Chapter IV: Progress of the Settlement--Persecution

And now the settlers proceeded to make small clearances round their rough and primitive homesteads. In the midst of the dense and primeval forest--unaccustomed to such work--unused to the woods, their hardships and difficulties can scarce be described; but manfully and courageously they set to work, undeterred by no obstacle and undaunted by no danger, however great. They looked forward to the future with glowing anticipations, but that future was darkened by clouds of adverse fortune and annoyances they had then no expectations to encounter or to dread. The three months provisions with which they had been furnished at Greenock, by Dr. Hamilton of Leney, were nearly exhausted, and something must be done for their families, and to procure seed for the fall and coming spring. They had been informed that Chief McNab would furnish them with a year's provisions, which they would be called upon to pay for on realizing the proceeds of their crops. They put full reliance upon this, and found soon after their arrival that the Laird could not supply them with even the bare necessaries of life. They discovered, when too late, that they had leant upon a reed and put faith in fallacy. They now saw that they would be compelled to leave off the clearing of their lands and go out to work for provisions; consequently some went to a Mr. Thos. Burns, of Fitzroy, and worked with him at haying and harvest and potato digging, and earned provisions--others went to Beckwith and hired out--others purchased provisions on credit in Beckwith. Now it became necessary to transfer to their families a sufficient supply to last till winter, when the carriage would be easier as soon as sleighing set in. There were no roads, but merely a pathway from Mr. Snedden's in Ramsay to Beckwith; the remainder of the route to the Township of McNab was down the Mississippi to the mouth, then up the Chats Lake to the mouth of the Madawaska, thence up the Madawaska River to the Flat Rapid Settlement; and to other places by land on blazed paths through the bush. Boats knocked together in a rough fashion, and canoes rudely manufactured, were improvised for the occasion, and small loads were brought from "Murphy's Falls" in this manner to McNab. From Beckwith to the present "Carleton Place," and even to Snedden's, loads were transferred on the settlers' backs. These were hardships indeed, and during the years 1825, 1826 and part of 1827, this was the continual occupation of the settlers. They had not yet realized enough from their crops to support their families, because much of the time necessary to the clearing and cultivation of their respective lots was occupied by hiring out to obtain the necessaries of life for their starving families. They were often reduced to the greatest straits: for days the wives and children of the settlers were kept alive by potatoes alone, with a little salt as a relish, and when a bag of flour was got by one neighbour, it was immediately divided among the whole. During the winter, however, after the experience of the first fall and winter, they laid in a sufficient stock to last them for a year, which was partly paid for by the former summer's work and partly to be liquidated by the ensuing summer's labor.

It was the custom of the settlers before going out to hire, to ask the Chief's permission, as their liege-lord; and strict injunctions were given to all not to leave the township on any account without asking McNab's leave. This was carrying the Lairdship with a high hand indeed, and reducing the free-born Highlanders to the abject condition of Russian serfs; but they all complied without a murmur, judging from the bond they had signed at Lenney House that they were bound to obey their leader in all things. It was also another despotic rule laid down by the Chief that the timber on their lands belonged to him, and consequently they could not dispose of it. In this they all complied without remonstrance, except Mr. Alexander Miller, one of the settlers, who was well educated, and who before emigrating had taught the village school of Nineveh, a small hamlet half way between Loch Earn head and Callander. He remonstrated, and said that the locatees had a right to the timber, and he sold all on his land to Mr. John Brill, formerly a lumberman in McNab.

When the Chief heard of this disposition of the timber he at once made for the spot and ordered Mr. Brill to desist or he would hold him accountable.

"And who are you?" exclaimed Brill, an old man-o'-war's man and an athlete of gigantic proportions.

"I, sir, am McNab of McNab, and this township and all that is in it belongs to me," exclaimed the Chief pompously. "But who are you, fellow?"

"I'm Jack Brill of the Brilliants, sir, and if you don't clear out in five minutes I'll rope's-end you to your heart's content," said Brill in a voice of thunder, and lifting up a huge ox gad in a menacing attitude.

The Chief looked aghast with astonishment and hastily retired from the spot, vowing vengeance against all concerned; and before leaving this part of the narrative I may as well state the sequel.

Owing to McNab's influence with the government, Brill had to pay him the whole amount of the duty of all the timber he cut on the township.

