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That detachment of the “Pilgrim Fathers” of Upper Canada who were
assigned Fourth Town, or Adolphustown on the Bay of Quinte by the government
officials were, for the most part, as intelligent, honourable and determined
a band of colonists as the world has ever known. Their respected leader was
major Peter VanAlstine, a Knickerbocker of New York, who sailed with his
motley contingent from the latter city on September 8th, 1783, in
seven sailing ships protected by the brig “Hope” of forty guns. Hostilities ended on the 20th of January of that year and
in the meantime, many bands of refugees had found lodgment in our Maritime
Provinces, the West Indies and across the sea in the motherland. This was
probably the last large detachment to sail from New York; and as all other
places were now filled to repletion, it was then and there arranged for this
plucky group of colonists to brave the turbulent waters of the mighty St.
Lawrence and to find a refuge in the wilderness bordering the north shore of
Lake Ontario. The location of Fort Frontenac at the junction of Lake Ontario and the
St. Lawrence River and the contiguous inland waters of the Bay of Quinte were
vaguely known by the British officials in New York through Captain Grass, who
had spent some time at the old fort; but certain it is the rank and file of
the pilgrims had no accurate conception of the land to which they were
voyaging or of the terrible hardships confronting them. Their condition must
have been desperate indeed, when they were willing, yea, anxious to leave the
country of their birth, with all the tender associations surrounding their
former prosperous, contented and happy homes and blindly to go forth to an
utterly unknown and desolate region, without money or proper equipment. It is impossible for us to understand their terrible condition until
we have fully studied what they were compelled to endure during that long
seven years of persecution and warfare. As they coasted round Nova Scotia in sight of Fort Louisburg we may be
sure someone on each ship pointed out the old battered fortress and recounted
something of the many sanguinary struggles there between England and France
during the previous century. A month elapsed as they reached Quebec, when doubtless many of our
forefathers climbed the steep ascent, viewed the plains of Abraham and marked
the graves of the illustrious heroes Wolfe and Montcalm. We can well believe
that the breasts of such patriotic men swelled with pride as they
contemplated that here, Canada was placed under the British Crown for all
future time by the bold, well-planned action of the immortal Wolfe. They proceeded up the river to Sorel where they encamped for the
winter, while the ships returned to New York. Anyone who has spent a winter in a canvas tent in this country with a
stove burning night and day and plenty of provisions and clothing and
blankets will have suffered sufficiently notwithstanding his many advantages
to enable him to understand in part what must have been the extreme misery
and pain of the women and children to say nothing of the men of that forlorn
contingent during that long, lonely winter. They left Sorel on the 21st
May, 1784, to navigate the rapids of the St. Lawrence in a large fleet of
bateaux provided by the Government. It is most interesting to read of their indefatigable efforts in
ascending the river in small brigades of a few families each, creeping slowly
along, foot by foot at times, the men pulling by ropes on the shore. Safely
reaching Fort Frontenac, they disembarked and rested for a few days. Their
respective townships were now assigned the various regiments on either side
of the Bay of Quinte which Surveyor-General Holland and his assistant, Collins,
had been busily surveying since the previous autumn. We follow Major VanAlstine’s little company as their bateaux smoothly
glide along the north shore and turn into a small cove, just before reaching
the first big bend of the bay. This is Fourth Town, or Adolphustown, as it
was afterwards named in honour of Adolphus, a son
of George III. Here, this intrepid band of United Empire Loyalist refugees
disembarked from their bateaux on the 16th day of June, 1784 and
thus ended their long weary pilgrimage of about nine months, covering nearly
2,000 miles. It is impossible to give all the names or the total number of
this original colony. The first return of population for the Township of
Adolphustown still preserved, bears date March 28th, 1794, giving
81 families, 113 men, 78 women, 101 males, 110 females or a total of 402
souls. This earliest United Empire Loyalist record, of great interest today,
is as follows: --
The following report is of great interest. “At a Town Meeting held 6th
March, 1792, the following persons were chosen to officiate in their
respective offices the ensuing year and also the regulations for the same:
Ruben Bedell, Town Clerk; Joseph Allison, Garrot Benson, Constables; Paul Huff, Philip Dorland,
Overseers of the Poor; Willet Casey, Paul Huff, John Huyck, Pound Masters. Dementions of hog yoaks, 18
inches by 24, height of fence, 4 ft. 8 in. Fence Viewers, Abraham Maybee and
Peter Ruttan. Water voted to be no fence. No pigs to run till three months
old, no stallion to run. Any person putting fire to any brush or stubble that
does not his endeavor to hinder it from doing damage shall forfeit the sum of
