The Project Gutenberg EBook of Toronto of Old, by Henry Scadding
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Title: Toronto of Old
Author: Henry Scadding
Release Date: February 9, 2011 [EBook #35225]
Language: English
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TORONTO OF OLD
[Illustration]
H. SCADDING. D.D.
[Illustration]
Toronto of Old:
Collections and Recollections
ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE
EARLY SETTLEMENT AND SOCIAL LIFE OF THE CAPITAL OF ONTARIO.
By HENRY SCADDING, D.D.
[Illustration]
TORONTO:
ADAM, STEVENSON & CO.
1873.
Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year One
Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy-three, by Adam, Stevenson & Co.,
in the office of the Minister of Agriculture.
Hunter, Rose & Co.,
Printers, Stereotypers and Bookbinders,
Toronto.
TO
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
The Earl of Dufferin, K.C.B.
GOVERNOR GENERAL OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA,
A KEEN SYMPATHIZER WITH
THE MINUTE PAST, AS WELL AS THE MINUTE PRESENT,
OF THE PEOPLE COMMITTED TO HIS CHARGE,
This Volume,
TREATING OF THE INFANCY AND EARLY YOUTH
OF AN IMPORTANT CANADIAN CIVIC COMMUNITY
NOW FAST RISING TO MAN'S ESTATE,
IS
(BY PERMISSION GRACIOUSLY GIVEN,)
THANKFULLY AND LOYALLY DEDICATED
[Illustration]
PREFACE.
It is singular that the elder Disraeli has not included in his
"Curiosities of Literature" a chapter on Books originating in Accident.
It is exactly the kind of topic we might have expected him to discuss,
in his usual pleasant manner. Of such productions there is doubtless
somewhere a record. Whenever it shall be discovered, the volume here
presented to the reader must be added to the list. A few years since,
when preparing for a local periodical a paper of "Early Notices of
Toronto," the writer little imagined what the sheets then under his hand
would finally grow to. The expectation at the time simply was, that the
article on which he was at work would assist as a minute scintilla in
one of those monthly meteoric showers of miscellaneous light literature
with which the age is so familiar; that it would engage, perhaps, the
attention for a few moments of a chance gazer here and there, and then
vanish in the usual way. But on a subsequent revision, the subject thus
casually taken up seemed capable of being more fully handled. Two or
three friends, moreover, had expressed a regret that to the memoranda
given, gathered chiefly from early French documents, there had not been
added some of the more recent floating folklore of the community, some
of the homely table-talk of the older people of the place; such of the
mixed traditions, in short, of the local Past of Toronto as might seem
of value as illustrations of primitive colonial life and manners. It was
urged, likewise, in several quarters, that if something in this
direction were not speedily done, the men of the next generation would
be left irremediably ignorant of a multitude of minute particulars
relating to their immediate predecessors, and the peculiar conditions
under which were so bravely executed the many labours whereby for
posterity the path onward has been made smooth. For many years the
writer had quietly concerned himself with such matters. Identified with
Toronto from boyhood, to him the long, straight ways of the place
nowhere presented barren, monotonous vistas. To him innumerable objects
and sites on the right hand and on the left, in almost every quarter,
called up reminiscences, the growth partly of his own experience and
observation, and partly the residuum of discourse with others, all
invested with a certain degree of rational, human interest, as it seemed
to him. But still, that he was sometime to be the compiler of an
elaborate volume on the subject never seriously entered his thoughts.
Having, however, as was narrated, once tapped the vein, he was led step
by step to further explorations, until the result was reached which the
reader has now placed before him.
By inspection it will be seen that the plan pursued was to proceed
rather deliberately through the principal thoroughfares, noticing
persons and incidents of former days, as suggested by buildings and
situations in the order in which they were severally seen; relying in
the first instance on personal recollections for the most part, and then
attaching to every coigne of vantage such relevant information as could
be additionally gathered from coevals and seniors, or gleaned from such
literary relics, in print or manuscript of an early date, as could be
secured. Here and there, brief digressions into adjacent streets were
made, when a house or the scene of an incident chanced to draw the
supposed pilgrim aside. The perambulation of Yonge Street was extended
to the Holland Landing, and even to Penetanguishene, the whole line of
that lengthy route presenting points more or less noteworthy at short
intervals. Finally a chapter on the Marine of the Harbour was decided
on, the boats and vessels of the place, their owners and commanders,
entering, as is natural, so largely into the retrospect of the
inhabitants of a Port.
Although the imposing bulk of the volume may look like evidence to the
contrary, it has been our ambition all along not to incur the reproach
of prolixity. We have endeavoured to express whatever we had to say as
concisely as we could. Several narratives have been disregarded which
probably, in some quarters, will be sought for here. But while anxious
to present as varied and minute a picture as possible of the local Past,
we considered it inexpedient to chronicle anything that was unduly
trivial. Thus if we have not succeeded in being everywhere piquant, we
trust we shall be found nowhere unpardonably dull: an achievement of
some merit, surely, when our material, comprising nothing that was
exceptionally romantic or very grandly heroic, is considered. And a
first step has, as we conceive, been taken towards generating for
Toronto, for many of its streets and byways, for many of its nooks and
corners, and its neighbourhood generally, a certain modicum of that
charm which, springing from association and popular legend, so
delightfully invests, to the prepared and sensitive mind, every square
rood of the old lands beyond the sea.
It will be proper, after all, however, perhaps to observe, that the
reader who expects to find in this book a formal history of even Toronto
of Old, will be disappointed. It was no part of the writer's design to
furnish a narrative of every local event occurring in the periods
referred to, with chronological digests, statistical tables, and
catalogues exhibiting in full the Christian names and surnames of all
the first occupants of lots. For such information recourse must be had
to the offices of the several public functionaries, municipal and
provincial, where whole volumes in folio, filled with the desired
particulars, will be found.
We have next gratefully to record our obligations to those who during
the composition of the following pages encouraged the undertaking in
various ways. Especial thanks are due to the Association of Pioneers,
whose names are given in detail in the Appendix, and who did the writer
the honour of appointing him their Historiographer. Before assemblages
more or less numerous, of this body, large abstracts of the Collections
and Recollections here permanently garnered, were read and discussed.
Several of the members of this society, moreover, gave special _séances_
at their respective homes for the purpose of listening to portions of
the same. Those who were so kind as to be at the trouble of doing this
were the Hon. W. P. Howland, C. B., Lieutenant-Governor; the Rev. Dr.
Richardson; Mr. J. G. Worts (twice); Mr. R. H. Oates; Mr. James Stitt;
Mr. J. T. Smith; Mr. W. B. Phipps (twice).--The Canadian Institute, by
permitting the publication in its Journal of successive instalments of
these papers, contributed materially to the furtherance of the work, as
without the preparation for the press from time to time which was thus
necessitated, it is possible the volume itself, as a completed whole,
would never have appeared. To the following gentlemen we are indebted
for the use of papers or books, for obliging replies to queries, and for
items of information otherwise communicated:--Mr. W. H. Lee of Ottawa;
Judge Jarvis of Cornwall; Mr. T. J. Preston of Yorkville; Mr. W.
Helliwell of the Highland Creek; the late Col. G. T. Denison of
Rusholme, Toronto; Mr. M. F. Whitehead of Port Hope; Mr. Devine of the
Crown Lands Department; Mr. H. J. Jones of the same Department; Mr.
Russel Inglis of Toronto; Mr. J. G. Howard of Toronto; the Rev. J. Carry
of Holland Landing; Major McLeod of Drynoch; the Rev. George Hallen of
Penetanguishene; the Ven. Archdeacon Fuller of Toronto; Mr. G. A. Barber
of Toronto; Mr. J. T. Kerby of Niagara; the Rev. Saltern Givins of
Yorkville; the Rev. A. Sanson of Toronto; the Rev. Dr. McMurray of
Niagara; the Rev. Adam Elliott of Tuscarora; Mr. H. J. Morse of Toronto;
Mr. W. Kirby of Niagara; Mr. Morgan Baldwin of Toronto; Mr. J. McEwan of
Sandwich; Mr. W. D. Campbell of Quebec; Mr. T. Cottrill Clarke of
Philadelphia.--Mrs. Cassidy of Toronto kindly allowed the use of two
(now rare) volumes, published in 1765, by her near kinsman, Major Robert
Rogers. Through Mr. Homer Dixon of the Homewood, Toronto, a long loan of
the earliest edition of the first _Gazetteer_ of Upper Canada was
procured from the library of the Young Men's Christian Association of
Toronto.--The Rev. Dr. Ryerson, Chief Superintendent of Education, and
Dr. Hodgins, Deputy Superintendent, courteously permitted an
unrestricted access to the Departmental Library, rich in works of
special value to any one prosecuting researches in early Canadian
history. To Mr. G. Mercer Adam we are much beholden for a careful,
friendly interest taken in the typographical execution and fair
appearance generally of the volume.
The two portraits which, in no mere conventional sense, enrich the work,
were engraved from miniatures very artistically drawn for the purpose,
from original paintings never before copied, in the possession of Capt.
J. K. Simcoe, R. N., of Wolford, in the County of Devon.
The circulation to be expected for a book like the present must be
chiefly local. Nevertheless, it is to be presumed that there are persons
scattered up and down in various parts of Canada and the United States,
who, having been at some period of their lives familiar with Toronto,
and retaining still a kindly regard for the place, will like to possess
such a memorial of it in the olden time as is here offered. And even in
the old home-countries across the Atlantic--England, Scotland and
Ireland--there are probably members of military and other families once
resident at Toronto, to whom such a reminder of pleasant hours, as it is
hoped, passed there, will not be unacceptable. For similar reasons the
book, were its existence known, would be welcome here and there in
Australia and New Zealand, and other colonies and settlements of
England.
In an attempt to narrate so many particulars of time, place, person and
circumstance, it can scarcely be hoped that errors have been wholly
avoided. It is earnestly desired that any that may be detected will be
adverted to with kindness and charity, and not in a carping tone.
Unfairly, sometimes, a slip discovered, however trivial, is emphatically
dwelt on, to the ignoring of almost all the points in respect of which
complete accuracy has been secured, at the cost of much painstaking.
Conscious that our aim throughout has been to be as minutely correct as
possible, we ask for consideration in this regard. A certain slight
variety which will perhaps be noticed in the orthography of a few Indian
and other names is to be attributed to a like absence of uniformity in
the documents consulted. While the forms which we ourselves prefer will
be readily discerned, it was not judged advisable everywhere to insist
on them.
10 Trinity Square, Toronto,
June 4th, 1873.
[Illustration]
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Introductory, 1
Sect. I. Palace Street to the Market Place, 25
" II. Front Street: from the Market Place to Brock
Street, 48
" III. From Brock Street to the Old French Fort, 67
" IV. From the Garrison back to the place of beginning, 78
" V. King Street: From John Street to Yonge Street, 88
" VI. " From Yonge Street to Church Street, 98
" VII. " Digression Southwards at Church
Street: Market Lane, 109
" VIII. " St. James' Church, 117
" IX. " " _Continued_, 129
" X. " " " 139
" XI. " Digression northward at Church
Street: the Old District Grammar
School, 152
" XII. " From Church Street to George St., 172
" XIII. " Digression into Duke Street, 180
" XIV. " From George Street to Caroline
Street, 184
" XV. " From Caroline Street to Berkeley
Street, 195
" XVI. From Berkeley Street to the Bridge and across it, 201
" XVII. The Valley of the Don:
(1). From the Bridge on the Kingston Road
to Tyler's, 225
(2). From Tyler's to the Big Bend, 228
(3). From the Big Bend to Castle Frank Brook, 234
(4). Castle Frank, 236
(5). On to the Ford and the Mills, 241
Sect. XVIII. Queen Street: from the Don Bridge to Caroline
Street, 244
" XIX. " Digression at Caroline Street:
History of the Early Press, 258
" XX. " From George Street to Yonge St. 284
Memories of the Old Court House, 290
" XXI. " From Yonge Street to College
Avenue, 305
Digression Southward at Bay St., 308
Osgoode Hall, 312
Digression Northward at the College
Avenue, 318
" XXII. " From the College Avenue to Brock
Street and Spadina Avenue, 326
" XXIII. " From Brock Street and Spadina
Avenue to the Humber, 345
" XXIV. Yonge Street: From the Bay to Yorkville, 375
" XXV. " From Yorkville to Hogg's Hollow, 411
" XXVI. " From Hogg's Hollow to Bond's
Lake, 445
" XXVII. " From Bond's Lake to the Holland
Landing, with Digressions to
Newmarket and Sharon, 466
" XXVIII. " Onward, from Holland Landing to
Penetanguishene, 496
" XXIX. The Harbour: Its Marine, 1793-99, 508
" XXX. Do. do. 1800-14, 525
" XXXI. Do. do. 1815-27, 538
" XXXII. Do. do. 1828-63, 563
Appendix. 577
Index. 581
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
INTRODUCTORY.
In French colonial documents of a very respectable antiquity, we meet
with the name Toronto again and again. It is given as an appellation
that is well-known, and its form in the greater number of instances is
exactly that which it has now permanently assumed, but here and there
its orthography varies by a letter or two, as is usually the case with
strange terms when taken down by ear. In a Memoir on the state of
affairs in Canada, transmitted to France in 1686, by the Governor in
Chief of the day, the Marquis de Denonville, the familiar word appears.
Addressing the Minister de Seignelay, the Marquis says: "The letters I
wrote to Sieurs du Lhu and de la Durantaye, of which I sent you copies,
will inform you of my orders to them to fortify the two passages leading
to Michilimaquina. Sieur du Lhu is at that of the Detroit of Lake Erie,
and Sieur de la Durantaye at that of the portage of Toronto. These two
posts" the marquis observes, "will block the passage against the
English, if they undertake to go again to Michilimaquina, and will serve
as retreats to the savages our allies either while hunting or marching
against the Iroquois."
Again, further on in the same Despatch, Denonville says: "I have heard
that Sieur du Lhu is arrived at the post of the Detroit of Lake Erie,
with fifty good men well-armed, with munitions of war and provisions and
all other necessaries sufficient to guarantee them against the severe
cold, and to render them comfortable during the whole winter on the spot
where they will entrench themselves. M. de la Durantaye is collecting
people to entrench himself at Michilimaquina and to occupy the other
pass which the English may take by Toronto, the other entrance to lake
Huron. In this way" the marquis assures de Seignelay, "our Englishmen
will have somebody to speak to. All this, however," he reminds the
minister, "cannot be accomplished without considerable expense, but
still" he adds, "we must maintain our honour and our prosperity."
Du Lhu and de la Durantaye here named were the French agents or
superintendents in what was then the Far West. Du Lhu is the same person
whose name, under the form of Duluth, has become in recent times so well
known, as appertaining to a town near the head of Lake Superior,
destined in the future to be one of the great Railway Junctions of the
continent, like Buffalo or Chicago.
The Englishmen for whom M. de Denonville desired an instructive
reception to be prepared were some of the people of Governor Dongan of
the province of New York. Governor Dongan either could not or would not
restrain his people from poaching for furs on the French King's domain.
When Denonville wrote his despatch in 1686 some of these illicit traders
had been recently seen in the direction of Michilimackinac, having
passed up by the way of Lake Erie. To intercept them on their return,
the Marquis reports that he has stationed "a bark, some canoes and
twenty good men" at the river communicating from Lake Erie with that of
Ontario near Niagara, by which place the English who ascended Lake Erie
must of necessity pass on their return home with their peltries. "I
regard, Monseigneur," continues Denonville to the minister, "as of
primary importance the prohibition of this trade to the English, who,
without doubt, would entirely ruin ours both by the cheaper bargains
they could give the Indians, and by attracting to them the Frenchmen of
our colony who are accustomed to go into the woods." Governor Dongan was
also always holding communications with the Iroquois and spiriting them
on to resist French encroachments. He even audaciously asserted that his
own sovereign--it soon became doubtful who that was, whether James II.
or William of Orange--was the rightful supreme lord of the Iroquois
territory.
As to the particular spot intended when Denonville says M. de la
Durantaye is about to occupy "the pass which the English may take by
Toronto," there may seem at first to be some ambiguity.
In 1686 the vicinage of Lake Simcoe, especially the district between
Lake Simcoe and Lake Huron, appears to have been commonly known as the
Toronto region. We deduce this from the old contemporary maps, on one or
other of which Matchedash bay is the Bay of Toronto; the river Severn is
the Toronto river; Lake Simcoe itself is Toronto Lake; the chain of
Lakes passing south-eastward from the neighbourhood of Lake Simcoe and
issuing by the Trent in the Bay of Quinté is also the Toronto river or
lake-chain, and again, the Humber, running southwesterly from the
vicinity of Lake Simcoe into Lake Ontario, is likewise occasionally the
Toronto river; the explanation of all which phraseology is to be found
in the supposition that the Severn, the Trent chain of lakes, and the
Humber, were, each of them, a commonly-frequented line of
water-communication with a Toronto region--a well-peopled district--"a
place of meeting," the haunt of numerous allied families and friendly
bands. (That such is the most probable interpretation of the term
Toronto, we shall hereafter see at large.)
The spot to be occupied by de la Durantaye for the purpose of defending
"the Pass at Toronto" might therefore be either in the Toronto region
itself at the Lake Huron end of the trail leading from Lake Ontario, or
at the Lake Ontario end of the same trail, at the point where English
trespassers coming from the direction of the Iroquois territory would
disembark, when intending to penetrate to Michilimackinac by this route.
At the first-mentioned point, viz, the Lake Huron end of the trail, it
was early recommended that a fort should be established, as we learn
from letter twenty-three of Lahontan, but we do not hear that such a
structure was ever erected there. The remains of solid buildings that
have been found in that quarter are those of Jesuit mission-houses, and
not of a formal fort established by the French government. At the
last-mentioned spot, on the contrary, viz, the Lake Ontario end of the
trail, it is certain that a fortified trading-post was early erected;
the official designation of which, as we shall presently learn, was Fort
Rouillé, but the name by which it came in the course of time to be
popularly known was Fort Toronto, as being the object which marked and
guarded the southern terminus of the trail or portage leading to the
district in the interior commonly called the Toronto region.
It was here then, near the embouchure of the modern Canadian Humber,
that "our Englishmen," as Denonville expressed himself, crossing over on
illicit errands from Governor Dongan's domain to that of the King of
France, were to find "somebody to speak to."
[Sidenote: 1687.]
The order sent to Durantaye was indeed not immediately executed. In 1687
Denonville reports as follows to the authorities at Paris: "I have
altered" he says, "the orders I had originally given last year to M. de
la Durantaye to pass by Toronto and to enter Lake Ontario at
Gandatsi-tiagon to form a junction with M. du Lhu at Niagara. I have
sent him word," he continues, "by Sieur Juchereau, who took back the two
Hurons and Outaouas chiefs this winter, to join Sieur du Lhu at the
Detroit of Lake Erie, so that they may be stronger, and in a condition
to resist the enemy, should he go to meet them at Niagara."
In 1687 the business in contemplation was something more serious than
the mere repression of trespass on the part of a few stray traders from
Governor Dongan's province. The confederated Iroquois were, if possible,
to be humbled once for all. From the period of Montmagny's arrival in
1637 the French settlements to the eastward had suffered from the fierce
inroads of the Iroquois. The predecessor of Denonville, de la Barre, had
made a peace with them on terms that caused them to despise the French;
and their boldness had since increased to such a degree that the
existence of the settlements was imperilled. In a Report to the minister
at Paris on this subject M. de Denonville again names Toronto; and he
clearly considers it a post of sufficient note to be classed, for the
moment, with Fort Frontenac, Niagara and Michilimackinac. To achieve
success against the Iroquois, he informed the minister, 3000 men would
be required. Of such a force, he observes, he has at the time only one
half; but he boasts of more, he says, for reputation's sake: "for the
rest of the militia are necessary to protect and cultivate the farms of
the country; and a part of the force," he then adds, "must be employed
in guarding the posts of Fort Frontenac, Niagara, Toronto, and
Michilimackinac, so as to secure the aid which he expects from Illinois
and from the other Indians, on whom however he cannot rely," he says,
"unless he shall be able alone to defeat the five Iroquois nations."
The campaign which ensued, though nominally a success, was attended with
disastrous consequences. The blows struck, not having been followed up
with sufficient vigour, simply further exasperated "the five Iroquois
nations," and entailed a frightful retaliation. In 1689 took place the
famous massacre of Lachine and devastation of the island of Montreal.
Denonville was superseded as his predecessor de la Barre had been. The
Count de Frontenac was appointed his successor, sent out for the second
time, Governor General of New France.
[Sidenote: 1749.]
Some years now elapse before we light on another notice of Toronto. But
at length we again observe the familiar word in one of the Reports or
Memoirs annually despatched from Canada to France. In 1749 M. de la
Galissonière, administrator in the absence of the Governor in Chief, de
la Jonquière, informs the King's minister in Paris that he has given
orders for erecting a stockade and establishing a royal trading post at
Toronto.
This was expected to be a counterpoise to the trading-post of Choueguen
on the southern side of the Lake, newly erected by the English at the
mouth of the Oswego river, on the site of the present town of Oswego.
Choueguen itself had been established as a set-off to the fort at the
mouth of the Niagara river, which had been built there by the French in
spite of remonstrances on the part of the authorities at New York.
Choueguen at first was simply a so-called "beaver trap" or trading-post,
established by permission, nominally obtained, of the Iroquois; but it
speedily developed into a strong stone-fort, and became, in fact, a
standing menace to Fort Frontenac, on the northern shore of the Lake.
Choueguen likewise drew to itself a large share of the valuable peltries
of the north shore, which used before to find their way down the St.
Lawrence to Montreal and Quebec. The goods offered at the English
trading-post of Choueguen were found to be superior to the French goods,
and the price given for furs was greater there than on the French side
of the water. The storekeeper at Niagara told the Abbé Picquet, of whom
we shall hear again presently, that the Indians compared the
silver-trinkets which were procured at Choueguen with those which were
procured at the French Stores; and they found that the Choueguen
articles were as heavy as the others, of purer silver and better
workmanship, but did not cost them quite two beavers, whilst for those
offered for sale at the French King's post, ten beavers were demanded.
"Thus we are discredited" the Abbé complained, "and this silver-ware
remains a pure loss in the King's stores. French brandy indeed," the
Abbé adds, "was preferred to the English: nevertheless that did not
prevent the Indians going to Choueguen. To destroy the trade there," he
affirms, "the King's posts ought to have been supplied with the same
goods as Choueguen and at the same price. The French ought also," he
says, "to have been forbidden to send the domiciliated Indians thither:
but that" he confesses, "would have been very difficult."
Choueguen had thus, in the eyes of the French authorities, come to be a
little Carthage that must be put down, or, at all events, crippled to
the greatest possible extent.
Accordingly, as a counterpoise in point of commercial influence,
Toronto, as we have seen, was to be made a fortified trading post. "On
being informed" says M. de la Galissonière, in the document referred to,
bearing date 1749, "that the northern Indians ordinarily went to
Choueguen with their peltries by way of Toronto on the northwest side of
Lake Ontario, twenty-five leagues from Niagara, and seventy-five from
Fort Frontenac, it was thought advisable to establish a post at that
place and to send thither an officer, fifteen soldiers, and some
workmen, to construct a small stockade-fort there. Its expense will not
be great," M. de la Galissonière assures the minister, "the timber is
transported there, and the remainder will be conveyed by the barques
belonging to Fort Frontenac. Too much care cannot be taken," remarks the
Administrator, "to prevent these Indians continuing their trade with the
English, and to furnish them at this post with all their necessaries,
even as cheap as at Choueguen. Messrs. de la Jonquière and Bigot will
permit some canoes to go there on license and will apply the funds as a
gratuity to the officer in command there. But it will be necessary to
order the commandants at Detroit, Niagara, and Fort Frontenac, to be
careful that the traders and store-keepers of these posts furnish goods
for two or three years to come, at the same rates as the English. By
these means the Indians will disaccustom themselves from going to
Choueguen, and the English will be obliged to abandon that place."
De la Galissonière returned to France in 1749. He was a naval officer
and fond of scientific pursuits. It was he who in 1756, commanded the
expedition against Minorca, which led to the execution of Admiral Byng.
[Sidenote: 1752.]
From a despatch written by M. de Longueil in 1752, we gather that the
post of the Toronto portage, in its improved, strengthened state, is
known as Fort Rouillé, so named, doubtless from Antoine Louis Rouillé,
Count de Jouy, Colonial Minister from 1749 to 1754. M. de Longueil says
that "M. de Celeron had addressed certain despatches to M. de
Lavalterie, the commandant at Niagara, who detached a soldier to convey
them to Fort Rouillé, with orders to the store-keeper at that post to
transmit them promptly to Montreal. It is not known," he remarks, "what
became of that soldier." About the same time, a Mississagué from Toronto
arrived at Niagara, who informed M. de Lavalterie that he had not seen
that soldier at the Fort, nor met him on the way. "It is to be feared
that he has been killed by Indians," he adds, "and the despatches
carried to the English."
An uncomfortable Anglophobia was reigning at Fort Rouillé, as generally
along the whole of the north shore of Lake Ontario in 1752. We learn
this also from another passage in the same despatch. "The store-keeper
at Toronto, says," M. de Longueil writes to M. de Verchères, commandant
at Fort Frontenac, "that some trustworthy Indians have assured him that
the Saulteux (Otchipways,) who killed our Frenchman some years ago, have
dispersed themselves along the head of Lake Ontario; and seeing himself
surrounded by them, he doubts not but they have some evil design on his
Fort. There is no doubt," he continues, "but 'tis the English who are
inducing the Indians to destroy the French, and that they would give a
good deal to get the Savages to destroy Fort Toronto, on account of the
essential injury it does their trade at Choueguen."
Such observations help us to imagine the anxious life which the lonely
occupants of Fort Rouillé must have been leading at the period referred
to. From an abstract of a journal or memoir of the Abbé Picquet given in
the Documentary History of the State of New York (i. 283), we obtain a
glimpse of the state of things at the same place, about the same period,
from the point of view, however, of an interested ecclesiastic. The Abbé
Picquet was a doctor of the Sorbonne, and bore the titles of King's
Missionary and Prefect Apostolic of Canada. He established a mission at
Oswegatchie (Ogdensburg) which was known as _La Presentation_, and which
became virtually a military outpost of Fort Frontenac. He was very
useful to the authorities at Quebec in advocating French interests on
the south side of the St. Lawrence. The Marquis du Quesne used to say
that the Abbé Picquet was worth ten regiments to New France. His
activity was so great, especially among the Six Nations, that even
during his lifetime he was complimented with the title of "Apostle of
the Iroquois." When at length the French power fell he retired to
France, where he died in 1781. In 1751 the Abbé made a tour of
exploration round Lake Ontario. He was conveyed in a King's canoe, and
was accompanied by one of bark containing five trusty natives. He
visited Fort Frontenac and the Bay of Quinté; especially the site there
of an ancient mission which M. Dollières de Kleus and Abbé d'Urfé,
priests of the St. Sulpice Seminary had established. "The quarter is
beautiful," the Abbé remarks, "but the land is not good." He then
visited Fort Toronto, the journal goes on to say, seventy leagues from
Fort Frontenac, at the west end of Lake Ontario. He found good bread and
good wine there, it is stated, and everything requisite for the trade,
whilst they were in want of these things at all the other posts. He
found Mississagués there, we are told, who flocked around him; they
spoke first of the happiness their young people, the women and children,
would feel if the King would be as good to them as to the Iroquois, for
whom he procured missionaries. They complained that instead of building
a church, they had constructed only a canteen for them. The Abbé
Picquet, we are told, did not allow them to finish; and answered them
that they had been treated according to their fancy; that they had never
evinced the least zeal for religion; that their conduct was much opposed
to it; that the Iroquois on the contrary had manifested their love for
Christianity. But as he had no order, it is subjoined, to attract them,
viz., the Mississagués, to his mission at _La Presentation_--he avoided
a more lengthened explanation.
The poor fellows were somewhat unfairly lectured by the Abbé, for,
according to his own showing, they expressed a desire for a church
amongst them.
A note on the Mississagués in the Documentary History (i. 22) mentions
the neighbourhood of Toronto as one of the quarters frequented by that
tribe: at the same time it sets down their numbers as incredibly few.
"The Mississagués," the note says, "are dispersed along this lake
(Ontario), some at Kenté, others at the river Toronto (the Humber), and
finally at the head of the Lake, to the number of 150 in all; and at
Matchedash. The principal tribe is that of the Crane."
The Abbé Picquet visited Niagara and the Portage above (Queenston or
Lewiston); and in connection with his observations on those points he
refers again expressly to Toronto. He is opposed to the maintenance of
store-houses for trade at Toronto, because it tended to diminish the
trade at Niagara and Fort Frontenac, "those two ancient posts," as he
styles them. "It was necessary," he says, "to supply Niagara, especially
the Portage, rather than Toronto. The difference," he says, "between the
two first of these posts and the last is, that three or four hundred
canoes could come loaded with furs to the Portage (Queenston or
Lewiston); and that no canoes could go to Toronto except those which
cannot pass before Niagara and to Fort Frontenac--(the translation
appears to be obscure)--such as the Ottawas of the Head of the Lake and
the Mississagués: so that Toronto could not but diminish the trade of
these two ancient posts, which would have been sufficient to stop all
the savages had the stores been furnished with goods to their liking."
In 1752, a French military expedition from Quebec to the Ohio region,
rested at Fort Toronto. Stephen Coffen, in his narrative of that
expedition, which he accompanied as a volunteer, names the place, but he
spells the word in accordance with his own pronunciation, Taranto. "They
on their way stopped," he says "a couple of days at Cadaraghqui Fort,
also at Taranto on the north side of Lake Ontario; then at Niagara
fifteen days."
[Sidenote: 1756.]
In 1756, the hateful Choueguen, which had given occasion to the
establishment of Toronto as a fortified trading-post, was rased to the
ground. Montcalm, who afterwards fell on the Plains of Abraham, had been
entrusted with the task of destroying the offensive stronghold of the
English on Lake Ontario. He went about the work with some reluctance,
deeming the project of the Governor-General, De Vaudreuil, to be rash.
Circumstances, however, unexpectedly favoured him; and the garrison of
Choueguen, in other words, of Oswego, capitulated. "Never before," said
Montcalm, in his report of the affair to the Home Minister, "did 3,000
men, with a scanty artillery, besiege 1,800, there being 2,000 enemies
within call, as in the late affair; the party attacked having a superior
marine, also, on Lake Ontario. The success gained has been contrary to
all expectation. The conduct I followed in this affair," Montcalm
continues, "and the dispositions I made, were so much out of the
ordinary way of doing things that the audacity we manifested would be
counted for rashness in Europe. Therefore, Monseigneur," he adds, "I beg
of you as a favour to assure his Majesty that if he should accord to me
what I most wish for, employment in regular campaigning, I shall be
guided by very different principles." Alas, there was to be no more
"regular campaigning" for Montcalm. His eyes were never again to gaze
upon the battle fields in Bohemia, Italy and Germany, where, prior to
his career in Canada, he had won laurels.
The success before Choueguen in 1756 was followed by a more than
counterbalancing disaster at Fort Frontenac in 1758. In that year a
force of 3,000 men under Col. Bradstreet, detached from the army of
Abercromby, stationed near Lake George, made a sudden descent on Fort
Frontenac, from the New York side of the water, and captured the place.
It was instantly and utterly destroyed, together with a number of
vessels which had formed a part of the spoil brought away from
Choueguen. On this occasion we find that the cry _Hannibal ante Portas_!
was once more fully expected to be heard speedily within the stockade at
Toronto. M. de Vaudreuil, the Governor-General, informs the Minister at
Paris, M. de Massiac, "that should the English make their appearance at
Toronto, I have given orders to burn it at once, and to fall back on
Niagara."
[Sidenote: 1759.]
One more order (the last), issuing from a French source, having
reference to Toronto, is to be read in the records of the following
year, 1759. M. de Vaudreuil, again in his despatch home, after stating
that he had summoned troops from Illinois and Detroit, to rendezvous at
Presqu'isle on Lake Erie, adds,--"As those forces will proceed to the
relief of Niagara, should the enemy wish to besiege it, I have in like
manner sent orders to Toronto, to collect the Mississagués and other
natives, to forward them to Niagara."
[Sidenote: 1760.]
The enemy, it appears, did wish to besiege Niagara; and on the 25th of
July they took it--an incident followed on the 18th of the next
September by the fall of Quebec, and the transfer of all Canada to the
British Crown. The year after the conquest a force was despatched by
General Amherst from Montreal to proceed up the country and take
possession of the important post at Detroit. It was conveyed in fifteen
whale-boats and consisted of two hundred Rangers under the command of
Major Robert Rogers. Major Rogers was accompanied by the following
officers: Capt. Brewer, Capt. Wait, Lieut. Bhreme, Assistant-Engineer,
and Lieut. Davis of the Royal Train of Artillery. The party set out from
Montreal on the 12th of September, 1760. The journal of Major Rogers
has been published. It includes an account of this expedition. We give
the complete title of the work, which is one sought after by
book-collectors: "The Journals of Major Robert Rogers, containing an
Account of the several Excursions he made under the Generals who
commanded on the Continent of North America during the late War. From
which may be collected the most material Circumstances of every Campaign
upon that continent from the commencement to the conclusion of the War.
London: Printed for the Author, and sold by J. Millan, bookseller, near
Whitehall, MDCCLXV."
We extract the part in which a visit to Toronto is spoken of. He leaves
the ruins of Fort Frontenac on the 25th of September. On the 28th he
enters the mouth of a river which he says is called by the Indians "The
Grace of Man." (The Major probably mistook, or was imposed upon, in the
matter of etymology.)
Here he found, he says, about fifty Mississaga Indians fishing for
salmon. "At our first appearance," he continues, "they ran down, both
men and boys to the edge of the Lake, and continued firing their pieces,
to express their joy at the sight of the English colours, until such
time as we had landed." About fifteen miles further on he enters another
river, which he says, the Indians call "The Life of Man."
"On the 30th," the journal proceeds:--"We embarked at the first dawn of
day, and, with the assistance of sails and oars, made great way on a
south-west course; and in the evening reached the river Toronto (the
Humber), having run seventy miles. Many points extending far into the
water," Major Rogers remarks, "occasioned a frequent alteration of our
course. We passed a bank of twenty miles in length, but the land behind
it seemed to be level, well timbered with large oaks, hickories, maples,
and some poplars. No mountains appeared in sight. Round the place where
formerly the French had a fort, that was called Fort Toronto, there was
a tract of about 300 acres of cleared ground. The soil here is
principally clay. The deer are extremely plenty in this country. Some
Indians," Major Rogers continues, "were hunting at the mouth of the
river, who ran into the woods at our approach, very much frightened.
They came in however in the morning and testified their joy at the news
of our success against the French. They told us that we could easily
accomplish our journey from thence to Detroit in eight days; that when
the French traded at that place (Toronto), the Indians used to come
with their peltry from Michilimackinac down the river Toronto; that the
portage was but twenty miles from that to a river falling into Lake
Huron, which had some falls, but none very considerable; they added that
there was a carrying-place of fifteen miles from some westerly part of
Lake Erie to a river running without any falls through several Indian
towns into Lake St. Clair. I think Toronto," Major Rogers then states,
"a most convenient place for a factory, and that from thence we may very
easily settle the north side of Lake Erie."
"We left Toronto," the journal then proceeds, "the 1st of October,
steering south, right across the west end of Lake Ontario. At dark, we
arrived at the South Shore, five miles west of Fort Niagara, some of our
boats now becoming exceeding leaky and dangerous. This morning, before
we set out, I directed the following order of march:--The boats in a
line. If the wind rose high, the red flag hoisted, and the boats to
crowd nearer, that they might be ready to give mutual assistance in case
of a leak or other accident, by which means we saved the crew and arms
of the boat commanded by Lieutenant M'Cormack, which sprang a leak and
sunk, losing nothing except the packs. We halted all the next day at
Niagara, and provided ourselves with blankets, coats, shirts, shoes,
moccasins, &c. I received from the commanding officer eighty barrels of
provisions, and changed two whale-boats for as many batteaux, which
proved leaky. In the evening, some of my party proceeded with the
provisions to the Falls (the rapid water at Queenston), and in the
morning marched the rest there, and began the portage of the provisions
and boats. Messrs. Bhreme and Davis took a survey of the great cataract
of Niagara."
[Sidenote: 1761.]
At the time of Major Rogers' visit to Toronto all trading there had
apparently ceased; but we observe that he says it was most convenient
place for a factory. In 1761, we have Toronto named in a letter
addressed by Captain Campbell, commanding at Detroit, to Major Walters,
commanding at Niagara, informing him of an intended attack of the
Indians. "Detroit, June 17th, 1761, two o'clock in the morning. Sir,--I
had the favour of yours, with General Amherst's despatches. I have sent
you an express with a very important piece of intelligence I have had
the good fortune to discover. I have been lately alarmed with reports of
the bad designs of the Indian nations against this place, and the
English in general. I can now inform you for certain it comes from the
Six Nations; and that they have sent belts of wampum and deputies to all
the nations from Nova Scotia to the Illinois, to take up the hatchet
against the English, and have employed the Mississaguas to send belts of
wampum to the northern nations. Their project is as follows:--The Six
Nations, at least the Senecas, are to assemble at the head of French
Creek, within five-and-twenty leagues of Presqu'isle; part of the Six
Nations (the Delawares and Shawnees), are to assemble on the Ohio; and
at the same time, about the latter end of the month, to surprise Niagara
and Fort Pitt, and cut off the communication everywhere. I hope this
will come time enough to put you on your guard, and to send to Oswego,
and all the posts in that communication. They expect to be joined by the
nations that are to come from the North by Toronto."
[Sidenote: 1767.]
Eight years after the occupation of the country by the English, a
considerable traffic was being carried on at Toronto. We learn this from
a despatch of Sir William Johnson's to the Earl of Shelburne, on the
subject of Indian affairs, bearing date 1767. Sir William affirms that
persons could be found willing to pay £1,000 per annum for the monopoly
of the trade at Toronto. Some remarks of his that precede the reference
to Toronto give us some idea of the commercial tactics of the Indian and
Indian trader of the time. "The Indians have no business to follow when
at peace," Sir William Johnson says, "but hunting. Between each hunt
they have a recess of several months. They are naturally very covetous,"
the same authority asserts, "and become daily better acquainted with the
value of our goods and their own peltry; they are everywhere at home,
and travel without the expense or inconvenience attending our journey to
them. On the other hand, every step our traders take beyond the posts,
is attended at least with some risk and a very heavy expense, which the
Indians must feel as heavily on the purchase of their commodities; all
which considered, is it not reasonable to suppose that they would rather
employ their idle time in quest of a cheap market, than sit down with
such slender returns as they must receive in their own villages?" He
then instances Toronto. "As a proof of which," Sir William continues, "I
shall give one instance concerning Toronto, on the north shore of Lake
Ontario. Notwithstanding the assertion of Major Rogers," Sir William
Johnson says, "that even a single trader would not think it worth
attention to supply a dependent post, yet I have heard traders of long
experience and good circumstances affirm, that for the exclusive trade
of that place, for one season, they would willingly pay £1,000--so
certain were they of a quiet market--from the cheapness at which they
could afford their goods there."
Although after the Conquest the two sides of Lake Ontario and of the St.
Lawrence generally were no longer under different crowns, the previous
rivalry between the two routes, the St. Lawrence and Mohawk river
routes, to the seaboard continued; and it was plainly to the interest of
those who desired the aggrandisement of Albany and New York to the
detriment of Montreal and Quebec, to discourage serious trading
enterprises with Indians on the northern side of the St. Lawrence
waters. We have an example of this spirit in a "Journal of Indian
Transactions at [Fort] Niagara, in the year 1767," published in the
documentary History of New York (ii. 868, 8vo. ed.), in which Toronto is
named, and a great chieftain from that region figures--in one respect,
somewhat discreditably, however. We give the passage of the journal to
which we refer. The document appears to have been drawn up by Norman
M'Leod, an Indian agent, visiting Fort Niagara.
"July 17th, [1767.] Arrived Wabacommegat, chief of the Mississagas. [He
came from Toronto, as we shall presently see.] July 18th. Arrived
Ashenshan, head-warrior of the Senecas, belonging to the Caiadeon
village. This day, Wabacommegat came to speak to me, but was so drunk
that no one could understand him."
Again: "July 19th. Had a small conference with Wabacommegat.
Present--Norman M'Leod, Esq.; Mr. Neil MacLean, Commissary of
Provisions; Jean Baptiste de Couagne, interpreter. Wabacommegat spoke
first, and, after the usual compliments, told that as soon as he had
heard of my arrival, he and his young men came to see me. He then asked
me if I had any news, and desired I should tell all I had. Then he gave
four strings of wampum. I then told them--Children, I am glad to see
you. I am sent here by your father, Sir William Johnson, to take care of
your trade, and to prevent abuses therein. I have no sort of news, for I
suppose you have heard of the drunken Chippewas that killed an
Englishman and wounded his wife very much, above Detroit; they are sent
down the country by consent and approbation of the head men of the
nation. I am sorry to acquaint you that some of your nation that came
here with Nan-i-bo-jou, killed a cow and a mare belonging to Captain
Grant, on the other side of the river. I am persuaded that all here
present think it was very wrong, and a very bad return for the many good
offices done by the English in general towards them, and in particular
by Captain Grant, who had that day fed the men that were guilty of the
theft. I hope and desire that Wabacommegat and the rest of the chiefs
and warriors here present, will do all in their power to discover the
thief, and bring him in here to me the next time they return, that we
may see what satisfaction he or they may give Captain Grant for the loss
of his cattle. [I gave seven strings of wampum.] Children, I am sorry to
hear you have permitted people to trade at Toronto. I hope you will
prevent it for the future. All of you know the reason of this belt of
wampum being left at this place. [I then showed them a large belt left
here five or six years ago by Wabacommegat, by which belt he was under
promise not to allow anybody whatever to carry on trade at Toronto.]
Now, children, I have no more to say, but desire you to remember and
keep close to all the promises you have made to your English father. You
must not listen to any bad news. When you hear any, good or bad, come to
me with it. You may depend upon it I shall always tell you the truth. [I
gave four strings of wampum.]
"Wabacommegat replied: 'Father, we have heard you with attention. I
think it was very wrong in the people to kill Captain Grant's cattle. I
shall discover the men that did it, and will bring them in here in the
fall. We will allow no more trade to be carried on at Toronto. As to
myself, it is well known I don't approve of it, as I went with the
interpreter to bring in those that were trading at that place. We go
away this day, and hope our father will give us some provisions, rum,
powder and shot, and we will bring you venison when we return.' I
replied, it was not in my power to give them much, but as it was the
first time I had the pleasure of speaking to them, they should have a
little of what they wanted."
In the January previous to the conference, two traders had been arrested
at Toronto. Sir William Johnson, in a letter to Gen. Gage, writes thus,
under date of January 12, 1767. "Capt. Browne writes me that he has, at
the request of Commissary Roberts, caused two traders to be apprehended
at Toronto, where they were trading contrary to authority. I hope
Lieut.-Gov. Carleton," Sir William continues, "will, agreeable to the
declaration in one of his letters, have them prosecuted and punished as
an example to the rest. I am informed that there are several more from
Canada trading with the Indians on the north side of Lake Ontario, and
up along the rivers in that quarter, which, if not prevented, must
entirely ruin the fair trader." In these extracts from the
correspondence of Sir William Johnson, and from the Journal of
transactions at Fort Niagara, in 1767, we are admitted, as we suspect,
to a true view of the status of Toronto as a trading-post for a series
of years after the conquest. It was, as we conceive, a place where a
good deal of forestalling of the regular markets went on. Trappers and
traders, acting without license, made such bargains as they could with
individuals among the native bands frequenting the spot at particular
seasons of the year. We do not suppose that any store-houses for the
deposit of goods or peltries were maintained here after the conquest. In
a MS. map, which we have seen, of about the date 1793, the site of the
old Fort Rouillé is marked by a group of wigwams of the usual pointed
shape, with the inscription appended, "Toronto, an Indian village now
deserted."
[Sidenote: 1788.]
In 1788 Toronto harbour was well and minutely described by J. Collins,
Deputy Surveyor General, in a Report presented to Lord Dorchester,
Governor-General, on the Military Posts and Harbours on Lakes Ontario,
Erie and Huron. "The Harbour of Toronto," Mr. Collins says, "is near two
miles in length from the entrance on the west to the isthmus between it
and a large morass on the eastward. The breadth of the entrance is about
half a mile, but the navigable channel for vessels is only about 500
yards, having from three to three and a half fathoms water. The north or
main shore, the whole length of the harbour, is a clay bank from twelve
to twenty feet high, and rising gradually behind, apparently good land,
and fit for settlement. The water is rather shoal near the shore, having
but one fathom depth at one hundred yards distance, two fathoms at two
hundred yards; and when I sounded here, the waters of the Lake were very
high. There is good and safe anchorage everywhere within the harbour,
being either a soft or sandy bottom. The south shore is composed of a
great number of sandhills and ridges, intersected with swamps and small
creeks. It is of unequal breadths, being from a quarter of a mile to a
mile wide across from the harbour to the lake, and runs in length to the
east five or six miles. Through the middle of the isthmus before
mentioned, or rather near the north shore, is a channel with two fathoms
water, and in the morass there are other channels from one to two
fathoms deep. From what has been said," Mr. Collins proceeds to observe,
"it will appear that the harbour of Toronto is capacious, safe and well
sheltered; but the entrance being from the westward is a great
disadvantage to it, as the prevailing winds are from that quarter; and
as this is a fair wind from hence down the Lake, of course it is that
which vessels in general would take their departure from; but they may
frequently find it difficult to get out of the harbour. The shoalness of
the north shore, as before remarked, is also disadvantageous as to
erecting wharfs, quays, &c. In regard to this place as a military post,"
Mr. Collins reports, "I do not see any very striking features to
recommend it in that view; but the best situation to occupy for the
purpose of protecting the settlement and harbour would, I conceive, be
on the point and near the entrance thereof." (The knoll which
subsequently became the site of the Garrison of York, is probably
intended. Gibraltar point, on the opposite side of the entrance, where a
block house was afterwards built, may also be glanced at.)
The history of the site of Fort Toronto would probably have differed
from what it has been, and the town developed there would, perhaps, have
assumed at its outset a French rather than an English aspect, had the
expectations of three Lower Canadian gentlemen, in 1791, been completely
fulfilled. Under date of "Surveyor General's Office [Quebec], 10th June,
1791," Mr. Collins, Deputy Surveyor-General, writes to Mr. Augustus
Jones, an eminent Deputy Provincial Surveyor, of whom we shall hear
repeatedly, that "His Excellency, Lord Dorchester, has been pleased to
order one thousand acres of land to be laid out at Toronto for Mr.
Rocheblave; and for Captain Lajorée, and for Captain Bouchette seven
hundred acres each, at the same place, which please to lay out
accordingly," Mr. Collins says, "and report the same to this office with
all convenient speed."
We may suppose that these three French gentlemen became early aware of
the spot likely to be selected for the capital of the contemplated
Province of Upper Canada, and foresaw the advantages that might accrue
from the possession of some broad acres there. Unluckily for them,
however, delay occurred in the execution of Lord Dorchester's order; and
in the meantime, the new Province was duly constituted, with a
government and land-granting department of its own; and, under date of
"Nassau [Niagara], June 15, 1792," Mr. Augustus Jones, writing to Mr.
Collins, refers to his former communication in the following
terms:--"Your order of the 10th of June, 1791, for lands at Toronto, in
favour of Mr. Rocheblave and others, I only received the other day; and
as the members of the Land Board think their power dissolved by our
Governor's late Proclamation relative to granting of Lands in Upper
Canada, they recommend it to me to postpone doing anything in respect of
such order until I may receive some further instructions."
We hear no more of the order. Had M. Rocheblave, Captain Lajorée and
Captain Bouchette become legally seized of the lands assigned them at
Toronto by Lord Dorchester, the occupants of building-lots in York,
instead of holding in fee simple, would probably have been burdened for
many a year with some vexatious recognitions of quasi-seignorial rights.
On Holland's great MS. map of the Province of Quebec, made in 1791, and
preserved in the Crown Lands Department of Ontario, the indentation in
front of the mouth of the modern Humber river is entitled "Toronto Bay";
the sheet of water between the peninsula and the mainland is not named:
but the peninsula itself is marked "Presqu'isle, Toronto;" and an
extensive rectangular tract, bounded on the south by "Toronto Bay" and
the waters within the peninsula, is inscribed "Toronto." In Mr.
Chewett's MS. Journal, we have, under date of Quebec, April 22, 1792,
the following entry: "Received from Gov. Simcoe a Plan of Points Henry
and Frederick, to have a title page put to them: also a plan of the Town
and township of Toronto, and to know whether it was ever laid out." We
gather from this that sometime prior to Governor Simcoe's arrival, it
had been in contemplation to establish a town at Toronto.
The name Toronto pleased the ear and took the fancy of sentimental
writers. We have it introduced by an author of this class, in a work,
entitled "Voyage dans la Haute Pensylvanie et dans l'Etat de New York,
par un Membre adoptif de la nation Oneida;" published at Paris in 1801,
but written prior to 1799, as it is inscribed to Washington. The author
describes a Council pretended to be held at Onondaga, where chiefs and
sachems speak. They discourse of the misery of man, of death, of the
ravages of the small-pox. Siasconcet, one of the sages, relates his
interview with Kahawabash, who had lost his wife and all his friends by
the prevailing malady. Siasconcet exhorts him to suffer in silence like
a wise man. Kahawabash replies, "Siasconcet! n'as-tu pas souvent entendu
les cris plaintifs de l'ours, dont la compagne avoit été tuée? N'as-tu
pas souvent vu couler les larmes des yeux du castor qui avait perdu sa
femelle ou ses petits? Eh bien! moi, suis-je inférieur à l'ours ou au
castor? Non: je suis homme, aussi bon chasseur, aussi brave guerrier que
tes sachems: comment empêcher l'arc de s'étendre quand la corde casse?
La cime du chêne ou la tige du roseau de ployer, quand l'orage éclate?
Lorsque le corps est blessé, Siasconcet, il en découle du sang; quand le
coeur est navré, il en découle des larmes: voilà ce que je dirai à tes
vieillards; je verrai ce qu'ils me répondront."
In the reply of Siasconcet, we have the reference to Toronto to which we
have alluded, and which somewhat startled us when we suddenly lighted
upon it in the work above-named. "Eh, bien!" Siasconcet said: "eh, bien!
Kahawabash, pleure sous mon toît, puisque ton bon génie le veut, et pour
plaire au mauvais, que tes yeux soient secs quand tu seras au feu
d'Onondaga." "Que faut-il donc faire sur la terre," rejoined Kahawabash,
"puisque l'un veut ce que l'autre ne veut pas?" "Que faut-il faire?"
answered Siasconcet, "considérer la vie comme un passage de Toronto à
Niagara. Que de difficultés n'éprouvons-pas nous pour doubler les caps,
pour sortir des baies dans lesquelles les vents nous forçent d'entrer?
Que de chances contre d'aussi frêles canots que les nôtres? Il faut
cependant prendre le temps et les choses comme ils viennent, puisque
nous ne pouvons pas les choisir; il faut nourrir, aimer sa femme et ses
enfans, respecter sa tribu et sa nation; jouir du bien quand il nous
écheoit; supporter le mal avec courage et patience; chasser et pêcher
quand on a faim, se reposer et fumer quand on est las; s'attendre à
rencontrer le malheur puisque on est né; se réjouir quand il ne vient
pas; se considérer comme des oiseaux perchés pour la nuit sur la branche
d'un arbre, et qui, au point du jour, s'envolent et disparaissent pour
toujours."
Familiar with the modern two-hours' pleasure-trip from Toronto to
Niagara, we were, for the moment unprepared for the philosophic sachem's
illustration of the changes and chances of mortal life. We forgot what
an undertaking that journey was in the days of the primitive birch
canoe, when in order to accomplish the passage, the whole of the
western portion of Lake Ontario, was wont to be cautiously and
laboriously coasted.
The real name of the author of the "Voyage dans la Haute Pensylvanie"
was Saint-Jean de Crèvecoeur.
To the narrative just given is appended information, which, if
superfluous, will nevertheless be read locally now, with some curiosity.
The note explains that Toronto and Niagara, are "postes considérables de
l'Ontario: le premier, situé à l'ouest de ce lac, est formé par une baie
profonde et commode, où le Gouvernement Anglais a fait construire un
chantier, et une ville à laquelle on a donné le nom d'York; le second,
situé au sud-ouest, est formé par l'embouchure de la rivière Niagara, à
l'est de laquelle est la forteresse du même nom, et à l'ouest la pointe
des Mississagués, sur laquelle on construit une nouvelle ville, destinée
à être la capitale du Haut Canada."
The annotator speaks, we see, of the town on Mississaga point and the
other new town on the opposite side of the lake in the same terms: both
are in process of construction; and the town on Mississaga point, he
still thinks is destined to be the capital of Upper Canada.
[Sidenote: 1796.]
The language of the note recalls the agitation in the public mind at
Niagara in 1796, on the subject of the seat of Government for Upper
Canada--a question that has since agitated Canada in several of its
sub-sections. The people of Niagara in 1796, being in possession,
naturally thought that the distinction ought to continue with them.
Governor Simcoe had ordered the removal of the public offices to the
infant York: there to abide, however, only temporarily, until the West
should be peopled, and a second London built, on a Canadian Thames. Lord
Dorchester, the Governor-in-Chief, at Quebec, held that Kingston ought
to have been preferred, but that place, like Niagara, was, it was urged,
too near the frontier in case of war. In 1796, Governor Simcoe had
withdrawn from the country, and the people of Niagara entertained hopes
that the order for removal might still be revoked. The policy of the
late Governor, however, continued to be carried out.
[Sidenote: 1793.]
Three years previously, viz., in 1793, the site of the trading post
known as Toronto had been occupied by the troops drawn from Niagara and
Queenston. At noon on the 27th of August in 1793, the first royal salute
had been fired from the garrison there, and responded to by the
shipping in the harbour, in commemoration of the change of name from
Toronto to York--a change intended to please the old king, George III.,
through a compliment offered to his soldier son, Frederick, Duke of
York.
For some time after 1793, official letters and other contemporary
records exhibit in their references to the new site, the expressions,
"Toronto, now York," and "York, late Toronto."
[Sidenote: 1795.]
The ancient appellation was a favorite, and continued in ordinary use.
Isaac Weld, who travelled in North America in 1795-7, still speaks in
his work of the transfer of the Government from Niagara to Toronto.
"Niagara," he says, "is the centre of the _beau monde_ of Upper Canada:
orders, however," he continues, "had been issued before our arrival
there for the removal of the Seat of Government from thence to Toronto,
which was deemed a more eligible spot for the meeting of the Legislative
bodies, as being farther removed from the frontiers of the United
States. This projected change," he adds, "is by no means relished by the
people at large, as Niagara is a much more convenient place of resort to
most of them than Toronto; and as the Governor, who proposed the
measure, has been removed, it is imagined that it will not be put in
execution."
[Sidenote: 1803.]
In 1803-4, Thomas Moore, the distinguished poet, travelled on this
continent. The record of his tour took the form, not of a journal in
prose, but of a miscellaneous collection of verses suggested by
incidents and scenes encountered. These pieces, addressed many of them
to friends, appear now as a subdivision of his collected works, as Poems
relating to America. The society of the United States in 1804 appears to
have been very distasteful to him. He speaks of his experience somewhat
as we may imagine the winged Pegasus, if endowed with speech, would have
done of his memorable brief taste of sublunary life. Writing to the Hon.
W. R. Spencer, from Buffalo,--which he explains to be "a little village
on Lake Erie,"--in a strain resembling that of the poetical satirists of
the century which had just passed away, he sweepingly declares--
"Take Christians, Mohawks, Democrats, and all,
From the rude wigwam to the congress-hall,
From man the savage, whether slav'd or free,
To man the civilized, less tame than he,--
'Tis one dull chaos, one unfertile strife
Betwixt half-polished and half-barbarous life;
Where every ill the ancient world could brew
Is mixed with every grossness of the new;
Where all corrupts, though little can entice,
And nought is known of luxury, but its vice!"
He makes an exception in a note appended to these lines, in favour of
the Dennies and their friends at Philadelphia, with whom he says, "I
passed the few agreeable moments which my tour through the States
afforded me." These friends he thus apostrophises:--
"Yet, yet forgive me, oh! ye sacred few,
Whom late by Delaware's green banks I knew:
Whom known and loved thro' many a social eve,
'Twas bliss to live with, and 'twas pain to leave.
Not with more joy the lonely exile scann'd
The writing traced upon the desert's sand,
Where his lone heart but little hoped to find
One trace of life, one stamp of human kind;
Than did I hail the pure, th' enlightened zeal,
The strength to reason and the warmth to feel,
The manly polish and the illumined taste,
Which, 'mid the melancholy, heartless waste,
My foot has traversed, oh! you sacred few,
I found by Delaware's green banks with you."
After visiting the Falls of Niagara, Moore passed down Lake Ontario,
threaded his way through the Thousand Islands, shot the Long Sault and
other rapids, and spent some days in Montreal.
The poor lake-craft which in 1804 must have accommodated the poet, may
have put in at the harbour of York. He certainly alludes to a tranquil
evening scene on the waters in that quarter, and notices the situation
of the ancient "Toronto." Thus he sings in some verses addressed to Lady
Charlotte Rawdon, "from the banks of the St. Lawrence." (He refers to
the time when he was last in her company, and says how improbable it
then was that he should ever stand upon the shores of America):
"I dreamt not then that ere the rolling year
Had filled its circle, I should wander here
In musing awe; should tread this wondrous world,
See all its store of inland waters hurl'd
In one vast volume down Niagara's steep,
Or calm behold them, in transparent sleep,
Where the blue hills of old Toronto shed
Their evening shadows o'er Ontario's bed;
Should trace the grand Cadaraqui, and glide
Down the white rapids of his lordly tide.
Through massy woods, 'mid islets flowering fair,
And blooming glades, where the first sinful pair
For consolation might have weeping trod,
When banished from the garden of their God."
We can better picture to ourselves the author of Lalla Rookh floating on
the streams and other waters "of Ormus and of Ind," constructing verses
as he journeys on, than we can of the same personage on the St. Lawrence
in 1804 similarly engaged. "The Canadian Boat Song" has become in its
words and air almost a "national anthem" amongst us. It was written, we
are assured, at St Anne's, near the junction of the Ottawa and the St.
Lawrence.
Toronto should be duly appreciative of the distinction of having been
named by Moore. The look and sound of the word took his fancy, and he
doubtless had pleasure in introducing it in his verses addressed to Lady
Rawdon. It will be observed that while Moore gives the modern
pronunciation of Niagara, and not the older, as Goldsmith does in his
"Traveller," he obliges us to pronounce Cataraqui in an unusual manner.
Isaac Weld, it will have been noticed, also preferred the name Toronto,
in the passage from his Travels just now given, though writing after its
alteration to York. The same traveller moreover indulges in the
following general strictures: "It is to be lamented that the Indian
names, so grand and sonorous, should ever have been changed for others.
Newark, Kingston, York, are poor substitutes for the original names of
the respective places, Niagara, Cataraqui, Toronto."
[Illustration]
"Dead vegetable matter made the humus; into that the roots of
the living tree were struck, and because there had been
vegetation in the past, there was vegetation in the future. And
so it was with regard to the higher life of a nation. Unless
there was a past to which it could refer, there would not be in
it any high sense of its own mission in the world. . . . . .
They did not want to bring the old times back again, but they
would understand the present around them far better if they
would trace the present back into the past, see what it arose
out of, what it had been the development of, and what it
contained to serve for the future before them."--_Bishop of
Winchester to the Archæological Institute, at Southampton, Aug.
1872._
[Illustration]
TORONTO OF OLD
I.
PALACE STREET TO THE MARKET PLACE.
In Rome, at the present day, the parts that are the most attractive to
the tourist of archæological tastes, are those that are the most
desolate; quarters that, apart from their associations, are the most
uninviting. It is the same with many another venerable town of the world
beyond the Atlantic, of far less note than the old Imperial capital,
with Avignon, for example; with Nismes and Vienne in France; with Paris
itself, also, to some extent; with Chester, and York, and St. Albans,
the Verulam of the Roman period, in England.
It is the same with our American towns, wherever any relics of their
brief past are extant. Detroit, we remember, had once a quaint,
dilapidated, primæval quarter. It is the same with our own Toronto. He
that would examine the vestiges of the original settlement, out of which
the actual town has grown, must betake himself, in the first instance,
to localities now deserted by fashion, and be content to contemplate
objects that, to the indifferent eye, will seem commonplace and
insignificant.
To invest such places and things with any degree of interest will appear
difficult. An attempt in that direction may even be pronounced
visionary. Nevertheless, it is a duty which we owe to our forefathers to
take what note we can of the labours of their hands; to forbid, so far
as we may, the utter oblivion of their early efforts, and deeds, and
sayings, the outcome of their ideas, of their humours and anxieties; to
forbid, even, so far as we may, the utter oblivion of the form and
fashion of their persons.
The excavations which the first inhabitants made in the construction of
their dwellings and in engineering operations, civil and military, were
neither deep nor extensive; the materials which they employed were, for
the most part, soft and perishable. In a few years all the original
edifices of York, the infant Toronto, together with all the primitive
delvings and cuttings, will, of necessity, have vanished. Natural decay
will have destroyed some. Winds, fires, and floods will have removed
others. The rest will have been deliberately taken out of the way, or
obliterated in the accomplishment of modern improvements, the rude and
fragile giving way before the commodious and enduring.
At St. Petersburg, we believe, the original log-hut of Peter the Great
is preserved to the present day, in a casing of stone, with a kind of
religious reverence. And in Rome of old, through the influence of a
similar sacred regard for the past, the lowly cottage of Romulus was
long protected in a similar manner. There are probably no material
relics of our founders and forefathers which we should care to invest
with a like forced and artificial permanence. But memorials of those
relics, and records of the associations that may here and there be found
to cluster round them,--these we may think it worth our while to collect
and cherish.
Overlooking the harbour of the modern Toronto, far down in the east,
there stands at the present day, a large structure of grey cut-stone.
Its radiating wings, the turret placed at a central point aloft,
evidently for the ready oversight of the subjacent premises; the
unornamented blank walls, pierced high up in each storey with a row of
circular-heading openings, suggestive of shadowy corridors and cells
within, all help to give to this pile an unmistakable prison-aspect.
It was very nearly on the site of this rather hard-featured building
that the first Houses of Parliament of Upper Canada were placed--humble
but commodious structures of wood, built before the close of the
eighteenth century, and destroyed by the incendiary hand of the invader
in 1813. "They consisted," as a contemporary document sets forth, "of
two elegant Halls, with convenient offices, for the accommodation of the
Legislature and the Courts of Justice."--"The Library, and all the
papers and records belonging to these institutions were consumed, and,
at the same time," the document adds, "the Church was robbed, and the
Town Library totally pillaged."--The injuries thus inflicted were a few
months afterwards avenged by the destruction of the Public Buildings at
Washington, by a British force. "We consider," said an Address of the
Legislative Council of Lower Canada to Sir George Prevost, "the
destruction of the Public Buildings at Washington as a just retribution
for the outrages committed by an American force at the seat of
Government of Upper Canada."
On the same site succeeded the more conspicuous and more capacious, but
still plain and simply cubical brick block erected for legislative
purposes in 1818, and accidentally burned in 1824. The conflagration on
this occasion entailed a loss which, the _Canadian Review_ of the
period, published at Montreal, observes, "in the present state of the
finances and debt of the Province, cannot be considered a trifling
affair." That loss, we are informed by the same authority, amounted to
the sum of two thousand pounds.
Hereabout the Westminster of the new capital was expected to be. It is
not improbable that the position at the head, rather than the entrance,
of the harbour was preferred, as being at once commanding and secure.
The appearance of the spot in its primæval condition, was doubtless more
prepossessing than we can now conceive it ever to have been. Fine groves
of forest trees may have given it a sheltered look, and, at the same
time, have screened off from view the adjoining swamps.
The language of the early _Provincial Gazetteer_, published by
authority, is as follows: "The Don empties itself into the harbour, a
little above the Town, running through a marsh, which when drained, will
afford most beautiful and fruitful meadows." In the early manuscript
Plans, the same sanguine opinion is recorded, in regard to the morasses
in this locality. On one, of 1810, now before us, we have the
inscription: "Natural Meadow which may be mown." On another, the legend
runs: "Large Marsh, and will in time make good Meadows." On a third it
is: "Large Marsh and Good Grass."
At all events, hereabout it was that York, capital of Upper Canada,
began to rise. To the west and north of the site of the Houses of
Parliament, the officials of the Government, with merchants and
tradesmen in the usual variety, began to select lots and put up
convenient dwellings; whilst close by, at Berkeley Street or Parliament
Street as the southern portion of the modern Berkeley Street was then
named, the chief thoroughfare of the town had its commencing-point.
Growing slowly westward from here, King Street developed in its course,
in the customary American way, its hotel, its tavern, its
boarding-house, its waggon-factory, its tinsmith shop, its bakery, its
general store, its lawyer's office, its printing office, its places of
worship.
Eastward of Berkeley Street, King Street became the Kingston road,
trending slightly to the north, and then proceeding in a straight line
to a bridge over the Don. This divergency in the highway caused a number
of the lots on its northern side to be awkwardly bounded on their
southern ends by lines that formed with their sides, alternately obtuse
and acute angles, productive of corresponding inconveniencies in the
shapes of the buildings afterwards erected thereon; and in the position
of some of them. At one particular point the houses looked as if they
had been separated from each other and partially twisted round, by the
jolt of an earthquake.
At the Bridge, the lower Kingston road, if produced westward in a right
line, would have been Queen Street, or Lot Street, had it been deemed
expedient to clear a passage in that direction through the forest. But
some way westward from the Bridge, in this line, a ravine was
encountered lengthwise, which was held to present great engineering
difficulties. A road cut diagonally from the Bridge to the opening of
King Street, at once avoided this natural impediment, and also led to a
point where an easy connection was made with the track for wheels, which
ran along the shore of the harbour to the Garrison. But for the ravine
alluded to, which now appears to the south of Moss Park, Lot Street, or,
which is the same thing, Queen Street, would at an early period, have
begun to dispute with King Street, its claim to be the chief
thoroughfare of York.
But to come back to our original unpromising stand-point.
Objectionable as the first site of the Legislative Buildings at York may
appear to ourselves, and alienated as it now is to lower uses, we cannot
but gaze upon it with a certain degree of emotion, when we remember that
here it was the first skirmishes took place in the great war of
principles which afterwards with such determination and effect was
fought out in Canada. Here it was that first loomed up before the minds
of our early law-makers the ecclesiastical question, the educational
question, the constitutional question. Here it was that first was heard
the open discussion, childlike, indeed, and vague, but pregnant with
very weighty consequences, of topics, social and national, which, at the
time, even in the parent state itself, were mastered but by few.
Here it was, during a period of twenty-seven years (1797-1824), at each
opening and closing of the annual session, amidst the firing of cannon
and the commotion of a crowd, the cavalcade drew up that is wont, from
the banks of the Thames to the remotest colony of England, to mark the
solemn progress of the sovereign or the sovereign's representative, to
and from the other Estates in Parliament assembled. Here, amidst such
fitting surroundings of state, as the circumstances of the times and the
place admitted, came and went personages of eminence, whose names are
now familiar in Canadian story: never, indeed, the founder and organiser
of Upper Canada, Governor Simcoe himself, in this formal and ceremonious
manner; although often must he have visited the spot otherwise, in his
personal examinations of every portion of his young capital and its
environs. But here, immediately after him, however, came and went
repeatedly, in due succession, President Russell, Governor Hunter,
Governor Gore, General Brock, General Sheaffe, Sir Gordon Drummond, Sir
Peregrine Maitland.
And, while contemplating the scene of our earliest political conflicts,
the scene of our earliest known state pageants in these parts, with
their modest means and appliances, our minds intuitively recur to a
period farther removed still, when under even yet more primitive
conditions the Parliament of Upper Canada assembled at Newark, just
across the Lake. We picture to ourselves the group of seven
crown-appointed Councillors and five representatives of the Commons,
assembled there, with the first Speaker, McDonell, of Glengary; all
plain, unassuming, prosaic men, listening, at their first session, to
the opening speech of their frank and honoured Governor. We see them
adjourning to the open air from their straightened chamber at Navy Hall,
and conducting the business of the young Province under the shade of a
spreading tree, introducing the English Code and Trial by Jury,
decreeing Roads, and prohibiting the spread of Slavery; while a boulder
of the drift, lifting itself up through the natural turf, serves as a
desk for the recording clerk. Below them, in the magnificent estuary of
the river Niagara, the waters of all the Upper Lakes are swirling by,
not yet recovered from the agonies of the long gorge above, and the leap
at Table Rock.--Even here, at the opening and close of this primæval
Legislature, some of the decent ceremonial was observed with which, as
we have just said, the sadly inferior site at the embouchure of the Don
became afterwards familiar. We learn this from the narrative of the
French Duke de Liancourt, who affords us a glimpse of the scene at
Newark on the occasion of a Parliament there in 1795. "The whole retinue
of the Governor," he says, "consisted in a guard of fifty men of the
garrison of the fort. Draped in silk, he entered the Hall with his hat
on his head, attended by his adjutant and two secretaries. The two
members of the Legislative Council gave, by their speaker, notice of it
to the Assembly. Five members of the latter having appeared at the bar,
the Governor delivered a speech, modelled after that of the King, on the
political affairs of Europe, on the treaty concluded with the United
States (Jay's treaty of 1794), which he mentioned in expressions very
favourable to the Union; and on the peculiar concerns of Canada."
(Travels, i. 258.)
By the Quebec Act, passed in 1791, it was enacted that the Legislative
Council for Upper Canada should consist of not fewer than seven members,
and the Assembly of not less than sixteen members, who were to be called
together at least once in every year. To account for the smallness of
the attendance on the occasion just described, the Duke explains that
the Governor had deferred the session "on account of the expected
arrival of a Chief Justice, who was to come from England: and from a
hope that he should be able to acquaint the members with the particulars
of the Treaty with the United States. But the harvest had now begun,
which, in a higher degree than elsewhere, engages in Canada the public
attention, far beyond what state affairs can do. Two members of the
Legislative Council were present, instead of seven; no Chief Justice
appeared, who was to act as Speaker; instead of sixteen members of the
Assembly, five only attended; and this was the whole number that could
be collected at this time. The law required a greater number of members
for each house, to discuss and determine upon any business; but within
two days a year would have expired since the last session. The Governor,
therefore, thought it right to open the session, reserving, however, to
either house the right of proroguing the sitting, from one day to
another, in expectation that the ships from Detroit and Kingston would
either bring the members who were yet wanting, or certain intelligence
of their not being able to attend."
But again to return to the Houses of Parliament at York.--Extending from
the grounds which surrounded the buildings, in the east, all the way to
the fort at the entrance of the harbour, in the west, there was a
succession of fine forest trees, especially oak; underneath and by the
side of which the upper surface of the precipitous but nowhere very
elevated cliff was carpeted with thick green-sward, such as is still to
be seen between the old and new garrisons, or at Mississaga Point at
Niagara. A fragment, happily preserved, of the ancient bank, is to be
seen in the ornamental piece of ground known as the Fair-green; a strip
of land first protected by a fence, and planted with shrubbery at the
instance of Mr. George Monro, when Mayor, who also, in front of his
property some distance further on, long guarded from harm a solitary
survivor of the grove that once fringed the harbour.
On our first visit to Southampton, many years ago, we remember observing
a resemblance between the walk to the river Itchen, shaded by trees and
commanding a wide water-view on the south, and the margin of the harbour
of York.
In the interval between the points where now Princes Street and Caroline
Street descend to the water's edge, was a favourite landing-place for
the small craft of the bay--a wide and clean gravelly beach, with a
convenient ascent to the cliff above. Here, on fine mornings, at the
proper season, skiffs and canoes, log and birch-bark were to be seen
putting in, weighed heavily down with fish, speared or otherwise taken
during the preceding night, in the lake, bay, or neighbouring river.
Occasionally a huge sturgeon would be landed, one struggle of which
might suffice to upset a small boat. Here were to be purchased in
quantities, salmon, pickerel, masquelonge, whitefish and herrings; with
the smaller fry of perch, bass and sunfish. Here, too, would be
displayed unsightly catfish, suckers, lampreys, and other eels; and
sometimes lizards, young alligators for size. Specimens, also, of the
curious steel-clad, inflexible, vicious-looking pipe-fish were not
uncommon. About the submerged timbers of the wharves this creature was
often to be seen--at one moment stationary and still, like the
dragon-fly or humming-bird poised on the wing, then, like those nervous
denizens of the air, giving a sudden dart off to the right or left,
without curving its body.
Across the bay, from this landing-place, a little to the eastward, was
the narrowest part of the peninsula, a neck of sand, destitute of
trees, known as the portage or carrying-place, where, from time
immemorial, canoes and small boats were wont to be transferred to and
from the lake.
Along the bank, above the landing-place, Indian encampments were
occasionally set up. Here, in comfortless wigwams, we have seen Dr. Lee,
a medical man attached to the Indian department, administering from an
ordinary tin cup, nauseous but salutary draughts to sick and
convalescent squaws. It was the duty of Dr. Lee to visit Indian
settlements and prescribe for the sick. In the discharge of his duty he
performed long journeys, on horseback, to Penetanguishene and other
distant posts, carrying with him his drugs and apparatus in saddle-bags.
When advanced in years, and somewhat disabled in regard to activity of
movement, Dr. Lee was attached to the Parliamentary staff as Usher of
the Black Rod.--The locality at which we are glancing suggests the name
of another never-to-be-forgotten medical man, whose home and property
were close at hand. This is the eminent surgeon and physician,
Christopher Widmer.
It is to be regretted that Dr. Widmer left behind him no written
memorials of his long and varied experience. Before his settlement in
York, he had been a staff cavalry surgeon, on active service during the
campaigns in the Peninsula. A personal narrative of his public life
would have been full of interest. But his ambition was content with the
homage of his contemporaries, rich and poor, rendered with sincerity to
his pre-eminent abilities and inextinguishable zeal as a surgeon and
physician. Long after his retirement from general practice, he was every
day to be seen passing to and from the old Hospital on King Street,
conveyed in his well-known cabriolet, and guiding with his own hand the
reins conducted in through the front window of the vehicle. He had now
attained a great age; but his slender form continued erect; the hat was
worn jauntily, as in other days, and the dress was ever scrupulously
exact; the expression of the face in repose was somewhat abstracted and
sad, but a quick smile appeared at the recognition of friends. The
ordinary engravings of Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the
blood, recall in some degree the countenance of Dr. Widmer. Within the
General Hospital, a portrait of him is appropriately preserved. One of
the earliest, and at the same time one of the most graceful
lady-equestrians ever seen in York was this gentleman's accomplished
wife. At a later period a sister of Mr. Justice Willis was also
conspicuous as a skilful and fearless horse-woman. The description in
the Percy Anecdotes of the Princess Amelia, youngest daughter of George
II., is curiously applicable to the last-named lady, who united to the
amiable peculiarities indicated, talents and virtues of the highest
order. "She," the brothers Sholto and Reuben say, "was of a masculine
turn of mind, and evinced this strikingly enough in her dress and
manners: she generally wore a riding-habit in the German fashion with a
round hat; and delighted very much in attending her stables,
particularly when any of the horses were out of order." At a phenomenon
such as this, suddenly appearing in their midst, the staid and
simple-minded society of York stood for a while aghast.
In the _Loyalist_ of Nov. 15, 1828, we have the announcement of a
Medical partnership entered into between Dr. Widmer and Dr. Diehl. It
reads thus: "Doctor Widmer, finding his professional engagements much
extended of late, and occasionally too arduous for one person, has been
induced to enter into partnership with Doctor Diehl, a respectable
practitioner, late of Montreal. It is expected that their united
exertions will prevent in future any disappointment to Dr. Widmer's
friends, both in Town and Country. Dr. Diehl's residence is at present
at Mr. Hayes' Boarding-house. York, Oct. 28, 1828." Dr. Diehl died at
Toronto, March 5, 1868.
At the south-west corner of Princes Street, near where we are now
supposing ourselves to be, was a building popularly known as Russell
Abbey. It was the house of the Hon. Peter Russell, and, after his
decease, of his maiden sister, Miss Elizabeth Russell, a lady of great
refinement, who survived her brother many years. The edifice, like most
of the early homes of York, was of one storey only; but it exhibited in
its design a degree of elegance and some peculiarities. To a central
building were attached wings with gables to the south: the windows had
each an architectural decoration or pediment over it. It was this
feature, we believe, that was supposed to give to the place something of
a monastic air; to entitle it even to the name of "Abbey." In front, a
dwarf stone wall with a light wooden paling surrounded a lawn, on which
grew tall acacias or locusts. Mr. Russell was a remote scion of the
Bedford Russells. He apparently desired to lay the foundation of a solid
landed estate in Upper Canada. His position as Administrator, on the
departure of the first Governor of the Province, gave him facilities
for the selection and acquisition of wild lands. The duality necessarily
assumed in the wording of the Patents by which the Administrator made
grants to himself, seems to have been regarded by some as having a touch
of the comic in it. Hence among the early people of these parts the name
of Peter Russell was occasionally to be heard quoted good-humouredly,
not malignantly, as an example of "the man who would do well unto
himself." On the death of Mr. Russell, his property passed into the
hands of his sister, who bequeathed the whole to Dr. William Warren
Baldwin, into whose possession also came the valuable family plate,
elaborately embossed with the armorial bearings of the Russells. Russell
Hill, long the residence of Admiral Augustus Baldwin, had its name from
Mr. Russell, and in one of the elder branches of the Baldwin family,
Russell is continued as a baptismal name. In the same family is also
preserved an interesting portrait of Mr. Peter Russell himself, from
which we can see that he was a gentleman of portly presence, of strongly
marked features, of the Thomas Jefferson type. We shall have occasion
hereafter to speak frequently of Mr. Russell.
Russell Abbey became afterwards the residence of Bishop Macdonell, a
universally-respected Scottish Roman Catholic ecclesiastic, whose
episcopal title was at first derived from Rhesina _in partibus_, but
afterwards from our Canadian Kingston, where his home usually was. His
civil duties, as a member of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada,
required his presence in York during the Parliamentary sessions. We have
in our possession a fine mezzotint of Sir M. A. Shee's portrait of
Bishop Macdonell. It used to be supposed by some that the occupancy of
Russell Abbey by the Bishop caused the portion of Front Street which
lies eastward of the Market-place, to be denominated Palace Street. But
the name appears in plans of York of a date many years anterior to that
occupancy.
In connection with this mention of Bishop Macdonell, it may be of some
interest to add that, in 1826, Thomas Weld, of Lulworth Castle,
Dorsetshire, was consecrated as his coadjutor, in England, under the
title of Bishop of Amylæ. But it does not appear that he ever came out
to Canada. (This was afterwards the well-known English Cardinal.) He had
been a layman, and married, up to the year 1825; when, on the death of
his wife, he took orders; and in one year he was, as just stated, made a
Bishop.
Russell Abbey may indeed have been styled the "Palace"; but it was
probably from being the residence of one who for three years
administered the Government; or the name "Palace Street" itself may have
suggested the appellation. "Palace Street" was no doubt intended to
indicate the fact that it led directly to the Government reservation at
the end of the Town on which the Parliament houses were erected, and
where it was supposed the "Palais du Gouvernement," the official
residence of the representative of the Sovereign in the Province would
eventually be. On an Official Plan of this region, of the year 1810, the
Parliament Buildings themselves are styled "Government House."
At the laying out of York, however, we find, from the plans, that the
name given in the first instance to the Front street of the town was,
not Palace Street, but King Street. Modern King Street was then Duke
Street, and modern Duke Street, Duchess Street. These street names were
intended as loyal compliments to members of the reigning family; to
George the Third; to his son the popular Duke of York, from whom, as we
shall learn hereafter, the town itself was named; to the Duchess of
York, the eldest daughter of the King of Prussia. In the cross streets
the same chivalrous devotion to the Hanoverian dynasty was exhibited.
George street, the boundary westward of the first nucleus of York, bore
the name of the heir-apparent, George, Prince of Wales. The next street
eastward was honoured with the name of his next brother, Frederick, the
Duke of York himself. And the succeeding street eastward, Caroline
Street, had imposed upon it that of the Princess of Wales, afterwards so
unhappily famous as George the Fourth's Queen Caroline. Whilst in
Princes Street (for such is the correct orthography, as the old plans
show, and not Princess Street, as is generally seen now,) the rest of
the male members of the royal family were collectively commemorated,
namely, the Duke of Clarence, the Duke of Kent, the Duke of Cumberland,
the Duke of Sussex, and the Duke of Cambridge.
When the Canadian town of York was first projected, the marriage of the
Duke of York with the daughter of the King of Prussia, Frederica
Charlotta Ulrica, had only recently been celebrated at Berlin. It was
considered at the time an event of importance, and the ceremonies on the
occasion are given with some minuteness in the Annual Register for 1791.
We are there informed that "the supper was served at six tables; that
the first was placed under a canopy of crimson velvet, and the victuals
(as the record terms them) served on gold dishes and plates; that
Lieutenant-General Bornstedt and Count Bruhl had the honour to carve,
without being seated, that the other five tables, at which sat the
generals, ministers, ambassadors, all the officers of the Court, and the
high nobility, were served in other apartments; that supper being over,
the assembly repaired to the White Hall, where the trumpet, timbrel, and
other music, were playing; that the flambeau dance was then began, at
which the ministers of state carried the torches; that the new couple
were attended to their apartment by the reigning Queen and the Queen
dowager; that the Duke of York wore on this day the English uniform, and
the Princess Frederica a suit of _drap d'argent_, ornamented with
diamonds." In Ashburton's "New and Complete History of England, from the
first settlement of Brutus, upwards of one thousand years before Julius
Cæsar, to the year 1793," now lying before us, two full-length portraits
of the Duke and Duchess are given.--New York and Albany, in the
adjoining State, had their names from titles of a Duke of York in 1664,
afterwards James II. His brother, Charles II., made him a present, by
Letters Patent, of all the territory, from the western side of the
Connecticut river to the east side of Delaware Bay; that is, of the
present States of Connecticut, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey.
On the green sward of the bank between Princes street and George Street,
the annual military "Trainings" on the Fourth of June, "the old King's
birthday," were wont to take place. At a later period the day of meeting
was the 23rd of April, St. George's day, the fête of George IV. Military
displays on a grand scale in and about Toronto have not been uncommon in
modern times, exciting the enthusiasm of the multitude that usually
assembles on such occasions. But in no way inferior in point of interest
to the unsophisticated youthful eye, half a century ago, unaccustomed to
anything more elaborate, were those motley musterings of the militia
companies. The costume of the men may have been various, the fire-arms
only partially distributed, and those that were to be had not of the
brightest hue, nor of the most scientific make; the lines may not always
have been perfectly straight, nor their constituents well matched in
height; the obedience to the word of command may not have been rendered
with the mechanical precision which we admire at reviews now, nor with
that total suppression of dialogue in undertone in the ranks, nor with
that absence of remark interchanged between the men and their officers
that are customary now. Nevertheless, as a military spectacle, these
gatherings and manoeuvres on the grassy bank here, were effective; they
were always anticipated with pleasure and contemplated with
satisfaction. The officers on these occasions,--some of them
mounted--were arrayed in uniforms of antique cut; in red coats with wide
black breast lappets and broad tail flaps; high collars, tight sleeves
and large cuffs; on the head a black hat, the ordinary high-crowned
civilian hat, with a cylindrical feather some eighteen inches high
inserted at the top, not in front, but on the left side (whalebone
surrounded with feathers from the barnyard, scarlet at the base, white
above). Animation was added to the scene by a drum and a few fifes
executing with liveliness "The York Quickstep," "The Reconciliation,"
and "The British Grenadiers." And then, in addition to the local cavalry
corps, there were the clattering scabbards, the blue jackets, and
bear-skin helmets of Captain Button's dragoons from Markham and
Whitchurch.
Numerously, in the rank and file at these musterings--as well as among
the officers, commissioned and non-commissioned--were to be seen men who
had quite recently jeopardized their lives in the defence of the
country. At the period we are speaking of, only some six or seven years
had elapsed since an invasion of Canada from the south. "The late war,"
for a long while, very naturally, formed a fixed point in local
chronology, from which times and seasons were calculated; a fixed point,
however, which, to the indifferent new-comer, and even to the
indigenous, who, when "the late war" was in progress, were not in bodily
existence, seemed already to belong to a remote past. An impression of
the miseries of war, derived from the talk of those who had actually
felt them, was very strongly stamped in the minds of the rising
generation; an impression accompanied also at the same time with the
uncomfortable persuasion derived from the same source, that another
conflict was inevitable in due time. The musterings on "Training-day"
were thus invested with interest and importance in the minds of those
who were summoned to appear on these occasions, as also in the minds of
the boyish looker-on, who was aware that ere long he would himself be
required by law to turn out and take his part in the annual militia
evolutions, and perhaps afterwards, possibly at no distant hour, to
handle the musket or wield the sword in earnest.
A little further on, in a house at the north-west corner of Frederick
Street, a building afterwards utterly destroyed by fire, was born, in
1804, the Hon. Robert Baldwin, son of Dr. William Warren Baldwin,
already referred to, and Attorney-General in 1842 for Upper Canada. In
the same building, at a later period, (and previously in an humble
edifice, at the north-west corner of King Street and Caroline Street,
now likewise wholly destroyed,) the foundation was laid, by
well-directed and far-sighted ventures in commerce, of the great wealth
(locally proverbial) of the Cawthra family, the Astors of Upper Canada,
of whom more hereafter. It was also in the same house, prior to its
occupation by Mr. Cawthra, senior, that the printing operations of Mr.
William Lyon Mackenzie were carried on at the time of the destruction of
his press by a party of young men, who considered it proper to take some
spirited notice of the criticisms on the public acts of their fathers,
uncles and superiors generally, that appeared every week in the columns
of the _Colonial Advocate_; a violent act memorable in the annals of
Western Canada, not simply as having been the means of establishing the
fortunes of an indefatigable and powerful journalist, but more notably
as presenting an unconscious illustration of a general law, observable
in the early development of communities, whereby an element destined to
elevate and regenerate is, on its first introduction, resisted, and
sought to be crushed physically, not morally; somewhat as the white
man's watch was dashed to pieces by the Indian, as though it had been a
sentient thing, conspiring in some mysterious way with other things, to
promote the ascendancy of the stranger.
The youthful perpetrators of the violence referred to were not long in
learning practically the futility of such exploits. Good old Mr. James
Baby, on handing to his son Raymond the amount which that youth was
required to pay as his share of the heavy damages awarded, as a matter
of course, by the jury on the occasion, is said to have added:--"There!
go and make one great fool of yourself again!"--a sarcastic piece of
advice that might have been offered to each of the parties concerned.
A few steps northward, on the east side of Frederick Street, was the
first Post Office, on the premises of Mr. Allan, who was postmaster; and
southward, where this street touches the water, was the Merchants'
Wharf, also the property of Mr. Allan; and the Custom House, where Mr.
Allan was the Collector. We gather also from Calendars of the day that
Mr. Allan was likewise Inspector of Flour, Pot and Pearl Ash; and
Inspector of Shop, Still and Tavern Duties. In an early, limited
condition of society, a man of more than the ordinary aptitude for
affairs is required to act in many capacities.
The Merchants' Wharf was the earliest landing-place for the larger craft
of the lake. At a later period other wharves or long wooden jetties,
extending out into deep water, one of them named the Farmers' Wharf,
were built westward. In the shoal water between the several wharves, for
a long period, there was annually a dense crop of rushes or flags. The
town or county authorities incurred considerable expense, year after
year, in endeavouring to eradicate them--but, like the heads of the
hydra, they were always re-appearing. In July, 1821, a "Mr. Coles'
account for his assistants' labour in destroying rushes in front of the
Market Square," was laid before the County magistrates, and audited,
amounting to £13 6_s._ 3_d._ In August of the same year, the minutes of
the County Court record that "Capt. Macaulay, Royal Engineers, offered
to cut down the rushes in front of the town between the Merchants' Wharf
and Cooper's Wharf, for a sum not to exceed ninety dollars, which would
merely be the expense of the men and materials in executing the
undertaking: his own time he would give to the public on this occasion,
as encouragement to others to endeavour to destroy the rushes when they
become a nuisance;" it was accordingly ordered "that ninety dollars be
paid to Capt. Macaulay or his order, for the purpose of cutting down the
rushes, according to his verbal undertaking to cut down the same, to be
paid out of the Police or District funds in the hands of the Treasurer
of the District."
We have understood that Capt. Macaulay's measures for the extinction of
the rank vegetation in the shallow waters of the harbour, proved to be
very efficient. The instrument used was a kind of screw grapnel, which,
let down from the side of a large scow, laid hold of the rushes at their
root and forcibly wrenched them out of the bed of mud below. The entire
plant was thus lifted up, and drawn by a windlass into the scow. When a
full load of the aquatic weed was collected, it was taken out into the
open water of the Lake, and there disposed of.
Passing on our way, we soon came to the Market Square. This was a large
open space, with wooden shambles in the middle of it, thirty-six feet
long and twenty-four wide, running north and south.
By a Proclamation in the _Gazette_ of Nov. 3, 1803, Governor Hunter
appointed a weekly market day for the Town of York, and also a place
where the market should be held.
"Peter Hunter, Esquire, Lieutenant-Governor, &c. Whereas great prejudice
hath arisen to the inhabitants of the Town and Township of York, and of
other adjoining Townships, from no place or day having been set apart or
appointed for exposing publicly for sale, cattle, sheep, poultry, and
other provisions, goods, and merchandize, brought by merchants, farmers,
and others, for the necessary supply of the said Town of York; and,
whereas, great benefit and advantage might be derived to the said
inhabitants and others, by establishing a weekly market within that
Town, at a place and on a day certain for the purpose aforesaid;
"Know all men, That I, Peter Hunter, Esquire, Lieutenant-Governor of the
said Province, taking the premises into consideration, and willing to
promote the interest, and advantage, and accommodation of the
inhabitants of the Town and Township aforesaid, and of others, His
Majesty's subjects, within the said Province, by and with the advice of
the Executive Council thereof, have ordained, erected, established and
appointed, and do hereby ordain, erect, establish and appoint, a Public
Open Market, to be held on Saturday in each and every week during the
year, within the said Town of York:--(The first market to be held
therein on Saturday, the 5th day of November next after the date of
these presents), on a certain piece or plot of land within that Town,
consisting of five acres and a half, commencing at the south-east angle
of the said plot, at the corner of Market Street and New Street, then
north sixteen degrees, west five chains seventeen links, more or less,
to King Street; then along King Street south seventy-four degrees west
nine chains fifty-one links, more or less, to Church Street; then south
sixteen degrees east six chains thirty-four links, more or less, to
Market Street; then along Market Street north seventy-four degrees east
two chains; then north sixty-four degrees, east along Market Street
seven chains sixty links, more or less, to the place of beginning, for
the purpose of exposing for sale cattle, sheep, poultry, and other
provisions, goods and merchandize, as aforesaid. Given under my hand and
seal at arms, at York, this twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and three, and in the forty-fourth
year of His Majesty's reign. P. Hunter, Esquire, Lieutenant-Governor. By
His Excellency's command, Wm. Jarvis, Secretary."
In 1824, the Market Square was, by the direction of the County
magistrates, closed in on the east, west, and south sides, "with a
picketting and oak ribbon, the pickets at ten feet distance from each
other, with three openings or foot-paths on each side."
The digging of a public well here, in the direction of King Street, was
an event of considerable interest in the town. Groups of school-boys
every day scanned narrowly the progress of the undertaking; a cap of one
or the other of them, mischievously precipitated to the depths where the
labourers' mattocks were to be heard pecking at the shale below, may
have impressed the execution of this public work all the more indelibly
on the recollection of some of them. By referring to a volume of the
_Upper Canada Gazette_, we find that this was in 1823. An unofficial
advertisement in that periodical, dated June the 9th, 1823, calls for
proposals to be sent in to the office of the Clerk of the Peace, "for
the sinking a well, stoning and sinking a pump therein, in the most
approved manner, at the Market Square of the said town (of York), for
the convenience of the Public." It is added that persons desirous of
contracting for the same, must give in their proposals on or before
Tuesday, the first day of July next ensuing; and the signature, "by the
order of the Court," is that of "S. Heward, Clerk of the Peace, H. D."
(Home District).
The tender of John Hutchison and George Hetherington was accepted. They
offered to do the work "for the sum of £25 currency on coming to the
rock, with the addition of seven shillings and sixpence per foot for
boring into the rock until a sufficient supply of water can be got,
should it be required." The work was done and the account paid July
30th, 1823. The charge for boring eight feet two inches through the rock
was £3 1_s._ 3_d._ The whole well and pump thus cost the County the
modest sum of only £28 1_s._ 3_d._ The charge for flagging round the
pump, for "logs, stone and workmanship," was £5 2_s._ 4½_d._, paid to
Mr. Hugh Carfrae, pathmaster.
Near the public pump, auctions in the open air occasionally took place.
A humourous chapman in that line, Mr. Patrick Handy, used often here to
be seen and heard, disposing of his miscellaneous wares. With Mr. Handy
was associated for a time, in this business, Mr. Patrick McGann. And
here we once witnessed the horrid exhibition of a public whipping, in
the case of two culprits whose offence is forgotten. A discharged
regimental drummer, a native African, administered the lash. The sheriff
stood by, keeping count of the stripes. The senior of the two
unfortunates bore his punishment with stoicism, encouraging the negro to
strike with more force. The other, a young man, endeavoured for a little
while to imitate his companion in this respect; but soon was obliged to
evince by fearful cries the torture endured. Similar scenes were
elsewhere to be witnessed in Canada. In the _Montreal Herald_ of
September 16th, 1815, we have the following item of city news, given
without comment: "Yesterday, between the hours of 9 and 10, pursuant to
their sentences, André Latulippe, Henry Leopard, and John Quin, received
39 lashes each, in the New Market Place." The practice of whipping and
even branding of culprits in public had begun at York in 1798. In the
_Gazette and Oracle_ of Dec. 1st, 1798, printed at York, we have the
note: "Last Monday William Hawkins was publicly whipped, and Joseph
McCarthy burned in the hand, at the Market Place, pursuant to their
sentence." The crimes are not named.
In the Market Square at York, the pillory and the stocks were also from
time to time set up. The latter were seen in use for the last time in
1834. In 1804, a certain Elizabeth Ellis was, for "being a nuisance,"
sentenced by Chief Justice Allcock to be imprisoned for six months, and
"to stand in the pillory twice during the said imprisonment, on two
different market days, opposite the Market House in the town of York,
for the space of two hours each time." In the same year, the same
sentence was passed on one Campbell, for using "seditious words."
In 1831 the wooden shambles were removed, and replaced in 1833 by a
collegiate-looking building of red brick, quadrangular in its
arrangement, with arched gateway entrances on King Street and Front
Street. This edifice filled the whole square, with the exception of
roadways on the east and west sides. The public well was now concealed
from view. It doubtless exists still, to be discovered and gloated over
by the antiquarian of another century.
Round the four sides of the new brick Market ran a wooden gallery, which
served to shade the Butchers' stalls below. It was here that a fearful
casualty occurred in 1834. A concourse of people were being addressed
after the adjournment of a meeting on an electional question, when a
portion of the overcrowded gallery fell, and several persons were caught
on the sharp iron hooks of the stalls underneath, and so received fatal
injuries. The killed and wounded on this memorable occasion were:--Son
of Col. Fitz Gibbon, killed; Mr. Hutton, killed; Col. Fitz Gibbon,
injured severely; Mr. Mountjoy, thigh broken; Mr. Cochrane, injured
severely; Mr. Charles Daly, thigh broken; Mr. George Gurnett, wound in
the head; Mr. Keating, injured internally; Mr. Fenton, injured; Master
Gooderham, thigh broken; Dr. Lithgow, contused severely; Mr. Morrison,
contused severely; Mr. Alderman Denison, cut on the head; Mr. Thornhill,
thigh broken; Mr. Street, arm broken; Mr. Deese, thigh broken; another
Mr. Deese, leg and arm broken; Mr. Sheppard, injured internally; Mr.
Clieve, Mr. Mingle, Mr. Preston, Mr. Armstrong, Mr. Leslie (of the
Garrison), Master Billings, Mr. Duggan, Mr. Thomas Ridout, Mr. Brock,
Mr. Turner, Mr. Hood (since dead), severely injured, &c.
The damage done to the northern end of the quadrangle during the great
fire of 1849 led to the demolition of the whole building, and the
erection of the St. Lawrence Hall and Market. Over windows on the second
storey at the south east corner of the red brick structure now removed,
there appeared, for several years, two signs, united at the angle of the
building, each indicating by its inscription the place of "The Huron and
Ontario Railway" office.
This was while the Northern Railway of Canada was yet existing simply as
a project.
In connection with our notice of the Market, we give some collection
which may serve to illustrate--
EARLY PRICES AT YORK.
During the war it was found expedient by the civil authorities to
interfere, in some degree, with the law of supply and demand. The
Magistrates, in Quarter Sessions assembled, agreed, in 1814, upon the
following prices, as in their opinion fair and equitable to be paid by
the military authorities for provisions:--Flour, per barrel, £3 10_s._
Wheat, per bushel, 10_s._ Pease, per bushel, 7_s._ 6_d._ Barley and Rye,
the same. Oats, per bushel, 5_s._ Hay, per ton, £5. Straw, £3. Beef, on
foot, per cwt. £2 5_s._; slaughtered, per lb., 7½_d._ Pork, salted, per
barrel, £7 10_s._; per carcass, 7½_d._ Mutton, per lb., 9_d._ Veal,
8_d._ Butter, 1_s._ 3_d._ Bread, per loaf of 4 lb_s._, 1_s._ 6_d._ In
April, 1822, peace then reigning, York prices were:--Beef, per lb.,
2_d._ _a_ 4_d._ Mutton, 4_d._ _a_ 5_d._ Veal, 4_d. a_ 5_d._ Pork, 2_d._
_a_ 2½_d._ Fowls, per pair, 1_s._ 3_d._ Turkeys, each, 3_s._ 9_d._
Geese, 2_s._ 6_d._ Ducks, per pair, 1_s._ 10_d._ Cheese, per lb., 5_d._
Butter, 7½_d._ Eggs, per doz., 5_d._ Wheat, per bushel, 2_s._ 6_d._
Barley, 48 lbs., 2_s._ Oats, 1_s._ Pease, 1_s._ 1½_d._ Potatoes, per
bushel, 1_s._ 3_d._ Turnips, 1_s._ Cabbages, per head, 2_d._ Flour, per
cwt., 6_s._ 3_d._ Flour, per barrel, 12_s._ 6_d._ Tallow, per lb., 5_d._
Lard, per lb., 5_d._ Hay, per ton, £2 10_s._ Pork, per barrel, £2 10_s._
Wood, per cord, 10_s._
As allied to the subject of early prices at York, we add some excerpts
from the day-book of Mr. Abner Miles, conductor of the chief hotel of
the place, in 1798. It would appear that the resident gentry and others
occasionally gave and partook of little dinners at Mr. Miles', for which
the charges are roughly minuted on some long, narrow pages of folded
foolscap now lying before us. It will be seen from the record that the
local "table-traits," as Dr. Doran would speak, were, as nearly as
practicable those of the rest of the Empire at the period. At the new
capital, however, in 1798, hosts and guests must have laboured under
serious difficulties.
In July, 1798, the following items appear against the names, conjointly
of Messrs. Baby, Hamilton, and Commodore Grant:--Twenty-two dinners at
Eight shillings, £8 16s. Sixteen to Coffee, £1 12s. Eight Suppers, 16s.
Twenty-three quarts and one pint of wine, £10 11s. 6d. Eight bottles of
porter, £2 8s. Two bottles of syrup-punch, £1 4s. One bottle of brandy
and one bottle of rum, 18s. Altogether amounting to £26 5s. 6d. (The
currency throughout Mr. Miles' books is that of New York, in which the
shilling was seven pence half-penny. The total just given denoted
between £16 and £17 of modern Canadian money. It is observable that in
the entries of which we give specimens, whiskey, the deadly bane of
later years, in not named.) On the 17th June, Thomas Ridout, Jonathan
Scott, Col. Fortune, Surveyor Jones, Samuel Heron, Mr. Jarvis [the
Secretary], Adjutant McGill, and Mr. Crawford are each charged 16s. as
his quota of a "St. John's dinner." On the 4th of June, an entry against
"the Chief Justice" [Elmsley], runs thus: Eighteen dinners at Eight
shillings, £7 4s. Three bottles Madeira, £1 7s. One bottle brandy, 10s.
Five bottles of port wine, four bottles of porter and one pint of rum
are charged, but the value is not given. The defect is supplied in a
later entry against the Chief Justice, of seven dinners (42s.); where
two pints of port wine are charged 9s.; one pint of brandy, 5s.; two
bottles port wine, 18s.; one bottle white wine, 9s.; one bottle of
porter, 6s. On this occasion "four took coffee," at a cost of 8s.
Elsewhere, three dinners are charged to the Chief Justice, when three
bottles of wine were required; one pint of brandy, and two bottles of
porter, all at the rates already quoted. A "mess dinner" is mentioned,
for which the Chief Justice, Mr. Hallowell, and Mr. Cartwright pay 6s.
each. One bottle of port, one of Madeira, and one of brandy were
ordered, and the "three took coffee," as before at 2s. a head. Again, at
a "mess dinner," of four, the names not given, two bottles of port and
one bottle of porter were taken. A "club" appears to have met here. In
July, 1798, a charge against the names of "Esq. Weekes," "Esq. Rogers,"
and Col. Fortune, respectively, is "liquor in club the 11th at dinner,
1s. 6d." On July 6th "Judge Powell" is charged for supper, 2s.; for one
quart of wine, 9s. On the same day "Judge Powell's servant" had a "gill
brandy, 1s. 3d. and one glass do., 8d." A few days afterwards, a
reverend wayfarer calls at the inn; baits his beast, and modestly
refreshes himself. The entry runs:--"Priest from River La Tranche, 3
quarts corn and half-pint of wine. Breakfast, 2s 6d." On another day,
Capt. Herrick has a "gill gin sling, 1s. 3d.; also immediately
afterwards a "half-pint of gin sling, 3s." At the same time Capt. Demont
has "gill rum sling, 1s. 3d.," and "gill rum, 1s." Capt. Fortune has
"half-pint wine, 2s.," and "Esq. Weekes," "gill brandy, 1s. 3d." Col.
Fortune has "gill sour punch, 2s." This sour punch is approved of by
"Dunlap"--who at one place four times in immediate succession, and
frequently elsewhere, is charged with "glass sour punch, 2s." Jacob
Cozens takes "one bottle Madeira wine, 10s.;" Samuel Cozens, "one bottle
Madeira wine, 10s., and bread and cheese, 1s.;" and Shivers Cozens,
"bottle of wine, 10s., and bread and cheese, 1s. Conets Cozens has
"dinner, 2s., a gill of brandy, 1s., and half a bushel of seed corn,
7s." On the 5th of July, Josiah Phelps has placed opposite his name,
"one glass punch, 3s.; three bowls sour punch, 9s.; gill rum, 1s.; two
gin slings, 2s. 6d.; bowl punch, 3s.; gill rum, 1s.; two gills syrup
punch, 4s.; supper, 2s." About the same time Corporal Wilson had "two
mugs beer, 4s." On the 6th of July Commodore Grant had "half-pint rum,
for medson, 2s.; and immediately after another half-pint rum, for do.,
2s." One "Billy Whitney" figures often; his purchases one day were:
"gill rum sling, 1s. 6d.; do., 1s. 6d.; half-pound butter, 1s. 3d."
Capt. Hall takes "one gill punch, 2s.; glass rum, 6d., and half-gallon
punch, 7s." He at the same time has two dollars in cash advanced to him
by the obliging landlord, 16s.
Mr. Abner Miles supplied customers with general provisions as well as
liquors. On one occasion he sells, "White, Attorney-General," three
pounds of butter for 7s. 6d., and six eggs for 1s. 6d. He also sells
"President Russell" forty-nine pounds and three-fourths, of beef at 1s.
per pound; Mr. Attorney-General White took twenty-three pounds and a
half at the same price. That sold to "Robert Gray, Esq.," is described
as "a choice piece," and is charged two pence extra per pound. The
piece, however, weighed only seven pounds, and the cost was just eight
shillings and two pence. Other things are supplied by Mr. Miles. Gideon
Badger buys of him "one yard red spotted cassimere, 20s.; one and a-half
dozen buttons, 3s; and a pair shears, 3s." At the same time Mr. Badger
is credited with "one dollar, 8s." Joseph Kendrick gets "sole leather
for pair of shoes for self, by old Mr. Ketchum, 6s." Mr. Miles moreover
furnishes Mr. Allan with "237 feet of inch-and-half plank at 12s., 33s.;
two rod of garden fence at 10s., 20s." We suppose the moneys received
were recorded elsewhere generally; but on the pages before us we have
such entries as the following: "Messrs. Hamilton, Baby and Grant settled
up to 4th of July, after breakfast." "Dr. Gamble, at Garrison," obtained
ten bushels of oats and is to pay therefor £4. A mem. is entered of
"Angus McDonell, dr., Dinner sent to his tent." and "Capt. Demont, cr.
By note of hand for £26 5s. Halifax currency, £42 York." On the same day
the Captain indulges in "a five dollar cap, 40s.," and "one gill rum,
1s." That some of Mr. Miles' customers required to be reminded of their
indebtedness to him, we learn from an advertisement in the _Gazette and
Oracle_ of August 31, 1799. It says: "The Subscriber informs all those
indebted to him by note or book, to make payment by the 20th September
next, or he will be under the disagreeable necessity of putting them
into the hands of an attorney. Abner Miles, York, August 28th, 1799."
Mr. Miles' house was a rendezvous for various purposes. In a _Gazette
and Oracle_ of Dec 8, 1798, we read--"The gentlemen of the Town and
Garrison are requested to meet at one o'clock, on Monday next, the 10th
instant, at Miles' Hotel, in order to arrange the place of the York
Assemblies for the season. York, Dec 8, 1798." In another number of the
same paper an auction is advertised to take place at Miles' Tavern.
In the _Gazette and Oracle_ of July 13th, 1799, we read the following
advertisement: "O. Pierce and Co. have for sale: Best spirits by the
puncheon, barrel, or ten gallons, 20s. per gal. Do. by the single
gallon, 22s. Rum by the puncheon, barrel, or ten gallons, 18s. per gal.
Brandy by the barrel, 20s. per gal. Port wine by the barrel, 18s. per
gal. Do. by single gallon, 20s. per gal. Gin, by the barrel, 18s. per
gal. Teas--Hyson, 19s. per lb.; Souchong, 14s. do.; Bohea, 8s. do.
Sugar, best loaf, 3s. 9d. per lb. Lump, 3s. 6d. Raisins, 3s. Figs, 3s.
Salt six dollars per barrel or 12s. per bushel. Also, a few dry goods,
shoes, leather, hats, tobacco, snuff, &c., &c. York, July 6, 1799." These
prices appear to be in Halifax currency.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
II.
FRONT STREET, FROM THE MARKET PLACE TO BROCK STREET.
The corner we approach after passing the Market Square, was occupied by
an inn with a sign-board sustained on a high post inserted at the outer
edge of the foot-path, in country roadside fashion. This was Hamilton's,
or the White Swan. It was here, we believe, or in an adjoining house,
that a travelling citizen of the United States, in possession of a
collection of stuffed birds and similar objects, endeavoured at an early
period to establish a kind of Natural History Museum. To the collection
here was once rashly added figures, in wax, of General Jackson and some
other United States notabilities, all in grand costume. Several of these
were one night abstracted from the Museum by some over-patriotic youths,
and suspended by the neck from the limbs of one of the large trees that
over-looked the harbour.
Just beyond was the Steamboat Hotel, long known as Ulick Howard's,
remarkable for the spirited delineation of a steam-packet of vast
dimensions, extending the whole length of the building, just over the
upper verandah of the hotel. In 1828, Mr. Howard is offering to let his
hotel, in the following terms:--"Steamboat Hotel, York, U. C.--The
proprietor of this elegant establishment, now unrivalled in this part of
the country, being desirous of retiring from Public Business, on account
of ill-health in his family, will let the same for a term of years to be
agreed on, either with or without the furniture. The Establishment is
now too well-known to require comment. N. B. Security will be required
for the payment of the Rent, and the fulfilment of the contract in every
respect. Apply to the subscriber on the premises. U. Howard, York, Oct
8th, 1828."
A little further on was the Ontario House, a hotel built in a style
common then at the Falls of Niagara and in the United States. A row of
lofty pillars, well-grown pines in fact, stripped and smoothly planed,
reached from the ground to the eaves, and supported two tiers of
galleries, which, running behind the columns, did not interrupt their
vertical lines.
Close by the Ontario House, Market Street from the west entered Front
Street at an acute angle. In the gore between the two streets, a
building sprang up, which, in conforming to its site, assumed the shape
of a coffin. The foot of this ominous structure was the office where
travellers booked themselves for various parts in the stages that from
time to time started from York. It took four days to reach Niagara in
1816. We are informed by a contemporary advertisement now before us,
that "on the 20th of September next [1816], a stage will commence
running between York and Niagara: it will leave York every Monday, and
arrive at Niagara on Thursday; and leave Queenston every Friday. The
baggage is to be considered at the risk of the owner, and the fare to be
paid in advance." In 1824, the mails were conveyed the same distance,
_via_ Ancaster, in three days. In a post-office advertisement for
tenders, signed "William Allan, P. M.," we have the statement: "The
mails are made up here [York] on the afternoon of Monday and Thursday,
and must be delivered at Niagara on the Wednesday and Saturday
following; and within the same period in returning." In 1835, Mr.
William Weller was the proprietor of a line of stages between Toronto
and Hamilton, known as the "Telegraph Line." In an advertisement before
us, he engages to take passengers "through by daylight, on the Lake
Road, during the winter season."
Communication with England was at this period a tedious process. So late
as 1836, Mrs. Jameson thus writes in her Journal at Toronto (i. 182):
"It is now seven weeks since the date of the last letters from my dear
far-distant home. The Archdeacon," she adds, "told me, by way of
comfort, that when he came to settle in this country, there was only one
mail-post from England in the course of a whole year, and it was called,
as if in mockery, the Express." To this "Express" we have a reference in
a post-office advertisement to be seen in a _Quebec Gazette_ of 1792: "A
mail for the Upper Countries, comprehending Niagara and Detroit, will be
closed," it says, "at this office, on Monday, the 30th inst., at 4
o'clock in the evening, to be forwarded from Montreal by the annual
winter Express, on Thursday, the 3rd of Feb. next." From the same paper
we learn that on the 10th of November, the latest date from Philadelphia
and New York was Oct. 8th: also, that a weekly conveyance had lately
been established between Montreal and Burlington, Vermont. In the
_Gazette_ of Jan. 13, 1808, we have the following: "For the information
of the Public.--York, 12th Jan., 1808.--The first mail from Lower Canada
is arrived, and letters are ready to be delivered by W. Allan,
Acting-Deputy-Postmaster."
Compare all this with advertisements in Toronto daily papers now, from
agencies in the town, of "Through Lines" weekly, to California,
Vancouver's, China and Japan, connecting with Lines to Australia and New
Zealand.
On the beach below the Steamboat Hotel was, at a late period, a market
for the sale of fish. It was from this spot that Bartlett, in his
"Canadian Scenery," made one of the sketches intended to convey to the
English eye an impression of the town. In the foreground are groups of
conventional, and altogether too picturesque, fishwives and squaws: in
the distance is the junction of Hospital Street and Front Street, with
the tapering building between. On the right are the galleries of what
had been the Steamboat Hotel; it here bears another name.
Bartlett's second sketch is from the end of a long wharf or jetty to the
west. The large building in front, with a covered passage through it for
vehicles, is the warehouse or freight depot of Mr. William Cooper, long
the owner of this favourite landing place. Westwards, the pillared front
of the Ontario house is to be seen. Both of these views already look
quaint, and possess a value as preserving a shadow of much that no
longer exists.
Where Mr. Cooper's Wharf joined the shore there was a ship-building
yard. We have a recollection of a launch that strangely took place here
on a Sunday. An attempt to get the ship into the water on the preceding
day had failed. Delay would have occasioned an awkward settling of the
ponderous mass. We shall have occasion hereafter to speak of the early
shipping of the harbour.
The lot extending northward from the Ontario House corner to King street
was the property of Attorney-General Macdonell, who, while in attendance
on General Brock as Provincial aide-de-camp, was slain in the engagement
on Queenston Heights. His death created the vacancy to which, at an
unusually early age, succeeded Mr. John Beverley Robinson, afterwards
the distinguished Chief Justice of Upper Canada. Mr. Macdonell's remains
are deposited with those of his military chief under the column on
Queenston Heights. He bequeathed the property to which our attention has
been directed, to a youthful nephew, Mr. James Macdonell, on certain
conditions, one of which was that he should be educated in the tenets of
the Anglican Church, notwithstanding the Roman Catholic persuasion of
the rest of the family.
The track for wheels that here descended to the water's edge from the
north, Church Street subsequently, was long considered a road remote
from the business part of the town, like the road leading southward from
Charing-cross, as shewn in Ralph Aggas' early map of London. A row of
frame buildings on its eastern side, in the direction of King Street,
perched high on cedar posts over excavations generally filled with
water, remained in an unfinished state until the whole began to be out
of the perpendicular and to become gray with the action of the weather.
It was evidently a premature undertaking; the folly of an over-sanguine
speculator. Yonge street beyond, where it approached the shore of the
harbour, was unfrequented. In spring and autumn it was a notorious
slough. In 1830, a small sum would have purchased any of the building
lots on either side of Yonge Street, between Front Street and Market
Street.
Between Church Street and Yonge Street, now, we pass a short street
uniting Front Street with Wellington Street. Like Salisbury, Cecil,
Craven and other short but famous streets off the Strand, it retains the
name of the distinguished person whose property it traversed in the
first instance. It is called Scott Street, from Chief Justice Thomas
Scott, whose residence and grounds were here.
Mr. Scott was one of the venerable group of early personages of whom we
shall have occasion to speak. He was a man of fine culture, and is
spoken of affectionately by those who knew him. His stature was below
the average. A heavy, overhanging forehead intensified the thoughtful
expression of his countenance, which belonged to the class suggested by
the current portraits of the United States jurist, Kent. We sometimes,
to this day, fall in with books from his library, bearing his familiar
autograph.
Mr. Scott was the first chairman and president of the "Loyal and
Patriotic Society of Upper Canada," organized at York in 1812. His name
consequently appears often in the Report of that Association, printed by
William Gray in Montreal in 1817. The objects of the Society were "to
afford relief and aid to disabled militiamen and their families: to
reward merit, excite emulation, and commemorate glorious exploits, by
bestowing medals and other honorary marks of public approbation and
distinction for extraordinary instances of personal courage and fidelity
in defence of the Province." The preface to the Report mentions that
"the sister-colony of Nova Scotia, excited by the barbarous
conflagration of the town of Newark and the devastation on that
frontier, had, by a legislative act, contributed largely to the relief
of this Province."
In an appeal to the British public, signed by Chief Justice Scott, it is
stated that "the subscription of the town of York amounted in a few days
to eight hundred and seventy-five pounds five shillings, Provincial
currency, dollars at five shillings each, to be paid annually during the
war; and that at Kingston to upwards of four hundred pounds."
Medals were struck in London by order of the Loyal and Patriotic Society
of Upper Canada; but they were never distributed. The difficulty of
deciding who were to receive them was found to be too great. They were
defaced and broken up in York, with such rigour that not a solitary
specimen is known to exist. Rumours of one lurking somewhere, continue
to this day, to tantalize local numismatists. What became of the bullion
of which they were composed used to be one of the favourite vexed
questions among the old people of York. Its value doubtless was added to
the surplus that remained of the funds of the Society, which, after the
year 1817, were devoted to benevolent objects. To the building fund of
the York General Hospital, we believe, a considerable donation was made.
The medal, we are told, was two and one-half inches in diameter. On the
obverse, within a wreath of laurel, were the words "FOR MERIT." On this
side was also the legend: "PRESENTED BY A GRATEFUL COUNTRY." On the
reverse was the following elaborate device: A strait between two lakes:
on the North side a beaver (emblem of peaceful industry), the ancient
cognizance of Canada: in the background an English Lion slumbering. On
the South side of the Strait, the American eagle planing in the air, as
if checked from seizing the Beaver by the presence of the Lion. Legend
on this side: "UPPER CANADA PRESERVED."
Scott Street conducts to the site, on the north side of Hospital Street,
westward of the home of Mr. James Baby, and, eastward, to that of Mr.
Peter Macdougall, two notable citizens of York.
A notice of Mr. Baby occurs in Sibbald's _Canadian Magazine_ for March,
1833. The following is an extract: "James Baby was born at Detroit in
1762. His family was one of the most ancient in the colony; and it was
noble. His father had removed from Lower Canada to the neighbourhood of
Detroit before the conquest of Quebec, where, in addition to the
cultivation of lands, he was connected with the fur-trade, at that time,
and for many years after, the great staple of the country. James was
educated at the Roman Catholic Seminary of Quebec, and returned to the
paternal roof soon after the peace of 1783. The family had ever been
distinguished (and indeed all the higher French families) for their
adherence to the British crown; and to this, more than to any other
cause, are we to attribute the conduct of the Province of Quebec during
the American War. Being a great favourite with his father, James was
permitted to make an excursion to Europe, before engaging steadily in
business; and after spending some time, especially in England, rejoined
his family. * * * There was a primitive simplicity in Mr. Baby's
character, which, added to his polished manners and benignity of
disposition, threw a moral beauty around him which is very seldom
beheld."
In the history of the Indian chief Pontiac, who, in 1763, aimed at
extirpating the English, the name of Mr. Baby's father repeatedly
occurs. The Canadian _habitans_ of the neighbourhood of Detroit, being
of French origin, were unmolested by the Indians; but a rumour had
reached the great Ottawa chief, while the memorable siege of Detroit was
in progress, that the Canadians had accepted a bribe from the English to
induce them to attack the Indians. "Pontiac," we read in Parkman's
History, p. 227, "had been an old friend of Baby; and one evening, at an
early period of the siege, he entered his house, and, seating himself by
the fire, looked for some time steadily at the embers. At length,
raising his head, he said he had heard that the English had offered the
Canadian a bushel of silver for the scalp of his friend. Baby declared
that the story was false, and protested that he never would betray him.
Pontiac for a moment keenly studied his features. 'My brother has
spoken the truth,' he said, 'and I will show that I believe him.' He
remained in the house through the evening, and, at its close, wrapped
himself in his blanket and lay down upon a bench, where he slept in full
confidence till morning." Note that the name Baby is to be pronounced
Baw-bee.
Mr. Macdougall was a gentleman of Scottish descent, but, like his
compatriots in the neighbourhood of Murray Bay, so thoroughly
Lower-Canadianized as to be imperfectly acquainted with the English
language to the last. He was a successful merchant of the town of York,
and filled a place in the old local conversational talk, in which he was
sometimes spoken of as "Wholesale, Retail, Pete McDoug,"--an expression
adopted by himself on some occasion. He is said once to have been much
perplexed by the item "ditto" occurring in a bill of lading furnished of
goods under way; he could not remember having given orders for any such
article. He was a shrewd business man. An impression prevailed in
certain quarters that his profits were now and then extravagant. While
he was living at Niagara, some burglars from Youngstown broke into his
warehouse; and after helping themselves to whatever they pleased, they
left a written memorandum accounting for their not having taken with
them certain other articles: it was "because they were marked too high."
That he was accustomed to affix a somewhat arbitrary value to his
merchandise, seems to be shown by another story that was told of him. He
was said, one day, when trade in general was very dull, to have boasted
that he had that very morning made £400 by a single operation. On being
questioned, it appeared that it had been simply a sudden enlargement of
the figure marked on all his stock to the extent of £400.
One other story of him is this: On hearing a brother dealer lament that
by a certain speculation he should, after all, make only 5 per cent., he
expressed his surprise, adding that he himself would be satisfied with
3, or even 2, (taking the figures 2, 3, &c., to mean 2 hundred, 3
hundred, &c.)--We shall hear of Mr. Macdougall again in connection with
the marine of the harbour.
Of Yonge Street itself, at which we now arrive, we propose to speak at
large hereafter. Just westward from Yonge Street was the abode,
surrounded by pleasant grounds and trees, of Mr. Macaulay, at a later
period Sir James Macaulay, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, a man
beloved and honoured for his sterling excellence in every relation. A
full-length portrait of him is preserved in Osgoode Hall. His peculiar
profile, not discernable in that painting, is recalled by the engraving
of Capt. Starky, which some readers will remember in _Hone's Every-Day
Book_.
Advancing a little further, we came in front of one of the earliest
examples, in these parts, of an English-looking rustic cottage, with
verandah and sloping lawn. This was occupied for a time by Major
Hillier, of the 74th regiment, aide-de-camp and military secretary to
Sir Peregrine Maitland. The well-developed native thorn-tree, to the
north of the site of this cottage, on the property of Mr. Andrew Mercer,
is a relic of the woods that once ornamented this locality.
Next came the residence of Mr. Justice Boulton, a spacious family
domicile of wood, painted white, situated in an extensive area, and
placed far back from the road. The Judge was an English gentleman of
spare Wellington physique; like many of his descendants, a lover of
horses and a spirited rider; a man of wit, too, and humour, fond of
listening to and narrating anecdotes of the _ben trovato_ class. The
successor to this family home was Holland House, a structure of a
baronial cast, round which one might expect to find the remains of a
moat; a reproduction, in some points, as in name, of the building in the
suburbs of London, in which was born the Judge's immediate heir, Mr. H.
J. Boulton, successively Solicitor-General for Upper Canada, and Chief
Justice of Newfoundland.
When Holland House passed out of the hands of its original possessor, it
became the property of Mr. Alexander Manning, an Alderman of Toronto.
It was at Holland House that the Earl and Countess of Dufferin kept high
festival during a brief sojourn in the capital of Ontario, in 1872.
Suggested by public addresses received in infinite variety, within
Holland House was written or thought out that remarkable cycle of
rescripts and replies which rendered the vice-regal visit to Toronto so
memorable,--a cycle of rescripts and replies exceedingly wide in its
scope, but in which each requisite topic was touched with consummate
skill, and in such a way as to show in each direction genuine human
sympathy and heartiness of feeling, and a sincere desire to cheer and
strengthen the endeavour after the Good, the Beautiful and the True, in
every quarter.
Whilst making his visit to Quebec, before coming to Toronto, Lord
Dufferin, acting doubtless on a chivalrous and poetical impulse, took up
his abode in the Citadel, notwithstanding the absence of worthy
arrangements for his accommodation there.
Will not this bold and original step on the part of Lord Dufferin lead
hereafter to the conversion of the Fortress that crowns Cape Diamond
into a Rheinstein for the St. Lawrence--into an appropriately designed
castellated habitation, to be reserved as an occasional retreat,
nobly-seated and grandly historic, for the Viceroys of Canada?
We now passed the grounds and house of Chief-Justice Powell. In this
place we shall only record our recollection of the profound sensation
created far and wide by the loss of the Chief-Justice's daughter in the
packet ship _Albion_, wrecked off the Head of Kinsale, on the 22nd of
April, 1822. A voyage to the mother country at that period was still a
serious undertaking. We copy a contemporaneous extract from the _Cork
Southern Reporter_:--"The _Albion_, whose loss at Garrettstown Bay we
first mentioned in our paper of Tuesday, was one of the finest class of
ships between Liverpool and New York, and was 500 tons burden. We have
since learned some further particulars, by which it appears that her
loss was attended with circumstances of a peculiarly afflicting nature.
She had lived out the tremendous gale of the entire day on Sunday, and
Captain Williams consoled the passengers, at eight o'clock in the
evening, with the hope of being able to reach Liverpool on the day but
one after, which cheering expectation induced almost all of the
passengers, particularly the females, to retire to rest. In some short
time, however, a violent squall came on, which in a moment carried away
the masts, and, there being no possibility of disengaging them from the
rigging, encumbered the hull so that she became unmanageable, and
drifted at the mercy of the waves, till the light-house of the Old Head
was discovered, the wreck still nearing in; when the Captain told the
sad news to the passengers, that there was no longer any hope; and, soon
after she struck. From thenceforward all was distress and confusion. The
vessel soon went to pieces, and, of the crew and passengers, only six of
the former and nine of the latter were saved." The names of the
passengers are added, as follows: "Mr. Benyon, a London gentleman; Mr.
N. Ross, of Troy, near New York; Mr. Conyers, and his brother-in-law,
Major Gough, 68th regiment; Mr. and Mrs. Clarke, Americans; Madame
Gardinier and son, a boy about eight years of age; Col. Prevost; Mr.
Dwight, of Boston; Mrs. Mary Pye, of New York; Miss Powell, daughter of
the Honourable William Dummer Powell, Chief-Justice of Upper Canada;
Rev. Mr. Hill, Jamaica, coming home by the way of the United States;
Professor Fisher, of New Haven, Connecticut; Mr. Gurnee, New York; Mr.
Proctor, New York; Mr. Dupont, and five other Frenchmen; Mrs. Mary
Brewster; Mr. Hirst, Mr. Morrison, and Stephen Chase."
The _Weekly Register_ of York, of June 13, 1822, the number that
contains the announcement of the wreck of the _Albion_ packet, has also
the following paragraph: "Our Attorney-General arrived in London about
the 22nd of March, and up to the 11th of April had daily interviews of
great length with ministers. It gives us real pleasure to announce,"--so
continues the editorial of the _Weekly Register_--"that his mission is
likely to be attended with the most complete success, and that our
relations with the Lower Provinces will be put on a firm and
advantageous footing. We have no doubt that Mr. Robinson will deserve
the general thanks of the country." A family party from York had
embarked in the packet of the preceding month, and were, as this
paragraph intimates, safe in London on the 22nd of March. The disastrous
fate of the lady above named was thus rendered the more distressing to
friends and relatives, as she was present in New York when that packet
sailed, but for some obscure reason, she did not desire to embark
therein along with her more fortunate fellow townsfolk.
After the house and grounds of Chief-Justice Powell came the property of
Dr. Strachan, of whom much hereafter. In view of the probable future
requirements of his position in a growing town and growing country, Dr.
Strachan built, in 1818, a residence here of capacious dimensions and
good design, with extensive and very complete appurtenances. A brother
of the Doctor's, Mr. James Strachan, an intelligent bookseller of
Aberdeen, visited York in 1819, soon after the first occupation of the
new house by its owners. The two brothers, John and James, had not seen
each other since 1799, when John, a young man just twenty-one, was
setting out for Canada, to undertake a tutorship in a family at
Kingston; setting out with scant money outfit, but provided with what
was of more value, a sound constitution, a clear head, and a good strong
understanding trained in Scottish schools and colleges, and by familiar
intercourse with shrewd Scottish folk.
As James entered the gates leading into the new mansion, and cast a
comprehensive glance at the fine façade of the building before him and
over its pleasant and handsome surroundings, he suddenly paused; and
indulging in a stroke of sly humour, addressed his brother with the
words, spoken in grave confidential undertone,--"I hope it's a' come by
honestly, John!"
On his return to Scotland, Mr. James Strachan published "A Visit to the
Province of Upper Canada in 1819," an interesting book, now scarce and
desired by Canadian collectors. The bulk of the information contained in
this volume was confessedly derived from Dr. Strachan.
The bricks used in the construction of the house here in 1818 were
manufactured on the spot. One or two earlier brick buildings at York
were composed of materials brought from Kingston or Montreal; recalling
the parallel fact that the first bricks used for building in New York
were imported from Holland; just as in the present day, (though now, of
course, for a different reason,) houses are occasionally constructed at
Quebec with white brick manufactured in England.
We next arrived at a large open space, much broken up by a
rivulet--"Russell's Creek,"--that meandered most recklessly through it.
This piece of ground was long known as Simcoe Place, and was set apart
in the later plan for the extension of York westward, as a Public
Square. Overlooking this area from the north-west, at the present day,
is one of the elms of the original forest--an unnoticeable sapling at
the period referred to, but now a tree of stately dimensions and of very
graceful form, resembling that of the Greek letter Psi. It will be a
matter of regret when the necessities of the case shall render the
removal of this relic indispensable.
At the corner to the south of this conspicuous tree, was an inn long
known as the Greenland Fishery. Its sign bore on one side, quite
passably done, an Arctic or Greenland scene; and on the other, vessels
and boats engaged in the capture of the whale. A travelling sailor,
familiar with whalers, and additionally a man of some artistic taste and
skill, paid his reckoning in labour, by executing for the landlord, Mr.
Wright, these spirited paintings, which proved an attraction to the
house.
John Street, which passes north, by the Greenland Fishery, bears one of
the Christian names of the first Governor of Upper Canada. Graves
Street, on the east side of the adjoining Square, bore his second
Christian name; but Graves Street has, in recent times, been transformed
into Simcoe Street.
When the Houses of Parliament, now to be seen stretching across Simcoe
Place, were first built, a part of the design was a central pediment
supported by four stone columns. This would have relieved and given
dignity to the long front. The stone platform before the principal
entrance was constructed with a flight of steps leading thereto; but the
rather graceful portico which it was intended to sustain, was never
added. The monoliths for the pillars were duly cut out at a quarry near
Hamilton. They long remained lying there, in an unfinished state. In the
lithographic view of the Parliament Buildings, published by J. Young,
their architect, in 1836, the pediment of the original design is given
as though it existed.
Along the edge of the water, below the properties, spaces and objects
which we have been engaged in noticing, once ran a shingly beach of a
width sufficient to admit of the passage of vehicles. A succession of
dry seasons must then have kept the waters low. In 1815, however, the
waters of the Lake appear to have been unusually high. An almanac of
that year, published by John Cameron, at York, offers, seriously as it
would seem, the subjoined explanation of the phenomenon: "The comet
which passed to the northward three years since," the writer suggests,
"has sensibly affected our seasons: they have become colder; the snows
fall deeper; and from lesser exhalation, and other causes, the Lakes
rise much higher than usual."
The Commissariat store-houses were situated here, just beyond the broken
ground of Simcoe Place; long white structures of wood, with the shutters
of the windows always closed; built on a level with the bay, yet having
an entrance in the rear by a narrow gangway from the cliff above, on
which, close by, was the guard-house, a small building, painted of a dun
colour, with a roof of one slope, inclining to the south, and an arched
stoup or verandah open to the north. Here a sentry was ever to be seen,
pacing up and down. A light bridge over a deep water-course led up to
the guard-house.
Over other depressions or ravines, close by here, were long to be seen
some platforms or floored areas of stout plank. These were said to be
spaces occupied by different portions of the renowned canvas-house of
the first Governor, a structure manufactured in London and imported.
The convenience of its plan, and the hospitality for which it afforded
room, were favourite topics among the early people of the country. We
have it in Bouchette's _British North America_ a reference to this
famous canvas house. "In the spring (_i. e._ of 1793)," that writer
says, "the Lieutenant-Governor moved to the site of the new capital
(York), attended by the regiment of the Queen's Rangers, and commenced
at once the realization of his favourite project. His Excellency
inhabited, during the summer, and through the winter, a canvas-house,
which he imported expressly for the occasion; but, frail as was its
substance, it was rendered exceedingly comfortable, and soon became as
distinguished for the social and urbane hospitality of its venerable and
gracious host, as for the peculiarity of its structure," vol. i. 80.
After this allusion to the home Canadian life of the first Governor, the
following remarks of de Liancourt, on the same subject, will not appear
out of place:--"In his private life," the Duke says, "Gov. Simcoe is
simple, plain and obliging. He inhabits [the reference now is to Newark
or Niagara] a small, miserable wooden house, which formerly was occupied
by the Commissaries, who resided here on account of the navigation of
the Lake. His guard consist of four soldiers, who every morning come
from the fort [across the river], and return thither in the evening. He
lives in a noble and hospitable manner, without pride; his mind is
enlightened, his character mild and obliging; he discourses with much
good sense on all subjects; but his favourite topics are his projects,
and war, which seem to be the objects of his leading passions. He is
acquainted with the military history of all countries: no hillock
catches his eye without exciting in his mind the idea of a fort which
might be constructed on the spot; and with the construction of this fort
he associates the plan of operations for a campaign, especially of that
which is to lead him to Philadelphia. [Gen. Simcoe appears to have been
strongly of the opinion that the United States were not going to be a
permanency.] On hearing his professions of an earnest desire of peace,
you cannot but suppose, either that his reason must hold an absolute
sway over his passion, or that he deceives himself." _Travels_, i. 241.
Other traits, which doubtless at this time gave a charm to the home-life
of the accomplished Governor, may be gathered from a passage in the
correspondence, at a later period, of Polwhele, the historian of
Cornwall, who says, in a letter addressed to the General himself, dated
Manaccan, Nov. 5th, 1803:--"I have been sorely disappointed, once or
twice, in missing you, whilst you were inspecting Cornwall. It was not
long after your visit at my friend Mr. Hoblyn's, but I slept also at
Nanswhydden. Had I met you there, the _Noctes Atticæ_, the _Coenæ
Deorum_, would have been renewed, if peradventure the chess-board
intervened not; for rooks and pawns, I think, would have frightened away
the Muses, familiar as rooks and pawns might have been to the suitors of
Penelope." _Polwhele_, 544.
The canvas-house above spoken of, had been the property of Capt. Cook
the circumnavigator. On its being offered for sale in London, Gov.
Simcoe, seeing its possible usefulness to himself as a moveable
government-house purchased it.
Some way to the east of the Commissariat store-houses was the site of
the Naval Building Yard, where an unfinished ship-of-war and the
materials collected for the construction of others, were destroyed, when
the United States forces took possession of York in 1813.
It appears that Col. Joseph Bouchette had just been pointing out to the
Government the exposed condition of the public property here. In a note
at p. 89 of his _British North America_ that officer remarks: "The
defenceless situation of York, the mode of its capture, and the
destruction of the large ship then on the stocks, were but too
prophetically demonstrated in my report to headquarters in Lower Canada,
on my return from a responsible mission to the capital of the Upper
Province, in the early part of April. Indeed the communication of the
result of my reconnoitering operations, and the intelligence of the
successful invasion of York, and the firing of the new ship by the
enemy, were received almost simultaneously."
The Governor-in-Chief, Sir George Prevost, was blamed for having
permitted a frigate to be laid down in an unprotected position. There
was a "striking impropriety," as the Third Letter of _Veritas_, a
celebrated correspondent of the Montreal _Herald_ in 1815, points out,
"in building at York, without providing the means of security there, as
the works of defence, projected by General Brock, (when he contemplated,
before the war, the removal of the naval depot from Kingston to York, by
reason of the proximity of the former to the States in water by the
ice), were discontinued by orders from below, [from Sir George Prevost,
that is], and never resumed. The position intended to have been
fortified by General Brock, near York, was," _Veritas_ continues,
"capable of being made very strong, had his plan been executed; but as
it was not, nor any other plan of defence adopted, a ship-yard without
protection became an allurement to the enemy, as was felt to the cost of
the inhabitants of York."
In the year 1832, the interior of the Commissariat-store, decorated with
flags, was the scene of the first charitable bazaar held in these parts.
It was for the relief of distress occasioned by a recent visitation of
cholera. The enterprise appears to have been remarkably successful. We
have a notice of it in Sibbald's _Canadian Magazine_ of January, 1833,
in the following terms: "All the fashionable and well-disposed attended;
the band of the gallant 79th played, at each table stood a lady; and in
a very short time all the articles were sold to gentlemen,--who will
keep 'as the apple of their eye' the things made and presented by such
hands." The sum collected on the occasion, it is added, was three
hundred and eleven pounds.
Where Windsor Street now appears--with its grand iron gates at either
end, inviting or forbidding the entrance of the stranger to the prim,
quaint, self-contained little village of villas inside--formerly stood
the abode of Mr. John Beikie, whose tall, upright, staidly-moving form,
generally enveloped in a long snuff-coloured overcoat, was one of the
_dramatis personæ_ of York. He had been, at an early period, sheriff of
the Home District; at a later time his signature was familiar to every
eye, attached in the _Gazette_ to notices put forth by the Executive
Council of the day, of which rather aristocratic body he was the Clerk.
Passing westward, we had on the right the spacious home of Mr.
Crookshank, a benevolent and excellent man, sometime Receiver-General of
the Province, of whom we shall again have occasion to speak; and on the
left, on a promontory suddenly jutting out into the harbour, "Captain
Bonnycastle's cottage," with garden and picturesque grove attached; all
Ordnance property in reality, and once occupied by Col. Coffin. The
whole has now been literally eaten away by the ruthless tooth of the
steam excavator. On the beach to the west of this promontory was a much
frequented bathing-place. Captain Bonnycastle, just named, was
afterwards Sir Richard, and the author of "Canada as it was, is, and may
be," and "Canada and the Canadians in 1846."
The name "Peter," attached to the street which flanks on the west the
ancient homestead and extensive outbuildings of Mr. Crookshank, is a
memento of the president or administrator, Peter Russell. It led
directly up to Petersfield, Mr. Russell's park lot on Queen Street.
We come here to the western boundary of the so-called New Town--the
limit of the first important extension of York westward. The limit,
eastward, of the New Town, was a thoroughfare known in the former day as
Toronto Street, which was one street east of Yonge Street, represented
now by Victoria Street. At the period when the plan was designed for
this grand western and north-western suburb of York, Yonge Street was
not opened southward farther than Lot [Queen] Street. The roadway there
suddenly veered to the eastward, and then, after a short interval,
passed down Toronto Street, a roadway a little to the west of the
existing Victoria Street.
The tradition in Boston used to be, that some of the streets there
followed the line of accidental cow-paths formed in the olden time in
the uncleared bush; and no doubt other old American towns, like ancient
European towns generally, exhibit, in the direction of their
thoroughfares, occasionally, traces of casual circumstances in the
history of the first settlers on their respective sites. The practice at
later periods has been to make all ways run as nearly as possible in
right lines. In one or two "jogs" or irregularities, observable in the
streets of the Toronto of to-day, we have memorials of early waggon
tracks which ran where they most conveniently could. The slight
meandering of Front Street in its course from the garrison to the site
of the first Parliament Buildings, and of Britain Street, (an obscure
passage between George Street and Caroline Street), may be thus
explained; as also the fact that the southern end of the present
Victoria Street does not connect immediately with the present Toronto
Street. This last-mentioned irregularity is a relic of the time when the
great road from the north, namely, Yonge Street, on reaching Queen
Street, slanted off to the eastward across vacant lots and open ground,
making by the nearest and most convenient route for the market and the
heart of the town.
After the laying-out in lots of the region comprehended in the first
great expansion of York, of which we have spoken, inquiries were
instituted by the authorities as to the improvements made by the
holders of each. In the chart accompanying the report of Mr. Stegman,
the surveyor appointed to make the examination, the lots are coloured
according to the condition of each, and appended are the following
curious particulars, which smack somewhat of the ever-memorable
town-plot of Eden, to which Martin Chuzzlewit was induced to repair, and
which offered a lively picture of an infant metropolis in the rough. (We
must represent to ourselves a chequered diagram; some of the squares
white or blank; some tinted blue; some shaded black; the whole entitled
"Sketch of the Part of the Town of York west of Toronto
Street.")--"Explanation: The blank lots are cleared, agreeable to the
notice issued from His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, bearing date
September the fourth, 1800. The lots shaded blue are chiefly cut, but
the brush not burnt; and those marked with the letter A, the brush only
cut. The lots shaded black, no work done. The survey made by order of
the Surveyor-General's office, bearing date April the 23rd, 1801." A
more precise examination appears to have been demanded. The explanations
appended to the second plan, which has squares shaded brown, in addition
to those coloured blue and black, are: "1st. The blank lots are cleared.
2nd. The lots shaded black, _no work done_. 3rd. The lots shaded brown,
_the brush cut and burnt_. 4th. The lots shaded blue, _the brush cut and
not burnt_. N.B. The lots 1 and 2 on the north side of Newgate Street
[the site subsequently of the dwelling-house of Jesse Ketchum, of whom
hereafter], are mostly clear of the large timber, and some _brush cut_
also, but _not burnt_; therefore omitted in the first report. This
second examination done by order of the Honourable John Elmsley, Esq."
The second extension of York westward included the Government Common.
The staking out of streets here was a comparatively late event. Brock
Street, to which we have now approached, had its name, of course, from
the General officer slain at Queenston, and its extra width from the
example set in the Avenue to the north, into which it merges after
crossing Queen Street.
A little to the west of Brock Street was the old military
burying-ground, a clearing in the thick brushwood of the locality: of an
oblong shape, its four picketed sides directed exactly towards the four
cardinal points. The setting off of the neighbouring streets and lots at
a different angle, caused the boundary lines of this plot to run askew
to every other straight line in the vicinity. Over how many a now
forgotten and even obliterated grave have the customary farewell volleys
here been fired!--those final honours to the soldier, always so
touching; intended doubtless, in the old barbaric way, to be an
incentive to endurance in the sound and well; and consolatory in
anticipation to the sick and dying.
In the mould of this old cemetery, what a mingling from distant
quarters! Hearts finally at rest here, fluttered in their last beats,
far away, at times, to old familiar scenes "beloved in vain" long ago;
to villages, hedgerows, lanes, fields, in green England and Ireland, in
rugged Scotland and Wales. Many a widow, standing at an open grave here,
holding the hand of orphan boy or girl, has "wept her soldier dead," not
slain in the battle-field, indeed, but fallen, nevertheless, in the
discharge of duty, before one or other of the subtle assailants that,
even in times of peace, not unfrequently bring the career of the
military man to a premature close. Among the remains deposited in this
ancient burial-plot are those of a child of the first Governor of Upper
Canada, a fact commemorated on the exterior of the mortuary chapel over
his own grave in Devonshire, by a tablet on which are the words:
"Katharine, born in Upper Canada, 16th Jan., 1793; died and was buried
at York Town, in that Province, in 1794."
Close to the military burial-ground was once enacted a scene which might
have occurred at the obsequies of a Tartar chief in the days of old.
Capt. Battersby, sent out to take command of a Provincial corps, was the
owner of several fine horses, to which he was greatly attached. On his
being ordered home, after the war of 1812, friends and others began to
make offers for the purchase of the animals; but no; he would enter into
no treaty with any one on that score. What his decision was became
apparent the day before his departure from York. He then had his poor
dumb favourites led out by some soldiers to the vicinity of the
burying-ground; and there he caused each of them to be deliberately shot
dead. He did not care to entrust to the tender mercies of strangers, in
the future, those faithful creatures that had served him so well, and
had borne him whithersoever he listed, so willingly and bravely. The
carcasses were interred on the spot where the shooting had taken place.
Returning now again to Brock Street, and placing ourselves at the middle
point of its great width--immediately before us to the north, on the
ridge which bounds the view in the distance, we discern a white object.
This is Spadina House, from which the avenue into which Brock Street
passes, takes its name. The word Spadina itself is an Indian term
tastefully modified, descriptive of a sudden rise of land like that on
which the house in the distance stands. Spadina was the residence of Dr.
W. W. Baldwin, to whom reference has already been made. A liberal in his
political views, he nevertheless was strongly influenced by the feudal
feeling which was a second nature with most persons in the British
Islands some years ago. His purpose was to establish in Canada a family,
whose head was to be maintained in opulence by the proceeds of an
entailed estate. There was to be forever a Baldwin of Spadina.
It is singular that the first inheritor of the newly-established
patrimony should have been the statesman whose lot it was to carry
through the Legislature of Canada the abolition of the rights of
primogeniture. The son grasped more readily than the father what the
genius of the North American continent will endure, and what it will
not.
Spadina Avenue was laid out by Dr. Baldwin on a scale that would have
satisfied the designers of St. Petersburg or Washington. Its width is
one hundred and twenty feet. Its length from the water's edge to the
base of Spadina Hill would be nearly three miles. Garnished on both
sides by a double row of full grown chestnut trees, it would vie in
magnificence, when seen from an eminence, with the Long Walk at Windsor.
Eastward of Spadina House, on the same elevation of land, was Davenport,
the picturesque and chateau-like home of Col. Wells, formerly of the
43rd regiment, built at an early period. Col. Wells was a fine example
of the English officer, whom we so often see retiring from the camp
gracefully and happily into domestic life. A faithful portrait of him
exists, in which he wears the gold medal of Badajoz. His sons, natural
artists, and arbiters of taste, inherited, along with their æsthetic
gifts, also lithe and handsome persons. One of them, now, like his
father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the army, was highly distinguished in
the Crimea; and on revisiting Toronto after the peace with Russia, was
publicly presented with a sword of honour. The view of the Lake and
intervening forest, as seen from Davenport and Spadina, before the
cultivation of the alluvial plain below, was always fine. (On his
retirement from the army, the second Col. Wells took up his abode at
Davenport.)
[Illustration]
III.
FROM BROCK STREET TO THE OLD FRENCH FORT.
Returning again to the front. The portion of the Common that lies
immediately west of the foot of Brock Street was enclosed for the first
time and ornamentally planted by Mr. Jameson. Before his removal to
Canada, Mr. Jameson had filled a judicial position in the West Indies.
In Canada, he was successively Attorney-General and Vice-Chancellor, the
Chancellorship itself being vested in the Crown. The conversational
powers of Mr. Jameson were admirable: and no slight interest attached to
the pleasant talk of one who, in his younger days, had been the familiar
associate of Southey, Wordsworth, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In a
volume of poems by Hartley Coleridge, son of the philosopher, published
in 1833, the three sonnets addressed "To a Friend," were addressed to
Mr. Jameson, as we are informed in a note. We give the first of these
little poems at length:
"When we were idlers with the loitering rills,
The need of human love we little noted:
Our love was nature; and the peace that floated
On the white mist, and dwelt upon the hills,
To sweet accord subdued our wayward wills:
One soul was ours, one mind, one heart devoted,
That, wisely doating, asked not why it doated,
And ours the unknown joy, which knowing kills.
But now I find how dear thou wert to me;
That man is more than half of nature's treasure,
Of that fair Beauty which no eye can see,
Of that sweet music which no ear can measure;
And now the streams may sing for others' pleasure,
The hills sleep on in their eternity."
The note appended, which appears only in the first edition, is as
follows: "This sonnet, and the two following, my earliest attempts at
that form of versification, were addressed to R. S. Jameson, Esq., on
occasion of meeting him in London, after a separation of some years. He
was the favourite companion of my boyhood, the active friend and sincere
counsellor of my youth. 'Though seas between us broad ha' roll'd' since
we 'travelled side by side' last, I trust the sight of this little
volume will give rise to recollections that will make him ten years
younger. He is now Judge Advocate at Dominica, and husband of Mrs.
Jameson, authoress of the 'Diary of an Ennuyée,' 'Loves of the Poets,'
and other agreeable productions."
Mr. Jameson was a man of high culture and fine literary tastes. He was,
moreover, an amateur artist of no ordinary skill, as extant drawings of
his in water-colours attest. His countenance, especially in his old age,
was of the Jeremy Bentham stamp.
It was from the house on the west of Brock Street that Mrs. Jameson
dated the letters which constitute her well-known "Winter Studies and
Summer Rambles." That volume thus closes: "At three o'clock in the
morning, just as the moon was setting on Lake Ontario, I arrived at the
door of my own house in Toronto, having been absent on this wild
expedition [to the Sault] just two months." York had then been two years
Toronto. (For having ventured to pass down the rapids at the Sault, she
had been formally named by the Otchipways of the locality,
_Was-sa-je-wun-e-qua_, "Woman of the Bright Stream.")
The Preface to the American edition of Mrs. Jameson's "Characteristics
of Women" was also written here. In that Introduction we can detect a
touch due to the "wild expedition" just spoken of. "They say," she
observes, "that as a savage proves his heroism by displaying in grim
array the torn scalps of his enemies, so a woman thinks she proves her
virtue by exhibiting the mangled reputations of her friends:" a censure,
she adds, which is just, but the propensity, she explains, is wrongly
attributed to ill-nature and jealousy. "Ignorance," she proceeds, "is
the main cause; ignorance of ourselves and others; and when I have heard
any female acquaintance commenting with a spiteful or a sprightly levity
on the delinquencies and mistakes of their sex, I have only said to
myself, 'They know not what they do.'" "Here, then," the Preface
referred to concludes, "I present to women a little elementary manual or
introduction to that knowledge of woman, in which they may learn to
understand better their own nature; to judge more justly, more gently,
more truly of each other;
'And in the silent hour of inward thought
To still _suspect_, yet still _revere_ themselves
In lowliness of heart.'"
Mrs. Jameson was unattractive in person at first sight, although, as
could scarcely fail to be the case in one so highly endowed, her
features, separately considered, were fine and boldly marked.
Intellectually, she was an enchantress. Besides an originality and
independence of judgment on most subjects, and a facility in
generalizing and reducing thought to the form of a neat aphorism, she
had a strong and capacious memory, richly furnished with choice things.
Her conversation was consequently of the most fascinating kind.
She sang, too, in sweet taste, with a quiet softness, without display.
She sketched from nature with great elegance, and designed cleverly. The
seven or eight illustrations which appear in the American edition of the
"Characteristics," dated at Toronto, are etched by herself, and bear her
autograph, "Anna." The same is to be observed of the illustrations in
the English edition of her "Commonplace Book of Thoughts, Memories, and
Fancies;" and in her larger volumes on various Art-subjects. She had
super-eminently beautiful hands, which she always scrupulously guarded
from contract with the outer air.
Mrs. Jameson was a connoisseur in "hands," as we gather from her
Commonplace Book, just mentioned. She there says: "There are hands of
various character; the hand to catch, and the hand to hold; the hand to
clasp, and the hand to grasp; the hand that has worked, or could work,
and the hand that has never done anything but hold itself out to be
kissed, like that of Joanna of Arragon, in Raphael's picture." Her own
appeared to belong to the last-named class.
Though the merest trifles, we may record here one or two further
personal recollections of Mrs. Jameson; of her appreciation, for
example, of a very obvious quotation from Horace, to be appended to a
little sketch of her own, representing a child asleep, but in danger
from a serpent near; and of her glad acceptance of an out-of-the-way
scrap from the "Vanity of Arts and Sciences" of Cornelius Agrippa, which
proved the antiquity of _charivaries_. "Do you not know that the
intervention of a lady's hand is requisite to the finish of a young
man's education?" was a suggestive question drawn forth by some youthful
maladroitness. Another characteristic dictum, "Society is one vast
masquerade of manners," is remembered, as having been probably at the
time a new idea to ourselves in particular. The irrational
conventionalities of society she persistently sought to counteract, by
her words on suitable occasions, and by her example, especially in point
of dress, which did not conform to the customs in vogue.
Among the local characters relished by Mrs. Jameson in Canada was Mr.
Justice Hagerman, who added some of the bluntness of Samuel Johnson to
the physique of Charles James Fox. She set a high value on his talents,
although we have heard her, at once playfully and graphically, speak of
him as "that great mastiff, Hagerman." From Mrs. Jameson we learned that
"Gaytay" was a sufficient approximation in English to the pronunciation
of "Goethe." She had been intimately acquainted with the poet at Weimar.
In the Kensington Museum there is a bust, exceedingly fine, of Mrs.
Jameson, by the celebrated sculptor Gibson, executed by him, as the
inscription speaks, "in her honour." The head and countenance are of
course somewhat idealized; but the likeness is well retained. In the
small Boston edition of the "Legends of the Madonna" there is an
interesting portrait of Mrs. Jameson, giving her appearance when far
advanced in years.
Westward from the house and grounds whose associations have detained us
so long, the space that was known as the Government Common is now
traversed from south to north by two streets. Their names possess some
interest, the first of them being that of the Duke of Portland, Viceroy
of Ireland, Colonial Secretary, and three times Prime Minister in the
reign of George the Third; the other that of Earl Bathurst, Secretary
for the Colonies in George the Fourth's time.
