'■; ■■•::• V:f:j^1;^^i^%^ -^..cl^Mt^ 
 
 '«,»~; 
 
 
 ^* "-• *i 
 
 T. SERIES JT. 
 
 COMING 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LOYALISTS 
 
 BY 
 
 C. HAIQHT 
 
 Author of *^ Gonntry Life in Canada Fifty Years Ago," ^'^V^ 
 
 mi There in the Home Land,' 
 the Coming of the Loyalists." 
 
 Toronto : 
 
 HAIGHT & COMPANY. 
 
 1899. 
 
 i^ 
 
 ^* Here and There in the Home Land" ** Before . f •^'' 
 
COMING OF THE LOYALISTS. 
 
An edition of 1,000 copies printed. 
 
U. E. Series. No. 2. 
 
 COMING OF THE LOYALISTS 
 
 BT 
 
 C. HAIGHT 
 
 Author of " Country Life in Canada Fifty Years Ago, 
 ''Here and There in the Home Land." 
 
 Toronto : 
 
 HAIGHT & COMPANY. 
 
 1899. 
 
i- ■ 
 
 Entored, according to tbe Aot of the Parliament of Canada, in the year eighteen 
 hundred and ninety-nine, by W. R. Haioht, at the Department of Agriculture. 
 
 TORONTO 
 PBINTED BT THE CAR8WELL CO., LIMITED 
 
 28 Adelaide St. EP8t 
 
READ BEFORE THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS' ASSOCIATION OP ONTARI01 
 
 NOVEMBER 11th, 1897. 
 
 COMING OF THE LOYALISTS. 
 
 When the treaty of peace was ratified many of the 
 less prominent loyalists with their sympathizers imagined 
 that the victors would be content to bury the hatchet, 
 cease their persecution, and that in a short time peace 
 and good-will would reign throughout the country. They 
 soon discovered that this was a delusion, that their foes were 
 more relentless than ever, and that there was nothing for 
 it but to flee their homes, and consider themselves fortu- 
 nate to escape with their lives. Those who had taken a 
 more conspicuous part, anticipating what would follow, 
 had already sought protection within the British lines. 
 Now was seen a strange and distressing sight. Men, 
 women and children of all ages and conditions parting 
 with friends, and with tear-stained cheeks turning their 
 backs upon the homes that had sheltered them and which 
 were bound to them by the tenderest recollections, and 
 with such effects as they could carry with them, hastened 
 along the highways that led to the larger towns on the 
 Coast-^then in the hands of the British — from Savannah 
 to New York to take ship fo some land, God only knew 
 where, for they did not. The scenes that were .witnessed 
 at the different towns before and during the evacuation 
 were in many cases heart rending. The protection 
 guaranteed by the treaty to the loyalists was violated at 
 once, there was no safety for them only within the British 
 
6 COMINO OF THE LOYALISTS. 
 
 lines, and they were often horrified by seeing their friends, 
 who had not been so fortunate, seized and shamefully mal- 
 treated and in some cases hanged by the dozen. No wonder 
 they were terrified and glad to make their escape with 
 their lives. So great was the number of refugees that fled 
 to New York to place themselves under the protection of 
 the British General then in command, that he was sorely 
 perplexed what to do with them. Thousands had escaped 
 from the New England States to New Brunswick, Nova 
 Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Other thousands had 
 fled from the South to England and the West India Is- 
 lands, and thousands more from New York and the ad- 
 joining States had sought his protection, and were looking 
 to him to transport them out of the country. The principal 
 danger that presented itself and which he wished to avoid, 
 was the overcrowding of some of the places, which would 
 add to the difiicultiea of the refugees instead of lessening 
 them. 
 
