Section II, 1919 [ill] Trans. R.S.C. 



David Ramsay and Long Point in Legend and History 

 By James H. Coyne, LL*D., F. R.S.C. 



(Read May Meeting, 1919) 



Introduction. 



In August, 1893, the writer with a party of friends visited the 

 Long Point Settlement. Carriages were taken at Simcoe, and the 

 tour included such historic sites as Vittoria, Normandale, Turkey 

 Point, Fisher's Glen and Ryerse Creek. The interest and enjoyment 

 of the trip were greatly enhanced by the companionship for a time 

 of the late Mr. Simpson McCall, then eighty-five years of age, who 

 proved a very mine of information regarding the Settlement. Mr. 

 McCall had for many years been prominent in the County of Norfolk, 

 filling various positions of honour and responsibility, including that of 

 representative in the Provincial Legislature for two full terms. Mr. 

 McCall died in 1898 at the great age of ninety-one. Tasker in his 

 history of the Settlement refers to him in these terms: "In the 

 respect and veneration of the whole community, Mr. McCall in his 

 old age received his reward for the sterling honesty which was the 

 predominant feature of his whole life, and the unflinching justice 

 and impartiality which were his most notable traits of character." 



Possessed of a retentive memory, Mr. McCall delighted in 

 recounting to eager listeners many incidents of national, local and 

 family history. From Mr. McCall's own lips the writer of this paper 

 wrote down at the time pages of narrative, condensing as he proceeded, 

 but using the narrator's words as far as possible. The narrative 

 included among various matters of interest the following story of 

 buried treasure: — 



Ramsay's Buried Treasure. 



"One Ramsay, before and after the Revolution, traded with 

 the Indians of this region up to Detroit, &c. Dr. Troyer believed in 

 magic, and had a mineral rod, by which he divined where gold was 

 buried. About 1790, when Ramsay was coming from Detroit with 

 two men and his boat loaded with furs and gold, he had a dispute 

 with Indians living at Port Stanley where they had large corn fields, 

 over his refusal to furnish them with liquor. They followed him 

 from the land down to Port Burwell and the carrying place, and 

 Long Point to the end of the peninsula, and prevented him doing any 

 further trade. At the portage he buried his money in an iron chest, 



