Carmichael, James

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Kenneth George Pryke, “CARMICHAEL, JAMES,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 8, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/carmichael_james_8E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Militia officer, businessman, justice of the peace, and office holder; b. 29 Jan. 1788 in Fishers Grant (Pictou Landing), N.S., eldest son of James Carmichael and Ann ——; m. January 1812 Christian McKenzie, and they had eight children; d. 1 June 1860 in New Glasgow, N.S.
    • James Carmichael’s father was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and came to North America in 1778. In all probability he was the Sergeant James Carmichael of the 82nd Foot who received a 200-acre grant at Merigomish, N.S., in 1785.
    • As a young man he was subject to militia duty and by 1807 he was a lieutenant in the Pictou Regiment. That year, following the Chesapeake affair, the British government decided to call out the militia in its North American colonies, and Carmichael took a small detachment to Halifax where he remained until the early spring of 1808 working on the fortifications. By the 1820s he had become a major, and when the Pictou Regiment was divided in January 1828 he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the second battalion, a post he retained until his retirement about 1846.
    • As his business developed, Carmichael was able to build his own schooners for local trade. His first venture, in conjunction with his brother-in-law George Rogers McKenzie, was the 14-ton schooner James William, constructed in 1821. The following year Carmichael, with brother-in-law John McKenzie and John Johnston, built the Perseverance. This 77-ton brigantine was intended for the West Indies trade but was lost on its maiden voyage. The loss, particularly severe because the Halifax agent had pocketed the money intended for insurance, apparently slowed down Carmichael’s expansion since it was not until 1828 that he and John McKenzie built the 139-ton brig Two Sisters. This vessel was sold quickly, but at the same time Carmichael began to develop a regular coasting trade with the 45-ton schooner Mary Ann, also built in 1828. By 1832 this vessel regularly carried oxen and agricultural products to the Richibucto and Miramichi regions in New Brunswick and brought back to Pictou timber and salt for the fishing industry. The salt was probably obtained from the Jersey merchants who brought it as ballast in the ships with which they controlled the fishing trade in the Gulf of St Lawrence. The merchants represented in these partnerships of the 1820s and others with whom Carmichael had dealings such as James MacGregor, his future son-in-law, and Thomas Graham, a large New Glasgow shipbuilder, constituted a significant network of relationships for the area.
    • Carmichael died a man of moderate wealth, leaving about £7,000 in cash as well as real property of a somewhat arbitrarily assessed value of £2,000. He had established a business that was ably continued by his sons and, more significant, he played a steady, if inconspicuous, role in the development of New Glasgow. It was therefore quite appropriate that he had the largest funeral in the neighbourhood for some years and that all places of business in the New Glasgow area were closed.
  • Son of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=11460
  • Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/181057646/james-carmichael