 In the midst of this embarrassment his thoughts 
 were directed, it would almost seem providentially, to a 
 certain man, a refugee then in New York, who bore the 
 name of Grass. There was a bit of history connected with 
 this man of which Sir Guy Carleton had heard and which 
 he thought might prove useful. During the time of the 
 French War this Capt. Grass had been made prisoner 
 and was for two years a captive at Fort Frontenac. Sir 
 Guy remembering this sent for him, and questioned him 
 about the country and so favorably did Grass speak about 
 it that Sir Guy at once determined to make use of the 
 information and through it find relief from the embarrass- 
 ing position in which he was placed. He then asked 
 Capt. Grass if he would undertake to conduct a colony 
 of loyalists to Canada, which he consented to do. Five 
 
COMING OF TBB LOYALISTS. 7 
 
 vessels were at once procured and furnished to convey the 
 banished refugee loyalists to Upper Canada and despatched 
 under the conduct of Capt. Grass. They sailed round the 
 coast of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and up the St. 
 Lawrence to Sorel at the mouth of the Richelieu river, 
 where they arrived October 17th, 1783, and disembarked. 
 "Why the vessels did not return to Quebec or go on to 
 Montreal which they had time to do, is not stated. The 
 prospect must have been very depressing. Winter 
 was rapidly approaching and there was not a single place 
 of shelter in which they could put themselves. It is true 
 they had some linen tents, but these would' afford but poor 
 protection from the cold. The gravity of their position 
 drove them to immediate action, and every hand that 
 could wield an axe or handle a saw was put in requisition 
 and very soon there arose on the banks of the river, as if 
 by the magic of an enchanter's wand, a village composed of 
 rude and unsightly huts and shanties, which if any one of 
 them had come upon a few months before they would 
 have taken as a settlement of some semi-civilized tribe but 
 a remove above the Indians, and in these hastily impro- 
 vised kennels, inferior to the cow sheds they had left 
 behind, they were to pass a long dreary winter. If there 
 had been only a few of them the prospect would not have 
 been so discouraging, but here were five ship loads of 
 human beings dumped on the inhospitable shores of the 
 lower St. Lawrence, probably three or four thousand souls, 
 composed of aged men and women, married couples with 
 their children, mothers with infants in their arms, young 
 men and delicate maidens, boys and girls, many of them 
 were cultured and had filled important positions, some of 
 them had been in affluent circumstances, and there was 
 not one who had not been the possessor of a comfortable 
 
8 COMING OF THE LOYALISTS. 
 
 home. The transition which a few months had brought 
 about to them must have been heart rending to contem- 
 plate. But there was nothing for it but to put their trust 
 in God, and face the situation, which they did with stoical 
 fortitude. All that could be done was done to protect the 
 aged and the women and children. Every crevice was 
 carefully filled with moss and clay to keep out the biting 
 Xorth wind, but after doing the very best they could 
 their case was miserable beyond description. They were 
 huddled together in these wretched holes like pigs, shiver- 
 ing day after day thicugh weary months with cold and 
 suffering with frost bites, wanting the most common con- 
 veniences and possessing but few cooking utensils, but 
 that did not so much matter for they had but little to 
 cook. Their larder was mostly limited to hard tack, and 
 these poor souls waited on, listening to the IN^orthern blast 
 as it shrieked around their hovels, whirling the snow 
 into billowy drifts which sometimes covered them up, but 
 this was not so bad for it shut out the wind and frost and 
 made their huts warmer. The difficulty was that of 
 having to dig a way out, but this they did without 
 grumbling. 
 
 All things come to an end, and we can well 
 imagine with what pleasure they watched the coming 
 spring, the gradual wasting of the snow, the disappearing 
 of the ice, and the swelling buds on the trees. At last the 
 day of emancipation came and some time in May, probably 
 about the middle of the month, they set out on their voyage 
 West in batteaux. This at that time was a very laborious 
 journey, but they toiled on manfullv day after day making 
 slow but steady progress, the river presenting but few 
 obstacles until Montreal was reached. After that they had 
 to encounter the fierce rapids which occur on the way as 
 
