to
pmterettg of tEformtto
J.H. Armstrong, Esq.
iieCTRONIC VERSIOK AVAILABLE .
A History
of
Simcoe County
By
ANDREW F. HUNTER
IN TWO VOLUMES
Volume I. --Its Public Affairs
IS
- i
BARRIE, ONT.
PUBLISHED BY THE COUNTY COUNCIL 1909
v> !
Copyright, Canada, 1909 By Andrew F. Hunter
WARWICK BRO'S & RUTTER, Limited, Printers TORONTO
CONTENTS.
VOLUME I.
Chapter. Page.
I. The Hurons and the Early French 1
II. The Ojibways and their Surrenders of the Lands 10
III. The Days of the Fur Traders 21
IV. The Old Military Route and the War of 1812 32
V. Surveying- the Land and Preparing for Settlers 39
VI. The Subject of Land Grants 50
VII. The First White Settlements and the People who made
them 62
VIII. The Beginning of Lake Navigation 69
IX. The First Colonization Roads 80
X. The Roads under the District Council (1843-9) 95
XL The Common Roads and Bridges of later years 116
XII. The Old Stage Lines, before the Railway Days 142
XIII. The Early Postal Service 152
XIV. The Northern Railway 160 '
XV. The H. & N. W. R. R. and the Amalgamated Northern
and North- Western System 187 '
XVI. Other Railway Lines 204 '
XVII. Canals 211
XVIII. Old Elections and Parliamentary Representation 216
XIX. General County Administration 235
XX. County Municipal Affairs 257
XXI. Military Affairs 275
XXII. The Schools 281
XXIII. The Early Press 298
XXIV. The Pioneer Churches 304
XXV. The Industries of the Inhabitants 323
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List ot Illustrations
Volume I.
Page
The first map of North Simcoe (1660) 6
Memorial Church at Penetanguishene 8
Chief Yellowhead's House, Orillia 15
Indian Council House and Church, Orillia (1831) 17
A view of " The Narrows " at the present day 25
The site of Fort Nottawasaga (1816-8) 36
George Lount, the first County Registrar of Lands (1826-72). ... 43
Jacob /Emilius Irving, the first Warden of Simcoe (1843) 57
James Dallas, Orillia, Warden, 1844-5 58
Main Street, Penetanguishene 66
The Steamer " Morning," (1854) 72
Steam Craft in tne Harbor, Collingwood 73
The Inner Harbor, Collingwood 77
The " Midland Prince " in the Docks, Collingwood 78
In Levering Park, Coldwater 89
Wm. Armson, West Gwiilimbury, Warden, 1845-52 97
Lavender Falls 105
The Colonization Roads of the County, 1849-50 113-4
Henry Creswicke, County Surveyor, 1843-83 119
James Sanson, Orillia, Warden, 1853-6 125
Orillia — The Bay from Couchiching Park 129
Archibald Pass, the Pioneer Doctor, 1835-61 149
William F. A. Boys, Junior Judge, 1883-1908 153
John McWatt, the first County Clerk, 1843-52 154
Collingwood Railway Terminus — The docks with elevator 167
The first elevator, Collingwood (about 1860) 171
The second elevator, Collingwood 171
The railway bridge at Tollend^l — the change from wood to iron,
1863 177
Angus Morrison, M.P., receiving an Address 181
Lieut.-Col. R. T. Banting, County Clerk, 1860-1902 189
D'Alton McCarthy, M.P. for N. Simcoe, 1878-1898, and County
Solicitor, 187'3-98 199
W. D. Ardagh, Warden, 1869-71 205
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vi A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
Page
Capt. Elmes Steele, M.P. for Simcoe, 1841-4 221
Hon. W. B. Robinson, M.P. for Simcoe, 1830-41 and 1844-57... 225
Sir James R. Gowan, County Judge, 1843-83 237
John A. Ardag-h, Junior Judge, 1872-83 ; Senior Judge, 1883 241
E. A. Wismer, Junior Judge, 1908 242
The first Court House, 1843-77 246
The Court House after 1877 247
The first Jail, 1840-63 248
The County Jail of to-day 249
John Strathy, County Clerk, 1852-7 255
County House of Refuge, Beeton 271
General and Marine Hospital, Collingwood 272
Royal Victoria Hospital, Barrie 274
Armory of the 35th Regiment 279
Rev. S. B. Ardagh, the first County School Inspector, 1844-6. . . 287
Collegiate Institute, Collingwood 295
Thomas Fox Davies, the pioneer printer and publisher 299
The first Trinity Church, Barrie (erected, 1834) 308
Introduction.
This work naturally divided itself into two parts, distinct from each other in some ways, yet interwoven in other respects.
First, a history of the public affairs of the county, and of its material progress, its institutions, etc.
Second, a record of its pioneers with brief sketches of their lives, more especially those pioneers who took some part in public affairs.
As to the sources from which the material has been gathered for this work, only a few remarks are necessary. In some degree, the work of a person who undertakes to write a history of modern times, whether general or local, consists in going over newspaper files and similar records. The writer did some work of this kind, but he had also to develop the history of the days before the newspapers began in the county, and in so far as any plan could be made it was his chief aim to secure as much material as possible about the pre-newspaper days while it is still possible to get it, since it becomes more difficult to do so as time passes. For parts of the first volume he went through the printed proceedings of the District Council and of its successor, the County Council, from the beginning in 1843 to the present time, and also the Canadian statutes. For the second volume much was gathered at various times during the last thirty years from pioneers, most ot whom are now passed away To cite all the authorities, for the statements made herein, would take space only a trifle less in amount than the work itself. So it has been thought inadvisable to encumber the present text with footnotes stating the authorities, as these can be, for the present, supplied by the author to those who may require them and will apply to him.
Attempts at the compilation of a general history of this county have hitherto been confined for the most part to two or three directories issued more than thirty years ago and to an Atlas issued to subscribers in 1880 at the high price of $12.75 each. The Gazetteer and Directory of Simcoe for 1866-7 (McEvoy & Co., Toronto, 1866) had some histor- ical notes interspersed throughout its pages, and similar notes appeared in later editions of the same published by W. H. Irwin. A more extended compilation was the Historical Sketch in Belden's Atlas (Toronto, 1880) issued at the unpopular price mentioned above. These
[vii]
viii A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
compilations, all the work of non-residents, and anonymous, have a high percentage of error, which the conditions made inevitable. They give but scanty aid, as pilots, to anyone aiming- at the preparation of a full history. Notwithstanding- its faults, the Atlas sketch shows much patient toil and research, and as a first effort it deserves some credit.
The printing, in 1895, of the Minutes of the first District Council of Simcoe, 1843-7, which was the period before the advent of the printing press in the county, was accomplished in 1895 under the supervision of His Honour Judge Ardagh, and was an important step as it aroused some interest in the county's history. Besides its utility it discloses some of the quaint proceedings of the governing body of the county in the earliest years of its existence.
The first draft of this History appeared as a serial which the author wrote and published from week to week in the columns of the Barrie Examiner, beginning in the issue of that newspaper for October 24, 1889, and concluding in that of February 5, 1891. Appearing in that shape, it had the advantage of a winnowing through the columns of a newspaper, and it underwent the criticisms and corrections which such a process brings.
The Hon. J. S. Duff addressed the County Council on January 30, 1908, requesting them to take the initiative in having a History of the County brought to completion. The Council having thereupon resolved to bring out a History, and having appointed a special committee consisting of Councillors A. C. Garden (Chairman), Messrs. Clark, Picotte, Scanlon, Potter, Lawson and the Warden (Donald Currie Barr), who has taken a lively interest in the production of the work, the author placed the original material at their service, with the reminder that much work was required to complete it. This they authorized in the following May, and the work then proceeded. Numerous long extracts were expunged from the original, and the remaining matter fully revised and increased fivefold, the result being- the work now presented. The engravings are by the Grip Company, Toronto, and the typography of the work itself by Warwick Bros. & Rutter, Toronto.
A History of Simcoe County.
Vol. 1.— Its Public Affairs.
Chapter I. THE HURONS AND THE EARLY FRENCH.
When Samuel de Champlain returned to Canada from France in 1615 he brought with him four friars of the Recollets — one of the three branches of which the Franciscan brotherhood consisted, — to under- take a mission work among- the Indians of the country. One of these Franciscans, Joseph Le Caron, with twelve French soldiers, the very first summer of their arrival in Canada, made his way from Montreal to the populous Huron tribes of our own county, travelling- hither in the company of a party of Hurons who had been there to trade. Cham- plain himself, with two other Frenchmen, followed with another party of Hurons eight days later. Both parties in turn journeyed by the usual route of that period, viz., up the Ottawa River, across Lake Nipissing, and down French River, by which they reached the shores of Georgian Bay; then, passing down its easterly side, they arrived in the country of the Hurons, landing somewhere on the north-east shore of the Township of Tiny.
As the island called Beausoliel's, which is marked on maps as Prince Wm. Henry, lies in the course of a canoe paddled across the entrance of Matchedash Bay, from the rocky islands of the eastern shore to the opposite mainland of Simcoe County, we may infer the most con- venient landing place to be somewhere on this mainland opposite the south corner of this island. One of the Ojibway names of this island has a meaning descriptive of its position, lying as it does across the channel. The same island (Beausoliel's), has yielded remains of Hurons, thus affording further proof of having been on the line of travel in that early time.
[1]
2 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
On arriving- among- the Hurons, Le Caron began his missionary work, but made slow progress until he g-ained some knowledge of their language. Champlain arrived at the Huron village of Otouacha on Aug. i, 1615; next day he went to another village called Carmaron, a French league distant. He next visited two other places with even more frightful names (Touaguainchain and Tequenonquiaye) : thence to Carhagouha, fortified by a triple palisade of wood, thirty-five feet high. They banquetted him at these places, and he describes in his Journal, with considerable detail, the course of events, giving also descriptions of the products of the districts through which he passed. Then, after visits to five more of the principal villages, he reached Cahiague, with its 200 lodges, on Aug. 17. After some waiting, he went from Cahiague on Sept. i, with a war party of Hurons against the Iroquois, passing on his way, the fishing station of the Indians at the Narrows, which he describes, thence proceeding by way of Balsam Lake and the chain of waterways now known as the Trent route.
Having returned to the Huron country in December from this expedition against the Iroquois, Champlain repaired to Carhagouha and found Le Caron, who had, in the meantime, continued his labors among the Hurons. After a few weeks' rest, the two made a tour in February, 1616, to villages and towns of the Tobacco Nation in Nottawasaga Township, and to the tribe called "Chevaux Releves," living further west in the valley of the Beaver River. In the succeeding summer, both of these pioneers returned from the Huron country 1o Quebec.
THE FRANCISCANS.
After this beginning through Joseph Le Caron, the missionaries of the Franciscan Order labored among the Hurons at intervals for more than ten years. In fact, till 1629, the Order continued their Huron missions, the annals of which are given by Sagard in his two books printed in 1632 and 1636 respectively, and in which he also describes the Hurons themselves, as they appeared to him. The Order of St. Francis was a brotherhood of bare-footed friars, who formed themselves into a fraternity in the Thirteenth century; and being of a more humble disposition than the Jesuits, their labors in our county have been less known, yet none the less worthy.
DC la Roche Daillon, a member of the Order, left Quebec in 1626 with a party of Hurons gathered there to trade, and with him Brebeuf and De la Noue of the Jesuit Order, all bound for the country of the
THE HURONS AND THE EARLY FRENCH. 3
Hurons. He has left a narrative of his experiences, and Sagard in- cludes it in his history. On Oct. 18, Daillon started from Huronia to visit the more remote Indian tribes in this province. He went by way of the Tobacco Nation, and then made his famous tour among the Neutrals, who lived in the territory westward from Lake Ontario to the St. Clair. On his return to the Hurons in 1627 he did not remain long among- them, but soon went to Quebec, leaving his col- leagues at work among the natives of this county.
The once numerous nations of the Huron Indians, whom Cham- plain and the Franciscan missionaries found in this county were so important in its early history that they deserve a separate volume. Accordingly, it will be only a mere outline of them which this present work can contain. But as relics of these Indians are to be seen in museums throughout every part of the world, having been taken from the county at one time or another, and for which it has become famous, it would be an omission, even in a general sketch, to pass this subject in silence. The three kinds of their remains best known are their village sites, burial pits, and trails in the forest, to each of which a few remarks must be devoted.
HURON VILLAGES.
There are evidences in the early French writers of an increase of population in the Huron territory (now North Simcoe), from which we may infer that migrations took place. Champlain and Le Caron, in 1615, reckoned 17 or 18 villages in the area, with 10,000 persons. Bre- beuf, in 1635 — 20 years later — found 20 villages and about 30,000 souls. [Relations (Canadian edition), 1635, p. 33; 1636, p. 138.] Here is evi- dence of an influx from some quarter into the sheltered peninsula of North Simcoe, between the years 1615 and 1635. Yet, further, accord- ing to the Jesuits, there were in the year 1639 thirty-two inhabited villages of the Hurons in the same territory.
There is no reason to doubt the accuracy of the statements for those particular years, but there are sites of upwards of four hundred Huron villages within that area. All these, however, were not occu- pied at the same time, as the remains show ; some had evidently been abandoned before the arrival of the French, because all research has failed to reveal any traces of French intercourse ; while others yield abundant evidence of the presence of French traders. The Hurons were incessantly harassed by the hostile Iroquois tribes, and compelled to
4 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
shift their habitations from time to time ; their filthy domestic habits also rendered it impossible for them to remain long in one place. They were thus obliged to lead a half nomadic life, although they were quite stationary when compared with the Ojibways, Ottawas, and other tribes of the Algonquin peoples. And hence it came that only a few of the Huron villages, whose remains are still traceable, were occupied at the times of the census returns just mentioned.
The sites of nearly all these villages are marked by artificial heaps on the surface of the ground, ashes and debris at some distance below the surface, stone and bone implements, fragments of pottery in great abundance, besides many other relics. Articles of early French manu- facture are often found. These villages were of various sizes, ranging from two or three lodges to extensive hamlets. The largest site in the county known to us covers an area of more than fifteen acres. Many of them were palisaded ; but nearly all traces of fortification have been obliterated from the surface, owing to the great length of time that has elapsed since they were deserted. Nearly all the Huron villages were situated on elevated ground where the soil is light, but close to a supply of fresh water, and in several cases it is possible to locate a chain of villages lying along a particular trail, whose direction de- pended on the physical features of the region.
THEIR BURIALS.
With many of the more important villages in the Huron country there are associated ossuaries, or bone-pits. Since the year 1819, when Simcoe County first began to receive European settlers, discoveries of Huron ossuaries have been constantly taking place. The number of these discovered and undiscovered, has been variously estimated; more than one hundred and fifty have already been excavated by dif- ferent persons, but chiefly by the farmers. As to the number of skele- tons in each pit, a great diversity exists. The ossuary of average size contains about three hundred, but a few have been found in the Townships of Tay and Tiny containing, at a moderate estimate, more than a thousand, while others contain less than a dozen. These, however, are exceptional cases. The Hurons selected light, sandy soil, almost invariably for the pits, clearly because they had no good imple- ments for digging heavy soils.
The Huron mode of burial resembled in some respects that of the Sioux, Blackfeet, and other North-west tribes of our own day. The
THE HURONS AND THE EARLY FRENCH. 5
body was placed, after death, upon a scaffold supported by four upright poles. At regular intervals of time the skeletons were collected from the scaffolds and buried in a large pit dug for the purpose.
Brebcuf's account of the burial ceremony, (Relations des Jesuites, 1636), has been fully confirmed by excavation of the ossuaries. In most cases, the small bones of the feet and hands, and such as could easily be blown from the scaffolds or removed by carrion-eating fowls, are not to be found, showing that the bodies were exposed on the scaffold before interment. In a few instances it is possible to find some large bones of the limbs (femora, tibiae, humeri), arranged in bundles of a size convenient for carrying. Although the thongs which bound them together have entirely perished, the surrounding soil kept them in their original position.
Further proof of the strange mode of burial among the Hurons exists in the fact that the dimensions of the pit are almost always less than would have been required for dead bodies. No definite arrange- ment of the bones in a pit can be traced ; although one sometimes observes that all the skulls have been placed with the face downward — an arrangement by no means universally adopted. The few ossuaries in which entire bodies were buried together, can easily be distinguished from the prevailing variety. When buried in this way, as sometimes may have occurred after a massacre, it was usual to arrange the bodies regularly with their feet toward the centre of the pit.
After the arrival of the French, brass kettles were often buried with the bones. These were purposely damaged at the time of inter- ment by knocking a large hole in the bottom with a tomahawk. Many of these kettles have been found in some ossuaries especially in those of the Townships of Medonte, Tiny and Tay. Besides kettles, they buried copper and stone axes, chisels, and, in fact, almost everything to be found in a Huron household.
THEIR FOREST TRAILS.
The third class of Huron remains— the trails — have been singu- larly preserved from obliteration by succeeding Algonquin tribes. These tribes followed the original trails that were used by the Hurons in the seventeenth century, and kept them open down to the clearing of the forest by the white settlers. Our knowledge of the location of these trails comes chiefly from pioneers of the district, who themselves used the trails before opening the present public roads. From the fact
A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
that the sites of the Huron villages are now found along the same trails, it is clear that the paths recently closed were the original Huron trails. The foregoing remarks on the village sites, burials and trails apply to the Tobacco Nation, which dwelt in Nottawasaga Township when the Hurons dwelt in the north-east parts of the county.
THE OLD HURON MISSIONS.
The story of the Jesuit missions to the Huron Indians has often been told ; but as new facts arise in connection with the subject, such a story will easily bear repetition in the light of the new facts.
CHOROGRAPHIA REGIONIS
ONVM
The First Published Map of a Portion of Simcoe County.
From Father DuCreux's " Htstoria Canadensis " ^1660; .
Intrepid missionaries of every creed, many of them working with- out colleagues or helpers of any kind, have ranged far and near among the habitations of all kinds of aboriginal peoples. Yet the labors of none surpass in zeal or in strength of organization those of Brebeuf and his band of associates during their fifteen years of toil between the Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe.
Briefly given by years, and in the order of their arrival, the roll of these missionaries stands thus : —
In 1634, Brebeuf, with Daniel and Davost, reached the Huron country; next year, Pijart and Le Mercier came ; again, three more —
THE HURONS AND THE EARLY FRENCH. 7
Jogues, Chastellain and Gamier; then Ragueneau ; and the following summer, Jerome Lalemant, Le Moyne and Du Peron. This brings us down to the year 1639, the date of the building- of Ste. Marie on the Wye, as their headquarters, after which a few others came.
Father Daniel, in 1648, was the first of these to lose his life. This occurred during the destruction of Teanaustaye, at which Huron town they had established the mission of St. Joseph. At the present day many iron tomahawks have been found near the site of this town ; and at a solitary spot on the way to the next mission town of St. Michael, the owner of the land found great numbers of these weapons. At this place the ground was bestrewed with tomahawks so thickly as to suggest that it was the scene of an Indian battle.
In the destruction of St. Louis during the next year the Iroquois cap- tured Brebeuf and Gabriel Lalemant, and took them back to St. Ignace, where they put them to death. The geographical position of St. Ignace has been an open question for many years. As at least half a dozen places had been suggested, the writer, ten years ago, visited all the Huron village sites known to him, within reasonable distance of Ste. Marie on the Wye, and reached the conclusion that it was on lot n, concession 9, of Tay. Since that time two other places have been suggested, both at greater distances from Ste. Marie, but it does not appear that their claims are as good as those of the one on lot n. The question is more fully dealt with in another work on the antiqui- ties of the district, and so it need not be taken up in this general sketch.
A modern post village in Medonte Township bears the name of Mount St. Louis, perhaps meant to commemorate the old mission, al- though there is a geographical error in thus naming the place ; it would have been more properly called Mount St. Joseph, as the mission of St. Louis itself was about ten miles further north.
Finally, Gamier was among the slain at the capture of the mission town of St. Jean in the Tobacco Nation; and his companion, Chabanel, was murdered by a Huron a few days later. Thus, there were five Jesuit priests martyred in the Huron country.
The remains of the mission headquarters of Ste. Marie on the Wye may still be seen where the River Wye issues from Mud Lake, being known as the Old Fort. They are in a much-neglected condition.
A Memorial Church at Penetanguishene was erected to commemo- rate the lives of these martyrs. Built in the prevailing style of the
8
A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
continent of Europe, with "turrets twain," which one also frequently sees in the Province of Quebec, it crowns the high ground in that northern town and overlooks the picturesque bay. The parish and church — the handsome new structure also — were named Ste. Anne's at first, after the early mission near there. The indefatigable efforts of the late Rev. Father Laboreau, the pastor, were devoted for many years towards the completion of this work. The corner stone was laid Sept. 5th, 1886, and the building was far enough advanced by 1890 to allow services to be held in the basement. It was dedicated in 1902.
Church at Penetanguishene Erected as a Memorial to the Martyred Jesuit Missionaries.
(While in course of erection).
It would be an omission not to speak, at least briefly, of the "Relations" of these missionaries — the reports of their work in the Huron country (as well as in other parts of Canada), to the heads of their order in Quebec and in France. Like other books written on the field of action, especially books of travel, they breathe the open air of forest, lake and river. Notwithstanding the monotony of the par- ticulars about conversions and sacraments, occupying so much space in their pages, and the drawback of having been written amid dangers and interruptions of every kind in rude mission lodges, they have a simplicity and charm peculiar to themselves.
THE HURONS AND THE EARLY FRENCH. 9
The original editions of the "Relations" have been for a long- time among1 the rarest of books. The three-volume reprint, made in 1858, by the Canadian Government, has also become a rarity. And the new series, published by the Burrows Brothers Company, of Cleve- land, Ohio, will soon follow in the same direction. The latter issue has an advantage for English readers over the former one, inasmuch as the text is translated into English, the original French being given on the opposite page.
