Our ancestors are believed to have immigrated to Ireland from
England and from there to Canada. Thomas Sutton, his wife Mary, and two
sons boarded the Brig Matilda in Cork, Ireland and arrived in Saint John,
New Brunswick in or around the year 1837. Their ages given on the passenger
list are as follows; Thomas 26, Mary 24, George 6, and William George and
William are listed as Irish on the early Census of Queens County.
The land grants in Summer Hill, New Brunswick are in the names of George
and William, so the family must have resided elsewhere until George and
William were old enough to obtain land grants. Mary is buried in the Sutton
Cemetery in Summer Hill but Thomas' grave has not been located. William
Thomas Sutton, my great grandfather, used to say that there was another
brother, we assume a brother of George and William, who went "up". It would
appear that this brother must have been born in Canada. The "up" could
have meant Northern New Brunswick or even Upper Canada.
I spoke with Grammie (Ruby) and Cora, about the Sutton house fire which
occurred between 1921 and 1930. The house was built just prior to W. T.
and Eliza B. (Wilson) being married in 1903. They lived in one side of
the house and George Edward and Annie Rebecca (Donald) lived in the other
side. There was another house behind the new house where their parents,
George and Mary Ann (Hunter) lived. There was also another house farther
down the hill closer to the brook was an old foundation, where William,
George's brother, and his wife Mary Ann (Scott) lived. William and Mary
Ann are the ancestors of Clarence and Walter Sutton.
George and Annie had moved out prior to the fire to the John Johnson
property on the corner of the Hibernia and Summer Hill road. I have a newspaper
clipping of the fire. Eliza B. was home with her mother-in law, Mary Ann
who was bed ridden due to a
stroke. The fire occurred in the winter and Eliza B. had to drag her
mother-in-law from the burning house, put her on a sled and hauled her
to the Schwetz's house, which at that time was owned by Alfred Scribner
and was vacant at the time. This was a square roof house built by Thomas
Hasson into the side of a hill, with the kitchen in the basement and the
dining room, bedrooms etc., upstairs on the main floor.
George Sutton was a deeply religious man, and Sundays were strictly
a day of rest. Meals had to be prepared the day before and no dishes were
done on Sunday. I have heard it told that he never took horses out on Sunday.
Once a neighbor borrowed a horse on a Sunday and it broke a leg. William
T., as a lad was forbidden to tend his rabbit snares on Sunday, but on
occasion he would anyway. His father took the rabbits to Saint John to
sell, but would always leave behind the rabbits caught on Sunday. It was
also told that George could do amazing feats with the help of his "little
people". There was a bridge behind the Sutton place over the Summer Hill
stream where huge boulders were used as the foundation and built by him
and his elves. Eldon Dale came upon him one day while fishing and George
was floating a log down the stream for part of the bridge. He let the log
go and never went back for it. He raised barn frames alone, numerous times
people would sit up in hiding to watch him work his magic, but they would
fall asleep and when waking up, the frame would be erected.