COMING OF THE l.OYALISTS. V 
 
 far as Prescott, but these tremendoTis obstacles to navigja- 
 tioii were overcome, and in July they arrived at Cataraqui, 
 ten months having passed sin'^e their departure from 
 New York, well pleased no doubt that their wearisome 
 journey had come to an end, and there for the present we 
 shall leave them and return again to the State of New 
 York. But before proceeding let me mention a thought 
 that has occurred to me. What momentous results not 
 unfrequently flow out of comparatively trivial incidents. 
 A man is made prisoner, a common occurrence in war 
 time, and is held a captive for two years in a trading-post 
 far away from civilization; after his release he wanders 
 away and in the course of time finds himself a refugee in 
 New York with thousands of others. The fact of his 
 early captivity becomes known to the Governor, who is 
 in sore perplexity where to send the multitude of loyalists 
 under his protection, makes inquiry of him about tlie na- 
 ture of the country in the vicinity of his captivity and hears 
 it so well spoken of that he despatches a colony of refugees 
 to it, and thus it came to pass that through these two 
 quite common occurrences in the life of one man the lirst 
 contingent of loyal prisoners were sent, and became the 
 founders of the fairest province in the Dominion of Canada. 
 If a stranger had been visiting the State of New 
 York early in the spring of the year 1784, his attention 
 could not fail to be arrested by the strange things that 
 were occurring there. Small groups were to be seen tramp- 
 ing along the highways in every part of the State and all 
 were bending their way towards the JNorth. Another 
 thing quite as noticeable was the stem resolve that marked 
 the expression of the men's faces, and the firm tread of 
 their feet on the roadway as if every footfall as they 
 passed on was an emphatic protest against the cruelty which 
 
10 COMING OF THE LOYALISTS. 
 
 first robbed them and then expelled them from their 
 homes. The women and children that accompanied them 
 — together with a few personal effects — were mounted on 
 pack-horses. The distressed look and tear-stained cheeks 
 touched a more tender chord of the observer's heart. As 
 he passed on he met other groups who bore the same ap- 
 pearance and were pressing on in the same direction, and 
 so day after day as he pursued his journey he was con- 
 tinually meeting people apparently in the same state of 
 mind and going the same way, to the North. There were 
 two questions that would naturally arise in this»observer's 
 mind. What did it mean? and whither were they bound? 
 In the first place it meant that these travellers had the 
 courage of their convictions, they had been and still were 
 loyal to their King and country and were prepared to ac- 
 cept the consequences. The clamor the rebel leaders made 
 about the oppressive acts of the British ministry had 
 enough truth in it to give them a pretext to raise a hue 
 and cry for liberty, but the ears of these men were too keen 
 not to detect the false notes in it. They knew the real 
 motive was independence and the spoils that would fall 
 into their hands. That they were right had been proved a 
 thousand times throughout the progress of the war. They 
 had no faith, — how could they have? — in a people who 
 had all along proved recreant to the principles they so 
 loudly advocated. They were shouting for liberty on 
 one hand and practising the worst kind of tyranny on the 
 other. They had secured a treaty of peace by entering 
 into a solemn obligation to make good the loyalists' losses, 
 not to molest them or confiscate their property, and yet 
 their first act was to do the very thing they had pledged / 
 
 themselves not to do, and not only that, after maltreating 
 and robbing them, had served them with a summary no- 
 
COMING OF THE LOYALISTS. 11 
 
 tice to quit the country. And in answer to the second 
 query, they were on their way to Canada where they 
 would still be under the protection of the British flag and 
 where they expected to enjoy liberty in its truer and higher 
 sense. In this they were not deceived, and we are proud 
 to say that there is no country under the sun that enjoys 
 it to a greater degree than we do. 
 
 As we have intimated, this movement was general 
 from almost every part of the State and the numher was 
 augmented by stragglers from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, 
 Massachusetts and Vermont. The first aim of these un- 
 fortunates was to strike one or the other of the two military 
 highways that led to Ogdensburgh or Oswego. As they 
 proceeded on their way others joined in with them. On 
 they went through the dust, under a broiling sun or wading 
 through mud in the pelting rain. Still on they trod, day 
 after day, heart sore and foot sore, weary and faint, only 
 too glad when night overtook them that they might lie 
 down by the road side and rest with no other covering 
 than the starry heavens. In the earlier part of their 
 journey they might be fortunate enough to fall in with a 
 barn or shed in which to find shelter, and sometimes a 
 woman living on their route had compassion on their 
 unfortunate sisters and their poor children and took them 
 into their houses. The sufferings and hardships these 
 poor creatures had to endure as they pursued their terrible 
 journeys week after week, covering the weary miles with 
 aching limbs, their way often leading through leagues of 
 lonely wilderness and living like gipsies, was truly heart 
 rending. The very thought that these recitals are but 
 feeble and imperfect pictures of actual occurrences in the 
 lives of our ancestors, is enough to bring the saltv tear to 
 light in the eye of a stoic. 
 
