. Perhaps it was the ambitious nature of the young missionary's suggestions that put him off: writing to Stewart, Mountain remarked, "With respect to the Magazine I think Mr Reid's

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idea of the qualifications requisite for conducting it sufficient to deter almost anybody from the undertaking. I have no objection however to do what I can, & think I shall write to Mr Reid himself upon the subject. But if much of the labour is to fall upon me, I do not think I could engage in it; unless it were to be a quarterly publication.117 Ultimately, nothing was to come of the project, although Reid seems to have remained hopeful for some time. Meanwhile Strachan started a periodical (the Christian Recorder) in Upper Canada. 'You ought, I think, to write something for his Recorder," Stewart suggested to Reid, "& also to procure some subscriptions."118 When the diocese of Quebec finally set in motion a publication of its own (the Christian Sentinel and Anglo-Canadian Churchman's Magazine, first published in Montreal in 1827 under the editorship of B.B. Stevens, chaplain to the Forces), Stewart, now bishop, urged Reid to contribute to it. "When you have time [he wrote], I wish you wd send an article - partaking of a pacific rather than an irritating character - on this subject [the possibility of having an established Church in Canada] - to the Christian Sentinel. I am happy to add my thanks to you for your articles on Forms of Prayer."199 Stewart had been encouraing Reid's desire to write for some time: a number of his letters comment on his protege's analytical powers, and invite him to offer his views on various writers.120 Either because of his own diffidence or to comply with Stewart's specific request, Reid seems to have sent articles destined for the Sentinel to Stewart for comment. Stewart's letters show that he, in his turn, was fully prepared to approve or reject material before passing it on to the editor : 'Your article on the Beauties of Creation I sent to Mr Wood for insertion; the other, a Dialogue, I kept back, & of it I will write to you again."121 Two articles of this description (both signed F-H) 122 appeared in the Sentinel several months before Stewart's assessment could have reached Reid. Perhaps he had grown tired of waiting for a reply and submitted both articles to the editor before receiving the hoped-for approval. Stewart did not refer to the matter again. Most contributions to the publication were pseudonymous or identified merely by initials. It is guesswork at best to identify any others in the Sentinel as Reid's. Despite his lifelong and consistent support of such publications,123 Reid never did manage to play any major role in a church periodical. Rather, his ambitions in this regard were fulfilled largely through the local newspaper, the Missiskoui Standard, published in Frelighsburg between 1835 and 1839- Involved with this paper from its inception,

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Reid was, in fact, given power of attorney by the shareholders "to represent our shares at any meeting which may take place for the purpose of nominating and appointing three discreet persons as a committee to carry into effect the aforesaid object and transact all business connected therewith, & also to insert the names of the said Committee in the Subscription Paper to which our names are affixed."124 In the second weekly number there appears a letter to the editor, signed simply "S.D.": I know not what sort of paper you are to conduct, but I know that, from the title you have assumed, it ought to be something very excellent. The Missiskoui Standard - this sounds well. If I mistake not, standard is always taken in a good sense ... The state of opinion among our good people in the Townships at the present time, on political questions, is such as to make it desirable that we had a standard, of a true and sterling character, by which principles, complaints, grievances, and declamations might be tried. But whether your periodical will become a standard, is probably more to be desired than really expected. Men are now as they ever have been, and always will be, ruled by names.125 From this issue onward S.D. becomes a frequent contributor, writing almost always on political matters from a markedly Tory standpoint. That S.D. and the editor, James Moir Ferres, were not one and the same is strongly suggested in the editorial of the fifth number of the paper.126 Given that Reid's own copies of the Standard bear annotations in his hand, assigning numbers to the contributions of S.D. until such columns are numbered in the paper, one is tempted to identify him as the pseudonymous S.D. particularly since these initials correspond to the final letters of his name. Furthermore, his contemporaries surmised his authorship of this pro-Loyalist anti-Liberal series, judging by comments in a rival Liberal paper, The Missiskoui Post and Canada Record, published in nearby Stanbridge: We have been highly gratified in reading over the production of the indefatigable S.D. in the last week's Standard. A drowning man will grasp at a straw, and such is the predicament in which S.D. appears to labor and tug to save himself and his old rotten slab of a fabrick. It is said S.D. is a reverend gentleman. Now we wish to see no man buffeting the billows in such desperate misery, much less a reverend man. But if he must and will remark on such a crazy old thing as the Constitutional good old way is, let him drive! ...

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The style of S.D.'s remarks are altogether in the strain of the book of Lamentations, and it is strange that they were not preceded by some suitable text therefrom ... S.D. be careful. Have you not before now preached repentance, and a change ... as necessary to salvation?127

In the article singled out for attack by the Post, S.D. had concluded, "Radicalism is entirely a new thing with us. It is a hideous stranger in the land. It is entertained by those only who have little or no stake in the country, and propagated by individuals who, like the troubled sea, cannot rest, but cast forth mire and dirt. Such as have been gulled will no doubt reflect on the principles which they have till lately professed, and spurn the idea of being imposed upon by the barbarous twang of sedition."128 The skirmishing between the editor of The Post and S.D. continued for some time to come, with other readers of the paper occasionally joining in the fray as well.129 The neighbourhood must have followed these exchanges with some amusement, particularly a lengthy burlesque by The Post, of a "celebration," involving Ferres, S.D., and Standard correspondents "Old Philip" and "Nemo." This satire, provided in appendix A, presents a caricature of S.D. which, although outrageously exaggerated and clearly revealing the bias of the editor of The Post, may not be (one suspects) altogether groundless.130 Barbs and gibes such as these notwithstanding, Reid did not shrink from controversy, nor did he mince words in his political persona. S.D. continued to hold forth regularly until 8 September 1835 and thereafter, sporadically, until 14 June 1836. There are at least twenty-nine items signed "S.D." during this period. That Reid carried on with the gesture of writing, not under his own name, but under the questionable anonymity of his nom de guerre may hark back to his early training by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel at Home; all their missionaries had been specifically instructed that they must "neither in public nor in private enter into any political discussion"131 Reid's polemical writings extended beyond the political sphere, however. Besides denouncing the Haldanes in his "Narrative" he took issue in 1836 with Bishop Hopkins' position on temperance societies, and in 1841 published a substantial pamphlet, entitled A Discourse on Infant Baptism impugning the doctrines of the Antipedo-Baptists.132 His earlier venture into controversy earned him, among other things, a favourable review in the Episcopal Recorder of Philadelphia, whose editor wrote:

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We are much indebted to a friend in Plattsburg, N.Y. for forwarding us a copy of a pamphlet entitled, 'Remarks on the Lecture of the Rt. Rev. Bishop Hopkins against the Temperance Society, published in his late work, &c. by the Rev. James Reid, Rector of Trinity Church, St. Armand, L.C.' Were we entirely uninterested in the subject of these Remarks, we could not but have our attention riveted by the great power and discrimination of thought, which characterise them, and the truly Christian spirit by which they are pervaded. Having never met with any publication, which refutes so conclusively as this the objections made in the Church against Temperance Societies, we cannot but communicate to our readers so much of it as our limits will allow. Possibly, if they can have patience, we shall in due time copy the entire argument.133 Stewart, too, was pleased with the pamphlet, and requested Reid to send twelve copies of it. "I am very much obliged to you for publishing it," the bishop wrote.134 At least two counterblasts to his Remarks came to Reid's notice, and with these he dealt briskly in the columns of the Missiskoui Standard.135 The Discourse was likewise well received by the press. The reviewer in the Montreal Herald was lavish in his praise of its style as well as its substance. "It is not consistent with our limits," the review concludes, "to present even a synopsis of the 'discourse' to our readers, but no one can peruse it attentively without profit ... To say that we have derived pleasure from its perusal, is to express very inadequately our gratification, both with the solid reasoning which is the characteristic of the reverend gentleman's writings, and with the simplicity of a style (well adapted for the purpose he has in view) which is always correct and generally elegant."136 Reid kept a copy of the paper, and in the upper margin of the front page he has written "My Book recommended." Reid also tried his hand at the familiar essay. A series, originally entitled "Reflections on the Season" but soon rechristened "The Fire Side," was a regular weekly feature of the Missiskoui Standard. These articles are signed "J.R." until the sixty-ninth and final column, when the author subscribes his name as "J. REID."137 The pieces cover a wide variety of subjects: the cycle of the seasons, family life, marriage, friendship, mutual forbearance, honouring the Sabbath, the value of reading aloud, the importance of family prayer, and evidences of the goodness of God in the works of nature. Occasionally the author treats of literary matters, commenting on the works and talents of such writers as George Herbert, Addison and Steele, Dr Johnson, James Thomson, Samuel

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Richardson, Henry Fielding, James Hogg, Lord Byron, Sir Walter Scott, and Captain Marryat. Sometimes he touches on historical events or writes of the more current anxieties and upheavals in his own border-district caused by the Rebellion. At other times he strikes a familiar note from his own experience. "More than forty years ago," he recalls in one issue, "in a country beyond the seas, did I exercise myself more than once, in trying to form the letters which compose the following sentence, 'Without a friend the world is but a wilderness,' and now, at this distance of time, I cannot bring myself to question the soundness of the sentiment which it involves.'138 Although generally pious in tone, Reid's pieces are usually remarkably free of sectarian coloration; indeed, he seems to have been trying to address the whole community regardless of denominational affiliation. 139 "Throughout the whole," he avows in his final column, "I abstained from points controversial, ... knowing that there is 'a root of bitterness' in human nature, I have run my little race, without indulging myself in the language of satire, uncharitableness or invective."14° Reid's very first "Reflections" column, printed 13 December 1836, introduces a theme to which he would often return - the beauty of the surrounding countryside, especially in spring and summer: Behold the change which has taken place on the fair face of God's beautiful creation within the last few weeks! In the spring and summer months, all was beauty to the admiring eye, and music to every ear. The fields and the meadows were covered with grass in living green, adorned with an infinite variety of flowers, displaying wherever we turned our eyes colours of every tint and every hue ... The trees of the forest, first put out the bud, then expanded their beautiful foliage, till the whole extent, farther than eye can reach, became a vast canopy of cooling shades.141

Perhaps Reid did not contemplate so protracted a series of essays when he composed his initial contribution on the "Season," but by the first appearance of "The Fire Side," he was clearly conscious of having embarked on a project of considerable scope: This [the fireside] is a humble theme, but humble as it is, something may be said that will help to spend an evening, not altogether without profit. Of the present generation it may be said, fully as much as of any of the past, that the bent of men's minds is eager to produce innovations, and promote changes,

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both in religion and government. Such pursuits I will leave to those who feel themselves qualified to make new discoveries which may be useful or detrimental to mankind. It is my desire in this, and, perhaps, in a few succeeding essays, to confine myself to subjects which, as my Lord Bacon says, 'come home to mens business and bosoms.142

In the essays that followed Reid obviously attempted to unite profitable matter with a graceful and familiar style suited to the capacities of his readers. Some of his writing has considerable charm and incisiveness: Words are signs of ideas, but as a sign may stand over the door of an empty house, and a commemorative inscription may be placed over a spot of ground which does not contain the corpse, so words may flow fast, sweet and sonorous, delightful and soothing to the ear, without being the medium of conveying ideas. Hence, the propriety of the rule anciently given by the best as well of Poets as of critics. Study your subject well. Be master of that which you are going to say. Instruct yourself first.143

Years later, as the diary shows, Reid collected these pieces and prepared them for the press in hopes of finding a publisher, first in England through the good offices of the SPG and later, when this plan had borne no fruit, in Canada through his bishop. He seems to have met with little encouragement and no success in either course. This was the second literary project of some scope he undertook in 1850; the first was an annotated edition of the letters he had received from Bishop Stewart. This collection was to portray his mentor, and comment on the recent account of the Church of England in Canada, which, as we have seen, Reid regarded as imperfect and misleading. He spent considerable effort transcribing eighty-nine letters, interspersing them with explanatory comments, but in "Letter go" he broke off in mid-sentence, apparently never to resume. Reid states frequently in the diary that no clergyman in Canada could write the history of the Church of England in the colony; perhaps he abandoned the project when faced with material which might have been embarrassing to relate. The ninetieth letter deals with Reid's investigation, on behalf of Bishop Stewart, of charges against a Presbyterian minister who had sought to enter the Anglican ministry. What he wrote before abruptly breaking off shows his belief that Stewart was in the wrong to abandon the accused, the Rev. Mr.

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McLaurin. His sense of delicacy and loyalty to his patron likely suggested to Reid the wisdom of maintaining a decorous silence about the matter, yet to omit all mention of it would have been to condone Stewart's misjudgment and add the complicity of silence to the injury done. Reid may have felt that in all conscience his quandary disqualified him from the task of carrying on with his project. The remaining leaves in the manuscript are blank. At least ten years later, Reid once again took up his pen "to give an account of the first planting of the Church of England in this part of the 144 Province of Canada."144 In a brief and businesslike article printed in the diocesan paper, he traced the origins of Anglican worship in St Armand as far back as 1801 - when the Rev. James Timstall served the area briefly - until 9 July 1815, the date on which "Mr. Stewart preached his last sermon, and administered the Sacrament... for the last time as missionary at St. Armand."145 Although the piece is unsigned, its concluding paragraph leaves no doubt that Reid was the author: "Mr. Stewart was succeeded in the mission by the writer of the present article; and, though most unworthy, yet having obtained strength from God, he has remained to this day; but what may have been the effects of his poor labours, it is not for him to say."146 In this brief history, Reid deplores the lack of proper records: "One would think that the task was not difficult, but the materials from which he is to draw are meagre; scarcely any at all, from written documents, only from memory, not always to be depended upon, but," Reid assures the reader, "he will in no case supply the lack of records by the aid of 147 imagination."147 As if to ensure that posterity should not lack information about the period of his tenure, Reid kept excellent records of such diverse matters as the activities of the Parochial Church Society, and most of his purchases and expenditures on behalf of the parish. He took pains, for example, when the original bell in Trinity Church - "weighing about thirty pounds," and given by Stewart "at his own proper expence" - was superseded by a larger one, that its history and disposal should be properly recorded.148 Reid's strong sense of history transcended merely parochial concerns, however; it shows itself in a desire to perpetuate some memorial of the early settlement of the region. Many entries in his register, for example, go beyond the bare particulars required for official purposes, to chronicle at some length the personal history of his parishioners. One such notation reads: "George Mitchell of St. Armand West, farmer, one of the

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first settlers of the place when it was entirely new, a native of Argyleshire, Scotland, died on the tenth day of November ... upwards of eighty one years of age/'^Q Similarly detailed is the entry for "Christian Wehr, Senr, of this Seigniory, Lieut of the Kings Royal Regt of New York, on half pay, died on the thirty first day of December ... in the ninety third year of his age";15° and for Reid's former hired man, "Alexander Cooper, of this Parish, a Commuted Pensioner, and late Private in Her Majesty's 92d Regiment, Gordon Highlanders, in which he served twenty six years, and had the war medal, died on the thirteenth day of January ... in the seventy sixth year of his age.151 A constrasting example of poor register-keeping is afforded by the Rev. Charles H. Lancaster of nearby Dunham. On 4 March 1866, for instance, he entered the baptism of [blank], daughter of Joseph L. Baker and his wife Charlotte, born on the [blank] day of [blank] in the year 1864; this nameless child "was baptized by me in presence of the undersigned" [no witnesses].l52 Reid's published writings include two sermons issued in the form of pamphlets and at least two more that appeared in the journalistic press. His 1864 sermon on the death of his old friend, the Rev. Richard Whitwell, was probably the last composition from his pen to come 13 Paying tribute to his gifts as a preacher, the anony153 before the public.153 mous writer of Reid's obituary put into words what a glance at his surviving sermons confirms: "He preached the gospel of the Lord faithfully, and faithfully performed the services of his church ... His discourses, which were always original, were more remarkable for directness and simplicity than eloquence. They were always of a character to make men think, and at times might be called eloquent; but there was nothing which the old man more disliked than mere verbal display. His good 154 taste was too severe for that."154 Evidence of Reid's characteristic simplicity and directness, of his ability to expound Scripture through homely example and to bring its truths within the moral ken of the least sophisticated of his parishioners, may be found in many of his manuscript sermons. In the example that follows, the text from Genesis serves as the occasion not only for an admonition against Sabbath-breaking, vice, and ungodliness, but also for a milder form of invective against the petty vanities of Frelighsburg villagers, from which touches of humour are not altogether absent: When we read of our first parents, attempting to hide themselves from their Maker's presence, we are apt to wonder at their ignorance and simplicity, but

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our wonder may cease, if we consider that very many individuals and families are trying this day to hide themselves from the presence of the Lord. The Lord is present, in a particular manner in his Church, where by his Ministers, he offers the unanswerable riches of Christ to all returning penitents; but look through the highways, and streets of our villages, and you will see them on horses and in carriages, turning their backs on the Altars of God, hiding themselves in pleasures, in company, some at their intoxicating cups, some at their week day occupations, some at their glass arranging and beautifying their fig leaves, some at their day Books, adjusting their accounts, and others perhaps at their card tables - all these, when they hear the voice of God ushering in the holy sabbath, are endeavouring to hide themselves from the presence of God.155 At other times, when the occasion required, Reid could rise to a quiet eloquence, all the more powerful for its understatement and utter lack of theatricality. Such is the tone of his address to the congregation on announcing his decision to take an assistant to help him in his parish duties: Now you see that the scene will soon be changed, and that you are called to occupy a higher place in the household of God, and to take a charge upon yourselves which I trust you will fulfil to the glory of God ... I leave to yourselves to devise, ascertain and arrange the amount that will be necessary, when we come to know what that amount is likely to be. I do not think it my duty to go among you, asking one and then another what he will do. I will do my part which is all that I propose doing. Brethren, I have lived long amongst you, and must say to your praise and honour, that I have uniformly met with more consideration kindness and friendship than is generally common "among the sundry and manifold changes of this world" ... Finally, my dear friends and brethren, though there is nothing exciting or extraordinary to be said or listened to, yet I feel it to be most solemn. It is so like a man making his last Will, and giving his advice and blessing to his household standing around him. It puts us in mind that all human connexions must come to an end, but if we are united to Jesus Christ by a true & lively faith, and to one another by the bands of Christian love, that union will 156 never dissolve, never, never.16 Reid's diary was not written with an eye to diverting an audience, yet it has its amusing side. When Bishop Fulford asked him to preach a sermon, which had already been delivered once, at a forthcoming ordination service at the cathedral ("There will scarcely be a person present...

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who heard you at Dunham, and if there should be it will do them good to get a second dose of such wholesome doctrine") Reid's sly comment, that his diocesan was actually expressing a "desire [for] a second doze of it" (Reid's emphasis) is delightfully self-deprecating. Similarly, his friendly or familiar letters - the few, that is, that have survived - occasionally reveal a side of his character that few of his parishioners would have expected or recognized: a playful disposition to tease and rally his correspondent in a gentle, often self-mocking way. It is in such a vein that he writes to the Rev. Richard Whitwell: Now I have scrawled you a letter, I think I see you reading it through your spectacles, and if the second sight of my country does not fail me, I think I see you making faces at it, and calling on Mrs. Whitwell and the young ladies to hear it. I partly hear the remarks which my young friends are busily making on it, but as I am very dull of hearing, I do not succeed in getting hold of the luminous comments that are being made. My folks are all in bed, so I cannot send their compliments, without I fib, which I am not willing to do, because clergymen in particular should not fib.157 Although Reid is seldom anecdotal in his writing - in fact, he often takes to task people who are - he can relate unusual incidents with a gusto that does him credit as a raconteur. The diary entry for 20 April 1864 shows his narrative style at its best: I have here to record a little circumstance that happened to me last night. It has been my evil habit for a long time, after prayers to smoke in the kitchen just before going to bed. While doing so last night, it seems that a little bit of ignited tobacco fell out of the pipe, and dropped into my left side vest pocket. It was a bit of tobacco, for a certain I do not at any time use a coal, but either a paper or lucifer, match. It remained in the pocket making the smell of burning wool, but I thought the smell was issuing from my candle. The smell was increasing, but [I] never thought it was about me. I put off my coat first, then my vest as usual, while the smell was becoming more unpleasant. I then began to think there was something wrong, though I did not see where or what it was; I took up my vest and found that fire was beginning to burn in the left side pocket and had already burnt a hole. Water was on our wash stand, by which the fire was soon extinguished. Had it been undiscovered a little longer, the whole that was on the couch would have been up on a blaze; or if it had continued, eating up its way, until we were all in deep sleep, then it is most certain that we should all have been burnt up and no body would

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ever know how it happened. God Almighty watched over us and saved us. So sensible I was, and am of his most gracious intervention, that I resolved to quit smoking at once, and went and emptied my Tobacco box out doors, and this morning, took my tobacco pipes away, broke them up and thru them all away ... I stood to it all day, and I hope in God to be able to overcome the habit. I knew well I could not of myself do it, and therefore I earnestly prayed to God for the help of his grace ... I have been a constant smoker for the last 32 years.

As a stylist Reid is usually straightforward, given neither to self-conscious elegance in expression nor to recherche epithet or farfetched conceit. Compared with the somewhat ponderous prose style affected by his clerical contemporaries, his language is simple and unpretentious: a few tags from the Scriptures, from proverbs or the poets and other authors, such as "good and faithful servant," "bred in the bone," "to be or not to be," and "the swinish multitude," find their way into his diary. Nor is he above using cliche and colloquialism. Turns of phrase, both upto-date and old-fashioned, rooted in rustic or popular usage, find their place; expressions such as "awful roads" and "speechifying" contribute to the sense of informality permeating much of the diary. Like most writers, the English language held a lifelong interest for him. Unusual words, such as "Powg-" and "Cutter" and their origins apparendy fascinated him, so much so that when in January of 1854 the opportunity arose to buy a copy of "Webster's large Dictionary" from an itinerant vendor, he immediately set about reading the American lexicographer's "Etymological part" as well as "his grammatical illustrations." Reid had an ear for local dialect, and occasionally resorted to it to make a point. On one occasion he refers, rather uncharitably, to "the funeral Sarmant" requested of him by a local man who had first "applied to the Methodist Preacher in Dunham, ... and did not find him at home." On another occasion he admits to imitating regional speech among friends: "I said," Reid recounts of a breakfast-table conversation, "speaking through my nose, like a Yankee, 'I swear I will not be Bishop.'" As for the Scots dialect, he seldom used it beyond affectionate references to his trusty retainer "auld Sandy," and such occasional Scotticisms as "jockey" and "haver." He seems to have, if anything, habitually understated his Scottishness, even to the extent of describing his birthplace (in true eighteenth-century fashion) as "North Britain" on his mother's gravestone, and of referring, on one occasion at least, to England as "my dear country." He was, however, versed in Scottish folklore

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- he apparently used the tale of the Brownie of Bodsbeck by way of illustration in a letter to Stewart^8 - and was known to quote from Scottish ballads, even of a raffish nature. He was proud of the musical tradition of his birthplace and took pains to read the Scottish philosophers. Writing to a fellow Caledonian such as Strachan, Reid might confidentially allude to his origins - "We are both Scotch" he wrote to his old acquaintance in 1864, "and, thanks to God, our native good old Scotia need not be ashamed of us"159- but little in his diary or elsewhere hints that Gaelic may well have been his mother tongue. Reid's vocabulary sometimes verges on the quaint. Occasionally, he will use such archaic forms as "Pumpions" for pumpkins. Other usages suggest a bookish origin; the frozen "hubs" he describes on the roads, which make sleighing difficult, might well hark back to Bunyan.l6° Now and then, however, his text, unvarnished as it is, evokes some aspect of the climate and countryside of rural Lower Canada, and becomes evidence for that reputation for "his Writings" to which his memorial tablet attests. If Reid's charming phrase, "he would as soon get the snowbirds to do it," had issued from the pen of some prominent colonial personage, it might well have found a place in that slender and zealously garnered sheaf of authentically Canadian expressions that scholars have managed to wrest from the literary remains of the period. The Habits of the Diarist

It would be interesting to know whether Reid was already keeping a diary at the time he and his family settled in St Armand, or indeed when he sailed for Quebec from Greenoch. Perhaps the habit of recording events had stemmed from his earlier missionary training, for the second requirement of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel at Home, as outlined in the Missionary Magazine, specified: "Every Itinerant shall keep a regular journal of his proceedings, which shall be transmitted monthly to the Society."161 Reid's diary-keeping may have been one last, enduring vestige of his former religious affiliations. Whatever his earlier habits, by 1848 Reid seems to have felt untrammelled by any fixed notions as to the frequency or the length of the entries that he should make in his diary. His shortest entry consists of three words: "Done nothing today," his longest, of eight pages and 2,011 words. The format of the volumes provided for no predetermined division of days or months, and a volume's opening entry began wherever the previous one had left off. Although he seldom set his diary

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aside for more than two weeks at a time, there are gaps in the narrative, the largest within a volume extending from 27 April to 5 July 1849. As Reid grew older, he wrote more frequently.162 Throughout the period covered by the extant volumes of the diary, the month of January almost always has the greatest number of entries, while the other winter months of December and February are also favoured. The summer, with its increased activity and periods of extreme heat (which Reid found debilitating), contains the fewest entries, though in this respect no single month stands out among the rest.l63 A breakdown of the number of pages written - the length as opposed to the number of entries - reflects the same tendency: Reid wrote more and oftener in the coldest, darkest time of the year, and consequently the substance of the diary reflects, perhaps to an inordinate degree, the activities, pastimes, and thoughts of that season. Reid's occasional passing references to intervals between entries provide an indication of what other business preoccupied him. Sometimes he gives an elaborate account of several days' events in a single entry: The description of a journey is often accorded this treatment. Like many diarists, Reid often explained long intervals between entries as a result of either the depressed state of his spirits or too much distraction and an excess of business. At times the two causes could operate together: "A long time without writing any thing in this idle gossoping journal. I had many other things to do about spring's work and since Parliament was burnt I lost all conceit of things." Reid says little about actually writing in his diary, or of the circumstances or setting in which he commonly did so. He seems to have written in the latter part of the day: it is not unusual for him to use the phrase "now at night," followed by a description of the state of the weather. On the few occasions that he specifies the hour, it is eight, nine, ten or eleven o'clock at night. It is likely that he wrote in the privacy of his study (which was upstairs, adjoining the master bedroom), for he frequently voices anxiety about stoking his study stove sufficiently to warm up the room, and often complains of the cold. In a letter to a friend, written at the end of October, he interjects: "My fingers are so cold that I cannot hold the pen." l6 4 Yet Reid appears to have braved personal discomfort to escape interruption: elsewhere, he complains that he is unable to accomplish anything if he tries to sit with the rest of the family. Most of the diary must, therefore, have been penned in seclusion, and much of it under uncomfortable conditions.

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The Diary of James Reid

Surprisingly, despite his greater age, Reid's hand in his last diary looks neater and better controlled than in the three earlier volumes. The improvement is probably due to a superior writing surface, the paper in volume 36 being both lined and smoother in finish. He may also have used a different sort of pen nib. Certainly, his earlier pens had given him trouble. On 20 December 1852 he breaks off writing with the words: "My pen is so bad that it will not spell and so I must stop till I get better ... I have tried the third pen, but they all decline service, one in one way, and another in another way." A further brief glimpse of the diarist at his desk, so to speak, is afforded in the last volume where he describes making his own ink, both red and black, and then proceeds to demonstrate the two on the page to show their excessive paleness. One of the most compelling questions about Reid must be why he destroyed thirty-two volumes of his diary. What led to this act, so uncharacteristic in one who valued, ordered, and preserved his personal records, and who had kept a detailed chronicle of his life for so many years? The event happened in the fall of 1864, just a few months before his death. From the accounts in his final volume, the eighty-four-yearold Reid was obviously tired and demoralized by the onerous activity thrust upon him by the protracted absence of his assistant. His daughter Jane was away and he missed her sorely. He was also worried about his health, and, more significant perhaps, had always been prone to bouts of depression. l65 Besides these general conditions, it is worth considering an event which occurred on 15 August 1864: the arrival of the "Report of the 6th Synod" of the diocese of Montreal, in which Bishop Fulford's address to the assembled members of the clergy and the laity had been printed in full. The address made reference to the Rev. Richard Whitwell who had died that spring, but it mistakenly described him as the rector of St Armand East. Reid concluded that his own career and mission had been entirely attributed to another man: Can it be that the Bishop knew no better,... Mr. Whitwell, as every body knows was never the Rector of St. Armand East, nor did he ever reside in St. Armand East. I am still the Rector of that Parish, yet alive, and still able, thanks be to God, to perform a good part of the Church Service. It pains me to find that this blunder of either the Bishop's, or the Printer's should have ignored my long service ... and passed over me as if such a being as I never was ... the proof sheet, as in all cases, was put in the hands of the Bishop, and should have been corrected by him, if he desired to be correct.

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Reid was understandably hurt that his bishop, a man he had always held in great reverence, had apparently forgotten his very name. Indeed, Fulford's part in the affair is difficult to understand, let alone to excuse. In his own diary, the bishop records having encountered Reid and his daughter Jane in Montreal on 3 June, a full two months after Whitwell's death and a mere three weeks before the meeting of Synod at which he made his misstatement.166 At the following meeting of Synod, in June 1865, when a word about Reid's death would have been in order, not a syllable of it was breathed in the bishop's address. It remained for the Rev. George Slack, in the Report of the Deanery of Bedford (printed in appendix F of the Synod Report) to give what perfunctory tribute there was to be paid to Reid by his colleagues and superiors for a long life of service to his diocese and his parish.167 In the end, it was an old parishioner, a layman writing in a lay paper, who commemorated him and set his history and accomplishments before the public.168 All this, of course, still lay in the future when the ill-fated report arrived at Reid's home. Two days later, Jane left on a scheduled fortnight's journey, and, as he writes, "In her absence I suffered a great deal from nervous and borrowed fears." It is difficult to tell when the volumes were destroyed. That Jane was to preserve throughout her life the diaries that had escaped immolation suggests she was unlikely to have anticipated, let alone encouraged, her father's act. It seems more probable that Reid did it in her absence. On 9 October 1864, Reid states he burnt them "some time ago." The entry immediately before this is dated 4 September, and Jane had returned on the third, the day before. Viewed in light of the blunder which, as Reid laments, "ignored my long service in both the churches of St Armand, and passed over me as if such a being as I never was," his sacrifice of the diaries ironically fulfilled the suggestion of the mistaken obituary notice, disposing of the 'evidence' of Reid's past history. It was, it would seem, a symbolic suicide, an act of despair, an acknowledgment that he had done nothing that mattered to anyone. As to why he spared three other volumes, we can only guess. All three contain the last records of his favourite son Malcolm. If the volumes escaped burning through more than sheer accident, perhaps their survival was due to there being in them aspects of Reid's life from which he was still as yet unwilling to be parted. Yet the habit of keeping a diary had become so deeply ingrained in Reid that even after this holocaust, he continued to write in his current

Ixxxvi

The Diary of James Reid

book. On picking up the thread of his narrative for the first time after this destruction, he remarks: "Several occurrences have taken place, which I have not entered, for I have become indifferent about entries." And so he begins again, noting the weather, commenting on his reading, recording arrangements made with the servants, transcribing letters, and dilating on family affairs. Writing on the diary as a literary form, Thomas Mallon has suggested that "one cannot read a diary and feel unacquainted with its writer," that no form of expression "more emphatically embodies the expresser."l69 It is fortunate that a fine visual portrait of Reid is also available to set against that furnished by his own pen. Thanks to a decision by the ladies of Trinity Church to raise money through the sale of lithographs of their rector, Reid's portrait was drawn by a Montreal artist preparatory to its printing. Reid speaks of sitting for it, and took evident pleasure in giving copies of it to his friends. The original, executed in coloured chalk, bears the signature "F.W. Lock Oct. 1853," and is preserved in the archives of the Brome County Historical Society. It shows Reid at seventy-three years as a large man, physically vigorous and robust in frame, wearing his gown and bands. The impression is one of bulk, strength, and simplicity. His facial expression is alert and vital, he has strongly marked features, a ruddy complexion, and light blue eyes. His hair - remarkably luxuriant for a man at his time of life - is swept straight back from the high forehead and appears to be flaxen or white touched with yellow. The eyebrows are heavy and also light-coloured. On the little finger of his right hand he wears what appears to be a signet ring. A number of photographs of Reid taken at various periods (including a full length portrait) confirm the likeness but possess less charm.17° The plain, honest face and solid, upright pose seem, indeed, to accord well both with contemporary accounts of Reid and with the character projected in the diary. 171 Diaries depict the process of events before retrospection has had a chance to rationalize them. They are shaped by transient moods, and can be disquieting to the writer when read over at a later date. Mary Shelley, in considering the "querulous pages" that formed her own journal, regarded them as "a very imperfect picture" of herself.172 The portrait of Reid that emerges from his diary is an intimate one, revealed with a frankness that few of his contemporaries may have seen. Before Reid speaks in his own voice, however, it may be appropriate to close

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these introductory remarks with an astute valedictory tribute to him by one who clearly knew him well: He would yield an implicit, indeed an almost child-like obedience, from a sense of his Christian duty, to the commands of his ecclesiastical superiors; but then the old man was exceedingly jealous and tenacious of his own rights, making it necessary for those who had the rule over him in the Church to be careful to remain within theirs, for one might almost as soon have expected to see his native Highland hills melt away as his stubborn nature yield to a sense of what might seem to him injustice. We say his stubborn nature, for it was stubborn by reason of his very simplicity of character and singleness of purpose. A character of this kind is the least fitted to accommodate itself by compromises to circumstances, as modern society now so much exacts.173

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THE DIARY

Volume 22 5 November 1848 - n December 1849 Volume 23 22 JULY 12 December 1849 ~ 22 Jufy 11851

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When volume 22 begins, Reid was nearly sixty-eight years old, living at the parsonage overlooking the hamlet of Frelighsburg where he and his family had resided for twenty-Jive years. Frelighsburg was a rural community and most of the land was still owned by R.V.V. Freligh, after whose father the town had been named. Reid had congregations at Trinity Church, adjacent to the parsonage, as well as at the schoolhouses of neighbouring Krans's and Cook's Corner, to the northwest and southwest of Frelighsburg respectively. Living at the parsonage with Reid were Isabella, his wife of thirty-eight years, then sixty-two years old, and their two unmarried daughters Jane, twenty-three, and Nancy, nearly twenty. A hired girl who had been with the family for seven years also lived with them. Their hired man, "Auld Sandy," lived nearby. Reid's youngest son James, aged twenty-five, had recently begun farming in nearby Brome, but visited the parsonage regularly. Malcolm, Reid's favourite son, was twenty-eight years old, with steady employment in New Orleans. John, thirty-Jive, was unsettled, and working at odd jobs south of the border; he seldom communicated with his family. Charles, the eldest at thirty-seven, was the minister at Compton, some thirty miles away, where he and his wife Julia had been living for eight years. Their son William, two years and eleven months old, was the Reids' only surviving grandchild. Among Reid's personal friends in the community, all within an easy drive, were Aquila Knap and his brother Moses, the Westovers, Widow Chamberlin and her family, Henry Baker and his son, and the Barnums and the Anson Kemps. Of the local clergy, he felt closest to Richard Whitwell of nearby Philipsburg. Reid began this volume in early November, with six long months of winter to come. The wood frame parsonage, exposed as it was on a height of land, had always been cold.

4

The Diary of James Reid

5th Nov. 1848 Sunday. Wind and rain in the morning not quite two dozen in the church. In the afternoon it snowed thick and fast. At the present rate of falling it will not be short of a foot on the ground before bed time. 6th Nov. 1848 Though it snowed heavily last night, making good six inches of snow on the ground it did not freeze, but commenced thawing very fast. It is not however all gone at night. We shall have awful roads till we frost enough to harden the mud. I wa[s] all day tinkering at some little things about the premises which required mending, and fatigued myself very much. In the evening I wrote a long letter to poor Malcolm.1 May a kind providence convey it to him! 9th Nov. 1848 We had the meeting of the Ladies' Sewing Society tonight.2 James came home.3 At tea O.J. Kemp joined us,4 and I bought a yoke of heavy cattle from him for James to work with in Brome for $75 to be paid for when I go to Montreal in January or February. The day has been cold and blustering. I read in Blackwood and the Albion.5 19th

19THNov. 1848 It seems I am getting slack in my journal, but what can I do in a life so monotonous. The same thing over and over again every day. No variety no excitement. Nothing to stir up ambition. I read and forget. My only writing is my weekly sermons. I received the last Toronto Church yesterday containing Bishop Strachan['s] Pastoral letter to the Clergy & laity of the Diocese of Toronto, respecting an apprehension that the Asiatic Cholera will visit the country within a few months. The Bishop is almost persuaded to a certainty that it will come, and under that strong impression, he gives like a faithful watchman, warning to his flock and exhorts them to prepare. The letter is remark [ab]ly earnest and good.6 I made some allusion to the same in my Sermon today. The state of the Church of England in the Townships in particular has discouraged me for some time. The prejudice and lukewarmness which prevail among the people cannot [seem] to be overcome. For my own part, I endeavour to give them good Sermons, but all is apparently lost. The congregation does not increase, and those that attend do not appear to amend or increase in piety. It is my impression that our state

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is worse in this Province than it is in our sister Diocese of Toronto. They have I believe more able and faithful men than we have. Any one may despair of success in our Eastern Townships. There is neither religious nor moral principle to depend upon among the bulk of our population. The spirit of Slumber and indifference prevails all over, and nothing has hitherto been effectual enough to put a Stir among the dry bones.7 Liberty of conscience, or in other words, the gratification of self will, of doing what one chooses to do, is the spirit that universally prevails. From setting up self will against all human authority in religion it is set up against God himself. For hardly any one has the least idea that the Book has any other meaning than what one chooses to put upon it. All men they say are born equal and ought to be free to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. And this amounts to the same thing, as fancy prompts, to worship God when they please, and to neglect it when they please; and being led by such notions, it is found to be true in fact, that most of them neglect altogether. The long standing dictum of religious freedom, liberty of conscience and the right of private judgment, must necessarily be false. God gave a religious dispensation to the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt, by the ministry of his servant Moses, in which every part and step in his worship were prescribed by the Almighty himself. There was nothing left for human ingenuity to supply. The kind, and quantity of the offerings, and also the stated times were prescribed. The Ministers were of his own appointment. Their sacerdotal habits, from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot with regard to quality, colour, shape and cut were all prescribed. A specification of the plan of the Temple, and the Tabernacle which preceded the Temple, was given by the Almighty himself. In all the Old Testament there is not one word written, or found, from which it can be truthfully inferred that any liberty was allowed to depart from the letter of the divine directions; or that what has too often been called a tender conscience, had any regard paid to it, when it pleaded for the usurped rights of private judgment. Such a conscience met with stern rebukes, as in the case of Korah, and not indulgence.8 For it cannot be that God would leave it to imperfect, sinful creatures to form according to their minds and fancy, in what manner the God of heaven and earth should be worshipped. It never depended upon the approval or disapproval of his creatures whether the execution of the Creator's will should be binding on them or not, any more than human creatures had the option before they were born, to be or not to be. Had such approval on the part of human creatures been

6

The Diary of James Reid

wanted or allowed, the Creator would have been divested of his sovereign rights, and forced to admit the creatures he had made into a share of his power, which would thwart his purposes contrary to his express word which asserts that he will not give his glory to another.9 I therefore arrive at the conclusion that there was no such thing as the right of private judgment, in the matter of religion, under the old dispensation allowed, if it differed from, or opposed, the divine Law. All had to submit. It was implicit unquestioned submission & obedience or rebellion against God, to be punished by the Judge. Let us see how the case stands in the New Testament. Does it so far differ from the old as to allow the right of private judgment? If it does, in any thing, however small, may it not do so in all. In the most important of all points, the right of private judgment is forever set at rest by our Saviour himself. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned.10 25th Nov. 1848 No frost, but high winds in the morning. Two days ago, had a Paper from Malcolm, inclosing a note, dated 30 Oct. saying that he was well, and today, had a letter from Charles,11 giving a good account of the health of his family. I thank God for these good news. Since my last entry, I read Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy and a part of Numbers. From all these nothing can be more evident than that private human judgment had nothing whatsoever to do or to choose in the Institution of divine worship, but simply to obey. Directions are given by the Almighty which extend to every kind of service, with respect to the time of duty, nature, quantity and quality of sacrifices and offerings, the place where they are to be offered, the dimensions of the Tabernacle, the materials of which it was to be built, the kind of workmanship and art to be laid out on the structure, the quality & colour of all the prescribed ornaments - the mode and manner of its consecration, the men12 that should minister as Priests, their sacerdotal habits and ornaments, as to quality, form and make, and their consecration for the Priestly office, are prescribed, and ordered down even to the shoe latchet. No man had either power to invent or choose what he would have, not even Moses or Aaron, but to obey or be punished if he did not obey. Whenever private judgment was acted upon, punishment followed as in the case of Nadab & Abihu the sons of Aaron for offering strange fire. In every case strict obedience to the Law was indispensable. The Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Our Sev-

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enth Article asserts "that the Old Testament is not contrary to the new." It must then follow that private judgment has no more authority in things pertaining to God, than it had of old; and that if its exercise is not now punished, it will be hereafter and that the ancient punishments are to be viewed as types of what shall be.13 26th Nov. 1848 Sunday, cold and windy. It freezes but not enough to harden the mud so as to bear the horse and wagon and consequently the roads are bad. There was however a moderately good congregation in Church, and in the afternoon, at Krans's, more than I have seen there for some months. 1 was pleased and encouraged at the sight, and did not whine at the bad roads I had to travel in going there. This day has made me of the full age of sixty eight years, and blessed be God for his long continued kindness, I am a strong, healthy old man. But alas! what an unprofitable servant have I been in the Church of God, and in the world! How little good I have done in the course of a long life! How little progress in divine knowledge, in holiness of heart and life! How few have been converted, or advanced in piety by my poor services! May God deal not with me after my sins, nor reward me after my failings! Mrs. has a head ache ¹ 4 28th Nov. 1848 Still hard frost and no snow. We killed our two pigs yesterday. They were only spring pigs, but when dressed they weighed 417 Ib. I made several calls in the Village this afternoon, amongst others I called at the Doctor's, but saw only his wife.15 The Doctor has certainly made a commodious, warm house, and withal, well finished. It did not use to give me the least uneasy thought to see my neighbours getting into a comfortable house, but now I must acknowledge it gives me a great deal, not at all that I envy or grudge what they get, but that I cannot get any such thing myself. Here I am in a Parsonage house, nearly 26 years. It is not mine, but I have laid out on it all of $900, and more, since we came to live in it, and do not yet own a house in the world.16 For a long time I was happy enough in my situation but for the last few years owing to certain circumstances and events which happened in the place, my happiness has met with a check. All the time since I have been here, no man could be more ready than I have ever been, to give my service in the Schools,17 and in drawing up all kinds of papers for our pub-

8

The Diary of James Reid

lie, busy men. When I became old, and our busy men, after the training they have had, being able to do without me, there is no more to think of me, and because I would not go to the election wh was held in June 1847, OJ. Kemp literally turned his back on me at his shop door, in presence of other people when I walked up to him,18 and kept himself out of Church for 9 months. The Doctor for about as long, and Anson for a quarrel between himself and James Lee.19 By the politicians I was said to be a Radical. Thank God, I was born of loyal parents, brought up in the principles of loyalty, lived hitherto the life of a loyalist, and hope that whatever changes may happen to die a loyalist. But there I was suffering reproach, and bearing hatred, most unjustly.20 But what was their loyalty. The Collectorship was wanted for one - The emoluments of Returning officer by another, and the help of the Member towards the Study of the Law for a nephew, and the Crown Land agency was wanted by a third.21 This was the oil to the wheels of the burning loyalty which created the awful Zeal, and the ill will that was manifested against all that did not assist them.22 The attorney General Smith who was to do so much for the County, and did much for the aforesaid politicians, was all the time aiming at advancement of his own interests, and accordingly when he worked himself up the ladder to the Bench, he vacated his Seat, after two sessions, and put the County to the expense & warfare of two elections.23 Thus our politicians ever have been and ever will be selfish, false and corrupt. While the zealous ones kept out of church, the wife of one of them wanted me to co[a]x and make acknowledgements to her husband in order to bring him back.24 I could not do this without making myself guilty by a confession of faults, which I had never committed. She said that my Sermons were more pointed than usual about self-willed and obstinate people. She read the Scriptures as well as I did, and so she would have it supposed that she was qualified to judge. Now it happened that I did not give a new Sermon all that Summer, but old ones some twenty years old. They were good then. Together with this, the quarrel between Anson and Lee, which created a vast deal of trouble to me. Then followed another between O.J.K. and Daniel Westover.25 All these gave me a great deal of unhappiness. I do not therefore [...] that I am in the enjoyment of that freedom of speech which a Minister of God's word ought to have and is bound to exercise. The first thing that a person in this country does, when he takes umbrage, at either the minister or any of the congregation is to keep away from Church. I feel this

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evil dreadfully, especially when so very few of the inhabitants can be induced to come to Church at all. I dread then being the cause, justly or unjustly, innocently or knowingly, of any one Staying away from Church. This feeling has discouraged my heart, and weakened my hands so that I feel myself kept under great restraints. For instance a young man named Simeon Whitman, who never had any intimacy with my family, stopped one Sunday after Church, in the beginning of September, to ask one of my daughters to go with him to Sutton to a Rechabite Meeting, and because she did not choose to go, he has chosen to keep out of Church ever since.26 30th Nov. 1848 James went out to Brome today. I undertook to repair the outside cellar door and worked hard. In the evening had a visit of Asa Westover and his family.27 They told us what kind of engagement the people of Dunham have entered into with Mr Scott.28 They have bought a glebe of 50 acres of Land for him, and gave him the use of it. This is all they agree to give him, except a house. He has to make the best he can of the glebe, at his own expence or by his own labour. They say it is very poor land, while there is but little of it clear. It is ledgy and stoney, and what is cultivated is worn out and poor. This is the way the poor clergy are treated and paid, and it shews very clearly what value they are willing to put on religious ordinances and the liberal bounty of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for having wholly paid their minister for forty and four years. From present appearances, I cannot see how the Church is to maintain its ground in the Townships after the Society shall have ceased to pay.29 The people are manifestly totally unworthy of what has been done for them; or that it should be continued a day longer. Oh! the curse of democracy and republicanism. From that they have derived the voluntary system, and the soul destroying right of private judgment. Under the Old Testament dispensation there is not one trace to be found of either, in regard to doctrine, rites, service, public worship, or to the maintenance of divine Service, but on the contrary implicit obedience is required and insisted upon to an explicit law and written prescription. Is the New Testament opposed to the Old in this? All the sectaries that have arisen out of the Reformation from Popery, maintain that religion must, according to the New Testament be supported by the voluntary principle, that is, people may contribute of their substance to the support of God's ordinances, or they may not, just [as] they please.

10

The Diary of James Reid

Now if the fact be so, the man who never gives a Shilling in his lifetime, must be taken as serving God by refusing as well as the man who gives. For if God has given mankind this liberty of choice it must be that to exercise it either way is equally pleasing in his sight, and that by such lib-. erty he has nullified his own, both his own Law and his Church. He has established a Church, but if he has left her temporal maintenance to the option of the people, then he has planted by her side, the principle that may abolish her. For if I may by divine institution give or not give, then if I choose not to give, my refusal being thus allowed by the voluntary principle is faultless, and what is so in one is so in a thousand, is so in all, and when it comes to this, the church is driven out of the world, and this by God's ordinance. But what says the new Testament? It is both peremptory and dogmatic in the fundamental articles of faith. He that cometh unto God must believe that He is. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved.3° It is equally so on the subject of repentance, justification by faith, on justice, honesty, integrity, between man and man; brotherly love - the observance of the Sacraments and divine ordinances. With regard to all these, and many more, the new31 Testament repudiates the interference of private judgment as well and as positively as the old. But what does it say of temporal maintenance. On this subject, it is not so explicit and the reason is this. The duty or obligation was continued from the authority of the old. The Apostle speaks of it as an acknowledged, allowed obligation still remaining by virtue of the old Law. Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the Altar? And they which wait at the Altar are partakers with the Altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel I Cor. 9:13:14. The Lord Jesus Christ himself has ordained this: St. Luke 10:7. And because of provision he commanded his disciples when he sent them out by two and two, to provide themselves nothing.32 This command is grounded on the provision which the Law made for the Levites: Num. 18. They were appointed to do the work of God, and were therefore to be supported by their God, in whose service they were engaged; and this support God has entailed on their brethren who reap the benefit of their labours. Both Jesus Christ, and St Paul speaking by inspiration, confirm this law as the Law of the Gospel by a Solemn sanction. Let him that is taught in the word communicate to him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived. God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap: Gal. 6:7. The New Testament then we find has not left the maintenance

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of ministers to the voluntary principle, any more than did the old, but enjoined it by an explicit Law which was to be demonstrated. All the Protestant part of the Continent of America, Churchmen, and all, without exception, and all the civil Governments, are in a state of heresy on this important part of Gods holy will and commandments. 7th December 1848 James went out to Brome in the latter part of the month when it was very cold, and still colder when he came back. He has not been very well since. I hope he will not get worse. Mrs. Reid has got a very bad cold, and Nancy's neck is not getting any smaller. 33 I made James go down to the village to get for himself a winter great Coat which he needed very much, but on account of the great outlays of money for him towards his farm, he did not wish to add to them, but I made him get it. I have been reading the Greek Testament for some time in the evenings. Yesterday it snowed as much as would make good sleighing, but today has brought on thaw and rain, so that by tomorrow the ground will be bear. i 3 th Dec r 1848 James went to Brome on Monday taking with him the oxen, the double wagon, the Cookstove, chairs, nails &c. For want of snow he could not take the Sleigh. Last evening I spent at Doctor Barnum's to tea.34 Today I took the fancy of making a chair of round birch sticks with the bark on such as I have seen at Dunkeld, in alcoves on the Duke of Atholes walks.35 Yesterday I had a paper from Malcolm, containing a slip, merely to say that he was well, for which I am thankful. It is an extraordinary winter, hard frost and not a speck of Snow, nor any appearance of its coming. Got no Papers this week as yet except the Church & the Official Gazette. Parliament is to meet on the 18th of next month.36 Hincks beat Gugy in the Suit against him for libel. This man Hincks whom the Conservatives had been abusing for years, meets now with their sympathy. They say that he had been abused more than any other man in the Province. What is this but a confession that they themselves had been abusing him undeservedly?37 How dangerous it is to mix in politics! Those who do, it appears, have no regard for truth. They lie knowingly. Do they consider how they are to be saved? Liars can have no place in heaven.38 The Sewing Society was up at the Widow T. Reynolds, & Jane walked up there & back again.39

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The Diary of James Reid

i6 th Dec r 1848 On Thursday night we had the two Doctors and their wives, and spent the evening agreeably.40 There is no snow yet, and the night is now boisterous which is always painful to me. Having finished my Sermon yesterday, I went away this morning after breakfast to procure some fresh meat for us, and steering my way to the north, I made no stop till I reached Stickney['s] where I bought a Sheep and Six turkies. The Sheep at 4 Cents a Ib. and the turkies 2/ each.41 On my way back I stopped at A. Knap's, at Moses's42 and then at O. Kemp's. I went on foot, because the road was so sharp that I did not like to take a horse. It is a dreadful thing to look forward to the coming of a Canadian winter, long, cold and cheerless. God Governs the world. His voice ought to be recognized in the Storm as well as in the calm. 2oDec r 1848 Monday and yesterday I wrote two Sermons, one for Sunday and the other for Christmas which will be on Monday. The mail brought the Albion containing President Folk's Message to Congress, dreadfully long, & dreadfully full of self laudation.43 But amid all the self incense, I cannot be so blind as not to see that their country is in a more prosperous State than any other that I know of. In consequence of the war they have had with Mexico they have got a vast increase of Territory, so much as will make a number of great States. In California, newly acquired, they have got very rich mines of Gold, Silver and Copper, and other precious metals.44 It is very clear that no country need go to war with them, and expect to come out of it without loss & damage. Even England, my dear country, that bears her head high, with regard to all nations, has submitted to many indignities from the United States of America, that she would not bear from any other. I do not like war nor rumours of war,45 and therefore I pray that my short time will be, and end, in peace. I have read more than a Dozen chapters in the Greek Testament. 21 Decr 1848 This is the first real cold day we have had. The mercury 5° below Zero. The ground all over is bare and bleak. In the morning I dug up a plum tree which shaded my grape vines, and transplanted it in the door yard. In the evening I wrote a letter to Malcolm which I hope will reach him. We long very much to hear from him.

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22 d Dec r 1848 The coldest day we have hitherto had for the Season, and Still no snow, but we have good hopes, and desire to be thankful to the Almighty for the merciful preservation of us. In course of reading the Greek Testament last night I came to the Apocalyptic numbers, time, times, half a time forty two months, 1260 days, or years, the number of the beast 666. What puny mortals, the very best and most learned men are, when not one of them has been able these 1800 years to give the least satisfactory explanation of these symbolical and mysterious figures! With respect to them, though I have laboured to understand them in my puny way, I am yet as ignorant of their meaning as a child.46 24th Decr 1848 Moderate, a little snow, & some sleighs came to church. I gave the sacrament today, being Sunday on the ground that more would be present than on a week day though it be Christmas, but perhaps I may have misjudged.47 In the afternoon I went to Krans's School house and found it full. After coming home the wind rose to a very high pitch which as usual is hard on my nerves, but thank God, now at 10 of the clock, it is a soothing, sweet calm. 27 th Dec r 1848 Sunday and Christmas passed pleasantly. The Sleighing was not good, but it helped a little. James came home Saturday night on a horse hired from one of his neighbours. On Tuesday he went back and took with him the gray mare. He put her and the hired horse to the old wood sled, and started though a very cold day. The two weeks he was out, he got out 70 saw logs, ready to draw to the Saw Mill. He told me that Macadam was about selling the remaining term of his lease which is three years to Mr Heath, one of the stage proprietors. In the event of his selling, they had some talk of his coming to live with him for a time. I should like the Scheme very well.48 The Sewing Society was at Omie Lagrange's. Mrs Reid was there, and I went to bring her home at dusk.49 Sandy, poor old man, has a Swollen face from the toothache. I fear he will not be able to come tomorrow. 5° 3i st Dec r 1848 Sunday, windy, but not very cold. The congregation as good as usual, and better than usual at Cook's.51 This day closes the year and we have to thank

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The Diary of James Reid

God for the many mercies of the past, and likewise to humble ourselves for the little improvements we have made of our privileges. Should it please God to spare our lives through another year, Oh, may He of his rich mercy and goodness give us grace to enable us to live more devoted to his service, and to bring forth more fruit than we have ever done before! Thank God, we have received a letter from Malcolm on friday and it makes us glad to learn that he is well. I intimated service for tomorrow and a meeting of the Parochial Church Society, with a view to try whether they will increase their contributions.52 1st January 1849 We had service today in the Church and a meeting of the Parochial Church Society, which after all my endeavours to stir them up was not at all well attended. I cannot stir them up, and it may be that for their want of gratitude for the Society's bounty to them, they shall ere long be left to their own resources. They appointed a number of collectors. 1 tried to explain how the case stood with them, and what depends on their own liberality, and having done so, they may suit themselves.53 2 Jan? 1849 The coldest day we have yet had. Mercury in the morning 14° below o. In the afternoon, especially at night, the wind rose very high, and is now frightful, and I am as usual miserable. O that it would please God to allay this awful blow, and give us the great blessing of a calm! I know not what to do with myself. I had the funeral of Nathan Chadburn's babe which was no more than two weeks old. They are not a Church going people. The child was not baptized, and not entitled to burial service. I only read the 39^ Psalm, and a prayer out of Dr. Stewart's Book. Had I refused, there would have been an offence.54 The people think they are entitled to whatever they ask from the Clergy, but themselves bound to nothing. I sent a letter today to Archdeacon Bethune, containing three dollars from Charles for the Church. 55 I hope it will reach. 5THJANY

i849

We killed a stall fed cow yesterday which turned out to be very good. Jane went to a party of young people at the Doctor's last night which concluded with a dance, very inconsistent indeed with the character of a Church member, as his wife is.56

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Today it snowed nearly all day, but as it drifted, it does not yet make good sleighing. Only the Albion came by this day's mail. It contains two letters from a military officer of the United States Army in California, respecting the gold mines. It appears now certain that vast quantities of gold are found in that country, but the result of its abundance is most deplorable, as it puts a stop to all other business, to the cultivation of the soil, and promotes all sorts of crime; and as it raises the price of every thing, of labour to such a height, that hardly any thing can be done. A barrel of flour is $50, and every other thing in proportion. 57 This afternoon we had the Col's two daughters, and Lydia Guy, sewing for the Society, making dresses for Mrs Westover.58 8th [January 1849] Macadam came here yester[day] after Church. He has sold out the remainder of his Lease, and came down here to execute the Transfer. He is to get $117.59 He made this, and supported his family since he went there and might have done much more had he been a good manager. He will move in [with] James in the month of March. I heard today that there is a very skilful Doctor at the Bay,6° who they say performs almost miraculous cures. All this must be a humbug as there is nothing in the world that goes more into the humbug than Doctors and advertised medicines.61 9th JanX 1849 A fair, hard freezing day. I paid my quarter postage today.62 When there James Liddell accosted me with every mark of sorrow, saying that Frank Chadburn had killed one of his children with an axe, and hacked it to pieces. I did not perceive any thing unusual about him, and of course thought the tale was true, but L. Kemp came to me and said it was all imagination, that Liddell was labouring hard under a fit of delirium tremens.63 The Rev. J. Jones64 was here today, and as usual staid to dinner. He is the same old sixpence &: always will be. He has got a new coat of which he stood in need. The coat fits. lo^Jan)1 1849 It is now real, cold winter. Hitherto we have been highly favoured, in not having extreme cold. It comes now indeed, but I trust God will enable us to bear it, and carry us safely through. I carried down Jane after Breakfast to the Sewing Society at Toof s,

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The Diary of James Reid

and left my Cutter at Tittemore's for repairs.6^ He lent me a new Cutter to use while my own is left. He offered me a gay, new Cutter for $20, much below his price, as he wishes to throw in some for my services, but the Cutter is too high on the runners for me and does not suit an old man. I did not go back after Jane. Oren Kemp left his team there, and Maria drove them all home.66 Had a letter from Charles. He is not quite satisfied with the proceedings of the Church Society, and wishes he was an orator to shew them up. I will advise him to eat his bread & butter in quietness, and give himself no trouble in the matter.6? There is no profit in touching the great either on the belly or on the crown.

14* jany 1849

Very cold. Mercury stood at 24° below Zero. The wind blew most violently. Some said it made the Church to quiver, but, nervous as I am, and alive to every blast that blows, I did not perceive the least quiver, shake or jar. I went to Cook's Corner, but found nobody there as they all went to the funeral of Mrs Clark who died of whiskey drinking and opium. She was long addicted to both and at last died like a beast, yet she was the daughter of a pious woman, but an indifferent father.68 Had a letter from Malcolm dated on Christmas day. He was then well, but says the Cholera has got there, and its victims in the City were about 100 a day. May God of his merciful goodness preserve his health and life! I wrote to him last night, and so did Nancy. We sent this and the Transcript. 69

1849 Not so cold today. 14° above Zero in the morning. In the course of the day it snowed a little, but blew so strongly that it does not remain on the roads, and now at 9 P.M. it blows in gusts now and then most awfully, and puts me, as usual in pain and misery which I cannot describe, and what adds to it, James and the girls have gone to Dunham in the afternoon, and how they are to get home, or how they will fare, I know not. It was not very promising when they started, but they were anxious to go, and so they went. O the cares and anxieties of parents. None can understand such cares but parents. With the children themselves it goes for nothing, and perhaps, it is even offensive to them. They think they are so brave, so wise and so prudent that they need not the care of any one. Charles is continually writing to me of every admirable quality that he sees in his son. In his last letter, he seems to take shame to himself at the

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thought that I was a more punctual correspondent than himself, as if the fact was a new discovery. I wrote to him and told him the reason which made the difference in our punctuality. The reason I gave was that children's love to their parents was not equal to the love of parents to their children. I told him that he loved his little boy as he ought to do, and that if he had more boys, his love would be no less to one than it would be to each of the rest, and to all - that there is room in a parent's heart to all the children - that when they came to the age of men and women, merit or good conduct would necessarily cause a preference to take place. I told him not to suppose that his boy's love to him would equal his when he grew to man's estate; for if he did, he would find himself disappointed. I find it so myself, and it is so all over the world. I do not know but that my sons are as dutiful as any other, but they do not shew it in the way which I think they ought, and I think I deserve. My son Malcolm would not be satisfied till he got into his own hands about one half of what I was worth. He went into business. In three years he failed, and I lost,?0 but whatever he felt, he never said he was sorry for the loss he brought upon me. My youngest has been dissatisfied for several years, and to pacify him I gave him the Deed of the Cross Lot a good while ago. It is worth £100. He was not long satisfied with that but must get a farm for himself to go upon and do for himself. We looked out through the whole country for one without success, for two years, and finally had to buy one in Brome partially cleared to the extent of 40 acres, with every thing to be done upon it, and before he can be started so as to live on it, it will cost me more than £400.71 This sum and the Cross Lot will leave me, in my old age a poor man, and if I die before I can recruit a little, I do not know what will become of the dear girls. I never had strength of mind to refuse them, and so, instead of going out like other Boys to a trade, or employment to provide for themselves, and leave a plentiful parental home to visit, they have kept me down: and if James Should prove unfortunate like his poor brother, it will all go for nothing. i 7 th Jany 1849 On the night of the 15* we had a most tremendous wind, almost a hurricane under which I suffered in my feelings very extreme pain. Last night OJ. Kemp's young people had a party. The girls were invited. I carried them up myself, thinking that it was a party to be held in the usual way and that they would be home by i o. I was told that I need not

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The Diary of James Reid

go after them - that they would send them home in good time. But instead of being conducted in the usual way, it was soon turned into a dancing party, and did not send home the girls till 2 in the morning. I had to sit up waiting for them, unwell as I was to keep the house warm. Now all this is most discouraging to a minister who seeks the prosperity and reputation of the Church. There has been no dancing in the place this winter but among the members of the Church. First at Doctor Chamberlin's where the dancers were all members of the Church and last night, where they were likewise all members, or the children of members. This is the fruit of my labours for 34 years. I fear that nothing can be made of the people of the Eastern Townships. Two or three of their children are going every week to a dancing school at Franklin. The Bakers, cosens of the Kemps are all mad for dancing, though they are churchmen.?2 Such is the stuff we have to build up the Church with in the Townships. God help the few whose souls, like Lot's, are afflicted and grieved with the iniquities and hypocrisies which they have to behold! I have this day received a paper from Malcolm, containing a slip to say that he is well and that the Cholera is abating. The meeting of the Sewing Society, which is now a great Bore, is held this evening at William Baker's. Jane went to it.73 The poor dear girls feel bad enough, I know, about the affair of last night, and it is wholesome for them that they should, considering the pain it gave me. The wind is high. I hope it will abate. 18th January 1849 It has become cold again. The mercury stood 13° below Zero. Such is now its state at 8 P.M. so that I expect it will be much colder in the morning. We have the Chamberlin girls'74 this [...], & some others, but there will be no dancing as at the Kemps with the merry mad Bakers the other night. Fond as they are of dancing now, they may have sorrow & lamentation before they leave this vale of tears. How few people do appreciate their privileges or live according to what they profess! How few people we have with whom I can spend a profitable hour! What a bar my position has been to my improvement! But I cannot help it. This Slab City has been my lot and here I must remain, how much soever I may dislike it.75 2 ist January [1849] Sunday. The day moderate. Had the appearance of coming Snow, but it did not come. Had a large funeral in Church of a man, James Carty who

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was killed instantaneously by the falling of a tree, on Thursday afternoon. 76 His wife, before she had married him, lived with us five years. She was a good and faithful servant. She is now left a widow with eight children. Carry was then a young man, who had nothing to help him but his own industrious hands. He bought a farm and had it all paid for by his own earning while he was bringing up a large family, and was in a fair way of doing well in the world.?? This winter he was drawing Saw logs to the Mill with a view to build another barn on his farm. On the day he was killed, he and other neighbours were drawing up winter's wood, for Widow Hagan who had lost her husband last Summer. 78 That was his end while performing an act of kindness and charity to a poor widow. The ways of God are inscrutable. Such a man, humanly speaking, is harder to spare than many others who are spared, that, humanly judging could be spared, and are, in fact, a damage to their friends and families. Such things are among the many dispensations which we cannot understand, but perhaps we may hereafter. The funeral was numerously attended. I had not a written Sermon that would [...] the occasion, and so I ventured to extemporise, and blessed be God who I trust helped my infirmities, I believe what I said was about as good as if I had written a Sermon for the occasion. In the afternoon I had a full house at Krans's. James and myself are preparing to start for Montreal tomorrow. May the Lord who has hitherto watched over us give us a prosperous journey and a safe return! May He preserve those we leave in peace and Security! 3 i st January 1849 We got to Laprair[i]e the day we had left home, and there tarried for the night. On the morrow we got to Town and did the most of our Shopping. On thursdayJames started for home, with the team and load, and I staid behind to make a visit to Dr. Hall, who had for a long time been inviting me.79 The wind was dreadfully high the most of the time I was in Town, so that I did not go out any where. On Sunday I went to St. George's and preached for Mr. Leach. He offered to procure for me a degree from MacGill College - said it would be an honour to the Institution to do so. We shall see what he will do.8° I went with him home to McGill College to dine with him. Heard Mr. Bond in the Evening on the duty of loyalty.81 I do not know whether Mr. Leach meant an honorary degree of A.M. or D.D. or not. It was very kind in him, and I ought to be thankful, but if it be not D.D. I care nothing about it. The Convocation will not be held till May.

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On the one of the Evenings I was at Dr. Hall's, we had Mr Robertson, Mr. Bond and Mr. Irwin, three Clergymen, and much profitable conversation.82 Amongst other things they told me about the Rev. Mr. Campbell of Trinity Church, who was so popular, and of whom great expectations had been entertained. But he is losing his congregation. They are dropping away very fast. The most of them are going to St. George's, and some to Christ's Church.83 Mr Bond is very popular. It is astonishing how small a portion of real talent it requires to [make a] man popular! Mr Bond has a good voice, a good person, visits the people, but not much learning.84 But he does his duty in and out of the Pulpit zealously. I fear the City Bank is in a bad way - can hardly expect its recovery. I authorised Mr. Lyman to sell four shares of my stock in it. He could not effect a Sale while I was in Town, but was so kind as to advance me £60 on the same.85 On Monday morning I started for home by the Stage. From the half way house they had to go on wheels all the way to Pike River.86 It snowed, sleet, and rained all the way. Got home at 8 P.M. and found all well. In the afternoon Mrs R and Jane went to the Sewing Society. I thought they were to quit, but they did not, although every [one] wishes it, and expresses to that effect in private.87 Had a letter from poor John, dated at St. Croix on the 2Oth Decr. He says he is well but does not inform what his circumstances are.88 1st Feb. 1849 This month has come in Snowing and blowing. I went to see Cutler and Liddell. The former is far gone in consumption. I never saw one that discharges so much as [he] does by expectoration. The spit box by him is too much for one to look at. I always speak to him. He seems to have some religious feeling, but I fear with out faith or religious knowledge.89 Liddell is brought low - says, if he recover he will give up whiskey. I spoke to him kindly and begged of him that he would. He said he never would have been what he is, but [for] his troubles and vexations from his wife.9° Poor excuse! 3d Feb. 1849 Last night and a great part of this day very windy and cold. James returned home with his load from St. Cesaire, 20 minots of wheat at 5/ and ten of oats at 1/3. The difference in price & measure pays well for going.91

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Last night I called at Mr. Hurlbut's. They all appeared pleased with the Communion Cup, bought for Sutton Church with Maria's Legacy, especially with the engraving on it in memory and honour of the youthful pious donor.92 Maria left five dollars which she directed to be given to the Church in Sutton. This sum was handed to me by her mother after her death who directed me to cause it to be laid in something that would last & be seen. I chose a communion Cup. Mr. Kemp requested that it should have the name of the Donor on it. He and I selected the Cup at Savages's, and her engraved upon it as the donor.93 The parents of Maria were so pleased with it that they paid for the engraving also. I attended a funeral at Pigeon Hill, Mr[s]. Sager's, on Monday. Had a Short letter from Malcolm, dated the i5 th jany. He says the Cholera has almost disappeared. The funeral service at Pigeon Hill was held in the Methodist Chapel, where about 170 persons were present to hear the word of God.94 In leaving the Pulpit, by mistake, I put the Methodists' Hymn Book in my pocket instead of my Prayer Book, and did not discover my mistake till we came to the Grave Yard. Finding no one there that had a Prayer Book, and I not willing to proceed irregularly, Stewart Holsapple95 was kind enough to wheel about his horse, and go to the Chapel half a mile distant for my Prayer Book. I would not set an example of repeating what I could from memory, and omit what I did not remember, of the Service. It was very cold to stand under the biting of the cold wind, but had to do it till Mr. Holsapple came. From [...] I learned of the character of Mrs. Sager. She was a pious good woman. I got home in good time and found all well. James started for Brome in the afternoon, taking with him my young mare and the Sleigh, called Pong, with him. I do not know why a one horse sleigh, with a Square box, is called Pong, or what the meaning of the word is.96 There are many arbitrary names. Cutter is the name of another kind of a one horse Sleigh, but why I know not. Nancy went home with Asa Westover to make a visit of a few days to his wife, a pleasant, kind hearted young woman. 5th Feb. 1849 Went to the funeral of Isaac Lagrange's wife to day, and gave in the house an extempore discourse to a house full of people. This young woman, the daughter of David Guthrie a Scotchman, had been unfortunate. Some years ago a Scotchman, a plasterer by trade was in the place, who decoyed her into a marriage with him. At his marriage, it was

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The Diary of James Reid

remarked by every one present, as well as by me, that he choked dreadfully at the ceremony, and could not for the life of him make the responses. On his behalf it was said by his friends that he was so bashful that he could not, but it was not bashfulness that choked him, but guilt, and the power of conscience; for it was soon found that he had a wife and children in Upper Canada. After living with the poor girl for a while until he had a child by her, he took himself off, and nobody knew where he went. Her child died. Isaac wanted to marry her long ago, but his mother would not let him. Last Septr he did marry her in Montreal. He has last Summer built a Barn and a good Stone House, and soon after coming to live in it, she died.97 They moved into the house before it was well seasoned after plastering. I suppose the poor creature took cold which brought on quick consumption and carried her off. She was the daughter of David Guthrie from Montrose in Scotland, a man who was brought up to the Baker trade, but who has a wonderful genius for painting in General, a Portrait painter, a mechanic of every description in wood and iron, but unfortunately a drunkard. He is partially reformed, and told me today that his daughter died happy in the faith of Christ. In his appearance he resembles the likeness that I have seen of Robert Burns.98 After the funeral I went round by Cooks Corner, paid Tittemore for James's Pong. The young man dealt with me very fairly. On my way home I called at H. Baker's, and got him and his wife to sign the Register of Mr[s]. Sager's Burial.99 I also stopped at Mr. Freligh's Mill and carried home some grist that I had there.100 In the evening, indeed late at night, I took down cleaned and put up, my Cook Stove pipes.

9th Feb. 1849 The Reverend Mr. Mountain & his servant came to us. He is on a round to see What the Parochial Subcommittees of the Church Society are doing. He came to us on Tuesday the 6th and staid, till, yesterday when he started, together with myself for Bedford. We held a meeting in our Church, when but very few attended. I read service and he preached far better than I had expected from one of his years. Some resolutions were moved and passed, but none spoke to them except Mr. Mountain and Mr. Jones of Bedford. Mr. Jones, as he always does, was tedious, long, excursive & to little purpose. Mr Mountain spoke very much to my satisfaction.101 In Bedford I preached, and the speechifying went on as before, with the addition of Mr. Whitwell.102 After Church we had a good dinner, at

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the Parsonage, and were introduced to Miss Dewel, Captain Jones's Miss. We then started for the Bay through a most tremendous Snow Storm, wind and drift, where Service was to be held at 7 P.M. On arriving at Mr Whitwell's there was no man to take our poor horses, and this kept us a quarter of an hour Standing out under the "cauld blast the drift and the snaw."l°3 The night continued Stormy, but notwithstanding the meeting was well attended. Mr Mountain preached, and the same Resolutions we had before were moved and passed. I addressed the meeting as Chairman. Then Mr. Whitwell, Col. Dyer, Mr. Jones and Mr Mountain. Col. Dyer did very well,104 but Mr Jones, not choosing to confine himself to the business in hand, wandered away from it, and spoke of every thing under the Sun, until there was no time left for Mr Mountain to say any thing at all although he came for the purpose of explaining to us the wishes of the Church Society. He would not touch the subject of his Resolution, as he wished to leave that ground for the sole occupation of Mr. Mountain, but he did not leave him time for the occupation. It is astonishing how it delights that man to speak so much religious nonsense & vagaries, & to be a bore to every one! The blow continued all night, and next day. We started for home on the following day through the heavy drifts. Passing by where the old Church stood, we got upset in a heavy drift. The lines dropped out my hands. The horse knew it and off he went. A boy stopped him at Joe Smith's, and kept him till I reached. I went back with him for Jane and the Buffaloes. 105 We got home without any more accidents, though with very hard labour, and felt thankful that we found all well.

13th Feb. 1849 This is the second coldest day for this dreary winter. Mercury stood in the morning 25° below zero, but as the day was calm we made out to make the house comfortable. Yesterday afternoon James came home from Brome, and this morning he went back taking with him the double team and a load of Brick to build his stove chimney from the upper floor through the roof of his [...]. He is to draw 60 Bushels of lime from Stukley. Last Sunday we were made happy by a letter from Malcolm dated the 25* Ult. The cholera then had disappeared. Their Book keeper and his wife both fell victims. They were afraid of it from the beginning. Malcolm was with him when he died, received his last directions, and took charge of his burial. He also had the symptoms of Cholera himself, but having the preventive medicines with him he got it arrested in its progress. He was not, he says, afraid at any time; and

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The Diary of James Reid

fear, he says, killed more than the cholera itself.106 Blessed be God that spared his life! Rev. Mr Scott was here yesterday. He complains much of the cold house they have got into. I did not enquire into the terms he has entered into with the people of Dunham, but I fear he has not bettered himself.10? In the evening Jane & myself were at Mr. Dickinson's, and being alone with him, found it an agreable visit.108 He and I conversed on profitable subjects. I sent a letter to Charles to be mailed at Brome.109 The night is very cold, but the season being so far advanced we may not be far from a change. 15* Feb. 1849 Very cold. Mercury stood at 19° below Zero. We had Mrs Rykerd, and Mrs Doctor Chamberlin to dinner, and soon after were joined by Mrs and Mr Knap.110 They were all agreeable & happy. We and the Knaps got an invitation to dinner at the Doctors, to be given us on Saturday. This is for the wedding dinner. I wish it could be avoided, but I know not how. I do not feel so much pleasure as some do in going from home. When the wedding dinner was given Mrs Reid was unwell and could not attend and the Knaps were not invited.111 Afterwards the Knaps talked so much about the oversight as to extort an invitation for them and us. But truly I do not covet such parties. The conversation is generally so vapid, so frivolous, that I always feel uncomfortable when it is over. There are some who have such gaiety and flow of spirits that you cannot get a serious, sober word out of their mouths, nor leave you room to put in a Serious word. All this may be very well for some, but I want more intellectual food.

i8th [February 1849] Sunday very cold. Mercury 25° below o. Collection for the Church Society only £2.o.iV2. Our people cannot be persuaded to be liberal on any account. I cannot help it. The loss will be their own by and bye.112 Captain MacGilvray and his Lady from Noyan or Sabrevois came here on a visit to us last night.11?> He is from Inverness shire; and she from Bredalbane. They are both very highly respectable and in wealthy circumstances. By their coming, just when we were dressed for the Doctor's dinner, we were prevented from going, and I was not sorry but glad.

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ig th Feb 1849 Mercury 32° below o. Cap1 MacGilvray and his Lady went after Breakfast. I hope they will not freeze on the way. I baptized Mr. Cutler's wife and seven children today. It was the dying man's earnest wish to see them baptized before his death. The young [man] his son was not, I fear, a fit subject, but nevertheless he was baptized as I had not firmness enough to refuse the dying man's request. Col. Kemp and his wife were there. They are always kind & attentive to the sick. "4 The night continues very cold, but perhaps it will relax before morning. 2i st Feb. 1849 I went to Berkshire Post office with a Letter for Malcolm and John. I hope the poor boys will get them."5 I had Col. Kemp's horse and Cutter, my own being lame. There is a great Commotion both up and down the Two Canadas about the Resolutions that have been introduced into the House of Assembly for paying the losses of the rebels in the late rebellion. If the Ministers persist in this nefarious scheme, I am afraid it will bring on another rebellion on the part of the loyalists which will end in handing us over to the United States, which God forbid should happen in my day.116 The ministers are strong by means of a corrupt majority and could carry any measure that was reasonable. As this measure is of all others that could be thought most unreasonable, I trust they will be tumbled down from their high estate. 25* Feb. 1849 Sunday. Thaw. Congregation about 60. Went to Cook's in the afternoon and collected only 5/ for the Church Society. This is the value that people put upon religious privileges. Louis Baker went with me.117 I learned from him that a disagreeable dispute had taken place between them and O.J. Kemp about an account of 17 years standing. They owe Kemp between £10 and £11 since the years 1831 and 1832, and he owes them for the same length of time for 55*/2 Cords of wood. Kemp denies the wood having been drawn for him, or by his order, and threatens to sue for his account. Louis says that Kemp abused him shamefully. The case was this. At the time referred to the three Kemps had a distillery jointly with Thomas Reynolds. The Bakers by verbal contract with OJ Kemp drew 72 Cords of wood for the Distillery on Thomas Reynold's premises. Anson and Levi Kemp paid Baker their share of the wood. O. Kemp did not pay. H. Baker tried sev-

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eral times to get a settlement, but could not effect any thing. Now O.K. denies the wood, and T. Reynolds who had received the wood is dead.118 I advised him to pay the acct and then sue him for the wood,11Q rather than be sued by him. It is a mournful truth that hardly any difficulty can be in the settlement without some one of the Ks being found in it. The first that I remember was an ugly difficulty between Levi and old Bell, Allen and Knap.120 2d Levi and his father about 29 years ago121 - 3d Lincoln and his wife, 4th Anson and Lee. 5th Oren and the Westovers.122 6th Election fracass between Oren and J Luke,123 and now 7th Oren and the Bakers. All of them very ugly, destroying the peace of the neighbourhood by involving others, more or less, with them. In my own opinion the day is not far distant when there will be no Church in this place, and the cause will lie at the door of the Ks. James came home on Friday and went back this day after Church. He has drawn from Stukely 60 bushels of lime, and 9000 shingles from Brome Corner while he was out the last time. Mrs. Crossett,124 came on a visit to us on Saturday and is here yet. I am called to a funeral in Sutton Tomorrow. I hope the thaw will not prevent me. 26 th Feb 1849 Went to Sutton today, to bury an old Scotchman, called Robert Scott. He was upwards of 80 years of age, and lived a lonesome life, without a Soul with him. He had some property which he left to his niece, a Mrs. Shyfield.125 After the funeral was over I was invited by Mr. Seaton the Collector. I was much pleased with Mr Seaton and his young wife. He had been very wild, but am glad he has joined the Rhechabites and has become sober. Mr. Seaton came over recommended to the late Lord Sydenham. He is well educated, the son of an English Clergyman of the Church.126 He shewed me a long letter from his father on the subject of Millerism.12? The old gentleman entered into the subject to a great length for a letter, and explained in a very superior manner, more to my mind than does any Book that has fallen in my way. I was much pleased with the piety, learning, perspicuity & modesty of the good man I called on poor old Ferres who is very near his last end. His son came out all the way from Montreal to attend a political Meeting in this Village on Saturday last, and to make a speech, but the ingrate did not go to see his dying father, nor his aged mother.128 We shall soon lose our sleighing.

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8th March 1849 The roads are broke up. March has come in mild and warm. Last [...] a little snow fell which enabled us to draw home, I trust, hay sufficient to last till the cows shall be turned out on grass. A few days ago, I received from Malcolm the New Orleans Picayune,129 inclosing a Slip, dated the 11 ult. saying that he was well, and that he would write soon. I fear Something is the matter with Charles that he does not write; but then he is by habit so dilatory that I need not be alarmed. I was just thinking about the sects of Christians that are now under the Gospel Dispensation. I am certain that the Church which the New Testament Scriptures have established is Episcopal in its Constitution, and is one, and that no other is either contemplated presumed or supposed, or provided for with Laws, directions or promises! But if the Baptists, for instance, be the true Church, then there was no Church in the world till the 16th Century when it commenced in Germany by some fanatics at the Reformation. If the Presbyterian, then, none, till the time of John Calvin of Geneva. If the Congregational, then, none, till the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when one John Brown set up the Congregational. For a time, his followers were called Brownists, although he himself, after a while returned to the Church. If the Methodist, then none till the time of John Wesley, less than a hundred years ago,130 nor indeed until after his death; for he never allowed himself to be called by any other title than that of a Churchman. He would [not] be a dissenter while he was preaching and promoting dissent. He would not be a schismatic, while he was promoting separation. What then shall we say of all sectarians, but that they are evidently out of the Church which Christ and his Apostles have established? With regard to our political affairs they are dark and most discouraging to all true British Subjects. England has given us what is called responsible government, that is, in theory, a Government like that of England where the Ministers of the Cabinet can no longer remain in office than they have a majority in Parliament to carry their measures. When they are left in a minority, a vote of want of confidence in them is taken and they must retire. The leaders of their opponents then get in. In England this does very well, because neither party want to subvert the Government. They have all english feelings and english Sentiments. They are all loyal to the Crown on both sides. They only differ in measures & opinions that do not affect the stability of the monarchy. I have often thought that the greatest difference between the parties lay in this. The outs want to put the ins out. The loaves are the great objects of pursuit, on each side.

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It is not exactly the same here. The Theory of Government may be the same here as it is in England, and is actually as near being the same as it can be, but the people are far from being the same. Those that stand here in the place of whigs, are not whigs as they are in England, equally desirous as the tories to maintain the Monarchy. They are in fact American republicans, or democrats, and as such, they will overthrow the Monarchy as soon as they have the power. Neither are the supporters of the monarchy tories as they are in England. They want all the offices and emoluments of Government for themselves and their creatures, and if they lose them, farewell to their high sounding loyalty. When England consented to the act of uniting the two Provinces, and to give us a Constitution like her own, so far as it could be done, she gave us what will prove in the end to be a Bill of Divorcement, which, in my opinion will be acted upon in less than 20 years. We shall not be either a British colony nor British subjects in less than that time, but I hope I shall not live to see and lament over the divorce. 2Oth March 1849 Nothing has happened to vary the monotonous life which we lead here since my last entry, except that last night the girls and myself attended a concert of music in the village, given by Mr Canderbeck, a Hanoverian and his wife, on the violin and the Harp - In my youth I heard good players in my native country, but never any thing like this performance.131 I could not have believed it possible that such perfection of various Kinds of music could be taken out of any one Instrument, by any one man. The flajelot, the German Flute, the Piano Forte, the Church Organ, the Highland Bag Pipe were all imitated by him on his Violin to perfection. The Bag Pipe was as natural as if it was the real Instrument. Being very uneasy that we do not hear from Charles I wrote to him today. The roads are now completely broke up, for three weeks so that moving from one place to another is difficult. This night is very windy, blowing very fresh, and making me feel as I always do when the breath of heaven howls and roars. 22 d March 1849 Yesterday was the warmest day we have had for the Season. The Mercury Stood at 49° above Zero in the morning. In the afternoon it rained hard, and snowed. This prevented the River from overflowing. Had the ground not been wet and warm we should have had a great depth of snow. Today I attended the funeral of Abijah Whitney's child.132 I went

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to see Mrs. Abraham Freligh who has been sick most of the winter,133 and Mrs Carry, whose husband was killed by the falling of a tree on him. In the evening I wrote to the Rev. Mr. Morrice of Lacole.134 Yesterday had a Letter from Charles and felt thankful that they are all well. 1st April 1849 Sunday very squally and cold for the season. There were but [...] in Church, and I did not go to Krans's in the afternoon. Sunday last was much worse, for the wind was tremendous. Those in the Gallery said, they felt the Church quivering under the blast, and thou1 it threatened to smash the building. It may easily be conjectured how I felt; but then, bad as I am, I am bound to confess that I did not think the Church would go.135 I am not however comfortable, and never was in this Parsonage, but then I ought to bear [up] under the inconveniences of life better than I do, when I reflect upon the fact that I am more comfortable than many thousands are who were born to better prospects than ever mine were. During the last week when it [did] not rain, Sandy and myself kept sawing our wood, and now we have got through 20 cords, all we have got drawn to us for the season. The man with [whom] I have contracted with for 30 cords, failed of his contract by 10 cords, and fifteen last year. True, the breaking up of the roads was the cause, but then he undertook too much for others who drove him up and disappointed me.136 We shall have to burn green wood next winter if we live to see it. 9th April 1849 Yesterday was Easter. I gave the Sacrament to 36 communicants. There are roots of bitterness among them.137 Last week Mrs. O.J.K. called on me about the Westovers. A misunderstanding has grown up between the two families since the year 1843. Caroline Westover borrowed a Ten Dollar Bill from Elijah K. about that time, and says that she paid it soon afterwards to Mrs. K. and Mrs. K. says she did not pay it to her. At that time the Ks hired a Piano Forte from the Ws at 5/ per month, and had it 15 months. When they came to make a settlement of accounts, there was a difference between them, in which the borrowed ten Dol[lar] Bill, and Caroline's board were unpleasantly involved. Last summer, Mr. K sued D. Westover for his account, and D.W. who represented his sister Caroline, paid his own account, and then sued K. for the hire of the Piano Forte, and charged 157 per month instead of 5/ but lost his suit.

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Mrs. K. wanted to have an interview with Caroline at the time about the $10 Bill, but Caroline would not consent to see her. Mrs. K. thinks they owe her an acknowledgment, confession Be to ask her pardon, because she thinks they had slandered her about the ten Dol. Bill. I reminded her that Caroline was not in the country, and that she could not expect a confession from the family.^8 They had appealed to the Courts of Law where her character was vindicated and that she ought to be satisfied. I believe what I said had a good effect, together with my discourse on Good Friday on the subject of offences, forbearance and charity. James came home on Friday night and went back again this morning. I gave $60 to pay for his ox cart, his lumber, and some other items. The weather now is very beautiful and the roads are drying up fast. About ten days ago, one George Weightman living about two miles from this place on the road to Dunham, was sent to Montreal Jail on a charge of Bigamy. He was soon discharged on Bail, and came home.1^ Then his brother in Law, Getty, went before a magistrate to swear the peace against Weightman, on account of some threats that he had uttered against him.140 The magistrate is reported to have taken the complaint out of Getty's hand, would not sign it, nor give it back to him. The poor fellow who had just paid 5/ for the Warrant had to go and pay the like sum again for another. With this new one he went to O.J.K, who took his affidavit, signed the warrant. The fellow was taken, sent to Jail, but got home on Bail directly as soon as his conductors. The miserable fellow is supposed to be backed up by persons who are great sticklers for morality and Law and good order. Such is human, depraved nature. There [is] much iniquity in the whole affair. Poor Getty's horse was taken out of his stable the night before, his tail was cut off and the poor animal otherwise injured and left in the woods. The neighbours turned out in Search of the horse until they found him.141 Weightman has threatened his life, but still the miscreant is backed up by persons whom no one would think them capable of any such thing. They encourage the spurious wife to sell property from off the place, in direct opposition to Mr. Selby, the guardian of his minor brothers and sisters/42 14th April 1849 Saturday very cold, high westerly winds, which make it as hard to keep the house warm as it has been any day this winter. It works on my nerves very painfully indeed. I suppose my stove pipes are foul, and therefore liable to take fire, which if they did would be dangerous. They have not been cleaned for two months. If the weather was moderate I would not

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take them down till we should quit to have fire in the Stove, which will be now in about three weeks. But as it is they must be taken down and cleaned; and as I have no body to help me, it is both hard work as well as dirty for one of my years. From the Papers that came by last mail, I am Sorry to learn that the Cathedral Church of Toronto was recently burned together with a vast many other Buildings in the same City. The aggregate Loss is reckoned at nearly £100.000. The same Church was burned about 20 years ago, and we contributed £5 or 6 towards rebuilding,143 but it is not likely we shall repeat the donation. From the account we have in the Papers of the expence of our Legislature, we pay dear enough for our Law making. There are 84 members in the Legislative Assembly, every one of whom get[s] $4 per day. In 90 days they will draw £7560 from the revenues of the Province. Their pay, their printing and postage & other contingences will rise to upwards of £30000. No small sum for many bad speeches. 15* April 1849 Sunday. Done what I never did before. I refrained from going to Church, on account of the very cold, high, west wind which, without intermission, blew all day. Such a 15* of April I believe no person in the Settlement had ever seen before. The mercury was down to 14° above Zero. The water froze in our bedroom. The house was colder than it has been in all this winter, because the wind blew in as through a sieve. The house was never warm nor substantial; and when the wind blows there is always such a howl and doleful sound, that keep me in misery. O were I able to build a small, substantial stone cottage, what ease it would bring me! 20th April 1849 Cold, snow and west wind all day but not to settle on the ground when it falls. The whole week was cold. We had a great deal of snow on Sunday & monday which would have made a great depth had it come in the winter. We require nearly as much fire as we did at Christmas. The Spring work has not in the least begun, nor any appearance that it will soon begin. There is no abatement in the foddering of cattle. They are foddered and stabled as they were before all along. Yesterday I went to Berkshire with a Letter, three Heralds144 and three Transcripts for Malcolm. I hope the poor boy will get them by the 7th or 8th of May.

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I have been of late reading Dr. Hale and Bishop Newton, on Daniel and the Apocalypse.145 I admire their Learning and good sense, which is of more value than learning very much. I called on the Doctor today, and paid him his Bill, 17/6. He is the same old crooked sixpence, and always will be the same. Some people, of whom there are two many who will no more improve their manners than the Leopard will change his spots. They have no idea of guarding themselves against the indulgence of rough and savage manners which cannot but hurt the feelings of other people. How different must heaven be from this Sinful world, to make it a place, Such as we have reason to believe it is, of ineffable unchangeing, increasing happiness. We are taught by the Gospel to owe nothing to any person but love, and not to provoke any one.^6 But instead of obeying the godly exhortation, the most part of vulgar people put on horns to push and bunt with them. 27th April 1849 On Monday the 23d I started for Montreal by the Stage - did my business at the Commissariat at St. Johns on my arrival there to my satisfaction,^? staid there that, and crossed over to Montreal next morning. I, after getting to Town lost no time, before I proceeded to my business, which I finished before night, and was ready to leave Town next morning which I did at noon and came to Stanbridge at dusk where I stayed over night. Well it was that I left Town when I did. In the afternoon of that day, the Governor Lord Elgin came down to the House of Parliament, and gave Her Majesty's assent to the atrocious Bill which had passed the two houses to pay the losses which the rebels had sustained from the Queen's Troops and loyal militia when they took up arms and fought against Her Government and authority.^8 The House was surrounded by an immense mob which insulted the poor rebel-loving Governor when he came out, and pelted him with eggs. The mob then assembled on the Place des Armes, passed some furious, mad resolutions, made some inflammatory speeches, after which they proceeded in a body to the Parliament House and set fire to it. The members and all others escaped with their lives, but the whole House, furniture, records, papers, Pictures and valuable Library of the two houses were all burnt. Nothing was saved but the Queen's picture, the mace and the Acts passed.J49 This was a barbarous act no doubt instigated by the devil. It is said the mob would have proceeded in a body to the Governor's House, but for the interference of Sir Allen Macnab, who got up on a puncheon and by his harangue persuaded the swinish multitude to

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desist. It is said that they sent word to the Governor that he might have 24 hours to pack off and leave, as they wanted to occupy Monklands, his residence.150 What the end of this mad beginning will be God only, knows, but they have begun it like reckless madmen, and the wrath of man never worketh the righteousness of God.151 No blessing can be expected to come on such a beginning. Mrs. Reid and myself went up to Dunham to see Mr. Scott who is sick, and on our way up at Stevens Baker's,152 we heard of the disaster. Then I remembered that before going to bed at Stephen Chandler's, Stanbridge, on Wednesday night,153 we saw the heavens illuminated over Montreal, but concluded it was a fire at Bedford which lay in a straight line between us and Montreal. On our way back we dined at Stevens Baker['s]. We found Mr Scott some better than he had been, but still very poorly indeed. We heard from our dear Malcolm, & sorry are we to learn from him that some Cholera is again begun its ravages in New Orleans.154 It keeps cold yet. The mercury was 22° above zero this morning, and I think will be as low tomorrow. 5th July 1849 A long time without writing any thing in this idle gossoping journal. I had many other things to do about spring's work and since Parliament was burnt I lost all conceit of things. Yes, the Parliament Buildings were burnt down to the ground by the mob in their anger when they saw that the rebel compensation Bill was sanctioned by the Queen's representative. The Governor was pelted with eggs and stones, to the danger of his life. Since then he has confined himself to his house. Next day Parliament met in the Bonsecour Market, and voted an Address of confidence to Lord Elgin; and as the ministers are all-powerful in the House, it was also an Address of confidence in themselves.155 Then began to be acted the greatest humbug of a Farce that ever was known. The ministers prepared addresses for every hole and Corner in the two Provinces, expressing the utmost confidence in the Governor and in themselves, sent them out in every direction by the mail, to be circulated by their emissaries for subscription, so that every day since the disaster, they are pouring in to the Governor, and answered by him, and then published in the Gazette.156 They are all most manifestly, though now to be reckoned by hundreds, the production of the ministers, both addresses and answers, except as I judge from the style, four or five at the most. The Rebels of 1837 and 1838, dub themselves the real loyalists and those who, at the

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call of the Queen and of those in authority under Her, had put them down are the rebels. *57 It is now reported that the Governor and his advisers will be sustained by the Government at home. It is very evident however that the men in power are just the same in principle as they were when they bore arms in their hands and used them violently and traitorously against them, against the Queen's authority and Government. They have the same feelings, the same opinions and the same designs of overturning the Government of England in this Province, and of domineering over the loyal Britons; but with this difference, that they are now gratifying their wishes in the Queen's name. There is some infatuation in the affair which I cannot understand, but as there is iniquity & deception, the guilty will, in the course of a divine, just Providence, come sooner or later to a just punishment. The home Governm1 have failed in their duty of protecting their loyal subjects.158 They have taken their enemies, the late rebels, into their favour as friends, and gave up those who were faithful and true to their Sovereign and duty, as a prey to their enemies, and the God of truth and Justice will judge between them. I was in Montreal on the ist of June. I had Nancy with me in order that Dr. Hall should see her swollen neck. He probed the tumour, and found matter in it - took out nearly a tea-cup full of thin stuff, not much coloured. He said it could be cured in a little more than a week or two, and that Dr. Chamberlin could do it as well as himself. I brought her home. Dr. C. has been at it, but it is not cured yet. He has cut it open. The Bishop was here in June and confirmed eighteen in Church. ^9 There were five more that did not come. The weather since the beginning of June has been the driest ever known, and likely to continue so. Every thing is backward & sickly. According to present appearance Meadows will yield poorly. The pastures look as if they were burnt. Mrs. Reid and James started last monday for Glengarry, Upper Canada, to see her relations, particularly her youngest Sister who has a cancer in her breast. I carried them to St. Johns, and returned home same day, but was much fatigued.160 I have Spicer hoeing my corn with auld Sandy.lSl 6th July 1849 Had an evening party of the Chamberlins, and a young englishman from Montreal of the name Low.162 On their return from the Pinnacle we had a call from P. Whitney, Misses Whitwell and Dyer.l63 I asked them all to tarry over night, but they pressed on for home.

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This day is scorchingly dry and warm, but now towards night, the clouds are gathering, as if they were preparing to refresh the earth with a Shower. I have sent down my two wagons to Morehouse for painting.l64 I have been reading Eugenie Sue's wandering Jew, a Book of great power, having for its object to unveil and expose the mysterious wickedness and evil machinations of the Jesuits.165 13* July 1849 After a very warm dry day we have been favoured with a Smart shower which will do good. Letter from Charles, all well, except when he is visited with his old complaint, sick-headache.166 Since last Sunday it has been the driest and the hottest I ever knew. The meadows and the pastures have all dried up. I have not been able to do any thing in the day time, but lie down on the couch. This evening, thanks of God, we are blessed with a fine Shower. I feel much concerned about Mrs. Reid, and James, now on a visit to their friends in Glengarry. She is very Subject to Attacks of the Erisipelas, when it is either very cold in Winter, or very warm in Summer. I fear she cannot escape an Attack now, and being from home, it will be a hard case. Yesterday, my poor old man Sandy Cooper, who together with his wife, lived with their daughter, were turned out on the Street by this daughter. The old woman drinks when she can get it, and is then troublesome. They had to encamp out doors. As the old man had to take care of What little they have, I had to do my own chores. It is cruel in the daughter to turn out her poor mother though she is a drunkard. It makes no matter what her faults are. She is Still her mother.16? This night we have a most beautiful, refreshing, sweet rain, while it lasted, but it stopped as soon as it well soaked the surface of the ground. It refreshed the earth in her weariness as a draught of water refreshes the parched lips of the traveller in the sandy desert. The Mail brought a Letter from Mrs R. and James. It stated their intention of commencing their Journey for home on Monday next. If so I must go to St Johns next Tuesday. The very dear girls whom I love as my own Soul, have given every satisfaction and pleasure to me during the absence of their mother. They are dutiful and loving to us, and live together themselves in the Sweetest love. I have got my two wagons painted and brought home. I doubt whether the painting be really good.

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The Papers came this evening. Lord Lyndhurst spoke as intelligently of the affairs of Canada as if he had been here to see with his own eyes, and hear with his own ears how parties stood. Mr. Disraeli did the same in the House of Commons.168 I wish I could presume to write to that gentleman. i 5 th July 1849 Sunday, a fine day and a tolerably good congregation, both here and at Cooks. I think I gave a good Sermon on Episcopacy, from the text, "as my father hath sent me, even so I send you."l69 I know not how it has been taken, or what effect it will have. Last friday night we had a good Shower, and a heavy squall of wind. It blew down one of the maple trees east of the Church across the high way. Since then the air has become rather cool, to such a rate as to make me sleep cold in bed last night. I went round by Krans's on my way to Cook's, and it was a sorrowful sight to see every thing so stunted and scorched. Hay will come in very Short17° Thanks be unto God! we have received a letter from our dear Malcolm today. It is dated the 29* Ult. He had then nearly recovered from a bad cough that he has had for the last six months. It was then settled that he should travel on the business of the House for three months, in the States of Arkansas, Tenessee, Missisipi, Texas and Louisiana.1"71 He expects much pleasure and benefit and amendment of health from the journey. I am not however much flattered with the prospect of a journey in the wild western country of Bowie knives and revolvers. May God save his life and preserve his health. He says that he weighs now but Ib. 117 nearly Ib 50 less than he weighed when he left us. O, can we expect ever to see the poor child again! Tomorrow is the day James wrote they would commence their journey for home. If then I hear nothing to the contrary tomorrow by the mail, I shall have to go to St. Johns on Tuesday. I am very anxious about them. The weather has been excessively warm since they left. O that we may meet again in peace and comfort! Last week I met George Robertson, the nephew of the Rev. D Robertson [of] Montreal, a boy whom he brought up in his kitchen. The boy left him four years ago - came out to Granby and lived with Mr. Brack for a year. He then came down here, and I promised him employment and wages from Gilbert Worden. Since that time he has lived with the Spencers,172 people that never attend Church. When he came he wanted a Book of Common Prayer, which he said he would pay for when he

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got money. He never came with the pay. I reminded him of this neglect last week when I met him. He said he would bring it the next time he came to the Village. This day he came to the Church when Sandy went to open the doors, and placed in his hands a parcel neatly made up in a white paper, and then went away. This was the Prayer Book, and a short note with it containing 2/ the price of the Book. The Note said that he inclosed, and returned the Book as he does not need it any longer. This is extraordinary. What to make of the poor boy's pride, and bad manners I know not. I know no reason why I should not have asked him for the payment of the Book, when he is both earning and spending money. I kept the Book and sent back his money. 19* July 1849 1 started on Tuesday morning to meet Mrs. R and James at Saint Johns, to carry them home. With the Morning Carrs Mrs R came, James had to remain for the Noon Carrs173 to do business for me in Town. We started for home as soon as he came. Thank God, they are well, only some fatigued. James remained with us only that night, when he went to Brome next morning with $170 to pay the men that had done his house and Barn. Great fires have been, and still are every where in the woods. Never saw such conflagrations.174 I[t] was the same in Glengarry as here. I spent the evening I was in St. Johns with Mr and Mrs Kinnear.1^ 2 i st July 1849 I went Yesterday to the Springs at Pyke River lower falls for a cask of Spring water. When I arrived there I found Mr. Fuller and his men busy cleaning out the springs, and could not therefore get water.J 7 6 Meeting Rev. Mr. Scott there on the same errand, we staid till the afternoon, when we filled our vessels with muddy water which I knew would be of no use, but I took it because others took it. This is the way of the world. On my way home it began to rain, and today had a good deal of refreshing rain. The Lord is good and ever kind. Not feeling very well and rather costive I took salts in the morning which operated tolerably well. 24th July 1849 Went to Bedford yesterday, taking with me the double wagon and Spicer to drive, and brought home with me 21 Bushels of oats from Mr. Adams, bought at the rate of i Cent per pound.177 The whole came to 35/6. The day was very hot. I had James Yates and Spicer beginning our hay.

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Today had our own James with them. I went up and engaged Amos and Matthew Chadburn for a few days.1?8 It was with great deal of persuasion I got them. They did come at a dollar a day, but always came so late, and boasted of what they could do more than others, and yet did not more than others. I shall give them up for the future. The grass is very light but I am in hopes I shall have enough. The weather is unusually hot & dry. We had Mr. Watson who had been a few years ago our esteemed Schoolmaster.1'^ 29th July 1849 Sunday, fair, hot, dry and parching as usual. In course of last week we have got in the half of our hay. James, poor boy, worked hard, and returned to his own place after his day's hard work, and when he came back was sick and had to lay up under the care of the doctor for the rest of haying time. Last week Mr. Hurlbut's store in the village, and Mr. Kemp's in Sutton were broken open & depradations committed by thieves. The former lost only about $20 taken out of the Till; but the loss of the latter was much more serious, but to what amount they do not exactly know or do not wish to tell. Strong suspicions are entertained of Elmore Reynolds who is supposed to be connected with a gang of thieves on these frontiers.180 O what need there is of showers to water the thirsty ground, and of the dew of heaven to water our souls! 30th July 1849 Very, very dry and hot. We had five hands in the hay field today. James is sick, and is taking medicines. I was called to see a sick man today of the name of William Whitney. He has the consumption. He wanted very much to be baptized, and after examining him as to his faith and knowledge I administered Baptism to him in the name of the Lord.lSl However much people may neglect religion in the time of health almost all wish to have something to do with it when they perceive death approaching them. 2 d August 1849 Still very dry and hot. Fortunately when the pasture was become dry, I discovered a fine spring in it, which when dug out a little furnishes a flow of perpetual water for the cows. We this day finished our hay making about three fourths of the usual yield. It has done far better than I could have expected in so dry a sea-

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son. We began today on the Cross Lot which promises well. James is still sick, but I hope there is no danger. He brought it on himself by hard labour, and by travelling all night to Brome after a hard day's work. The Doctor is putting him through a course of medicine. I do not think he will be able to do any thing at his own hay. Mary Ann Whitwell came here yesterday and is here still. She is lively, pleasant and cheerful, and banishes ennui from all around her.182 The British League have met in Kingston. I am not taken up with their proceedings at all. I am pleased with one thing however. They have scouted the idea of annexation to the States.l83 The very word I do abominate from the bottom of my heart, as much as I did the good word Sympathy when desecrated by the Americans in the time of our rebellion. But the League is a bore and will do no good. They seem to be in favour of an union of all the five British Provinces. I do not like the project at all. Many of the Delegates dislike the idea of party measures, but what under the sun did they meet in Kingston but for party measures? Party measures they should pursue - opposition to the rebel indemnity Bill with tooth and nail - to Lord Elgin's Government - to his Ministers and all their proceedings. The country is divided. A part, the majority, for his Government, all the old loyalists agnt his measures as antibritish. They have no business to meet at all, but as a party against this anti british government of Lord Elgin, and his rebel Ministry, and if they do not act as such, better for them to have staid at home. 3d August 1849 Extraordinary warm and very dry. Got in 8 loads of hay from the Cross Lot, and shall finish in another day. James is yet very sick, but we trust will soon be better. 5th Aug11849 Sunday fair, warm and dry as ever. Finished hay last night. The yield a little over three fourths of a crop. The worst of James's sickness, I trust, is over, but he will not be able to do any harvest work for this season. I have engaged Kennedy for two weeks, at £1.0 per week to work at his hay with Macadam in Brome.l84 I will, please God, go out with him tomorrow, and take the team with us.

12th Aug1 1849 Sunday. The congregations tolerably good for us, both in Church and

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a Krans;s but the heat is so excessive tjhaat we can have no heart for any at thing. James is on the gain. 14* August 1849 On monday the sixth, I went out to Brome with Kennedy and the Team, in order to set him at work with Macadam who will not do any thing alone. It rained on the way all the day after 10 A.M. but, I persevered remained there just three hours and got home at 9 P.M. When I was out I contracted with Mac. for building up anew185 James's Celler. We furnish the lime and the Sand, and give $40. He has to draw the stones with our team, board himself and find his own tendence. The man asked $50 and board. James has recovered very fast, and thought himself strong enough to depart yesterday for Brome. We cautioned him against taking hold of any hard work. William Whitney, whom I baptized some time ago, died. He was buried in Berkshire. I attended, preached to a large congregation and buried him.186 After service, she that was Widow Schofield, now Mrs Nobles, invited me to her house where she made tea for me. While tea was making ready I called at the Post Office and found nothing. Our mail brought nothing last night - A fault somewhere, but whose, or where I know not. Stewart Reynolds has been robbed of £60.0.0 of School money taken out of his store. Mr Reynolds is Secretary Treasurer to the School Commissioners.l87 He kept the money in a Shot bag. All is gone, but [he] does not know when. His brother Elmore is suspected. He was at work there, when he tore down the old house, and reported (which no body believed) that $1000 of Cap1 Eccles's money [had been] hid in the old Chimney.188 It seems it was the Schoolmoney. The fellow [had] money plenty at the time. It is very odd that while Stewart was in the habit of taking in his own money to Levi Kemp's every night for safe keeping,l89 that he should not have given the chance of safe keeping to money that he had in trust - And it is also a proof [of] awful depravity that brother should rob his brother. Mary Ann Whitwell let us last Friday. She made us a long visit but not longer than it was very agreeable to us. She was such a dear good natured creature that we now miss her. Rained much for some time. We must necessarily lose much in James's business in Brome. Macadam at $18 for his month, Kennedy $8 and his board for two weeks, and owing to the wet weather, the hay will not be got. This is unfortunate, but thanks to God for rain that was so much wanted.

