SKETCH OF THE COUNTY OF PETERBOROUGH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume V, Issue 1396, 9 May 1868, Page 4

SKETCH OF THE COUNTY OF PETERBOROUGH.

_ (From tha Montreal Witness, April 13th, 1867.) " : "gjr,—-I send you a short sketch of. the County of ■ Peterborough, U. W. The facts are principally gleaned - from a very complete history of the lately ' published by Thos- W. Pool, Esq., M.P.P., and'from my.'own- p'swonal- acquaintance with the pioneers that still survive. ' ' 1 , In the vear 1818, a small body of emigrants left England, determined to brave tho.porils of a,settler's life in the woods of Canada*. . They iound their way through the wooded .wildenjess at thftt time... between the frontier settlements on Lake Ontario andj Bico .take,. thence by .ipeans. pf boats pursued! their j course up the Otonabee river, and landed/after a ; day's sail at a spot where now stands the flourishing town of Peterborough.' Previous to this' period, that section'of Canada was an l unbroken foresti • The , sound ofthe settler's axe had never eohood in it, and rwith the exception of the hunter! and the adventurous) tiader, no white had ever penetrated it. _ ! ■■■■' This undertaking at that time was .of no ordinary character, and settling in the bush now ; and then is quite a different affair. There was not a.saw. or grist mill jvithin thirty miles of, them, jtuid no road, except the Indian trail. . It was. two years afterfttieir [entry that the . first very imperfect mill. was. erected. It was, however, a great boon, as previous to its these settlors, if they desired to get flour, we're, compelled to carry their grain on their baoks to the frontier.to get it ground. . . • ' Want : was soon the mother of invention in their case, and the means resorted to by these pionefers to procure flour, or, at least, an imitation of it, aro both curious and interesting. One of. their plans was to take their'grain to a stump of a tree, hollo wed out by fire, and there pound it with a.mallet, until;it had the appearance of the oracked. grain,, now, sold* in shops. Another illustration is given in a deputation appointed to wait ..upon Sir Peregrine Maitlaod, : Governor of Canada, in the year 1826. One of party undertook to present a verbal address, the terms of which had been previously agreed on.; "The spokesman Had proceeded but a little Way when . utterance became confused, and he broke down'ingloriously. Turning Tound to another settler who was one of the deputation, he said,' Speak it, you,' sir.' The one addressed continued the addiess .to His Excellency, in which the difficulties and occasional distress of the settlers were plainly portrayed, and the absence of milling, facilities especially, deplored. The first speaker had told the Governor : ' We hao a a mill and we hao nae mill;'. but the last speaker, as a .practical illustration of the necessity for better accommmodation in this respect, 1 Saving your presence, sir, I have to get up at night to chow corn for tha children a statement which no | doubt was literally true. His Excellency returned a gra- " cioui reply, in which lie promised them assistance ; , "a pledge which ere long he fully redeemed; to the great joy of the settlement" " For many years the 1 skins of hops annually killed were made. into moccasins, with the hairy side in, as a substitute far ; boots; and, in the scarcity of tea, which was then a costly luxury, wild peppermint, sweet balm, and ' other herbs were made to take its place. One of these went by the name of Foley's tea, and Bomo others were believed to bean antidote to fever and ague, a ■ disease from which the early settlers suffered severely." 1 In the fall of the year 1825, the Hon, Peter Bobinson, under the auspices of the British Government, brought out some 2,000, emigrants, principally from ,the south of Ireland. These were 'settled in. two townships, in the most primitive manner. Their .houßes were erected for them, and were about, ten feet square, covered over with slabs or split logs, ' which—though little better than kennels for, size— \ kept them for the most part warm. It wa3, however, r a great mistake of the Government here, aa elsewhere throughout Canada, in making settlements of any body ov clasß of emigrants. Their progress is always marked by a tardiness in adopting the improvements of the age, and by their following the customs of theirgrandfathers in preference to more modern ideas. • In the year 1837, it will be remembered that W. ; L. Mackenzie's rebellion broke out. The people of ; the County of Peterboro' responded nobly to the oall of the Governor, and in less than twenty-four hours some two hundred volunteers had started for the frontier, under tho command of Col. McDonnell. They were principally farmers armed with their own j fowling-piecei. By this act they displayed their de- - votion to the Crown. ; The county oontinued to progress slowly until the 1 year 1850, when Peterborough emerged from the rank 5 of a village to that of a town. .With the passing o s act of incorporation, came tho election of mayor, and the important act of erecting a euitable town-hall and market-place. ; On this occasion the good people determined to enjoy themselves in true Knglish style, and "it was arranged that- an ox should be whole, wherewith to entertain all and sundry who might choose ' to accept the hospitality of the town. This part of . the programme wa6 literally carried out, hut, unfortunately, while revolving upon the spit, the body of t the ox was carried away, either piecemeal or entire, ; by persons whose guilt was never verified ; and ihus ; the great feast of the evening fell to the portion of others than those for whom it was intended." In the year 1854, Peterborough was connected with Cobourg by rail, and the exports of sawn lumber at . .once increased from three or four, millions to.twen'y millions of feet annually. This . roiid, however, proved a failure, and the toyrn was connected in the year 1858 with Port Hope. The amount of s&wn lumber has continued steadily to advance. The busi ! ness of the town has also rapidly increased ; and, for the year 1860, the entire imports were estimated at ' £600,000, some single firms importing, alone $80,000 t worth of goods. The article that gives rise to this business io the extensive manufacturing of square timber from Ottawa, &e. During the lumbering season of 1866, the quantity of square timbor chat passed out 1 of the county is estimated to be 2,500,000 feet, and that of sawn lumber at 50,650,000. The mills for manufacturing this last article are, of course, extensive. One mill alone is capable of Bawing 90,000 feet in twelve hours. There is at presentjan extensive woollen-mill erected by Messrs. A. Robertson & Co., of Montreal, whose cloths are widely known. " These mills bore off the gold medal of the Dublin Exhibition in 1864, for the beßt Canadian tweeds, arid were also awarded a silver medal at the Montreal Exhibition, the Bame year, for similar cloths." In conclu ion, I may state that the town of Peterborough, with its population of some 5,000 inhabitants, surrounded with an extonsive farming country, and unlimited water power, has a prospeot that is second to that of no other town in Canada.—Tours truly, . F.D.M.