Eastward of Bathurst Street, in the direction of the military
burying-ground, there was long marked out by a furrow in the sward the
ground-plan of a church. In 1830, the military chaplain, Mr. Hudson,
addressed to the commander of the forces a complaint "of the very great
inconvenience to which the troops are exposed in having to march so far
to the place of worship, particularly when the weather and roads are so
unfavourable during a greater part of the year in this country, the
distance from the Barracks to the Church being two miles:" adding, "In
June last, the roads were in such a state as to prevent the Troops from
attending Church for four successive Sundays." He then suggested "the
propriety of erecting a chapel on the Government reserve for the
accommodation of the Troops." The Horse Guards refused to undertake the
erection of a chapel here, but made a donation of one thousand pounds
towards the re-edification of St. James' Church, "on condition that
accommodation should be permanently provided for His Majesty's Troops."
The outline in the turf was a relic of Mr. Hudson's suggestion.
The line that defined the limit of the Government Common to the north
and east, (and west, of course, likewise), prior to its division into
building lots, was a portion of the circumference of a great circle, "of
a radius of a 1,000 yards, more or less," whose centre was the Fort. On
the old plans of York, acres of this great circle are traced, with two
interior concentric arcs, of radii respectively of eight and five
hundred yards.
We now soon arrive at the ravine of the "Garrison Creek." In the rivulet
below, for some distance up the valley, before the clearing away of the
woods, salmon used to be taken at certain seasons of the year. Crossing
the stream, and ascending to the arched gateway of the fort, (we are
speaking of it as it used to be), we pass between the strong
iron-studded portals, which are thrown back: we pass a sentry just
within the gate, and the guard-house on the left. At present we do not
tarry within the enclosure of the Fort. We simply glance at the
loopholed block-house on the one side, and the quarters of the men, the
officers, and the commandant on the other; and we hurry across the
gravelled area, recalling rapidly a series of spirit-stirring ordinal
numbers--40th, 41st, 68th, 79th, 42nd, 15th, 32nd, 1st--each suggestive
of a gallant assemblage at some time here; of a vigorous, finely
disciplined, ready-aye-ready group, that, like the successive
generations on the stage of human life, came and went just once, as it
were--as the years rolled on, and the eye saw them again no more.
We pass on through the western gate to the large open green space which
lies on the farther side. This is the Garrison Reserve. It bears the
same relation to the modern Toronto and the ancient York as the Plains
of Abraham do to Quebec. It was here that the struggle took place, in
the olden time, that led to the capture of the town. In both cases the
leader of the aggressive expedition "fell victorious." But the analogy
holds no further; as, in the case of the inferior conquest, the
successful power did not retain permanent possession.
The Wolfe's Cove--the landing-place of the invader--on the occasion
referred to, was just within the curve of the Humber Bay, far to the
west, where Queen Street now skirts the beach for a short distance and
then emerges on it. The intention had been to land more to the eastward,
but the vessels containing the hostile force were driven westward by the
winds.
The debarkation was opposed by a handful of Indians, under Major Givins.
The Glengary Fencibles had been despatched to aid in this service, but,
attempting to approach the spot by a back road, they lost their way. A
tradition exists that the name of the Grenadier's Pond, a lagoon a
little to the west, one of the ancient outlets of the waters of the
Humber, is connected with the disastrous bewilderment of a party of the
regular troops at this critical period. It is at the same time asserted
that the name "Grenadier's Pond" was familiar previously. At length
companies of the Eighth Regiment, of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment,
and of Incorporated Militia, made their appearance on the ground, and
disputed the progress inland of the enemy. After suffering severely,
they retired towards the Fort. This was the existing Fort. The result is
now matter of history, and need not be detailed. As portions of the
cliff have fallen away from time to time along the shore here, numerous
skeletons have been exposed to view, relics of friend and foe slain on
the adjacent common, where, also, military ornaments and fragments of
fire-arms, used frequently to be dug up. Some of the bones referred to,
however, may have been remains of early French and Indian traders.
The _Loyalist_ newspaper of May 9, 1829, published at York, speaks of
the re-interment on that day of the remains of an officer killed at the
battle of York. The article runs as follows:--"The late Capt.
McNeil.--It will be recollected by many of the inhabitants of York that
this officer fell while gallantly fighting at the head of his Company of
Grenadiers of the 8th Regiment, in defence of the place, on the morning
of the 27th of April, 1813. His remains which so eminently deserved
rites of honourable sepulture, were from unavoidable circumstances
consigned to earth by the hands of the enemy whom he was opposing, near
the spot where he fell, without any of those marks of distinction which
are paid to departed valour.
"The waters of the Lake," the _Loyalist_ then proceeds to say, "having
lately made great inroads upon the bank, and the grave being in danger
of being washed away, it may be satisfactory to his friends to learn,
that on these circumstances being made known to Major Winniett,
commanding the 68th Regiment at this Post, he promptly authorized the
necessary measures to be taken for removing the remains of Capt. McNeil,
and placing them in the Garrison Burial Ground, which was done this day.
A firing-party and the band attended on the occasion, and the remains
were followed to the place of interment by the officers of the Garrison,
and a procession of the inhabitants of the town and vicinity."
The site of the original French stockade, established here in the middle
of the last century, was nearly at the middle point between the
landing-place of the United States force in 1813, and the existing Fort.
West of the white cut-stone Barracks, several earthworks and grass-grown
excavations still mark the spot. These ruins, which we often visited
when they were much more extensive and conspicuous than they are now,
were popularly designated "The Old French Fort."
It is interesting to observe the probable process by which the
appellation "Toronto" came to be attached to the Trading-post here. Its
real name, as imposed by the French authorities, was Fort Rouillé, from
a French colonial minister of that name, in 1749-54. This we learn from
a despatch of M. de Longeuil, Governor-in-Chief of Canada in 1752. And
"Toronto," at that period, according to contemporaneous maps, denoted
Lake Simcoe and the surrounding region. Thus in Carver's Travels through
North America in 1766-8, in p. 172, we read, "On the north-west part of
this lake [Ontario], and to the south of Lake Huron, is a tribe of
Indians called the Mississagués, whose town is denominated Toronto, from
the lake [_i. e._ Lake Simcoe] on which it lies, but they are not very
numerous." This agrees with Lahontan's statements and map, in 1687.
What Carver says of the fewness of the native inhabitants is applicable
only to the state of things in his day. The fatal irruption of the
Iroquois from the south had then taken place, and the whole of the Lake
Simcoe or Toronto region had been made a desert. Before that irruption,
the peninsula included between Notawasaga Bay, Matchedash, or Sturgeon
Bay, the River Severn, Lake Couchichin and Lake Simcoe was a locality
largely frequented by native tribes. It was especially the head-quarters
of the Wyandots or Hurons. Villages, burial-grounds, and cultivated
lands abounded in it. Unusual numbers of the red men were congregated
there.
It was in short the place of meeting, the place of concourse, the
populous region, indicated by the Huron term Toronto.
In the form Toronton, the word Toronto is given by Gabriel Sagard in his
"Dictionnaire de la Langue Huronne," published at Paris in 1636.
With Sagard it is a kind of exclamation, signifying "Il y en a
beaucoup," and it is used in relation to men. He cites as an
example--"He has killed a number of S. (the initial of some hostile
tribe)." "Toronton S. ahouyo."
In the Vocabulary of Huron words at the end of Lahontan's second volume,
the term likewise appears, but with a prefix,--A-toronton,--and is
translated "Beaucoup." Sagard gives it with the prefix O, in the phrase
"O-toronton dacheniquoy," "J'en mange beaucoup."
We are not indeed to suppose that the Hurons employed the term Toronto
as a proper name. We know that the aborigines used for the most part no
proper names of places, in our sense of the word, their local
appellations being simply brief descriptions or allusion to incidents.
But we are to suppose that the early white men took notice of the
vocable Toronto, frequently and emphatically uttered by their red
companions, when pointing towards the Lake Simcoe region, or when
pressing on in canoe or on foot, to reach it.
Accordingly, at length, the vocable Toronto is caught up by the white
voyageurs, and adopted as a local proper name in the European sense:
just as had been the case already with the word Canada. ("Kanata" was a
word continually heard on the lips of the red men in the Lower St.
Lawrence, as they pointed to the shore; they simply meant to
indicate--"Yonder are our wigwams;" but the French mariners and others
took the expression to be a geographical name for the new region which
they were penetrating. And such it has become.)
We can now also see how it came to pass that the term Toronto was
attached to a particular spot on the shore of Lake Ontario. The mouth of
the Humber, or rather a point on the eastern side of the indentation
known as Humber Bay, was the landing place of hunting parties, trading
parties, war-parties, on their way to the populous region in the
vicinity of Lake Simcoe. Here they disembarked for the tramp to Toronto.
This was a Toronto landing-place for wayfarers bound to the district in
the interior where there were crowds. And gradually the starting-place
took the name of the goal. The style and title of the terminus _ad quem_
were usurped by the terminus _à quo_.
Thus likewise it happened that the stockaded trading-post established
near the landing on the indentation of Humber Bay came to be popularly
known as Fort Toronto, although its actual, official name was Fort
Rouillé.
In regard to the signification which by some writers has been assigned
to the word Toronto, of "trees rising out of the water"--we think the
interpretation has arisen from a misunderstanding of language used by
Indian canoe-men.
Indian canoe-men in coasting along the shore of Lake Ontario from the
east or west, would, we may conceive, naturally point to "the trees
rising out of the water," the pines and black poplars looming up from
the Toronto island or peninsula, as a familiar land-mark by which they
knew the spot where they were to disembark for the "populous region to
the north." The white men mixing together in their heads the description
of the landmark and the district where, as they were, emphatically told,
there were crowds, made out of the expressions "trees rising out of the
water," and "Toronto," convertible terms, which they were not.
As to the idea to which Capt. Bonnycastle gave currency, by recording it
in one of his books on Canada, that Toronto, or Tarento, was possibly
the name of an Italian engineer concerned in the construction of the
fort,--it is sufficient to reply that we know what the official name of
the Fort was: it was Fort Rouillé. Sorel, and Chambly, and it may be,
other places in Canada, derived their names from officers in the French
service. But nothing to be found in the early annals of the country
gives any countenance to Capt. Bonnycastle's derivation. It was probably
a mere after-dinner conversational conjecture, and it ought never to
have been gravely propounded.
We meet with Toronto under several different forms, in the French and
English documents; but the variety has evidently arisen from the
attempts of men of different degrees of literary capacity and
qualification, to represent, each as he best could, a native vocable
which had not been long reduced to writing. The same variety, and from
the same cause, occurs in a multitude of other aboriginal terms.
The person who first chanced to write down Toronto as Tarento was
probably influenced by some previous mental familiarity with the name of
an old Italian town; just as he who first startled Europeans by the
announcement that one of the Iroquois nations was composed of Senecas,
was doubtless helped to the familiar-looking term which he adopted, by a
thought of the Roman stoic. (Pownall says Seneca is properly Sen-aga,
"the farther people," that is in relation to the New England Indians;
while Mohawk is Mo-aga, "the hither people." Neither of the terms was
the name borne by the tribe. According to the French rendering, the
Mo-agas were Agniés; the Sen-agas Tsonnontouans.)
The chivalrous and daring La Salle must have rested for a moment at the
Toronto Landing. In his second expedition to the West, in 1680, he made
his way from Fort Frontenac to Michilimackinac by the portage from the
mouth of what is now the Humber to Lake Huron, accompanied by a party of
twenty-four men.
In the preceding year he had penetrated to the Mississippi by the Lake
Erie route. But then also some of his company unexpectedly found
themselves in close proximity to Toronto. The Franciscan Friar,
Hennepin, sent forward by La Salle from Fort Frontenac with seventeen
men, was compelled by stress of weather, while coasting along the north
side of Lake Ontario, to take shelter in the Humber river. It was then
the 26th of Nov. (1678); and here he was delayed until the 5th of
December. Hennepin speaks of the place of his detention as Taiaiagon: a
word erroneously taken to be a local proper name. It means as we are
assured by one formerly familiar with the native Indians, simply a
Portage or Landing-place. So that there were numerous Taiaiagons. One is
noted in particular, situated, the _Gazetteer_ of 1799 says, "half way
between York and the head of the Bay of Quinté:" probably where Port
Hope now stands. It is marked in the old French maps in that position.
(On one of them a track is drawn from it to "Lac Taronthé;" that is to
the chain of Lakes leading north-westerly to Lake Toronto, _i. e._ Lake
Simcoe.) The Taiaiagon of Hennepin is stated by him to be "at the
farther end of Lake Ontario," and "about seventy leagues from Fort
Frontenac:" too far, of course. Again: the distance from Taiaiagon to
the mouth of the Niagara river, is made by him to be fifteen or sixteen
leagues; also too far, if Toronto is the site of his Taiaiagon.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
IV.
FROM THE GARRISON BACK TO THE PLACE OF BEGINNING.
We now enter again the modern Fort; passing back through the western
gate. On our right we have the site of the magazine which so fatally
exploded in 1813; we learn from Gen. Sheaffe's despatch to Sir George
Prevost, that it was "in the western battery."
In close proximity to the magazine was the Government House of the day,
an extensive rambling cluster of one-storey buildings; all "riddled" or
shattered to pieces by the concussion, when the explosion took place.
The ruin that thus befel the Governor's residence led, on the
restoration of peace, to the purchase of Chief Justice Elmsley's house
on King street, and its conversion into "Government House."
From the main battery, which (including a small semi-circular bastion
for the venerable flag-staff of the Fort) extends along the brow of the
palisaded bank, south of the parade, the royal salutes, resounding down
and across the lake, used to be fired on the arrival and departure of
the Lieutenant-Governor, and at the opening and closing of the
Legislature.
From the south-eastern bastion, overlooking the ravine below, a
twelve-pounder was discharged every day at noon. "The twelve-o'clock
gun," when discontinued, was long missed with regret.
At the time of the invasion of Canada in 1812, the garrison of York was
manned by the 3rd regiment of York militia. We have before us a relic of
the period, in the form of the contemporary regimental order-book of the
Fort. An entry of the 29th of July, 1812, showing the approach of
serious work, has an especial local interest. "In consequence of an
order from Major-General Brock, commanding the forces, for a detachment
of volunteers, under the command of Major Allan, to hold themselves in
readiness to proceed in batteaux from the Head of the Lake to-morrow at
2 o'clock, the following officers, non-commissioned officers and
privates will hold themselves in readiness to proceed at 2 o'clock, for
the purpose of being fitted with caps, blankets and haversacks, as well
as to draw provisions. On their arrival at the Head of the Lake,
regimental coats and canteens will be ready to be issued to them." The
names are then given. "Capt. Heward, Lieut. Richardson, Lieut. Jarvis,
Lieut. Robinson. Sergeants Knott, Humberstone, Bond, Bridgeford."
In view of the test to which the citizen-soldiers were about to be
subjected, the General, like a good officer, sought by judicious praise,
to inspire them with self-confidence. "Major-General Brock," the
order-book proceeds, "has desired me (Captain Stephen Heward) to
acquaint the detachment under my command, of his high approbation of
their orderly conduct and good discipline while under arms: that their
exercise and marching far exceeded any that he had seen in the Province.
And in particular he directed me to acquaint the officers how much he is
pleased with their appearance in uniform and their perfect knowledge of
their duty."
On the 13th of August, we learn from other sources, Brock was on the
Western Frontier with 700 soldiers, including the volunteers from York,
and 600 Indians; and on the 16th the old flag was waving from the
fortress of Detroit; but, on the 13th October, the brave General, though
again a victor in the engagement, was himself a lifeless corpse on the
slopes above Queenston; and, in April of the following year, York, as we
have already seen, was in the hands of the enemy. Such are the ups and
downs of war. It is mentioned that "Push on the York Volunteers!" was
the order issuing from the lips of the General, at the moment of the
fatal shot. From the order-book referred to, we learn that "Toronto" was
the parole or countersign of the garrison on the 23rd July, 1812.
The knoll on the east side of the Garrison Creek was covered with a
number of buildings for the accommodation of troops, in addition to the
barracks within the fort. Here also stood a block-house. Eastward were
the surgeon's quarters, overhanging the bay; and further eastward
still, were the commandant's quarters, a structure popularly known, by
some freak of military language, as Lambeth Palace. Here for a time
resided Major-General Æneas Shaw, afterwards the owner and occupant of
Oak Hill.
On the beach below the knoll, there continued to be, for a number of
years, a row of cannon dismounted, duly spiked and otherwise disabled,
memorials of the capture in 1813, when these guns were rendered useless
by the regular troops before their retreat to Kingston. The pebbles on
the shore about here were also plentifully mixed with loose canister
shot, washed up by the waves, after their submersion in the bay on the
same occasion.
From the little eminence just referred to, along the edge of the cliff,
ran a gravel walk, which led first to the Guard House over the
Commissariat Stores, in a direct line, with the exception of a slight
divergence occasioned by "Capt. Bonnycastle's cottage;" and then
eastward into the town. Where ravines occurred, cut in the drift by
water-courses into the bay, the gulf was spanned by a bridge of hewn
logs. This walk, kept in order for many years by the military
authorities, was the representative of the path first worn bare by the
soft tread of the Indian. From its agreeableness, overlooking as it did,
through its whole length the Harbour and Lake, this walk gave birth to
the idea, which became a fixed one in the minds of the early people of
the place, that there was to be in perpetuity, in front of the whole
town, a pleasant promenade, on which the burghers and their families
should take the air and disport themselves generally.
The Royal Patent by which this sentimental walk is provided for and
decreed, issued on the 14th day of July, in the year 1818, designates it
by the interesting old name of Mall, and nominates "John Beverley
Robinson, William Allan, George Crookshank, Duncan Cameron and Grant
Powell, all of the town of York, Esqs., their heirs and assigns forever,
as trustees to hold the same for the use and benefit of the
inhabitants." Stretching from Peter Street in the west to the Reserve
for Government Buildings in the east, of a breadth varying between four
and five chains, following the line of Front Street on the one side, and
the several turnings and windings of the bank on the other, the area of
land contained in this Mall was "thirty acres, more or less, with
allowance for the several cross streets leading from the said town to
the water." The paucity of open squares in the early plans of York may
be partly accounted for by this provision made for a spacious Public
Walk.
While the archæologist must regret the many old landmarks which were
ruthlessly shorn away in the construction of the modern Esplanade, he
must, nevertheless, contemplate with never-ceasing admiration that great
and laudable work. It has done for Toronto what the Thames embankment
has effected for London. Besides vast sanitary advantages accruing, it
has created space for the erection of a new front to the town. It has
made room for a broad promenade some two or three miles in length, not,
indeed, of the _far niente_ type, but with double and treble railway
tracks abreast of itself, all open to the deep water of the harbour on
one side, and flanked almost throughout the whole length on the other,
by a series of warehouses, mills, factories and depôts, destined to
increase every year in importance. The sights and sounds every day,
along this combination of roadways and its surroundings, are unlike
anything dreamt of by the framers of the old Patent of 1818. But it
cannot be said that the idea contained in that document has been wholly
departed from: nay, it must be confessed that it has been grandly
realized in a manner and on a scale adapted to the requirements of these
latter days.
For some time, Front Street, above the Esplanade, continued to be a
raised terrace, from which pleasant views and fresh lake air could be
obtained; and attempts were made, at several points along its southern
verge, to establish a double row of shade trees, which should recall in
future ages the primitive oaks and elms which overlooked the margin of
the harbour. But soon the erection of tall buildings on the newly-made
land below, began to shut out the view and the breezes, and to
discourage attempts at ornamentation by the planting of trees.
It is to regretted, however, that the title of Mall has not yet been
applied to some public walk in the town. Old-world sounds like
these--reeve, warden, provost, recorder, House of Commons, railway, (not
_road_), dugway, mall--like the chimes in some of our towers, and the
sung-service in some of our churches--help, in cases where the
imagination is active, to reconcile the exile from the British Islands
to his adopted home, and even to attach him to it. Incorporated into our
common local speech, and so perpetuated, they may also be hereafter
subsidiary mementoes of our descent as a people, when all connection,
save that of history, with the ancient home of our forefathers, will
have ceased.
In 1804, there were "Lieutenants of Counties" in Upper Canada. The
following gentlemen were, in 1804, "Lieutenants of Counties" for the
Counties attached to their respective names. We take the list from the
_Upper Canada Almanac_ for 1804, published at York by John Bennett. The
office and title of County-Lieutenant do not appear to have been kept
up: "John Macdonell, Esq., Glengary; William Fortune, Esq., Prescott;
Archibald Macdonell, Esq., Stormont; Hon. Richard Duncan, Esq., Dundas;
Peter Drummond, Esq., Grenville; James Breakenridge, Esq., Leeds; Hon.
Richard Cartwright, Esq., Frontenac; Hazelton Spencer, Esq., Lenox;
William Johnson, Esq., Addington; John Ferguson, Esq., Hastings;
Archibald Macdonell, Esq., of Marysburg, Prince Edward; Alexander
Chisholm, Esq., Northumberland; Robert Baldwin, Esq., Durham; Hon. David
William Smith, Esq., York; Hon. Robert Hamilton, Esq., Lincoln; Samuel
Ryerse, Esq., Norfolk; William Claus, Esq., Oxford; (Middlesex is
vacant); Hon. Alexander Grant, Esq., Essex; Hon. James Baby, Esq.,
Kent."
Another old English term in use in the Crown Lands Office of Ontario, if
not generally, is "Domesday Book." The record of grants of land from the
beginning of the organization of Upper Canada is entitled "Domesday
Book." It consists now of many folio volumes.
The gravelled path from the Fort to the Commissariat Stores, as
described above, in conjunction with a parallel track for wheels along
the cliff all the way to the site of the Parliament Buildings, suggested
in 1822 the restoration of a carriage-drive to the Island, which had
some years previously existed. This involved the erection or rather
re-erection of bridges over the lesser and greater Don, to enable the
inhabitants of York to reach the long lines of lake beach, extending
eastward to Scarborough Heights and westward to Gibraltar Point.
All the old accounts of York in the topographical dictionaries of "sixty
years since," spoke of the salubriousness of the peninsula which formed
the harbour. Even the aborigines, it was stated, had recourse to that
spot for sanative purposes. All this was derived from the article in D.
W. Smith's Gazetteer, which sets forth that "the long beach or
peninsula, which affords a most delightful ride, is considered so
healthy by the Indians, that they resort to it whenever indisposed."
So early as 1806 a bridge or float had been built over the mouth of the
Don. In the _Gazette_ of June 18, in that year, we have the notice: "It
is requested that no person will draw sand or pass with loaded waggons
or carts over the new Bridge or Float at the opening of the Don River,
as this source of communication was intended to accommodate the
inhabitants of the town in a walk or ride to the Island. York, 13th
June, 1806."
In a MS. map of this portion of the vicinity of York, dated 1811, the
road over the float is marked "Road from York to the Lighthouse." In
this map, the lesser Don does not appear. A pond or inlet represents it,
stretching in from the bay to the river. A bridge spans the inlet. There
is a bridge also over the ravine, through which flows the rivulet by the
Parliament Buildings.
Health, however, was not the sole object of all these arrangements. A
race-course had been laid out on the sandy neck of land connecting the
central portion of the peninsula with the main shore. Here races were
periodically held; and we have been assured, by an eye-witness, that
twelve fine horses at a time had been seen by him engaged in the contest
of speed. The hippodrome in question was not a ring, but a long straight
level stadium, extending from the southern end of the second bridge to
the outer margin of the lake.
When invasion was threatened in 1812, all the bridges in the direction
of the Island were taken down. An earthwork was thrown up across the
narrow ridge separating the last long reach of the Don from the Bay; and
in addition, a trench was cut across the same ridge. This cut, at first
insignificant, became ultimately by a natural process the lesser Don, a
deep and wide outlet, a convenient short-cut for skiffs and canoes from
the Bay to the Don proper, and from the Don proper to the Bay.
On the return of peace, the absence of bridges, and the existence, in
addition, of a second formidable water-filled moat, speedily began to be
matters of serious regret to the inhabitants of York, who found
themselves uncomfortably cut off from easy access to the peninsula. From
the _Gazette_ of April 15, 1822, we learn that "a public subscription
among the inhabitants had been entered into, to defray the expense of
erecting two bridges on the River Don, leading from this town towards
the south, to the Peninsula." And subjoined are the leading names of
the place, guaranteeing various sums, in all amounting to £108 5s. The
timber was presented by Peter Robinson, Esq., M.P.P. The estimated
expense of the undertaking was £325. The following names appear for
various sums--fifty, twenty, ten, five and two dollars--Major Hillier,
Rev. Dr. Strachan, Hon. J. H. Dunn, Hon. James Baby, Mr. Justice
Boulton, John Small, Henry Boulton, Col. Coffin, Thomas Ridout, sen., W.
Allen, Grant Powell, Samuel Ridout, J. S. Baldwin, S. Heward, James E.
Small, Chas. Small, S. Washburn, J. B. Macaulay, G. Crookshank, A.
Mercer, George Boulton, Thomas Taylor, Joseph Spragge, George Hamilton,
R. E. Prentice, A. Warffe, W. B. Jarvis, B. Turquand, John Denison,
sen., George Denison, John and George Monro, Henry Drean, Peter
McDougall, Geo. Duggan, James Nation, Thomas Bright, W. B. Robinson, J.
W. Gamble, William Proudfoot, Jesse Ketchum, D. Brooke, jun., R. C.
Henderson, David Stegman, L. Fairbairn, Geo. Playter, Joseph Rogers,
John French, W. Roe, Thomas Sullivan, John Hay, J. Biglow, John Elliot.
On the strength of the sums thus promised, an engineer, Mr. E. Angell,
began the erection of the bridge over the Greater Don. The _Gazette_
before us reports that it was being constructed "with hewn timbers, on
the most approved _European_ principle." (There is point in the
italicised word: it hints the impolicy of employing United States
engineers for such works). The paper adds that "the one bridge over the
Great Don, consisting of five arches, is in a forward state; and the
other, of one arch, over the Little Don, will be completed in or before
the month of July next, when this line of road will be opened." It is
subjoined that "subscriptions will continue to be received by A. Mercer,
Esq., J. Dennis, York, and also by the Committee, Thomas Bright, William
Smith and E. Angell."
By the _Weekly Register_ of June 19, in the following year, it appears
that the engineer, in commencing the bridge before the amount of its
cost was guaranteed, had calculated without his host; and, as is usually
the case with those who draw in advance on the proceeds of a supposed
public enthusiam, had been brought into difficulties. We accordingly
find that "on Friday evening last, pursuant to public notice given in
the _Upper Canada Gazette_, a meeting of the subscribers, and other
inhabitants of the town of York, was held at the house of Mr. Phair, in
the Market-place, for the purpose of taking into consideration the
circumstances in which the engineer had been placed by constructing a
bridge, the charge of which was to be defrayed by voluntary
subscription, over the mouth of the river Don."
Resolutions were passed on the occasion, approving of Mr. Angell's
proceedings, and calling for additional donations. A new committee was
now appointed, consisting of H. J. Boulton, Esq., Dr. Widmer, S. Heward,
Esq., Charles Small, Esq., and Allan McNab, Esq.--The editor of the
_Weekly Register_ (Fothergill) thus notices the meeting: "It is
satisfactory to find that there is at length some probability of the
bridge over the Don in this vicinity being completed. We are,
ourselves," the writer of the article proceeds to say, "the more anxious
on this account, from the hope there is reason to entertain that these
and other improvements in the neighbourhood will eventually lead to a
draining of the great marsh at the east end of this town; for until that
is done, it is utterly impossible that the place can be healthy at all
seasons of the year. The public are not sufficiently impressed with the
alarming insalubrity of such situations. We beg to refer our readers,"
the editor of the _Register_ then observes, "to a very interesting
letter from Dr. Priestly to Sir John Pringle in the Philosophical
Transactions for 1777; and another from Dr. Price to Dr. Horsley in the
same work in 1774; both on this subject, which throw considerable light
upon it." And it is added, "We have it in contemplation to republish
these letters in this work, as being highly interesting to many persons,
and applicable to various situations in this country, but particularly
to the neighbourhood of York."
The desired additional subscriptions do not appear to have come in. The
works at the mouth of the Don proper were brought to a stand-still. The
bridge over the Lesser Don was not commenced. Thus matters remained for
the long interval of ten years. Every inhabitant of York, able to
indulge in the luxury of a carriage, or a saddle horse, or given to
extensive pedestrian excursions, continued to regret the
inaccessibleness of the peninsula. Especially among the families of the
military, accustomed to the surroundings of sea-coast towns at home, did
the desire exist, to be able, at will, to take a drive, or a canter, or
a vigorous constitutional, on the sands of the peninsula, where, on the
one hand, the bold escarpments in the distance to the eastward, on the
other, the ocean-like horizon, and immediately in front the long rollers
of surf tumbling in, all helped to stir recollections of (we will
suppose) Dawlish or Torquay.
In 1834, through the intervention of Sir John Colborne, and by means of
a subsidy from the military chest, the works on both outlets of the Don
were re-commenced. In 1835 the bridges were completed. On the 22nd of
August in that year they were handed over by the military authorities to
the town, now no longer York, but Toronto.
Some old world formalities were observed on the occasion. The civic
authorities approached the new structure in procession; a barricade at
the first bridge arrested their progress. A guard stationed there also
forbade further advance. The officer in command, Capt. Bonnycastle,
appears, and the Mayor and Corporation are informed that the two bridges
before them are, by the command of the Lieutenant-Governor, presented to
them as a free gift, for the benefit of the inhabitants, that they may
in all time to come be enabled to enjoy the salubrious air of the
peninsula; the only stipulation being that the bridges should be free of
toll forever to the troops, stores, and ordnance of the sovereign.
The mayor, who, as eye-witnesses report, was arrayed in an official robe
of purple velvet lined with scarlet, read the following reply: "Sir--On
the part of His Majesty's faithful and loyal city of Toronto, I receive
at your hands the investiture of these bridges, erected by command of
His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, and now delivered to the
Corporation for the benefit and accommodation of the citizens. In the
name of the Common Council and the citizens of Toronto, I beg you to
convey to His Excellency the grateful feelings with which this new
instance of the bounty of our most gracious sovereign is received; and I
take this occasion on behalf of the city to renew our assurances of
loyalty and attachment to His Majesty's person and government, and to
pray, through His Excellency, a continuance of royal favour towards this
city. I have, on the part of the corporation and citizens, to request
you to assure His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor that His
Excellency's desire and generous exertions for the health and welfare of
the inhabitants of this city are duly and gratefully appreciated; and I
beg you to convey to His Excellency the best wishes of myself and my
fellow-citizens for the health and happiness of His Excellency and
family. Permit me, Sir, for myself and brethren, to thank you for the
very handsome and complimentary manner in which you have carried His
Excellency's commands into execution."
"Immediately," the narrative of the ceremonial continues, "the band, who
were stationed on the bridge, struck up the heart-stirring air, 'God
save the King,' during the performance of which the gentlemen of the
Corporation, followed by a large number of the inhabitants, passed
uncovered over the bridge. Three cheers were then given respectively for
the King, for His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, for the Mayor and
Council of the City of Toronto, and for Capt. Bonnycastle. The
gentlemanly and dignified manner in which both the addresses were read
did credit to the gentlemen on whom these duties devolved; and the good
order and good humour that prevailed among the spectators present were
exceedingly gratifying."
We take this account from the Toronto _Patriot_ of August 28th, 1835,
wherein it is copied from the _Christian Guardian_. Mr. R. B. Sullivan,
the official representative of the city on the occasion just described,
was the second mayor of Toronto. He was afterwards one of the Judges of
the Court of Common Pleas.
The bridges thus ceremoniously presented and received had a short-lived
existence. They were a few years afterwards, seriously damaged during
the breaking up of the ice, and then carried away bodily in one of the
spring freshets to which the Don is subject.
The peninsula in front of York was once plentifully stocked with goats,
the offspring of a small colony established by order of Governor Hunter,
at Gibraltar Point, for the sake, for one thing, of the supposed
salutary nature of the whey of goat's milk. These animals were dispersed
during the war of 1812-13. Governor Hunter may have taken the idea of
peopling the island at York with goats from what was to be seen, at an
early day, on Goat Island, adjoining the Falls of Niagara. A multitude
of goats ran at large there, the descendants of a few reared originally
by one Stedman, an English soldier, who, on escaping a massacre of his
comrades in the neighbourhood of what is now Lewiston, at the hands of
the Iroquois, soon after the conquest of the country, fled thither, and
led, to the end of his days, a Robinson-Crusoe-kind of life.
[Illustration]
V.
KING STREET, FROM JOHN STREET TO YONGE STREET.
After our long stroll westward, we had purposed returning to the place
of beginning by the route which constitutes the principal thoroughfare
of the modern Toronto; but the associations connected with the primitive
pathway on the cliff overlooking the harbour, led us insensibly back
along the track by which we came.
In order that we may execute our original design, we now transport
ourselves at once to the point where we had intended to begin our
descent of King Street. That point was the site of a building now wholly
taken out of the way--the old General Hospital. Farther west on this
line of road there was no object possessing any archæological interest.
The old Hospital was a spacious, unadorned, matter-of-fact, two-storey
structure, of red brick, one hundred and seven feet long, and sixty-six
feet wide. It had, by the direction of Dr. Grant Powell, as we have
heard, the peculiarity of standing with its sides precisely east and
west, north and south. At a subsequent period, it consequently had the
appearance of having being jerked round bodily, the streets in the
neighbourhood not being laid out with the same precise regard to the
cardinal points. The building exhibited recessed galleries on the north
and south sides, and a flattish hipped roof. The interior was
conveniently designed.
In the fever wards here, during the terrible season of 1847, frightful
scenes of suffering and death were witnessed among the newly-arrived
emigrants; here it was that, in ministering to them in their distress,
so many were struck down, some all but fatally, others wholly so;
amongst the latter several leading medical men, and the Roman Catholic
Bishop, Power.
When the Houses of Parliament, at the east end of the town, were
destroyed by fire in 1824, the Legislature assembled for several
sessions in the General Hospital.
The neighbourhood hereabout had an open, unoccupied look in 1822. In a
_Weekly Register_ of the 25th of April of that year, we have an account
of the presentation of a set of colours to a militia battalion, mustered
for the purpose on the road near the Hospital. "Tuesday, the 23rd
instant," the _Register_ reports, "being the anniversary of St. George,
on which it has been appointed to celebrate His Majesty's birthday,
George IV., [instead of the 4th of June, the fête of the late King,] the
East and West Regiments, with Capt. Button's Troop of Cavalry, which are
attached to the North York Regiment, on the right, were formed in line
at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, on the road in front of the
Government House, and a Guard of Honour, consisting of 100 rank and file
from each regiment, with officers and sergeants in proportion, under the
command of Lieut.-Col. FitzGibbon, were formed at a short distance in
front of the centre, as the representatives of the militia of the
Province, in order to receive the rich and beautiful Colours which His
Majesty has been graciously pleased to command should be prepared for
the late incorporated Battalion, as an honourable testimony of the high
sense which His Majesty has been pleased to entertain of the zeal and
gallantry of the militia of Upper Canada."
The _Register_ then proceeds: "At 12 o'clock, a Royal Salute was fired
from the Garrison, and the Lieutenant-Governor with his staff having
arrived on the ground, proceeded to review the widely-extended line;
after which, taking his station in front of the whole, the band struck
up the nation anthem of 'God save the King.' His Excellency then
dismounted, and accompanied by his staff, on foot, approached the Guard
of Honour, so near as to be distinctly heard by the men; when,
uncovering himself, and taking one of the Colours in his hand, in the
most dignified and graceful manner, he presented them to the proper
officer, with the following address:--"Soldiers! I have great
satisfaction in presenting you, as the representatives of the late
incorporated Battalion, with these Colours--a distinguished mark of His
Majesty's approbation. They will be to you a proud memorial of the past,
and a rallying-point around which you will gather with alacrity and
confidence, should your active services be required hereafter by your
King and Country.'--His Excellency having remounted, the Guard of Honour
marched with band playing and Colours flying, from right to left, in
front of the whole line, and then proceeded to lodge their Colours at
the Government House."
"The day was raw and cold," it is added, "and the ground being very wet
and uneven, the men could neither form nor march with that precision
they would otherwise have exhibited. We were very much pleased, however,
with the soldier-like appearance of the Guard of Honour, and we were
particularly struck by the new uniform of the officers of the West York,
as being particularly well-adapted for the kind of warfare incident to a
thickly-wooded country. Even at a short distance it would be difficult
to distinguish the gray coat or jacket from the bole of a tree. There
was a very full attendance on the field; and it was peculiarly
gratifying to observe so much satisfaction on all sides. The Colours,
which are very elegant, are inscribed with the word Niagara, to
commemorate the services rendered by the Incorporated Battalion on that
frontier; and we doubt not that the proud distinction which attends
these banners will always serve to excite the most animating
recollections, whenever it shall be necessary for them to wave over the
heads of our Canadian Heroes, actually formed in battle-array against
the invaders of our Country. At 2 o'clock His Excellency held a Levee,
and in the evening a splendid Ball at the Government House concluded the
ceremonies and rejoicings of the day." The Lieut. Governor on this
occasion was Sir Peregrine Maitland, of whom fully hereafter.
The building on King Street known as "Government House" was originally
the private residence of Chief Justice Elmsley. For many years after its
purchase by the Government it was still styled "Elmsley House." As at
Quebec, the correspondence of the Governor-in-Chief was dated from the
"Château St. Louis," or the "Castle of St. Louis," so here, that of the
Lieutenant-Governor of the Western Province was long dated from "Elmsley
House." Mr. Elmsley was a brother of the celebrated classical critic and
editor, Peter Elmsley, of Oxford. We shall have occasion frequently to
speak of him.
On the left, opposite Government House, was a very broken piece of
ground, denominated "Russell Square;" afterwards, through the
instrumentality of Sir John Colborne, converted into a site for an
educational Institution. Sir John Colborne, on his arrival in Upper
Canada, was fresh from the Governorship of Guernsey, one of the Channel
Islands. During his administration there he had revived a decayed Public
School, at present known as Elizabeth College. Being of opinion that the
new country to which he had been transferred was not ripe for a
University on the scale contemplated in a royal Charter which had been
procured, he addressed himself to the establishment of an institution
which should meet the immediate educational wants of the community.
Inasmuch as in the School which resulted--or "Minor College" as it was
long popularly called--we have a transcript, more or less close, of the
institution which Sir John Colborne had been so recently engaged in
reviving, we add two or three particulars in regard to the latter, which
may have, with some, a certain degree of interest, by virtue of the
accidental but evident relation existing between the two institutions.
From a paper in Brayley's Graphic and Historical Illustrator (1834), we
gather that Elizabeth College, Guernsey, was originally called the
"School of Queen Elizabeth," as having been founded under Letters Patent
from that sovereign in 1563, to be a "Grammar-school in which the youth
of the Island (_juventus_) may be better instructed in good learning and
virtue." The temple or church of the suppressed Order of Gray Friars
(Friars minors or Cordeliers), with its immediate precincts, was
assigned for its "use," together with "eighty quarters of wheat rent,"
accruing from lands in different parts of the Island, which had been
given to the friars for dispensations, masses, obits, &c. By the
statutes of 1563 the school was divided into six classes; and books and
exercises were appointed respectively for each, the scholars to be
admitted being required "to read perfectly, and to recite an approved
catechism of the Christian religion by heart."
In all the six classes the Latin and Greek languages were the primary
objects of instruction; but the Statutes permitted the master, at his
discretion, "to add something of his own;" and even "to concede
something for writing, singing, arithmetic, and a little play." For more
than two centuries the school proved of little public utility. In 1799
there was one pupil on the establishment. In 1816 there were no
scholars. From that date to 1824 the number fluctuated from 15 to 29. In
1823, Sir John Colborne appointed a committee to investigate all the
circumstances connected with the school, and to ascertain the best mode
of assuring its future permanent efficiency and prosperity, without
perverting the intention of the foundress. The end of all this was a new
building (figured in Brayley) at a cost of £14,754 2_s._ 3_d._; the
foundation-stone being laid by Sir John in 1826. On August the 20th,
1829, the revived institution was publicly opened, with one hundred and
twenty pupils. "On that day," we are told, "the Bailiff and Jurats of
the Island, with General Ross, the Lieutenant-Governor [Sir John
Colborne was now in Canada], his staff, and the public authorities,
headed by a procession consisting of the Principal, Vice-Principal, and
other masters and tutors of the school (together with the scholars),
repaired to St. Peter's Church, where prayers were read by the Dean, Dr.
Durand, and _Te Deum_ and other anthems were sung. They then returned to
the College, where, in the spacious Examination Hall, a crowded assembly
were addressed respectively by the Bailiff and President-director
[Daniel de Lisle Brock, Esq.], Colonel de Havilland, the Vice-President,
and the Rev. G. Proctor, B.D., the new Principal, on the antiquity,
objects, apparent prospects, and future efficiency of the institution."
Under the new system the work of education was carried on by a
Principal, Vice-Principal, a First and Second Classical Master, a
Mathematical Master, a Master and Assistant of the Lower School, a
Commercial Master, two French Masters and an Assistant, a Master of
Drawing and Surveying, besides extra Masters for the German, Italian,
and Spanish languages, and for Music, Dancing, and Fencing. The course
of instruction for the day scholars, and those on the foundation,
included Divinity, History, Geography, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French,
English, Mathematics, Arithmetic, and Writing, at a charge in the Upper
School of £3 per quarter; and in the Lower or Preparatory School, of £1
per quarter; for Drawing and Surveying, 15_s._ per quarter. The terms
for private scholars (including all College dues and subscriptions for
exhibitions and prizes of medals, &c.) varied from £60 annually with the
Principal, to £46 annually with the First Classical Teacher.
The exhibitions in the revived institution were, first, one of £30 per
annum for four years, founded by the Governor of Guernsey in 1826, to
the best Classical scholar, a native of the Bailiwick, or son of a
native; secondly, four for four years, of, at least, £20 per annum,
founded by subscription in 1826, to the best scholars, severally, in
Divinity, Classics, Mathematics, and Modern Languages; thirdly, one for
four years, of £20 per annum, founded in 1827 by Admiral Sir James
Saumarez, to the best Theological and Classical scholar; fourthly, one
of £20 per annum, for four years, from 1830, to the best Classical
scholar, given by Sir John Colborne in 1828. There were also two, from
the Lower to the Upper School, of £6 per annum, for one year or more,
founded by the Directors in 1829.
The foregoing details will, as we have said, be of some interest,
especially to Canadians who have received from the institution founded
by Sir John Colborne in Russell Square an important part of their early
training. "Whatever makes the past, the distant and the future
predominate over the present, advances us in the dignity of thinking
beings." So moralized Dr. Johnson amidst the ruins of Iona. On this
principle, the points of agreement and difference between the
educational type and antitype is this instance, will be acknowledged to
be curious.
Another link of association between Guernsey and Upper Canada exists in
the now familiar name "Sarnia," which is the old classical name of
Guernsey, given by Sir John Colborne to a township on the St. Clair
river, in memory of his former government.
Those who desire to trace the career of Upper Canada College _ab ovo_,
will be thankful for the following advertisements. The first is from the
_Loyalist_ of May 2, 1829. "Minor College. Sealed tenders for erecting a
School House and four dwelling-houses will be received on the first
Monday of June next. Plans, elevations and specifications may be seen
after the 12th instant, on application to the Hon. Geo. Markland, from
whom further information will be received. Editors throughout the
Province are requested to insert this notice until the first Monday in
June, and forward their accounts for the same to the office of the
_Loyalist_, York. York, 1st May, 1829."
The second advertisement is from the _Upper Canada Gazette_ of Dec. 17,
1829. "Upper Canada College, established at York. Visitor, the
Lieutenant-Governor for the time being. This College will open after the
approaching Christmas Vacation, on Monday the 8th of January, 1830,
under the conduct of the Masters appointed at Oxford by the Vice
Chancellor and other electors, in July last. Principal, the Rev, J. H.
Harris, D.D., late Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge. Classical
Department: Vice Principal, The Rev. T. Phillips, D.D., of Queen's
College, Cambridge. First Classical Master: The Rev. Charles Mathews,
M.A., of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. Second Classical Master: The Rev. W.
Boulton, B.A., of Queen's College, Oxford. Mathematical Department: The
Rev. Charles Dade, M.A., Fellow of Caius College, Cambridge, and late
Mathematical Master at Elizabeth College. French, Mr. J. P. De la Haye.
English, Writing and Arithmetic, Mr. G. A. Barber and Mr. J. Padfield.
Drawing Master, Mr. Drury. (Then follow terms, &c.) Signed: G. H.
Markland, Secretary to the Board of Education. York, Upper Canada, Dec.
2, 1829."
After Russell Square on the left, came an undulating green field; near
the middle of it was a barn of rural aspect, cased-in with upright,
unplaned boards. The field was at one time a kind of _Campus Martius_
for a troop of amateur cavalry, who were instructed in their evolutions
and in the use of the broadsword, by a veteran, Capt. Midford, the
Goodwin of the day, at York.
Nothing of note presented itself until after we arrived at the roadway
which is now known as Bay Street, with the exception, perhaps, of two
small rectangular edifices of red brick with bright tin roofs, dropped,
as it were, one at the south-west, the other at the north-west, angle of
the intersection of King and York Streets. The former was the office of
the Manager of the Clergy Reserve Lands; the latter, that of the
Provincial Secretary and Registrar. They are noticeable simply as being
specimens, in solid material, of a kind of minute cottage that for a
certain period was in fashion in York and its neighbourhood; little
square boxes, one storey in height, and without basement; looking as if,
by the aid of a ring at the apex of the four sided roof, they might,
with no great difficulty, be lifted up, like the hutch provided for
Gulliver by his nurse Glumdalclitch, and carried bodily away.
As we pass eastward of Bay Street, the memory comes back of Franco
Rossi, the earliest scientific confectioner of York, who had on the
south side, near here, a depot, ever fragrant and ambrosial. In his
specialities he was a superior workman. From him were procured the
fashionable bridecakes of the day; as also the _noyeau, parfait-amour_,
and other liqueurs, set out for visitors on New Year's Day. Rossi was
the first to import hither good objects of art: fine copies of the
Laocoon, the Apollo Belvidere, the Perseus of Canova, with other
classical groups and figures sculptured in Florentine alabaster, were
disseminated by him in the community.
Rossi is the Italian referred to by the author of "Cyril Thornton" in
his "Men and Manners in America," where speaking of York, visited by him
in 1832, he says: "In passing through the streets I was rather surprised
to observe an _affiche_ intimating that ice-creams were to be had
within. The weather being hot, I entered, and found the master of the
establishment to be an Italian. I never ate better ice at
Grange's"--some fashionable resort in London, we suppose. The outward
signs of civilization at York must have been meagre when a chance
visitor recorded his surprise at finding ice-creams procurable in such a
place.
Great enthusiasm, we remember, was created, far and near, by certain
panes of plate glass with brass divisions between them, which, at a
period a little later than Cyril Thornton's (Captain Hamilton's) visit,
suddenly ornamented the windows of Mr. Beckett's Chemical Laboratory,
close by Rossi's. Even Mrs. Jameson, in her book of "Winter Studies and
Summer Rambles," referring to the shop fronts of King Street,
pronounces, in a naive English watering-place kind of tone, "that of the
apothecary" to be "worthy of Regent Street in its appearance."
A little farther on, still on the southern side, was the first place of
public worship of the Wesleyan Methodists. It was a long, low, wooden
building, running north and south, and placed a little way back from the
street. Its dimensions in the first instance, as we have been informed
by Mr. Petch, who was engaged in its erection, were 40 by 40 feet. It
was then enlarged to 40 by 60 feet. In the gable end towards the street
were two doors, one for each sex. Within, the custom obtained of
dividing the men from the women; the former sitting on the right hand of
one entering the building; the latter on the left.
This separation of the sexes in places of public worship was an oriental
custom, still retained among Jews. It also existed, down to a recent
date, in some English Churches. Among articles of inquiry sent down from
a Diocesan to churchwardens, we have seen the query: "Do men and women
sit together indifferently and promiscuously? or, as the fashion was of
old, do men sit together on one side of the church, and women upon the
other?" In English Churches the usage was the opposite of that indicated
above: the north side, that is, the left on entering, was the place of
the women; and the south, that of the men.
In 1688, we have Sir George Wheler, in his "Account of the Churches of
the Primitive Christians," speaking of this custom, which he says
prevails also "in the Greek Church to this day:" he adds that it "seems
not only very decent, but nowadays, since wickedness so much abounds,
highly necessary; for the general mixture," he continues, "of men and
women in the Latin Church is notoriously scandalous; and little less,"
he says, "is their sitting together in the same pews in our London
churches."
The Wesleyan chapel in King Street ceased to be used in 1833. It was
converted afterwards for a time into a "Theatre Royal."
Jordan Street preserves one of the names of Mr. Jordan Post, owner of
the whole frontage extending from Bay Street to Yonge Street. The name
of his wife is preserved in "Melinda Street," which traverses his lot,
or rather block, from east to west, south of King Street. Two of his
daughters bore respectively the unusual names of Sophronia and
Desdemona. Mr. Post was a tall New-Englander of grave address. He was,
moreover, a clockmaker by trade, and always wore spectacles. From the
formal cut of his apparel and hair, he was, quite erroneously, sometimes
supposed to be of the Mennonist or Quaker persuasion.
So early as 1802, Mr. Post is advertising in the York paper. In the
_Oracle_ of Sept. 18, 1802, he announces a temporary absence from the
town. "Jordan Post, watchmaker, requests all those who left watches with
him to be repaired, to call at Mr. Beman's and receive them by paying
for the repairs. He intends returning to York in a few months. Sept. 11,
1802." In the close of the same year, he puts forth the general notice:
"Jordan Post, Clock and Watchmaker, informs the public that he now
carries on the above business in all its branches, at the upper end of
Duke Street. He has a complete assortment of watch furniture. Clocks and
watches repaired on the shortest notice, and most reasonable terms,
together with every article in the gold and silver line. N. B.--He will
purchase old brass. Dec 11, 1802."
Besides the block described above, Mr. Post had acquired other valuable
properties in York, as will appear by an advertisement in the _Weekly
Register_ of Jan. 19, 1826, from which also it will be seen that he at
one time contemplated a gift to the town of one hundred feet frontage
and two hundred feet of depth, for the purpose of a second Public
Market. "Town Lots for Sale. To be sold by Auction on the Premises, on
Wednesday the first day of February next, Four Town Lots on King Street,
west of George Street. Also, to be leased at the same time to the
highest bidder, for twenty-one years, subject to such conditions as will
then be produced. Six Lots on the west side of Yonge Street, and Twenty
on Market Street. The Subscriber has reserved a Lot of Ground of One
Hundred Feet front, by Two Hundred Feet in the rear, on George Street,
for a Market Place, to be given for that purpose. He will likewise lease
Ten Lots in front of said intended Market. A plan of the Lots may be
seen and further particulars known, by application to the Subscriber.
Jordan Post. York, Jan. 4, 1826."
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
VI.
KING STREET, FROM YONGE STREET TO CHURCH STREET.
Where Yonge Street crosses King Street, forming at the present day an
unusually noble _carrefour_, as the French would say, or rectangular
intersection of thoroughfares as we are obliged to word it, there was,
for a considerable time, but one solitary house--at the north-east
angle; a longish, one-storey, respectable wooden structure, painted
white, with paling in front, and large willow trees: it was the home of
Mr. Dermis, formerly superintendent of the Dock-yard at Kingston. He was
one of the United Empire Loyalist refugees, and received a grant of land
on the Humber, near the site of the modern village of Weston. His son,
Mr. Joseph Dennis, owned and commanded a vessel on Lake Ontario in 1812.
When the war with the United States broke out, he and his ship were
attached to the Provincial Marine. His vessel was captured, and himself
made a prisoner of war, in which condition he remained for fifteen
months. He afterwards commanded the Princess Charlotte, an early
steamboat on Lake Ontario.
To the eastward of Mr. Dennis' house, on the same side, at an early
period, was an obscure frame building of the most ordinary kind, whose
existence is recorded simply for having been temporarily the District
Grammar School, before the erection of the spacious building on the
Grammar School lot.
On the opposite side, still passing on towards the east, was the Jail.
This was a squat unpainted wooden building, with hipped roof, concealed
from persons passing in the street by a tall cedar stockade, such as
those which we see surrounding a Hudson's Bay post or a military
wood-yard. At the outer entrance hung a billet of wood suspended by a
chain, communicating with a bell within; and occasionally Mr. Parker,
the custodian of the place, was summoned, through its instrumentality,
by persons not there on legitimate business. We have a recollection of a
clever youth, an immediate descendant of the great commentator on
British Law, and afterwards himself distinguished at the Upper Canadian
bar, who was severely handled by Mr. Parker's son, on being caught in
the act of pulling at this billet, with the secret intention of running
away after the exploit.
The English Criminal Code, as it was at the beginning of the century,
having been introduced with all its enormities, public hangings were
frequent at an early period in the new Province. A shocking scene is
described as taking place at an execution in front of the old Jail at
York. The condemned refuses to mount the scaffold. On this, the
moral-suasion efforts of the sheriff amount to the ridiculous, were not
the occasion so seriously tragic. In aid of the sheriff, the officiating
chaplain steps more than once up the plank set from the cart to the
scaffold, to show the facility of the act, and to induce the man to
mount in like manner; the condemned demurs, and openly remarks on the
obvious difference in the two cases. At last the noose is adjusted to
the neck of the wretched culprit, where he stands. The cart is
withdrawn, and a deliberate strangling ensues.
In a certain existing account of steps taken in 1811 to remedy the
dilapidated and comfortless condition of the Jail, we get a glimpse of
York, commercially and otherwise, at that date. In April, 1811, the
sheriff, Beikie, reports to the magistrates at Quarter Sessions "that
the sills of the east cells of the Jail of the Home District are
completely rotten; that the ceilings in the debtors' rooms are
insufficient; and that he cannot think himself safe, should necessity
oblige him to confine any persons in said cells or debtors' rooms."
An order is given in May to make the necessary repairs; but certain
spike-nails are wanted of a kind not to be had at the local dealers in
hardware. The chairman is consequently directed to "apply to His
Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, that he will be pleased to direct
that the spike-nails be furnished from the King's stores, as there are
not any of the description required to be purchased at York." A
memorandum follows to the effect that on the communication of this
necessity to His Excellency, "the Lieutenant-Governor ordered that the
Clerk of the Peace do apply for the spike-nails officially in the name
of the Court: which he did," the memorandum adds, "on the 8th of May,
1811, and received an answer on the day following, that an order had
been issued that day for 1500 spike-nails, for the repair of the Home
District Jail: the nails," it is subjoined, "were received by carpenter
Leach in the month of July following."
Again: in December, 1811, Mr. Sheriff Beikie sets forth to the
magistrates in Session, that "the prisoners in the cells of the Jail of
the Home District suffer much from cold and damp, there being no method
of communicating heat from the chimneys, nor any bedsteads to raise the
straw from the floors, which lie nearly, if not altogether, on the
ground." He accordingly suggests that "a small stove in the lobby of
each range of cells, together with some rugs or blankets, will add much
to the comfort of the unhappy persons confined." The magistrates
authorize the supply of the required necessaries, and the order is
marked "instant." (The month, we are to notice, was December.)
At a late period, there were placed about the town a set of posts having
relation to the Jail. They were distinguished from the ordinary rough
posts, customary then at regular intervals along the sidewalks, by being
of turned wood, with spherical tops, the lower part painted a pale blue:
the upper, white. These were the "limits"--the _certi denique
fines_--beyond which, _détenus_ for debt were not allowed to extend
their walks.
Leaving the picketted enclosure of the Prison, we soon arrived at an
open piece of ground on the opposite (north) side of the
street,--afterwards known as the "Court House Square." One of the many
rivulets or water-courses that traversed the site of York passed through
it, flowing in a deep serpentine ravine, a spot to be remembered by the
youth of the day as affording, in the winter, facilities for skating and
sliding, and audacious exploits on "leather ice." In this open space, a
Jail and Court House of a pretentious character, but of poor
architectural style, were erected in 1824. The two buildings, which were
of two storeys, and exactly alike, were placed side by side, a few yards
back from the road. Their gables were to the south, in which direction
were also the chief entrances. The material was red brick. Pilasters of
cut stone ran up the principal fronts, and up the exposed or outer
sides of each edifice. At these sides, as also on the inner and
unornamented sides, were lesser gables, but marked by the portion of the
wall that rose in front of them, not to a point, but finishing square in
two diminishing stages, and sustaining chimneys.
It was intended originally that lanterns should have surmounted and
given additional elevation to both buildings, but these were discarded,
together with tin as the material of the roofing, with a view to cutting
down the cost, and thereby enabling the builder to make the pilasters of
cut stone instead of "Roman cement." John Hayden was the contractor. The
cost, as reduced, was to be £3,800 for the two edifices.
We extract from the _Canadian Review_ for July, 1824, published by H. H.
Cunningham, Montreal, an account of the commencement of the new
buildings: "On Saturday, the 24th instant, [April, 1824,] his Excellency
the Lieutenant-Governor, attended by his staff, was met by the
Honourable the Members of the Executive Council, the Judges of the Court
of King's Bench, and the Gentlemen of the Bar, with the Magistrates and
principal inhabitants of York, in procession, for the purpose of laying
the foundation-stone of the new Jail and Court House about to be erected
in this Town.--A sovereign and half-sovereign of gold, and several coins
of silver and copper, of the present reign, together with some
newspapers and other memorials of the present day, were deposited in a
cavity of the stone, over which a plate of copper, bearing an
appropriate inscription, was placed; and after his Excellency had given
the first blow, with a hammer handed to him for the purpose, the
ceremony concluded with several hearty cheers from all who were
present.--If the question were of any real importance," the writer adds,
"we might have the curiosity to inquire why the deposit was made in the
south-east, rather than in the north-east corner of the building?"--a
query that indicates, as we suppose, a deviation from orthodox masonic
usage.
In one of the lithographic views published in 1836 by Mr. J. Young, the
Jail and Court House, now spoken of, are shewn. Among the objects
inserted to give life to the scene, the artist has placed in the
foreground a country waggon with oxen yoked to it, in primitive
fashion.--Near the front entrance of the Jail, stood, to the terror of
evil-doers, down to modern times, a ponderous specimen of the "parish
stocks" of the old country, in good condition.
After 1825, the open area in front of the Jail and Court House became
the "Public Place" of the town. Crowds filled it at elections and other
occasions of excitement. We have here witnessed several scenes
characteristic of the times in which they occurred. We here once saw a
public orator run away with, in the midst of his harangue. This was Mr.
Jesse Ketchum, who was making use of a farmer's waggon as his rostrum or
platform, when the vehicle was suddenly laid hold of, and wheeled
rapidly down King Street, the speaker maintaining his equilibrium in the
meanwhile with difficulty. Mr. Ketchum was one of the most benevolent
and beneficent of men. We shall have occasion to refer to him hereafter.
It was on the same occasion, we believe, that we saw Mr. W. L. McKenzie
assailed by the missiles which mobs usually adopt. From this spot we had
previously seen the same personage, after one of his re-elections, borne
aloft in triumph, on a kind of pyramidal car, and wearing round his neck
and across his breast a massive gold chain and medal (both made of
molten sovereigns), the gift of his admirers and constituents: in the
procession, at the same time, was a printing-press, working as it was
conveyed along in a low sleigh, and throwing off handbills, which were
tossed, right and left, to the accompanying crowd in the street.
The existing generation of Canadians, with the lights which they now
possess, see pretty clearly, that the agitator just named, and his
party, were not, in the abstract, by any means so bad as they seemed:
that, in fact, the ideas which they sought to propagate are the only
ones practicable in the successful government of modern men.
Is there a reader nowadays that sees anything very startling in the
enunciation of the following principles?--"The control of the whole
revenue to be in the people's representatives; the Legislative Council
to be elective; the representation in the House of Assembly to be as
equally proportioned to the population as possible; the Executive
Government to incur a real responsibility; the law of primogeniture to
be abolished; impartiality in the selection of juries to be secured; the
Judiciary to be independent; the military to be in strict subordination
to the civil authorities; equal rights to the several members of the
community; every vestige of Church-and-State union to be done away; the
lands and all the revenues of the country to be under the control of the
country; and education to be widely, carefully and impartially
diffused; to these may be added the choice of our own Governor."
These were the political principles sought to be established in the
Governments of Canada by the party referred to, as set forth in the
terms just given (almost _verbatim_) in Patrick Swift's Almanac, a well
known popular, annual _brochure_ of Mr. McKenzie's. It seems singular
now, in the retrospect, that doctrines such as these should have created
a ferment.
But there is this to be said: it does not appear that there were, at the
time, in the ranks of the party in power, any persons of very superior
intellectual gifts or of a wide range of culture or historical
knowledge: so that it was not likely that, on that side, there would be
a ready relinquishment of political traditions, of inherited ideas,
which their possessors had never dreamt of rationally analyzing, and
which they deemed it all but treason to call in question.
And moreover it is to be remembered that the chief propagandist of the
doctrines of reform, although very intelligent and ready of speech, did
not himself possess the dignity and repose of character which give
weight to the utterances of public men. Hence, with the persons who
really stood in need of instruction and enlightenment, his words had an
irritating, rather than a conciliatory and convincing effect. This was a
fault which it was not in his power to remedy. For his microscopic
vision and restless temperament, while they fitted him to be a very
clever local reformer, a very clever local editor, unfitted him for the
grand _role_ of a national statesman, or heroic conductor of a
revolution.
Accordingly, although the principles advocated by him finally obtained
the ascendancy, posterity only regards him as the Wilkes, the Cobbett,
or the Hunt of his day, in the annals of his adopted country. In the
interval between the outbreak or feint at outbreak in 1838, and 1850,
the whole Canadian community made a great advance in general
intelligence, and statesmen of a genuine quality began to appear in our
Parliaments.
Prior to the period of which we have just been speaking, a name much in
the mouths of our early settlers was that of Robert Gourlay. What we
have to say in respect to him, in our retrospect of the past, will
perhaps be in place here.
Nothing could be more laudable than Mr. Gourlay's intentions at the
outset. He desired to publish a statistical account of Canada, with a
view to the promotion of emigration. To inform himself of the actual
condition of the young colony, he addressed a series of questions to
persons of experience and intelligence in every township of Upper
Canada. These questions are now lying before us; they extend to the
number of thirty-one. There are none of them that a modern reader would
pronounce ill-judged or irrelevant.
But here again it is easy to see that personal character and temperament
marred the usefulness of a clever man. His inordinate self-esteem and
pugnaciousness, insufficiently controlled, speedily rendered him
offensive, especially in a community constituted as that was in the
midst of which he had suddenly lighted; and drove, naturally and of
necessity, his opponents to extreme measures in self-defence, and
himself to extreme doctrines by way of retaliation: thus he became
overwhelmed with troubles from which the tact of a wiser man would have
saved him. But for Gourlay, as the event proved, a latent insanity was
an excuse.
It is curious to observe that, in 1818, Gourlay, in his heat against the
official party, whose headquarters were at York, threatened that town
with extinction; at all events, with the obliteration of its name, and
the transmutation thereof into that of Toronto. In a letter to the
Niagara _Spectator_, he says:--"The tumult excited stiffens every nerve
and redoubles the proofs of necessity for action. If the higher classes
are against me, I shall recruit among my brother farmers, seven in eight
of whom will support the cause of truth. If one year does not make
Little York surrender to us, then we'll batter it for two; and should it
still hold out, we have ammunition for a much longer siege. We shall
raise the wind against it from Amherstburgh and Quebec--from Edinburgh,
Dublin and London. It must be levelled to the very earth, and even its
name be forgotten in Toronto."
But to return for a moment to Mr. McKenzie. On the steps of the Court
House, which we are to suppose ourselves now passing, we once saw him
under circumstances that were deeply touching. Sentence of death had
been pronounced on a young man once employed in his printing-office. He
had been vigorously exerting himself to obtain from the Executive a
mitigation of the extreme penalty. The day and even the hour for the
execution had arrived; and no message of reprieve had been transmitted
from the Lieutenant-Governor. As he came out of the Sheriff's room,
after receiving the final announcement that there could be no further
delay, the white collars on each side of his face were wet through and
through with the tears that were gushing from his eyes and pouring down
his cheeks! He was just realizing the fact that nothing further could be
done; and in a few moments afterwards the execution actually took place.
We approach comparatively late times when we speak of the cavalcade
which passed in grand state the spot now under review, when Messrs. Dunn
and Buchanan were returned as members for the town. In the pageant on
that occasion there was conspicuous a train of railway carriages, drawn
of course, by horse power, with the inscription on the sides of the
carriages--"Do you not wish you may get it?"--the allusion being to the
Grand Trunk, which, was then only a thing _in posse_.
And still referring to processions associated in our memory with Court
House Square, the recollection of another comes up, which once or twice
a year used formerly to pass down King Street on a Sunday. The
townspeople were familiar enough with the march of the troops of the
garrison to and from Church, to the sound of military music, on Sundays.
But on the occasions now referred to, the public eye was drawn to a
spectacle professedly of an opposite character:--to the procession of
the "Children of Peace," so-called.
These were a local off-shoot of the Society of Friends, the followers of
Mr. David Willson, who had his headquarters at Sharon, in Whitchurch,
where he had built a "Temple," a large wooden structure, painted white,
and resembling a high-piled house of cards. Periodically he deemed it
proper to make a demonstration in town. His disciples and friends,
dressed in their best, mounted their waggons and solemnly passed down
Yonge Street, and then on through some frequented thoroughfare of York
to a place previously announced, where the prophet would preach. His
topic was usually "Public Affairs: their Total Depravity."
The text of all of Willson's homilies might, in effect, be the following
mystic sentence, extracted from the popular periodical, already
quoted--Patrick Swift's Almanac: "The backwoodsman, while he lays the
axe to the root of the oak in the forests of Canada, should never forget
that a base basswood is growing in this his native land, which, if not
speedily girdled, will throw its dark shadows over the country, and
blast his best exertions. Look up, reader, and you will see the
branches--the Robinson branch, the Powell branch, the Jones branch, the
Strachan branch, the Boulton twig, &c. The farmer toils, the merchant
toils, the labourer toils, and the Family Compact reap the fruit of
their exertions." (Almanac for 1834.)
Into all the points here suggested Mr. Willson would enter with great
zest. When waxing warm in his discourse, he would sometimes, without
interrupting the flow of his words, suddenly throw off his coat and
suspend it on a nail or pin in the wall, waving about with freedom,
during the residue of his oration, a pair of sturdy arms, arrayed, not
indeed in the dainty lawn of a bishop, but in stout, well-bleached
American Factory. His address was divided into sections, between which
"hymns of his own composing" were sung by a company of females dressed
in white, sitting on one side, accompanied by a band of musical
instruments on the other.
Considerable crowds assembled on these occasions: and once a panic arose
as preaching was going on in the public room of Lawrence's hotel: the
joists of the floor were heard to crack; a rush was made to the door,
and several leaped out of the windows.--A small brick school-house on
Berkeley Street was also a place where Willson sometimes sought to get
the ear of the general public.--Captain Bonnycastle, in "Canada as it
Was, Is, and May Be," i. 285, thus discourses of David Willson, in a
strain somewhat too severe and satirical; but his words serve to show
opinions which widely prevailed at the time he wrote: "At a short
distance from Newmarket," the Captain says, "which is about three miles
to the right of Yonge Street, near its termination at the Holland
Landing, on a river of that name running into Lake Simcoe, is a
settlement of religious enthusiasts, who have chosen the most fertile
part of Upper Canada, the country near and for miles round Newmarket,
for the seat of their earthly tabernacle. Here numbers of deluded people
have placed themselves under the temporal and spiritual charge of a high
priest, who calls himself David. His real name is David Willson. The
Temple (as the building appropriated to the celebration of their rites
is called,) is served by this man, who affects a primitive dress, and
has a train of virgin-ministrants clothed in white. He travels about
occasionally to preach at towns and villages, in a waggon, followed by
others, covered with white tilt-cloths; but what his peculiar tenets are
beyond that of dancing and singing, and imitating David the King, I
really cannot tell, for it is altogether too farcical to last long: but
Mr. David seems to understand clearly, as far as the temporal concerns
of his infatuated followers go, that the old-fashioned signification of
_meum_ and _tuum_ are religiously centered in his own _sanctum_. It was
natural that such a field should produce tares in abundance."
The following notice of the "Children of Peace" occurs in Patrick
Swift's Almanac for 1834, penned, probably, with an eye to votes in the
neighbourhood of Sharon, or Hope, as the place is here called. "This
society," the Almanac reports, "numbers about 280 members in Hope, east
of Newmarket. They have also stated places of preaching, at the Old
Court House, York, on Yonge Street, and at Markham. Their principal
speaker is David Willson, assisted by Murdoch McLeod, Samuel Hughes, and
others. Their music, vocal and instrumental, is excellent, and their
preachers seek no pay from the Governor out of the taxes."
On week-days, Willson was often to be seen, like any other industrious
yeoman, driving into town his own waggon, loaded with the produce of his
farm; dressed in home-spun, as the "borel folk" of Yonge Street
generally were: in the axis of one eye there was a slight
divergency.--The expression "Family Compact" occurring above, borrowed
from French and Spanish History, appears also in the General Report of
Grievances, in 1835, where this sentence is to be read: "The whole
system [of conducting Government without a responsible Executive] has so
long continued virtually in the same hands, that it is little better
than a family compact." p. 43. (In our proposed perambulation of Yonge
Street we shall have occasion to speak again of David Willson.)
After the Court House Square came the large area attached to St. James'
Church, to the memories connected with which we shall presently devote
some space; as also to those connected with the region to the north,
formerly the play-ground of the District Grammar School, and afterwards
transformed into March Street and its purlieus.
At the corner on the south side of King Street, just opposite the Court
House, was the clock-and-watch-repairing establishment of Mr. Charles
Clinkenbroomer. To our youthful fancy, the general click and tick
usually to be heard in an old-fashioned watchmaker's place of business,
was in some sort expressed by the name Clinkunbroomer. But in old local
lists we observe the orthography of this name to have been
Klinkenbrunner, which conveys another idea. Mr. Clinkenbroomer's
father, we believe, was attached to the army of General Wolfe, at the
taking of Quebec.
In the early annals of York numerous Teutonic names are observable.
Among jurymen and others, at an early period, we meet with Nicholas
Klinkenbrunner, Gerhard Kuch, John Vanzantee, Barnabas Vanderburgh,
Lodowick Weidemann, Francis Freder, Peter Hultz, Jacob Wintersteen, John
Shunk, Leonard Klink, and so on.
So early as 1795 Liancourt speaks of a migration hither of German
settlers from the other side of the Lake. He says a number of German
settlers collected at Hamburg, an agent had brought out to settle on
"Captain Williamson's Demesne" in the State of New York. After
subsisting for some time there at the expense of Capt. Williamson, (who,
it was stated, was really the representative of one of the Pulteneys in
England), they decamped in a body to the north side of the Lake, and
especially to York and its neighbourhood, at the instigation of one
Berczy, and "gained over, if we may believe common fame," Liancourt
says, "by the English;" gained over, rather, it is likely, by the
prospect of acquiring freehold property for nothing, instead of holding
under a patroon or American feudal lord.
Probably it was to the accounts of Capt. Williamson's proceedings, given
by these refugees, that a message from Gov. Simcoe to that gentleman, in
1794, was due. Capt. Williamson, who appears to have acquired a supposed
personal interest in a large portion of the State of New York, was
opening settlements on the inlets on the south side of Lake Ontario,
known as Ierondequat and Sodus Bay.
"Last year," Liancourt informs us, "General Simcoe, Governor of Upper
Canada, who considered the Forts of Niagara and Oswego, . . . as English
property, together with the banks of Lake Ontario, sent an English
officer to the Captain, with an injunction, not to persist in his design
of forming the settlements." To which message, "the Captain," we are then
told, "returned a plain and spirited answer, yet nevertheless conducted
himself with a prudence conformable to the circumstances. All these
difficulties, however," it is added, "are now removed by the prospect of
the continuance of peace, and still more so by the treaty newly
concluded." (Of Mr. Berczy, and the German Settlement proper, we shall
discourse at large in our section on Yonge Street.)
[Illustration]
VII.
KING STREET: DIGRESSION SOUTHWARDS AT CHURCH STREET: MARKET LANE.
Across Church Street from Clinkunbroomer's were the wooden buildings
already referred to, as having remained long in a partially finished
state, being the result of a premature speculation. From this point we
are induced to turn aside from our direct route for a few moments,
attracted by a street which we see a short distance to the south,
namely, Market Lane, or Colborne Street, as the modern phraseology is.
In this passage was, in the olden time, the Masonic Hall, a wooden
building of two storeys. To the young imagination this edifice seemed to
possess considerable dignity, from being surmounted by a cupola; the
first structure in York that ever enjoyed such a distinction. This
ornamental appendage supported above the western gable, by slender
props, (intended in fact for the reception of a bell, which, so far as
our recollection extends, was never supplied), would appear
insignificant enough now; but it was the first budding of the
architectural ambition of a young town, which leads at length to
turrets, pinnacles, spires and domes.
A staircase on the outside led to the upper storey of the Masonic Hall.
In this place were held the first meetings of the first Mechanics'
Institute, organized under the auspices of Moses Fish, a builder of
York, and other lovers of knowledge of the olden time. Here were
attempted the first popular lectures. Here we remember
hearing--certainly some forty years ago--Mr. John Fenton read a paper on
the manufacture of steel, using diagrams in illustration: one of them
showed the magnified edge of a well-set razor, the serrations all
sloping in one direction, by which it might be seen, the lecturer
remarked, that unless a man, in shaving, imparted to the instrument in
his hand a carefully-studied movement, he was likely "to get into a
scrape."--The lower part of the Masonic Hall was for a considerable
while used as a school, kept successively by Mr. Stewart and Mr.
Appleton, and afterwards by Mr. Caldicott.
At the corner of Market Lane, on the north side, towards the Market, was
Frank's Hotel, an ordinary white frame building. The first theatre of
York was extemporized in the ball-room of this house. When fitted up for
dramatic purposes, that apartment was approached by a stairway on the
outside.
Here companies performed, under the management, at one time, of Mr.
Archbold; at another, of Mr. Talbot; at another, of Mr. Vaughan. The
last-named manager, while professionally at York, lost a son by drowning
in the Bay. We well remember the poignant distress of the father at the
grave, and that his head was bound round on the occasion with a white
bandage or napkin. Mrs. Talbot was a great favourite. She performed the
part of Cora in Pizarro, and that of Little Pickle, in a comedy of that
name, if our memory serves us.
Pizarro, Barbarossa or the Siege of Algiers, Ali Baba or the Forty
Thieves, the Lady of the Lake, the Miller and his Men, were among the
pieces here represented. The body-guard of the Dey of Algiers, we
remember, consisted of two men, who always came in with military
precision just after the hero, and placed themselves in a formal manner
at fixed distances behind him, like two sentries. They were in fact
soldiers from the garrison, we think. All this appeared very effective.
The dramatic appliances and accessories at Frank's were of the humblest
kind. The dimensions of the stage must have been very limited: the
ceiling of the whole room, we know, was low. As for orchestra--in those
days, the principal instrumental artist of the town was Mr. Maxwell,
who, well-remembered for his quiet manner, for the shade over one eye,
in which was some defect, and for his homely skill on the violin, was
generally to be seen and heard, often alone, but sometimes with an
associate or two, here, as at all other entertainments of importance,
public or private. Nevertheless, at that period, to an unsophisticated
yet active imagination, innocent of acquaintance with more respectable
arrangements, everything seemed charming; each scene, as the bell rang
and the baize drew up, was invested with a magical glamour, similar in
kind, if not equal in degree, to that which, in the days of our
grandfathers, ere yet the modern passion for real knowledge had been
awakened, fascinated the young Londoner at Drury Lane.
And how curiously were the illusions of the mimic splendors sometimes in
a moment broken, as if to admonish the inexperienced spectator of the
facts of real life. In the performance of Pizarro, it will be remembered
that an attempt is made to bribe a Spanish soldier at his post. He
rejects and flings to the ground what is called "a wedge of massive
gold:"--we recollect the _sound_ produced on the boards of the stage in
Frank's by the fall of this wedge of massive gold: it instantly betrayed
itself by this, as well as by its nimble rebound, to be, of course, a
gilded bit of wood.
And it is not alone at obscure village performances that such
disclosures occur. At an opera in London, where all appearances were
elaborately perfect, we recollect the accidental fall of a goblet which
was supposed to be of heavy chased silver, and also filled with wine--a
contretemps occasioned by the giddiness of the lad who personated a
page: two things were at once clear: the goblet was not of metal, and
nothing liquid was contained within it: which recalls a mishap
associated in our memory with a visit to the Argentina at Rome some
years ago: this was the coming off of a wheel from the chariot of a
Roman general, at a critical moment: the descent on this occasion from
the vehicle to the stage was a true step from the sublime to the
ridiculous; for the audience observed the accident, and persisted in
their laugh in spite of the heroics which the great commander proceeded
to address, in operatic style, to his assembled army.
It was in the assembly-room at Frank's, dismantled of its theatrical
furniture, that a celebrated fancy ball was given, on the last day of
the year 1827, conjointly by Mr. Galt, Commissioner of the Canada
Company, and Lady Mary Willis, wife of Mr. Justice Willis. On that
occasion the general interests of the Company were to some extent
studied in the ornamentation of the room, its floor being decorated with
an immense representation, in chalks or water-colour, of the arms of the
association. The supporters of the shield were of colossal dimensions:
two lions, rampant, bearing flags turning opposite ways: below, on the
riband, in characters proportionably large, was the motto of the
Company, "Non mutat genus solum." The sides and ceiling of the room,
with the passages leading from the front door to it, were covered
throughout with branchlets of the hemlock-spruce: nestling in the
greenery of this perfect bower were innumerable little coloured lamps,
each containing a floating light.
Here, for once, the potent, grave and reverend signiors of York, along
with their sons and daughters, indulged in a little insanity. Lady Mary
Willis appeared as Mary, Queen of Scots; the Judge himself, during a
part of the evening, was in the costume of a gay old lady, the Countess
of Desmond, aged one hundred years; Miss Willis, the clever amateur
equestrienne, was Folly, with cap and bells; Dr. W. W. Baldwin was a
Roman senator; his two sons William and St. George, were the Dioscuri,
"Fratres Helenæ, lucida Sidera;" his nephew, Augustus Sullivan, was Puss
in Boots; Dr. Grant Powell was Dr. Pangloss; Mr. Kerr, a real Otchipway
chief, at the time a member of the Legislature, made a magnificent
Kentucky backwoodsman, named and entitled Captain Jedediah Skinner. Mr.
Gregg, of the Commissariat, was Othello. The Kentuckian (Kerr),
professing to be struck with the many fine points of the Moor, as
regarded from his point of view, persisted, throughout the evening, in
exhibiting an inclination to purchase--an idea naturally much resented
by Othello. Col. Givins, his son Adolphus, Raymond Baby, and others,
were Indian chiefs of different tribes, who more than once indulged in
the war-dance. Mr. Buchanan, son of the British Consul at New York, was
Darnley; Mr. Thomson, of the Canada Company's office, was Rizzio; Mr. G.
A. Barber was a wounded sailor recently from Navarino (that untoward
event had lately taken place); his arm was in a sling; he had suffered
in reality a mutilation of the right hand by an explosion of gunpowder,
on the preceding 5th of November.
Mr. Galt was only about three years in Canada, but this short space of
time sufficed to enable him to lay the foundation of the Canada Company
wisely and well, as is shewn by its duration and prosperity. The feat
was not accomplished without some antagonism springing up between
himself and the local governmental authorities, whom he was inclined to
treat rather haughtily.
It is a study to observe how frequently, at an early stage of Upper
Canadian society, a mutual antipathy manifested itself between visitors
from the transatlantic world, tourists and settlers (intending and
actual), and the first occupants of such places of trust and emolument
as then existed. It was a feeling that grew partly out of personal
considerations, and partly out of difference of opinion in regard to
public policy. A gulf thus began at an early period to open between two
sections of the community, which widened painfully for a time in after
years;--a fissure, which, at its first appearance, a little philosophy
on both sides would have closed up. Men of intelligence, who had risen
to position and acquired all their experience in a remote, diminutive
settlement, might have been quite sure that their grasp of great
imperial and human questions, when they arose, would be very imperfect;
they might, therefore, rationally have rejoiced at the accession of new
minds and additional light to help them in the day of necessity. And on
the other hand, the fresh immigrant or casual visitor, trained to
maturity amidst the combinations of an old society, and possessing a
knowledge of its past, might have comprehended thoroughly the exact
condition of thought and feeling in a community such as that which he
was approaching, and so might have regarded its ideas with charity, and
spoken of them in a tone conciliatory and delicate. On both sides, the
maxim _Tout comprendre, c'est tout pardonner_ would have had a salutary
and composing effect, "for," as the author of Realmah well says, "in
truth, one would never be angry with anybody, if one understood him or
her thoroughly."
We regret that we cannot recover two small "paper pellets of the brain,"
of this period, arising out of the discussions connected with the
appointment of an outsider (Mr. Justice Willis) to the Bench of Upper
Canada. They would have been illustrative of the times. They were in the
shape of two advertisements, one in reply to the other, in a local
Paper: one was the elaborate title-page of a pamphlet "shortly to
appear," on the existing system of Jurisprudence in Upper Canada; with
the motto "Meliora sperans;" the other was an exact counterpart of the
first, only in reversed terms, and bearing the motto "Deteriora timens."
In the early stages of all the colonies it is obviously inevitable that
appointments _ab extra_ to public office must occasionally, and even
frequently, be made. Local aspirants are thus subject to
disappointments; and men of considerable ability may now and then feel
themselves overshadowed, and imagine themselves depressed, through the
introduction of talent transcending their own. Some manifestations of
discontent and impatience may thus always be expected to appear. But in
a few years this state of things comes naturally to an end. In no
public exigency is there any longer a necessity to look to external
sources for help. A home supply of persons "duly qualified to serve God
in Church and State" is legitimately developed, as we see in the United
States, among ourselves, and in all the other larger settlements from
the British Islands.
The _dénouement_ of the Willis-trouble may be gathered from the
following notice in the _Gazette_ of Thursday, July 17th, 1828, now
lying before us: "His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor has been
pleased to appoint, by Commission under the Great Seal, Christopher
Alexander Hagerman, Esq., to be a Judge in the Court of King's Bench for
this Province, in the room of the Hon. John Walpole Willis, _amoved_,
until the King's pleasure shall be signified."
Lady Mary Willis, associated with Mr. Galt in the Fancy Ball just spoken
of, was a daughter of the Earl of Strathmore. A trial of a painful
nature known as Willis v. Bernard in the annals of the Common Pleas,
arising out of circumstances connected with Judge Willis's brief
residence in Canada, took place in 1832 before the Chief Justice of
England and a special jury, at Westminster, Mr. Sergeant Wilde acting
for the plaintiff; Mr. Sergeant Spankie, Mr. Sergeant Storks and Mr.
Thesiger, for the defendant: when a thousand pounds were awarded as
damages to the plaintiff. On this occasion Mr. Galt was examined as a
witness. Judge Willis was afterwards appointed Chief Justice of
Demerara.
In the _Canadian Literary Magazine_ for April, 1833, there is a notice
of Mr. Galt, with a full-length pen-and-ink portrait, similar to those
which used formerly to appear in _Fraser_. In front of the figure is a
bust of Lord Byron; behind, on a wall, is a Map shewing the Canadian
Lakes, with York marked conspicuously. From the accompanying memoir we
learn that "Mr. Galt always conducted himself as a man of the strictest
probity and honour. He was warm in his friendships, and extremely
hospitable in his Log Priory at Guelph, and thoroughly esteemed by those
who had an opportunity of mingling with him in close and daily intimacy.
He was the first to adopt the plan of opening roads before making a
settlement, instead of leaving them to be cut, as heretofore, by the
settlers themselves--a plan which, under the irregular and patchwork
system of settling the country then prevailing, has retarded the
improvement of the Province more, perhaps, than any other cause."
In his Autobiography Mr. Galt refers to this notice of himself in the
_Canadian Literary Magazine_, especially in respect to an intimation
given therein that contemporaries at York accused him of playing
"Captain Grand" occasionally, and "looking down on the inhabitants of
Upper Canada." He does not affect to say that it was not so; he even
rather unamiably adds: "The fact is, I never thought about them [_i. e._,
these inhabitants], unless to notice some ludicrous peculiarity of
individuals."
The same tone is assumed when recording the locally famous
entertainment, given by himself and Lady Willis, as above described.
Having received a hint that the colonelcy of a militia regiment might
possibly be offered him, he says: "This information was unequivocally
acceptable; and accordingly," he continues, "I resolved to change my
recluseness into something more cordial towards the general inhabitants
of York. I therefore directed one of the clerks [the gentleman who
figured as Rizzio,] to whom I thought the task might be agreeable, to
make arrangements for giving a general Fancy Ball to all my
acquaintance, and the principal inhabitants. I could not be troubled,"
he observes, "with the details myself, but exhorted him to make the
invitations as numerous as possible."
In extenuation of his evident moodiness of mind, it is to be observed
that his quarters at York were very uncomfortable. "The reader is
probably acquainted," he says in his Autobiography, "with the manner of
living in the American hotels, but without experience he can have no
right notion of what in those days (1827,) was the condition of the best
tavern in York. It was a mean two-storey house; the landlord, however,
[this was Mr. Frank,] did," he says, "all in his power to mitigate the
afflictions with which such a domicile was quaking, to one accustomed to
quiet."
Such an impression had his unfortunate accommodation at York made on
him, that, in another place, when endeavouring to describe Dover, in
Kent, as a dull place, we have him venturing to employ such extravagant
language as this: "Everybody who has been at Dover knows that it is one
of the vilest [hypochondriacal] haunts on the face of the earth, except
Little York in Upper Canada." We notice in Leigh Hunt's _London Journal_
for June, 1834, some verses entitled "Friends and Boyhood," written by
Mr. Galt, in sickness. They will not sound out of place in a paper of
early reminiscences:
"Talk not of years! 'twas yesterday
We chased the hoop together,
And for the plover's speckled egg
We waded through the heather.
"The green is gay where gowans grow,
'Tis Saturday--oh! come,
Hark! hear ye not our mother's voice,
The earth?--she calls us home.
"Have we not found that fortune's chase
For glory or for treasure,
Unlike the rolling circle's race,
Was pastime, without pleasure?
"But seize your glass--another time
We'll think of clouded days--
I'll give a toast--fill up my friend!
Here's 'Boys and merry plays!'"
But Market Lane and its memories detain us too long from King Street. We
now return to the point where Church Street intersects that
thoroughfare.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
VIII.
KING STREET: ST. JAMES' CHURCH.
The first Church of St. James, at York, was a plain structure of wood,
placed some yards back from the road. Its gables faced east and west,
and its solitary door was at its western end, and was approached from
Church Street. Its dimensions were 50 by 40 feet. The sides of the
building were pierced by two rows of ordinary windows, four above and
four below. Altogether it was, in its outward appearance, simply, as a
contemporary American "Geographical View of the Province of Upper
Canada," now before us, describes it, a "meeting-house for
Episcopalians."
The work just referred to, which was written by a Mr. M. Smith, before
the war of 1812, thus depicts York: "This village," it says, "is laid
out after the form of Philadelphia, the streets crossing each other at
right angles; though the ground on which it stands is not suitable for
building. This at present," the notice subjoins, "is the seat of
Government, and the residence of a number of English gentlemen. It
contains some fine buildings, though they stand scattering, among which
are a Court-house, Council-house, a large brick building, in which the
King's store for the place is kept, and a meeting-house for
Episcopalians; one printing and other offices."
The reservation of land in which the primitive St. James' Church stood,
long remained plentifully covered with the original forest. In a
wood-cut from a sketch taken early in the present century, prefixed to
the "Annals of the Diocese of Toronto," the building is represented as
being in the midst of a great grove, and stumps of various sizes are
visible in the foreground.
Up to 1803 the Anglican congregation had assembled for Divine Worship in
the Parliament Building; and prior to the appointment of the Rev. Mr.
Stuart, or in his absence, a layman, Mr. Cooper, afterwards the
well-known wharfinger, used to read the service. In March, 1799, there
was about to be a Day of General Thanksgiving. The mode proposed for its
solemn observance at York was announced as follows in the _Gazette and
Oracle_ of March 9: "Notice is hereby given that Prayers will be read in
the North Government Building in this Town, on Tuesday, the 12th
instant, being the day appointed for a General Thanksgiving throughout
the Province to Almighty God for the late important victories over the
enemies of Great Britain. Service to begin half after eleven o'clock."
We give a contemporary account of the proceedings at an important
meeting of the subscribers to the fund for the erection of the first St.
James' Church at York, in 1803. It is from the _Oracle and Gazette_ of
January 22, in that year.
"At a Meeting of the subscribers to a fund for erecting a Church in the
Town of York, holden at the Government Buildings, on Saturday the 8th
day of January instant, the Hon. Chief Justice [Elmsley] in the Chair.
Resolved unanimously: That each subscriber shall pay the amount of his
subscription by three instalments: the first being one moiety in one
month from this day; the second being a moiety of the residue in two
months; and the remainders in three months: That Mr. William Allan and
Mr. Duncan Cameron shall be Treasurers, and shall receive the amount of
the said subscriptions; and that they be jointly and severally
answerable for all moneys paid into their hands upon the receipt of
either of them: That His Honour the Chief Justice, the Honourable P.
Russell, the Honourable Captain McGill, the Reverend Mr. Stuart, Dr.
Macaulay, Mr. Chewett, and the two Treasurers, be a Committee of the
subscribers, with full power and authority to apply the moneys arising
from subscriptions, to the purpose contemplated: Provided, nevertheless,
that if any material difference of opinion should arise among them,
resort shall be had to a meeting of the subscribers to decide. That the
Church be built of stone, brick, or framed timber, as the Committee may
judge most expedient, due regard being had to the superior advantages of
a stone or brick building, if not counterbalanced by the additional
expense: That eight hundred pounds of lawful money, be the extent upon
which the Committee shall calculate their plan; but in the first
instance, they shall not expend beyond the sum of six hundred pounds (if
the amount of the sums subscribed and paid into the hands of the
Treasurers, together with the moneys which may be allowed by the British
Government, amount to so much), leaving so much of the work as can most
conveniently be dispensed with, to be completed by the remaining two
hundred pounds: Provided, however, that the said six hundred pounds be
laid out in such manner that Divine Worship can be performed with
decency in the Church: That the Committee do request the opinion of Mr.
Berczy, respecting the probable expenses which will attend the
undertaking, and respecting the materials to be preferred; due regard
being had to the amount of the fund, as aforesaid; and that after
obtaining his opinion, they do advertise their readiness to receive
proposals conformable thereto. N.B. The propriety of receiving
contributions in labour or materials is suggested to the Committee. A.
MacDonell, Secretary to the Meeting."
In the _Gazette and Oracle_ of June 4, 1803, D. Cameron and W. Allan are
inviting tenders for the supply of certain materials required for
"building a Church in this Town."
"Advertisement. Wanted. A quantity of Pine Boards and Scantling, Stones
and Lime, for building a Church in this Town. Any person inclined to
furnish any of these articles will please to give in their proposals at
the lowest prices, to the subscribers, to be laid before the Committee.
D. Cameron, W. Allan. York, 1st June, 1803."
It would seem that in July the determination was to build the Church of
stone.
"On Wednesday last, the 6th instant," says the _Oracle and Gazette_,
July 9th, 1803, "a meeting of the subscribers to the fund for erecting a
Church in this Town was held at the Government Buildings, on which
occasion it was unanimously resolved: That the said Church should be
built of Stone. That one hundred toises of Stone should accordingly be
contracted for without delay. That a quantity of two-inch pine plank,
not exceeding 6,000 feet, should also be laid in; and a reasonable
quantity of Oak studs, and Oak plank, for the window-frames and
sashes.--A future meeting we understand," the _Oracle_ adds, "will be
held in the course of the season, at which, when the different Estimates
and Proposals have been examined, and the extent which the fund will
reach, has been ascertained, something decisive will be settled."
The idea of building in stone appears to have been subsequently
relinquished; and a Church-edifice in wood was decided on. We are
informed that the Commandant of the Garrison, Col. Sheaffe, ordered his
men to assist in raising the frame.
In 1810, a portion of the church-plot was enclosed, at an expense of £1
5s. for rails, of which five hundred were required for the purpose. At
the same time the ground in front of the west-end, where was the
entrance, was cleared of stumps, at an expense of £3 15s. In that year
the cost for heating the building, and charges connected with the Holy
Communion, amounted to £1 7s. 6d., Halifax currency.
In 1813, Dr. Strachan succeeded Dr. Stuart as incumbent of the church;
and in 1818 he induced the congregation to effect some alterations in
the structure. From an advertisement in an early _Gazette_ of the year
1818, it will be seen that the ecclesiastical ideas in the ascendant
when the enlargement of the original building was first discussed, were
much more in harmony with ancient English Church usages, than those
which finally prevailed when the work was really done. With whomsoever
originating, the design at first was to extend the building eastward,
not southward; to have placed the Belfry at the west end, not at the
south; the Pulpit was to have been placed on the north side of the
Church; a South Porch was to have been erected. The advertisement
referred to reads as follows:--"Advertisement. Plans and Estimates for
enlarging and repairing the Church will be received by the subscribers
before the 20th of March, on which day a decision will be made, and the
Contractor whose proposals shall be approved of, must commence the work
as the season will permit. The intention is: 1st. To lengthen the Church
forty feet towards the east, with a circular end; thirty of which to
form part of the body of the Church, and the remaining ten an Altar,
with a small vestry-room on the one side, and a Government Pew on the
other. 2nd. To remove the Pulpit to the north side, and to erect two
Galleries, one opposite to it, and another on the west end. 3rd. To
alter the Pews to suit the situation of the Pulpit, and to paint and
number the same throughout the Church. 4th. To raise a Belfry on the
west end, and make a handsome entrance on the south side of the Church,
and to paint the whole building on the outside. Thomas Ridout, J. B.
Robinson, Churchwardens. William Allan. Feb. 18, 1818."
The intentions here detailed were not carried into effect. On the north
and south sides of the old building additional space was enclosed, which
brought the axis of the Church and its roof into a north and south
direction. An entrance was opened at the southern end, towards King
Street, and over the gable in this direction was built a square tower
bearing a circular bell-turret, surmounted by a small tin-covered spire.
The whole edifice, as thus enlarged and improved, was painted of a light
blue colour, with the exception of the frames round the windows and
doors, and the casings at the angles, imitating blocks of stone,
alternately long and short, which were all painted white.
The original western door was not closed up. Its use, almost
exclusively, was now, on Sundays and other occasions of Divine Worship,
to admit the Troops, whose benches extended along by the wall on that
side the whole length of the church.--The upper windows on all the four
sides were now made circular-headed. On the east side there was a
difference. The altar-window of the original building remained, only
transformed into a kind of triplet, the central compartment rising above
the other two, and made circular headed. On the north and south of this
east window were two tiers of lights, as on the western side.
In the bell-turret was a bell of sufficient weight sensibly to jar the
whole building at every one of its semi-revolutions.
In the interior, a central aisle, or open passage, led from the door to
the southern end of the church, where, on the floor, was situated a pew
of state for the Lieutenant-Governor: small square pillars at its four
corners sustained a flat canopy over it, immediately under the ceiling
of the gallery; and below this distinctive tester or covering, suspended
against the wall, were the royal arms, emblazoned on a black tablet of
board or canvas.
Half-way up the central aisle, on the right side, was an open space, in
which were planted the pulpit, reading-desk and clerk's pew, in the old
orthodox fashion, rising by gradations one above the other, the whole
overshadowed by a rather handsome sounding-board, sustained partially by
a rod from the roof. Behind this mountainous structure was the altar,
lighted copiously by the original east window. Two narrow side-aisles,
running parallel with the central one, gave access to corresponding rows
of pews, each having a numeral painted on its door. Two passages, for
the same purpose ran westward from the space in front of the pulpit. To
the right and left of the Lieutenant-Governor's seat, and filling up
(with the exception of two square corner pews) the rest of the northern
end of the church, were two oblong pews; the one on the west
appropriated to the officers of the garrison; the other, on the east, to
the members of the Legislature.
Round the north, west, and south sides of the interior, ran a gallery,
divided, like the area below, into pews. This structure was sustained by
a row of pillars of turned wood, and from it to the roof above rose
another row of similar supports. The ceiling over the parts exterior to
the gallery was divided into four shallow semi-circular vaults, which
met at a central point. The pews everywhere were painted of a buff or
yellowish hue, with the exception of the rims at the top, which were
black. The pulpit and its appurtenances were white. The rims just
referred to, at the tops of the pews, throughout the whole church,
exhibited, at regular intervals, small gimlet-holes: in these were
inserted annually, at Christmas-tide, small sprigs of hemlock-spruce.
The interior, when thus dressed, wore a cheerful, refreshing look, in
keeping with the festival commemorated.
Within this interior used to assemble, periodically, the little world of
York: occasionally, a goodly proportion of the little world of all Upper
Canada.
To limit ourselves to our own recollections: here, with great
regularity, every Sunday, was to be seen, passing to and from the place
of honour assigned him, Sir Peregrine Maitland,--a tall, grave officer,
always in military undress; his countenance ever wearing a mingled
expression of sadness and benevolence, like that which one may observe
on the face of the predecessor of Louis Philippe, Charles the Tenth,
whose current portrait recalls, not badly, the whole head and figure of
this early Governor of Upper Canada.
In an outline representation which we accidentally possessed, of a
panorama of the battle of Waterloo, on exhibition in London, the 1st
Foot Guards were conspicuously to be seen led on by "Major-General Sir
Peregrine Maitland." It was a matter of no small curiosity to the boyish
mind, and something that helped to rouse an interest in history
generally, to be assured that the living personage here, every week,
before the eye, was the commander represented in the panorama; one who
had actually passed through the tremendous excitement of the real scene.
With persons of wider knowledge, Sir Peregrine was invested with
further associations. Besides being the royal representative in these
parts, he was the son-in-law of Charles Gordon Lennox, fourth Duke of
Richmond, a name that stirred chivalrous feelings in early Canadians of
both Provinces; for the Duke had come to Canada as Governor-in-Chief,
with a grand reputation acquired as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland; and
great benefits were expected, and probably would have been realized from
his administration, had it been of long continuance. But he had been
suddenly removed by an excruciating death. Whilst on a tour of
inspection in the Upper Province, he had been fatally attacked with
hydrophobia, occasioned by the bite of a pet fox. The injury had been
received at Sorel; its terrible effects were fatally experienced at a
place near the Ottawa, since named Richmond.
Some of the prestige of the deceased Duke continued to adhere to Sir
Peregrine Maitland, for he had married the Duke's daughter, a graceful
and elegant woman, who was always at his side, here and at Stamford
Cottage across the Lake. She bore a name not unfamiliar in the domestic
annals of George the Third, who once, it is said, was enamoured of a
beautiful Lady Sarah Lennox, grandmother, as we suppose, or some other
near relative, of the Lady Sarah here before us at York. Moreover,
conversationalists whispered about (in confidence) something supposed to
be unknown to the general public--that the match between Sir Peregrine
and Lady Sarah had been effected in spite of the Duke. The report was
that there had been an elopement; and it was naturally supposed that the
party of the sterner sex had been the most active agent in the affair.
To say the truth, however, in this instance, it was the lady who
precipitated matters. The affair occurred at Paris, soon after the
Waterloo campaign. The Duke's final determination against Sir
Peregrine's proposals having been announced, the daughter suddenly
withdrew from the father's roof, and fled to the lodgings of Sir
Peregrine, who instantly retired to other quarters. The upshot of the
whole thing, at once romantic and unromantic, included a marriage and a
reconciliation; and eventually a Lieutenant-Governorship for the
son-in-law under the Governorship-in-Chief of the father, both
despatched together to undertake the discharge of vice-regal functions
in a distant colony. At the time of his marriage with Lady Sarah Lennox,
Sir Peregrine had been for some ten years a widower. On his staff here
at York was a son by his first wife, also named Peregrine, a subaltern
in the army.
After the death of the Duke of Richmond, Sir Peregrine became
administrator, for a time, of the general government of British North
America. The movements of the representative of the Crown were attended
with some state in those days. Even a passage across from York to
Stamford, or from Stamford to York, was announced by a royal salute at
the garrison.
Of a visit to Lower Canada in 1824, when, in addition to the usual
suite, there were in the party several young Englishmen of distinction,
tourists at that early period, on this continent, we have the following
notice in the _Canadian Review_ for December of that year. After
mentioning the arrival at the Mansion House Hotel in Montreal, the
_Review_ proceeds: "In the morning His Excellency breakfasted with Sir
Francis Burton, at the Government House, whom he afterwards accompanied
to Quebec in the Swiftsure steamboat. Sir Peregrine is accompanied," the
_Review_ reports, "by Lord Arthur Lennox, Mr. Maitland, Colonels Foster,
Lightfoot, Coffin and Talbot; with the Hon. E. G. Stanley [from 1851 to
1869, Earl of Derby], grandson of Earl Derby, M.P. for Stockbridge, John
E. Denison, Esq. [subsequently Speaker of the House of Commons], M.P.
for Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and James S. Wortley, Esq. [afterwards Lord
Wharncliffe], M.P. for Bossiney in Cornwall. The three latter
gentlemen," the magazine adds, "are now upon a tour in this country from
England; and we are happy to learn that they have expressed themselves
as being highly gratified with all that they have hitherto seen in
Canada."
It will be of interest to know that the name of Sir Peregrine Maitland
is pleasantly preserved by means of Maitland Scholarships in a Grammar
School for natives at Madras; and by a Maitland Prize in the University
of Cambridge. The circumstances of the institution of these memorials
are these as originally announced: "The friends of Lieutenant-General
Sir Peregrine Maitland, K.C.B., late Commander in Chief of the Forces in
South India, being desirous of testifying their respect and esteem for
his character and principles, and for his disinterested zeal in the
cause of Christian Truth in the East, have raised a fund for the
institution of a prize in one of the Universities, and for the
establishment of two native scholarships at Bishop Corrie's Grammar
School at Madras; such prize and scholarships to be associated with the
name of Sir Peregrine Maitland. In pursuance of the foregoing scheme,
the sum of £1,000 has been given to the University of Cambridge for the
purpose of instituting a prize to be called "Sir Peregrine Maitland's
Prize," for an English essay on some subject connected with the
propagation of the Gospel, through missionary exertions in India and
other parts of the heathen world." This Prize, which is kept up by the
interest accruing every three years, has been awarded at Cambridge
regularly since 1845.
The successor to Sir Peregrine Maitland in the Government of Upper
Canada was another distinguished military officer, Sir John Colborne.
With ourselves, the first impression of his form and figure is
especially associated with the interior in which we are supposing the
reader to be now standing. We remember his first passing up the central
aisle of St James's Church. He had arrived early, in an unostentatious
way; and on coming within the building he quietly inquired of the first
person whom he saw, sitting in a seat near the door: Which was the
Governor's pew? The gentleman addressed happened to be Mr. Bernard
Turquand, who, quickly recognizing the inquirer, stood up and extended
his right arm and open hand in the direction of the canopied pew over
which was suspended the tablet bearing the Royal Arms. Sir John, and
some of his family after him, then passed on to the place indicated.
At school, in an edition of Goldsmith then in use, the name of "Major
Colborne" in connection with the account of Sir John Moore's death at
Corunna had already been observed; and it was with us lads a matter of
intense interest to learn that the new Governor was the same person.
The scene which was epitomized in the school-book, is given at greater
length in Gleig's Lives of Eminent British Military Commanders. The
following are some particulars from Colonel Anderson's narrative in that
work: "I met the General," Colonel Anderson says, "on the evening of the
16th, bringing in, in a blanket and sashes. He knew me immediately,
though it was almost dark, squeezed me by the hand and said 'Anderson,
don't leave me.' At intervals he added 'Anderson, you know that I have
always wished to die in this way. I hope the people of England will be
satisfied. I hope my country will do me justice. You will see my friends
as soon as you can. Tell them everything. I have made my will, and have
remembered my servants. Colborne has my will and all my papers.' Major
Colborne now came into the room. He spoke most kindly to him; and then
said to me, 'Anderson, remember you go to ----, and tell him it is my
request, and that I expect, he will give Major Colborne a
lieutenant-colonelcy.' He thanked the surgeons for their trouble. He
pressed my hand close to his body, and in a few minutes died without a
struggle."
He had been struck by a cannon ball. The shot, we are told, had
completely crushed his shoulder; the arm was hanging by a piece of skin,
and the ribs over the heart, besides been broken, were literally
stripped of flesh. Yet, the narrative adds, "he sat upon the field
collected and unrepining, as if no ball had struck him, and as if he
were placed where he was for the mere purpose of reposing for a brief
space from the fatigue of hard riding."
Sir John Colborne himself afterwards at Ciudad Rodrigo came within a
hair's-breadth of a similar fate. His right shoulder was shattered by a
cannon shot. The escape of the right arm from amputation on the field at
the hands of some prompt military surgeon on that occasion, was a
marvel. The limb was saved, though greatly disabled. The want of
symmetry in Sir John Colborne's tall and graceful form, permanently
occasioned by this injury, was conspicuous to the eye. We happened to be
present in the Council Chamber at Quebec, in 1838, at the moment when
this noble-looking soldier literally vacated the vice-regal chair, and
installed his successor Lord Durham in it, after administering to him
the oaths. The exchange was not for the better, in a scenic point of
view, although the features of Lord Durham, as his well-known portrait
shews, were very fine, suggestive of the poet or artist.
Of late years a monument has been erected on Mount Wise at Plymouth, in
honour of the illustrious military chief and pre-eminently excellent
man, whose memory has just been recalled to us. It is a statue of
bronze, by Adams, a little larger than life; and the likeness is
admirably preserved. (When seen on horseback at parades or reviews
soldiers always averred that he greatly resembled "the Duke." Dr. Henry,
in "Trifles from my Portfolio" (ii. 111.) thus wrote of him in 1833:
"When we first dined at Government House, we were struck by the strong
resemblance he bore to the Duke of Wellington; and there is also," Dr.
Henry continues, "a great similarity in mind and disposition, as well as
in the lineaments of the face. In one particular they harmonize
perfectly--namely, great simplicity of character, and an utter dislike
to shew ostentation.")
On the four sides of the granite pedestal of the statue on Mount Wise,
are to be read the following inscriptions: in front: John Colborne,
Baron Seaton. Born MDCCLXXVIII. Died MDCCCLXIII. On the right side:
Canada. Ionian Islands. On the left side: Peninsula. Waterloo. On the
remaining side: In memory of the distinguished career and stainless
character of Field Marshal Lord Seaton, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., G.C.H. This
Monument is erected by his friends and comrades.
Accompanying the family of Sir John Colborne to their place in the
Church at York was to be seen every Sunday, for some time, a
shy-mannered, black-eyed, Italian-featured Mr. Jeune, tutor to the
Governor's sons. This was afterwards the eminent Dr. Jeune, Master of
Pembroke College at Oxford, a great promoter of reform in that
University, and Bishop of Lincoln. Sir John himself was a man of
scholarly tastes; a great student of history, and a practical modern
European linguist.
Through a casual circumstance, it is said that full praise was not
publicly given, at the time, to the regiment commanded by Sir John
Colborne, the 52nd, for the particular service rendered by it at the
battle of Waterloo. By the independent direction of their leader, the
52nd made a sudden flank movement at the crisis of the fight and
initiated the final discomfiture of which the Guards got the sole
praise. At the close of the day, when the Duke of Wellington was rapidly
constructing his despatch, Colonel Colborne was inquired for by him, and
could not, for the moment, be found. The information, evidently desired,
was thus not to be had; and the document was completed and sent off
without a special mention of the 52nd's deed of "derring do."
During the life-time of the great Duke there was much reticence among
the military authorities in regard to the Battle of Waterloo from the
fact that the Duke himself did not encourage discussion on the subject.
All was well that had ended well, appeared to have been his doctrine. He
once checked an incipient dispute in regard to the great event of the
18th of June between two friends, in his presence, by the command,
half-jocose, half-earnest: "You leave the Battle of Waterloo alone!" He
gave £60 for a private letter written by himself to a friend on the eve
of the battle, and was heard to say, as he threw the document into the
fire, "What a fool was I, when I wrote that!"
Since the death of the Duke, an officer of the 52nd, subsequently in
Holy Orders,--the Rev. William Leeke--has devoted two volumes to the
history of "the 52nd or Lord Seaton's Regiment;" in which its movements
on the field of Waterloo are fully detailed. And Colonel Chesney in his
"Waterloo Lectures; a Study of the Campaign of 1815" has set the great
battle in a new light, and has demolished several English and French
traditions in relation to it, bringing out into great prominence the
services rendered by Blucher and the Prussians.
The Duke's personal sensitiveness to criticism was shewn on another
occasion: when Colonel Gurwood suddenly died, he, through the police,
took possession of the Colonel's papers, and especially of a Manuscript
of Table Talk and other _ana_, designed for publication, and which, had
it not been on the instant ruthlessly destroyed, would have been as
interesting probably as Boswell's.
On Lord Seaton's departure from Canada, he was successively Lord High
Commissioner of the Ionian Islands, and Commander-in-Chief in Ireland.
He then retired to his own estate in the West of England, where he had a
beautiful seat, in the midst of the calm, rural, inland scenery of
Devonshire, not far from Plympton, and on the slope descending southward
from the summits of Dartmoor. The name of the house is Beechwood, from
the numerous clean, bold, magnificent beech trees that adorn its
grounds, and give character to the neighbourhood generally. In the
adjoining village of Sparkwell he erected a handsome school-house and
church.
On his decease at Torquay in 1863 his remains were deposited in the
Church at Newton Ferrers, the ancient family burying-place of the
Yonges.
Mrs. Jameson's words in her "Winter studies and Summer Rambles," express
briefly but truly, the report which all that remember him, would give,
of this distinguished and ever memorable Governor of Canada. "Sir John
Colborne," she says incidentally, in the Introduction to the work just
named, "whose mind appeared to me cast in the antique mould of
chivalrous honour; and whom I never heard mentioned in either Province
but with respect and veneration." Dr. Henry in "Trifles from my
Portfolio," once before referred to, uses similar language. "I believe,"
he says, "there never was a soldier of more perfect moral character than
Sir John Colborne--a Bayard without gasconade, as well as _sans peur et
sans reproche_." The title "Seaton," we may add, was taken from the name
of an ancient seaport town of Devon, the Moridunum of the Roman period.
[Illustration]
IX.
KING STREET: ST. JAMES' CHURCH--(_Continued_.)
At the southern end of the Church, in which we are supposing ourselves
to be, opposite the Lieutenant-Governor's pew, but aloft in the gallery,
immediately over the central entrance underneath, was the pew of Chief
Justice Powell, a long narrow enclosure, with a high screen at its back
to keep off the draughts from the door into the gallery, just behind.
The whole of the inside of the pew, together with the screen by which it
was backed, was lined with dark green baize or cloth. The Chief's own
particular place in the pew was its central point. There, as in a focus,
surrounded by the members of his family, he calmly sat, with his face to
the north, his white head and intelligent features well brought out by
the dark back-ground of the screen behind.
The spectator, on looking up and recognizing the presence of the Chief
Justice thus seated, involuntarily imagined himself, for the moment, to
be in court. In truth, in an absent moment, the Judge himself might
experience some confusion as to his whereabouts. For below him, on his
right and left, he would see many of the barristers, attorneys, jurors
and witnesses (to go no farther), who on week days were to be seen or
heard before him in different compartments of the Court-room.
Chief Justice Powell was of Welsh descent. The name is, of course, Ap
Howell; of which "Caer Howell," "Howell's Place," the title given by the
Chief Justice to his Park-lot at York, is a relic. His portrait exists
in Toronto, in possession of members of his family. He was a man of
rather less than the ordinary stature. His features were round in
outline, unmarked by the painful lines which usually furrow the modern
judicial visage, but wakefully intelligent. His hair was milky white.
The head was inclined to be bald.
We have before us a contemporary brochure of the Chief's, from which we
learn his view of the ecclesiastical land question, which for so long a
period agitated Canada. After a full historical discussion, he
recommends the re-investment of the property in the Crown, "which," he
says, "in its bounty, will apply the proceeds equally for the support of
Christianity, without other distinction:" but he comes to this
determination reluctantly, and considers the plan to be one of
expediency only. We give the concluding paragraph of his pamphlet, for
the sake of its ring--so characteristically that of a by-gone day and
generation: "If the wise provision of Mr. Pitt," the writer says, "to
preserve the Law of the Union [between England and Scotland], by
preserving the Church of England predominant in the Colony, and touching
upon her rights to tythes only for her own advantage, and by the same
course as the Church itself desiderates in England (the exchange of
tythes for the fee simple), must be abandoned to the sudden thought of a
youthful speculator [_i. e._, Mr. Wilmot, Secretary for the Colonies,
who had introduced a bill into the Imperial Parliament for the sale of
the Lands to the Canada Company], let the provision of his bill cease,
and the tythes to which the Church of England was at that time lawfully
entitled be restored; she will enjoy these exclusively even of the Kirk
of Scotland: but if all veneration for the wisdom of our Ancestors has
ceased, and the time is come to prostrate the Church of England, bind
her not up in the same wythe with her bitterest enemy; force her not to
an exclusive association with any one of her rivals; leave the tythes
abolished; abolish all the legal exchange for them; and restore the
Reserves to the Crown, which, in its bounty, will apply the proceeds
equally for the support of Christianity, without other distinction."
In the body of the Church, below, sat another Chief Justice, retired
from public life, and infirm--Mr. Scott--the immediate predecessor of
Chief Justice Powell; a white-haired, venerable form, assisted to his
place, a little to the south of the Governor's pew, every Sunday. We
have already once before referred to Mr. Scott.
And again: another judicial personage was here every week long to be
seen, also crowned with the snowy honours of advanced age--Mr. Justice
Campbell--afterwards, in succession to Chief Justice Powell, Chief
Justice Sir William Campbell. His place was on the west side of the
central aisle. Sir William Campbell was born so far back as 1758. He
came out from Scotland as a soldier in a Highland regiment, and was
taken prisoner at Yorktown when that place was surrendered by Cornwallis
in 1781. In 1783 he settled in Nova Scotia and studied law. After
practising as a barrister for nineteen years he was appointed
Attorney-General for the Island of Cape Breton, from which post, after
twelve years, he was promoted to a Judgeship in Upper Canada. This was
in 1811. Fourteen years afterwards (in 1825), he became Chief Justice.
The funeral of Sir William Campbell, in 1834, was one of unusual
impressiveness. The Legislature was in session at the time, and attended
in a body, with the Bar and the Judges. At the same hour, within the
walls of the same Church, St. James', the obsequies of a member of the
Lower House took place, namely, of Mr. Roswell Mount, representative of
the County of Middlesex, who had chanced to die at York during the
session.
A funeral oration on the two-fold occasion was pronounced by Archdeacon
Strachan.--Dr. Henry, author of "Trifles from my Portfolio," attended
Sir William Campbell in his last illness. In the work just named, his
case is thus described: "My worthy patient became very weak towards the
end of the year," the doctor says, "his nights were restless--his
appetite began to fail, and he could only relish tit bits. Medicine was
tried fruitlessly, so his doctor prescribed snipes. At the point of the
sandy peninsula opposite the barracks," Dr. Henry continues, "are a
number of little pools and marshes, frequented by these delectable
little birds; and here I used to cross over in my skiff and pick up the
Chief Justice's panacea. On this delicate food the poor old gentleman
was supported for a couple of months; but the frost set in--the snipes
flew away, and Sir William died." (ii. 112.)
Appended to the account of the funeral ceremonies, in the York _Courier_
of the day, we notice one of those familiar paragraphs which sensational
itemists like to construct, and which stimulate the self-complacency of
small communities. It is headed Longevity, and then thus proceeds: "At
the funeral of the late Sir W. Campbell, on Monday, there were twenty
inhabitants of York, whose united ages exceed fourteen hundred and fifty
years!"
It is certain that there were to be seen moving up the aisles of the old
wooden St. James', at York, every Sunday, a striking number of venerable
and dignified forms. For one thing their costume helped to render them
picturesque and interesting. The person of our immediate ancestors was
well set off by their dress. Recall their easy, partially cut-away black
coats and upright collars; their so-called small-clothes and buckled
shoes; the frilled shirt-bosoms and the white cravats, not apologies for
cravats, but real envelopes for the neck. (The comfortable, well-to-do
Quaker of the old school still exhibits in use some of their homely
peculiarities of garb.) And then remember the cut and arrangement of
their hair, generally milky white, either from age or by the aid of
powder; their smoothly-shaven cheek and chin; and the peculiar
expression superinduced in the eye and the whole countenance, by the
governing ideas of the period, ideas which we are wont to style
old-fashioned, but which furnished, nevertheless, for the time being,
very useful and definite rules of conduct.
Two pictures, one, Trumbull's Signing of the Declaration of
Independence; the other, Huntingdon's Republican Court of Washington
(shewn in Paris in 1867), exhibit to the eye the outward and visible
presentment of the prominent actors in the affairs of the central
portion of the Northern Continent, a century ago. These paintings may
help to do the same, in some degree, for us here in the north, also; any
one of the more conspicuous figures in the congregation of the old St.
James's, at York, might have stepped out from the canvas of one or other
of the historic works of art just named. On occasions of state, even the
silken bag (in the case of officials at least) was attached to the nape
of the neck, as though, in accordance with a fashion of an earlier day
still, the hair were yet worn long, and required gathering up in a
receptacle provided for the purpose.
It seems to-day almost like a dream that we have seen in the flesh the
honoured patriarchs and founders of our now great community--
"Zorah, Nahor, Haran, Abram, Lot,
The youthful world's gray fathers in one knot;"--
that our eyes really once beheld the traces on their countenances of
their long and varied experiences, of their cares, and processes of
thought; the traces left by the lapse of years, by times, rough and
troublous, not merely heard of by the hearing of the ear, as existing
across the Lakes or across the Seas, but encountered in their own
persons, in their own land, at their own hearths; encountered and
bravely struggled through:--that we were eye-witnesses of their
cheerfulness and good courage after crisis upon crisis had thus passed
over them; eye-witnesses again, too, of their earnest devotedness to the
duties of calmer days, discharged ever honestly and well according to
the beliefs and knowledge of the period, and without the realization, in
many an instance, of the reach and vastness of the scheme of things
which was being wrought out:--that with our own eyes we saw them, again
and again, engaged within consecrated walls, in solemn acts which
expressed, in spite of the vicissitudes which their destiny had brought
with it, their unaffected faith in the unseen, and their living hope in
relation to futurity.
All this, we say, now seems like a dream of the night, or a mystic
revelation of the scenes of a very distant period and in a very distant
locality, rather than the recollections of a few short years spent on
the spot where these pages are indited. The names, however, which we
shall produce will have a sound of reality about them: they will be
recognized as familiar, household words still perpetuated, or, at all
events, still freshly remembered in the modern Toronto.
From amongst the venerable heads and ancestral forms which recur to us,
as we gaze down in imagination from the galleries of the old wooden St.
James', of York, we will single out, in addition to those already spoken
of, that of Mr. Ridout, sometimes Surveyor-General of the Province,
father of a numerous progeny, and tribal head, so to speak, of more than
one family of connections settled here, bearing the same name. He was a
fine typical representative of the group to which our attention is
directed. He was a perfect picture of a cheerful, benevolent-minded
Englishman; of portly form, well advanced in years, his hair snowy-white
naturally; his usual costume, of the antique style above described.
Then there was Mr. Small, Clerk of the Crown, an Englishman of similar
stamp. We might sketch the rest separately as they rise before the
mind's eye; but we should probably, after all, convey an idea of each
that would be too incomplete to be interesting or of much value. We
therefore simply name other members of the remarkable group of reverend
seniors that assembled habitually in the church at York. Mr. Justice
Boulton, Colonel Smith, sometime President of the Province; Mr. Allan,
Mr. M'Gill, Mr. Crookshank, Colonel Givins, Major Heward, Colonel Wells,
Colonel Fitzgibbon, Mr. Dunn, Dr. Macaulay, Dr. Baldwin, Dr. Lee, Mr.
Samuel Ridout, Mr. Chewett, Mr. McNab (Sir Allan's father); Mr. Stephen
Jarvis, who retained to the last the ancient fashion of tying the hair
in a queue.
We might go on with several others, also founders of families that still
largely people York and its vicinity; we might mention old Captain
Playter, Captain Denison, Mr. Scarlett, Captain Brooke, sen., and
others. Filial duty would urge us not to omit, in the enumeration, one
who, though at a very early period removed by a sudden casualty, is
vividly remembered, not only as a good and watchful father, but also as
a venerable form harmonizing perfectly in expression and costume with
the rest of the group which used to gather in the church at York.
Of course, mingled with the ancients of the congregation, there was a
due proportion of a younger generation. There was for example Mr. Simon
Washburn, a bulky and prosperous barrister, afterwards Clerk of the
Peace, who was the first, perhaps, in these parts, to carry a glass
adroitly in the eye. There was Dr. Grant Powell, a handsome
reproduction, on a larger scale, of his father the Chief, as his
portrait shews; there were the Messrs. Monro, George and John; the
Messrs. Stanton; Mr. Billings; the Messrs. Gamble, John and William; Mr.
J. S. Baldwin, Mr. Lyons, Mr. Beikie, and others, all men of note,
distinguishable from each other by individual traits and characteristics
that might readily be sketched.
And lastly in the interstices of the assemblage was to be seen a
plentiful representation of generation number three; young men and lads
of good looks, for the most part, well set-up limbs, and quick
faculties; in some instances, of course, of fractious temperament and
manners. As ecclesiastical associations are at the moment uppermost, we
note an ill habit that prevailed among some of these younglings of the
flock, of loitering long about the doors of the church for the purpose
of watching the arrivals, and then, when the service was well advanced,
the striplings would be seen sporadically coming in, each one imagining,
as he passed his fingers through his hair and marched with a shew of
manly spirit up the aisle, that he attracted a degree of attention;
attracted, perhaps, a glance of admiration from some of the many pairs
of eyes that rained influence from a large pew in the eastern portion of
the north gallery, where the numerous school of Miss Purcell and Miss
Rose held a commanding position.
It would have been a singular exception to a general law, had the
interior into which we are now gazing, and whose habitués we are now
recalling, not been largely frequented by the feminine portion of
society at York. Seated in their places in various directions along the
galleries and in the body of the old wooden church, were to be regularly
seen specimens of the venerable great-grandmammas of the old English and
Scottish type (in one or two instances to be thought of to this day with
a degree of awe by reason of the vigour, almost masculine, of their
character); specimens of kindly maiden aunts; specimens of matronly
wives and mothers, keeping watch and ward over bevies of comely
daughters and nieces.
Lady Sarah Maitland herself cannot be called a fixed member of society
here, but having been for so long a time a resident, it seems now, in
the retrospect, as if she had been really a development of the place.
Her distinguished style, native to herself, had its effect on her
contemporaries of the gentler sex in these parts. Mrs. Dunn, also, and
Mrs. Wells, may likewise be named as special models of grace and
elegance in person and manner. In this all-influential portion of the
community, a tone and air that were good prevailed widely from the
earliest period.
It soon became a practice with the military, and other temporary
sojourners attached to the Government, to select partners for life from
the families of York. Hence it has happened that, to this day, in
England, Ireland and Scotland, and in the Dependencies of the Empire on
the other side of the globe, many are the households that rise up and
call a daughter of Canada blessed as their maternal head.
Local aspirants to the holy estate were thus unhappily, now and then, to
their great disgust, baulked of their first choice. But a residue was
always left, sufficient for the supply of the ordinary demand, and
manifold were the interlacings of local connections; a fact in which
there is nothing surprising and nothing to be condemned: it was from
political considerations alone that such affinities came afterwards to
be referred to, in some quarters, with bitterness.
Occasionally, indeed, a fastidious young man, or a disappointed widower,
would make a selection in parts remote from the home circle, quite
unnecessarily. We recall especially to mind the sensible emotion in the
congregation on the first advent amongst them of a fair bride from
Montreal, the then Paris of Canada; and several lesser excitements of
the same class, on the appearance in their midst of aerial veils and
orange blossoms from Lobo, from New York, from distant England. Once the
selection of a "helpmeet" from a rival religious communion, in the town
of York itself, led to the defection from the flock of a prominent
member; an occurrence that led also to the publication of two polemical
pamphlets, which made a momentary stir; one of them a declamation by a
French bishop; the other, a review of the same, by the pastor of the
abandoned flock.
The strictures on the intelligence and moral feeling of the feminine, as
well as the masculine portion of society at York, delivered by such
world-experienced writers as Mrs. Jameson, and such enlightened critics
as were two or three of the later Governors' wives, may have been just
in the abstract, to a certain extent, as from the point of view of old
communities in England and Germany; but they were unfair as from the
point of view of persons calmly reviewing all the circumstances of the
case. Here again the maxim applies: _Tout comprendre, c'est tout
pardonner_.
We have said that the long pew on the west side of the Governor's seat
was allotted to the military. In this compartment we remember often
scanning with interest the countenance and form of a youthful and
delicate-looking ensign, simply because he bore, hereditarily, a name
and title all complete, distinguished in the annals of science two
centuries ago--the Hon. Robert Boyle: he was one of the aides-de-camp of
Sir Peregrine Maitland. Here, also, was to be seen, for a time, a Major
Browne, a brother of the formerly popular poetess, Mrs. Hemans. Here,
too, sat a Zachary Mudge, another hereditary name complete,
distinguished in the scientific annals of Devonshire. He was an officer
of Artillery, and one of Sir John Colborne's aides-de-camp; for some
unexplained reason he committed suicide at York, and his remains were
deposited in the old military burying-ground. In this pew familiar forms
were also--Major Powell, Capt. Grubbe, Major Hillier, Capt. Blois, Capt,
Phillpotts, brother of the Bishop.
The compartment on the east side of the Governor's pew, was as we have
said, appointed for the use of the members of the Legislature, when in
session. Here at certain periods, generally in mid-winter, were to be
observed all the political notabilities of the day; for at the period we
are glancing at, non-conformists as well as conformists were to be seen
assisting, now and again, at public worship in St. James' Church.
In their places here the outward presentments of Col. Nichol (killed by
driving over the precipice at Queenston), of Mr. Homer (a Benjamin
Franklin style of countenance), of Dr. Lefferty, of Hamnet Pinhey, of
Mahlon Burwell, of Absalom Shade, of other owners of old Canadian names,
are well remembered. The spare, slender figure of Mr. Speaker Sherwood,
afterwards a judge of the King's Bench, was noticeable. Mr. Chisholm, of
Oakville, used facetiously to object to the clause in the Litany where
"heresy and schism" are deprecated, it so happening that the last term
was usually, by a Scotticism, read "Chisholm." Up to the Parliamentary
pew we have seen Mr. William Lyon McKenzie himself hurriedly make his
way, with an air of great animation, and take his seat, to the visible,
but, of course, repressed disconcertment of several honourable members,
and others.
Altogether, it was a very complete little world, this assemblage within
the walls of the old wooden church at York. There were present, so to
speak, king, lords, and commons; gentle and simple in due proportion,
with their wives and little ones; judges, magistrates and gentry;
representatives of governmental departments, with their employés;
legislators, merchants, tradespeople, handicraftsmen; soldiers and
sailors; a great variety of class and character.
All seemed to be in harmony, real or conventional, here; whatever feuds,
family or political, actually subsisted, no very marked symptoms thereof
could be discerned in this place. But the history of all was known, or
supposed to be known, to each. The relationship of each to each was
known, and how it was brought about. It was known to all how every
little scar, every trivial mutilation or disfigurement, which chanced to
be visible on the visage or limb of any one, was acquired, in the
performance of what boyish freak, in the execution of what practical
jest, in the excitement of what convivial or other occasion.
Here and there sat one who, in obedience to the social code of the day,
had been "out," for the satisfaction, as the term was, of himself or
another, perhaps a quondam friend--satisfaction obtained (let the age be
responsible for the terms we use), in more than one instance, at the
cost of human life.
(Pewholders in St. James' Church from its commencement to about 1818,
were President Russell: Mr. Justice Cochrane: Mr. Justice Boulton:
Solicitor General Gray: Receiver General Selby: Christopher Robinson:
George Crookshank: William Chewett: J. B. Robinson: Alexander Wood:
William Willcocks: John Beikie: Alexander Macdonell: Chief Justice
Elmsley: Chief Justice Osgoode: Chief Justice Scott: Chief Justice
Powell: Attorney General Firth: Secretary Jarvis: General Shaw: Col.
Smith: D'Arcy Boulton: William Allan: Duncan Cameron: John Small: Thomas
Ridout: William Stanton: Stephen Heward: Donald McLean: Stephen Jarvis:
Capt. McGill: Col. Givins: Dr. Maccaulay: Dr. Gamble: Dr. Baldwin: Dr.
Lee: Mr. St. George: Mr. Denison: Mr. Playter: Mr. Brooke: Mr. Cawthra:
Mr. Scadding: Mr. Ketchum: Mr. Cooper: Mr. Ross: Mr. Jordan: Mr.
Kendrick: Mr. Hunt: Mr. Higgins: Mr. Anderson: Mr. Murchison: Mr.
Bright: Mr. O'Keefe: Mr. Caleb Humphrey.--The Churchwardens for 1807-8
were: D'Arcy Boulton and William Allan. For 1809: William Allan and
Thomas Ridout. For 1810: William Allan and Stephen Jarvis. For 1812:
Duncan Cameron and Alexander Legge.)
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
X.
KING STREET: ST. JAMES' CHURCH--(_Continued._)
It is beginning, perhaps, to be thought preposterous that we have not as
yet said anything of the occupants of the pulpit and desk, in our
account of this church interior. We are just about to supply the
deficiency.
Here was to be seen and heard, at his periodical visits, Charles James
Stewart, the second Bishop of Quebec, a man of saintly character and
presence; long a missionary in the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada,
before his appointment to the Episcopate. The contour of his head and
countenance, as well as something of his manner even, may be gathered
from a remark of the late Dr. Primrose, of Toronto, who, while a
stranger, had happened to drop in at the old wooden church when Bishop
Stewart was preaching: "I just thought," the doctor said, "it was the
old King in the pulpit!" _i. e._, George III.
Here Dr. Okill Stewart, formerly rector of this church, but subsequently
of St. George's, Kingston, used occasionally, when visiting York, to
officiate--a very tall, benevolent, and fine featured ecclesiastic, with
a curious delivery, characterized by unexpected elevations and
depressions of the voice irrespective of the matter, accompanied by long
closings of the eyes, and then a sudden re-opening of the same. Whenever
this preacher ascended the pulpit, one member of the congregation, Mr.
George Duggan, who had had, it was understood, some trivial disagreement
with the doctor during his incumbency in former years, was always
expected, by on-lookers, to rise and walk out. And this he accordingly
always did. The movement seemed a regular part of the programme of the
day, and never occasioned any sensation.
Here the Rev. Joseph Hudson officiated now and then, a military
chaplain, appointed at a comparatively late period to this post; a
clergyman greatly beloved by the people of the town generally, both as a
preacher and as a man. He was the first officiating minister we ever saw
wearing the academical hood over the ordinary vestment.
Here, during the sittings of Parliament, of which he was chaplain, Mr.
Addison, of Niagara, was sometimes to be heard. The Library of this
scholarly divine of the old school was presented by him _en bloc_ to St.
Mark's Church, Niagara, of which he was incumbent. It remained for some
years at "Lake View," the private residence of Mr. Addison; but during
the incumbency of Dr. McMurray, it has been removed to the rectory-house
at Niagara, where it is to continue, in accordance with the first
rector's will, for the use of the incumbent for the time being.
It is a remarkable collection, as exhibiting the line of reading of a
thoughtful and intelligent man of the last century: many treatises and
tracts of contemporary, but now defunct interest, not elsewhere to be
met with, probably, in Canada, are therein preserved. The volumes, for
the most part, retain their serviceable bindings of old pane-sided calf;
but some of them, unfortunately, bear marks of the havoc made by damp
and vermin before their transfer to their present secure place of
shelter. Mr. Addison used to walk to and from Church in his canonicals
in the old-fashioned way, recalling the Johnsonian period, when clergy
very generally wore the cassock and gown in the streets.
Another chaplain to the Legislative Assembly was Mr. William Macaulay, a
preacher always listened to with a peculiar attention, whenever he was
to be heard in the pulpit here. Mr. Macaulay was a member of the
Macaulay family settled at Kingston. He had been sent to Oxford, where
he pursued his studies without troubling himself about a degree. While
there he acquired the friendship of several men afterwards famous,
especially of Whately, sometime Archbishop of Dublin, with whom a
correspondence was maintained.
Mr. Macaulay's striking and always deeply-thoughtful manner was set off
to advantage by the fine intellectual contour of his face and head,
which were not unlike those to be seen in the portrait of Maltby,
Bishop of Durham, usually prefixed to Morell's Thesaurus.
One more chaplain of the House may be named, frequently heard and seen
in this church--Dr. Thomas Phillips--another divine, well read, of a
type that has now disappeared. His personal appearance was very clerical
in the old-fashioned sense. His countenance was of the class represented
by that of the late Sir Henry Ellis, as finely figured, not long since,
in the _Illustrated News_. He was one of the last wearers of hair-powder
in these parts. In reading the Creed he always endeavoured to conform to
the old English custom of turning towards the east; but to do this in
the desk of the old church was difficult.
Dr. Phillips was formerly of Whitchurch, in Herefordshire. He died in
1849, aged 68, at Weston, on the Humber, where he founded and organized
the parish of St. Philip. His body was borne to to its last
resting-place by old pupils. We once had in our possession a pamphlet
entitled "The Canadian Remembrancer, a Loyal Sermon, preached on St.
George's Day, April 23, 1826, at the Episcopal Church (York), by the
Rev. T. Phillips, D.D., Head Master of the Grammar School. Printed at
the _Gazette_ Office."
There remains to be noticed the "pastor and master" of the whole
assemblage customably gathered together in St. James' Church--Dr. John
Strachan. On this spot, in successive edifices, each following the other
in rapid succession, and each surpassing the other in dignity and
propriety of architectural style, he, for more than half a century, was
the principal figure.
The story of his career is well known, from his departure from Scotland,
a poor but spirited youth, in 1799, to his decease in 1867, as first
Bishop of Toronto, with its several intermediate stages of activity and
promotion. His outward aspect and form are also familiar, from the
numerous portraits of him that are everywhere to be seen. In stature
slightly under the medium height, with countenance and head of the type
of Milton's in middle age, without eloquence, without any extraordinary
degree of originality of mind, he held together here a large
congregation, consisting of heterogeneous elements, by the strength and
moral force of his personal character. Qualities, innate to himself,
decisiveness of intellect, firmness, a quick insight into things and
men, with a certain fertility of resource, conspired to win for him the
position which he filled, and enabled him to retain it with ease; to
sustain, with a graceful and unassuming dignity, all the augmentations
which naturally accumulated round it, as the community, of which he was
so vital a part, grew and widened and rose to a higher and higher level,
on the swelling tide of the general civilization of the continent.
In all his public ministrations he was to be seen officiating without
affectation in manner or style. A stickler in ritual would have declared
him indifferent to minutiæ. He wore the white vesture of his office with
an air of negligence, and his doctor's robe without any special
attention to its artistic adjustment upon his person. A technical
precisian in modern popular theology would pronounce him out now and
then in his doctrine. What he seemed especially to drive at was not
dogmatic accuracy so much as a well-regulated life, in childhood, youth
and manhood. The good sense of the matter delivered--and it was never
destitute of that quality--was solely relied on for the results to be
produced: the topics of modern controversy never came up in his
discourse: at the period to which we refer they were in most quarters
dormant, their re-awakening deferred until the close of a thirty years'
peace, but then destined to set mankind by the ears when now relieved
from the turmoil of physical and material war, but roused to great
intellectual activity.
Many a man that dropped in during the time of public worship, inclined
from prejudice to be captious, inclined even to be merry over certain
national peculiarities of utterance and diction, which to a stranger,
for a time, made the matter delivered not easy to be understood, went
out with quite a different sentiment in regard to the preacher and his
words.
In the early days of Canada, a man of capacity was called upon, as we
have seen in other instances, to play many parts. It required tact to
play them all satisfactorily. In the case of Dr. Strachan--the voice
that to-day would be heard in the pulpit, offering counsel and advice as
to the application of sacred principles to life and conduct, in the
presence of all the civil functionaries of the country, from Sir
Peregrine Maitland to Mr. Chief Constable Higgins; from Chief Justice
Powell to the usher of his court, Mr. Thomas Phipps; from Mr. Speaker
Sherwood or McLean to Peter Shaver, Peter Perry, and the other popular
representatives of the Commons in Parliament;--the voice that to-day
would be heard in the desk leading liturgically the devotions of the
same mixed multitude--to-morrow was to be heard by portions, large or
small, of the same audience, amidst very different surroundings, in
other quarters; by some of them, for example, at the Executive Council
Board, giving a lucid judgment on a point of governmental policy, or in
the Chamber of the Legislative Assembly, delivering a studied oration on
a matter touching the interests and well-being of the whole population
of the country, or reading an elaborate original report on the same or
some cognate question, to be put forth as the judgment of a committee:
or elsewhere, the same voice might be heard at a meeting for patriotic
purposes; at the meeting of a Hospital, Educational, or other important
secular Trust; at an emergency meeting, when sudden action was needed on
the part of the charitable and benevolent.
Without fail, that voice would be heard by a large portion of the
juniors of the flock on the following day, amidst the busy commotion of
School, apportioning tasks, correcting errors, deciding appeals,
regulating discipline; at one time formally instructing, at another
jocosely chaffing, the sons and nephews of nearly all the well-to-do
people, gentle and simple, of York and Upper Canada.
To have done all this without awkwardness shews the possession of much
prudence and tact. To have had all this go on for some decades without
any blame that was intended to be taken in very serious earnest; nay,
winning in the process applause and gratitude on the right hand and on
the left--this argues the existence of something very sterling in the
man.
Nor let us local moderns, whose lot it is to be part and parcel of a
society no longer rudimentary, venture to condemn one who while
especially appointed to be a conspicuous minister of religion, did not
decline the functions, diverse and multiform, which an infant society,
discerning the qualities inherent in him, and lacking instruments for
its uses, summoned him to undertake. Let no modern caviller, we say, do
this, unless he is prepared to avow the opinion that to be a minister of
religion, a man must, of necessity, be only partially-developed in mind
and spirit, incapable, as a matter of course, of offering an opinion of
value on subjects of general human interest.
The long possession of unchallenged authority within the immediate area
of his ecclesiastical labours, rendered Dr. Strachan for some time
opposed to the projects that began, as the years rolled on, to be mooted
for additional churches in the town of York. He could not readily be
induced to think otherwise than as the Duke of Wellington thought in
regard to Reform in the representation, or as ex-Chancellor Eldon
thought in regard to greater promptitude in Chancery decisions, that
there was no positive need of change.
"Would you break up the congregation?" was the sharp rejoinder to the
early propounders of schemes for Church-extension in York. But as years
passed over, and the imperious pressure of events and circumstances was
felt, this reluctance gave way. The beautiful cathedral mother-church,
into which, under his own eye, and through his own individual energy,
the humble wooden edifice of 1803 at length, by various gradations,
developed, forms now a fitting mausoleum for his mortal remains--a
stately monument to one who was here in his day the human main-spring of
so many vitally-important and far-reaching movements.
Other memorials in his honour have been projected and thought of. One of
them we record for its boldness and originality and fitness, although we
have no expectation that the æsthetic feeling of the community will soon
lead to the practical adoption of the idea thrown out. The suggestion
has been this: that in honour of the deceased Bishop, there should be
erected, in some public place, in Toronto, an exact copy of Michael
Angelo's Moses, to be executed at Rome for the purpose, and shipped
hither. The conception of such a form of monument is due to the Rev. W.
Macaulay, of Picton. We need not say what dignity would be given to the
whole of Toronto by the possession of such a memorial object within its
precincts as this, and how great, in all future time, would be the
effect, morally and educationally, when the symbolism of the art-object
was discovered and understood. Its huge bulk, its boldly-chiselled and
only partially-finished limbs and drapery, raised aloft on a plain
pedestal of some Laurentian rock, would represent, not ill, the man whom
it would commemorate--the character, roughly-outlined and incomplete in
parts, but, when taken as a whole, very impressive and even grand, which
looms up before us, whichever way we look, in our local Past.
One of the things that ennoble the old cities of continental Europe and
give them their own peculiar charm, is the existence of such objects in
their streets and squares, at once works of art for the general eye, and
memorials of departed worth and greatness. With what interest, for
example, does the visitor gaze on the statue of Gutenberg at Mayence;
and at Marseilles on that of the good Bishop Belzunce!--of whom we read,
that he was at once "the founder of a college, and a magistrate,
almoner, physician and priest to his people." The space in front of the
west porch of the cathedral of St. James would be an appropriate site
for such a noble memorial-object as that which Mr. Macaulay
suggests--just at the spot where was the entrance, the one sole humble
portal, of the structure of wood out of which the existing pile has
grown.
Our notice of the assembly usually to be seen within the walls of the
primitive St. James', would not be complete, were we to omit all mention
of Mr. John Fenton, who for some time officiated therein as parish
clerk. During the palmy days of parish clerks in the British Islands,
such functionaries, deemed at the time, locally, as indispensable as the
parish minister himself, were a very peculiar class of men. He was a
rarity amongst them, who could repeat in a rational tone and manner the
responses delegated to him by the congregation. This arose from the
circumstance that he was usually an all but illiterate village rustic,
or narrow-minded small-townsman, brought into a prominence felt on all
sides to be awkward.
Mr. Fenton's peculiarities, on the contrary, arose from his
intelligence, his acquirements, and his independence of character. He
was a rather small shrewd-featured person, at a glance not deficient in
self-esteem. He was a proficient in modern popular science, a ready
talker and lecturer. Being only a proxy, his rendering of the official
responses in church was marked perhaps by a little too much
individuality, but it could not be said that it was destitute of a
certain rhetorical propriety of emphasis and intonation. Though not
gifted, in his own person, with much melody of voice, his acquisitions
included some knowledge of music. In those days congregational psalmody
was at a low ebb, and the small choirs that offered themselves
fluctuated, and now and then vanished wholly. Not unfrequently, Mr.
Fenton, after giving out the portion of Brady and Tate, which it pleased
him to select, would execute the whole of it as a solo, to some
accustomed air, with graceful variations of his own. All this would be
done with great coolness and apparent self-satisfaction.
While the discourse was going on in the Pulpit above him, it was his
way, often, to lean himself resignedly back in a corner of his pew and
throw a white cambric handkerchief over his head and face. It
illustrates the spirit of the day to add, that Mr. Fenton's employment
as official mouth-piece to the congregation of the English Church, did
not stand in the way of his making himself useful, at the same time, as
a class-leader among the Wesleyan Methodists.
The temperament and general style of this gentleman did not fail of
course to produce irritation of mind in some quarters. The _Colonial
Advocate_ one morning averred its belief that Mr. Fenton had, on the
preceding Sunday, glanced at itself and its patrons in giving out and
singing (probably as a solo) the Twelfth Psalm: "Help, Lord, for good
and godly men do perish and decay; and faith and truth from worldly men
are parted clean away; whoso doth with his neighbour talk, his talk is
all but vain; for every man bethinketh now to flatter, lie and feign!"
Mr. Fenton afterwards removed to the United States, where he obtained
Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church. His son was a clever and ingenious
youth. We remember a capital model in wood of "Cæsar's Bridge over the
Rhine," constructed by him from a copper-plate engraving in an old
edition of the Commentaries used by him in the Grammar School at York.
The predecessor of Mr. Fenton in the clerk's desk was Mr.
Hetherington--a functionary of the old-country village stamp. His habit
was, after giving out a psalm, to play the air on a bassoon; and then to
accompany with fantasias on the same instrument such vocalists as felt
inclined to take part in the singing. This was the day of small things
in respect of ecclesiastical music at York. A choir from time to time
had been formed. Once, we have understood, two rival choirs were heard
on trial in the Church; one of them strong in instrumental resources,
having the aid of a bass-viol, clarionet and bassoon; the other more
dependent on its vocal excellencies. The instrumental choir triumphantly
prevailed, as we are assured: and in 1819 an allowance of £20 was made
to Mr. Hetherington for giving instruction in church music. One of the
principal encouragers of the vocalist-party was Dr. Burnside. But all
expedients for doing what was, in reality, the work of the congregation
itself were unreliable; and the clerk or choir-master too often found
himself a solitary performer. Mr. Hetherington's bassoon, however, may
be regarded as the harbinger and foreshadow of the magnificent organ
presented in after-times to the congregation of the "Second Temple" of
St. James', by Mr. Dunn--a costly and fine-toned instrument (presided
over, for a short time, by the eminent Dr. Hodges, subsequently of
Trinity Church, New York), but destined to be destroyed by fire,
together with the whole church, after only two years of existence, in
1839.
In the conflagration of 1839 another loss occurred, not so much to be
regretted; we refer to the destruction of a very large triplet window of
stained glass over the altar of the church, containing three life-size
figures by Mr. Craig, a local "historical and ornamental painter," not
well skilled in the ecclesiastical style. As home-productions, however,
these objects were tenderly eyed; but Mrs. Jameson in her work on Canada
cruelly denounced them as being "in a vile tawdry taste."--Conceive, in
the presence of these three Craigs, the critical authoress of the
"History of Sacred and Legendary art," accustomed, in the sublime
cathedrals of Europe, to
"See the great windows like the jewell'd gates
Of Paradise, burning with harmless fire."
Mr. Dunn, named above as donor of an organ to the second St. James', had
provided the previous wooden church with Communion Plate. In the
_Loyalist_ of March 1, 1828, we read: "The undersigned acknowledges the
receipt of £112 18 5 from the Hon. John Henry Dunn, being the price of a
superb set of Communion Plate presented by him to St. James' Church at
this place. J. B. Macaulay, Church Warden, York, 23rd Feb., 1828."
Before leaving St. James' Church and its precincts, it may be well to
give some account of the steps taken in 1818, for the enlargement of the
original building. This we are enabled to do, having before us an all
but contemporary narrative. It will be seen that great adroitness was
employed in making the scheme acceptable, and that pains were shrewdly
taken to prevent a burdensome sense of self-sacrifice on the part of the
congregation. At the same time a pleasant instance of voluntary
liberality is recorded. "A very respectable church was built at York in
the Home District, many years ago"--the narrative referred to, in the
_Christian Recorder_ for 1819, p. 214, proceeds to state--"which at that
time accommodated the inhabitants; but for some years past, it has been
found too small, and several attempts were made to enlarge and repair
it. At length, in April 1818, in a meeting of the whole congregation, it
was resolved to enlarge the church, and a committee was appointed to
suggest the most expeditious and economical method of doing it. The
committee reported that a subscription in the way of loan, to be repaid
when the seats were sold, was the most promising method. No subscription
to be taken under twenty-five pounds, payable in four instalments."
"Two gentlemen," the narrative continues, "were selected to carry the
subscription paper round; and in three hours from twelve to thirteen
hundred pounds were subscribed. Almost all the respectable gentlemen
gave in loan Fifty Pounds; and the Hon. Justice Boulton, and George
Crookshank, Esq., contributed £100 each, to accomplish so good an
object. The church was enlarged, a steeple erected, and the whole
building with its galleries, handsomely finished. In January last
(1819)," our authority proceeds to say, "when everything was completed,
the pews were sold at a year's credit, and brought more money than the
repairs and enlargement cost. Therefore," it is triumphantly added, "the
inhabitants at York erect a very handsome church at a very little
expense to themselves, for every one may have his subscription money
returned, or it may go towards payment of a pew; and, what is more, the
persons who subscribed for the first church count the amount of their
subscription as part of the price of their new pews. This fair
arrangement has been eminently successful; and gave great satisfaction."
The special instance of graceful voluntary liberality above referred to
is then subjoined in these terms: "George Crookshank, Esq.,
notwithstanding the greatness of his subscription, and the pains which
he took in getting the church well finished, has presented the clergyman
with cushions for the pulpit and reading desk, covered with the richest
and finest damask; and likewise cloth for the communion-table." "This
pious liberality," the writer remarks, "cannot be too much commended; it
tells us that the benevolent zeal of ancient times is not entirely done
away. The congregation were so much pleased," it is further recorded,
"that a vote of thanks was unanimously offered to Mr. Crookshank for his
munificent present." (The pulpit, sounding-board, and desk had been a
gift of Governor Gore to the original church, and had cost the sum of
one hundred dollars.)
When the necessity arose in 1830 for replacing the church thus enlarged
and improved, by an entirely new edifice of more respectable dimensions,
the same cool, secular ingenuity was again displayed in the scheme
proposed; and it was resolved by the congregation (among other things)
"that the pew-holders of the present church, if they demanded the same,
be credited one-third of the price of the pews that they purchased in
the new church, not exceeding in number those which they possessed in
the old church; that no person be entitled to the privilege granted by
the last resolution who shall not have paid up the whole purchase money
of his pew in the old church; that the present church remain as it is,
till the new one is finished; that after the new church is completed,
the materials of the present one be sold to the highest bidder, and the
proceeds of the same be applied to the liquidation of any debt that may
be contracted in erecting the new church, or furnishing the same; that
the upset price of pews in the new church be twenty-five pounds
currency;" and so on.
The stone edifice then erected (measuring within about 100 by 75 feet),
but never completed in so far as related to its tower, was destroyed by
fire in 1839. Fire, in truth, may be said to be, sooner or later, the
"natural death" of public buildings in our climate, where, for so many
months in every year, the maintenance within them of a powerful
artificial heat is indispensable.
Ten years after the re-edification of the St. James' burnt in 1839, its
fate was again to be totally destroyed. But now fire was communicated to
it from an external source--from a general conflagration raging at the
time in the part of the town lying to the eastward. On this occasion was
destroyed in the belfry of the tower, a Public Clock, presented to the
inhabitants of Toronto, by Mr. Draper, on his ceasing to be one of their
representatives in Parliament.
In the later annals of St. James' Church, the year 1873 is memorable.
Several very important details in Mr. Cumberland's noble design for the
building had long remained unrealized. The tower and spire were absent:
as also the fine porches on the east, west, and south sides, the turrets
at the angles, and the pinnacles and finials of the buttresses.
Meanwhile the several parts of the structure where these appendages
were, in due time, to be added, were left in a condition to shew to the
public the mind and intention of the architect.
In 1872, by the voluntary munificence of several members of the
congregation, a fund for the completion of the edifice in accordance
with Mr. Cumberland's plans was initiated, to which generous donations
were immediately added; and in 1873 the edifice, of whose humble
"protoplasm" in 1803 we have sought, in a preceding section, to preserve
the memory, was finally brought to a state of perfection.
By the completion of St. James' Church, a noble aspect has been given to
the general view of Toronto. Especially has King Street been enriched,
the ranges of buildings on its northern side, as seen from east or west,
culminating centrically now in an elevated architectural object of
striking beauty and grandeur, worthy alike of the comely, cheerful,
interesting thoroughfare which it overlooks, and of the era when the
finial crowning its apex was at length set in its place.
Worthy of special commemorative record are those whose thoughtful
liberality originated the fund by means of which St. James' Church was
completed. The Dean, the Very Rev. H. J. Grasett, gave the handsome sum
of Five thousand dollars. Mr. John Worthington, Four thousand dollars.
Mr. C. Gzowski, Two thousand dollars. Mr. J. Gillespie, One thousand
dollars. Mr. E. H. Rutherford, One thousand dollars. Mr. W. Cawthra, One
thousand dollars. Mr. Gooderham and Mr. Worts, conjointly, One thousand
dollars. Miss Gordon, the daughter of a former ever-generous member of
the congregation, the Hon. J. Gordon, One thousand dollars. Sums, in
endless variety, from Eight Hundred dollars downwards, were in a like
good spirit offered on the occasion by other members of the
congregation, according to their means. An association of young men
connected with the congregation undertook and effected the erection of
the Southern Porch.
