Facilitating Letters: Easing the Way to a New Life in Missisquoi

Heather Darch, Musée Missisquoi Museum

'Far away – oh far away –
We seek a world o'er the ocean spray!
We seek a land across the sea,
Where bread is plenty and men are free,
The sails are set, the breezes swell –
England, our country, farewell! farewell!

The year is 1833 and the scene is the waterfront in Liverpool, where Canadian sailing vessels are stationed. It is always busy here, but on the morning of the departure of a large ship, with a full complement of emigrants, it is frantic. The passengers have undergone a health inspection, they have paid their passage, and many of them have taken up their quarters on board. Some have already been on the ship for twenty-four hours, while others arrive at the last minute. Many travelers bring, in addition to the boxes and trunks containing their worldly wealth, considerable quantities of provisions to help them survive what may be a seven week crossing to Montreal.

We can only imagine the emotional states of the passengers as their boat pulled away from the shore. Although many people who left the old world looked forward to new opportunities, it was not without regret, sadness, and trepidation that they headed into a new life. For some, the passage across the ocean and settlement in Canada was made easier by the fact that other family members had been on the journey before them. The influence of letters from immigrants sent home to their families prompted waves of migration throughout the 19 th century. Although these letters were not always glowing accounts of life in Canada, they provided encouragement and security to potential settlers. The thousands of letters that crossed the Atlantic facilitated the way for many hesitant people to leave all that they knew and move to Canada.

One such letter is housed in the Missisquoi Museum archives. Dated “Montreal 1833” and written in the spidery penmanship of the day, Robert McKee, a native of Ireland, wrote to his brother Thomas, encouraging him to come to Lower Canada. He told Thomas of his plan to farm within the year. “I have been looking out for a place and has one in my view that will do you and me. There is two hundred acres cleared and a good house on it… and in a good country and well inhabited and near to the grist mill saw mill and tannery. It will be got for about thirty pounds.”

Robert's letter also cautioned Thomas about potential hardships. “I really think you would do better here but mind you not think it strange to meet with trials and difficulties as well as others. For there is not one that comes here but has a winter before a summer but let this not prevent you if you intend to come for about two years will make you comfortable if your are spared health.”

All immigrants received a list of what was recommended for a safe passage. Typical ship necessities included bedding, dishes, cutlery, kettles, and cooking utensils. All baggage had to be well marked and each person over the age of fourteen was allowed 500 pounds of luggage. Immigrants were reminded to take birth and marriage records and letters confirming their “ good character, (if they should have the happiness to possess one,) fairly written, and well attested...”

In addition to these suggestions, passengers received procedural booklets on how to settle in their new surroundings once they arrived. The “1832 Emigrants Handbook for Arrivals at Quebec” may have been a familiar tract to Robert McKee. Robert was thorough in the inventory of items he thought his brother should bring with him, and the list itself gives insight into what life was like aboard an immigrant ship. “Dear brother if you come out here bring all the money you can for money is the only thing here…You can fat a little pig for yourself and butter & eggs and plenty of fowl in place of salt beef; one hundred biscuit; half hundred oatmeal baked in bread with caraway in it; two hundred of meal and a large barrel potatoes with a store of good flour and plenty of peppermint to mix with your tea and some barley…and a good quantity of dried flummery (sweet pudding) ; one gallon spirits, some cream of tartar, a few lemon. Have all your goods well secured in strong barrels…put your eggs and salt in a wooden can closely covered in a good quantity of groats” (hulled and crushed grains of various cereals).

He focused on some particulars that only an experienced passenger could appreciate. “As to your dress two suits is plenty…bring as many pieces of fine linen as you can…Book your passage on the Quinten or Princess Charlotte (both sailed out of Liverpool). Choose your berth near the middle of the vessel and not under the hatch way; provide yourselves with good bedding…be sure to take plenty of water for we were almost lost for want of water; if you fetch a few pounds tobacco it will pay you well when it gets scarce on board. Bring two pots, a frying pan, two fine combs, a few tins and take care of them and not leave them or you will lose them”.

Robert ended his correspondence to Thomas saying, “I do not think this country answers him nor any person that is not inclined to work hard and live careful.” Robert McKee is recorded in the 1842 census for Stanbridge Township. He is listed as a farmer by profession with a wife and four daughters. In the 1851 census he has six daughters and two sons. It would seem that Robert found his dream in Missisquoi County. It is not known if Thomas followed his brother to Quebec, although a Thomas McKee, who died in 1850, is buried in the Stanton Cemetery.

Immigrant letters served as guidebooks that fueled imaginations and facilitated the moving of people from one country to another. As firsthand accounts of the immigrant experience, the numerous letters found across Canada provide poignant glimpses into population migrations.

Musée Missisquoi Museums
2, rue River, Stanbridge East QC J0J 2H0
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