Wandering through the branches of the trees in the family forest is an unpredictable pursuit. You never know who or what can be lurking in there, which makes it so fascinating. Sometimes you will find tragedy and pain woven in the stories from the past. This week I revisited the story of a rogue. His name was Morrill Magoon.
Morrill's story intersects with that of the Bryant family when his youngest daughter Louisa, marries Bartlett Bryant in 1848. Bartlett was a grandson of Lynn's 3rd great grandfather Andrew Bryant. Bartlett was named after his father, who had been thusly named because it was his mother Maribah's maiden name. Bartlett Jr.'s uncle was Christopher Bryant who settled the Bryant neighbourhood in what is now called Austin, Quebec, and who is buried in the Bryant family cemetery. (Oddly enough, Bartlett and Louisa are buried in the same cemetery as Aunt Mabel and her husband Basil Whittier, Derby Center Cemetery.)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/102041390/andrew-bryant
The book Forests and clearings : the history of Stanstead County includes a brief genealogy of the Magoon family so that it is a matter of record that he married Lois Verbeck and they had 6 children whose names are listed. It does not however connect him to a specific family or give his birth date. I believe he was born around 1785 and could have been born in New Hampshire.
What I do know about him is encompassed in a capsule of only a few specific years in his life. I first found mention of him in 1823 in Le Canadien,
in the daily listings of sentences given out by the court recently. 'Morrill Magoon, convicted of counterfeit money, fined 500 Pounds, two years in prison and one hour in the pillory, the 19th of the current month.' It is hard for us now to imagine the context for this sentence. At this time hanging was common and public, corporal punishments such as branding and whipping were normal, and stocks and pillories were just another tool of public punishment with a side order of humiliation.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Daniel_Defoe_by_James_Charles_Armytage.jpg
Library and Archives Canada has a copy of a letter from Justice of the King's Bench, Joseph Reid, to Sir Francis Burton, Lieutenant Governor of Lower Canada, written on the 1st Sept. 1824. It sheds light on the circumstances of the case. "The crime..is of great public injury, and of daring enormity, in passing a bill of exchange which had been falsified and altered from fifteen to fifteen hundred pounds.." "such an offense should be marked by an exemplary punishment.." (A Bill of Exchange would be similar to a money order in the sense that it was prepaid, then whoever had it in their possession could redeem it for cash monies or goods. Being that it would have been hand-written, opportunity to alter it would be possible.)
The other contributing factor to the severity of the sentence was that, according to an article by the Library and Archives Canada, this was his second offence for counterfeiting, the other occurring in 1821, and for which he would presumably have been already punished.
The 1825 Quebec Census finds Morrill back at home in the Eastern Townships in the bosom of his family, presumably having paid, in some portion at least, his debt to society. (This census only collects information about the breakdown of age within the family so that appropriate tax collection can be made. There is no interest in occupation or birthplace etc. as is shown in subsequent census returns.)
Morrill is the third entry and directly beneath his name is Philip Verbeck, his father-in-law, and then Calvin Verbeck his brother-in-law. This is almost a foreshadowing of what happens next in this story.
The Canadian Spectator printed this article on 13 July 1825 outlining the capture of a 'gang of counterfeiters' who had been operating with apparent impunity in the Townships. Four houses were raided and four members hustled off to a visit in the prison in Sherbrooke. They were Morrill Magoon, Magoon Jr, Verbic senior and Calvin Verbic, who are clearly the in-laws! All their equipment is confiscated by the Law to the relief, no doubt, of at least three American banks.
Former Palais de Justice 315 rue William
Apparently in 1823 Sherbrooke became the capital of a new judicial district in Lower Canada, which resulted in a boom in population. The first prison was, according to Repertoire du Patrimoine culturel du Quebec, built in 1825 on Montreal Street. The Palais de Justice was built in 1839 on William St. where the Hussars and The Bomb are presently, and in 1865 the Winter Prison was built.
