MR. THOMAS DAWSON

On May 71th, 1800, Mr. John Black a Methodist local preacher from Cumberland, N.S. —— a brother of the Rev. William Black, preached acceptably, as he did frequently afterward, when in the town on business. In that same year, 1801, a Methodist local preacher, Thomas Dawson, came to Mr. Chappell’s assistance.

Mr. Dawson was born at Coote Hill, Ireland, in 1762. At the age of sixteen he joined the army and served in the American War under Lord Cornwallis until the surrender to Washington. Return- ing to Ireland, he rejoined the army and served as paymaster under the Earl of Bellamont until 1799, when he retired. For a few years he held the same position in Dublin under the same nobleman. In March 1801, Mr. Dawson purchased from Lieutenant Burns, a tract of 600 acres of land on Prince Edward Island, at the head of the Hillsborough River and immediately took passage from Ireland for Philadelphia on his way to the Island, accompanied by his wife and family.

After his arrival in Philadelphia, he was offered a Chaplaincy by the authorities on one of their frigates and to his two eldest sons, positions as midshipmen. But Mr. Dawson’s loyalty to the King, led him to refuse this tempting offer, and he pressed forward on his journey, arriving in Charlottetown on June 6th. Shortly afterwards he moved to his estate at the head of Hillsborough Bay, which is still known as Dawson’s Grove. It is not known just when Mr. Dawson became a local preacher but before he came to this Island, he preached frequently at Blaris Camp in Ireland.

At Charlottetown, Mr. Dawson found the small Methodist Society the four principal members of which were: Benjamin Chappell and his wife, Joseph Robinson and Mrs. Mary Smith who came here with the Wood family, who were United Empire Loyalists. He was strongly impressed with the great need of religious services among the people and soon began the work of an evangelist. It is said that Mr. Dawson visited every settlement then on the Island, and the people hailed his visits with delight. He frequently preached in Charlottetown —— first in a room rented from Mr. Hutcheson and afterwards, at Mrs. Smith’s house, next door to the Post Office. Said his youngest son, “He would sometimes walk many miles before breakfast to keep an appointment. I have heard of him wading streams and swimming rivers. No obstacle seemed so great as to hinder him from performing what he considered his duty”.

Mr. Philip Marchington, a local preacher from Halifax, spent the winter of 1802—3 on the Island, rendering great assistance to the Methodist cause, by preaching and exhorting with much acceptance.

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