Here is what George Clapperton wrote about his father in the french version.
William, my father established himself up in Maria and wed January the 23 th 1865, Mary-Ann Lebel, daughter of notary Jos.G.Lebel and Maria Meagher, sister of John Meagher mentioned earlier. Jos.G.Lebel, notary, was a native of Kamouraska. He first settled in Carleton and his daughter Mary-Ann was born in the house that he had build and is now occupied by Mrs Claire and Olivine Leblanc. (this house was demolished in 2002)
He subsequently moved to New-Carlisle, to become the Bonaventure Divison Registar, and it is where my father's marriage was celebrated. They made the trip from New-Carlisle to Maria in a horse drawn sulky and we have heard them tell us many a time what a nice day it was: The trees were covered with ice and were twinkling by the rays of the sun, a phenomenon that seemed to have impressed them immensely and that they loved to rememorize.
They had eight children, five sons, (Henry 1869-1930)-(John 1870-1894)-(Thomas 1872-1955)-(Charles 1876-1919)-(George 1883-19--) et trois filles: Theresa(Mrs Henry McIntyre) Suzan(Mrs Thomas Mill) and Amelia (Mrs Edgar R.Cyr)
My father also brought his mother to live with them where she stayed until her death, Christmas day 1897, at the advanced age of 92 years and 7 months.
There existed at that time, on many different country's market, a considerable demand for salted fish, and my father developed this business on a large scale. It consisted of the curing, salting and packing of herring.
That fish was bought from the local fishermen, and sometimes caught with a net right (seine) on the seashore, was carefully cured and then was packed in 300 lbs cedar wooded barrels to be shipped worldwide by schooners. Those barrels were bought from the local journey men who made them during the wintertime.
The packing was made by people specialized in that kind of work and that were coming back each spring to exercise their trade. I remember good M. Jeremie Lapointe,an expert barrel maker, who, while working conscientiously was reciting passages from the Bible for the edification of his fellow workers.
There were four to five thousands barrels made and used in this manner in a year.
With this commerce and his retail store, my father was also buying and selling of what we were calling then "tun timber". They were hard wood logs, 20 feet long, squared, and between 15 and 24 inches in diameter. He was buying them from the local farmers to ship them to the West Indies, where this wood was used to make staves in the fabrication of molasses' casks.( and rum too I suppose!)
The schooners that came to load these timbers, were at the same time also bringing, goods to furnish the general store, and once a year would bring a load of salt in prevision of next year usages.
The transfers of merchandise to an from the schooners were made using big scows that were hauled using a cable, one end tied to the schooner and the other to the shore.
The fish and timber market diminished sensibly at the end of the last century. Ultimately my father ceased entirely to continue operating those two businesses and took care of his retail store only.
He had made good use of his farming education received in Scotland, and so it is that with very little arable land, he managed to produce enough hay to keep a horse, two or three cows, a few sheep, etc� He also was a very good gardener, and we never lacked vegetables at home.
In December 1897, there were partial elections in the county of Bonaventure to elect a successor to the retiring member of parliament Honourable F.X. Lemieux recently nominated judge. During a regular liberal party convention held in New-Carlisle, my father was nominated as that party�s candidate for the next election. He already was visiting the county and had begun organising his election, when Honourable Charles Langelier from Quebec City came to visit. He wanted to be candidate in the county and for my father to resign in his favour.
The people of Bonaventure were not seeing things that way. They wanted somebody from the region to represent them and put pressure on my father to hold on to his candidacy. But M. Langelier really wanted the post. The election was fought between the two liberal candidates.
When a multitude of outside orators and schemers came to help his adversary, my father had only his son Thomas to work with him. But he was received everywhere by a warm and encouraging welcome. The election was on December 22, and my father won with a strong majority.
During the summer of 1900 the legislature was dissolved and in the following election he was opposed to a conservative party candidate, M. Sirien Poirier from (village of)Bonaventure. It was a very hard struggle and my father won by a 300 votes majority.
Finally, in 1904, there was another provincial election. And again the battle was between two liberal candidates. John Hall Kelly, a young lawyer from New-Carlisle and my father. This time my father was defeated and retired definitively from active politics.
In 1905, he was named Crown Lands agent for the Bonaventure county western division. He held this post until his death on May 31st 1922, at the age of 83 years and 4 months. My mother survived him by 14 years and died in Cascapedia at my brother�s Thomas home on October the 26th 1936, aged 97 years and 8 months.