Sewell Prescott Moody
Born1834 (1834)
DiedNovember 4, 1875(1875-11-04) (aged 40–41)

Sewell Prescott "Sue" Moody (1834 – November 4, 1875)[lower-alpha 1] was a lumberman and Yankee trader from Hartland, Maine, Maine, United States, the son of Joshua Moody and Amy Kendall Bowley.[4][5] With his brother Thomas, Moody arrived in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada in about 1861, initially engaging in mining investment and trading.[4][5] In 1862 he established a business to build British Columbia's first sizeable steam-powered sawmill, at New Westminster.[4]

Moody moved to the Burrard Inlet in 1865, eventually acquiring a bankrupt water-powered sawmill, and established the first non-native settlement in the area, in what is now North Vancouver.[4] Initially known as "Moody's Mills", in 1872 it was formally named Moodyville.[4] Under a firm but paternalistic hand, he provided the settlement with a library and reading room, religious services, a masonic lodge and a school, each being the first on Burrard Inlet, and also funded the extension of the telegraph service from New Westminster.[2][4] At the same time, he forbade gambling and the sale of alcohol.[1] In July 1869, Moody married Janet Watson (1849-1901) and they had two children,[1] Florence and Sewell Prescott Jr. Moody's lumber business was successful, supplying markets in Great Britain and around the Pacific Rim, and adding a larger steam-powered mill in 1868.[3][4] This mill was burned in December 1873, but replaced with another, powered by the steam engines from retired warship HMS Sparrowhawk.[4]

Moody died on November 4, 1875, in the sinking of the passenger steamer SS Pacific following a collision off Cape Flattery, Washington.[1][4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Sources differ over his year of birth, variously given as 1834,[1] 1837,[2] c.1837,[3] and "probably between 1835 and 1840",[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Sewell Prescott Moody". Moodyville: Legend and Legacy. Museum of North Vancouver. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  2. 1 2 Foran, Jill (2003). Vancouver's old-time scoundrels. Canmore, Alta.: Altitude Pub. Canada. pp. 32–34. ISBN 9781551539898. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Sewell Prescott Moody". Historic Sights and Monuments Board of Canada. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022 – via waymarking.com.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Lamb, W. Kaye (1972). "Moody, Sewell Prescott". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. University of Toronto/Université Laval. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Hartland People". Hartland ME: Hartland Historical Society. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2022.


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