34 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



plan for the speedy settlement of the northern part of A'ermont and 

 the Grand Isle by the distressed loyalists then in the States.* At the 

 same time, several other men came to Captain Sherwood in search of 

 "an asylum for a great number of loyalists" who were "determined to 

 leave a country wholly under the direction of their cruel oppressors." 

 The Captain promptly reported these matters to the government at 

 Quebec, adding that he was being much embarrassed not only by the 

 many coming in for advice, but also by those who heaped insults upon 

 him, claimed the frontier as "their ground," and predicted the early 

 denial to Tories of even the "liberty to trade." f A few days later, 

 Sherwood transmitted word of a new development, namely, the great 

 progress being made by revolutionists in settling the frontiers as far 

 as the Onion and Lemoile rivers. Despite the objections of Governor 

 Haldimand to the occupation of the southern border of Quebec by the 

 loyalists, we find John W. Myers and Thomas Sherwood signing a 

 petition of October 26, 1783, for a grant on the east side of Missisquoi 

 Bay for the benefit of certain Tories named in a list accompanying 

 the document. X Permission to go to the Missisquoi region was 

 also sought by Colonel John Peters, as the representative of a 

 body of refugees in Canada who objected to the great distance of 

 Cataraqui.* 



Toward the close of November, Haldimand wrote a letter to Lord 

 North in which he explained that by keeping the frontier east of the 

 St. Lawrence uninhabited as long as possible a rupture with the neigh- 

 boring Americans would be avoided;^ and, in the following April, the 

 King signified his approval of the Governor-General's position on this 

 question.** Nevertheless, not all of the petitioners could be prevented 

 from carrying out their plans. In February and June, 1784, Captain 

 Justus Sherwood and Major Edward Jessup, respectively, reported 

 that those who had intended to go to Missisquoi had given up their 

 project, but that some still persisted.'^ Already, in February, cts were 

 being sold and settlers were taking possession, although some were 

 stopped as they were leaving St. Johns with their personal effects. The 

 proprietors were Captains Azariah Pritchard, John W. Myers, and 

 John Ruiter, Lieutenants Wehr, Ruiter, and Taylor, Ensigns Bird and 

 Best, and Messrs. Martin and Taylor. Most of these men belonged to 

 Major James Rogers' battalion of the King's Rangers at St. Johns, 

 ' *Hiildimand Papers, B. 178, p. 190. 



tCan. Arch., 1888, 839. 



Jlbid., 1889, 74. 



* Ibid., 76. 



" Haldimand Papers, B. 56, p. 201 . 



•Ibid., B. .50, p. 157. 



7 Ibid., 844, 715. 



