then set
to work with a will, working in one united party, clearing places on
their lots for buildings, cutting logs, carrying them together with
their own hands, having as yet neither cattle nor horses to draw them.
By the month of November every man in the district found himself and
his family covered under his own roof, and, according to Walter
Bates, they were "perfectly, happy, contented and comfortable in their
dwellings through the winter." In this respect they were fortunate
indeed in comparison with those who passed their first winter in
canvas tents at Parrtown and St. Anns.

We must now speak of the arrival of the Summer fleet of transports at
the River St. John.

Almost everybody has heard of the Spring and Fall fleets, but
comparatively few are aware that a very important contingent of
Loyalists came to St. John on the 29th of June. The late J. W.
Lawrence makes no mention of this Summer fleet in his "Foot-Prints;"
in fact nearly all of our local historians have ignored it. Moses H.
Perley, in his well known lecture on early New Brunswick history,
mentions it very briefly. Lorenzo Sabine, in his Loyalists of the
American Revolution, incidentally refers to the date of arrival. The
reference occurs in the biographical sketch of John Clarke, of Rhode
Island, of whom we read:--

"At the peace, he settled at St. John. He arrived at that city on
the 29th of June, 1783, at which time only two log huts had been
erected on its site. The government gave him and every other
grantee 500 feet of very ordinary boards towards covering their
buildings. City lots sold in 1783 at from two to twenty dollars.
He bought one for the price of executing the deed of conveyance
and 'a treat.' Mr. Clarke was clerk of Trinity church nearly 50
years. He died at St. John in 1853, in his ninety-fourth year,
leaving numerous descendants."

The Loyalists who came in the Summer fleet embarked at various places,
some on Long Island, others at Staten Island and many at New York. In
some instances embarkation had taken place three weeks prior to the
departure of the ships from Sandy Hook. The delay in sailing was
caused by difficulties attending the embarkation and getting the fleet
together. The names of the vessels have been preserved in the
following notice, printed in a New York paper:--

"NOTICE TO REFUGEES.

The following Transports, viz. Two Sisters, Hopewell, Symetry,
Generous Friends, Bridgewater, Tham