The Chignecto Isthmus And Its First Settlers [58]
of his life in Dorchester, where he left a large family by his second wife. He was the father of William Black, who has been designated the "Father of Methodism" in the Lower Provinces.
The Blacks have proved good citizens, and have contributed their full share to the development of the country.
PURDY
The Purdys were Loyalists from New York State. Three brothers came to this country--Henry, Gabriel, and Gilbert. Jacob, the fourth, remained in New York.
Henry Purdy settled in Fort Lawrence, Gabriel in Westchester, and Gilbert in Malagash. Mrs. Martin Trueman is a grand-daughter of Gilbert. The Purdys of Cumberland are all descendants of these brothers.
The family for the last century has always been able to count an M.D. among its members, and the civil service has seldom been without a Purdy on its roll-call.
WOOD.
"The earliest record of the Wood family is the marriage of Thomas Wood and Ann Hunt, May, 1654, at Rowley, Mass. Their son John, born in 1656, married, in 1680, Isabel, daughter of Edward Hazen, presumably a forbear of the St. John Hazens. Issue of this union was a large family, of whom, Josiah, born April, 1708, was the twelfth child. He married Eleanor ------, and their son, Josiah, born March, 1740, was married in 1767 to Ruth Thompson. Their son Josiah, born 1776, after coming to New Brunswick, married Sarah Ayre, daughter of Mariner and Amy Ayre. Their two children, Mariner and Ann, were the father and aunt of the present Josiah Wood.
"Mr. Wood has a number of interesting documents of ancient date, among them two grants of land from the King to Robert Thompson, the great- great-grandfather of Senator Wood. The earliest, dated 1759 (in the reign of George II), was for 750 acres, one and a half shares of the original grant of the township of Cornwallis. The later document attests that in 1763 Robert Thompson was granted 500 acres more, individually by George III.
"Mr. Thompson does not appear to have gone into possession, and some forty years later his widowed daughter, ambitious for the welfare of her fatherless family, set out from Lebanon, Conn., with her son Josiah to find this lost heritage.
"They appear to have come to Dorchester, N.B., by a schooner commanded by one 'Lige Ayre, so called. Why they should have gone first to Westmoreland's shire town, instead of direct to the Eldorado of their dreams is one of the unknowable things, but presumably the exigencies of travel in those days had something to do with it. Both passengers and mail matter went by dead reckoning, so to speak, and could seldom get direct conveyance to their destination.
"In the yellowed leaves of a century old diary, penned by the hand of Senator Wood's grandfather, and also from letters, we find quaint comments and an interesting insight into the lives of the early settlers.
"The journal was begun in October, 1800, when Josiah Wood was twenty- four years old. He and his mother, after visiting in Canard, appear to have made their home for the time being in Newport, N.S., where in the cloth mill of Alexander Lockhart Josiah found employment. The young man seems to have had all the business acumen and habits of industry that distinguish his posterity. When work in the mill was slack he taught school, beginning with four scholars. Evening amusements consisted of husking parties, etc., where Mr. Wood contributed to the festivities by flute playing and songs. His idea of a vacation was taking a load of cabbages to sell in Windsor, where his sole extravagance was buying a bandana handkerchief.
"Mrs. Wood filled in her time, though hardly profitably, by having smallpox. This dread disease did not seem to cause any dismay in those days. The neighbors came and went with kindly ministrations to the sick woman, and the son pursued his work in the mill, quite unconscious that according to modern science he was weaving the death-producing microbe into every yard of cloth.
"In February, 1801, Mrs. Wood and Josiah went to Halifax, where they put up the sign 'The Bunch of Grapes.' The diary speaks of their
The Blacks have proved good citizens, and have contributed their full share to the development of the country.
PURDY
The Purdys were Loyalists from New York State. Three brothers came to this country--Henry, Gabriel, and Gilbert. Jacob, the fourth, remained in New York.
Henry Purdy settled in Fort Lawrence, Gabriel in Westchester, and Gilbert in Malagash. Mrs. Martin Trueman is a grand-daughter of Gilbert. The Purdys of Cumberland are all descendants of these brothers.
The family for the last century has always been able to count an M.D. among its members, and the civil service has seldom been without a Purdy on its roll-call.
WOOD.
"The earliest record of the Wood family is the marriage of Thomas Wood and Ann Hunt, May, 1654, at Rowley, Mass. Their son John, born in 1656, married, in 1680, Isabel, daughter of Edward Hazen, presumably a forbear of the St. John Hazens. Issue of this union was a large family, of whom, Josiah, born April, 1708, was the twelfth child. He married Eleanor ------, and their son, Josiah, born March, 1740, was married in 1767 to Ruth Thompson. Their son Josiah, born 1776, after coming to New Brunswick, married Sarah Ayre, daughter of Mariner and Amy Ayre. Their two children, Mariner and Ann, were the father and aunt of the present Josiah Wood.
"Mr. Wood has a number of interesting documents of ancient date, among them two grants of land from the King to Robert Thompson, the great- great-grandfather of Senator Wood. The earliest, dated 1759 (in the reign of George II), was for 750 acres, one and a half shares of the original grant of the township of Cornwallis. The later document attests that in 1763 Robert Thompson was granted 500 acres more, individually by George III.
"Mr. Thompson does not appear to have gone into possession, and some forty years later his widowed daughter, ambitious for the welfare of her fatherless family, set out from Lebanon, Conn., with her son Josiah to find this lost heritage.
"They appear to have come to Dorchester, N.B., by a schooner commanded by one 'Lige Ayre, so called. Why they should have gone first to Westmoreland's shire town, instead of direct to the Eldorado of their dreams is one of the unknowable things, but presumably the exigencies of travel in those days had something to do with it. Both passengers and mail matter went by dead reckoning, so to speak, and could seldom get direct conveyance to their destination.
"In the yellowed leaves of a century old diary, penned by the hand of Senator Wood's grandfather, and also from letters, we find quaint comments and an interesting insight into the lives of the early settlers.
"The journal was begun in October, 1800, when Josiah Wood was twenty- four years old. He and his mother, after visiting in Canard, appear to have made their home for the time being in Newport, N.S., where in the cloth mill of Alexander Lockhart Josiah found employment. The young man seems to have had all the business acumen and habits of industry that distinguish his posterity. When work in the mill was slack he taught school, beginning with four scholars. Evening amusements consisted of husking parties, etc., where Mr. Wood contributed to the festivities by flute playing and songs. His idea of a vacation was taking a load of cabbages to sell in Windsor, where his sole extravagance was buying a bandana handkerchief.
"Mrs. Wood filled in her time, though hardly profitably, by having smallpox. This dread disease did not seem to cause any dismay in those days. The neighbors came and went with kindly ministrations to the sick woman, and the son pursued his work in the mill, quite unconscious that according to modern science he was weaving the death-producing microbe into every yard of cloth.
"In February, 1801, Mrs. Wood and Josiah went to Halifax, where they put up the sign 'The Bunch of Grapes.' The diary speaks of their