Yale University Library 39002021641999 Sketches LONG POINT SETTLEMENT -Si. E. A. OWKN ColJ^' /Sd ;«w t" i ' E. A. OWEN. PIONEER SKETCHES OF Long Point Settlement OR NORFOLK'S FOUNDATION BUILDERS AND THEIR FAMILY GENEALOGIES BY E. A. OWEN Cow/mercial Essayist TORONTO W^ILLIAM BRIGGS Wesley Buildings MONTREAL : C. W. COATES HALIFAX : S. F. HUESTIS 1898 Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, by Egbert Americus Owen, at the Department of Agriculture. TO Zbe <5ran&cbl[0rcn an& ©reat=granDcbilOren of tbe brave olD iPioneers WHO ERECTED THE FIRST CABINS AND BUILT THE FIRST LOG-HEAPS IN " GLORIOUS OLD NORFOLK," THIS VOLUME IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR. INTRODUCTION. This book is not a history of Norfolk County. It is simply a series of historical sketches and essays which tell the story of pioneer life in the early days of Long Point Settle ment, and depict the character and life work of the first cabin- builders. As a -whole, it is a history of the old trench-diggers and their crude beginnings ; and, in this sense, the book may properly be styled a history of Long Point Settlement during the time it remained judicial headquarters for old London District. These sketches are not presented to the public as gems of literary excellence. Their real -worth, -whatever that may be, lies in whxit they reveal and not in how they reveal it ; there fore, the writer has no fears for a possible adverse criticism ¦which a handful of merciless literary critics may deem proper , to give them. That the opportune time has arrived for a publication of this kind is quite apparent. More than a century has passed since the old foundation builders began their v^ork. They told the story of their experiences to their children, but of all the sons and daughters born to them in their early cabins not one is left to repeat the story. Generation has succeeded gen eration until -we find ourselves so far removed from the old VI INTRODUCTION. pioneer days that we know very little about them. In the Public Schools throughout the Province, and in many a district school in the neighboring States, may be found the great- great-grandchildren of the men who fired the first log heaps in Norfolk ; and it is to these and the rising generation generally, who know so little of their ancestors, that this volume is especi ally dedicated ; and the author trusts that it may infuse into their young minds a keener sense of gratitude for the wonder ful advantages which have fallen to their lot, and inspire them with renewed courage to battle for- the right and overcome the many difficulties which await them in the pathway of life. If future generations of Norfolk's citizenship are to remain as patriotic and loyal as the present and past have been, we must awaken in the minds of the young an interest in the story of pioneer life. They must study tlie character of the men and women who lost everything and suffered everything for con science sake ; and they must know of the hardships endured with fortitude, the privations suffered with patient resignation, and the great obstacles surmounted by firm determination and resolute perseverance, which mark the lives of these old pioneers in their struggles for existence in the primeval forest. , The author endeavored to gather as much of this wonderful story as he possibly could, and this volume contains the fruits of his labors. No available source of information was spared, and yet the work is far from being complete. Owing to the destruction of so many of the old records and other document ary evidences of pioneer happenings, much of the data required was obtained by careful and repeated interviews with the remaining few who, in their youthful days, sat at the feet of the old pioneers themselves. That the memories of these old INTRODUCTION. Vll people may have become more or less clouded with the infirm ities of old age is quite possible, and the thoughtful reader, therefore, will not be unduly shocked if he detect an occasional error in the family histories, and, more especially, in the family genealogies. It must also be remembered that these living oracles, standing with one foot in the grave, as it were, will very, soon be laid beside their fathers in the silent city of the dead, and that much of the information recorded on these pages, had it not been gathered in time, would then have been lost forever. In planning the work the author decided to commence at the very beginning of things in Norfolk and follow down to a certain fixed date, so far, at least, as the family histories are concerned. This was found to be necessary for two reasons : First, that the volume might be complete in its purport and yet not too large or cumbersome for a binding in cloth ; and second, that the writer might avoid the charge of favoritism in his treatment of the old families. This date is the year 1805 ; and, accordingly, every family settlement made during, or previous to, that year, where the requisite data were obtain able, is made the subject, in whole or in part, of a separate sketch in the series ; and in connection with the old family genealogies — which are carried down to the third generation — will be found short sketches of numerous families who came to the settlement at a later date. In conclusion, the reader is again reminded of the difiiculties encountered in obtaining authentic information. This is the first history of our old families ever written, although some of the scenes depicted in these sketches were enacted more than a. hundred years ago ; and as the dead cannot speak to us, nor Vlll INTRODUCTION. old records be restored after having been destroyed, the lights that shone out from the early cabin windows were becoming more and more obscure as the years went by. The author has simply gathered what has not been lost, and this volume will preserve it. Trusting that those to whom it is especially dedicated will find both pleasure and profit on its pages, he commits it to their care. E. A. Owen. CONTENTS. Sketch. ^ Page. I. An Historical Digest 15 II. Norfolk's First White Man— Billy Smith 23 III. Dr. Troyer and his Big Witch Trap 29 IV. Walsingham's Second Settler — Lucas Dedrick - 33 V. First White Burial in Old Charlotteville— Frederick Mabee 37 VI. Boxed Up by his Wife — ^ Abraham Smith . 