12 COMING OF THK LOYALISTS. 
 
 Many more of the refugees selected the water route 
 either by the way of Lake Chamy)hiiu and down the Riche- 
 lieu river to Sorel and th(m ascendiiiii; the St. La^v^ence — 
 most of those that went that way remained in Lower (Can- 
 ada — or leaving- their hoats at Plattsburgh and going 
 across country to Og\lensburgh. The most popular rout^e 
 was up the Hudson river to Albany, which was on the 
 verge of civilization at that time. It may be well to men- 
 tion here, that the diificulties to be encountered either by 
 land or water were greatly enhanced from the fact that 
 tiien nearly the whole of Northern ]S[ew York was an 
 unbroken wilderness. A little above Albany the Mohawk 
 river joins the Hudson. This river, which runs through 
 the entire length of that beautiful strip of country known 
 as the Mohawk vallev, the late home of Sir Wm. John- 
 son and the tribe of Indians to whom it owes its name and 
 who, after the war, was granted a large tract of land on 
 the Bay of Quinte, to which place they removed about 
 this time and where a remnant of the tribe still lives. But 
 to return, at the debouchure of the above river the voy- 
 ageurs leave the Hudson and follow it as far as Fort Stau- 
 wix — Home. At this point there was a portage of twenty 
 miles or more over which their boats and effects had to be 
 carried to Wood Creek, which they descended into Lake 
 Oneida, and thence down the Oswego river to Oswego, 
 and from that either across the lake by schooner or around 
 the foot of the lake to Kingston, to which point nearly 
 all the refugees we have been speaking of converged. My 
 grandfather Canniff came by this route, an account of 
 which will be found in my book, " Country Life in Can- 
 ada," and also in the second volume of " Dr. Ryerson's 
 History of the American Loyalists," and so after weeks 
 and months had passed since their exodus began, coming 
 
COMING OF THE LOYALISTS. 13 
 
 as they did from different States and widely scattered dis- 
 tricts, most of them having travelled many hundreds 
 of miles, through the bush, over badly constructed roads, 
 ascending rivers and navigating lakes, exposed to dangers 
 innumerable, in dread of Indians and wild beasts, and 
 when the long toilsome day was done and night closed in 
 upon them, with no other bed to rctii-e to for the rest they 
 so much needed but the green turf, and perhaps a gnarled 
 root of a tree for a pillow and the canopy of heaven for a 
 blanket, and even in such unfavorable conditions if they 
 could have passed the night undisturbed, they might have 
 opened their eyes to the morning sun, refreshed. But the 
 shadow of the approaching night brought with it clouds 
 of mosquitos whose persistent assaults drove away sleep. 
 At that time too myriads of frogs in adjoining swamps 
 awoke to their duty and began their croaking with sur- 
 prising unanimity, sending forth waves of unmelodious 
 sound which broke on the ear with painful force, and as 
 if these free concerts, which extended far into the night, 
 were not sufficient to test human patience, the prowl- 
 ing wolves on the hills joined in and made the night still 
 more hideous by their cruel howls. Dr. Ryerson says : " A 
 considerable number came to Canada from New Jersey and 
 the neighborhood of Philadelphia on foot through the then 
 wilderness of New York, carrying their little effects and 
 small children on pack horses and driving their cattle, which 
 subsisted on the herbage of the woods and valleys, and in 
 many cases when in difficulty were assisted by the Indians. 
 The hardships, exposures and privations and sufferings 
 which the first loyalists endured making their way from 
 their confiscated homes to Canada were longer and more 
 severe than anything narrated of the Pilgrim and Puritan 
 fathers, whose hardships and persecutions were trifling in 
 
14 COMINO OT THE LOYALISTS. 
 
 comparison to the persecutions, imprisonments, confisca- 
 tions and often death inflicted on the Lojal adherents of the 
 Crown." 
 
