William Henry Waddell, Educator

Nova Scotia # 8 on February 5, 1868, intra-county cover from Tangier, Nova Scotia to Halifax. Addressed to W. H. Waddell, Esq., Brenton Street, Halifax. Backstamps Tangier, N.S. FE 5, 68, H(alifax), N.S. FE 6, 1868. A post-Confederation use of Nova Scotia franking.

William Henry Waddell was 30 years old when he received this letter from Tangier, Nova Scotia. In 1868, he operated a school at 80 Queen Street and was principal of Fort Massey Academy.

Halifax Citizen, August 12th, 1865

William was born in Truro in June 1838. He was the son of the Reverend James Waddell and the grandson of the Reverend John Waddell. He worked in Pictou County before moving to Halifax in the 1860s. He operated a schoolhouse at 80 Queen Street (now 1520 Queen Street) between 1863 and 1869. Waddell then became the first principal then the superintendent at Fort Massey Academy from 1868 to 1871. From 1885, Waddell worked as an English literature and geography teacher at the Halifax Academy high school. In 1888, he helped organized a Halifax branch of the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour. He was elected as an elder of Fort Massey Church in 1890. In 1908, he was the owner of the Arnold School for Boys and lived in Rosebank Cottage on Jubilee Road. He died in 1913.

William Henry Waddell is a great example of the wealth of information preserved in census data and civic directories, particularly for the Halifax area, as the following list shows.

In the 1871 census for Dartmouth, Halifax East, has William Waddell, 32, birthplace Nova Scotia, Presbyterian, teacher, with Eliza Waddell, 23, and Hiram Waddell, 2/12

The 1881 census, Dartmouth, Halifax, Nova Scotia, has Wm H. Waddell, 42, teacher, Canada Presbyterian Church, with Eliza T. Waddell, 32, Hiram Waddell, 10, Eva Waddell, 8

James Waddell, 6, Henry Waddell, 3.

In the 1891 census, Ward 2b, Halifax City, has Wm Hy Waddell, 52, Free Church, private school teacher, number of employees 3, with Eliza Lawrence Waddell, 42, Wife, Hiram, 20, Son, Eva, 18, Daughter, James, 16, son, Hally,13, son, Barlay, 16/12, son.

In the 1901 census for Halifax City, has William H Waddell, 62, birthdate 23 Jun 1838, Presbyterian, teacher, Eliner T Waddell, 51, Wife, William H Waddell, 23, Son, John B Waddell, 11, Son.

In the 1911 census for Halifax, we find William Weddell, 72, place of habitation Rosebank, Presbyterian, School Teacher, Works at Prv School, Weeks Employed 40, Hours/Week. 35, Earnings 1200, Eliza Weddell, 62, Wife.

McAlpine’s Nova Scotia Directory, 1868-1869

HALIFAX CITY MISSION, Young Mens' Christian Association, 183 Hollis Street, General Committee...W. H. Waddell...

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1869-1870

Waddell W. H., school teacher, h 1 Mitchell

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1871-1872

Waddell, William H., school teacher, h Quarl

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1872-1873

Waddell W H, school teacher, h Quarl

WADDELL W H, principal Fort Massey Academy, h Dartmouth

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1873-1874

WADDELL W. H., principal Fort Massey Academy, Dartmouth

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1874-1875

Waddell W. H., principal Fort Massey academy, Church, h Dartmouth

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1875-1876

Waddell, William H, school teacher, h King

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1876-1877, Waddell, William, principal Fort Massey Academy, h Dartmouth

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1877-1878

Waddell Henry, principal Fort Massey Academy, h King

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1882-1883

Waddell William H, school teacher, h Windmill road

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1883-1884

Waddell, William h, school teacher, h Windmill road

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1886-1887

Waddell W H, prof English liter Hx academy, h Dartmouth

The Nova Scotia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Annual Report

1888, Executive Committee...W. H. Waddell...

