Douglastown before 1800

Part 1
The earliest menton that we have found of the name of an inhabitant at what is now Douglastown Is a William La Patoural who had settled on the south side of the Barachois of the River St. John in 1783. The only Indication of any earlier habitation is a notation on Collin's 1765 map of Gaspé Bay of an Indian "Hutt" on the north side of the Barachois but subsequent maps ln 1773 and 1780 show no buildings.

The first référence to the establishment of Douglastown appears in a letter from Nicholas Cox Lieut.-Governor of Gaspé to Governor Haldimand at Quebec in 1784. ln it Cox stated that after the Loyalists were settled at what was to become New Carlisle he planned to lay out a town on the River St. John. He thought that it would be a most suitable location for artIficers (skilled tradesmen) and those not intending to be fishermen. In this connection their is an apochryphal story of a surveyor named Douglas who laid out the town for Loyalists and named it after himself. Several versions of this story have appeared in print over the last hundred years and although repeated publication may seem to have given it the appearance of truth, it is a myth of dubious origin and little or no basis in fact.

In the first place, Cox did not intend that the town should be specifically for Loyalists. Even at that date the term Loyalists (they were sometlmes called Royalists) was restricted to refugees from the American colonies to the south. All other loyal subjects, Including those who had fought against the Americans were neither given the designation nor were they entitled to as much assistance in settling. Secondly, the surveyor was not named Douglas. For this we have as witness a Loyalist named Robert Simpson who made a swom deposition ln 1801 which included the following:

"That in the said year 1784, to the best of the Deponant's recollection, when the several lots were laid out by Mr. O'Hara the Surveyor, the Deponant was the principal person who attended and assisted Mr. O'Hara in chaining and marking all the Country Lots about the said Town of Douglas."

From more of Cox's correspondance we know that Felix O'Hara had finished laying out New Carlisle about August 10th 1784 and one of O'Hara's letters mentioned that he was engaged in the Douglastown survey in September. Two other men, Tuttle and Cass, (whose names appear In the list of Loyalists who had come to New Carlisle this summèr) were also assistants to O'Hara, but it is not clear if they worked only at New Carlisle or at both New Carlisle and Douglastown.

The settlers who came to the Gaspé coast immediately after the American Revolution - Loyalists and recently discharged men of the RoyaI Highland Emigrant Regiment, the British and Canadian Militia and the Provincial Navy (all of which had been raised in Canada) as well as the regular Army and Navy - still had vivid memories of the parts they had played in the conflict with the Americans. As might be expected, they named their new towns and townships after people who had won their respect in the recent war. Some examples are: Carleton and Haldimand, both of whom had been Governor and military commandersb in Québec; Maria, Governor Carleton's wife. Cox, the Lieutenant-Governor of Gaspé and a military commander; and Hamilton and Hope, both military commanders and Lieutenant-Governors of Québec.

Most appropriately for the community of sea-farers that Douglastown was to become in the 1800's it was named for a British Admiral: Sir Charles Douglas. [Confirmation of this can be found in a report to the government of Lower Canada on the exploration of the interior of the Gaspé peninsula by Lieutenant Baddeley in 1832. In addition to information about the interior, this report includes numerous comments on the communities along the coast, agriculture, fishing, transportation, etc. Besides the information he collected by talking with the local inhabitants, he was familiar with Québec's civil and military history and very probably was personally acquainted with Douglas's son, who at about that time was Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. Baddeley's statement can be taken as accurate because, among his other qualities, he did not hesitate to say when he was unfamiliar with something or when he did not believe a story he was told.

Douglastown's namesake, Sir Charles Douglas, was probably most widely known for having been in command of Admiral Rodney's flagship in 1782 when a French fleet under De Grasse was decisively defeated near Martinique, in the West Indies. However, the exploits in Canada which would have made him a hero in the eyes of both the old and new settlers was his command of the British fleet which broke the American Blockade of Québec in the spring of 1776, and which, for the following year, was part of their defense against raking American privateers.

Part II
Unlike the Loyalist settlers who came to New Carlisle In 1784, there was no roll of the first arrivals at Douglastown. The first nearly comprehensive list was not made until thirty-five years later in 1819, and by that time many of the original settlers had either died or left. Some of the names of men who arrived before 1800 can be assembled from scattered sources but there were undoubtedly others for whom we have elther not yet found any référence or for whom no records survive.

