For a part of this time the family had charge of a toll bridge near Newcastle.The following incident is declared to have actually occurred while they were keeping the toll bridge.A large man, riding a very small donkey, one day came up to the bridge and asked the amount of the toll.The charge was more than he felt inclined to pay, so he asked what would it be for a man with a load.Finding that it was considerably less he at once laid down the smaller sum, picked up the donkey in his arms, and walked over the bridge.From Halifax Mr.
Colpitts and the two oldest boys made their way overland, walking the most of the way from there to Moncton, while the others came in a vessel soon afterwards.When they reached Coverdale the land he had improved had been pre-empted, and Mr.Colpitts had to push on.He settled at Little River, five miles from its mouth."The writer, after giving a fuller account of the family, says: "It is, we freely confess, the history of a race of humble farmers, and such, for the most part, have been their descendants; no one of the name has yet occupied a prominent place in the public life of our country.But the name has always been an honorable one, and those who have borne it have been, with few exceptions, honest, God-fearing, God-honoring men and women."Mr.James Colpitts, of Point de Bute, is a great-grandson of Mr.Robert Colpitts.
MONRO.
Alexander Monro was born in Banff, Scotland.His father, John Monro, and family came from Aberdeen to Miramichi, New Brunswick, in 1815.He remained in Miramichi three years and then moved to Bay Verte.The next move was to Mount Whatley, and, after a few years stay there, Mr.Monro purchased a wilderness lot on Bay Verte Road, to which they removed, and after years of strenuous labor made for themselves a comfortable home.
It was from Mr.Robert King, school master--referred to in another part of this book--that the son, Alexander Monro, received the inspiration and training that started him on the road to success in life.His biographer says: "When he was twenty-one years of age a Mr.Robert King came into the district to take charge of the school, and under his care young Monro studied in the winter evenings geometry, algebra and land surveying.Mr.King possessed a surveying compass, and gave him practical instruction in land surveying, leading him to decide to follow that business.
Mr.Monro obtained a recommendation from Dr.Smith, of Fort Cumberland, and others, and in the year 1837 went to Fredericton to obtain an appointment from the Hon.Thomas Baillie, then Surveyor-General of the Province.Mr.Baillie complimented him on his attainments, but refused to appoint him to the office.When Mr.Monro got back to St.John he had but two shillings in his pocket, and with this meagre sum he started on foot for home.Before he had gone far he found a job of masonry work and earned fifteen shillings.With this money he returned to St.John, and purchased Gibson's "Land Surveying" and some cakes for lunch, and set out again for Westmoreland.On the way he worked a day at digging potatoes, for which he received two shillings, and later on built a chimney and was paid two pounds.
The next year Mr.Monro received the appointment of Deputy Crown Land Surveyor.In 1848 he was made a Justice of the Peace, and was the surveyor to run the boundary line between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.He was the author of a number of works, one on Land Surveying, also one on the "History, Geography and Productions of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island." For a number of years he edited an educational monthly magazine called the PARISH SCHOOLADVOCATE.His biographer adds: "Such is the life and labors of one of our foremost and most useful citizens, and if there is a moral to be read from it, it is this, that to make a man of cultured tastes, a student, a scholar and a publicist of acknowledged rank and value in the country, universities with their libraries and endowments are not absolutely necessary; social position, influential connection and wealth are not necessary.Without such adventitious aids, what is wanted is a native taste for research and inquiry, and a determination of character superior to environment."PALMER--KNAPP.
The Palmers and Knapps were Loyalists.C.E.Knapp, a grandson of Loyalist Knapp, writes: "The largest part of Staten Island, New York, should have been the possession of the Palmers of Westmoreland.Their ancestor, John Palmer, who was by profession a lawyer, moved from New York to Staten Island.He had been appointed one of the first judges of the New York Court of Oyer and Terminer.He was also a member of the Governor's Council, and afterwards Sheriff.When the Revolutionary War broke out his son Gideon held the commission of captain in Delancy's Rangers, and when the war terminated he, in common with the other Loyalists, had to leave the country."Together with his brother-in-arms, Titus Knapp, John Palmer found a new home at Old Fort Cumberland, where they commenced business as general traders.They purchased adjoining farms, and these still go by the name of the "Knapp and Palmer farms." Mr.Palmer afterwards moved to Dorchester Cape, induced to do so because it reminded him of his old home in New York.Palmer and Knapp must have found their loyalty expensive, as their confiscated property is now worth untold millions.
In Mr.Knapp's case it was not so bad, as his property went to his half-brother, who, fortunately for him, was a Quaker and did not "fight."The Palmers have taken a prominent place in the history of New Brunswick.Mr.Gideon Palmer, a son of Gideon (first), was one of the successful shipbuilders of Dorchester in the fifties, and Philip, another son, was for some years a member of the New Brunswick Legislature.The late Judge Palmer, of St.John, was a son of Philip Palmer.
Charles E.Knapp, barrister, of Dorchester, is clerk of the Probate Courty, and one of the oldest practising lawyers of Westmoreland.Mr.
