Christopher Harper (1730 - 1820)

Born 1730 in Sledmere, Yorkshire, England

Husband of Mary (Starin) Harper — married before 1757 in Yorkshire, England

Husband of Elizabeth (Leppington) Harper — married 12 May 1759 in Sledmere, York, England

Descendants

Died 17 Dec 1820 at about age 90 in Sackville, Westmorland, New Brunswick

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Biography

Christopher Harper, child of Thomas, was baptised on 21 March 1730 in Sledmere, Yorkshire, England, a small village near Hull, Yorkshire.^[1]

Christopher Harper died (age 90) in Sackville, Westmorland, New Brunswick.

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Will dated 30 Sep 1818, probated 21 Sep 1820: names sons John, Thomas, William; daughters Ann (Nelson?); grandsons Christopher Harper, Willian & Richard (3 sons of William); Philip Palmer, Esq.; Charlotte Boultenhouse, wife of Bedford; Thomas King. (Westmorland County NB Probate, Moncton NB, Book 1787-1832.) A magistrate.

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Christopher Harper was born in a small village near Hull, Yorkshire, England. He emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1774 (age 45), bringing his family and his nephew, Thomas King, with him. He arrived at Fort Cumberland on a fine day in May, and his surprise was great the next morning to see the ground covered with snow. Mr. Harper bought a property to the south-east of the garrison lands, and moved his family into a house said to have been built by the Acadians; but this is very doubtful, as these people chose to burn their dwellings rather than let them fall into the hands of the English. Tradition says Mr. Harper brought stock, both horses and cattle, with him from Yorkshire.

In 1777 Mr. Harper's house and barn were burned by the Eddy rebels, and soon after the Loyalists came to Nova Scotia, and moved to Sackville, having purchased land near Morris's Mills. It is said he came into possession of this property through prosecuting one Elijah Ayer (1727-1799) and others for setting fire to his buildings at Fort Cumberland. In 1809 he obtained a grant from the Government at Fredericton of the mill-pond, and some two hundred or three hundred acres of wilderness land in Sackville, including about forty acres of marsh on the east side of the Tantramar River, above Cole's Island.

Mr. Harper had three sons and four daughters. His son Christopher, who was a captain in the army in early life, left for Quebec, via Richibucto and Miramichi, and was not heard from after leaving Mirimichi. John married Miss Thornton (whose father was a Loyalist) and after living at the mill for a time moved to Dorchester. William married Phoebe Haliday, from Cobequid, and built on the place where I.C. Harper, of Sackville, now lives; Catherine married Gideon Palmer; Annie marriad Major Richard Wilson, a north of Ireland man; Fannie married Thomas King, and Charlotte married Bedford Boultenhouse.

Christopher Harper owned the first two-wheeled chaise that was run in Westmorland County. He was a magistrate and used to solemnize marriage, and sometimes officiated in the Church of England in the absence of the rector.

The Harpers of Sackville and Bay Verte are descendants of the two brothers, William and John. (RB2)

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Harper, Christopher of Cumberland Twp., NS, farmer. Petition by the claimant, lately arrived from NS, sworn Whitechapel, 1784. He is a native of England who went to NS in 1775 with L1,500 sterling which he used to purchase lands in Cumberland. There he a storekeeper and was appointed a JP and Lieut. in the Militia in 1776. In November of that year he entered the garrison at Fort Cumberland and took up arms. His house and goods were destroyed by the rebels.

The claimant remained for two years with his family in the fort and was in arms until the end of the war. His family is still in NS and he intends to return there. Decision 26 April 1784: this is a singular case of loss in consequence of loyalty not within the Thirteen Provinces; allowance of L30 a year recommended. (12/100/224; 13/92/39-45). (ref: TITLE?? _____ Migrations).

• Fact: http://familysearch.org/v1/LifeSketch Christopher Harper was a Yorkshireman. He came out with some other immigrants in the Ship, "Albion," that sailed from Hull, in March, 1774, He arrived at Fort Cumberland in May and was surprised to find the ground covered with snow. He is said to have brought with him a stock of cattle and horses. He first occupied a house at the Fort that had been built by the Acadians. Two years after he came, the Eddy force from New England appeared to capture Fort Cumberland. They burned his house. Soon after he sold his property at the Fort to his son-in-law, Gideon Palmer, who later removed to Dorchester. Mr. Harper obtained the Mill property, (Morice's at Sackville) and removed there. It had been the property of the Ayer's family. Harper had carried on proceedings in the Supreme Court for burning his house at the Fort. He was a very strong and determined Loyalist and the Ayers family, or most of them, were imbued with the New England spirit, of independence. In 1809, he obtained a grant of land from the Government of the Mill Pond and a considerable area of wilderness and marsh. He had a son, Christopher, a Captain in the British Army. He was ordered to Quebec and left via the North Shore route, but he was never heard of after he left Miramichi. Another son, William, occupied his lands. A portion of them came into the hands of his son, Christopher, and his grandson, Chipman. Mr. Harper is said to have owned the first two wheel chaise that appeared in Westmorland County. He was a magistrate and is credited with reading the lessons on Sundays at the Fort when there was no minister. His daughter married Capt. Richard Wilson.

