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,. The London Lawyer.

A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

ELIAS HARDY,

Counsellor-at-Law at Saint John, N. B.,

A. D. 1784-1798,

Some Account of the Incidents in Which he Figured.

&J^6U« Rev. W. O. Raymond, M. A.,

President of the Historical Society.

1894. The EDITH and LORNE PIERCE COLLECTION of CANADIANA

Queens University at Kingston THE LONDON LAWYER:

Among those who figured conspicuous- the exercise of his talents. He accord- ly in public life during the early days of ingly removed in early manhood to "the Saint John and of whom our local his- King's Provinces in America," to enter torians have preserved little more than upon the more pleasing duties of coun- the names, few were qualified by natural sellor-at-law. Unfortunately for his endowments to attain greater distinction prospects the disputes then existing be- than Elias Hardy. His death at a com- tween the old American colonies and the paratively early period, coupled with the mother country culminated, shortly after fact that no descendants remained in the his arrival, in the revolutionary war. He province to hand down to future genera- resided in during nearly the tions the story of their ancestor's life and whole of this eventful period, engaging services, will serve in a measure to ac- as opportunity offered in the practice of count for the fact that as far as he is con- his profession. It does not appear that cerned our provincial annals are almost he held any official position during the a blank. war. The first occasion of which I have It is difficult with the scanty materials been able to find any record in which he available, to give more than an outline played a prominent part in public affairs of the life of the subject of this sketch, was at the time of the evacuation of New but enough remains to show that St. York in the summer of 1783, when he John in all its history, possessed few men figured as one of the leaders of of greater promise. As a lawyer Elias the opposition to the scheme of Col. Hardy would have made his mark in his Abijah Willard and his associates for profession in any age or community. The securing extensive land grants in Nova public estimate* of his ability is suffi- Scotia. The associates refened to, ciently indicated by the fact that from numbering 55 in all, submitted a memo- the time of the establishment of the rial to Sir Guy Carleton, in which they courts in the province until Hardy's represented that their positions in soci- death in the year 1798, his services were ety had been very respectable and that in constant requisition, and he was re- previous to the revolution they had pos- tained as counsel in nearly all the lead sessed much influence in their several ing cases. He was frequently pitted communities. Having lost nearly all against such able lawyers as Jonathan they possessed, they now intended to re- Bliss, Ward Chapman and Thomas Wet- move to , and desired that more, in all instances pleading the cause the same grants of land allowed in the of his clients with marked ability and case of field officers of the army might success. In addition to his talents as a pass to each of them, and that if possi- sound counsel, he possessed oratorical ble the lands should be conveyed free gifts of a high order, and was particu- from quit- rents and other incumbrances. larly effective before a jury. The lands desired by the "55" peti- Tradition has it that as' an all round tioners were supposed to include the lawyer Elias Hardy, among his contem- best and most available locations along poraries, knew no peer. The student the St. John river, these lands being will find abundant evidence of his indus- then, of course, included within the try'and ability amongst the voluminous bounds of Nova Scotia. records of the court of chancery. When the terms of the petition were Elias Hardy was the son of a non-con- understood, there was much excitement formist clergyman. He was born at Farn- not unmixed with indignation, on the ham, in the county of Surrey, England, part of the general body of Loyalists re- in the year 1744; was educated for the bar maining in New York, and a copy of the and admitted an attorney and solicitor obnoxious memorial forwarded to the in the courts at Westminster Hall. The settlers at the mouth of the river St. confinement incident to this branch of John, caused an equal degree of dissatis- the profession proved uncongenial to one faction in that locality. of his active temperament, and seemed, To counteract the* design of Abijah moreover, to afford a limited field for Willard and his associates, a public — —

THE LONDON LAWYER.