Besides the fact that they are edifying, these "Relations" have been the chief authorities from which Canadian historians have drawn much information, although the Recollets preceded the Jesuits in this country, and also left a few volumes of original materials.
In many ways the labors of these Jesuit missionaries, and the books they have left us, will remain a prominent feature in the history of this country.
LA SALLE'S JOURNEYS TO THE WEST.
The great explorer, La Salle, with his party of twenty-five men, passed this way in his expedition to the Illinois, in 1680. Making his way from Fort Frontenac, he followed up the River Humber, then crossed to Lake Simcoe, and thence by the Georgian Bay, he reached Michilimackinac. Again, in his expedition of the following year he took the same route.
"At the beginning of autumn," says Dr. Scadding, "he was at Toronto, where the long and difficult portage to Lake Simcoe de- tained him a fortnight. He spent a part of it in writing an account of what had lately occurred, to a correspondent in France." He concludes his letter thus: "I have a hundred things to write, but you could not believe how hard it is to do it among Indians. The canoes and their lading must be got over the portages, and I must speak to them continually, and bear all their importunity, or else they will do nothing I want. I hope to write more at leisure next year, and tell you the end of this business, which I hope will turn out well ; for I have M. de Tonty, who is full of zeal; thirty Frenchmen, all good men, without reckoning such as I cannot trust, and more than a hundred Indians, some of them Shawanoes, and others from New England, all of whom know how to use guns." With so many en- cumbrances, it was October before he reached the Georgian Bay. Then falls a long silence over the country of the ancient Hurons and its environs, during which (for a whole century) very little is known of what was happening there.
2
Chapter II.
THE OJIBXVAYS AND THEIR SURRENDERS OE THE LANDS.
With the massacres of 1649 and 1650, the Hurons vanish from these parts, and the events therein occurring, for more than a century afterward, are less known. When we begin to hear of the region again the Indians are all Ojibways. Some writers have asserted that these Algonquin tribes came from the north shore of Georgian Bay and spread over the abandoned country of the Hurons ; but one should not forget the populous tribes of Algonquins who, in the days when the early Jesuits had a mission among them, lived in the Townships of North and South Orillia. There are no existing records to show that these tribes were ever completely displaced from their ancient possessions, although it is natural to suppose the massacre perpe- trated by the Iroquois in their neighborhood would inspire them with fear and cause them to retreat for at least a brief period.
One writer on the traditional history of the Ojibways, George Copway, has asserted that some Iroquois did take up their abode in the land from which they had driven the Hurons, and maintained set- tlements, of which the principal one was near Orillia ; but the tradition is yet unconfirmed by actual history. The region has teemed with traditions of battles in various places between the Ojibways and their hereditary enemies, the unrelenting Iroquois ; and indeed every burial pit of the Huron tribes brought to light has been accounted for as the result of some battle, by those unacquainted with Huron burial practices. Another writer asserts that soon after the massacres of the Hurons there was a migration, in 1653, to this county and other parts of Southern Ontario of Mississagas who had been inhabiting the banks of a river of that name in Algoma, and after them the Ojibways, from near Sault Ste. Marie. (Canadian Journal, Vol. 3, old series, p. 209). Whatever may be the value of these traditions, the first travellers, after the beginning of British rule in the eighteenth century, found Ojibways in the district now comprised within our county.
A FEW OLD NAMES OF LAKE SIMCOE.
Some remarkable names have from time to time been given to Lake Simcoe, more especially by the Ojibways; and it may be of 2a L 10 ]
OJIBIVAYS AND SURRENDERS OF LANDS. 11
present interest to review the circumstances under which they have been applied, more especially as there are some fragments of history in them. The earliest term by which Lake Simcoe was known was "Ouentaron," or "Ouentironk," which signified in the language of the Huron Indians who applied it, "Beautiful Lake," from which we would infer that Huron taste was aesthetic. Lahontan, in 1687, called it Lake Toronto, signifying "gateway," or "pass," in the Huron language; and many subsequent map-makers adopted this name for it.
The later French traders gave it the name of "Aux Claies," which referred to hurdles, or latticework, employed in the taking of fish. May not the explanation of this term be found in the rows of stakes, or the "fence" at the Narrows, whose identification with the contrivance seen by Champlain, and described in his journal, was due to the late Joseph Wallace, sen., of Orillia? It is within the range of possibilities that this ancient collection of stakes or fish-weir at the Narrows, had some connection with this name. Lac aux Claies, frequently becoming corrupted into Le die, continued to be the name given for many years.
The Ojibways of this district in the eighteenth century knew it by the name "Ashuniong," or, as it is sometimes given — Shain-e-ong, Sheniong, or Sinion. The Rev. Dr. Scadding, in a note to his paper , on "The Toronto Landing," says this word, Sinion, or Sheniong is in- terpreted by some to mean "Silver Lake." For another account of •the meaning and origin of this name we are indebted to Dr. A. F. Chamberlain, formerly of Toronto. As stated to him, in 1888, by an aged member of the Mississaga band at Lake S'cugog, which formerly dwelt at Lake Simcoe, "Ashuniong" means "The place of the doj>- call," and is derived from the Algonquin word, Ashuniun, "To call a dog." Various words in the Algonquin vocabulary are but the early French words Indianized, and this name of Lake Simcoe is so sus- piciously like the French "chien" for "dog" as to suggest some con- nection with it. The French "chien" enters into other geographical names, as in "Prairie du Chien," so it might be in this. Be this as it may, Dr. Chamberlain obtained the Mississaga tradition of the naming of Lake Simcoe thus : "Early one calm day an Indian beside the lake thought he heard some one calling a dog, Ashuniun ! Ashuniun ! The voice could be heard plainly, but there was nobody to be seen. So our people called the lake Ashuniong, the place of the dog-call."
12 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
In the manuscript notebook compiled at Mr. S't. George's trading- post at the Narrows, which bears the date 1802, and is preserved in the Toronto Public Library, Lake Simcoe appears to be called "Tepa- nignon," but the meaning of the term is not clear.
Again, in Copway's "Traditional History of the Ojibway Nation," the writer of which once belonged to the Rice and Mud Lake bands, he calls Lake Simcoe, "Wahweyagahmah. " This name occurs fre- quently throughout parts of Canada where Algonquins have been settled, and means in their language "Round Lake." It is an appropriate one for this lake, as without the bays at the south and west, its shape is quite round.
In 1793 Governor Simcoe gave it the name by which it has ever since been known, not in honor of himself, but of his father, Capt. Simcoe. R.N.
BUYING THE LAND FROM THE OJIBWAYS.
The official document which attests the purchase of the land at Penetanguishene from the Indians, has some curiosities in the way of orthography, for the Indian chiefs seem to have possessed names which no ordinary linguist can be expected to articulate without a good deal of practice :
Chabondasheam Reindeer
Aasance Otter.
Wabininquon Pike.
Ningawson Reindeer.
Omassanahsqutawah Reindeer
The Treaty, which bore these formidable signatures, was made at York, May 22, 1798 and was signed by Wm. Claus, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, on behalf of the British Government, and by George Cowan, Indian interpreter.
The bargain was for a tract of land adjacent to the harbor of Penetanguishene. For ;£ioi, Quebec currency, those five chiefs "gave, granted, etc., that tract butted and bounded as follows: —
"Beginning at the head or southwesternmost angle of a bay situ- ated above certain French ruins, (i.e., the head of Mud Lake, at the lower end of which is the ruin of Ste. Marie on the Wye, as shown on the sketch of the purchase accompanying the treaty) the head or southwesternmost angle of the said bay being called by the Indians
OJIBWAYS AND SURRENDERS OF LANDS. 13
Opetikuoyawsing- ; thence north 70 degrees west to a bay of Lake Huron, called by the Indians Nottoway Sag-ue Bay ; thence around the shore to the place of beginning-, containing- all the land therein, to- gether with the islands in the Harbour of Penetanguishene. "
In the subsequent treaty of 1815, the length of the line from Opetiguoyawsing, which was near Wyebridge of the present time, to Nottawasaga Bay, is said to be seven and a half miles. The tract of land purchased by this treaty of 1798 was all included in the Town- ships of Tiny and Tay.
Previous to this treaty of 1798, there had been a surrender in 1795 of the land adjacent to Penetanguishene harbor, which was intended as a camping place for the traders. But this earlier tran- saction was an "agreement to purchase," as it appears, the actual treaty not having been made till 1798.
After the visit of Governor Simcoe to Matchedash Bay in 1793, the harbor at Penetanguishene, which he had the sagacity to recognize as a desirable place for a fort, had continually been coveted by the Government. And the negotiations leading up to the final surrender of the harbor by the Indians in 1798, all had their origin in his choice.
A few years later another preliminary treaty with the Ojibways agreed for the purchase of the tract of land between Kempenfeldt Bay and the Penetanguishene purchase. And in connection with the boun- daries of this new purchase, Samuel S. Wilmot made an exploration of the territory in March, 1808. A stone mark at the water edge, twenty chains west of Kempenfeldt S'and Point, as described in various Indian treaties of this period, was the starting point for the measurement of their boundaries. From this important spot, Wilmot surveyed the Penetanguishene Road in 1811, and it thus became the southerly end of the Oro-Vespra town line, as well as the point of departure of the military highway. The object in buying this tract from the Indians at this time appears to be to open a road by which the North-West Company could transport their furs from Lake Huron to York (Toronto), thereby avoiding the circuitous route of Lake Erie and the inconvenience of passing along the American frontier. At any rate, this was the object alleged in Smyth's Gazetteer, published in 1813.
The preliminary treaty just mentioned was "an agreement to purchase," and this appears to be the tenure during the time of the war, when the road was hastily opened for military and naval pur- poses. It was. not until Nov. i7th, 1815, that the actual treaty was
14 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
agreed to, and signed. The three chiefs who ceded the new territory were Kinaybicoinini, Aisaince and Misquuckkey — names perhaps all frightful enough, yet in which we have no difficulty in recognizing the more familiar Snake, Aisance and Yellowhead. These three chiefs granted the tract of land bounded as follows :• —
"Beginning at a stone boundary, 20 chains N., 81 degrees w. from the base of Kempenfeldt S'and Pont, (which is projecting about five and a half chains into Kempenfeldt Bay), thence (i.e., from the stone boundary), N., 40 degrees W. , thirty-six miles and a quarter, more or less, to Lake Huron ; then along the shore to the bottom of Nottawaysague Bay, at the N.W. angle of the Penetanguishene pur- chase; thence along its S'.W. boundary seven and a half miles to a small bay called Opetequoyawsing; thence northerly out the bay, (i. e. , out of Mud Lake), to Gloucester or Sturgeon Bay and following the shore of Matchedash Bay easterly, southerly and northerly until it intersects a line at or near the mouth of a small lake, being the western boundary of a purchase said to have been made in 1785, thence south along the westerly limits of the said purchase, eleven miles, more or less, until it intersects a line produced N. 78 degrees W. from the waters of Lake Simcoe near the carrying place hereinafter mentioned ; then S. 78 degrees E. along the S. boundary line of the said last mentioned purchase to the waters of Lake Simcoe, near to a carrying- place leading to a small lake, distant about three miles westerly ; and then southwesterly along the northwestern shore of Lake Simcoe and Kempenfeldt Bay, to the place of beginning, containing about 250,000 acres of land."
The consideration the chiefs received for this tract was ^4,000.
A line from the stone boundary at Kempenfeldt, projected at the angle mentioned in the treaty, would reach the shore of Tiny Town- ship somewhere in the vicinity of Six Mile Point, according to our modern maps.
The treaty of Oct. I7th, 1818, completed the surrender of the territory from Lake Ontario to the Georgian Bay (then called Lake Huron unreservedly) and was the most extensive of all. Four chiefs, or principal men of the Ojibway nation, took part in the negotiations,
Musquakie, or Yellow Head Reindeer.
Kaqueticum, or Snake Cat Fish.
Maskigouce, or Swamp Otter.
Manitonobe, or Male Devil Pike.
OJIBWAYS AND SURRENDERS OF LANDS.
15
And a fifth, named, Manitobinince, or Devil's Bird, with some kind of fish as his totem, apparently the pike, also subscribes his "devil- ish" name to the treaty, although he does not figure in the text itself. These chiefs for the yearly sum of £1,200, granted the tract thus bounded : — •
by the District of London on the west, by Lake Huron (i.e., Georgian Bay) on the north, by the Penetanguishene purchase (made in 1815) on the east, and by the south shore of Kempenfeldt Bay, the western shore of Lake Simcoe, and Cook's Bay and the Holland River to the N.W. angle of the Township of King. This large tract contained 1,592,000 acres by computation.
Chief Yellowhead's House, Orillia, afterward the First St. James' Parsonage.
i,By courtesy of Miss A. E. Stewart, Orillia).
The reader has, perhaps, already observed how the process of buying the several parts of Simcoe County from the Indians took place from north to south, a direction quite the reverse of what we might expect.
The annual distribution of presents for these and other land sur- renders took place at Holland Landing in 1827 and 1828, as well as in previous years ; then at Orillia and at Present Island near Pene- tanguishene and Midland until 1835 ; then at Manitoulin Island for the first time in 1836, and afterward always there. Thus the busiest
16 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
theatre of Indian life at the dawn of white settlement was just where, in the seventeenth century. Champlain and the early French mission- aries had found so many Hurons. But it was now shifting" north- ward before the advancing- tide of civilization not to return.
The most prominent or best known of the Ojibway chiefs who signed the treaties for the cessions of the different parts of the county was Musquakie, or Yellowhead. For many years he was the head chief over all the Ojibway chiefs in the district, and was a famous man in his day, his memory being still kept green in the name of ' ' Muskoka. ' ' The Government built, in 1831, a residence in Orillia for Yellowhead; the building afterwards became the first St. James' parsonage, and still exists, though in a much changed condition, as a private resi- dence, having being moved to another street some years ago from its original position near the present parsonage on Neywash S'treet. In the Council House, also built about the same time, the early mission- aries of all denominations of religion held services. It thus became known also as the Old Mission House, and as the Anglican Church was the first to send a regular clergyman to Orillia, in 1841, it was the first church of that denomination in the town, the accompanying illustration of that historic building, having been drawn by the Rev. Canon Greene from plans and descriptions. It was moved to another site, bricked over, and, like the first parsonage, exists at the present day in a modified shape.
Musquakie, or William Yellowhead had his jaw shattered by a ball in the war of 1812, and the wound ever afterwards during his life showed as a defect in the side of his face. He died at an advanced age, the burial taking place on January i4th, 1864. The register of St. James, in Orillia, gives his age at death as 95 years, yet many persons believed at the time of his death that his age exceeded 100 years, and Thomas McMurray gives this current belief in his book on Muskoka and Parry Sound. (Bracebridge, 1871). At page 36, Mr. McMurray says : —
"Old Chief Yellowhead died in 1865 (1864) aged 106 years. He was an honest Indian, much respected by all who knew him, and he continued to frequent his hunting grounds (in Muskoka) till a few days before his death. On his last trip he called at the residence of the writer (in Draper Township), and remained over night."
His body lies in St. James' Churchyard at Orillia. In his will he professed faith in the Christian doctrines.
OJIBWAYS AND SURRENDERS OF LANDS.
17
In the days of the pioneers the Indians were much more numerous throughout this county than they are on the reserves to-day, and in view of their numbers were of more importance in the life of the new country. In their system for governing- themselves, the Ojibways had at least some well defined notions of land-holding- and proprietary rights, when the first white settlers arrived and found them in occupa- tion of the soil. They had divided off the land among different families or bands for hunting grounds, and observed these bounds quite strictly. Thus, John Jack and his brother Jonas had from the lake which bears his name (Jack's Lake) westward to the Blue Mountains; the band, or sub-band, at Snake's Island, had a portion of the adjacent Township of Innisfil; Musquakie, or Yellowhead, had his own lake now spelled Muskoka Lake ; and so on.
Indian Council House and Church, Orillia. Erected in 1831.
(Drawn from plans and descriptions by the Rev. Canon Greene).
The first Indian Agent in this district was Capt. Thos. Gummersall Anderson, who had been a fur trader on the Mississippi and its tribu- taries till the war of 1812-15. After the war he was placed on the staff of the Indian Department, and lived at Drummond Island. In 1828, when that station passed into the hands of the United States, he came to Penetanguishene, and two years later moved with his family to Cold- water. In 1837 he moved to Manitoulin Island, and on the death of Col. Jarvis (1845) he was promoted to the position of Superintendent of Indian Affairs. He finally moved his family to Cobourg in 1847, in and near which place he spent the remainder of his life. He died in 1875 in his 97th year. A sketch of his career, with illustrations, appears in the S'ixth volume of the Papers and Records of the Ontario- Historical Society, along with some reminiscences of his times.
18 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
THE ORILLIA-COLDWATER RESERVATION.
Prior to 1830, the Indians had wandered indiscriminately about the Lake Simcoe region ; but in that year, Sir John Colborne, the Lieut-Governor, collected them on a reserve of 9,800 acres, stretch- ing from the Narrows to Coldwater. They consisted for the most part of three bands of Ojibways under Chiefs Yellowhead, Aisance, and Snake, besides a band of Pottawatamies, lately from Drummond Island, or Michigan. They numbered in all about 500, and were placed under the superintendence of Captain T. G. Anderson. The headquarters of Chief Snake's band was the island named after him; Yellowhead 's band, which afterward removed to Rama, was then lo- cated at Orillia and the Narrows ; while that of Chief Aisance was set- tled at Coldwater, the other extremity of the reserve. A road was at once cleared from the Narrows to Coldwater along the famous trail, and during 1831 a line of houses was built by the Government at a. distance of a mile apart over a portion of the route. Shortly after- ward the Government also erected, at Coldwater, a store, a school, and a grist mill, the latter of which began operations in 1833.
This reserve was on different occasions visited by Rev. Peter Jones, and many are the interesting references to it in his published works. Mrs. Anna Jameson, the distinguished authoress, passed that way in 1837, and records her observations and experiences in Winter Studies and Summer Rambles (Vol. 3). She also recounts at considerable length her visit to the Indians of Manitoulin Island with Capt. Ander- son. Other travellers have also left accounts of this early Reserve. John Carruthers, in his Retrospect, has also preserved a glimpse of the locality and its inhabitants as they appeared in 1833.
The Indians on this reserve made rapid progress in the peaceful arts of the white men, according to the extant report for 1835 of Mr. Anderson, the Superintendent. There was a threatened outbreak of cholera among them in 1832, as we learn from the following letter, but fortunately it passed over without serious trouble.
York, (Toronto), 6th August, 1832.
DEAR SIR, — The Lieutenant-Governor has just sent me a com- munication from Mr. Darling, a surgeon, recently arrived at the Indian settlement at Coldwater, stating that a decided case of cholera had made its appearance among the Indians, and remarking that from the exposure the settlers are subject to, for want of shelter, the disease
OJIBWAYS AND SURRENDERS OF LANDS. 19
would most probably spread amongst them. I beg", therefore, that you will, if circumstances should make it necessary, have erected such accommodation for them as you may judge their numbers and situa- tions require and afford them all the relief in your power. However, as the disease does not appear to spread at Newmarket or any other country place, I am inclined to* think the settlers will, in a great measure, escape.
(Sgd.) PETER ROBINS'ON.
Mr. Wellesly Richey, Medonte.
In 1836 the Indians surrendered this Reserve to the Government. Yellowhead's band removed, in 1838, from Orillia and the Narrows to Rama, where they made a purchase of 1,600 acres of land for ^800 - — paid out of their annuities. According to the surveyor, Chas. Rankin, quoted in Lord Durham's Report (p. 174, edn. 1902), the settlers of Rama Township, after a trial of three years, had abandoned their farms on which they had made improvements. They had met with such serious difficulties from being separated by lands in the midst of their settlements owned by speculators, who had no intention of settling them, that they had not made the necessary roads. In this way Rama had become available for the Indians in 1838. Aisance's band settled at Coldwater, removed to Beausoliel and Christian Islands, where they have resided ever since.
With the Reserve thus broken up in 1836-8, were connected the names of several teachers and missionaries : Law, Currie, Sawyer, Mulkins, Moffatt, Miss Manwaring, besides Rev. Messrs. Case, Miller, Stinson, Allison, Belton, and Scott. Mr. Anderson, the Superintend- ent, visited Manitoulin Island in 1835, and shortly afterwards removed there to take charge of the extensive Indian establishment formed upon the island at that time.
ATTEMPTS AT REMOVAL OF THE TRIBES.
In Sir F. B. Head's first year (1836), he removed from this county the annual delivery of presents, and held it at Manitoulin Island, to induce the Indians to retreat before "the accursed progress of civilization," and to retire upon the islands, as far as possible from white men — a course which Sir John Colborne had also strongly recom- mended. Yet, from the very despatch (No. 95), in which Sir Francis B. Head advocated this humane service for the red men, it appears he also possessed a knowledge of the fact that manv Indians were living
20 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
on rich lands, with white neighbours execrating their indolence, drunk- enness, etc., without making a single effort to improve them. The plan advocated and introduced by Elder Case and his co-workers, viz., to have Indian schools to overcome the degenerating surroundings the natives were living amidst, was obviously not that of Sir F. B. Head. Nowadays, the Government Indian schools everywhere, but more especially in the newer provinces, show that a vast change has taken place in the policy of the Government.
Evidences of a different state of affairs in those times were every- where plainly to be seen. For example, we read in the Journal of the Rev. Peter Jones, in June, 1827, when the distribution of presents was annually held at Holland Landing, how that Chief W. Snake com- plained of Mr. Borland and Philemon Squires, threatening to flog him if he did not leave off attending the Methodist meetings, and how that the traders were exasperated generally at the Indians becoming a sober people. Restriction of a few traders would have been easier than moving the entire Indian nations, yet such was the remedy proposed and partly carried into effect.
