Silas H. Dickerson - Historic Rock Island

Silas Horton Dickerson

p. 150

“Silas H. Dickerson was a native of New Jersey, and b. [born] May 12, 1799. At the age of fourteen was apprenticed to a printer in Kingston, Ont., and afterwards was a journeyman printer with Nahum Mower, in Montreal, where he m. [married] Mary Price, b. at Elizabethtown, N. J., Sept. 25, 1797. In 1823 they removed to Stanstead, where Mr. Dickerson started the British Colonist, a weekly newspaper. […] He was appointed Collector of Customs in 1853, and in 1857, was elected Mayor of the Corporation of Stanstead Plain. He d. [died] Oct. 23, 1857.”

Greffes de notaires, District judiciaire de Saint-François, CN501, S24 William Ritchie.

Acte : # 207
Date : 30 septembre 1823
Articles of Apprenticeship of Moses Cook with Silas H. Dickerson, Printers of the Township of Stanstead.

Résumé : Comme Moses Cook est un mineur de quinze ans, son beau-père, Eli Howe, Yeoman du même Township, signe lui aussi l’entente avec Dickerson. Le contrat engage : « the said Moses Cook as an apprentice to and with the said Silas H. Dickerson to be taught and instructed in the trade, art and mystery of a Printer for and during and until the full end and term of six years to be reckoned and compiled from the twenty ninth day of August now last past […] » ; en d’autres mots, d’août 1823 à août 1829. On spécifie par ailleurs que le jeune Cook doit servir et obéir Dickerson, et que ce premier ne doit pas s’absenter, ni de jour, ni de nuit, de la maison de Dickerson, sans une permission officielle. De plus, Cook ne doit révéler aucun secret professionnel à qui que ce soit et : « shall not contrat marriage during the aforesaid term ». De son côté, Dickerson s’engage non seulement à former le jeune apprenti au métier d’imprimeur, mais aussi « to paid and provide the said Moses Cook as well in sickness as in health with fitting and comfortable board and lodging and also in clothing, washing and mending. […] send the said Moses Cook to the Evening School during the two next evening winters ». Ce sont donc les droits et devoirs de chacun qui sont officialisés dans l’acte notarié.

Pierre Rastoul, « Early Book Trades in Stanstead, ca 1820-1850 », vol. 23, 2009, p. 93-120.

Au sujet de Silas Horton Dickerson : "Silas Dickerson was undoubtably the first to actually print books in Stanstead, while himself offering other books at his office as as bookseller. [...] Silas Horton Dickerson, Stanstead's first journalist, printer and book publisher, was born in New Jersey on May 12, 1799. At the age of 14, he was apprenticed to a printer in Kingston, Ontario, then moved on to work for a few years (ca 1821-1823) as a type setter with Nahum Mower, a printer and newspaperman in Montreal. [...] In a judicial sale held in 1834, his printing press, type and materials were sold to Joseph S. Walton, the initiator of a Tory newspaper in Sherbrooke, the Farmers' Advocate and Townhips Gazette. [...] Thought he definitely lost his paper and printing office in 1834, Silas Dickerson would remain active in politics as president of Stanstead's local Reformist Association, which celebrated the victory of their candidates Marcus Child and John Grannis by welcoming Louis-Joseph Papineau for a visit here in 1834. When the Patriot insurrection arose in 1837, Dickerson was forced into exile int the United States, only to come back to Stanstead several years later where he was appointed Collector of Customs in 1853, then elected the first mayor of Stanstead-Plain in 1857. A few months later, Silas Horton Dickerson died on October 23, 1857, and was buried in the Crystal Lake cemetery, leaving seven children from his marriage (1822) to Mary Price".

PA. F2T2. Paper Mills, file 1 of 1. Lettre de W. A. Ketchen, de la Fraser Compagnies Limited, adressée à Arthur E. Curtis de Stanstead, 17 novembre 1967, 1 p. [+ pièce jointe : extrait de George Carruthers, « First Hundred Years of Paper-Making in Canada »].

Traite de l’érection d’un moulin à papier à Rock Island autour de 1823 par Silas H. Dickerson, vraisemblablement pour les besoins de son hebdomadaire "The British Colonist".

Les frères John, Samuel et Stephen Reed aurait acheté ledit moulin en 1832 et connu un succès commercial pendant quelques années ; cependant, la compétition du marché américain aurait forcé les frères Reed à abandonner les activités du moulin à papier entre 1844 et 1850 (en effet, le recensement de 1844 note la présence d’un moulin, mais pas celui de 1851) ; Carruthers souligne que le moulin a possiblement été la propriété de R. H. Perkins & Co à partir de 1842.

S.H.S. FILES 31-40. F3T2. Stanstead Historical Society, file 23 of 37. Matthew F. Farfan, « Stanstead’s other journals », Stanstead Historical Society Journal, vol. 13, 1989, p. 27-35.

Le "British Colonist and Saint Francis Gazette" est fondé en 1823 par Silas Horton Dickerson et paraît jusqu’en 1834. Suite à des débuts marqués par un focus sur les nouvelles européennes et américaines, le journal se « régionalise » et devient de plus en plus politisé, appelant à des réformes politiques et, plus tard, appuyant le candidat réformiste local, Marcus Child. Pris dans différents litiges, notamment un conflit avec le juge John Fletcher, Dickerson croule sous les dettes et doit fermer boutique en 1834.

p. 36

The first Eastern Townships newspaper was established in 1823, at Stanstead Plain, by Silas H. Dickenson, and was known as "The British Colonist."