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Jessup's Land Document
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2010 will mark 200 years of history, culture and achievement within Prescott, Ontario. The Town of Prescott was founded by Colonel Edward Jessup in 1810, only 2 years before the War of 1812. Edward Jessup was a Loyalist, who served the Crown. In 1810, the British government gave him a large grant of land in the southwest corner of Edwardsburgh Township. Here he built a home and founded the Town of Prescott in 1810.
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The Jessup family came from England, probably prior to 1649. By 1663, Edward, a son of the immigrant who was also named Edward, had established himself in Connecticut. Here he raised a large family, including a son, Joseph, who became the father of three sons, Edward, Joseph and Ebenezer.
When the Revolutionary War began the three brothers remained loyal to the British and became involved in the military. Their families apparently remained at Albany while the men went to join the forces. At the end of the hostilities in 1784, the British Crown made land grants to those loyal to the crown
Edward was granted 1200 acres in concession one of Augusta, lots 1,2 and 3, as well as land in other areas. He set about having the land cleared and raising buildings. In 1810 he had town lots surveyed on the front of lots 2 and 3 for the town that he named in honour of General Robert Prescott, who had been Governor- in -Chief of Canada. He continued to serve the community as commandant of Militia of Edwardsburg, Augusta and Elizabethtown.
Edward and Abigail had two children. Their daughter, Abigail, married James Walker, a surgeon, and had four children. Their son, Edward, had served as a Lieutenant in the Rangers. At the close of the war he too settled in Augusta where he became a captain in the local militia, representative of the Eastern District in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada and Clerk of the Peace for Canada. He married Susannah Covell and had seven children. One son, Hamilton Dibble Jessup practiced medicine in Prescott for many years, was in the militia at the Battle of the Windmill and held local offices including collector of customs.
The children of both Edward Jessup Senior and Junior were entitled to grants of 200 acres of land as sons and daughters of Loyalists. Their petitions can be found in the National Archives of Canada at Ottawa.
Many streets are named after the Jessup family, including Jessup, Dibble and Edward Streets. The local branch of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada has been named The Colonel Edward Jessup Branch in his honour.
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