Tillie's Letter, Mind and Save It

Nova Scotia # 10 on 25 Oct 1865 cover from Halifax to Wilmot, Nova Scotia. 3 backstamps: Halifax 23 Oct 1865, Wilmot, 31 Oct 1865, Lawrencetown, ? 1865. Addressed to Mrs. J. F. Bent, care of Rev. J. F. Bent, Temperance Society, Wilmot, N.S. Penciled annotation on front, “Tillies letter - mind and save it”

Sarah Berry Bent, wife of Rev. Joseph Fletcher Bent, was 57 years old when she received this letter from “Tillie” in Halifax. Tillie was undoubtedly her new daughter-in-law, Matilda Wilson Coffin the daughter of Peter and Esther Coffin of Halifax. Tillie had married Sarah and Joseph's son, Joseph Benson, on September 6th at the Halifax Methodist Church. She wrote this letter six weeks after the wedding and prior to the new couple moving to Boston where Joseph had a new job as cashier and confidential clerk for the Howe Sewing Machine Company.

The Reverend Joseph F. Bent

Joseph F. Bent was born at Granville, March 7th, 1806, his parents were living on the family farm there. Methodist enthusiasm ran in the family. The minutes of a meeting in Halifax on June 3rd, 1817, for the formation of a "Methodist Missionary Society for the District Including Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island", lists his father, Joseph Bent, as one of the Annapolis County stewards. Young Joseph Fletcher would have been 11 years old. In May of 1828 he was received on trial as a minister in the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, London, England and in due time was ordained. He served at Digby,

Annapolis, Lunenburg, Petitcodiac, Sussex Vale, Bathurst, St. Stephen, St. David's, Western Bay, Nfld., and in many other circuits. In 1858 he retired from the active work of the ministry but continued to serve the church till the end of his life.

Rev. Bent married Susan Berry of St. Andrews, N.B. on November 5th, 1833. They had a family of 4 boys and 4 girls: Sarah Ann, George Fetcher, Joseph Benson, born November 25th, 1838, Gilbert Ray, Amelia "Minnie" Ray, Mary Emma, John Wesley, who died in infancy, and Susanna Berry. Mrs. Susan Bent died March 26th, 1874.

In the autumn of 1897, while returning home from a mission of mercy after nightfall, Rev. Bent was thrown from his carriage and received injuries which resulted in his death on March 19th,1898, at Bentville. After a ministry of 64 years, he died at the age of 86 years, 10 months and 21 days. He is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Bridgetown, Annapolis County.

The Temperance Society

From the address on this 1865 envelope, it seems likely, after retiring from active Methodist ministry in 1858, Rev. Bent worked in the temperance cause.

"Nova Scotians dramatically changed their attitudes towards, and appetites for, intoxicating beverages in the 19th century. Where alcohol was initially considered an essential part of daily life, Nova Scotians came to consider personal temperance desirable and complete abstinence preferable. The prohibition of the manufacture, import, or sale of all liquor came to be promoted as a political solution for the whole of society. The rethinking of the proper place and role of intoxicating beverages literally touched all corners of society. This rethinking signaled in Nova Scotia, as it did elsewhere, the first mass movement in colonial society to control and modify its own behavior, with little help from the usual elites. It reflected a fundamental shift in the role and responsibility of government for the conduct of its citizenry." Ernest J. Dick From Temperance to Prohibition in 19th Century Nova Scotia, Dalhousie Review, at https://docslib.org/doc/3453604/from-temperance-to-prohibition-in-19th-century-nova-scotia-nova

The first Temperance Society in British North America was established in West River, Pictou County, in 1827, just a short time after the formation of the first Temperance Society in Boston in 1826. Within a few years every county in Nova Scotia had its own society, Members would take a pledge "to forever renounce the use of intoxicating liquors, except when prescribed by a physician in the case of sickness." The temperance movement came to Nova Scotia from New England as a religious movement along the same channels as the previous religious revivals. The Baptists were the first to embrace the temperance cause and the Annapolis Valley became a hotbed of temperance enthusiasm. Methodists, like the Rev. Bent, were quick to join their evangelical brethren in support of temperance.

Joseph B. and Tillie Bent

On September 6th, 1865, at the Halifax Methodist Church, Joseph Benson Bent, 27, bachelor druggist of Boston, born in New Brunswick to the Rev. J.F and his wife S. Bent, married Matilda Wilson Coffin, 25, spinster of Halifax, the daughter of pilot Peter and Esther Coffin. The service was officiated by Rev. E. Betterall.

Joseph B. Bent had immigrated to Boston in 1862. But in 1865, after his marriage, he began work for the Howe Sewing Machine Company where he remained for 20 years.

Elias Howe, a Massachusetts inventor, had been awarded a patent for a sewing machine in 1846, and successfully defended his patent against other sewing machine manufacturers. To avoid continual lawsuits over every new model, an agreement forming a business “Combination,” was reached in 1856. Four major patent holders all agreed their parts could be used by the others. Howe was to receive royalties of $5 for every machine sold in the United States and $1 for every machine exported. Between 1856 and 1867, when the patent expired, Howe earned at least $2,000,000 in license fees, making him one of the richest men in America.

Joseph subsequently worked for the G.W. Bent Co. of Boston, manufacturers of mattresses, cushions and spring beds.

Joseph followed in his father's footsteps being a prominent member of the Prohibition Party and a trustee of the Park Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church of Somerville, Massachusetts. He died in his home at 116 Pearl Street, Somerville, of "bronchitis" after a 2 months' illness on December 4th, 1906, aged 68 years and 9 days.

Ancestors of Rev. J. F. Bent

Rev. J. F. Bent's Nova Scotia immigrant ancestor, David Bent, was a New England Planter descended from John Bent who came to Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 1638. The line passed from John Bent through his son Peter, grandson Hopestill, and great-grandson Micah, who was David's father. David was born March 18, 1739, and married in Massachusetts, Mary, daughter of Ebenezer Felch. He was one of the Sudbury men selected by their fellows to view the Annapolis Valley and report upon its eligibility for new homes under Governor Lawrence's proclamation. He came to Annapolis in 1760. According to the census of 1770, David Bent had a family consisting of 1 man, 4 boys, 1 woman, 3 girls, all Protestants, 3 "Americans" and 6 "Acadians" (ie. born in Nova Scotia), 164 acres of land, 8 cows, 2 oxen, 7 young cattle and 10 sheep; the homestead is fourteen miles above Annapolis town in what became known as Bentville (now Tupperville), Nova Scotia.

David's fourth son, Joseph, married Anna Longley in 1792. They had ten children of which Rev. Joseph Fletcher was the seventh.