 Of the many thousands of the refugees who had fled 
 from their homes to the different British possessions in 
 America in quest of security and a home where they might 
 again begin in the world, none were more fortunate than 
 those who had found their way to what is known as the 
 Bay of Quinte Country. It possessed all the requisites 
 both as to position and soil that an intelligent settler could 
 ask for. The bay along whose shore so many of them were 
 to plant new homes and make another start in life is one of 
 the most beautiful sheets of water on this Continent. How 
 it came by its name is unknown, or what white man first 
 traversed it. It was a scene the like of which few men have 
 had the good fortune to discover. Its far reaching wooded 
 banks and charming recesses, its sedgy shore and gravelly 
 beach, constantly changing as it bends inwards and pre- 
 senting new and more attractive pictures to the eye, could 
 not fail, if the beholder had in the smallest degree the 
 painter's receptive sense of the beautiful, to have filled his 
 soul with delight. Long before the Frenchman came 
 it had been one of the leading routes used by the 
 Indians, either when on the war path or hunting 
 expeditions. Many and many a time have long lines 
 of canoes filled with dusky warriors glided silently and 
 swiftly over its bosom bent on some hostile enter- 
 prise. Many a time has the warwhoop echoed along 
 its shores. It was a favorite hunting ground and stopping 
 place. I have picked upon the old farm in my early days 
 dozens of flint arrow heads and some stone chisels. In 
 one of the fields there was a bowl shaped depression in and 
 around which, as the soil was turned up by the plow, bits 
 
 
COMIKO OF THE LOYALISTS. 16 
 
 of soft earthenware were discovered; there was quite a 
 quantity of it at one time. Durinp^ the French regime 
 their voyagers traversed the Bay on their way to the 
 trading posts of Niagara and Detroit. The whole land as 
 far as the Pacific, West, and the Arctic in the North was 
 a vast hunting ground. The Frenchmen were keen after 
 the rich furs, and to facilitate the traffic ^vith the Indians 
 established these trading posts which were in fact small 
 forts, and which were frequently used for more serious 
 purposes. Of these the principal ones were Frontenac, 
 Niagara and Detroit. 
 
 In 1783 Sir Frederick Haldimand, then Governor of 
 the Province of Quebec, instructed the Surveyor-General, 
 Major Holland, to proceed to Western Canada and lay 
 out a range of townships on the Bay of Quinte west of 
 Kingston, at which place his instructions were to begin. 
 After laying out proper reservations for the town and fort, 
 he was to siu*vey the townships each of which was to 
 be six miles square, the lots to contain each 200 acres and 
 to be twenty-five in number each range. This was known 
 then as township number one, afterwards Kingston. The 
 survey of the four townships which extended along the 
 North shore of the bay to where it turns the West point of 
 the last township, was not completed until July of the 
 following year, and indeed the fourth township was not 
 quite done then, and the hut of Surveyor-General Holland 
 who had made this his headquarters, was still standing 
 when the batteaux of Major Vanalstine's band were pushed 
 upon its shore. After this was done the surveyors crossed 
 over the bay and laid out township No. 5, which lies in 
 Prince Edward County on the North shore and opposite 
 numbers 3 and 4, subsequently townships number 6 and 
 7, in the same county were surveyed, and so on, until 
 
