For a part of this time the family had charge of a toll bridge near Newcastle.The following incident is declared to have actually occurred while they were keeping the toll bridge.A large man, riding a very small donkey, one day came up to the bridge and asked the amount of the toll.The charge was more than he felt inclined to pay, so he asked what would it be for a man with a load.Finding that it was considerably less he at once laid down the smaller sum, picked up the donkey in his arms, and walked over the bridge.From Halifax Mr.
Colpitts and the two oldest boys made their way overland, walking the most of the way from there to Moncton, while the others came in a vessel soon afterwards.When they reached Coverdale the land he had improved had been pre-empted, and Mr.Colpitts had to push on.He settled at Little River, five miles from its mouth."The writer, after giving a fuller account of the family, says: "It is, we freely confess, the history of a race of humble farmers, and such, for the most part, have been their descendants; no one of the name has yet occupied a prominent place in the public life of our country.But the name has always been an honorable one, and those who have borne it have been, with few exceptions, honest, God-fearing, God-honoring men and women."Mr.James Colpitts, of Point de Bute, is a great-grandson of Mr.Robert Colpitts.
MONRO.
Alexander Monro was born in Banff, Scotland.His father, John Monro, and family came from Aberdeen to Miramichi, New Brunswick, in 1815.He remained in Miramichi three years and then moved to Bay Verte.The next move was to Mount Whatley, and, after a few years stay there, Mr.Monro purchased a wilderness lot on Bay Verte Road, to which they removed, and after years of strenuous labor made for themselves a comfortable home.
It was from Mr.Robert King, school master--referred to in another part of this book--that the son, Alexander Monro, received the inspiration and training that started him on the road to success in life.His biographer says: "When he was twenty-one years of age a Mr.Robert King came into the district to take charge of the school, and under his care young Monro studied in the winter evenings geometry, algebra and land surveying.Mr.King possessed a surveying compass, and gave him practical instruction in land surveying, leading him to decide to follow that business.