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1888-1889

Waddell, William H, professor Halifax Co Academy, h 3 Annandale

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1889-1890

Waddell W H, professor Halifax Co, academy, h 3 Annandale

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1890-1891

Waddell, W Henry, h 35 Spring Garden road

WADDELL W. HENRY, Private School for young gentlemen, College St., opposite Exhibition Rink. Pupils prepared for matriculation into college or for commercial life, h 35 Spring Garden road

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1891-1892

Young Mens' Christiaqn Association, General Committee ...W H Waddell...

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1892-1893

Waddell, W Henry, school teacher, h 37 Spring Garden road

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1893-1894

Waddell, Henry, Arnold Sch, Brockley Place, h 37 Spring Garden rd

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1894-1895

Waddell Henry W, Arnold school, 11 Brockley place, bds 109 Morris

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1899-1900

Waddell, William H, prin Arnold school, Brockley place, h 12 Lucknow

McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory, 1900-1901

Waddell, William H, headmaster Arnold School, h 12 Lucknow

The Nova Scotia Waddells

William's grandfather and Nova Scotia immigrant ancestor was the Reverend John Waddell who was born April 10th, 1771, in the parish of Shotts in the county of Lanarkshire, Scotland where there had been a remarkable revival during the time of George Whitfield. John was the second son of a craftsman, James Waddel, and at age 17, he matriculated in the University of Glasgow, where he studied for the Presbyterian ministry and was licensed by the Glasgow Presbytery and ordained an evangelist destined for the Nova Scotia mission.

The now Reverend John Waddell sailed from Scotland on August 12th, 1797, and arrived in Truro, Nova Scotia on 06 Nov 1797 following a short stay in New York. While in Truro he boarded with a Mr. Alexander Barnhill until he married and moved into his own house.

He married Nancy Ann Blanchard (1780-1818) on September 2nd, 1802, at Truro. Nancy died August 18th, 1818, leaving Rev. John with seven young children.

In October 1828 John suffered a stroke which left him partly paralyzed and needing a wheelchair to be able to continue his ministry.

In the summer of 1836, he was injured when the wagon he was traveling in upset, and he subsequently retired from the ministry in November of that year. His last public address was at the funeral of a family who perished in a house fire in the spring of 1841. John died November 14th, 1842, at Truro, aged 72 years.

John Waddell had an older brother James who settled in South Maitand, Hants County. James had studied for the ministry, but upon completion of his studies, refused to accept some of the rules and regulations he was told he must affirm. By the time he came to Nova Scotia in 1813 he was a skilled finish carpenter and cabinet maker. Some of his tools and furniture are at the Nova Scotia Museum in Halifax.

Biography of Rev. John Waddell

William's father, the Reverend James Waddell was born May 24th, 1805, at Truro. Like his father, James became a Presbyterian minister. He married Elizabeth Blanchard (1819-1897) on 28 Sep 1837 at Pictou. James Waddell and his wife Elizabeth Blanchard were first cousins. William Henry Waddell was their eldest child. James Waddell died 14 March 14th, 1870, at Halifax and is buried at Robie Street Cemetery in Truro.

Both John Waddell and his son James married into the Blanchard family, descendants of Col. Jotham Blanchard, a Loyalist immigrant. Jotham was born in New Hampshire in 1745. He married Elizabeth Tredwell, about 1766, and in 1785 he removed to Truro, and purchased a part of what was Capt. John Morrison's house lot in the Upper Village of Truro, on the north side of the Parade. He built a two-story house on the corner of the lot, Jothan and Elizabeth were the parents of at least 4 sons and 6 daughters, one of which, Nancy Ann, became Rev. John Waddell's wife. Jotham died March 18th, 1807, aged 62 years, and his wife, Elizabeth, died January 5th, 1811, aged 72 years.

The text has been preserved of an address delivered at the Centennial Celebration, 20 August 1908, by William Henry Waddell concerning his late father Rev James Waddell.