forty shillings. Philip Dorland, T.C.” Here then is the record of the first organization of a municipality in
Western Canada that has been preserved to us. Two years later began the record of families and somewhat later that
of live stock marks. But what about that interval between 1784 and 1792? What were their
experiences? How did they come through the trying ordeal? Doubtless every
Loyalist descendant today preserves in memory some thrilling stories of those
pioneer days handed down in the family from generation to generation. What a
pity more of them have not been published! Had Dr. William Canniff done no
more than to glean and publish so many
pioneer names and stories in “The Settlement of Upper Canada,” his name would
have been worthy of a large place in United Empire Loyalist history of this
country. But when we remember all he did in preserving the records of the Bay
of Quinte district in general and of Adolphustown in particular where his
ancestors lived, some public recognition should now be made in that locality
of his faithful services. Pioneers in Northern Ontario today provided with teams and implements,
provisions and clothing very often have a hard struggle with the forest
before they subdue it. Can we imagine anything more disheartening than the
bitter experience of our Loyalist forefathers when having felled the trees
and made a clearing with a comfortable log shanty, they could not procure
oxen, plows and harrows to till the fertile soil nor seed grain to sow it,
even though they did succeed in cultivating an acre of two of the fertile
though stubborn land. Fortunate indeed was it that fish and game and wild
berries and fruit prevailed in those earlier years when the Government
supplies failed from time to time and gaunt famine stared them in the face.
Fortunate, too, was the fact that the strong had learned to bear the
infirmities of the weak. “Oh, yes, yes!” We say today with smug complacency
“Our forefathers were tough and hearty and inured to privations and so pulled
through all right.” We then dismiss the thought by putting a little fresh
coal in the open grate, take some light refreshments, adjust the electric
light and reclining chair and continue till midnight reading about the
wonderful development and prosperity
of our country in the past hundred years. But excuse me, my comfortable
friend, for disturbing you for just one minute. Have you ever been hungry –
real hungry – on the verge of starvation? And have you experienced that
gnawing sensation, not for a day only, to complete what starvation has but
half accomplished? If so, you will be ready to declare with me that then and
there in Adolphustown and elsewhere throughout the sparsely settled districts
of Ontario a terrible tragedy was
averted only by the sympathy and care which one United Empire Loyalist
exercised for another. That was the actual crucial period in the whole
history of the Bay of Quinte Loyalists. They managed to survive in the fierce
struggle with adversity and want and as a consequence, we are here today
after the lapse of a century and a quarter to pay our poor tributes of honor
and praise to our illustrious Loyalist ancestors. They now built roads and
fences, improved and enlarged their clearings, elected members of Parliament,
built a Methodist Church – the first in Canada; held court, first in the
church and then in a new court house; built a Quaker Chapel; formed a
regiment, drilled and marched to the front when their country was attacked by
the enemy in 1812 and then, one by one, laid themselves down to rest in the
little graveyard hard by the spot where they first landed. The young child of a Dutch Huffnail family, which later subsequently
settled just beyond the borders of Adolphustown in South Fredericksburgh,
died shortly after the landing of the Loyalists and was the first to be
buried in this graveyard. The writer’s mother came from this Huffnail
lineage; while his father’s family drew one of the original homesteads in the
Second Concession of Adolphustown, on which the descendants still reside. The
writer may here be permitted to say further that his wife’s father, the late
Thos. W. Casey, of Napanee, Ont., lived in the Fourth Concession of
Adolphustown on the farm which his grandfather, William Casey, chose as his
homestead, known today as Casey’s Point. The latter was a member of the
Adolphustown Municipal council and in subsequent years sat on the same board
with Henry Davis, the writer’s ancestor. This is mentioned simply as an
illustration of the fact that our children, of this generation are still,
after the lapse of more than a century, having new admixtures of Untied
Empire Loyalist blood, which should continue to strengthen and enrich
succeeding generations. With the advantages of navigation and great fertility
of soil, this smallest township of all in the Province of Ontario – embracing
less than 12,000 acres – became prosperous and progressive as decade after
decade passed away. When a century had elapsed after the original settlement by the
Loyalists, their descendants conceived the idea of erecting a monument to the
memory of their forefathers at the landing place in Adolphustown. This was
carried out on the 16th of June, 1881, when a large gathering
assembled from all parts of Ontario. The corner stone was laid with Masonic
honours, by Lieutenant Governor Robinson of Toronto. Many stirring addresses
