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Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

Dictionary of Miramichi Biography

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LETSON, GEORGE EDWARD (1826-1872)

LETSON, GEORGE EDWARD, fish processor, general merchant, and JP; b. Chatham, 4 Jan 1826, s/o William Letson and Mary Ann Farnham; brother of Henry Farnham Letson and Francis Joshua Letson; m. c1860, Catherine Goodfellow, d/o Alexander Goodfellow and h/w Elizabeth; d. Chatham, 26 Oct 1872.

George E. Letson studied at the County Grammar School under William Jenkins. In 1849 he was managing William J. Fraser's fishing station and cannery on Portage Island. In the 1850s he established a large fishing and fish processing operation of his own at Lower Neguac. There he had an ice house, wharf, and shipbuilding yard, from which he launched at least two vessels for use in the business: the Alnwick (1856) and the George E. Letson (1860).

The report of the Miramichi Fishery Society for 1860 commented on the exceptional quality of the fish which Letson was shipping to the Boston market. A visitor to the salmon canning plant in 1862 observed upwards of twenty employees cutting up and sealing salmon in one- and two-pound tins. This factory could can 4,000 pounds of salmon a day.

In addition to the fishing operation, Letson grew wheat, oats, potatoes and other crops in the vicinity of his place of business and built comfortable cottages which he and his brothers W. Albro Letson and H. Farnham Letson were occupying in 1862. He had a well-stocked store and post office (Stymiest's Settlement), of which he was in charge from 1857 to 1870. He was also a justice of the peace. When Lieut. Gov. Arthur Hamilton Gordon visited the Miramichi in August 1862, Letson's was one of two private residences at which he called for lunch.

In spite of its history of success, Letson's business failed in 1866, and his assets were advertised for sale by the sheriff. He remained at Stymiest's Settlement until 1870 and then moved back to Chatham. When he died in 1872, at age forty-six, he was survived by his wife, Catherine Goodfellow, and five children.

Sources

[b] church records [d] Advocate 13 Nov 1872 / Dictionnaire Biographique; Gleaner 11 Aug 1855, 5 Jul 1862, 9 Aug 1862, 16 Aug 1862, 8 Aug 1863, 4 Aug 1866; Manny (Ships); MacManus; Perley


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