43 VII. The Town of Charlotteville 49 VIII. The Father of Norfolk Presbyterianism — Jabez Culver 56 IX. Ryerson and Ryerse 62 X. A Pioneer Wheatfield 72 XI. A Pioneer Who Lived in the Executive Log Mansion — The Austin Family 76 XII. The Double Culver Quartette 84 XIII. Two Highland Lads - 91 XIV. The Clan McCall 94 XV. Two Maryland Dutchmen 101 XVI. Comforts of Old Age 105 XVII. A Young Pioneer Who Brought the Old Family Bible- Price Family 109 XVIII. Norfolk's Gallows ' 114 XIX. Neil's Corners and Cope's Landing - 120 XX. The Old Gustin Mill 123 XXI. A Strict Family Disciplinarian 127 XXII. Lieutenant Teeple's Mistake 131 XXIII. "The Good Old Times" - 134 XXIV. Jake Sovereign, the Pioneer Tavem-Keeper 137 X CONTENTS. Sketch. Page. XXV. The Earl of Mar, and the Marrs and Lemons of Norfolk 143 XXVI. A Family of French Huguenots 149 XXVII. A Pioneer " Meetin' " at Father Abraham Powell's 154 XXVIII. The Sons of Old Hendrick Slaoht- 158 XXIX. Our Fair Daughters 164 XXX. A Pioneer Murdered On His Way to Norfolk— Barber Family 170 XXXI. A U. E. Loyalist Ranger— Haviland Family 176 XXXII. Captain Edward McMichael - 181 XXXIII. A Veteran Educator and Judge 185 XXXiy. Whiskey a Medium of Exchange 190 XXXV. Pioneer Chickens Hatched in Transit 194 XXXVI. A Young Mother's Grave - 200 XXXVII. A Pioneer Mother who Weighed Three Hundred Pounds 204 XXXVIII. A Jolly Old Pioneer 207 XXXIX. The Sons of Captain John Oaks 211 XL. A Case of Church-going Mania 215 ¦ XLI. "Maple Avenue," the Old McMichael Homestead 218 XLII. A Somnambulistic Preacher - 224 XLIII. The Jansen de Rapeljes and Johnsons of Long Island 227 XLIV. The Old WyckoflF Homestead on Long Island 231 XLV. An Illustrious Ancestor — Walker Family 237 XL VI. Our Grandfathers' Struggle with the Forest 241 XL VII. Israel Wood and His Family 247 XL VIII. Othniel Smith 249 XLIX. A Man Who Practises What He Preaches 252 L. The Three Ephraims 265 LI. A Woodhouse Pioneer who was a British Naval Officer 261 LII. The Tisdale Brothers 265 LIII. The Pioneer Baptist Church 271 LIV. Pioneers in Methodism — James Matthews and Jacob Buchner - 277 LV. A Bright and Shining Example — Job Loder 283 LVI. Captain William Franklin 287 LVII. Two Brothers Meet in Deadly Combat at Lundy's Lane — Owen Brothers ¦ 290 CONTENTS. xi Sketch. PJ^gJ,. LVIII. Titus Finch, the Old Soldier Preacher 297 LIX. Pioneer Odds and Ends - 301 LX. A Family of Pioneer Mothers— McCleish Family 307 LXI. Offshoots of Welsh NobUity— Walsh Family 311 LXII. One of the Old Pioneer Deacons— Oliver Mabee 316 LXIII. The Boy Who Waited on the Governor— Pellum Mabee 321 LXIV. Old Fort Monroe and the Courts Held There 324 LXV. A Family of Boston Pioneers— Corliss Family 332 LXVI. A Pioneer Deacon and Father of Deacons — Johnson Family - - 339 LXVII. A Famous Middleton Pioneer Hunter — Middleton Browns 342 LXVIII. Pioneer Masonry 347 LXIX. A Maryland Plantation Overseer — Potts 355 LXX. Norfolk's Old Veteran High Constable— Pegg 360 LXXI. When Grandmother Slaght was a Girl 366 LXXII. Old Newport 370 LXXin. A Singular Coincidence 373 LXXIV. The Old Woodhouse Squire Who Kissed the Bride 376 LXXV. The Man Who Surveyed Walsingham— Hazen Family 382 LXXVI. Tried by God and Their Country at Turkey Point 387 LXXVII. Captain Anderson, of Vittoria 397 LXXVIII. The Story of Mary Sitts 403 LXXIX. The Six Montross Brothers and Sisters 411 LXXX. Old St. John's Church 415 LXXXI. The Old Pulpit Veteran of Waterford 420 LXXXII. Taken in by a Land Shark— John Kern 426 LXXXIII. The Buchners and Boughners 431 LXXXIV. The Steinhoff Brothers 437 LXXXV. Norfolk Presbyterianism 440 LXXXVI. Captain Mead— A Victim of the McArthur Raid 443 LXXXVII. A Master Foundation Builder — Rev. Daniel Freeman 448 LXXXVIII. The Old Furnace 452 LXXXIX. Talks With a Port Rowan Pioneer Mother— Mother Ellis 458 XC. A Jewell at Lundy's Lane — Jewell Family 463 XU CONTENTS. Sketch. ' Paob. XCI. Walked 500 Miles to Tell His Friend He Was Converted — Deacon Kitchen 466 XCII. The Old Mud Church . 472 XCIII. The Robinson Family of Townsend 476 XCIV. Died With Their Boots On— The Messacar Family- 481 XCV. The Squire of Colborne— Beemer Family 484 XCVI. Frederick Sovereign and His Norfolk Descendants - 490 XCVII. Pioneer Municipal Government 497 XCVIII. A Father and Son Blessed With Thirty-nine Children— Parney Family 507 XCIX. Wonderful Pedestrian Feats of a Pioneer Father and Mother— Timothy Culver 511 C. The Four-and-twenty Family of Walsingham 514 CI. "Ned" Foster and His Dog " Gunner "—Foster Family 519 CH. Captain Jonathan Williams 526 CHI. Backhouse Family — Major John Backhouse 533 CIV. Old Woodhouse Church, the Cradle of Norfolk Methodism 538 CV. The German Settlement in Middleton 544 CVI. The Welcome Latch-string— The Family of John Heath- 554 CVII. A Pioneer Poet and the Culvers of Woodhouse 560 CVIII. Then and Now - 568 ILLUSTRATIONS. E. A. Owen - Fruntispicce. Simpson McCall, Esq. 105 A Norfolk Pioneer Cabin - - 138 John Woodley - 162 Rev. J. H. Woodley 162 Esther Haviland 178 John Haviland (the grandson) 178 Rev. M'. H. Havil-ind - 179 RiCH.iRD McMichael 221 John Kitchen 242 Mrs. John Kitchen 243 Mr. AND Mrs. Joseph Tisdale 267 Present Edifice of the Pioneer Baptist Ohdrch 271 Jessie Owen 294 Joel W. Owen 294 Oliver Mabee 316 Old Fort Monroe 324 Nathan Peoo, the Old High Constable 360 "Granny" Johnson, ncc Mary Sitts 403 George Cinninoham, Jin. 405 Captain Abraham Nelles 407 "Uncle" Joseph Johnson 408 Joseph Kitchen 466 Woodhouse Methodist Church 538 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT SKETCH I. AN HISTORICAL DIGEST. Our forefathers began their pioneer work in Norfolk early in the closing decade of last century. Previous to 1790 not a single forest-tree, probably, had ever been felled by a permanent white settler. It may be asked, what of , our county area during all the countless ages which preceded the coming of the old pioneers — this splendid area which now contains so many smiling farms and beautiful, comfortable homes ? It is not the desire of the writer of this volume of pioneer sketches to encroach upon territory belonging to our future county his torian; but before introducing the old pioneers it is but relevant to my work to give a brief digest of the little that is known of the country previous to their coming. This may have a tendency to create in the minds of our people a desire to know more, and instead of forestalling, it will strengthen the