meeting was held on Friday, the 8th has allotted for their common benefit, and so different from the original proposals. day of August, at Roubelet's tavern in That your memorialists apprehend some New York. The sentiments of those misrepresentations have been used to pro- assembled were voiced by Samuel cure such extraordinary recommendations, the applications for which have been most Hake, Elias Hardy and others, studiously concealed, until now they boast and a committee consisting of its being too late to prevent the effect. Nor the gentlemen named with Capt. Henry does it lessen your memorialists surprise to observe, that the persons concerned (several Law and Tertullus Dickenson, was ap- of whom are said to be going to Britain) are pointed to prepare a memorial for most of them in easy circumstances, and presentation to Sir Guy Carleton relative with some exceptions, more distinguished by the repeated favors of government than to the matter. The following notice in by either the greatness of their sufferings, or the columns of an old New York paper the importance of their services. is of special interest in this connexion: That your memorialists cannot but regard the grants in question, if carried into effect, New York, Friday, August 8th, 1783. as amounting nearly to a total exclusion of The gentlemen who attended this afternoon themselves and families, who, if they be- at the meeting of the Loyalists at Roubalet's come settlers, must either content them- Tavern are hereby informed that the selves with barren or remote lauds or submit memorial to the commander-in-chief will to be tenants to those, most of whom they be left at the same place for their signatures consider as their superiors in nothing but at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. deeper art and keener policy. Thus circum- N. B. It is earnestly requested, that all stanced, persons who propose settling in Nova Scotia Your memorialists humbly implore redress will call and peruse the said memorial and from your excellency, and that inquiry be sign it should it meet their approbation. made into their respective losses, services, situations and sufferings; and if your me- The response to the invitation was morialists should be found equally entitled hearty and immediate and when the to the favor and protection of government with the former applicants, that they may document was presented to Sir Guy be all put upon an equal footing; but should Carleton it bore a formidable array of those that first applied be found, on a fair signatures. The style of composition in and candid inquiry more deserving than your memorialists, then your memorialists the memorial affords strong ground for humbly request that the locating of their ex- assuming it to have been in a large tensive grants may at least be postponed un- measure the production of Hardy, who til your memorialists have taken up some small portions as may be allotted to them. wielded the pen of a ready writer. The And your memorialists as in duty bound memorial is quite too interesting from a will ever pray, etc. historic to be be standpoint passed by. The closing paragraph of tbe above It is therefore inserted in full: memorial reveals the distress to wbich the To His Excellency, Sir Guy Carleton, unfortunate Loyalists had been reduced Knight of the Most Honorable Order of by the ungenerous conduct of their fel- the Bath, General and Commander in lows. In the community at the mouth Chief, etc., etc. : — The memorial of the subscribers humbly of the river St. John there was general sheweth: That your memorialists having uneasiness and apprehension. Vague of been deprived very valuable landed and alarming rumors filled the air, fol- estates and considerable personal properties without the lines, and being also obliged to lowed by hostile demonstrations against abandon their possessions in this city, on the government of Nova Scotia. Mur- account of their loyalty to their sovereign, doch in his History of Nova Scotia con- and attachment to the British constitution, and seeing no prospect of their being rein- fesses his inability to understand the stated, had determined to remove with their ground of this hostility, but a few families and settle in his majesty's province moments consideration will throw light of Nova Scotia, on the terms which they subject. understood were held out equally to all his upon the There were at tbis majesty's persecuted subjects. time some thousands of Loyalists en- That your memorialists are much alarmed camped at the mouth of the St. John at an application which they are informed 56 persons nave joined in to your excellency, river all anxiously awaiting some definite soliciting a recommendation for tracts of information with regard to their lands. land in that province, amounting together to These lands had been promised them in 275,000 acres; and that they have dispatched agents to survey the unlocated lands, and the king's name ere they left New York. select the most fertile spots and desirable The hope of speedily establishing them- situations. selves in new homes on British soil was That chagrined as your memorialists are at the manner in which the late contest has the beacon star that led them been terminated and disappointed as they northward and eastward. But land- find themselves, being left to the emity of ed in the Acadian wilderness their enemies on the dubious recommenda- tion of their leaders, they yet hoped to find they found no adequate preparations ^ an asylum under British protection, little had been made for their coming. Con- suspecting there could be found amongst gregated in huts and tents on the rocky fellow sufferers, persons enough ungenerous hillsides to attempt engrossing to themselves so dis- weeks and months passed by proportionate a share of what government in which preparations should have been THE LONDON LAWYER. 