rst public act of the founders of the City of the Loyalists
should be to render thanks for their preservation and safe arrival in
the land of their adoption. The psalms for that 18th morning may have
struck a responsive chord in many hearts. "Comfort us again now after
the time that thou hast afflicted us, and for the years wherein we
have seen adversity." "Establish the work of our hands upon us, yea,
the work of our hands establish thou it."

No friendly roof had yet been reared to shelter them from the storm.
The wilderness had its unknown perils. Perhaps too the dread of some
lurking savage may have filled the hearts of the helpless ones with a
nameless fear. Still the message was--"He that dwelleth in the
tabernacle of the most High shall lodge under the shadow of the
Almighty." "Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night, nor for
the arrow that flieth by day."

The Loyalists could not but feel relieved when they safely reached
their destination. There were no light houses, or beacons, or fog
horns to aid the navigator, and the charts were imperfect. The vessels
were greatly over crowded and the accommodations not of the best. To
add to the general discomfort, in some of the ships epidemics, such as
measles, broke out. Yet, glad as they were to be again on shore, it
was with heavy hearts they watched the departure of the fleet. The
grandmother of the late Sir Leonard Tilley said to one of her
descendants, "I climbed to the top of Chipman's Hill and watched the
sails disappearing in the distance, and such a feeling of loneliness
came over me that, although I had not shed a tear through all the war,
I sat down on the damp moss with my baby in my lap and cried."

The days that followed the arrival of the Loyalists were busy days for
Major Studholme and his assistant, Samuel Denny Street.[140] By their
orders, boards, shingles, clapboards, bricks, etc., were distributed
to those needing them. A large number of Studholme's accounts in this
connection are on file at Halifax. The first in which the name of Parr
(Parrtown) occurs is the following:--

"Parr, on the River St. John, 31 August, 1783.

"Rec'd from Gilfred Studholme L5. 18. 10 1-2 for surveying 142,660
feet lumber for use of the Loyalists settled on the River St.
John.

"JEREMIAH REGAN."

[140] Amongst the documents at Halifax relating to the settlement of
the Loyalists at St. John is the following receipt:

River St