Kingston township that battle was rendered considerably easier by their proximity to a growing and ambitious centre in their midst. Later Loyalists and the sons of those who had occupied the front lots began to push back into the concessions; and the Rideau running north-east from Kingston afforded a water front extending into the interior. Some of the so-called Loyalists brought out from England in 1792 seem to have been settled around Kingston as well as in Pittsburg; but the record concerning them is vague and, if Cartwright's opinion may be taken, they probably soon disappeared from their holdings.25 At the close of the century then the region around Kingston was in a favourable position to supply the necessaries required at a military and naval base and, as Simcoe was to find, settlers were much more anxious to make their homes in that district than around York.26 With the gradual improvement of roads, the importance of Kingston tended to increase; and by 1795, when the Law and the Church were established in suitable buildings, the village began to take on an appearance not very different from some of the newer settlements in New York which pioneer Loyalists had left ten years before. The men who settled in Ernesttown did not differ essentially from those who formed the chief part of the Kingston settlement, except perhaps in so far as they had had a more extensive military experience. The same racial elements are represented and in both townships we find officers interspersed among the private soldiers. The officers had received additional lands for their services but many of these grants were disposed of quite early in the period of settlement and brought their owners small sums in ready cash. On the whole, the first land grants did not tend to establish class distinctions. Had the development of an aristocracy then been the object of the Government, the land would have been given in large blocks and the limit of 200 acres in one locality would not have been fixed. 25 Letter of Hon. Richard Cartwright to Gen. Hunter, Aug. 23, 1799. From the letter-book of Hon. R. Cartwright. Queen's University Library. 26 Report on Canadian Archives, by Douglas Brymner, Archivist, 1891. Ottawa; p. xxv. Canniff states that 'the 1st battalion, commonly called Jessup's corps, settled on the St. Lawrence, in Edwardsburg and Augusta, while the second, or Rogers' corps, passed up to the Bay of Quinte'; yet Herrington states that 434 of Jessup's corps received their location tickets for Ernesttown.28 These men had been closely associated with the parent regiment raised by Sir John Johnson. They had, indeed, formed a part of it during the winter of 1776-7 and had seen much service in the frontier warfare during the remainder of the conflict. Many of them had been with Burgoyne and had shared the blame which that ill-fated general attempted to fix upon his American supporters. It was only natural then that Johnson, who must have known their officers personally, should be acting as their agent in the selection of land. They had been replaced under his command, evidently, after the failure of St. Leger at Ft. Stanwix and the return of the 'corps' from Saratoga. Perhaps, in the absence of detail on this point, we may assume that a certain portion of Jessup's Corps had been used to recruit the second battalion of the 84th regiment and that this would account for their presence on the 'Bay'. Since the land in Ernesttown proved exceptionally good, the township filled up rapidly and, before the War of 1812, had a population of 2,300. Bath, situated on the share, about eighteen miles west of Kingston, was far enough away, in those days of imperfect communications, to be the centre and supply station for an entirely different community. The agricultural prosperity of the surrounding country, the energy and enterprise of its citizens and the military protection afforded by the possibility of establishing forts at Pt. Pleasant and on Amherst Island were factors which might have told heavily in competition with Kingston had it not been for the geographical situation of the latter at the mouth of the St. Lawrence. The actual differences in settlement between Ernesttown and Fredericksburgh are very slight. The same type of men settled in each. Since they were situated between Bath and 27 Canniff. Settlement of Upper Canada, ch .xlix, p. 440. 28 History of the County of Lennox and Addington. By Walter S. Herrington, K.C.; Toronto; The Macmillan Company of Canada, Limited, 1913; p. 29. Adolphustown and had Napanee Mills on their northern border, the pioneers in Fredericksburgh did not find it necessary to build a town of any size on the site which had been surveyed. They had, however, a military leader in their midst. Capt. Rogers had commanded many of them in the later stages of the war and, no doubt, other members of the King's Regiment who lived within the township were willing to look to him as their representative head. The military spirit of the time is shown, as Canniff points out, by the fact that thirteen lots were separated from the proposed township of Adolphustown and attached to the western side of Fredericksburgh in order to provide that all Rogers' men, who had been promised land within the same township, would have their wish gratified.29 The geographical position of this township, intersected by Hay Bay and having the Napanee River at its northern end, gave a much larger water-front than could be found in most places. Owing to the construction of the mills on the