demand for a full and complete history of the county. Such histories have been perfected in other counties, and Norfolk, the elder sister of the counties that surround her, will surely fall in line. The historical facts contained in the subjoined sketch were gleaned from the able contributions of James H. Coyne, 16 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. C. 0. Ermatinger, and K. W. McKay, in the publication of the Elgin Historical and Scientific Institute, entitled "Historical Sketches of the County of Elgin." Up to within a little more than a century and a half of the time when Dr. Troyer erected his log cabin on the flats just east of Port Rowan, the district comprising the County of Norfolk and adjoining counties had never been traversed by a European — at least history is silent as to any such visitation previous to the 3-ear 1626. At this time our county was a portion of the territory owned and occupied by a nation of aborigines known to the French as the " Neutrals." The Neutral country included all of the western peninsula of Ontario lying beyond a line drawn from the west end of Lake Ontario to the mouth of the ilaitland River. They were called Neutrals on account of the strict neutrality maintained during the wars between theHurons and the Iroquois. Champlain visited the Bruce peninsula in 1616. In his description of this visit he states that the Neutrals were a powerful nation, holding a large extent of country and number ing 4,000 warriors. He says they lived two days southward and that he had a great desire to go and see them, but was dissuaded from doing so by the Ottawas and other adjoining tribes. Good reasons were assigned for the admonition given, and Champlain concluded to forego the pleasure of visiting their country. The European who first visited the Neutral country was a Recollet father named De Laroche-Daillon. He was accom panied by two Frenchmen — GrenoUe and La Vallee, and on October 23rd, 1626, they arrived at one of the Neutral villages. They were hospitably entertained and amply supphed with venison, pumpkins and " neintahouy." The surprise shown by the Indians clearly indicated that they had never before been visited by a Christian missionary. Daillon was kindly received, visited several of their villages and remained with them three months. They adopted him as a citizen and child of the country, and entrusted him to the care of their great chief; Souharissen. The Neutrals had twenty-eight villages, besides AN HISTORICAL DIGEST. 17" several small hamlets of seven or eight cabins built in different parts of the country as hunting, fishing, and farming stations. Souharissen was mighty in war, and the authority wielded by him had no parallel among the other tribes. War clubs and bows were the weapons used, and the Neutral warriors were- adepts in using them. Father Daillon was very much pleased with the country.. He declared it was the most beautiful of all the countries he had seen. He noted the abundance of deer, and the Indianu mode of capturing them by driving them into, gradually narrowing inclosures. He refers to moose, beaver, wild-cats, bustards, turkeys, cranes, etc., as being abundant, and remarks upon the squirrels as being larger than those of France. It was in the winter season, and yet he describes the natives as being " entirely unclad" and lazy and immoral. After Daillon's -vdsifc the Neutrals were left to themselves for fourteen years, when two Jesuits — Breboeuf and Chaumonot — traversed their country. About this time crude maps of the Neutral country appeared showing several towns, none of which is shown as being within our county limits. The priests. were instructed to establish a mission, and on November 6th, 1640, they arrived at the first Neutral village, which is sup posed to have been located near the present site of Brantford. The missionaries wandered from village to village, and, owing to the circulation of mahcious reports by the emissaries of neighboring tribes, they were subjected to great hardships.. They remained four months and visited eighteen villages, to each of which they gave a Christian name. Becoming disheartened, they determined to leave the country, but being caught in a heavy fall of snow at a -village supposed to have been located near the present site of Woodstock, they lodged in the cabin of a squaw for twenty-five days. The Neutrals were frequently at war -with the Nation of" Fire, whose dominions were to the west of the Detroit River.. In 1643, about 2,000 Neutrals invaded their country, and, after killing a large number, carried off" 800 captives. It isi 18 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. said that at this time the Nation of Fire was more numerous than the Neutrals, the Hurons and the Iroquois all combined, •which speaks much for the fighting qualities of the Neutrals as displayed in this exploit. About the middle of the last century a fierce tribal war broke out, and when it subsided the Neutral nation was no more. The Iroquois turned their forces against them, and after destroying their frontier villages and capturing a large number of warriors, consternation and fear took possession of the remainder. They abandoned their .homes, and the remnants of a once proud and powerful nation Tvandered away in different directions and were absorbed by ¦distant tribes, thereby losing their identity forever. After the expulsion of the Neutrals, what had been their ¦country remained an unpeopled wilderness, being described in the French maps as " the Iroquois beaver ground." To intercept this beaver traific the .French built forts at Detroit, Niagara and Toronto ; but for nearly a century and a half no isettlement was attempted on the north shore of Lake Erie. During this long solitude very little is recorded in history bearing on the area embraced in the County of Norfolk. Travellers coasted along the shore in canoes in passing between eastern points and the North- West, but they never landed except for shelter and repose. The usual route from Quebec -to Lake Superior was by way of the Ottawa and French rrivers, but in the autumn of 1669 Joliet made a return trip by way of the lower lakes, being the first Frenchman to descend Lake Eric He left his canoe at the mouth of Kettle Creek, and crossed overland to Burlington Bay. About half-way ^between the Grand River and the bay he met La Salle and the Sulpician priests, Dollier de Casson and De Galinee. Joliet gave the priests a description of his route, and La Salle returned with him. The priests descended the Grand River to the lake, and then followed the shore to the mouth of Patterson's Creek. Here, on the present site of Port Dover, the party, including seven men besides the two priests, remained -five months and eleven days, being visited in their cabin by AN HISTORICAL DIGEST. 