Let it be added, likewise, that in 1866, the sum of Fourteen thousand
nine hundred and forty-five dollars was expended in the purchase of a
peal of bells, and in providing a chamber for its reception in the
tower--a free gift to the whole community greatly surpassing in money's
worth the sum above named: for have not the chimes, with all
old-countrymen at least, within the range of their sound, the effect of
an instantaneous translation to the other side of the Atlantic? Close
the eyes, and at once the spirit is far, far away, hearkening, now in
the calm of a summer's evening, now between the fitful wind-gusts of a
boisterous winter's morn, to music in exactly the same key, with exactly
the same series of cadences, given out from tree-embosomed tower in some
ancient market-town or village, familiar to the listener in every turn
and nook, in days bygone.
And further, let it be added, that in 1870, to do honour to the memory
of the then recently deceased Bishop Strachan, the congregation of St.
James "beautified" the chancel of their church at a cost of Seven
thousand five hundred dollars, surrounding the spacious apse with an
arcade of finely carved oak, adding seats for the canons, a decanal
stall, a bishop's throne, a pulpit and desk, all in the same style and
material, elaborately carved, with a life-like bust in white marble of
the departed prelate, by Fraser of Montreal, in a niche constructed for
its reception in the western wall of the chancel, with a slab of dark
stone below bearing the following inscription in gilded letters:--
"NEAR THIS SPOT REST THE MORTAL REMAINS OF JOHN STRACHAN, FIRST
BISHOP OF TORONTO, WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE NOVEMBER THE 1ST,
1867, IN THE NINETIETH YEAR OF HIS AGE AND THE TWENTY-NINTH OF
HIS EPISCOPATE. HIS CONSPICUOUS LABOURS, FORESIGHT, AND
CONSTANCY IN THE SERVICE OF THE CHURCH AND COMMONWEALTH, AS AN
EDUCATOR, AS A MINISTER OF RELIGION, AS A STATESMAN, FORM AN
IMPORTANT PORTION OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF WESTERN CANADA. DURING
THIRTY-FIVE YEARS HE WAS RECTOR OF THIS CHURCH AND PARISH. IN
REMEMBRANCE OF HIM, THE CONGREGATION HAVE BEAUTIFIED THE CHANCEL
AND ERECTED THIS MEMORIAL. EASTER, 1870."
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XI.
KING STREET: DIGRESSION NORTHWARD AT CHURCH STREET: THE OLD DISTRICT
GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
Immediately north of the church plot, and separated from it by an
allowance for a street, was a large field, almost square, containing six
acres. In a plan of the date 1819, and signed "T. Ridout,
Surveyor-General," this piece of ground is entitled "College Square."
(In the same plan the church reservation is marked "Church Square;" and
the block to the west, "Square for Court House and Jail.") The fact that
the Jail was to be erected there accounts for the name "Newgate Street,"
formerly borne by what is now Adelaide Street.
In the early days, when the destined future was but faintly realized,
"College Square" was probably expected to become in time, and to
continue for ever, an ornamental piece of ground round an educational
institution. The situation, in the outskirts of York, would be deemed
convenient and airy.
For many years this six-acre field was the play-ground of the District
Grammar School. Through the middle of it, from north to south, passed a
shallow "swale," where water collected after rains; and where in winter
small frozen ponds afforded not bad sliding-places. In this moist
region, numerous crayfish were to be found in summer. Their whereabouts
was always indicated by small clay chimneys of a circular form, built by
the curious little nipping creatures themselves, over holes for the
admission of air.
In different places in this large area were remains of huge pine-stumps,
underneath the long roots of which it was an amusement to dig and form
cellars or imaginary treasure-vaults and powder-magazines. About these
relics of the forest still grew remains of the ordinary vegetation of
such situations in the woods; especially an abundance of the
sorrel-plant, the taste of which will be remembered, as being quite
relishable. In other places were wide depressions showing where large
trees had once stood. Here were no bad places, when the whim so was, to
lie flat on the back and note the clouds in the blue vault over head;
watch the swallows and house-martins when they came in spring; and
listen to their quiet prattle with each other as they darted to and fro;
sights and sounds still every year, at the proper season, to be seen and
heard in the same neighbourhood, yielding to those who have an eye or
ear for such matters a pleasure ever new; sights and sounds to this day
annually resulting from the cheery movements and voices of the direct
descendants, doubtless, of the identical specimens that flitted hither
and thither over the play-ground of yore.
White clover, with other herbage that commonly appears spontaneously in
clearings, carpeted the whole of the six acres, with the exception of
the places worn bare, where favourable spots had been found for the
different games of ball in vogue--amongst which, however, cricket was
not then in these parts included--except, perhaps, under a form most
infantile and rudimentary. After falls of moist snow in winter, gigantic
balls used here to be formed, gathering as they were rolled along, until
by reason of their size and weight they could be urged forward no
further: and snow castles on a large scale were laboriously built;
destined to be defended or captured with immense displays of gallantry.
Preparatory to such contest, piles of ammunition would be stored away
within these structures. It was prohibited, indeed, in the articles to
be observed in operations of attack and defence, to construct missiles
of very wet snow; to dip a missile in melted snow-water prior to use; to
subject a missile after a saturation of this kind, to the action of a
night's frost; to secrete within the substance of a missile any foreign
matter; yet, nevertheless, occasionally such acts were not refrained
from; and wounds and bruises of an extra serious character, inflicted by
hands that could not always be identified, caused loud and just
complaints. Portions of the solid and extensive walls of the
extemporized snow-fortresses were often conspicuous in the play-ground
long after a thaw had removed the wintry look from the rest of the
scene.
The Building into which the usual denizens of the six-acre play-ground
were constrained, during certain portions of each day, to withdraw
themselves, was situated at a point 114 feet from its western, and 104
from its southern boundary. It was a large frame structure, about
fifty-five long, and forty wide; of two storeys; each of a respectable
altitude. The gables faced east and west. On each side of the edifice
were two rows of ordinary sash windows, five above, and five below. At
the east end were four windows, two above, two below. At the west end
were five windows and the entrance-door. The whole exterior of the
building was painted of a bluish hue, with the exception of the window
and door frames, which were white. Within, on the first floor, after the
lobby, was a large square apartment. About three yards from each of its
angles, a plain timber prop or post helped to sustain the ceiling. At
about four feet from the floor, each of these quasi-pillars began to be
chamfered off at its four angles. Filling up the south-east corner of
the room was a small platform approached on three sides by a couple of
steps. This sustained a solitary desk about eight feet long, its lower
part cased over in front with thin deal boards, so as to shut off from
view the nether extremities of whosoever might be sitting at it.
On the general level of the floor below, along the whole length of the
southern and northern sides of the chamber, were narrow desks set close
against the wall, with benches arranged at their outer side. At right
angles to these, and consequently running out, on each side into the
apartment, stood a series of shorter desks, with double slopes, and
benches placed on either side. Through the whole length of the room from
west to east, between the ends of the two sets of cross benches, a wide
space remained vacant. Every object and surface within this interior,
were of the tawny hue which unpainted pine gradually assumes. Many were
the gashes that had furtively been made in the ledges of the desks and
on the exterior angles of the benches; many the ducts cut in the slopes
of the desks for spilt ink or other fluid; many the small cell with
sliding lid, for the incarceration of fly or spider; many the initials
and dates carved here, and on other convenient surfaces, on the wainscot
and the four posts.
On the benches and at the desks enumerated and described, on either
side, were ordinarily to be seen the figures and groups which usually
fill up a school interior, all busily engaged in one or other of the
many matters customary in the training and informing the minds of boys.
Here, at one time, was to be heard, on every side, the mingled but
subdued sound of voices conning or repeating tasks, answering and
putting questions; at another time, the commotion arising out of a
transposition of classes, or the breaking up of the whole assembly into
a fresh set of classes; at another time, a hushed stillness preparatory
to some expected allocution, or consequent on some rebuke or admonition.
It was manifest, at a glance, that the whole scene was under the spell
of a skilled disciplinarian.
Here, again, the presiding genius of the place was Dr. Strachan. From a
boy he had been in the successful discharge of the duties of a
schoolmaster. At the early age of sixteen we find that he was in charge
of a school at Carmyllie, with the grown-up sons of the neighbouring
farmers, and of some of the neighbouring clergy, well under control. At
that period he was still keeping his terms and attending lectures,
during the winter months, at King's College, Aberdeen. Two years
afterwards he obtained a slightly better appointment of the same kind at
Denino, still pursuing his academical studies, gathering, as is evident
from his own memoranda, a considerable knowledge of men and things, and
forming friendships that proved life-long. Of his stay at Denino he
says, in 1800: "The two years which I spent at Denino were, perhaps, as
happy as any in my life; much more than any time since." "At Denino,"
the same early document states, "I learned to think for myself. Dr.
Brown [the parish-minister of the place, afterwards professor at
Glasgow,] corrected many of my false notions. Thomas Duncan [afterwards
a professor at St. Andrew's] taught me to use my reason and to employ
the small share of penetration I possess in distinguishing truth from
error. I began to extend my thoughts to abstract and general ideas; and
to summon the author to the bar of my reason. I learned to discriminate
between hypotheses and facts, and to separate the ebullitions of fancy
from the deductions of reason. It is not to be supposed that I could or
can do these things perfectly; but I began to apply my powers: my skill
is still increasing."
Then for two years more, and up to the moment of his bold determination
to make trial of his fortunes in the new world beyond the seas, he is in
charge of the parish-school of Kettle. We have before us a list of his
school there, March the 22nd, 1798. The names amount to eighty-two.
After each, certain initials are placed denoting disposition and
capability, and the direction of any particular talent. Among these
names are to be read that of D. Wilkie, afterwards the artist, and that
of J. Barclay, afterwards the naval commander here on Lake Erie. We
believe that Thomas Campbell, author of the Pleasures of Hope, was also
for a time under his care.
In the history of Dr. Strachan's educational labours in Canada, the
school at York presents fewer points of interest than that at Cornwall,
which is rendered illustrious by having had enrolled on its books so
many names familiar in the annals of Upper Canada. Among the forty-two
subscribers to an address accompanying a piece of Plate in 1833, there
are Robinsons, and Macaulays, and McDonells, and McLeans, and Joneses,
and Stantons, and Bethunes; a Jarvis, a Chewett, a Boulton, a
Vankoughnet, a Smith of Kingston, an Anderson; with some others now less
known.--So illustrative is that address of the skill and earnest care of
the instructor on the one hand, and of the value set upon his efforts by
his scholars, on the other, after the lapse of many years, that we are
induced to give here a short extract from it.
"Our young minds," the signers of the address in 1833 say, referring to
their school-days in Cornwall--"our young minds received there an
impression which has scarcely become fainter from time, of the deep and
sincere interest which you took, not only in our advancement in learning
and science, but in all that concerned our happiness or could affect our
future prospects in life." To which Dr. Strachan replies by saying,
among many other excellent things--"It has ever been my conviction that
our scholars should be considered for the time our children; and that as
parents we should study their peculiar dispositions, if we really wish
to improve them; for if we feel not something of the tender relation of
parents towards them, we cannot expect to be successful in their
education. It was on this principle I attempted to proceed: strict
justice tempered with parental kindness; and the present joyful meeting
evinces its triumph: it treats the sentiments and feelings of scholars
with proper consideration; and while it gives the heart and affections
full freedom to shew themselves in filial gratitude on the one side, and
fatherly affection, on the other, it proves that unsparing labour
accompanied with continual anxiety for the learner's progress never
fails to ensure success and to produce a friendship between master and
scholar which time can never dissolve."
Notwithstanding the greater glory of the school at Cornwall, (of which
institution we may say, in passing, there is an engraving in the
board-room of the Toronto Mechanics' Institute,) the lists of the school
at York always presented a strong array of the old, well-known and even
distinguished, Upper Canadian names. This will be seen by a perusal of
the following document, which will also give an idea of the variety of
matters to which attention was given in the school. The numerous family
names which will at once be recognized, will require no comment.--The
intervals between the calling up of each separate class for examination
appear to have been very plentifully filled up with recitations and
debates.
"Order of examination of the Home District Grammar School [at York].
Wednesday, 11th August, 1819. First Day. The Latin and Greek Classes.
Euclid and Trigonometry. Thursday, 12th August. Second day. To commence
at 10 o'clock. Prologue, by Robert Baldwin.--Reading Class.--George
Strachan, _The Excellence of the Bible_. Thomas Ridout, _The Man of
Ross_. James McDonell, _Liberty and Slavery_. St. George Baldwin, _The
Sword_. William McMurray, _Soliloquy on Sleep_. Arithmetic Class--James
Smith, _The Sporting Clergyman_. William Boulton, jun., _The Poets New
Year's Gift_. Richard Oates, _Ode to Apollo_. Orville Cassell, _The
Rose_. Book-keeping.--William Myers, _My Mother_. Francis Heward, _My
Father_. George Dawson, _Lapland_.--First Grammar Class.--Second Grammar
Class.--_Debate on the Slave Trade_. For the Abolition: Francis Ridout,
John Fitzgerald, William Allan, George Boulton, Henry Heward, William
Baldwin, John Ridout, John Doyle, James Strachan. Against the Abolition:
Abraham Nelles, James Baby, James Doyle, Charles Heward, Allan McDonell,
James Myers, Charles Ridout, William Boulton, Walker Smith.--First
Geography Class.--Second Geography Class. James Dawson, _The Boy that
told Lies_. James Bigelow, _The Vagrant_. Thomas Glassco, _The Parish
Workhouse_. Edward Glennon, _The Apothecary_.--Natural History.--Debate
by the Young Boys: _Sir William Strickland_, Charles Heward. _Lord
Morpeth_, John Owens. _Lord Hervey_, John Ridout. _Mr. Plomer_, Raymond
Baby. _Sir William Yonge_, John Fitzgerald. _Sir William Windham_, John
Boulton. _Mr. Henry Pelham_, Henry Heward. _Mr. Bernard_, George
Strachan. _Mr. Noel_, William Baldwin. _Mr. Shippen_, James Baby. _Sir
Robert Walpole_, S. Givins and J. Doyle. _Mr. Horace Walpole_, James
Myers. _Mr. Pulteney_, Charles Baby.--Civil History.--William Boulton,
_The Patriot_. Francis Ridout, _The Grave of Sir John Moore_. Saltern
Givins, _Great Britain_. John Boulton, _Eulogy on Mr. Pitt_. Warren
Claus, _The Indian Warrior_. Charles Heward, _The Soldier's Dream_.
William Boulton, _The Heroes of Waterloo_.--Catechism.--_Debate on the
College at Calcutta_. Speakers: _Mr. Canning_, Robert Baldwin. _Sir
Francis Baring_, John Doyle. _Mr. Wainwright_, Mark Burnham. _Mr.
Thornton_, John Knott. _Sir D. Scott_, William Boulton. _Lord Eldon_,
Warren Claus. _Sir S. Lawrence_, Allan Macaulay. _Lord Hawkesbury_,
Abraham Nelles. _Lord Bathurst_, James McGill Strachan, _Sir Thomas
Metcalf_, Walker Smith. _Lord Teignmouth_, Horace Ridout.--Religious
Questions and Lectures.--James McGill Strachan, Anniversary of the York
and Montreal Colleges anticipated for 1st January, 1822. Epilogue, by
Horace Ridout."
In the prologue pronounced by "Robert Baldwin," the administration of
Hastings in India is eulogized:
"Her powerful Viceroy, Hastings, leads the way
For radiant Truth to gain imperial sway;
The arts and sciences, for ages lost,
Roused at his call, revisit Brahma's coast."
Sir William Jones is also thus apostrophized, in connection with his
"Asiatic Researches":
"Thy comprehensive genius soon explored
The learning vast which former times had stored."
The Marquis of Wellesley is alluded to, and the college founded by him
at Calcutta:
"At his command the splendid structures rise:
Around the Brahmins stand in vast surprise."
The founding of a Seat of Learning in Calcutta suggests the necessity of
a similar institution in Canada. A good beginning, it is said, had been
here made in the way of lesser institutions: the prologue then proceeds:
"Yet much remains for some aspiring son,
Whose liberal soul from that, desires renown,
Which gains for Wellesley a lasting crown;
Some general structures in these wilds to rear,
Where every art and science may appear."
Sir Peregrine Maitland, who probably was present, is told that he might
in this manner immortalize his name:
"O Maitland blest! this proud distinction woos
Thy quick acceptance, back'd by every muse;
Those feelings, too, which joyful fancy knew
When learning's gems first opened to thy view,
Bid you to thousands smooth the thorny road,
Which leads to glorious Science's bright abode."
"The Anniversary of York and Montreal Colleges anticipated" is a kind of
Pindaric Ode to Gratitude: especially it is therein set forth that
offerings of thankfulness are due to benevolent souls in Britain:
"For often there in pensive mood
They ponder deeply on the good
They may on Canada bestow--
And College Halls appear, and streams of learning flow!"
The "Epilogue" to the day's performances is a humorous dissertation in
doggrel verse on United States innovations in the English Language: a
pupil of the school is supposed to complain of the conduct of the
master:
"Between ourselves, and just to speak my mind,
In English Grammar, Master's much behind:
I speak the honest truth--I hate to dash--
He bounds our task by Murray, Lowth and Ashe.
I told him once that Abercrombie, moved
By genius deep had Murray's plan improved.
He frowned upon me, turning up his nose,
And said the man had ta'en a maddening dose.
Once in my theme I put the word _progress_--
He sentenced twenty lines, without redress;
Again for 'measure' I transcribed 'endeavour'--
And all the live-long day I lost his favour." &c, &c.
At the examination of the District School on August 7th, 1816, a similar
programme was provided.
John Claus spoke the prologue on this occasion, and the following boys
had parts assigned them in the proceedings. The names of some of them
appear in the account for 1819, just given: John Skeldon, George
Skeldon, Henry Mosley, John Doyle, Charles Heward, James Myers, John
Ridout, Charles Ridout, John FitzGerald, John Mosley, Saltern Givins,
James Sheehan, Henry Heward, Allan McDonell, William Allan, John
Boulton, William Myers, James Bigelow, William Baldwin, St. George
Baldwin, K. de Koven, John Knott, James Givins, Horace Ridout, William
Lancaster, James Strachan, David McNab, John Harraway, Robert Baldwin,
Henry Nelles, Warren Shaw, David Shaw, Daniel Murray.
In 1816, Governor Gore was at the head of affairs. He is advised, in the
Prologue spoken by John Claus, to distinguish himself by attention to
the educational interests of the country: (The collocation of names at
the end will excite a smile.)--
"O think what honour pure shall bless thy name
Beyond the fleeting voice of vulgar fame!
When kings and haughty victors cease to raise
The secret murmur and the venal praise,
Perhaps that name, when Europe's glories fade,
Shall often charm this Academic shade,
And bards exclaim on rough Ontario's shore,
We found a Wellesley and Jones in Gore!"
We have ourselves a good personal recollection of the system of the
school at York, and of the interest which it succeeded in awakening in
the subjects taught. The custom of mutual questioning in classes, under
the eye of the master, was well adapted to induce real research, and to
impress facts on the mind when discovered.
In the higher classes each lad in turn was required to furnish a set of
questions to be put by himself to his class-fellows, on a given subject,
with the understanding that he should be ready to set the answerer right
should he prove wrong. And again: any lad who should be deemed competent
was permitted to challenge another, or several others, to read or recite
select rhetorical pieces: a memorandum of the challenge was recorded:
and, at the time appointed, the contest came off, the class or the
school deciding the superiority in each case, subject to the criticism
or disallowance of the master.
It will be seen from the matters embraced in the programme given above,
that the object aimed at was a speedy and real preparation for actual
life. The master, in this instance, was disembarrassed of the traditions
which, at the period referred to, often rendered the education of a
young man a cumbersome, unintelligent and tedious thing. The
circumstances of his own youth had evidently led him to free himself
from routine. He himself was an example, in addition to many another
Scottish-trained man of eminence that might be named, of the early age
at which a youth of good parts and sincere, enlightened purpose, may be
prepared for the duties of actual life, when not caught in the
constrictor-coils of custom, which, under the old English
Public-School-system of sixty years since, used sometimes to torture
parent and son for such a long series of years.
Dr. Strachan's methods of instruction were productive, for others, of
the results realized in his own case. His distinguished Cornwall pupils,
were all, we believe, usefully and successfully engaged in the real work
of life in very early manhood. "The time allowed in a new country like
this," he said to his pupils at Cornwall in 1807, "is scarcely
sufficient to sow the most necessary seed; very great progress is not
therefore to be expected: if the principles are properly engrafted we
have done well."
In the same address his own mode of proceeding is thus dwelt upon: "In
conducting your education, one of my principal objects has always been
to fit you for discharging with credit the duties of any office to which
you may hereafter be called. To accomplish this, it was necessary for
you to be accustomed frequently to depend upon, and think for
yourselves: accordingly I have always encouraged this disposition, which
when preserved within due bounds, is one of the greatest benefits that
can possibly be acquired. To enable you to think with advantage, I not
only regulated your tasks in such a manner as to exercise your judgment,
but extended your views beyond the meagre routine of study usually
adopted in schools; for, in my opinion, several branches of science may
be taught with advantage at a much earlier age than is generally
supposed. We made a mystery of nothing: on the contrary, we entered
minutely into every particular, and patiently explained by what
progressive steps certain results were obtained. It has ever been my
custom, before sending a class to their seats, to ask myself whether
they had learned anything; and I was always exceedingly mortified if I
had not the agreeable conviction that they had made some improvement.
Let none of you, however, suppose that what you have learned here is
sufficient; on the contrary, you are to remember that we have laid only
the foundation. The superstructure must be laid by yourselves."
Here is an account of his method of teaching Arithmetic, taken from the
introduction to a little work on the subject, published by himself in
1809: "I divide my pupils," he says, "into separate classes, according
to their progress. Each class has one or more sums to produce every day,
neatly wrought upon their slates: the work is carefully examined; after
which I command every figure to be blotted out, and the sums to be
wrought under my eye. The one whom I happen to pitch upon first, gives,
with an audible voice, the rules and reasons for every step; and as he
proceeds the rest silently work along with him, figure for figure, but
ready to correct him if he blunder, that they may get his place. As soon
as this one is finished, the work is again blotted out, and another
called upon to work the question aloud as before, while the rest again
proceed along with him in silence, and so on round the whole class. By
this method the principles are fixed in the mind; and he must be a very
dull boy indeed who does not understand every question thoroughly before
he leaves it. This method of teaching Arithmetic possesses this
important advantage, that it may be pursued without interrupting the
pupil's progress in any other useful study. The same method of teaching
Algebra has been used with equal success. Such a plan is certainly very
laborious, but it will be found successful; and he that is anxious to
spare labour ought not to be a public Teacher. When boys remain long
enough, it has been my custom to teach them the theory, and give them a
number of curious questions in Geography, Natural Philosophy and
Astronomy, a specimen of which may be seen in the questions placed
before the Appendix."
The youths to be dealt with in early Canadian schools were not all of
the meek, submissive species. With some of them occasionally a sharp
regimen was necessary; and it was adopted without hesitation. On this
point, the address just quoted, thus speaks: "One of the greatest
advantages you have derived from your education here, arises from the
strictness of our discipline. Those of you who have not already
perceived how much your tranquillity depends upon the proper regulation
of the temper, will soon be made sensible of it as you advance in years.
You will find people who have never known what it is to be in habitual
subjection to precept and just authority, breaking forth into violence
and outrage on the most frivolous occasions. The passions of such
persons, when once roused, soon become ungovernable; and that impatience
of restraint, which they have been allowed to indulge, embitters the
greatest portion of their lives. Accustomed to despise the barriers
erected by reason, they rush forward to indulgence, without regarding
the consequences. Hence arises much of that wretchedness and disorder to
be met with in society. Now the discipline necessary to correct the
impetuosity of the passions is often found nowhere but in well-regulated
schools: for though it should be the first care of parents, they are too
apt to be blinded by affection, and grant liberties to their children
which reason disapproves. . . . . . That discipline therefore, which you
have sometimes thought irksome will henceforth present itself in a very
different light. It will appear the teacher of a habit of the greatest
consequence in the regulation of your future conduct; and you will value
it as the promoter of that decent and steady command of temper so very
essential to happiness, and so useful in our intercourse with mankind."
These remarks on discipline will be the more appreciated, when it is
recollected that during the time of the early settlements in this
country, the sons of even the most respectable families were brought
into contact with semi-barbarous characters. A sporting ramble through
the woods, a fishing excursion on the waters, could not be undertaken
without communications with Indians and half-breeds and bad specimens of
the French _voyageur_. It was from such sources that a certain idea was
derived which, as we remember, was in great vogue among the more
fractious of the lads at the school at York. The proposition circulated
about, whenever anything went counter to their notions, alway was "to
run away to the Nor'-west." What that process really involved, or where
the "Nor'-west" precisely was, were things vaguely realized. A sort of
savage "land of Cockaigne," a region of perfect freedom among the
Indians, was imagined; and to reach it Lakes Huron and Superior were to
be traversed.
At Cornwall the temptation was in another direction: there, the idea was
to escape to the eastward: to reach Montreal or Quebec, and get on board
of an ocean-going ship, either a man-of-war or merchantman. The flight
of several lads with such intentions was on one occasion intercepted by
the unlooked-for appearance of the head-master by the side of the
stage-coach as it was just about to start for Montreal in the dusk of
the early morning, with the young truants in or upon it.
As to the modes of discipline:--In the school at York--for minor
indiscretions a variety of remedies prevailed. Now and then a lad would
be seen standing at one of the posts above mentioned, with his jacket
turned inside out: or he might be seen there in a kneeling posture for a
certain number of minutes; or standing with the arm extended holding a
book. An "ally" or apple brought out inopportunely into view, during the
hours of work, might entail the exhibition, article by article, slowly
and reluctantly, of all the contents of a pocket. Once we remember, the
furtive but too audible twang of a jewsharp was followed by its owner's
being obliged to mount on the top of a desk and perform there an air on
the offending instrument for the benefit of the whole school.
Occasionally the censors (senior boys appointed to help in keeping
order) were sent to cut rods on Mr. McGill's property adjoining the
play-ground on the north; but the dire implements were not often called
into requisition: it would only be when some case of unusual obstinacy
presented itself, or when some wanton cruelty, or some act or word
exhibiting an unmistakable taint of incipient immorality, was proven.
Once a year, before the breaking-up at midsummer, a "feast" was allowed
in the school-room at York--a kind of pic-nic to which all that could,
contributed in kind--pastry, and other dainties, as well as more
substantial viands, of which all partook. It was sometimes a rather
riotous affair.
At the south-east corner of the six-acre play-ground, about half-an-acre
had been abstracted, as it were, and enclosed: here a public school had
been built and put in operation: it was known as the Central School, and
was what would now be called a Common School, conducted on the "Bell and
Lancaster" principle. Large numbers frequented it.
Between the lads attending the Central School, and the boys of the
Grammar School, difficulties of course arose: and on many occasions
feats of arms, accompanied with considerable risk to life and limb, were
performed on both sides, with sticks and stones. Youngsters, ambitious
of a character of extra daring, had thus an opportunity of
distinguishing themselves in the eyes of their less courageous
companions. The same would-be heroes had many stories to tell of the
perils to which they were exposed in their way to and from school. Those
of them who came from the western part of the town, had, according to
their own shewing, mortal enemies in the men of Ketchum's tannery, with
whom it was necessary occasionally to have an encounter. While those
who lived to the east of the school, narrated, in response, the attacks
experienced or delivered by themselves, in passing Shaw's or Hugill's
brewery.
Mr. Spragge, the master of the Central School, had enjoyed the superior
advantage of a regular training in England as an instructor of the
young. Though not in Holy Orders, his air and costume were those of the
dignified clergyman. Of the Central School, the words of Shenstone,
spoken of a kindred establishment, became, in one point at all events,
true to the letter:--
"E'en now sagacious foresight points to shew
A little bench of bishops here,--
And there, a chancellor in embryo,
Or bard sublime."
A son of Mr. Spragge's became, in 1870, the Chancellor of Ontario, or
Western Canada, after rising with distinction through the several grades
of the legal profession, and filling previously also the post of
Vice-Chancellor. Mr. John Godfrey Spragge, who attained to this
eminence, and his brothers, Joseph and William, were likewise pupils in
their maturer years, in the adjoining more imposing Royal Grammar or
Home District School.
Mr. Spragge's predecessor at the Central School was Mr. Appleton,
mentioned in a preceding section; and Mr. Appleton's assistant for a
time, was Mr. John Fenton.
Across the road from the play-ground at York, on the south side,
eastward of the church-plot, there was a row of dilapidated wooden
buildings, inhabited for the most part by a thriftless and noisy set of
people. This group of houses was known in the school as "Irish-town;"
and "to raise Irish-town," meant to direct a snowball or other light
missive over the play-ground fence, in that direction. Such act was not
unfrequently followed by an invasion of the Field from the insulted
quarter. Some wide chinks, established in one place here between the
boards, which ran lengthwise, enabled any one so inclined, to get over
the fence readily. We once saw two men, who had quarrelled in one of the
buildings of Irish-town, adjourn from over the road to the play-ground,
accompanied by a few approving friends, and there, after stripping to
the skin, have a regular fight with fists: after some rounds, a number
of men and women interfered and induced the combatants to return to the
house whence they had issued forth for the settlement of their dispute.
The Parliamentary Debates, of which mention has more than once been made
in connection with the District School, took place, on ordinary
occasions, in the central part of the school-room; where benches used to
be set out opposite to each other, for the temporary accommodation of
the speakers. These exercises consisted simply of a memoriter
repetition, with some action, of speeches, slightly abridged, which had
actually been delivered in a real debate on the floor of the House of
Commons. But they served to familiarize Canadian lads with the names and
characters of the great statesmen of England, and with what was to be
said on both sides of several important public questions; they also
probably awakened in many a young spirit an ambition, afterwards
gratified, of being distinguished as a legislator in earnest.
On public days the Debates were held up-stairs on a platform at the east
end of a long room with a partially vaulted ceiling, on the south side
of the building. On this platform the public recitations also took
place; and here on some of the anniversaries a drama by Milman or Hannah
Moore was enacted. Here we ourselves took part in one of the hymns or
choruses of the "Martyr of Antioch."
(Other reminiscences of Dr. Strachan, the District Grammar School, and
Toronto generally, are embodied in "The First Bishop of Toronto, a
Review and a Study," a small work published by the writer in 1868.)
The immediate successor of Dr. Strachan in the school was Mr. Samuel
Armour, a graduate of Glasgow, whose profile resembled that of Cicero,
as shewn in some engravings. Being fond of sporting, his excitement was
great when the flocks of wild pigeons were passing over the town, and
the report of fire-arms in all directions was to be heard. During the
hours of school his attention, on these occasions, would be much drawn
off from the class-subjects.
In those days there was not a plentiful supply in the town of every book
wanted in the school. The only copy that could be procured of a
"Eutropius," which we ourselves on a particular occasion required, was
one with an English translation at the end. The book was bought, Mr.
Armour stipulating that the English portion of the volume should be sewn
up; in fact, he himself stitched the leaves together.--In Mr. Armour's
time there was, for some reason now forgotten, a barring-out. A pile of
heavy wood (sticks of cordwood whole used then to be thrust into the
great school-room stove) was built against the door within; and the
master had to effect, and did effect, an entrance into his school
through a window on the north side. Mr. Armour became afterwards a
clergyman of the English Church, and officiated for many years in the
township of Cavan.
The master who succeeded Mr. Armour was Dr. Phillips, who came out from
England to take charge of the school. He had been previously master of a
school at Whitchurch, in Herefordshire. His degree was from Cambridge,
where he graduated as a B. A. of Queen's in the year 1805. He was a
venerable-looking man--the very ideal, outwardly, of an English country
parson of an old type--a figure in the general scene, that would have
been taken note of congenially by Fuller or Antony à Wood. The costume
in which he always appeared (shovel-hat included), was that usually
assumed by the senior clergy some years ago. He also wore powder in the
hair except when in mourning. According to the standards of the day, Dr.
Phillips was an accomplished scholar, and a good reader and writer of
English. He introduced into the school at York the English public-school
traditions of the strictest type. His text books were those published
and used at Eton, as Eton then was. The Eton Latin Grammar, without note
or comment, displaced" Ruddiman's Rudiments"--the book to which we had
previously been accustomed, and which really did give hints of something
rational underlying what we learnt out of it. Even the Eton Greek
Grammar, in its purely mediæval untranslated state, made its appearance:
it was through the medium of that very uninviting manual that we
obtained our earliest acquaintance with the first elements of the Greek
tongue. Our "Palæphatus" and other Extracts in the _Græca Minora_ were
translated by us, not into English, but into Latin, in which language
all the notes and elucidations of difficulties in that book were given.
Very many of the Greek "genitives absolute," we remember, were to be
rendered by _quum_, with a subjunctive pluperfect--an enormous mystery
to us at the time. Our Lexicon was _Schrevelius_, as yet un-Englished.
For the Greek Testament we had "Dawson," a vocabulary couched in the
Latin tongue, notwithstanding the author's name. The chevaux-de-frise
set up across the pathways to knowledge were numerous and most
forbidding. The Latin translation, line for line, at the end of Clarke's
Homer, as also the _Ordo_ in the Delphin classics, were held to be
mischievous aids, but the help was slight that could be derived from
them, as the Latin language itself was not yet grasped.
For whatever of the anomalous we moderns may observe in all this, let
the good old traditional school-system of England be responsible--not
the accomplished and benevolent man who transplanted the system, pure
and simple, to Canadian ground. For ourselves: in one point of view, we
deem it a piece of singular good fortune to have been subjected for a
time to this sort of drill; for it has enabled us to enter with more
intelligence into the discussions on English education that have marked
the era in which we live. Without this morsel of experience we should
have known only by vague report what it was the reviewers and essayists
of England were aiming their fulminations against.
Our early recollections in this regard, we treasure up now among our
mental curiosities, with thankfulness: just as we treasure up our
memories of the few years which, in the days of our youth, we had an
opportunity of passing in the old father-land, while yet mail coaches
and guards and genuine coachmen were extant there; while yet the
time-honoured watchman was to be heard patrolling the streets at night
and calling the hours. Deprived of this personal experience, how tamely
would have read "School-days at Rugby," for example, or "The Scouring of
the White Horse," and many another healthy classic in recent English
literature--to say nothing of "The Sketch Book," and earlier pieces,
which involve numerous allusions to these now vanished entities!
Moreover, we found that our boyish initiation in the Eton formularies,
however little they may have contributed to the intellectual furniture
of the mind at an early period, had the effect of putting us _en
rapport_, in one relation at all events, with a large class in the old
country. We found that the stock quotations and scraps of Latin employed
to give an air of learning to discourse, "to point a moral and adorn a
tale," among the country-clergy of England and among members of
Parliament of the ante-Reform-bill period, were mostly relics of
school-boy lore derived from Eton books. Fragments of the _As in
præsenti_, of the _Propria quæ maribus_; shreds from the Syntax, as _Vir
bonus est quis_, _Ingenuas didicisse_, and a score more, were instantly
recognized, and constituted a kind of talismanic mode of communication,
making the quoter and the hearer, to some extent, akin.
Furthermore; in regard to our honoured and beloved master, Dr. Phillips
himself; there is this advantage to be named as enjoyed by those whose
lot it was, in this new region, to pass a portion of their impressible
youth in the society of such a character: it furnished them with a
visible concrete illustration of much that otherwise would have been a
vague abstraction in the pictures of English society set before the
fancy in the _Spectator_, for instance, or Boswell's _Johnson_, and
other standard literary productions of a century ago. As it is, we doubt
not that the experience of many of our Canadian coevals corresponds with
our own. Whenever we read of the good Vicar of Wakefield, or of any
similar personage; when in the biography of some distinguished man, a
kind-hearted old clerical tutor comes upon the scene, or one moulded to
be a college-fellow, or one that had actually been a college-fellow,
carrying about with him, when down in the country the tastes and ideas
of the academic cloister--it is the figure of Dr. Phillips that rises
before the mental vision. And without doubt he was no bad embodiment of
the class of English character just alluded to.--He was thoroughly
English in his predilections and tone; and he unconsciously left on our
plastic selves traces of his own temperament and style.
It was from Dr. Phillips we received our first impressions of Cambridge
life; of its outer form, at all events; of its traditions and customs;
of the Acts and Opponencies in its Schools, and other quaint
formalities, still in use in our own undergraduate day, but now
abolished: from him we first heard of Trumpington, and St. Mary's, and
the Gogmagogs; of Lady Margaret and the cloisters at Queen's; of the
wooden bridge and Erasmus' walk in the gardens of that college; and of
many another storied object and spot, afterwards very familiar.
A manuscript Journal of a Johnsonian cast kept by Dr. Phillips, when a
youth, during a tour of his on foot in Wales, lent to us for perusal,
marks an era in our early experience, awakening in us, as it did, our
first inklings of travel. The excursion described was a trifling one in
itself--only from Whitchurch, in Herefordshire, across the Severn into
Wales--but to the unsophisticated fancy of a boy it was invested with a
peculiar charm; and it led, we think, in our own case, to many an
ambitious ramble, in after years, among cities and men.--In the time of
Dr. Phillips there was put up, by subscription, across the whole of the
western end of the school-house, over the door, a rough lean-to, of
considerable dimensions. A large covered space was thus provided for
purposes of recreation in bad weather. This room is memorable as being
associated with our first acquaintance with the term "Gymnasium:" that
was the title which we were directed to give it.--There is extant, we
believe, a good portrait in oil of Dr. Phillips.
It was stated above that Cricket was not known in the playground of the
District Grammar School, except possibly under the mildest of forms.
Nevertheless, one, afterwards greatly distinguished in the local annals
of Cricket, was long a master in the School.
Mr. George Antony Barber accompanied Dr. Phillips to York in 1825, as
his principal assistant, and continued to be associated with him in that
capacity. Nearly half a century later than 1826, when Cricket had now
become a social institution throughout Western Canada, Mr. Barber, who
had been among the first to give enthusiastic encouragement to the manly
English game, was the highest living local authority on the subject, and
still an occasional participator in the sport.
We here close our notice of the Old Blue School at York. In many a
brain, from time to time, the mention of its name has exercised a spell
like that of Wendell Holmes's _Mare Rubrum_; as potent as that was, to
summon up memories and shapes from the Red Sea of the Past--
"Where clad in burning robes are laid
Life's blossomed joys untimely shed,
And where those cherish'd forms are laid
We miss awhile, and call them dead."
The building itself has been shifted bodily from its original position
to the south-east corner of Stanley and Jarvis Street. It, the centre of
so many associations, is degraded now into being a depot for "General
Stock;" in other words, a receptacle for Rags and Old Iron.
The six acres of play-ground are thickly built over. A thoroughfare of
ill-repute traverses it from west to east. This street was at first
called March Street; and under that appellation acquired an evil report.
It was hoped that a nobler designation would perhaps elevate the
character of the place, as the name "Milton Street" had helped to do for
the ignoble Grub Street in London. But the purlieus of the neighbourhood
continue, unhappily, to be the Alsatia of the town. The filling up of
the old breezy field with dwellings, for the most part of a wretched
class, has driven "the schoolmaster" away from the region. His return
to the locality, in some good missionary sense, is much to be wished;
and after a time, will probably be an accomplished fact.
[Since these lines were written, the old District Grammar School
building has wholly vanished. It will be consolatory to know that,
escaping destruction by fire, it was deliberately dismantled and taken
to pieces; and, at once, walls of substantial brick overspread the whole
of the space which it had occupied.]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XII.
KING STREET FROM CHURCH STREET TO GEORGE STREET.
We were arrested in our progress on King Street by St. James' Church.
Its associations, and those of the District Grammar School and its
play-ground to the north, have detained us long. We now return to the
point reached when our recollections compelled us to digress.
Before proceeding, however, we must record the fact that the break in
the line of building on the north side of the street here, was the means
of checking the tide of fire which was rolling irresistibly westward, in
the great conflagration of 1849. The energies of the local fire-brigade
of the day had never been so taxed as they were on that memorable
occasion, Aid from steam-power was then undreamt-of. Simultaneous
outbursts of flame from numerous widely-separated spots had utterly
disheartened every one, and had caused a general abandonment of effort
to quell the conflagration. Then it was that the open space about St.
James' Church saved much of the town from destruction.
To the west, the whole sky was, as it were, a vast canopy of meteors
streaming from the east. The church itself was consumed, but the flames
advanced no further. A burning shingle was seen to become entangled in
the luffer-boards of the belfry, and slowly to ignite the woodwork
there: from a very minute start at that point, a stream of fire soon
began to rise--soon began to twine itself about the upper stages of the
tower, and to climb nimbly up the steep slope of the spire, from the
summit of which it then shot aloft into the air, speedily enveloping and
overtopping the golden cross that was there.
At the same time the flames made their way downwards within the tower,
till the internal timbers of the roofing over the main body of the
building were reached. There, in the natural order of things, the fire
readily spread; and the whole interior of the church, in the course of
an hour, was transformed, before the eyes of a bewildered multitude
looking powerlessly on, first into a vast "burning fiery furnace," and
then, as the roof collapsed and fell, into a confused chaos of raging
flame.
The heavy gilt cross at the apex of the spire came down with a crash,
and planted itself in the pavement of the principal entrance below,
where the steps, as well as the inner-walls of the base of the tower,
were bespattered far and wide with the molten metal of the great bell.
While the work of destruction was going fiercely and irrepressibly on,
the Public Clock in the belfry, Mr. Draper's gift to the town, was heard
to strike the hour as usual, and the quarters thrice--exercising its
functions and having its appointed say, amidst the sympathies, not loud
but deep, of those who watched its doom; bearing its testimony, like a
martyr at the stake, in calm and unimpassioned strain, up to the very
moment of time when the deadly element touched its vitals.
Opposite the southern portal of St. James' Church was to be seen, at a
very early period, the conspicuous trade-sign of a well-known furrier of
York, Mr. Joseph Rogers. It was the figure of an Indian Trapper holding
a gun, and accompanied by a dog, all depicted in their proper colours on
a high, upright tablet set over the doorway of the store below. Besides
being an appropriate symbol of the business carried on, it was always an
interesting reminder of the time, then not so very remote, when all of
York, or Toronto, and its commerce that existed, was the old French
trading-post on the common to the west, and a few native hunters of the
woods congregating with their packs of "beaver" once or twice a-year
about the entrance to its picketted enclosure. Other rather early
dealers in furs in York were Mr. Jared Stocking and Mr. John Bastedo.
In the _Gazette_ for April 25, 1822, we notice a somewhat pretentious
advertisement, headed "Muskrats," which announces that the highest
market price will be given in cash for "good seasonable muskrat skins
and other furs at the store of Robert Coleman, Esquire, Market Place,
York."
Mr. Rogers' descendants continue to occupy the identical site on King
Street indicated above, and the Indian Trapper, renovated, is still to
be seen--a pleasant instance of Canadian persistence and stability.
In Great Britain and Europe generally, the thoroughfares of ancient
towns had, as we know, character and variety given them by the
trade-symbols displayed up and down their misty vistas. Charles the
First gave, by letters patent, express permission to the citizens of
London "to expose and hang in and over the streets, and ways, and alleys
of the said city and suburbs of the same, signs and posts of signs,
affixed to their houses and shops, for the better finding out such
citizens' dwellings, shops, arts, and occupations, without impediment,
molestation or interruption of his heirs or successors." And the
practice was in vogue long before the time of Charles. It preceded the
custom of distinguishing houses by numbers. At periods when the
population generally were unable to read, such rude appeals to the eye
had, of course, their use. But as education spread, and architecture of
a modern style came to be preferred, this mode of indicating "arts and
occupations" grew out of fashion.
Of late, however, the pressure of competition in business has been
driving men back again upon the customs of by-gone illiterate
generations. For the purpose of establishing a distinct individuality in
the public mind the most capricious freaks are played. The streets of
the modern Toronto exhibit, we believe, two leonine specimens of
auro-ligneous zoology, between which the sex is announced to constitute
the difference. The lack of such clear distinction between a pair of
glittering symbols of this genus and species, in our Canadian London,
was the occasion of much grave consideration in 1867, on the part of the
highest authority in our Court of Chancery. Although in that _cause
célèbre_, after a careful physiognomical study by means of photographs
transmitted, it was allowed that there _were_ points of difference
between the two specimens in question, as, for example, that "one looked
older than the other;" that "one, from the sorrowful expression of its
countenance, seemed more resigned to its position than the other"--still
the decree was issued for the removal of one of them from the
scene--very properly the later-carved of the two.
Of the ordinary trade-signs that were to be seen along the thoroughfare
of King Street no particular notice need be taken. The Pestle and
Mortar, the Pole twined round with the black strap, the Crowned Boot,
the Tea-chest, the Axe, the Broad-axe, the Saw, (mill, cross-cut and
circular), the colossal Fowling-piece, the Cooking-stove, the Plough,
the Golden Fleece, the Anvil and Sledge-Hammer, the magnified
Horse-Shoe, each told its own story, as indicating indispensable wares
or occupations.
Passing eastward from the painted effigy of the Indian Trapper, we soon
came in front of the Market Place, which, so long as only a low wooden
building occupied its centre, had an open, airy appearance. We have
already dwelt upon some of the occurrences, and associations connected
with this spot.
On King street, about here, the ordinary trade and traffic of the place
came, after a few years, to be concentrated. Here business and bustle
were every day, more or less, created by the usual wants of the
inhabitants, and by the wants of the country farmers whose waggons in
summer, and sleighs in winter, thronged in from the north, east and
west. And hereabout at one moment or another, every lawful day, would be
surely seen, coming and going, the oddities and street-characters of the
town and neighbourhood. Having devoted some space to the leading and
prominent personages of our drama, it will be only proper to bestow a
few words on the subordinates, the Calibans and Gobbos, the Nyms and
Touchstones, of the piece.
From the various nationalities and races of which the community was a
mixture, these were drawn. There was James O'Hara, for example, a poor
humourous Irishman, a perfect representative of his class in costume,
style and manner, employed as bellman at auctions, and so on. When the
town was visited by the Papyrotomia--travelling cutters-out of
likenesses in black paper (some years ago such things created a
sensation),--a full-length of O'Hara was suspended at the entrance to
the rooms, recognized at once by every eye, even without the aid of the
"Shoot easy" inscribed on a label issuing from the mouth. (In the
_Loyalist_ of Nov. 24, 1827, we have O'Hara's death noted. "Died on
Friday the 16th instant, James O'Hara, long an inhabitant of this Town,
and formerly a soldier in His Majesty's service.")--There was Jock
Murray, the Scotch carter; and after him, William Pettit, the English
one; and the carter who drove the horse with the "spring-halt;" (every
school-lad in the place was familiar with the peculiar twitch upwards of
the near hind leg in the gait of this nag.)
The negro population was small. Every individual of colour was
recognizable at sight. Black Joe and Whistling Jack were two
notabilities; both of them negroes of African birth. In military bands a
negro drummer or cymbal-player was formerly often to be seen. The two
men just named, after obtaining discharge from a regiment here, gained
an honest livelihood by chance employment about the town. Joe, a
well-formed, well-trained figure, was to be seen, still arrayed in some
old cast-off shell-jacket, acting as porter, or engaged about horses;
once already we have had a glimpse of him in the capacity of sheriff's
assistant, administering the lash to wretched culprits in the Market
Place. The other, besides playing other parts, officiated occasionally
as a sweep; but his most memorable accomplishment was a melodious and
powerful style of whistling musical airs, and a faculty for imitating
the bag-pipes to perfection.--For the romantic sound of the name, the
tall, comely negress, Amy Pompadour, should also be mentioned in the
record. But she was of servile descent: at the time at which we write
slavery was only just dying out in Upper Canada, as we shall have
occasion to note hereafter more at large.
Then came the "Jack of Clubs." Lord Thurlow, we are told, once enabled a
stranger to single out in a crowd Dunning, afterwards Lord Ashburton, by
telling him to take notice of the first man he saw bearing a strong
resemblance to the "Jack of Clubs." In the present case it was a worthy
trader in provisions who had acquired among his fellow-townsmen a
sobriquet from a supposed likeness to that sturdy court-card figure. He
was a short, burly Englishman, whose place of business was just opposite
the entrance to the Market. So absolutely did the epithet attach itself
to him, that late-comers to the place failed to learn his real name: all
which was good-humouredly borne for a time; but at last the distinction
became burdensome and irritating, and Mr. Stafford removed in disgust to
New York.
A well-known character often to be seen about here, too, was an
unfortunate English farmer of the name of Cowper, of disordered
intellect, whose peculiarity was a desire to station himself in the
middle of the roadway, and from that vantage-ground to harangue any
crowd that might gather, incoherently, but always with a great show of
sly drollery and mirthfulness.
On occasions of militia funeral processions, observant lads and others
were always on the look-out for a certain prosperous cordwainer of the
town of York, Mr. Wilson, who was sure then to be seen marching in the
ranks, with musket reversed, and displaying with great precision and
solemnity the extra-upright carriage and genuine toe-pointed step of the
soldier of the days of George the Second. He had been for sixteen years
in the 41st regiment, and ten years and forty-four days in the 103rd;
and it was with pride and gusto that he exhibited the high proficiency
to which he had in other days attained. The slow pace required by the
Dead March gave the on-looker time to study the antique style of
military movement thus exemplified.
It was at a comparatively late period that Sir John Smythe and Spencer
Lydstone, poets, were notabilities in the streets; the latter, Mr.
Lydstone, recognizable from afar by a scarlet vest, brought out, ever
and anon, a printed broadside, filled with eulogiums or satires on the
inhabitants of the town, regulated by fees or refusals received. The
former, Sir John Smythe, found in the public papers a place for his
productions, which by their syntactical irregularities and freedom from
marks of punctuation, proved their author (as a reviewer of the day once
observed) to be a man _supra grammaticam_, and one possessed of a genius
above commas. But his great hobby was a railway to the Pacific, in
connection with which he brought out a lithographed map: its peculiarity
was a straight black line conspicuously drawn across the continent from
Fort William to the mouth of the Columbia river.
In a tract of his on the subject of this railway he provides, in the
case of war with the United States, for steam communication between
London in England and China and the East Indies, by "a branch to run on
the north side of the township of Cavan and on the south side of Balsam
Lake." "I propose this," he says, "to run in the rear of Lake Huron and
in the rear of Lake Superior, twenty miles in the interior of the
country of the Lake aforesaid; to unite with the railroad from Lake
Superior to Winnipeg, at the south-west main trading-post of the
North-West Company." The document is signed "Sir John Smythe, Baronet
and Royal Engineer, Canadian Poet, LL.D., and Moral Philosopher."
The concourse of traffickers and idlers in the open space before the old
Market Place were free of tongue; they sometimes talked, in no subdued
tone, of their fellow-townsfolk of all ranks. In a small community every
one was more or less acquainted with every one, with his dealings and
appurtenances, with his man-servant and maid-servant, his horse, his
dog, his waggon, cart or barrow.
Those of the primitive residentiaries, to whom the commonalty had taken
kindly, were honoured in ordinary speech with their militia-titles of
Colonel, Major, Captain, or the civilian prefix of Mister, Honourable
Mister, Squire or Judge, as the case might be; whilst others, not held
to have achieved any special claims to deference, were named, even in
mature years, by their plain, baptismal names, John, Andrew, Duncan,
George, and so on.
And then, there was a third marking-off of a few, against whom, for some
vague reason or another, there had grown up in the popular mind a
certain degree of prejudice. These, by a curtailment or national
corruption of their proper prenomen, would be ordinarily styled Sandy
this, Jock that. In some instances the epithet "old" would irreverently
precede, and persons of considerable eminence might be heard spoken of
as old Tom so-and-so, old Sam such-a-one.
And similarly in respect to the sons and nephews of these worthy
gentlemen. Had the community never been replenished from outside
sources, few of them would, to the latest moment of their lives, have
ever been distinguished except by the plain John, Stephen, Allan,
Christopher, and so on, of their infancy, or by the Bill, Harry, Alec,
Mac, Dolph, Dick, or Bob, acquired in the nursery or school.
But enough has been said, for the present at least, on the humors and
ways of our secondary characters, as exemplified in the crowd
customarily gathered in front of the old Market at York. We shall now
proceed on our prescribed route.
The lane leading northward from the north-west corner of Market Square
used to be known as Stuart's Lane, from the Rev. George Okill Stuart,
once owner of property here. On its west side was a well-known inn, the
Farmers' Arms, kept by Mr. Bloor, who, on retiring from business, took
up his abode at Yorkville, where it has curiously happened that his name
has been attached to a fashionable street, the thoroughfare formerly
known as the Concession Line.
The street running north from the north-east angle of Market Square, now
known as Nelson Street, was originally New Street, a name which was
commemorative of the growth of York westward. The terminal street of the
town on the west, prior to the opening of this New Street, had been
George Street. The name of "New Street" should never have been changed,
even for the heroic one of Nelson. As the years rolled on, it would have
become a quaint misnomer, involving a tale, like the name of "New
College" at Oxford--a College about five hundred years old.
At a point about half-way between New Street and George Street, King
Street was, in 1849, the scene of an election _fracas_ which, in distant
quarters, damaged for a time the good name of the town. While passing in
front of the Coleraine House, an inn on the north side of the street,
and a rendezvous of the unsuccessful party, some persons walking in
procession, in addition to indulging in the usual harmless groans, flung
a missile into the house, when a shot, fired from one of the windows,
killed a man in the concourse below.
Owing to the happy settlement of numerous irritating public questions,
elections are conducted now, in our towns and throughout our Provinces,
in a calm and rational temper for the most part. Only two relics of evil
and ignorant days remain amongst us, stirring bad blood twice a year, on
anniversaries consecrated, or otherwise, to the object. A
generous-hearted nation, transplanted as they have been almost _en
masse_ to a new continent, where prosperity, wealth and honours have
everywhere been their portion, would shew more wisdom in the repudiation
than they do in the recognition and studied conservation, of these
hateful heirlooms of their race.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XIII.
KING STREET--DIGRESSION INTO DUKE STREET.
On passing George Street, as we intimated a moment ago, we enter the
parallelogram which constituted the original town-plot. Its boundaries
were George Street, Duchess Street, Ontario Street (with the lane south
of it), and Palace Street. From this, its old core, York spread westward
and northward, extending at length in those directions respectively
(under the name of Toronto) to the Asylum and Yorkville; while eastward
its developments--though here less solid and less shapely--were finally
bounded by the windings of the Don. Were Toronto an old town on the
European Continent, George Street, Duchess Street, Ontario Street and
Palace Street, would probably now be boulevards, showing the space once
occupied by stout stone walls. The parallelogram just defined represents
"the City" in modern London, or "la Cité" in modern Paris--the original
nucleus round which gradually clustered the dwellings of later
generations.
Before, however, we enter upon what may be styled King Street proper, it
will be convenient to make a momentary digression northwards into Duke
Street, anciently a quiet, retired thoroughfare, skirted on the right
and left by the premises and grounds and houses of several most
respectable inhabitants. At the north-west angle of the intersection of
this street with George Street was the home of Mr. Washburn; but this
was comparatively a recent erection. Its site previously had been the
brickyard of Henry Hale, a builder and contractor, who put up the wooden
structure, possessing some architectural pretensions, on the south-east
angle of the same intersection, diagonally across; occupied in the
second instance by Mr. Moore, of the Commissariat; then by Dr. Lee, and
afterwards by Mr. J. Murchison.
(The last named was for a long time the Stultz of York, supplying all
those of its citizens, young and old, who desired to make an attractive
or intensely respectable appearance, with vestments in fine broadcloth.)
A little to the north, on the left side of George Street, was the famous
Ladies' School of Mrs. Goodman, presided over subsequently by Miss
Purcell and Miss Rose. This had been previously the homestead of Mr.
Stephen Jarvis, of whom again immediately.--Two or three of these
familiar names appear in an advertisement relating to land in this
neighbourhood, in the _Gazette_ of March 23rd, 1826.--"For Sale: Three
lots or parcels of land in the town of York, the property of Mrs.
Goodman, being part of the premises on which Miss Purcell now resides,
and formerly owned by Col. Jarvis. The lots are each fifty feet in width
and one hundred and thirty in depth, and front on the street running
from King Street to Mr. Jarvis's Park lot. If not disposed of by private
sale, they will be put up at auction on the first day of May next.
Application to be made to Miss Purcell, or at the Office of the _U. C.
Gazette_. York, March 10, 1826."
Advancing on Duke Street eastward a little way, we came, on the left, to
the abode of Chief Justice Sir William Campbell, of whom before Sir
William erected here in 1822 a mansion of brick, in good style. It was
subsequently, for many years, the hospitable home of the Hon. James
Gordon, formerly of Amherstburgh.
Then on the right, one square beyond, at the south-easterly corner where
Caroline Street intersects, we reached the house of Mr. Secretary
Jarvis, a man of great note in his day, whose name is familiar to all
who have occasion to examine the archives of Upper Canada in the
administrations of Governors Simcoe, Hunter and Gore. A fine portrait of
him exists, but, as we have been informed, it has been transmitted to
relatives in England. Mr. Stephen Jarvis, above named, was long the
Registrar of Upper Canada. His hand-writing is well-known to all holders
of early deeds. He and the Secretary were first cousins; of the same
stock as the well-known Bishop Jarvis of Connecticut, and the Church
Historian, Dr. Samuel Farmer Jarvis. Both were officers in incorporated
Colonial regiments before the independence of the United States; and
both came to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. Mr. Stephen Jarvis was
the founder of the leading Canadian family to which the first Sheriff
Jarvis belonged. Mr. Samuel Peters Jarvis, from whom "Jarvis Street" has
its name, was the son of Mr. Secretary Jarvis.
On the left, one square beyond the abode of Mr. Secretary Jarvis, came
the premises and home of Mr. Surveyor General Ridout, the latter a
structure still to be seen in its primitive outlines, a good specimen of
the old type of early Upper Canadian family residence of a superior
class; combining the qualities of solidity and durability with those of
snugness and comfort in the rigours of winter and the heats of summer.
In the rear of Mr. Ridout's house was for some time a family
burial-plot; but, like several similar private enclosures in the
neighbourhood of the town, it became disused after the establishment of
regular cemeteries.
Nearly opposite Mr. Ridout's, in one of the usual long, low Upper
Canadian one-storey dwellings, shaded by lofty Lombardy poplars, was the
home of the McIntoshes, who are to be commemorated hereafter in
connection with the Marine of York: and here, at a later period, lived
for a long time Mr. Andrew Warffe and his brother John. Mr. Andrew
Warffe was a well-known employé in the office of the Inspector General,
Mr. Baby, and a lieutenant in the Incorporated Militia.
By one of the vicissitudes common in the history of family residences
everywhere, Mr. Secretary Jarvis's house, which we just now passed,
became afterwards the place of business of a memorable cutler and
gunsmith, named Isaac Columbus. During the war of 1812, Mr. Columbus was
employed as armourer to the Militia, and had a forge near the garrison.
Many of the swords used by the Militia officers were actually
manufactured by him. He was a native of France; a liberal-hearted man,
ever ready to contribute to charitable objects; and a clever artizan.
Whether required to "jump" the worn and battered axe of a backwoodsman,
to manufacture the skate-irons and rudder of an ice-boat, to put in
order a surveyor's theodolite, or to replace for the young geometrician
or draughtsman an instrument lost out of his case, he was equally _au
fait_. On occasion he could even supply an elderly lady or gentleman
with a set of false teeth, and insert them.
In our boyhood we had occasion to get many little matters attended to at
Mr. Columbus's. Once on leaving word that a certain article must be
ready by a particular hour, we remember being informed that "must" was
only for the King of France. His political absolutism would have
satisfied Louis XIV. himself. He positively refused to have anything to
do with the "liberals" of York, expressly on the ground that, in his
opinion, the modern ideas of government "hindered the King from acting
as a good father to the people."
An expression of his, "first quality, blue!" used on a particular
occasion in reference to an extra finish to be given to some steel-work
for an extra price, passed into a proverb among us boys at school, and
was extensively applied by us to persons and things of which we desired
to predicate a high degree of excellence.
Over Columbus's workshop, at the corner of Caroline Street, we are
pretty sure his name appeared as here given; and so it was always
called. But we observe in some lists of early names in York, that it is
given as "Isaac Collumbes." It is curious to note that the great
discoverer's name is a latinization of Colon, Coulon, Colombe,
descendant each of _columba_, dove, of which _columbus_ is the masculine
form.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XIV.
KING STREET--FROM GEORGE STREET TO CAROLINE STREET.
We now retrace our steps to King Street, at its intersection with George
Street; and here our eye immediately lights on an object connected with
the early history of Education in York.
Attached to the east side of the house at the south-east angle of the
intersection is a low building, wholly of stone, resembling a small
root-house. Its structure is concealed from view now by a coating of
clapboards. This was the first school-house possessing a public
character in York.
It was where Dr. Stuart taught, afterwards Archdeacon of Kingston. The
building was on his property, which became afterwards that of Mr. George
Duggan, once before referred to. (In connection with St. James' Church,
it should have been recorded that Mr. Duggan was the donor and planter
of the row of Lombardy poplars which formerly stood in front of that
edifice, and which figured conspicuously in the old engravings of King
Street. He was an Irishman of strong opinions. He once stood for the
town against Mr. Attorney-General Robinson, but without success. When
the exigencies of later times required the uprooting of the poplar
trees, now become overgrown, he warmly resented the removal and it was
at the risk of grievous bodily harm that the Church-warden of the day,
Mr. T. D. Harris, carried into effect the resolution of the Vestry.)
Dr. Stuart's was the Home District School. From a contemporary record,
now before us, we learn that it opened on June the first, 1807, and that
the first names entered on its books were those of John Ridout, William
A. Hamilton, Thomas G. Hamilton, George H. Detlor, George S. Boulton,
Robert Stanton, William Stanton, Angus McDonell, Alexander Hamilton,
Wilson Hamilton, Robert Ross, Allan McNab. To this list, from time to
time, were added many other old Toronto or Upper Canadian names: as, for
example, the following: John Moore, Charles Ruggles, Edward Hartney,
Charles Boulton, Alexander Chewett, Donald McDonell, James Edward Small,
Charles Small, John Hayes, George and William Jarvis, William Bowkett,
Peter McDonell, Philemon Squires, James McIntosh, Bernard, Henry and
Marshall Glennon, Richard Brooke, Daniel Brooke, Charles Reade, William
Robinson, Gilbert Hamilton, Henry Ernst, John Gray, Robert Gray, William
Cawthra, William Smith, Harvey Woodruff, Robert Anderson, Benjamin
Anderson, James Givins, Thomas Playter, William Pilkington. The French
names Belcour, Hammeil and Marian occur. (There were bakers or
confectioners of these names in York at an early period.)
From the same record it appears that female pupils were not excluded
from the primitive Home District School. On the roll are names which
surviving contemporaries would recognize as belonging to the _beau
monde_ of Upper Canada, distinguished and admired in later years.
A building-lot, eighty-six feet in front and one hundred and seventeen
in depth, next to the site of the school, is offered for sale in the
_Gazette_ of the 18th of March, 1822; and in the advertisement it is
stated to be "one of the most eligible lots in the Town of York, and
situated in King Street, in the centre of the Town."
To the left, just across from this choice position, was, in 1833, Wragg
& Co.'s establishment, where such matter-of-fact articles as the
following could be procured: "Bending and unbending nails, as usual;
wrought nails and spikes of all sizes [a change since 1810]: ox-traces
and cable chains; tin; double and single sheet iron: sheet brass and
copper; bar, hoop, bolt and rod iron of all sizes; shear, blister and
cast steel; with every other article in the heavy line, together with a
very complete assortment of shelf goods, cordage, oakum, tar, pitch, and
rosin: also a few patent machines for shelling corn." (A much earlier
resort for such merchandize was Mr. Peter Paterson's, on the west side
of the Market Square.)
Of a date somewhat subsequent to that of Messrs. Wragg's advertisement,
was the depôt of Mr. Harris for similar substantial wares. This was
situated on the north side of King Street, westward of the point at
which we are now pausing. It long resisted the great conflagration of
1849, towering up amidst the flames like a black, isolated crag in a
tempestuous sea; but at length it succumbed. Having been rendered, as it
was supposed, fire-proof externally, no attempt was made to remove the
contents of the building.
To the east of Messrs. Wragg's place of business, on the same side, and
dating back to an early period, was the dwelling house and mart of Mr.
Mosley, the principal auctioneer and appraiser of York, a well-known and
excellent man. He had suffered the severe calamity of a partial
deprivation of the lower limbs by frost-bite; but he contrived to move
about with great activity in a room or on the side-walk by means of two
light chairs, shifting himself adroitly from the one to the other. When
required to go to a distance or to church, (where he was ever punctually
to be seen in his place), he was lifted by his son or sons into and out
of a wagonette, together with the chairs.
On the same (north) side was the place where the Messrs. Lesslie,
enterprising and successful merchants from Dundee, dealt at once in two
remunerative articles--books and drugs. The left side of the store was
devoted to the latter; the right to the former. Their first
head-quarters in York had been further up the street; but a move had
been made to the eastward, to be, as things were then, nearer the heart
of the town.
This firm had houses carrying on the same combined businesses in
Kingston and Dundas. There exists a bronze medal or token, of good
design, sought after by collectors, bearing the legend, "E. Lesslie and
Sons, Toronto and Dundas, 1822." The date has been perplexing, as the
town was not named Toronto in 1822. The intention simply was to indicate
the year of the founding of the firm in the two towns; the first of
which assumed the name of Toronto at the period the medal was really
struck, viz., 1834. On the obverse it bears a figure of Justice with
scales and sword: on the reverse, a plough with the mottoes, "Prosperity
to Canada," "La Prudence et la Candeur."--A smaller Token of the same
firm is extant, on which "Kingston" is inserted between "Toronto" and
"Dundas."
Nearly opposite was the store of Mr. Monro. Regarding our King Street as
the Broadway of York, Mr. Monro was for a long time its Stewart. But the
points about his premises that linger now in our recollection the most,
are a tasteful flower-garden on its west side, and a trellised verandah
in that direction, with canaries in a cage, usually singing therein. Mr.
Monro was Mayor of Toronto in 1840. He also represented in Parliament
the South Riding of York, in the Session of 1844-5.
At the north-west corner, a little further on, resided Mr. Alexander
Wood, whose name appears often in the Report of the Loyal and Patriotic
Society of 1812, to which reference before has been made, and of which
he was the Secretary. A brother of his, at first in copartnership with
Mr. Allan, and at a later period, independently, had made money, at
York, by business. On the decease of his brother, Mr. Alexander Wood
came out to attend to the property left. He continued on the same spot,
until after the war of 1812, the commercial operations which had been so
prosperously begun, and then retired.
At the time to which our recollections are just now transporting us, the
windows of the part of the house that had been the store were always
seen with the shutters closed. Mr. Wood was a bachelor; and it was no
uncosy sight, towards the close of the shortening autumnal days, before
the remaining front shutters of the house were drawn in for the evening,
to catch a glimpse, in passing, of the interior of his comfortable
quarters, lighted up by the blazing logs on the hearth, the table
standing duly spread close by, and the solitary himself ruminating in
his chair before the fire, waiting for candles and dinner to be brought
in.
On sunny mornings in winter he was often to be seen pacing the sidewalk
in front of his premises for exercise, arrayed in a long blue over-coat,
with his right hand thrust for warmth into the cuff of his left sleeve,
and his left hand into that of his right. He afterwards returned to
Scotland, where, at Stonehaven, not far from Aberdeen, he had family
estates known as Woodcot and Woodburnden. He died without executing a
will; and it was some time before the rightful heir to his property in
Scotland and here was determined. It had been his intention, we believe,
to return to Canada.--The streets which run eastward from Yonge Street,
north of Carleton Street, named respectively "Wood" and "Alexander,"
pass across land that belonged to Mr. Wood.
Many are the shadowy forms that rise before us, as we proceed on our
way; phantom-revisitings from the misty Past; the shapes and faces of
enterprising and painstaking men, of whose fortunes King Street
hereabout was the cradle. But it is not necessary in these reminiscences
to enumerate all who, on the right hand and on the left, along the now
comparatively deserted portions of the great thoroughfare, amassed
wealth in the olden time by commerce and other honourable
pursuits,--laying the foundation, in several instances, of opulent
families.
Quetton St. George, however, must not be omitted, builder of the solid
and enduring house on the corner opposite to Mr. Wood's; a structure
that, for its size and air of respectability; for its material, brick,
when as yet all the surrounding habitations were of wood; for its tinned
roof, its graceful porch, its careful and neat finish generally, was,
for a long time, one of the York lions.
Mr. Quetton St. George was a French royalist officer, and a chevalier of
the order of St. Louis. With many other French gentlemen, he emigrated
to Canada at the era of the Revolution. He was of the class of the
noblesse, as all officers were required to be; which class, just before
the Revolution, included, it is said, 90,000 persons, all exempt from
the ordinary taxes of the country.
The surname of St. George was assumed by M. Quetton to commemorate the
fact that he had first set foot on English ground on St. George's day.
On proceeding to Canada, he, in conjunction with Jean Louis, Vicomte de
Chalûs, and other distinguished _émigrés_, acquired a large estate in
wild lands in the rough region north of York, known as the "Oak Ridges."
Finding it difficult, however, to turn such property speedily to
account, he had recourse to trade with the Indians and remote
inhabitants. Numerous stations, with this object in view, were
established by him in different parts of the country, before his final
settlement in York. One of these posts was at Orillia, on Lake
Couchiching; and in the Niagara _Herald_ of August the 7th, 1802, we
meet with the following advertisement:--"New Store at the House of the
French General, between Niagara and Queenston. Messrs. Quetton St.
George and Co., acquaint the public that they have lately arrived from
New York with a general assortment of Dry Goods and Groceries, which
will be sold at the lowest price for ready money, for from the
uncertainty of their residing any time in these parts they cannot open
accounts with any person. Will also be found at the same store a
general assortment of tools for all mechanics. They have likewise
well-made Trunks; also empty Barrels. Niagara, July 23."
The copartnership implied was with M. de Farcy. The French General
referred to was the Comte de Puisaye, of whom in full hereafter. The
house spoken of still exists, beautifully situated at a point on the
Niagara River, where the carriage-road between Queenston and the town of
Niagara approaches the very brink of the lofty bank, whose precipitous
side is even yet richly clothed with fine forest trees, and where the
noble stream below, closed in towards the south by the heights above
Lewiston and Queenston, possesses all the features of a picturesque
inland lake.
Attached to the house in question is a curious old fire-proof structure
of brick, quaintly buttressed with stone: the walls are of a thickness
of three or four feet; and the interior is beautifully vaulted and
divided into two compartments, having no communication with each other:
and above the whole is a long loft of wood, approached by steps on the
outside. The property here belonged for a time in later years to
Shickluna, the shipbuilder of St. Catharines, who happily did not
disturb the interesting relic just described. The house itself was in
some respects modernized by him; but, with its steep roof and three
dormer windows, it still retains much of its primitive character.
In 1805 we find Mr. St. George removed to York. The copartnership with
M. de Farcy is now dissolved. In successive numbers of the _Gazette and
Oracle_, issued in that and the following year, he advertises at great
length. But on the 20th of September, 1806, he abruptly announces that
he is not going to advertise any more: he now once for all, begs the
public to examine his former advertisements, where they will find, he
says, an account of the supply which he brings from New York every
spring, a similar assortment to which he intends always to have on hand:
and N. B., he adds: Nearly the same assortment may be found at Mr.
Boiton's, at Kingston, and at Mr. Boucherville's, at Amherstburgh, "who
transact business for Mr. St. George."
IMPORTS AT YORK IN 1805.
As we have, in the advertisements referred to, a rather minute record of
articles and things procurable and held likely to be wanted by the
founders of society in these parts, we will give, for the reader's
entertainment, a selection from several of them, adhering for the most
part to the order in which the goods are therein named.
From time to time it is announced by Mr. St. George that there have
"just arrived from New York":--Ribbons, cotton goods, silk tassels,
gown-trimmings, cotton binding, wire trimmings, silk belting, fans,
beaded buttons, block tin, glove ties, cotton bed-line, bed-lace,
rollo-bands, ostrich feathers, silk lace, black veil lace, thread do.,
laces and edging, fine black veils, white do., fine silk mitts,
love-handkerchiefs, Barcelona do., silk do., black crape, black mode,
black Belong, blue, white and yellow do., striped silk for gowns,
Chambray muslins, printed dimity, split-straw bonnets, Leghorn do.,
imperial chip do., best London Ladies' beaver bonnets, cotton wire,
Rutland gauze, band boxes, cambrics, calicoes, Irish linens,
callimancoes, plain muslins, laced muslins, blue, black and yellow
nankeens, jeans, fustians, long silk gloves, velvet ribbons, Russia
sheetings, India satins, silk and cotton umbrellas, parasols, white
cottons, bombazetts, black and white silk stockings, damask table
cloths, napkins, cotton, striped nankeens, bandana handkerchiefs,
catgut, Ticklenburg, brown holland, Creas à la Morlaix, Italian
lutestring, beaver caps for children.
Then we have: Hyson tea, Hyson Chaulon in small chests, young Hyson,
green, Souchong and Bohea, loaf, East India and Muscovado sugars,
mustard, essence of mustard, pills of mustard, capers, lemon-juice,
soap, Windsor do., indigo, mace, nutmegs, cinnamon, cassia, cloves,
pimento, pepper, best box raisins, prunes, coffee, Spanish and American
"segars," Cayenne pepper in bottles, pearl barley, castor oil, British
oil, pickled oysters.
Furthermore, china-ware is to be had in small boxes and in sets; also,
Suwarrow boots, bootees, and an assortment of men's, women's and
children's shoes, japanned quart mugs, do. tumblers, tipped flutes,
violin bows, brass wire, sickles, iron candlesticks, shoe-makers'
hammers, knives, pincers, pegging awls and tacks, awl-blades,
shoe-brushes, copper tea-kettles, snaffle-bits, leather shot belts, horn
powder flasks, ivory, horn and crooked combs, mathematical instruments,
knives and forks, suspenders, fish-hooks, sleeve-links, sportsmen's
knives, lockets, earrings, gold topaz, do., gold watch-chains, gold
seals, gold brooches, cut gold rings, plain do., pearl do., silver
thimbles, do. teaspoons, shell sleeve buttons, silver watches, beads. In
stationery there was to be had paste-board, foolscap paper, second do.,
letter paper, black and red ink powder and wafers.
There was also the following supply of Literature:--Telemachus, Volney's
Views, Public Characters, Dr. Whitman's Egypt, Evelina, Cecilia, Lady's
Library, Ready Reckoner, Looking Glass, Franklin's Fair Sex, Camilla,
Don Raphael, Night Thoughts, Winter Evenings, Voltaire's Life, Joseph
Andrews, Walker's Geography, Bonaparte and the French People, Voltaire's
Tales, Fisher's Companion, Modern Literature, Eccentric Biography, Naval
do., Martial do., Fun, Criminal Records, Entick's Dictionary, Gordon's
America, Thompson's Family Physician, Sheridan's Dictionary, Johnson's
do., Wilson's Egypt, Denon's Travels, Travels of Cyrus, Stephani de
Bourbon, Alexis, Pocket Library, Every Man's Physician, Citizen of the
World, Taplin's Farriery, Farmer's Boy, Romance of the Forest,
Grandison, Campbell's Narrative, Paul and Virginia, Adelaide de Sincere,
Emelini, Monk, Abbess, Evening Amusement, Children of the Abbey, Tom
Jones, Vicar of Wakefield, Sterne's Journey, Abelard and Eloisa, Ormond,
Caroline, Mercutio, Julia and Baron, Minstrel, H. Villars, De Valcourt,
J. Smith, Charlotte Temple, Theodore Chypon, What has Been, Elegant
Extracts in Prose and Verse, J. and J. Jessamy, Chinese Tales, New
Gazetteer, Smollett's Works, Cabinet of Knowledge, Devil on Sticks,
Arabian Tales, Goldsmith's Essays, Bragg's Cookery, Tooke's Pantheon,
Boyle's Voyage, Roderick Random, Jonathan Wild, Louisa Solomon's Guide
to Health, Spelling-books, Bibles and Primers.
Our extracts have extended to a great length: but the animated picture
of Upper Canadian life at a primitive era, which such an enumeration of
items, in some sort affords, must be our apology.
In the _Gazette_ of July 4, 1807, Mr. St. George complains of a
protested bill; but consoles himself with a quotation--
Celui qui met un frein à la fureur des flots,
Sait aussi des méchants arrêter des complots.
Rendered rich in money and lands by his extemporized mercantile
operations, Mr. St. George returned to his native France soon after the
restoration of Louis XVIII., and passed the rest of his days partly in
Paris and partly on estates in the neighbourhood of Montpellier. During
his stay in Canada he formed a close friendship with the Baldwins of
York; and on his departure, the house on King Street, which has given
rise to these reminiscences of him, together with the valuable
commercial interests connected with it, passed into the hands of a
junior member of that family, Mr. John Spread Baldwin, who himself, on
the same spot, subsequently laid the foundation of an ample fortune.
(It is a phenomenon not uninteresting to the retrospective mind, to
observe, in 1869, after the lapse of half a century, the name of Quetton
St. George reappearing in the field of Canadian Commerce.)
Advancing now on our way eastward, we soon came in front of the abode of
Dr. Burnside, a New-England medical man of tall figure, upright
carriage, and bluff, benevolent countenance, an early promoter of the
Mechanics'-Institute movement, and an encourager of church-music, vocal
and instrumental. Dying without a family dependent on him, he bequeathed
his property partly to Charities in the town, and partly to the
University of Trinity College, where two scholarships perpetuate his
memory.
Just opposite was the residence of the venerable Mrs. Gamble, widow of
Dr. Gamble, formerly a surgeon attached to the Queen's Rangers. This
lady died in 1859, in her 92nd year, leaving living descendants to the
number of two hundred and four. To the west of this house was a
well-remembered little parterre, always at the proper season gay with
flowers.
At the next corner, on the north side, a house now totally demolished,
was the original home of the millionaire Cawthra family, already once
alluded to. In the _Gazette and Oracle_ of June 21, 1806, Mr. Cawthra,
senior, thus advertises:--"J. Cawthra wishes to inform the inhabitants
of York and the adjacent country, that he has opened an Apothecary Store
in the house of A. Cameron, opposite Stoyell's Tavern in York, where the
Public can be supplied with most articles in that line. He has on hand
also, a quantity of Men's, Women's, and Children's shoes and Men's hats.
Also for a few days will be sold the following articles, Table Knives
and Forks, Scissors, Silver Watches, Maps and Prints, Profiles, some
Linen, and a few Bed-Ticks, Teas, Tobacco, a few casks of fourth proof
Cognac Brandy, and a small quantity of Lime Juice, and about twenty
thousand Whitechapel Needles. York, June 14, 1806." And again, on the
27th of the following November, he informs the inhabitants of York and
the neighbouring country that he had just arrived from New York with a
general assortment of "apothecary articles;" and that the public can be
supplied with everything in that line genuine: also patent medicines:
he likewise intimates that he has brought a general assortment of Dry
Goods, consisting of "broad cloths, duffils, flannels, swansdown,
corduroys, printed calicoes, ginghams, cambrick muslins, shirting,
muslin, men and women's stockings, silk handkerchiefs, bandana shawls,
pulicat and pocket handkerchiefs, calimancoes, dimity and check; also a
large assortment of men's, women's, and children's shoes, hardware,
coffee, tea and chocolate, lump and loaf sugar, tobacco, &c., with many
other articles: which he is determined to sell on very low terms at his
store opposite Stoyell's tavern." York, Nov. 27, 1806. (The Stoyell's
Tavern here named, had previously been the Inn of Mr. Abner Miles.)
Immediately across, at the corner on the south side, was a depôt,
insignificant enough, no doubt, to the indifferent passer-by, but
invested with much importance in the eyes of many of the early
infantiles of York. Its windows exhibited, in addition to a scattering
of white clay pipes, and papers of pins suspended open against the panes
for the public inspection, a display of circular discs of gingerbread,
some with plain, some with scalloped edge; also hearts, fishes, little
prancing ponies, parrots and dogs of the same tawny-hued material; also
endwise in tumblers and other glass vessels, numerous lengths or stems
of prepared saccharine matter, brittle in substance, white-looking, but
streaked and slightly penetrated with some rich crimson pigment;
likewise on plates and oval dishes, a collection of quadrangular viscous
lumps, buff-coloured and clammy, each showing at its ends the bold
gashing cut of a stout knife which must have been used in dividing a
rope, as it were, of the tenacious substance into inch-sections or
parts.
In the wrapping paper about all articles purchased here, there was
always a soupçon of the homely odors of boiled sugar and peppermint. The
tariff of the various comestibles just enumerated was well known; it was
precisely for each severally, one half-penny. The mistress of this
establishment bore the Scottish name of Lumsden--a name familiar to us
lads in another way also, being constantly seen by us on the title-pages
of school-books, many of which, at the time referred to, were imported
from Glasgow, from the publishing-house of Lumsden and Son.
A little way down the street which crosses here, was Major Heward's
house, long Clerk of the Peace for the Home District, of whom we had
occasion to speak before. Several of his sons, while pursuing their
legal and other studies, became also "mighty hunters;" distinguished, we
mean, as enthusiastic sportsmen. Many were the exploits reported of
them, in this line.
We give here an extract from Mr. McGrath's lively work, published in
1833, entitled "Authentic letters from Upper Canada, with an Account of
Canadian Field Sports." "Ireland," he says, "is, in many places,
remarkable for excellent cock-shooting, which I have myself experienced
in the most favourable situations: not, however, to be compared with
this country, where the numbers are truly wonderful. Were I to mention,"
Mr. McGrath continues, "what I have seen in this respect, or heard from
others, it might bring my graver statements into disrepute."
"As a specimen of the sport," he says, "I will merely give a fact or two
of, not unusual success; bearing, however, no proportion to the quantity
of game. I have known Mr. Charles Heward, of York," he proceeds to
state, "to have shot in one day thirty brace at Chippewa, close to the
Falls of Niagara--and I myself," Mr. McGrath continues, "who am far from
being a first-rate shot, have frequently brought home from twelve to
fourteen brace, my brothers performing their part with equal success."
But the younger Messrs. Heward had a field for the exercise of their
sportsman skill nearer home than Chippewa. The Island, just across the
Bay, where the black-heart plover were said always to arrive on a
particular day, the 23rd of May, every year, and the marshes about
Ashbridge's bay and York harbour itself, all abounded with wild fowl.
Here, loons of a magnificent size used to be seen and heard; and vast
flocks of wild geese, passing and re-passing, high in air, in their
periodical migrations. The wild swan, too, was an occasional frequenter
of the ponds of the Island.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XV.
KING STREET, FROM CAROLINE STREET TO BERKELEY STREET.
Returning again to King Street: At the corner of Caroline Street,
diagonally across from the Cawthra homestead, was the abode, when
ashore, of Captain Oates, commander of the _Duke of Richmond_ sloop, the
fashionable packet plying between Niagara and York.
Mr. Oates was nearly connected with the family of President Russell, but
curiously obtained no share in the broad acres which were, in the early
day, so plentifully distributed to all comers. By being unluckily out of
the way, too, at a critical moment, subsequently, he missed a bequest at
the hands of the sole inheritor of the possessions of his relative.
Capt. Oates was a man of dignified bearing, of more than the ordinary
height. He had seen service on the ocean as master and owner of a
merchantman. His portrait, which is still preserved in Toronto, somewhat
resembles that of George IV.
A spot passed, a few moments since, on King Street, is associated with a
story in which the _Richmond_ sloop comes up. It happened that the
nuptials of a neighbouring merchant had lately taken place. Some youths,
employed in an adjoining warehouse or law-office, took it into their
heads that a _feu de joie_ should be fired on the occasion. To carry out
the idea they proceeded, under cover of the night, to the _Richmond_
sloop, where she lay frozen in by the Frederick Street wharf, and
removed from her deck, without asking leave, a small piece of ordnance
with which she was provided. They convey it with some difficulty,
carriage and all, up into King Street, and place it in front of the
bridegroom's house; run it back, as we have understood, even into the
recess underneath the double steps of the porch: when duly ensconced
there, as within the port of a man-of-war, they contrived to fire it
off, decamping, however, immediately after the exploit, and leaving
behind them the source of the deafening explosion.
On the morrow the cannon is missed from the sloop (she was being
prepared for the spring navigation): on instituting an inquiry, Capt.
Oates is mysteriously informed the lost article is, by some means, up
somewhere on the premises of Mr. J. S. Baldwin, the gentleman who had
been honoured with the salute, and that if he desired to recover his
property he must despatch some men thither to fetch it. (We shall have
occasion to refer hereafter to the _Richmond_, when we come to speak of
the early Marine of York Harbour.)
Passing on our way eastward we came immediately, on the north side, to
one of the principal hotels of York, a long, white, two-storey wooden
building. It was called the Mansion House--an appropriate name for an
inn, when we understand "Mansion" in its proper, but somewhat forgotten
sense, as indicating a temporary abode, a place which a man occupies and
then relinquishes to a successor. The landlord here for a considerable
time was Mr. De Forest, an American who, in some way or other, had been
deprived of his ears. The defect, however, was hardly perceptible, so
nicely managed was the hair. On the ridge of the Mansion House roof was
to be seen for a number of years a large and beautiful model of a
completely-equipped sailing vessel.
We then arrived at the north-west angle of King and Princes streets,
where a second public well (we have already commemorated the first,) was
sunk, and provided with a pump in 1824--for all which the sum of £36
17_s._ 6_d._ was paid to John James on the 19th of August in that year.
In the advertisements and contracts connected with this now obliterated
public convenience, Princes Street is correctly printed and written as
it here meets the eye, and not "Princess Street," as the recent
corruption is.
Let not the record of our early water-works be disdained. Those of the
metropolis of the Empire were once on a humble scale. Thus Master John
Stow, in his _Survey of London, Anno 1598_, recordeth that "at the
meeting of the corners of the Old Jurie, Milke Street, Lad Lane,
Aldermanburie, there was of old time a fair well with two buckets; of
late years," he somewhat pathetically adds, "converted to a pump."
Just across eastward from the pump was one of the first buildings put up
on King Street: it was erected by Mr. Smith, who was the first to take
up a building lot, after the laying-out of the town-plot.
On the opposite side, a few steps further on, was Jordan's--the
far-famed "York Hotel"--at a certain period, the hotel _par excellence_
of the place, than which no better could be found at the time in all
Upper Canada. The whole edifice has now utterly disappeared. Its
foundations giving way, it for a while seemed to be sinking into the
earth, and then it partially threatened to topple over into the street.
It was of antique style when compared with the Mansion House. It was
only a storey-and-a-half high. Along its roof was a row of dormer
windows. (Specimens of this style of hotel may still be seen in the
country-towns of Lower Canada.)
When looking in later times at the doorways and windows of the older
buildings intended for public and domestic purposes, as also at the
dimensions of rooms and the proximity of the ceilings to the floors, we
might be led for a moment to imagine that the generation of settlers
passed away must have been of smaller bulk and stature than their
descendants. But points especially studied in the construction of early
Canadian houses, in both Provinces, were warmth and comfort in the long
winters. Sanitary principles were not much thought of, and happily did
not require to be much thought of, when most persons passed more of
their time in the pure outer air than they do now.
Jordan's York Hotel answered every purpose very well. Members of
Parliament and other visitors considered themselves in luxurious
quarters when housed there. Probably in no instance have the public
dinners or fashionable assemblies of a later era gone off with more
_eclat_, or given more satisfaction to the persons concerned in them,
than did those which from time to time, in every season, took place in
what would now be considered the very diminutive ball-room and
dining-hall of Jordan's.
In the ball-room here, before the completion of the brick building which
replaced the Legislative Halls destroyed by the Americans in 1813, the
Parliament of Upper Canada sat for one session.
In the rear of Jordan's, detached from the rest of the buildings, there
long stood a solid circular structure of brick, of considerable height
and diameter, dome-shaped without and vaulted within, somewhat
resembling the furnace into which Robert, the huntsman, is being
thrust, in Retzsch's illustration of Fridolin. This was the public oven
of Paul Marian, a native Frenchman who had a bakery here before the
surrounding premises were converted into a hotel by Mr. Jordan. In the
_Gazette_ of May 19, 1804, Paul Marian informs his friends and the
public "that he will supply them with bread at their dwellings, at the
rate of nine loaves for a dollar, on paying ready money."
About the same period, another Frenchman, François Belcour, is
exercising the same craft in York. In _Gazettes_ of 1803, he announces
that he is prepared "to supply the ladies and gentlemen who may be
pleased to favor him with their custom, with bread, cakes, buns, etc.
And that for the convenience of small families, he will make his bread
of different sizes, viz., loaves of two, three, and four pounds' weight,
and will deliver the same at the houses, if required." He adds that
"families who may wish to have beef, etc., baked, will please send it to
the bake-house." In 1804, he offers to bake "at the rate of pound for
pound; that is to say he will return one pound of Bread for every pound
of Flour which may be sent to him for the purpose of being baked into
bread."
After the abandonment of Jordan's as a hotel, Paul Marian's oven,
repaired and somewhat extended, again did good service. In it was baked
a goodly proportion of the supplies of bread furnished in 1838-9, to the
troops, and incorporated militia at Toronto, by Mr. Jackes and Mr.
Reynolds.
As the sidewalks of King Street were apt to partake, in bad weather, of
the impassableness of the streets generally at such a time, an early
effort was made to have some of them paved. Some yards of foot-path,
accordingly, about Jordan's, and here and there elsewhere, were covered
with flat flagstones from the lake-beach, of very irregular shapes and
of no great size: the effect produced was that of a very coarse, and
soon a very uneven mosaic.
At Quebec, in the neighborhood of the Court House, there is retained
some pavement of the kind now described: and in the early lithograph of
Court House Square, at York, a long stretch of sidewalk is given in the
foreground, seamed over curiously, like the surface of an old Cyclopean
or Pelasgic wall.
On April the 26th, 1823, it was ordered by the magistrates at Quarter
Sessions that "£100 from the Town and Police Fund, together with
one-fourth of the Statute Labour within the Town, be appropriated to
flagging the sidewalks of King Street, commencing from the corner of
Church Street and proceeding east to the limits of the Town, and that
both sides of the street do proceed at the same time." One hundred
pounds would not go very far in such an undertaking. We do not think the
sidewalks of the primitive King Street were ever paved throughout their
whole length with stone.
After Jordan's came Dr. Widmer's surgery, associated with many a pain
and ache in the minds of the early people of York, and scene of the
performance upon their persons of many a delicate, and daring, and
successful remedial experiment. Nearly opposite was property
appertaining to Dr. Stoyell, an immigrant, non-practising medical man
from the United States, with Republican proclivities as it used to be
thought, who, previous to his purchasing here, conducted, as has been
already implied, an inn at Mrs. Lumsden's corner. (The house on the
other side of Ontario Street, westward, was Hayes' Boarding House,
noticeable simply as being in session-time, like Jordan's, the temporary
abode of many Members of Parliament.)
After Dr. Widmer's, towards the termination of King Street, on the south
side, was Mr. Small's, originally one of the usual low-looking domiciles
of the country, with central portion and two gable wings, somewhat after
the fashion of many an old country manor-house in England.
The material of Mr. Small's dwelling was hewn timber. It was one of the
earliest domestic erections in York. When re-constructed at a subsequent
period, Mr. Charles Small preserved, in the enlarged and elevated
building, now known as Berkeley House, the shape and even a portion of
the inner substance of the original structure.
We have before us a curious plan (undated but old) of the piece of
ground originally occupied and enclosed by Mr. Small, as a yard and
garden round his primitive homestead: occupied and enclosed, as it would
seem, before any building lots were set off by authority on the
Government reserve or common here. The plan referred to is entitled "A
sketch showing the land occupied by John Small, Esq., upon the Reserve
appropriated for the Government House at York by His Excellency Lt. Gov.
Simcoe." An irregular oblong, coloured red, is bounded on the north side
by King Street, and is lettered within--"Mr. Small's Improvements."
Round the irregular piece thus shewn, lines are drawn enclosing
additional space, and bringing the whole into the shape of a
parallelogram: the parts outside the irregularly shaped red portion, are
colored yellow: and on the yellow, the memorandum appears--"This added
would make an Acre." The block thus brought into shapely form is about
one-half of the piece of ground that at present appertains to Berkeley
House.
The plan before us also incidentally shows where the Town of York was
supposed to terminate:--an inscription--"Front Line of the Town"--runs
along the following route: up what is now the lane through Dr. Widmer's
property: and then, at a right angle eastward along what is now the
north boundary of King Street opposite the block which it was necessary
to get into shape round Mr. Small's first "Improvements." King Street
proper, in this plan, terminates at "Ontario Street:" from the eastern
limit of Ontario Street, the continuation of the highway is marked "Road
to Quebec,"--with an arrow shewing the direction in which the traveller
must keep his horse's head, if he would reach that ancient city.--The
arrow at the end of the inscription just given points slightly upwards,
indicating the fact that the said "Road to Quebec" trends slightly to
the north after leaving Mr. Small's clearing.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XVI.
FROM BERKELEY STREET TO THE BRIDGE AND ACROSS IT.
We now propose to pass rapidly down "the road to Quebec" as far as the
Bridge. First we cross, in the hollow, Goodwin's creek, the stream which
enters the Bay by the cut-stone Jail. Lieutenant Givins (afterwards
Colonel Givins), on the occasion of his first visit to Toronto in 1793,
forced his way in a canoe with a friend up several of the meanderings of
this stream, under the impression that he was exploring the Don. He had
heard that a river leading to the North-West entered the Bay of Toronto,
somewhere near its head; and he mistook the lesser for the greater
stream: thus on a small scale performing the exploit accomplished by
several of the explorers of the North American coast, who, under the
firm persuasion that a water highway to Japan and China existed
somewhere across this continent, lighted upon Baffin's Bay, Davis
Strait, the Hudson River, and the St. Lawrence itself, in the course of
their investigations.
On the knoll to the right, after crossing Goodwin's creek, was Isaac
Pilkington's lowly abode, a little group of white buildings in a grove
of pines and acacias.
Parliament Street, which enters near here from the north, is a memorial
of the olden time, when, as we have seen, the Parliament Buildings of
Upper Canada were situated in this neighbourhood. In an early section of
these Recollections we observed that what is now called Berkeley Street
was originally Parliament Street, a name which, like that borne by a
well-known thoroughfare in Westminster, for a similar reason, indicated
the fact that it led down to the Houses of Parliament.
The road that at present bears the name of Parliament Street shews the
direction of the track through the primitive woods opened by Governor
Simcoe to his summer house on the Don, called Castle-Frank, of which
fully, in its place hereafter.
Looking up Parliament Street we are reminded that a few yards westward
from where Duke Street enters it, lived at an early period Mr. Richard
Coates, an estimable and ingenious man, whose name is associated in our
memory with the early dawn of the fine arts in York. Mr. Coates, in a
self-taught way, executed, not unsuccessfully, portraits in oil of some
of our ancient worthies. Among things of a general or historical
character, he painted also for David Willson, the founder of the
"Children of Peace," the symbolical decorations of the interior of the
Temple at Sharon. He cultivated music likewise, vocal and instrumental;
he built an organ of some pretensions, in his own house, on which he
performed; he built another for David Willson at Sharon. Mr. Coates
constructed, besides, in the yard of his house, an elegantly-finished
little pleasure yacht, of about nine tons burden.
This passing reference to infant Art in York recalls again the name of
Mr. John Craig, who has before been mentioned in our account of the
interior of one of the many successive St. Jameses. Although Mr. Craig
did not himself profess to go beyond his sphere as a decorative and
heraldic painter, the spirit that animated him really tended to foster
in the community a taste for art in a wider sense.
Mr. Charles Daly, also, as a skilful teacher of drawing in water-colours
and introducer of superior specimens, did much to encourage art at an
early date. In 1834 we find Mr. Daly promoting an exhibition of
Paintings by the "York Artists and Amateur Association," and acting as
"Honorary Secretary," when the Exhibition for the year took place. Mr.
James Hamilton, a teller in the bank, produced, too, some noticeable
landscapes in oil.
As an auxiliary in the cause, and one regardful of the wants of artists
at an early period, we name, likewise, Mr. Alexander Hamilton; who, in
addition to supplying materials in the form of pigments and prepared
colours, contributed to the tasteful setting off of the productions of
pencil and brush, by furnishing them with frames artistically carved and
gilt.
Out of the small beginnings and rudiments of Art at York, one artist of
a genuine stamp was, in the lapse of a few years, developed--Mr. Paul
Kane; who, after studying in the schools of Europe, returned to Canada
and made the illustration of Indian character and life his specialty. By
talent exhibited in this class of pictorial delineation, he acquired a
distinguished reputation throughout the North American continent; and by
his volume of beautifully illustrated travels, published in London, and
entitled "Wanderings of an Artist among the Indians of North America,"
he obtained for himself a recognized place in the literature of British
Art.
In the hollow, a short distance westward of Mr. Coates's, was one of the
first buildings of any size ever erected in these parts wholly of stone.
It was put up by Mr. Hutchinson. It was a large square family house of
three storeys. It still exists, but its material is hidden under a
coating of stucco. Another building, wholly of stone, was Mr. Hunter's
house, on the west side of Church Street. A portion of Hugill's Brewery
likewise exhibited walls of the same solid, English-looking substance.
We now resume our route.
We immediately approach another road entering from the north, which
again draws us aside. This opening led up to the only Roman Catholic
church in York, an edifice of red-brick, substantially built. Mr. Ewart
was the contractor. The material of the north and south walls was worked
into a kind of tesselated pattern, which was considered something very
extraordinary. The spire was originally surmounted by a large and
spirited effigy of the bird that admonished St. Peter, and not by a
cross. It was not a flat, moveable weathercock, but a fixed, solid
figure, covered with tin.
In this building officiated for some time an ecclesiastic named O'Grady.
Mingling with a crowd, in the over-curious spirit of boyhood, we here,
at funerals and on other occasions, first witnessed the ceremonial forms
observed by Roman Catholics in their worship; and once we remember being
startled at receiving, by design or accident, from an overcharged
_aspergillum_ in the hands of a zealous ministrant of some grade passing
down the aisle, a copious splash of holy water in the eye.
Functionaries of this denomination are generally remarkable for their
quiet discharge of duty and for their apparent submissiveness to
authority. They sometimes pass and repass for years before the
indifferent gaze of multitudes holding another creed, without exciting
any curiosity even as to their personal names. But Mr. O'Grady was an
exception to the general run of his order. He acquired a distinctive
reputation among outsiders. He was understood to be an unruly presbyter;
and through his instrumentality, letters of his bishop, evidently never
intended to meet the public eye, got into general circulation. He was
required to give an account of himself, subsequently, at the feet of the
"Supreme Pontiff."
Power Street, the name now applied to the road which led up to the Roman
Catholic church, preserves the name of the Bishop of this communion, who
sacrificed his life in attending to the sick emigrants in 1847.
The road to the south, a few steps further on, led to the wind-mill
built by Mr. Worts, senior, in 1832. In the possession of Messrs.
Gooderham & Worts are three interesting pictures, in oil, which from
time to time have been exhibited. They are intended to illustrate the
gradual progress in extent and importance of the mills and manufactures
at the site of the wind-mill. The first shows the original structure--a
circular tower of red brick, with the usual sweeps attached to a
hemispherical revolving top; in the distance town and harbour are seen.
The second shows the wind-mill dismantled, but surrounded by extensive
buildings of brick and wood, sheltering now elaborate machinery driven
by steam power. The third represents a third stage in the march of
enterprise and prosperity. In this picture gigantic structures of
massive, dark-coloured stone tower up before the eye, vying in colossal
proportions and ponderous strength with the works of the castle-builders
of the feudal times. Accompanying these interesting landscape views, all
of them by Forbes, a local artist of note, a group of life-size
portraits in oil, has occasionally been seen at Art Exhibitions in
Toronto--Mr. Gooderham, senior, and his Seven Sons--all of them
well-developed, sensible-looking, substantial men, manifestly capable of
undertaking and executing whatever practical work the exigencies of a
young and vigorous community may require to be done.
Whenever we have chanced to obtain a glimpse of this striking group
(especially the miniature photographic reproduction of it on one card),
a picture of Tancred of Hauteville and his Twelve Sons, "all of them
brave and fair," once familiar as an illustration appended to that
hero's story, has always recurred to us; and we have thought how
thankfully should we regard the grounds on which the modern Colonial
patriarch comforts himself in view of a numerous family springing up
around him, as contrasted with the reasons on account of which the
enterprising Chieftain of old congratulated himself on the same
spectacle. The latter beheld in his ring of stalwart sons so many
warriors; so much good solid stuff to be freely offered at the shrine of
his own glory, or the glory of his feudal lord, whenever the occasion
should arise. The former, in the young men and maidens, peopling his
house, sees so many additional hands adapted to aid in a bloodless
conquest of a huge continent; so much more power evolved, and all of it
in due time sure to be wanted, exactly suited to assist in pushing
forward one stage further the civilizing, humanizing, beautifying,
processes already, in a variety of directions, initiated.
"Peace hath her victories,
No less renowned than war;"
and it is to the victories of peace chiefly that the colonial father
expects his children to contribute.
When the families of Mr. Gooderham and Mr. Worts crossed the Atlantic,
on the occasion of their emigration from England, the party, all in one
vessel, comprised, as we are informed, so many as fifty-four persons
more or less connected by blood or marriage.
We have been told by Mr. James Beaty that when out duck shooting, now
nearly forty years since, he was surprised by falling in with Mr. Worts,
senior, rambling apparently without purpose in the bush at the mouth of
the Little Don: all the surrounding locality was then in a state of
nature, and frequented only by the sportsman or trapper. On entering
into conversation with Mr. Worts, Mr. Beaty found that he was there
prospecting for an object; that, in fact, somewhere near the spot where
they were standing, he thought of putting up a wind-mill! The project at
the time seemed sufficiently Quixotic. But posterity beholds the large
practical outcome of the idea then brooding in Mr. Worts's brain. In
their day of small things the pioneers of new settlements may take
courage from this instance of progress in one generation, from the rough
to the most advanced condition. For a century to come, there will be
bits of this continent as unpromising, at the first glance, as the mouth
of the Little Don, forty years ago, yet as capable of being reclaimed by
the energy and ingenuity of man, and being put to divinely-intended and
legitimate uses.--Returning now from the wind-mill, once more to the
"road to Quebec," in common language, the Kingston road, we passed, at
the corner, the abode of one of the many early settlers in these parts
who bore German names--the tenement of Peter Ernst, or Ernest as the
appellation afterwards became.
From these Collections and Recollections matters of comparatively so
recent a date as 1849 have for the most part been excluded. We make an
exception in passing the Church which gives name to Trinity Street, for
the sake of recording an inscription on one of its interior walls. It
reads as follows:--"To the Memory of the Reverend William Honywood
Ripley, B.A., of University College, Oxford, First Incumbent of this
Church, son of the Rev. Thomas Hyde Ripley, Rector of Tockenham, and
Vicar of Wootton Bassett in the County of Wilts, England. After devoting
himself during the six years of his ministry, freely, without money and
without price, to the advancement of the spiritual and temporal welfare
of this congregation and neighbourhood, and to the great increase
amongst them of the knowledge of Christ and His Church, he fell asleep
in Jesus on Monday the 22nd of October, 1849, aged 34 years. He filled
at the same time the office of Honorary Secretary to the Church Society
of the Diocese of Toronto, and was Second Classical Master of Upper
Canada College. This Tablet is erected by the Parishioners of this
Church as a tribute of heartfelt respect and affection. Remember them
that have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the Word of God:
whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation."
Canadian society in all its strata has been more or less leavened from
England. One of the modes by which the process has been carried on is
revealed in the inscription just given. In 1849, while this quarter of
Toronto was being taken up and built over, the influence of the
clergyman commemorated was singularly marked within it. Mr. Ripley, in
his boyhood, had been trained under Dr. Arnold, at Rugby; and his father
had been at an early period, a private tutor to the Earl of Durham who
came out to Canada in 1838 as High Commissioner. As to the material
fabric of Trinity Church--its erection was chiefly due to the exertions
of Mr. Alexander Dixon, an alderman of Toronto.
The brick School-house attached to Trinity Church bears the inscription:
"Erected by Enoch Turner, 1848." Mr. Turner was a benevolent Englishman
who prospered in this immediate locality as a brewer, and died in 1866.
Besides handsome bequests to near relations, Mr. Turner left by will,
to Trinity College, Toronto, £2,000; to Trinity Church, £500; to St.
Paul's £250; to St. Peter's £250.
Just opposite on the left was where Angell lived, the architect of the
abortive bridges over the mouths of the Don. We obtain from the York
_Observer_ of December 11, 1820, some earlier information in regard to
Mr. Angell. It is in the form of a "Card" thus headed: "York Land Price
Current Office, King Street." It then proceeds--"In consequence of the
Increase of the population of the Town of York, and many applications
for family accommodation upon the arrival of strangers desirous of
becoming settlers, the Subscriber intends to add to the practice of his
Office the business of a _House Surveyor_ and _Architect_, to lay out
Building Estate, draw Ground plans, _Sections_ and _Elevations_, to
_order_, and upon the most approved _European_ and _English_ customs.
Also to make _estimates_ and provide contracts with _proper securities_
to prevent impostures, for the performance of the same. E. Angell.
N.B.--Land proprietors having estate to dispose of, and persons
requiring any branch of the above profession to be done, will meet with
the most respectful attention on application by letter, or at this
office. York, Oct. 2, [1820]."
The expression, "York Land Price Current Office," above used is
explained by the fact that Mr. Angell commenced at this early date the
publication of a monthly "Land Price Current List of Estates on Sale in
Upper Canada, to be circulated in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales."
Near Mr. Angell, on the same side, lived also Mr. Cummins, the manager
of the _Upper Canada Gazette_ printing office; and, at a later period,
Mr. Watson, another well-known master-printer of York, who lost his life
during the great fire of 1849, in endeavouring to save a favourite press
from destruction, in the third storey of a building at the corner of
King and Nelson streets, a position occupied subsequently by the
Caxton-press of Mr. Hill.
On some of the fences along here, we remember seeing in 1827-8, an
inscription written up in chalk or white paint, memorable to ourselves
personally, as being the occasion of our first taking serious notice of
one of the political questions that were locally stirring the people of
Upper Canada. The words inscribed were--No Aliens! Like the Liberty,
Equality, Fraternity, which we ourselves also subsequently saw painted
on the walls of Paris; these words were intended at once to express and
to rouse public feeling; only in the present instance, as we suppose
now, the inscription emanated from the oligarchical rather than the
popular side. The spirit of it probably was "Down with Aliens,"--and not
"Away with the odious distinction of Aliens!"
A dispute had arisen between the Upper and the Lower House as to the
legal terms in which full civil rights should be conferred on a
considerable portion of the inhabitants of the country. After the
acknowledgment of independence in 1783, emigrants from the United States
to the British Provinces came in no longer as British subjects, but as
foreigners. Many such emigrants had acquired property and exercised the
franchise without taking upon themselves, formally, the obligations of
British subjects. After the war of 1812, the law in regard to this
matter began to be distinctly remembered. The desire then was to check
an undue immigration from the southern side of the great lakes; but the
effect of the revival of the law was to throw doubt on the land titles
of many inhabitants of long standing; doubt on their claim to vote and
to fill any civil office.
The consent of the Crown was freely given to legislate on the subject:
and in 1825-6 the Parliament resolved to settle the question. But a
dispute arose between the Lower and Upper House. The Legislative Council
sent down a Bill which was so amended in terms by the House of Assembly
that the former body declared it then to be "at variance with the laws
and established policy of Great Britain, as well as of the United
States; and therefore if passed into a law by this Legislature, would
afford no relief to many of those persons who were born in the United
States, and who have come into and settled in this Province." The Upper
House party set down as disloyal all that expressed themselves satisfied
with the Lower House amendments. It was from the Upper House party, we
think, that the cry of "No Aliens!" had proceeded.
The Alien measure had been precipitated by the cases of Barnabas Bidwell
and of his son Marshall, of whom the former, after being elected, and
taking his seat as member for Lennox and Addington, had been expelled
the House, on the ground of his being an alien; and the latter had met
with difficulties at the outset of his political career, from the same
objection against him. In the case of the former, however, his alien
character was not the only thing to his disadvantage.
It was in connection with the expulsion of Barnabas Bidwell that Dr.
Strachan gave to a member of the Lower House, when hesitating as to the
legality of such a step, the remarkable piece of advice, "Turn him out,
turn him out! Never mind the law!"--a _dictum_ that passed into an adage
locally, quoted usually in the Aberdeen dialect.
Barnabas Bidwell is thus commemorated in Mackenzie's Almanac for 1834:
"July 27, 1833: Barnabas Bidwell, Esq., Kingston, died, aged 69 years
and 11 months. He was a sincere friend of the rights of the people;
possessed of extraordinary powers of mind and memory, and spent many
years of his life in doing all the good he could to his
fellow-creatures, and promoting the interests of society."
Irritating political questions have now, for the most part, been
disposed of in Canada. We have entered into the rest, in this respect,
secured for us by our predecessors. The very fences which, some forty
years ago, were muttering "No Aliens!" we saw, during the time of a late
general election, exhibiting in conspicuous painted characters, the
following exhortation: "To the Electors of the Dominion--Put in Powell's
Pump"--a humorous advertisement, of course, of a particular contrivance
for raising water from the depths. We think it a sign of general peace
and content, when the populace are expected to enjoy a little jest of
this sort.
A small compact house, with a pleasant flower garden in front, on the
left, a little way on, was occupied for a while by Mr. Joshua Beard, at
the time Deputy Sheriff, but afterwards well known as owner of extensive
iron works in the town.
We then came opposite to the abode, on the same side, of Mr. Charles
Fothergill, some time King's Printer for Upper Canada. He was a man of
wide views and great intelligence, fond of science, and an experienced
naturalist. Several folio volumes of closely written manuscript, on the
birds and animals generally of of this continent, by him, must exist
somewhere at this moment. They were transmitted to friends in England,
as we have understood.
We remember seeing in a work by Bewick a horned owl of this country,
beautifully figured, which, as stated in the context, had been drawn
from a stuffed specimen supplied by Mr. Fothergill. He himself was a
skilful delineator of the living creatures that so much interested him.
In 1832 Mr. Fothergill sat in Parliament as member for Northumberland,
and for expressing some independent opinions in that capacity, he was
deprived of the office of King's Printer. He originated the law which
established Agricultural Societies in Upper Canada.
In 1836, he appears to have been visited in Pickering by Dr. Thomas
Rolph, when making notes for his "Statistical Account of Upper Canada."
"The Township of Pickering," Dr. Rolph says, "is well settled and
contains some fine land, and well watered. Mr. Fothergill," he
continues, "has an extensive and most valuable museum of natural
curiosities at his residence in this township, which he has collected
with great industry and the most refined taste. He is a person of
superior acquirements, and ardently devoted to the pursuit of natural
philosophy." P. 189.
It was Mr. Fothergill's misfortune to have lived too early in Upper
Canada. Many plans of his in the interests of literature and science
came to nothing for the want of a sufficient body of seconders. In
conjunction with Dr. Dunlop and Dr. Rees, it was the intention of Mr.
Fothergill to establish at York a Museum of Natural and Civil History,
with a Botanical and Zoological Garden attached; and a grant of land on
the Government Reserve between the Garrison and Farr's Brewery was
actually secured as a site for the buildings and grounds of the proposed
institution.
A prospectus now before us sets forth in detail a very comprehensive
scheme for this Museum or Lyceum, which embraced also a picture gallery,
"for subjects connected with Science and Portraits of individuals," and
did not omit "Indian antiquities, arms, dresses, utensils, and whatever
might illustrate and make permanent all that we can know of the
Aborigines of this great Continent, a people who are rapidly passing
away and becoming as though they had never been."
For several years Mr. Fothergill published "The York Almanac and Royal
Calendar," which gradually became a volume of between four and five
hundred duodecimo pages, filled with practical and official information
on the subject of Canada and the other British American Colonies. This
work is still often resorted to for information.
Hanging in his study we remember noticing a large engraved map of
"Cabotia." It was a delineation of the British Possessions in North
America--the present Dominion of Canada in fact. It had been his
purpose in 1823 to publish a "Canadian Annual Register;" but this he
never accomplished. While printing the _Upper Canada Gazette_, he edited
in conjunction with that periodical and on the same sheet, the "Weekly
Register," bearing the motto, "Our endeavour will be to stamp the very
body of the time--its its form and pressure: we shall extenuate nothing,
nor shall we set down aught in malice." From this publication may be
gathered much of the current history of the period. In it are given many
curious scientific excerpts from his Common Place Book. At a later
period, he published, at Toronto, a weekly paper in quarto shape, named
the "Palladium."
Among the non-official advertisements in the _Upper Canada Gazette_, in
the year 1823, we observe one signed "Charles Fothergill," offering a
reward "even to the full value of the volumes," for the recovery of
missing portions of several English standard works which had belonged
formerly, the advertisement stated, to the "Toronto Library," broken up
"by the Americans at the taking of York." It was suggested that probably
the missing books were still scattered about, up and down, in the town.
It is odd to see the name of "Toronto" cropping out in 1823, in
connection with a library. (In a much earlier York paper we notice the
"Toronto Coffee House" advertised.)
Mr. Fothergill belonged to the distinguished Quaker family of that name
in Yorkshire. A rather good idea of his character of countenance may be
derived from the portrait of Dr. Arnold, prefixed to Stanley's Memoir.
An oil painting of him exists in the possession of some of his
descendants.
We observe in Leigh Hunt's _London Journal_, i. 172, a reference to
"Fothergill's Essay on the Philosophy, Study and Use of Natural
History;" and we have been assured that it is our Canadian Fothergill
who was its author. We give a pathetic extract from a specimen of the
production, in the work just referred to: "Never shall I forget," says
the essayist, "the remembrance of a little incident which many will deem
trifling and unimportant, but which has been peculiarly interesting to
my heart, as giving origin to sentiments and rules of action which have
since been very dear to me."
"Besides a singular elegance of form and beauty of plumage," continues
the enthusiastic naturalist, "the eye of the common lapwing is
peculiarly soft and expressive; it is large, black, and full of lustre,
rolling, as it seems to do, in liquid gems of dew. I had shot a bird of
this beautiful species; but, on taking it up, I found it was not dead. I
had wounded its breast; and some big drops of blood stained the pure
whiteness of its feathers. As I held the hapless bird in my hand,
hundreds of its companions hovered round my head, uttering continued
shrieks of distress, and, by their plaintive cries, appeared to bemoan
the fate of one to whom they were connected by ties of the most tender
and interesting nature; whilst the poor wounded bird continually moaned,
with a kind of inward wailing note, expressive of the keenest anguish;
and, ever and anon, it raised its drooping head, and turning towards the
wound in its breast, touched it with its bill, and then looked up in my
face, with an expression that I have no wish to forget, for it had power
to touch my heart whilst yet a boy, when a thousand dry precepts in the
academical closet would have been of no avail."
The length of this extract will be pardoned for the sake of its
deterrent drift in respect to the wanton maiming and massacre of our
feathered fellow-creatures by the firearms of sportsmen and missiles of
thoughtless children.
Eastward from the house where we have been pausing, the road took a
slight sweep to the south and then came back to its former course
towards the Don bridge, descending in the meantime into the valley of a
creek or watercourse, and ascending again from it on the other side.
Hereabout, to the left, standing on a picturesque knoll and surrounded
by the natural woods of the region, was a good sized two-storey
dwelling; this was the abode of Mr. David MacNab, sergeant-at-arms to
the House of Assembly, as his father had been before him. With him
resided several accomplished, kind-hearted sisters, all of handsome and
even stately presence; one of them the belle of the day in society at
York.
Here were the quarters of the Chief MacNab, whenever he came up to York
from his Canadian home on the Ottawa. It was not alone when present at
church that this remarkable gentleman attracted the public gaze; but
also, when surrounded or followed by a group of his fair kinsfolk of
York, he marched with dignified steps along through the whole length of
King Street, and down or up the Kingston road to and from the MacNab
homestead here in the woods near the Don.
In his visits to the capital, the Chief always wore a modified highland
costume, which well set off his stalwart, upright form: the blue bonnet
and feather, and richly embossed dirk, always rendered him conspicuous,
as well as the tartan of brilliant hues depending from his shoulder
after obliquely swathing his capacious chest; a bright scarlet vest with
massive silver buttons, and dress coat always jauntily thrown back,
added to the picturesqueness of the figure.
It was always evident at a glance that the Chief set a high value on
himself.--"May the MacNab of MacNabs have the pleasure of taking wine
with Lady Sarah Maitland?" suddenly heard above the buzz of
conversation, pronounced in a very deep and measured tone, by his manly
voice, made mute for a time, on one occasion, the dinner-table at
Government House. So the gossip ran. Another story of the same class,
but less likely, we should think, to be true, was, that seating himself,
without uncovering, in the Court-room one day, a messenger was sent to
him by the Chief Justice, Sir William Campbell, on the Bench, requiring
the removal of his cap; when the answer returned, as he instantly rose
and left the building, was, that "the MacNab of MacNabs doffs his bonnet
to no man!"
At his home on the Chats the Emigrant Laird did his best to transplant
the traditions and customs of by-gone days in the Highlands, but he
found practical Canada an unfriendly soil for romance and sentiment.
Bouchette, in his _British Dominions_, i. 82, thus refers to the
Canadian abode of the Chief and to the settlement formed by the clan
MacNab. "High up [the Ottawa]," he says, "on the bold and abrupt shore
of the broad and picturesque Lake of the Chats, the Highland Chief
MacNab has selected a romantic residence, Kinnell Lodge, which he has
succeeded, through the most unshaken perseverance, in rendering
exceedingly comfortable. His unexampled exertions in forming and
fostering the settlement of the township, of which he may be considered
the founder and the leader, have not been attended with all the success
that was desirable, or which he anticipated."
Bouchette then appends a note wherein we can see how readily his own
demonstrative Gallic nature sympathized with the kindred Celtic spirit
of the Highlander. "The characteristic hospitality that distinguished
our reception by the gallant Chief," he says, "when, in 1828, we were
returning down the Ottawa, after having explored its rapids and lakes,
as far up as Grand Calumet, we cannot pass over in silence. To voyageurs
in the remote wilds of Canada," he continues, "necessarily strangers
for the time to the sweets of civilization, the unexpected comforts of a
well-furnished board, and the cordiality of a Highland welcome, are
blessings that fall upon the soul like dew upon the flower. 'The sun was
just resigning to the moon the empire of the skies,' when we took our
leave of the noble chieftain," he adds, "to descend the formidable
rapids of the Chats. As we glided from the foot of the bold bank, the
gay plaid and cap of the noble Gaël were seen waving on the proud
eminence, and the shrill notes of the piper filled the air with their
wild cadences. They died away as we approached the head of the rapids.
Our caps were flourished, and the flags (for our canoe was gaily
decorated with them) waved in adieu, and we entered the vortex of the
swift and whirling stream."
In 1836, Rolph, in his "Statistical Account of Upper Canada," p. 146,
also speaks of the site of Kinnell Lodge as "greatly resembling in its
bold, sombre and majestic aspect, the wildest and most romantic scenery"
of Scotland. "This distinguished Chieftain," the writer then informs us,
"has received permission to raise a militia corps of 800 Highlanders, a
class of British subjects always distinguished for their devoted and
chivalrous attachment to the laws and institutions of their noble
progenitors, and who would prove a rampart of living bodies in defence
of British supremacy whenever and wherever assailed."
The reference in Dean Ramsay's interesting "Reminiscences of Scottish
life and Character," to "the last Laird of MacNab," is perhaps to the
father of the gentleman familiar to us here in York, and who filled so
large a space in the recollections of visitors to the Upper Ottawa. "The
last Laird of MacNab before the clan finally broke up and emigrated to
Canada was," says the Dean in the work just named, "a well-known
character in the country; and, being poor, used to ride about on a most
wretched horse, which gave occasion to many jibes at his expense. The
Laird," this writer continues, "was in the constant habit of riding up
from the country to attend the Musselburgh races [near Edinburgh]." A
young wit, by way of playing him off on the race course, asked him in a
contemptuous tone, "Is that the same horse you had last year,
Laird?"--"Na," said the Laird, brandishing his whip in the
interrogator's face in so emphatic a manner as to preclude further
questioning, "Na! but it's the same _whup_!" (p. 216, 9th ed.)
We do not doubt but that the MacNabs have ever been a spirited race.
Their representatives here have always been such; and like their kinsmen
in the old home, too, they have had, during their brief history in
Canada, their share of the hereditary vicissitudes. We owe to a
Sheriff's advertisement in the _Upper Canada Gazette or American Oracle_
of the 14th of April, 1798, published at Niagara, some biographical
particulars and a minute description of the person of the Mr. MacNab who
was afterwards, as we have already stated, Usher of the Black Rod to the
House of Assembly and father of his successor, Mr. David MacNab, in the
same post; father also of the Allan MacNab, whose history forms part of
that of Upper Canada.
In 1798, imprisonment for debt was the rigorously enforced law of the
land. The prominent MacNab of that date had, it would appear, become
obnoxious to the law on the score of indebtedness: but finding the
restraint imposed irksome, he had relieved himself of it without asking
leave. The hue and cry for his re-capture proceeded as follows: "Two
hundred dollars reward! Home District, Upper Canada, Newark, April 2,
1798. Broke the gaol of this District on the night of the 1st instant,
[the 1st of April, be it observed,] Allan MacNab, a confined debtor. He
is a reduced lieutenant of horse," proceeds the Sheriff, "on the
half-pay list of the late corps of Queen's Rangers; aged 38 years or
thereabouts; five feet three inches high; fair complexion; light hair;
red beard; much marked with the small-pox; the middle finger of one of
his hands remarkable for an overgrown nail; round shouldered; stoops a
little in walking; and although a native of the Highlands of Scotland,
affects much in speaking the Irish dialect. Whoever will apprehend, &c.,
&c., shall receive the above reward, with all reasonable expenses."
The escape of the prisoner on the first of April was probably felt by
the Sheriff to be a practical joke played off on himself personally. We
think we detect personal spleen in the terms of the advertisement: in
the minuteness of the description of Mr. MacNab's physique, which never
claimed to be that of an Adonis; in the biographical particulars, which,
however interesting they chance to prove to later generations, were
somewhat out of place on such an occasion: as also in a postscript
calling on "the printers within His Majesty's Governments in America,
and those of the United States to give circulation in their respective
papers to the above advertisement," &c.
It was a limited exchequer that created embarrassment in the early
history--and, for that matter, in much of the later history as well--of
Mr. MacNab's distinguished son, afterwards the baronet Sir Allan; and no
one could relate with more graphic and humorous effect his troubles from
this source, than he was occasionally in the habit of doing.
When observing his well-known handsome form and ever-benignant
countenance, about the streets of York, we lads at school were wont, we
remember, generally to conjecture that his ramblings were limited to
certain bounds. He himself used to dwell with an amount of complacency
on the skill acquired in carpentry during these intervals of involuntary
leisure, and on the practical results to himself from that skill, not
only in the way of pastime, but in the form of hard cash for personal
necessities. Many were the panelled doors and Venetian shutters in York
which, by his account, were the work of his hands.
Once he was on the point of becoming a professional actor. Giving
assistance now and then as an anonymous performer to Mr. Archbold, a
respectable Manager here, he evinced such marked talent on the boards,
that he was seriously advised to adopt the stage as his avocation and
employment. The Theatre of Canadian public affairs, however, was to be
the real scene of his achievements. Particulars are here unnecessary.
Successively sailor and soldier (and in both capacities engaged in
perilous service); a lawyer, a legislator in both Houses; Speaker twice
in the Popular Assembly; once Prime Minister; knighted for gallantry,
and appointed an Aide-de-camp to the Queen; dignified with a baronetcy;
by the marriage of a daughter with the son of a nobleman, made the
possible progenitor of English peers--the career of Allan MacNab cannot
fail to arrest the attention of the future investigator of Canadian
history.
With our local traditions in relation to the grandiose chieftain above
described, one or two stories are in circulation, in which his young
kinsman Allan amusingly figures. Alive to pleasantry--as so many of our
early worthies in these parts were--he undertook, it is said, for a
small wager, to prove the absolute nudity of the knees, &c., of his
feudal lord when at a ball in full costume: (the allegation,
mischievously made, had been that the Chief was protected from the
weather by invisible drawers.) The mode of demonstration adopted was a
sudden cry from the ingenuous youth addressed to the Chief, to the
effect that he observed a spider, or some such object running up his
leg!--a cry instantly followed by a smart slap with the hand, with the
presumed intention of checking the onward course of the noxious thing.
The loud crack occasioned by the blow left no room for doubt as to the
fact of nudity; but the dignified Laird was somewhat disconcerted by the
over zeal of his young retainer.
Again, at Kingston, the ever-conscious Chief having written himself down
in the visitors' book at the hotel as The MacNab, his juvenile relative,
coming in immediately after and seeing the curt inscription, instantly
entered his protest against the monopoly apparently implied, by writing
_himself_ down, just underneath, in conspicuous characters, as The Other
MacNab--the genius of his coming fortunes doubtless inspiring the merry
deed.--He held for a time a commission in the 68th, and accompanied that
regiment to York in 1827. Riding along King Street one day soon after
his arrival in the town, he observed Mr. Washburn, the lawyer, taking a
furtive survey of him through his eyeglass. The proceeding is at once
reciprocated by the conversion of a stirrup into an imaginary lens of
large diameter, lifted by the strap and waggishly applied to the eye.
Mr. Washburn had, we believe, pressed matters against the young officer
rather sharply in the courts, a year or two previously. A few years
later, when member for Wentworth, he contrived, while conversing with
the Speaker, Mr. McLean, in the refreshment-room of the Parliament
House, to slip into one of that gentleman's coat pockets the leg-bone of
a turkey. After the lapse of a few minutes, Mr. MacNab, as chairman of a
committee of the whole House, is solemnly seated at the Table, and Mr.
Speaker, in his capacity as a member, is being interrogated by him on
some point connected with the special business of the committee. At this
particular moment, it happens that Mr. Speaker, feeling for his
handkerchief, discovers in his pocket the extraordinary foreign object
which had been lodged there. Guessing in an instant the author of the
trick, he extricates the bone and quick as thought, shies it at the head
of the occupant of the Chair. The House is, of course, amazed; and Mr.
MacNab, in the gravest manner, directs the Clerk to make a note of the
act.--We have understood that the house occupied by Mr. Fothergill
(where we paused a short time since) was originally built by Allan
MacNab, junior, but never dwelt in by him.
We now arrived at the Don bridge. The valley of the Don, at the place
where the Kingston Road crosses it, was spanned in 1824 by a long wooden
viaduct raised about twenty-five feet above the marsh below. This
structure consisted of a series of ten trestles, or frames of hewn
timber supporting a roadway of plank, which had lasted since 1809. A
similar structure spanned the Humber and its marshes on the west side of
York. Both of these bridges about the year 1824 had become very much
decayed; and occasionally both were rendered impassable at the same
time, by the falling in of worn-out and broken planks. The York papers
would then make themselves merry on the well-defended condition of the
town in a military point of view, approach to it from the east and west
being effectually barred.
Prior to the erection of the bridge on the Kingston Road, the Don was
crossed near the same spot by means of a scow, worked by the assistance
of a rope stretched across the stream. In 1810, we observe that the
Humber was also crossed by means of a ferry. In that year the
inhabitants of Etobicoke complained to the magistrates in session at
York of the excessive toll demanded there; and it was agreed that for
the future the following should be the charges:--For each foot
passenger, 2½d.; for every hog, 1d.; for every sheep, the same; for
horned cattle, 2½d. each, for every horse and rider, 5d.; for every
carriage drawn by two horses, 1s. 3d. (which included the driver); for
every carriage with one horse, 1s. It is presumed that the same tolls
were exacted at the ferry over the Don, while in operation.
In 1824 not only was the Don bridge in bad repair, but, as we learn from
a petition addressed by the magistrates to Sir Peregrine Maitland in
that year, the bridge over the Rouge in Pickering, also, is said to be,
"from its decayed state, almost impassable, and if not remedied," the
document goes on to state, "the communication between this town (York)
and the eastern parts of the Province, as well as with Lower Canada by
land, will be entirely obstructed."
At length the present earthwork across the marsh at the Don was thrown
up, and the river itself spanned by a long wooden tube, put together on
a suspension principle, roofed over and closed in on the sides, with the
exception of oblong apertures for light. It resembled in some degree the
bridges to be seen over the Reuss at Lucerne and elsewhere in
Switzerland, though not decorated with paintings in the interior, as
they are. Stone piers built on piles sustained it at either end. All was
done under the superintendence of a United States contractor, named
Lewis. It was at him that the _italics_ in Mr. Angell's advertisement
glanced. The inuendo was that, for engineering purposes, there was no
necessity for calling in the aid of outsiders.
From a kind of small Friar-Bacon's study, occupied in former years by
ourselves, situated on a bold point some distance northwards, up the
valley, we remember watching the pile-driver at work in preparing the
foundation of the two stone piers of the Don bridge: from where we sat
at our books we could see the heavy mallet descend; and then, after a
considerable interval, we would hear the sharp stroke on the end of the
piece of timber which was being driven down. From the same elevated
position also, previously, we used to see the teams crossing the high
frame-work over the marsh on their way to and from Town, and hear the
distant clatter of the horses' feet on the loosely-laid planks.
The tubular structure which succeeded the trestle-work bridge did not
retain its position very long. The pier at its western extremity was
undermined by the water during a spring freshet, and gave way. The
bridge, of course, fell down into the swirling tide below, and was
carried bodily away, looking like a second Ark as it floated along
towards the mouth of the river, where at length it stranded and became a
wreck.
On the breaking up of the ice every spring the Don, as is well known,
becomes a mighty rushing river, stretching across from hill to hill.
Ordinarily, it occupies but a small portion of its proper valley,
meandering along, like an English tide-stream when the tide is out. The
bridge carried away on this occasion was notable so long as it stood,
for retaining visible marks of an attempt to set fire to it during the
troubles of 1837.
The next appliance for crossing the river was another tubular frame of
timber, longer than the former one; but it was never provided with a
roof, and never closed in at the sides. Up to the time that it began to
show signs of decay, and to require cribs to be built underneath it in
the middle of the stream, it had an unfinished, disreputable look. It
acquired a tragic interest in 1859, from being the scene of the murder,
by drowning, of a young Irishman named Hogan, a barrister, and, at the
same time, a member of the Parliament of Canada.
When crossing the high trestlework which preceded the present
earth-bank, the traveller, on looking down into the marsh below, on the
south side, could see the remains of a still earlier structure, a
causeway formed of unhewn logs laid side by side in the usual manner,
but decayed, and for the most part submerged in water, resembling, as
seen from above, some of the lately-discovered substructions in the
lakes of Switzerland. This was probably the first road by which wheeled
vehicles ever crossed the valley of the Don here. On the protruding ends
of some of the logs of this causeway would be always seen basking, on a
warm summer's day, many fresh-water turtles; amongst which, as also
amongst the black snakes, which were likewise always to be seen coiled
up in numbers here, and among the shoals of sunfish in the surrounding
pools, a great commotion would take place when the jar was felt of a
waggon passing over on the framework above.
The rest of the marsh, with the exception of the space occupied by the
ancient corduroy causeway, was one thicket of wild willow, alder, and
other aquatic shrubbery, among which was conspicuous the _spiræa_, known
among boys as "seven-bark" or "nine-bark" and prized by them for the
beautiful hue of its rind, which, when rubbed, becomes a bright scarlet.
Here also the blue iris grew plentifully, and reeds, frequented by the
marsh hen; and the bulrush, with its long cat-tails, sheathed in
chestnut-coloured felt, and pointing upwards like toy sky-rockets ready
to be shot off. (These cat-tails, when dry and stripped, expand into
large, white, downy spheres of fluff, and actually are as inflammable as
gunpowder, going off with a mighty flash at the least touch of fire.)
The view from the old trestlework bridge, both up and down the stream,
was very picturesque, especially when the forest, which clothed the
banks of the ravine on the right and left, wore the tints of autumn.
Northward, while many fine elms would be seen towering up from the land
on a level with the river, the bold hills above them and beyond were
covered with lofty pines. Southward, in the distance, was a great
stretch of marsh, with the blue lake along the horizon. In the summer
this marsh was one vast jungle of tall flags and reeds, where would be
found the conical huts of the muskrat, and where would be heard at
certain seasons the peculiar _gulp_ of the bittern; in winter, when
crisp and dry, here was material for a magnificent pyrotechnical
display, which usually, once a year, came off, affording at night to
the people of the town a spectacle not to be contemned.
Through a portion of this marsh on the eastern side of the river, Mr.
Justice Boulton, at a very early period, cut, at a great expense, an
open channel in front of some property of his: it was expected, we
believe, that the matted vegetation on the outer side of this cutting
would float away and leave clear water, when thus disengaged; but no
such result ensued: the channel, however, has continued open, and is
known as the "Boulton ditch." It forms a communication for skiffs
between the Don and Ashbridge's Bay.
At the west end of the bridge, just across what is now the gore between
Queen Street and King Street, there used to be the remains of a military
breastwork thrown up in the war of 1812. At the east end of the bridge,
on the south side of the road, there still stands a lowly edifice of
hewn logs, erected before the close of the last century, by the writer's
father, who was the first owner and occupant of the land on both sides
of the Kingston road at this point. The roadway down to the original
crossing-place over the river in the days of the Ferry, and the time of
the first corduroy bridge, swerving as it did considerably to the south
from the direct line of the Kingston road, must have been in fact a
trespass on his lot on the south side of the road: and we find that so
noteworthy an object was the solitary house, just above the bridge, in
1799, that the bridge itself, in popular parlance, was designated by its
owner's name. Thus in the _Upper Canada Gazette_ for March 9, 1799, we
read that at a Town Meeting Benjamin Morley was appointed overseer of
highways and fence-viewer for the section of road "from Scadding's
bridge to Scarborough." In 1800 Mr. Ashbridge is appointed to the same
office, and the section of highway placed under his charge is on this
occasion named "the Bay Road from Scadding's bridge to Scarborough."
This Mr. Ashbridge is the early settler from whom Ashbridge's Bay was so
called. His farm lay along the lower portion of that sheet of water.
Next to him, westward, was the property of Mr. Hastings, whose Christian
name was Warren. Years ago, when first beginning to read Burke, we
remember wondering why the name of "the great proconsul" of Hindustan
looked so familiar to the eye: when we recollected that in our childhood
we used frequently to see here along the old Kingston road the name
Warren Hastings appended in conspicuous characters, to placards posted
up, advertising a "Lost Cow," or some other homely animal, gone
astray.--Adjoining Mr. Hasting's farm, still moving west, was that of
Mr. Mills, with whose name in our mind is associated the name of "Hannah
Mills," an unmarried member of his household, who was the Sister of
Charity of the neighbourhood, ever ready in times of sickness and
bereavement to render, for days and nights together, kindly, sympathetic
and consolatory aid.
We transcribe the full list of the appointments at the Town Meeting of
1799, for the sake of the old locally familiar names therein embodied;
and also as showing the curious and almost incredible fact that in the
language of the people, York at that early period, 1799, was beginning
to be entitled "the City of York!"
"Persons elected at the Town Meeting held at the City of York on the 4th
day of March, 1799, pursuant to an Act of Parliament of the Province,
entitled an Act to provide for the nomination and appointment of Parish
and Town Officers within this Province. Clerk of the Town and
Township,--Mr. Edward Hayward. Assessors,--(including also the Townships
of Markham and Vaughan) Mr. George Playter and Mr. Thomas Stoyles.
Collector,--Mr. Archibald Cameron. Overseers of the Highways and Roads,
and Fence-viewers,--Benjamin Morley, from Scadding's Bridge to
Scarborough; James Playter, from the Bay Road to the Mills; Abraham
Devans, circle of the Humber; Paul Wilcot, from Big-Creek to No. 25,
inclusive, on Yonge Street, and half Big-Creek Bridge; Daniel Dehart,
from Big-Creek to No. 1 inclusive, on Yonge Street, and half Big-Creek
Bridge. Mr. McDougal and Mr. Clarke for the district of the city of
York. Pound Keepers: Circle of the Don, Parshall Terry, junr.; Circle of
the Humber, Benjamin Davis; Circle of Yonge Street, No. 1 to 25, James
Everson; Circle of the City, etc., James Nash. Townwardens, Mr.
Archibald Thompson and Mr. Samuel Heron. Other officers, elected
pursuant to the 12th clause of the said Act: Pathmasters and
Fence-viewers, Yonge Street, in Markham and Vaughan, Mr. Stilwell
Wilson, lots 26 to 40, Yonge Street; Mr. John H. Hudrux, 41 to 51, Yonge
Street, John Lyons, lots 26 to 35. John Stulz, Pathmaster and
Fence-viewer in the German Settlement of Markham. David Thompson, do.
for Scarborough."
It is then added:--"N. B.--Conformably to the resolutions of the
inhabitants, no hogs to run at large above three months old, and lawful
fences to be five feet and a half high. Nicholas Klingenbrumer,
constable, presiding." Furthermore, the information is given that "the
following are Constables appointed by the Justices: John Rock, Daniel
Tiers and John Matchefosky, for the city, etc. Levi Devans for the
District of the Humber, Thomas Hill from No. 1 to 25, Yonge Street;
Balser Munshaw, for Vaughan and first Concession of Markham; ----
Squantz for the German settlement of Markham. By order of the
Magistrates: D. W. Smith." Also notice is given that "Such of the above
officers as have not yet taken the oath, are warned hereby to do so
without loss of time. The constables are to take notice that although
for their own ease they are selected from particular districts, they are
liable to serve process generally in the county."
When, in 1799, staid inhabitants were found seriously dignifying the
group of buildings then to be seen on the borders of the bay, with the
magnificent appellation of the "City of York," it is no wonder that at a
later period indignation is frequently expressed at the ignominious
epithet of "Little," which persons in the United States were fond of
prefixing to the name of the place. Thus for example, in the _Weekly
Register_ so late as June, 1822, we have the editor speaking thus in a
notice to a correspondent: "Our friends on the banks of the Ohio, 45
miles below Pittsburg, will perceive," the editor remarks, "that
notwithstanding he has made us pay postage [and postage in those days
was heavy], we have not been unmindful of his request. We shall always
be ready at the call of charity when not misapplied; and we hope the
family in question will be successful in their object.--There is one
hint, however," the editor goes on to say, "we wish to give Mr. W.
Patton, P. M.; which is, although there may be many "_Little_" Yorks in
the United States, we know of no place called "_Little York_" in Canada;
and beg that he will bear this _little_ circumstance in his recollection
when he again addresses us."
Gourlay also, as we have seen, when he wished to speak cuttingly of the
authorities at York, used the same epithet. In gubernatorial
proclamations, the phrase modestly employed is--"Our Town of York."
A short distance east from the bridge a road turned northward, known as
the "Mill road." This communication was open in 1799. It led originally
to the Mills of Parshall Terry, of whose accidental drowning in the Don
there is a notice in the _Gazette_ of July 23, 1808. In 1800, Parshall
Terry is "Overseer of Ways from the Bay Road to the Mills." In 1802 the
language is "from the Bay Road to the Don Mills," and in that year, Mr.
John Playter is elected to the office held in the preceding year by
Parshall Terry. (In regard to Mr. John Playter:--The solitary house
which overlooked the original Don Bridge and Ferry was occupied by him
during the absence of its builder and owner in England; and here, Mr.
Emanuel Playter, his eldest son, was born.)
In 1821, and down to 1849, the Mill road was regarded chiefly as an
approach to the multifarious works, flour-mills, saw-mills,
fulling-mills, carding-mills, paper-mills and breweries, founded near
the site of Parshall Terry's Mills, by the Helliwells, a vigorous and
substantial Yorkshire family, whose heads first settled and commenced
operations on the brink of Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side, in 1818,
but then in 1821 transferred themselves to the upper valley of the Don,
where that river becomes a shallow, rapid stream, and where the
surroundings are, on a small scale, quite Alpine in character--a
secluded spot at the time, in the rudest state of nature, a favourite
haunt of wolves, bears and deer; a spot presenting difficulties
peculiarly formidable for the new settler to grapple with, from the
loftiness and steepness of the hills and the kind of timber growing
thereabout, massive pines for the most part. Associated with the
Helliwells in their various enterprises, and allied to them by
copartnerships and intermarriage, were the Skinners and Eastwoods, all
shrewd and persevering folk of the Midland and North-country English
stock.--It was Mr. Eastwood who gave the name of Todmorden to the
village overlooking the mills. Todmorden, partly in Yorkshire, and
partly in Lancashire, was the old home of the Helliwells.
Farther up the river, on the hills to the right, were the Sinclairs,
very early settlers from New England; and beyond, descending again into
the vale, the Taylors and Leas, substantial and enterprising emigrants
from England.
Hereabout were the "Forks of the Don," where the west branch of that
stream, seen at York Mills, enters. The hills in this neighbourhood are
lofty and precipitous, and the pines that clothed them were of a
remarkably fine growth. The tedious circuit which teams were obliged to
make in order to get into the town from these regions by the Don bridge
has since been, to some extent, obviated by the erection of two
additional bridges at points higher up the stream, north of the Kingston
road.
[Illustration]
XVII.
THE VALLEY OF THE DON.
_I.--From the Bridge on the Kingston Road to Tyler's._
Retracing our steps; placing ourselves again on the bridge, and, turning
northwards, we see on the right, near by, a field or rough space, which
has undergone excavation, looking as though the brick-maker or potter
had been at work on it: and we may observe that large quantity of the
displaced material has been spread out over a portion of the marshy
tract enclosed here by a bend of the river westward. What we see is a
relic of an effort made long ago, by Mr. Washburn, a barrister of York,
to whom reference has been made before, to bring this piece of land into
cultivation. In its natural state the property was all but useless, from
the steepness of the hill-side on the one hand, and from the ever wet
condition of the central portion of the flat below on the other. By
grading down the hill and filling in the marsh, and establishing a
gentle slope from the margin of the stream to the level of the top of
the bank on the right, it was easy to see that a large piece of solid
land in an eligible position might be secured. The undertaking, however,
was abandoned before the work was finished, the expense probably being
found heavy, and the prospect of a return for the outlay remote.
At a later period Mr. O'Neill, with greater success and completeness,
cut down the steep ridges of the bank at Don Mount, a short distance up,
and filled in the marsh below. These experiments show how the valley of
the Don, along the eastern outskirts of the town, will ultimately be
turned to account, when the necessities of the population demand the
outlay. At present such improvements are discouraged by the length of
time required to cover large surfaces of new clay with vegetable mould.
But in future years it will be for mills and factories, and not for
suburban and villa purposes, that the parts referred to will be held
valuable.
These marshes along the sides of the Don, from the point where its
current ceases to be perceptible, appear to be remains of the river as
it was at an epoch long ago. The rim or levee that now, on the right and
left, confines and defines the meanderings of the stream in the midst of
the marshes, has been formed by the alluvial matter deposited in the
annual overflowings. The bed of the stream has probably in the same
manner been by degrees slightly raised. The solid tow-path, as it were,
thus created on each side of the river-channel, affords at present a
great convenience to the angler and fowler. It forms, moreover, as shown
by the experiments above alluded to, a capital breastwork, towards which
the engineer may advance, when cutting down the adjoining hills, and
disposing of their material on the drowned land below.
Once more imagining ourselves on the bridge, and looking obliquely to
the north-west, we may still discern close by some remains of the short,
shallow, winding ravine, by which in winter the sleighs used to ascend
from the level of the river, and regain, through a grove of pines and
hemlocks, the high road into the town. As soon as the steady cold set
in, every year, the long reaches and grand sweeps of the river Don
became peculiarly interesting. Firmly frozen over everywhere, and coated
with a good depth of snow, bordered on each side by a high shrubbery of
wild willow, alder, wych-hazel, dog-wood, tree-cranberry and other
specimens of the lesser brushwood of the forest, plentifully overspread
and interwoven in numerous places with the vine of wild grape, the whole
had the appearance of a fine, clear, level English coach-road or
highway, bounded throughout its winding course by a luxuriant hedge,
seen as such English roads and their surroundings were wont to be, all
snow-clad, at Christmas-tide, from the top of the fast mail to Exeter,
for example, in the old coaching days.
Down the river, thus conveniently paved over, every day came a cavalcade
of strong sleighs, heavily laden, some with cordwood, some with sawn
lumber, some with hay, a whole stack of which at once, sometimes, would
seem to be on the move.
After a light fall of snow in the night, the surface of the frozen
stream would be marked all over with foot-prints innumerable of animals,
small and great, that had been early out a-foraging: tracks of
field-mice, minks and martens, of land-rats, water-rats and muskrats; of
the wild-cat sometimes, and of the fox; and sometimes of the wolf. Up
this valley we have heard at night the howling of the wolf; and in the
snow of the meadows that skirt the stream, we have seen the
blood-stained spots where sheep had been worried and killed by that
ravenous animal.
In one or two places where the bends of the river touched the inner high
bank, and where diggings had abortively been made with a view to the
erection of a factory of some kind, beautiful frozen gushes of water
from springs in the hill-side were every winter to be seen, looking, at
a distance, like small motionless Niagaras. At one sheltered spot, we
remember, where a tannery was begun but never finished, solid ice was
sometimes to be found far on in the summer.
In the spring and summer, a pull up the Don, while yet its banks were in
their primeval state was something to be enjoyed. After passing certain
potasheries and distilleries that at an early period were erected a
short distance northward of the bridge, the meadow land at the base of
the hills began to widen out; and numerous elm trees, very lofty, with
gracefully-drooping branches, made their appearance, with other very
handsome trees, as the lime or basswood, and the sycamore or
button-wood.--At a very early period, we have been assured that brigades
of North-west Company boats, _en route_ to Lake Huron, used to make
their way up the Don as far as the "Forks," by one of which they then
passed westward towards the track now known as Yonge-street: they there
were taken ashore and carried on trucks to the Holland river. The help
gained by utilizing this piece of water-way must have been slight, when
the difficulties to be overcome high up the stream were taken into
account. We have conversed with an early inhabitant who, at a more
recent period, had seen the North-west Company's boats drawn on trucks
by oxen up the line of modern Yonge-street, but, in his day, starting,
mounted in this manner, from the edge of the bay. In both cases they
were shifted across from the Lake into the harbour at the
"Carrying-place"--the narrow neck or isthmus a little to the west of the
mouth of the Don proper, where the lake has now made a passage.
We add one more of the spectacles which, in the olden time, gave
animation to the scene before us. Along the winding stream, where in
winter the sleighs were to be seen coming down, every summer at night
would be observed a succession of moving lights, each repeated in the
dark water below. These were the iron cressets, filled with unctuous
pine knots all ablaze, suspended from short poles at the bows of the
fishermen's skiffs, out in quest of salmon and such other large fish as
might be deemed worth a thrust of the long-handled, sharply-barbed
trident used in such operations. Before the establishment of mills and
factories, many hundreds of salmon were annually taken in the Don, as in
all the other streams emptying into Lake Ontario. We have ourselves been
out on a night-fishing excursion on the Don, when in the course of an
hour some twenty heavy salmon were speared; and we have a distinct
recollection of the conspicuous appearance of the great fish, as seen by
the aid of the blazing "jack" at the bow, nozzling about at the bottom
of the stream.
_2.--From Tyler's to the Big Bend._
Not far from the spot where, at present, the Don-street bridge crosses
the river, on the west side and to the north, lived for a long time a
hermit-squatter, named Joseph Tyler, an old New Jersey man, of
picturesque aspect. With his rather fine, sharp, shrewd features, set
off by an abundance of white hair and beard, he was the counterpart of
an Italian artist's stock-model. The mystery attendant on his choice of
a life of complete solitude, his careful reserve, his perfect
self-reliance in regard to domestic matters, and, at the same time, the
evident wisdom of his contrivances and ways, and the propriety and
sagacity of his few words, all helped to render him a good specimen in
actual life of a secular anchorite. He had been in fact a soldier in the
United States army, in the war of Independence, and was in the receipt
of a pension from the other side of the lakes. He was familiar, he
alleged, with the personal appearance of Washington.
His abode on the Don was an excavation in the side of the steep hill, a
little way above the level of the river-bank. The flue of his winter
fire-place was a tubular channel, bored up through the clay of the
hill-side. His sleeping-place or berth was exactly like one of the
receptacles for human remains in the Roman catacombs, an oblong recess,
likewise carved in the dry material of the hill. To the south of his
cave he cultivated a large garden, and raised among other things, the
white sweet edible Indian corn, a novelty here at the time; and very
excellent tobacco. He moreover manufactured pitch and tar, in a little
kiln or pit dug for the purpose close by his house.
He built for himself a magnificent canoe, locally famous. It consisted
of two large pine logs, each about forty feet long, well shaped and
deftly hollowed out, fastened together by cross dove-tail pieces let in
at regular distances along the interior of its bottom. While in process
of construction in the pine woods through which the "Mill road" passes,
on the high bank eastward of the river, it was a wonderment to all the
inquisitive youth of the neighbourhood, and was accordingly often
visited and inspected by them.
In this craft he used to pole himself down the windings of the stream,
all the way round into the bay, and on to the landing-place at the foot
of Caroline-street, bringing with him the produce of his garden, and
neat stacks of pine knots, ready split for the fishermen's lightjacks.
He would also on occasion undertake the office of ferryman. On being
hailed for the purpose, he would put across the river persons anxious to
make a short cut into the town from the eastward. Just opposite his den
there was for a time a rude causeway over the marsh.
At the season of the year when the roads through the woods were
impracticable, Tyler's famous canoe was employed by the Messrs.
Helliwell for conveying into town, from a point high up the stream, the
beer manufactured at their Breweries on the Don. We are informed by Mr.
William Helliwell, of the Highland Creek, that twenty-two barrels at a
time could be placed in it, in two rows of eleven each, laid lengthwise
side by side, still leaving room for Tyler and an assistant to navigate
the boat.
The large piece of meadow land on the east side of the river, above
Tyler's abode, enclosed by a curve which the stream makes towards the
west, has a certain interest attached to it from the fact that therein
was reproduced, for the first time in these parts, that peculiarly
pleasant English scene, a hop-garden. Under the care of Mr. James Case,
familiar with the hop in Sussex, this graceful and useful plant was here
for several seasons to be seen passing through the successive stages of
its scientific cultivation; in early spring sprouting from the surface
of the rich black vegetable mould; then trained gradually over, and at
length clothing richly the poles or groups of poles set at regular
distances throughout the enclosure; overtopping these supports; by and
by loading them heavily with a plentiful crop of swaying clusters; and
then finally, when in a sufficiently mature state, prostrated, props and
all, upon the ground, and stripped of their fragrant burden, the real
object of all the pains taken.--From this field many valuable pockets of
hops were gathered; and the quality of the plant was pronounced to be
good. Mr. Case afterwards engaged extensively in the same occupation in
the neighbourhood of Newmarket.
About the dry, sandy table-land that overlooked the river on each side
in this neighbourhood, the burrows of the fox, often with little
families within, were plentifully to be met with. The marmot too,
popularly known as the woodchuck, was to be seen on sunny days sitting
up upon its haunches at holes in the hill-side. We could at this moment
point out the ancient home of a particular animal of this species, whose
ways we used to note with some curiosity.--Here were to be found racoons
also; but these, like the numerous squirrels, black, red, flying and
striped, were visible only towards the decline of summer, when the maize
and the nuts began to ripen. At that period also, bears, he-bears and
she-bears, accompanied by their cubs, were not unfamiliar objects,
wherever the blackberry and raspberry grew. In the forest, moreover,
hereabout, a rustle in the underbrush, and something white seen dancing
up and down in the distance like the plume of a mounted knight, might at
any moment indicate that a group of deer had caught sight of one of the
dreaded human race, and, with tails uplifted, had bounded incontinently
away.
Pines of a great height and thickness crowded the tops of these hills.
The paths of hurricanes could be traced over extensive tracts by the
fallen trunks of trees of this species, their huge bulks lying one over
the other in a titanic confusion worthy of a sketch by Doré in
illustration of Dante; their heads all in one direction, their upturned
roots, vast mats of woody ramifications and earth, presented sometimes a
perpendicular wall of a great height. Occasionally one of these upright
masses, originating in the habit of the pine to send out a wide-spread
but shallow rootage, would unexpectedly fall back into its original
place, when, in the clearing of the land, the bole of the tree to which
it appertained came to be gashed through. In this case it would
sometimes happen that a considerable portion of the trunk would appear
again in a perpendicular position. As its top would of course show that
human hands had been at work there, the question would be propounded to
the new comer as to how the axe could have reached to such a height. The
suppositions usually encouraged in him were, either that the snow must
have been wonderfully deep when that particular tree was felled, or else
that some one of the very early settlers must have been a man of
exceptional stature.