Placing the Indians on islands and tracts of worthless land was really a practice copied from Maine, New York and other border states, at that day. And although Head execrated everything republican, or what he was pleased to call "the low, grovelling principles of de- mocracy," he copied really more from the United States than he thought he did. If in such barren, desert places, Indians failed to prosper as farmers, it does little credit to the white men to find fault with them for it.
The question of removing the Indians remained a live one for some years. A General Council of Indian Chiefs and Principal Men was held at Orillia, on July 3oth and 3ist, 1846-, on the proposed removal of the smaller communities, and the establishment of manual labor schools. The minutes of this council were printed in a pamphlet at Montreal, the same year, from notes taken in shorthand, and other- wise, oy Henry Baldwin, barrister-at-law, of Peterborough, secretary to the chiefs in council. A number of clergymen, residing in the district, were present at this council, of which the place of meeting is named in the pamphlet as the "Lake S'imcoe Narrows."
Chapter III.
THE DAYS OF THE FUR TRADERS.
SOME NOTEWORTHY PIONEER TRADERS.
Across the water of Matchedash Bay, from the village of Fesser- ton, or more precisely, opposite Bush's Point, are the remains of buildings known among the settlers there as "The Chimneys." On the shore at that place you could see, as the name indicates, an assem- blage of old stone chimneys, which marked the dwelling place in the eighteenth century of an Indian trader and his family. About forty acres of a clearing were to be seen before the settlers came, and the stone foundations of some houses, while quite near the shore were the remains of a larger building, and beside it a stone well. It was near this trading fort — the habitation of an early trader named Cowan — that Governor Simcoe encamped when on his memorable expedition to Matchedash Bay in 1793; and although his Excellency visited Pene- tanguishene Bay at the time, this was the remotest camp pitched during the expedition. The volume of Transactions of the Canadian Institute for October, 1890, contains the diary of Sheriff Macdonell, who accom- panied General Simcoe and party on that occasion. It gives an ex- tended sketch of this trader, from which we extract a few sentences : "Mr. Cowan is much liked by the Indians. He was taken prisoner by the French at Fort Pitt, during the war of 1758 and '59, when a boy. He has adopted all the customs and manners of the Canadians and speaks much better French than English. He has been settled at Matchedash upwards of fifteen years without once going to Lower Canada. He makes an annual trip to Michilimackinac to meet his supplies there and forward his furs to Montreal. He has in general six Canadians engaged with him, and is well known to that class of people by the name of Constant." He lived at that spot for many years, and brought up a family, all educated and respected. A cen- tury has elapsed since this historic figure passed from the scene of his labours.
A grandson of his died on March 23rd, 1892, near Penetangui- r.hene, at the ripe age of 86 years. Wm. Cowan was born at Richmond Hill, May isth, 1806, became one of the earliest settlers of Simcoe
[21]
22 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
County, and saw a large share of its pioneer life. His father was killed by some unknown parties when he was four years old, and he was brought up by his maternal grandmother, who kept a wayside hostelry at Hogg's Hollow, (now York Mills), at the time of the war of 1812. One of this woman's sons, James Remi Vallieres, became a distinguished lawyer and rose to the Chief Justiceship of Lower Canada. This boy and Cowan were playmates, in youth, at their home on Yonge Street. With his grandmother, young Cowan came to the military post at the mouth of the Nottawasaga River, in June, 1816, where they stayed for two years and kept a canteen for the sale of cookery, whis- key, etc., to the soldiers. (The name of her second husband was Asher Mundy, an American and their only son, Israel Mundy, was lighthouse keeper near Penetanguishene for many years, surviving till December, 1888.) When the soldiers removed to Penetanguishene from Nottawa- saga, in 1818, she also removed her canteen. She was a noted person in her day and lived to be more than a centenarian. Young Cowan went, when sixteen years old, with the survey party of Captains Bay- field and Collins, then engaged in making a hydrographic survey of Georgian Bay and the other upper lakes. He was subsequently two years with the Hudson's Bay Company, at Nipissing, and three years fur trading at Fort William ; always, however, making his headquar- ters at Penetanguishene. He received a grant of land south of that place, and with his wife, a woman of Indian blood, settled upon it about 1865, where he remained till the time of his death. He was a. most agreeable and mild-tempered man, not given to chasing for notoriety in the slightest degree, and as a result he was unknown to fame ; but the eventful times he had seen, and the experiences he had passed through, entitle him to receive a notice in the chronicles of the district.
During the early years of the nineteenth century, the region at the south end of Georgian Bay, and the route by way of Lake Simcoe and the lakes to the east, held among fur traders a favorite position, both as regards their traffic and as a place for development with a view to making it a base for supplies. For instance, we find John Johnston, of Sault Ste. Marie, writing in 1809 in his Account of Lake Superior (in Les Bourgeois de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest, by L. R. Masson, Vol. 2), in these words : —
"A sure market for provisions could easily be accomplished by opening a qommunication with the Bay of Matchedash, from whence to the Island of St. Joseph the distance is only ninety leagues." He
DAYS OF THE FUR TRADERS. 23
then compares this route with the Detroit route. Johnston did not doubt but that Matchedash, under this scheme, "would soon become the most thriving- place in Upper Canada, and the centre of pro- visions and transport trade for the fur countries."
The early traders had used the Ottawa and Lake Nipissing- route, because, as one writer says, "this (travelling in canoes), was found to be both a quicker and cheaper mode of transportation than in sailing vessels on the lakes." It is recorded that one of the partners of the Mackinac Trading Company of 1778 lived at Matchedash (probably the Mr. Cowan above-mentioned). Since he did not use the Trent or the Toronto route the reason for the disuse of Lake Simooe as the highway of the fur trade in the eighteenth century is perhaps to be found in the canoes travelling by another route.
As early as 1785 Lieut. -Gov. Hamilton instructed John Collins, the Deputy Surveyor-General, to make a survey of the communica- tion between the Bay of Ouinte and Lake Huron, by way of Lake La Clie (i.e. Lake Simcoe). A copy of the instruction appears in Mr. J. J. Murphy's paper on the first surveys in Ontario, printed in Pro- ceedings of the O. L. Surveyors, 1898, page 230.
As early as 1802, Mr. Quetton St. George had a trading- post at the Narrows of Lakes Simcoe and Couchiching for the purpose of bartering with the Indians, who had from time immemorial made that point a favorite rendezvous. This distinguished French gentleman, along with others, had emigrated to Canada in 1798, and acquired an estate in the "Oak Ridges" on Yonge Street; but finding this specu- lation rather profitless, as Dr. Scadding informs us, he resorted to trading with the Indians in the remoter parts of the province. For this purpose he established several trading posts in various parts of the Country, one of which was near Atherley, at the Narrows. In the Public Library of Toronto there is preserved a manuscript note book which did service at this early trading post. It bears the date 1802, and contains a short vocabulary of Indian words, evidently the work of a clerk who, in order to master the words that he was obliged to make use of every day, wrote them down with their English mean- ings.
Mr. St. George carried on a prosperous trade with the Indians, with whom he was very popular. They called him Wau-be-way-quon, which means "white hat," as it was his custom to wear a white hat in the summer season. Just how long he continued his trading post, it is not easy to say ; but he gave up business, it is supposed, some time
24 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
previous to 1820, and returned to France, having- amassed a fortune in his enterprises.
The well-known firm of Indian traders, Borland, Laughton & Roe, of Newmarket and Holland Landing-, had a trading post at the Narrows at an early date, and maintained it for some years. Owing to its being- frequented by the Indians in considerable numbers from the earliest times, Orillia, as well as the Narrows, made a favorite point for the operations of the traders. In 1862-3, the Hudson's Bay Company established a trading post at Orillia, and continued it for about seventeen years, with Thomas Goffatt in charg^ At about the same period (1866, etc.), D. J. Mitchell was the agent of the Hud- son's Bay Company at Penetanguishene.
To a considerable degree, the old Nor '-Westers, who were mostly Highlanders, and their employees chiefly French-Canadians, were crowded out by the union of the two fur companies in 1821. The influence of the orig-inal Hudson's Bay Company men became para- mount in the new concern, as did the name of the new company itself. Many faithful servants of the late North-West Company were left without a job, as the combined staffs were more than the work required. Many others became dissatisfied and left of their own accord.
It was from some such cause as the foregoing- that John Mc- Donald, the chief factor of the North-West Company, in the early twenties, betook himself to the life of a civilian, and settled on lot 5, on the east side of the Penetanguishene Road, a mile north of the Kempenfeldt town lot. Here James Soules, of Big- Bay Point, built a shanty for him ; and, as McDonald had a g-ood library, Soules re- ceived in part payment for the work some of the books, including such books as Plutarch's Lives, and Jane Porter's Scottish Chiefs.
Like many a fur trader of those days, McDonald's wife was a squaw who had (like Pocahontas and Capt. John Smith), saved his life when the warriors of her tribe in the far west were g"oing- to end his days abruptly. There was no priest anywhere near them to perform the marriag-e ceremony, so they were not married except by Indian custom. In the course of time more than half a dozen children were born, and when they came to the Kempenfeldt neighborhood to live, it was a noted sight to see the little half-breed children playing- on the mud floor of their shanty with the leather-bound volumes of Plutarch or others, and the gold c*oins of their father.
[25
.-a
DAYS OF THE FUR TRADERS. 27
Just before the birth of another child, McDonald began to realize the need for a legal marriage, and, as there was a priest in the country by this time, at Penetanguishene, perhaps temporarily, they became regularly married, the priest having been called to their home for the purpose. After this belated ceremony, one child was born, (Catherine), who was the last one born ; and, as McDonald died without leaving a will a year or two after her birth, she became the sole heiress of all his property.
According to the gravestone in the old Church of England ceme- tery at Newmarket, his wife died Jan. i5th, 1828, and he died a month later, Feb. i7th, 1828. On account of the fact that McDonald had befriended Sir John Franklin in 1825 on his overland trip, and perhaps also in 1822 and earlier, Lady Franklin sent out this gravestone in after years from England, to mark their resting places.
The nature of McDonald's estate which he left was, for the most part, like this. The Hon. Wm. McGillivray, for the North-West Company, had applied as far back as the year 1811 for a grant of 6,000 acres of land along the then newly-surveyed road from Kem- penfeldt to Penetanguishene. There was much delay, as usual, on the part of the Government officials in granting this request. But in 1829, by an Order-in-Council, the land was appropriated to the Hon. Wm. McGillivray, who had assigned his claim to John McDonald, now deceased. In this way, Catherine McDonald, the only legitimate child and heiress-at-law of her deceased father, inherited the property. She was then about three years of age, without father or mother, yet her relatives gave her a good education in Glengarry County, whither they had returned from Simcoe County. When she grew up she became the wife of Angus Grant, and they returned to this county to reside at Wyebridge, where he kept a store for some years.
THE FIRST ENGLISH-SPEAKING TRAVELLERS.
The first English-speaking traveller to pass this way after Canada became a part of the British possessions was Alexander Henry, who, as a captive among the Indians of the Sault Ste. Marie, accompanied them in 1764 to Niagara. In the narrative of his adventures, which has become a classic work in Canadian history, he mentions their passage through Lake S'imcoe (then called Lake La Clie). A Canadian edition of this book appeared in 1901, under the editorship of the late Dr. James Bain, Librarian of the Toronto Public Library.
28 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
Governor Simcoe made a passage through Lake Simcoe in 1793 on his famous journey from Humber Bay to Penetang-uishene, and return. In Macdonnell's Diary of that trip, mentioned in an earlier part of this chapter, there are several particulars of interest, especi- ally the details of his visits and meetings with some of the numerous bands of Indians on Lake Simc'oe in that day.
Of the early travellers, not connected with military affairs, there, was John Goldie, who visited Holland Landing in 1819 as a travelling botanist. The manuscript of his Diary was in the possession of his son-in-law, Principal Caven, of Knox College, Toronto, and his grand- son, Dr. James Caven, published it in 1897. The object of the tour made by Mr. Goldie is briefly set forth in the opening words of his Diary : "On June 4th, 1819, I commenced my long-talked of journey to examine the natural but more particularly the botanical productions of Upper Canada and of the States in the vicinity of the Lakes." He set out from Montreal on this date, and in the course of his journey during the summer visited Kingston, York (Toronto), Holland Land- ing, and many other places.
After travelling from Montreal to York (Toronto), along the lake shore road, he made a digression at the latter place, on June 26th, 1819, to Holland Landing, which he reached on the 27th. His arrival is thus recorded in his Diary : "Having gone on slowly I arrived in the evening at what is called the L!pper Landing Place, which is about nine miles by water from Lake Simcoe. I stopped at the farthest house upon this road, and have bespoken a week's lodging here, as I expect that it is a spot very interesting for the botanist."
His entry for July 3rd, is interesting, as it furnishes us with in- formation regarding the troops stationed at Drummond Island : "This evening a company of the 7Oth Regiment from Drummond Island, in Lake Huron, arrived here. They have been up the country for two years, and have been exchanged for two companies of the 68th."
On July 4th he made the following remarks, which will be of considerable interest to readers in this district: "This being the last day of my abode here, I shall mention a few things more concerning this part of the country. Lake Simcoe is between thirty and forty miles long, and of considerable breadth, but I could not ascertain accurately how many miles. On the south side there is what is called a river (the Holland), which, although of no great breadth, has yet sufficient depth to allow schooners to come to the Upper Landing Place, which is nine miles from the lake and thirty-six from York.
DAYS OF THE FUR TRADERS. 29
The river apparently is stagnant, and the water has more the appear- ance of flowing- in a retrograde motion, from the lake, than the contrary.
"After crossing" the lake there is nine miles of a portage, (this evidently refers to the Nine Mile Portage from the head of Kcmpen- feldt Bay), and then there is water carriag-e all the way to Lake Huron. It is very probable that at no very distant period this will become the most frequented of all the routes to the North West. At the present time there are no houses nor stores on the north side of Simcoe at the portage, which makes it very troublesome, and also much of the goods transported are liable to be injured by the weather. Since the steam- boat has commenced to sail on Lake Erie, the cheapest and most expeditious mode of sending down the furs from the interior is by that route, although it is four hundred miles longer than by Simcoe. There is nothing but one schooner upon the lake (Lake Simcoe), which is sufficient for all the trade at present. Since I came here I have seen a number of rare plants, and some of them are nondescripts."
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN IN 1825.
Few distinguished visitors to this section of Ontario left so deep an impression upon the settlers, as Sir John Franklin did, when, in April, 1825, he passed through on his second overland expedition to the Arctic Sea. Recollections of this event, which was rendered still more notable by the subsequent fate of the Arctic hero, remained with the early settlers down even to recent years. And on this account, the following brief description of his visit, gathered partly from the pioneers, who resided in the neighborhood at the time, and partly from Franklin's published travels (now rare), may not be without interest to the present inhabitants : —
In 1824, he received instructions from the British Government to find a northern passage by sea between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He immediately sent out orders to Canada for two large canoes, with necessary equipment and stores, to be deposited at Penetanguishene the naval depot of Lake Huron, in the autumn of that year, to await his arrival in the following spring. Acting in accordance with the instructions he had received, he embarked at Liverpool, i6th Feb., 1825, with Lieut. Back, Dr. Richardson, Mr. Kendall, Mr. Drummond and four marines, and in due course of time the party landed at New York City. From that point they at once set out on their journey
30 A HISTORY OF SLMCOE COUNTY.
to Upper Canada, traversing the State of New York on the way. The rest of their journey hither is recorded by Franklin himself in the following" words : —
"We next crossed Lake Ontario in a sailing boat, and came to York, (now Toronto), the capital of Upper Canada, where we were kindly received by the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland, and by Colonel Cockburn, and the Commissioners then employed on an inquiry respecting the value of the Crown Lands. From York we passed on to Lake Simcoe, in carts and other conveyances, halting for the night at the hospitable house of Mr. Robinson, of Newmarket.
"We crossed Lake Simcoe in canoes and boats, and landed near the upper part of Kempenfeldt Bay, but not without being obliged to break our way through the ice for a short distance. A journey of nine miles, performed on foot, brought us to the River Nottawa- saga, which we descended in a boat; and, passing through a part of Lake Huron, arrived at Penetanguishene. At this place we were hospitably entertained by Lieutenant (now Captain), Douglas, during eight days that we waited for the arrival of our Canadian voyageurs from Montreal."
From the Head of Kempenfeldt Bay, which Franklin mentions, they proceeded across the "Nine Mile Portage," to Willow Creek, which was then an important highway. In making this portage, they were assisted by David Soules, with his ox-team, from Big Bay Point, where, for a long time, he was the central figure. Franklin had, at this point of the journey, some French-Canadian voyageurs with him, and these were reinforced at Penetanguishene by others from Mon- treal, as he relates.
Franklin and his party reached Great Bear Lake in the autumn, and spent two years in exploring the Arctic coast line of Canada ; his travels on this occasion, having been described in his "Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the years 1825-6-7." He returned from the Arctic region by way of the Ottawa River, which he descended in a canoe paddled by fourteen voyageurs. The party reached Ottawa City — then a village called Bytown — on the i5th of August, 1827. While at Ottawa, he fell in with Capt. Basil Hall, the distinguished traveller, who has preserved in his rare volume of etchings, portraits of three Canadian voyageurs of Frank- lin's party — Francois Forcier, Enfant Lavallee and Malouin, the latter of whom was with Franklin during the whole of his journey, as steers- man.
DAYS OF THE FUR TRADERS. 31
One of Franklin's Canadian colleagues and helpers about this time was John McDonald, chief factor of the North-West Company, who was mentioned on a former page, and who died in February, 1828. Over the grave of this man and his wife, in the Church of Eng- land cemetery, at Newmarket, is a headstone sent out from England by Lady Franklin, in memory of the man who had given so many services during these overland journeys. After Franklin's last voyage, in 1845-6, from which neither he nor his crew ever returned, some residents of this county took part in the searching expeditions sent out to find him, receiving adequate land grants for their services.
Chapter IV.
THE OLD MILITARY ROUTE AND THE WAR OF 1812. MACKINAW, AND AN IMPORTANT PASS THITHER.
So frequently does the name of Michilimackinac oc'cur in this country's history in connection with the important early route thither by way of Lake vSimcoe, that they are entitled to separate mention. Although, in 1761, the British were the first to build a regular fort at Michilimackinac, the French had maintained a palisaded post there from 1687, when Denonville, the Viceroy of Canada, completed his comprehensive arrangements for the defence of the country. And even from the time of its discovery, in 1610, the place had been the chief resort in the west for the early French bush-rangers (coureurs des bois) and traders who roved about in that immense wilderness amongst the Indians. There were three routes thither, which were, in the order of their importance as well as position, as follows : By the Ottawa River ; by Toronto and Lake Simcoe ; and by Detroit. As early as 1686, Denonville writes that he had given orders to fortify the two western passages leading to Mackinaw. "Sieur du Lhu," (Duluth), he says, " is at that of the Detroit of Lake Erie, and S'ieur de la Durantaye at that of the portage of Toronto. These two posts will block the passage against the English, if they undertake to go again to Michilimaquina. " From that time onward the pass to Michilimackinac, by Lake Simcoe, figures more or less extensively in Canadian history, and especially prominent does it become after the establishment of Fort Rouille on the site of the present Toronto, 1749. The important part which this famous pass afterwards played in the war of 1812-15 must be sketched at some length.
THE NOTTAWASAGA RIVER IN THE WAR OF 1812.
On July T7th, of the opening year of the war, Michilimackinac was captured from the Americans, who fully realized their loss, and towards the end of 1813, their generals began to make preparations for its recapture. News of this design reaching the small British garrison at the place, there was great alarm, and a despatch was
[32]
OLD MILITARY ROUTE AND WAR OF 1812. 33
sent immediately to the Canadian military headquarters at Kingston, appealing- for aid to ward off the coming attack.
A relief expedition accordingly left Kingston in February, 1814, consisting of ten officers and two hundred picked men, with twenty artillerymen, and twenty men of the Royal Navy, all under the com- mand of Lieut. -Col. Robert McDouall, of the Glengarry Light In- fantry. A large part of the route lay through territory then but little known. To this must be added another hardship — the severity of the weather in which the march \vas made. From Kingston they proceeded to "Little" York, which was still suffering from the grim experiences of its capture. They next advanced northward by Yonge Street to Holland Landing, after which they passed entirely out of the settlements, and crossed the frozen surface of Lake Simcoe. Beyond this lake the forest was then unbroken, except by an Indian portage, which for the passage of their supplies, they widened as they advanced. This road, leading from the head of Kempenfeldt Bay to Willow Creek, a branch of the Nottawasaga River, was called the "Nine-Mile Portage," and afterwards became an important colonization road. At its north- westerly end, near Willow Creek, a wooden fort was subsequently erected, and a hamlet flourished there for several years, but it has long since disappeared, and its site is marked by only a few hillocks of earth and stones.
Proceeding on their course, the party halted on the banks of the Nottawasaga River, fully thirty miles from its outlet, and erected for themselves a number of temporary wooden huts. Here they cut down pine timber, hewed and prepared it on the spot, and constructed twenty-nine large batteaux, in which they completed the journey 10 Michilimackinac. On the Nottawasaga, a short way below where it is joined by Marl Creek, between Minesing and Edenvale, is the place where the expedition halted. It is known as the "Glengarry Landing," and was a familiar landmark for a long time, on account of the clearing they had made ; but the trees of second growth which cover it are now so tall as to make it almost indistinguishable from the surrounding forest. From the journal of Captain Bulger, who accompanied the expedition, one gets an interesting glimpse of their departure from this place, and passage across Georgian Bay : —
"We embarked on the 22nd of April, having previously loaded the. flotilla with provisions and stores, descending the Nottawasaga River — the ice in the upper part of which being still firm, we opened a channel through it — encamped on the night of the 24th of April
34 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
in a dismal spot upon the north-eastern shore of Lake Huron (Georg- ian Bay), and on the following- morning entered upon the attempt to cross that lake, covered as it was, as far as the eye could reach, by fields of ice, through which, in almost constant, and, at times, terrific storms, we succeeded, with the loss of only one boat in effecting- a passage of nearly three hundred miles, arriving at Michilimackinac on the 1 8th of May. The expedition had occupied upwards of one hundred days, including our passage over the lake."