THE REV. JAMES WADDELL

AN ADDRESS

By Mr. W. H. Waddell

The year 1908 will be long remembered in the annals of our country. The tercentenary of the foundation of Quebec, which has recently been celebrated with unprecedented pomp, and participated in by three of the greatest nations of the world; the semi-tercentenary of the establishment of representative institutions in the British Colonies, which only yesterday was signalized by appropriate ceremonies in the capital city of our province; and today the centenary of the organization of this congregation;- these national, provincial and local events will be ever associated in the minds of those here today, and make the year one to be remembered with pride and gratitude by us all.

It is certainly fitting that we should embrace the opportunities these occasions afford us to bring to mind the heroic deeds and patient toilings of our fathers, and raise our voices in praise and thanksgiving to the All Father for the blessings and privileges which we enjoy as the result of the toils and privations of those who have gone before, and who now rest from their labors.

The part which has been assigned to me in the proceedings of this occasion is one which ought to be very congenial to the feelings of a son whose filial devotion is allowed to express itself without fear of being regarded fulsome or extravagant. Before making any remarks of my own in reference to my father's life and work, I ask your permission to read an estimate of his character and abilities by the Rev. John Sprott whose name, a half century ago, was a household word throughout the length and breadth of the Maritime Provinces. Mr. Sprott assisted at a communion service in River John on Nov. 7th, 1847. In the book of memorials edited by his son, the Rev. George Sprott, D. D., of North Berwick, Scotland, I find these words in a letter written by him in July, 1862, shortly before my father was called to Sheet Harbor, Halifax County:-

"I am glad that the people of the Eastern Shore are making an effort to retain the services of the Rev. James Waddell. I hope that by making a strong pull, a long pull, and a pull all together, they will be able to sustain him... Mr. Waddell is the man for the shore. He is not like a newly fledged divine just from school. He is a man of wisdom and experience, and has many seals of his ministry. Few ministers have made deeper investments of love and affection, toils and labors in Nova Scotia, than Mr. Waddell. He has never had a fat living and whatever may be the cause of this, it is not owing to his want of talents and acquirements. Had he gone into the navy, he would have gained the quarter deck; had he gone into the army, if not killed at the battle of Waterloo, by this time he might have been the head of a regiment; had he gone to the bar, he might now have been upon the bench; but because he made choice of a holy profession, he, with many other excellent men, is compelled to pitch his tent at no great distance from humble poverty. James Waddell ought to be the finest blood of the Church, being the son of the Rev. John Waddell of Truro. I dare not say that he equals his father as a preacher, yet when I hear him in prayer, I think I hear his father's voice. Both excelled in prayer-- a noble gift for a minister."

My grandfather, mentioned in this extract, was sent out from Scotland in 1797, by what was then known as the Associate Synod, afterwards merged in the United Presbyterian Church. He was settled in Truro, as the second minister of the metropolis of Presbyterianism. His wife was Miss Blanchard of Empire Royalist stock from New Hampshire. As a son of the manse, my father had all the advantages which accompanied that privilege. I have heard him say that as a youth he rather enjoyed the companionship of the Church of England minister who lived on the adjoining property, and who taught him to play chess, and that Mr. Burnyeat's woodpile had more attractions for him, than the one in his father's dooryard. I have reason to think that his choice of profession cost him a struggle, as his companions were a rollicking set of fellows, and he was naturally of an ardent and impulsive temperament. He early took his stand as a total abstainer, in days when drinking was more fashionable than it is now, and he afterwards attained some prominence as a temperance lecturer.

Licensed in 1830 and ordained in 1831, he became pastor of Bathurst congregation in the north of New Brunswick. After remaining there a few years, he was appointed to the position in Central Academy, Charlottestown now Prince of Wales College. While engaged as a teacher, I find that he frequently if not habitually occupied the pulpit on Sunday.