As we mentioned previously, William Le Patoural, with his wife, were settled on the Barachois the year before Douglastown was surveyed. They continued to live there until 1799 when they moved to Seal Cove. However, except for the probability that he was a Guernseyman, nothing more is known about him. Only two men are known to have come to Douglastown the next year when the town was founded. One of them was Robert Simpson, who was granted land as a Loyalist. Thirty-five years later, although he still owned land In Douglastown, he was living on the north side of the North West Arm of Gaspé Bay and had been there for twelve years. The other was Thomas Morris who had served as an officer in the Provincial Navy during the American Revolution. His sons were there in 1819 and he may have died about 1810. Ho appears to have had some connection with the O'Hara famlly since his sister Lizette was Felix O'Hara's goddaughter.

The following year, two more Loyallsts came to Douglastown for whom there is a considerable amount of information. One of them was William Kennedy, who had coma from what is now Montgomery County In the central part of the state of New York. Many Loyalists had suffered financial losses, personal indignities and physical dangers. As appears in a memorial he wrote to the Governor-in-Council at Québec in 1801, the Kennedy famlly had their share of tribulations.

His son John left Douglastown about 1800 and died a few years later but Thomas and Isaac were residents for many years The other Loyalist who came the same year as the Kennedys was Daniel McPherson who operated all of the few fishing which was able to in Philadelphia. By 1781 he was at the Loyalist refugee camp of William Henry (Serai) and came to Douglastown after the war. In 1803 he purchased the Seignory of Iles aux Grues in the St. Lawrence river near Montmagny (then called St. Thomas), and turned his Douglastown fishing business over to his son John and son-in-law, Henry Johnston. In addition to his Johnston descendants, who carried on the fishing concern we could number among his grandchildren some of the Patterson family who are the ancestors of many Gaspé résidents, and James McPherson Lemoine, a thoroughly bilingual author.Lemoine wrote voluminously and not always accurately about ornithology, the fisherles, travel, popularized versions of Canadien hIstory and legandary stories of the St.Lawrence river and the Gaspé peninsula.

During the next five years there were several other arrivals, many of whom had gone agaln by 1800. William Carrol, an ex-private In the 84th Régiment (The Royal Highland Émigrants) came In 1786 and left In 1800, apparently he settled In the Eastern Townships, John Rose, a Loyalist, arrived In 1787 and left for parts unknown in 1788. Robert Tripp, who was from Rhode Island and had been a private In à Loyallst régiment (Jessups Corps), came to Douglastown from New Carlisle In 1769 and left in 1800 with the Intention of settling In the Ottawa river valley (his son Samual came back to Gaspé a few years later). John McCrae, who had been a non-commissiomed officer for 15 years In the 21st Regiment (Royal North British Fusileers) and had also served as a sergeant in the British Militia at Québec, arrived with his two sons in 1780. He had probably come from Riviere Ouelle where family Tradition says that his wife had died tho was In Douglastown, 82 years old, and stlil active In 1826. Jacques Chevrier carne from Ste. Anne In 1700 and left again in 1795, apparently In company with an N. Samson Peter Butler asked for a grant of land In 1790 and had the support of Edward O'Hara In his request

In addition to these men, John Robinson was a resident of Douglastown when he was drowned in Gaspé Bay In 1787. He had been In the British Militia during the blockade of Québec by the Americans and was shown as a resident of Percé In 1777. George Thompson also appears to have been a resident of Douglastown although he died at Québec in 1795. At some point in time he owned land and his widow died there many years later. He, too, had been in the British Militia at Québec and previously had been the balliff at Mount Louis. Two other men named Smith and Dawson left In 1797, but nothing is known of them except that they held land by virtue of location certificates Thomas Walsh acquired land In 1798 but may have been an old resident since there were Walshs In Percé In 1777. Henry Johnston also acquired land In 1799 as a gift front his fathèr-in-law, Daniel McPherson.

Finally, to end the list of known seniors in the 1700's, there was Étienne Morin (or Moran), an ex-private of the Royal Highland Émigrants. who arrived In 1790 from Seal Cove where he had first settled in 1783. He may have died in 1801 because his property was sold by a Stephen Moran who was probably his son. However, in the interval, he was at the center of a controversy over the ownership of his land which generated a flurry of lengthy claims and counter-claims. Now, nearly two centuries later, the grounds lot the dispute are both difficult to understand and of no great conséquence, but the letters, petitions, sworn declarations and other documents are a remarkable source of information about Douglastown's first citizens.