Taking into consideration the time of year, the comparative severity of the season, and the distance to be travelled, one may safely say that an expedition, more hazardous than this, is seldom undertaken. It was almost a continual struggle for nineteen days with the waves of the Georgian Bay, and the floating masses of ice. The commander of the expedition wrote in high terms of the abilities and perseverance of the officers, as well as the endurance of the men.
It was not until the 28th of July that Captain Sinclair, the Ameri- can commander, made an attack upon Michilimackinac — an attack, however, which resulted in failure. Had not the relief expedition arrived, as it did, some weeks before, the result would doubtless have been very different. But the meditated recapture had been fore- stalled, and thus was saved the chief post on the upper lakes.
The North-West Company had a vessel on Georgian Bay called the Nancy, which was employed in the fur trade, then so extensive in the district. Having learned that Lieut. Miller Worsley, of the British Navy, with the Nancy, was at the mouth of the Nottawasaga River, Sinclair next turned his attention in this direction. But here also he was doomed to meet with disappointment. Lieut. Worsley had been informed, by a messenger, of the blockade at Mackinaw, and in antici- pation of an attack on his own position, began to erect a block-house, about two miles up the river. In a few days the American captain and his vessels arrived at the Nottawasaga, and attacked the small party of British at the place. The brief account of the engagement, by James, in his Naval History of Great Britain, will suffice to show what took place : —
"The Nancy was lying about two miles up the Nottawasaga, under the protection of a block-house, situated on the south-east side of the river, which here runs parallel to, and forms a narrow peninsula with the shore of Gloucester Bay (Nottawasaga Bay). This enabled Captain Sinclair to anchor his vessels within good battering distance of the block-house. A spirited cannonade was kept up between them and the block-house, where, besides two 24-pounder carronades on
OLD MILITARY ROUTE AND WAR OF 1812. 35
the ground, a six-pounder was mounted. The three American vessels outside, composed of the Niagara, 'mounted 18 carronades, (thirty- two pounders), and two long- twelve pounders, and the Tigress and the Sdorpion mounted between them one long twelve, and two long twenty-four pounders. In addition to this force, a five-and-a-half inch- howitzer, with a suitable detachment of artillery, had been landed on the peninsula. Against these 24 pieces of cannon, and upwards of 500 men, were opposed one piece of cannon and twenty-three officers and seamen.
"Further resistance was in vain; and just as Lieut. Worsley had prepared a train, leading to the Nancy from the block-house, one of the enemy's shells burst in the latter, and both the block-house and the vessel were presently blown up. Lieut. Worsley and his men escaped in their boat up the river ; and fortunately, the whole of the North-West Company's richly laden canoes, bound across the lake, escaped also into French River. Having thus led to the destruction of a vessel which the American commander had the modesty to describe "His Britannic Majesty's schooner Nancy,' Captain Sinclair departed for Lake Erie, leaving the Tigress and the Scorpion to blockade the Not- tawasaga, and, as that was the only route by which supplies could be readily forwarded, to starve the garrison of Michilimackinac into a surrender. After remaining at their station for a few days, the two American schooners took a trip to the neighborhood of St. Joseph's. Here they were discovered, on the 25th August, by some Indians on the way to Michilimackinac."
A few days later these two vessels were captured by the British, and all the men on board taken prisoners to Kingston.
Old soldiers used to tell how Lieut. Worsley and his men, in the retreat up the river, were pursued by several boatloads of the enemy. They went on until they came to a bend in the river where it was unusually narrow. On the east side the bank arose high above the water, while on the west side it was low and swampy. Here the retreating party felled trees into the river to obstruct their pursuers. These came up about dusk, having been detained by scouts, who fired a few shots upon them according to design, at long distances and from safe hiding-places. No sooner had they reached the fallen trees than they became entangled in the branches. The muskets of the small British party in ambush on the shore gave them volley after volley, and compelled them to make a hasty retreat down the river with their killed and wounded.
After the close of the war, in 1816, the British officers, recognizing the strategetic position of the place, gave orders for the erection of a fort. The site chosen was a more sheltered spot, and two miles
A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
higher up the river than the place where the Nancy was blown up. A garrison occupied it for two years, and were then removed to Pene- tang-uishene.
Aug. Porter relates that in 1803 a small sloop, called the Niagara, of 30 tons, was built at Cayuga Creek, on the Niagara River by the U. S. Government, but not put in commission. Porter, Barton & Co. purchased her in 1806, and changed her name to the Nancy, and she was sailed by Capt. Richard O'Neil. It is not improbable that this was the same Nancy owned by the North-West Company in 1814.
The Site of Fort Nottawasaga (1816-18), as it appears to-day.
It is stated, however, in a paper by Lieut. -Col. E. Cruikshank on this episode of the war, (the manuscript of which was presented to the Ontario Historical Society, and the article itself printed in the Collingwood Bulletin of Nov. igth and 26th, 1908), that the Nancy was built in 1789 by other merchants. This may be correct, although the identity of the vessel is not clearly established, owing to several changes of ownership.
In view of the extensive forests hereabout, filled with good timber, which might easily have been kiln-dried in a short time or otherwise seasoned, it is a little amusing that the Lords of the Admiralty gave orders to prepare (in England) the frames of "two sloops" to be shipped to Montreal with materials for rigging and equipping them to sail on
OLD MILITARY ROUTE AND WAR OF 1812. 37
Georg-ian Bay. Their Lordships had previously refused to prepare the frames of "a frig-ate and two brigs," as they were not aware that it would be practicable to transport from Montreal to Matchedash Bay such large timbers. (Can. Archives, 1896, Lower Canada State Papers, p. 46).
David Soules, of Big Bay Point, assisted in building a number of batteaux for Drummond Island, on the Nottawasaga River — per- haps on the very occasion mentioned above, when the relief expedition halted on the banks of the river for that purpose. \Yhen the two American frigates, or armed schooners, came to blockade the Notta- wasaga, an Indian runner was dispatched to Penetanguishene, where a. naval depot had just been located, to announce the arrival of the American boats. Their subsequent capture was chiefly made by a band of French Canadians in small boats. These stealthily boarded the frig-ates, and found on one of them the Americans asleep, whereupon they took them prisoners— sixty men in all, thirty from each frig-ate — handcuffed them, and led them to King-ston. Soules used to describe these captives, whom he helped to lead away, as a "band of cut- throats."
It was soon after this time that Fort Nottawasag-a, four miles from the mouth of the river, was projected and built. It was estab- lished to form a supply depot for Michilimackinac, and prevent the Americans from cutting off communications with headquarters.
The establishment of these Georgian Bay posts, as \vell as that on Willow Creek at the terminus of the "Nine-Mile Portage," are mentioned in the diary of Sir George Head, who was sent hither in that connection. Under date of April i/|.th, 1815, at which time he was living temporarily in a cabin on the north shore of Kempcnfeldt Bay, he writes in his Forest Scenes.
"I had it in contemplation, some days past, to make my way through the forest to the head of the Nottawasag-a River on objects connected with the duty on which I was engag-ed. A road had been cut, but it was in a rude state, being- a mere track where the trees had been partially felled by the axe, and the stumps, even of these, very imperfectly removed. This road led from the end of Kempenfeldt Bay, straight to the Nottawasaga River, making- a portag-e of eight miles. Keeping- along the shore of the bay, till we reached the track, we then pursued it to the head of the Nottawasaga River. We walked a good pace till we reached the point of our destination, and having remained there a short time, so as to satisfy myself as to the objects I had in view, we commenced our return."
38 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
Although Head does not say as much here, this tour of inspection is likely to have been the one which resulted in the establishment of the Willow Fort.
FORT NOTTAWASAGA.
At the close of the war, as already stated, the military authori- ties of Canada decided upon establishing- a fort near the mouth of the Nottawasaga River. This was accordingly done in June, 1816, or perhaps a few months earlier. The fort was built about four miles up stream, near the end of the well-known tongue of land ; so that, although difficult to reach, it was near enough the shore to spy the approach of danger on the lake, or command the position in case of a naval attack. Judging from the artificial mound which remains at the place to this day, the fort stood upon an elevated position in order that danger could be seen at a great distance.
About a dozen sailors in command of a naval officer, and some twenty men of the regular marine service, under Lieutenant Caldwell, comprised the garrison of that post. Of civilians there were a few, conspicuous amongst whom was a widow Vallieres, originally from the old French settlement at the Oak Ridges on Yonge Street. During the war of 1812 she kept a hostelry at Hogg's Hollow, near Toronto. A son of hers, James Remi Vallieries, gained admission to the Bar of Lower Canada, in 1812, practiced his profession with success for many years in the ancient city of Quebec, became a member of the Legis- lative Assembly, Speaker of the Lower Canadian Parliament in 1828, and was finally appointed Chief Justice of Montreal in 1842, dying in 1847, universally respected for his amiable and benevolent career. (See Morgan's Sketches of Celebrated Canadians). Widow Vallieres, his mother, married again to Asher Mundy, and when Fort Nottawa- saga was established, they removed thither from Yonge Street, and kept a little store or "canteen," for the sale of bakers' goods and whiskey, their chief patrons being the occupants of the fort.
Amongst the historical mementos of the war time at the Notta- wasaga are the remains of the sunken vessel in the river between the fort and the outlet. It is a current tradition of the place that the marks of the cannon balls amongst the tops of the trees could be seen for many years afterwards. Some people living in the neighborhood have found cannon balls amongst the sand-hills near the site of the fort. Owing to the bad harbour the post at Nottawasaga was not kept up for more than about two years, and in 1818 the garrison was per- manently removed to Penetanguishene.
Chapter V.
SURVEYING THE LAND AND PREPARING EOR SETTLERS.
After the cession of the south part of the county by the Indians, Oct. 1 7th, 1818, the Government lost no time in staking it out into townships for settlement. In those days there were some wise rules in use for governing the survey of a township into lots with roads at regular intervals. If the township was beside a navigable river or body of water, the concession lines (being more numerous than the "side roads"), ran to the front bordering upon the water. Hence arose so much variety in the directions taken by the concession lines throughout our county, lying, as it does, beside various lakes and bays.
A number of surveyors took oart in the surveys of the townships in the county, more than half of whom lived in the older settlements down Yonge Street. For the survey of a township, each received in part payment, or, perhaps, sometimes in full payment, a number of farm lots in the township, and thus, as a surveyor had the best chance to see the quality of the land and make a selection, it so happened that surveyor's script was the best kind of a purchase to make, for any incoming settler who had to buy.
Samuel S. Wilmot received instructions, August, 1811, to survey a road of communication between Kempenfeldt Bay and Penetangui- shene harbour, and lay off lots for settlement along the road. His instructions were to proceed to the north side of Kempenfeldt Bay, near to the place at the head of the bay where, in June, 1808, his ex- amination of a line for a road commenced, and there select and choose the most suitable position for a town and harbour. He was then to survey the outline of a town plot of one mile in length by half a mile in breadth ; then, a road direct to the south side of Penetanguishene harbour, and within half a mile of that harbour he was to begin to I survey the outlines of another town plot. Wilmot's first exploration, mentioned above, had been in March, 1808, in connection with the [| boundaries of the tract agreed to be purchased in the late preliminary treaty with the Chippewa (Ojibway) Indians. In accordance with the instructions he now received, he surveyed the outlines of the first town plot on Kempenfeldt Bay, as directed, and allowed half a mile for its depth. This subsequently became a village, and after it began
[39J
40 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
to receive inhabitants, was known as Kempenfeldt, but at no time did it develop much beyond the hamlet stage. He then surveyed the road, thirty miles in length (except a small fraction), and finally the outlines of the original town plot of Penetanguishene.
A sketch of Col. S. Wilmot, the surveyor of the Penetanguishene Road in 1811, appeared in William Harrison's "Sketches of Richmond Hill and Vicinity," published in the "Richmond Hill Liberal" in 1888.. At the time of the survey under review, he lived on lot No. 47, Yonge Street (near Thornhill), and afterwards resided near Newcastle, Ont. Rev. Thomas Williams (Memories of a Pioneer, in the concluding "Memory") states that Birdsall made a survey of the Penetangui- shene Road in 1813 or 1814.
In Wilmot's survey during the late summer of 1811, as above described, he merely reported on the suitability of town plots at Kem- penfeldt Bay and Penetanguishene Harbour, and marked their out- lines. Accordingly, on Jan. 28th, 1812, he received instructions to lay out a town plot on Kempenfeldt Bay (i.e. at Kempenfeldt), at the place which he had reported as suitable for that purpose, and on the following day he also received instructions to lay out the Penetangui- shene town plot. In this way the line of communication between the two lakes and its two terminals came into existence.
In Wilmot's survey of the lots along the Penetanguishene Road in 1811, every farm lot was made to contain 200 acres, with a front- age of 80 rods on the road, and a depth of 400, according to the mode of survey in vogue at that time. But by the time the Indian cessions set free all the land of the county, in 1818, for settlement, a new fashion had come in. A township was then laid out into lots, each having a frontage of 120 rods on the concession line. The result of this change in fashion was that the six townships along the Penetangui- shene Road each have the two kinds of surveys within their borders, from which much perplexity arises.
The later class of survey just mentioned, having frontages of 120 rods, needed a depth of 2662-3 rods to make a lot of 200 acres. In connection with this dimension a singular popular delusion pre- vails. If you ask any settler how many rods frontage his land has, he will tell you correctly, 120. But if you ask him what is the dis- tance between one concession line and another, he will tell you seven- eighths of a mile. The actual depth of 266 2-3 rods, by vulgar frac- tions, is five-sixths of a mile, and yet the odd selection of one fraction for another has become almost universal.
SURVEYING AND PREPARING FOR SETTLERS.
41
This is the mode of survey throughout nearly the whole of the county. Yet, still another system came into use in the latest surveys, viz., those of Sunnidale and Nottawasaga, in 1832 and 1833, where a sideroad was placed at every third lot, and the alternate concession lines, called "blind lines," have been usually left unopened.
SURVEYORS OF THE TOWNSHIPS.
|
TOWNSHIP. A (Ijnlu |
YEAR. 1820 |
SURVEYOR. Samuel M. Benson. |
|
Egga |
1820 |
Samuel M. Benson. |
|
Flos |
1821 & 1822 / |
John Goessman . |
|
W Gwillim' y |
1819^ |
Gabriel Lount. |
|
1820 . |
Richard Birdsall . |
|
|
Matchedash (Lots) |
1830 u |
Samuel Richardson. |
|
Matcheda^h (Road) |
1836 |
James Hamilton. |
|
Medonte |
1820 / |
Jas. G. Chewett. |
|
Nottawasaga |
f 1832 |
Thomas Kelly. |
|
Orillia |
\ 1833 1820 y |
Chas. Rankin. Jas. G. Chewett. |
|
Oro |
1820 ./ |
Jas. G. Chewett. |
|
Sunnidale |
1832 & 1833 |
Thos. Kelly. |
|
Tav |
1820 / |
Jas. G. Chewett. |
|
Tecumseth |
/ Part in 1819 * |
Gabriel Lount. |
|
Tiny |
\ " " 1832 1821 & 1822,/ |
George Lount. John Goessman. |
|
Tosorontio |
1821 y |
Hugh Black . |
|
Vespra |
{ 1820 |
Jas. G. Chewett. |
|
\ 1835 |
John Goessman. |
It may be interesting to scan the list of those who obtained the patents on surveyor's script, apparently for the surveys of the different townships, and the number of acres received : —
|
TOWNSHIP. |
DATE. |
PATENTEE . |
Acres . |
|
Ad jala |
Aug. 7, 1820 |
Ezekiel Benson |
2000 |
|
Eesa |
Aug. 8 1820 |
a n |
3400 |
|
Flos |
May 31, 1823 |
John Goessman |
2214 |
|
\V Gwillimburv |
Aug 23 1820 |
Gabriel Lount |
1900 |
|
Innisfil |
May 2 1820 |
Jas . Pearson |
3800 < |
|
Nov 21 1820 |
Jas . G . Chewett |
290CT-- |
|
|
Nottawasaga |
Sept. 1842 |
John McDonald |
5600 |
|
Orillia (North) .. .. |
Dec. 28, 1821 |
Andrew Borland & Wm. Roe. |
2900 |
|
Orillia (South) |
1300 |
||
|
Oro |
Aug. 24, 1820 |
Jas . G. Chewett, |
3100 |
|
Tay |
Oct. 16, 1830 |
Andrew Borland & Wm. Roe. |
1925 |
|
May 6 1820 |
Gabriel Lount |
2368 |
|
|
Tiny |
May 31 1823 |
John Goessman |
4320 |
|
Apr 18 1822 |
Allan Robinet |
2280 ; |
|
|
May 31 1821. |
Jas . G . Chewett |
1970- |
|
42 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
The table shows how small was the market value of land at the time of the surveys, the best lands in the townships having- been, of course, selected.
George and Samuel Lount surveyed the Township of West Gwillimbury in the summer of 1819. The nominal contractor for the survey was their father, Gabriel Lount, but the actual work devolved upon the sons, especially George, who had the qualifications of a surveyor, but in whose name contracts were not made until he came of age. His older brother, Samuel, on account of his skill in the woods, was a useful helper in the work.
The instructions to Gabriel Lount, June i5th, 1819, for the survey of the Township of Tecumseth were elaborate. This was described as a township in the rear of the Townships of King and Albion. He was instructed to measure a distance of nine miles from Yonge Street along- the northern boundary of King, to determine the S. E. angle of the township he was to survey. Minute details then follow as to the staking out of the roads and lots. Some uncompleted portions of the township were attended to by George Lount in 1832, who had, with his brother, Samuel, as in the case of West Gwillimbury, made the original survey for their father in 1819.
For the survey of Innisfil, the Govcrnor-in-Council, on Oct. 23rd, 1819, approved of the proposals of James Pearson, yeoman of Whit- church. Mr. Pearson was a son-in-law of Gabriel Lount, and thus became the nominal contractor for the work for the Lount brothers. The township was surveyed between the first of February and March i5th, 1820, and Richard Birdsall's map of it, in the Department of Lands, at Toronto, is dated, Newmarket, March 24th, 1820. Mr. Pearson, the contractor, received in part payment the patents for nineteen lots (3,800 acres), on May 2nd, 1820.
A circumstance, which is worthy of note, occurred in connection with the survey of Innisfil, according to the narrative of an early settler. The surveyor, named Richard Birdsall, who then lived in "Little" York, (Toronto), was an Englishman by birth, as well as by training in his profession ; and, if he was thorough, he was also slow in his methods. He and the Lount brothers came to an under- standing and went into partnership in the contract, he to receive half of the pay if he did the "compassing," and they to chain and receive the other half, by which arrangement they would divide the pay into two equal parts. Their camp was at the Essa line, and the Lounts expected to survey across one concession line to Lake Simcoe in a 4a
George Lount. The First County Registrar of Lands, 1826-72,
and the Surveyor of West Gwillimbury,
Tecumseth and Innisfil.
[43J
SURVEYING AND PREPARING FOR SETTLERS. 45
day, and return next day along- the next concession line to their camp, thus being- out two days at a time. When the work began, Birdsall demanded that all trees and other obstructions should be cut out of the line of sight for his compass, and he would make no off- sets either to the right or the left. Being- of the old school everything had to come out of his way. This used up three or four days on every trip, and instead of being- out two days, they spent double that num- ber. The Lounts soon objected to this, as they would lose money by their contract. In the altercation which followed, Mr. Birdsall told the spokesman that if he was not satisfied he had better do it himself. S'o Georg-e Lount took the compass, and after this Mr. Birdsall merely tallied for the chainers, and made the field notes. In this way they carried out the survey so as to lose nothing- by the contract. The field notes in the Department of Lands are by Mr. Birdsall. When "proving-" the survey of this township, Mr. Lount proceeded along- the line be- tween lots 25 and 26 across the township from the south side to near Big Bay Point, reckoned the position of the last stake, and probing with his staff in the snow said it ought to be there. Sure enough, he struck the stake at the first trial, showing- the accuracy of the survey.
James G. Chewett, the surveyor of Oro, Medonte, Tay, Orillia and part of Vespra, in 1820, was the man who made the first survey for the Welland Canal in 1818, althoug-h his canal route was after- wards deemed impracticable, and was superseded by another.
Samuel Richardson, who surveyed Matchedash in 1830, was a native of Wales, and resided in Penetanguishene for some years. He surveyed part of the Penetanguishene town plot in 1829-30, the Orillia town plot in 1839, part of Eldon Township in 1841, and other lands at various times. On the breaking up of the Establishment at Pene- tanguishene, he moved to lot 5, a mile north of Kempenfeldt, on the Oro side, and soon afterwards died there, (Mar. 2nd, 1843), at the age of 47 years. He was Treasurer of Simcoe County at the time of his death.
It is worthy of note that the town line of Flos and Tiny, also that between Tay and Medonte, were surveyed by an officer of the Royal Engineers when this part of the county was blocked out into townships. (District Council Minutes, 1848, p. 94).
