Stranica 67 [67]
OCR
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 accomplished. 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 conveyed 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. Lawrence 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 probes dc ded through the woods to Montreal. At that 4 a pee fe ar eceived the mail for Toronto (the accumulation 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 cemetery 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 Knowlton 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