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This afternoon we had Mrs. Hurlbut and her daughter Mary.^0 I am sorry to learn from her (and she generally knows what is going on) that the general belief in the village is, that Stewart Reynolds has not lost a dollar - that to propagate the Report of his loss is a humbug. For what purpose he would feign a loss and act so meanly I know not. If he has not lost the money then he is knowingly destroying his brother. The character of his brother was bad enough before; does he, because his poor brother was lost before, contrive to sink him to a greater depth?^1 He is selfish, but he cannot gain by this report, because he will have to refund every copper of the School money. Or does he wish to gain time for himself to use the money, and pay it when forced by some other property?^2 Mrs. Hurlbut related a transaction, discreditable to any one who could be guilty of it, in which he [had a] hand last winter. The Schoolmaster had $50 due to him when his time was out. He wanted very much to get his money as he was going away.193 Stewart, the Secretary Treasurer, pretended that he had not received in so much. The Teacher offered Mr. Hurlbut a discount of $7 on the $50, that is 14 percent, and take his order on the Secretary Treasurer. Hurlbut declined to have any thing to do with it. But Joseph Bingham, having a little money on hand, thought it would be a good speculation to pay the Teacher $43 and take an order on the Treasurer for $50. Old Bingham, the Father began then to get plenty of whiskey, from Stewart on the Order, which kept himself and two other drunken cronies continually drunk. The poor wife and mother could not make out how her husband continued to get so much whiskey, but at last the discovery was made that her son's claim was going for it, and that Stewart had a large [account] against his father.X94 When the balance was struck the $50 order had lost much of its value. I do not remember how much she said had remained. They had to take other things for the balance. What a man to be entrusted with School Money! She said he was too close to be honest, as it was always with difficulty he would give just weight & measure in his deal. His whole family are mean. I do not however allow myself as yet to entertain the belief that the money was not stolen, as he says it was. But then it is very odd that he should have always secured his own, while that lay under his Counter in a Shot bag, and not Missed until a few days ago. If Elmore took the money, he took it in June or May, when the report was that he had found money in the old chimney which he was taking down. He said himself to me that he thought nothing about the money in the Shot bag, as he had no caution to look into it, except

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when he was receiving payments of School taxes, wh came in but seldom, and therefore it escaped his memory.Z95 I know not how it stands, but had it been my case, I would have^6 secured other people's money, entrusted to my care, as quick as I would my own. There may be a poor attempt at fraud, but if there be, sin lies at his door, and will certainly find him out. 18th Aug1 1849 Yesterday we had service in the church in compliance with the Bishop's directions to keep it as a day of fasting and prayer to God on account of the Cholera. There was a good congregation.197 Charles, his wife and boy came to us on thursday evening. The dear little boy is a very fine198 child, sensible as well, beautiful, good natured and pleasant. Charles will preach for me tomorrow. There has been a riot in Montreal, in which one young man was killed. The ministry had proceeded to arrest a few individuals on a charge of having been implicated in the burning of the Parliament Buildings. This bro1 together a parcel of lewd fellows of the baser sort to hoot and molest the house of Lafontaine. There were armed men in the house expecting a mob attack, who fired on the mob when they began their hostile operations.199 Evils and disasters have followed in the train of these wicked ministers from the beginning. May God in mercy shorten their reign!

23d August 1849 Charles remained with us till this morning when he started for home after breakfast; and William Whitwell with him to Lennoxville.200 He left his wife with us and boy, whom I promised to carry to St. Johns next Monday.201 He preached for me twice last Sunday, most excellent sermons both as to matter, composition and delivery. The Reverend James Jones was here yesterday, and gave us an amusing account of his begging journey to the State of New York. When he arrived at home, he found he had, after paying all expences, no less a Sum than $270. He is a wonderful beggar. Indeed his own people give him the cognomen, of King of beggars.202 Reverend Mr. Whitwell came here this morning with his son William. He staid with us until the afternoon. Mr. Jones has never given Morning Service at St. James's Church, Upper Mills. I spoke to him many a time without success. This time I took up the matter very Seriously, and I hope with better success. I though [t] he gave something like a half consent. Nous verrons.

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The foundation of the Church is giving way, to the manifest danger of the edifice. But so far from exerting himself to prevent loss and damage, he said to me in plain words, that he would be glad if it did fall down to the ground. I thought this a very bad feeling. The first Sunday he was at home after his journey, and finding his son William in his place ready for service at Bedford,20^ he went, instead of suppl[y]ing his own Church at the Upper Mills, to help Mr. Whitwell where he was not wanted. We had somebody with us, besides our own family, every day this week. 30* August 1849 Last Tuesday I went to St Johns with Julia and my dear little grandson. When we were crossing the [...] he saw me looking down, and said with a sweet voice, "There is no danger, Grandpapa." The day was very warm, and took us seven hours on the way. I staid at Col. Jones, St. Athanase for the night where I was well treated.204 Next day I left for home at 10 A.M, under the rain which continued a great part of the way, but found when I reached Wehr's place,205 that it did [not] extend farther to the east. There has however been very heavy rain here since I came home. While I was absent Mr. Knap's horse has been stolen. There is certainly a gang of thieves lurking somewhere hereabout. Morehouse's tools have also been stolen. Some weeks ago, Shirts were stolen from almost every one in the Village. I have lost two.206 Things were also stolen out of Stewart Reynold's store. Elmore his brother is suspected and I fear not without cause. Had a long conversation with Uncle Dick20? on detestable politics. He swallows up all the lies and misrepresentations of the present Administration and their abetters to the very dregs, and hates the British party with perfect hatred. He believes that the French are perfectly loyal, and the British all rebels - but that they are now completely subdued, and that if they had not submitted, they would have been put under martial Law, - that to prevent this measure being put in force the leaders of the British in Montreal, Moffat Gugy & Badgley, offered to keep the peace of the City, and that now there will be peace and quietness. They did this, he said, because the Governor had threatened to put the City under Martial Law. This is the way that the poor dupes distort & pervert the plainest facts. I told him what I thought of all he said. He said I was prejudiced, and if I would take the trouble to read the Pilot he would lend it to me, and that would put me right.208 I said, I did not think the Pilot could alter my views; that I

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thought for myself, that I held the principles that I had held all my life - and that long ago he held the same himself - that his recommendation, I begged to say, presumed that he was now in the right since he had changed, and that I was in the wrong - and if so then he had been in the wrong all his life until lately. He owned he had been in the dark, but now his eyes were opened.209 5th Sepr 1849 Last Sunday and monday morning we had slight frosts but which have not done any damage hereabout yet. Some of the Corn is ripe, but there is a good deal interspersed in the field which will require at least ten days, before the whole will be out of danger. I had a letter from Mr. Mountain to inform me that the Reverend Mr. Hawkins, the Secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, being in the Diocese at present, wants to come out here to see the scene of Bishop Stewart's labours in St. Armand, his first mission, and wished me to write to Mr. Hawkins, in Montreal, to instruct as to the way and mode of conveyance.210 I did so by the first mail, and expect him to be here on Saturday night. I promised to meet him at Stanbridge Upper Mills, on the arrival of the Stage, and bring him home with me. On Monday I wrote to Malcolm and went with it to Berkshire. I had the pleasure of a letter from Charles. On his way home he staid a night at James's, & went afishing on the Lake.211 Monday night we had Hiram Seymour and his Lady from Montreal with us to tea. He made money by his hatting trade and now, in his advanced years, he can live on it. 212 9th Sepr 1849 I went to Stanbridge to meet Mr Hawkins according as I had promised in my Letter to him. While waiting for the Stage, I went to see the Church - called on Mr Cornell, spoke to him about the necessary repairs - found it could be done if Mr. Jones did his duty.213 The stage came, but Mr Hawkins came not. I have to attend the marriage of one of Holden's daughters tomorrow.21 4 15th Sepr 1849 The Reverend Secretary has disappointed me twice. I went twice to Stanbridge to meet him. I have heard nothing about him since.

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Mrs R. and myself made a visit at John Krans's on Wednesday. I called at Mr. Toof's to see Mrs. Kinnear, whom we found absent. At Krans's we dined meaning to spend part of the afternoon at Jacob Lagrange's but found that he and his wife were from home.215 Two disappointments in one day. That is not much. James has come home tonight but will not stay long. 24th Sepr 1849 The Rev. Mr. Hawkins did come at last, was here yesterday - went away this morning. Rev. T Johnson brought him here. The Secretary was in Upper Canada when young Mountain arranged for him to come here. He knew nothing about it till he received my letter in Town, on his return, after the time.216 On Sunday, yesterday, Mr. Johnson read prayers. Mr Hawkins preached a good Sermon. I took him with me to Cook's though it rained all the way. He read prayers and I preached. This morning I went out to the woods and cut two Sticks for Mr. Hawkins to carry home for the Earl of Galloway217 who wanted to get a Stick cut on the scene of his Uncle, the Bishop's labours in his first Mission. Mr. Johnson carried Mr. H. away this morning on his way to Lennoxville. I wish Mr. Hawkins had come alone. I got no good of him on account of Mr. Johnson whose conversation is always so full of repartee, Jokes and epigrammatic points as to be unprofitable and unpleasant to me. On that account I derived no benefit from the visit.218 26th Sepr 1849 I went to Dunham to attend a Tea party, at the opening of the New Church.219 We had divine Service. Rev. Mr. Scott preached. At his request I gave an extempore address. I did not at all feel embarrassed, confused or at a loss for either matter or words. I said many useful things on the duty which devolved on the people to support their religious privileges by considering that a part of every man's worldly substance was given him by the Almighty for that purpose. When I came down I received more compliments than ever I had met with. Charles who is never very lavish of them said some good cheering words. Dr. Clapp of the P.E. Church, Tombkins, the Methodist, Mr. Scott and W. Jones had all of them to thank me in good terms.220 The Ladies had tea ready for us at Mr Scotts.' Tickets had been sold to the extent of from 150 to 200, at 1/3 so that they took up a little sum of money, and besides sold a good deal of Trinkets.

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28 th Sep r 1849 I have just returned from the task of being one of the witnesses to Mr. Frelighs Will. William Baker, the Tanner, was the other witness, and Richard Dickinson the Notary, was the Writer.221 Uncle Dick was as clear and collected in his ideas and observations as ever he was. The amount of his Will is this. All his Estate real and personal is made over to John B. Seymour,222 his heirs and assigns for ever on the following conditions. His debts are to be paid - his contracts, verbal and written are to [be] fulfilled as meant to be done by himself. Lots in the Village are to be leased out to those who want to build on them - All rents are to be collected. The whole income from real estate, Grist Mill, Saw Mill, clothing work, interests of money from the Bank, and other sources, are to be paid, after deducting for repairs and other contingencies, to Jane Freligh his daughter for her own use & benefit. His lands in Clifton, Sutton, and wherever else situated are to be sold, and the monies obtained for them to be vested in good Securities at 6 perCentum, and the dividends, after deducting cost, to be paid over to his daughter for her own use and benefit. The interest accruing from the Bank Stock which he holds for his two absent brothers, Carlton, Rodney, and his Sister Gertrude are to be vested in good Security to cover and meet the claims of these absentees.223 In the event of Jane Freligh shall have an heir of her own body lawfully begotten, the whole estate shall go to that heir forever as resid[u]ary Legatee. Should Jane Freligh his daughter die without an heir of her body lawfully begotten, then in that case, the whole income of his estate, of every kind whatsoever shall go to establish and maintain in this Village a superior School for the education of children of all denominations residing in the same, and its vicinity. The Teacher must be competent to teach Greek.22 4 He has not left the smallest token of good will to any one of his numerous relatives, nor to any other person. The Will is really made as if he were on the eve of making a long journey, making arrangement, and giving directions how he wished his affairs to be conducted in his absence till his return. I should not be sorry if he should live a while longer until something would induce him to change his mind, and consequently his Will He has given all in effect to Seymour. True, the income goes to his daughter while she lives, but in such a way that there must, from the very nature of the thing, be troublesome disputes between them every time that pay15 are made. I shall be very glad if his daughter shall find in it flaws that will enable her to get it set aside. I know that when she comes to find what it is she will chafe and foam. It

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would be for the benefit of the Village that Jane herself should come into possession of the whole untrammelled. There would then be some [...] that the land should be sold, at least in parts. It may be that the Will in part can be set aside on the ground that he disposed of some things that were not legally his own. He got his wife before she died to make him her heir and by so doing he has Kept his daughter out of her rights to inherit her mother's share of the communautie.225 Now in the Will which I have this morning witnessed, he has assumed the full control and disposal not only of his own rights but also the rights of his wife to the prejudice of his daughter. The question then is, had he the right to do this? Had he the right to restrain Jane from having the full control and ownership of her mother's share of the Communautee? I doubt whether he had this right, I trust he had not, and if he had not, Jane will get her own in spite of the Will. The Law will give it to her. Had he left a family to be provided for, my opinions would be different from what they are, but as he had not, the best thing that could happen would be that Jane should have the whole, and that [she] should sell what she did not want to keep in her own hands. She never had a child, & most likely never will have any, no one can feel any interest in the preservation of the estate, for such an improbable contingency, except in so far as that Jane should use it after her own judgment, cultivate, lease, sell or dispose of it at last by Will as she chose. In the thought that she found herself in possession of ample means at her own disposal, and withal her own mistress, she would be the more likely to become a person of worth and high consideration; but trammelled as she is, suspected, distrusted, and put under tutors and guardians at her time of life, she will resent the treatm1 with all her might. I would not be in the shoes of poor Seymour. But I must protest that the Will cannot be set aside on the ground that Mr. Freligh was not of Sound mind, competent to make it. He was as capable of making it as he ever was. He dictated deliberately and composedly some things that were not exactly expressed to his mind after I was called in. The whole will was written before I was called, and What I have just said is in relation to some remarks he made on parts that were not expressed as he had wished them to be, and stuck to what he said until his meaning was fully apprehended and written. When all was read at two different times in our presence, between half past seven and nine A.M. he asked for the pen, and sitting up on his couch, he took the Will, on a Book laid on his knees, and wrote his Initials on the marginal notes, and then at the end wrote his full name in the presence of

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William Baker, the Notary, John B. Seymour and myself. None else was present. 6th October 1849 The next time I called on Mr. Freligh he took the opportunity of explaining to me more particularly the reasons which governed him in the making of his will. This he did in reply to what I said when he asked my opinion of what He had done. I told him that I thought, since his estate could afford to give handsomely towards establishing a School, he should have made his daughter sole mistress of what would enable her to live as his daughter, and have it under her own control, and at her disposal as she thought proper by Will at last. He had but one child he said, and that child was of such a temper that he could not think of leaving it to her control.226 She would have her cronies about her - She would hang it about her silks & gold chains, until it would all melt away. In the event of an heir [of her] own body lawfully begotten, it would all go to him or her as universal Legatee - failing that, it would all go to promote education. They have, he said, called this my village, now it shall be their own village, and it devolves upon every one of them to take an interest in it, and to take care of it. On the 2 d Charles, his wife and child started for their home in Compton. I hope they have got home in safety and comfort. Soon after they had left, Mrs Reid and myself drove after them on the Dunham Road to make a visit at young William Bakers, who has for his wife, the daughter of the Reverend Dr Clapp, of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the States. The Dr. was there, and on his account we went. I have been acquainted with him for upwards of 30 years. There was nothing in particular, only a good dinner. Mr Scott, and his wife present. 227 On our arrival at home, we found just lighting at our door Mr. Whitwell and Dr. Bethune of Montreal, my old and very particular friend. 228 He came out to see some of the Clergy, and this part of the Country which he [had] never seen before. In the course of conversation, he said, that he has ascertained that a new Diocese of Montreal is to be erected, and that the appointment, or selection of a new Bishop for the same rests with the Governor of this Province. He wishes therefore that a meeting of the Clergy of the District of Montreal should be called and assembled forthwith to take the subject into consideration as it affects them more than any. The Doctor meant to go as far as Lennoxville, at least he said so, but made no attempt. True, the rain prevented, when one was not very urgent. The time was spent very agree-

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ably indeed. He is a very pleasant companion. On [the next] day at Breakfast talking about the new Bishoprick, Mrs. asked him who was to be the new Bishop. He said, perhaps your own husband. I said, speaking through my nose, like a Yankee, "I swear I will not be Bishop." He also said that he would answer her as I did. He said that Adamson told him, that in the event the choice would [fall] on him (Doctor Bethune) he would like to succeed him as Rector of Christ's Church.229 I carried the Doctor last night to Stanbridge, where he would get the Stage for Montreal next morning. I suppose he got to his own home next day for dinner. I like the man very much, but I suppose he had more in his mind than he disclosed to me. Nous verrons. James came home on Thursday and went away to the cattle shew at Henryville on Thursday.23° Our Corn is nearly harvested. The yield is good, about 136 Bushel Baskets of ears. The Potatoes are also very good both 231 with regard to quantity and quality of the useful root. I wish we may get good weather to harvest them. io th October 1849 Went to Stanbridge Ridge to marry James Wellington Toof of this Parish & a daughter of Gardener Martindale. I agreed to do this at a time when I understood that Mr. Jones was from home. Before the marriage took place, I found that I had been misinformed as to the absence of Mr Jones, and expressed a doubt about the propriety of going to Stanbridge, without the consent of Mr Jones. Little Toof was impertinent, but as I had consented before, I had to go. I was pleased with the sedate and mild appearance of the young woman. She must have been well instructed; for she has written the best hand that has touched my Register for a long time.232 Mr. and Mrs. Kinnear were present from Montreal. I invited them to dine with us tomorrow. When Sandy returned with the mail this evening he told me that Mr. Lee has just returned from Montreal, with the news communicated by Telegraph that there was a terrible row at Toronto when the Governor arrived there.233 Unfortunate man, the bane and curse of this country, the cause of much evil already, and if they do not take him away soon, will be the cause of alienating the Province from the British Crown.

n th Oct. 1849 The Papers said nothing of the row at Toronto, because the report, I

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suppose, had not come in time for the Press, but they give an account of a row at London, in the Western District, where some were killed. It seems that an evil angel follows, or rather accompanies this Governor in all his paths. If he had the feelings of a man, he would quit and go home, and not stay here, where his presence seems to be an invitation for riot & mischief.234 This day is wet. I hardly think Mrs. Kinnear will venture out today, as expected. I do not know how the Toof s marriage will suit his mother and sisters.235 They did not know any thing about it till a few day[s] before the banns were published. Sarah, his Sister, wanted to say something to me at the marriage, if she had time and opportunity. The Sisters are only half Sisters. They have always been at home with their step mother and him. The mother is not reputed to be an easy sort of woman, and the Toofs are thought to have some temper and the use of the unruly little member.236 The young man is a smooth spoken man as to voice, but unrestrained in what he says. He looks down, and I have always found that those who look down when they speak are sinistrous and sly. The family, by their intercourse with the Cooks have improved in their ways and manners much beyond their own class.237 Yet a widow who has long controlled every thing will be unwilling to surrender any part of her sway. It seems that the project of annexation to the States has almost become universal in Montreal. Mr. Kinnear goes the whole length of the unclean animal.238 They think there is no other possible remedy but separation from England and annexation to the States. I really dread239 this absurd and mad movement. To think of throwing up my allegiance and loyalty; of departing from the time honoured monarchy under which I was born, and hitherto lived animated with the noble sentiments of loyalty to, and veneration of the Crown and royalty - from the monarch which is the fountain of honour in a nation, as God is the fountain of all worship, reverence and veneration in heaven and earth - from a country where distinctions of rank are established by long immemorial custom and usages, as well as by Law - where the nobles are as fathers to their people, and their Baronial castles, the pride and the glory of their dependents - To depart from all these time honoured associations, and be swallowed up in republicanism & democracy, where all are equal in theory, but at the same time, where distinctions, created by wealth, are much kept up as they can be, where Law & custom allow them. On this side of the Atlantic, these distinctions are as much a mat-

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ter of ambition as possible. Among me[n], distinctions are unavoidable, and here the aristocracy of wealth and power are as prominent as any where in the world; and as it is not natural, not bred in the bone, but assumed, as the pride of purse, of equipage, fine houses fashionably furnished, gold rings, gold watches and glittering chains, it is the most disagreeable thing in the world. 12th October 1849 Rained yesterday, all night, and is still raining hard. Mr. Kinnear did not come yesterday. I cannot go for poor Nancy. I finished last night Mr. Seaton's two great volumes on the "Heirs of promise, or Church in the Wilderness." The work is very pious and sound. The author is well acquainted with the Scriptures, but he is neither deep nor critical, nor much of a Commentator. His chief effort is in Spiritualizing every thing. His true church consists of serious persons, all over the world, without being viewed as a corporated body, united as a Church, and yet I make no doubt he is a sincere Churchman. The only references to any authors in all his volumes, are to Dr. Watts's Hymns and Dr. Young's Night thoughts.24° A few times one will meet with words and clauses of sentences from the Liturgy, not as formal quotations, but merely as words to suit and supply his wants at the time, just as Macaulay quotes Scripture to grace his language.241 Still the Book is good, very good; you may complain of omissions, but you cannot complain of erroneous views, while you will [meet] with a vast deal to assist pious and useful meditation and enlargement of your view of Providence, both general and particular. ig th Nov r 1849 Long time since I wrote here. Many things have occurred. Mr. Freligh has made another Will.242 Jane is to have $300 per annum and no more, and this on condition that she will make no attempt to get her mother's share of the Communaute. I am Sure some evil minded persons have been at work in prejudicing him against her. Dr. Bethune on his return to Montreal after he was here, printed and circulated an invitation to the Clergy to assemble in Montreal on the 25* Oct. for the purpose of selecting a Clergyman to be recommended for the new Bishopric. It begins by saying that "a Strong desire had been expressed by several of the elder clergy" &c, and then put his own name first, mine next, and Mr Townsend's,243 third. He had an implied consent to use my name; but at the same time I had not the remotest idea

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that I was myself to be made one of those who had "expressed a strong desire." When it came out in this form I felt indignation at the thought that I was circumvented and involved in a foolish ambitious project in which I felt no interest. I then began immediately to draw up papers, and mature a plan of operations with a view to defeat the movement. Messer8 Whitwell, Jones, Scott, and Johnson fell in with my plan, and united with the help of a circular from the Bishop, we succeeded in putting down the meeting, and quashed the pretensions of the real movers. The papers connected with this movement are all copied into another Book.244 I expect Dr. Bethune is very much disappointed, and probably will be no longer on friendly terms with me. He is ambitious and full of projects. When he was here he did not fully open his mind to me, not so much as that he "desired the office of Bishop." The draft of requisition he had, made it the subject to be considered at the meeting was to choose, or nominate a person to be brought under the notice of the Governor for the appointment. He allowed me to alter that, and by my alteration, I made it their business to consult on the expediency of expressing their opinion on such a mode of choice by the Colonial Government. By this clause I expected to be able to defeat the movement, and would have succeeded if the Bishop's Circular had not come. The night before the meeting a number of us dined at the Doctor's. He and I debated & argued the question at great length. I maintained my point against him.245 I suppose we understand one another now. The fall has kept open yet. We have not fed out any hay. I wrote to my dear Malcolm and went over with it to Berkshire.

27* Nov. 1849 I have entered yesterday on my 70* year. Thank god! I am a Strong, healthy old man. No one from my looks and appearance takes me to be so old. I have indeed held out wonderfully well. I have neither pain nor loss of appetite. I do not however feel strong, nor able to bear much fatigue. One reason is, I am too fleshy, which no doubt is greatly owing to my good appetite and relish for food. As long as I remain as I am I do not think I can retrench, and nothing but retrenchment or sickness can check obesity. Since last May I have gained Ib. 14. I now weigh 211. God has been wonderfully kind to me and provided for me far beyond what could have been expected from my humble birth and defective education. When all things are considered it must be a wonderful Providence that I who am so constitutionally bashful should have, in this

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bustling, pushing world, got on as I have. The Lord has led me on in a way that I knew not. Whether this is to be my last year I know not. O that it would please God to make me more and more what I ought to be, that I may be prepared to put off this body of earth in faith and hope! It has now come to be very sluggish and unfit for favouring mental improvement. The winter is still open. We have not yet stabled our cows. Yesterday we killed two pigs of last April which weighed Ib 468 making enough of that article for the house till next fall. I have been reading Macaulay's Essays originally published in the Edinburgh Review.246 He is a Grand Whig Writer, one of the very best with regard to Style, information, clearness of logic, but colours every thing he touches with his Whig brush. I begin to be uneasy that we not hear from Malcolm. His last date was that of 4th October The Herald, as usual is full of cursed annexation. The whole scheme is forwarded on Pounds, Shillings and pence. It is all pelf. Their reasoning on this Subject goes, if applied to the concerns of life, to dissolve and break asunder all the bands that keep society together. For, there is not one human [...] or obligation in the world between man and man, which the argument of £SD, would not cut through. I think I must write a Paper to Mr. Kinnear on this view of the argument. I still respect this worthy man, and regret exceedingly that he has adopted the course he is now pursuing. I do not wish to print but I would like to say a little of my mind to my friend. His position, and perhaps, necessity, must have led him to adopt this course, much more than the feelings and sentiments of his heart! 247 i st Dec r 1849 Snowed yesterday for the first time and my cows, calves and colt had to be housed, and fed for the first time - a great saving of fodder. There is about six inches of snow on the ground, but as it does not freeze hard, the holes do not fill, nor do the hubs get covered to make smooth sleighing. The Herald is full of annexation. Confound them! The principle is profit and selfish gain, without honour or honesty. They do not complain of England or the monarchy, but dream that they shall [...] money faster by annexation. Till lately England gave them exclusive privileges, at least a better chance in her markets than to foreign nations; but since Sir Robert Peel's Bill of free trade the Colonies are put on the same footing in her markets as foreign nations.248 The mer-

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chants therefore think they must be off and join the States. The fools! how blind and ungrateful! How are they to be better off by joining the States? If all are on the same footing when they go to the English market, cant they be as well off as they are, as they can be by annexation? They will, undoubtedly be the same as they are as to the English markets. In other respects there will be this difference. There will be no english Troops, nor Garrisons, to be maintained by the gold and silver of England's Treasury, to the amount of £20 or £30,000 a year - nor English Clergy, drawing £6 or 7000 a year. The Clergy [they] will not miss, but their money drawn from England, and spent in the Colony, they will miss, & let the heathens and the Turks miss it to their hearts' content. The principle on which they reason, goes, if applied to other matters, to break down every tie that keeps society together. They say it would be more profitable for us to break our allegiance and be annexed to the States than to remain as we are. A husband or a wife may say the same, and then we should have logical arguments for divorce to suit. A servant has engaged himself for a time to work for a stipulated remuneration. Another makes him a better offer, and so he must be released from his engagement. A carpenter, mason, joiner or painter must all be released from their engagements in the middle of their contracts whenever they meet with what they fancy to be a better offer. A merchant sells a lot of goods, but finds before delivery is made that another will give him a better price and therefore he must break off from his contract. Farewell, honour, integrity, veracity and good faith! make way for profit and gain. Worship Pounds, Shillings and pence, and laugh at loyalty, honour and confidence between man and man. Money, money, omnipotent reigneth. Let the whole world worship money. Thus every human tie will go as cob webbs before the broom. When the old Colonies, now the United States, revolted, they had complaints, good or bad, they had complaints, they had grievances to complain of. Our wise heads, confound their pates! say they have no complaints; only as colonists of a monarchy they cannot make money fast enough, but there has been a time, when this was considered as an advantage. The Montreal correspondent of the New York Albion which came to hand last night says, that many of the Montreal signers of the Address to the people of Canada have become cool on the subject.249 No wonder, they do every thing in a passion. They are every thing by turns, and nothing long. The girls went up to A. Westover's thursday afoot, and now having snowed, Asa was so kind as to bring them down today in his Sleigh.

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2d December 1849 Sunday very cold, only 61 in Church, I gave an extempore discourse from the Epistle for the day, first Sunday in Advent.250 I did not go to Cook's corner. I gave notice the last time I was there, that I would not go again, until the roads became better. I did the same at Krans's. I have not yet had a sleigh ride. I have read a good deal of Macaulay's Essays. They are very closely printed, in two columns large octavo. His style is extraordinary good his reasoning very acute - his few allusions to Scripture, for purposes of adornment, very happy, and his sentiments, though a whig, often very just and sound. He has not the keen biting sarcasm of Sydney Smith,251 but in all that is good in Style, he equals him, and in information surpasses him. 6th Decr 1849 It is not very cold yet, only moderate frost, and about 6 or 7 inches of snow. Where the mud was deep teams break through so that sleighing is not really good except where the ground was smooth and hard. Yesterday we killed a fat heifer, two years old, the meat of which weighed Ib 502 the tallow and the hyde more than Ib 100. This was a good yield in a creature so young. Last evening one of our travelling missionaries, of the name of Chapman paid us a visit in his perigrinations. He went to the west after dinner today, to see Mr. Whitwell. From thence he will I suppose, visit Mr. Jones at Bedford. On Sunday next he intends to officiate at Brome and Sutton for Mr. Scott. He is on horse back, poor fellow, which is not very comfortable at this season of the Year. Mr Chapman is the son of a farmer on the St Francis River, educated at Lennoxville. What the full course of education at that Institution, and the amount of learning required in a candidate for holy orders, I have not learned. The young man is very agreeable in his manners. I hope he is well informed and well qualified for his work.252 James came home this afternoon, and appears to be well and contented. We are most anxious to hear again from Malcolm. The New York Churchman that came today announces that a Rev. Doctor Forbes, a clergyman of good reputation in the City of New York has very recently become a convert to the church of Rome. None suspected him till he made it known himself to Dr. Berrian President of the Standing Committee. How wonderful and past finding out it is, that a

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man well educated and who knew the truth as set forth in holy Scripture, and taught by himself long in the Church should renounce it, and embrace the corruptions and errors of the Church of Rome?253 The wind has risen very high, and would have been very cold, if the frost had been keener. I hope the wind will [not] be higher. 8 th Dec r 1849 Very cold this evening for the time. I suppose that, by tomorrow it will at least be 10 or 12 below zero, but thank God there is no wind. Yesterday, Reverend James Jones was here with a view to persuade me to be a Committee man with him for the erection of a Church at Lower Pyke River falls.254 It seems that the Bishop has required of him to get two or three of the neighbouring clergy to unite with him in the plan as a Committee, and so he resolved on me and Mr. Scott. I refused to have any thing to do in the matter. I told him that he had already two Churches in his mission, and that one of them was fast going into ruins. In that church which was going into ruin, that at the Upper Mills, I felt deeply interested. I had attended, and promoted divine Service in that place from the fall of 1826; when I was relieved from my attendance at the Bay by Mr Whitwell until May 1832. When Mr D. Robertson took the charge,1 and had good congregations all the time - that I was assisting while the Church was abuilding, that Bishop Stewart had given it his countenance and support from beginning to end - that his Lordship had furnished the plan and £100 - that I represented that money to this present hour - that I and O.J. Kemp owned a pew conjointly in the church, and that for these reasons I felt deeply interested, because my services of six years, and so much money of my own, and of my procuring (for I had persuaded Bishop Stewart to give £100, instead of £50, as he had intended) were actually about being totally lost.255 I told him that in compliance with his own request, I called on some of the principal persons there on the 8th of September, and found that there would be no difficulty in getting the people to repair the Church provided he did his duty, by giving them what they had a right to ask and to receive, alternate morning and Evening service, every other Sunday. He said, he could not and would no[t] do that, and that it would be a good thing, and what they deserved, if the Church should tumble down to the ground. I replied that under these circumstances I would deem it my duty to lay the case before the Bishop to state to his Lordship all the above facts, and then ask him the reason, why my services were to be lost - why my money, and the other money which I repre-

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sented were allowed to go to destruction, and that before I sent my communication I would furnish 2 ^ 6 him with a copy of it. I told him plainly that the people of the Upper Mills were clearly entitled to the one half of the minister's service, and that nothing short of it would or ought to satisfy. He said that would ruin the Church at Bedford, and do no good to them. He requested me to speak to the people again on the subject, to which I replied that I would on condition that he would give them alternate morning & evening service, otherwise I would not. He did not consent, unless the Bishop would require him to do so and take the responsibility on himself with regard to the result. I said, it would be of no use for me to say any thing to them unless he saw fit to comply, as they could see no object before them for their encouragement to lay out money for repairing the Church which was not to be better employed. After dinner he started for Dunham to persuade Mr. Scott to become one of his Committee for the erection of his Church at Pyke River. I hope Mr Scott will not consent. Pyke River falls is just four miles west of Bedford, and Stanbridge Mills just four miles east, all in one Township and yet this man was permitted to beg money in England and in the United States to build a Church at Pyke River, while the Church at the Upper Mills is neglected and going to ruin. Strange doings are in this world. n t h Dec r 1849 Today I went to Berkshire with a Letter for Malcolm but got neither Letter nor paper there from him in return, and we are very anxious to hear from him. I heard at tea this night that Mrs Hurlbut was very sick. I went immediately to see her and found her very sick indeed. I could not do any thing as her distress was such that she required the constant attendance of several persons to rub her. I spoke to her in the way of giving religious consolation for a little while, but did not in the necessary bustle of attendance engage in prayer. I think she must die soon if she do not immediately obtain relief. Her extremities are now cold, & they cannot, with any application, gender heat. We shall be sorry to lose her. She has much more charity, benevolence, public spirit, and kindly feeling than her husband. James and our dear girls are preparing to start for Compton tomorrow on a visit to Charles. May God preserve them on the way by night and by day, and bring them back to our arms in peace! But in case that

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Mrs. Hurlbut will die, I think they will not go till after the funeral. She was a faithful good friend to the family, and gave us several tokens of her friendship. [END OF VOLUME 22]

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12th Deer 1849 Last night at supper we accidentally heard that Mrs. Hurlbut was very sick. I went down immediately and found her so indeed. Her extremities were as cold as ice, and could not be made otherwise by any application of any stimulant, or by any exertion. It was an inflammation of the Bowels. She was in great distress, but had her senses. I spoke a few words of consolation to her, but as she required, or rather her pain required such application and stir I did not engage in prayer. I came home. James and the girls were preparing for their journey to Compton on the morrow, and this morning, when the Sleigh was taken, and the team ready to be harnessed, word came that Mrs Hurlbut died last night at 12 of the clock. The children very much to our satisfaction relinquished their journey, as it would not be proper to go from home, and leave the family of the deceased without shewing and manifesting their sympathy for the motherless children. Accordingly as soon as we had eaten our breakfast they and I went down, and found them in deep distress. I prayed with them and left the girls to give their assistance. They remained all day. James left for his own home. He will come back next week, and then it may be they will go to Compton for their Christmas dinner. Mrs Hurlbut was a very good woman very kind and charitable to the poor. She had two funerals within the last year of her children in the family, and she gave a half eag[l]e piece at each, and also valuable presents to Mrs. Reid and each of the girls.1 She was the only one belonging to the Church that ever gave me any thing on such occasions. In the evening Anson Kemp & his wife came up this evening to consult about purchasing and making a new pall cloth for the funeral. We have agreed to buy cloth and try and raise the money amongst the friends of the Church.2 This day we had a long visit of Mr and Mrs. Knap. They dined with us. It is a sharp, calm, frosty night. i6th December 1849 A moderate [...] and now after a good deal of rain in the afternoon, the thaw continues strong. The little snow we have will soon disappear and the sleighing will break up. The congregation was tolerably good in Church, but at Cook's in the afternoon I had only seven. The funeral of Mrs Hurlbut was largely attended on friday, & I think I had on that day and on this as good sermons as ever I had in my life before. But what are good sermons here? They attract no attention. The people are dead, dead.

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I had a letter from Charles which contains an extract from a Letter he had from the Bishop. The Bishop is determined that he shall remove from Compton to make way3 for Doctor Sewell. He offers him Shefford and £75 a year and the use of the Glebe, that is £25 less than he had.4 It is really lamentable the way the Bishop uses him. I am afraid it will break the poor Boy's heart. He and his wife have a great aversion to Shefford. The Bishop says, "if it was justifiable in him to offer £100, to any one for Shefford, he might as well offer it to himself, and better than to any one his junior." Charles thinks this amounts to an offer of that sum. I fear it does not, as it hangs on an 'if.' I wrote to him to say that since his Lordship is determined that he shall leave Compton, he had better try and get the Bishop to offer £100 without an if, and then for want of a better, that he should give his consent and that in the event of the anticipated diocese of Montreal being erected and a new Bishop, he may have the prospect of being better treated than he is by Dr Mountain. About ten days ago Mr. Jones was here. I spoke to him seriously about the Upper Mills. I stated to him that I had attended there for six years; had gathered a good congregation - that the Church was built under my ministry, and under the direction of the late Bishop of Quebec who had furnished the plan, and £100 in aid of the Building - that I represented this sum of money and also a Pew of my own - that now the Church, for want of keeping it in repair was in danger of falling - that the cause of religion was in such a languishing state that but few attended. I wanted to know the cause of all this: reminding him that the people had a right to one half of his service, and that he never yet has given them morning Service. He said he would not give them morning service. That would ruin Bedford and would do them no good, and that it would be good for them if the Church should fall down. I said that under these circumstances I would deem it my duty to represent the real state of the case to the Bishop, and ask his Lordship to institute an investigation in order to ascertain why this Station is going to decay, and if I did so, I would shew my letter to himself before it was sent. He said I might, but that he could not take the responsibility upon himself of giving morning service without the express sanction of the Bishop. He never did any thing without the sanction of the Bishop. Now I wonder if the Bishop has told him, to give evening service only, and that when he chose to go - I wonder whether the Bishop has ever told him to crowd his services on Mr. Whitwell and on Mr Scott and leave his own people on such occasions without any! I received a letter from him this evening in which he says that he and his Bedford Church wardens have

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been consulting together on the subject and have come to the conclusion that he will give the Upper Mills morning Service every Sunday at half past nine in the morning, at Bedford at noon, and at Pyke River in the Evening, and wishes me to propose this immediately to the people at the Upper Mills, and co-operate with him in recommending it, and if approved, he will begin on the 3Oth of this month. Now this plan is as bad as what he was doing. There can be no congregation in winter at that hour, and therefore it will not succeed. The Bedford people surrender nothing. Noon is better for them than either half past ten or eleven in the morning. They get all they want, and at the time they want it and before or after that time, Mr. Jones for any thing they care, may do what he likes. I do not like the plan.5 James came home this afternoon with a view to start for Compton. Mr. Bassett commenced a singing school in the Village last friday evening and this evening was his Second School.6 I attended both. The old singers have not come in. There is such perversity of humour and temper amongst our people that nothing can be done. This place will go to decay and ruin just as soon as they get a Minister that will require their help. ig t h Dec r 1849 Yesterday morning our dear children James, Jane and Nancy started for Compton to make Charles and his wife a visit. They meant to be at James's house last night in Brome and proceed to Compton this morning where they expected to be tonight. I hope and pray it will please God to preserve them on their journey and bring them back to us in health, peace and comfort. There is no word from Malcolm yet, and what conclusions to draw from his long silence I know not. I called on Mr Freligh this evening and found that instead of being convalescent, as supposed for nearly two weeks, he is much worse than ever, and I fear is dying as he lived without a sense of religion. I called on the Hurlbuts last night to get the Register signed.? Mary asked for her Mother's funeral sermon, which I sent to her tonight, for herself to copy. I also sent her suitable paper. I wrote a long letter to Rev. James Jones, in answer to one from him dated Monday, but received on Sunday night. It contained a proposal from the Church Wardens at Bedford to allow the Upper Mills morning service every Sunday at half past nine in the morning, and a request that I should go to the Upper Mills and make the proposal. Believing that at

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so early an hour a Service will not be useful, because people cannot attend it I am not willing to propose it. I told him that as a holder of property in that Church, I would lay the case before the Bishop, and in the event I did so, to consider himself as in possession of what I would send, as I meant to send only a copy of that letter. I do not know how he will like it, but it is better to do the business openly, with his knowledge, than behind his back.8 He has asked me to speak to the people some time ago, which I did, and they complain that they do not get morning Service, & that the people have become careless, & the more so as his sermons, they say are frequently interlarded with stories and unprofitable anecdotes, but that when he keeps himself to the scriptures he is very good. Rather windy today and night, a little snow at dusk. Likely to be a thaw. 2 i st December 1849 St. Thomas's day. 9 The shortest in the year. Yesterday it rained & thawed all day until 12 at night when the wind changed to the west & snow began to fall. It blew hard all night after that which still continues. The frost is not yet very hard, but we are glad that it is hard enough to check the thawing of our fresh meat; and that the roads may not break up to prevent our dear children from coming home. Last night I finished my Sermon for Sunday. I have another to make for Christmas tomorrow or on Monday. If there was an earnest desire after the word of life among the people, such as would fill the Church with anxious, earnest worshippers and hearers it would be easier & pleasanter to make Sermons. But a cold, prayerless people makes a cold prayerless Minister. God help us all and pour down upon us a spirit of prayer & supplication! The Rev. Mr. Jones came here today as I expected he would soon do. He was very reasonable & good natured. My letter, it appears, has made a wonderful change in his views. He is now willing to give morning service every Sunday at the Upper Mills at half past ten, instead of as he offered before at half past nine. There were two things in my letter which must have opened his eyes. The Letter was declared to be the same that I was to send to the Bishop. It stated, what he had told me, in his own words namely, "that it would be a good thing if the Church at the Upper Mills did fall." It stated his declaration that he had consulted the Bishop on all matters in relation to the Upper Mills and followed his advice and [...]10 in every thing, and I doubt whether he would like

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either of these things to the knowledge of the Bishop should come. Indeed I am very glad that I am now under no necessity of applying to the Bishop, and things will take a better turn. But I have my doubts.11 23 d Dec r 1849 Sunday. Last night it began to snow and blow between six & seven, and continued all night. There is now a considerable snow on the ground, that will make very good sleighing when it is beat. There were only 43 in Church today, and as Mr. Bassett was there we had very good singing. Last night John Whitney came here to buy a Prayer Book. He has always been an unprincipled man on a small scale, fond of petty catches and advantages in bargains - a petty jockey, full of nonsensical talk, bar rooms and drink, but notwithstanding, he is one of the best farmers in the country, and has his farm in high order. When he got the Book, he pretended that he had forgotten to take change with him to pay for it, but would bring it today and hand it to me. He did come to church but had the same tale of forgetfulness. I am sure he will not pay, unless I dunn him, to a greater length than is becoming. A few years ago he joined the Baptists and related to them his experience. I wonder what John Whitney's experience was.12 His two sons, the sons of such a father, have through their own industry and good conduct established themselves, as Importers and Wholesale Merchants in Montreal and are doing well. They are both married and in good Standing. The younger married the daughter of the late Mayor of Montreal and got a fortune with her- 1 3 I gave notice after Sermon to the singers to attend the singing school tonight with a view to practice for singing a Christmas Anthem on Tuesday. I do not know whether they will do so or not. There is always such Jealousy among them that one never knows how to act or what to say 24* [December 1849] Last night I went to the singing School with Daniel and Asa Westover, but they did not come tonight, though Mr. Basset is very zealous in trying to get up decent Music for tomorrow. The Singers might profit very greatly by this opportunity, but they will not. Neither the Lees, nor the Anson Kemps nor the Chamberlins pay any regard to it.14 It has been snowing some all day. I went to see Mr. Freligh. He is now far gone in the dropsy. I do not think he will live long, nor I think he has any religious feeling. If he has he keeps it to himself. He never

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attended Church, nor has he any thing to say to me on the Subject. I speak to him, but he gives me no answer. I pray with him as well as I can, and the only sign of feeling I perceive in him is that he says Amen Would he do so if he did not believe in the Christian Religion? After all is Mr. Freligh in a more dangerous state than more than four fifths of all the people here? Does one man out of twenty men in this Parish attend the worship of that God who made and preserves them? 25th Dec1" 1849 Christmas has come in with cold high drifts and snow. In the morning I was of opinion there would be no Church. What I first intended was only to take out the bread & wine for the Sacrament into the vestry there to be kept until it was ascertained that there would be communion. But on further consideration we laid them on the Table in a State of readiness. This turned out better than it was anticipated. There were more in Church than we had on Sunday, and twenty eight came to the Communion. But it blew hard all day and blows hard still. It was tomorrow that the children meant to leave Compton for home, but I hope they will wait a day longer till the roads are beaten. 28 th Dec r 1849 For two or three days back a good deal of snow fell, and drifted greatly. The children did not return last night, nor could they have been expected. It may be they will come tonight, though I am not very sanguine in my expectations. The road must be very bad in those quarters. Last night I commenced my Sermon for Sunday at candle lighting and kept close at it till I finished at 12 and then went to bed. For some time I have been reading Macaulay's Essays originally in the Edinburgh Review, which I think are excellent and wonderful efforts of the human mind. O if such talents were exerted for religion and the Church, what a blessing it would be! But God does not always choose what is esteemed excellent among men. He chose that more good should be done by the homely productions of poor John Bunyan, than by the splendid talents & logical acumen of Macaulay, that the excellency of the power might be of God and not of men.15 3i st Dec r 1849 The last day of the year. God has brought us through the past year loaded, unworthy as we are, with his manifold mercies. O how ungrateful and unworthy I am when I do not feel my heart warm with grati-

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tude! At our time of life, in my seventieth year my health is wonderfully good, only I cannot undergo fatigue. But my faculties for composing Sermons, and my voice to deliver them are as good as ever they were at any time past. God be praised, the girls came home on Saturday night, Macadam and his wife and child with them.16 James staid in Brome. They found Charles and his family well only nervous about the Bishop's determination to remove him to Shefford. The pretence is that Compton has not produced church fruits enough to keep up a Missionary in it, but the true reason is Dr. Sewell's Salary as a Professor of Chemistry, and his practice at Lennoxville are not sufficient to support him, and therefore wants to take holy orders, to increase his income. Now, all ye men of consideration and common sense, look at the case. The Bishop cannot allow the Salary of £100 to be paid to Charles because the Mission, or Church is so small or weak, but he can pay it to Dr. Sewell, who is not a clergyman, who was not meant for a clergyman, who was not educated for a clergyman, who is not now qualified by professional acquirements to be a clergyman, merely for going there to Compton on Sundays, to read prayers, and give his precious Sermons. Is this any thing but a job? And how can the Bishop say that he must look to the fruit rendered, when he is to allow the same expenditure to continue, and less fruit yielded? It is most lamentable that a Bishop should so speak and act!17 For it is nothing but such a Job as Lord Elgin's ministers were perpetrating to reward a political partisan. But Dr Sewell is of a high family, the son of the late Stephen Sewell, and nephew of the late chief Justice Sewell, and therefore the son of a poor man must be turned out to make room for him.18 Mr. Hawkins wrote the annals of the Church in Canada, and while doing it he hardly saw any thing before him, but the Reports of the Bishop.^ The Bishop is the Church in Canada, and the Church is the Bishop, and consequently the Clergy are nobodies. The Church history of Canada cannot be written in England because it must be compiled from the Reports of the Bishop. Now it is a fact that the Bishop's opportunities of obtain [ing] correct information are the very worst. He goes round once in three years to hold confirmation in the Churches and Missions. Preparations are always made to receive him. If there should be but congregations of 20 or 30 at other time of the year there will be great gatherings to meet him. He is pleased. He sets them down as a devout religious people, and reports them accordingly. In Dunham to my own certain knowledge Mr. Cotton, honest simple man, was in the habit of going from house [to house] to engage people's

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attendance, on that day, in order to make a respectable appearance. And even to get people confirmed for the sake of making that respectable appearance. This answered two ends. It made the minister stand in the character of a very successful missionary. It enriched the materials for the Bishop to make a Report calculated to please the Society, and to make them believe that their money was profitably applied.20 It is then evident that the history of the Anglican Church of Canada cannot be composed by any man in England, who has no other materials, but those which the Bishop sends home. Soon after Bishop Stewart was promoted to the See of Quebec, a circular was sent to the Clergy, requiring them to send for his inspection, all their annual notitias. This request no doubt made them all feel little in their own eyes; and without pretending to know how they have managed their notitias since that order, I suspect they have done, as I have done, sent none at all since. This appears to be corroborated by the fact that the present Bishop reports for the whole, and makes no complaint of omission on the part of the clergy. He knows perfectly well that it will be best that the Society should know no more than it will please him to tell,21 and the result of his wisdom and prudence is Mr Hawkins's Book. I have shewn that the history of the Church cannot be written in England. I will now shew that it cannot be written in Canada by any one of the Societys Missionaries. They are all dependent on the Society, or in other words, on the Bishop; and on him alone. As far as the Missionaries are concerned the Bishop is the Society. His word is to the Society all in all. He has the power of the purse, and this power is a rod in his hand. By that rod he can remove one and set up another, pluck out and put in, make a good reputation out of an indifferent one, provided, the person be of an Aristocratic taint or from an english University. With such a rod over our heads there is no missionary in Canada that will dare to write the history of the Church, and relate matters as they are. But the time is coming when restraints will be taken out and then truth will be unfettered, and every one will get his due, Mountains hills and vallies.22 1st January 1850 The first day of the year came in somewhat cold and wind some what high from the south. God be praised for his goodness to us through the past year! May it please him to grant that we may pass this year in rest and quietness! At night snowing and blowing hard. I wrote to Charles, and Nancy wrote in the same to Julia -

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I called on Mr. Freligh and some others of the neighbours. Not one called upon us this day.23 I have taken up Watts' Logic & read nearly one third of it.24 I must read it to see if I can derive any good from it. I bought it before I left Scotland, while I was in Edinburgh in 1804 and strange to say I never read it through yet. 3d January 1850 Thanks be unto God, a letter came last night from Malcolm. He is well. His wages for this Year he says are $1200, and a room worth $100 more. That he has saved $ i ooo in the two years he has been there and on his present wages will save $700. In this way he will lay up some money. Last night we had Mr. Dickinson and his wife25 on a visit. This day we had the thanksgiving for the removal of the Cholera, ordered by the Governor's Proclamation.26 There [were] only about 40 in Church. After Service we held a meeting of the Parochial subcommittee of the Church Society. After I made a Statement of what money we had at our disposal, I said that now was the spring time for them to work while they had me with them to whom they had nothing to pay that the parsonage house wanted shingling - that the Church wanted renovation - and that land ought to be purchased for a glebe - that at present they had only 21/2 acres that could be offered to my successor. Mr O.J. Kemp made a motion that the money we had should be laid out on the purchase of a Glebe. L. Baker seconded by D. Westover moved an Amendment that an organ should first be purchased. This was really absurd but after some conversation the amendment was withdrawn and the main motion was carried. A Committee was then appointed to look out for land and report what success they should have.27 Asa Westover stood out against the whole. It is a pity that so much division should be among the people. It is easy to be seen what they will come to when they shall have to pay the Minister. I would not wish to be that Minister. 6th January 1850 Sunday, cold and sharp. 70 persons in Church and 30 at Krans's School house in the afternoon. Last night James came home and went back after Church today. We had also Stewart Reynolds, his wife Maria, and Charles Baker's wife to tea and the evening.28 I received the December number of the Colonial Churchman sent by Mr. Hawkins. I wonder the rest did not come. I paid for the

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two past years as well as for this, of which I did not get but one number. The same tale runs through the communications of all the Colonial Bishops, which is in effect this. There are so many of the children of the Church destitute of the means of grace. They are poor, but they are very zealous, and very desirous of getting a minister and of building a church. They will contribute to the utmost of their power towards the procuring of these objects, but they have not the means. They confidently appeal to their more fortunate brethren at home for their Christian liberality. This is the tale of all the Bishops.29 They see piety and zeal where no other one can see any such virtues. They make the round of their visitations once in three years. There is of course notice beforehand of their coming. Many come together on such occasions in their best clothes & best faces, and appear before him in a full Church as devout-like, as if they were something, and when all is over the good Bishop notes in his journal for the people of England to read what piety, zeal and devotion he had witnessed in such a place on that day. But the poor Clergyman who remains, knows how false had the appearance of devotion been, and when he reads from the English Press of the large and pious congregation he has to minister unto, he is amazed, and only wishes that the narrative was true. But he cannot animadvert upon it. He must let it go. It is an Episcopal way of drawing money from the people of England. Good old Mr. Cotton was in the habit of going from house to house before the Episcopal visitation to engage attendance in order to make a respectable congregation for the Bishop. But the greatest imposition of that kind ever known to me was in Stanbridge five or six years ago. The Missionary who had been a Methodist till he was between 50 and 60 years of age palmed off his Mission, and his labours and his success as if nothing could be found to equal them. All this appeared in the Bishop's journal set before the people of England, and from that Journal copied into Mr Hawkin's Annals, now endorsed as authentic though far worse than a romance, indeed a shameful pious fraud. The Bishop however is not to be blamed. He wrote merely what the missionary told him. But then he should have tried the matter, and convince [d] himself of the 'truth' of it, before putting on his Episcopal Seal.3° Having read Mr. Hawk[ins] 's Book, I am now convinced that the history of the Colonial Church cannot be written in England from the reports of the Bishops, who are themselves imposed upon. Neither can a true one be written by the missionaries in the

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Colonies because they must have the fear of their Bishop before their eyes more than people are aware of. They are dependent on the Bishop in every thing. If an entelligent Well informed layman, who is well acquainted with the localities and matter of Mr. Hawkins Book were to review it, and point out its defects, inaccuracies and misstatements, it would be doing service to the cause of truth. I do not blame Mr Hawkins at all. He followed, as the world goes, the best authorities, but he has been since in this country at almost every mission in both Upper and Lower Canada; and I am persuaded that by this time he sees some things with his own eyes and not with the eyes of another. Mr. Hawkins appeared to me to be a man that had eyes and judgment of his own. But a poor clergyman is a ninny of no consideration.

7thjany 1850

I went to the Bay today with old Cooper who lives with me to draw his pension. 31 I thought the journey would be too much for the poor old man, and so in compassion for him, as well as from a fear that he might get sick, and I should lose his service I went with him. Found Mr. Whitwell's family well, and himself reading Mr Hawkin's Book. Neither he nor myself is pleased with the Book. But Mr Hawkins is not to be blamed. He composed it from the materials he had, and these were chiefly the Reports of the Bishop who in many of the relations he put in his Journal was grossly imposed upon by such of our brethren as are not famous for adhering to the truth. This particularly is true respecting Stanbridge, the state of which we know perfectly well, and may be as true respecting some other places if we knew them as well as [we] do Stanbridge. I am sure that Mr. Hawkins understands the state of affairs here much better now gth January 1850 Moderate weather all day and thaw and high south wind. In the evening we had Brown Chamberlin, his two sisters, and their cousin Mr. Cook from Lewiston, a young congregational Minister.32 I liked the young man very well. A thought struck me this night which I would desire to put in execution if God spares my life till Summer. It is this. I have a great many of Dr. Stewart's letters. I will arrange them according to their dates, copy them into a Book, and write between them such remarks, observations and reminiscences as will occur to me. I doing so, I think I can draw up

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a good narrative of his life while I knew him and throw some light on the state and progress of the Church in Canada for the last forty years.33 This will present a fair opportunity for making suitable observations on Mr. Hawkin's Annals of the Colonial Church At dusk the report then was that Mr. Freligh was but alive. Seymour told me in the course of the day that he would go soon. Thus, he goes from the very door of the Church34 where God has been worshipped and the Gospel preached these forty years without having ever entered the door but a very few times, perhaps not ten times in forty years. Now he must appear before his Maker, and man must not presume to be his judge.

10thjany 1850 A very sudden change. Last night, thaw. This morning mercury down to i ° above Zero. I hear Mr Freligh is yet alive, and some easier. I have finished reading Macaulay's Essays today, a well written able Book, and though a Whig, I see but very [little] in it on the theory of government but what I agree with. The chief difference is, he hates the Tories and does not do them justice. He is a party man.35 I took down Bishop Stewart's letters to me, through all the time from June 1815 to the Summer of 1 836, embracing a period of 2 1 years, and arranged them according to their respective dates with a view to copy them, and perhaps for publication. The girls were on a visit at OJ. Kemp's this evening. Mrs. Reid is so lame with the Rheumatism in her limbs today that she cannot move from one chair to another without the help of two sticks. n th January 1850 Hail, rain and wind prevailed today, Mr. Freligh died this morning a little after one of the clock in the morning. He suffered greatly before he died. I understand he is to be buried on Sunday. I doubt whether I shall be able to do any more on Sunday than to read the Burial Service. Richard Whitwell came out today for the Doctor to see a sick child at the Bay, and staid with us for dinner. I was very glad to see the young man.36 He never made us a visit before. Had a letter this evening from Charles in which he says that he had a long letter from Quebec which professes to be willing to give a longer trial to Compton as a full Mission. It says the plan of removing Charles did not originate with him (the Bishop). With whom then did it origi-

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nate? Has the Bishop a privy Council, of which we know nothing? We know the Bishop, but we know not the advisers. There is something appearing in our Church of which I was not aware. I always deluded myself with the thought that the Bishop had not power enough & perhaps he has not with regard to the trial and punishment of delinquents, but he is all in all with respect to every thing else. He can remove the Clergy at his pleasure, diminish or raise the Salaries as he chooses, and is responsible to no one. Such things cannot be done in England where every thing must be regulated by Law. Here the Bishop is the Law and the Judge. In the evening had a call from Col. Jones. He did not say one word about annexation,37 nor I to him 12th January 1850 Thaw and wind all day. Thank God, I am much better of my cold, but have not been able to make a Sermon for tomorrow, though Mr. Freligh's funeral is to come on. It is an unpleasant custom we have that a Sermon must be given at funerals. When the person is worthy of the honour, the duty is pleasant, but when, as in this case, it is for a man living next door to the Church, and every Sunday in the year, beholding, with his own eyes, people passing by his door to the house of God, without ever attempting to go himself, the task of the fune[r]al sermon at the death of such a one is most painful. Mr. Dickinson was here tonight and told me that he was so disgusted with the division wh took place at our late parochial Society Meeting, in the organ movement made by Lewis Baker and the Westovers, as to induce to a resolve that he will never attend another Church meeting. It is easy to be seen that the ministry of the Church will be driven from this place ere long. The motion was indeed grossly out of place and unreasonable, but then as it cannot be supposed to have proceeded from any evil design, it should not be taken up in so serious a light as to cause such a determination as Mr. Dickinson has come to.38 One evil leads to another; and this is only one link of the causes wh will drive the ministry of the Church from this Parish. Mrs. Baker is expected out, and will perhaps be at the funeral. It was told here that she will bring out a Lawyer with her. 13th Jan? 1850 The funeral of Mr. Freligh came on at the usual hour. The Church was more full than it has been for many a day. On account of my severe cold

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and hoarseness, I only performed the Burial Service, the Collect, Epistle and Gospel for the day, and then, without a Sermon, finished, at the Grave. In the Evening, Charles and Rodney Reynolds came up & witnessed the Register of the Burial. 39 They asked for a Certificate of the entry which I gave them. 15* January 1850 Last night we received the distressing intelligence from Charles that his lovely little boy died last Friday after an illness of only three days of the Scarlet Fever. Thus, the poor fond parents are left childless and I suppose without the expectation of ever having another.40 It will be hard for them to bear their disappointment, as I know that the dear child was too much of an idol. On that account I always feared lest God should, as he has now done, take him away. I hope however they will have faith and patience to enable them to submit to the stroke as Christians. Reflection, if wisely pursued, will do a great deal to relieve them. Miss Hill the younger has been here since Sunday.41 She and our daughters called on Mrs. Baker, yesterday: and report that she cursed her father called him a murderer, the house, of a murderer, not only wished him, but pronounced him, in hell, would rejoice in it, and then laughed out as a maniac. Such blasphemy I never heard of before. But if she had been a far better woman, she could not be reconciled to the treatment she has had from her father. He ordered every thing to be taken out of the House before she should have possession of it. Seymour, his Executor has done so, with respect to the provisions and the greater part of the furniture.42 No man should do a bad thing at the bid of either a living or a dead man however solemnly it might be enjoined. Seymour should have told Freligh that he would do no such thing. But it seems he did not, and has now to obey his voice to be guilty of an act of cruelty. Lewis and his wife4^ were here last night and the girls were at Mrs. Hurlbut's, to see Mary, and staid with her till nearly 10 of the clock.

17th jany 1850 Still very moderate weather, but now at night some appearance of snow. I saw Mrs. Baker tonight for the first time, since she came home except in the congregation at the funeral. She staid to tea and talked over her affairs composed and rational enough. She had a copy of her

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mother's Will, and also a Copy of her father's will. Her mother's is dated the io th Feb. 1841 and She died on the 2i st of the same. She said her father had always told her that her mother signed that will the night before she died, on his return from Montreal where he had been on the Grand jury.44 If he did tell her that there is proof positive that she could not have signed on that night, which was Saturday night, because on the Thursday previous to that night, Mrs. Freligh gave me all her keys, and requested me to keep them, and to deliver them to no person, but to Mr. Freligh, or her daughter Jane. They remained in my possession until the evening of the Sunday after she died. The keys were then wanted to get things for laying her out. No body could tell where the keys were, but Mrs Reid happening to be there at the time, told them that I had the keys. Mr. Barnes was sent up for them, but in conformity to my order, I did not give the keys to Mr. Barnes, but went down with them myself and delivered them into Mr. Freligh's own hands.45 Now, his statement to Jane as she tells it, is that Mrs Freligh, her mother told her husband the night before she died, on his return from Montreal, to bring the Will out of the drawer for her to sign it, and this he certainly could not have done because I had the keys. If then he said so to her, that the Will was signed after his return from Montreal, he told what was not true; and if so the Will is a forgery. The purport of the will is this. She willed to her husband all her estate real and personal for him to have and to hold during his natural life. After his death all of it was to go to her daughter Jane, to have and to hold exclusively for her own use and benefit, not to be under the control of her husband John Baker.46 Now if Mrs. Freligh had the right of willing any thing, she certainly disposed by her will of all her rights to Mrs Baker, to go unto her at the death of her father; and if so then Mr Freligh has willed what he had no right to will; and I hope she will be able to break it. His own Will provides that if Jane will institute proceedings at Law respecting her mother's will and rights, she is to be cut off altogether from the annuity of £75. She is therefore in fear about proceeding to do any thing lest she should lose the annuity. By proceeding agc her father's Will she seems to think as it is a different thing from her mother's Will, that she would not be liable to the forfeiture of her annuity. But I am afraid she cannot succeed in this. True, the destination of the estate, to create and maintain a School, does not create Trustees to accept of the legacy, nor is it in any way made to a Body corporate authorised by Law to receive it; and a Provincial Statute provides

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that no legacies made without being made to Bodies corporate by Law are legal. It may therefore be broken on this ground but does that give it to her and take it away from John Seymour? I doubt it. I should think it could be broken on the ground, that it wills away what her mother certainly willed to her should come into her possession at the death of her father. 19th January 1850 We expected James home tonight but it seems we are not to see him. I hope nothing has happened although I cannot account for his not coming, as it was agreed that he and I should start for Montreal on Monday.47 Thank God, my cold is better so that I expect to hold divine Service tomorrow, after having been of opinion through the week that I should have to stay in the house. The weather still keeps moderate. The mercury this morning stood at 21 ° above zero. But the west wind was making a doleful sound on the house, which is always hard on my nerves. When I think on the death of Mr. Freligh it always gives me pain. To think that he died carrying with him to appear before the Almighty God of justice all his hatred and malignity against his only child is awful. Her letters to him were unopened and unanswered. Whether he knew any thing about them I know not, but on the day after he died Mr Seymour drew out some of them from his pocket in our house and said that her father did not want to see them. Well, one thing is certain, he died without one token of love shewn to any of his poor relations,48 disinheriting his poor daughter, and his Will provides that if she will do any [thing] to obstruct the execution of his arrangement her annuity of £75 will be cut off. Now what could have induced him to leave all for a School in the Village, when it is known by every body that he was all his life time close against all sorts of charities and benevolence! Miss Hill, poor body, wanted to make out to Mr. Knap that he was quite an altered man. But I saw no sign of an alteration. I gave him all the chance I well could both in speaking to him & praying with him, but he never gave me any sign by which I could understand that he was the least affected, excepting his saying amen at the end of the prayers. He never asked me to pray, nor to talk to him on religion and the utmost I can say is, he did not forbid. On what ground Miss Hill could give out that he was an altered man I know not. But facts shew that he carried with him, his evil mind to the grave. To his own Creator and Judge, he stood or fell. I am not his

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judge. God have mercy upon us! we belong at the best to a depraved race. 21st January 1850 My cold still clings to me. I did not perform afternoon service yesterday on that account. One Martin Reynolds who calls himself an agent of the St Lawrence Mutual insurance Company against fire,49 came here this afternoon and I thought it proper to effect an Insurance on the premisses and on James's in Brome the cost of which came to $12 lacking 6 cents. This amount effects an Insurance for five years from this day. Today Bingham50 took away two Tons of hay which I sold him some time ago. We hope to start for Montreal tomorrow, James and myself 2 7 January 1850 Sunday, thaw and some rain. Less than 40 in Church. It was not generally known that I had got home from Montreal. Last Tuesday James and myself started for Montreal. It snowed all day. We got on to Mr. MacGilvrays on the Richelieu near isle aux Noix where we staid all night. This is a very respectable highland family in very good circumstances very kind and very hospitable. Mr. M. was and is a very sincere loyalist, but unfortunately has become, on account of the bad management of the Government, an annexationist. We left on Wednesday morning, when we soon found that the gray mair was sick and were obliged to the conclusion that the Team could not proceed to Montreal. James stopped at St. Johns, and I bought there 12 Bushels of wheat and some groceries for him to make the best he could to get home and Mr. Wright, MacGilvray's step son took me to Town with him.51 I put up at Fellers^2 that night, but did no business till next day when I went out & sold my Bills to T Mussen53 at io 3 /4 premium. Dr Hall insisted on my removal to his house. He shewed every mark of kindness, and invited five of the Clergy to spend the evening with us. Only one came Rev. Mr. Robertson, and a Doctor Howard.54 The evening was more agreeable and intellectual and more theological than any that I have spent for a long time. Mr Robertson is one of the clearest heads.55 I met Mr W. Baker of DunhamS6 who told me that Charles and his wife came to see us. On receiving this information I resolved to leave

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Town for home, and not remain over Sunday as I had intended I would. On Friday I closed my business, and left with the Stage for St. Johns at 3 P.M. As soon as I got to St. Johns I went to Mrs Gray's and found Charles and Julia there.57 They appeared to bear their bereavement better than I could have expected they would. On Saturday I took his mare and drove myself home, where I found all well. Mrs. Baker in her forlorn desolate state I found comes to sleep in our house. She is an object of pity, and we must shew her some kindness. She cannot sleep alone in her own house. What she can do, or what will become of her I know not. 29* January 1850 A little colder than usual although it may still be called mild for the time. Charles and Julia came to us yesterday. I went to Stanbridge Mills to meet them and to carry them home. They are to start for their home tomorrow and Jane is to go with them. When I was at the Mills I called on Mr. Cornell and asked him the reason why they did not accept of the offer which Mr. Jones made them of Morning Service every Sunday at half past 10 A.M. His answer was that he knew nothing about the offer till two or three days ago. His daughter in Law said there were not more than seven young persons at the meeting when he made the offer. Now if they told me the truth, it must follow that what he stated to me was not true. He said there were thirty and that not one voice was raised in favour of a change.58 The fact is, Mr. Jones is despised for his beggary and his story telling in his Sermons. I have done nothing today. Yesterday I wrote to Mr. Mountain about the Society's Reports. They were all addressed to me, but being too great a parcel for me to carry home from Town last October, I took my own out of them, left the rest and forgot to notify the other clergy, that they were at Mrs Walton ['s] ready for them.59 I wrote also to Mr. Jones yesterday to tell him so. 3Oth January 1850 The third coldest day this winter. Mercury stood 11° below o in the morning. Charles, Julia and Jane started for Compton after Breakfast. I went with them to Dunham Flats60 to carry Jane's trunk, in order to be put on board the stage as they could not carry it. I stopped a little at Edward Baker's, the Brother in Law of Mrs. Baker. Mrs. E. Baker ani-

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madverted severely on Jane Baker. Said she would now feel perhaps feel how she had turned away her husband penniless after keeping his property to herself - that however much she feigned poverty, she had money, and the furniture of her husband to the amount of a f iooo.61 I then went to Mr Scotts where I was kept all day and dined before I left. Mr. Scott had not much information to give me only that he had been slightly reproved by the Bishop twice, for speaking to some young men, newly ordained about coming to Brome. It seems pretty plain the good Bishop thinks that his clergy should exercise no judgment in any thing but their own private affairs.62 He must be all in all, and they must be children. 31st January 1850 Moderate for the time. I hope my dear children, Charles, his wife and Jane got on well today on their journey home to Compton. I have seen no body today. Dull times, and I have done nothing. I took down my Stove pipes in the dining room today, cleaned & put them up. They were cleaned before on the ioth December. In the evening I answered the Rev. Mr. Hawkins's queries. He is engaged, it seems in writing a Colonial Church Gazeteer.63 I hope he will have better information to give than he had for the Annals of the Diocese of Quebec Although I cannot be very sanguine 1st Feb 1850 It is now cold. If I mistake not tomorrow morning will be colder than any we have hitherto had. The mail has brought no particular news. Only the foolish meeting they have had at Pigeon hill for annexation. Robert Jones attends all such meetings far and near and was there speechifying.64 3d Feb 1850 Sunday, snow and drift. Having got much worse last night, indeed very [ill] with a Severe attack of Influenza, there was no church today, and had also to disappoint the funeral of Philip Toof. In the morning when I found that I could not go out I sent for Spicer that I might get him to go down to inform them that I was unable to attend. He harnessed my horse but when he reached the Village he met Brooks and his wife going to the funeral and sent word by them.65 On his coming back I sent him down to Krans's to inform them that I could not attend there for service in the afternoon. I fear I may as well quit services both at

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Cook's and Krans's, till Spring. Disappointments discourage, and bring meetings to such a state of uncertainty as to my attendance that it may be as well to quit. For the health of one of my age is very uncertain. Nobody called in but Almira Chamberlin, who staid all day till Barnum came after her at night.66 I am not, thank God, so ill as I was in the night and the forenoon of this day. My nose ran violently, and I coughed and threw out much stuff. May the Lord raise me up; my family are in no case fit or able to have me sick. 4th Feb 1850 Thank God I rose this morning much better than I was yesterday. It is wonderful how I could have got so well after such fever as I was in all Saturday night, and such Influenza as I had yesterday. At night James and the Rev. Mr. Burrage67 came here and I am sorry to find that MacAdam has left him last Wednesday. He is now left entirely alone, and has to board at Roach's & sleep alone68 - I sent a letter to Mr. Badgley today of which the following is a Copy. "Hon. Sir May I beg of you as a great favour to me to call on Mr Geddes and ascertain how the affairs of my son's estate stand. I called on him about ten days ago. He said that judgment was given ag1 him in some heavy suits - that he would wind up the whole concern in three or four weeks - that there would be but very little, if any, to divide among the Creditors. He always spoke to me in this vague way of closing the affair immediately, but as he has never done so I cannot rely on what he says. I know some debtors to the estate on whom he has never called, and some to whom he wrote who did not respond to the call. I beg therefore you will have the goodness to ascertain the real state of affairs, and urge him to wind up, and if he do not so, to advise what is best to be done,69 and oblige, Hon. Sir, your obed1 humble Servant James Reid. To the Hon. W. Badgley Advocate Montreal." N.B. Mr. Badgley never replied to this day 24th Decr 1850, and of course never will. J.R.*70 As near as I can make out the genealogy of my family is as

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follows. My recollection is that my father was 18 years of age when the battle of Culloden was fought in the spring of 1746 and that when he married he was 40 years of age & my mother 18. If so the Table will run thus. My father Peter Reid was the son of Malcolm Reid, of the [Town]?1 of Kilmorich, Parish of Dowally Perthshire, Scotland. Peter Reid born in Janet Dick do They were married Their first Child, Charles Elizabeth born Catharine do John do James (myself), do Twins, Thomas & Jean do Jean born August.

172875°~ 1768 1 77° born 1772 *775 *777 1780 1 7&3 !793 1

died 1814 do l&3°

died 1791 died 1791 died 1846 died 1787

This is the best approximation I am able to come to as I have no dates or records to guide me except my own birth and from the recollections of childhood the age of my father at the time of the rebellion, at his marriage and the year my sisters died. I will, please God to spare my life write home, for extracts from the Parish Session Book, as soon as I can ascertain the name of the present Parish Minister of Dunkeld -

5th Feb 1850 The coldest day we have had this winter. Mercury 32° below zero, equal to the coldest day of last winter which was the i gth Feb. Mr Asa Westover's Instrument gave him only 20° below Zero this morning. His place is nearly three miles from this, and on very high ground. He brought his down here today to compare it with mine. They were hung together in the same place, close together, and his settled just 1° lower than mine. I bought 20 minots of wheat today from a frenchman who came with it from Henryville, for $1 minot. That measure is four quarts larger than our Bushel, so that 8 minots are equal to 9 Bushels. Twenty minots bought today, and 12 minots, before at St. Johns, making 32 minots, divided by 8 - makes 4 which added to 32 will make 36 Bushels.

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The Diary of James Reid 12 Minots at 4 .. 6 =

$10..80

Thus 36..7..14 :: 1=4 .. g 1 / 2

This evening about 7 Mrs Baker returned from Montreal. She called here for the key of her house which she had left with Mrs Reid. She had no time to stop, but she seemed to be in great glee. She had only time to say that she had good hopes of obtaining her rights.?2 She brought a Servant girl with her [from] Montreal. There has been73 no fire in her house since she went away - and poor creatures will have ashivering before they can warm the house tonight. But she was herself in such good spirits that she will not feel the cold. Mr. Burrage went away a little before noon. Joseph Kemp carried him to Stanbridge Mills. The distance is 6 Miles and Joseph asked him five shillings. He did not give him but 2/6. This is the way that people overcharge the poor clergy. ?4 I paid Asa Westover today for my wood $30 for 30 cords but he has two loads to draw yet. James and Nancy went up to Asa Westover's tonight on a visit. I hope they will get home safe. I have not been so well today as I was yesterday. Thank God! though it is a very severe frost it is a Still calm. 6th Feb 1850 Still extreme cold. In the morning Mercury 29° below Zero. I do not know the ground on which Mrs Baker proceeds but she has been drawing the Grain from the Mill and the Granary into her own house. Passing by her door she said to me that she was taking an Inven-

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tory of the Mill and of what was in it. I do not know how this is. Sandy heard she had a notary and authority of Court75 8th Feb 1850 Moderate weather. Snowed part of the day, now it thaws. Last night Mrs. R. was taken ill with diarhoa, and has kept her bed all [...]. Mrs. Foss of Brome made us a visit and dined with us. In the afternoon we [had] Anson Kemp's daughters and Mary Hurlbut.?6 They staid till after dark when a Sleigh came to carry them home. We had a very agreeable letter from Jane on Wednesday dated Sunday. They got home in Safety, and were kindly received by their friends. I hope poor Mrs R. will soon get well, but she is subject to serious turns. We hear from Sandy, our news Carrier, that Mrs Baker is still carrying on most manfully in defiance of Mr. Seymour. She has taken possession of the Mill and of all the grain in the Mill and in the Granary.77 He tells us, and he tells what he has heard as coming from herself, that she is sure of holding her mother's rights, and claims her father's as the heir of her father as well as of her mother. From her proceedings I infer that the advice she got in Town amounts to this viz, to take possession of all she possibly can, which will have the effect of compelling Seymour to be the Plaintiff if he chooses to prosecute. She has distributed written notices forbidding any payments relative to the estate of her father to be made to any one whatever but to herself. Every one almost favours her pretensions, as those of right and justice. I must think that some persons have influenced the mind of her father in making his will.78 n th Feb. 1850 For some days past we have extraordinary thaw which broke the ice on the River and overflowed its banks. Yesterday, Sunday it rained and rendered the congregation therefore small. Today the weather79 has changed, became cold. Snow has fallen - the wind has risen, and now at night it is very high. We have had a visit of Reverend Mr Slack of Granby. He and his family are well. He is a very zealous Minister, and is doing good, but I believe he is a low Churchman. He spoke very ill of Mr. Hawkins, and says that the Bishop's son is a Tractarian.80 He told that the people at Frost Village are now put out with Mr Balfour - that he had become responsible for some man to Mr. Wood, and

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that when he was there lately, he denied his responsibility, whereupon Mr. Wood was very angry, threatened to report him to the Bishop, and prosecute him besides. This is no extraordinary in poor Balfour.81

15th Feb. 1850 The Rev. Mr. Morice of Lacole came here on Tuesday and staid till Yesterday. He is a very pleasant agreeable young man. It was a great pleasure to us to see him. He really cheered us up in our lonely, moping situation. He got Mrs. R - and myself to ride out with him to Franklin. He was to have taken his wife and two children with him,82 but for a fit of sickness that [...] of them had two or three weeks ago. Mrs Baker has got on famously. She has got possession of the Mill, the grain, the Stock and horses & Saw Mill. She had a Sheriff's officer with her from Montreal who took possession of all they could find on Seymour's premises, to put the whole in Charge of OJ. Kemp.83 It is however strongly surmised they have not got all. They have not got a dollar of money and every one knows that Mr. Freligh Always had money in the house. I have not the least doubt but that Several thousands of dollars were in the house. The Officer went back to Montreal last [...] and if I am not much mistaken in my calculations Something will turn up in a day or two which will set Seymour in a new light. I understand he started forward this morning like a goose after his feathers were plucked off. Heavy snow all day; but I was not prevented from taking a short drive up to Yates's to get signatures to an entry in my Register. Having got so far I persevered north to the Stage Road in Dunham, west to Meigs's Corner then to Mrs. Rykerd on business for James where I took dinner, and then home.84 This night the first Friday in Lent, to the Scandal and Shame of Churchmen, there is a Ball at Levi Kemp's in this Village.^ When will the place become under the influence of Christian Principle? I see no appearance of any such thing as yet. I am too faithless and hopeless myself, and it seems the Lord will not work a reformation through my instrumentality. The Lord have mercy upon us! There is a good deal of Snow on the ground now. We had a pleasant visit last night of Asa Westover and his wife, and of Almira Chamberlin who staid with Nancy all night. The Herald of yesterday contains an English Article which is deservedly severe on the mad freaks of our Canadian political parties.86 I see no system of change for good in our miserable squabbling affairs, nor any sign of assembling Parliament. I suppose Lord Elgin & his ministers dread the event.

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i8 th Feb 1850 Last night Nancy wrote to John & I wrote to Malcolm, and today went with them to Berkshire. On my way back called on Mrs. Carty, and left with herself to appoint a day for baptizing her children, which I suppose will be next week. After coming home went to see Mrs. T. Reynolds who has been sick since Christmas. Mrs. Col. Jones, and his sister Mrs Dixon,8? are here tonight. Mrs Baker has been busy all day selling hay.88 I suppose she expects opposition from Seymour on his return from Montreal. At dusk I heard that he had been at Lagrange's three hours before it was dark. Probably, staying there that he might come upon them when not expected. But why stay there? If he can oppose legally the sooner the better, and ought to be done immediately in day light. If he cannot oppose in the day, how is he going to do it in the dark? I do not understand it. If we live till tomorrow, day light will throw a blaze of light on the proceedings. ig th Feb 1850 The Ladies started on their journey at 9 of the clock after breakfast. In the course of the day Mrs. Baker called and staid for dinner. She has sold all that can be got at, and let out the Mills, the farm and house for a year to Galloway Kemp.89 She certainly is a woman of greater energy than any one I ever knew. She has effectually dashed out of the hands of Seymour the great spoonful that was going into his open mouth. And if her energy is great, I think it is more than equalled by the manifest dishonesty of Seymour. She insisted on my giving her in writing my observations on what I knew of her father's mind at and about the time he made his will. The following is what I have prepared for her, viz. I was called by John B. Seymour on the 28* Sepr last past to witness the Will of the late R.V.V. Freligh. On my entering the room where the Testator lay, I found the Notary R. Dickinson Esq. there with the Will ready for signing, and the other witness William Baker, and John B. Seymour who went in with me, and no more. The Will was deliberately read by the Notary before us all. Mr. Freligh, as soon as the reading was done, took the pen, signed his initials at the proper places in the margin of the Will, and at the end, signed his full name. The witnesses then signed their names to the Will & I withdrew. Between this period and the 6th day of October ensuing, I called again to see Mr. Freligh. I am not quite sure of what day in the month,

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but think it was on the first or second day after the Will was signed. I found Mr. Freligh alone. He asked me what I thought of the business (meaning the Will) he had done the day before. I answered that, since he asked my opinion, I would give it to him; and did so as nearly as I can possibly remember to the following effect: viz, that his estate could well afford to do something handsome for the cause of education, but at the same time that he should have given his daughter her share of the property to have and to hold as her own to use for her own benefit according to her own judgment, and at the end dispose of it by Will as she thought proper. Now she will find herself distrusted as a person of no consideration. He said, (and spoke it under some excitement of feeling), he had but one child, and that child's conduct was such that he could not think of leaving his property under her management - she would have her cronies about her - she would hang it about her Silks and gold chains until it would all melt away. I said I thought she had a right to her mother's share of the property and should have that as her own. He said that he and his late wife were married in the state of Vermont across the lines - that the Law of the country in which the woman is married must govern the rights of property - that he had ascertained that the Law of the State of Vermont where they had been married, gives only a living to the woman out of the estate of her husband, in case of surviving him, but gives her no right whatever to dispose of any of it by Will The house was her own. She might do with that as she thought proper. I proceeded to say something more which I did not finish, when he said, She, his daughter, was continually asking for money - that he had frequently given her large sums - that she had sent out a Lawyer to him and claimed money on account of her mother's rights - that when the [lawyer] had said a great deal he stopped him by saying that every story had two sides - that he had given her a great deal - that she was trying to make out, or had threatened to make out that her mother's will was a forgery, and that his child, if she could make that out, would put her father in the Penetentiary. He said all this under strong feelings, and that He and she could not live under one roof, So far. Mr Seymour has come home since dark. Mrs. Baker is here to sleep with Nancy. What tomorrow will bring forth, I know not. p.s. This Will of the 28th Sepr was afterwards set aside, but for what reason I know not. I do not remember the date of the last Will though I was called to witness it as before. There was none present but the Notary,

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the witnesses & John B. Seymour, the Executor; as before. No observations were made by any one, only the Testator said, now it is fixed, but before it left room for a Law Suit every week. I had no conversation with the Testator relative to the Will after this. J. Reid This Paper she intends to send to her Lawyer Mr Cross -9° 2Oth Feb. 1850 I went to see Mr. Nutting, a sick Lawyer of Vermont.91 He is an old acquaintance, a self educated, a self made young [man] of great ability. I am happy to think that he has not the consumption as I had heard he had. He may recover. He enquired about the disturbance relative to Freligh's affairs. He says the Will cannot be set aside except as it regards the School, that having not created Trustees to receive and manage it is null and void. I told him the Substance of what is written on the preceding page here, of which he said that Mr. Freligh was perfectly correct with regard to the Law of Vermont on the Subject of Marriage - that what I had observed of any antipathy on the part of the father towards his daughter would Strengthen the Will instead of invalidating any part of it - that all that Jane had done was a forcible possession and trespass - that all who have bought from her shall have to pay again to the Executor. If so Jane is not on so safe a ground as she had thought she was. The wind is rising. I am afraid of a storm. 2i st Feb 1850 High winds all day, and I felt as usual. O what a poor creature I am! Seymour came home last night. Nothing has yet followed his arrival. He has not attempted either a Seizure of property or persons. Mrs. B slept here last night and after dinner today, Galloway Freligh92 took her away in my Sleigh to the West. He went no farther with her than Cook's Corner. It is supposed she went to St Albans. It was also supposed that Seymour went to Cowansville to get Warrants to take her, and those who acted with her prisoners to be sent to Jail; but it rests on surmise only. In the evening Anson Kemp and his [...] came and spent the evening with us in a friendly way which pleased me very much, being without the usual parade of visiting.

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22 d Feb 1850 A very cold day, and withal windy, but thank God, the wind at Sunset hushed into a glorious calm! The mercury, tomorrow, will be very low. How uselessly have I spent this winter! I have neither studied nor visited. I cannot leave the house without being in misery, nor do any thing in it. The Herald came, and as usual is brimful of annexation. The night before last I received a Pamphlet from the Bishop, called thoughts on annexation. It is in his usual style of long involved sentences, sound enough in principle, but adds neither information nor strength to my own views on the subject of loyalty and allegiance. There is one part of it, however which has given me satisfaction. He has alluded to the movement of last October about the new See of Montreal, and speak [s] in strong terms of approbation of the principles which we expressed and asserted in the Protest and Memorial I sent him. I am glad of this, though he did not choose to acknowledge the Receipt of them at the time. I heard of [no] new movement whatever with regard to the Freligh affair today. It would appear that Seymour has brought no authority with him from Montreal to do any thing. She has outgeneralled him in every thing most completely. 23 d Feb 1850 Cold frost today. Hikok the Bailiff came here today enquiring for Mrs Baker. He has a Warrant he said to put a Seizure on the property that can be found on the premises.93 Galloway Kemp has a Lease of all, and would not let him in. She was not here, we did not know where she was. He tried to talk with me on the subject of dispute. I cut him short, by saying I would not enter on the subject at all. She came here herself in the afternoon, but at dusk, some body came and took her away. She said she would come back and sleep here. It is now near ten of the clock and she is not come. Poor woman, she is cruelly injured. Her mother left her by her last Will, all her share of the property to come into her possession for her own use and benefit after her father's death. Her father willed it away from her. She has so far outwitted them, but how it will turn out in the end I know [not]. God's Law is, "Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the Stranger, fatherless & widow and all the people shall say, amen!" Deut 27.19 "Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child:" Exod. 22:22. "He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow." Deut 10:18 - "A father of the fatherless, and a

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Judge of the widows is God in his holy habitation" Psalm 68.5 "The Lord preserveth the Strangers: he relieveth the fatherless and widows." Psalm 146:9 - I heard today that Mr. Lang, a Methodist Minister dropped down suddenly dead just as he was leaving the house to preach in the Barracks. He left a family of seven or eight children.94 May God prepare us for all that is yet in the womb of time for us to meet! 24* Feb. 1850 Sunday. Moderate. The congregation as usual. While the Singing School lasted, we had Mr. Basset, and good singing, helped on by O.B.K. and the Bass Viol. That being now done we are just where we were, and somewhat worse. Lucy and her Melodian stopped when the School began and it is not likely she will take it any more. The School being done, the Bass viol did not come,95 and Westover, who leads did not attend to get the new tunes and so we are back, after paying our money to the very spot we were in. Nothing can be done with the people we have. We must leave [...] the "one Lawgiver and Judge, who is able to save and destroy. "96 Mrs Baker was here, went to Church. After dinner was sent for down to Kemp's; staid till nine; came up with her girl - made ready as fast as she could. G. Kemp, and G- Freligh, followed her with a horse and Sleigh. She jumped in and off to Montreal. I suppose some attempts will be made tomorrow to seize the property she has in possession. Oh what a trouble and vexation about property! Late in the afternoon, the Rev. Mr. Scott of Dunham, and a brother of his who has long been a congregational minister in the States97 came here, and staid till after Tea. The brother is on a visit. The same had been here about 15 or 16 years ago. Mr Scott was in Montreal last week. He saw Rev. Mr. Pyke who told him he had it of Lady Simpson of Lachine that Mr. Hawkins was to be the new Bishop of the new Diocese of Montreal.98 From what I saw of him last fall when he was here I am satisfied with the choice. The wind is rising very high. O what a night the poor woman has to travel in!

27 th Feb 1850 Yesterday it thawed very rapidly and threatened to break up the roads soon. James came home last night. Made a visit at Mr. Knap's the day before yesterday and dined there, Mrs Reid and myself. Today it freezes a little, and blows hard from the West.

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I understand they expect an attack at the Mill every hour, on what ground such fears possess them I know not but they had nine men in the Mill last night, armed with guns, powder and ball.99 O what a misfortune, and an enemy to peace and religion in the neighbourhood! Cold wind all day, and as usual nervous. The mail brought a letter from John. He is well and in the woods a hundred miles from all settlements, lumbering. From what I can gather, he is earning money, but lays nothing up. A paper came from Malcolm, with a pencil note in it saying merely, "I am well." I have endeavoured, as far as I knew, to be a conscientious good father to my children, but have hitherto been unfortunate. They do not make a suitable return. I am discouraged and down hearted in an extreme degree. A fortnight ago, after visiting a young girl in the neighbourhood for some time James wrote a letter to her offering his hand and asking hers. He went today to see her, and got for an answer the refusal.100 It is come to this. My family is nothing thought of. I cannot help it. There is a cause. Providence does not shine upon us. Seeing how it has hitherto been with us, it may be a blessing that God has taken to himself my dear grandson, in order that my posterity may not increase. In my own family, in my brother and Sister I have been unfortunate.101 1st March 1850 Truly March has come in like a Lion. I hope it will go out like a Lamb. High winds and snow, but not at all cold Poor James returned to his cold lonesome home yesterday taking with him a load of necessary articles which filled the double sleigh. After I had commenced my sermon yesterday in the afternoon for Sunday Revd Mr & Mrs Whitwell came. They staid till today after dinner, and then went to Franklin where they are for tonight the guests of Mr. Hubbard.102 They are both great and unwearied talkers, but when a day's talk comes to a close there remains but very little to be remembered of all the talk. This night it blows very hard indeed and also snows, but the mercury at dusk, stood at 32 the exact freezing point. I bless God that under such high winds, we [do] not require much fire. In the Herald of yesterday which came by this day's mail there is a rumour that the new Bishop of Montreal is selected in the person of an

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english Clergyman of the name of Francis Fulford. He is said to belong to a very Ancient Saxon Family, that is, of the ancient inhabitants who possessed the Kingdom before the Norman conquest. He is said to be a High Churchman.103 I care very little whether he be high or low. For let a clergyman have been ever so low while simply a clergyman, he will be high enough when he is once a Bishop and 'my Lord.' Let us hope well of him. 3d March 1850 Sunday. Very cold. Mercury in the morning 5° below o. Not quite 70 in Church. Gave a discourse on the sojourning of Israel in the Land [of] Egypt.104 In the afternoon, went to see Mr. Strite, at Lagrange's, who is sick. This man was once well off, but being an improvident drunkard, spent all his estate, bro1 his family to poverty; and finally gave all that remained, to Omie Lagrange for his support while he lived. He is therefore at Lagrange's. I found him most heartily engaged at his prayers from a good Book. He did not wish to [be] interrupted till he was done. Had he been a person of good habits and principles, it would give pleasure to hear him, but as he was always full of religious talk and prayers, while acting foolishly and wickedly, who can believe him?105 I hope for the best. Who is perfect? 5th March 1850 Yesterday was cold. I visited Mrs. OJ. Kemp who is sick in the forenoon. At Dinner time Macadam and Macintosh from Brome, called here & had dinner on their way to the States to seek work for the Summer season, in order to make money to put them in the way of working their farms.106 While at dinner James drove into the Yard with his team. He staid over night and went back this morning after breakfast with another load of household stuff. I went up to Asa Westover's to give him word to come & draw hay for us from the Farm - found there our old friends Mr. and Mrs Willard. They said they were coming to make us a visit. I then hasted home and found at home Mr Henry Baker and his wife, who brought us a very fine cheese. Shortly afterwards we were joined by Mr. Willard and his wife and Asa and his wife, so that we made quite a party at tea. The Willards have staid with us. We were very glad to see them. Mrs. Willard has never been here before. Our family make their house their home on the way backwards and forwards to Compton.10?

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We are glad to see them, but then, we certainly have our full share of company. There is hardly a day in the week without some with us at one or two meals, all which amount to something in the year, if an account was kept of it. 7th March 1850 Last night made a visit at Mr. Dickinson's and took tea. When we came home found a Letter from Charles, saying they are well & that he will endeavour to get Jane home before sleighing is at an end. From the last two Heralds I see that a violent quarrel is going on between our friend Kinnear and Ferres. The latter, as he always has been, is writing blackguardism. He called Mr. Kinnear a Scoundrel. I am glad that all intercourse and acquaintance between us and Ferres has been broken up six or seven years ago.108 Today I had Asa Westover's team and men drawing hay for me. In the afternoon I went to see Franklin Chadburn who is far gone in consumption and no doubt near his end. He has been a careless sinner all his life, and addicting to intemperance. I spoke to him as well as I could and prayed. He says he is an altered man, & professes faith in Christ and good hope through grace. Mrs Reid was sent for by Mrs. A. Kemp. I went there to join her at half past five, and took her home before eight. It is moderate weather. The snow is going fast. Last night Maria Kemp, the wife of Stewart Reynolds was brought to bed of a daughter.109 I hear the mother and babe are doing well. Poor Mrs Kemp is very sick. I hope she will get over it. This afternoon Mr and Miss Wells, the children of Townsend Wells of Farnham110 called on us, but did not stop long. 9th March 1850 Somewhat cold, but pleasant and calm. I am however dull and good for nothing. In the afternoon I baptized two children for the widow Carty, and two for the widow OBrine111 and took tea at Dr Barnum's. Downhearted I feel indeed, and discouraged by not hearing from Malcolm. What to make of his silence I know not 12th March 1850 On Sunday night I wrote to Malcolm, and went with the Letter to Berkshire yesterday morning while there was a little covering of new snow on the ground which fell through the course of the night which mad[e]

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the sleigh run easy. Malcolm's last date was the i6th December and we are very uneasy that we do not hear from him. Poor Frank Chadburn died early this morning. He lived a poor life as all the Chadburns do, in the very neighbourhood of the Church and never entering it. Nancy has gone to Anson Kemp's to a quilting. I bought 10 Bushels of wheat today. I suppose I have enough now for ourselves and James. I have bought 42 minots, french meas[ur]e. The Sun rose this morning very near the top of the Pinnacle, as seen from my window. 13* March 1850 Thaw all day. After breakfast Mrs R. and myself went up on a visit to H. Baker's, and staid till after dinner. The Doctor and his Lady were there also.112 The roads are now mostly bare. The day after Mr Freligh made his Will, which was the 29* of Sept, I called on him. He asked what I thought of what he had done. My answer, as relating to his daughter, is recorded in another place and need not be repeated. With respect to his bequest for the establishing and maintaining of a School in the Village, I asked him distinctly if he meant, in case of failure of an heir of his daughter's body lawfully begotten, that the revenue of his whole estate, real and personal, should forever be appropriated113 and devoted to that object. He answered distinctly and promptly that it was. He spoke as nearly as I can possibly remember in these words. "They have called this my village, Uncle Dick's village. Now they see it is their own Village, and it becomes everyone in it to unite together, and make the best of it, for it is in fact their own village." I said that it would in a 100 years endow a College. Soon afterwards I saw Mr. Dickinson, the Notary, who wrote the Will, and asked him if he had fully understood Mr. Freligh's meaning and intention; in a word, if he understood that the revenue of the whole estate was to go towards a school. He did not appear to comprehend the intention of the Testator in the way that he had expressed in the Will. I told him what Mr. Freligh had said to me as to his plain meaning and intention and that therefore it should be properly and that he, Dickinson should call on him, and have the thing properly done. He said he would but wanted to have a talk with him without Mr. Seymour being present. For while he was writing the Will, Mr. Seymour was all the time present. What he meant by this I know not, but it was most evident to me that he appeared to think that Seymour did exercise a control in the

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business. He actually said that he did not want to incur the ill will of Seymour. He said it was no part of his duty to dictate in such matters. I said I agreed with him in full as to that; but at the same time, as a professional man, and for the honour of your profession it is [your] duty to say what you will do, and what you will not do for any man. I then lent him a printed copy of the Hon. J. MacGill's will in favour of MacGill College.114 On the 2Oth Nov. this will was revoked, and another one made more unfavourable to his daughter, but exactly the same with regard to the School. I was one of the witnesses to both. Finding no difference in the wording of the School bequest, I said to the Testator in presence of them all that I thought there was a defect in this - that he ought to have appointed Trustees to receive this legacy and to manage and superintend it. He said that he had done his part. It was for the people of the Village to [do] the rest. I mentioned to him before them all, that Mr Seymour, the Executor was as liable to die as any other, & besides, he might see reasons to leave the country, and go to California for instance, and that Trustees were necessary to take charge of his noble bequest. The Notary said nothing. Seymour said nothing, and I expect he did not thank me for my observation. After that I never said any more. I was disgusted. Now the disposition made by the will is this. Seymour is made the executor his heirs and assigns to execute, all the business of the Testator, in paying his just debts, receiving all payments, as they become due, and fulfilling all engagements as he would have done if he lived, but the whole estate is to go to the lawful issue of Jane Freligh who will be universal Legatee - in failure of which legatee, the whole is to go for the maintenance of a superior School in the Village. Mr. Seymour cannot therefore be in any sense a legatee. There is no legacy by any construction of the terms of the will for him. Jane may not have a child, but in the village, as long as the world stands, it is likely there will be fathers and mothers, and therefore children that will require education. Seymour is not then a legatee, for the whole estate is to go to one of these objects which must be the universal legatee. One of them may fail by not having existence, but both cannot fail. Seymour therefore is not a legatee, but merely executor or administrator, and strictly accountable for the estate. But he signs himself a legatee,X15 which is a plain proof that he denies responsibility, and has acted on this denial. He took away all the effects found in the house of the Testator the night after he died while the corpse lay in it without taking any measures to take an account of them, and had them scattered here and there hid like stolen prop-

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erty. I can view him not otherwise than as a thief and robber. After the first will was made in September I told him the amount of the conversation I had with Mr. Freligh particularly, what I said that the [...] Mrs. Baker should have vested in her own person without being dependent on any one, and leave her to do with it what she pleased. He agreed with me, as he did not [...] to have any thing to do with her. He said he would not have any colleagues with him. When the next and last will was made, it was so arranged that he would have nothing to do with Mrs Baker but merely to pay her the annuity of 300 dollars, and cut her off without judge or jury, if she disturbed or interrupted him. Who cause [d] this change in the mind of her father? The morning after Mr. Freligh died, Seymour, in my house pulled out a parcel of Letters, which he said were from Jane to her father, which were never presented to her father. He had kept them back. There was an unnatural rascality on his part no doubt. 14* March 1850 Frank Chadburn's funeral came on today. Though in the neighbourhood of the Church, the people who attended except Yates's family are those that never attend Church.116 I gave them an appropriate discourse, serious exhortation & a faithful warning 19th March 1850 I married a man of the name of Isaac Flagg, of St. Thomas, and Mary Pier today. "7 The day was cold, windy and the roads bad. I took out the waggon for the first time. Last night I received a letter from James which has made me very uneasy. He has bought a Yoke of oxen in addition to the Yoke he had before, and expects me to pay for them by the middle of next month. Now I did not mean to do any more for him than to furnish his provisions till harvest. But he has done this and defeated all my calculations. Till now I was always prepared because I knew what I had to do, but this came unexpectedly, and I am not prepared. I have kept doing for him to the extent of his own wishes, and sometimes beyond them, and when I paid for building his Cellar, I concluded that I was done, except finding his provisions, but here I am, still in the Yoke, and without my knowledge.118 O what can be the cause that my sons are so hard upon me? If ever a parent wished, and exerted himself to help his children I am that one. This boy could not rest in his skin, after his brother got and lost three fourths of all I had till I bought a farm for him. I kept on in addi-

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tion to the purchase of the land till I paid out in all about $1800 and when I thought I was done and that all should end in love & gratitude, behold he has purchased a Yoke of cattle which he did not need and wants to hire a man in addition to a boy he has already, at the rate of $100 for the year. Instead of love and gratitude, I must break off. I am old, very nigh the time when I must retire, so that if I live but only a few years, the prospect before me is most discouraging. Where is the father that runs himself aground by giving [to] his children as I have done? O my weakness! but I was always controlled. I never was master as I ought to have been in my own family, and as I yielded and surrendered the authority which God has given to every husband and father, I am mostly punished. I did it for the sake of peace, but I find when too late that a dereliction of duty and right never bring peace.119 I am as far from peace and gratitude now, as if I had left them to provide for themselves. If I had done so there would be something for them after my decease that would be worth looking at, but they insist on killing the hen that they may get all the eggs at once. I have done wrong, very wrong, and I am punished. My motive was peace and to get love and gratitude from mother and children which I never got and never expect to get. 2i st March 1850 Extraordinary cold for the season and scorching west wind for three days. I had the interior of my horse stable made over new. It took Morehouse three days. I think it is well done. News from Town today that Mrs. Baker has beat Seymour, so far as to get the property out of his possession, at least that he is not to have possession of them. We shall soon see whether she gets possession. If she gets possession she will of course have the Books and Notes, and can collect debts and rents due the estate.120 This will mortify poor Seymour very much, and set her on her legs and on firm ground. Nancy went on a visit to Hurlbut's, and Dickinson the Notary very kindly accompanied her home about nine of the clock, and staid pleasantly chatting with us till ten. It is still very cold. Heard nothing particularly interesting this week. If the weather dont change I fear I shall not be able to get up a new Sermon for Sunday. I meant to write one on the hardening of Pharaoh's heart.121 23d March 1850 Had a letter from Jane last night which gives us to understand that

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she cannot come home till the roads are settled in May. Charles and his wife are generally of infirm health and have been worse since the death of their child; and so she thinks it best to stay with them as long as she can, especially as they have no girl. 122 Galloway Kemp was here last night on his return from Montreal & told us that Mrs Baker had beaten Seymour, and has got judgment in her favour to get all the property into her own hands - and that he is appointed Curator to the estate of her husband John Baker.123 He will commence to collect the rents of Baker's two houses on which nothing has been paid for several years. But the tenants are poor and in my opinion cannot pay. Seymour is completely, and deservedly overset. I never knew a man that acted knavery so stupidly as he did. They have got a clue to the money which he took out of Mr. Freligh's house.124 I hope Mrs. Baker will wear her success and honours with a meek & merciful spirit. 25* March 1850 There were only 45 in Church yesterday. The roads are now very bad. It snowed a little. The wind has been west for a week or more, and generally high, but today higher and colder than usual, so much that we cannot warm the house. Today a Paper came from Malcolm of the date of 5th Instant. His hand wrote the address on the envelope, but no pencil mark inside as usual to say how he was. O when shall this winter be over? I find it long and dreary, but God be praised that yesterday was not as this day is, so very windy! 26th March 1850 The west wind has now continued for about ten days very high without intermission, particularly yesterday & today, very cold, with great difficulty the house can be kept comfortable. I hear today that Mrs Baker is not coming home for some time, and that Seymour has not been seen in the village for some days. Some evil tongues begin to say that he has cleared out. I do not believe it. O that it would please our heavenly father to send us mild, especially calm weather! 30* March 1850 Still very cold west wind which has continued from the same qr for the last fortnight.

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Last Wednesday evening I attended a lecture on the new Science of Psychology. The Lecturer pretends to act on the nerves of the subject. He begins by putting a small piece of coin in the palm of the left hand of the person who sits for him. This person is directed to sit as still as possible and keep his eye steadily on the coin for 25 minutes. The company present are required to sit equally still, so that nothing may divert the attention. Out of the number that sits he may get one or two that will be affected by his mummery. Such a one he will take out on the floor and makes him believe and see, and taste and feel and smell and hear whatsoever he is a mind to say a thing is. In preparing his subject he goes thro' a vast variety of stroking and rubbing on the head, shoulders and arms of the subject. Tom Skinner was the young man he selected for his monkey tricks. Tom, whether feigned, or really acted upon, I know not, but certainly he acted the whole out to perfection. 125 I cannot however think there is any thing real or good in the matter. The performance is wholly too foolish in appearance, too much like the an tick tricks of a kitten or monkey. But if there be any thing real in it I can compare it to nothing but the doings of Simon Magus.126 Yesterday was Good Friday. We had not more than about 40 in Church. Any thing but religion and Church will be in requisition, and attended to in this country. i st April 1850 Yesterday, Easter day, we had the communion, only 26 came forward to the Lord's Table. The congregation was small. I announced our vestrey meeting for this day, but only one, Henry Baker came. There seems to be a dead stop. I know not what will become of the Church here. It seems that nothing can be done while I am the incumbent. Gladly therefore would I give it up, if I could, and make room for a new Minister: for I have never been myself since the difficulties of Lee and Anson Kemp, and the ungrounded offence of Oren agc myself. Since that time I have felt myself as a nonentity, and consequently had neither courage nor energy to do any thing. The idea of seeing men of sense quitting the Church, because some body had given them a slight offence, or had taken offence at my not taking12? a part in a county election, has shewn me fully the light in which the Church and the Minister are held, and this has taken all heart out of me, so that I can never be myself again in this place; and being too old for a removal, I can never expect to recover from the shock. I feel that I should have quit when those troubles were in existence. What is before my eyes is this, that if

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any one takes an imaginary offence at me, or at any one in the congregation, he leaves the Church without giving any reason. There are roots of bitterness continually sprouting up among the members of the Church, so that nothing can be done, as they are without love and unity among themselves, and have no zeal for God. We have had Singing Schools for several Years but to no purpose. The old singers would not attend, and therefore we remain without the smallest improvement in that department of worship and without the least increase to the Choir because the new singers have no encouragement from the old to come forward, nor, if they did come forward, would they be able to assist, because they know not the tunes which the old sing. The Choir is therefore very feeble and very inefficient. There may be a recovery if I was once gone, and a new minister to succeed me, but to the best of my judgment, the recovery would be as the morning cloud, soon to vanish away. The weather is now beginning to look like Spring. 7th April 1850 Sunday. A fine day, rather cold. The roads very bad and therefore but few in Church. Received a letter from Malcolm. He was not very well, and had a flie bite in his eye. He had not written before since the middle of December. I wrote to him three or four times this winter, and feeling very anxious about him I had expressed my anxiety and uneasiness about the delay or remissness on his part, which he took amiss, and called it "unnecessary scolding as if he [had] been a child of 10 years old." Now I protest I did not scold and though I have kept no copy of my letters I am conscious I did not scold, but only expressed my anxiety and uneasiness that I did not receive any returns from him as it is natural a parent should feel. I am grieved therefore grieved that he should have expressed himself as he did. I cannot help it. It is very probable that If I could feel less anxiety than I do as a parent, it would be better for myself and for my sons. They do not take it well But it is most painful to my heart that I feel so much for them and have done so much for them as I have done, that they do not feel better disposed towards me. This has always been my favorite son. I did more for him than for any of the rest - he caused me more loss than all the rest of the family, yet he never said that he was sorry for the loss he brought upon me, and now he calls the expression of my concern and anxiety about him "Scoldinghim as if he was a child of ten years old." If I could do such a thing, but I cannot, it would be serving him right to leave off writing to him altogether.

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9th April 1850 Very cold both yesterday and today with very high west wind such as we had last year on the 14* of this present month. Impossible to make the house warm without making such a fire in the stove as I cannot bear. The wind whistles through the house as through a sieve.128 Our consolation is that it cannot now last many days. May the Lord that has hitherto preserved us, preserve us still through to the end of our journey! Sandy went to the Bay yesterday, and has not relieved me yet. He is too tired to resume his place and duty 13* April 1850 Time passes away and every day of it brings me nearer to the end of my unprofitable life. This day brings very high south easterly wind, which shakes me as usual, to the centre and brings on a great depression of the mind. Last night we had a pleasant letter from our dear Jane. Much Scarlet fever prevails in that quarter. I wish she was at home.129 Nancy is very much engaged in getting up a Sunday School. She has got Almira and Patience Kemp to join with her. They have gone round to every house, where children are, to ascertain who would come. They are to make clothes for two poor children, in order to fit them out for coming. I gave them money to make the purchase.13° The contending parties at Law, Mrs. Baker and Seymour, are getting up as many depositions as they can to oppose each other.131 It looks to me as if people were fighting with their oaths as if they were contending with Snow balls. Alas! How people will swear, and call upon God to help them in what they know to be false! But they will do it, with as little fear as they would drink water. 14th April 1850 Sunday, such a stormy day not had before this winter. It began to snow at dusk last night, and before morning the west wind rose & blew the snow into heaps. All this day, it snowed hard until 2 of the clock P.M. blowing and drifting. Snowing has discontinued but the wind is yet very high. We have more drifts than we have had all this winter, and shall have to remove a great deal of them in the morning by the Shovel. It was not cold in the morning but now it is cold, and owing to the wind penetrating through the house we cannot keep warm. We made fire in the Church before 9 in the morning, and had a dozen of people to attend. I lectured from the second lesson for the day, the n th Chap, of the 'Acts.'

