, "proclamations were published
through the colonies which promised all the lands and possessions of
the Acadians, who had been removed, or any other lands lying within
the Province of Nova Scotia, to such as would become settlers there.
In consequence of these proclamations I went through the greater part
of Nova Scotia, in time of war, at great expense and at the risk of my
life, in search of the best lands and situations, and having at length
determined to settle at the River St. John, obtained a promise from
Government of a large tract of land for myself and brother Richard,
who was with me in several of my tours."

The attention of Mr. Simonds may have been particularly called to St.
John by the fact that his cousin, Captain Moses Hazen, commanded the
garrison at Fort Frederick in 1759. It may be noted, in passing, that
this post was occupied for the first two years after it was rebuilt by
Monckton, by the Massachusetts troops. They were relieved by a company
from one of the Highland regiments. In 1762 the post was garrisoned by
a detachment of the 40th regiment of foot under Lieutenant Gilfred
Studholme. The fort afterwards continued to be garrisoned by a company
of British regulars under different commanders until 1768, when the
troops were withdrawn and the fort remained for several years under
the nominal care of Messrs. Simonds and White.

About the time James Simonds decided to settle at St. John, the harbor
was carefully surveyed by Lieut. R. G. Bruce of the engineers, whose
plan is reproduced in the accompanying illustration. A glance will
suffice to show that the rocky peninsular on the eastern side of the
harbor, where the business part of the city stands today, was at that
time uninhabited. The military post at Fort Frederick imparted a
little life to the immediate surroundings but on the other side of the
harbor everything remained in its virgin state, except at Portland
Point, where there was a small clearing and the ruins of a feeble old
French Fort. The few Acadians who once lingered there had fled before
the English invaders, and only when some wandering savage pitched his
wigwam on the shores of "Men-ah-quesk," as he called it, was there any
tenant save the fox, the bear or other wild forest creature. The rocky
peninsular of east St. John with its crags and swamps was considered
of so little value that it remained ungranted up to the time of the
landing of the Loyalists. In the words of James Simo