According to information furnished us by Mr. Ashley and others, the first family that settled in this township was George Angel Weese, with three sons, John, Henry and Francis, natives of Duchess County; they came here in 1787. The second settler was Thomas Dempsey, who came in 1789. (See U. E. Loyalists). Among the other settlers were Bonters, Sagers, Bleekers and Coverts.
The names of other early settlers of Ameliasburgh are mentioned elsewhere, and are among the first patentees. Among them was Elijah Wallbridge, a native of Duchess County. He came to Canada in 1804, and purchased on Mississauga Point, of one Smith, 1200 acres of land, all of which, we believe, is still retained in the family. Two years later his family came by French train in winter.
William Anderson, sen., who is still living, aged 88 years, a native of Ireland, emigrated to America with his parents in 1793. He came to Canada in 1803. In 1806 he settled on Mississauga Point, having married Miss Polly Way, a descendant of the U. E. Loyalists.
CHAPTER LIII.
Contents—Prince Edward—The name—Rich land—Size of peninsula—Shape—Small Lakes—Sand hills—The Ducks—Gibson’s rock—The past—First settler—Col. Young—Prospecting—Discovery of East Lake—West Lake—Moving in—Settlers in 1800—East Lake—Capt. Richardson—“Prince Edward Division Bill”—Office seekers—Township of Hallowell—The name—Formation of Township—First Records 1798—The officers—The laws—Magistrates—Picton—Its origin—Hallowell village—Dr. Austin—Gen. Picton—His monument—Naming the villages—A contest—The Court-house—An offer—Enterprise—Proposed steamboat—Churches—Rev. Mr. Macaulay—Rev. Mr. Fraser—Rev. Mr. Lalor.
PENINSULA OF PRINCE EDWARD.
The name of this district is derived from Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the father of our Queen, who visited Canada at an early date (see under Early Government).
The peninsula is a rich and beautiful tract of land stretching away from the main land, to be washed on the one hand by the quiet waters of the bay, and on the other by the more turbulent waves of Ontario. It is some seventy miles in length, and varying in breadth from two to twenty miles. The neck of land, or isthmus which separates the head waters of the bay from Lake Ontario, is something less than a mile-and-a-half across. It is known as the Carrying place.
Prince Edward district is irregular in outline, on both the lake and bay sides. Along the lake coast there are numerous bays extending inward, two or three being of considerable size. The larger ones are Weller’s bay, Consecon Lake, West Lake, and East Lake. In places, the shore is rendered exceedingly picturesque, by the presence of irregular and beautifully white sand-hills. They have been gradually formed by well washed sand which the waves have carried shoreward, so that the wind might, in the lapse of time, deposit it heap upon heap. The mariners regard this coast with justifiable concern, at the extreme southerly portion, off Long Point, in the vicinity of the Ducks, where many a vessel has come to grief.
The geological formation of the peninsula is of considerable interest; and the observant student of this interesting science, may trace many steps which indicates the geological history.