Among the lofty pines, here and there, one more exposed than the rest
would be seen, with a piece of the thickness of a strong fence-rail
stripped out of its side, from its extreme apex to its very root,
spirally, like the groove of a rifle-bore. It in this manner showed that
at some moment it had been the swift conductor down into the earth of
the contents of a passing electric cloud. One tree of the pine species,
we remember, that had been severed in the midst by lightning, so
suddenly, that the upper half had descended with perfect
perpendicularity and such force that it planted itself upright in the
earth by the side of the trunk from which it had been smitten.
Nor may we omit from our remembered phenomena of the pine forests
hereabout, the bee-trees. Now and then a huge pine would fall, or be
intentionally cut down, which would exhibit in cavernous recesses at a
great distance from what had been its root end, the accumulated combs
of, it might be, a half century; those of them that were of recent
construction, filled with honey.
A solitary survivor of the forest of towering pines which, at the period
to which we are adverting, covered the hills on both sides of the Don
was long to be seen towards the northern limit of the Moss Park
property. In the columns of a local paper this particular tree was thus
gracefully commemorated:--
Oh! tell to me, thou old pine tree,
Oh! tell to me thy tale,
For long hast thou the thunder braved,
And long withstood the gale;
The last of all thy hardy race,
Thy tale now tell to me,
For sure I am, it must be strange,
Thou lonely forest tree.
Yes, strange it is, this bending trunk,
So withered now and grey,
Stood once among the forest trees
Which long have passed away:
They fell in strength and beauty,
Nor have they left a trace,
Save my old trunk and withered limbs
To show their former place.
Countless and lofty once we stood;
Beneath our ample shade
His forest home of boughs and bark
The hardy red man made.
Child of the forest, here he roamed,
Nor spoke nor thought of fear,
As he trapped the beaver in his dam,
And chased the bounding deer.
No gallant ship with spreading sail
Then ploughed those waters blue,
Nor craft had old Ontario then,
But the Indians' birch canoe;
No path was through the forest,
Save that the red man trod;
Here, by your home, was his dwelling place,
And the temple of his God.
Now where the busy city stands,
Hard by that graceful spire,
The proud Ojibeway smoked his pipe
Beside his camping fire.
And there, where those marts of commerce are
Extending east and west,
Amid the rushes in the marsh
The wild fowl had its nest.
But the pale face came, our ranks were thinn'd,
And the loftiest were brought low,
And the forest faded far and wide,
Beneath his sturdy blow;
And the steamer on the quiet lake,
Then ploughed its way of foam,
And the red man fled from the scene of strife
To find a wilder home.
And many who in childhood's days
Around my trunk have played,
Are resting like the Indian now
Beneath the cedar's shade;
And I, like one bereft of friends,
With winter whitened o'er,
But wait the hour that I must fall,
As others fell before.
And still what changes wait thee,
When at no distant day,
The ships of far off nations,
Shall anchor in your bay;
When one vast chain of railroad,
Stretching from shore to shore,
Shall bear the wealth of India,
And land it at your door.
A short distance above the hop ground of which we have spoken, the Don
passed immediately underneath a high sandy bluff. Where, after a long
reach in its downward course, it first impinged against the steep cliff,
it was very deep. Here was the only point in its route, so far as we
recall, where the epithet was applicable which Milton gives to its
English namesake, when he speaks of--
"Utmost Tweed, or Ouse, or _gulphy_ Don."
This very noticeable portion of the river was known as the "Big Bend."
(We may observe here that in retaining its English name, the Don has
lost the appellation assigned to it by the French, if they ever
distinguished it by a name. The Grand River, on the contrary, has
retained its French name, notwithstanding its English official
designation, which was the Ouse. The Rouge, too, has kept its French
name. It was the Nen. The Indians styled this, or a neighbouring stream,
Katabokokonk, "The River of Easy Entrance." The Thames, however, has
wholly dropped its French title, LaTranche. We may subjoin that the
Humber was anciently called by some, St John's River, from a trader
named St. John; and by some, as we have already learnt, Toronto River.
In Lahontan's map it is marked Tanaouaté. No interpretation is
given.--Augustus Jones, the early surveyor of whom we shall have
occasion frequently to speak, notes in one of his letters that the
Indian name for the Don was Wonscoteonach, "Back burnt grounds;" that
is, the river coming down from the back burnt country, meaning probably
the so-called Poplar Plains to the north, liable to be swept by casual
fires in the woods. The term is simply descriptive, and not, in the
modern sense, a proper name.)
Towards the summit of the high bluff just mentioned, the holes made by
the sand-martins were numerous. Hereabout we have met with the snapping
turtle. This creature has not the power of withdrawing itself wholly
within a shell. A part of its protection consists in the loud
threatening snap of its strong horny jaws, armed in front with a
beak-like hook bent downwards. What the creature lays hold of, it will
not let go. Let it grasp the end of a stout stick, and the sportsman may
sling it over his shoulder, and so carry it home with him. When allowed
to reach its natural term of life, it probably attains a very great age.
We remember a specimen captured near the spot at which we are pausing,
which, from its vast size, and the rough, lichen-covered condition of
its shell, must have been extremely old. We also once found near here a
numerous deposit of this animal's eggs; all white and spherical, of the
diameter of about an inch, and covered with a tough parchment-like skin.
The ordinary lesser tortoises of the marsh were of course plentiful
along the Don: their young frequently to be met with creeping about,
were curious and ever-interesting little objects. Snakes too there were
about here, of several kinds: one, often very large and
dangerous-looking, the copper-head, of a greenish brown colour, and
covered with oblong and rather loose scales. The striped garter-snake of
all sizes, was very common. Though reported to be harmless, it always
indulged, when interfered with, in the menacing action and savage
attempts to strike, of the most venomous of its genus.--Then there was
the beautiful grass-green snake; and in large numbers, the black
water-snake. In the rank herbage along the river's edge, the terrified
piping of a pursued frog was often heard.
It recurs to us, as we write, that once, on the banks of the Humber, we
saw a bird actually in the grasp of a large garter-snake--just held by
the foot. As the little creature fluttered violently in the air, the
head of the reptile was swayed rapidly to and fro. All the small birds
in the vicinity had gathered together in a state of noisy excitement;
and many spirited dashes were make by several of them at the common foe.
No great injury having been as yet inflicted, we were enabled to effect
a happy rescue.
From the high sandy cliff, to which our attention has been drawn, it was
possible to look down into the waters of the river; and on a sunny day,
it afforded no small amusement to watch the habits, not only of the
creatures just named, but of the fish also, visible below in the stream;
the simple sunfish, for example, swimming about in shoals (or _schools_,
as the term used to be); and the pike, crafty as a fox, lurking in
solitude, ready to dart on his unwary prey with the swiftness and
precision of an arrow shot from the bow.
_3.--From the Big Bend to Castle Frank Brook._
Above the "Big Bend," on the west side, was "Rock Point." At the water's
edge hereabout was a slight outcrop of shaly rock, where crayfish were
numerous, and black bass. The adjoining marshy land was covered with a
dense thicket, in which wild gooseberry bushes and wild black-currant
bushes were noticeable. The flats along here were a favourite haunt of
woodcock at the proper season of the year: the peculiar succession of
little twitters uttered by them when descending from their flight, and
the very different deep-toned note, the signal of their having alighted,
were both very familiar sounds in the dusk of the evening.
A little further on was "the Island." The channel between it and the
"mainland" on the north side, was completely choked up with logs and
large branches, brought down by the freshets. It was itself surrounded
by a high fringe or hedge of the usual brush that lined the river-side
all along, matted together and clambered over, almost everywhere by the
wild grape-vine. In the waters at its northern end, wild rice grew
plentifully, and the beautiful sweet-scented white water-lily or lotus.
This minute bit of insulated land possessed, to the boyish fancy, great
capabilities. Within its convenient circuit, what phantasies and dreams
might not be realized? A Juan Fernandez, a Barataria, a New
Atlantis.--At the present moment we find that what was once our charmed
isle has now become _terra firma_, wholly amalgamated with the mainland.
Silt has hidden from view the tangled lodgments of the floods. A carpet
of pleasant herbage has overspread the silt. The border-strip of
shrubbery and grape-vine, which so delightfully walled it round, has
been improved, root and branch, out of being.
Near the Island, on the left side, a rivulet, of which more immediately,
pouring down through a deep, narrow ravine, entered the Don. On the
right, just at this point, the objectionable marshes began to disappear,
and the whole bottom of the vale was early converted into handsome
meadows. Scattered about were grand elm and butternut, fine basswood and
buttonwood trees, with small groves of the Canadian willow, which
pleasantly resembles, in habit, the olive tree of the south of Europe.
Along the flats, remains of Indian encampments were often met with;
tusks of bears and other animals; with fragments of coarse pottery,
streaked or furrowed rudely over, for ornament. And all along the
valley, calcareous masses, richly impregnated with iron, were found,
detached, from time to time, as was supposed, from certain places in the
hill-sides.
At the long-ago epoch when the land went up, the waters came down with a
concentrated rush from several directions into the valley just here,
from some accidental cause, carving out in their course, in the enormous
deposit of the drift, a number of deep and rapidly descending channels,
converging all upon this point. The drainage of a large extent of
acreage to the eastward, also at that period, found here for a time its
way into the Don, as may be seen by a neighbouring gorge, and the deep
and wide, but now _dry_ water-course leading to it, known, where the
"Mill road" crosses it, as the "Big Hollow."
Bare and desolate, at that remote era, must have been the appearance of
these earth-banks and ridges and flats, as also those in the vicinity of
all our rivers: for many a long year they must have resembled the
surroundings of some great tidal river, to which the sea, after ebbing,
had failed to return.
One result of the ancient down-rush of waters, just about here, was that
on both sides of the river there were to be observed several striking
specimens of that long, thin, narrow kind of hill which is popularly
known as a "hog's back." One on the east side afforded, along its ridge,
a convenient ascent from the meadows to the table-land above, where
fine views up and down the vale were obtainable, somewhat Swiss in
character, including in the distance the lake, to the south. Overhanging
the pathway, about half-way up, a group of white-birch trees is
remembered by the token that, on their stems, a number of young men and
maidens of the neighbourhood had, in sentimental mood, after the manner
of the Corydons and Amaryllises of classic times, incised their names.
The west side of the river, as well as the east, of which we have been
more especially speaking, presented here also a collection of convergent
"hog's backs" and deeply channelled water-courses. One of the latter
still conducted down a living stream to the Don. This was the rivulet
already noticed as entering just above the Island. It bore the graceful
name of "Castle Frank Brook."
_4.--Castle Frank._
Castle Frank was a rustic château or summer-house, built by Governor
Simcoe in the midst of the woods, on the brow of a steep and lofty bank,
which overlooks the vale of the Don, a short distance to the north of
where we have been lingering. The construction of this edifice was a
mere _divertissement_ while engaged in the grand work of planting in a
field literally and entirely new, the institutions of civilization.
All the way from the site of the town of York to the front of this
building, a narrow carriage-road and convenient bridle-path had been cut
out by the soldiers, and carefully graded. Remains of this ancient
engineering achievement are still to be traced along the base of the
hill below the Necropolis and elsewhere. The brook--Castle Frank
Brook--a little way from where it enters the Don, was spanned by a
wooden bridge. Advantage being taken of a narrow ridge, that opportunely
had its commencing point close by on the north side, the roadway here
began the ascent of the adjoining height. It then ran slantingly up the
hill-side, along a cutting which is still to be seen. The table-land at
the summit was finally gained by utilizing another narrow ridge. It then
proceeded along the level at the top for some distance through a forest
of lofty pines, until the château itself was reached.
The cleared space where the building stood was not many yards across. On
each side of it, the ground precipitously descended, on the one hand to
the Don, on the other to the bottom of the ravine where flowed the
brook. Notwithstanding the elevation of the position, the view was
circumscribed, hill-side and table-land being alike covered with trees
of the finest growth.
Castle Frank itself was an edifice of considerable dimensions, of an
oblong shape; its walls were composed of a number of rather small,
carefully hewn logs, of short lengths. The whole wore the hue which
unpainted timber, exposed to the weather, speedily assumes. At the gable
end, in the direction of the roadway from the nascent capital, was the
principal entrance, over which a rather imposing portico was formed by
the projection of the whole roof, supported by four upright columns,
reaching the whole height of the building, and consisting of the stems
of four good-sized, well-matched pines, with their deeply-chapped,
corrugated bark unremoved. The doors and shutters to the windows were
all of double thickness, made of stout plank, running up and down on one
side, and crosswise on the other, and thickly studded over with the
heads of stout nails. From the middle of the building rose a solitary,
massive chimney-stack.
We can picture to ourselves the cavalcade that was wont, from time to
time, to be seen in the summers and autumns of 1794-'5-'6, wending its
way leisurely to the romantically situated château of Castle Frank,
along the reaches and windings, the descents and ascents of the forest
road, expressly cut out through the primitive woods as a means of access
to it.
First, mounted on a willing and well-favoured horse, as we will suppose,
there would be General Simcoe himself--a soldierly personage, in the
full vigour of life, advanced but little beyond his fortieth year, of
thoughtful and stern, yet benevolent aspect--as shewn by the medallion
in marble on his monument in the cathedral at Exeter--revolving ever in
his mind schemes for the development and defence of the new Society
which he was engaged in founding; a man "just, active, enlightened,
brave, frank," as the French Duke de Liancourt described him in 1795;
"possessing the confidence of the country, of the troops, and of all
those who were joined with him in the administration of public affairs."
"No hillock catches his eye," the same observant writer remarks,
"without exciting in his mind the idea of a fort which might be
constructed on the spot, associating with the construction of this fort
the plan of operations for a campaign; especially of that which should
lead him to Philadelphia, _i. e._, to recover, by force of arms, to the
allegiance of England, the Colonies recently revolted."
By the side of the soldier and statesman Governor, also on horseback,
would be his gifted consort, small in person, "handsome and amiable," as
the French Duke again speaks, "fulfilling," as he continues to say, "all
the duties of the mother and wife with the most scrupulous exactness;
carrying the latter so far," DeLiancourt observes, "as to be of great
assistance to her husband by her talent for drawing, the practice of
which, in relation to maps and plans, enabled her to be extremely useful
to the Governor," while her skill and facility and taste in a wider
application of that talent were attested, the French traveller might
have added, by numerous sketch-books and portfolios of views of Canadian
scenery in its primitive condition, taken by her hand, to be treasured
up carefully and reverently by her immediate descendants, but
unfortunately not accessible generally to Canadian students.
This memorable lady--memorable for her eminent Christian goodness, as
well as for her artistic skill and taste, and superior intellectual
endowments--survived to the late period of 1850. Her maiden name is
preserved among us by the designation borne by two of our townships,
East and West "Gwillim"-bury. Her father, at the time one of the
aides-de-camp to General Wolfe, was killed at the taking of Quebec.
Conspicuous in the group would likewise be a young daughter and son, the
latter about five years of age and bearing the name of Francis. The
château of which we have just given an account was theoretically the
private property of this child, and took its name from him, although the
appellation, by accident as we suppose, is identical, in sound at all
events, with that of a certain "Castel-franc" near Rochelle, which
figures in the history of the Huguenots.
The Iroquois at Niagara had given the Governor a title, expressive of
hospitality--Deyonynhokrawen, "One whose door is always open." They had,
moreover, in Council declared his son a chief, and had named him Tioga;
or Deyoken, "Between the Two Objects;" and to humour them in return, as
Liancourt informs us, the child was occasionally attired in Indian
costume. For most men it is well that the future is veiled from them. It
happened eventually that a warrior's fate befell the young chieftain
Tioga. The little spirited lad who had been seen at one time moving
about before the assembled Iroquois at Niagara, under a certain
restraint probably, from the unwonted garb of embroidered deerskin, in
which, on such occasions, he would be arrayed; and at another time
clambering up and down the steep hill-sides at Castle Frank, with the
restless energy of a free English boy, was at last, after the lapse of
some seventeen years, seen a mangled corpse, one in that ghastly pile of
"English dead," which, in 1812, closed up the breach at Badajoz.
Riding with the Governor, out to his rustic lodge, would be seen also
his attached secretary, Major Littlehales, and one or other of his
faithful aides-de-camp, Lieutenant Talbot or Lieutenant Givins; with men
in attendance in the dark green undress of the famous Queen's Rangers,
with a sumpter pony or two, bearing packages and baskets filled with a
day's provender for the whole party. A few dogs also, a black
Newfoundland, a pointer, a setter, white and tan, hieing buoyantly about
on the right and left, would give animation to the cavalcade as it
passed sedately on its way--
"Through the green-glooming twilight of the grove."
It will be of interest to add here, the inscription on General Simcoe's
monument in Exeter Cathedral:--"Sacred to the memory of John Graves
Simcoe, Lieutenant-General in the army, and Colonel of the 22nd Regiment
of Foot, who died on the 25th day of October, 1806, aged 54. In whose
life and character the virtues of the hero, the patriot and the
Christian were so eminently conspicuous, that it may justly be said, he
served his king and his country with a zeal exceeded only by his piety
towards God." Above this inscription is a medallion portrait. On the
right and left are figures of an Indian and a soldier of the Queen's
Rangers. The remains of the General are not deposited in Exeter
Cathedral, but under a mortuary chapel on the estate of his family
elsewhere.
Our cavalcade to Castle Frank, as sketched above, was once challenged on
the supposed ground that in 1794 there were no horses in Western
Canada.--Horses were no doubt at that date scarce in the region named;
but some were procurable for the use of the Governor and his suite. In a
"Journal to Detroit from Niagara, in 1793, by Major Littlehales,"
printed for the first time in the _Canadian Literary Magazine_, for May,
1833, we have it mentioned that, on the return of an exploring party,
they were met at the end of the plains, near the Salt Lake Creek, by
Indians, "bringing horses for the Governor and his suite." The French
_habitans_ about Sandwich and Detroit were in possession of horses in
1793, as well as their fellow countrymen in Lower Canada.
After the departure of General Simcoe from Canada, Castle Frank was
occasionally made the scene of an excursion or pic-nic by President
Russell and his family; and a ball was now and then given there, for
which the appliances as well as the guests were conveyed in boats up the
Don. At one time it was temporarily occupied by Captain John Denison, of
whom hereafter. About the year 1829, the building, shut up and
tenantless at the time, was destroyed by fire, the mischievous handiwork
of persons engaged in salmon-fishing in the Don. A depression in the dry
sand just beyond the fence which bounds the Cemetery of St. James,
northward, shews to this day the exact site of Castle Frank. The
quantity of iron that was gathered out from this depression after the
fire, was, as we remember, something extraordinary, all the window
shutters and doors having been, as we have said, made of double planks,
fastened together with an immense number of stout nails, whose heads
thickly studded the surface of each in regular order.
The immediate surroundings of the spot where Castle Frank stood,
fortunately continue almost in their original natural state. Although
the site of the building itself is outside the bounds of the Cemetery of
St. James, a large portion of the lot which at first formed the domain
of the château, now forms a part of that spacious and picturesque
enclosure. The deep glen on the west, immediately below where the house
was built, and through which flows (and by the listener may be
pleasantly _heard_ to flow) the brook that bears its name, is to this
day a scene of rare sylvan beauty. The pedestrian from the town, by a
half-hour's easy walk, can here place himself in the midst of a forest
solitude; and from what he sees he can form an idea of the whole
surrounding region, as it was when York was first laid out. Here he can
find in abundance, to this day, specimens, gigantic and minute, of the
vegetation of the ancient woods. Here at the proper seasons he can still
hear the blue jay; the flute notes of the solitary wood-thrush, and at
night, specially when the moon is shining bright, the whip-poor-will,
hurriedly and in a high key, syllabling forth its own name.
_5.--On to the Ford and the Mills._
We now resume our ramble up the valley of the Don. Northward of the
gorge, where Castle Frank Brook entered, and where so many other
deep-cut ravines converge upon the present channel of the stream, the
scenery becomes really good.
We pass along through natural meadows, bordered on both sides by fine
hills, which recede by a succession of slight plateaux, the uppermost of
them clothed with lofty pines and oaks: on the slope nearest to "the
flats" on the east, grew, along with the choke-cherry and may-flower,
numbers of the wild apple or crab, beautiful objects when in full bloom.
Hereabout also was to be found the prickly ash, a rather uncommon and
graceful shrub. (The long-continued precipitous bank on the west side of
the Don completely covered with forest, with, at last, the roof of the
rustic château appearing above, must have recalled, in some slight
degree, the Sharpham woods and Sharpham to the mind of anyone who had
ever chanced to sail up the Dart so far as that most beautiful spot.)
Immediately beyond the Castle Frank woods, where now is the property
known as Drumsnab, came the estate of Captain George Playter, and
directly across on the opposite side of the river, that of his son
Captain John Playter, both immigrants from Pennsylvania. When the town
of York was in the occupancy of the Americans in 1813, many of the
archives of the young province of Upper Canada were conveyed for safe
keeping to the houses of these gentlemen. But boats, with men and
officers from the invading force, found their way up the windings of the
Don; and such papers and documents as could be found were carried away.
Just below Drumsnab, on the west side of the stream, and set down, as it
were, in the midst of the valley, was, and is, a singular isolated mound
of the shape of a glass shade over a French clock, known in the
neighbourhood as the "Sugar Loaf." It was completely clothed over with
moderate sized trees. When the whole valley of the Don was filled with a
brimming river reaching to the summit of its now secondary banks, the
top of the "Sugar Loaf," which is nearly on a level with the summit of
the adjacent hills, must have appeared above the face of the water as an
island speck.
This picturesque and curious mound is noticed by Sir James Alexander, in
the account which he gives of the neighbourhood of Toronto in his
"L'Acadie, or Seven Years' Explorations in British America":--"The most
picturesque spot near Toronto," says Sir James, "and within four miles
of it, is Drumsnab, the residence of Mr. Cayley. The mansion is roomy
and of one storey, with a broad verandah. It is seated among fields and
woods, on the edge of a slope; at the bottom winds a river; opposite is
a most singular conical hill, like an immense Indian tumulus for the
dead; in the distance, through a vista cut judiciously through the
forest, are seen the dark blue waters of Lake Ontario. The walls of the
principal room are covered with scenes from Faust, drawn in fresco, with
a bold and masterly hand, by the proprietor."--(Vol. 1. p. 230.)
In the shadow thrown eastward by the "Sugar Loaf," there was a "Ford" in
the Don, a favourite bathing-place for boys, with a clean gravelly
bottom, and a current somewhat swift. That Ford was just in the line of
an allowance for a concession road; which from the precipitous character
of the hills on both sides, has been of late years closed by Act of
Parliament, on the ground of its supposed impracticability for ever,--a
proceeding to be regretted; as the highway which would traverse the Don
valley at the Ford would be a continuation of Bloor street in a right
line; and would form a convenient means of communication between Chester
and Yorkville.
In the meadow on the left, just above the Ford, a little meandering
brook, abounding in trout, entered the Don. Hereabouts also was, for a
long while, a rustic bridge over the main river, formed by trees felled
across the stream.
Proceeding on our way we now in a short time approached the great colony
of the Helliwells, which has already been described. The mills and
manufactories established here by that enterprising family constituted
quite a conspicuous village. A visit to this cluster of buildings, in
1827, is described by Mr. W. L. Mackenzie, in his "Sketches of Canada,"
published in London, by Effingham Wilson, in 1833. At page 270 of that
work, the writer says: "About three miles out of town, in the bottom of
a deep ravine, watered by the river Don, and bounded also by beautiful
and verdant flats, are situated the York Paper Mills, distillery and
grist-mill of Messrs. Eastwood & Co.; also Mr. Shepard's axe-grinding
machinery; and Messrs. Helliwell's large and extensive Brewery. I went
out to view these improvements a few days ago, and returned much
gratified with witnessing the paper-manufacture in active operation--as
also the bold and pleasant scenery on the banks of the Don. The river
might be made navigable with small expense up to the brewery; and if the
surrounding lands were laid out in five-acre lots all the way to town,
they would sell to great advantage."
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XVIII.
QUEEN STREET, FROM THE DON BRIDGE TO CAROLINE STREET.
We return once more to the Don Bridge; and from that point commence a
journey westward along the thoroughfare now known as Queen Street, but
which at the period at present occupying our attention, was
non-existent. The region through which we at first pass was long known
as the Park. It was a portion of Government property not divided into
lots and sold, until recent times.
Originally a great space extending from the first Parliament houses,
bounded southward and eastward by the water of the Bay and Don, and
northward by the Castle Frank lot, was set apart as a "Reserve for
Government Buildings," to be, it may be, according to the idea of the
day, a small domain of woods and forest in connection with them; or else
to be converted in the course of time into a source of ways and means
for their erection and maintenance. The latter appears to have been the
view taken of this property in 1811. We have seen a plan of that date,
signed "T. Ridout, S. G.," shewing this reserve divided into a number of
moderate sized lots, each marked with "the estimated yearly rent, in
dollars, as reported by the Deputy Surveyor [Samuel S. Wilmot]." The
survey is therein stated to have been made "by order of His Excellency
Francis Gore, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor."
The number of the lots is eighty-three. None of them bear a larger
amount than twenty dollars. Some of them consisting of minute bits of
marsh, were expected to yield not more than one dollar. The revenue from
the whole if realised would have been eleven hundred and thirty-three
dollars. In this plan, what is now Queen street is duly laid down, in
direct continuation of the Kingston Road westward, without regard to the
engineering difficulties presented by ravines; but it is entitled in
large letters, "Dundas Street." On its north side lie forty-six, and on
its south, thirty-seven of the small lots into which the whole reserve
is divided The scheme was never carried into effect.
The Park, as we remember it, was a tract of land in a state of nature,
densely covered, towards the north, with massive pines; and towards the
south, with a thick secondary growth of the same forest tree. Through
these woods ran a devious and rather obscure track, originating in the
bridle-road cut out, before the close of the preceding century, to
Castle Frank; one branch led off from it to the Playter-estate, passing
down and up two very steep and difficult precipices; and another,
trending to the west and north, conducted the wayfarer to a point on
Yonge Street about where Yorkville is now to be seen.
To the youthful imagination, the Park, thus clothed with veritable
forest--
The nodding horror of whose shady brows
Awed the forlorn and wandering passenger--
and traversed by irregular, ill-defined and very solitary paths, leading
to widely-separated localities, seemed a vast and rather mysterious
region, the place which immediately flashed on the mind, whenever in
poem or fairy tale, a wild or wold or wilderness was named. As time
rolled on, too, it actually became the haunt and hiding-place of lawless
characters.
After passing, on our left, the burial-plot attached to the first Roman
Catholic Church of York, and arriving where Parliament Street, at the
present day, intersects, we reached the limit, in that direction, of the
"Reserve for Government Buildings." Stretching from the point indicated,
there was on the right side of the way, a range of "park lots,"
extending some two miles to the west, all bounded on the south by what
at the present time is Queen Street, but which, from being the great
thoroughfare along the front of this very range, was long known as "Lot
Street." (In the plan above spoken of, it is marked, as already stated,
"Dundas Street," it being a section of the great military way, bearing
that name, projected by the first Governor of Upper Canada to traverse
the whole province from west to east, as we shall have occasion
hereafter to narrate.)
In the early plan of this part of York, the names of the first locatees
of the range of park-lots are given. On the first or easternmost lot we
read that of John Small. On the next, that of J. White.
In this collocation of names there is something touching, when we recall
an event in which the first owners of these two contiguous lots were
tragically concerned. Friends, and associates in the Public Service, the
one as Clerk of the Crown, the other as Attorney-General for Upper
Canada, from 1792-1800, their dream, doubtless, was to pass the evening
of their days in pleasant suburban villas placed here side by side in
the outskirts of the young capital. But there arose between them a
difficulty, trivial enough probably at the beginning, but which,
according to the barbaric conventionality of the hour, could only be
finally settled by a "meeting," as the phrase was, in the field, where
chance was to decide between them, for life or death, as between two
armies--two armies reduced to the absurdity of each consisting of one
man. The encounter took place in a pleasant grove at the back of the
Parliament Building, immediately to the east of it, between what is now
King Street and the water's edge. Mr. White was mortally wounded and
soon expired. At his own request his remains were deposited in his
garden on the park-lot, beneath a summer-house to which he had been
accustomed to retire for purposes of study.
The _Oracle_ of Saturday, January 4, 1800, records the duel in the
following words:--"Yesterday morning a duel was fought back of the
Government Buildings by John White, Esq., his Majesty's
Attorney-General, and John Small, Esq., Clerk of the Executive Council,
wherein the former received a wound above the right hip, which it is
feared will prove mortal." In the issue of the following Saturday,
January 11th, the announcement appears:--"It is with much regret that we
express to the public, the death of John White, Esq." It is added: "His
remains were on Tuesday evening interred in a small octagon building,
erected on the rear of his Park lot." "The procession," the _Oracle_
observes, "was solemn and pensive; and shewed that though death, 'all
eloquent,' had seized upon him as his victim, yet it could not take from
the public mind the lively sense of his virtues. _Vivit post funera
virtus._"
The _Constellation_ at Niagara, of the date January 11th, 1800, also
records the event, and enjoying a greater liberty of expression than the
Government organ at York, indulges in some just and sensible remarks on
the irrational practice of duelling in general, and on the sadness of
the special case which had just occurred. We give the _Constellation_
article:
"Died at York, on the 3rd instant, John White, Esq., Attorney-General of
this Province. His death was occasioned by a wound he received in a duel
fought the day before with John Small, Esq., Clerk of the Executive
Council, by whom he was challenged. We have not been able to obtain the
particulars of the cause of the dispute; but be the origin what it may,
we have to lament the toleration and prevalency of a custom falsely
deemed honourable, or the criterion of true courage, innocency or guilt,
a custom to gratify the passion of revenge in a single person, to the
privation of the country and a family, of an ornament of society, and
support: an outrage on humanity that is too often procured by the meanly
malicious, who have preferment in office or friendship in view, without
merit to gain it, and stupidly lacquey from family to family, or from
person to person, some wonderful suspicion, the suggestions of a soft
head and evil heart; and it is truly unfortunate for Society that the
evil they bring on others should pass by their heads to light on those
the world could illy spare. We are unwilling to attribute to either the
Attorney-General or Mr. Small any improprieties of their own, or to say
on whom the blame lies; but of this we feel assured, that an explanation
might easily have been brought about by persons near to them, and a
valuable life preserved to us. The loss is great; as a professional
gentleman, the Attorney-General was eminent, as a friend, sincere; and
in whatever relation he stood was highly esteemed; an honest and upright
man, a friend to the poor; and dies universally lamented and we here
cannot refuse to mention, at the particular request of some who have
experienced his goodness, that he has refused taking fees, and
discharged suits at law, by recommending to the parties, and assisting
them with friendly advice, to an amicable adjustment of their
differences: and this is the man whom we have lost!"
For his share in the duel Mr. Small was, on the 20th January, 1800,
indicted and tried before Judge Allcock and a jury, of which Mr. Wm.
Jarvis was the foreman. The verdict rendered was "Not Guilty." The
seconds were--Mr. Sheriff Macdonell for Mr. Small, and the Baron DeHoen
for Mr. White.
(In 1871, as some labourers were digging out sand, for building
purposes, they came upon the grave of Attorney-General White. The
remains were carefully removed under the inspection of Mr. Clarke
Gamble, and deposited in St. James' Cemetery.)
Mr. White's park-lot became afterwards the property of Mr. Samuel
Ridout, sometime Sheriff of the County, of whom we have had occasion to
speak already. A portion of it was subsequently owned and built on by
Mr. Edward McMahon, an Irish gentleman, long well known and greatly
respected as Chief Clerk in the Attorney General's office. Mr. McMahon's
name was, for a time, preserved in that of a street which here enters
Queen Street from the North.
Sherborne Street, which at present divides the White park-lot from Moss
Park commemorates happily the name of the old Dorsetshire home of the
main stem of the Canadian Ridouts. The original stock of this family
still flourishes in the very ancient and most interesting town of
Sherborne, famous as having been in the Saxon days the see of a bishop;
and possessing still a spacious and beautiful minster, familiarly known
to architects as a fine study.
Like some other English names, transplanted to the American continent,
that of this Dorsetshire family has assumed here a pronunciation
slightly different from that given to it by its ancient owners. What in
Canada is Ri-dout, at Sherborne and its neighbourhood, is Rid-out.
On the park-lot which constituted the Moss-Park Estate, the name of D.
W. Smith appears in the original plan. Mr. D. W. Smith was acting
Surveyor-General in 1794. He was the author of "A Short Topographical
Description of His Majesty's Province of Upper Canada in North America,
to which is annexed a Provincial Gazetteer:"--a work of considerable
antiquarian interest now, preserving as it does, the early names,
native, French and English, of many places now known by different
appellations. A second edition was published in London in 1813, and was
designed to accompany the new map published in that year by W. Faden,
Geographer to the King and Prince Regent. The original work was compiled
at the desire of Governor Simcoe, to illustrate an earlier map of Upper
Canada.
We have spoken already in our progress through Front Street, of the
subsequent possessor of Mr. Smith's lot, Col. Allan. The residence at
Moss Park was built by him in comparatively recent times. The homestead
previously had been, as we have already seen, at the foot of Frederick
Street, on the south-east corner. To the articles of capitulation on the
27th April, 1813, surrendering the town of York to Dearborn and
Chauncey, the commanders of the United States force, the name of Col.
Allan, at the time Major Allan, is appended, following that of
Lieut.-Col. Chewett.
Besides the many capacities in which Col. Allan did good service to the
community, as detailed during our survey of Front Street, he was also,
in 1801, Returning Officer on the occasion of a public election. In the
_Oracle_ of the 20th of June, 1801, we have an advertisement signed by
him as Returning Officer for the "County of Durham, the East Riding of
the County of York, and the County of Simcoe"--which territories
conjointly are to elect one member. Mr. Allan announces that he will be
in attendance "on Thursday, the 2nd day of July next, at 10 o'clock in
the forenoon, at the Hustings under the Colonnade of the Government
Buildings in the Town of York--and proceed to the election of one Knight
to represent the said county, riding and county in the House of
Assembly, whereof all freeholders of the said county, riding and county,
are to take notice and attend accordingly."
The writ, issuing from "His Excellency, Peter Hunter, Esq.," directs the
returning officer "to cause one Knight, girt with a sword, the most fit
and discreet, to be freely and indifferently chosen to represent the
aforesaid county, riding and county, in Assembly, by those who shall be
present on the day of election."
Two candidates presented themselves, Mr. A. Macdonell and Mr. J. Small.
Mr. Macdonell was duly elected, "there appearing for him," we are
briefly informed in a subsequent number of the _Oracle_, "112
unquestionable votes; and for J. Small, Esq. 32: majority, 80."
In 1804 there was another election, when the candidates were Mr. A.
Macdonell again, Mr. D. W. Smith, of whom above, and Mr. Weekes. The
address of the last-named gentleman is in the _Oracle_ of May 24th. It
is addressed to the Free and Independent Electors of the East Riding of
York. He says: "I stand unconnected with any party, unsupported by any
influence, and unambitious of any patronage, other than the suffrages of
those who consider the impartial enjoyment of their rights, and the
free exercise of their privileges as objects not only worthy of the
vigilance of the legislator, but also essential to their political
security and to their local prosperity. The opportunity of addressing
myself to men who may be inclined to think with freedom, and to act with
independency, is to me truly desirable; and the receiving of the
countenance and support of those characters, must ever bear in my mind
impressions more than gratifying."
"It will not accord with my sentiments," the address proceeds to say,
"to express myself in the usual terms of zeal and fidelity of an
election candidate; inasmuch as that the principle of previous
assurances has frequently, in the exercise of the functions of a
representative, have been either forgotten or occasionally abandoned;
but I hope it will not be considered vaunting in me to assert that that
zeal and the fidelity which have manifested themselves in the discharge
of my duty to my clients, will not be abated in supporting a more
important trust--the cause of the public!"
In the _Oracle_ of April 7th is an address put forth by friends on the
part of Mr. D. W. Smith, who is at the moment absent. It is "to the free
and independent electors of the County of Durham, the East Riding of the
County of York, and the County of Simcoe." It runs as follows: "The
friends of the Hon. D. W. Smith beg leave to offer that gentleman to
represent you in the ensuing Parliament. His honour, integrity and
ability, and the essential services which, in different capacities, he
hath rendered to the Province, are so well known and felt that his
friends consider the mentioning of his name only to be the most powerful
solicitation which they can use on the present occasion, to obtain for
him your favour and suffrage." To this address the following paragraph
is added on May the 5th: "The friends of Mr. Smith consider it as their
duty further to intimate, that from late accounts received from him in
England, it was his determination to set out from that country so as to
arrive here early in the summer of this present year."
On the 2nd of May Mr. Macdonell's address came out. He speaks like a
practised orator, accustomed to the outside as well as the interior of
the House. He delivers himself in the following vigorous style:--
"To the Worthy Inhabitants of the East Riding of the County of York, and
Counties of Durham and Simcoe: Friends and Fellow Subjects. In
addressing you by appellations unusual, I believe, on similar
occasions, no affectation of singularity has dictated the innovation: my
terms flow from a more dignified principle, a purer source of ideas,
from a sentiment of liberal and extensive affection, which embraces and
contemplates not only such of you as by law are qualified to vote, but
also such as a contracted and short-sighted policy has restrained from
the immediate enjoyment of that privilege. Your interests, inseparably
the same, and alike dear and interesting to me, have always been equally
my care; and your good-will shall indiscriminately be gratifying,
whether accompanied with the ability of advancing my present pursuit, or
confined to the wishes of my succeeding in it.
"The anxious anticipation of events, which has engaged so many persons
unto such early struggles to supplant me, forces me also to anticipate
the dissolution of parliament, in declaring my disposition to continue
(if supported by my friends at the next general election) in that
situation which I have now the honour of filling in parliament; a
situation, which the majority of suffrages which placed me in it,
justifies the honest pride of supposing, was not obtained without merit,
and inspires the natural confidence of presuming, will not be lost
without a fault.
"I stoop with reluctance, gentlemen, to animadvert upon some puny
fabrications calculated to mislead your judgment, and alienate your
favour. It has been said that I am canvassing for a seat elsewhere. No!
gentlemen: the satisfaction, the pride, of representing that division of
this Province, which, comprehending the capital, is consequently the
political head, is to me, too captivating an object of political
ambition to suffer the view of it to be intercepted in my imagination
for a moment, by the prospect of any inferior representation. Be
assured, therefore, gentlemen, that I shall not forsake my present post,
until you or life shall have forsaken me.
"Another calumny of a darker hue has been fabricated. I have been
represented as inimical to the provincial statute which restrains many
worthy persons migrating into this Province from voting at elections,
under a residence of seven years. A more insidious, a more bare-faced
falsehood, never issued from the lips of malice; for during every
session of my sitting in parliament, I have been the warmest, and
loudest advocate for repealing that statute and for rendering taxation
and representation reciprocal.
"I shall notice a third expedient, in attempting which, detraction (by
resorting to an imposture so gross as to carry its own refutation upon
the very face of it) has effectually avowed its own impotency:--It has
been whispered that I have endeavoured to increase the general rate of
assessments within the Home District. Wretched misrepresentation! I
should have been my own enemy indeed, if I had lent myself to such a
measure. On the contrary; my maxim has been, and shall ever continue to
be, that so much of the public burden as possible should be shifted from
the shoulders of the industrious farmers and mechanics, upon those of
the more opulent classes of the community; persons with large salaries
and lucrative employments: the shallow artifice of these exploded lies
suggests this natural reflection, that slander could find no real
foundation to build upon, when reduced to the necessity of rearing its
fabrics upon visions.
"To conclude, gentlemen, I have no interests separate from yours, no
country but that which we inhabit in common. In all situations, under
all circumstances, I have been the friend of the people and the votary
of their rights. I have never changed with the times, nor shifted sides
with the occasion; and you may therefore reasonably confide that I shall
always be, gentlemen, your most devoted and most attached servant, A.
Macdonell, York, 2nd May, 1804."
An attempt had also been made to induce Mr. R. Henderson to become a
candidate at this election. He explained the reason why he declined to
come forward, in the following card:--"The subscriber thinks it a duty
incumbent on him thus publicly to notify his friends who wished him to
stand as a candidate at the ensuing election for York and its adjacent
counties; that he declines standing, having special business that causes
his absence at the time of the election. He hopes that his friends will
be pleased to accept of his grateful acknowledgments for the honour they
wished to confer on him. But as there are several candidates who solicit
the suffrages of the Public, they cannot be at a loss. He leaves you,
gentlemen, to the freedom of your own will. He has only to observe that
were he present on the day of election, he would give his vote to the
Honourable David William Smith. I am, Gentlemen, your obedient and
obliged servant, R. Henderson, York, 26th May, 1804."
Mr. Henderson's occupation was afterwards that of a local army
contractor, &c., as may be gathered from an advertisement which is to
be observed in the _Oracle_ of September 6, 1806:--"Notice. The
subscriber having got the contract for supplying His Majesty's troops at
the garrison with fresh beef, takes the liberty of informing the public
that he has engaged a person to superintend the butchering business, and
that good fresh beef may be had three times a week. Fresh pork and
mutton will be always ready on a day's notice; poultry, &c. Those
gentlemen who may be pleased to become customers, may rely on being well
served, and regularly supplied. If constant customers, &c., a note of
the weight will be sent along with the article. Families becoming
constant customers, will please to send a book by their servant, to have
it entered, to prevent any mistakes. The business will commence on
Monday, the 1st of September next. R. Henderson, York, Aug. 28, 1806."
The grazing ground of Mr. Henderson's fat cattle was extensive. In the
same paper we have a notice bearing his signature, announcing that "the
subscriber has a considerable number of fat cattle running at large
between the town and the Humber. They are all branded on the horns with
R. H." The notice continues: "If any of said cattle should be offered
for sale to butchers or others, it is hoped no one will purchase them,
as they may suppose them to be stolen. A number of fat cattle is still
wanted, for which cash will be paid."
The result of the election at York in 1804 is announced in the _Oracle_
of June 16. As was probably to be expected, Mr. Macdonell was the man
returned. Thus runs the paragraph: "On Monday last the 11th instant, the
election of a Knight to represent the counties of Durham and Simcoe and
the East Riding of the County of York, took place at the Government
Buildings in this town. At the close of the poll, Angus Macdonell was
declared to be duly elected to represent the said counties and riding.
We have not yet been able to collect any further returns," the Editor
adds, "but as soon as practicable they will be laid before the public."
On the 4th of the following August, accordingly, the following complete
list was given of members returned at the election of 1804. Alexander
Macdonell and W. B. Wilkinson, Esqrs., Glengarry and Prescott. Robert
Isaac D. Grey, Esq., Stormont and Russell. John Chrysler, Dundas. Samuel
Sherwood, Esq., Grenville. Peter Howard, Esq., Leeds. Allan McLean,
Esq., Frontenac. Thomas Dorland, Esq., Lennox and Addington. Ebenezer
Washburn, Esq., Prince Edward. David McGregor Rogers, Esq., Hastings and
Northumberland. Angus Macdonell, Esq., Durham, Simcoe and East Riding of
York. Solomon Hill and Robert Nelles, Esqrs., West Riding of York, First
Lincoln, and Haldimand. Isaac Swayzey and Ralph Clench, Esqs., 2nd, 3rd
and 4th Ridings of Lincoln. Benaiah Mallory, Esq., Norfolk, Oxford and
Middlesex. John McGregor, Esq., Kent. Matthew Elliott and David Cowan,
Esqrs., Essex.
The Mr. Weekes who, as we have seen, was an unsuccessful candidate for a
seat in parliament in 1804 was nevertheless a member of the House in
1806, representing the constituencies to which he had previously offered
himself. In 1806 he was killed in a duel with Mr. Dickson at Niagara,
another victim to the peculiar social code of the day, which obliged
gentlemen on certain occasions of difference to fire pistols at each
other. In the _Oracle_ of the 11th of October, 1806, we read the
announcement: "Died on Friday, the 10th instant, at night, in
consequence of a wound received that morning in a duel, William Weekes,
Esq., Barrister-at-law, and a Member of the House of Assembly for the
counties of York, Durham and Simcoe." In the next issue of the paper,
dated October 25, 1806, we have a second record of the event in the
following terms, with a eulogy on Mr. Weekes' character: "It is with
sentiments of the deepest regret that we announce to the public the
death of William Weekes, Esq., Barrister-at-law in this Province; not
only from the melancholy circumstances attendant on his untimely death,
but also from a view of the many virtues this Province is deprived of by
that death. In him the orphan has lost a father, the widow a friend, the
injured a protector, society a pleasing and safe companion, and the Bar
one of its ablest advocates. Mr. Weekes was honest without the show of
ostentation. Wealth and splendour held no lure for him; nor could any
pecuniary motives induce him to swerve in the smallest degree from that
which he conceived to be strictly honourable. His last moments were
marked with that fortitude which was the characteristic of his life,
convinced of the purity of which, he met death with pleasure.
"His funeral was delayed longer than could have been wished, a form of
law being necessary previous to that ceremony. He was interred on
Tuesday, the fourteenth. His funeral," it is added, "was attended by a
respectable assemblage of people, from the house of John MacKay, Esq.,
in the following order:--mourners, John MacKay, Esq.; three Members of
the House of Assembly, of which he was a member: viz., Ralph Clench, J.
Swayzey, Robert Nelles; Dr. West, Surgeon of the American Garrison, Dr.
Thomas, 41st Regt., Dr. Muirhead, Niagara; the Gentlemen of the Bar; the
Magistrates of the place; and a numerous concourse of people from town
and country."
This duel, as we have been informed, was fought on the United States
side of the river, near the French Fort.
Mr. Weekes, we believe, was an unmarried man. He was fond of solitary
rambles in the woods in search of game. Once he was so long missing that
foul play was suspected; and some human remains having been found under
a heap of logs on the property of Peter Ernest, Peter Ernest was
arrested; and just as the evidence was all going strongly against him,
Mr. Weekes appeared on the scene alive and well.
One more of these inhuman and unchristian encounters, with fatal result,
memorable in the early annals of York, we shall have occasion to speak
of hereafter when, in our intended progress up Yonge Street, we pass the
spot where the tragedy was enacted.
Mr. Weekes was greatly regretted by his constituents. "Overwhelmed with
grief," they say in their address dated the 20th September, 1806, to the
gentleman whom they desire to succeed him, "at the unexpected death of
our late able and upright Representative; we, freeholders of these
Counties of York, Durham and Simcoe, feel that we have neglected our
interests in the season of sorrow. Now awake, it is to you we turn;
notwithstanding the great portion of consolation which we draw from the
dawning of our impartial and energetic administration. (The allusion is
to Gov. Gore.)
"Fully persuaded that the great object of your heart is the advancement
of public prosperity, the observance of the laws, and the practice of
religion and morality, we hasten with assurances of our warmest support,
to invite you from your retreat to represent us in Parliament. Permit
us, however, to impress upon you, that as subjects of a generous and
beloved King; as a part of that great nation which has for so long a
time stood the bulwark of Europe, and is now the solitary and
inaccessible asylum of liberty; as the children of Englishmen, guarded,
protected and restrained by English laws; in fine, as members of their
community, as fathers and sons, we are induced to place this confidence
in your virtue, from the firm hope that, equally insensible to the
impulse of popular feeling and the impulse of power, you will pursue
what is right. This has been the body of your decisions; may it be the
spirit of your counsels! (Signed by fifty-two persons, residing in the
Town and Township of York.)" The names not given.
These words were addressed to Mr. Justice Thorpe. His reply was couched
in the following terms: "Gentlemen: With pleasure I accede to your
desire. If you make me your representative I will faithfully discharge
my duty. Your confidence is not misplaced. May the first moment of
dereliction be the last of my existence. Your late worthy representative
I lament from my heart. In private he was a warm friend; at the Bar an
able advocate, and in Parliament a firm patriot. It is but just to draw
consolation from our Governor, when the first act of his administration
granted to those in the U. E. list and their children, what your late
most valuable member so strenuously laboured to obtain. Surely from this
we have every reason to expect that the liberal interests of our beloved
sovereign, whose chief glory is to reign triumphantly enthroned on the
hearts of a free people, will be fulfilled, honouring those who give and
those who receive, enriching the Province and strengthening the Empire.
Let us cherish this hope in the blossom; may it not be blasted in the
ripening." A postscript is subjoined: "P. S. If influence, threat,
coercion or oppression should be attempted to be exercised over any
individual, for the purpose of controlling the freedom of election, let
me be informed.--R. T."
In 1806 Judges were not ineligible to the Upper Canadian Parliament. Mr.
Justice Thorpe and Governor Gore did not agree. He was consequently
removed from office. Some years later, when both gentlemen were living
in England as private persons, Mr. Thorpe brought an action for libel
against Mr. Gore, and obtained a favourable verdict.
We now proceed on our prescribed course. So late as 1833, Walton, in his
"York Commercial Directory, Street Guide, and Register," when naming the
residents on Lot Street, as he still designates Queen Street, makes a
note on arriving at two park lots to the westward of the spot where we
have been pausing, to the effect, that "here this street is intercepted
by the grounds of Capt. McGill, S. P. Jarvis, Esq., and Hon. W. Allan;
past here it is open to the Roman Catholic Church, and intended to be
carried through to the Don Bridge."
The process of levelling up, now become so common in Toronto, has
effectually disposed of the difficulty temporarily presented by the
ravine or ancient water-course, yet partially to be seen either in front
of or upon the park lots occupied by the old inhabitants just named; and
Queen Street, at the present hour, is an uninterrupted thoroughfare in a
right line, and almost on a level the whole way, from the Don in the
east to the Lunatic Asylum in the west, and beyond, on to the gracefully
curving margin of Humber Bay.--(The unfrequented and rather tortuous
Britain Street is a relic of the deviation occasioned by the ravine,
although the actual route followed in making the detour of old was
Duchess Street.)
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XIX.
QUEEN STREET--DIGRESSION AT CAROLINE STREET--HISTORY OF THE EARLY PRESS.
A little to the south of Britain Street, between it and Duchess Street,
near the spot where Caroline Street, slightly diverging from the right
line, passes northward to Queen Street, there stood in the early day a
long, low wooden structure, memorable to ourselves, as being, in our
school-boy days, the Government Printing Office. Here the _Upper Canada
Gazette_ was issued, by "R. C. Horne, Printer to the King's Most
Excellent Majesty."
We shall have occasion hereafter to notice among our early inhabitants
some curious instances of change of profession. In the present case, His
Majesty's Printer was in reality an Army Surgeon, once attached to the
Glengary Light Infantry. And again, afterwards, the same gentleman was
for many years the Chief Teller in the Bank of Upper Canada. An incident
in the troubles of 1837 was "the burning of Dr. Horne's house," by a
party of the malcontents who were making a show of assault upon the
town. The site of this building, a conspicuous square two-storey frame
family residence, was close to the toll-bar on Yonge Street, in what is
now Yorkville. On that occasion, we are informed, Dr. Horne "berated the
Lieutenant-Governor for treating with avowed rebels, and insisted that
they were not in sufficient force to give any ground of alarm."
The _Upper Canada Gazette_ was the first newspaper published in Upper
Canada. Its first number appeared at Newark or Niagara, on Thursday,
the 18th of April, 1793. As it was apparently expected to combine with a
record of the acts of the new government some account of events
happening on the continent at large, it was made to bear the double
title of _Upper Canada Gazette, or American Oracle_. Louis Roy was its
first printer, a skilled artizan engaged probably from Lower Canada,
where printing had been introduced about thirty years previously, soon
after the English occupation of the country.
Louis Roy's name appears on the face of No. 1, Vol. I. The type is of
the shape used in contemporaneous printing, and the execution is very
good. The size of the sheet, which retained the folio form, was 15 by 9½
inches. The quality of the paper was rather coarse, but stout and
durable.
The address to the public in the first number is as follows:--"The
Editor of this paper respectfully informs the public that the flattering
prospect which he has of an extensive sale for his new undertaking has
enabled him to augment the size originally proposed from a Demy Quarto
to a Folio.
"The encouragement he has met will call forth every exertion he is
master of, so as to render the paper useful, entertaining and
instructive. He will be very happy in being favoured with such
communications as may contribute to the information of the public, from
those who shall be disposed to assist him, and in particular shall be
highly flattered in becoming the vehicle of intelligence in this growing
Province of whatever may tend to its internal benefit and common
advantage. In order to preserve the veracity of his paper, which will be
the first object of his attention, it will be requisite that all
transactions of a domestic nature, such as deaths, marriages, &c., be
communicated under real signatures.
"The price of this _Gazette_ will be three dollars per annum. All
advertisements inserted in it, and not exceeding twelve lines, will pay
4s. Quebec currency; and for every additional line a proportionable
price. Orders for letter-press printing will be executed with neatness,
despatch and attention, and on the most reasonable terms."
An advertisement in the first number informs the public that a Brewery
is about to be established under the sanction of the
Lieutenant-Governor. "Notice is hereby given, that there will be a
Brewery erected here this summer under the sanction of His Excellency
the Lieutenant-Governor, and encouraged by some of the principal
gentlemen of this place; and whosoever will sow barley and cultivate
their land so that it will produce grain of a good quality, they may be
certain of a market in the fall at one dollar a bushel on delivery. W.
Huet, Niagara, 18th April, 1793."
The number dated Niagara, May 2, 1793, "hath" the following
advertisement:--"Sampson Jutes begs leave to inform all persons who
propose to build houses, &c., in the course of this summer, that he hath
laths, planks and scantlings of all kinds to sell on reasonable terms.
Any person may be supplied with any of the above articles on the
shortest notice. Applications to be made to him at his mill near Mr.
Peter Secord's."
In the Number for May 30, 1793, we have ten guineas reward offered for
the recovery of a Government grindstone:--"Ten Guineas Reward is offered
to any person that will make discovery and prosecute to conviction, the
Thief or Thieves that have stolen a Grindstone from the King's Wharf at
Navy Hall, between the 30th of April and the 6th instant. John McGill,
Com. of Stores, &c., &c., for the Province of Upper Canada. Queenstown,
16th May, 1793."
The Anniversary of the King's Birth-day was celebrated at Niagara in
1793, in the following manner:--"Niagara, June 6. On Tuesday last, being
the Anniversary of His Majesty's birthday, His Excellency the
Lieutenant-Governor had a Levee at Navy Hall. At one o'clock the troops
in garrison and at Queenston fired three volleys; the field-pieces above
Navy Hall, under the direction of the Royal Artillery, and the guns of
the Garrison, fired a Royal Salute. His Majesty's schooner, the
Onondago, at anchor in the river, likewise fired a Royal Salute. In the
evening His Excellency gave a Ball and elegant Supper at the Council
Chamber, which was most numerously attended."
In the second volume (1794) of the _Gazette and Oracle_, Louis Roy's
name disappears. G. Tiffany becomes the printer. In 1798 it has assumed
the Quarto form, and is dated "West Niagara," a name Newark was
beginning to acquire.
No _Gazette_ is issued April 29th, 1798. An apology for the omission
constitutes the whole of the editorial of the Number for May 5. It says:
"The Printer having been called to York last week upon business, is
humbly tendered to his readers as an apology for the _Gazette's_ not
appearing."
In 1799, the _Gazette_ being about to be removed across permanently to
York, the new capital, whither also all the government offices were
departing, Messrs. S. and G. Tiffany decide on starting a newspaper on
their own account for Niagara. It is called the "_Canada
Constellation_," and its terms are four dollars per annum. It is
announced to appear weekly "opposite the Lion tavern." The date of the
first number is July 20. In the introductory address to the public, the
Messrs. Tiffany make use of the following rather involved language:--"It
is a truth long acknowledged that no men hold situations more
influential of the minds and conduct of men than do printers: political
printers are sucked from, nursed and directed by the press: and when
they are just, the community is in unity and prosperity; but when
vicious, every evil ensues; and it is lamentable that many printers,
either vile remiss in, or ignorant of, their duty, produce the latter or
no effect; and to which of these classes we belong, time will unfold."
The public means of maintaining a regular correspondence with the outer
world being insufficient, the enterprising spirit of the Messrs. Tiffany
led them to think of establishing a postal system of their own. In the
_Constellation_ for August 23, we have the announcement: "The printers
of the _Constellation_ are desirous of establishing a post on the road
from their office to Ancaster and the Grand River, as well as another to
Fort Erie; and for this purpose they propose to hire men to perform the
routes as soon as the subscriptions will allow of the expense. In order
to establish the business, the printers on their part will subscribe
generously, and to put the design into execution, but little remains for
the people to do."
We can detect in the _Constellation_ a natural local feeling against the
upstart town of York, which had now drawn away almost every thing from
the old Newark. Thus in the number for November the 14th, 1799, a
communication from York, signed _Amicus_, is admitted, written plainly
by one who was no great lover of the place. It affords a glimpse of the
state of its thoroughfares, and of the habits of some of its
inhabitants. _Amicus_ proposes a "_Stump Act_" for York; _i. e._, a
compulsory eradication of the stumps in the streets: so that "the people
of York in the space of a few months may" as he speaks. "relapse into
intoxication with impunity; and stagger home at any hour of the night
without encountering the dreadful apprehension of broken necks."
The same animus gives colour to remarks on some legal verbiage recently
employed at York. Under the heading "Interesting Discovery" we read: "It
has been lately found at York that in England laws are made; and that a
law made in England is the law of England, and is enforced by another
law; that many laws are made in Lower Canada and follow up, that is,
follow after, or in other words are made since, other laws; and that
these laws may be repealed. It is seldom," continues the writer in the
_Constellation_, "that so few as one discovery slips into existence at
one birth. Genius is sterile, and justly said to be like a breeding cat,
as is verified in York, where by some unaccountable fortuity of events
all genius centres; at the same time with the above, its twin kitten
came forth, that an atheist does not believe as a Christian."
In another number we have some chaffing about the use of the word
_capital_. In an address on the arrival of Governor Hunter, the
expression, "We, the inhabitants of the Capital," had occurred. "This
fretted my pate," the critic pretends to complain. "What can this be?
Surely it is some great place in a great country was my conclusion; but
where the capital is, was a little beyond my geographical acquaintance.
I had recourse to the books" he continues: "all the gazettes and
magazines from the year One I carefully turned over, and not one case
among all the addresses they contained afforded me any instruction: 'We,
the inhabitants of the cities of London and Westminster, of Edinburgh,
Dublin, Paris, &c.,' only proved to me that neither of these is the
Capital. But as these are only _little_ towns in young countries, and
cannot be so forward as to take upon themselves the pompous title of
_capital_, it must be in America." He then professes to have consulted
the _Encyclopædia Eboretica_, or, "A Vindication in support of the great
Utility of New Words," lately printed in Upper Canada, and to have
discovered therein that the Capital in question "was, in plain English,
York." He concludes, therefore, that whenever in future the expression
"We, the inhabitants of the Capital" is met with, it is to be translated
into the vernacular tongue, "We, the inhabitants of York, assembled at
McDougall's, &c."
There is mention made above of a Stump Act. We have been assured that
such a regulation was, at an early day, in force at York, as a deterrent
from drunkenness. Capt. Peeke, who burnt lime at Duffin's Creek, and
shipped it to York in his own vessel, before the close of the last
century, was occasionally inconvenienced by the working of the Stump
Act. His men whom he had brought up with him to assist in navigating his
boat would be found, just when especially wanted by himself, laboriously
engaged in the extraction of a great pine-root in one or other of the
public thoroughfares of the town, under sentence of the magistrate, for
having been found, on the preceding day, intoxicated in the streets.
The _Constellation_ newspaper does not appear to have succeeded. Early
in 1801 a new paper comes out, entitled the _Herald_. In it, it is
announced that the _Constellation_, "after existing one year, expired
some months since of starvation, its publishers departing too much from
its constitution (advance pay)." The printer is now Silvester Tiffany,
the senior proprietor of the _Constellation_. It is very well printed
with good type; but on blue wrapping paper. In little more than two
years, viz., on the 4th June, 1802, it announced that the publication of
the _Herald_ is suspended; that it will appear only "on particular
occasions;" but Mr. Tiffany hopes it "will by and by receive a revival."
Other early papers published at the town of Niagara were the _Gleaner_,
by Mr. Heron; the _Reporter_; the _Spectator_. The _Mail_ was
established so late as 1845. Its publication ceased in 1870, when its
editor, Mr. Kirby, was appointed to the collectorship of the Port of
Niagara. Down to 1870 Mr. Tiffany's "imposing stone," used in the
printing of the _Constellation_, did duty in the office of the _Mail_.
In 1800, the _Upper Canada Gazette or American Oracle_ is issued at
York, weekly, from the office of William Waters and T. G. Simons. In the
number for Saturday, May the 17th, in that year, we read that on the
Thursday evening previous, "His Excellency Peter Hunter, Esq.,
Lieutenant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Province, arrived in
our harbour on board the Toronto; and on Friday morning, about nine
o'clock, landed at the Garrison, where he is at present to reside."
We are thus enabled to add two items to the table of dates usually
given, shewing the introduction of Printing at different points on this
Continent: viz., the dates 1793 and 1800 for Niagara and York
respectively. The table will now stand as follows:--
1639, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Stephen Day and Samuel Green; 1674,
Boston, John Foster; 1684, Philadelphia, Wm. Bradford; 1693, New York,
Wm. Bradford (removed from Philadelphia); 1730, Charleston, Eleazer
Phillips; 1730, Bridgetown, Barbadoes, David Harry and Samuel Keimer;
1751, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Bartholomew Green, jun., and John Bushell;
1764, Quebec, Wm. Brown and Thos. H. Gilmore; 1771, Albany, Alex. and
Jas. Robertson; 1775, Montreal, Chas. Berger and Fleury Mesplet; 1784,
St. George's, Bermuda, J. Stockdale; 1793, Newark (Niagara), Louis Roy;
1795, Cincinnati, S. Freeman; 1800, York (Toronto), Wm. Waters and T. G.
Simons.
As at York and Niagara, the first printers in most of the places named
were publishers of newspapers.
It may be added that a press was in operation in the City of Mexico in
1569; and in the City of Lima in 1621. The original of all the many
Colonial Government _Gazettes_ was the famous royal or exclusively court
news sheet, published first at Oxford, in November, 1665, entitled the
_Oxford Gazette_, and in the following year, at London, and entitled
then and ever afterwards to this day, the _London Gazette_.
In 1801, J. Bennett succeeds Messrs. Waters and Simons, and becomes the
printer and publisher of the _Gazette or Oracle_. In that year the
printing-office is removed to "the house of Mr. A. Cameron, King
Street," and it is added, "subscriptions will be received there and at
the Toronto Coffee House, York." From March 21st in this year, and
onward for six weeks, the paper appears printed on blue sheets of the
kind of material that used formerly to be seen on the outsides of
pamphlets and magazines and Government "Blue-books." The stock of white
paper has plainly run out, and no fresh supply can be had before the
opening of the navigation. The _Herald_, at Niagara, of the same period,
appeared, as we have already noticed, in the like guise.
On Saturday, December 20th, 1801, is this statement, the whole of the
editorial matter: "It is much to be lamented that communication between
Niagara and this town is so irregular and unfrequent: opportunities now
do not often occur of receiving the American papers from our
correspondents; and thereby prevents us for the present from laying
before our readers the state of politics in Europe." In the number for
June 13th, the editorial "leader" reads as follows:--"The _Oracle_,
York, Saturday, June 13th. Last Monday was a day of universal rejoicing
in this town, occasioned by the arrival of the news of the splendid
victory gained by Lord Nelson over the Danes in Copenhagen Roads on the
2nd of April last: in the morning the great guns at the Garrison were
fired: at night there was a general illumination, and bonfires blazed in
almost every direction." The writer indulges in no further comments.
It would have been gratifying to posterity had the printers of the
_Gazette and Oracle_ endeavoured to furnish a connected record of "the
short and simple annals" of their own immediate neighbourhood. But these
unfortunately were deemed undeserving of much notice. We have
announcements of meetings, and projects, and subscriptions for
particular purposes, unfollowed by any account of what was subsequently
said, done and effected; and when a local incident is mentioned, the
detail is generally very meagre.
An advertisement in the number for the 27th August, 1801, reminds us
that in the early history of Canada it was imagined that a great source
of wealth to the inhabitants of the country in all future time would be
the ginseng that was found growing naturally in the swamps. The market
for ginseng was principally China, where it was worth its weight in
silver. The word is said to be Chinese for "all-heal." In 1801 we find
that Mr. Jacob Herchmer, of York, was speculating in ginseng. In his
advertisement in the _Gazette and Oracle_ he "begs leave to inform the
inhabitants of York and its vicinity that he will purchase any quantity
of ginseng between this and the first of November next, and that he will
give two shillings, New York currency, per pound well dried, and one
shilling for green."
At one period, it will be remembered, the cultivation of hemp was
expected to be the mainstay of the country's prosperity. In the Upper
Canada Almanac for 1804, among the public officers we have set down as
"Commissioners appointed for the distribution of Hemp Seed (gratis) to
the Farmers of the Provinces, the Hon. John McGill, the Hon. David W.
Smith, and Thomas Scott, Esquires."
The whole of the editorial matter of the _Gazette and Oracle_ on the 2nd
of January, 1802, is the following: "The _Oracle_, York, Saturday,
January 2, 1802. The Printer presents his congratulary compliments to
his customers on the New Year." Note that the dignified title of Editor
was yet but sparingly assumed. That term is used once by Tiffany at
Newark, in the second volume. After the death of Governor Hunter, in
September, 1805, J. Bennett writes himself down "Printer to the King's
Most Excellent Majesty." Previously the colophon of the publication had
been: "York, printed by John Bennett, by the authority of His Excellency
Peter Hunter, Esq., Lieut.-Governor."
Happening to have at hand a bill of Bennett's against the Government we
give it here. The modern reader will be able to form from this specimen
an idea of the extent of the Government requirements in 1805 in regard
to printing and the cost thereof. We give also the various attestations
appended to the account:--
York, Upper Canada, 24th June, 1805.
The Government of Upper Canada,
To John Bennett, Government Printer.
Jan. 11. 300 copies Still Licenses, ½ sheet foolscap, pica type 0 16 6
March 30. Printing 20 copies of an Act for altering the time of issuing
Licenses for keeping of a House of Public Entertainment,
¼ sheet demy, pica type 0 3 4
April 5. Inserting a Notice to persons taking out Shop, Still or
Tavern Licenses, 6 weeks in the _Gazette_, equal to 4½
advertisements 1 16 0
April 16. 1,000 copies of Proclamation, warning persons that possess
and occupy Lands in this Province, without due
titles having been obtained for such Lands, forthwith
to quit and remove from the same, ½ sheet demy,
double pica type 4 18 4
April 22. 100 copies of an Act to afford relief to persons entitled to
claim Land in this Province as heirs or devisees of the
nominees of the Crown, one sheet demy, pica type 3 6 3
Printing Marginal notes to do 0 5 0
May 14. Printing 1,500 copies of the Acts of the First Session of
the Fourth Parliament, three sheets demy, pica type 45 0 0
Marginal Notes to do., at 5s. per sheet 0 15 0
Folding, Stitching and Covering in Blue Paper, at 1d. 6 5 0
--------
Halifax currency £63 5 9
Amounting to sixty-three pounds five shillings and nine-pence
Halifax currency. Errors excepted.
(Signed) John Bennett.
John Bennett, of the Town of York, in the Home District, maketh
oath and saith, that the foregoing account amounting to
sixty-three pounds five shillings and ninepence Halifax
currency, is just and true in all its particulars to the best of
his knowledge and belief.
(Signed) John Bennett.
Sworn before me at York, this 20th day of July, 1805.
(Signed) Wm. Dummer Powell, J.
Audited and approved in Council 6th August 1805.
(Signed) Peter Russell,
_Presiding Councillor_.
(_Examined_)
(Signed) John McGill,
_Inspector Genl. P. P. Accts._
[A true copy.]
John McGill,
Inspector Gen. P. P. Accts.
Bennett published "The Upper Canada Almanac," containing with the matter
usually found in such productions the Civil and Military Lists and the
Duties, Imperial and Provincial. This work was admirably printed in fine
Elzevir type, and in aspect, as well as arrangement, was an exact copy
of the almanacs of the day published in London.
A rival Calendar continued to be issued at Niagara entitled "Tiffany's
Upper Canada Almanac." This was a roughly-printed little tract, and
contained popular matter in addition to the official lists. It gave in a
separate and very conspicuous column in each month "the moon's place" on
each day in respect to a distinct portion of the human body with
prognostications accordingly. And in the "Advertisement to the reader"
it was set forth, that "in the calculation of the weather the most
unwearied pains have been taken; and the calculator prays, for his
honour's sake, that he may have not failed in the least point; but as
all calculation may sometimes fail in small matters," the writer
continues, "no wonder is it that in this, the most important, should be
at times erroneous. And when this shall unfortunately have been the case
with the Upper Canada Almanac, let careful observers throw over the
error the excess of that charity of which their generous souls are
composed, and the all-importance of the subject requires; let them
remember that the task, in all the variety and changes of climates and
seasons, is arduous beyond that of reforming a vicious world, and not
less than that of making a middle-sized new one."
In the number of the _Oracle_ for September 28th, 1805, which is in
mourning, we have the following notice of the character of Governor
Hunter, who had deceased on the 23rd of the preceding August at
Quebec:--"As an officer his character was high and unsullied; and at
this present moment his death may be considered a great public loss. As
Lieut.-Governor of Upper Canada, his loss will be severely felt; for by
his unremitting attention and exertions he has, in the course of a very
few years, brought that infant colony to an unparalleled state of
prosperity." An account is then given of the procession at the funeral.
The 49th and 6th Regiments were present; also Lieut.-Col. Brock,
Commanding. At the grave one round was fired slowly and distinctly by
eleven field pieces, followed by one round of small arms, by regiments;
then a second round of artillery, followed in like manner by the small
arms; and, lastly, a third round of artillery, and a third round of
small arms. The mourners were, the Hon. Thomas Dunn, President of the
Province (Lower Canada). Col. Bowes, Major Curry, Hon. Mr. Craigie, Col.
Green, Major Robe, Capt. Gomm and Mr. William Green.
In 1813, during the war with the United States, Cameron is the printer
of the official paper, which now for a time assumed the title of _The
York Gazette_. Mr. John Cameron also published "The Upper Canada
Almanac," from which we have already had occasion to quote, but it put
in no claim to an official character. It did not contain the Civil
Lists, but, as stated in the title page, "some Chinese sayings and
Elegant Aphorisms." It bore as a motto the following lines:--
"Ye who would mend these wicked times
And morals of the age,
Come buy a book half full of rhymes,
At three-pence York per page.
It would be money well outlaid,
So plenty money is;
Paper for paper is fair trade:
So said "Poor Richard Quiz."
Among the aphorisms given is this one: "Issuers of paper-change, are
entitled to thanks from the public for the great accommodation such
change affords. They might render the accommodation more extensive were
they to emit a proportionate number of half-penny bills." At one place
the query is put, "When will the beard be worn, and man allowed to
appear with it in native dignity? And if so, how long before it will
become fashionable to have it greased and powdered?" In the almanac for
1815, towards the end, the following paragraph appears:--"York
supernatural prices current: Turnips 1 dollar per bushel; Potatoes,
long, at 2 ditto; Salt 20 ditto; Butter per lb. 1 ditto; Indifferent
bread 1 shilling N. Y. cy. per lb.; Conscience, a contraband article."
In Bennett's time the Government press was, as we have seen, set up in
Mr. Cameron's house on King Street. But at the period of the war in 1812
Mr. Cameron's printing office was in a building which still exists,
viz., the house on Bay Street associated with the name of Mr. Andrew
Mercer. During the occupation of York by the United States force, the
press was broken up and the type dispersed. Mr. Mercer once exhibited to
ourselves a portion of the press which on that occasion was made
useless. For a short period Mr. Mercer himself had charge of the
publication of the _York Gazette_.
In 1817 Dr. Horne became the editor and publisher. On coming into his
hands the paper resumed the name of _Upper Canada Gazette_, but the old
secondary title of _American Oracle_ was dropped. To the official
portion of the paper there was, nevertheless, still appended abstracts
of news from the United States and Europe, summaries of the proceedings
in the Parliaments of Upper and Lower Canada, and much well-selected
miscellaneous matter. The shape continued to be that of a small folio,
and the terms were four dollars per annum in advance; and if sent by
mail, four dollars and a half.
In 1821 Mr. Charles Fothergill (of whom we have already spoken) became
the Editor and Publisher of the _Gazette_. Mr. Fothergill revived the
practice of having a secondary title, which was now _The Weekly
Register_; a singular choice, by the way, that being very nearly the
name of Cobbett's celebrated democratic publication in London. After Mr.
Fothergill came Mr. Robert Stanton, who changed the name of the private
portion of the _Gazette_ sheet, styling it "_The U. E. Loyalist_."
In 1820 Mr. John Carey had established the _Observer_ at York. The
_Gazette_ of May 11, 1820, contains the announcement of his design; and
he therein speaks of himself as "the person who gave the Debates"
recently in another paper. To have the debates in Parliament reported
with any fulness was then a novelty. The _Observer_ was a folio of
rustic, unkempt aspect, the paper and typography and matter being all
somewhat inferior. It gave in its adherence to the government of the
day, generally: at a later period it wavered. Mr. Carey was a tall,
portly personage who, from his bearing and costume might readily have
been mistaken for a non-conformist minister of local importance. The
_Observer_ existed down to about the year 1830. Between the _Weekly
Register_ and the _Observer_ the usual journalistic feud sprung up,
which so often renders rival village newspapers ridiculous. With the
_Register_ a favourite sobriquet for the _Observer_ is "Mother C----y."
Once a correspondent is permitted to style it "The Political Weathercock
and Slang Gazetteer." Mr. Carey ended his days in Springfield on the
River Credit, where he possessed property.
The _Canadian Freeman_, established in 1825 by Mr. Francis Collins was a
sheet remarkable for the neatness of its arrangement and execution, and
also for the talent exhibited in its editorials. The type was evidently
new and carefully handled. Mr. Collins was his own principal compositor.
He is said to have transferred to type many of his editorials without
the intervention of pen and paper, composing directly from copy mentally
furnished. Mr. Collins was a man of pronounced Celtic features, roughish
in outline, and plentifully garnished with hair of a sandy or reddish
hue.
Notwithstanding the colourless character of the motto at the head of its
columns "Est natura hominum novitatis avida"--"Human nature is fond of
news," the _Freeman_ was a strong party paper. The hard measure dealt
out to him in 1828 at the hands of the legal authorities, according to
the prevailing spirit of the day, with the revenge that he was moved to
take--and to take successfully--we shall not here detail. Mr. Collins
died of cholera in the year 1834. We have understood that he was once
employed in the office of the _Gazette_; and that when Dr. Horne
resigned, he was an applicant for the position of Government Printer.
The _Canadian Freeman_ joined for a time in the general opposition
clamour against Dr. Strachan,--against the influence, real or supposed,
exercised by him over successive lieutenant-governors. But on
discovering the good-humoured way in which its fulminations were
received by their object, the _Freeman_ dropped its strictures. It
happened that Mr. Collins had a brother in business in the town with
whom Dr. Strachan had dealings. This brother on some occasion thought it
becoming to make some faint apology for the _Freeman's_ diatribes. "O
don't let them trouble you," the Doctor replied, "they do not trouble
me; but by the way, tell your brother," he laughingly continued, "I
shall claim a share in the proceeds." This, when reported to the Editor,
was considered a good joke, and the diatribes ceased; a proceeding that
was tantamount to Peter Pindar's confession, when some one charged him
with being too hard on the King: "I confess there exists a difference
between the King and me," said Peter; "the King has been a good subject
to me; and I have been a bad subject to his Majesty."--During Mr.
Collins' imprisonment in 1828 for the application of the afterwards
famous expression "native malignity" to the Attorney-General of the day,
the _Freeman_ still continued to appear weekly, the editorials, set up
in type in the manner spoken of above, being supplied to the office from
his room in the jail.
In the early stages of society in Upper Canada the Government
authorities appear not only to have possessed but to have exercised the
power of handling political writers pretty sharply. In the Kingston
_Chronicle_ of December 10th, 1820, we have recorded the sentence
pronounced on Barnabas Ferguson, Editor of the Niagara _Spectator_, for
"a libel on the Government." Mr. Ferguson was condemned to be imprisoned
eighteen months; to stand in the pillory once during his confinement; to
pay a fine of £50, and remain in prison till paid; and on his liberation
to find security for seven years, himself in £500, and two sureties in
£250 each. No comment is made by the _Chronicle_ on the sentence, and
the libel is not described.
The local government took its cue in this matter from its superiors of
the day in the old country. What Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer says in his
sketch of the life of Cobbett helps to explain the action of the early
Upper Canada authorities in respect to the press. "Let us not forget,"
says the writer just named, "the blind and uncalculating intolerance
with which the law struggled against opinion from 1809 to 1822. Writers
during this period were transported, imprisoned, and fined, without
limit or conscience; and just when government became more gentle to
legitimate newspapers, it engaged in a new conflict with unstamped ones.
No less than 500 venders of these were imprisoned within six years. The
contest was one of life and death."
So early as 1807 there was an "opposition" paper--the _Upper Canada
Guardian_. Willcocks, the editor, had been Sheriff of the Home District,
and had lost his office for giving a vote contrary to the policy of the
lieutenant-governor for the time being. He was returned as a member of
parliament; and after having been imprisoned for breach of privilege, he
was returned again, and continued to lead the reforming party. The name
of Mr. Cameron, the publisher of the _Gazette_ at York was, by some
means, mixed up with that of Mr. Willcocks, in connection with the
_Upper Canada Guardian_ in 1807, and he found it expedient to publish
in the _Gazette_ of June 20, the following notice: "To the
Public--Having seen the Prospectus of a paper generally circulated at
Niagara, intended to be printed in Upper Canada, entitled the _Upper
Canada Guardian or Freeman's Journal_, executed in the United States of
America, without my knowledge or consent, wherein my name appears as
being a party concerned; I therefore think it necessary to undeceive my
friends and the inhabitants of Upper Canada, and to assure them that I
have no connection with, nor is it my most distant wish or intention in
any wise to be connected with the printing or publication of said paper.
John Bennett."--When the war of 1812 broke out the _Guardian_ came to an
end; its editor at first loyally bore arms on the Canadian side, but at
length deserted to the enemy, taking with him some of the Canadian
Militia. He was afterwards killed at the siege of Fort Erie.
The newspaper which occupies the largest space in the early annals of
the press at York is the _Colonial Advocate_. Issuing first at Queenston
in May, 1824, it was removed in the following November to York. Its
shape varied from time to time: now it was a folio: now a quarto. On all
its pages the matter was densely packed; but printed in a very mixed
manner: it abounded with sentences in italics, in small capitals, in
large capitals; with names distinguished in like decided manner: with
paragraphs made conspicuous by rows of index hands, and other
typographical symbols at top, bottom and sides. It was editorial, not in
any one particular column, but throughout; and the opinions delivered
were expressed for the most part in the first person.
The _Weekly Register_ fell foul of the _Advocate_ at once. It appears
that the new audacious nondescript periodical, though at the time it
bore on its face the name of Queenston, was nevertheless for convenience
sake printed at Lewiston on the New York side of the river. Hence it was
denounced by the _Weekly Register_ in language that now astonishes us,
as a United States production; and as in the United States interest.
"This paper of motley, unconnected, shake-bag periods" cried the Editor
of the _Weekly Register_, "this unblushing, brazen-faced _Advocate_,
affects to be a Queenston and Upper Canadian paper; whereas it is to all
intents and purposes, and radically, a Lewiston and genu-wine Yankee
paper. How can this man of truth, this pure and holy reformer and
regenerator of the unhappy and prostrate Canada reconcile such barefaced
and impudent deception?"
Nothing could more promote the success of the _Colonial Advocate_ than a
welcome like this. To account for the _Register's_ extraordinary warmth,
it is to be said that the _Advocate_ in its first number had happened to
quote a passage from an address of its Editor to the electors of the
County of Durham, which seemed in some degree to compromise him as a
servant of the Government. Mr. Fothergill had ventured to say "I know
some of the deep and latent causes why this fine country has so long
languished in a state of comparative stupor and inactivity, while our
more enterprising neighbours are laughing us to scorn. All I desire is
an opportunity of attempting the cure of some of the evils we labour
under." This was interpreted in the _Advocate_ to mean a censure upon
the Executive. But the _Register_ replied that these words simply
expressed the belief that the evils complained of were remediable only
by the action of the House of Assembly, on the well-known axiom "that
all law is for the people, and from the people; and when efficient, must
be remedied or rectified by the people; and that therefore Mr.
Fothergill was desirous of assisting in the great work."
The end in fact was that the Editor of the _Register_, after his return
to parliament for the County of Durham, did not long retain the post of
King's Printer. After several independent votes in the House he was
dismissed by Sir Peregrine Maitland in 1826, after which date the
awkwardness of uniting with a Government Gazette a general newspaper
whose editor, as a member of the House of Assembly, might claim the
privilege of acting with His Majesty's opposition, came to an end. In
1826 we have Mr. Fothergill in his place in the House supporting a
motion for remuneration to the publisher of the _Advocate_, on the
ground that the wide and even gratuitous circulation of that paper
throughout Canada and among members of the British House of Commons,
"would help to draw attention in the proper quarter to the country."
Here is an account of McKenzie's method in the collection of matter for
his various publications, the curious multifariousness of which matter
used to astonish while it amused. The description is by Mr. Kent, editor
of a religious journal, entitled _The Church_, published at Cobourg in
1838. Lord Clarendon's style has been exactly caught, it will be
observed: "Possessed of a taste for general and discursive reading,"
says Mr. Kent, "he (McK.) made even his very pleasures contribute to the
serious business of his life, and, year after year, accumulated a mass
of materials, which he pressed into his service at some fitting
opportunity. Whenever anything transpired that at all reflected on a
political opponent, or whenever, in his reading, he met with a passage
that favoured his views, he not only turned it to a present purpose, but
laid it by, to bring it forward at some future period, long after it
might have been supposed to be buried in oblivion."
The Editor of the _Advocate_, after his flight from Canada in 1837,
published for a short time at New York a paper named _McKenzie's
Gazette_, which afterwards was removed to Rochester: its term of
existence there was also brief. In the number for June, 1839, we have
the following intelligence contributed by a correspondent at Toronto: a
certain animus in relation to the military in Canada, and in relation to
the existing Banks of the country, is apparent. "Toronto, May 24th: The
93rd Regiment is still in quarters here. The men 660 strong, all
Scotchmen, enlisted in the range of country from Aberdeen to Ayrshire: a
highland regiment without highlanders: few or none of Englishmen or
Irishmen among them. They are a fine-looking body of men: I never saw a
finer. I wished to go into the garrison, but was not permitted to do so.
Few of the townspeople have that privilege. ---- has made the fullest
enquiries, and tells me that a majority of the men would be glad to get
away if they could: they would willingly leave the service and the
country. He says they are well-informed, civil and well-behaved, and
that for such time as England may be compelled to retain possession of
the Canadas by military force, against the wishes of the settled
population he would like to have this regiment remain in Toronto. ----
tells me that a few _soups_ have been kept at Queenston during the
winter, because if they desert it is no matter: the regulars are all at
Drummondville, near the Falls, and a couple of hundred blacks at
Chippewa watching them. The Ferry below the Falls is guarded by old men
whose term of service is nearly out, and who look for a pension. It is
the same at Malden, and in Lower Canada. The regiments Lord Durham
brought were fine fellows, the flower of the English army.
"The Banks here tax the people heavily, but they are so stupid they
don't see it. All the specie goes into the Banks. I am told that the
Upper Canada Bank had at one time £300,000 in England in Commissariat
bills of Exchange: their notes in circulation are a million and a
quarter of paper dollars, for all of which they draw interest from the
people, although not obliged to keep six cents in their money-till to
redeem them. All the troops were paid in the depreciated paper of these
fraudulent bankrupt concerns, the directors of which deserve the
Penitentiary: the contracts of the Commissariat are paid in the same
paper as a 10 per cent. shave: and the troops up at Brantford were also
paid in Bank notes which the Bank did not pretend to redeem; and it
would have offended Sir George [Arthur], who has a share in such
speculations (as he had when in VanDieman's Land), had any one asked the
dollars. Sir Allan McNab, who has risen from poverty to be president _de
facto_, solicitor, directors and company of the Gore Bank, ever since
its creation, is said to be terribly embarrassed for want of money. He
is not the alpha and omega of the Bank now. He has quarrelled with his
brother villains. The money paid to Canada from England to uphold troops
to coerce the people helps the Banks."
In the same number of the _Gazette_ published at Rochester we have an
extract from a production by Robert Gourlay himself, who in his old age
paid a final visit of inspection to Canada. In allusion to a portion of
Gourlay's famous work published in 1822, the extract is headed in
_McKenzie's Gazette_ "Robert Gourlay's 'Last Sketch' of Upper Canada."
It is dated at Toronto, May 25th. Having just presented one gloomy view,
we will venture to lower the reader's spirits a particle more, by giving
another. Let allowance be made for the morbid mental condition of the
writer: the contrast offered by the Canada of to-day will afterwards
proportionably exhilarate.
"What did Upper Canada gain," Gourlay asks, "by my banishment; and what
good is now to be seen in it? Cast an eye over the length and breadth of
the land" he cries, "from Malden to Point Fortune, and from the Falls to
Lake Simcoe: then say if a single public work is creditable, or a single
institution as it should be. The Rideau Canal!--what is it but a
monument of England's folly and waste; which can never return a farthing
of interest; or for a single day stay the conquest of the province. The
Welland Canal!--Has it not been from beginning till now a mere struggle
of misery and mismanagement; and from now onward, promising to become a
putrid ditch. The only railway, of ten miles; with half completed; and
half which cannot be completed for want of funds! The macadamised roads,
all in mud; only causing an increase of wear and tear. The province
deeply in debt; confidence uprooted; and banks beleaguered!
"Schools and Colleges, what are they?--Few yet _painted_, though
lectures on natural philosophy are now abundant. The Cobourg seminary
outstaring all that is sanctimonious: so airy and lank that learning
cannot take root in it. A college at Sandwich built before the war, but
now a pig stye; and one at Toronto indicated only by an approach. The
edifices of the Church!--how few worthy of the Divine presence--how many
unfinished--how many fallen to decay. The Church itself, wholly
militant: Episcopalians maintaining what can never be established;
Presbyterians more sour than ever, contending for rights where they have
none whatever: Methodists so disunited that they cannot even join in a
respectable groan; and Catholic priests wandering about in poverty
because their scattered and starving flocks yield not sufficient wool
for the shears. One institution only have I seen praiseworthy and
progressing--The Penitentiary; but that is a concentrated essence,
seeing the whole province is one: and which of you, resident
land-holders, having sense or regard for your family would remain in it
a day, could you sell your property and be off?"
Some popular Almanacs of a remarkable character also emanated from
McKenzie's press. Whilst in the United States he put forth the _Caroline
Almanac_, a designation intended to keep alive the memory of the cutting
out of the _Caroline_ steamer from Fort Schlosser in 1837, and her
precipitation over the Falls of Niagara, an act sought to be held up as
a great outrage on the part of the Canadian authorities. In the Canadian
Almanacs, published by him, intended for circulation especially among
the country population, the object kept in view was the same as that so
industriously aimed at by the _Advocate_ itself, viz., the exposure of
the shortcomings and vices of the government of the day. At the same
time a large amount of practically useful matter and information was
supplied.
The earlier almanac was entitled "Poor Richard, or the Yorkshire
Almanac," and the compiler professed to be one "Patrick Swift, late of
Belfast, in the Kingdom of Ireland, Esq., F.R.I., Grand-nephew of the
celebrated Doctor Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin, etc.,
etc., etc." This same personage was a contributor also of many pungent
and humorous things in prose and verse in the columns of the _Advocate_
itself. In 1834 the Almanac assumed the following title: "A new Almanac
for the Canadian True Blues; with which is incorporated The
Constitutional Reformer's Text Book, for the Millenial and Prophetic
Year of the Grand General Election for Upper Canada, and total and
everlasting Downfall of Toryism in the British Empire, 1834." It was
still supposed to be edited by Patrick Swift, Esq., who is now dubbed
M.P.P., and Professor of Astrology, York.
In the extract given above from what was styled Gourlay's "Last Sketch"
of Upper Canada, the query and rejoinder, "Schools and Colleges, where
are they? Few yet _painted_, though lectures on Natural Philosophy are
now abundant"--will not be understood, without remark. The allusion is
to an advertisement in the _Upper Canada Gazette_ of Feb. 5, 1818, which
Gourlay at the time of its appearance thought proper to animadvert upon
and satirize in the Niagara _Spectator_. It ran as follows: "Natural
Philosophy.--The subscriber intends to deliver a course of Popular
Lectures on Natural Philosophy, to commence on Tuesday, the 17th inst.,
at 7 o'clock p.m., should a number of auditors come forward to form a
class. Tickets of admission for the Course (price Two Guineas) may be
had of William Allan, Esq., Dr. Horne, or at the School House. The
surplus, if any, after defraying the current expenses, to be laid out in
painting the District School. John Strachan, York, 3rd Feb., 1818."
As was to be expected, Dr. Strachan was a standing subject of invective
in all the publications of Gourlay, as well as subsequently in all those
of McKenzie. Collins, Editor of the _Freeman_, became, as we have seen,
reticent in relation to him; but, more or less, a fusilade was
maintained upon him in McKenzie's periodicals, as long as they issued.
In McKenzie's opposition to Dr. Strachan there was possibly a certain
degree of national animus springing from the contemplation of a Scottish
compatriot who, after rising to position in the young colony, was
disposed, from temperament, to bear himself cavalierly towards all who
did not agree with him in opinion. In addition, we have been told that
at an early period in an interview between the two parties, Dr. Strachan
once chanced to express himself with considerable heat to McKenzie, and
proceeded to the length of showing him the door. The latter had called,
as our information runs, to deprecate prejudice in regard to a
brother-in-law of his, Mr. Baxter, who was a candidate for some post
under the Educational Board, of which Dr. S. was chairman; when great
offence was taken at the idea being for a moment entertained that a
personal motive would in the slightest degree bias him when in the
execution of public duty.
At a late period in the history of both the now memorable
Scoto-Canadians, we happened ourselves to be present at a scene in the
course of which the two were brought curiously face to face with each
other, once more, for a few moments. It will be remembered that after
the subsidence of the political troubles and the union of Upper and
Lower Canada, McKenzie came back and was returned member of Parliament
for Haldimand. While he was in the occupancy of this post, it came to
pass that Dr. Strachan, now Bishop of Toronto, had occasion to present a
petition to the united House on the subject of the Clergy Reserves. To
give greater weight and solemnity to the act he decided to attend in
person at the bar of the House, at the head of his clergy, all in
canonicals. McKenzie seeing the procession approaching, hurried into the
House and took his seat; and contrived at the moment the Bishop and his
retinue reached the bar to have possession of the floor. Affecting to
put a question to the Speaker, before the Order of the Day was proceeded
with, he launched out with great volubility and in excited strain on the
interruptions to which the House was exposed in its deliberations; he
then quickly came round to an attack in particular on prelates and
clergy for their meddling and turbulence, infesting, as he averred, the
lobbies of the Legislature when they should be employed on higher
matters, filling with tumultuous mobs the halls and passages of the
House, thronging (with an indignant glance in that direction) the very
space below the bar set apart for the accommodation of peaceably
disposed spectators.
The House had only just assembled, and had not had time to settle down
into perfect quiet: members were still dropping in, and it was a mystery
to many, for a time, what could, at such an early stage of the day's
proceedings, have excited the ire of the member for Haldimand. The
courteous speaker, Mr. Sicotte, was plainly taken aback at the sudden
outburst of patriotic fervour; and, not being as familiar with the Upper
Canadian past as many old Upper Canadians present were, he could not
enter into the pleasantry of the thing; for, after all, it was
humourously and not maliciously intended; the orator in possession of
the floor had his old antagonist at a momentary disadvantage, and he
chose to compel him while standing there conspicuously at the bar to
listen for a while to a stream of _Colonial Advocate_ in the purest
vein.
After speaking against time, with an immense show of heat for a
considerable while--a thing at which he was an adept--the scene was
brought to a close by a general hubbub of impatience at the outrageous
irrelevancy of the harangue, arising throughout the House, and obliging
the orator to take his seat. The petition of the Bishop was then in due
form received, and he, with his numerous retinue of robed clergy,
withdrew.
We now proceed with our memoranda of the early press. When Fothergill
was deprived of his office of King's Printer in 1825, he published for a
time a quarto paper of his own, entitled the _Palladium_, composed of
scientific, literary and general matter. Mr. Robert Stanton, King's
Printer after Fothergill, issued on his own account for a few years, a
newspaper called _The U. E. Loyalist_, the name, as we have seen, borne
by the portion of the _Gazette_ devoted to general intelligence while
Mr. Stanton was King's Printer. The _U. E. Loyalist_ was a quarto sheet,
well printed, with an engraved ornamental heading resembling that which
surmounted the New York _Albion_. The _Loyalist_ was conservative, as
also was a local contemporary after 1831, the _Courier_, edited and
printed by Mr. George Gurnett, subsequently Clerk of the Peace, and
Police Magistrate for the City of Toronto. The _Christian Guardian_, a
local religious paper which still survives, began in 1828. The _Patriot_
appeared at York in 1833: it had previously been issued at Kingston; its
whole title was "_The Patriot and Farmer's Monitor_," with the motto,
"Common Sense," below. It was of the folio form, and its Editor, Mr.
Thos. Dalton, was a writer of much force, liveliness and originality.
The _Loyalist_, _Courier_ and _Patriot_ were antagonists politically of
the _Advocate_ while the latter flourished; but all three laboured under
the disadvantage of fighting on the side whose star was everywhere on
the decline.
Notwithstanding its conservatism, however, it was in the _Courier_ that
the memorable revolutionary sentiments appeared, so frequently quoted
afterwards in the _Advocate_ publications: "the minds of the
well-affected begin to be unhinged; they already begin to cast about in
their mind's eye for some new state of political existence, which shall
effectually put the colony without the pale of British connection;"
words written under the irritation occasioned by the dismissal of the
Attorney and Solicitor-General for Upper Canada in 1833.
For a short time prior to 1837, McKenzie's paper assumed the name of
_The Constitution_. A faithful portrait of McKenzie will be seen at the
beginning of the first volume of his "Life and Times," by Mr. Charles
Lindsey, a work which will be carefully and profitably studied by future
investigators in the field of Upper Canadian history. Excellent
portraits of Mr. Gurnett and of Mr. Dalton are likewise extant in
Toronto.
Soon after 1838, the _Examiner_ newspaper acquired great influence at
York. It was established and edited by Mr. Hincks. Mr. Hincks had
emigrated to Canada with the intention of engaging in commerce; and in
Walton's _York Directory_, 1833-34, we read for No. 21, west side of
Yonge Street, "Hincks, Francis, Wholesale Warehouse." But Mr. Hincks'
attention was drawn to the political condition of Canada, especially to
its Finance. The accident of living in immediate proximity to a family
that had already for a number of years been taking a warm and active
interest in public affairs, may have contributed to this. In the
Directory, just named, the Number after 21 on the west side of Yonge
Street, is 23, and the occupants are "Baldwin, Doctor W. Warren;
Baldwin, Robert, Esq., Attorney, &c., Baldwin and Sullivan's Attorney's
Office, and Dr. Baldwin's Surrogate Office round the corner, in King
Street, 195½." It was not unnatural that the next door neighbour of Dr.
Baldwin's family, their tenant, moreover, and attached friend, should
catch a degree of inspiration from them. The subsequent remarkable
career of Mr. Hincks, afterwards so widely known as Sir Francis Hincks,
has become a part of the general history of the country.
About the period of the Union of Upper and Lower Canada, a local
tri-weekly named _The Morning Star and Transcript_ was printed and
published by Mr. W. J. Coates, who also issued occasionally, at a later
date, the _Canadian Punch_, containing clever political cartoons in the
style of the London _Punch_.
We have spoken once, we believe, of the _Canadian Freeman's_ motto,
"_Est natura hominum novitatis avida_;" and of the _Patriot's_, just
above, "_Common Sense_." Fothergill's "_Weekly Register_" was headed by
a brief cento from Shakespeare: "Our endeavour will be to stamp the very
body of the time--its form and pressure--: we shall extenuate nothing,
nor shall we set down aught in malice."
Other early Canadian newspaper mottoes which pleased the boyish fancy
years ago, and which may still be pleasantly read on the face of the
same long-lived and yet flourishing publications, were the "_Mores et
studia et populos et prælia dicam_," of the Quebec _Mercury_, and the
"_Animos novitate tenebo_" of the Montreal _Herald_. The _Mercury_ and
_Herald_ likewise retain to this day their respective early devices: the
former, Hermes, all proper, as the Heralds would say, descending from
the sky, with the motto from Virgil, _Mores et studia et populos et
prælia dicam_: the latter the Genius of Fame, bearing in one hand the
British crown, and sounding as she speeds through the air her trump,
from which issues the above-cited motto. Over the editorial column the
device is repeated, with the difference that the floating Genius here
adds the authority for her quotation--Ovid, _a la_ Dr. Pangloss.
Underneath the floating figure are many minute roses and shamrocks; but
towering up to the right and left with a significant predominance, for
the special gratification of Montrealers of the olden time, the thistle
of Scotland.
Besides these primitive mottoes and emblematic headings, the _Mercury_
and _Herald_ likewise retain, each of them, to this day a certain
pleasant individuality of aspect in regard to type, form and
arrangement, by which they are each instantly to be recognized. This
adherence of periodicals to their original physiognomy is very
interesting, and in fact advantageous, inspiring in readers a certain
tenderness of regard. Does not the cover of _Blackwood_, for example,
even the poor United States copy of it, sometimes awaken in the chaos of
a public reading-room table, a sense of affection, like a friend seen in
the midst of a promiscuous crowd? The English Reviews too, as circulated
among us from the United States, are conveniently recognized by their
respective colours, although the English form of each has been, for
cheapness' sake, departed from. The _Montreal Gazette_ likewise
survives, preserving its ancient look in many respects, and its high
character for dignity of style and ability.
In glancing back at the supply of intelligence and literature provided
at an early day for the Canadian community, it repeatedly occurs to us
to name, as we have done, the _Albion_ newspaper of New York. From this
journal it was that almost every one in our Upper Canadian York who had
the least taste for reading, derived the principal portion of his or her
acquaintance with the outside world of letters, as well as the minuter
details of prominent political events. As its name implies, the _Albion_
was intended to meet the requirements of a large number of persons of
English birth and of English descent, whose lot is cast on this
continent, but who nevertheless cannot discharge from their hearts their
natural love for England, their natural pride in her unequalled
civilization. "_Cælum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt_," was
its gracefully-chosen and appropriate motto.
Half a century ago, the boon of a judicious literary journal like the
_Albion_ was to dwellers in Canada a very precious one. The Quarterlies
were not then reprinted as now; nor were periodicals like the
Philadelphia _Eclectic_ or the Boston _Living Age_ readily procurable.
Without the weekly visit of the _Albion_, months upon months would have
passed without any adequate knowledge being enjoyed of the current
products of the literary world. For the sake of its extracted reviews,
tales and poetry the New York _Albion_ was in some cases, as we well
remember, loaned about to friends and read like a much sought after book
in a modern circulating library. And happily its contents were always
sterling, and worth the perusal. It was a part of our own boyish
experience to become acquainted for the first time with a portion of
Keble's _Christian Year_, in the columns of that paper.
The _Albion_ was founded in 1822 by Dr. John Charlton Fisher, who
afterwards became a distinguished Editor at Quebec. To him Dr. Bartlett
succeeded. The New York _Albion_ still flourishes under Mr. Cornwallis,
retaining its high character for the superior excellence of its matter,
retaining also many traits of its ancient outward aspect, in the style
of its type, in the distribution of its matter. It has also retained its
old motto. Its familiar vignette heading of oak branches round the
English rose, the thistle of Scotland, and the shamrock, has been
thinned out, and otherwise slightly modified; but it remains a fine
artistic composition, well executed.
There was another journal from New York much esteemed at York for the
real respectability of its character, the _New York Spectator_. It was
read for the sake of its commercial and general information, rather
than for its literary news. To the minds of the young the Greek
revolution had a singular fascination. We remember once entertaining the
audacious idea of constructing a history of the struggle in Greece, of
which the authorities would, in great measure, have been copious
cuttings from the _New York Spectator_ columns. One advantage of the
embryo design certainly was a familiarity acquired with the map of
Hellas within and without the Peloponnesus. Navarino, Modon, Coron,
Tripolitza, Mistra, Missolonghi, with the incidents that had made each
temporarily famous, were rendered as familiar to the mind's eye as
Sparta, Athens, Thebes, Thermopylæ, and the events connected with each
respectively, of an era two thousand years previously, afterwards from
other circumstances became. Colocotroni, Mavrocordato, Miaulis,
Bozzaris, were heroes to the imagination as fully as Miltiades,
Alcibiades, Pericles, and Nicias, afterwards became.
Partly in consequence of the eagerness with which the columns of the
_New York Spectator_ used to be ransacked with a view to the composition
of the proposed historical work, we remember the peculiar interest with
which we regarded the editor of that periodical at a later period, on
falling in with him, casually, at the Falls of Niagara. Mr. Hall was
then well advanced in years; and from a very brief interview, the
impression received was, that he was the beau ideal of a veteran editor
of the highest type; for a man, almost omniscient; unslumberingly
observant; sympathetic, in some way, with every passing occurrence and
every remark; tenacious of the past; grasping the present on all sides,
with readiness, genial interest and completeness. In aspect, and even to
some extent in costume, Mr. Hall might have been taken for an English
bishop of the early part of the Victorian era.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XX.
QUEEN STREET, FROM GEORGE STREET TO YONGE STREET.--MEMORIES OF THE OLD
COURT HOUSE.
When we pass George Street we are in front of the park-lot originally
selected by Mr. Secretary Jarvis. It is now divided from south to north
by Jarvis street, a thoroughfare opened up through the property in the
time of Mr. Samuel Peters Jarvis, the Secretary's son. Among the
pleasant villas that now line this street on both sides, there is one
which still is the home of a Jarvis, the Sheriff of the County.
Besides filling the conspicuous post indicated by his title, Mr.
Secretary Jarvis was also the first Grand Master of the Masons in Upper
Canada. The archives of the first Masonic Lodges of York possess much
interest. Through the permission of Mr. Alfio de Grassi who has now the
custody of them, we are enabled to give the following extracts from a
letter of Mr. Secretary Jarvis, bearing the early date of March 28th,
1792:--"I am in possession of my sign manual from his Majesty," Mr.
Jarvis writes on the day just named, from Pimlico, to his relative
Munson Jarvis, at St. John, New Brunswick, "constituting me Secretary
and Registrar of the Province of Upper Canada, with power of appointing
my Deputies, and in every other respect a very full warrant. I am also"
he continues, "very much flattered to be enabled to inform you that the
Grand Lodge of England have within these very few days appointed Prince
Edward, who is now in Canada, Grand Master of Ancient Masons in Lower
Canada; and William Jarvis, Secretary and Registrar of Upper Canada,
Grand Master of Ancient Masons in that Province. However trivial it may
appear to you who are not a Mason, yet I assure you that it is one of
the most honourable appointments that they could have conferred. The
Duke of Athol is the Grand Master of Ancient Masons in England. Lord
Dorchester with his private Secretary, and the Secretary of the
Province, called on us yesterday," Mr. Jarvis proceeds to say, "and
found us in the utmost confusion, with half a dozen porters in the house
packing up. However his Lordship would come in, and sat down in a small
room which was reserved from the general bustle. He then took Mr. Peters
home with him to dine: hence we conclude a favourable omen in regard to
his consecration, which we hope is not far distant. Mrs. Jarvis," the
Secretary informs his relative, "leaves England in great spirits. I am
ordered my passage on board the transport with the Regiment, and to do
duty without pay for the passage only. This letter," he adds, "gets to
Halifax by favour of an intimate friend of Mr. Peters, Governor
Wentworth, who goes out to take possession of his Government. The ship
that I am allotted to is the _Henneker_, Captain Winter, a transport
with the Queen's Rangers on board."
The Prince Edward spoken of was afterwards Duke of Kent and father of
the present Queen. Lord Dorchester was the Governor-General of the
Province of Quebec before its division into Upper and Lower Canada. Mr.
Peters was _in posse_ the Bishop of the new Province about to be
organized. It was a part of the original scheme, as shewn by the papers
of the first Governor of Upper Canada, that there should be an episcopal
see in Upper Canada, as there already was at Quebec in the lower
province. But this was not carried into effect until 1839, nearly half a
century later.
When Jarvis Street was opened up through the Secretary's park-lot, the
family residence of his son Mr. Samuel Peters Jarvis, a handsome
structure of the early brick era of York, in the line of the proposed
thoroughfare, was taken down. Its interior fittings of solid black
walnut were bought by Captain Carthew and transferred by him without
much alteration to a house which he put up on part of the Deer-park
property on Yonge Street.
A large fragment of the offices attached to Mr. Jarvis's house was
utilized and absorbed in a private residence on the west side of Jarvis
Street, and the gravel drive to the door is yet to be traced in the less
luxuriant vegetation of certain portions of the adjoining flower
gardens. Mr. Secretary Jarvis died in 1818. He is described by those who
remember him, as possessing a handsome, portly presence. Col. Jarvis,
the first military commandant in Manitoba, is a grandson of the
Secretary.
Of Mr. McGill, first owner of the next park-lot, and of his personal
aspect, we have had occasion to speak in connection with the interior of
St. James' Church. Situated in fields at the southern extremity of a
stretch of forest, the comfortable and pleasantly-situated residence
erected by him for many years seemed a place of abode quite remote from
the town. It was still to be seen in 1870 in the heart of McGill Square,
and was long occupied by Mr. McCutcheon, a brother of the inheritor of
the bulk of Mr. McGill's property, who in accordance with his uncle's
will, and by authority of an Act of Parliament, assumed the name of
McGill, and became subsequently well known throughout Canada as the Hon.
Peter McGill.
(The founder of McGill College in Montreal was of a different family.
The late Capt. James McGill Strachan derived his name from the
marriage-connection of his father with the latter.)
In the _Gazette and Oracle_ of Nov. 13th, 1803, we observe Mr. McGill,
of York, advertising as "agent for purchases" for pork and beef to be
supplied to the troops stationed "at Kingston, York, Fort George, Fort
Chippewa, Fort Erie, and Amherstburg." In 1818 he is Receiver-General,
and Auditor-General of land patents. He had formerly been an officer in
the Queen's Rangers, and his name repeatedly occurs in "Simcoe's
History" of the operations of that corps during the war of the American
Revolution.
From that work we learn that in 1779 he, with the commander himself of
the corps, then Lieut.-Col. Simcoe, fell into the hands of the
revolutionary authorities, and was treated with great harshness in the
common jail of Burlington, New Jersey; and when a plan was devised for
the Colonel's escape, Mr. McGill volunteered, in order to further its
success, to personate his commanding officer in bed, and to take the
consequences, while the latter was to make his way out.
The whole project was frustrated by the breaking of a false key in the
lock of a door which would have admitted the confined soldiers to a room
where "carbines and ammunition" were stored away. Lieut.-Col. Simcoe, it
is added in the history just named, afterwards offered Mr. McGill an
annuity, or to make him Quartermaster of Cavalry; the latter, we are
told, he accepted of, as his grandfather had been an officer in King
William's army; and "no man," Col. Simcoe himself notes, "ever executed
the office with greater integrity, courage and conduct."
The southern portion of Mr. McGill's park-lot has, in the course of
modern events, come to be assigned to religious uses. McGill Square,
which contained the old homestead and its surroundings, and which was at
one period intended, as its name indicates, to be an open public square,
was secured in 1870 by the Wesleyan Methodist body and made the site of
its principal place of worship and of various establishments connected
therewith.
Immediately north, on the same property, the Roman Catholics had
previously built their principal place of worship and numerous
appurtenances, attracted possibly to the spot by the expectation that
McGill Square would continue for ever an open ornamental piece of
ground.
A little farther to the north a cross-street, leading from Yonge Street
eastward, bears the name of McGill. An intervening cross-street
preserves the name of Mr. Crookshank, who was Mr. McGill's
brother-in-law.
The name that appears on the original survey of York and its suburbs as
first occupant of the park-lot westward of Mr. McGill's, is that of Mr.
George Playter. This is the Captain Playter, senior, of whom we have
already spoken in our excursion up the valley of the Don. We have named
him also among the forms of a past age whom we ourselves remember often
seeing in the congregation assembled of old in the wooden St. James'.
Mr. Playter was an Englishman by birth, but had passed many of his early
years in Philadelphia, where for a time he attached himself to the
Society of Friends, having selected as a wife a member of that body. But
on the breaking out of the troubles that led to the independence of the
United States, his patriotic attachment to old far-off England compelled
him, in spite of the peaceful theories of the denomination to which he
had united himself, promptly to join the Royalist forces.
He used to give a somewhat humorous account of his sudden return to the
military creed of ordinary mundane men. "Lie there, Quaker!" cried he to
his cutaway, buttonless, formal coat, as he stripped it off and flung it
down, for the purpose of donning the soldier's habiliments. But some of
the Quaker observances were never relinquished in his family. We well
remember, in the old homestead on the Don, and afterwards at his
residence on Caroline Street, a silent mental thanksgiving before meals,
that always took place after every one had taken his seat at the table;
a brief pause was made, and all bent for a moment slightly forwards. The
act was solemn and impressive.
Old Mr. Playter was a man of sprightly and humorous temperament, and his
society was accordingly much enjoyed by those who knew him. A precise
attention to his dress and person rendered him an excellent type in
which to study the costume and style of the ordinary unofficial citizen
of a past generation. Colonel M. F. Whitehead, of Port Hope, in a letter
kindly expressive of his interest in these reminiscences of York,
incidentally furnished a little sketch that will not be out of place
here. "My visits to York, after I was articled to Mr. Ward, in 1819,"
Colonel Whitehead says, "were frequent. I usually lodged at old Mr.
Playter's, Mrs. Ward's father. [This was when he was still living at the
homestead on the Don.] The old gentleman often walked into town with me,
by Castle Frank; his three-cornered hat, silver knee-buckles, broad-toed
shoes and large buckles, were always carefully arranged."--To the
equipments, so well described by Colonel Whitehead, we add from our own
boyish recollection of Sunday sights, white stockings and a gold-headed
cane of a length unusual now.
According to a common custom prevalent at an early time, Mr. Playter set
apart on his estate on the Don a family burial-plot, where his own
remains and those of several members of his family and their descendants
were deposited. Mr. George Playter, son of Captain George Playter, was
some time Deputy Sheriff of the Home District; and Mr. Eli Playter,
another son, represented for some sessions in the Provincial Parliament
the North Riding of York. A daughter, who died unmarried in 1832, Miss
Hannah Playter, "Aunt Hannah," as she was styled in the family, is
pleasantly remembered as well for the genuine kindness of her character,
as also for the persistency with which, like her father, she carried
forward into a new and changed generation, and retained to the last, the
costume and manners of the reign of King George the Third.
Immediately in front of the extreme westerly portion of the park lot
which we are now passing, and on the south side of the present Queen
Street in that direction, was situated an early Court House of York,
associated in the memories of most of the early people with their first
acquaintance with forensic pleadings and law proceedings.
This building was a notable object in its day. In an old plan of the
town we observe it conspicuously delineated in the locality
mentioned--the _other_ public buildings of the place, viz., the
Commissariat Stores, the Government House, the Council Chamber (at the
present north-west corner of York and Wellington Streets), the District
School, St. James's Church, and the Parliament House (by the Little
Don), being marked in the same distinguished manner. It was a plain
two-storey frame building, erected in the first instance as an ordinary
place of abode by Mr. Montgomery, father of the Montgomerys, once of the
neighbourhood of Eglinton, on Yonge Street. It stood in a space defined
by the present line of Yonge Street on the west, by nearly the present
line of Victoria Street on the east, by Queen Street on the north and by
Richmond Street on the south. Though situated nearer Queen Street than
Richmond Street, it faced the latter, and was approached from the
latter.--It was Mr. Montgomery who obtained by legal process the opening
of Queen Street in the rear of his property. In consequence of the
ravine of which we have had occasion so often to speak, the allowance
for this street as laid down in the first plans of York had been closed
up by authority from Yonge Street to Caroline Street.
It was seriously proposed in 1800 to close up Queen Street to the
westward also from Yonge Street "so far as the Common," that is, the
Garrison Reserve, on the ground that such street was wholly unnecessary,
there being in that direction already one highway into the town, namely,
Richmond Street, situated only ten rods to the south. In 1800 the
southern termination of Yonge Street was where we are now passing, at
the corner of Montgomery's lot. At this point the farmers' waggons from
the north turned off to the eastward, proceeding as far as Toronto
Street, down which they wended their way to Richmond Street, and so on
to Church Street and King Street, finally reaching the Market Place.
Of the opening of Yonge Street through a range of building lots which in
1800 blocked the way from Queen Street southwards, we shall speak
hereafter in the excursion which we propose to make through Yonge Street
from south to north, the moment we have finished recording our
collections and recollections in relation to Queen Street.
_Memories of the Old Court House._
In the old Court House, situated as we have described, we received our
first boyish impressions of the solemnities and forms observed in Courts
of Law. In paying a visit of curiosity subsequently to the singular
series of Law Courts which are to be found ranged along one side of
Westminster Hall in London--each one of them in succession entered
through the heavy folds of lofty mysterious-looking curtains, each one
of them crowded with earnest pleaders and anxious suitors, each one of
them provided with a judge elevated in solitary majesty on high, each
one of them seeming to the passing stranger more like a scene in a drama
than a prosaic reality--we could not but revert in memory to the old
upper chamber at York where the remote shadows of such things were for
the first time encountered.
It was startling to remember of a sudden that our early Upper Canadian
Judges, our early Upper Canadian Barristers, came fresh from these
Westminster Hall Courts! What a contrast must have been presented to
these men in the rude wilds to which they found themselves transported.
Riding the Circuit in the Home, Midland, Eastern and Western Districts
at the beginning of the present century was no trivial undertaking.
Accommodation for man and horse was for the most part scant and
comfortless. Locomotion by land and water was perilous and slow, and
racking to the frame. The apartments procurable for the purposes of the
Court were of the humblest kind.
Our pioneer jurisconsults in their several degrees, however, like our
pioneers generally, unofficial as well as official, did their duty. They
quietly initiated in the country, customs of gravity and order which
have now become traditional; and we see the result in the decent dignity
which surrounds, at the present day, the administration of justice in
Canada in the Courts of every grade.
Prior to the occupation of Mr. Montgomery's house as the Court House at
York, the Court of King's Bench held its sessions in a portion of the
Government Buildings at the east end of the town, destroyed in the war
of 1813. On June 25, 1812, the Sheriff, John Beikie, advertises in the
_Gazette_ that "a Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace for the
Home District will be holden at the Government Buildings in the town of
York on Tuesday, the fourteenth day of July now next ensuing, at the
hour of ten o'clock in the forenoon, of which all Justices of the
Peace, Coroners, Gaolers, High Constables, Constables and Bailiffs are
desired to take notice, and that they be then and there present with
their Rolls, Records, and other Memoranda to do and perform those things
which by reason of their respective offices shall be to be done."
It is with the Court Room in the Government Buildings that the Judge,
Sheriff and Crown Counsel were familiar, who were engulfed in Lake
Ontario in 1805. The story of the total loss of the government schooner
Speedy, Captain Thomas Paxton, is widely known. In that ill-fated vessel
suddenly went down in a gale in the dead of night, along with its
commander and crew, Judge Cochrane, Solicitor-General Gray, Mr. Angus
McDonell, Sheriff of York, Mr. Fishe, the High Bailiff, an Indian
prisoner about to be tried at Presqu'Isle for murder, two interpreters,
Cowan and Ruggles, several witnesses, and Mr. Herchmer, a merchant of
York; in all thirty-nine persons, of whom no trace was ever afterwards
discovered.
The weather was threatening, the season of the year stormy (7th
October), and the schooner was suspected not to be sea-worthy. But the
orders of the Governor, General Peter Hunter, were peremptory. Mr.
Weekes, of whom we have heard before, escaped the fate that befel so
many connected with his profession, by deciding to make the journey to
Presqu'Isle on horseback. (For the seat in the House rendered vacant by
the sudden removal of Mr. McDonell, Mr. Weekes was the successful
candidate.)
The name of the Indian who was on his way to be tried was Ogetonicut.
His brother, Whistling Duck, had been killed by a white man, and he took
his revenge on John Sharp, another white man. The deed was done at Ball
Point on Lake Scugog, where John Sharp was in charge of a trading-post
for furs belonging to the Messrs. Farewell. The Governor had promised,
so it was alleged, that the slayer of Whistling Duck should be punished.
But a twelvemonth had elapsed and nothing had been done. The whole
tribe, the Muskrat branch of the Chippewas, with their Chief
Wabbekisheco at their head, came up in canoes to York on this occasion,
starting from the mouth of Annis's creek, near Port Oshawa, and
encamping at Gibraltar Point on the peninsula in front of York. A guard
of soldiers went over to assist in the arrest of Ogetonicut, who, it
appears, had arrived with the rest. The Chief Wabbekisheco, took the
culprit by the shoulder and delivered him up. He was lodged in the jail
at York.
During the summer it was proved by means of a survey that the spot where
Sharp had been killed was within the District of Newcastle. It was held
necessary, therefore, that the trial should take place in that District.
Sellick's, at the Carrying Place, was to have been the scene of the
investigation, and thither the _Speedy_ was bound when she foundered.
Mr. Justice Cochrane was a most estimable character personally, and a
man of distinguished ability. He was only in his 28th year, and had been
Chief Justice of Prince Edward Island before his arrival in Upper
Canada. He was a native of Halifax, in Nova Scotia, but had studied law
in Lincoln's Inn, and was called to the Bar in England.
In the old Court House, near which we are now passing, were assigned to
convicted culprits, with unflinching severity and in a no inconsiderable
number of instances, all the penalties enjoined in the criminal code of
the day--the lash, the pillory, the stocks, the gallows. We have
conversed with an old inhabitant of Toronto, who had not only here heard
the penalty of branding ordered by the Judge, but had actually seen it
in open court inflicted, the iron being heated in the great wood-stove
that warmed the room, and the culprit made to stretch out his hand and
have burnt thereon the initial letter of the offence committed.
Here cases came up repeatedly, arising out of the system of slavery
which at the beginning was received in Canada, apparently as an
inevitable part and parcel of the social arrangements of a colony on
this continent.
On the first of March, 1811, we have it on the record, "William Jarvis,
of the Town of York, Esq. (this is the Secretary again), informed the
Court that a negro boy and girl, his slaves, had the evening before been
committed to prison for having stolen gold and silver out of his desk in
his dwelling-house, and escaped from their said master; and prayed that
the Court would order that the said prisoners, with one Coachly, a free
negro, also committed to prison on suspicion of having advised and aided
the said boy and girl in eloping with their master's property."
Thereupon it was "Ordered,--That the said negro boy, named Henry,
commonly called Prince, be re-committed to prison, and there safely kept
till delivered according to law, and that the girl do return to her said
master; and Coachly be discharged."
At the date just mentioned Slavery was being gradually extinguished by
an Act of the Provincial Legislature of Upper Canada, passed at Newark
in 1793, which forbade the further introduction of slaves, and ordered
that all slave children born after the 9th of July in that year should
be free on attaining the age of twenty-five.
Most gentlemen, from the Administrator of the Government downwards,
possessed some slaves. Peter Russell, in 1806, was anxious to dispose of
two of his, and thus advertised in the _Gazette and Oracle_, mentioning
his prices:--"To be sold: a Black Woman named Peggy, aged forty years,
and a Black Boy, her son, named Jupiter, aged about fifteen years, both
of them the property of the subscriber. The woman is a tolerable cook
and washerwoman, and perfectly understands making soap and candles. The
boy is tall and strong for his age, and has been employed in the country
business, but brought up principally as a house servant. They are each
of them servants for life. The price of the woman is one hundred and
fifty dollars. For the boy two hundred dollars, payable in three years,
with interest from the day of sale, and to be secured by bond, &c. But
one-fourth less will be taken for ready money. York, Feb. 19th, 1806.
Peter Russell."
According to our ideas at the present moment, such an advertisement as
this is shocking enough. But we must judge the words and deeds of men by
the spirit of the age in which they lived and moved.
Similar notices were common a century since in the English newspapers.
It is in fact asserted that at that period there were probably more
slaves in England than in Virginia. In the London _Public Advertiser_,
of March 28th, 1769, we have, for example, the following: "To be sold, a
Black Girl, the property of J. B----, eleven years of age, who is
extremely handy, works at her needle tolerably, and speaks English
perfectly well; is of an excellent temper, and willing disposition.
Enquire of Mr. Owen, at the Angel Inn, behind St. Clement's Church, in
the Strand." And again, in the Edinburgh _Evening Courant_ of April
18th, 1768, we have, "A Black Boy to sell. To be sold a Black Boy with
long hair, stout made and well limbed; is good tempered; can dress hair,
and take care of a horse indifferently. He has been in Britain near
three years. Any person that inclines to purchase him may have him for
£40. He belongs to Captain Abercrombie, at Brighton. This advertisement
not to be repeated."
The poet sings--
"Slaves cannot breathe in England: if their lungs
Receive our air, that moment they are free;
They touch our country and their shackles fall."
But this was not true until Lord Mansfield, in 1772, uttered his famous
judgment in the case of James Somerset, a slave brought over by a Mr.
Stewart from Jamaica. Cowper's lines are in reality a versification of a
portion of Lord Mansfield's words. A plea had been set up that
villeinage had never been abolished by law in England; _ergo_, the
possession of slaves was not illegal. But Lord Mansfield ruled:
"Villeinage has ceased in England, and it cannot be revived. The air of
England," he said, " has long been too pure for a slave, and every man
is free who breathes it. Every man who comes into England," Lord
Mansfield continued, "is entitled to the protection of English law,
whatever oppression he may heretofore have suffered, and whatever may be
the colour of his skin: _Quamvis ille niger, quamvis tu candidus esses._
Let the negro be discharged." But this is a digression.
Peter Russell's Peggy had been giving him uneasiness a few years
previous to the advertisement copied above. She had been absenting
herself without leave. Of this we are apprised in an advertisement dated
York, September 2nd, 1803. It runs as follows: "The subscriber's black
servant Peggy, not having his permission to absent herself from his
service, the public are hereby cautioned from employing or harbouring
her without the owner's leave. Whoever will do so after this notice may
expect to be treated as the law directs. Peter Russell."
In the papers published at Niagara advertisements similar to those just
given are to be seen. In the Niagara _Herald_ of January 2nd, 1802, we
have, "For sale: A negro man slave, 18 years of age, stout and healthy;
has had the small pox and is capable of service either in the house or
out-doors. The terms will be made easy to the purchaser, and cash or new
lands received in payment. Enquire of the printer." And again in the
_Herald_ of January 18th: "For sale: the negro man and woman, the
property of Mrs. Widow Clement. They have been bred to the business of a
farm; will be sold on highly advantageous terms for cash or lands. Apply
to Mrs. Clement."
Cash and lands were plainly beginning to be regarded as less precarious
property than human chattels. In 1797 purchasers, however, were still
advertising. In the _Gazette and Oracle_ of October 11th, in that year,
we read; "Wanted to purchase, a negro girl from seven to twelve years of
age, of good disposition. For fuller particulars apply to the
subscribers, W. and J. Crooks, West Niagara, Oct. 4th." At York, in
1800, the _Gazette_ announces as "to be sold"--"A healthy strong negro
woman, about thirty years of age; understands cooking, laundry and the
taking care of poultry. N.B.--She can dress ladies' hair. Enquire of the
Printers. York, Dec 20, 1800."
In respect to the following notice some explanation is needed. We
presume the "Indian slave" spoken of must have been only part Indian.
The detention of a native as a slave, if legal, would have been
difficult. Mr. Charles Field, of Niagara, on the 28th of August, 1802,
gave notice in the _Herald_: "All persons are forbidden harbouring,
employing, or concealing my Indian slave Sal, as I am determined to
prosecute any offender to the extremity of the law; and persons who may
suffer her to remain in or upon their premises for the space of
half-an-hour, without my written consent, will be taken as offending,
and dealt with accordingly."
In the early volumes of the _Quebec Gazette_ these slave advertisements
are common. A rough wood-cut of a black figure running frequently
precedes them. It appropriately illustrates the following one: "Run away
from the subscriber on Tuesday, the 25th ult., a negro man, named
Drummond, near six feet high, walks heavily; had on when he went away a
dark coloured cloth coat and leather breeches. Whoever takes up and
secures the said negro, so that his master may have him again, shall
have Four Dollars reward, and all reasonable charges paid by John
McCord. Speaks very bad English and next to no French." Another reads
thus: "To be sold, a healthy Negro Boy, about fifteen years of age, well
qualified to wait on a gentleman as a Body Servant. For further
particulars inquire of the Printers."
Mr. Sol.-General Gray, lost in the _Speedy_, manumitted by his will,
dated August 27th, 1803, and discharged from the state of slavery in
which, as that document speaks, "she now is," his "faithful black woman
servant, Dorinda," and gave her and her children their freedom; and that
they might not want, directed that £1200 should be invested and the
interest applied to their maintenance. To his black servants, Simon and
John Baker, he gave, besides their freedom, 200 acres of land each, and
pecuniary legacies. The Simon here named went down with his master in
the _Speedy_; but John long survived. He used to state that his mother
Dorinda, was a native of Guinea, and to describe Governor Hunter as a
rough old warrior, who carried snuff in an outside pocket, whence he
took it in handfuls, to the great disfigurement of his ruffled
shirt-bosoms. His death was announced in the public papers by telegram
from Cornwall, Ontario, bearing date January 17, 1871. "A coloured man,"
it said, "named John Baker, who attained his 105th year on the 25th
ult., died here to-day. He came here as a chattel of the late Colonel
Gray, in 1792, having seen service in the Revolutionary war.
Subsequently he served throughout the war of 1812. He was wounded at
Lundy's Lane, and has drawn a pension for fifty-seven years." Mr. Gray,
it may be added, was a native of our Canadian town of Cornwall. His
place of abode in York was in what is now Wellington Street, on the lot
immediately to the west of the old "Council Chamber" (subsequently the
residence of Chief Justice Draper.)
We ourselves, we remember, used to gaze, in former days, with some
curiosity at the pure negress, Amy Pompadour, here in York, knowing that
she had once been legally made a present of by Miss Elizabeth Russell to
Mrs. Captain Denison.
But enough of the subject of Canadian slavery, to which we have been
inadvertently led.
The old Court House, when abandoned by the law authorities for the new
buildings on King Street, was afterwards occasionally employed for
religious purposes. By an advertisement in the _Advocate_, in March,
1834, we learn that the adherents of David Willson, of Whitchurch,
sometimes made use of it. It is there announced that "the Children of
Peace will hold Worship in the Old Court House of York, on Sunday, the
16th instant, at Eleven and Three." Subsequently it became for a time
the House of Industry or Poor House of the town.
Besides the legal cases tried and the judgments pronounced within the
homely walls of the Old Court House, interest would attach to the
curious scenes--could they be recovered and described--which there
occurred, arising sometimes from the primitive rusticity of juries, and
sometimes from their imperfect mastery of the English language, many of
them being, as the German settlers of Markham and Vaughan were
indiscriminately called, Dutchmen. Peter Ernest, appearing in court with
the verdict of a jury of which he was foreman, began to preface the same
with a number of peculiar German-English expressions which moved Chief
Justice Powell to cut him short by the remark that he would have to
commit him if he swore:--when Ernest observed that the perplexities
through which he and the jury had been endeavouring to find their way,
were enough to make better men than they were express themselves in an
unusual way.--The verdict, pure and simple, was demanded. Ernest then
announced that the verdict which he had to deliver was, that half of the
jury were for "guilty" and half for "not guilty." That is, the Judge
observed, you would have the prisoner half-hanged, or the half of him
hanged. To which Peter replied, that would be as his Lordship
pleased.--It was a case of homicide. Being sent back, they agreed to
acquit.
Odd passages, too, between pertinacious counsel and nettled judges
sometimes occurred, as when Mr. H. J. Boulton, fresh from the Inner
Temple, sat down at the peremptory order of the Chief Justice, but
added, "I will sit down, my Lord, but I shall instantly stand up again."
Chief Justice Powell, when on the Bench, had a humorous way
occasionally, of indicating by a kind of quiet by-play, by a gentle
shake of the head, a series of little nods, or movements of the eye or
eyebrow, his estimate of an outré hypothesis or an ad captandum
argument. This was now and then disconcerting to advocates anxious to
figure, for the moment, in the eyes of a simple-minded jury, as oracles
of extra authority.
Nights, likewise, there would be to be described, passed by juries in
the diminutive jury-room, either through perplexity fairly arising out
of the evidence, or through the dogged obstinacy of an individual.
Once, as we have heard from a sufferer on the occasion, Colonel Duggan
was the means of keeping a jury locked up for a night here, he being the
sole dissentient on a particular point. That night, however, was
converted into one of memorable festivity, our informant said, a
tolerable supply of provisions and comforts having been conveyed in
through the window, sent for from the homes of those of the jury who
were residents of York. The recusant Colonel was refused a moment's rest
throughout the live-long night. During twelve long hours pranks and
sounds were indulged in that would have puzzled a foreigner taking
notes of Canadian Court House usages.
When 10 o'clock a.m. of the next day arrived, and the Court
re-assembled, Colonel Duggan suddenly and obligingly effected the
release of himself and his tormentors by consenting to make the
necessary modification in his opinion.
Of one characteristic scene we have a record in the books of the Court
itself. On the 12th of January, 1813, as a duly impanelled jury were
retiring to their room to consider of their verdict, a remark was
addressed to one of their number, namely, Samuel Jackson, by a certain
Simeon Morton, who had been a witness for the defence: the remark, as
the record notes, was in these words, to wit, "Mind your eye!" to which
the said Jackson replied "Never fear!" The Crier of the Court, John
Bazell, duly made affidavit of this illicit transaction. Accordingly, on
the appearance in court of the jury, for the purpose of rendering their
verdict, Mr. Baldwin, attorney for the prosecution, moved that the said
Jackson be taken into custody: and the Judge gave order "that Samuel
Jackson do immediately enter into recognizances, himself in £50, and two
sureties in £25 each, for his appearance on the Saturday following at
the Office of the Clerk of the Peace, which," as the record somewhat
inelegantly adds, "he done." He duly appeared on the Saturday indicated,
and, pleading ignorance, was discharged.
In the Court House in 1822 was tried a curious case in respect of a
horse claimed by two parties, Major Heward, of York, and General
Wadsworth, commandant of the United States Garrison at Fort Niagara.
Major Heward had reared a sorrel colt on his farm east of the Don; and
when it was three years old it was stolen. Nothing came of the offer of
reward for its recovery until a twelvemonth after the theft, when a
young horse was brought by a stranger to Major Heward, at York, and
instantly recognized by him as his lost property. Some of the major's
neighbours likewise had no doubt of the identity of the animal, which,
moreover, when taken to the farm entered of his own accord the stable,
and the stall, the missing colt used to occupy, and, when let out into
the adjoining pasture, greeted in a friendly way a former mate, and ran
to drink at the customary watering place. Shortly after, two citizens of
the United States, Kelsey and Bond, make their appearance at York and
claim the horse which they find on Major Heward's farm, as the property
of General Wadsworth, commandant at Fort Niagara. Kelsey swore that he
had reared the animal; that he had docked him with his own hands when
only a few hours old; and that he had sold him about a year ago to
General Wadsworth. Bond also swore positively that this was the horse
which Kelsey had reared, and that he himself had broken him in, prior to
the sale to General Wadsworth. It was alleged by these persons that a
man named Docksteader had stolen the horse from General Wadsworth at
Fort Niagara and had conveyed him across to the Canadian side.
In consequence of the positive evidence of these two men the jury gave
their verdict in favour of General Wadsworth's claim, with damages to
the amount of £50. It was nevertheless generally held that Kelsey and
Bond's minute narrative of the colt's early history was a fiction; and
that Docksteader, the man who transferred the animal from the United
States side of the river to Canadian soil, had also had something to do
with the transfer of the same animal from Canada to the United States a
twelvemonth previously.
The subject of this story survived to the year 1851, and was recognized
and known among all old inhabitants as "Major Heward's famous horse
Toby."
Within the Court House on Richmond Street took place in 1818 the
celebrated trial of a number of prisoners brought down from the Red
River Settlement on charges of "high treason, murder, robbery, and
conspiracy," as preferred against them by Lord Selkirk, the founder of
the Settlement. When our neighbourhood was itself in fact nothing more
than a collection of small isolated clearings, rough-hewn out of the
wild, "the Selkirk Settlement" and the "North West" were household terms
among us for remote regions in a condition of infinite savagery, in
comparison with which we, as we prided ourselves, were denizens of a
paradise of high refinement and civilization. Now that the Red River
district has attained the dignity of a province and become a member of
our Canadian Confederation, the trial referred to, arising out of the
very birth-throes of Manitoba, has acquired a fresh interest.
The Earl of Selkirk, the fifth of that title, was a nobleman of
enlightened and cultivated mind. He was the author of several literary
productions esteemed in their day; amongst them, of a treatise on
Emigration, which is spoken of by contemporaries as an exhaustive,
standard work on the subject. For practically testing his theories,
however, Lord Selkirk appears to have desired a field exclusively his
own. Instead of directing his fellow-countrymen to one or other of the
numerous prosperous settlements already in process of formation at
easily accessible and very eligible spots along the St. Lawrence and the
Lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron, he induced a considerable body of them to
find their way to a point in the far interior of our northern continent,
where civilization had as yet made no sensible inroad; to a locality so
situated that if a colony could contrive to subsist there, it must
apparently of necessity remain for a very long period dismally isolated.
In 1803, Bishop Macdonell asked him, what could have induced a man of
his high rank and great fortune, possessing the esteem and confidence of
the Government and of every public man in Britain, to embark in an
enterprise so romantic; and the reply given was, that, in his opinion,
the situation of Great Britain, and indeed of all Europe, was at that
moment so very critical and eventful, that a man would like to have a
more solid footing to stand upon, than anything that Europe could offer.
The tract of land secured by Lord Selkirk for emigration purposes was a
part of the territory held by the Hudson's Bay Company, and was
approached from Europe not so readily by the St. Lawrence route as by
Hudson's Strait and Hudson's Bay. The site of the actual settlement was
half-a-mile north of the confluence of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers,
streams that unitedly flow northward into Lake Winnipeg, which
communicates directly at its northern extremity with Nelson River, whose
outlet is at Port Nelson or Fort York on Hudson's Bay. The population of
the Settlement in the beginning of 1813 was 100. Mr. Miles Macdonell,
formerly a captain in the Queen's Rangers, appointed by the Hudson's Bay
Company first Governor of the District of Assiniboia, was made by the
Earl of Selkirk superintendent of affairs at Kildonan. The rising
village was called Kildonan, from the name of the parish in the county
of Sutherland whence the majority of the settlers had emigrated.
The Montreal North West Company of Fur Traders was a rival of the
Hudson's Bay Company. Whilst the latter traded for the most part in the
regions watered by the rivers flowing into Hudson's Bay, the former
claimed for their operations the area drained by the streams running
into Lake Superior.
The North West Company of Montreal looked with no kindly eye on the
settlement of Kildonan. An agricultural colony, in close proximity to
their hunting grounds, seemed a dangerous innovation, tending to injure
the local fur trade. Accordingly it was resolved to break up the infant
colony. The Indians were told that they would assuredly be made "poor
and miserable" by the new-comers if they were allowed to proceed with
their improvements; because these would cause the buffalo to disappear.
The colonists themselves were informed of the better prospects open to
them in the Canadian settlements and were promised pecuniary help if
they would decide to move. At the same time, the peril to which they
were exposed from the alleged ill-will of the Indians was enlarged upon.
Moreover, attacks with fire-arms were made on the houses of the
colonists, and acts of pillage committed. The result was that in 1815,
the inhabitants of Kildonan dispersed, proceeding, some of them, in the
direction of Canada, and some of them northwards, purposing to make
their way to Port Nelson, and to find, if possible, a conveyance thence
back to the shores of old Scotland. Those, however, who took the
northern route proceeded only as far as the northern end of Lake
Winnipeg, establishing themselves for a time at Jack River House. They
were then induced to return to their former settlement, by Mr. Colin
Robertson, an agent of the Hudson's Bay Company, who assured them that a
number of Highlanders were coming, via Hudson's Bay, to take up land at
Kildonan. This proved to be the fact; and, in 1816, the revived colony
consisted of more than 200 persons. On annoyance being offered to the
settlement by the North West Company's agent, Mr. Duncan Cameron, who
occupied a post called Fort Gibraltar, about half a mile off, Mr. Colin
Robertson, with the aid of his Highlandmen, seized that establishment,
and recovered two field-pieces and thirty stand of arms that had been
taken from Kildonan the preceding year. Cameron himself was also made a
prisoner. (Miles Macdonell, Governor of Assiniboia, had been captured by
the said Cameron in the preceding year, and sent to Montreal.) A strong
feeling was aroused among the half-breeds, far and near, who were in the
interest of the North West Company. In the spring of 1816, Mr. Semple,
the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, appeared in person at the Red
River, having been apprized of the growing troubles. During an angry
conference on the 18th of June, with a band of seventy men, headed by
Cuthbert, Grant, Lacerte, Fraser, Hoole, and Thomas McKay, half-breed
employés of the North West Company, he was violently assaulted; and in
the melée he was killed, together with five of his officers and sixteen
of his people. Out of these events sprang the memorable trials that took
place in the York Court House in 1818.
The Earl of Selkirk being desirous of witnessing the progress made by
his emigrants at Red River, paid a visit to this continent in the autumn
of 1815. On arriving at New York he heard of the dispersion at Kildonan,
and the destruction of property there. He proceeded at once to Montreal
and York to consult with the authorities. The news next reached him that
his colony had been re-established, at least partially. He immediately
despatched a trusty messenger, one Lagimonière, with assurances that he
himself would speedily be with them, bringing proper means of
protection. But Lagimonière was waylaid and never reached his
destination.
It happened, about this time, in consequence of the peace just
established with the United States, that the De Meuron, Watteville and
Glengarry Fencible Regiments were disbanded in the country. About eighty
men of the De Meuron, with four of the late officers, twenty of the
Watteville, and a few of the Glengarry, with one of their officers,
agreed to accompany Lord Selkirk to the Red River. On reaching the
Sault, the tidings met the party of the second dispersion of the colony,
and of the slaughter of Governor Semple and his officers. The whole band
at once pushed on to Fort William, where were assembled many of the
partners of the North West Company, with Mr. McGillivray, their
principal Agent. Here were also some of the persons who had been made
prisoners at Kildonan.
Armed simply with a commission of a Justice of the Peace, Lord Selkirk
then and there, at his encampment opposite Fort William across the
Kaministigoia, issued his warrant for the arrest of Mr. McGillivray.
It is duly served and Mr. McGillivray submits. Two partners who came
over with him as bail are also instantly arrested. The prisoners had
been previously liberated and information was procured from them.
Warrants were then issued for the arrest of the remainder of the
partners, who were found in the Fort. Some resistance was now offered.
The gate of the Fort was partially closed by force; but a party of
twenty-five men instantly rushed up from the boats and cleared the way
into the Fort. At the signal of a bugle-call more men came over from
the encampment, and their approach put an end to the struggle. The
arrests were then completed, and the remaining partners were marched
down to the boats. "At the time this resistance to the warrant was
attempted there were," our authority informs us, "about 200 Canadians,
_i. e._, French, in the employment of the Company, in and about the
Fort, together with 60 or 70 Iroquois Indians, also in the Company's
service."
The Earl of Selkirk was plainly a man not to be trifled with; a chief
who, in the olden time, would have been equal to the roughest emergency.
The prisoners brought down from Fort William, and after the lapse of
nearly two years placed at the Bar in the Old Court House of York, were
arraigned as follows: "Paul Brown and F. F. Boucher, for the murder of
Robert Semple, Esq., on the 18th of June, 1816; John Siveright,
Alexander McKenzie, Hugh McGillis, John McDonald, John McLaughlin and
Simon Fraser, as accessories to the same crime; Cooper and Bennerman,
for taking, on the third of April, 1815, with force and arms, eight
pieces of cannon and one howitzer, the property of the Right Hon.
Thomas, Earl of Selkirk, from his dwelling house, and putting in bodily
fear of their lives certain persons found therein." The cannons were
further described as being two of them brass field-pieces, two of them
brass swivels, four of them iron swivels.--In each case the verdict was
"not guilty."
The Judges were Chief Justice Powell, Mr. Justice Campbell, Mr. Justice
Boulton, and Associate Justice W. Allan, Esq. The counsel for the Crown
were Mr. Attorney-General Robinson and Mr. Solicitor-General Boulton.
The counsel for the prisoners were Samuel Sherwood, Livius P. Sherwood,
and W. W. Baldwin, Esq.
The juries in the three trials were not quite identical. Those that
served on one or other of them are as follows:--George Bond, Joseph
Harrison, Wm. Harrison, Joseph Shepperd, Peter Lawrence, Joshua Leach,
John McDougall, jun., Wm. Moore, Alexander Montgomery, Peter Whitney,
Jonathan Hale, Michael Whitmore, Harbour Stimpson, John Wilson, John
Hough, Richard Herring.
The Earl of Selkirk was not present at the trials. He had proceeded to
New York, on his way to Great Britain. He probably anticipated the
verdicts that were rendered. The North-West Company influence in Upper
and Lower Canada was very strong.
At a subsequent Court of Oyer and Terminer held at York, a true bill
against the Earl and nineteen others was found by the Grand Jury, for
"conspiracy to ruin the trade of the North-West Company." Mr. Wm. Smith,
Under-Sheriff of the Western District, obtained a verdict of £500
damages for having been seized and confined by the said Earl when
endeavouring to serve a warrant on him in Fort William; and Daniel
McKenzie, a retired partner of the North-West Company, obtained a
verdict of £1,500 damages for alleged false imprisonment by the Earl in
the same Fort.--Two years later, namely, in 1820, Lord Selkirk died at
Pau, in the South of France.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XXI.
QUEEN STREET--FROM YONGE STREET TO COLLEGE AVENUE.--DIGRESSION SOUTHWARD
AT BAY STREET; OSGOODE HALL; DIGRESSION NORTHWARD AT THE AVENUE.
Leaving now the site of our ancient Court House, the spot at which we
arrive in our tour is one of very peculiar interest. It is the
intersection at right angles of the two great military ways carved out
through the primitive forest of Western Canada by order of its first
Governor. Dundas Street and Yonge Street were laid down in the first MS.
maps of the country as highways destined to traverse the land in all
future time, as nearly as practicable in right lines, the one from east
to west, the other from south to north. They were denominated "streets,"
because their idea was taken from the famous ancient ways, still in
several instances called "streets," which the Romans, when masters of
primitive Britain, constructed for military purposes. To this day it is
no unpleasant occupation for the visitor who has leisure, to track out
the lines of these ancient roads across England. We ourselves once made
a pilgrimage expressly for the purpose of viewing the intersection of
Iknield Street and Watling Street, in the centre of Dunstable, and from
our actual knowledge of what Canada was when its Yonge Street and Dundas
Street were first hewn out, we realized all the more vividly the
condition of central England when the Roman road-makers first began
their work there.
Dundas Street has its name from the Right Hon. Henry Dundas, Secretary
of State for the Colonies in 1794. In that year Governor Simcoe wrote as
follows to Mr. Dundas:--"Dundas Street, the road proposed from
Burlington Bay to the River Thames, half of which is completed, will
connect by an internal communication the Detroit and settlements at
Niagara. It is intended," he says, "to be extended northerly to York by
the troops, and in process of time by the respective settlers to
Kingston and Montreal." In another despatch to the same statesman he
says:--"I have directed the surveyor, early in the next spring to
ascertain the precise distance of the several routes which I have done
myself the honour of detailing to you, and hope to complete the Military
Street or Road the ensuing autumn." In a MS. map of about the same date
Dundas Street is laid down from Detroit to the Pointe au Bodêt, the
terminus on the St. Lawrence of the old boundary line between Upper and
Lower Canada. From the Rouge River it is sketched as running somewhat
further back than the line of the present Kingston Road; and after
leaving Kingston it is drawn as though it was expected to follow the
water-shed between the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence. A road is sketched,
running from the Pointe au Bodêt to the Ottawa, and this Road is struck
at an acute angle by Dundas Street.
A manuscript note appears on the map, "The Dundas Street is laid out
from Oxford to the Bay of Quinté; it is nearly finished from Oxford to
Burlington Bay."
In 1799 the _Constellation_, a paper published at Niagara, informs its
readers, under the date of Friday, August 2nd, in that year, that "the
wilderness from York to the Bay of Quinté is 120 miles; a road of this
distance through it," it then says, "is contracted out by Government to
Mr. Danforth, to be cut and completed by the first of July next; and
which, when completed, will open a communication round the Lake by land
from this town [Niagara] with the Bay, Kingston, &c. Hitherto," the
_Constellation_ continues, "in the season of winter our intercourse with
that part of the province has been almost totally interrupted. Mr.
Danforth has already made forty miles of excellent road," the editor
encourages his patrons by observing, "and procured men to the number
sufficient for doing the whole extent by the setting in of winter. It
would be desirable also," Mr. Tiffany suggests, "were a little labour
expended in bridging the streams between Burlington Bay and York; indeed
the whole country," it is sweepingly declared, "affords room for
amendment in this respect."
It is plain from this extract that if the men of the present generation
would have a just conception of what was the condition of the region
round Lake Ontario seventy years ago, they must pay a visit to the head
of Lake Superior and perform the journey by the Dawson road and the rest
of the newly-opened route from Fort William to Winnipeg.
The _Gazette_ of December 14, 1799, was able to speak approvingly of the
road to the eastward. "The road from this town (York) to the Midland
District is," it says, "completed as far as the Township of Hope, about
sixty miles, so that sleighs, waggons, &c., may travel it with safety.
The report which has been made to the Government by the gentlemen
appointed to inspect the work is," the _Gazette_ then proceeds to say,
"highly favourable to Mr. Danforth, the undertaker; and less
imperfections could not be pointed out in so extensive a work. The
remaining part," it is added, "will be accomplished by the first of July
next." The road to which these various extracts refer, is still known as
the Danforth Road. It runs somewhat to the north of the present Kingston
Road, entering it by the town line at the "Four Mile Tree."
Yonge Street, which we purpose duly to perambulate hereafter, has its
name from Sir George Yonge, a member of the Imperial Government in the
reign of George III. He was of a distinguished Devonshire family, and a
personal friend of Governor Simcoe's.
The first grantee of the park-lot which we next pass in our progress
westward was Dr. Macaulay, an army surgeon attached successively to the
33rd Regiment and the famous Queen's Rangers. His sons, Sir James
Macaulay, first Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and Colonel John
Simcoe Macaulay, a distinguished officer of Engineers, are well
remembered. Those who have personal recollections of Dr. Macaulay speak
of him in terms of great respect. The southern portion of this property
was at an early period laid out in streets and small lots. The
collection of houses that here began to spring up was known as Macaulay
Town, and was long considered as bearing the relation to York that
Yorkville does to Toronto now. So late as 1833 Walton, in his Street
Guide and Register, speaks of Macaulay Town as extending from Yonge
Street to Osgoode Hall.
James Street retains the Christian name of Dr. Macaulay. Teraulay Street
led up to the site of his residence, Teraulay Cottage, which after
having been moved from its original position in connection with the
laying out of Trinity Square off Yonge Street, was destroyed by fire in
1848. The northern portion of Macaulay Town was bounded by Macaulay
Lane, described by Walton as "fronting the fields." This is Louisa
Street.
Of the memorable possessor of the property on the south side of Queen
Street, opposite Macaulay Town, Mr. Jesse Ketchum, we shall have
occasion to speak hereafter, when we pass his place of abode in our
proposed journey through Yonge Street. The existing Free Kirk place of
worship, known as Knox Church, stands on land given by Mr. Ketchum, and
on a site previously occupied by a long oblong red brick chapel which
looked towards what is now Richmond Street, and in which a son-in-law of
his, Mr. Harris, officiated to a congregation of United Synod
Presbyterians. The donor was probably unconscious of the remarkable
excellence of this particular position as a site for a conspicuous
architectural object. The spire that towers up from this now central
spot is seen with peculiarly good effect as one approaches Toronto by
the thoroughfare of Queen Street whether from the east or from the west.
_Digression Southward at Bay Street._
Old inhabitants say that Bay Street, where we are now arrived, was at
the first in fact "Bear Street," and that it was popularly so called
from a noted chase given to a bear out of the adjoining wood on the
north, which, to escape from its pursuers, made for the water along this
route. Mr. Justice Boulton's two horses, Bonaparte and Jefferson, were
once seen, we are told, to attack a monster of this species that
intruded on their pasture on the Grange property a little to the west.
They are described as plunging at the animal with their fore feet. In
1809, a straggler from the forest of the same species was killed in
George Street by Lieut. Fawcett, of the 100th regiment, who cleft the
creature's head open with his sword. This Lieut. Fawcett was afterwards
Lieut.-Col. of the 100th, and was severely wounded in the war of 1812.
Bay street, as we pass it, recalls one of the early breweries of York.
We have already in another place briefly spoken of Shaw's and Hugill's.
At the second north-west corner southward, beer of good repute in the
town and neighbourhood was manufactured by Mr. John Doel up to 1847,
when his brewery was accidentally burnt. Mr. Doel's name is associated
with the early post-office traditions of York. For a number of years he
undertook and faithfully accomplished the delivery with his own hands of
all the correspondence of the place that was in those days thus
distributed. His presence at a door in the olden time was often a matter
of considerable interest.
In the local commotions of 1837, Mr. Doel ventured in an humble way to
give aid and comfort to the promoters of what proved to be a small
revolution. We cannot at this hour affirm that there was anything to his
discredit in this. He acted, no doubt, in accordance with certain honest
instincts. Men of his class and stamp, shrewd in their ideas and sturdy
against encroachments, civil and religious, abound in old Somersetshire
where he first drew breath. His supposed presumption in having opinions
on public questions induced the satirists of the non-progressive side to
mention him occasionally in their philippics and pasquinades. His name
has thus become associated in the narrative of Upper Canadian affairs
with those of the actual chiefs of the party of reform. In 1827, Robert
Randal, M.P., was despatched to London as a delegate on the part of the
so-called "Aliens" or unnaturalized British subjects of United States
origin. A series of burlesque nominations, supposed to be suggested by
Randal to the Colonial Secretary, appeared at this time, emanating of
course from the friends of the officials of the day. We give the
document. It will be seen that Mr. Doel is set down in it for the
Postmaster-Generalship. The other persons mentioned will be all readily
recalled.
"Nominations to be dictated by the Constitutional Meeting, on Saturday
next, in the petition for the redress of grievances to be forwarded to
London by Ambassador Randal. Barnabas Bidwell--President of Upper
Canada--with an extra annual allowance for a jaunt, for the benefit of
his health, to his native State of Massachusetts. W. W. Baldwin--Chief
Justice and Surgeon-General to the Militia Forces--with 1,000,000 acres
of land for past services, he and his family having been most shamefully
treated in having grants of land withheld from them heretofore. John
Rolph--Attorney-General, and Paymaster-General to the Militia--with
500,000 acres of land for his former accounts as District Paymaster,
faithfully rendered. Marshall S. Bidwell--Solicitor-General--with an
annual allowance of as much as he may be pleased to ask for, rendering
no account--for the purpose of 'encouraging emigration from the United
States,' and a contingent account if he shall find it convenient to
accompany the President to Massachusetts. The Puisne Judges--to be
chosen by ballot in the Market Square, on the 4th of July in each and
every year, subject to the approval of W. W. B., the Chief Justice.