John Goessman, the surveyor of Flos and Tiny, was a native of Hanover, and had g-one through many hardships in the wars of Napoleon Bonaparte. At a later time (1835), he did some work to complete the survey of Vespra ; so also did Robert Ross, who was
46 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
a resident surveyor in Barrie during- the early days. In one of these later surveys of Vespra, it is said the surveying- party were too much inclined to hang- around some low grog-genes on the Penetang-uishene Road, and did their work badly. At all events, the survey of the town- ship was not g-ood. Some of the half-lots have twenty or thirty acres more than their due, while others are short. In some of Ijhese cases the Government, at a later period, had to g"ive the short ones script for land in other places to make up the deficiencies.
It appears the original survey between part of the third and fourth concessions of Vespra had never been made, or, if so, it be- came so obliterated by 1872 that the landholders were subject to great inconvenience. In order to have it made rig-ht, several of them applied to the County Council, which sent a memorial to the Lieut-Governor- in-Council to have it done, recommending- Henry Creswicke, P.L. S., to make and complete the survey. There is a considerable "jog-" at lot 9 on the fifth line, which appears to have arisen out of the same complication in the original survey.
At one time there was also projected, and partly made, a second survey of Flos by Henry Creswicke, to correct its inaccuracies, just as in the cases of Vespra and Sunnidale. But this re-survey was stop- ped at the instance of Dr. J. C. Tache, the Deputy-Minister of Agri- culture, (whose term of office lasted from 1864 till 1888), as he fore- saw a heap of difficulties arising- out of any attempt to change the lines of the original survey.
In the original survey of Sunnidale by Thomas Kelly (1832 and 1833), the portion lying between the Sunnidale Road and the eastern boundary of the township, in the first eight concessions, was either not surveyed or the survey was obliterated. Rev. Thomas Williams, in his "Memories," says Robert Ross also made a survey of Sunni- dale in the early days. About the year 1861, a surveyor, William Sanders, also made a private survey of part of the eastern section for some of the inhabitants. But it seemed desirable that there should be an official survey of it; accordingly, the Township Council, in 1868, urged the Government to make a survey of this whole easterly part, and the Commissioner of Crown Lands accordingly appointed Henry Creswicke, jun., to make this survey. The gore shape of Sunnidale, the intrusive survey of lots facing the Sunnidale Road passing north- ward through the township diagonally across the ranges of lots which ran east and west, and the presence of different surveyors at the stak- ing out of this part of the township, all inevitably led to what might
SURVEYING AND PREPARING FOR SETTLERS. 47
be expected, viz., woeful confusion. At a public meeting- in New Lowell, Oct. 27th, 1881, sixty owners of land, all interested in the tract in question, attended. Their differences were afterwards satis- factorily settled, so that each settler might receive the land he had cleared, and an Act of the Ontario Legislature was passed in 1887 to confirm Crcswicke's survey and allotment of the lands in dispute. The survey of Ripon town plot on lots 22 and 23, concession i, was also done away with by this Act.
Nowadays, the surveyors can define their lines with permanent stone or iron stakes. In the early days, the perishable wooden stakes they planted rotted off or were burnt off, in so many cases, that sub- sequent surveyors often had to travel for miles to find one. In other cases, especially where there was swampy land, it is too true that in some instances no survey was made by the original surveyor.
Thomas Kelly made a survey of the Township of Nottawasaga in 1832, and completed a map of it, Feb. 27th, 1833, as far north as lot 32 (inclusive) in the first eleven concessions, the last, or twelfth, concession being omitted. There has been a tradition among the older settlers of the township itself, how that a whiskey bottle bore a con- spicuous part in the survey on this occasion, so that, if not the sur- veyor himself, at least some of the axemen or helpers were too much addicted to the flowing bowl to make a good job of staking out the lots. The map he left for posterity to ponder looks all right, yet we are reminded to be cautious about what we see on paper. Be the circumstances what they may, Charles Rankin, under instructions from the Surveyor-General, dated March 23rd, 1833, re-surveyed parts and completed the survey of it, more especially the northern end and the western parts, in the ensuing summer.
Mr. Rankin's instructions included also a re-survey of Sunnidale. He was furnished from the Surveyor-General's office with copies of those portions of Sunnidale and Merlin already surveyed by Mr. Kelly. And His Excellency's pleasure was also stated to be that Merlin and Java should in future be called and considered as one township to be named Nottawasaga (Java having been the north part, and Merlin the south part).
Accordingly, at Penetanguishene, May 21, 1833, Chas. Rankin, for the survey of Nottawasaga engaged (as his Diary relates) Ezekiel Solo- mon, Cuthbert Amiotte, Thomas LeDuc and Martin Ploof as axemen at two shillings and sixpence per day. Mr. Commissary Wickens sup- plied the party with a small quantity of flour and pork for the journey,
48 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
and they set out by boat for their destination on the opposite shore of Nottawasaga Bay. Mr. Rankin completed the survey of the town- ship by Aug. 1 5th of that year.
In the practical results of the surveyor's work, generally, this county, like others, shows some wild surveying", and a large volume would not contain all the records of agitations and fierce lawsuits arising out of blunders in the surveys. There is not a township in it but has an abundance of "jogs" and irregularities of various kinds. Notwithstanding the good intentions of the Government and surveyors themselves, some owners of hundred acre lots actually have only ninety acres, while others have a hundred and ten. The Act of the Ontario Legislature, in 1874, for the limitation of actions by which any disputed line fence which had stood unmoved for ten years became a legal boundary, put an end to a large amount of profitless litigation.
It is easy now for us to find faults and see crooked lines, but it was difficult in the woods to run perfectly straight lines and measure distances accurately. In all the townships there were "jogs" in the middle of the concessions, causing obstructions and deviations on the side roads, or "cross roads," as they are called in some localities. These were a grievance, and the District Council in Oct., 1848, pe- titioned the Governor-in-Council to remove them. Following this agitation, William Gibbard, the surveyor, was engaged in a portion of 1851-2, in running middle lines (in the Township of Innisfil at least, and probably in some other townships). This Mr. Gibbard was bru- tally murdered on board of the steamer "Ploughboy," while on her downward trip from Sault Ste. Marie to Collingwood in August, 1863, and the County Council offered a reward of $200 for the apprehension of the murderer.
These sketches of the early surveys would be incomplete without some reference to the numerous town plots which were laid out and named, but which failed to receive any inhabitants. A few of these may be mentioned :—
Hythe, near the mouth of the Nottawasaga River, 1833.
Ripon, on the Nottawasaga River, near Angus, 1833.
Innisfallen, on Shingle Bay, near Orillia, 1834.
Amsterdam, on the Holland River, near Bradford, 1836.
Port Powell, on lots 9 and 10, con. 9, Tay, on Sturgeon Bay, 1846.
Leith, beside Allandale, on the south side of Kempenfeldt Bay.
Everton, on lot in, con. i, Tay, W. of Midland Bay, 1853.
Bristol, on lot 24, con. 6, Vespra, W. of Barrie.
SURVEYING AND PREPARING FOR SETTLERS. 49
Sudbury, near Collingwood, Feb., 1856.
Drumlanrig, on lot 24, con. 12, Medonte, etc., near Coldwater, 1856.
Plans of all these town plots were prepared and registered at the times mentioned, but only in two or three instances did any actual settlers take up their abode in these paper towns.
MAPS OF THE COUNTY.
As most of the published maps of the county were first prepared by the early surveyors, this will be a convenient place for referring to some of them.
The Canada Company issued an atlas of township diagrams of Upper Canada (including a number in our county) in two volumes, on a scale of about a mile and a half to an inch. No date is attached to this atlas, but it is understood to be about 1836. These township maps did not contain many details, but have a value as showing the Company's lots in each township, with a goodly number of rivers and streams traced from the maps of the original surveys.
A map of the Home and Simcoe Districts, on one sheet, by Chas. Rankin, Esq., the surveyor, is dated March ist, 1841, and has a number of interesting features.
A map of the county, on a scale of two miles and a half to an inch, by Wm. Gibbard, P.L. S., 1853, shows the towns and villages, mills, travelled roads, and other features, as they existed in that time, and has a special value for anyone interested in the history of the county for the sake of comparisons with our more modern topography.
John Hogg's large map of the county, 1871, giving all the names of the owners of lands at that time, was an expensive undertaking, from which the publisher never realized its cost.
The map compiled and published by John Dickinson, C.E., 1878, on a scale of two miles to an inch, following the extensive railway development of the seventies, showed the new railways then con- structed.
The latest is that of the Times Publishing Company, Orillia, and it supplies many modern features not to be found in the older ones. Two or three editions of it have already appeared.
Chapter VI.
THE SUBJECT OF LAND GRANTS.
At this point a review of the general subject of early land grants may be profitable ; for it will be useful to compare the former land policies with those of the present day, and from the comparison to get hints for the solution of modern land problems, or to learn the accom- panying dangers and how to avoid them. It will also be instructive and interesting to follow the history of the first S€ttlements in the light of the land regulations, and to note the marked effects which their frequent changes produced individually upon the settlers, as well as in the aggregate upon the face of the country. Indeed there is no subject in the wide field of local history of more vital importance than this question of how the land was granted, as it forms the key to the foundation of every settlement, whether made on free grant lands, or purchased tracts, or on claims that could only be established by the performance of settlement duties.
While large grants of land to colonization companies and others have been a feature of the settlement of some counties in this Pro- vince, it cannot be said that there were any grants in Simcoe County so large as to affect the whole population at any period of its history. The largest were perhaps the following : — those of the Canada Com- pany, which, however, made no systematic settlement in this county as it did in Huron County, its lands being situated here and there throughout the Simcoe townships ; the Clergy Reserves, also scattered about the county ; the grant of 6,000 acres along the Penetanguishene Road from Kempenfeldt, northward, to the Hon. Wm. McGillivray, who died in 1825, (sometimes known in later years as the McDonald grant, as it passed into the hands of John McDonald's daughter). Besides these, Mr. Quetton St. George received a considerable grant (for settlement purposes) in Orillia Township. The Townships of Sunnidale and Nottawasaga, having been surveyed some twelve years later than the other parts of the county, had not so many encum- brances of Clergy Reserves or Canada Company lands, (i.e., Crown Reserves,) as the older townships.
The revenues from the sales of Crown Lands, whenever there were any after paying the officials their fees, went to Downing S'treet in the first years of the Province's history. This continued down to the Union of the Canadas in 1841, or about that time, the control exercised by the Provincial Government and the Assembly, until that time, having been little more than a nominal one.
[50]
THE SUBJECT OF LAND GRANTS. 51
The large majority of those who received free grants in the early years of the Province's history consisted of U. E. Loyalists and their descendants, the militia who served during- the war of 1812, and the retired officers of the British army. Almost all others who became settlers procured their lands by purchase.
From 1783, onward, the Government followed the practice of granting lands to the U. E. Loyalists and their children. These per- sons continued to receive grants of land, free from any expense, and with very little interruption or impediment until 1818, when the Provincial Government imposed a restriction providing that "no grant of land would issue in future to persons of any description until a satisfactory certificate be filed that a habitable house is erected on some part of the land to be granted, and a sufficient clearing thereon under fence in the proportion of five acres per 100. " This settlement regulation seems to have materially changed the facilities for location afforded the loyalists, but not being uniformly enforced, it became a grievance — one of the chief grounds of complaint before the Rebellion — as will afterward appear.
In addition to these gratuitous grants to loyalists and their descendants, provision was made in 1820 for the location also of the militia of 1812 upon lands belonging to the Crown. Upon presenting a certificate of service from the adjutant-general, each claimant of this class became entitled to receive a ticket of location — a system intro- duced in the previous year in connection with grants to loyalists. In all cases the settlement duty was insisted upon.
Several townships in this county, in which locations had been made up to 2gth January, 1821, appear in the lists printed in the Report on Canadian Archives for 1896 (p. 16), and the figures therein given are instructive : —
West Gwillimbury (new survey) 186 locations.
Tecumseth 181
Innisfil 100
Essa ••• 7
Oro 75
Vespra 30
Medonte 7
Flos , 5
Tiny ••• 7
Tay 15
613 "
52 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
Although there were thus more than six hundred location tickets granted within the first year after the survey of these townships, there were not one-tenth of that number of actual settlers in the county, land-grabbing- having been a common practice then as later.
Another change took place in 1825 in the regulations in conform- ity with a system then adopted in all the other British colonies. This consisted in making a valuation of the lands throughout the Province, and causing average prices to be struck for each district, at which prices thus fixed all the vacant lands were offered for sale. What these prices were may be learned from the Report on Canadian Archives for 1898 (p. 33), which affords information as to the value of the ungranted lands of the Crown in each district, according to the Minutes of the Executive Council at York (Toronto), gth June, 1826. From the Schedule therein exhibited, the valuations for the different townships in this county, at that time, appear to be —
West Gwillimbury and Tecumseth .................. 6 shillings per acre.
Adjala, Innisfil, Essa, and Tosorontio ............ 5
Oro, Vespra, Flos, Medonte, Orillia, Tay and
Tiny ..................................................... 4 " " "
Further orders affecting land grants were issued by the British Government in 1831, in addition to those issued in 1825 respecting conformity to the British colonial system, and a table was formulated whereby grants to British officers on the half-pay of the army or navy were regulated. The despatch to this effect from the Colonial Secre- tary, Lord Goderich, had a local application to the half-pay officers along the Oro shore, and elsewhere in the county.
A General Order of August ist, 1831, laid down the following graduated scale, according to which each officer purchasing land in the usual way became entitled to a remission of the purchase money to the extent here specified :
Field officers, 25 years' service ...........................
20 " ........................... £250.
15 ........................... £200-
Captains, 20 ........................... ^200.
15 ........................... £15°-
Subalterns, 20 ...........................
7 " ...........................
THE SUBJECT OF LAND GRANTS. 53
Regulations, similar to these, by which officers of the Royal Navy (Commanders, Lieutenants, and Subalterns, respectively), could secure land grants in Upper Canada, were also issued in March, 1832.
UNHAPPY RESULTS.
In all these cases the settlement duties applied, location tickets being given at the time of the settler's arrival, and no patent was issued until the settlement duties were complied with. Such, at any rate, were the regulations as they appeared in print ; but there is rea- son to believe that in actual practice there was a different state of affairs, and the regulations fell far short of being carried into effect. So many ways of evading the settlement duties were found, that in May, 1832, the Provincial Government cancelled all previous orders respecting settlement duties, and refused to issue patents to any individual until it was ascertained that a resident settler was estab- lished on some part of the grant. This was done because the bene- volent intentions of the Government in favour of U. E. Loyalists and other privileged claimants were daily frustrated, and the settlement of the province impeded by speculators purchasing the settlers' rights and holding vast quantities of land for higher prices. From this time forth the question of land-granting was a bone of contention. The House of Assembly and the Executive were constantly at war on this subject, and it was a prominent source of friction leading up to the troubles of 1837. The House of Assembly transmitted an Address to Lieutenant Governor Colborne on 28 November, 1833, requesting information on the subject of lands to U. E. Loyalists and others. The information requested was laid before the Assembly, December 12, 1833, whereupon the subject was referred to a select committee of the House, which reported February 27, 1834. Their report con- tained some strong accusations.
The report was accompanied by an Address on the subject of U. E. Rights to King William IV., who was then reigning. The Bri- tish House of Commons took action about two years afterward, by merely calling for some information. Meanwhile in Upper Canada, •the Executive and Assembly came no nearer a settlement of the burn- ing question, and the result was, in part at least, the uprising of '37, as everyone knows.
A word remains to be said on the subject of the machinery for locating the settlers and granting their lands. In 1789, even before
54 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
the setting- apart of Upper Canada, local land boards had been appointed for the purpose of accommodating' persons desirous of form- ing settlements in the province. Under varying forms these land boards continued to exist for many years. In 1819, the regulations were such that emigrants desirous to become settlers in the province were under the necessity of presenting themselves at York (now Toronto), and great inconvenience was the result. For the remedy of this grievance, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, in that year appointed in each of the districts (there were 12 in the province) cer- tain persons to form local boards, with power to locate any settler in the respective district. At a subsequent date similar boards were instituted in the counties.
The rapidity of making grants fluctuated considerably ; sometimes one section, sometimes another, was the favourite point for location. An examination of the patents granted in the province between April i and Aug-ust i, 1836, shows that during that particular period, of the total 1,536 grants, they largely predominated in Simcoe and Kent counties. While 384 of the 1,536 descriptions for patents issued dur- ing those four months were for Simcoe County, no less than 461 patents for the county passed the Great Seal of the Province in the same period. (The patents were issued by the Secretary and Registrar, while the descriptions for patents, of which there were fewer, were issued by the Surveyor-General.) The large number of grants made at this particular period in Simcoe had a cause. Sir Francis Bond Head dissolved the House of Assembly, on May 28, 1836, and just before the elections in June, the Government issued patents to many persons to make new votes and influence the elections. In Medonte, for example, the Government issued 55 patents during1 the latter part of May and the month of June, 1836.
The settlers of Medonte, so many of whom received patents at this time, had gone into the township mostly during- the large influx of 1832, and they now received their patents in exchange for politi- cal support. How like present day methods this looks ! The election had its influence in the augmentation of the number of patents in the other earlier months of that year, as well as during the election itself. The patents were perhaps nothing more than the just rights to which the settlers were entitled, if they had duly performed their settlement duties (which is doubtful in every case), but to issue the patents in return for votes was wrong, and it raised a great outcry throughout the province at the time.
THE SUBJECT OF LAND GRANTS. 55
THE U. E. LOYALIST GRANTS IN SIMCOE COUNTY.
In those days there were no free grants to any but the U. E. Loyalist descendants, besides the soldiers and the marines. A large number of persons of both sexes, descended from U. E. Loyalists, received grants in Simcoe County, but in only a few cases did they ever settle on the lands. Speculators bought up their scrip and held the lands for a rise in value.
The U. E. Loyalists claimed, whether always truly or not, the loss of much property during- the American Revolution of 1776. In the War of 1812-15, their claims to reward were perhaps stronger. The latter war between Great Britain and the L'nited States arose out of a question with which Canada had little to do ; and yet the Can- adians, whose position made them the principal sufferers, are those who are mainly entitled to credit for repelling the different invasions to which their antagonist subjected them. It was thus largely through U. E. Loyalists (although they were not the only defenders), that Canada held her own in the war, and they preserved by their devotion the lands of the grants for which their descendants after- ward came into possession. But if the large number of allotments to their descendants in Simcoe County alone be any criterion for the rest of this province, they appear to have been amply repaid in lands, the face of the country having been laid under heavy tribute to their descendants.
In confining the free grants to the descendants of U. E. Loyalists, with retired soldiers and marines, the object of the makers of the regulation was to people the new country with a loyal stock. It was too often the practice of the Governors and their Executive Councils in those days to regard the inhabitants as disloyal if they complained about anything, — as under the influence of United States repub- licanism— and as unfit to be trusted with self-government or favours.
SPECULATORS A GRIEVANCE.
The Earl of Durham showed in his now famous Report how nearly half of all the surveyed land in this province had been granted as rewards, or in the attempt to make rewards, for public services ; and of the land thus granted, perhaps less than a tenth had been occupied by actual settlers. In Simcoe County the state of affairs was not different from that of any other part of the province. An inspection
56 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
of the list of patentees for the county shows that a large proportion of those who received land grants never became actual settlers, but sold them to others. The County in this way came to have its due quota of land sharks, and in the scramble for lands, the honest settler often got trampled. The Rev. Thomas Williams, in his "Memories" (No. 8), relates the story from the settler's point of view.
From the first organizati-on of the Simcoe District Council in 1843 onward, the non-resident land speculators were attacked. They had bought large tracts of land, paid one or two instalments, and brought to bear all the influence at their command on the Governments of the day to save their lands from becoming liable to taxation. The actual settler had to open and improve the roads, build the school houses and churches, and otherwise enhance the value of the specula- tor's land, while the speculator himself was sleeping.
The District Council, as early as May 17, 1844, passed a By- law imposing a tax of one penny per acre on all wild lands owned by non-residents, including lands of the Canada Company. But from certain proceedings that took place in the House of Assembly at the time, the Council became doubtful whether they could legally enforce payment of the tax. As a result, they sought power to tax the wild lands, and for this purpose sent a petition to both Houses of the Legislature in the following February. Again, in February, 1847, they passed another by-law to the same effect, and a lengthy report giving an account of the wild land tax question appears in the pub- lished proceedings for that time, (at page 356), a perusal of which is well worth the time of any person who desires to know the history of the contest.
On account of wild land tax, the County Council received in 1850 from the Canada Company the sum of ^970, gs. The Clergy Reserve lands sold were not liable to taxes, and this state of affairs brought forth a "memorial" from the Council to the Government in June, 1851.
Where the wild land belonged to individuals or companies engaged in the lumber trade, they opposed settlement, as their lands would be taxed after settlers arrived.
For many years the wild land tax was a bone of contention in this county, each successive County Council having to wrestle with the difficulty, and the owners paying it reluctantly and only after much forcing. There was a regular system of speculating in Crown Lands. Many persons paid only one instalment, paid no taxes, and
Jacob JEmilius Irving, the First Warden of Simcoe District, 1843.
(By courtesy of Sir ^Jmilius Irving and Mr. Gugy .Kmilius Irving).
[,57]
James Dallas, Orillia, Warden, 1844-5.
oa
[58]
THE SUBJECT OF LAND GRANTS. 59
held the lands at high prices. This resulted in transferring- almost every vacant lot in the county from the Crown to private individuals, thus driving- away actual settlers. Accordingly, the problem had to be attacked from a new point of view, and an Order in Council, relating- to Crown Land arrearages, was passed. (Crown Land Regulations, No. 16, January 13, 1859.)
