38 FRANCIS PKABODY. 



Of the Hendersons, one died lately in Toronto, and one lives, I 

 believe, in New York. 



Well, these were the settlers on the shore of what is now Chat- 

 ham when Peabody came, in 1800, to what then had the general 

 name of Miramichi, from the river. 



As far as I can learn there were no places of public worship 

 except a barnlike, unfinished building that stood at Wilson's 

 Point, across '-The Tickle" from Beaubair's Island, where Wm. 

 Davidson, Esq , and a number of others lie buried to-day, and the 

 Indian Chapel at Burnt Church. This building at Wilson's Point, 

 I understand, was never finished, but rotted down without any- 

 thing fuither being done on it. 



There had been before this some visits paid to Miramichi by 

 travelling clergymen. For instance, in Dr. George Patterson's 

 life of Rev. James McGregor, D. D., of Pictou, we find the follow- 

 ing : 



"The Miramichi, next to the St. John, is the largest and most 

 important river in the Province of New Brunswick . In two large 

 bninches it traverses nearly the whole country and falls into the 

 Bay of the same name in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 



"It is navigable more than 30 miles for large vessels and for 

 barges nearly to its sources. It has since been famous for its 

 large exports of timber, and its salmon fisheries. The first British 

 settler was a Mr. Davidson, who in the year 1764 emigrated from 

 the North of Scotland, and on the following year obtained a grant 

 of 100,000 acres on the South West Branch. He was afterwards 

 joined by a Mr. Cort from Aberdeen, and they soon established a 

 valuable trade. During the American Revolutionary War the 

 place was plundered by the Indians, but it recovered, and at the 

 time of his visit, a population, considerable for the time, had been 

 collected from various quarters. In the year 1797 he paid his first 

 visit to Miramichi. He had been applied to as early as 1791, but 

 hitherto had not been able to \ isit them . We are not certain how 

 he went, but it is probable that it was by water. In regard to his 

 visits to this quarter all the information I have been enabled to 

 gather is contained in the following extract of a letter from the 

 Rev. Jno, McCurdy, viz. : 



' "Many recollect him distinctly but few can give dates. His 

 being present at the indunction of Mr Thompson in 1817 is well 



