Editing Prescott, Ontario (section)

===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.