Page 31 - John Anderson

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and it became famous up and down the Halifax River. The Old Tom
Cat played an important part in the
development of the settlement for carrying
lumber, supplies, game, and wild orange
trees from the deserted Bulow Plantation.
The once wild orange trees were set out in
the New Britain groves after they had been
grafted with sweet orange tree cuttings.
The Old Tom Cat sailboat became such an
important part of the early settlers’ lives and
it was held in such great esteem that one of
the settlers, William Fagan, later to become
known as John Anderson’s half-brother,

wrote a charming and nostalgic poem about it. A verse from the poem
reads:

The Old Tom Cat
"On the Halifax Coast, both far and near,
Amongst the boats 'tis the pioneer;
Like its namesake too, its lives are nine,
Ah, it has a record of "Auld Lang Syne!"
Let lightning shiver and 'Norther's rave
Like a sprite it comes from seeming grave.
From Tomoka fair to the Hillsborough flat,
All know from a distance the Old Tom Cat."
Samuel Dow soon learned that the ambitious New Britain Colony
settlers were working extremely hard as a team, pulling together to
obtain a substantial hold in this bountiful yet extremely harsh
wilderness settlement along the Halifax River. Being cousin to John

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