(An interesting story might now be told: Part of this group that shipped out from New York was the family of Thomas Murphy, a ship builder of Charleston, South Carolina. Indeed, Murphy had built ships for the Cunard family in the pre-revolutionary days. Well, Murphy had an unattached daughter, Margaret, aged 21, "a tall, spirited girl with dark eyes." Abraham Cunard, an unattached male of 27, also was on one of the ships of the fleet that brought the Loyalists to Saint John, New Brunswick in 1783. The two eventually married.)

While a certain branch of the Cunard family that fled the United States settled on land near Saint John, Abraham Cunard (1756-1824) set out for Halifax where he took up work as a carpenter. Having earned a reputation as a good carpenter, Abraham was eventually hired to work at the government lumberyard, a place which rendered great service to naval ships in supplying masts, spars and squared timber.

Kay Grant gave this description of Abraham Cunard:

"A sober, thrifty, respected by everyone, he stuck to his job at the lumberyard and in time rose to a position of some importance. With a staff of assistants, he handled all the requisitions for trimmed lumber. Specifications for any government building project, including ships, had to be submitted to his department."