Editing Prescott, Ontario (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Prescott, Ontario}}

===French period===
{{See also|Fort de La Présentation|Fort Lévis}}

[[File:1760 French map depicting Fort de Levis near Prescott Ontario.jpg|thumb|left|1760 French map depicting Fort de Levis near Prescott, Ontario]]
Before the arrival of Europeans to the [[Grenville County, Ontario|Grenville County]] area, it was inhabited by the [[St. Lawrence Iroquois]]. The [[French people|French]] began occupation of the area in the late 17th century, starting with a supply depot and fortified outpost named La Galette en route to [[Fort Frontenac]] ([[Kingston, Ontario|Kingston]]),<ref name="twpec.ca">{{cite web |url=http://www.twpec.ca/and-more/about-the-township/ |title=About the Township |website=twpec.ca |publisher=Township of Edwardsburgh-Cardinal |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180224222213/http://www.twpec.ca/and-more/about-the-township/ |archivedate=24 February 2018 |accessdate=26 March 2021}}</ref> which was built in the 1670s.<ref name=grenville-history>{{cite web |url=http://www.grenvillecountyarchives.ca/history.html |title=Grenville County History |publisher=Grenville County Historical Society |access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref> Some sources place La Galette at Prescott,<ref>{{cite book |title=Documents relative to the colonial history of the state of New York |volume=9 |editor-first=Edmund Bailey |editor-last=O'Callaghan |date=1853 |location=Albany, New York |publisher=Weed, Parsons and Company |url=https://archive.org/details/documentsrelativ09brod |page=195}}</ref> while others place it at neighbouring [[Johnstown, Ontario|Johnstown]].<ref name=grenville-history /> [[Fort de La Présentation]] was later built in 1749 on the other side of the river, at Lighthouse Point near present-day [[Ogdensburg, New York]]. This was soon abandoned in favour of [[Fort Lévis]], which was located on Isle Royale (Chimney Island) in the centre of the river.

The area became a battleground during the 1754−1763 [[French and Indian War]] between [[United Kingdom|Britain]] and [[France]], as both parties wanted to control what was a strategic stretch of the Saint Lawrence River. This led to the 1760 [[Battle of the Thousand Islands]] when a 10,000-strong British–Iroquois force besieged the French at Fort Lévis. Despite a spirited defence by the 300-strong French garrison, the British took the fort after an extensive artillery [[bombardment]]. Afterward, the British occupied the fort, renaming it Fort William Augustus,<ref name=fort1749>{{cite web |url=https://fort1749.org/fort-history/ |title=Fort History |website=Fort de la Presentation |date=January 15, 2019 |access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref> though they soon abandoned it in favour of the older Fort de La Présentation, which they renamed Fort Oswegatchie.<ref name=fort1749 /> The ruins of Fort Lévis, and the island the fort stood on, were later submerged during the creation of the [[Saint Lawrence Seaway]].

===Arrival of the Loyalists===

British settlement in the area began with a group of [[United Empire Loyalists]] led by [[Edward Jessup]]. During the [[American Revolutionary War]], Jessup fought with the [[King's Royal Regiment of New York]] and later led his own [[Loyal Rangers]], which served in a defensive capacity along the Saint Lawrence. After the war, members of the regiment were resettled in what would later become [[Eastern Ontario]]. Jessup, [[Edward Jessup Jr.|his son]], and their followers settled in [[Augusta, Ontario|Augusta]] and [[Edwardsburgh/Cardinal|Edwardsburgh]] townships. Johnstown in Edwardsburgh Township was an initial landing place and was the town site to be settled in 1789.<ref name=grenville-history /> In 1792, it was briefly the administrative seat for the [[Eastern District, Upper Canada|Eastern District]] before a more permanent administration was established at New Johnstown (now [[Cornwall, Ontario|Cornwall]]); later, it was the seat of the eponymous [[Johnstown District, Upper Canada|Johnstown District]] before again losing its position, this time to Elizabethtown ([[Brockville]]).<ref name=johnstown-plaque>{{cite web |url=https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/en/index.php/plaques/johnstown-1789 |publisher=[[Ontario Heritage Trust]] |title=Johnstown 1789 |access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref> In 1796, provisions of the [[Jay Treaty]] led to a British evacuation from Fort Oswegatchie, as the land had legally become a part of the United States. Within months, this area was soon occupied by American settlers, who named it [[Ogdensburg, New York|Ogdensburgh]] (later Ogdensburg) after [[Samuel Ogden]], a prominent landowner and speculator.

