6 A Bridge To The Past 
     
    
   
   
    
     and with the Wilmot River so much in use as a means of travel, it is certain 
     
     that the residents of Wilmot Valley were in touch from time to time with 
     
     these first people and learned something of their culture and their way of 
     
     life. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The United Empire Loyalists who came here in 1784 were given land 
     
     that was called “the Refugee Allotment”. This land was bounded on the 
     
     north by farms in Travellers Rest and New Annan. This boundary was 
     
     referred to as “the Loyalist Line”, an imaginary line extending from Read’s 
     
     Corner to Norboro. A map showing the location of these farms and a 
     
     document outlining the land grants to refugees and disbanded troops and 
     
     listing their names, have been reproduced for this book through the 
     
     kindness of Public Archives, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. 
     
    
   
   
    
     These Loyalists were given fifty-acre strips of land bordering on 
     
     Wilmot River. From here they were granted larger lots of land that extended 
     
     east up along the river and along the southern boundary of Lot 19. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In 1784 Governor Patterson passed these warrants to Thomas Wright, 
     
     surveyor, who had the job of surveying the land. Some of these deeds were 
     
     registered in the next few years, but other Loyalists had trouble getting a 
     
     title to their properties. A few bought land, while others became discourag- 
     
     ed and left the Island. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The sad story of one Loyalist refugee, Richard Robins of Bedeque, is 
     
     told by John MacKinnon in “A Sketch Book” printed in 1915. It appears 
     
     on page 43 under the heading “The Eventful Life of Isabel Robins”. 
     
    
   
   
    
     James Warf, now Waugh, was the only United Empire Loyalist who 
     
     settled on a land grant in Wilmot Valley. His descendants have carried on 
     
     the farming operation through the years and today the sixth generation are 
     
     still in possession of several parcels of this land. Other settlers, arriving 
     
     from England, Scotland and Ireland, were bringing a variety of customs, 
     
     beliefs and skills which were all blending together in this land of new begin- 
     
     nmgs. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Settlement moved ahead slowly and a progress report as found in 
     
     Meacham ’5 Atlas 1880 states: 
     
    
   
   
    
     LO T l9—It had seventeen families in 1798, eight of whom were 
     
     French, the balance being American Loyalists who settled on it after 1783. 
     
     This lot is now one of the most flourishing in the province...The population 
     
     of this lot in 1861 was 1,290. 
     
    
   
   
    
     LOT 25—This lot had seven families settled on it in 1798. Its settle- 
     
     ment was begun in 1785 but its progress was for a time retarded by disputes 
     
     as to its rightful proprietor. It had only a population of 890 in 1861.