An Act for establishing a Public Burial Ground at Dartmouth. (Passed the 19th day of March, 1842.)
Preamble: WHEREAS, by and under the provisions of an Act, passed in the last Session of the General Assembly, entitled, “ An Act for regulating the Dartmouth Common,” certain persons have been appointed Trustees of said Common, and the same is now under their charge and control ; And whereas, there is no Public Burial Ground at Dartmouth, and there is a portion of said Common suitable therefor, which is of little value for other purposes, and it is desirable that the same should be laid off as a Public Burial Ground:
Scite for Burial Ground in Dartmouth, Trust: I. Be it therefore enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council and Assembly, That the said Trustees of the Dartmouth Common now appointed, or hereafter to be appointed under the provisions of the aforesaid Act, shall set off and allot all that portion of the said Common at Dartmouth, lying to the North ward of the Burial Ground occupied by the Church Dartmouth of England, commonly called the Old Quaker Burial Ground, included within the following limits, that is to say: beginning at the North-west corner of the Burial Ground so occupied by the Church of England, and running thence Northerly in a continuous line with The Western side line of the said Church of England Burial Ground twenty-nine degrees West two hundred and sixty-four feet; thence North fifty-nine degrees, East three hundred and forty-four feet six inches, until it comes to the Old Road leading from Water Street, in Dartmouth, to the Wind Mill; thence by said Old Road until it comes to Land owned by Thomas Boggs, Esquire; thence by said Lands of the said Thomas Boggs two hundred and fifty-five feet and six inches to the North-east corner of the said Church of England Burial Ground; thence by said Burial Ground three hundred and forty-nine feet to the place of beginning, containing two acres and one eighth of an acre, or thereabouts, which said Lot shall be held by the said Trustees in trust as and for a Public Burial place for the use of the Inhabitants of Dartmouth, except those Denominations of Christians who have Burial Grounds attached to their respective places of Worship.
“An act for establishing a Public Burial Ground at Dartmouth”, 1842 c25
An Act for regulating the Dartmouth Common. (Passed the 10th day of April, A. D. 1841.)
Preamble: WHEREAS, by Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of this Province, bearing date the fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty Eight, His late Majesty King George the Third was pleased to grant to Thomas Cochran, Timothy Folger and Samuel Starbuck, their Heirs, Executors and Administrators, the Common of the Township of Dartmouth, situate on the eastern side of the Harbour of Halifax, in special trust, for the use of the Inhabitants settled and resident in the Town Plot, or that might thereafter settle and actually reside within the said Township of Dartmouth, as a Common, for the general benefit of such resident settlers, and not otherwise : And whereas, by an Act, passed in the twenty-ninth year of the Reign of His late Majesty King George the Third, entitled, An Act to enable the Inhabitants of the Town Plot of Dartmouth to use and occupy the Common Field, granted them by His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, in such way as they may think most beneficial to them the proprietors and persons interested in the said Common Field, and the Trustees thereof, are invested with certain powers in respect to the said Common; And whereas, by an Act, passed in the thirty-seventh year of the Reign of His said late Majesty King George the Third, entitled, An Act to enable the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, or Commander in Chief for the time being, to appoint Trustees for the Common of the Town of Dartmouth, on the death or removal of the Trustees holding the same, and to vacate that part of the grant of the Common aforesaid, which vests the trusts in the Heirs, Executors or Administrators, of the Trustees named in the said grant, on the death of such Trustees, the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, or Commander in Chief for the time being, is authorized to appoint Trustees in lieu of the original Trustees, and to supply any vacancies among the Trustees to be so appointed ; and, by the said last mentioned Act, so much of the grant as devolves the trust on the Heirs, Executors or Administrators, of the deceased Trustees therein named; And whereas, on the thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety Eight, under the said last mentioned Act, Michael Wallace, Lawrence Hartshorne and Jonathan Tremain, Esquires, were appointed Trustees of the said Common, in place of the Trustees named in said grant, with the same powers given to the said original Trustees by the said Act herein first mentioned: And whereas, the said Trustees, so last named and appointed, are all now deceased, and there has for. several years last past been no proper authority to take charge of the said Common, to prevent Tresspasses, or to effect improvement thereon ; And whereas, the said Common fronts on the Harbour of Halifax, and some of the Water Lots in front thereof have been granted to certain individuals, and it would be advantageous if a certain portion of said Common, fronting on the Harbour, were demised in Lots to persons who would be willing to pay rents for the same; And whereas, a certain Plot of the said Common has, by the consent of the Inhabitants interested therein, been enclosed as a Burial Ground for the Roman Catholic Chapel at Dartmouth, which it is desirable should be confirmed for that use; And whereas, it is requisite, for the purposes aforesaid, to appoint new Trustees for said Common :
Trustees of Common to be appointed: I. Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council and Assembly, That it shall and may be lawful for the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, or Commander in Chief for the time being, to nominate and appoint three fit and proper persons to be Trustees of the said Common, at Dartmouth; and in case of any vacancy among such Trustees, by death, resignation, removal from office, or permanent absence, from time to time, to supply such vacancy.