The Memorial of Christopher Harper states in the year 1780 he obtained a judgment in his Majesty's Supreme Court for the Province of Nova Scotia against Elijah Ayer (1727-1799), and other defendants for the sum of 585 pounds to satisfy which an execution was levied upon the real estate of the said Ayer, particularly upon three rights of land at Tantramar in the Township of Sackville, No. 53, 54, and 55, of which same rights a Sheriff's Deed was duly executed to your Memorialist -- that the possession of the same rights being afterward wrongly withheld from your Memorialist he was compelled for the recovery thereof to bring an action of ejectment against the said Ayer in the Supreme Court of this Province and recovered a judgment therein for the possession of the said rights so conveyed to him by the said Sheriff's Deed. That in executing the writ of possession under the said judgment your Memorialist discovered that the lots No. 53 and 54 above mentioned although they had been a long time in the possession of the said Ayer, had never been granted but still remained the property of the Crown.

Your Memorialist therefore most humbly prays that your Excellency will be pleased to order a grant to be made to him of the said rights Nos. 53 and 54. Without them your Memorialist will remain a very great Sufferer in consequence of the trespasses for which his action above mentioned was originally brought in the province of Nova Scotia and more especially as your Memorialist most humbly conceives no other person has any fair pretention to a grant of the same right. The present occupiers have possession thereof by the Connivance of the said Ayer after the Commencement of the above actions at law by your Memorialist for redress of the manifold injuries he had sustained.

Amos Botsford certified that the facts were correctly stated. Ward Chipman certified in a letter to Jonathan Odell as to Harper's rights. Surveyor General Sproule certified Mr. Harper's claim as remarkably good, grounded on his well known services at Fort Cumberland during the rebellion, and the great losses he sustained at that time from his rebellious neighbours, many of whom are still settled in the country. Amos Botsford reported to the Government (1786):-- Soon after the levy of the execution in order to defend Harper the inhabitants of Sackville resumed or escheated the mill and stream and by a committee of three of which Mr. Cornforth was one, gave a deed of the same to Nehemiah Ayer, son of Elijah, with covenants of warrantry. Harper brought an action against the two Ayers, which was then pending. Mr. Botsford remarks that nothing is said in any of the grants about the mill privilege. The Committee asserted the mill was not kept in repair and it was sold by them on condition it should be kept in repair. MORICE'S MILL POND -- 1797 To His Excellency, Governor Carleton, Of His Majesty's Province of New Brunswick, &c, &c, &c. The Memorial of Charles Dixon, Esq., in behalf and at the request of the Proprietors of the Township of Sackville respectfully sheweth:-- That there is a tract of land in the Town of Sackville, overflowed with water. Originally at first settling of the Town, was set apart for a Mill privilege for said Town, and as it has never been granted and the Town of Sackville making a great progress in improvements, and work of general utility, such as Fulling Mills, &c., much wanted. Your Memorialist, in behalf of said Town, humbly begs Your Excellency would grant to such persons in trust for said Town as may meet Your Excellency's approbation, the above Tract of Land, that improvements may not be retarded and Your Memorialist, as in duty bound, will ever pray. P.S. -- The particulars of what was done and what the Town would wish to be done will accompany this, with the names of Proprietors of the Town, at a public meeting respecting the above tract referred to your Secretary. January, 1797; Amos Botsford, Esq., Step. Millidge, Esq., John Millidge, Thomas Herret, Isaac Evens, George Boulmar, Wm. Below, Simon Peefley, Step'n Below, Joseph Lamb, Charles Lewis, Titus Thornton, John Fluther, Nicholas Simmons, Tho. Bowser, John Fawset, John Aakinson, Frederick Delesdernier, William Harper, Joseph Lederoy, Henry Delesdernier, John Wood, John Seares, Agnas Macfee, David Weton, William Fawset, Jr., Tho. Anderson, John Anderson, John Patterson, George Patterson, Tho. Anderson, Jr., Ebenezer Ward, Joseph Ward, Samuel Hicks, James Hicks, Allinandrew Rancday, Richard Wilson, Esq., John Harper, John Ogden, Tho. Verlow, John Tilton, Tho. Bowser, Jr., Ebenezer Bowser, Captain Eddy. Mr. Harper had three sons and four daughters. Besides Capt. Christopher he had John and William, the former married a daughter of Titus Thornton, and William, one of the Haliday family from Cobequid. The former made a home for himself at Dorchester and the latter, the farm occupied later, by the late I. C. Harper at Upper Sackville. Mr. Harper's daughters married as follows: Charlotte to Bedford Boultenhouse; Fanny to Thomas King; Annie married Major Richard Wilson and Catherine, Gideon Palmer. The late Joseph C. Harper, who started the milling business that gave the town of Port Elgin its first impulse, was a grandson of Christopher; Frederick Harper, a prominent citizen of Seattle, United States, a son of Joseph. (Milner, Dr. W. C. History of Sackville New Brunswick. Sackville, New Brunswick: The Tribune Printing Co., Ltd., 1934, page 167ff)

