bouring provinces to take advantage of the rising prices.

The Governor, Charles D. Smith, took drastic steps to deal with
the situation. He imposed a complete embargo on agricultural ex-
ports. He ordered that no ships carrying wheat, barley, oats, flour,
oatmeal, bread or potatoes were to leave Island ports in the fall of
1816. Because of this Islanders managed to get through the winter in
better shape than their next door neighbours. Despite his unpopular-
ity, he appeared to do the right thing on this occasion.

Through it all Vere kept plugging away to keep food on the table
and improve his farm. He worked hard clearing land and removing
stumps. Most of the trees that he cut went to the Cambridge sawmill
at Murray River to be turned into lumber for sale in Britain. This
earned money to pay for his land and left him with cash that could be
spent at the Cambridge store for needed supplies.

Of all the things the Becks lacked when they arrived in PEI, the
one they missed most was probably their church. It would have been
a very important part of their life at home in England. They had been
members of the Church of England at home but there was no church
of any denomination in the Murray Harbour area.

John Cambridge was a Quaker, and his wife, Mary, was a Meth-
odist. He concentrated on business matters, but she seemed more
concerned about spiritual matters and used her influence in that dir-
ection.

In 1815, a Methodist chapel was built on the LeLacheur farm near
the water and close to the present-day Murray Harbour Cemetery.
This was the first Methodist church to be completed in Prince Ed-
ward Island. It opened on August 15, 1815, and the minister was the
Reverend John Hicks. It was also the first church of any denomina-
tion for miles around and so Vere and Elizabeth, as well as all of the
other settlers, turned to it since there was nothing else available. As
the population of the area grew, the Presbyterians formed a congre-
gation in 1822, but they did not build their own church until 1835.

While Vere and Elizabeth probably stayed with the Methodist
Church all their lives, their children and grandchildren moved in
different directions. The information for Lot 64 in the 1841 census

36