Title to Common to be in Trustees: II. And be it enacted, That in the said Trustees, for the time being, the legal estate and title of and in the said Common shall be and be deemed at all times hereafter absolutely vested for the benefit of the said Inhabitants of Dartmouth.
Trustee to execute Deed to the Roman Catholic Clergyman of the part used as a Burial ground by the Roman Catholics: III. And be it enacted, That the said Trustees shall, when appointed as aforesaid, make and execute to any persons who may be named and selected for that purpose, by the officiating Roman Catholic Clergyman, at Dartmouth, a Deed or Conveyance, in fee simple, of so much and such portion of the said Common as is now enclosed and used as a Burial Ground for the Roman Catholic Congregation, at Dartmouth, to be held by such persons, and their heirs, for the purpose of being so used and employed as a Burial Ground, as aforesaid.
Part of the Common to be laid off into Lots: IV. And be it enacted, That the said Trustees shall, immediately after they shall be so appointed as aforesaid, proceed to lay off and divide into proper, convenient, and suitable lots and parcels, all that portion of the said Common, which is bounded in front, westerly, on the Harbour of Halifax, and in rear, eastwardly, by the road leading from Water Street, in Dartmouth, to the Wind Mill: Provided, that there shall be reserved and laid off, through the said Lots so directed to be laid out as aforesaid, a Public Road, sixty feet wide, along the line of high water mark, or as near thereto as may conveniently be.
Lots laid off to be leased: V. And be it enacted, That after the said several lots or parcels of Land shall have been laid off as aforesaid, the said Trustees shall fix and apportion for each lot or parcel of Land some small annual rent; and, after due notice of such sale, publicly given by advertisement, shall proceed to offer such respective lot or parcel of Land for sale, at Public Auction, for the highest price to be obtained for the same, subject to the annual rent as aforesaid, for the term of nine hundred and ninety-nine years.
Trustees to execute Leases: VI. And be it enacted, That the Trustees aforesaid, shall. make and execute Leases to the said respective purchasers, for the said term of nine hundred and ninety-nine years, on payment of the price for which the same shall be sold, subject to the rent reserved, to be by the said Lease, made payable half yearly; and such Leases shall suffice to vest in every such purchaser the lot or parcel purchased by him, subject to the rent reserved for the term aforesaid.
Proceeds to be applied to improve Common: VII. And be it enacted, That the price to be obtained for the said lots or parcels of the said Common, to be so sold as aforesaid, as well as the rents to be annually received there-from, shall be paid and applied to the improvement of the remainder of the said Common, and of the road leading through the same, hereinbefore mentioned.
Trustees impowered to sue for rent: VIII. And be it enacted, That the Trustees in office, from time to time, under this Act, shall have power to demand, sue for and recover, the rents reserved, and monies to be received, from and upon said Leases, and shall pay and apply the same, as hereinfore directed.
Trustees to account to inhabitants of Dartmouth: IX. And be enacted, That the Trustees shall annually submit an account of all Monies received and paid by them to the Inhabitants resident in the Town Plot of Dartmouth, at a meeting to be called for that purpose, on the first Monday in March, in every year, at which Meeting a Committee of three of the said Inhabitants shall be appointed to audit the accounts, so submitted by the said Trustees, who shall make their report in writing at the next Annual Meeting of the said Inhabitants.
An Act to amend the Act to extend to the Town of Dartmouth the Act relating to Commissioners of Highways in Halifax, and certain other places.
(Passed the 27th Day of March, 1840.)