5 made for the coming winter, and still they were the victims both of deliberate they remained in helpless inactivity be- neglect on the part of the Nova Scotia cause of the vexatious delay in alloting authorities and also of the cupidity of a the lands. Doubtless the old serjeant small aristocratic clique of self-seekers was the spokesman of a large number of in their own ranks, with whose designs his fellows when he addressed to Ed- Governor Parr was believed to be in ward Winslow the words "We like the sympathy. The hostile demonstrations country only give us some place we can which now broke out the governor vainly call our own." The imperfect and un- attempted to remedy by removing the certain means of communication with ring leaders across the Bay of Fundy. the authorities at Halifax served to in- The governor's presence and personal crease the anxiety and perplexity of the influence might have done something to poor victims of "hope deferred. They restore tranquility at the town which were in no position to appreciate the dif- was named in his honor but it does not ficulties which beset Governor Parr and appear that he ever visited that portion his council in their desperate endeavors of his province that lay north of the to provide not only for the immediate peninsula. wants of the thousands so unexpectedly At this time an agreement was signed thrown upon their hands but also for by 400 individuals to remove from St. their speedy settlement in some 30 or 40 John to Passamaquoddy where it was different and widely separated localities. believed some good lands were still Still making all due allowance for the available. exigencies of the times it would appear The firmness and decision of Sir Guy that the Loyalists at St. John had sub- Carleton did much to dispel the anxiety stantial grounds for irritation. When of the Loyalists at New York, for when Capt. John Munro made his tour of the Elias Hardy and his friends waited upon St. John river valley in the summer of him with their memorial, they met with 1783 as agent for the proprietors of tbe a most favorable reception. His excel- Canada Company's lands in the town- lency informed them that from informa- ships of Burton, Sunbury, and Newtown, tion "received within the last few days, he may have been perfectly right in he had reason to believe that no one saying, "It will be the ruin of the Refu- person would obtain a larger grant of gees so many settling at Fort Howe, * * lands in Nova Scotia than 1,000 acres. That they would have done better had they the powerof issuing patents for lands there gone into the woods." Colonel Morse in resided solely in the governor, to wdiom his well known report on Nova Scotia in he would immediately forward their the year 1784 may have been equally memorial, which he apprehended would correct in saying that "it was much to ariive before patents could be made out be lamented the great exertions display- for the tract of land mentioned in it. It ed by the Loyalists in building aston- was his excellency's opinion no person ishing towns at Port Roseway and at should be allowed to take up lands in the mouth of the river St. John had not Nova Scotia but those who meant to re- been more profitably directed in culti- side there until the Loyalists were first vating their lands." The real trouble served. In dismissing the committee was they had no lands to cultivate. Sir Guy assured them he would do Many who came to the river St. John everything in his power for the memor- with the intention of becoming farmers ialists and believed that they would were obliged to content themselves with have no cause to complain. a lot 40 by 100 feet in the town of Parr, One is surprised to find among the and to build thereon a shelter for the famous "fifty-five" petitioners the names coming winter. The following season of men who were afterwards closely and some of these removed to lands allotted honorably identified with the early his- them in the interior of the country, tory of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. others remained as permanent settlers In some instances, doubtless, their at St. John, and others again discourag- names were appended to the petition ed by the outlook abandoned the coun- without a full understanding of all that try. it involved. Among the signers were: When the news of the attempt of the William Campbell, for 20 years "fifty-five" associates to procure for them- mayor of the city of St. John; Bar- selves 275,000 acres of the best unappro- tholemew Crannell, first clerk of priated lands on the St. John river ar- the St. John common council; Ward rived at Parr Town, mutterings, as of a Chipman first recorder of St. John, after- coming storm, were heard. In their in- wards judge of the supreme court and dignation the Loyalists assumed that at the time of his decease, administrator —

