1809

From The Story of Dartmouth, by John P. Martin:

In the Royal Gazette for July 1809, the livestock of Maroon lull was advertised to be sold at Mr. Bell’s Ferry House Old Ferry Inn, at one o’clock on Saturday the 29th. The lot included one pair of beef oxen, one pair small oxen, seven milk cows, one calf, six handsome horses and one bay stallion.

Theophilus Chamberlain advertised the loss on the Preston Road between Crane’s and Ross’ of a linen girdle two feet long and three inches wide, containing 50 guineas and two Joes. The owner was Monsieur Chaunion, a prisoner of war at Mr. Crane’s, who offered half the money as a reward to the finder.

Through the summer of 1809, newspapers continued to advertise runaway prisoners from Preston. In June, Joseph Bissett of “Coal” Harbor received £5 reward for apprehending a deserter from a ship in the harbor, and readily donated the money to the Halifax Charitable Institution.

Dartmouthians interested in the cultural and the lighter side of life probably betook themselves to the Theatre Royal at Halifax in August, where elocutionist Powell was advertised to deliver Gray’s Elegy, Satan’s Address to the Sun, and Hamlet’s Soliloquy; followed by the whimsical entertainment: “The Evening Brush” or “RUBBING off the Rust of Care”. To conclude with a critical and entertaining dissertation on NOSES.

Hartshorne & Boggs advertised a new supply of hardware, a large quantity of blankets and two hogsheads of men’s hats of different colors. They had likewise a few puncheons of rum.

Large real-estate deals during that decade included the purchase of almost the whole of town-block “R” by Thomas Donaldson whose fashionable Halifax confectionery was on Granville St. The northern boundary was at Portland St. Hence Donaldson’s Lane near 10 Commercial St., later called Glendenning’s Lane. Much more property, both in town and township was acquired by this family.

On the old Preston Road about that time lived Mrs. Jonathan Elliot, a widow with a large family. Her maiden name was Almy Green, a daughter of Thomas Green who came from Nantucket as a preacher to the Quakers. Almy’s mother was Mercy Cook. Almy’s father was a direct descendant of Roger Williams the founder of Rhode Island. Almy’s children were reared as Quakers. The Elliot family afterwards settled in Dartmouth.