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I hear that poor Stephen Chandler of Stanbridge died yesterday morning, and is to be buried to morrow. They have asked me to attend. I could not well refuse his poor wife, who has been our ancient friend. I therefore said I would go provided one would come to go with, and take care of me. Asa, her brother said he would, and if he could not come himself he would send his brother, Daniel. 16th April 1850 More cold and high west winds than ever I knew. The snow that fell on Sunday making no doubt about 18 inches at an average on the ground had it remained as it fell, is thrown into heaps & banks every where in the country. I went to the funeral of Stephen Chandler [in] Stanbridge yesterday. Daniel Westover came in his large double lumber Sleigh to take me there.132 I never, on account of the drifts, could have got there in my Cutter! The drifts were terrible. There was a good Congregation in Church. What a pity it is, that Mr. Jones has lost all respects by the members of the Church in his own Parish! O how would I have felt, if any of my people would invite another under my nose! Today three people from Bedford came all the way hither to buy hay from me. The hay Scales in the Village are out of order. We had therefore to weigh by hand or guess. If we weighed by hand the load would have to be built outside the doors; but to do so today was impossible because the wind would blow it all away. We were therefore oblige [d] to guess. I did allow this because I could not think of sending the poor men away empty after coming so far, but I would not like to do it again. I think I have lost between two and three hundred weight by guessing. The double team, with a large hay rack was judged 7cwt - and each of the two single wagons was let go at 2cwt, making i icwt when I honestly think, they took away i4cwt. But it makes no matter. It is dear bought hay to the poor fellows before they got it home. The price is great: $10 per Ton, by far too much, but then what would be the use of selling for less than other people sell at?133 The two or three tons that I have could not reduce the price one mite in the country. If I had to buy I would have to pay as much as any other man. 18th April 1850 Still cold as ever. The mercury stood in the morning 6° above zero. For the last three days I was busy weighing out hay by the hand Steelyards to people from Stanbridge, and cold times I had of it between the doors of the barn. My hay did not turn out well at all. I had not, when I came to weigh it more than half of what I had supposed I had. With great dif-

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ficulty was I able to keep enough for myself. So scarce is the article in the country that people will not take a refusal till I make myself almost a Savage. I am sure if I had more to spare I would be as willing to sell as they are to buy, because I would any day rather have the money than hay which I did not need for my own use. I am glad the trouble is over. I would not like to be pestered with them any longer though the price is large enough in all conscience. 22 d April 1850 Now it is real thaw and rain, & should it continue a few days longer the snow will all disappear & the fields will be green. Yesterday the young Ladies began their Sunday School. They had 31 children to begin with. I addressed the teachers and the pupils, but I cannot undertake to teach a class, on account of the dulness of my hearing; and the children all without exception speaking so low as they all do without exception when they read in School. I have promised to meet the Teachers once a week to expound unto them a chapter, or part of a chapter. They are to meet me tomorrow evening at half past 7 - an hour much too late. A Paper came to me last week from Greenock, full of the politics of Mr. Isaac Buchanan, against the ruinous Currency Bill, and free trade measures of Sir Robert Peel. He has many sound as well as bad observations -*34 26th April [1850] The first warm day we have had. Last night Gal. Kemp returned from Montreal, and called up here at 9 P.M. with a Silver plated Cruet stand as a present from Mrs. Baker. This is the first and only handsome present we ever got from any of the people of the place. We have not done a great deal for her, but it seems she has a grateful feeling for the little we have done. We took her in when she was in a manner a Castaway. I let her have $15 when she was destitute and could not raise any to carry her to Montreal to procure legal advice. Things took such a turn in her favour that she was enabled to pay me back in a short time. Her affairs however are very far from being settled. There is no decision. The estate may yet be in Court as long as it will afford picking for the Lawyers, the horse leeches of the devil. Mrs Kemp, her daughter Maria and her babe were here the chief part of the day and dined with us. Sandy and myself repaired some of the fences which fatigued me very much.

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29* April 1850 A tolerable good congregation yesterday. The Sunday School increased to 41. I hope it will go on prosperously. James came here a little after Church began. He got my letter on Saturday and engaged Macintosh to work for him for 7*/2 months at $11 per month. He went away this morning at half past nine, taking with him the Team and a small load of necessary things. At 2 or half past 2 P.M. a very heavy shower commenced wh continued nearly the whole afternoon. I feel very anxious about him. The roads are very bad and I know no place in which he could drive under for shelter after leaving Churchville.135 Since the rain has begun, it has become cold. There is no change as yet about the Freligh estate. For some days back it was thought that some movement was meditated by Mr Seymour, but all is still. It was said that a council of his radical friends^6 was held yesterday at his house when people were in Church. Freligh always thought himself a very worldly wise man; but his wisdom failed him when he allowed himself to be guided by Seymour in the disposal of his estate by his last will. He held to his property while he lived with the tenacious grip of life and death, and worked for it, and saved it as if he were to live forever, but now it is fought for, and perjured for, and the Lawyers, the generation of vipers, who fear not the wrath which is to come1317 will have the most of it to spend on their lusts and their whores -

1st May 1850 May has come in windy and cold. James has returned this evening with the team. He got very wet on Monday going out with his load. Seymour took Galloway Kemp's two hired men on Monday on a warrant and sent them on to Montreal, and also G. Roberts. He would not have them tried before any magistrate here & so they were posted off under the keeping of Hikock and Lin Kemp. G. Roberts got out of their hands before they left the village, and took himself off to Montreal and was there before them. By means of his information Mrs. Baker had Bail ready to offer on their arrival and they got back home sound and well before their keepers.138 I know not how it will all end yet. It is a most grievous thing in the village & indeed a nuisance. Asa Westover was so kind as to come down himself last night with his team and plowed for me about 3/ of an acre wh I had to break up. He asked one dollar and he earned it.

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Two of my yearling calves are found today to have a distemper in their limbs so that they cannot rise nor stand, though they eat and chew the cud. One of my cows calved last [night] in the stable, and as she was tied and could not help her calf, it was found dead this morning.139 We cannot expect to be always fortunate. 3d May 1850 I went up to Abbott's Corner to get my horse shod. In my absence a fall out took place between the servant girl and Mrs. Reid without any provocation whatsoever on the part of Mrs. Reid. The girl has been most difficult to manage for at least two years but we bore with her, when I believe no other family would or could have done so. We had not so much fault to find with her work, though she was not at all handy, as with her excessive bad temper. The business was referred to me when I came home. There was nothing in it but her bad temper. I heard her calmly, and then without any ado, but merely giving her good advice, I settled with her, paid her up and dismissed her. We are now without a girl; but we will never bear with such impudence as we have had from her again. We have had her for nine years.14° She was respectful enough to myself, but she was determined to domineer over Mrs Reid and the girls. 5th May 1850 Sunday. The day cold, rainy and very windy. The Sunday School was well attended, but there came not more than 30 or so of grown persons to Church. I know not how the School is taught. The teachers are mostly all young and inexperienced. I cannot undertake to teach myself, because I am so dull of hearing that I cannot possibly understand them. Indeed the teachers and the Scholars, are to me incomprehensible, as I cannot hear one or the other. I stay there all the time, but I do no thing. I cannot hear men and women that speak distinctly, though not loud, but can make nothing of the growing race. Their wind-pipes are so fine as to leave no room for more than a small part of the sound of words. Blessed be God, we had a Letter from Malcolm today for Nancy. This is only the third Letter since the beginning of winter. In February I mentioned to him my utmost anxiety as a parent, for his remissness, under the fear that he was sick or that something had happened to him. He answered this letter rather unpleasantly, saying that I scolded him as if he had been a child of ten years of age. I thought

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this an ungrateful return for an expression of my fatherly care and anxiety about him. If I had felt less about my children, it would perhaps have been better for them and for me. It was my kind feeling that was overcome by his entreaty that made me give him the half of my property. The same feeling prevailed in giving my youngest son James, the most of what remained. Had they done what other boys do, look out for themselves, something handsome would be ready for them at the end. But they could not wait. They have killed the hen that was supposed to lay golden eggs in the hope of getting them all at once, and so by their impatience put an end to all future hope. Malcolm was my pride, but he has never expressed either before, or since he went away any sorrow for the misfortune he brought upon me. With regard to "Annexation" he says in his letter to Nancy that it will take place before long, and will be the greatest blessing to Canada that it ever received. Well, be this as it may, why cannot he see, that this great "blessing," will reduce the aged father and mother to absolute beggary. He has got the Substance that our connexion with Great Britain has put into the lot of his father, how then can he call it a "blessing," to sever the connexion by which he subsists, and without which, he must be a beggar, because, from his age, he can do nothing whereby to earn a living? n th May 1850 Very cold for the time. Farming work cannot be done as yet on account of rain and cold which keep the ground so wet that it cannot be worked. I have only got 21/2 day's work in drawing out manure on my corn and potato ground. We have now been nine days without a Servant girl, and the milking of three Cows has cost me 3/9. We cannot keep Cows at this rate. We expected that James, with a girl he has hired for us in Brome, would have come tonight, but he has not come. I hope nothing is the matter with him. 22 d May 1850 James brought us a girl on the 12th. She appears as yet to answer the purpose very well.141 He went back the day following. Last Sunday, he came back again, and would have returned next day but for the rain. He went this day taking with him the team and a load of potatoes &c. Owing to so much rain we have not been able to plant any corn yet. I have written a Letter to the Rev. Mr. Hawkins of which the following is a copy.142

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Rev Sir I fear I have delayed too long in acknowledging the receipt of the Colonial Church Chronicle. I am happy to say that it comes most regularly every month, and that I have now got Six numbers, the last of which, for this month, came yesterday. I expected to have received the ist and 2d Volumes, but since they have not come, I would prefer that the Chronicle should continue to come as long as the $5 I gave you will pay for it.143 I thank you heartily for your Book, the Annals of the Church in this Diocese. The whole Colonial Church ought to feel grateful to you for the pains and labour you have taken as her historian. Should you publish a second edition, it would please me much to find the Romance of Bishop Henshaw omitted.J44 My Congregations keep up very regular. The hateful stir about annexation has not troubled my parish or mission. I have a good Sunday School, and a Bible class of young exemplary persons, to whom I expound a Chapter of the New Testament &c every Tuesday evening. In this exercise we take much pleasure, and find it very profitable. This winter I have undertaken to arrange and copy the late Bishop Stewart's letters to me. They embrace the period of twenty years of his missionary labours in Canada. To me they are most interesting. They have lain by me since they were received, carefully preserved. I am glad that I have undertaken to transcribe them. They shew a wonderful activity, diligence and unwearied, persevering zeal in his Master's work, not so much in fine speeches and talking as in doing, and making others, to act. I always loved and venerated [him] as a father while living, and, now at the space of thirteen years, after his departure, from the Scene of his labours, to rest "in joy and felicity,"145 a review of his Letters, brings him down, as it were, to converse with me in my study, as in days gone by never to return. He had neither the genius, nor the acquirments nor the ability of Bishop Heber,146 but no man ever employed the talents which God had given him with greater zeal, always under the direction of reason, prudence, kindness and charity, than the late Bishop Stewart. I am now an old man, at the age of 70, and I am afraid that I have not faith enough to believe that I shall ever see his like again. As the Chronicle comes so regular, it would oblige me much if you would have the goodness to send me some of the Reports of the Society. The last I have seen is for the Year 1847. I am Rev Sir Your humble Ser1 James Reid.

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30* May 1850 We have had much cold, wet weather which has kept back the labours of the field, in plowing, sowing and planting. I did not get my corn planted until the twenty eighth.J 47 Charles brought home Jane on Saturday night, and officiated for me on Sunday while I went to the funeral of Mr. Nutting in Berkshire. ^ Charles went away for his own home yesterday. His mother and I accompanied him to Dunham. We made a visit at Mr Scott's. I am sorry that this gentleman's health is far from being good. He says nothing about his situation as to the choice he made of Dunham, but I am sure he must now feel, when he cannot help it that he has made a very bad bargain. All he gets in addition to his bare £100 Salary is the use of a Glebe, 50 acres in no state to yield him hardly any more than pasture for his cow. It is wild and uncultivated. What of it is clear is run out. If it ever will yield him any thing he has got to clear the land & cultivate and manure what has been cleared; whereas in Brome he had a few acres under good improvement on which he raised grain, potatoes and pasture enough for his family. He made a bad bargain, and I am sorry for him.149 He thought Dunham would be a more popular place. The people of this country deserve no good. The clergy should be taken away from every one of the Townships. I find today that Seymour has got authority from Court to take into his own charge all the Freligh property that was put in charge of O.J. Kemp last February. I do not then see what hinders him from getting all. Let the potshards of the earth strive and worry one another.15° The estate will be Squandered and no great harm done either. It was gathered by the dog in the manger, and now the wolves will scatter it.

2 d june 1850 Sunday. Fair day almost. I heard last night that W. Baker's eldest daughter, Mrs. Butler, died. She had been long in very poor health.1^1 I have it in mind to start for Montreal to morrow morning, & in Town to pay the following sum viz. To T B Anderson T C Society152 Half of our subscriptions Quinquagesima

To deposit in the Montreal Savings Bank To wit - Due since last year of 9 for the present year

£8 . . 6 .3 i. .16. o £10 2 3

£7 . . 8 9 5 126 £13

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io th june 1850 I went to Montreal and returned safe home. Did my business satisfactorily, and deposited of what Church money I had as laid down in the preceding page. I wrote a letter to Mr. Hawkins on the 8th. The following is a copy of it.153

St Armand 8th June 1850 Rev Sir I wrote to you on the 21st ult to inform you that the Col Church Chronicle has regularly come to hand since December to the present, six numbers, but that the 1st and 2d VoP had not come. On the supposition that they had not been sent, I took the liberty of suggesting that instead of them, the Chronicle should continue to be sent as long as the payment I made would satisfy. This week, however, the missing Vols together with five numbers of the Chronicle, and two of the Society's Reports, in a parcel from the Rivingtons,154 came in perfect good order, bearing date the 12th november. I have now got all except one number, which, no doubt, will be here soon. I have therefore to thank you, which I do sincerely, for your punctual attention to the affair. If you could point out to me any way in which I might be able to transmit the payment of so small a sum as the price of the Chronicle, it would gratify me very much to have it continued, as I think the great variety of information which its pages contain would be very useful to me. I see no other publication of the kind. I have a manuscript ready, more than two years ago, for the Press, which I would like to publish. I have called it "Essays on Religious and Moral subjects, adapted to the domestic manners, customs, pursuits and state of Society in the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada." I think it would sell if I could have access to a publisher who would be willing to undertake the publication of it. Should there be any profits from the sale of the work I would give three fourths of them to the "Colonial Bishoprics Fund."155 I do not ask you to be at any trouble, but if you will have the goodness to give me some directions how to proceed, I shall be thankful to you for the kindness. A great part of the work was written in the time of our Canadian Rebellion, and published in a Township Periodical, with the direct view of promoting Loyalty and good feeling, in as entertaining a Style as I could use, and I had the satisfaction to learn from every quarter that it did good. I am, Rev. Sir, Your obed1 humble servant James Reid.

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To the Rev E. Hawkins B.D. Secretary, to the S.P.G.F.P. 79 Pall Mall, London 2O th June 1850

Very warm for three days. Sent a Letter this day to Malcolm. I left it with Levi Kemp, to go by the Stage to the american Post office. Yesterday I attended the annual meeting of the District association. It was held in the new Church of Dunham. It went on nearly very well; but with the materials we have it is not possible that it will go on well enough. We had two new Clergy. Lindsay of Brome, a beardless boy, undertook to find fault with the proceedings, and Mr. Jones at the close faulted me for not calling a meeting oftener.1^6 I told him, I called a meeting just as soon as it was asked of me. The day was very hot. We had Mr and Mrs Whitwell, and consequently had talk enough. 23d [June 1850] Sunday, a fair day until near Sunset when an awful storm of rain, thunder and darkness, cast a threatening gloom on the face of nature all around. I had just got home from Krans's when it began. I got in before I had but a few drops fallen on me. Today the congregation was small owing to a funeral Sermon that was to be delivered at the Baptist meeting for a young man that was drowned at Whitehall some weeks ago. I wonder what can they mean by such Sermons?^7 There was another cause of the paucity of the Congregation, which is a Millerite meeting in Dunham. We had judge McCord, Mr and Mrs Gordon Mack in Church. While I had to attend the Service of God, a Swarm of young people took the opportunity of being in meadows picking strawberries. Some of them were the Children of the Sunday School. How degraded must these people be! The children of two english families, of one American and one french, were thus profaning the Lord's day within sight of the Church. I must see what can be done to prevent them to morrow. The life of a Clergyman is difficult in the Townships 30th June [1850] Sunday. A fair day. The congregation pretty good for us. The same at Cooks. I refused going to a funeral about two miles on this side of Stanbridge Mills. I could not, without disappointing my con-

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gregation at Cook's. Let them get their own minister or go without Last Sunday, our congre[g]ation was very small; and I had the mortification of shewing so small a congregation to Judge McCord, W.G. Mack Esq. his Lady & another Lawyer.^8 I had a Letter from Charles on Friday which mortified, confounded and pained me dreadfully; no less than a painful indication of an intention to get his wife away from him. My daughter was there four months and from all that I can learn from her there is no blame to be attached to his poor wife. The fault is all, she believes, his own. I wrote him the following Letter yesterday. On second thought, I will not insert it. Things may mend, and if so, it will be better to keep no record of it. 6th July 1850 Last Tuesday Nancy and myself started for Montreal and returned on Friday - After arriving in Town Mr. Mountain and Mr. Nicols called on me, and requested me to give up the Resolution they had sent me the week before and take another. Now the one they wished me to move was the most difficult to handle of the whole set because it required so much particular information to be given by the mover. It was to rejoice at the extension of the Church, by the erection of Sees and the appointment of Bishops in so many of the British Colonies. I did as well as I could, but not at all to my own satisfaction.159 The audience however seemed well pleased. i 5 th July 1850 Yesterday was rainy. We had but a small congregation, 22 were at the sacrament, and only five of them were men. Discouraging. This forenoon I call[ed] up at Westover's. I understood from him that he has learned from Lee that Seymour is trying to do me all the injury in his power. He is giving out that the deposition I made is false. It is not false and the man Seymour knows that it is not false, and besides, he knows that I know what Freligh intended by his will and that he did not intend to give him any Legacy. He knows all this, and that if the truth shall ever come to light his rascality will come to light also. Lee takes his part, and thinks that my deposition was untrue. This man Lee is a strongly prejudiced John Bull. I have had trouble with him and Anson Kemp heretofore. Nothing can be done with him. I believe it is as well to let him alone - to take his own way. He comes to Church, but

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not so regular as usual. It is his own loss. I have to attend the funeral of George Barnes tomorrow. What his religion was, or whether he had any, I know not. It has been very warm of late. [20th July 1850] [ The content of what follows makes it clear that this entry was written subsequently to 15 July 1850. 2othjuly 1850 corresponds to Reid's date at the top of the following page of the diary.] 1 did attend the funeral of Barnes. Mr. Hurlbut carried me in his double wagon and back again.l6° The [re] was a good congregation. I was much helped in giving them a useful discourse spoken extemporaneously. The day was hot. On Wednesday the 17* myself and Mrs R. started for Brome to see James. The day was very hot. The sun Scorched my face very bad, especially my right cheek. We found James well, and his farm covered with a very good crop of grass, oats, potatoes and some wheat. I suppose he will have 200 Bushels of oats, 60 or 70 Bushels of Indian Corn, and three times as much hay as he had last year. On Thursday I went to see Mr. Lindsay, dined with him and was well pleased with him.161 The day was wet. On Friday we started for home, taking the Sutton road down to Sutton flatts, but before we got there the rain poured down. We stopped at Elijah Kemp's in expectation that it would clear up; but no. It continued to rain together with high winds, and we were obliged to stay overnight. The young man treated us most handsomely and kindly. On this morning we started for home in the rain at 8 and got on to Mr. Simpson's by 10. We stopped, waiting for fair weather till 2 P.M, and at last had to resume our journey under heavier rain than we had before on the way, but having our cloak we did not get wet through. Simpson has made very great improvements, cleared a great deal of land, has a good crop growing, built and finished a most excellent house and barn, both first rate frame buildings, all in 17 months.162 Indeed, the improvements in Brome and Sutton in roads, bridges, Buildings and school houses are far beyonfd] St. Armand. I wish I was well out of the strifes, jealousies, malice and hatred of St. Armand! I have no Sermon for tomorrow. 2 6th July 1850 I have this day loaned £37.10 to William Macintosh of Brome, and in security for the same took a mortgage on his farm. He has it for three

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years.l63 He paid down the interest for the first year, to wit £2.5. I thought it was but right that I should allow him interest for this and so I paid him 54 Cents. The loan therefore will not bear interest till a year from this day. The $141 which he took will be $150 this day twelve month. The interest will be computed and due two years from this day. Sir Robert Peel is dead. A great man and a Prince fell when he died by a fall from his horse.l64 8th August 1850 Finished haying last night and had 16 loads more than I had last year on less ground, and without mowing the out skirts on the River, which would make perhaps five loads more. The weather has been very warm this week. Wonder we do not hear of working men dying on the field, from excessive heat & drinking water. The Papers of last night inform [us that] the Queen has sanctioned the appointment of F. Fulford D.D. for the new Sea of Montreal; and the present Bishop of Montreal for the Sea of Quebec.165 We know not what the new Bishop will be. A change is always a serious thing. The present Bishop we know - is good in the main - means well - but you cannot hold him - he always leaves room for backing without making himself liable to a positive charge. 2Qth August 1850 Dates shew that I have made no entry here for a long time. I may say that ten days ago I went out to Brome to see James, and was much pleased with his improve15 and his crops for a beginner. Mr Scott went with me; we returned next day. The appearance of crops every where is most excellent. At Brome corner there has been a frost that killed Buckwheat and some corn. On Tuesday I went down to Mr. Tittemores and got two new axel trees put in my waggon. In his shop there is an old man to work who appear [s] to be a great reader. He knows the whole Bible he says, and can beat Bishop Hopkins in argument.166 This is one of the humbugs that play in this world. Yesterday I preached in the Church of Dunham, to the Ladies Sewing Society. I took great pain to prepare a Sermon for them on this text. Oh, how amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord!16? That I might have as good [a] Sermon as I could make I copied it from the first draft. The Sermon was followed by a great tea party and a bazaar of their fancy work, in the Basement story of the Church. Mr Scott, at the Tea proposed toasts,

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1 The Ladies of Dunham, proposed by Brown Chamberlin and thanked in behalf of the Ladies, by Mr Scott. 2 The guests present by Joel Baker replied to by Mr Lowe.168 3 The Queen, by Mr. Scott, responded to by Tailor Finlay, who made no other reply, than to give Lord Elgin, and long may he remain to Govern this Country, to which none replied.169 Then Joel Baker commenced auctioneering the Ladies' trinkets,17° on which occasion, the [...] proved himself the greatest bleathering humbug I ever heard. Indeed the whole affair was a complete farce and shameless humbug. Had I known how it was to be conducted, I would neither have given a sermon, nor be [en] there at all. Catch me there again if you can. The same farce is there repeated again today, a Sermon and Tea party for the Sunday Scholars. Mr. Lindsay was expected to preach. I would have been glad to hear him, but I had so much farce and profanation yesterday, that I would not go. Just as Mr Scott and myself were in the Church dressing ourselves for Divine Service, James Jones stopped in to us, just to tell me that he had received my Letter, on the subject of the Montreal Clerical address to the New Bishop of Montreal. He had the circular ten days before mine came, and complied with the proposal by giving his name. We requested him to stay. He would not, he said he was on his way carrying his boys to College.1>71 Mr Scott went out with him to the door, and prevailed on him to stay, whereupon he came back and read prayers. When he spoke to me as he had to put his face close to my ear, that I might hear him, I found that he smelled of whisky as if he had been a whiskey barrel newly opened, while his face was red and bloated. Mr Scott made him read the service. His reading disgusts. Alas! for the church while we have such Ministers at her Altars. Charles's wife was brought here from Brome yesterday and is here yet. Mrs. Reid went to Berkshire today with Mrs A. Kemp. Another fancy 30th Aug1 1850 I wrote the following letter to George Savage and Son today by Brown Chamberlin: Gentlemen I here send you a Cheque on the Bank of Montreal for the sum of £22.19.0 to meet the inclosed account.

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I beg you will have the goodness to acknowledge the receipt hereof as sc as convenient, and oblige, Gentlemen Your obed1 humble Servant James Reid To Messr8 Geo Savage and Son Montreal

This afternoon I had a pleasant ride to Stanbridge with Ju Charles's wife. I left her at Mrs. Chandler's, to take the Stage for Johns in the morning. On my return I passed a very old man, Abner Bickford, a man totl ing on the Brink of the grave, very drunk. At the house I passed his s and his wife fighting savagely on the street, and their daughter trying separate them. The women had their clothes torn down to the wa; The man was drunk, and probably the woman. What an awful and be; ly sight! ^ 2 4th Sepr 1850 Last night when at supper James drove into the Yard with his Gray ma He came for our Girl to the burial of her brother who died suddenly Stukely. The poor girl took on her with terrible crying, and could not be p; fied. The poor [boy] had to go with her right off. We could neither p; fy nor keep her till this morning, and my poor son I am afraid will sick for it. I let him have my mare as his own was done up. I mean send out Spicer tomorrow with his own and bring mine back as I do \ wish her to be put to the plow, and his work must go on. This morning Mary Hurlbut was married to a little gentleman fr New York. They kept it very Secret, but some got wind of it. In the Af noon I went up to the Pinnacle to marry one Barnes, and a young j of the name of Deming. I got $13 today, not a bad day's work.173 I received a Receipt for the money referred to in the preceding pa All right. 6 th Sep r 1850 We received a letter from poor Malcolm. He was at a watering place the State of Missisipi near the City of Jackson the Capital of the St; for the benefit of his health. He has been in very bad health since

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Spring, and for the account he gives of himself I much fear that he will be no more. May God give me grace to bear his loss as it becometh a Christian! I wrote to him immediately and went with it to Berkshire. I begged of him to come home, if he thought his strength would bear the journey. I saw Mr. Rand who told me that he was going to New Orleans this fall, and intended to Start by the i st of October. This will be a good chance for Malcolm to come home with him.174 I will write to let him [know] that he may see Mr. Rand. 7 th Sep r 1850 I baptised the Dr's child this day in Church. He did the thing very handsomely. He had his wife's family, and his own, Daniel Westover and his wife, Asa, and his wife, Margaret and Emily, Mrs Rykerd and her son; Mrs Chandler and her daughter, Mrs Rosenberger & her daughter, Louis Baker and his wife, Capt Baker and his wife, Dr Barnum and his wife, Charity and Catharine McAllum and Mrs. Ferres.1^ From Church he took us all up to his farm (that which formerly belonged to Zer Leonard) J 7 6 where he had a dinner prepared for the whole company, about 30, in number. We staid there till between 3 and 4 P.M. and then Mrs Reid and myself came home. I forgot to mention that his brother's widow and her daughter Mary Ann were of the party. He did this, gave the dinner on his farm as a memorial of his present intention of leaving this farm for an inheritance to his first born child this day baptized by the name of Sarah.1^ I was not very well today, and felt much worse, though I eat very sparingly, after dinner. After coming home, Mrs Krans, the widow of David Krans came on a visit and staid all night. 8 th Sep r 1850 Sunday. The day fine and the roads, but the congregation not larger for all that than usual. On my way to Cook's Corner I went round by Krans's and took the Widow Krans with me down to her brother in law's where I left her. She expects her son in Law, Mr. Allen, to come there for her/78 Yesterday, a man was found [hanging] to a tree in the woods, near Ingall's south of the Pinnacle.179 He is said to belong to Berkshire, the Town joining south of the Line 45° - Some say he was deranged, and others that he was driven crazy by a scolding, contentious woman for a wife. In the morning I overheard the Sunday School boys talking about the melancholy affair, whereupon a little boy, Dick Skinner said, if he

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had a scolding wife he would not hang himself for her. Saying so very soberly and gravely as if he were an old person/80 I turned round and asked him what he would do if he had a scolding wife. O, says he, with great sedateness, "I would take it peaceably, and let her alone." I wish every one had the cool Philosophy of the boy, Dick Skinner, and myself among the rest. The boy's observation was as good to me as if I heard some sermon. I will lay it up, and endeavour to benefit by it under some of [the] crosses and crooks of life.

16th Sep. 1850 Last Thursday we had the County cattle Shew in the Village. It was partly a wet day. It was not a matter of much interest to me. I went out only about 15 minutes to see two persons that I had some business with. We had Mr. James Jones of Stanbridge and Mr. Scott, his wife, two of the sons of Robinson of Waterloo and James with us to dine.lSl Last night I wrote to Malcolm, in which I informed him of the intended visit of Mr. Rand to New Orleans this fall and that it would be a good opportunity for him to come home with him. The new Bishop of Montreal arrived at St Johns last Tuesday. The Clergy of the Richelieu District were there to receive him. The Bishop of Quebec had arrived there the day before; and the same body of Clergy presented him a valedictory address which the Bishop received very graciously, though it was flat with unmanly sycophancy. On the follow[ing] day they presented a far better one to the new Bishop.182 When it was known that the New Bishop was expected at a certain time, the Clergy of Montreal prepared an address, congratulatory to him, copies of which they sent out to the Country clergy, saying if they did not say immediately that they did not wish their names to be to it, they would append them. I wrote to Dr Bethune to say that we of Missisquoi would present an address from our own body. He did not however wait. For they presented an address purporting to be from 50 Clergymen, rather more than are in the Diocese of Montreal.183 It appears that the Richilieu Clergy did not authorise him to append their names any more than we did; for if they had they would not themselves have presented one at St. Johns. I had prepared an address to each before I had seen theirs, with a view to have it signed by our District Clergy who are to meet here the day after tomorrow. Our meeting was appointed long before we knew what time the Bishop was to come. This makes our addresses later. The following is a copy of those which I have prepared. I hope they

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will be adopted and signed by the brethren the day after tomorrow, or that some of them will come furnished with better ones. "To the Right Reverend Father in God George Jehoshaphat, Lord Bishop of Quebec. May it please your Lordship, We, the Clergy of the District of Missisquoi, late a portion of the ancient Diocese of Quebec, over which your Lordship has presided for the last 14 years, cannot, in justice, either to our own feelings, or to your Lordship, allow the connexion which has, so many years existed between our reverend Diocesan and ourselves, to cease, without expressing to you our grateful sense of the uniformly kind and paternal treatment we have received at your Lordship's hands, on all occasions of intercourse with us, and our admiration of your unwearied zeal, and persevering labours throughout this most extensive Diocese, under many discouragements and difficulties, incident to a new country, where the climate varies between two great extremes, for the promoting of 'True Religion,' sound Learning, and the interests of the Church. We desire and hope long to remember, and to be benefited by the 'godly counsels,' and practical expositions of your Excellent Episcopal Charges, and pious, faithful and affectionate instructions delivered by your Lordship to our flocks, especially to the young people under our charge, on all occasions of administering the Apostolic Rite of Confirmation. In taking leave of your Lordship, though it is on our own account, with deep regret, yet our consolation is, that the division of the diocese, and the severance of a Solemn connexion, as a necessary consequence, between a beloved Diocesan and his confiding clergy, are honourable to your Lordship's administration since they plainly shew that the Church has 'lengthened her cords and strengthened her stakes,' l8 4 under your guidance, to such an extent as to require another chief labourer in our Lord's Vineyard; our prayer, therefore, is, that your hands may remain strong, by the blessing of the 'Mighty God of Jacob,' long to labour for the benefit of the Church, and that you may have the increasing Satisfaction of beholding the Lord's work prospering in your hands; and that while the Diocese, like the Patriarch's flock has now become two great 'bands, >l8 5 the Two may continue to walk together in love, and that the undershepherds, in their respective spheres, may, one and all, in every good work, co-operate with one another, and with their chief Shepherds, who are over them in the Lord, in feeding 'The Church of God which he has purchased with his own blood.'186

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We conclude with our earnest prayer to our heavenly father for his blessing to rest on yourself, Mrs. Mountain and all your family,18? both in this world and in that which is to come." "To the Right Reverend Father in God, Francis, Lord Bishop of Montreal, May it please your Lordship, We, the Clergy of the District of Missisquoi, beg leave to congratulate and welcome your Lordship and your family, on your safe arrival in your New Diocese of Montreal. We recognize, in the appointment of a Clergyman of your approved character and standing in our Mother Church of England, to fill this important new See, the pious and fostering care of the venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel over their plantations of the Church abroad by sending a Bishop to the new Diocese of Montreal, who has made himself so well acquainted with the history, and the State and wants, of the Colonial Church of the Empire, as, we are assured, your Lordship has done. As we have always respected, honoured, loved and obeyed our late Diocesan, now the Lord Bishop of Quebec, as some of us did his Lordship's predecessors, of blessed memory, so we hope and desire, by the assistance of divine grace, ever to entertain & cherish the same feelings toward your Lordship, and cordially to strive together 'with one mind for the faith of the Gospel'188 with our Bishop, to extend the knowledge of Divine Truth, the Doctrines of the Church and to inculcate upon our people the practice of godliness righteousness, and Loyalty to our August Sovereign. We beg your Lordship will have the goodness to convey this expression of Christian regard and welcome from us to Mrs Fulford and family, l89 with our best wishes and prayer that they may long enjoy health and happiness in this their adopted country." These are my addresses which I have prepared, and hope they will be adopted and signed the day after tomorrow. I cannot make them any better. They satisfied Mr Scott when they were only in the first draft. Mr Jones is satisfied. I have seen no other. I think myself they are much better than any I have yet seen; but then I know not whether they will please the rest of our brethren. Some are very fond of correcting what they cannot themselves match or amend. Such are the ways of mankind. "Every man however little makes a figure in his own eyes."190 All have their crotchets and hobbies.

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ig th Sep. 1850 Last day or yesterday we had a meeting of the District Association of the Church Society. It went off like the one we had in May 1845, all spoiled by Mr Whitwell. As Chairman I could not keep him within the like of what I considered propriety. This day we discussed the matter. We did not break friendship - that in my private character I would be the same as ever, but that I would not attend the meeting which is fixed for his place on 3d Wednesday next January, nor any of the Society's meetings hereafter. I never was so mortified and pained as I am before.191 27 th Sep 1850 Went to Montreal, myself and Jane on Monday, did our business, presented our address from the Clergy of Missisquoi, and came home yesterday.192 On our arrival at home we found waiting for us the sad news of my poor dear dear Malcolm's death, which took place on the 29* of last month. What shall I say? It is the Lord who gave that has now taken the dear child. We are plunged in the depths of sorrow, but I hope we do not repine, nor [are] unresigned. He has been sick since January, but did [not] stop from his employment till July, nor inform us of his case till the 17th August, when he sent a letter, of which the following is a copy: "Cooper's Wells Hinds County Mississippi, about 10 miles from Jackson the Capital of the State. My dear Papa, It has been a long time since you have heard from me except by Papers. But my health would not permit me to write, or at least write any thing satisfactory, and I preferred saying nothing, until I could say something positive - knowing you would imagine a great deal more than there was. I received Nancy's Letter when I was at Pass Christian, a watering place on the Gulf between New Orleans and Mobile, where I had gone for two weeks for my health. *93 I received some benefit but did not stay long enough, and I fell back lower than I was before upon going to work again. Your letter I received on the 6th July, the day I started for this place, but I was too debilitated to write or say any thing satisfactory since until now, of which I take the first opportunity. I am extremely thankful to you for your Letter as you wrote as if you considered me more of a man, and less a child than formerly" (since last fall he did not write but seldom, only once or twice last winter, and I was uneasy and chid him for not writing without knowing

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the cause, which brought from him this remark) "I must tell you (which is all I can do, now in this letter) what is and has been the matter with me. Since I have been in New Orleans I have worked very hard nearly three years. Of course my weight fell to about 125 or i3Olb but last winter from January since I began to feel myself getting debilitated and weaker besides I had a cough like an influenza which had been on me a long time but without giving me for some time any trouble, but I began to fail, it also contributed its share to bring me down lower. If it had been possible I should have gone to bed in March for some time and taken tonic, medicines, Rest and quiet for 10 or 12 days, and I have no doubts but that I should have been completely restored to my usual strength, but from then to May is the hardest working season of the year. Some whole weeks working until one and two in the morning. I stuck it through and worked as hard as the rest. It takes a good deal to drive a man to bed, when his mind is made up to go through with a thing. It keeps his courage up. But I have done very wrong. I never had been in my bed except for a day or two at a time previously in New Orleans, and was in hopes when the weather got warm, & trade less, to come round again. But I had pushed myself too far. About the last of April my bowels began to get weak which reduced me in a short time to i o8lb when I went to the Pass Christian, but the weather was the whole time very disagreeable and cold. N.W. winds were blowing all the time so that I could not take the Sea bathing. I came back about the 2Oth of May, and the weather turned very warm and rainy in New Orleans. My bowels got so bad, running watery discharges which I could not get stopped. My debility increased. My weight when I started for this place was only g8lb and I could hardly walk up a short pair of stairs. The trip up here on Steam Boat & R.R. only three days time weakened me more. The water which I drink is calybiate which at first acts strongly on the bowels and kept me for three weeks fully, if not lower than I was on coming here - but in the meantime it was working strongly on my whole system - on my Liver, kidneys, bowels and skin. For the last week I feel myself free from disease, but I am only gaining strength slowly, and but the least over exertion throws me back - This I attribute a good deal to excessive hot weather. Thermometer for the last week averaging 92°, hotter than usual at this time by some 8 or 10 degrees. I feel that I cannot write more at present, but now since I am improving you may expect to hear from me every ten days as I have plenty of time. I shall go back to the store on i st Sepr, and if not completely strong go to the Sea shore for a few days of salt bathing. Direct your letters to the store as usual. This will be some time longer than usual in reaching you. Give my love to Mama, James, Jane and Nancy, and tell them to write. I hope to be well soon. I never knew the advantages or plea-

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sure of health until losing it, and if I get once well again I shall know the value of it and the importance of taking care of it. Good Bye dear Papa & believe me your affectionate son J.M. Reid" It has the Post Mark Raymond 17th August 1850

Alas that he did not write us how he was in April, that we might have pressed him to come home. He had the fond hopes of getting well though every appearance forbade the hope. We know not what accommodation or nursing he had, or what sort of people were about him. Twelve days after the date of this letter he died. He took leave of us all in a kind loving manner. How he felt prepared to meet death we know not, but we have good hope. He was brought up in the knowledge and belief of the Christian faith. Thanks be to God, I made it my practice very often to pray for him. The following is a Copy of Mr Palmers letter, inclosing an account of his death. New York ig th Sep r 1850 Rex^ James Reid St Armand East Dear Sir, I herein inclose to you the dying request of your son, which reached me a short time since, and filled my heart with sorrow. I do most deeply sympathize with you and your family in this loss - your loss and my loss. From the time your son engaged with me, his health seemed to be delicate, but he never complained, nor did he ever cease to attend most faithfully to his duties, and it is a remarkable fact that for the long time we were together I never had occasion to reprove or even to think hard of him. For the last year his cough was almost constant. Last spring I advised him to try the Sea bathing and air at Pass Christian which he did without much benefit. And hearing that several who appeared to be on the brink of the grave, affected as he was, had been relieved by the use of the waters of Cooper's Wells, I advised him to go there and try them which he did in July last, and this inclosure gives you the end. I waited a little to learn more of the particulars, but now hasten to give you this sad intelligence. Your Son had saved of his Salary about $ i ooo which stood to his credit on my Books: what his expences at the Springs, and Doctor's Bills will be, I do not know. In such cases, many of them are most exorbitant. I will endeavour

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to do the best I can in Settlement of them, when I get home which will be some time in October, and communicate the result to you as early as possible, and remit the balance to Mr Bauman Lowe, 160 Pearl Street, New York, and will ship his trunks &c. immediately to him. Please write to me at New Orleans, and believe me Dear Sir yours very truly Joseph H Palmer

The following is a copy of the sad inclosure which came in the foregoing letter, viz. Cooper's Wells 28th Aug11850 J.H. Palmer Esq New Orleans. I have not written to you since I have been out here, because I had nothing encouraging to write, but now I state to you that I have fallen away to mere nothing almost and am worse off than any man can be to be alive. I wish you to send my trunks and clothes, and what money is coming to me to Bouman Lowe 106 Pearl Street, New York, subject to the order of my father the Rev. James Reid whom I hereby appoint my sole heir. I remain your friend in death J.M. Reid Witness W.M. Grayson p.s. As I write this I dont expect Mr. Reid to live more than twenty four hours; he shall be attended to indeed, as he has been for about one week during the while he is sick, or if he should die, he shall be put away genteel-

iy-

Yours truly T.W. Baird

August 29th 1850 Since I have written the foregoing, Mr Reid has breathed his last. He died this Evening at 3 of the clock, P.M. after having suffered a great deal. He did not think he was consumptive, but the Physician [s] agree that that was the principal cause of his untimely death. He requested to be buried at this place, and if his relations sent for him, to let him go, but not to New Orleans. I will write you again, and state his expences which he requested that you should pay out of the funds you have in hand. Yours Truly T.W. Baird

The foregoing is all the information we have. O how it is to be regretted that the dear child did not make it known to us last winter that his

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health had failed. No, he did not write as usual, only about four letters for the last year. Oh how my heart weeps at the thought that he was far from friends at Cooper's Wells for seven weeks! I do not learn what kind of people he was with, or any pious person was about him, or whether he had a Christian burial or not. The man T.W. Baird does not appear to be much, perhaps a trader or a tavern keeper.J 94 Glory be to God that I did remember him constantly in my prayers since he went away three years ago on the 14* of this present month. The day he went away, I went to Church alone, and at the Altar of God, I committed my son to the care and protection of Almighty God, whose blessing I implored to go with him and remain with him. I never prayed that he might be made rich, but that his life might be saved, his health preserved, and rich or poor that he might be enabled to retain his integrity, moral character, be acceptable to his employer, gain friends by honourable conduct, and in all things walk so as to please God, and follow Christ in a life of piety. He did please his employer and had friends. As God answered my prayers in this I trust he did the same in the rest. 2 d Oct 1850 I cannot get the dear boy out of mind for hardly a moment. I cannot cease to mourn and weep, and perhaps I do not wish to cease. Nothing soothes me so much as to think of him, though it is painful to imagine the child pining away, racked with pain and a sense of loneliness, desolation, without hope of recovery at Cooper's Wells among strangers for seven long weeks until he died. O how must he have felt when he knew he must die and not have a relation near him! He had his senses to the last. He remembered his parents. He directed the disposal of his hard earned effects. He remembered his kind Master saying for his last word "I remain your friend in death." O what solemn words. I trust I do not rebel. I am not conscious that I ever border on any reflection on the wisdom and goodness of Providence, yet my soul is melted within me. Jesus, so far from reproving the mournful weeping of Martha and Mary for their brother, that he mingled his own tears with theirs.1^ He was a pleasant companion, blessed with a pleasant sweet voice, would sit down with me when at home and converse agreeably, a thing which his brothers were never good at doing. I loved him most dearly. He was honest, conscientious and confiding, and that was the cause of his misfortune in Montreal. He confided in those who were radically unprincipled and dishonest, until they stripped him of his all. Geddes who injured him, got himself appointed his assignee, and in that capacity

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goes away with the whole. Can that man prosper? Can his conscience be quiet? Was he not the cause of my poor child's failure, when there was no more need of his failing than there was the first month he was in business? Did not this grievous injury done him by the man Geddes cause my child to form, and act on, the resolution of going to a far country, beyond the reach of his acquaintance, to make his living? If so, is Geddes not also the cause which led to the premature death of my dear, dear child - He took his property, and virtually his life. May God make him sensible of the great injury he has done my child, grant him grace to repent in dust and ashes, and forgive him before he die! Yesterday was a fine day. We got some of our Corn husked. Today is heavy rain, and can do nothing. 5th Oct 1850 With some difficulty I got myself put to the desk today to write a Sermon for tomorrow. I hope the Lord has put some good thoughts in my heart for instruction & consolation. I have as much need of being taught as any, and have therefore made my sermon for myself. O my poor boy, how must he have suffered, while he was a suffering, dying, solitary stranger far from his home and friends! My soul bleeds for him. O - why did I not prevail on him to remain in his own country? I tried it, but why did I not persevere, until I prevailed? Alas, reflections of this sort are vain. It was the will of God that thus it should be.196

14th Oct 1850 On the 8th at about 9 of the clock in the evening, Charles and the Lord Bishop of Montreal arrived here very unexpectedly. When I was in Town the Bishop had agreed to write me from Lennoxville, to let me know whether he would come to us on his way to Montreal. He did not write; and besides, I heard, as I thought in a direct way that he was to return by Waterloo, and consecrate the church there on that very day, so that I had no reason to expect him at all. He came, however, and we were very glad to see them both.19? Next day I started with him for Montreal at 8 in the morning. At i P.M. arrived at St. Johns, and had to wait two hours for the carrs. Passing through Stanbridge, we stopped to see the Church.198 It is much worse than it was this time last year, and if not saved and repaired this fall it will come down with a crash by next Spring. I was truly much pleased with this Bishop and his family. I breakfasted with them next morning. The warrant for paying my half yearly

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salary had not arrived at St. Johns yet. I was therefore obliged to take £10 of my deposits at the Bank. I called on Mr Geddes. That fellow must be the meanest, the guiltiest, and the most self condemned I ever Saw. He bears about with him the mark of Cain. He could not speak. He was confused, confounded and cowardly. He stammered, stuttered and trembled. With great difficulty he made out to say that he would bring the matter to a close within this month, and would wash his hands out of it. ^9 But all the waters of the St Lawrence will not wash the Stains of guilt from his Soul. In answer to my question, shall there be any thing to divide among the Creditors; he said "hardly any," or words to that effect, or that there would be nothing. There is a just God, and that is my consolation in the matter which ruined my dear Son -

22 d Oct 1850 Doing little or nothing, but in sadness and sorrow. It seems to be my whole thought to dwell on my poor Malcolm pining away in long sickness and dying among Strangers far from us. I do not reflect on the good Providence of God: if I know myself, I wish to feel resigned & I hope I am. The Lord gave & the Lord has taken away, but I feel the stroke deeply. May He who rules above prepare me for the Change that cannot be far off! When I reflect on the past, I cannot but see the goodness of God towards me through a long life; though at the same time I feel overwhelmed with a deep sense of my unspeakable unworthiness. I have good children, but I see difficulties. I fail most grievously in casting my care respecting them on the Lord. I am sinfully too much com cerned about them. Why cannot I believe that he careth for them? Why do I act and feel, as if he did [not] but had all to do myself? Lord be merciful to me, an unworthy sinner! 27th Oct 1850 Sunday. Rain all day until 3 P.M. when it turned into heavy wet snow. There were 41 in Church old and young, and only 6 came to the Sunday School. I did not go to Krans's, being so wet that I did not expect a congregation. In the course of the week I got a little plowing done by one of A. Westover's men and his cattle. I also made up my old fireside Manuscript, and having an opportunity, I sent it in to the Bishop of Montreal, at his request, that on looking into it, he might, if he should approve of it send it to England for publication.

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I sent it by Brown Chamberlin, and a Letter of introduction for himself. I hope the young man will prove himself worthy of this notice.200 I also sent by him to Mr Simpson of the Bank my Draft from St. Johns on the Commissariat office of Montreal and requested him to place the proceeds thereof to my credit in the Bank.201 I also wrote to Mr. Kinnear for a copy of the Herald which contained the Letters patent for Erecting the Bishopric of Montreal.202 Now the winter has just shewn a beginning. May He that made and governs the world carry us safely, as heretofore, through the gloomy months that are before us! The winter is always trying to my nerves, especially the strength of fire necessary for comfort -

i st Nov 1850 A very beautiful day for the time. The last mail brought me an acknowledgment from the Bank for the Commissariat Draft I sent in last Monday by Brown Chamberlin. It is written by one of the clerks named Bolton for Mr. Simpson, the Cashier, and addressed to me as James Reid Esq. I hope this is not a serious mistake that will occasion me any trouble. I am the only James Reid not only in this place but in all the County, except my Son, and his [name] is James S. Reid.203 I sat down to my Sermon after Breakfast, and finished before night. I then took a walk to the farm and strolled up through the fields to OJ. Kemps, and took tea with the family before I came home. The roads are muddy, but the night is very fine 5th Nov 1850 The congregation yesterday,204 considering the season of the year and the place was tolerably good. I went to Cook's Corner in the afternoon and Mrs. Reid with me. Today two of A. Westover's men and two Yoke of cattle came to plow for me. I went out with them in the morning; and, it being a difficult spot they were on, I took hold to help, and strained my breast so bad that with much pain I was enabled to come home. I had to take my bed, and though it is now more endurable I have much pain yet. I hope it will not prove very serious. The weather is very mild, dark and foggy, what I suppose they call the Indian Summer. 6th Nov 1850 Mild and foggy in the forenoon, in the afternoon heavy rain which continues at night.

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In the forenoon I went to Berkshire with Letters, one to Mrs. Peck, New Haven:2°5 one to B. Lowe, 160 Pearl Street New York about the effects of Malcolm which were to be sent to him subject to my order and another to C.H. Huntington, St. Albans requesting him to receive them when they come and pay charges. I hope they will come before the close of the navigation on the Lake.206 9th Nov 1850 I have just received a packet of Letters from Mr. Palmer, New Orleans containing the Bill of Lading on board of the Ship Memphis, bound for New York, of two Trunks and one chest, addressed to me from my poor deceased Malcolm, to the care of Mr Bauman Low, No. 160 Pearl Street New York. 2d Two letters written by Malcolm at Cooper's Wells, to Mr. Massey whom I suppose is a Partner in the house. 3d A letter from Mr Baird a Clerk in the Hotel at Cooper's Well[s] dated the 27th August, the day that Malcolm died. It is of the same date and tenor as the one which Mr Palmer inclosed and transmitted to me before and the same hand. By comparing the hand writing of the two together, I find that I misunderstood the figure in the first, and that my dear boy died on the 27th and not on the 29* of August. The 7 was so like a 9 that I took it for a 9. He died then just 10 days after the date of his own letter to me, when he thought he was beginning to mend, and would soon be well. 4th a Letter from Inman and Williams the Keepers of the Hotel to Mr. Palmer, and 5* Mr. Palmer's own Letter which informs me about the Trunks and chest, & where to find the keys. He finds that the Bills of Board at the Hotel, Physicians and nurses are to be exhorbitant, that they are determined to collect them - that he Mr. Palmer will endeavour as much as possible, to take care of my interests - that he will write soon and send me a Statement of accounts, and transmit the balance remaining after settling the expences at the Springs. In his former letter he said that Malcolm had saved of his Salary $1000, which were in his hands. At the end of two years, wh was last November, or a year ago Malcolm stated this fact in a letter to me. He remained earning until July, so that it may [be] the proceeds of that last half year since, will cover the expence since, but of this I cannot know any thing as yet. 17* Nov 1850 The weather has continued mild all the week - The history is shortly this. Mr and Mrs. Whitwell came on Monday and staid till near noon on Tuesday: all very friendly and nothing at all about the unfortunate affair

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of the meeting. After they went away, Mr. Morrice came and staid till noon on Thursday, on Wednesday we paid a visit to Mr. Scott and returned home after dark. On Friday I went to Stanbridge Upper Mills and Bedford, and returned home before dark. My business was to see Cornel about an offer that was made to him by one Wright to repair the walls of their Church for £5-5.0 and at Bedford I went to see if I could [...] any more axes from Tabor, and had my trouble going for my pay207 - I dined at Mr. Jones's and was introduced to a Doctor Tindal, a young Irishman who came over last summer. He appears to be the accepted lover of their daughter.208 When I came home, I had a letter from B. Chamberlin saying that he had an order of Court on Geddes for an account of Malcolm's affairs, and found that instead of having any thing to divide he brings the Estate indebted to him in £85 - that is, he spent the estate, 8c claims £85 for his trouble in spending it. Perhaps there never was such another instance of such rascality since the world began. God is just, and will see to that unrighteous man sooner or later. To God I will leave [...], vengeance is his and not mine.209 Saturday morning, intelligence came that Mrs. Baker was married a week ago to a Rev. John Hutchinson, said to be a Scotchman and a Clergyman of our Church. He was married in St James's Church, Toronto by the assistant Minister, the Rev Mitchell. Who this man is I know not. There is no such name on the list of Upper Canada Clergy of any denomination.210 He must have come last Summer. Where they met I have not heard, but under any view I can take, or any opinion I can form, I cannot think well of the affair. There must be something hollow, unsound in it that will not fail to appear, & appear it will before long. Yesterday the Rev. Mr. Sayles came to us, staid over night, and preached for me today a very good Sermon.211 In the afternoon I went to Cook's Corner, and finding nobody there I wheeled round and came home. Soon after coming home Mr Jones of Stanbridge drove into the yard and is here tonight. It seems that we have had company enough for one week but none more acceptable than Mr. Morrice. I like him much. I would have been round with the Bishop's petition for Signers212 had I not been so much interrupted. Now we cannot expect another week so pleasant nor the roads so good, and yet something must be done. It rains, and the roads will soon be impassable i8 th Nov 1850 Letter from B. Chamberlin Esq.

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Rev. and dear Sir I yesterday succeeded in obtaining an account from Mr. Geddes of the Receipts and disbursements on account of the estate of your late son. The account which is sworn to shews a bal. of £85-9-2 due to the assignee. The rent of that building, the lease of which was so unfortunately continued has eaten up a very large portion of the assets realized.2 13 I have not as yet had time to scrutinise the account closely, but shall do so as soon as possible, and if you desire it, will send you a copy of it. As far as I have been enabled to see there is nothing that can be taken hold of. The costs of the proceedings were given against Geddes personally. This account is unsatisfactory in so far as it does not shew what amount of assets are still unrealised, but I shall be able to ascertain this by reference to the statement of assets and liabilities fyled upon the return of the Commission. Let me hear if you wish copies of the account, or whether my report of them will be sufficient." My reply, 1 8th Nov. My dear Sir I have received your letter of 14*. I am obliged to you for what you have done although the result is unfavourable. I think no country or State of society can furnish such another example as that of Geddes. He got into his possession goods belonging, and a great amount of debts due, to my son's estate. He has paid but 3/8 on the £ soon after he had sold the goods and now swears to an account which claims a bal. of £85-9-2 from the estate as a compensation for his trouble in spending, and the enjoyment of the use of it!!! The audacity of the fiend can hardly go any farther. But what can we expect when the Bankrupt Law now in force requires no kind of security from assignees? But bad as the Law is, his account does not come up to what it requires. See gth Viet, chap 30 §7-214 The same process, if you think it proper may be repeated and Geddes may be compelled to shew what monies still remain uncollected. I wonder that the Creditors do not call upon him to render an account and discharge his trust. I know only two names of them, Davidson of the British Bank, and Wenham of the Bank of Upper Canada. The latter is the heaviest after myself.215 He should be made to render a full Statement. Any further trouble is of no use, as you say, "there is nothing that can be taken hold of." This will hold true if he had ever so much, as the Bankrupt Law does not make him responsible for waste, spending, or mismanagement, and therefore no unnecessary

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expence should be incurred. But the creditors shd compel him to close by selling the Books and the debts, and if you could do any thing to bring this about, I would be glad. I do not know whether it would be necessary to copy the accounts for me or not. Perhaps your report will be sufficient. I am obliged to you for what you have done, and will see you satisfied. If any thing more, on a consideration of what I have suggested, will appear to you proper, you can act at your discretion - for until we know what remains uncollected, we cannot tell whether any thing remains to be divided or not &c. "i8 th Nov 1850 Mr. Geddes, Sir I am informed that you have, as assignee to the estate of my son, sworn to an account which shews a balance of £85-9-2 due to you from the estate that is, you have spent the estate, and claim a great sum of money to remunerate you for the trouble of spending and enjoying the use of it!!! Do you believe there is a just God? Do you ever think that you have to appear before this just God, and render an account of your actions before Him? If my presence the last time I called at your office threw you into such confusion and tremors as evident signs of conscious guilt, how will you stand before a just God? I saw in you the visible representation of conscious guilt which drove from me at the time any hard thoughts I could have felt, at the way in which you had always put me off by some flimsy excuses, and felt really sorry for your confusion, but knew not that matters were bad beyond all example, and past redemption Sir, the protracted sufferings and dying groans of my poor dear injured son, breathing his last in a Strange land, will witness against you before the Judge of all, in the presence of his mighty Angels, and the whole congregated world of mankind. Sir, as becoming my character I forgive you, and pray that you may live to repent and to obtain forgiveness of God through the merits and intercession of Jesus Christ. I am, Sir &c To Charles Geddes Montreal."

I know not how the false man will feel when he shall come to read the above. I hope it is not a libel actionable at law. This day snowed nearly all day, but being wet and no frost it does not stay.

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Mr Jones went away in the storm after breakfast. We have stabled the cows today for the first time. The mail brought me no Herald, only the Canada Gazette - 2l6

22 d Nov 1850 I wish the above letter to Mr. Geddes, bad as he has done, had not been written. I have taken it in my head that probably it may be actionable for defamation of character. Should it prove to be so it will make me very miserable indeed, but I hope it is not. But whatever it may be, I pray God to give me grace to restrain me in all time coming from indulging in the use of such strong language, both in speaking and in writing. 24* Nov 1850 The congregation about 70 not amiss for the season and the State of the Roads. Rather small at K[rans']s in the afternoon. Received last night a very good Letter from John. He is very much pleased with his wife.21*7 They both board this winter at the rate of $7 per week. I hope he has money for that will take a good sum before Spring when he is going on a Farm. I likewise had a letter from the Editor of the New York Churchman in acknowledgment of $3 I sent him to [...] up until 22 d next June. From his letter I find that he never got the $3 I sent by Mr. Knap last winter. Mr. Knap wrote at that time to a Mr. Harrison, his agent to pay for my Paper. This Gentleman, it seems neglected to do so, and so my subscription for last year remains unpaid. Mr. Knap has undertaken to have it rectified. I hope he will succeed. I took 18 signers to the Petition about the Clergy Reserves today. I have now got 33 names and not a single cross among them.218 I fear I shall not be able to make 50. 26th Nov 1850 This day completes the 70* Year of my age, a good old age. Thank God for all his goodness, kindness and mercies to me through so long a life. I am most sensible of my unworthiness, of my vast many failings, and of the little improvements I have made of my privileges. Had I improved them as I ought to have done, I might have acquired more virtue, more godly habits, more government over my own temper, more success in my ministry and much more learning than I have. That I am satisfied with myself I never was, nor from past experience can I ever on this side of the grave expect to be. God grant that [when] my time comes I may

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attain, thro' the merits and intercession of Jesus Christ, to a place of rest in the Kingdom of God however low it may be at the footstool of the throne! This night I had the Bible Class in the house, and kept them all to Tea in honour of my birthday. It so happened that it was also the birth day of Mrs. Woodbury one of the number. They spent the Evening innocently and happily. There is no snow to make Sleighing yet. I have heard that Mrs. Baker now the Rev. Mrs. Hutchinson is expected in the Village this night. What an unlikely woman for a Clergyman's wife! I wonder what sort of a man he is. I do not find that he has any pastoral charge. Almira says she has learned that he belongs to our Church - has been the Editor of a Political Paper in Upper Canada, and is now writing for the British Colonist, Toronto, whether Editor, or Paragraph writer I have not heard.2X9 i st Dec r 1850 Sunday still moderate. About 60 in Church; only 13 at Cook's Corner. James came home last Wednesday and is here yet. Yesterday Mrs. B. now Mrs Hutchinson called here with a very long legal Instrument purporting to be a marriage contract or settlement between herself and her new husband. It is there stipulated between them that she retains all her property of what nature soever under heaven that she has in possession, or claims, or pretends to have a right to, to use and employ as she pleases. Both of them then go on to make over to Three Trustees all and singular of all that she has, claims or pretends to, in Trust - to improve the Estate, collect all rents accruing from the same, and pay them over to her. In the event of her death leaving an heir or heirs, of her body begotten, one half of the proceeds to be paid to her husband and the other half to the child or children left by her for their education and bringing up. In case of no such heirs, the whole proceeds will go to her husband during his life. At his death all the estate will go to the heirs at Law. All this Trusteeship was meant by her that the Trustees should have nothing more under the sun to do but merely to sign and give her a power of Attorney to act herself for them and for her own benefit. When she presented the Paper to me, I said to her that if it was calculated to make me liable to be hereafter questioned on it I would not look into it. She said it would not. I then opened it and began to read when I found that Dr Chamberlin, J.M. Ferres and myself were the Trustees. I read on to the end, and then told her most decidedly that I could not have any thing to do with it. She insisted on it that we had nothing more to do than merely sign a power of Attorney for her to act,

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which she had ready for us to sign. I remained firm in my refusal. I never knew any thing more preposterous and presumptuous. To appoint persons without their knowledge and consent. Supposing that she died, then the Trustees are bound to administer that Estate and their heirs after them until her contingent heir is of age, or until in case of failure it shall go to the heirs at Law. An extraordinary case this. She went all the way to Toronto after this man to marry her. She gives him no right nor control over her property. She does not want even his assistance to manage or take care of it. She would have a husband, but she must be Queen. She must rule. Now this man, marrying on such terms, must be [a] ninny, or, he must be a longheaded and a deep designer, which, time will shew. Most likely, the Instrument in aiming at so many things may contain flaws enough to make it void. One thing is sure, as she presumed to appoint Trustees without knowing that they would accept the Trust; the Doctor says he will not sign it; Ferres has though, they are not in the same state they were in to make another Instrument. At that time they were separate: now they are man and wife. He controls. She cannot act without his authority. He may not choose to forego his rights as a husband.220 He may also have foreseen that persons would not be dragged without their own consent into such a pit as this Instrument has dug, and that most likely after humouring her own will, the whole would, as if unsought come into his own hands. Her object thro' life was to rule - In her own nets most probably she had now fallen. Time will soon shew. 3 d Dec r 1850 Yesterday after Breakfast I started on foot with the Clergy Reserve Petition to get signers to it. Went up the hill, got Louis Baker, Buck - next stopped at Henry Toof's, got him and son and a good dinner. Next started for John Reynolds and his son - next John Peer and his son. By the time I got to John Krans's, it was time to stop for the night & was kindly entertained. This morning went down the river, got the Salsburies, the Callaghans - then returned. On my way got Horatio Krans and the two Lagranges, and got home about IP.M. Without much fatigue221 -At John Peers they have had much sickness of late. The son's wife had been confined a few weeks ago, and before she had recovered only a few days after her delivery she took the Scarlet fever, and several others of the family. The rest are nearly well. She is but just beginning to be convalescent and requires yet the utmost attention & care.222 I improved the opportunity to the best of my power, in a religious manner.

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At Martin Salisbury's, I saw every appearance of poverty, but I trust there is no scarcity of provisions, but I am afraid they are short of comforts in the way of clothing. The poor woman is far from being well. Her poor legs are swollen up very greatly.223 At Krans's there is wealth, plenty of every thing, a large Brick house, completely finished, well furnished, and warm. The same at the Two Lagranges, good stone houses, finished, furnished and warm. It snowed all day, and after I got home it changed into rain, so that [there] is no appearance of getting winter roads yet. Let us wait patiently for God's good time. Got a Paper (Minnesota Pioneer) sent by John Hugh.224 I hope the poor Boy will do something yet. 7 th Dec r 1850 Hard frost for some days and the ground bare till today, when snow began to fall, and is likely to give us winter roads. I got my mare shod for winter. Last night I wrote my Sermon for tomorrow. I have not Yet heard of the arrival of our poor dear Malcolm's Trunks at St. Albans though they were shipped at New York last month on the 27* for that place. If I do not hear soon I must write to Mr. Huntington on Monday if I live. I am sorry to hear that young Oren's wife225 is quite Sick. I hope it will not be very Serious, nor of long continuance. 8th December 1850 Sunday. The first real cold day for this winter. There is a little snow on the ground, but not enough to make Sleighing and therefore we had only about 40 in Church. I did not go to Krans's in the afternoon. I attended the Sunday School and was very much pleased with both the attendance and manifest improvement of the children. Now that the winter has set in earnest, O that it may please God to carry us through in safety from fire & tempest! May he give me faith to put my trust and confidence in his love, mercy and goodness! May He that has hitherto preserved me, still continue his goodness to me & mine in my old age! n t h Dec r 1850 Yesterday afternoon Mr. Bowker's man226 brought home two of Malcolm's Trunks, the third is missing. As soon as I handled the two that came I found they were light and empty; and on removing the Canvass that covered the Trunk I found the lock broken. On opening it, behold, the two were empty, had been robbed, contained but a few books he had when he went away - 3 old vests - 2 old hats: 2 pair of old drawers

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- his writing box containing letters, a little writing paper, some steel points; all the rest gone. I wrote today to Mr. Huntington St. Albans, Mr. B. Lowe New York and Mr. Palmer, New Orleans. I suppose all is lost past recovery. It seems that Providence does not smile on me or on my family - and that poor dear boy was always unfortunate. May God have mercy upon us, and if it does not please him that our worldly affairs should prosper, O may it please Him for his beloved son's sake, that our souls be precious in his Sight! May He give me grace to submit patiently to whatsoever he allots me in this world, knowing that here we have no continuing city!22? Today I killed my beef for the winter, and left it in an out-house to keep it fresh by freezing. The Beef is very good. Now at night the wind has risen high. i4 th Dec r 1850 Yesterday I started for St. Albans, and Nancy with me to enquire about the Trunks. I got Mr. Aldis to go with me to the landing place. The gentleman in Charge shewed me the Way Bill, in which was entered one Chest and two Trunks. He entered on the Bill, "received only one chest, and one Trunk" those which came home. He promised to set an inquiry on foot, and took note from Mr. Lowe's Letter to me for the purpose of writing to him. I know not what will be the issue. Nancy and myself slept at Mr. Aldis's. They were very kind. The Rev. Mr. Fay called in the evening.228 We got home before dark after a very comfortable drive, and found all well. Mr. Palmer, Sir I have just returned from St. Albans Bay, where my son's baggage was landed on Lake Champlain. I went there to make inquiries. The information obtained is this. The Way Bill was i Chest and 2 Trunks for the Revd James Reid, but only i Chest and i Trunk found to be delivered at St. Albans Bay. The gentlemen in charge made entry accordingly on the Way Bill which they shewed me. In handling the Chest and Trunk, they found they were light, and wondered that what appeared to be empty boxes had been sent from so great a distance. I wrote you when the two articles came, but for fear of a miscarriage, I must repeat as follows. The Lock of the Trunk was broken off, and the Canvass which covered the Trunk was tacked down so neatly as to prevent a discovery until it was taken off. The hinges of the chest had the nails drawn out, but replaced in a clumsy manner after the contents were taken away. The whole that was left consists of the following articles.

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18 Books and Pamphlets 1 Montreal Blank Ace1 Book 2 Hats (old), in Band boxes 3 Old vests 2 pair of old drawers i Old Coat. A Portable writing box containing about a Quire of Letter paper, and the Letters he had received from home. There is neither shirt, nor so much as pocket handkerchief, nor glove, nor Stocking, nor shoes a single article of clothing. If the amount of loss can be ascertained, I think the forwarders from New York to St. Albans, will be obliged to pay it. But I can form no estimate whatsoever. The Chest and the Trunk that came are the same that he took from home. At that time they were packed full of valuable clothes. The watch cost nearly $40 in Glasgow two or three years before he left. It went on 4 diamonds. My object in troubling you with this letter is that you will have the goodness, if any way you can, to send me, with the earliest opportunity, an estimate of the loss that I may be able to present an honest, upright claim. 15th Decr 1850 The congregation as usual. At Cook's Corner there was no fire to make us comfortable. I only read the service and gave them some advice about having the house made comfortable in future for Service, and then dismissed them. The hearts of the people are as cold as the winter day. i6 th Dec r 1850 I went to Berkshire with my letter to Mr. Palmer, New Orleans. Jane went with me. The roads are good. i8 th Dec r 1850 The cold is now fairly set in. I am sure the mercury is below o a good deal. There is great excitement in England about the encroachment of Popery. I am afraid it will come to be serious and alarming. What it will come to none but God knows. The ways of Providence are mysterious.2^ 2i st Dec r 1850 Saturday evening. Of late the snow has become deep, and this evening the wind has risen so that I fear the snow will block the roads. On friday

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evening Asa Westover came here, and brought Miss Willard of Stukely who staid till last night.230 I began to read Bishop Pearson on the Creed, a very learned work. I have got to the 150* page. I hope I shall be able to read it through, and wish I could digest it. He is very ready in the Scriptures, and peculiarly happy in his application of them. All his references are to the ancient fathers, Greek and Latin, and quotes from no other authors, and his quotations are always in the learned languages, which he very properly puts at the foot of the page without translation. There is none of them in the text, to interrupt the reader.231 On friday morning the mercury was 28° below Zero -Yesterday 5° - and this morning 14° above. May God preserve us in safety through a long cold winter! The winter is always trying to me. Since yesterday, while lifting a small stick for the stove I got a lame back, and this day I fell on the floor, slippery after being washed, & hurt my head. We have not heard from James since he was hear three weeks ago. Probably he will be here at Christmas. 23d Decr 1850 Cold day yesterday. Congregation about as usual. Roads good. In the afternoon at Krans's the School was quite comfortable and warm and about 20 present. They have discontinued the Sunday School for the winter. Mr. Knap told me yesterday that people complained for the last two Sundays of the Church not being sufficiently warmed - that the fire was not built early enough in the morning. I told him that I was in Church every Sunday morning by eight of the clock, built the fires, and remained to keep them up till the people came, but that they could not expect that I would come down from the desk to put wood in the stove after divine service was begun - that if they felt cold there was wood enough present but not one of them would rise to put in a stick - that besides, almost every one left the door ajar when he came in which contributed much to keep the church cold. I told him that I did not think there was another clergyman in the Province that built fires in the churches as I did but it seems that if one does as much as ever he can that there was nothing for his pains, but ingratitude. The complaint was impertinent and I answered him as I did.232 Last night it began to Snow and blow. It continues the same all this day rather increasing. It is now as deep as ever I knew it to be here. The old man and myself had to shovel a vast deal before we could get to the out buildings, and it will in a few hours, be worse than ever.233 The roads will be in an awful state after this. They can be broke up, but then

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the passing of teams by one another when they meet will give much trouble. I know not how poor James will get down, or I my Sleigh up from Tittemore's. Neither do I know how we are to water the cattle this day. I believe we shall have to water them in the Stable, no small Job to water eight head and a horse. The storm continues still at half past ten at night without abatement. The snow and the drifts are very deep. I hope it will be calm by the morning. I thank God for his great mercy. He has not as yet left me to be so nervous as I have been some winters back. May He who made and governs the world keep and preserve us from danger! 24th Decr 1850 The wind blew very high last night after [a] day of constant heavy snowing. It being light and a vast deal of it on the ground, the drifts this morning were beyond any thing known since we lived in this house. I got up before day, and as soon as it was light, I began shovelling, and had roads to the well, the barn, and other out side places before breakfast. After Breakfast the old man and myself went to work, to open roads in all directions necessary round the house, from the barn door to the yard and about the Church, which kept us at very hard work till four P.M. Mr O.J. Kemp with two ox team[s] and a Snow plow opened from the Village to the church door. There is no opening made to the horse shed, and I doubt whether any team will be able to reach it tomorrow.234 Mr. Kemp had no interest there, as his teams always go home during Service, and return for the family at the close. Even if he did go up before it with the plow it would have made it worse because one side of it would throw up an impassable bank before the entrance of the Stalls. I know of no way that the Stalls can be kept open unless the owners of them do the work themselves. Had Christmas been yesterday or today, not one I believe could attend. It was very cold all day and very fresh cold wind, but the snow being hard beaten by yesterday's and last night's wind, it did not drift, so that our work as [of] yesterday did not immediately fill up. In the morning mercury 10° below o - all day remained at -5°, and at sunset this evening it was at -i2 1 /2° - but being now calm the house is quite warm and comfortable. This was the evening of my Bible Class. None came but Almira who went back home with the conveyance that brought her. 25th Decr 1850 Christmas Very bad as the roads are, and cold as the day was, there was for us [...] and good congregation, and twenty six at the holy communion. I felt

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encouraged. I wish they would do in proportion as well when circumstances are more favourable. I built fires in the two church Stoves at a little past Seven in the morning and remained there heating them till the people came at eleven. In the evening it threatened more snow and blowing which consequently will undo our work of yesterday if it proceeds into a storm God governs the world, and may He give me faith to believe this truth, and then "Calm content and peace When, Lord, we turn to thee." Decr 1850 In addition to what snow we had a good deal more has fallen today, but the day was very mild. I got home my new Sleigh, very well built, and strong though light. I am however afraid I shall not be satisfied with it. It is too short, and the seat is not high enough to let in my trunk under, and I am [sure that] I gave him specific dimensions. It will do well enough to carry two persons, but not a third person nor any baggage, except a Carpet bag. Mr. Lindsay the Young clergyman of Brome and Sutton called here today with Elijah Kemp, and the two girls.235 The Young man is all zeal and sanguine hopes, but it does not appear to me that he either knows himself or the nature of mankind. He thinks the ten Missions of Missisquoi can be made, in addition to their Society subscriptions, to employ and support one missionary. His people in Brome have subscribed £17 for his support. He wont apply it to his own use - He has the full Salary of £100. He does not therefore know what to do with it. If we undertook to support a Missionary he would devote it to that object. With regard to his idea of getting the people to support a missionary, I told him he would as soon get the snowbirds to do it, and the other respecting his self denial on the subject of aid from the people for his support, the consequence would be this. Supposing that you left Brome and another to succeed you that had a wife and small family to support that could not afford to imitate your example, a comparison would soon be instituted between him and you which would be very much to his disadvantage; and thus you are setting an example that will degrade his successor.2^6 I ought also to have told him, that on the event of having a family himself he would feel the consequence. Let him get one of the Misses that were there with him, and she will soon let him know what to do with his salary. True, it is young men of ardent spirits, and buoyant expectations that are capable of stirring up the zeal of the people; and he may do good; 26

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but in the meantime this young man is a novice, and for want of experience and humility, while he has an ample share of self sufficiency, snares unseen by him may lie in the way. He is a good looking young man, boyish in his appearance, exactly such a one as young ladies like, and on that account one that is acceptable to mothers and women. He is very forward because of his zeal, and full of himself, but not I hope because his head is empty - Let him once marry, and then we'll see better what he is. 28th Decr 1850 Saturday at night very cold as it was all day. My time passes away, as in all winters for some years, without any fruit. I durst not make fire in my study, and little can I do where the family are at work. I have been reading Pearson on the Creed and if I had memory, reflection and meditation it vfi do me much good. My judgment and dormont knowledge, and understanding go along with him very readily, but I scarcely remember any. I call it dormont knowledge for this reason, that [there] is hardly any thing he advances beyond what I know when I see it, but then I do not remember either before, or after, what I read. My knowledge of doctrine seems to be what it was forty years ago; so that if I was beginning to Study now I could not learn any thing. Hence I know from experience that if people do not learn when they are young, they cannot learn when they are old. I wonder much that we do not hear from Charles, nor from James. I hope there is nothing the matter with either of them. Children know not the feelings, the fears and anxieties of Parents 30th Decr 1850 Tolerable Congregation yesterday though a cold day. I made fires in the two Stoves a little after 7 in the morning and kept by them increasing the heat until the congregation came. In the afternoon went to Cook's, but had only 14 hearers. This morning very Cold. Mercury -22. This evening the same and now at 11 I am sure it is lower. Mr. Knap staid with us till 9. I expected B. Chamberlin to call, as he promised to do, to shew me the Prospectus of a Paper which is to [be] printed in Montreal Under the Auspices of the Bishop. I asked him who was to be the Editor thinking it would [be] one of the City Clergy. He said he was to Edit the Paper, that the Bishop and himself drew up the Prospectus. Last November I gave Brown a letter of introduction to the

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Bishop. I had no idea that it would be attended with such consequences. If Brown has met so good a reception from the Bishop through me, he ought to have called on me either by letter or by his person, to thank me. But I suppose neither he nor any of his family will have grace to do so, but attribute the success to his own merit. The Bishop went too fast. What kind of a Church or Religious Paper can Brown edit?2317 Nous verrons. i January 1851 Thanks be to God, we have got so far on the journey of life! May that mercy and kindness of God which has hitherto attended us continue still, till we lay our earthly bodies down in the grave! In the morning it was not so cold as it has been for the last ten days; but it commenced heavy snowing wh continued through the forenoon, and now blows strong from the west and the house is cold. We had service in Church but only 31 old and young present. I only read service and then proceeded to hold the Society meeting. I distributed the Society's Reports, and made a Statement of what money [we] have laid up. I then proceeded to lay before them the case of the Bishop's Residence, and the claim there was justly upon us to contribute our share towards purchasing or building a suitable residence for the Bishop. i I reminded them that the People of England who have provided for us the ministry of the Gospel these three and forty years, have now sent us a Bishop and pay his Salary, and that this demanded some return on our part.238 2d That as members of the Church, we believe that Episcopacy was of divine appointment and absolutely necessary in the Church, and that therefore our profession, and our own consistency demanded that we should exert ourselves to maintain it. On this head I argued Episcopacy out of the new Testament. 3d I reminded them that when this Church was built the people of Montreal contributed a good deal in our aid, and this being the first application they have made to us, it behoved us to respond to the call. 4th That this Church was now old, and would soon require to be renewed - that when this was [to] be done, we could not, with a good grace ask help of Montreal, if we did not respond to their call; and being weak in number and means, we should need all the help we could get. In appointing a Committee every [one] was willing to put the burden on another but none was ready to make a free will offering of his own service. The Minister, the Minister, must do every thing here. With

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great difficulty D. Westover and Aquila Knap, with power to add to their number consented to act. But I know they will do, as they have always done, do nothing. However as they may do I will leave it with them, and if they choose to make a return signifying nothing let them do so. It seems an extraordinary thing that the people of England should have supported a minister these three and forty years in this place to an ungrateful gainsaying people. The ways of Providence are inscrutible. Surely there are people who have had nothing done for them, that would shew themselves more grateful, and would bear more fruit than we have done, had they been favoured with the means that we have had. Surely the Lord after a time will be provoked to leave us desolate and make over our vineyard to other husbandmen,239 and no wonder, should it be done soon - Mr. Lowe, who is out here from Town with Brown Chamberlin, was kind enough to copy headings for the subscriptions to be collected by the Committee towards the Bishop's residence, and brought them here this evening. He told me that Dr. Chamberlin, as in all such cases, disapproved of doing any thing. I am not surprised. He has never done any thing of the kind, nor will he now. We had Brown, Lowe and the three Misses Chamberlin to tea, and spent the evening till past ten. They are agreeable, and enjoyed themselves well. James came home last night and proposes to take the girls out with him tomorrow. I do not know how to do without them. They are, blessed be God for the gift, my best worldly comfort each and both, equally satisfactory. I know none like them. I understand that Mr. Scott of Dunham makes the fire in his Church as well as myself. This is the esteem in which the clergy of this country are held by the people. 2d Jany 1851 The coldest day we have had. Mercury 31° below zero. James and the girls, in consequence thereof did not start for Brome. The funeral of Levi Kemp's daughter came on at i p.M.24° I was in Church, keeping up the fires from 9 A.M. till then, without intermission and did get the Church warm after all. It now, at night Snows. The Snow is very deep.

5th January 1851 Sunday. Cold in the morning 13° below o. Built fires in the Church before Sunrise, and so made out to have the building comfortable by the time service began.

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She that was Mrs Baker, but now Mrs. Hutchinson, and her husband, the Rev. John Hutchinson, were in Church. It is more wonderful that Jane Freligh should be the wife of a clergyman than that Saul should be among the Prophets.24X There is a mystery in the affair that time must develope. She could not [have had] any previous acquaintance with him nor he with her that I know of. He lived in Toronto and she in Montreal. He is a Scotchman from Ayrshire, and had, he says, a congregation in Kincardinshire. He came over four years ago, teaches School in Toronto but has no Cure either as a Missionary, or as a Pastor of a congregation. He appears to be between 40 and 50 years of age. Is quite well informed, and in every appearance, a gentleman. There is however something in his looks that I do not like.242 I may be, and I hope I am, mistaken, but I fear he has not been regular in his life. Whether he was a Single man or a widower, I know not. They had a marriage contract which stipulates that he shall have no control over her affairs, but that, in the event of her death before him, he shall have the income of her estate, in whole, or in part, I do not remember which, during his life. He started from Toronto in time to be here at Christmas, but was Storm bound on the way, and did not reach here till last Thursday. There has been much talk in the neighbourhood, since it was known that he was coming, that he was to preach for me. Every body was sure he was to preach. Many questions were put to me on the subject, but the curiosity of none was gratified by me. I told them they would know when they came to Church. He and she called on Friday, and he alone yesterday. With his conversation I was pleased. He told me that he did duty in St. George's and Trinity's, a week ago today, but I gave him no invitation to do duty for me.243 It certainly behoved me to know what his Standing in the Church is before I could canonically put him in my Pulpit. It was not for me to make the inquiry when I did not want his assistance. It was for him, if he wanted to make himself known to the people on his wife's estate, to shew me his Licence from the Lord Bishop of Toronto, and since he did not exhibit to me any such thing, nor brought me any letters of introduction, how was I to know that he is a clergyman, or if a clergyman, that he is not suspended, or excommunicated? Time will explain the mystery, and set forth the motives and reasons which have put Jane among the Prophets. The weather has moderated very [...]. Mercury 8° above o and Snow is falling. Snow has never been known, since my coming to Canada to be so deep as it now is.

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We miss the dear girls very much. I hope the poor things are well. We shall be glad to get them home again. 7 th Jany 1851

Cold still. I went to the Bay today to carry auld Sandy who had to go for his pension. The snow is very deep, the roads heavy, but my little mare scudded over the distance in an hour and a half. I stopped at Mr. Whitwells. They expected me and had a good dinner. They were extraordinary kind. Mrs W. sent a New Year's present to Mrs. Reid in a Book of the eminent Fenelon's. She was here yesterday and Mrs R. gave her a Bushel of Indian Corn [to take] home with her in her Sleigh. These mutual little affairs are valuable as tokens of kind friendship.^ We got home by Sunset and found all well, and our young friend Almira, who stays all night with Mrs. Reid -

9th jany 1851

Last night I received a note from the Bishop of Montreal [to] say that he is to be here on Saturday the i st February and to stay with us, himself and his Son, till Monday when he will go to the Bay. He will come here from Bedford. Mr Knap, one of the Committee appointed on New Year's day to solicit contributions in aid of providing a house for the new Bishop of the Diocese, was here last night to tell me that he had called on every one in the Village, and did not get one farthing. Anson Kemp would give a little if any one had headed the subscription by his contribution, but would not set the example himself. How absurd it was in Mr. Knap to offer a subscription paper to any one without putting his own name to it! Indeed the want of zeal in these people for whom so much has been done, and their total want of gratitude, are really amazing. This day has been very moderate and came very near thawing. The south east wind is high, and may thaw before morning. I have this morning received a Letter from Mr. Palmer, New Orleans dated 24* Decr, containing a Draft on New York for Eleven hundred fifteen dollars and thirty two cents, the whole of the money left by Malcolm, after paying all charges. This goes beyond all my expectations. I did suppose he had left about $1200, but had apprehended that his expence at the Springs, Doctor's and Nurse's bills and funeral Charges would eat up more than the half of what he had left. Mr. Palmer most certainly is an honest, honourable man, and I feel bound to express my gratitude to him accordingly. The following is my reply.

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Mr. J.H. Palmer & Co. New Orleans Dear Sir I have this day received your favour of 24* December inclosing a Draft on New York of same date (the First of Exchange) for Eleven hundred and fifteen 3 2 /ioo dollars ($11 i5 32 /ioo) addressed to Messrs Mills McDowell and Co New York, signed McDowell Mills and Co, indorsed J.H. Palmer & Co. I cannot by words express my heart felt gratitude to you for your most honourable conduct in the affairs of my poor son. I did not expect near so much. All I can say is, May God bless you and Yours both in this world & that which is to come! Before you will receive this, you will have received two Letters from me to inform you that the chest and one of the Trunks had arrived but both robbed of their contents and the third has not come. The Locks were broken, and the canvass neatly put down to keep them closed. I wrote to Mr B. Lowe but have not received his answer yet. The robbery has been committed, I suppose, between New York and St. Albans, the landing place on Lake Champlain. Will you have the goodness to send me what you believe to be the value of the property put up in the Three Trunks at New Orleans, so as to enable to claim redress of the forwarders, for surely they should be held responsible for the loss? I am, dear Sir Your obliged humble Servant James Reid. To Messrs J.H. Palmer & Co 47 Camp Street New Orleans.

It thaws now at night very rapidly, and if [it] continue we shall have a freshet and overflow 11 Jan^ 1851 Went to Berkshire with my Letter to Mr Palmer, and found there a letter from our friend Mrs. Peck of New Haven Con1 a very kind friendly one, & another from Mr. J Cook, St. Catherine, a young Congregational Minister. He is a Cousin of the Chamberlins, was here last winter making a long visit to them. The letter is very kind and pious, in a dark, intricate, Calvinistic Style. He is too flattering. He looks up to

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me, as if I were a grave, old venerable Apostle or Bishop. I wish he was near me, that I might use my endeavours to help him out of his cloudy Theology. In the evening, Anson and his wife came here after Tea and staid till past nine. I understood from them that Mrs. Hutchinson was very much offended that I did not invite her husband to preach for me. She was at a loss whether to attribute the slight to absence of mind on my part, or to the influence of the Oren Kemp family. In both she was mistaken. I laboured under no such infirmity, nor to this hour has any of that family mentioned his or her name to me or to any of my family. Mrs Hutchinson sent Galloway Kemp to his Uncle Anson to request him as he was a member of the Church, to call upon me and get me to invite her husband to preach. Galloway told him the affair, and there it ended. She might have known well enough that no absence of mind was concerned at all: for when Galloway's wife245 came in the afternoon to enquire whether Mr. Hutchinson was to preach, I just told her, they would find out who would preach when they came to Church. 12th January 1851 Sunday. Very moderate. Some parts of the day was snowy. The Congregation as usual: but only 24 at Cook's Corner. Nothing else worth mentioning. 14* January 1851 Yesterday I went to Brome, where I arrived a little after two P.M. and found James and the girls well. Today after Breakfast, I took Nancy home with me. The only stop we made on the way was at Doctor Cotton's, Brome Corner,246 and got home at half past two P.M. and found all well. Mr. James Jones was here yesterday, and left an urgent request that I should attend with them at the Church, Upper Mills, and go with them to Bedford when the Bishop comes. I do not think I will. He told Mrs Reid that the Bishop will leave us after Morning service, on Sunday the 2d Feb. and go to the Bay, to perform Evening Service there. Now I think that when the Bishop makes an arrangement he ought to stick to it. He made a different arrangement with me.

6 Jany 1851 Thaw still continues, and now near 1 1 at night south east wind has risen very high -

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This evening Mr and Mrs. Dickinson spent with us till past nine. Every body talks as if something should be done either to repair or build a new Church. The same was had at Mr. H. Bakers yesterday where Mrs R and myself spent a part of the day and dined. Talk however will effect nothing, and nothing can be done because no two persons can be found to agree in what should be done; and with the human materials we have in this Parish, especially in this Village, I have no faith to believe that any thing will ever be done. I have long foreseen this. They have had the ministry free for the last 43 years, and they are so far from having learned their duty of honouring the Lord with the first fruit of their increase and prosperity as if they had never been taught the value of the Gospel. I am sure that a change must take place ere a great while. The Society will not always pour out its bounty upon an ungrateful people.247 20th Jan? 1851 Started after a good deal of hesitation for Montreal. I had a cold and ague in my face which caused the hesitation. Before I started D. Westover called and gave me $10 towards the Bishop's house, saying that he did not get one cent of contribution from any one. I got to St. Johns in good time, and spent part of the evening at Mrs. Gray's.248 2i st [January 1851] Proceeded to Montreal after breakfast. The roads were good, as was also the ice straight across from Laprairie. On my arrival I went to the Bank, cashed my Bills on New York, and vested the proceeds in Bank Stock, five shares.249 Sold my London Bills to T. Mussen. In the Evening attended the Meeting of the Church Society in St. George's Church, the largest & the Best we ever had. I heard the Bishop, and admired him as a sound business man for his firm, meek spirit and profound wisdom.250 Rev. Mr. Lonsdell, as last summer conducted me home.251 22 d jan>' 1851 Breakfasted at the Bishop's. They were very kind, and sorry that I did not bring in one of my daughters. The day was very Stormy, no travelling. I finished my business, was ready to start at noon but could not on account of the Storm and deep Snow.252 In the evening Brown and Sanborn called and spent the evening with me. They are evidently good young men. Chamberlin reported the proceedings of the meeting as they appeared in this morning's Gazette: His ability does him honour.253

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23d [January 1851] Lowe called on me this morning, a sensible, good, young man. In consequence of the depth of snow which fell yesterday I did not start for home till noon, when the roads were likely to be beaten. I got to St Johns [at] half past three, but did not tarry for two reasons. One was, the Bishop was to be at Bancrofts,254 and it is no part of my habits to be an intruder, and the other reason was I did not think that they manage well at the Hotel. Monday night I had my bed only, and horse keeping, and nothing on my return, but hay, and Mrs. Watson charged me 7/6. I therefore came on to Marsh's and staid all night, well enough pleased with the accommodation -255 24th Jany 1851 Took breakfast, and got home for dinner, and thank God found all well, and my face better than it was when I left home. The weather is now moderate, thawing, but the winds very high. James and the dear girls are on a visit at Chamberlin's or the Barnum's 30th Jany 1851 The meeting of our District association was appointed to be held at Philipsburgh on 29* (yesterday). Tuesday was very Stormy, and for fear that, if I did not go on that day the roads would be impassable next day, I went through the Storm to the Bay that afternoon. It stormed all night. No clergyman came but myself, and no other people but a few out of the village. Mr Whitwell read Morning Prayer. I gave an extempore Address, and then dismissed the Congregation. After a good dinner, at which were Col. Dyer and Mr Young,256 I started for home through a dreadful storm of snowing and drifting. I made out pretty well till I got to Henry Toofs, but from that to the Village there was no possibility of getting home. With vast difficulty and labour for man and horse, I got on to Mr. Buck's, and there I put up for the night. I believe if no house was nearer to me than Charles Reynold's that I would have [had] to give up, and perhaps perish in the drift under the storm. Mr and Mrs Buck received me very kindly indeed, and gave me an excellent bed to sleep in.257 This morning after two sleighs had passed I started for home, and was glad to find all well. I have been in the Country forty five years, and never saw such storm as this that we have now had for 48 hours. God be praised that we have been preserved through it! On my arrival at home I found the Revd Mr Lindsay in the House.

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The storm prevented him from going any farther to attend the meeting. He puts up at Col. Kemp's after dinner; he took up the girls with him to Mrs Kemps. About 7 P.M. He and Edwin, and Patience and Emily258 came with the girls, had Tea, and spent the Evening with us till ten: and a most agreeable evening it was. I must say that our young people of this very place are the most amiable and agreeable and pleasant I ever knew. God bless them! I do love them for Christ's Sake. Mr. Lindsay I esteem very highly. I must also record that Mrs Anson Kemp, came here about 2 P.M. to help line my Buffaloe robes.259 She set to work in real earnest, and finished one most completely and effectually done too by 6 of the clock - She took the other one home with her. She had served her time when she was young at the tailoring business, and from her early habits is more fit for strong work. I must remember her for this, and please God to spare my life till I go to Town again, I will remember her. This night Thermometer is 2 2 ° below Zero, and will be much lower before day, but thanks be [to] God for his goodness, it is calm and we can bear it. 3 i st January 1851 This day has been very cold, frost as hard as Yesterday but not so much wind, and therefore not so tedious. I built fires in the Church before breakfast, and though I kept it up constantly till noon when the funeral of Hirum Freligh came,260 the building was not warm, not even comfortable, and therefore I did not give them more than five minutes of an exhortation after the Burial Service. I wish that funeral discourses could be given up altogether. Mrs. Anson Kemp came here yesterday and lined one of my New Buffaloes before she went, and took the other home with her which she lined today, and did the work on both well. I must remember this kind work to her by some present the next time I go to Town. I suppose the mercury is now 24 or 25° below Zero - I do not know whether the roads are yet broken or not. I have not seen any Sleighs passing this day. Tomorrow evening I expect the Bishop here, if he can come. May it please [God] to moderate the weather for Sunday! The Bishop has certainly seen and felt on this tour what the Clergy have to endure under a Canadian Sky. It may be for the better that he has made the trial. He will know how [to] sympathise with them. January has come in cold and goes out equally cold. The 3d was 31° and this day 20° below zero.

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3 d Feb 1851 Saturday towards night, the Lord Bishop of Montreal and his Son arrived here, and remained with us till after Church Yesterday. I think I may say that there never was here before a more proper Christian Divine, in every respect than the Bishop of Montreal. He is a perfect gentleman, sober, Serious, affable, instructive, yet of highly dignified manners, but pleasant, agreeable, amiable, easy, natural, without airs or ha[u]teur. I think every one must love him. He gave us a most excellent discourse.261 I carried him to the Bay where we reached in time for the evening Service. Mr. J. Jones was there and staid with us at Mr. Ws till 9 of the clock P.M. He is a tiresome, disagreeable anecdote teller not often in good taste. I staid till noon today when I returned home with Mary Ann 262 to stay with us for a few days on a visit.

7th Feb 1851 Very cold indeed. Today 27° below and yesterday 15° By invitation we dined yesterday at O.B. Kemp's, a decent young couple. Today Mr. and Mrs Knap and their kinswoman Mrs. Charles Baker were here to tea.263 In the morning I baptized three children from Stukely, grand children of our Brooksa64 - Called on A. Kemp who gave me $4 towards the Episcopal Residence. To Mr. Knap I shewed what Kemp gave and he put down an equal sum. I am in hopes now that it is begun. I shall get more.265 The girls spent the Evening at Mr. Dickinson's. 9th Feb. 1851 A stormy, snowy, drifting day, but not so cold as yesterday. Mercury in the morning stood 8° above o. The wind being very high and the Church cold, the stoves, though in operation from early morning, could not make it warm. There were only 23 in Church. The number being so small, I saved my Sermon, not from any desire of sparing myself, but from an apprehension that I could speak extemporaneously, with composure to a small company, from the Epistle for the day, the 3d of Col. for the 5th Sunday after the Epiphany. I did so, and instead of half an hour gave them 55 minutes.

16th Feb. 1851 Since my last entry Sherman Whitwell266 came and took away Mary Ann and Jane. The last has not returned home. Yesterday and the day before we have had a very rapid thaw which lowered the snow a great deal and

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overflowed our little river, but last night changed it into hard frost and very high west winds. I was, in the morning nervous about building fires in the Church, but in the course of the day the wind lowered a little, and I got the Church made tolerably comfortable. The congregation made 64 and no more. Last week I went to Berkshire with a letter to Mr. Palmer of New Orleans and another to Mr. Lowe of New York. I found a letter from Mr. Lowe waiting for me. His letter was not at all satisfactory. I learn from it that the Canvass was put on the Trunks at New York. I cannot account for this at all. The trunk and the chest are the same that my dear son took from home in 1847 and carried with him to New Orleans. They are in every respect as good, and as sound as when they left this house. The leather and the straps and the buckles are yet uninjured. They were not canvassed in New Orleans, but on their arrival in New York. Wherefore was it done? I cannot devise any reason for it. They were and are wholly uninjured as they came from the hands of [the] Trunk maker, except the broken locks. Any reason for the act that I can devise suggests the painful suspicion that they were covered with the canvass by Mr Lowe's men after they had broken the Locks and robbed them. Mr. Lowe says that the Cartman in his employ and the person who covered them with Canvass, whom he had questioned, declare that the trunks were evidently full. He does not say that he had either seen or handled them himself. He affirms nothing on his own personal knowledge. My painful conclusion therefore is that his men robbed them after breaking the locks & that they then suggested to their Master the idea of covering them to conceal the robbery. The canvass was put on very neatly with little tacks close together all round nearly down to the bottom which together with the leather straps would keep them closed and secure on a voyage round the world unless the canvass was ripped off. My belief therefore is that the robbery was committed by Mr. Lowe's men, and the canvass put on to hide their crime. I stated the whole matter to Mr. Rand, a Lawyer at Berkshire Mills. He came here on Friday and saw the Trunks26? - I gave him all the papers I had respecting them. He is to try to find out where the crime was committed, and make the owners of the Line pay for the property. I have had a certificate from Mr. Palmer and his men to the effect that the clothes, Jewelry and watch put up in them were worth $250. I must be satisfied with this because I do not know what my son had, but I was certainly thinking that he must have had at least more than double that amount. He had fully that when he went away, in the

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two trunks that came, and must have had more when he died, otherwise a third Trunk would not have been necessary -

19th Feb. 1851 James came here monday evening, was well - went to the Bay yesterday with my mare, and carried home Jane from her visit at the Whitwell's. Today he started for his own place taking the double sleigh, and Julia O'Brine with him, to visit her mother.268 Today I went up to the foot of the Pinnacle to marry a couple. The bride was the daughter of Clarke Deming.269 On my way up I left Mrs. Reid at A. Knaps, to make a visit till my return. Coming home she told me that they and Young O.B.K. are in a negotiation about giving up their farm and all they have to him for their living and to be taken care of till they die. I am sorry, extremely so, to hear of such a negotiation. They are stricken in years, and unable to do much for themselves, to be sure but then I should think that by letting out their farm for rent, or on shares, together with what money they have laid up they might live comfortably without putting themselves in the power of any. He says that he is to hold a mortgage both on his own and O.B.K's farm in Security for his living and good treatment. Mrs. Knap is very much averse to the transaction.27° If it goes on she wants to have both the control of her own valuable furniture while she lives, and the disposal of it by Will when she dies. Mr. K. wants to relinquish all. I pity them if they make this bargain. It is what they ought not to do if he were their son. If they do it, they will find themselves in the way and a burden grievous to be borne, before it is a year in operation. We might be sure there was a scheme in train these four or five years in train for catching their property in a mesh, from the attentions of old and young so liberally and assiduously shewn to the unsuspicious poor old couple. O.B.K. promises to take as good care of them as he would of his father and mother.2?1 Pity that care in one so Curt and passionate as O.B.K. I am sorry if the poor creatures will be taken in the snares! 21st Feb. 1851 Thaw today and yesterday together with gentle rain, and now wind threatening to be high. Henry Baker and his wife dined with us and spent a great part of the day. The Papers bring the intelligence that the Steamer Atlantic had to put back to Cork with machinery broken and is safe -272

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25 th Feb 1851 For a number of days back it thawed, and reduced the great body of snow on the ground very much. James brought me a Sleigh load of Oats on Saturday, staid over Sunday, but when he had his Sleigh out yesterday morning to return home rain commenced which continued all day and detained him till this morning. I hope he got home safely to day. Last night it changed from thaw to hard frost, and now the Sky is clear and the frost is keen. Today I was sent for to see Jabez Chadburn who has been sick for eight weeks. I baptized both him & his wife and daughter. I spoke to them all what I thought was appropriate, and suited to their case. They were not much in the habit of attending Church, and their Sons never.2 73 My Bible class attended this afternoon, after a suspension of four or five weeks. 28th Feb. 1851 A change of weather from a mild thaw to frost and snow. I went to Berkshire today with two Heralds and two St. Johns News for John which I hope will reach him. The Herald of yesterday brings the proceedings of the English Parliament the first day of its opening. Lord John Russell brought forward his government Resolutions on the Pope's encroachments in England. They are as good and apparently as effectual as I could have expected. He will be amply supported by a great majority. Some of the Catholic members will support him. Roebuck, Hume and others, Infidels and some dissenters and radicals will be opposed to them.274 I hope God will protect his own Church. Today was Mrs. Reid's birthday which closes her 65* year, so that she and I are well advanced in the journey of life. We had a Turkey at dinner to celebrate the event. We expected James and the servant girl but they have not made their appearance. 3d March 1851 A cold wintry day. Drew home ten loads of hay from the Farm. James came home on Saturday and brought Julia with him. Church yesterday as usual. Attended the funeral of Mrs. Taylor, an old Irish woman, up at Abbotts Corner in the Baptist meeting House.275 There was a good Congregation. Saturday Evening Mrs. Hutchinson called here. She says that the trial will come on in April - that she has found out that if she

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cannot set her father's Will aside, she can have a Curator or Guardian Set over Seymour that will oblige him to render his account every month. She did not appear to be so sure of Success as heretofore. The Mill is out of repair now for a month or more, and she does not repair it. I find she is out of money. What can she do without money? She cannot carry on Law, or repairs, and I know not how she can raise money.2?6 n th March 1851 Last thursday I had two funerals, that of Jabez Chadburn and that of Cutler's youngest son.277 On Saturday Rev. C Morrice and Charlotte Whitwell came to us and staid till after dinner today. He took away my dear Nancy on a visit to his wife.2?8 Poor child! I shall miss her much, as we cannot get her home in less than Six weeks or two months. Mr. M. told me that Mr. L. had paid his addresses to a widow of the name of Smith in Montreal, and has broken off in a way very dishonourable to him. It is very unpleasant both to know and record such unbecoming conduct on the part of a young clergyman. I am afraid that he will get himself into another scrape of the same kind with some that are not widows. Mr. M.'s account of Mr. Hazard, and more especially the letters which he received from him, and which he shewed me, it appears that the man is hardly sane, and were it not from the brutality and malignity of their style, it would be no more than charitable to conclude that the creature was really insane. Alas! that we have such bad men serving at the Altar, and must fraternize with them.279 I have heard this evening that a Letter came from Mrs Hutchinson to G Kemp saying that her husband was to be Minister of Trinity Church Montreal, and that he, Gall[oway] must remain on the place for another year. Can this really be possible! Wonders upon wonders.280 Can she be among the Prophets? James came home last night and went away with his flour and Sugar Kettles I am very glad that he came for his load, because the roads will soon break up. It thaws indeed every day but not very rapidly. 13* March 1851 Cold and clear frost after some snow. We have had visiters this afternoon and Evening, Lewis Baker and his wife, W. Baker of Dunham, his wife and her sister Miss Clapp281 - All very agreeable company - Had a very Satisfactory Letter from John and his wife. I hope they will do well. They

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appear to take much comfort in one another. She seems to be well informed, well disposed, and possessed of good principles Jane had a Letter containing certain proposals from B.C. which I do not like. The young man to my mind has great assurance and much presumption when he would think of such a thing. I hope she will give him no encouragement. I will not oppose, but assuredly will not give consent -a82 ig th March 1851 On Monday I went to Berkshire with a letter to the Churchman,283 one to John and three Heralds. I took Mrs Reid with me and left her at the widow Carry's till my return, where we made a visit and dined. I called on Mr. Rand. He has had a letter from Mr. B. Lowe New York in answer to one he had sent him as my Attorney on the business of Malcolm's Trunks which is not satisfactory. He intends to visit New York in April and will then institute proceedings to recover remuneration for the value of the property. Yesterday I had my Bible Class and Mr and Mrs. Knap. It was a pleasant meeting. The negotiation between Mr. Knap and Mr Kemp, about giving up the farm to the latter for their maintenance is broken up. Mrs. Knap would not consent to it on any account. I think it well for both parties that it has not proceeded to maturity. Today I attended the funeral of an Old dutchman at Cook's Corner, that of John Tittemore. I mistook the hour. I thought it was to be at one of the clock; whereas it was at Eleven A.M. The congregation were waiting for me more than an hour. The house, school house was very full. The procession went on to the Burying ground at Pigeon Hill. I went there and finished the Burial service at the Grave. On my return I stopped at Henry Toof's and had dinner. Young Mrs Toof is a very good Christian woman.284 It has snowed a little all day but it is not cold. Jane has been making candles all day. I hope she will finish tomorrow 23d March 1851 Sunday. A very fine day. The sun bright and hot. The snow going very fast. The roads broken up in most places. Some wagons came to Church. In the afternoon went up to the East side of [the] Pinnacle to bury Old Mr Barnes.285 The roads very bad and hard for my little mare. There was a good gathering at the funeral. Gave them an extempore discourse, as I also did in the Church in the morning, but on different subjects.