6 THE LONDON LAWYER of the government of the province; great to the people r>f this new province. William Wanton, first collect or of cus- They will find a mighty odds between toms at St. John; Abijah Willard and having Justice traveling regularly about Christopher Billopp, members of His them and being obliged to cross the Bay Majesty's executive council for the pro- of Fundy and travel 130 miles to Hali- vince; James Peters, agent for the set- fax." tlement of the Loyalists and for many The establishment of the province of years a member for Queens county; Harry New Brunswick was hailed with extra- Peters and Colin Campbell, members vagant delight by its inhabitants and for Queens and Charlotte counties re- the motto, "spem reduxit," chosen for the spectively; Thomas Knox, deputy com- great seal of the province, had a double missary to the disbanded troops and significance to its founders. The arrival Loyalist settlers on the St. John, and of Governor Carleton, in October, 1784, subsequently province agent in London; was the occasion of a display of un- Col. E. G. Lutwyche. province agent in bounded enthusiasm, the secret of which London, A. I). 1808-1815; Thos Hors- lay quite as much in the animus felt to- field, an old St. John magistrate and first wards their late Nova Scotia rulers as in warden of Trinity church; John Sayre, their attachment to the honored name agent for the settlement of the Loyalists of Carleton. The new governor was ad- and aftewards first rector of Maugerville; dressed by the inhabitants who called George Panton, first rector of Shelburne, themselves "a number of oppressed and and Charles Inglis, first bishop of Nova insulted Loyalists," adding that they Scotia. were formerly freemen and again hoped The serious difficulties which arose in to be under his auspices. procuring lands for the Loyalists The clamor for lands however etill who had chosen the St. John continued and complaints against the river as their place of settlement, agents appointed to superintend the setr were instrumental in bringing Elias tlement of the loyalists were not infre- Hardy to St. John. quent. The more turbulent spirits bold- Large tracts of land had in former ly asserted that the agents did not exert years been taken up along the St. John themselves as they should to obtain and its tributaries, also at Passamaquod- lands necessary for their accommoda- dy and on the Petitcodiac, by a few in- tion. Smarting at the injustice they had dividuals, many of whom were non-resi- received from their fellow countrymen dents, and had made little or no attempt to who had confiscated their lands" and comply with the conditions of their grants banished them from their old homes To obtain these lands the only method they claimed that the lands of all the was by a tedious process in the court of old inhabitants on the St. John river escheats. The delay occasioned by ex- who had sided with the Americans dur- isting circumstances was one of the ing the revolutionary war should be for- prime causes of the clamor for a division feited for their benefit. The same claim of the province. The inhabitants north was advanced as regards lands on which of the isthums of Chignecto, the old inhabitants had settled as squat- contended not without reason, that ters, and to which they had no title but a legislature in which they possession. What intensified the feel- were practically unrepresented, and law ing over this matter was the fact that courts that were IOC) miles and more certain lots which were in possession of away, were of no service in securing the the "old inhabitants" on the river St. immediate redress of their grievances. John were by Governor Parr's order As an illustration of the satisfaction numbered and drawn in the usual man- with which the people of New ner by the loyalists. Afterwards when Brunswick regarded the establishment of they attempted to take possession trouble law courts in the province it may ensued. be mentioned. Benjamin Marston, When the agents for the loyalists were first sheriff of Northumberland, and in Halifax they laid the matter before a cousin of Judge Edward Winslow, the governor, who then gave directions writes in his diary under date that the improvements should be valued " February 1st, 1785: "The supreme and paid for by those who had drawn court of judicature opened this day them. After the division of the prov- for ye first time. The chie ince the New Brunswick government justice gave a very judicious, sensible decided (mainly I believe on the advice charge to the grand jury. The advan- of Ward Chipman) to adopt the same tage of a dernier resort for justice in all line of policy. This is apparent from civil and criminal cases will be very the following letter: THE LONDON LAWYER.