Preamble:
WHEREAS, by the Act, passed in the Ninth year of the Reign of His late Majesty V King George the Fourth, entitled, An Act to extend to the Town of Dartmouth the Act relating to Commissioners of Highways in Halifax, and certain other places, the Act, passed in the seventh year of the Reign of His said late Majesty, entitled, An Act relating to Commissioners of Highways in Halifax, and certain other places, and every matter, clause and thing, therein contained, except the first, second, twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth Clauses or Sections thereof, were extended to the Town of Dartmouth; And whereas, the tenth and eleventh Clauses of the said Act, so extended to Dartmouth, are limited in their operation by express words to the Town or Peninsula of Halifax, but would be beneficial if extended to Dartmouth :
10th and 11th sections of Act 9, Geo. IV. extended to Dartmouth:
I. Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council and Assembly, That the said tenth and eleventh Clauses of the said Act, shall be extended to the Town of Dartmouth, as if said Town had been named and referred to in such two clauses respectively.
Preamble:
And whereas, It is unnecessary that the exception of Seed time and Harvest in the thirteenth Clause of the said Act should extend to Dartmouth :
Exception of Seed time and Harvest in 13th Sec. not extended to Dartmouth:
II. Be it therefore enacted, That the said exception of Seed time and Harvest, in the said thirteenth Clause of the said Act, shall not extend, or be held or deemed to extend, to the Town of Dartmouth.
Preamble:
And in order to avoid doubts as to the Sixteenth Clause of the said Act having been extended to Dartmouth:
16th clause of Act to extend to Dartmouth:
III. Be it enacted, That the sixteenth Clause of the said Act shall extend, and be deemed to extend, to Dartmouth, as if the said Town had been named in the said sixteenth Clause.
Preamble:
And whereas, The main public Road leading from Scallon’s House to Fletcher’s Bridge is frequently encumbered and obstructed to the great annoyance and danger of Travellers and Passengers on the Road; for remedy wbereof,
Road Incumbrances on road to Fletcher’s Bridge from Scallon’s house:
IV. Be it enacted, That all Logs, Spars, Bark, Scantling, Boards, Planks, Slabs, Wood, Hoop-poles, Staves, Laths, Fencing Materials, Stones and Timber, of any kind, which shall be placed in the Ditches or Track of the said Road, between Scallon’s House and Fletcher’s Bridge, encumbering the same, shall be ipso facto forfeited, and it shall and may be lawful for the Commissioners of Streets for Dartmouth, or any of them respectively, without any Suit or Process of Law whatsoever, to cause all Articles so found encumbering the said Road, to be instantly seized and disposed of, in such way or manner as they shall think proper, and, if the same shall be sold, the proceeds of such Sale shall be applied for the repair and improvement of the said Road.
“To amend the last named (To extend the Act relating to Commissioners of Highways”, 1828 c27) 1840 c21
The year 1849 was long remembered by residents hereabouts. For one thing, the winter was very severe, and the summer unusually dry. Halifax celebrated its 100th anniversary in June, and by the end of the year was enjoying its first street lighting and water system, and also the first telegraph connection with the United States, via Amherst and Saint John, N.B.
Cold weather seems to have prevailed through most of January and February, without any sign of a thaw. Sub-zero temperatures gradually froze the harbor until the ice extended to Mauger’s Beach on McNab’s Island. Only by keeping a channel open at night, was the ferry able to maintain communication.
The ill-wind of that winter blew somebody good in Dartmouth, because pedestrians and market people no doubt took advantage of the ice-bridge to make uninterrupted journeys to the City. Usually the upper part of the harbor-ice was safer, and according to old residents, the popular landing place at Halifax was on the soft beach near the foot of Cornwallis Street.
On February 11th, the heaviest snowfall in 51 years so completely buried houses in hollow places that inmates had to shovel themselves out through tunnels. All street traffic was at a complete standstill for a full day afterward. Old residents recalled that there was a similar fall of snow and drifts in 1798, and that no mild spell came until April of that year.
Animals inhabiting Dartmouth forests must have been starved out by the storm, for in the deep snow one morning were seen tracks of a large wildcat that had evidently crossed the harbor. A day or two afterward, the ferocious feline was discovered and killed in the cellar of William Grant, Water Street, Halifax.