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28th March 1851 The roads are all broke up. The fields on this side of the River bare, and the River overflowing its banks, and the west winds are high and beginning to be cold. There is therefore before us a long time of cold weather and bad roads. The last news from England announce the re-instatement of Lord John Russell's Whig Ministry. Neither Lord Stanly, nor Lord Aberdeen, nor Sir James Graham could form a ministry at present. I suppose the reason was this. No party wished for a dissolution of Parliament. A Conservative, or Peelite or a Protectionist ministry could not expect to carry on the Government by the present Parliament, and the possession of Power was so far from being coveted that none desired to run the risk and trouble of a general election in order to obtain it. Lord John and his colleagues resigned, because they lost a vote. They have gone back without any change in Parliament in their favour. They are just as liable to defeat as they were before. The only remedy for them to adopt is to profit by experience, and make their measures more palatable to their friends and supporters. If they go too far in this however they will become timeservers, and perhaps lose their character for consistency if any such they have. Their restoration is merely, in my opinion, a make shift. The others were not prepared.286 It came so unexpectedly. They will now prepare - they will become united, and be ready to take the field when the time suits. It is very probable that the objections on the part of some to join Lord Stanley, were only pretexts to gain time, as they knew too well the present Parliament would not answer them, and they were averse to a general election. It may be for the better that the Whigs should be left in power long enough to wear themselves out. The Rev. Mr. Hutchinson and his wife are in the Village yet. I have not seen them. I suppose they do not easily swallow my neglect of asking his assistance when he was out before. I cannot help it. There is a mystery which I do not understand. 30* March 1851 Sunday, very mild, but fewer at Church than usual, owing I suppose to the state of the roads. Had a Letter from John last friday dated the 3d Ins1. He and his wife appear to be very happy and much attached to one another. He wishes to get a Common Prayer Book from home. If I can find any proper way of sending to him I will, in the course of this season, send him a box con-

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taining 20 or 30 volumes of Books. They will be useful to him and his wife. Mr and Mrs Hutchinson went away to Town Yesterday morning. She took with her a load of furniture. I did not call on them while they were here. I suppose I should, but some way or other I have no heart to do it. I know nothing about or against him. All I know, or rather feel, [is] that something must be wrong in him as a Clergyman, before he could think of marrying. I cannot help loathing them both. I have no pleasure in them. My soul draws back from them as from something loathsome, and this is all I can say. The report is that he is to get Trinity Church for the ensuing year to supply the place of Mr. Campbell who is to visit England. Together with this, the Editorship of the Church Paper talked of last winter as coming out under the patronship of the Bishop of Montreal. Both these appointments are to bring him £300 a year, one, from Trinity Church, and two from the proposed Paper. Now the whole of this appears to me as most unlikely to be realised: The congregation of Trinity Church is reduced to a mere nothing. The stipend comes from Pew rents, but whence will it come if people do not rent the Pews? And as to the Paper, Mr Lovel exerted himself last winter to get it started, but did not obtain more than from two to three hundred, while he said it would require 1400 Subscribers to sustain it. If this was all the Success under the Bishop's auspices, recently come, how is it to be better now, when the expected Editor is known only as surrounded with unfavourable indications?28? Is the Bishop to be the Patron of a Paper thus issued? If so, then I am much disappointed. Verrons. 2d April 1851 On every Tuesday at 4 P.M. I have a Bible Class at which I explain a Chapter. Sometimes one of the Young Ladies stays over night with my daughters. Last night Mary Kemp staid.288 Our Jane went up yesterday on a visit to the Westovers (Asa). The Snow is now all gone except in the woods and deep hollows. I wrote to Charles Sunday night and mailed it on Monday. It rains since noon and the wind somewhat fresh. 5th April 1851 This morning four or five inches of snow fell, but now it is all gone and the wind is very high. May the Lord of his mercy grant us a calm peaceful Sabbath tomorrow that those who love and fear his name may be

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able to meet in his house of prayer with minds composed! Last night we had letters from three of our absent children. I am sorry to find that Charles has had a severe attack of what I am afraid is a dangerous headache. Emily Westover and Almira were here last night. O how different are the daughters of farmers from what they were when we first came to St Armand! Then they were strong and health [y], doing all sorts of house work, and Summer and winter wearing their own manufactured cloth. Now they are ladies, mere hot house plants continually with a needle, crotchet work, or a fashionable magazine or Novel in their hands. I have no pleasure in them.s89 They are weak, affected, lisping, helpless creatures speaking so low and nipping their words so that I cannot hear them. n th April 1851 Received a letter from Lindsay of Brome saying that the Bishop expressed a wish when he saw him last in Town to be present at our District Meeting when he comes out in June - that the Bishop asked him where the meeting would be held. He suggested Waterloo. Lindsay then wrote to desire me to arrange accordingly. I had the same day written to Mr Jones requesting him to call a meeting for 22 d May at the Bay, and had to go to Bedford yesterday to countermand the order. Lindsay wishes that the District will undertake to support a Missionary - that his people will contribute £50 annually to it - that if the District will not do it he will himself by extra efforts undertake to do the whole. The young man is zealous, and if he do not great things in his youth he will not when he is old, nevertheless we must be on our guard against undertaking what we shall not be able to carry out. His mission has never paid but only $5 to the Church Society, and yet he wants us to support a Missionary in this District, on the plausible ground that in so doing we shall have something to do at our meetings. We have now to do all that was proposed we should do, while his mission does nothing of the kind. If the Church Society will allow us to devote all our contributions to the maintenance of a missionary, then it is all very well, but to give up our contributions to the Society, and then contribute to the support of a missionary is certainly hopeless; the people will not do both. If the Society will give up, then what will be the use of keeping it up? The conclusion in my mind is that Mr. Lindsay's plan involves the death blow of the Church Society and make the District Associations to supersede it. This is evident from the fact that his mission never contributed to its support,

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and it follows therefore that they wish to destroy what they disapprove of and refuse to support. At Mr. Jones's yesterday he shewed me a very large manuscript completely ready for the Press which will make a vol. of 5 or 600 octavo pages, which he has written within the last 18 months. He read me a Chapter on Truth which is as good, as philosophical and as logical as any thing I ever met with. Little did I think that he had such Philosophical and logical abilities and acumen. I really thought that he would write as he speaks but havers and anecdotes. What a pity he does not write his Sermons! And what a pity that I have grown slack, writing nothing myself, till I have become completely rusty! 15* April 1851 James and his man Mclntosh came here last night and went away this morning with a Steer and a heifer, two year old that I gave him. Last week I received a Letter from Mr. Lindsay which I here copy with my reply viz Brome 29* March 1851 My dear Mr Reid When in Montreal the Bishop asked me if I thought it could be arranged to have our Church Society meeting when he came out in June. I told him that I thought you would be willing to accede to it, and I mentioned Waterloo as being the best place for the Meeting on account of the difficulties which the Church has had to contend with there partly from the excitement of Adventism, and partly from the Sickness of Mr. Whitten,29° and also from the fact that there had not been a meeting of the Society in Waterloo for several years. The Bishop therefore requested me to enquire of you if the meeting could not be arranged for June at Waterloo - the particular day he would inform us. If you agree to this I think it would be adviseable to have a previous meeting some time next month, April and arrange matters, and as regards our annual meeting I think that had better be deferred until Sept1" as the Annual meeting of the Church Society is changed from July to January. I feel extremely anxious that our District Association should do something, and I know nothing which is more calculated to bring down a blessing upon our labours than missionary efforts. I write this not from any theory of my own but from the fact that wherever much has been done for the propagation of the faith, there the Church has prospered most. I

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firmly believe that if we can create in the hearts of our people a feeling for the souls of others we shall not want an endowment for our Churches and Missions. The great Mass of the endowments in England is from private individuals, & upon private benevolence would I depend for the support of our Churches. I do not mean to say that we should neglect to attain land or other property as an endowment for our missions, but I do feel that it should be a secondary object and the marked feature of our District Association and of the Church Society should be missionary - the earnest effort to fulfil the divine commission - to go and disciple all nations. I can see no difficulty in the way of maintaining our Missionaries. The present allowance for missionaries is £75 SterS or £88 Cur? requiring from the people to whom they minister further assistance. As regards one Missionary there can be no difficulty. I promise from my own Mission £50 per Anm and if the District Association will not take part in it I will make an extra effort and raise the £88. Potton and Bolton I consider to be the first that should be supplied. Now if at our meeting previous to the Bishop's arrival we could have a preliminary meeting of the Clergy, so that we should be more of one mind and then unitedly enlist the minds of the laity to cooperate I think we could effect any thing we wished for - but we must remodel our meetings. I spoke to the people here of a Church Society Meeting but the recollection of a meeting which was held here which lasted upwards of five hours in which nothing was done except a great deal of hard speaking among the clergy has left such an impression that there is no desire among the Church people for its repetition. If we followed the example of the monthly meetings of the Propagation society in England or the Church Society in Montreal and commence our meetings with the Prayers of the [society] without a Sermon and Service, and had the Resolutions prepared and forwarded to the movers and seconders a week before the meeting I do think we should find a great improvement. I trust you will forgive me if any thing I have written may appear like presumption or want of humility, but isolated as we are in our missions it requires an effort to maintain the bond of union which Should knit together the adjoining parts of the Church Catholic and without that we sink into the coldness of the Congregational System. Trusting that yourself and family are well believe me your Sincere fellow labourer R. Lindsay -

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Reply. 14* April 1851 My dear Mr Lindsay A meeting of the District Association had just been appointed the day before your Letter came, and in compliance with the Bishop's wish, as communicated by you, I recalled the appointment immediately. The meeting therefore stands adjourned until we hear from his Lordship. While I approve of your laudable zeal and agree with you in Setting a high value on Missionary labours, yet permit me to think that you labour under some misapprehension with respect to the meetings & objects of the District Association. We have always done what the Articles & Constitution of the Incorporated Society have prescribed for us to do though not either to the amount or extent of all that we ought to have done. We have annually contributed money and paid it in to the Treasurer of the Society to be at the disposal of the Central Board. It is then clearly a mistake to say that, by adopting your proposal we shall have something to do, as if we had nothing to do, or did nothing, before. It is very true that Brome had nothing to do with the affairs of the Church Society but this rule of keeping aloof should not be applied to the other missions that were up and doing. The contributions made in Brome to the Parsonage did not go to the Society though they were inserted in the Report. Mr Chapman the Missionary of the Society and yourself, contributed, each once. In reference to your Proposal it appears to me that your mission and the other portions of the District are not on an equal footing to begin with it. Brome has done nothing, the other parts have since 1843. Brome would now begin without any other burden to bear, while we would have to charge ourselves with the expence of the Missionary in addition to our existing obligations to the Church Society. We annually contribute to the Church Society, leaving it to the Central Board, headed by the Bishop, to apply our contributions according to the Constitution of the Society. Brome, having hitherto stood aloof, wishes now to begin on its own account, not as a component portion of the Society, but in my view separate and independent and moreover wishes either to withdraw us from the Society or to impose upon us a double burden - our contributions to the Society, and the Support of our proposed Missionary. Should we withdraw ourselves from the Church Society, our present contributions would support a missionary, and a good deal more, with what Brome now offers. But for my part I am not prepared to adopt any plan that involves a separation from the Church Society. This scheme, if adopted would do so, because I am pretty sure the people will not

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contribute to both. The Society depends for its existence on Parochial contributions, which, if we keep back and otherwise apply, will lead to separation, and consequently, to the dissolution of the Society. What one District may do, all may do, and then the Society will die a natural death. I do not see that we have any cause of complaint against the Society. It give[s] some assistance to every mission in the District except my own, and also a missionary during one year. Your part of the country had his service. These aids, no doubt, will be repeated, if we continue our co-operation with it. Instead then of making new experiments, let us work with the Society, and we shall get a Missionary. I have no idea of setting up for ourselves.29X I am my dear Sir Yours &c To Rev R. Lindsay, James Reid 16th April 1851

Had a letter this evening from Charles - He has had another attack of that dangerous headache. I am affraid how it will terminate. As it may prove fatal it is a mercy that he has no helpless children to leave unprovided for. 24* April 1851 Set down nothing for eight days, but I must gather up a little of what is left behind because some of it ought to be remembered. At the close of the Service on Friday, Mr. Knap stood up in his pew and invited all the Ladies who had contributed towards making me a present of a new Gown to meet on the following day in Church in order to present it.292 This was new to me entirely. I never heard of it, nor any of the family. But the gown had not arrived from Montreal when he invited nor had he any authority from the Ladies to interfere at all. Before Service had begun he asked one of them whether it had come. He was told it had not, but they had some hopes it would that day or tomorrow, but not for certain. But he was so Sanguine, and so much in the itch of heading the Ladies, and be [ing] their spokesman that he could not wait. The Ladies that conducted the affair went away confounded not knowing what to do, as the gown had not come, and would not have him for their spokesman. They went round immediately to the contributors, to countermand the invitation. But before night the Gown came, and that it might be presented without any more officious intermeddling, Miss W[e]stover, Mrs Barnum and Mrs A Kemp came and presented the Gown without being themselves deputed to do so. They presented a

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beautiful Address with it and a list of the Contributors, without being signed. I answered it next day, and addressed it to the three Ladies as representing the other Ladies, for I supposed they were a deputation. Two of them came back with it immediately because they could not assume the character of delegates. I had to write it over again, and address it to all the Contributors, without any allusion to a delegation. I suppose they will send it to the Papers as it cannot otherwise be made known to the donors unless they would undertake to transcribe a copy for every one of them.293 I am very thankful for this mark of their good Will. It is the first I have had in 36 years of service. On Easter day tolerable good congregation and 31 at the Communion. On Monday I went to Franklin with a letter to John, stopped at Nic. Martin's294 and dined. On Tuesday went to see Henry Toof - called at the widow Toof's for the Society's due. She told me that she had signed it for five years, now she would withdraw. Her step daughter paid for herself and sister. I thanked her in behalf of the Society, and begged of her not to suppose that what she gave in the cause of God's Church would be lost.295 She would not miss it at the end of the Year. It being my Master's business I was not ashamed to go about collecting, but if it was for myself, they would not have seen me that day nor any other. Yesterday I took tea at Doctor Barnum's. Today I went up to A. Westovers to see if he would send his teams to draw out my manure.296 He promised them for tomorrow. The weather is very cold and dry. The roads dry and hard as baked clay. Spicer has been sawing my wood since Saturday, and will take more than a day yet to finish. I wrote and sent another letter to Charles Yesterday. I am very anxious about him i May 1851 Since my last entry I got my manure carted out to the eastern extremity of my little farm and 2l/2 bushels of oats sown, and my field at home plowed today for wheat, corn and potatoes. I also got timber drawn from the mill for my hog pen, and now it is framed ready to be put up tomorrow if the weather be fit. It has been very cold for a while back, but this evening the wind rose, and wet snow is pouring down, but by the time it reaches the ground it dissolves. Nancy has not come home yet, and I, for my part feel very uneasy that friend Morrice does not bring her. We can hardly expect her now till next week. I hope she is well.

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6th May 1851 Since my last entry I got some work done on the farm, sowed some wheat, oats and twelve bushels of potatoes planted. I also got my pig pen framed and would have had [it] raised and finished by this time if the weather had held fair. But it has been very cold for a week. Yesterday and today it rained and snowed. Last Friday had a Letter from Dr. Hall, desiring to borrow £300 of me for two years. He has embarrassed himself by assisting his brother to establish himself in business. All was lost, and he is left in the lurch. His brother it seems has gone to California, to better his fortune, and he has now heard indirectly that the poor fellow is insane in San Francisco. I wrote to him in reply that it was not in my power to relieve him as I had lost much myself in the same way he did, and besides laid out a vast deal to establish James on a farm, and over and above had to settle with the Bs - by the i March, and would have to borrow myself- Dear Nancy not come yet -

16th May 1851 On Monday last Jane and myself started for Montreal where we arrived at about 4 P.M. Mr and Mrs. Shelton were so kind as to invite us to stay with them which we did. They are zealous Church people: in the Grocery Trade. Mrs. Shelton is the daughter of the late Reverend Dr. Butler of Troy, New York.297 I called on the Bishop on Tuesday morning and delivered the Sugar which I had purchased of Asa Westover for him. His Lordship was very kind, and treated me with a great deal of confidence. I finished my business on Tuesday and took the nine oclock Boat on Wednesday and got home [at] half past 5 P.M. and found all well. When in Town I called on Mr Wenham of the [Bank of] Upper Canada, who is a Creditor to the Estate of my poor Son Malcolm, and tried to stir him up to do something in order to bring Geddes to a Settlement. I hope he will do something and bring the affair to a close. I paid at the Office of T.B. Anderson our Church Society Subscriptions and placed for our own Church £8 and some odd Shillings in the Montreal Savings Bank.298 On my arrival at home on Wednesday I found a Letter from Charles in which he says that he is now nearly as well as usual. He has to attend the Bishop of Quebec's Visitation in July at Quebec.299

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2gth May 1851 I am getting to be very negligent. I am seriously afraid I shall never recover any of my usual activity any more in this world. Last Sunday night I received a Letter from Mr. Huntington, St Albans, informing me that my poor Malcolm's third Trunk had arrived by the Carrs from Rouse's Point, and that he thought it had shared the same fate as the rest. On this I started next morning with the Stage to bring it home. The Trunk itself is a most extraordinary good one. As soon as I got home, I sent for Messrs Dickinson and A. Kemp to witness the opening, and what it contained.300 It was not however opened or robbed like the others. It appears to be the Trunk he had with him at the Springs, and contains only the articles of wearing apparel he had for use there; and we do not think that the people who were about him had put up all that he had neither. For instance there is no night clothes, no cravats or stocks, no braces, no gloves except one pair of old cotton gloves, and four pair of cotton socks. There are nine linen shirts - Three suits of Summer light clothes - one pair of Boots with another man's name written on them. I will insert the articles found in them all another time. The weather has been so wet for some time that I have not got my Corn planted yet nor am I like to get it done at all.301 14* June 1851 I have certainly become very remiss, as the date shews. On the 2d Instant I went after Nancy as she was not making her appearance, because it was not convenient for Mr. Morrice to fetch her. I found her well. On the way I staid a night at Mr. Townsend['s] and found him so ill with pain in his back that he was unable to hold service on Sunday. His establishment is one of the very first in this country out of the Cities. Considering that he has a large family it cannot be but that he lays out all his money in improving and adorning his house, buildings and grounds. His farm I am told contained 180 acres.302 I was well pleased with Mr. Morice's too, particularly with his wife. She is a lady every inch of her, most elegant, but plain in her appearance, intelligent, and though brought up & educated in high life, assumes no airs, but [is] affable, mild, agreeable and in all respects, a prudent housekeeper. He and I started on board the Champlain Steam boat for Montreal next morning and returned next day after a pleasant trip:3°3 & next day Nancy & myself started for home - The Spring hitherto has been remarkably wet and cold. I had my Corn ground twice plowed and pre-

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pared for planting, and at last this very day was obliged to give up the notion of planting and sowed wheat in it. Many have planted twice and three times. There will be but little Corn, if any this year. The meadows are very good. The Bishop I expect is at Bedford this night, where I suppose he has performed divine Service, and will officiate tomorrow morning at the Upper Mills, and at Dunham in the afternoon, and consecrate the new Church there on Monday, and the Sutton Church on Tuesday.3°4 I will endeavour to attend at Dunham on Monday, but as I have to attend at Waterloo on Thursday, I will not go to Sutton. The Kemps have not, as usual, invited me to Sutton. Had a letter from John written on the 2Oth May. Mr. Babcock, the Attorney General of Minesota, is on a visit to his parents in Berkshire.3°5 I have handed him a packet for John, containing a fine Bible, two fine Common Prayer Books, one Common print and binding, one Book of family prayers and three of Malcolm's shirts. I hope they will reach him. I had appointed a meeting of the people to attend on last Wednesday, to take into consideration the call made upon them by the S.P.G. to contribute money for the purchase of a Glebe for the support of their future Minister. The Society offers to add an equal sum to what the people themselves will contribute. Only Mr Westover and Mr. H. Baker attended. It seems the people are absolutely indifferent in the matter. I am now informed by the Bishop that my Successor will get from the Society only £25 per annum. If then they do not provide while they have me without charge to them, they will see how it will be when I give up. My fears are there will be nothing done, and that in a few years there will be no Church here. They are and have been for a long time so estranged from one another, and embittered against one another, that I am afraid every thing will fall to the ground. It is what most of them deserve. Except the Westovers and the Bakers on the hill, and the Knaps, all the rest are of such a State of mind as indicate that the Lord is about forsaking the place. There is a connexion in the Village, that keep[s] both the Village and the Church down. Had they been of the right sort, there would have been both a flourishing Village and a flourishing Church here. I would have left it long ago, had I found it practicable.3o6 Had a letter from Charles last night saying that he and his wife on their way to Quebec will be here soon after the 23d - His health is not good, but thank God it is better than it has been. Mrs Hutchinson was here this evening trying to borrow money from me. She said she was very much crouded for want of money. I could not

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help her. She offered to give spoons &c in Security. She wanted I do not now remember whether $60 or £60.1 suppose she wanted the money to pay for the heavy repairs of the Mill, now about being finished. She drives her own horse and wagon wherever she wants to go. I expect she will be in greater distress yet before she is done with the Courts of law, and obtain a Settlement of all the points in litigation between her and Seymour, and between her and her Uncles. The whole is a mess of litigation. She has lived in troubled waters, is in troubled waters, and will be in the same to the very last. How she would be if she got into quiet, smooth calm waters I know not, though I partly suppose, quiet would kill her altogether. I am to bring forward, in my Sermon tomorrow the business that should have been before them last Wednesday had they come together. They may do with it as they please. If they will not make it their business, they may leave it. I will not make it mine.3°7 2 3d June 1851 On Monday the i6th I went to Dunham to the consecration of the New Church which is well finished. The Service was well attended. The Bishop and the Clergy dined at W. Baker's. On Tuesday the 17th I went to Sutton to attend the consecration of the Church. This was the best turn out I have ever seen in the Townships. The people turned out from all quarters, to the amount of I should suppose 500. After Service there was the celebration of the Sunday School children. They got the unfinished Methodist chapel for the children to eat their dinner in, consisting of three great tables reaching from end to end supplied with abundance of bread, Butter and a great variety of rich cakes brought in from far and near of the people, and waited upon by the young of both sexes in a very orderly manner. The Bishop and clergy dined at Mr. Kemp's,3°8 after having done we all went out to witness the juvenile feast. The Bishop was most highly gratified. He stood there at the end of the Tables for a long time in the silence of deep admiration and at last made a Speech. Mr Lindsay insisted upon Mr Scott and myself that we should speechify which we did at some length. When we concluded the Bishop thinking perhaps that his speech was not long enough, rose up again and made another,3°9 and promised that, if they persevered, he would perhaps come and see them next year. I do not know how many children but undoubtedly there were a vast many more than the Sunday Scholars; for big and little, old and young were at the Tables. The thing was got up to make a display by Mr L. and the Ks, and they had their reward, the

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praise of men and that of the Bishop. Pity he could not see through, and be able from intimate knowledge of facts to appreciate the whole affair after its intrinsic worth. Not all gold that glitters. At the conclusion Jane & myself started [for] Brome310 and arrived at James's about Sunset. The little black flies [are numerous] and very troublesome and their bites almost poisonous. My face was much bitten and swollen. He and his man, greatly to his loss, are not able to work out of doors because of them. On Wednesday [the] Bishop held service in Brome, but I did not go.311 I sent James and Jane in my waggon. On Thursday we started for Waterloo to the consecration of the Church there which was well attended but not a Cram as at Sutton.312 After the Consecration a meeting of the District Association of the Church Society was held at the wh the Bishop presided. The meeting went on very well while the usual routine lasted, when other unexpected business commenced. Mr. Scott moved that we should recommend him to the Central Board in Montreal for a grant of money in aid of paying off the debt yet owing on their glebe. When this passed in his favour, he then moved for Mr Lindsay's proposal to employ a missionary at our own expence in the District, to which he offers to give £50 and also for a grant of money to his Grammar School. Both were approved, but the missionary plan was so modified as to be yet on a very uncertain footing. Mr Scott disappointed me very much in moving Lindsay's Missionary Scheme. The case is this. Brome Mission never did any thing for the Society. Mr. Lindsay said to me last winter, both in conversation and letter that his people would subscribe for his Support, but not for the Society, and that they would not have our meeting held there. And as he had £100 from the Society, he would devote the people's subscription to the support of a missionary £50, if we would add £25 to it. I answered his letter when received, to the effect, that we had been doing the business of the Society from its commencement in the way which the Society prescribed while his mission stood aloof, and now he and his people would work313 in their own way on condition that we all should go over to them and not they to us. Mr Scott professed to agree heartily in opinion with me, and seemed even full of dislike to Lindsay for his presumption. So clearly, decidedly, was he of this mind, that he even laboured to keep me in the same mind with himself. I was therefore astonished to find in him a staunch advocate in behalf of Lindsay's scheme. The Bishop as matter of course was friendly to the move.314 It ended in a resolution passed that a Sermon shall be preached on a certain day, and a collection made for Missionary purposes to be at the disposal of our Board. Mr Scott should have had the candour to

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inform me beforehand of the change wh took place in his mind. I spoke to him at the close, and I told him how he had disappointed me. He said he had seen cause to alter his opinion. I see it to be true, what my lamented son Malcolm often told me, that none of his family was to be relied upon. I am sure that henceforth I will not have confidence in him, and sorry I am that, notwithstanding the warning I had from Malcolm, I was in the habit of opening my heart too freely to him on many points, which, now understanding his character better, may yet do me injury. On Friday, being rainy till the afternoon, we only made out to reach Col. Knowlton's. We called at Foster's, particular friends of James's but found them not at home. We found Mrs. Foster at the Colonel's. We were very much pleased with her in particular, as a sincere, plain openhearted, judicious friend of James, and with the old Lady, Mr. Knowlton and the Young Lady her niece. I do not know any such people within my acquaintance, & I am sure there are none such. Mrs Foster is very superior as a plain, unaffected, sensible judicious, kind woman. There is positively none such as she is in all my acquaintance.315 We got home on Saturday to dinner, and found dinner ready on the Table and Whitwell and Wilson at it with my family. At night under very heavy rain Rev. Mr. Constantine, his wife, two children and Mr. Wilson came here wet as ducks. We had to get them all dry clothes, until their own dried by the stove all night.316 24* June 1851 After Breakfast Mr. Wilson drove the lady and children home to Dunham, and I went to Stanbridge to introduce Mr. Constantine to the people at the Upper Mills where he is to remain for three months, to try whether the Church can be started into life again. We called on Mrs Chandler, young Cornell, found only his wife (Prudence Barnes), Mr. Martin, Z. Cornell (found only his wife), Mr Gordon (found only his wife), H. Rice, (found only his wife), Pierce and Baker, & dined at Mrs. Chandler's.317 Service was announced for next Sunday. The encouragement is not very great, but I do not despair. My own congregation is in as bad a state as any. Almost all of them are in a state of animosity with one another. I am convinced they will come to nothing. [5* July 1851] [This date is conjectural; there is no date caption in MS.]

Copy of a Letter to the Bishop:

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The Diary of James Reid "5th July 1851

My Lord I am happy to inform you that my people have taken up the subject of creating an endowment for the support of a future clergyman, with an energy which I hope will be successful. I have great hopes myself: will give the particulars when we are more advanced. If the S.P.G. as I understood your Lordship to say, will give a sum equal to what we shall raise, the future clergyman will be on a permanent good footing. My purpose at present is to inform you that I have a few days ago received from our member Mr Badgley a Copy of the Bill to provide for the establishment of a Church Society &c.3l8 This Bill and the Deed of our Pinnacle Lot were yesterday, at a meeting held on the subject of our endowment examined by our business men, among whom was our Notary Public, and they pronounced it as not in the least provided to meet our case with regard to the selling of this useless Lot. The untroubled operation of the Bill, which I find has passed the third reading is this. The Bishop of Quebec is to transfer the Lot to your Lordship, and your Lordship is to transfer it to me and my successors forever, according to the terms and conditions of the Deed given by the late Judge Dunn and cannot be alienated by any under the provisions of this Bill. I am sorry for this. If sold, it would bring from 2 to $300 which could be vested in a glebe near the Parsonage.3*9 With respect to this Lot I see no remedy now but to leave it till next session of Parliament and then petition for a special Bill, and as that will cost £25 I doubt whether it will be worth our trouble J. Reid" 7 July 1851

The foregoing was altered into that which follows before it was sent. "7th July My Lord I am happy to inform you that my people have at last taken up the subject of creating an endowment for the support of a future clergyman in earnest. We have got a Glebe very cheap at £125 of which I pay as my part £75. How much money is subscribed by this time I do not know, but I am sure there are 5 or $600, perhaps more, besides the Glebe provided for.320 If the Society P.G. as I understand your Lordship to say will add an equal sum to what we raise, our endowment fund will assume a good beginning. A few days [ago] I had from our Member Mr. Badgley a Copy of the Bill to provide for the Establishment of a Church Society &c. This Bill, and the

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Deed of our Pinnacle Glebe Lot were, at a meeting held on the business of our endowment last friday, examined by our business men, among whom was our Notary Public, and they all say it does not meet our case at all - that in fact, the Lot cannotbe sold under its provisions. All that can be done we think is, the Bishop of Quebec will transfer the Lot to your Lordship, and your Lordship will then transfer it to me and my successors forever according to the terms and conditions of the Deed given by the late Judge Dunn. I am sorry that it is so, but cannot be helped.321 To petition Parliament for a Special Act in this behalf will cost £25 - which would swallow up the half of what it is worth. I would rather have the transfer expedited without much delay and then we shall be enabled to adopt and put in train measures for making the land yield something. Not having the title, it has been allowed to run waste, and be stripped of the wood. We are to organize ourselves regularly under the Church Temporalities Act so as to be able to do business on a Sure footing, but before we do so, I would like to see your Lordship, and get all the instructions and information that I, a mere backwoodsman, require in a work of so much importance as that of laying a foundation for future generations in this mission or parish to build upon."

12th July 1851

Last Wednesday the Ladies of the congregation and their kind girls met and washed the Church - Pews and windows in a very creditable manner. Some of them distinguished themselves by their superior activity as Mrs. A. Kemp, Mrs Barnum, Mrs. Dickinson and Mrs W. Baker; so did most of the young Ladies. Mr. James Smith was very serviceable indeed.322 OJ. Kemp's folks gave little or no assistance they having laid out all their zeal in Sutton. On the same day after the work of cleaning was over came Charles and his wife from St. Johns, and staid till Friday. Charles is not conversational nor communicative. His health is not good, but it is better than we had supposed him to be. The Rev. F. Robinson was here on Tuesday, while Spicer and myself were putting up the Church stove pipes -323 Yesterday Mrs. OJ. Kemp called in, spent the afternoon and took tea. Asked us to spend the afternoon and tea with them to day which we did accordingly. The women there have such defects in their organs of speech, especially the old Lady that I can have no pleasure with them. We left the Anson Kemp girls with ours, who remained till we came home.

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It looks like rain tonight. I do not know how it is or what the cause with me is, but sleep is so hard on me that I can engage in no reading or study without being overcome with heavy drowsiness. I am well, but feeble. Decay of nature is coming on apace. i 7 th July 1851 Very warm and sultry, with some rain. Mr and Mrs. Auldis of St. Albans were here one day this week and took tea with us. I was to have gone to Brome today and Mrs Reid with me but that she was taken very bad with the Erisipelas yesterday and cannot go, which is a disappointment. I will endeavour, please God, to go tomorrow, as I have to keep my engagement for Sunday with that precious Young man Mr. Lindsay - I wish the engagement had not been made.324 Auld Sandy told me today that Seymour and Gallow[ay] are now great friends. If so it will come to pass that G will give him possession for a consideration. There is no dependence on the wicked and unprincipalled.325 They are all wicked and without principles of honesty, honour and truth, the whole three, Mrs H-, Gal. and Seymour; and a tale of treachery will yet have to be told. I have been reading the history of Henry Quatre of France.326 What base treachery, blood shed, intrigue and lust among them all male and female, monsters in crime, lust! 22 d july 1851 On Friday last I started for Brome alone. Mrs. Reid was to have gone with me, but having been taken sick of the Erisipelas she had to stay at home under the care of the Doctor. The day was hot and sultry and took me till 3 P.M. to reach James whom I found well. Next day, Friday I went to Col. Knowlton's, according to previous arrangement to be his guest, both myself and Mrs Reid. Mrs Knowlton was disappointed as well as myself. The Col. and her were very agreeable indeed. On Sunday next day the Col. went with me to Church - a great compliment! He does not go to Church otherwise at all.327 After Church it rained very hard so that for some time it was doubtful whether I could proceed to Sutton but after a time it cleared up and [I] started. Jenny was in very good spirits, and carried me there in an hour and a half, 12 miles in time to meet the app1 - I staid at Elijah and Patience ['s], a very exemplary and praise worthy brother and sister. Next morning I went to see Lagrange's Grist Mill which is the most magnificent mill in every respect that ever I saw both for site, construction and machinery.

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On my way down the river I called at Gilbert Frary's. He was not at home, but saw his wife. She is his second wife. He is sickly himself, but luckily for him and his family she is said to be a good housekeeper and a business woman.328 Proceeding further towards the Pinnacle I called on the Simpsons, where I found Lindsay. He was pleased with our congregations, especially that at Cook's Corner. Some irregularities he complained of as in the Gallery, which was no other than Maria Kemp gazing round as usual. He told the family he would speak to her, but if he do he will soon finds 2 9 that his reputation will diminish to the size of his little body33° - He was pleased with our Sunday School, I am sure I was pleased with both his congregations. On reaching home I found Mrs Reid rather on the gain but under a course of medical treatment. Today I undertook to Mow some grass for my horses. While engaged, the Rev. Mr Salmon from Upper Canada came. We were glad to see him. He is much of a gentleman. After leaving us I dressed myself again for work, and mowed on the farm and in the grave yard.331 Mr. Constantine and Doctor Butler332 called. Constantine I am afraid has become discontented. The Bishop offers only £60 on the part of S.P.G. This has put the people in a pet. They have $150 for the current year and the signers being all sorts of people, Bapte Methodists Universalists loose fish, there is no security for the future. He will not, he says, stay under £150 a year. Less will not support his family. My two daughters, Charity Chamberlin, Mary and Amelia Kemp, Mary Elizabeth Kemp, and Emily Kemp, were this afternoon dressing the reading desk, the Chancel and the Pulpit. How pleas [ant] and delightful it is to see the young ladies of the flock labouring to dress and adorn the House of God!333 I feel very much fatigued. I cannot stand labour and exertion of body as I use to do, which is a warning to me that my day is far spent and my night not far off. May God himself prepare me for my final departure! [END OF VOLUME 23]

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Appendices

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APPENDIX A

Excerpt from the Missiskoui Post and Canada Record, 5 August 1835

Mister Editor, - This is one of my old friendly sort of letters, jist sich as I us'd to write fore we got into this pesky wrangle, bout polly-tix - I calkalate you'll like to hear all bout Pike river selebrashun. You know as well as I can tell you, that the Editor of the Standard said a spell ago, he fain would have Pike river, the frowning Bluff of the Bay, and the "majestic Pinicle of St. Armand" selebrated, well Pike river has had a rale one, it goes ahead of all selebrashuns up to this time. The Standard officers sent around to all the proprietors and other folks, amazin perlite printed tickets to have them cum to the old saw mill in Slab Sitty on the 16th erly in the mornin - we turn'd out pritty ginerly so that by ten o'clock the old mill was chuck full. ... The old Dominie took the chare, or what dun jist as well, the head block - arter he pinted Nemo Secretary ... and "old Philip" anything we mite want him for. The Chairman riz up end says he, I spose my friends you cum here thinkin to selebrate Pike river, that's rite, so you did, and I'll tell you why we was so farst to git you here this verry day. - As soon as we new for sartin that the curs'd Radicals was goin to meet at Dunham, to day, to form the Township-hatin society, we was scratch'd up into kinder ugly feelin, and tride all sorts of ways to break it up, so we sent for help, and arter our good Tory friend the old Knight of the silver cup, and our Young friend the Knight of the ferule from the "frownin bluff of the bay had spent three days with us here in secret konclave we matur'd and brought forth this plan, to draw as many here as possible to pick out of them a squad of tuff tongued lories that won't choke for a big lie, and send them rite to Dunham, to watch the rascals and tell as many thumpers bout them to the Editor of the Standard as he dare put in, and keep the rest here for a kinder selebrashun. Our good old tried friend, S.D. has got an address and tosts cut and dried which he will read to you who stay; arterwards we will march to the tavern and freshen. Now for the Dunham squad, who'll

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Appendix A

go? Rite off bout a duzen chaps volunteered, that will beat the devil all holler in tory fashion, and was gone in less than no time. So when all got still agin, S.D. which means saw-dust, began to fumble over his notes and tosts, and look on them mazin wise, we kept still as all creashun, till he riz up then we cheer'd like thunder -1 rize my dear Tory friends say he (cheers) yes my friends I rize rite up - and so he did rise rite up on the end of a curs'd old rotten slab that broke for he fairly got on, and downit went, and he arter it, starn furst, rite into the drink, (groans and laffin) We heard him splosh, and if thare was ever a rale scramblin for a tale race, I allow it was then. - When I next seed him he was crawlin the bank like an old mud turtle, and as black as a mink; there want a white spot on the critter, for them little divlish hatter boys was washin the black off their hats, and Pike-river look'd like tar river. We got him back agin and wip'd him till he cock'd up wun eye, then says he gentlemen, the dye is cast. I cant hold forth to you to day, my notes and tosts are all put out, you must adjourn till I git more stuff fixt - then we begun to think we cum for nothin. This "letter," which also includes a long speech by "old Philip," seven toasts and the titles of appropriate songs, is signed "Pike River Barney." See MCG, where a few original issues of this paper are to be found. The whole piece, as might be expected, is filled with topical allusions. About a month earlier, for example, a Missiskoui Standard editorial - presumably by J.M. Ferres - had contained the following effusion: "our pen would love to celebrate... the hills,... from the frowning 'bluff of Missiskoui Bay, to the far seeing majesty of the Pinnacle of St. Armand. ...It would celebrate the rivers, -from our own, now chafing, now gently gliding Pike, to the deep, rolling waters of the more Eastern St. Francis" [emphasis mine] (Missiskoui Standard, 30 June 1835, 3). "Our Young friend the Knight of the ferule" probably refers to Alexander Young, the Scottish-born schoolmaster at Philipsburg. The Frelighsburg saw mill, site of the "selebrashun," was the property of R.V.V. Freligh who, although he later became a Liberal (or Radical from the Tory standpoint), was then a supporter of the Tory position; see the Missiskoui Standard, 2 February 1836, 3. The Radical meeting clearly alludes to a recent event attended by Louis-Joseph Papineau, held at Dunham on 16 July; S.D. had devoted several columns to the resolutions then passed and made much of Papineau's omission, on this occasion, of the extension of the seigniories into the Townships from his platform; ibid, 4 August 1835, 2. The expression "Township-hating" was current at this time and illustrates the degree of animosity between parties: "Did we not say that the Vindicator could not deny, that, at the Dunham Flat meeting, the Constitutionalists exceeded in number the Township-haters?" Editorial, Missiskoui Standard, 4 August 1835, 3. Even the ref-

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erence to the conspiratorial hatter boys fouling Pyke River is pertinent. Frelighsburg had for some time been associated with the hatting trade: Hiram and Charles A. Seymour were engaged in it at least as early as 1827 and continued until 1837 when Hiram went to Montreal (see 5 September 1849 and vol. 22, n. 204). It is worth pointing out that the "Resolutions" passed at Dunham Flat on 16 July and published under the signature of the officers indicate C.A. Seymour as one of the vice presidents of the Reform Association; Missiskoui Standard, 28July 1835, 2.

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APPENDIX B

Biographical sketches of selected local figures

BAKER, ARNOLD LEWIS, son of HENRY BAKER of St Armand East and Abigail Ayer, was born 21 May 1809 in the United States and baptized as an adult by Reid on i February 1837. His parents, his sister (Joanna Kemp) and his brother-in-law (LEVI KEMP) signed as sponsors and witnesses. On 20 March 1839 he married MARY WESTOVER, Reid officiating. The couple lived with his parents on the family farm until the elder Bakers died; they are the "Bakers on the hill" referred to in the diary. The two children born to them died young, but the Bakers brought up two of their nephews successively (Henry Baker Kemp and Arnold Lewis Baker Kemp), sons of Joanna and Levi Kemp. The 1851 census shows the former still living with them; the latter was with them in 1861. Kemp appointed Baker to be his minor son's tutor in the event of his own death. Baker was a faithful subscriber to the Church Society, and occasionally collected subscriptions; he gave a

well-wisher's donation of 5/ to the Ladies' Sewing Society and another of $1 (apparently the standard amount) to the Ladies' Accumulating Fund. He contributed £12/10 towards the purchase of a glebe (one of the larger sums pledged), and subscribed to the collection for the support of an assistant minister. In 1851 he contributed i o/ towards a See House. He served as churchwarden in 1853 (with ABEL HURLBUT), and was elected to represent the parish at the central board of the Church Society in Montreal on at least two occasions (8 January 1854 and i January 1855). In 1856 Baker was one of a five-member building committee for an academy in Frelighsburg and as such signed the receipt for the former Trinity Church bell for the academy's use. In 1857-58 he contributed $20 toward the repair of the parsonage. On Reid's death, Baker arranged for the printing of the sermon preached at his funeral, and was present at the special Vestry meeting

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Appendix B

at which it was decided to put up a tablet to Reid's memory in the church. Baker died on 12 May 1868, the day after his wife's death; they were buried together in a single ceremony on 14 May byJ.B. Davidson. The witnesses were Oren Baker Kemp and L.K. Westover. Sources: St AER: 1837, fols. 14-15; 1839, fol. 4; 1842, fol. 22; 1845, fol. 3; 1848, fol. 9; 1868, fol. 7. Levi Kemp's will, dated 17 May 1862, no. 6259, drawn up by Dickinson. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec from 1842, and of Montreal from 1852. TCPR: Sewing Society Minutes, 7; subscription to the Ladies'Accumulating Fund, 17 Jan 1860; subscription list for glebe, 5 Jul 1851; PCS Minutes, 8 Jan 1854 and i Jan 1855; Bell receipt, 10 Sep 1856; Vestry Book, 14 Oct 186iff; receipt from Lowe and Chamberlin for printing sermon, 24 Mar 1865; Minutes of Special Vestry Meeting, 30 Jan 1865; Churchwardens' Accounts. BAKER, HENRY, was born 22 March 1787 in the United States and baptized as an adult on 21 February 1830 by Reid; OREN JOCELIN KEMP and LEVI KEMP signed as witnesses. Baker's father, Thomas, a loyalist from Rhode Island, had come to St Armand in about 1798. Henry and his brother Arnold settled on their father's homestead and on Arnold's death Henry succeeded to the land. On 11 February 1807 he married Abigail Ayer, also of St Armand and

of American birth. C.C. Cotton performed the ceremony. The Bakers had three children: Joanna (b. 26 October 1807), ARNOLD LEWIS (b. 21 May 1809), and Laura (b. 20 May 1824). Baker subsequently took an interest in two of his grandsons (one named after himself, the other after his son Arnold Lewis), brought them up and provided generously for them in his will. Baker's name appears among the members of the Missiskoui Branch of the Constitutional Association in 1836. As mayor of the Municipality of the County of Missisquoi he was requested to call a public meeting to discuss the conduct of Lord Elgin in assenting to the Rebellion Losses Bill. Baker was a faithful subscriber to the Church Society, routinely giving io/ (double the usual donation) and also supported the Glebe Fund. Like his son and other well-wishers of the Ladies' Sewing Society, he gave a donation at its founding. He was a captain in the local militia and his name appears in the reports of the skirmish at Moore's Corners during the Rebellion of 1837. For the remainder of his life he was usually referred to as Capt. Baker. He died 21 February 1852, aged 65; his widow survived until 1865. Sources: Missisquoi Bay Register, 1806, fol. 7; St AER, 1830, fol. 4; 1836, fol. 14; 1852, fol. 2; 1865, fol. 14. Cyrus Thomas, Contributions to the History of the Eastern Townships (Montreal: John Lovell 1866), 37-9, 69. Missiskoui Standard, 2 February 1836,

Biographical Sketches 3; Montreal Transcript, 5 May 1849, 2. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec from 1842. TCPR: Sewing Society Minutes; subscription list for Glebe, 5 July 1851. Diary: 25:4598, 25:4605. BAKER, JANE (Jennet or Janet), nee FRELIGH (subsequently MRS JOHN HUTCHINSON), daughter of RICHARD VAN VLEIT FRELIGH and

Mary Marvin, was born on 15 May 1803 (probably in the United States) and baptized on 21 February 1808, together with her younger sister Harriet, by C J. Stewart. The sponsors for both girls were Ebenezer Marvin, Sarah Marvin, and Charity Freligh. On 29 September 1817, she married JOHN BAKER; Reid performed the ceremony. Jane was 14 and the bridegroom 26. The witnesses were Leon Lalanne and Jacob Cooper. Earlier that day the couple had signed a marriage contract stipulating that they would be common as to property; Baker endowed her with a jointure of £1,000. At the signing of the marriage contract, Baker's "friends" were Brown Chamberlin, physician, LEVI KEMP and Isaac Chamberlin; Jane's "friends," in the absence of her father, were Gertrude Van Vleit (her grandmother), Galloway Freligh (her uncle), Sarah Freligh (her aunt), and Reid. In February 1837, the Bakers moved to Montreal, and took over management of a hotel. When Jane first went to Montreal, she seems to have returned to Frelighsburg about

181

twice a year; according to Reid's memorandum, her mother paid her daughter's expenses on these visits. Mrs Freligh seems also to have given her daughter money to buy "a costly Piano Forte" and "costly dresses," and according to Reid's account, Freligh himself gave her £125 to pay her debts. On 21 February 1841 Mrs Freligh died, having apparently willed all her property to her husband for his life only, after which it was to pass to her daughter Jane. By the mid-i84os the Bakers' hotel was in other hands and they had returned to the Townships. According to a memorandum by Reid, Jane managed her father's household in 1845 and 1846 (or 1846 and 1847) and her husband was living with his brother in Dunham. This suggests a rift in the marriage. On 12 August 1847 Baker died suddenly in an accident. Later that fall Jane returned to Montreal, where she kept "a select boarding house" at 21 Great St James Street. On 28 September 1849, Freligh made his will leaving all his property to an heir of his daughter's, "lawfully begotten," or failing that, for the founding of a school in Frelighsburg, but giving all the income from rents and revenues to his daughter for her life. The executor was to be JOHN BRUSH SEYMOUR, the husband of his neice; the witnesses were Reid and WILLIAM SAMPSON BAKER. On 2o November of that year Freligh revoked the previous will and made another in which his daughter was to receive an annu-

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ity of £75 only, on condition that she did not at any time proceed "against the Executor of the said Testator for and in respect of the Estate and succession of her mother's will. Freligh also claimed that his wife, married as she was in Vermont, had no power to dispose of her property by will; thus he successfully prevented his daughter from receiving her mother's legacy. Freligh died on 11 January 1850, and Jane set about to claim the estate. Sympathies in the community were divided, and a long series of lawsuits ensued. On 9 November 1850, she married the Rev. John Hutchinson in St James Church, Toronto, Richard Mitchell officiating. The couple took up residence in Montreal and lived for a time on Craig Street, near St Antoine. Hutchinson does not seem to have held a charge in the diocese, but did serve several years as editor of the Commercial Advertiser. On 22 March 1854, Hutchinson died, aged 56, in Montreal, and was buried on 26 March in Trinity churchyard by Reid. The witnesses were his wife and AQUILA KNAP. The verdict in Jane's initial suit against Seymour for unlawful seizure of the Freligh property was handed down on 19 October 1852 and went against her. She filed an appeal which dragged on, apparently, until 1864. In 1861, according to the census, Jane was domiciled in Frelighsburg, but absent on the day of enumeration. In January 1862 she drew up a series of agreements with

Ebenezer Marvin (her cousin) leasing him her property and assigning to him her rights to her mother's estate in exchange for maintenance. On 13 February 1862 Jane Freligh, "weak in body but of sound mind and understanding," made Marvin her sole executor and universal legatee. She died on 23 September 1863, aged 60, and was buried on 25 September, by Reid. The witnesses were Ebenezer Marvin and A.G. Marvin. Jane Freligh's name seldom appears among the supporters of the projects of the parish; she did, however, donate $1 to the Ladies' Accumulating Fund in 1860. At least two years before her death, according to a letter Reid wrote to Bishop Fulford, Jane purchased a gravestone for herself and had it inscribed with a Scriptural passage denouncing the "destroyers of [her] heritage," and threatening "revenge" upon them. Reid refused to have this monument set up in Trinity churchyard. Fulford, when consulted, pronounced this application of Scripture "most unchristian," and confirmed Reid's decision. Although a notarized agreement bound her cousin Ebenezer Marvin to put up "fit and proper tomb stones" for Jane and her husband John Hutchinson, her remains were (and are still) unmarked by any monument in the churchyard. Sources: St AER, 1808, fol. 3 verso; 1817, fol. 16; 1841, fol. 6; 1849, fol. 19; 1852, fol. 19, v. DR, 1847, fol. 2, v. Marriage Contract, 29 Sep. 1817,

183

Biographical Sketches drawn up by Lalarme; Will, 28 Sep. 1849, no. 2719 and of 20 Nov. 1849, no. 2750, both drawn up by Dickinson; Cession and Lease, 16 Jan. 1862, no. 6118, drawn up by Dickinson, also 6119, 6120, 6121, 6144, 6146, and 6147; Will, 13 Feb. 1862, no. 6153, drawn up by Dickinson. Missiskoui Standard, 23 May 1837, 3. MDA, Reid Papers: Reid's memorandum re Jane Freligh's treatment of her parents, and memorandum dated 28 Sep. 1849. MacKay Montreal Directory 1848, 20; 1852, 121; 1853, 127. "Notice" re Freligh Estate, Montreal Gazette, 14 Sep. 1850, 4. Obituary, Montreal Transcript, 23 Mar. 1854, 2. Superior Court, District of Montreal, John Freligh [sic] v. John B. Seymour. TCPR: subscription list for Ladies' Accumulating Fund, 17 Jan. 1860. MDA, Reid Papers: Letter from Ebenezer Marvin to Galloway Freligh, 25 Nov. 1863. Diary: 36:6223-4[b]. BAKER, JOHN, son of Joseph Baker and Molly Stevens of Petersham, Mass., was born in the United States in 1791 and came to Dunham with his parents in 1796. On his marriage to JANE FRELIGH (29 September 1817) he is described in the register as a bachelor and trader of major age. The couple lived in the area, stock-raising and probably operating a store. On 11 November 1823, John Baker, trustee to the estates of the late firm of Hagar and Winch, arranged for the public auction of the "Goods, wares, merchandize &

Effects" of the estate. In 1836 he served on the committee of the Society for Detecting Horse Thieves. He was also an active member of the Missiskoui Branch of the Constitutional Association and sat on the sub-committee. From 4 April 1836 to 16 April 1837 he served as churchwarden (with OREN JOCELIN KEMP). In February 1837 he and his wife moved to Montreal and took over from a Mrs Bellamy the Commercial Hotel (which could accommodate 75 guests). It was located on St Paul Street opposite the Customs House. They continued to run it for several years, but by 1845 the Commercial Hotel was in other hands. Some time thereafter the Bakers returned to St Armand, perhaps separately. Baker died suddenly on 12 August 1847, having been thrown from his wagon "on the Art. Clement Hill" in Dunham. He was buried by permission of the coroner on 15 August 1847, Joseph Scott officiating. Baker and Jane Freligh had no children; his property, by their marriage contract, reverted to his heirs on the death of his widow. Sources: MHSA, Baker-Lovell genealogy. Marriage Contract, 29 Sep. 1817, drawn up by Lalanne; Public Auction and Inventory, 11 Nov. 1823, drawn up by Lalanne. St AER, 1817,

fol.

l6. DR, 1847,

fol.

2 V.

British Colonist and Saint Francis Gazette (Stanstead, PQ), 16 Oct. 1823, 3- Missiskoui Standard, 2 Feb. 1836, 3; 16 Feb. 1836, 2; 18 Oct. 1836, 3; 13 May 1837, 3 and 23 May 1837, 3.

184

Appendix B

TCPR, Churchwardens' Accounts. MacKay, Montreal Directory 1843-44, 18, 282; 1844-45, 239~4°! i^S, 20. MDA, Reid's memorandum of Jane Freligh's treatment of her parents; Inventory of John Baker's property at the home of Edward Baker, 26 Mar. 1850, no. 2861, drawn up by Dickinson; MCHS, 5th Report, 74. BAKER, MARY, w^WESTOVER, daughter of Asa Westover of Dunham Township and Florida McCallum, his second wife, was born on 24 November 1802 and baptized, with her sisters (Catharine, Elizabeth, and Nancy) on 7 February 1808 by C.J. Stewart who also served as a sponsor together with Jane Teneke and Mary Reychard for all four girls. On 20 March 1839 sne married ARNOLD LEWIS BAKER of St Armand. The couple had two children. Abigail Bertha (b. 18 April 1842) was baptized on 7 August of that year by Reid; the sponsors were Henry and Abigail Baker (her grandparents) and ISABELLA REID. Henry Arnold (b. 19 October 1844) was baptized on 15 February 1845, died the following day, and was buried by Reid on 18 February. On 16 August 1848, Abigail Bertha died, aged 6, and was buried two days later, Reid officiating; the parents were the witnesses. Mary Baker consistently supported the Church Society, and was one of the few subscribers for the repair of the church in 1854; in the same year she contributed 5/ toward church repairs which her brother

DANIEL WESTOVER (as churchwarden) was superintending. Such donations by women were unusual, she and her mother-in-law Mrs Henry Baker being the only women contributors. She was a member of the Sewing Society from its founding in 1846, and was present at the meeting at which its assets were disposed of "for the alteration and furnishing of the Chancel, dressing the desk & pulpit, & for carpeting and matting for the aisles," on 24 October 1854. Her name appears among the ladies who presented Reid with a new gown on 18 April 1851. Mary Baker was vice president of the Ladies' Accumulating Fund in its founding year (1860), which was to provide for "the Interior decoration & adornment of a new Church which we hope to see Erected by the Gentlemen." She died on 11 May 1868, and was buried 14 May, together with her husband who survived her by one day. Sources: St AER, 1808, fol. i v. 1868, fol. 7. TCPR: Sewing Society Minutes; PCS Minutes, 37, 71; Ladies' Accumulating Fund Minutes, 2: Letterbook, 108. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec from 1842. BAKER, WILLIAM SAMPSON, born in 1816, was a tanner by trade. On 18 June 1842 he married Gorilla Elizabeth Woodbury, spinster of major age, of St Armand West, Richard Whitwell officiating. Baker seems to have had several employees living with his family; the 1851 census

Biographical Sketches shows six non-family members: five males and one female, including Richard Skinner who, on 2 February 1849, had been formally apprenticed to him as a tanner. By 1861 there were ten non-family members in his house, five of them labourers and two shoemakers. The census for that year states: "This establishment is doing a large business, the owner contemplating putting in a Steam Engine next Summer in consequence of the River not being sufficient to drive his Machinery." Baker was a sporadic subscriber to the Church Society, but giving generously when his name appears in the society's reports. He subscribed £12/10 to the Glebe Fund, contributed toward the repair of the parsonage in 1857-58, and pledged $20 toward the support of Reid's assistant in 1861. In 1857 he served as churchwarden (with William Mead Pattison). Gorilla Baker was also active in the church; she subscribed to the ladies' gift of a gown to Reid, was one of the six collectors for the Ladies' Accumulating Fund in 1860, and in 1862 served on the organizing committee of the annual picnic. Baker was apparently a person of importance in Frelighsburg and as such served (with Reid) as a witness to the will of RICHARD VAN VLEIT FRELIGH; like Reid, Baker was called to testify in the legal dispute over the Freligh property. Baker died in 1901. Sources: St AWR, 1842, fol. 8. Apprenticeship, 2 Feb 1849, no. 2541, drawn up by Dickinson. TCPR:

i85

subscription list for glebe, 5 Jul 1851; Letterbook, 108; Ladies' Accumulating Fund, 2, 7; Vestry Book, 1861. Annual Reports of the Church Society, Diocese of Quebec from 1849 and of Montreal from 1852; Superior Court, District of Montreal, John Freligh [sic] v.John B. Seymour, appeal, 20 Nov 1852. Gravestone, Trinity churchyard. BARNUM, SHERMAN PAINTER, born in 1803 in the United States, was a physician by profession. On 28 April 1840 he married Sarah Chamberlin, a daughter of Brown Chamberlin, physician, and Diantha Knap. Reid performed the ceremony; Jane and Caroline Westover signed as witnesses. Their children were Bates Cook (b. 24 June 1841), Delia Diantha (b. 19 April 1844), Jane Westover (b. 25 October 1846), George Sherman (b. 27 September 1850), Joshua Chamberlin (b. 27 March 1852), and Margaret Westover (b. 3 May 1855). In each case the parents were the sponsors. The 1851 census shows two of the children (George Sherman and Jane Westover Barnum) living with their grandmother DIANTHA CHAMBERLIN. Barnum was, according to the census of 1851, a Congregationalist and therefore did not contribute to the Church Society or support the various projects of Trinity Church. The collection for the pall cloth was an exception; he gave 1/3. All the children were brought up as Anglicans,

i86

Appendix B

however, and Sarah Barnum was active in the parish. She was a member of the Sewing Society, a contributor to the Church Society and a collector for the Ladies' Accumulating Fund. Barnum was a school commissioner between 1845 and 1851, and on one occasion was appointed to go to Montreal by the commissioners to apply to the superintendent of Education for aid in building a high School. In 1853 ALMIRA CHAMBERLIN,

wife of John Lowe, gave Barnum power of attorney to sell a piece of land on her behalf. Barnum died, aged 53, on 5 September 1857, and was buried on 7 September by Reid; RICHARD DICKINSON and his wife Betsy signed as witnesses. Barnum's widow survived until 1892. Sources: St AER, 1840, fol. 7; 1841, fol. 17; 1844, fol. 10; 1846, fol. 3 v; 1849, fol. 21; 1852, fol. 4; 1855, fol. 12; 1857, fol. 6 v. TCPR: Churchwardens' Accounts, 1850; Ladies' Accumulating Fund Minutes, 2. ANQQ: Ministere de 1'education, lettres recues, 6 Jan 1845; 25 Feb 1845; 12 Feb 1851; 7jul 1851. Power of Attorney dated 31 Oct 1853 with sale and conveyance, no. 3852, drawn up by Dickinson. BINGHAM, JOSEPH WINCH, son and only child of Maro Virgil Bingham and Mary Fox Winch of St Armand, was born on 9 September 1817 and baptized on 30 September 1821 by Reid. His sponsors were Andrew Hawley, Moore Bingham, and Sappho Baker. Bingham's father

was born in Vermont, his grandfather Solomon Bingham was a graduate of Dartmouth College. In 1817 Reid had acted as "friend" to his mother, a minor, when her marriage contract was signed. Bingham was sufficiently well-off to lend £75 at 6% per annum in 1842, but thought better of the transaction and assigned the debt ten days later to ABEL HURLBUT for payment of the principal. In the same year he made a well-wisher's contribution of 2/6 to the Ladies' Sewing Society. On 7 February 1850 Bingham and Abel Hurlbut signed as witnesses to an inventory of goods from the estate Of RICHARD VAN VLEIT FRELIGH,

drawn up at the request of JOHN BRUSH SEYMOUR. On 24 September 1855 Bingham, then "Deputy Registrar," married, by licence, Caroline, widow of the late George Rosenberger of Philipsburg, Wetherall (Whitwell's assistant) officiating. C.E. Cammell and Edgar Kemp signed as witnesses. At this time Bingham seems to have been living in Dunham. He died on 15 June 1859, aged 38, and was buried by Reid on 17 June; Galloway Freligh and H.S. Throop were the witnesses. At the time of his death he was described as "farmer" of St Armand West. Sources: St AER: 1821, fol. 13; 1859, fol. 7. St AWR, 1855, fol. 14. Marriage Contract, i Jan 1817, drawn up by Lalanne; Sale and Assignment, 18 Jun 1842, no. 1379, drawn up by Dickinson; Inventory, 7

Biographical Sketches Feb 1850, no. 2806, by Dickinson. TCPR, Sewing Society Minutes, 7. MCHS, and Report, 50. CAR1Y, MARGARET, nee ARMSTRONG, was born in Ireland on 19 August 1812 and was in St Armand from at least 1828. In that year she appears to have begun working for the Reids as a live-in servant, remaining with them until her marriage. On 21 November 1833 she married James Carty, bachelor of major age of St Armand, Reid officiating. Jane Armstrong and Charles Carty were the witnesses. According to the purchase agreement for his farm, Carty had lived previously in Fairfield, Franklin County, Vermont. The Carty children were: Eleanor (b. i July 1834), Jane (b. 20 May 1836), Cynthia (b. 24 August 1838), Elizabeth (b. 13 November 1839), Margaret Matilda (b. 28 October 1841), George Armstrong (b. i August 1843), Sarah Ann (b. 5 December 1845), and James Robert (b. 20 February 1848). Reid baptized the four eldest children on 21 November 1839, the parents serving as sponsors. Margaret Matilda and George Armstrong were baptized by Reid on 26 September 1844; George and Anne Armstrong were sponsors, with ISABELLA REID as an additional sponsor for the girl. The two youngest children were baptized by Reid on 9 March 1850, after their father's death; the sponsors were George and Sarah Armstrong, Robert Carty and

187

Robert Hill. Both James Carty and his wife were literate and wrote good hands whereas their friend William O'Brine and his wife Elizabeth, nee Carty (perhaps a relative), signed with their marks at the baptism of their daughter for whom the Cartys stood sponsors. Carty purchased two pieces of land in St Armand; ANSON KEMP and ABEL HURLBUT JR. wit-

nessed the discharge of his final payment on i January 1840 to George and Joseph J. Hawk. He met his death accidentally on 18 January 1848 when a falling tree crushed his skull; his gravestone in Trinity churchyard describes these circumstances. He was buried by Reid on 21 January, following a coroner's inquest; Anson Kemp and Elijah Stewart Reynolds signed as witnesses. The 1851 census shows Margaret Carty as the family householder, working the farm by herself; all the children (except Elizabeth) were living at home. The Agricultural Census shows that Margaret Carty held i oo acres and had considerable livestock (including 7 milchcows, 3 horses, 2 pigs, and 14 sheep); she produced in the previous year 870 Ibs of butter, 600 cwt beef, 700 cwt pork, 50 Ibs wool, 12 yards of fulled cloth and 12 yards of flannel. She later married James H. Mosgrove (b. 1833). The stone serving for herself and her second husband stands beside that of James Carty. She died 8 June 1886, predeceasing Mosgrove by four years. Sources: St AER: 1833, fol. 19; 1839,

188

Appendix B

fol. 17; 1844, fols 15, 16; 1848, fol. 14; 1849, fol. 20. Purchase agreement, 22 Aug 1836, no. 436 and no. 2602, discharged i Jan 1840, drawn up by Lalanne. Gravestones, Trinity churchyard. CHAMBERLIN, ALMIRA (subsequently MRS JOHN LOWE), youngest daughter of Brown Charnberlin, physician, and DIANTHA KNAP, was born on 5 May 1824 and baptized by Reid on 31 October 1826; her sponsors were JOSHUA CHAMBERLIN, PATIENCE KEMP, and ISABELLA REID. On 26 April 1829 her father died, leaving her mother with four daughters and one son, the latter only two years old. Almira taught school in St Arrnand East (Dist. No. 5) from i July 1845 to 30 June 1846; in 1850 she served as one of the teachers in the Sunday School organized by NANCY REID. Almira subscribed regularly to the Church Society as the TCPR show, but because the diocesan printed reports do not give the names of donors contributing less than 5/, her usual gift of 2/6 does not appear. From 1848 onward her name is in the printed reports, however. She was one of the ladies who signed the address to Reid accompanying his new gown. Even after leaving Frelighsburg, as Reid's diary records, she continued to contribute to "the ladies' society." On 16 August 1852 she married John Lowe "of the City of Toronto, Gentleman," by dispensation of licence, Reid offi-

ciating. The witnesses were JOSHUA CHAMBERLIN, SHERMAN PAINTER BAR-

NUM, and her brother Brown Chamberlin. Earlier that day the couple had signed a marriage contract that they would not be common as to property; the witnesses on this occasion were Brown Chamberlin, ABEL HURLBUT, and Charles Knott. Almira's brother Brown had been a friend of Lowe's for some time and had brought him to Frelighsburg on several visits. The Lowes went first to Toronto, but returned to Frelighsburg for the birth of their first child, Anne Clark (b. 6 June 1853). The child was baptized privately by Reid on 4 July, as Almira was ill. On 28 September 1853 Almira and her sister Charity set out for Toronto, accompanied as far as Montreal by S.P. Barnum. Lowe left Toronto for Montreal about 1854, and together with Brown Chamberlin was associated with the Montreal Gazette of which by 1857 (or earlier) they had become co-proprietors. The Lowes had three other children: Gertrude Brown (b. in April 1856) buried in Trinity churchyard by Reid in 1857; John Brown Chamberlin (b. about 1859); and James George Clarke (b. 18 January 1864), buried in Frelighsburg by J.B. Davidson in 1866. Anne Clarke died, aged 18, in 1871, and Davidson buried her as well. Almira died 26 April 1900; her husband survived her by three years. Sources: St AER: 1826, fol. 18; 1829, fol. 9; 1852, fols 7, 14; 1857, fol. 2; 1866, fol. 9; 1871, fol.

Biographical Sketches 14. MHSA, Register & Rec[eip]t book. TCPR: Letterbook, 108; PCS Minutes, 12-17. Diary: 25:4606, 25:4638; 36:6227. Marriage Contract, 16 Aug 1852, no. 3426, drawn up by Dickinson. Gravestones, Trinity churchyard. CHAMBERLIN, CHARITY, second daughter of Brown Chamberlin, physician, and DIANTHA KNAP, was born on 19 April 1819, and baptized by Reid on 31 July of that year; her sponsors were Andrew and Mary Ann Hawley and Charity Knap. She and her sister Mary Ann (b. 8 July 1821) remained unmarried. The 1851 census shows her living with her mother and three sisters. After her mother's death in 1852 she lived with her youngest sister ALMIRA LOWE, accompanying her to Toronto on 28 September 1853. She and her sister Mary Ann, together with her brother Brown stood as godparents to Anne Clark Lowe, Almira's first child. Charity gave her brother-in-law SHERMAN PAINTER BARNUM power of attorney, dated at Toronto, 31 October 1853, to enable him to sell a piece of land on her behalf. By 1856 Charity had returned to Frelighsburg. The 1861 census shows her living with her widowed sister Sarah Barnum. Like her sister Almira and brother Brown, Charity subscribed 2/6 to the Church Society from 1843. Her name figures in the printed reports from 1848 as "Miss Chamberlin," a title she received as the eldest unmarried daughter. She was one of the

189

ladies who signed the address accompanying the gift of Reid's gown in 1851. On 12 March 1871 she died, aged 52, and was buried in Trinity churchyard byJ.O.M. Godden. J.B. Davidson and JOSHUA CHAMBERLIN were the witnesses. According to the register, Charity was living in Dunham at the time of her death. Sources: St AER: 1819, fol. 12; 1852, fol. 14; 1871, fol. 3. Diary: 25:4638. TCPR: Letterbook, 108; PCS Minutes, i2-i7ff. Sale and Conveyance, no. 3852, containing Power of Attorney, dated 31 Oct 1853, and Sale and Conveyance, 8Jul 1856, no. 4607, both drawn up by Dickinson. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec from 1848 and of Montreal from 1852. CHAMBERLIN, DIANTHA, nee KNAP, daughter and only child of Moses Knap and Charity Hurd, was born about 1791. According to Thomas, Knap came originally from Arlington, Vermont, and settled in Dunham in 1797 or 1798, remaining there until his death in 1816. On 23 June 1810 Diantha married Brown Chamberlin, physician, of Dunham, C.C. Cotton officiating. The witnesses were Moses and Charity Knap and John B. Chamberlin. Dr Chamberlin (son of Joshua Chamberlin and Sarah Brown of Vermont) had apparently come to the Dunham area recently where he had established a wide practice. Chamberlin was baptized as an adult on 22 December

igo

Appendix B

1823 by Reid; AQUILA KNAP and Diantha Chamberlin were the witnesses. Mrs Chamberlin's mother purchased CJ. Stewart's house (the former parsonage) and presented it to her daughter by deed of gift on 13 May 1825; Reid transacted the sale through Stewart's power of attorney. Chamberlin died 26 April 1828, aged 43, and was buried on 28 April by Reid. Diantha and JOSHUA CHAMBERLIN signed as witnesses. The Chamberlins had five children: Sarah (b. 9 May 1816), Charity (b. 19 April 1819), Mary Ann (b. 8 July 1821), Almira (b. 5 May 1824), and Brown (b. 26 March 1827). According to Thomas, Mrs Chamberlin was "a woman of talent and much amiability." After his brother's death, her brother-in-law Joshua seems to have taken some responsibility for the family, especially in the education of Brown who became a lawyer, and provided for them all in his will of 1837. In 1840 the eldest daughter married SHERMAN PAINTER BARNUM, but COn-

tinued to live close by. The 1851 census shows the three unmarried daughters living with their mother, together with two Barnum children and a hired girl. Mrs Chamberlin does not seem to have been involved in the Sewing Society or the Church Society, but contributed to the gift of Reid's gown in 1851. She died on 24 May 1852, aged 61, and was buried by Reid on 26 May. The witnesses were S.R Barnum and Brown Chamberlin, then of Montreal. Sources: DR,

1810, fol. 8 v. St AER: 1816, fol. 6; 1819, fol. 12; 1823, fol. 16; 1826, fol. 18; 1829, f°ls 9' ll> l&4°, fol. 7; 1852, fol. 4 v. Thomas, Contributions, 102. MCHS, 2nd Report, 48. Deed of Sale and Gift to Diantha Chamberlin, 13 May 1825; Will of Joshua Chamberlin, 11 Dec 1837, both drawn up by Lalanne. TCPR, Letterbook, 108.

CHAMBERLIN, JOSHUA, son of Joshua Chamberlin and Sarah Brown, was born in Richmond, Vermont on i September 1799, and was baptized as an adult by Reid on 31 October 1826; the witnesses were his brother Brown and his sister-in-law DIANTHA CHAMBERLIN. According to Chamberlin's niece Mary Ann, Joshua, a physician like his brothers John and Brown, came on a visit to Brown in Frelighsburg in 1824 and settled in Nelsonville where he practiced until his brother's death in 1829. He then moved to Frelighsburg. The area served by the two brothers was very large, "including Brome, Sutton, Farnham, Granby, Shefford, St Armand, Potton, and along the line in Vermont." In addition to his practice, Chamberlin managed the Post Office, transferring it, in October 1836, from the store of LEVI KEMP to a "New Building" of his own; according to Belden's Atlas, he served as postmaster from 1832 to 1844. In 1836 he was active in the Missiskoui Branch of the Constitutional Association and sat on the sub-committee. Chamberlin seems to have taken

Biographical Sketches responsibility for his sister-in-law and her five children, particularly the education of his nephew Brown, attempting to procure the influence of the local MP, William Badgley, attorney general for Lower Canada, to further his studies in Law. On 11 December 1837 he made a will in Diantha Chamberlin's favour, with provision that, in the event of her predeceasing him, her children by his brother should receive equal shares of his property, the eldest survivor acting as "executrix." On the birth of a child of his own, however, he dedicated a particular farm of his to it from the day of its baptism, and requested Reid to insert a record of this intention in the parish register. Chamberlin remained a bachelor until his 49th year. On 28 August 1848 he married Jane Westover of Dunham Township, Reid officiating; Brown Chamberlin and Caroline Westover were the witnesses. Their daughter Sarah was born 24 March 1850 and baptized by Reid on 7 September of that year. The sponsors were ASA WESTOVER, MARGARET WESTOVER and Catharine MacCallum. Chamberlin took an interest in education, and in 1842, together with William Baker and Reid, met with Dr J.B. Meilleur to receive information on founding a local school under the new act (ch. 18, 4 & 5 Viet). In 1846 he served as chairman of a meeting of Frelighsburg property owners at which school commissioners were elected. He was appointed

191

justice of the Peace in 1837. A conservative in politics, he was president of the local branch of the British American League in 1849 and in May of that year was secretary of a meeting held at Dunham Flat, at which William Badgley and J.M. Ferres spoke against the Rebellion Losses Bill. He received recognition in his field, being elected one of the governors of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Lower Canada in 1850, and he continued to serve that body in several capacities for many years. Following the Fenian Raid of 1866, he was appointed a commissioner to investigate the claims of those who suffered losses in consequence of the raid, and to assess the damage incurred by the victims. He contributed $250 (a particularly generous gift) toward the Endowment Fund for the parish, and supported such projects as the purchase of a pall (donating 5/). Chamberlin subscribed to the Church Society of the Diocese of Montreal from 1852, and in 1860 contributed an initial $1 at the inception of the Ladies' Accumulating Fund, of which his wife was the first secretary treasurer. In 1861 he subscribed (and paid) $20 toward the support of an assistant minister for Reid (an ongoing pledge as the Vestry Book shows). In 1852 he served as churchwarden (with OREN JOCELIN KEMP) . He was elected chairman of the special Vestry meeting held on 30 January 1865 at which it was decided to erect a memorial

192

Appendix B

tablet in Trinity Church to Reid's memory. Chamberlin continued to reside in Frelighsburg until his death on 14 January 1883. Sources: St AER: 1826, fol. 18; 1848, fol. 10; 1850, fol. 4. St Armand East Register, MDA (Church Copy), v, fol. 34 v. Thomas, Contributions, 77-8. MCHS, 2nd Report, 48. Missiskoui Standard, 2 Feb 1836; 16 Feb 1836, 2; 18 Oct 1836, 3. Will of Joshua Chamberlin, 11 Dec 1837, drawn up by Lalanne. ANQQ, Ministere de 1'education, lettres recues, 7 Nov 1842; 27 Jul 1846. The Pilot, 31 May 1849, 3; 28 Jul 1849, 2; 18 Jul 1850, 2. Starke's Pocket Almanac And General Register for 1864 (Montreal, J. Starke & Co. [1864], 84. Illustrated Atlas of the Eastern Townships and South Western Quebec (H. Belden & Co. 1881), 21. TCPR: Items toward Endowment Fund, 29 Oct 1860; Ladies' Accumulating Fund Accounts, 2, and separate subscription list dated 17 Jan 1860; Vestry Book, from 14 October 1861; Minutes of a Special Vestry Meeting, 30 Jan 1865; Churchwardens' Accounts, 1850, 1852. CHANDLER, NANCY, nee WESTOVER, daughter of Asa Westover of Dunham and Florida McCallum, his second wife, was born on 23 September 1804 and baptized (together with three older sisters) on 7 February 1808 by C.J. Stewart. On 25 February 1830, she married Stephen Tucker Chandler, innkeeper of Stanbridge, by licence, Reid officiating. The wit-

nesses were DANIEL and MARGARET WESTOVER. Her husband was baptized as an adult by Reid on 2 April 1837; OREN JOCELIN KEMP and Nancy Chandler were the witnesses. Chandler seems to have been an enterprising man; besides running the inn which he had inherited from his father Joseph, he served as postmaster (1836), and from 1834 or 1835 was a co-proprietor of a two-horse stage running from St Johns to Stanstead twice a week. He was holder of one of seven tavern licences in Stanbridge in 1848. The Chandlers had at least three daughters: Margaret Maria (b. 25 May 1831), Emily (b. about 1834), and Mary Ann (b. 14 October 1839). There is also a Jane Chandler (b. about 1841) listed in the 1851 Census. Stephen Chandler died on 13 April 1850, aged 46, and was buried on 15 April by Reid. The witnesses were Daniel Westover and MARY BAKER. Nancy Chandler probably continued to run the inn after her husband's death; in 1861, according to the census, there were three non-family members in the house, besides herself and Jane, including the Rev. N. Brown, a Methodist minister and resident of Dunham. Mrs Chandler outlived two of her children: Margaret Maria (d. 3 September 1853, aged 23); and Mary Ann (d. 13 April 1860, aged 21). Emily married Henry Baker Kemp on 17 January 1854, but survived only to her 36th year (1870); the baptism of their daughter Mary Jane, on 30

Biographical Sketches October 1864, was, according to Reid's register, the last he was to perform before his death. Mrs Chandler died on 5 October 1865 and was buried on 7 October by J.B. Davidson. ARNOLD LEWIS BAKER and Daniel Westover were the witnesses. Sources: St AER, 1808, fol. i; 1830, fol. 6; 1831, fol. 17; 1837, fol. 4; 1841, fol. 16; 1849, fol. 22; 1865, fol. 12; 1870, fol. 18; 1864, fol. 15. SR: 1853, fol. 5v; 1854, fol. 2; 1860, fol. 4. MCHS: 2nd Report, 42; 3rd Report, 66. Canada Gazette, 16 Sep 1848, 5696. COOPER, ALEXANDER, was born in Scotland about 1779. He served for 26 years as a private in His Majesty's g2nd Gordon Highlanders and, Reid stated in his register, received the war medal. Cooper probably saw action both in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo; the Gordon Highlanders joined Wellington's army in 1810, and the gsnd distinguished itself at Salamanca, fought at Vitoria, lost twothirds of its number at Maya, and led the way at the passage of the Nivelle. At Waterloo the 92nd was reduced to less than 300 men. After Waterloo the regiment remained for some time with the army of occupation and returned to England in 1816. The Gordon Highlanders did not serve in Canada, so Cooper must have emigrated to North America with his wife and daughter after his discharge from the army. His wife Catharine was born in Ireland in about 1801; their daughter Margaret was born in

193

Scotland in about 1822. The 1851 census identifies them as Presbyterians. The Coopers had been in St Armand since 1841 at least and the daughter may have married there. On 19 November 1841 Reid baptized Mary Jane, daughter of David Spicer, private in the Missiskoui Volunteer Company, and Margaret Cooper, his wife. Alexander and Margaret Cooper were the sponsors; the latter makes her mark only. Although a signature appears for Alexander Cooper here, at the baptism of another Spicer child, in 1852, both he and his wife make their marks, Reid stating in the register that neither was able to write. Cooper was a commuted pensioner and Reid's diary records that his pension was paid twice yearly at Philipsburg. Cooper, often referred to by Reid as "Auld Sandy" or "the old man," probably began working for the Reids as hired man in December 1845 and continued in their employ until 29 November 1853. He also performed tasks for the upkeep of the church as entries in the Churchwardens' Accounts (from 1846 on) indicate. Reid's diary refers to Cooper (and perhaps his wife) as living with his family in 1850; prior to this they had lived with their daughter and son-in-law, but, it seems, his wife's troublesome behaviour when drinking had caused their removal. The census of 1851 shows the Coopers living with the Lavery family. Besides working for Reid, Cooper was also employed by ANSON KEMP in the

194

Appendix B

customs office in Frelighsburg as a preventive officer (1846-50 at least) and was challenged for a seizure of goods on at least one occasion. From 1853 he seems to have failed physically and was unable to work steadily. He died on 13 January 1855, aged 76, and was buried on 15 January by Reid; the witnesses were O.B. Kemp and Lester Reynolds. The 1861 census shows Cooper's widow living with O.B. Kemp's family. Although of modest means, Cooper contributed 6d toward the purchase of a pall cloth on 22 February 1850, one of the earlier gifts. Sources: Walter Richards, Her Majesty's Army, 2 vols (London: J.S. Virtue & Co, Limited [n.d.]), 2:244-6. Charles H. Stewart, The Service of British Regiments in Canada (Ottawa: Department of National Defense 1962), 375. St AER, 1841, fol. 20; 1852, fols 6v, 22v. Diary: 25:4566, 4655. Protest, 11 Jul 1846, No. 2043, drawn up by Dickinson. Scobie & Balfour's Canadian Almanac 1850 (Toronto: Scobie & Balfour [1850], 66. TCPR, Churchwardens' Accounts. DICKINSON, RICHARD, was born in Britain about 1799 (according to Belden 's Atlas, near Liverpool, England, but both the census of 1851 and of 1861 list him as born in Ireland) . He was a son of Thomas Dickinson, "late an officer in the Ordnance Department of the British Colonial forces," the family originating in Cardigan, Wales. In 1817,

when Dickinson was about eight, he emigrated with his parents to Canada. He received his education in Quebec City and there began his practice, in 1828, as a notary public. On 13 May 1828 he executed a document in Hull, but by 15 July 1829 ne described himself as "residing in the Township of Shefford," and, according to Thomas, was appointed registrar of the County of Shefford in 1830. In a document drawn up on 24 February 1842, he described himself as residing in the Township of Dunham; ; in another, dated 30 March 1844, that he was then residing in the village of Frelighsburg. The registry office for Missisquoi was established in Frelighsburg, and Dickinson, as Thomas states, was appointed registrar of Missisquoi in 1844. He continued to practice until 1895, his ninety-sixth year. On 21 June 1843 he married Betsey Plummer Foster, daughter of Dr Stephen Sewell Foster and Sally Belknap. A daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, was born on 14 August 1844, and baptized on 14 October, by Reid. The child died on 7 March 1846 and was buried on 9 March, by Reid. In 1851 Dickinson pledged £12/10 toward the purchase of a glebe, and $10 toward repairs to the parsonage in 1859. He also contributed 5/ toward the pall cloth, and made a well-wisher's donation of 5/ to the Ladies' Sewing Society. The PCS Minutes show that Dickinson attended meetings occasionally, and participated actively when he did so.

Biographical Sketches In 1856 he served as churchwarden. Both Dickinsons subscribed to the Church Society in 1848, but thereafter only Mrs Dickinson's name appears on a regular basis. She was a founding member of the Sewing Society in 1846 and was the group's first secretary; some difficulty must have arisen, however, for at the fourteenth meeting it was recorded that she had withdrawn from the society as of i February 1847 (the only member ever noted as doing so). By 24 October 1854, she had rejoined. Mrs Dickinson was one of the ladies who signed the address accompanying the gift of Reid's gown. When Reid's portrait was lithographed by subscription in 1853, Mrs Dickinson was one of the few ladies who purchased two copies (for which she paid io/). There are numerous references to Dickinson in Reid's diaries, partly because of the nature and importance of his profession but partly, perhaps, because they were near neighbours; Dickinson held half an acre in lot 29, and the church and parsonage stood nearby on lot 30. Sources: Belden's Atlas, 20; Thomas, Contributions, 89. E.M. Taylor, History ofBrome County (Montreal: John Lovell & Son, Limited 1908), 1:194. ANQS, Notarial Records of Richard Dickinson, ist item, dated 9 Jul 1828 at Quebec. St AER, 1844, fol. 17; 1846, fol. 4. TCPR: subscription list for glebe of 5 Jul 1851; Sewing Society Minutes, 7, 15, 71; Letterbook, 108; PCS Minutes, 26-31; subscrip-

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tion list for Reid's portrait, 3 Sep 1853; Churchwardens' Accounts, 1850, 1856. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec for 1848 and for the Diocese of Montreal from 1852. MHSA, Frelighsburg School District, Roll of rates, 1851. FRELIGHJANE: please see JANE BAKER

FRELIGH, RICHARD (sometimes called Derrick) VAN VLEIT, son of Abraham Freligh of Albany, New York, and Gertrude (also called Charity) Van Vleit, was born i o November 1781 in the United States. According to tradition, Abraham, his wife and 12 children arrived in the village which would later bear his name in February 1800, and purchased the grist, saw, and fulling mills, together with 200 acres of land, for $4,000. Abraham Freligh's will (dated 30 June 1801) instituted a tontine which directed that the entire property should be inherited by "the surviving and longest liver of them only." A petition concerning the will by one of the legatees lists the heirs as John, Derrick V.V., Helena, Gertrude, Mary, Abraham, Carl ton, Rodney, Galloway, Lucky(?), and Elizabeth. It appears that John and Richard (Derrick) were the executors, but, because the latter was a minor at the time of his father's death, he did not assume this role immediately. On John's death in 1824 Richard took full control of the

ig6

Appendix B

property. One of the heirs, his sister Elizabeth, appears to have been living in very straitened circumstances, having been deserted by her husband and left with a number of children to support. There were also debts owed by the estate, notably one to OREN JOCELIN KEMP which he had great difficulty in collecting. Apparently none of the heirs was receiving any of the income generated by the extensive Freligh holdings. In a notarized document of 5 May 1834, in response to a demand by his brother Galloway for a share of the rental income of the estate, Richard stated that he was not accountable to his fellow heirs, but that they were accountable to him "for a reasonable remuneration for his care and attention to and for the preservation of their respective share." In 1837 the heirs, who had not been able to agree among themselves about the intent of the will, seem to have considered arbitration to settle the estate. On 2 December 18373 writ of Fieri Facias was served on the Freligh heirs at the suit of O.J. Kemp; a large amount of land in the district, the property of the estate, was then put up for auction at the door of Trinity Church. At the sale, held 11 April 1838, the whole offering was purchased by the Rev. James Reid, described as the highest bidder, for £12/10; later that day he deeded the entire quantity of land back to R.V.V. Freligh for £20. Part of the document notarizing the transaction has unfortunately been lost from

Lalanne's notarial records. In 1841 Richard purchased the rights of a number of the heirs for a cash consideration, thus circumventing the will and concentrating the property in his own hands. Some time before 1803, Freligh married Mary Marvin; the ceremony was performed in the State of Vermont, a state with particularly restrictive laws governing the property rights of married women. A daughter JANE (or Jennet) was born to them on 15 May 1803 and baptized in Frelighsburg by CJ. Stewart on 21 February 1808. Another daughter, Harriet, born 26 February 1807, was baptized on the same occasion, but no further record of her can be found. Jane is invariably referred to as the Frelighs' only child. Her father was absent on the occasion of Jane's marriage, as a minor, to JOHN BAKER on 29 September 1817. In 1829 R.V.V. Freligh was one of two MPS returned to the Legislature of Lower Canada, continuing until 1831 when Stevens Baker was elected. On 21 February 1841 Mary Freligh died after a lingering illness and was buried on 24 February by Reid. The witnesses were R.V.V. Freligh and Hirum Barnes. As Reid's diaries suggest, relations were not cordial between Jane and her father; he all but cut her out of the Freligh property in his will, virtually forcing her by its provisions to marry again, yet keeping her from enjoying even a life interest in his considerable estate. His will made provision for founding

Biographical Sketches a school in Frelighsburg, but his neglect to name trustees or to provide for the realization of the project ended in a law suit still in progress in 1870, twenty years after his death (see biography of JANE BAKER) . Reid was called on two occasions to witness Freligh's will, and for a long time believed that Jane had been treated unfairly by her father. A generation earlier, the Freligh family had supported a number of community projects: in 1808 they had petitioned the Court of King's Bench to be permitted to provide land for building a church in Frelighsburg, and sold the lot on which Trinity Church was built to Stewart for £62/10. They later made a gift to the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning (Reid acting as recipient of the gift), but R.V.V. Freligh himself was not a local benefactor or a supporter of the church. He did contribute 2/6 toward the pall cloth on 13 December 1849, but his name does not appear on the parish subscription list. He did not attend church. In 1836-37 Freligh is listed among the members of the Missiskoui Branch of the Constitutional Association, but in his later years he became a Liberal in politics and a subscriber to the Pilot; he seems to have enjoyed discussing politics and to have intentionally goaded such local conservatives as Reid in conversation. As leading citizen, squire and eponymous property owner in Frelighsburg, Freligh apparently encouraged his being familiarly

197

referred to as "Uncle Dick." Latterly he suffered from dropsy. On 11 January 1850 he died and was buried by Reid on 13 January; the witnesses were Charles S. Reynolds of St Armand and Rodney C. Reynolds of St Albans, Vermont. Freligh was survived by several brothers and sisters. Under the terms of his father's will, Freligh should not have had final disposal of the extensive family property, and the resulting prolonged litigation between Jane Freligh and her father's executor JOHN BRUSH SEYMOUR allowed the Freligh-owned mills, essential to the continued prosperity of the village, to fall into disrepair. This contributed materially, in Reid's opinion, to the economic stagnation of the Frelighsburg community. Sources: Thomas, Contributions, 72. MCHS, 2nd Report, 29 and 49. St AER, 1808, fol. 3v; 1817, fol. 16; 1841, fol. 6; 1849, fol. 19; Petition, 8 Jun 1808, drawn up by Lalanne; [Deed of Gift], 6 April 1809, drawn up by Lalanne; Declaration, 5 May 1834, drawn up by Lalanne; Transfer (Reid to Freligh), 11 Apr 1838, drawn up by Lalanne; Agreement, 20 Sep 1837, drawn up by Lalanne; Aquittance, 24 Mar 1841, 9 Aug 1841, 16 Sep 1841, drawn up by Lalanne; Will of R.V.V. Freligh, 28 Sep 1849, no. 2719, drawn up by Dickinson. Will (replacing the former), 20 Nov 1849, drawn up by Dickinson. Missiskoui Standard, 2 Feb 1836, 3; 28 Feb 1837, 2. ETA, "Westover-Kemp, et al - Legal Documents," In Re: -Frelighsburg Grammar

i98

Appendix B

School: Memorandum of Extracts of Depositions, &c., concerning the Administration of Trusteeship by John Brush Seymour, under the Last Will and Testament of the late Richard V.V. Freligh. [n.p., n.d.]. [Reid,] "Frelighsburgh," Church Chronicle for the Diocese of Montreal, 2 (February 1862), 154. Gravestone, Trinity churchyard. HURLBUT, ABEL, son of Abel Hurlbut and Rhoda Meacham, was born in the United States on 4 September 1792. Reid baptized him, together with his wife Mary, as an adult on 19 February 1842; James H. Smith and Paulina Chamberlin were the witnesses. According to Thomas, Abel Hurlbut (senior) came to St Armand from Shelberne, Vermont, in 1793, and was one of the pioneers at North Pinnacle. Abel (junior) married Mary (Polly) Holden, who was born 30 May 1801. Although both Abel Hurlbut's parents were long-lived (his father died at go, 5 June 1849, and his mother at 81, 23 February 1840) most of the children born to Polly Hurlbut died young. Maria (b. 21 May 1823) died of tuberculosis on 27 December 1846, and was buried on 31 December, by Reid; her parents were the witnesses. She was baptized 9 October 1824, by Reid; Asa and Polly Frary and Mary F. Bingham were her godparents. Maria left a legacy of $5 to the church in Sutton, used to purchase a silver communion cup, engraved with her name, which is still in the possession of Grace

Church, Sutton. Jewel Abel (b. 4 January 1825) was baptized 4 August 1830, by Reid, with M[ary?] Bingham and Nancy Holden as sponsors. He died the same day and was buried on 6 August by Reid, the parents as the witnesses. Edward Cheney (b. 31 October 1829) died on 8 October 1845, aged 16, while attending the High School in Montreal, and was buried on 11 October by Reid; Abel and Maria Hurlbut were the witnesses. His godparents at his baptism on 25 October 1831 were Gilbert, George, and Polly Frary. MARY REBECCA HURLBUT (b. 29 May 1832), survived into adulthood, married and bore one child, but died, aged 21, on 7 July 1853. The Hurlbuts' youngest child, Charles Abel Hannibal (b. 7 June 1841) was baptized, together with his sister Mary, by Reid on 20 February 1842. On 11 December 1849, Abel's wife Mary Hurlbut died, and was buried on 14 December by Reid. Her funeral was the occasion for the purchase of a new pall cloth toward which a large number of the congregation contributed. Soon after his wife's death Abel's daughter Mary married. The young couple moved in with Hurlbut, the son-in-law helping with, or perhaps running, Hurlbut's store. Sometime after Mary's death, the son-in-law moved to his own house and Abel's sister Sophronia, widow of George Barnes, came to live with him, perhaps to keep house. The 1861 census lists Abel, his surviving son Charles, Sophronia, and one

Biographical Sketches other female (perhaps a servant) making up the household. In 1862 Hurlbut married Eliza Maria Fuller of Dunham Township. Their marriage contract, dated 13 June 1862, stipulated that they were not common as to property. The 1871 census indicates that she was born about 1837 and was a Wesleyan Methodist. Charles Abel Hannibal, the longestlived offspring of Hurlbut's first wife, died at Pigeon Hill on 12 April 1877, aged 36, and was buried on 14 April, by J.B. Davidson. The witnesses were Abel and Eliza M. Hurlbut. Besides being a substantial local merchant, Hurlbut was a justice of the peace, a captain in the militia, and a commissioner of the Commissioner's Court. Hurlbut was active in parish affairs. He was one of the eleven contributors to Bishop Stewart's memorial tablet erected in Trinity Church, and pledged £12/10 towards the glebe. In 1854 he gave 12/6 toward repairs to the church, and in 1858 he contributed toward repairing the parsonage. He served as churchwarden in 1853

(with ARNOLD LEWIS BAKER).

Besides his involvement in the church, Hurlbut took an interest in education, serving as a school commissioner in 1845. He died on 18 October 1883, aged 91, and was buried in Trinity churchyard between his first wife and his daughter Mary. Sources: St AER: 1824, fol. 15; 1830, fol. i5v; 1831, fol. 21; 1842, fols 3, 4; 1845, fol. 15; 1846, fol. 14; 1849, fols 8, 19; 1850, fol. 3; 1852, fol. i4v;

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1877, fol. 4. Thomas, Contributions, 76-7 and 106. Marriage Contract, 13 Jun 1862, no. 6287, drawn up by Dickinson. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec, and of Montreal. TCPR: subscription list for Stewart's memorial; PCS Minutes, 1854, 37; Subscription list for glebe, 5 Jul 1851; Churchwardens' Accounts. ANQQ, Ministere de 1'education, lettres recues, 28 Apr 1845, no. 1442. Gravestones, Trinity churchyard. HURLBUT, MARY REBECCA (subsequently MRS WILLIAM MEAD PATTISON), daughter of Abel Hurlbut and Mary Holden, was born on 29 May 1832 and baptized (together with a younger brother, Charles Abel Hannibal) by Reid on 20 February 1842. The sponsors were their older sister Maria and their parents. Mary Hurlbut, like her mother and sister, was a member of the Sewing Society. She was a subscriber to the Church Society from 1842. On 11 December 1849, when Mary was 17, her mother died. On 4 September 1850 she married William Mead Pattison, bachelor of major age, and merchant from the city of New York. Reid performed the ceremony; RICHARD DICKINSON and James H. Smith were the witnesses. Earlier that day the couple had signed a marriage contract that they would be separate as to property, but making provision for Mary should her husband predecease her. The witnesses to this document were Wesley

2OO

Appendix B

Galusha and Lvman Brooks. The 1851 census shows that the Pattisons lived with her father. Some time before this, Mary's only child Anna Maria was born in the United States. Soon afterward she probably developed the disease which had carried off her sister Maria. In May of 1853, as Reid's diary records, Mary travelled to Highgate Springs, Vermont, in an attempt to regain her health, only to die in Concord on 7 July 1853, aged 21. Her body was returned to Frelighsburg where she was buried by Reid on 10 July; William Mead Pattison and Eugene T. Pattison, his brother, were the witnesses. Reid remarked that the congregation was very large; the church, which could seat 500, could not accommodate them all. Mary was buried in the Hurlbut plot in Trinity churchyard, her body in a metal coffin (the first, according to Reid, to be seen in the area). On the back of her monument is a small oval with roses and a scroll on which is carved, in raised letters: "Mary Sleeps." Her husband continued to live in Frelighsburg for two decades, operating a successful dry goods store. On 31 July 1865, he married Charlotte Krans of St Armand by whom he had eight children. In 1873 Pattison was appointed customs officer at Clarenceville, and remained there until his death in 1907; Mary's daughter Anna Maria survived into adulthood and on 28 February 1876 married Frederic Stanley Haines of

Belleville, Ontario, J.B. Davidson officiating. A biographical sketch of Pattison in the MCHS, 3rd Report shows that, by 1908, the identity of his first wife had been forgotten. Sources: St AER: 1842, fol. 4; 1849, fol. 19; 1850, fol. 3; 1852, fol. i4v; 1865, fol. 9; 1876, fol. 2. Marriage Contract, 4 Sep 1850, no. 2958, drawn up by Dickinson. TCPR, Sewing Society Minutes, 8. Diary: 25:4608, 4610. MCHS: 2nd Report, 51; 3rd Report, 58-9. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec from 1842. KEMP, ANSON, son of Elijah Kemp and Sarah Stuart, was born on i August 1802 and baptized as an adult on 6 February 1843 by Reid. The witnesses were Thomas Reynolds and OREN JOCELIN KEMP. His father, who had arrived in Frelighsburg on 4 July 1799 from Springfield, Vermont, had fought in the Revolutionary War and, according to Thomas, received a pension from the United States. Anson seems to have been the youngest child, the only one of a large family to have been born in Lower Canada. On 3 March 1824 he married Delinda Kelton, spinster of major age, Reid officiating. Four daughters were born to them (see biography of BELINDA KEMP) . According to Thomas, Anson was the first collector of customs appointed to the port of Sutton; at the time of his marriage, however, he was described in Reid's register as "Trader," a term usually

Biographical Sketches applied to shop owners. According to an article in the Missiskoui Standard, he was operating a store in Churchville in 1836. In 1846, as the Canada Gazette records, he was appointed collector of customs at the port of Frelighsburg, a position he retained until the time of his death. Kemp employed ALEXANDER COOPER as one of his preventive officers. A contemporary paid tribute, after Kemp's death, to his handling of his position, not pursuing payment on small items but ensuring that duties were paid on larger items brought across the border. Kemp served as a justice of the peace for 20 years. In 1836 his name appeared among the members of the Missiskoui Branch of the Constitutional Association and he sat on the sub-committee. He was involved in education locally and was one of the school commissioners serving with Reid in 1842. When it was decided to build an academy in Frelighsburg, he was one of the fiveman building committee. Kemp was a faithful subscriber to the Church Society. He gave a well-wisher's contribution of 5/ to the Ladies' Sewing Society and was one of the six gentlemen who subscribed $1 each to the Ladies' Accumulating Fund. On 15 March 1843, his name was added to the lay members of the District Association of the Church Society. At the founding of the Parochial Branch of the Church Society, he was elected secretary of the meeting, and the minutes in the Parish Records are

201

signed by him. In 1851 he pledged £12/10 towards the purchase of a glebe. He served as churchwarden (with RICHARD DICKINSON) in 1856. In 1857-58 he gave $10 toward repairs to the parsonage (one of the more generous donations). When it became necessary for Reid to have an assistant, Kemp subscribed $10 towards his support. He was present at the special Vestry meeting on 30 January 1865 at which the decision was taken to erect a memorial tablet to Reid. Anson Kemp died on 11 September 1865 and was buried on 13 September byJ.B. Davidson; the witnesses were ARNOLD LEWIS BAKER and Charles F. Warner. He was survived by his wife and two daughters. Sources: St AER: 1843, fol. 6; 1824, fol. 4; 1865, fol. 10. Thomas, Contributions, 75. Canada Gazette, 6 June 1846, 2901. Missiskoui Standard, 2 Feb 1836, 3; 16 Feb 1836, 2; 20 Sep 1836, 3. Protest [against seizure of goods], 11 Jul 1846, no. 2043, drawn up by Dickinson. MCHS, 3rd Report, 84. ANQQ, Ministere de 1'education, lettres recues, 7 Nov 1842, no. 138. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec from 1842 and of Montreal from 1852. TCPR: Churchwardens' Accounts; PCS Minutes; Minutes and subscription list of the founding of the Parochial Church Society, 22 Jun 1843; Sewing Society Minutes, 7; subscription list for glebe, 5 Jul 1851; Bell receipt from Building Committee of the Academy, 10 Sep 1856; subscription

2O2

Appendix B

list for Ladies' Accumulating Fund, 17 Jan 1860; Vestry Book, 1861-64; Minutes of a Special Vestry Meeting, 30 Jan 1865. KEMP, BELINDA, n^KELTON, was born about 1802. According to Reid's diary she "had served her time ... at the tailoring business" when she was young. She married ANSON KEMP by dispensation of licence on 3 March 1824, Reid officiating. The witnesses were Thomas Brown and Isaac Chamberlin. Some time before her marriage, on 2 May 1821, Gamaliel Little offered to pay Belinda Kelton "in moveable effects" to the amount of £22/14/6, a sum for which she held his promissory notes. At some stage, Little, a saddler by trade, married her mother. By 1851, Phebe Little, Gamaliel's widow, was living with her daughter and son-inlaw and remained with them until her death on 20 July 1864. The Kemps had four daughters: Sarah (b. i May 1824), Mary (b. 21 August 1826), Amelia (b. 12 June 1829), and Jane Julia (b. 19 May 1833). They were all baptized together on 6 February 1837 by Reid, the parents serving as sponsors. On 18 March 1845, Sarah, then a minor, married Jasper Chaffee, junior, of Berkshire, and returned with him to live in the United States. Reid performed the ceremony; Elijah Stewart Reynolds and Maria Hurlbut were the witnesses. Amelia, Mary, and Jane Julia, as the 1851 census shows, continued to

live at home. Jane Julia died on 27 March 1854, aged 21, and was buried on 29 March, by Reid. On the day she died her son Albert (b. 17 March) was baptized. There is no record of her marriage. The circumstances surrounding the birth of this child must have aroused particular sympathy and a desire to extend support to the family, for his sponsors were Reid (who served sparingly as godfather in the community), Jane Westover (wife of JOSHUA CHAMBERLIN, one of the most respected members of the church) and Anson Kemp, the grandfather. The infant died 31 March 1854, aged 15 days, and was buried on 2 April, by Reid; Anson and Belinda Kemp were the witnesses. Amelia and Mary Kemp remained unmarried; Mary died on 6 February 1891 and Amelia on 5 February 1908; both are buried in Trinity churchyard. Belinda Kemp was particularly prominent in the activities of the church. She subscribed faithfully to the Church Society, and was a charter member of the Sewing Society, acting as one of its "Birectresses" in 1846 (its founding year). Her name continues among the officers thereafter, and the minutes show that she frequently hosted the society's meetings. When the group lost momentum in 1851, she was present at the meeting called to determine what to do with the funds in hand. In 1854, when another meeting was necessary because the society's gift of £50 toward the Endowment Fund

Biographical Sketches had not been claimed or used, she was one of the nine ladies present. Belinda Kemp and her husband initiated the proposal to purchase a new pall cloth for Trinity Church, to be ready in time for Mrs Hurlbut's funeral. Whenever Reid reported in his diaries that the church was cleaned or the chancel dressed, the names of Belinda Kemp or her daughters were sure to be among the helpers. She was the first president of the Ladies' Accumulating Fund, and was one of the three ladies who took the initiative of presenting the gown to Reid after Knap's interference had led to its premature announcement; her daughters Sarah, Mary, and Jane Julia also signed the address accompanying the gift. At the personal level, her kindness and effort in lining a pair of buffalo robes for Reid won his gratitude. His diary records his intention to thank her with a gift from Montreal (30January 1851). Belinda Kemp died on i July 1892, outliving her husband by 27 years. Sources: St AER: 1824, fol. 4; 1836, fol. 18; 1845, fol. 6; 1864, fol. gv. TCPR: Sewing Society Minutes, aff; Ladies' Accumulating Fund Accounts, i; Letterbook, 108. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Biocese of Quebec from 1842, and of Montreal from 1852. Agreement, 2 May 1821, drawn up by Lalanne. Gravestones, Trinity churchyard. KEMP, LEVI, son of Elijah Kemp and Sarah Stuart, was born on 10 March

203

1793 in the United States, and came with his parents to Frelighsburg in July 1799 when they settled there. He was baptized as an adult on 2 May 1824 by Reid; his brother OREN JOCELIN KEMP and his wife Laura were the witnesses. Kemp had married Laura Mills on 28 February 1819 by dispensation of licence, Reid officiating. The witnesses were O.J. Kemp and John Mills. On 3 March 1817, Kemp's parents signed a deed of gift turning over all their property (which was considerable) to two of their sons - Levi and Oren Jocelin - in return for maintenance, with provision made also for the support of their minor sons Elmore Lincoln and ANSON KEMP until they came of age, whereupon each should receive £175 or land, at the recipient's option. The witnesses to this 26-page document were Joseph Baker and Brown Chamberlin. On i May 1819 Levi and O.J. Kemp transferred a parcel of land to their brother Elmore Lincoln Kemp in fulfillment of the deed of gift. On i o May of the same year Levi and O.J. Kemp partitioned the property granted to them in the deed of gift; Levi seems to have received the lion's share, in return for which he promised to take sole responsibility for maintaining their parents. The witnesses to this agreement were Gamaliel Little and Benjamin H. Foss; Elijah and Sarah signed as consenting to this new arrangement. Thereafter a disagreement arose, and on 6 May 1820 Elijah and Levi agreed to revoke the deed of

204

Appendix B

gift; Levi was compelled to restore all the property, "Goods, Chattels & effects" he had received. A lengthy and minute inventory of the goods involved emphasizes how determined the father was to regain everything he had granted earlier. This document was witnessed by JOHN BAKER and Galloway Freligh. According to Reid's diaries, the quarrel leading to this revocation was particularly unpleasant. In 1819, at the time of his marriage, Levi was described as a "Trader." He and Laura Mills had two sons and a daughter. Galloway Levi (b. 14 November 1820) and Levi (b. 25 April 1823) were baptized together on 2 May 1824 by Reid, with Galloway Freligh, Brown Chamberlin, and Mary Mills as sponsors for the elder, and Galloway Freligh, Brown Chamberlin, and Sarah Kemp for the younger. At this time Levi Kemp and his wife were living in St Armand, but they may have gone to live in the United States shortly afterwards, for their daughter, Mary Elizabeth, was born there about 1825. Laura Kemp must have died shortly afterwards for Levi Kemp, trader (then of Henniker, New Hampshire), married Joanna Baker of St Armand by dispensation of licence on 14 September 1828. Reid officiated. Kemp's second wife was a daughter of HENRY BAKER and Abigail Ayer. She was baptized as an adult on i February 1837 by Reid; the witnesses were Levi Kemp and Abigail Baker. Levi and Joanna Kemp had five children: Henry Baker (b. 22 March 1830),

Hiram (b. I4june 1831),Joseph May (b. 25 February 1833), Laura Jane (b. 10 February 1844), anc^ Arnold Lewis Baker (b. 2 July 1849). Henry Baker and Joseph May were baptized together on i February 1837 by Reid; the parents were the sponsors. Hiram was baptized on 6 October 1831 by Reid; the sponsors were O.J. Kemp and PATIENCE KEMP; the child died on 8 October and was buried by Reid on the following day. Laura Jane was baptized 6 August 1848 by Reid; the sponsors were Henry and Abigail Baker. She died on 31 December 1850, aged 7, and was buried on 2 January 1851 by Reid. Arnold Lewis Baker was baptized by Reid on 5 June 1853; the sponsors were his uncle ARNOLD LEWIS BAKER, his grandmother Abigail Baker, and his half-brother Galloway Kemp. Four days later, on 9 June 1853, Joanna Kemp died. She was buried on 11 June by Reid; the witnesses were Levi Kemp and Arnold Lewis Baker. Levi Kemp served as postmaster in Frelighsburg, perhaps during two periods: the post office was on his premises until 1836, and, according to the 1861 census, he was postmaster at that time as well. Thomas states that Kemp served in this capacity for 17 years. Kemp was also a hotel keeper and held one of the few tavern licences in St Armand East. A contemporary describes the dance-rooms upstairs where produce and manufactured goods were regularly exhibited on the occasion of the local fair. Kemp was an active member

Biographical Sketches of the Missiskoui Branch of the Constitutional Association in 1836-37 and advertised that he and O.J. Kemp had, at their places of business, the Montreal Branch's Address to the Queen "to receive the signatures of Her Majesty's subjects." In 1836 Kemp became clerk to the Commissioners' Court for the Parish when that office was vacated by James Moir Ferres; according to Thomas, Kemp served as a commissioner for many years and at the time of his writing (1866) was still doing so. In 1857 Kemp leased his hotel and contents for three years to Samuel P. Hall of Bakersfield, Vermont. In 1862 he was living in Dunham, as his will (drawn up on 17 May 1862) makes clear. Kemp appointed his brother-inlaw Arnold Lewis Baker his executor and requested that he be appointed tutor to his youngest son, should he still be a minor at the time of his father's death. In 1852, Abigail Baker, then a widow, had left a considerable property to her daughter Joanna. On the day of Joanna Baker's death (while she was still alive) Reid visited her bedside. In his diary he recorded that he saw the notary preparing her will downstairs as she lay on her deathbed above. When he saw her, Reid asserted, she was "not capable of any thought"; he was shocked that the will was being prepared under these circumstances. Curiously, Joanna Kemp's Will is dated 9 May 1853, and bears the number 3670, although in the context of other documents filed and numbered in the series it immedi-

205

ately follows a transaction dated 7 June 1853 (no. 3669) and immediately precedes another dated 11 June 1853 (no. 3671). On 9 May 1853, the Notary executed four documents: they are numbered 3642-5. The will left all Joanna's property to her husband as well as the usufruct for his life of the property she inherited from her father: thus her son Arnold Lewis was to receive his grandfather's estate only after his father's death. Joanna, described as "not able to sign," made her mark. That this inability was not a sign of illiteracy is clear from the many signatures of hers appearing on other documents, such as her mother's conveyance to her on 15 June 1852. The witnesses to her will were James Harvy(?) Smith and Rodney Holden; the document was drawn up by RICHARD DICKINSON. Although not as prominent in his support of the various projects of the parish as were his brothers Anson and O.J. Kemp, Levi was among the leading members of the congregation. He gave a well-wisher's donation of 2/6 to the Ladies' Sewing Society and 1/3 toward the purchase of the pall cloth. He pledged £12/10 toward the purchase of a glebe in 1851; when it became necessary for Reid to have an assistant, Kemp pledged $5 towards his support. From 1849 Kemp subscribed to the Church Society; in 1857-58 he contributed $5 toward repairs to the parsonage. He was present at the Special Vestry meeting at which the decision was made to erect a monument to

2O6

Appendix B

Reid's memory. Kemp died on 14 December 1868, aged 76, and was buried on 18 December by J.B. Davidson. The witnesses were Galloway Levi Kemp and Henry Baker Kemp. His youngest son and residual legatee, Arnold Lewis Baker Kemp, was then 19. Sources: St AER: 1819, fol. 3; 1824, fol. 7; 1828, fol. 18; 1831, fol. 19 (two entries); 1836, fols 14, 16; 1848, fol. 7; 1850, fol. 7; 1852, fols 2v, 12 (two entries); 1868, fol. 15. Diary: 25:4598-9. Deed of Gift, 3 Mar 1817, drawn up by Lalanne; Transfer, i May 1819, drawn up by Lalanne; Partition, 10 May 1819, drawn up by Lalanne; Revocation [attached to Deed of Gift], 6 May 1820, drawn up by Lalanne; Sale and Transaction, 15 Jun 1852, no. 3393, drawn up by Dickinson; Will, 9 May 1853, no. 3670, drawn up by Dickinson; Lease, 31 Mar 1857, no. 4847, drawn up by Dickinson; Will, 17 May 1862, no. 6259, drawn up by Dickinson. Thomas, Contributions, 75. MCHS, 3rd Report, 83; Tavern Licences, Canada Gazette, 22 Dec 1849, 7559. Missiskoui Standard, 2 Feb 1836, 3; 6 Dec 1836, 3; 28 Feb 1837, 2; 17 Oct 1837, 3. TCPR: Sewing Society Minutes, 7; subscription list for glebe, 5jul 1851; Vestry Book, 1861; Churchwardens'Accounts, 1850. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec 1849, and of Montreal from 1852. KEMP, MARIA (subsequently MRS ELIJAH STEWART REYNOLDS), eldest daughter of OREN JOCELIN

KEMP, merchant, of St Armand, and PATIENCE BAKER, was born 3 June 1821 and baptized on 5 August of that year by Reid. Her sponsors were Joseph Baker, Lucretia Baker, and Harriet Lalanne. Maria was one of the original members of the Sewing Society, and appears among the earliest subscribers to the Church Society. In 1849 she was among the six ladies requested to act as collectors for the Church Society, the village of Frelighsburg being her area to canvass, and the printed reports of the Church Society show her to have been a faithful subscriber. On 14 June 1849 Maria married Elijah Stewart Reynolds, Reid officiating. Her brother Elijah Kemp, of Sutton, and Patience Kemp, her sister, were the witnesses. Reynolds was Maria's first cousin, son of her aunt MARY REYNOLDS, nee Kemp; like her father, he was a shopkeeper. According to one contemporary account, Reynolds "was a very jovial man, rather corpulent, who ... knew the merits of good roast beef and old port wine." Reynolds was nine years her senior (b. 28 June 1812) and baptized as an adult on 5 February 1843 by Reid, with Maria's parents serving as "his chosen witnesses." He was elected secretary treasurer of the St Armand School Commission and served in that capacity for several years, but, as Reid's diary records, he vacated this position under a cloud after the disappearance of the school tax money which had been in his keeping (see

Biographical Sketches biography of JOHN BRUSH SEYMOUR) . The couple had two children, Julia Alma (b. 7 March 1850), baptized 15 April 1850, and Frederic Stewart (b. 21 October 1851), baptized on 7 December of the same year, Reid officiating, with the maternal grandparents as sponsors in both cases. So ingrained was Reid's identification of Maria with her maiden name that in the index of baptisms in his register he lists Julia Alma under Kemp, not Reynolds. After her marriage, Maria continued to be involved in parochial projects. She was one of the ladies who signed the address accompanying Reid's gift of a new gown. Maria was particularly active in the Ladies' Accumulating Fund, serving as vice president at the time of her death. The minutes of the society contain a vote of sympathy to her family, paying tribute to her zeal "in furthering the Interests of this Society" and her devotion to the Church. She died on 20 May 1864, aged 43, during an epidemic of measles in the village, and was buried on 23 May by Reid. The witnesses were her brothers Edwin and Oren Baker Kemp. Reid's sermon, preached at her funeral, is extant. In it he referred to her faithful attendance at church, her singing in the choir, and her handsome legacy of $ i oo to the Endowment Fund of Trinity Church. Apparently Maria's favourite hymn was "My God, my Father, while I stray," which he quoted in extenso. A stained glass window in the nave of the Bishop Stewart

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Memorial Church of the Holy Trinity was erected in her memory. Sources: St AER: 1821, fol. 9; 1843, fol. 5; 1849, fol. 9; 1849, fol. 22; 1850, fol. 20; 1864, fol. 6. TCPR: Ladies' Sewing Society Minutes, 8; Minutes and subscription list of the founding of the Parochial Church Society, 2 2 Jun 1843; PCS Minutes, 25; Letterbook, 108; Ladies' Accumulating Fund Accounts, 13. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec from 1842 and of the Diocese of Montreal from 1852. MCHS, 3rd Report, 83. Diary: 36:6296. MDA, Reid Papers, MS. sermon of 23 May 1864. KEMP, ORENJOCELIN, son of Elijah Kemp of Springfield, Vermont, and Sarah Stuart, was born in Vermont on 2 July 1795, and came to Frelighsburg with his parents in July 1799. He was baptized as an adult on 2 2 December 1823 by Reid; Andrew Hawley and PATIENCE KEMP were the witnesses. In 1817 Elijah and Sarah Kemp transferred all their property to his elder brother Levi and himself in return for maintenance; but in 1819 Oren accepted a portion of the property and withdrew from the arrangement. On 27 September 1818, Oren married Patience Baker of Dunham, a minor; C.C. Cotton officiated. The witnesses were LEVI KEMP and William Baker. Oren was already a "Trader" at this time and continued for many years to keep a store in Frelighsburg, a detailed con-

208

Appendix B

temporary description of which survives. As early as 1816, when he had just come of age, he became co-partner with Calvin May and Brown Chamberlin (formerly Calvin May & Company) under the name of Oren Kemp, Calvin May & Company. Kemp was active in the local militia and saw action (then holding the rank of captain) in the Rebellion of 1837, and was later raised to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. His letter to Colborne giving an account of the Battle of Moore's Corner, written 7 December 1837, is extant and reprinted by Thomas. His own narrative of his part in the action is not in line with another account of it printed in the 4th Report of the MCHS, which represents him in a less heroic light. Kemp remained a staunch Tory throughout his life; in 1836-37 he was active in the Missiskoui Branch of the Constitutional Association and sat on the sub-committee. He and his brother Levi took charge of collecting signatures for a petition by the Montreal Branch of the Association, addressed to the Queen. In 1848 Kemp secured himself an appointment to the lucrative position of Crown Lands Agent "in the Townships of Dunham, Stanbridge, and Sutton, in the County of Missisquoi; Brome, Ely, Farnham, Granby, Milton, Roxton, Shefford and Stukely, in the County of Shefford; Bolton and Potton, in the County of Stanstead, Lower Canada, in the room of Samuel Wood, Esquire, deceased." This position he

held until his death, after which it passed to his son Oren Baker Kemp. According to Thomas, OJ. Kemp served as mayor of his parish as well as mayor of the county council established in 1847. He was also a justice of the peace. Included in his many business ventures were a co-partnership with his son Elijah in a store in Sutton (a community in which he took an abiding interest), and shortly before his death, a directorship in the Victoria Springs Company, Frelighsburg. Involved in a wide range of activities locally, he was treasurer of the Agricultural Society of the County of Missisquoi (1835), member of the three-man committee of the Society for Detecting Horse Thieves (1836), and a vice president of the District of Bedford Rifle Association (1864). He was apparently well-to-do, a man with considerable possessions; the census of 1861 shows that he owned six "carriages for pleasure," for example. The Kemps had nine children, six sons and three daughters (see biography of PATIENCE KEMP), all of whom survived to maturity. In addition to his own children, he had in his household his niece Lucinda Kemp, daughter of his elder brother James (carpenter and joiner of St Armand). On 15 March 1822, when she was twelve years old, Lucinda was indentured, "To hold & to keep in the character & capacity of assistant maid in his family" until the completion of her i8th year. The bond contains the provision, among

Biographical Sketches other things, that "if she should abscond, ... he the said James will seek her, &, if found will at his own cost & expence return her to the house of the said Oren J. Kemp to complete the time of her service, on pain of damage &c." Appended to the document is an attestation that on 28 December 1834 - six years after her time was completed - she received $50 in household goods from her uncle Oren. It would be interesting to know whether the three kitchen chairs he purchased at the auction of the effects of Arnold Baker, deceased, on 13 July 1829 were among them; he bid and paid for them a total of 3d. Kemp was a prominent member of the parish. In 1836 he was made churchwarden, serving in that capacity until 1853. He was one of the original subscribers to the Church Society when the Parochial Branch was formed in 1843, and usually subscribed amounts in excess of membership requirements. He was appointed a lay member to the District Association of the Church Society at Granby on 16 February 1843. In 1851 he pledged £12/10 towards the purchase of a glebe. He gave a well-wisher's donation to the Sewing Society of 5/. In view of his occasional bursts of generosity, the absence of his name from the list of contributors to the repairs to the parsonage, the assistant's maintenance, the purchase of the pall cloth and the Ladies' Accumulating Fund suggests that Kemp gave or

209

withheld his support as a matter of manifesting his personal feelings in favour of, or against, particular members of the community. He was, however, present at the special Vestry meeting at which the unanimous decision was made to put up a memorial tablet to Reid. Kemp made his will on 28 December 1854, "being weak of body but of sound mind." The witnesses were the Rev. Joseph Scott of Dunham and Patrick O'Brien of Frelighsburg, labourer. Three of his sons, Elijah, Edwin, and Oren Baker Kemp, were named executors. On 5 February 1866 Kemp died, aged 71, and was buried on 7 February by J.B. Davidson. The witnesses were ARNOLD LEWIS BAKER and H. Montgomery. His widow survived him by two years. Sources: Thomas, Contributions, 37-9, 75. MCHS: 3rd Report, 83; 4th Report, 68. Cyrus Thomas, The History ofShefford, Civil, Ecclesiastical, Biographical and Statistical (Montreal: Lovell Printing and Publishing Co. 1877), no. Then and Now in Missisquoi (Granby, PQ: MCHS 1967), 10:135. Missiskoui Standard, 4 Aug 1835, 2; 2 Feb 1836, 3; 16 Feb 1836, 2; 18 Oct 1836, 3; 28 Feb 1837, 2; and 17 Oct 1837, 3. Eastern Townships Gazette, 16 Sep 1864, 2. St AER: 1823, f°L 17> 1866, fol. 2. DR, 1818, fol. 5. Deed of Gift, 3 Mar 1817, and Partition, 10 May 1819, both drawn up by Lalanne; Agreement, 29 Oct 1816, drawn up by Lalanne; Apprentice Bond, 15 Mar 1822, drawn up by Lalanne;

21O

Appendix B

Inventory of Sale, igjul 1829, drawn up by Lalanne; Dissolution of Copartnership, 8 Mar 1852, no. 3287, drawn up by Dickinson. Canada Gazette, 15 Apr 1848, 5274. TCPR: "Church Acct from 2ist April 1822," for 1836; Churchwardens' Accounts; PCS subscription list, 22 Jun 1843; PCS Minutes, 3; subscription list for glebe, 5 Jul 1851; Minutes of a Special Vestry Meeting, 30 Jan 1865. KEMP, PATIENCE, nee BAKER, daughter of Joseph Baker, originally of Petersham, Mass., and Maria (or Molly) Stevens, was born 24 April 1800, after her parents had settled in Dunham. She was the couple's fifth daughter and eighth child in a family of eleven children. On lojune 1811, she was baptized by C.C. Cotton, together with her sisters Maria (b. 28 November 1796) and Lucretia (b. 4 June 1798), and her brothers Edward (b. 21 October 1802) and Joseph (b. 20 June 1804); William Baker signed as the witness. On 27 September 1818, when she was 18, she married OREN JOCELIN KEMP, of St Armand, with parental consent, C.C. Cotton officiating. The witnesses were LEVI KEMP and William Baker. Patience and O.J. Kemp had nine children, including two pairs of twins. Maria, the eldest child, was born 3 June 1821. Elijah (b. 22 May 1823) was baptized 22 December 1823 by Reid, with Brown Chamberlin, Andrew Hawley, and DIANTHA CHAMBERLIN as the sponsors. O.J. Kemp was himself

baptized on the same occasion, although it is recorded on the previous page in Reid's register. Oren Baker (b. 29 June 1826) was baptized 12 January 1827 by Reid; Joseph Baker, William Baker, and Molly Baker were the sponsors. On 26 August 1828, Patience, a second daughter, was born. Her baptism, by Reid, took place on 16 March 1830, with Joseph Baker, Molly Baker, and ISABELLA REID acting as sponsors. Edwin and Emily, twins, (b. 14 May 1831) were baptized on 3 July of that year by Edward Parkin; the sponsors for both were CHARLES PETER REID, DELINDA KEMP, and Harriet Lalanne. Another pair of twins, Edson and Edgar (b. 17 March 1836), were baptized on 5 June by Reid; the sponsors were the parents. Anson Stuart, apparently their last child, (b. 15 February 1842) was baptized lojuly of that year by Reid, with Stevens Baker, Levinah Baker, and Charles Peter Reid as sponsors. By 1851, as the census shows, only Emily, Edwin, and Anson were still living with their parents. Maria and Oren Baker had married and were living nearby; Patience was with her brother Elijah in Sutton. Anson, then aged 10, was staying with his brother Oren Baker and sister-in-law George Anna, nee Pell. In the 1861 census, Anson was the only one still at home, joined by his cousin Sophia (daughter of his sister Patience and her husband the Rev. Robert Lindsay). Elijah and Emily were the only ones to remain

Biographical Sketches unmarried; they survived until i o August 1899 and 31 July 1859 respectively. Mrs Kemp was a faithful subscriber to the Church Society. She was a founding member of the Sewing Society and served as its first treasurer; its initial meeting (4 November 1846) was held at her home. As the accounts show, before this meeting was held, fabric and notions were purchased to supply the ladies from OJ. Kemp's store (for 5/1). At the meeting of 11 November 1851 at which the disposal of the society's funds was discussed she was also present. It was unanimously agreed that £50 should be given to the Endowment Fund and the remaining £7/4/2 be put toward the purchase of a baptismal font for the church. At her suggestion, it was also decided that the £50 be first "loaned on interest" to her husband at 6% for one year, and the remainder at the same rate, to be paid on demand. Kemp's notes for these amounts were placed in Reid's hands. Patience Kemp served as president of the Ladies' Accumulating Fund in its second year. She was one of the ladies who presented Reid with a new gown in 1851. According to Reid's diaries, Mrs Kemp expected a good deal of deference to be shown herself and her husband. Bursts of attentiveness and considerateness on the Kemps' part are recorded by Reid, but their relations were frequently strained. Mrs Kemp made her will on 28 December 1854, the same day as OJ.

