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CHAPTER ONE The Early Settlement of Cornwall, Ontario and Massena, New York, 1784–1834 The towns of Cornwall, Ontario and Massena, New York were established by pioneers on the U.S.–Canadian border at the end of the eighteenth century in a previously untamed wilderness. The northernmost part of New York State and the southern border of British North America were labeled the “Great Wilderness” by cartographers on maps drawn prior to 1772. The region was isolated from established commercial centers, inhabited by Indians and covered by dense forests. The area, therefore, was unattractive to many frontiersmen until after the American Revolution when the forced exile of British loyalists and the limited availability of fertile land in New England encouraged the settlement of this formerly desolate borderland. The founding fathers of Cornwall and Massena faced starvation and economic uncertainty during the first years of settlement due to their geographic isolation. The permanent settlement of Cornwall, Ontario and Massena, New York, while twenty years apart, was demographically, socially, religiously, and politically similar. Early pioneers from New England and other former American colonies cooperatively built houses and churches and worshiped together at Sunday services. The rigors of frontier life, economic and social isolation, and an agrarian economy prevented the development of social differences among settlers and the ascension of elites to power. Regardless of the fact that they now lived on opposite sides of the border, the loyalists and Massena settlers still harbored comparable social and political goals and values. The founding fathers of both towns were collectively oriented, distrusted the state, and developed voluntaristic and egalitarian religious traditions. The border location of Cornwall and Massena forced residents to become self-sufficient, made them vulnerable to foreign invasion, and encouraged them to develop different social and political institutions from 7 8 From Great Wilderness to Seaway Towns those in the heartland regions. The settlement and early struggles of families in Cornwall were more similar to those of their neighbors in Massena than to residents in other areas of Canada. Cornwall Cornwall, Ontario was settled in 1784 by United Empire Loyalists and their families as one of five new royal townships. During the Revolutionary War, many British sympathizers left homesteads in New York, Pennsylvania, and New England, joined royal regiments, and fought on behalf of King George III. Once the war was over, loyalists pressured British government officials for new land and financial compensation as repayment for their allegiance. For defense purposes British officials wanted some of these families settled close to the United States border. The male residents of the royal townships provided an experienced militia force in case American officials attempted to extend their property further northward in the future. Following the signing of the Treaty of Paris in November of 1783, Sir John Johnson, commander of the King’s Royal Regiment, and several of his fellow military leaders traveled down the St. Lawrence River and negotiated land deals with the St. Regis Indians for property in a previously unsettled area of Upper Canada. Once the deal was signed and the necessary surveys conducted, experienced French-Canadian bateaux captains brought loyalists and their belongings to their new homes along the St. Lawrence. The first settlers arrived in Royal Township #2 in 1784.1 Cornwall’s isolated location forced the loyalists to become self-sufficient and create a unique community based on environmental factors. Prior to Sir Johnson’s agreement with the St. Regis, the area where Cornwall is situated was largely an untamed wilderness. The French had long occupied the eastern region of Canada ending at the present Ontario–Quebec border. Explorers and missionaries had journeyed further inland and some of the islands and rapids still bear the names of those pioneers.2 In the past, central Canada was also considered as a location for a trading or military post by French government officials. But, according to a local reporter, it was “unlikely that more than half a dozen white men had ever gazed upon the place where the future Cornwall was situated.”3 When the former soldiers arrived to claim their new plots of land along the St. Lawrence River, no roads or means of communication existed to connect the area with major commercial centers like Montreal. Therefore, many of the township’s early settlers relied on home production and the local exchange of foodstuffs for basic subsistence. Royal Township #2 was the most popular settlement among loyalist soldiers because of its fertile agricultural...

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