Their salaries to be settled when going out of office. Jesse Ketchum,
Jos. Sheppard, Dr. Stoyell, and A. Burnside--Executive and Legislative
Councillors. Joint Secretaries--William Lyon McKenzie and Francis
Collins, with all the printing. John Carey--Assistant Secretary, with as
much of the printing as the Joint Secretaries may be pleased to allow
him. Moses Fish--Inspector of Public Buildings and Fortifications. J. S.
Baldwin--Contractor-General to the Province, with a monopoly of the
trade. T. D. Morrison--Surveyor-General and Inspector of Hospitals.
Little Doel--Postmaster-General. Peter Perry--Chancellor of the
Exchequer and Receiver-General. The above persons being thus amply
provided for, their friends, alias their stepping stones," the document
just quoted proceeds to state, "may shift for themselves; an
opportunity, however, will be offered them for 'doing a little business'
by disposing of all other public offices to the lowest bidder, from whom
neither talent nor security will be required for the performance of
their duties. Tenders received at Russell Square, Front Street, York.
The Magistracy, being of no consequence, is to be left for after
consideration. The Militia, at the particular request of Paul Peterson,
[M.P. for Prince Edward,] to be done away altogether; and the roads to
take care of themselves. The Welland Canal to be stopped immediately,
and Colonel By to be recalled from the Rideau Canal. N.B. Any
suggestions for further _improvements_ will be thankfully received at
Russell Square, as above."--(The humour of all this can of course be
only locally understood.)
Mr. Doel arrived in York in 1818, occupying a month in the journey from
Philadelphia to Oswego, and a week in that from Oswego to Niagara, being
obliged from stress of weather to put in at Sodus Bay. At Niagara he
waited three days for a passage to York. He and his venerable helpmeet
were surviving in 1870, at the ages respectively, of 80 and 82.--Not
without reason, as the event proved, they lived for many years in a
state of apprehension in regard to the stability of the lofty spire of a
place of worship close to their residence. In 1862, that spire actually
fell, eastward as it happened, and not westward, doing considerable
damage. Mr. Doel died in 1871.
By the name of the short street passing from Adelaide Street to Richmond
Street, a few chains to the west of Mr. Doel's corner, we are reminded
of Harvey Shepard, a famous worker in iron of the former time, whose
imprint on axe, broad axe or adze, was a guarantee to the practical
backwoodsman of its temper and serviceable quality. Harvey Shepard's axe
factory was on the west side of this short street. Before his
establishment here he worked in a smithy of the customary village type,
on King Street, on the property of Jordan Post. Like Jordan Post
himself, Harvey Shepard was of the old fashioned New England mould,
elongated and wiry. After a brief suspension of business, a placard hung
up in the country inns characteristically announced to his friends and
the public that he had resumed his former occupation and that he would,
"by the aid of Divine Providence," undertake to turn out as good axes as
any that he had ever made; which acknowledgement of the source of his
skill is commendable surely, if unusual. So also, there is no one who
will refuse to applaud an epigrammatic observation of his, when
responding to an appeal of charity. "Though dealing usually in iron
only, I keep," he said, "a little stock of silver and gold for such a
call as this." The factory on Shepard Street was afterwards worked by
Mr. J. Armstrong, and subsequently by Mr. Thomas Champion, formerly of
Sheffield, who, in 1838, advertised that he had "a large stock of
Champion's warranted cast steel axes, made at the factory originally
built by the late Harvey Shepard, and afterwards occupied by John
Armstrong. As Shepard's and Armstrong's axes have been decidedly
preferred before any others in the Province," the advertisement
continues, "it is only necessary to state that Champion's are made by
the same workmen, and from the very best material, to ensure for them
the same continued preference."--We now return from our digression
southward at Bay Street.
Chief Justice Elmsley was the first possessor of the hundred acres
westward of the Macaulay lot. He effected, however, a certain exchange
with Dr. Macaulay. Preferring land that lay higher, he gave the southern
half of his lot for the northern half of his neighbour's, the latter at
the same time discerning, as is probable, the prospective greater value
of a long frontage on one of the highways into the town. Of Mr. Elmsley,
we have had occasion to speak in our perambulation of King Street in
connection with Government House, which in its primitive state was his
family residence; and in our progress through Yonge Street hereafter we
shall again have to refer to him. In 1802 he was promoted from a Puisne
Judgeship in Upper Canada to the Chief Justiceship of Lower Canada.
The park-lot which follows was originally secured by one who has
singularly vanished out of the early traditions of York--the Rev. T.
Raddish. His name is inscribed on this property in the first plan, and
also on part of what is now the south-east portion of the
Government-house grounds. He emigrated to these parts under the express
auspices of the first Lieutenant-Governor, and was expected by him to
take a position of influence in the young colony of Upper Canada. But,
habituated to the amenities and conveniencies of an old community, he
speedily discovered either that an entirely new society was not suited
to him or that he himself did not dovetail well into it. He appears to
have remained in the country only just long enough to acquire for
himself and heirs the fee simple of a good many acres of its virgin
soil. In 1826 the southern portion of Mr. Raddish's park-lot became the
property of Sir John Robinson, at the time Attorney General.--The site
of Osgoode Hall, six acres, was, as we have been assured, the generous
gift of Sir John Robinson to the Law Society, and the name which the
building bears was his suggestion.
_Osgoode Hall_.
The east wing of the existing edifice was the original Osgoode Hall,
erected under the eye of Dr. W. W. Baldwin, at the time Treasurer of the
Society. It was a plain square matter-of-fact brick building two storeys
and a half in height. In 1844-46 a corresponding structure was erected
to the west, and the two were united by a building between, surmounted
by a low dome. In 1857-60 the whole edifice underwent a renovation; the
dome was removed; a very handsome façade of cut stone was put up; the
inner area, all constructed of Caen stone, reminding one of the interior
of a Genoese or Roman Palace, was added, with the Court Rooms, Library
and other appurtenances, on a scale of dignity and in a style of
architectural beauty surpassed only by the new Law Courts in London. The
pediment of each wing, sustained aloft on fluted Ionic columns, seen on
a fine day against the pure azure of a northern sky, is something
enjoyable.
Great expense has been lavished by the Benchers on this Canadian _Palais
de Justice_; but the effect of such a pile, kept in its every nook and
corner and in all its surroundings in scrupulous order, is invaluable,
tending to refine and elevate each successive generation of our young
candidates for the legal profession, and helping to inspire amongst them
a salutary esprit de corps.
The Library, too, here to be seen, noble in its dimensions and aspect,
must, even independently of its contents, tend to create a love of legal
study and research.
The Law Society of Osgoode Hall was incorporated in 1822. The Seal bears
a Pillar on which is a beaver holding a Scroll inscribed Magna Charta.
To the right and left are figures of Justice and Strength (Hercules.)
An incident associated in modern times with Osgoode Hall is the
Entertainment given there to the Prince of Wales during his visit to
Canada in 1860, on which occasion, at night, all the architectural lines
of the exterior of the building were brilliantly marked out by rows of
minute gas-jets.
Here, too, were held the impressive funeral obsequies of Sir John
Robinson, the distinguished Chief Justice of Upper Canada, in 1862. In
the Library is a large painting of him in oil, in which his finely cut
Reginald Heber features are well delineated. Sayer Street, passing
northward on the east side of Osgoode Hall, was so named by Chief
Justice Robinson, in honour of his mother. In 1870 the name was changed,
probably without reflection and certainly without any sufficient cause.
The series of paintings begun in Osgoode Hall, conservative to future
ages of the outward presentment of our Chief Justices, Chancellors and
Judges, is very interesting. All of them, we believe, are by Berthon, of
Toronto. No portrait of Chief Justice Osgoode, however, is at present
here to be seen. The engraving contained in this volume is from an
original in the possession of Capt. J. K. Simcoe, R. N., of Wolford, in
the County of Devon.
After filling the office of Chief Justice in Upper Canada, Mr. Osgoode
was removed to the same high position in Lower Canada. He resigned in
1801 and returned to England. Among the deaths in the _Canadian Review_
of July, 1824, his is recorded in the following terms:--"At his Chambers
in the Albany, London, on the 17th of February last, Wm. Osgoode, Esq.,
formerly Chief Justice of Canada, aged 70. By the death of this
gentleman," it is added, "his pension of £800 sterling paid by this
Province now ceases." It is said of him, "no person admitted to his
intimacy ever failed to conceive for him that esteem which his conduct
and conversation always tended to augment." Garneau, in his History of
Canada, iii., 117, without giving his authority, says that he was an
illegitimate son of George III. Similar tattle has been rife from time
to time in relation to other personages in Canada.
A popular designation of Osgoode Hall long in vogue was "Lawyers' Hall:"
"Farewell, Toronto, of great glory,
Of valour, too, in modern story;
Farewell to Courts, to Lawyers' Hall,
The Justice seats, both great and small:
Farewell Attorneys, Special Pleaders,
Equity Draftsmen, and their Readers.
Canadian Laws, and Suits, to song
Of future Bard, henceforth belong."
Thus closed a curious production in rhyme entitled _Curiæ Canadenses_,
published anonymously in 1843, but written by Mr. John Rumsey, an
English barrister, sometime domiciled here. In one place is described
the migration of the Court of Chancery back from Kingston, whither it
was for a brief interval removed, when Upper and Lower Canada were
re-united. The minstrel says:
"Dreary and sad was Frontenac:
Thy duke ne'er made a clearer sack,
Than when the edict to be gone
Issued from the Vice-regal Throne.
_Exeunt omnes_ helter skelter
To Little York again for shelter:
Little no longer: York the New
Of imports such can boast but few:
A goodly freight, without all brag,
When comes 'mongst others, Master Spragge.
And skilful Turner, versed in pleading,
The Kingston exiles gently leading."
To the last three lines the following note is appended:--
"J. G. Spragge, Esq., the present very highly esteemed and
respected Master of the Court of Chancery; R. T. Turner, Esq., a
skilful Equity Draftsman and Solicitor in Chancery. See
_Journals of House of Assembly, 1841_."
The notes to _Curiæ Canadenses_ teem with interesting matter relating to
the laws, courts, terms, districts and early history, legal and general,
of Lower as well as Upper Canada. A copious table of contents renders
the volume quite valuable for reference. The author must have been an
experienced compiler, analyst and legal index maker. In the text of the
work, Christopher Anstey's poetical "Pleader's Guide" is taken as a
model. As a motto to the portion of his poem that treats of Upper Canada
he places the line of Virgil, "_Gensque virûm truncis et duro robore
nata_," which may be a compliment or not. The title in full of Mr.
Rumsey's brochure, which consists of only 127 octavo pages, is as
follows:--"Curiæ Canadenses; or, The Canadian Law Courts: being a Poem,
describing the several Courts of Law and Equity which have been erected
from time to time in the Canadas; with copious notes, explanatory and
historical, and an Appendix of much useful Matter. Itur in antiquam
sylvam, stabula alta ferarum; Procumbunt piceæ, sonat icta securibus
ilex, Fraxineæque trabes: cuneis et fissile robur Scinditur: advolvunt
ingentes montibus ornos.--_Virgil._ By Plinius Secundus. Toronto: H. and
W. Rowsell, King Street, 1843." The typography and paper are admirable.
The _Curiæ_, in a jacket of fair calf, should be given a place on the
shelves of our Canadian law libraries.
We pause for a moment at York Street, opposite the east wing of Osgoode
Hall.
It rather puzzles one to conceive why York Street received its name. If
a commemoration of the Duke of York of sixty years since was designed,
the name of the whole town was that sufficiently already. Frederick
Street, besides, recorded his specific Christian name, and Duke Street
his rank and title. Although interesting now as a memento of a name
borne of old by Toronto, York Street, when Toronto was York, might well
have been otherwise designated, it seeming somewhat irrational for any
particular thoroughfare in a town to be distinguished by the name of
that town.--A certain poverty of invention in regard to street names has
in other instances been evinced amongst us. Victoria Street, for
example, was for a time called Upper George Street, to distinguish it
from George Street proper, so named from George, Prince of Wales, the
notable Prince Regent. It is curious that no other name but George
should have been suggested for the second street; especially, too, as
that street might have been so fittingly named Toronto Street, as being
situated within a few feet of the line of the original thoroughfare of
that name which figures so largely in the early descriptions of
York.--If in "York Street" a compliment had been intended to Charles
Yorke, Secretary at War in 1802, the orthography would have been "Yorke
Street."
After all, however, the name "York Street" may have arisen from the
circumstance that, at an early period, this was for teams on their way
to York, the beaten track, suddenly turning off here to the south out of
Dundas or Lot Street, the line of road which, if followed, would have
taken the traveller to Kingston.
The street on the west of the grounds of Osgoode Hall is now known as
University Street. By the donor to the public of the land occupied by
the street, it was designated Park Lane--not without due consideration,
as is likely. In London there is a famous and very distinguished Park
Lane. It leads from Oxford Street to Piccadilly, and skirts the whole of
the east side of Hyde Park. The position of what was our Park Lane is
somewhat analogous, it being open along its whole length on the left to
the plantations of an ornamental piece of ground. Unmeddled with, our
Park Lane would have suggested from time to time in the mind of the
ruminating wayfarer pleasant thoughts of a noble and interesting part of
the great home metropolis. The change to University Street was
altogether uncalled for. It ignored the adjoining "College Avenue," the
name of which showed that a generally-recognized "University Street"
existed already: it gave, moreover, a name which is pretentious, the
roadway indicated being comparatively narrow.
Of the street on the east side of the grounds of Osgoode Hall we have
already spoken. But in connection with the question of changes in street
names, we must here again refer to it. In this case the name "Sayer" has
been made to give place to "Chestnut." "Elm Street," which intersects
this street to the north, probably in some vague way suggested a tree
name. "Elm Street," however, had a reason for its existence. Many
persons still remember a solitary Elm, a relic of the forest, which was
long conspicuous just where Elm Street enters Yonge Street. And there is
a fitness likewise in the names of Pine Street and Sumach Street, in the
east; these streets, passing through a region where pines and sumachs
once abounded. But the modern Chestnut Street has nothing about it in
the past or present associated with chestnut trees of any kind. The
name "Sayer" should have been respected.
It is unfortunate when persons, apparently without serious retrospective
thought, have a momentary chance to make changes in local names.
Chancery might well be invoked to undo in some instances what has been
done, and to prohibit like inconsiderate proceedings in the future.
Equity would surely say that a citizen's private right should be
sustained, so long as it worked no harm to the community; and that
perplexity in the registration and description of property should not
needlessly be created.
Although we shall forestall ourselves a little, we may here notice one
more alteration in a street-name near Osgoode Hall. William Street,
immediately west of the Avenue leading to the University, has in recent
times been changed to Simcoe Street. It is true, William Street was
nearly in a line with the street previously known as Simcoe Street;
nevertheless, starting as it conspicuously did somewhat to the west of
that line, it was a street sufficiently distinct to be entitled to
retain an independent name. Here again, an item of local history has
been obliterated. William Street was a record on the soil of the first
name of an early Chief Justice of Upper Canada, who projected the street
and gave the land. Dummer Street, the next street westward, bears his
second name.
Of "Powell," his third name we have already spoken elsewhere, and shall
again almost immediately have to speak.
When it shall be proposed to alter the name of Dummer Street, with the
hope, perhaps, of improving the fame of the locality along with its
name, let the case of March Street be recalled. In the case of March
Street, the rose, notwithstanding a change of name, retained its
perfume: and the Colonial Minister of the day, Lord Stanley, received
but a sorry compliment when his name was made to displace that of the
Earl of March. (It was from this second title of the Duke of Richmond
that March Street had its name.)--It is probable that the Dummer Street
of to-day, like the March Street of yesterday, would, under another
name, continue much what it is. In all such quarters, it is not a change
of name that is of any avail: but the presence of the schoolmaster and
home-missionary, backed up by landlords and builders, studious of the
public health and morals, as well as of private interests.
_Digression Northward at the College Avenue._
The fine vista of the College Avenue, opposite to which we have now
arrived, always recalls to our recollection a certain bright spring
morning, when on reaching school a whole holiday was unexpectedly
announced; and when, as a mode of filling up a portion of the
unlooked-for vacant time, it was agreed between two or three young lads
to pay a visit to the place on Lot Street where, as the report had
spread amongst us, they were beginning to make visible preparations for
the commencement of the University of King's College. The minds of
growing lads in the neighbourhood of York at that period had very vague
ideas of what a University really was. It was a place where studies were
carried on, but how or under what conditions, there was of necessity
little conception. Curiosity, however, was naturally excited by the talk
on the lips of every one that a University was one day to be established
at York; and now suddenly we learned that actual beginnings were to be
seen of the much-talked-of institution. On the morning of the fine
spring day referred to, we accordingly undertook an exploration.
On arriving at the spot to which we had been directed, we found that a
long strip of land running in a straight line northwards had been marked
out, after the manner of a newly-opened side line or concession road in
the woods. We found a number of men actually at work with axes and
mattocks; yokes of oxen, too, were straining at strong ploughs, which
forced a way in amongst the roots and small stumps of the natural
brushwood, and, here and there, underneath a rough mat of tangled grass,
bringing to light, now black vegetable mould, now dry clay, now loose
red sand. Longitudinally, up the middle of the space marked off, several
bold furrows were cut, those on the right inclining to the left, and
those on the left inclining to the right, as is the wont in primitive
turnpiking.
One novelty we discovered, viz., that on each side along a portion of
the newly-cleared ground, young saplings had been planted at regular
intervals; these, we were told, were horse-chestnuts, procured from the
United States expressly for the purpose of forming a double row of trees
here. In the neighbourhood of York the horse-chestnut was then a rarity.
Everywhere throughout the North American continent, as in the numerous
newly-opened areas of the British Empire elsewhere on the globe's
surface, instances, of course, abound of wonderful progress made in a
brief interval of time. For ourselves, we seem sometimes as if we were
moving among the unrealities of a dream when we deliberately review the
steps in the march of physical and social improvement, which, within a
fractional portion only of a retrospect not very extended, can be
recalled, in the region where our own lot has been cast, and, in
particular, in the neighbourhood where we are at this moment pausing.
The grand mediæval-looking structure of University College in the
grounds at the head of the Avenue, continues to this day to be a
surprise somewhat bewildering to the eye and mind, whenever it breaks
upon our view. It looks so completely a thing of the old world and of an
age long past away. To think that one has walked over its site before
one stone was laid upon another thereon, seems almost like a mental
hallucination.
A certain quietness of aspect and absence of overstrain after
architectural effect give the massive pile an air of great genuineness.
The irregular grouping of its many parts appears the undesigned result
of accretion growing out of the necessities of successive years. The
whole looks in its place, and as if it had long occupied it. The
material of its walls, left for the most part superficially in the
rough, has the appearance of being weather-worn. An impression of age,
too, is given by the smooth finish of the surrounding grounds and
spacious drives by which, on several sides, the building is approached,
as also by the goodly size of the well-grown oaks and other trees
through whose outstretched branches it is usually first caught sight of,
from across the picturesque ravine.
Of the still virgin condition of the surrounding soil, however, we have
some unmistakeable evidence in the ponderous granitic boulders every
here and there heaving up their grey backs above the natural greensward,
undisturbed since the day when they dropped suddenly down from the
dissolving ice-rafts that could no longer endure their weight.
Seen at a little distance, as from Yonge Street for example, the square
central tower of the University, with the cone-capped turret at its
north-east angle, rising above a pleasant horizon of trees, and outlined
against an afternoon sky, is something thoroughly English, recalling
Rugby or Warwick. On a nearer approach, this same tower, combined with
the portal below, bears a certain resemblance to the gateway of the
Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, as figured in Palgrave's "Anglo-Saxons;" and
the elaborate and exquisite work about the recessed circular-headed
entrance enables one to realize with some degree of certainty how the
enriched front of that and other noble mediæval structures, seen by us
now corroded and mutilated, looked when fresh from the hands that so
cunningly carved them.
In the two gigantic blind-worms, likewise, stretched in terrorem on the
sloping parapets of the steps leading to the door, benumbed, not dead;
giving in their extremities, still faint evidence of life, we have a
sermon in stone, which the brethren of a masonic guild of Wykeham's day
would readily have expounded. As we enter a house devoted to learning
and study, is it not fitting that the eye should be greeted with a
symbol of the paralyzing power of Science over Ignorance and
Superstition?
Moreover, sounds that come at stated intervals from that central tower,
make another link of sympathy with the old mother-land. Every night at
nine, "swinging slow with solemn roar," the great bell of the University
is agreeably suggestive of Christ Church, Oxford, St. Mary's, Cambridge,
and other places beyond the sea, which to the present hour give back an
echo of the ancient Curfew.
And if to this day the University building, in its exterior aspect and
accidents, is startling to those who knew its site when as yet in a
state of nature, its interior also, when traversed and explored, tends
in the same persons to produce a degree of confusion as between things
new and old; as between Canada and elsewhere. Within its walls are to be
seen appliances and conveniences and luxuries for the behoof and use of
teacher and student, unknown a few years since in many an ancient seat
of learning.
In a library of Old World aspect and arrangement, is a collection rich
in the Greek and Latin Classics, in Epigraphy and Archæology, beyond
anything of the kind in any other collection on this continent, and
beyond what is to be met with in those departments in many a separate
College within the precincts of the ancient Universities--a pre-eminence
due to the tastes and special studies of the first president and other
early professors of the Canadian Institution.
Strange, it is, yet true that hither, as to a recognized source of
certain aid in identification and decipherment, are duly transmitted, by
cast, rubbing and photograph, the "finds" that from time to time create
such excitement and delight among epigraphists, and ethnologists, and
other minute historical investigators in the British Islands and
elsewhere.
There used to be preserved in the Old Hospital a model in cork and
card-board, of the great educational establishment to which, in the
first instance, the Avenue was expected to form an approach. It was very
curious. Had it been really followed, a large portion of the park
provided for the reception of the University would have been covered
with buildings. A multitude of edifices, isolated and varying in
magnitude, were scattered about, with gardens and ornamental grounds
interspersed. These were halls of science, lecture-rooms, laboratories,
residences for president, vice-president, professors, officials and
servants of every grade. On the widely extended premises occupied by the
proposed institution, a population was apparently expected to be found
that would, of itself, have almost sufficed to justify representation in
Parliament--a privilege the college was actually by its charter to
enjoy. We should have had in fact realized before our eyes, on a
considerable scale, a part of the dreams of Plato and More, a fragment
of Atlantis and Utopia.
When the moment arrived, however, for calling into visible being the
long contemplated seat of learning, it was found expedient to abandon
the elaborate model which had been constructed. Mr. Young, a local
architect, was directed to devise new plans. His ideas appear to have
been wholly modern. Notwithstanding the tenor of the Royal Charter,
which suggested the precedents of the old universities of "our United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland," wherever it should be practicable
to follow them, the architecture and arrangements customary in those
places were ignored. Girard College, Philadelphia, seems to have
inspired the new designs. However, only a minute fragment of one of the
buildings of the new plan was destined ever to exist.
The formal commencement of the abortive work took place on the 23rd of
April, 1842--a day indelibly impressed on the memory of those who
participated in the proceedings. It was one of the sunniest and
brightest of days. In the year just named it happened that so early as
St. George's day the leaves of the horse-chestnut were bursting their
glossy sheaths, and vegetation generally was in a very advanced stage.
A procession, such as had never before been seen in these parts, slowly
defiled up the Avenue to the spot where the corner-stone of the proposed
University was to be laid.
A highly wrought contemporary description of the scene is given in a
note in _Curiæ Canadenses_: "The vast procession opened its ranks, and
his Excellency the Chancellor, with the President, the Lord Bishop of
Toronto, on his right, and the Senior Visitor, the Chief Justice, on his
left, proceeded on foot through the College Avenue to the University
grounds. The countless array moved forward to the sound of military
music. The sun shone out with cloudless meridian splendour; one blaze of
banners flushed upon the admiring eye.--The Governor's rich
Lord-Lieutenant's dress, the Bishop's sacerdotal robes, the Judicial
Ermine of the Chief Justice, the splendid Convocation robes of Dr.
McCaul, the gorgeous uniforms of the suite, the accoutrements of the
numerous Firemen, the national badges worn by the Office-bearers of the
different Societies, and what on such a day (St. George's) must not be
omitted, the Red Crosses on the breasts of England's congregated sons,
the grave habiliments of the Clergy and Lawyers, and the glancing lances
and waving plumes of the First Incorporated Dragoons, all formed one
moving picture of civic pomp, one glorious spectacle which can never be
remembered but with satisfaction by those who had the good fortune to
witness it. The following stanza from a Latin Ode," the note goes on to
say, "recited by Master Draper, son of the late Attorney-General, after
the ceremony, expresses in beautifully classical language the proud
occasion of all this joy and splendid pageantry:--
"Io! triumphe! flos Canadensium!
Est alma nobis mater; æmula
Britanniæ hæc sit nostra terra,--
Terra diu domibus negata!"
Another contemporary account adds: "As the procession drew nearer to the
site where the stone was to be laid, the 43rd Regiment lined the way,
with soldiers bearing arms, and placed on either side, at equal
intervals. The 93rd Regiment was not on duty here, but in every
direction the gallant Highlanders were scattered through the crowd, and
added by their national garb and nodding plumes to the varied beauty of
the animated scene. When the site was reached," this account says, "a
new feature was added to the interest of the ceremony. Close to the
spot, the north-east corner, where the foundation was to be deposited, a
temporary building had been erected for the Chancellor, and there,
accompanied by the officers of the University and his suite, he took his
stand. Fronting this was a kind of amphitheatre of seats, constructed
for the occasion, tier rising above tier, densely filled with ladies,
who thus commanded a view of the whole ceremony. Between this
amphitheatre and the place where the Chancellor stood, the procession
ranged itself."
The Chancellor above spoken of was the Governor General of the day, Sir
Charles Bagot, a man of noble bearing and genial, pleasant aspect. He
entered with all the more spirit into the ceremonies described, from
being himself a graduate of one of the old universities. Memories of
far-off Oxford and Christ Church would be sure to be roused amidst the
proceedings that rendered the 23rd of April, 1842, so memorable amongst
us. A brother of Sir Charles' was at the time Bishop of Oxford. In his
suite, as one of his Secretaries, was Captain Henry Bagot, of the Royal
Navy, his own son. Preceding him in the procession, bearing a large
gilded mace, was an "Esquire Bedell," like the Chancellor himself, a
Christ Church man, Mr. William Cayley, subsequently a member of the
Canadian Government.
Although breaking ground for the University building had been long
delayed, the commencement now made proved to be premature. The edifice
begun was never completed, as we have already intimated; and even in its
imperfect, fragmentary condition, it was not fated to be for any great
length of time a scene of learned labours. In 1856 its fortune was to be
converted into a Female Department for the over-crowded Provincial
Lunatic Asylum.
The educational system inaugurated in the new building in 1843 was, as
the plate enclosed in the foundation-stone finely expressed it,
"præstantissimum ad exemplar Britannicarum Universitatum." But the
"exemplar" was not, in practice, found to be, as a whole, adapted to the
genius of the Western Canadian people.
The revision of the University scheme with a view to the necessities of
Western Canada, was signalized by the erection in 1857 of a new building
on an entirely different site, and a migration to it bodily, of
president, professors and students, without departing however from the
bounds of the spacious park originally provided for the institution; and
it is remarkable that, while deviating, educationally and otherwise, in
some points, from the pattern of the ancient universities, as they were
in 1842, a nearer approach, architecturally, was made to the mediæval
English College than any that had been thought of before. Mr.
Cumberland, the designer of the really fine and most appropriate
building in which the University at length found a resting place, was,
as is evident, a man after the heart of Wykeham and Wayneflete.
The story of our University is a part of the history of Upper Canada.
From the first foundation of the colony the idea of some such seat of
learning entered into the scheme of its organization. In 1791, before he
had yet left England for the unbroken wilderness in which his Government
was to be set up, we have General Simcoe speaking to Sir Joseph Banks,
the President of the Royal Society, of "a college of a higher class," as
desirable in the community which he was about to create. "A college of a
higher class," he says, "would be eminently useful, and would give a
tone of principles and of manners that would be of infinite support to
Government." In the same letter he remarks to Sir Joseph, "My friend the
Marquis of Buckingham has suggested that Government might allow me a sum
of money to be laid out for a Public Library, to be composed of such
books as might be useful in the colony. He instanced the Encyclopædia,
extracts from which might occasionally be published in the newspapers.
It is possible," he adds, "private donations might be obtained, and that
it would become an object of Royal munificence."
It was naturally long before the community of Upper Canada was ripe for
a college of the character contemplated; but provision for its ultimate
existence and sustenance was made, almost from the beginning, in the
assignment to that object of a fixed and liberal portion of the public
lands of the country.
In 1819-20, Gourlay spoke of the unpreparedness of Upper Canada as yet
for a seat of learning of a high grade. Meanwhile, as a temporary
expedient, he suggested a romantic scheme. "It has been proposed," he
says, "to have a college in Upper Canada; and no doubt in time colleges
will grow up there. At present, and for a considerable period to come,
any effort to found a college would prove abortive. There could neither
be got masters nor scholars to ensure a tolerable commencement for ten
years to come; and a feeble beginning might beget a feeble race of
teachers and pupils. In the United States," he continued, "academies
and colleges, though fast improving, are yet but raw; and greatly
inferior to those in Britain, generally speaking. Twenty-five lads sent
annually at public charge from Upper Canada to British Universities,
would draw after them many more. The youths themselves, generally, would
become desirous of making a voyage in quest of learning.--Crossing the
ocean on such an errand would elevate their ideas, and stir them up to
extraordinary exertions. They would become finished preachers, lawyers,
physicians, merchants; and, returning to their native country, would
repay in wisdom what was expended in goodness and liberality. What more
especially invites the adoption of such a scheme is the amiable and
affectionate connection which it would tend to establish between Canada
and Britain. But it will not do at present to follow out the idea."
Gourlay's prediction that "in time colleges will grow up there" has been
speedily verified. The town especially, of which in its infant state he
spoke in such terms of contempt, has been so prolific of colleges that
it is now become a kind of Salamanca for the country at large; a place
of resort for students from all parts. It is well probably for Canada
that the scheme of drafting a batch of young students periodically to
the old country, was not adopted. Canada would thereby possibly, on the
one hand, have lost the services of some of the cleverest of her sons,
who, on obtaining academic distinction would have preferred to remain in
the mother country, entering on one or other of the public careers to
which academic distinction there opens the ready path; and, on the other
hand, she should, in many an instance, it is to be feared, have received
back her sons just unfitted, in temper and habit, for life under
matter-of-fact colonial conditions.
In the original planting of the Avenue, up whose fine vista we have been
gazing, the mistake was committed of imitating nature too closely.
Numerous trees and shrubs of different kinds and habits were mingled
together as they are usually to be seen in a wild primitive wood; and
thus the growth and fair development of all were hindered. The
horse-chestnuts alone should have been relied on to give character to
the Avenue; and of these there should have been on each side a double
row, with a promenade for pedestrians underneath, after the manner of
the great walks in the public parks of the old towns of Europe.
[Illustration]
XXII.
QUEEN STREET--FROM THE COLLEGE AVENUE TO BROCK STREET AND SPADINA
AVENUE.
Pursuing our way now westward from the Avenue leading to the University,
we pass the Powell park-lot, on which was, up to recent times, the
family vault of the Powells, descendants of the Chief Justice. The whole
property was named by the fancy of the first possessor, Caer-Howell,
Castle Howell, in allusion to the mythic Hoel, to whom all ap-Hoels
trace their origin. Dummer Street, which opens northward a little
further on, retains, as we have said, the second baptismal name of Chief
Justice Powell.
Beverley House and its surroundings, on the side opposite Caer Howell
estate, recall one whose name and memory must repeatedly recur in every
narrative of our later Canadian history, Sir John Robinson.--This was
the residence temporarily of Poulett Thomson, afterwards Lord Sydenham,
while present in Toronto as Governor-General of the Canadas in 1839-40.
A kitchen on a large scale which he caused to be built on the premises
of Beverley House, is supposed to have been an auxiliary, indirectly, in
getting the Union measure through the Upper Canada Parliament. In a
letter to a friend, written at Montreal in 1840, he gives a sketch of
his every-day life: it describes equally well the daily distribution of
his time here in Toronto. "Work in my room," he says, "till three
o'clock; a ride with my aide-de-camp till five; work again till dinner;
at dinner till nine; and work again till early next morning. This is my
daily routine. My dinners last till ten, when I have company, which is
about three times a week; except one night in the week, when I receive
about 150 people."
His policy was, as we know, very successful. Of the state of things at
Toronto, and in Upper Canada generally, after the Union measure had been
pushed through, he writes to a friend thus: "I have prorogued my
Parliament," he says, "and I send you my Speech. Never was such
unanimity! When the Speaker read it in the Commons, after the
prorogation, they gave me three cheers, in which even the ultras united.
In fact, as the matter stands now, the Province is in a state of peace
and harmony which, three months ago, I thought was utterly hopeless."
In a private letter of the following year (1841), he alludes to his
influence in these terms: "I am in the midst," he says, "of the bustle
attending the opening of the Session, and have, besides, a ministerial
'crisis' on my hands. The latter I shall get through triumphantly,
unless my _wand_, as they call it here, has lost all power over the
members, which I do not believe to be the case." This was written at
Kingston, where, it will be remembered, the seat of Government was
established for a short time after the union of Upper and Lower Canada.
Through Poulett Thomson, Toronto for a few months and to the extent of
one-half, was the seat of a modern feudal barony. On being elevated to
the peerage, the Governor-General, who had carried the Union, was
created Baron Sydenham of Sydenham in Kent and Toronto in Canada.
At one time it was expected that Toronto would be the capital of the
United Province, but its liege lord pronounced it to be "too far and out
of the way;" though at the same time he gives it as his opinion that
"Kingston or Bytown would do." Thus in 1840, and in July, 1841, he
writes: "I have every reason to be satisfied with having selected this
place (Kingston) as the new Capital. There is no situation in the
Province so well adapted for the seat of Government from its central
position; and certainly we are as near England as we should be anywhere
else in the whole of Canada. My last letters reached me," he says, "in
fifteen days from London! So much for steam and railways." Being in very
delicate health, it had been Lord Sydenham's intention to return to
England in September, 1841. On the 5th of June he writes at Kingston to
a friend: "I long for September, beyond which I will not stay if they
were to make me Duke of Canada and Prince of Regiopolis, as this place
is called." But he was never more to see England. On the 4th of the
September in which he had hoped to leave Canada, he suffered a fracture
of the right leg and other injury by a fall from his horse. He never
rallied from the shock. His age was only 42.
The Park lot which follows that occupied by Chief Justice Powell was
selected by Solicitor-General Gray, of whom fully already. It afterwards
became the property of Mr. D'Arcy Boulton, eldest son of Mr. Justice
Boulton, and was known as the Grange estate. The house which bears the
name of the "Grange," was built at the beginning of the brick era of
York, and is a favourable specimen of the edifices of that period.
(Beverley House, just noted, was, it may be added, also built by Mr.
D'Arcy Boulton.)
The Grange-gate, now thrust far back by the progress of improvement, was
long a familiar landmark on the line of Lot-street. It was just within
this gate that the fight already recorded took place between Mr. Justice
Boulton's horses, _Bonaparte_ and _Jefferson_, and the bears. A
memorandum of Mr. G. S. Jarvis, of Cornwall, in our possession, affirms
that Mr. Justice Boulton drove a phaeton of some pretensions, and that
his horses, _Bonaparte_ and _Jefferson_, were the crack pair of the day
at York. As to some other equipages he says: "The Lieut. Governor's
carriage was considered a splendid affair, but some of the Toronto cabs
would now throw it into the shade. The carriage of Chief Justice Powell,
he adds, was a rough sort of omnibus, and would compare with the jail
van used now." (We remember Bishop Strachan's account of a carriage sent
up for his own use from Albany or New York; it was constructed on the
model of the ordinary oval stage coach, with a kind of hemispherical
top.)
To our former notes of Mr. Justice Boulton, we add, that he was the
author of a work in quarto published in London in 1806, entitled a
"Sketch of the Province of Upper Canada."
John Street, passing south just here, is, as was noted previously, a
memorial, so far as its name is concerned, of the first Lieutenant
Governor of Upper Canada. On the plan of the "new town," as the first
expansion westward, of York, was termed,--while this street is marked
"John," the next parallel thoroughfare eastward is named "Graves," and
the open square included between the two, southward on Front Street, is
"Simcoe-place." The three names of the founder of York were thus
commemorated. The expression "Simcoe-place" has fallen into disuse. It
indicated, of course, the site of the present Parliament Buildings of
the Province of Ontario. Graves Street has become Simcoe Street, a
name, as we have seen, recently extended to the thoroughfare northward,
with which it is nearly in a right line, viz., William Street, which
previously recorded, as we have said, the first Christian name of Chief
Justice Powell. The name "John Street" has escaped change. The name
sounds trivial enough; but it has an interest.
In the minds of the present generation, with John Street will be
specially associated the memorable landing of the Prince of Wales at
Toronto in 1860. At the foot of John Street, for that occasion, there
was built a vast semi-colosseum of wood, opening out upon the waters of
the Bay; a pile whose capacious concavity was densely filled again and
again, during the Prince's visit, with the inhabitants of the town and
the population of the surrounding country. And on the brow of the bank,
immediately above the so-called amphitheatre, and exactly in the line of
John Street, was erected a finely designed triumphal arch, recalling
those of Septimus Severus and Titus.
This architectural object, while it stood, gave a peculiarly fine finish
to the vista, looking southward along John Street. The usually
monotonous water-view presented by the bay and lake, and even the
common-place straight line of the Island, seen through the frame-work of
three lofty vaulted passages, acquired for the moment a genuine
picturesqueness. An ephemeral monument; but as long as it stood its
effect was delightfully classic and beautiful. The whole group--the arch
and the huge amphitheatre below, furnished around its upper rim at equal
intervals with tall masts, each bearing a graceful gonfalon, and each
helping to sustain on high a luxuriant festoon of evergreen which
alternately drooped and rose again round the whole structure and along
the two sides of the grand roadway up to the arch--all seen under a sky
of pure azure, and bathed in cheery sunlight, surrounded too and
thronged with a pleased multitude--constituted a spectacle not likely to
be forgotten.
Turning down John Street a few chains, the curious observer may see on
his left a particle of the old area of York retaining several of its
original natural features. In the portion of the Macdonell-block not yet
divided into building-slips we have a fragment of one of the many
shallow ravines which meandered capriciously, every here and there,
across the broad site of the intended town. To the passer-by it now
presents a refreshing bit of bowery meadow, out of which towers up one
of the grand elm-trees of the country, with stem of great height and
girth, and head of very graceful form, whose healthy and undecayed limbs
and long trailing branchlets, clearly show that the human regard which
has led to the preservation hitherto of this solitary survivor of the
forest has not been thrown away. This elm and the surrounding grove are
still favourite stations or resting-places for our migratory birds.
Here, for one place, in the spring, are sure to be heard the first notes
of the robin.
At the south-west angle of the Macdonell block still stands in a good
state of preservation the mansion put up by the Hon. Alexander
Macdonell. We have from time to time spoken of the brick era of York.
Mr. Macdonell's imposing old homestead may be described as belonging to
an immediately preceding era--the age of framed timber and
weather-board, which followed the primitive or hewn-log period. It is a
building of two full storeys, each of considerable elevation. A central
portico with columns of the whole height of the house, gives it an air
of dignity.
Mr. Macdonell was one more in that large group of military men who
served in the American Revolutionary war, under Col. Simcoe, and who
were attracted to Upper Canada by the prospects held out by that officer
when appointed Governor of the new colony. Mr. Macdonell was the first
Sheriff of the Home District. He represented in successive parliaments
the Highland constituency of Glengary, and was chosen Speaker of the
House. He was afterwards summoned to the Upper House. He was a friend
and correspondent of the Earl of Selkirk, and was desired by that
zealous emigrational theorist to undertake the superintendence of the
settlement at Kildonan on the Red River. Though he declined this task,
he undertook the management of one of the other Highland settlements
included in the Earl of Selkirk's scheme, namely, that of Baldoon, on
Lake St. Clair; Mr. Douglas undertaking the care of that established at
Moulton, at the mouth of the Grand River.
Mr. Macdonell, in person rather tall and thin, of thoughtful aspect, and
in manner quiet and reserved, is one of the company of our early
worthies whom we personally well remember. An interesting portrait of
him exists in the possession of his descendants: it presents him with
his hair in powder, and otherwise in the costume of "sixty years since."
He died in 1842, "amid the regrets of a community who," to adopt the
language of a contemporary obituary, "loved him for the mild excellence
of his domestic and private character, no less than they esteemed him as
a public man."
Mr. Miles Macdonell, the first Governor of Assiniboia, under the
auspices of the Hudson's Bay Company, and Alexander Macdonell, the chief
representative in 1816 of the rival and even hostile Company of the
North-West Traders of Montreal, were both near relations of Mr.
Macdonell of York, as also was the barrister, lost in the _Speedy_, and
the well-known R. C. Bishop Macdonell of Kingston. Col. Macdonell, slain
at Queenston, with General Brock, and whose remains are deposited
beneath the column there, was his brother. His son, Mr. Allan Macdonell,
has on several occasions stood forward as the friend and spirited
advocate of the Indian Tribes, especially of the Lake Superior region,
on occasions when their interests, as native lords of the soil, seemed
in danger of being overlooked by the Government of the day.
On Richmond Street a little to the west of the Macdonell block, was the
town residence of Col. Smith, some time President of the Province of
Upper Canada. He was also allied to the family of Mr. Macdonell. Col.
Smith's original homestead was on the Lake Shore to the west, in the
neighbourhood of the river Etobicoke. Gourlay in his "Statistical
Account of Upper Canada," has chanced to speak of it. "I shall describe
the residence and neighbourhood of the President of Upper Canada from
remembrance," he says, "journeying past it on my way to York from the
westward, by what is called the Lake Road through Etobicoke. For many
miles," he says, "not a house had appeared, when I came to that of
Colonel Smith, lonely and desolate. It had once been genteel and
comfortable; but was now going to decay. A vista had been opened through
the woods towards Lake Ontario; but the riotous and dangling undergrowth
seemed threatening to retake possession from the Colonel of all that had
once been cleared, which was of narrow compass. How could a solitary
half-pay officer help himself," candidly asks Gourlay, "settled down
upon a block of land, whose very extent barred out the assistance and
convenience of neighbours? Not a living thing was to be seen around. How
different might it be, thought I, were a hundred industrious families
compactly settled here out of the redundant population of England!"
"The road was miserable," he continues; "a little way beyond the
President's house it was lost on a bank of loose gravel flung up between
the contending waters of the lake and the Etobicoke stream." He here
went astray. "It was my anxious wish," he says, "to get through the
woods before dusk; but the light was nearly gone before the gravel bank
was cleared. There seemed but one path, which took to the left. It led
me astray: I was lost: and there was nothing for it but to let my little
horse take his own way. Abundant time was afforded for reflection on the
wretched state of property flung away on half-pay officers. Here was the
head man of the Province, 'born to blush unseen,' without even a
tolerable bridle-way between him and the capital city, after more than
twenty years' possession of his domain. The very gravel-bed which caused
me such turmoil might have made a turnpike, but what can be done by a
single hand? The President could do little with the axe or wheelbarrow
himself; and half-pay could employ but few labourers at 3s. 6d. per day
with victuals and drink." He recovers the road at length, and then
concludes: "after many a weary twist and turn I found myself," he says,
"on the banks of the Humber, where there was a house and a boat."
Col. Smith did something, in his day, to improve the breed of horses in
Upper Canada. He expended considerable sums of money in the importation
of choice animals of that species from the United States.
The house which led us to this notice of President Smith is, as we have
said, situated on Richmond Street. On Adelaide Street, immediately south
of this house, and also a little west of the Macdonell block, was a
residence of mark, erected at an early period by Mr. Hugh Heward, and
memorable as having been the abode for a time of the Naval Commissioner
or Commodore, Joseph Bouchette, who first took the soundings and
constructed a map of the harbour of York. His portrait is to be seen
prefixed to his well-known "British Dominions in North America." The
same house was also once occupied by Dr. Stuart, afterwards Archdeacon
of Kingston; and at a later period by Mrs. Caldwell, widow of Dr.
Caldwell, connected with the Naval establishment at Penetanguishene. Her
sons John and Leslie, two tall, sociable youths, now both deceased, were
our classmates at school. We observe in the _Oracle_ of Saturday, May
28, 1803, a notice of Mr. Hugh Heward's death in the following terms:
"Died lately at Niagara, on his way to Detroit, after a lingering
illness, Mr. Hugh Heward, formerly clerk in the Lieutenant-Governor's
office, and a respectable inhabitant of this town (York)."
Just beyond was the abode of Lieut. Col. Foster, long Adjutant General
of Militia; an officer of the antique Wellington school, of a fine type,
portly in figure, authoritative in air and voice; in spirit and heart
warm and frank. His son Colley, also, we here name as a congenial and
attached schoolboy friend, likewise now deceased, after a brief but not
undistinguished career at the Bar.
A few yards further on was the home of Mr. John Ross, whose almost
prescriptive right it gradually became, whenever a death occurred in one
of the old families, to undertake the funeral obsequies. Few were there
of the ancient inhabitants who had not found themselves at one time or
another, wending their way, on a sad errand, to Mr. Ross's doorstep. On
his sombre and very unpretending premises were put together the
perishable shells in which the mortal remains of a large proportion of
the primitive householders of York and their families are now reverting
to their original dust. Almost up to the moment of his own summons to
depart hence, he continued to ply his customary business, being favoured
with an old age unusually green and vigorous, like "the ferryman austere
and stern," Charon; to whom also the "inculta canities" of a plentiful
supply of hair and beard, along with a certain staidness, taciturnity
and rural homeliness of manner and attire, further suggested a
resemblance. Many things thus combine to render Mr. John Ross not the
least notable of our local dramatis personæ. He was led, as we have
understood, to the particular business which was his usual avocation, by
the accident of having been desired, whilst out on active service as a
militiaman in 1812, to take charge of the body of Gen. Brock, when that
officer was killed on Queenston Heights.
While in this quarter we should pause too for a moment before the former
abode of Mr. Robert Stanton, sometime King's Printer for Upper Canada,
as noted already; afterwards editor of the _Loyalist_; and subsequently
Collector of Customs at York:--a structure of the secondary brick
period, and situated on Peter Street, but commanding the view eastward
along the whole length of Richmond Street. Mr. Stanton's father was an
officer in the Navy, who between the years 1771 and 1786 saw much active
service in the East and West Indies, in the Mediterranean, at the siege
of Gibraltar under General Elliott, and on the American coast during
the Revolutionary war. From 1786 to 1828 he was in the public service in
several military and civil capacities in Lower and Upper Canada. In 1806
he was for one thing, we find, issuer of Marriage Licences at York. From
memoranda of his while acting in this capacity we make some extracts.
The unceremoniousness of the record in the majority of cases, is
refreshing. The names are all familiar ones in Toronto. The parties set
down as about to pledge their troth, either to other, had not in every
instance, in 1872, passed off the scene.
1806, Nov. 26, Stephen Heward to Mary Robinson. Same date, Ely Playter
to Sophia Beaman. Dec. 11, same year, Geo. T. Denison to C. B.
Lippincott. 1807, Feb. 3, Jordan Post to M. Woodruffe. July 13, Hiram
Kendrick to Hester Vanderburg. Dec. 28, Jarvis Ashley to Dorothy
McDougal. 1808, Jan. 13, D'Arcy Boulton, Jun., to Sally Ann Robinson.
March 17, James Finch to M. Reynolds. April 9, David Wilson to Susannah
Stone. May 2, John Langstaff to Lucy Miles. May 30, John Murchison to
Frances Hunt. August 8, John Powell, Esq., to Miss Isabella Shaw. Sept.
12, Hugh Heward to Eliza Muir. 1809, April 14, Nicholas Hagarman to
Polly Fletcher. May 18, William Cornwall to Rhoda Terry. June 19, John
Ashbridge to Sarah Mercer. June 21, Jonathan Ashbridge to Hannah Barton.
July 15, Orin Hale to Hannah Barrett. Aug. 5, Henry Drean to Jane
Brooke. Dec. 14, John Thompson to Ann Smith. 1810, March 8, Andrew
Thomson to Sarah Smith. March 30, Isaac Pilkington to Sarah McBride.
June 2, Thomas Bright to Jane Hunter. July 3, John Scarlett to Mary
Thomson. Sept. 10, William Smith to Eleanor Thomson. June 22, William B.
Sheldon to Jane Johnson. July 30, Robert Hamilton, gent., to Miss Maria
Lavinia Jarvis. 1811, Sept. 20, George Duggan to Mary Jackson.
In one or two instances we are enabled to give the formal announcement
in the _Gazette and Oracle_ of the marriage for which the licence issued
by Mr. Stanton was so curtly recorded. In the paper of Jan. 27, 1808, we
have: "Married, on the 13th instant, by the Rev. G. O. Stuart, D'Arcy
Boulton, jun., Esq., barrister, to Miss Sarah Robinson, second daughter
of the late C. Robinson, Esq., of York."
And in the number for August 13, in the same year we read: "Married by
the Rev. G. O. Stuart, on Monday the 8th instant, John Powell, Esq., to
Miss Shaw, daughter of the Hon. Æneas Shaw, of this place (York)." To
this announcement the editor, as we suppose, volunteers the observation:
"This matrimonial connexion of the amiable parties we think replete
with, and we wish it productive of, the most perfect human happiness."
A complimentary epithet to the bride is not unusual in early Canadian
marriage notices. In the _Gazette and Oracle_ of Dec. 29, 1798, we have
a wedding in the Playter family recorded thus: "Married last Monday, Mr.
James Playter to the agreeable Miss Hannah Miles, daughter of Mr. Abner
Miles of this town." In the same paper for Feb. 24, 1798, is the
announcement: "Married in this town (Niagara), by the Rev. Mr. Burke,
Captain Miles Macdonell of the Royal Canadian Volunteers, to the amiable
Miss Katey Macdonell." (This union was of brief duration. In the
_Constellation_ of Sept 6, 1799, we observe: "Died lately at Kingston,
Mrs. Macdonell, of this town (Niagara), the amiable consort of Captain
Miles Macdonell of the Canadian Volunteers.")
Again: in the _Gazette and Oracle_ for Saturday Oct, 26, 1799: "Married,
last Monday, by the Rev. Mr. Addison, Colonel Smith, of the Queen's
Rangers, to the most agreeable and accomplished Miss Mary Clarke." (This
was the Col. Smith who subsequently was for a time President of Upper
Canada.)
In the _Constellation_ of Nov. 23, 1799, in addition to the
complimentary epithet, a poetical stanza is subjoined: thus: "Married at
the seat of the Hon. Mr. Hamilton, at Queenston, on Sunday last, Mr.
Thomas Dickson, merchant, to the amiable Mrs. Taylor, daughter of
Captain Wilkinson, commanding, Fort Erie.
For thee, best treasure of a husband's heart;
Whose bliss it is that thou for life art so;
That thy fond bosom bears a faithful part
In every casual change his breast may know."
But occasionally the announcement is almost as terse as one of Mr.
Stanton's entries. Thus in the _Constellation_ of Dec. 28, 1799, Mr.
Hatt's marriage to Miss Cooly appears with great brevity: "Married at
Ancaster, Mr. Richard Hatt to Miss Polly Cooly."
A magistrate officiates sometimes, and his name is given accordingly. In
the _Gazette and Oracle_ of March 2, 1799, we have: "Married on Tuesday
last, by William Willcocks, Esq., Sergeant Mealy, of the Queen's
Rangers, to Miss M. Wright, of this town."
(Somewhat in the strain of the complimentary marriage notices are the
following: "We announce with much pleasure an acquisition to society in
this place by the arrival of Prideaux Selby, Esq., and Miss
Selby.--_Gazette_, Dec. 9, 1807. The York Assembly which commenced on
Thursday the 17th instant, was honoured by the attendance of His
Excellency and Mrs. Gore. It was not numerous. We understand that Mrs.
Firth, the amiable Lady of the Attorney General, lately arrived, was a
distinguished figure."--_Gazette_, Dec. 23, 1807.)
The family of Mr. Stanton, senior, was large. It was augmented by twins
on five several occasions. Not far from Mr. Stanton's house, a lesser
edifice of brick of comparatively late date on the north side of
Richmond Street, immediately opposite the premises associated just now
with the memory of President Smith, may be noted as having been built
and occupied by the distinguished Admiral Vansittart, and the first
example in this region of a cottage furnished with light, tasteful
verandahs in the modern style.
We now return from our digression into Richmond and Adelaide Streets,
and again proceed on our way westward.
The grantee of the park-lot which followed Solicitor-General Gray's, was
the famous Hon. Peter Russell, of whom we have had occasion again and
again to speak. A portion of the property was brought under cultivation
at an early period, and a substantial farm-house put up thereon--a
building which in 1872 was still in existence. The name attached to this
house and clearing was Petersfield.
Human depredators prowled about a solitary place like this. At their
hands in 1803, Mr. Russell suffered a serious loss, as we learn from an
advertisement which about midsummer in that year appeared in several
successive numbers of the _Oracle_. It ran as follows: "Five Guineas
Reward. Stolen on the 12th or 13th instant from Mr. Russell's farm, near
this town, a Turkey Hen, with her brood of six half-grown young ones.
Whoever will give such information and evidence as may lead to the
discovery of the Thieves shall receive from the subscriber the above
reward upon conviction of any of the delinquents. Peter Russell, York,
Aug. 15th, 1803." Another advertisement has been mentioned to us,
issuing from the same sufferer, announcing the theft of a Plough from
the same farm.
Similar larcenies were elsewhere committed. In the _Gazette_ of June 12,
1802, we read: "Forty dollars reward.--Mr. Justice Allcock offers a
reward of forty dollars to any one who will give information of the
person or persons who stole and carried away from his farm near the
Garrison a number of iron teeth from two harrows. The same reward will
also be given to any one who will give such information as will convict
any person or persons of having bought such iron teeth, or any part of
them, knowing the same to be stolen. If more than one was concerned, the
same reward will be given to any accomplice upon his giving such
information as will convict the other party or parties concerned with
him, and every endeavour used to obtain a pardon. Note. It has been
ascertained that two blacksmiths in the town did, about the time these
teeth were stolen, purchase harrow-teeth from a soldier, since deserted,
and that another soldier was in company when such teeth were offered for
sale. 28th May, 1802."
Again, in the same paper we have:--"Twenty dollars reward will be paid
by the subscriber to any person who will discover the man who is so
depraved and lost to every sense of social duty, as to cut with an axe
or knife, the withes which bound some of the fence round the late Chief
Justice's Farm on Yonge Street, and to throw down the said Fence.
Independent of the above inducement, it is the duty of every good member
of society to endeavour to find out who the character is that can be
guilty of such an infamous act, in order that he may be brought to
justice. Robert J. D. Gray, York, June 28th, 1803."
Occasionally notices of a reverse order appear. A homely article picked
up on the Common was judged to be of sufficient importance to its owner
to induce the finder to advertise as follows in the _Oracle_ of
Saturday, Aug. 14th, 1802:--"Found lately near the Garrison, a Cow-bell.
Whoever has lost the same, may have it again by applying to the Printer
hereof, on paying the expense of this advertisement, and proving
property. York, Aug. 7, 1802."
Again, in the _Oracle_ of Feb. 25, 1804:--"Found on Saturday last, the
11th instant, a Bar of Iron. The owner may have it again, by applying to
the Printer hereof. York, Feb. 8th." And again: "Found on Friday, the
5th instant, two silk handkerchiefs. The owner can have them again by
applying to the Printer, and paying the expense of this advertisement.
York, Oct. 12th, 1804." In October, 1806, an iron pot was picked up:
"Found, on Sunday last, the 12th instant, on the beach opposite Messrs.
Ashbridge's, an Iron Pot capable of containing about two pails full.
Whoever may own the above-mentioned Pot, may have it again by proving
property, and paying charges, on application to Samuel Lewis or to the
Printer hereof. York, Oct. 16th, 1806."
A barrel of flour was found on the beach near the Garrison in 1802, and
was thus advertised: "The Public are hereby informed that there has been
a barrel of flour left on the beach near the Garrison by persons
unknown. Whoever will produce a just claim to the same may have it, by
applying to the Garrison Sergeant-Major, and paying the expense of the
present advertisement. J. Petto, G. S. Major, York, March 22, 1802."
Once more: in the _Gazette_ of Dec. 3, 1803: "On the 26th ult. the
subscriber found one-half of a fat Hog on the Humber Plains, which he
supposes to be fraudulently killed, and the other half taken away. The
part which he found he carried home and dressed, and requests the owner
to call, pay expenses, and take it away. John Clark, Humber Mills, Dec.
2, 1803."
Peter Russell's name became locally a household synonym for a _helluo
agrorum_, and not without some show of reason, as the following list in
successive numbers of the _Gazette and Oracle_ of 1803 would seem to
indicate. Of the lands enumerated he styles himself, at the close of the
advertisement, the proprietor. We have no desire, however, to perpetuate
the popular impression, that all the said properties had been patented
by himself to himself. This, of course, could not have been done. He
simply chose, as he was at liberty to do, after acquiring what he and
his family were entitled to legally, in the shape of grants, to invest
his means in lands, which in every direction were to be had for a mere
song.
The document spoken of reads thus: "To be sold.--The Front Town Lot,
with an excellent dwelling-house and a kitchen recently built thereon,
in which Mr. John Denison now lives, in the Town of York, with a very
commodious water-lot adjoining, and possession given to the purchaser
immediately. The Lots Nos. 5, 6, and 7 in the 2nd, and lots No. 6 and 7
in the 3d concession of West Flamboro' township, containing 1,000 acres,
on which there are some very good mill seats; the lots No. 4 and 5, in
the 1st concession of East Flamboro' with their broken fronts,
containing, according to the Patent, 600 acres more or less; the lots
No. 1, 3 and 4 in the 2nd, and lots No. 2 and 3 in the 3rd concession of
Beverley, containing 1,000 acres; the lots No. 16 in the 2nd and and 3rd
concession of the township of York containing 400 acres; the lots 32
and 33 with their broken fronts, in the 1st, and lots No. 31 and 32 in
the 2nd concession of Whitby, containing 800 acres; the lots 22 and 24
in the 11th, lot 23 in the 12th, and No. 24 in the 13th and 14th
concessions of Townsend, containing a 1,000 acres; the lots No. 12, 13
and 14 in the 1st and 2nd concession of Charlotteville, immediately
behind the Town plot, containing 1,200 acres; the lots Nos. 16 and 17 in
the 1st concession of Delaware township, on the river Thames (La
Tranche) containing 800 acres; the lots Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7 in the
10th; No. 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 in the 11th, and Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 7 in the
12th concession of Dereham, containing 3,000 acres, with mill-seats
thereon; and also the lots Nos. 22, 24, 25, 26, and 28 in the 1st, Nos.
22, 23, 25, 27 and 28 in the 3rd, Nos. 22, 24, 25, 26 and 28 in the
11th, and Nos. 22, 24, 25, 26 and 28 in the 12th concession of Norwich,
containing 600 acres, with mill-seats thereon. The terms are either
cash, or good bills of exchange on London, Montreal and Quebec, for the
whole of such purchase, in which case a proportionably less price will
be expected, or the same for one moiety of each purchase, and bonds
properly secured for principal and interest, until paid, for the other.
The prices may be known by application to the proprietor at York. Peter
Russell."
Clearly, an idea of the prospective value of property in Canada had
dawned upon the mind of Mr. Russell in the year 1803; and he aimed to
create for himself speedily a handsome fortune. His plans, however, in
the long run, came to little, as in another connexion, we have heard
already.
Survivors of the primitive era in Upper Canada have been heard sometimes
to express, (like Lord Clive, after his dealings with the rajahs,) their
surprise that they did not provide for themselves more largely than they
did, when the broad acres of their adopted country were to be had to any
extent, almost for the asking. But this reflection should console them;
in few instances are the descendants of the early very large
land-holders much better off at the present hour than probably they
would have been, had their fathers continued landless.
Mr. Russell died at York on the 30th of September, 1808. His obituary
appears in the _Gazette and Oracle_ of the following day. "Departed this
life on Friday, the 30th ultimo, the Hon. Peter Russell, Esquire,
formerly President of the Government of the Province, late Receiver
General, and Member of the Executive and Legislative Councils: a
gentleman who whilst living was honoured, and sincerely esteemed; and of
whose regular and amiable conduct, the Public will long retain a
favoured and grateful remembrance."
Of the funeral, which took place on the 4th of October, we have a brief
account in the paper of Oct. 8, 1808. It says: "The remains of the late
Hon. Peter Russell were interred on Wednesday the 4th instant with the
greatest decorum and respect. The obsequies of this accomplished
gentleman were followed to the grave by His Excellency the Lieut.
Governor (Gore) as Chief Mourner; with the principal gentlemen of the
town and neighbourhood; and they were feelingly accompanied by all
ranks, evincing a reverential awe for the Divine dispensation. An
appropriate funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Okill Stuart. The
Garrison, commanded by Major Fuller, performed with becoming dignity the
military honours of this respected veteran, who was a Captain in the
Army on half-pay." The editor then adds: "deeply impressed with an
ardent esteem for his manly character, and the irreparable loss
occasioned by his death, we were not among those who felt the least at
this last tribute of respect to his memory and remains." (The Major
Fuller, above named, was the father of the Rev. Thomas Brock Fuller, in
1873 Archdeacon of Niagara.)
As we have elsewhere said, Mr. Russell's estate passed to his unmarried
sister, Miss Elizabeth Russell, who, at her own decease, devised the
whole of it to Dr. W. W. Baldwin and his family. The Irish family to
which Mr. Russell belonged was originally a transplanted branch of the
Aston-Abbotts subdivision of the great English family of the same name;
and a connexion, through intermarriages, had long subsisted between
these Russells and the Baldwins of the County of Cork. Russell Hill in
the neighbourhood of Toronto, is so called from a Russell Hill in
Ireland, which has its name from the Russells of the County of
Cork.--During the Revolutionary war, Mr. Russell had been Secretary to
Sir Henry Clinton, Commander-in-chief of the Army in North America from
1778 to 1782.
At the beginning of Peter Russell's advertisement of properties, it will
have been observed that he offered for sale "an excellent dwelling-house
in the town of York," described as being in the occupation of Mr. John
Denison. The building referred to, situate, as it is further mentioned,
on a "front town lot, with a very convenient water-lot adjoining," was
the "ornamental cottage" noted in our journey along Front Street, as
having been once inhabited by Major Hillier, of the 74th. On its site
was afterwards built Dr. Baldwin's town residence, which subsequently
became first a Military Hospital, and then the head office of the
Toronto and Nipissing Railroad.
But Petersfield was also associated with the history of Mr. Denison, who
was the progenitor of the now numerous Canadian family of that name.
Through an intimacy with Mr. Russell, springing out of several years'
campaigning together in the American Revolutionary war, Mr. Denison was
induced by that gentleman, when about to leave England in an official
capacity in company with General Simcoe, to emigrate with his family to
Upper Canada in 1792. He first settled at Kingston, but, in 1796,
removed to York, where, by the authority of Mr. Russell, he temporarily
occupied Castle Frank on the Don. He then, as we have seen, occupied
"the excellent dwelling-house" put up "on a front lot" in the town of
York by Mr. Russell himself; and afterwards, he was again accommodated
by his friend with quarters in the newly-erected homestead of
Petersfield.
We have evidence that in 1805 a portion of Petersfield was under
cultivation, and that under Mr. Denison's care it produced fine crops of
a valuable vegetable. Under date of York, 20th December, 1805, in a
contemporary _Oracle_, we have the following advertisement: "Potatoes:
To be sold at Mr. Russell's Farm at Petersfield, by Mr. John Denison, in
any quantities not less than ten bushels, at Four Shillings, York
Currency, the bushel, if delivered at the purchaser's house, or Three
Shillings the bushel, if taken by them from the Farm."
And again, in the _Gazette_ of March 4, 1807: "Blue Nose Potatoes. To be
sold at Mr. Russell's Farm near York. The price three shillings, York
currency, the bushel, if taken away by the purchasers, or they will be
delivered anywhere within the precincts of the Town, at Four Shillings,
in any quantity not less than ten bushels. Application to be made to Mr.
John Denison, on the premises, to whom the above prices are to be paid
on delivery. Feb. 14, 1807."
Our own personal recollection of Mr. Denison is associated with
Petersfield, the homely cosiness of whose interior, often seen during
its occupancy by him, lighted up by a rousing hospitable fire of great
logs, piled high in one of the usual capacious and lofty fire-places of
the time, made an indelible impression on the boyish fancy. The
venerable Mrs. Sophia Denison, too, Mr. Denison's better half, was in
like manner associated in our memory with the cheery interior of the
ancient Petersfield farm-house--a fine old English matron and mother, of
the antique, strongly-marked, vigorous, sterling type. She was one of
the Taylors, of Essex; among whom, at home and abroad, ability and
talent, and traits of a higher and more sacred character, are curiously
hereditary. We shall have occasion, further on, to speak of the
immediate descendants of these early occupants of Petersfield.
On the south side of the expansion of Queen Street, in front of
Petersfield, and a little beyond Peter Street (which, as we have
previously noticed, had its name from Peter Russell) was the abode of
Mr. Dunn, long Receiver-General of Upper Canada. It was (and is) a
retired family house, almost hidden from the general view by a grove of
ornamental trees. A quiet-looking gate led into a straight drive up to
the house, out of Queen Street. Of Mr. Dunn we have already discoursed,
and of Mrs. Dunn, one of the graceful lady-chiefs in the high life of
York in the olden time. In the house at which we now pause was born
their famous son, Alexander Roberts Dunn, in 1833; who not only had the
honour of sharing in the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava in
1856, now so renowned in history and song, but who, of all the six
hundred there, won the highest meed of glory.
Six feet three inches in stature, a most powerful and most skilful
swordsman, and a stranger to fear, Lieut. Dunn, instead of consulting
his own safety in the midst of that frightful and untoward mêlée,
deliberately interposed for the protection of his comrades in arms. Old
troopers of the Eleventh Hussars long told with kindling eyes how the
young lieutenant seeing Sergeant Bentley of his own regiment attacked
from behind by two or three Russian lancers, rushed upon them
single-handed, and cut them down; how he saved the life of Sergeant
Bond; how Private Levett owed his safety to the same friendly arm, when
assailed by Russian Hussars. Kinglake, the historian of the Crimean war,
records that the Victoria Cross placed at the disposal of the Eleventh
Hussars was unanimously awarded by them to Lieut. Dunn; the only cavalry
officer who obtained the distinction.
To the enthusiasm inspired by his brilliant reputation was mainly due
the speedy formation in Canada of the Hundredth Regiment, the Prince of
Wales' Royal Canadian Regiment, in 1857. Of this regiment, chiefly
raised through his instrumentality, Mr. Dunn was gazetted the first
major; and on the retirement of the Baron de Rottenburg from its
command, he succeeded as its Lieutenant Colonel.
In 1864 he was gazetted full Colonel: at the time he had barely
completed his twenty-seventh year. Impatient of inactivity, he caused
himself to be transferred to a command in India, where he speedily
attracted the notice of General Napier, afterwards Lord Napier of
Magdala; and he accompanied that officer in the expedition against King
Theodore of Abyssinia. While halting at Senafé in that country, he was
accidently killed by the sudden explosion of his rifle while out
shooting deer. The sequel can best be given, as well as an impression of
the feelings of his immediate associates on the deplorable occasion, by
quoting the touching words of a letter addressed at the time to a near
relative of Colonel Dunn, by a brother officer:
"In no regiment," says this friend, "was ever a commanding officer so
missed as the one we have just so unhappily lost: such a courteous,
thorough gentleman in word and deed, so thoughtful for others, so
perfect a soldier, so confidence-inspiring a leader. Every soldier in
the regiment misses Colonel Dunn; he was a friend, and felt to be such,
to every one of them. The regiment will never have so universally
esteemed a commander again. We all feel that. For myself I feel that I
have lost a brother who can never be replaced. I can scarcely yet
realize that the dear fellow is really dead, and as I pass his tent
every morning I involuntarily turn my head, expecting to hear his usual
kind salutation, and to see the dear, handsome face that has never
looked at me but with kindness. I breakfasted with him on the morning of
the 25th, and he looked so well as he started off with our surgeon for a
day's shooting. Little did I think that I had looked on his dear old
face for the last time in life. . . . I cannot describe to you what a
shock the sad news was to every one, both in my regiment and indeed in
every one in the camp. Our dear Colonel was so well known, and so
universally liked and respected.
"Next day, Sunday, the 26th of January, he was buried about 4 o'clock
p.m.. I went to look at the dear old fellow, before his coffin was
closed, and his poor face, though looking so cold, was yet so handsome,
and the expression of it, so peaceful and happy. I cut off some of his
hair, which lately he wore very short, a lock of which I now send you,
keeping one for myself, as the most valuable souvenir I could have of
one I loved very dearly. And I knelt down to give his cold forehead a
long farewell kiss. He was buried in uniform, as he had often expressed
a wish to me to that effect. Every officer in the camp attended his
funeral, and, of course, the whole of his own regiment, in which there
was not a single dry eye, as all stood round the grave of their lost
commander. He has been buried in a piece of ground near where our camp
now stands, at the foot of a small hill covered with shrubbery and many
wild flowers. We have had railings put round the grave, and a stone is
to be placed there with the inscription: In memory of A. R. Dunn, V.C.,
Col. 33rd Regiment, who died at Senafé on 25th January, 1868, aged 34
years and 7 months."
Thus in remote Abyssinia rest the mortal remains of one who in the happy
unconsciousness of childhood, sported here in grounds and groves which
we are now passing on Queen Street. In numerous other regions of the
earth, once seemingly as unlikely to be their respective final
resting-places, repose the remains of Canadian youth, who have died in
the public service of England. We are sharing in the fortune and history
of the mother country, and like her, or rather like the ubiquitous Roman
citizen of old, we may even already ask "_Quæ caret ora cruore
nostro?_"--sadly as individuals, perhaps, but proudly as a people.
The occupant of Mr. Dunn's house at a later period was Chief Justice
McLean, who died here in 1865. He was born at St. Andrews, near
Cornwall, in 1791. At the battle of Queenston, he served as Lieutenant
in Capt. Cameron's No. 1 Flank Company of York Militia, and received a
severe wound in the early part of the engagement. He was afterwards for
some time Speaker of the House. An admirable full-length painting of
Chief Justice McLean exists at Osgoode Hall.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XXIII.
QUEEN STREET, FROM BROCK STREET AND SPADINA AVENUE TO THE HUMBER.
Immediately after the grounds and property of Mr. Dunn, on the same
side, and across the very broad Brock Street, which is an opening of
modern date, was to be seen until recently, a modest dwelling-place of
wood, somewhat peculiar in expression, square, and rather tall for its
depth and width, of dingy hue; its roof four-sided; below, a number of
lean-to's and irregular extensions clustering round; in front, low
shrubbery, a circular drive, and a wide, open-barred gate. This was the
home of one who has acquired a distinguished place in our local annals,
military and civil--Colonel James Fitzgibbon.
A memorable exploit of his, in the war with the United States in 1813,
was the capture of a force of 450 infantry, 50 cavalry and two guns,
when in command himself, at the moment, of only forty-eight men. He had
been put in charge of a depôt of stores, at the Beaver Dams, between
Queenston and Thorold. Colonel Boerstler, of the invading army, was
despatched from Fort George, at Niagara, with orders to take this depôt.
Fitzgibbon was apprized of his approach. Reconnoitring, and discovering
that Boerstler had been somewhat disconcerted, on his march, by a
straggling fire from the woods, kept up by a few militiamen and about
thirty Indians under Captain Kerr, he conceived the bold idea of dashing
out and demanding a surrender of the enemy! Accordingly, spreading his
little force judiciously, he suddenly presented himself, waving a white
pocket-handkerchief. He was an officer, he hurriedly announced, in
command of a detachment: his superior officer, with a large force, was
in the rear; and the Indians were unmanageable. (Some extemporized
war-whoops were to be heard at the moment in the distance.)
The suggestion of a capitulation was listened to by Colonel Boerstler as
a dictate of humanity. The truth was, Major DeHaren, of the Canadian
force, to whom, in the neighbourhood of what is now St. Catharines, a
message had been sent, was momentarily expected, with 200 men. To gain
time, Fitzgibbon made it a matter of importance that the terms of the
surrender should be reduced to writing. Scarcely was the document
completed when DeHaren arrived. Had there been the least further delay
on his part, how to dispose of the prisoners would have been a
perplexing question.
Lieutenant Fitzgibbon was now soon Captain Fitzgibbon. He had previously
been a private in the 19th and 61st Regiments, having enlisted in
Ireland at the age of seventeen. On the day of his enrolment, he was
promoted to the rank of sergeant; and a very few years later he was a
sergeant-major. He saw active service in Holland and Denmark. His title
of Colonel was derived from his rank in our Canadian Militia.
His tall muscular figure, ever in buoyant motion; his grey,
good-humoured vivacious eye, beaming out from underneath a bushy,
light-coloured eyebrow; the cheery ring of his voice, and its animated
utterances, were familiar to everyone. In the midst of a gathering of
the young, whether in the school-room or on the play-ground, his
presence was always warmly hailed. They at once recognized in him a
genuine sympathizer with themselves in their ways and wants; and he had
ever ready for them words of hope and encouragement.
Our own last personal recollection of Colonel Fitzgibbon is connected
with a visit which we chanced to pay him at his quarters in Windsor
Castle, where, in his old age, through the interest of Lord Seaton, he
had been appointed one of the Military Knights. Though most romantically
ensconced and very comfortably lodged, within the walls of the noblest
of all the royal residences of Europe, his heart, we found, was far
away, ever recurring to the scenes of old activities. Where the light
streamed in through what seemed properly an embrasure for cannon,
pierced through a wall several yards in thickness, we saw a pile of
Canadian newspapers. To pore over these was his favourite occupation.
After chatting with him in his room, we went with him to attend Divine
Service in the magnificent Chapel of St. George, close by. We then
strolled together round the ramparts of the Castle, enjoying the
incomparable views. Since the time of William IV. the habit of the
Military Knights is that of an officer of high rank in full dress,
cocked hat and feather included. As our venerable friend passed the
several sentries placed at intervals about the Castle, arms were duly
presented; an attention which each time elicited from the Colonel the
words, rapidly interposed in the midst of a stream of earnest talk, and
accompanied by deprecatory gestures of the hand, "Never mind _me_, boy!
never mind _me_!"
Colonel Fitzgibbon took the fancy of Mrs. Jameson when in Canada. She
devotes several pages of her "Winter Studies" to the story of his life.
She gives some account of his marriage. The moment he received his
captaincy, she tells us, "he surprised General Sheaffe, his commanding
officer, by asking for a leave of absence, although the war was still at
its height. In explanation, he said he wished to have his nuptials
celebrated, so that if a fatal disaster happened to himself, his bride
might enjoy the pension of a captain's widow. The desired leave was
granted, and after riding some 150 miles and accomplishing his purpose,
he was back in an incredibly short space of time at head-quarters again.
No fatal disaster occurred, and he lived," Mrs. Jameson adds "to be the
father of four brave sons and one gentle daughter."
The name of Colonel Fitzgibbon recalls the recollection of his sister,
Mrs. Washburne, remarkable of old, in York, for dash and spirit on
horseback, spite of extra _embonpoint_; for a distinguished dignity of
bearing, combined with a marked Hibernian heartiness and gaiety of
manner. As to the "four brave sons and one gentle daughter," all have
now passed away: one of the former met with a painful death from the
giving way of a crowded gallery at a political meeting in the Market
Square, as previously narrated. All four lads were favourites with their
associates, and partook of their father's temperament.
Of Spadina Avenue, which we crossed in our approach to Col. Fitzgibbon's
old home, and of Spadina house, visible in the far distance at the head
of the Avenue, we have already spoken in our Collections and
Recollections, connected with Front Street.
In passing we make an addition to what was then narrated. The career of
Dr. Baldwin, the projector of the Avenue, and the builder of Spadina, is
now a part of Upper Canadian history. It presents a curious instance of
that versatility which we have had occasion to notice in so many of the
men who have been eminent in this country. A medical graduate of
Edinburgh, and in that capacity, commencing life in Ireland--on settling
in Canada, he began the study of Law and became a leading member of the
Bar.
On his arrival at York, from the first Canadian home of his father on
Baldwin's Creek in the township of Clarke, Dr. Baldwin's purpose was to
turn to account for a time his own educational acquirements, by
undertaking the office of a teacher of youth. In several successive
numbers of the _Gazette and Oracle_ of 1802-3 we read the following
advertisement: "Dr. Baldwin understanding that some of the gentlemen of
this Town have expressed some anxiety for the establishment of a
Classical School, begs leave to inform them and the public that he
intends on Monday the first day of January next, to open a School in
which he will instruct Twelve Boys in Writing, Reading, and Classics and
Arithmetic. The terms are, for each boy, eight guineas per annum, to be
paid quarterly or half-yearly; one guinea entrance and one cord of wood
to be supplied by each of the boys on opening the School. _N.B._--Mr.
Baldwin will meet his pupils at Mr. Willcocks' house on Duke Street.
York, December 18th, 1802." Of the results of this enterprise we have
not at hand any record.
The Russell bequest augmented in no slight degree the previous
possessions of Dr. Baldwin. In the magnificent dimensions assigned to
the thoroughfare opened up by him in the neighbourhood of Petersfield,
we have probably a visible expression of the large-handed generosity
which a pleasant windfall is apt to inspire. Spadina Avenue is 160 feet
wide throughout its mile-and-a-half length; and the part of Queen Street
that bounds the front of the Petersfield park-lot, is made suddenly to
expand to the width of 90 feet. Maria Street also, a short street here,
is of extra width. The portion of York, now Toronto, laid out by Dr.
Baldwin on a fraction of the land opportunely inherited, will, when
solidly built over, rival Washington or St. Petersburg in grandeur of
ground-plan and design.
The career of Dr. Rolph, another of our early Upper Canadian
notabilities, resembles in some respects, that of Dr. Baldwin. Before
emigrating from Gloucestershire, he began life as a medical man. On
arriving in Canada he transferred himself to the Bar. In this case,
however, after the attainment of eminence in the newly adopted
profession, there was a return to the original pursuit, with the
acquisition in that also, of a splendid reputation. Both acquired the
local style of Honourable: Dr. Rolph by having been a member of the
Hincks-ministry from 1851 to 1854; Dr. Baldwin by being summoned, six
months before his decease, to the Legislative Council of United Canada,
while his son was Attorney-General.
Mr. William Willcocks, allied by marriage to Dr. Baldwin's family,
selected the park-lot at which we arrive after crossing Spadina Avenue.
A lake in the Oak Ridges (Lake Willcocks) has its name from the same
early inhabitant. In 1802 he was Judge of the Home District Court. He is
to be distinguished from the ultra-Reformer, Sheriff Willcocks, of Judge
Thorpe's day, whose name was Joseph; and from Charles Willcocks, who in
1818 was proposing, through the columns of the _Upper Canada Gazette_,
to publish, by subscription, a history of his own life. The
advertisement was as follows (what finally came of it, we are not able
to state):--"The subscriber proposes to publish, by subscription, a
History of his Life. The subscription to be One Dollar, to be paid by
each subscriber; one-half in advance; the other half on the delivery of
the Book. The money to be paid to his agent, Mr. Thomas Deary, who will
give receipts and deliver the Books. Charles Willcocks, late Lieutenant,
City of Cork Militia. York, March, 17th, 1818."
This Mr. Charles Willcocks once fancied he had grounds for challenging
his name-sake, Joseph, to mortal combat, according to the barbaric
notions of the time. But at the hour named for the meeting, Joseph did
not appear on the ground. Charles waited a reasonable time. He then
chipped off a square inch or so of the bark of a neighbouring tree, and,
stationing himself at duelling distance, discharged his pistol at the
mark which he had made. As the ball buried itself in the spot at which
aim had been taken, he loudly bewailed his old friend's reluctance to
face him. "Oh, Joe, Joe!" he passionately cried, "if you had only been
here!"
Although Joseph escaped this time, he was not so fortunate afterwards.
He fell, as we have already noted in connexion with the Early Press,
"foremost fighting" in the ranks of the invaders of Upper Canada in
1814. The incident is briefly mentioned in the Montreal _Herald_ of the
15th of October, in that year, in the following terms: "It is officially
announced by General Ripley (on the American side, that is), that the
traitor Willcocks was killed in the sortie from Fort Erie on the 4th
ult., greatly lamented by his general and the army." Undertaking with
impetuosity a crusade against the governmental ideas which were locally
in the ascendant, and encountering the resistance customary in such
cases, he cut the knot of his discontent by joining the Republican force
when it made its appearance.
The Willcocks park-lot, or a portion of it, was afterwards possessed by
Mr. Billings, a well-remembered Commissariat officer, long stationed at
York. He built the house subsequently known as Englefield, which, later,
was the home of Colonel Loring, who, at the time of the taking of York,
in 1813, had his horse killed under him; and here he died. Mr. Billings
and Colonel Loring both had sons, of whom we make brief mention as
having been in the olden times among our own school-boy associates, but
who now, like so many more personal contemporaries, already noted, are,
after brief careers, deceased. An announcement in the Montreal _Herald_
of February 4th, 1815, admits us to a domestic scene in the household of
Colonel, at the time Captain, Loring. (The Treaty of Peace with the
United States was signed at Ghent, on the 24th of December, 1814. Its
effect was being pleasantly realized in Canada, in January, 1815). "At
Prescott," the _Herald_ reports, "on Thursday, 26th January, the lady of
Capt. Loring, Aide-de-Camp and Private Secretary to His Honor
Lieut.-Gen. Drummond, was safely delivered of a daughter." The _Herald_
then adds: "The happy father had returned from a state of captivity with
the enemy, but a few hours previous to the joyful event." Capt. Loring
had been taken prisoner in the battle of Lundy's Lane, in the preceding
July.
The first occupant of the next lot (No. 16) westward, was Mr. Baby, of
whom we have spoken in former sections. Opposite was the house of
Bernard Turquand, an Englishman of note, for many years first clerk in
the Receiver-General's department. He was an early promoter of amateur
boating among us, a recreation with which possibly he had become
familiar at Malta, where he was long a resident. Just beyond on the same
side, was the dwelling-place of Major Winniett,--a long, low, one-storey
bungalow, of a neutral tint in colour, its roof spreading out,
verandah-wise, on both sides.
After the name of Mr. Baby, on the early plan of the park-lots, comes
the name of Mr. Grant--"the Hon. Alexander Grant." During the
interregnum between the death of Governor Hunter and the arrival of
Governor Gore, Mr. Grant, as senior member of the Executive Council, was
President of Upper Canada. The Parliament that sat during his brief
administration, appropriated £800 to the purchase of instruments for
illustrating the principles of Natural Philosophy, "to be deposited in
the hands of a person employed in the Education of Youth;" from the
débris of which collection, preserved in a mutilated condition in one of
the rooms of the Home District School building, we ourselves, like
others probably of our contemporaries, obtained our very earliest
inkling of the existence and significance of scientific apparatus.
In his speech at the close of the session of 1806, President Grant
alluded to this action of Parliament in the following terms: "The
encouragement which you have given for procuring the means necessary for
communicating useful and ornamental knowledge to the rising generation,
meets with my approbation, and, I have no doubt, will produce the most
salutary effects." Mr. Grant was also known as Commodore Grant, having
had, at one time, command of the Naval Force on the Lakes.
After Mr. Grant's name appears that of "E. B. Littlehales." This is the
Major Littlehales with whom those who familiarize themselves with the
earliest records of Upper Canada become so well acquainted. He was the
writer, for example, of the interesting journal of an Exploring
Excursion from Niagara to Detroit in 1793, to be seen in print in the
_Canadian Literary Magazine_ of May, 1834; an expedition undertaken, as
the document itself sets forth, by the Lieut.-Governor, accompanied by
Captain Fitzgerald, Lieutenant Smith of the 5th Regiment, and
Lieutenants Talbot, Grey and Givins, and Major Littlehales, starting
from Niagara on the 4th of February, arriving at Detroit on the 18th, by
a route which was 270 miles in length. The return began on the 23rd, and
was completed on the 10th of the following month.
It was in this expedition that the site of London, on the Thames, was
first examined, and judged to be "a situation eminently calculated for
the metropolis of all Canada." "Among other essentials," says Major
Littlehales, "it possesses the following advantages: command of
territory--internal situation--central position, facility of water
communication up and down the Thames into Lakes St. Clair, Erie, Huron,
and Superior,--navigable for boats to near its source, and for small
craft probably to the Moravian settlement,--to the southward by a
small portage to the waters flowing into Lake Huron--to the south-east
by a carrying-place into Lake Ontario and the River St. Lawrence; the
soil luxuriantly fertile,--the land rich and capable of being easily
cleared, and soon put into a state of agriculture,--a pinery upon an
adjacent high knoll, and other timber on the heights, well calculated
for the erection of public buildings,--a climate not inferior to any
part of Canada."
The intention of the Governor, at one time, was that the future capital
should be named Georgina, in compliment to George III. Had that
intention been adhered to, posterity would have been saved some
confusion. To this hour, the name of our Canadian London gives trouble
in the post-office and elsewhere. Georgina was a name not inaptly
conceived, suggested doubtless by the title "Augusta," borne by so many
places of old, as, for example, by London itself, the Veritable, in
honour of the Augustus, the Emperor of the day. We might perhaps have
rather expected Georgiana, on the analogy of Aureliana (Orleans), from
Aurelius, or Georgia, after Julia, a frequent local appellation from the
imperial Julius.--Already, had Georgius, temp. Geo. II., yielded Georgia
as the name of a province, and later, temp. Geo. III., the same royal
name had been associated with the style and title of a new planet, the
Georgium Sidus, suggested probably by the Julium Sidus of Horace. We
presume, also, that the large subdivision of Lake Huron, known as the
Georgian Bay, had for its name a like loyal origin. (The name Georgina,
is preserved in that of a now flourishing township on Lake Simcoe.)
An incident not recorded in Major Littlehales' Journal was the order of
a grand parade (of ten men), and a formal discharge of musketry, issued
in jocose mood by the Governor to Lieut. Givins; which was duly executed
as a ceremony of inauguration for the new capital.
The capture of a porcupine, however, somewhere near the site of the
proposed metropolis is noted by the Major. In the narrative the name of
Lieut. Givins comes up. "The young Indians who had chased a herd of deer
in company with Lieut. Givins," he says, "returned unsuccessful, but
brought with them a large porcupine: which was very seasonable," he
remarks, "as our provisions were nearly exhausted. This animal," he
observes, "afforded us a good repast, and tasted like a pig." The
Newfoundland dog, he adds, attempted to bite the porcupine, but soon got
his mouth filled with the barbed quills, which gave him exquisite pain.
An Indian undertook to extract them, he then says, and with much
perseverance plucked them out, one by one, and carefully applied a root
or decoction, which speedily healed the wound.
From Major Littlehales' Journal it appears that it was the practice of
the party to wind up each day's proceedings by singing "God save the
King." Thus on the 28th Feb., before arriving at the site of London, we
have it recorded: "At six we stopped at an old Mississagua hut, upon the
south side of the Thames. After taking some refreshment of salt pork and
venison, well-cooked by Lieutenant Smith, who superintended that
department, we, as usual, sang God save the King, and went to rest."
The Duke de Liancourt, in his _Travels in North America_, speaks of
Major Littlehales in the following pleasant terms: "Before I close the
article of Niagara," he says, "I must make particular mention of the
civility shewn us by Major Littlehales, adjutant and first secretary to
the Governor, a well-bred, mild and amiable man, who has the charge of
the whole correspondence of government, and acquits himself with
peculiar ability and application. Major Littlehales," the Duke says,
"appeared to possess the confidence of the country. This is not
unfrequently the case with men in place and power; but his worth,
politeness, prudence, and judgment, give this officer peculiar claims to
the confidence and respect which he universally enjoys."
In the _Oracle_ of Feb. 24, 1798, a report of the death of this officer
is contradicted. "We have the pleasure of declaring the account received
in December last of the death of Col. Littlehales premature. Letters
have been recently received from him dated in England." He had probably
returned home with Gen. Simcoe. In the same paper a flying rumour is
noticed, to the effect "that His Excellency Governor Simcoe is appointed
Governor General of the Canadas."
Major Littlehales afterwards attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel,
and was created a baronet in 1802. In 1801 he was appointed
under-Secretary for Ireland; and he held this office for nineteen years.
Major Littlehales' park-lot became subsequently the property of Capt.
John Denison, and from him descended to his heir Col. George Taylor
Denison, from whom the street now passing from south to north has its
name, Denison Avenue. This thoroughfare was, in the first instance, the
drive up to the homestead of the estate, Bellevue, a large white
cheery-looking abode, lying far back but pleasantly visible from Lot
Street through a long vista of overhanging trees.--From the old Bellevue
have spread populous colonies at Dovercourt, Rusholme and elsewhere,
marked, like their progenitor, with vigour of character, and evincing in
a succession of instances strong aptitude for military affairs. Col.
Denison's grandson, G. T. Denison _tertius_, is the author of a work on
"Modern Cavalry, its Organisation, Armament and Employment in War,"
which has taken a recognized place in English strategetical literature.
In accordance with an early Canadian practice, Capt. John Dennison set
apart on his property a plot of ground as a receptacle for the mortal
remains of himself and his descendants. He selected for this purpose a
picturesque spot on land possessed by him on the Humber river, entailing
at the same time the surrounding estate. In 1853,--although at that date
an Act of Parliament had cancelled entails,--his heir, Col. G. T.
Denison, _primus_, perpetually connected the land referred to, together
with the burial plot, with his family and descendants, by converting it
into an endowment for an ecclesiastical living, to be always in the gift
of the legal representative of his name. This is the projected rectory
of St. John's on the Humber. In 1857, a son of Col. Denison's, Robert
Britton Denison, erected at his own cost, in immediate proximity to the
old Bellevue homestead, the church of St. Stephen, and took steps to
make it in perpetuity a recognized ecclesiastical benefice.
The boundary of Major Littlehales' lot westward was near what is now
Bathurst Street. In front of this lot, on the south side of Lot street,
and stretching far to the west, was the Government Common, of which we
have previously spoken, on which was traced out, at first ideally, and
at length in reality, the arc of a circle of 1,000 yards radius, having
the Garrison as its centre. Southward of the concave side of this arc no
buildings were for a long time permitted to be erected. This gave rise
to a curiously-shaped enclosure, northward of St. Andrew's Market-house,
wide towards the east, but vanishing off to nothing on the west, at the
point where Lot Street formed a tangent with the military circle.
Of Portland Street and Bathurst Street we have already spoken in our
survey of Front Street. Immediately opposite Portland Street was the
abode, at the latter period of his life, of Dr. Lee, to whom we have
referred in our accounts of Front and George Streets. Glancing northward
as we pass Bathurst Street, which, by the way, north of Lot Street, was
long known as Crookshank's Lane, we are reminded again of Mr. Murchison,
whom we have likewise briefly commemorated elsewhere. The substantial
abode to which he retired after acquiring a good competency, and where
in 1870 he died, is to be seen on the east side of Bathurst Street.
The names which appear in the early plans of York and its suburbs, as
the first possessors of the park lots westward of Major Littlehales',
are, in order of succession, respectively, Col. David Shank, Capt.
Macdonell, Capt. S. Smith, Capt. Æ. Shaw, Capt. Bouchette. We then
arrive at the line of the present Dundas road, where it passes at right
angles north from the line of Queen Street. This thoroughfare is not
laid down in the plans. Then follow the names of David Burns, William
Chewitt and Alexander MacNab (conjointly), Thomas Ridout and William
Allan (conjointly), and Angus Macdonell. We then reach a road duly
marked, leading straight down to the French Fort, Fort Rouillé, commonly
known as Fort Toronto. Across this road westward, only one lot is laid
off, and on it is the name of Benjamin Hallowell.
Most of the names first enumerated are very familiar to those whose
recollections embrace the period to which our attention is now being
directed. Many of them have occurred again and again in these papers.
In regard to Col. David Shank, the first occupant of the park lot
westward of Major Littlehales', we must content ourselves with some
brief "Collections." In the Simcoe correspondence, preserved at Ottawa,
there is an interesting mention of him, associated, as it appropriately
happens, with his neighbour-locatees to the east and west here on Lot
Street. In a private letter to the "Secretary at War," Sir George Yonge,
from Governor Simcoe, dated Jan. 17th, 1792, announcing his arrival at
Montreal, _en route_ for his new Government, still far up "the most
august of rivers," Capt. Shank is spoken of as being on his way to the
same destination in command of a portion of the Queen's Rangers, in
company with Capt. Smith.
There is noted in the same document, it will be observed, a gallant
achievement of Capt. Shaw's, who, the Governor reports, had just
successfully marched with his division of the same regiment all the way
from New Brunswick to Montreal, in the depth of winter, on snow-shoes.
"It is with infinite pleasure," writes Governor Simcoe to Sir George
Yonge, "that I received your letter of the 1st of April by Capt.
Littlehales. On the 13th of June," he continues, "that officer overtook
me on the St. Lawrence, as I was on my passage in batteaux up the most
august of rivers. It has given me great satisfaction," the Governor
says, "that the Queen's Rangers have arrived so early. Capt. Shaw, who
crossed in the depth of winter on snow-shoes from New Brunswick, is now
at Kingston with the troops of the two first ships; and Captains Shank
and Smith, with the remainder, are, I trust, at no great distance from
this place,--as the wind has served for the last 36 hours, and I hope
with sufficient force to enable them to pass the Rapids of the
Richelieu, where they have been detained some days." Governor Simcoe
himself, as we learn from this correspondence, had landed at Quebec on
the 11th of November preceding (1791), in the "Triton," Capt. Murray,
"after a blustering passage."
In addition to the lot immediately after Major Littlehales', Col. Shank
also possessed another in this range, just beyond, viz., No. 21.
The Capt. Macdonell, whose name appears on the lot that follows Col.
Shank's first lot, was the aide-de-camp of Gen. Brock, who fell, with
that General, at Queenston Heights. Capt. Macdonell's lot was afterwards
the property of Mr. Crookshank, from whom what is now Bathurst Street
North had, as we have remarked, for a time the name of Crookshank's
Lane.
Capt. S. Smith, whose name follows those of Capt. Macdonell and Col.
Shank, was afterwards President Smith, of whom already. The park lot
selected by him was subsequently the property of Mr. Duncan Cameron, a
member of the Legislative Council, freshly remembered. At an early
period, the whole was known by the graceful appellation of Gore Vale.
Gore was in honour of the Governor of that name. Vale denoted the ravine
which indented a portion of the lot through whose meadow-land meandered
a pleasant little stream. The southern half of this lot now forms the
site and grounds of the University of Trinity College. Its brooklet will
hereafter be famous in scholastic song. It will be regarded as the
Cephissus of a Canadian Academus, the Cherwell of an infant Christ
Church. The elmy dale which gives such agreeable variety to the park of
Trinity College, and which renders so charming the views from the
Provost's Lodge, is irrigated by it. (The cupola and tower of the
principal entrance to Trinity College will pleasantly, in however humble
a degree, recall to the minds of Oxford-men, the Tom Gate of Christ
Church.)--After the decease of Mr. Cameron, Gore Vale was long occupied
by his excellent and benevolent sister, Miss Janet Cameron.
On the steep mound which overhangs the Gore Vale brook, on its eastern
side, just where it is crossed by Queen Street, was, at an early period,
a Blockhouse commanding the western approach to York. On the old plans
this military work is shown, as also a path leading to it across the
Common from the Garrison, trodden often probably by the relief party of
the guard that would be stationed there in anxious times.
In the valley of this stream a little farther to the west, on the
opposite side of Queen Street, was a Brewery of local repute: it was a
long, low-lying dingy-looking building of hewn logs; on the side towards
the street a railed gangway led from the road to a door in its upper
storey. Conspicuous on the hill above the valley on the western side was
the house, also of hewn logs, but cased over with clap-boards, of Mr.
Farr, the proprietor of the brewery, a north-of-England man in aspect,
as well as in staidness and shrewdness of character. His spare form and
slightly crippled gait were everywhere familiarly recognized. Greatly
respected, he was still surviving in 1872. His chief assistant in the
old brewery bore the name of Bow-beer. (At Canterbury, we remember, many
years ago, when the abbey of St. Augustine there, now a famous
Missionary College, was a Brewery, on the beautiful turretted gateway,
wherein were the coolers, the inscription "Beer, Brewer," was
conspicuous; the name of the brewer in occupation of the grand monastic
ruin being Beer, a common name, sometimes given as Bere; but which in
reality is Bear.)
The stream which is here crossed by Queen Street is the same that
afterwards flows below the easternmost bastion of the Fort. A portion of
the broken ground between Farr's and the Garrison was once designated by
the local Government--so far as an order in Council has force--and
permanently set apart, as a site for a Museum and Institute of Natural
History and Philosophy, with Botanical and Zoological Gardens attached.
The project, originated by Dr. Dunlop, Dr. Rees and Mr. Fothergill, and
patronized by successive Lieutenant-Governors, was probably too bold in
its conception, and too advanced to be justly appreciated and earnestly
taken up by a sufficient number of the contemporary public forty years
ago. It consequently fell to the ground. It is to be regretted that, at
all events, the land, for which an order in Council stands recorded, was
not secured in perpetuity as a source of revenue for the promotion of
science. In the Canadian Institute we have the kind of Association which
was designed by Drs. Dunlop and Rees and Mr. Fothergill, but minus the
revenue which the ground-rent of two or three building lots in a
flourishing city would conveniently supply.
Capt. Æneas Shaw, the original locatee of the park-lot next westward of
Colonel Shank's second lot, was afterwards well known in Upper Canada as
Major General Shaw. Like so many of our early men of note he was a
Scotchman; a Shaw of Tordorach in Strathnairn. Possessed of great vigour
and decision, his adopted country availed itself of his services in a
civil as well as a military capacity, making him a member of the
legislative and executive councils. The name by which his house and
estate at this point were known, was Oakhill. The primitive domicile
still exists and in 1871 was still occupied by one of his many
descendants, Capt. Alex. Shaw.--It was at Oakhill that the Duke of Kent
was lodged during his visit to York in his second tour in Upper Canada.
The Duke arrived at Halifax on the 12th of September, 1799, after a
passage from England of forty-three days, "on board of the Arethusa."
Of Col. Joseph Bouchette, whose name is read on the following allotment,
we have had occasion already to speak. He was one of the many French
Canadians of eminence who, in the early days, were distinguished for
their chivalrous attachment to the cause and service of England. The
successor of Col. Bouchette in the proprietorship of the park lot at
which we have arrived, was Col. Givins.--He, as we have already seen,
was one of the companions of Gov. Simcoe in the first exploration of
Upper Canada. Before obtaining a commission in the army, he had been as
a youth employed in the North-West, and had acquired a familiar
acquaintance with the Otchibway and Huron dialects. This acquisition
rendered his services of especial value to the Government in its
dealings with the native tribes, among whom also the mettle and ardor
and energy of his own natural character gave him a powerful influence.
At the express desire of Governor Simcoe he studied and mastered the
dialects of the Six Nations, as well as those of the Otchibways and
their Mississaga allies.--We ourselves remember seeing a considerable
body of Indian chiefs kept in order and good humour mainly through the
tact exercised by Col. Givins. This was at a Council held in the garden
at Government House some forty years since, and presided over by the
then Lieutenant-Governor, Sir John Colborne.
Col. Givins was Superintendent of Indian Affairs down to the year 1842.
In 1828 his name was connected with an incident that locally made a
noise for a time. A committee of the House of Assembly, desiring to have
his evidence and that of Col. Coffin, Adjutant General of Militia, in
relation to a trespass by one Forsyth on Government property at the
Falls of Niagara, commanded their presence at a certain day and hour. On
referring to Sir Peregrine Maitland, the Lieutenant-Governor at the
time, and also Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, permission to obey the
mandate of the House was refused. Col. Givins and Col. Coffin were then
arrested by the Sergeant-at-arms, after forcible entry effected at their
respective domiciles, and were kept confined in the common gaol until
the close of the session.
The following is Col. Coffin's letter to Major Hillier, private
secretary to the Governor, on the occasion: "York, March 22nd, 1828.
Sir,--I beg leave to request that you will state to the Lieutenant
Governor that in obedience to the communication I received through you,
that His Excellency could not give me permission to attend a Committee
of the House of Assembly for the reason therein stated, that I did not
attend the said Committee, and that in consequence thereof, I have been
committed this evening to the common gaol of the Home District, by order
of the House of Assembly. I have therefore to pray that His Excellency
will be pleased to direct that I may have the advice and assistance of
the Crown Officers, to enable me take such steps as I may be instructed
on the occasion. I have the honour, &c., N. Coffin, Adjt. Gen. of
Militia."
No redress was to be had. The Executive Council reported in regard to
this letter that upon mature consideration they could not advise that
the Government should interfere to give any direction to the Crown
Officers, as therein solicited. Sir Peregrine Maitland was removed from
the Government in the same year. Sir George Murray, who in that year
succeeded Mr. Huskisson as Colonial Secretary, severely censured him for
the line of action adopted in relation to the Forsyth grievance.
Colonels Givins and Coffin afterwards brought an action against the
Speaker of the House for false imprisonment, but they did not recover:
for the legality of the imprisonment, that is the right of the House to
convict for what they had adjudged a contempt, was confirmed by the
Court of King's Bench, by a solemn judgment rendered in another cause
then pending, which involved the same question.
Although its hundred-acre domain is being rapidly narrowed and
circumscribed by the encroachments of modern improvement, the old family
abode of Col. Givins still stands, wearing at this day a look of
peculiar calm and tranquillity, screened from the outer world by a dark
grove of second-growth pine, and overshadowed by a number of acacias of
unusual height and girth.
Governor Gore and his lady, Mrs. Arabella Gore, were constant visitors
at Pine Grove, as this house was named; and here to this day is
preserved a very fine portrait, in oil, of that Governor. It will
satisfy the ideal likely to be fashioned in the mind by the current
traditions of this particular ruler of Upper Canada. In contour of
countenance and in costume he is plainly of the type of the English
country squire of a former day. He looks good humoured and shrewd;
sturdy and self-willed; and fond of good cheer.
The cavalier style adopted by Gov. Gore towards the local parliament was
one of the seeds of trouble at a later date in the history of Upper
Canada. "He would dismiss the rascals at once." Such was his
determination on their coming to a vote adverse to his notions; and,
scarcely like a Cromwell, but rather like a Louis XIV., though still
not, as in the case of that monarch, with a riding-whip in his hand, but
nevertheless, in the undress of the moment, he proceeded to carry out
his hasty resolve.
The entry of the incident in the Journals of the House is as follows:
"On Monday, 7th April, at 11 o'clock a.m., before the minutes of the
former day were read, and without any previous notice, the Commons, to
the great surprise of all the members, were summoned to the bar of the
Legislative Council, when his Excellency having assented, in his
Majesty's name, to several bills, and reserved for his Majesty's
pleasure the Bank bill, and another, to enable creditors to sue joint
debtors separately, put an end to the session by the following
speech:--'Honourable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen
of the House of Assembly,--The session of the provincial legislature
having been protracted by an unusual interruption of business at its
commencement, your longer absence from your respective avocations must
be too great a sacrifice for the objects which remain to occupy your
attention. I have therefore come to close the session and permit you to
return to your homes. In accepting, in the name of his Majesty, the
supply for defraying the deficiency of the funds which have hitherto
served to meet the charges of the administration of justice and support
of the civil government of this province, I have great satisfaction in
acknowledging the readiness manifested to meet this exigence.'"
Upper Canadian society was, indeed, in an infant state; but the growing
intelligence of many of its constituents, especially in the non-official
ranks, rendered it unwise in rulers to push the feudal or paternal
theory of government too far. The names of the majority in the
particular division of the Lower House which brought on the sudden
prorogation just described are the following:--McDonell, McMartin,
Cameron, Jones, Howard, Casey, Robinson, Nellis, Secord, Nichol,
Burwell, McCormack, Cornwall. Of the minority: Van Koughnet, Crystler,
Fraser, Cotter, McNab, Swayze, and Clench.
Six weeks after, Governor Gore was on his way to England, not recalled,
as it would seem, but purposing to give an account of himself in his own
person. He never returned. He is understood to have had a powerful
friend at Court in the person of the Marquis of Camden.
One of the "districts" of Upper Canada was called after Governor Gore.
It was set off, during his regime, from the Home and Niagara districts.
But of late years county names have rendered the old district names
unfamiliar. In 1837, "the men of Gore" was a phrase invested with
stirring associations.
The town of Belleville received its name from Gov. Gore. In early
newspapers and other documents the word appears as Bellville, without
the central _e_, which gives it now such a fine French look. And this,
it is said, is the true orthography. "Bell," we are told, was the
Governor's familiar abbreviation of his wife's name, Arabella: and the
compound was suggested by the Governor jocosely, as a name for the new
village: but it was set down in earnest, and has continued, the sound at
least, to this day. This off-hand assignment of a local name may remind
some persons that Flos, Tay and Tiny, which are names of three now
populous townships in the Penetanguishene region, are a commemoration of
three of Lady Sarah Maitland's lap-dogs. Changes of names in such cases
as these are not unjustifiable.
In fact, the Executive Council itself, at the period of which we are
speaking, had occasionally found it proper to change local names which
had been frivolously given. In the _Upper Canada Gazette_ of March 11th,
1822, we have several such alterations. It would seem that some one
having access to the map or plan of a newly surveyed region, had
inscribed across the parallelograms betokening townships, a fragment of
a well-known Latin sentence, "_jus et norma_," placing each separate
word in a separate compartment. In this way Upper Canada had for a time
a township of "Jus," and more wonderful still, a township of "Et." In
the number of the _Gazette_ of the date given above these names are
formally changed to Barrie and Palmerston respectively. In the same
advertisement, "Norma," which might have passed, is made "Clarendon."
Other impertinent appellations are also at the same time changed. The
township of "Yea" is ordered to be hereafter the township of "Burleigh,"
with a humorous allusion to the famous nod, probably. The township of
"No" is to be the township of Grimsthorpe; and the township of "Aye,"
the township of Anglesea.--The name "Et" may recall the street known as
"Of" alley, on the south side of the Strand, in London, which "Of" is a
portion of the name and title "George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham,"
distributed severally among a cluster of streets in that locality.
Gov. Gore was so fortunate as to be away from his Province during the
whole of the war in 1812-13-14. He obtained leave of absence to visit
England in 1811, and returned to his post in 1815, the Presidents, Isaac
Brock, Roger Hale Sheaffe, and Gordon Drummond, Esquires, reigning in
the interim.
Under date of York U. C., Sept., 30, 1815, we read the following
particulars in the _Gazette_ of the day:--"Arrived on Monday last the
25th instant, His Excellency Francis Gore, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of
the Province of Upper Canada, to reassume the reins of government. His
Excellency was received with a cordial welcome and the honours due to
his rank; and was saluted by his M. S. Montreal, and Garrison."
We are also informed that "On Wednesday the 27th instant, he was waited
on by a deputation, and presented with the following address: To His
Excellency, Francis Gore, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of
Upper Canada, &c., &c., &c. We, the Judges, Magistrates and principal
Inhabitants of the Town of York, in approaching your Excellency to
express our great satisfaction at beholding you once more among us, feel
that we have still greater reason to congratulate ourselves on this
happy event. Our experience of your past firm and liberal
administration, by which the prosperity of the Province has been so
essentially promoted, teaches us to anticipate the greater benefit from
its resumption; and this pleasing anticipation is confirmed by our
knowledge of that paternal solicitude which induced you while in England
to bring, upon all proper occasions, the interests of the Colony under
the favourable attention of His Majesty's Government; a solicitude which
calls forth in our hearts the most grateful emotions. We rejoice that
the blessings of peace are to be dispensed by one who is so well
acquainted with the wants and feelings of the Colony; and we flatter
ourselves that York, recovering from a state of war, (during which she
has been twice in the power of the enemy), will not only forget her
disasters, but rise to greater prosperity under your Excellency's
auspicious administration. York, September 27th, 1815. Thos. Scott,
C.J., W. Dummer Powell, John Strachan, D.D., John McGill, John Beikie,
M.P., Grant Powell J.P., W. Chewett, J.P., J. G. Chewett, W. Lee, Sam.
Smith, W. Claus, Benjamin Gale, D. Cameron, D. Boulton, jun., George
Ridout, And. Mercer, Thomas Ridout, J.P., W. Jarvis, Sec. and Reg., S.
Jarvis, J.P., John Small, J.P., W. Allan, J.P., J. Givins, E. MacMahon,
J. Scarlett, S. Heward, Thos. Hamilton, C. Baynes, John Dennis, P. K.
Hartney, Jno. Cameron, E. W. McBride, Jordan Post, jun., Levi Bigelow,
John Hays, T. R. Johnson, Lardner Bostwick, John Burke, John Jordan, W.
Smith, sen., W. Smith, jun., J. Cawthra, John Smith, Alex. Legge, Jordan
Post, sen., Andrew O'Keefe, S. A. Lumsden, John Murchison, Thomas Deary,
Ezek. Benson, A. NcNabb, Edward Wright, John Evans, W. Lawrence, Thos.
Duggan, George Duggan, Benjamin Cozens, Philip Klinger, and Sheriff
Ridout. To which His Excellency was pleased to make the following
answer: Gentlemen: After so long an absence from this place it is
particularly gratifying to find the same sentiments of cordiality to
me, and of approbation of my conduct, which I experienced during my
former residence in this Province. It is but doing me justice to say
that, while in Europe, I paid every attention in my power to promote
your prosperity; and such, you may be assured, shall be my future
endeavour when residing amongst you; earnestly hoping that, under the
fostering care of our Parent State, and under that security which Peace
alone can bestow, this Colony will speedily become a valuable, though
distant part of the British Empire. York, 27th September, 1815."
On the 7th of the following month, it is announced that "His Royal
Highness, the Prince Regent acting in the name and on the behalf of His
Majesty, has been pleased to appoint Thomas Fraser, Esquire, of
Prescott, Neil McLean, Esquire, of Cornwall, Thomas Clark, Esquire, of
Queenston, and William Dickson, Esquire, of Niagara, to be members of
the Legislative Council; Samuel Smith, Esquire, of Etobicoke, to be a
member of the Executive Council, and Doctor John Strachan, to be an
Honorary Member of the same Council."
By one of the acts passed during the administration of Gov. Gore, the
foundation was laid of a parliamentary library, to replace the one
destroyed or dispersed during the occupation of York in 1813. In the
session of 1816, the sum of £800 was voted for the purchase of books for
the use of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly.
The sum of £800 for such a purpose contrasts poorly, however, with the
£3,000 recommended in the same session, to be granted to Gov. Gore
himself, for the purchase of "Plate." The joint address of both Houses
to the Prince Regent, on this subject, was couched in the following
terms: "To his Royal Highness, George, Prince of Wales, Prince Regent of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, &c., &c., &c.: May it
please your Royal Highness: We, his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal
subjects, the Legislative Council and House of Assembly of the Province
of Upper Canada, in Provincial Parliament assembled, impressed with a
lively sense of the firm, upright, and liberal administration of Francis
Gore, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of this Province, as well as of his
unceasing attention to the individual and general interests of the
Colony during his absence, have unanimously passed a bill to appropriate
the sum of three thousand pounds, to enable him to purchase a service
of plate, commemorative of our gratitude. Apprized that this spontaneous
gift cannot receive the sanction of our beloved Sovereign in the
ordinary mode, by the acceptance of the Lieutenant-Governor in his name
and behalf; we, the Legislative Council and Assembly of the Province of
Upper Canada, humbly beg leave to approach your Royal Highness with an
earnest prayer that you will approve this demonstration of our
gratitude, and graciously be pleased to sanction, in His Majesty's name,
the grant of the Legislature, in behalf of the inhabitants of Upper
Canada. Wm. Dummer Powell, Speaker, Legislative Council Chambers, 26th
March, 1816. Allan Maclean, Speaker, Commons House of Assembly, 25th
March, 1816."
To which, as we are next informed, his Excellency replied: "Gentlemen: I
shall transmit your address to His Majesty's Ministers, in order that
their expression of your approbation of my past administration may be
laid at the feet of His Royal Highness, the Prince Regent. Government
House, York, 26th March, 1816." The Bill which suggested this allowance
was popularly spoken of as the "Spoon-bill." The House that passed the
measure was the same that, a few weeks later, was so abruptly dismissed.
The name on the allotment following that occupied successively by Col.
Bouchette and Col. Givins, is "David Burns." Mr. Burns, who had been a
Navy surgeon, was the first Clerk of the Crown for Upper Canada, and one
of the "Masters in Chancery." He died in 1806. In the _Gazette and
Oracle_ of Saturday, Feb. 15th, in that year, we have verses to the
memory of the late David Burns, Esq. We make the following extract,
which is suggestive:--
"Say, power of Truth, so great, so unconfined,
And solve the doubt which so distracts my mind--
Why Strength to Weakness is so near allied?
Perhaps 'tis given to humble human pride.
At times perchance frail Nature held the sway,
Yet dimm'd not it the intellectual ray:
Reason and Truth triumphant held their course,
And list'ning hearers felt conviction's force:
No precept mangled, text misunderstood,
He thought and acted but for public good:
His reasoning pure, his mind all manly light,
Made day of that which else appear'd as night.
In him instruction aim'd at this great end--
Our fates to soften and our lives amend.
Yet he was man, and man's the child of woe:
Who seeks perfection, seeks not here below."
From the paper of September, 1806, it appears that numerous books were
missing out of the library of the deceased gentleman. His administrator,
Alexander Burns, advertises: "The following books, with many others,
being lent by the deceased, it is particularly entreated that they may
be immediately returned:--Plutarch's Lives, 1st volume; Voltaire's
Works, 11th do., in French, half-bound; Titi Livii, Latin, 1st do.;
Guthrie's History of Scotland, 1st and 2nd do.; Rollin's Ancient
History, 1st do.; Pope's Works, 5th do.; Swift's Works, 5th and 8th do.,
half-bound; Molière's, 6th do., French."
Of Col. W. Chewett, whose name appears next, we have made mention more
than once. His name, like that of his son, J. G. Chewett, is very
familiar to those who have to examine the plans and charts connected
with early Upper Canadian history. Both were long distinguished
_attachés_ of the Surveyor-General's department. In 1802, Col. W.
Chewett was Registrar of the Home District.
Alexander Macnab, whose name occurs next in succession, was afterwards
Capt. Macnab, who fell at Waterloo, the only instance, as is supposed,
of a Canadian slain on that occasion. In 1868, his nephew, the Rev. Dr.
Macnab, of Bowmanville, was presented by the Duke of Cambridge in person
with the Waterloo medal due to the family of Capt. Macnab.
Alexander Macnab was also the first patentee of the plot of ground
whereon stands the house on Bay Street noted, in our account of the
early press, as being the place of publication of the _Upper Canada
Gazette_ at the time of the taking of York, and subsequently owned and
occupied by Mr. Andrew Mercer up to the time of his decease in 1871.
Of Messrs. Ridout and Allan, whose names are inscribed conjointly on the
following park lot, we have already spoken; and Angus Macdonell, who
took up the next lot, was the barrister who perished, along with the
whole court, in the _Speedy_.
The name that appears on the westernmost lot of the range along which we
have been passing is that of Benjamin Hallowell. He was a near
connection of Chief Justice Elmsley's, and father of the Admiral, Sir
Benjamin Hallowell, K.C.B. We observe the notice of Mr. Hallowell's
death in the _Gazette and Oracle_ of the day, in the following
terms:--"Died, on Thursday last (March 28th, 1799), Benjamin Hallowell,
Esq., in the 75th year of his age. The funeral will be on Tuesday next,
and will proceed from the house of the Chief Justice to the Garrison
Burying Ground at one o'clock precisely. The attendance of his friends
is requested."
Associated at a later period with the memories of this locality is the
name of Col. Walter O'Hara.--In 1808 an immense enthusiasm sprang up in
England in behalf of the Spaniards, who were beginning to rise in
spirited style against the domination of Napoleon and his family. Walter
Savage Landor, for one, the distinguished scholar, philosopher and poet,
determined to assist them in person as a volunteer. In a letter to
Southey, in August, 1808, he says: "At Brighton, I preached a crusade to
two auditors: _i. e._, a crusade against the French in Spain:
Inclination," he continues, "was not wanting, and in a few minutes
everything was fixed." The two auditors, we are afterwards told, were
both Irishmen, an O'Hara and a Fitzgerald. Landor did not himself remain
long in Spain, although long enough to expend, out of his own resources,
a very large sum of money; but his companions continued to do good
service in the Peninsula, in a military capacity, to the close of the
war.
In a subsequent communication to Southey, Landor speaks of a letter just
received from his friend O'Hara. "This morning," he says, "I had a
letter from Portugal, from a sensible man and excellent officer, Walter
O'Hara. The officers do not appear," he continues, "to entertain very
sanguine hopes of success. We have lost a vast number of brave men, and
the French have gained a vast number, and fight as well as under the
republic."
The Walter O'Hara whom we here have Landor speaking of as "a sensible
man and excellent officer" is the Col. O'Hara at whose homestead, on a
portion of the Hallowell park-lot, we have arrived, and whose name is
one of our household words. Colonel O'Hara built on this spot in 1831,
at which date the surrounding region was in a state of nature. The area
cleared for the reception of the still existing spacious residence, with
its lawn, garden and orchards, remained for a number of years an oasis
in the midst of a grand forest. A brief memorandum which we are enabled
to give from his own pen of the Peninsular portion of his military
career, will be here in place, and will be deemed of interest.
"I joined," he says, "the Peninsular army in the year 1811, having
obtained leave of absence from my British Regiment quartered at
Canterbury, for the purpose of volunteering into the Portuguese army,
then commanded by Lord Beresford. I remained in that force until the end
of the war, and witnessed all the varieties of service during that
interesting period, during which time I was twice wounded, and once fell
into the hands of a brave and generous enemy."
From 1831 Col. O'Hara held the post of Adjutant-General in Upper Canada.
His contemporaries will always think of him as a chivalrous,
high-spirited, warm-hearted gentleman; and in our annals hereafter he
will be named among the friends of Canadian progress, at a period when
enlightened ideas in regard to government and social life, derived from
a wide intercourse with man in large and ancient communities, were,
amongst us, considerably misunderstood.
After passing the long range of suburban properties on which we have
been annotating, the continuation, in a right line westward, of Lot
Street, used to be known as the Lake Shore Road. This Lake Shore Road,
after passing the dugway, or steep descent to the sands that form the
margin of the Lake, first skirted the graceful curve of Humber Bay, and
then followed the irregular line of the shore all the way to the head of
the Lake. It was a mere track, representing, doubtless, a trail trodden
by the aborigines from time immemorial.
So late as 1813 all that could be said of the region traversed by the
Lake Shore Road was the following, which we read in the "Topographical
Description of Upper Canada," issued in London in that year, under the
authority of Governor Gore:--"Further to the westward (_i. e._ of the
river Humber)," we are told, "the Etobicoke, the Credit, and two other
rivers, with a great many smaller streams, join the main waters of the
Lake; they all abound in fish, particularly salmon......the Credit is
the most noted; here is a small house of entertainment for passengers.
The tract between the Etobicoke and the head of the Lake," the
Topographical Description then goes on to say, "is frequented only by
wandering tribes of Mississaguas."
"At the head of Lake Ontario," we are then told, "there is a smaller
Lake, within a long beach, of about five miles, from whence there is an
outlet to Lake Ontario, over which there is a bridge. At the south end
of the beach," it is added, "is the King's Head, a good inn, erected for
the accommodation of travellers, by order of his Excellency
Major-General Simcoe, the Lieutenant-Governor. It is beautifully
situated at a small portage which leads from the head of a natural canal
connecting Burlington Bay with Lake Ontario, and is a good landmark.
Burlington Bay," it is then rather boldly asserted, "is perhaps as
beautiful and romantic a situation as any in interior America,
particularly if we include with it a marshy lake which falls into it,
and a noble promontory that divides them. This lake is called Coote's
Paradise, and abounds with game." (Coote's Paradise had its name from
Capt. Coote, of the 8th, a keen sportsman.)
As to "the wandering tribes of Mississaguas," who in 1813 were still the
only noticeable human beings west of the Etobicoke, they were in fact a
portion of the great Otchibway nation. From time to time, previous and
subsequent to 1813, and for pecuniary considerations of various amounts
they surrendered to the local Government their nominal right over the
regions which they still occupied in a scattered way. In 1792 they
surrendered 3,000,000 acres, commencing four miles west of Mississagua
point, at the mouth of the river Niagara for the sum of £1,180 7s. 4d.
On the 8th of August, 1797, they surrendered 3,450 acres in Burlington
Bay for the sum of £65 2s. 6d. On the 6th September, 1806, 85,000 acres,
commencing on the east bank of the Etobicoke river, brought them £1,000
5s. On the 28th of October, 1818, "the Mississagua tract Home District,"
consisting of 648,000 acres, went for the respectable sum of £8,500. On
the 8th of February, 1820, 2,000 acres, east of the Credit reserve,
brought in £50.
All circumstances at the respective dates considered, the values
received for the tracts surrendered as thus duly enumerated may, by
possibility, have been reasonable. Lord Carteret, it is stated, proposed
to sell all New Jersey for £5,000, 150 years ago. But there remains one
transfer from Mississaga to White ownership to be noticed, for which the
equivalent, sometimes alleged to have been accepted, excites surprise.
On the 1st of August, 1805, a Report of the Indian Department informs
us, the "Toronto Purchase" was made, comprising 250,880 acres, and
stretching eastward to the Scarboro' Heights; and the consideration
accepted therefor was the sum of ten shillings. Two dollars for the site
of Toronto and its suburbs, with an area extending eastward to Scarboro'
heights. The explanation, however, is this, which we gather from a
manuscript volume of certified copies of early Indian treaties,
furnished by William L. Baby, Esq., of Sandwich. The Toronto purchase
was really effected in 1787, by Sir John Johnson, at the Bay of Quinté
Carrying-place; and "divers good and valuable considerations," not
specified, were received by the Mississagas on the occasion. But the
document testifying to the transfer was imperfect. The deed of August 1,
1805, was simply confirmatory, and the sum named as the consideration
was merely nominal.
On the early map from which we have been taking the names of the first
locatees of the range of park-lots extending along Queen Street from
Parliament Street to Humber Bay, we observe the easternmost limit of the
"Toronto Purchase" conspicuously marked by a curved line drawn
northwards from the water's edge near the commencement of the spit of
land which used to fence off Ashbridge's Bay and Toronto Harbour from
the lake.
In 1804, the Lake Shore Road stood in need of repairs, and in some
places even of "opening" and "clearing out." In the _Gazette and Oracle_
of Aug. 4th, in that year, we have an advertisement for "Proposals from
any person or persons disposed to contract for the opening and repairing
the Road and building Bridges between the Town of York and the Head of
Burlington Bay." "Such proposals," the advertisement goes on to say,
"must state what prices the Party desirous of undertaking the aforesaid
work will engage to finish and complete the same, and must consist of
the following particulars: At what price per mile such person will open
and clear out such part of the road leading from Lot Street, adjoining
the Town of York (beginning at Peter Street) to the mouth of the Humber,
of the width of 33 feet, as shall not be found to stand in need of any
causeway. With the price also per rod at which such party will engage to
open, clear out, and causeway such other part of the same road as shall
require to be causewayed, and the last-mentioned price to include as
well the opening and clearing out, as the causewaying such Road. The
causewaying to be 18 feet wide; as also the price at which any person
will engage to build Bridges upon the said Road of the width of 18 feet.
"And the same Commissioners will also receive proposals from any person
or persons willing to engage to cut down three Hills at the following
places viz:--One at the Sixteen Mile Creek, another between Sixteen and
Twelve Mile Creek, and the third at the Twelve Mile Creek. And also for
repairing, in a good and substantial manner, the Bridge at the outlet of
Burlington Bay. All the before-mentioned work to be completed, in a good
and substantial manner, on or before the last day of October next, and,
when completed, the Money contracted to be given shall be paid by the
Receiver General." This advertisement is issued by William Allan and
Duncan Cameron, of York; James Ruggles and William Graham, of Yonge
Street; and William Applegarth, of Flamboro' East, Commissioners for
executing Statute passed in Session of present year.
We now return to that point on Queen Street where, instead of continuing
on westward by the Lake Shore Road, the traveller of a later era turned
abruptly towards the north in order to pass into Dundas Street proper,
the great highway projected, as we have observed, by the first organizer
of Upper Canada and marked on the earliest manuscript maps of the
Province, but not made practicable for human traffic until comparatively
recent times.
From an advertisement in the _Gazette and Oracle_ of August, 1806, we
learn that Dundas Street was not, in that year, yet hewn out through the
woods about the Credit. "Notice is hereby given," thus runs the
advertisement referred to, "that the Commissioners of the Highways of
the Home District will be ready on Saturday, the 23rd day of the present
month of August, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, at the Government
Buildings in the town of York, to receive proposals and to treat with
any person or persons who will contend to open and make the road called
Dundas Street, leading through the Indian Reserve on the River Credit;
and also to erect a Bridge over the said River at or near where the said
Road passes. Also to bridge and causeway (in aid to the Statute Labour)
such other parts of such Road passing through the Home District, when
such works are necessary, and for the performance of which the said
Statute Labour is not sufficient. Thomas Ridout, Clerk of the Peace,
Home District. York, 6th August, 1806."
The early line of communication with the Head of the Lake was by the
Lake Shore Road. The cross thoroughfare between the park lots of Mr.
Bouchette or Col. Givins and Mr. David Burns, was opened up by Col. G.
T. Denison, senior, with the assistance of some of the embodied militia.
The work of opening the road here, as well as further on through the
forest, was at first undertaken by a detachment of the regulars under
the direction of an officer of the Royal Engineers. The plan adopted, we
are told, was first to fell each tree by very laboriously severing it
from its base close to the ground, and then to smooth off the upper
surface of the root or stump with an adze. As this process was
necessarily slow, and after all not likely to result in a permanently
good road, the proposal of Colonel, then Lieutenant, Denison, to set his
militia-men to eradicate the trees bodily, was accepted--an operation
with which they were all more or less familiar on their farms and in
their new clearings. A fine broad open track, ready, when the day for
such further improvements should arrive, for the reception of plank or
macadam, was soon constructed.
Immediately at the turn northwards, out of the line of Lot Street, on
the east side, was Sandford's Inn, a watering place for teams on their
way into York, provided accordingly with a conspicuous pump and great
trough, a long section of a huge pine-tree dug out like a canoe. Near
by, a little to the east, was another notable inn, an early rival, as we
suppose, of Sandford's: this was the Blue Bell. A sign to that effect,
at the top of a strong and lofty pole in front of its door, swung to and
fro within a frame.
Just opposite, on the Garrison Common, there were for a long while low
log buildings belonging to the Indian department. One of them contained
a forge in charge of Mr. Higgins, armourer to the Department. Here the
Indians could get, when necessary, their fishing-spears, axes, knives
and tomahawks, and other implements of iron, sharpened and put in order.
One of these buildings was afterwards used as a school for the
surrounding neighbourhood.
Immediately across from Sandford's, on the park lot originally occupied
by Mr. Burns, was a house, shaded with great willow-trees, and
surrounded by a flower-garden and lawn, the abode for many years of the
venerable widow of Captain John Denison, who long survived her husband.
Of her we have already once spoken in connection with Petersfield. She
was, as we have intimated, a sterling old English gentlewoman of a type
now vanishing, as we imagine. The house was afterwards long in the
occupation of her son-in-law, Mr. John Fennings Taylor, a gentleman
well-known to Canadian M.P.'s during a long series of years, having been
attached as Chief Clerk and Master in Chancery first to the Legislative
Council of United Canada and then to the Senate of the Dominion.
To the right and left, as we passed north, was a wet swamp, filled with
cedars of all shapes and sizes, and strewn plentifully with granitic
boulders: a strip of land held in light esteem by the passers-by, in the
early day, as seeming to be irreclaimable for agricultural purposes.
But how admirably reclaimable in reality the acres hereabout were for
the choicest human purposes, was afterwards seen, when, for example, the
house and grounds known as Foxley Grove, came to be established. By the
outlay of some money and the exercise of some discrimination, a portion
of this same cedar swamp was rapidly converted into pleasure ground,
with labyrinths of full-grown shrubbery ready-prepared by nature's hand.
Mr. James Bealey Harrison, who thus transformed the wild into a garden
and plaisaunce, will be long remembered for his skill and taste in the
culture of flowers and esculents choice and rare: as well as for his
eminence as a lawyer and jurist.
He was a graduate of Cambridge; and before his emigration to Canada, had
attained distinction at the English bar. He was the author of a work
well known to the legal profession in Great Britain and here, entitled
"An Analytical Digest of all the Reported Cases determined in the House
of Lords, the several Courts of the Courts of the Common Law in Banc and
Nisi Prius, and the Court of Bankruptcy, from Michaelmas Term, 1756, to
Easter Term, 1843; including also the Crown Cases Referred: in Four
Volumes." During the régime of Sir George Arthur, Mr. Harrison was
Secretary of the Province and a member of the Executive Council; and at
a later period he was Judge of the County and Surrogate Courts. The
memory of Judge Harrison as an English Gentleman, genial, frank and
straightforward, is cherished among his surviving contemporaries.
On turning westward into Dundas Street proper, we were soon in the midst
of a magnificent pine forest, which remained long undisturbed. The whole
width of the allowance for road was here for a number of miles
completely cleared. The highway thus well-defined was seen bordered on
the right and left with a series of towering columns, the outermost
ranges of an innumerable multitude of similar tall shafts set at various
distances from each other, and circumscribing the view in an irregular
manner on both sides, all helping to bear up aloft a matted awning of
deep-green, through which, here and there, glimpses of azure could be
caught, looking bright and cheery. The yellow pine predominated, a tree
remarkable for the straightness and tallness of its stems, and for the
height at which its branches begins.
No fence on either hand intervened between the road and the forest; the
rider at his pleasure, could rein his horse aside at any point and take
a canter in amongst the columns, the underwood being very slight.
Everywhere, at the proper season, the ground was sprinkled with wild
flowers--with the wild lupin and the wild columbine; and everywhere, at
all times, the air was more or less fragrant with resinous exhalations.
In the heart of the forest, midway between York and the bridge over the
Humber, was another famous resting place for teams--the Peacock
Tavern--a perfect specimen of a respectable wayside hostelry of the
olden time, with very spacious driving-houses and other appropriate
outbuildings on an extensive scale.
Not far from the Peacock a beaten track branched off westerly, which
soon led the equestrian into the midst of beautiful oak woods, the trees
constituting it of no great magnitude, but as is often the case on sandy
plains, of a gnarled, contorted aspect, each presenting a good study for
the sketcher. This track also conducted to the Humber, descending to the
valley of that stream where its waters, now become shallow but rapid,
passed over sheets of shale. Here the surroundings of the bridle-road
and foot-path were likewise picturesque, exhibiting rock plentifully
amidst and beneath the foliage and herbage.
Here in the vale of the Humber stood a large Swiss-like structure of
hewn logs, with two tiers of balcony on each of its sides. This was the
house of Mr. John Scarlett. It was subsequently destroyed by fire. Near
by were mills and factories also belonging to Mr. Scarlett. He was well
connected in England; a man of enlightened views and fine personal
presence. He loved horses and was much at home in the saddle. A shrewd
observer when out among his fellow men, at his own fireside he was a
diligent student of books.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XXIV.
YONGE STREET--FROM THE BAY TO YORKVILLE.
The tourist of the present day, who, on one of our great lake-steamers,
enters the harbour of Toronto, observes, as he is borne swiftly along,
an interesting succession of street vistas, opening at intervals inland,
each one of them somewhat resembling a scene on the stage. He obtains a
glimpse for a moment of a thoroughfare gently ascending in a right line
northward, with appropriate groups of men and vehicles, reduced prettily
to lilliputian size by distance.
Of all the openings thus transiently disclosed, the one towards which
the boat at length shapes its course, with the clear intention of
thereabout disburdening itself of its multifarious load, is quickly seen
to be of preëminent importance. Thronged at the point where it descends
to the water's edge with steamers and other craft, great and small,
lined on the right and left up to the far vanishing-point with handsome
buildings, its pavements and central roadway everywhere astir with life,
its appearance is agreeably exciting and even impressive. It looks to
be, what in fact it is, the outlet of a great highway leading into the
interior of a busy, populous country. The railway station seen on the
right, heaving up its huge semicircular metal back above the subjacent
buildings, and flanking the very sidewalk with its fine front and lofty
ever-open portals, might be imagined a porter's lodge proportioned to
the dignity of the avenue whose entrance it seems planted there to
guard.
We propose to pass, as rapidly as we may, up the remarkable street at
the foot of which our tourist steps ashore. It will not be a part of our
plan to enlarge on its condition as we see it at the present time,
except here and there as in contrast with some circumstance of the past.
We intend simply to take note, as we ramble on, of such recollections as
may spring up at particular points, suggested by objects or localities
encountered, and to recall at least the names, if not in every instance,
characteristic traits and words and acts, of some of the worthies of a
byegone generation, to whose toil and endurance the present occupants of
the region which we shall traverse are so profoundly indebted.
Where Yonge Street opened on the harbour, the observer some forty years
ago would only have seen, on the east side, the garden, orchard and
pleasure grounds of Chief Justice Scott, with his residence situated
therein, afterwards the abode of Mr. Justice Sherwood; and on the west
side the garden, orchard, pleasure-grounds and house of Mr. Justice
Macaulay, afterwards Chief Justice Sir James Macaulay, and the
approaches to these premises were, in both cases, not from Yonge Street
but from Front Street, or from Market Street in the rear.
The principal landing place for the town was for a series of years, as
we have elsewhere stated, at the southern extremity of Church Street:
and then previously, for another series of years, further to the east,
at the southern extremity of Frederick Street. The country and local
traffic found its way to these points, not by Yonge Street, south of
King Street, but by other routes which have been already specified and
described.
Teams and solitary horses, led or ridden, seen passing into Yonge
Street, south of King Street, either out of King Street or out of Front
Street, would most likely be on their way to the forge of old Mr. Philip
Klinger, a German, whose name we used to think had in it a kind of anvil
ring. His smithy, on the east side, just south of Market Street, now
Wellington Street, was almost the only attraction and occasion of resort
to Yonge Street, south of King Street. His successor here was Mr. Calvin
Davis, whose name became as familiar a sound to the ears of the early
townsfolk of York as Mr. Klinger's had been.
It seems in the retrospect but a very short time since Yonge Street
south of King Street, now so solidly and even splendidly built up, was
an obscure allowance for road, visited seldom by any one, and for a long
while particularly difficult to traverse during and just after the rainy
seasons.
Few persons in the olden time at which we are glancing ever dreamed
that the intersection of Yonge Street and King Street was to be the
heart of the town. Yet here in one generation we have the Carfax of
Toronto, as some of our forefathers would have called it--the
Quatrevoies or Grand Four-cross-way, where the golden milestone might be
planted whence to measure distances in each direction.
What are the local mutations that are to follow? Will the needs of the
population and the exigencies of business ever make of the intersection
of Brock Street and Queen Street what the intersection of Yonge and King
Streets is now?
In the meantime, those who recall the very commonplace look which this
particular spot, viz.: the intersection of King Street and Yonge Street,
long wore, when as yet only recently reclaimed from nature, cannot but
experience a degree of mental amazement whenever now they pause for a
moment on one of the crossings and look around.
A more perfect and well-proportioned rectangular meeting of four great
streets is seldom to be seen. Take the view at this point, north, south,
west, or east, almost at any hour and at any season of the year, and it
is striking.
It is striking in the freshness and coolness and comparative quiet of
early morning, when few are astir.
It is striking in the brightness and glow of noon, when the sons and
daughters of honest toil are trooping in haste to their mid-day meal.
A few hours later, again, it is striking when the phaetons,
pony-carriages, and fancy equipages generally, are out, and loungers of
each sex are leisurely promenading, or here and there placidly engaged
in the inspection and occasional selection of "personal requisites,"--of
some one or other of the variegated tissues or artificial adjuncts
demanded by the modes of the period,--while the westering sun is now
flooding the principal thoroughfare with a misty splendour, and on the
walls, along on either side, weird shadows slanting and elongated, are
being cast.
Then, later still, the views here are by no means ordinary ones, when
the vehicles have for the most part withdrawn, and the passengers are
once more few in number, and the lamps are lighted, and the gas is
flaming in the windows.
Even in the closed up sedate aspect of all places of business on a
Sunday or public holiday, statutable or otherwise, these four streets,
by some happy charm, are fair to see and cheery. But when drest for a
festive gala occasion, when gay with banners and festoons, in honour of
a royal birthday, a royal marriage, the visit of a prince, the
announcement of a victory, they shew to special advantage.
So, also, they furnish no inharmonious framework or setting, when
processions and bands of music are going by, or bodies of military,
horse or foot, or pageants such as those that in modern times accompany
a great menagerie in its progress through the country--elephants in
oriental trappings, teams of camels clad in similar guise, cavaliers in
glittering mediæval armour, gorgeous cars and vans.
And again, in winter, peculiarly fine pictures, characteristic of the
season, are presented here when, after a plentiful fall of snow, the
sleighs are on the move without number and in infinite variety; or when,
on the contrary, each long white vista, east, west, north, and south,
glistening, perhaps, under a clear December moon, is a scene almost
wholly of still life--scarcely a man or beast abroad, so keen is the
motionless air, the mercury having shrunk down some way below the
zero-line of Fahrenheit.
But we must proceed. From the Lake to the Landing is a long journey.
In the course of our perambulations we have already noticed some
instances in the town of long persistency in one place of business or
residence. Such evidences of staidness and substantiality are common
enough in the old world, but are of necessity somewhat rare amid the
chances, changes, and exchanges of young communities on this continent.
An additional instance we have to note here, at the intersection of King
Street and Yonge Street. At its north-east angle, where, as in a former
section we have observed, stood the sole building in this quarter, the
house of Mr. John Dennis, for forty years at least has been seen with
little alteration of external aspect, the Birmingham, Sheffield and
Wolverhampton warehouse of the brothers Mr. Joseph Ridout and Mr.
Percival Ridout. A little way to the north, too, on the east side, the
name of Piper has been for an equal length of time associated
uninterruptedly with a particular business; but here, though outward
appearances have remained to some extent the same, death has wrought
changes.
Near by, also, we see foundries still in operation where Messrs. W. B.
Sheldon, F. R. Dutcher, W. A. Dutcher, Samuel Andrus, J. Vannorman and
B. Vannorman, names familiar to all old inhabitants, were among the
foremost in that kind of useful enterprise in York. Their advertisement,
as showing the condition of one branch of the iron manufacture in York
in 1832, will be of interest. Some of the articles enumerated have
become old-fashioned. "They respectfully inform their friends and the
public that they have lately made large additions to their
establishments. They have enlarged their Furnace so as to enable them to
make Castings of any size or weight used in this province, and erected
Lathes for turning and finishing the same. They have also erected a
Steam Engine of ten horse power, of their own manufacture, for
propelling their machinery, which is now in complete operation, and they
are prepared to build Steam Engines of any size, either high or low
pressure. Having a number of experienced engineers employed, whose
capability cannot be doubted, they hope to share the patronage of a
generous public. They always keep constantly on hand and for sale,
either by wholesale or retail, Bark Mills, Cooking, Franklin, Plate and
Box Stoves, also, a general assortment of Hollow Ware, consisting of
Kettles, from one to one hundred and twenty gallons; Bake-Ovens,
Bake-Basins, Belly-Pots, High Pans, Tea Kettles, Wash-Kettles, Portable
Furnaces, &c. Also are constantly manufacturing Mill-Gearing of all
kinds; Sleigh Shoes, 50, 56, 30, 28, 15, 14, and 7 pound Weights, Clock
and Sash Weights, Cranes, Andirons, Cart and Waggon Boxes, Clothiers'
Plates, Plough Castings, and Ploughs of all kinds."
In 1832 Mr. Charles Perry was also the proprietor of foundries in York,
and we have him advertising in the local paper that "he is about adding
to his establishment the manufacture of Printing Presses, and that he
will be able in a few weeks to produce Iron Printing Presses combining
the latest improvements."
We move on now towards Newgate Street, first noticing that nearly
opposite to the Messrs. Sheldon and Dutcher's foundry were the spirit
vaults of Mr. Michael Kane, father of Paul Kane, the artist of whom we
have spoken previously. At the corner of Newgate Street or Adelaide
Street, on the left, and stretching along the southern side of that
Street, the famous tannery-yard of Mr. Jesse Ketchum was to be seen,
with high stacks of hemlock-bark piled up on the Yonge Street side. On
the North side of Newgate Street, at the angle opposite, was his
residence, a large white building in the American style, with a square
turret, bearing a railing, rising out of the ridge of the roof. Before
pavements of any kind were introduced in York, the sidewalks hereabout
were rendered clean and comfortable by a thick coating of tan-bark.
Mr. Ketchum emigrated hither from Buffalo at an early period. In the
_Gazette_ of June 11, 1803, we have the death of his father mentioned.
"On Wednesday last (8th June), departed this life, Mr. Joseph Ketchum,
aged 85. His remains," it is added, "were interred the following day."
In 1806 we find Jesse Ketchum named at the annual "town meeting," one of
the overseers of highways and fence viewers. His section was from "No. 1
to half the Big Creek Bridge (Hogg's Hollow) on Yonge Street." Mr.
William Marsh, jun., then took up the oversight from half the Big Creek
Bridge to No. 17. In the first instance Mr. Ketchum came over to look
after the affairs of an elder brother, deceased, who had settled here
and founded the tannery works. He then continued to be a householder of
York until about 1845, when he returned to Buffalo, his original home,
where he still retained valuable possessions. He was familiarly known in
Buffalo in later years as "Father Ketchum," and was distinguished for
the lively practical interest which he took in schools for the young,
and for the largeness of his annual contributions to such institutions.
Two brothers, Henry and Zebulun, were also early inhabitants of Buffalo.
Mr. Ketchum's York property extended to Lot Street. Hospital Street
(Richmond Street) passed through it, and he himself projected and opened
Temperance Street. To the facility with which he supplied building sites
for moral and religious uses it is due that at this day the
quadrilateral between Queen Street and Adelaide Street, Yonge Street and
Bay Street, is a sort of miniature Mount Athos, a district curiously
crowded with places of worship. He gave in Yorkville also sites for a
school-house and Temperance Hall, and, besides, two acres for a
Children's Park. The Bible and Tract Society likewise obtained its House
on Yonge Street on easy terms from Mr. Ketchum, on the condition that
the Society should annually distribute in the Public Schools the amount
of the ground rent in the form of books--a condition that continues to
be punctually fulfilled. The ground-rent of an adjoining tenement was
also secured to the Society by Mr. Ketchum, to be distributed in Sunday
Schools in a similar way. Thus by his generous gifts and arrangements in
Buffalo, and in our own town and neighbourhood, his name has become
permanently enrolled in the list of public benefactors in two cities.
Among the subscriptions to a "Common School" in York in 1820, a novelty
at the period, we observe his name down for one hundred dollars.
Subscriptions for that amount to any object were not frequent in York in
1820. (Among the contributors to the same school we observe Jordan
Post's name down for £17 6s. 3d.; Philip Klinger's for £2 10s.; Lardner
Bostwick's for £2 10s.)
Mr. Ketchum died in Buffalo in 1867. He was a man of quiet, shrewd,
homely appearance and manners, and of the average stature. His brother
Seneca was also a character well known in these parts for his natural
benevolence, and likewise for his desire to offer counsel to the young
on every occasion. We have a distinct recollection of being, along with
several young friends, the objects of a well intended didactic lecture
from Seneca Ketchum, who, as we were amusing ourselves on the ice,
approached us on horseback.
It seems singular to us, in the present day, that those who laid out the
region called the "New Town," that is, the land westward of the original
town plot of York, did not apparently expect the great northern road
known as Yonge Street ever to extend directly to the water's edge. In
the plans of 1800, Yonge Street stops short at Lot Street, _i. e._,
Queen Street. A range of lots blocks the way immediately to the south.
The traffic from the north was expected to pass down into the town by a
thoroughfare called Toronto Street, three chains and seven links to the
east of the line of Yonge Street. Mr. Ketchum's lot, and all the similar
lots southward, were bounded on the east by this street.
The advisability of pushing Yonge Street through to its natural terminus
must have early struck the owners of the properties that formed the
obstruction. We accordingly find Yonge Street in due time "produced" to
the Bay. Toronto Street was then shut up and the proprietors of the land
through which the northern road now ran received in exchange for the
space usurped, proportionate pieces of the old Toronto Street. In 1818,
deeds for these fragments, executed in conformity with the ninth section
of an Act of the local Parliament, passed in the fiftieth year of George
III., were given to Jesse Ketchum, William Bowkett, mariner, son of
William Bowkett, and others, by the surveyors of highways, James Miles
for the Home District, and William Richardson Caldwell for the County of
York, respectively.
The street which supplied the passage-way southward previously afforded
by Toronto Street, and which now formed the easterly boundary of the
easterly portions of the lots cut in two by Yonge Street, was, as we
have had occasion already to state in another place, called Upper George
Street, and afterwards Victoria Street.
(The line of the now-vanished Toronto Street is, for purposes of
reference, marked with fine lines on the map of Toronto by the Messrs.
H. J. and J. O. Browne.)
What the condition of some of the lots to which we have been just
referring was in 1801, we gather from a surveyor's report of that date,
which we have already quoted (p. 64), in another connection. We are now
enabled to add the exact terms of the order issued to the surveyor, Mr.
Stegman, on the occasion: "Surveyor General's Office, 19th Dec., 1800
Mr. John Stegman: Sir,--All persons claiming to hold land in the town of
York, having been required to cut and burn all the brush and underwood
on the said lots, and to fall all the trees which are standing thereon,
you will be pleased to report to me, without delay, the number of the
particular lots on which it has not been done. D. W. Smith, Acting
Surveyor General."
The continuation of the great northern highway in a continuous right
line to the Bay, from its point of issue on Lot Street, _i. e._, Queen
Street, was the circumstance that eventually created for Yonge Street,
regarded as a street in the usual sense, the peculiar renown which it
popularly has for extraordinary length. A story is told of a tourist,
newly arrived at York, wishing to utilize a stroll before breakfast, by
making out as he went along the whereabouts of a gentleman to whom he
had a letter. Passing down the hall of his hotel, he asks in a casual
way of the book-keeper--"Can you tell me where Mr. So-and-so lives?
(leisurely producing the note from his breast-pocket wallet). It is
somewhere along Yonge Street here in your town." "Oh yes," was the
reply, when the address had been glanced at--"Mr. So-and-so lives on
Yonge Street, about twenty-five miles up!" We have heard also of a
serious demur on the part of a Quebec naval and military inspector, at
two agents for purchases being stationed on one street at York. However
surprised, he was nevertheless satisfied when he learned that their
posts were thirty miles apart.
Let us now direct our attention to Yonge Street north of Queen Street.
For some years previous to the opening of Yonge Street from Lot Street
to the Bay, the portion of the great highway to the north, between Lot
Street and the road which is now the southern boundary of Yorkville, was
in an almost impracticable condition. The route was recognized, but no
grading or causewaying had been done on it. In the popular mind, indeed,
practically, the point where Yonge Street began as a travelled road to
the north, was at Yorkville, as we should now speak.
The track followed by the farmers coming into town from the north veered
off at Yorkville to the eastward, and passed down in a hap-hazard kind
of way over the sandy pineland in that direction, and finally entered
the town by the route later known as Parliament Street.
In 1800 the expediency was seen of making the direct northern approach
to York more available. In the _Gazette_ of Dec. 20th, 1800, we have an
account of a public meeting held on the subject. It will be observed
that Yonge Street, between Queen Street and Yorkville, as moderns would
phrase it, is spoken of therein, for the moment, not as Yonge Street,
but as "the road to Yonge Street." "On Thursday last, about noon," the
_Gazette_ reports, "a number of the principal inhabitants of this town
met together in one of the Government Buildings, to consider the best
means of opening the road to Yonge Street, and enabling the farmers
there to bring their provisions to market with more ease than is
practicable at present." The account then proceeds: "The Hon.
Chief-Justice Elmsley was called to the chair. He briefly stated the
purpose of the meeting, and added that a subscription-list had been
lately opened by which something more than two hundred dollars in money
and labour had been promised, and that other sums were to be expected
from several respectable inhabitants who were well-wishers to the
undertaking, but had not as yet contributed towards it. These sums, he
feared, however, would not be equal to the purpose, which hardly could
be accomplished for less than between five and six hundred dollars. Many
of the subscribers were desirous that what was already subscribed should
be immediately applied as far as it would go, and that other resources
should be looked for."
A paper was produced and read containing a proposal from Mr. Eliphalet
Hale to open and make the road, or so much of it as might be required,
at the rate of twelve dollars per acre for clearing it where no
causeway was wanted, four rods wide, and cutting the stumps in the two
middle rods close to the ground; and seven shillings and sixpence,
provincial currency, per rod, for making a causeway eighteen feet wide
where a causeway might be wanted. Mr. Hale undertook to find security
for the due performance of the work by the first of February following
(1801). The subscribers present were unanimously of opinion that the
subscription should be immediately applied as far as it would go. Mr.
Hale's proposition was accepted, and a committee consisting of Mr.
Secretary Jarvis, Mr. William Allan, and Mr. James Playter, was
appointed to superintend the carrying of it into execution. Additional
subscriptions would be received by Messrs. Allan and Wood.
At the same meeting a curious project was mooted, and a resolution in
its favour adopted, for the permanent shutting up of a portion of Lot
Street, and selling the land, the proceeds to be applied to the
improvement of Yonge Street. There was no need of that portion of Lot
Street, it was argued, there being already convenient access to the town
in that direction by a way a few yards to the south. We gather from this
that Hospital Street (Richmond Street) was the usual beaten track into
the town from the west.
"It had been suggested," says the report of the meeting, "that
considerable aid might be obtained by shutting up the street which now
forms the northern boundary of the town between Toronto Street and the
Common, and disposing of the land occupied by it. This street, it was
conceived, was altogether superfluous," the report continues, "as
another street equally convenient in every respect runs parallel to it
at the distance of about ten rods; but it could not be shut up and
disposed of by any authority less than that of the Legislature." A
petition to the Legislature embodying the above ideas was to lie for
signature at Mr. McDougall's Hotel.
The proposed document may have been duly presented, but the Legislature
certainly never closed up Lot Street. Owners of park lots westward of
Yonge Street may have had their objections. The change suggested would
have compelled them to buy not only the land occupied by Lot Street, but
also the land immediately to the south of their respective lots;
otherwise they would have had no frontage in that direction.
In the _Gazette_ of March 14, 1801, we have a further account of the
improvement on Yonge Street. We are informed that "at a meeting of the
subscribers to the opening of Yonge Street held at the Government
Buildings on Monday last, the 9th instant, pursuant to public notice,
William Jarvis, Esq., in the chair, the following gentlemen were
appointed as a committee to oversee and inspect the work, one member of
which to attend in person daily by rotation: James Macaulay, Esq., M.D.,
William Weekes, Esq., A. Wood, Esq., William Allan, Esq., Mr. John
Cameron, Mr. Simon McNab. After the meeting," we are then told, "the
committee went in a body, accompanied by the Hon. J. Elmsley, to view
that part of the street which Mr. Hale, the undertaker, had in part
opened. After ascertaining the alterations and improvements necessary to
be made, and providing for the immediate building of a bridge over the
creek between the second and third mile-posts, the Committee adjourned."
All this is signed "S. McNab, Secretary to the Committee. York, 9th
March, 1801."
A list of subscribers then follows, with the sums given. Hon. J.
Elmsley, 80 dollars; Hon. Peter Russell, 20; Hon. J. McGill, 16; Hon. D.
W. Smith, 10; John Small, Esq., 20; R. J. D. Gray, Esq., 20; William
Jarvis, Esq., 10; William Willcocks, Esq., 15; D. Burns, Esq., 20; Wm.
Weekes, Esq., 15; James Macaulay, Esq., 20; Alexander Macdonell, Esq.,
the work of one yoke of oxen for four days; Alexander Wood, Esq., 10;
Mr. John Cameron, 15; Mr. D. Cameron, 10; Mr. Jacob Herchmer, 5; Mr.
