Sewell Prescott Moody | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1834 |
Died | November 4, 1875 | (aged 40–41)
Sewell Prescott "Sue" Moody (c. 1834 – November 4, 1875)[a] 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]
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