19 Iroquois beaver hunters. This was during the winter of 1669 and 1670, and on March 23rd, the day of their departure, they planted a cross with an inscription on it on the lake shore. They coasted up the lake, and before reaching the sand beach connecting Long Point with the mainland, had to pass two streams. To effect the first crossing they were obliged to ascend the stream four leagues before they found a suitable place to ci'oss. This must have been Young's Creek, which flows into the lake at Port Ryerse. Father Galinee, no doubt, had reference to the French legal posting league which equalled 2.42 English miles, and if he correctly estimated the distance, they must have walked up the north bank of the creek a distance of more than nine and a half miles, which would take them above Charlotteville Centre. Young's Creek must surely haA'e been a mighty torrent on that March day more than two centuries gone by to make such an effort as this necessary to cross it. What a precious bit of information it would be to know just where that crossing was made ! At Big Creek they were detained a whole daj' constructing a raft with which to cross, and were further delayed by a stormy nortli wind and a heavy fall of snow. After crossing they were compelled to wade girdle deep through mud and slush a distance of two hundred paces. When they arrived at the sandy ridge connecting the point with the mainland, they encamped near the sand-bar and waited for the canoes. It being Holy Week, the party remained in camp until April 8th, celebrating Easter together. They proceeded as before, four in chai-ge of the canoes and the other five on foot. They found Joliet's canoe where he had left it, and on May 25tli arrived at the Sault. Father Galinee gave a glowing description of the abundance of game and wild fruits seen opposite Long Point. The party went into camp at the outlet of Lynn Yalley about the middle of October, 1769. The following winter was mild and open. They came in advance of the first frosts and found the wild fruits of the forest at their best. Father Galinee 20 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. describes the grapes as being as large and as sweet as the finest in France, and the wine made from them as being equal to vin de grave. He admired the walnuts, chestnuts, wild apples and plums. He found Norfolk bear-meat more palatable than the most " savory " pig-meat in France. He saw wandering herds of deer, and sometimes as many as two hundred were seen feeding together. To sum up, he calls the region " the terrestrial paradise of Canada." The results of this voyage stirred the French to renewed activity in establishing new trading posts and pushing trade generally ; but although the north shore of Lake Erie became a trade thoroughfare, no trading post was established and no settlement attempted on our shore. A map of 1755 shows Patterson's Creek as the River D'OoUier, while on other maps it is named the River of the Wintering. At the time of the conquest, in 1759, the Ojibways, or their kindred, the Mississagas, were the sole occupants of western Ontario, except a small portion near Detroit ; and it was the latter who ceded, in 1784, a large portion of the old territory of the Neutrals, including the area which subsequently became the County of Norfolk. Charlevoix, the distinguished traveller, made a coasting voyage up the lake in 1721, and he describes Big Creek and Long Point as follows : " The first of June being Whitsunday, after going up a pretty river almost an hour, which comes a great way and runs between two fine meadows, we made a portage about sixty paces to escape going around a point which advances fifteen leagues into the lake ; they call it the Long Point. It is very sandy and produces naturally many vines." By the Treaty of Paris, signed February 10th, 1763, Canada passed under British rule. In 1788, Quebec was divided into five districts, the most westerly being the District of Hesse, and the one adjoining it on the east was named the District of Nassau. A line running north from the extreme end of Long Point was designated the dividing line between the two districts. Norfolk, therefore, was in the District of Hesse. AN HISTORICAL DIGEST. 21 This was the first move made toward an organized system of judicial administration for Western Canada. A Court of Common Pleas was established at Detroit with the follo%\'ing justices: Duperon Baby, Alexander McKee and William Robertson. There were eight justices in the district Commis sion of the Peace. Gregor McGregor was appointed Sheriff', and Thomas Smith, Esq., Clerk of the Peace. The magistrates chose a situation opposite Bois Blanc Island for a district town, and the district surveyor began the work of surveying the townships. On June 16th, 1790, Patrick McNiff" reported to the Com mandant at Detroit the result of an exploration which he had been ordered to make of the lake shore from Long Point "westward. The only passage in the report referring to our own shore is the following : " On the back of Long Point, very good land, not so hilly as what I have passed. Timber, bass, black walnut and hard maple, but marshy in front for twenty or thirty chains." The report was unfavorable, and orders were given for a survey of townships on the Thames River instead of on the lake shore. At this time a large number of U. E. Loyalists had settled in western Canada, and they were very much dissatisfied ^vith the existing laws. This resulted in the organization of the new Province of Upper Canada in 1791. In July, 1792, Governor ¦Simcoe divided the new province into nineteen counties, the sixteenth in the list being named the County of Norfolk. It was simply a section of unbroken wilderness stretching from the Grand River to the mouth of Catfish Creek. One hundred and twenty-two years before. Father Galinee pronounced it ^' the terrestrial paradise of Canada," and