The renewal of the attack upon the speculators brought forth renewed energy on their part to save their position. Thus, Thomas C. Street, of Welland County, for taxes on wild lands which he had paid in Kent County, recovered them again by a law suit, because the title was still vested in the Crown. He then proceeded to claim from Simcoe County the sum of $534.44, which he had paid on his wild lands here. This brought on a special session of the County Council in November, 1861, at which they decided to get the Hon. Jas Patton's opinion, and began to make preparations to fight. In the end Mr. Street brought an action for $1,600 against the County in the Court of Common Pleas, and obtained judgment for $490. The County Council appealed from this decision to the Court of Error and Appeal. Owing to the decision of Justice Draper in Street v. Kent County, it was now threatened that some $30,000 or $40,000 would be demanded from Simcoe County respecting the sales of unpatented lands for taxes. Some four or five actions were already begun by May 9, 1862. Mr. Street, who had brought the action against this county for tax sales alleged to be illegal, was for some years about this time the member of Parliament for Welland, and used his influence to obstruct in the House all settlement of taxes on wild lands.
The amount of friction that arose in the early sixties from the sales of wild lands for taxes was enormous, and the ownership of many farms came into question about that time in this harrassing way. Much anxiety and unnecessary expense was caused to unof- fending settlers from the tax sales of former years. By January 26, 1864, there were eight chancery suits in progress against the county arising out of tax sales.
When the Government in 1863 resumed and offered for sale unpatented and unimproved lands in the Township of Flos, the non- resident holders of which had not paid arrearages, but were holding them for purposes of speculation, the County Council expressed the hope that it would pursue the same policy toward all such lands in the county.
60 A. HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
THE MUSKOKA FREE GRANTS.
The modern system of free grants to every actual settler, — the happy system inaugurated by the Province of Ontario immediately after Confederation, — had in fact its beginning- in Simcoe, which was the mother county of Muskoka where the system was first put into practice. And, accordingly, it would be unfair to omit an account of so important a measure.
As early as June, 1865, when a single representative at the County Council Board, viz., for Morrison and Muskoka, was the only mouthpiece for the territory from the Severn River to the North Pole, a definite step was taken in this desirable direction. The Coun- cil sent a memorial to the Governor-in-Council asking that all Crown Lands at the disposal of the Crown, suitable for farming purposes, and not above the actual value of $4 an acre, should be offered either as free grants to actual settlers, or offered for sale at a nominal price, sufficient to cover the expenses of survey, accompanied by the most stringent regulations as to actual settlement. They began their memorial by stating that the manner in which the farming lands in this Province had been disposed of by the Crown, had been injurious to the best interests of the country, and had materially retarded its progress and settlement. They then urged the giving of free grants of land as the true policy which the Government should follow. Per- haps no county had suffered more than Simcoe from speculators hold- ing the wild lands to the great injury of the farming interests. They also asked, in behalf of the new townships of Morrison and Muskoka, then just organized and represented for the first time by a Reeve in the Council, and in behalf of other such townships, that the settlers be relieved from the payment of arrears on their lands.
In November of the same year, the Council again urged the Governor-in-Council in a memorial to adopt the system of free grants in the future. This memorial was prepared at the instance of T. D. McConkey, M.P., who was urging on the Government the adoption of the free grant system.
The Act to secure free grants and homesteads to actual settlers on the Public Lands was finally passed, February 28, 1868, and became law. While it was passing through the Legislature, viz., in January, 1868, the Council again memorialized the Lieutenant-Gover- nor-in-Council to re-sell lands forfeited for non-payment of arrears, and to forfeit in less than nine or ten years lands in arrears.
THE SUBJECT OF LAND GRANTS. 61
In June, 1870, the County Council sent another memorial to the Lieutenant-Governor-in-Council to cancel the arrearages on lands in Muskoka that had been located before the passing- of the "Free Grants Act." The pi-oncers there had agreed to pay $1.00 an acre, and had made the roads and other improvements, which later arrivals were enjoying, besides having had to pay nothing for their lands. The grievance was one which deserved the immediate attention of the Government, and showed negligence or oversight on the part of the Legislature when it passed the Free Grants Act.
In January, 1872, the County Council memorialized the Lieuten- ant-Governor-in-Council and the House of Assembly of Ontario to aid in the development of the Free Grants District. The memorial pointed out that the revenue of the Province had been lately augmented by timber dues levied within the district, to a large amount, one township alone having yielded nearly $100,000; that a fair and rea- sonable proportion of these revenues should be expended within it, in such public works as would promote agricultural settlement and gen- eral trade ; and that the most successful way had been to subsidize railways in a district. The memorial had in view a subsidy for the Muskoka Extension Railway, which soon after this time came to be a realized fact.
The Free Grants system thus inaugurated and fairly launched in its course, and which had been so thoroughly nursed while the dis- trict was a part of Simcoe County, was a success in a general way. Yet it had a few drawbacks, which one might expect as inseparable from any system. For example, the squatters in the Free Grant lands of Muskoka were like the half-breed squatters of the Red River at an earlier day. They settled on the first vacant lot they found, remained till the last stick of timber was cut down, and then removed to another lot which they reduced to the same condition as the first. There are whole tracts in Muskoka where settlers are scarce from the adoption of this plan.
Chapter VII.
THE FIRST WHITE SETTLEMENTS, AND THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THEM.
Almost the first settlers in the county were a band of fugitives from Lord Selkirk's Red River Settlement. In 1819 they too1c~up farms, a short distance southwest of Bradford, in what has always been known as the "Scotch Settlement." There were the families of Sutherland, McKay, Matthewson, McBeth, Ross and Campbell. Three others, natives of Ireland, settled near the Holland River the same year, viz., the families of \Vallace, Alg-eo and Armstrong-.
Along the edge of Tecumseth facing W. Gwillimbury, Andrew Carswell, James Manning and one or two others settled in 1819. In Innisfil, Francis Hewson settled at Big Bay Point in or about the same year.
In the same year (1819) about a dozen families located on the Penetanguishene Road in Oro and Vespra. Amongst these were the families of Brown, Bergin, Debenham, Drury, Gough, Hart, Hickling, Jones, Lawrence, Luck, Mair, Partridge, \Vatson, White and several other families, all of whom settled within a short time of each other. These were followed in the next year or two by the families of Bruce, Craig, Johnson, Lang, McLean, Richardson and Williams, who set- tled to the north of the last named group. While near Penetangui- shene, a few families settled within a year or two after the removal of the Nottawasaga garrison to that place in 1818.
All these families and many more will be referred to when we , come to take up each neighbourhood by itself. The arrival of settlers was, however, tardy ; and only a few isolated clearings were made up to the year 1831, when a considerable influx of settlers took place. In the next year (1832) the influx became quite general and lasted for about three years, when another lull took place — a calm before the gathering storm of the Rebellion.
Many causes are accountable for this large influx of settlers in 1832. The Reform Bill riots in Britain at the time no doubt caused many to emigrate. In addition to this, great excitement, according to Dr. Thomas Rolph in his "Statistical Account" prevailed in Britain in 1832 on the subject of colonial slavery, compelling the British
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THE FIRST WHITE SETTLEMENTS. 63
Government to legislate in favour of emancipation in 1833. This agitation produced feeling-s hostile to the West Indies, and more favourable to Upper Canada, where the importation of slaves had been abolished in 1793. Besides these, the war of 1812-15 had called attention in Britain to Canadian affairs. The peaceful period succeed- ing- the war, during- which period peace also reigned in Europe, was a time when a number of travellers — Murray, Hall, Mrs. Trollope, Gait, and many others — passed through the United States and Canada. On reaching England, their travels were published, and thus public atten- tion there was directed even more extensively toward Canada.
The Rebellion of 1837 is a sharp dividing line. Those who settled before it were the pioneers of the county. When the Rebellion troubles were at an end, other settlers began to flock in once more, and the stream of immigration was kept up to present times. Thus it will be seen that the period before the Rebellion stands out by itself, sharp and clear, — and it is with this period more particularly that we intend to deal in the present work.
SETTLEMENTS ACCORDING TO NATIONALITY.
In this county as elsewhere throughout the province the pioneers settled in groups or clusters, according to their nationality. In the course of a journey through the county in its pioneer days, a person would come upon groups of English, Scotch, Irish, French-Can- adians, Germans, and Negroes — all of whom appear to have settled in clusters, giving to each neighbourhood its distinctive features, which it will retain for several generations to come. It is interesting to note the progress made by these different national groups or settle- ments, for they are favourably situated throughout the county for purposes of comparison. The thrifty Saxon is side by side with his less lymphatic neighbour, the Celt, from Ireland or the Highlands of Scotland, and the two are mutually benefited, politically, religiously, and in many other ways, by the contact.
In West Gwillimbury there was a settlement of Highland Scotch refugees from Lord Selkirk's colony on the Red River; while in the northern part of the same township, in Tecumseth, in the eastern portion of Essa, and in the southwest of Innisfil — spread over parts of four townships with Cookstown as a centre — was a large settlement of Protestant Orangemen from the North of Ireland. In Southeast Innisfil, and in West Essa, were small settlements of Lowland Scotch.
64 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
Adjala was originally peopled by Irish Catholics, large groups of whom also located in Flos and Medonte, though these mostly since the Rebellion -of '37. In Oro and in Nottawasaga are large settlements of Highland Scotch, most of whom were natives of the island of Islay. Near Penetanguishene a settlement of French-Canadians was made about 1828, and in Oro two dozen Negro families were planted about 1832 on what was known as Wilberforce Street. These, and many more, are the "national" settlements which were formed throughout the county prior to 1837, and it may be added that the greater portion of the county's population at that time was com- prised within these "little nations," each having but a few square miles of area. The conditions of life (especially the introduction of railways, which rapidly mix the population) as in every new country, here became such, however, that distinctive national traits of charac- ter are giving way to more cosmopolitan manners and speech.
A story is told of the early settlers of Essa (and confirmed on good authority), that they would not allow a Roman Catholic to settle amongst them. A few of such, however, did manage to settle, but the almost unmixed Protestant population of this township, down to the present day, tells the story in uncertain language of this "select policy" on the part of its first settlers.
THE ELEMENTS OF OUR POPULATION.
With the groups of English, Scots, Irish, French-Canadians, Ger- mans, etc., the particular nationality or creed in each case determines the characteristic traits of the group — traits which are persisting through several generations, notwithstanding the levelling tendencies of modern life.
The accompanying lists give, by townships such settlements or groups of the original rural population of Simcoe County, as can be set down in tabular form. The town and village portion of our population is too mixed to be amenable to analysis of this kind ; the only observable rule in this case is that the population of each town is mainly recruited from the rural districts in its neighbourhood.
In this county, as elsewhere, names of political and religious sig- nificance are often the most convenient for the designation of the various groups.
For the most part, those who colonized this county belonged to the peasant classes of Great Britain and Ireland, as the accompanying
THE FJKST ll'HITE SETTLEMENTS. 65
GROUPS OF FIRST SETTLERS.
French-Canadians (begun in 1828), Tiny, Tay.
English (from northern counties ol
England begun in 1820) Oro and Vespra (25 families at first)
Medonte, Tecumseth, West Gwillimbury.
Scots (from Sutherlandshire at first. Immigrants with Lord Sel- kirk's Red River Colonists. Seventeen families, located here in 1819) West Gwillimbury.
Scots (from Islay, Argyleshire.
Begun in 1832) Oro and Nottawasaga chiefly, and
a few families of the same migra- tion into Medonte, Orillia, Sunni- dale.
Scots (Lanarkshire and Renfrew- shire, via Dalhousie Township, Ont. , in 1832. Many Glasgow and Paisley weavers were among these) Innisfil, Essa.
Scots (Dumfriesshire, 1832 to 1850) Innisfil.
Irish (begun in 1830. Protestants from Ulster. Extensive set- tlement) Wrest Gwillimbury, Tecumseth,
Innisfil, Essa, Tossorontio.
Irish Palatines (about 10 families
in 1831) Wrest Gwillimbury.
Irish (Catholics, begun in 1828) ...Adjala, Vespra, Flos, Medonte,
Nottawasaga.
Irish (from Londonderry in 1850,
etc.) Innisfil.
Germans (begun with 10 families
in 1834) Nottawasaga,
Negroes (Begun in 1828) Oro (20 families'), Sunnidale.
Indians (Ojibways, population about
266) Beausoleil and Christian Islands.
66 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
table of groups will show ; and the traits of character so marked in the British peoples have shown themselves in the life of the people of this county. The sea and sea life have the effect of giving to men the virtues of courage and valor in greater amount than other kinds of life; and those peoples, like the British, who live nearest the sea, furnish sailors of the most courageous types. Speaking generally, the pioneers had more courage than modern people, because there were more occasions demanding the exercise of courage, but our pio- neers mostly came of a courageous race.
There were a few other kinds of people among the pioneers. When the soldiers, for example, passed to and fro in the time of the war of 1812-15 through the county, it was then in a state of nature. But
Main Street, Penetanguishene.
as soon as it was opened up for settlement, many of the soldiers who had been impressed by its fair appearance became actual settlers.
At the first the rural development in comparison with that of the towns and villages of that time, strikes the observer. The whirligig of time has completely reversed this order of things in the seventy or eighty odd years that have elapsed since the first extensive settlements were made. The incipient towns of Bradford, Barrie and Orillia, in 1837, for example, or rather, these villages, each contained a dozen or two families ; Collingwood and Stayner did not spring into existence until the construction of the Northern Railway in 1854; Penetangui- shene was a trifle larger in 1837 than any other place in the county; while Midland was not begun until 1872 at the time of the inaugura- tion of the Midland Railway. Nowadays, the towns and villages con-
THE FIRST WHITE SETTLEMENTS. 67
tain more than half of the population, but at the first they contained only about the one-twentieth part.
At the end of the second volume there are lists of the settlers who had arrived in the county before 1837, numbering some 1,800 heads of families. After seventy odd years scarcely half a dozen of these pioneers survive. New generations in tenfold numbers fill their places, and cultivated fields take the place of the forest openings in the midst of which they lived and labored with their three-cornered harrows and other primitive implements.
The brief sketches of some of the first settlers, of which the second volume mainly consists, relate chiefly to the first thirty or forty settlers arriving before the others in each township. Of necessity this plan will include those who came in the twenties into South Simcoe, also those at Penetanguishene and along the military road to that post, in the north half of the county, who mostly came during the same early years. But in the other parts of the county those who came a few years later than the above were the pioneers.
THE DURATION OF LIFE.
The increase of population in later years is to some extent due to an increase in the duration of life. Many persons in this county at one time or another, have reached the age of 100 years or more, and a few facts about this subject may be worthy of record at this part of the history.
SOME CENTENARIANS OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
Name. Native County . Death. Age. Residence.
John McKay, Kintyre, Scotland, Jan. 31, 1857, 107 years, Nottawasaga.
Arthur Gough, Co. Mayo, Ireland, Dec. 12, 1874, 101 ' W.Gwillimbu'y.
Daniel McCurdy, Co. Antrim, Ireland, June 3,1878, 100 Tecumseth.
Wm. Mackie, " Co.Armagh, Ireland, Apr. 17, 1879, 104 W.Gwillimbury. Angus Sutherland, Scotland, Mar. 24, 1885, 103
Jane Campbell, Tyrone, Ireland, Jan. 29, 1889, 102 Glencairn.
Jarr;e8 Duross, Ireland, May 15, 1896, 113 Adjala.
Eugene Smith, Cork, Ireland, Mar. 11, 1908, 101 Vespra & Barrie.
Francis Ruddell, Glasgow, Scotland, Nov. 11, 1908, 100 Midland.
Mrs. Stewart Scotland Feb. 18, 1899, 106 Minesing.
Cornelius McCarthy, Co Cork, Ireland, Jan. 28, 1905, 106 Tay.
The accompanying list gives such particulars as the writer has been able to gather in regard to a few of these centenarians. This is not by any means a complete list, and it is to be remembered that
68 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
it can be greatly added to, but it is sufficiently representative to be instructive so far as it goes. It is worthy of note that the persons named in the list, almost without exception, came either from Ireland or from the Scottish Highlands, both kinds, in fact, belonging- to the most northerly or outlying peoples. Their endurance shows not only the hardiness of the Celtic race, to which they mostly belonged, but also the healthfulness of the climate to which they came. It is also worthy of note that a number of the Ojibway Indians in the county have succeeded in passing the century mark, but the facts of their ages are less reliable than in the cases of the white settlers.
Chapter VIII.
THE BEGINNING OF LAKE NAVIGATION.
The Northwest Company complained to the Upper Canadian Government in 1811 that the forwarding; parties on Lake Erie and elsewhere near the frontier had been continually subjected to the vexatious interference of the United States customs officials since 1796, and they had had boats and property seized and detained. They suggested the use of the route across the narrow part of the province by way of Lake Simcoe, and this soon brought about the navigation of that lake, as well as the establishment of lake ports at the south- ern end of Georgian Bay for the convenience of navigation on that large body of water, the first of such ports being the Nottawasaga River outlet and Penetanguishene.
At the first the craft in general use was, of course, the birch bark canoe. Then came batteaux, especially in the time of the war of 1812-15; sloops and schooners soon followed on both Lake Simcoe and the Georgian Bay. The inauguration of steamboats on Lake Simcoe took place in 1832, and a "horseboat" was tried in 1838, but did not work well.
THE FIRST SAILING VESSELS ox LAKE SIMCOE.
As the Northern Railway was not opened till October, 1853, the early vessels on Lake Simcoe were chiefly concerned with the first settlement of the County, and must, accordingly, come in for a pas- sing review.
Until the year 1832, a few small boats and one schooner com- prised the entire "shipping" of Lake Simcoe. Of the small boats, a sloop belonging to Philemon Squire of Holland Landing was often used by parties of settlers going to different points on the lake.
In 1819, depots were established on the Nine Mile Portage for military stores in transit to the posts on the Upper Lakes ; and about the same time an armed schooner was built to sail on Lake Simcoe for the protection of the military storehouse on Kempenfeldt Bay, and the transportation of the stores. It was kept in commission by the Johnsons of Holland Landing — a family of U. E. Loyalists.
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70 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
John Goldie, a traveller who visited Holland Landing- in 1819, speaks of this schooner in his journal as follows : "There is nothing but one schooner upon the lake, which is sufficient for all the trade at present. "
For some time in the "twenties" Eli Beman also owned a schooner (probably the one just mentioned, the successor of which, in the fifties, was named the Queen.) Rev. Peter Jones mentions it in his Journal, making- the following entry on July 7th, 1829 : "We sailed from the Island (Snake Island) this morning in Mr. Beman's schooner, for Yellowhead's Island."
THE FIRST STEAMERS ON LAKE SIMCOE.
The increasing influx of population and the consequent growtn ,of traffic created a want of better "shipping" facilities. To meet this want, the half-pay officers who had taken up estates chiefly along the north shore of Kempenfeldt Bay in Oro, formed a joint istock company and built a steamboat. This small steamer, which was named the Sir John Colborne, in honour of the Lieutenant-Governor /of that day, was built at Holland Landing in 1831, at the Soldiers' or Lower Landing, and launched in 1832. The Sir John Colborne is said to have been a high pressure vessel, and appears to have made more excitement than speed, as will be seen from the following account of her first voyage : —
"The trip from Holland Landing to Kempenfeldt consumed no less than a week, a day or two of which was spent at the mouth of Cook's Bay. Proceeding thence along the south shore, calls were made at Jackson's Point and Beaverton of the present, when the craft, commanded by Captain Borland, endeavoured to make Orillia, but could not pass the Lake Couchiching Narrows, A day was employed in replenishing her fuel hold, but for want of a safe landing place the wood had to be brought off the shore in small boats. Con- tinuing her course westward along the north shore of the lake, halts were made at the cabin of every settler along the route, as they were all stockholders in the enterprise, possessed of very convivial dispo- sitions, and only too eager to 'celebrate' the advent of steam navi- gation upon Lake Simcoe ; so what mattered the fact that a week's cruise was necessary to chain the two termini? Time was not 'of the essence,' and even though it had been, many of the settlers kept a more powerful 'essence' on tap in their cabins, which accounts in some degree for the length of time spent on the pioneer cruise of the pioneer steamer over the most charming of inland Canadian water stretches."
THE BEGINNING OF LAKE NAVIGATION. 71
The Sir John Colborne was sold in 1833 to Charles Thompson, and seems to have increased her speed with time, for in Walton's Directory for 1833-4 we nr>d that "The steamboat Colborne leaves the Holland Landing Mondays and Thursdays, at 8 o'clock in the morning-, passing- round Lake Simcoe. "
This vessel drawing too much water to pass through "The Narows," she soon gave place on the Lake to the Peter Robinson steamer, which was built in 1834. This boat was conducting the traffic of the lake in 1837, when Mrs. Jameson, the celebrated author- ess passed this way. In 1838 the following notice appeared in the Toronto Patriot.
"LAKE SIMCOE — STEAMBOAT NOTICE — The Peter Robinson will leave Holland Landing for the Narrows, via Barrie and Oro, every Monday and Friday, and via Georgina and Thoriah every Wednes- day. On return to Holland Landing will leave the Narrows every Tuesday and Saturday, via Thoria and Georgina, and via Oro and Barrie every Thursday. The hour of departure for the Holland Landing and the Narrows will be eight a.m. precisely. — WM. LAUGH- TON, Managing Owner."
After receiving an overhauling in 1839, her name became The Simcoe.
Another steamboat, the Beaver, was launched in the summer of 1845. We learn from Smith's Gazetteer for 1846 that "During the season, the steamboat Beaver leaves the Holland River for Barrie and Orillia every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, returning on the alternate days." In glancing over the files of the Barrie Magnet, we came upon the following notice of an excursion in the issue of July 12, 1849. As it contains some points of contrast when compared with present facilities, it will no doubt have an interest for modern readers :
PLEASURE EXCURSION ON LAKE SIMCOE.
