6. HISTORY OF EARLY SETTLERS. 
commenced to divide it equally to every one in the room, by giv- 
ing a double handful to each, beginning with his mother, then to 
herself, and to each white child, and papoose, until it was all di- 
vided, when she took her share in a bag, and travelled off through 
the woods. 
Open hostilities were, as a general thing, avoided, and there is 
only one instance recorded of a white man being killed by the In- 
dians, although most of the settlers were in considerable dread of 
them. There was, according to their history, one man (Mr. Jno. 
Burk) among them, who did not share this timidity, but showed 
a bold front, and when any of them attempted to take liberties, 
would resent by giving them a sound thrashing. According to 
all accounts, he did not require much provocation to do so, but 
the chastising of an Indian by him was looked upon as a pleas- 
ant duty, which he was willing to perform on any occasion. For 
this particular trait of character, the Indians applied a sobrzquet, 
to designate him from the rest of the settlers, which was not very 
flattering. 
Mr. Timothy Soper is another ot the very early settlers in the 
‘Township of Darlington. His father, Mr. Leonard Soper, was 
born in 1762, and emigrated to Canada in 1788. The following 
year, the present Timothy Soper was born in the Township of 
Sidney, near the head of the Bay of Quinte, and was the first 
white child born in that Township. .At that time, there was no 
white settlernent in this portion of Canada, and only one vessel, 
the Mohawk, a schooner employed in the interests of the North 
West Fur Company, on Lake Ontario. Mr. Soper, who, in 1795 
removed to the Township of Hope, says, “there was no mill at 
Smith’s Creek, (Port Hope); my father went once to Kingston, 
and several times to Napanee, taking his grist in a canoe.” 
While living in Hope, Mr. Soper lost a span of horses. They 
were gone one year and three months, when he learned from the 
Indians where they were, and upon repairing to the place, found 
the horse, and a colt which had been foaled ; the mare was never 
found. 
The first Court of Queen’s Bench that ever assembled in the 
Counties of Northumberland and Durham, was held in a barn, 
on the premises of Mr. Soper, in Hope, on which occasion, the 
Judge, (Major MacGregor Rogers,) lawyers, and other officials, 
g 