Simon McNab, 5; Mr. P. Mealy, 5; Mr. Elisha Beaman, 10; Thomas Ridout,
Esq., 4; Mr. T. G. Simons, 4; Mr. W. Waters, 5; Mr. Robert Young, 10;
Mr. Daniel Tiers, 5; Mr. John Edgell, 5; Mr. George Cutter, 10; Mr.
James Playter, 6; Mr. Joseph McMurtrie, 5; Mr. William Bowkett, 6; Mr.
John Horton, 4; Mr. John Kerr, 2. Total, 392 dollars.
The money collected was, we may suppose, satisfactorily laid out by Mr.
Hale, but it did not suffice for the completion of the contemplated
work. From the _Gazette_ of Feb. 20 in the following year (1802), we
learn that a second subscription was started for the purpose of
completing the communication with the travelled part of Yonge Street to
the north.
In the _Gazette_ just named we have the following, under date of York,
Saturday, Feb. 20, 1802: "We whose names are hereunto subscribed,
contemplating the advantage which must arise from the rendering of
Yonge Street accessible and convenient to the public, and having before
us a proposal for completing that part of the said street between the
Town of York and lot No. 1, do hereby respectively agree to pay the sums
annexed to our names towards the carrying of the said proposal into
effect; cherishing at the same time the hope that every liberal
character will give his support to a work which has for its design the
improvement of the country, as well as the convenience of the public:
*the Chief Justice, 100 dollars; *Receiver-General, 20; *Robt. J. D.
Gray, 20 (and two acres of land when the road is completed); John
Cameron 40; *James Macaulay, 20; *Alexander Wood, 20; *William Weekes,
20; John McGill, 16; Wilson, Humphreys and Campbell, 15; D. W. Smith,
10; Thomas Scott, 10; *Wm. Jarvis, 10; *John Small, 10; *David Burns,
10; *Wm. Allan, 10; Alexander McDonell, 10; Wm. Smith, 10; Robert
Henderson, 10; *Simon McNab, 8; John McDougall, 8; D. Cozens, 8; Thomas
Ward, 8; *Elisha Beaman, 6; Joseph Hunt, 6; Eli Playter, 6; John
Bennett, 6; *George Cutter, 6; James Norris, 5¼; Wm. B. Peters, 5; John
Leach, 5; John Titus, 5; Wm. Cooper, 5; *Wm. Hunter, 5; J. B. Cozens, 5;
*Daniel Tiers, 5; Thomas Forfar, 5; Samuel Nash, 5; Paul Marian, 3;
Thomas Smith, 3; John McBeth, 3." It is subjoined that "subscriptions
will be received by Mr. S. McNab, Secretary, and advertised weekly in
the _Gazette_. Those marked thus (*) have paid a former subscription."
In the _Gazette_ of March 6, 1802, an editorial is devoted to the
subject of the improvement of Yonge Street. It runs as follows: "It
affords us much pleasure to state to our readers that the necessary
repair of Yonge Street is likely to be soon effected, as the work, we
understand, has been undertaken with the assurance of entering upon and
completing it without delay; and by every one who reflects upon the
present sufferings of our industrious community on resorting to a
market, it cannot but prove highly satisfactory to observe a work of
such convenience and utility speedily accomplished. That the measure of
its future benefits must be extreme indeed, we may reasonably expect;
but whilst we look forward with flattering expectations of those
benefits we cannot but appreciate the immediate advantage which is
afforded to us, in being relieved from the application of the statute
labour to circuitous by-paths and occasional roads, and in being enabled
to apply the same to the improvement of the streets, and the nearer and
more direct approaches to the Town."
The irregular track branching off eastward at Yorkville was an example
of these "circuitous by-paths and occasional roads." Editorials were
rare in the _Gazettes_ of the period. Had there been more of them,
subsequent investigators would have been better able than they are now,
to produce pictures of the olden time. Chief Justice Elmsley was
probably the inspirer of the article just given.
The work appears to have been duly proceeded with. In the following
June, we have an advertisement calling a meeting of the committee
entrusted with its superintendence. In the _Gazette_ of June 12, 1802,
we read: "The committee for inspecting the repair of Yonge Street
requests that the subscribers will meet on the repaired part of the said
street at 5 o'clock on Monday evening, to take into consideration how
far the moneys subscribed by them have been beneficially expended. S.
McNab, Secretary to Committee. York, 10th June, 1802."
In 1807, as we gather from the _Gazette_ of Nov. 11, in that year, an
effort was made to improve the road at the Blue Hill. A present of Fifty
Dollars from the Lieutenant Governor (Gore) to the object is
acknowledged in the paper named. "A number of public-spirited persons"
the _Gazette_ says, "collected on last Saturday to cut down the Hill at
Frank's Creek. (We shall see hereafter that the rivulet here was thus
known, as being the stream that flowed through the Castle Frank lot.)
The Lieutenant-Governor, when informed of it, despatched a person with a
present of Fifty Dollars to assist in improving the Yonge Street road."
It is then added by "John Van Zante, pathmaster, for himself and the
public,"--"To his Excellency for his liberal donation, and to the
gentlemen who contributed, we return our warmest thanks."
These early efforts of our predecessors to render practicable the great
northern approach to the town, are deserving of respectful remembrance.
The death of Eliphalet Hale, named above, is thus noted in the _Gazette_
of Sept. 19, 1807:--"Died on the evening of the 17th instant, after a
short illness, Mr. Eliphalet Hale, High Constable of the Home District,
an old and respectable inhabitant of this town. From the regular
discharge of his official duties" the _Gazette_ subjoins, "he may be
considered as a public loss."
The nature of the soil at many points between Lot Street and the modern
Yorkville was such as to render the construction of a road that should
be comfortably available at all seasons of the year no easy task. Down
to the time when macadam was at length applied, some twenty-eight years
after Mr. Hale's operations, this approach to the town was notorious for
its badness every spring and autumn. At one period an experiment was
tried of a wooden tramway for a short distance at the worst part, on
which the loaded waggons were expected to keep and so be saved from
sinking hopelessly in the direful sloughs. Mr. Sheriff Jarvis was the
chief promoter of this improvement, which answered its purpose for a
time, and Mr. Rowland Burr was its suggester. But we must not forestall
ourselves.
We return to the point where Lot Street, or Queen Street, intersects the
thoroughfare to whose farthest bourne we are about to be travellers.
After passing Mr. Jesse Ketchum's property, which had been divided into
two parts by the pushing of Yonge Street southward to its natural
termination, we arrived at another striking rectangular meeting of
thoroughfares. Lot Street having happily escaped extinction westward and
eastward, there was created at this spot a four-cross-way possessed of
an especial historic interest, being the conspicuous intersection of the
two great military roads of Upper Canada, projected and explored in
person by its first organiser. Four extensive reaches, two of Dundas
Street (identical, of course, with Lot or Queen Street), and two of
Yonge Street, can here be contemplated from one and the same standpoint.
In the course of time the views up and down the four long vistas here
commanded will probably rival those to be seen at the present moment
where King Street crosses Yonge Street. When lined along all its sides
with handsome buildings, the superior elevation above the level of the
Lake of the more northerly quadrivium, will be in its favour.
Perhaps it will here not be out of order to state that Yonge Street was
so named in honour of Sir George Yonge, Secretary of War in 1791, and
M.P. for Honiton, in the county of Devon, from 1763 to 1796. The first
exploration which led to the establishment of this communication with
the north, was made in 1793. On the early MS. map mentioned before in
these papers, the route taken by Governor Simcoe on the memorable
occasion, in going and returning is shewn. Explanatory of the red dotted
lines which indicate it, the following note is appended. It reveals the
Governor's clear perception of the commercial and military importance
of the projected road: "Lieut.-Gov. Simcoe's route on foot and in canoes
to explore a way which might afford communication for the Fur-traders to
the Great Portage, without passing Detroit in case that place were given
up to the United States. The march was attended with some difficulties,
but was quite satisfactory: an excellent harbour at Penetanguishene:
returned to York, 1793."
(On the same map, the tracks are given of four other similar excursions,
with the following accounts appended respectively:--1. Lieut.-Gov.
Simcoe's route on foot from Niagara to Detroit and back again in five
weeks; returned to Niagara March 8th, 1793. 2. Lieut.-Gov. Simcoe's
route from York to the Thames; down that river in canoes to Detroit;
from thence to the Miamis, to build the fort Lord Dorchester ordered to
be built: left York March 1794; returned by Lake Erie and Niagara to
York, May 5th, 1794. 3. Lieut.-Gov. Simcoe's track from York to Kingston
in an open boat, Dec. 5th, 1794. 4. Lieut.-Gov. Simcoe's route from
Niagara to Long Point on Lake Erie, on foot and in boats: returned down
the Ouse [Grand River]: from thence crossed a portage of five miles to
Welland River, and so to Fort Chippawa, September, 1795.)
The old chroniclers of England speak in high praise of a primeval but
somewhat mythic king of Britain, named Belin:
"Belin well held his honour,
And wisely was good governour."
says Peter de Langtoft, and his translator, Robert de Brunn; and they
assign, among the reasons why he merited such mention at their hands,
the following:
"His land Britaine he yode throughout,
And ilk county beheld about;
Beheld the woods, water and fen.
No passage was maked for men,
No highe street thorough countrie,
Ne to borough ne citié.
Thorough mooris, hills and valleys
He madé brigs and causeways,
Highe street for common passage,
Brigs over water did he stage."
This notice of the old chroniclers' pioneer king of Britain has again
and again recurred to us as we have had occasion to narrate the
energetic doings of the first ruler of Upper Canada, here and
previously. What Britain was when Belin and his Celts were at work,
Canada was in the days of our immediate fathers--a trackless wild. That
we see our country such as it is to-day, approaching in many respects
the beauty and agricultural finish of Britain itself, is due to the
intrepid men who faced without blenching the trials and perils
inevitable in a first attack on the savage fastnesses of nature.
A succinct but good account is given of the origin of Yonge Street in
Mr. Surveyor General D. W. Smith's Gazetteer of 1799. The advantages
expected to accrue from the new highway are clearly set forth; and
though the anticipations expressed have not been fulfilled precisely in
the manner supposed, we see how comprehensive and really well-laid were
the plans of the first organizer of Upper Canada.
"Yonge Street," the early Gazetteer says, "is the direct communication
from York to Lake Simcoe, opened during the administration of his
Excellency Major-General Lieut.-Governor Simcoe, who, having visited
Lake Huron by Lake aux Claies (formerly also Ouentaronk, or Sinion, and
now named Lake Simcoe), and discovered the harbour of Penetanguishene
(now Gloucester) to be fit for shipping, resolved on improving the
communication from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron, by this short route,
thereby avoiding the circuitous passage of Lake Erie. This street has
been opened in a direct line, and the road made by the troops of his
Excellency's corps. It is thirty miles from York to Holland's river, at
the Pine Fort called Gwillimbury, where the road ends; from thence you
descend into Lake Simcoe, and, having passed it, there are two passages
into Lake Huron; the one by the river Severn, which conveys the waters
of Lake Simcoe into Gloucester Bay; the other by a small portage, the
continuation of Yonge Street, to a small lake, which also runs into
Gloucester Bay. This communication affords many advantages; merchandize
from Montreal to Michilimackinac may be sent this way at ten or fifteen
pounds less expense per ton, than by the route of the Grand or Ottawa
River; and the merchandize from New York to be sent up the North and
Mohawk Rivers for the north-west trade, finding its way into Lake
Ontario at Oswego (Fort Ontario), the advantage will certainly be felt
of transporting goods from Oswego to York, and from thence across Yonge
Street, and down the waters of Lake Simcoe into Lake Huron, in
preference to sending it by Lake Erie."
We now again endeavour to effect a start on our pilgrimage of
retrospection up the long route, from the establishment of which so many
public advantages were predicted in 1799.
The objects that came to be familiar to the eye at the entrance to Yonge
Street from Lot Street were, after the lapse of some years, on the west
side, a large square white edifice known as the Sun Tavern, Elliott's;
and on the east side, the buildings constituting Good's Foundry.
The open land to the north of Elliott's was the place generally occupied
by the travelling menageries and circuses when such exhibitions began to
visit the town.
The foundry, after supplying the country for a series of years with
ploughs, stoves and other necessary articles of heavy hardware, is
memorable as having been the first in Upper Canada to turn out real
railway locomotives. When novelties, these highly finished ponderous
machines, seen slowly and very laboriously urged through the streets
from the foundry to their destination, were startling phenomena. We have
in the _Canadian Journal_ (vol. ii. p. 76), an account of the first
engine manufactured by Mr. Good at the Toronto Locomotive Works, with a
lithographic illustration. "We have much pleasure," the editor of the
_Canadian Journal_ says "in presenting our readers with a drawing of the
first locomotive engine constructed in Canada, and indeed, we believe,
in any British Colony. The 'Toronto' is certainly no beauty, nor is she
distinguished for any peculiarity in the construction, but she affords a
very striking illustration of our progress in the mechanical arts, and
of the growing wants of the country. The 'Toronto' was built at the
Toronto Locomotive Works, which were established by Mr. Good, in
October, 1852. The order for the 'Toronto' was received in February,
1853, for the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railroad. The engine was
completed on the 16th of April, and put on the track the 26th of the
same month. Her dimensions are as follows: cylinder 16 inches diameter,
stroke 22 inches, driving wheel 5 feet 6 inches in diameter, length of
internal fire box 4 feet 6 inches, weight of engine 25 tons, number of
tubes 150, diameter of tubes 2 inches."
With property a little to the north on the east side, the name of
McIntosh was early associated, and--Canadian persistency again--is still
associated. Of Captains John, Robert and Charles McIntosh, we shall have
occasion to speak in our paper on the early Marine of York harbour. It
was opposite the residence of Captain John McIntosh that the small riot
took place, which signalized the return home of William Lyon Mackenzie,
in 1849, after the civil tumults of 1837. Mr. Mackenzie was at the time
the guest of Captain McIntosh, who was related to him through a marriage
connexion.
Albert Street, which enters Yonge Street opposite the McIntosh property,
was in 1833 still known as Macaulay Lane, and was described by Walton as
"fronting the Fields." From this point a long stretch of fine
forest-land extended to Yorkville. On the left side it was the property
partly of Dr. Macaulay and partly of Chief Justice Elmsley. The fields
which Macaulay Lane fronted were the improvements around Dr. Macaulay's
abode. The white entrance gate to his house was near where now a street
leads into Trinity Square. Wykham Lodge, the residence of Sir James
Macaulay after the removal from Front Street, and Elmsley Villa, the
residence of Captain J. S. Macaulay, (Government House in Lord Elgin's
day, and subsequently Knox College,) were late erections on portions of
these spacious suburban estates.
The first Dr. Macaulay and Chief Justice Elmsley selected two adjoining
park lots, both of them fronting, of course, on Lot Street. They then
effected an exchange of properties with each other. Dividing these two
lots transversely into equal portions, the Chief Justice chose the upper
or northern halves, and Dr. Macaulay the lower or southern. Dr. Macaulay
thus acquired a large frontage on Lot Street, and the Chief Justice a
like advantage on Yonge Street. Captain Macaulay acquired his interest
in the southern portion of the Elmsley halves by marriage with a
daughter of the Chief Justice. The northern portion of these halves
descended to the heir of the Chief Justice, Capt. John Elmsley, who
having become a convert to the Church of Rome, gave facilities for the
establishment of St. Basil's college and other Roman Catholic
Institutions on his estate. Of Chief Justice Elmsley and his son we have
previously spoken.
Dr. Macaulay's clearing on the north side of Macaulay lane was, in
relation to the first town plot of York, long considered a locality
particularly remote; a spot to be discovered by strangers not without
difficulty. In attempting to reach it we have distinct accounts of
persons bewildered and lost for long hours in the intervening marshes
and woods. Mr. Justice Boulton, travelling from Prescott in his own
vehicle, and bound for Dr. Macaulay's domicile, was dissuaded, on
reaching Mr. Small's house at the eastern extremity of York, from
attempting to push on to his destination, although it was by no means
late, on account of the inconveniences and perils to be encountered; and
half of the following day was taken up in accomplishing the residue of
the journey.
Dr. Macaulay's cottage might still have been existent and in good order;
but while it was being removed bodily by Mr. Alexander Hamilton, from
its original site to a position on the entrance to Trinity Square, a few
yards to the eastward, it was burnt, either accidentally or by the act
of an incendiary. Mr. Hamilton, who was intending to convert the
building into a home for himself and his family, gave the name of
Teraulay Cottage--the name by which the destroyed building had been
known--to the house which he put up in its stead.
A quarter of a century sufficed to transform Dr. Macaulay's garden and
grounds into a well-peopled city district. The "fields," of which Walton
spoke, have undergone the change which St. George's Fields and other
similar spaces have undergone in London:
St. George's Fields are fields no more;
The trowel supersedes the plough;
Huge inundated swamps of yore
Are changed to civic villas now.
The builder's plank, the mason's hod,
Wide and more wide extending still,
Usurp the violated sod.
The area which Dr. Macaulay's homestead immediately occupied now
constitutes Trinity Square--a little bay by the side of a great stream
of busy human traffic, ever ebbing and flowing, not without rumble and
other resonances; a quiet close, resembling, it is pleasant to think,
one of the Inns of Court in London, so tranquil despite the turmoil of
Fleet Street adjoining.
Trinity Square is now completely surrounded with buildings; nevertheless
an aspiring attic therein, in which many of these collections and
recollections have been reduced to shape, has the advantage of
commanding to this day a view still showing within its range some of the
primitive features of the site of York. To the north an extended portion
of the rising land above Yorkville is pleasantly visible, looking in the
distance as it anciently looked, albeit beheld now with spires
intervening, and ornamental turrets of public buildings, and lofty
factory flues: while to the south, seen also between chimney stacks and
steeples and long solid architectural ranges, a glimpse of Lake Ontario
itself is procurable--a glimpse especially precious so long as it is to
be had, for not only recalling, as it does, the olden time when "the
Lake" was an element in so much of the talk of the early settlers--its
sound, its aspect, its condition being matters of hourly observation to
them--but also suggesting the thought of the far-off outer ocean
stream--the silver moat that guards the fatherland, and that forms the
horizon in so many of its landscapes.
To the far-off Atlantic, and to the misty isles beyond--the true _Insulæ
Fortunatoe_--we need not name them--the glittering slip which we are
still permitted to see yonder, is the highway--the route by which the
fathers came--the route by which their sons from time to time return to
make dutiful visits to hearthstones and shrines never to be thought of
or named without affection and reverence.--Of that other ideal
ocean-stream, too, and of that other ideal home, of which the poet
speaks, our peep of Ontario may likewise, to the thoughtful, be an
allegory, by the help of which
In a season of calm weather,
Though inland far we be,
Our souls have sight of that immortal sea
Which brought us hither;
Can in a moment travel thither--
And see the children sport upon the shore,
And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore!
The Church with the twin turrets, now seen in the middle space of
Trinity Square, was a gift of benevolence to Western Canada in 1846 from
two ladies, sisters. The personal character of Bishop Strachan was the
attraction that drew the boon to Toronto. Through the hands of Bishop
Longley of Ripon, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, a sum of £5,000
sterling was transmitted by the donors to Bishop Strachan for the
purpose of founding a church, two stipulations being that it should be
forever, like the ancient churches of England, free to all for worship,
and that it should bear the name of The Holy Trinity. The sum sent built
the Church and created a small endowment. Soon after the completion of
the edifice, Scoresby, the celebrated Arctic navigator, author of "An
Account of the Arctic Regions, with a History and Description of the
Northern Whale Fishery," preached and otherwise officiated within its
walls. Therein, too, at a later period was heard the voice of Selwyn,
Bishop of Lichfield, but previously the eminent Missionary Bishop of New
Zealand. Here also, while the Cathedral of St. James was rebuilding,
after its second destruction by fire in 1849, Lord Elgin was a constant
devout participant in Christian rites, an historical association
connected with the building, made worthy of preservation by the very
remarkable public services of the Earl afterwards in China and
India.--We recall at this moment the _empressement_ with which an
obscure little chapel was pointed out to us in the small hamlet of
Tregear in Cornwall, on account of the fact that John Wesley had once
preached there. Well then: it may be that with some hereafter, it will
be a matter of curiosity and interest to know that several men of
world-wide note, did, in their day, while sojourning in this region,
"pay their vows" in the particular "Lord's House" to which we now have
occasion to refer.
In the grove which surrounded Sir James Macaulay's residence, Wykham
Lodge, we had down to recent years a fragment of the fine forest which
lined Yonge Street, almost continuously from Lot Street to Yorkville,
some forty years since. The ruthless uprooting of the eastern border of
this beautiful sylvan relic of the past, for building purposes, was
painful to witness, however quickly the presence of rows of useful
structures reconciled us to the change. The trees which cluster round
the great school building in the rear of these improvements will long,
as we hope, survive to give an idea of what was the primeval aspect of
the whole of the neighbourhood.
The land on the opposite side, a little to the north of the point at
which we have arrived, viz., Carleton Street--long remaining in an
uncultivated condition, was a portion of the estate of Alexander Wood,
of whom we have already spoken. His family and baptismal names are
preserved, as we have before noted, in "Wood" Street and "Alexander"
Street.
The streets which we passed southward of Wood Street, Carleton, Gerrard,
Shuter, with Gould Street in the immediate vicinity, had their names
from personal friends of Mr. McGill, the first owner, as we have seen,
of this tract. They are names mostly associated with the early annals of
Montreal, and seem rather inapposite here.
Northward, a little beyond where Grosvenor Street leads into what was
Elmsley Villa, and is now Knox College, was a solitary green field with
a screen of lofty trees on three of its sides. In its midst was a Dutch
barn, or hay-barrack, with movable top. The sward on the northern side
of the building was ever eyed by the passer-by with a degree of awe. It
was the exact spot where a fatal duel had been fought.
We have seen in repeated instances that the so-called code of honour was
in force at York from the era of its foundation. "Without it,"
Mandeville had said, "there would be no living in a populous nation. It
is the tie of society; and although we are beholden to our frailties for
the chief ingredient of it, there has been no virtue, at least that I am
acquainted with, which has proved half so instrumental to the civilizing
of mankind, who, in great societies, would soon degenerate into cruel
villains and treacherous slaves, were honour to be removed from among
them." Mandeville's sophistical dictum was blindly accepted, and trifles
light as air gave rise to the conventional hostile meeting. The merest
accident at a dance, a look, a jest, a few words of unconsidered talk,
of youthful chaff, were every now and then sufficient to force persons
who previously, perhaps, had been bosom friends, companions from
childhood, along with others sometimes, in no wise concerned in the
quarrel at first, to put on an unnatural show of thirst for each other's
blood. The victim of the social usage of the day, in the case now
referred to, was a youthful son of Surveyor-General Ridout.
Some years after the event, the public attention was drawn afresh to it.
The surviving principal in the affair, Mr. Samuel Jarvis, underwent a
trial at the time and was acquitted. But the seconds were not arraigned.
It happened in 1828, eleven years after the incident (the duel took
place July 12, 1817), that Francis Collins, editor of the _Canadian
Freeman_, a paper of which we have before spoken, was imprisoned and
fined for libel. As an act of retaliation on at least some of those who
had promoted the prosecution, which ended in his being thus sentenced,
he set himself to work to bring the seconds into court. He succeeded.
One of them, Mr. Henry John Boulton, was now Solicitor-General, and the
other, Mr. James E. Small, an eminent member of the Bar. All the
particulars of the fatal encounter, were once more gone over in the
evidence. But the jury did not convict.
Modern society, here and elsewhere, is to be congratulated on the change
which has come over its ideas in regard to duelling. Apart from the
considerations dictated by morals and religion, common sense, as we
suppose, has had its effect in checking the practice. York, in its
infancy, was no better and no worse in this respect than other places.
It took its cue in this as in some other matters, from very high
quarters. The Duke of York, from whom York derived its name, had himself
narrowly escaped a bullet from the pistol of Colonel Lennox: "it passed
so near to the ear as to discommode the side-curl," the report said; but
our Duke's action, or rather inaction, on the occasion helped perhaps to
impress on the public mind the irrationality of duelling: he did not
return the fire. "He came out," he said, "to give Colonel Lennox
satisfaction, and did not mean to fire at him; if Colonel Lennox was not
satisfied, he might fire again."
Just to the north of the scene of the fatal duel, which has led to this
digression, was the portion of Yonge Street where a wooden tramway was
once laid down for a short distance; an experiment interesting to be
remembered now, as an early foreshadowing of the existing convenient
street railway, if not of the great Northern Railway itself.
Subterranean springs and quicksands hereabout rendered the primitive
roadmaker's occupation no easy one; and previous to the application of
macadam, the tramway, while it lasted, was a boon to the farmers after
heavy rains.
Mr. Durand's modest cottage and bowery grounds, near here, recall at the
present day, an early praiseworthy effort of its owner to establish a
local periodical devoted to Literature and Natural History, in
conjunction with an advocacy of the cause of Temperance. A diligent
attention to his profession as a lawyer did not hinder the editor of the
_Literary Gem_ from giving some of his leisure time to the observation
and study of Nature. We accordingly have in the columns of that
periodical numerous notes of the fauna and flora of the surrounding
neighbourhood, which for their appreciativeness, simplicity, and
minuteness, remind us of the pleasant pages of White's "Natural History
of Selborne." The _Gem_ appeared in 1851-2, and had an extensive
circulation. It was illustrated with good wood-cuts, and its motto was
"Humanity, Temperance, Progress." The place of its publication was
indicated by a square label suspended on one side of the front entrance
of a small white office still to be seen adjoining the cottage which we
are now passing.
The father of Mr. Durand was an Englishman of Huguenot descent, who
emigrated hither from Abergavenny at a very early period. Having been
previously engaged in the East India mercantile service, he undertook
the importation of East India produce. After reaching Quebec and
Montreal in safety, his first consignments, embarked in batteaux, were
swallowed up bodily in the rapids of the St. Lawrence. He nevertheless
afterwards prospered in his enterprise, and acquired property. Nearly
the whole of the eastern moiety of the present city of Hamilton was
originally his. He represented the united counties of Wentworth and
Halton in several parliaments up to 1822. A political journal, entitled
_The Bee_, moderate and reasonable in tone, was, up to 1812, edited and
published by him in the Niagara District. Mr. Durand, senior, died in
1833, at Hamilton, where he filled the post of County Registrar. His
eldest son, Mr. James Durand, when, in 1817, member for Halton, enjoyed
the distinction of being expelled from the House of Assembly. A
Parliament had just expired. He offered some strictures on its
proceedings, in an address to his late constituents. The new House,
which embraced many persons who had been members of the previous
Parliament, was persuaded to vote the Address to the electors of Halton
a libel, to exclude its author from the House, and to commit him to
prison. His instant re-election by the county of Halton was of course
secured. We observe from the evidence of Mr. James Durand before the
celebrated Grievance Committee of 1835, that he was an early advocate of
a number of the changes which have since been carried into effect. This
Mr. Durand died in 1872 at Kingston, where he was Registrar for the
County of Frontenac.
We have been enabled to present these facts, through the kindness of Mr.
Charles Durand, who, in a valuable communication, further informs us
that besides being among the earliest to engage in mercantile
enterprises in Upper Canada, his father had also in 1805, a large
interest in the extensive flour mills in Chippawa, known as the
Bridgewater Mills: mills burnt by the retreating American army in 1812,
at which period Mr. Durand, senior, was in the command of one of the
flank companies of Militia, composed of the first settlers in the
neighbourhood of the modern Hamilton: moreover he was the first who ever
imported foxhounds into Upper Canada, a pack of which animals he caused
to be sent out to him from England, being fond of the hunter's sport.
With these he hunted near Long Point, on Lake Erie, in 1805, over a
region teeming at the time with deer, bears, wolves and wild turkeys.
Mr. Peter Des Jardins, from whom the Dundas Canal has its name, was, in
1805, a clerk in the employment of Mr. Durand. (Omitted elsewhere, we
insert here a passing notice of Mr. J. M. Cawdell, another
well-remembered local pioneer of literature. He published for a short
time a magazine of light reading, entitled the _Rose harp_, the bulk of
which consisted of graceful compositions in verse and prose by himself.
Mr. Cawdell had been an officer in the army. Through the friendship of
Mr. Justice Macaulay (afterwards Sir James), he was appointed librarian
and secretary to the Law Society of Osgoode Hall. He died in 1842.)
Proceeding now onward a few yards, we arrived, in former times, at what
was popularly called the Sandhill--a moderate rise, showing where, in
by-gone ages, the lake began to shoal. An object of interest in the
woods here, at the top of the rise, on the west side, was the "Indian's
Grave," made noticeable to the traveller by a little civilized railing
surrounding it.
The story connected therewith was this: When the United States forces
were landing in 1813, near the Humber Bay, with the intention of
attacking the Fort and taking York, one of Major Givins' Indians,
concealed himself in a tree, and from that position fired into the boats
with fatal effect repeatedly. He was soon discovered, and speedily shot.
The body was afterwards found, and deposited with respect in a little
grave here on the crest of the Sandhill, where an ancient Indian burying
ground had existed, though long abandoned. It would seem that by some
means, the scalp of this poor Indian was packed up with the trophies of
the capture of York, conveyed by Lieut. Dudley to Washington. From being
found in company with the Speaker's Mace on that occasion, the foolish
story arose of its having been discovered over the Speaker's chair in
the Parliament building that was destroyed.
"With the exception," says Ingersoll, in his History of the War of
1812-14, "of the English general's musical snuff-box, which was an
object of much interest to some of our officers, and a scalp which Major
Forsyth found suspended over the Speaker's chair, we gained but barren
honour by the capture of York, of which no permanent possession was
taken."
Auchinleck, in his History of the same war, very reasonably observes,
that "from the expertness of the backwoodsmen in scalping (of which he
gives two or three instances), it is not at all unlikely that the scalp
in question was that of an unfortunate Indian who was shot while in a
tree by the Americans, in their advance on the town." It was rejected
with disgust by the authorities at Washington, Ingersoll informs us, and
was not allowed to decorate the walls of the War Office there. Colonel
W. F. Coffin, in his "1812: The War and its Moral," asserts that a
peruke or scratch-wig, found in the Parliament House, was mistaken for a
scalp.
Building requirements have at the present day occasioned the almost
complete obliteration of the Sandhill. Innumerable loads of the loose
silex of which it was composed have been removed. The bones of the
Indian brave, and of his forefathers, have been carried away. In a
triturated condition, they mingle now, perhaps, in the mortar of many a
wall in the vicinity.
A noble race! but they are gone,
With their old forests wide and deep,
And we have built our houses on
Fields where their generations sleep.
Their fountains slake our thirst at noon,
Upon their fields our harvest waves,
Our lovers woo beneath their moon--
Then let us spare at least their graves!
Vain, however, was the poet's appeal. Even the prosaic proclamations of
the civil power had but temporary effect. We quote one of them of the
date of Dec. 14th, 1797, having for its object the protection of the
fishing places and burying grounds of the Mississaga Indians:
"Proclamation. Upper Canada. Whereas, many heavy and grievous complaints
have of late been made by the Mississaga Indians, of depredations
committed by some of his Majesty's subjects and others upon their
fisheries and burial places, and of other annoyances suffered by them by
uncivil treatment, in violation of the friendship existing between his
Majesty and the Mississaga Indians, as well as in violation of decency
and good order: Be it known, therefore, that if any complaint shall
hereafter be made of injuries done to the fisheries and to the burial
places of the said Indians, or either of them, and the persons can be
ascertained who misbehaved himself or themselves in manner aforesaid,
such person or persons shall be proceeded against with the utmost
severity, and a proper example made of any herein offending. Given under
my hand and seal of arms, at York, this fourteenth day of December, in
the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven, and in
the thirty-eighth year of his Majesty's reign. Peter Russell, President,
administering the government. By his Honour's command, Alex. Burns,
Secretary."
As to the particular ancient burial-plot on the Sandhill north of York,
however, it may perhaps be conjectured that prior to 1813 the
Mississagas had transferred to other resting places the bulk of the
relics which had been deposited there.
Off to the eastward of the sandy rise which we are ascending, was one of
the early public nursery gardens of York, Mr. Frank's. Further to the
North on the same side was another, Mr. Adams'. Mr. Adams was a tall,
oval-faced, fair-complexioned Scotchman. An establishment of the same
kind at York more primitive still, was that of Mr. Bond, of whom we
shall have occasion to speak by and by.
Kearsny House, Mr. Proudfoot's, the grounds of which occupy the site of
Frank's nursery garden, is a comparatively modern erection, dating from
about 1845; an architectural object regarded with no kindly glance by
the final holders of shares in the Bank of Upper Canada--an institution
which in the infancy of the country had a mission and fulfilled it, but
which grievously betrayed those of the second generation who, relying on
its traditionary sterling repute, continued to trust it. With Kearsny
House, too, is associated the recollection, not only of the president,
so long identified with the Bank of Upper Canada, but of the financier,
Mr. Cassells, who, as a kind of _deus ex machinâ_, engaged at an annual
salary of ten thousand dollars, was expected to retrieve the fortunes of
the institution, but in vain, although for a series of years after being
pronounced moribund it continued to yield a handsome addition to the
income of a number of persons.
Mr. Alexander Murray, subsequently of Yorkville, and a merchant of the
olden time at York, occupied the residence which preceded Kearsny House,
on the Frank property. One desires, in passing, to offer a tribute to
the memory of a man of such genuine worth as was Mr. Murray, although
the singular unobtrusiveness which characterized him when living seems
almost to forbid the act.
The residue of the Sandhill rise that is still to be discerned westward
of Yonge Street has its winsome name, Clover Hill, from the designation
borne by the home of Captain Elmsley, son of the Chief Justice, situate
here. The house still stands, overshadowed by some fine oaks, relics of
the natural wood. The rustic cottage lodge, with diamond lattice
windows, at the gate leading in to the original Clover Hill, was on the
street a little further on. At the time of his decease, Captain Elmsley
had taken up his abode in a building apart from the principal residence
of the Clover Hill estate; a building to which he had pleasantly given
the name of Barnstable, as being in fact a portion of the outbuildings
of the homestead turned into a modest dwelling.
Barnstable was subsequently occupied by Mr. Maurice Scollard, a veteran
attaché of the Bank of Upper Canada, of Irish birth, remembered by all
frequenters of that institution, and by others for numerous estimable
traits of character, but especially for a gift of genuine quiet humour
and wit, which at a touch was ever unfailingly ready to manifest itself
in word or act, in some unexpected, amusing, genial way. Persons
transacting business at the India House in London, when Charles Lamb was
a book-keeper there, must have had the solemn routine of the place now
and then curiously varied by a dry "aside" from the direction of his
desk. Just so the habitués of the old Bank, when absorbed in a knotty
question of finance, affecting themselves individually, or the
institution, would oftentimes find themselves startled from their
propriety by a droll view of the case, gravely suggested by a venerable
personage sure to be somewhere near at hand busily engaged over a huge
ledger.
They who in the mere fraction of a lifetime have seen in so many places
the desert blossom as the rose, can with a degree of certainty, realize
in their imagination what the whole country will one day be, even
portions of it which to the new comer seem at the first glance very
unpromising. Our Sandhill here, which but as yesterday we beheld in its
primeval condition, with no trace of human labour upon it except a few
square yards cleared round a solitary Indian grave, to-day we see
crowned along its crest for many a rood eastward and westward with
comfortable villas and graceful pleasure-grounds. The history of this
spot may serve to encourage all who at any time or anywhere are called
in the way of duty to be the first to attack and rough-hew a forest-wild
for the benefit of another generation.
If need were to stay the mind of a newly-arrived immigrant friend
wavering as to whether or not he should venture permanently to cast in
his lot with us, we should be inclined to direct his regards, for one
thing, to the gardens of an amateur, on the southern slope of the rise,
at which we are pausing, where choice fruits and flowers are year after
year produced equal to those grown in Kent or Devon; we should be
inclined to direct his regards, likewise, to the amateur cultivator
himself of those fruits and flowers, Mr. Phipps--a typical Englishman
after a residentership in York and Toronto of half a century.
But we must push on.--To the north of our Sandhill, a short distance, on
the east side, was a sylvan halting place for weary teams, known as the
Gardeners' Arms. It was an unpretending rural wayside inn, furnished
with troughs and pump. The house lay a little way back from the road.
Its sign exhibited an heraldic arrangement of horticultural implements.
Another rural inn, with homely name, might have been noted, while we
were nearer Lot Street: the Green Bush Tavern. But this was a name
transferred from another spot, far to the north on Yonge Street, when
the landlord, Mr. Abrahams, moved into town. In the original locality,
the sign was a painted pine-tree or spruce of formal shape--not the
ivy-bush, the sign referred to by the ancient proverb when it said,
"Wine needeth it not"--"Vino vendibili non opus est suspensa hedera."
On the right, beyond the Gardeners' Arms, appeared in this region at an
early date, at a considerable distance from each other, two or perhaps
three flat, single-storey square cottages, clapboarded and painted
white, with flat four-sided roofs, door in the centre and one window on
either side: little wooden boxes set down on the surface of the soil
apparently, and capable, as it might seem, of being readily lifted up
and transported to any other locality. They were the first of such
structures in the outskirts of York, and were speedily copied and
repeated in various directions, being thought models of neatness and
convenience.
Opposite the quarter where these little square hutches were to be seen,
there are to be found at the present day, the vineyards of Mr. Bevan; to
be found, we say, for they are concealed from the view of the transient
passenger by intervening buildings. Here again we have a scene
presenting a telling contrast to the same spot and its surroundings
within the memory of living men: a considerable area covered with a
labyrinth of trellis work, all overspread with hardy grapes in great
variety and steadily productive. To this sight likewise we should
introduce our timid, hesitating new comer, as also to the originator of
the spectacle--Mr. Bevan, who after a forty years' sojourn in the
vicinity of York and Toronto, continues as genuinely English in spirit
and tone now as when he first left the quay of his native Bristol for
his venture westward. While engaged largely in the manufacture of
various articles of wooden ware, Mr. Bevan adopted as a recreation the
cultivation of the grape, and the making of a good and wholesome wine.
It is known in commerce and to physicians, who recommend it to invalids
for its real purity, as Clintona.
Just before reaching the first concession-road, where Yorkville now
begins, a family residence of an ornamental suburban character, put up
on the left by Mr. Lardner Bostwick, was the first of that class of
building in the neighbourhood. His descendants still occupy it. Mr.
Bostwick was an early property owner in York. The now important square
acre at the south-east angle of the intersection of King Street and
Yonge Street, regarded probably when selected, as a mere site for a
house and garden in the outskirts of the town, was his. The price paid
for it was £100. Its value in 1873 may be £100,000.
The house of comparatively modern date, seen next after Mr. Bostwick, is
associated with the memory of Mr. de Blaquiere, who occupied it before
building for himself the tasteful residence--The Pines--not far off,
where he died; now the abode of Mr. John Heward.
Mr. de Blaquiere was the youngest son of the first Lord de Blaquiere, of
Ardkill, in Ireland. He emigrated in 1837, and was subsequently
appointed to a seat in the Legislative Council of Upper Canada. In his
youth he had seen active service as a midshipman. He was present at the
battle of Camperdown in the Bounty, commanded by Captain Bligh. He was
also in the Fleet at the Nore during the mutiny. He died suddenly here
in his new house in 1860, aged 76. His fine character and prepossessing
outward physique are freshly remembered.
Thus again and again have we to content ourselves with the interest that
attaches, not to the birth-places of men of note, as would be the case
in older towns, but to their death-places. Who of those that have been
born in the numerous domiciles which we pass are finally to be ranked as
men of note, and as creators consequently of a sentimental interest in
their respective birth-places, remains to be seen. In our portion of
Canada there has been time for the application of the requisite test in
only a very few instances.
The First Concession Road-line derived its modern name of Bloor Street
from a former resident on its southern side, eastward of Yonge Street.
Mr. Bloor, as we have previously narrated, was for many years the
landlord of the Farmers' Arms, near the market place of York, an inn
conveniently situated for the accommodation of the agricultural public.
On retiring from this occupation with a good competency, he established
a Brewery on an extensive scale in the ravine north of the first
concession road. In conjunction with Mr. Sheriff Jarvis, he entered
successfully into a speculation on land, projecting and laying out the
village of Yorkville, which narrowly escaped being Bloorville. That name
was proposed: as also was Rosedale, after the Sheriff's homestead; and
likewise "Cumberland," from the county of some of the surrounding
inhabitants. The monosyllable "Blore" would have sufficed, without
having recourse to a hackeyned suffix. That is the name of a spot in
Staffordshire, famous for a great engagement in the wars between the
Houses of Lancaster and York. But Yorkville was at last decided on, an
appellation preservative in part of the name just discarded in 1834 by
Toronto.
Mr. Bloor was an Englishman, respected by every one. That his name
should have become permanently attached to the Northern Boulevard of the
City of Toronto, a favourite thoroughfare, several miles in extent, is a
curious fact which may be compared with the case of Pimlico, the famous
west-end quarter of London. Pimlico has its name, it is said, from Mr.
Benjamin Pimlico, for many years the popular landlord of a hotel in the
neighbourhood. Bloor Street was for a time known as St. Paul's road:
also as the Sydenham road.
While crossing the First Concession Line, now in our northward journey,
the moment comes back to us when on glancing along the vista to the
eastward, formed by the road in that direction, we first noticed a
church-spire on the right-hand or southern side. We had passed that way
a day or two before, and we were sure no such object was to be seen
there then; and yet, unmistakeably now, there rose up before the eye a
rather graceful tower and spire, of considerable altitude, complete from
base to apex, and coloured white.
The fact was: Mr. J. G. Howard, a well-known local architect, had
ingeniously constructed a tower of wood in a horizontal, or nearly
horizontal, position in the ground close by, somewhat as a shipbuilder
puts together "the mast of some vast ammiral," and then, after attending
to the external finish of, at least, the higher portion of it, even to a
coating of lime wash, had, in the space of a few hours, by means of
convenient machinery raised it on end, and secured it, permanently, in a
vertical position.
We gather some further particulars of the achievement from a
contemporary account. The Yorkville spire was raised on the 4th of
August, 1841. It was 85 feet high, composed of four entire trees or
pieces of timber, each of that length, bound together pyramidically,
tapering from ten feet base to one foot at top, and made to receive a
turned ball and weather-cock. The base was sunk in the ground until the
apex was raised ten feet from the ground; and about thirty feet of the
upper part of the spire was completed, coloured and painted before the
raising. The operation of raising commenced about two o'clock p.m., and
about eight in the evening, the spire and vane were seen erect, and
appeared to those unacquainted with what was going on, to have risen
amongst the trees, as if by magic. The work was performed by Mr. John
Richey; the framing by Mr. Wetherell, and the raising was superintended
by Mr. Joseph Hill.
The plan adopted was this: three gin-poles, as they are called, were
erected in the form of a triangle; each of them was well braced, and
tackles were rove at their tops: the tackles were hooked to strong
straps about fifty feet up the spire, with nine men to each tackle, and
four men to steady the end with following poles. It was raised in about
four hours from the commencement of the straining of the tackles, and
had a very beautiful appearance while rising. The whole operation, we
have been told, was conducted as nearly as possible in silence, the
architect himself regulating by signs the action of the groups at the
gin-poles, being himself governed by the plumb-line suspended in a high
frame before him.
"No workman steel, no ponderous axes rung;
Like some tall palm, the noiseless fabric sprung."
Perhaps Fontana's exploit of setting on end the obelisk in front of St.
Peter's, in Rome, suggested the possibility of causing a tower and spire
complete to be suddenly seen rising above the roof of the Yorkville St.
Paul's. On an humble scale we have Fontana's arrangements reproduced.
While in the men at the gin-poles worked in obedience to signs, we have
the old Egyptians over again--a very small detachment of them indeed--as
seen in the old sculptures on the banks of the Nile.
The original St. Paul's before it acquired in this singular manner the
dignified appurtenance of a steeple, was a long, low, barn-like, wooden
building. Mr. Howard otherwise improved it, enlarging it by the addition
of an aisle on the west side. When some twenty years later, viz., in
1861, the new stone church was erected, the old wooden structure was
removed bodily to the west side of Yonge Street, together with the
tower, curtailed, however, of its spire.
We have been informed that the four fine stems, each eighty-five feet
long, which formed the interior frame of the tower and spire of 1841,
were a present from Mr. Allan, of Moss Park; and that the Rev. Charles
Matthews, occasionally officiating in St. Paul's, gave one hundred
pounds in cash towards the expense of the ornamental addition now made
to the edifice.
The history of another of Mr. Howard's erections on Yonge Street, which
we are perambulating, illustrates the rapid advance and expansion of
architectural ideas amongst us. In the case now referred to it was no
shell of timber and deal-boards that was taken down, but a very handsome
solid edifice of cut-stone, which might have endured for centuries. The
Bank of British North America, built by Mr. Howard, at the corner of
Yonge Street and Wellington Street in 1843, was deliberately taken down,
block by block, in 1871, and made to give place to a structure which
should be on a par in magnificence and altitude with the buildings put
up in Toronto by the other Banks. Mr. Howard's building, at the time of
its erection, was justly regarded as a credit to the town. Its design
was preferred by the directors in London to those sent in by several
architects there. Over the principal entrance were the Royal Arms,
exceedingly well carved in stone on a grand scale, and wholly disengaged
from the wall; and conspicuous over the parapet above was the great
scallop-shell, emblem of the gold-digger's occupation, introduced by Sir
John Soane, in the architecture of the Bank of England. (The Royal Arms
of the old building have been deemed worthy of a place over the entrance
to the new Bank.)
The Cemetery, the gates and keeper's lodge of which, after crossing the
concession road and advancing on our way northward, we used to see on
the left, was popularly known as "The Potter's Field"--"a place to bury
strangers in." Its official style was "The York General or Strangers'
Burying Ground." In practice it was the Bunhill Fields of York--the
receptacle of the remains of those whose friends declined the use of the
St. James's churchyard and other early burial-plots.
Walton's Directory for 1833, gives the following information, which we
transfer hither, as well for the slight degree of quaintness which the
narrative has acquired, as also on account of the familiar names which
it contains. "This institution," Walton says, "owes its origin to Mr.
Carfrae, junior. It comprises six acres of ground, and has a neat
sexton's house built close by the gate. The name of the sexton is John
Wolstencroft, who keeps a registry of every person buried therein.
Persons of all creeds and persons of no creed, are allowed burial in
this cemetery: fees to the sexton, 5s. It was instituted in the fall of
1825, and incorporated by Act of Parliament, 30th January, 1826. It is
managed by five trustees, who are chosen for life; and in case of the
death of any of them, a public meeting of the inhabitants is called,
when they elect a successor or successors in their place. The present
trustees (1833) are Thomas Carfrae, jun., Thomas D. Morrison, Peter
Paterson, John Ewart, Thomas Helliwell."
(Mr. Carfrae was for some years the collector of Customs of the Port of
York. The other trustees named were respectively the medical man,
iron-merchant, builder, and brewer, so well known in the neighbourhood.)
A remote sequestered piece of ground in 1825, the Potter's Field in 1845
was more or less surrounded by buildings, and regarded as an impediment
in the way of public improvement. Interments were accordingly
prohibited. To some extent it has been cleared of human remains, and in
due time will be built over. Its successor and representative is the
Toronto Necropolis, the trustees of which are empowered, after the lapse
of twenty-one years, to sell the old burying-ground.
Proceeding on, we were immediately opposite the Red Lion Tavern,
anciently Tiers', subsequently Price's, on the east side; a large and
very notable halting-place for loaded teams after the tremendous
struggle involved in the traverse of the Blue Hill ravine, of which
presently.
In old European lands, in times by-gone, the cell of a hermit, a
monastery, a castle, became often the nucleus of a village or town. With
us on the American continent, a convenient watering or baiting place in
the forest for the wearied horses of a farmer's waggon or a stage-coach
is the less romantic _punctum saliens_ for a similar issue. Thus
Tiers's, at which we have paused, may be regarded as the germ of the
flourishing incorporation of Yorkville. Many a now solitary way-station
on our railroads will probably in like manner hereafter prove a centre
round which will be seen a cluster of human habitations.
We discover from a contemporary _Gazette_ that so early as 1808,
previous, perhaps, to the establishment of the Red Lion on Yonge Street,
Mr. Tiers had conducted a public house in the Town of York. In the
_Gazette_ of June 13, 1808, we have the following announcement. It has
an English ring; "Beefsteak and Beer House.--The subscriber informs his
friends and the public that he has opened a house of entertainment next
door to Mr. Hunt's, where his friends will be served with victualing in
good order, on the shortest notice, and at a cheap rate. He will furnish
the best strong beer at 8d. New York currency per gallon if drank in his
house, and 2s. 6d. New York currency taken out. As he intends to keep a
constant supply of racked beer, with a view not to injure the health of
his customers, and for which he will have to pay cash, the very small
profits at which he offers to sell, will put it out of his power to give
credit, and he hopes none will be asked. N.B. He will immediately have
entertainment for man and horse. Daniel Tiers. York, 12th January,
1808."
The singular _Hotel de Ville_ which in modern times distinguishes
Yorkville, has a Flemish look. It might have strayed hither from Ghent.
Nevertheless, as seen from numerous points of view, it cannot be
characterized as picturesque, or in harmony with its surroundings.--The
shield of arms sculptured in stone and set in the wall above the
circular window in the front gable, presents the following charges
arranged quarterly: a Beer-barrel, with an S below; a Brick-mould, with
an A below; an Anvil, with a W below; and a Jackplane, with a D below.
In the centre, in a shield of pretence, is a Sheep's head, with an H
below. These symbols commemorate the first five Councillors or Aldermen
of Yorkville at the time of its incorporation in 1853, and their trades
or callings; the initials being those respectively of the surnames of
Mr. John Severn, Mr. Thomas Atkinson, Mr. James Wallis, Mr. James
Dobson, and Mr. Peter Hutty. Over the whole, as a crest, is the Canadian
Beaver.
The road which enters from the west, a little way on, calls up memories
of Russel-hill, Davenport and Spadina, each of them locally historic. We
have already spoken of them in our journey along Front Street and Queen
Street, when, in crossing Brock Street, Spadina-house in the distance
caught the eye. It is a peculiarity of this old bye-road that, instead
of going straight, as most of our highways monotonously do, it meanders
a little, unfolding a number of pretty suburban scenes. The public
school, on the land given to Yorkville by Mr. Ketchum, is visible up
this road.
In this direction were the earliest public ice-houses established in our
region, in rude buildings of slab, thickly thatched over with pine
branches. Spring-water ice, gathered from the neighbouring mill-ponds,
began to be stored here in quantities by an enterprising man of African
descent, Mr. Richards, five-and-thirty years ago.
On the east side of Yonge Street, near the northern toll-gate, stood Dr.
R. C. Horne's house, the lurid flames arising from which somewhat
alarmed the town in 1837, when the malcontents of the north were
reported to be approaching with hostile intent. Of Dr. Horne we have
already spoken, in connexion with the early press of York.
Were the tall and very beautiful spire which in the present day is to be
seen where the Davenport Road enters Yonge Street, the appendage of an
ecclesiastical edifice of the mediæval period--as the architecture
implies--it would indicate, in all probability, the presence of a Church
of St. Giles. St. Ægidius or Giles presided, it was imagined, over the
entrances to cities and towns. Consequently, fancy will always have it,
whenever we pass the interesting pile standing so conspicuously by a
public gate, or where for a long while there was a public gate, leading
into the town, that here we behold the St. Giles' of Toronto.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XXV.
YONGE STREET, FROM YORKVILLE TO HOGG'S HOLLOW.
Of long standing is the group of buildings on the right after passing
the Davenport Road. It is the Brewery and malting-house of Mr. Severn,
settled here since 1835. The main building over-looks a ravine which, as
seen by the passer-by on Yonge Street, retains to this day in its
eastern recess a great deal of natural beauty, although the stream below
attracted manufacturers at an early period to its borders at numerous
points. There is a picturesque irregularity about the outlines of Mr.
Severn's brewery. The projecting galleries round the domestic portion of
the building pleasantly indicate that the adjacent scenery is not
unappreciated: nay, possibly enjoyed on many a tranquil autumn evening.
Further on, a block-house of two storeys, both of them rectangular, but
the upper turned half round on the lower, built in consequence of the
troubles of 1837, and supposed to command the great highway from the
north, overhung a high bank on the right. (Another of the like build was
placed at the eastern extremity of the First Concession Road. It was
curious to observe how rapidly these two relics acquired the character
and even the look, gray and dilapidated, of age. With many, they dated
at least from the war of 1812.)
A considerable stretch of striking landscape here skirts our route on
the right. Rosedale-house, the old extra-mural home, still existent and
conspicuous, of Mr. Stephen Jarvis, Registrar of the Province in the
olden time, afterwards of his son the Sheriff, of both of whom we have
had occasion to speak repeatedly, was always noticeable for the
romantic character of its situation; on the crest of a precipitous bank
overlooking deep winding ravines. Set down here while yet the forest was
but little encroached on, access to it was of course for a long time,
difficult and laborious.
The memorable fancy-ball given here at a comparatively late period, but
during the Sheriff's lifetime, recurs as we go by. On that occasion, in
the dusk of evening, and again probably in the gray dawn of morning, an
irregular procession thronged the highway of Yonge Street and toiled up
and down the steep approaches to Rosedale-house--a procession consisting
of the simulated shapes and forms that usually revisit the glimpses of
the moon at masquerades,--knights, crusaders, Plantagenet, Tudor and
Stuart princes, queens and heroines; all mixed up with an incongruous
ancient and modern canaille, a Tom of Bedlam, a Nicholas Bottom "with
amiable cheeks and fair large ears," an Ariel, a Paul Pry, a Pickwick,
&c., &c., not pacing on with some veri-similitude on foot or respectably
mounted on horse, ass, or mule, but borne along most prosaically on
wheels or in sleighs.
This pageant, though only a momentary social relaxation, a transient but
still not unutilitarian freak of fashion, accomplished well and cleverly
in the midst of a scene literally a savage wild only a few years
previously, may be noted as one of the many outcomes of precocity
characterizing society in the colonies of England.
In a burlesque drama to be seen in the columns of a contemporary paper
(the _Colonist_, of 1839) we have an allusion to this memorable
entertainment. The news is supposed to have just arrived of the union of
the Canadas, to the dismay, as it is pretended, of the official party,
among whom there will henceforth be no more cakes and ale. A messenger,
Thomas, speaks:
List, oh, list--the Queen hath sent
A message to her Lords and trusty Commons--
All--What message sent she?
Thomas.--Oh the dreadful news!
That both the Canadas in one be joined.--(_faints._)
Sheriff William then speaks:
Farewell ye masquerades, ye sparkling routs:
Now routed out, no more shall routs be ours;
No gilded chariots now shall roll along;
No sleighs that sweep across our icy path,--
Sleighs! no: this news that slays our warmest hopes,
Ends pageantry, and pride and masquerades.
The characters in the dramatic _jeu d'esprit_, from which these lines
are taken, are the principal personages of the defeated party, under
thinly disguised names, Mr. Justice Clearhead, Mr. John Scott, William
Welland, Judge Brock, Christopher, Samuel, Sheriff William, as above,
and Thomas, &c. Rosedale is a name of pleasant sound. We are reminded
thereby of another of the same genus, but of more recent application in
these parts--Hazeldean--the pretty title given by Chief Justice Draper
to his rural cottage, which overhangs and looks down upon the same
ravine as Rosedale, but on the opposite side. (A residence of the Earl
of Shaftesbury in Kew-foot Lane near Richmond, on the Thames is called
Rosedale House, and is associated with the memory of the poet Thomson,
who is said to have written his _Castle of Indolence_ there.)
The perils and horrors encountered every spring and autumn by travellers
and others in their ascent and descent of the precipitous sides of the
Rosedale ravine, at the point where the primitive Yonge Street crossed
it, were a local proverb and by-word: perils and horrors ranking for
enormity with those associated with the passage of the Rouge, the
Credit, the Sixteen, and a long list of other deeply ploughed
watercourses intersected of necessity by the two great highways of Upper
Canada.
The ascent and descent of the gorge were here spoken of collectively as
the "Blue Hill." Certain strata of a bluish clay had been remarked at
the summit on both sides. The waggon-track passed down and up by two
long wearisome and difficult slopes cut in the soil of the steep sides
of the lofty banks. After the autumnal rains and during the thaws at the
close of winter, the condition of the route here was indescribably bad.
At the period referred to, however, the same thing, for many a year, was
to be said of every rood of Yonge Street throughout its thirty miles of
length.
Nor was Yonge Street singular in this respect. All our roads were
equally bad at certain seasons every year. We fear we conveyed an
impression unfavourable to emigration many years ago, when walking with
two or three young English friends across some flat clayey fields
between Cambridge and the Gogmagogs. It chanced that the driftways for
the farmers' carts--the holls as they are locally called, if we remember
rightly--at the sides of the ploughed land were mire from end to end.
Under the impulse of the moment, pleased in fact with a reminder of home
far-distant, we exclaimed, "Here are Canadian roads!" The comparison
was altogether too graphic; and our companions could never afterwards
be got to entertain satisfactory notions of Canadian civilization.
But English roads were not much better a century ago. We made a note
once of John Moody's account of Lady Townley's journey with her
coach-and-four and large household to London, from the veritable
old-country York, in Sir John Vanbrugh's comedy of the Provoked Husband,
so perfect a parallel did it furnish to the traveller's experience here
on Yonge Street on his way from the Canadian York to the Landing in
stage-coach or farmer's waggon in the olden time.
"Some impish trick or other," said John Moody, "plagued us all the day
long. Crack goes one thing: bounce goes another: Woa, says Roger--then
sowse! we are all set fast in a slough. Whaw, cries Miss: scream go the
maids: and bawl just as tho' they were stuck: and so, mercy on us! this
was the trade from morning to night."
The mode of extricating a vehicle from a slough or mudhole when once in,
may be gathered from a passage in McTaggart's "Three Years in Canada,"
ii., 205. The time referred to is 1829: "There are few roads," McTaggart
says, "and these are generally excessively bad, and full of mudholes in
which if a carriage fall, there is great trouble to get it out again.
The mail coaches or waggons are often in this predicament, when the
passengers instantly jump off, and having stripped rails off the fence,
they lift it up by sheer force. Coming up brows they sometimes get in;
the horses are then taken out, and yoked to the stern instead of the
front; and it is drawn out backwards."
The country between York and Lake Huron was, as we have already seen,
first explored by Governor Simcoe in person, in 1793. It was also
immediately surveyed, and in some measure occupied; and so early as
1794, we read in a _Gazette_ the following notice: "Surveyor-General's
Office, Upper Canada, 15th July, 1794. Notice is hereby given that all
persons who have obtained assignments for land on Dundas Street, leading
from the head of Burlington Bay to the upper forks of the River Thames,
and on Yonge Street leading from York to Lake Simcoe, that unless a
dwelling-house shall be built on every lot under certificate of
location, and the same occupied within one year from the date of their
respective assignments, such lots will be forfeited on the said Roads.
D. W. Smith, Acting Surveyor General."
All the conditions required to be fulfilled by the first settlers were
these: "They must within the term of two years, clear fit for
cultivation and fence, ten acres of the lot obtained; build a house 16
by 20 feet of logs or frame, with a shingle roof; also cut down all the
timber in front of and the whole width of the lot (which is 20 chains,
133 feet wide), 33 feet of which must be cleared smooth and left for
half of the public road." To issue injunctions for the performance of
such work was easy. To do such work, or to get such work effectually
done, was, under the circumstances of the times, difficult. Hence Yonge
Street continued for some years after 1794 to be little more than a
rambling forest wheel-track through the woods.
In 1794, as we have before heard, Mr. William Berczy, brought over from
the Pulteney Settlement, on the south side of Lake Ontario, sixty German
families, and conducted them to the township of Markham, north-east of
York, where lands had been assigned them. In effecting this first
lodgement of a considerable body of colonists in a region entirely new,
Mr. Berczy necessarily cut out by the aid of his party, and such other
help as he could obtain, some kind of track through the forest, along
the line of Yonge Street. He had already once before successfully
accomplished a similar work. He had, we are told, hewn out a waggon road
for emigrants through trackless woods all the way from Philadelphia to
the Genesee country, where the Pulteney Settlement was.
In 1795, Mr. Augustus Jones, a Deputy Provincial Surveyor, who figures
largely in the earliest annals of Upper Canada, was directed by the
Lieutenant Governor to survey and open in a more effective manner the
route which Mr. Berczy and his emigrants had travelled. A detachment of
the Queen's Rangers was at the same time ordered to assist.
On the 24th December, 1795, Mr. Jones writes to D. W. Smith, Acting
Surveyor General:--"His Excellency was pleased to direct me, previous to
my surveying the township of York, to proceed on Yonge Street, to survey
and open a cart-road from the harbour at York to Lake Simcoe, which I am
now busy at (_i. e._ I am busily engaged in the preparations for this
work.) Mr. Pearse is to be with me in a few days' time with a detachment
of about thirty of the Queen's Rangers, who are to assist in opening the
said road."
Then in his Note-book and Journal for the new year 1796, he records the
commencement of the survey, thus:--"Monday, 4th (January, 1796). Survey
of Yonge Street. Begun at a Post near the Lake, York Harbour, on Bank,
between Nos. 20 and 21, the course being Mile No. 1, N. 16 degrees W.,
eighty chains, from Black Oak Tree to Maple Tree on the right side,
along the said Yonge Street: at eighteen chains, fifty links, small
creek; at twenty-eight chains, small creek; course the same at
thirty-two eighty: here First Concession. At, N. 35 W. to 40-50, At
39-50 swamp and creek, 10 links across, runs to the right: then N. 2 E.,
to 43 chains in the line. At 60-25, small creek runs to right; swampy to
73; N. 29 W. to 77, swamp on right. Then N. to 80 on line. Timber
chiefly white and black oak to 60, and in many places windfalls thereon:
maple, elm, beech, and a few oaks, black ash; loose soil. Mile No. 2 do.
80 chains; rising Pine Ridge to 9 on top," &c., and so on day by day,
until Tuesday, February 16th, when the party reached the Landing.
For Mile No. 33 we have the entry. "Course do. (N. 9 W.) 80 chains;
descended; at 10 chains, small creek; cross aforesaid small creek; at
30, several cedars to 35-50; at 33, creek about 30 links across, runs to
left; at 80 chains, hemlock tree on the right bank small creek; hemlock,
pine, a few oak; broken soil. At Mile 34, do., 53 chains to Pine tree
marked at Landing; timber, yellow and white Pines; sandy soil; slight
winds from the north; cloudy, cold weather."
The survey and opening of the Street from York bay to the Landing thus
occupied forty-three days (January 4, to February 16). Three days
sufficed for the return of the party to the place of beginning. The
memoranda of these three days, and the following one, when Mr. Jones
presented himself before the Governor, in the Garrison at York, run
thus: "Wednesday, 17th, returned back to a small Lake at the
twenty-first mile tree; pleasant weather, light winds from the west.
Thursday, 18th, came down to five mile tree from York; pleasant weather.
Friday, 19th, came to the town of York; busy entering some of my field
notes; weather as before. Saturday, 20th, went to Garrison, York, and
waited on His Excellency the Governor, and informed him that Yonge
Street is opened from York to the Pine Fort Landing, Lake Simcoe. As
there is no provision to be had at the place," Mr. Jones proceeds, "His
Excellency was pleased to say that I must return to Newark, and report
to the Surveyor General, and return with him in April next, when the
Executive will sit, and that my attendance would be wanted. Pleasant
weather, light winds from the west."
The entry on the following Monday is this: "The hands busy at repairing
(caulking) the boat to return to Burlington Bay, and thence to Newark;
light winds from south, a few clouds. Tuesday, 23rd, high winds from the
south-west hinder going on the Lake. Wednesday, 24th, high winds from
the south drove a great quantity of ice into the harbour; obliged me to
leave the boat and set out by land; went to the Etobicoke. Thursday,
25th, came along the Lake to the 16 mile creek; winds left from south,
thaw. Friday, 26th, came down to my house, Long Beach; calm, thaw," &c.
Then on Tuesday, the 1st of March, 1796, the entry is: "Came down to
12-mile creek; lame in my feet; high winds from N. W., frosty night.
Wednesday, 2nd, came down to Newark; some snow, calm, frosty weather.
Thursday, 3rd, busy entering some field notes; some snow, calm weather.
Friday, 4th, busy protracting Yonge Street; cold weather, high winds
from N. W." Finally, on Monday, 7th March (1796), we have the entry:
"Busy copying of Yonge Street; high winds from the north, cold, snow
fell last night about six inches."
Some romance attaches to the history of Mr. Augustus Jones. We have his
marriage mentioned in a _Gazette_ of 1798, in the following terms: "May
21, Married, at the Grand River, about three weeks since, A. Jones,
Esq., Deputy Surveyor, to a young lady of that place, daughter of the
noted Mohawk warrior, Terrihogah."--The famous Indian Wesleyan
missionary, Peter Jones, called in the Indian tongue
Kah-ke-wa-quo-na-by, Sacred Waving Feathers, was the issue of this
marriage.
Peter Jones, in his published autobiography, thus speaks: "I was born at
the heights of Burlington Bay, Canada West, on the first day of January,
1802. My father, Augustus Jones," he continues, "was of Welsh
extraction. His grandfather emigrated to America previous to the
American Revolution, and settled on the Hudson River, State of New York.
My father, having finished his studies as a land surveyor in the City of
New York, came with a recommendation from Mr. Colden, son of the
Governor of that State, to General Simcoe, Governor of Upper Canada, and
was immediately employed by him as the King's Deputy Provincial
Surveyor, in laying out town plots, townships and roads in different
parts of the Province. This necessarily brought him in contact with the
Indian tribes, and he learned their language and employed many of them
in his service. He became much interested in the Indian character--so
much so that he resolved to take a wife from amongst them. Accordingly,
he married my mother, Tuh-ben-ah-nee-quay, daughter of Wahbanosay, a
chief of the Mississaga tribe of the Ojibway nation. I had one brother,
older than myself, whose name was Tyenteneget (given to him by the
famous Captain Joseph Brant), but better known by the name of John
Jones. I had also three younger brothers and five sisters. My father
being fully engaged in his work, my elder brother and myself were left
entirely to the care and management of our mother, who, preferring the
customs and habits of her nation, taught us the superstitions of her
fathers--how to gain the approbation of the Munedoos (or gods,) and how
to become successful hunters. I used to blacken my face with charcoal,
and fast, in order to obtain the aid of personal gods or familiar
spirits, and likewise attended their pagan feasts and dances. For more
than fourteen years I lived and wandered about with the Indians in the
woods, during which time I witnessed the woful effects of the firewater
which had been introduced amongst us by the white people."
There is a discrepancy, it will be observed, between the _Gazette_ and
the autobiography, in regard to the name and tribe of the father of Mr.
Jones' Indian bride. The error, no doubt, is on the side of the
_Gazette_.
It is pleasant to find, in 1826, the now aged surveyor writing in the
following strain to his missionary son, in a letter accompanying the
gift of a horse, dated Coldsprings, Grand River: "Please to give our
true love to John and Christina," he says, "and all the rest of our
friends at the Credit. We expect to meet you and them at the camp
meeting. I think a good many of our Indians will come down at that time.
I send you Jack, and hope the Lord will preserve both you and your
beast. He is quiet and hardy: the only fault I know he stumbles
sometimes; and if you find he does not suit you as a riding horse, you
can change him for some other; but always tell your reasons. May the
Lord bless you! Pray for your unworthy father, Augustus Jones."
Augustus Jones was, as has been already seen, concerned in the very
earliest survey of York and the township attached. As we have at hand
the instructions issued for this survey, we give them. It will be
noticed that the Humber is therein spoken of as the Toronto River, and
that the early settler or trader St. John is named, from whom the Humber
was sometimes called St. John's River. The document likewise throws
light on the mode of laying out townships by concessions. On general
grounds, therefore, it will not be inappropriate in an account of the
early settlement of Yonge Street.
"Surveyor-General's Office, Province of Upper Canada, 26th January,
1793.--Description of the Township of York (formerly Toronto), to be
surveyed by Messrs. Aitken and Jones.--The front line of the front
concession commences adjoining the township of Scarborough, (on No. 10),
at a point known and marked by Mr. Jones, running S. 74° W. from said
front one chain, for a road; then five lots of twenty chains each, and
one chain for a road; then five lots more of twenty chains each, and one
chain for a road; and so on till the said line strikes the River
Toronto, whereon St. John is settled. The concessions are one hundred
chains deep, and one chain between each concession, to the extent of
twelve miles."
We subjoin a further early notice of Mr. Augustus Jones, which we
observe in a letter addressed to him by John Collins, Deputy
Surveyor-General, dated "Quebec, Surveyor-General's Office, January
23rd, 1792." Mr. Collins mentions that he has recommended Mr. Jones to
the notice of Governor Simcoe, who was at the time in Quebec, _en route_
for his new Province in the west.--"Colonel Simcoe, the Governor of your
Province," Mr. Collins says, "is now with us. I have taken the liberty
to recommend you to him in the manner I think you merit, and I cannot
doubt but that you will be continued in your salary."
Another early surveyor of note, connected with the primitive history of
Yonge Street, was John Stegmann, a German, who had been an officer in a
Hessian regiment. He was directed in 1801, by the Surveyor-General, D.
W. Smith, to examine and report upon the condition of Yonge Street. The
result was a document occupying many sheets. We will give some extracts
from it. They will furnish a view of the great thoroughfare which we are
beginning to perambulate, as it appeared a few years after Jones'
expedition. Though somewhat dryly imparted, the information will
probably not be without interest.
(The No. 1 referred to is the first lot after crossing the Third
Concession Road from the Lake Shore.) "Agreeable to your instructions,"
Mr. Stegmann says to Mr. Smith, "bearing date June the 10th, [1801], for
the examination of Yonge Street, I have the honor to report thereon as
follows: That from the town of York to the three mile post on the Poplar
Plains the road is cut, and that as yet the greater part of the said
distance is not passable for any carriage whatever, on account of logs
which lie in the street. From thence to Lot No. 1 on Yonge Street the
road is very difficult to pass, at any time, agreeable to the present
situation in which the said part of the street is. The situation of the
street from No. 1 to Lot 95 on Yonge Street will appear as per margin."
We have then a detail of his notes as to the condition of the road
opposite every lot all the way to the northern limit of the townships of
King and Whitchurch. Of No. 1 in the township of York, on the west side
of Yonge Street, it is reported that the "requisition of Government" is
"complied with, except a few logs in the street not burnt." Of Lot 1 on
the east side also, that it is complied with, except a "few logs not
burnt."--No. 2, west side, complied with; the street cut but not burnt.
East side, complied with; some logs in the street not burnt; and in some
places narrow. No. 3, west side, complied with, except a few logs not
burnt; east side, complied with; the clearing not fenced; no house; some
logs in the street not burnt. No. 5, west side, complied with; east
side, non-compliance. No. 8, west side, complied with; the street cut,
but not burnt. East side, complied with; the street cut, but logs not
burnt; here the street, it is noted, goes to the eastward of the line on
account of the hilly ground. No. 3, west side, complied with in the
clearing; the street bad and narrow. East side, non-compliance; street
bad and narrow, and to the east of the road. No. 16, west side, nothing
done to the road; about 5 acres cut; not fenced and no house thereon.
East side, complied with. No. 17, west side, complied with; the
underbrush in the street cut but not burnt.--East side, complied with,
except logs in the street not burnt. No. 18, west side, well complied
with. East side, well complied with. No. 25, west side, complied with.
East side, complied with;--nothing done to the street, and a
school-house erected in the centre of the street. This is the end of the
township of York.
Then on No. 33, west side, Vaughan, clearing is complied with; no house,
and nothing done to the street. East side, Markham, clearing is
complied with; south part of the street cut but not burnt; and north
part of the street nothing done. No. 37, Vaughan, clearing complied
with, but some large trees and some logs left in the street. Markham,
some trees and logs left in the streets; some acres cut, but not burnt;
no fence, and a small log house. No. 55, Vaughan, clearing complied
with; the street cut and logs not burnt. Markham, clearing complied
with; the street cut and logs not burnt; a very bad place for the road
and may be laid out better. No. 63, west side, King, non-compliance.
East side, Whitchurch, non-compliance; and similarly on to No. 88, on
which, in King, the clearing is complied with; not fenced; the street
good; in Whitchurch clearing is complied with, and nothing done to the
street. No. 93, King, four acres cut, and nothing done to the street.
Whitchurch, six acres clear land, and nothing done to the street. Here
King and Whitchurch and the Report end.
Mr. Stegmann then perorates thus: "Sir,--This was the real situation of
Yonge Street when examined by me; and I am sorry to be under the
necessity to add at the conclusion of this report, that the most ancient
inhabitants of Yonge Street have been the most neglectful in clearing
the street; and I have reason to believe that some trifle with the
requisition of Government in respect of clearing the street."
Mr. Berczy brought over his sixty-four families in 1794. The most
ancient inhabitants were thus of about seven years' standing. If we men
of the second generation regarded Yonge Street as a route difficult to
travel, what must the first immigrants from the Genesee country and
Pennsylvania have found it to be? They brought with them vehicles and
horses and families and some household stuff. "The body of their
waggons," we are told in an account of such new-comers in the
_Gazetteer_ of 1799, "is made of close boards, and the most clever have
the ingenuity to caulk the seams, and so by shifting off the body from
the carriage, it serves to transport the wheels and the family." Old
settlers round Newmarket used to narrate how in their first journey from
York to the Landing they lowered their waggons down the steeps by ropes
passed round the stems of saplings, and then hauled them up the ascent
on the opposite side in a similar way.
We meet with Mr. Stegmann, the author of the above quoted report, in
numerous documents relating to surveys and other professional business
done for the Surveyor-General. His clear, bold handwriting is always
recognizable. His mode of expressing himself is vigorous and to the
point, but slightly affected by his imperfect mastery of the English
language. He gives the following account of himself in his first
application to the Surveyor-General, asking for employment. "My name is
John Stegmann," he says, "late lieutenant in the Hessian Regiment of
Lossberg, commanded by Major-General de Loos, and served during the
whole war in America till the reduction took place in the month of
August, 1783, and by the favour and indulgence of His Excellency, Lord
Dorchester, I obtained land in this new settlement and township of
Osnabruck, and an appointment as Surveyor in the Province; I have a wife
and small family to provide for."--Descendants of his are still to be
found in the neighbourhood of Pine Grove in Vaughan. Their name is now
Anglicised by the omission of one of the final _n_'s. The rivulet at the
Blue Hill was spoken of, in 1799, as "Castle Frank Creek." It is the
stream which runs through the Castle Frank lot. Mr. Stegmann was
concerned in the building of the first bridge at this point. We have a
letter of his to the Acting Surveyor-General, D. W. Smith, referring to
timber, which he has provided for the structure. In the same he also
takes occasion to mention that the fatigue party of soldiers who were
assisting Mr. Jones in the opening of Yonge Street, had as yet received
no compensation.
He says: "Sir,--You were pleased to order me to inform you what time I
should want a team for to get the timber for the bridge at Castle Frank
Creek, for which I am ready, whenever you please to send the same." He
then adds: "The party of Rangers now on this road begged of me to inform
you that they have not received any pay for the work since they have
been out with Mr. Jones." This note is dated, "Castle Frank Creek, Feb.
27, 1799." On the 4th of the following March, he dates a note to Mr. D.
W. Smith in the same way, "Castle Frank Creek," and asks to have a
"bush-sextant" supplied to him. He says: "Sir,--I beg you will have the
goodness to send me by the bearer a Bush-sextant, and am, sir, your most
obedient and very humble servant, John Stegmann, Deputy-Surveyor."
(According to some, the Blue Hill had its name from the circumstance
that the bridge at its foot was painted blue).
The names of other early surveyors may be learned from the following
notice, taken from a _Gazette_: "Surveyor-General's Office, York, 25th
April, 1805. That it may be known who are authorized to survey lands on
the part of the Crown within this Province, the following list is
communicated to the public of such persons as are duly licensed for that
purpose, to be surveyors therein, viz., William Chewett, York; Thomas
Smith, Sandwich; Abraham Iredell, Thomas Welch, Augustus Jones, William
Fortune, Lewis Grant, Richard Cockrell, Henry Smith, John Rider, Aaron
Greeley, Thomas Fraser, Reuben Sherwood, Joseph Fortune, Solomon
Stevens, Samuel S. Wilmot, Samuel Ryckman, Mahlon Burwell, Adrian
Marlet, Samuel Ridout, George Lawe. (Signed), C. B. Wyatt,
Surveyor-General."
Of Mr. Berczy, above spoken of, we shall soon have to give further
particulars. We must now push on.
Just beyond the Blue Hill ravine, on the west side, stood for a long
while a lonely unfinished frame building, with gable towards the street,
and windows boarded up. The inquiring stage-passenger would be told,
good-humouredly, by the driver, that it was Rowland Burr's Folly. It
was, we believe, to have been a Carding or Fulling Mill, worked by
peculiar machinery driven by the stream in the valley below; but either
the impracticability of this from the position of the building, or the
as yet insignificant quantity of wool produced in the country made the
enterprise abortive.
Mr. Burr was an emigrant to these parts from Pennsylvania in 1803, and
from early manhood was strongly marked by many of the traits which are
held to be characteristic of the speculative and energetic American.
Unfortunately in some respects for himself, he was in advance of his
neighbours in a clear perception of the capabilities of things as seen
in the rough, and in a strong desire to initiate works of public
utility, broaching schemes occasionally beyond the natural powers of a
community in its veriest infancy. A canal to connect Lake Ontario with
the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, _via_ Lake Simcoe and the valley of the
Humber, was pressed by him as an immediate necessity, years ago; and at
his own expense he minutely examined the route and published thereon a
report which has furnished to later theorizers on the same subject much
valuable information.
Mr. Burr was a born engineer and mechanician, and at a more auspicious
time, with proper opportunities for training and culture, he would
probably have become famed as a local George Stephenson. He built on
his own account, or for others, a number of mills and factories,
providing and getting into working order the complicated mechanism
required for each; and this at a time when such undertakings were not
easy to accomplish, from the unimproved condition of the country and the
few facilities that existed for importing and transporting inland, heavy
machinery. The mills and factories at Burwick in Vaughan originated with
him, and from him that place takes its name.
The early tramway on Yonge Street of which we have already spoken was
suggested by Mr. Burr; and when the cutting down of the Blue Hill was
decided on, he undertook and effected the work.
It is now some forty years since the peculiar clay of the Blue Hill
began to be turned to useful account. In or near the brick-fields, which
at the present time are still to be seen on the left, Messrs. James and
William Townsley burnt kilns of white brick, a manufacture afterwards
carried on here by Mr. Nightingale, a family connection of the Messrs.
Townsley. Mr. Worthington also for a time engaged on the same spot in
the manufacture of pressed brick and drain tiles. The Rossin House
Hotel, in Toronto, and the Yorkville Town Hall were built of pressed
brick made here.
Chestnut Park, which we pass on the right, the residence now of Mr.
McPherson, is a comparatively modern erection, put up by Mr. Mathers, an
early merchant of York, who, before building here, lived on Queen
Street, near the Meadows, the residence of Mr. J. Hillyard Cameron.
Oaklands, Mr. John McDonald's residence, of which a short distance back
we obtained a passing glimpse far to the west, and Rathnally, Mr.
McMaster's palatial abode, beyond, are both modern structures, put up by
their respective occupants. Woodlawn, still on the left, the present
residence of Mr. Justice Morrison, was previously the home of Mr.
Chancellor Blake, and was built by him.
Summer Hill, seen on the high land far to the right, and commanding a
noble view of the wide plain below, including Toronto with its spires
and the lake view along the horizon, was originally built by Mr. Charles
Thomson, whose name is associated with the former travel and postal
service of the whole length of Yonge Street and the Upper Lakes. In Mr.
Thompson's time, however, Summer Hill was by no means the extensive and
handsome place into which it has developed since becoming the property
and the abode of Mr. Larratt Smith.
The primitive waggon track of Yonge Street ascended the hill at which we
now arrive, a little to the west of the present line of road. It passed
up through a narrow excavated notch. Across this depression or trench a
forest tree fell without being broken, and there long remained. Teams,
in their way to and from town, had to pass underneath it like captured
armies of old under the yoke. To some among the country folk it
suggested the beam of the gallows-tree. Hence sprang an ill-omened name
long attached to this particular spot.
Near here, at the top of the hill, were formerly to be seen, as we have
understood, the remains of a rude windlass or capstan, used in the
hauling up of the North-West Company's boats at this point of the long
portage from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron.
So early as 1799 we have it announced that the North-West Company
intended to make use of this route. In the Niagara _Constellation_, of
August, 3, 1799, we read: "We are informed on good authority that the
North-West Company have it seriously in contemplation to establish a
communication with the Upper Lakes by way of York, through Yonge Street
to Lake Simcoe, a distance of about 33 miles only." The _Constellation_
embraces the occasion to say also, "That the government has actually
begun to open that street for several miles, which example will
undoubtedly be no small inducement to persons who possess property on
that street and its vicinity to exert themselves in opening and
completing what may be justly considered one of the primary objects of
attention in a new country, a good road."
The _Gazette_ of March 9, in this year (1799) had contained an
announcement that "The North-West Company has given twelve thousand
pounds towards making Yonge Street a good road, and that the North-West
commerce will be communicated through this place (York): an event which
must inevitably benefit this country materially, as it will not only
tend to augment the population, but will also enhance the present value
of landed property."
Bouchette, writing in 1815, speaks of improvements on Yonge Street, "of
late effected by the North-West Company." "This route," he says in his
Topographical description, "being of much more importance, has of late
been greatly improved by the North-West Company for the double purpose
of shortening the distance to the Upper Lakes, and avoiding any contact
with the American frontiers."
As stated already in another connection, we have conversed with those
who had seen the cavalcade of the North-West Company's boats, mounted on
wheels, on their way up Yonge Street. It used to be supposed by some
that the tree across the notch through which the road passed had been
purposely felled in that position as a part of the apparatus for helping
the boats up the hill.
The table-land now attained was long known as the Poplar Plains.
Stegmann uses the expression in his Report. A pretty rural by-road that
ascends this same rise near Rathnally, Mr. McMaster's house, is still
known as the Poplar Plains road.
A house, rather noticeable, to the left but lying slightly back, and
somewhat obscured by fine ornamental trees that overshadow it, was the
home for many years of Mr. J. S. Howard, sometime Postmaster of York,
and afterwards Treasurer of the counties of York and Peel: an estimable
man, and an active promoter of all local works of benevolence. He died
in Toronto in 1866, aged 68.
This house used to be known as Olive Grove; and was originally built by
Mr. Campbell, proprietor and manager of the Ontario House Hotel, in
York, once before referred to; eminent in the Masonic body, and father
of Mr. Stedman Campbell, a local barrister of note, who died early.
Mashquoteh to the left, situated a short distance in, on the north side
of the road which enters Yonge Street here, is a colony transplanted
from the neighbouring Spadina, being the home of Mr. W. Warren Baldwin,
son of Dr. W. W. Baldwin, the builder of Spadina. "Mashquoteh" is the
Ochipway for "meadow." We hear the same sounds in Longfellow's
"Mushkoda-sa," which is, by interpretation, "prairie-fowl."
Deer Park, to the north of the road that enters here, but skirting Yonge
Street as well, had that name given it when the property of Mrs. Heath,
widow of Col. Heath of the H. E. I. Company's Service. On a part of this
property was the house built by Colonel Carthew, once before referred
to, and now the abode of Mr. Fisken. Colonel Carthew, a half-pay officer
of Cornish origin, also made large improvements on property in the
vicinity of Newmarket.
Just after Deer Park, to avoid a long ravine which lay in the line of
the direct route northward, the road swerved to the left and then
descended, passing over an embankment, which was the dam of an adjacent
sawmill, a fine view of the interior of which, with the saw usually in
active motion, was obtained by the traveller as he fared on. This was
Michael Whitmore's sawmill.
Of late years the apex of the long triangle of Noman's land that for a
great while lay desolate between the original and subsequent lines of
Yonge Street, has been happily utilized by the erection thereon of a
Church, Christ Church, an object well seen in the ascent and descent of
the street. Anciently, very near the site of Christ Church, a solitary
longish wooden building, fronting southward, was conspicuous; the abode
of Mr. Hudson, a provincial land surveyor of mark. Looking back
southward from near the front of this house, a fine distant glimpse of
the waters of Lake Ontario used to be obtained, closing the vista made
in the forest by Yonge Street.
Before reaching Whitmore's sawmill, while passing along the brow of the
hill overlooking the ravine, which was avoided by the street as it ran
in the first instance, there was to be seen at a little distance to the
right, on some rough undulating ground, a house which always attracted
the eye by its affectation of "Gothic" in the outline of its windows. On
the side towards the public road it showed several obtuse-headed lancet
lights. This peculiarity gave the building, otherwise ordinary enough, a
slightly romantic air; it had the effect, in fact, at a later period, of
creating for this habitation, when standing for a considerable while
tenantless, the reputation of being haunted.
This house and the surrounding grounds constituted Springfield Park, the
original Upper Canadian home of Mr. John Mills Jackson, an English
gentleman, formerly of Downton in Wiltshire, who emigrated hither prior
to 1806; but finding public affairs managed in a way which he deemed not
satisfactory, he returned to England, where he published a pamphlet
addressed to the King, Lords and Commons of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, entitled, "A View of the Political Situation of the
Province," a brochure that made a stir in Upper Canada, if not in
England, the local House of Assembly voting it a libel.
Our Upper Canadian Parliament partially acquired the habit of decreeing
reflections on the local government to be libels. Society in its infancy
is apt to resent criticism, even when legitimate. Witness the United
States and Mrs. Trollope. At the same time critics of infant society
should be themselves sufficiently large-minded not to expect in infant
society the perfection of society well developed, and to word their
strictures accordingly.
In the preface to his pamphlet, which is a well-written production, Mr.
Jackson gives the following account of his first connection with Canada
and his early experience there:--"Having by right of inheritance," he
says, "a claim to a large and very valuable tract of land in the
Province of Quebec, I was induced to visit Lower Canada for the purpose
of investigating my title; and being desirous to view the immense lakes
and falls in Upper Canada, where I had purchased some lands previous to
my leaving England, I extended my travels to that country, with which I
was so much pleased, that I resolved to settle on one of my estates, and
expended a considerable sum on its improvement (the allusion is probably
to Springfield Park); but considering neither my person nor property
secure under the system pursued there, I have been obliged to relinquish
the hope of its enjoyment."
The concluding sentences of his appeal will give an idea of the burden
of his complaint. To his mind the colony was being governed exactly in
the way that leads finally to revolt in colonies. The principles of the
constitution guaranteed by the mother country were violated. One of his
grievances was--not that a seventh of the public land had been set apart
for an established Church, but--that "in seventeen years not one acre
had been turned to any beneficial account; not a clergyman, except such
as England pays or the Missionary Society sends (only five in number),
without glebe, perquisite or parsonage house; and still fewer churches
than ministers of the established religion."
He concludes thus: "I call upon you to examine the Journals of the House
of Assembly and Legislative Council; to look at the distribution and use
made of the Crown Lands; the despatches from the Lieutenant-Governor
[Gore]; the memorials from the Provincial Secretary, Receiver-General
and Surveyor-General; the remonstrances of the Six Nations of Indians;
and the letters from Mr. Thorpe [Judge Thorpe], myself and others, on
the state of the Colony, either to the Lords of the Treasury or to the
Secretary of State. Summon and examine all the evidence that can be
procured here (England), and, if more should appear necessary, send a
commission to ascertain the real state of the Province. Then you will be
confirmed in the truth of every representation I have made, and much
more which, for the safety of individuals, I am constrained to
withhold. Then you will be enabled to relieve England from a great
burden, render the Colony truly valuable to the mother country, and save
one of the most luxuriant ramifications of the Empire. You will perform
the promise of the crown; you will establish the law and liberty
directed by the (British) Parliament; and diffuse the Gospel of Christ
to the utmost extremity of the West. You will do that which is
honourable to the nation, beneficial to the most deserving subjects, and
lovely in the sight of God."
This pamphlet is of interest as an early link (its date is 1809) in the
catena of protests on the subject of Canadian affairs, from Whiggish and
other quarters, culminating at last in Lord Durham's Report.
Nevertheless, what the old French trader said of Africa--"Toujours en
maudissant ce vilain pays, on y reviens toujours"--proved true in
respect to Canada in the case of Mr. Jackson, as in the case likewise of
several other severe critics of Canadian public affairs in later times.
He returned and dwelt in the land after all, settling with his family on
Lake Simcoe, where Jackson's Point and Jackson's Landing retain his
name, and where descendants of his still remain.
Mr. Jackson had possessions likewise in the West Indies, and made
frequent visits thither, as also to England, where at length he died in
1836. Up to about that date, we observe his name in the Commission of
the Peace.
In the _Loyalist_ of May 24, 1828, a Biblical work by Mr. Jackson is
advertised for sale at York. Thus runs the notice:--"Just received from
England, and for sale at the book stores of Messrs. Meighan and Lesslie
& Sons, York, a few volumes of 'The History from the Creation of the
World to the death of Joshua, authenticated from the best authorities,
with Notes, Critical, Philosophical, Moral and Explanatory: by John
Mills Jackson, Esq., formerly Gentleman Commoner of Ball. Coll. in the
University of Oxford.'" (Then follow laudatory notices of the work from
private sources.)
Fifty years ago, in Canada, English families, whose habits and ideas
were more in harmony with Bond Street than with the backwoods, had, in
becoming morally acclimatised to the country, a tremendous ordeal to
pass through: how they contrived to endure the pains and perils of the
process is now matter of wonder.
One of Mr. Jackson's sons, Clifton, is locally remembered as an early
example in these parts of the exquisite of the period--the era of the
Prince Regent and Lord Byron. By extra-sacrificing to the Graces, at a
time when _articles de cosmetique et de luxe_ generally were scarce and
costly in Canada, he got himself into trouble.--In 1822 he had occasion
to make his escape from "durance vile" in York, by opening a passage,
one quiet Sunday morning, through the roof of the old jail. He was
speedily pursued by Mr. Parker, the warden, and an associate, Mr.
Garsides; overtaken at Albany, in the State of New York; apprehended
under a feigned charge; and brought back to York. Among the inhabitants
of some of the villages between Albany and Youngstown, a suspicion arose
that a case of kidnapping was in progress, and Messrs. Parker and
Garsides were exposed to risk of personal violence before they could
reach the western bank of the Niagara river, with their prey. By a happy
turn of affairs, a few years later, Mr. Clifton Jackson obtained a
situation in the Home Colonial Office, with a good salary.
To distinguish Mr. Mills Jackson from another proprietor on Yonge
Street, also called Jackson, the alliterative epithet, "Jacobin," was
sometimes applied to him, in jocose allusion to his political
principles, held by the official party to be revolutionary. In regard to
the other Jackson, some such epithet as "Jacobin" would not have been
inapplicable. On the invasion of Canada in 1812 by the United States, he
openly avowed his sympathy with the invaders, and was obliged to fly the
country. He was known and distinguished as "Hatter Jackson," from the
business which he once followed. After the war he returned, and
endeavoured, but in vain, to recover possession of the land on Yonge
Street which he had temporarily occupied.
In the _Gazette_ of Nov. 11, 1807, we have Mr. Jackson's advertisement.
Almost anticipating the modern "Hats that are Hats," it is headed
"Warranted Hats," and then proceeds: "The subscriber, having established
a hat manufactory in the vicinity of York on a respectable scale,
solicits the patronage and support of the public. All orders will be
punctually attended to, and a general assortment of warranted hats be
continually kept at the store of Mr. Thomas Hamilton, in York. Samuel
Jackson. Yonge Street, Nov. 10, 1807."
An earlier owner of the lot, at which we are now pausing, was Stillwell
Wilson. In 1799, at the annual York Township meeting, held on the 4th
March in that year at York, we find Stillwell Wilson elected one of the
Overseers of Highways and Fence-viewers for the portion of Yonge Street
from lot 26 to lot 40, in Markham and Vaughan. At the same meeting, Paul
Wilcot is elected to the same office, "from Big Creek to No. 25,
inclusive, and half Big Creek Bridge; and Daniel Dehart, from Big Creek
to No. 1, inclusive, and half Big Creek Bridge." "The Big Creek"
referred to was, as we suppose, the Don at Hogg's Hollow.
In 1821, Stillwell Wilson is landlord of the Waterloo House, in York,
and is offering to let that stand; also to let or sell other valuable
properties. In the _Gazette_ of March 25, 1820, we have his
advertisement:--"For sale or to let, four improved farms on Yonge
Street, composed of lots Nos. 20 and 30 on the west side, and 15 and 20
on the east side of the street, in the townships of York and Vaughan.
These lands are so well known that they require no further encomiums
than the virtues they possess. For title of which please apply to the
subscriber at Waterloo House, York, the proprietor of said lands. P.
S.--The noted stand known by the name of the Waterloo House, which the
subscriber at present possesses, is also offered to be let on easy
terms; as also an excellent Sawmill, in the third concession of the
township of York, east of Yonge Street, only ten miles from town, on the
west branch of the river Don. Stillwell Wilson."
In 1828, for moneys due apparently to Jairus Ashley, some of Stillwell's
property has been seized. Under the editorial head of the _Loyalist_ of
December 27th of that year, we find the following item:--"Sheriff's
Sale.--At the Court House, in the Town of York, on Saturday, 31st
January next, will be sold, Lot No. 30, in the first Concession of the
Township of Vaughan, taken in execution as belonging to Stillwell
Wilson, at the suit of Jairus Ashley. Sale to commence at 12 o'clock
noon."
In our chapter on the Early Marine of York, we shall meet with Stillwell
Wilson again. We shall then find him in command of a slip-keel schooner
plying on the Lake between York and Niagara. The present owner of his
lot, which, as we have seen, was also once Mr. Jackson's--Mr. Jacobin
Jackson's, is Mr. Cawthra. (Note the tendency to distinguish between
individuals bearing the name of Jackson by an epithet prefixed. A
professional pugilist patronized by Lord Byron was commonly spoken of as
"Gentleman Jackson.")
As we reach again the higher land, after crossing the dam of Whitmore's
mill, and returning into the more direct line of the street, some rude
pottery works met the eye. Here in the midst of woods, the passer-by
usually saw on one side of the road, a one horse clay-grinding machine,
laboriously in operation; and on the other, displayed in the open air on
boards supported by wooden pins driven into the great logs composing the
wall of the low windowless building, numerous articles of coarse brown
ware, partially glazed, pans, crocks, jars, jugs, demijohns, and so
forth; all which primitive products of the plastic art were ever
pleasant to contemplate. These works were carried on by Mr. John
Walmsley.
A tract of rough country was now reached, difficult to clear and
difficult to traverse with a vehicle. Here a genuine corduroy causeway
was encountered, a long series of small saw-logs laid side by side, over
which wheels jolted deliberately. In the wet season, portions of it,
being afloat, would undulate under the weight of a passing load; and
occasionally a horse's leg would be entrapped, and possibly snapped
short by the sudden yielding or revolution of one of the cylinders
below.
We happen to have a very vivid recollection of the scene presented along
this particular section of Yonge Street, when the woods, heavy pine
chiefly, after having been felled in a most confused manner, were being
consumed by fire, or rather while the effort was being made to consume
them. The whole space from near Mr. Walmsley's potteries to the rise
beyond which Eglinton is situated, was, and continued long, a chaos of
blackened timber, most dismaying to behold.
To the right of this tract was one of the Church glebes so curiously
reserved in every township in the original laying out of Upper
Canada--one lot of two hundred acres in every seven of the same area--in
accordance with a public policy which at the present time seems
sufficiently Utopian. Of the arrangement alluded to, now broken up, but
expected when the Quebec Act passed in 1780 to be permanent, a relic
remained down to a late date in the shape of a wayside inn, on the right
near here, styled on its sign the "Glebe Inn"--a title and sign
reminding one of the "Church Stiles" and "Church Gates" not uncommon as
village ale-house designations in some parts of England.
Hitherto the general direction of Yonge Street has been north, sixteen
degrees west. At the point where it passes the road marking the northern
limit of the third concession from the bay, it swerves seven degrees to
the eastward. In the first survey of this region there occurred here a
jog or fault in the lines. The portion of the street proposed to be
opened north failed, by a few rods, to connect in a continuous right
line with the portion of it that led southward into York. The
irregularity was afterwards corrected by slicing off a long narrow
angular piece from three lots on the east side, and adding the like
quantity of land to the opposite lot--it happening just here that the
lots on the east side lie east and west, while those on the west side
lie north and south. After the third concession, the lots along the
street lie uniformly east and west.
With young persons in general perhaps, at York in the olden time, who
ever gave the cardinal points a thought, the notion prevailed that Yonge
Street was "north." We well remember our own slight perplexity when we
first distinctly took notice that the polar star, the dipper, and the
focus usually of the northern lights, all seemed to be east of Yonge
Street. That an impression existed in the popular mind at a late period
to the effect that Yonge Street was north, was shown when the pointers
indicating east, west, north and south came to be affixed to the apex of
a spire on Gould Street. On that occasion several compasses had to be
successively taken up and tried before the workmen could be convinced
that "north" was so far "east" as the needle of each instrument would
persist in asserting.
The first possessor of the lot on the west side, slightly augmented in
the manner just spoken of, was the Baron de Hoen, an officer in one of
the German regiments disbanded after the United States Revolutionary
War. His name is also inscribed in the early maps on the adjacent lot to
the north, known as No. 1 in the township of York, west side.
At the time of the capture of York in 1813, Baron de Hoen's house, on
lot No. 1, proved a temporary refuge to some ladies and others, as we
learn from a manuscript narrative taken down from the lips of the late
venerable Mrs. Breakenridge by her daughter, Mrs. Murney. That record
well recalls the period and the scene. "The ladies settled to go out to
Baron de Hoen's farm," the narrative says. "He was a great friend," it
then explains, "of the Baldwin family, whose real name was Von Hoen; and
he had come out about the same time as Mr. St. George, and had been in
the British army. He had at this time a farm about four miles up Yonge
Street, and on a lot called No. 1. Yonge Street was then a corduroy road
immediately after leaving King Street, and passing through a dense
forest. Miss Russell, (sister of the late President Russell) loaded her
phaeton with all sorts of necessaries, so that the whole party had to
walk. My poor old grandfather (Mr. Baldwin, the father of Mrs.
Breakenridge) by long persuasion at length consented to give up
fighting, and accompany the ladies. Aunt Baldwin (Mrs. Dr. Baldwin) and
her four sons, Major Fuller, who was an invalid under Dr. Baldwin's
care, Miss Russell, Miss Willcox, and the whole cavalcade sallied forth:
the youngest boy St. George, a mere baby, my mother (Mrs. Breakenridge)
carried on her back nearly the whole way.
"When they had reached about half way out," the narrative proceeds,
"they heard a most frightful concussion, and all sat down on logs and
stumps, frightened terribly. They learned afterwards that this terrific
sound was occasioned by the blowing up of the magazine of York garrison,
when five hundred Americans were killed, and at which time my uncle, Dr.
Baldwin, was dressing a soldier's wounds; he was conscious of a strange
sensation: it was too great to be called a sound, and he found a shower
of stones falling all around him, but he was quite unhurt. The family at
length reached Baron de Hoen's log house, consisting of two rooms, one
above and one below. After three days Miss Russell and my mother walked
into town, just in time to prevent Miss Russell's house from being
ransacked by the soldiers.
"All now returned to their homes and occupations," the narrative goes on
to say, "except Dr. Baldwin, who continued dressing wounds and acting as
surgeon, until the arrival of Dr. Hackett, the surgeon of the 8th
Regiment. Dr. Baldwin said it was most touching to see the joy of the
poor wounded fellows when told that their own doctor was coming back to
them." It is then added: "My mother (Mrs. Breakenridge) saw the poor 8th
Grenadiers come into town on the Saturday, and in church on Sunday, with
the handsome Captain McNeil at their head, and the next day they were
cut to pieces to a man. My father (Mr. Breakenridge) was a student at
law with Dr. Baldwin, who had been practising law after giving up
medicine as a profession, and had been in his office about three months,
when he went off like all the rest to the battle of York."
The narrative then gives the further particulars: "The Baldwin family
all lived with Miss Russell after this, as she did not like being left
alone. When the Americans made their second attack about a month after
the first, the gentlemen all concealed themselves, fearing to be taken
prisoners like those at Niagara. The ladies received the American
officers: some of these were very agreeable men, and were entertained
hospitably; two of them were at Miss Russell's; one of them was a Mr.
Brookes, brother-in-law of Archdeacon Stuart, then of York, afterwards
of Kingston. General Sheaffe had gone off some time before, taking every
surgeon with him. On this account Dr. Baldwin was forced, out of
humanity, to work at his old profession again, and take care of the
wounded."
Lot No. 1 was afterwards the property of an English gentleman, Mr.
Harvey Price, a member of our Provincial Government, as Commissioner of
Crown Lands, whose conspicuous residence, castellated in character, and
approached by a broad avenue of trees, was a little further on. In 1820,
No. 1 was being offered for sale in the following terms, in the
_Gazette_ of March 25th: "That well known farm No. 1, west side of Yonge
Street, belonging to Captain de Hoen, about four or five miles from
York, 210 acres. The land is of excellent quality, well-wooded, with
about forty acres cleared, a never failing spring of excellent water,
barn and farm house. Application to be made to the subscriber at
York.--W. W. Baldwin."
Baron de Hoen was second to Mr. Attorney-General White, killed in the
duel with Mr. Small in 1800 (January 3rd). In the contemporary account
of that incident in the Niagara _Constellation_, the name is
phonetically spelt _De Hayne_. In the above quoted MS. the name appears
as de Haine.
In our progress northward we now traverse ground which, as having been
the scene of a skirmish and some bloodshed during the troubles of 1837,
has become locally historic. The events alluded to have been described
from different points of view at sufficient length in books within reach
of every one. We throw over them here the mantle of charity, simply
glancing at them and passing on.
Upper Canada, in miniature and in the space of half a century, curiously
passed through conditions and processes, physical and social, which old
countries on a large scale, and in the course of long ages, passed
through. Upper Canada had, in little, its primæval and barbaric but
heroic era, its mediæval and high-prerogative era, and then, after a
revolutionary period of a few weeks, its modern, defeudalized,
democratic era. Without doubt the introduction here in 1792 of an "exact
transcript" of the contemporary constitution of the mother country, as
was the boast at the time, involved the introduction here also of some
of the spirit which animated the official administrators of that
constitution in the mother country itself at the period--the time of the
Third George.
We certainly find from an early date, as we have already seen, a
succession of intelligent, observant men, either casual visitors to the
country, or else intending settlers, and actual settlers, openly
expressing dissatisfaction at some of the things which they noted,
experienced or learned, in respect of the management of Canadian public
affairs. These persons for the most part were themselves perhaps only
recently become alive to the changes which were inevitable in the
governmental principles of the mother country; and so were peculiarly
sensitive, and even, it may be, petulant in regard to such matters. But,
however well-meaning and advanced in political wisdom they may have
been, they nevertheless, as we have before intimated, exhibited
narrowness of view themselves, and some ignorance of mankind, in
expecting to find in a remote colonial out-station of the empire a state
of things better than that which at the moment existed at the heart of
the empire; and in imagining that strictures on their part, especially
when acrimonious, would, under the circumstances, be amiably and
submissively received by the local authorities.
The early rulers of Canada, Upper and Lower, along with the members of
their little courts, were not to be lightly censured.--They were but
copying the example of their royal Chief and his circle at Kew, Windsor,
or St. James'. Of the Third George Thackeray says: "He did his best; he
worked according to his lights; what virtue he knew he tried to
practice; what knowledge he could master he strove to acquire." And so
did they. The same fixity of idea in regard to the inherent dignity and
power of the Crown that characterized him characterized them, together
with a like sterling uprightness which commanded respect even when a
line of action was adopted that seemed to tend, and did in reality tend,
to a popular outbreak.
All men, however, now acquiesce in the final issue. The social turmoil
which for a series of years agitated Canada, from whatever cause
arising; the explosion which at length took place, by whatever
instrumentality brought on, cleared the political atmosphere of the
country, and hastened the good time of general contentment and
prosperity which Canadians of the present day are enjoying.--After all,
the explosion was not a very tremendous one. Both sides, after the
event, have been tempted to exaggerate the circumstances of it a little,
for effect.
The recollections which come back to us as we proceed on our way, are
for the most part of a date anterior to those associated with 1837;
although some of the latter date will of course occasionally recur.
The great conspicuous way-side inn, usually called Montgomery's was, at
the time of its destruction by the Government forces in 1837, in the
occupation of a landlord named Lingfoot. The house of Montgomery, from
whom the inn took its name, he having been a former occupant, was on a
farm owned by himself, beautifully situated on rising ground to the
left, subsequently the property and place of abode of Mr. James Lesslie,
of whom already.
Mr. Montgomery had once had a hotel in York, named "The Bird in Hand,"
on Yonge Street, a little to the north of Elliott's. We have this inn
named in an advertisement to be seen in the _Canadian Freeman_ of April
17, 1828, having reference to the "Farmer's Store Company." "A general
meeting of the Farmer's Storehouse Company," says the advertisement,
"will be held on the 22nd of March next, at 10 o'clock, a.m., at John
Montgomery's tavern, on Yonge Street, 'The Bird in Hand.'--The farmers
are hereby also informed that the storehouse is properly repaired for
the accommodation of storage, and that every possible attention shall be
paid to those who shall store produce therein. John Goessmann, clerk."
The Farmer's Store was at the foot of Nelson Street. Mr. Goessmann was a
well-known Deputy Provincial Surveyor, of Hanoverian origin. In an
address published in the _Weekly Register_ of July 15, 1824, on the
occasion of his retiring from a contest for a seat in the House as
representative for the counties of York and Simcoe, Mr. Goessmann
alluded as follows to his nationality: "I may properly say," he
observed, "that I was a born British subject before a great number of
you did even draw breath; and have certainly borne more oppressions
during the late French war than any child of this country, that never
peeped beyond the boundary even of this continent, where only a small
twig of that all-crushing war struck. Our sovereign has not always been
powerful enough to defend all his dominions. We, the Hanoverians, have
been left the greater part during that contest, to our own fate; we have
been crushed to yield our privileges to the subjection of Bonaparte, his
greatest antagonist," &c.
Eglinton, through which, at the present day, Yonge Street passes
hereabout, is a curious stray memorial of the Tournament in Ayrshire,
which made a noise in 1839. The passages of arms on the farther side of
the Atlantic that occasionally suggest names for Canadian villages, are
not always of so peaceful a character as that in the Earl of Eglinton's
grounds in 1839; although it is a matter of some interest now to
remember that even in that a Louis Napoleon figured, who at a later
period was engaged in jousts of a rather serious kind, promoted by
himself.
About Eglinton the name of Snider is notable as that of a United Empire
Loyalist family seated here, of German descent. Mr. Martin Snider,
father of Jacob and Elias Snider and other brothers and sisters,
emigrated hither at an early period from Nova Scotia, where he first
took up his abode for a time after the revolution.--Among the names of
those who volunteered to accompany General Brock to Detroit in 1813, we
observe that of Mr. Jacob Snider. In later years, a member of the same
family is sheriff for the County of Grey, and repeatedly a
representative in Parliament of the same county.
The Anglicised form of the German name Schneider, like the Anglicised
form of a number of other non-English names occurring among us,
illustrates and represents the working of our Canadian social system;
the practical effect of our institutions, educational and municipal. Our
mingled population, when permitted to develop itself fairly; when not
crushed, or sought to be crushed into narrow alien moulds invented by
non-Teutonic men in the pre-printing-press, feudal era, becomes
gradually--if not English--at all events Anglo-Canadian, a people of a
distinct type on this continent, acknowledged by the grand old mother of
nations,--Alma Britannia herself, as eminently of kin.
We have specially in mind a group from the neighbourhood of Eglinton,
genuine sons of our composite Canadian people, Sniders, Mitchells,
Jackeses, who, now some years ago, were to be seen twice every day at
all seasons, traversing the distance between Eglinton and Toronto,
rising early and late taking rest, in order to be punctually present
at, and carefully ready for, class-room or lecture room in town; and
this process persevered in for the lengthened period required for a
succession of curriculums; with results finally, in a conspicuous degree
illustrative of the blending, Anglicising power of our institutions when
cordially and loyally used. Similar happy effects springing from similar
causes have we seen, in numerous other instances and batches of
instances, among the youth of our Western Canada, drawn from widely
severed portions of the country.
Beyond Eglinton, in the descent to a rough irregular ravine, the home of
Mr. Jonathan Hale was passed on the east side of the street; one of the
Hales, who, as we have seen, were forward to undertake works of public
utility at a time when appliances for the execution of such works were
few. Mr. Hale's lot became afterwards a part of the estate of Jesse
Ketchum of whom we have spoken.
In 1808, the _Gazette_ (October 22) informs us, the sheriff, Miles
Macdonell, is about to sell "at Barrett's Inn, in the Town of York," the
goods and chattels of Henry Hale, at the suit of Elijah Ketchum.
Likewise, at the same time, the goods and chattels of Stillwell Wilson,
at the suit of James McCormack and others.
On the west side, opposite Mr. Ketchum's land, was a farm that had been
modernized and beautified by two families in succession, who migrated
hither from the West Indies, the Murrays and the Nantons. In particular,
a long avenue of evergreen trees, planted by them and leading up to the
house, was noticeable. While these families were the owners and
occupants of this property, it was named by them Pilgrims' Farm.
Subsequently Pilgrims' Farm passed into the hands of Mr. James Beaty,
one of the representatives of Toronto in the House of Commons in Canada,
who made it an occasional summer retreat, and called it Glen Grove.
It had been at one period known as the MacDougall farm, Mr. John
MacDougall, of York, having been its owner from 1801 to 1820. Mr.
MacDougall was the proprietor of the principal hotel of York. Among the
names of those elected to various local offices at the annual
Town-meeting held in 1799 at "the city of York," as the report in the
_Gazette and Oracle_ ambitiously speaks, that of Mr. MacDougall appears
under the head of "Overseers of Highways and Roads and Fence-viewers."
He and Mr. Clark were elected to act in this capacity for "the district
of the city of York." That they did good service we learn from the
applause which attended their labours. The leading editorial of the
_Gazette and Oracle_ of June 29, 1799, thus opens: "The public are much
indebted to Mr. John MacDougall, who was appointed one of the
pathmasters at the last Town-meeting, for his great assiduity and care
in getting the streets cleared of the many and dangerous (especially at
night) obstructions thereon; and we hope," the writer says, "by the same
good conduct in his successors in the like office, to see the streets of
this infant town vie with those of a maturer age, in cleanliness and
safety."
In the number of the same paper for July 20 (1799), Mr. MacDougall's
colleague is eulogized, and thanked in the following terms: "The
inhabitants of the west end of this Town return their most cordial
thanks to Mr. Clark, pathmaster, for his uncommon exertions and
assiduity in removing out of their street its many obstacles, so highly
dangerous to the weary traveller." Mr. MacDougall was the first grantee
of the farm immediately to the south of Glen Grove (lot number three).
On high land to the right, some way off the road, an English-looking
mansion of brick with circular ends, was another early innovation. A
young plantation of trees so placed as to shelter it from the north-east
winds, added to its English aspect. This was Kingsland, the home of Mr.
Huson, likewise an immigrant from the West Indies. It was afterwards the
abode of Mr. Vance, an Alderman of Toronto.
One or two old farm houses of an antique New Jersey style, of two
storeys, with steepish roofs and small windows, were then passed on the
left. Some way further on, but still in the low land of the irregular
ravine, another primitive rustic manufactory of that article of prime
necessity, leather, was reached. This was "Lawrence's Tannery." A bridge
over the stream here, which is a feeder to the Don, was sometimes spoken
of as Hawke's bridge, from the name of its builder. In the hollow on the
left, close to the Tannery, and overlooked from the road, was a
cream-coloured respectable frame-house, the domicile of Mr. Lawrence
himself. In his yard or garden, some hives of bees, when such things
were rarities, used always to be looked at with curiosity in passing.
The original patentees of lots six, seven, eight and nine, on the west
side of the street just here, were four brothers, Joseph, Duke, Hiram
and John, Kendrick, respectively. They all had nautical proclivities;
or, as one who knew them said, they were, all or them, "water-dogs;" and
we shall hear of them again in our chapter on the Early Marine of York
harbour.
In 1799, Duke Kendrick was about to establish a pot-ashery on number
seven. His advertisement appears in the _Gazette_, of December, 21,
1799. It is headed "Ashes! Ashes! Ashes!" The announcement then follows:
"The subscriber begs leave to inform the public that he is about to
erect a Pot-ashery upon lot No. 7, west side of Yonge Street, where he
will give a generous price for ashes; for house-ashes, ninepence per
bushel; for field-ashes, sixpence, delivered at the Pot-ash." It is then
added: "He conceives it his duty to inform those who may have ashes to
dispose of, that it will not be in his power to pay cash, but
merchandize at cash price. Duke W. Kendrick. York, Dec. 7, 1799." In the
year following, Mr. Allan advertises for ashes to be delivered at
pot-ash works in York. In the _Gazette_ for November 29, 1800, we have:
"Ashes wanted. Sevenpence Halifax currency per bushel for house-ashes
will be given, delivered at the Pot-ash works, opposite the Gaol; and
fivepence same currency, if taken from the houses; also, eightpence, New
York currency for field-ashes delivered at the works. W. Allan. York,
21st November, [1800]."
We now speedily arrived at the commencement of the difficult descent
into the valley of the great west branch of the Don. Yonge Street here
made a grand detour to the east, and failed to regain the direct
northerly course for some time. As usual, wherever long inclined planes
were cut in the steep sides of lofty clay banks, the condition of the
roadway hereabout was, after rain, indescribably bad. After reaching the
stream and crossing it on a rough timber bridge, known anciently
sometimes as Big Creek bridge and sometimes as Heron's bridge, the track
ascended the further bank, at first by means of a narrow hogsback, which
conveniently sloped down to the vale; afterwards it made a sweep to the
northward along the brow of some broken hills, and then finally turned
westward until the direct northern route of the street was again
touched.
The banks of the Don are here on every side very bold, divided in some
places into two stages by an intervening plateau. On a secondary flat
thus formed, in the midst of a grass-grown clearing, to the left, as the
traveller journeyed from York, there was erected at an early date the
shell of a place of worship appertaining to the old Scottish Kirk, put
up here through the zeal of Mr. James Hogg, a member of that communion,
and the owner, for a time at least, of the flour mills in the valley,
near the bridge. From him this locality was popularly known as Hogg's
Hollow, despite the postal name of the place, York Mills.
Mr. Hogg was of Scottish descent and a man of spirit. He sent a cartel
in due form in 1832 to Mr. Gurnett, editor of the _Courier_. An article
in that paper had spoken in offensive terms of supposed attempts on the
part of a committee in York to swell the bulk of a local public meeting,
by inviting into town persons from the rural parts. "Every wheel of
their well-organized political machine was set in motion," the _Courier_
asserted, "to transmute country farmers into citizens of York.
Accordingly about nine in the morning, groups of tall, broad-shouldered,
hulking fellows were seen arriving from Whitby, Pickering and
Scarborough, some crowded in waggons, and others on horseback; and Hogg,
the miller, headed a herd of the swine of Yonge Street, who made just as
good votes at the meeting as the best shopkeepers in York." No hostile
encounter, however, took place, although a burlesque account of an
"affair of honour" was published, in which it was pretended that Mr.
Hogg was saved from a mortal wound by a fortunate accumulation, under
the lappel of his coat, of flour, in which his antagonist's bullet
buried itself.
Mr. Hogg died in 1839. Here is an extract from the sermon preached by
the Rev. Mr. Leach on the occasion of his funeral: "He was faithful to
his word and promise," the preacher said,--"and when surrounded with
danger and strongly instigated, and tempted to a departure from public
faith by the enemies of his country his determination expressed in his
own words, was 'I will die a Briton.' Few men had all the veins of
nature more clearly and strongly developed; and few men had a better
sense of what is due to God."
The circuit of the hills overhanging the mills below was always tedious;
but several good bits of scenery were caught sight of. On the upland,
after escaping the chief difficulties, on the left hand a long low
wooden building was seen, with gable and door towards the road. This was
an early place of worship of the Church of England, an out-post of the
mission at York. The long line of its roof was slightly curved downwards
by the weight of a short chimney built at its middle point for the
accommodation of an iron stove within. Just before arriving at the gate
of the burying-ground attached to this building, there were interesting
glimpses to the left down into deep woody glens, all of them converging
southward on the Don. In some of them were little patches of pleasant
grass land. But along here, for the most part, the forest long remained
undisturbed.
The church or chapel referred to was often served by divinity students
sent out from town; and frequently, no doubt, had its walls echoed with
prentice-attempts at pulpit oratory. Gourlay says that this chapel and
the Friends' Meeting House near Newmarket were the only two places of
public worship on Yonge Street in 1817, "a distance of nearly forty
miles." A notice of it is inserted in "A visit to the Province of Upper
Canada in 1819, by James Strachan," (the Bishop's brother)--a work
published at Aberdeen in 1820.
"My brother," Mr. Strachan says, p. 141, "had, by his exertions and
encouragement among the people, caused a chapel to be built about eight
miles from York, where he officiates once a month, one of the young
students under his care reading the service and a sermon on the
intermediate Sundays. On his day of doing duty," Mr. S. continues, "I
went with him and was highly gratified. The chapel is built in a thick
wood. . . . . . . . . . . The dimensions are 60 by 30 feet; the pews are
very decent, and what was much better, they were filled with an
attentive congregation. As you see very few inhabitants on your way out,
I could not conceive where all the people came from." A public baptism
of five adults is then described.
Some six and twenty years later (in 1843), the foundation stone of a
durable brick church was laid near the site of the old frame chapel. On
that occasion Dr. Strachan, now Bishop Strachan, named as especial
promoters of the original place of worship, Mr. Seneca Ketchum and Mr.
Joseph Sheppard, "the former devoting much time and money in the
furtherance of the work, and the latter giving three acres of land as a
site, together with a handsome donation in cash." A silver medal which
had been deposited under the old building was now transferred to a
cavity in the foundation stone of its proposed successor. It bore on the
obverse, "Francis Gore, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor, 1816," and on the
reverse--"Fifty-sixth of George Third." To it were now added a couple
of other medals of silver: one bore on the obverse, "John Strachan,
D.D., Bishop of Toronto; Alexander Sanson, Minister, 1843;" and on the
reverse, "Sixth of Victoria." The other had inscribed on it the name of
the architect, Mr. J. G. Howard, with a list of other churches erected
in Upper Canada under his direction.
Among the persons present during the ceremony were Chief-Justice
Robinson, Vice-Chancellor Jameson, the Hon. and Rev. A. Cavendish, and
the Rev. G. Mortimer, of Thornhill. Prior to the out-door proceedings a
remarkable scene had been witnessed within the walls of the old
building. Four gentlemen received the rite of confirmation at the hands
of the Bishop, all of them up to a recent date, non-conformists; three
of them non-conformist ministers of mark, Mr Townley, Mr. Leach (whom we
heard just now pronouncing an eulogy on Mr. Hogg,) and Mr. Ritchie; the
fourth, Mr. Sanson, not previously a minister, but now in Holy Orders of
the Church of England, and the minister appointed to officiate in the
new church.
At the present day Yonge Street crosses Hogg's Hollow in a direct line
on a raised embankment which the ancient Roman road-makers would have
deemed respectable--a work accomplished about the year 1835, before the
aid of steam power was procurable in these parts for such purposes. Mr.
Lynn was the engineer in charge here, at that time. The picturesque
character of the valley has been considerably interfered with.
Nevertheless a winding road over the hills to the right leading up to
the church (St. John's) has still some sylvan surroundings. In truth,
were a building or two of the châlet type visible, the passer-by might
fancy himself for a moment in an upland of the High Alps, so Swiss-like
is the general aspect.
It may be added that the destruction of the beautiful hereabout has to
some extent a set-off in the fine geological studies displayed to the
eye in the sides of the deep cuts at both ends of the great causeway.
Lake Ontario's ancient floor here lifted up high and dry in the air,
exhibits, stratum super stratum, the deposits of successive periods long
ago. (The action of the weather, however, has at the present time
greatly blurred the interesting pictures of the past formerly displayed
on the surface of the artificial escarpments at Hogg's Hollow.)
[Illustration]
XXVI.
YONGE STREET, FROM HOGG'S HOLLOW TO BOND'S LAKE.
Beyond the hollow, Mr. Humberstone's was passed on the west side,
another manufacturer of useful pottery ware. A curious incident used to
be narrated as having occurred in this house. The barrel of an old
Indian fowling-piece turned up by the plough in one of the fields, and
made to do duty in the management of unwieldy back logs in the great
fire-place, suddenly proved itself to have been charged all the while,
by exploding one day in the hands of Mr. Humberstone's daughter while
being put to its customary use, and killing her on the spot. Somewhat
similarly, at Fort Erie, we have been told, in the fire which destroyed
the wharf at the landing, a condemned cannon which had long been planted
in the pier as a post, went off, happily straight upwards, without doing
any damage.
Mr. Humberstone saw active service as a lieutenant in the incorporated
militia in 1812. He was put in charge of some of the prisoners captured
by Colonel Fitzgibbon, at the Beaver Dams, and when now nearing his
destination, Kingston, with his prisoners in a large batteau, he, like
the famous Dragoon who caught the Tartar, was made a prisoner of himself
by the men whom he had in custody, and was adroitly rowed over by them
to the United States shore, where being landed he was swiftly locked up
in jail, and thence only delivered when peace was restored.
The next memorable object, also on the left, was Shephard's inn, a noted
resting-place for wayfarers and their animals, flanked on the north by
large driving sheds, on the south by stables and barns: over the porch,
at an early period, was the effigy of a lion gardant, attempted in wood
on the premises. Constructiveness was one of the predominant faculties
in the first landlord of the Golden Lion. He was noted also for skilful
execution on several instruments of music: on the bassoon for one. In
the rear of the hotel, a little to the south, on a fine eminence, he put
up for himself after the lapse of some years, a private residence,
remarkable for the originality of its design, the outline of its many
projecting roofs presenting a multitude of concave curves in the Chinese
pagoda style.
In several buildings in this neighbourhood an effort was at one time
made, chiefly, we believe, through the influence of Mr. Shephard, to
reproduce what in the west of England are called cob-walls; but either
from an error in compounding the material, or from the peculiar
character of the local climate, they proved unsatisfactory.--The
Sheppards, early proprietors of land a little farther on, were a
different family, and spelt their name differently. It was some members
of this family that were momentarily concerned in the movement of 1837.
In Willowdale, a hamlet just beyond Shephard's, was the residence of Mr.
David Gibson, destroyed in 1837 by the Government forces. We observe in
the _Gazette_ of January 6th, 1826, the announcement, "Government House,
York, 29th December, 1825. His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor has
been pleased to appoint David Gibson, gentleman, to be a surveyor of
land in the Province." In the practice of the profession indicated he
was prosperous, and also as a practical farmer. He likewise represented
North York in the Provincial Parliament. When the calm came after the
tumult of 1837, he was appointed one of the Superintendents of
Colonization Roads. He died at Quebec in 1864.
A road turning off at right angles to the eastward out of Willowdale led
to a celebrated camp-meeting ground, on the property of Mr. Jacob
Cummer, one of the early German settlers. It was in a grand maple
forest--a fine specimen of such trysting places. It was here that we
were for the first time present at one of the peculiar assemblies
referred to, which, over the whole of this northern continent, in a
primitive condition of society at its several points, have fulfilled,
and still fulfil, an important, and we doubt not, beneficent function.
This, as we suppose, was the scene of the camp-meeting described in
Peter Jones' Autobiography. "About noon," he writes on Tuesday, the
10th of June, 1828, "started for the camp ground. When we arrived we
found about three hundred Indians collected from Lake Simcoe and Scugog
Lake. Most of those from Lake Simcoe have just come in from the back
lakes to join with their converted brethren in the service of the
Almighty God. They came in company with brother Law, and all seemed very
glad to see us, giving us a hearty shake of the hand. The camp ground
enclosed about two acres, which was surrounded with board tents, having
one large gate for teams to go in and out, and three smaller ones.
"The Indians occupied one large tent, which was 220 feet long and 15
feet broad. It was covered overhead with boards, and the sides were made
tight with laths to make it secure from any encroachments. It had four
doors fronting the camp ground. In this long house the Indians arranged
themselves in families, as is their custom in their wigwams. Divine
service commenced towards evening. Elder Case first gave directions as
to the order to be observed on the camp ground during the meetings.
Brother James Richardson then preached from Acts ii. 21; after which I
gave the substance in Indian, when the brethren appeared much affected
and interested. Prayer-meeting in the evening. The watch kept the place
illuminated during the night." The meeting continued for four days.
Where the dividing line occurs between York and Markham, at the angle on
the right was the first site of the sign of the Green Bush, removed
afterwards, as we have noted, to the immediate outskirts of York; and to
the left, somewhere near by, was a sign that used to interest from its
peculiarity, the Durweston Gate: a small white five-barred gate, hung by
its topmost bar to a projection from a lofty post, and having painted on
its lower bars "Durweston Gate," and the landlord's name. It was
probably a reproduction by a Dorsetshire immigrant of a familiar object
in his native village.
Not excluding from our notes, as will be observed, those places where
Shenstone sighed to think a man often "found the warmest welcome" we
must not forget Finch's--a great hostelry on the right, which we soon
reached as we advanced northward, of high repute about 1836, and
subsequently among excursion parties from town, and among the half-pay
settlers of the Lake Simcoe region, for the contents of its larder and
the quality of its cooking. Another place of similar renown was Crew's,
six or eight miles further on.
When for long years, men, especially Englishmen, called by their
occasions away from their homes, had been almost everywhere doomed to
partake of fare too literally hard, and perilous to the health, it is
not to be wondered at, when, here and there, at last a house for the
accommodation of the public did spring up where, with cleanly quarters,
digestible viands were to be had, that its fame should speedily spread;
for is it not Dr. Samuel Johnson himself who has, perhaps rather
sweepingly said, "there is nothing which has yet been contrived by man
by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn."
Where a long slope towards the north begins soon after Finch's a village
entitled Dundurn was once projected by Mr. Allan McNab, afterwards the
famous Sir Allan, acting, we believe at the time as agent for Mr. H. J.
Boulton; but Dundurn never advanced beyond incipience. The name was
afterwards familiar as that of Sir Allan's château close by Hamilton.
A well-travelled road now soon turned off to the right leading to
certain, almost historic mills in Markham, known as the German Mills. In
the _Gazetteer_ of 1799 these mills are referred to. "Markham township
in the east riding of the County of York fronts Yonge Street," it is
stated in that early work, "and lies to the northward of York and
Scarborough. Here" it then adds "are good mills and a thriving
settlement of Germans."
The German Mills are situated on Lot No. 4 in the third concession, on a
portion of the Rouge or Nen--a river which the same _Gazetteer_ informs
its readers was "the back communication from the German settlement in
Markham to Lake Ontario. The expectation in 1799 was, as the _Gazetteer_
further shows, that this river, and not either the Humber or the Don,
would one day be connected with the Holland river by a canal." It was not
certainly known in 1794, where the river which passed the German Mills
had its outlet. In Iredell's plan of Markham of that date, the stream is
marked "Kitcheseepe or Great River," with a memorandum attached--"waters
supposed to empty into Lake Ontario to the eastward of the Highlands of
York." Information, doubtless, noted down, by Iredell, from the lips of
some stray native. Kitche-seepe, "Big River" is of course simply a
descriptive expression, taken as in so many instances, by the early
people, to be a proper name. (It does not appear that among the
aborigines there were any proper local names, in our sense of the
expression.)
The German Mills were founded by Mr. Berczy, either on his own account
or acting as agent for an association at New York for the promotion of
German emigration to Canada. When, after failing to induce the
Government to reconsider its decision in regard to the patents demanded
by him for his settlers, that gentleman retired to Montreal, the German
Mills with various parcels of land were advertised for sale in the
_Gazette_ of April 27, 1805, in the following strain: "Mills and land in
Markham. To be sold by the subscriber for payment of debts due to the
creditors of William Berczy, Esq., the mills called the German Mills,
being a grist mill and a saw mill. The grist mill has a pair of French
burs, and complete machinery for making and bolting superfine flour.
These mills are situated on lot No. 4 in the third concession of
Markham; with them will be given in, lots No. 3 and 4 in the third
concession, at the option of the purchaser. Also, 300 acres being the
west half of lot No. 31, and the whole of lot 32 in the second
concession of Markham. Half the purchase money to be paid in hand, and
half in one year with legal interest. W. Allan. N.B.--Francis Smith, who
lives on lot No. 14 in the third concession, will show the premises.
York, 11th March, 1805."
It appears from the same _Gazette_ that Mr. Berczy's vacant house in
York had been entered by burglars after his departure. A reward of
twenty dollars is offered for their discovery. "Whereas," the
advertisement runs, "the house of William Berczy, Esq., was broken open
sometime during the night of the 14th instant, and the same ransacked
from one end to the other; this is to give notice that whoever shall
lodge an information, so that the offender or offenders may be brought
to justice, shall upon conviction thereof receive Twenty Dollars. W.
Chewett. York, 18th April, 1805."
We have before referred to Mr. Berczy's embarrassments, from which he
never became disentangled; and to his death in New York, in 1813. His
decease was thus noticed in a Boston paper, quoted by Dr. Canniff, p.
364, "Died--In the early part of the year 1813, William Berczy, Esq.,
aged 68; a distinguished inhabitant of Upper Canada, and highly
respected for his literary acquirements. In the decease of this
gentleman society must sustain an irreparable loss, and the republic of
letters will have cause to mourn the death of a man eminent for genius
and talent."
The German Mills were purchased and kept in operation by Capt. Nolan, of
the 70th Regiment, at the time on duty in Canada; but the speculation
was not a success. We have heard it stated that this Captain Nolan was
the father of the officer of the same name and rank who fell in the
charge of the Light Brigade at the very first outset, when, at
Balaclava,
"Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred."
The _Gazette_ of March 19, 1818, contains the following curt
announcement: "Notice. The German Mills and Distillery are now in
operation. For the proprietors, Alexander Patterson, Clerk, 11th March,
1818." Ten years later they are offered for sale or to lease in the _U.
C. Loyalist_ of April 5, 1828. (It will be observed that they once bore
the designation of Nolanville.) "For sale or to be leased," thus runs
the advertisement, "all or any part of the property known and described
as Nolanville or German Mills, in the third concession of the township
of Markham, consisting of four hundred acres of land, upwards of fifty
under good fences and improvements, with a good dwelling-house, barn,
stable, saw-mill, grist-mill, distillery, brew-house, malt-house, and
several other out-buildings. The above premises will be disposed of,
either the whole or in part, by application to the subscriber, William
Allan, York, January 26, 1828. The premises can be viewed at any time by
applying to Mr. John Duggan, residing there."
In the absence of striking architectural objects in the country at the
time, we remember, about the year 1828, thinking the extensive cluster
of buildings constituting the German Mills a rather impressive sight,
coming upon them suddenly, in the midst of the woods, in a deserted
condition, with all their windows boarded up.
One of our own associations with the German Mills is the memory of Mr.
Charles Stewart Murray, afterwards well-known in York as connected with
the Bank of Upper Canada. He had been thrown out of employment by Capt.
Nolan's relinquishment of the mills. He was then patronized by Mr.
Thorne of Thornhill.
In our boyish fancy, a romantic interest attached to Mr. Murray from his
being a personal friend of Sir Walter Scott's, and from his being
intimately associated with him in the excursion to the Orkneys, while
the Pirate and the Lord of the Isles were simmering in the Novelist's
brain. "Not a bad Re-past," playfully said Sir Walter after partaking
one day of homely meat-pie at the little inn of one Rae. Lo! from Mr.
Murray's talk, a minute grain to be added to Sir Walter's already huge
cairn of _ana_. Mr. M., too, was imagined by us, quite absurdly
doubtless, to be an hereditary devotee of the Pretender, if not closely
allied to him by blood. (His grandfather, or other near relative, had,
we believe, really been for a time secretary to Prince Charles Edward
Stuart)
A mile or two beyond where the track to the German Mills turned off,
Yonge Street once more encountered a branch of the Don, flowing, as
usual, through a wide and difficult ravine. At the point where the
stream was crossed, mills and manufactories made their appearance at an
early date. The ascent of the bank towards the north was accomplished,
in this instance, in no round-about way. The road went straight up.
Horse-power and the strength of leather were here often severely tested.
On the rise above, began the village of Thornhill, an attractive and
noticeable place from the first moment of its existence. Hereabout
several English families had settled, giving a special tone to the
neighbourhood. In the very heart of the village was the home,
unfailingly genial and hospitable, of Mr. Parsons, one of the chief
founders of the settlement; emigrating hither from Sherborne in
Dorsetshire in 1820. Nearer the brow of the hill overlooking the Don,
was the house of Mr. Thorne, from whom the place took its name: an
English gentleman also from Dorsetshire, and associated with Mr. Parsons
in the numerous business enterprises which made Thornhill for a long
period a centre of great activity and prosperity. Beyond, a little
further northward, lived the Gappers, another family initiating here the
amenities and ways of good old west-of-England households. Dr. Paget was
likewise an element of happy influence in the little world of this
region, a man of high culture; formerly a medical practitioner of great
repute in Torquay.
Another character of mark associated with Thornhill in its palmy days
was the Rev. George Mortimer, for a series of years the pastor of the
English congregation there. Had his lot been cast in the scenes of an
Oberlin's labours or a Lavater's, or a Felix Neff's, his name would
probably have been conspicuously classed with theirs in religious
annals. He was eminently of their type. Constitutionally of a spiritual
temperament, he still did not take theology to be a bar to a scientific
and accurate examination of things visible. He deemed it "sad, if not
actually censurable, to pass blind-folded through the works of God, to
live in a world of flowers, and stars, and sunsets, and a thousand
glorious objects of Nature, and never to have a passing interest
awakened by any one of them." Before his emigration to Canada he had
been curate of Madeley in Shropshire, the parish of the celebrated
Fletcher of Madeley, whose singularly beautiful character that of Mr.
Mortimer resembled. Though of feeble frame his ministerial labours were
without intermission; and his lot, as Fletcher's also, was to die almost
in the act of officiating in his profession.
An earlier incumbent of the English Church at Thornhill was the Rev.
Isaac Fidler. This gentleman rendered famous the scene of his Canadian
ministry, as well as his experiences in the United States, by a book
which in its day was a good deal read. It was entitled "Observations on
Professions, Literature, Manners, and Emigration in the United States
and Canada." Although he indulged in some sharp strictures on the
citizens of the United States, in relation to the matters indicated, and
followed speedily after by the never-to-be-forgotten Mrs. Trollope, his
work was reprinted by the Harpers. Mr. Fidler was a remarkable
person,--of a tall Westmoreland mould, resembling the common pictures of
Wordsworth. He was somewhat peculiar in his dress, wearing always an
extremely high shirt-collar, very conspicuous round the whole of his
neck, forming a kind of spreading white socket in which rested and
revolved a head, bald, egg-shaped and spectacled. Besides being
scholarly in the modern sense, Mr. Fidler possessed the more uncommon
accomplishment of a familiarity with the oriental languages.
The notices in his book, of early colonial life have now to us an
archaic sound. We give his narrative of the overturn of a family party
on their way home from church. "The difficulty of descending a steep
hill in wet weather may be imagined," he says, "The heavy rains had made
it (the descent south of Thornhill) a complete puddle which afforded no
sure footing to man or beast. In returning from church, the ladies and
gentlemen I speak of," he continues, "had this steep hill to descend.
The jaunting car being filled with people was too heavy to be kept back,
and pressed heavy upon the horses. The intended youthful bridegroom (of
one of the ladies) was, I was told, the charioteer. His utmost skill was
ineffectually tried to prevent a general overturn. The horses became
less manageable every moment. But yet the ladies and gentlemen in the
vehicle were inapprehensive of danger, and their mirth and jocularity
betrayed the inward pleasure they derived from his increasing straggles.
At last the horses, impatient of control, and finding themselves their
own masters, jerked the carriage against the parapet of the road and
disengaged themselves from it. The carriage instantly turned over on its
side; and as instantly all the ladies and gentlemen trundled out of it
like rolling pins. Nobody was hurt in the least, for the mire was so
deep that they fell very soft and were quite imbedded in it. What
apologies the gentleman made I am unable to tell, but the mirth was
perfectly suspended. I overtook the party at the bottom of the hill, the
ladies walking homewards from the church and making no very elegant
appearance."
As an example of the previously undreamt of incidents that may happen to
a missionary in a backwoods settlement, we mention what occurred to
ourselves when taking the duty one fine bright summer morn, many years
ago, in the Thornhill Church, yet in its primitive unenlarged state. A
farmer's horse that had been mooning leisurely about an adjoining field,
suddenly took a fancy to the shady interior disclosed by the wide-open
doors of the sacred building. Before the churchwardens or any one else
could make out what the clatter meant, the creature was well up the
central passage of the nave. There becoming affrighted, its ejection was
an awkward affair, calling for tact and manoeuvring.
The English Church at Thornhill has had another incumbent not
undistinguished in literature, the Rev. E. H. Dewar, author of a work
published at Oxford in 1844, on the Theology of Modern Germany. It is in
the form of letters to a friend, written from the standpoint of the
Jeremy Taylor school. It is entitled "German Protestantism and the Right
of Private Judgment in the Interpretation of Holy Scripture." The
author's former position as chaplain to the British residents at Hamburg
gave him facilities for becoming acquainted with the state of German
theology. Mr. Dewar, to superior natural talents, added a refined
scholarship and a wide range of accurate knowledge. He died at Thornhill
in 1862.
The incumbent who preceded Mr. Dewar was the Rev. Dominic E. Blake,
brother of Mr. Chancellor Blake; a clergyman also of superior talents.
Previous to his emigration to Canada in 1832, he had been a curate in
the county of Mayo. He died suddenly in 1859. It is remarked of him in a
contemporary obituary that "his productions indicated that while
intellect was in exercise his heart felt the importance of the subjects
before him." These productions were numerous, in the form of valuable
papers and reports, read or presented to the local Diocesan Society.
It is curious to observe that in 1798, salmon ascended the waters of the
Don to this point on Yonge Street. Among the recommendations of a farm
about to be offered for sale, the existence thereon of "an excellent
salmon fishery" is named. Thus runs the advertisement (_Gazette_, May
16, 1798): "To be sold by public auction, on Monday, the 2nd of July
next, at John McDougall's hotel, in the town of York, a valuable Farm,
situated on Yonge Street, about twelve miles from York, on which are a
good log-house, and seven or eight acres well improved. The advantages
of the above farm, from the richness of its soil and its being well
watered, are not equalled by many farms in the Province; and above all,
it affords an excellent salmon fishery, large enough to support a number
of families, which must be conceived a great advantage in this infant
country. The terms will be made known on the day of sale."
As we move on from Thornhill with Vaughan on the left and Markham on the
right, the name of another rather memorable early missionary recurs,
whose memory is associated with both these townships--Vincent Philip
Mayerhoffer.
Notwithstanding its drawbacks, early Canadian life, like early American
life generally, became, in a little while, invested with a curious
interest and charm; by means, for one thing, of the variety of character
encountered. A man might vegetate long in an obscure village or country
town of the old mother country before he rubbed against a person of V.
P. Mayerhoffer's singular experience, and having his wits set in motion
by a sympathetic realization of such a career as his.
He was a Hungarian; born at Raab in 1784; and had been ordained a
presbyter in the National Church of Austria. On emigrating to the United
States, he, being himself a Franciscan, fell into some disputes with the
Jesuits at Philadelphia, and withdrew from the Latin communion and
attached himself, in company with a fellow presbyter named Huber, to the
Lutheran Reformed. As a recognized minister of that body he came on to
Buffalo, where he officiated for four years to three congregations,
visiting at the same time, occasionally, a congregation on the Canada
side of the river, at Limeridge. He here, for the first time, began the
study of the English language. Coming now into contact with the clergy
of the Anglican communion, he finally resolved to conform to the
Anglican Church, and was sent by Bishop Stewart, of Quebec, to the
German settlement in Markham and Vaughan. Here he officiated for twenty
years, building in that interval St. Stephen's Church in Vaughan, St.
Philip's in the 3rd concession of Markham, and the Church in Markham
village, and establishing a permanent congregation at each.
He was a vigorous, stirring preacher in his acquired English tongue, as
well as in his vernacular German. He possessed also a colloquial
knowledge of Latin, which is still a spoken language in part of Hungary.
He was a man of energy to the last: ever cheerful in spirit, and
abounding in anecdotes, personal or otherwise. It was from him, as we
remember, we first heard the afterwards more familiarized names of
Magyar and Sclave.
His brother clergy of the region where his duty lay were indebted to him
for many curious glimpses at men and things in the great outer world of
the continent of Europe. During the Napoleonic wars he was "Field
Chaplain of the Imperial Infantry Regiment, No. 60 of the Line," and
accompanied the Austrian contingent of 40,000 men furnished to Napoleon
by the Emperor of Austria.--He was afterwards, when the Austrian Emperor
broke away from Napoleon, taken prisoner with five regiments of the
line, and sent to Dresden and Mayence. He was at the latter place when
the battle of Leipsic was fought (Oct. 16, 17, 18, 19, 1813.) He now
left Mayence without leave, the plague breaking out there, and got to
Oppenheim, where a German presbyter named Muller concealed him, till the
departure of the French out of the town. After several adventures he
found his way back to the quarters of his regiment now acting in the
anti-French interest at Manheim, where he duly reported himself, and was
well received. After the war, from the year 1816, he had for three years
the pastoral charge of Klingenmunster in the diocese of Strasbourg. He
died in Whitby, in 1859.
A memoir of Mr. Meyerhoffer has been printed, and it bears the following
title: "Twelve years a Roman Catholic Priest; or, the Autobiography of
the Rev. V. P. Meyerhoffer, M.A., late Military Chaplain to the Austrian
Army and Grand Chaplain of the Orders of Free Masons and Orangemen of
Canada, B.N.A., containing an account of his career as Military
Chaplain, Monk of the Order of St. Francis, and Clergyman of the Church
of England in Vaughan, Markham and Whitby, C.W."
He had a musical voice which had been properly cultivated--This, he used
to say, was a source of revenue to him in the early part of his public
career, those clergy being in request and receiving a higher
remuneration, who were able to sing the service in a superior manner.
His features were strongly marked and peculiar, perhaps Mongolian in
type; they were not German, English, or Italian. Were the concavity of
the nose and the projection of the mouth a little more pronounced in
"Elias Howe," the medallions of that personage would give a general idea
of Mr. Mayerhoffer's profile and head.
In his younger days he had acquired some medical knowledge, which stood
him in good stead for a time at Philadelphia, when he and Huber first
renounced the Latin dogmas. His taste for the healing art was slightly
indulged even after the removal to Canada, as will be seen from an
advertisement which appears in the _Courier_ of February 29, 1832. (From
its wording it will be observed that Mayerhoffer had not yet become
familiarized with the English language.) It is headed thus: "The use and
direction of the new-invented and never-failing Wonder Salve, by D. V.
P. Mayerhoffer, of Markham, U.C., H.D., 5th concession."
It then proceeds: "Amongst all in the medicine-invented unguents his
salve takes the first place for remedy, whereby it not in vain obtains
the name of Wonder Salve for experience taught in many cases to deserve
this name; and being urged to communicate it to the public, I endeavour
to satisfy to the common good of the public. It is acknowledged by all
who know the virtue of it, and experienced its worth, it ought to be
kept in every house, first for its inestimable goodness, and, second,
because the medicine the older it gets the better it is: money spent for
such will shew its effect from its beginning for twenty years, if kept
in a dry place, well covered. In all instances of burns, old wounds,
called running sores, for the tetter-worm or ring, &c., as the
discussions and use will declare, wrapped round the box or the medicine.
"It is unnecessary to recommend by words this inestimable medicine, as
its value has received the approbation of many inhabitants of this
country already, who sign their names below for the surety of its virtue
and the reality of its worth, declaring that they never wish to be
without it in their houses by their lifetimes. In Markham, Mr. Philip
Eckhardt, jun., do. do., sen., Godlieb Eckhardt, Abraham Eckhardt, John
Pingel, jun., Mr. Lang, Mr. Large, John Perkins, John Schall, Charles
Peterson, Luke Stantenkough, Peter March. In Vaughan, Jacob Fritcher,
Daniel Stang. Recommended by Dr. Baldwin, of York. The medicine is to be
had in the eighth concession of Markham, called Riarstown, by Sinclair
Holden; in the fifth concession by Christopher Hevelin and T. Amos; in
the town of York, in J. Baldwin's and S. Barnham's stores; on Yonge
Street, by Parsons and Thorne. Price of a box, two shillings and
sixpence, currency. January 11, 1832."
Military associations hang about the lands to the right and left of
Richmond Hill. The original possessor of Lot No. 22 on the west side,
was Captain Daniel Cozens, a gentleman who took a very active part in
opposition to the revolutionary movement which resulted in the
independence of the United States. He raised, at his own expense, a
company of native soldiers in the royalist interest, and suffered the
confiscation of a considerable estate in New Jersey. Three thousand
acres in Upper Canada were subsequently granted him by the British
Crown. His sons, Daniel and Shivers, also received grants. The name of
Shivers Cozens is to be seen in the early plans of Markham on lots 2, 4
and 5 in the 6th concession.
Samuel died of a fit at York in 1808; but Shivers returned to New Jersey
and died there, where family connexions of Captain Cozens still survive.
There runs amongst them a tradition that Captain Cozens built the first
house in our Canadian York. Of this we are informed by Mr. T. Cottrill
Clarke, of Philadelphia. We observe in an early plan of York the name of
Shivers Cozens on No. 23 in Block E, on the south side of King Street:
the name of Benjamin Cozens on No. 5 on Market Street: and the name of
Captain Daniel Cozens on No. 4 King Street, (new town), north side, with
the date of the grant, July 20, 1799. It is thus quite likely that
Captain Cozens, or a member of his family, put up buildings in York at a
very early period.
We read in the Niagara _Herald_, of October 31, 1801, the following:
"Died on the 6th ult., near Philadelphia, Captain Daniel Cozens." In the
_Gazette & Oracle_, of January 27, 1808, we have a memorandum of the
decease of Samuel Cozens: "Departed this life, on the 29th ult., Mr.
Samuel D. Cozens, one of the first inhabitants of this town [York]. His
remains were interred with Masonic honours on the 31st."
Another officer of the Revolutionary era was the first owner, and for
several years the actual occupant, of the lot immediately opposite
Captain Cozens'. This was Captain Richard Lippincott, a native of New
Jersey. A bold deed of his has found a record in all the histories of
the period. The narrative gives us a glimpse of some of the painful
scenes attendant on wars wherein near relatives and old friends come to
be set in array one against the other.
On the 12th of April, 1782, Captain Lippincott, acting under the
authority of the "Board of Associated Loyalists of New York," executed
by hanging, on the heights near Middleton, Joshua Huddy, an officer in
the revolutionary army, as an act of retaliation,--Huddy having
summarily treated, in the same way, a relative of Captain Lippincott's,
Philip White, surprised within the lines of the revolutionary force,
while on a stolen visit of natural affection to his mother on Christmas
Day.
On Huddy's breast was fastened a paper containing the following written
notice, to be read by his co-revolutionists and friends when they should
discover the body suspended in the air.--"We, the Refugees, having long
with grief beheld the cruel murders of our brethren, and finding nothing
but such measures carrying into execution, therefore determined not to
suffer without taking vengeance for the numerous cruelties; and thus
begin, having made use of Captain Huddy as the first object to present
to your view; and further determine to hang man for man while there is a
Refugee existing. Up goes Huddy for Philip White."
When the surrender of Capt. Lippincott was refused by the Royalist
authorities, Washington ordered the execution of one officer of equal
rank to be selected by lot out of the prisoners in his hands. The lot
fell on Capt. Charles Asgill of the Guards, aged only nineteen. He was
respited however until the issue of a court-martial, promised to be held
on Capt. Lippincott, should be known. The court acquitted; and Capt.
Asgill only narrowly escaped the fate of André, through prompt
intervention on the part of the French Government. The French minister
of State, the Count de Vergennes, to whom there had been time for Lady
Asgill, the Captain's mother, to appeal--received directions to ask his
release in the conjoint names of the King and Queen as "a tribute to
humanity." Washington thought proper to accede to this request; but it
was not until the following year, when the revolutionary struggle ended,
that Asgill and Lippincott were set at liberty.
The former lived to succeed to his father's baronetcy and to become a
General officer. Colonel O'Hara, of Toronto, remembered dining at a
table where a General Sir Charles Asgill was pointed out to him as
having been, during the American revolutionary war, for a year under
sentence of death, condemned by General Washington to be hanged in the
place of another person.
Capt. Lippincott received from the Crown three thousand acres in Upper
Canada. He survived until the year 1826, when, aged 81, and after
enjoying half-pay for a period of forty-three years, he expired at the
house of his son-in-law in York, Colonel George Taylor Denison, who gave
to his own eldest son, Richard Lippincott Denison, Captain Lippincott's
name. (A few miles further on, namely, in North and East Gwillimbury,
General Benedict Arnold, known among United States citizens as "the
traitor," received a grant of five thousand acres.)
In connexion with Richmond Hill, which now partially covers the fronts
of Captain Cozens' and Captain Lippincott's lots, we subjoin what
Captain Bonnycastle said of the condition of Yonge Street hereabout in
1846, in his "Canada and the Canadians."
"Behold us at Richmond Hill," he exclaims, "having safely passed the
Slough of Despond which the vaunted Yonge Street mud road presents
between the celebrated hamlet of St. Albans and the aforesaid hill."
And again: "We reached Richmond Hill, seventeen miles from the Landing,
at about 8 o'clock (he was moving southward) having made a better day's
journey than is usually accomplished on a road which will be macadamized
some fine day;--for the Board of Works," he proceeds to inform the
reader, "have a Polish engineer hard at work surveying it; of course, no
Canadian was to be found equal to this intricate piece of engineering;
and I saw a variety of sticks stuck up; but what they meant I cannot
guess at. I suppose they were going to grade it, which is the favourite
American term."
The prejudices of the Englishman and Royal Engineer routinier here crop
out. The Polish engineer, who was commencing operations on this
subdivision of Yonge Street, was Mr. Casimir Stanislaus Gzowski, whose
subsequent Canadian career renders it probable that in setting up "the
variety of sticks," the meaning of which Capt. Bonnycastle does after
all guess at, he understood his business. We are assured that this
portion of Yonge Street was in fact conspicuous for the superior
excellence of its finish.
Captain Bonnycastle indulges in a further little fling at civilians who
presume to undertake engineering duties, in a story which serves to fill
a page or two of his book, immediately after the above remarks on Yonge
Street, about Richmond Hill. He narrates an incident of his voyage
out:--
"A Character," he says, "set out from England to try his fortune in
Canada. He was conversing about prospects in that country, on board the
vessel, with a person who knew him, but whom he knew not. 'I have not
quite made up my mind,' said the character, 'as to what pursuit I shall
follow in Canada; but that which brings most grist to the mill will
answer best; and I hear a man may turn his hand to anything there,
without the folly of an apprenticeship being necessary; for if he have
only brains, bread will come; now what do you think would be the best
business for my market?' 'Why,' said the gentleman, after pondering a
little, 'I should advise you to try civil engineering; for they are
getting up a Board of Works there, and want that branch of industry very
much, for they won't take natives: nothing but foreigners and strangers
will go down.' 'What is a civil engineer?' said the Character. 'A man
always measuring and calculating,' responded his adviser, 'and that will
just suit you.' 'So it will,' rejoined Character, and a civil engineer
he became accordingly, and a very good one into the bargain, for he had
brains, and had used a yard measure all his lifetime."--Who "the
Character" was, we do not for certain know.
A short distance beyond Richmond Hill was the abode of Colonel Moodie,
on the right,--distinguished by a flag-staff in front of it, after the
custom of Lower Canada, where an officer's house used to be known in
this way. (In the neighbourhood of Sorel, as we remember, in the winter
of 1837, it was one of the symptoms of disaffection come to a head, when
in front of a substantial habitan's home a flag-staff was suddenly seen
bearing the inscription "----, Capitaine, élu par le peuple.")
