Person:John Thompson (279)

From Pioneer life on the Bay of Quinte^[1]

John Thompson of Demorestville was one of the very few pioneers on the Bay who came direct from England. Newcastle-on-Tyne was his birthplace, and he was a shoemaker by trade. His eldest daughter, Mary, was very delicate; the doctors declared a sea voyage imperative and suggested a trip to Canada.

After the weariness of a tedious voyage, having sailed on one of the old slow-going packets, Thompson and his daughter arrived at Montreal in 1817. He remained there for two years, plying his trade. At the end of that time his daughter's health had greatly improved. He foresaw the splendid possibilities of the country, and comparing the advantages conferred on a man who lives in the Colony, with those enjoyed by a man of like position in England, he decided to remain in Canada.

Having heard much in praise of the virgin lands up the river and round the lakesides, he moved to Prince Edward County, and settled at Demorestville, where he again worked at his trade for four years, at the end of which time he was joined by his wife and the remainder of his family from England. When they came they had to walk from Northport to Demorestville, as there were no means of conveyance.

Mary Thompson, the pioneer's invalid daughter, became quite strong and robust; she married Charles Fortier, and settled on Big Island.

Now that all his family were with him John Thompson realized upon the little property that he had. With the proceeds he hoped to make a comfortable home. He purchased two hundred acres of land in the second concession of Sophiasburgh, about two miles outside the village of Demorestville. It was heavily timbered, but with the help of his young sons he soon had it cleared.

Their only road leading to the village was a blazed track among the trees. Wolves wandered freely through the woods; they gave young William Thompson a bad fright one night as he was returning home from the village.

When in the old country the Pioneer had been a member of the Church of England, but on coming to Prince Edward, and not finding a church of that denomination, he joined the Methodists, of which body he remained a consistent member until his death, in 1859, at the age of ninety years. His wife survived him thirteen years, dying at the advanced age of ninety-four.

Their son William moved to Big Island in 1845. He was a member of the Sophiasburgh Council for seven years, and was for some time a road surveyor. In later years he moved to Belleville, where he died in 1891, aged seventy-seven years. His wife was Nancy Badgley, who died in 1892.

Their daughter, Ruth, married the Rev. Nathan Hayden Howard, a grandson of the founder of Demorestville. When he was a youth of eighteen his father was drowned, leaving him the sole support of his mother and her six young children. When his brothers and sisters had grown to be independent of his aid, he entered the ministry of the Methodist Church, in which he labored many years, earnestly advocating the religion he preached. His memory is regarded with love and respect by many old settlers in the Bay district.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Pioneer life on the Bay of Quinte: including geneaologies [sic] of old families and biographical sketches of representative citizens. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1977)
   809.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} CemSearch.

   Databased transcription by S. Terry. Age at death: 84 (conflicts with PLBQ which states 90). Plot location not included in source (inferred from cemetery plan).

3. ↑ Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid - OCFA.
4. ↑ Halton Chapelry register transcription published 1911 gives Rothbury as his native parish in the baptism records for all three of his daughters baptized there.