At the solicitation of several of the inhabitants of Barrie and neighborhood, Captain Laughton has kindly consented to run the Steamer Beaver for a pleasure excursion, on Thursday, the igth July. Starting from Barrie at 7 o'clock a.m., the Beaver will proceed via Georgina, to Orillia; from thence round the beautiful lake "Couchi- ching," and return to Barrie in the evening. The Amateur Band, at Holland Landing, have kindly volunteered their services for the occasion.
72
A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
Single Tickets for the trip 55.
For a Gentleman and Lady, /s. 6d.
Do. with Two Ladies, los.
Meals will be provided on board at is. 3d. each. The "Beaver" will proceed to Georgina the same evening".
The steamboat landing on the Holland River was seven miles from the lake ; and the river for this distance was so very crooked and narrow that the boat -often ran her nose into the marshy banks and had to be pushed off with poles. This was a tedious experience for passengers, and led to the removal of the Beaver in the season of 1850 "from the old landing on the east branch, to the Bradford
The Steamer " Morning," 1854.
bridge landing place, on the west branch of the river. This branch is said to be much easier to navigate than the east branch ; the water being deeper, the stream broader, and its course not so tortuous <or choked with marsh. A new steamboat (the Morning) was started in 1849, which ran from the old landing place. The starting a second boat on a route so remote as it then was, was a matter of doubtful policy, as it was very improbable that Lake Simcoe, or the country bordering it, could at the time support two boats."
The construction of the Morning, here referred to, was the result of some misunderstanding between the joint owners of the Beaver, — Captain Laughton, her commander, and Charles Thompson of Summer Hill (near Toronto). Mr. Thompson built the Morning in opposition to the Beaver; and when the Northern Railway came
[ <••> J
6a
THE BEGINNING OF LAKE NAVIGATION. 75
into operation as far as Barrie, in 1853, the former boat ran in con- nection with the railway.
The next steamer built on the lake was the /. C. Morrison. She was built at Bell Ewart in 1854, by Capt. Hugh Chisholm (afterward of Meaford) and launched in 1855. The Northern Railway Com- pany, then the newly started "Ontario, Simcoe, and Huron Railway Company," owned her, and had built her for the purpose of accom- modating- pleasure seekers from Toronto and other cities. She was commanded by Captain Fraser during- the short period of her exist- ence. From the Meaford Mirror of April, 1888, we derive the fol- lowing particulars with regard to this well-equipped vessel : —
"She was one hundred and fifty feet in keel, was fitted with upper cabins, and in every way a magnificent steamer for those days, and had a record of fifteen miles per hour, which is much faster than the majority of steamers on our lakes at the present time. Her cost was $60,000. She was called after the late Judge Morrison, who at that time was president of the Northern Railway Company. Her route was from Bell Ewart to Beaverton and Orillia, making daily trips."
This vessel is said to have been exceedingly handsome, but her career was a short one, for about two years after she was launched she took fire while at the wharf in Barrie, Aug. 4, 1857, and had to be sent adrift. A young lady was sleeping in one of the cabins at the time, and was with some difficulty rescued. All ablaze, and drifting on the water for some time she finally foundered at the head of the bay, near Allandale.
Following the /. C. Morrison came the Emily May — a steamer built at Bell Ewart by the same builder, Capt. Chisholm. She was launched in 1861, and was owned by the late Capt. May. The Emily May afterward passed into the hands of the Northern Rail- way Company, which changed her name to the Lady of the Lajkes. She in turn gave place to other steamers, after a long and useful career, and her hull now lies rotting at Bell Ewart.
Judge Ardagh, m a paper read before the Historical Society, April 22, 1892, and afterward published in the local newspapers, gave some particulars of the early steamboats on Lake Simcoe ; and about the same date the Orillia Times gave an article containing some further particulars narrated by Capt. Hugh McKay, of Hawke- stone.
76 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
EARLY VESSELS AND STEAMERS AT GEORGIAN BAY PORTS.
On Georgian Bay, the first vessels and the first steamers ran, as one might naturally expect, in connection with the naval and mili- tary establishment at Penetanguishene. Of the first steamers sta- tioned there at various times, there were, in particular, the Midas, the Experiment, and the Moliaivk. These had headquarters at Pcnc- tanguishene at one time or another in the forties, but it docs not appear that any one of the list made regular trips at stated intervals. Before these, however, there was a pioneer steamer named the Penetanguishene. It was the first steamer built at this place and was launched about the year 1832 by Mitchell and Thompson, accord- ing to the information elicited by Mr. Osborne from the voyageurs. (See p. 145, Ontario Historical Society's Papers and Records, Vol. III.) It was a small steamer, and ran regularly between there and Coldwater, Captain Borland being in charge of her.
At Sturgeon Bay, a shipping depot was established at the time the Government Road w^as made thither from Coldwater, and a blockhouse was erected. Sturgeon Bay had docks, and the early steamers made it a port for calls ; being the terminus of the Cold- water portage, it became a stirring place in the days before the railways. It is claimed, and quite properly so, that the Gore was the first steamer to make regular trips in connection with this port, and indeed with any other port on Georgian Bay. The Steamer Gore (200 tons) was built at Niagara in 1837. Early in the forties she ran regularly from Sturgeon Bay, which was the point of embarkation for travellers going to the upper lakes. On account of the develop- ment of the Bruce mines, the lake traffic here grew rapidly for that day, and Sturgeon Bay flourished. Owing to this boom, a town- plot called Port Powell was surveyed in 1846 on lots 9 and 10, con. 9, Tay, and building lots placed on the market by family relatives of Chief Justice Powell, after whom the place doubtless received its name. The sailings of the Gore in 1850 will be found in Chap. XII. of this volume.
This continued until Collingwood became the port for the Bruce mines and other places up the lakes, at the completion of the Nor- thern Railway, Jan. i, 1855. The first regular line of steamboats, in connection with the railway, began at Collingwood in 1857.
At Collingwood, on the opening of the Northern Railway in 1855, one of the first steamers was the Mazeppa, which made regu-
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THE BEGINNING OF LAKE NAVIGATION. 79
lar trips to Owen Sound. She was foil-owed by others, which kept increasing- in size as new ones were made. A paper on "Naviga- tion on the Upper Lakes, (more particularly that of the port of Col- ling-wood)" by David Williams, of Colling-wood, was published by him in the Saturday News of that town, Nov. 28, 1908, to which the reader is referred for particulars of the early steamers and an outline of the history of the Northern Navigation Company.
At Midland, with the opening of the Midland Railway, in 1872, navigation rapidly assumed an important position. The erection of the first elevator there further increased the shipping trade, to which the sawmills and the position it held as a railway terminus had already added much growth. Other elevators in later years at Tiffin, Victoria Harbor and at Midland itself, following the development of the lumber industry at Waubaushene, Fesserton, Victoria Harbor, and other ports along the Midland Railway, have given to Matche- dash Bay and its branches the important place in navigation which the old fur traders of a century earlier had foreseen it would some day possess.
Chapter IX.
THE FIRST COLONIZATION ROADS.
In the years before the Rebellion of 1837, the Upper Canadian Legislature generally made the grants for roads and other public works; but there was so little surplus revenue, owing to the great undertakings and the profuse and careless expenditures, that the Legislature was compelled to establish a system of local assessments. By this plan they left local works mainly to the municipalities them- selves, the inauguration of the works, as well as their supervision, being done through the Quarter Sessions of the magistrates. (Lord Durham's Report, p. 109, edition, 1902).
The construction of leading roads through the wilderness was a matter of common concern to the settlers, and they naturally looked to the government to aid them in these necessary public works. In too many cases their hopes were vain. Prior to the Act of 1841, which established District Councils, the deficiency of the Magistrates' Quarter Sessions as the means of local self-govern- ment often made it necessary for the people to apply to the Legisla- tive Assembly direct for every road or bridge they required, or indeed for almost any other public work.
It will be interesting to take up the various colonization roads, one after another, giving their history, as nearly as possible, in the order -of their origin and growth. The first wagon road in the county was the Nine Mile Portage, and with this one it will be necessary to begin.
THE "NINE-MILE PORTAGE," FROM KEMPENFELDT BAY TO WILLOW
CREEK.
This road, which is now unused and forgotten, was once the most important highway in this northern part of the country. It connected Kempenfeldt Bay with Willow Creek — a branch of the Nottawasaga River — and accordingly formed a connecting link of the route from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron, which has been already mentioned.
Just when this road was first opened cannot now be ascertained. It dates back as a trail into the eighteenth century or perhaps earlier,
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THE FIRST COLONIZATION ROADS. 81
and was a portage over which Indians used to carry their canoes. In the Gazetteer of 1799, where a description of Lake Simcoe is given, we meet with the first notice of this famous portage: "To the west- ward is a large deep bay, called Kempenfeldt's Bay, from the head of which is a short carrying-place to the River Nottawasaga. "
The southeastern terminus of the portage was n-ear the present railway depot in Barrie, but the town itself at that time had no exist- ence ; its site was a forest wilderness, nor were there any inhabi- tants within several miles of it at the time mentioned. During the war of 1812-15, the portage was widened so that wagons could cross it, to transport supplies on their way to the government posts of the upper lakes. It was about nine miles in length, and hence came to be familiarly known as the Nine Mile Portage.
Sir George Head, in his Forest Scenes, has left us a graphic picture of how the Indians used to cross this Portage in 1815. In the spring of that year he was temporarily dwelling in a cabin at Kempenfeldt, but had resolved to move his quarters to a new log house at the head of the bay. So one fine day he set out to walk along the shore through the wood to the latter place, when he saw an Indian passing by in his canoe, with his family, bound for the portage landing at the head of the bay. The Indian gladly took Head on board, and the canoe, paddled by the squaw -of course, soon reached the head of the bay, where they landed at the place connecting with the portage above referred to. We give Head's own account of the scene :
"The Indian and his family were on their route to Lake Huron, and they had now eight miles to travel to the Nottawasaga River, all which distance it was necessary to carry the canoe. He immedi- ately commenced preparations to take it on his back, and for this purpose he fixed a broad strip of birch bark to the centre thwart, making the ends fast to each opposite gunwale. The thwart then rested on his shoulders, and, having placed a piece of bark doubled under it to prevent its galling, he contrived to lay the greater part of the weight of the canoe on his forehead by means of the strip of bark, which at the same time kept all steady. The canoe once poised was nearly horizontal, and on he marched, caring little for the weight. Before he set off, however, the squaw stuck his gun and the fish spear under the thwarts, and then made up her own bundle. She carried this, much in the same way, by means of a forehead strap; and on the top of it the Desmotes rode upon its board, having been first safely tied by the little girl with strips of bark, so that it could not possibly fall off. The three children brought up 'the rear, and the whole party soon disappeared."
82 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
After the termination of the war, the government built store- houses (in -or about the year 1819) one at the southeast end of the portage, the other at Willow Creek. This was done to shelter the supplies transported to the military posts which were still maintained at Penetanguishene, Michilimackinac, and other places on the upper lakes.
But besides having been used for military purposes, the Nine Mile Portage was the only highway over which traders, settlers, and Indians passed for many years, and was therefore vastly impor- tant in the life -of the district at that time. Amongst distinguished persons of the time who crossed it, may be mentioned Sir John Franklin, who passed over it in April, 1825, on his second overland expedition to the Arctic Sea. In making this portage, Franklin and his party were assisted by "Squire Soules" with his ox-team, from Big Bay Point, and also by James Johnson of Kcmpenfeldt.
Much had to be transported by teams over the portage at all seasons of the year, and the settlers of the surrounding district often found employment in that way. In consequence of the great amount of traffic, quite a little village arose at the northwestern terminus of the portage on \Yillow Creek.
The late Thomas Drury, Sr. , was married at this village in its palmy days, and the place otherwise manifested the usual signs of social life. But times have changed greatly, for there is scarcely a trace now left to tell the visitor that a village once existed at the place. Many were the tales told by the old settlers of the events that happened at this hamlet now numbered with the dead.
The portage continued to be the highway over which supplies for the military posts and for the settlers were teamed until the Northern Railway was built to Collingwood in 1855. This was its death blow ; it has passed out of existence, and is entirely forgotten by the public except by those grey-haired persons who were resi- dents before it fell into disuse.
A trip across the old portage road is interesting to anyone who may desire a fuller knowledge of our county's history, for it can still be traced across the country from Barrie to Willow Creek, except in those places where improved farms have blotted it entirely out of existence. On one farm in the eighth concession of Vespra, there were to be seen great trenches beside it which had been thrown up in the time of the war; old spades, chains, and other articles have been found here. Farther on it descended a very steep, stony hill ;
THE FIRST COLONIZATION ROADS. S3
this place is still to be seen. To descend this hill with a heavy load was the greatest difficulty to be encountered along- the entire p-ortage. In the time of the war when cannons had to be teamed across, they passed ropes around the trees on tire roadside, and thus let the heavy loads down with case. For many years the trees on the hill- side showed the marks of the ropes that had worn into them. (This method of descending- high hills with a heavy load was called "track- ing" by the settlers).
On the sandy plains at the foot of this large hill, ruts were cut into the ground by the large amount of traffic over the road in olden times. Beyond these plains, and at the brink of another high hill, the fort or blockhouse itself was built to command the landing on Willow Creek, which was within half a mile of the foot of the hill. This fort was built in this hig-h position to overlook a wide stretch of country ; from it danger might be seen at a great distance, and it was defensible against attack on one side, at least.
It was there that the now deserted villag-e arose about the year 1830, but nothing can be seen of the place now, save the outlines of the foundations of a few buildings, covering- in all about quarter of an acre. There had been three or four acres cleared just around the fort, and this laid in a common down nearly to the present time. The branch of the Grand Trunk Railway to Penetanguishene runs along- at the foot of the hill only a few rods from the site of the fort, and between it and Willow Creek. Descending the hill to the rail- way, and then tracing the road through swamp and beaver-meadow over the old cedar corduroy, which after the lapse of more than three-quarters of a century is still perfectly sound, one reaches the landing itself on the creek — the northwestern terminus of this port- age. From this point easy access was possible by means of battcaux down the creek to the Nottawasaga River, and thence to the waters of the Georg-ian Bay.
In the Rev. Thomas Williams' pioneer "Memories" (No. 3), he gives some account of the "Nine Mile Portage," over which he teamed goods during the season of 1824, and his description of the road as it was at that time must be interesting to anyone who desires to follow the history of the road and the locality.
OPENING THE PENETANGUISHENE ROAD.
In 1793, Governor Simcoe, as already stated, visited the shores of Georgian Bay and discovered that the harbour, called by the
S4 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
Indians Penetang-uishene, was a most suitable place for shipping. He thereupon decided to use this harbour in sending supplies to the Government posts up the lakes ; but there is no evidence that his resolution was immediately carried into effect. One of the schemes that he then devised for the opening- up of the country seems to have had this object in view, for he planned the opening of a colonization road to connect Lake Ontario with Georgian Bay. In carrying out this plan he put the "Queen's Rangers" to open Yonge Street from York (now Toronto) as far as Holland Landing, which was done in 1796. From this point the route lay by water to the north side of Lake Simcoe. At Kempenfeldt a Government reserve was laid out in 1812 by Surveyor \\ilmot, as already stated. A road was then to be cut from Kempenfeldt to Penetanguishene, through the forest. This was proposed in 1813, for we find the following information in the second edition of Smyth's Gazetteer, published in that year, which appears to be the earliest reference to the proposed opening of the road :
"The tract of land between Kempenfeldt and Penetanguishene Bays has been lately purchased from the Indians, and a road is open- ing- which will enable the Northwest Company to transport their furs from Lake Huron to York, thereby avoiding the circuitous route of Lake Erie, and the inconvenience of passing along the American frontier." Here, then, in part at least, is the reason for its opening between the two bays. John Gait, in his "Canadas," (p. 168) states, also, that the Northwest Company improved the road.
Dr. Dunlop had charge of the party sent in Dec., 1814, to open the Penetanguishene Road at this time, and he has left an account of it in his "Recollections of the \Yar of 1812." After describing the cutting of this road through the forest, he speaks thus of the great cost of the undertaking: "The expense of a war surprises John Bull, and he only grumbles ; were he to enquire into the causes it is to be hoped he would be shy of so expensive an amusement, where after all he does not get his fun for his money. I would undertake to-morrow to cut a better road than we could possibly do, for forty pounds a mile (a distance of thirty miles), and make money by it, give me timely warning and a proper season of the year; whereas 1 am convinced that ^2,500 to .£3,000 did not pay for the one we cut."
Dr. Dunlop 's "Recollections of the War" first appeared in the "Literary Garland" (Montreal) many years ago, and have been reprinted in book form (Toronto, 1908).
THE FIRST COLONIZATION ROADS. 85
The next time we hear of this road is when Sir George Head passed over it Feb. 27, 1815, on his way to undertake the commis- sariat duties of the proposed naval establishment at Penetanguishene. He says it had been newly cut through the forest and gives a graphic account of his experiences, while passing over it, in his "Forest Scenes and Incidents in the Wilds of North America." From Head's description of it the inference is unavoidable that it was then in a primitive condition and thus it appears to have remained for a few years longer.
When the military post at Penetanguishene was renroved to the Nottawasaga River in 1815, this road from Kempenfeldt was in turn abandoned for the Nine Mile Portage leading to Willow Creek. But after the post was finally taken to Penetanguishene in 1818, it again came into use, and the next year settlers began to locate along it.
For a few years Lake Simcoe remained the only connecting link between the two parts of the great inter-lake highway — that part from York (Toronto) to Holland Landing, and that from Kempen- feldt to Penetanguishene. This route, involving as it did the use of boats in summer for the entire length of Lake Simcoe, was not prac- ticable for the transportation of live stock. Numbers of cattle had to be driven from the frontier townships to supply the soldiers sta- tioned at Penetanguishene with beef. This was effected by collect- ing them at Roache's Point; they were then ferried across the entrance of Cook's Bay to DeGrassi Point on the opposite shore in a scow. At the latter place was a ferry-house, occupied at the time we are speaking of by a Frenchman. From this place they were driven along an exceedingly winding Indian trail through Innisfil to the head of Kempenfeldt Bay, from where access to their destination was obtained by the road opened in 1814-5. Bit by bit the remaining part of the road was opened.
The new settlers in West Gwillimbury at the beginning of 1824 sent a petition to the Upper Canada Legislature, showing that they were separated from the old settled townships (on Yonge Street) by an impassable swamp, and were unable, without assistance, to con- struct the bridges and causeways necessary to cross this barrier. They asked aid, and the Legislature, on January 24 of that year, made a grant of ^150 for the first main road in West Gwillimbury (4 Geo. IV., chap. 29). It was on this occasion that Robert Arm- strong and his sons built the first corduroy across the Holland Marsh.
86 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
This great colonization road from Ontario to Huron was com- pleted in the fall of 1825, when it was extended beyond the settle- ments in West Gwillimbury, where it had already been constructed, to the head of Kempenfeldt Bay to join the earlier portion thence to Penetang-uishene. The circumstances connected with its complete opening- may be briefly recounted in the following- way.
The removal of the military and naval station from Nottawasag-a to Penetanguishene in 1818, gave the hope of a market at the latter place, and settlers soon beg-an to flock to that quarter in preference to any other. The soldiers there were paid for their services in money, which, accordingly, circulated more plentifully in the sur- rounding- neighborhood ; whereas, in other places, farm produce was exchanged for store goods in those days, it being difficult to pro- cure cash for an article at any point nearer than York (Toronto). On account of this greater abundance of ready cash, the district around Penetanguishene was settled prior to Innisfil. The settlers had gone by the waterway of Lake Simcoe from Holland Landing to Kempenfeldt, and from there by the road which had been opened in 1814-15; and in order to communicate with the frontier part of the province, they were obliged to traverse again the same inconvenient route. As the settlement around Penetanguishene continued to develop, the inconvenience of transit, partly by land and partly by water beg-an to be seriously felt. By the year 1825, Yonge Street had been extended in a rude way northward from Holland Landing to the Coulson Settlement in the north of West Gwillimbury ; but that part of Innisfil where the road subsequently ran was an unbroken wilderness, with the exception of one settler's clearing. If this almost unbroken forest in Innisfil could be pierced so as to join the two other parts of the road already constructed, overland communication with the front would then be secured for these Penetanguishene set- tlers.
A movement was accordingly set on foot to have the road made through Innisfil ; and as the Government of the day took no steps in the matter, these settlers around Penetanguishene raised by subscrip- tion a sum of money sufficient to do it. John and George Warnica, of Innisfil, took the contract for the part from Kempenfeldt Bay to the site of Churchill, a distance of eleven miles, receiving for the work five dollars per mile (£i 55.). They also opened the remaining part thence to West Gwillimbury, as the contractor, John Cayton, was unable to complete his end of the road. This was all done in
THE FIRST COLONIZATION ROADS. 87
the fall of 1825. William Richardson and James White, of the Pene- tangfuishene Road, near Dalston of the present, assisted the Warnica brothers to reopen the new road after a severe wind storm had blown many trees across it. In early records this road is called "Main Street," and even at the present day it is often known as the Main Road. When first made it was very rough and winding-, especially from where it cuts the twelfth concession line of Innisfil to the head of the bay; but it has been straightened in succeeding years, and this crooked portion ratified by Act of Parliament.
John Gait, in his Autobiography, speaks of this road being open in 1827, as horses with his baggage came from Holland Landing, and met him at the head of Kempenfeldt Bay. "They had come through the forest by a track recently opened, a great convenience in summer; in winter the lake is frozen, and travellers pass on the ice." Thus was opened one of the earliest and most important colo- nization roads in Upper Canada.
