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In order to arrive at a clear understanding of the attempts to form settlements in the old townships on the River St. John during the pre-loyalist period, the reader will do well to compare with this paper, the fifth paper of the original series.

The year 1774 proved an exceedingly busy one to our pioneers at St. John. They were making strenuous efforts to place settlers upon their lands in Conway; Mr. Hazen's house was being finished at Portland Point; an aboideau was being built to reclaim the "great marsh" from the sea; and the manufacture of lime, attending the weirs and carrying on the trade with the Indians were all in full blast. In addition to the business of the company, James Simonds had considerable public business to transact as Judge of Probate, Deputy Registrar of Deeds and Deputy Collector of Customs. The latter office he resigned to Mr. White when he moved up the river to Sheffield in 1778.

James White was an energetic and industrious member of the company, and it may seem to the fair minded reader that in the end he scarcely derived the benefit from his labors to which he was fairly entitled. In the ultimate division of the lands the portion that fell to him was chiefly confined to a share of the marsh in the vicinity of Coldbrook. Jonathan Leavitt, in his deposition of October 1, 1794, says, "The general reputation of James White is that of a fair dealing, respectable man; generally reputed of integrity and veracity and worthy of credit." In the construction of the first aboideau in 1774, Mr. White kept the time and accounts of the workmen and personally assisted in the most