===Fort Wellington===
{{Main|Fort Wellington}}

In 1810, Jessup and his son laid out a townsite within Augusta Township<ref name=crhp-barracks>{{cite web |url=https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=19826&pid=0 |website=[[Canadian Register of Historic Places]] |title=Prescott Barracks |publisher=[[Parks Canada]] |access-date=28 March 2021}}</ref> near Johnstown, which they named Prescott in honour of General [[Robert Prescott]], who had been governor-in-chief in [[The Canadas]] and had participated in British campaigns in the area, being the [[aide-de-camp]] tasked with delivering the news of the fall of Fort Lévis fifty years earlier.<ref name=edward-jessup-dcb>{{cite DCB |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/jessup_edward_5E.html |title=JESSUP, EDWARD |first=R. Arthur |last=Bowler |volume=5}}</ref> Jessup began to take the first steps toward building a concentrated settlement by constructing a log [[school]]house along with a teacher's residence, which was built from stone.<ref name=crhp-barracks /> With the outbreak of the [[War of 1812]], American troops began using Ogdensburg and Fort Oswegatchie as a base to raid settlements in [[Upper Canada]]. Soon, the two Jessup home plots were expropriated by the British Army for use as barracks.<ref name=crhp-barracks /> The army also later constructed a purpose-built fort, which was named [[Fort Wellington]]. The fort served its intended purpose of impeding American use of the Saint Lawrence for military purposes and was never directly attacked. Following the end of the war, the fort was soon abandoned and began to deteriorate.

[[File:Battle of the Windmill.jpg|thumb|A woodcut depicting the [[Battle of the Windmill]]]]

During the [[Upper Canada Rebellion]], Fort Wellington was repaired and reactivated. It became the main supply base for government forces in the region, which made it a tempting military target. In 1838, a group of [[Hunter Patriots]] attempted to land at Prescott, hoping to use Fort Wellington as a beachhead for an invasion of Upper Canada. They were repelled by the town militia and fled downriver, then landed at the small hamlet of Newport, which afforded them a strong defensive position dominated by a large stone windmill. The [[Battle of the Windmill]] ensued, leading to the defeat of the Hunter Patriot group.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/on/windmill/decouvrir-discover |title=History of the Windmill |publisher=[[Parks Canada]] |date=16 August 2020 |access-date=28 March 2021}}</ref>

===Transport industry===
{{See also|Bytown and Prescott Railway}}

Prescott's harbour developed considerably in the early 19th century, supporting the growing [[Great Lakes shipping]] industry. It became notable for its [[Freight forwarder|freight forwarding]] businesses, as local forwarders shuttled Great Lakes freight between Prescott and Montreal. This was commemorated at the Forwarders' Museum, which was housed in a building originally constructed in the 1820s by local forwarder William Gilkinson.<ref name=forwarding-plaque>{{cite web |url=https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/en/plaques/forwarding-trade-at-prescott |title=Forwarding Trade at Prescott, The |publisher=[[Ontario Heritage Trust]] |access-date=29 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.recorder.ca/news/local-news/forwarders-museum-may-be-history |title=Forwarder's Museum may be history |first=Wayne |last=Lowrie |date=6 March 2019 |newspaper=Brockville Recorder & Times |access-date=29 March 2021}}</ref>