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Kemp made his. She left everything to her husband, whom she appointed her sole executor. In the margin of each of their wills the notary has marked "not paid." Her husband predeceased her by two years. She died on 5 March 1868 and was buried on 9 March by J.B. Davidson. The witnesses were Oren Baker Kemp and William Mead Pattison. Sources: MHSA, Baker-Lovell Genealogy. DR: South, 1811, fol. 3v; 1818, fol. 5. St AER: 1821, fol. 9; 1823, fols 17, 18; 1826, fol. 22; 1830, fol. 7; 1831, fol. 12; 1836, fol. 5; 1842, fol. 18; 1868, fol. 2. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec from 1842 and of Montreal from 1852. TCPR: Sewing Society Minutes, i, 11, 22, 71; Letterbook, 108; Ladies' Accumulating Fund Accounts, 5. Will, 28 Dec 1854, no. 4126, drawn up by Dickinson. KNAP, AQUILA, son of Jonathan Knap and Mary Alvord, was born on 5 December, about 1785, in Long Island, New York. He seems to have been one of six children. The others, according to a document dated 17 October 1827, were Mary, Priscilla, Rachael, Anna, and Moses. Aquila occupied land adjacent to that of his brother Moses, on lot 21, in St Armand East. These two farms were originally one property belonging to their father who sold it to them for £500 and in return for their promise of maintenance for himself and his wife. The witnesses to this document

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Appendix B

were Jonathan Stickney, Jr, and Willard Stickney. It seems likely that the Knaps had found their way to St Armand by way of New Brunswick; according to the 1851 census, Priscilla Knap was born there. At a meeting of the mayor, recorder and aldermen of Saint John, held on 31 May 1785, a "Moses Knapp, Yeoman," was among those presenting their credentials as new arrivals to the city - probably the Moses Knap who died on 13 February 1816 in Dunham and was buried on 15 February, C.C. Cotton officiating. Jonathan Knap had been one of CJ. Stewart's churchwardens and stayed on in that capacity when Reid took over the parish, serving until his death, aged 78, in 1828. At one time or another each of his sons followed in this role. At some point, perhaps while in the United States, Aquila married Margaret (or Marguerite) S. Davis, ten years his junior, who according to the census of 1851 was also born in Long Island. His brother Moses, by contrast, married a local girl, Ruth Getty of Dunham (on 8 January 1824). Although Aquila was an important member of his community, he seems to have absented himself from the district for extended periods during which he lived in the United States. His anticipated absence from Canada may have prompted him to publish a notice in the newspaper that on 3 October 1836 he would sell his household furniture, "farming utensils," livestock, and produce at auction; there does

not seem to be any suggestion that this was a forced sale. In a letter of 12 February 1846 to the superintendent of Education he stated that he had been absent and living in the city of New York for ten years prior to that May, and planned to be away for a further eight or nine months. He therefore found it necessary to resign his position as school commissioner, to which he had been elected in July 1846. Knap also served as secretary treasurer of the School Commission of St Armand. In 1858 his power of attorney, executed in favour of DANIEL WESTOVER, refers to Knap as "heretofore of the Township of St Armand East," but, as Reid's diary shows, he was back in the community in 1863-64. Moses seems to have remained in the district throughout his brother's absences. Aquila Knap served as churchwarden from 21 April 1822 to 31 March 1823, and from 18 December 1831 to 23 March 1833 (Moses served in that capacity from April 1837 to June 1852). Aquila was a subscriber to the Church Society from 1846. In 1851 he pledged £i2/io/ toward the purchase of a glebe. He contributed 2/6 toward the pall cloth and gave a wellwisher's donation of 5/ to the Sewing Society. Margaret S. Knap's name headed the list of the ladies who signed the address accompanying Reid's gift of a new gown. Early in 1851, Aquila entered into negotiations with O.B. Kemp (who had married Knap's niece George Anna Pell)

Biographical Sketches with a view to transferring his property to the young man in return for maintenance, but, as Reid recorded in his diary, Mrs Knap would not consent to relinquish her right to dispose of her own property by will. The arrangement was consequently broken off. Moses and his wife executed such a transfer of property to their son Jonathan (on 31 January 1857) in return for maintenance, and the census of 1861 shows the parents living with their son, his wife and children. Aquila outlived his brother Moses (d. 27 December 1863), his sister-in-law Ruth (d. 3 February 1862), his sister Priscilla (d. 20 April 1864), and his nephew Jonathan (d. [day omitted from register] September 1867). Probably Margaret Knap had died before then; Reid's references to Aquila in his diary in 1863 suggest he was alone. On 23 March 1877, Aquila Knap died, aged 92, at the residence of his nephew James G. Pell, and was buried on 25 March by J.B. Davidson, James G. Pell and James Westover serving as the witnesses. Reid enjoyed the company of both Aquila and his wife. His diary pays tribute to his affection and high regard for them; on 5 December 1853, for example, it records: "I spent the time agreeably with the friendly old couple. Mr Knap is an honest man and a true friend." There are photographs of Mr and Mrs Knap among the TCPR, probably from Reid's own collection. Sources: DR, 1816, fol. 2V. St AER: 1823, fol. 19;

213

1828, fol. 7; 1862, fol. 4; 1863, fol. 14; 1864, fol. 5; 1867, fol. 12; 1877, fol. 3. Canada's First City: Saint John (Saint John: Lingley Printing Co. Ltd [1962]), 61. Diary: 25:4657-8; 36:6234, 36:6296[b]. MHSA, Roll of Rates for the Municipality of Frelighsburg, 1851. Missiskoui Standard, 4 Oct 1836, 3. ANQQ, Ministere de 1'education, lettres recues, 27 Jul 1846, no. 829; 12 Feb 1846, no. 146. [Sale and Agreement], 17 Oct 1827, drawn up by Lalanne; Donation, 31 Jan 1857, no. 4780, drawn up by Dickinson; Power of Attorney, 30 Oct 1858, drawn up by Dickinson. TCPR: Subscription list for glebe, 5 Jul 1851; Sewing Society Minutes, 7; Letterbook, 108; Churchwardens' Accounts; "Church Acct from April 1822." Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec from 1846, and of Montreal from 1852.

LEE, JAMES, was born on 21 May 1806 in Carlton-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England. He emigrated to Lower Canada in 1822, probably in company with several of his brothers, together with the Selbys and the Staniland family, all from the same shire. Lee settled in St Armand; the others located in the same seigniory or in nearby Dunham. On 27 August 1828, Lee married Hannah Staniland, aged 17, Reid officiating. The witnesses were John Pickering (also from Nottinghamshire) and William Lee. The following year an illness or

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Appendix B

disaster carried off Hannah's parents and several brothers and sisters in rapid succession: Thomas, aged 4 (d. 5 February 1829), Mary, aged 17 (d. 7 February), George, aged 7 (d. 8 February), William, aged 15 (d. 11 February), and Hannah, nee Richards, widow of William Staniland (d. 6 May). On 21 May 1829James Lee was appointed tutor to the surviving minor children of William and Hannah Staniland; the inventory he requested, in this capacity, of the Staniland property is extant. Two of the children (Elizabeth and Lucy), as the censuses for 1851 and 1861 show, continued to live with the Lees long after they had reached major age; a third (Ann) married DANIEL WESTOVERin 1838. In 1836, James Lee, Peleg Thomas, and Simeon Whitman were appointed commissioners for the Summary Trial of Small Causes in the Parish of St Armand East and held their first court in the courtroom in the village of Frelighsburg on 20 August, of that year. In 1848, Lee was appointed one of the justices of the peace in the District of Montreal. Lee had an abiding interest in the law and seems to have devoted some private study to it; as he wrote in his travel diary on 3 October 1837, "I have been at my favourite passtime (that is) Reading Law." On 8 May 1836, Lee and his wife returned to England for a visit with their relatives there, leaving the rest of the family in St Armand. Lee kept a journal of the trip which con-

cluded on 28 October 1837, the date of their arrival at home. The journal reveals his interest in church music and bell-ringing (17 July 1837) and shows that churchgoing was an important part of his Sunday (14 October 1837); he was not above butchering a sheep for the ship's captain on the voyage home (5 October 1837), and made himself useful cooking during his wife's sea-sickness (or morning sickness, Mrs Lee being three months pregnant). "I can now make as good Short Cake, Plum pudding or any pastry as if I had served an apprenticeship to it, and likewise act in the capacity of chamber maid," he wrote jocularly on 18 October 1837. His account portrays his wife, once she had her sea-legs, as always busy knitting. On 20 August 1837, while in London, the Lees saw Queen Victoria whose carriage "pass'd within 4 feet" of them; theirs must have been one of the earliest first-hand reports of the new queen's appearance to reach Lower Canada. Lee's journal reflects his desire to reassure himself, through seeing his old home, that his decision to emigrate had been a sound one; his account of the return journey makes it clear that neither he nor his wife could wait to return to their new home in the Canadas. The Lees had at least eight children: Ingham Sutcliff (b. 15 November 1835), Emily Victoria (b. 13 April 1838), Elizabeth Lucy (b. 22 June 1840), James David (b. 27 September 1844), Mary Staniland (b. 20

Biographical Sketches September 1847), Hannah Pettinger (b. 24 September 1849), Flora Richards (b. 19 April 1852), and George Reid (b. 31 August 1857). Lee had a farm of 200 acres and also operated a sawmill during part of the year; as the censuses of 1851 and 1861 indicate, the water supply was far from dependable, but when running the mill could produce 30,000 ft. of lumber annually and employed two men. Lee was a member of the Missiskoui Branch of the Constitutional Association in 1836 and 1837, and, as Reid remarks in his diary, was for a time active in politics. He was a faithful supporter of the Church Society, contributing 157 annually. Lee was one of the donors toward Stewart's memorial tablet in Trinity Church, perhaps the only one of their number who would not have remembered Stewart as the local incumbent. Although his name does not appear among the supporters of the Sewing Society or the Ladies' Accumulating Fund, he did give 2/6 toward the purchase of the pall cloth in 1850. He subscribed $5 toward repairing the parsonage in 1857—58. In 1863 and 1864 he contributed $10 toward the support of Reid's assistant. From 3 April 1855 to 30 March 1856 he served as churchwarden. He was on the building committee of the academy in 1856. Lee was active in education and served as a school commissioner for at least two terms (in 1850 and 1853). Mrs Lee (unlike one or both of the Misses

215

Staniland) does not seem to have been involved in parochial projects, and did not participate in the gift of a new gown to Reid. When Reid's lithographed portrait was offered to parishioners on subscription, however, she appears to have purchased two copies. Although Lee, judging from his journal, seems to have been a person of ability and good humour, Reid often speaks disparagingly of him, calling Lee, on one occasion, "a strongly prejudiced John Bull." This would not have been the first time Reid took umbrage at an Englishman, however. James Lee died, aged 58, on 10 January 1865 (three days before Reid's death), and was buried on 12 January by J.B. Davidson. The witnesses were O.B. Kemp and H.D. Smith. Hannah Lee survived her husband by ten years; she died on 18 April 1875 and was buried on 20 April by J.B. Davidson. The witnesses were J. Chamberlin andJ.W. Davidson. Sources: Obituary of Jonathan Selby, News, and Frontier Advocate, 21 Jun 1850, 3. Missiskoui Standard, 2 Feb 1836, 2; 9 Aug 1836, 3; and 28 Feb 1837, 2. Canada Gazette, 21 Oct 1848, 5830. Thomas, Contributions, 94. Diary: 25:4624. St AER: 1828, fol. 17; 1829, fols 3-3% 9; 1836, fol. 2; 1838, fols 7, 16; 1840, fol. 13; 1845, fol. 7; 1848, fol. 3; 1852, fol. 6; 1857, fol. 7v; 1864, fol. 17; 1875, fol. 2. Inventory, 15 Jun 1829, drawn up by Lalanne. MHSA, Journal of James Lee, 95. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec

2l6

Appendix B

from 1842 and of Montreal from 1852. TCPR: Receipt for Bell, 10 Sep 1856; subscription to Stewart's monument; Vestry Book, 1863, 1864; subscription list for portrait, 3 Sep 1853; Churchwardens' Accounts. ANQQ: Ministere de 1'education, lettres recues, 7 Sep 1850, no. 1521; 4jul 1853, no. 872. LOWE, ALMIRA: please see ALMIRA CHAMBERLIN.

McDERMID, ISABELLA: please see ISABELLA REID

PATTISON, MARY REBECCA: please See MARY REBECCA HURLBUT

REID, CHARLES PETER (REV.), eldest son of James Reid and ISABELLA MCDERMID, was born in Cornwall, Upper Canada, on 14 August 1811 and baptized on 25 August of that year by John Bethune, Presbyterian missionary in Glengarry. Before he was a year old, his parents moved to St Armand, Lower Canada, where he spent his boyhood. When Charles was 16, C.J. Stewart, former incumbent of St Armand (now bishop of Quebec) took an interest in his education, advising Reid to send the boy to Quebec City. Stewart paid for his tuition at Mr Burrage's school, and found lodgings for him at Miss Syze's, "a good boarding house in Hope Street," at £25 per annum including washing. Reid seems to have made a number of payments himself over

Stewart's protests; consequently, it is difficult to guess from the correspondence the proportion of Charles's fees and lodging actually paid by the bishop, but it is clear that Stewart watched over the boy (noting his rapid growth and his being subject to headaches, for example) and won his lasting regard. The tablet to Stewart in Trinity Church was erected partly in response to a letter Charles had written to the Missiskoui Standard, proposing such a memorial "as a proof of their desire that his name should be held in veneration by their children's children until the latest generation." Early in 1828, Charles seems to have decided that he wished to prepare himself for Holy Orders; Stewart promised to help with this further period of education until he was ready for ordination. In 1830 Charles was in Chambly studying under the Rev. Joseph Braithwaite, an Oxford graduate still in his early twenties, who was put in charge of the "first theological institution to be established in the Diocese of Quebec." Stewart wrote to Reid about the possibility of appointing Charles to a studentship and may have done so despite the suggestion that "he was not so diligent at Chambly as some of the students." Charles completed his studies and was ordained deacon at Quebec by Stewart on 23 June 1835. He was first appointed to Rawdon, succeeding the Rev. John Lawrence Milton; his first entry in the register was 23 August 1835. According to

Biographical Sketches A.W. Mountain, Charles was responsible for building the church there: "a very homely, though at the same time a decent structure, being built of squared logs, and not having arched windows, but it has a steeple surmounted by a large cross." In 1836 Charles was ordained priest by Bishop GJ. Mountain, and remained at Rawdon until 1837. In 1838-39 he was stationed at La prairie. It was at this period that his father wrote to Bishop Mountain with the proposal that Charles take over St Armand so that he himself might move to Brome where Col. Knowlton wished to establish a church. The elder Reid was fearful of his situation on the frontier after two years of the Rebellion, and suggested that he and Charles might divide their SPG salaries, serve the two districts and not disrupt the bookkeeping of the diocese. Nothing seems to have come of the suggestion. In 1840, Charles was sent to Compton where he was to remain until 1853. Charles was regarded as particularly suitable for that parish "because," as A.R. Kelley observes, "he had been familiar with the Americans of the townships from infancy." While assisting the Rev. W.D. Baldwyn at St Johns, Charles met his future wife. Charles officiated at the burial of her father on 23 July 1838, and on 7 June 1839 he baptized a child for whom they both stood as sponsors. On 11 August 1840, Charles, newly appointed to Compton, married Julia Gray in St Johns, his father officiat-

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ing. The witnesses were W. McGinnis, William Gorman and Harriet Baldwyn. Julia, then aged 22, was the daughter of John and Marguerite Gray of St Johns. Having lived all her life in the town, Julia seems to have had some difficulty adjusting to life in the newly opened countryside; Reid's diary makes several references to her tendency to go on long visits to her parental home, to the neglect (presumably) of such seasonal tasks as butter-making in her own household. Julia and Charles had four children, only one of whom lived to maturity: Emily (b. 21 June 1841) and Emma Isabella (b. 17 September 1842) died in infancy, William James (b. i January 1846) died at age four. By contrast, Annie McDermid (b. 12 March 1852) lived to be 80; she died 27 October 1932. The baptismal entries for the first two daughters do not include any sponsors or witnesses; the Rev. Lucius Doolittle, JAMES STEWART REID, and Emily Gray stood as sponsors for William James, and the Rev. Christopher Jackson, Annie Gray, and NANCY REID for Annie McDermid. Charles seems to have been a particularly fond father (for which his own father saw fit to chide him), and the couple were griefstricken at their young son's sudden death of scarlet fever. This loss, following hard upon a protracted period of anxiety over a possible removal from Compton by the bishop, seems to have put a strain on their marriage for a time; it is to their credit that

2l8

Appendix B

Charles's father (and sisters) seem to have shown themselves sympathetic to Julia. As the diary makes clear, James Reid and his son were not close; Charles's short temper, evident in his correspondence with J.B. Meilleur for example, may have been one contributing factor. Both men appear to have been subject to fits of plain-speaking followed by periods of brooding. Despite a lack of special warmth in their relationship, James Reid did help his son financially, lending him £100 in 1855 against a mortgage on his farm; Charles repaid the debt in full on 16 June 1856. Although not removed from his parish in 1850, Charles was eventually succeeded at Compton by the Rev. Aaron A. Allen. When the churchwardens received notification of his transfer, they wrote to the bishop asking that he reconsider this decision, adding: "It is with very deep regret that we contemplate parting with a kind and much Esteemed Pastor, who has been so long endeared to us by years of faithful, zealous and patient labour amongst us." Charles's appointment to St Peter's Church, Sherbrooke, became effective on i April 1854; there he remained until his death.'He had a lifelong interest in education: he urged the government to give aid to a school for the people of Clifton in 1846, and in 1849 was one of the petitioners for an academy "in the centre Village" of the Township of Compton. In 1853 he was appointed to serve on the

Board of Examiners "for ascertaining the Capacity of School Teachers in the County of Sherbrooke," and when his name was inadvertently omitted in a later year, raised a vociferous protest. Charles was a trustee of Bishop's College from its foundation, and a supporter of the institution financially; a published subscription list for 1859, for example, shows he gave $50 that year. The college, in turn, honoured him by conferring on him the degrees of MA (1855) and DCL (1884), honoris causa. Like his father, Charles invested his money; the list of shareholders of the bank of Montreal shows that he held 26 shares of Bank stock as of 31 May 1861. He continued to figure in the records until i June 1875, when he held 43 shares. The Returns from the Chartered Banks in the Canadas (published by order of Parliament in 1861) shows that Charles was also a shareholder of the Eastern Townships Bank, with 30 shares valued at $1,500, of which $550 was paid up. For her part, Julia had stock of her own; in 1860 the records show her the owner of three shares of Bank of Montreal stock (no valuation given), and of 19 shares in the City Bank, valued at $1,520. According to the Returns published in 1861, her holdings remained unchanged. Charles had a long and varied career in the Church serving in both new and established settlements. During one of the severe outbreaks of cholera among the immigrants arriving at

Biographical Sketches Grosse-Isle, he was posted there, became ill with typhus fever and almost died. The accounts in the Berean of the deaths of other clergy and of Charles's own slow recovery at his parents' home underline how dangerous this duty at the quarantine station could be. Charles, unlike his father, does not seem to have nursed ambitions as a writer. Two of "The Fire Side" series published in the Missiskoui Standard are signed C.P.R., and a sermon of his, preached on 17 September 1837 on the occasion of the death of Bishop Stewart, was appended to one on the same subject by James Reid. The association of both these publications with projects of his father's suggests an attempt on the part of the latter to encourage his son in an activity of little interest to him. Charles's sermon is of interest, however, as it suggests a greater fervour in his preaching than do his father's. The sermon also expresses the measure of Charles's feeling for Stewart, who had been his own, as well as his father's, mentor: "To him who now addresses you he has been almost as it were a second parent... his friendship has cheered him thus far in his pilgrimage through life: his example taught him early what he should strive and pray to be like: and blessed be God he was the instrument that first implanted in his youthful mind a desire to preach the everlasting Gospel to a sinful and dying world." A biographical entry in Rose's Cyclopedia, published in the

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year of Charles's death, gives many details of his career, noting that he served as rural dean of the District of St Francis for many years. He may have been associated with the Good Templars (a temperance organization) for the Eastern Townships Gazette includes his name among the "Grand Officers" for the "Grand Lodge of the B.A.O. of G.T." in 1863. Charles died on 26 October 1888, aged 78, and was buried in Sherbrooke on 29 October by George Thornloe. Charles and Julia's only surviving child Annie McDermid never married; in her will she directed that all books were to be given to the Rev. Arthur H. McGreer, of Lennoxville (principal of the University of Bishop's College from 1922 to 1949), and that all manuscripts, letters, and papers (some of which no doubt related to her father) were to be destroyed. Both instructions were apparently carried out. Sources: Williamstown Register, vol. i, cxxxvi. QDA, Stewart Letters, Reid Collection, Vol. n, 26 Sep 1827; 6 Mar 1828; 2 Apr 1828; 29 Jul 1830; 28 Aug 1832; 25 Oct 1832. A[rthur] R[eading] Kelley, "Theological Education in Early Days," Quebec Diocesan Gazette 49 (September 1842): 16; A[rthur] R[eading] K[elley], "History of the Parish of Compton," Quebec Diocesan Gazette 49 (January 1841): 21. Missiskoui Standard, 14 Jul 1835, 2; 26 Sep 1837, 3; 17 Oct 1837, 3; 2 Jan 1838, 2. StansteadJournal, 15 Feb 1849. Rawdon Register, 1835, fol. 4. A.W.

22O

Appendix B

Mountain, A Memoir of George Jehoshaphat Mountain, D.D., D.C.L., Late Bishop of Quebec (Montreal: John Lovell 1866), 189. Classified Digest of the Records of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts 1701—1892 [ed. C.F. Pascoe] (London: Published at the Society Office 1893), 871. MDA, Mountain-Reid Papers, Reid to Mountain, 18 Feb 1839; St Johns Register: 1818, fol. 4; 1838, fol. i7v; 1839, fol. 10; 1840, fol. 3; CR 1841, fol. 3, verso (2 entries); 1842, fol. 4 (2 entries); 1846, fol. 2; 1850, fol. 2; 1852, fol. 4v. Diary: 25:4615-6, 4621—2. ANQQ, Ministere de 1'education, lettres recues, C.P. Reid to Meilleur, 24 Mar 1846, no. 260; C.P. Reid to [no addressee specified], 5 Oct 1852; C.P. Reid to Meilleur, 4 Dec 1854, no. 1838. Obligation, 17 Mar 1855, no. 4209, drawn up by Dickinson; Discharge, iGJun 1856, no. 4588, drawn up by Dickinson. SPGA: Letters Received: Quebec, Churchwardens of Compton to Bishop Mountain, 27 Mar 1854; Rules, Orders, and Regulations ... of Bishop's College (Sherbrooke, PQ: J.S. Walton at the Gazette Office 1849) [Subscription list]: An Appeal to the Friends of Education, 21 Jun 1859. Archives of the Bank of Montreal, Shareholders lists for 1861, 1863, 1864, 1869, 1871, 1874, 1875. Returns from the Several Chartered Banks ... 1860 (Quebec: Thompson & Co. 1860), 9, 57, NA Printed Pamphlets no. 2840. Returns from the Several Chartered Banks ... 1861 (Quebec: Hunter,

Rose & Co. 1861), 11, 57, 82, NA Printed Pamphlets no. 2918. Montreal Gazette, 2jul 1855, 2. The Berean, 23 Sep 1847, 102; 21 Oct 1847, 118; 28 Oct 1847, 122; 11 Nov 1847, 130. Reid, "A Sermon ... On the Death of ... Stewart," 24 (see appendix C for full citation). Rose, Geo[rge] Maclean, ed. A Cyclopedia of Canadian Biography being Chiefly men of the Time. 2 vols. (Toronto: Rose Publishing Company 1888), 2:530. Eastern Townships Gazette and Shefford County Advertiser, 16 Jan 1863, 2. TRMP: extract from St Peter's Register, Sherbrooke, furnished to Millman, and personal letter, L.G. Howard to T.R. Millman, 31 Jan 1946. REID, ISABELLA, nee McDERMID, was the fourth child and youngest daughter of Hugh McDiarmid [sic] and Janet Clarke, of Killin, Perthshire, Scotland. She was born in Killin on 28 February 1786 and emigrated with her family to the Martintown area of Glengarry, U.C., about 1800. Late in 1806, James Reid, then a Congregational preacher sent out by the Haldanes, arrived in the district, and the McDermids, though apparently Presbyterians, became his adherents. Although he was barely making a living, first as a missionary and subsequently as a teacher (and, according to his own account, had run into considerable debt), Reid was married to Isabella on 28 June 1810. John Bethune, the Presbyterian minister serving Glengarry, performed

Biographical Sketches the ceremony. By the next year, the couple had removed to Cornwall where Reid taught school and their first child, CHARLES PETER, was born and baptized. In 1812 the family moved to St Armand, L.C., where they first lived over the school in which Reid taught, then in C.J. Stewart's house, and finally in the Frelighsburg parsonage built for them by the congregation of St Armand East. During the first four years of their residence in St Armand, while her husband was preparing himself for the Anglican ministry and involved in study, Isabella must have been thrown on her own resources a good deal. Later, the care of occasional boarders (such as Stephen Randal and Abijah Willard) would have fallen largely upon her. Isabella Reid had eight children: Charles Peter (b. 14 August 1811), John Hugh (b. 3 March 1813), a female infant (d. 5 April 1817), Isabella Christiana (b. 26 September 1818), James Malcolm (b. 28 October 1820), James Stewart (b. i April 1823),Jane ( D - 24january 1825), and Nancy (b. 14 December 1828). More than likely, Isabella Reid was illiterate and, if so, tried to conceal the fact. When she was required to sign the register as a sponsor at a baptism, her signature appears either as identical to that of her husband (suggesting he had signed for her) or is missing. On a single occasion, at the baptism of Abigail Bertha, daughter of ARNOLD LEWIS BAKER and MARY

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WESTOVER, her signature does appear: a very poor and childish scrawl. In his diary Reid mentions Mrs Reid's telling her daughters to transmit particular instructions or information in their correspondence, but never mentions her writing (or reading) a letter herself. The present of a book as a New Year's gift, by the Rev. Richard Whitwell's wife Mary to Mrs Reid, was probably an unfortunate, but innocent, mistake. When Isabella had acted as godmother to Elizabeth Martha Jane Whitwell, Reid seems to have signed his wife's, as well as his own, name; when a further godchild, John Francis Whitwell, was baptized, Isabella's proxy signed in her absence. It seems remarkable that Mrs Reid should have been, and have remained, unlettered, particularly in a household where reading, writing and education generally were so much a focus of interest, and where her servants, such as MARGARET ARMSTRONG and Tom Cowan, were readers and fluent writers. Yet Nancy McDermid, Isabella's sister, was undoubtedly illiterate and made her mark as such when she stood as godmother at the baptism of her nephew John Hugh in Frelighsburg. Mrs Reid seems to have been fond both of visiting and of entertaining visitors - perhaps inordinately so, as Reid (a far less gregarious personality) complained in his diary. Unlike her husband, Isabella does not seem to have enjoyed robust health; her activities included drives in summer

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Appendix B

or winter, but she did not seem to engage in any physical exercise for pleasure, even walking. Latterly she seems to have become quite lame. She was adventurous enough to travel to Glengarry (accompanied only by her son James) or to Brome (accompanied only by the hired boy) when the health of a family member was at issue, however. Reid makes no mention of any accomplishment or love of music in his wife although he took pleasure in "good players" himself and encouraged music as part of worship. (In contrast, many local individuals were skilled with musical instruments, and there was a long tradition of choral music in the community.) Mrs Reid seems to have been troubled with severe toothache as early as 1819, as a commiserating reference to her in a letter from Stewart attests. By 1864 she had lost all her teeth, for on 7 May of that year she was fitted with "a set of artificial teeth" by an itinerant dentist in Dunham; Reid himself still had his teeth at the time and only had them cleaned on that occasion. Mrs Reid was one of the original members of the Sewing Society (although absent from the founding meeting of 4 November 1846) and was chosen as its first president. She was present at the two meetings at which the final disposition of the society's funds was decided upon (on 11 November 1851 and 24 October 1854). Unlike her daughter Jane she does not seem to have been involved with the Ladies' Accumulating Fund.

She was, like her husband and both her daughters, a faithful subscriber to the Church Society. By 1851, as the census shows, only the Reids' two daughters (and a servant girl) were living at home. The 1861 census shows four non-family members in the house: a servant girl, a hired boy, a 5o-year-old tanner, and a 17-yearold labourer together with Jane, the elder Reids, and their grandson Malcolm. After Reid's death on 14 January 1865, his assistant and successor required the parsonage for his own use, and Jane and Isabella were obliged to move. She survived her husband for three years during which Jane continued to care for her. Isabella died, aged 83, on 9 October 1868 and was buried on 13 October by J.B. Davidson. The witnesses were Davidson's wife Flora (a daughter of DANIEL WESTOVER) and JANE REID. Years later, the altar in the Bishop Stewart Memorial Church of the Holy Trinity was given by Jane Reid in her mother's memory, and so inscribed. Isabella's photograph among the parish papers shows a large-featured elderly woman with dark hair, heavy eyebrows and a massive jaw and chin, set off against a white ruffled cap and dark gown. A shadowy and sometimes negative figure in the diaries, Isabella nevertheless received at least one tender tribute from her husband: "I am blessed," he wrote in 1817 to a friend in Upper Canada, "with a companion, that now having lived six years together, suits me; so that we love

Biographical Sketches each other as much as any two can expect in this world." Sources: H.D. MacDermid, "The Rev. James Reid," in Rovers, Rebels and Royalists, ed. Paige A. Knight (Sherbrooke: Missisquoi Historical Society 1984), 107. Reid, "The Narrative of Mr. James Reid," xxvi (see appendix C for full citation). Williamstown Register, vol. i, cxxxvi; vol. n, 10. St AWR: 1813, fol. 9; 1838, fol. 6v; 1843, fol. 9. St AER: 1818, fol. 16; 1819, fol. 11; 1820, fol. 15; 1823, fol. 6; 1824, f°l- 21! ^29, fol. 5; 1842, fol. 22; 1844, fol. 15; 1868, fol. 14. Gravestones, Trinity churchyard. Diary: 25:4615-6, 4618; 36:6292 [c], 6298. QDA, Stewart Letters, Reid Collection, i, 17 May 1819. TCPR: Sewing Society Minutes, 1,71, inserted leaf between 70-1; photographs. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec from 1842 and of Montreal from 1852. Letter from Reid to the Rev. William McKillican, 16 May 1817 (H.D. MacDermid, private collection). REID, JAMES STEWART, youngest son of the Rev. James Reid and ISABELLA MCDERMID, Was bom On 1

April 1823 and baptized on 20 April of that year by his father; his sponsors were C.J. Stewart (by his proxy Asa Westover), George Cook, and Hannah Strite. Although his father tried to procure him a good education, James does not seem to have been interested in study. His desire to take up farming prompted him first to

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work a piece of land in St Armand (owned by his father) and later to persuade him to buy a farm for him in Brome Township. James courted a local farmer's daughter, involving Reid in the affair: she finally refused him, much to his father's chagrin. On 29 December 1852, James Stewart Reid married Martha Gilman, of Brome, where Reid officiated, assisted by Robert Lindsay, the incumbent. The bride, aged 19 (b. 28 August 1833), was one of seven children born to Moses Gilman and Patience Spencer. Reid first saw her on the wedding day, but Martha was to become a favourite of her father-inlaw. She died on 30 June 1855, aged 22, shortly after giving birth, and was buried on i July by Robert Lindsay. The witnesses were H.S. Foster and Sarah Foster. On the day of her funeral, Malcolm Stewart, her only child (b. 18 June) was baptized, Robert Lindsay officiating. On 16 April 1856 James married Agnes Ralston of Bolton Township, aged 28, Robert Lindsay officiating. The witnesses were H.S. Foster and Sarah Foster. On the previous day James S. Reid and Agnes Ralston had signed a marriage contract, stipulating that they would not be common as to property (the same document states that he had had community of property with Martha Gilman), that he would make an inventory of his property within six months, and that he settled on her £375 payable at his death, to be enjoyed by her during

224

Appendix B

her lifetime but to revert to her children or her husband's heirs on her death. She lived only a year and a half after their marriage, and was buried by Robert Lindsay on 5 October 1857; the Fosters again were the witnesses. On 4 August 1859 James Stewart Reid married Alice M. Knowlton by dispensation of licence, Reid officiating (presumably in his own church). ASA WESTOVER and JANE REID were the witnesses. Alice, aged 22, was the daughter of Luke Knowlton (brother of Paul Holland Knowlton) of Brome and Mary Ware. Alice and James S. Reid had at least two children: Charles James (b. 20 May 1860), and Thomas Hugh (b. 23 August 1862). The former was baptized in Brome by Robert Lindsay; the latter by his grandfather in St Armand East, with his grandparents James and Isabella Reid standing as sponsors. The elder child died on 17 February 1863 and was buried in Brome on 2 2 February by Robert Lindsay. Although the 1861 census lists Malcolm Stewart (Martha's son) with his father and stepmother, he was also enumerated at his grandfather's home in Frelighsburg. By December of that year, as is evident from the diary, the child (then aged eight) was living with his uncle CHARLES PETER REID in Sherbrooke. James was by this time in very poor health, which may explain his sending away the elder of his surviving children. The nature of his illness is not specified and does not seem to

have confined him to bed, but his wife Alice at one point expressed the fear that a severe abscess on his side might prove to be tubercular. The last volume of the diary records several visits to Brome by Jane and her mother to see and to nurse James. James died, aged 42, on 12 March 1866 and was buried in Brome on 15 March by Robert Lindsay. The witnesses were E.L. Chandler and Patience Lindsay (a daughter of O.J. Kemp). Alice had predeceased her husband by three months; she died on 18 December 1865, aged 28, and was buried in Brome on 20 December, by Robert Lindsay. The witnesses were Patience Lindsay and J. Crohurst(?). While James was still living with his parents, his name appears among subscribers to the Church Society and he made a well-wisher's donation of 2/6 to the Sewing Society. According to the 1861 agricultural census, a dozen years after he was established as a farmer, James held 113 acres of land with a cash value of $2,000, livestock worth $700 and farm equipment valued at $200. It would appear that his father paid out to James in advance what he might have expected as an inheritance; on 11 June 1860, father and son signed a document stating that the latter had received £1,034/3/5 "in full payment and as satisfaction of all other sum and sums of money, rights, interests, claims and demands either in real or personal property, bank accounts or otherwise howsoever

Biographical Sketches belonging to the said Estates and succession of the said James Reid and Isabella McDermid." The transfer actually involved the payment of £500 in cash and the return to James of a promissory note held by his father for £534/3/5 (dated 11 September 1854); in exchange, James promised to pay his parents £20 annually, from 11 June 1861 for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately for this arrangement, he predeceased his mother by two years. James seems to have been a person of some importance in Brome; according to Taylor, he was one of three men (the others being Robert Lindsay and H.S. Foster) who, on 10 March 1858, conveyed the land to be used for the County Registry Office, and arranged temporary premises for it and the Court House until a proper building could be constructed. His name figures on the list of charter subscribers to the Waterloo Advertiser, drawn up 27 November 1855. In 1861 he was appointed enumerator of Brome County, and took the oath before N. Pettis, JP, of Brome, on 18 February of that year. James's effectiveness as a census-taker is questionable: he seems consistently to have filled out the forms incorrectly, inserting such vital statistics as the sex of various members of households in the wrong column and listing place of birth in the space reserved for "Profession or Trade," for instance. More fortunate in his land dealings, James acquired a prime piece of land on a particularly

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beautiful site: Walling's map of 1864 shows it fronting on the south-east corner of Brome Lake. Sources: St AER: 1823, f°l- 6; 1859, fol. 8v; 1862, fol. 13. BR: 1855, f°l- 3 ( 2 entries); 1856, fol. 3; 1857, fol. 4; 1860, fol. gv; 1863, fol. 2v; 1865, fol. 16; 1866, fol. 4. Diary: 25:4526, 4537-8; 36:6243, 6259. Marriage Contract, 15 Apr 1856, no. 1883, drawn up by Henry Bondy; Acknowledgement and Discharge, 11 Jun 1860, no. 5619, drawn up by Dickinson. Charles Henry Wright Stocking, The History and Genealogy of the Knowltons of England and America (New York: The Knickerbocker Press 1897), 236. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec 1842-48. TCPR, Sewing Society Minutes, 8. Ernest M. Taylor, History of Brome County Quebec From the Date of Grants of Land Therein To the Present Time... (Montreal: John Lovell & Son, Limited 1908), 1:133, 200-1. REID, JANE, third daughter and seventh child of the Rev. James Reid and ISABELLA MCDERMID, was born on 24 January 1825 and baptized on 18 February of that year, C.J. Stewart officiating. The sponsors were Asa and Florida Westover and Jane Taylor. Jane and her sister Nancy (three years her junior) seem to have been favourites of their father's, who often referred to them in his diary as "the dear girls." Jane was one of the founding members of the Sewing Society and served as assistant secre-

226

Appendix B

tary on its first executive. The minutes show that Jane (referred to as "Miss Reid") attended meetings faithfully. She acted as secretary to the two winding-up meetings (on 11 November 1851 and 24 October 1854) at which the disposal of society funds was decided upon. Most of the society's records, in fact, are in her hand which is neat, clear, and fluent. Jane was also active in the Ladies' Accumulating Fund, serving on the Committee in 1862. At the 1863 Annual Meeting, she seconded a motion that a drive and dinner in the month of June be substituted for the annual picnic. In 1864 she was elected president. Jane was a devoted supporter of the Church throughout her life, subscribing faithfully to the Church Society. When a replacement building for Stewart's old wooden church was contemplated, she personally donated $ i ,000 towards a new building, the chancel of which she intended to be a memorial to her father. She gave the money on express condition (as the Vestry Minutes reflect) "that the said new Church should be free from Proprietary rights forever and be named and called the Bishop Stewart Memorial Church of the Holy Trinity." Although she received at least one proposal of marriage (from someone cryptically referred to in her father's diary as "B.C.") Jane never married. After NANCY REID'S death in 1856, Reid became increasingly dependent on her, and when she was away from home for any

length of time (as she was in August 1864 on a visit to Saratoga) he was anxious and depressed. Jane cared for her father until his death in 1865, and for her mother until she died in 1868. The 1871 census suggests that she subsequendy took charge of her eight-year-old nephew Thomas (the orphaned son of James and Alice Reid); Jane, Thomas, and a gi-yearold servant girl named Mary Daly then comprised her household. Jane continued to live in Frelighsburg for the rest of her life, where she seems to have been a schoolteacher. Her early friendship with Mary Ann Whitwell persisted; the TCPR contain a letter Jane wrote to her on 6 April 1895, mentioning the great help the Davidson girls were to her while she was recovering from a sprain. Jane had stood godmother, on 26 December 1869, to Augusta Flora Westover Davidson (a daughter of the Rev. J.B. Davidson and Flora Westover, DANIEL WESTOVER'S daughter) and during her last years this goddaughter, who had never married, looked after Jane. On Jane's death (on 12 February 1901) at the age of 76, Miss A.F.W. Davidson inherited her godmother's house and its contents. The funeral sermon, preached by J.B. Davidson, is extant among the parish papers, taking as its text Eph. 2:10: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Unlike her niece Annie McDermid Reid, Jane carefully

Biographical Sketches preserved her father's papers, letters, and books, and bequeathed them to someone who would do the same; the very survival of an important collection of Bishop Stewart's letters, as well as of Reid's diary and other memoranda, is thanks to Jane Reid and to Miss Davidson. Sources: St AER: 1824, f°l- 21! iSSg, fol. 8. TCPR: Sewing Society Minutes, iff; Ladies' Accumulating Fund Minutes, 7, 11, 14; Vestry Book, "Copy of Declaration and Special Act passed between the Rector of St Armand East Q.B. Davidson], and Miss Jane Reid," 122; funeral sermon, dated 15 Feb 1901, endorsed "Miss Reid." Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec from 1842 and of Montreal from 1852. Diary: 36:6303. MacDermid, "The Rev. James Reid," 109. Gravestone, Trinity churchyard. REID, NANCY, fourth daughter and youngest child of the Rev. James Reid and ISABELLA MCDERMID, was born on 14 December 1828 and baptized on 18 February 1829 byner father. Her sponsors were MARGARET WESTOVER, NANCY WESTOVER, and Archdeacon (later Bishop) G.J. Mountain who happened to be in the parish in the course of a visitation tour on behalf of Bishop C.J. Stewart. The ceremony, Mountain recorded, took place before the service, and he also noted that finding willing sponsors was "a great stumbling block with many in these counties, in our requisites for the administration of bap-

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tism"; he was seeking to set a good example in assuming this responsibility. Mountain continued to take an interest in Nancy and made a special point of sending his regards and occasional small gifts when corresponding with Reid. Reid's diary refers to a persistent swelling in Nancy's neck and to his taking her to Montreal for his friend Dr Hall's diagnosis. In April 1854 he mentioned in a letter to Whitwell that she was not very well, though apparently not seriously ill. On 15 February 1856, as her brother CHARLES PETER REID informed a correspondent, Nancy was "rapidly failing and her departure for, I trust, a better world, where there is no sorrow or pain may now be daily looked for." She died on 22 February, aged 27, and was buried on 25 February, Whitwell officiating; her father and her brother Charles were the witnesses. Whitwell, who also preached, transcribed the funeral sermon for her family; Reid referred to it as a "friendly, Christian and sympathising sermon" and thanked him "from the bottom of my heart." Nancy never married, but she seems to have attended parties and to have been involved in social and parish activities. She contributed regularly to the Church Society and was one of the original members of the Sewing Society. Nancy organized a Sunday School for the local children, collected prospective teachers (ALMIRA CHAMBERLIN and Patience Kemp among them), went about determin-

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Appendix B

ing how many pupils could be counted on to attend, and ascertained the special needs of some (for clothing, for instance) to enable the poorer children to take part. She seems to have been a devoted letterwriter; it was to her that her brother Malcolm (already dying of tuberculosis) wrote, when his father had sent him a stern letter at which Malcolm had taken offence. Nancy also kept in touch by letter with her mother's family in Upper Canada, notably her Aunt Christy McDermid. Nancy appears to have enjoyed visiting and stayed for extended periods with her brothers Charles and James, as well as with Reid's friend the Rev. Charles Morice and his family. Neither the register nor Nancy's obituary or gravestone provides any hint as to the cause of her death; it took place during the blank interval separating vols 25 and 36 of her father's diaries. Many years later, JANE REID presented a font inscribed "for the use of Christ's followers / in the Bishop Stewart Memorial Church / ... in affectionate Memory of her Sister / Nancy Reid / Died Feby 22 1856." Sources: St AER: 1829, fol. 5; 1856, fol. i. QDA, Eastern Townships Visitation, 1829, 42~3TCPR, Letterbook, Mountain to Reid, 4 Nov 1850. Diary: 25:4610. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec from 1842 and of Montreal from 1852. MDA, Whitwell Papers, Reid to Whitwell, 24 Apr 1854; the same to the same, 13 May 1856. St Peter's (Sherbrooke) Parish

Papers, C.P. Reid to Mr Elkins, 15 Feb 1856. Obituary, Montreal Transcript, 22 Feb 1856, 2. Gravestone, Trinity churchyard. Font plaque, Bishop Stewart Memorial Church. REYNOLDS, MARIA: please see MARIA KEMP

REYNOLDS, MARY, w^KEMP, daughter of Elijah Kemp and Sarah Stuart, was born in the United States on 2 February 1788; she was ten years old when the family settled in Frelighsburg in 1799. On 4 February 1808 she married Thomas Reynolds (whose name, according to a contemporary account, was pronounced Runnels); both were minors. CJ. Stewart officiated; the witnesses were Benjamin Reynolds and James M. Kemp. Mary Reynolds was baptized as an adult on 9 February 1827 by Reid; LEVI KEMP and PATIENCE KEMP Were

the witnesses. Like the Kemps, the Reynolds came to St Armand from Vermont in the 17905 and became important figures in the community. According to the 1831 census, Thomas Reynolds owned and operated a distillery, a concern in which, according to Reid's diary, he was assisted by the Kemps. The next census (1842) no longer lists the distillery in his name, however, and shows him as farming his 150 acres only (with no acres of improved land, growing quantities of grain and potatoes). He had considerable livestock (41 neat cattle, 5 horses, 20

Biographical Sketches sheep and 4 hogs), and produced 50 Ibs of wool. Reynolds died on 7 September 1846, aged 60, and was buried on 9 September, by Reid; the witnesses were Mary Reynolds and her son Lester Reynolds. Confusingly, Thomas Reynolds' brother Benjamin also had a wife named Mary (nee Freligh, sister of RICHARD VAN VLEIT FRELIGH); she lived in the community for much the same period. Both Marys outlived their husbands, so there were two widows Mary Reynolds in the vicinity. According to a notarized document pertaining to the communaute des biens of Thomas Reynolds and Mary Kemp, the couple had seven children: Zenas (b. about 1808), Elijah Stewart (b. 29 June 1812), Lester (b. 12 November 1813), Eliza Jane (b. 4 June 1818), Edmund Morrel (b. 19 November 1822), Thomas (b. i November 1825), and Elmore Lincoln born about 1809, but listed last). Thomas Reynolds, senior, and several of his children (Lester, Eliza Jane, Edmund, and Thomas) were baptized together on 4 August 1833 by Reid. The witnesses were Mary Reynolds, Moses Fasset, DANIEL WESTOVER, MARY WESTOVER and CHARLES PETER REID. Elmore Lincoln does not seem to have been baptized until 13 September 1868, just before his death, "aged about fifty nine," on 23 September. His baptism is recorded in the burial entry on 25 September, by J.B. Davidson who officiated. William Mead Pattison and Elijah Stewart Reynolds

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were the witnesses. The 1851 census suggests that after her husband's death, Mary Reynolds lived with her son Lester. She died, aged 69, on 19 September 1856, and was buried on 21 September by Reid; the witnesses were Lester and E.S. Reynolds. Mary Reynolds made her will on 16 September 1856, shortly before her death. In it she divided all her property among her children, to the exclusion of Lester who, the will states, had already been adequately provided for by his father. As the notarial records show, there followed a dispute among the heirs, beginning with Lester's refusing to allow appraisers to take inventory of his mother's property on his premises (where she had died). The dispute finally went to court and was settled in favour of Zenas Reynolds et al. and against Lester, on 27 June 1862. Thomas Reynolds, senior, was ruled to have died intestate and each of his children was to receive V7 of his estate, after which the others (excluding Lester) were to be their mother's heirs. Mary Reynolds was a faithful subscriber to the Church Society and one of the original members of the Sewing Society. She does not seem to have been one of the ladies who signed the address accompanying the gift of Reid's new gown, although at least two of her daughters-in-law (MARIA KEMP, wife of Elijah Stewart Reynolds, and Margaret Pier, wife of Lester Reynolds) did so. Sources: Thomas, Contributions, 69 and 75. St

23°

Appendix B

AER: 1808, fol. iv; 1833, fols 13-14; 1843, fol. 5; 1846, fol. 22; 1856, fol. 4; 1868, fol. 11. MCHS, 3rd Report, 83. Will, 16 Sep 1856, no. 4649, drawn up by Dickinson; Inventory, 22 Nov 1856, no. 4711; Inventory [containing the Judgment of the Superior Court], 11 Dec 1862, no. 3448, drawn up by Henry Bondy. TCPR: Sewing Society Minutes, 7; Letterbook, 108. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec from 1848 and of Montreal from 1852. SEYMOUR, JOHN BRUSH, was born in the United States in about 1802. He was a hatter, apparently of a family of hatters pursuing their trade in Frelighsburg at least as early as 1827. Seymour himself seems to have come to the community somewhat later, however. On 14 January 1836, he married Eliza C. Reynolds, daughter of Benjamin Reynolds the younger, of St Armand, and Mary Freligh. The Rev. John Tompkins, local Wesleyan Methodist minister, officiated. A marriage announcement describes the groom as "Mr John B. Seymour, merchant, of St Johns, L.C." A notice advertising "A good Assortment [of hats] on hand and for Sale," in the Missiskoui Standard, dated 20 June 1838, suggests that Seymour had left St Johns for Frelighsburg soon after his marriage. Although the Seymours were not Anglicans (according to the 1851 census, he was a Congregationalist and she a Methodist), Mrs Sey-

mour was one of the founding members, and a directress of the Sewing Society. Seymour was one of the gentlemen making a well-wisher's donation (2/6) to the Sewing Society. In 1849 he also gave 2/6 toward the purchase of the pall cloth, one of the early supporters of that project. The Seymours had at least two children. Susan Eliza (b. 22 January 1839) was baptized by Reid on 23 March of that year, the parents signing as witnesses, and Benjamin Reynolds (b. i February 1844), baptized on 18 August 1846 by Reid, but this time the parents were "admitted as sponsors." According to Reid's diaries, Seymour was a Radical in politics, a tendency shared by his wife's uncle RICHARD VAN VLEIT FRELIGH. According tO WILLIAM SAMPSON BAKER, who testified on 15 November 1851 in the court battle between JANE FRELIGH and Seymour, R.V.V. Freligh and Seymour's family had been on friendly terms for some years. On 16 October 1838, Seymour served as one of the witnesses to Mrs R.V.V. Freligh's will. When Freligh made his own will on 28 September 1849, he appointed Seymour his sole executor, a position of considerable importance since, by the terms of the will, he was to be in control of the entire estate until Jane Freligh (then a childless widow) produced an heir, or until she died. When a second will was executed on 20 November 1849, Seymour still occupied his position as sole executor, but as Jane's legacy was to consist

Biographical Sketches merely of a small annuity, a much greater sum would be placed in Seymour's hands. Shortly before Freligh's death, the school commissioners had approached Seymour to assist them in collecting funds belonging to the schools under their administration, which they believed had been misappropriated by their secretary treasurer Elijah Stewart Reynolds. Seymour seems to have gone over the accounts, ascertained what funds there were, and acted as temporary secretary treasurer until as much of the school money as possible could be wrested from Reynolds. By a vote taken on 3 March 1850, the commissioners elected James H. Smith secretary treasurer to replace Seymour; the latter handed over the books and £25/8/6, acknowledged by them as the full amount due to the Commission. In 1852 Seymour was elected a school commissioner; by 1863 he had been appointed justice of the peace for Frelighsburg, and was consequently a man of considerable standing in the community. On Freligh's death in 1850, Frelighsburg was torn by conflicting loyalties, as well as by doubts whether Seymour would be able to defend his position as executor in the courts. At about the same time, he was appointed enumerator for the Parish of St Armand East, but due to "indisposition," the task was transferred to Mason A. Abbott and the change sworn to before JAMES LEE. Seymour was also named to the office of enumerator for the census

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of 1861 and, on that occasion, did serve as such. Immediately after Freligh's death, Seymour published a notice in the Canada Gazette that he alone was entitled to collect all rents and claims and to discharge debts on behalf of the estate; Jane Freligh published similar notices in the press. A protracted court battle ensued from which Seymour emerged the victor on 19 October 1852, with costs in the amount of £59/1/4 to Jane. She appealed the Court's decision. Although the appeal was not upheld and she never received satisfaction from the courts, she continued to maintain her claim until her death, assigning it to her heir Ebenezer Marvin, who appears to have received at least $3,566 from Seymour. After losing her initial suit against Seymour, Jane attempted to collect the annuity left her by her father. Served with a notarized protest from her to the effect that he was in arrears for a total of six annual payments of £75 each, Seymour stated that he had made tender of the first payment, depositing the sum with RICHARD DICKINSON (Jane's own notary, who had drawn up the protest), but that she had refused it. He declared that under the circumstances he would consult his legal adviser before responding to her. Seymour sued the townspeople who had paid their rents to Jane instead of to himself; particularly noteworthy was his suit against Truman Buck who had been promised his court expenses by Jane

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Appendix B

if he agreed to contest Seymour's suit rather than to settle. The judgment was handed down in Seymour's favour on 18 April 1856. When Buck showed reluctance to Jane's plan to appeal, she threatened to go back on her word to cover the costs of the first suit. On 12 March 1857, the Court upheld the verdict. Jane did not meet with any success in challenging Seymour's executorship, but she persisted in pursuing him in the courts; on 15 October 1861, for example, she laid a complaint against him for assault and battery. Apparently Seymour allowed the Freligh property to fall into disrepair from the beginning (see the census of 1851) and neglected to pay taxes upon it, with the result that various pieces of land were distrained for non-payment of taxes. According to an affidavit sworn to by Thomas Capsey, secretary treasurer of the Municipality of the County of Missisquoi, given 18 February 1870, the properties put up for sale in 1860 were purchased by B[enjamin] R[eynolds] Seymour of Burlington, Vermont, J.B. Seymour's son. On 17 February 1868 (in a suit filed against him in Superior Court, Bedford, by Galloway Freligh) Seymour acknowledged that he had invested the dividends accruing to the estate in bank stock in the name of his nephew, a commission merchant in Montreal whose firm had recently become insolvent. On 24 November 1870, Ambrose S. Spencer, of St Armand, deposed in

his affidavit that he had been deputed by certain influential citizens of Frelighsburg to attend the sale for taxes, held in February 1870 in Bedford, of what appeared to be the remaining property of the Freligh estate located in St Armand. Spencer estimated that the amount due in taxes on the property was about $240 and the property worth about $10,000. "John B. Seymour, the Trustee of said Estate," Spencer declared, "was the only person to bid against me for the property. He asked me several times to desist from bidding against him, and made offers for that purpose, which I declined. Finally when he saw that he could not induce me to desist, he would come up and threaten me by saying he would have revenge on me on a certain bridge affair with which he was in no way connected but in which I was indirectly interested. I reduced the adjudication of land to him for such taxes to about eleven acres as near as I can remember. I have no hesitation in saying -judging from Mr Seymour's conduct at such a sale - that his object was to bid in the whole of said lands for himself individually and not as Trustee - and thus obliterate the title of the Freligh Estate thereto." It would appear that Seymour, at a sale apparently engineered by himself, was deprived of a large portion of the property which, by the terms of Freligh's will, he, "his heirs and assigns for ever" might have continued to administer to his and

Biographical Sketches their considerable benefit. Apparently the people of Frelighsburg, through the agency of Spencer, were prepared to wrest control of their town, where most of the Freligh land was concentrated, from waste and exploitation by Freligh's executor. Reid does not seem to have held Seymour in high regard, yet, when called upon to baptize Seymour's infant grandson (ill and not expected to live through the night), he went personally to attend to this duty, although he might have sent his assistant who seems to have been available as well. Seymour appears to have asked Reid in person and although it was "past 9 P.M.," Reid (84 years old as he was), "went up with him at once and baptized the child." The infant in question was the son of his daughter Susan, then living in the State of Wisconsin. It appears that both Seymour children had returned to the United States, their father's birthplace. Sources: Power of Attorney, 24 Sep 1827, drawn up by Leon Lalanne. Missiskoui Standard, 19 Jan 1836; 25 Sep 1838, 3. Eastern Townships Gazette, 14 Aug 1863, 4. TCPR: Sewing Society Minutes, i, 7; Churchwardens' Accounts, 1849. St AER: 1839, fol. 5; 1846, fol. 12; 1864, fol. 10. Diary: 36:630i.Will [Mary Freligh], 16 Oct 1838, drawn up by Leon Lalanne; Will [R.V.V. Freligh], 28 Sep 1849, no. 2719, drawn up by Dickinson; Will [replacing the former will of R.V.V. Freligh], 20 Nov 1849, no. 2750, drawn up by Dickinson. ANQQ,

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Ministere de 1'education, lettres recues 1850, "Conduct of E.S. Reynolds," c. gjul 1850, no. 970; lettres recues 1852, C.C. Abbott [no addressee], 5 Jul 1852, no. 826. Canada Gazette, 23 Feb 1850, 7971. Montreal Gazette, 14 Sep 1850, 4. Superior Court, District of Montreal, John Freligh [sic] v.John B. Seymour, also appeal, filed 20 Nov 1852; John B. Seymour v. Truman Buck. MCCA,J.S. McCord Papers, Bench Books, File 0679, Dist. of Bedford, p. 208. Protest, 11 Jun 1850, no. 2905, drawn up by Dickinson; Protest, 21 Dec 1852, no. 3490, drawn up by Dickinson; Protest, 22 Jan 1856, no. 4455, drawn up by Dickinson; [Delivery of Protest, Declaration of Witnesses], 22 Jan 1856, no. 4456, drawn up by Dickinson. In Re: -Frelighsburg Grammar School. WESTOVER, ASA, second son of Asa Westover of Dunham and Florida McCallum, his second wife, was born on 2 August 1817 and baptized on 30 November of that year by Reid; Moses and Lucy Fasset and George Cook were the sponsors. His father, Asa Westover senior, had taken up residence in Dunham Township as early as 1798, after spending two years in North Sutton where his father had settled. According to Thomas, Westover senior, who became a devoted churchman, was brought into the Anglican Communion by C.J. Stewart who baptized him as an adult (together with James

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Appendix B

Blinn) on 31 January 1808. He must have been one of the missionary's early hearers, for Stewart first performed services locally in late October 1807. In 1829 Archdeacon GJ. Mountain spent an evening with the family and described them in his MS. Visitation Journal as "patterns of what plain farmer-like folks ought to be. All that they possess is the fruit of the man's own industry, blessed from above, for he made his war originally upon the forest, with no resources but the weapon with which he waged it. All within the house was plain, substantial, plentiful, orderly and neat. The father of the family is a homely, countrified, but placid, benevolent and humble-looking man, whose whole air and appearance were perfectly in character and keeping with the piece. All the eleven children, several of whom are grown up, are exemplary young people." In a private letter to his wife, Mountain was more explicit, describing Asa senior as " a homely, hard-featured yet placid, benevolent & humble looking man, with his grizzled hair smoothed down upon his forehead & falling behind in cleanly locks over his collar." This glimpse of the family would have coincided with Asa junior's twelfth year. In 1832, while he was still a minor, Asa junior's father died. The mother and her son DANIEL WESTOVER were appointed Tutatrix and Subtutor, respectively, to the minor children. Four years later, on 12 November 1836, Florida Westover

died and was buried on 14 November, by Reid. The witnesses were Asa and Julia Westover (two of the three children still in their minority). Shortly before her death, she had received property as tutatrix on her son Asa's behalf from his half-sisters Catherine (wife of Henry Rosenberger of St Armand West) and Elizabeth (wife of George Rykerd of Dunham), and his sister NANCY (wife of Stephen Chandler of Stanbridge). When he came of age, Asa shared responsibility with his brother for their sisters. As Daniel had done in 1845, in 1858 Asa arranged a sale of land for his sister Caroline (then married and living in Louisiana) by virtue of her power of attorney. On i March 1848, Asa married Lucinda Knoulton Nash of Farnham by special licence; the ceremony was performed in Shefford, Andrew Balfour officiating. Alexander Wells, Daniel Westover, and Ephraim Nash were the witnesses. The bride was the third daughter of Alfred Nash of Farnham and Lucinda Willard, his wife. The 1861 census shows Asa's sisters Julia and MARGARET WESTOVER living with the couple; at that time the household was comprised of eight persons, including three labourers and a 17-year-old girl, probably a servant. Both Asa and Daniel Westover were prominent farmers in the area. The censuses of 1842, 1851, and 1861 show Asa not only consistently in possession of numerous livestock (both sheep and cattle), but also producing large

Biographical Sketches quantities of crops, wool, and dairy products. He seems also as a matter of practice to have made considerable quantities of maple sugar. In 1861 the cash value of his farm was estimated at $14,000 and his livestock at $1,709. Westover enjoyed a degree of recognition for the quality of his sugar; Thomas notes that he received honourable mention for refined maple sugar and syrup at the Great Exhibition held in New York in 1853, and was awarded the bronze medal for refined sugar at the Provincial Exhibition held in Montreal in August 1860 under the auspices of the Board of Arts and Manufactures for Lower Canada. In church affairs, like other members of his family, he was active in the choir. As one of the original subscribers to the Church Society, he faithfully gave 5/, later raised to io/, and also served occasionally as a collector for the society. In 1850 he contributed to purchasing a pall cloth (donating 2/6) and in 1851 subscribed £12/1 o/ towards the purchase of a glebe. In 1854 he contributed 5/ toward repairs to Trinity Church and in 1857—58 gave $21 (a generous sum) toward repairs to the parsonage. He served as churchwarden twice, in 1855 (with James Lee), and 1863 (with Ebenezer Marvin). In 1860 he was one of the few gentlemen well-wishers who contributed to the Ladies' Accumulating Fund. When it became necessary for Reid to procure the services of an assistant, he pledged (and paid) $15

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toward his support. On 30 January 1865, he was present at the Special Vestry Meeting at which the decision was made to put up a memorial tablet to Reid. Asa Westover held the rank of captain in the militia and was active in combatting the Fenian Raid of May 1870; a vivid account in the MCHS i st Report describes his role in organizing and training the men of the border region "after the Fenian Raid of 1866 when the government had not protected the frontier despite repeated warnings." As Montgomery recounts, "The company procured the best breech-loading rifles and an ample supply of ammunition and had such frequent rifle practices that they became to all intents and purposes a company of 'Sharp shooters.'" Although there were troops eventually stationed at Frelighsburg and in the neighbouring area (the Cookshire troop under Lt. Taylor, the 52nd Battalion under Col. P. Miller, and the Goth Battalion under Col. Brown Chamberlin), and reinforcements from Montreal on the day of the raid itself (the Montreal Cavalry troop and the Victoria Rifles), it was the Home Guard (some 30 farmers under Captain Westover's command) that actually manned the hill the night before the raiders (reportedly 400 in number) crossed the lines, and Westover's men who reconnoitred the enemy's preparations prior to the short-lived invasion. Following the action, which ended in a complete rout of the marauders, the

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Appendix B

Home Guard captured "a modern breech-loading field piece" which had been abandoned by the retreating Fenians. (For a photograph of Westover "standing on the steps of his home carrying a 'Ballard' rifle," see the MCHS 8th Report, 116.) In 1902, when a monument to commemorate the action at Eccles Hill was unveiled, Asa Westover was present. He died that same year and was buried in Trinity churchyard. Asa Westover was probably one of the few among Reid's parishioners with the courage to tell him an unpalatable truth; on 28 December 1863 he told the rector that his "scolding" the people on Christmas Eve would not bring better attendance in church. Westover stated frankly that he did not approve of such action and thought the people would respond better if encouraged. Even in Reid's telling of the incident in his diary, it is clear that Westover was right. Sources: St AER: 1817, fol. 19; 1836, fol. 11. SHR, 1848, fol. 4. Notarized advertisement for auction [alluding to Daniel Westover's subtutorship], 8 Apr 1833, drawn up by Leon Lalanne; Transfer, 26Jun 1833, drawn up by Lalanne; Discharge [containing Power of Attorney dated 27 Oct 1850], 18 Feb 1858, no. 4989, drawn up by Dickinson. QDA, MS. Eastern Townships Visitation Journal, 1829, 4 2 > with inserted letter of 23 Feb 1829. Thomas, Contributions, 115, 117. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of

Quebec from 1842, and of the Diocese of Montreal from 1852. TCPR: PCS Minutes, 37, 40; subscription list for glebe, 5 Jul 1851; Subscription list for the Ladies' Accumulating Fund, 17 Jan 1860; Vestry Book, 1863, 1864; Minutes of a Special Vestry Meeting, 30 Jan 1865; Churchwardens' Accounts. MCHS, ist Report, 12-13, 15. Montgomery, Missisquoi Bay, 114-16. Gravestone, Trinity churchyard. Diary: 36:6247. WESTOVER, DANIEL, son of Asa Westover of Dunham and Florida McCallum, his second wife, was born on 8 May 1809, ten years after his father had settled in Dunham with his first wife, Mary Curry, and their two daughters. It is likely that his father - who, according to Thomas, was both industrious and "endowed with the precise facilities for accumulating property" - was already prospering. Daniel was baptized on 18 June 1809 by C.J. Stewart who also served as one of his sponsors with James Blinn and Mary Huyck. When his father died in 1832, he left a family of eleven, of whom three were married and living elsewhere and five were still minors. Daniel and his mother were appointed subtutor and tutatrix, respectively, to the minor children, and on her death on 12 November 1836, he assumed full responsibility for the family. After his sisters reached major age, he continued to assist them in their affairs, such as with a sale of land on behalf

Biographical Sketches of his sisters Caroline and Julia, then living in South Carolina, under their power of attorney. The land held by their father at his death was, according to Thomas, equally divided between Daniel and ASA WESTOVER; Daniel, for his part, seems to have added considerably to the 300 acres he then received. The census of 1861 shows him holding 750 acres, with 267 acres under crops, 300 acres in pasture, 13 acres of orchard, and 170 acres of woodland or wild, with a cash value estimated at $20,000 and a further $1,248 in farm implements and machinery. The total value of his livestock at that time was $4,448, including nine horses valued at $900. He grew a variety of crops including several types of grain, 12 acres of corn, 3 acres of potatoes, 300 bu. of carrots, and 15 bu. of beans as well as hops, hay, and timothy. He had a large herd: four bulls or oxen, 56 steers or heifers and 40 milch cows; they produced 6,000 Ibs of butter, 140 Ibs of cheese, and 58 barrels of beef weighing 200 Ibs each. His orchards or gardens yielded $200 worth of fruits and vegetables; his maples produced 2,000 Ibs of maple sugar. On 6 October 1838, Daniel married Ann Staniland by dispensation of licence, Reid officiating. Daniel and Ann Westover had at least ten children: James (b. 20 September 1839) and David (b. 17 September 1841) were both godsons of Reid's and were baptized by him on 29 December 1839 and on 28 Novem-

237

ber 1841 respectively; Flora (b. 3 July 1843), William (b. 20 April 1845), Albert and Edward, twins, (b. 30 August 1847), Bertha (b. 7 August 1849), Asa (b. i April 1853), George (b. 18 March 1855), Anne (b. 25 April 1857), and Daniel (b. 31 January 1861). Bertha and Daniel died in infancy, aged six months and eight months respectively. Westover seems to have been politically conservative; in 1836 his name appears among the members of the Missiskoui Branch of the Constitutional Association. A person of some consequence in the community, he was a justice of the peace, a member of the Municipal Council and a lieutenant-colonel of the militia. The Eastern Townships Gazette of 20 March 1863 reported that a Drill Association under the command of Lieut.-Col. Daniel Westover (to be composed of the officers and noncommissioned officers of the 2nd Battalion of Missisquoi Militia) had recently been authorized at Dunham. Apparently regarded as trustworthy and judicious by his peers, Westover was named (in 1849) one of three arbitrators and umpires to make a report and award in the estate of Thomas Weightman, a matter of some complexity. Like his father and brother, he served as churchwarden (with Jonathan Stickney) in 1854. During his tenure he supervised extensive repairs to the inside and outside of Trinity Church, as well as the painting of the building. He was one of the earliest supporters of the

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Appendix B

Parochial Church Society and in 1843 was named one of the lay members of the District Association of the Church Society. Westover was particularly generous in his financial support of the church, pledging £18/157 (the largest sum on the list after Reid's) for the purchase of a glebe. In 1854 he gave £7/107 toward a new bell for Trinity Church, with the stipulation (presumably to ensure the bell's quality) that it cost no less than £757. He was one of the relatively few parishioners who subscribed to Stewart's memorial tablet, giving io/ (the largest single donation), and in 1851 he was a contributor toward a See House for the new Bishop of Montreal. In 1857-58 he gave $25 toward repairs to the parsonage, an amount second only to that given by Reid. In 1862, Westover pledged $500 to be paid over seven years towards the Endowment Fund for the support of Reid's successor when that burden would no longer be assumed by the government and the SPG. When it became necessary for Reid to find an assistant, he pledged and paid $20 towards his support. Westover was one of those present at the special Vestry meeting at which it was resolved to put up a tablet in Reid's memory; when the tablet arrived later that year, some aspect of it did not satisfy him and he wrote a letter of protest to the churchwardens, referring to "its present imperfect state." He gave generously toward the construction of the

Bishop Stewart Memorial Church, the replacement for Trinity Church; the tower, with its two stained glass windows and graceful spire (reaching to a height of 109 feet) is dedicated to his memory. Although he did not live to see the new church consecrated, one of his sons served it as organist, and another as churchwarden. A generous and regular subscriber to the Church Society and a faithful supporter of the Church and all its projects, Westover holds a welldeserved place among those receiving tributes from Borthwick in the "Necrology" of "Clergy and Laity" of the diocese. Westover was also concerned with education, and was one of five members of the Building Committee of the Frelighsburg Academy. He appears to have had an interest in music, sang in the choir, and perhaps led the singers. On 3 January 1850, to Reid's consternation, he seconded a motion that an organ be purchased for the church before money should be laid out on a glebe. Although essentially a farmer, Daniel Westover had some involvement in manufacturing as well; as the 1861 census records, he and "some of his Neighbours" imported a machine, at a cost of $300, for the manufacture of drainage tile - presumably from local clay and sand - and planned to begin work in the following spring. The machinery was horse-powered and the enterprise was to employ six men. The Missisquoi Tile Works is indicated on Waiting's map of 1864. On a

Biographical Sketches smaller scale, in 1862 he and Asa gave their note to the Ladies' Accumulating Fund for the one-year loan of $ 109 at an annual interest of 81/4%. Although generally fortunate, Westover suffered occasional setbacks: the Stanstead Journal reported that on the night of 25 October 1849 his dwelling-house "was totally destroyed by fire"; by the time it was discovered, the progress of the flames was such that nothing could be saved. His estimated loss was £1,500; according to the Journal, he had carried "No insurance." On 13 January 1886, Daniel Westover died; his wife survived until 18 July 1895. Of him it was remarked by Bishop Bond (cited by Borthwick) that he was "a man of quiet, unobtrusive demeanor, but one whose Christian character made him a great power for good ... in the Eastern Townships." Sources: St AER: 1808, fol. i; 1809, fol. 8; 1836, fol. 11; 1839, fol. 20; 1841, fol. 20; 1843, fol. 18; 1845, fol. 10; 1848, fol. 5; 1849, fol. 21; 1850, fol. 6; 1852, fol. 15; 1855, fol. 17; 1857, fol. 6; 1861, fols 2v, 9. Thomas, Contributions, 116-17. Thomas R. Millman, The Life of The Right Reverend, The Honourable Charles James Stewart D.D., Oxon. Second Anglican Bishop of Quebec (London, Ont: Huron College 1953), 15. QDA, Stewart Letters, Reid Collection, i, 16 Jul 1818; 15 Feb [1819?]; MS. Visitation Journal, 1829, 42~3- Missiskoui Standard, 2 Feb 1836, 3. Eastern Townships Gazette, 20 Mar 1863, 2. Sale and Conveyance [containing

239

Power of Attorney of 20 Oct 1843], 12 Mar 1845, no. 1700, drawn up by Dickinson; Act of Deposit [by the Arbitrators], 29Jan 1850, no. 2797, drawn up by Dickinson. J. Douglas Borthwick, History of the Diocese of Montreal 1850-1910 (Montreal: John Lovell &Son 1910), 132. TCPR: Churchwardens' Accounts; subscription list for glebe, 5 Jul 1851; PCS Minutes, 1843, 4; 1850, 30; 1851, 34; Bell subscription, 20 Sep 1854; Receipt for Bell, 10 Sep 1856; subscription list for Stewart's Monument; Vestry Book, 1861, 1863, 1864; Ladies' Accumulating Fund Accounts, 6; Resolutions for an Endowment Fund, 20 Feb 1862; letter from Daniel Westover to the Churchwardens of Trinity Church, 9 Jul 1865. Annual Reports of the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec from 1842, and of Montreal from 1852. Historical Reading Presented at the Centenery [sic] of the Bishop Stewart Memorial Church (Cowansville Printing Inc [1980]). Stanstead Journal, 8 Nov 1849, 2. Gravestone, Trinity churchyard. WESTOVER, EMILY (subsequendy MRS MYRON HOLLY SANBORN), daughter of Asa Westover of Dunham and Florida McCallum, was born on 11 March 1823 and baptized on 22 June of that year, Reid officiating. The sponsors were George Cook, MARY WESTOVER, and NANCY WESTOVER. Emily was the youngest in a family of eleven children: nine girls and two

240

Appendix B

boys. Before she was born, her two eldest sisters Catherine and Elizabeth, the daughters of her father's first wife Mary Curry, were already married with children of their own. Emily's father died when she was only nine years old, her mother four years later, at which time her brother DANIEL (then aged 27) took full responsibility for the minor children: her brother ASA (b. 1817), her sister Julia (b. 1820), and herself, as well as his unmarried sisters. Unusually for the period, most of the Westover girls married, with only MARGARET (b. 1801) and Julia remaining spinsters. It is difficult to ascertain where Emily was living prior to her marriage in 1854; the 1842 census gives the names of heads of families only, and in the census of 1851 she was not enumerated with either of her brothers. Reid mentions her five times in the interval, however, so she must have lived in the vicinity. From 1846 on, Emily Westover's name appears among the subscribers of the Church Society; like her sisters she does not seem to have been involved in the Sewing Society. When the ladies of the parish presented Reid with a new gown, her name was among them. On i June 1854, she married Myron Holly Sanborn of Montreal by dispensation of licence, Reid officiating; the witnesses were L.K. Sanborn, Brown Chamberlin, NANCY REID and JANE REID. According to Millman, Sanborn, in his early years, had tutored the sons of Daniel Westover. This seems rather unlikely, as Westover's eldest son

would have been only four years old when Sanborn (according to his testimony at the Freligh v. Seymour trial) had lived in Frelighsburg (1844-45), but during that time he acted with power of attorney for Lewis Sowles, signing himself as "of the Village of Frelighsburg, gentleman." The frequent appearance of his signature as a witness to notarized documents suggests that he may have been training as a notary at this time, a profession to which he was admitted (according to Borthwick's Gazetteer) in 1850. Sanborn could certainly have met Emily during the period of his residence in Frelighsburg; it was perhaps through his friendship with Brown Chamberlin (attested to in Reid's diary), when both young men were living in Montreal, that he renewed contacts in Frelighsburg. Before his marriage, Sanborn had boarded "at Mrs Robertson's," a private boarding house on Craig Street near St Antoine, and was employed as a "government clerk." In 1854 he worked in the Bankruptcy Court, and in 1855 was appointed deputy sheriff of Montreal. The Montreal Directory for 1862 shows him living on St Charles Borromee near Sherbrooke Street. Apparently Emily continued to correspond with Jane Reid after she left Frelighsburg for Montreal; a letter from Sanborn's brother to Jane on the subject of an altar cloth contains a message that Emily would write to her soon by way of Brown Chamberlin. The couple maintained strong ties with Fre-

Biographical Sketches lighsburg, and Reid mentions their calling at the parsonage on 26 February 1864. Their gravestones are to be found in Trinity churchyard: Sanborn died in 1882, Emily in 1906. They had two daughters: Julia and Margaret Jane. The chancel window opposite the pipe organ in the Bishop Stewart Memorial Church of the Holy Trinity was erected in memory of Sanborn. The oil portraits of Bishop Stewart, James Reid, and J.B. Davidson hanging in the vestibule of the church were painted by the Sanborns' younger daughter Margaret Jane. Sources: St AER: 1823, fol. 9. Diary: 25:4641, 25:4659, 25:4672 [b]; 36:6278. Millman, "Margaret Sanborn, Artist and Musician," in Rendezvous with the Past in Missisquoi (Granby, PQ: MCHS 1970), 122-4. Sale and Conveyance [Sanborn as Attorney], 27 Mar 1845, no. 1704, drawn up by Dickinson; Superior Court, District of Montreal, John Freligh [sic] v. John B. Seymour. J. Douglas Borthwick, History and Biographical Gazetteer of Montreal to the Year 1892 (Montreal: John Lovell & Son 1892), 398. MacKay, Montreal Directory ... 1853, 233, 282; 1854, 244; 1862-63, 208. TCPR, Letter to Jane Reid from J.N.H. Sanborn, 29 [?] 1854. Annual Reports of the Diocese of Quebec from 1846, and of Montreal from 1852. TCPR, Letterbook, 108. Gravestone, Trinity churchyard. WESTOVER, MARGARET, daughter of Asa Westover of Dunham and Mary

241

Curry, his first wife, was born on 14 June 1801 and baptized on 12 February 1809 by C.J. Stewart. The sponsors were Asa and Florida Westover and Sarah Freligh. It would appear that Margaret's mother died shortly after giving birth and that her father married Florida McCallum, his second wife, within a few months of her death. Music seems to have played a prominent role in the lives of the Westover girls, for Archdeacon Mountain, on his visit to the family home in 1829, noted that they were "among Mr Reid's choir who sing in a very pleasing stile." By 1843 the family had certainly acquired a pianoforte and may even have procured a replacement instrument, for Reid records that in that year they rented one to the OREN JOCELIN KEMP family. In 1832 Margaret's father died, and as her sisters Catherine, Elizabeth, and Nancy had married in 1818, 1819, and 1830, respectively, some of the extra burden of running the household must have fallen on her. By 1849, Mary, Jane, and Asa had also married, and Caroline was living in the United States. Julia appears to have been out of the country with Caroline at least until 1845. It is difficult to be certain of Margaret's whereabouts in the 18505 for she was not enumerated with either of her brothers in the census of 1851; Reid's diary mentions her four times during the period, however, so she seems to have been residing in the area. When the parish ladies presented Reid with a

242

Appendix B

new gown in 1851, he seems to have assumed that she was a prime mover in the project. The 1861 census shows Margaret and her sister Julia living with their brother Asa and his wife. Margaret does not seem to have been active in the Sewing Society, although the Westovers commissioned a number of orders from the ladies in that group. (In 1849, for example, "Mrs Westover" ordered a child's coat, three pairs of "trowsers," and two dresses for a total cost of £1.) Margaret was a subscriber to the Church Society from 1846, usually identified simply as "Miss Westover" in the annual reports. On at least one occasion (1859) she served as a collector. When the memorial tablet to Stewart was put up in Trinity Church, she was among the subscribers; as Margaret was aged 14 when Stewart left the parish, she would have remembered him well. She was active in the Ladies' Accumulating Fund. In its initial year of existence, she served as one of a committee of six to collect subscriptions; in 1861 she was elected vice president, and in 1862, president. That Reid was particularly fond of Margaret is especially noticeable in volume 36 of the diary (after NANCY REID had died). She seems to have made a point of calling on his birthday in 1863. While JANE REID was away in Brome attending her brother JAMES during his illness, Margaret stayed at

the parsonage, a visit concerning which Reid wrote in his diary: "truly we are thankful to her for her kindness ..." The following year, when Jane went to Saratoga, Margaret once again stayed with the Reids, but on that occasion not even her presence could raise his spirits. On one of her visits, she may have revealed a taste for devotional reading, for Reid mentions that she had brought with her John Cumming's Daily Life of a Christian (a gift from ALMIRA LOWE) , which he subsequently borrowed and read. Margaret Westover died, aged 80, on 29 July 1879, and was buried two days later by J.B. Davidson. The witnesses were Sarah Chamberlin (her niece and goddaughter), Mary E. Rosenberger and G.R. Marvin. Sources: St AER: 1808, fols i, 12; 1818, fol. 2; 1830, fol. 6; 1848, fol. 10; 1879, fol. 23. DR, South, l 8 i g , fol. 4. SHR, 1848,

fol. 4. QDA,

MS. Visitation Journal, 1829, 42. Diary: 25:4669, 4672[b]; 36:6229, 6236, 6303. Power of Attorney [Caroline and Julia Westover to Daniel Westover], 20 Oct 1843, filed with no. 1700, Sale and Conveyance, 12 Mar 1845, drawn up by Dickinson. TCPR: Sewing Society Minutes, 47; PCS Minutes, 49; subscription for Stewart's monument; Ladies' Accumulating Fund Accounts, 2-7; Letterbook, 108. WESTOVER, MARY: please see MARY BAKER.

APPENDIX C

Bibliography of the published writings of James Reid

BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS

Hypocrisy Detected; in a Letter to the Late Firm ofHaldane, Ewing, and Co. With a Preface, Containing The Narrative of Mr. James Reid, A Missionary Sent by These Gentlemen to Upper Canada. Aberdeen: J. Booth, Jun., 1812. Remarks on the Lecture of the Rt. Rev. Bishop Hopkins, Against The Temperance Society, Published in His Late Work, Entitled 'The Primitive Church Compared With the Protestant Episcopal Church, of the Present Day.' By the Rev. James Reid, Rector of Trinity Church, St. Armand, Lower Canada. Frelighsburg, PQ: Standard Office, 1836. [This work, according to a notice published in the Missiskoui Standard of 7 June 1836, was reprinted in the Episcopal Recorder of Philadelphia in the same year.] A Discourse on Infant Baptism. By the Rev. James Reid. Montreal: Armour and Ramsay, 1841. SERMONS AND ADDRESSES

A Sermon, Preached in Trinity Church, in the Seigniory of St. Armand, Lower-Canada, on the Twenty First Day of May, 1816; Being the Day Appointed By Proclamation, For A General Thanksgiving To Almighty God, "For His Great Goodness In Putting an End To the War in Which We Were Engaged Against France. " By the Rev 'd. James Reid. Montreal: W. Gray, 1816. A Sermon, Delivered In Trinity Church, St. Armand East, On the Death of The Hon. & Right Reverend Charles James Stewart, D.D., Lord Bishop of Quebec, On Sunday loth September, 1837. By the Rev. James Reid, To Which Is Added: A Sermon On the Same Occasion, Delivered At St. John's and Laprairie On the i jth September, 183 7. By the Rev. Charles P. Reid, Assistant Minister of St. James' Church, St. John's, and

244

Appendix c

Missionary at Laprairie, Lower Canada. Frelighsburg, PQ: Standard Office, 1837. "The Christian Ministry: A Sermon, Delivered in the Cathedral Church of Quebec, At the Triennial Visitation of the Right Reverend The Lord Bishop Of Montreal, on the 2djuly, 1845, by the Rev. James Reid," The Church (Cobourg), 31 October 1845, 65. [Reid's address of welcome, on behalf of the clergy of the District of Missisquoi, to Bishop Fulford, dated 18 September 1850] Canadian Ecclesiastical Gazette (Quebec), 10 October 1850. [Reid's thanks to the ladies of the parish for their address and the gift of a new gown. Unidentified newspaper clipping in TCPR, undated, but probably April 1851.] [A "long Paper on the Subject of Mr. Gladstone's Colonial Church Bill," stated by Reid (25:4568) to have appeared in the Herald of 28 February 1853; untraced.] [An address, probably by Reid (transcribed in his letterbook, 152-3) stated by him (25:3591-2) to have been printed in the Heraldm May 1853; untraced.] [Reid's reply to the address by the Rev. Richard Whitwell on behalf of the District Association of Missisquoi on the occasion of his stepping down as chairman, possibly printed in the Herald; Whitwell notes having directed it to the editor on 30 May 1853 (endorsement on Reid's MS. reply to the Address in the MDA, Whitwell Papers); untraced.] [Sermon preached by Reid at the Rev. Richard Whitwell's funeral, 6 April 1864 and stated by him (36:6306-7), to have been printed in the Echo and Protestant Episcopal Recorder, presumably between 19 August and 9 October 1864; untraced.] ESSAYS AND A R T I C L E S

"Reflections on the Seasons" [on the changes in nature produced by the advance of autumn and the need to prepare for life's end], Missiskoui Standard (Frelighsburg, PQ), 13 December 1836, 2; [same title continues: No. 2, on the decay of man's health and vigour with age and the need to prepare for Judgment], 20 December 1836, 2-3; [No. 3, on the approach of winter and its discomforts; the plight of the poor in winter; an exhortation to tavern-keepers not to serve liquor to the destitute or to mendicants], 27 December 1836, 3; [No. 4, on old age], 3 January 1837, 2-3. "The Fire Side," Missiskoui Standard, 10 January 1837 [introduces the theme of the society of the fireside and of his intentions for a continuing series of essays], 2-3; No. 6 [on marriage; numbering, which begins now, suggests this

Bibliography of Reid's Writings

245

is one series with "Reflections on the Season"], 17 January 1837, 2; No. 7 [on mutual forbearance], 24January 1837, 2-3; No. 8 [on the need to select a marriage partner with care], 31 January 1837, 2-3; No. 9 [advice to newly married couples, particularly on avoiding contention], 7 February 1837, 2; No. 10 [on the need to set a good example to children in their upbringing], 14 February 1837, 3; No. 11 [prints a letter from a reader asking for advice, with his answer], 21 February 1837, 2-3; No. 12 [on the House of Stuart as an example of continuing vice in families, and the importance of fearing God], 28 February 1837, 2; No. 13 [a contrast to the former essay: an example of a blessing in parental inheritance as shown in Abraham], 7 March 1837, 2-3; No. 14 [on Christian marriage and family prayer], 14 March 1837, 3; No. 15 [on the benefits of family prayer], 21 March 1837, 2-3; No. 16 [on the need for heads of families to foster family prayer], 28 March 1837, 2; No. 17 [on the way in which family prayers ought to be performed and on the benefits of Stewart's book of prayers for that exercise], 4 April 1 ^37, 3! No. 18 [on the best times of day for family prayer], 11 April 1837, 3; No. 19 [on keeping the Sabbath Day], 25 April 1837, 3; No. 20 [on the evils of Sabbath-breaking], 2 May 1837, 2-3; No. 21 [on the Sabbath, and particularly on the decline of communities that neglect it], 9 May 1837, 3; No. 22 [on the Sabbath, with an attack on the mischief done by open bar rooms on that day], 16 May 1837, 3; No. 22 [sic, should be No. 23; on the slothfulness of merely doing nothing on the Sabbath Day, and on the proper use of the non-churchgoing part of the day], 23 May 1837, 3; No. 24 [on the Sabbath evening; the need for meditation, self-examination and thanksgiving], 30 May 1837, 3; No. 25 [on death], 6 June 1837, 3; No. 26 [on the beauty of the world and the pleasures of religion and divine worship], 13 June 1837, 2-3; No. 27 [on hypocrites and on those who stay away from church in the belief that only hypocrites go there], 20 June 1837, 2-3; No. 28 [on people who use their health as a reason for not attending church], 27 June 1837, 2-3; No. 29 [more on "the Sunday Disease"], 4 July 1837, 2; No. 30 [on seeing God in His works; the season and the harvest], 11 June 1837, 2-3; No. 31 [on clarity of expression], 18 July 1837, 2-3; No. 32 [on the unfortunate trend of periodical literature supplanting books], 25 July 1837, 2-3; No. 33 [still on the subject of the press, with comments on popular works by Scott, Byron, Gait, Marryat, Bulwer, etc.], i August 1837, 2-3; No. 34 [on literary works designed for entertainment rather than instruction, with comments on Fielding, Richardson, Scott, Hogg, etc.], 8 August 1837, 3; No. 35 [on the Church as a useful publication], 15 August 1837, 2-3; No. 36 [on the nature of true friendship], 22 August 1837, 3; No. 37 [another on friendship], 29 August 1837, 2; No. 38 [still on friendship], 5

246

Appendix c

September 1837, 2-3; No. 39 [a tribute to Stewart who had recently died], 22 September 1837, 2-3; No. 40 [on friendship again], 23 September 1837, 2-3; No. 41 [some personal reminiscences and comments on the social nature of man], 26 September 1837, 3; No. 42 [on the dependency of the wealthiest on the services of others], 3 October 1837, 3; No. 43 [on the harvest and the approach of cold weather], 10 October 1837, 3; [No. 44, 17 October 1837, 3, is introduced by Reid, but is by his son C.P. Reid]; No. 45 [on the benefits of reading aloud to the family], 24 October 1837, 2; No. 46 [on an article concerning George Herbert in the Church], 31 October 1837, 3; No. 47 [on regular reading and on the Bible as "the best of Books" for benefit and variety], 7 November 1837, 2; No. 48 [on the depressing nature of November], 14 November 1837, 2-3; No. 49 [on the greater freedom afforded by sleighing weather], 21 November 1837, 2; No. 50 [on the "serious troubles" in the country and the need to avert God's Judgment through confession and prayer, as well as the possible need to take up arms to defend "your firesides, your property, and ... institutions"], 28 November 1837, 3; No. 51 [furnishes "A prayer in time of public commotions" from Stewart's book], 5 December 1837, 2; No. 52 [on the need for prayer of whatever manner or form, that the "effusion of human blood" may be stopped], 12 December 1837, 2; No. 53 [prayer enjoined; concludes with quotation from "Oh God, Our Help in Ages Past"], 19 December 1837, 2-3; No. 54 [Christmas message: God has hitherto interposed "in our behalf], 26 December 1837, 2-3; [No. 55, 2 January 1838, 2, is by C.P. Reid]; No. 56 [on the fall season], 9 January 1838, 2-3; No. 57 [on the fear of invasion from the United States], 16 January 1838, 3; No. 58 [on the need to pray for peace], 23 January 1838, 3; No. 58 [should be No. 59; on the need for gratitude to God for His protection], 30 January 1838, 2-3; No. 60 [on the vicissitudes of life, with a quotation from Thomson's "Winter"], 6 February 1838, 3; No. 61 [on the need to be resigned to God's will], 13 February 1838, 3; No. 62 [on the delights of studying Scripture, with a reference to Burke's treatise On the Sublime and the Beautiful], 20 February 1838, 2-3; No. 63 [deploring that so much literature is imbued with controversy], 27 February 1838, 2-3; No. 64 [on the absence from home of local men, called up to defend the neighbourhood, concluding with a stop-press report of their safe return and the need to praise God for their preservation], 6 March 1838, 2-3; No. 65 [on the ravages of time like water wearing away stone, particularly in nearby Pike River], 13 March 1838, 3; No. 66 [on the warning afforded by the early end of the winter that man must be prepared in spirit], 20 March 1838, 3; No. 67 [exposition of a Scriptural passage], 27 March 1838, 3; [No. 68, 3 April 1838, 3, is signed J.M.F., probably James Moir Ferres, the editor]; No. 69 [in

Bibliography of Reid's Writings

247

which Reid takes leave of his readers, signing his column "J. Reid" rather than "J.R.," as he has done up to this point], 10 April 1838, 3. "Frelighsburgh," Church Chronicle for the Diocese ofMontreal, 2 (February 1862), !53-7"A Church Record," Montreal Gazette (i May 1862), 4 [a reprint of "Frelighsburgh"] . S I G N E D LETTERS TO THE PRESS

[Article directed to the paper for insertion] Missiskoui Standard, 26 July 1836, 2. [On a pamphlet by Rev. J. Abbott, A.M., attacking Reid's Remarks on Bishop Hopkins' published lecture on temperance societies.] [Article directed to the paper for insertion] Missiskoui Standard, 15 November 1836, 2-3. [A point-by-point reply to an anonymous correspondent who had attacked Reid's Remarks through annotating a copy and posting it to him.] [Open letter to the editor of the Canada Temperance Advocate] Missiskoui Standard, 14 February 1837, 3. [Responding to an article in that publication attacking the Clergy Reserves through an accusation that an unnamed Episcopal clergyman was operating a distillery on land thus allotted to him.] [Open letter to the editor of the Canada Temperance Advocate} Missiskoui Standard, 28 Mar. 1837, 3. [An angry rejoinder to the editor of the Canada Temperance Advocate's comments on Reid's letter of 14 February 1837.] [Open letter to the editor of the Canada Temperance Advocate] Missiskoui Standard, 25 April 1837, 2-3. [An acceptance of the apology tendered to Reid by the editor of the Canada Temperance Advocate and a parting comment on the alleged distillery.] [Article directed to the paper for insertion] Missiskoui Standard, 9 May 1837, 2. [On the changes made by the editors of a new version of Bishop Hopkins' lecture on temperance societies.] [Article directed to the paper for insertion] Missiskoui Standard, 18 July 1837, 3. [A glowing account of the "Examination of the School, taught by Mr. James Pollock."] [Article directed to the paper for insertion] Missiskoui Standard, 18 July 1837, 3. [On the merits of the Church, published at Coburg.] [Letter to the editor] the Church, 9 November 1839, 74. [On the numerous errors contained in the Rev. John P.K. Henshaw's "Reminiscences" of Bishop Stewart printed in the Church, 12 October 1839, 60.] [Letter to the editor] the Echo and Protestant Episcopal Recorder, 17 April 1862, 2. [A rejoinder to a recently printed article in the Echo which had asserted that Stewart was successor to the Rev. C.C. Cotton in his ministry.]

248

Appendix c MISCELLANEOUS

[Classified advertisement] Missiskoui Standard, 18 October 1836, 3. [A request for the return of "The first 5 numbers of the 2d vol. of the Cultivator" to "the borrower."] [Public Notice] Missiskoui Standard, 25 September 1838, 2. [A warning that anyone carrying away "sand or any other matter from within the enclosures of the subscriber" will be prosecuted for trespass.] [An inscription for a memorial tablet to Bishop Stewart erected in Trinity Church, Frelighsburg] the Church, 6 June 1845, 192 [the text of the inscription is printed]. ATTRIBUTED PSEUDONYMOUS WRITINGS

"Dialogue on Precomposed Forms of Public Prayer," 3 parts, Christian Sentinel and Anglo-Canadian Churchman's Magazine, Vol. iv no. i (July and August 1827), 206-9; Vol. v no. i (September and October), 270-5; and Vol. vi no. i (November and December), 340-4 [signed F-H, F-H, and F.H. respectively]. A reference to an article by Reid of this description intended for the Sentinel appears in the Stewart Letters, Reid Collection, QDA. "Reflections on the Beauties of Nature," Christian Sentinel (Three Rivers), 3 September 1830, 10-11 [signed F-H]. A reference to an article by Reid with this title and intended for the Sentinel appears in the Stewart Letters, Reid Collection, QDA. [Letter to the editor] Missiskoui Standard, 21 April 1835, 2 [signed "S.D."] numbered by hand in Reid's copy "No. i" [On the name of the publication and the meaning of "Standard"; on the distinctive character of the people of the Eastern Townships and the perceived threat to them by the present Government. This letter and those which follow under the signature of "S.D." are of a strongly partisan nature typical of the political controversy of the period.] [A series of articles headed "For the Missiskoui Standard," and signed "S.D." The numbers given are based on Reid's ink annotation in his personal copy.] "No. 2," Missiskoui Standard, 28 April 1835, 2 [on loyalty as the chief bond between the inhabitants of French and of British origins; on the need for unity in allegiance if redress of real grievances is to be achieved; on the divisiveness of such leaders as Louis-Joseph Papineau]; "No. 3" [on the history of the creation of the Townships and the controversy over the granting oflands therein], 12 May 1835, 2; "No. 4" [on the constitutionality of establishing land companies], 5 May 1835, 2; [a continuation of the same], "No.

