Oldal 239 [239]
ft ae ee ee eee Oe Fes
142
when suddenly there rang out clear and distinct in
the night air, a sound which proclaimed that the
pick had struck a metalic substance. A few shovels
full of earth were thrown off, when with our hands
we felt that we had struck upon what appeared to
be a smooth flat stone or piece of metal; we have
always believed that it was metal from the ringing
sound which it gave forth.
“ Redoubling our exertions, we removed the earth
at one side, where we inserted a crow-bar, the point
below resting upon some substance, which formed
an excellent fulcrum, and which we concluded was
the box containing the coveted treasure. With our
united strength we slowly raised the covering, when
in an instant we were surrounded by innumerable
creatures, trampling up to the very edge of the
circle. We could but indistinctly distinguish the
forms of the new comers, but to my mind they
appeared to be d/ack cattle, and judging from the
trampling, their number must have been thousands,
We hesitated—a great fear came upon us, which I
cannot describe—and, with a single impulse, we
dropped the crow-bar, and ran for dear life.
Beyond the house we came out of the ravine, near
the new mill, where we paused. The moon was
sailing majestically through an unclouded sky ; the
stars shone as brightly as when we first entered
upon our task. We paused and consulted, and at
last concluded that imagination had got the better
of our senses, and that we would return to our
work, This we did. We found the excavation, the
coats lying on the ground, the crow-bar, shovels
and pick-axes, but not a sign of the flat stone or
metalic covering at the bottom of the pit which we
had dug. Our leader sorrowfully shook his head,
and declared that future efforts would be of no
avail, as the “treasure had moved. We gathered our
implements, and departed for Mallorytown, fully
resolved that in the future other searchers were
quite welcome to secure the hidden gold left by
Billa Larue.”
Hugh Lynch, a stone mason, came to Canada in
1835, from the County Cavan, Ireland. Removing
to Lansdowne, he built a large number of stone
houses for the Websters, and other prominent
settlers. Mr. Lynch was assisted by his son Peter,
who during the past twenty-five years has erected
seventy-four stone and brick buildings in the
United Counties. Were the buildings placed in a
direct line in a city, with the necessary cross streets,
they would make a frontage of three-quarters of a
mile.
MASONIC.
Macoy Lodge, No. 24 A. F. and A. M., was insti¬
tuted in 1870, the charter being granted to R,
Fields, W. Taylor, J. A. Bradley, and others. The
members number upwards of fifty, meetings being
held at the Escott Town Hall. The officers are
active and conscientious members of the order,
and the lodge is in consequence in a flourishing
condition.
The following is"a summary of the assessment of
the municipality for the year 1877 :—
Number of persons assessed, 36s.
Number of acres assessed, 24,270.
Number of acres cleared, 12,949.
Value of real property, $360,015.
Value of personal property, $11,433.
Amount of real and personal property, $371,448.
Taxes imposed by Municipality, $804.
Taxes imposed by Counties, $690.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
ELIZABETHTOWN.
ACCORDING to the testimony of the late Adiel Sher¬
wood, the first actual white settlerin Elizabethtown
was Mr. Sherwood’s father. The settlement was
located in the spring of 1784. The same brigade of
boats that brought Mr. Sherwood up the St. Law¬
rence, also conveyed the settlers at Cole’s Ferry, who
must have cut the first tree in that portion of the
township a few days later than Mr. Sherwood
located. The record of the municipality is inti¬
mately connected with that of Brockville, which will
be treated of in a subsequent chapter.
On pages 15 and 16 will be found a table giving
the names of the persons who received grants of
land from the Crown, up to the gist day of
December, 1802. It includes such well known
names as Sherwood, Booth, Jessup, Grant, Brown,
Ferguson, Fulford, Elliott, Sparham, Cole, Clow,
Mallory, Landon, Peterson, Snider, Jones, Mott,
Breakenridge, Caswell, Gardiner, Campbell, Cole¬
man, Day, Church, Lamb, Curtis, Johns, Smith,
Wing, Day, Manhard, McNish, Hagerman, Lehey,
Shipman, McLean, Allen, Howard, Vanorman,
Cornell, Mattice, Reid, Kilburn, Wolf, King and
McNeil.
The following is a summary of the assessment of
Elizabethtown for the year 1877, and furnishes the
most convincing evidence of the progress of the
municipality since the arrival of the United Empire
Loyalists, ninety-five years since :—
Number of acres assessed, 76,564.
Number of acres cleared, 42,840.
Total amount of real property, $97,874.
Total amount of real and personal property,
$1,424,806, é