1803 in Canada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Events from the year 1803 in Canada.
Incumbents
Federal government
Governors
Events
- Thomas Jefferson completes Louisiana Purchase extending U.S. control west of the Mississippi River; federal plans to resettle Eastern tribes beyond the Mississippi soon begin.
- John Colter becomes the fourth man selected by William Clark to join the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
- The XY Company is reorganized under Alexander Mackenzie's name.
- First Canadian Paper Mill is built in Quebec.[2]
Births
- October 13 â Augustin-Norbert Morin, lawyer, judge, politician and Joint Premier of the Province of Canada (d.1865)
- March 24 â Egerton Ryerson, politician, teacher, principal, Methodist minister (d.1882)
- December 6 â Susanna Moodie, writer (d.1885)
Full date unknown
- John Kinder Labatt, brewer and founder of the Labatt Brewing Company (d.1866)
Deaths
- Nathaniel Pettit (1724 â March 9, 1803) a political figure in Upper Canada.
- Rev. Johann Samuel Schwerdtfeger (1734â1803) The first Lutheran minister in Ontario.[3]
Historical documents
War returns as British government orders naval ships as well as vessels commissioned by letter of marque to seize ships belonging to French Republic[4]
Keeping troops "upon their present footing" in Canada and other northern colonies costs about £200,000, but "there are considerable colonial funds"[5]
Trade is discouraged because colonies are not allowed to directly import wine, oil, fruit etc. in exchange for their fish, lumber etc.[6]
U.S. envoy Robert R. Livingston has told French "it was necessary to interpose us between them and Canada [to prevent] an attack from that quarter"[7]
Report in London says U.S.A. has purchased Louisiana from France for $40 million[8]
Jurisdiction of courts of Upper and Lower Canada is extended to "Indian Territories or Parts of America [outside U.C., L.C. and U.S.A.]"[9]
Lower Canada
With smallpox spreading through city, Gazette recommends "speedy" inoculation with cowpox matter possessed by Quebec City physician[10]
Reading or writing is limited on average to 5 men in country parishes; only priests, clerks, notaries, attorneys and soldiers need those skills[11]
All resident men 18â60 must enroll in militia and those 40 and under must muster annually and give account of all firearms they have[12]
Government to pay bounties for hemp production (highest being $10 for ½ arpent, grown and dressed) and sets prices for hemp and hempseed[13]
To Catholics considering us "Schismatics" and "Protestant Sectaries" thinking us "slaves of authority," Anglicans should offer "superior goodness"[14]
Treason law is against subverting constitution and "introducing the horrible system of anarchy and confusion which has so fatally prevailed in France"[15]
When required, "every Rector, Curate, Vicar, or other Priest or Minister doing the Parochial or Clerical duty of any Parish[...]" must read acts publicly[16]
Suspecting arson in recent Montreal fires, government offers £500 reward for information leading to conviction of arsonist[17]
Cargo going from Montreal to Michilimackinac includes 9 kegs gunpowder, 3 bags shot and 2 cases guns, all for export via "Ouisconsin" portage[18]
At Kahnawake mass, "Indians sing or chant very well & the Women in particular have excellent Voices;" clothing has quillwork and beadwork[19]
"Private Lectures on Geography &c. for Young Ladies only[...]with Globes, Maps, Charts &c. together with a Planetarium, Lunarium, Tellurium &c."[20]
"A woman of colour lately arrived" advertises in Quebec City to "attend one or more Ladies to any part of Europe"[21]
At Quebec City, "we were struck with the Grandeur & elevation of the Banks of the River especially where Upper Town's height commands the River"[22]
Upper Canada
Among exports to Lower Canada in 1802 were 11,400+ barrels of flour and 18,500+ feet of black walnut boards and planks[23]
Howard Township successful hemp production brings in $1,127 profit from 12 acres of hemp, comparable to income from 65 acres of wheat[24]
Missionary reports "the 25,000 acres allotted by the British Government for the use of the Christian Indian Congregations [are to be] secured to them"[25]
Print: "York, the New Capital of Upper Canada, As it appeared in the Autumn of 1803"[26]
Nova Scotia
House of Assembly resolution that £200 be paid to "distressed Indians" at £20 per county is not agreed to by Council[28]
Our first fault "is that in the fall of Adam we lost [the] most prevailing characteristic of [God's] nature and essence, love"[29]
Politician James DeLancey sues Halifax merchant for harbouring escaped enslaved man Jack, employing him and refusing to return him[30]
Incoming University of King's College students must have knowledge of Greek and Latin, including Virgil, Horace, "the Greek Testament," Homer etc.[31]
Mission schoolmaster, praised for his many years of devoted service, is said in early years to have slept on straw and eaten herring and potatoes[32]
Sable Island commissioners request detailed report from its superintendent on likelihood of growing food and fishing and sealing there[33]
New Englander, resident in Horton Township (Wolfville) since 1760, dies at age 107 and leaves more than 100 descendants[34]
New Brunswick
Four "descendents of the Ancient Chiefs of the pockmouche tribe, which are now reduced to only two famillys," receive 200 acres of land each[35]
Survey of Northumberland County gives population as 479 families (with about 100 in Miramichi) and status of hay crop, fishery, and timber resources[36]
Legislature news includes bounty paid for hemp and Council voting down bills to finance schools and allow Methodist clergy to perform marriages[37]
Charlotte County needs help supporting indigent people crossing U.S. border and "sick and maimed Seamen" left on shore "in a suffering condition"[38]
£200 from Indian fund would spur "man of eminence" to be mathematics professor in proposed academy "of the highest importance to this Country"[39]
Labrador
Moravian missionaries upset about "the injury [nearby Europeans] would do to our baptized Esquimaux" drawn to "their uncontrouled behaviour"[40]
"Esquimaux[...]are not all so firmly rooted[...]in the faith, that they might not[...]enter into some of the ways of the heathen when left to themselves"[41]
Cape Breton Island
"The Island of Cape Breton is replete with natural advantages far exceeding any other British settlement in North America"[42]
Names of residents with property qualification for grand or petit jury will go on individual slips of paper to be drawn when needed for jury duty[43]
Man fathering child with woman he is not married to must provide support or face fine or jail, and any woman making false claim faces whipping[44]
Hudson's Bay Company
Churchill post blacksmith found walking in snow complains "of great lowness of Spirits" and "having but little sleep for 14 nights"[45]
Gardens at Churchill post produce 6¾ tons of "excellent" turnips and 6-700 small but "very fine quality" cabbages[46]
Elsewhere
Chief Maquinna's anger at insults from captain of British trading ship in Nootka Sound leads to his revenge on crew (Note: "savages" used)[47]