Pare Town, 2d May, 1785. Ward Chipman's letter, above referred Gentlemen,—As no grant has yet been to, is of great interest but is rather long made of the lots numbers 19, 20 and 21 for insertion in this paper. In it he in Hagetown, which you claim by draft, takes up seriatim the grants which I am directed to inform you that unless Hardy claimed as liable to forfeiture you pay the first settlers and occupants and in every instance save one argues of these lots for their improvements that it is not advisable to take any ac- agreeable to the valuation made by tive proceedings. The letter indeed is Thomas Hart, Samuel Upton and John not without a certain suggestiveness that Hart, that you will not obtain any grant the attorney general of the province for of the same, but that grants will be reasons best known to himself did not made to the persons who respectively desire to exert himself on this occasion. settled the same and now claim pay- However it incidentally appears from ment for those improvements, Messrs. his letter that there were several cases John Black, John Willing, Zachariah in which the proceedings instituted by Roberts, Peter Shults, and Leonard Slip. Elias Hardy had resulted favorably. I am, etc., In addition to his services in procur- Ward Chipman, Att'y Gen'l. ing lands for the accommodation of the loyalists, Mr. Hardy was employed by But in addition to the lands in the pos- connexion with the session of the old inhabitants there were government in claims of the loyalists to compensation large tracts in the possession either of losses incurred through of the companies or of individuals. Elias for their . His public servi- Hardv was engaged to inquire into the ces did not prevent his build- validity of these grants and to ascertain however ing excellent private practice in whether they were liable to forfeiture. up an his profession. was admitted an at- Governor Carleton on his arrival inter- He torney at the bar of Brunswick on ested himself in the matter and in Janu- New the occasion of the first opening of the ary 1785, Ward Chipman, then Attorney court St. John in February, General of the Province, was desired by supreme at 1785. His first influential client seems the governor to "collect the best infor- to have been William Davidson of Mira- mation he could procure concerning all such grants of lands as may be supposed michi. Mr. Davidson, as is well known, first permanent English settler liable to forfeiture." In reply Chipman was the wrote the Hon. Jonathan Odell, provin- on the north shore where he established soon be- cial secretary: "Agreeable to the direc- himself in 1763, and where he and land tions I received from his excellency I came an extensive lumberman addition to his at applied to Mr. Hardy for such informa- owner. In property interested tion as he could furnish me with respect- Miramichi Mr. Davidson was St. In con- ing any grants supposed to be eseheata- in lands on the John river. sequence of conflicting claims re- ble and have received from him the fol- some lowing list." garding this property Elias Hardy was about 1785 The list furnished by Hardy included retained by Wm. Davidson a large number of extensive grants on in certain suits instituted against James question in the St. John river and elsewhere. The Simonds and others. The grounds on which he urged escheat were dispute eventually got into the chancery in some cases misrepresentation, in court and it was some years before it others non-performance of the conditions was finally settled. Mr. Hardy's con- of substan- of the grants. As regards the first of nexion with the suit proved these Hardy claimed that in many cases tial benefit to him in more ways than the grants included many more than one. It secured for him a ready elec- the number of acres specified, and tion to the first house of assembly, (of he therefore alleged misrepresentation, which more anon), it established his either in the application or in the sur- reputation and led to his being subse- vey. As regards the second point he quently retained by James Simonds in claimed the forfeiture of the grants for a suit which he instituted against his non fulfilment of the conditions on which old business colleagues William Hazen, they were made, which required that a Leonard Jarvis and James White. certain portion of the lands must be The apparent lukewarmness of the cleared, enclosed and cultivated, that a provincial government in promoting the certain number of settlers must be estab- escheat of lands granted before the Am- lished thereon with houses and cattle, erican revolution had much to do with that a certain number of acres were to the strong party feeling developed in be sown with hemp, etc., etc. the first provincial election. Concerning « THE LONDON LAWYER. this first election a few words may now itself into a contest between the gov- be spoken. ernment and the opposition tickets. A The feeling which animated a certain variety of issues intensified the feeling. portion of the population in consequence It was in a measure a contest between of the great delay in allotting lands did the aristocracy and democracy of the not readily subside. Governor Carleton day. It was also in some measure a on his arrival at St. John was received contest of Upper Cove versus Lower with unbounded enthusiasm, but the Cove. In regard to the political ques- conduct of the agents was still viewed tions at issue, the government ticket in with suspicion. Nor did the members the main endorsed the conduct of the appointed to positions in his majesty's agents of the Loyalists, whilst the oppo- council and in the first provincial gov- sition demanded that a strict enquiry ernment command the universal approv- should be made into the conduct of these al of the public. Abijah Willard, Ward officials. The columns of Christopher Chipman and others had been of the Sower's Royal Gazette were filled with famous "fifty -five," and their appoint- long communications from the belliger- ment was distasteful to some of the new ent parties on either side. A writei who settlers. signs himself "The Lowei Cove," claims In the Eoyal Gazette and Nova Scotia that the first act of the assembly should Intelligencer, published at St. John, be the impeachment of the agents for Sept. 9, 1784, is an interesting prospectus their fraudulent conduct. In reply to issued bv one David Melville of a his- the strictures of his opponents, Attorney tory he purposed to have printed by sub- General Bliss stated that the courts scription, which would supply an ac- were always open with powers competent curate account of the settlement of his to the trial of allcrimes and engaged on majesty's exiled Loyalists on the north his part to give due attention to any side of the Bay of Fundy. In his pros- person who would now come forth with pectus Mr. Melville states that amongst a specific charge against the agents of other subjects he will discuss "The any crime demanding a public prosecu- many disputes between the inhabitants tion. That if a representation as talked and their agents, so called, concerning of should be made to the king, complain- escheatable land;" "The resolutions of ing of the conduct of the agents as a the governor and the opposite resolu- public grievance, all that could be ex- tions of his council;" "The ruin this set- pected would be an order to the attorney tlement has already suffered, is now general to institute a prosecution and suffering, and is likely to suffer hereaf- that he was now ready to do this with- ter, from the delays of locating the lands, out such order upon an accusation being etc." The writer was not evidently a made on sufficient grounds of any par- man of much education, but he repre- ticular crime. sented quite an element in the commu- It is curious to note that on the gov- nity, and one which made its influence ernment ticket were two of the famous felt in the first election campaign held "fifty-five" petitioners, viz: Christopher in the city of St. John. Billopp and Ward Chipman, and that The candidates at this election on the the leader of the opposition was government side were Jonathan Bliss, Tertullus Dickenson, one of the com- Ward Chipman, Christopher Billopp, mittee of four who waited on Sir Guy William Pagan, John McGeorge and Carleton with the memorial in opposi- Stephen Hoyt. (The place of the latter tion to the claims of the "fifty-five." An gentleman on the ticket was afterwards attempt seems also to have been made taken by Stanton Hazard). On the op- to secure*the services of Samuel Hake, position side the candidates were Tertul- another member of the committee. One lus Dickenson, Richard Lightfoot, Rich- of his friends in a letter which appeared ard Bonsall, Peter Grim, John Boggs and in the Royal Gazette of Nov. 1st, 1785, Alexander Reid. recommends him as "a gentleman whose The franchise was as broad and demo- judicious and spirited exertions in favor cratic as it could well be made. The of the Loyalists both in New York and sherifl, Wm. S. Oliver, announced in the England have aheady procured him Royal Gazette, under date October 18, general applause and admiration and 1785: "All males of full age, inhabitants entitled him to the gratitude of every of the city and county, that have resided good subject in this province." Samuel three months therein are entitled to Hake, the correspondent, adds is hourly their votes on this occasion." expected here as his majesty's com- There were several independent can- missary of stores and provisions. didates, but the issue eventually resolved An attempt was also made to enlist the — —

