SOUTER, JAMES (1803-1846)

SOUTER, JAMES, first resident Presbyterian minister at Newcastle, 1830-43; b. Kennethmont parish, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 1802 (bap. 19 Jan 1803), s/o William Souter and Anna Malcolm; m. in Halifax, 1831, Helen Ogilvie Dyce, of Aberdeen; d. there, 6 Apr 1846.

James Souter attended King's College, Aberdeen, from 1819 to 1823 but was not granted his MA until 23 April 1830. A few days afterwards, the Aberdeen Journal announced his election "by the directors of the Glasgow North American Colonial Society to the Scottish Church in Newcastle, Miramichi, New Brunswick." "After his ordination here," the paper stated, "he will proceed by the earliest of the fall ships to assume his charge."

When Souter arrived, St James Church at Newcastle (that is, the church which was built to replace the one lost in the Miramichi Fire) was not finished inside or furnished with pews, but it was used for Sunday services nonetheless.

At the outset of his ministry Souter expressed a desire to conduct services at Red Bank and Blackville on a monthly basis. It is not known to what extent he may have done so, but he had a preaching station at Blackville in 1839-40, at least, prior to the setting up of a new charge there and the induction of the Rev. John Turnbull. To help the Presbyterians at Black River and Tabusintac he gathered statistical information and asked the colonial society, in 1832, to appoint a missionary to work on a rotational basis north and south of Miramichi Bay. This advice was taken two years later when the Rev. Simon Fraser was appointed. In the meantime, Souter preached and baptized on at least one occasion at Tabusintac.

In 1834 Souter estimated the size of his "total congregation" at 700-800 persons, although he had only 147 communicants at Newcastle, including considerable numbers from the upper section of Chatham parish and the lower sections of North Esk and Nelson. He stated that there were two Sunday schools within the charge taught by six teachers, and attended by 110 children.

Souter's principal accomplishment as minister at Newcastle was to contain within the same Presbyterian congregation both those who stood with the Church of Scotland and those who subscribed to the theology of the Secessionists. The congregation did not split in two like that at Chatham, or become paralyzed by internecine warfare like the congregation at Black River.

Souter's love of learning is evident from his correspondence, and he interested himself in the education of the youth of the Miramichi. He was a school trustee for Newcastle parish, and in 1833 his concern over the lack of educational opportunities beyond the elementary level prompted him to ask the St James congregation to permit him to conduct a school for older boys. It was agreed that he could teach four days a week, for four hours each day, but by 1835 the congregation felt that the school was "taking away from his usefulness as a minister" and asked that it be discontinued. He then became a proponent and a founding trustee of the Newcastle Grammar School (1836), of which he was undoubtedly influential in having John H. Sivewright named as principal. From the time of its formation in 1837 he was secretary of the Northumberland County Board of Education, the mandate of which was to examine "the moral character, literary attainments, and loyal principles" of applicants for teachers' licenses. He took an interest in agricultural development also and was elected as the first secretary of the Northumberland Agricultural Society in 1838.

In 1842-43 an unseemly war of letters was waged in the pages of The Gleaner between an individual signing himself "M.G." and the Rev. James Hudson, Anglican missionary. M.G. instigated the exchange by taunting the Anglicans, and Hudson responded in a highly emotional way. The Rev. Robert Archibald, who hastily joined the fray, was correct in observing that Hudson's attitude was "warlike," but his judgment faltered when he described the meanspirited attack launched by M.G. in the first place as "able and manly." The climax of the affair came when Hudson gleefully announced that M.G. was really "J. S - - - - r." Souter was trapped, but he procrastinated for about ten weeks before admitting that he had written the anonymous letters. Less than three months afterwards, he and his family left to return to Scotland. He did administrative work with the church there until May 1844, when he was inducted as minister of the parish of Borthwick, in Aberdeenshire. He died only two years later, at age forty-three. He and his wife, Helen O. Dyce, had a son and three daughters, all of whom were born in Newcastle.