Bibliography of Reid's Writings

249

5" [still on the subject of land companies and the Land Board], 19 May 1835, 2; "No. 6" [on the history of acquiring legal tide to land in the Townships], 26 May 1835, 2; "No. 7" [on the ability of the Council to frustrate the best efforts of the governor to secure the rights of the settlers of the Townships], 2 June 1835, 2; "No. 8" [on the efforts of the House of Assembly to block the sale of waste lands by land companies], 9 June 1835, 2; "No. 9" [on the nature of Toryism and Radicalism], 16 June 1835, 2; "No. 10" [Township support for French Reformist leaders equated to a traveller helping a highwayman to rob himself], 23 June 1835, 2 [issue of 3 June does not have any column by S.D.]; "No. 11" [on current financial abuses in the House of Assembly], 7 July 1835, 2; "No. 12" [on the danger of depriving the governor of his right to refuse his assent to a measure proposed by the Assembly], Hjuly 1835, 2; "No. 13" [a response to unnamed support for the right of the Assembly to have its will], 21 July 1835, 2. [A series of numbered articles headed "For the Missiskoui Standard," and signed "S.D."] No. xiv Missiskoui Standard, 28 July 1835, 2 [article headed "For the Missiskoui Standard," with number printed in Roman numerals and signed "S.D." [on the meeting of the supporters of Reform held in Dunham], Missiskoui Standard, 28 July 1835, 2; No. xv [a rejoinder to a report printed in the Vindicator on Papineau's speech in Dunham], 4 August 1835, 2; No. xv [altered in ink to xvi; still on the subject of the Reform meeting in Dunham], 11 August 1835, 2; No. xvn [on the incompatibility of Papineau-style Reformist policies with the traditions of Townships residents], 18 August 1835, 2; No. xvin [on the practice of the imperial government to humour the population of the majority to the extent that it has become "spoiled," with an expression of curiosity about what the newlyappointed governor will do], 25 August 1835, 2; No. xix [on the use made of the Townships to further interests not their own], i September 1835, 2; No. xx [on the ominous use of language issuing from the Liberal press, with examples], 8 September 1835, 2. [Letters to the editor signed "S.D." but not numbered] Missiskoui Standard, i December 1835, 2 [on the impropriety of Gosford's heading an inquiry into his own conduct]; [still on the subject of the Royal Commission], 8 December 1835, 2; [on the falseness of the belief among some of the people that Papineau is a Washington or a Franklin, and the assertion that he is merely a deceiving tyrant courting them to gain power], 15 December 1835, 2-3; [a report on the local Constitutional Meeting and comments on the resolutions passed], 23 February 1836, 3; [a correction of his previous letter with further observations on the resolutions passed at the meeting already referred to], I March 1836, 3; [further comments on the stand of

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Appendix c

the Constitutionalists], 22 March 1836, 3; [on the definition of a Constitutionalist], 12 April 1836, 2; [in upper margin of front page marked "S.D.," in ink; on the meaning of the phrase "a Protestant Clergy" in the context of the Clergy Reserves], 19 April 1836, 2; [marked "S.D.," in ink on front page; avows his sense of betrayal that the Constitutional Association of Montreal has opposed the rights both of the Roman Catholic Church to collect tithes and of the Protestant Clergy to enjoy Clergy Reserves], 14 June 1836,

2-3[Letter signed "An old Acquaintance"] Missiskoui Standard, 24 May 1836, 2 [Reid's copy inscribed "An old acquaintance"] Defends an unnamed local inhabitant who had been attacked in a pseudonymous letter to the Missiskoui Standard as a "renegade American" and an "American deserter."] OF DOUBTFUL

AUTHORSHIP

[An address of congratulation by the inhabitants of St Armand to CJ. Stewart on his consecration as Lord Bishop of Quebec] Montreal Herald, 5 July 1826, 3-

Notes

PREFACE 1 Montreal Diocesan Archives (hereafter MDA), James Reid Papers, MG 2045, Diary of James Reid, vol. 22, 16 November 1848. Subsequent references to volumes 22 and 23 are identified by the date; references to volumes 25 and 36 are identified by Reid's volume and page number (see n. 4 below). 2 Arthur R.M. Lower, Colony to Nation: A History of Canada, 4th ed. ([Toronto]: Longman Canada 1964), 185. 3 Volumes 25 and 36 extend respectively from 11 October 1852 to 2 February 1854 and from 14 November 1863 to 30 November 1864. 4 29 October 1864 (36:6308-9). 5 A.F.W. Davidson to T.R. Millman, 12 November 1943. Millman's personal papers (hereafter TRMP), concerning the united parishes of All Saints', Dunham, and Trinity Church (now Bishop Stewart Memorial Church), Frelighsburg, were subsequently deposited in the Quebec Diocesan Archives (hereafter QDA). 6 TRMP, Davidson to Millman, 15 December 1943. 7 Millman, letter to the editor, 3 January 1984. INTRODUCTION

i Thomas R. Millman, Jacob Mountain First Lord Bishop of Quebec: A Study in Church and State 1793-1825. University of Toronto Studies, History and Economics Series, vol. 10. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1947); The Life of The Right Reverend, The Honourable Charles James Stewart D.D. Oxon. Second Anglican Bishop of Quebec (London, Ont.: Huron College 1953);

252

2

3

4 5

6

7 8 9 10

11 12 13

14 15

Notes to pages xli-xlix

Donald C. Masters and Marjorie W. Masters, Ten Rings on the Oak, 1847-1856: The Mountain-Nicolls Family Story (Lennoxville: Bishop's University 1987). John Webster Grant, A Profusion of Spires: Religion in Nineteenth-Century Ontario (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1988), ix; he cites "clerics and heretics" as the chief exceptions, however. Thomas R. Millman, A Short History of the Parish of Dunham Quebec (Granby, PQ: Granby Printing and Publishing Co. 1946); Millman, The Life of The Right Reverend; John Irwin Cooper, The Blessed Communion: The Origins and History of the Diocese of Montreal 1760-1960 ([Montreal]: Archives Committee of the Diocese of Montreal 1960); H.D. MacDermid, "The Rev. James Reid," in Rovers, Rebels and Royalists, ed. Paige A. Knight (Sherbrooke: Missisquoi Historical Society 1984); and The Church at the Upper Mills: The Anglicans of Stanbridge East, Stanbury and Pigeon Hill (n.p., n.d.). "On the Education of Missionaries," The Colonial Church Chronicle and Missionary Journal (London) October 1849: 132 [italics in original]. William Westfall, Two Worlds: The Protestant Culture of Nineteenth-Century Ontario (Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press 1983), 99. See also the chronology, 1828, 1840, 1841; and the diary, vol. 23, 11 March 1851. Robert Merrill Black, "Stablished in the Faith," in By Grace Co-Workers: Building the Anglican Diocese of Toronto 1780-1989, ed. Alan L. Hayes (Toronto: Anglican Book Centre 1989), 23. Philip Carrington, The Anglican Church in Canada: A History (Toronto: Collins 1963), 81; also Westfall, Two Worlds, 103. Paul H. Friesen, "The Saints in the Land 1780-1867," in By Grace CoWorkers, 174. Paul Johnson, A History of Christianity (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books 1990), 424. Whitney R. Cross, The Burned-over District: The Social and Intellectual History of Enthusiastic Religion in Western New York, 1800-1850 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press 1950), 87. Cross, The Burned-over District, 177. Grant, A Profusion of Spires, 103. Most people bred in the New England tradition considered that the circus and the stage, among other amusements, were immoral. See Cross, The Burned-over District, 8 7. Grant, A Profusion of Spires, 108. Robert T. Handy, A History of the Churches in the United States and Canada (New York: Oxford University Press 1977), 182; also G.P. deT. Glazebrook,

Notes to pages li-lii

16 17

18

19 20 21

22

23

24

25

26 27

253

The Church of England in Upper Canada (unpublished typescript, 1982), 56. Westfall, Two Worlds, 46. Most of the Anglican clergy were politically conservative. See John S. Moir, Church and State in Canada West: Three Studies in the Relation of Denominationalism and Nationalism, 1841-1867 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1959), 14; also Richard Brown, Church and State in Modern Britain 17001850 (London: Routledge 1991), 471S.F. Wise, "Sermon Literature and Canadian Intellectual History," in PreIndustrial Canada 1760-1849: Readings in Canadian Social History, ed. Michael S. Cross and Gregory S. Kealey (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart 1982), 2:82. B.C. Masters, A Short History of Canada (Princeton: D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc. 1958), 27. Moir, Church and State in Canada West, 181. Reid's Letterbook contains three letters to the Honourable Robert Baldwin on the subject of responsible government (dated 21 May, 30 May, and 15 June 1849), all signed "A Loyal British Subject." Trinity Church Parish Records (hereafter TCPR), Letterbook, 36-52. Curtis Fahey, In His Name: The Anglican Experience in Upper Canada, 1791-1854 (Ottawa: Carleton University Press 1991), 172; see also W.L. Morton, The Kingdom of Canada: A General History from Earliest Times, 2d ed. (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart 1969), 273. It was, after all, "the worst element of Toryism" that surfaced in the rioting in Montreal; see J.M.S. Careless, Canada: A Story of Challenge, 3d ed. (Toronto: Macmillan of Canada 1970), 203. For a harsher view, see Arthur R.M. Lower, Colony to Nation: A History of Canada, 4th ed. ([Toronto]: Longman Canada 1964), 279. Nancy Christie, '"In These Times of Democratic Rage and Delusion': Popular Religion and the Challenge to the Established Order," in The Canadian Protestant Experience 1760-1990, ed. G.A. Rawlyk (Burlington, Ont: Welch Publishing Company Inc. 1990), 18. Owen Chadwick, The Victorian Church: Part 11829-1859 ([London]: SCM Press Ltd [1987]), i; see also Westfall, Two Worlds, 34, and H.H. Walsh, The Christian Church in Canada (Toronto: The Ryerson Press 1956), 135. Michael Gauvreau, "Protestantism Transformed: Personal Piety and the Evangelical Social Vision, 1815-1867," in The Canadian Protestant Experience, 87. Westfall, Two Worlds, 34. For much of the eighteenth century the Scottish aristocracy "totally dominated political and social life." See Brown, Church and State in Modern

254

28 29 30

31

Notes to pages liii—lv Britain, 16. Closer to home, in the revulsion which followed the destruction of the radicals and their aristocratic opponents, Canada was left to the mercies of men of "mercenary character," the hierarchy Reid feared most. See Michael J. Cross, "1837: The Necessary Failure," in Pre-Industrial Canada, 2:156-7. Lower, Colony to Nation, 319. Grant, A Profusion of Spires, 158. Reid's apparent distrust of Russell is not surprising; although he has been described as "after Gladstone ... the most fervent and religious prime minister of the Victorian age," he had also "given a large body of churchmen cause to think that he was a tyrant," and consistently used the patronage of the Crown to encourage liberal theology. Chadwick, The Victorian Church, 233-4, 238, and 249. Reid's admiration for Peel is somewhat more difficult to explain, because the commercial revolution of the 18405 which brought the old colonial system to an end was largely Peel's doing. In Britain, after the repeal of the Corn Laws, "the Tory right wing ... regarded him as a traitor." Ibid, 233. Moir, Church and State in Canada West, 16. See also Brown, Church and State in Modern Britain, 467. Although it is often stated that all Protestants and traditional Tories were anti-Catholic at this period, this was not true of Reid. All his life he remembered with gratitude the friendship of priest Alexander Macdonell who had befriended him in Glengarry (36:6229) and who later became the first Roman Catholic bishop of Kingston. See Cross, The Burned-over District, 43, and Masters, A Short History of Canada,

2532 Reid's reaction is reminiscent of Lord Eldon's when Catholic Emancipation passed its third reading in the House of Lords on 13 April 1829: "'God bless us, and his church!' he remarked sadly and hopelessly." Quoted by Chadwick, The Victorian Church, 7. 33 Ibid, 71. 34 Glazebrook, The Church of England in Upper Canada, \ 34, and Alec R. Vidler, The Church in an Age of Revolution: ijScj to the Present Day, rev. ed. (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books 1974), 35. 35 Vidler, The Church in an Age of Revolution, 52. 36 Elwood Jones, "Reaching Out For Two Hundred Years: Church Growth and Church Extension 1780-1989," in By Grace Co-Workers, 149. 37 Chadwick, The Victorian Church, 68. 38 Johnson, A History of Christianity, 344-5; Chadwick, The Victorian Church, 47; Vidler, The Church in an Age of Revolution, 40. 39 Boyd Hilton, The Age of Atonement: The Influence of Evangelicalism on Social

Notes to pages Ivi-lix

40

41

42

43

44

45 46 47 48

49 50 51 52 53 54

255

and Economic Thought, 1798-1865 (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1988), 83. According to Westfall (Two Worlds, 89), these works were Warburton's Alliance Between Church and State, Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France, and Paley's Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy. According to Clement CJ. Webb, there was perhaps no one who "exerted a stronger influence on the religious thought of the more intelligent of his compatriots" than Carlyle. A Study of Religious Thought in England From 1850 (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1933), 33. Although Reid believed that his birth was recorded in the Parish Session Book at Dunkeld, an application to the General Register Office for Scotland in 1988 brought the reply that "no trace" of the birth of a James Reid in Dunkeld had been found within the period 1778-82. MDA, James Reid Papers, MS. Undated Memoir of Reid's early life (hereafter MS. Narrative), 4. It was probably written about 1812, and appears to be an early draft of "The Narrative of Mr. James Reid." For an account of Dunkeld, see John Parker Lawson, An Enlarged Gazetteer of Scotland (Edinburgh: Edinburgh Printing and Publishing Company 1841), 419-20. James Reid, "The Narrative of Mr. James Reid," in Hypocrisy Detected; in a Letter to the Late Firm ofHaldane, Ewing, and Co. With a Preface, Containing The Narrative of Mr. James Reid, A Missionary Sent by These Gentlemen to Upper Canada (Aberdeen: J. Booth, Jun. 1812), x. MS. Narrative, 4. Reid, "Narrative," x. Reid, "Narrative," ix-x. Robert Haldane (1764-1842) and James Alexander Haldane (1768-1851) were descended from "an ancient Perthshire family." Robert had wished to enter the ministry of the Church of Scotland, but left his studies to join the navy. James, too, went to sea and rose to the command of an Indiaman. For a full account of their involvement in the missionary field, see Alexander Haldane, Memoirs of the Lives of Robert Haldane of Airthrey, and of his Brother, James Alexander Haldane (London: Hamilton, Adams and Company 1852). Haldane, Memoirs, 127. Caledonius, "Thoughts on Obtaining Gaelic Missionaries for the Highlands of Scotland," Missionary Magazine (Edinburgh), 15 January 1798, 21. Haldane, Memoirs, 191. Ibid, 191. MS. Narrative, 5. Reid, "Narrative," xi.

256

Notes to pages lix-lxii

55 Haldane, Memoirs, 230. 56 Ibid, 330-1. 57 Reid, "Narrative," xii. The fourth class was instructed by Messrs Aikman, Wemyss, and Stephens. Reid is not named among the few students identified; Haldane, Memoirs, 330. 58 MS. Narrative, 6. 59 Ibid, 6-7. 60 Ibid, 7. 61 Ibid, 10. 62 Strachan's authorship of the pamphlet is strongly suggested: "I send you the pamphlet, which I drew up containing your narrative" [italics mine]; MDA, James Reid Papers, John Strachan to Reid, 5 March 1814. 63 The differences are both stylistic and substantive, the published version showing a more pronounced antagonism toward the Haldanes. Possibly some revision was made by the author of the pamphlet; the manuscript account ("MS. Narrative") should be regarded as the more reliable. 64 See Reid's transcript of two letters he received from Alexander Haldane in 1855 and 1858, replying to correspondence about the book. From the context it is clear that Reid had written positive accounts of his treatment at the hands of the author's father and uncle; TCPR Letterbook, 175-8. 65 MS. Narrative, 10. 66 Reid, "Narrative," xvii. 67 Ibid, xix. 68 Reid, "Narrative," xxi. Reid refers to the Rev. Alexander Macdonell (1762-1840), the Scottish-born Gaelic-speaking priest responsible for settling large numbers of Highlanders, members of the Glengarry Regiment, in Upper Canada, and later the first bishop of Kingston. The Presbyterian was undoubtedly the Rev. John Bethune (1751-1815) who in 1786 organized the first Presbyterian congregation in Canada, and from 1787 until his death was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Williamstown, Glengarry. 69 Reid, "Narrative," xxi. 70 Ibid, xxi. 71 Reid's congregation was "restricted generally to families of McDiarmids, McCallums, Sinclairs and Christies." The church was apparently a log structure. MacDermid, "The Rev. James Reid," 105. 72 MS. Narrative, 19. 73 Ibid, 22. 74 Ibid, 23. 75 Haldane, Memoirs, 357-9.

Notes to pages Ixii-lxiii

257

76 Ibid, 362. 77 The Haldanes had already gone from an affiliation with the Kirk to a nondenominational position (Haldane, Memoirs, 185, 191) which in turn gave way to an alignment - by 1799 - with Congregationalism (Missionary Magazine, 18 February 1799: 76-80). Mr Ewing had introduced, and the Haldanes had adopted, the innovation of "celebrating the Lord's Supper every Lord's day" whereas the Scottish practice was to have it twice a year (Haldane, Memoirs, 353-4). Their change to Baptist doctrines permanently splintered the followers of the sect. 78 MS. Narrative, 24-5. 79 The deed of sale (for £256) was dated 10 April 1811; MacDermid, "The Rev. James Reid," 107. The money, some of which went to Reid and the balance to his former congregation, remained unpaid long after Reid had left the area. See Archives of Ontario (hereafter AO); Bethune Family Papers 1813-1971, MU 3273, John Bethune to Reid, 20 April 1814. 80 Reid, "Narrative," xxvii. 81 See Register of Baptisms and Marriages, in the Counties of Glengary and Stormont, and elsewhere in the Province of Upper Canada, Performed By the Reverend John Bethune Minister of the Gospel in Glengary, 1810, [i], cxxxvi, for Reid's marriage, and 1811, n, 10, for the baptism of Charles Peter Reid. 82 Prior to his ordination as an Anglican, Strachan had applied to the Presbyterian Church in Montreal (believing that the minister there was about to leave) but was turned down. When the opportunity arose for an appointment to a parish under the auspices of the Church of England, Strachan (who held a degree from King's College, Aberdeen) presented himself for an examination by Bishop Jacob Mountain, after which he was ordained deacon (1803), and then priest (1804). See David Flint, John Strachan: Pastor and Politician (Toronto: Oxford University Press 1971), 19-20. 83 By 1805 Strachan had a church and parsonage built. His marriage, in 1807, to a young widow with an annuity of £300, his government salary of £100 a year accorded to schoolmasters of selected grammar schools, together with his stipend, had secured his enviable financial position. Flint, John Strachan, 21, 29-30. 84 AO, Strachan Papers, Calendar of unbound Papers, MS 35, RI, Reid to Strachan, 11 July 1812; Strachan's biographer attests to the help given to "the many needy immigrants he met." A.N. Bethune, Memoir of the Right Reverend John Strachan, D.D., L.L.D., First Bishop of Toronto (Toronto: Henry Rowsell 1870), 301. 85 Thomas R. Millman's initial article on Reid, the first to be devoted to his

258

86 87

88 89 90 91 92 93

94 95 96 97 98

Notes to pages Ixiii-lxv

career by a historian, suggests that Reid met Stewart and Strachan virtually at the same time and "within a few months" of his arrival in America; "Rev. Canon James Reid, D.D., Frelighsburg, 1815-1865," in The Montreal Churchman, August 1939: 13. In his later biography of Bishop Stewart this is corrected; Millman, The Life of the Right Reverend, 216. Efforts to establish a school of royal foundation in St Armand seemed to have borne fruit as early as 1809, as Stewart's correspondence attests: see National Archives of Canada (hereafter NA) , Civil Secretary's Letter Books, Lower Canada, 0150, vol. 15, 1809-11, fols 44-5, Ryland to Stewart, 29 May 1809. Probably Reid was the first schoolmaster actually to receive the Government salary; see fols 208-9, Ryland to Stewart, 23 July 1812. MS. Narrative, 5. T[homas] H[amilton], "James Alexander Haldane," Dictionary of National Biography, 22 vols (London: Oxford University Press 1921-22), 8:897; Grant, A Profusion of Spires, 40. Moir, Church and State in Canada West, 11; Vidler, The Church in an Age of Revolution, 134, 141. Westfall, Two Worlds, 42. Millman, The Life of the Right Reverend, 12, 21. QDA, Diocesan Papers, i, St Armand, 85, Stewart to Jacob Mountain, 14 June 1813. Ibid, Stewart to Jacob Mountain, 14 June 1813. Richard B. Sher, Church and University in the Scottish Enlightenment: The Moderate Literati of Edinburgh (Princeton: Princeton University Press 1985), 27, 33, 125. Ferguson was licenced and ordained by the Presbytery of Dunkeld in 1745, and served as chaplain to the Black Watch. He left the ministry in the 17505, but was "virtually a standing member of the assembly as a ruling elder from that presbytery." He retired from academic life in the mid 17805 when Reid was a boy; the rise of the grandson of a Perthshire artisan, as Ferguson was, may well have been known to him. Sher, Church and University, 53. MDA, James Reid Papers, Strachan to Reid, 5 March 1814. Gauvreau, "Protestantism Transformed," 71. M.E. Reisner, Strangers and Pilgrims: A History of the Anglican Diocese of Quebec 1793-1993 (Toronto: Anglican Book Centre 1995), 109, 207-11. Joseph Bouchette, A Topographical Description of the Province of Lower Canada: With Remarks Upon Upper Canada and the Relative Connexion of Both Provinces with the United States of America (London: W. Faden 1815), 192. Stewart's pamphlet on the Eastern Townships defends the loyalty of the former Americans who settled the border area: A Short View of the Present State of the

Notes to pages Ixvi-lxvii

99 i oo

101 102

259

Eastern Townships in the Province of Lower Canada Bordering on the Line 45 ° with Hints for Their Improvement by the Hon. and Rev. Charles James Stewart D.D. Minister ofSt Armand, Lower Canada, and Chaplain to the Lord Bishop of Quebec (London: J. Hatchard 1817), 8-9. Mrs C.M. Day, History of the Eastern Townships, Province of Quebec, Dominion of Canada, Civil and Descriptive (Montreal: John Lovell 1869), 320-3. The railway line was run by the Champlain and St Lawrence Railroad Company. See G.P. deT. Glazebrook, A History of Transportation in Canada, 2 vols (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited 1964), 1:145-6. Richard Dickinson, in his capacity as registrar of Missisquoi County, reported: "The income of many of the farmers of this County is from £300 or £400 per annum, chiefly derived from butter, cheese, pork, and beef and young cattle. Some farmers in the spring of the year often take to the Montreal market, cheese to the amount of £100." Scobie & Balfour's Canadian Almanac, and Repository of Useful Knowledge, for the Year 1850 ... Containing Full and Authentic Commercial, Statistical, Astronomical, Departmental, Ecclesiastical, Educational, Financial, and General Information (Toronto: Scobie & Balfour [1850]), 55. Montreal Gazette, 22 January 1851, 2. On this occasion Reid was addressing a meeting of the Church Society of the Diocese of Montreal. MDA, Proceedings of the Sixth Annual Synod of the Diocese of Montreal (1864),

7-

103 TCPR Letterbook, 173-4. The original (Dalhousie to Reid, 24 August 1827) is in the MDA, James Reid Papers. 104 SPGA, C/CAN/LC 2 98, Reid to A. Hamilton, 14 November 1831. 105 TCPR Letterbook, 175. 106 The society was formed 16 February 1843 at Granby; see TCPR, Minutes of the Parochial Church Society (hereafter PCS Minutes), which includes a copy of a letter to Reid containing instructions on establishing a prospective branch of the society, and directing that "the Senior Clergyman holding a Pastoral Charge within such bounds shall be ex officio Chairman of such association. Next to Mr. Cotton who is presumed from age and infirmity, could not take the office; we address you as the chairman" (1-2). On 25 May 1853 Reid was unceremoniously ejected when the position became elective. The younger members of the clergy wanted shorter, more focused meetings that would attract lay participation. Reid's autocratic and magisterial chairmanship, as well as his conception of the purposes of the society, made this impossible. For his account of his removal see 25:4593. See also Whitwell's hastily written draft of an address dated 25 May 1853 to Reid which attempts to smooth things

260

107 108 109 no 111

112 113

114

115 116 117 118

119 120 121 122

Notes to pages Ixvii-lxxi over; MDA, Whitwell Papers, single sheet headed "Missiskoui Church District Association." Cooper, The Blessed Communion, 79. The document signalling Reid's collation, dated 6 October 1854, is in the MDA, James Reid Papers. The parchment, signed byj. McCord and dated "Die xiv ante Gal Mart Anno Salutis MDCCCLV" is in the MDA, James Reid Papers. TCPR, MS. Address delivered 19 April 1861, 7-8. In 1861, for example, Reid contributed $385; the total amount pledged was $61. TCPR, Vestry Book, 1861, fol. 2. Zech. 1:5. In the course of his memorial sermon, Bancroft recalled, "My last interview was in August last, when I passed a Sunday with him, and preached for him. It was then that we had the conversation to which I have already alluded. But although he was now in his 84th year, his mind appeared to be so clear that I fondly hoped he could have been spared for a few more years longer. He, however, said that he was a dying man." Quoted in "The Late Canon Reid, D.D.," The Canadian Mail and Montreal Weekly Gazette, 3 February 1865, i. Reid mentions Bancroft's visit twice (36:6304, 6306-7), but does not mention the promise he had extracted. "The Late Canon Reid," i. See St Armand East Parish Register (hereafter St AER), 1864, fol. 18, for Reid's burial. The whole was moved by Levi Kemp, seconded by Asa Westover, and adopted unanimously; TCPR, MS. "Minutes of a Special Vestry, Jan. 3oth 1865 re nominating a successor to Canon Reid." "We have been kindly favoured with a copy of the inscription upon a tablet recently placed in the Church of Frelighsburgh, ... [an] appropriate and pleasing memorial to the good Bishop Stewart, ... that the Rev. James Reid ... has been mainly instrumental in erecting." The Church, 6 June 1845, 192. QDA, Reid Collection, Stewart-Reid Letters, i, 6 March 1818. Ibid, 28 March [1818]. See QDA Stewart-Reid Letters, i, 2 May 1818, and Reid-G.J. Mountain Papers, G.J. Mountain to Stewart, 9 May 1818. QDA, Stewart-Reid Letters, i, 25 November 1819. That Reid did contact Strachan, who invited him to send him occasional assistance in the form of "communications," is clear from a letter in the MDA, James Reid Papers, Strachan to Reid, 15 March 1820. QDA, Stewart-Reid Letters, n, 4 December 1827. For example, ibid, 6 February [1822]. Ibid, 7 January 1828. "Dialogue on Precomposed Forms of Public Prayer," Christian Sentinel i,

Notes to pages Ixxi-lxxiii

1 23

124

125 1 26

261

no. iv (1827): 206-9; i, no. v (1827): 270-5; and I, no. vi (1827): 340-4; and "Reflections on the Beauties of Nature," Christian Sentinel i, no. i (1830): 10-1 1. The signature "F-H" could stand for FrelighsburgH, (which Reid preferred to the usual spelling) and is analogous to his later and fully attributed pseudonym S.D. (JameS ReiD). He collected subscriptions for the Church Chronicle for the Diocese of Montreal (see issue of September 1860, 80, for example), and recommended the Church, an Anglican weekly published in the diocese of Toronto to readers of the Missiskoui Standard (see appendix C) . This document, dated 17 March 1835 at Philipsburgh, and bearing eighteen original signatures, is attached to Reid's own bound copies of the Missiskoui Standard, now at McGill University, Rare Books and Special Collections (hereafter MCG). Many issues contain annotations in ink, apparently in Reid's hand. Missiskoui Standard, 21 April 1835, 2. "Our invaluable Correspondent S.D. has taken up the ground which we had marked out for ourselves, in shewing wherein the prosperity of the Townships had been checked at their first settlement by bad administrations. We refer our readers therefore, to S.D.'s esteemed communication, and with the greater pleasure, because the subject is handled so much better than we could have done ourselves." Missiskoui Standard, 1 2 May

127 Missiskoui Post And Canada Record (Stanbridge), 24 June 1835, 3 [italics in original]. From a later article it is confirmed that S.D. is an Anglican clergyman; the writer suggests that S.D.'s loyalty is founded on his stipend: [In the event of Reform] S.D. and his Rev. brethren would perhaps be dependent (sad times) on their own merits, and on the will and good feelings of their Christian brethren for the sums contained in the following table, which we take from a Despatch from Lord Viscount Goderich to Lord Aylmer, dated Downing Street, 24th December, 1 830 [here follows a table of the salary allowances for the bishop of Quebec; the rectors of Montreal, Three Rivers, William Henry (Sorel), Durham, Chatham, Caldwell's Manor, and St Armand; the verger of Quebec and the rent of the Protestant Burial Ground for a total of £5,250/18/6] ... the salvation of upwards 21,000 dollars will pay the Church Politicians for the time and talents they employ in deceiving the people, and upholding the Tory grab-all or catchpenny system of Government which puts that sum into their pockets. The Missiskoui Post, 5 August 1835, 3.

262

Notes to pages Ixxiii-lxxiv

128 Missiskoui Standard, 16 June 1835, 2. The final phrase is clearly a slap at American sentiments. Missiskoui Post, in its turn, makes fun of the Scottishness of the editor of the Missiskoui Standard and of S.D.: "But Jammie'd do muckle weel noo, to gang awa hame, for the people o' the Townships hae coch'd him i' a lee that'll damn him - for sure. From such a man, and from S.D.-ism good Lord deliver us." Editorial, Missiskoui Post, 5 August 1835, 3. 129 See, for example, a letter printed in Missiskoui Post, 5 August 1835, 2, addressed to "S.D. Correspondent of the Standard of falsehoods published at Slab City," and signed "One of the Few Dolts, and No Clergyman." Reid himself refers to Frelighsburg as Slab City (see 18 January 1849). 130 Missiskoui Post, 5 August 1835, 2. See appendix A. 131 Missionary Magazine, 19 June 1797: 287. 132 The Discourse, dedicated to the bishop of Montreal, is 119 pages in length. Reid sent a few copies of it to the SPG, stating modestly: "It is but a humble performance, and unworthy of the Society's acceptance; but inasmuch as I have had, for a long time, the honour of being in their service, I thought it right to send it." SPGA, C/CAN/LC 2 105, Reid to Campbell, n December 1841. 133 Reprinted in the Missiskoui Standard, 7 June 1836, 3; see also appendix C. 134 QDA, Stewart-Reid Letters, n, 19 March 1836. 135 The first, a published pamphlet by "the Rev. J. Abbott, A.M." is countered by Reid in the Missiskoui Standard, 26 July 1836, 2. The second, an annotated copy of Reid's text which was sent anonymously to him through the mail, is refuted in the Missiskoui Standard, 15 November 1836, 2-3. As the comments were in pencil (and perhaps in reference to his correspondent's intellectual mettle), Reid addresses him as "Sir Lead." 136 Montreal Herald, 20 May 1841. 137 Four columns titled "Reflections on the Season" were printed in the Missiskoui Standard between 13 December 1836 and 3 January 1837; the first "Fire Side" appeared 10 January 1837. The series ran until 10 April 1838. Of the sixty-nine essays in the series three are by other hands. A fourth column incorporates a letter from a reader. It is signed "Fanny Cautious" and inquires about the suitability as husbands of the young men who have been courting herself and her two friends "Miranda" and "Fidelia." Although "J.R." makes good capital of the characteristics of the would-be lovers as described to him by "Fanny," one strongly suspects that both this letter and "J.R.'s" answer were to afford considerable hilari-

Notes to pages Ixxv-lxxxii

138 139

140 141

142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150

263

ty to some waggish young persons in the community; from its style it is unlikely that Reid himself had composed it. See the Missiskoui Standard, 21 February 1837, 2. "The Fire Side," no. 41, 26 September 1837, 3. For a brief description of the subject matter of each essay, see appendix C. Reid is here illustrating the traditional claim that the Anglican Church strove to take spiritual responsibility for the whole community; see, for example, Black, "Stablished in the Faith," 33. "The Fire Side," no. 69, 10 April 1838, 3. "Reflections on the Season" [no. i], 13 December 1836, 2. Reid's recurring descriptions of the beauty of field, hill, and woodland reflect an attitude remarked upon by the writer of his obituary: "Dr. Reid's lot happened to be continuously cast, during the last fifty years of his life, in one of the most beautiful village spots in this or any other country; and, up to the last, the old man was keenly alive to the natural beauties which on every side surrounded him. Often of evenings of the last summer of his life, he would sit by his parsonage door, and trace, or fancy he could trace, fantastic forms in the hills and forests around him." "The Late Canon Reid," i. "The Fire Side," [no. 5], lojanuary 1837, 2-3. "The Fire Side," no. 31, 18 July 1837, 2-3. [James Reid], "Frelighsburgh," Church Chronicle for the Diocese of Montreal, 2 (February 1862): 153. Ibid, 157. Ibid, 157. Ibid, 153. TCPR, 4-page MS. endorsed "re Bell." St Armand West Parish Register (hereafter St AWR), 1841, fol. 19. St AWR, 1824, fol. 14.

151

St AER, 1852, fol.

152 153 154 155

Dunham Register (hereafter DR), 1866, item 310. See appendix C. "The Late Canon Reid," i. TCPR, leather-bound book of MS. sermons in Reid's hand (on Gen. 3:8), 11. TCPR, MS. Address dated 19 April 1861, 14-15. MDA, Whitwell Papers, Reid to Whitwell, 24 April 1854 [emphasis Reid's]. QDA, Stewart-Reid Letters, i, 7 September 1819. TCPR, Letterbook, 170, Reid to Strachan, 2 February 1864.

156 157 158 159

22V.

264

Notes to pages Ixxxii-lxxxv

160 See OED, s.v. "hub," 4. Technical and local uses. 161 "Plan and Rules of the Society," Missionary Magazine, 19 February 1798: 62. 162 Volumes 22 and 23 cover a period of thirty-one complete months (discounting the two partial months with which the volumes begin and end). Twenty-five of these months have ten entries or fewer each, i.e., about one-third of the maximum number per month. Volume 25, by contrast, features eleven or more entries in all of the fourteen full months it covers, and one-half of these have fifteen or more entries each. By volume 36, the frequency of entries is somewhat diminished again, though they are still more numerous than in volumes 22 and 23. Three of the eleven full months covered in volume 36 have fewer than ten entries each, whereas five feature fifteen or more entries. The largest number of entries in any given month occurs, incidentally, in volume 36. 163 The following is a breakdown of the number of entries for the winter and summer months throughout the extant diaries. Dashes indicate months which do not fall within the scope of any particular volume. Jan.

Feb.

Jun.

July

Aug.

Dec.

1848 1849

—

—

1851 1852

1? 16

— 11 16 8 — M i — 23

— 9 4 5 — 16 — — 11

— 8 3 — — 18

9 *4 16 —

— — 10

— 27

1850

12

1854

— 23 28

1864

— 29

1853

1863

0

5 3 — 11 — — 12

12 !9

Volume 25 concludes with a single entry in February (2 February 1854). 164 MDA, Whitwell Papers, Reid to Whitwell, 31 October 1846. 165 The diary shows Reid particularly susceptible to depression in the winter, to debilitation in the heat of summer, and to an abnormal degree of nervous anxiety when exposed to the "howl and doleful sound" of the wind. 166 Reid's account of the meeting is quite detailed. "Just as we were waiting for the Omnibus to carry us to wharf, I saw the Bishop passing on the Street. His Lordship came in and staid about ten minutes, till the omnibus started and had a little conversation with him but nothing to record" (36:6293 [b]). Fulford's version suggests that he had gone to Reid's hotel, but, having missed him, came across father and daughter

Notes to pages Ixxxv—4

167

168

169 170 171

172 173

265

just before their departure: "to see Canon Reid & his daughter, who were at the Ottawa [Hotel] - he is in his 85th year [84th, actually] - seems well and hearty - he was just leaving for Frelighsburgh & said he should never see me again -"MDA, Fulford Papers, RG 2.1 n, Private Journal Voliv. "The Rural Dean cannot close this Report without alluding to the circumstance of the removal from amongst us, during the last year, of a highly respected father in the ministry of the Church, in the person of the Rev. Canon Reid, D.D., late Rector of St. Armand E., who, at a ripe old age, has entered, we trust, upon the promised reward and rest of Christ's faithful servants." MDA, Proceedings of the Seventh Synod of the Diocese of Montreal, 57. The Annual Report of the Incorporated Church Society of the Diocese of Montreal (published in 1866), 13, also made brief reference to Reid's death. "The Late Canon Reid," i. The author was probably Brown Chamberlin, one of the proprietors of the Gazette and former resident of Frelighsburg. It is a fine tribute to Reid, both as a parish priest and as a man, and occupies over half of the front page. Thomas Mallon, A Book of One's Own: People and Their Diaries (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books 1986), xvii. There are several photographs of Reid in the TCPR. The MCHA and the BCHSA preserve copies of the lithograph. See, for example, Cyrus Thomas, who knew Reid by reputation and was to write shortly after his death Contributions to the History of the Eastern Townships: A Work Containing an Account of the Early Settlement ofSt Armand, Dunham, Sutton, Brome, Potion and Bolton; With a History of the Principal Events That Have Transpired in Each of These Townships Up to the Present Time (Montreal: John Lovell 1866), 86. Cited in Mallon, A Book of One's Own, 129. "The Late Canon Reid," i. VOLUME 22

1 James Malcolm Reid (1820-50), Reid's third son. 2 The TCPR preserve the minute book of the "Frelighsburg Trinity Church Sewing Society" (hereafter Sewing Society Minutes) which records the society's activities from its founding on 4 November 1846 to 6 August 1857. "The proceeds of the articles made up by the members of this society," the book begins, "will when sold be applied to the dressing of the Desk, Pulpet [sic] and Chancel of Trinity Church - or in any other way for the internal improvement of the Church as shall be agreed upon by the

266

3 4 5 6

7 8

9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16

Notes to pages 4—7

members at a regular meeting." Reid's entry refers to the loist meeting which took place, as was usual, on a Wednesday, but he has miswritten his date as the gth (a Thursday). The minutes confirm that it was held on 8 November 1848 at the parsonage with ten present. See Sewing Society Minutes, i and 68. James Stewart Reid (1823-66), q.v., Reid's youngest son. OrenJocelin Kemp (1795-1866), q.v. Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine first published i April 1817; The Albion, or British, Colonial, and Foreign Weekly Gazette (New York), published 1822-76. John Strachan (1778-1867), consecrated first bishop of Toronto in 1839. The Church, a Church of England newspaper founded at Cobourg 12 August 1837, was published in Toronto from 7 April 1848 until 26 July 1855 and subsequently in Hamilton. In the Pastoral Letter Strachan views the cholera as a visitation "to arrest this torrent of ungodliness" in Europe, particularly the pressure to secularize education in France, Italy and Germany: "This fatal error poisons all the principles of moral life in their source, ... The nations have despised God, and trampled on His revelations and therefore He has left them to their own devices." The Church, 9 November 1848, 58. Ezek. 37:1-14. See especially Exodus, chapters 25-31, and 35-40. For a contemporary discussion of this issue, see the Berean (Quebec), which reprints a lecture by the Rev. W. Williams, MA, Vicar of St Bartholomew Hyde, Winchester, under the headings "Personal Responsibility" and "The Right of Private Judgment"; 24 August 1848, 84, and 31 August 1848, 19. For the instance of Korah, see Num. 16:1-35. Isa. 42:8. Mark 16:16. The Rev. Charles Peter Reid (1811-88), q.v., Reid's eldest son. Reid writes "the man that should minister as Priests" in MS. See Lev. 10:1-2 and John 1:17. Although Article vn ("Of the Old Testament") of the Articles of Religion, or Thirty-Nine Articles, does declare that "the Old Testament is not contrary to the New," it also states that "the Law given from God by Moses, as touching Ceremonies and Rites, do not bind Christian men." BCP. Isabella Reid (1786-1868), q.v., Reid's wife. Dr Joshua Chamberlin (1799-1883), q.v. and his wife Jane, nee Westover. In volume 25 Reid gives 1823 as the year he moved into the parsonage, and furnishes a detailed account of what the building had cost him up to that date (25:4514). The SPG Annual Report for 1824 (14O)> affirms that

Notes to pages j—8

17

18

19 20

21

267

Reid personally contributed almost one-third of the cost of its construction. Although Reid did not own a house, in 1832 he had purchased a twenty-acre lot on the bank of Pike River not far from the parsonage. ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Sale & Conveyance, the Revd James Reid toj. Chamberlin, no. 4211, 19 March 1855. Evidence of Reid's involvement in education is considerable; see, for example, MHSA, ji 1-3, "Register & Rect. Book of the Corporation of School Commissioners for the Municipality of Frelighsburg in the County of Missisquoi," i, 1842-57, which shows Reid served as common school commissioner and chairman from 10 January 1842 to 7 July 1845. Also ANQQ, Ministere de 1'education, Quebec, £0013, lettres recues 1842-43, art. 247, no. 138; lettres recues 1843-44, art. 288, no. 613; and lettres recues 1844-45, art- 2 ^9' no- 1113> a^so MCGA, Hale Papers, 1845, Reid to Edward Hale, 13 February 1845. The enormity of Kemp's snub to Reid should not be underestimated: "Perhaps there was no more popular place of meeting than the country store. After the day's work was over, it was customary for many of the men of the neighborhood, especially the farmers' hired men, who had no other place of amusement to go to, to gather here ... have a chat, ... hear politics discussed, and generally learn all the latest news. ... language was often used that was neither polite nor edifying; still this can be said to their credit, they generally managed to show a respectful air if a lady or clergyman entered, " [italics mine] [Michael Gonder Scherck], Pen Pictures of Early Pioneer Life in Upper Canada By a "Canuck" (of the Fifth Generation) (Toronto: William Briggs 1905), 81-2. For a vivid contemporary account of O.J. Kemp's social position and political opinions, see Lewis B. Hibbard, "Something About the Olden Times in Missisquoi, St. Johns, Etc." Third Report of the Missisquoi County Historical Society (St Johns, PQ: News Typ. 1908), 83. Anson Kemp (1802-65), q.v., and James Lee (1806-65), q.v. "The candidates for Missisquoi are Mr. Badgley, the new Attorney-General for Lower Canada, and Mr. Gugy, the late Adjutant-General of Militia. The Montreal Herald says that Col. Gugy, notwithstanding his ultra-conservatism, will have the support of the entire radical party, with a few exceptions ... The Herald, however, adds that Mr. Badgley's success is quite certain, although his majority will not be so large [a]s was Mr. Smith's at the last election." Quebec Gazette, 2 June 1847, 2. Possibly Reid's refusal to vote was seen as support for the Radicals' choice. Badgley's majority was a mere 168 f11 June 1847, 2). Reid writes "and by a third the Crown Land agency was wanted by a third" in MS.

268

Notes to pages 8—$

22 Reid probably refers to the appointments of Anson Kemp as "Collector of Customs at the Port of Frelighsburgh," as published in the Canada Gazette, 6 June 1846, 2901, and of "OrinJ. Kemp, of St. Armand" as "Agent for the sale of Crown Lands ... in the room of Samuel Wood, Esquire, deceased"; 15 April 1848, 5274. The third allusion may be to Dr Chamberlin's nephew Brown, who was admitted to the practice of the law in August 1850 and would therefore have been preparing himself for the Bar during the period mentioned; see the Montreal Gazette, 6 August 1850, 2. 23 James Smith (1806-68), member for Missisquoi in the Legislative Assembly, and appointed attorney general for Lower Canada (1844-47). For an example of his election pledges, see his open letter, "To the Free and Independent Electors of the County of Missisquoi," dated 7 October 1844, in which he promised his "warmest support" for the farming interest of this county, in the Montreal Transcript and Commercial Advertiser, 10-24 October 1844. Smith resigned his seat 22 April 1847 when he became puisne judge of the Court of Queen's Bench; seeJ.-C. Bonenfant, "James Smith," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 13 vols (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1966-), 9:728. 24 Probably Patience Kemp, nee Baker (1800-68), q.v., wife of O.J. Kemp. Mrs Kemp made a similar appeal to Reid on a later occasion (25:4651-2). 25 Daniel Westover (1809-86), q.v. 26 The Independent Order of Rechabites was established in the United States in 1842, and in Canada 27 May 1844; see the Family Christian Almanac for 1848 Compiled by R.D. Wadsworth (Montreal: Lovell and Gibson [1848]), 99. A contemporary Townships paper writes: "The principles of this society, we are told, bind its members to drink no wine or strong drink, and not to traffic in intoxicating liquors. We believe it is a benefit society, a fund being created, to assist the members in sickness &c." StansteadJournal and Eastern Townships Advocate (Rock Island), 28 December 1848, 2. The event Reid refers to, described in the press as "a Temperance Festival Meeting," took place 7 September 1848 on the farm of G.C. Dyer at 11 a.m., and was attended by more than 500 persons; Stanstead Journal, 26 October 1848, 2. The young man in question was probably Simeon Rodman Whitman of St Armand East (born 1828) who, in 1848, was still a bachelor. There was another Simeon Whitman, living in the same district, but, as he was then a married man aged seventy-three, he is an unlikely candidate. 27 Asa Westover (1817-1902), q.v., and perhaps Lucinda Knoulton, nee Nash, his wife; they were recently married and had no children. The party might have included members of Asa's brother Daniel's family.

Notes to pages 9—11

269

28 The Rev. Joseph Scott (1811-65). For a sketch of Scott's life, see Thomas R. Millman, A Short History of the Parish of Dunham Quebec ([Granby, PQ] : Granby Printing and Publishing Co. 1946), 21-7. 29 The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (hereafter SPG) "was incorporated by Royal Charter, in the year 1701, for the purpose of maintaining Clergymen and providing for the worship of God in the Plantations, Colonies, and Factories of England beyond the Seas, and for the propagation of the Gospel in those parts. Its operations are uniformly conducted on the principles of the Church of England." Summary Account of The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts Corrected to October 1847 (London: Office of the Society [1847]), 3. The SPG had been supporting a clergyman in the Dunham area since 1804 in the person of the Rev. C.C. Cotton, whose death in 1845 had left a vacancy. 30 Acts 16:31. 31 "New" is written in double-size, lower case letters in the MS. 32 Luke 10:4. 33 Nancy Reid (1828-56), q.v., Reid's younger daughter. 34 Dr Sherman Painter Barnum (1803-57), q.v. 35 Reid had spent his first nineteen years on the duke of Athol's estate. 36 Reid is probably referring to a Canada Gazette Extra, issued late Saturday evening, containing the proclamation to recall Parliament on 18 January 1849 instead of 21 December 1848 as previously published (Montreal Gazette, 11 December 1848). The regular issue of the Canada Gazette, which also contained the proclamation (6009), did not appear until 16 December 1848, too late for Reid's entry of 13 December. 37 Bartholomew Conrad Augustus Gugy (1796-1876) sued the Hon. Francis Hincks (1807-85) for libel over material printed in the Pilot and Journal of Commerce, a Montreal newspaper closely associated with the latter's name. For the charge to the special jury in the case, see the Montreal Gazette, 6 December 1848, 2: "The Jury, after being absent from Court about twenty minutes, returned with a verdict for the Defendant. The announcement was received with a hearty burst of applause, which was promptly suppressed by His Honour." 38 Rev. 21:8. 39 Jane Reid (1825-1901), q.v., Reid's elder daughter, was, as the Sewing Society Minute book attests, the most faithful of the family in attending such meetings. Thirteen were present at this io6th meeting hosted by Mary Reynolds, nee Kemp (1788-1856), q.v., widow of Thomas Reynolds; TCPR, Sewing Society Minutes, 53.

270

Notes to pages 12—13

40 Doctors Chamberlin and Barnum. Sarah Barnum, nee Chamberlin (1816-92), was Chamberlin's niece. 41 Jonathan Stickney (born 1805), lived on the road to Dunham; he seems to have been a farmer and not a store owner. The Montreal Markets for the week quote mutton per quarter at 2/6-7/6, "turkies old" at 5/~5/8 "per couple," and "turkies young" at 2/9-4/9 "Per couple"; Montreal Gazette, 13 December 1848. 42 Aquila Knap (0785-1877), q.v., and his brother Moses occupied neighbouring farms. 43 James Knox Polk (1795-1849), nth president of the United States. Reid refers to Folk's Fourth Annual Message to Congress, 5 December 1848; see James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 9 vols (Washington, DC: By Authority of Congress 1901), 4:629-70. 44 Gold had been discovered at John A. Sutler's mill, near Sacramento, California, 24 January 1848; by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed 2 February in the same year, Mexico had recognized Texas as part of the U.S. and ceded more than 500,000 square miles of territory. 45 Mat. 24:6 and Mark 13:7. The AV reads "wars and rumours of wars" in both passages. 46 Rev. 12:14; Rev. 11:2 and 13:5; Rev. 11:3; Rev. 13:18. Reid refers to consulting the commentary of Mant's Family Bible in 1853 (25:4628). It in fact contains two explanations of the number of the Beast. If he was familiar with this work in 1848, he does not seem to have found its anti-Catholic interpretation of "the idolatrous Roman power" a "satisfactory explanation". The Holy Bible According to The Authorized Version; with Notes, Explanatory and Practical... Prepared and Arranged by the Rev. George D 'Oyly, B.D. and the Rev. Richard Mant, 2 vols (Oxford: Bensley, Cooke, and Collingwood for the SPCK 1817), 2: note on Rev. 13:18. 47 Holy Communion was celebrated infrequently at this period. In 1838 Reid reported that he gave the Sacrament four times a year: see QDA, Diocesan Papers, i, St Armand, Supplementary, Questionnaire for 1838, 4 August 1838. By 1864 he administered it somewhat oftener, "six times in the year, once in the two months"; TCPR, Reid to Hawkins, 9 January 1864. 48 John McAdam and Frederick Plummer Heath. As becomes clear in the entry for 8 January 1849, McAdam was considering going to live with James to help with farm work. 49 The hostess of the meeting, the io8th, was probably Paulina Lagrange, nee Reynolds; ten members were present. See TCPR, Sewing Society Minutes, 53.

Notes to pages 13-14

271

50 Alexander Cooper (01779-1855), q.v., Reid's hired man. The term "poor old man" seems to be a term of affection, for Sandy was not more than a year older than Reid. 51 Cook's Corner, or Cooksville, three miles west of Frelighsburg, later known as St Armand Centre. Reid held additional services there in what he describes as "a most excellent School house capable of accommodating more than 100 persons." MDA, Mountain-Reid Papers, Questionnaire of 10 July 1845. 52 The church societies of the dioceses of Quebec and Toronto had been incorporated under 7 Victoria, c. LXVIII. Under its constitution and bylaws, money subscribed to the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec through parochial branches was to be remitted to a central board for diocesan use, but some funds could be retained for approved local projects. Reid's parochial branch, formed under the auspices of the District Association of Missisquoi, was founded 22 June 1843; its records (PCS Minutes) extend from this date up to 16 August 1862 and are found in the TCPR. 53 For an account of this meeting, which Reid chaired, see TCPR, PCS Minutes, 25. The collectors appointed were Misses Maria Kemp "in the Village"; Sarah Toof, "Cook's Corner"; Elizabeth Staniland, "East of Village"; Julia Westover, "Westover Settlemt"; Mary Kemp, "Knap Settlement"; and Mary Elizabeth Kemp, "Henry Baker Settlemt." The "Society's bounty" refers not to that of the Church Society, but of the SPG. 54 In Reid's day the thirty-ninth Psalm formed part of The Order for the Burial of the Dead in the BCP so the service he held would have somewhat resembled a proper funeral. The child's burial is not noted in the register. The prayer from "Dr. Stewart's Book" was probably taken from Two Sermons on Family Prayer, ... and a Collection of Prayers, Selected and Compiled by the Hon. and Rev. Charles Stewart... (Montreal: Nahum Mower 1814). For confirmation of the family's church-going habits see the census of 1851 which lists Chadburn's denominational affiliation as "No Religion"; see NAC, CE Census 1851, Missisquoi County, Dunham Township, dist. no. 3, p. 140. Unless otherwise specified, all subsequent references to the CE Census are to Missisquoi County. 55 Alexander Neil Bethune (1800-79), archdeacon of York. Bethune had been the first editor of the Church, but had resigned in 1847 to become Bishop Strachan's chief administrative assistant; see Arthur N. Thompson, "Alexander Neil Bethune," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 10:53, 5556 Reid disapproved of dancing, but this was not a typical Anglican attitude; see Nancy Christie, "Tn These Times of Democratic Rage and Delusion':

272

57

58

59 60

61

Notes to page 15

Popular Religion and the Challenge to the Established Order," in The Canadian Protestant Experience 1760-1990, ed. G.A. Rawlyk (Burlington, Ont.: Welch Publishing Company Inc. 1990), 29-30, and G.P. deT. Glazebrook, The Church of England in Upper Canada (unpublished typescript, 1982), 56. Bishop Mountain's daughter Kate was particularly fond of dancing as her letters attest; see Donald C. Masters and Marjorie W. Masters, Ten Rings on the Oak, 1847-1856: The Mountain-Nicolls Family Story (Lennoxville: Bishop's University 1987), 88-9. Similar accounts appeared in local newspapers as well. See, for example, the Stanstead Journal for 14 December 1848, 2, where it is reported that flour was selling for $65 a barrel, spades at $14 apiece, pork at $2 a pound, "and other articles in proportion." The accounts show, under the date 24 January 1849, that "Mrs. Westover" had had two dresses made, at 4/6 and 5/. She paid for these and other items on 31 January of that year; see TCPR, Sewing Society Minutes, 47. O.J. Kemp, lieutenant-colonel of the Missisquoi militia, had three daughters: Maria, Patience, and Emily. Lydia Baker Guy was a cousin who, by 1851, was living with the Stevens Baker family; see NA, CE Census 1851, Dunham Township, dist. no. 2, p. 75. See ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson: Substitution: John McAdam and Frederick P. Heath, no. 2531, 8 January 1849. The village of Philipsburg was originally known as Missiskoui Bay and later as merely the Bay; see George H. Montgomery, Missisquoi Bay (Philipsburg, Que.) (Granby, PQ: Granby Printing and Publishing Co, Ltd 1950), 5. Contemporary newspaper advertisements extolled the efficacy of such preparations as "Dr. Warren's Sarsaparilla, Tomato and Wild Cherry Physical Bitters" which, at fifty cents a bottle, claimed to be a "safe, speedy and effectual remedy for Scrofulous, Mercurial and Cutaneous Diseases; Jaundice, Indigestion, Dyspepsia, bilious Disorders, Liver Complaints, cositiveness, weak and sore Stomach, Ulcers, and running Sores, swelling of the Limbs, Pain in the bones, Tumors in the throat, Rheumatic Affections, Salt Rheum, Erysipelas, bad humors, Eruptions on the face or body, cancerous sores, King's Evil, chronic catarrh, Languor, Debility, Headache, Dizziness, sallow complexion, and all those disorders which arise from the abuse of mercury, or from an impure taint in the blood, no matter how acquired." Stanstead Journal, 21 December 1848, 3. Even more extravagant claims were made for "Dr. Rush's Infallible Health Pills," which promised "to search out disease, and to cure it, no matter where situated, or how long it

Notes to pages 15—16

62

63

64 65

66 67

273

has existed; nothing can resist their power." Montreal Transcript, 27 April 1848,4. Postmasters themselves rendered quarterly accounts not later than twentyfour days after the end of each quarter, as the bonds posted for postmasters show; see ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Leon Lalanne; Bond: Andrew Hawley, Revd James Reid and Jacob Cook, 10 September 1828. James Liddell, blacksmith and native of Edinburgh, who had come to St Armand in 1832, and Franklin Weymouth Chadburn (c 1814-50). Probably Liddell meant that Chadburn had killed one of his own four children. Liddell seems to have had only one child, who had died, aged five, six years earlier; St AER, 1842, fol. 14. Levi Kemp (1793-1868), q.v., was one of three licenced tavern-keepers in St Armand East. A contemporary recalled, almost certainly of Liddell, "I went to his shop ... as a little boy, and found him half-seas-over, but a perfect Hercules at his forge ... Once while he was shaping the article for which I was waiting, he suddenly brought down his hammer on the anvil ... and looking me fiercely in the face, said: 'Boy, don't you ever believe more than half you hear, and half of what you may believe is a d d lie,' and the look and words were ... branded into my youthful memory." Hibbard, "Something About the Olden Times," 84. The Rev. James Jones (1787-1879), incumbent at Bedford and Stanbridge. Rebecca Toof, nee Ganson (1797-1869), widow of David Toof. This meeting was the society's logth, attended by nine; TCPR, Sewing Society Minutes, 53. The Toofs and Tittemores lived close to each other; it is probably Leonard Tittemore, wheelwright, who is referred to. See NA, CE Census 1851, St Armand East, dist. no. i, p. i. Maria Kemp (1821-64), q.v., O.J. Kemp's eldest daughter. What Charles objected to in the proceedings of the Church Society is unclear, but it is worth mentioning that, at a special meeting held on 18 May 1848, the central board had rescinded article 12 of the constitution of the society, replacing it with another requiring that "subscriptions and donations to the Society, shall, after collection, be paid over entire" [italics mine] to the central board. The Proceedings of the meeting include a table of the collections and expenditures of all the parishes in the diocese; Charles's parish had collected £59/10/0 in that year, but had spent it all "for local purposes" and not remitted any sum to the parent society. The central board had decreed that a special sermon was to be preached in every parish on Quinquagesima, the collection to be made on that occasion being reserved "for the general purposes of the Society." Eligibility of

274

Notes to pages 16—17

a parish for future grants was made contingent on the delivery of this sermon. The approach of Quinquagesima (18 February in 1849) might well have provoked Charles to feel the irritation he expressed in his letter. See Proceedings of a Special Meeting of the Incorporated Church Society Held at Montreal, May 18, 1848. (Montreal: Lovell and Gibson 1848). The resentment felt by rural clergymen would have been further aggravated by the exemption granted to churches in the cities of Quebec and Montreal, in respect of the remittance of contributions. See the Berean, 25 May 1848, 35. None of the available registers, of whatever denomination, for St Armand contains a record of Mrs Clark's burial, but she may well have belonged to a sect which, at that time, did not have the right to keep registers, one such being the locally active Millerites (or Adventists). 69 The Montreal Transcript, a conservative paper, began publishing 4 October 1836. Cholera figures for a wide region appeared in the local press; Malcolm's estimate is higher than that in the Stanstead Journal, for example: "A despatch from New Orleans dated 23d inst, states that 'Seventy-nine new cases of the cholera have occurred at the Charity hospital since the 2Oth and new cases were hourly brought in. - Three merchants have died. The community is greatly excited, in consequence of the Board of Health having declared the disease epidemic.'" 4January 1849, 2. 70 Malcolm went into the retail dry goods business about 1843. His shop was located at loiVi Notre Dame Street, Montreal; see Robert W.S. MacKay, The Montreal Directory for 1843-4, Containing, First, An Alphabetical Directory of the Citizens Generally; Second, A Directory to the Assurance Companies, Banks, National, Religious and Benevolent Societies and Institutions, and to All Public Offices, Churches, Etc., in the City; And, Third, A Classified Business Directory ... (Montreal: Lovell and Gibson [1843]), 265 and addenda, xii. He continues to be listed, under the name James M. Reid, until 1845-46. On i July 1846, as the court record shows, the Bank of British North America requested that a summons be issued to James M. Reid to appear on 6 July 1846, on which day he "made default" and proceedings were instituted against him. A long list of creditors was drawn up, including the Rev. James Reid, who claimed £1017/13/9. A certificate of discharge was finally granted 16 April 1847; Pre-archives, Ministere de la Justice, Montreal (hereafter PMJ), Court of Bankruptcy for the District of Montreal, Judgments 1846, no. 2, 491-501. The notice of his discharge appeared in the Canada Gazette, 29 May 1847, 4463. Charles Geddes, merchant, was appointed his "assignee" in 1846, to dispose of the remaining assets and pay the creditors any money remaining. As we shall see, he did not fill this function satisfactorily.

Notes to pages 17-19

275

71 Reid had purchased lot no. 31, 'the Cross Lot,' in 1834 for £53/3/6; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Leon Lalanne; Deed of Sale: Nathan Cross Jr to The Reverend James Reid, no. 89, 16 July 1834. The transfer to James "for and in consideration of the price or sum of £87/10" had been effected in 1845; Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Sale and Conveyance: James Reid to James S. Reid, no. 1814, 14 August 1845. The Brome purchase, also notarized by Dickinson, was made by Reid from John Roach and William Jones, and cost him £212/10; Sale and Conveyance, no. 2310, 14 February 1848. 72 Reid probably alludes to the Bakers of Dunham, descended from Joseph Baker of Petersham, Massachusetts; see Cyrus Thomas, Contributions to the History of the Eastern Townships (Montreal: John Lovell 1866), 119. Mrs O.J. Kemp was a daughter of Joseph Baker. The proximity of American towns such as Franklin, Berkshire and St Albans, Vermont, as well as family ties across the border, encouraged frontier residents to cross back and forth for business or pleasure, rather than to travel to St Johns where dancing lessons would have been equally available. 73 There were three William Bakers in the vicinity. The meeting, the i loth, was attended by ten; TCPR, Sewing Society Minutes, 53. 74 Probably the three unmarried daughters of the late Dr Brown Chamberlin: Charity, Mary Ann, and Almira. 75 Sawmill towns were frequently called Slab City, as the nine towns so named in Vermont alone attest; see Esther Munroe Swift, Vermont Place-Names: Footprints of History (Brattleboro: The Stephen Greene Press 1977). According to Cyrus Thomas, the "not very complimentary name 'Slab City'" for Frelighsburg was still in common use in 1866; see Contributions, 91. 76 Reid's entry in the register quotes from the coroner's report that James Carty died on 18 January 1849 "by the accidental falling of a small tree, in an unexpected direction. It having fallen upon his head, fractured his scull and caused immediate death." St AER, 1848, fol. 14. 77 Margaret Carty, nee Armstrong (1812-86), q.v., was married in 1833. In 1836 Carty had bought a farm for £87/10, of which he paid down £13/15 and made the final payment in 1838; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Leon Lalanne; George Hawk & Joseph J. Hawk to James Carry, no. 436, 22 August 1836. A second purchase, involving the same parties, was completed in 1840; Notarial Records (Bedford): Leon Lalanne; the same to the same, no. 2602, i January 1840. When his father died the youngest Carty child was less than a year old. 78 Elizabeth Hagan, nee Mitchell. Her husband James had died, age fortyeight, on 24 August 1848; St AER, 1848, fol. 9.

276

Notes to pages 19—20

79 Laprairie was the crossing point for traffic to Montreal from the south. In winter, would-be travellers to the city from a distance depended on the press for news of the safety of the ice on the river. When Reid and James set out it had been passable for less than a week: "The ice opposite the city has become now s[t]ationary to Laprairie, and it is expected that the crossing will be soon good if the present weather continues. A carriage crossed yesterday." Montreal Gazette, 12 January 1849. Archibald Hall (1812-68) was a Montreal-born, Scottish-trained physician; see E.H. Bensley, "Archibald Hall," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 9:357-8. 80 St George's was at this time located on St Joseph Street; Divine Service was held at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.; see MacKay, The Montreal Directory ... 1849, 348. The Rev. William Turnbull Leach (1805-86) was not only the incumbent of St George's Church (usually referred to as St George's Chapel), but also vice principal of the University of McGill College, where he lived on campus; see Edward Andrew Collard, "William Turnbull Leach," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 9:502-4, and MacKay, The Montreal Directory ... 1849, 143- At the convocation held "in the College Hall" on 5 May 1849 only one honorary degree was granted, that of DCL, "conferred upon the Rev. W.T. Leach." Montreal Transcript, 10 May 1849, 2. 81 The Rev. William Bennett Bond (1815-1906) had been appointed as Leach's assistant at St George's in 1848, and on Leach's retirement in 1862 became rector; see G.F.C. Smith, "Reminiscences of St. George's Church and Parish," inj. Douglas Borthwick, History of the Diocese of Montreal 1850-1910 (Montreal: John Lovell & Son Limited 1910), 210-1. Bond would eventually become bishop of Montreal (1901) and Primate of All Canada (1904). 82 Probably the Rev. David Robertson, chaplain to the Forces, Montreal, and the Rev. John Irwin, incumbent at St Thomas' Chapel, Quebec suburbs, Montreal. 83 The Rev. Alexander Digby Campbell had been "presented to the Incumbency of Trinity Church, Montreal, by the Trustees under the will of the late Major Prenderleath Christie, the founder of that church," and took up his duties 6 May 1848; see the Berean, 17 February 1848, 186, and 11 May 1848, 215. "His ministrations resulted in disappointment, and ultimately in total failure. Mr Campbell was very unpopular, and he alienated the congregation so much that, as the records of the vestry meetings show, he was on several occasions alone, or with only one other person present, ... In the end (in 1858) he was induced to retire from the rectorship ... for a pecuniary consideration." Henry Mott, Jubilee History of Trinity Church Montreal 1840-1890 (Montreal: John Lovell & Son [1890]),

Notes to page 20

277

17-18. Christ Church, Montreal, was at this time located on Notre Dame Street. 84 Bond "had not enjoyed the benefit of a college or university education," and, as a contemporary writes, "I once heard him say at a public meeting, 'Books! I have no time to read books,'" Frank Dawson Adams, A History of Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal (Montreal: Burton's Limited 1941), 156. He was to be awarded the degrees of MA (honoris causa), University of Bishop's College, 1854; LL.D. (honoris causa), McGill University, 1870; and DD (jure dignitatis), University of Bishop's College, 1901; see Owsley Robert Rowley, The Anglican Episcopate of Canada and Newfoundland (Milwaukee, Wis.: Morehouse Publishing Co. 1928), 67. 85 William Lyman was vice president of the City Bank in 1849; see MacKay, The Montreal Directory ... 1849, 332. While Reid was in Montreal, a notice appeared in the press that "in conformity with the Provisions of the i7th section of the Act of incorporation," a special general meeting of the shareholders of the City Bank was called for 3 March at noon, "to take into consideration, and decide on the propriety either of assessing themselves, to make good the losses incurred, or of reducing the value of the Shares of the Bank," Montreal Gazette, 24 January 1849, i. By late February, the same paper listed City Bank stock discounted at forty-five per cent; 28 February 1849, 2. After the meeting, City Bank stock was sold at auction as low as fifty per cent discount; 7 March 1849, 3. In June, "A very full Annual meeting of the City Bank Stockholders was held ... on Monday, the 4th instant... The President, John G. Mackenzie, Esq., addressed the meeting relative to the affairs of the Bank, after which William Murray, Esq., offered a resolution to the meeting, that the affairs of the Bank should be wound up as early as possible." Montreal Herald, cited by the Quebec Mercury, 7 June 1849, 2. The motion was opposed, however, and a new board of directors was elected; the bank "was compelled to sacrifice one quarter of its capital to maintain its solvency." Adam Shortt, "Founders of Canadian Banking: The Hon. Adam Ferric, Reformer, Merchant, and Financier," Journal of the Canadian Bankers' Association 32, no. i (ig24):59. 86 Between the 18305 and 186os much of the travel from the townships to Montreal was by way of Pike River village, and four stages carrying mail stopped there daily; see A.W., "Pike River: The Lowest Village on the Bank of the River of the Same Name," in Third Report of the Missisquoi County Historical Society (StJohns, PQ: News Typ. 1908), 52. An early map indicates "Half Way House" on the road from Laprairie to St Johns on the south bank of the Montreal River, a tributary of the Richelieu River; see Joseph Bouchette, Topographical Map of Lower Canada shewing its division into Dis-

278

Notes to pages 20-1

tricts, Counties, Seigniories & Townships, with all the Lands reserved for the Crown & the Clergy, &c. &c, London: W. Faden, 12 August 1815. 87 The attendance (twenty-five) at this, the iiath, meeting, held at Anson Kemp's, was actually greater than usual; TCPR, Sewing Society Minutes, 53. 88 John Hugh Reid (1813-64), Reid's second son, was probably working in the lumber camps near St Croix Falls, Wisconsin, on the St Croix River, where "the predominance of Canadians and Yankees in the camps and on the rafts" is reported; see Marcus Lee Hansen, The Mingling of the Canadian and American Peoples, ed. John Bartlet Brebner (New Haven: Yale University Press 1940), 131. Reid refers to John's working in the woods, lumbering "100 miles up the River from St. Croix," in December 1852 as well (25:4537)89 Prosper Cutler (c 1749-1849), miller. 90 James Liddell had married Mary Jane Gibson, a minor, in 1844, less than a year after the death of his first wife, Arethusa Cross; St AER, 1843, fols 9, 22.

91 The minot and the Winchester bushel were both used as legal measures, the former favoured by French-Canadian farmers. 92 Maria Hurlbut, the eldest daughter of Abel Hurlbut (1792-1883), q.v., and his wife Mary, had died 27 December 1846, aged twenty-four; St AER, 1846, fol. 14. The cup purchased with her legacy is preserved among the communion plate at Grace Church, Sutton. The inscription reads "The Gift of the late Maria Hurlbut to the Episcopal Church Sutton." It is a twohandled chalice, "quite lovely and of a unique style." I am indebted to the Rev. Grahame C. Thompson, former rector of Grace Church, for this description. 93 George Savage & Son, a firm of jeweller-watchmakers and engraver-lithographers, was located at the corner of Notre Dame and St Gabriel Streets, Montreal; the firm's advertisement in MacKay, The Montreal Directory ... 1849 (303) states: "They also continue to manufacture Forks, Spoons, ... Goblets, Cups and Trays of Silver, warranted in point of workmanship and quality, equal to any imported." Since i June 1847, O.J. Kemp had been co-partner in his son Elijah's store in Sutton Flats. He was, furthermore, in the habit of earmarking half his Church Society contribution for Sutton Church (25:4562); see ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Dissolution of Copartnership: Elijah Kemp with & to Oren J. Kemp, no. 3287, 8 March 1852. 94 Reid has failed to note a change of date; the register shows that Mary Sager, nee Carr, was buried on 4 February 1849 (a Monday); St AER, 1849, fol. 3. Pigeon Hill, formerly known as Sagersfield, had had a Methodist

Notes to pages 2i-2

279

society since 1804; the chapel alluded to dated from 1825; see Thomas, Contributions, 44. 95 Probably William Stewart Holsapple of St Armand West. His mother was a Sager. Polly [Mary] Sager and William S. Holsapple were sponsors at the baptism of Margaret Holsapple, the latter's sister, St AWR, 1832, fol. 996 Pong (otherwise pung), derived presumably from torn-pong or tow-pong of Algonquian origin was used in New England to mean a rude box on runners or a sleigh with a box-shaped body. Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language, 1981. The vehicle was popular in other border townships such as Potton; see extracts from the diary of Eliza Ann White in Doris White Cameron, "The White Family of Potton Township," in Yesterdays ofBrome County (Knowlton, PQ: Brome County Historical Society 1988), 7:206. 97 Anne Lagrange, nee Guthrie, age twenty-nine, died 3 February 1849; St AER, 1849, fol. 2. Isaac Lagrange and David Guthrie signed as witnesses to her burial. Reid had married William Shillinglaw, "Bachelor and Mechanic," and Anne Guthrie, spinster, after publication of banns, 27 October 1842; St AER, 1842, fol. 7v. Isaac Lagrange, bachelor, and Ann[e] Guthrie, spinster, were married 14 August 1848 by the Rev. John Jenkins, Montreal; St James Street Methodist Church Register, 1848, fol. igv. Lagrange's mother Lucretia, nee Luke, had been a widow since 1846; the census shows her living with her son Isaac in 1851; NA, CE Census, St Armand East, dist. no. i, p. 3. 98 Reid owned a copy of The Poems of Robert Burns (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd 1812), with an engraved portrait of the poet as frontispiece. This small volume, signed by Reid on the flyleaf, is in the editor's possession, the gift of the Rev. Thomas R. Millman, who had received it from a daughter of the Rev. J.B. Davidson, Reid's curate and successor. 99 Henry Baker (1787-1852), q.v., and his wife Abigail, nee Ayer; see St AER, 1849, fol. 3. 100 Richard Van Vleit Freligh (1781-1849), q.v., whose father had purchased the grist, saw and fulling mills in the village, together with 200 acres of land; see "The Freligh Family: From Whom Frelighsburg Is Named," in The Second Report of the Missisquoi County Historical Society (St Johns, PQ: Missisquoi County Historical Society 1907), 49. 101 Armine Wale Mountain (1823-85), eldest son of Bishop G.J. Mountain, had been ordained priest in 1846; he was at this time private secretary to the bishop and secretary of the Church Society: see the Berean, 4 November 1847, 126. For an account of this meeting and the resolutions

28o

102 103

104 105

106

107

Notes to pages 22—4 passed, see TCPR, PCS Minutes, 26. The attendance is not noted, but the minutes do name R. Dickinson, James Lee, Jonathan Stickney, Asa and Daniel Westover, Aquila and Moses Knap, and Capt. Henry and Louis Baker as taking part. The Rev. Richard Whitwell (1787-1864), incumbent at Philipsburg. From a raffish Scottish ballad entitled, "Come Under My Plaidie," 11. 2, 10. I am indebted to T.R. Millman for this identification. For a printed version, see the British Library, Named Special Collections, no. 64, Ballads, printed chiefly by J. & M. Robertson, Glasgow, and M. Angus, Newcastle-on-Tyne, collected by Miss Elizabeth Davidson 1779-1816, 3 vols. Probably Henry Dyer, of Philipsburg, "Lieut Col i st V.M."; see St AWR, 1845, fol. 8. Buffaloes were buffalo sleigh robes: 'You must have two robes to cover you in a sleigh," wrote Frances E.O. Monck, of her experience of the Canadian winter. My Canadian Leaves: An Account of a Visit in Canada in 1864-1865 (London: Richard Bentley and Son 1891), 189. Joseph Smith's farm lay near the present St Armand Station; see Ross Gumming, ed. Illustrated Atlas of the Eastern Townships and South Western Quebec ([n.p.] H. Belden & Co. 1881), "Map of E. & W. St. Armand Township," which pinpoints the property, then held by Smith's son Peter. The first St Paul's Church, built by Stewart in 1811, had stood at Solomon's Corner, a compromise site, more than a mile southeast of the town. It was severely damaged in a storm in 1843 and that same year a second St Paul's, the scene of Reid's meeting, was erected in Philipsburg; see Thomas, Contributions, 22, and Montgomery, Missisquoi Bay, 84. "Whenever the cholera is prevailing in any place," a contemporary account suggests, "it should be a rule in every instance, to stop even the slightest diarrhoea immediately. ... Opium, in some form or other, must be used immediately and without fear. In the form of laudanum, perhaps it may be used most conveniently." StansteadJournal, 23 November 1848, 2. The idea that fear predisposed the victim to cholera "was current for many years and each epidemic brought reminders to stay calm and resolute," Geoffrey Bilson, A Darkened House: Cholera in Nineteenth Century Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1980), 34. In a letter to the bishop, written later that year, Scott mentions that his parishioners had concluded the purchase, for $600, of a comfortable parsonage which he was occupying, and that he had in hand deeds, clear and unencumbered, to the parsonage and glebe. The parsonage was provided with convenient outbuildings and a half-acre of land attached, within a short distance of the church; SPGA, Letters Received,

Notes to pages 24—5

108 109

no

in 112

113 114

115

281

bound copies, Quebec 1850-59: Scott to GJ. Mountain, 28 November 1849. Richard Dickinson, q.v. At this period letters were charged for by weight and by distance. In 1849 there were twenty-nine postal routes in the Eastern Postal Division of Canada, and to send a letter to any destination not on the direct route called for 're-rating' at each 're-direction' point. To reach Compton from Frelighsburg required a twelve-mile trip to Philipsburg, on route 10; thence to St Johns via Henryville, for thirty-two miles on route 9; and from St Johns back through Stanbridge East, Dunham, and Brome to Stanstead, via route 11, for 102 miles. Hence, the mail would travel by route 20 for the remaining twenty-one miles to Compton by way of Hatley, for a total distance of 167 miles. To send such a letter from Brome, however, would have involved only one re-direction, and a mere fiftythree miles, which was under the basic rate of sixty miles or less (at ^Vzd for V-z oz.). At the published rates, the longer route would have cost is loVkl, the shorter, gd; see Scobie & Balfour's Canadian Almanac, and Repository of Useful Knowledge, for the Year 1849, ... (Toronto: Scobie & Balfour 1849), "Post Office Department," 59, 65-6. Probably Elizabeth Rykerd (1795-1882), nee Westover, widow of George Rykerd of Dunham; she and Jane Chamberlin were half-sisters. The Knaps were either Aquila and his wife Margaret, nee Davis, or Moses and his wife Ruth, nee Getty. The wedding dinner probably took place on or about 28 August 1848; St AER, 1848, fol. 10. This was Quinquagesima, the Sunday fixed by the Church Society for collections throughout the diocese. St Armand East's total collection, "counting Cook's and Krans's," was £2.12.10; see TCPR, PCS Minutes, 29. Probably James McGillivray, merchant, of Sabrevois. Reid performed two ceremonies: first, Arvilla Cutler, nee Gleason, was baptized with her adult son Hiram and her sixteen-year-old daughter Susan, then the younger children: Polly Jane, Calvin Parker, Prosper Lucius, Sarah Sophia, and Arvilla Alice (all under ten), probably to allow Hiram and Susan, as baptized persons of responsible years, to act as sponsors. O.J. and Patience Kemp signed the register as witnesses to the earlier ceremony; St AER, 1849, fols 3-4. Reid buried Cutler three months later; see St AER, 1849, fol. 6. Berkshire, Vermont; throughout the diaries Reid mentions posting and receiving mail through the Berkshire and Franklin post offices. Mail to the United States through regular Canadian channels went

282

116

117 118

119 120

Notes to pages 25—6 through Philipsburg to Highgate, Vermont; Scobie & Balfour ... 1849, 65. The Rebellion Losses Bill was introduced on 13 February 1849 by LouisHippolyte Lafontaine (1807-64). From that day on, reactions to the proposed legislation dominated the press. A public meeting was called for by those citizens of Montreal opposed to the bill; the demand carried five columns of supporting signatures (see the Montreal Gazette, 16 February 1849, 3). An editorial following this event proclaims that "one short month has passed [since Elgin opened Parliament], and on the i7th February, the same Market Hall is crowded by thousands and thousands of Anglo-Saxons, peaceable in their conduct, as yet, but burning with the fire of an insulted nationality, and breathing the determination of resistance to a nefarious attempt at their robbery as loyalists. What a change! The 'uninterrupted tranquillity' of which Lord Elgin boasted, is in the short space of thirty days, converted almost into a state of civil war." Ibid, 19 February 1849, 2 Arnold Louis Baker (1809-68), q.v., usually referred to as Louis or Lewis, but occasionally as A.L. or even Louis A. Baker. Thomas Reynolds, who is listed in the 1831 Census Returns as operating a distillery, died 7 September 1847; see NA, LCR Census 1831, Missisquoi County, 1230, and St AER, 1846, fol. 22. A business connection between Thomas Reynolds and A.L. Baker's father Henry can be established at least until 1833 when more than 122 acres of land they held jointly was partitioned; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Leon Lalanne; Partition, 12 April 1833. Reid writes "would" in MS. Although the involvement of all these parties is now difficult to establish, there was a major legal battle between Samuel Bell on one side and Elijah Kemp, Sr, and his son Levi on the other, which was finally settled by mutual agreement, with the Kemps paying damages to Bell. The extent and complexity of the dispute is reflected in the following document wherein the parties "voluntarily & respectively declared & acknowledged that whereas divers controversies & difficulties had arisen between them from which suits have insued & judgments have been rendered, and that being desirous to put a final end to all feuds, controversies & difficulties existing between them, they have mutually agreed ... to release & discharge each other of & from all suits & prosecutions heretofore brought by either of them and now pending in any of His Majesty's Courts of King's Bench or in any other Court of Justice soever"; see ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Leon Lalanne; Agreement between Samuel Bell &

Notes to page 26

121

122

123 124 125

126

127

128

283

Elijah & Levi Kemp, 26 December 1816. News of the dispute between Kemp and Bell drew comment from Stewart, then in England, that he was "very sorry for [it]"; QDA, Stewart-Reid Letters, i, 3 July 1816. See appendix B, biography of Levi Kemp, for details of a legal dispute in 1820 between father and son over a "Deed of Gift" in return for support and care. The dispute between Anson Kemp and James Lee is alluded to in vol. 22, 28 November 1848; that between Oren and the Westovers may be the incident of the pianoforte (vol. 22, 9 April 1849). Lincoln is probably Elmore Lincoln Kemp (1797-1858), a younger brother of O.J. Kemp; he was twice married, first to Julia Bary (or Berry) in 1820, then to Florilla Rebecca Galusha in 1841; St AER 1820, fol. 3 and 1841, fol. 13. Perhaps Jacob V. Luke, farmer, of St Armand West. Probably Elizabeth Crossett, nee Moore, widow of William Henry Holt and of Elihu Crossett. For Robert Scott's burial, see St AER, 1849, fol. 2. Reid probably meant Slyfield; a Benjamin Slyfield, of Sutton, is named in a notarized document relating to a deed of sale between Robert Scott and Daniel Logham, dated 19 February 1848. The deed was made over to Slyfield 5 August 1848; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; no. 4680, 21 October 1856. Benjamin Seaton, originally from South Wales, and his wife Rachel, a native of St Armand. Seaton was collector of customs at Sutton, but appears to have formerly studied medicine, for he had articled himself to Dr Joshua Chamberlin in 1845. He may actually have practiced, for Thomas refers to him as "Dr. B. Seaton"; see Contributions, 185. ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; no. 1785, Articles of Clerkship, 26 June 1845; NA, CE Census 1851, Sutton Township Part I, 21. Charles Edward Poulett Thomson, Baron Sydenham (1799-1841), was the first governor general of the United Province of Canada. The Adventists or Millerites were founded in 1831 by William Miller. See William Westfall, Two Worlds: The Protestant Culture of Nineteenth-Century Ontario (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press 1983), 167, for a particularly pertinent discussion of Millerism; also S.D. Clark, Church and Sect in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1948), 311. For a first-hand account, see "The Millerite Scare," in "Miss M.A. Titemore Contributes More Notes, Historical and Reminiscent," in Fourth Annual Report of the Missisquoi County Historical Society (St Johns, PQ: News Typ. [1909]), 55-6. Probably John Ferres, mason, born 1780 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. His

2 84

129 130

131

132 133 134

135

Notes to pages 2 7-9 son, James Moir Ferres (1813-70) was at this time editor and chief proprietor of the Montreal Gazette. The latter's strong bent for political controversy of a pro-Tory, anti-Patriote nature made him prominent in the discussion surrounding the Rebellion Losses Bill; see Thomas, Contributions, 89-90, and Lorne Ste Croix, "James Moir Ferres," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 9:257-8. John Ferres died 5 April 1849; his son did not sign as witness to his burial. DR, 1849, fol. 3. The Weekly Picayune of New Orleans, Louisiana, began publication 25 January 1837. The founders of these four groups, respectively, were "The Zwickau prophets" (Mark Thomas Stubner, Nikolas Storch, and Thomas Miinzer), who appeared in Wittenberg, 27 December 1521, to oppose Luther's reforms as insufficient; John Calvin (1509-64); Robert Browne (1550-1633); and John Wesley (1703-91). Reid's boast about the "good players" in his native place was not an idle one. Any account of Dunkeld would be incomplete without mention of that musical talent which has been predominant in the district... Inver, although it lies just outside the parish boundaries, was long identified with the city of Dunkeld. Here was born Neil Gow (1727-1807) ... a composer and fiddler ... Neil and his brothers, John and Nathaniel, were the pioneers of a long and distinguished line of musicians who dwelt in and around Dunkeld ...John Crerer (b. 1750) was a game keeper on the Atholl Estates, ... and composed some very famous reels and strathspeys. William Duff, ... known as 'Beardie Willie', played and also made fiddles. C. Hay Murry, "The Parish of Dunkeld and Dowally," in The Counties of Perth and Kinross, ed. David B. Taylor (Culross: Coupar Angus 1979), 159. As Reid lived in the vicinity of Dunkeld from his birth in 1780 to 1802, it is likely that he had heard most of the above-mentioned musicians play. Not in the register. Rebekah Freligh, nee Smith, died 4 May 1850; St AER, 1849, f°l- 2 2 > The Rev. Charles Morice had been stationed at the Flats (Lacolle) since 1842; see Classified Digest of the Records of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts ijoi-i8()2 (With Much Supplementary Information) [ed. C.F. Pascoe] (London: Published at the Society Office 1893), 870. The fate of Trinity's sister church, the first St Paul's, was probably in everyone's mind whenever high winds coincided with a church service:

Notes to pages 29—30

136

137 138

139

140

285

"on a Saturday night, the 22nd April, 1843, [the steeple of St Paul's] was caught by a gale of wind and turned a complete somersault, the point of the spire coming down through the roof into the body of the church." Montgomery, Missisquoi Bay, 84. The St Armand East Churchwardens' Accounts, TCPR, show a payment of 6/3 to "Safford for wood" on 28 March 1849, and another (presumably to Sandy) of 3/0 for "Sawing & splitting wood" on 8 April 1849. See Heb. 12:15. Caroline Westover (1815-62), Patience Kemp, and the latter's son Elijah (1823-99). Elijah would have been only twenty when the incident took place; see St AER, 1823, f°l- l&- By 1844, Caroline was living in South Carolina, and by 1850 she had married and was living in Louisiana; Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Sale and Assignment: no. 1636, 16 October 1844, and Sale & Conveyance: Caroline Westover wife of John C. Scales to Zadoc Reed, no. 3722, 12 September 1853. The case dragged on for some time. George Weightman was indicted for bigamy on 21 March 1850. On 23 March he was granted bail at £200 with Henry Weightman (his brother) and Lyman Brooks as his sureties for £100 each; PMJ, Register of Minutes of the proceedings had at Her Majesty's Court of Queen's Bench, in the City of Montreal, Province of Lower Canada for the Years 1850 ... 1856, The Queen v. George Weightman, no. 41, pp. 36-7, 41. Lyman Brooks, as one of the guarantors of bail in this case, took the precaution of securing the money against a mortgage on George Weightman's land (ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Obligation: George Weightman & Henry Wightman [sic] to Lyman Brooks, no. 2751, 23 November 1849. On 26 March 1851 the date of trial was finally fixed for "the first judicial day of the next Term." Bail was renewed in the same amount, this time guaranteed by Henry Weightman and James McMerkin, blacksmith of Stanbridge (p. 153), but, on 16 October 1851, George Weightman failed to appear. On being called upon, his sureties failed to produce him and his bail was forfeit (p. 188). Weightman had probably left the country; in 1855 he was living in the town of Choisy (now Chazy), NY. ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Sale & Conveyance: George Wightman to J. Chamberlin, no. 4420, 7 December 1855. William Miller Getty, farmer, of Dunham, whose wife Sarah, nee Weightman, was George Weightman's sister. The threats referred to may have been related to a dispute over land among the Weightman heirs that, as the notarial records show, was going on in 1849. It involved an award to Sarah and her sister, Elizabeth Munn, which the Weightman brothers

286

141

142

143

144

Notes to pages 3 0—2 had neglected to pay; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Procuration: Henry Weightman to George Weightman, no. 2752, 26 November 1849; and Act of Deposit: Stevens Baker, G.H. Sweet & D. Westover [as Arbitrators & Umpires named in the award and report of the Estate of Thomas Weightman], no. 2797, 29 January 1850, which contains other documents dated 14 and 16 November 1849 requiring, among other things, that £42/57- be paid to each sister. The search by neighbours for Getty's horse was perhaps part of the local tradition of combatting horse theft. By the 18305, the men of the district had organized a Society for Detecting Horse Thieves and the Recovery of Stolen Horses. An advertisement in the local newspaper, seeking information about "a dark bay Mare" stolen from Cornelius Davis of St Armand on 8 October 1836, promised, on behalf of the Society, "to pay all reasonable charges in the recovery of the aforesaid Mare or the thief," and was signed by the "Committee." Missiskoui Standard, 18 October 1836, 3. Jonathan Selby (c 1787-1850), of Dunham, had been appointed subtutor to the five minor children of the late Thomas Weightman, on 18 January 1841; Act of Tutelle cited in ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Inventory: Belonging and depending on the communaute de Biens which existed between the late Thomas Weightman and Mary Pridgeon his wife, no. 1250, 11 June 1841. When the act was drawn up, George Weightman was not a minor. The fire, in which the cathedral was totally destroyed, broke out at about 2 a.m. on Saturday, 7 April 1849. The headline in the Gazette reads: "Tremendous Conflagration in Toronto - Estimated Loss One Hundred Thousand Pounds. Great Part of the City in Ashes." Montreal Gazette, 9 April 1849, i. The TCPR churchwardens' accounts record that £5/i8/ioV& had been collected "for Toronto" on 12 April 1839. In 1849 the Montreal Herald and Daily Commercial Gazette published daily, weekly, and tri-weekly editions. Reid had been a subscriber to the Herald as early as 1818; see NA, MG 23, G in 3, Vol n, Miscellaneous Accounts,

97°145 Probably William Hales, DD (1747-1831), author of Dissertations on the Principal Prophecies respecting... Christ, 1808, and Thomas Newton (1704-82), bishop of Bristol, author of Dissertations on the Prophecies, 3 vols, 1757-58. 146 Jer. 13:23 and Rom. 13:8. 147 Reid is referring to the payment of his half-yearly stipend. Unlike most of his fellow clergymen whose parishes were of more recent date, Reid

Notes to pages 3 2-3

148

149 150

151 152

153

154

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received part of his salary out of government funds. This dated back to the original provision for supporting clergy in the colony; ANQQ, Gouverneurs; Correspondance 1763-1858, RG 2, art. 6 [ledger], 11-12. James Bruce (1811-63), eighth earl of Elgin and twelfth Earl of Kincardine, had been appointed governor general of Canada in 1846, and arrived in Montreal, the seat of government, in 1847. He signed the Rebellion Losses Bill on 25 April 1849. There are many vivid, first-hand accounts of the fire; see that quoted in the StansteadJournal, 3 May 1849, 2, for example. Allan Napier MacNab (1798-1862), lawyer and politician, was speaker in the former Tory government. Monklands was built as a country residence about 1780; it takes its name from Sir James Monk who purchased the property in 1795. In 1844 it was rented to the government as a summer residence for the governor general, and was occupied successively by Lord Metcalfe, Lord Cathcart, and Lord Elgin. It still stands, serving as the Villa Maria Convent; see Luc dTberville-Moreau, Lost Montreal (Toronto: Oxford University Press 1975), 144, and plate 123. Jam. 1:20. Reid writes Stephen Baker in MS, but is probably thinking of Stephen Chandler, also mentioned. There was no Stephen Baker living in the area at that period. The Reids dined at Stevens Baker's on 4 Nov 1852 and were their hosts on 3 Jan 1854 (25:45°4> 4669). These were Stevens Baker (1791-1868), of Dunham, and Stephen Chandler (1804-50), innkeeper, of Stanbridge; see E.L. Baker, "Lt.-Col. Stevens Baker, EX-M.P.P.," in Fifth Report of the Transactions of the Missisquoi County Historical Society (St Johns, PQ: News Print 1913), 74-5Local papers also carried this news: "New Orleans is a perfect charnelhouse. ... In a boarding-house close by, eight out of twenty boarders died last night. I saw two men die on the Levee this morning before they could be carried to the Hospital. ... I was told there were 222 funerals yesterday"; extract from a letter dated 21 April, reprinted in the Stanstead Journal, 17 May 1849, 2. Bonsecours, the "new" market was established under regulation of the city council, 22 May 1841. The building, in the Grecian Doric style, had been designed to be the seat of the city council. See William Henry Atherton, Montreal 7535-79/4: Under British Rule 1760-1914, 3 vols (Montreal: The J.S. Clarke Publishing Company 1914), 2:641. The violence and animosity directed against Elgin is evident in newspaper accounts: Yesterday morning it was rumoured through the city, that the Governor General was coming into town in state, to receive an Address from

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the Legislature ... A Squadron of the Provincial Cavalry under the command of Captain Jones, was ordered out to form a body guard to the Governor, and to protect him from the violence which it was anticipated he would meet with on his way from the city limits to the Government House ... On the news becoming known that the Governor had gone home [after receiving the Address] by the way of Sherbrooke street, a number of the people took cabs, caleches, &c and set off in rapid chase by short cuts, in the hope to cut off the carriage before the Governor entirely escaped their vengeance. Some of these succeeded in overtaking his Lordship at Mr. Molson's, between Sherbrooke street and the Main street of the St. Lawrence Suburbs, where a most furious attack was made on the carriage; the back of it was completely smashed in. ... In this sad, in this humiliating manner, did the Earl of Elgin, the Representative of the Majesty of the Queen of England ... depart... after having come ostensibly to receive an address of confidence from a majority consisting of the same persons who gave their votes in favor of the measure which has plunged the country into agitation from Sandwich to Gaspe Montreal Transcript, i May 1849, 2. 156 An extra of the Canada Gazette appeared on 2 May 1849 with three addresses in support of Lord Elgin, a second extra with four more was issued 8 May, and a third, with thirteen further addresses, on 10 May, all printed with replies from the governor general. From then on, the flood of material in support of the government, produced and printed at public expense, was a major subject of discussion in the press: A supplement to The Canada Gazette came to hand yesterday, containing thirty-one closely printed pages, again entirely devoted to addresses of condolence to his Excellency and his Ministers, and to proceedings of political meetings of the partizans of Mr. Lafontaine and associates, highly approving of the mulish obstinacy displayed by Lord Elgin's administration, on the subject of the measures which brought down upon them the indignation of the people. This dogged determination of publishing party meeting deliberations and resolutions at the joint expense of that portion of the population who have been most unjustly sacrificed to the will of the unprincipled leaders of a majority, is calculated, as we have expressed it already, to drive the most inoffensive and well-meaning men to acts of desperation. Quebec Mercury, 16 June 1849, 2. 157 The supporters of the government had been taking this tack since before

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the signing of the Rebellion Losses Bill. For example, in the House "Mr. Hincks on Tuesday [13 February] called Sir Allan [MacNab] a rebel, and declared that the gentlemen on Sir Allan's side of the House had got up the rebellion. ... [Y]esterday Mr. Hume Blake, Solicitor General, ... declared that he would not retract, and he would pronounce, and did pronounce, Sir Allan a rebel." Montreal Gazette, 16 February 1849, 2. 158 On the same day that Reid wrote this entry, the following assessment of the situation appeared in the press: The debate in the House of Commons on the Canadian Rebellion Bill, seems to settle the question as to whether the Imperial Government will interfere to disallow that measure or not. The opinion of a number of the leading men in the House of Commons, including Sir Robert Peel himself, have been expressed against interference with what they view as an almost necessary and not unconstitutional act. A fear of being considered insincere in their policy towards Canada, keeps back the Sovereign and her advisers from granting the prayer of the numerous petitions which have been presented against the bill, and fixes, we fear, on the country a measure which could not be more unpalatable, more unjustifiable, or more mischievous. Montreal Transcript, 5 July 1849, 2. 159 George Jehoshaphat Mountain (1789-1863), third bishop of the Diocese of Quebec, had begun "upon a circuit through a portion of the Diocese, for the purpose of holding Confirmations, expecting to be absent a month" on 12 June 1849. Montreal Transcript, 14 June 1849, 2. 160 The sister was probably Janet (b. 1783), wife of Finlay McDiarmid, who, according to a descendent, Mr H.D. MacDermid of Ottawa, died in 1853. Another sister, Nancy (b. 1781) survived until 1874. Christina McDiarmid or McDermid, probably another sister, was living in North Easthope in 1849. The departure from Frelighsburg, according to the summer schedule of the Champlain and St Lawrence Railroad, must have been an early one, for the train left St Johns at 8 a.m.; see advertisement, Montreal Gazette, 15 May 1849, i. Mrs Reid and James probably travelled to Glengarry by steamboat up the St Lawrence River, after an initial trip by rail to Laprairie, by ferry to Montreal and, if the point of embarkation was Lachine, again by rail to the depot there. The July papers carried numerous advertisements for steamship travel up river; there were at least two companies, the "Daily Line or Upper Cabin Steamboats" and the "Royal Mail Line" sailing daily from Lachine, the latter "leaving ... on the arrival of the 12 o'clock Cars with the mail and passengers" and reaching Kingston "early in the afternoon of the follow-

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164 165

166 167

168

Notes to pages 34—6 ing day"; Montreal Transcript, 3 July 1849, 3. Such a journey had only become feasible recently; the deepening of the Lachine Canal, equipping the whole of the St Lawrence from Montreal to Kingston with ninefoot canals, had been completed in 1848. See G.P. deT. Glazebrook, A History of Transportation in Canada, 2 vols (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited 1964), 1:81. David Morehouse Spicer, Sandy Cooper's son-in-law. John Lowe (1824-1913), a friend of Brown Chamberlin's. Reid's callers were probably Philip Whitney of St Armand West, Mary Ann and Charlotte Whitwell, daughters of the Rev. Richard Whitwell of Philipsburg, and Hannah Eveline Dyer, daughter of Henry Dyer, also of Philipsburg. All four were unmarried and in their twenties; see NA, CE Census 1851, Philipsburg Village, dist. no. i, pp. i, 5, 7. The Pinnacle is a beautiful wooded mountain, "in the extreme east [of St Armand] ... the highest land, from the top of which is an extended prospect"; it had long been a favourite site for excursions. Mrs C.M. Day, History of the Eastern Townships, Province of Quebec, Dominion of Canada, Civil and Descriptive (Montreal: John Lovell 1869), 323. "The Late Bishop Stewart, when he was a Missionary at St. Armand, some forty years ago, had a path made through the woods to the top of the Pinnacle Mountain, and half an acre cleared at its termination, at his own charge; - a pleasing example to show that, with all his ceaseless and energetic devotedness to the cause of the Gospel, he was not inattentive to the objects of providing beneficial recreation for his neighbours, and cultivating among them a relish for the more striking scenes of nature." Ernest Hawkins, Annals of the Diocese of Quebec (London: SPCK 1849), 119. Perhaps Asa Morehouse, carpenter and joiner; NA, CE Census 1851, Dunham Township, dist. no. 2, p. no. Lefuif errant by Eugene (Joseph Marie] Sue (1804-57), published 1844-45, immediately became "an American bestseller." Gordon Carruth, The Encyclopedia of American Facts & Dates, 8th ed. (New York: Harper & Row 1987), 224. References to Charles's being "subject to headaches" can be found as early as 1828; QDA, Stewart-Reid Letters, n, 6 March 1828. Margaret, daughter of Catherine and Alexander Cooper, was the wife of David Morehouse Spicer; she had, at that date, four children, all under eight years of age. St AER, 1841, fol. 20, and NA, CE Census 1851, St Armand East, dist. no. 2, p. 63. John Singleton Copley, the younger, Lord Lyndhurst (1772-1863) and Benjamin Disraeli (1804-81), then MP for Buckinghamshire and leader

Notes to pages j 6-7

169 170 171 172

173

174

175

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of the Conservative party in the House of Commons. Reid is probably referring to the debate of 19 June 1849 in the House of Lords in which Lord Lyndhurst spoke in support of interfering with the Rebellion Losses Bill. "Unless Canada was to be considered an Independent State he thought it was the duty of the House to interfere for the purpose of preventing such a measure becoming Law. Their Lordships were bound to do so, except they were prepared to act 'in a manner' injuriously to the interests of the Empire, and inconsistently with the respect that was due to the British Crown". Montreal Transcript, 10 July 1849, 2. John 20:21. "In parts of the Townships there has been no rain for six or seven weeks, and the crops are ripening prematurely in the ground. The consequences threaten to be very serious." Montreal Transcript, 12 July 1849, 2. Malcolm had been employed byJ.H. Palmer & Company, 47 Camp Street, New Orleans, for about two years. Probably Alexander Brack, "heretofore of the Township of Stanbridge but now [1841] of the Township of Granby, Yeoman" and Gilbert Hamilton Worden (1807-57), of Dunham. See ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Power of Attorney: Mr Alexander Brack and Others to M. Hallam Roberts, 17 May 1841. There were several Spencers in the area. The 1849 summer schedule of the Champlain and St Lawrence Railroad listed three departures daily (except Sundays) of steamers from Montreal to Laprairie: at "f^A o'clock A.M.," "9 o'clock AM," and "12 o'clock noon." The "Railroad Cars" from Laprairie for St Johns left at "ioVi AM," i p.m. and 6 p.m. Montreal Gazette, 15 May 1849, i. "We are sorry to hear sad accounts from different parts of the Lower Province respecting the want of rain ... in the French country at the back o[f] St. John, the woods have been for several days on fire, and have done considerable damage." Montreal Transcript, 12 July 1849, 2. David Kinnear (1805 or 1807-62) and Mary Caroline, nee Van Baerle. Kinnear was at this time senior partner and editor of the Herald. He seems to have lived in St Armand East in 1841-42, during which period Reid baptized two of his children, standing as godfather for one of them; see St AER, 1841, fol. 3, and 1842, fol. 15; NA, LC Census for 1842, St Armand East, 2590. Perhaps William M. Fuller, innkeeper and livery stable owner at Pike River Falls; see advertisement in the News, and Frontier Advocate (St Johns, PQ), 24 May 1850, 3. Perhaps Nelson Adams, wholesale and retail merchant, of Stanbridge.

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179

180

181 182 183

Notes to pages 3 8—9 The current price of oats in Montreal was 1/8 per minot; Montreal Transcript, 21 July 1849, 2. Probably James Yates, the twenty-year-old son of Richard and Mary Yates, baptized by Reid as an adult in 1851; see St AER, 1850, fol. 17. Amos Chadburn is listed in the 1851 census as "Farmer," the head of a household of six persons; Matthew Chadburn is not among them and does not seem to have been enumerated in the area. NA, CE Census Returns 1851, St Armand East, dist. no. i, p. 19. On 22 November 1851, Charles P. Watson of the City and District of Montreal, Teacher, appeared as a witness and deposed that he had lived in Frelighsburg between June 1843 and June 1845; John Freligh [sic] v. John B. Seymour, Cour superieure, District de Montreal, no. 1208, dossier refere, appeal filed 20 November 1852. A contemporary Montreal newspaper advertisement states that Charles P. Watson, "formerly of the Grammar School, Hull, England" had been operating a Commercial School at "No. i, St. Henry Street" in Montreal for the past three years; Montreal Witness, 7 May 1849, 152. He had served as one of two teachers in district no. 5 school in Frelighsburg while Reid was chairman of the school commissioners; see MHSA, ji 1-3, "Register & Rect. Book of the Corporation of School Commissioners for the Municipality of Frelighsburg," i. Elmore Lincoln Reynolds (1809-68). Serial robberies by thieves operating on both sides of the border were common in the district; for one of the most fully described, also involving thefts from local stores, see the Missiskoui Standard, 20 September 1836, 3, and 27 September 1836, 3. Not in the register. Mary Ann Lydia Whitwell (b. 1823) was cl°se to Jane's age; Shefford Parish Register (hereafter SHR), 1823, f°l- X 3"A new 'League' has been formed at Montreal, called the 'British American League,' for the avowed purpose of discussing the various questions now agitating the Province"; StansteadJournal, 26 April 1849, 3. Branches of the league sprang up all over the country and optimistically claimed to represent "over 100,000 colonials"; see G.H. Stanley Mills, The Annexation Movement 0/1849-50 as Seen Through the Lower Canadian Press (McGill University, MA thesis, 1964), 198. Joshua Chamberlin was president of the Missisquoi Branch of the league, and he and Stevens Baker were chosen as delegates; see the Pilot, 28 July 1849, 2. A convention of league delegates met at Kingston on 25 July 1849 and on 31 July adopted an address to their "Fellow Countrymen" which was widely printed in the press. In early July the Pilot had reported: "The Tory papers are just now

Notes to pages 39-41

184 185 186 187

188

189 190

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occupying their columns with the discussion of the question of Annexation, - whether it would be to the advantage of this country, that the connection between us and Great Britain should be severed, and that we should be incorporated in the Republic of the United States"; 3 July 1849, 2. "So little was definitely known as yet about the general Conservative attitude to annexation, that it was half-expected the convention [at Kingston] would pronounce in its favor. The supposition was unwarranted." Mills, The Annexation Movement, 91. Perhaps Patrick Kennedy or one of his family; NA, CE Census 1851, St Armand East, dist. no. i, p. 17. Reid writes "a new" in MS. St AER, 1849, fol. 11; the entry makes no mention of the burial taking place in Berkshire. Elijah Stewart Reynolds (b. 1812), often referred to as Stewart or Stuart, as well as Elijah S. or E.S. Reynolds, had been secretary treasurer since 1846; ANQQ, Ministere de 1'education, Quebec, lettres recues 1846, art. 295, no. 1249. Reynolds seems to have been lax in performing his duties: he failed to acknowledge receiving the government grant for 1848 and, when dunned, claimed both to have sent the receipt immediately and to have been away on the arrival of a letter from the superintendent of education (lettres recues 1848-49, art. 305, no. 1440); the endorsement on the letter states that the receipt never arrived. There is strong evidence that, early in July, Reynolds had actually been ousted as secretary treasurer; see n. 192. Captain James Eccles, formerly of St Armand, but later of New Brunswick, where he had died (by 1846 at the latest). Reid seems to have been an executor of sorts for him, for the notarial records contain at least three attestations that sums "for and on behalf of ... the late James Eccles" were paid to his grandsons by Reid: ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Acquittance: J.H. Barlow to James Reid, no. 2116, 17 December 1846; Discharge: J.C. Barlow tojas Reid, no. 2334, 11 March 1848; and Discharge: [Richard Edgar Barlow to James Reid], no. 3288, 8 March 1852. The money involved amounted to £1,965/14, so the captain seems to have been wealthy enough to lend some credibility to Elmore's story of finding $1,000 in his house. If Reid was an executor of Eccles' will, it seems strange that he did not look into Elmore's claim more closely. Reynolds' shop stood near the hotel kept by Levi Kemp. Hibbard, "Something About the Olden Times," 83. Mary Hurlbut, nee Holden (1801-49), and Mary Rebecca Hurlbut

(i 832-53) ,q-v-

2 94

Notes to page 41

191 There is considerable evidence of Elmore Reynolds's low standing, both at this period and hereafter, in the community and among his own family. In a court case, in which Stewart Reynolds sued his brother Lester over grazing costs, Elmore's testimony was challenged by a number of witnesses including another brother, Zenas. Judge McCord's summary of his cross examination of Boright the jailer states that the latter had known the defendant from his youth, would not believe him under oath, or otherwise, and that he is worthless as to veracity; MCCA, McCord Family Fonds (POOI), J.S. McCord Bench Books, Bedford, February 1862 February 1865, no. 0681, Elijah S. Reynolds v. Lester Reynolds:. Action for pasturage ofcattle, 7 October 1862, p. 118. Even Elmore's mother had a low opinion of his capacities, for in her will, drawn up when he was fortyseven years old, she stipulated that his part of the property was to be held in trust, the interest to be paid to him half-yearly; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Mary Kemp ... last Will, no. 4649, 16 September 1856. Elmore was arraigned on two separate counts in 1849: breaking into and stealing in a shop, and obtaining goods under false pretences. On the former charge, the jury found him not guilty; on the latter, the principal witness made default and the prisoner was discharged; PMJ, Register of the Court of Quarter Sessions, 23 April 1849 - 19 July 1852, The Queenv. Elmore Reynolds, no. 35, pp. 102, 106, 144; also The Queenv. Elmore Reynolds, no. 79, pp. 127, 145. In October 1850, however, he was indicted for larceny, found guilty, and sentenced to be "confined and kept at hard labor in the Common Gaol of this District [Montreal] during the space of Six Calendar months." The Queen v. Elmore Reynolds, PMJ, Minutes of the proceedings had at Her Majesty's Court of Queen's Bench, in the City of Montreal, Province of Lower Canada for the Years 1850 ... 1856, Crown Side, I, no. 15, pp. 80, 118. 192 Hereafter followed a protracted dispute between Stewart Reynolds and the other school commissioners to regain possession of the school money. It culminated in a petition, signed by twenty-four people including the chairman and several other school commissioners, to the superintendent of schools for advice on how to proceed: The undersigned School Commissioners and Tax paying residents of the Parish of St. Armand East In transmitting to you a Considerable portion of the proceedings had respecting the Account of E.S. Reynolds former Secy Treasurer to the School Commissioners Would say that Mr Reynolds did not as we believe in the first place come forward claiming consideration of the Commissioners, and only done so after being notified of the deficiency. We also state that we have never

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heard it even suggested that Mr. Reynolds had any Goods Stolen from his Store in the Spring of 1849 although it has been [illegible word written over an erasure} since that the school money was stolen, and we are of opinion that a majority of the contributors to the local School fund would not consent 'to pass the sponge over the whole matter'. ... We therefore request you to direct the present Secy Treasurer James H. Smith how to proceed in the Case to bring the matter to a final close." ANQQ, Ministere de 1'education, Quebec, lettres regues 1850, art. 314, no. 970. The documentation accompanying the petition is very detailed, showing that Reynolds, in addition to the customary percentage charged on taxes collected by him, had claimed "21/2%" of the government grant for the local schools! The School Commissioners Journal extracts indicate that at a meeting of the commissioners, held 9 July 1849, with all five commissioners present, a new [interim] secretary treasurer, J.B. Seymour, was appointed. If Reynolds was, in fact, removed from office at this time, the alleged robbery would have allowed him to retain funds which would otherwise have had to be handed over immediately to his successor. Claiming a robbery, especially in view of those recently sustained by his neighbours Kemp and Hurlbut, might have seemed a plausible alternative to giving up the money. Unfortunately, only portions of the original journal (MHSA, pn-g) are extant; the covers are gone and the first surviving page is numbered '5.' The first entry, recording a meeting held 8 December 1849, lists J.B. Seymour as secretary treasurer. To judge from the records, although there seems to have been an initial settlement with Reynolds, one group wished to exact the full sum from him and appealed to Dr Meilleur to "compel" him to pay. The Education Office informed these petitioners that the superintendent of education had no power to interfere in the matter: "it becomes the province of criminal law. You will have to examine closely whether you can sustain your demand before such a tribunal or not." Ministere de 1'education, Quebec, lettres expedites, art. 139, "Letter Book," 1850-51, proj. no. 147, fol. 187, isjuly 1851. In 1854 the case of the School Commissioners ofFrelighsburgv. Elijah S. Reynolds was still before the courts; MCCA,J.S. McCord Papers: Bench Books, Missisquoi, October 1852 - February 1858, no. 0686, p. 58, 21 February 1854. 193 The practice of paying teachers in a lump sum after the year's work was completed had long been an abuse. Reid's son Charles, at the time chairman of the school commissioners in Compton, outlined the problem in a letter to Dr Meilleur in 1845: It is now the last day of March 1845, and yet in many instances the teachers of last year are not paid. It appears to us an exceeding hard

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195

196 197

Notes to pages 41-2 case that they should be thus compelled to wait for their well earned pittance after it is due. Can there be no remedy? Is it not possible to pay the teachers semi annually? According to the present system a teacher who was engaged to instruct a school during the winter of 1844, for example, is compelled to wait for his pay in full, until after the month of March 1845, or else, if he is unable to wait, he is obliged to take grain &c, at a loss, and so risque his right to the Govt Allocation in favor of some third party that will advance the money. ANQQ, Ministere de 1'education, Quebec, lettres recues 1845, art. 290, no. 1368, C.P. Reid to Dr Meilleur, 31 March 1845. Joseph Winch Bingham (1817-59), son of Mary Fox and Maro Virgil Bingham. General stores such as Reynolds' usually sold whiskey and other spirits by the pitcher, or any other convenient container brought for the purpose: "how I looked with boyish wonder on the row of barrels back of the counter, whose smooth oaken heads bore such printed inscriptions as these: 'Bourbon Whiskey,' 'Kentucky Whiskey,' and 'Old Medford Rum,'" wrote a contemporary of Reid's describing Hurlbut's store. Hibbard, "Something About the Olden Times," 83. School taxes were raised on land and collected, for a percentage, by a local agent. The MHSA preserves the "Roll of Rates, [or Local Tax List] of the Municipality of Frelighsburg" for 1851 and 1852. They show, for example, that Reid's three parcels of land, comprising 255 acres, had been assessed at 45 21/4d, and that his payment of tax was consistently upto-date whereas many of his neighbours, including the well-to-do, were in arrears. MHSA, Pii-3, "Roll of Rates," 69-80, 87-99. Reid writes "I have would" in MS. The bishop had already designated that 27 July 1849 "be observed as a day of fasting and prayer"; The Pilot, 26 July 1849, 2. Such services continued: the Church of Scotland, the United Presbyterians, the Baptists, and others kept 9 August 1849 as a "Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer on account of the Cholera"; Montreal Transcript, 7 August 1849, 2. The "Montreal Board of Health Official Report," printed in the papers of 30 July, indicates that, of the 246 deaths occurring in the city during the week of 22 July to 28 July, 160 were attributed to cholera; Montreal Witness, 30 July 1849, 8. The greatest danger of infection was thought to be in the cities, but the country districts were not exempt. As one Townships paper reported: "There is no longer any doubt in regard to the prevalence of that dread scourge, the cholera, in Montreal, Quebec, and other places in Canada ... we learn verbally, that there have been a few cases in or near Granby." StansteadJournal, 26 July 1849, 2. The speed

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with which death followed the contraction of the disease, and the growing realization that it was not, as had been earlier believed, confined to the poor and destitute, increased the fear with which cholera was regarded. On 17 August, the day before Reid's present entry, "Eliza Felton, wife of the Hon. Mr. Justice Alwyn" died at Ascot (the township adjoining Compton) "after only 14 hours illness"; Stanstead Journal, 30 August 1849, 3. It is not surprising that Reid's service was well attended, even on a Friday. 198 Reid writes "a very find child" in MS. 199 The riot took place between 8 and 9 o'clock on the evening of 15 August 1849. A warrant had been issued that day for the arrest of "William G. Mack, Esquire, Advocate, James Moir Ferres, gentleman, Augustus Heward, merchant broker, and Hugh E. Montgomery, Merchant, all of the Parish of Montreal," charged "with having at Montreal... on the twenty-fifth of April instant, maliciously and feloniously caused and instigated a mob of which they were the leaders and principal instigators to set fire to and consume the Parliament House in the City of Montreal"; seej. Douglas Borthwick, History of the Montreal Prison from A.D. 1784 to A.D. 1886 ... (Montreal: A. Periard 1886), 182-3, wno prints the entire warrant. The young man who was killed, William Blakey Mason, was among the crowd outside Lafontaine's house, where a mob had gathered; he was injured by gunfire, and died the next morning, attended, among others, by Reid's friend, Dr Hall. Montreal Gazette, 16 August 1849, 2, and 17 August 1849, 2. The coroner's jury, which sat for seven days, found that Mason died as the result of gunshot fired from the house by an unknown person, and found the city authorities highly culpable in not taking due precautions. The Pilot, 25 August 1849, 3. According to the Montreal Gazette (which was strongly partisan), Lafontaine, who had proposed the Rebellion Losses Bill, "in anticipation of a visit of a more hostile character, had collected a number of bullies in his house [which was located in a narrow lane, leading from St. Antoine Street to Dorchester Street], armed with muskets and other fire-arms, who perceiving that no damage was intended, and being well provided to prevent it, determined to provoke the people outside to some outrage by firing among them." Montreal Gazette, 16 August 1849, 2. The Pilot claimed that the mob used firearms as well (18 August 1849, 2). 200 William Peter Olcott Whitwell (b. 1836), son of the Rev. Richard Whitwell. Two of his brothers, Richard and Thaddeus Sherman, were in residence at the grammar school at Bishop's. Charles was one of the seven trustees of the college.

