The Jess-Payzant Family

On Saturday afternoon, 19 July 2003, John Wilson, a local historian of Windsor, NS, was the tour guide for many Jess and Payzant descendants.  John had four key stops.  The history of these stops helped all of us to understand the story of Marie Payzant, and the families who were part of the story of the New England Planters.

Windsor lies at the juncture of the Avon and St. Croix rivers.  Pisiquid was the town’s original name, roughly translated as ‘Meeting-of-the-Waters’ in the language of the Mi’kmaq.  The Acadians called the Falmouth area Sainte-Famille (La paroisse Sainte-Famille de Pisiquid, established ca. 1685).

 1.         Fort Edward National Historic Site of Canada, Windsor, NS

 The Fort Edward Blockhouse is the oldest standing military structure in Canada.  The fort was constructed in 1750 to establish the British presence among the Acadians at the eastern end of the Annapolis Valley.  Five years later Fort Edward was a main assembly point for the Deportation of the Acadians from the Piziquid area, approximately 1,000.

 Two women have known this fort.

 (a)        Marie Payzant:  Fort Edward was mentioned in John Payzant’s journal.  In May 1756, Marie and her four children were taken by canoe down the St. Croix River.  As the Maliseet paddled pass the fort, they could see the guardhouse at Fort Edward on the hill and threatened their captives not to call out.  (The Maliseet travelled from Payzant’s Island, Mahone Bay to Quebec City in 1756 via the St. Croix River, and into the Minas Basin.)

Upon her return to Nova Scotia in 1760, Marie (with her five children) received a land grant within viewing distance of the fort from across the Piziquid (Avon) River in Falmouth.  During her visits to the fledging town, its buildings clustered under the protection of the fort, she would have been well aware of, and perhaps comforted by, the constant military presence so close to her new home.

 (b)        Flora Macdonald:  the plaque attached on the historic blockhouse reads:

 FLORA MACDONALD

‘A name that will be mentioned in

history, and if courage and fidelity

as virtues, mentioned with honour.’

(Samuel Johnson)

 

The Preserver of Bonnie Prince Charlie

spent the winter of 1779 here with her

husband Capt. Allan Macdonald of the

Royal Highland Emigrants, when return-

ing to her old home in Skye, after exile

from her next home in North Carolina.

Her loyalty and devotion in the midget

of troubled days have long been told

in Scottish song and story.

 
Flora’s husband, Capt. Allan Macdonald, was in command of the 6^th Company, 2^nd Battalion of the 84^th Regiment, stationed at Fort Edward.  Following her release from house arrest in North Carolina, Flora joined her husband at Fort Edward during the winter of 1778-79 before returning to Scotland.  She wrote later (and quoted in a biography):

“At last in Halifax, were allowed to stay there for eight days on account of my fragile state, the ninth day set out for Windsor on the Bay of Minas through woods and snow and arrived the fifth day [from Halifax]…  There we continued all winter and spring, covered with frost and snow and almost starved with cold to death, it being one of the worst winters seen there.”

 2.         Rev. Henry Alline Monument, United Baptist Church, Falmouth, NS

 Henry Alline and John Payzant grew up together in Falmouth, were very close friends, and both became ministers in Nova Scotia.  The monument on the grounds of the United Baptist Church in Falmouth was placed in 1984 and reads:

Henry Alline

1748-1784

 Born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1760 came with his parents to Falmouth N.S.  Had a remarkable conversion experience at age 27.  Began to preach with great zeal and effectiveness, often taking his text from Ephesians 5:14  “Aware thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”  Was leader in the New Light Movement which influenced later development of Baptist churches.  Wrote over 500 hymns, two books of theology, and a renowned Journal.  Died on preaching mission to New England at age 35, and was buried in New Hampshire.  Inscribed on tombstone:  “He was a burning and shining light and justly acclaimed the Apostle of Nova Scotia.” 

Placed May 27, 1984

 [Note from Marion Payzant’s The Payzant and Allied Jess and Juhan Families in North America, p. 31:

“During his [John’s] youth and while living in the family home at Falmouth, he met and married Mary whose parents held the adjoining homestead, and whose brother, Rev. Henry Alline, was known as the ‘Whitefield of Nova Scotia’”.]

3.         Centre Falmouth Cemetery, Falmouth, NS

This cemetery is the burial place of several early members of the Payzant family…and one Jess child.

 The 15-foot tall Payzant monument was erected in memory of Deacon Peter Payzant, his wife Catherine, and three of their children; and Peter’s grandparents, Louis and Marie Payzant.  The inscriptions read:

 (First face)
In memory of Peter Payzant who died Aug. 25. 1854. in the 61^st year of his age.
Also his wife Catherine Jane died May 29. 1870. aged 72 years.
PAYZANT

(Second face)
Also Margaret, John and Sarah. Children of Peter & Catherine Payzant who died young.
PAYZANT

(Third face)
Also Lewis Payzant died Nov. 30. 1845 in the 95^th year of his age. Also his wife Grace. died Sept. 25. 1829 in the 75^th year of her age.
‘In their lives they were united.
In their death they were not divided.’

(Fourth face)
Also Lewis Payzant died near Chester, N.S.  He was the descendant of a Huguenot family who fled from France on the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.  Also Mary, his wife.

__________

The above were the grandparents of Peter Payzant.

[Note from Linda Layton’s A Passion for Survival, p. 118:
“Louis was himself a Huguenot who fled France fifty-four years after the 1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.”]
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Notes from John Wilson:  22 August 2003

The monument has:

·        concrete base:   44” x 44” x 14” high (above ground level);

·        first grey granite stone:  33” x 33” x 9” high; and

·        second grey granite stone:  29” x 29” x 12” high.

Then follows three stones of red granite:

·        first:  24’ x 24” x 14” high;

·        second:  19” x 19” x 32” high (contains inscriptions); and

·        third and final:  13” x 13” x about 96” high and tapered, with the top 6” sharply tapered to a point.

Near the bottom of the first stone is an inscription SANDFORD HX…and possibly stands for SANFORD the name of the stonecutter and HX stands for Halifax.  The red granite probably came from St. George, NB or Scotland.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
The only Jess gravestone (white) is a short distance from the Payzant monument towards the river bank, and reads:

In Memory of

Joseph B.

son of

David Jess

who died 24^th Jan 1827

in the 11^th year

of his age.

 

‘Sleep lovely babe

and take your rest

God willed you home

When He thought best.’

 (David Jess, 1777-1867, buried in the United Baptist Church Cemetery, Cambridge, NS.)

4.         Avon Valley Golf and Country Club, Falmouth, NS
The golf course is the site of Marie Payzant’s homestead.  An indentation in the ground behind the Pro Shop marks the location of her house.  The location is described the in A Passion for Survival, p. 115:
“The former location of Marie Anne’s log farmhouse is on the grounds of the country club.  A depression in the ground behind the Pro Shop identifies the spot where it stood for over one hundred years.  Probably built in the 1760s, it burned to the ground in the late 1800s, destroying valuable possessions and old records.  A few brick fragments poke out of the grass, likely from the chimney.”
The Payzant homestead was known as “Greenvale Farm”.
The clubhouse was once the home of Thomas Aylward who built it between the years 1913 and 1915.  His grandson was the late John V. Duncanson, local historian who wrote about Falmouth and Newport.