THE LONDON LAWYER.

Services of Elias Hardy, but that gentle- different plaees in the city and county, man wisely declined identifying himself the voting continuing throughout the with either party, particularly as the week. The first two days the election way was open for him to obtain a seat proceeded quietly, but on the evening of in the assembly without the doubtful the third day a tremendous riot occurred chances of election m St. John. He ac- at the Mallard house, corner King and cordingly published the following card: Germain streets, in which the Lower Mr. Hardy returns his thanks to such of Cove faction was the attacking party. A his friends as have been pleased to declare number were injured on both sides, and their intention of voting for him at the elec- it found necessary to call tion as a representative for this city and was out the county; but begs they will not reserve their troops stationed at Fort Howe to support votes, as he does not propose offering himseli the civic authorities. Several arrests as a candidate. were made^ one of the opposition candi- St. John, October 17, 1785. dates being included in the number. At He was thus able to stand aloof from the trial, in May following, three of the the riotous proceedings wbich character- rioters were found guilty and punished ized the first St. John election. His own by fine and imprisonment. return to the house as a member for After the close of the polls the result Northumberland was secured by the in- of the election was in dispute, both of fluence of his client, Wm. Davidson, of the contending parties claiming a major- Miramicbi. This incident was not par- ity. Sheriff Oliver, however, declared ticularly agreeable to Chapman and his the choice of the electorate to have fallen friends, who professed to have a poor upon Messrs. Bliss, Chipman, Billopp, opinion of Hardy's abilities, and were Pagan, Hazard and McGeorge. The op- disposed to frown upon his pretensions. position did not acquiesce without a The following brief record of the elec- struggle; a protest was entered, com- tion in Northumberland is taken plaining of an undue election, and the from the diary of Benjamin Marston, matter came before the house of assem- first sheriff of the county, and a warm bly, which confirmed the election of the personal friend of Ward Chipman: government candidates. This decision Wednesday, Nov. 2, 1785—Posted up was not accepted by some of the mal- advertisements for a meeting of the contents, who drew up and signed a county to elect two members for the gen- petition to Governor Carleton specifying eral assembly—one at G. Brown's, one at their grievances and calling upon his Wilson's tavern, one at McLean's store, excellency to dissolve the house. This one at Negayack, one at Eeid's store, petition, as appears from a copy now in and one at Alex. Henderson's. possession of the writer, is a curious doc- ***** ument; the sentences in many cases Thursday, Nov. 17—Today held an decidedly ungrammatical, and mistakes election for two members in the general in spelling neither few nor far between. assembly. Wm. Davidson, an inhabi- It was the production evidently of a tant of the river, an ignorant, cunning man of decided views but of limited fellow (sic), but who has great influence education. It bears the signatures of over the people here, many of 174 individuals, the majority of whom them holding land under him, belonged to the Lower Cove. Very few and many others being in his of the signers were prominent citizens. employ was chosen for one and by the The petitioners assert that since their same influence Elias Hardy, an attorney arrival at St. John they have been the of no great reputation in his profession, victims of "a most oppressive tyranny," an inhabitant of th.-* city of St. John, which had been patiently borne "under was chosen for the other. This will dis- the firm persuasion of being relieved appoint some of my friends who hoped from their bondage upon his excellency's that George Leonard, Esq., and Capt. arrival." Commenting on the proceed- Stanton Hazard would have obtained ings at the recent election, they say: the election. But 'twas impossible. "We have publicly seen British sub- They were unknown here and we who jects confined in irons, canied into a proposed a recommendation for them garrison and there examined under the were but strangers. 'Tis therefore no authority of a military guard; and pros- wonder we did not succeed against an ecutions still hanging over their heads artful man who had an influence and for supposed offences. One of our legal knew how to use it." representatives (i.e., in the assembly) con- The election at St. John began on fined in a sentry-box at the discretion of a Monday, the 7th day of November, and private soldier—the military introduced the poll was held from day to day at and unnecessarily and " unlawfully 10 THE LONDON LAWYER. patrolling the streets during an election which had shown itself in the ranks of to the terror and alarm of the peaceable, of the Loyalists themselves, and also as inoffensive inhabitants—crown officers to the desirability of cultivating friendly neglecting and refusing to dis- relations between the Loyalists and the charge their duty—the freedom of elec- old inhabitants of the country. True the tion violated by corrupt and undue in- latter had not always been the most loyal fluence in the most public manner—the subjects of old King George and many returning officer behaving with the most of them during the revolutionary war unconstitutional and unprecedented con- had shown more than an inclination to duct—irreligion and immorality, instead side with the majority of their New Eng- of being punished, incoraged both by land neighbors, but to have banished precept and example—the house of these old settlers from the St.John river, assembly declaring the election for this and to have confiscated their lands on city and county to have fallen upon tbis account, would have been an act of Jonathan Bliss, Ward Chipman, Chris- short-sighted folly, equal to that of which topher Billopp, William Pagan, Stanton the American people were guilty, when Hazard and John McGeorge whom by edicts of banishment and acts of con- they have admitted and sworn in as fiscation they drove out the Loyalists members for this city and county not- from their old homes to build up a rival withstanding Turtullus Dickenson, nation at their very doors. Ritchard Lightfoot, Ritchard Bonsall, The riotous proceedings which charac- Fetter Grim, John Boggs and Alex- terized the first St. John election, will, ander Reid were chosen by a decided perhaps, shock the tender susceptibili- majority, according to your excellency's ties of those good people who are wont own regulations." to suppose that the loyal founders of The petitioners appealed to the gover- New Brunswick were an ideal class of nor for a dissolution of the house, which, men, and free from all ignoble they add, "will give his majesty's af- passions. The fact is otherwise, and fectionate people an opportunity of man- in the interests of historic accuracy ifesting their zeal for the constitution by we may as well admit it. True, the a nomination of men who will regard general character of the Loyalists stands the honor of the crown and support the high, and will bear a more than favor- rights of the people." The petition able comparison with that of their ene- concludes with the somewhat defiant mies in the revolutionary war. As a words: "As we by no means think we body they displayed admirable self- are represented in the present house of sacrifice and devotion todutv,but in their assembly, we can on no account con- ranks were many whose reputation is ceive ourselves bound by any laws not unstained. At a time when common made by them so unconstitutionally misfortune should have united one and composed." all in the effort to advance their mutual Governor Carleton declined to inter- welfare the spirit of selfishness and of fere in the matter. Indeed, as a con- jealousy and suspicion were by no means stitutional ruler, he would not have wanting. When the old province of been justified in so doing, in view of the Nova Scotia was divided and the new fact that Attorney General Bliss and province established there ensued, on his colleagues had been returned by the the part of many of the more educated sheriff as duly elected, and that the and aristocratic class, an undignified house of assembly, after due considera- scramble for office. Amongst the dis- tion of the protest entered against the banded soldiery and uneducated class of election, had confirmed the sheriff's re- the community a spirit of discontent turn. prevailed, combined with disrespect for In his speech at the opening of the lawfully constituted authority, and in first house of assembly at St. John, many instances a tendency to intemper- January 3rd, 1786, the governor refers ate habits. to the great necessity of "discouraging Elias Hardy, to his honor be it said, all factions and party distinctions, and showed no disposition to ally himself caulcating the utmost harmony and with either of the classes just mentioned. good will between the newly arrived He was not a persistent office seeker nor Loyalists and those of his majesty's sub- did he on the other hand encourage the jects formerly resident in the province." spirit of insubordination. When the There cannot be the slightest doubt of cityof St. John -was incorporated in 1785 the governor's wisdom in the advice here its first civic officers were specified in tendered both as regards the necessity the charter, namely ,Col. Gabriel G. Lud- of discouraging the factious spirit low, mayor. Ward Chipman, recorder; THE LONDON LAWYER. 11

