Page 67 [67]
BY
=
e. j
4 —
aes :
i "ja
Mm B.
az Fi E
at
bad
pg. F
as
3 ve
a mm
ke = mark ing
aj zzák
7 J ed
lá
ul
6;
kh.
he.
ne
bie
Z 7 — ae
ae
vá
‘le
Are
3 ©
d
ssel
pe =
In the winter, it was an easy matter
undertaking for a sparsely settled country. In low
and swampy places, round trunks of trees were laid
side by side, across the roadway, to prevent the
wheels from sinking in the mire. A resemblance
to the King’s corduroy cloth, gained for these
crossways the name of “corduroy roads.”
In 1831, every male inhabitant not rated on the
assessment roll, was liable to two days’ labor on
the roads, and a person rated at not more than
twenty-five pounds, to three days’ labor. In that
the improvement of roads in the Province.
In 1837, running
Brockville was
stage coach through
escribed as follows:
the
“A heavy,
lumbering vehicle, reeling and tumbling along ;
pitching like a scow among the breakers of a lake
storm.” When a hill was reached, or a bad spot
to be passed, traveilers were frequently compelled
to alight and trudge ankle-deep through the mud.
The rate it was possible to travel in stage coaches
and
fall, two miles an hour was all that could be accom¬
plished. The cost of travelling was fully three
times that of a first class fare charged at present
on the Grand Trunk. Stories of great speed are
related. Lord Sydenham is said to have been con¬
veyed by relays of horses from Toronto to Montreal
in twenty-six hours.
Ir was customary at one time for the Governor of
this Province to proceed up and down the St. Law¬
rence in a large bark canoe, rowed by twelve
chasseurs, and followed by another boat, in which
depended upon the elements. In the spring
the tents and provisions were carried.
The cost of carrying goods between Montreal
and Kingston, before the Rideau or St. Lawrence
Canals were built, seems to the present generation
incredible. It was stated in the House of Commons
in 1828, on undoubted authority, that on a former
#150 and £200 sterling ; that of a 76 cwt. anchor,
46765 and that, when the Imperial Government
sent out two vessels in frames, one of them, a brig,
~ between these two cities, the cnormous sum of
soe $150, 000. _ | ¬
It is related that about the year 1810, Peter Cole
walked from Cole’s Ferry to Kingston, where he
ook s the” ‘mail from Toronto on his back, and pro¬
bes dc ded through the woods to Montreal. At that
4
a pee fe ar eceived the mail for Toronto (the accumu¬
lation for or e month), it only weighing sixty pounds, |
ki HA }
“ee. wn, vt
“2
a ir a "ig
é ial ar F
ne a
|
entire trip wadtinaite in : fourteen: days, ‘and for the.
journey he received $15. At the present time, it.
requires several cars to transport the daily eae
between the cities of Montreal and Toronto.
Mr. Richard Holmes, of Kitley, informs us
that the first stone house built in the United
Counties, was erected by Ephraim Jones, below
Maitland, previous to 1799. About that time there
were two schools in the neighborhood—one taught
by the late Sheriff Sherwood, for the children of
the half-pay officers, the other conducted by Price
French, for the poor settlers. . Even at that early
day, Mr. Holmes declares that the children of the
poor were the best scholars.
Major Lemon, of Maitland, says that after Mrs.
Butler declared that she saw a will-o’-the-wisp in
the yard near her husband's residencc (the place is
occupied by R. P. Cooke, Esq., Brockville), that no
more bodies were interred there, the second ceme¬
tery being selected near the fence which bounds
the eastern side of the property now occupied by
Mr. John Crawford.
In 1783, John White, the great-grandfather of the
present gaoler for the United Counties, and Asa
Webster, father of P. B. Webster, came through the
woods from Vermont, striking the St. Lawrence at
Morristown. They made a raft, and crossed the
river, examined the land in the vicinity, and then
journeyed down the river to Montreal. This was
one year previous to the arrival of the first actual
settlers. The next year they returned with their
families. Asa Webster drew the land now owned
by the son of the late Richard Dyre. Phineas
Baldwin and Stephen Baldwin camea short time
after and settled near Mr. Webster. The late E.
Webster, Collector of Customs at Brockville, was
the eldest son of Mr. Asa Webster.
Peter Seeley was one of the first manufacturers
in the Johnstown District, at an carly date, he and
Caleb Seaman having commenced the manufacture
of scythes, near the Tin Cap, Elizabethtown. Seeley
afterwards removed to Brockville, where he entered
into partnership with Daniel Jones, Esq. Jones was
On one occasion, the supply of iron was exhausted,
when Seeley, with two men by the name of Knowl¬
ton and Smith, procured a small sloop, and started
for Carleton Island, where a fort had been built, it
being garrisoned at that time by Brisish troops.
The parity carriel a keg of rum, with which they
plied the officers and men of the garrison. The
result was that all the boxes and casks bound with
to Seeley, who soon loaded Bie cee 1) which retur
te hi | gan reas Cio’ ia aaz
vé + : c! ~— AL