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HistoryOntarioSome of the first people who came to the Glengarry settlement in what would become Upper Canada were United Empire Loyalists. They were Highlanders who had settled in New York. When the American Revolution began in 1776, they sided with the British. They were forced to escape to British North America and came to Glengarry with Sir John Johnson. It was a small immigration but an important one. The second and third immigrations were larger. The second immigration, in 1786, brought around 500 settlers from the Glengarry estates in the western highlands of Scotland. The third immigration, in 1803 and 1804, was made up of disbanded regiments of Highland soldiers led by Father Alexander Macdonell. During wars, the Glengarry settlement provided more fighting men in proportion to its population than any other in Upper Canada. In the summer of 1812, it was men from Glengarry who fought with General Isaac Brock. The Glengarry settlement developed slowly. The centre of the settlement of Glengarry is now Alexandria, Ontario. Neighbouring counties are Stormont, Dundas and Prescott. Many settlers found their way into these counties, and most were soldiers and United Empire Loyalists of Scottish descent. Cornwall was an important town and Scottish centre. Bishop Strachan had his famous school here, and not far away at Williamstown, Reverend John Bethune built the first Presbyterian Church in Upper Canada. Other Upper Canada Scottish settlements were located at Perth, Lanark, MacNab, Guelph, Elgin, Zorra, Huron and Bruce, as well as at Baldoon, another Selkirk settlement founded in 1804.
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