Colonel Moodie's title came from his rank in the regular army. He had
been Lieut.-Colonel of the 104th regiment. Sad, that a distinguished
officer, after escaping the perils of the Peninsular war, and of the war
with the United States here in 1812-13, should have yet, nevertheless,
met with a violent death in a petty local civil tumult. He was shot, as
all remember, in the troubles of 1837, while attempting to ride past
Montgomery's, regardless of the insurgent challenge to stop.
"Thou might'st have dreamed of brighter hours to close thy chequered life
Beneath thy country's victor-flag, sure beacon in the strife;
Or in the shadow of thy home with those who mourn thee now,
To whisper comfort in thine ear, to calm thine aged brow.
Well! peaceful be thy changeless rest,--thine is a soldier's grave;
Hearts like thine own shall mourn thy doom--meet requiem for the brave--
And ne'er 'till Freedom's ray is pale and Valour's pulse grown cold
Shall be thy bright career forgot, thy gloomy fate untold."
So sang one in the columns of a local contemporary paper, in "Lines
suggested by the Lamented Death of the late Colonel Moodie."
At a certain period in the history of Yonge Street, as indeed of all the
leading thoroughfares of Upper Canada, about 1830-33, a frequent sign
that property had changed hands, and that a second wave of population
was rolling in, was the springing up, at intervals, of houses of an
improved style, with surroundings, lawns, sheltering plantations,
winding drives, well-constructed entrance-gates, and so on, indicating
an appreciation of the elegant and the comfortable.
We recall two instances of this, which we used to contemplate with
particular interest, a little way beyond Richmond Hill, on the left: the
cosy, English-looking residences, not far apart, with a cluster of
appurtenances round each--of Mr. Larratt Smith, and Mr. Francis Boyd.
Both gentlemen settled here with their families in 1836.
Mr. Smith had been previously in Canada in a military capacity during
the war of 1812-13, and for many years subsequently he had been Chief
Commissary of the Field Train Department and Paymaster of the Artillery.
He died at Southampton in 1860.
Mr. Boyd, who emigrated hither from the county of Kent, was one of the
first, in these parts, to import from England improved breeds of cattle.
In his house was to be seen a collection of really fine paintings,
amongst them a Holbein, a Teniers, a Dominichino, a Smirke, a Wilkie,
and two Horace Vernets. The families of Mr. Boyd and Mr. Smith were
related by marriage. Mr. Boyd died in Toronto in 1861.
Beyond Mr. Boyd's, a solitary house, on the same side of Yonge Street,
lying back near the woods, used to be eyed askance in passing:--its
occupant and proprietor, Mr. Kinnear, had in 1843 been murdered therein
by his man-servant, assisted by a female domestic. It was imagined by
them that a considerable sum of money had just been brought to the house
by Mr. Kinnear. Both criminals would probably have escaped justice had
not Mr. F. C. Capreol, of Toronto, on the spur of the moment, and purely
from a sense of duty to the public, undertaken their capture, which he
cleverly effected at Lewiston in the United States.
The land now began to be somewhat broken as we ascended the rough and
long-uncultivated region known as the Oak Ridges. The predominant tree
in the primitive forest here was the pine, which attained a gigantic
size; but specimens of the black oak were intermingled.
Down in one of the numerous clefts and chasms which were to be seen in
this locality, in a woody dell on the right, was Bond's Lake, a pretty
crescent-shaped sheet of water. We have the surrounding property offered
for sale in a _Gazette_ of 1805, in the following terms; "For Sale, Lots
No. 62 and 63, in the first concession of the township of Whitchurch, on
the east side of Yonge Street, containing 380 acres of land: a deed in
fee simple will be given by the subscriber to any person inclined to
purchase. Johnson Butler. N.B. The above lots include the whole of the
Pond commonly called Bond's Lake, the house and clearing round the same.
For particulars enquire of Mr. R. Ferguson and Mr. T. B. Gough at York,
and the subscriber at Niagara. March 23, 1805."
Bond's farm and lake had their name from Mr. William Bond, who so early
as 1800 had established in York a Nursery Garden, and introduced there
most of the useful fruits. In 1801 Mr. Bond was devising to sell his
York property, as appears from a quaint advertisement in a _Gazette_ of
that year. He therein professes to offer his lot in York as a free gift;
the recipient however being at the same time required to do certain
things.
"To be given away," he says, "that beautifully situated lot No. one,
fronting on Ontario and Duchess Streets: the buildings thereon are--a
small two-and-a-half storey house, with a gallery in front, which
commands a view of the lake and the bay: in the cellar a never failing
spring of fine water; and a stream of fine water running through one
corner of the lot; there is a good kitchen in the rear of the house, and
a stable sufficient for two cows and two horses, and the lot is in good
fence.
"The conditions are, with the person or persons who accept of the above
present, that he, she or they purchase not less than two thousand
apple-trees at three shillings, New York currency, each; after which
will be added, as a further present, about one hundred apple, thirty
peach, and fourteen cherry trees, besides wild plums, wild cherries,
English gooseberries, white and red currants, &c. There are forty of the
above apple trees, as also the peach and cherry trees, planted regular,
as an orchard, much of which appeared in blossom last spring, and must
be considered very valuable: also as a kitchen garden, will sufficiently
recommend itself to those who may please to view it.--The above are well
calculated for a professional or independent gentleman; being somewhat
retired--about half-way from the Lake to the late Attorney General's and
opposite the town-farm of the Hon. D. W. Smith [afterwards Mr. Allan's
property.] Payment will be made easy; a good deed; and possession given
at any time from the first of November to the first of May next. For
further particulars enquire of the subscriber on the premises. William
Bond. York, Sep. 4, 1801."--The price expected was, as will be made out,
750 dollars. The property was evidently the northern portion of what
became afterwards the homestead-plot of Mr. Surveyor General Ridout.
It would appear that Mr. Bond's property did not find a purchaser on
this occasion. In 1804 he is advertising it again, but now to be sold by
auction, with his right and title to the lot on Yonge Street. In the
_Gazette_ of August 4, 1804, we read as follows:--"To be sold by
auction, at Cooper's tavern, in York, on Monday, the twentieth day of
August next, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon (if not previously
disposed of by private contract), that highly cultivated lot opposite
the Printing Office [Bennett's] containing one acre, together with a
nursery thereon of about ten thousand apple, three hundred peach, and
twenty pear trees, and an orchard containing forty-one apple trees fit
for bearing, twenty-seven of which are full of fruit; thirty peach and
nine cherry trees full of fruit; besides black and red plums, red and
white currants, English gooseberries, lilacs, rose bushes, &c., &c.,
also a very rich kitchen garden.
"The buildings are a two-and-a-half storey house, a good cellar, stable
and smokehouse. On the lot is a never-failing spring of excellent water,
and fine creek running through one corner most part of the year. The
above premises might be made very commodious for a gentleman at a small
expense; or for a tanner, brewer, or distiller, must be allowed the most
convenient place in York. A view of the premises (by any person or
persons desirous of purchasing the same) will be sufficient
recommendation. The nursery is in such a state of forwardness that if
sold in from two to three years (at which time the apple trees will be
fit to transplant) at the moderate price of one shilling each, would
repay a sum double of that asked for the whole, and leave a further gain
to the purchasers of the lot, buildings, and flourishing orchard
thereon. A good title to the above, and possession given at any time
after the first of October next.
"Also at the same time and place the right as per Register, to one
hundred acres in front of lot 62, east side Yonge Street, for which a
deed can be procured at pleasure, and the remainder of the lot procured
for a small sum. It is an excellent soil for orchard, grain and pasture
land. There is a field of ten acres in fence besides other clearing. It
is a beautiful situation, having part of the Lake commonly called Bond's
Lake, within the said lot, which affords a great supply of Fish and
Fowl. Terms of payment will be made known on the day of sale. For
further particulars enquire of the subscriber on the former premises, or
the printer hereof. William Bond. York, 27th June, 1804."
Thirty years later we meet with an advertisement in which the price is
named at which Lot No. 63 could have been secured. Improvements expected
speedily to be made on Yonge Street are therein referred to. In a
_Gazette_ of 1834 we have: "A delightful situation on Yonge Street,
commonly called Bond's Farm, containing 190 acres, beautifully situated
on Bond's Lake upon Yonge Street, distant about 16 miles from the city
of Toronto: price £350. The picturesque beauty of this lot," the
advertisement says, "and its proximity to the flourishing capital of
Upper Canada, make it a most desirable situation for a gentleman of
taste. The stage-coaches between Toronto and Holland Landing and
Newmarket pass the place daily; and there appears every prospect of
Yonge Street either having a railroad or being macadamized very
shortly. Apply (if by letter, free of postage) to Robert Ferrie, at
Hamilton, the proprietor."
In the advertisement of 1805, given above, Bond's Lake is styled a pond.
The small lakes in these hills seemed, of course, to those who had
become familiarized with the great lakes, simply ponds. The term "lake"
applied to Ontario, Huron, and the rest, has given a very inadequate
idea of the magnitude and appearance of those vast expanses, to externs
who imagine them to be picturesque sheets of water somewhat exceeding in
size, but resembling, Windermere, Loch Lomond, or possibly Lake Leman.
"Sea" would have conveyed a juster notion: not however to the German,
who styles the lakes of Switzerland and the Tyrol, "seas."
Bond's Lake inn, the way-side stopping place in the vale where Yonge
Street skirts the lake, used to be, in an especial degree, of the old
country cast, in its appliances, its fare, its parlours and other
rooms.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XXVII.
YONGE STREET: FROM BOND'S LAKE TO THE HOLLAND LANDING, WITH DIGRESSIONS
TO NEWMARKET AND SHARON.
We now speedily passed Drynoch, lying off to the left, on elevated land,
the abode of Capt. Martin McLeod, formerly of the Isle of Skye. The
family and domestic group systematized on a large scale at Drynoch here,
was a Canadian reproduction of a chieftain's household.
Capt. McLeod was a Scot of the Norse vikinger type, of robust manly
frame, of noble, frank, and tender spirit; an Ossianist too, and, in the
Scandinavian direction, a philologist. Sir Walter Scott would have made
a study of Capt. McLeod, and may have done so. He was one of eight
brothers who all held commissions in the army. His own military life
extended from 1808 to 1832. As an officer successively of the 27th, the
79th, and the 25th regiments, he saw much active service. He accompanied
the force sent over to this continent in the War of 1812-13. It was then
that he for the first time saw the land which was to be his final home.
He was present, likewise, at the affair of Plattsburg; and also, we
believe, at the attack on New Orleans. He afterwards took part in the
so-called Peninsular war, and received a medal with four clasps for
Toulouse, Orthes, Nive, and Nivelle. He missed Waterloo,
"unfortunately," as he used to say; but he was present with the allied
troops in Paris during the occupation of that city in 1815. Of the 25th
regiment he was for many years adjutant, and then paymaster. Three of
his uncles were general officers.
It is not inappropriate to add that the Major McLeod who received the
honour of a Companionship in the Order of St. Michael and St. George for
distinguished service in the Red River Expedition of 1870, was a son of
Captain McLeod of Drynoch.
That in and about the Canadian Drynoch Gaelic should be familiarly heard
was in keeping with the general character of the place. The ancient
Celtic tongue was in fact a necessity, as among the dependents of the
house there were always some who had never learned the English language.
Drynoch was the name of the old home in Skye. The Skye Drynoch was an
unfenced, hilly pasture farm, of about ten miles in extent, yielding
nutriment to herds of wild cattle and some 8,000 sheep. Within its
limits a lake, Loch Brockadale, is still the haunt of the otter, which
is hunted by the aid of the famous terriers of the island; a mountain
stream abounds with salmon and trout; while the heather and bracken of
the slopes shelter grouse and other game.
Whittaker, in his _History of Whalley_, quoted by Hallam in his _Middle
Ages_, describes the aspect which, as he supposes, a certain portion of
England presented to the eye, as seen from the top of Pendle Hill, in
Yorkshire, in the Saxon times. The picture which he draws we in Canada
can realize with great perfectness. "Could a curious observer of the
present day," he says, "carry himself nine or ten centuries back, and
ranging the summit of Pendle, survey the forked vale of Calder on one
side and the bolder margins of Ribble and Hodder on the other, instead
of populous towns and villages, the castles, the old tower-built house,
the elegant modern mansion, the artificial plantation, the enclosed park
and pleasure-ground, instead of uninterrupted enclosures which have
driven sterility almost to the summit of the fells, how great then must
have been the contrast when, ranging either at a distance or immediately
beneath, his eye must have caught vast tracts of forest-ground,
stagnating with bog or darkened by native woods, where the wild ox, the
roe, the stag and the wolf, had scarcely learned the supremacy of man,
when, directing his view to the intermediate spaces, to the widening of
the valleys, or expanse of plains beneath, he could only have
distinguished a few insulated patches of culture, each encircling a
village of wretched cabins, among which would still be remarked one rude
mansion of wood, scarcely equal in comfort to a modern cottage, yet
there rising proudly eminent above the rest, where the Saxon lord,
surrounded by his faithful cotarii, enjoyed a rude and solitary
independence, having no superior but his sovereign."
This writer asks us to carry ourselves nine or ten centuries back, to
realize the picture which he has conceived. From the upland here in the
vicinity of Drynoch, less than half a century ago, gazing southwards
over the expanse thence to be commanded, we should have beheld a scene
closely resembling that which, as he supposed, was seen from the summit
of Pendle in the Saxon days; while at the present day we see everywhere,
throughout the same expanse, an approximation to the old mother-lands,
England, Ireland, and Scotland, in condition and appearance: in its
style of agriculture, and the character of its towns, villages, hamlets,
farm-houses, and country villas.
We now entered a region once occupied by a number of French military
refugees. During the revolution in France, at the close of the last
century, many of the devotees of the royalist cause passed over into
England, where, as elsewhere, they were known and spoken of as
_émigrés_. Amongst them were numerous officers of the regular army, all
of them, of course, of the noblesse order, or else, as the inherited
rule was, no commission in the King's service could have been theirs.
When now the royal cause became desperate, and they had suffered the
loss of all their worldly goods, the British Government of the day, in
its sympathy for the monarchical cause in France, offered them grants of
land in the newly organized province of Upper Canada.
Some of them availed themselves of the generosity of the British Crown.
Having been comrades in arms they desired to occupy a block of
contiguous lots. Whilst there was yet almost all western Canada to
choose from, by some chance these Oak Ridges, especially difficult to
bring under cultivation and somewhat sterile when subdued, were
preferred, partly perhaps through the influence of sentiment; they may
have discovered some resemblance to regions familiar to themselves in
their native land. Or in a mood inspired and made fashionable by
Rousseau they may have longed for a lodge in some vast wilderness, where
the "mortal coil" which had descended upon the old society of Europe
should no longer harass them. When twitted by the passing wayfarer who
had selected land in a more propitious situation, they would point to
the gigantic boles of the surrounding pines in proof of the intrinsic
excellence of the soil below, which must be good, they said, to nourish
such a vegetation.
After all, however, this particular locality may have been selected
rather for them than by them. On the early map of 1798 a range of nine
lots on each side of Yonge Street, just here in the Ridges, is bracketed
and marked, "French Royalists: by order of his Honor," _i.e._, the
President, Peter Russell. A postscript to the _Gazetteer_ of 1799 gives
the reader the information that "lands have been appropriated in the
year of York as a refuge for some French Royalists, and their settlement
has commenced."
On the Vaughan side, No. 56 was occupied conjointly by Michel Saigeon
and Francis Reneoux; No. 57 by Julien le Bugle; No. 58 by René Aug.
Comte de Chalûs, Amboise de Farcy and Quetton St. George conjointly; No.
59 by Quetton St. George; No. 60 by Jean Louis Vicomte de Chalûs. In
King, No. 61 by René Aug. Comte de Chalûs and Augustin Boiton
conjointly. On the Markham side: No. 52 is occupied by the Comte de
Puisaye; No. 53 by René Aug. Comte de Chalûs; No. 54 by Jean Louis
Vicomte de Chalûs and René Aug. Comte de Chalûs conjointly;--No. 55 by
Jean Louis Vicomte de Chalûs; No. 66 by le Chevalier de Marseuil and
Michael Fauchard conjointly; No. 57 by the Chev. de Marseuil; No. 58 by
René Letourneaux, Augustin Boiton and J. L. Vicomte de Chalûs
conjointly; No. 59 by Quetton St. George and Jean Furon conjointly; No.
60 by Amboise de Farcy. In Whitchurch, No. 61 by Michel Saigeon.
After felling the trees in a few acres of their respective allotments,
some of these emigrés withdrew from the country. Hence in the Ridges was
to be seen here and there the rather unusual sight of abandoned
clearings returning to a state of nature.
The officers styled Comte and Vicomte de Chalûs derived their title from
the veritable domain and castle of Chalûs in Normandy, associated in the
minds of young readers of English History with the death of Richard
Coeur de Lion. Jean Louis de Chalûs, whose name appears on numbers 54
and in 55 Markham and on other lots, was a Major-General in the Royal
Army of Brittany. At the balls given by the Governor and others at York,
the jewels of Madame la Comtesse created a great sensation, wholly
surpassing everything of the kind that had hitherto been seen by the
ladies of Upper Canada. Amboise de Farcy, of No. 58 in Vaughan and No.
60 in Markham, had also the rank of General. Augustin Boiton, of No. 48
in Markham and No. 61 in Vaughan, was a Lieutenant-Colonel.
The Comte de Puisaye, of No. 52 in Markham, figures conspicuously in the
contemporary accounts of the royalist struggle against the Convention.
He himself published in London in 1803 five octavo volumes of Memoirs,
justificatory of his proceedings in that contest. Carlyle in his "French
Revolution" speaks of de Puisaye's work, and, referring to the so-called
Calvados war, says that those who are curious in such matters may read
therein "how our Girondin National forces, _i.e._, the Moderates,
marching off with plenty of wind music, were drawn out about the old
château of Brécourt, in the wood-country near Vernon (in Brittany), to
meet the Mountain National forces (the Communist) advancing from Paris.
How on the fifteenth afternoon of July, 1793, they did meet:--and, as it
were, shrieked mutually, and took mutually to flight, without loss. How
Puisaye thereafter,--for the Mountain Nationals fled first, and we
thought ourselves the victors,--was roused from his warm bed in the
Castle of Brécourt and had to gallop without boots; our Nationals in the
night watches having fallen unexpectedly into _sauve qui peut_."
Carlyle alludes again to this misadventure, when approaching the subject
of the Quiberon expedition, two years later, towards the close of La
Vendée war. Affecting for the moment a prophetic tone, in his peculiar
way Carlyle proceeds thus, introducing at the close of his sketch de
Puisaye once more, who was in command of the invading force spoken of,
although not undividedly so. "In the month of July, 1795, English
ships," he says, "will ride in Quiberon roads. There will be debarkation
of chivalrous _ci-devants_, (_i.e._ ex-noblesse), of volunteer prisoners
of war--eager to desert; of fire-arms, proclamations, clothes chests,
royalists, and specie. Whereupon also, on the Republican side, there
will be rapid stand-to arms; with ambuscade-marchings by Quiberon beach
at midnight; storming of Fort Penthièvre; war-thunder mingling with the
roar of the mighty main; and such a morning light as has seldom dawned;
debarkation hurled back into its boats, or into the devouring billows,
with wreck and wail;--in one word, a _ci-devant_ Puisaye as totally
ineffectual here as he was at Calvados, when he rode from Vernon Castle
without boots."
The impression which Carlyle gives of M. de Puisaye is not greatly
bettered by what M. de Lamartine says of him in the _History of the
Girondists_, when speaking of him in connexion with the affair near the
Château of Brécourt. He is there ranked with adventurers rather than
heroes. "This man," de Lamartine says, "was at once an orator, a
diplomatist, and a soldier,--a character eminently adapted for civil
war, which produces more adventurers than heroes." De Lamartine
describes how, prior to the repulse at Château Brécourt, "M. de Puisaye
had passed a whole year concealed in a cavern in the midst of the
forests of Brittany, where, by his manoeuvres and correspondence he
kindled the fire of revolt against the republic." He professed to act in
the interest of the moderates, believing that, through his influence,
they would at last be induced to espouse heartily the cause of
constitutional royalty.
Thiers, in his "History of the French Revolution," vii. 146, speaks in
respectful terms of Puisaye. He says that "with great intelligence and
extraordinary skill in uniting the elements of a party, he combined
extreme activity of body and mind, and vast ambition:" and even after
Quiberon, Thiers says "it was certain that Puisaye had done all that lay
in his power." De Puisaye ended his days in England, in the
neighbourhood of London, in 1827.--In one of the letters of Mr. Surveyor
Jones we observe some of the improvements of the Oak Ridges spoken of as
"Puisaye's Town."
It is possibly to the settlement, then only in contemplation, of emigrés
here in the Oak Ridges of Yonge Street, that Burke alludes, when in his
Reflections on the French Revolution he says: "I hear that there are
considerable emigrations from France, and that many, quitting that
voluptuous climate and that seductive Circean liberty, have taken refuge
in the frozen regions, and under the British despotism, of Canada."
"The frozen regions of Canada," the great rhetorician's expression in
this place, has become a stereotyped phrase with declaimers. The reports
of the first settlers at Tadousac and Quebec made an indelible
impression on the European mind. To this day in transatlantic
communities, it is realized only to a limited extent that Canada has a
spring, summer and autumn as well as a winter, and that her skies wear
an aspect not always gloomy and inhospitable. "British despotism" is, of
course, ironically said, and means, in reality, British constitutional
freedom. (In some instances these Royalist officers appear to have
accepted commissions from the British Crown, and so to have become
nominally entitled to grants of land.)
There are some representatives of the original émigrés still to be met
with in the neighbourhood of the Oak Ridges; but they have not in every
instance continued to be seised of the lands granted in 1798. The Comte
de Chalûs, son of René Augustin, retains property here; but he resides
in Montreal.
An estate, however, at the distance of one lot eastward from Yonge
Street, in Whitchurch, is yet in the actual occupation of a direct
descendant of one of the first settlers in this region. Mr. Henry
Quetton St. George here engages with energy in the various operations of
a practical farmer, on land inherited immediately from his father, the
Chevalier de St. George, at the same time dispensing to his many friends
a refined hospitality. If at Glenlonely the circular turrets and pointed
roofs of the old French château are not to be seen,--what is of greater
importance, the amenities and gentle life of the old French château are
to be found. Moreover, by another successful enterprise added to
agriculture, the present proprietor of Glenlonely has brought it to pass
that the name of St. George is no longer suggestive, as in the first
instance it was, of wars in La Vendée and fightings on the Garonne and
Dordogne, but redolent in Canada, far and wide, only of vineyards in
Languedoc and of pleasant wines from across the Pyrenees.
A large group of superior farm buildings, formerly seen on the right
just after the turn which leads to Glenlonely, bore the graceful name of
Larchmere,--an appellation glancing at the mere or little lake within
view of the windows of the house: a sheet of water more generally known
as Lake Willcocks--so called from an early owner of the spot, Col.
Willcocks, of whom we have spoken in another section. Larchmere was for
some time the home of his great grandson, William Willcocks Baldwin. The
house has since been destroyed by fire.
Just beneath the surface of the soil on the borders of the lakelets of
the Ridges, was early noticed a plentiful deposit of white shell-marl,
resembling the substance brought up from the oozy floor of the Atlantic
in the soundings preparatory to laying the telegraph-cable. It was, in
fact, incipient chalk. It used to be employed in the composition of a
whitewash for walls and fences. It may since have been found of value as
a manure. In these quarters, as elsewhere in Canada, fine specimens of
the antlers of the Wapiti, or great American stag, were occasionally dug
up.
The summit level of the Ridges was now reached, the most elevated land
in this part of the basin of the St. Lawrence; a height, however, after
all, of only about eight hundred feet above the level of the sea. The
attention of the wayfarer was hereabout always directed to a small
stream, which the road crossed, flowing out of Lake Willcocks: and then
a short distance further on, he was desired to notice a slight swale or
shallow morass on the left. The stream in question, he was told, was the
infant Humber, just starting south for Lake Ontario; while the swale or
morass, he was assured, was a feeder of the east branch of the Holland
River, flowing north into Lake Simcoe.
Notwithstanding the comparative nearness to each other of the waters of
the Holland and the Humber, thus made visible to the eye, the earliest
project of a canal in these parts was, as has once before been observed,
for the connection, not of the Holland river and the Humber, but of the
Holland river and the Rouge or Nen. The Mississaga Indians attached
great importance to the Rouge and its valley as a link in one of their
ancient trails between Huron and Ontario; and they seem to have imparted
to the first white men their own notions on the subject. "It apparently
rises," says the _Gazetteer_ of 1799, speaking of the Rouge or Nen, "in
the vicinity of one of the branches of Holland's river, with which it
will probably, at some future period, be connected by a canal." A
"proposed canal" is accordingly here marked on one of the first
manuscript maps of Upper Canada.
Father St. Lawrence and Father Mississippi pour their streams--so
travellers assure us--from urns situated at no great distance apart.
Lake Itaska and its vicinity, just west of Lake Superior, possess a
charm for this reason. In like manner, to compare small things with
great, the particular quarter of the Ridges where the waters of the
Humber and the Holland used to be seen in near proximity to each other,
had always with ourselves a special interest. Two small lakes, called
respectively Lake Sproxton and Lake Simon, important feeders of the
Rouge, a little to the east of the Glenlonely property, are situated
very close to the streams that pass into the east branch of the Holland
river; so that the conjecture of the author of the _Gazetteer_ was a
good one. He says, "apparently the sources of the Rouge and Holland lie
near each other."
After passing the notable locality of the Ridges just spoken of, the
land began perceptibly to decline; and soon emerging from the confused
glens and hillocks and woods that had long on every side been hedging in
the view, we suddenly came out upon a brow where a wide prospect was
obtained, stretching far to the north, and far to the east and west.
From such an elevation the acres here and there denuded of their woods
by the solitary axemen could not be distinguished; accordingly, the
panorama presented here for many a year continued to be exactly that
which met the eyes of the first exploring party from York in 1793.
As we used to see it, it seemed in effect to be an unbroken forest; in
the foreground bold and billowy and of every variety of green; in the
middle distance assuming neutral, indistinct tints, as it dipped down
into what looked like a wide vale; then apparently rising by successive
gentle stages, coloured now deep violet, now a tender blue, up to the
line of the sky. In a depression in the far horizon, immediately in
front, was seen the silvery sheen of water. This, of course, was the
lake known since 1793 as Lake Simcoe; but previously spoken of by the
French sometimes as Lake Sinion or Sheniong; sometimes as Lake
Ouentironk, Ouentaron, and Toronto--the very name which is so familiar
to us now, as appertaining to a locality thirty miles southward of this
lake.
The French also in their own tongue sometimes designated it, perhaps for
some reason connected with fishing operations, _Lac aux Claies_, Hurdle
Lake. Thus in the _Gazetteer_ of 1799 we have "Simcoe Lake: formerly
Lake aux Claies, Ouentironk, Sheniong, situated between York and
Gloucester upon Lake Huron: it has a few small islands and several good
harbours." And again on another page of the same _Gazetteer_, we have
the article: "Toronto Lake (or Toronto): lake le Clie [_i. e._ Lac aux
Claies] was formerly so called by some: (others," the same article
proceeds to say, "called the chain of lakes from the vicinity of
Matchedash towards the head of the Bay of Quinté, the Toronto lakes and
the communication from the one to the other was called the Toronto
river:" whilst in another place in the _Gazetteer_ we have the
information given us that the Humber was also styled the Toronto river,
thus: "Toronto river, called by some St. John's; now called the
Humber.")
The region of which we here obtained a kind of Pisgah view, where
"The bursting prospect spreads immense around"
on the northern brow of the Ridges, is a classic one, renowned in the
history of the Wyandots or Hurons, and in the early French missionary
annals.
It did not chance to enter into the poet Longfellow's plan to lay the
scene of any portion of his song of Hiawatha so far to the eastward; and
the legends gathered by him
From the great lakes of the Northland,
From the mountains, moors and fenlands,
Where the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah,
Feeds among the reeds and rushes--
tell of an era just anterior to the period when this district becomes
invested with interest for us. Francis Parkman, however, in an agreeably
written work, entitled "The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth
Century," has dwelt somewhat at length on the history of this locality,
which is the well-peopled Toronto region, _lieu où il y a beaucoup de
gens_, of which we have formerly spoken. (p. 74.)
In the early Reports of the Jesuit fathers themselves, too, this area
figures largely. They, in fact, constructed a map, which must have led
the central mission-board of their association, at Rome, to believe that
this portion of Western Canada was as thickly strewn with villages and
towns as a district of equal area in old France. In the "Chorographia
Regionis Huronum," attached to Father du Creux's Map of New France, of
the date 1660, given in Bressani's Abridgment of "the Relations," we
have the following places conspicuously marked as stations or
sub-missions in the peninsula bounded by Notawasaga bay, Matchedash or
Sturgeon bay, the river Severn, Lake Couchichin, and Lake Simcoe,
implying population in and round each of them:--St. Xavier, St. Charles,
St. Louis, St. Ignatius, St. Denis, St. Joachim, St. Athanasius, St.
Elizabeth, St. John the Baptist, St. Joseph, St. Mary, St. Michael, La
Conception, St. Mary Magdalene, and others.
(In Schoolcraft's American Indians, p. 130, ed. 1851, the scene of the
story of Aingodon and Naywadaha is laid at Toronto, by which a spot
near Lake Simcoe seems to be meant, and not the trading-post of Toronto
on Lake Ontario.)
But we must push on. The end of our journey is in sight. The impediments
to our advance have been innumerable, but unavoidable. In spite of
appearances, "Semper ad eventum festina," has all along been secretly
goading us forward.
The farmhouses and their surroundings in the Quaker settlement through
which, after descending from the Ridges on the northern side, we passed,
came to be notable at an early date for a characteristic neatness,
completeness, and visible judiciousness; and for an air of enviable
general comfort and prosperity. The farmers here were emigrants chiefly
from Pennsylvania. Coming from a quarter where large tracts had been
rapidly transformed by human toil from a state of nature to a condition
of high cultivation, they brought with them an inherited experience in
regard to such matters; and on planting themselves down in the midst of
an unbroken wild, they regarded the situation with more intelligence
perhaps than the ordinary emigrant from the British Islands and interior
of Germany, and so, unretarded by blunders and by doubts as to the
issue, were enabled very speedily to turn their industry to profitable
account.
The old _Gazetteer_ of 1799 speaks in an exalted sentimental strain of
an emigration then going on from the United States into Canada. "The
loyal peasant," it says, "sighing after the government he lost by the
late revolution, travels from Pennsylvania in search of his former laws
and protection; and having his expectations fulfilled by new marks of
favour from the Crown in a grant of lands, he turns his plough at once
into these fertile plains [the immediate reference is to the
neighbourhood of Woodhouse on Lake Erie], and an abundant crop reminds
him of his gratitude to his God and to his king."
We do not know for certain whether the Quaker settlers of the region
north of the Ridges came into Canada under the influence of feelings
exactly such as those described by the _Gazetteer_ of 1799. In 1806,
however, we find them coming forward in a body to congratulate a new
Lieutenant-Governor on his arrival in Upper Canada. In the _Gazette_ of
Oct. 4, 1806, we read: "On Tuesday, the 30th September (1806), the
following address from the Quakers residing on Yonge Street was
presented to his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor: "The Society of the
people called Quakers, to Francis Gore, Governor of Upper Canada,
sendeth greeting. Notwithstanding we are a people who hold forth to the
world a principle which in many respects differs from the greater part
of mankind, yet we believe it our reasonable duty, as saith the Apostle,
'Submit yourselves unto every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake,
whether it be the king as supreme, or unto governors as unto them that
are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of
them that do well:' in this we hope to be his humble and peaceful
subjects. Although we cannot for conscience sake join with many of our
fellow-mortals in complimentary customs of man, neither in taking up the
sword in order to shed human blood--for the Scripture saith that 'it is
righteousness that exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any
people'--we feel concerned for thy welfare and the prosperity of the
province, hoping thy administration may be such as to be a terror to the
evil-minded and a pleasure to them that do well: then will the province
flourish and prosper under thy direction; which is the earnest desire
and prayer of thy sincere friends.--Read and approved in Yonge Street
monthly meeting, held the 18th day of the ninth month, 1806. Timothy
Rogers and Amos Armitage are appointed to attend on the Governor
therewith." Signed by order of the said meeting, Nathaniel Pearson,
clerk."
To this address, characteristic alike in the peculiar syntax of its
sentences and in the well-meant platitudes to which it gives expression,
his Excellency was pleased to return the following answer: "I return you
my thanks for your dutiful address and for your good wishes for my
welfare and prosperity of this province. I have no doubt of your proving
peaceful and good subjects to his Majesty, as well as industrious and
respectable members of society. I shall at all times be happy to afford
to such persons my countenance and support. Francis Gore,
Lieut.-Governor. Government House, York, Upper Canada, 30th Sept.,
1806."
The Timothy Rogers here named bore a leading part in the first
establishment of the Quaker settlement. He and Jacob Lundy were the two
original managers of its affairs. On the arrival of Governor Peter
Hunter, predecessor to Gov. Gore, Timothy Rogers and Jacob Lundy with a
deputation from the settlement, came into town to complain to him of the
delay which they and their co-religionists had experienced in obtaining
the patents for their lands.
Governor Hunter, who was also Commander-in-Chief and a Lieut.-General in
the army, received them in the garrison, and after hearing how on coming
to York on former occasions they had been sent about from one office to
another for a reply to their inquiries about the patents, he requested
them to come to him again the next day at noon. Orders were at the same
instant despatched to Mr. D. W. Smith, the Surveyor-General, to Mr.
Small, Clerk of the Executive Council, to Mr. Burns, Clerk of the Crown,
and to Mr. Jarvis, Secretary and Registrar of the Province (all of whom
it appeared at one time or another had failed to reply satisfactorily to
the Quakers), to wait at the same hour on the Lieut.-Governor, bringing
with them, each respectively, such papers and memoranda as might be in
their possession, having relation to patents for lands in Whitchurch and
King.
Governor Hunter had a reputation for considerable severity of character;
and all functionaries, from the judge on the bench to the humblest
employé, held office in those days very literally during pleasure.
"These gentlemen complain,"--the personages above enumerated having duly
appeared, together with the deputation from Yonge Street--"These
gentlemen complain," the Governor said, pointing to the Quakers, "that
they cannot get their patents."
Each of the official personages present offered in succession some
indistinct observations; expressive it would seem of a degree of regret,
and hinting exculpatory reasons, so far as he individually was
concerned.
On closer interrogation, one thing however came out very clear, that the
order for the patents was more than twelve months old.
At length the onus of blame seemed to settle down on the head of the
Secretary and Registrar, Mr. Jarvis, who could only say that really the
pressure of business in his office was so great that he had been
absolutely unable, up to the present moment, to get ready the particular
patents referred to.
"Sir!" was the Governor's immediate rejoinder, "if they are not
forthcoming, every one of them, and placed in the hands of these
gentlemen here in my presence at noon on Thursday next (it was now
Tuesday), by George! I'll un-Jarvis you!"--implying, as we suppose, a
summary congé as Secretary and Registrar.
It is needless to say that Mr. Rogers and his colleagues of the
deputation carried back with them to Whitchurch lively accounts of the
vigour and rigour of the new Governor--as well as their patents.
General Hunter was very peremptory in his dismissals occasionally. In a
_Gazette_ of July 16, 1803, is to be seen an ominous announcement that
the Governor is going to be very strict with the Government clerks in
regard to hours: "Lieut.-Governor's office, 21st June, 1803. Notice is
hereby given that regular attendance for the transaction of the public
business of the Province will in future be given at the office of the
Secretary of the Province, the Executive Council office, and the
Surveyor-General's office, every day in the year (Sundays, Good Friday,
and Christmas day only excepted) from ten o'clock in the morning until
three in the afternoon, and from five o'clock in the afternoon until
seven in the evening. By order of the Lieutenant-Governor, Jas. Green,
Secretary."
Soon after the appearance of this notice, it happened one forenoon that
young Alexander Macnab, a clerk in one of the public offices, was
innocently watching the Governor's debarkation from a boat, preparatory
to his being conveyed up to the Council-chamber in a sedan-chair which
was in waiting for him. The youth suddenly caught his Excellency's eye,
and was asked--"What business he had to be there? Did he not belong to
the Surveyor-General's office? Sir! your services are no longer
required!"
For this same young Macnab, thus summarily dismissed, Governor Hunter,
we have been told, procured subsequently a commission. He attained the
rank of captain and met a soldier's fate on the field of Waterloo, the
only Upper Canadian known to have been engaged or to have fallen in that
famous battle. (We have before mentioned that so late as 1868, Captain
Macnab's Waterloo medal was presented, by the Duke of Cambridge
personally, to the Rev. Dr. Macnab, of Bowmanville, nephew of the
deceased officer.)
Two stray characteristic items relating to Governor Hunter may here be
subjoined. The following was his brief reply to the Address of the
Inhabitants of York on his arrival there in 1799:--"Gentlemen, nothing
that is in my power shall be wanting to contribute to the happiness and
welfare of this colony." (_Gazette_, Aug. 24, 1799)--At Niagara, an
Address from "the mechanics and husbandmen" was refused by him, on the
ground that an address professedly from the inhabitants generally had
been presented already. On this, the _Constellation_ of Sep. 10 (1799),
prints the following "anecdote," which is a hit at Gov. Hunter.
"Anecdote.--When Governor Simcoe arrived at Kingston on his way here to
take upon him the government of the Province, the magistrates and
gentlemen of that town presented him with a very polite address. It was
politely and verbally answered. The inhabitants of the country and town,
who move not in the upper circles, presented theirs. And this also his
Excellency very politely answered, and the answer being in writing, is
carefully preserved to this day."
Among the patents carried home by Mr. Timothy Rogers, above named, were
at least seven in which he was more or less personally interested. His
own lot was 95 on the west or King side of Yonge Street. Immediately in
front of him on the Whitchurch or east side, on lots 91, 92, 93, 94, 95,
and 96, all in a row, were enjoyed by sons or near relatives of his,
bearing the names respectively of Rufus Rogers, Asa Rogers, Isaac
Rogers, Wing Rogers, James Rogers, and Obadiah Rogers.
Mr. Lundy's name does not appear among those of the original patentees;
but lots or portions of lot in the "Quaker Settlement" are marked at an
earlier period with the names of Shadrach Lundy, Oliver Lundy, Jacob
Lundy, Reuben Lundy, and perhaps more.
In the region just beyond the Ridges there were farmers also of the
community known as Mennonists or Tunkers. Long beards, when such
appendages were rarities, dangling hair, antique-shaped, buttonless,
home-spun coats, and wide-brimmed low-crowned hats, made these persons
conspicuous in the street. On the seat of a loaded country-waggon, or on
the back of a solitary rustic nag, would now and then be seen a man of
this community, who might pass for John Huss or John á Lasco, as
represented in the pictures. It was always curious to gaze upon these
waifs and strays from old Holland, perpetuating, or at least trying to
perpetuate, on a new continent, customs and notions originating in the
peculiar circumstances of obscure localities in another hemisphere three
hundred years ago.
Simon Menno, the founder and prophet of the Mennonists, was a native of
Friesland in 1496. He advocated the utmost rigour of life. Although
there are, as we are informed, modernized Mennonists now in Holland, at
Amsterdam, for example, who are distinguished for luxury in their
tables, their equipages and their country seats, yet a sub-section of
the community known as Uke-Wallists, from one Uke Walles, adhere to the
primitive strictness enjoined by Menno. Their apparel, we are told, is
mean beyond expression, and they avoid everything that has the most
distant appearance of elegance or ornament. They let their beards grow
to an enormous length; their hair, uncombed, lies in a disorderly manner
on their shoulders; their countenances are marked with the strongest
lines of dejection and melancholy; and their habitations and household
furniture are such as are only fitted to answer the demands of mere
necessity. "We shall not enlarge," Mosheim adds, "upon the circumstances
of their ritual, but only observe that they prevent all attempts to
alter or modify their religious discipline, by preserving their people
from everything that bears the remotest aspect of learning and science;
from whatever, in a word, that may have a tendency to enlighten their
devout ignorance."
The sympathies of our primitive Tunkers beyond the Ridges, were, as we
may suppose, with this section of the fatherland Mennonists.
Thus, to get the clue to social phenomena which we see around us here in
Canada, we have to concern ourselves occasionally with uninviting pages,
not only of Irish, Scottish and English religious history, but of German
and Netherlandish religious history likewise. Pity 'tis, in some
respects, that on a new continent our immigrants could not have made a
_tabula rasa_ of the past, and taken a start _de novo_ on another
level--a higher one; on a new gauge--a widened one.
Though only a minute fraction of our population, an exception was early
made by the local parliament in favour of the Mennonists or Tunkers,
allowing them to make affirmations in the Courts, like the Quakers, and
to compound for military service.--Like Lollard, Quaker and some other
similar terms, Tunker, _i. e._ Dipper, was probably at first used in a
spirit of ridicule.
_Digression to Newmarket and Sharon._
When Newmarket came in view off to the right, a large portion of the
traffic of the street turned aside for a certain distance out of the
straight route to the north, in that direction.
About this point the ancient dwellers at York used to take note of signs
that they had passed into a higher latitude. Half a degree to the south
of their homes--at Niagara, for example--they were in the land, if not
of the citron and myrtle, certainly of the tulip-tree and pawpaw--where
the edible chestnut grew plentifully in the natural woods, and the peach
luxuriantly flourished.
Now, half a degree the other way, in the tramontane region north of the
Ridges, they found themselves in the presence of a vegetation that spoke
of an advance, however minute, towards the pole. Here, all along the
wayside, beautiful specimens of the spruce-pine and balsam-fir,
strangers in the forest about York, were encountered. Sweeping the sward
with their drooping branches and sending up their dark green spires high
in the air, these trees were always regarded with interest, and desired
as graceful objects worthy to be transferred to the lawn or ornamental
shrubbery.
A little way off the road, on the left, just before the turn leading to
Newmarket, was the great Quaker meeting-house of this region--the
"Friends' Meeting-house"--a building of the usual plain cast, generally
seen with its solid shutters closed up. This was the successor of the
first Quaker meeting-house in Upper Canada. Here Mr. Joseph John Gurney,
the eminent English Quaker, who travelled on this continent in 1837-40,
delivered several addresses, with a view especially to the re-uniting,
if possible, of the Orthodox and the Hicksites.
Gourlay, in his "Statistical Account of Upper Canada," took note that
this Quaker meeting-house and a wooden chapel at Hogg's Hollow,
belonging to the Church of England, were the only two places of public
worship to be seen on Yonge Street between York and the Holland
Landing--a distance, he says, of nearly forty miles. This was in 1817.
Following now the wheel-marks of clearly the majority of vehicles
travelling on the street, we turn aside to Newmarket.
Newmarket had for its germ or nucleus the mills and stores of Mr. Elisha
Beaman, who emigrated hither from the State of New York in 1806. Here
also, on the branch of the Holland river, mills at an early date were
established by Mr. Mordecai Millard, and tanneries by Mr. Joseph Hill.
Mr. Beaman's mills became subsequently the property of Mr. Peter
Robinson, who was Commissioner of Crown Lands in 1827, and one of the
representatives of the united counties of York and Simcoe; and
afterwards, the property of his brother, Mr. W. B. Robinson, who for a
time resided here, and for a number of years represented the County of
Simcoe in the provincial parliament. Most gentlemen travelling north or
to the north-west brought with them, from friends in York, a note of
commendation to Mr. Robinson, whose friendly and hospitable disposition
were well known:
"Fast by the road his ever-open door
Oblig'd the wealthy and reliev'd the poor."
Governors, Commodores, and Commanders-in-chief, on their tours of
pleasure or duty, were glad to find a momentary resting-place at a
refined domestic fireside. Here Sir John Franklin was entertained for
some days in 1835: and at other periods, Sir John Ross and Capt. Back,
when on their way to the Arctic regions.
In 1847, Mr. W. B. Robinson was Commissioner of Public Works; and, at a
later period, one of the Chief Commissioners of the Canada Company. Mr.
Peter Robinson was instrumental in settling the region in which our
Canadian Peterborough is situated, and from him that town has its name.
At Newmarket was long engaged in prosperous business Mr. John Cawthra, a
member of the millionaire family of that name. Mr. John Cawthra was the
first representative in the Provincial Parliament of the County of
Simcoe, after the separation from the County of York. In 1812, Mr. John
Cawthra and his brother Jonathan were among the volunteers who offered
themselves for the defence of the country. Though by nature inclined to
peace, they were impelled to this by a sincere sense of duty. At
Detroit, John assisted in conveying across the river in scows the heavy
guns which were expected to be wanted in the attack on the Fort. On the
slopes at Queenston, Jonathan had a hair-breadth escape. At the
direction of his officer, he moved from the rear to the front of his
company, giving place to a comrade, who the following instant had a
portion of his leg carried away by a shot from Fort Gray, on the
opposite side of the river. Also at Queenston, John, after personally
cautioning Col. Macdonell against rashly exposing himself, as he seemed
to be doing, was called on a few minutes afterwards, to aid in carrying
that officer to the rear, mortally wounded.
With Newmarket too is associated the name of Mr. William Roe, a merchant
there since 1814, engaged at one time largely in the fur-trade. It was
Mr. Roe who saved from capture a considerable portion of the public
funds, when York fell into the hands of General Dearborn and Commodore
Chauncey in 1813. Mr. Roe was at the time an employé in the office of
the Receiver General, Prideaux Selby; and by the order of General
Sheaffe and the Executive Council he conveyed three bags of gold and a
large sum in army-bills to the farm of Chief Justice Robinson, on the
Kingston road east of the Don bridge, and there buried them.
The army-bills were afterwards delivered up to the enemy; but the gold
remained secreted until the departure of the invaders, and was handed
over to the authorities in Dr. Strachan's parlour by Mr. Roe. The
Receiver General's iron chest was also removed by Mr. Roe and deposited
in the premises of Mr. Donald McLean, Clerk of the House of Assembly.
Mr. McLean was killed while bravely opposing the landing of the
Americans, and his house was plundered; the strong chest was broken open
and about one thousand silver dollars were taken therefrom.
The name of Mr. Roe's partner at Newmarket, Mr. Andrew Borland, is
likewise associated with the taking of York in 1813. He was made
prisoner in the fight, and in the actual struggle against capture he
received six severe rifle wounds, from the effects of which he never
wholly recovered. He had also been engaged at Queenston and Detroit.
In the Report of the Loyal and Patriotic Society of Upper Canada, we
have an entry made of a donation of sixty dollars to Mr. Andrew Borland
on the 11th June, 1813, with the note appended: "The committee of the
Loyal and Patriotic Society voted this sum to Mr. Borland for his
patriotic and eminent services at Detroit, Queenston and York, at which
latter place he was severely wounded."
We also learn from the Report that Mr. D'Arcy Boulton had presented a
petition to the Society in favour of Mr. Borland. The members of
committee present at the meeting held June 11th, 1813, were Rev. Dr.
Strachan, chairman, Wm. Chewett, Esq., Wm. Allan, Esq., John Small,
Esq., and Alex. Wood, Esq., secretary: and the minutes state that "The
petition of D'Arcy Boulton, Esq., a member of the Society, in favour of
Andrew Borland, was taken into consideration, and the sum of Sixty
Dollars was voted to him, on account of his patriotic and eminent
services at Detroit, Queenston and York, at which latter place he was
most severely wounded." Mr. Borland had been a clerk in Mr. Boulton's
store. In the order to pay the money, signed by Alexander Wood, Mr.
Borland is styled "a volunteer in the York Militia." He afterwards had a
pension of Twenty Pounds a year.
In 1838 his patriotic ardour was not quenched. During the troubles of
that period he undertook the command of 200 Indians who had volunteered
to fight in defence of the rights of the Crown of England, if there
should be need. They were stationed for a time at the Holland Landing,
but their services were happily not required.
From being endowed with great energy of character, and having also a
familiar knowledge of the native dialects, Mr. Borland had great
influence with the Indian tribes frequenting the coasts of Lakes Huron
and Simcoe. Mr. Roe likewise, in his dealings with the aborigines, had
acquired a considerable facility in speaking the Otchibway dialect, and
had much influence among the natives.
Let us not omit to record, too, that at Newmarket, not very many years
since, was successfully practising a grandson of Sir William Blackstone,
the commentator on the Laws of England--Mr. Henry Blackstone, whose
conspicuous talents gave promise of an eminence in his profession not
unworthy of the name he bore. But his career was cut short by death.
The varied character of colonial society, especially in its early crude
state, the living elements mixed up in it, and the curious changes and
interchanges that take place in the course of its development and
consolidation, receive illustrations from ecclesiastical as well as
civil annals.
We ourselves remember the church-edifice of the Anglican communion at
Newmarket when it was an unplastered, unlathed clap-board shell, having
repeatedly officiated in it while in that stage of its existence. Since
then the congregation represented by this clap-board shell have had as
pastors men like the following: a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin,
not undistinguished in his University, a protégé of the famous
Archbishop Magee, a co-worker for a time of the distinguished Dr. Walter
Farquhar Hook, of Leeds, and minister of one of the modern churches
there--the Rev. Robert Taylor, afterwards of Peterborough here in
Canada. And since his incumbency, they have been ministered to by a
former vicar of a prominent church in London, St. Michael's, Burleigh
Street, a dependency of St. Martin's in Trafalgar Square--the Rev.
Septimus Ramsay, who was also long the chief secretary and manager of a
well-known Colonial Missionary Society which had its headquarters in
London.
While, on the other hand, an intervening pastor of the same
congregation, educated for the ministry here in Canada and admitted to
Holy Orders here, was transferred from Newmarket first to the vicarage
of Somerton in Somersetshire, England, and, secondly, to the rectory of
Clenchwarden in the county of Norfolk in England--the Rev. R. Athill.
And another intervening incumbent was, after having been also trained
for the ministry and admitted to orders here in Canada, called
subsequently to clerical work in the United States, being finally
appointed one of the canons of the cathedral church at Chicago, by
Bishop Whitehouse of Illinois: this was the Rev. G. C. Street, a near
relative of the distinguished English architect of that name, designer
and builder of the New Law Courts in London.
As to the name "Newmarket"--in its adoption there was no desire to set
up in Canada a memorial of the famous English Cambridgeshire racing
town. The title chosen for the place was an announcement to this effect:
"Here is an additional mart for the convenience of an increased
population: a place where farmers and others may purchase and exchange
commodities without being at the trouble of a journey to York or
elsewhere." The name of the Canadian Newmarket, in fact, arose as
probably that of the English Newmarket itself arose, when first
established as a newly-opened place of trade for the primitive farmers
and others of East Anglia and Mercia in the Anglo-Saxon period.
It deserves to be added that the English church at Newmarket was, a few
years back, to some extent endowed by a generous gift of valuable land
made by Dr. Beswick, a bachelor medical man, whose large white house on
a knoll by the wayside was always noted by the traveller from York as he
turned aside from Yonge Street for Newmarket.
Proceeding onwards now from Newmarket, we speedily come to the village
of Sharon (or Hope as it was once named), situated also off the direct
northern route of Yonge Street.
David Willson, the great notability and founder of the place, had been
in his younger days a sailor, and, as such, had visited the Chinese
ports. After joining the Quakers, he taught for a time amongst them as a
schoolmaster. For some proceeding of his, or for some peculiarity of
religious opinion, difficult to define, he was cut off from the Hicksite
sub-division of the Quaker body. He then began the formation of a
denomination of his own. In the bold policy of giving to his personal
ideas an outward embodiment in the form of a conspicuous Temple, he
anticipated the shrewd prophets of the Mormons, Joseph and Hiram Smith.
Willson's building was erected about 1825. Nauvoo was not commenced
until the spring of 1840.
In a little pamphlet published at Philadelphia in 1815, Willson gives
the following account of himself: "I, the writer," he says, "was born of
Presbyterian parents in the county of Dutchess, state of New York, in
North America. In 1801 I removed with my family into this province
(Upper Canada), and after a few years became a member of the Society of
the Quakers at my own request, as I chose a spiritual people for my
brethren and sisters in religion. But after I had been a member thereof
about seven years, I began to speak something of my knowledge of God or
a Divine Being in the heart, soul or mind of man, all which signifies
the same to my understanding,--but my language was offensive, my spirit
was abhorred, my person was disdained, my company was forsaken by my
brethren and sisters. After which I retired from the society and was
disowned by them for so doing; but several retired with me and were
disowned also, because they would not unite in the disowning and
condemning the fruits of my spirit; for, as I had been accounted a
faithful member of the society for many years, they did not like to be
hasty in condemnation. Therefore we became a separate people, and
assembled ourselves together under a separate order which I immediately
formed. After I retired from my former meetings--as our discipline led
to peace with all people more than any one in my knowledge--we called
ourselves Children of Peace, because we were but young therein."
The following account of the Temple erected by Willson at Sharon is by a
visitor to the village in 1835. "The building," says Mr. Patrick
Shirreff in his "Tour through North America," published in Edinburgh in
1835, "is of wood painted white externally, seventy feet high; and
consists of three storeys. The first is sixty feet square, with a door
in the centre of each side and three large windows on each side of the
door. On two sides there is a representation of the setting sun and the
word 'Armageddon' inscribed below. The second storey is twenty-seven
feet square with three windows on each side; and the third storey nine
feet square with one window on each side.
"The corners of each of the storeys are terminated by square lanterns,
with gilded mountings; and the termination of the building is a gilded
ball of considerable size. The interior was filled with wooden chairs
placed round sixteen pillars, in the centre of which is a square cabinet
of black walnut with a door and windows on each side. There was a table
in the centre of the cabinet covered with black velvet, hung with
crimson merino and fringe, in which was deposited a Bible. On the four
central pillars were painted the words Faith, Hope, Charity, and Love;
and on the twelve others, the names of the Apostles. The central pillars
seemed to support the second storey; and at the foot of each was a table
covered with green cloth. The house was without ornament, being painted
fawn, green and white; and had not a pulpit or place for addressing an
audience. It is occupied once a month for collecting charity; and
contains 2,952 panes of glass, and is lighted once a year with 116
candles."
The materials of the frame-work of the Temple were, as we have been
told, prepared at a distance from the site, and run rapidly up as far as
possible without noise, in imitation of the building of Solomon's
Temple. By the side of the principal edifice stood a structure 100 feet
by 50 feet, used for ordinary meetings on Sundays. On the first Friday
in September used to be an annual feast, when the Temple was
illuminated. In this was an organ built by Mr. Coates of York.
David was an illiterate mystic, as his writings shew, in which, when the
drift of his maundering is made out, there is nothing new or remarkable
to be discerned.
At the close of the war of 1812-13-14, he appears to have been under the
impression that the Government designed to banish him as a seditious
person, under c. 1. 44 Geo. III. He accordingly published a document
deprecating such action. It was thus headed: "Address to thy Crown, O
England, and thy great name. I write as follows to all the inhabitants
thereof." In the course of it he says: "After I have written, I will
leave God to judge between you and me; and also to make judges of you,
whether you will receive my ministry in your land in peace, yea or nay.
. . . Ye are great indeed. I cannot help that, neither do I want to; but
am willing ye should remain great in the sight of God, although I am but
small therein, in the things thereof. Now choose whether I should or
might be your servant in these things, yea or nay. As I think, it would
be a shame for a minister to be banished from your nation for preaching
the gospel of peace therein. I am a man," he continues, "under the
visitation of God's power in your land; and many scandalous reports are
in circulation against me. The intent of the spirit of the thing is to
put me to flight from your dominions, or that I should be imprisoned
therein. For which cause I, as a dutiful subject, make myself known
hereby unto you of great estate in the world, lest your minds should be
affected and stirred up against me without a cause by your inferiors,
who seek to do evil to the works of God, whenever the Almighty is trying
to do you good."
In some verses of the same date as this address to the home authorities,
viz., 1815, he refers to the peril he supposed himself to be in. A
stanza or two will suffice as a specimen of his poetical productions,
which are all of the same Sternhold and Hopkins type, with the
disadvantage of great grammatical irregularity. Thus he sings: (The tone
of the _ci-devant_ Jack-tar is perhaps to be slightly detected.)
The powers of hell are now combin'd--
With war against me rage:
But in my God my soul's resigned--
The rock of every age, &c.
Some thou doth set in king's estate,
And some on earth must serve;
And some hath gold and silver plate,
When others almost starve, &c.
The earth doth hunger for my blood,
And Satan for my soul;
And men my flesh for daily food,
That they may me control, &c.
If God doth give what I receive
The same is due to thee;
And thou in spirit must believe
In gospel liberty, &c.
It's also mine, by George our king,
The ruler of my day;
And yet if I dishonour bring,
Cut short my feeble stay, &c.
For this is in your hearts to do,
Ye inferiors of the earth;
And it's in mine to do so too,
And stop that cursed birth, &c.
The style of a volume entitled "Impressions"--a kind of Alcoran, which
used formerly to be sold to visitors in the Temple--does not rise much
above the foregoing, either in its verse or prose.
What Mosheim says of Menno's books, may be said with at least equal
truth of Willson's: "An extensively diffuse and rambling style, frequent
and unnecessary repetitions, an irregular and confused method, with
other defects of equal moment, render the perusal of the productions
highly disagreeable." Nevertheless, the reduction of his solitary
meditations to writing had, we may conceive, a pious operation and
effect on Willson's own spirit; and the perusal of them may, in the
simple-minded few who still profess to be his followers, have a like
operation and effect, even when in the reading constrained, with poor
monk Felix, to confess that, though believing, they do not understand.
The worthy man neither won martyrdom nor suffered exile; but lived on in
great worldly prosperity here in Sharon, reverenced by his adherents as
a sort of oracle, and flattered by attentions from successive political
leaders on account of the influence which he might be supposed locally
to possess--down to the year 1866, when he died in peace, aged
eighty-nine years and seven months.
Of Willson's periodical missionary expeditions into town, we have spoken
in another connection.
We return now to the great northern route, from which we have been
deviating, and hasten on with all speed to the Landing. We place
ourselves at the point on Yonge Street where we turned off to Newmarket.
Proceeding onward, we saw almost immediately, on the left, the
conspicuous dwelling of Mr. Irving--the Hon. Jacob Æmilius Irving, a
name historical in Canada, a Paulus Æmilius Irving having been
Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in British America in 1765, and also
President for a time of the Province of Quebec. (This Paulus Æmilius
Irving had previously taken part under General Wolfe in the capture of
Quebec.)
The house of his descendant, Jacob Æmilius Irving, here on Yonge Street,
was known as Bonshaw, from some ancient family property in
Dumfriesshire. He had been an officer in the 13th Light Dragoons, and
was wounded at Waterloo. In addition to many strongly-marked English
traits of character and physique, he possessed fine literary tastes, and
histrionic skill of a high order, favoured by the possession of a grand
barytone voice. He retained a professional liking for horses. A
four-in-hand, guided by himself, issuing from the gates at Bonshaw and
whirling along Yonge Street into town, was a common phenomenon.--He died
at the Falls of Niagara in 1856. Since 1843 Mr. Irving had been a member
of the Upper House of United Canada.
A little way back, ere we descended the northern slope of the Ridges we
caught sight, as we have narrated, of the Holland River, or at least of
some portion of the branch of it with which we are immediately
concerned--issuing, "a new-born rill," from one of its fountains.
As we traversed the Quaker settlement it was again seen, a brook
meandering through meadows. This was the eastern branch of the river.
The main stream lies off to the west, flowing past the modern Bradford
and Lloydtown. It is at the head of the main stream that the most
striking approximation of the waters of the Humber and Holland rivers is
to be seen.
We arrive now at the Upper Landing, the ancient canoe-landing, and we
pause for a moment. Here it was that the war-parties and hunting-parties
embarked and disembarked, while yet these waters were unploughed by the
heavy boats of the white man.
The Iroquois from the south-side of Lake Ontario penetrated the
well-peopled region of the Hurons by several routes, as we have already
intimated: by the great Bay of Quinté highway; by the trails whose
termini on Lake Ontario were near respectively the modern Bowmanville
and Port Hope: and thirdly by a track which we have virtually been
following in this our long ramble from York; virtually, we say, for it
was to the west of Yonge Street that the trail ran, following first the
valley of the Humber and then that of the main stream of the Holland
river. The route which Mr. Holland took when he penetrated from Toronto
Bay to the head waters of the river which now bears his name, is marked
in the great MS. map which he constructed in 1791. He passed up
evidently along the great water-course of the Humber.
"You can pass from Lake Frontenac, _i. e._, Ontario," Lahontan says (ii.
23), "into Lake Huron by the River Tan-a-hou-até (the Humber), by a
portage of about twenty-four miles to Lake Toronto, which by a river of
the same name empties into Lake Huron," _i.e._ by the River Severn, as
we should now speak.
Hunting-parties or war-parties taking to the water here at the Upper
Landing, in the pre-historic period, would probably be just about to
penetrate the almost insular district, of which we have spoken, westward
of Lake Simcoe,--the Toronto region, the place of concourse, the
well-peopled region. But some of them might perhaps be making for the
Lake Huron country and North-west generally, by the established trail
having its terminus at or near Orillia (to use the modern name).
In the days of the white man, the old Indian place of embarkation and
debarkation on the Holland river, acquired the name of the Upper
Canoe-landing; and hither the smaller craft continued to proceed.
Vessels of deeper draught lay at the Lower Landing, to which we now move
on, about a mile and a half further down the stream. Here the river was
about twenty-five yards wide, the banks low and bordered by a woody
marsh, in which the tamarac or larch was a conspicuous tree.
In a cleared space on the right, at the point where Yonge Street struck
the stream, there were some long low buildings of log with strong
shutters on the windows, usually closed. These were the Government
depositories of naval and military stores, and Indian presents, on their
way to Penetanguishene. The cluster of buildings here was once known as
Fort Gwillimbury. Thus we have it written in the old _Gazetteer_ of
1799: "It is thirty miles from York to Holland river, at the Pine Fort
called Gwillimbury, where the road ends."
Galt, in his Autobiography, speaks of this spot. He travelled from York
to Newmarket in one day. This was in 1827. "Then next morning," he says,
"we went forward to a place on the Holland river, called Holland's
Landing, an open space which the Indians and fur-traders were in the
habit of frequenting. It presented to me," he adds, "something of a
Scottish aspect in the style of the cottages; but instead of mountains
the environs were covered with trees. We embarked at this place." He was
on his way to Goderich at the time, via Penetanguishene.
The river Holland, at which we have so long been labouring to arrive,
had its name from a former surveyor-general of the Province of Quebec,
prior to the setting-off of the Province of Upper Canada--Major S.
Holland.
In the _Upper Canada Gazette_ of Feb. 13, 1802, we have an obituary
notice of this official personage. His history also, it will be
observed, was mixed up with that of General Wolfe. "Died," the obituary
says, "on the 28th instant (that is, on the 28th of December, 1801, the
article being copied from the _Quebec Gazette_ of the 31st of the
preceding December), of a lingering illness, which he bore for many
years with Christian patience and resignation, Major S. Holland.
"He had been in his time," the brief memoir proceeds to say, "an
intrepid, active, and intelligent officer, never making difficulties,
however arduous the duty he was employed in. He was an excellent
field-engineer, in which capacity he was employed in the year 1758 at
the siege of Louisbourg in the detachment of the army under General
Wolfe, who after silencing the batteries that opposed our entrance into
the harbour, and from his own setting fire to three ships of the line,
and obliging the remainder in a disabled state to haul out of cannon
shot, that great officer by a rapid and unexpected movement took post
within four hundred yards of the town, from whence Major Holland, under
his directions, carried on the approaches, destroyed the defences of the
town, and making a practicable breach, obliged the enemy to capitulate.
He distinguished himself also at the conquest of Quebec in 1759, and was
made honourable mention of in Gen. Wolfe's will as a legatee. He also
distinguished himself in the defence of Quebec in 1760, after General
Murray's unsuccessful attack on the enemy.--After the peace he was
appointed Surveyor-General of this Province, and was usefully employed
in surveying the American coasts, from which survey those draughts
published some years since by Major Debarres have been principally
taken."
Major Holland was succeeded in the Surveyor-generalship of Lower Canada
by a nephew--the distinguished Colonel Joseph Bouchette. In 1791 Major
Holland constructed a map of the British Province of Quebec, on the
scale of six inches to the square mile. It exists in MS. in the Crown
Land Office of Ontario. It is a magnificent map. On it, Lake Simcoe is
left undefined on one side, not having been explored in 1791.
It was in 1832 that the project of a steamer for the Holland river and
Lake Simcoe was mooted. We give a document relating to this undertaking
which we find in the _Courier_ of Feb. 29, in that year, published at
York. The names of those who were willing to embark, however moderately,
in the enterprise are of interest. It will be observed that the
expenditure contemplated was not enormous. To modern speculators in any
direction, what a bagatelle seems the sum of £2,000!
"Steamboat on Lake Simcoe:" thus runs an advertisement in the _Courier_
of Feb. 29, 1832. "Persons who feel interested in the success of this
undertaking, are respectfully informed that Capt. McKenzie, late of the
_Alciope_, who has himself offered to subscribe one-fourth of the sum
required to build the proposed steamboat, is now at Buffalo for the
purpose of purchasing an Engine, to be delivered at Holland Landing
during the present winter. Capt. McKenzie, who visited Lake Simcoe last
summer, is of opinion that a boat of sufficient size and power for the
business of the Lake can be built for £1,250. In order, however, to
ensure success, it is proposed that stock to the amount of £2,000 should
be subscribed; and it is hoped that this sum will be raised without
delay, in order that the necessary steps may be taken, on the return of
Capt. McKenzie, to commence building the boat with the view to its
completion by the opening of the navigation.--The shares are Twelve
Pounds ten shillings each, payable to persons chosen by the
Stockholders. The following shares have been already taken up, viz.: The
Hon. Peter Robinson, 8 shares; F. Hewson, 1; Edw. O'Brien, 2; W. B.
Robinson, 4; W. R. Raines, 4; J. O. Bouchier, 2; Wm. Johnson, 2; John
Cummer, 1; T. Mossington, 2; A. M. Raines, 1; Robert Clark, 1; Robert
Johnston, 1; M. Mossington, 1; B. Jefferson, 1; J. M. Jackson, 1; R.
Oliver, 1; Wm. Turner, 2; L. Cameron, 1; F. Osborne, 2; J. Graham, 1; J.
White, 1; S. H. Farnsworth, 1; Andrew Mitchell, 5; Murray, Newbigging
and Co., 2; Capt. Creighton, 2; Captain McKenzie, 40; Canada Company, 8;
J. F. Smith, 2; John Powell, 1; Grant Powell, 2; A. Smalley, 1; Samuel
P. Jarvis, 1; James E. Small, 1; R. W. Parker, 1; D. Cameron, 1; Capt.
Castle, 79th Regt., 8; James Doyle, 2; Francis Phelps, East Gwillimbury,
1; G. Lount, West Gwillimbury, 1; Samuel Lount, West Gwillimbury, 1;
George Playter, Whitchurch, 1; Joseph Hewett, 1; Thomas A. Jebb, 2;
Charles S. Monck, Haytesbury, 1; G. Ridout, 2; T. G. Ridout, 1; Thomas
Radenhurst, 1; Major Barwick, 2; Capt. W. Campbell, 2; C. C. Small, 1;
J. Ketchum, 1; Capt. Davies, 2; Lieut. Carthew, 2; Capt. Ross, 1; C.
McVittie, 1; Lieut. Adams, 1; S. Washburn, 2; J. C. Godwin, 1; F. T.
Billings, 2; Thorne and Parsons, 2; James Pearson, 1; R. Mason, 2; Wm.
Laughton, 2; Wm. Ware, 1; A. H. Tonge, 1; Sheldon, Dutcher & Co., 1;
Jabez Barber, 1; R. W. Prentice, 1; T. Bell, 1; Lucius O'Brien,
1;--Total, 162 shares. Persons who are desirous of taking shares in this
boat are respectfully informed that the subscription paper is lying at
the Store of Messrs. Murray, Newbigging and Co., where they can have an
opportunity of entering their names. York, 21st Dec., 1831."
The movement here initiated resulted in the steamer _Simcoe_, which
plied for some years between the Landing and the ports of Lake Simcoe.
The _Simcoe_ was built at the Upper Landing, and after being launched,
it was necessary to drag the boat by main force down to deep water,
through the thick sediment at the bottom of the stream. During the
process, while the capstan and tackle or other arrangement was being
vigorously worked,--instead of the boat advancing--the land in
considerable mass moved bodily towards the boat, like a cake of ice set
free from the main floe. Much of the ground and marsh in the great
estuary of the Holland river is said to be simply an accumulation of
earthy and vegetable matter, resting on water.
The _Simcoe_ was succeeded by the _Peter Robinson_, Capt. Bell; the
_Beaver_, Capt. Laughton, and other steamers.
Standing on the deck of the _Beaver_, we have ourselves more than once
threaded the windings of the Holland river; and we well remember how,
like sentient things in a kind of agony, the broad floating leaves of
the lilies along its eastern margin writhed and flapped as the waters
were drawn away from under them by the powerful action of the wheels in
the middle of the stream.
"The navigation of the Holland river," Capt. Bonnycastle observes in his
"Canada in 1841," "is very well worth seeing, as it is a natural canal
flowing through a vast marsh, and very narrow, with most serpentine
convolutions, often doubling on itself. Conceive the difficulty of
steering a large steamboat in such a course; yet it is done every day,
in summer and autumn, by means of long poles, slackening the steam,
backing, &c.; though very rarely without running a little way into the
soft ground of the swamp. The motion of the paddles has, however, in the
course of years, widened the channel, and prevented the growth of flags
and weeds." We have been told that in the bed of the Holland river, near
its mouth, solid bottom was not reached with a sounding-line of ninety
feet.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XXVIII.
YONGE STREET: ONWARD, FROM HOLLAND LANDING TO PENETANGUISHENE.
To render our narrative complete, we give in a few parting words some of
the early accounts of the route from the Landing, northward as far as
Penetanguishene, which, after the breaking up of the establishment on
Drummond's island, was for some years the most remote station in Upper
Canada where the naval and military power of England was visibly
represented.
"After leaving Gwillimbury [_i. e._, the Landing]," says the _Gazetteer_
of 1799, "you enter the Holland river and pass into Lake Simcoe, by the
head of Cook's bay, to the westward of which are oak-plains, where the
Indians cultivate corn; and on the east is a tract of good land. A few
small islands shew themselves as the lake opens, of which Darling's
island in the eastern part, is the most considerable. To the westward is
a large deep bay, called Kempenfelt's bay, from the head of which is a
short carrying-place to the river Nottawasaga, which empties itself into
the Iroquois bay, in Lake Huron. In the north end of the lake, near the
Narrows leading to a small lake is Francis island, between which and the
north shore vessels may lie in safety."
It will be proper to make one or two remarks in relation to the proper
names here used, which have not in every case been retained.
Cook's bay, it will be of interest to remember, had its name from the
great circumnavigator. Kempenfelt's bay recalls the name of the admiral
who went down in the Royal George "with twice four hundred men."
Darling's island was intended to preserve the name of Gen. Darling, a
friend and associate of the first governor; and Francis island bore the
name of the same governor's eldest son. Canise island retains its name.
The name of another island in this lake, "parallel to Darling's island,"
is elsewhere given in the _Gazetteer_ as Pilkington's island--a
compliment to Gen. Pilkington, a distinguished engineer officer.
Darling's island, at the present day, is, we believe, known as Snake
island; and Francis island and Pilkington's island, by other names.
Iroquois bay is the same as Nottawasaga bay: the interpretation, in
fact, of the term "Nottawasaga," which is the "estuary of the
Nodoway"--the great indentation whence often issued on marauding
expeditions the canoes of the Nodoway--so the Ochibways called the
Iroquois.
Lake Simcoe itself, the _Gazetteer_ of 1799 informs us, was so named by
its first explorer, not with reference to himself, but to his father.
"Lake Simcoe," we read in a note at p. 138 of the work just named, was
"so named by Lieut.-Governor Simcoe in respect to his father, the late
Capt. Simcoe of the Royal Navy, who died in the River St. Lawrence on
the expedition to Quebec in 1759. In the year 1755, this able officer,"
the _Gazetteer_ adds, "had furnished Government with the plan of
operations against Quebec, which then took place. At the time of his
death, Capt. Cook, the celebrated circumnavigator, was master of his
ship the _Pembroke_."
We here see the link of association which led to the application of the
great circumnavigator's name to the bay into which the Holland river
discharges itself. The Holland itself also, as we have already heard,
had its name from a companion of Gen. Wolfe.
We have on this continent no "old poetic mountains," no old poetic
objects of any description, natural or artificial, "to breathe
enchantment all around." It is all the more fitting, therefore, that we
should make the most of the historic memories which, even at second
hand, cling to our Canadian local names, here and there.
The old _Gazetteer_ next goes on to inform us that "from the bay west of
Francis island there is a good path and a short portage into a small
lake. This is the nearest way to Lake Huron, the river which falls from
Lake Simcoe into Matchedash bay, called the Matchedash river, making a
more circuitous passage to the northward and westward;"--and Matchedash
bay "opens out," it afterwards states--"into a larger basin called
Gloucester or Sturgeon bay, in the chops of which lies Prince William
Henry's island, open to Lake Huron." It is noted also that on a
peninsula in this basin some French ruins are still extant: and then it
says, "between two larger promontories is the harbour of
Penetanguishene, around which is good land for settlement."
"Penetanguishene," it is finally added, "has been discovered to be a
very excellent harbour."
Again some annotations on names will not be out of place.
Matchedash bay is now Sturgeon bay, and Matchedash river, the river
Severn. Both bay and river have a peculiar interest for the people of
Toronto, as being respectively the Toronto bay and Toronto river of the
old French period. "To the north-east of the French river," Lahontan
says (ii. 19), "you see Toronto bay, in which a small lake of the same
name empties itself by a river not navigable on account of its rapids."
(He elsewhere says this river also bore the name of the lake--Toronto.)
The Duke of Gloucester was intended to be complimented in the name
Gloucester bay. Prince William Henry's island has not retained its name.
When it was imposed, the visit of that prince, afterwards the Duke of
Kent and father of the reigning Queen, to Upper Canada, was a recent
event.--The French ruins spoken of are the ruins of Fort Ste Marie near
the mouth of the river Wye--the chief mission-house of the Jesuits,
abandoned in 1649, still visible.
The "good path" and "nearest way to Lake Huron," from the bay west of
Francis island, indicates the well-known trail by Coldwater, which was
long the chief route to Penetanguishene; and the bay itself, west of
Francis island, is the bay known in later times as Shingle bay.
In 1834 an attempt was made to found a town at Shingle bay in connection
with the road to Penetanguishene. In a _Courier_ of 1834, we have the
announcement: "New Town of Innisfallen. Shortly will be offered for sale
several building lots in the above new Town, beautifully situated on
Shingle Bay, Lake Simcoe. This being the landing-place for the trade to
Penetanguishene and the northern townships," the advertisement goes on
to say, "persons inclined to speculate in trade or business of any
description will find this a peculiarly valuable situation, as the
townships are settled with persons of respectability and capital. It
will command the trade to and from the lake. Further particulars can be
obtained by application to Wm. Proudfoot, Esq., or from P. Handy,
auctioneer, or Francis Hewson, Esq., Lake Simcoe. April 1st, 1834."
Innisfallen, however, did not mature into a town. Orillia, just within
the narrows, appears to have been a site more suited to the needs or
tastes of the public.
At p. 154, in the article on Yonge Street, the old _Gazetteer_ of 1799
speaks again of the portage from Lake Simcoe to Lake Huron, viâ
Coldwater, and calls it "a continuation of Yonge Street." It then adds
the prediction, which we have once before quoted, that "the advantage
would certainly be felt in the future of transporting merchandize from
Oswego to York, and from thence across Yonge Street and down the waters
of Lake Simcoe into Lake Huron, in preference to sending it by Lake
Erie." And in the article on "Lac aux Claies," _i.e._, as we have
already said, Lake Simcoe, it is curiously stated--this is before the
year 1799--that "a vessel is now building for the purpose of
facilitating the communication by that route,"--but it is not said
where.
A "continuation of Yonge Street" in a more perfect sense, was at a later
period surveyed and partially opened by the military authorities, from a
point on Kempenfelt bay, a little east of the modern Barrie, in a direct
line to Penetanguishene; but the natural growth of the forest had in a
great degree filled up the track.
In 1847, however, through the instrumentality of the Commissioner of
Public Works of the day, the Hon. W. B. Robinson, the highway in
question, sixty-six feet in width and thirty miles in length, was
thoroughly cleared out and made conveniently practicable for general
travel.
This grand avenue is almost in a direct line with Yonge Street, after
the traverse of Lake Simcoe from the Landing has been accomplished.
Penetanguishene, indeed, as a port, no longer requires such an approach
as this. The naval and military depôt which existed there has been
abolished; and Collingwood, since it has been made the primary terminus
on Lake Huron of the Northern Railway of Canada, is the place of resort
for the steamers and shipping of the upper lakes. Nevertheless, the fine
highway referred to yields permanently to the inhabitants of Vespra and
Oro, Flos and Medonte, Tiny and Tay, the incalculable advantage of easy
communication with each other and markets to the south,--the same
advantage that Yonge Street yielded to the settlers of Vaughan and
Markham, King and Whitchurch, and the three townships of Gwillimbury, in
the primitive era of their local history.
It is, however, not improbable that Penetanguishene itself will again
acquire importance when hereafter properly connected with our railway
system, now so surely advancing to the north shore of Lake Huron: thence
to push on to the North-West.
Dr. Thomas Rolfe, in his Statistical Account of Upper Canada, appended
to his book on the West Indies and United States, spoke in 1836 of the
region which we have now reached, thus: "The country about
Penetanguishene on Lake Huron is remarkably healthy; the winter roads to
it, crossing Lake Simcoe, excellent. In the summer months," he says, "it
is delightful to persons who are pleased and entertained by the wild
grandeur and simplicity of nature. The pure and transparent waters of
the beautiful bay, and the verdant foliage of the vast woods on the east
side of the harbour, form a very picturesque scene."
Capt. Bonnycastle visited Penetanguishene in 1841. He was present at one
of the periodical distributions of government presents to the Indians. A
great concourse of the native people, from far and near, was assembled
on the occasion. Under such circumstances, Penetanguishene and its
surroundings must have presented a peculiarly interesting appearance.
"I happened to be at Penetanguishene," Capt. Bonnycastle says, "when the
unfortunate Pou-tah-wah-tamies and nearly two thousand other Indians
arrived there, the latter to receive their annual gifts, the former to
implore protection. [They had been recently removed from their lands in
the United States by the U. S. authorities.] I had never seen the wild
and heathen Indians before," the Captain observes, "and shall never
forget the impression their appearance, on an August evening, with
everything beautiful in the scene around, made upon me. To do honour to
the commandant of the British port and his guests, these warlike savages
selected for the conference a sloping green field in front of his house,
whose base was washed by the waters of the Huron, which exhibited the
lovely expanse of the basin, with its high and woody background, and the
single sparkling islet in the middle. No spot could have been imagined
more suitable. Behind it rose the high hill which, cleared of timber, is
dotted here and there with the neat dwellings of the military
residents." He then describes the dresses of the Indians, their painted
faces, their war-dances, &c.
"The garrison," he says, "is three miles from the village, and is always
called the Establishment; and in the forest between the two places is a
new church built of wood, very small, but sufficient for the Established
Church, as it is sometimes called, of that portion of Canada. A
clergyman is constantly stationed here for the army, navy, and
civilians."
In regard to the provisions supplied to the soldiers and others, Capt
Bonnycastle has the following remarks: "A farmer [Mr. Mairs, as we
presume] on the Penetanguishene road has introduced English breeds of
cattle and sheep of the best kind. He was, and perhaps still is," he
says, "the contractor for the troops, and his stock is well worth
seeing. Thus the garrison is constantly supplied with finer meat than
any other station in Canada, although more out of the world and in the
wilderness, than any other; and, as fish is plentiful, the soldiers and
sailors of Queen Victoria in the Bay of the White Rolling Sand live
well." Penetanguishene means "the place of the falling sands;" the
reference being to a remarkable sandy cliff which has been crumbling
away from time immemorial, on the western side of the entrance to the
harbour.
We have a notice of Penetanguishene in 1846, in a volume of Travels in
Canada, by the Rev. A. W. H. Rose, published in 1849. "Penetanguishene,"
the writer says, "is situated at the bottom of a bay extremely shallow
on one side, and is a small military and naval station, the latter force
consisting of two iron war-steamers, of about sixty-horse power each.
There is said to be a nice little society in this (until lately) out of
the way station of Upper Canada. The probability is, however," remarks
the same writer, "that it will, as a naval and military depôt, have to
be eventually shifted to Owen Sound, where there is a military reserve
specially retained in the survey, as, from the number of shoals about
Penetanguishene, the island, &c., the harbour is said generally to close
up with the ice three weeks earlier, and to continue shut three weeks
later than at the Sound."
A diagram in the _Canadian Journal_ (i. 225), illustrating a paper by
Mr. Sandford Fleming, shews the remarkable terraced character of the
high banks of the harbour at Penetanguishene. "There are appearances in
various parts of this region," Mr. Fleming says, "that lead us to infer
that the waters of Lake Huron, like those of Ontario, formerly stood at
higher levels than they at present occupy. Parallel terraces and ridges
of sand and gravel can be traced at different places winding round the
heads of bays and points of high land with perfect horizontality, and
resembling in every respect the present lake beaches. One of them
particularly strikes the attention in the bay of Penetanguishene, at a
height of about seventy feet above the level of the lake. It can be seen
distinctly on either side from the water, or by a spectator standing on
one bank while the sun shines obliquely on the other, so as to throw the
deeper parts of the terrace in shadow."
Mr. Fleming then gives a section "sketched from a cutting a little below
Jeffery's tavern in the village of Penetanguishene, serving to shew the
manner in which the soil has been removed from the side hill and
deposited in a position formerly under water by the continued mechanical
action of the waves. Not only does the peculiar stratification of the
lower part of the terrace confirm the supposition that it was deposited
on the shore of the ancient lake, but the fact that such excavations
have been made in this land-locked position, where the waves could never
have had much force, goes far to prove that the lake stood for a long
period at this high level." (From the successive subsidences here spoken
of by Mr. Fleming, the island known as the Giant's Tomb, in the entrance
to Georgian Bay, has its peculiar appearance, viz., that of a colossal
grave elevated on a high platform or pedestal.)
In 1827, John Galt, the well-known writer, had been at Penetanguishene.
He was on his way from York to make an exploration of the Lake Huron
west of the Canada Company's Huron tract, from Cabot's head in the north
to the Rivière aux Sables in the south. For this purpose, a Government
vessel, the _Bee_, lying in Penetanguishene harbour, had been placed at
his disposal.
In his Autobiography he gives the following incidents of his journey
from the shore of Kempenfelt bay. "About half-way to Penetanguishene,"
he says, "we were compelled by the weather to take shelter in a farm
house, and a thunderstorm coming on obliged us to remain all night. The
house itself was not inferior to a common Scottish cottage, but it was
rendered odious by the landlady, who was, all the time we stayed, 'drunk
as a sow, Huncamunca' (a snatch, probably, of some Christmas pantomime).
Next day we proceeded," he continues, "to the military station and
dockyard of Penetanguishene by a path through the woods, which, to the
honour of the late Mr. Wilberforce, bears his name. Along it are settled
several negro families. As I walked part of the way," Galt says, "I went
into a cottage pleasantly situated on a rising ground, and found it
inhabited by a crow-like flock of negro children. The mother was busy
with them, and the father, a good-natured looking fellow, told me that
they were very comfortable, but had not yet made any great progress in
clearing the land, as his children were still too young to assist."
"We reached Penetanguishene," Galt then says, "the remotest and most
inland dockyard that owns obedience to the 'meteor-flag of England,'
where, by orders of the Admiralty, his Majesty's gun-boat the _Bee_ was
placed at my disposal. By the by," he adds, "the letter from the
Admiralty was a curious specimen of the geographical knowledge which
then prevailed there, inasmuch as it mentioned that the vessel was to go
with me on Lake Huron in Lower Canada. In the village of
Penetanguishene," he then informs us, "there is no tavern. We were
therefore obliged to billet ourselves on the officer stationed there, of
whose hospitality and endeavour to make the time pass pleasantly till he
had the _Bee_ ready for the lake, I shall ever retain a pleasant
remembrance."--He then describes his voyage in the little gun-boat as
far as Detroit, and his examination of the river subsequently called the
Maitland, and the site where Goderich was afterwards built.
Since 1840, the Rev. George Hallen has been a resident clergyman at
Penetanguishene. From him have been obtained the following particulars
of detachments of military stationed from time to time at that post. In
1838 a detachment of the 34th regiment, Lieut. Hutton commanding. In
1838 also, there were some incorporated Militia there under Colonel
Davis. In 1840, a detachment of the 93rd Highlanders, under Lieut. Hay.
In 1844, a detachment of the 84th regiment, under Lieut West. In 1846, a
detachment of the Royal Canadian Rifles, under Lieut. Black. In 1850, a
detachment of the Royal Canadian Rifles, under Lieut. Fitzgerald. In
1851, a detachment of the Royal Canadian Rifles, under Lieut. Moffatt.
In 1851, some of the Enrolled Pensioners, under Captain Hodgetts.
In regard to the Navy. In 1843, June 8th, the _Minos_, a large gun-boat,
in charge of Mr. Hatch and three men, arrived to be laid up. In the same
year, the steamer _Experiment_, Lieut. Boxer, was stationed there. In
1847, the same steamer, but commanded by Lieut. Harper. In 1847 also,
the steamer _Mohawk_, commanded by Lieut. Tyssen. In 1850, the same
steamer, but commanded by Lieut. Herbert. The place was also visited by
Captain Ross, R.N., when on his way to the North Seas; and by Lord
Morpeth, Lord Prudhoe, and Sir Henry Harte, (the two latter Captains in
the Navy), on their way to or from the Manitoulin Islands.
From Poulett Scrope's Life of Lord Sydenham, we learn that
Penetanguishene was visited by that Governor of Canada in 1840. "From
Toronto across Lake Simcoe to Penetanguishene on Lake Huron again, and
back to Toronto, which I left again last night for the Bay of
Quinte."--_Private Letter_, p. 190.
The following account of the removal of the British post from Drummond's
island to Penetanguishene in 1828, has been also derived from the Rev.
Mr. Hallen, who gathered the particulars from the lips of Mr. John
Smith, aged 80, still living (1872) near Penetanguishene, formerly
employed in the Ordnance Department at Quebec, and then as Commissariat
Issuer at Drummond's island.
"Mr. John Smith and his wife remained on the island till the 14th of
November, 1828, when it was given up to the Americans. Lieut. Carson
commanding a detachment of the 68th regiment was there at the time; and
Mr. Smith well remembers Lieut. Carson giving up the keys to the
American officers, and that 'they shook hands quite friendly.' The
Government sent the brig _Wellington_ to take away the British from the
island, but it was too small, and they were obliged in addition to hire
an American vessel. Mr. Keating was at that time Fort adjutant at the
island, and Mr. Rawson, barrack master. Smith arrived at Penetanguishene
as a Commissariat Issuer on the 20th or 21st November, 1828. He does not
remember any vessels at Drummond's island. He says that Commodore Barrie
came up in the _Bullfrog_, and that the gossip of the island was, that
he was the cause of its being given up to the Americans. Mr. Keating,
the Fort adjutant, was afterwards Fort adjutant at Penetanguishene,
where he arrived in the spring of 1829, having been detained at
Amherstburgh. He died in the year 1849."
"Mr. Smith said that, as far as he could recollect, the detachments
stationed on the island were, of the 71st Regiment, under Lieut. Impett;
of the 79th, under Lieut. Matthews; of the 24th, under Lieut. James; of
the 15th, under Lieut. Ingall. (The last-named officer lived afterwards
at Penetanguishene). In 1828, there were at Penetanguishene 20 or 30
Marines, under the command of Lieut. Woodin, R.N. In regard to the four
gun-boats which are sunk in the harbour, Mr. Smith said they were sunk
there before 1828. He remembers the name of only one of them, the
_Tecumseh_."
Mr. Hallen remarks: "The account I heard of these gun-boats when I came
to Penetanguishene was that they were brought here, I think, from
Nottawasaga bay after the American war and were sunk to prevent their
rotting. Vessels must have been built at Penetanguishene," Mr. H. adds,
"as I remember a place on the Lake Shore, about five miles N.W. of
Penetanguishene, being pointed out to me as the 'Navy Yard.' Many of the
logs were still there."
The _Bee_, which conveyed Mr. Galt when on his voyage of exploration
along the western coast of Lake Huron, was sold by public auction in
1832. In that year the first great reduction of the naval and military
establishment at Penetanguishene took place. Step by step the process
went on until the ancient depôt was finally extinguished; and in 1859
the stone barracks were converted into a Public Reformatory.
The enumeration of the stores disposed of by public vendue, on Thursday,
the 15th of March, 1830, and six following days, at Penetanguishene,
will not be without pathos. At all events, those who have, at any time,
made boats and the appurtenances of boats one of their hobbies, will not
dislike to read the homely names of the articles then brought to the
hammer.
(It will be observed that no mention is made of a certain memorable
anchor laboriously dragged from York as far as the Landing _en route_ to
Penetanguishene, but taken no further, becoming, when half embedded in
the earth there, an object of perpetual wonderment to beholders: a thing
too ponderous to be conveniently handled and removed by an ordinary
purchaser, let the amount paid for it be ever so trifling.)
The following, then, were the miscellaneous articles belonging to the
Crown advertised to be sold to the highest bidder on the 15th and
following days of March, 1832, at Penetanguishene, and so, we may
conclude, disposed of accordingly:--The _Tecumseh_, schooner, 175 tons.
The _Newash_, brigantine, 175 tons. The _Bee_, gunboat, 41 tons. The
_Mosquito_, gunboat, 31 tons. The _Wasp_, gunboat, 41 tons. Batteaux,
three in number. Thirty-two feet cutter. Two thirty-two feet gigs and
their furniture. One whale boat One jolly boat. One nineteen feet gig.
Twenty-two pounds old bunting. Canvas, mildewed slightly, 366 yards.
Canvas, of all sorts, cut from frigate sails, 2170 yards. Old canvas,
491 yards. Packing cases, 23. Iron casks, 12. Iron bound casks, 8. Wood
bound casks, 24. Chests, common, 2. Chests, top, 2. Cordage, worn, 988
fathoms. Cordage, in rounding, 318 fathoms. Cordage, in junk, 28 cwt. 20
lbs. Cordage, in paper stuff, 1 cwt. 3 qrs. 1 lb. Covers, hammock, 5.
Iron, old wrought, 12 cwt. 3 qrs. 16½ lbs. Rigging, brigantine,
standing, complete, 1 set. Running, in part, 1 set. Rigging, schooner,
standing and running, complete, 1 set. Rigging, Durham boats, standing
and running, in part, 2 sets.--Rigging, boats, standing, worn, 1 set.
Sails for a 32 gun ship, 1 set brigantine sails, 1 set schooner sails, 1
set Durham boat sails, 18 in number; boat sails 18 in number;
unserviceable stores. Axes, felling, 8. Bellows, camp forge, 2 pairs.
Blocks, single, 11 inch, 1. Blocks, double, 10 inch, 1. Brushes, tar,
15. Buckets, leather, 14. Chisels, of sorts, 12. Compass glasses, 1.
Cordage, 552 fathoms. Glass, broken, 16 panes. Hammocks, 16. Locks,
stock, 1. Mallet, caulking, 1. Oars, fir, 7. Paint, white, 1 qr. 2 lbs.
Paint, yellow, 2 qrs. 18 lbs. Planes, 10 in number. Punts, boats, 1.
Saws, crosscut, 5; Saws, hand, 6; Saws, dove-tail, 1; Saws, rip, 3.
Spout for pump, 1. Sweeps, 4. Shovels, 9. Twine, fine, 3½ lbs. Twine,
ordinary, 17¼ lbs. Seines, 1.
The document which supplies us with the foregoing list announces that,
"the stores will be put up in convenient lots, and that a deposit of 25
per cent. will be required at the time of sale, and the remainder of the
purchase money previous to the removal of the articles, for which a
reasonable time will be allowed." The whole is signed--Wm. Henry Woodin,
Lieutenant commanding, June 18th, 1832.
We here bring to a close our Collections and Recollections in regard to
Yonge Street. That our narrative might be the more complete, we have
given a notice of the ancient terminus of that great thoroughfare, on
Lake Huron. It will be seen that in Penetanguishene and its environs,
Toronto has a place and a neighbourhood at the north abounding with
interesting memories almost as richly as Niagara itself and that
vicinity, at its south: memories intimately associated with its own
history, not alone before the present century began, but also before
even the preceding century began, that is, taking into view the local
history of this part of Canada prior to the acquisition of the country
by the English.
From remote Penetanguishene, dismantled and abolished in a naval and
military sense, our thoughts naturally turn to more conspicuous places
that have in our day successively undergone the same process: to
Kingston, to Niagara, to Montreal, to our own fort, here at Toronto, and
finally, in 1871, to Quebec. The 8th of November, 1871, will be a date
noted in future histories. On that day the Ehrenbreitstein of the St.
Lawrence, symbol for a hundred years and more, of British power on the
northern half of the North American continent, was voluntarily
evacuated, in accordance with a deliberate public policy.
The 60th Regiment, it is singular to add, which on the 8th of November,
1871, marched forth from the gates of the citadel of Quebec, was a
regiment that was present on the heights of Abraham in 1759, and helped
to capture the fortress which it now peacefully surrendered.
Is the day approaching when artistic tourists will be seen sketching, at
Point Levi, the bold Rock in front of them for the sake of the ruins at
its summit, not picturesque probably, but for ever famed in story?
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XXIX.
THE HARBOUR: ITS MARINE, 1793-99.
The first formal survey of the harbour of Toronto was made by Joseph
Bouchette in 1793. His description of the bay and its surroundings at
that date is, with the historians of Upper Canada, a classic passage.
For the completeness of our narrative it must be produced once more. "It
fell to my lot," says Bouchette, "to make the first survey of York
Harbour in 1793." And he explains how this happened.
"Lieutenant-Governor, the late Gen. Simcoe, who then resided at Navy
Hall, Niagara, having," he says, "formed extensive plans for the
improvement of the colony, had resolved upon laying the foundations of a
provincial capital. I was at that period in the naval service of the
Lakes, and the survey of Toronto (York) Harbour was entrusted by his
Excellency to my performance."
He then thus proceeds, writing, we may observe, in 1831: "I still
distinctly recollect the untamed aspect which the country exhibited when
first I entered the beautiful basin, which thus became the scene of my
early hydrographical operations. Dense and trackless forests lined the
margin of the lake and reflected their inverted images in its glassy
surface. The wandering savage had constructed his ephemeral habitation
beneath their luxuriant foliage--the group then consisting of two
families of Mississagas,--and the bay and neighbouring marshes were the
hitherto uninvaded haunts of immense coveys of wild fowl. Indeed, they
were so abundant," he adds, "as in some measure to annoy us during the
night." The passage is to be found in a note at p. 89 of volume one of
the quarto edition of "The British Dominions in North America,"
published in London in 1831.
The winter of 1792-3 was in Upper Canada a favourable one for explorers.
"We have had a remarkably mild winter," says the _Gazette_ in its first
number, dated April 18, 1793; "the thermometer in the severest time has
not been lower than nine degrees above zero, by Fahrenheit's scale. Lake
Erie has not been frozen over, and there has been very little ice on
Lake Ontario." The same paper informs us that "his Majesty's sloop, the
_Caldwell_, sailed the 5th instant (April), from Niagara, for fort
Ontario (Oswego) and Kingston." Also that "on Monday evening (13th)
there arrived in the river (at Niagara) his Majesty's armed schooner,
the _Onondago_, in company with the _Lady Dorchester_, merchantman,
after an agreeable passage (from Kingston) of thirty-six hours." (The
following gentlemen, it is noted, came passengers:--J. Small, Esq.,
Clerk of the Executive Council; Lieut.-McCan, of the 60th regiment;
Capt. Thos. Fraser, Mr. J. Denison, Mr. Joseph Forsyth, merchant, Mr. L.
Crawford, Capt. Archibald Macdonald,--Hathaway.)
Again, on May 2nd, the information is given that "on Sunday morning
early, his Majesty's sloop _Caldwell_ arrived here (Niagara) from
Kingston, which place she left on Thursday; but was obliged to anchor
off the bar of this river part of Saturday night. And on Monday also
arrived from Kingston the _Onondago_, in twenty-three hours."
Joseph Bouchette in 1793 must have been under twenty years of age. He
was born in 1774. He was the son of Commodore Bouchette, who in 1793 had
command of the Naval Force on Lake Ontario. When Joseph Bouchette first
entered the harbour of Toronto, as described above, he was not without
associates. He was probably one of an exploring party which set out from
Niagara in May, 1793. It would appear that the Governor himself paid his
first visit to the intended site of the capital of his young province on
the same occasion.
In the _Gazette_ of Thursday, May 9th 1793, published at Newark or
Niagara, we have the following record:--"On Thursday last (this would be
May the 3rd) his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, accompanied by
several military gentlemen, set out in boats for Toronto, round the Head
of the Lake Ontario, by Burlington Bay; and in the evening his Majesty's
vessels the _Caldwell_ and _Buffalo_, sailed for the same place."
Supposing the boats which proceeded round the Head of the Lake to have
arrived at the cleared spot where the French stockaded trading-post of
Toronto had stood, on Saturday, the 4th, the inspection of the harbour
and its surroundings by the Governor and "military gentlemen" occupied a
little less than a week; for we find that on Monday, the 13th, they are
back again in safety at Niagara. The _Gazette_ of Thursday, the 16th of
May, thus announces their return: "On Monday (the 13th) about 2 o'clock,
his Excellency the Lieut.-Governor and suite arrived at Navy Hall from
Toronto; they returned in boats round the Lake."
It is probable that Bouchette was left behind, perhaps with the
_Caldwell_ and _Buffalo_, to complete the survey of the harbour. (In the
work above named is a reduction of Bouchette's chart of the harbour with
the soundings and bottom; also with lines shewing "the breaking of the
ice in the spring." His minute delineation of the pinion-shaped
peninsula of sand which forms the outer boundary of Toronto bay, enables
the observer to see very clearly how, by long-continued drift from the
east, that barrier was gradually thrown up; as, also, how inevitable
were the marshes at the outlet of the Don.)
The excursion from Niagara, just described, was the Governor's first
visit to the harbour of Toronto, and we may suppose the _Caldwell_ and
the _Buffalo_ to have been the first sailing-craft of any considerable
magnitude that ever stirred its waters. In April, 1793, the Governor had
not yet visited Toronto. We learn this from a letter dated the 5th of
that month, addressed by him to Major-General Clarke, at Quebec. Gen.
Clarke was the Lieut.-Governor in Lower Canada. Lord Dorchester, the
Governor-General himself, was absent in England. "Many American
officers," Gen. Simcoe says to Gen. Clarke on the 5th of April, "give it
as their opinion that Niagara should be attacked, and that Detroit must
fall of course. I hope by this autumn," he continues, "to show the
fallacy of this reasoning, by opening a safe and expeditious
communication to La Tranche. But on this subject I reserve myself till I
have visited Toronto."
The safe and expeditious communication referred to was the great
military road, Dundas Street, projected by the Governor to connect the
port and arsenal at Toronto with the Thames and Detroit. It was in the
February and March of this very same year, 1793, that the Governor had
made, partly on foot, and partly in sleighs, his famous exploratory tour
through the woods from Niagara to Detroit and back, with a view to the
establishment of this communication.
On the 31st of May he is writing again to Gen. Clarke, at Quebec. He has
now, as we have seen, been at Toronto; and he speaks warmly of the
advantages which the site appeared to him to possess. "It is with great
pleasure that I offer to you," he says, "some observations upon the
Military strength and Naval convenience of Toronto (now York) [he adds],
which I propose immediately to occupy. I lately examined the harbour,"
he continues, "accompanied by such officers, naval and military, as I
thought most competent to give me assistance therein, and upon minute
investigation I found it to be, without comparison, the most proper
situation for an arsenal, in every extent of that word, that can be met
with in this Province."
The words, "now York," appended here and in later documents to
"Toronto," show that an official change of name had taken place. The
alteration was made between the 15th and 31st of May. No proclamation,
however, announcing its change, is to be found either in the local
_Gazette_ or in the archives at Ottawa.
Nor is there any allusion to the contemplated works at York either in
the opening or closing speech delivered by the Governor to the houses of
parliament, which met at Niagara for their second session on the 28th of
May, and were dismissed to their homes again on the 9th of the following
July. We may suppose the minds of the members and other persons of
influence otherwise prepared for the coming changes, chiefly perhaps by
means of friendly conferences.
The Governor's scheme may, for example, have been one of the topics of
conversation at the levée, ball and supper on the King's birthday,
which, happening during the parliamentary session, was observed with
considerable ceremony.--"On Tuesday last, the fourth of June," says the
_Gazette_ of the period, "being the anniversary of his Majesty's
birthday, his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor held a levée at Navy
Hall. At one the troops in garrison and at Queenston fired three
volleys. The field pieces above Navy Hall under the direction of the
Royal Artillery, and the guns at the garrison, fired a royal salute. In
the evening," the _Gazette_ further reports, "his Excellency gave a Ball
and elegant supper in the Council Chamber, which was most numerously
attended."
Of this ball and supper another brief notice is extant. It chanced that
three distinguished Americans were among the guests--Gen. Lincoln, Col.
Pickering, and Mr. Randolph, United States commissioners on their way,
_via_ Niagara, to a great Council of the Western Indians, about to be
held at the Miami river. In his private journal, since printed in the
Massachusetts Historical Collections, Gen. Lincoln made the following
note of the Governor's entertainment at Niagara:--"The ball," he says,
"was attended by about twenty well-dressed and handsome ladies, and
about three times that number of gentlemen. They danced," he records,
"from seven o'clock till eleven, when supper was announced, and served
in very pretty taste. The music and dancing," it is added, "was good,
and everything was conducted with propriety." This probably was the
first time the royal birthday was observed at Niagara in an official
way.
Soon after the prorogation, July the 9th, steps preparatory to a removal
to York began to be taken. Troops, for example, were transported across
to the north side of the Lake. "A few days ago," says the _Gazette_ of
Thursday, August the 1st, 1793, "the first Division of his Majesty's
Corps of Queen's Rangers left Queenston for Toronto--now York [it is
carefully added], and proceeded in batteaux round the head of the Lake
Ontario, by Burlington Bay. And shortly afterwards another division of
the same regiment sailed in the King's vessels, the _Onondago_ and
_Caldwell_, for the same place."
It is evident the Governor, as he expressed himself to Gen. Clarke, in
the letter of May 31, is about "immediately to occupy" the site which
seemed to him so eligible for an arsenal and strong military post.
Accordingly, having thus sent forward two divisions of the regiment
whose name is so intimately associated with his own, to be a guard to
receive him on his own arrival, and to be otherwise usefully employed,
we find the Governor himself embarking for the same spot. "On Monday
evening [this would be Monday, the 29th of July]," the _Gazette_ just
quoted informs us, "his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor left Navy
Hall and embarked on board his Majesty's schooner, the _Mississaga_,
which sailed immediately with a favourable gale for York, with the
remainder of the Queen's Rangers."--On the following morning, July 30,
1793, they would, with the aid of the "favourable gale," be at anchor in
the harbour of York.
Major Littlehales, the Governor's faithful secretary, remains behind
until the following Thursday, August the 1st, engaged probably in
arranging household matters for the Governor, an absence from Navy Hall
of some duration being contemplated. He then crosses the Lake in the
_Caldwell_, and joins his Chief. At the same time start Chief Justice
Osgoode and Mr. Attorney-General White for the East, to hold the
circuit. "On Thursday evening, the 1st instant," says the _Gazette_ of
the 8th of August, "his Majesty's armed vessels the _Onondago_ and the
_Caldwell_ sailed from this place (Niagara). The former, for Kingston,
had on board the Hon. William Osgoode, Chief Justice of this Province,
and John White, Esq., Attorney General, who are going to hold the
circuits at Kingston and Johnstown. Major Littlehales sailed in the
latter, for York, to join his Excellency's suite."
We should have been glad of a minute account of each day's proceedings
on the landing of the troops at York, and the arrival there of the
Governor and his suite. But we can readily imagine the Rangers
establishing themselves under canvas on the grassy glade where formerly
stood the old French trading-post. We can imagine them landing stores--a
few cannon and some other munitions of war--from the ships; landing the
parts and appurtenances of the famous canvas-house which the Governor
had provided for the shelter of himself and his family, and which, as we
have before noted, was originally constructed for the use of Captain
Cook in one of the scientific expeditions commanded by that celebrated
circumnavigator.
The canvas-house must have been a pavilion of considerable capacity, and
was doubtless pitched and fixed with particular care by the soldiers and
others, wherever its precise situation was determined. It was, as it
were, the prætorium of the camp, but moveable. We can conceive of it as
being set down, in the first instance, on the site of the French fort,
and then at a later period, or on the occasion of a later visit to York,
shifted to one of the knolls overlooking the little stream known
subsequently as the Garrison creek; and shifted again, at another visit,
to a position still farther east, where a second small stream meandered
between steep banks into the Bay, at the point where a Government
ship-building yard was in after years established. (Tradition places
the canvas-house on several sites.)
We can conceive, too, all hands, sailors as well as soldiers, busy in
opening eastward through the woods along the shore, a path that should
be more respectable and more useful for military and civil purposes than
the Indian trail which they would already find there, leading directly
to the quarter where, at the farther end of the Bay, the town-plot was
designed to be laid out, and the Government buildings were intended to
be erected.
On the 8th of August we know the Governor was engaged at York in writing
to the Indian Chief Brant, from whom a runner has just arrived all the
way from the entrance to the Detroit river. Brant, finding the
conference between his compatriots and the United States authorities
likely to end unsatisfactorily, sent to solicit Governor Simcoe's
interposition, especially in regard to the boundary line which the
Indians of the West insisted on--the Ohio river. Thus runs the
Governor's reply, written at York on the 8th:--"Since the Government of
the United States," he says, "have shown a disinclination to concur with
the Indian nations in requesting of his Majesty permission for me to
attend at Sandusky as mediator, it would be highly improper and
unreasonable in me to give an opinion relative to the proposed
boundaries, with which I am not sufficiently acquainted, and which
question I have studiously avoided entering into, as I am well aware of
the jealousies entertained by some of the subjects of the United States
of the interference of the British Government, which has a natural and
decided interest in the welfare of the Indian nations, and in the
establishment of peace and permanent tranquillity. In this situation, I
am sure you will excuse me from giving to you any advice, which, from my
absence from the spot, cannot possibly arise from that perfect view and
knowledge which so important a subject necessarily demands."
The controversy in the West, in relation to which the Governor is thus
cautiously expressing himself to the Indian Chief on the 8th of August,
was a subject for cabinet consideration; a matter only for the few. But
towards the close of the month, news from a different quarter--from the
outer world of the far European East--reached the infant York, suitable
to be divulged to the many and turned to public account. It was known
that hostilities were going on between the allied forces of Europe and
the armies of Revolutionary France. And now came intelligence that the
English contingent on the continent had contributed materially to a
success over the French in Flanders on the 23rd of May last. Now this
contingent, 10,000 men, was under the command of the Duke of York, the
King's son, A happy thought strikes the Governor. What could be more
appropriate than to celebrate the good news in a demonstrative manner on
a spot which in honour of that Prince had been named York.
Accordingly, on the 26th of August, we find the following General Order
issued:--"York, Upper Canada, 26th of August, 1793. His Excellency the
Lieutenant-Governor having received information of the success of his
Majesty's arms, under His Royal Highness the Duke of York, by which
Holland has been saved from the invasion of the French armies,--and it
appearing that the combined forces have been successful in dislodging
their enemies from an entrenched camp supposed to be impregnable, from
which the most important consequences may be expected; and in which
arduous attempts His Royal Highness the Duke of York and His Majesty's
troops supported the national glory:--It is His Excellency's orders that
on the rising of the Union Flag at twelve o'clock to-morrow a Royal
Salute of twenty-one guns is to be fired, to be answered by the shipping
in the Harbour, in respect to His Royal Highness and in commemoration of
the naming this Harbour from his English title, York. E. B. Littlehales,
Major of Brigade."
These orders, we are to presume, were punctually obeyed; and we are
inclined to think that the running up of the Union Flag at noon on
Tuesday, the 27th day of August, and the salutes which immediately after
reverberated through the woods and rolled far down and across the
silvery surface of the Lake, were intended to be regarded as the true
inauguration of the Upper Canadian York.
The rejoicing, indeed, as it proved, was somewhat premature. The success
which distinguished the first operations of the royal duke did not
continue to attend his efforts. Nevertheless, the report of the honours
rendered in this remote portion of the globe, would be grateful to the
fatherly heart of the King.
On the Saturday after the Royal Salutes, the first meeting of the
Executive Council ever held in York, took place in the garrison; in the
canvas-house, as we may suppose. "The first Council," writes Mr. W. H.
Lee from Ottawa, "held at the garrison, York, late Toronto, at which
Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe was present, was on Saturday, 31st August,
1793." It transacted business there, Mr. Lee says, until the following
fifth of September, when the Government returned to Navy Hall. Still,
the Governor and his family passed the ensuing winter at York. Bouchette
speaks of his inhabiting the canvas-house "through the winter;" and
under date of York, on the 23rd of the following February (1794), we
have him writing to Mr. Secretary Dundas.
In the despatch of the day just named, after a now prolonged experience
of the newly-established post, the Governor thus glowingly speaks of it:
"York," he says, "is the most important and defensible situation in
Upper Canada, or that I have seen," he even adds, "in North America. I
have, sir," he continues, "formerly entered into a detail of the
advantages of this arsenal of Lake Ontario. An interval of Indian land
of six and thirty miles divides this settlement from Burlington Bay,
where that of Niagara commences. Its communication with Lake Huron is
very easy in five or six days, and will in all respects be of the most
essential importance."
Before the channel at the entrance of the Harbour of York was visibly
marked or buoyed, the wide-spread shoal to the west and south must have
been very treacherous to craft seeking to approach the new settlement.
In 1794 we hear of the Commodore's vessel, "the _Anondaga_, of 14 guns,"
being stranded here and given up for lost. We hear likewise that the
Commodore's son, Joseph Bouchette, the first surveyor of the harbour,
distinguished himself by managing to get the same _Anondaga_ off, after
she had been abandoned; and we are told of his assuming the command and
sailing with her to Niagara, where he is received amidst the cheers of
the garrison and others assembled on the shores to greet the rescued
vessel.
This exploit, of which he was naturally proud, and for which he was
promoted on the 12th of May, 1794, to the rank of Second Lieutenant,
Bouchette duly commemorates on his chart of York Harbour by
conspicuously marking the spot where the stranded ship lay, and
appending the note--"H. M. Schooner _Anondaga_, 14 guns, wrecked, but
raised by Lieutenant Joseph Bouchette and brought to." (A small
two-masted vessel is seen lying on the north-west bend of the great
shoal at the entrance of the Harbour.)--A second point is likewise
marked on the map "where she again grounded but was afterwards brought
to." (Here again a small vessel is seen lying at the edge of the shoal,
but now towards its northern point.) The Chart, which was originally
engraved for Bouchette's octavo book, "A Topographical Description of
Canada, &c.," published in 1815, is repeated with the marks and
accompanying notes, from the same plate, in the quarto work of
1831--"The British Dominions in North America." The _Anondaga_ of the
Bouchette narrative is, as we suppose, the _Onondago_ of the _Gazette_,
which, as we have seen, helped to take over the Rangers in August, 1793.
The same uncertainty, which we have had occasion repeatedly to notice,
in regard to the orthography of aboriginal words in general, rendered it
doubtful with the public at large as to how the names of some of the
Royal vessels should be spelt.
It is to be observed in passing, that when in his account of the first
survey of the Harbour in 1793, Bouchette speaks of the
Lieutenant-Governor removing from Niagara with his regiment of Queen's
Rangers "in the following spring," he probably means in the later
portion of the spring of the same year 1793, because, as we have already
seen, the _Gazettes_ of the day prove that the Lieutenant-Governor did
proceed to the site of the new capital with the Rangers in 1793.
Bouchette's words as they stand in his quarto book, imply, in some
degree, that 1794 was the year in which the Governor and his Rangers
first came over from Niagara. In the earlier octavo book his words were:
"In the year 1793 the spot on which York stands presented only one
solitary wigwam; in the ensuing spring the ground for the future
metropolis of Upper Canada was fixed upon, and the buildings commenced
under the immediate superintendence of the late General Simcoe, the
Lieut.-Governor: in the space of five or six years it became a
respectable place."
Bouchette was possibly recalling the commencement of the Public
Buildings in 1794, when in his second work, published in 1831, he
inserted the note which has given rise, in the minds of some, to a
slight doubt as to whether 1793 or 1794 was the year of the founding of
York. The _Gazettes_, as we have seen, shew that 1793 was the year. The
_Gazettes_ also shew that the so-called Public Buildings, _i. e._, the
Parliamentary Buildings, were not begun until 1794. Thus, in the
_Gazette_ of July 10, 1794, we read the advertisement: "Wanted:
Carpenters for the Public Buildings to be erected at York. Application
to be made to John McGill, Esq., at York, or to Mr. Allan Macnab at Navy
Hall."
On the 23rd of February, 1794, Governor Simcoe was, as we noted above,
writing a despatch at York to Mr. Secretary Dundas. So early in the
season as the 17th of March, however, he is on the move for the rapids
of the Miami river, at the upper end of Lake Erie, to establish an
additional military post in that quarter, the threatened encroachments
on the Indian lands north of the Ohio by the United States rendering
such a demonstration expedient. He is, of course, acting under
instructions from superior authority. In the MS. map to which reference
has before been made, the Governor's route on this occasion is marked;
and the following note is appended:--"Lieut.-Governor Simcoe's route
from York to the Thames, down that river in canoes to Detroit; from
thence to the Miami to build the fort Lord Dorchester ordered to be
built; left York March 17th, 1794; returned by Erie and Niagara to York,
May 5th, 1794."
In the following August, Gov. Simcoe is at Newark or Niagara. On the
18th of that month he has just heard of an engagement between the United
States forces under General Wayne and the Indians, close to the new fort
on the Miami, and he writes to Brant that he is about to proceed in
person to the scene of action "by the first vessel." On the 30th of
September he is there; and on the 10th of October following, he is
attending a Council of Chiefs in company with Brant, at the southern
entrance of the Detroit river. A cessation of hostilities on the part of
the Indians is urged, until the spring; and, for himself, he says to the
assembly: "I will go down to Quebec and lay your grievances before the
Great Man [the Onnontio probably was the word]. From thence they will be
forwarded to the King your Father. Next spring you will know the result
of everything--what you and I will do."
On the 14th of November the Governor is at Newark embarking again for
York and the East. In the _Gazette_ of Dec. 10, we have the
announcement: "His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor left this town
(Newark) on the 14th ultimo, on his way, _viâ_ York, to the eastern part
of the Province, where it is expected he will spend the winter." He
appears to have left York on the 5th of December in in an open boat. The
MS. map gives the route, with the note: "Lieut.-Gov. Simcoe's track from
York to Kingston in an open boat, Dec. 5, 1794." On the 20th of the same
month he is writing a despatch at Kingston to the "Lords of the
Committee of His Majesty's Council for Trade and Plantations;" and we
learn from the document that the neighbourhood of York, if not York
itself, was becoming populous. The Governor says to their Lordships:
"Having stated to Mr. Secretary Dundas the great importance which I
attached to York (late Toronto), and received directions to give due
encouragement to the settlement, it is with great pleasure that I am to
observe that seventy families at least are settling in its vicinity, and
principally on the communication between York and Holland's River, which
falls into Lake Simcoe." (The German families these, principally, who
were brought over by Mr. Berczy from the Pulteney settlement in the
Genesee country, on the opposite side of the Lake.)
The proposed journey to and from Quebec may have been accomplished after
the 20th of December.
In June of the following year, 1795, the Governor is at Navy Hall,
Newark. He receives and entertains there for eighteen days the French
Royalist Duke de Liancourt, who is on his travels on the American
continent. The Duke does not visit York; but two of his travelling
companions, MM. du Pettithouars and Guillemard take a run over and
report to him that there "had been no more than twelve houses hitherto
built at York." The barracks, they say, stand on the roadstead two miles
from the town, and near the Lake. The duke adds: "Desertion, I am told,
is very frequent among the soldiers."
While staying at Navy Hall, the Duke de Liancourt was taken over the
Fort on the opposite side of the river; he also afterwards dined there
with the officers. "With very obliging politeness," the duke says, "the
Governor conducted us over the Fort, which he is very loth to visit,
since he is sure that he will be obliged to deliver it up to the
Americans."--In fact it was made over to them under Jay's Treaty in this
very year 1794, along with Oswego, Detroit, Miami, and Michilimackinac,
though not actually surrendered until 1796. And this was the somewhat
inglorious termination of the difficulties between the Indian allies of
England and the United States Government, which had compelled the
Governor again and again to undertake toilsome journeys to the
West.--"Thirty artillerymen," the duke notes, "and eight companies of
the Fifth Regiment form the garrison of the Fort. Two days after the
visit," he continues, "we dined in the Fort at Major Seward's, an
officer of elegant, polite and amiable manners, who seems to be much
respected by the gentlemen of his profession. He and Mr. Pilkington, an
officer of the corps of Engineers, are the military gentlemen we have
most frequently seen during our residence in this place, and whom the
Governor most distinguishes from the rest."
In 1796 Governor Simcoe was ordered to the West Indies. He met his
Parliament at Newark on the 16th of May, and prorogued it on the 3rd of
June, after assenting to seven Acts.
In the _Gazette_ of Sept. 11, 1796, a proclamation from Peter Russell
announces that "His most gracious Majesty has been pleased to grant his
royal leave of absence to his Excellency Major General Simcoe," and that
consequently the government _pro tem_. had devolved upon himself.
In the November following, Mr. Russell, now entitled President, comes
over from Niagara in the _Mohawk_. The _Gazette_ of Nov. 4, 1796 (still
published at Niagara), announces: "Yesterday (Nov. 3), his Honour the
President of the Province and family sailed in the _Mohawk_ for York. On
his departure he was saluted with a discharge of cannon at Fort George,
which was answered by three cheers from on board." (Fort George,
afterwards famous in Canadian annals, and whose extensive remains are
still conspicuous, had now been constructed, on the west side of the
river, close by Newark or Niagara, as a kind of counterpoise to the
French Fort on the east side of the river, immediately opposite, which
had just been surrendered to the United States.)
It is briefly noted in the _Gazette_ of the 26th of January in the
following year (1797), that the President's new house at York had been
destroyed by fire. This may account for his being at Niagara in May
(1797), and sailing over again in the _Mohawk_ to York, apparently to
open Parliament. The _Gazette_ of the 31st of May, 1797, says: "On
Saturday last, sailed in the _Mohawk_ for York, his Honour the
Administrator, and several members of the Parliament of the Province."
(The _Mohawk_ had come up from Kingston on the 27th of April. On the
28th of that month a vessel had arrived at Niagara, bearing the name of
the late Governor. The _Gazette_ of May 3, 1797, thus speaks: "On Sunday
last, arrived from Kingston his Majesty's armed vessel the _Mohawk_; and
on Monday last, the _Governor Simcoe_, being their first voyage.")
The _Gazette_ of the 31st, in addition to the departure of the _Mohawk_
for York, as above, gives us also the following piece of information
whence we learn that in the trade of the Lake, a competition from the
United States side was about to begin:--"On the same day (the day when
the _Mohawk_ sailed for York), arrived here (Niagara) a Deck-boat, built
and owned by Col. John Van Rensselaer, of Lansingburg, on the North
River. This enterprising gentleman," the _Gazette_ says, "built and
completed this and one other of the same bigness (fifty barrels burden),
and conveyed them by high waters to Oswego, and arrived there without
injury this spring. They are to ply continually between Oswego and this
place and Kingston."
On July the 3rd, 1797, the return of President Russell to Niagara in the
_Mohawk_ is announced. (The exact situation of Mr. Russell's house at
Niagara may be deduced from a memorandum in the papers of Augustus
Jones, the surveyor, dated Aug., 1796. It runs as follows:--"S. 61 W.,
34 chains, 34 links from the north-west corner of the Block-house above
Navy Hall to the S. E. angle of the Hon. P. Russell's house: at 24
chains, a fence.")
During the stormy season at the close of the year 1797, a momentary
apprehension was felt at Niagara for the safety of the _Mohawk_. In a
_Gazette_ of December in this year we read: "West Niagara, Dec. 2. Fears
for the fate of the _Mohawk_ are entertained. It is said minute guns
were distinctly heard through most of Thursday before last; but we hope
she has suffered no further than being driven back to Kingston. The
_Onondaga_," it is added, "which was aground in Hungry Bay at our last
intelligence, was in a fair way of being gotten off." In the next
_Gazette_, the number for Dec. 9, it is announced that "since our last,
arrived here the _Simcoe_, from Kingston, by which we learn that the
_Mohawk_ had returned there, after having her bowsprit and a
considerable part of her sails carried away in the storm." It is also
stated of the _Onondaga_, that "she had gained that Port without
material injury sustained in Hungry Bay."
In the _Gazette_ of May 19, in the following year, 1798, the _Simcoe_
again appears. At the same time the name of the commander of the vessel
is given. "West Niagara: By the arrival of the schooner _Simcoe_, Capt.
Murney, from Kingston, we are informed that upwards of a hundred houses
in the Lower Province have been carried away by the ice this spring."
The Capt. Murney here mentioned, as being in command of the _Simcoe_,
was the father of the Hon. Edward Murney, of Belleville. He built and
owned in 1801 another vessel named the _Prince Edward_, capable of
carrying 700 barrels of flour in her hold. We are told of this vessel,
that she was built wholly of red cedar.
In the _Gazette_ of May 26, 1798, we hear of a "good sloop" constructed
of black walnut. She is about to be sold. "To be sold," the _Gazette_
says, "on the stocks at the Bay of Long Point (near Kingston), at any
time before the 28th of June next, a good sloop ready for launching, in
good order, and warranted sound and masterly built. She is formed of the
best black walnut timber, 38 tons burden, and calculated for carrying
timber." We are told further in respect to this sloop, that "she will be
sold by consent of Mr. Troyer, and a good title with a warranty given on
the sale. The conditions are for cash only; one-half down, and the other
in three months, with approved security for payment. Wm. Dealy." J.
Troyer adds: "I approve of the above." Again, it is subjoined: "All
persons having demands on said Dealy are requested to exhibit them
before the 28th of June, that the same may be paid one month thereafter.
May 24, 1798."
On Monday, the 14th of October, in the year just named, a Mr. Cornwall
was drowned by falling out of a boat into the Lake, near the Garrison at
York. In the _Gazette_ of the 27th it is noted that "on Monday last the
body of Mr. Cornwall, who was unfortunately drowned the 14th instant, by
falling out of a boat into the Lake, near the Garrison, was taken up at
the Etobicoke. The coroner's inquest sat on the body," it is added, "and
brought in a verdict 'accidental death.'" (In this _Gazette_ Etobicoke
is curiously printed Toby Cove.)
Boisterous weather gave rise to the usual disasters and inconveniences
in the autumn of 1798. "During the heavy gales of wind," says the
_Gazette_ of Nov. 24, "which we have had, a vessel loaded with sundry
goods was drove on shore at the Mississaga point at Newark (Niagara),
and another vessel belonging to this town (York) was drove on a place
called the Ducks, where she received considerable damage."
In August, 1799, Governor Hunter, lately appointed, arrived in York
Harbour in the _Speedy_. The Niagara _Constellation_ of Aug. 23, 1799,
gives us the information. It says: "His Excellency, Governor Hunter,
arrived at York on Friday morning last in the _Speedy_. On landing," we
are told, "he was received by a party of the Queen's Rangers; and at one
o'clock p.m. was waited on at his Honour's the President's, by the
military officers, and congratulated on his safe arrival and
appointment to the government of the Province."
On the 5th of September he has gone over to Niagara. The _Constellation_
of the 6th thus notices his arrival there: "Yesterday morning, arrived
here from York his Excellency Governor Hunter. He was saluted by a
discharge of twenty-one guns from Fort George. His early arrival in the
morning prevented so great an attendance of inhabitants to demonstrate
their joy, as was wished by them." He probably crossed the Lake in the
_Speedy_.
The departure of Governor Hunter from Niagara is noted in the
_Constellation_ of the following week. "On Saturday last," the
_Constellation_ of Sept. 13 says, "His Excellency sailed for Kingston
and the Lower Province (probably again in the _Speedy_). On embarking,"
we are informed as usual, "he was saluted from the Garrison;" and it is
also added that on passing Fort Niagara "he was saluted by the American
flag, which had been hoisted for the purpose." On which act of courtesy
the _Constellation_ remarks that "merit is respected by all countries."
It is then added: "We learn that his Excellency has committed the
administration of the Government, during his absence, to a committee
composed of the Honourable Peter Russell, J. Elmsley and Æneas Shaw,
Esquires; and the Hon. J. McGill, Esq., in the absence of either of
them."
Under date of York, Saturday, Sept. 14th, 1799, we have mention made in
the _Gazette_ of a new vessel. "The _Toronto Yacht_, Capt. Baker," the
_Gazette_ announces, "will in the course of a few days be ready to make
her first trip. She is," the _Gazette_ says, "one of the handsomest
vessels of her size that ever swam upon the Ontario; and if we are
permitted to judge from her appearance, and to do her justice, we must
say she bids fair to be one of the swiftest sailing vessels. She is
admirably calculated for the reception of passengers, and can with
propriety boast of the most experienced officers and men. Her
master-builder," it is subjoined, "was a Mr. Dennis, an American, on
whom she reflects great honour." This was Mr. Joseph Dennis; and the
place where the vessel was built was a little way up the Humber. (The
name Dennis is carelessly given in the _Gazette_ as Dennison.)
The effects of rough weather on the Lake at the close of 1799, as
detailed by the Niagara _Constellation_ of the 7th of December, will not
be out of place. "On Thursday last," the _Constellation_ says, "a boat
arrived here from Schenectady, which place she left on the 22nd ult.
She passed the _York_ sticking on a rock off the Devil's Nose: no
prospect of getting her off. A small deck-boat also, she reports, lately
sprung a leak twelve miles distant from Oswego. The people on board,
many of whom were passengers, were taken off by a vessel passing, when
she instantly sank: cargo is all lost." The narrative then proceeds to
say: "A vessel supposed to be the _Genesee_ schooner, has been two days
endeavouring to come in. It is a singular misfortune," the
_Constellation_ says, "that this vessel, which sailed more than a month
ago from Oswego, laden for this place, has been several times in sight,
and driven back by heavy gales."
In the same number of the _Constellation_ (Dec. 7th, 1799), we have "the
well-known schooner _Peggy_" spoken of. A moiety of her is offered for
sale. Richard Beasley of Barton, executor, and Margaret Berry of York,
executrix, to the estate of Thomas Berry, merchant, late of York,
deceased, advertise for sale: "One moiety of the well-known schooner
_Peggy_: any recommendation of her sailing or accommodation," they say,
"will be unnecessary: with these particulars the public are well
acquainted, and the purchaser will, no doubt, satisfy himself with
personal inspection. For terms of sale apply to the executor and
executrix."
In the _Constellation_ of the following week is the mysterious
paragraph: "If Jonathan A. Pell will return and pay Captain Selleck for
the freight of the salt which he took from on board the _Duchess of
York_ without leave, it will be thankfully received and no questions
asked."
The disastrous effects of the gales are referred to again in the
_Gazette_ of Dec. 21st, 1799. "We hear from very good authority," the
_Gazette_ says, "that the schooner _York_, Captain Murray, has
foundered, and is cast upon the American shore about fifty miles from
Niagara, where the captain and men are encamped. Mr. Forsyth, one of the
passengers, hired a boat to carry them to Kingston. Fears are
entertained for the fate of the _Terrahoga_." (A government vessel so
named.)
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XXX.
THE HARBOUR--ITS MARINE, 1800-1814.
On the 15th of May, 1800, Governor Hunter arrives again in York Harbour.
The _Gazette_ of Saturday, the 17th, 1800, announces that "on Thursday
evening last (May 15th), his Excellency Peter Hunter, Esq.,
Lieutenant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief of this Province, arrived in
our harbour on board the _Toronto_; and on Friday morning about 9
o'clock landed at the Garrison, where he is at present to reside." On
May 16th in the following year Governor Hunter arrives again in the
_Toronto_, from Quebec. "Arrived this morning, Saturday, May 16th,
1801," says the _Gazette_, "on board the _Toronto_, Captain Earl, his
Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, his Aide-de-Camp and Secretary, from
Quebec. We hear," continues the _Gazette_, "that his Excellency has
ordered the Parliament to meet on the 28th instant for the actual
despatch of business."
In the _Gazette_ of Aug. 29th, in this year (1801), we have the
appointment of Mr. Allan to the collectorship for the harbour of York.
Thus runs the announcement: "To the Public.--His Excellency the
Lieutenant-Governor has been pleased to appoint the subscriber Collector
of Duties at this Port, for the Home District: as likewise Inspector of
Pot and Pearl Ashes and Flour. Notice is hereby given that the Custom
House for entry will be held at my store-house at the water's edge, and
that I will attend accordingly, agreeably to the Act. W. Allan, York,
25th Aug., 1801."
In this year, it is noted in the Niagara _Herald_ (Nov. 18th, 1801), the
people of Niagara saw for the first time flying from Fort George the
British Flag, as blazoned after the recent union of Great Britain and
Ireland. "On Tuesday, the 17th instant, at 12 o'clock," the _Herald_
says, "we were most agreeably entertained with a display from Fort
George, for the first time, of the flag of the United Kingdom. The wind
being in a favourable point, it unfurled to the greatest advantage to a
view from the town. Its size, we apprehend, will subject it to injury in
the high winds that prevail here." It was possibly the Royal Standard.
In the following year, 1802, Governor Hunter arrives at York on the 14th
of May, and again in the _Toronto_. "It is with infinite pleasure,"
(such is the warm language of the _Gazette_ of May 15th, 1802), "we
announce the arrival of his Excellency Peter Hunter, Esq.,
Lieutenant-Governor of this Province, and suite, in a very short passage
from Quebec. His Excellency arrived in the harbour late yesterday
evening (May 14), on board the _Toronto_, and landed at the Garrison at
9 o'clock. We understand he left Quebec the 27th ult." The officer in
command at York on the occasion of Governor Hunter's visit in 1802 was
Captain Æneas Macdonell. We have before us a note from him, dated York
Garrison, May 15th, to Lieut. Chiniquy at Fort George, in which he
speaks of this visit. "General Hunter appeared off this harbour," he
says, "at 4 o'clock yesterday, with a Jack at his main-top-mast head. A
guard of two sergeants, two corporals, and thirty men," Capt. Macdonell
continues, "was soon ready to receive him, which I had the honour to
command; but I had not the pleasure to salute him, as he could not land
before 9 o'clock last night." (At the close of his note, Capt. Macdonell
begs Mr. Chiniquy to send him over from Niagara some butter,--such a
luxury being, as we must suppose, difficult to be procured at York). "If
you will be good enough to take the trouble," Capt. Macdonell says, "to
procure me a few pounds of butter and send it over, I will willingly
take the same trouble for you when in my power."
In the _Gazette_ of the preceding April a boat is advertised as about to
make trips between York and the Head of the Lake. This is the
advertisement: "The subscriber will run a boat from York to the Head of
the Lake once a week. The first departure will be from York the 31st
instant (on Wednesday), and from the Head of the Lake on Saturday, every
week. Any commands left with Messrs. Miles and Playter, and Mr. Beaman
at York, and at the Government House, Mr. Bates; and Richard Beasly,
Esq., at the Head of the Lake, will be attended to with confidence and
despatch. Levi Willard, York, 30th March, 1802."
So early as Jan. 18, in this year (1802), the following notice appeared
in the Niagara _Herald_;--"The sloop _Mary Ann_ will sail from this town
(Niagara) on first favourable day."--In August of this year a young
Scotchman falls from the sloop and is drowned. The Niagara _Herald_ of
Aug. 21, 1802, notes the incident:--"On Monday last, James McQueen, a
native of Scotland, aged about 20, fell from the _Mary Ann_ and was
drowned. The vessel being under sail, with wind and current in her
favour, could not put about in the very short time he remained above
water."--In 1802, "Skinner's Sloop" was plying occasionally between York
and Niagara. We have a letter before us from Capt. Æneas Macdonell to
Ensign Chiniquy, dated York Garrison, 28th March, 1802, acknowledging a
budget of news received by "Skinner's Sloop."
In 1803, on the 13th of May, the arrival at York of a Government vessel
named the _Duke of Kent_, with troops, is announced in the _Gazette_.
"This morning arrived at the Garrison the _Duke of Kent_ from Kingston,
having on board a detachment of His Majesty's 49th regiment, which is to
do duty here in place of the 41st regiment, ordered to Lower Canada."
This same vessel arrives again in the harbour on the 27th of the
following July. She now has on board "The Right Reverend Jacob, Lord
Bishop of Quebec."--"On Thursday, the 27th," says the _Gazette_ of the
29th of July, 1803, "arrived here (York), the _Duke of Kent_, having on
board the Right Reverend Jacob, Lord Bishop of Quebec. We understand,"
the _Gazette_ adds, "his Lordship intended first to visit Detroit, but,
owing to contrary winds, was necessitated to postpone his journey. His
Lordship will leave town for Niagara shortly after the Confirmation,
which will immediately take place."
We hear of casualties on the Lake towards the close of the year. We read
in the _Gazette_ of Nov. 16, that "it is currently reported, and we are
sorry to add with every appearance of foundation, that the sloop _Lady
Washington_, commanded by Capt. Murray, was lately lost in a gale of
wind near Oswego, on her passage to Niagara. Pieces of the wreck, and
her boat, by which she was recognized, together with several other
articles, are said to have been picked up. It is yet uncertain," the
_Gazette_ says, "whether the crew and passengers are saved; among the
latter were Messrs. Dunn and Boyd, of Niagara."--Again: the _Gazette_ of
Dec. 10, 1803, reports that "a gentleman from Oswego, by the name of
Mr. Dunlop, was on Wednesday last accidentally knocked from on board a
vessel near the Highlands by the gibbing of the boom, and unfortunately
drowned."
The disappointment occasioned to merchants sometimes by the uncertainty
of communication between York and the outer world in the stormy season,
may be conceived of from a postscript to an advertisement of Mr. Quetton
St. George's in the _Gazette_ of Dec. 10, 1803. It says: "Mr. St. George
is very sorry, on account of his customers, that he has not received his
East India Goods and Groceries: he is sure they are at Oswego; and
should they not arrive this season, they may be looked for early in the
spring." It was tantalizing to suppose they were so near York as Oswego,
and yet could not be had until the spring.
The principal incident connected with the marine of the harbour of York
in 1804 was the loss of the _Speedy_. We give the contemporary account
of the disaster from the _Gazette_ of Saturday, Nov. 3, 1804.
"The following," the _Gazette_ says, "is as accurate an account of the
loss of the schooner _Speedy_, in His Majesty's service on Lake Ontario,
as we have been able to collect. The _Speedy_, Capt. Paxton, left this
port (York) on Sunday evening, the 7th of October last, with a moderate
breeze from the north-west, for Presqu'isle, and was descried off that
island on the Monday following before dark, where preparations were made
for the reception of the passengers, but the wind coming round from the
north-east, blew with such violence as to render it impossible for her
to enter the harbour; and very shortly after she disappeared. A large
fire was then kindled on shore as a guide to the vessel during the
night; but she has not since been seen or heard of; and it is with the
most painful sensations we have to say, we fear is totally lost.
Inquiry, we understand, has been made at almost every port of the Lake,
but without effect; and no intelligence respecting the fate of this
unfortunate vessel could be obtained. It is, therefore, generally
concluded that she has either upset or foundered. It is also reported by
respectable authority that several articles, such as the compass-box,
hencoop and mast, known to have belonged to this vessel, have been
picked up on the opposite side of the Lake.--The passengers on board the
ill-fated _Speedy_, as near as we can recollect," the narrative goes on
to say, "were Mr. Justice Cochrane; Robert J. D. Gray, Esq.,
Solicitor-General, and Member of the House of Assembly; Angus Macdonell,
Esq., Advocate, Member of the House of Assembly; Mr. Jacob Herchmer,
Merchant; Mr. John Stegman, Surveyor; Mr. George Cowan, Indian
Interpreter; James Ruggles, Esq.; Mr. Anderson, Student in the Law; Mr.
John Fisk, High Constable, all of this place. The above named gentlemen
were proceeding to the District of Newcastle, in order to hold the
Circuit, and for the trial of an Indian (also on board the _Speedy_)
indicted for the murder of John Sharp, late of the Queen's Rangers. It
is also reported, but we cannot vouch for its authenticity, that
exclusive of the above passengers, there were on board two other
persons, one in the service of Mr. Justice Cochrane, and the other in
that of the Solicitor-General; as also two children of parents whose
indigent circumstances necessitated them to travel by land. The crew of
the _Speedy_, it is said, consisted of five seamen (three of whom have
left large families) exclusive of Captain Paxton, who also had a very
large family. The total number of souls on board the _Speedy_ is
computed to be about twenty. A more distressing and melancholy event has
not occurred to this place for many years; nor does it often happen that
such a number of persons of respectability are collected in the same
vessel. Not less than nine widows, and we know not how many children,
have to lament the loss of their husbands and fathers, who, alas, have,
perhaps in the course of a few minutes, met with a watery grave. It is
somewhat remarkable," the _Gazette_ then observes, "that this is the
third or fourth accident of a similar nature within these few years, the
cause of which appears worthy the attention and investigation of persons
conversant in the art of ship-building."
Two of the disasters to vessels probably alluded to by the _Gazette_
were noted above. In 1802 the _Lady Washington_, Captain Murray,
foundered in the Lake, leaving scarcely a trace. And three years
previously, the _York_, in command of the same Captain Murray, was lost
at the point known as the Devil's Nose, not far from the entrance to the
River Genesee. And again, some years earlier, in 1780, before the
organization of the Province of Upper Canada, the _Ontario_, Capt.
Andrews, carrying twenty-two guns, went down with all on board, while
conveying troops, a detachment of the King's Own, under Col. Burton,
from Niagara to Oswego. One hundred and seventy-two persons perished on
this occasion, Capt. Andrews was, at the time, First Commissioner of the
Dock Yard at Kingston, and Commodore of the small flotilla maintained
on the Lake, chiefly for transport service. (For several of these
particulars we are indebted to Capt. Andrews' grandson, the Rev. Saltern
Givins.)
As to the apparent fragility of the government vessels, on which the
_Gazette_ remarks, the use of timber insufficiently seasoned may have
had something to do with it. The French Duke de Liancourt, in 1795,
observed that all the vessels which he saw at Niagara were built of
timber fresh cut down and not seasoned; and that, for that reason, "they
never lasted longer than six or eight years. To preserve them for even
this length of time," he says, "requires a thorough repair: they must be
heaved down and caulked, which costs, at least, from one thousand to one
thousand two hundred guineas. The timbers of the _Mississaga_," he says,
"which was built three years ago, are almost all rotten."
A particular account of the homicide for which the Indian prisoner, lost
in the _Speedy_, was about to be tried, and of his arrest, is given in a
subdivision of one of our chapters, entitled "Some Memories of the Old
Court House."
Of the perils encountered by early navigators of Lake Ontario we have an
additional specimen furnished us by the _Gazette_ of Sept. 8th, 1804.
That paper reports as follows: "Capt Moore's sloop, which sailed from
Sackett's Harbour on the 14th July for Kingston with a load of pot and
pearl ashes, struck on Long Point near Kingston in a gale of wind; and
having on board a number of passengers, men, women, and children, he was
under the necessity of throwing over forty-eight barrels of ashes in
order to lighten the vessel." It is then briefly added: "She arrived at
Kingston."
We hear of the _Toronto Yacht_ in 1805, casually. A boat puts off from
her to the rescue of some persons in danger of drowning, near the
Garrison at York, in November of that year. "On Sunday last, the 10th,"
says the _Gazette_ of Nov. 16th, 1805, "a boat from the River Credit for
this place (York), containing four persons, and laden with salmon and
country produce, overset near the Garrison, at the entrance of this
harbour; and notwithstanding the most prompt assistance rendered by a
boat from the _Toronto Yacht_, we are sorry to add that one person was
unfortunately drowned, and a considerable part of the cargo lost." At
this date, the _Toronto Yacht_ was under the command of Capt. Earl.
In December, 1805, a member of the Kendrick family of York was lost in
a vessel wrecked on the New York side of the Lake. "We understand," says
the _Gazette_ of Feb. 15th, 1806, "that a boat, sometime in December
last, going from Oswego to Sandy Creek, was lost near the mouth of
Salmon river, and four persons drowned. One of the bodies, and the
articles contained in the boat, were driven ashore; the remainder, it is
supposed, were buried in the sand. The persons who perished were--John
McBride (found), John Kendrick of this place (York), Alexander Miller
and Jessamin Montgomery."--In November of this year (1805), Miss Sarah
Kendrick was married. It will be observed that her taste, like that of
her brothers, of whom more hereafter, lay in a nautical direction.
"Married, on Tuesday, the 12th inst., by licence," records the
_Gazette_, "Jesse Goodwin, mariner, to Miss Sarah Kendrick." (This is
the Goodwin from whom the small stream which ran into York Bay at its
eastern extremity used to be called--Goodwin's Creek.)
In the _Gazette_ of Oct 11th, 1806, it is noted that Governor Gore
crossed from York to Niagara in little more than four hours. The vessel
is not named. Probably it was the _Toronto Yacht_.
In 1807, Governor Gore crossed from York to Niagara to hold a levee, on
the King's birthday. The vessel that conveyed him again is not named.
The following notice appears in the _Gazette_ of May 16th, 1807:
"Government House, York, 16th May, 1807. The Lieut.-Governor will hold a
levee at the Commanding Officer's Quarters at Niagara, at 2 o'clock on
Tuesday, the 4th of June. Wm. Halton, Secretary." Then follows a second
notice: "Government House, York, 16th May, 1807. There will be a Ball
and Supper at the Council House, Niagara, on his Majesty's Birthday, for
such ladies and gentlemen as have been presented to the Lieut.-Governor
and Mrs. Gore. Wm. Halton, Secretary."
An accident to the _Toronto Yacht_ is reported in the _Gazette_ of Oct.
17th, 1807. That paper says: "The _Toronto Yacht_, in attempting her
passage across on Wednesday or Thursday last, met with an accident that
obliged her to put back to Niagara, which port, we understand, she
reached with difficulty."
The _Gazette_ of October 31st, 1807, speaks of the inconveniences to
itself, arising from the irregularity in the communication between York
and Niagara. "The communication with Niagara by water," it says, "from
being irregular lately, has prevented us receiving our papers this week.
The Indian Express," the _Gazette_ then adds, "having commenced its
regular weekly route, our publishing day will be changed to Wednesday.
We have nothing of moment or interest. Should anything occur we will
give an extra sheet." On the 18th of November the _Gazette_ appears
printed on blue paper, such as used to be seen on the outside of
pamphlets and magazines. An apology is offered. "We have to apologize to
our readers for the necessity of publishing this week on an inferior
quality of paper, owing to the non-arrival of our expected supply." The
same kind of paper is used in a succession of numbers. It is curious to
observe that the effect of time has been to produce less disfigurement
in the bright appearance of the pages and print of the blue numbers of
the _Gazette_, than in the ordinary white paper numbers, which have now
assumed a very coarse, dingy, inferior aspect.
In 1808 the important announcement is made in the _Gazette_ of March
16th, that a lighthouse is about to be immediately established on
Gibraltar Point, at the entrance of York Harbour. "It is with pleasure
we inform the public," the _Gazette_ says, "that the dangers to vessels
navigating Lake Ontario will in a great measure be avoided by the
erection of a Lighthouse on Gibraltar Point, which is to be immediately
completed, in compliance with an Address of the House of Assembly to the
Lieutenant-Governor."
We have understood that a lighthouse was begun at the point of York
peninsula before the close of the last century; that the _Mohawk_ was
employed in bringing over stone for the purpose, from Queenston; and
that Mr. John Thompson, still living in 1873, was engaged in the actual
erection of the building. It was perhaps then begun. In 1803 an Act was
passed by the Provincial Legislature for the establishment of
lighthouses "on the south-westernmost point of a certain island called
Isle Forest, situated about three leagues from the town of Kingston, in
the Midland District; another upon Mississaga point, at the entrance of
the Niagara river, near to the town of Niagara; and the other upon
Gibraltar point." It was probably not practicable to carry the Act fully
into effect before 1806. According to the Act a fund for the erection
and maintenance of such lighthouses was to be formed by levying
three-pence per ton on every vessel, boat, raft, or other craft of ten
tons burthen and upwards, doubling the point named, inward bound. That
lighthouse duty should be levied at ports where there was no lighthouse,
became a grievance; and in 1818 it was enacted that "no vessel, boat,
raft or other craft of the burthen of ten tons and upwards shall be
liable to pay any Lighthouse Duty at any port where there shall be no
lighthouse erected, any law or usage to the contrary notwithstanding."
Mr. Cartwright (Judge Cartwright) built in 1808 two vessels on
Mississaga Point at the mouth of the Cataraqui, one for himself, the
_Elizabeth_; the other for the North-West Company, the _Governor
Simcoe_. The North-West Company had previously a vessel on the lake
called the _Simcoe_, which was now worn out.
In June, 1808, Governor Gore departs from York for a tour in the western
part of the Province. The _Gazette_ seems mildly to rebuke him for
having swerved from his first design in regard to this tour. He had
intended to proceed _via_ Lake Huron; that is, by the Yonge Street
route, but he had finally preferred to go _via_ Lake Ontario. "His
Excellency the Lieut.-Governor left this place, York," the _Gazette_
announces, "on the 15th instant, on a visit to Sandwich, etc. We are
sorry," the editor then ventures to observe, "that he did not, as he
originally destined, proceed by Lake Huron, according to his amiable
intention and view of promoting the first interests of this province."
In the _Gazette_ of October 22nd, in this year, we hear once more of the
_Toronto Yacht_.--Governor Gore has returned to York in safety, and has
left again for Niagara in the _Toronto_. "On the 17th instant," the
above-named _Gazette_ reports, "his Excellency the Lieut.-Governor and
Major Halton sailed for Niagara in the _Toronto Yacht_. It was his
Excellency's intention to have gone there on Monday last." The _Gazette_
says: "He embarked for the purpose, and received an honorary salute from
the Garrison. Excessive gales and a succession of violent head winds
delayed his proceeding until Thursday morning." (He returned in the
_Toronto_ on Tuesday, the 6th of November.)
On the 14th of December in this year, the editor of the _Gazette_ again
announces a change in the day of publication, in consequence of the
suspension of water communication between York and Niagara. "The
suspension of our water communication with Niagara at the present season
obliges us to alter the day of publication, which will now be on
Wednesday. John Cameron."
A postal notice issued in the _Gazette_ of Jan. 4th, in the following
year, 1809, is interesting now. It reads thus: "For General Information.
The winter mail will be despatched from Quebec for Upper Canada on the
following days: Monday, 2nd Jan., 1809: do. 6th Feb.: do. 6th March: do.
3rd April. Each mail may be looked for here (York) from 16 to 18 days
after the above periods. The Carrier from Kingston (the Indian Express
probably of which we have heard already) is to go on to Niagara without
making any stay (unless found necessary) at this place; so that all
persons will have time to prepare their letters by the time he returns
from Kingston again. W. Allan, Deputy P. M., York, 2nd Jan. 1809." The
mail between Montreal and Kingston was carried on the back of one
Anderson. Between these two places the postage was nine-pence.
Between 1809 and 1812 we do not light upon many notices of vessels
frequenting York Harbour. In 1810, a schooner called the _Lady Gore_ or
the _Bella Gore_, commanded by Captain Sanders, and plying to Kingston,
was a well known vessel. (It may be noted that in 1811 Governor Gore
left York for England, on leave of absence, and was away during the four
eventful years that followed.) In 1812, and previously, a sloop
commanded by Captain Conn was running between York and Niagara. From
some peculiarity in her contour, she was popularly spoken of as "Captain
Conn's Coffin." Another sloop, commanded by Captain Grace, was plying
between York, Niagara and Kingston about the same time.
The Government vessels with whose names we have become familiar were now
either unseaworthy or wrecked. The _Mohawk_, the _Onondaga_, the
_Caldwell_, the _Sophia_, the _Buffalo_, are no longer heard of as
passing in and out of the harbour of York. It had been the fate of the
_Toronto Yacht_, while under the command of Capt. Fish, to run on the
sands at Gibraltar Point through a mistake as to the position of the
light. Her skeleton was long a conspicuous object, visited by ramblers
on the Island. This incident occurred just before the outbreak of the
war.
Most of the vessels which had been engaged in the ordinary traffic of
the Lake were, during the war, employed by the government in the
transport service. Captain Murney's vessel, the _Prince Edward_, built,
as we have already heard, wholly of red cedar, and still in good order
in 1812, was thus employed.
In the fleet on Lake Ontario in 1812-14 new names prevail. Not one of
the old titles is repeated. Some changes made in the nomenclature of
vessels during the contest have created confusion in regard to
particular ships. In several instances which we shall specify
immediately, in the following list, two names indicate the same vessel
at different periods of the war. The _Prince Regent_, the commodore's
ship, (Capt. Earl), the _Princess Charlotte_, the _Montreal_, the
_Wolfe_, the _Sir Sidney Smith_, the _Niagara_, the _Royal George_, the
_Melville_, the _Star_, the _Moira_, the _Cherwell_, the _Gloucester_
(Capt. Gouvereau), the _Magnet_, the _Netley_, the _St. Lawrence_; and
the gunboats _Cleopatra_, _Lais_, _Ninon_, _Nelly_, _Regent_,
_Thunderer_, _Wellington_, _Retaliation_, _Black Snake_, _Prescott_,
_Dreadnought_. In this list the _Wolfe_ and the _Montreal_ are the same
vessels; as also are the _Royal George_ and the _Niagara_; the
_Melville_ and the _Star_; the _Prince Regent_ and the _Netley_; the
_Moira_ and the _Cherwell_; the _Montreal_ and the _Wolfe_; the _Magnet_
and the _Sir Sidney Smith_.
The _Moira_ was lying off the Garrison at York when the _Simcoe_
transport came in sight filled with prisoners taken on Queenston
Heights, and bringing the first intelligence of the death of General
Brock. We have heard the Rev. Dr. Richardson of Toronto, who at the time
was Sailing Master of the _Moira_, under Captain Sampson, describe the
scene.--The approaching schooner was recognized at a distance as the
_Simcoe_: it was a vessel owned and commanded, at the moment, by Dr.
Richardson's father, Captain James Richardson. Mr. Richardson
accordingly speedily put off in a boat from the _Moira_, to learn the
news. He was first startled at the crowded appearance of the _Simcoe's_
deck, and at the unwonted guise of his father, who came to the gangway
conspicuously girt with a sword. 'A great battle had been fought,' he
was told, 'on Queenston Heights. The enemy had been beaten. The _Simcoe_
was full of prisoners of war, to be transferred instanter to the _Moira_
for conveyance to Kingston. General Brock was killed!'--Elated with the
first portion of the news, Dr. Richardson spoke of the thrill of dismay
which followed the closing announcement as something indescribable and
never to be forgotten.
Among the prisoners on board the _Simcoe_ was Winfield Scott, an
artillery officer, afterwards the distinguished General Scott. He was
not taken to Kingston, but, with others, released on parole.
The year following (1813), York Harbour was visited by the United States
fleet, consisting of sixteen vessels. The result other pages will tell.