Cumberland 1774. storekeeper. Arrived on the Jenny with the Yorkshire immigrants at age 45. ^[2]

Ancestor of Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada

An excellent article on this family can be found here: https://tantramarheritage.ca/2010/04/white-fence-45/

HARPER: Christopher Harper born c1735 near Hull in Yorkshire, England, died 17 Sep 1820, m. Elizabeth Leppington b. c1735, d. 14 Jul 1808: came to NB in 1774 and settled in Sackville Parish, Westmorland County:

Children mentioned:

1. Christopher Harper Jr.: a captain in British Army: served in Miramichi, NB and in Quebec:
2. Annie Harper born c1759, d. Sep 1825, married Capt. Richard Wilson of Northern Ireland:
3. Hannah Harper b. c1760:
4. Elizabeth Harper b. c1761:
5. John Harper bp. 11 Jul 1762 near Hull, England: he married 6 Oct 1791 at Sackville, Mercy Thornton d/o Titus Thornton: settled in Middle Sackville, and in Dorchester Parish, Westmorland County, NB: they had four children:
6. Fanny Harper b. - , m. Thomas King:
7. Catherine Harper born c1768, died May 1832, married Gideon Palmer:
8. Charlotte Harper b. c1769, died 25 Oct 1836, m. Bedford Boultenhouse:
9. William Harper b. c1771, d. 1842, married Phoebe Haliday of Cobequid, NS, born 1791, d. 1842: settled at Upper Sackville, NB and had four children:
10. Thomas Harper b. c1772.

Sources: MC80/45 Howard Trueman’s The Chignecto Isthmus and its first settlers, pages 225-226 which states that Christopher Harper Sr. brought over his nephew, Thomas King, with him in 1774: see MC80/31 W.C. Milner’s History of Sackville, New Brunswick, pages 156 to 159: see also MC2852 Purdy-Carter genealogical collection, MS2: on microfilm reel F20987: see sheets for Christopher Harper and for his sons.

Sources

1. ↑ Baptism: "England, Yorkshire, Parish Registers, 1538-2016"
   FamilySearch Record: 66BF-2HRQ (accessed 18 June 2022)
   FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-CSHD-FSD1-K Image number 01204
   Christopher Harper baptism on 21 Mar 1730, child of Tho, in Sledmere, Yorkshire, England.
2. ↑ Planters and Pioneers-E.C.Wright

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 22 May 2022, 04:50), entry for Christopher Harper (PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:LCFH-612 ); contributed by various users.
• Ancestry. Christopher Harper, born 1730 in Acklam, Yorkshire. Died 17Dec1820 in Sackville.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/131025708/christopher-harper: accessed 23 September 2022), memorial page for Christopher Harper (1730–17 Sep 1820), Find a Grave Memorial ID 131025708, citing Methodist Burying Ground, Middle Sackville, Westmorland County, New Brunswick, Canada; Maintained by Scott A (contributor 50170331) .
• Marriage 12 May 1759 to Elizabeth Lovington/Leppington

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Harper-1015 created through the import of The Sammons Family Tree gedcom on Jun 9, 2011 by Steve Sammons.
• http://chignecto.org/getperson.php?personID=I5405&tree=Main
• http://home.earthlink.net/~dougayer/harper/pafg04.htm
• Ancestry-dream readr. Christopher Harper, born 1730 in Acklam, Yorkshire, England. Died 17Dec1820 in Sackville, New Brunswicke, Canada

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/131025708/christopher-harper

Notes

N1. Christopher has the same birth year as his father (before 1730). Father's DOB should be changed to "before 1710" or something similar.