Glimpses of the Past: History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604-1784Raymond, W. O. (William Odber)
History
Glimpses of the Past: History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604-1784
Raymond, W. O. (William Odber)
New Brunswick -- History; Saint John River Valley (Me. and N.B.)
Among those who came to St. John with Simonds and White in April,
1764, none was destined to play a more active and useful part than
young Jonathan Leavitt. He was a native of New Hampshire and at the
time of his arrival was in his eighteenth year. Young as he was he had
some experience as a mariner, and from 1764 to 1774 was employed as
master of one or other of the Company's vessels. He sailed chiefly
between St. John and Newburyport, but occasionally made a voyage to
the West Indies. He received the modest compensation of L4 per month
for his services. In the course of time Mr. Leavitt came to be one of
the most trusted navigators of the Bay of Fundy and probably none knew
the harbor of St. John so well as he. In his testimony in a law suit,
about the year 1792, he states that in early times the places of
anchorage in the harbor were the flats on the west side between Fort
Frederick and Sand Point, which were generally used by strangers, and
Portland Point where the vessels of the Company lay. It was not until,
1783 that vessels began to anchor at the Upper Cove (now the Market
Slip), that place being until then deemed rather unsafe. Jonathan
Leavitt and has brother Daniel piloted to their landing places the
transport ships that carried some thousands of Loyalists to our shores
during the year 1783.
Jonathan Leavitt gives an interesting synopsis of the business carried
on at St. John under the direction of Simonds and White: "The
Company's business included Fishery, Fur trade, making Lime, building
Vessels and sawing Lumber, and they employed a great number of
laborers and workmen in cutting wood, burning lime, digging stone,
cutting hoop-poles, clearing roads, clearing land, curing fish,
cutting hay and attending stock. The workmen and laborers were
supported and paid by the partnership and lived in the outhouse and
kitchen of the house occupied by Simonds and White. There was a store
of dry goods and provisions and articles for the Indian trade."
When he was at St. John, Leavitt lived in the family of Simonds and
White who lived together during the greater part of the ten years he
was in the Company's employ, and when they separated their families he
staid sometimes with one and sometimes with the other. Simonds and
White were supplied with bread, meat and liquors for themselves and
families from the store, and no account was kept whilst they lived
together, but after they separated they were charged against each
family; the (workmen also were maintained, supported and fed from the
joint stock of the store, as it was considered they were employed for
the joint benefit of the company, but liquors and articles supplied on
account of their wages were charged against the individual accounts of
the men. Part of the workmen and laborers were hired by William Hazen
and sent from Newburyport, others were engaged by Simonds and White at
the River St. John.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account