History of Pointe a la Croix/Cross Point, Prov. Quebec

In a committee room, chaired by Andrew Stuart, in Quebec City, 1823..
The swearing in of Edward Isaac Mann Esq. of Restigouche was taking place
and this question was asked of him..:
Did your Father and your family reside in any and if so
which of the Old British Colonies in North America
when did he leave the same and for what cause ?

To which he answered:

My father and his family were natives of the State of New York:
at the breaking out of the American Revolutionary War
he was Colonel of Militia and held other appointments under the Crown.
He was the first in the State of New York who was brought before a Rebel Committee at Albany
and upon declaring his sentiments, was sent as a prisoner into the State of Connecticut
with a married brother of mine named John , kept 13 months and then sent into Canada
under an act of banishment.

My brother John, was liberated at the end of six months and joined Burgoyne's Army
as a Lieutenant of a Provincial Corps shortly before it surrendered.
In the same Army, I had two other brothers, Thomas, a Captain of Guides and Isaac
a Lieutenant in a Provincial Corps. My brother, William and i did duty as volunteers
in Sir John Johnson's First Battalion of the Royal Regiment of New York.

In the Autumn of 1784 and Spring of 1785 my father, two married brothers and I
with their wives and families and with my two other unmarried brothers
amounting altogether to about 18 persons went to Chaleur Bay and settled at New Carlisle.
There was allowed to each head of family and full-grown person of the family,
200 acres and to the females and minor children 50 acres each at New Carlisle.

The Land Board was composied of Lieutenant-Governor, Mr cox, Mr. Charles Robin, Isaac Mann Jr.
and one or two others. In 1786 and 1787, location tickets were given.
There were allowed from His Majesty, rations to each man and his family for three years
plus other supplies and materials farming utensils, everything necessary for building and clearing lands.

Edwards Isaac Mann Esq. made a claim for lands at Restigouche
before the Gaspe Land Commissioners in 1822.
A lot of land on the North Side of the Restigouche River bounded on the East by lot no.1
of the lands laid out for Loyalists, on the North of River du Loup or Porcupine River,
on the South by the several courses of the Ristigouch River, on the west by a line
running North 45 degrees west, from a point at the distance of two chains west
from the cross standing or which heretofore stood on the Point a la Croix to the Mountain
thence along the base of the mountains to the line of departure, containing about 2400 acres.

In 1787, Edward Isaac Mann, occupied the prairies just east of Indian village
even before receiving the concession which he demanded from the government.
n October 1787, Lieutenant Governor Cox ordered the surveyor Vondervelden
to measure a lot for Mr. Mann. After protests from the Indians,
the Commissioners of Gaspe awarded Mann the larger lot. The Indians were opposed by Mann
and Robert Ferguson, owner of the only saw and grist-mill in the area (At Walker Brook).
In 1826 the government confirmed the decision in favor of Mann..
In 1824, Archdeacon G. J. Mountain of Quebec, was a guest at the Mann's homestead.
" A house painted red at one end, stood without enclosure next the river, surrounded by barns
and out buildings, old and out of repair."

"Mr. Mann and his whole family speak the Micmac language with fluency - his daughters however
are allowed to excel both father and brother in this accomplishment."
"Mr. Mann is a brother to the Sheriff of the District and has another brother who was,br> Judge of the Court of Common Pleas at Quebec."

Mr Mann made arrangements for the Archdeacon's journey from Ristigouche to the St Lawrence,
via the Ristigouche and Matapedia Rivers. He sent two Indian guides along with him.
Mr Mann had submitted early plans to the Governor at Quebec for a road
(called Kempt Rd. which still exists today, road used to travel to St Fidele)

During the early 1800's, the wave of immigration continued. The Mann concession was partly
divided into lots. The Mann property was sold by the Sheriff and was bought by Robert Christie
after being occupied for a while by colonel Crawford. From Mrs Christie it passed to John Fraser.
To consolidate his holding, Fraser got a permit from the government to build
a road where the present line runs.

Robert Christie Esq. son of James and Janet McIntosh , was born at Windsor,
Nova Scotia Jan. 20/1787. His father was a shoemaker. Robert had two brothers,
William and James and one sister Isabella.. Robert graduated from King's or Royal College
as it was often called. Robert moved to Quebec and was there some years before the outbreak
of the War of 1812.