James Wilson, the Dartmouth distiller, petitioned the Assembly asking that the excise tax on home manufactured spirits be either abolished or collected more systematically. The petition stated, that the heavy tax levied by Nova Scotia was oppressive and caused a great deal of illicit traffic in liquor, much of which was .smuggled here from the United States, He pointed out that the Provinces of Canada, New Brunswick and Newfoundland did not impose an excise tax on such articles.
Here in Dartmouth, the enterprising townspeople were taking advantage of every opportunity to obtain the proposed railway terminus for our side of the harbor. A public meeting, with Andrew Shiels as Chairman and Dr. DesBrisay as Secretary, was held at the Mechanics’ Institute early in February when resolutions were passed pledging the breadth of way required for a railroad to extend through the township of Dartmouth, and making provision for compensating the several landowners.
The Halifax Sun reported that the meeting was “very spirited and numerously attended. Those present pledged themselves as being ready to raise by voluntary tax, their proportion of the amount the Province is required to guarantee”.
The weather that season was the hottest and most oppressive within the memory of the oldest inhabitant. For nearly four months there was scarcely any rain, so that grain and hay scorched on the stalk. On September 2nd, the thermometer rose to 96 at noon, and according to the Nova Scotian, “a dense smoky haze produced by the surrounding fires filled the atmosphere and seemed to belt the horizon. The sun peered with a bloodshot eye through the misty stifling vapor, and beneath its scorching beams everything drooped and withered”.
In 1848 we note that this year marks an epoch in Nova Scotia history, because it was then that the Province attained complete Responsible Government. (See plaque in the corridor of Province House commemorating this accomplishment of Howe, Uniacke and others of the Reform Party.)
Foreign news that year conveyed the intelligence that King Louis Philippe, who was once in Dartmouth, had been driven from the throne of France by another Revolution.
In our own country, preparations went on for the proposed Halifax to Quebec railroad; and also for the construction of a telegraph line to the New Brunswick border. One section of the Railway Commissioners’ report dealing with their surveys in and around Halifax, must have made Dartmouthians leap with delight. The report noted:
The best site for a railway terminus is on the opposite shore at Dartmouth. The distance from Quebec to the latter is four miles shorter than to the Halifax side. One great advantage is that its shore line is as yet comparatively free from wharves and commercial establishments, and an extensive terminus can be formed there at less expense and inconvenience than on the Halifax side ….
Another interesting 1848 document dealing with a local matter, is a ferry record showing the rates of ferriage in effect at that time. Commutation tickets were quoted by the year, the fares being payable on January 1st and July 1st. Ten days’ grace was allowed at each half year.
£15 per annum passed man and wife, unmarried children, servants, constant inmates (not boarders), with all horses, carts, carriages, sleighs, sleds, owned by the proprietor, laden with his own goods, and driven by persons entitled to free passage.
The price was scaled down for one horse, cart or carriage; and scaled further if no cart used, but only a driving-carriage.
The list is lengthy and diversified. The rate for a foot-passenger was £2 10s per year. One rate was quoted for a family with children. The same rate applied if no children, but a horse might be substituted. Dogs not in harness, or in sportsmen’s carts, cost one penny. Clergymen passed free on Sundays. Disorderly persons excluded from ticket privileges.
One of the crying needs of the steamboats was an adequate supply of fresh water. No doubt that necessity had something to do with the recent formation of the Dartmouth Water Company, some of whose incorporators were likewise ferry directors.
About that time the latter must have hit upon the plan of tapping the flooded pit of John Cleverdon’s old mine at the foot of Fairy Hill, for there was an Act of the Legislature passed in the session of 1848, “empowering the Commissioners of Dartmouth Common to dispose of the abandoned pit and the use of the water, to any Company, for 21 years”.
Or perhaps the idea was suggested by Charles W. Fairbanks who at that time, was the civil engineer in charge of the laying of pipes from Long Lake to bring in the first fresh water supply to the City of Halifax. Mr. Fairbanks was then only 26 years of age, and a resident of Dartmouth.