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201 Julia was born in St Johns where her widowed mother and sisters Ann and Emily still lived. 202 Apparently Jones had been appointed by the bishop "to visit England for the purpose of obtaining the means of creating a perpetual endowment for Farnham and if possible for ... Bedford"; see "Extract From the Journal of the Rev. James Jones," in Eighth Historical Report: Illustrated ([n.p.] Missisquoi County Historical Society 1965), 66. A later entry states that he collected £1,400 "exclusive of my own expenses and the salary of my curate"; of this £600 was to be applied to Farnham and £200 to Pike River. The bishop, Jones recorded, "commended my zeal in the service of the church," 66. See MDA, R.G. i.s, G.J. Mountain Papers, Correspondence, for the receipts from Jones's tour. 203 The Rev. William Jones, incumbent at Farnham, ordained priest 1844; see Borthwick, History of the Diocese of Montreal, 102-3. 204 Probably Robert Jones (1793-1874), colonel of the Missisquoi Battalion during the 1837 Rebellion; see Missiskoui Standard, 10 April 1838, 3. St Athanase (erected as the village of Christieville in 1843) was later to be incorporated as Iberville; it is opposite St Johns, on the east side of the Richelieu River. 205 Perhaps George A.T. Wehr, farmer and lumber dealer, of Stanbridge; NA, CE Census 1851, Stanbridge, dist. no. 2, 145. 206 Horse theft was still a capital crime in 1849, but the sentence to hang, although still passed as late as 1861 in the District of Montreal, was usually commuted to a prison term after 1830; see Borthwick, History of the Montreal Prison, 257-69. As the local press attests, thefts of washing continued to be frequent: "Look out for thieves! - During the evening of Tuesday last, a quantity of clothes was stolen from the premises of Mr. Andrew Kay, of Granby North Ridge. They had been left out to bleach, and were laying quite close to the dwelling house. The daring of the depredators, in approaching so near the house, would almost point them out as old offenders. No trace has yet been had of the missing articles or the robbers. ... Parties had better look to the fastenings of their places, and not leave any loose things laying around." Eastern Townships Gazette and Shefford County Advertiser (Granby), 9 October 1863, 2. 207 R.V.V. Freligh. 208 The Pilot was published in Montreal from 1844-62; its prospectus, signed by Francis Hincks and dated 29 February 1844, stated that its main purpose was "to secure for the Reformers of British origin an organ at the Seat of Government." In 1849 it was published tri-weekly, with a weekly edition for outlying areas. The Reformers not only called the Tories and

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210

211 212

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Loyalists 'rebels,' they affirmed their basically turbulent character: "We have stated that Toryism is essentially addicted to violence, and we now produce our proof," wrote the Pilot, 17 May 1849, i: "So innate is this disposition to violence and physical force in the Tories, that the Legislature has passed a law to prevent riots and disturbances at elections, mainly with the view of restraining these ultra-loyalists within the bounds of good order." Freligh's allusion to George Moffatt (1787-1865), B.C.A. Gugy, and William Badgley (1801-88) is presumably to the mayor of Montreal's proclamation, late in August, calling upon the citizens to enroll themselves as special constables to help restore public tranquillity. The Tory papers, the Pilot observed, claimed that Moffatt and Badgley had called on the Mayor and persuaded him to this course, but the printed correspondence between the governor and the mayor suggested that the decision predated their visit and originated with Elgin; see the Pilot, 23 August 1849, 2. Reid is perhaps alluding to Freligh's earlier support of the Missisquoi branch of the Constitutional Association; see the membership list, Missiskoui Standard, 2 February 1836, 3, and 28 February 1837, 2. The Rev. Ernest Hawkins (1802-68), fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, and under librarian at the Bodleian Library, had been appointed secretary to the SPG in 1843. His MS "Journal of a Tour of Canada and America 1849," SPGA, records his very extensive travel, by all manner of conveyance, to the parishes and missions of the Canadas. A.W. Mountain's letter to Reid, dated 21 August 1849, is among the James Reid Papers, MDA. James's farm had frontage on Brome Lake. Hiram Seymour was living in St Armand at least as early as 1827: see ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Leon Lalanne, Power of Attorney: Hiram Seymour of St Armand, Hatter, to Charles A. Seymour [his brother], 24 September 1827. "H. & C.A. Seymour" were in the hatting trade in St Armand in 1837, as their advertisement announcing their intention of closing the business shows; Missiskoui Standard, 17 January 1837, 3. In 1849 Hiram Seymour was living at 38 M'Gill Street, Montreal; see Mackay, The Montreal Directory ... 1849, 225. The 1842-43 directory, had listed him under Hatters and Furriers (209), and continued to do so until 1845-46, his probable year of retirement. Probably Zebulon Cornell (1794-1852), who was one of the founders and builders of St James's, Upper Mills, Jones's church in Stanbridge East; see The Church at the Upper Mills: The Anglicans of Stanbridge East, Stanbury and Pigeon Hill (n.p., n.d.), 44-5.

300T

Notesto pages 44–5

214 Reid married Joseph Garrick, of Dunham, bachelor, and Laura Holden, spinster, on 10 September 1849; St AER, 1849, fol. 13. She was the daughter of Artemus Holden, farmer, of St Armand East. 215 John Krans (1777-1858), a widower; Jacob Lagrange (b. 1817) and his second wife Jemima; and perhaps James Wellington Toof (b. 1817), one of several Toofs in the neighbourhood. All three families lived to the west of Frelighsburg. 216 The Rev. Thomas Johnson, born at Brampton, Westmorland, and ordained priest in England, was then incumbent at Abbotsford; see Borthwick, History of the Diocese of Montreal, 100, and Pascoe, Classified Digest of the Records of the SPG, 870. Hawkins had received Reid's letter in Kingston on 14 September 1849, "long therefore after the arrangement which had been proposed by Mr Mountain was feasible," as he wrote by way of apology to his would-be host; see MDA, James Reid Papers, Hawkins to Reid, 16 September 1849. Hawkins' letter gives his proposed route and the date and duration of his visit, but no warning of his being accompanied by Johnson. As Hawkins'journal makes clear, he did not in fact meet Johnson until 2 2 September, well after his departure for the Townships; SPGA, Hawkins, MS. "Journal... 1849." 217 Randolph Stewart (1800-73), became ninth earl of Galloway in 1834 onm the death of his father George, the eighth earl. 218 Hawkins' Journal gives a charming picture of Reid, but also provides an explanation for his disappointment with the visit: " 25 Sunday. When I rose in the morning - Mr Reid told me there was a letter for me - It was one from himself to me - beginning "My dear & honoured guest" - & asking me very respectfully to occupy Bp. Stewart's pulpit which of course I did - owing to the very heavy rain there was a thin Congyn - Mr Johnson read prayers - Went in aftn to Cook's Corner - a station about 3 miles off - I read Mr Reid preached - I without surplice - he without gown - I ventured to tell him aftd that he shd call upon the people to provide a surplice - This he thought they wd readily do -" (SPGA, MS. "Journal ... 1849," 23-24 September). The combination of the "thin Congyn [congregation]" and the lack of a surplice for his guest would distress and embarrass anyone of Reid's diffident temperament. 219 All Saints' Church, the second church on the same site, was a stone building, erected at a cost of £1,100; see Thomas, Contributions, 144. It was consecrated in 1851. 220 The Rev. Joel Clapp (1793-1861) of the Protestant Episcopal Church (Clapp's sister and daughter both lived in Dunham); the Rev. John

Notes to pages 4 6—9

221

222 223

224

225 226 227

228

229

230

231

301

Tomkins or Tompkins, Wesleyan Methodist minister in Dunham; and the Rev. William Jones, of Farnham. William Sampson Baker, q.v. A comparison of the will itself with Reid's summary of its contents suggests that he had a very retentive memory. See ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Will & Testament: Richard Van Vliet Freligh Esq, no. 2719, 28 September 1849. John Brush Seymour, q.v. R.R.V. Freligh was the uncle of Seymour's wife, and the two families had been friendly for some time. More than ten years earlier, Galloway Freligh, brother of R.V.V. Freligh, had given public notice that he had been "appointed Curator to Geo Wallace and Gertrude Freligh, his wife, Carlton Freligh and Rodney Freligh, all heretofore residing in the Seigniory of St Armand, but now absent from the Province." See Missiskoui Standard, 7 March 1837, 3. Since Jane Baker, nee Freligh, q.v., was then forty-six years old, and a widow who seems never to have had a child, the chances of her securing the Freligh property for "an heir of her body" must have seemed slight. The will originally directed rents and revenues to be applied "to the Tuition and advancement of learning in the aforesaid Village of Frelighsburg wherein a grammar school shall be established." It also specified that "the preceptor or teacher of which said school shall be competent to instruct the Greek and Latten [sic] languages." Mary Freligh, nee Marvin, died 21 February 1841; St AER, 1841, fol. 6. There had been another child, Harriet, born 26 February 1807, who seems to have died young; see St AER, 1808, fol. 3V. William Stevens Baker (1818-1905), son of Stevens and Levinah Baker, married Harriet Eliza Clapp (1822-1911); Reid refers to him as "young William" since, also living in Dunham at that time, was another William Baker, his uncle, confusingly married to another Harriet Clapp, young William's wife's aunt. Scott's wife was Belle Mira, nee Hewson (1818-60). The Rev. John Bethune, D.D. (1791-1872), rector of Christ Church, Montreal, and former pro tern principal of McGill College. See John Irwin Cooper, "John Bethune," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 10:57-8. The Rev. William Agar Adamson (1800-68), assistant minister at Christ Church, 1844-50. Adamson never did succeed Bethune; see W.L. Morton, "William Agar Adamson," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 11:4-5. This was the District of Montreal Cattle Show, held on Friday, 5 October 1849. Prizes were offered for cattle, horses, hogs, sheep, butter, and cheese; see advertisement in the News, and Frontier Advocate, 7 September 1849, 3. Reid writes "bout" in MS.

302

Notes to pages 49-50

232 Reid married James Wellington Toof and Emma Calista Martindale, of Stanbridge, on 10 October 1849; St AER, 1849, fol. 16. The bride, whose hand is indeed fluent - she writes a particularly elegant E - served as a school teacher in district no. i (Cook's Corner) in 1849; MHSA, "Register & Rect. Book of the Corporation of School Commissioners for the Municipality of Frelighsburg," 39. "Little Toof was at this time thirty-two years of age; St AWR, 1822, fol. 15. 233 The first telegraph wire had been "strung in the Dominion" as recently as 1847, and by 1849 there were two companies operating in Montreal, the Montreal Telegraph Company and the Montreal and Troy Telegraph Company. With competition, rates went down. It had cost 2/6 to transmit 10 words from Montreal to Toronto in 1848, while 2/6 would send 100 words in 1849; see MacKay, The Montreal Directory ... 1848 and 1849, 325 and 335, respectively. The Toronto report, based on a rumour current in Montreal on 9 October, was false, and was corrected in the press two days later; see the Montreal Transcript, 11 October 1849, 2 234 Reid's view of Elgin is fully in accord with the Conservative Press: 'Until Lord Elgin leaves Canada, (writes a friend to us) the right arm of loyalty is palsied, and fuel added to smouldering treason.' We wish His Lordship could be made aware of this fact, and how much his presence strengthens the arm of the disloyal. It is a strange fatality which binds His Excellency to a country where he has made himself so unpopular, and where his presence is the signal for tumult and passion. We have always spoken of Lord Elgin 'more in sorrow than in anger,' but still we wish him gone, being fully convinced that his absence is necessary to stifle effectually the embers of disaffection which his unfortunate assent to the Rebellion Bill first kindled. Why will he stay then, when he must feel that his presence is fraught with mischief and danger? Montreal Transcript, 27 November 1849, 2. 235 Sarah Maria (b. 1814) and Lucinda Hammond (b. 1816) were the daughters of David Toof and his wife Lucinda, nee Hammond; St AER, 1816, fol. 2. James Wellington was the son of David Toof and his second wife Rebecca, nee Ganson; St AER, 1822, fol. 15. 236 That is, the tongue; see Jam. 3:5-8. 237 For example, George Cook had stood sponsor for Ebenezer Marvin (b. 1812), son of David Toof and Lucinda Hammond; St AER, 1816, fol. 2, and Martha Cook signed as one of Rebecca Toof s "chosen witnesses" when she received adult baptism; St AER, 1830, fol. 21. 238 The Annexation Manifesto was issued in Montreal in October 1849. David Kinnear (see 29in. 175) "had probably much to do with the com-

Notes to pages 50—2

239 240

241 242

243 244

303

position" of the manifesto; Mills, The Annexation Movement, 125. He was one of the first to sign it; his paper, the Herald, "printed full news of annexation meetings in rural ridings." See Elizabeth Waterston, "David Kinnear," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 111430. MS reads dreat. William Seaton, The Church in the Wilderness or, the Encampments of the Israelites, 2 vols (London: J.S. Hughes 1821); Isaac Watts (1674-1748), English theologian and hymn writer; and Edward Young (1683-1765), poet and divine. Seaton intersperses his text with what appear to be brief excerpts from hymns or devotional verse, but, as Reid notes, he only identifies the authors of two passages; Seaton, The Church in the Wilderness, 2:272, 366. Reid's reference to Seaton's "Spiritualizing every thing" can be seen in his use of natural imagery which is a feature of the work: "What refreshment and fertility, fragrance and growth, have been imparted to nature, through the genial influences of the rain and dew! And how striking the results, how precious the effects of those evangelical instructions, which, by the secret power of God, have been made to distil on the mind like gentle showers!" (2:43). Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-59), politician, historian, and man of letters. Freligh's second will was witnessed on the day following, so Reid's entry date may be in error; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Will and Testament; RW Freligh, no. 2750, 20 November 1849. The annual payment was set at £75 on condition. The Rev. Micajah Townsend (1789-1871), incumbent at Clarenceville. The documents tracing Reid's triumphant quashing of Bethune's episcopal aspirations are transcribed consecutively, with occasional commentary, in his letterbook. Bethune's circular, dated 9 October 1849, a^so copied, begins: "A strong desire has been expressed by several of the Elder Clergy of this District..." and goes on to state that "The undersigned having been informed, on what they deem good authority, that the appointment of a Bishop to the new Diocese rests with the Governor General, are of opinion in common with many others, that the Clergy residing within the boundaries of the proposed new Diocese should be assembled on as early a day as may be practicable, for the purpose of consulting together on the expediency of giving expressions to their opinions on a subject involving so many grave considerations ..." It also plants the notion that "the selection of the New Bishop should be made from among the Clergy on the Spot"; the signatories are John Bethune, James Reid, M. Townsend, Jos. Abbott, W. Abbott, James Pyke, and W.T.

304

Notes to page 52

Leach; TCPR, Letterbook, 58-9. Reid concluded, probably correctly, that Bethune, as senior clergyman and rector of the most important of the Anglican churches in Montreal, expected to be perceived as the logical choice. He called a meeting of the Missisquoi District Association of the Church Society on 20 October 1849, at which a 'Resolution,' a 'Protest,' and a 'Memorial to the SPG,' all transcribed, were unanimously adopted. A second resolution empowered him as chairman to act upon this expression of its "decided opinion" at the Montreal meeting "in any way that he may judge necessary, to counteract the object for which it is invited to meet"; Letterbook, 66-7. The account in the letterbook states that Reid first saw the bishop's printed circular on 22 October at St Johns, on his way to Bethune's meeting, when the Rev. Charles Bancroft showed him his copy; Letterbook, 69. The bishop's circular, dated 17 October 1849, was aimed specifically at Bethune's call for a meeting in the name of the elder clergy, and asserted that their proposal to nominate the Bishop of the projected diocese was not appropriate. It did not censure the clergy; it merely "put [them] upon [their] guard"; Letterbook, 69-70. On reaching Montreal, rather than attending the preliminary meeting "of the Requisitionists" in the vestry at Christ Church, Reid went to his hotel where he was interrupted at dinner by Bethune and one of the Abbotts. A dispute apparently ensued, in which Reid claimed that in view of the bishop's circular, they were not at liberty to hold a meeting at all. Bethune disagreed, but at next day's meeting held at the National School House he withdrew the requisition, "in consequence he said of the Bishop's Circular, but in reality because he found that only the two Abbotts would support him"; Letterbook, 72-4. 245 The sense here is clearly that the defeat of the movement would have succeeded even if the Bishop's circular had not come. Reid describes what transpired at the doctor's dinner, which he was urged to attend. Only four other clergymen besides Bethune and himself seem to have been present: the two Abbotts, Leach, and Townsend. "After a time," the letterbook records, "the subject nigh his heart was introduced by himself, with the absurd statement, that the Governor General was vested with power to select the Bishop for the New Diocese of Montreal. I took him up at once, by asserting that His Excellency had no more power to select a Bishop than I had. Thereupon a warm debate ensued, in which the whole subject was argued. None took part in the debate but our selves. ... The result of the whole was that he despaired of doing any thing at the meeting which was to be held the next day." TCPR, Letterbook, 73.

Notes to pages 53—6

305

246 Macaulay's first contribution to the Edinburgh Review appeared in August 1825; the Essays were published in 1843, after they had begun to be reprinted in the United States. 247 "Because of this economic platform, the [Annexation] movement's most obvious failing was the lack of any soul-stirring cry ... Instead, it was branded by the dollar sign, which while of strong appeal to Montreal's canny businessmen, was mercenary rather than ideological, intellectual rather than emotional, and therefore decidedly limited." Mills, The Annexation Movement, 189. Furthermore, "in the ranks of Tory annexationists there was a yearning for a return of England to her policy of colonial preference, of protection in general; hence it is quite possible that many who spoke so loudly for annexation did it with a hope that the British Government, fearful of losing colonies, would repent and turn back to the pre-i846 system. Such hopes could have had very slight foundations." Lester Burrell Shippee, Canadian-American Relations 1849-1874 (New Haven: Yale University Press 1939), 9-10. 248 The repeal of the Corn Laws, 23 May 1846, by Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850). 249 Reid is probably referring to the following article, dated Montreal, 13 November 1849: "The Annexation meeting of Thursday ... turned out as I anticipated, somewhat of a failure. There were, I am told, from two to three hundred persons present... I can state with certainty that some of the more prominent persons who signed the famous Manifesto will go no farther for the present, at least, with the Annexationists, and I am inclined to think that many of them would give a good deal, if they had not meddled in the matter." The Albion, 24 November 1849, 5^°250 Rom. 13:8-14; BCP. 251 Sydney Smith (1771-1845), English writer and divine. 252 The Rev. Thomas Shaw Chapman (1824-1912). For a full account of the requirements and program of studies for divinity students at Bishop's College in 1849, see Rules, Orders, and Regulations for the Conduct and Government of Bishop's College, at Lennoxville, in the Diocese of Quebec; with a List of Officers of the College, &c. (Sherbrooke: J.S. Walton 1849), 10-11. 253 Probably the Churchman (New York), published 1831-61, and the Rev. William Berrian, DD, rector of Trinity Church, New York. Conversions (especially among members of the clergy) were receiving considerable attention in Church of England publications. The Berean, for example, reported: "Oxford List (No. 70) - The Rev. Robert K. Sconce, B.A., of Brasenose College, Oxford, ordained in 1845, nas conformed to the Church of Rome"; 25 January 1849, 174.

306

Notes to pages 56—9

2

54 Jones had served the people at the Lower Falls since his arrival in Bedford in 1842. On 26 March 1843 he wrote in his diary: "I am encouraged to believe that God will give us a church ere long at the Lower Falls"; see "Extract From the Journal of the Rev. James Jones, First Rector of Bedford," Eighth Historical Report Illustrated ([n.p.] Missisquoi County Historical Society 1965) 62, 64. 255 The earliest Stanbridge register to be made out to the Rev. David Robertson was that for 1833; his final entry was 22 August 1836 (fol. 24v). When Reid refers to his own association with the church at the Upper Mills, he is speaking not so much of the building - although it was said to have been dedicated to St James "in compliment to their pastor, Rev. James Reid" ("The Rice Family," in The Second Report of the Missisquoi County Historical Society [St Johns, PQ: News Typ, 1907], 49) - as of the congregation. The cornerstone of the church was laid in 1829, and the building erected by 1833. Prior to this Reid had held services in the brick schoolhouse. See The Church at the Upper Mills, 7, 45, and Julia H.S. Bugeia and Cornell Moore, In Old Missisquoi: With History and Reminiscences of Stanbridge Academy (Montreal: John Lovell & Son, Limited 1910), 16. For evidence of Stewart's support, see QDA, Stewart-Reid Letters, n, 21 March [1821], and II, 15 December 1830, authorizing a second £50 "in aid of Stanbridge Church." 256 Reid writes "I would furnish him" in MS. VOLUME 23

1 Two young Hurlbuts (Edward Cheney and Maria) did die within about a year of each other, but not "within the last year." See appendix B, Abel Hurlbut. The most recent burial in the immediate family was that of Abel Hurlbut Sr, on 7 June 1849; St AER, 1849, fol. 8. Reid's tribute to Mrs Hurlbut is reflected in the obituary which later appeared in the Montreal Transcript, i January 1850, 2: "In all her relations of private life, as an affectionate wife and kind mother, and a kind sympathising and charitable friend, her death is most deeply lamented by her bereaved husband and children, and by a very large circle of relatives, friends and acquaintances." 2 Delinda Kemp, nee Kelton (ci8o2-i8g2), q.v. The TCPR Churchwardens' Accounts for 1849 record donations "towards Pall." Anson Kemp's gift of 5/ on 12 December heads the list. The money was applied towards the £2/7/3^ paid out on the same date for "Pall cloth & trimmings." The bulk of the year's accounts concerns the more than sixteen further contributions allowing a second purchase to be made: a "Small Pall Cloth iVz

Notes to pages 60-1

3 4

5

6

307

yards at 15/ & 7 yd binding 6d which exhausts the subscription and a 6d over it £1.6.0" (Churchwardens' Accounts for 1850). Reid writes "to may way" in MS. S.C. Sewell, MD, had for some years been a member of the faculty at McGill College; in 1848 he taught Materia Medica and Therapeutics there; Robert W.S. MacKay, The Montreal Directory. New Edition. Corrected in May, 1848, ... (Montreal: Lovell and Gibson [1848]), 339. He was an active member of the Christ Church congregation in Montreal and had served as people's warden from 1843 to 1845, but was not a clergyman; see Frank Dawson Adams, A History of Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal (Montreal: Burton's Limited 1941), 170. The vacant missions of Shefford and Brome had been filled temporarily since October 1849 by the Rev. Thomas Shaw Chapman, travelling missionary of the Church Society. For Jones's letter, see TCPR, Letterbook, 90-1. Jones writes, in part, But we must beg you will have the kindness to go over to the Upper Mills; and to see if they will be satisfied with this arrangement, and kindly and actively co-operate with me in carrying it into execution. In that case only let me know, and I will serve them therein to the utmost of my power. I have in every step which I have taken in relation to the Upper Mills and indeed in all other matters consulted the Bishop, and have acted according to his advice and direction. God knows my heart, and will bear me witness, that I have cherished the kindest feelings towards the people at the Upper Mills, and have served them to the utmost of my power. But I must confess that with few exceptions, the returns which they have made to my services, have been a Source of much grief and disappointment to my mind. I shall however be most happy to witness a better state of things, and shall be glad to merge all my disappointments, and all my sorrow of heart, in the pleasure of witnessing their prosperity ... P.S. Please, attend to it without delay that we may commence on Sunday 30*. Reid had been supporting "singing schools" since 1829 at least; see SPGA, C/CAN/LC 2 97, Reid to A. Hamilton, 7 December 1829. One account of "singing schools" in the district presents a lively picture: "all - who had voices - were taught the rudiments of music, and to sing Hymns, and Church music, by a man who went round from one village to another; teaching what he knew, sometimes not a great amount, but the young people did not mind that; it was their time for fun and flirtations; and jolly sleigh drives, as they often exchanged visits with other schools, and sang together, to show off their attainments." [italics in original]. [H. Watson],

308

7

8

9

10 11

Notes to pages 61—3 "Reminiscences of the Early Settlers in Dunham," in Fifth Report of the Transactions of the Missisquoi County Historical Society (St Johns, PQ: News Print 1913), 107. The census for 1851 does not list Mr Bassett in the district, but the short duration of the "school" which had ended by 24 February 1850, and the itinerant nature of the work may have taken him far afield. Abel and Mary Hurlbut signed as witnesses to Mrs Hurlbut's burial; St AER, 1849, fol. 19. Reid often collected signatures for his register several days after the fact. Reid's four-page reply to Jones, dated 18 December 1849, is transcribed in his letterbook. Considering Jones's own letter (see n. 5) it is sharp and ironic in tone: With regard to the proposal you desire me to make to the people of the Upper Mills, ... I had rather not be the instrument of making it; especially as you tell 'that in every step you have taken in relation to the Upper Mills, and indeed in all other matters,' you have consulted the Bishop, and acted according to his advice and direction. Hence, if I were to make this proposal... I might become liable to the charge of acting in contravention of the Bishop's advice and direction to you. ... Nevertheless, if you are very anxious to make the trial, I will, because I would assist you and them if I could to the best of my power, go with you on some day which you may appoint to suit us both, after due warning to the people to assemble for prayers, and I would make them a short address, and give them my best advice. But remember that I give you my opinion beforehand, that the plan will not answer the purpose even if some of the people should agree to it... [The complimentary close is followed by a postscript, dated the igth.] Should I make a communication to the Lord Bishop, as I said I would do, and would shew it to you before it was sent, I beg leave to say that it will only be a copy of this letter, and in the event of doing so, you will consider yourself as in possession of a true copy of the same when you receive this." TCPR, Letterbook, 91-6. Reid did in fact carry out this threat on 24 June 1850, adding a covering postscript to Bishop G.J. Mountain; MDA R.G. i.s, Correspondence, 1849. Reid probably read the lessons for the day, whether there was a church service or not, either privately or at family prayers, and would thus have had this commemoration from the BCP in mind. Word illegible, ink smeared in MS. Reid's letter makes clearer than the diary does why Jones had harboured such a puzzling opinion: "I... adverted to the well known fact that the

Notes to page 63

309

Church edifice was going to ruin, and that... if there were no other reason, we did not like to see our property going to destruction. You observed in reply, that you did not like to see a proprietary Church, and said as you did before in August last, in my house, it would be a good thing for them if it did fall." [italics mine] TCPR, Letterbook, 92. Jones's objection to a proprietary church - where no new worshippers could sit, despite the small congregation - had some point. In Reid's own church, also proprietary, there were sixty-six pews with further seating in the gallery and only eight "free sittings" to be had; see QDA, Diocesan Papers, i, St Armand, Supplementary, Questionnaire for 1838, 4 August 1838. In 1879, when a new church was projected, Jane Reid offered to contribute $1,000 towards its construction "on the express condition however that the said new Church should be free from Proprietary rights forever." TCPR, Vestry Book, 122. 12 John Whitney (1790-1864), was already established in St Armand when Reid arrived there (St AER, 1811, fol. 2). As a parishioner of Stewart's, Whitney would have recalled his frequent giving (rather than selling) such books, and was probably one of the recipients of Stewart's own Family Prayer which had been "presented to every family of his two congregations at St. Armand." Ernest Hawkins, Annals of the Diocese of Quebec (London: SPCK 1849), 107. Whitney continued to describe himself as a Baptist until at least 1851 (NA, CE Census 1851, St Armand East, dist. no. i, p. 31), but the subsequent census lists him as Church of England (NA, CE Census 1861, p. 173). Whitney's name figures on the prize list of the County of Missiskoui Agricultural Society for 1838 ("Farms in St Armand," second place), a testimony to his proficiency as a farmer. Missiskoui Standard, 25 September 1838, 3. 13 Hannibal H. and Nathaniel Stevens Whitney. Their business, H.H. Whitney & Co. (a wholesale dry goods firm) was located at 195 St Paul Street, Montreal; MacKay, Montreal Directory ... 1849, 225. H.H. Whitney, the elder son, was in 1849 on the Board of Arbitration for the Montreal Board of Trade and president of the Thistle Curling Club (358-9). Nathaniel Stevens Whitney's obituary described him as "[one] of Montreal's worthies," a founder of the Horticultural Society of which he was latterly president, a life governor of the Hospital, a trustee of the Mount Royal Cemetery, a "devoted adherent of the Church of England," for many years a lay delegate to the Synod, and a governor of Diocesan College. Canadian Illustrated News (Montreal) 7 July 1883, 5. H.H. Whitney married Mary Ballard Gregory; his brother married Hannah Jane Mills, the "eldest daughter of John E. Mills, Esq., Mayor of [Montreal]"; see the Berean, 5 August 1847, 75-

31 o

Notes to pages 63-4

14 Perhaps Bassett's "new tunes" (see 24 February 1850) were an unwelcome departure from a tradition established by Stewart. Bishop Jacob Mountain, who heard Stewart's choir while on a visitation of the Townships in 1809, described it in appreciative detail in a private letter: On Sunday I confirmed about 60 and preached to a Congregation of about 600. The psalmody in this part of the world, is generally very superior to what it is in England, but here it was better than I ever heard. The singers, without any distinction of rank, (though the greater part of them were of the better class) assembled about the middle aisle; men and women, especially the latter, young; but no children. They sing in three parts, not with that vulgar twang, and discordant bawling, which are too common at home, but with a softened and chastened tone and manner, and with a perfectness of tune and sweetness of voice, that were really surprising. They were between 50 and 60 in number. I cannot express to you the effect that this truly devotional music had upon my mind, any otherwise than by saying that if you had been with me you would have wept outright. QDA, Unbound MSS, Jacob Mountain Letters, Mountain to Susanna Brooke, 22 August 1809. Indeed liturgical music in England, even in the great churches, had declined. "Cathedral music reached its lowest ebb in the latter part of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Little interest seems to have been shown in the choirs, which were allowed to get into an appalling state of slackness." Sydney H. Nicholson, Quires and Places Where They Sing (London: SPCK 1932), 48. The choirs of parish churches, the so-called 'west gallery choirs,' seem to have had a distinctive tradition and to have kept sacred music alive, but, as Nicholson points out, "These west gallery choirs were exceedingly tenacious of their rights and strongly resented any interference: it was often customary to keep the music in the hands of one family, some of whom sang while others played" (57). It is quite possible that Reid was perceived to be trampling on a similar tradition among his "old singers." In his commentary on Stewart's letters, Reid testifies that special care had been given to church music in St Armand. The Westovers, especially noted as standing aloof of the singing school (see 24 February 1850), had served in the choir since the 18208 at least, and would have remembered the old ways. The Lees would have brought the traditions of their Nottinghamshire parish church with them; see James Lee's diary, MCHA, v-g6-i, 16 July 1837. 15 John Bunyan (1628-88). A later reference to R.V.V. Freligh by Reid (29 April 1850) probably alludes to a character in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Mr Worldly Wiseman.

Notes to pages 65—6

311

16 John McAdam and his wife Agnes, nee Fleming, probably travelled from Brome to have their son John baptized; Reid performed the ceremony on 30 December 1849. St AER, 1849, fol. 19. McAdam had been a parishioner in St Armand before moving to Brome. That this indicated special respect or affection for Reid is very likely, for another child (b. 3 November 1846), also brought from a distance, had been given the name James Reid; see St AER, 1846, fol. 15. 17 Reid concludes this sentence with a question mark in MS. 18 What Reid may not have known (but Charles as a trustee of the college almost certainly did) was that no salary was attached to the professorship of chemistry. As for Dr Sewell, "after giving his services freely for some time (the College supplied the chemical apparatus) he eventually resumed medical practice in Montreal and later in Ottawa." D.C. Masters, Bishop's University: The First Hundred Years (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Company Limited 1950), 22. The following advertisement for a "Sale by Auction, of Valuable HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE, &c. &c. At the residence of Dr. SEWEL, in Lennoxville, on Wednesday the ijth day of April, instant" suggests that Dr Sewell's professorship, though involving no expense for the college, may have cost him dearly. Stanstead Journal, 11 April 1850, 3. Stephen Sewell (1767-1832), a lawyer, was the brother of Jonathan Sewell (1766-1839), chief justice of Lower Canada (1808-38). 19 Hawkins, Annals of the Diocese of Quebec. The work clearly draws on wider materials than Reid admits. His assessment is particularly ungenerous as Hawkins had made handsome acknowledgment of what the book owed "to the Rev. Missionaries of St. Armand" (viii). 20 The Rev. Charles Caleb Cotton (1775-1848) was rector of Dunham until his death. Cotton was an excellent example of the discrepancy between what the bishop saw and the actual state of affairs. The following undated fragment, probably from Stewart in care of Reid to the parishioners of Dunham, describes a number of serious problems: I advise you to state that you feel it to be your duty to yourselves, your families, & the Church, to represent to his Lordship the low estate of the interests of the Church in this township in consequence of the Reverend Mr. Cotton's inattention to the performance of his duties: that his remissness in visiting the people in general & the sick in particular, & in affording them spiritual comfort and advice, & his frequent refusal to attend funerals, have given great & general dissatisfaction: that his refusal to bury the corpse of a young woman, in November last, after it was brought to the Church, he being in the immediate vicinity of the Church, on the plea that she had been baptized by a Minister of the Dis-

312

Notes to pages 66—j

senters & not in the Church, alleging that he had orders from your Lord? not to bury persons so baptized, had hurt the feelings of every one who attended the funeral, & caused most of the people, since that time, to absent themselves from Public Worship: that owing to these circumstances & other grounds of discontent arising from the conduct of Mr. Cotton & the deficiency of his ministerial services, a Stove has not been procured, & the Church has not been used during the winter: that its use & the interests of the Church in this place are in a measure destroyed: that you are sorry to trouble his Lord?, or to injure the character or the feelings of Mr. Cotton, but that your concern for the Church, & your own best interests, oblige you to make the above statement to throw yourselves on his LordP's candour & mercy, and that you humbly request his Lord? to take your memorial into consideration. QDA, Stewart-Reid Letters, i, final item, undated and unsigned. 21 Stewart's letters to Reid show that, as bishop, he wished to oversee what his clergy reported to the SPG: "When you have an opportunity inform Mr Whitwell that I shall forward his Report without delay, & that I request him in future to enclose it open in a cover directed to me, Civil Secretary's Office, Quebec," QDA, Stewart-Reid Letters, n, 7 January 1828. Reid himself did not escape censure: "I wish you wd write a more full & correct Report for the Society. Might you not mention the School in your village, & enlarge a little on the prospect of the increase of the Church in Stanbridge. The Society wishes for interesting reports which they may publish." QDA, Stewart-Reid Letters, n, 25 November [1829]. That the society itself felt this recent lack of communication with its missionaries is clear in the Report of the Proceedings of the Society in the Annual Report for 1833: "Not much detailed information has been received from the diocese of Quebec, since the publication of the last Report. The Society has suggested to the Bishop the propriety of procuring and forwarding answers to a set of queries, to the same effect as those which have been circulated in Nova Scotia, and it looks forward to the result as calculated to throw great additional light upon the state of the Church in the Canadas"; (45). 22 In this rare pun Reid is obviously alluding to Isa. 40:4-5. 23 The custom of paying calls on New Year's Day was still observed in Montreal: "The New Year came in mildly and pleasantly; and the streets throughout the day were thronged with parties keeping up the good old custom of visiting." Montreal Transcript, 3 January 1850, 2. The custom, particularly prevalent as it was among those of Scottish extraction, may not have been familiar to most of the villagers, however.

Notes to pages 67—9

313

24 Logick, or the Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry after Truth (1725), by Isaac Watts. 25 Betsy (or Betsey) Plummer Dickinson, nee Foster (b. 1823). 26 The proclamation, that 3 January 1850 "be observed throughout Our said Province, as A DAY OF GENERAL THANKSGIVING TO ALMIGHTY GOD" for "His Great Mercy in having removed ... the Grievous Disease with which many places in the Province have been lately visited," appeared in the Canada Gazette, 22 December 1849, 7553. 27 The text of the amendment was "That £15 of the said money should be reserved towards the purchase of an Organ for the use of this Church." Those appointed to the committee were Captain Henry Baker, Daniel Westover, and Aquila Knap; TCPR, PCS Minutes, 30-1. 28 Katherine Baker, nee Sands, wife of Charles Stewart Baker of Dunham. Reid had married Elijah Stewart Reynolds and Maria Kemp on 14 June 1849; St AER, 1849, fol. 9. 29 This theme was in fact fully in line with the stated purpose of the publication: "it is intended to aim at the formation in the public mind of a more decided and earnest spirit of sympathy with the great work of sending abroad into all the world the light and grace of the Church of Christ, and the blessings of 'The Everlasting Gospel.'" Colonial Church Chronicle and Missionary Journal (London) i,no. i (July 1847-June 1848): 1-2. 30 Reid is alluding to the Rev. James Jones and to the account which appeared in Bishop Mountain's A Journal of Visitation to a Part of the Diocese of Quebec by the Lord Bishop of Montreal in the Spring of 1843, 3d ed. (London: SPG 1836), 34-5: The Church, owing to a series of unfortunate occurrences, was in a sunken and feeble condition in this mission [Bedford], and in Stanbridge East appeared absolutely prostrate; but it has pleased God to bless the labours of Mr. Jones ... In my journal of 1840,1 had to state that the church of Stanbridge East was shut up. I now met there, as it was calculated, three hundred persons or upwards. The people of this very spot volunteered the other day to make Mr. Jones a present of a house by subscription; and, what is far more important... he has already performed between sixty and seventy baptisms ... in little more than one month. In 1840, twenty persons were confirmed in the mission; upon the present occasion eighty-seven (besides the seven who were prevented from presenting themselves). For the account in Hawkins, see Annals of the Diocese of Quebec, 158-9. 31 Pensioners were informed by government notice printed in designated newspapers when and where to present themselves to be inspected and

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33

34

35

36

37

38

39

Notes to pages 69—72

paid, with the warning that "any Pensioner who shall fail to present himself at this Inspection, will not be entitled to any further payment of Pension." Montreal Transcript, 14 August 1849, 3. A Commissariat office or station in Philipsburg acted as paymaster at this time. Brown Chamberlin (1827-97) had four sisters, three still unmarried and living at home. NA, CE Census 1851, St Armand East, dist. no. i, p. 9. For further reference to Cook see 11 January 1851. These letters, more than 120 in number, are preserved in the QDA as the Stewart Letters, Reid Collection, i and n; they form the largest collection of Stewart's original letters in the diocesan archives. Reid's transcript, with occasional commentary, of ninety of them, is in the Eastern Townships Historical Collection (hereafter ETA). Reid later testified in court that the distance between Freligh's house and the parsonage (which was close by the church) was "about twenty rods more or less"; John Freligh [sic] v.John B. Seymour. "It is obvious that [Macaulay] does not rise above the party view of politics, and explains all opposition to Whig principles by the folly and knavery of their opponents." L[eslie] S[tephen], "Thomas Babington Macaulay," Dictionary of National Biography, 22 vols (London: Oxford University Press 1921-22), 12:417. Richard Roswell Whitwell (b. 1830), eldest of the Rev. Richard Whitwell's four sons, had been away at school for several years. Both Reid and Isabella were his godparents. St AWR, 1830, fol. 15. The Hon. Robert Jones was then actively campaigning for annexation. In January he attended annexation meetings in Rouville and in St Armand West; see the Montreal Transcript, 24 January 1850, 2. Jones's community, St Athanase, was a hotbed of annexationist activity, a meeting there having adopted the Montreal Manifesto on 5 December 1849; see Arthur G. Penny, "The Annexation Movement, 1849-50," Canadian Historical Review, New Series 5, (1924): 242. Jones was one of those "socially prominent" figures dismissed both from his military and judicial functions for his part in the movement; see G.H. Stanley Mills, The Annexation Movement 0/1849-50 as Seen Through the Lower Canadian Press (McGill University, MA thesis, 1964), 141, 187. At the meeting referred to, Dickinson had been the seconder of the main motion which was temporarily held up by "the organ movement"; see TCPR, PCS Minutes, 30. The entry in the register identifies the witnesses as "Charles S. Reynolds of this parish and Rodney C. Reynolds of St. Albans in the State of Vermont." St AER, 1849, fol. 19.

Notes to pages 72-4

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40 William James Reid died on 11 January 1850, aged four years and eleven days, and was buried on the day Reid received news of his death; Compton Parish Register (hereafter CR), 1850, fol. 2. Charles and Julia had had two other children, Emily (b. 1841), and Emma Isabella (b. 1842) who both died in infancy; CR, 1841, fol. gv, and 1842, fol. 4. Although Reid speaks severely about "the fond parents," he was to write glowingly about his granddaughter, 'Baby Annie' (b. 1852): "The child is most lovely, healthy and good-natured. She is exactly the picture of our own children when they were of her age. I never saw a child that I loved so well" (25:4497). 41 Probably a sister of R.V.V. Freligh's housekeeper Miss Abigail Hill of Highgate, Vermont. 42 Joseph Kenville, of Frelighsburg, hatter, declared under oath that at about 8 p.m. on the night before Freligh's funeral he was called to help move property off the premises of the deceased to the residence of John B. Seymour, and that Seymour and Miss Hill superintended the removal. He remarked "that the removal of the provisions in the house was so complete ... that we even carried away the Bread and nothing in the shape of provisions ... were left in the [house] except Potatoes that the deponent could see." In her deposition, Miss Hill swore that Freligh had directed Seymour to remove everything from the house on his death. John Freligh [sic] v.John B. Seymour. 43 Mary Baker, nee Westover (1802-68), q.v. 44 Wherever Freligh was prior to his return to Frelighsburg on 2 2 February 1841 he was not serving on the grand jury in Montreal. The session to which Jane Baker refers was convened at the court house in Montreal on 24 February 1841, three days after her mother's death. The names of the twelve grand jurors selected on that occasion, together with a list of twenty-four names from whose number they were chosen, were published in the press at the time, and R.V.V. Freligh's name is not among them. See the Montreal Transcript, 25 February 1841, 2. 45 Probably Hiram Barnes (1799-1842), miller, who lived near Freligh and may have worked in his mill; see NA, LC Census 1842, St Armand East, 5286. 46 The fact that John Baker (1791-1847), q.v., was one of two executors named in Mary Freligh's original will suggests that this stipulation was made not so much because of the legator's distrust of or dislike for her son-in-law as because of her wish that her daughter have some property exclusively her own. ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Leon Lalanne; Last Will & Testament of Mary Freligh, 16 October 1838. 47 James's failure to appear may have been due to continuing poor accounts

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50 51

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Notes to pages 74—5

of the ice in the Montreal papers. On 15 January the Montreal Transcript stated that a few more days of "severe frost" would be needed to make the ice "trustworthy, or at any rate before timid people will like to trust themselves upon it" (2). Some of Freligh's brothers and sisters had predeceased him (John and Elizabeth, for example); others had left the area (Carlton, Rodney and Gertrude). His brothers Abraham and Galloway, and his sister Mary (widow of Benjamin Reynolds), however, were all living nearby. MacKay, Montreal Directory ... 1853, lists a "St. Lawrence County, Mutual Fire, of New York," with offices in Montreal (397), but this firm does not appear in the 1850-52 directory. The TCPR preserve three insurance policies, all issued by the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of the Counties of Missisquoi and Rouville, dated 1839, 1845 and 1861. Probably Joseph Winch Bingham. Walling's Map of the Counties ofShefford, Iberville, Brome, Missisquoi and Rouville ... (1864), shows that aj. McGillivray owned lot 24 in the First Concession, through which the road passes to Sabrevois, as well as other property including a wharf opposite He aux Noix. MacGilivray (the spelling varies) was soon to suffer for his Annexationist views. Following the preamble: "ANNEXATION DISMISSALS - His Excellency the Governor General... has been ... pleased to remove the undermentioned gentlemen from the commission of the Peace for the District of Montreal," is listed, among others, "James McGillvray, of Sabrevois"; see the Montreal Gazette, 8 February 1850, 2. The same announcement records the dismissal of "Major James McGillvray" from the Fifth Battalion of the Regiment of Rouville. A Robert Wright was also dismissed from the same battalion and regiment on that occasion. Montreal House, a Montreal hotel of which G. Fellers was the proprietor, was located in Customs House Square; see MacKay, Montreal Directory ... 1850, 309. Probably Thomas Mussen, silk mercer and haberdasher, with premises on the corner of Notre Dame and St Lambert Streets and a carpet store at 119 Notre Dame Street, Montreal; see MacKay, Montreal Directory ... 1850, 196. Mussen was a pillar of Christ's Church, Montreal, and served as churchwarden from 1840 to 1854; Adams, A History of Christ Church Cathedral, 170-1. Archibald Hall, MD, lived at 4 St Frangois Xavier Street; see MacKay, Montreal Directory ... 1850, 116. There were two Dr Howards, both physicians practicing in Montreal in 1850: Henry Howard (1815-87), and Robert Palmer Howard (1823-89). Although either man may have been Dr Hall's

Notes to pages 75—6

55

56 57

58

59

317

guest on this occasion, the fact that the former also lived on St Francois Xavier Street (124), and was at that time a member of the Montreal Medico-Chirurgical Society of which Dr Hall was in 1850 Vice-President (344), makes him the likelier object of this reference. See Rodrigue Samuel, "Henry Howard," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 13 vols (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1966-), 11:425-6; see also Edward Horton Bensley, "Robert Palmer Howard," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 11:428-9. "[The Rev. David Robertson] was a Scotsman by birth, educated, as we believe, at a Scotch university ... He was a keen thinker of the north country type, who cared little for words but much for ideas, who respected rather than trusted enthusiasm, and who wished that his religious life should be hedged with reason, or made plain by revelation." Fennings Taylor, The Last Three Bishops, Appointed by the Crown for the Anglican Church of Canada (Montreal: John Lovell 1869), 49. William Baker (1789-1866), farmer and trader, and former MP for Missisquoi. Julia's mother was Margaret Gray, widow of John Gray, customs officer of St Johns. Reid probably took pains to arrange that his journey (even in a case of some urgency) should not fall on Sunday, for travel on that day was frowned upon. Charles and Julia made the trip from St Johns to Frelighsburg on Monday (see 29 January 1850). Avoiding Sunday travel does not seem to have been a strict rule in the family, however, for James frequently drove to or from Brome on the sabbath (see, for example, 25 February 1849 and 6 January 1850). Varying views of the subject prevailed, however, even in Bishop Mountain's family; see Donald C. Masters and Marjorie W. Masters, Ten Rings on the Oak, 1847-1856: The Mountain-Nicolls Family Story (Lennoxville: Bishop's University 1987), 274: "[Kate Mountain] embarked at 10 o'clock, last night. ... Armine will be shocked at the Sunday travelling but Bishop gave leave and so we let her go as it would have been a pity to lose the fast going "Arabia" or the society of her friend Hilda" (Mrs Mountain to Harriet Nicolls, 7 May 1854). Perhaps Mrs Edwin Cornell, nee Corintha (sometimes Corinthia) Hadley, who, together with her husband, lived with Zebulon Cornell; NA, CE Census 1851, Stanbridge, dist. no. i, p. 47. Another son, Simon Henry Cornell, lived close by; his wife Prudence, nee Barnes, could alternatively be meant; Census 1851, p. 43. Probably Armine W. Mountain, secretary of the Church Society. Mrs Walton kept the Book and Tract Depository of the Church Society on her premises in Odd Fellows' Hall, Great Saint James Street, Montreal; see the

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62

63

Notes to pages 76—7 Berean, 6 July 1848, 59. This seems to have been a sideline for Mrs Walton, for she had been a wholesale and retail dealer in Berlin wool for some time. The Frelighsburg ladies patronized her shop for materials and notions; see TCPR, Sewing Society Minutes, 28. Her advertisement shows that she catered especially for this market: "Mrs. Walton ... Has now on hand a very complete assortment of BERLIN WOOLS, in every variety of colour, which she offers upon the most favorable terms. N.B. - Particular attention paid to Country orders, which will be strictly complied with." MacKay, Montreal Directory ... 1849, 268. The village of Dunham, also known as "Dunham Flat" or "The Flat." Edward Baker (1802-78) of Dunham, farmer and postmaster, and his wife Eliza, nee Dunning. He was a younger brother of John Baker, Jane Freligh's deceased husband; see Cyrus Thomas, Contributions to the History of the Eastern Townships (Montreal: John Lovell 1866), 122. When Galloway Kemp drew up a notarized inventory of John Baker's property, he "went to the House and residence of Mr. Edward Baker situated in the said Township of Dunham ... and the last domicile of the said John Baker" to appraise "that part of the said property and effects now in the house and residence of the said Edward Baker." Although John Baker had once been a man of substance, the property consisted entirely of used clothing and personal effects; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; [Inventory,] no. 2861, 26 March 1850. One of these young men was probably the Rev. T.S. Chapman, whose diary recounts: "I found Mr. Scott at a place called Knowlton's Mills ... He gave me some valuable hints from his own experience; ... Mr. S. is of the opinion that the office of travelling missionary is productive of very little good; and I am almost persuaded of the same. He urged me hard to abandon my course and accept of the mission of Brome, and parts adjacent." May Harvey Drummond, The Grand Old Man ofDudswell being the Memoirs of the Rev. Thos. Shaw Chapman M.A. Rector of St. Paul's Church Marbleton (Quebec: The Telegraph Printing Co. 1916), 64-5. "Extracts from the Journal of the Revd. Thos. S. Chapman, Travelling Missionary of the Society" appear (duly abbreviated) in the seventh annual report of the Church Society (1849), 33-40, so it is likely that Bishop Mountain would have known of this incident. Chapman's conversation with Scott included in the latter states merely that "Mr. S. ... gave [him] some valuable hints from his own experience" (36). Hawkins had apparently sent a form to each of the clergy to be filled out and returned; Reid kept a copy of the questions and his replies, now in the TCPR. I have not traced a publication by Hawkins meeting this description.

Notes to pages 77—#o

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64 The meeting took place 26 January 1850. Resolutions in favour of annexation were passed and an Annexation Association formed; Stanstead Journal, 7 February 1850, 2. 65 Probably Lyman Brooks and his wife Fanny, nee Maxfield. Philip Toof, aged sixty-four, had died i February 1850; his funeral service was performed by a local Methodist minister, the Rev. William Scott, on the intended day. See Wesleyan Methodist Register: District of St Armand, 1850, fol. 4v. 66 Almira Chamberlin (1824-1900), q.v. Dr Barnum was her brother-in-law. 67 Probably the Rev. Henry George Burrage, stationed at Hatley. 68 Probably John Roach, farmer, of Brome. John Roach and James owned adjoining farmland on lot 21 on the gth Range; NA, CE Census 1861, Brome Township, dist. no. 4, p. 107. 69 Malcolm's summons to the court of bankruptcy had been issued "under the hand of William Badgley Esquire one of the Circuit Judges ... for the district of Montreal" and it was he who had issued the certificate of discharge; PMJ, Court of Bankruptcy for the District of Montreal, Judgments 1846, no. 2, pp. 491, 499. Charles Geddes, merchant, of Montreal, had been appointed assignee "of the estate and effects" of James Malcolm Reid, "Bankrupt," on 14 August 1846; Court of Bankruptcy for the District of Montreal, Judgments 1846, no. 2, p. 492. The record shows that on 24 February 1849, one of the creditors, William Footner, petitioned to be paid arrears of rent due him by the estate, but that the assignee, although duly notified, did not appear. Geddes was again called to appear and once more made default, whereupon he was ordered to pay a specified sum and costs. On 11 September 1849 "the Assignee ... appears, and fyles an affidavit that he has no monies in his hands belonging to the Estate of the Bankrupt" (501). This was the state of the case when Reid visited Geddes in Montreal in January 1850. 70 This later addition is crowded under the transcribed letter and written in very small script. 71 Reid writes "Tomb of Kilmorich" in MS. 72 Jane had just placed the following notice in the press: "ESTATES OF THE LATE R.V.V. FRELIGH, AND THE LATE MARY MARVIN, ... All persons indebted

to the Estate of the late RICHARD VAN VLEIT FRELIGH, of Frelighsburg, Esquire, and of the late MARY MARVIN, his Wife, either by Note or Obligations, or for Back Rents, or on Book Account, are hereby required to make payment to the undersigned, and to no other person. And Parties desirous of effecting Bargains for the Lease or Purchase of any Lands belonging to the said Estate, are hereby notified that such Bargains

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77 78

Notes to pages 8o—i

will not be held valid unless sanctioned by the Undersigned. JANE BAKER, Frelighsburg, Feb. 2, 1850." Montreal Gazette, 15 February 1850, i. Reid writes "There has" at the foot of one page, and begins the next with "had." Joseph May Kemp (1833-52), son of Levi Kemp. The fact that he was only sixteen probably explains Burrage's ability to pay him what he chose. The charge of 5/ was high considering the fares of cabs and caleches in Montreal: "For conveying one or two persons from any one place to any other place, within the city limits, and returning, (provided the time occupied does not exceed half an hour)," the charge was fixed at lod, after which, "For the first hour" at 2/ and for "each subsequent hour" 1/6. MacKay, Montreal Directory ... 1850, 376. The contents of the second and third stories of the grist mill, the animals in the barn yard, and the hay in the barn and small barn were described. The inventory was witnessed by George F. Roberts, hatter, and James Hunter, labourer; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; [Inventory]: no. 2806, [6 February 1850]. Probably Electa A. Foss, nee Dunning, widow of Benjamin H. Foss, merchant, of Brome. Reid had married the couple in 1831, and buried Foss in 1846; St AER, 1831, fol. 14, and 1846, fol. 17. Anson Kemp had four daughters: Sarah (b. 1824), Mary (b. 1826), Amelia (b. 1829), and Jane Julia (b. 1833). Sarah had married in 1845 and appears to have moved to Berkshire. The other three daughters were still at home; NA, CE Census 1851, St Armand East, dist. no. 2, p. 63. On that day Jane Baker had leased the grist mill to Sandy's son-in-law; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Act of Deposit: Jane Freligh & David M. Spicer, no. 2809, 8 February 1850. See Philip Henry Woodbury's testimony: "I remember seeing a printed placard with the name Jane Freligh to it concerning the said Estate, claiming to have the right to collect the debts due to the said Estate - I cannot remember when this placard was posted, - I saw it either in February or March -"John B. Seymour \. Truman Buck, Cour superieure, District de Montreal, dossier no. 1797, filed 31 October 1851. The allegation of undue influence was one of the first avenues Jane pursued in attempting to overturn her father's will. On 25 February 1850 Charles A. Terroux took her sworn statement that during his last illness the said late Richard Van Vleit Freligh was entirely in the hands and control of Defendant in this cause, and of one Abigail Hill... who avowedly entertained, and for a long time past has entertained violent feelings of enmity and hatred against this Deponent; that

Notes to pages 81—2

79 80

81

82

83

321

the said Defendant, and the said Abigail Hill purposely kept Deponent in ignorance of the danger of her late father during his last illness, and as this Deponent hath reason to believe, and doth verily and in her conscience believe, procured the pretended will to be made ... by creating and fomenting feelings of hatred and malevolence in the said late Richard Van Vleit Freligh her father ... and prevailing upon him to make such a will while his mind had become enfeebled and while he was incompetent to make a will. John Freligh [sic] v. John B. Seymour, statement filed with the Court 26 February 1850. Reid writes "weathered" in MS. The Rev. George Slack (1810-74). I*1 l&5° Slack and his wife Isabella Ann, nee Johnson, had three young sons; see Granby Register (Anglican), 1846, fol. 7; 1847, fol. 13; and 1849, fol. 2. Reid describes Slack as being a Low Churchman elsewhere (25:4635-6). Hawkins' suggestion that Reid call upon the people to provide a surplice (3Oon2i8) implies High Church leanings. Armine Mountain, though clearly sympathetic to the Tractarians, maintained a balanced view in discussing the controversy between high and low church parties during his father's episcopate. See A.W. Mountain, A Memoir of George Jehoshaphat Mountain D.D.. D.C.L.. Late Bishop of Quebec, Compiled (at the Desire of the Synod of That Diocese) by his Son, (Montreal: John Lovell 1866), 250. "No extraordinary" and "auld Sandy" suggest Reid's occasional tendency to lapse into broad Scots. The Rev. Andrew Balfour was born in Ireland and ordained priest in 1833. He was then stationed at Shefford; see Classified Digest of the Records of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts 1701-1892 [ed. C.F. Pascoe] (London: Published at the Society Office 1893), 868. Although Reid offers no opinion as to the credibility of either party here, a later diary entry describes Balfour, while in Shefford, as displaying "a hard blazing armour of brass, impudence, prevarication, and persistence in the wrong" (36:6279). Mr Wood may be the Rev. Samuel Simpson Wood (1795-1868). I am indebted to T.R. Millman for this identification. Augusta Mary Anne Morice, nee Zouch, and her husband Charles; the children were probably Augusta Elizabeth (b. 1846) and Charles William (b. 1848); Lacolle Parish Register, 1846, fol. 5; and 1849, fol. nv. On that day Jane Baker was taking a room-by-room inventory of the Freligh house, valued by Jonathan Stickney and Oren Baker Kemp, and witnessed by James Hunter and David M. Spicer; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; [Inventory], no. 2815 [15 February 1850].

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Notes to pages 82-5

Seymour had already taken an inventory of the articles removed to his residence from the Freligh house; it lists items, to the amount of £250/18/9, including dishes, silver, wearing apparel, feather beds, soap, machinery, two wagons, material from the old clothing works, dyewood, butter, cheese, potatoes, and onions. Abel Hurlbut and J.W. Bingham signed as witnesses: Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; [Inventory], no. 2806 [7 February 1850]. The sheriff's warrant to attach and seize property in Seymour's possession belonging to Jane Freligh, issued 11 February 1850 and summoning him to appear i April 1850, is among the documents of John Freligh [sic] v.John B. Seymour; on the strength of this order, the file states, these goods were placed under the guardianship of OJ. Kemp. Richard and Mary Yates's signatures appear in Reid's register on three occasions within the previous year, but not more recently than 24 August 1849; see St AER, 1849, fol. 10, 12. It seems likely that Reid's "business" of James's was courtship (see 27 February 1850 and 25:4526). This ball was probably a public dance rather than a private house party. Levi Kemp's hotel had "dance rooms upstairs"; see Lewis B. Hibbard, "Something About the Olden Times in Missisquoi, St. Johns, Etc.," in Third Report of the Missisquoi County Historical Society (St Johns, PQ: News Typ. 1908), 83. A long article quoted from the London Times, 26 January, appeared in the Herald of the previous day, describing the "virulent" and "outrageous" opposition "to Her Majesty's representative, to the Canadian Parliament, and the majority of the Canadian population." It deals chiefly with the annexation movement; Montreal Herald, 14 February 1850, 2. Caroline Jones, wife of Robert Jones and widow of Henry Chesmer. "Mrs Dixon" was probably Mrs Robert Dickson of Niagara-on-the-Lake. I am grateful to T.R. Millman for this identification. Jane Baker's inventory of 6 February 1850 shows that she had "Twenty six tons of Hay or thereabouts" in the large barn, and "about four tons of Hay" in the small barn; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; no. 2806. Galloway Levi Kemp (b. 1820). The actual period specified in two leases to Kemp, both drawn up on that day, was one year, two months and ten days; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Act of Deposit: Jane Freligh to Galloway L. Kemp, nos 2818 and 2819, 19 February 1850. Reid preserved yet another version of his recollections of witnessing Freligh's will, longer and more formal in style; see MDA, James Reid Papers,

Notes to pages 8'5—7

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loose, seven-page document in Reid's hand, headed "28th Sepr 1849." Alexander Cross appeared for the plaintiff in John Freligh [sic] v.John B. Seymour. A Scot by birth, Cross had been called to the Bar in 1844 and had been in practice in Montreal since that time; see J. Douglas Borthwick, History and Biographical Gazetteer of Montreal to the Year 1892 (Montreal: John Lovell & Son 1892), 222. 91 Lafayette Harrison Nutting, attorney-at-law, of Berkshire, Vermont. 92 Perhaps her cousin Galloway Freligh (b. 1828), son of Abraham Freligh and Rebecca, nee Smith, of St Armand; St AER, 1833, fol. 15. Jane also had an uncle Galloway Freligh (1797-1874), of Stanbridge. 93 William Hickok, of Philipsburg, bailiff, was one of the deponents for Seymour in John Freligh [sic] v.John B. Seymour. Like Seymour he was an American by birth, a hatter, and a Congregationalist; NA, CE Census 1851, Philipsburg Village, dist. no. i, p. 15; and St Armand East, dist. no. i, p. !994 The Rev. Matthew Lang, Wesleyan Methodist Minister, died on 2 2 February 1850 "at his residence, St. Johns, after an illness of but a few hours." The cause of death was described as "enlargement and ossification of the heart"; StansteadJournal, 28 February 1850, 3, and 7 March 1850, 2. Lang had served in both Dunham and St Armand before taking up his duties in St Johns; see Thomas, Contributions, 20. At the time of his death, Lang was superintendent of Wesleyan Missions in Canada East, and chairman of the Wesleyan Methodist District; Montreal Transcript, 23 February 1850, 2. His wife Margaret, nee Miller, came from St Armand; Whitwell had married them. St AWR, 1828, fol. 3v. 95 Oren Baker Kemp, son of O.J. Kemp and Patience Baker. Reid had several parishioners named Lucy or Lucinda. The melodeon, a type of small, portable reed organ, was common in North American churches, while the bass viol was one of the traditional instruments of west gallery choirs; Nicholson, Quires and Places Where They Sing, 57-8. 96 Jam. 4:12. 97 Scott had emigrated with his parents to the United States from England in 1817 and came to Canada in 1840; presumably other family members remained in the U.S. See Thomas R. Millman, A Short History of the Parish of Dunham Quebec (Granby, PQ: Granby Printing and Publishing Co. 1946), 21. 98 Perhaps the Rev. James W. Pyke, of Vaudreuil. Frances Ramsay Simpson, nee Simpson (1812-53), had married her cousin Sir George Simpson in 1830 and had been settled permanently in Hudson's Bay House in Lachine since 1845; see Sylvia Van Kirk, "Frances Ramsay Simpson

324

99

100

101

102

103

Notes to pages 88—() (Simpson, Lady Simpson)," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 8:811-12. Lord Elgin had indeed asked Hawkins to serve as the first bishop of the projected diocese, but he had declined; see T.R. Millman and J.L.H. Henderson, "Ernest Hawkins," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 9:378-9. The defence of the mill by force of arms continued for some time. On i March 1850, Philip H. Woodbury declared under oath that "to his personal knowledge the Plaintiff is now guarding the property with a party of irresponsible persons armed with Guns and Clubs for the purpose of intimidating the defendant." JohnFreligh [sic] v. John B. Seymour. Perhaps Laura Rykerd (b. 1826), daughter of George and Elizabeth Rykerd of Dunham, three years younger than James and unmarried (DR, 1826, fol. 3v). There were two other Rykerd girls, Emily and Charlotte (twins, b. 1838), but they were only twelve years old in 1850 (DR, 1838, fol. 3). A year later Laura married George Adams of Farnham, merchant and widower (DR, 1851, fol. 5v). Reid is undoubtedly referring to his elder brother John (1777-1846) and his youngest sister Jean (b. 1793) who had immigrated to St Armand in the 18205 and, by their conduct, had caused him considerable embarassment (see the chronology). Mary Whitwell, nee Olcott, was a daughter of General Roswell Olcott of Knowlton; see Ernest M. Taylor, History ofBrome County Quebec From the Date of Grants of Land Therein To the Present Time With Records of Some Early Families (Montreal: John Lovell & Son, Limited 1908), 1:185. Hubbard may have been Jonathan H. Hubbard of Franklin; I am indebted to T.R. Millman for this identification. There were several families of that name: Whitwell baptized a son of Erastus Hubbard, likewise of Franklin, in 1845; St AWR, 1845, fol. 5. Francis Fulford (1803-68), born at Sidmouth, Devon, and educated at Exeter College, Oxford (BA 1824), was ordained priest in 1828 and consecrated bishop of Montreal 25 July 1850. He was a close friend of the Rev. Ernest Hawkins, and from 1848 was editor of the Colonial Church Chronicle. The account in the Herald states: It has been rumoured in town, during the last few days, that the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Montreal would shortly be divided into two separate Sees ... and that... [the new Diocese] was about to be conferred upon the Rev. Francis Fulford, formerly Vicar of Croydon, in Cambridgeshire, and now minister of Curzon Street Chapel, May Fair, London. ... The Courier gives the following sketch ... 'The Fulfords, with the exception of the Courtnays, Earls of Devon, are probably the oldest family in the west of England; they are of undoubted

Notes to page 89

325

Saxon origin, tracing their descent in an unbroken line, and in possession of the same property, for about two hundred years anterior to the Norman Conquest. ...' We believe that the Rev. F. Fulford is what is termed a High Churchman. Montreal Herald, 28 February 1850, 2. Fulford is said to have "moved on the fringes of the ... Oxford Movement": he was a friend of Pusey's and on visits to England would stay with him. He enjoyed a friendly correspondence with Newman, and long afterward, after Newman had broken with the Church of England and become a Roman Catholic, Fulford "delivered a sympathetic review of his Apologia pro vita sua in Montreal." Yet he also professed an admiration for the English and continental reformers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and wrote a pamphlet, one of his few publications, entitled The Progress of the Reformation in England (1841). See John Irwin Cooper, "Francis Fulford," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 9:28 9-9 3. 104 The Lesson for Morning Prayer on the third Sunday in Lent (Gen. 37) describes Joseph's being sold into Egypt; BCP. 105 Frederick F. Strite (or Streit) seems to have been a man of some substance originally. In 1802 he had married Elizabeth Freligh, a sister of R.V.V. Freligh, but in August 1836 "under the pretence of seeking employment as a laborer in the State of New York," he left his wife and six children to fend for themselves; see ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Leon Lalanne; Petition of Elizabeth Freligh wife of Frederick F. Streit an absentee, 15 September 1837. His brother-in-law Galloway Freligh had published a notice seeking his whereabouts (Missiskoui Standard, 18 July 1837, 3) before his sister, claiming virtual destitution, petitioned the chief justice to settle her father Abraham Freligh's will so that she could live on her portion of it. By 1843 at the latest, Strite had returned to St Armand, for in that year he and Omie Lagrange entered into a Bond "sous seigprive [sic] in consideration for a certain sale & Conveyance of land," whereby Lagrange agreed to give Strite and his wife Elizabeth "their maintenance so long as they lived." Only four years later, however, Strite filed protest that Lagrange had defaulted; Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Protest: F.F. Streit to Omie Lagrange, no. 2029, 18 June 1846. The protest claims that Strite has been obliged frequently to call upon his neighbours for necessaries to support himself and his wife ... has been frequently obliged to procure his firewood by cutting and drawing the same upon his back from the woods ... that during the late illness of the said Elizabeth Streit the said Omie Lagrange neglected the said Elizabeth Streit in

326

Notes to page 89

furnishing brandy and other things directed to be used by the Medical advisor of the said Elizabeth Streit and that the said Omie Lagrange issued notices at the various stores in the country forbidding all Traders to trust the said Frederick F. Streit on his account by which notices the said Frederick F. Streit has been unable to procure the most pressing necessary of life more particularly during the late illness of the said Elizabeth Streit. Reading between the lines one suspects that Elizabeth Strite's illness, though perhaps real enough, was an excuse for large and steady purchases of alcohol. Having Elizabeth Strite bargain for necessaries herself does not seem to have been a practical alternative, for the record shows she had been blind for some years; Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Ratification, no. 1460, 27 March 1843. Strite was successful in compelling Lagrange to improve his situation, however, and the latter promised to provide the couple with a stone cottage, to be kept in repair, and two acres of land; Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Donation: Omie Lagrange to F.F. Streit, no. 2378, 9 May 1848. Elizabeth Strite died 27 October 1848 (St AER, 1848, fol. 12), so the cottage, which was to have been ready for their occupation (with "a piazza in front & a kitchen & woodshed in the rear") a year from the date of the donation, was probably never used by them. In 1851 Frederick Strite (aged seventy-three) and Jane Strite (a daughter, aged thirty-one) were living with Lagrange; NA, CE Census 1851, St Armand East, dist. no. i, p. 11. He died at the house of Omie Lagrange in 1852 (St AER, 1852, fol. 3v); his daughter still lived there in 1861 (NA, p. 162). 106 William P. Mclntosh, a native of Scotland, had been farming in Brome since 1843 at least: see Brome Parish Register (hereafter BR), 1842, fol. 4. It was not uncommon for farmers to hire themselves out in the off-season in this way; Reid's son John, when he turned to farming, did the same (25:4508). 107 Abigail Baker, nee Ayer. The agricultural census shows that Henry Baker's farm, at that time being operated by his son Lewis, was large and productive, specializing in dairy products and beef. In 1850 it yielded 2,500 Ibs of butter and 600 Ibs. of cheese; NA, CE Census 1851, St Armand East, dist. no. i, p. 35. The Willards were probably William Wallace Willard (one of the two sons of Samuel Willard [1766-1833]) and Merab, nee Knowlton, his wife, who lived on the home farm in Stukely (I am grateful to Marion Phelps for this information). Mrs Asa Westover's mother was Lucinda Knowlton Nash, nee Willard, W.W. Willard's sister.

Notes to pages go—2

327

108 The Herald prints a letter from Ferres to Kinnear, which says in part: "What your code of morality is I do not exactly know, but for my part, I hope I shall always consider it the act of a scoundrel to invent and publish a lie for a malicious purpose, and to make no atonement for an offence, equally against sound morals and the decencies of society." Montreal Herald, 5 March 1850, 2. The quarrel was an occasion for comment in other papers. An editorial in the Transcript tried to give an overview of the affair: "In consequence of a correspondence of a very unpleasant character which has taken place between Mr. Kinnear, of the Montreal Herald, and Mr. Ferres, of the Montreal Gazette, arising out of a charge made in the Herald to the effect that Mr. Ferres has been bought by the Government, and that the fact of his having accompanied Mr. Bristow to Sherbrooke is evidence of the compact, and a part 'of the terms,' we have been requested and, indeed, feel bound to give a plain statement of all the circumstances connected with Mr. Ferres's trip to the Townships." Montreal Transcript, 5 March 1850, 2. The Transcript concluded that the charge made by the Herald was unfounded. Reid and Ferres had worked closely together for a time, especially during the mid-i83os, the first years of publication of the Missiskoui Standard. 109 Julia Alma Reynolds, born 7 March 1850; St AER, 1849, fol. 22. no Townsend Wells, of Farnham, and Betsey, nee Collins, his wife, had several children, including: Leonard, Orlando, Almeda, Mary, and Sophia; see ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Henri Bondy; Sale & Transfer from Almeda Wells wife of Edmund Longley & al to Leonard Wells, no. 3935, 9 September 1864; and Dunham Wesleyan Methodist Register, 1820, fols 16-18. in The Carty children baptized were Sarah Ann (b. 1845), and James Robert (b. 1848); the O'Brine children were George (b. 1846) and James (b. 1848), sons of Elizabeth O'Brine, nee Carty, and the late William O'Brine, farmer, of St Armand East; St AER, 1849, fol. 20. 112 Probably Dr and Mrs Joshua Chamberlin; Mary Baker (Henry Baker's daughter-in-law) and Jane Chamberlin were sisters. 113 Reid writes "forever to appropriated" in MS. 114 James McGill (1744-1813), who left a large bequest of land and money to found the college bearing his name. The property was tied up in litigation for many years, following which there were lengthy disputes regarding denominational control over the institution, in which Reid took considerable interest; see TCPR, Letterbook, 1-34. A detailed account of the difficulties besetting the execution of the will with respect to this bequest, despite the appointment of trustees, appears in William

328

115

116 117

118

119

Notes to pages 92-4 Henry Atherton, Montreal ijjj-iqi^: Under British Rule 1760-1914, 3 vols (Montreal: The J.S. Clarke Publishing Company 1914), 2:326-9. Reid is probably referring to a printed notice in the Canada Gazette pertaining to the Freligh estate and signed "J.B. Seymour Executor and Legatee," in which Seymour describes himself as "Legatee in Trust." The notice first appeared 23 February 1850 and continued to run until 6 April 1850. St AER, 1 849, fol. 2 1 . Reid probably refers to the family of Richard Yates and his wife Mary, nee Partridge. Flagg was a widower from the Clarenceville area; the register makes clear that St Thomas was the name of his parish, not of a town. They were married "by dispensation of Licence"; St AER, 1849, fol. 21. By the provisions of a donation from her parents to her brother John and his wife Abigail, Mary Pier would have received a number of specified articles to start her out in married life, namely: "one new light stand, Bureau, two new bed steads, nine wooden painted dining chairs, one settee and one Rocking chair ... one good Cow and six good sheep, the whole of the above named articles and stock to be made and given to each of his said sisters [Mary, Elizabeth and Catherine] on their being provided for by marriage or other wise as they may require"; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford) : Richard Dickinson; Donation [John Pier Senior and Elsha Sixby his wife to John Pier Junior and Abigail Gushing his wife]: no. 2588, 16 April 1849. On 14 March a Townships paper listed pairs of "working oxen" at $67, $75, $78, and $80, reporting fifteen pairs sold that week compared to 725 beef cattle and 2,000 sheep; Stanstead Journal, 28 March 1850, 3. James's other pair of oxen ("heavy cattle") had cost $75, paid for by his father a little more than a year before (see 9 November 1848). The work on the cellar had cost $40, with Reid furnishing the lime and sand as well (14 August 1849). Less than a month before that he had most likely provided $170 to pay James's workmen for having "done his house and barn" (19 July 1849). The importance of an atmosphere of peace, "the quiet, placid contentment of mutual affection and esteem" as the basis of a happy marriage, is the theme of one of Reid's early essays in "The Fire Side" series. In marriage, he asserts, "If the spirit of 'strife' be not repressed at the beginning, jars, divisions, contentions and bitter recriminations will take the place which mutual love, and mutual affection ought to occupy" and that, "when the case is so, there will, instead of maintaining one uniform government at the fire side, be two - each striving to be upper-

Notes to pages 94—6

329

most. From the beginning of such a division, the peace of the family may be Considered as almost hopeless." Missiskoui Standard, 17 January 1837,

2.

120 That Jane Freligh had already begun collecting such debts is clear from a receipt made out to Truman Buck and signed by her on 18 February 1850 for £107, representing the full balance of payment due to the estates of R.V.V. Freligh and Mary Marvin; see John B. Seymour v. Truman Buck. 121 Exod. 10, the First Lesson for Evening Prayer for the sixth Sunday in Lent; BCP. 122 Charles and Julia seem to have been between servants. The use of the term "girl" for "servant" in the Canadas drew comment from recent immigrants from abroad: "They have a man now who lives in the house," wrote one, "and two females who choose to be called 'girls', as more dignified an appellation than servants." Audrey Saunders Miller, ed. The Journals of Mary O'Brien 1828-1838 (Toronto: Macmillan of Canada 1968), 17-18. 123 Kemp was probably in Montreal for the convening of the circuit court, which, on 20 March 1850, granted an act of curatorship "to the Vacant Estate and succession of the late John Baker" to Galloway Levi Kemp, of the village of Frelighsburg, Gentleman; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; [Inventory] no. 2861, 26 March 1850. Jane Freligh did not have full disposal of her husband's estate either. They were common as to all property acquired after marriage; she had the right to renounce the community and claim the dower, but the marriage contract stipulated that if there were no children born of the marriage (which there were not) his nearest collateral relatives were to inherit; Notarial Records (Bedford): Leon Lalanne; Marriage Contract between John Baker and Jane Freligh, 29 September 1817. 124 Reid elsewhere gave a fuller description of what had become of the money and other valuables Freligh had kept in the house: "The property was scattered here and there in his house, in holes and corners — some covered under other stuff, some in a neighbour's house, nearly a mile out of the Village, such as the Testator's gold watch, Books, notes and papers; and the money carried to Montreal the night after the burial, and not deposited in a Bank, where it might be found, but somewhere & with some body, for what purpose, who knows?" MDA, James Reid Papers, loose four-page MS in Reid's hand, beginning, "It is reported here and believed ...", p. 4. 125 Itinerant lecturers and entertainers were a welcome diversion in the country, and Townships papers carry a variety of advertisements for

33°

Notes to page 9 6 them. For example: "Mr. De Florence, the Ventriloquist, Delineator of Yankee characters, Comic dancing, and wire Vaulting, will perform at Newport, at the house of Mr. Page, on Saturday evening the 3Oth inst: at Winn's Derby Line, this (Thursday) evening, 28th, and on Friday evening, agth, at Derby Centre. He will also perform at every village between this and Waterloo." StansteadJournal, 28 February 1850, 3. The lecture Reid attended was clearly on the new 'science' of 'Electro-Biology,' then followed with equal interest by city audiences, as the same paper's Montreal correspondent attests: Electro Biology has driven every other speculation out of the heads of our citizens. ... The subjects are prepared for the experiments as follows. A coin, about the size of a dollar, composed of two plates of Zinc riveted together by a copper rivet, is placed in the left hand of the subject, and at this coin he is directed to gaze from 15 to 20 minutes. The operator walks about, occasionally pinching the thumbs of the subject and now and then, passing his hands before his eyes. After the time is expired, the coin is removed and the operator grasping the right hand of the subject with his right hand squeezes it pretty tightly, placing his left hand on the top of the subject's head, the thumb of the hand being pressed firmly between the two eyes of the subject who is then ordered to close his eyes, in which position they remain in spite of his efforts to open them. The operator, after the audience have enjoyed the futile and frequently ludicrous efforts of the subject to open his eyes, cries out 'all right,' and the eyes open instanter. This is the first scene of the play. After this has been successfully accomplished, the subject while perfectly conscious is at the mercy of the operator, who then causes him to drink water and believe it to be Brandy, Coffee, Milk, Lemonade, &c. The operator then wills (I presume) the subject, to fancy a walking stick to be a snake or a red hot poker, places his hands on the top of his head and defies him to take them down, makes him see strange sights and do strange things. In fact the subject does whatever the operator orders and sees whatever he directs. In all things the subject is under the control of the operator; looses [sic] his sight and taste and use of his limbs. The experiments are really extraordinary ... Night after night, the Lecture Hall ... is crowded by the elite of our citizens, to gaze at these odd experiments. Ibid, 28 March 1850, 2. Tom Skinner was probably the son of Thomas Skinner, harnessmaker, of Dunham; he would have been about twenty years old. NA, CE Census 1851, Dunham Township, dist. no. 2, p. 71.

Notes to pages 96—101

331

126 That is, sorcery; see Acts 8:9-24. 127 Reid writes "at my not taken a part" in MS. 128 The position of the parsonage, on an abrupt rise of ground, exaggerates the blast of the prevailing wind. Reid's study was on the second storey and the windward side of the house. 129 Scarlatina (Scarlet Fever) was one of the dangerous diseases specified in the proclamation renewing quarantine regulations for the ensuing season of navigation, published in the Canada Gazette, 30 March 1850, 8241-4. 130 Patience Kemp, daughter of OJ. Kemp and Patience Baker. The TCPR St Armand East Churchwardens' Accounts, 12 April 1850, record: "Bought clothes for Chad's girls 7/1 V&." This probably refers to the late Franklin Chadburn's family. The accounts also list outlays for supplies for the Sunday school itself in 1850: 6/10 for books, and £2/10/0 for the Sunday school library. 131 The depositions of the local inhabitants which were actually used in the case are preserved in the court record, and bear dates in February and March 1850. Those supporting Jane Freligh's case seem generally to have been sworn before Richard Dickinson, and those in favour of Seymour's before D.T.R. Nye; see John Freligh [sic] v. John B. Seymour. 132 The widow was Nancy Chandler (1804-65), nee Westover, q.v. Her brother and sister, Daniel Westover and Mary Baker, signed the register as witnesses. There is no indication in the entry that the burial took place in Stanbridge; St AER, 1849, fol. 22. 133 Hay prices quoted in Montreal that week were not this high: 'Cow' hay was $7 to $8, and better quality hay fetched $9; Montreal Gazette, 12 April 1850, 2. 134 The pamphlet appeared as an extra edition of the Greenock Advertiser, entitled Moral consequences of Sir R. Peel's unprincipled and fatal course, by Isaac Buchanan (1810-83), merchant, politician, and pamphleteer; see Douglas McCalla, "Isaac Buchanan," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 11:125-31. 135 Churchville, named for John Church (who settled there in 1799 and opened a store and public house) became known as Sweetsburg in 1854, when a post office under that name was established in the town. Thomas, Contributions, 159-60. 136 Seymour's political sympathies are hinted at in his acting as a local agent for the St Johns News (24 May 1850, 4), a Liberal (that is "radical") paper; see Andre Beaulieu and Jean Hamelin, La Presse Quebecoise des origines a nos jours 1764-1859, 2 vols (Quebec: Les Presses de 1'Universite Laval 1973), 1:163.

332

Notes to pages 101—4

137 Mat. 3:7. 138 George F. Roberts, David M. Spicer, and James Hunter were indicted for "Riot and tumult" and were each "bound by recognizance" in the sum of £30 paid by Jane Freligh and Columbus Stevens. The case was finally heard before Judge McCord in July 1851 with Seymour, Benjamin R. Dunning and Philip Henry Woodburry [sic] as crown witnesses, and Jane Freligh and Margaret Maguire as witnesses for the defense. Brown Chamberlin represented the accused. The jury found them not guilty. PMJ, Register of the Court of Quarter Sessions 23 April 1849 - 19 July 1852, no. 50, pp. 247ff., The Queen v. George F. Roberts, David M. Spicer and James Hunter. Elmore Lincoln Kemp was bailiff of the superior court. 139 The census nearest this date shows Reid keeping three "bulls, oxen or steers," three "milch cows," and two "calves or heifers" as well as a horse; this represents a modest increase in his livestock from 1842, when he had four "neet cattle" and two horses. NA, CE Census 1851, Agricultural Census for St Armand East, dist. no. i, p. 35, and for 1842, p. 2586. 140 Undoubtedly this "girl" was the female servant recorded as living with the Reid family in the census of 1842. From the scanty information given, one may conclude that she was single, under forty-five years of age, belonged to the Church of England and, perhaps, was a native of Scotland. Census of 1842, p. 2586. 141 Julia O'Brine, born in Ireland, was about twenty-three years of age, and a Roman Catholic. NA, CE Census 1851, St Armand East, dist. no. i, p. 23. 142 Reid's letter is preserved in the SPGA, Bound Correspondence, Letters Received Quebec 1850-59, 3180/50, Reid to Hawkins, 21 May 1850. It differs considerably from the version in the diary in that its conclusion adds: The weather here is very backward for the season, and very unfavourable, from cold and rain, to the successful labours of the husbandman. We have now arrived at, if not some days past, the usual time of planting Indian Corn, but cannot plant on account of the unpropitious state of both the ground and the weather. My son, the Rev. C.P. Reid, of Compton, had the misfortune of losing his only child, a fine boy, at the age of four years, last January. He and his wife felt the stroke very hard, but they were, I am happy to say, humbly and piously resigned to the will of God. I was very happy to learn from the 'Chronicle' that you got back to London in health and safety after your voyage, and your fatiguing journeys in America. 143 The cost of the Chronicle was 8/9 per annum. Apparently Reid was not alone in failing to receive some numbers of the publication. The Church

Notes to pages 104—5

144

145

146 147

333

(2 May 1850, 159) carried the following notice: "TO SUBSCRIBERS ABROAD. - It is feared that many irregularities have occurred in the transmission of the "CHRONICLE" to subscribers in British North America. New arrangements have been made, with a view to remedy this deficiency." John Prentiss Kewley Henshaw, consecrated bishop of Rhode Island in 1843, had published "Reminiscences of the Late Right Rev. Dr. Stewart, Lord Bishop of Quebec" in the Church, 12 October 1839, 60. Hawkins reprinted it as appendix A of his Annals of the Diocese of Quebec. Henshaw's contact with Stewart, according to the "Reminiscences," dated from 1811, when, at nineteen years of age, he was urgently summoned to assist with Stewart's missionary work in Vermont; see Annals of the Diocese of Quebec, 305. Henshaw's account, although apparently intended as a tribute to Stewart, clearly gave offence to Reid, who wrote a long and detailed letter of protest to the editor (The Church, 9 November 1839, 74). After pointing out a number of errors in the "Reminiscences," Reid took particular exception to Henshaw's account of Stewart's person: When Dr. Henshaw wrote his description of the venerable Bishop's personal appearance, it seems to me that he was fresh from a serious perusal of Sir Walter Scott's Black Dwarf; - for the one savours very much of the other. 'His limbs were badly formed - his carriage extremely awkward the expression of his countenance void of intelligence - and the tout ensemble most ungainly and forbidding.' I will not transcribe any further a description so 'ungainly and forbidding,' but merely observe that Dr. Henshaw has endeavoured to make the memory of a good man supremely ridiculous. If ever any man was inviting, rather than 'ungainly and forbidding,' Dr. Stewart was indisputably that man, and the two Provinces of Canada know that Dr. Henshaw has dealt in fiction when he said that his 'countenance was void of intelligence,' and his tout ensemble forbidding." After his detailed refutation, Reid must have been shocked to see the "Reminiscences" reprinted in the Church on 14 December 1848, 80; it is worth noting that he does not mention subscribing to the publication after that date, although he did forward money for that purpose on behalf of Charles (see 2 January 1849). The prayer before the Collect near the end of the Burial Service begins: "Almighty God, with whom do live the spirits of them that depart hence in the Lord, and with whom the souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from the burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity"; BCP. Reginald Heber (1783-1826), bishop of Calcutta. According to a pamphlet aimed at prospective immigrants to the Townships, Indian corn could be sown from 2oth May to loth June. Samuel

334

Notes to pages 105-6 Brooks, Information Respecting The Eastern Townships of Lower Canada in which The British American Land Company Intend to Commence Operations for the Sale and Settlement of Lands, in the Ensuing Spring (London: WJ. Ruffy 1833), 11.

148

St AER, 1849, fol. 22V.

149 The agricultural census for 1851 describes this piece of land as "sandy soil, well watered, value £300." Of his fifty acres, Scott had ten under crops, fourteen and a half under pasture, and twenty-five under wood or wild; he kept one milch cow and one horse, raised two tons of hay and produced 100 Ibs butter, four cwt of beef, and three cwt of pork. Besides field crops, such as oats, Indian corn, potatoes and beans, he reported a half-acre of garden or orchard. See NA, CE Census 1851, Dunham Township, Agricultural Census, dist. no. 2, pp. 116-17. 150 Isa. 45:9. 151 Eliza Jane, nee Baker, wife of DrJ.C. Butler of Dunham, died on 30 May and was buried by Scott on 4 June 1850; DR, 1850, fol. 6v. She may have died from complications resulting from childbirth, for a daughter Jane was born to her on 7 May 1850 and baptized two days before her funeral; DR, 1850, fol. 6. 152 Thomas Brown Anderson (1796-1873), merchant and banker, was, in 1850, vice-president of the Bank of Montreal. A devoted Anglican, he was for a long time treasurer of the Church Society; see Carman Miller, "Thomas Brown Anderson," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 10:10-11; see also J. Douglas Borthwick, History of the Diocese of Montreal (Montreal: John Lovell & Son 1910), 68. The TCPR PCS Minutes, 31-2, contain a list of subscribers (fifty in number), whose contributions to the Church Society totalled £16/12/6. 153 This letter is preserved in the SPGA, Bound Correspondence, Letters Received Quebec 1850-59, 3473/50, Reid to Hawkins, 8 June 1850. It does not vary significantly from the diary copy. 154 Francis and John Rivington, of St Paul's Church Yard and Waterloo Place, London, were publishers to the SPG, producing books, pamphlets, and periodicals (such as the Colonial Church Chronicle). They were descended from John Rivington (1720-92), who in about 1760 was appointed publisher to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; see Henry Richard Tedder, "John Rivington," Dictionary of National Biography, 16:1222-3. 155 Since its foundation in 1841, Hawkins had been honorary secretary of the Colonial Bishoprics Council, an organization for the extension of the colonial episcopate; see Millman and Henderson, "Ernest Hawkins," Die-

Notes to pages i oj—8

156

157

158

159

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tionary of Canadian Biography, 9:378. The Colonial Church Chronicles statement of editorial policy declared that "whatever profits may arise from the Publication will be given to the 'Colonial Bishoprics Fund'"; July 1847, i. See the Eighth Annual Report of the Incorporated Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec, 23-5, for an account of this meeting, held at All Saints' Church, and the five resolutions passed. The clergy present were the Rev. James Reid, James Jones, Richard Whitwell, Thomas Johnson, Joseph Scott, William Jones, Andrew T. Whitten, and Robert Lindsay. The two new clergymen were Lindsay and Whitten. The sermon was probably delivered at a memorial service without a body for burial; the Baptist register for St Armand does not contain an appropriate entry on or near this date. Reid had strong objections to funeral sermons being dissociated from the burial service (25:4514-6). The Hon. John Samuel McCord, of Montreal, served as a circuit court judge in the District of Montreal (which included Missisquoi) in 1850. He was a member of Christ Church and a former churchwarden; see Adams, A History of Christ Church Cathedral, 169-70. William Gordon Mack was a Montreal lawyer with an office on Place d'Armes Hill, who in 1850 attended the Missisquoi Circuit Court; Mack's law partner, Muir, who did not attend the Missisquoi circuit and would have been less well known in the district, may have been the other lawyer: see advertisement in the News, and Frontier Advocate, 31 May 1850, 3. Mack was one of the attorneys representing Reid's interests at Malcolm's bankruptcy proceedings, and had held Reid's power of attorney "to sign and execute a certificate of discharge" as one of the creditors of Malcolm's bankrupt estate; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Power of attorney: James Reid to William Gordon Mack, Esquire of the City of Montreal, no. 2172, 13 April 1847. Mack continued to be Reid's attorney of record in the case until 5 November 1850. Reid went to Montreal to attend the annual meeting of the Church Society held at the National School House on 3 July at 6:30 p.m. Reid's callers were Armine W. Mountain, and his brother-in-law the Rev. Jasper Hume Nicolls, principal of Bishop's College. Nicolls was to move the third resolution at the meeting, seconded by the Rev. John Irwin. Reid's new resolution, the fourth, was "That the meeting rejoices in the efforts which are now being made in the Mother country, to establish new Sees in various parts of the British Empire, and particularly in the prospect of a speedy division of the widely-extended Diocese of Quebec," seconded by W. M'Tavish, Esq.; see Eighth Annual Report of the Incorporated Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec, 5-6.

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Notes to pages i op—11

160 George Barnes, farmer, died 15 July 1850; St AER, 1850, fol. 2. His widow Sophronia was Abel Hurlbut's sister; see St AER, 1816, fol. 9. The burial took place at the Barnes Cemetery (where his monument still stands) on the side of the Pinnacle, a considerable distance from Frelighsburg. 161 The Rev. Robert Lindsay was still a deacon, ordained 24 February 1850; Brome was his first mission. See Pascoe, Classified Digest of the Records of the SPG, 870. 162 Probably John Simpson, farmer, of Sutton; NA, CE Census 1851, Sutton Township, Part i, p. 15. In 1851 Simpson held 150 acres: twenty under crops, twenty-five under pasture, 105 under wood or wild. His crop consisted of wheat (50 bu.), barley (2 bu.), rye (20 bu.), oats (200 bu.), Indian corn (40 bu.), potatoes (200 bu.) and hay (5 T), besides maple sugar (300 Ibs), butter (200 Ibs), 5 barrels of beef, and 6 barrels of pork; pp. 53-4. His wife was Rebecca Toof, the daughter of Henry Toof, one of Reid's parishioners. 163 See ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Obligation: W™ Mclntosh to James Reid, no. 2934, 26 July 1850. Mclntosh fulfilled his obligation and received a discharge from Reid, also prepared by Dickinson, on 26 March 1856; Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; no. 4521. 164 Sir Robert Peel's fall occurred on 29 June; he died of the injuries he had received on 2 July. 165 Fulford had been consecrated bishop in Westminster Abbey, 25 July 1850. The Transcript, citing the Gazette of the previous day, mentions the two appointments; Montreal Transcript, 6 August 1850, 2. 166 John Henry Hopkins (1792-1868), was the first Protestant Episcopal bishop of Vermont, consecrated 1832. 167 Psal. 84:1. 168 Joel Clap Baker, son of William Baker and Harriet, nee Clap of Dunham (DR, Southern Part, 1827, fol. 2), and, probably, John Lowe, of Montreal. 169 Probably Edward Finley, tailor, of Dunham; NA, CE Census 1851, Dunham Township, dist. no. 2, p. 73. Finley was Irish by birth and a Wesleyan Methodist. 170 The records of the Trinity Church Sewing Society contain lists of items produced by the ladies of Reid's parish: purses - long and short, needlebooks, markers, "emerys," pincushions, mats for candles, lamp mats, watch cases, watch guards, collars, socks, gloves, "bosoms," and wristlets, besides orders for dresses, shirts, and other articles of sewing. The purchase of Berlin wool, bunches of steel beads, gilt tassels, pieces of ribbon, silk braid and velvet, Morocco skin, "crimson satin," and "green silk" sug-

Notes to pages 111—12

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gest that their productions were highly ornamented and designed as items of luxury. Presumably the Dunham ladies' "trinkets" were made along similar lines; TCPR, Sewing Society Minutes, 29-31. 171 The printed circular from the Rev. John Bethune relative to the proposed address of welcome to Bishop Fulford is preserved in the MDA, Whitwell Papers. Jones signed the Montreal Address and went to St Johns where the Richelieu clergy greeted the bishop with their address; see the Montreal Gazette, 12 September 1850, 2. Jones's two sons who attended Bishop's College (and eventually became clergymen) were Septimus, who was matriculated at the college in 1848 and completed his theological courses in 1853, and James W., listed in the census of 1851 as residing in Lennoxville; see Pascoe, Classified Digest of the Records of the SPG, 870; NA, CE Census 1851, Stanbridge, dist. no. 2, p. 123. Another son, Octavius, was living in Montreal. 172 Abner Bickford, farmer, of Stanbridge, would have been seventy-two, according to the census, a mere two years older than Reid. His son, also Abner, had married Charlotte Scagel, also of Stanbridge, a minor; Reid had performed the ceremony (St AER, 1825, f°l- 4)- From the context, it is difficult to tell whether Abner senior's wife, Elizabeth Preston (also seventy-two), or Abner junior's wife, was involved in this fight. The two families shared one house. The eldest daughter of the younger couple (living at home in 1851) was Emmily [sic], aged eleven; it is difficult to imagine her referred to as 'a woman.' NA, CE Census 1851, Stanbridge Township, dist. no. i, p. 37. It is worth noting that, many years before this, the senior Bickfords had transferred their property to their son in return for his undertaking to support them "decently and comfortably in sickness and in health as becometh their rank in life, in the same house in which they now all live ...," but that a month later the parties had revoked the agreement. Two years afterwards, they again drew up a donation for maintenance with the proviso "that any and all difficulties & controversies which may arise between them touching or in any wise relevent [sic] to these presents and any matter or thing therein contained" should be submitted to binding arbitration. It seems clear from Reid's account that the proviso was a wise precaution. ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Leon Lalanne; Donation: Abner Bickford to Abner Bickford Jr, 4 October 1826, and endorsement 13 November 1826; also Notarial Records (Bedford): Leon Lalanne; Donation: Abner Bickford & Consort to Abner Bickford Jr, 5 July 1828. Elizabeth and Abner Bickford, senior, sign with their marks. 173 Mary Hurlbut, then eighteen, married William Mead Pattison, bachelor of major age, by dispensation of licence; St AER, 1850, fol. 3. The second

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Notes to page 113

couple was Vinten Barnes and Ellis Sophronia Deming; she was seventeen; St AER, 1850, fol. 4. Reid seldom refers to receiving fees, but he had a right to demand fees for officiating at marriages and burials, as well as for registering baptisms and providing extracts from the registers. Some of the fees charged in other Anglican parishes, such as "surplice fees" at marriages, he stated he had never claimed; TCPR, sixteen-page MS. Address dated 19 April 1861, 8. 174 Only three years earlier, another of the Reids' sons had, when dangerously ill, returned to the parental home to be nursed back to health.The Berean, 28 October 1847, 122, reports that "The Rev. C.P. Reid, Missionary ... at Compton, who had been at Grosse He, ministering to the sick, left that station of pestilence and death, on 2ist ultimo, in company with the Rev. Messers Morris and Anderson, since dead, and with great difficulty made out to reach his father's house, in Frelighsburgh, on the 25th. ... For twelve successive days there was hardly any expectation left of his recovery; but on the thirteenth day ... his fever began to abate. Dr. Chamberlain [sic], his Physician, has been most indefatigable, and, it is to be hoped, very successful, in his attendance upon, and treatment of, him." Rand was probably Jasper Rand, a lawyer, of Berkshire, Vermont. Reid had baptized Rand's wife, Margaret, nee Chadburn (as an adult), and at least two of their children; St AER, 1839, fol. 18; 1844, fol. 9; 1850, fol. 9. 175 Elizabeth, nee Westover, widow of George Rykerd, of Dunham, had three sons, Edward, Asa, and Malcolm, all of whom were living with their mother in the family home in 1851; NA, CE Census 1851, Dunham Township, dist. no. 3, p. 130. Nancy, nee Westover, widow of Stephen Chandler, had four daughters (ranging in age from eight to nineteen); NA, CE Census 1851, Stanbridge, dist. no. i, p. 39. Catharine Rosenberger, nee Westover, widow of Henry Rosenberger, had three daughters living with her in 1851: Florida, Jane, and Martha, ranging in age from fifteen to twenty-one; NA, CE Census 1851, St Armand West, dist. no. 3, p. 39. Catharine MacCallum, spinster, was living with Dr Chamberlin's family by 1861 (Jane Chamberlin's mother was a MacCallum); NA, CE Census 1861, St Armand East, dist. no. i, p. 159. Mrs Ferres may have been Sarah Jane, nee Robertson, wife of James Moir Ferres, then of Montreal but formerly of Frelighsburg. 176 In 1844, Zer Leonard borrowed £50 from Joshua Chamberlin against a mortgage on lot 38 which had been conveyed to him by his father, Zer Leonard, senior. Two months later Leonard sold Chamberlin the land outright for £112/2; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickin-

Notes to page 113

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son; Obligation: Zer Leonard toj. Chamberlin, no. 1542, 30 March 1844; Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Sale & Conveyance: Zer Leonard to J. Chamberlin, no. 1548, 17 April 1844. 177 Sarah, daughter of Joshua Chamberlin and Jane, nee Westover, was born 24 March 1850; St AER, 1850, fol. 4. Chamberlin was serious about memorializing his intention to leave the property he had purchased from Zer Leonard to his daughter to the extent that he prevailed upon Reid to record the event in his Register, where the following account occurs: Memorandum. Doctor Chamberlin had invited all his wife's sisters, three of them widows: Mrs Rosenberger, Mrs Rykerd, Mrs Chandler, Mrs Mary Baker and her husband Louis, Margaret and Emily Westover [q.v.], unmarried, Daniel and Asa Westover her brothers and their wives, His niece and her husband Doctor Barnum, His brother's widow and his nieces, to be, and were present at the Baptism, which made a goodly company of relations. From the Church he led us all up to his house on his farm, which formerly belonged to the late Zer Leonard, where he had a Dinner prepared for all the Company. It was the birth day of his wife [b. 7 September 1812; St AER, 1813, fol. 3]. He selected this day for the Baptism of his child and gave a Dinner to his own, and his wife's relations, as a token and pledge of his intention to leave this farm, on which he assembled his friends on this day, as an Inheritance for Sarah, his first born child, this day baptized. At his desire, I have made this memorandum. James Reid, Rector St Armand East Register, v, fols 34% 35. (This is the church copy - the state copy does not contain the memorandum.) In 1837, during his bachelorhood, Dr Chamberlin had made his will leaving his entire estate to his brother's widow and her children; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford) : Leon Lalanne; Will & Testament of Joshua Chamberlin, Physician & Surgeon, 11 December 1837. This party and the memorandum may have been intended to underline gently the doctor's altered responsibilities and intentions. 178 Catherine Krans, nee Moore, widow of David Krans; St AWR, 1835, fol. 7v. The brother-in-law was perhaps George Krans; see St AWR, 1823, fol. 12, and NA, CE Census 1851, St Armand West, dist. no. 3, p. 45. Catherine Krans's daughter Eliza (b. 1813) had married James S. Allen, junior, of Georgia, Vermont, in 1833; St AWR, 1813, fol. 15, and 1833, fol. 14. The couple had settled nearby. 179 The several Ingalls families living in the vicinity of the Pinnacle were all presumably connected with Daniel Ingalls, a settler from Canterbury,

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New Hampshire. See George Homer Ingalls, "Ingalls," Yesterdays ofBrome County (Knowlton, PQ: Brome County Historical Society 1988), 7:212-15. 180 Probably Richard Skinner, son of Thomas Skinner. According to the census, he would have been fifteen years old. In 1849 he had been apprenticed to a local tanner; NA, CE Census 1851, Dunham Township, dist. no. 2, p. 71; and ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Apprenticeship: Richard Skinner with W111 S. Baker, no. 2541, 2 February 1849. He was the brother of Tom Skinner, the subject in the hypnotism demonstration witnessed by Reid on 30 March 1850. 181 Hezekiah Robinson, of Waterloo, had five sons: Jonathan, Frederick, Hezekiah Luke, George Canning, and Edward. For a sketch of Robinson, one of the leading citizens of Shefford, see Cyrus Thomas, The History of Shefford, Civil, Ecclesiastical, Biographical and Statistical (Montreal: Lovell Printing and Publishing Co. 1877), 44-7, and [Jno. P. Noyes], Sketches of Some Early Shefford Pioneers (Montreal: Gazette Printing Company 1905), 111-15. The event was a matter of considerable interest locally: "The Missisquoi Shows have hitherto been about the best in the Province, and we understand that an unusually large collection of fine animals is anticipated. ... We have good reason to believe that rivalry between the Yeomanry of Missisquoi is exceeding keen." News, and Frontier Advocate, 6 September 1850, 2. Although Reid refers to it as the "cattle Shew," the event included the usual range of animals and produce. "We learn ... that, although the weather was very unfavorable, there was a large number of Farmers present. ... The most marked improvement was visible in Swine, some splendid specimens being on the ground. The Steers and Heifers also showed evidence of careful breeding and good pasturage." The list of prizes included several of Reid's neighbours and parishioners, among them Lester Reynolds (first prize for corn), and Richard Dickinson (sixth prize for gardens); Ibid, 25 September 1850, 2. 182 For an account of Bishop Fulford's arrival at St Johns - at 7:30 a.m. on 12 September on the steamer Burlington - see the Montreal Gazette, 12 September 1850, 2. It is surprising that Reid did not attend. Armine Mountain had written to him early that August that "the Bishop of Quebec [his father's new title] with several of the Clergy propose to meet him at St. John about the ioth Sept. I am sure both Bishops would be delighted to see you there." MDA, James Reid Papers, A.W. Mountain to Reid, 11 August 1850. Addresses to Bishop Mountain and Bishop Fulford were presented on behalf of the clergy of the Richelieu District by the Rev. Micajah Townsend; the former took place at the rectory, St Johns. It said, in part: 'Yet, our hearts are knit to you, my Lord, by associations connect-

Notes to pages 114—17

183

184 185

186 187

188 189

190

191

341

ed with the first planting and cherishing of the church in many portions of this Colony; as the son of the first Prelate of this Province, - and as the worthy successor of the Sainted Stewart." Montreal Transcript, 12 September 1850, 2. Reid's charge of "unmanly sycophancy" seems excessive. The number of the clergy in the new diocese was forty-eight; A.W. Mountain, A Memoir of George Jehoshaphat Mountain, D.D., D.C.L., Late Bishop of Quebec (Montreal: John Lovell 1866), 284. Isa. 54:2. Jacob and the two great bands occur in Gen. 32 and 33. Reid may also have intended an allusion to Jacob, Mountain's father, first bishop of Quebec. Acts 20:28. Bishop Mountain and his wife Mary Hume, nee Thomson, had four children then living: Elizabeth (an invalid), Harriet (Mrs Jasper Nicolls), Armine, and Kate. The death of their younger son Jacob, on 17 June at Gibraltar, was announced in the Montreal Gazette, 18 July 1850, 2. Phil. 1:27. Bishop Fulford and his wife Mary, nee Drummond, had two children: Alice Mary and Francis Drummond, both unmarried at this time. Mrs Fulford was well connected: her mother was Lady Mary, daughter of the second earl of Egmont, and her uncle, the Right Honorable Spencer Percival, a former prime minister. See Fennings Taylor, Portraits of British Americans, By W. Notman, Photographer to Her Majesty, With Biographical Sketches, 2 vols (Montreal: William Notman 1865), 1:19. This seems to have been a favourite saying of Reid's. Quoting it in "The Fire Side," no. 63, Missiskoui Standard, 27 February 1838, 2, he adds, "None, I presume, will dispute the truth of this humiliating assertion." The TCPR preserve a clipping from the Church, giving an account by James Jones of this event, the tenth quarterly meeting of the District of Missisquoi Church Society held on 21 May 1845 at Frelighsburg. The atmosphere on this occasion must have been emotionally charged, for the narrative reads: The Meeting was interested, and deeply affected with the accounts which were given by the different speakers, of the sudden and lamented death of the late Mr. Evans, of Dunham, which took place on Sunday the 4th instant. On the morning of that day Mr. Evans had attended the Sunday School, and had delivered to the teachers and children an affecting and interesting address. After which, before the Morning Service, he came into his house and complained to Mrs. Evans that he was unwell, and desired some refreshment to be given him. While Mrs.

