Codys is a quiet rural community in southern New Brunswick, about 30 kilometres northwest of Sussex. It was named for the Cody family, United Empire Loyalists who settled there and operated several businesses, helping the area prosper for a time. At one point, the community was even served by its own railway station. Much of the family’s story has faded over the years, but one name still stands out — Hiram Alfred Cody, better known as H.A. Cody.
Born in Codys in 1872, nearly 90 years after his ancestors fled the American Revolution, H.A. Cody would go on to write 25 novels and become one of Canada’s most widely read authors of his day. But his road to literary success was far from easy. He disliked school, much preferring the outdoors to the classroom, and at one point even tried to leave his studies behind before his family persuaded him to return.
Cody eventually entered the Anglican ministry, serving in parishes across New Brunswick, including Doaktown, Ludlow, Fredericton’s Christ Church Cathedral, and Saint John’s former St. James Church. Yet it was a dramatic posting in 1904 that truly stirred the imagination of the young minister. Assigned to Dawson City in the midst of the Klondike Gold Rush, Cody and his pregnant wife, Jess, set out for the Yukon, where he took on the challenging task of ministering across that rugged northern frontier.
While in the Yukon, Cody became friends with fellow writer Robert Service, and the two developed a good-natured literary rivalry. Cody even wrote a collection of poems, Songs of a Blue Nose, as a response to Service’s Songs of a Sourdough. His fiction reflected the spirit and values of the era — patriotic and moral stories populated by courageous Mounties and rugged men of the wilderness. In The Long Patrol, RCMP constable Norman Grey is portrayed as a man who “fears neither man nor devil,” while The Frontiersman introduces Keith Steadman, a “hardy northman and trailsman” who shares a simple meal of bacon, beans, sourdough, and black tea with his dog.
Although the Yukon gave him fresh inspiration, Cody never lost sight of his New Brunswick roots. He wrote often about the province, including in The Unknown Wrestler, set in the fictional town of Rookston — a lightly disguised version of Rexton.
After several years in the north, Hiram Cody returned to New Brunswick and made his home in Saint John, where he continued writing until his death in 1948. The boy who once longed to leave school behind would go on to mingle with literary figures and write bestselling novels read across Canada.
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I have had a book of my mom’s on my shelf since she passed away in 1998. I decided today to start to read it. – Glen of the High North by H.A. Cody, published in 1927, the year my mom turned 15!! It is not in good condition but has Mom’s name on the front page. I could send you a photo of it but not sure how to do that when I’m in your comments