Newspapers about this time were filled with accounts of political meetings, for this was the year of the Provincial elections. The Liberal candidates in Halifax County were Henry Y. Mott and Joseph Howe. The Conservatives were James F. Gray and William Lawson. (Four other candidates contested Halifax Township.) Mr. Gray was a Halifax lawyer. As a Coroner, he had presided at the Thompson inquest in Dartmouth the previous autumn. Mr. Lawson was a summer resident of Mount Edward and son of a Bank President. (A son of this Conservative candidate, later married Miss Mary Jane Katzman, the writer of our well-known History of Dartmouth.)
During the campaign, there were lively meetings held at Dartmouth and in the suburbs. The Conservative meetings were held at McDonald’s stone store in a large room above the Post Office; and also at James Roue’s, the “billiard table man”. E. H. Lowe generally presided. For this, Mr. Lowe was criticized by the Liberals who protested about his partisanship, since he was Chief Magistrate of Halifax County. They also censured the political activities of Lawrence Hartshorne, then City and County Treasurer.
The Conservatives must have countered with an attack on the loyalty of Henry Mott, who, when a young man, had spent some years in the United States. This is inferred from a lengthy history of the Mott family given by Joseph Howe in a subsequent speech at the schoolhouse in Musquodoboit. Henry Y. Mott is a grandson of old Mr. William Mott, a manufacturer of soap and candles in Halifax. The old man amassed considerable property and was the owner of valuable real estate in Halifax which has now descended to him. Henry Y. Mott’s father was a farmer in Preston where the children were born. Both the father and mother died during Henry’s minority. Afterwards, with the assent of his uncle, the late Henry Yeomans of Halifax, he bound himself to a mechanic and served his apprenticeship. When he had served his time, he paid a visit to his mother’s relatives in Boston—which was all the residence he had in the United States. On his return about 1820, he settled on the old farm at Preston and married. He later lived at Porter’s Lake. Afterwards, he moved to Dartmouth to the property of the late Samuel Prescott, where Henry Y. Mott now carries on brick making, chocolate making, and lime burning.
More interesting information relative to the development of the present no. 7 highway, is gleaned from the accounts of Joseph Howe’s campaign that summer. For instance, in discussing improvements made in that district since he and his Reform Party had entered the House of Assembly; and referring to the £1,000 just voted for the road from Dartmouth, Howe stated: “Beyond Chezzetcook, no vestige of a road or bridge, except a footpath from Musquodoboit to Sheet Harbor, existed prior to 1837. Great improvements will be carried on this summer by which Dartmouth will form the terminus of a line of level road opening the populous settlements of Preston, Porter’s Lake, Chezzetcook and the far-off end will ultimately reach the County line.” Answering a Conservative charge that while [indigenous]Commissioner, he had taken 25% for expense money, Howe said that “scarcely a Sunday passed that he did not go to Dartmouth to teach the [Mi’kmaq]out of Dilworth’s Spelling Book, and he had not taken one percent for his trouble”.
There seems to be only one record of a Liberal meeting in Dartmouth, and that took place at Kennedy’s Hotel. Alexander Farquharson was chairman. Addresses were delivered by H. Y. Mott, Andrew Shiels, and Alexander James of Dartmouth; Mr. Robinson of Lawrencetown, and George R. Young and William Stairs of Halifax. (This Hotel was at the Owl Drugstore corner, corner of Portland and King.) At Porter’s Lake, a meeting took place on the farm of George Ormon. George Broom was Chairman, and James Lester Griffin was Secretary. A resolution was moved by James Ormon. Other speakers were Lawrence O’Connor Doyle and H. Y. Mott.
Probably the liveliest meeting of the campaign took place at Musquodoboit where Liberals and Conservatives met on the same platform, and where the great leaders, Howe and Johnston, hurled charges and counter-charges. The badgering, the gibes and the interruptions from the followers of each party, became so frequent that several altercations ensued. In August of 1847, the election was held throughout the Province in a single day—instead of the customary six or seven days. This was an entirely new experience, and did away with a great deal of liquor-dispensing, with the resultant loitering and quarreling around the various polling booths. Howe and Mott were returned for Halifax County, but they had a narrow escape in Dartmouth which gave Howe 111, Mott 110, Gray 106, Lawson 105. This is the first record of a polling booth in Dartmouth. The nearest one to the eastward was located at Preston. They went Conservative.