George Leonard, chamberlain; Bar- services were useful and important. Asa tholemew Crannell, common clerk. It worker he was industrious and pains- appears from a letter written by Edward taking and in debate his eloquence and Winslow, under date Halifax, January ability soon secured for him a foremost 13th, 1785, to Ward Chipman that the position. position of clerk of the common council Apart from his civic and legislative was offered to Mr. Hardy, duties Mr. Hardy's time was fully occu- but was declined by him. pied by the duties incident to his profes- Colonel Winslow, in his characteristic sion. Amongst the many important style expresses his emphatic approval of cases with which he was con- the selection of Col. Ludlow as mayor, nected was that of and adds: "I have never been an enthu- versus Munson Hoyt. The action siast for towns and cities, but I declare was brought by General Arnold against that if this event takes place in all its his former business partner for slander, parts, and Mr. Hardy is induced to Hoyt having accused Arnold of setting accept the other appointment, I shall fire to their store in Lower Cove, which, expect to see Halifax evacuated by the with its contents, was entirely consumed, most respectable of its inhabitants and and on which the general had shortly Shelburne totally eclipsed and that im- before eflected insurance to the amount mediately." of £5,000. The case was tried before On the death of Bartholemew Cran- Judge Allen at the Septembei court in nell in 1790, Elias Hardy succeeded him 1790. General Arnold claimed damages as clerk of the common council and to the amount of £5,000—the jury award- clerk of the sessions, retaining the ed him but 20 shillings, which was re- offices till his decease in 1798. He also garded as practically a verdict for the filled the offices of surrogate for the city defendant. In the trial Attorney Gen- and county of St. John and of clerk in eral Bliss and Solicitor General Chipman the court of chancery. were retained on behalf of the plaintiff, As clerk of the common council his whilst Mr. Hoyt retained Elias Hardy. services were particularly valuable in The St. John public apparently had no connexion with much of the early civic very exalted opinion of the general's in- legislation; for years nearly all the acts tegrity, and their sympathies were with and by-laws connected with the govern- the defendant. ment of the city were draughted by his Another celebrated case, in which Mr. hand. On the 15th April, 1797, Hardy Hardy was retained, and which proved received the sum of £80 from the coun- a lucrative one for the lawyers employ- cil as a compensation for his past ser- ed, was that of James Simonds versus vices. A correspondent of the St. John William Hazen, Leonard Jarvis and Gazette refers to this as an extraordinary James White. The case was the out- donation and asks whether "'the repast come of business transactions between on Tuesday was a stipulated condition the parties, extending over a period of of the grant " We may, however, con- 20 years, a large amount of property be- clude that as the anonymous communi- ing at stake. The case was of so intri- cation was placed among the advertise- cate a character that in one form or an- ments and marked "paid for," the other it was before the courts for about writers opinion was not considered of 25 years. Ward Chipman was retained much importance and that the grant to look after the interests of his father- was simply what it professed to be, a in-law, William Hazen, with whom tangible recognition on the part of the Leonard Jarvis and James White were council of efficient services rendered by associated in the suit, and for whom a civic officer. Chipman also acted. James Simonds Elias Hardy represented the county of on his part retained Elias Hardy, of Northumberland until the dissolution of whose ability he had had some practical the first house of assembly in 1792. In expeiience as counsel for his opponent the ensuing general election his fellow- in the case of Simonds versus Davidson. citizens showed their confidence in him The proceedings in the Chancery suit by electing him one of the representa- were protracted and the documents con- tives of the city and county of St. John. nected therewith exceedingly volumi- After the expiration of the term of the nous. The first bill of complaint against second house of assembly he was again Simonds was filed by Chipman as attor- pressed to become a candidate, but de- ney for Hazen and Jarvis, July 19th, clined nomination presumably on the 1791. It is a formidable roll of parch- ground of ill health. ment comprising 12,000 words. The As a member of the legislature his answer of Simonds, filed by Hardy Feb. —