forty -four years Ijefore Galinee visited our shore Father Daillon had declared the Neutral country, which included our county area, to be more beautiful and better than any other " of all these countries " ; and yet, during all these years, no attempt was made by the French to establish a settlement on our shore. Indeed, when the County of Norfolk came into existence, in July, 1792, 22 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. there is no eWdenee showing that a cabin had .ever been erected within her present boundaries by a permanent settler. Shortly after this, however, our brave old LoyaUst ancestors and other home-seekers began the work of laying Norfolk's foundations. Succeeding sketches in this volume tell who these foundation builders were, where they came from, what manner of men they were, and much that is of interest con cerning: their descendants. SKETCH II. NORFOLK'S FIRST WHITE AfAN— RTTT.Y SMITH. If the tradition handed do-wn in the first Smith family be true in fact, no doubt would remain as to who was the first -white man that established a residence in Norfolk, remaining and afterwards becoming a permanent settler. This man's name was William Smith, familiarly known in pioneer times as " Uncle Billy ' Smith. He was the eldest son of old father Abraham Smith, who settlefl temporarily at Fort Erie, in 1785; and who came on, in 1793, to Long Point, with his family, and settled in the Creek valley, in the front of what became lot 15, 5fch concession of Charlotteville. An account of father Abra ham's settlement is given elsewhere. It is said that " Uncle Billy " left the parental roof the year following the settlement at Fort Erie, and wandered up into Long Point country where he lived among the Indians. This. was in 1786, some four or five years pre-vious to the earhest date- claimed for the first settlement. During these j-ears Williant Smith was, no doubt, the only white man li-ving in Norfolk County, who became, subsequently, a permanent settler. Of course, he frequently visited his own people, but he spent the most of his time among the Indians. That portion of the;- Creek valley referred to was an Indian village. The sunny hillside was dotted with their bark wigwams, and the Creek valley resounded with the shouts of hundreds of hearty young "bucks" as they chased each other up and down the stream,. or rolled and tumbled underneath the wild plum and crab-- apple trees. 1 he Indians of Long Point country were peace fully inclined. Yery few instances of treachery are recorded.". They extended a welcome hand to their white brothers, ani 24 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. sought their friendship when they made their first appearance among them. The preceding wars, resulting in the complete downfall of French domination on the American continent, had left an impression on the Indian mind that the English ¦were a mighty nation governed by a powerful chief who avenged all wrongs inflicted on his people, and protected those who were friendly towards him and treated his people as brothers. There is a certain dignity displayed in the Indian idea of bravery and tribal integrity that is admirable ; and it was but natural that they should be favorably impressed with tthe dignified bearing of the English, and the honor and business integrity which marked all their dealings with them. " Uncle Billy '' Smith is described as a man who possessed peculiar and, in some ways, striking individual characteristics. He was as brave as a lion, and as playful and frolicsome as a lamb. He was as invincible as the " Rock of Gibraltar " when -occasion required it, and yet he was as sympathetic and tender as a woman. His fund of good humor was inexhaustible, and his jovial, sunny disposition served as a sure and certain pass port to the good-will of all with whom he came in contact. The " noble red men " like fun as well as their white brothers, and they were greatly amused by " Uncle Billy " and became his fast friends from the first. He was an athlete, and his nnarvellous feats of strength awed the Indians. He taught them white men's tricks, and they taught him the best known Tndian methods of hunting, trapping, healing diseases, etc. He was one among them in the chase, in their dances and 'Other amusements ; in fact, he lived with them and learned a smattering of their language. " Uncle Billy " was not a large man. He was of medium .height and weighed only about one hundred and sixty-five pounds, and yet he was a man of prodigious strength. If all the stories told of his wonderful lifting powers were written down they would fill a volume. If he had been crossgrained in disposition, he would have been a dangerous man, especially at that time when all matters in dispute were settled at the -bar of fisticuffs. NORFOLK S FIRST WHITE MAN. 25 The writer of this sketch has no desire to detract, in the least, from the gi-eat reputation which the author of " Gullivers Travels " won for spinning yams, yet he cannot let slip the opportunity of repeating, for the benefit of the reader, a few of these wonderful stories. Those given are among the mildest and will do the least violence to the reader's credulity ; and, furthermore, they were obtained from an elderly gentleman of good memory, whose father was a near neighbor and intimate friend of '' Unde Billy." Hugh McCall, John Bray, Solomon Sovereign and -Joseph Kitchen — all large, powerful men — ^were, on a certain occa sion, testing their lifting powers on the big bark-wheel used by the latter in connection with his tannery. The wheel was six feet in diameter, eighteen inches thick, solid, and made of oak timber. In addition to the weight of tliis ponderous wheel was that of the propelling shaft, or lever as it was called, around which the wheel revolved. When it is considered that this shaft was about fifteen feet long, passing through the wheel four feet from the outer end where the lifting was done, the difficulty of the task may well be imagined. One or two of the contesting parties were just able to lift it clear of the crashing floor, and while thus engaged Unde BiUy " came upon the scene. He saw what the best man in the party could do, and then, without making a test, he offered a wager that he could lift it three times in succession with all four of them on top of the wheeL The wager was accepted, and ' Unde Billy " won with the greatest apparent ease. He lifted it three times, letting it drop with a hea-vy " thud ° each time. In these early days Jake " Sovereign kept a tavern on lot lo. 6th concession of Charlotte\Tlle, a little west of "Unde Billy's " place. By the way, the reader must not infer that the venerable old ex-warden of Delhi is the man who kept this tavern, for he is the little grandson of the sturdy old pioneer who kept this pioneer tavern. Well, " Unde Billy '" and " Jo "' Kitchen took a barrel of whisky to Jake's tavern on one occasion, and when they arrived "Uncle Billy" shouldered the cask and carried it in. The bar-room door, like aU pioneer 26 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEltfENT. doors, was low, and so Billy had to double himself up to get through with his burden. It required Jake and two or three others to relieve Smith of his burden, and while .the cask was being rolled across the floor it went crashing through ancj " fetched up " at the bottom of the hole underneath which served as a cellar. It is said that this same " Uncle Billy " Smith could pick up a fifty-gallon cask of whisky and drink out of the bung-hole. On one occasion, while in Gustin's mill, below Vittoria, he offered a wager that he could write his name on the side of the wall with a sixty -pound weight hang ing to his little finger. He won the wager in the presence of several men. He was the champion back-hold wrestler in the settlement. There was no human vertebral column that could resist the force of his muscular arms. But he seldom exercised his great strength on hand-to-hand contests with his fellow-beings, not through lack of courage, for there was not a cowardly hair in his head, but by reason of his exceeding good nature. His physical powers were brought to bear on things inanimate, thereby injuring no one, except, quite possibly, himself. William Smith married Jane, daughter of Samuel Barber, the grand ancestor of the Barber family, of Townsend. He settled on Lot 19, 6th concession of Charlotteville, where his wife died, leaving him with a young family consisting of four sons — Burdsey, Daniel, William and Joseph K., and three daughters — Jane, Rachel and Clarissa. The home circle was broken up after the mother's death, and the children found homes among friends. Subsequently, " Uncle Billy " married Fanny Oaks ; and after his death she married Barney Hackett, of Vittoria. Burdsey Smith, eldest son of William, married Maria, and subsequently Delia, daughters of James Dolan,. of New Jersey. He settled as a pioneer in " the land o' Goshen," Middleton, on Lot 12, 2nd concession, N. T. S. Here he lived until the rough edge of pioneer life was worn off, and then the family moved to Washington, 111. He left a number of sons and daughters. Daniel Smith, second son of Williain, married Mary NORFOLK S FIRST WHITE MAN. "27 Chadwick, and settled on Lot 15, 4tli concession of Charlotte ville. He was a deacon of the Baptist church, of Vittoria, for many years, and led a most exemplary life. He and his wife are both dead. He had five sons — Primus, William, Charles, Arthur and Daniel ; and four daughters — Maggie, Aggie, Mary and Ella. William Smith, third sou of William, married Mary Robin son and settled on Lot 11, 7th concession of Townsend. He had four sons — Walter, Adauiram, Louis and William ; and three daughters — Rebecca, Lorinda and Jane. Adanir.am occupies the old homestead. All the others, including both parents, ai-e dead. Joseph K. Smith, fourth sou of William, married Sabiiia Sinden and settled on Lot 22, 13th concession of Windham. He was a deacon of the Fredericksburg Baptist church for a good many years, and no one of Windham's pioneers led a more consistent Christian life, or left a cleaner record of life's work behind him than Deacon Joseph K. Smith. In his old age he retired from the farm and purchased a fine home in the village of Waterford, which his widow at present occupies. He left two daughtera — Mrs. Roger Crysler, of Delhi, and Mrs. Samuel Cunningham, of Waterford. Jane Smith, eldest daughter of William, married Solomon Sovereign, and settled on Lot 24, 7th concession of Charlotte ville. Subsequently the family moved to the western States. Mr. Sovereign died quite recently in California, having reached his ninety-sixth year. Rachel Smith, second daughter of William, married William Huff, of Port Roj'al, by whom she had one son, William, and one daughter, Ellen. Subsequently she married Jacob Bowers, of the same place, by whom she had several children." After Mr. Bowers' deatli the mother settled in Michigan among her children, where she died. Clarissa Smith, youngest daughter of William, married William Cowan, and settled on Lot 19, 4th concession of Charlotteville. Mr. Cowan is still living. She had five sons — 28 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. John, William, David, James and Alexander ; and five daugh ters — Janet, Jane, Agnes, Margaret and Mary. As Burdsey Smith was the eldest son of Norfolk's first white man, and one of the Goshen pioneers, it may not be out of place to add a few historical notes in this connection pertaining to the settlement of that favored spot in the town ship of Middleton. Although the township, as a whole, may not rank among the best in the vast territory that once consti tuted London District, that portion of it known as Goshen is not excelled anywhere in the comfort and elegance of its homes or the fertility of its soil. The petition for the opening of a public road through this rich section of wilderness, known as the " Goshen Road," was signed by Frederick and Henry Sovereign, James Brown, Peter Mabee, Chris. Buchner, Lot Tisdale, James and John Ronson, Geo. Byerlay, Wm. McLennan, Burdsey W. Smith and ffve Bay ham settlers. A survey was made and published according to law as evidenced by the following certificate : " I, Francis L. Walsh, surveyor of highways for the County of Norfolk, make oath that I did on the 25th day of September, 1835, aifix a copy of the foregoing report in a conspicuous manner on the house of George Reid, and in like manner on the same day did affix another copy thereof on the inn of Sidney Bowlby, both of Middleton, and near the com mencement of said new road. " F. L. Walsh, H. W." Among the early pioneers in Goshen were John McDonald, the Ronsons, the