The year 1847 opened with a severe spell of weather. Newspaper items early in January inform us that “there was superior skating on the Dartmouth Lakes”. The thermometer at Citadel Hill registered 15 below on the 20th. The Axe Firemen of Halifax made merry on an exhilarating sleigh drive to Schultz’s Inn at Grand Lake, and returned through Dartmouth in Hiram Hyde’s Mammoth Tea Party Sleigh with six-in-hand and colors flying”. Another newspaper report that month mentions a misfortune of the Mailboat brig Margaret, which had been driven up on shore at Black Rock on the Dartmouth side of the harbor.
Distress and disease prevailed among the Mi’kmaq tribes at Shubenacadie and Dartmouth where several deaths had resulted from an outbreak of fever that winter. Forthwith the Provincial Government directed that an [indigenous] Hospital be prepared in the vicinity of the encampment, with Dr. Jennings as the Superintendent.
As the latter was a Conservative, and a comparative stranger on our side of the harbor, the Liberal newspaper Nova Scotian indignantly asked why he received the appointment over the head of Dr. DesBrisay, a Dartmouth physician, who had long ministered to the [Mi’kmaq] gratuitously.
A few weeks later when Dr. Jennings’ accounts for attending these [Mi’kmaq] were up for discussion in the Assembly, a Committee of the House recommended that a sum of money be also set apart for the remuneration of Dr. DesBrisay “whose humane disposition has urged him to supply the numerous [Mi’kmaq], who annually resort to the neighborhood of Dartmouth, with advice and medicine during a period of 14 years”.
Another Legislative Committee headed by Hon. Hugh Bell reported on possible sites for a Provincial Insane Asylum. One property owned jointly by G. A. S. Crichton and the heirs of Michael Wallace, comprising about 100 acres on the western side of First Lake, was available for £500. Another at Birch Cove in Bedford Basin, had 900 acres and would cost £1200. A third was at Prince’s Lodge, and contained 470 acres with a price of £1500.
The Birch Cove land was recommended because it was conveniently situated for a supply of fresh water from a higher elevation. The Dartmouth site was strongly urged by Hon. J. E. Fairbanks on account of its commanding situation and beautiful view; but the objection was that the water supply would have to be forced up the slope from the lake by artificial means.
The Simultaneous Polling Act, by which elections were to be held on a single day, became law in that session of 1847. This important Bill was introduced by Attorney General Johnston, a summer resident of our town. Provision was made for polling places at numerous centres, one of which was to be in the township of Dartmouth. No longer would freeholders hereabouts be obliged to travel to the Halifax polling booth where disorder and heckling generally prevailed during the long-drawn-out elections under the old arrangement. (In the enactment of this piece of legislation, Nova Scotia led all other British colonies.)
Dartmouthians evidently were continuing in their efforts that winter to obtain a water supply from neighboring lakes. In February, a meeting was announced to be held in the Mechanics’ Institute on a Monday afternoon, when a report from a Committee on that subject would be submitted.
Mrs. Gould’s account of early Dartmouth mentions an entertainment held in the old schoolhouse by General Tom Thumb and his manager P. T. Barnum. This may have been in February of 1847, because the famous midget spent a few days in this port while waiting for the steamer to proceed to Boston. Tom and Mr. Barnum were returning from a four-year tour of Europe.
On this occasion, the Halifax Morning Post published a lengthy account of Tom’s talents and his enormous earnings while abroad, noting that “he speaks French fluently, plays the piano and has taken part in French plays in the principal French cities. He has received valuable presents from the principal sovereigns of Europe, and has kissed more than a million and a half of ladies”. (Mrs. Gould does not mention any such osculations in Dartmouth.)
About this time, there was much misery and privation being suffered in Scotland and in Ireland where hundreds were actually dying from starvation. On this Continent, campaigns for famine funds were carried out in almost every large centre.
At Halifax, the Secretary of the Relief Committee was the well-known Alexander James. By March, they had collected £1,317. The contribution from Dartmouth amounted to £325, and the number of persons subscribing in this town was 86. Their names are preserved in the columns of the Halifax Sun, and constitute a valuable record of prominent citizens resident in Dartmouth at that period of our history.
Many on the Halifax and Dartmouth lists gave only a few shillings, indicating that our people were also feeling the pinch of poverty, for at that time the whole Province was in the doldrums of another depression. One newspaper reported that the price of flour and bread was the highest in 30 years.