Robert Christie married Mlle Olivette Doucet, daughter of an old and respected
French Canadian family.. He graduated in law and was admitted to the Quebec Bar.
He was in active service as a Captain, 4th Battalion on the Canadian Frontier
during the war of 1812-1814.

In 1819 he was secretary of the Gaspe Lands Claims Commission. We find his signature on many
land deeds and he became a Gaspesian landowner and summer resident at Cross Point.
He published in 1818 and 1820 many Memoirs on the Administration of Lower Canada.
He wrote a "History of the late province of Lower Canada" in 6 volumes.
In 1827 Robert Christie was elected to represent the District of Gaspe in the Legislature
Assembly seat he was opposed by the members of the French Canadian majority and expelled
from the House on the grounds that he had, as Chairman of the Quarter Sessions of the
District of Quebec, advised the omission of the names of certain reformers from the Commission
of Peace. Between that time and 1834 he was re-elected no less than five times by his loyal
constituents of Gaspesia and again expelled each time from the Assembly.
Not until the elections of 1841, following the union of Lower and Upper Canada did he succeed
in taking his seat in Parliament. From 1841 to 1854 he was a sitting member of Parliament.

The Christie home in Quebec was for many years on the square know today as
the Jardin des Gouverneurs, the location of the Wolfe - Montcalm Monument overlooking
the Dufferin Terrace, adjacent to the Chateau Frontenac. Later Christie's family home was
on the street that bears his name in the City of Quebec.
The tragic loss of Robert Andrew Christie, aged 28 years, physician and only son of
Robert and Olivette Doucet Crhistie at the Quarantine Establishment at Gross Isle in
July, 1837, was indeed a bitter blow. In 1854 the long political career of Robert Christie
ended when he finally suffered defeat at the polls in the election of that year.
The two remaining years of his life were spent in the calm of private life.
During the summer season he returned to the Gaspe Coast, in his spacious home
on the banks of the Ristigouche River.

From "The Canadas in 1841", by Lt. Col. Sir R. Bonnycastle we read: "Reached Point-a-la-Croix
where a place known as Mann's landing we were receivedat Mr. Christie's house at one o'clock
Christie's is a very pretty settlement: and he, as we are told, gave 1050L for it..
It consists of 1260 acres, 30 only being cultivated, with a good house and barns.
The natural meadow was, however, in such quantity, that it had yielded 350 tons of hay:
180 tons had been sold in that year to the lumberers, for their cattle, at eight dollars,
or two pounds currency a ton."

The 13 of October, 1856, aged 68, he died in Quebec and was buried
in Mount Hermon Cemetery, at Sillery.

John Fraser was a prominent man in the history of the Baie des Chaleurs
and Ristigouche District. Mr Fraser was born at Inverness, Stotland
and at an early age sought his fortune in the new country of New Brunswick.

He settled at Bathurst, where he engaged in general business.
In 1837 he married Elizabeth, daughter of the late Robert Ferguson Esq. of Athol House.
In 1830 he received his appointment from Lloyds Head office, London England,
as their agent and adjuster of the Baie des Chaleurs and as such salvaged and supervised
the sale of the cargo "Colborne" wrecked at Harrington Cove, in the Baie des Chaleurs in 1838.
In 1843 Mr Fraser moved to Cross Point and acquired the property of Robert Christie.
He held many public offices such as Clerk of the Circuit Court from 1844 to 1860.
In 1846 he received from the Colonial Office, London, his appointment as Post Master
of Cross Point which office he held till 1893. He was appointed Collector of Customs
at New Carlisle in 1847 and Collector of Inland Revenue in 1855, holding both offices till 1873
He was Mayor of the Township of Mann from 1862 to 1893 and during the greater part of that time
served as Warden of the County of Bonaventure as well as holding the office of Justice
of the Peace for many years in the District of Gaspe. He died at Cross Point in Sept. 1893
at the advanced age of 94 years and was buried in the Athol House Cemetery.
Three sons and one daughter, Mrs John J. Jellett, survived him..

The Fraser Estate passed into the hands of John J. Jellett, husband to Fraser's only daughter.
From John it went to his son, familiarly known as Herby Jellett and remained in the family
until 1956, when Ronald Alexander acquired the property.

This page was designed by Irene Doyle December 1997