October 20th 1964
This is a revised and veridical account concerning the Clapperton family, thanks to the courtesy of the Rt.Rev.Mgr. W.R. Clapperton, ex-Rector of Scots' College in Rome, and presently Canon of the Basilica of St-John Latran.
Through the good office of Reverend Sister Mary Cuthbert of St-Margaret's Convent in Edinburg,with whom we had corresponded in an effort to get information regarding our forebears, this kind sister put us in communication with Mgr. Clapperton who graciously sent us a copy of a family tree in his possesion wich permits us to rectify certain assertions made in our initial essay.
We stated in our first essay that Charles Clapperton was our forebear. We were wrong. Our forebear was JAMES. He was a " Chemist and Grocer " in Fochabers, and had a larger family that we knew of. He died in Fochabers on the 13th. of October,1875, at the age of 94-1/2 years. He married twice.
His first wife was Margaret Geddes with whom he had three children namely :-JOHN who came to Canada-MARGARET co-founder of St-Margaret's convent in Edinburg-and JAMES who was a priest.
His second wife was Barbara Paterson with whom he had twelve children namely :-JANE spinster-THOMAS married to Mary Martin had 3 sons and 2 daughters.-SUZAN married to A. Davidson no issue-WILLIAM who was a priest-GEORGE emigrated to Australia,married there, had one son-ALEXANDER married to Catherine Kelly no issue-BARBARA died at age 15- ROBERT who was a priest- ARTHUR who died young-ANNE who was Sister Mary Bernard- CHARLES emigrated to Australia, married there, had one son and one daughter who never married- HENRY died young.
JOHN the eldest son emigrated to Canada around the year 1830. He landed in Halifax, managed to secure a vessel, and started trading along the coasts of Fundy and Baie des Chaleurs. He married a French Acadian girl, Félicité Dugas, daughter of Captain Hilarion Dugas, and Euphrosine Gauthier,and settled in Carleton P.Qué. He drowned accidentely on a voyage from Carleton to Dalhousie in the early fall of 1839, leaving his widow with two sons, JAMES, aged two years, and WILLIAM aged nine months. In order to provide for herself and her two boys, his widow left her home in Carleton and settled in Dalhousie, N.B. which at the time was an important seaport and the main business center of the region. There she earned her livelihood by sewing, and was reputed a very able seemstress.
Following her husband's death, she kept in close relation by correspondance with her in-laws in Scotland, so when her boys became of school age they offered to take charge of them during their years of studies, an offer she gratefully accepted. She conveyed them to Scotland herself, left them in the care of their grandparents, and returned to her home in Dalhousie. When her boys were through their studies,she went back to Scotland to bring them back.- An extraordinary thing happened on their return to Canada, and this is how the dear old lady used to relate the event : "The trip had been most pleasant and uneventful all the way,and the passengers and crew were in great humor the morning their ship dropped anchor opposite Bathurst N.B., to land passengers and unload some freight, before proceeding to it's final port Dalhousie. Grandmother had friends in Bathurst and got permission to go ashore with her two boys to visit them, intending to return to the ship in the afternoon. A sudden change of weather forced the Captain to weight anchor in order to take his vessel away from it's exposed position, and she and her two boys and three members of the crew who had rowed ashore were left behind. The sudden gust developped into a near hurricane, and before the vessel could reach a safe harbour it foundered, and all on board perished. "
They made their way from Bathurst to Dalhousie by land, and settled once more to family life. Eventually the two boys found employment with a prosperous merchant of Carleton, Mr. John Meagher. He was a highly esteemed and charitable man. He it was who founded the convent of Carleton for the Reverend Sisters of Charity, and thus gave that region it's first important institution of learning. He was a shrewd business man and the two boys benefitted of the exellent training they received. They remained in his employ a few years before venturing into business for themselves.
James opened a general store in Bonaventure,P.Q., around the year 1864 or 65, There he met and married a school teacher, Miss Rose Delima Labrie, native of Rimouski, P.Q.Three of his sons were born and christened in Bonaventure : they are : Charles Ernest,Sept, 2, 1873-George Edward, Feb, 2, 1875- and Joseph Oscar, Mar,28 1877. Shortly after this last date, he disposed of his business and moved with his family to Stillwater, Minn., where he settled.
William acquired a property in Maria,P.Q., around the year 1864 or 65, built a house and a store, and took his mother with him as his housekeeper. On January 26, 1866, he married Mary-Ann LeBel, daughter of notary Joseph G. LeBel of New Carlisle, and Maria Meagher, sister of John Meagher mentionned above. They had eight children, 5 sons and three daughters. Beside his store, he developed an important salt fish business which he operated up to the last years of that century. On Chrismas day 1897, he had the grief of losing his beloved mother who died at the advanced age of 92 years and four months. (1)
On December 22, 1897, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly as Member for the County of Bonaventure, which duty he performed till November 4th ,1904, in which year he was defeated, and retired from active politics. In 1905 he was named Crown Lands Agent for the western division of Bonaventure,and retained this position until his death, May, 31, 1922, at the age of 83 years and 4 months. His widow lived 14 years after his death, and died at the home of her son Thomas, in Grand Cascapedia, P.Q., on the 26 October, 1936. She was 97 years and 7 months.
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Note:
You might want to read a translation of the french part of the
Clapperton history, written by George Clapperton. It is basicaly the same as the
one above, but from the last two paragraphs he continues with
more details especialy his political campains.
Transcribed on "Word" by Charles Mill, october the 26th, 1999.