By the mid-19th century, however, the forwarding industry began to decline. Navigability of the Saint Lawrence had improved, allowing more Great Lakes ships to reach Montreal directly.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/cgq/1967-v11-n23-cgq2597/020728ar.pdf |title=The St. Lawrence Ship Channel, 1805–1865 |first=Nora |last=Corley |date=1967 |journal=Cahiers de géographie du Québec |publisher=Department of Geography, [[Université Laval]] |volume=11 |number=23 |pages=277–306 |doi=10.7202/020728ar |issn=0007-9766}}</ref>{{rp|293}} Soon, Upper Canada experienced a railway boom, which provided competition for the maritime shipping industry.<ref name=ashdown />{{rp|18}} The [[Bytown and Prescott Railway]] began operating in 1854, connecting Prescott to [[Bytown]] (now [[Ottawa]]).<ref name=churcher-2005>{{cite magazine |title=The First Railway in Ottawa |first=Colin J. |last=Churcher |magazine=Branchline |publisher=Bytown Railway Society |volume=44 |number=2 |editor-first=Earl W. |editor-last=Roberts |url=https://bytownrailwaysociety.ca/phocadownload/branchline/2005/2005-02.pdf |date=February 2005 |pages=6–9 |issn=0824-233X}}</ref>{{rp|7}} This was followed by the construction of the [[Grand Trunk Railway]] mainline between Toronto and Montreal, which connected to the Bytown and Prescott Railway at Prescott Junction.<ref name=churcher-2003>{{cite magazine |title=Break of Gauge at Prescott Junction |first=Colin J. |last=Churcher |magazine=Branchline |publisher=Bytown Railway Society |volume=42 |number=6 |editor-first=Earl W. |editor-last=Roberts |url=https://bytownrailwaysociety.ca/phocadownload/branchline/2003/2003-06.pdf |date=June 2003 |page=16 |issn=0824-233X}}</ref> With parallel railway development occurring across the river in Ogdensburg, [[train ferry|railway car ferry]] services began between the two towns,<ref name=ashdown>{{Ashdown-Railway-Steamships}}</ref>{{rp|18}} which later evolved into the Canadian Pacific Car and Passenger Transfer Company.<ref name=ashdown />{{rp|93}} Freight traffic declined abruptly during the [[Great Depression]], though a recovery took place after the outbreak of the [[Second World War]]. Traffic volumes slowly declined again after the war, and ferry service ended entirely in the early 1970s.<ref name=ashdown />{{rp|97}}

===Project Jericho===

Project Jericho, which was one of the largest and most highly publicized sexual abuse investigations in Canada, took place in the 1980s–1990s and focused on a case of multi-generational child sexual abuse in Prescott, which was "staggering in its reach and its routine violation of hundreds of victims."<ref name=breaking-the-cycle>{{cite book |last=Steed |first=Judy |title=Our Little Secret |publisher=Random House |year=1994 |pages=107–130 |chapter=Prescott: Breaking the Cycle |isbn=0394223187 |chapter-url-access=registration |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/ourlittlesecretc0000stee/page/107}}</ref> When the investigation concluded, the total victim count was 275 (including 113 adults who disclosed that they were abused as children), and the total perpetrator count was 119.<ref name=healthunit>{{cite web |title=The Prescott Case: Key Dates and Events |url=http://www.healthunit.org/carekids/jericho/STORY.htm|work=Care for Kids – Jericho |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203191702/http://www.healthunit.org/carekids/jericho/STORY.htm |archive-date=3 February 2017 |publisher=Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit |access-date=5 October 2012}}</ref> The case was sensationalized as an example of [[Satanic ritual abuse]], though it was never linked to a satanic cult, but rather, "a group of adults of limited intelligence who lived on the margins of society."<ref name=healthunit /> Many of both the perpetrators and the victims were developmentally disabled.<ref name=healthunit /> By 1994, of the cases which went to trial, the conviction rate was {{percent|91}}.<ref name=healthunit /> However, the Prescott case bears many similarities to other instances of [[Satanic panic|"Satanic Panic"]] that happened in the 1980s and 1990s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/ra_presc.htm |title=Ritual Abuse Cases in Prescott, Ontario, Canada |website=religioustolerance.org |access-date=December 24, 2021 }}</ref>