river, the centre of settlement growing up there doubtless had the effect of raising land values more rapidly than in the case of rear lots in Ernesttown and Kingston townships. Adolphustown, consisting of the ends of the peninsulas which form North and South Fredericksburgh, is a much smaller township than any of the others and might have been entirely occupied by Rogers' men, had it not been necessary to find a home for the New York Loyalists, already noticed, who were led by Capt. Van Alstine. This band contained a larger number of Dutch settlers than did Grass's company, if we may judge from representative names quoted by Canniff.30 Nor was the Huguenot stock lacking; for the Ruttans, and probably several others of the immigrants, could trace their names through several modifications of spelling to New and to old Rochelle. As with the other townships, the settlement was made from the water. The pioneers were able, within a few years, to establish themselves in a fair degree of comfort and many gave employment to later settlers who wished to learn the ways of the frontier before pushing on into the 29 Canniff, Settlement of Upper Canada, ch. xlix, p. 447. 31 forest. The thriving village of Adolphustown shared with Kingston the meetings of the Court of Quarter Sessions, having as its portion the July and January courts. Chief Justice Elmsley, writing in 1798, expressed the opinion that the town would 'perhaps, for many years, be amply sufficient for all the civil purposes of the Bay of Kinty.'32 Adolphustown, though small in area, held a central position between the older and the newer settlements and was destined to play a prominent part in the history of early Upper Canada. Many of its citizens came from the prosperous and highly developed counties of the lower Hudson and these men, with their lengthy record of local institutions and their superior education, were fitted, had they been encouraged, to continue the evolution of self-government. Their municipal records were carefully kept and, when a parliament was established in Upper Canada, they and their sons furnished some of the most capable members who sat in the Assembly. Possibly the fact that nearly every family in the community could have a boat and could reach any of the other settlers in the space of an hour or two, tended, in those days of impassable roads, to provide social advantages which could not be equalled elsewhere on the 'Bay'. Marysburgh, situated opposite Fredericksburgh and Adolphustown on the projecting point of land which narrows toward the eastern end of Prince Edward County, was somewhat isolated. There is not the same definite account of its inhabitants that we have of the other townships; the number of Hessians settled there is placed at forty, though Canniff admits that accurate information is lacking. As we would expect from its position, Marysburgh developed somewhat more slowly than the other townships. The Hessians had much to learn about the detail of farming, and lacked the preliminary training which stood the New York settlers in such good stead. Many of them could not match themselves with the wilderness and despaired. Nor were their Loyalist neigh 31 Canniff, Settlement of Upper Canada, ch. xvii, p. 189, and ch. 1, p. 458. 32Chief Justice Elmsley agreed on many points with Hon. Richard Cartwright, who had strongly opposed the centralizing tendencies of Simcoe's administration. bours willing, apparently, to associate with these peasantsoldiers who had been their companions-in-arms during the Revolution. The fact that many of the Loyalist pioneers in this township were disbanded officers, who had formerly been men of wealth and position, tended further to intensify a social difference not found to the same extent among the inhabitants of the other rival settlements.33 Capt. McDonnell, who had led the settlers to Marysburgh,' had served under Sir John Johnson. He was appointed magistrate and was, of course, the most prominent man in the community. Some difficulty seems to have been experienced in securing the necessary rations and supplies which were provided by the Government. We are too far away from the time to say what special attention should have been given to the foreign soldiers; but it is evident that men who had been under military discipline for a long period of years must have lost much of their initiative and have required more paternal treatment than the ordinary settler. Many of the Hessians would have disposed of their land had there been any way of leaving and the tendency was for their holdings to be acquired by others more fitted for pioneer life. In Marysburgh, as in other townships, some of the land was set apart for the surveyors, and the disposal of such lands tended to bring in later Loyalists or those who had money to augment their holdings. Capt. Van Alstine had been granted some of the land in this township: 437 acres, according to Canniff, which was rather more than an officer was supposed to possess in contiguous lots. The land between the eastern end of the township and Pt. Pleasant was also allotted en bloc to Surveyor Collins. The question of available and unapportioned land is one of some difficulty. Why should Pittsburg and the islands, Wolfe and Amherst, not have been surveyed for the colonists? They were more convenient to Kingston than Marysburgh and, at first sight, it might seem strange that they were not allotted as they had formed part of the seigneury of La Salle. 33 Canniff, Settlement of Upper Canada, ch. li, pp. 462-3. |