228 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



launched many good ships, among them the first steamboat seen upon 

 Lake Ontario.^ 



The shipping industry of Bath, most of which was handled by this 

 enterprising firm, was an important item and brought the partners into 

 close business relations with many of the leading merchants of Mont- 

 real, Oswego and other cities where there was a demand for the lum- 

 ber, grain, potash and other products of the Bay of Quinte district. 



Upon the dissolution of the partnership with Lasher in 1849 

 Stevenson formed a new partnership with Ham and took over the 

 Newburgh business which was thereafter carried on under the name of 

 Stevenson and Ham. 



Mr. Ham resided at Newburgh and devoted his time to the super- 

 vision of the store, while Mr. Stevenson first moved to the same village, 

 but shortly afterwards took up his home in Napanee, where, a few 

 years later, he built a handsome residence which is still looked upon 

 as one of the finest and most substantial in the town. 



They launched out into the lumbering business and purchased 

 large tracts of timber lands in the northern parts of Addington and 

 Frontenac and operated mills at Petworth and Napanee on the Napanee 

 river. Mr. Ham was the more conservative member of the firm and 

 did not altogether relish the new ventures into which his partner was 

 drawing him. Lumbering could not be carried on to advantage upon 

 a small scale and large sums of money had to be locked up in the tim- 

 ber berths and the cost of cutting and getting the logs to the mills and 

 marketing the product before any returns could be expected. Some- 

 times months and even years would intervene between the initial 

 purchase of the standing timber and the receipt of the first cheque for 

 the lumber. This was the part of it that did not appeal to Mr. Ham, 

 who had been accustomed to turn over his stock in a few months. A 

 light investment, quick return and small profits appeared to him to be 

 a safer business than the slow moving returns from the lumber business. 

 To appease his partner Mr. Stevenson from the first purchased the 

 timber limits in his own name and held them at his own risk, repaying 

 himself for his outlay when the lumber was sold. After working to- 

 gether successfully for five years the partnership was dissolved, Mr. 

 Ham retaining the Newburgh store and Mr. Stevenson the lum- 

 bering business. 



1 The Steamer Frontenac, the first steamboat that plied upon the waters of Lake 

 Ontario, was launched from the shipyard of Henry Finkle at Bath, on September 

 7th, 1816. Henry Gildersleeve, a young man newly arrived at Kingston from New 

 Haven, Connecticut, worked upon the steamer. He was the founder of the Gilder- 

 sleeve family which has ever since been closely identified with the navigation of our 

 lakes and rivers. 



