This assembly of information is an inclusion to the Dickson – Paternal And Briggs – Maternal The Town of Chatham was the Maternal Family hub Genealogy Project February 1, 2021 Town of Chatham, New Brunswick Chatham is an urban neighborhood in the city of Marimichi, New Brunswick, Canada. Prior to municipal amalgamation in 1995, Chatham was an incorporated town in Northumberland County along the south bank of the Marimichi River opposite Douglastown. Since amalgamation, it has been sometimes referred to as Marimichi East. Communities amalgamated in 1995 to form the City of Marimichi, New Brunswick Historical population Year Pop. ±% 1871 3,000 — 1901 4,868 +62.3% 1911 4,666 −4.1% 1921 4,506 −3.4% 1931 4,017 −10.9% 1941 4,082 +1.6% 1951 5,223 +28.0% 1961 7,109 +36.1% 1981 6,761 −4.9% 1986 6,219 −8.0% 1991 6,544 +5.2% At Chatham, the Marimichi River is quite wide, the water salt and tidal. Just downstream from the town, the river begins to widen into a broad estuary, where the Marimichi River gradually becomes Marimichi Bay. Because of its eastward facing location, ships coming from the British Isles in early times had easy access through the Strait of Belle Isle and across the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It was more accessible and safer to get to than the ports of Quebec City or Saint John, New Brunswick. In colonial times, the surrounding lands were heavily forested; the stands of eastern white pine were especially valued for ships' masts. The river teemed with fish, Atlantic salmon the most prized. Abundant game roamed the forests, and berries were a valuable food supplement. Scottish immigrants to the area found it familiar. The rocks in the Marimichi are similar to those of Scotland, being a part of the same formation before continental drift separated them. Seabirds and fish are often the same or similar. The Atlantic salmon, the herring gull and the common tern were found in both areas. The Scots had the technology and know-how to cut lumber, fish, farm and build ships. The Irish immigrants did not bring the same skills, as their forests had long been cut down and they did not have such a well-developed fishing industry. They picked up skills from their neighbours. As urban English immigrants did not have these skills, and farmers were used to a more moderate climate, they tended to settle elsewhere. At Chatham, the riverbanks are low but not subject to flooding, and are thus well suited as a location for wharves. With a deep channel close to the shore, the largest ships in colonial times could approach the wharves. Away from the shore, the land gradually rises several hundred feet. The soil, while sandy and a bit acid, supports potatoes, root crops and apple trees. All these circumstances made Chatham an ideal location for lumbering and fishing. Early settlement In 1765, the troop transport Pitt (reputedly named after William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham) was shipwrecked in the Gulf of St Lawrence. Tradition holds that one of the ship's boats, named the "Chatham", washed up near the Marimichi River, giving rise to the town's name. R.B. Bennett, future Prime Minister of Canada, first entered politics in Chatham In 1800 Francis Peabody settled in the location that became Chatham, which was then known as The Spruce, after a large spruce tree. The Marimichi River is nearly a mile wide here. Its channel comes very close to the shore at this spot, so it was a natural place to build wharves. Logs from the large watershed of the river could easily be floated to this point for milling and export. The best salmon fisheries were nearby. Other settlers followed, but growth was relatively slow throughout the early part of the 19th century. The first newspaper published in the North Shore of New Brunswick was the Mercury, founded in Chatham in 1825. By 1834 the first bank opened. A stagecoach left each Monday for Fredericton. The settlement attracted a group of aggressive entrepreneurs, Scottish and English, such as Joseph Cunard, William Muirhead, Jabez Bunting Snowball, and later, W.S. Loggie. Gradually, the community became a centre for lumber mills, shipbuilding, and exporting fish and forest products to the British Isles and, later on, to the United States. Lord Beaverbrook In its early days, Chatham was bustling, energetic, growing and confident. Chatham attracted the Maritime lawyer Richard Bedford Bennett, later to be prime minister of Canada. In 1896 when Chatham held its first elections for Town Council, the young Bennett was elected by one vote. He was then employed with the law firm established by Lemuel Tweedie, a former Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. Bennett's campaign manager was a 17-year-old "articling" student by the name of Max Aitken. Aitken grew up in Newcastle and