Rev. John Payzant was of Huguenot descent, his father and mother being among the first settlers of Lunenburg County. They lived on an island in Mahone Bay. The Indians attacked them, and killed and scalped the father and one child, and carried the mother and four children through the woods to Quebec. This was in 1756. The children were kept at St. Anne's (now Fredericton). Through the efforts of R. C. Bishop, his mother recovered the possession of her children. When Wolfe captured Quebec, the family was sent to Halifax. John was four years old when taken by the Indians. In his youth he had been educated by the Jesuit priests with instruction in Greek and his further education in adulthood with his brother-in-law, James Juhan, gave him the ability to use the Greek Bible. He thus supported his view on baptism and close communion from this source and did not deviate from his interpretation which appears more liberal and even more modern, than expressed by others of his era. In 1809 he had written a letter to a friend which ends with these words: "O' that God would hasten on that happy time when differences among Christians about circumstantials of Religion would forever cease." He had also been taught the trade of shoemaker in his youth. He became a minister, and preached at the Congregational church in Liverpool for forty years. To supplement his salary, he built the first tannery in Queens County and engaged in making shoes. He also acquired the Joseph Tinkham 500-acre land grant at First Beech Hill on the original King's Highway, now known as the Old Port Mounton Road. Here three sons built their homes, bought adjoining lots extending their holdings to 800 acres and created a thriving community life. In 1795 at the death of his mother, he received the Payzant property in Falmouth because his oldest brother Phillip, was in the United States and unknown to his family. In 1802 John and Mary deeded Lot 47 which he inherited, to his brother Louis of Falmouth. The sum of 40 Pounds is mentioned in the deed. It is said of him, 'that because of his kind, fatherly, ecumenical spirit he was beloved and esteemed by all who knew him'. He is buried in the Congregational Burial Ground, Liverpool, NS. His tombstone reads: Sacred to the memory of Rev. JOHN PAYZANT who departed this life 10th April 1834 in the 85th year of his age. One week before, 3 Apr which was Easter Sunday, he preached his last sermon at Old Zion Congregational Church, age 85, where he had served as pastor for over 40 years.
Rev. John Payzant was of Huguenot descent, his father and mother being among the first settlers of Lunenburg County. They lived on an island in Mahone Bay. The Indians attacked them, and killed and scalped the father and one child, and carried the mother and four children through the woods to Quebec. This was in 1756. The children were kept at St. Anne's (now Fredericton). Through the efforts of R. C. Bishop, his mother recovered the possession of her children. When Wolfe captured Quebec, the family was sent to Halifax. John was four years old when taken by the Indians. In his youth he had been educated by the Jesuit priests with instruction in Greek and his further education in adulthood with his brother-in-law, James Juhan, gave him the ability to use the Greek Bible. He thus supported his view on baptism and close communion from this source and did not deviate from his interpretation which appears more liberal and even more modern, than expressed by others of his era. In 1809 he had written a letter to a friend which ends with these words: "O' that God would hasten on that happy time when differences among Christians about circumstantials of Religion would forever cease." He had also been taught the trade of shoemaker in his youth. He became a minister, and preached at the Congregational church in Liverpool for forty years. To supplement his salary, he built the first tannery in Queens County and engaged in making shoes. He also acquired the Joseph Tinkham 500-acre land grant at First Beech Hill on the original King's Highway, now known as the Old Port Mounton Road. Here three sons built their homes, bought adjoining lots extending their holdings to 800 acres and created a thriving community life. In 1795 at the death of his mother, he received the Payzant property in Falmouth because his oldest brother Phillip, was in the United States and unknown to his family. In 1802 John and Mary deeded Lot 47 which he inherited, to his brother Louis of Falmouth. The sum of 40 Pounds is mentioned in the deed. It is said of him, 'that because of his kind, fatherly, ecumenical spirit he was beloved and esteemed by all who knew him'. He is buried in the Congregational Burial Ground, Liverpool, NS. His tombstone reads: Sacred to the memory of Rev. JOHN PAYZANT who departed this life 10th April 1834 in the 85th year of his age. One week before, 3 Apr which was Easter Sunday, he preached his last sermon at Old Zion Congregational Church, age 85, where he had served as pastor for over 40 years.
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