Nicholas Austin (1736-1821) was one of the first

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

in the province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and the founder of a Quaker settlement named Austin in Bolton Township, Brome County, Quebec, “on the west side of

Lake Memphremagog Lake Memphremagog (; french: Lac Memphrémagog) is a fresh water glacial lake located between Newport, Vermont, United States and Magog, Quebec, Canada. The lake spans both Quebec and Vermont, but is mostly in Quebec. Most of the watershed that ...

in the 1790s.” Nicholas Austin was a fifth generation Quaker from a family of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

merchants and farmers. He was “chosen as a delegate to the New Hampshire Convention, which ratified the Federal Constitution of the United States. For three years (1789, 1792 and 1793), he was elected town auditor for Middleton, where he had led a fairly comfortable life.” For some reason that is unclear, perhaps partly in search of religious freedom and partly the promise of thousands of acres of land grants if he could bring settlers with him, Austin sold his holdings in New Hampshire and brought his family to the Eastern Townships of Quebec. He and 53 followers, the majority of whom were American Quakers, “subscribed the Declaration for the Township of Bolton Missisqui Bay 11th day of April 1796.” Though Austin worked hard to clear land, lay roads, and build mills for the new community, things did not work out as planned. The government of the day was hierarchical and corrupt. They expected that Austin could profit by skimming fealty dues from his followers, but the American settlers did not cooperate. Austin could not get promised support from the legislators and courts and never realized the benefits of the settlement scheme. He died in 1821, poor and broken, and was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in keeping with Quaker custom. A descendant,

Martin Duckworth Martin Duckworth (born March 8, 1933) is a Canadian documentary director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 20 ...

, has created a movie about his life and its impact: ''Peaceable Kingdom: A View of Nicholas Austin''. Nothing remains of the Quaker settlements in the Eastern Townships of Quebec today except “a few small Quaker cemeteries; that, and the legacy of a free-thinking, independent faith, embodied by a cupboard full of books” displayed in the Lac-Brome Museum owned by the Brome County Historical Society in

Knowlton, Quebec The Town of Brome Lake (officially Ville de Lac-Brome) is a town in southern Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 5,609. Tourism is a major industry in the village of Knowlton because of skiing in the winter, lake activ ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Nicholas 1736 births 1821 deaths Canadian Quakers People from Strafford County, New Hampshire People from Estrie People from colonial New Hampshire New Hampshire politicians Duckworth family