[samEs] FIRST LEGISLATORS OF UPPER CANADA 107 
been repeated again and again, but it is incorrect. Through the 
courtesy of Rev. W. O. Raymond of St. John,,N.B., I have been per- 
mitted to examine a muster roll of batteau men organized and directed 
by Captain Peter Vanalstine, and in his evidence before the Claims 
Commission, Vanalstine refers to his military service. Major 
Vanalstine was of Dutch ancestry, he came from near Albany, New 
York, and spoke English with quite a foreign accent. After living 
for some years in Adolphustown he moved across the bay to Prince 
Edward, where he had large holdings of land and started the mill at 
the most picturesque spot of the Bay district, the lake on the moun- 
tain. He returned to Adolphustown and died at his old home in 1811. 
He was succeeded in 1796, by David McGregor Rogers, the son of 
Major James Rogers, and the nephew of the celebrated ranger, Robert 
Rogers. David McGregor Rogers was at the time living on a large 
military land grant at West Lake. David McGregor Rogers sat in 
the Legislature of Upper Canada from this time until his death in 
1824, with the exception of one Parliament. His record, therefore, 
was for 24 years, the longest of any member of the Upper Canada 
House of Assembly. Reference to the Rogers family may be found 
in a paper printed in the transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, 
1900. “Rogers, Ranger and Loyalist,” by Walter Rogers. 
Durham, York and 1st Lincoln.—The County of Durham extended 
from Northumberland west to the end of Long Beach in Darlington 
township, and north as far as the Mississaga Tract. It represented 
very nearly the county of the present day. York consisted of two 
ridings or parts: The east, including the present counties of York 
and Ontario; and the west, the northern half of Wentworth County. 
Between these two lay an Indian Reserve, now forming the counties 
of Halton and Peel. The county of Lincoln comprehended the 
Niagara Peninsula, and included Ancaster, Barton, Saltfleet, Glanford 
and Binbrook townships of the present county of Wentworth, together 
with the present counties of Lincoln and Welland. Lincoln was 
divided into four ridings. The first riding consisted of the following 
townships :—Aneaster Barton, Saltfleet, Glanford, Binbrook, Caistor, 
Gainsboro, Grimsby and Clinton. Durham, York and 1st Lincoln were 
to elect one member who would, therefore, represent the settlers on 
Lake Ontario from Port Hope to a little beyond Beamsville. The great 
bulk of the settlers were around the head of the lake from Hamilton 
southeast. The man selected was Nathaniel Pettit, of Grimsby. He 
had been a member of the Land Board of Nassau since 1788, and his 
name was one of the list sent home by Lord Dorchester from which 
to select the Legislative Council. Jonathan and Deborah Pettit lived in 
the State of Pennsylvania. Part of their land was in New Jersey. There 