On the 13 Sep. 1826, the Canadian Spectator gave a detailed account of Morrill's Trial proceedings. Having apparently not learned by his experiences, nor obviously improved his skills, he had altered a 10 pound bill of exchange to 1000, with high hopes of a big monetary reward. The outcome was however, this...
and was announced in the same edition of the paper. This excerpt was part of the account forwarded to His Excellency the Governor in Chief by the Justices of the King's Bench. It seems that this punishment was commuted to 'transportation for life'. It is a matter of record that Morrill decides to press his luck and has a letter of plea written to Sir James Kempt. He pulls out all the stops with these words..
'Your petitioner having detailed the awful circumstances which led to his misfortune, begs, finally to state his peculiar & affecting reasons for soliciting mercy which are as follows, that he has left behind him an affectionate wife, six unhappy children, and aged parents whose grey hairs & furrowed cheeks loudly solicit mercy on behalf of their unhappy son.'
It would seem that His Excellency remained unmoved as #1707 in this ledger from the UK, Prison Hulk Registers and Letter Books, 1802-1849, is Morrill Magoon, convicted of Forgery in Montreal. A closer look at Morrill's letter also shows that it was written from 'Dromedary Bermuda'.
Dromedary was not a town in Bermuda, but a prison hulk. Above is a photo of the prison hulk 'Success'. A lot of irony is afloat there! It is known that the Dromedary was originally an Indian made teak ship, built in 1799 and used by the East India Company. In 1805 she was purchased by the Royal Navy to convert to a 40 gun frigate. She instead became a 20+ gun storeship and renamed HMS Dromedary. In 1819 she became a convict transport and 1826, a prison hulk which would have eventually looked more like this.
The Dromedary carried prisoners, including Morrill to Bermuda and posted permanently near the quarries and construction sites that used the prison labourers to build the Naval Dockyards and accompanying buildings.
This entry is from the journals of the Bermuda Royal Navy Hospital in 1828. Morrill has been admitted as a possible case of phithisis, or pulmonary tuberculosis. He is coughing up blood apparently, but the doctor thought it was kinda sketchy. 'Patient was endeavouring to impose upon me by using means to keep up the spitting of blood. he was narrowly watched and detected with a colouring mixture in a bottle which he retained in his mouth or in the chamber pot. he was immediately discharged and the circumstances made Known to the medical Officer on Board.' 'Nothing ventured'.. perhaps?
1848 Woodcut of prison hulks in Bermuda
Not much is known after this date except that there is an interesting detail from the last column in the Prison Hulk Journal. That column is labelled 'How disposed of'. Here it is noted 'Pard. 31 Mar 1834'. The Library and Archives of Canada's article posits that the only reason he would have been released would be that he was too sick to work, and the only way to be released would, I guess, be death or a pardon.
I read an opinion expressed, that Bermuda does not like to talk about this aspect of their history, but it was felt that records exist for the deaths of prisoners and their place of burial. The published trail of Morrill however seems to end here. It does not appear that his wife Lois re-married. She is buried in Ruiter's Corner Cemetery as his 'relict'.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169205725/lois-magoon/photo
It is impossible to know what Louisa was told about her father or if she even remembered him. She was born in 1822 so he would have spent more time in her young life in accommodation provided by His Majesty, than at home.
Louisa and Bartlett lived both in Canada and across the line. She outlived him by almost twenty years and they had a daughter, Sarah, who married and gave them grandchildren. They are buried in Derby Center, Vermont in the oldest part of the cemetery, while Aunt Mabel is across the road in the newer section.
As an interesting postscript to the story of Morrill Magoon, the Dromedary which was sold in 1864 for breaking up, was found in recent years. Diving was done at the site and researchers found many artefacts which have been assembled to help tell the story of life on prison hulks. Ironically amongst the items retrieved were those that showed evidence of counterfeiting taking place on that hulk.