This was partly caused by a sudden depletion of provisions, particularly meat and vegetables, resulting from an influx of over 1,000 immigrants suffering from typhus fever. Local bakers took advantage of the panic to double the price of bread.
Governor Harvey issued a proclamation that Friday, May 14th, be observed as a day of fasting and humiliation “that people may unite in supplication to Almighty God for pardon for their sins and for the removal of those heavy judgments under which we are suffering”. On that day, church services were held, and the closed shops along silent streets cast an appearance of solemnity over downtown Halifax and, we trust, over industrial Dartmouth.
If our industries in those days were down, they were not completely out, for there was at least one ship constructed at Lyle’s that year. She was the 270-ton “Mercy”, launched at flood-tide on the last Saturday morning of April.
At a foundry in Dartmouth, a set of cast-iron steps was moulded, and placed in front of the store of J. Wallace & Co., at Halifax, during the summer of 1847. These steps, novel in design, were highly praised for their utility, being tastefully perforated so as to admit light into the cellar. From the favorable comment in newspapers, one gathers that such a type of steps had hitherto been unknown. Thus is scored another mark in the record of Dartmouth’s “first things”.
A transatlantic “first” was made by the Dartmouth-built “Barbara” which arrived in this port after a record run from Ireland. The Halifax Morning Post of May 20th noted this remarkable achievement:
The barque Barbara with 296 passengers on board, arrived yesterday in 12 days from Galway—the shortest passage yet ever made by a Nova Scotia built vessel. The Barbara was built at the Ship Yard of our well-known builder, Mr. Lyle at Dartmouth.
The advantages of Dartmouth as a summer resort were extolled by a correspondent in the newspaper Nova Scotian, in the early summer of 1846. Perhaps the writer was Joseph Howe who at that time, was residing at Middle Musquodoboit, and who would observe the changes on his frequent journeys through Dartmouth. This article appeared among the Halifax items:
We have observed that many of our citizens in order to enjoy the sunny smiles of summer, have removed their residence to Dartmouth for a few ensuing months, while others literally in droves, are constantly crossing and recrossing our harbor that they may inhale that sweet air, which in the heart of the City, cannot be enjoyed. No observer can overlook the rapid improvements that are taking place in this town. There is much enterprise here, although it is without noise.
In addition to the completeness of the town, its contiguity to some delightful rambles, which for romantic beauty can scarcely be equaled elsewhere, renders it a most desirable and pleasant retreat for the summer months. We are not surprisedto learn, therefore, of the rapid increase in the value of landed property in Dartmouth, and we opine that at no very distant period, the town will equal in dimensions our own City at the present time.
In April a house was commenced for Arthur W. Godfrey “on the other side of Geyro’s”. George A. S. Crichton, finished enough of “The Brae” at Mount Pleasant, to live there that summer. On part of her late father’s property at the tanyard, Miss Annie Albro had a neat dwelling erected, which she called “Grove Cottage”, and later on, leased it to her brother and his bride.
The scene from Mount Pleasant was described as being very beautiful with the cottages on the opposite hills, and the rows of wigwams along the side of Silver’s Hill from the present MicMac Club to Graham’s cross roads. There was another encampment at “Second Red Bridge”. Other records state that there were also camps in the vicinity of Pleasant Street, near Erskine.
This may account for the heaps of bones that have been unearthed for over a century on the rising ground where stand the Church and Manse of St. James’ United Church. Or the knoll may have been the burial place of the first settlers of Dartmouth, because that locality in the 1700’s was just outside the boundary of the original townplot.
The first known account of these findings is contained in theChronicle of July 1844. At that time Foster’s “MicMac Tobacco Manufactory” was in full operation on the lot now occupied by the Dartmouth Medical Centre. The newspaper said:
A quantity of human bones comprising the remains of seven or eight persons were discovered last week buried in a hill in Dartmouth near the residence of William Foster, Esq. Considerable quantities of bones have been dug up on the same spot on several previous occasions. They are in an advanced state of decay, and must have been buried one or two centuries ago.
The only clue to their probable history to be found in Haliburton, is his account of the visit of the French fleet under the Duc d’Anville to Chebucto in 1746, on which occasion 1130 of his men died of the scurvy, besides great numbers of Mi’kmaq.
Whether these remains were interred then, or at a more ancient period, is a question worthy the attention of those versed in historical reminiscences.