The condition of this road through the forest can only be under- stood by those who have seen a forest road after its opening, and for more than twenty years afterward it remained in much the same condition. Horseback riding was by far the safest mode of travel- ling on such a road and at such a period. It was upon lot 16, con. 3, of Innisfil that Sir John Colborne, Governor of Upper Canada, was thrown from his horse in 1830. The original road was zig-zag throughout its entire length, keeping, however, in a general way to the surveyed lines ; at Churchill it made a slight deviation into this farm, and encountered a soft, swampy tract, which was an unwel- come place to travellers. Governor Colborne had, upon the occasion in question, been on a visit to Penetanguishene, and was accompanied by Francis Phelps, of Holland Landing, and a retinue of servants and friends, all mounted on horseback. The old veteran of Badajos was always reckoned to be a very hard rider, his horse on this occasion becoming perhaps more fatigued than usual. \Vhen they had reached the marshy tract at Churchill on the return trip the horse on which Sir John rode plunged, and tossed His Excellency over its head into the mud. Considering the softness of the marsh into which he tumbled, there could not possibly follow any serious results; but the Governor's man-servant, who was riding next behind, rushed forward, shouting: "Are you hurt, sir? Are you hurt, sir?" to which enquiries, however, the Governor modestly made no reply, but scrambled out of the mire on his hands and knees with amazing
88 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
rapidity. To see the Governor -of Upper Canada besmeared with mud from head to foot, beyond recognition, was a sight which afforded a good deal of merriment to the neighborhood, and the episode was a favorite topic of conversation for many a day.
THE COLDWATER ROAD.
This was originally a long Indian portage from the Narrows, or rather from Lake Couchiching at the point where Orillia town now stands, to Coldwater on Matchedash Bay, its length being fourteen miles. In 1830, when Sir John Colborne, the Governor of Upper Canada, collected the Ojibway tribes of the district into a reserve here, extending along the portage, the original trail was cleared out as a road for vehicles, and it has remained an important highway to this day. Northwestwardly from the fourth line (S. Orillia), at the Orillia Cemetery, this road now runs through flat ground. But there is a conspicuous bar of gravel and sand, or old lake ridge, across this valley or channel, only 15 or 20 rods north of the present sur- veyed road. This bar carried the original Indian trail, and a similar remark applies to the crossing of another channel nearer Bass Lake. Elsewhere the present course of the road is almost identical with the first trail.
The introduction of a steamer on Lake Simcoe soon after the Coldwater trail had been converted into a wagon road greatly added to its utility as a line of travel to the north, the Narrows then becom- ing a regular port for calls. And we find many of the noted travel- lers of that period who have left accounts of their trips, passing to and fro by that route, from Mrs. Jameson, or even before her visit, to Lord Elgin.
The main road projected from Whitby past Lake Simcoe to Sturgeon Bay in 1843, further enhanced the value of the Coldwater Portage, as it could be utilized as a part of this proposed line of travel. The Orillia Packet of July 30, 1908, gave the minutes of a meeting held at Orillia, Eeb. 3, 1843, to petition the Governor-Gen- eral in favor of the construction of this new road, the documents printed in the Packet on the date mentioned having just turned up in the Bureau of Archives at Ottawa. One of the moving spirits in promoting this road was Elmes Steele, who was M. P. for Simcoe County at the time, and who had been unceasing in his efforts to forward the work.
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7a
THE FIRST COLONIZATION ROADS. 91
It was at this time that the Coldwater Portage was extended as a wagon road from Coldwater to Sturgeon Bay. This portion was known as the Sturgeon Bay Road, and we read of it being- open in 1844, at least as a rough track. (Minutes of the District Council, p. 223).
Prior to 1843, under the directions of the President of the Board of Works, Deputy-Surveyor Wm. Hawkins had surveyed the Nar- rows and in his report had pronounced the construction of a bridge there as quite feasible. Soon after this the Board of Works con- structed the first bridge and causeway across the Narrows.
While the road from Orillia to Sturgeon Bay was thus completely open soon after 1843, the portion from Whitby to Orillia was still under construction in 1847 (February), as we learn from a report by Frederick Dallas, written at that time. (Minutes of the District Council, p. 361).
THE GLOUCESTER ROAD.
This ran from the Penetanguishene Road at Hillsdale of the present time, to Gloucester Bay, which was the old name of some part of Matchedash Bay. It was opened as a Government Road in the winter of 1832-3, and the Gloucester Road became the leading highway through Medante in the early years of its settlement. But it is now closed, except for about two miles between Mount St. Louis and the Township Hall. Along this part of it many signs of Indians, both early and modern, were to be found until recent times; old tappings, said to have been made by them, were still visible a few years ago on maple trees in one or two places. The trail was near the southerly side of the ridge, because here they found the land higher and drier in most places.
The circumstances under which the settlers made the first Gloucester Road are recorded in the following despatch of the Com- missioner of Crown Lands to Wellesley Richie, who was employed by the Government at this time in settling the newcomers on their
lands : —
COMMISSIONER OF CROWN LANDS OFFICE,
Nov. 27, 1832.
SIR, — In consequence of the distress experienced by some of the pensioners, the Lieutenant-Governor has represented their condition to the Secretary of State, and in the meantime His Excellency author-
92 A HISTORY OF SIM CO E COUNTY.
izes you to issue provisions to those actually at work, in proportion to their families, and the number of acres of land they clear till the ist day of April next.
That is, you may make advances at the rate of five dollars per acre to those who have cleared or chopped two acres, and so on in proportion to the number of acres they may chop from this date, to ihj day above mentioned.
You will please to make weekly returns of the expense incurred : no outlay whatever will be sanctioned beyond this rate.
If you think a useful road can be opened through Medonte dur- ing the winter to strike the Penetanguishene Road, His Excellency authorizes you to employ the settlers at the rate of one shilling and sixpence per day, in making- a road in that direction.
I am,
Sir, MR. WELLESLEY RICHIE. (Sgd.) PETER ROBINSON.
When the inhabitants of Medonte petitioned in 1845 to have this road improved, they complained loudly of the original Indian track that had been used as a road, and commonly called "The Indian Path," or "Wood Bridge Road." It was, they said, "an illegal, serpentine and indirect route, and abounded in hills, swamps and rocks, tottering bridges and rotten crossways. "
THE SUNNIDALE ROAD.
The first Sunnidale Road was surveyed by Charles Rankin from
. the Head of Kempenfeldt Bay to the Nottawasaga River, and thence
through Sunnidale Township to Nottawasaga Bay in 1833, by Wm. Hawkins. In the Surveyor-General's instructions to Mr. Hawkins, dated 3Oth May of that year, when directing him to survey a town plot on the Nottawasaga River, he says : —
"I have to request of you that you will lose no time in proceeding to accomplish this object which will, in connection with Mr. C. Ran- kin 's Road from Barrie and that which His Excellency has been pleased to direct to be opened through Sunnidale, afford a line of communication from Lake Simcoe to Lake Huron where a favorable site is also to be selected for the establishment of a town.
"You will place yourself in immediate communication with W. Richie,' Esq., the agent for settling that part of the country as regards this service and that of exploring, marking, &c. , the intended road to which the enclosed instructions more fully refer, as also with Mr. Deputy-Surveyor Rankin should you fall in with him."
THE FIRST COLONIZATION ROADS. 93
After the survey of the road, a town plot at each end of it being then surveyed also (on Kempenfeldt and Nottawasaga Bays), Alex- ander Walker and the Drury Brothers, under contract from the Gov- ernment, opened the road in 1833. Like all the other pioneer roads, it was a mere wagon track through the forest ; for two miles from the head of Kempenfeldt Bay it followed the Nine Mile Portage, and then pursued a more southerly direction of its own to the Nottawa- saga River near Angus of the present time.
At Nottawasaga Bay the smooth sand beach could then be used as a road for wagons for several miles, just as it has been utilized for transit in our own day. \Yestward it led to the settlements on the good lands in the Township of Nottawasaga, and eastward into the Townships of Flos and Tiny.
THE FIRST RIDGE ROAD.
The Ridge Road through Oro Township from the head of Kemp- enfeldt Bay as far as Shanty Bay was one of the first in the district to be opened for vehicles. It was in use some time before 1833, and afforded a means of travel to the Penetanguishene Road which began at Kempenfeldt, for the early settlers along the lake shore in Oro.
Further extension of this road was proposed from time to time- in the early years. At the General Quarter Sessions for the Home District, October 7, 1841, there was submitted the Road Report of Horace Keating upon the petition of \Y. B. McYittie and others, "requiring a road to be surveyed and opened on the shore of Lake Simcoe, from Lot No. 24 in the i2th concession of Oro, toward the Town of Barrie (and) to the Ridge Road." Mr. Keating's Report was read and "confirmed," but the road itself was not then built.
A pioneer's trail went from Shanty Bay toward Gilchrist P. O. , and at the west half of lot 17, concession 4, it united with another branch from Crownhill. The latter came from the Penetanguishene Road, at lot 12, and crossed the Crownhill swamp at a narrow part (where a Trespass crossroad through lot 18, concession 3, still marks its course), before uniting with the former. The early Highland Scotch settlers in the northern part of Oro used these trails, or both branches of the one, as the Ridge Road was not open eastward much beyond Shanty Bay in the early days of settlement. This Gilchrist trail might have been used a little by the early Indians ; it evidently led to the east, as the swamps were too extensive to be regularly
94 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
crossed going by this trail toward the northwest corner. It was used within the memory of living persons, by Indians travelling over- land from Barrie to Orillia.
HAWKESTONE PIONEERS' TRAIL.
The more important one of the trails from Lake Simcoe into the interior began at the outlet of Hawkestone Creek, and followed up the west side of the stream for a considerable distance, not imme- diately beside the stream, but along the ridges a short way from it. The Indians used it from the earliest times, and it was also a deer path; then the early settlers used it, about 1832 and later, on their way to upper Oro from Hawkestone, where there was a landing- place for settlement purposes. Yet, the writer has been informed that it was never widened into a wagon road, but was only a path, although in some places it was wide enough for an ox-team. It crosses Hawkestone Creek, and in the neigborhood of Mitchell Square reappears along the east side of the creek, or at least a branch of the same pioneers' trail.
THE CENTRE Ro.\n OR HTRONTARIO STREET.
The foregoing list of the earliest colonization roads in the county, except where the Penetanguishene Road left Holland Land- ing and a branch of it from Bradford went to Bond Head, all ran from Lake Simcoe to the northward. But there was an exception to this rule in the case of the Centre Road through Mono and Mulmur, having for its destination Nottawasaga Bay.
In Etobicoke Township a branch of Dundas Street passed north- ward to Adjala and Tecumseth. Another, a little further on, passed in a northwesterly direction through Mono Mills, aiming for Notta- wasaga Bay. These were travelled roads from the frontier townships early in the thirties, and about the same time or a little later one also passed to Orangeville of the present day.
There was a survey for a leading road through these townships in 1837, so it belongs to the earliest highways of the pioneers. But as some of the northerly portions of this road were opened under the direction of the Simcoe District Council as late as 1848-9, it will come more properly in the next chapter.
Chapter X.
THE ROADS UNDER THE DISTRICT COUNCIL, (1843-9).
In the very first year of its existence (1843) the District Council of Simcoe addressed the Legislature, representing- that the ordinary means at their disposal were not sufficient to make and keep in repair the roads and bridges throughout the District, (with the management of which they had been charged by the new Municipal Act of that time), and also representing that the people of the District were unable to bear further taxes. They sought relief, therefore, and requested that the revenue from shops, taverns and still licenses, fees on marriage licenses, and fines and penalties, be relinquished ro them.
At the February meeting of the District Council, 1844, on motion of Win. Armson, of West Gwillimbury, who was frequently the pro- moter of progressive measures, the Council divided the District into eight divisions for the purpose of appointing a Road Surveyor in each. It will be of some interest to give the names of the men who were appointed on this occasion, and who corresponded, in some degree, to our pathmasters of the present day, of whom they were the forerunners.
DIVISIONS FOR RESIDENT ROAD SURVEYORS. (February, 1844).
1. W Gwillimbury & Innisfil Isaac B. Rogers.
2. Tecumseth, Adjala & Mono Wm.Brawley.
3. Essa, Tosorontio & Mulmur George Ruthven.
4. Nottawasaga & Sunnidale Joseph Bowerman.
5. Vespra and Flos Wm. Gibbard.
6. Oro and South Orillia Jas. Tudhope.
7. Medonte and North Orillia Thomas Craig.
8. Tiny, Tay and Matchedash Wm. B. Hamilton.
It will be more convenient to take up the transactions of this period under the head of each road, as in the last chapter.
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96 A HISTORY OF SIMG&E COUNTY.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE PENETANGUISHENE ROAD.
The Canadian Parliament had granted, on Sept. 18, 1841, the large sum of ^30,000 sterling, to improve and complete the "main northern road," and improve parts of it to Penetanguishenc, and also on the Goldwater Portage. The District Council complained in February, 1844, that nothing had been done, and that from Harrie to Holland Landing the road was "impassable for wheel car- riages;" accordingly, they sent an address to the Governor-General, Sir Charles T. M-etcalfe, on the subject.
Again, in May of the same year, another Address to the Gover- nor-General from the District Council mentioned the ,£30,000 for- merly granted for the main road, but none had yet been expended in the District. They pled that they had a debt of nearly ^8,000, and that the resident inhabitants were taxed nearly 4d. in the £.
At the same meeting, John Coulson and others residing in West Gwillimbury petitioned the District Council to order the surveying of the Penetanguishene Road through that township, in order to straighten the jog's. The Council abruptly reminded the petitioners that they had their remedy by employing a surveyor themselves and reporting to the Council. The transaction, however, tended to increase the agitation then in progress for the improvement of the road.
When the Hon. W. B. Robinson for the second time became the member of Parliament for S'imcoe, the District Council renewed its appeal (Nov., 1844), this time to him, to expedite the improvement of the main road from Penetanguishene to Holland Landing. But the financial condition x^f the united provinces was not very flourish- ing just at the time, so nothing could be done. In 1845, however, we find the Turnpike road from Bradford to Holland Landing was under a Parliamentary trust.
A protest of unusual strength, even for those days, went from the District Council on this subject in 1846. And when the Hon. \V. B. Robinson became Commissioner of Public Works in the Draper ministry the improvements so long desired were begun. The road was straightened and widened, and for a few miles from Allandale southward it was turnpiked, in 1847. This gave employment to a considerable number of men, as the work was all done by hand, there being no improved road machinery in those days. Many of those employed at the work were Irish emigrants. It was at this time also
William Armson, West Gwillimbury, Warden, 1845-52.
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ROADS UNDER DISTRICT COUNCIL (1843-9}. 99
that the road from Craig-hurst northward was made directly across Craig- 's Swamp, a deviation having- hitherto existed at this place. Still farther north, above Orr Lake, Rowley's Hill was cut down and improved. In this work the contractor (Morris-on, of Craig-hurst) employed a wooden railway and rail truck wagons, which ran down of themselves when loaded, being- in charg-e of a brakesman, while horses drew the empty cars back to the cutting-.
The money granted for this work came to an end long- before the road was completely improved, and when there was no more money the work ceased, especially after an election which came off that year, the expenditure on public works in those days being- very simi- lar to what it is in our own times, so far at any rate as elections are concerned.
So far as the District Council was concerned, the end had not come, for they petitioned the Legislature in February, 1848, for a further grant of money for the completion of the Penetang-uishene Road under the management -of the Board of Works. But it does not appear that any further grant was made, the Baldwin ministry taking- the place of the Draper ministry soon afterward.
EXTENSION- OF THE RIDGE ROAD.
This is now the main highway from Barrie to Orillia. It was surveyed by Henry Creswicke, Sr. , and opened as a public road along the lake ridge, in 1848, eastward from Shanty Bay, the westerly part having been -opened before. It appears to have been an Indian trail, originally, as there are a few Indian village sites along the ridge, and no swamps to cut off the travelling. The ridge is almost continuous for a long way, and there are no streams flowing into Kempen- feldt Bay from the north, but a few small ones begin to make their appearance as soon as the lake itself is reached, near Oro Station. Sir George Head ("Forest Scenes") mentions the ridge running into Oro from the head of Kempenfeldt Bay, which he had found pass- able as a trail in 1815. But the writer has not met with any other tradition of it.
James Adam, the representative from Oro to the Home District Council which held its sittings in Toronto, had urged, as early as February, 1842, a survey of a road leading from Barrie to Orillia, and had been promised that as soon as the funds of the District should warrant the Council to incur the expense of surveying impor-
100 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
tant lines of road, this should be one of the first undertaken. At the end of that year Simooe became a district by itself, and the question took a different turn.
In the pioneer days there were three Crossroads travelled through Oro Township, viz., the Upper, Middle and Lower Cross- roads. In the end it came about that the Upper and Middle roads were both opened before the Lower, or Ridge Road. About Decem- ber, 1846, Mr. Gzowski of the Board of \Yorks (afterward Sir C. S. Gzowski), while at work on the \Yhitby and Sturgeon Bay Road across the Narrows, had examined different lines for a direct road between Barrie and Orillia with the view to the construction of one early in the following spring.
Following Mr. Gzowski 's preliminary inspection for the road, Frederick Dallas, the representative from Orillia in the District Council, brought up the subject at the February session, 1847, and the Council petitioned the Legislative Assembly for an appropria- tion for one. It appears from the statements of the Hon. YV. B. Robinson, quoted in the Barrie Magnet of Aug. 20., 1847, that he had ^,^00 in the estimates presented to the Legislature that sea- son, but could not get it through the House, as there were many districts that got nothing at all. He was promised it, however, the next session. \Yith this beginning, the Ridge Road was finally opened in 1848, as above stated, the resident road surveyor, James Tudhope, having taken a part in its survey, as well as Henry Creswicke, the District Surveyor.
THE MIDDLE CROSSROAD. (ORO AND S. ORILLIA).
Early in 1843, or perhaps in the preceding autumn, Neil* Mc- Lean surveyed the Middle Crossroad or Centre Road through Oro, following along, and in some places, near to, the road allowance between lots 15 and 16. The survey, diagram and petition for the establishment of the road came before the District Council in February of that year, and the Council considered the road as of great importance and "manifest public utility," but in consequence of the obscurity of the surveyor's diagram, (so it is alleged in the Minutes, p. 391), they took no action. Again, on May 9, (at the second sitting), another report and survey from the same surveyor came before them, which they adopted ; and in August they passed a By-Law to establish the road. Along the route followed by this
ROADS UNDER DISTRICT COUNCIL (1843-1)). 101
road there had been an Indian trail through the forest, leading from Crownhill of the present time to Orillia, and the establish- ment of the new road here shows again the necessity the pioneers were under to select for their forest roads the same kind of courses which the Indians had selected, neither of them having- the means of runing roads straight through the woods, over swamps, hills and other obstructions, as we do to-day.
In the following year (1844) the Council made a continuatix)n of the road from Oro to Orillia town (then a village). In May, James Tudhope exhibited a diagram to the Council, showing the survey of a road through part of South Orillia, beginning from lot 15, con. i, where it connected with the middle Crossroad of Oro, and leading to lot 10, con. 3 of S. Orillia. The Council thereupon confirmed it and passed a By-Law to establish the road.
THE UPPER CROSSROAD, (ORO AND S. ORILLIA).
When Donald Cameron and fourteen others of Oro petitioned the District Council in February, 1844, to be allowed to employ a surveyor for laying out the crossroad between lots 10 and n in that township, the Council could see no objections to the petitioners doing so, and the surveyor reporting on the same. At this session James Tudhope was appointed as road surveyor, and it fell to his lot to lay out the course of the new main road, which was now opened from the Penetanguishene Road at White's Corners (now Dalston) throughout the township. It acquired great importance a few years later, as it became the stage road of the Barrie and Orillia route before the railway. In the following year (1845) it was extended across part of South Orillia to join the Coldwater Road, and from this time onward it became known to most per- sons as the Orillia Road. This followed the arrangements made in May of that year in accordance with the survey of James Tud- hope, when the by-law was passed by the District Council to establish the road across the first three and a half concessions of South Orillia, at Lot 10.
Two years later, owing to the numerous hills on the road allowance in Oro, between lots 10 and n, concessions 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, the District Council had to establish the deviation at this place and passed a by-law for the purpose (February, 1847).
102 A HISTORY OF SIMCOE COUNTY.
Two other roads in the north part of Oro were also in evi- dence about this time, and are worthy of note here, as they were necessary highways for the pioneers of that settlement and were to some extent auxiliary to the Upper Crossroad. The first was a new road across the easterly six concessions of Oro, south of Bass Lake. The District Council pased a by-law in Nov., 1844, establishing it. The lake and other physical obstructions prevented the opening of the road allowance in the proper place along the lot 5 sideroad, so it had to pass approximately between lots 6 and 7, and to this day the new road then opened is the travelled road.
The other was a trespass road between lots 7 and 8, con. 3, Oro, which had been in uninterrupted use since about 1837. This was closed in 1846, and the regular crossroad between lots 5 and 6 opened.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE GLOUCESTER ROAD.
The old Gloucester Road through Medonte, connecting the Penetanguishene Road (at Hillsdale) with the Sturgeon Bay Road near Coldwater, was most unsatisfactory and there was much out- cry against it, its condition in 1844 having been already mentioned in the last chapter. In August of that year Capt. Elmes Steele and 113 others of Medonte petitioned the District Council to order the survey of a road instead of the one then existing, at least in some portions of it. The Council politely gave the same answer as they did to other petitioners for roads about this time, viz., that the petitioners have their remedy by requesting a regular surveyor of highways to make the survey, and then apply to the Council to confirm the road.
During the next month (September), "at very considerable cost and trouble," several of the inhabitants employed a surveyor (Neil McLean) to ascertain the practicability of a new route by a safe and direct course. A few months before this (viz., in Febru- ary) the Council had