Mabees, Burdsey W. Smith and Henry Wade. These were followed by the Shepherd, Cowan, Sand- ham, Jeffrey and other families. It is said that Mr. McDonald slept under a log every night for three weeks while chopping on his l&nd, and never saw a human face during that time. The present home of William Shepherd was the first brick house erected in the township of Middleton, outside of the village of Delhi, the old home of James Whiteside, Esq., being the first. The original Goshen pioneers have all passed away, and but few are left of those who came later. SKETCH IIL DOCTOR TROYER AND HIS BIG WITCH TRAP. About a mile and a half east of Port Rowan the lake road is crossed by a deep ravine. At some time in the remote past this ravine was caused by the action of water, and the earth thus washed out, suddenly, no doubt, was carried out into the bay, forming an immense bar which, in course of time, sent up a growth of vegetation. This bar, or flat, contains about fifteen acres, and has been cultivated for more than a hundred years. The oldest apple trees in Norfolk stand, unquestion ably, on this flat. This flat is only a few rods from the public road, but the winding course of the ravine shuts off the traveller's view of the old orchard, the buildings and the flat itself. This secluded spot was the home of Dr. Troyer when every other portion of Norfolk was an unbroken wilderness. There is a beginning to every earthly state or condition ; and as there are no existing records to prove the contrary, it is perfectly safe to assume that the log-cabin erected by Dr. Troyer on this flat, was the first human habitation erected in Norfolk by a permanent white settler. Many people imagine that the public land records show who the first settlers were, but this is not so. The public records may show who obtained the first land patents in a certain locality, but they do not show who may have " squatted " on lands in that locality previously. This question of priority involves but a year or two at the most, and it is quite possible that one or more may have come with Troyer, but that no settlement antedates that made by him may well be assumed as a fact. When Frederick Mabee built the first log-cabin in Charlotteville, at the foot of so PIONEER sketches OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. the hill overlooking Turkey Point, Dr. Troyer lived on this flat. When Jabez CoUver erected the first cabin in Windham, and before the first log was laid on the ground where the town of Simcoe stands. Dr. Troyer was keeping house on this sunny, fruitful flat ; and when old father Abraham Smith got ready to build his first cabin, Dr. Troyer took a day off and went down to give him a lift. Years before Daniel Hazen surveyed the township of Walsingham, the smoke had ascended from Dr. Troyer's cabin on this flat, and when Major Back house first set foot on Walsingham soil. Dr. Troyer was looked upon as an old settler. As near as can be ascertained. Dr. Troyer built his pioneer cabin not long after the year 1790. He was of German descent, and came, probably, from Pennsylvania. Dr. Troyer was Norfolk's first medical practitioner. His patients were " far between," and in his case it may be truth fully said that he had an "extended" practice. He was insanely superstitious, being a hopeless and confirmed believer in witchcraft. This peculiar mental malady caused him a world of trouble and made him ridiculously notorious. To prompt the recital of some witch story all that is necessary is to mention the name of Dr. Troyer in the presence of any old settler in the county. The name " Dr. Troyer " and the term " witches " are so interwoven in the minds of the old people that they cannot think of one without being reminded of the other. The old doctor was terribly persecuted by these witches. All his troubles of mind and body were attributed to the witches who existed in human form and possessed miraculous powers for producing evil. He looked upon certain of his neighbors as witches, one of the most dreaded being the widow of Captain Edward McMichael. Mrs. McMichael was a very clever woman, and to be considered a witch by the superstitious old doctor was highly amusing to her. She was ,a woman of strong mind and great courage, and it is said she frequently visited the lonely ravine and made grimaces at the poor old doctor from some recess or clump of bushes, just for DOCTOR TROYER AND HIS BIG WITCH TRAP. 31 the pleasure it gave her to tease and torment him. He was a great stutterer, and her appearance in the ravine would throw him into a fit of wild excitement, during which he would stutter and gesticulate in a threatening manner. He was a great deer hunter, but if he chanced to meet Mrs. McMichael when starting out on a hunting expedition he would consider it an omen of ill luck, and would turn about and go home. He kept a number of horse-shoes over the door of his house, and at the foot of his bed a huge trap was bolted to the floor where it was set every night to catch witches. The jaws were about three feet long, and when shut about two and a half feet high. There are people in Port Rowan to-day who have a distinct remembrance of having seen this witch trap in ' Dr. Troyer's bed-room. But in spite of this defensive means the witches would occasionally take him out in the night and transform him into various kinds of animals and compel him to perform all sorts of antics. Whenever he met with an exper ience of this kind he would suffer from its effects for sometime afterwards. One night the witches took him out of a peaceful > slumber, transformed him into a horse and rode him across the lake to Dunkirk where they attended a witch dance. They tied him to a post where he could witness the dance through the windows, and fed him rye-straw. The change of diet and the hard treatment to which he was subjected, laid him up for a long time. It required several doses of powerful medicine to counteract the injurious effects of the rye-straw and restore his digestive organs to a normal condition. Strange as it may appear, Dr. Troyer believed all this, yet, aside from witchcraft, he was considered a sane man. He is described as wearing a long white flowing beard ; and it is said he lived to be ninety- nine years old, and that just before his death he shot a hawk, off'-hand, from the peak of the barn roof. Deacon Michael