Mention has already been made in the columns of The Beaver of the fact that among three of the representatives of this county to the early Upper Canada Legislatures were Timothy Thompson and Wm. and Benjamin Fairfield. As they were all prominent and influential residents of this county in their day, it may be well to give some facts in regard to their histories, such as are now within the writer's reach. The men who well did their part for laying the foundation of the future prosperity and success of our county should be deemed well worthy of remembrance.

Not much is now heard or known of Timothy Thompson, although he was a man of no mean importance in this county at the commencement of the last century. That may be largely owing to the fact that he left no children, and his name was, therefore, not perpetuated in that way. He was among the U. E. L. pioneers of "Third Town," or Fredericksburgh township, and settled on the Bay shore front about Sandhurst, on the excellent farm later owned by the late Solomon Wright, and now by his son Edward Wright. He was a man of considerable military importance in the British ranks during the war of the American Revolution, and was an ensign in the King's Royal Regiment of New York. Mr. David Clute, near Sillsville, South Fredericksburgh, has now in his possession an old box of drawers of his, on which is painted the name of "Ensign Thompson."

It is probable he came in with the other officers and members of that celebrated regiment, who so largely made up the early settlers of Fredericksburgh. His name appears on the "old U. E. List" of that day, now preserved in the Government Crown Lands Department at Toronto. He was on the regular British Government Provision List in 1786, though he had no family at that time. In the Rev. John Langhorn's early record of St. John's church, Bath, occurs the record of his marriage in that church to Elizabeth Fraser, also of Third town, on the 6th of February, 1791. She was the widow of James Fraser, a Scotch officer, who also served in the British ranks during the American revolution. He had a leg broken after settling in Fredericksburgh, and went to Montreal for treatment, and died there.

THE FRASER FAMILY

Mrs. Fraser had several children at the time of her marriage to Ensign Thompson, but none after. One of the daughters married John G. Clute who was also for years a leading and well known citizen of front of Fredericksburgh, where he lived and died. He had at one time, a large farm, a distillery and a store. He was a successor in business in the store to Benjamin Seymour, one of the first store-keepers west of Kingston. That store was located on the farm now owned by our townsman, Allan Neilson. Several of Mr. Clute's descendants are yet living among whom are Mr. David Clute, near Sillsville. Mrs. N. Murdoch, of Kingston who died this week in her ninety-second year, was a daughter and so was Miss Margaret Clute, of South Fredericksburgh, who died last week in her eighty-second year.

Another of Mrs. Fraser's daughters married James McNabb, of "Meyers Creek", later on the city of Belleville. He was an important man there and represented Hastings County at one time in the Upper Canada Legislature. Another, Eliza Ellen, married Dr. J. B. Ham, a man at one time well known in this county. He lived at one time in Kingston and was in the law office with John A. Macdonald. He afterward, studied medicine, and they moved to Whitby, where both lived and died. Mr. Thompson made her his heir to the farm and other lands he had. In after years a number of the farmers resident along the second concession - the Vandewaters, Houghs, Sills's and others - had a long and expensive lawsuit with the Hams about the possession of gores yet connected with their farms, which, it was claimed, Thompson had obtained a title for from the Government. The farmers held the land in the end, however, though the law costs cost them dear.

THOMPSON IN PARLIAMENT

Timothy Thompson was Hazelton Spencer's successor to the representation of Lennox, Hastings and Northumberland, in the Upper Canada Legislature. Spencer appears to have served during one Legislature only - the First, from 1792 to 1796. We have no record now of those early elections. Mr. Thompson was three times elected, - to the Second, Third and Sixth Legislatures, serving in all about twelve years. Who were his opponents, or where the elections may have been held, we know not. At that time there was but one polling place in all the electoral district and the elections generally lasted an entire week, so as to give all a chance to vote. It was the custom, too, for the candidates, on both sides to keep "open houses" during all elections, -allowing every elector to have as much as he desired to eat and drink at the candidate's expense. There is a tradition that one or more of these elections were held at, or about, Mr. Thompson's own home, and that James Mordoff was once an opposing candidate. He also resided in Third Town. He was married to Lois Charters, of the same township, by Rev. John Langhorn at the Bath church, on 18th of June, 1798. Langhorn's register also records the baptism of several of their children.

THOMPSON'S HOME

Thompson, it is said, lived in a large frame house near the Bay shore, not one vestage of which now remains. Like numbers of the other early families, they appear to have had a number of negro slaves, who did all the work and managed pretty generally the affairs. He was reported wealthy, enjoying a pension from the government, and is reported to have received some large land grants from the Government amounting to some thousands of acres in all. He and his family were said to have had "very easy times" of it, in the eyes of their neighbors. But the hardships and privations the easiest and wealthiest families must have had then were by no means few or small.

Mr. Thompson's name often occurs on the old store day-book of Benjamin Seymour of one hundred and ten years ago, and though they appear for larger quantities of sugar, tea, groceries and dry goods than most others of the neighbors, they would appear a scant allowance for most fairly comfortable families of today. But, when common brown sugar, and very common at that, compared with what we now have - was 40 cents a pound, and a refined loaf at 50 cents, with common cotton at 80 cents, and cotton prints at 90c to $1, and almost everything else at the same high rate, even well to do people were by no means lavish in the quantities they consumed.

Another of Mrs. Thompson's daughters married James Carpenter, who many years ago, was quite a prominent citizen of Toronto, where some of the descendants still are living. A couple of the grandchildren of Mrs. McNabb were Mrs. Willard, whose husband was one of the first hardware merchants of Kingston, and another, Mrs. James Glass, of Belleville, whose son was largely interested in the gold mining interests of North Hastings years ago. The Glass family were prominent and well known in Hastings County.

Ensign Thompson was a member of the Church of England, and was connected with the first St. Paul's church in Fredericksburgh as was also his neighbor, Hazelton Spencer, the first M. P. P.

He was buried, however, in the old Presbyterian burying ground at the McDowall memorial church; Sandhurst, beside his wife and relatives. It would now be a matter of good deal of interest, to be able to lay hand on more of the papers, or even traditions of the business and domestic affairs of the days of these early pioneers.

We believe that Mr. Thompson became a leading officer of the militia in this county in his day, and probably he was in the active service during the American war of 1812-14, when the residents of this county responded so promptly and patriotically to the call to defend it from threatened invasion. We have no particulars in regard to that matter, however.

THE OTHER ELECTIONS

We have stated that Mr. Thompson's name appears as a member of the Sixth Legislature as well as of the Second and Third. Whether he was a defeated candidate for the Fourth and Fifth or whether he was a candidate at all during that time, we have no means of knowing. During the time of the Third legislature Lennox and Addington were united into one electoral district and disconnected from both Prince Edward and Hastings. William Fairfield who had previously represented Addington, then dropped out. Of the brothers, William and Benjamin Fairfield, we intend to write some particulars in a future issue of The Beaver.

For the Fourth Legislature Thomas Dorland, of Adolphustown, was the member. Whether he defeated Mr. Thompson we do not know. For the Fifth the county became entitled to two, and as has been already stated in these columns, Thomas Dorland and John Roblin, both of Adolphustown, were elected. John Roblin, was unseated because he was a Methodist local preacher, and Willet Casey, also of Adolphustown, was elected in his stead. We have now no record of Thompson's name in connection with either of these elections. In the sixth Legislature Benjamin Fairfield was Mr. Thompson's associate as the representative of Lennox and Addington. His name does not again appear in that capacity.