104 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
_ reason for this will be evident by recalling what was stated before 
as to the vacant land between Kingston and Gananoque. John White 
was selected as the first member. He came out from England in 
1792, probably along with Simcoe, who appointed him Attorney- 
General. That he represented Leeds and Frontenac we know from 
one of Simcoe’s letters, an extract from which appears in the Archives 
of Canada for 1891, p. xxii., as follows: — 
“In my passage from Montreal to Kingston, I understood that the general 
spirit of the country was against the election of half-pay officers into the 
Assembly, and that the prejudice ran in favour of men of a lower order, who 
kept but one table, that is, who dined in common with their servants. It was 
by great good fortune that the temporary residence I made at Kingston 
created sufficient influence to enable us to bring the Attorney-General, Mr. 
White, into the House.”’ 
Mr. White was succeeded in the Legislature, in 1796, by Captain 
Jessup. He was shot in a duel with Mr. Small, clerk of the Executive 
Council, on January 3rd, 1800, and died the following day. 
Addington and Ontario— Addington included Ernestown or town- 
ship No. 2, and all the land north to the Ottawa. Ontario was an 
island county consisting of Amherst, Gage, Wolfe, Howe and all other 
islands east to the Gananoque River. The remainder of the thousand 
islands east of the Gananoque River were attached to the several coun- 
ties in front of which they were situated. It might be mentioned here 
that Amherst Island formed part of the estate of Sir John Johnson. 
Addington and Ontario were entitled to one member, and Mr. Joshua 
Booth was selected. 
Joshua Booth's early history is, like that of most early settlers 
of Upper Canada, largely of a traditionary nature. His ancestors 
were English and were settled in Orange County, New York. At 
the outbreak of the Revolutionary War the family divided, Joshua 
taking the British or Loyalist side. (On the U. E. L. list he was 
reported as a sergeant.) He settled in Ernestown and shortly after- 
ward became proprietor of the King’s Mill, situated west of Kingston, 
on what is now known as Mill Creek. There is a story that after the 
war, his mother came from New York State by the Champlain and 
St. Lawrence to visit him. She was accompanied by negro slaves 
and her object was to convey to him a bag of gold, doubtless the result 
of some family division of property. During the war of 1812, Joshua 
Booth and his two sons saw service, the father as captain. The 
mother when condoled with for the absence of her two sons, flashed 
out: “ Indeed. and I wish I had more to send.” This Spartan mother 
was Margaret Fraser, daughter of Daniel Fraser, U. E. L. 