were made and a record is preserved of all that was said and done on the
memorable occasion. The granite shaft which stands over that corner stone
today bears this brief but impressive inscription: In memory of the United
Empire Loyalists, who, through loyalty to British institutions, left the
United States and landed on these shores on the 16th of June,
1784. These early Loyalists of Adolphustown were doubtless as strictly
religious as were the earlier Puritan Pilgrim Fathers. Under William Losee,
the first preacher or missionary to visit the settlement of which we have any
record they became greatly stirred
through powerful nightly preaching in their log shanties. This was during the
winter of 1791, or about seven years after their arrival. Many subscriptions
were obtained for the erection of a place for worship. As several of those
were as high as forty dollars of our currency, it may fairly be assumed that
by this time the settlement was beyond the condition of want – in fact, was
already enjoying some considerable measure of prosperity. They rallied to the
task with a zeal and determination which enabled them to complete the church
or chapel and dedicate it to the service of God in the year 1792. That chapel, strongly constructed of the very best material the virgin
forest could contribute still stands on the shore of Hay Bay, a branch of the
Bay of Quinte, which cuts Adolphustown into two parts. It affords the writer much satisfaction that he has been instrumental
with the co-operation of the Bay of Quinte Methodist Conference and many good
citizens of Toronto and elsewhere, at a cost of some $1,500 to repurchase,
renovate and rededicate this church for divine worship or for visitation by
all British subjects, regardless of country or creed. The latch-string to
this last remaining landmark erected by the hands of our worthy United Empire
Loyalist sires of Adolphustown hangs on the outside of the door, as did the
latch-strings in the olden days to their log shanties; and every one who acknowledges fealty to the flag the
Loyalists sacrificed so much to maintain and honour is free to open the door
of that quaint old edifice, lift his hat, enter, behold and meditate. There were a good many Quakers in the township in the earlier days and
many of their sturdy descendants have gone out to all parts of the Dominion.
Few of those families remain today; and their small crumbling place of
worship, too, will soon have disappeared. The Church of England has always
had a goodly representation in the township., The corner stone of the present
Anglican United Empire Loyalist Centennial Church, St. Alban’s, was laid in
the year 1884, at the village; also that of the Methodists in the Second
Concession at the same important period. The suggestion has been made above that some suitable memorial should
be erected on the Bay of Quinte by the United Empire Loyalists in memory of
Dr. William Canniff for his wide historical researches. The writer had been
advocating as well the building of a monument in Adolphustown in honour of
Sir John Macdonald on the site of his boyhood home. This half-acre has
already been purchased and is being reserved for that purpose. The centennial
of the birth of Sir John will be on 11th January, 1915. While not
a United Empire Loyalist, the lad Macdonald grew up among those stalwart
defenders of the British flag and imbibed their spirit and loyalty to the
Great Dominion which he was subsequently called upon to pilot through
troubled waters for many years. He performed his task so well that his name
stands high in the annals not only of Canada but of the whole British Empire
and in fact throughout the world. The hundred years of peace with the Republic to the south, which we
now commemorate and the maintenance of all our rights as a free and
independent nation, has been due in a larger measure than many of our people
appreciate, to the loyalty, diplomacy and determination of Canada’s first
Premier, who received his early training in the village school of
Adolphustown. Why should not Canada then rally to the help of so laudable an
enterprise as the erection of a fitting memorial to the memory of Sir John on
the site of the home of his childhood on the frontier and in the centre of
our cluster of Canadian Provinces, to worthily mark the Centenary of his
birth and of that prolonged peace between us and our neighbours which has
become an object lesson for the whole world? If this can be accomplished by
our Canadian citizens, with the liberal aid of the Federal and Provincial
Governments, would it not be a timely and meritorious act, on the part of
this United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada, to erect tablets or other
suitable memorials at the same time and on the same picturesque plot to perpetuate
the names of a least four of our worthy United Empire Loyalist historians of
the Bay of Quinte. We refer to Ryerson, Canniff, Haight and Casey. Others of
this Association will suggest other names. These inexpensive simple tablets
should at least record the date of birth and death and the title of the
writings of each Loyalist representative. There would be ample room, too, for
any individual to erect a tablet there to the memory of a Loyalist ancestor
who once lived in Adolphustown; and thus this could be made a wonderfully
interesting historic spot not only for this generation but after we are
gathered to our fathers, to the generations still unborn. |