In the spring of 1826, Mr. Alex. Miller went to Kennell and asked the Chief's permission to leave the township to seek work for provisions. He was peremptorily refused, and now commenced the first of a series of persecutions, which lasted for sixteen years, and which finally culminated in the liberation of the people of the township from the thraldom of Chief McNab. Miller upon his refusal did not know what to do or how to turn. He had only six weeks' provisions in the house, and at the end of that time he did not know where to look for a replenishing of this stock. He left the township without permission and hired with Messrs. William and John Thompson, of Nepean. While industriously employed in providing for his family he was suddenly and unexpectedly arrested on a _capias_, at the instance of the Laird of McNab, for a debt L80, and brought to Perth and lodged in jail. These were the palmy days of the "family compact," and a person could then be arrested for a debt of forty shillings, and deprived of his liberty for months, merely upon an affidavit of the plaintiff that he believed the debtor was about to leave the Province. Better times have now supervened. The present generation may look back to the exertions of their fathers and grandfathers with gratitude for the great and glorious struggles in the cause of liberty, and in erasing forever from the Statute Book that barbarous law _Imprisonment for Debt_.

Poor Miller lay in Perth jail for two days without eating any food, and would have starved to death had it not been for the kindness and humanity of Mr. James Young, then the benevolent keeper of the county prison. This high-handed proceeding was characterized by the greatest cruelty as well as illegality on the part of the Chief. Let the reader refer to the original agreement between McNab and Sir Peregrine Maitland's government, and he will at a glance perceive that Miller had no right to pay a cent, either of principal or interest on the bond he had given to the Chief, and signed at Leney House, Scotland until seven years after the date of his location; yet, notwithstanding this solemn agreement--notwithstanding all Dr. Hamilton's promises, the agreement was violated at the very outset, and his kinsman's promises--the gentleman, who, out of his own resources, had paid the passage money of Miller and his family and the rest of the settlers to Canada--were treated as flimsy nothings, for at the end of only the second year of Miller's emigration, he was arrested and imprisoned, and his family left to starve. For six weeks he remained in jail before the settlers in McNab knew of his incarceration, but as soon as the intelligence reached the township the following settlers travelled to Perth, a distance then of sixty miles, though scarcely any roads but mere pathways, and went special bail, viz.:--John McIntyre, James McFarlane (Kier), Peter McIntyre, Donald McNaughton and James McDonald, and poor Miller was liberated. The above persons were marked down as black sheep in the Chief's doomsday book, and set apart for the next batch to be sued. The settlers engaged Mr. James Boulton to defend Miller, while the Laird of McNab's legal adviser was the late Daniel McMartin, Esq. The upshot of the affair was that the settlers were sacrificed for want of a proper defence, and each of the persons who entered as bail for Miller were compelled to pay about L50 each.

It was during this memorable affair that the following letter was written by Mr. James McLaurin, one of the settlers who was located in the Lochwinnoch section of the township. When Miller's case came up for trial in April, 1827, it became necessary to prove the bond signed by Miller in Scotland. Now Mr. Donald McLaren, the subscribing witness, was in Scotland, and his handwriting was proven by others. The defence was that McNab had not fulfilled his part of the agreement to put the settlers on the land free of expense, and moreover, that he had ordered some salt and a portion of their provisions to be destroyed. Mr. McLaurin warmly esposed Miller's side, and in consequence was obliged to leave the township a few years afterwards, and he settled in the vicinity of the village of Renfrew. This is the letter:--

March 9th, 1827.
MR. PETER McINTYRE,

Dear Sir,--Please send me notice concerning Miller's affair, for I
am informed he is dropping all and coming to the land. I wish to
let you know that the Chief intends to cast you all as evidences
and take you as principals. Ross is to be taken in evidence on
behalf of McNab. I wish to let you know that I am the man who spilt
the salt by McNab's orders, saying there was plenty on the spot.
Sir, please send me notice concerning a petition I was informed you
got wrote in Perth. I hope you will count me worthy to sign it.
Take some witness besides yourself to Perth and send me a letter
without delay about all affairs. I will go as a witness.

Remember me to all friends in that quarter that wish to give Satan
a blow.

I am, yours truly till death,
(Signed), JAS. McLAURIN.

I insert this letter to show that the spirit of discontent was fast creeping in among the settlers, and that something like an organized resistance was commencing; but it was not until ten years afterwards that it assumed form and consistency--but to our narrative. All the efforts for Miller were vain; the Chief received a verdict, and in consequence of an error made by Miller of one day only that he should have surrendered and relieved his bail, the Chief abandoned his judgment against him and issued summonses against the six individuals who went his special bail. For many months he could not get them served, and McDonald and McFarlane were never served. Whenever a stranger appeared in the Flat Rapid settlement, a horn was blown as a signal, guns were fired at every house and the male inhabitants hid until the stranger disappeared. It was after many months of strategic manoeuvering that four of the six "black sheep" were served, and they subsequently had to pay the amount. Alex. Miller left the township entirely, and for many years taught school in the township of Beckwith. His death occurred as late as 1867. He was the first martyr to the Laird of McNab's despotism, and he was thus victimized as an example to the rest.