12 THE LONDON' LAWYER.

3, 1792, contains about 5,800 words. But Robinson, who was mayor of the city this is not all: on Nov. 17th, 1794, Hardy at the time of his death in 1828. filed the cross bill of Simonds against and John Ward who died in 1846 at the Hazen, Jarvis and White, containing patriarchal age of 92, being at that time 17,000 words, written on a roll of paper the oldest half-pay officer in the British 20 inches wide and 20 feet 6 inches in service. Soon after his daughter's mar- length. Not to be outdone, Ward Chip- riage Dr. Huggeford returned to New man responded to this with an answer York where he was living in 1800. on behalf of his clients of 19,600 words, Elias Hardy was not a grantee of Parr which he filed with the clerk in chan- Town. His house was built on lot 417, cery, May 26th, 1795. on the south side of King street about The proceedings of this old chancery half way between Charlotte and Ger- suit are preserved in the record office main streets, and was a well known land in , The law student will mark. Mr. Hardy in the year 1795 pur- find much information in them concern- chased one half of this lot from the Rev. ing the mode of procedure pursued in John Beardsley for the small sum of 10 the eariy days of the province, and will shillings, the other half he procured derive from their study some idea of the from another party. His widow in the abilities of the men who were giants in year 1804 sold one half of the lot to their profession in their generation. To William Melick for £15, and in 1820 the the student of local history these records other half to Robert W. Crookshank & are of even greater interest, from the Co. for £100. fact that they throw a flood of light up- Some years after herhusband's decease on the history of St. John during the 20 Mrs. Hardy, with her children, returned years' period which preceded the land- to New York where her father and other ing of the Loyalists. relatives were living. The death of Elias Enough has now been written to show Hardy, in the 54th year of his age, took the position occupied in public life by place at his residence, King street, on the subject of this sketch. Concerning Christmas day, 1798, "after a long illness his character in private life, all that I which he bore with the greatest forti- have been able to gather is contained in tude." Three days later his mortal body the brief obituary notice in the Royal was laid at rest in the old grave yard in Gazette of January 1st, 1799, in which the presence of a large number of St. Christopher Sower says: John's leading citizens. Not even "Elias Hardy formed but few friend- the simplest headstone marks his rest- ships, but in these he was always sin- ing place, indeed the exact spot is cere, and the brilliancy of his wit and today unknown. Friends and kindred good humor made him the life of every returned to the land of their birth, but circle of which he formed a part. He the old Loyalist sleeps beneath his has left a wife and four children to country's flag, and the city of the Loy- lament the loss of an affectionate hus- alists retains within her bonnds the band and indulgent parent." ashes of one of the most distinguished The wife of Elias Hardy was Emma, of her founders. daughter of Peter Huggeford, M. D. The writer of this paper deems it an During the revolutionary war her father, honor to have gathered the fragments Dr. Huggeford, was surgeon in the Loyal which tell—albeit imperfectly—the life- American Regiment raised by Colonel story of the son of the non-conformist Beverley Robinson of New York, and of minister of Farnham, and to lay this which Rev. John Beardsley was chap- humble chaplet on his nameless grave. lain. In the settlement of Parr Town the surgeon and the chaplain drew lots side by side on Charlotte street opposite the south-west corner of King square. Sev- eral of the officers of this loyalist regi- ment were prominent citizens of St. John in the early days. Among the number were the Honorable John PHOTOFILE ENVELOP! AT. NO. MIN pH 8.5 \m 710 L