would later become Lord Beaverbrook. He was appointed the Minister for Aircraft Production in Winston Churchill's World War II cabinet. By 1851, Chatham had 505 employed persons among the following occupations: 170 laborer’s, 74 servants, 60 shipwrights, 25 joiners, 20 cordwainers, 19 farmers, 16 clerks, 13 blacksmiths, 12 merchants, 10 tailors, 9 storekeepers, 7 sawyers, 7 teachers, 5 block makers, 4 sailmakers, 4 riggers, 4 stage drivers, 4 butchers, 4 printers, 3 clergymen, 1 spar maker, 1 gunsmith, 1 surgeon and 1 constable. A police force was started in 1858, telephones came to the town in 1880, and street lighting was installed in 1888. In 1881, somewhat past the prime of sailing ships, the port of Chatham recorded the following annual traffic: • 177 overseas vessels entered- 80,558 tons exported; 11,344 imported: • 302 coastal vessels entered—98,023 tons exported (value $797,179). In 1881, the value of bank deposits was $133,118. Chatham was incorporated as a town in 1896. A large wooden hotel, The Adams House operated from 1884 to the 1950s. The four-story, brick Touraine Hotel was opened in 1908. It was destroyed by fire just after World War II. The hotel was on a branch line of the Canadian National Railways, which brought tourists from Quebec. Chatham Heyday: Chatham in its prime (1880–1919) had extensive wharves, a pulp mill, three large sawmills, a fish-packing plant, a large foundry/shipbuilding facility with a repair yard for small vessels, an armory, several sizeable hotels; a Catholic hospital (Hotel Dieu) and associated nursing home as well as a Nursing School, all run by the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph; three secondary schools, a Catholic liberal arts college, the county poor house (the County Home), a race track, an indoor rink, a golf club, facilities for an agricultural exhibition, and several notable churches. The Anglican Church and Rectory were beautiful wood structures but burned down in 1960. The town was a service and shopping centre for the surrounding area, especially the areas farther down the bay. Students boarded at the Catholic girls’ and boys’ schools, and the Catholic college in town. During the period, 1880 to 1960, the Catholic Church was a major employer in Chatham, being especially important after the mills began to close. The New Brunswick Electric Power Commission opened a thermal generation plant in Chatham in 1948. It produced 12,500 kilowatt hours and operated for some years, creating some employment. Until 1967 a ferry boat provided service across the Marimichi River at Chatham, except during the period of winter freeze up. When the Centennial Bridge was opened, the ferry was no longer needed. Catholic religious centre The town is dominated by a large Roman Catholic church, St. Michael's Basilica. This neogothic structure was formerly a cathedral. Next to it, in the same style, is the former bishop's residence, now a convent. From 1860 to 1938 Chatham was the centre of a large Catholic diocese covering the northern part of New Brunswick. The Diocese of Chatham was moved to Bathurst, New Brunswick, in 1938. The Bishop at the time was Bishop Chaisson. The local lore has it that the move took place in the middle of the night so that the local residents would not know. Following the move of the See from Chatham to Bathurst, the Church was petitioned by residents to be removed from the Diocese of Bathurst. They wanted to become part of the Diocese of Saint John, New Brunswick. A circle around the Parish of Chatham still designates it as part of the Diocese of Saint John, not Bathurst. A Catholic religious order, the Religious Hospitaliers of St. Joseph, established the Hotel Dieu and nursing home, as well as the large elementary/secondary school (St. Michael's Academy). While the nuns are still present as of 2005, their numbers have been much reduced. The Basilian Fathers operated a small liberal arts college, which was later taken over by the Diocese. It evolved into St. Thomas University, now located in Fredericton. The last convocation ceremony held in Chatham for St. Thomas University was in May 1964. Ethnic and religious composition Historically, Chatham has been a majority-Catholic town, with smaller United Church, Anglican, and Presbyterian congregations. Various other Protestant denominations have come and gone, though the Pentecostals have been relatively strong. When it was more of a business centre, the town long had several Jewish families; their numbers have declined. Ethnic backgrounds are Irish, Scottish, English, and French, with the latter gaining somewhat in recent years. Catholic Lebanese immigrants settled here, originally calling themselves Assyrian. Several Norwegian families also immigrated. A few retired military personnel have settled there adding to the mix.