Tale Sixteen

This drawing is an artist’s impression of one of Belleville’s first ferry operators. Before the construction of the first bridge over the Moira River, Ada Singleton plied her ferry across the banks of the river, charging sixpence in either direction (horses were extra).

Ada was born in Albany, New York, in 1760, and came to Canada as a United Empire Loyalist with her father, George, in 1784. George was the original ferry operator, but he drowned in the floods of 1799 and Ada took over his role until the construction of the Lower Bridge in 1804.