In Prince Edward Island he was brought into close touch with the Rev. John Geddie, who was, if I mistake not, his classmate at Pictou Academy. He sympathised heartily with the movement which resulted in the appointment of Mr. Geddie as the pioneer Presbyterian foreign missionary of British North America. On the formation of the Foreign Mission Board in the year 1845, he was appointed its first secretary, and thus was the medium of official communication between the missionaries and the Church for about ten years, during the early struggles of our pioneers in the new Hebrides. I remember well the interest attached to the receipt of letters from Mr. and Mrs. Geddie, which in those days of sailing ships would be from six months to a year old when they were received. Private letters from Mr. and Mrs. Geddie to my father and mother showed that their correspondence with one another was the communion of dear friends whose affection was thus cherished for long years though they were separated by so many thousand miles.

When Mr. Geddie was home on furlough in 1865, it was my privilege to drive him from Halifax to Sheet Harbor to visit my father and his congregation.

Besides being prominent in the missionary work of the Church, my father was most enthusiastic in the cause of general education, and especially in the theological seminary conducted at West River under the Rev. James Ross, afterwards Principal of Dalhousie College. In 1848 during his visit to the old country, he was engaged in making known to the Churches there the educational needs of our Church in Nova Scotia, and succeeded in collecting quite a sum of money for the funds of the institution. In 1852 he visited the United States in the interest of the Seminary.

Of his ministry in this Congregation I am probably not so competent to speak as some of its older members here present, but I think that any such who had the means of knowing will bear me out in saying that he was faithful in the performance of his pastoral duties, in visiting the sick, and in holding prayer-meetings in different sections of the congregation, besides preaching two sermons on Sabbath with a short interval between. The first discourse, if I remember rightly, was mainly expository, and the sermon after the intermission of a more practical character. He had the habit of writing out copious notes of his sermons using a variety of abbreviations known only to himself.

I cannot recall with any clearness the characteristics of his style, but this I know that it was marked by the prominence of scriptural language and quotations, and his illustrations were drawn from Bible scenes and characters. His library was limited, and consisted mainly of theological and missionary works. I remember that, on one occasion, he advised me to study Solomon's Proverbs rather than Shakespeare. I knew Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress almost by heart, but had never heard of Gulliver's Travels. The first poem I read under his direction was Pollok's "Course of Time." Dull as Pollok may seem to modern students, he developed in me a taste for poetry which I trust I have not altogether lost. Cowper, I know, was a favorite with my father, as I remember distinctly that he would often recite long passages from "The Task." Grahame's "Sabbath" was another great favorite. But he was essentially a man of one book; Henry's and Scott's commentaries, and Guyse's Paraphrase were in constant use, but the Bible itself without note or comment was his chief text book.

The religious education of the young of the congregation was his especial care, and the catechising of the children was a very definite and important part of his pastoral visitations. The home training which he practised and inculcated upon his people, included much reading of Scripture on Sabbath evenings, and a thorough mastery of the Shorter Catechism. The Sabbath School conducted in the church was in my time superintended by Mr. Thomas B. Gould and psalms and paraphrases learned there have never been forgotten. Besides the Paraphrases five hymns at the end of the Paraphrases constituted the complete hymnal of the Church at that time.

The communion season was made the occasion of much spiritual interest. The Thursday previous was a fast day, kept most devoutly as a holy day. Services were also conducted on the Saturday before and the Monday after communion. The minister was, on these occasions, almost invariably assisted by a neighboring pastor.

My father was a great pains to enlist the women and children especially in missionary and Bible society work. I think I shall not be guilty of making any invidious distinction in mentioning the name of one lady who was not only a warm personal friend of my father and mother, but an efficient and faithful helper in every good work---the late Mrs. Alexander MacKenzie, whose benevolent countenance I distinctly remember, and whose kind ministrations to the sick and needy endeared her to all who came within her reach. Though she has long since gone to her reward she is still remembered with affection by many who enjoyed her tender interest in their welfare. It is gratifying to know that her descendants are among the active helpers in the congregation.

