Stranica 33 [33]
not a legalized surveyor, he had the instrument,
and understood its practical use. He was ever
ready to give his assistance and advice to the
new-comer, and rendered great service in promoting
the settlement of the county. He was made a
captain in the first regiment of Leeds, becoming a
magistrate when the first commission was issued.
At that time, magistrates were legally qualified to
perform the marriage ceremony ; and he probably
united in the holy bonds of matrimony more indi¬
viduals than has ever fallen to the lot of any
clergyman in the United Counties, with the excep¬
tion, perhaps, of the Rev. William Smart.
“T have frequently heard him mention the circum¬
stance of a young man asking him to perform the
ceremony, at the same time confessing that he had
no money, but promising to make a good wheat
fan. The offer was accepted, and, in due time, the
fan was delivered. An old man once came on the
same errand, his offer being a corn basket, with oak
splints, and so compactly made, that it was ‘war¬
ranted to hold water.’ It is needless to say that
lie was made happy.
“My father lived on the farm on which he first
pitched his tent, and died there in 1826. I am
peace.
“The following are the names of many of the
early settlers in the County of Leeds: Joseph
White, Asa Webster, David Kilborn, Reuben Mott,
Henry Mott, Conrad Peterson, Jonathan Mills
Church, Edward Leehy, Henry Elliott, Bartholo¬
mew Carley, Livius Wickwire, Jonathan Wickwire,
William Buell, B. Buell, Jonathan Buell, Samuel
Wright, William Wright, Abraham Elliott, Adam
Cole, John Cole, Jonathan Fulford, Captain Joseph
Jessup, Six Mutchellore, Ensign Thomas Smith,
Landon, Sr., Alexander Bernard, Henry Manhard,
Lieutenant James Breakenridge, Ruggles Munsell,
Matthew Howard, Stephen Howard, John Howard,
Peter Freel, Terence Smith, James Miller, Daniel
McEathron, John McEathron, Daniel Shipman,
Joseph McNish, Levi Hotchkiss, Robert Putnam,
James Cooney, Henry McLean, Robert McLean,
Allan Grant, Joseph White, Jr.. William Clow,
John Munroe, and Levi Comstock.
“The distance from the Province line to my
father’s farm, three miles below Brockville, was
ninety-five miles, and to the port this side of
Kingston, fifty miles. At the end of each mile was
planted a red cedar post, having marked on it the
number of miles from the Province line. This line
of road was made some years after the first settle¬
_— ——— cs —— =
“For many years, the first and only legalized
clergyman, within a hundred miles of this part of
Province, was Parson Stuart, who was a member
of the Episcopal Church. The next clergyman, I
believe, was the Rev. Mr. Bethune, a Presbyterian
clergyman, who settled near Cornwall. Next was
the Rev. Mr. MeDowel, who located on the Bay of
Quinte. He came from the United States, about
the year 1800, and on his way stopped in the neigh¬
borhood of Brockville, where, at that time, I was
teaching a common school. I believe that the first
public prayer he ever made in Canada was at an
exhibition of my school, on the day of his arrival.
“In 1811, the Rev. William Smart arrived in
Brockville, being the first minister of any denomi¬
nation to settle in that place, or, for that matter,
within fifty miles of it.
“The first doctor was Solomon Jones, domiciled
about seven miles below Brockville. He was one
of the early settlers, and the first in point of educa¬
tion and respectability.
“One of the first magistrates, and, after some
wood, who had studied law with Lawyer Walker, in
Montreal, for two or three years. He was the first
lawyer appointed in the District of Johnstown ;
Jacob Farrand, the first in. the Eastern District ;
McLewen, of Kingston, and the father of the late
Justice Hagerman, the first in the Bay of Quinte.
The lawyers were all appointed by authority vested
rizing him to appoint a certain number of persons,
such as he considered qualified to discharge their
duties— hence arose the by-words, ‘Heaven-born
lawyers.’
“School teachers were often employed for three
or six months only, as boys could not attend in the
summer.
“T recollect seeing pigeons flying in such numbers
often, as to be knocked down with fish-poles. I
saw where a near neighbor killed thirty at one
shot.
‘When I was a boy, probably about thirteen or
fourteen years old, I went, in the autumn, on a
fishing excursion, to a place called Sandy Creek, on
the south side of Lake Ontario, being in company
with four men, in a Canadian batteaux. At that
place, I saw ducks flying in immense numbers,
round and over a marsh; when they rose, they
made a noise like the roar of very heavy thunder.
“Not many years since, I rode out with a gentle¬
man to Temperance Mills, situated near Temperance.
Lake, where a small spring keeps open all winter.
The fish resort to the spring in the coldest weather. |
ab 1
ment, but I have forgotten the year.
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