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The Scribner families in North America descend from Benjamin Scribner, a British subject who emigrated to America at a time when free land and new opportunities were abounding in the new world. Benjamin was born around 1640 in London, England. When the opportunity arose in September of 1678, he sailed from London on the good ship "Richards" for America. Not long after his arrival he met Hannah Crampton who was young and attractive. On March 5, 1679 they were married and settled in Norwalk, Connecticut. Norwalk had been established about 1639 by a Puritan group from Massachussetts who disagreed with the Church of England's control over government affairs and religious freedom.The Puritans had, in fact, left England a few years before to find religious freedom in Massachuessetts.
Benjamin and Hannah later moved to Huntington, Long Island where he worked as a weaver. Here they would raise a large family living in relative comfort. Their children were Thomas, Benjamin, John, Joseph, Ruth, Lydia,Elizabeth, Abigail, and Hannah. Little did they know that in the next hundred years their grandchildren would be taking opposite sides in the American Revolutionary War of 1776. Their son Joseph was born in Huntington, Long Island on September 15, 1692. When he grew up he became a shoemaker and moved to the growing town of Norwalk, Connecticut.
It was in Norwalk that Joseph met and courted Mary Abbott. In January 5, 1719 they were married and here they settled to raise a large family. Their children were Isaac, Elias, Joseph, Samuel, Mary, Unice, Sarah, and Joanah.Their son Joseph grew up to follow in his fathers footsteps learning his trade as shoemaker. He later married Joanna in Canaan Parish, Connecticut and settled down to raise a family.
The towns and cities of the New England colonies became quite prosperous. For the most part they had been left to govern themselves without much interference from England. Following the Seven Years War (1757- 1763) in which England defeated France in North America, the English treasury was in debt. England forced new taxation on the colonies and began interfering in local government affairs. The colonists resisted these efforts. As might be expected there developed two sides to the conflict, the patriots and the loyalists. Young Joseph Scribner and his brothers supported the Loyalist cause along with their cousin Nehemiah. Nehemiah was sentenced to death for Tory activities, but escaped to Long Island. Some of his cousins (Thomas, Zacheus and Moses) served in the Rebel Army( Capt. Mead's 5th Co. of the Connecticut Regiment).A number of conflicts with the British army occurred throughout the thirteen colonies. The war for independence ended on July 4, 1776 with the signing of the treaty in which England gave up all claim to the Thirteen Colonies. However, England still held their fort at Long Island.
After the signing, those who had supported the Crown were harrassed by the new patriot rebels. This led to continued skirmishes for some seven years until the British offered resettlement to those who had supported the Crown during the rebellion.Those men, women and children who took refuge in Canada became known as United Empire Loyalists.
On April 11, 1783 the ship "Union" anchored in Huntington Bay, Long Island to load Loyalist men,women and children to be transported to their new homeland. The ship was under the command of Capt. Consett Wilson. On April 16, 1783 the ship landed at the mouth of the St. John River. Joseph Scribner and his family were part of the first Loyalist group to arrive in this new land. They drew lots for their newly assigned property. Theirs was lot #310 in the new city of Parrtown( later named Saint John). Since the land here was so rough and poor for farming they continued up the river. At the mouth of Bellisle Bay they landed on the Kingston Peninsula at what soon became known as Kingston. Here he drew lot #6 with frontage on the Kennebecasis River.
Life was hard on these new settlers. Joseph Scribner's first wife Joanna died soon after arriving in Saint John. He married the widow Barbara Ann Jarvis in 1784. Their first child was a son born in 1785. He was named Joseph Jarvis Scribner. Joseph Jarvis Scribner grew up in Kingston and as a young boy went to school in the village. He was very helpful and a hard worker. As he grew older he left school to become a mason's helper and learned the trade.He moved to Saint John where there was lots of construction building homes and businesses of stone. Here he met and married Mary Kennedy.
Ezra was born to Mary and Joseph Jarvis Scribner in 1807. Ezra Scribner spent the first seven years of his life in Saint John living in the area of Duke St. and Prince William St. The peaceful serenity of this young family was broken by the death of his mother in 1814. She died a few days after the birth of his brother Charles. The children were Jarvis, Ezra, Margaret, John and Charles. Two years later in 1816 Joseph Jarvis Scribner died, leaving a family to be raised by various relatives. Records show that Charles and John were legally adopted by their grandmother Mary Kennedy. Ezra went to live with his Aunt Hannah and Uncle Samuel Hoyt in New Canaan. Here the lumbering industry was booming and Ezra was old enough to help his uncle with some of the smaller chores.