During my father's incumbency, the glebe of some five or six acres was donated to the church by Mr. William Matheson, the father of Mrs. Robert Patterson whose homestead was on the property now owned by Dr. Collie. This fact may account for the gift of the land to the congregation for the use of the minister. Mr. Matheson was, however, an intimate friend of my father. This congregation is certainly to be congratulated on having so desirable a manse and glebe.

In the social and public life of the community my father took a great interest. His ideals of life were high, and as a puritan of the puritans, hostility to the prevalent evils could always be counted upon. His zeal in the cause of temperance and purity often caused him disfavor, to say the least. Errors which he may have committed in carrying out his views were errors of the head rather than of the heart.

Fond of innovations that tended to improvement, he was not a faddist. The only instance I can recall, as indicating any approach to faddism, was a desire to attach French names to localities within the bounds of the congregation. He was fond of calling the village of River Jean, Belle Vue, and much of his correspondence carried that heading. Louisville is another of the local names, which still survives. Belle Vue though significant and euphonious, did not seem to take, though an effort was made to obtain legislative enactment in its favor.* No doubt, the fact that the great majority of his congregation were of French descent, and that many of them conversed in that language influenced my father in his effort to leave a permanent French impress on the village and its vicinity.

*[The majority of the French speaking repudiated French origin; the English-speaking preferred an English name. The attempt of the compilers of the Atlas of Pictou County to change the name to the barbarism, "Johnville" was happily futile.]

Of the home life at the manse, I shall say but little. The most scrupulous care was taken in the moral and religious instruction of the children of the household. Brown's "Short Catechism" for the younger ones, and the "Shorter Catechism" for the older were dispensed as regularly as our morning meal. "No question, no breakfast" was the motto by which we were kept in line. I do not remember any occasion on which any of us lost our breakfast, and I am not sure that we invariably had the question, but the rule was maintained, and probably its inflexibility ensured its observance. The children were also encouraged to engage in some work to earn money for missions, or to deprive themselves of some so-called luxury, in order to get pennies for the Lord's treasury. Missionary periodicals for the children were placed in our hands, doubtless in the hope that some impression might be made which would be permanent and lead to the addition from the family to the roll of that noble band engaged in the foreign field. The discipline of the home was rigid, but I have never heard one of the family regret that our childhood was unduly taxed. My parents were firm believers in the injunction, Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Two of the daughters were virtually missionaries within my father's extensive parish on the eastern shore of Nova Scotia, where they taught school for years in isolated, neglected districts, and where on Sabbath they held religious services in the schoolhouse or in the homes of the people. Another, after taking care of her mother in her last long illness, went with a lady companion to do mission work among the blacks of North Carolina.

It is just fifty years within a few days, since my father preached his farewell sermon in the old church. His text was "Brethren, farewell" and was followed by a faithful and affectionate address.

In 1848 his health became so seriously impaired that he obtained leave of absence to make a sea voyage and visit the old country. He sailed from the harbor in one of Mr. Kitchen's vessels, in which he had been offered a passage. The ship unexpectedly put in to Cork and my father eagerly embraced the opportunity to visit Father Matthew, the great apostle of temperance. In after years he often alluded to the privilege he enjoyed in making the acquaintance of this truly great man. While in England and Scotland he took advantage of every opportunity to solicit sympathy and support for the Theological Seminary at West River. He returned in one of Mr. Carmichael's vessels under the command of Captain Geo. Mackenzie. A fellow passenger was Rev. David Honeyman, who then first came to this country. The latter was best known as a practical geologist and curator of the Provincial museum. Smallpox broke out on board ship and the passengers were detained at quarantine at the beaches of Pictou for some weeks.

William Lawson Grant, in his preface to his father's life quotes a friend as saying that a biography written by a son is only one degree less contemptible than one written by a daughter. I feel confident that if you have not reverence for my father's memory which I have, you will none the less appreciate this simple and unadorned narration of facts as forming a not wholly uninteresting link in the history of Salem congregation, which you have kindly permitted me to forge.