History of the county of Lennox and Addington, Ontario, Canada

Had I not consented to undertake the task of writing a history of Lennox and Addington, before I began to look about me for material, I would probably not have given that consent quite so readily. Those only who have attempted a work of this character can appreciate the difficulties that lie in the way of the amateur historian. Many hours of fruitless research may often be spent in an effort to fix a date or to ascertain a name, and very frequently what appears to be reliable authority may upon closer examination be found to be far astray in the information so confidently communicated. All the depositories appeared to be empty, many of the old residents had recently departed this life, and such records as could be found were very incomplete. Old minute books which had served their original purpose have been destroyed or are still concealed among the rubbish of some unknown attic. If municipal clerks and secretaries of public bodies had only been taught to preserve all the books and documents appertaining to their office the work of the historian would be greatly lightened. Yet with the assistance of many willing helpers I have endeavoured to unearth all the available data that I considered within the scope of my inquiry.

 

Table of Contents

I. WHEN THE COUNTY WAS A WILDERNESS 1
II. THE COMING OF THE LOYALISTS 17
III. THE SETTLING OF THE LOYALISTS 36
IV. THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 54
V. TRADESMEN, PRODUCTS AND PRICES 73
VI. THE COUNTY SCHOOLS 97
VII. ADOLPHUSTOWN 135
VIII. ERNESTTOWN AND BATH 152
IX. FREDERICKSBURGH 182
X. AMHERST ISLAND 189
XI. RICHMOND 203
XII. THE BEGINNING OF NAPANEE 208
XIII. THE GROWTH OF NAPANEE 221
XIV. REMINISCENCES OF NAPANEE 234
XV. DIVERSIONS AND RECREATIONS OF NAPANEE 248
XVI. RANKS AND BANKING 255
XVII. NAPANEE CHURCHES 262
XVIII. NAPANEE NEWSPAPERS 270
XIX. CAMDEN AND NEWBURGH 283
XX. SHEFFIELD AND THE NORTHERN TOWNSHIPS 326
XXI. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 348
INDEX 421

 

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We have no reason to believe that our county was at any time the permanent home of the red man, though from the relics that have been found we know that he frequently roamed over it in his hunting expeditions and temporarily camped within its limits. We have not been able to find traces of extensive burial places or fortifications such as have been discovered in other localities, where the Indians were known to have resided in large numbers for years at a time. The history of Lennox and Addington is thus a blank until the advent of the white men, and the first European to set foot upon our soil was none other than Champlain himself. In the autumn of 1615 he came down the Trent River with his Huron allies, followed the Bay of Quinte to its mouth, crossed the head of Lake Ontario, and entered the Mohawk Valley to make war upon the Iroquois. Returning from this unsuccessful venture, they wintered somewhere in this district, spending several weeks in a grand deer hunt.