John Adam Dawson, merchant and MP

Nova Scotia # 10, misperforated left marginal stamp with part of plate inscription and lower stamp included on stamp, on November 12, 1867 cover from Halifax to Pictou, Nova Scotia. Addressed to John A. Dawson Esq., Pictou. Cancellation HALIFAX A NO 13 67. Backstamp PICTOU(?) NO 13 1867. Manuscript "Stairs Nov 1867" on front. A post Confederation use of Nova Scotia franking.

John Adam Dawson was a 39-year old hardware merchant and taxidermist in Pictou when he received these letters in 1867 from John Stairs, hardware merchant of Halifax.

John A. Dawson

John A. Dawson was born October 16, 1827 in Pictou, Nova Scotia. In 1854 he married Elizabeth "Bessie" Thompson (1834-1905), the daughter of Alexander Thompson and Adelia Matilda "Della" Irish. They had three sons and three daughters.

He was concurrently elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the third Canadian Parliament, with James William Carmichael in 1874 as a member of the Liberal Party to represent the riding of Pictou. He lost in the elections of 1878 and 1882.

Hutchinson's Nova Scotia directory, for 1864-65 has Dawson John A., hardware, Water, n Hattan, h Water n Ferguson's la.

Hutchinson’s Nova Scotia Directory, 1866-1867 has four Dawson businesses in Pictou: Dawson, James, grocer, Dawson, John A., hardware merchant, Dawson, R. Smith, hardware merchant, and DAWSON, GORDON, & CO, iron merchants

The 1871 census for Pictou lists John Dawson, 43, Methodist merchant born in Nova Scotia, with his wife, Elizabeth, 36, and children, Robert, 16, Arthur, 14, Frank, 12, Maggy, 9, Barbara, 7, Bessie, 5, and Mary, Catholic, servant illiterate.

Pictou Town, 1864. The Dawson Wharf is on Water Street near the town center

Pictou from the road to Halifax.

“Plan of Pictou Town About 1793″, about 20 years after the landing of the Hector, from History of the County of Pictou, Nova Scotia by George Patterson. The map depicts an early layout of the Pictou Waterfront, with details including the high-water mark, property boundaries, water lots, property owners’ names, and a wharf. It identifies several landowners, including Samuel Copeland, John Patterson, John Dawson, Robert Pagan, and several others.

John Adam Dawson's immigrant ancestor, John Dawson, emigrated to Pictou from Scotland by 1791, when he is recorded as marrying "Miss MacKegan" whose first name was Elizabeth. Their children, and their children's ages, were listed in papers to do with John's probate:

Elisabeth Louisa, b. abt. 1793, m. William Kidston Jr, Jesse, b. abt. 1794, Nancy, b. abt. 1795, James, b. 1797, died before 7 February 1823, Helen, b. 1798, d. young, Katharine, b. abt. 1800, m. John Nesmith, John, b. abt. 1805, George, b. abt. 1807, Elizabeth Wentworth, b. abt. 1808, Charlotte, b. abt. 1810, and Margaret, b. abt. 1812

John Dawson was a merchant in Pictou. He died 2 January 1815, aged 55, intestate. His estate entered probate 11 February 1815. The balance of his estate amounted to £3068-15-00. His widow was distributed a third, and the remainder was divided between his 9 surviving children.

John Stairs, Hardware Merchant

The letter's sender, John Stairs, was a hardware merchant in Halifax, a member of the prominent Stairs family of merchants and shippers founded by William Machin Stairs (1789–1865)

Hutchinson's Nova Scotia Directory 1866-67