It was in New Canaan that Ezra met and married Priscilla Clark in 1831. They moved to a new area named Butternut Ridge( today known as Havelock), where they began raising a family. They had eight children namely Hannah( after his Aunt Hannah Hoyt), Samuel Hoyt Scribner(after his Uncle Sam), Rachel, Abraham, Thomas, Emmeline, Allen and Robert Winslow. In 1856 Ezra received a land grant of 100 acres in area named Springhill, not far from Butternut Ridge. This would be the family farm for the next fifty years, passing from father to son Thomas to raise his family. Robert Winslow Scribner was the second youngest son of Priscilla and Ezra, born in 1853. Following his early schooling he took an interest in the newly developing railways. He became a railway station telegrapher and over his career was transferred to many of the small stations throughout southern New Brunswick. Robert was posted to Petitcodiac where he met and married Mary Sarepta Ryder in 1874. They raised a family of ten children namely Mary, Annie, Thomas, Hibbert, Robert Jr., Retta, Henry Allen, Inez, Arthur, and Harold.
Henry Allen Scribner was born in Coldbrook NB(near Saint John) in 1889. He was a hard worker and skillfull with his hands. He became a machinist and moved to Moncton where he met and married Mona Wortman in 1916. They moved to Springhill, NS where the coal mines were active supplying coal for heating and the railways. Their son Ralph Lockhart Scribner was born in 1918 in the Amherst Hospital. The family's early years were happy, building a new home on Pleasant St. in Springhill. When Ralph was five years of age his father Henry became ill with stomach cancer and died in 1923. In order to support herself and her young son, Mona took in boarders. These were usually men who came to work in the coal mines. One young gentleman who caught her eye was Ernest Williams( a Belgian immigrant whose birth name was Ernest Guillaume). They married and spent a happy life until Mona died of heart failure in 1953.
When Ralph completed his schooling in Springhill he went to Moncton in search of work. He boarded with his grandmother Mary Jane Wortman on 1 Mountain Rd.
His first job was pumping gas at a local gas station. One part of the job required that each year the underground tanks be greased. His job was to crawl inside the empty tank to complete this task. He was not impressed. Not long after he applied for boilermaker apprenticeship with the CNR and was accepted. Ralph and his cousin Curtis Wortman were about the same age and got along very well. It wasn't very long before Curt introduced Ralph to Margaret Bursey(cousin to Curt's girlfriend Helen Bursey).
Ralph and Margaret were married in Lewisville in 1939. It was during the honeymoon sendoff in their borrowed Model "A" Ford they hit a ditch at Silas Lean's hill. Ralph's pride hurt and Margaret with a cut on her nose they continued on to Amherst for their honeymoon weekend. Lewisville became their home and it was here they would live their lives raising a family of five boys and four girls. They lived in the old Bursey(Margaret's parent's) homestead on the Shediac Rd. with lots of love and happy times. The old homestead on Shediac Rd. was a gathering place for all the relatives for many years. In February1971, Ralph died instantly of a massive heart attack at the young age of 52 years. It happened while he was attending a funeral. Margaret died of a heart attack in December1986. With their passing the old home was sold but the family traditions and family values were carried on by their children to the next generation.
The children of Margaret and Ralph Scribner had successful careers and take an active part in their community:
Ann Elizabeth Scribner, born in 1940, became a registered nurse and later married a dentist Dr. John Rooney.
Nancy Margaret Scribner, born in 1942, married Douglas Rafuse and moved to Calgary where she became a registered nurse.
Ralph Ernest Scribner born in 1944, became an electronics technician with Transport Canada. He later married Marilyn Wellwood in Elmsdale, NS.
David Willis Scribner, born in 1945, became a life cycle management technician with the Canadian Army. He married Heather MacPherson in Petawawa Ont..
Michael Allen Scribner, born in 1947, graduated with a civil engineering degree from UNB. He married Sandra Boudreau in Bathurst, NB.
Peter Herbert Scribner, born in 1950, graduated from the Toronto Metropolitan Police Academy in 1970. He married June MacFadygen in Toronto.
Susan Mona Scribner, born in 1953, graduated from business college in Moncton. She went to Calgary where she met and married Michael Hartney.
Catherine Louise Scribner, born in 1955, graduated from business college in Moncton. She married Joseph Donovan and lived in London, Ont..
Stephen Lea Scribner, born in 1957, was four years of age when he died.
Hopefully this history of the Scribner family will help our children and grandchildren to appreciate and understand our roots. As well , it is hoped that each family member will add their own history over the years.
Any additions you may have regarding your own families would be appreciated
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