16 COMINO OF THE LOYALISTS. 
 
 all the land around the bay had been laid out. 
 These townships were not named for a good many years 
 afterwards and the people became so accustomed to desig- 
 naio them by the numerical prefix that they continued to 
 do so long after they were named. It was the general 
 custom after I had grown to manhood. These townships 
 all received royal names, and as you know King George 
 the Third had a goodly family — fifteen children — the loy- 
 alists found no difiiculty in making a selection. The first 
 was named after the King, Kingston and then in their 
 order Ernestown, Fredericksburgh, Adolphustown, Marys- 
 burgh, Sophiasburgh and Ameliasburgh. ,In conseqtience 
 of the delay in completing the survey the refugees had to 
 wait in Kingston, and a large number of them had been 
 there for some time and all were growing impatient, for 
 the season was passing and it was therefore a matter of 
 grave importance to them to get located as soon as possible. 
 The distribution began in July, the Governor, who 
 was in Kingston at the time, assisting. The allotment of 
 the townships were made in the following manner. To 
 Captain Grass, who had been the main instrument in bring- 
 ing the people to this section, the Governor said ; 
 " Captain Grass as you were the first person to mention this 
 fine country and have been here formerly as a prisoner of 
 war, you must have the first choice; the townships are 
 numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, which do you choose?" " I will 
 take No. 1," replied Grass. The Governor then gave out 
 the remaining numbers as follows: Number two to Sir 
 John Johnson, number three to Colonel Rogers, number 
 four to Major Vanalstine and number five to Colonel 
 McDonell, after which the several companies proceeded 
 with their leaders to the townships that had been assigned 
 to them, and then drew their land by lots as being the most 
 
COMINO OF THE LOYALISTS. 17 
 
 satisfactory way of doing it. The process was very simple. 
 The number of a lot was written ou a slip of paper, these 
 strips were put in a hat or small box into which the settler 
 thrust his hand and drew out one. These numbers were 
 duly recorded with the drawer's name, to whom afterwards 
 the government issued patents or deeds, but in the mean- 
 time they at once took possession of the lots, and it is 
 worthy of mention that several persons in the fourth town 
 drew the lots they wanted. 
 
 It will not be out of place to mention the follow- 
 ing incident here. At the time the allotment was 
 made, the Governor said to Capt. Grass, " It is too late 
 in the season to put in any crop, what will you do for 
 food ?" The Captain replied, " if they were furnished with 
 turnip seed there was still time to grow some." " Very 
 well," said the Governor, "you shall have it," and it was 
 sent. They cleared a spot of ground in the centre of which 
 Kingston now stands, and raised a fine crop of turnips 
 which served for food the ensuing winter with the govern- 
 ment rations. The original settlers along the St. Lawrence 
 and the Bay of Quinte were largely composed of soldiers 
 of disbanded regiments; nearly all of the 84th were placed 
 in the second and third townships. The settlers of the 
 fourth were mostly men who had not been in the regular 
 service and among them a number of Quakers, while the 
 fifth was handed over to the Hessians. The German and 
 Dutch soldiers made very poor settlers. It is said the ques- 
 tion was often asked why the government settled the Hes- 
 sian regiment there. The supposition was that the soldiers 
 could not work on land, they could find fish in the water 
 along the lots and so live and suoport their families. 
 
 Having followed the loyalists to their promised land 
 and having seen that the portion each was to get had been 
 received, let us take a look around. Upper Canada at the 
 
18 COMIKO OF THE LOYALISTS. 
 
 date this people set their feet upon its shores was an un- 
 broken wilderness from end to end and the undisputed 
 home of Indians and wild beasts. The section which had 
 been assigned to the refugees for settlement consisted of a 
 range of townships running along the North shore of the 
 St. Lawrence from Cornwall to Kingston and West around 
 the Bay of Quinte, a narrow strip of country about two 
 hundred miles in length. There was not a cleared rood 
 of land nor a hut to be found within its bounds — save at 
 Kingston — the limitless forest pressed its serried edge to 
 the water, presenting a bold front to its assailants and for 
 many a long day, aye for many a year in fact, did their 
 sinewy arms smite it with their keen edged axes, before 
 which it melted away. 
 
 At midsummer 1784 — as we have seen, a large num- 
 ber of people — several thousands, had gathered at Kingston. 
 Their appearance certainly did not suggest anything in 
 the way of an excursion party pausing at a health resort 
 where they could guzzle nasty mineral water and fancy it 
 did them good. No, they had been giving King George a 
 hand and rather got the worst of it. The old gentleman 
 having still quite a bit of land left on this side the water, 
 and feeling sorry for them, told them to come and he would 
 give it to them. Here they were, and according to prom- 
 ise, each man had received his 200 acres and went into 
 possession, which he had no sooner done than he discovered 
 he had a huge white elephant on his hands. Great trees 
 covered the farms from end to end. There was not a 
 place where they could plant anything. The lookout was 
 discouraging indeed. If they had come there properly 
 equipped to undertake the heavy task of clearing away 
 the forest it would have been different, but they had been 
 literally dumped into it, inexperienced and practically un- 
 prepared for the work at hand. I cannot conceive of a 
 
