Strange Discovery Near Chipman

In December 1859, a small group of lumberjacks who worked in a camp north of the Gaspereau River, in central New Brunswick, were returning home to celebrate Christmas with their families in the Parish of Chipman. On the way, about 15 kilometres from the nearest house, they found a half-frozen man in the snow. Not knowing quite what to do, they carried him to the village.

The case was immediately referred to the Overseers of the Poor of the Parish of Chipman, who were responsible for the community’s poor and indigent. They found a place where he could stay and be cared for, and they tried to find out who he was by getting him to talk. They quickly realized that not only was the man a stranger to the region, he spoke neither English nor French. He was quickly assumed to be an Italian.

Court Documents

• Unknown, George Benison Bill 1861, 1860
• Robert Orchard, Jany 61 -- Presentment of Grand Jury, January 31, 1861

Government Documents

• John M. Lean, Queens County to John Brown a/c [1861], January 23, 1861
• John O'Leary, George Benison, Samuel White, Certificate that the Frozen Italian is an Emigrant lately arrived, May 8, 1861