SMETHURST, GAMALIEL (1738 LIVING 1774)

SMETHURST, GAMALIEL, early visitor to Miramichi Bay; b. Marblehead, Mass., 9 Apr 1738, s/o Capt. Joseph Smethurst and Tabitha Skinner; living in 1774.

In 1761, Gamaliel Smethurst, with a license received from Governor James Murray, of Quebec, set out to trade with the Acadians at Chaleur Bay, under a license received from Gov. James Murray of Quebec. In the fall of that year, he made a six-week trek down the coast to Fort Cumberland, and his diary of the journey became the basis of his claim to remembrance: A Narrative of an Extraordinary Escape out of the Hands of the Indians in the Gukph of St. Lawrence, which was published in London in 1774.

In company with several Micmac Indians whom he had engaged as guides and porters, Smethurst reached the Neguac area on 18 November 1761 and stayed overnight in the home of one Brossard dit Beausoleil. Two days later he arrived at the Indian village at Burnt Church, of which the chief was Louis François. He was delayed there for ten days, which gave him ample time to record his observations on such topics as the Micmacs' pride and independence of spirit, their devotion to Catholicism, and their inclination to abuse alcohol. He left at the end of November and reached Fort Cumberland in mid December.

Smethurst returned to Massachusetts for a time, but in 1763 he received a grant of land in the township of Cumberland, N.S., and appointments as collector of customs and deputy surveyor of the King's woods. In 1765 he was elected to represent Cumberland in the Nova Scotia Assembly, but before long he had given all of this up and moved to London, England.