COMINa OF TQK LOYALISTS. 19 
 
 more pitiful picture than these unhappy creatures pre- 
 sented at that time. Just fancy several thousand people 
 composed of men, women and children scattered through 
 the woods for a couple of hundred miles, many of whom 
 had not so much as a hut into which they could crawl for 
 shelter and rest, exposed to the weather and to the bites 
 of the mosquito and black fly, without the means of sub- 
 sistence and living on the coarse rations furnished by the 
 government. The discomforts of such a life to a people 
 who had known brighter days were grievous to bear and 
 
 they must have felt it keenly. But "when the 
 
 drives one needs must go " it is said. There was but one 
 way out of it, and that was to do as they had done with 
 former difficulties, face them like men, and the quicker 
 they commenced and the harder they toiled the sooner 
 they would reach what they were after. 
 
 The first thing that presented itself to the settler's 
 mind was to provide a place in which he could put himself 
 and family, and in those days even the construction of such 
 a rude tenement as a settler's shanty is understood to be was 
 attended with considerable difficulty from the fact that 
 there were no boards to be had. Logs could be cut, notched 
 and rolled up on one another for walls very quickly, but the 
 roof was the trouble, and here human ingenuity, which is 
 seldom beaten, steps in and fills the want, with the bark 
 of trees. 
 
 In a very short time all along the bay were to be 
 seen the evidences that the settlement of a new country 
 had begun in the curling smoke ascending from the cabins, 
 the ring of the settler's axe in the woods, and the crash of 
 falling timber. 
 
 It will be quite clear to every one that if the loyalists 
 had not been supplied with food in these early days they 
 must have perished. They arrived in the country in a state 
 
;, 
 
 so COMING OF THE LOYALISTS. 
 
 of destitution, and even if they had been in a much better 
 case than they unfortunately were, the laborious task of 
 clearing away the forest, was one that could not be pushed 
 with any rapidity. Three years of hard work at least had 
 to be put in before sufficient land could be reclaimed on 
 which they could subsist, and in the meantime if they had 
 not had a source of supply to fall back on their position 
 would have been hopeless. The government had foreseen 
 this and for three years furnished them with rations, 
 clothing and implements. 
 
 The difficulties they had to contend with the first 
 three or four years were very great, particularly the third 
 year, which is known as the " hungry year " — 1787-8 — 
 During this terrible year many of them were on the eve 
 of starvation, and the deprivations and suffrrings of all 
 were most severe. If I had time I could tell you sad 
 stories about those days which I have heard from_ the lips 
 of the sufferers themselves when I was a boy. After this 
 terrible time the tide turned and the world seems to have 
 gone more smoothly with them. There is nothing more 
 heard about want, but the daily grind went on, and for 
 many years to come hard work and plenty of it was to be the 
 normal condition of their lives. But with good food and 
 many added comforts this could be submitted to without 
 complaint. My recollection goes back to the beginning 
 of the '30's. At that time fifty years of the country's life 
 had passed and carried with them all the old men and 
 women as well as nearly all the middle aged of the original 
 settlers. Those who were young at the time had now 
 grown old and were the grandfathers and grandmothers of 
 my early days, and a fine robust race they were. They had 
 borne " the burden and heat of the day " patiently. God 
 had richly blessed the labor of their hands and made of 
 them a contented and happy people. 
 
\ \ 
 
^.'< 
 
 I *• 
 
 
 . 1 . ' 1 
 
 
 
 ' - Vi. ■ * - - 
 
 U. B. Series published^ 
 
 No. I. Before the Coming of the 
 Loyalists. 25c. 
 
 2. Coming of the Loyalists. 25c. 
 
 
 ■.»' 
 
 '%&».; 
 
 To be issued. 
 
 No. 3. A Loyalist Home. 
 
 4. A Loyalist Township. 
 
 5. Recollections of the American 
 
 War. 
 
 >'.