78 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



(Fourth Town) points proudly to the fact that on March 6, 1792, was 

 held the first Town Meeting at which were appointed a town clerk, a 

 constable, two overseers of the poor, three pound-masters and two 

 fence viewers. A similar meeting was held on the fifth of March, 1793. 

 These meetings were the spontaneous acts of the inhabitants and were 

 not authorized by statute. It was not until July, 1793, that a statute 

 was enacted by the Legislative Assembly providing for the appoint- 

 ment of just such officers as had been appointed at the two annual 

 meetings in Adolphustown.^ Hallowell held its first meeting in 1798 

 and Sophiasburgh in 1800. There is no record of the first meetings 

 held in any of the other townships upon the bay except the township 

 of Sidney, whose officials have kindly placed in the hands of the 

 writer, a well preserved minute book containing the records of all 

 town meetings from 1790 to 1849 inclusive. Adolphustown easily 

 took the lead among the townships at the eastern end of the bay in 

 producing men qualified to lay the foundations of a municipal govern- 

 ment and it is quite improbable that any of the neighboring townships 

 took the initiative in this respect and held an annual meeting prior 

 to 1792. In any event it is quite clear that until the minutes are 

 produced and the fact clearly established Sidney must be accorded 

 first place and credited with having held the first meeting in the dis- 

 trict of Mecklenburgh. This distinction seems all the more creditable 

 when we remember that the townships at the eastern end of the bay, 

 besides being settled several years earlier than Sidney, possessed 

 many other advantages, among them being a denser population and 

 a closer relationship with Kingston, the recognized official centre 

 of the district. We might, at first glance, quite reasonably expect to 

 find these older townships taking some steps towards municipal 

 organization at a much earlier date than Sidney. 



On the other hand we must bear in mind that the first settlers 

 of 1784 came in a body as a military organization. They were not 

 equipped as fighting men, but for convenience they were in the charge 

 of real army officers who had been in command for several months 

 before they reached their final destination. Most of the companies 

 were under the same officers who had commanded them during the 

 war. The discipline was not so rigidly e^iforced as when on active 

 service yet there were the two distinct classes, the officers and the 

 rank and file. While these townships might be said to be under 

 military rule it was of a very mild form. To the best of their ability 

 the officers endeavored to enforce the civil law as they understood it; 



1 An Act to provide for the nomination and appointment of parish and town 

 officers within this province. 33 Geo. Ill, Cap. II. 