It has been again and again implied in these papers. The government
vessel named the _Prince Regent_ narrowly escaped capture. She had left
the port only a few days before the arrival of the enemy. The frames of
two ships on the stocks were destroyed, but not by the Americans. At the
command of General Sheaffe, they were fired by the royal troops when
beginning the retreat in the direction of Kingston. A schooner, the
_Governor Hunter_, belonging to Joseph Kendrick, was caught in the
harbour and destroyed; but as we have understood, the American commander
paid a sum of money to the owner by way of compensation.--At the taking
of York, Captain Sanders, whom we have seen in command of the _Bella
Gore_, was killed. He was put in charge of the dockyardmen who were
organized as a part of the small force to be opposed to the invaders.
We can imagine a confused state of things at York in 1813. Nevertheless
the law asserts its supremacy. The magistrates in sessions fine a pilot
£2 15s. for refusing to fulfil his engagement with Mr. McIntosh. "On the
19th October, 1813, a complaint was made by Angus McIntosh, Esq., late
of Sandwich, now of York, merchant, against Jonathan Jordan, formerly of
the city of Montreal, a steersman in one of Angus McIntosh's boats, for
refusing to proceed with the said boat, and thereby endangering the
safety of the said boat. He is fined £2 15s. currency, to be deducted
from wages due by Angus McIntosh."
It was in May the following year (1814), that Mr. Richardson, while
Acting Master on board the _Montreal_ (previously the _Wolfe_), lost his
left arm in Sir James Yeo's expedition against Oswego.--The place was
carried by storm. After describing the mode of attack and the gallantry
of the men, Sir James Yeo in his official despatch thus speaks in
particular of the _Montreal_: "Captain Popham, of the _Montreal_," he
says, "anchored his ship in a most gallant style; sustaining the whole
fire until we gained the shore. She was set on fire three times by
red-hot shot, and much cut up in her hull, masts and rigging. Captain
Popham," he then proceeds to say, "received a severe wound in his right
hand; and speaks in high terms of Mr. Richardson, the Master, who from a
severe wound in the left arm, was obliged to undergo amputation at the
shoulder joint."
The grievous mutilation thus suffered did not cause Mr. Richardson to
retire from active service. Immediately on his recovery he was, at his
own desire, appointed to a post of professional duty in the fleet. In
October, when the great hundred-gun ship, the _St. Lawrence_, was
launched at Kingston, he was taken by Sir James Yeo on board that
vessel, his familiarity with the coasts of the Lake rendering his
services in the capacity of Acting Pilot of great value.
In the record of disbursements made by the Loyal and Patriotic Society
of Upper Canada in 1815, we have the sum of One Hundred Pounds allotted
on the 22nd of April to "Mr. James Richardson, of the Midland District,"
with the following note appended: "This gentleman was first in the
Provincial Navy, and behaved well: he then became Principal Pilot of the
Royal Fleet, and by his modesty and uncommon good conduct gained the
esteem of all of the officers of the Navy. He lost his arm at the taking
of Oswego, and as he was not a commissioned officer, there was no
allowance for his wounds. The Society, informed of this and in
consideration of his services, requested his acceptance of £100."
By a curious transition, instances of which are now and then afforded in
the history of individuals in every profession, Mr. Richardson became in
after years an eminent minister in the Methodist Society; and at the age
of 82 was known and honoured far and wide throughout Upper Canada as the
indefatigable bishop or chief superintendent of that section of the
Methodist body which is distinguished by the prefix Episcopal.
In 1814 it would appear that Commodore Chauncey and his fleet were no
longer dominating the north shore. The _Netley_, formerly the _Prince
Regent_, is mentioned as being again in the harbour of York. On the 24th
of July she took over Lieut.-General and President Drummond, when on his
way to support General Rial at Lundy's Lane. "I embarked," General
Drummond says in his despatch to Sir George Prevost describing the
engagement at Lundy's Lane; "I embarked on board His Majesty's schooner
_Netley_, at York, on Sunday evening, the 24th instant (July), and
reached Niagara at daybreak the following morning." He then pushed on
from Niagara to Lundy's Lane with 800 rank and file, and was the
undoubted means of preventing a hard-contested fight from ending in a
defeat.
On the 24th of December in this year the Treaty of Ghent was signed, by
which, to adopt its own language, "a firm and universal peace was
re-established between His Britannic Majesty and the United States, and
between their respective countries, territories, cities, towns and
people of every degree, without exception of persons or places."
[Illustration]
XXXI.
THE HARBOUR: ITS MARINE, 1815-1827.
Soon after the close of the war with the United States in 1814, the era
of steam navigation on Lake Ontario opens. The first steamer, the
_Frontenac_, was launched at Ernesttown, on the Bay of Quinté, in 1816.
Her trips began in 1817. The length of her deck was 170 feet; the
breadth, 32 feet; her burden, 700 tons; her cost, £15,000; her
commander, Capt. James McKenzie, a retired officer of the Royal Navy.
In 1818 we observe an enactment of the Provincial Legislature, having
reference to steam navigation. It is decreed that the usual space
occupied by the engine and machinery in a steam vessel, with the
requisite stowage of wood, should be taken to occupy one-third of such
vessel, and that such vessel should only pay Lighthouse or Tonnage Duty
on two-thirds of her admeasurement.
In successive numbers of the Kingston _Chronicle_, the advertisement of
the _Frontenac_, occupying the width of two columns, conspicuously
appears, with a large rude woodcut of a steamer with two smoke-pipes at
the top. For the sake of the fares and other particulars, we copy this
document (from the _Chronicle_ of April 30, 1819). "The Steamboat
_Frontenac_, James McKenzie, Master, will in future leave the different
ports on the following days: viz., Kingston for York, on the 1st, 11th
and 21st days of each month. York for Queenston, 3rd, 13th and 23rd days
of each month. Niagara for Kingston, 5th, 15th and 25th days of each
month. Rates of Passages: From Kingston to York and Niagara, £3. From
York to Niagara, £1. Children under three years of age, half-price;
above three, and under ten, two-thirds. A Book will be kept for entering
the names of passengers, and the berths which they may choose at which
time the passage money must be paid. Passengers are allowed sixty pounds
weight of baggage; surplus baggage to be paid for at the usual rate.
Gentlemen's servants cannot sleep or eat in the Cabin. Deck passengers
will pay fifteen shillings, and may either bring their own provisions,
or be furnished by the Steward. For each dog brought on board, five
shillings. All applications for passage to be made to Capt. McKenzie, on
board. Freight will be transported to and from the above places at the
rate of four shillings per barrel bulk, and Flour at the customary rate
delivered to the different consignees. A list of their names will be put
in a conspicuous place on board, which must be deemed a sufficient
notice; and the Goods, when taken from the Steamboat will be considered
at the risk of the owners. For each small parcel, 2s. 6d., which must be
paid on delivery. Kingston, April 28th, 1819." Capt. McKenzie has
acquired confidence in himself and his vessel in 1819. An earlier notice
in the _Chronicle_, relating to the _Frontenac_, was the following. Its
terms show the great caution and very salutary fear which governed the
action of sea captains, hitherto without experience in such matters,
when about to encounter by the aid of steam the perils of a boisterous
Lake. "Steamboat _Frontenac_ will sail from Kingston for Niagara,
calling at York, on the 1st and 15th days of each month, with as much
punctuality as the nature of the Lake navigation will admit of."
The ordinary sailing craft of the Lake of course still continued to ply.
We hear of a passenger-boat between York and Niagara in 1815, called the
_Dove_; also of the _Reindeer_, commanded for a time by Captain Myers.
In 1819-20 Stillwell Wilson, with whom we are already acquainted, is in
command of a slip-keel schooner, carrying passengers and freight between
York and Niagara. The _Wood Duck_ was another vessel on this route. (In
1828 the _Wood Duck_ is offered for sale, with her rigging and sails
complete, for Four Hundred Dollars cash. "Apply to William Gibbons,
owner, York." She is afterwards the property of Mr. William Arthurs.)
The _Red Rover_, Captain Thew, and the _Comet_, Captain Ives, were
others. The _Britannia_, Captain Miller, was a visitant of York harbour
about the same period; a top-sail schooner of about 120 tons, remarkable
for her specially fine model. She was built by Roberts, near the site
of what is now Wellington Square, and was the property of Mr. Matthew
Crooks, of Niagara.
Captain Thew, above named, afterwards commanded the _John Watkins_, a
schooner plying to York. Captain Thew encountered a little difficulty
once at Kingston, through a violation, unconsciously on his part, of
naval etiquette. A set of colours had been presented to the _John
Watkins_, by Mr. Harris of York, in honour of his old friend and a
co-partner whose name she perpetuated. It happened, however, through
inadvertency, that these colours were made of the particular pattern
which vessels in the Royal Service are alone entitled to carry; and
while the _John Watkins_ was lying moored in the harbour at Kingston,
gaily decorated with her new colours, Captain Thew was amazed to find
his vessel suddenly boarded by a strong body of men-of-war's men, from a
neighbouring royal ship, who insisted on hauling down and taking
possession of the flags flying from her masts, as being the exclusive
insignia of the Royal Navy. It was necessary to comply with the demand,
but the bunting was afterwards restored to Captain Thew on making the
proper representations.
In 1820, Capt. Sinclair was in command of the _Lady Sarah Maitland_. We
gather from an _Observer_ of December in that year, that Lake Ontario,
according to its wont, had been occasioning alarms to travellers. An
address of the passengers on board of Capt. Sinclair's vessel, after a
perilous passage from Prescott to York, is recorded in the columns of
the paper just named. It reads as follows: "The subscribers, passengers
in the _Lady Maitland_ schooner, beg to tender their best thanks to
Capt. Sinclair for the kind attention paid to them during the passage
from Prescott to this port; and at the same time with much pleasure to
bear testimony to his propriety of conduct in using every exertion to
promote the interest of those concerned in the vessel and cargo, in the
severe gale of the morning of the 4th instant (Dec. 1820). The manly
fortitude and unceasing exertions of Capt. Sinclair, when the situation
of the vessel, in consequence of loss of sails, had become extremely
dangerous, were so highly conspicuous as to induce the subscribers to
make it known to the public, that he may meet with that support which he
so richly deserves. The exertions of the crew were likewise observed,
and are deserving of praise.--D. McDougal, James Alason, G. N. Ridley,
Peter McDougal."
This was probably the occasion of a doleful rejoinder of Mr. Peter
McDougal's, which became locally a kind of proverbial expression: "No
more breakfast in this world for Pete McDoug." The story was that Mr.
McDougal, when suffering severely from the effects of a storm on the
Lake, replied in these terms to the cook, who came to announce
breakfast. The phrase seemed to take the popular fancy, and was employed
now and then to express a mild despair of surrounding circumstances.
In 1820 a Traveller, whose journal is quoted by Willis, in Bartlett's
_Canadian Scenery_ (ii. 48), was six days in accomplishing the journey
from Prescott to York by water. "On the 3rd of September," he says, "we
embarked for York at Prescott, on board a small schooner called the
_Caledonia_. We performed this voyage, which is a distance of 250 miles,
in six days." In 1818, Mr. M. F. Whitehead, of Port Hope, was two days
and a-half in crossing from Niagara to York. "My first visit to York,"
Mr. Whitehead says in a communication to the writer, "was in September,
1818, crossing the Lake from Niagara with Dr. Baldwin--a two and a-half
days' passage. The Doctor had thoughtfully provided a leg of lamb, a
loaf of bread, and a bottle of porter: all our fare," adds Mr.
Whitehead, "for two days and a-half." We have ourselves more than once,
in former days, experienced the horrors of the middle passage between
Niagara and York, having crossed and re-crossed, in very rough weather,
in the Kingston Packet, or _Brothers_, and having been detained on the
Lake for a whole night and a good portion of a day in the process. The
schooners for Niagara and elsewhere used to announce the time of their
departure from the wharf at York in primitive style, by repeated blasts
from a long tin horn, so called, sounded at intervals previous to their
casting loose, and at the moment of the start. Fast and large steamers
have, of course, now reduced to a minimum the miseries of a voyage
between the North and South shores; but these miseries are still not
slight at the stormy seasons, when Lake Ontario often displays a mood by
no means amiable--
"Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild,
Up from the bottom turned by furious winds
And surging waves."
It is some consolation to reflect, that with all the skill and
appliances at the command of English engineers and shipbuilders, it has
been found hitherto impossible to render the passage from Dover to
Calais a luxury; nor possibly will that result be secured even by the
enormous ferry-steamers which are projected. In 1791, twenty-four hours
were occasionally occupied in the passage from Dover to Calais. "I am
half-dead," writes the learned traveller Dr. E. D. Clarke, at Calais, to
his mother; "I am half-dead with sea-sickness: twenty-four hours'
passage from Dover."
Again, the mode in which the first Lake steamers were made to near the
landing-place in the olden time, was something which would fill a modern
steamboat captain with amazement. Accustomed as we are every day to see
huge steamers guided without any ado straight up to the margin of a quay
or pier, the process of putting in seems a simple affair. Not so was it,
however, in practice to the first managers of steamboats. When the
_Frontenac_ or _William IV._ was about to approach the wharf at York,
the vessel was brought to a standstill some way out in the harbour. From
near the fore and after gangways boats were then lowered, bearing
hawsers; and by means of these, when duly landed, the vessel was
solemnly drawn to shore. An agitated multitude usually witnessed the
operation.
In the _Gazette_ of July 20, 1820, we have the information that "on
Saturday evening, a schooner of about sixty tons, built for Mr. Oates
and others, was launched in this port (York). She went off," the
_Gazette_ says, "in very fine style, until she reached the water, where,
from some defect in her ways, her progress was checked; and from the
lateness of the hour, she could not be freed from the impediment before
the next morning, when she glided into the Bay in safety. Those who are
judges say that it is a very fine vessel of, the class. It is now
several years," continues the _Gazette_, "since any launch has been
here; it therefore, though so small a vessel, attracted a good deal of
curiosity." This was the _Duke of Richmond_ packet, afterwards a
favourite on the route between York and Niagara. The _Gazette_ describes
the _Richmond_ somewhat incorrectly as a schooner, and likewise
understates the tonnage. She was a sloop of the Revenue cutter build,
and her burthen was about one hundred tons. Of Mr. Oates we have had
occasion to speak in our perambulation of King Street.
In an _Observer_ of 1820, we have the first advertisement of the
_Richmond_. It reads thus: "The _Richmond_ Packet, Edward Oates,
commander, will commence running between the Ports of York and Niagara
on Monday, the 24th instant (July), as a regular Packet. She will leave
York on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, at 9 o'clock a.m., precisely;
and Niagara on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, at 10 a.m., to the
24th of September, when the hour of departure will be made known to the
Public. The _Richmond_ has excellent accommodations for Ladies,
Gentlemen and other Passengers, and nothing will be omitted to make her
one of the completest and safest passage vessels of the class in
America, being manned with experienced mariners. Rates of passage: After
Cabin, 10s.; Fore Cabin, 6s. 3d. Children under twelve years,
half-price. Sixty pounds baggage allowed to each passenger; above that
weight, 9d. per cwt., or 2s. per barrel bulk. For freight or passage
apply to John Crooks, Esq., Niagara; the Captain on board; or at the
Subscriber's store. Ed. Oates, York, July 17, 1820."
Captain Vavassour, commandant at Fort George, presented Capt. Oates with
a gun and a set of colours. The former used to announce to the people of
York the arrival and departure of the _Richmond_; and a striped
signal-flag found among the latter, was hoisted at the Lighthouse on
Gibraltar Point whenever the _Richmond_ Packet hove in sight. (For a
considerable period, all vessels were signalized by a flag flying from
the Lighthouse.)
Two years later, the _Richmond_ is prospering on the route between York
and Niagara. In the _Gazette_ of June 7th, 1822, we have an
advertisement of tenor similar to the one given above. "_Richmond_
Packet, Edward Oates, master, will regularly leave York for Niagara on
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; and Niagara for York on Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Saturdays, from the 1st of June until the 1st of
September." The advertisement then goes on to say: "Edward Oates
respectfully informs his friends and the Public, that his Packet shall
leave York and Niagara on the above days, either in the morning or
evening, as the wind and passengers may suit; and that passengers may
depend on a passage on the above days. The superiority of sailing and
accommodation for ladies and gentlemen are too well known to the public
to make any comment upon. York, June 1st, 1822." By the following year,
however, the _Richmond's_ occupation was coming to an end. Steam on the
route between York and Niagara had its effect. From the _Gazette_ of
Jan. 16, 1823, we learn that Mr. Oates is about to dispose of his
interest in the _Richmond_; is virtually about to sell the vessel. In
the paper just named we read the following advertisement: "Auction.
Fifty Shares, or three-quarters and two sixty-fourths of that superior
vessel the _Richmond_ Packet, will positively be sold by auction, at the
Town of York, on Saturday, the 25th instant, together with all her
tackle, apparel, stores and furniture; an inventory of which may be seen
on application to R. Coleman, Esq., York; Mr. Edward Oates, Niagara.
N.B.--Terms of sale: one-third down; the remainder in two equal payments
at three and six months, with approved endorsers. York, Jan. 6, 1823."
In a _Gazette_ of this year we have a pleasure boat offered for sale at
York, apparently a bargain. In the number for May 15, 1823, is the
following advertisement: "Pleasure-boat to be sold: built of oak, an
extremely fast sailer, and in every respect a complete vessel of the
kind. It is rigged with jib, foresail, mainsail, and driver. Original
cost, upwards of forty guineas (and not more than four years old). It
will now be sold, with everything belonging to it, at the low price of
fifteen pounds currency. Enquire at the _Gazette_ Office, York. 7th May,
1823."
As the _Richmond_ Packet filled an important place in the early marine
of the harbour, it will be of interest to mention her ultimate fate.
While engaged, in 1826, in conveying a cargo of salt from Oswego, she
was wrecked near Brighton, on the bay of Presqu'isle, towards the
eastern part of Lake Ontario. The Captain, no longer Mr. Oates, losing
his presence of mind in a gale of wind, cut the cable of his vessel and
ran her ashore. The remains of the wreck, after being purchased by
Messrs. Willman, Bailey and Co., were taken to Wellington, on the south
side of the peninsula of Prince Edward county, where the cannon which
had ornamented the deck of the defunct packet, and had for so many years
daily made the harbour of York resound with its detonations, did duty in
firing salutes on royal birthdays and other public occasions up to 1866,
when, being overcharged, it burst, the fragments scattering themselves
far and wide in the waters round the wharf at Wellington.
Just as the _Richmond_ disappears, another favourite vessel, for some
years distinguished in the annals of York harbour, and commanded by a
man of note, comes into the field of view. "The new steamer _Canada_,"
says the _Loyalist_ of June 3, 1826, "was towed into port this week by
the _Toronto_, from the mouth of the river Rouge, where she was built
during the last winter. She will be shortly fitted up for her intended
route, which, we understand, will be from York and Niagara round the
head of the Lake, and will add another to the increasing facilities of
conveyance in Upper Canada." The _Loyalist_ then adds: "Six steamboats
now navigate the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, in this Province,
besides the _Canada_, and a boat nearly ready for launching at
Brockville." We shall presently hear much of the career of the _Canada_
and her commander.
The _Toronto_ (Capt. Shaw), named above as towing the _Canada_ into the
harbour, was a steam-packet of peculiar make, built at York. She was
constructed without any difference of shape at the bow and stern, and
without ribs. She was a shell of successive layers of rather thin boards
placed alternately lengthwise and athwart, with coatings, between, of
stout brown paper pitched. She proved a failure as a vessel for the Lake
traffic, and was speedily taken down the river, where she was also
unfortunate. We hear of her in the _Loyalist_ of June 17, 1826. "By a
letter," the Editor says, "received from Kingston we are sorry to hear
that the steamboat _Toronto_, on her first trip from that place to
Prescott, had unfortunately got aground several times, and that in
consequence it had been found necessary to haul her out of the water at
Brockville, to be repaired. The damage is stated not to be very great,
but the delay, besides occasioning inconvenience, must be attended with
some loss to the proprietors." The Editor then adds: "The navigation of
the St Lawrence, for steamboats, between Kingston and Prescott, is in
many places extremely difficult, and requires that the most skilful and
experienced pilots should be employed." In the same number of the
_Loyalist_ is an advertisement of the _Martha Ogden_, a United States
boat. "Notice. The steamboat _Martha Ogden_, Andrew Estes, master, will
ply between York and Youngstown during the remainder of the season,
making a daily trip from each place, Saturdays excepted, when she will
cross but once. Hours of sailing, 6 o'clock in the morning and 3 o'clock
in the afternoon. To accommodate the public, her hours of departure from
each place will be changed alternately every week, of which notice will
be regularly given. This arrangement will continue in effect, weather
permitting, until further notice is given. Passengers wishing to cross
the river Niagara will be sent over in the ferry-boat free of charge.
Cabin passage, two dollars. Deck passage, one dollar. Agents at York,
Messrs. M. and R. Meighan. June 13, 1826."
The _Frontenac_ is still plying to York. In 1826 she brings up the
Lieut.-Governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland, from Kingston. The _Loyalist_
of Saturday, June 3, 1826, duly makes the announcement. "His Excellency
the Lieutenant-Governor arrived here (York) on Wednesday afternoon, on
board the _Frontenac_, Capt. McKenzie, from Kingston. His Excellency
landed at the King's Wharf under a salute from the Garrison. Major
Hillier and Captain Maitland accompanied his Excellency. On Thursday
morning, his Excellency embarked on board the _Frontenac_ for Niagara."
The following week she brings over from Niagara Col. McGregor and the
70th Regiment. The _Loyalist_ of June 10, 1826, thus speaks. "We have
much pleasure in announcing the arrival in this place of the Head
Quarter Division of the 70th Regiment, under the command of Lieut.-Col.
McGregor. They landed from the steamboat _Frontenac_ yesterday morning,
and marched into the York Garrison." The _Loyalist_ then proceeds to
eulogize the 70th, and to express satisfaction at the removal of that
regiment to York. "The distinguished character of this fine regiment,
and the honourable testimony which has been given of their uniformly
correct and praiseworthy conduct, wherever they have been stationed,
affords the most perfect assurance that from the esteem in which they
have so deservedly been held, during a period of more than thirteen
years' service in Canada, their stay at this Garrison will be rendered
highly satisfactory to the inhabitants, and, we should hope, pleasant to
themselves." It was on this occasion that many of the inhabitants of
York beheld for the first time the impressive sight of a Highland
regiment, wearing the kilt and the lofty plumed cap. A full military
band, too, which accompanies only Head Quarter Divisions, was a novelty
at York; as previous to this year Niagara, and not York, was regarded as
Military head quarters. The Pipers increased the excitement. The band of
the 70th displayed, moreover, at this period further accessories of pomp
and circumstance in the shape of negro cymbal players, and a magnificent
oriental-looking standard of swaying tails surmounted by a huge
glittering crescent bearing small bells.
In the down-trip from York, the same week, the _Frontenac_ took away a
detachment of the 76th Regiment. "The detachment of the 76th Regiment,"
the _Loyalist_ of June 10 reports, "under command of Lieut. Grubbe,
embarked on board the _Frontenac_ yesterday, on its destination to join
the regiment at Montreal. Lieut. Grubbe takes with him," the Editor of
the _Loyalist_ says, "the cordial regard of the inhabitants of York; and
the exemplary conduct of the detachment under his command has been such
as to merit from them their best wishes for their future
prosperity."--During the same week the steamer _Queenston_ had arrived
at York, as we learn from the following item in the same _Loyalist_ of
June 10: "The Rev. Mr. Hudson, Military Chaplain, who accompanied the
Lord Bishop from England, arrived here in the _Queenston_ on Tuesday
last. Mr. Hudson is appointed Chaplain to the Garrison at York." (In
August, 1828, Mr. Hudson must have been in England. We read the
following in the _Loyalist_ of Oct. 11, in that year:--"Married, on the
12th of August last, at Crosby-on-Elden, Cumberland, by the Rev. S.
Hudson, B.A., the Rev. J. Hudson, M.A., Fellow of St. Peter's College,
Cambridge, and Chaplain to the Forces at York, in Upper Canada, to
Barbara Wells, second daughter of the Rev. Thomas Lowry, D.D.") In the
_Loyalist_ of July 29, in this year (1826), we hear of "the new steamer
_Niagara_, built at Prescott, John Mosier, captain." This new steamer
_Niagara_ was in reality Capt. Mosier's schooner _The Union of
Wellington Grove_, turned into a steamer. Some error had been committed
in the build of the _Union_, and she suddenly capsized in the river near
Prescott. Capt. Mosier then cut her in two, added to her length thirty
feet by an insertion, and converted her into the _Niagara_ steam-packet.
Her arrival at York is announced in the _Loyalist_ of July 29, and her
return thither from Niagara with American tourists on board. The
_Loyalist_ says: "The new steamboat _Niagara_, built at Prescott, John
Mosier, captain, arrived here (York) on Monday last, the 24th instant.
She proceeded the same day to Niagara, and returned on Tuesday
afternoon, with a number of American ladies and gentlemen making the
Northern tour. This arrangement," continues the _Loyalist_, "of visiting
York twice on the route round the Lake will be continued, we hope, as
the number of persons travelling at this season of the year, having an
opportunity of seeing York, will tend to enliven the town. The
_Niagara_" it is added, "is a handsome and well-built boat, with a
powerful engine, and most excellent accommodation for travellers." A
_Loyalist_ of the following month (the number for Aug, 12, 1826) reports
the _Niagara_ as bearing another kind of freight. She has on board, for
one thing, 60 hogsheads of tobacco. "The steamboat _Niagara_, Capt.
Mosier, arrived in port on Monday last from Prescott _via_ Niagara. On
going on board," says the Editor of the _Loyalist_, "it afforded us much
pleasure to find that her cargo consisted in part of sixty hogsheads of
Leaf Tobacco for the Montreal market, the produce of the western part of
the Province. The cultivation of this article of consumption," continues
the _Loyalist_, "is attracting the attention of the farmers in the
Western District, and a large quantity of it will be offered in the
market this year. The next season it will be very much increased. The
soil and climate of that part of the Province is represented as being
well adapted to the growth of the tobacco plant, and the enterprise
which is exhibited to secure the advantages thus held out, gives fair
promise that the article will before long be added to the list of the
staple productions of our country, and afford not only a sufficient
supply for home consumption, but also form an important item in the
schedule of Canadian exports."
In the same number of the _Loyalist_ we hear again of Capt. Richardson's
new steamboat, the _Canada_. We read of her first passage across from
York to Niagara, thus: "The new steamboat _Canada_, Capt. Richardson,
made her first trip to Niagara on Monday last, and went out of the
harbour in fine style. Her appearance reflects much credit on her
builder, Mr. Joseph Dennis; and the machinery, manufactured by Messrs.
Wards of Montreal, is a specimen of superior workmanship. The combined
excellence of the model and machinery of this boat is such," says the
_Loyalist_, "as will render her what is usually termed 'a fast boat.'
The trip to Niagara was performed in four hours and some minutes. Her
present route, we observe, is advertised from York to Niagara and the
Head of the Lake. In noticing this first trip of another steamboat,"
continues the _Loyalist_, "we cannot help contrasting the present means
of conveyance with those ten years ago. At that time only a few
schooners navigated the Lake, and the passage was attended with many
delays and much inconvenience. Now there are five steamboats, all
affording excellent accommodation, and the means of expeditious
travelling. The routes of each are so arranged that almost every day of
the week the traveller may find opportunities of being conveyed from one
extremity of the Lake to the other in a few hours. The _Niagara_ and
_Queenston_ from Prescott, and the _Frontenac_ from Kingston once a
week, and the _Canada_ and _Martha Ogden_ between York and Niagara and
the Head of the Lake every day, afford facilities of communication which
the most sanguine could scarcely have anticipated at the period we speak
of. Independent of these boats, it must be mentioned that the _Cornwall_
on Lake St. Louis makes a trip every day from Côteau du Lac to Cornwall;
the _Dalhousie_ runs between Prescott and Kingston twice a week and
conveys the mail; the _Charlotte_ and _Toronto_ once a week from
Prescott to the Head of the Bay of Quinté; thus affording to every part
of the country the same advantages of convenient intercourse. These are
some of the evidences of improvement among us during the last few years
which require no comment. They speak for themselves, and it must be
pretty evident from such facts as these, that those who cannot, or will
not, see the progress we are making, must be wilfully blind." (The
closing remark was of course for the benefit of contemporary editors at
York and elsewhere, who, from their political view of things, gave their
readers the impression that Canada was a doomed country, going rapidly
to perdition.)
From the _Loyalist_ of Aug. 19, 1826, we learn that "the steamboat
_Niagara_, on her trip from York to Kingston, had her machinery injured,
and has put back into Bath to repair." In the same number of the
_Loyalist_, we are told that the proprietor of the _Frontenac_ had
fractured his leg. "We regret to hear," the _Loyalist_ says, "that an
accident happened last week to John Hamilton, Esq., the proprietor of
the steamboat _Frontenac_. In stepping out of a carriage at the Falls,
he unfortunately broke his leg." In a _Loyalist_ of the following month
(Sept. 2, 1826), we hear again of Sir Peregrine Maitland's movements in
the _Frontenac_. The _Loyalist_ says: "His Excellency the
Lieutenant-Governor and suite arrived in town (York) from Kingston
yesterday morning, on board the _Frontenac_, and after remaining a few
hours, proceeded to Stamford." The next _Loyalist_ (Sep. 9, 1826) speaks
of an expeditious trip made by Capt. Mosier's _Niagara_. "The Steamboat
_Niagara_, Capt. Mosier, made," it says, "her trip last week, from York
to Prescott, and back again, in something less than four days, touching
at the ports of Kingston, Gananoque and Brockville, going and returning,
independent of the usual delay at Prescott. The distance is nearly five
hundred miles."
From the _Loyalist_ of Sept. 30, 1826, we hear of the steamboat
_Queenston_, Capt. Whitney. A notice appears that "The steamboat
_Queenston_, Capt. W. Whitney, will, during the remainder of the season,
leave Niagara for Kingston and Prescott every Thursday at eight o'clock
a.m., instead of 10 o'clock as heretofore. Queenston, Sept. 8, 1826."
From a number of the _Loyalist_ in the following month (Oct. 7, 1826),
we gather that an accident, which might have been very disastrous, had
happened to the _Queenston_. "With pleasure," the Editor says, "we state
that the steamboat _Queenston_ arrived here (York) on Thursday last,
without having sustained any serious injury in consequence of the late
accident which happened by her getting aground near Kingston. The
apprehensions which were entertained for the safety of this fine boat
are therefore happily removed. After getting off she returned to
Prescott, where the necessary repairs were immediately made, and brought
up several passengers and a full cargo."
A communication from Hugh Richardson, Captain of the _Canada_, appears
in the _Loyalist_ of Oct. 14, 1826. A passenger has leaped overboard
from his vessel and been drowned. "To the Editor of the _U. E.
Loyalist_. Sir,--On Friday evening a passenger on board the _Canada_, on
her way from Burlington Beach to Niagara, was seen by the man at the
helm to jump overboard. On the alarm being given, in an instant the
sails were in, engine stopped, and boat lowered, into which I jumped
with two hands, and rowed a quarter of a mile in our wake, but, I am
sorry to say, without success. On returning aboard, his hat was found,
as if deliberately placed near the gangway whence he jumped. The hat is
a new white one, and beside the maker's name is written 'Joseph Jewell
Claridge, Jersey City.' The hat contained a new red and yellow silk
handkerchief, a pair of white cotton gloves, and three-quarters of a
dollar in silver. He was a good-looking young man, well dressed, in blue
coat, yellow waistcoat, black or blue pantaloons and boots. He had
neither bundle nor luggage, and came on board at Burlington Beach. I am
inclined to think from all appearances, and the trifle of money left in
the hat, that distressed circumstances had pourtrayed, in a too
sensitive mind, insurmountable evils, producing temporary derangement,
during which the barriers of nature were broken down; and he rushed in
frenzy before his Maker. Perhaps by your kindly inserting this it may
meet the eye of some relation or friend, to whom, on application, the
little articles he left will be restored. I am, Sir, your most obedient
servant, Hugh Richardson. York, Oct. 3, 1826." (We shall have other
communications of Capt. Richardson's brought under our notice shortly.
They are always marked by vigour; and are now and then pleasantly racy
of the profession to which the writer belonged.)
The _Loyalist_ of Nov. 11, 1826, notices a second accident which has
befallen Captain Mosier's vessel. It says: "The steamer _Niagara_, on
her way from Prescott last week, unfortunately struck on a reef of rocks
off Poplar Point, about fifty miles from Kingston, where, at the latest
dates, she was lying on her beam ends, in about five feet of water. The
_Queenston_ brought her passengers up," it is added, "on Saturday last;
and we are informed that, owing to the exertions of Capt. Mosier, the
greater part of her cargo has been forwarded to York. Yesterday a person
who came from the _Niagara_, stated that she had received no damage from
the late gales of wind, and as she has weathered these, we sincerely
hope that she may be got off without much difficulty or injury." In the
next number it is noted that "at the latest dates the steamboat
_Niagara_ was still aground. The greatest exertions are making by Capt.
Mosier to get her off. The weather has been tempestuous; but we are
happy to hear that the _Niagara_ has not received any material injury."
In this number is a notice that "a meeting of the stockholders of the
Steampacket _Canada_ will be held at York, on board of the Boat, on
Monday, the 4th of December, at 12 o'clock. By order of the Committee of
Management. J. W. Gamble, Treasurer, York, 15th Nov., 1826."--One result
of the meeting thus advertised is an address to the stockholders from
Capt. Richardson, which appears in the _Loyalist_ of Dec. 9. The Captain
is plainly uneasy in view of the possibility of the majority deciding
that he shall not be in the sole charge and management of the _Canada_
in the ensuing year. He announces his intention to visit England during
the winter, for the purpose of raising funds among his friends which may
enable him to buy out the few persons who are associated with him in the
ownership of the boat. "Gentlemen," he says, "it having been decided at
a Meeting of the Stockholders, held on board the _Canada_, that I should
be invested with the sole charge and management of the boat the ensuing
year, unless at a Meeting to be held the first Monday in March, other
arrangements take place, I seize this opportunity, on the eve of my
departure for England, to assure the Stockholders that I have made
every arrangement for the safety of the boat and the necessary repairs.
And at the same time I respectfully submit to them the ostensible motive
of my voyage. Gentlemen, I am so deeply embarked in the speculation I
have entered into, that the prospect of the stock depreciating, and of
the boat's services and my own labours being rendered abortive in so
lucrative a ferry as that betwixt York and Niagara, mainly by a
plurality of the management, fills me with dismay. And, as I trust I am
entitled to the confidence the Stockholders generally placed in my
abilities, and am convinced that unless the power of management be
invested in one person to act with all his energies in the scene of
profits, to seize the advantages of market in the economy of the outlay
with the discretion of a sole owner, loss and ruin to myself must ensue.
With this view of the subject I embark for England to endeavour to raise
funds and relieve those gentlemen who are averse to my management, and
to take up the remainder of the stock, that they who so kindly confided
in my assurances of individual profit, and placed implicit reliance in
my integrity and abilities, may not be disappointed in their fair
expectations. Confident that I possess the hearty wishes of success from
many valuable patrons, in taking leave, I am happy to subscribe myself,
Gentlemen, your most obedient humble servant, Hugh Richardson. York,
Dec. 6, 1826."
By the 24th of March in the following year (1827) he is back again in
York. In the _Loyalist_ of the date just given is a second address to
the stockholders, preparatory to the meeting which is to take place on
the 2nd of April. He recounts his proceedings in England, and urges
again his own appointment as sole manager of the _Canada_. As
illustrative of the anxieties attendant at an early period, and at all
periods, on individual personal enterprise, insufficiently supported,
the document possesses an interest.
"To the Stockholders in the _Canada_ Steamboat. Gentlemen, it must be
fresh in the memory of you all that I am the original projector of the
_Canada_; that my abilities, in whatever light they may be viewed, were
wholly employed in planning, constructing and fitting her out. Facts
have already proved that I led no one astray by false theories in her
construction; and her engine is upon the model of the very best now
generally in use in England. I have been all along by far the largest
shareholder, and nearly the whole of the shares were taken up by
gentlemen upon my personal solicitations, in doing which I did not fear,
in the strongest language I was master of, to pledge the success of the
undertaking, not only on the prospect of the lucrative ferry, but also
upon the faith of my own personal exertions. Then do I infer too much by
saying that a friendly disposition towards me, a confidence in my
abilities and my integrity (with very few exceptions), was the basis
upon which I met with such general patronage? However, after a certain
period it was no longer possible to raise sufficient stock to complete
the vessel; the expedient of borrowing was resorted to, and a debt of
£1,200 contracted with the Bank. Upon this the boat commenced her
operations, and ran from the 7th of August, a period of 98 days; during
which time, Gentlemen, I look upon it as a matter of congratulation that
at her very first starting, having an American boat to oppose her, the
proceeds of the _Canada_ not only paid her current expenses, but also a
sum of upwards of £200 in extraordinary outfit, including £40 insurance
on money borrowed, also the interest thereon; £50 nearly for replacing
her wheels repeatedly destroyed, and considerable repairs. I see nothing
but what is most flattering in this her first outset. Thus it would have
appeared had I made my report: and had I done it in the most favourable
light, I should have thought, as one of the guardians of the property
entrusted to my charge, that I was only fulfilling a duty I owed the
Stockholders when I enhanced, rather than depreciated, its value. At the
end of the season, from disappointments and expenses in collecting the
amount of the shares taken up, there was found still wanting a sum of
£400; and at the last general meeting this further sum was borrowed,
hampering the boat with a debt of £1,000. At this crisis, at a very
great personal expense, and at a greater sacrifice of domestic comfort,
I set out for England to trespass upon my own immediate friends; and now
return prepared to relieve the embarrassments of the boat, and am
willing, in the face of representations that went to disparage the
stock, to invest a much larger capital in the _Canada_; in doing which I
confer a benefit upon the whole, and trust I give further proof of the
sincerity of my professions, when I undertook the arduous task of
getting up a Steamboat. But, Gentlemen, things have not gone as I
wished, or as I intended; and, perhaps, I am the only person who will
have property invested in this vessel to such an amount as to make it of
vital importance that success should attend the adventure. Therefore,
upon this ground, upon the ground of my being the projector of this
vessel, upon the responsibility of my situation as Master, ostensible
agent, and possessing owner, I most earnestly solicit your particular
support to my appointment as managing owner of this vessel; and to that
effect may I again solicit the most general attendance of the
Stockholders at the meeting to be held on board the _Canada_ the second
of April. I am, Gentlemen, your very obedient and very humble servant,
Hugh Richardson. York, 24th March, 1827."
It is to be supposed that Capt. Richardson's views were adopted at the
meeting.
In the _Loyalist_ for May 5, 1827, we have him subscribing himself
"Managing Owner," to the following notice: "The _Canada_ British
Steam-Packet, Capt. Hugh Richardson, leaves Niagara daily for York at 7
o'clock in the morning, and starts from York for Niagara every day at 2
o'clock in the afternoon. The _Canada_ crosses the Lake in the short
space of four hours and a half, and affords travellers arriving at the
Falls an expeditious and convenient opportunity of visiting the Capital
of Upper Canada. Fare: Cabin passage, two dollars; Deck and Fore Cabin,
one dollar. Passengers returning immediately with the boat will only pay
half the above prices for the return. Hugh Richardson, Managing Owner.
York, April 21, 1827."
In 1827 Capt. Richardson was the recipient of an honorary present of a
Key Bugle. In the _Loyalist_ of June 30, '27, we read the following
card:--"Mr. Richardson takes this opportunity of acknowledging the
receipt of a Key Bugle from the young gentlemen of York, accompanied by
a letter expressive of their esteem and approbation of his conduct in
the management of the _Canada_. In returning his sincere thanks for the
above mark of their valued esteem and the high compliment paid him in
the accompanying letter, he must look upon the warm and friendly
colouring which they have been pleased to give to his conduct, as a
picture drawn by the free and generous hand of youth, rather to emulate,
than having semblance to the original. Nevertheless, his aim has ever
been, and ever will be, to do credit to those who placed him where he
is, and to support the character of a British seaman. York, 30th June,
1827."
From a preceding number of the _Loyalist_ in this year we learn that on
the 20th of April the mate of the _Canada_ was accidentally drowned. The
paper just mentioned says:--"George Reid, mate of the Steamboat
_Canada_, was last night drowned by falling from the plank leading from
the wharf to the vessel. It is painful to hear that the unfortunate man
leaves a wife and five children to deplore his sudden loss."
The _Loyalist_ of the 7th of that month says: "His Excellency the
Lieutenant-Governor and family left York for Stamford on Wednesday
morning last, on board the Steamboat _Queenston_. His Excellency's
departure was announced by a salute from the Garrison."
On May the 12th the _Queenston_ has returned from Niagara, and meets
with a casualty at York. The _Loyalist_ of the 19th says: "The Steamboat
_Queenston_ met with an accident while lying at the wharf here on
Saturday last. In raising the steam before proceeding to Niagara, the
boiler was partially burst. The accident was not attended with any
serious consequences. The _Queenston_ was delayed until the following
Thursday in making the necessary repairs, before she proceeded on her
voyage."
In June this year (1827) the _Niagara_ has been removed from the spot
where she was run ashore last year, and is undergoing repairs at
Kingston. In the _Loyalist_ of June 16, 1827, we read: "We are happy to
hear that the Steamboat _Niagara_ has been got off the rocks near Long
Point, and that she is now lying in the harbour at Kingston, undergoing
repairs. She is stated to have received but little damage; and it was
expected that in the course of a month she would commence her regular
trips across the Lake."
In the _Loyalist_ of May 26, 1827, we hear once more of the _Frontenac_.
She is laid up, we are told, and a steamer to succeed her is to be
built: "We are happy to hear," the _Loyalist_ says, "that Captain
McKenzie, late in command of the _Frontenac_ (now laid up), has made
arrangements for building a new boat, to be propelled by an engine of
greater power than that of any other now navigating the Lake. The
acknowledged ability of Capt. McKenzie while in command of the
_Frontenac_, the regularity with which her trips were performed, and the
attention he at all times bestowed to the comfort and convenience of his
passengers, induce us to hope that the undertaking he has commenced will
be speedily carried into effect."
In the _Loyalist_ of June 9th, 1827, the _Frontenac_ is offered for sale
by auction at Kingston. In the advertisement, the historical machinists
Boulton & Watt are named as the makers of her engine: "By Public
Auction. Will be sold on Monday, the second of July next, at Kingston,
as she now lays (_sic_) at the wharf, the Steamboat _Frontenac_, with
her anchors, chain-cables, rigging, &c. Also the engine, of 50 horse
power, manufactured by Messrs. Watt & Boulton. Sale to commence at 10
o'clock a.m., on board. For any further information application to made
to Mr. Strange, Kingston, or to John Hamilton, Queenston. June 1, 1827."
Possibly no sale was effected, for we learn from the _Loyalist_ of Sept.
1 that the _Frontenac_ was to be removed to Niagara by Mr. Hamilton. The
_Loyalist_ copies from the Upper Canada _Herald_, published at Kingston,
the following paragraph: "Yesterday the old _Frontenac_, under the care
of R. Hamilton, Esq., left Kingston for Niagara, where, we understand,
she is to be broken up. Mr. Hamilton is preparing materials for a new
boat of about 350 tons."
We then gather from a _Loyalist_ of Sept. 29, 1827, that while lying at
the wharf at Niagara, the _Frontenac_ was mischievously set fire to. The
paper just named says: "The Messrs. Hamilton, proprietors of the
Steamboat _Frontenac_, have offered a reward of £100 for the discovery
of the persons who set fire to that vessel some time ago. The
_Frontenac_, after being fired, was loosed from her moorings, and had
drifted some distance into the Lake, when she was met by the _Niagara_,
Capt. Mosier, who took her in tow, and succeeded in bringing her to the
wharf at Niagara, where after some exertions the flames were
extinguished."
This, as we suppose, terminates the history of the _Frontenac_, the
first steamboat on Lake Ontario.
As associated with Boulton & Watt's engine, spoken of above, we must
mention the name of Mr. John Leys, for some years Capt. McKenzie's chief
engineer on board the _Frontenac_. At the outset of steam navigation,
men competent to superintend the working of the machinery of a steamboat
were, of course, not numerous, and Captains were obliged in some degree
to humour their chief engineer when they had secured the services of
one. Capt. McKenzie, it would be said, was somewhat tyrannized over by
Mr. Leys, who was a Scot, not very tractable; and the _Frontenac's_
movements, times of sailing, and so on, were very much governed by a
will in the hold, independent of that of the ostensible Commander. Mr.
Leys, familiarly spoken of as Jock Leys, was long well known in York.
In July, 1827, the _Queenston_ was engaged in the transfer of troops.
In the _Loyalist_ of July 21, 1827, we read: "Detachments of the 68th
Regiment for Amherstburg, under the command of Captain North; Fort
George, Captain Melville; and Penetanguishene, Ensign Medley, were on
board the _Queenston_, and proceeded on Tuesday last to their several
destinations. On Thursday the _Queenston_ returned to York from Niagara,
when the first division of the 70th Regiment embarked to proceed to
Lower Canada." In her next trip the _Queenston_ brought more troops, and
took more away. In the _Loyalist_ of the 28th of July we read: "The
first division of the 68th Regiment for this Garrison arrived by the
_Queenston_ on Tuesday, and on her return a second detachment of the
70th proceeded to Lower Canada. The exchanges are now we believe nearly
completed," the _Loyalist_ adds. In the number for August 4, the
_Queenston_ is once more spoken of as engaged in the conveyance of
troops to and from York. "The head-quarter division of the 68th
Regiment, under the command of Major Winniett, arrived on Tuesday
morning, and on Thursday that of the 70th Regiment, under Lieut.-Colonel
Evans, embarked on board the steamboat _Queenston_. During the short
stay made by the 70th Regiment in this garrison," the _Loyalist_ says,
"their conduct has been such as to secure to them the same kind feelings
which have been expressed towards them by the inhabitants of the towns
in both Provinces where they have at different times been stationed.
They are now on their return to their native country, after a long and
honourable period of service in the Canadas, and they carry with them
the best wishes of the inhabitants for their future welfare and
prosperity." When thus announcing the departure of the 70th Regiment,
the _Loyalist_ adds: "We cannot but notice with pleasure the arrival of
so distinguished a corps as the 68th amongst us." The standing
advertisement of the _Queenston_ for this year may be added: "Lake
Ontario Steam-Boat Notice: The Public are informed that the Steam-Boat
_Queenston_, Captain James Whitney, has commenced making her regular
trips, and will during the summer leave the different Ports as follows:
Leave Niagara for Kingston, Brockville, and Prescott, every Thursday
morning at 8 o'clock precisely; and leave Prescott on her return for
Brockville, Kingston and York, every Sunday, at 12 o'clock, noon.
Arrangements have been made with Messrs. Norton and Co., Stage
Proprietors, Prescott, by which passengers going down will arrive at
Montreal on Saturday evening; and passengers proceeding upwards will,
by leaving Montreal on Saturday morning, arrive at Prescott in time to
take the Boat. Every endeavour has been made to render the accommodation
and fare on board of the best description. Queenston, May 25, 1827."
In a _Loyalist_ of this period we have a communication from Captain
Richardson, of the _Canada_, giving an authentic account of the swamping
of a small boat in the attempt to put a passenger on board his steamer
in the Niagara river. This characteristic letter contains some excellent
directions as to the proper method of boarding a steamer when under way.
"To the Editor of the _U. E. Loyalist_.--Sir, according to your request,
and to prevent misrepresentation, I herewith furnish you with the
particulars of the little accident that occurred to a Ferry Boat in
Niagara River, in attempting to board the _Canada_. On Saturday last as
the _Canada_ passed the lower ferry, coming out of Niagara river, a boat
put off with a passenger, and contrary to the rule laid down to admit of
no delays after the hour of departure, I ordered the engine to be
stopped, to take the passenger on board. The Ferryman, instead of rowing
to the gangway of the _Canada_, pulled the boat stem on to her bow
before the water wheel. The vessel going through the water, all
possibility of retreat from that position was precluded, and the
inevitable swamping of the boat ensued. Fortunately the engine was
entirely stopped: the Ferryman had the good luck to get hold of the
wheel and ascend by it. The passenger, after passing under it, clung to
the floating skiff. No time was lost in going to his relief with the
boats of the _Canada_, and both escaped uninjured. Any comment upon the
impropriety of boarding a steam vessel before the water wheel would be
absurd; but I may be allowed to advise this general rule to all persons
going alongside of a steam vessel, viz.: always to board to leeward,
never to attempt to cross her hawse, but to bring the boat's head round
in the same direction with the vessel under way; row up on her lee
quarter double oar's length distance, until abreast of the gangway; then
gradually sheer alongside, keeping as much as possible in parallel line
with the direction of the vessel you are boarding. I am, sir, your very
obedient servant, Hugh Richardson, Master of the _Canada_."
A passage from Captain Richardson's "Report on the Preservation and
Improvement of the Harbour," to which in 1854 a supplementary or extra
premium of £75 was awarded by the Harbour Commissioners, may be quoted
as a further example of the neat employment of a sailor's technical
language. (He is arguing against cutting a canal into the Harbour at the
Carrying Place, where the great irruption of the waters of the lake
subsequently took place.) "With wind at S. W., and stormy," he says,
"(such a canal) would be valuable for exit, but for entrance from the
east, every nautical man would prefer making a stretch out into the open
Lake, weathering the Light at one long board, and rounding into the
Harbour with a fair wind, to hauling through the Canal, coming in dead
upon a lee shore, and having to beat up the Bay in short tacks." Some
twenty years previously similar views had been expressed in a printed
essay on York Harbour--a production in which, in his zeal for the
well-being of the Bay, Captain Richardson said some hard things of the
river Don, which we may here notice. The person who had uttered an
imprecation on the North Pole, Sidney Smith pronounced capable of
speaking evil next even of the Equator. Of what enormity of language
must not the dwellers by the stream which pours its tribute into the
Harbour of York, have thought Captain Richardson capable, when they
heard him in his haste call that respectable stream "a monster of
ingratitude," "an insidious monster," "the destroying cancer of the
Port?" "From the moment that the peninsula raised its protecting head
above the waters, and screened the Don from the surges of the Lake, the
Don," Captain Richardson says, "like a monster of ingratitude, has
displayed such destructive industry as to displace by its alluvial
disgorgings by far the greater part of the body of water originally
enclosed by the peninsula. The whole of the marsh to the East, once deep
and clear water, is," he asserts, "the work of the Don, and in the Bay
of York, where now its destructive mouths are turned, vegetation shews
itself in almost every direction, prognosticating" as he speaks, "the
approaching conversion of this beautiful sheet of water into another
marshy delta of the Don." Fothergill, too, in an address to the Electors
of the County of Durham, in 1826, indulges in a fling at the river which
pays its tribute to the Harbour of York. After quoting some strong words
of the elder Pitt in the British House of Commons on the subject of
public robbery and national plunder, he adds: "Perhaps the very quoting
of such language will be deemed treasonable within the pestilential
range of the vapours of the marsh of the great Don, and of the city of
many waters," meaning York, the head-quarters of the Government. "But
the Don, the poor unconscious object of all this invective, is in
reality no more to blame than is the savage because he is a savage, not
having had a chance to be anything else. In proceeding to lay the
foundation of a delta of solid land at its mouth, the Don followed the
precedent of other streams, in conformity with the physical conditions
of its situation. When at length the proper hour arrived, and the right
men appeared, possessed of the intelligence, the vigour and the wealth
equal to the task of bettering nature by art on a considerable scale,
then at once the true value and capabilities of the Don were brought out
into view. Speedily then were its channel and outlet put to their proper
and foreordained use, being transformed by means of cribwork and
embankments into a convenient interior harbour for Toronto, an
arrangement of high importance to the interests of a now populous
quarter, where some of the most striking developments of business
activity and manufacturing enterprise that the capital of Ontario can
boast of, have been witnessed."
But to return. We were tracing the fortunes of Captain Richardson's
boat, the _Canada_, in 1827.
In July, 1827, the _Canada_ met with an accident. She broke her main
shaft on the Lake. The _Loyalist_ of the 4th of August says: "We regret
to state that the steam-boat _Canada_, while crossing the Lake from
Niagara on Tuesday last, unfortunately broke her main shaft. The
accident we hope is not of such a nature as to deprive us any great
length of time of the convenience which that excellent Boat has afforded
us of daily communication with Niagara." In the paper of August 18th it
is announced that the _Canada_ is all right again. "The _Canada_, we are
happy to state, has again commenced making her usual trips to Niagara:
she left the Harbour yesterday afternoon." Towards the close of the
season we have a record of the brave buffetings of this vessel with an
easterly gale on the Lake. "On Monday last," says the _Loyalist_ of the
27th October, "we were visited by one of those violent gales of easterly
wind, accompanied with torrents of rain, not unusual at this season of
the year. The Steam-Boat _Canada_, at 10 o'clock in the morning, when
there was an appearance of the storm moderating, left the Niagara river
for York. She had not proceeded far on her voyage however, when the gale
increased with greater violence than before, and in a short time both
her masts were carried away, and some damage done to her chimney.
Fortunately her engine remained uninjured, and enabled her at about
five in the afternoon to reach the wharf in safety. The _Canada_ has
made some of her trips in the most boisterous weather, and deservedly
bears the name of an excellent sea boat. She suffered no delay from the
damage she had sustained, and left the Harbour the following morning for
Niagara. The weather since Monday continues boisterous and cold."
On December 1st, the _Loyalist_ announces that "the _Canada_ Steam Boat
made her last trip from Niagara on Tuesday, and is now laid up for the
winter." In the following spring, on the 27th of March, she takes over
Sir Peregrine Maitland. "His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor and
family left York," says the _Loyalist_ of March 29, 1828, "on Thursday
morning for Stamford. His Excellency embarked on board the _Canada_
Steam Packet under a salute from the Garrison." A communication from the
Captain appears in the _Loyalist_ of the 12th of April, having reference
to this trip. He replies to some strictures in the _Colonial Advocate_
on some alleged exclusiveness exhibited by Sir Peregrine while crossing
the Lake in the _Canada_. "Having observed in the _Colonial Advocate_ of
the 3rd of April, under the head of Civilities, that His Excellency the
Lieutenant-Governor engaged the whole of the two cabins of the _Canada_
for himself and family, and would not allow even the Members of Assembly
who were returning home to go over that day, except as deck passengers,
I have to declare the same an impudent falsehood. His Excellency having
condescended to intimate to me his desire to remove his family and
household as early as possible, I hastened the equipment of the _Canada_
expressly on His Excellency's account, contrary to my intentions, and
the requisite delay for outfit until 1st April. To all applications for
passage on the day fixed for His Excellency's embarkation I replied, I
considered the vessel at His Excellency's orders. The moment His
Excellency came on board, and understood that I was excluding
passengers, I received His Excellency's orders to take on board every
passenger that wished to embark. The only further intimation I received
of His Excellency's pleasure was, on my application to know if I should
stop at Niagara, I received for answer that His Excellency had no desire
to stop there, but if I wished it, it could make no difference to His
Excellency. Born and bred under a Monarchical Government, educated in
the discipline of a British seaman, I have not yet learned the
insolence of elbowing a desire (in right, an order) of the
Representative of my Sovereign, by an impertinent wish of my own. I have
only to say that as long as I command the _Canada_, and have a rag of
colour to hoist, my proudest day will be when it floats at her mast-head
indicative of the presence and commands of the Representative of my
King. Hugh Richardson, Master and Managing Owner of the _Canada_
Steam-Packet. April 11th, 1828. P.S. Perhaps Dr. Lefferty being a Member
on the right side, who embarked on board the _Canada_, and who did me
the honour of a call a night or two before, for information, may confirm
this."
Captain Richardson, as we can see, was a man of chivalrous temperament.
His outward physique, moreover, corresponded with his character. His
form was lithe, graceful and officer-like. It was not alone when the
Governor of the Province happened to be present that established
distinctions in society were required to be observed on board the
_Canada_ steam-packet. At all times he was particular on this point.
This brought him into collision occasionally with democratically
disposed spirits, especially from the opposite side of the Lake; but he
did not scruple to maintain his rules by main force when extreme
measures were necessary, calling to his aid the stout arms of a trusty
crew.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
XXXII.
THE HARBOUR: ITS MARINE 1828-1863.
The _Canada's_ advertisement for the season of 1828 appears in the
_Loyalist_ of April 2. It differs a little from the one previously
given. "The British steam-packet _Canada_, Captain Hugh Richardson,
plying between York and Niagara, weather permitting, leaves Niagara,
&c., &c., as before. N.B.--A gun will be fired and colours hoisted
twenty-five minutes before starting."
It is interesting to observe that the traffic of the harbour carried on
by schooners is still such as to require additional vessels of that
class. In the _Loyalist_ of April 19, 1828, the following item
appears:--"A new schooner called the _Canadian_ was launched here (York)
yesterday morning. She is owned by Mr. Gamble and Capt. Bowkett, the
latter of whom, we understand, takes command of her." From the same
number of the _Loyalist_ we learn that "the launch of Mr. Hamilton's new
Steam Boat at Niagara was expected to take place on the 21st instant. In
the paper of the 17th, the launch of another schooner at York is
recorded. "A fine schooner called _George the Fourth_ was launched here
on Wednesday last. Burthen about 70 or 80 tons." In June this schooner
is bringing emigrants to York. "During the last week," the _Loyalist_ of
June 7th says, "several families of emigrants, arrived from Great
Britain by the spring shipping at Quebec, have reached York. The new
schooner _George the Fourth_ landed nearly one hundred persons, besides
those which have been brought up by the steam-boats and other vessels."
The case is then mentioned of the very reprehensible conduct of the
master of one of the Lake schooners (the name is withheld), "who,
regardless of the consequences to several families who had taken passage
from Prescott to York on board his vessel, landed a body of emigrant
settlers on Gibraltar Point, during the last week, instead of putting
them, with their baggage, on one of the wharves in the Harbour--in
consequence of which, women and helpless children were exposed during a
whole night to the violence of a tremendous storm of rain, without any
shelter, and, from ignorance of their situation, unable to get to the
town. On Thursday morning the schooner _Catherine_, Captain Campbell,
relieved them from their uncomfortable situation, and landed them safely
in York.
In the _Loyalist_ of June 28, 1828, the arrival in York Harbour of the
steamer lately launched at Niagara as successor to the _Frontenac_ is
noticed. She is named the _Alciope_. "The new steam-boat _Alciope_,
lately built at Niagara, owned by Robert Hamilton, Esq., and under the
command of Capt. McKenzie, late of the _Frontenac_, with a number of
ladies and gentlemen on a party of pleasure, made her first entry into
our Harbour on Thursday last. She is a fine model, and fitted up in a
most elegant and convenient manner for passengers. She commences her
regular trips, we understand, next week: and under the command of Capt.
McKenzie, so well known for his skill and experience as a seaman, and
for attention to his passengers, we have no doubt the _Alciope_ will be
found a valuable acquisition to the regular communication which is now
afforded by means of the several steamboats plying on the Lake; and that
she will receive a share of that public patronage which is so deservedly
bestowed upon the owners and commanders of other boats, whose public
spirited exertions are deserving of the highest praise."
_Alciope_ is a singular name, taken as we suppose from the Greek
mythology, betokening, it may have been thought, one of the Nereids,
although we are not aware that the name occurs on the roll of that very
large family. One of the several wives of the mighty Hercules was a
daughter of Alciopus; she consequently may be conceived to have been an
Alciope. But how Mr. Hamilton, of Queenston, or Captain McKenzie, came
to think of such a recherché name for the new steamer is a mystery which
we wish we could clear up. It is certain that the selection led to
mispronunciations and misconceptions on the part of the general public.
By the unlearned she was usually spoken of as the _Alci-ope_, of course.
By a kind of antagonism among the unwashed she was the _All-soap_. In a
similar way, Captain McIntosh's vessel, the _Eunice_, which frequented
the harbour at an early period, was almost always popularly and
excusably termed the _Euneece_.
In the year 1828, Commodore Barrie was in York Harbour. "His Majesty's
schooner _Cockburn_," says the _Loyalist_ of June 7, "bearing the broad
pennon of Commodore Barrie, entered this port on Monday last, and on
landing at the Garrison, the Commodore was received by a salute, which
was returned from the schooner. The yacht _Bullfrog_ was in company with
the _Cockburn_. Commodore Barrie," it is added, "proceeds by land to
Lake Simcoe, and thence on a tour of inspection at the several Naval
Depots of the Lakes."
In the _Loyalist_ of June 21, Capt. Richardson is taking time by the
forelock and advertising for dry pine to be supplied as fuel for the
_Canada_ in the following season of 1829. "Steam-boat Notice. Persons
willing to supply the _Canada_ Steam-packet with dry pine for the
ensuing season of 1829, will please make application immediately to the
subscriber for the contract. Hugh Richardson, Master and Managing Owner
of the _Canada_ Steam-packet. York, June, 20, 1828." On the 30th of
August we have:--"Until further notice the _Canada_ Steam-packet will
leave York as soon after her arrival as she has received her supply of
wood, firing a gun, and hoisting colours half an hour before starting."
We have also a notice in regard to the _Alciope_ in the _Loyalist_ of
Sept. 6:--"The steam-boat _Alciope_ will take freight and passengers
from this port (York) during the remainder of the season, every Saturday
morning at 6 o'clock, on her way down from Niagara to Prescott, to
commence to-morrow. York, 20th August."
From the _Loyalist_ of Sept 27, 1828, we learn that Mr. George Savage
has been appointed to the Collectorship of the port of York. He himself
announces the fact to the public in the following advertisement:--"His
Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor having been pleased to appoint me to
the Collectorship of Customs for this port, I beg leave to acquaint the
merchants, shipowners, and others having business to transact with this
branch of the revenue after the first day of October next, that I have
temporarily established an office in part of the premises fronting on
Duke Street, occupied by Mr. Columbus. George Savage, Collector. York,
26th September, 1828." Bulky in form and somewhat consequential in
manner, Mr. Savage was a conspicuous figure in York down to the time of
his death in 1835, when he was succeeded by Mr. Thos. Carfrae. Mr.
Savage was, as his office required him to be, vigilant in respect of the
dues leviable at the Port of York. But the contrabandists were
occasionally too adroit for him. We have heard of a number of kegs or
barrels, supposed to contain spirits, confidentially reported to him as
sunk in the depths of the bay, near one of the wharves, which kegs or
barrels, when carefully fished up and conveyed to Mr. Mosley's rooms to
be disposed of by auction, were found, on being tapped, to contain
harmless water; but while Mr. Savage and his men were busily engaged in
making this profitless seizure, the real wares--teas, spirits, and so
on--which were sought to be illicitly introduced, were landed without
molestation in Humber Bay. The practice of smuggling was, we believe,
rather rife in and about the harbour of York in the olden time. In a
_Gazette_ of 1820 (Nov. 30), we observe the schooner _Industry_
advertised for sale by the Custom House authorities as having been taken
in the act; and on the 17th of October, 1821, Mr. Allan reports to the
magistrates, at Quarter Sessions, that he had seized ten barrels of
salt, in which were found concealed kegs of tobacco to the value of five
pounds and upwards, brought to York from the United States in an
American schooner, called the _New Haven_, A. Johnson, master. The
Magistrates declared the whole forfeited to the "King." At the same time
a system of illicit reciprocity was in vogue, and the products of Canada
were introduced, or sought to be introduced, into the domain of the
United States, sometimes in singular ways. On one occasion Daniel
Lambert, a gigantic wax-figure, returned from Canada to the United
States replete with articles designed for import without entry. The
Albany _Argus_ of the day thus describes the adventure:--"Daniel Lambert
turned smuggler.--This mammoth gentleman of wax, who is exhibited for
the admiration of the curious in every part of the country, was lately
met on his way from Canada by a Custom House officer, who, remarking the
rotundity of Daniel's corporation, had the curiosity to subject it to a
critical inspection; when, lo! instead of flesh and blood, or even
straw, the entire fabric of this unwieldy gentleman was found to be
composed of fine English cloths and kerseymeres."
Towards the close of the year 1828 we have Capt. Mosier's marriage
mentioned in a number of the _Loyalist_ (for Dec. 13), thus: "Married
at Prescott, on the 20th ult., Capt John Mosier, Master of the _Niagara_
Steam-packet, to Miss Caroline F. Munro, second daughter of Major Munro,
of Edwardsburgh."
In January, 1829, the schooner _George Canning_ was plying between York
and Niagara, the weather being open. In the Niagara _Herald_ of Jan. 29,
1829, we have the notice, "Conveyance to York, Upper Canada, by the
fast-sailing schooner _George Canning_, commanded by Capt J. Whitney.
The public are respectfully informed that during the continuance of the
present open season the above schooner will ply as a Packet between York
and Niagara. From being perfectly new and thoroughly found, she is with
confidence recommended as a safe and easy mode of conveyance to the
capital of Upper Canada. For information in regard to time of departure,
application to be made to Capt. Whitney on board, or at Chrysler's Inn,
Niagara. January 22, 1829." The _Loyalist_ of April 4 in this year,
1829, reports that "the steamboat _Canada_ is ready to commence her
trips to and from Niagara as soon as the ice is out of the bay. It has
broken up a good deal," the _Loyalist_ says, "within the last few days,
and from its appearance after the late rain we may hope that the
navigation will soon be open. Schooners have been crossing the Lake for
some time past. Last year the first steamboat from Kingston arrived here
on the fifth of April." The usual advertisement of the _Canada's_
movements for the season appears in this number of the _Loyalist_.
In May the steamer _Niagara_ brought up Bishop Macdonell. The _Loyalist_
of May 9, 1829, notes his arrival at York:--"The R. C. Bishop, the Rev.
Mr. Macdonell, arrived here in the steamboat _Niagara_ on Tuesday last,
accompanied by the Rev. W. Macdonell." It is added:--"The Rev. Messrs.
Fraser and Chisholm arrived on the Thursday following in the _Alciope_."
In this month the _Queenston_ takes away troops from York. In the
_Loyalist_ of May 16, 1829, the following item appears:--"The first
division of the 68th Regiment, under the command of Capt. Macdonell, _en
route_ to Montreal, left York on Tuesday last, on board the _Queenston_.
The _Alciope_, from Kingston, brings intelligence of their having
arrived at that place on the following day." The same paper reports that
"the steam-boats have some difficulty in getting into the Niagara River
from the large quantities of ice passing down from the Upper Lake." And
again in the same paper, under date of Niagara, May 11:--"The ice from
Lake Erie has been running most of the last week, and continues to run
to-day--so much so that the river, we believe, has not been passable
since nine o'clock this morning."
A notice of the opening of navigation at Buffalo this year appears in
the _Loyalist_ of May 23, copied from the Buffalo _Republican_ of the
16th of May. The scene is graphically depicted. "The schooner _Eagle_,"
the _Republican_ says, "was the first vessel that entered our harbour
this season. She ploughed her way through three or four miles of
floating ice to the gratification of about a thousand spectators." The
_Republican_ also gives the following, which presents us with even
grander spectacles:--"On Thursday morning the steamboat _Pioneer_
started through the ice on her first trip to Dunkirk, with a full load
of passengers. In the afternoon the steamer _William Penn_, Capt.
Wright, commenced her first trip to Detroit, having on board upwards of
400 passengers destined to Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan." "On Friday,
about noon," the Buffalo paper then adds, "the steamboat _Henry Clay_,
Norton, having previously arrived from Black Rock, left our harbour in
fine style, having a heavy and full load of passengers. The steamboat
_Niagara_, Pease, will leave on Monday for Detroit, as we understand."
A casualty in York Bay is noticed in the _Loyalist_ of Oct. 4, 1828.
"Mr. William Crone, contractor for gravelling the streets of the town,
was unfortunately drowned on Saturday last. It appears that Mr. Crone
was knocked overboard from the Durham boat, in which he was bringing a
load of gravel from the Island, by the sudden shifting of the boom, and,
being stunned by the blow, sunk before assistance could be rendered to
him."
In Oct., 1828, Sir Peregrine Maitland arrives in York Harbour on board
of the yacht _Bullfrog_, compelled to put in by stress of weather. He
was on his way from the Lower Province to Niagara. "His Excellency Sir
P. Maitland, after having visited Quebec, returning by the route of the
Rideau Canal, arrived at York," says the _Loyalist_ of Oct. 18, "on
Monday morning from Kingston, on board His Majesty's yacht _Bullfrog_,
Commodore Barrie, and on landing was received by a salute from the
garrison. It was His Excellency's intention, we understand, to have
landed at Niagara, but the _Bullfrog_ having encountered a heavy gale on
the previous night, was obliged to make for York. His Excellency
proceeded to Niagara on Wednesday by the _Canada_, and Commodore Barrie
with the _Bullfrog_ left the harbour on the same day on return to
Kingston." Sir Peregrine, we may observe, was on the point of leaving
Upper Canada, having been appointed to the Government of Nova Scotia.
The arrival of his successor at New York is announced in the same paper.
"The packet ship _Corinthian_ arrived at New York on the evening of the
7th instant. Sir John Colborne and family were passengers in the
_Corinthian_, and may therefore be daily expected at this place (York)."
It is announced in the same paper that "a public dinner will be given to
His Excellency Sir Peregrine Maitland, previous to his departure from
this Province. Tickets of admission to be had at Messrs. Meighan's." In
the number for November 4, we have an account of the addresses which are
being presented to Sir Peregrine on the occasion of his departure, with
the remark:--"The expressions of respect for his administration of the
Government, and of personal esteem towards His Excellency and family,
which these addresses contain, afford the most satisfactory testimonials
that the sincere and anxious desire of His Excellency for the
improvement of the country and the happiness of its inhabitants are duly
appreciated when the period of a long and arduous administration is
about to terminate. These, together with the approbation of his
Sovereign, fully evinced by the more important Civil and Military
honours conferred upon him, cannot but be gratifying, as well to His
Excellency as to the inhabitants of the Province generally." And again
in the _Loyalist_ of the 15th Nov., it is stated that "the last
_Gazette_ contains addresses to His Excellency Sir Peregrine Maitland,
on his departure from the Province--from the Magistrates, Grand Jury,
and Bar of the London District, in Quarter Sessions assembled; from the
towns of Kingston and Brockville, and from Grimsby, all expressing the
same sentiments of personal regard and respect for his administration of
this Government, as those which were previously presented from other
places to His Excellency."
On Monday, the 10th of November, the new Governor, Sir John Colborne, is
at the Falls, making explorations there, while the steamer _Canada_ is
taking the luggage on board at Lewiston, preparatory to the passage over
to York. The Niagara _Gleaner_, quoted in the _Loyalist_, says:--"On
Monday last His Excellency Sir John Colborne paid a visit to the Falls.
His own elegant carriage, drawn by four spirited horses, furnished by
Mr. Chrysler, carried his Excellency's lady, her sister Miss Yonge, and
five children. His Excellency went on horseback, accompanied by Capt.
Phillpotts, of the Royal Engineers. In the meantime the steamer _Canada_
went to Lewiston, took in His Excellency's luggage, and was ready to
receive His Excellency and family at an early hour on Tuesday morning.
On the departure of the vessel a salute was fired from Fort George. We
have been informed," the _Gleaner_ adds, "that His Excellency was highly
gratified with the first view of the Province and the friendly reception
he met with; also of the good things he partook of at the hotel, much of
which was the produce of the Province."
Capt. McKenzie died August 27, 1832, aged 50. At the time of his death
he was engaged in the construction of a steamer at the head of the Lake,
and of another on Lake Simcoe. In 1832 Capt. Elmsley is offering for
sale his yacht the _Dart_. In the York _Sapper_ and _Miner_ of Oct. 25,
1832, we read the notice:--"For sale, the fast-sailing cutter _Dart_,
22½ tons burden, with or without rigging, sails, and other furniture.
For particulars enquire of the Hon. John Elmsley. York, 24th May, 1832."
There is an accidental prolepsis in the "Hon." He was not appointed to a
seat in the Upper House until after 1837. Capt. Elmsley, with his
friend, Mr. Jeffrey Hale, afterwards of Quebec, left the service of the
Royal Navy about 1832. In 1837 Captain Elmsley was appointed to the
command of a Government vessel carrying two swivel-guns on the Lower St.
Lawrence. He subsequently settled for a time on his estate known as
Clover Hill, where he expended considerable sums of money in farming
operations. Later he again undertook the command of a vessel, the _James
Coleman_, trading on his own account between Halifax and Quebec. He
afterwards, for a time, commanded one of the mail steamers on Lake
Ontario, the _Sovereign_. (In several other connections we have had
occasion to give particulars of Captain Elmsley's career.) The _Dart_,
above named, was built at York by Mr. Purkis, a well-known shipwright
there. In 1834, we notice, in MacKenzie's _Advocate_ of March 13, a
marine item following an observation on the mildness of the
season:--"The weather is very mild for the season," the _Advocate_ says:
"occasional showers; plenty of sunshine and slight frosts. A schooner
sailed last Tuesday for Niagara, and is expected back to-morrow."
It was in 1834 the grand old name Toronto was recovered by the harbour
and town, whose early marine we have sought in some degree to recall.
We have evidence in the Toronto _Recorder_ of July 30, 1834, that, at
that period, at least seven steamers were frequenting the harbour of
Toronto. In the paper named we read in succession seven rather long
steamboat advertisements. "The splendid low-pressure steamboat the
_Constitution_, Edward Zealand, master." She runs from Hamilton to
Toronto, touching at Oakville; thence to Cobourg, touching at Port Hope;
thence to Rochester, and _vice versa_. It is stated that "the
_Constitution_ will afford a safe and expeditious opportunity for
merchants from New York and other places to forward their goods by way
of Rochester to the head of the Lake Ontario." Agents at Hamilton,
Messrs. E. and J. Ritchie; Oakville, Mr. Thomas; Toronto, James F.
Smith, Esq.; Rochester, Mr. Greene, forwarder; Cobourg, E. Perry, Esq.;
Port Hope, J. Brown, Esq. Captain Zealand had formerly been in the
command of an ocean-going merchant ship. "The steamboat _William IV._,
Charles Paynter, Commander, propelled by a Low-Pressure Engine of a
Hundred Horse-power." She runs between Prescott, Niagara, and Lewiston,
touching at Brockville, Gananoque, Kingston, Cobourg, Port Hope,
Toronto, Hamilton, and _vice versa_. "For freight or passage, apply at
the Post-office, Toronto, or to the Captain on board." Four smoke
funnels rendered the _William IV._ recognizable at a distance. "The
fast-sailing steamboat, _St. George_, Lieut. Harper, R.N., Commander."
She runs between Prescott, Brockville, Kingston, Toronto, and Niagara,
and _vice versa_. "This beautiful vessel," the advertisement says, "is
propelled by a Low-Pressure Engine of Ninety Horse-power, is schooner
rigged, and has accommodation for sixty cabin passengers. The _St.
George_ will wait the arrival of the passengers who leave Montreal by
Thursday morning's stage." "The splendid fast-sailing steamboat
_Cobourg_, Capt. Charles Mcintosh, Master, propelled by two low-pressure
engines of fifty-horse power each." She runs between Prescott,
Brockville, Kingston and Toronto, and _vice versa_. "This boat will be
found by the travelling community not surpassed by any on Lake Ontario
for elegance, comfort and speed. The _Cobourg_ will wait the arrival of
the Montreal stage before leaving for her upward trip. For freight or
passage apply to the Master or Purser on board." "The _Queenston_, Capt.
James Sutherland." This is the _Queenston_ of which we have heard
already. She runs, according to the advertisement in the _Recorder_,
between Toronto and Hamilton. "Cabin passage each way, two dollars
(meals extra). Deck passage each way, one dollar. All baggage and small
parcels at the risk of the owners, unless delivered to the Captain and
entered as freight. Freight payable on delivery. As the boat will be
punctual to the hour of sailing, passengers are requested to be on board
in due time." Captain Sutherland has been chief officer of the first
steamer which crossed the Atlantic to Quebec, the _Unicorn_. He had
before been engaged in the Hudson's Bay trade. "The splendid
low-pressure steamboat _Great Britain_, Capt. Whitney." She runs between
Prescott, Brockville, Kingston, Oswego, Cobourg, Port Hope, Toronto, and
_vice versa_. "The accommodations on board the _Great Britain_ have been
much enlarged and improved during last winter, and every exertion will
be used to ensure regularity and comfort to the passengers. The above
boat will await the arrival of the passengers that leave Montreal on
Monday by the Upper Canada stage. Emigrants and others desirous of
taking this conveyance are requested to call at the Ontario Steamboat
Office in this town (Prescott), and procure tickets."
Finally, the _Recorder_ displays the usual advertisement of the
Steam-packet _Canada_, Hugh Richardson, Master. She leaves Toronto daily
for Niagara, at seven in the morning, and Niagara daily for Toronto, at
one in the afternoon. The fares continue unchanged. "Passengers
returning to either of the Ports within the week will only be charged
half-price for the return. Accommodation for Horses, Carriages, and
Cattle." About the same period the _Oneida_, of Oswego, the _Hamilton_,
the _Sir Robert Peel_, and the _Commodore Barrie_, are other steamers
entering the harbour of Toronto.
Near the landing place at Niagara, a row of capacious warehouses is
still to be seen, disused and closed up, over the large double portals
of which, respectively, are to be dimly discerned the following
inscriptions in succession:--Great Britain; William IV.; St. George;
United Kingdom; Cobourg; Commodore Barrie; Canada; Schooners. This is a
relic of the period to which we are now referring. These warehouses were
the places of deposit for freight, tackling, and other property
appertaining to the vessels named, with a compartment for the
accommodation of Schooners collectively. Niagara was then the
headquarters of the shipping interests of the Lake, and the place where
the principal wholesale mercantile houses were situated.
Sailing craft visiting the Harbour in 1835, and later, were:--the _Three
Brothers_, the _Superior_, the _Emily_, the _Robert Burns_, the
_Prosperity_, the _Fanny_, the _Perseverance_, the _Matilda_, of Oswego,
the _Elizabeth_, of Lewiston, the _Guernsey_, the _Peacock_, the
_Caroline_, the _Fair American_, the _Sovereign_, the _Jessie Woods_,
the _Erin_, the _Charlotte_, the _Winnebago_, the _Lord Nelson_, the
_Enterprise_, the _Boxer_.
The _Three Brothers_ was so named from the three brothers
McIntosh--John, Robert, and Henry. John commanded the _Three Brothers_;
Charles commanded the _Superior_, named second above; Robert commanded
the _Eunice_, of which we have heard already. Two other brothers of this
marine family were early owners of contiguous building lots on the east
side of Yonge street, south of Shuter street. Prosperous descendants of
the same name are still to be found in business on a portion of this
property. Modern improvements have caused the removal of many of the
original buildings of this locality; but one of the McIntosh family
residences yet remains, at the present time converted into the show
rooms of a carriage manufactory. (Capt. Wm. McIntosh, of the _Minerva
Ann_, a schooner of this period, was of another family).
The _Fanny_ is noticeable as having been the first craft commanded by
Captain Dick of Toronto, who speedily afterwards became distinguished in
connection with the steam marine of Lake Ontario, not only as a builder,
large proprietor, and sailing master, but also as commander of a
Despatch vessel in the Public Service, especially during the troubles of
1837. The _Fanny_ was the property of Mr. James Lockhart of Niagara, as
also were the _Sovereign_ and the _Jessie Woods_. The _Boxer_ was
commanded by a veteran Lake captain, Wm. Peeke. Capt. Peeke, it is
stated, supplied lime burnt at Duffin's Creek before the close of the
last century, for the foundation of the Lighthouse on Gibraltar Point,
and other structures in York.
In 1835, the harbour was visited by Capt. George and his barge from
Quebec. Capt. George--for so he was styled in these parts, although, as
we shall see, not a professional navigator--was a combined nautical and
mechanical genius, who vigorously urged on Government and the forwarding
community the adoption of a scheme of his for enabling loaded vessels to
overcome the rapids of the St. Lawrence, and reach the upper ports
without breaking bulk. Pulleys and chains were to be anchored at points
in the river, or along the banks of the stream. He contrived to get his
own barge in this way up to Toronto, well filled with merchandize, and
made the return trip with cargo of the upper country products, possibly
more than once, but the undertaking, being found too expensive for a
private individual, was abandoned; and soon after, the construction of
canals round the rapids rendered needless all such ingenious projects.
Mr. George had been long a merchant in Quebec; and it was simply his
inability to secure a satisfactory person for the superintendence of his
experiment, that induced him to take the command of his own vessel in
her perilous venture up and down the St. Lawrence. Mr. George continued
to reside at Quebec; and for an annual stipend of £200, he offered the
corporation of the city to create for them every winter a "pont," or
ice-bridge, opposite the city. From the action of the tides, the "pont"
fails occasionally to form, to the great inconvenience of the
inhabitants. Here again Mr. George gave ocular proof of the
practicability of his plan. Proceeding up the river above the influence
of the tide, he cut loose a vast field of ice and floated it down whole
to Quebec, where it fixed itself fast between Cape Diamond and the
opposite shore, and formed a "pont." It did not, however, prove
sufficiently durable. Some eccentricity in language is remembered as
characterizing Mr. George. A person conversing with him occasionally
found himself addressed in rhyming couplets, as if, of their own accord,
his words would run into doggerel. "Some chance of wreck between this
and Quebec! Mishap befall ere I reach Montreal! You're a fool! go to
school!" &c. His barge likewise is described as possessing a peculiar
rig. Its masts, or rather the two spars which served to support his
sails, formed above the deck, as we are told, a sort of large St.
Andrew's cross, such being, according to him, the most convenient
arrangement for working the leg of mutton or triangular sails which he
used. (We note here the two heroic captains who were the first to
encounter appalling risks on the waters of the St. Lawrence in vessels
propelled by steam. Captain Maxwell, in the employment at the time of
Messrs. McPherson and Crane, first discovered and navigated in a
steamboat the deep channel of the Long Sault; and Captain Hilliard, on
board the steamer _Ontario_, first descended the rapids at Lachine.)
In 1835 and years immediately following, additional names appear in the
Toronto harbour steam-marine lists--the _Experiment_, the _Queen_, the
_Gore_, the _Princess Royal_, the _Traveller_, the _City of Toronto_
(the first steamer so named), all of them boats built at Niagara under
the superintendence of Capt. Dick, and all of them, with the exception
of the _Traveller_, in the Royal Mail Service. The _City of Toronto_,
built in 1841, and commanded by Captain Dick, was the first steamer that
conveyed the mails westward. The mail-service previously had been
performed by Mr. Weller and his stage-coaches. The principal owners of
the vessels named were Mr. James Lockhart, of Niagara, Capt. Dick
himself, Mr. Andrew Heron, also of Niagara, and Mr. Donald Bethune. The
_Experiment_, above mentioned, was the Government Despatch boat which,
under the command of Capt. Dick, did such good service on the Lake
during the troubles of 1837.
When the steam-packet _Canada_ was finally sold, Capt. Richardson
commanded and principally owned the _Transit_, on the route between York
and Niagara. This _Transit_ was in reality the steamer _Constitution_,
of which we have already heard as being commanded by Capt. Zealand,
conjointly with the _Transit_. A steamer named the _Queen_ was for a
time maintained by Capt. Richardson on the route between Niagara, the
head of the Lake, and York. The _Queen_ was under the charge of Capt.
Richardson's son, Mr. Hugh Richardson, assisted by two brothers, Charles
and Henry Richardson. Simultaneously with the _Transit_ and _Queen_, the
_City of Toronto_ (the first steamer so named) also plied to Niagara,
under the command of Capt. Dick. After some years the _Transit_ was sold
and became a tug-boat on the river below. The steamer _Chief Justice
Robinson_ was then built by Capt. Richardson for the Niagara route, in
some respects after a model of his own, being provided, like the ancient
war-galleys, with a rostrum or projecting beak low down on a level with
the water, for the purpose, as was generally supposed, of breaking a way
through ice when such an impediment existed; but by Capt. Richardson
himself, the peculiar confirmation of the prow was expected to
facilitate the vessel's progress through the heavy surges of the Lake.
About 1850 the _Chief Justice Robinson_ became the property of Capt.
Dick and Mr. Heron. This transfer closed the career of Capt. Richardson
as a commander on the Lake. From 1852 to 1870 he filled the post of
Harbour-master at Toronto, and on the 2nd of July, 1870, he died, in
the 87th year of his age. The _Chief Justice_ continued to ply between
Toronto and Niagara, in company with the _City of Toronto_, until the
removal of the latter vessel to the waters of Lake Huron, where she
became famous as the _Algoma_.
In 1855 the _Peerless_ was placed on the Niagara route. The _Peerless_
was an iron vessel, first constructed in the Clyde in parts, then taken
asunder and shipped to Canada, where she was put together again under
the eye of her owner, Capt. Dick, at Niagara. The number of pieces
entering into the composition of the _Peerless_ was six thousand. Such a
method of transporting an iron ship from the Clyde to Niagara, if
complicated and troublesome, was shown to be, at all events, a dictate
of prudence by the fate which befell a vessel intended to be a companion
to the _Peerless_ on Lake Ontario. A steamship of iron named _Her
Majesty_, built in the Clyde expressly for Capt. Dick, was lost in the
Atlantic, with all the men in charge on board, sixteen in number; so
that no clue was ever attained as to the cause of the disaster. We now
find ourselves treating of times which, strictly speaking, do not come
within the scope of these 'collections and recollections.'
For the sake of imparting roundness and completeness to our narrative,
we have ventured on the few details just given. We finish by simply
naming the successor of the _Peerless_ on the route to Niagara, Capt.
Milloy's splendid steamer, the _Zimmerman_. It fell to our lot to
witness the last agonies of this vessel in the devouring flames as she
lay at the Niagara quay, near the mouth of the Niagara River. On that
never-to-be-forgotten occasion (Aug. 21, 1863), the long-continued
shrieking of the steam whistle, the resounding moans and convulsive
sighs issuing fitfully, in a variety of keys, from the tubes of the
boiler and other parts of the steam apparatus, gave to all hearers and
on-lookers the painful and most affecting impression of some gigantic
sentient creature helplessly undergoing a fiery death, suffering in the
process grievous pangs, protracted and inexpressible.
[Illustration]
HOC OPUS EXEGI; FESSÆ DATE SERTA CARINÆ;
CONTIGIMUS PORTUM, QUO MIHI CURSUS ERAT.
[Illustration]
APPENDIX.
In 1869, the survivors of the early occupants of York, Upper Canada,
formed themselves into a Society entitled The Pioneers, for the joint
purpose of mutual conference, and of gathering together and preserving
whatever memorials of the local Past might be found to be yet extant.
The names of the members of this Association are subjoined, all of whom
were resident at York customably or occasionally, at some period prior
to March 6th, 1834, when the name of the town was changed to Toronto.
The date which precedes each group shows the year in which the members
included in the group became identified with York, whether by birth or
otherwise. In numerous instances, the father of the individual named in
the following list, having been the establisher of a family in these
parts and its first breadwinner here, was the true pioneer. (By a change
in the original constitution of the Society, the sons and descendants of
the first members of the Association, and of all the first grantees or
occupants of land in the county of York, as defined in 1798, are, on
their attaining the age of 40 years, eligible to be members.)
1794.--Edward Simcoe Wright, Toronto.--Isaac White, do.
1795.--Lieut. Francis Button, Buttonville.
1797.--John Thompson, Toronto.
1798.--Hon. W. B. Robinson, Toronto.--John Bright, do.
1799.--John W. Gamble, Pine Grove, Vaughan.
1800.--Andrew Heron, Toronto.--Cornelius Van Nostrand, Yonge Street.
1801.--Robert Bright, Toronto.
1805.--John Murchison, Toronto.
1806.--Hon. H. J. Boulton, Toronto.--William Cawthra, do.--John Ridout,
do.
1808.--Rev. Saltern Givins, Toronto.--Allan Macdonell, do.--Joseph
Gould, ex-M.P.P., Uxbridge.--James Marshall, Youngstown, N.Y.
1809.--Judge G. S. Jarvis, Cornwall--William Roe, Newmarket.
1810.--Rev. William MacMurray, D.D., Niagara.--Richard P. Willson,
Holland Landing.
1811.--George Bostwick, Yorkville.--Joseph Lawrence, Collingwood.--Rev.
D. McMullen, Picton.
1812.--Francis H. Heward, Toronto.--William Dougall, Picton.
1813.--R. E. Playter, Toronto.--George Snider, M.P.P., Owen
Sound.--Capt. Thomas G. Anderson, Cobourg.
1814.--Lieut.-Col. Richard L. Denison, Toronto.--Henry B. Heward, do.
1815.--R. G. Anderson, Toronto.--George Monro, do.--Dr. George Crawford,
do.
1816.--Col. George T. Denison, Toronto.--Ven. Archdeacon Fuller,
do.--Lieut.-Col. W. M. Button, Buttonville.--Capt. Robert Brock Playter,
Queenston.--Thomas Montgomery, Etobicoke.
1817.--R. H. Oates, Toronto.--Charles Stotesbury, do.--Sheriff B. W.
Smith, Barrie.--Robert Petch, Toronto.--J. W. Drummond, do.--Alex.
Stewart, do.--James Stafford, do.
1818.--James Beaty, M.P., Toronto.--J. O. Bouchier, Georgina.--John
Doel, senior, Toronto.--John Doel, junior, do.--James Gedd, do.--Thomas
Humphrey, do.--John Harper, do.--John Moore, do.--William Reynolds,
do.--James Sparks, do.
1819.--W. B. Phipps, Toronto.--Grant Powell, Ottawa.--F. H. Medcalf,
Toronto, ex-Mayor.--Robert H. Smith, Newmarket.--John Raper,
Toronto.--John B. Bagwell, Hamilton.
1820.--W. J. Coates, Toronto.--Alexander Hamilton, do.--Clarke Gamble,
do.--Hon. J. G. Spragge, do.--W. H. Lee, Ottawa.--Dr. John Turquand,
Woodstock.--Charles L. Helliwell, Stayner.--William Helliwell, Highland
Creek.--Edward Musson, Toronto.--Thomas J. Wallis, do.
1821.--Lieut.-Col. Robert B. Denison, Toronto.--William Barber, M.P.P.,
Springfield.--Henry Sproatt, Toronto.--John Eastwood, Port
Elgin.--Edward C. Fisher, Humber.--William Duncan, York
Township.--Jonathan Scott, Toronto.--Charles Scadding, do.--Rev. Dr.
Scadding, do.
1822.--Lieut.-Col. Frederick Wells, Davenport.--Stephen M. Jarvis,
Toronto.--John Helliwell, do.
1823.--Hon. David Reesor, Markham.--Major John Paul, Weston.--John
Small, M.D., Toronto.--James McMullen, do.--Alderman Adamson, do.--James
Duncan, York Township.
1824.--Rev. Dr. Richardson, Toronto.--Matthew Teefy, Richmond
Hill.--John Bell, Toronto.--Charles Lount, do.--Robert Young,
Georgetown.--Rufus Skinner, Toronto.
1825.--Allan McLean Howard, Toronto.--D. O. Brooke, do.--Thomas
Helliwell, do.--Thomas Armstrong, do.--James Taylor, Eglinton.
1826.--James Stitt, Toronto.--Ishmael Iredale, do.--David Burns,
do.--Alex. Caird, Weston.
1827.--Col. Kingsmill, Toronto.--Stephen Heward, do.--William Hewitt,
do.--H. B. Holland, do.--Geo. Leslie, Leslieville.--W. L'Estarge,
Toronto.--Thomas J. Preston, do.--William H. Doel, do.--Andrew Sieber,
do.
1828.--James Barber, Georgetown.--H. R. Corson, Markham.--Matthew Drew,
Toronto.--G. B. Holland, do.--Thomas A. Milne, Markham.--Dr. Ogden,
Toronto.--James R. Armstrong, do.--C. P. Reid, do.
1829.--Thomas D. Harris, Toronto.--Hon. Joseph C. Morrison, do.--Thomas
Meredith, do.--Archibald Barker, Markham.--W. R. Harris,
Toronto.--Robert Defries, do.--Capt. Robert Kerr, do.--R. B. Miller,
do.--Capt. John McGann, do.--J. Merritt, St. Catharines.--Samuel Platt,
Toronto.--J. C. Small, do.--William Quigley, do.--Alex. Rennie,
Hamilton.--John Kitson, Toronto.--Robert Hill, do.
1830.--Hon. W. P. Howland, Lieut.-Governor, Toronto.--John Wallis,
do.--Peter Hutty, Yorkville, do.--Philip Armstrong, Yorkville.--G. M.
Hawke, Toronto.--Alderman Spence, do.--Alex. Munro, do.--Thomas Metcalf,
do.--James Farrell, do.--Thomas Storm, do.--W. G. Storm, do.--Duncan
Macdonell, Montreal.--Edward Copping, Toronto.
1831.--James G. Worts, Toronto.--Thomas Swinarton, ex-M.P.P.,
Coventry.--James Acheson, Toronto.--George Henderson, do.--Samuel
Rogers, do.--John Small, do.--John Nixon, do.--Alfio de Grassi,
do.--Frederick Milligan, do.--George Balfour, do.--Jeremiah Iredale,
do.--James Ashfield, do.--Robert Fowler, do.--John Jacques, do.--Andrew
T. McCord, do.--John Argue, do.--Noah L. Piper, do.
1832.--Sir Francis Hincks, Ottawa.--William Gooderham, senior,
Toronto.--Isaac Gilmour, do.--John Paterson, do.--Samuel Bowman,
do.--John Brown, do.--John Carr, do.--Capt. C. G. Fortier, do.--George
Graham, do.--John G. Howard, Humber Bay.--A. K. Boomer, Toronto.--Thomas
Lailey, do.--Thomas Mara, Do.--William Osborne, do.--Wm. Rowland,
do.--Wm. Steers, Stratford.--John Bugg, Toronto.--C. W. Cooper,
do.--James Severs, do.--Arthur Crawford, do.--Thomas Clarkson,
do.--Robert Dodds, do.--John Evans, Montreal.--William Freeland,
Toronto.--George Price, do.--David Kennedy, do.
1833.--William Arthurs, Toronto.--Robert Beekman, do.--Thomas Burgess,
do.--John Dill, do.--Edward Dack, do.--Wm. Henderson, do.--Robert
Hornby, M.D., do.--W. M. Jamieson, do.--Wm. Lea, Don, York
Township.--John Lawder, Eglinton.--John P. Smith, Toronto.--John
Shanklin, do.--Samuel Thompson, do.--Alfred Willson, do.--Alex. Muir,
Newmarket.--John Gartshore, Toronto.--Samuel Westman, do.--Thomas
Dewson, Bradford.--W. Barchard, Toronto.--John Watson, York
Township.--William Grubbe, Weston.--J. A. Donaldson, Toronto.--John
Levs, do.
Under recent By-law.--Henry Quetton St. George, Toronto.--Hon. Member,
Dr. Canniff, Toronto.
ERRATA.
The reader is requested to correct neatly with a pen the following
errors which, in spite of much vigilance, escaped detection during the
final revise:--At page 151, line 8, for "Fraser" write "Forsyth"; at p.
282, line 16, for "Philadelphia" write "New York"; at p. 334, line 14,
for "Jarvis" write "Jairus"; at p. 373, line 12, for "James" write
"Samuel"; at p. 455, lines 35 and 37, for "Meyerh." write "Mayerh."; at
p. 355, line 16, for "Chewitt" write "Chewett."
[Illustration]
INDEX.
A.
Abrahams, Mr., 403
Adams, Mr., 401
Addison, Rev. Mr., 140
Adelaide Street, 152
Advertisements, 336, 337
Albany, 14
Albert Street, 392
Albion, New York, 282
Albion Packet, Wreck of, 56
Alexander, Sir James, 142
Alexander Street, 395
Alien Question, 207, 208
Allan, Hon. William, 38, 39, 79, 80, 118, 120, 134, 138, 249, 257, 303,
371, 385, 407, 440, 449, 525, 533
Allan, W., junior, 159
Allcock, Chief Justice, 42, 147, 336
Almanacs, Early, 267
Amelia, Princess, 33
Amherst, General, 10
Anderson, Mr., 138
Anderson, R. and B., 185
Andrews, Capt., 529
Andrus, Samuel, 378
Angell, Mr. E., 84, 207, 219
Ansley, Christopher, 314
Appleton, Mr., 110, 165
Archbold, Mr., Actor, 110, 216
Arthur, Sir George, 275
Arthurs, Mr. W., 539
Armitage, Amos, 477
Armour, Rev. Samuel, 166
Armstrong, J., 311
Arnold, Benedict, 459
Ashbridge, Mr., 221, 337
Ashley, Jairus, 431
Ashenshan, 14
Athill, Rev. R., 486
Atkinson, Mr. Thomas, 410
Avenue, College, 325
B.
Baby, Hon. James, 38, 53, 82, 84, 157, 350
Baby, Raymond, 112, 157
Baby, Mr. W. L., 370
Bagot, Capt. Henry, 323
Bagot, Sir Charles, 323
Baker, Simon and John, 296
Baldwin, Admiral, 34
Baldwin, Mr. J. S., 84, 134, 196, 210
Baldwin, Hon. Robert, 38, 157, 158, 280, 434
Baldwin, Robert, senior, 82, 434
Baldwin, St. George, 112, 157
Baldwin, Dr. William Warren, 34, 66, 134, 138, 280, 298, 309, 340, 348, 426
Baldwin, Mr. William Willcocks, 472
Baldwin, Mr. William, 112, 157, 426
Barber, Mr. G. A., 94, 112, 170
Barclay, Commodore J., 156
Barnstable, 402
Barre, de la, 4
Barrett's Inn, 439
Barrie, Commodore, 568
Bartlett, Dr., 282
Bastedo, Mr. John, 173
Bathurst Street, 70, 354
Battersby, Capt., 65
Bay Street, 94, 308, 380
Bazaar, first, 62
Beaman, Mr. Elisha, 385, 482
Beard, Mr. Joshua, 209
Beasley, Richard, 524
Beaty, Mr. James, 205, 439
Beaver, steamer, 495
Beckett, Mr., 94
Beikie, Mr. J., 62, 99, 100, 134, 138, 290
Belcour, F., 198
Belleville, 361
Bellevue, 354
Belin, King, 389
Bennett, J. Printer, 82, 264, 266, 272, 386
Berczy, Mr., 108, 119, 415, 421, 423, 448
Berkeley Street, 27, 201
Berry, Thomas, 524
Berthon, Mr., 313
Beswick, Dr., 486
Bevan, Mr. J., 404
Beverley House, 326
Bidwell, Barnabas, 208, 209, 309
Bidwell, Marshall S., 208, 309
Big Bend, 234
Bigelow, James, 84, 157
Bigelow, Levi, 363
Billings, Mr. Commissariat, 134, 350
Blackstone, Mr. Henry, 485
Blake, Mr. Chancellor, 424
Blake, Rev. Dominic, 453
Block Houses, 357, 411
Blois, Capt., 136
Bloor, Mr., 178, 405
Bloor Street, 405
Blue Bell, 371
Blue Hill, 413
Boerstler, Col., 345
Bond, George, 303
Bond, Mr. W., 79, 401, 462
Bond's Lake, 462
Bonnycastle, Capt., 62, 75, 86, 106, 459, 495, 500
Bonshaw, 490
Borland, Mr. Andrew, 484
Boiton, Col. Aug., 469
Bostwick, Mr. Lardner,, 363, 381, 404
Bottom, Nicholas, 412
Boulton, Charles, 185
Boulton, Mr. D'Arcy, 138, 328, 484
Boulton, Hon. George, 84, 157, 185
Boulton, Hon. H. J., 55, 84, 297, 396, 448
Boulton, John, 157
Boulton, Mr. Justice, 55, 84, 133, 138, 148, 221, 303, 308, 328
Boulton, Rev. W., 94
Boulton, Mr. W. H., 157
Bouchette, Joseph, 17, 60, 61, 213, 332, 355, 358, 492, 508, 516
Bowbeer, Mr., 357
Bowkett, William, 185, 381, 385, 563
Boyd, Mr. Francis, 461
Boyle, Hon. Robert, 136
Bradstreet, Col., 10
Brant, Capt. Joseph, 418, 515, 518
Breakenridge, Mr. James, 82
Breakenridge, Mrs., 433
Brewery, First, at Newark, 259
Bridgeford, Mr., 79
Bridges, Don, 84
Brides from a distance, 136
Bright, Mr., 84, 138
Britain Street, 63, 257
Brock, Gen., 29, 61, 79, 268, 362
Brock Street, 64, 345
Brooke, Capt. sen., 134, 138
Brooke, Mr. D., 84, 185
Brooke, Mr. R., 185
Browne, Major, 136
Buchanan, Isaac, 105
Buchanan, Mr., son of the Consul, 112
Buffalo, 21, 568
Burlington Bay, 368, 370
Burnham, Rev. Mark, 159
Burns, Alexander, 401
Burns, Mr. David, 355, 365, 371, 385
Burnside, Dr., 192, 310
Burr, Rowland, 423, 424
Burton, Col., 529
Burwell, Mahlon, 137, 423
Burying Ground, Military, 64, 367
Button, Capt., 37, 89
By, Col., 310
Byng, Admiral, 6
C.
Caer Howell, 326
Caldicott, Mr., 110
Caldwell, Mrs., 332
Caldwell, W. R., 381
Cameron, Archibald, 222
Cameron, Hon. Duncan, 80, 118, 138, 356, 371, 385
Cameron, Miss Janet, 357
Cameron, Hon. J. H., 424
Cameron, J., Printer, 59, 268, 385, 533
Campbell, Capt., 12
Campbell, Sir W., Chief Justice, 131, 181, 303
Campbell, Mr., 426
Campbell, Stedman, 426
Canada, Etymology of, 74
Canadian Review of 1824, 27
Canvas House, Gov. Simcoe's, 60, 513
Capreol, Mr. F. C., 462
Carey, Mr. John, 269, 310
Carfax, Toronto, 377
Carfrae, Hugh, 41
Carfrae, Mr. Thomas, 408, 566
Carleton, Gov., 15
Carleton Street, 395
Carmyllie, 155
Caroline Street, 31, 35
Carthew, Col., 285, 426
Cartwright, Hon. R., 82, 533
Carver's Travels, 73
Case, Mr. James, 229
Cassell, Orville, 157
Castle Frank, 202, 236, 288
Cataraqui, 9, 23
Cavendish, Hon. and Rev. A., 444
Cawdell, Mr. J. M., 399
Cawthra, Mr. John, 483
Cawthra, Mr. J., senr., 38, 138, 192, 363
Cawthra, Mr. W., 150, 185, 431
Cayley, Hon. W., 323
Cayley, Mr. F., 242
Celeron, 7
Cemetery, St. James, 240
Chalûs, Comte de, 469
Chalûs, Vicomte de, 188, 469
Champion, T., 311
Chestnut Park, 424
Chestnut Street, 316
Chewett, Alexander, 185
Chewett, Mr. J. G., 363, 366
Chewett, Mr. W., 18, 118, 132, 138, 355, 363, 366, 433, 449, 484
Chisholm, Mr. Alexander, 82
Chisholm, Mr., of Oakville, 137
Chiniquy, Lieut., 526
Choueguen, 5, 6, 7
Christian Guardian, 89, 279
Chronicle, Kingston, 271
Chrysler, Mr. John, 253
Church, St. James, 117-145, 147, 172
Claies, Lac aux, 474
Clark, Mr., 222, 440
Clark, Mr. John, 338
Clark, Hon. Thomas, 364
Clarke, Gen., 510
Claridge, J. J., 550
Claus, John, 159, 160
Claus, Warren, 158, 363
Claus, William, 82
Clement, Mrs., 294
Clench, Ralph, 254, 255
Clinkenbroomer, Mr. C., 107, 220
Clinton, Sir Henry, 348
Clover Hill, 401
Coates, Mr. Richard, 202, 482
Coates, Mr. W. J., 28
Cochrane, Mr. Justice, 138, 291, 528
Coffen, Stephen, 9
Coffin, Col., 62, 84, 124, 259
Coffin, Col. W. F., 400
Colborne, Sir John, (Lord Seaton), 86, 91, 93, 125, 359, 569
Coleman, Mr. Robert, 173
Coleraine House, 179
Coleridge, Hartley, 67
Collins, Francis, 270, 277, 310, 396
Collins, J., 16, 17, 419
Colonial Advocate, 272, 279
Columbus, Mr. Isaac, 182
Commissariat Stores, 59
Conn, Capt., 534
Cook, Capt., 61, 487
Cook's Bay, 496
Cooper, Mr. W., 50, 118, 138, 386
Coote's Paradise, 369
Court House of 1824, 101
Cowan, David, 254
Cozens, Benjamin, 363
Cozens, Capt. D., 386, 457
Cozens, J. B., 386
Craig, Mr. John, 147, 202
Crawford, Mr. L., 509
Creux, Père du, 475
Crèvecoeur, 20
Crewe's, 447
Crone, W., 568
Crooks, Mr. Matthew, 540
Crooks, W. & J., 294
Crookshank, Hon. George, 62, 80, 84, 134, 138, 148, 287
Crookshank's Lane, 355
Cumberland, Mr. F. W., 149, 324
Cummer, Mr. Jacob, 446
Cummins, Mr., 207
Curiæ Canadenses, 314
Cutter, George, 385
D.
Dade, Rev. C., 94
Dalton, Mr. Thomas, 279
Daly, Mr. Charles, 202
Darling, Gen., 497
Danforth Road, 307
Davenport, 66, 410
Davenport Road, 410
Davis, Benjamin, 222
Davis, Mr. Calvin, 376
Dawson, George, 157
Dawson, James, 157
Dawson Road, 307
Deary, Thomas, 363
De Blaquiere, Hon. P., 404
Deer Park, 426
De Forest, Mr., 196
De Grassi, Mr. Alfio, 284
De Haren, Major, 346
Dehart, Daniel, 222, 431
De Hoen, Baron, 433
De Koven, K., 160
De la Haye, Mr. J. P., 94
Des Jardins, Peter, 399
Denino, 155
Denison Avenue, 353
Denison, Capt. John, 84, 134, 240, 338, 340, 341, 353, 354, 509
Denison, Col. G. T. (primus), 84, 353, 354, 371, 372, 459
Denison, Col. G. T. (secundus) (Rusholme), 354
Denison, Lt.-Col. G. T. (tertius), 354
Denison, Lt.-Col. R. L., 459
Denison, Lt.-Col. R. B., 454
Denison, Mrs. Sophia, 296, 342, 372
Denison (Speaker), 124
Dennis, Mr. John, 98, 363, 378
Dennis, Mr. Joseph, 98, 523, 548
Denonville, 1, 2, 4
Derby, Earl of, 124
Detlor, G. H., 185
Detroit, 10, 11, 29
Devans, Abr., 222
Dewar, Rev. E. H., 453
Dickson, Hon. W., 254, 364
Dickson, Mr. Thomas, 335
Diehl, Dr., 33
Dixon, Mr. Alexander, 206
Dobson, Mr. James, 410
Doel, Mr. John, 308
Don Bridge, 28, 218
Don, Indian name of, 233
Don, Lesser, 83
Don Mills, 242
Don River, 27, 30, 233
Dongan, 2, 4
Dorchester, Lord, 16, 17, 285, 389
Dorland, Thomas, 254
Dovercourt, 354
Doyle, James, 157
Doyle, John, 157
Draper, Chief Justice, 173, 296, 322, 413
Draper, Mr. W. G., 322
Drean, Henry, 84, 334
Drummond, Sir Gordon, 29, 356, 362
Drummond, Peter, 82
Drummond's Island, 504
Drury, Mr., 94
Drumsnab, 241
Drynoch, 466
Duchess Street, 257
Duels, 246, 254, 396
Dufferin, Earl of, 55
Duggan, Col. George, 84, 139, 184, 297, 363
Duggan, Mr. Thomas, 363
Duke Street, 180
Du Lhu (Duluth), 2, 4
Dummer Street, 317
Duncan, Hon. Richard, 82
Dundas, Mr. Secretary, 305, 516, 518
Dundas Street, 245, 510
Do. do. Sandford's Corner, 371
Dunlop, Dr., 210, 358
Dunn, Mrs., 135, 342
Dunn, Col., 342
Dunn, Hon. J. H., 84, 105, 134, 146, 342
Dunstable, 305
Durand, Mr. Charles, 397
Durand, Mr. James, 398
Durand, Mr., senior, 398
Durantaye, 1, 2, 4
Durham, Lord, 126
Durweston Gate Inn, 447
Dundurn, 448
Dutcher, F. R., 378
E.
Earl, Capt., 525, 530, 535
Eastwood, Mr., senior, 224, 242
Edgell, John, 385
Eglinton, 438
Elgin, Lord, 392, 394
Elizabeth College, 91
Elliott, John, 84
Elliott, Matthew, 254
Elm Street, 316
Elmsley, Capt. John, 392, 402, 570
Elmsley, Chief Justice, 64, 78, 90, 118, 138, 311, 383, 385, 387, 523
Elmsley House, 78, 90
Elmsley Villa, 392, 395
Emigrés, French, 468
Englefield, 350
Ernest, Peter, 206, 255, 296
Ernest, Henry, 185
Esplanade, 81
Estes, Capt., 545
Et, Township of, 362
Evans, Col., 557
Everson, James, 222
Ewart, Mr. John, 203, 408
Express from Quebec, 49
F.
Fair Green, 31
Fairbairn, L., 84
Fancy Balls, 111, 114, 412
Farcy, General Amboise de., 189, 469
Farmers' Arms, 178
Farmers' Store, 39, 437
Farr, Mr., 357
Farr's Brewery, 357
Fawcett, Lieut.-Col., 308
Fenton, Mr. John, 109, 145, 165
Ferguson, Barnabas, 271
Ferguson, Mr. John, 82
Fidler, Rev. Isaac, 452
Field, C., 295
Finch's, 447
Firth, Attorney-General, 138, 336
Fish, Moses, 109, 310
Fisher, Dr., 291
Fiske, Mr., 162
Fisken, Mr., 428
Fitzgerald, Capt., 351
Fitzgerald, John, 157
Fitzgibbon, Col., 89, 134, 345, 445
Flagging King Street, 198
Fleming, Mr. Sandford, 501
Flos, Tay and Tiny, 362
Forfar, Thomas, 386
Forsyth, Mr. Joseph, 509
Fortune, Joseph, 423
Fortune, William, 82, 423
Foster, Col., 124, 333
Foster, Mr. Colley, 333
Fothergill, Charles, 85, 209, 269, 273, 279, 358, 559
Foxley Grove, 373
Frank, Mr., 115, 401
Frank, Castle, 236, 245
Frank's Hotel, 110
Fraser, Hon. Thomas, 364, 509
Freder, Francis, 108
Frederick, Duke of York, 21
Frederick Street, 35
Freeman, Newspaper, 270
French Fort, Old, 73
French, John, 84
Frontenac, Count, 5
Frontenac, Fort, 45
Frontenac, Steamer, 538
Fuller, Archdeacon, 340
Fuller, Major, 340, 434
Furon, Jean, 469
G.
Gage, Gen., 15
Gale, Mr. Benjamin, 363
Galissonière, 5, 6
Gallows Hill, 425
Galt, Mr. John, 111, 112, 114, 115, 502
Gamble, Mrs., 192
Gamble, Mr. Clarke, 248
Gamble, Dr., 138
Gamble, Mr. John W., 84, 134, 551
Gamble, Mr. William, 134
Gardeners' Arms, 403
Garneau, M., 314
Garrison, 28, 71
Garsides, Mr., 430
Gandatsi-tiagon, 4
Gazette, First, at Newark, 159, 573
George, Capt., 573
George III., 21, 436
George Street, 180, 184
George Street, Upper, 382
Georgina, 352
German Mills, 448, 450
Gibson, Mr. David, 446
Gillespie, Mr. J., 150
Givins, Rev. Saltern, 158, 530
Givins, Adolphus, 112
Givins, James, 160, 185
Givins, Col., 112, 134, 138, 201, 239, 351, 352, 358, 359
Glassco, Thomas, 157
Globe Inn, Yonge Street, 432
Glengary, 29
Glen Grove, 439
Glenlonely, 472
Glennon, B. H. and M., 185
Glennon, Edward, 157
Goats, 87
Goessmann, John, 437
Good, Mr., 391
Good's Foundry, 391
Gooderham, Mr., senior, 150, 204
Gooderham and Wort's Mills, 204
Goodman, Mrs., 181
Goodwin's Creek, 201
Gordon, Hon. J., 150, 181
Gordon, Miss, 150
Gore, Mrs. Arabella, 360
Gore, Gov., 29, 148, 160, 244, 360, 362, 387, 428, 443, 477, 531, 533
Gore Vale, 356
Gould Street, 433
Gouvereau, Capt., 535
Gourlay, Robert, 103, 104, 275, 324, 331
Grace, Capt., 534
Graham, Mr. William, 371
Grange, The, 328
Grant, Hon. Alexander, 82, 351
Grasett, Very Rev. H. J., 150
Graves Street, 328
Gray, John and Robert, 185
Gray, Mr. Solicitor-General, 138, 253, 295, 328, 337, 385, 528
Gray, W., Montreal, 52
Green Bush Tavern, 403, 447
Greenland Fishery, 58
Gregg, Mr., 112
Grenadier's Pond, 72
Grindstone Stolen, 260
Grosvenor Street, 395
Grubbe, Capt., 136, 547
Guardian, U. C., Newspaper, 271
Gurnett, Mr. George, 279, 442
Gurney, Joseph John, 482
Gurwood, Col., 128
Gwillimbury, Fort, 492
Gzowski, Mr. C. S., 150, 460
H.
Hagerman, Mr. Justice, 70, 114
Hale, Eliphalet, 383, 387
Hale, Jonathan, 303, 385, 439
Hale, Henry, 180, 439
Hallen, Rev. George, 503
Hallowell, Sir Benjamin, 366
Hallowell, Mr. Benjamin, 355, 366
Halton, Major, 531
Hamilton, Mr. Alexander, 202, 393
Hamilton, George, 84
Hamilton, Gilbert, 185
Hamilton, Mr. James, 202
Hamilton, Hon. Robert, 82, 335, 564
Hamilton, Mr. Thomas, 363, 430
Hamilton, T. G., 185
Hamilton, W. A., 185
Hamilton, Wilson, 185
Handy, Patrick, 41, 498
Harbour, the first Survey, 508
Harper, Capt., 571
Harraway, John, 160
Harris, Rev. Mr., 308
Harris, Rev. Dr., 93
Harris, Mr. T. D., 184, 186, 540
Harrison, Hon. S. B., 373
Harrison, Joseph and William, 303
Hartney, Edward, 185
Hartney, Mr. P. K., 363
Hastings, Warren, 221
Hathaway, Mr., 509
Hatt, Mr. Richard, 335
Hawke's Bridge, 440
Hayden, John, 101
Hayes' Boarding-House, 33
Hayes, John, 84, 185, 199, 363
Hayne, de, _see_ Hoen
Hazeldean, 413
Heath, Mrs. Col., 426
Helliwell, Mr. Thomas, 408
Helliwell, Mr., senior, 224, 242
Henderson, R. C., 84
Henderson, Mr. R., 282, 386
Hennepin, 79
Henry, Dr., 126, 128, 131
Herchmer, Mr. J., 265, 291, 385, 529
Heron, Mr. A., 263, 575
Heron, Mr. S., 222
Heron's Bridge, 441
Herring, R., 303
Hetherington, George, 41, 146
Heward, Charles, 157, 194
Heward, Mr. F. H., 157
Heward, Henry, 157
Heward, Mr. Hugh, 332
Heward, Mr. John, 494
Heward, Major Stephen, 41, 79, 84, 134, 193, 298
Hewson, Mr. Francis, 498
Higgins, Mr. Chief Constable, 142
Higgins, Mr., senr., 138, 372
Hill, Mr. Joseph, 406
Hill, Solomon, 254
Hill, Mr., Caxton Press, 207
Hilliard, Capt., 574
Hillier, Major, 55, 84, 136, 341, 359
Hincks, Sir Francis, 280
Hodges, Dr., (Organist), 147
Hoen, Baron de, 248, 433, 435
Hogan, Mr. J. S., 219
Hogg, Mr., 442
Hogg's Hollow, 442, 444
Holland House, 55
Holland Landing, 492
Holland, Major, 492
Holland's Map, 491, 493
Hop Garden, 229
Horne, Dr. R. C., 258, 269, 410
Horner, Mr., 137
Horton, John, 385
Hospital, General, 32
Hospital, Old, 88
Hospital Street, 384
Hough, John, 303
Howard, Mr. J. G., 405, 407
Howard, Mr. J. S., 426
Howard, Mr. Peter, 253
Hudson, Rev. Joseph, 70, 140
Hudson, Mr. Surveyor, 427
Hughes, Samuel, 107
Hugill's Brewery, 203
Humber River, 3
Humber Bay, 72, 367, 370
Humber Plains, 373
Humberstone, Mr., 79, 445
Humphrey, Mr. Caleb, 138
Hunt, Mr. Joseph, 138, 386
Hunter, Governor, 40, 249, 267, 478, 522, 525
Hunter, Mr. William, 203, 386
Huskisson, Mr., 360
Huson, Mr., 440
Hutchinson, John, 41, 203
Hutty, Mr. Peter, 410
I.
Iknield Street, 395
Indian's Grave, 309
Innisfallen, 498
Iredell, Abraham, 423
Ives, Capt., 539
Irving, Hon. J. Æ., 490
J.
Jack of Clubs, 176
Jackes, Mr., 198, 438
Jackson, Mr. Clifton, 429
Jackson, Mr. J. Mills, 427
Jackson, Samuel, 298, 430
Jail, 26, 99, 100
Jail Limits, 100
James, Mr. John, 196
James Street, 307
Jameson, Mrs., 49, 68, 69, 94, 128, 136, 147, 347
Jameson, Vice Chancellor, 67, 444
Jarvis, Mr. G. S., 79, 185, 328
Jarvis, Secretary, 41, 138, 181, 247, 282, 292, 385, 478
Jarvis, Mr. S. P., 182, 257, 284
Jarvis, Mr. Stephen, Registrar, 134, 138, 181, 411
Jarvis, Mr. W. B., 84, 185, 405
Jay's Treaty, 30
Jeune, Bishop of Lincoln, 127
John Street, 58, 328
Johnson, Dr., 448
Johnson, Sir John, 370
Johnson, Sir William, 13, 15
Johnson, Mr. William, 82
Jones, Augustus, 17, 18, 415, 417, 419, 521
Jones, Aug., Report on Yonge Street, 416
Jones, Rev. Peter, 417, 447
Jordan's Hotel, 197
Jordan Mr., 138, 363
Jordan Street, 96
Jutes, Sampson, 260
K.
Kane, Michael, 379
Kane, Paul, 203, 379
Kahawabash, 18
Kearsny House, 401
Kempenfelt Bay, 496
Kendrick, John, 531
Kendrick, Joseph, 536
Kendrick, Duke, 441
Kendrick, Mr., 138
Kent, Duke of, 285, 358, 498
Kent, Mr. John, 273
Kerr, Chief, 112, 345
Kerr, John, 385
Ketchum, Mr. Jesse, 84, 102, 138, 308, 310, 379, 380, 388, 410, 439
Ketchum, Mr. Seneca, 381, 443
Kettle, 155
Kildonan, 300
King's Head, Burlington Bay, 368
Kingsland, 440
King Street, 28
Kinnear, Mr., 462
Kirby, Mr. W., 263
Klinger, Mr. Philip, 363, 376, 381
Knott, John, 79, 158, 160
Knox College, 395
L.
Lachine, 5
Lajorée, 17
Lakeshore Road, 368, 370
Lancaster, W., 160
Landor, Walter Savage, 367
Larchmere, 472
La Salle, 76
Lavalterie, 7
Lawe, Geo., 423
Lawrence, Mr., 440
Lawrence, Peter, 303
Lawrence, W., 363
Lawrence's Tannery, 440
Lea, Mr., senior, 224
Leach, John, 386
Leach, Joshua, 303
Leach, Rev. Mr., 442, 444
Lee, Dr., 32, 134, 138, 181, 355
Lee, Mr. W. H., 515
Leeke, Rev. W., 128
Legge, Mr. Alexander, 138, 363
Lefferty, Dr., 137, 562
Lennox, Col., 397
Lennox, Lord Arthur, 124
Lesslie, Mr. James, 437
Lesslie, Mr. E., 186
Lewis, Mr., 219
Lewiston, 9
Leys, Mr. J., 556
Liancourt, Duke of, 30, 108, 353, 519, 530
Library, Parliamentary, 364
Lieutenants of Counties, 82
Lighthouse, 532
Lincoln, General, 512
Lindsey, Mr. Charles, 280
Lions, Golden, in Chancery, 174
Lippincott, Capt. Richard, 458
Littlehales, Major, 239, 351, 353, 513
Lockhart, Mr. James, 573
Locomotive, Toronto, 391
Longeuil, 6
Loring, Col., 350
Lot Street, 28, 245, 381, 384
Louisa Street, 308
Lowry, Rev. Dr., 547
Loyal and Patriotic Society, 52
Lumsden, Mrs., 193
Lumsden, S. A., 363
Lundy, Jacob, 477, 480
Lundy, Shadrach, Oliver, Reuben, 480
Lynn, Mr., 444
Lyons, Mr., 134
M.
McBeth, John, 386
McBride, E. W., 363
McBride, John, 531
McCaul, Rev. Dr., 322
McCormack, Mr., 12
McCormack, James, 439
McCutcheon, Mr., 286
McGann, Patrick, 42
McGregor, John, 254
McGregor, Col., 546
McGill, Col., 118, 134, 138, 257, 260, 267, 286, 385, 517
McGrath, Major T. W., 194
McIntosh, Angus, 536
McIntosh, Charles, 391, 571
McIntosh, James, 185
McIntosh, John, 391, 392, 573
McIntosh, Robert, 391
McKay, John, 255
McKenzie, Capt., 493, 538, 553
McKenzie, Daniel, 303
McLean, Allan, 253, 364
McLean, Chief Justice, 217, 344
McLean, Donald, 138, 484
McLean, Hon. Neil, 14, 364
McLean, Mr. Speaker, 142, 364
McLeod, Norman, 14
McLeod, Capt. Martin, 466
McLeod, Major, 467
McLeod, Murdoch, 107
McMahon, Mr. E., 248, 367
McMurtrie, Joseph, 385
McPherson, Hon. D. L., 424
McTaggart on Canada, 414
Macaulay, Allan, 158
Macaulay, Capt. J. S., 39, 307, 392
Macaulay, Dr., 118, 134, 138, 307, 311, 385, 392
Macaulay, Sir James, 54, 84, 147, 376
Macaulay Town, 307
Macdonald, Mr. John, 425
Macdonell, Hon. Alexander, 29, 138, 253, 330, 385, 386
Macdonell, Mr. Allan, 157, 331
Macdonell, Angus, 185, 249, 250, 291, 355, 366
Macdonell, Archibald, 82, 509
Macdonell, Attorney-General, 50, 119, 355, 356
Macdonell, Bishop, 34, 300, 567
Macdonell, Capt. Æneas, 526
Macdonell, Capt., 68th, 567
Macdonell, Donald, 185
Macdonell, Mr. James, 51, 157
Macdonell, John, 82
Macdonell, Miles, 300, 331, 439
Macdonell, Peter, 185
Macdonell, Sheriff, 248
MacDougall, Mr. John, 222, 303, 386, 439
MacDougall, Peter, 52, 84, 541
MacKenzie, William Lyon, 38, 102, 104, 137, 242, 310, 392
MacMaster, Hon. W., 424
MacMurray, Rev. Dr., 140, 157
Macnab, Sir Allan, 85, 134, 185, 216, 448
Macnab, Capt. Alexander, 355, 366, 479
Macnab, Rev. Dr., 366, 479
Macnab, The Chief, 212, 213, 214, 216
Macnab, Mr. David, 160, 212
Macnab, Mr. D., senr., 134, 215
McNabb, Simon, 385
MacNiel, Capt., 72, 434
Mairs, Mr., 501
Maitland, Lady Sarah, 135, 213
Maitland, Sir Peregrine, 29, 90, 122, 123, 142, 359, 549
Mall (Esplanade), 80
Mallory, Benaiah, 254
Manitoba, 300
Mansion House Hotel, 196
Manning, Ald., 55
Market Lane, 109
Market Place, falling of gallery, 42
Market, Weekly, for York, 40
Marriages, Record of, 334, 335
Marseuil, Chevalier de, 469
Marsh, William, 380
March Street, 170, 317
Marian, Paul, 185, 198, 386
Mashquoteh, 426
Masonic Hall, 109
Massiac, 10
Mathers, Mr. J., 424
Mathews, Rev. Charles, 94, 407
Maxwell, Capt., 574
Maxwell, Mr., 110
Mayerhoffer, Rev. V. P., 454
Mealy, Sergeant, 335, 385
Mechanics' Institute, First, 109
Medals, 52
Medley, Ensign, 557
Meighan, Messrs, 546, 569
Melinda Street, 96
Melville, Capt., 557
Mennonists, 480
Mercer, Andrew, 55, 84, 269, 363, 366
Merchants' Wharf, 39
Methodist, First, Chapel, 95
Michilimackinac, 1, 2, 3
Midford, Capt., 94
Miles, Abner, his Day-book, 45, 193
Miller, Capt., 539
Millard, Mordecai, 482
Milloy, Capt., 576
Mills, Mr., 222
Mississaga Point, 31
Mississaga Tract, 369
Mississagas, 8
Mitchell, Mr., 438
Moffatt, Lieut., 503
Mohawk, Etymology of, 76
Monro, Mr. George, 31, 84, 134, 187
Monro, Mr. John, 84, 134
Montcalm, 9
Montgomery, Alexander, 289, 303
Montgomery, Mr. John, 437
Montmagny, 4
Montreal Gazette, 281
Montreal Herald, 281
Moodie, Col., 460
Moore, Capt., 530
Moore, John, 185
Moore, Sir John, 125
Moore, William, 303
Moore, Mr., 181
Moore, the Poet, 21
Morley, Benjamin, 221
Morrison, Dr. T. D., 310, 408
Morrison, Mr. Justice, 424
Mortimer, Rev. George, 444, 451
Morton, Simeon, 298
Mosier, Capt., 547, 551, 567
Mosley, Henry, 159
Mosley, John, 159
Mosley, Mr., senior, 186, 566
Moss Park, 28, 249
Mottoes, Newspaper, 281
Mountain, Bishop, 527
Mount, Roswell, 131
Mudge, Capt. Zachary, 136
Muirhead, Dr., 255
Munro, Major, 567
Munshaw, Balser, 223
Murchison, Mr. J., 138, 181, 355, 363
Murney, Capt., 521, 524, 527, 534
Murney, Mrs., 433
Murray, Mr., 439
Murray, Mr. Alexander, 401
Murray, Capt., 529
Murray, Charles Stewart, 450
Murray, Daniel, 160
Murray, Jock, 175
Myers, Capt., 539
Myers, James, 157
Myers, William, 157
N.
Nanton, Mr., 439
Napier, Lord, of Magdala, 342
Nash, James, 222
Nash, Samuel, 386
Nation, Mr. James, 84
Navy Hall, 29
Nelles, Abraham, 157
Nelles, Henry, 160
Nelles, Robert, 254, 255
Nelson Street, 178
Newgate Street, 152
Newmarket, 482, 486
New Town, 63
Niagara, 20
Niagara, Early Press at, 258
Nicholl, Col., 137
Nightingale, Mr., 424
Nolan, Capt., 449
Norris, Mr. James, 386
North, Capt., 557
North-West Company, 425
O.
Oakhill, 358
Oaklands, 424
Oak Ridges, 471
Oates, Capt., 195, 542
Oates, Mr. R. H., 157
Observer, 269
Ogetonicut, 291
O'Grady, Rev. Mr., 203
O'Hara, James, 175
O'Hara, Col. Walter, 367, 368, 459
O'Keefe, Andrew, 363
O'Neill, Mr. J., 225
Olive Grove, 426
Ontario House, 49
Ontario Street, 200
Osgoode, Chief Justice, 138, 313, 513
Osgoode Hall, 312
Oswegatchie, 7
Oswego, 5, 13, 390
Owens, John, 157
P.
Padfield, Mr. J., 94
Paget, Dr., 451
Paper Mills, 242
Park Lane, 316
Park, The, 255
Parker, Mr., 99, 430
Parkman, referred to, 479
Parliament, Houses of, Upper Canada, 26
Parsons, Mr. W., 451
Paterson, Mr. P., 185, 408
Paxton, Capt., 290, 528
Paynter, Capt., 571
Peacock Tavern, 374
Pearson, Nathaniel, 477
Peeke, Capt., 262
Penetanguishene, 390, 500
Perry, Charles, 379
Perry, Mr. Peter, 142, 310
Peter Street, 63, 342
Peters, W. B., 386
Petersfield, 63, 336
Peterson, Paul, 310
Pettit, William, 175
Petto, J., 338
Phair, Mr., 84
Phipps, Mr. W. B., 403
Phipps, Mr. Thomas, 142
Phillips, Rev. Dr., 94, 141, 167
Phillpotts, Capt., 136, 570
Pickering, Col., 512
Picquet, 5, 7
Pilgrims' Farm, 439
Pilkington, General, 497, 519
Pilkington, Isaac, 201
Pilkington, W., 185
Pimlico, 405
Pinhey, Hamnet, 137
Pine Grove, 360
Pines, The, 404
Piper, Mr. Hiram, 378
Playter, Mr. Eli, 288, 386
Playter, Mr. Emanuel, 224
Playter, Mr. George, 84, 222, 288
Playter, Capt. George, 134, 138, 241, 287
Playter, Capt. John, 224
Playter, Mr. James, 222, 383, 385
Playter, Mr. Thomas, 185
Polwhele, 60
Pontiac, 53
Poplar Plains, 426
Portland Street, 70, 354
Post, Jordan, 96, 311, 363, 381
Post Office, First, 38
Potteries, Walmsley's, 432
Potter's Field, 408
Poulett Thomson, 326
Powell, Chief Justice, 56, 129, 138, 142, 297, 303, 328, 365
Powell, Dr. Grant, 80, 84, 88, 102, 112, 134, 363
Powell, Major, 136
Powell's Pump, 209
Power, Bishop, 89
Power Street, 204
Prentice, R. E., 84
Press, Early, at Niagara, 259
Press, Early, at York, 258
Prevost, Sir George, 27, 61, 537
Prices Early, at York, 43, 44, 45
Price's Tavern, 408
Primrose, Dr., 139
Princes Street, 31
Proudfoot, Mr. W., 84, 401
Provincial Gazetteer, The first, 27
Puisaye, Comte de, 189, 469
Pump, Public, 41, 196
Purcell, Miss, 135, 181
Q.
Quaker Settlement, 476
Quebec, 10, 507
Quebec Mercury, 281
Queenston, 9
Queen Street, 28
Quinté, Bay of, 8, 206
R.
Race Course, 83
Raddish, Rev. T., 312
Railway, Huron and Ontario, 42
Ramsay, Dean, 214
Ramsay, Rev. S., 485
Randal, Mr. Robert, 309
Randolph, Mr., 512
Rathnally, 424
Reade, C., 185
Red Lion Inn, 408
Rees, Dr., 210, 358
Reid, George, 554
Reynolds, Mr., 198
Richards, Mr. (ice), 410
Richardson, Lieut., 79
Richardson, Rev. Dr., 447, 535
Richardson, Capt. Hugh, 548, 561, 565, 572
Richardson, C. and H., 575
Richardson, Capt. James, 535, 536
Richey, Mr. John, 406
Richmond, Duke of, 123
Richmond Packet, 195, 542, 544
Ridout, Charles, 157
Ridout, Francis, 157
Ridout, Horace, 160
Ridout, Mr. John, 157
Ridout, Mr. Joseph, 378
Ridout, Mr. Percival, 378
Ridout, Mr. S., Sheriff, 34, 84, 248
Ridout, Surveyor-General, 84, 120, 133, 138, 152, 182, 244, 371, 385, 423, 463
Ripley, Rev. W. H., 206
Ritchie, Rev. W., 444
Robinson, Mr. Christopher, senior, 138
Robinson, Sir J. B., 51, 57, 79, 80, 120, 138, 303, 312, 326, 442
Robinson, Hon. Peter, 482, 494
Robinson, Hon. W. B., 84, 185, 482, 483, 494, 499
Rocheblave, 17, 18
Roe, Mr. W.,84, 483
Rogers, Mr. David McGregor, 254
Rogers, Mr. Joseph, 84, 173
Rogers, Major, 10
Rogers, Rufus, Asa, Isaac, Wing, James, Obadiah, 480
Rogers, Timothy, 477, 480
Rolph, Hon. J., 309, 348
Rolph, Dr. Thomas, 210
Rosedale, 405, 411
Rose, Rev. A. W. H., 501
Rose, Miss., 135, 181
Ross, Mr. J., Undertaker, 138, 333
Rossi, Franco, 94
Rottenburg, Baron de, 342
Rouge River, 448, 472
Rouillé, 3, 6, 73
Royalists, French, 469
Roy, Louis, 259
Ruggles, C., 185
Ruggles, Mr. James, 371, 529
Rumsey, Mr. John, 314
Rusholme, 354
Russell Alley, 33, 34
Russell Hill, 340, 410
Russell, Miss Elizabeth, 33, 434
Russell, President, 29, 118, 138, 294, 336, 338, 339, 385, 401, 520
Russell Square, 90
Russell's Creek, 58
Rutherford, Mr. E. H., 150
Ryerse, Mr. Samuel, 82
S.
Sagard, Gabriel, 74
Saigeon, Michel, 469
Salmon Fishing, 228
Sanders, Capt., 536
Sandford's Inn, 372
Sandhill, 399
Sanson, Rev. Alex, 444
Savage, Mr. George, 565
Sayer Street, 316
Scarlett, Mr. J., 134, 363, 374
School, District Grammar, 98, 152, 166
School, Dr. Strachan's, at Cornwall, 156, 163
Scollard, Mr. Maurice, 402
Scoresby, Capt., 394
Scott, Chief Justice, 51, 130, 138, 376, 386
Scott, General Winfield, 535
Scott Street, 51
Secord, Peter, 260
Seignelay, 1
Selby, Mr. Receiver-General, 138, 336, 484
Selkirk, Lord, 299, 303, 330
Selleck, Capt., 524
Selwyn, Bishop, 394
Semple, Gov., 301
Seneca, Etymology of, 76
Severn, Mr. John, 410, 411
Shade, Absolom, 137
Shank, Col. David, 355
Sharon, 486
Shaver, Mr. Peter, 142
Shaw, Capt. Alexander, 358
Shaw, Capt., 345
Shaw, General Æneas, 80, 138, 334, 355, 356, 358, 523
Shaw, David, 160
Shaw, Warren, 160
Sheaffe, General, 29, 120, 347, 362
Sheehan, James, 159
Sheldon, W. B., 378
Shepard, Harvey, 242, 311
Shephard, Mr., 446
Shephard's Inn, 445
Sheppard, Joseph, 310, 443
Sherborne Street, 248
Sherwood, Mr. Justice, 303, 376
Sherwood, Reuben, 423
Sherwood, Mr. Samuel, 253, 303
Sherwood, Mr. Speaker, 137, 142
Siasconcet, 18
Sicotte, Mr. Speaker, 278
Simcoe, Governor, 18, 20, 29, 248, 356, 388, 389, 480, 510
Simcoe, Lake, 3, 474
Simcoe Place, 59
Simcoe, Steamer, 494
Simcoe Street, 317, 329
Simons, T. G., Printer, 263, 385
Sinclair, Capt., 540
Sinclair, Mr., senior, 224
Skeldon, George, 159
Skeldon, John, 159
Skinner, Mr. Colin, 224
Skinner's Sloop, 527
Slavery, 29, 292, 293
Small, Mr. Charles, 84, 185, 199
Small, Hon. J. E., 84, 185, 396
Small, Mr. John, 84, 133, 138, 199, 246, 249, 385, 435, 478, 484, 509
Smith, Col., President, 133, 138, 331, 353, 355, 364
Smith, Hon. D. W., 82, 248, 382, 385, 414, 419, 478
Smith, Mr. James F., 571
Smith, Dr. Larratt W., 425
Smith, Mr. Larratt, senior, 461
Smith, Thomas, 386
Smith, Under-Sheriff, 304
Smith, Walker, 157
Smith, William, 84, 185, 197, 363, 386
Smythe, Sir John, 177
Snider, Elias, 438
Snider, Jacob, 438
Snider, Martin, 438
Spadina Avenue, 66, 345
Spadina House, 66, 410
Spectator, New York, 282, 283
Spencer, Hazelton, 82
Spoon-bill, Governor Gore's, 364
Spragge, Chancellor, 165, 314
Spragge, Mr. Joseph, 84, 165
Spragge, Mr. William, 165
Springfield Park, 427
Sproxton Lake, 473
Squires, Philemon, 185
St. George, Quetton, senior, 138, 188-192, 469, 528
St. George, Quetton, Mr. Henry, 472
St. Giles, 410
St. James' Church, 117
St. Paul's Church, 407
Stafford, Mr., 176
Stage to Niagara, 49
Stanley Street, 170, 317
Stanton, Mr. R., 185, 269, 279, 333
Stanton, Mr., senior, 336
Stanton, Mr. W., 138
Steamboat Hotel, 48
Stedman, 87
Stegman, Mr. J., 64, 382, 419, 422, 529
Stegman, David, 84
Stegman, Report on Yonge Street, 419
Stewart, Mr., 110
Stewart, Bishop of Quebec, 139
Stimpson, Harbour, 303
Stocking, Mr. Jared, 173
Stoyell, Dr., 199, 222, 310
Strachan, Dr., 57, 84, 120, 141, 155, 161, 209, 277, 278, 364, 444
Strachan, James McGill, 158, 160, 286
Strachan, Mr. James, 57, 443
Strange, Mr., 556
Street, Rev. G. C., 486
Stuart, Okill, Archdeacon, 118, 139, 184, 340, 435
Stump Act, 262
Sugar-loaf Hill, 241
Sullivan, Augustus, 112
Sullivan, Mr. Justice, 87
Sullivan, Thomas, 84
Summer Hill, 424
Sun Tavern, 391
Sutherland, Capt., 571
Swayzey, Isaac, 254, 255
Swift, Patrick, 103, 276
Sydenham, Lord, 326, 504
T.
Taiaiagons, several, 76
Talbot, Col., 124, 239, 351
Talbot, Mr., Actor, 110
Taylor, Mr. John Fennings, 372
Taylor, Rev. Robert, 485
Taylor, Thomas, 84
Taylor, Mr., senior, 224
Taylor's Paper Mills, 242
Temperance Street, 380
Teraulay Cottage, 393
Teraulay Street, 307
Terry, Parshall, 222, 223
Thames, Canadian, 351
Thames, English, 29
Theatre, 96, 110
Thew, Capt., 539
Thomas, Dr., 255
Thompson, Arch., 222
Thompson, David, 222
Thompson, Mr. Charles, 424
Thomson, Mr., Canada Co., 112
Thome, Mr. B., 451
Thornhill, 451
Thorpe, Mr. Justice, 256, 428
Tiers, Mr. Daniel, 285, 409
Tiffany, G., 260, 306
Titus, John, 386
Toby, Horse, Case of, 299
Todmorden, 224
Toronto, Etymology of, 74
Toronto, Fort, 8
Toronto Harbour, 16, 510
Toronto Purchase, 369
Toronto Street, 63, 381, 382
Townley, Rev. A., 444
Townsley, James and William, 424
Training Day, 36
Trinity College, University of, 356, 357
Trinity Square, 392, 393
Turner, Mr. Enoch, 206
Turner, Mr. R. T., 314
Turquand, Mr. Bernard, 84, 125, 350
Tyler, Joseph, 228
U.
University, 324
University Street, 316
Upper Canada College, 93
V.
Vance, Mr. Alderman, 440
Vaudreuil, 9, 10
Vankoughnet, Mr., senior, 361
Vannorman, J. & B., 379
Vansittart, Admiral, 336
Vanzante, J., 108, 387
Vaughan, Mr., Actor, 110
Verchères, 7
Veritas, 61
Victoria Street, 63, 382
Vineyard, 404
W.
Wabbecomegat, 14
Wabbekisheco, Chief, 291
Wales, Prince of, 313, 329
Wallis, Mr. James, 410
Walmsley, John, 432
Walton, George, 392, 408
Ward, Mr. Thomas, 288, 386
Warffe, Mr. Andrew, 84, 182
Warffe, Mr. John, 182
Washburn, Mrs., 347
Washburn, Ebenezer, 254
Washburn, Simon, 84, 134, 180, 217, 225
Washington (City), 27
Waters, W., 263, 385
Watson, Mr., printer, 207
Wax-work figures hung, 48
Weekes, Mr., 249, 254, 291, 385
Well in Market Square, 41
Weld, Cardinal, 34
Weld, Isaac, 21, 33
Weller, Mr. W., 49
Wellington, Duke of, 127
Wells, Mrs., 135
Wells, Col., 66, 134
Wells, Col. Frederick, 66
West, Dr., 255
Westminster, 27
Wetherill, Mr., 406
Wharncliffe, Lord, 124
Wheler, Sir George, 95
White, Attorney-General, 246, 435, 513
Whitehead, Col. M. F., 288, 542
White Swan Inn, 48
Whitmore, Michael, 303, 427
Whitney, Peter, 303
Whitney, Capt., 550, 567
Whippings, Public, 42
Widmer, Dr. Christopher, 32, 33, 85, 199.
Wilcot, Paul, 431
Wilberforce Settlement, 502
Wilkie, D., artist, 156
Wilkinson, Mr. W. B., 253
Willard, Levi, 527
Willcocks, Mr. Charles, 349
Willcocks, Mr. Joseph, 271
Willcocks, Lake, 472
Willcocks, Mr. William, 138, 349, 385
Williamson, Capt., 108
William Street, 317
Willis, Judge, 22, 111, 113
Willis, Lady Mary, 111
Willis, Miss, 33, 112, 114
Wilson, David, 105, 296, 486
Wilmot, Samuel S., 244, 423
Wilson, Mr. D., 177
Wilson, Stillwell, 430, 439, 539
Windsor Street, 62
Winniett, Major, 350, 557
Wolfe, Gen., 492
Wood, Mr. Alexander, 138, 187, 383, 385, 484
Woodin, Lieut., 504, 506
Woodlawn, 424
Woodruffe, H., 185
Wood Street, 395
Worthington, Mr. John, 150, 424
Worts, Mr. James, 150, 204
Worts, Mr., senior, 205
Wragg & Co., 185
Wright, E. S., 58, 363
Wright, Miss M., 335
Wyatt, C. B., Surveyor-General, 423
Wykham Lodge, 392, 395
Y.
Yeo, Sir James, 536
Yonge, Sir George, 307, 355, 356, 388
Yonge Street, 375, 390
Yonge Street, Stegman's Report, 420
York, Capital of Upper Canada, 27
York, Duke of, 513
York Mills, 442
York Street, 94, 315
Yorkville, 380, 383, 405
Yorkville, Town-hall, 409
Young, J., Architect, 59, 101, 321
Young, Mr. R., 385
Z.
Zealand, Capt., 571
[Illustration]
=Transcriber's Notes:=
original hyphenation, spelling and grammar have been preserved as in
the original
Preface Page viii, "Fuller, of" changed to "Fuller of"
Preface Page viii, "Barber, of" changed to "Barber of"
Preface Page viii, "Kerby, of" changed to "Kerby of"
Contents Page xi, "to Church Street" changed to "to Church Street,"
Contents Page xii, "Old Court House" changed to "Old Court House,"
Page 4, "Missilimackinac" changed to "Michilimackinac"
Page 5, "sucessor" changed to "successor"
Page 5, "developed in a strong" changed to "developed into a strong"
Page 12, "Michilimackina" changed to "Michilimackinac"
Page 12, "Brheme" changed to "Bhreme"
Page 17, "there would- perhaps" changed to "there would, perhaps"
Page 18, "1792, Mr. Augustus" changed to "1792," Mr. Augustus"
Page 19, "If faut cependant" changed to "Il faut cependant"
Page 22, "heartles waste" changed to "heartless waste"
Page 26, "dooument" changed to "document"
Page 44, "quarts and and one" changed to "quarts and one"
Page 46, "just Eight shillings" changed to "just eight shillings"
Page 47, "July 6, 1799. These" changed to "July 6, 1799." These"
Page 50, "had failed, Delay" changed to "had failed. Delay"
Page 52, "GRATEFUL COUNTRY. On" changed to "GRATEFUL COUNTRY." On"
Page 54, "Of Yonge Steeet itself" changed to "Of Yonge Street itself"
Page 55, "front of of one" changed to "front of one"
Page 58, "relic indispensible" changed to "relic indispensable"
Page 61, "I have bern" changed to "I have been"
Page 68, 'Bright Stream."' changed to 'Bright Stream.")'
Page 71, "very great inconveniece" changed to "very great inconvenience"
Page 75, "Toronto, or Tarento" changed to "Toronto, or Tarento,"
Page 76, "Mohawk is Mo-aga" changed to "Mohawk is Mo-aga,"
Page 78, "western battery.'" changed to 'western battery."'
Page 84, "guaranteeeing" changed to "guaranteeing"
Page 94, "Phillips, D,D." changed to "Phillips, D.D."
Page 94, "Mathews. M.A." changed to "Mathews, M.A."
Page 95, "of the men.)" changed to "of the men."
Page 96, "this day: he" changed to "this day:" he"
Page 98, "superintendant" changed to "superintendent"
Page 108, "the settlements. To" changed to "the settlements." To"
Page 117, "asa contemporary" changed to "as a contemporary"
Page 121, "tranformed" changed to "transformed"
Page 122, "conspicuouly" changed to "conspicuously"
Page 124, "Maitland Scholar ships" changed to "Maitland Scholarships"
Page 140, "deeply-thoughtful matter" changed to "deeply-thoughtful manner"
Page 148, "communion-table. "This" changed to "communion-table." "This"
Page 151, changed v's to u's in inscription
Page 151, 'EASTER, 1870.' changed to 'EASTER, 1870."'
Page 152, 'and Jail."' changed to 'and Jail.")'
Page 153, "beformed" changed to "be formed"
Page 156, "to there school-days" changed to "to their school-days"
Page 158, "Metcalf,, Walker" changed to "Metcalf, Walker"
Page 158, 'Horace Ridout.' changed to 'Horace Ridout."'
Page 158, "adminstration" changed to "administration"
Page 160, "cirumstances" changed to "circumstances"
Page 175, "one: and" changed to "one; and"
Page 181, "in an an advertisement" changed to "in an advertisement"
Page 181, "before. Sir William" changed to "before Sir William"
Page 185, "procured "Bending" changed to "procured: "Bending"
Page 190, "Tickenburg" changed to "Ticklenburg"
Page 192, "Mens' hats" changed to "Men's hats"
Page 193, "Stoyell's tavern. York" changed to "Stoyell's tavern." York"
Page 196, "were a second" changed to "where a second"
Page 196, 'converted to a pump.' changed to 'converted to a pump."'
Page 199, "re-reserve" changed to "reserve"
Page 207, "populalation" changed to "population"
Page 207, "York Price Current Office" changed to "York Land Price
Current Office"
Page 214, "romatic" changed to "romantic"
Page 214, "Edinburgh]. A" changed to "Edinburgh]." A"
Page 219, "aid of outsiders," changed to "aid of outsiders."
Page 224, "the Mills;" In 1802" changed to "the Mills." In 1802"
Page 228, "river-bank, The flue" changed to "river-bank. The flue"
Page 237, 'recently revolted.' changed to 'recently revolted."'
Page 261, "acknowleged" changed to "acknowledged"
Page 263, "it it announced" changed to "it announced"
Page 265, "that the the dignified" changed to "that the dignified"
Page 268, "page, some Chinese" changed to "page, "some Chinese"
Page 278, "troubles and and the" changed to "troubles and the"
Page 280, "public affairs., may have" changed to "public affairs, may have"
Page 280, "avida; and of" changed to "avida;" and of"
Page 295, "to be be sold" changed to "to be sold"
Page 298, "Peace, "which," as" changed to "Peace, which," as"
Page 302, "Watterville" changed to "Watteville"
Page 313, "in its e ery nook" changed to "in its every nook"
Page 320, "expounded, As we" changed to "expounded. As we"
Page 323/324, "while de viating" changed to "while deviating"
Page 327, "that Kingston" changed to "that "Kingston"
Page 327, "whole of Canand" changed to "whole of Canada"
Page 328, "D'Arcy Boulton." changed to "D'Arcy Boulton.)"
Page 328, "took between" changed to "took place between"
Page 334, "bp the Rev." changed to "by the Rev."
Page 335, "Katey Macdonell. (This" changed to "Katey Macdonell." (This"
Page 335, "of Upper Canada." changed to "of Upper Canada.)"
Page 339, "Nos. 22, 13, 25" changed to "Nos. 22, 23, 25"
Page 341, "was the ornamental" changed to "was the "ornamental"
Page 343, "Senafè" changed to "Senafé"
Page 348, "width fo 90 feet" changed to "width of 90 feet"
Page 355, "destinanation" changed to "destination"
Page 362, "and and the township" changed to "and the township"
Page 371, "embodied mititia" changed to "embodied militia"
Page 381, "proportionate ieces" changed to "proportionate pieces"
Page 414, "just as thof" changed to "just as tho'"
Page 416, "Thurday" changed to "Thursday"
Page 417, "1876" changed to "1796"
Page 417, "January. 1802" changed to "January, 1802"
Page 418, "does not not suit" changed to "does not suit"
Page 429, "Mr Jackson" changed to "Mr. Jackson"
Page 448, "a canal. It" changed to "a canal." It"
Page 449, "York 18th April" changed to "York, 18th April"
Page 450, "out-burldings" changed to "out-buildings"
Page 456, "Ganada" changed to "Canada"
Page 457, "Canadian York Of" changed to "Canadian York. Of"
Page 462, "used be eyed" changed to "used to be eyed"
Page 473, "attacted" changed to "attached"
Page 477, "therewith. Signed" changed to "therewith." Signed"
Page 477, "Lieut-Governor" changed to "Lieut.-Governor"
Page 483, "intrumental" changed to "instrumental"
Page 489, "disagreable" changed to "disagreeable"
Page 491, "name of of the" changed to "name of the"
Page 494, "Capt McKenzie" changed to "Capt. McKenzie"
Page 504, "Mr Keating" changed to "Mr. Keating"
Page 504, "Lieut Woodin" changed to "Lieut. Woodin"
Page 506, "Packing cases. 23" changed to "Packing cases, 23"
Page 518, "writin a despatch" changed to "writing a despatch"
Page 521, 'a fence."' changed to 'a fence.")'
Page 525, "Aid-de-Camp" changed to "Aide-de-Camp" [Ed. for consistency]
Page 537, "offcer" changed to "officer"
Page 538, "April 30 1819" changed to "April 30, 1819"
Page 548, "enterprize" changed to "enterprise"
Page 549, "five hundred miles.'" changed to 'five hundred miles."'
Page 555, 'from the Garrison.' changed to 'from the Garrison."'
Page 556, 'about 350 tons.' changed to 'about 350 tons."'
Page 560, "the Government. But" changed to "the Government. "But"
Page 568, "and Michigan. "On" changed to "and Michigan." "On"
Page 570, "occaasion" changed to "occasion"
Page 572, "the afternoon The" changed to "the afternoon. The"
Page 580, "write "Forsyth; at" changed to "write "Forsyth"; at"
Page 580, 'write "Mayerh"' changed to 'write "Mayerh."'
Page 585, "Gal ows" changed to "Gallows"
Page 586, "Hamilton, Mr. Jame" changed to "Hamilton, Mr. James"
Page 586, "Heath, Mrs Col." changed to "Heath, Mrs. Col."
Page 586, "Heron, Mr. A., 263, 675" changed to "Heron, Mr. A., 263, 575"
Page 587, "Hunter, Mr William" changed to "Hunter, Mr. William"
Page 588, "Macdonell, Hon. Alexander, 29, 138, 253, 330, 385, 586"
changed to "Macdonell, Hon. Alexander, 29, 138, 253, 330, 385, 386"
Page 589, "Mosier, Capt., 547, 451, 567" changed to "Mosier, Capt.,
547, 551, 567"
Page 591, "Richardson, Capt Hugh" changed to "Richardson, Capt. Hugh"
Page 591, "Ryerse, Mr Samuel" changed to "Ryerse, Mr. Samuel"
Page 594, "Winniett, Major, 350, 587" changed to "Winniett, Major, 350, 557"
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