Oldal 31 [31]
OCR
historian, Smith, we learn that at that time there was a scarcity of the fair sex in the colony, and that, to remedy this abnormal state of affairs, several hundred females were dispatched from France. They were short, tall, lean, fat, old and young, but, ina few days after their arrival, they were all disposed of. ‘ The Governor-General then distributed to the newly married, oxen, cows, hogs, fowls, salted beef, and good advice.” The grants of land by the French Government consisted of seignories, which were subdivided into parishes, the extent of which were defined in 1721. The first person to whom a grant of land was made in Upper Canada, was De la Salle, the discoverer of the Mississippi, who was granted Wolfe, Gage, and Amherst Islands, together with four leagues of land, which included the fort at Cataraqui. When the Revolutionary War closed, the British Government adopted a policy of prudence and liberality, by granting to the Loyalist refugees large tracts of land, in partial recompense for the losses sustained in adhering to the old flag. The result has been to build up, to the north of the St. Lawrence, a confederation, strong in British principles, and offering a bulwark against the spread of republicanism in North America. Not only were extensive grants of land made to to every refugee. The scale of granting lands was: To a field-officer, 5,000 acres ; captain, 3,000 ; subaltern, 2,000 ; private, 200. Among the individuals of note who received grants, was Benedict Arnold, the traitor, who drew 18,000 acres, besides having given to him, as a reward for his treachery, $50,000. Several of the blocks were in the United Counties, one lot being, perhaps, the finest in Central Canada, situated near Kilmarnock, now the property of Joseph Ferguson, Esq. farm The lands were originally granted by drawing lots. The number of each lot and concession was written on separate pieces of paper ; placed in a hat, and shaken. all were then Each person entitled drawn for them, the number drawn corresponding to the location. A printed location ticket was then given. At the time the lot was drawn, the surveyor in charge had before him the map of the district, upon which he marked the name of the party who had secured it. Previous to the arrival of the first settlers, in the spring of 1784, partial surveys had been made of the townships fronting on the St. Lawrence, Major 3 | I7 Holland having charge of the same. In Lower Canada, in 1781, General Clark, Military Commander, had caused a survey to be made, including the limit between the Seigniory of New Longueil and the Township of Lancaster, the first township in Upper Canada. The Surveyor-General at first laid out only a single range of lots, all of which fronted on the river, and this was probably done along the breadth of several townships. The front line was first run, cutting off the broken part along the bank of the river ; but, according to the report of the Crown Lands Department, in some townships no front line has been found, while the lines in the second concession were distinctly marked. The operations of the first surveyor only extended to the western boundary of Elizabethtown, which, at that time, was called the Eighth Township, though in reality it was the zinth. ~The explanation of this discrepancy is, that, for many years, Lancaster was not counted, being known as the Sunken Township, and considered of no value. The following are the names of the townships, commencing at the Lower Canada frontier: No. 1, Lancaster; No. 2, Charlottenburg; No. 3, Cornwall; No. 4, Osnabruck; No. 5, Williamsburg ; No. 6, Matilda; No. 7, Edwardsburg; No. 8, Augusta ; No. 9, Elizabethtown. The base line having been established, a second one, parallel thereto, was made at a distance of a mile and a quarter. Each concession was divided into lots of two hundred acres. At intervals of two or three miles, a strip, forty feet wide, was left for the side lines. The number of concessions in a township depended upon circumstances, the general intention, however, being to make each municipality ten miles square. The object~ af making the lots so narrow was to increase the number having a river frontage, thus bringing the settlers nearer together. In addition to the grant to each United Empire Loyalist, his wife and each of his children were entitled to a like quantity of land. The U. E. certificates of ownership became articles of barter, Many of the parties who drew land never examined it, and, if the location was in the rear townships, it was considered almost worthless. It therefore happened that lots were sold for a mere song, and, in many instances given away. .Two hundred acres, now comprised in one of the best farms in the Township of Bastard, were offered for a pair of . coarse boots, but the offer was refused. Storekeepers bought up the location tickets fora calico dress, and resold the same lands to emigrants, at from two to four dollars an acre. The first operation of the new settler was to erect