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Notes to pages 117-22

Evans was preparing it, he lay down upon the bed and immediately expired, and left a widow and eight children to deplore his loss. ... the circumstances of his death, and the happy employment in which he had been engaged previous to his sudden departure, will not fail to afford a service of consolation to his widow and children, as well as to his Christian friends, whenever they recall his death to their remembrance. Following "an introductory address by the Chairman [Reid]," and "a brief report of the operations of the Society in the different parishes and missions of the District, by the Secretary [Jones]" Whitwell had proposed a resolution that they present a memorial to the central board putting forward the case of the Widow Evans for their "benevolent consideration." Presumably this is the conduct to which Reid is referring; The Church, 6 June 1845, 192. 192 For want of a See House, Fulford was at first lodged at the Ottawa Hotel (see the Montreal Gazette, 12 September 1850, 2), so Reid would most likely have called on him there. The address from the clergy of Missisquoi and the bishop's reply were published in the Montreal Transcript, 28 September 1850, 4. 193 At this period, Bay St Louis, Pass Christian, and Biloxi were "the most favored watering places" in the vicinity of New Orleans; see Norman's New Orleans and Environs ... (New Orleans: B.M. Norman 1845), 193. 194 Baird appears to have been a hotel clerk (see 9 November 1850). J

95 John 11:32-5196 It is worth comparing this expression of Reid's grief to that recorded equally privately - by Bishop Mountain, on the death of his son, Jacob, also far from home. Mountain's surviving son Armine quotes the following passage, written by the bishop in a volume Jacob had once used as a commonplace book: O my son J., my son, my son, my son J-! Would God that I had died for thee! O J-, my son, my son! Yet I must not speak so! for it is more needful for others that I than that he should abide in the flesh. And, blessed be God, he was no Absolom, nor taken unprepared. When I shall go to him, may I be as prepared as he was, whose dear remains the rock of Gibraltar holds in deposit against the last great day! His hand, before it was stiff in death, traced the thoughts in this book, and his humble and contrite spirit, which dictated them, has passed into Paradise, washed from all its stains. And there is a Book in which his name is written, even the Lamb's Book of Life. A.W. Mountain, A Memoir of George Jehoshaphat Mountain, 334.

Notes to pages 122—4

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197 Harriet Nicolls, in Lennoxville, had had a similar experience in September when the "Bishop of Montreal arrived as planned but was accompanied by his young son, an unexpected guest"; Masters and Masters, Ten Rings on the Oak, 159. Since the bishop seems to have come to Frelighsburg from Lennoxville, it is possible that the phrase "them both" refers to Fulford and his son Frank; Ibid, 160. For Fulford's account of the visit, see MDA, Fulford Papers, Private Journal Volume ist. The Rev. Isaac Helmuth of Bishop's College had driven him to Compton where he breakfasted, after which Charles drove him to Georgeville, where they spent the night. The next day they travelled to Frelighsburg by way of Brome, calling on the Rev. Robert Lindsay. The consecration of St Luke's Church, Waterloo, did not take place until June of the following year (see 23 June 1851). 198 Fulford records that Reid drove him to the train, but does not mention their stopping to view the state of St James the Apostle, Stanbridge East. In fact, for the reader of Fulford's account ("Revd James Reid drove me to St Johns, & I came into Montreal by Rail & Steamboat"), it comes as a surprise that Reid too made the journey to Montreal. From this initial tour, Fulford was "very much pleased with the clergy" and "charmed beyond measure" with "the most romantic & picturesque scenery," but he was unimpressed by the churches: "The buildings of the Churches are all of a very inferior kind, as to materials, style & ornament"; MDA, Fulford Papers, Private Journal Volume ist [8 October 1850]. 199 See Gen. 4:15. Charles Geddes lived at 96 Sherbrooke Street, and had his office as a general broker at 201 St Paul Street, "entrance by gateway"; MacKay, Montreal Directory ... 1850, 103. Reid called at the office (see 18 November 1850). Geddes' full-page advertisement in the directory more than a dozen years later shows that he continued to thrive serving a cash-poor, probably near bankrupt clientele: "Charles G. Geddes, / General Broker / Pot and Pearl Ashes, and Produce of all kind, Bought and Sold / Bank, Railway, Telegraph, and Gas Stocks, Bonds, Debentures, and All Other Securities Negotiated. Loans Obtained on Mortgages and Cash advanced on Warehouse Receipts ..." Montreal Directory ... 1863-4, 134200 Brown Chamberlin had recently completed his legal training at McGill College and been called to the Bar. By September he had an office in Montreal and had placed a notice in the paper that he would attend the Missisquoi Circuit; Montreal Gazette, 6 August 1850, 2, and 16 September 1850, 2. The News, and Frontier Advocate, while noting that "the political opinions of this young gentleman [presumably conservative] are directly

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201 202

203

204 205

206 207

Notes to pages 124—6 antagonistic to those we entertain," paid Chamberlin a fine tribute on his entering professional life: "Nature has been prodigal to him in mental gifts, and we believe few young men have been more diligent students. We wish him every professional success"; 16 August 1850, 2. Alexander Simpson, cashier of the Bank of Montreal, Place d'Armes; see MacKay, Montreal Directory ... 1850, 234. As the Letters Patent of the new diocese of Montreal had appeared in full in the Church, 3 October 1850, 74, Reid's request supports the suggestion that he had ceased to subscribe to that publication (see n. 144). James Bolton was senior clerk of the Bank of Montreal; MacKay, Montreal Directory ... 1850, 355. There was a James Reid, Esq. (who lived in Hinchinbrook, near Hemmingford) and, like the Rev. James Reid, served as chairman of his local school commissioners; see, among other letters, ANQQ, Ministere de 1'education, Quebec, lettres recues 1846, art. 295, no. 1046, James Reid, Esquire, J.P., 26 August 1846; and art. 318, no. 174, 15 January 1851. See also Robert Sellar, The History of the County of Huntingdon And of the Seigniories of Chateaugay and Beauharnois from their First Settlement to the Year 1838 (Huntingdon, PQ: The Canadian Gleaner 1888), 425. Reid has mistaken the date; "yesterday," 4 November, was a Monday, and not a Feast Day observed by the Church of England (see BCP) . Elizabeth, nee Sheldon, wife of Henry Edward Peck, of New Haven, came originally from Sheldon, Vermont, and was baptized by Stewart; St AER, 1808-9, f°l- 10The trunks were to be shipped up the Hudson River and through Lake Champlain to St Albans Bay. Probably Zeno Carpenter Taber (Tabor in the census), of Stanbridge. Early in 1850 Taber had leased a shop and premises situated in the village of Bedford in Stanbridge Township from Isaac Taber, "for the purpose of manufacturing axes." He had, however, signed an additional agreement with Seneca Paige, a "merchant" in Dunham, undertaking, in return for provisions, to give Paige exclusive right to his products. The agreement read in part: "And the said Zeno Carpenter Taber doth hereby promise and oblige himself to devote the whole of his time and attention to the manufacturing of the said axes and that the said coal, Iron, Steel, axes and provisions shall all at all times be considered the property of the said Seneca Page." This explains Reid's lack of success in trying to purchase directly. See ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Contract & Agreement: Seneca Page & Z.C. Taber, no. 2794, 26 January 1850; also NA, CE Census 1851, Stanbridge, dist. no. 2, p. 109.

Notes to pages 126—7

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208 Nicholas Graham Tyndall and Harriet Hall Jones were married "By me the father of the Bride, James Jones" on 10 November, four years later; Stanbridge Parish Register (hereafter SR), 1854, fol. 6v. 209 Rom. 12:19. The court records show that on 5 November 1850, "Motion is made on behalf of Rev. James Reid claimant by B. Chamberlin Esquire that he be substituted as attorney of Record for said claimant in place of W. Gordon Mack Esquire, by consent, which is granted, and motion fyled." Chamberlin then moved for an accounting and costs; Geddes filed the account as required on 14 November 1850 "duly attested under oath" and was condemned to pay costs; PMJ, Court of Bankruptcy for the District of Montreal, Judgments 1846, pp. 501-2. 210 Reid probably consulted an almanac for the Canada West clergy lists. Scobie & Balfour's Canadian Almanac, and Repository of Useful Knowledge, for the Year 1850, ... (Toronto: Scobie & Balfour 1850), had an "Ecclesiastical" section which listed the clergy and their charges for eleven distinct denominations in the Canadas, 20-4. In 1864 Reid mentions receiving the welcome gift of Miller's Canadian Farmer's Almanac (36:6249). 211 Probably the Rev. E. Sayles, of "a neighbouring parish in the Diocese of Vermont"; see the Church, 24 July 1851, 409, which mentions his taking part in the consecration of All Saints' Church, Dunham. 212 Probably Bishop Mountain's petition to the Queen, that she withhold royal assent "from any measure for revising or altering the provisions of the Act of the Imperial Parliament, 3 and 4 Viet., c. 78"; see SPG Archives, Bound Correspondence, Letters Received Quebec 1850-59, Circular, Quebec, 17 October 1850. 213 William Footner, the lessor, had claimed £250 at the first meeting of creditors, 14 August 1846; PMJ, Court of Bankruptcy for the District of Montreal, Judgments, 1846, p. 492. On 31 August 1846, when he filed for payment of one quarter's rent, Footner stated his intention of continuing the lease (p. 493). On 24 February 1849 Footner petitioned to be paid arrears of rent due to him by the estate of the bankrupt, but Geddes, although duly notified, did not appear. On 11 September 1849 the process was repeated, whereupon the assignee was ordered to pay forthwith, with costs. "The Assignee afterwards appears, and fyles an affidavit that he has no monies in his hands belonging to the Estate of the Bankrupt" (p. 501). 214 "And be it enacted, that ten days before a final dividend shall be advertised under any Bankrupt's estate, the Assignee shall fyle in the record of proceedings in such case a Debtor and Creditor account between the said Assignee and such cause thereof, a copy of which account shall be

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215

216 217

218 219

220

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Notes to pages 12 j—j i delivered to any Creditor applying for the same, who shall have proved a debt under such Commission of Bankruptcy, upon his application, and on payment of a reasonable remuneration for the same." An Act to continue and amend the Bankrupt Laws now in force in this Province, Provincial Statutes of Canada, 2:799—811. David Davidson was manager of the Bank of British North America of London, England (incorporated in 1840), with offices in Montreal on Great St James Street. It was this bank that instituted the proceedings against Malcolm with a claim for £212/1/8; PMJ, Court of Bankruptcy for the District of Montreal, Judgments 1846, p. 499. Joseph Wenham was manager of the Montreal agency of the Bank of Upper Canada, 45 Great St James Street, which had a claim for £536/19/4, second only to that due to Reid himself for £1,017/13/9. Malcolm's total indebtedness, according to the creditors' list, amounted to £2,428/2/2. PMJ, Judgments 1846, p. 499, and MacKay, Montreal Directory ... 1850, 70, 356. Probably the issue of 16 November 1850, containing a proclamation recalling Parliament (which had been prorogued 14 September) on 28 November 1850; Canada Gazette, 9647-8. There is no hint in the diaries as to when John Reid married Caroline, where they met, or indeed anything about her background. On 13 November 1852, Reid, who had become very fond of her, addressed her in one of his letters as "My dear & dutiful daughter," signing himself as "your affectionate father" (25:4509-10). That is, all those signing were literate. British Colonist (Toronto) was a bi-weekly printed and published from 1838 to 1859 by Hugh Scobie. Local readers of the Church - including Reid - might actually have seen one of the Rev. John Hutchinson's literary compositions, for his poem, "Early Death" had appeared in its front page "Original Poetry" column on 17 August 1848. Hutchinson did subsequently empower his wife to act on his and her own behalf, but, two years later, for whatever reason, revoked it; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; John Hutchinson: Revocation, no. 3424, 7 August 1852. The Power of Attorney is attached to another notarized document; Richard Dickinson; Act of Deposit, no. 3338, 13 April 1852. Truman Buck owned land adjacent to A.L. Baker's; NA, CE Census 1861, p. 156 (map). Jacob H. Toof at this period lived with his father Henry Toof, then a widower. Henry Toof's wife Catherine, nee Powers, had died in 1843 (St AER, 1843, fol. 11), and the household was being managed by Jacob's wife Mary Ann; see NA, CE Census 1851, St Armand East, dist.

Notes to pages 131—3

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223

224 225 226

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no. i, p. 29. Henry Toof had at least one other son, Stephen Cummings, born 1799 (St AER, 1812, fol. i5v); he was not enumerated on the family farm in 1851. John Reynolds was a seventy-five-year-old farmer, an American by birth. His son may have been Orvill Reynolds, who was enumerated in his household in 1851; NA, CE Census 1851, p. 7; Orvill Reynolds signed as a witness at John Reynolds' burial; St AER, 1859, fol. 5. John Peer (sometimes Pier) and his son, John, describe themselves as Methodists in the census; NA, CE Census 1851, p. 21; it is interesting that Reid should have canvassed them for the Clergy Reserves Petition. John Krans, Reid's host for the night, had come to St Armand from New York state in 1802; he was a man of substance and lived in a two-storey brick house; see NA, CE Census 1851, p. 19, and Thomas, Contributions, 70. Krans's son Horatio Edward (St AWR, 1824, f°l- 5V) must have been visiting as he was not then a resident of St Armand; see NA, CE Census 1851, Dunham Township, dist. no. 3, p. 124. There were two Salisbury families in the area, both Anglican: the Henry and the Martin Salisburys. The Callaghans may have been the family of John Callaghan, a Chelsea pensioner; see St AER, 1839, fol. 4. The two Lagranges were probably Isaac and Jacob Lagrange. For Reid's route, see map 3. John Peer junior's wife was Abigail A. Gushing. The 1851 census lists two children, "Pery" and "E.N.," four and two years old respectively on their next birthday. Perhaps the child Reid refers to died before the census was taken; NA, CE Census 1851, St Armand East, dist. no. i, p. 21. Harriet Salisbury, nee Hungerford, died on 31 January 1853, aged thirtyseven; on her marriage as a minor in 1836, the register notes: "not knowing how to write [she] made her mark." St AER, 1852, fol. 10, and SR, 1833-40, fol. 24v. The Minnesota Pioneer (St Paul), a weekly newspaper, began publication 28 April 1849. Reid had married O.B. Kemp and George Anna Pell, spinster of Dunham, on i October 1850; St AER, 1850, fol. 5. Probably John Bowker, of West Farnham, trader, hotel keeper, and lumber merchant. For a description of Bowker's Hotel and the transport of trunks, see Edmund L. Watson, "Impressions of a New Comer Fifty Years Ago," in Second Report of the Missisquoi County Historical Society (St Johns, PQ: News Typ. 1907), 46-7. Heb. 13:14. Robbery of goods in transit had long been a frequent occurrence. The Langton family of Upper Canada, for example, lost a wide variety of goods in this manner; see H.H. Langton, ed., A Gentlewoman in Upper Canada: The Journals of Anne Langton (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin &

348

228

229

230 231

Notes to pages 13-5 Company Limited 1950), 44-6, 82. The events described by the Langtons took place in 1837 and 1838, but advertisements in the Montreal papers show that travel routes in Lower Canada in the 18505 were equally uncertain. In the Pilot (31 May 1851, 3), for example, the Rev. J.M. Cramp, DD, appealed, for a considerable time, for the return of a box "of small value to any one but himself which the advertiser "supposed to have been taken by mistake" at Rouse's Point. Cramp's loss, which occurred 14 May 1851, coincided with the passage through the same depot of Malcolm's third trunk (see 29 May 1851). The Rev. Dr Charles Fay became rector of St Luke's Episcopal Church in St Albans in 1848. Mr Aldis was probably Asa Owen Aldis, a lawyer, of St Albans, who seems to have been one of the early leaders in the parish. Aldis had had ties with St Armand for some years. His name is on the initial subscription list of the St Armand East branch of the Church Society, formed in 1843. The following year Aldis, then a widower, married his second wife, Mary Townsend, nee Taylor, a native of Philipsburg; St AWR, 1844, fol. 2. There had been hints in the press of change in the Roman Catholic Church in Britain since the announcement that the Right Rev. Nicholas Wiseman, DD, vicar apostolic of the London district and bishop of Melipotamus, had been summoned by the pope to receive the dignity of the cardinalate; Montreal Transcript, 7 September 1850, 2. Afterword had arrived, by the steamship Canada, of the creation of five new bishoprics and the appointment of Cardinal Wiseman as archbishop (Ibid, 31 October 1850, 2), there was a steady stream of news from England concerning "Papal aggression," as the phrase went. Rumour that the pope's actions had followed consultation with the British government increased the excitement: "The No-Popery cry continues to sweep over the land ... One of the new Catholic Bishops, in a pastoral charge, ... states broadly that the new hierarchy was arranged with the express sanction of the Government, and Cardinal Wiseman is also said to have declared that the whole scheme was submitted to and approved by the Cabinet some time ago. ... A variety of circumstances have conspired to give effect to the storm against Papal aggression which now rages; for it seems that, as far back as 1847, the Tablet, a Roman Catholic organ, published the very programme of the new Papal hierarchy which is now so vigorously assailed." Ibid, 3 December 1850, 2. Perhaps Sarah Ann Willard (1818-82), Asa Westover's wife's aunt. John Pearson (1612-86), English divine and scholar, whose celebrated Exposition was published in 1659; he was appointed bishop of Chester in

Notes to pages 135-9

232 233

234

235 236 237

238

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1672. Reid seems to be referring to a feature of the work (dedicated as it was "To the Parishioners of St. Clements, Eastcheap") to which Pearson specifically refers in his preface: "I have contrived my Exposition, so that the body of it containeth fully what can be delivered and made intelligible in the English tongue, without inserting the least sentence or phrase of any learned language; by which he who is not acquainted with it might be disturbed in his reading, or interrupted in his understanding ... The other part I have placed in the margin." An Exposition on the Creed, new ed., 2 vols (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1822), i:viii-x. Probably Moses Knap who served as churchwarden from January 1843 to June 1852. The 'old man' was probably Sandy Cooper. According to the Montreal papers this exceptionally heavy snowstorm "extended over most of Canada, and nearly all the Northern States." Montreal Transcript, 4 January 1851, 2. Most parishioners drove to church, and the horse shed accommodated their animals during service, especially in winter. The TCPR contain an agreement for the construction of the horse shed, dated 15 November 1809, coeval with the church itself. The original shed had been replaced, however, and the new building drew comment from Bishop Mountain in 1846: "Mr Reid's church, and all its appendages and adjuncts, are always in excellent order. He and his people have lately built a commodious shed near the church ... for the reception of the horses and sleighs, during the performance of Divine Service in winter. This is a provision against the rudeness of the climate often to be found in North America, and, although sometimes rather unsightly, it is useful and humane." Hawkins, Annals of the Diocese of Quebec, 246-7. No trace of the horse shed is visible today. The "two girls" were perhaps Elijah Kemp's sisters, Patience (b. 1828) and Emily (b. 1831). Reid appears to mean "your successor." It is likely that nothing came of this projected publication. The Canadian Ecclesiastical Gazette, relating to the diocese of Montreal but printed in Quebec, had already begun publication on 8 June 1850. Reid states specifically, however, that the paper was to be printed in Montreal; a later reference makes clear that a Montreal publisher was unable to raise sufficient subscribers "to get it started" (see 30 March 1851). For an account of this meeting see TCPR, PCS Minutes, 33-5. The bishop had moved from the Ottawa Hotel, St James Street, to 16 Bellevue Terrace on 21 September 1850, where he remained until April 1853; see

35°

239 240 241 242

243

244

Notes to pages 140—2 MDA, Fulford Papers, Private Journal Volume ist. The provision for Fulford was far from generous: as of 31 July 1855, his salary was a mere £800, while Mountain received £1,990 and Strachan £1,250. For the salaries of the colonial bishops, see "A Return of the Number of Colonial Bishops, stating the Salaries of each, and the Sources whence those Salaries are derived ...," Documents Relative To the Erection and Endowment of Additional Bishoprics in the Colonies, 1841-1855, ... ed. Ernest Hawkins, 5th ed. (London: SPCK 1855), 60. Mat. 21:41,43. Laura Jane Kemp died, aged seven, 31 December 1850; St AER, 1850, fol. 7. See I Sam. 10:11-12. The Rev. John Hutchinson (1798-1854), ordained in Scotland, had presented himself for service in Canada West by 1847. In 1851 he would have been about 53 years of age; see St AER, 1852, fol. igv, and the Montreal Transcript, 23 March 1854, 2. Reid seems to have been correct in suspecting that Hutchinson's credentials were not in order. Bishop Strachan had not been satisfied with his references or with the response to his own inquiries abroad, and had not given Hutchinson a parish. He said he might teach, provided that he kept away from party politics and personal disputes; NA, Calendar of Strachan Papers, Strachan to Hutchinson, 21 June 1847, 26 August 1847, 12 April 1848.1 am grateful to T.R. Millman for this information. Hutchinson placed a notice in the Church, 25 April 1850, 155, announcing that he had begun classes "for instruction in the usual branches of an English and Classical Education; also, for Landscape and Mechanical Drawing," at 8 King Street West in Toronto, "over the office of Mr. Ellis, Engraver," giving Bishop Strachan as a reference "for his qualifications as a Teacher in the above branches of Education." Since Reid knew that Strachan was always on the lookout for potential candidates for the clergy, the fact that Strachan had not given Hutchinson a charge in the diocese of Toronto would have made Reid suspect him the more. The incumbents of St George's and Trinity Churches in Montreal were the Rev. William Turnbull Leach and the Rev. Alexander Digby Campbell respectively. Campbell had suffered the recent shock of having stones thrown through his church windows during evening service, and may have been more welcoming to a fellow clergyman on that account; see the News, and Frontier Advocate, 15 November 1850, 2, and the Montreal Witness, 18 November 1850, 365. Francois de Salignac de la Mothe Fenelon (1651-1715), French prelate, author, and moralist. The "Juvenile Library Society of Trinity Church Fre-

Notes to pages 144—5

245 246

247

248

35l

lighsburgh" contained a volume identified as "Fenelon on education of daughters." TCPR, Notebook inscribed "Church Acct from April 1822 Trinity Church." New Year's gifts were almost as common as Christmas presents at this time, and books were advertised especially for such use. The bookseller Campbell Bryson, for example, offered twenty-six titles for these occasions, including The Ladies' Gift, or Souvenir of Friendship, illustrated; The Amaranth, or, Token of Remembrance; and The Rose of Sharon, a Religious Souvenir, see the Montreal Witness, 30 December 1850, 419. See Isabella Reid's biography in appendix B; she may not have been literate. Rebecca Howen, nee Stevens, wife of Galloway Kemp. Charles Edward Cotton (b. 1816), physician and surgeon, was the son of the Rev. C.C. Cotton and his wife Brasilia, nee Pettis; DR, 1816, fol. 5v. He had lived in Brome since at least 1842, the year of his marriage to Jane Victoria Stuart, of Quebec City; BR, 1842, fol. iv. In 1850 the SPG expended £7,640 on the combined dioceses of Quebec and Montreal; see [Hawkins], Short Statement read by the Secretary at the Great Jubilee Meeting, on Tuesday, June ij, 1851 [London: published for the SPG 1851], 8. Reid's frequent comments on the "human materials" in the community, their divisions and jealousies, are echoed by other clergy resident in the Townships. See, for example, the Rev. George Slack's letter to the SPG, written in the same year: "Indeed I must say that the state of our Church throughout this country is most painful & my mind is full of sad forebodings - oh if you could but see the materials, with wh we have to work you would soon see that there was but a very faint prospect of the Society's expectations being realized of any well sustained effort at self support being put forth by our people - ... in practice - the Sod7 says to the people -You must raise so much. The people reply - we want to know, who is the man you are going to send us before we can subscribe and after all the most that can be done is a subscription for one year pledges beyond that time are valueless in most instances - and even as to the yearly subscription - there are to[o] many, who if they take offence, will repudiate - What clergyman with a family can feel safer resting upon such ground for their support - ?" SPGA, Bound Correspondence, Letters Received, Montreal 1850-59, Slack to unspecified addressee, 9 December 1851. Visitors to Canada East made similar comments; see, for example, Richard H. Bonnycastle, The Canadas in 1841, 2 vols (London: Henry Colburn 1841), 1:79, and Hochelaga; or England in the New World, ed. Eliot Warburton, 2 vols (New York: Wiley & Putnam 1846), 1:162-3. Probably Julia Reid's mother, Margaret Gray. At this time of year Reid would have had to travel to Montreal in his own conveyance or by stage,

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Notes to page 145

as the Champlain and St Lawrence Railroad did not operate during the winter. Service resumed in early April; Montreal Gazette, 6 April 1850, 2. 249 Reid had owned stock in the Bank of Montreal since at least 1846, in which year the Bank's list of shareholders shows "Rev. Jas Reid St. Armands" with twelve shares. Record of the transaction mentioned in the diary is no longer extant in the bank archives, but there are nine entries under Reid's name. They list shares he held in trust (i June 1843: 33 shares), shares he held personally (i December 1846 - 31 May 1864: 12, increasing to 58 shares), and finally shares held by his executors in trust (i June 1875: 50 shares). I am grateful to Yolaine Toussaint, assistant archivist of the Service des Archives, Musee de la Banque de Montreal, for providing this information. 250 The report of the meeting in the Church makes clear that Fulford's address dealt with the need to instill the concept of self-support in the people and their clergy; 6 February 1851, 217. The meeting was well covered in the Montreal papers. The account in the Pilot fleshes out Reid's enthusiastic but undetailed description: "This meeting was held in St. George's Chapel, the Protestant Bishop in the chair. The attendance was numerous. Addresses were delivered by Mr. Justice M'Cord, Major Campbell, Rev. Mr. Reid, Rev. Mr. Bancroft, Dr. Holmes, Mr. Montizambert, Rev. Mr. Scott, Mr. Wynne, Rev. Mr. Bond, and Hon. Geo. Moffat"; quoted in the Stanstead Journal, 6 February 1851, 2. The account in the Montreal Gazette (22 January 1851, 2), gives much space to Reid's remarks, and suggests that he had risen to the occasion with considerable fervour. He is quoted as saying, in part: We must begin to work. If God had provided means of salvation, he was also author of the command to us, to provide means for his worship. He gave us no houses for worship - the materials existed in the trees - in the mines - and in the quarries, waiting for man's ingenuity to fashion them. The day will come when this bounty [presumably of the SPG] will cease, and if we be unprepared, it will be an awful day. It will be like a storm of cold and rain against a house unprepared, and open to its attacks. Many places of worship would be shut up, and public prayer and praise be no longer offered to our Maker. Thus the cold wind of adversity would be felt in the poorer parishes, if provision were not made beforehand to protect them. As the meeting wore on, Fulford had need of firmness and tact. As the Pilot reported: "Different opinions having been expressed by Major Campbell and Dr. Holmes, the former deprecating, the latter recommending, efforts to diffuse Protestantism among the Roman Catholic

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population, the Bishop said, in his concluding speech, that he 'regretted that anything had been introduced which seemed to tend towards a difference of opinion. He thought that our first duty was to provide for the spiritual wants of our own scattered people, and although he believed his own Church to contain the truths of the gospel of Christ, yet he was decidedly of opinion that there was danger in unsettling the hereditary faith of those who had been born and nurtured in another.'" Stanstead Journal, 6 February 1851, 2. 251 The Rev. Richard Lonsdell, a native of Ireland, educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and Bishop's College, Lennoxville, was serving at Laprairie, where he had been appointed incumbent in 1847; see Pascoe, Classified Digest of the Records of the SPG, 870, and the Berean, 18 November 1847, 134. Reid is probably referring to the annual meeting of the Church Society, held on 3 July 1850, at the National School House in Montreal. Lonsdell was present at that meeting and proposed the seventh resolution; see Eighth Annual Report of the Incorporated Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec, 6. 252 The papers noted the effect of the weather on travel, especially in rural areas: 'Yesterday morning [22 January] a heavy fall of snow took place and continued over the day ... There was not much wind in town, but we understand that, in the country, the snow is a good deal drifted and the roads very difficult." Montreal Transcript, 23 January 1851, 2. 253 Brown Chamberlin and Myron Holly Sanborn (b. 1820). The latter had just begun his career as a notary in Montreal; see Borthwick, History and Biographical Gazetteer of Montreal, 398. The Gazette article alluded to is unsigned, so Reid probably learned from Chamberlin himself that he had written it. The account shows deference to Reid, even touching on parts of his comments that were difficult to make out: "The Rev. Mr. Reid supported the resolution. We were unable to catch his opening remarks, but understood him to refer to his diffidence at addressing the meeting in the presence of so many more eloquent and learned persons than himself. He had, however, through the mercy of God, served the Church a great many years in this diocese. He remembered it in the early days when there were but seven clergymen, three chaplains to the forces, and the Bishop of Quebec in the Diocese. God had given a gradual increase, so that now ..." Montreal Gazette, 22 January 1851, 2. Had the reporter been unacquainted with the speaker, these remarks might well have received less coverage. An account of the meeting in another paper, although several columns in length, does not mention Reid's comments at all (The Church, 6 February 1851, 217-18).

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Notes to pages 146—7

254 The Rev. Charles Bancroft (1819-77) was Montreal-born, but educated in the United States. He had been installed as incumbent at St Johns in 1847 after serving briefly at St Thomas's, Montreal; see the Berean, 25 November 1847, 138; Borthwick, History of the Diocese of Montreal, 73-4; and Henry Mott, Jubilee History of Trinity Church Montreal 1840-1890 (Montreal: John Lovell & Son [1890]), 37. 255 Mrs Watson, who had been operating a hotel in St Johns since at least 1842 (see MacKay, Montreal Directory for 1842-3 ... and a supplementary Directory of Professional Business Men in Chambly, Laprairie and St. Johns, 268) had recently taken over new premises: "Mrs. Watson, grateful for the very liberal patronage accorded to her for past years, has the honour to inform her friends and the public generally, that she has leased those commodious premises known as 'Mott's Hotel,' and with a view to the improved and increased comfort of her guests, has, at a very considerable outlay, furnished the same in a style unsurpassed by any house in the country." The added attraction, that carriages were "in attendance free of charge," probably raised her charges for services generally; see the advertisement in the News, and Frontier Advocate, 24 May 1850, 3. 'Marsh's' was probably Marsh's Hotel in Grande Ligne, a settlement south of St Johns on the Richelieu River. Reid mentions that he "stopped at Marsh's on the Grand Line" on 26 January 1853 (25:4552), but does not speak again of Mrs Watson's. 256 This was the meeting that Reid had vowed not to attend (see 19 September 1850). The dinner guests were probably Col. Henry Dyer, of Philipsburg, and Alexander Young, the Scottish-born preventive officer (formerly schoolmaster) at Philipsburg; see St AWR, 1835, fol. 6, and NA, CE Census 1851, Village of Philipsburg, dist. no. i, p. 9. 257 Probably Charles Stewart Reynolds, and Truman Buck and his wife Estha. 258 Emily and Edwin Kemp were twins, three years younger than their sister Patience. 259 In his entry of 31 January 1851, Reid mentions specifically that the robes were new, so he had probably bought the skins unlined. They would have supplemented or perhaps replaced "the Buffaloes" referred to in the incident of the runaway horse in 1849 (see 9 February 1849). 260 The register reads: "Hirum Freligh son of Abraham Freligh of this Parish"; St AER, 1850, fol. 8. He was probably a cousin of Jane Freligh's through her uncle Abraham; there was no Hirum among the surviving sons of the original Abraham Freligh from Dutchess County; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Leon Lalanne: Agreement Between Richard Van Vleight Frely [sic] & Abraham Freligh & al, 20 September 1837.

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261 Reid's portrait of Fulford dwells on the latter's seriousness. The bishop did, however, have a humourous side to his character as well, as Mrs Mountain confided to her daughter Harriet Nicolls that same year: "Bishop of Montreal is very droll and full of fun. He advises our taking something to do us good, but not as some one did to whom the Doctor recommended to take port wine and bark, who very obediently said shortly after, 'I have taken the port wine, and now I am going to bark,' more funny than true I guess"; Masters and Masters, Ten Rings on the Oak, 173. Kate Mountain made a similar observation to her sister with the added suggestion that Fulford's wit could be edged as well as entertaining: "[The Bishop] is very sarcastic and when he likes very amusing." Ibid,

!73262 Mary Ann Whitwell. 263 Katherine Baker, nee Sands, of Dunham. 264 Lyman Brooks was a neighbour of Reid's, each occupying part of lot 29 in the village of Frelighsburg; his grandchildren were Lyman Henry (b. 1846), Fanny Diadema (b. 1847), and Hannibal Hosea Cowell (b. 1851), children of William H. Rogers of Stukely and Sarah Frances Armina Brooks, his wife; St AER, 1850, fol. 8. A document drawn up in 1859 describes Mrs Rogers as "one of the two children now living, issue of the marriage between the late Lyman Brooks, ... and Fanny Maxfield"; ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Henry Bondy; Assignment and Transfer ..., no. 2749, 4 November 1859. 265 Reid was able to collect more than £12 toward the See House; TCPR, PCS Minutes, 34. This sum represented a large proportion of the entire amount raised for this purpose in the diocese in 1851: St Andrew's raised £5, Dunham £7/4/4^, and St Armand £12/10/0. Report of the Church Society of the Diocese of Montreal 1852, "Tabular View." 266 Thaddeus Sherman (b. 1833), a younger brother of Mary Ann Whitwell's; St AER, 1833, fol. 17. He seems to have been an able scholar and well brought-up young man. At the Collegiate Grammar School, Lennoxville, he had received, at a single prize-giving, the awards for Approved General Conduct, Greek (Senior Division), and Mathematics (Euclid); TheBerean, 27 July 1848, 70. 267 As the register shows, Jasper Rand and his wife Margaret brought their daughter Ellen (b. 1848) to be baptized in Trinity Church on 14 February 1851, the Friday referred to in this entry; St AER, 1850, fol. 9. 268 This is the first reference to the Reids' servant girl by name. As James had hired her in the vicinity of Brorne (see 11 May 1850), it is not surprising that he should take her home on a visit.

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Notes to pages 150—1

269 Betsy M. Deming and Solon A. Spaulding, of Williston, VT; St AER, 1850, fol. 9. 270 Such arrangements were frequent in the area and, as local notarial records show, were elaborately drawn up and witnessed, with provisions to ensure good treatment. See, for example, ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Leon Lalanne; Donation by Benjamin Reynolds to Thomas Reynolds, 20 August 1821; and Richard Dickinson; Donation [by John Pier Senior and Elsha Sixby to John Pier Junior], no. 2588, 16 April 1849. Despite the greatest care in drawing up and notarizing such agreements, however, there were cases involving even reputable persons who had undertaken to care for the elderly, in which the latter had either to suffer neglect or to go to law to enforce their rights; see, for example, 271 Reid hints darkly that O.B. Kemp's marriage of five months - to a niece of Aquila Knap's - was part of a plan that had been maturing "these four or five years" to acquire the Knap property. Reid, of course, would not have forgotten the disputes in the Kemp family, when O.B. Kemp's father and uncle had promised to care for their parents in return for property, an arrangement which ended in the revocation of the deed of gift and lasting ill will in the community (see 25 February 1849 and appendix B, Levi Kemp). 272 The Atlantic, a ship of "3,000 tons burthen" carrying a large and valuable cargo and twenty-eight passengers, had sailed from Liverpool for New York on 28 December. "It appears that she experienced very severe weather; and that after she had been nine days out, she broke the shafts of both her engines, and had her paddle boxes carried away. This totally disabled her. She tried to make her way after this; but after six days efforts, it was judged more prudent to return; and arrived off Cork on the 22ndjan." Montreal Transcript, 20 February 1851, 2, and 22 February 1851, 2. 273 Reid baptized Jabez Chadburn (b. 1782), his wife Hannah, nee Cross (b. 1790), and their daughter Eveline (b. 1832); St AER, 1850, fol. gv. The sons referred to may be Amos (aged thirty) and Thomas (aged twentytwo) who, in 1851, were still living with their parents; NA, CE Census 1851, St Armand East, dist. no. i, p. 19. On the same day, and presumably also at the Chadburn home, Reid baptized George Henry (b. 1 846) , natural son of Charlotte Garrick; Hannah and Jabez Chadburn were the sponsors and signed with their marks. St AER, 1850, fol. 10. 274 John Russell, first Earl Russell (1792-1878), British statesman and early advocate of Catholic emancipation. Reid's belief that British Roman

Notes to pages 151—2

275

276

277

278

279

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Catholics themselves might support Russell may have been based upon reports in the press, such as Willmer & Smith's European Times: "Lord Beaumont, a Catholic nobleman, has also taken the field against the head of his church. He maintains that the appointments by the See of Rome to English bishoprics are derogatory to the Crown, and at variance with the constitution"; quoted in the Montreal Transcript, 17 December 1850, 2. John Arthur Roebuck (1801-79) was an independent politician of advanced ideas; Joseph Hume (1777-1855) was for thirty years a leader of the radicals in Parliament. Fifteen years earlier the Missiskoui Standard (6-27 September 1836) had carried a series of letters reprinted from the London Times addressed jointly to Hume and Roebuck and touching on their unwelcome interest in colonial reform. "Eliza Armstrong, alias Widow Taylor of Berkshire, a native of Ireland" died 28 February 1851, in her seventy-second year; St AER, 1850, fol. 10. The Baptist congregation at Abbott's Corner was organized as early as 6 September 1799; the meeting house in question dated from 1841. See Thomas, Contributions, 97. Of the Frelighsburg grist mill ("capable of earning £200 per Annum"), saw mill ("capable of sawing 200,000 ft. per annum"), and fulling and clothing mill, the 1851 Census reports: "This property is not carryed [sic] on at the present time to much advantage; it belongs to the Estate of the late R.V.V. Freligh Esq and is at the present time involved in Law between the Heir at Law & Executor." NA, CE Census 1851, St Armand East, dist. no. i, p. 20. Prosper Lucius Cutler, aged nine. Both he and Chadburn had died on 4 March 1851; their burials are recorded on the same page. St AER, 1850, fol. 11. Mrs Morice had given birth to a son on 31 December 1850; Nancy was probably expected to help with the baby and the other children: Montreal Transcript, 14 January 1851, 2. There were at least three young clergymen in the diocese whose surnames began with L, four if the forty-six-year-old Leach is included. The Rev. Henry S. Hazard was stationed at Sherrington, adjoining Lacolle (Morice's parish), from 1843 to 1854; see Pascoe, Classified Digest of the Records of the SPG, 869. Reid's surprise was probably occasioned by both Jane Freligh's incongruous role as a clergyman's wife, and Hutchinson's reported appointment to Trinity Church, Montreal. The Rev. Alexander Digby Campbell, the incumbent, had received his appointment for life and showed no signs of intending to resign. Furthermore, the presentation of this living rested

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281 282

283 284

285

286

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Notes to pages 152—5 not with the bishop, but with Major William Plenderleath Christie's trustees. Campbell, in fact, stayed on until 1858. See Mott, Jubilee History of Trinity Church, 17-18. Mrs William Stevens Baker had three sisters: Mary, Julia, and Amelia. "B.C." may possibly have been Brown Chamberlin who, being newly established professionally, was in a position to contemplate marriage. Jane and he were not far apart in age; he would have been twenty-four years old on 26 March 1851 and she had turned twenty-six on 24 January. Jane was never to marry; Brown remained a bachelor until 1870. Millman is also disposed to identify "B.C." as Brown Chamberlin; TRMP, Diary transcript marginalia. Probably the New York Churchman (see 24 November 1850). John Tittemore died 17 March 1851, in his ninety-third year; St AER, 1850, fol. 12. Young Mrs Toof was probably Mary Ann Toof, nee Shepard (1821-1905), wife of Jacob H. Toof. She, Jacob, and their four children lived with Henry Toof, a widower; see ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Henry Bondy; Discharge from Mary Ann Shepard wife of Jacob H. Toof..., no. 3848, 11 May 1864. Vinten Barnes died 22 March 1851; St AER, 1850, fol. 12. According to his gravestone in the Barnes Cemetery, he was aged "86 yrs 5 mo & 15 days." Edward John Stanley, second Baron Stanley of Alderley and first Baron Eddisbury of Winnington (1802-69), Whig undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, 1846-52; George Hamilton Gordon, fourth earl of Aberdeen (1784-1860), member of the Duke of Wellington's Cabinet in 1828, and foreign secretary under Peel, 1841-46; Sir James Robert Graham (1792-1861), prominent among the Peelites. The London Standard of 28 February 1851, brought by the Asia, reported that attempts to form a new ministry on the fall of Lord John Russell's administration had failed; quoted by the Quebec Gazette, 17 March 1851, 3. By telegraph further intelligence came that Russell's ministry was "on the advice of the Duke of Wellington, reinstated in its entireity [sic]. But the reinstatement seems merely temporary, and a prelude to new combinations." Montreal Transcript, 25 March 1851, 2. John Lovell, Montreal printer and publisher, devoted Anglican and warden of Trinity Church (1847-49); see Mott, Jubilee History of Trinity Church, 43. Hutchinson may have been better suited for the editorship than Reid thought. He served for several years as editor of the Commercial Advertiser and, on his death, two Montreal newspapers - of differing political colorations - paid tribute to his abilities, talents, and respectability;

Notes to pages 155-60

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see the Montreal Transcript, 23 March 1854, 2, and the Pilot, 25 March 1854,

2.

288 Mary Kemp (b. 1824), second daughter of Anson and Belinda Kemp. 289 The diary of a contemporary housewife in a nearby township makes clear, however, that some farmers' daughters continued to spin, weave and busy themselves with heavy work at home, however. On 23 August 1853, Eliza Ann White of Potton recorded: "the little girls spun 4 skeins of tow, Maria [aged twenty] washed and spun one skein of linen and I churned twice, hetcheled flax and carded tow and done housework." On i October of the same year her brief entry reads: "The girls and I picked 20 geese, picked the hops, gathered 23 bushels of apples, did the Saturday's work and wove 2 yards." See Doris White Cameron, "The White Family of Potton Township," in Yesterdays ofBrome County, 7:207. As far as the Reids themselves were concerned, in 1842 the household had produced forty yards of "flannel or other woollen cloth manufactured in the family in the domestic way," but by 1851 they were not making any. NA, LC Census 1842, St Armand East, p. 2586; CE Census 1851, p. 35. 290 Lindsay is probably referring to the activities of the Rev. Richard Hutchinson, who "became one of the leading figures in the movement." William Westfall, Two Worlds: The Protestant Culture of Nineteenth-Century Ontario (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press 1983), 167. Hutchinson had been in charge of the St Armand Methodist circuit from 1840 to 1843, but had recently caused a sensation by leaving the Methodist church, attacking its missionary and financial practices, and establishing himself as a Millerite (Adventist) minister at Waterloo. In 1850 he had engaged in a pamphlet war and a virtually continuous exchange of letters in the press with the Rev. John Borland of the Wesleyan Methodists. Stanstead Journal, 28 February - 26 April 1850. The Rev. Andrew Trew Whitten, appointed to Shefford in 1849, served Waterloo as part of his charge; see Pascoe, Classified Digest of the Records of the SPG, 872. 291 Reid's stern reply to Lindsay may have been called forth in part by the younger man's criticism of the way in which District Association meetings were conducted. Reid had been chairman since the association was formed; the debacle at the unfortunate Waterloo meeting may well have been his fault. By his own admission, he could not always keep the meetings he chaired under control (see 19 September 1850). He was eventually ousted from this position by his fellow clergy in the association (see the chronology). 292 Probably Moses Knap, who, as a churchwarden, might well have felt justi-

360

Notes to page 16i

fied in taking the lead in a matter relating to the rector and in calling an impromptu meeting in the church. 293 Reid copied the address, which was dated 18 April 1851, into his letterbook: Rev. and dear Sir The Ladies of your congregation request your acceptance of the accompanying gown as a grateful acknowledgment of the benefits they have received from your ministry among them, and a testimony of their cordial esteem and regard. That your Ministerial labours may be prolonged to them, and finally receive the blessed reward of 'well done thou good and faithful Servant enter thou into the joy of thy Lord,' in those mansions where the faithful teacher, and the heedful hearer and doer of the word, may alike hope to meet in never ending peace and happiness is the fervent prayer of your friends and children in Christ Jesus. TCPR, Letterbook, 107-8. The list of contributors' names, transcribed by Reid, provides a useful cross-section of the women active in the parish. They were Margaret S. Knap, Mrs A[nson] Kemp, Mary Kemp, Mrs [Jasper?] Chaffee [nee Kemp, of Berkshire], Jane [Julia] Kemp, Mary Ann Chamberlin, Mrs Eflmore] L[incoln] Kemp, Mrs [Maro V.] Bingham, Miss Staniland, Miss M[ary] E[lizabeth] Kemp, Miss [Amelia?] Kemp, Mrs M[oses] Knap, Mrs O.B. Kemp, Mrs A[rnold] L[ouis] Baker, Mrs C[harles] S[tewart] Reynolds, Mrs Geo[rge] Krans, Mrs O[mie] Lagrange, Mrs [Daniel?] Westover, Mrs A[sa] Westover, Miss E[mily] Westover, Mrs Chamberlin [Dr Brown Chamberlin's widow?], Mrs J[oshua] Chamberlin, Miss [Margaret] Westover, Mrs [Sherman P.] Barnum, Miss [Charity?] Chamberlin, Al[mira] Chamberlin, Mrs [Richard] Dickinson, Mrs W[illiam] S. Baker, Mrs Joanfna, i.e. Mrs Levi] Kemp, Mrs O.J. Kemp, Emily Kemp, Mrs [Jonathan] Stickney, Mrs Henry Baker, Mrs B[enjamin] Reynolds, Mrs E[lijah] S[tuart] Reynolds, Mrs G[alloway] L[evi] Kemp, Mrs Lest[er] Reynolds, Mrs J.B. Seymour, Mrs [Pliny?] Woodbury; Letterbook, 108. The gown cost £6, a large sum considering that two chairs for the chancel were purchased that same year, for a total of £4/107; TCPR, PCS Minutes, 33. Reid's "Reply," dated 18 April 1851 and addressed "To Miss Margaret Westover and the other Ladies who have contributed to the Gown and signed the Address," appears in the letterbook, 108-10. A newspaper clipping of the address and reply are also preserved among the TCPR. 294 Probably Nicholas Martin, farmer. Stewart had married him and his first wife Sarah Austin, in 1814, and Reid had married him and his second

Notes to pages 161—3

295

296 297

298

299

300

301

361

wife Mary Vander Waters in 1839; see St AER, 1814, fol. 7, and 1839, fol. 16. The original Parochial Church Society subscription list, drawn up in 1842, includes Mrs Rebecca Toof (2/6 p d ), James W. Toof (5/ p d ), Sarah Toof (2/6 p d ), and Lucinda Toof (2/6 p d ); TCPR. The annual reports of the Church Society contained the names and subscriptions, association by association, of the members of the Church Society. Wellington Toof appears in the 1844 report, the two girls appear by name in 1848, and "Mrs. Widow Toof in 1849. In 1850, all the Toofs fulfilled their pledges, but in the 1852 report, the widow Toof no longer figures on the list of members. Reid writes "mature" in MS. Elijah Edmund Shelton, an American from New England, had recently settled in Montreal with his wife Mary, nee Butler. He was a "Tea Dealer & Grocer, Wine, Spirits, Fruit, and Provision Merchant," with a store at 168 Notre Dame Street, Montreal; see his elaborately illustrated advertisement, in the Montreal Transcript, 15 October 1850, 2. His name (misspelled "Schelton") appears among the wardens at the cathedral (1877-82); see Adams, A History of Christ Church Cathedral, 172. Borthwick pays tribute to Shelton's "benevolent and religious" impulses, and describes the handsome legacy the diocese received for its mission fund on his death in 1891; History of the Diocese of Montreal, 127-8. The amount Reid records as deposited in the Montreal Savings Bank on 13 May 1851 ("for local purposes of the Parish") was £8/3/9. The payment to T.B. Anderson was £9/1/3; PCS Minutes, 33. The Annual General Meeting of the Incorporated Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec was scheduled for 2 July 1851 at 7 p.m. at the National School House in Quebec. Rouse's Point, NY, served as the port of entry for goods and passengers travelling by water up Lake Champlain or by rail from New York to St Johns, connecting with the Champlain and St Lawrence Railroad. Reid may have intended to draw up a notarized list of the contents of the third trunk, but no such document appears among Dickinson's surviving records. Anson Kemp, as customs officer for Frelighsburg, would have been a particularly useful witness at the opening of the trunk and the valuation of its contents. Several days earlier the Montreal Transcript had noted: "The weather has, of late, been cold, wet and stormy; without precedent, and people are beginning to refer to that perennial oracle, the memory of 'the oldest inhabitant.' Nevertheless, we hope no great harm is done yet." 24 May 1851, 2.

362

Notes to pages 163—4

302 The Rev. Micajah Townsend had six children, then living, all by his second wife Sarah Kellog, nee Nash: Heber and Hobart (twins, b. 1837), Anne Eliza (b. 1840), Helen (b. 1842), Francis Micajah (b. 1845), and Harriet Matilda (b. 1848). Townsend held 182 acres of land in 1861; NA, CE Census 1861, Agricultural Census, Parish of St George de Clarenceville, p. 419. The house and land were his own; there was neither Glebe nor Parsonage attached to the Churches of St. George or St. Thomas. MCCA, Anglican Church Collection (0223), Folder 10, Circular for 1859. Reid's reference to the "adorning" of his house and grounds may be an allusion to Mrs Townsend's garden, which seems to have been greatly admired; see "Rev. Micajah Townsend," in Fifth Report of the Transactions of the Missisquoi County Historical Society (St Johns, PQ: News Print

iQiS). 84~94-

303 Lacolle lies near the Richelieu River, some five miles above Rouse's Point. Steamers from as far away as New York travelled up Lake Champlain, stopping at Albany, Troy, Saratoga, Whitehall, Burlington, and Plattsburg, with some bound farther north, up the Richelieu for St Johns and Montreal; see the advertisement for the Northern Railroad, NY, in the Pilot, 7 June 1851, i. Excursions on such vessels were usually very enjoyable; Reid and Morice may well have travelled primarily for pleasure on this occasion. Ten years earlier, Charles Dickens had written enthusiastically about one such steamboat, plying between St Johns and Whitehall, as "a perfectly exquisite achievement of neatness, elegance, and order." American Notes For General Circulation, ed. John S. Whitley and Arnold Goldman (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books 1972), 255. 304 The bishop did officiate at Stanbridge Upper Mills the next day, and promised the people that if they would repair the buildings, he would try to get them a clergyman of their own; see the Church, 24 July 1851, 409. 305 Lorenzo A. Babcock was attorney general of Minnesota (still a Territory) from i June 1849 to 15 May 1853; see Theodore Christianson, Minnesota: The Sky-Tinted Waters, 5 vols (Chicago: The American Historical Society Inc. 1935), 2:527. 306 The Bakers on the hill were Henry and his son Louis Baker. Perhaps the "connexion" Reid saw was the combined influence of the Frelighs (particularly the concentration of industry and land in the hands of a single owner) and the Kemps (who were prominent among the early settlers); see Mrs C.M. Day, History of the Eastern Townships, Province of Quebec, Dominion of Canada, Civil and Descriptive (Montreal: John Lovell 1869), 319. Reid had requested to be removed from St Armand in 1839, without success (see the chronology).

Notes to page 165

363

307 Reid postponed this renewed appeal for another two weeks. The parish papers contain an address in his hand, endorsed "Delivered by me to the congregation at the close of divine Service on Sunday, the 29* June 1851." It begins: "Brethren, you will remember that I gave due notice for a Meeting to be held in this Chh on the 11 Instant, and invited all the heads of families that felt interest in the maintenance and permanent continuance of the ministry of the Gospel amongst us, after my retirement, or decease, to give their attendance ... I am sorry to say that only two responded to the call. This neglect had a discouraging effect on my mind so much that I did not, for some time, feel sufficient courage to call another meeting for fear of being again equally unsuccessful." As was typical of Reid, despite his threat to remain aloof, he entered energetically into the cause of the Endowment Fund, and set an example of liberality to encourage his parishioners to support it (see 7 July 1851 and 366n32o). 308 At All Saints', Dunham, Reid, Whitwell, and William Jones read parts of the Consecration Service, and the bishop preached (from Mat. 18:20). Other clergy mentioned as being present were R. Lindsay, I. Constantine, and E. Sayles. William Baker, of Dunham, drove the bishop to Sutton, arriving at about 11 a.m.; Robert Lindsay, the incumbent, read Morning Prayer, assisted by Reid, Whitwell, and Constantine, before "a very large assembly of people." All the clergy who were at Dunham, with the addition of Whitten of Waterloo, were in attendance. Elijah Kemp entertained the clergy at dinner and acted as the bishop's host for the night; see the Church, 24 July 1851, 409. 309 Fulford's use of the dramatic pause before speaking is remarked upon elsewhere as well; see W.S. Humphreys, quoted in Adams, A History of Christ Church Cathedral, 89-90. Reid's account of the picnic is misleading. Another description makes it clear that the bishop's two addresses were made to different audiences; the first to the large group of children present, and the second to the adults: In the afternoon there was a very pleasing celebration of the Sunday School, at which upwards of one hundred children met together in a large building, tastefully decorated with green boughs; and a most abundant supply of cakes of all kinds and bread and butter was provided. After the eating and drinking was concluded, the children were addressed by the Bishop. The children having withdrawn, fresh supplies of all kinds were placed on the tables, and the friends of the children and all the visitors took their places, and had tea, coffee, cakes, &c.; they were addressed by the Revs. J. Scott, J. Reid, and the Bishop.

364

310

311

312

313 314

315

Notes to pages 166-7 The Evening Hymn was then sung, and the company dispersed, after a very gratifying day. The Church, 24 July 1851, 409. Reid writes "started from Brome" in MS. As James lived in Brome and the consecration was in Sutton, Reid undoubtedly means "started for" not "started from Brome." Whitwell seems to have been the only clergyman who accompanied Fulford to Brome. The bishop spent the evening visiting Lindsay's churchwardens (H. Foster and L.M. Knowlton), and was the Hon. Paul Holland Knowlton's guest that night; The Church, 24 July 1851, 409. At the consecration of St Luke's, "the Rev. Messrs Robinson, Reid, and Whitwell" assisted the incumbent (the Rev. A.T. Whitten), and the bishop preached. A brief account of this, and the District Association meeting, with the names of the clergy present, appeared in the Church, 24 July 1851, 409. They were (besides the bishop) Reid, Johnson, Whitwell, Scott, Slack, Robinson, Whitten, Robert Lindsay and his brother David, as well as a theology student - probably Frederick Wilson - from Bishop's College. Reid writes "his people work would" in MS. Lindsay's initiative was fully in line with the goals of the newly formed Church Society of the Diocese of Montreal. The first among the purposes of the society was missionary work: "The Board has ever been duly impressed with a sense of its duty and responsibility on the subject of Missionary labour; ... they therefore early devoted a large portion of the funds at its disposal to this purpose, by paying five Clergymen and one Student additional sums, to enable them to make more extended visits in the destitute settlements"; four of those given support under this plan were David Lindsay (Robert Lindsay's brother), Thomas Machin, William Jones, and Isaac Constantine, whose grants totalled £145. See Annual Report for 1852, 19. Paul Holland Knowlton (1787-1863), pioneer industrialist, soldier, politician, and founder of the town of Knowlton. At this time Reid's use of Knowlton's military title was purely by courtesy; Knowlton had been lieutenant colonel of the First Battalion of the Shefford Regiment until March 1850, but was deprived of his commission by Lord Elgin for signing the Annexation Manifesto; see the Canada Gazette, 9 March 1850, 8089. Foster was probably Hirum Sewell Foster (b. 1815). In 1844 Foster had married (as his second wife) Sarah, nee Knowlton, niece and adopted daughter of P.H. Knowlton; BR, 1844, fol. 2v. See also ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Donation: P.H. Knowlton to

Notes to page 167

365

Sarah Knowlton, no. 2530, 2 January 1849. The "old Lady" was probably Laura, nee Moss, wife of P.H. Knowlton; the 'Young Lady" Mrs Foster (born in 1822), was the daughter of Knowlton's brother Luke, and Mary, nee Ware; BR, 1842, fol. 5. On Sarah Foster's death she was described by the bishop as "one of the staunchest and most devoted church women of the Diocese. A woman of strong character and great ability." Borthwick, History of the Diocese of Montreal, 94. 316 The Rev. Isaac Constantine, his wife Mary, nee Rhodes, and their two children: Charles, age five, and Mary, age three. See NA, CE Census 1851, Stanbridge Township, dist. no. i, p. 31. Constantine, a native of England educated in that country, had been ordained deacon in 1850 by Bishop Mountain; see Borthwick, History of the Diocese of Montreal, 81, and The Church at the Upper Mitts: The Anglicans of Stanbridge East, Stanbury and Pigeon Hill (n.p., n.d.), 47-51. Constantine and Frederick Wilson would have known each other at Lennoxville, for the former had taught music and singing at the Collegiate School, Lennoxville, since at least 1848; see the Berean, 13 January 1848, 167. 317 Prudence Maria, nee Barnes, was the wife of Simon Henry Cornell. Reid had married them in 1847; St AER, 1846, fol. 22. Martin was perhaps Ebenezer Martin, American-born tanner, of Stanbridge; NA, CE Census 1851, Stanbridge, dist. no. i, p. 43. He was one of the four men who signed the deed of the church and land over to Bishop Stewart in 1833; The Church at the Upper Mitts, 45. Mrs Zebulon Cornell was Elizabeth, nee Morey; Mrs Gordon was perhaps Cynthia, wife of William H. Gordon, bailiff, of Stanbridge; NA, Canada East Census Returns for 1851, p. 29. Mrs Rice was probably Maria, nee Staunton, wife of Horatius Wheeler Rice, of Stanbridge. Reid had married them in 1827; St AER, 1826, fol. 23. When Reid was serving the church at the Upper Mills from St Armand, "Mr. and Mrs. Rice [H.W. Rice's parents: Martin and Lucy, nee Wheeler], led the choir ... Horatius [himself], Sereph and Lucy assisting"; see "The Rice Family," in Second Report of the Missisquoi County Historical Society (St Johns, PQ: News Typ, 1907), 49. Since Reid seems to associate Pierce and Baker, they may have been Frederick W. Pierce and J.C. Baker, who in 1849 had gone into partnership in operating a general store; see K.D. Tree, "President's Letter," in Missisquoi -A Store of Memories (Granby, PQ: Missisquoi County Historical Society 1972), 10-11. Alternatively, Reid may have called on Thomas Baker, farmer, of Stanbridge, who served "7 terms as Warden of St James between 1852 and 1862"; The Church at the Upper Mills, 119. Baker's wife Amanda Lillis, nee Corey, was a daughter of Julia Fasset, a protegee of Bishop Stewart's; SR, 1852, fol.

366

Notes to page 168

3, and 1855, f°"- 4V' an CE Census 1851, St Armand East, dist. no. i, p. 15.

368

Notes to pages 169—70

323 The Rev. Frederick Robinson, of Rougemont and Abbotsford, had been ordained priest in 1848; see the Berean, 22 June 1848, 50. The St Armand East Churchwardens' Accounts show an expenditure of 5/ for "cleaning stoves & pipes" on 8 July 1851 (TCPR). 324 The "engagement" probably sprang from the resolution, passed at the District Association meeting the previous June, "that a Sermon shall be preached on a certain day, and a collection made for Missionary purposes to be at the disposal of our Board" (see 23 June 1851). 325 Galloway Kemp and Seymour, formerly at odds with each other because of the former's lease of the disputed Freligh property, were now thrust onto the same side with regard to Jane Freligh. She proposed to sue them both, albeit in different causes. Since March of that year she had had Kemp before the Superior Court to exact payment of her dower rights. He was curator of the vacant estate of her late husband John Baker, and she, by virtue of her marriage contract, demanded payment of her dower as an alternative to accepting the community property. At her marriage, Baker had settled £1,000 on her "as a prefixed Dower or jointure" and, needing money as she did to combat Seymour, this lump sum must have seemed attractive. See ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Leon Lalanne; Marriage Contract between John Baker and Jane Freligh, 29 September 1817, and ANQM, records of the Superior Court, District of Montreal, Register of Judgments, 1851, in, no. 2460, The Reverend John Hutchinson and Jane Freligh v. Galloway L. Kemp. The case was finally settled 27 October 1851, with judgment against Kemp for £500. The intensity of the rancour that had previously existed between Kemp and Seymour may be glimpsed in a notarized document drawn up at the demand of the former just a year earlier. It describes an incident in which "a black gelding horse with a white face," the property of Kemp, being driven by him from his pasture to his house, "ran into the yard and premises of the said John Brush Seymour followed by the said Galloway Levi Kemp for purpose of securing the said horse." Seymour had ordered him off the property "and refused to permit him to secure the said horse upon any terms or conditions whatever although the said Galloway Levi Kemp offered and tendered in the presence of two witnesses ... payment of the sum of Five shillings and upwards ... for any damage that the said John Brush Seymour might have sustained and suffered by or through the said Gelding horse having been on his premises." ANQS, Notarial Records (Bedford): Richard Dickinson; Offer & Protest: Galloway L. Kemp to & Against John B. Seymour, no. 2902, 4 June 1850.

Notes to pages 770-1

369

326 Perhaps Histoire du roy Henri Le Grand by Hardouin de Beaumont de Perefixe, of which there were English translations by John Dauncey (1663 and 1672), and M. Le Moine (1785). Reid would not have required a translation, however, for he read French (36:6227). 327 Whether or not he actually attended services, "P.H. Knowlton [had] interested himself in the establishment of the English Church in the township of Brome. He personally took up a subscription for a church and parsonage, giving the largest part of the expense himself." Ernest M. Taylor, History of Brome County, 1:188. 328 The grist mill, built by Abram Lagrange in 1798, was the second to be erected in St Armand East; see Thomas, Contributions, 67. At the time Reid was writing, it was operated by Abram's sons. According to the census, it had cost $2,000, was powered by water, employed two persons, and yielded an annual income of $600; NA, CE Census 1851, St Armand East, dist. no. i, p. 12. Gilbert Frary (b. 1799) married Diantha Rogers on 20 July 1848; his first wife Lucretia Premise, nee Jackson (b. 1801), had died 27 January 1848; BR, 1848, fols 2 and 4v. The second Mrs Frary, then thirty-two years old, had a large establishment to oversee. The farm was 200 acres with 150 of it under cultivation and eighty under crops. In addition to grain and hay, it produced ten pounds of flax or hemp, fifty pounds of wool, eighteen yards of fulled cloth and forty-eight yards of flannel. The family consisted of two stepsons and two stepdaughters, ranging in age from eleven to twenty; NA, CE Census 1851, Sutton Township Part i, pp. 3, 51. 329 Reid writes "will soon found" in MS. 330 Maria Reynolds (Reid continued to refer to her by her maiden name) would have been in the gallery as a member of the choir. Although he speaks slightingly of Lindsay's intention to admonish her, one of his own sermons had touched on this theme: When we enter the Church, let us remember, that we enter into the presence of God, ... that our thoughts and affections be raised from the world, and set on those things that are above; that we follow all the prayers and supplications with our hearty desires, and be attentive to his word when it is read, or sung, or explained ... If we thus exercise ourselves in sincere godliness ... The Lord will have respect to our persons, to our service and to our offerings. But if, on the contrary, we come, more attentive to our external appearance, to see and be seen, after having spent the days of the week entirely for the world, and the morning of the day, in adorning the body, we may rest assured that we

37°

Notes to page i ji

approach the Altar with the offering of Cain. On this point we all need to be frequently admonished. TCPR, leather-bound book of MS. sermons, 48. 331 Reid probably had help with the mowing, for there is an entry of payment in the St Armand East Churchwardens' Accounts for the work: "July 23, Mowing and TrimS B§ Ground 3/0" (TCPR). The Rev. George Salmon had been stationed in Shefford from 1826 to 1838, during which period Reid had baptized one of his sons; St AER, 1831, fol. 8. See also Pascoe, Classified Digest of the Records of the SPG, 871. At the time of his visit to Reid, Salmon was listed among the clergy at Simcoe, in the Talbot District, uc, as "superannuated" (Scobie &Balfour... 1850, 21). 332 Probably Jay Clinton Butler (1820-61), physician and surgeon, of Dunham. 333 The Kemp girls, daughters of Anson, Levi, and O.J. Kemp, were all cousins. The materials purchased for "Dressing the chancel &c &c" came to £2/3/9; see TCPR, PCS Minutes, 33. The young ladies' work seems to have been a prelude to further attention to the needs of the church building. In September the steps and cupola were repaired, in October a pair of chairs was purchased for the chancel, and in November Reid set about procuring a baptismal font; TCPR, St Armand East Churchwardens' Accounts, 1851, and Letterbook, 114-15, Reid to A.W. Mountain, 12 November 1851. Reid must have felt that the people had taken his words to heart when he addressed them for the second time on the subject of the Endowment Fund: I therefore submitt [sic] that the Church money which is secured by mortgage on Miller's Farm should be realized as soon as it may be done conveniently and be laid out economically in repairs. The repairs which I would suggest are these. I would take down the Cupola and secure the Bell deck, leaving only 5 light spires on it... I would put in new doors & new window sashes, and patch over such spots as need plaster. All this I suppose the money vested in the mortgage is sufficient to accomplish, without any other exactions. Let us do this, and our good old Church in which the fathers and mothers of most of the Congregation worshipped in their day, will do for 10 years more as well as ever. And then those who shall survive and be in our room, their minister being provided for, will raise a Temple to God at the cost of $10,000 or 12,000. TCPR, undated address by Reid on the subject of an Endowment Fund, 11-12. Thirty-four years later the Bishop Stewart Memorial Church of the Holy Trinity, a fine brick building in gothic style, was opened for

Notes to page iji

371

public worship at an "ultimate cost" of $15,000, "subscription providing $8,000 of this amount." Historical Reading presented at the Centenery [sic] of the Bishop Stewart Memorial Church of the Holy Trinity ([Cowansville, PQ:] Cowansville Printing Inc [1980]), 5. The wooden structure of the old Trinity Church, built by Stewart and served by Reid, was torn down to make way for the new.

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Index

Abbott's Corner, xxix, xxx, 102, 151 Aberdeen (George Hamilton Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen), liii, !54 Aberfeldie (Perthshire, Scotland), Ix Adams, [Nelson], 37 Adamson. Rev. William Agar, 49 Adventists. See Millerites Albion, The (New York), liii, 4, 12, !5> 54 alcohol abuse, xlviii, xlix, 15, 16, 20, 22, 26, 35, 41, go, 111, 112 Aldis, Asa Owen, 133, 170, 348ns28 Aldis, Mrs Asa Owen. See Mary Townsend Aldis Aldis, Mary Townsend, nee Taylor, 170 Allen, James S., 113 Allen family, 26 All Saints' church (Dunham), 45, 107, no, 164, 165, 363^08 Anderson, Thomas Brown, 105, i62,334ni52 Annexation, 71, 75, 77, 86, 103, 302n238, 3O5n247; JR's attitude towards, i, 39, 50,53-4 Anti-Clergy Reserves Association, Ixiii Arkansas, 36 Armstrong, Eliza, 151

Athol, the Duke of (John Murray, 4th Duke of Athol), 11 Auldis. See Aldis Aylmer, Lord, Ixvi Ayrshire (Scotland), 141 Babcock, Lorenzo A., 164 Badgley, William, 43, 78, 168, 267n2o, 366n3i8 Baird, T.W., 120, 121, 125 Baker, Abigail, nee Ayer, 89, 113, 150 Baker, Arnold Lewis, 113, 131; biography of, 179-80; and church organ, 67, 71; dispute with Kemps, 25-6; friend of JR, xlvi, 3; visits JR, 72, 152 Baker, Mrs Arnold Lewis. See Mary Baker Baker, Captain. See Henry Baker Baker, Mrs Charles. See Katherine Baker Baker, Corrilla Elizabeth, nee Woodbury, 169 Baker, Edward, 76 Baker, Mrs Edward. See Eliza Baker Baker, Eliza, nee Dunning, 76 Baker, Harriet Eliza, nee Clapp, 48 Baker, Harriet, nee Clapp, 152 Baker, Henry, 96, 113; biography of,

374

Index

i8o-i; dispute with Kemps, 25-6; friend of JR., xlvi, 3; JR visits, 22, 91, 145; at meeting re glebe, 164; visits JR, 89, 150 Baker, Mrs Henry. See Abigail Baker Baker, [J.C.], 167 Baker, Jane, nee Freligh, 71, 72-3, 77, 87, 101, 141, 3Oin224; biography of, 181-3; calls on JR, 130, 164-5; dispute with Seymour, 81, 82, 83, 94, 95, 98; R.V.V. Freligh's animosity toward, 48; and Freligh's will, 46, 47, 51, 91, 92-3; gift to JR, 100; JR's rejection of, 155, 170; JR's support of, 76, 80, 84, 85; marriage of, 126 Baker, Joel, 111 Baker, John, 73, 77, 95, 3^46, 3 i8n6i; biography of, 183-4 Baker, Mrs John, fejane Baker Baker, Katherine, nee Sands, 67, 148 Baker, Lewis. See Arnold Lewis Baker Baker, Louis. See Arnold Lewis Baker Baker, Mary, nee Westover, 72, 113, 152; biography of, 184 Baker, Stephen. See Stevens Baker Baker, Stevens, 33 Baker, William (of Dunham), 75, 105, 152, 165 Baker, Mrs William. See Harriet Baker Baker, William Sampson, 46, 47, 83, 85; biography of, 184-5 Baker, Mrs William Sampson. See Corrilla Elizabeth Baker Baker, William Stevens, 48, 3oin227 Baker, Mrs William Stevens. See Harriet Eliza Baker Baker family (of Dunham), 18 Baker family (of Frelighsburg), 18, 25-6, 164 Baldwin, Hon. Robert, li, 253n2i

Balfour, Rev. Andrew, 81-2, 32in8i Bancroft, Rev. Charles, Ixviii, 146, 26oni11, 354n254 Bank of British North America, 127, 346n2i5 Bank of Montreal, 111,124, 145 Bank of Upper Canada, 127, 162, 346n2i5 Baptists, Ixii, 27, 63, 107, 151, 171, 357n2?5 Barnes, George, 109 Barnes, [Hirum], 73 Barnes, Prudence. See Prudence Cornell Barnes, Vinten (senior), 153 Barnes, Vinten (junior) ,112 Barnum, Doctor. See Sherman Painter Barnum Barnum, Sarah, nee Chamberlin, 12, 113, 160, 169 Barnum, Sherman Painter, 3, 78, 113, 146; biography of, i85~6;JR visits, 11, go, 161; visits JR, 12 Barnum, Mrs Sherman Painter. See Sarah Barnum Bassett, Mr, 61, 63, 87 "Bay, The." See Philipsburg Bedford, xxviii, xxix, 33; church at, 43, 60, 61; meeting of Church Society at, 22; village of, 37, 55, 57,99, 126, 142, 144, 156 Bell, "Old." See Samuel Bell Bell, Samuel, 26 Berkshire (Vermont), xxviii, 111, 164; JR performs funeral at, 40, 104; JR visits to send or receive mail, 25, 31, 44, 52, 57, 83, 90, 113, 125, 134, 143, 149, 151, 153 Berkshire Mills, (Vermont), 149 Berrian, Rev. Dr William, 55 Bethune, Archdeacon. See Alexander Neil Bethune Bethune, Rev. Alexander Neil, 14

375

In

dex

Bethune, Dr. See Rev. Drjohn Bethune Bethune, Rev. Drjohn, 48-9, 51, 52, 114, 30311244 Bethune, Rev. John (senior), Ixi, 2f)6n68 Bickford, Abner (senior), 112, 337 nl ?2 Bickford, Abner (junior) , 1 1 2 Bickford, Mrs Abner (junior). See Charlotte Bickford Bickford, Charlotte, nee Scagel, 112 Bingham, Joseph Winch, 41, 75; biography of, 186-7 Bingham, Maro Virgil, 41 Bingham, Mrs Maro Virgil. See Mary Fox Bingham Bingham, Mary Fox, nee Winch, 41 Bingham, "Old." See Maro Virgil Bingham Bishop's College, Ixvii, Ixviii, 55, 31ini8 Bishop Stewart Memorial Church of the Holy Trinity (Frelighsburg), Ixix, Ixx, 37on37i Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, liii, Ivi, 4 Bolton, James, 124 Bolton, xxviii, 158 Bond, Rev. William Bennett, 19, 20, 276n8i, 277n&4 Bowker, [John], 132, 347^26 Brack, [Alexander], 36 Breadalbane (Scotland), 24 British American League, li, 39, 2g2ni83 British Bank. See Bank of British North America British Colonist, The (Toronto), 130 Brome, xxviii, xxix, 24, 55, 65, 81, 89, 103, 111, 140; James' farm in, 4, 17, 39, 61, 75; James returns to, 9, 11, 21, 37; James travels

from, 23; JR travels to, 40, 109, no, 144, 166, 170; Lindsay's mission, 107, 137, 156; mission and Church Society, 159; Scott's former mission, 77, 105 Brome Corner, xxix, 26, no, 144 Brome Lake, xxix, 44 Brooks, Fanny, nee Maxfield, 77 Brooks, Lyman, 77, 148, 285ni3g Brooks, Mrs Lyman. See Fanny Brooks Browne, Robert, 27 Buchanan, Isaac, 100 Buck, Estha, 146 Buck, Truman, 131, 146 Buck, Mrs Truman. See Estha Buck Bunyan, John, 64 Burns, Robert, 22, 27gng8 Burrage, Rev. Henry George, 78, 80 Butler, Rev. David, 162 Butler, Doctor. See]ay Clinton Butler Butler, Eliza Jane, nee Baker, 105 Butler, Jay Clinton, 171 Butler, Mrs Jay Clinton. See Eliza Jane Butler California, 12, 15, 92, 162 Callaghan [John] family, 131 Calvin, John, 27 Campbell, Rev. Alexander Digby, 20, 155,276n83, 35on243 Campbell, Mr (of the Society of the Propagation of the Gospel at Home), Iviii, Ixiii Canada, Ixxvii, 36, 54, 66, 70, 103, 104, 141 Canada Gazette, The, liii, n, 33, 129 Canderbeck family, 28 Carty, Cynthia, 19 Carty, Eleanor, 19 Carty, Elizabeth, 19 Carty, George Armstrong, 19 Carty, James, 18-19, 29, 275n77

376

Index

Carty, widow of James. See Margaret Carry Carty, James Robert, 19, 83, 90 Carty, Jane, 19 Carty, Margaret, nee Armstrong, 19, 29, 83, 90, 153; biography of, 187-8 Carty, Margaret Matilda, 19 Carty, Sarah Ann, 19, 83, 90 Chadburn, Amos, 38 Chadburn, Eveline, 151 Chadburn, Frank. See Franklin Weymouth Chadburn Chadburn, Franklin Weymouth, 15,

146; as physician, 32, 34, 39; refuses trusteeship, 130-1 Chamberlin, Mrs Joshua. &#Jane Chamberlin Chamberlin, Mary Ann, 18, 113, 140 Chamberlin, Mrs Doctor. See Jane Chamberlin Chamberlin, Sarah, 113 Champlain, Lake, xxviii, 125, 133,

9°. 9L93 Chadburn, Hannah, nee Cross, 151 Chadburn, Jabez, 151, 152 Chadburn, Mrs Jabez. See Hannah Chadburn Chadburn, Matthew, 38 Chadburn, Nathan, 14 Chamberlin, Almira, biography of, 188-9; inJR's Bible class, 136; teaches Sunday school, 98; visits Reids, 18, 78, 82, 140, 142, 156 Chamberlin, Brown, 140, 343^00; to edit church paper, 138-9; errands for JR, 111, 124; as JR's attorney, 1, 126, 127-8, 345^09; probable proposal to Jane Reid, 153. 358n282; visits JR, 69, 145 Chamberlin, widow of Dr Brown. See Diantha Chamberlin Chamberlin, Charity, 18, 113, 140, 171; biography of, 189 Chamberlin, Diantha, nee Knap, 3, 113; biography of, 189-90 Chamberlin, Jane, nee Westover, 7, 12, 14, 24,91 Chamberlin, Joshua, xlvi, 8, 12, 140; baptism of daughter, 113, 33gni 17; biography of, 190-2; hosts dance, 14, 18; JR visits, 7,

192-3 Chandler, Stephen Tucker, 33, 99 Chandler, Mrs Stephen Tucker. See Nancy Chandler Chapman, Rev. Thomas Shaw (Rev.), 55, 159, 3i8n62 cholera, xliv; in New Orleans, 16, 18, 21, 23-4, 33; a punishment for sin, 266n6; service of fasting and prayer, 42; service of thanksgiving for removal of, 67; Strachan preaches on, 4; treatment for, 2 Son 106 Christ Church (Montreal), Ixvii, 20,

H3 Chandler, Horace, xlii Chandler, Nancy, nee Westover, 99, 112, 113, 167; biography of

49 Christian Recorder, The (York, Kingston), Ixxi Christian Sentinel and Anglo-Canadian Churchman's Magazine, The, Ixxi Church, The (Toronto), 4, 11, 14, 266n6 Churchman, The (NewYork), 55, 129, !53 Church of England, Iv, Ixii, Ixiii, 11; colonial clergy and, xliii; controversies in, liv; government and, xlvi, Ixvi; history of (in Canada), Ixxvi, Ixxvii, 65, 66; state of (in the Eastern Townships), 4, 9, 18

377

Index

Church Society, 168, 2711152, 2731167, 36411314; central board of, 159, 166; Charles Reid objects to, 16; collecting for, xlvii, 24, 25, 161; district associations of, xlvi, Ixvii, 107, 117, 146, 156, 157-9, 166; parochial branches of, Ixxvii, 14, 22, 67, 71, 139, 25gnio6 Churchville (Sweetsburg), xxix, 101 City Bank (Montreal), xlix, 20,

277n85

Clapp, [Amelia], 152 Clapp, Rev. Dr Joel, 45, 48 Clark, Mrs, 16 Clergy Reserves, petition against alienation of, 126, 129, 131 Clifton, 46 Colonial Bishoprics fund, 106 Colonial Church Chronicle, and Missionary Journal, The (London), 67-8, 104, 106 Commissariat, at Montreal 124; at StJohns, 32 Compton, 3, 89; bishop's threat to remove Charles Reid from, 60, 65; family travel from, 64; family travel to, 48, 57, 59, 61, 76; mission at, 70 Congregationalists, Iv, Ivii, Iviii, Ix, Ixiii, 27, 69, 143, 158 Constantine, Charles, 167 Constantine, Rev. Isaac, xlv, 167, 171, 36511316 Constantine, Mrs Isaac. See Mary Constantine Constantine, Mary, nee Rhodes, 167 Cook, Rev. J., 69, 143 Cook family, 50 Cook's. See Cook's Corner Cook's Corner (St Armand Centre), xxx, 22, 55, 126; congregation at, 108; funeral at, 153; Hawkins at, 45; JR holds service at, 13, 16, 25,

36, 59, 107, 113, 124, 130, 134, 138, 144, 171 Cooper, Alexander, Ixxviii, 3, 13, 49, 81; biography of, 193-4; collects pension, 69, 142; evicted, 35; provides news, 80, 170; working for JR, 29,34, 37> 100, 135, 136 Cooper, Mrs Alexander. See Catharine Cooper Cooper, Catharine, 35 Cooper, "Old." See Alexander Cooper Cooper's Wells (Mississippi), 117, 119, 120, 121, 125 Cork (Ireland), 150 Cornell, [Corinthia, nee Hadley], 76 Cornell, Mrs Edwin. See Corinthia Cornell Cornell, Elizabeth, nee Morey, 167 Cornell, Prudence, nee Barnes, 167 Cornell, Simon Henry, 167 Cornell, Mrs Simon Henry. See Prudence Cornell Cornell, Zebulon, 44, 76, 126, 167 Cornell, Mrs Zebulon. See Elizabeth Cornell Cornwall (uc), Ixii, Ixiv Cotton, Rev. Charles Caleb, 65-6, 68, 259nio6, 3 i i n 2 O Cotton, Charles Edward, 144 Cotton, Mr. See Rev. Charles Caleb Cotton Cowansville (Nelsonville), xxix, 85 crime, 1-li; bigamy, 30; robbery, xlix,

38,41.43 Cross, Alexander, 85 Crossett, Elizabeth, nee Moore, 26 Cutler, Arvilla, nee Gleason, 25 Cutler, Arvilla Alice, 25 Cutler, Calvin Parker, 25 Cutler, Hiram, 25 Cutler, Polly Jane, 25 Cutler, Prosper, 20, 25, 152

378 Cutler, ler Cutler, Cutler, Cutler,

Index

Mrs Prosper. See Arvilla CutProsper Lucius, 25, 152 Sarah Sophia, 25 Susan, 25

Dalhousie, James Ramsey, Earl of, Ixvi, Ixvii Davidson, David, 127 Davidson, Rev. James Burrows, Ixviii Davidson, Rev. John C., Iv, Ixv, Ixviii Deming, Betsy M., 150 Deming, Clarke, 150 Deming, Sophronia Ellis, 112 Dewel, Miss, 23 Dick, "Uncle." See Richard Van Vleit Freligh Dickinson, Betsy, nee Foster, 67, 145, 169 Dickinson, Richard, 94, 148, 163; biography of, 194-5; and Freligh will, 46, 47, 83, 84, gi-2;JRvisits, - 24, 90; as notary, 168, 169; visits JR, 67, 71, 145 Dickinson, Mrs Richard. See Betsy Dickinson Dickson, Mrs Robert, 83 Disraeli, Benjamin, liii, 36 Dixon, Mrs. See Mrs Robert Dickson. Dunham, xxviii, xxix, Ixxxi, 33; bishop at, 164; Church Society meeting at, 107; JR preaches at, Ixxx, 45, no; parish of, Ixxviii, 9, 24, 165; radical meeting in, 175, 176; township of, 82; village of, 16, 30, 57- 65, 75,87,105, 140, 167 Dunham Flats, xxviii, 76, 176, 177 Dunkeld (Perthshire, Scotland), Iviii, Ixiii, 11, 79; musical tradition of, 284ni3i Dunn, "the late Judge." See Thomas Dunn Dunn, Thomas, 168, 169

Dyer, Col. See Henry Dyer Dyer, [Hannah Eveline], 34 Dyer, Henry, 23, 146 Eastern Townships, 165, 175, 176; state of religion in, xlvii, 4-5, 9, 105, 107; state of society in, 18, 106 165, 176 Eccles, Capt. See James Eccles Eccles, James, 40, 293ni88 Ecclesiastical Titles controversy, liii Edinburgh (Scotland), xlii, lix, Ix, Ixi, Ixiv, 67 Edinburgh Review, 53, 64 Elgin, Lord (James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine), 50, 65, 82; false rumour about, 49; issues proclamation, 43> 67; JR's attitude towards, li, 33' 34' 395 in the Press' 287ni55, 302^34; toast to, 111 Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 27 England, 66, 68, 123, 155; church in, 71, 116, 158; encroachment of popery in, 134, 151; government of, 27, 28, 34, 154; JR's "dear country," 12; proposed separation from, 50, 53-4 support of colonial church by, 57, 139, 140 Episcopal Recorder (Philadelphia), Ixxiii-lxxiv Ewing, Mr., Ix Farnham, xxviii, xxix, go Fay, Rev. Charles, 133 Fellers [Hotel]. See Montreal House Fenelon, Francois de Salignac de la Mothe, 142 Ferguson, Adam, Ixiv, 258ng3 Ferres, James Moir, 26, 284~5ni28; dispute with Kinnear, 90, 327mo8; and Missiskoui Standard,

379

Index

Ixxii, 176; satirized, Ixxiii; as trustee, 130, 131 Ferres, Mrs James Moir. See Sarah Jane Ferres Ferres, John, 26 Ferres, Mrs John, 26 Ferres, "Old." See John Ferres Ferres, Sarah Jane, nee Robertson, "3 Finley, Edward, 111 Finlay, Tailor. See Edward Finley Fitzsimmons, Andrew, xlii Flagg, Isaac, 93 Forbes, Rev. Doctor, 55 Foss, Electa, nee Dunning, 81 Foster, Hiram Sewell, 167 Foster, Mrs Hiram Sewell. See Sarah Foster Foster, Sarah, nee Knowlton, 167 France, 170 Franklin (Vermont), 18, 82, 88, 161 Frary, Diantha, nee Rogers, 171 Frary, Gilbert, 171 Frary, Mrs Gilbert. See Diantha Frary Freligh, Abraham, 165 Freligh, Mrs Abraham. See Rebekah Freligh Freligh, Carlton, 46, 165 Freligh, Galloway (brother of R.V.V. Freligh), 165 Freligh, Galloway (son of Abraham and Rebekah Freligh, nee Smith, and nephew of R.V.V. Freligh), 85,87 Freligh, Gertrude. See Gertrude Wallace Freligh, Hirum, 147 Freligh, Jane. S^Jane Baker Freligh, Mary, nee Marvin, 47, 51, 73, 81, 84, 86 Freligh, Rebekah, nee Smith, 29 Freligh, Richard Van Vleit, 74, 81, 315n44 biography of, 195-8;

events surrounding death of, 93; funeral of, 71; illness of, 61, 63, 70, 32on78; JR calls on 63-4, 67; politics of, 43, 176; property of, 3, 2 2 , 7 2 , 8 2 , 9 5 ; and his wife's will, 73; will of, 1, 46-7, 51, 83, 84, 85, 86, 91, 92, 101, 108, 152 Freligh, Mrs Richard Van Vleit. See Mary Freligh Freligh, Rodney, 46, 165 Frelighsburg, xxviii, xxix, xxx, Mi, Ixvi, 7, 43, 101; Bouchette on, Ixv; cattle show in, 114; entertainments in, xlviii, 28, 61, 82; Freligh property in, 3, 46-7, 176; local newspaper in, Ixxi; political meeting in, 26; prospective school in, 48, 74, 91-2; scales out of order, 99; as Slab City, 18, 175; village of, 1, 11, 77,95, 130, 136, 142, 154; villagers of, Ixxviii, 164 Frelighsburgh. See Frelighsburg Frost Village, xxviii, 81 Fulford, Alice Mary, 116 Fulford, Francis (Rt Rev., Bishop of Montreal), 1, liv, Ixvi, Ixvii-lxviii, 171; address of welcome to, 111; and diocesan paper, 138-9, 155; and district association of Church Society, 156, 157, 159; family of, 34ini8g; JR delivers maple sugar to, 162; JR's opinion of, 145, 148, 355n26i;JR writes to, 123, 168; news of appointment of, 85, no, 324nio3; residence of, 140; visits Townships, 114, 112, 144, 146, 147, 164, 165, 166; writes of JR, 264ni66, 343nig8; writes toJR, Ixxiv-lxxx, 142 Fulford, Mrs Francis. See Mary Fulford Fulford, Francis Drummond, 116, 142, 148

380 Index Fulford, Mary, nee Drummond, 116 Fuller, [William M.], 37 Galloway, Earl of. See Randolph Stewart Geddes, Charles, assignee of Malcolm, 78, 121-2, 126, 127, 162; business described, 343nigg; JR's description of, 123; JR fears libel suit from, 1, 129; JR writes to, 128 Geneva (Switzerland), 27 George Savage and Son, 21, 111, 2781193 Germany, 27 Getty, William Miller, 30 Glasgow (Scotland), 134 Glengarry (uc), 35, 37; JR sent to, Iviii, Ixi, Ixii; Mrs Reid visits, 34 Gordon, [Cynthia], 167 Gordon, [William H.], 167 Gordon, Mrs William H.. See Cynthia Gordon Grace Church (Sutton), 164, 165, 166, 363n3o8 Graham, Sir James Robert George (Bart.), liii, 154 Granby, xxviii, 36, 81 Gray, Margaret, 76, 145 Grayson, W.M., 120 Great Britain, 103 Greenock (Scotland), Ix, Ixxxii, 100 Gugy, Bartholomew Conrad Augustus, 11, 43, 267n2O Guthrie, David, 21, 22 Guy, Lydia Baker, 15 Hagan, Elizabeth, nee Mitchell, 19 Hagan, James, 19 Hagan, widow of James. See Elizabeth Hagan Haldane, James, lix, Ixi, Ixii, Ixxiii, 255n48 Haldane, Robert, lix, Ixi, Ixii, Ixxiii,

32, 255H48 Hales, William, 32 Hall, Archibald, examines Nancy Reid, 34; host to JR, xlv, 19, 20, 75; refused loan byJR, 162 Hall, Dr. See Archibald Hall Harrison, Mr, 129 Hawkins, Rev. Ernest, 67, 68, 81; as author, Ivii, 65, 66, 69, 70; JR writes to, 77, 103, 106; rumoured as new bishop, 87; visits JR, 44, 45- 29gn2io Hazard, Rev. Henry S., 152 Heath, Frederick Plumer, 13 Heber, Rt Rev. Reginald (Bishop of Calcutta), 104 Henryville, xxix, 49, 79 Henshaw, Rt Rev. John P.K. (Bishop of Rhode Island), 104, 333ni44 Hickok, William, 86, 101 Hikok the Bailiff. See William Hickok Hill, Abigail, 74 Hill, Miss, "the younger," 72 Hincks, Francis, 11 Holden, Artemus, 44 Holden, Laura, 44 Holsapple, Stewart. See William Stewart Holsapple Holsapple, William Stewart, 21 Hopkins, Rt Rev. John Henry (Bishop of Vermont), Ixxiii, no Howard, Dr [Henry], 75, 3i6n54 Hubbard, (Jonathan H.], 88 Hume, Joseph, liii, 151 Hunter, William James, 101, 332ni38 Huntington, C.H., 125, 132, 133, 163 Hurlbut, Abel, 41, 57, 94, 109; biography of, 198-9; Reid calls on, 21, 61; robbed, 38 Hurlbut, Mrs Abel. See Mary Hurlbut Hurlbut, Charles Abel Hannibal, 59

381

Index

Hurlbut, Maria, 21 Hurlbut, Mary, nee Holden, 21, 41, 61, 72; illness and death of, 57, 58, 59; obituary of, go6ni Hurlbut, Mary Rebecca, biography of, 199-200; marriage of, 122; her mother's death, 59, 61, 72; visits Reids, 41, 81 Hutchinson, Rev. John, 154; credentials of, 35on242, 358n287; JR's attitude toward, 155; marriage of, 126; speculation about, 130-1, 141, 144 Hutchinson, Mrs John. &tfjane Baker Ingalls family, 113 Inglis, Rt Rev. Charles (Bishop of Nova Scotia), lii Inverness-shire (Scotland), 24 Irwin, Rev. John, 20 Isle-aux-Noix, xxix, 75 Jackson (Mississippi), 112, 117 Jenny (Reid's "little mare"), 21, 132, 150, 153; not put to the plough, 112; praised, 142, 170 Johnson, Rev. Thomas, 45, 52 Jones, Captain. See Daniel Jones Jones, Caroline, 83 Jones, Col. See Robert Jones Jones, [Daniel], 23 Jones, Harriet Hall, 126 Jones, Rev. James, 49, 52, 55, 99, 111; begging, 42, 2g8n2O2;JR's dislike of, xlv, Iv, 22-3, 148; JR visits, 116; JR writes to, 156; and G.J. Mountain's journal, 68, 313^0; and St James' church, 44, 56-7, 60-1, 76, 307n5; visits JR, 15, 62, 114, 126, 129, 144; writings, 157 Jones [James W.], 111 Jones, Robert, 43, 71, 77, 3141137

Jones, Mrs Robert. See Caroline Jones Jones, [Septimus], 111 Jones, Rev. William, 43, 45, 107 Kemp, Amelia, 81,169, 171 Kemp, Anson, xlvi, 3, 25, 91, 163; biography of, 200-2; and Lee, 8, 26, 96, 108; and singing school, 63; solicited for funds, 142, 148; visits JR, 59, 85, 144 Kemp, Mrs Anson. See Belinda Kemp Kemp, Col. SeeOrenJocelin Kemp Kemp, Belinda, nee Kelton, 59, 90, 111; biography of, 202-3; church activities of, 160, 169; kindness of, 147; visits JR, 144 Kemp, Edwin, 147 Kemp, Elijah (senior), 26 Kemp, Elijah (junior), 29, 109, 137, 170 Kemp, Elmore Lincoln, 26, 101 Kemp, Emily, 147, 171 Kemp, Galloway Levi, 101; and Jane Baker, 83, 86, 87, 144, 152, 32gni23; and Seymour, 170, 368n325; visits JR, 95, 100 Kemp, Mrs Galloway Levi. See Rebecca Kemp, nee Stevens Kemp, George Anna, nee Pell, 132, 148 Kemp, Jane Julia, 81, 169 Kemp, Joseph, 80 Kemp, Laura Jane, 140 Kemp, Levi, 15, 25, 26, 107; biography of, 203-6; daughter's funeral, 140; holds dance, 82; safekeeping by, 40 Kemp, Lincoln. See Elmore Lincoln Kemp Kemp, Mrs Lincoln. See Rebecca Kemp, nee Galusha.

382

Index

Kemp, Maria, 16, go, 171; biography of, 206-7; visits JR, 67, 100 Kemp, Mary, 81, 155, 169, 171 Kemp, Mary Elizabeth, 171 Kemp, Oren Baker, 87, 148, 150, *53 Kemp, Mrs Oren Baker. See George Anna Kemp Kemp, Oren Jocelin, 4, 38, 67, 70, 147, 169; biography of, 207-10; co-owner of pew with JR, 56; dancing party at, 17-18; dispute with Bakers, 25; as Jane Baker's agent, 82, 105; as J.P., 30; and Hurlbut communion cup, 21; influence of, 144; JR visits, 12, 124; kindness of, 16, 25, 136; rebuffs JR, 8, 96 Kemp, Mrs Oren Jocelin. See Patience Kemp Kemp, Patience, nee Baker, 8, 25, 29-30, 147; biography of, 210-11; illness of, 89; visits JR, 100, 169 Kemp, Patience (junior), 98, 147, 170 Kemp, Rebecca, nee Galusha, 26 Kemp, Rebecca, nee Stevens, 144 Kennedy [Patrick] family, 39, 40 Kilmorich (Scotland), 79 Kincardineshire (Scotland), 141 Kingston (uc), 39 Kinnear, David, 39, 51, 2gini75; as annexationist, 50, 53; JR stays with, 37; JR writes to, 124; quarrel with Ferres, go Kinnear, Mrs David. See Mary Caroline Kinnear Kinnear, Mary Caroline, nee Van Baerle, 37, 45, 49, 50 Knap, Aquila, xlvi, 3, 12; biography of, 211-13; collector for church, 140, 142; plans to cede property for maintenance, 150, 153

Knap, Mrs Aquila. See Margaret S. Knap Knap, Margaret S., nee Davis, 150, !53 Knap, Moses, 3, 12, 135, 160, 359^92 Knap family, 26, 43, 74, 129; friends ofJR, xlvi, 164; JR visits, 87; visit JR, 24, 59, 138, 148, 16, 160, 164 Knowlton, Col. See Paul Holland Knowlton Knowlton, Laura, nee Moss, 167, 170 Knowlton, Paul Holland, 167, 170, 364n3!5 Knowlton, Mrs Paul Holland. See Laura Knowlton Krans, Catherine, nee Moore, 113 Krans, David, 113 Krans, widow of David. See Catherine Krans Krans, [George], 113 Krans, Horatio, 131 Krans, John, 45, 131 Krans's, 36, 113; JR holds service at, 7, 13, 19, 40, 67, 129, 135; no service at, 29, 55, 77-8, 123, 132 Lachine, xxviii, 87 Lacolle, 29, 82 Lafontaine, Louis-Hippolyte, li, 42 Lagrange, widow of Abraham. See Lucretia Lagrange Lagrange, Anne, nee Guthrie, 21-2, 2?9n97 Lagrange, Isaac, 21, 131, 132 Lagrange, Mrs Isaac. See Anne Lagrange Lagrange, Jacob, 45, 131, 132 Lagrange, Mrs Jacob. See Jemima Lagrange Lagrange, Jemima, 45 Lagrange, Lucretia, nee Luke, 22

383

Index

Lagrange, Omie, 13, 89, 32511105 Lagrange, Mrs Omie. See Paulina Lagrange Lagrange, Paulina, nee Reynolds, 13 Lagrange's Mills, xxix, 83, 170 Lancaster, Rev. Charles H., Ixxviii Lang, Rev. Matthew, 87, 323ng4 Laprairie, xxviii, Ixvi, 19, 145, 2761179 Leach, Rev. William Turnbull, Ixv, 19, 276n8o Lee, James, 49; and Anson Kemp, 8, 26, 96; biography of, 213-16; JR's opinion of, 108; and singing school, 63, 3ioni4 Lennoxville, xxviii, 42, 45, 48, 55, 65, 122 Leonard, Zer, 113, 338ni76 Lewiston (Vermont?), 69 Liddell, James, 15, 20, 273n63 Liddell, Mrs James. See Mary Jane Liddell Liddell, Mary Jane, nee Gibson, 20 Lindsay, Rev. Robert, 111, 165, 170, 171; at District Association meeting, 107, 166; JR visits, 109; letter toJR, 156; personal attractiveness of, 138; proposes to support missionary, 137-8, 157-60; visits JR, 146 London (uc), 50 Lonsdell, Rev. Richard, 145, 353n25i Louisiana, 36 Lovell,John, 155 Lowe, Bauman, 143; JR writes to 133, 149; as Malcolm's agent, 120, 125; writes toJR, 153 Lowe, John, 34, 111, 140, 146 Lower Canada, Iviii, Ixxxii, 25, 69, 106 Luke, Jacob V., 26 Lyman, William, 20

Lyndhurst, Lord (John Singleton Copley, the younger), liii, 36 Macadam. See]ohn McAdam McAdam, Agnes, nee Fleming, 65 McAdam, John, 89, 31 ini6; and Reid's son James, 13, 39, 40, 78; visits JR, 15, 65 McAdam, John (junior), 65 McAdam, Mrs John. See Agnes McAdam McAllum, Catharine. See Catherine McCallum McCallum, Catherine, 113 Macaulay, Thomas Babington, 53, 55. 64. 7° McCord, John Samuel, 107, 108,

335nl58 McCord, Judge. S^John Samuel McCord Macdonell, Rev. Alexander, liv, Ixi, 256n68 McDowell, Mills and Co. (New York), 143 MacGill, J. See James McGill McGill, James, 92 McGill College, 19, 92 MacGilvray, Capt. &*>James McGillvray McGillvray, James, 24, 25, 75, 3i6n5i McGillvray, Mrs James, 24, 25 Macintosh. See William P. Mclntosh Mclntosh, William P., 89, 101, 109-10, 157 Mack, William Gordon, 107, 108, 335nl58 Mack, Mrs William Gordon, 107, 108 McLauren, Rev. Mr, Ixxvi-lxxvii McMartin's Mills (Martintown), (uc), Ixi MacNab, Sir Allan Napier, 32

384

Index

Marsh's [Hotel], 146 Martin, Ebenezer, 167 Martin, Nicholas, 161 Martindale, Emma Calista, 49, 302^32 Martindale, Gardener, 49 Mason, William, 42, 297nigg Masonic Order, xlviii Massey, Mr, 125 Meigs's Corners, xxx, 82 Methodists, Iv, Ixxxi, 21, 27, 45, 68, 87, 165, 171, 278ng4 Mexico, 12 Millerites, 26, 107, 157, 283ni27, 359n2go Mills, John E., 63 Minnesota, 164 Minnesota Pioneer, The (StPaul), 132 Missionary Magazine, The (Edinburgh), Iviii, Ixi, Ixxxii Missiskoui Post and Canada Record, The (Stanbridge), Ixxii-lxxiv, 175-7, 262H128, 262H129

Missiskoui Standard, The (Frelighsburg), JR's involvement with, Ixxi-lxiii, 261n124; JR's writings in, 106, 244-7, 26ini26, 262ni37; satirized, 175-7 Missisquoi, xxviii, xxix, 114, 115, 116, 117, 137 Missisquoi Bay, 175, 176 Mississippi, 36, 112, 117 Mitchell, George, Ixxvii Mitchell, Rev. Richard, 126 Mobile (Alabama), 117 Moderate Literati of Edinburgh, Ixiv Moffatt, George, 43 Monklands, 33, 287ni5O Montgomery, Rev. Hugh, Ixv Montreal, xxviii, Ixxi, 138, 139, annexation and, 50, 54, 63, 78; burning of parliament in, 33;

British population of, 43; Church Society and, 156, 157, 166; city of, li, lii, 22, 36, 44, 45, 48, 140, 152; clergy of, 114; Commissariat office in, 124; Jane Baker's suits and, 80, 81, 82, 83, 86, 87, 95, 100, 101, i4i;JRin 16, 34;JR plans visit to, 4, 19, 74, 75, 105; JR travels to, 32, 106, 108, 117, 145, 162, 163; journey to and from, Ixvi, 49, 73, 122; Malcolm's bankruptcy in, 121; meeting of clergy in, 51; purchases in, 21, 147, 160; riot in, 42 Montreal, diocese of, Ixvi, Ixvii, erection of 110, prelude to erection of, 48, 60, 86, 87, welcome of bishop to, 114, 116, 124; synod of, Ixviii, Ixxxiv, Ixxxv Montreal Gazette, The, liii, 145 Montreal Herald, The, liii, 124, 129; JR reads 53, 82, 86, 88, go, 151; JR sends on copies of, 31, 153 Montreal House, 75 Montreal Savings Bank, 105, 162 Montreal Transcript, The 16, 31 Montrose (Scotland), 22 Morehouse, [Asa], 35, 43, 94 Morice, Augusta Elizabeth, 82 Morice, Augusta Mary Anne, nee Zouch, 82, 152, 163 Morice, Rev. Charles, 2g; Nancy visits, 161, 163; visits JR, 82, 126, *52

Morice, Mrs Charles. See Augusta Mary Anne Morice Morice, Charles William, 82 Morrice. See Morice Mountain, Rev. Armine Wale, 76, 108; churchmanship, 81, 32in8o; tour of District Associations, 22, 23, 27gnioi; writes toJRre Hawkins' visit, 44, 45

385

Index

Mountain, Rt Rev. George Jehoshaphat (Bishop of Montreal, later Bishop of Quebec), Ixv, Ixx-lxxi, 57, 66, 68; as Bishop of Quebec, no, 114,168,169, 367n32i; death of his son, 342mg6; directives to clergy, 42, 52, 77, i26;JR's opinion of, liii, liv, 86, 110; JR to report Jones to, 56, 62-3 82 proposes to remove Charles Reid from Compton, 60, 65, 70-1; visitation and confirmation, 34, 162 Mountain, Mrs George Jehoshaphat. See Mary Hume Mountain Mountain, Rt Rev. Jacob (Bishop of Quebec), Ixiii, Ixv Mountain, Mary Hume, nee Thomson, 116 music, choir and tradition of, 3ioni4; concert, 28; instruments in church, 67, 71, 323ng5; singing schools, xlviii, 61, 63, 87, 97 Mussen, Thomas, 75, 145, 3i6n53

New Haven (Connecticut), 125, M3 New Orleans (Louisiana), 117, 118; cholera in, 16, 33; Malcolm Reid's home, 3; Palmer of, 120, 125, 133, 134, 142-3, 149; Rand to visit, 113, 114 News, and Frontier Advocate, The (St Johns, LC), 151 Newton, Rt Rev. Thomas (Bishop of Bristol), 32 New York (city), 55, 112; bank draft from, xliv, 142, 145; Bauman Lowe of, 119, 149, 120, 125, 153; Malcolm Reid's trunks shipped from, 132, 134, 143 New York (state), 42, 162

New York Churchman. See Churchman, The (New York) Nicolls, Rev. Jasper Hume, 108 Nicols, Mr. See Jasper Hume Nicolls. Nobles, Mrs, 40 Noyan, xxix, 24 Nutting, Lafayette Harrison, 85, 105 O'Brine, Elizabeth, nee Carty, 90 O'Brine, George, 90 O'Brine, James, 90 O'Brine, Julia, 103, 112, 150, 151, 332ni4i O'Brine, widow of William. See Elizabeth O'Brine Official Gazette, The. See Canada Gazette, The Oxford Movement, liv, Iv, 325nio3 Palmer, Joseph H.,JR writes to, 133-4, X 43' 149'> Malcolm's kind master, 121; writes to JR, 119-20, 125, 142 Papal Aggression, liii, 134, 151, 348n229 Papineau, Louisjoseph, 176 Pass Christian (Mississippi), 117, 118, 119 Pattison, William Mead, 112 Pearson, Rt Rev. John (Bishop of Chester), 135, 138 Peck, Elizabeth, nee Sheldon, 125, H3 Peel, Sir Robert (2nd Baronet), liii, 53, 100, 110, 254n3o Peer, Abigail A., nee Gushing, 131 Peer,John (senior), 131 Peer,John (junior), 131 Peer, Mrs John (junior). See Abigail A. Peer Peer, Mary, 93, 328nn7 Philipsburg ("The Bay"), xxviii, xxix, Ixiv, Ixv, 15, 98, 150, 176; bishop's

386

Index

visit to, 144, 148; Cooper's pension paid at, 69, 142; JR relieved of duty at, 56; meeting of District Association at, 23, 146, 156 Philipsburgh. See Philipsburg Picayune, The (New Orleans), 27 Pier, Mary. See Mary Peer Pierce, [Frederick W.], 167 Pigeon Hill, xxix, xxx, 21, 77, 153 Pike River, xxix, xxx, Ixv, Ixvi, 28, no; celebrated, 175-6; overflows, 81, 149, 154; pollution of 177 Pike River Lower Falls, xxix, church at, 56, 57, 61; village of, 20, 37 Pilot, The (Montreal), li, 43 Pinnacle, the, xxix, Ixvi, 91, 113, 171; as beauty spot, 34, 175, 176, 2goni63; glebe lot on, 168, 169; JR marries and buries near, 112,

15°. *53;

Polk, James Knox (nth President of the United States), 12 Potton, xxviii, 158 Poulett-Thomson, Charles Edward (Baron Sydenham), 26 Presbyterians, Iv, Iviii, Ixi, Ixxvi, 27 Protestant Episcopal church, 45, 48 Pyke, Rev. James, 87 Pyke River. See Pike River Lower Falls Quebec, diocese of, Ixv, Ixvi, Ixvii, 66, no, 115 Quebec City, xxviii, Ixi, Ixxxii, 70, 162, 164 Rand, Jasper, 113, 114, 149, 153 Rebellion Losses Bill, li, 282ni 16, 28gni58; commotion over, 25; riot, 33; signed, 32 Rechabites, xlix, 9, 26, 268n26 Reid, Caroline (JR's daughter-inlaw),!, 129, 152-3, 154-5

Reid, Catharine (JR's sister), 79 Reid, Charles (JR's brother), 79 Reid, Rev. Charles Peter, (JR's eldest son), xliv, 3, Ixii, 45, 57, 61, 77; biography of, 216-20; and Church Society, 16; death of son, 72; health of, 35, 95, 156, 160, 338ni74; JR anxious to hear from, 27, 28, 138; JR praises sermon of, 42 ;JR writes to, 24, 66, 108, 155, 161; marital problems of, 108; subscribes to the Church, 14; threat of removal from Compton, 60, 65; visits JR, 42, 48, 75, 76, 105, 122, 169; writes to JR, 1, 6, 16, 29, 35, 44, 60, 70, 90, 108, 160, 162, 164 Reid, Mrs Charles Peter. See Julia Reid Reid, Elizabeth (JR's sister), 79 Reid, Isabella, nee McDermid (JR's wife), Ixii, 3, 49, 102, 105, 118, 124, 144; ailments of, xlix, 7, n, 24, 35, 70, 81, 170, 171; attends Sewing Society, 13, 20; biography of, 220-3; birthday celebration for, 151; false teeth purchased for, xliv; keeps Jane Baker's keys, 80; makes local visits, 33, 45, 48, 73, 87,90,91, 113, 145, 150, 153; receives gifts, 59, 142; takes drives, 82, 105; visits Berkshire, in; visits Brome, 109; visits Glengarry, 34'37 Reid, Mrs James. &£ Isabella Reid Reid, Rev. James, birth and ancestry, Iviii, 79; birthday observations, 7, 52, 129; celebrates Communion, 29, 64, 96, 108, 136, 161; chores performed by, xlii-xliv, 4, 9, 12, 22, 29,37, 10°. !35> !36> !37> 140, 147; churchmanship of, liv-lv, Ixxv, 81, 89; collects signa-