Troyer was the only son of Dr. Troyer. The deacon was the principal corner stone of the Baptist church of Port Rowan. He was highly respected by all who knew him, and when he was called to his reward, having reached a ripe old age, his loss was felt by the entire community in which he 32 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. lived. He was a blacksmith, and the old blockhouse which served as a shop is still standing on the Troyer flat.. In 1802 he was appointed constable for Walsingham. He had four sons — John, David, Michael and Cornelius ; and five daughters — Elizabeth, Sophronia, Catherine, Susannah, and one who married Edward Bowan. Of this family, John married Hannah Rockefeller, and settled, finally, in Illinois, where he died. David married Mary McUermand and settled, ' finally, at Clear Creek, where he died. Michael married Louisa Halstead and settled, finally, in Chicago, where he died. CoRNELius married Malinda Rockefeller and settled at first on the homestead, but finally, went to Illinois where he still lives. Elizabeth married Christian Becker and settled at Clear Creek. In her family were three sons — John L., Ephraim and Cornelius ; and two daughters — Mary and Azina. Sophronia married David Rohrer and settled in Houghton. After Mr. Rohrer's death she married Samuel Pettit and settled in Illinois, where she still lives. Catherine married Robert Stillwell and settled in Walsingham. Susannah married Nelson Bowan and settled in Houghton. The name of Troyer - has become extinct in Norfolk, and but few descendants of the man who built the first Norfolk home remain in the county. Deacon Michael Troyer met with an unusual experience in the earlier part of his life, which is worthy of being recorded. He fell into a trance and was dead to all appearances for three days and nights His friends, thinking he was dead, began to make preparations for his burial ; and if the trance had con tinued a little longer he would, no doubt, have been buried alive. During this trance it seemed that his sou) had been Wafted away to the regions of eternal light where it feasted on supernal joys. When the time came to return to earth he was loth to go, and he begged permission to- remain ; but the blessed Saviour lovingly took him by the hand and informed him that He had a work for him to do on earth ; that he must go back and attend to it, and that he might then return and remain for ever. This experience led to. his conversion. SKETCH IV. 'WALSINGHAM'S- SECOND SETTLER— LUCAS DEDRICK. One hundred and four years ago (1793) the young Indians who gambolled about on the sunny flat which, at that time, lay in front of the high land now covered by the village of Port Rowan, and which extended as far as the end of the present pier, might have seen the smoke ascending from the bark roofs of the first two log-cabins erected in the township of Walsing ham. The older one was the Troyer cabin, located on the flat about a mile and a half east of Port Rowan, and which, no doubt, was the first white man's home established in Norfolk county. The second cabin was located about the same distance west of Port Rowan, and stood near the south end of. the elevation extending into the marsh, now constituting the beautiful Bay View cemetery. This was the home of Lucas Dedrick, and there is every reason to believe that it was the first and only white man's home between the Troyer flat and the western limits of the county, in the year of our Lord, 1793. The " Pioneer Wheatfield," which forms the subject of one of these sketches, is now a part of the cemetery. That acre of wheat was harvested more than a hundred years ago. Little did Lucas Dedrick think, when he planted his first little crop among the stumps, that a century hence his little clearing would be a public cemetery in which would lie the bones of his great-grandchildren, and that no one among his numerous descendants would be able to point out the spot where his log- cabin stood. Although the old homestead has never passed into stranger's hands, no living member of the family kno-«vs just where the first Dedrick home in Walsingham was located. 3 34 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. When the cemetery was being improved, broken bits of crockery were turned up at a certain spot, and it is supposed that this is the place where stood the second home erected in the township. Well may we, the great-grandchildren of the old pioneers, ponder the words of the old song : " Where ! where -w-ill be the birds that sing A hundred years to come ? The flowers that now in beauty spring A hundred years to come ? The rosy lips, the lofty brow, The heart that beats so gaily now ? Oh, where will be love's beaming eye, Joy's pleasant smile, and sorrow's sigh A hundred years to come ? * ' We all within our graves shall sleep A hundred years to come ; No living soul for us will weep A hundred years to come ; But other men our lands will till. And others then our street's will fill. While other birds will sing as gay. And bright the sun shine as to-day, A hundred years to come." When our great-grandfathers were building their log-cabins, " a hundred years to come " was a far-away condition of things too visionary to command a serious thought ; yet, before some of their pioneer structures have tumbled down, a hundred years have come and gone. It will be the same with us, and as we look back over the hundred to come of their time and behold the wonderful changes that have taken place, so will those do who follow us when our " hundred years to come " shall have added another century to the dead and buried past, and we, in turn, take our place among the unwept and forgotten. When Lucas Dedrick settled on this little oasis in Big Creek marsh in 1793, the region was literally alive with wild game. Ducks, turkeys and geese were very numerous, and in the walsingham's SECOND SETTLER. 35 adjoining forest Mother Bruin reared her cubs in large numbers, while the fleet-footed deer leisurely grazed on the rich herbage of nature without fear of molestation. The Indians were peaceable and friendly, and, later on, when Mr. Dedrick con structed a bridge over the stream which bears his name, they were wont to assemble on the rude structure and hold high carnival. One night they took a wild colt from Mr. Dedrick's stable, which had never been ridden, and an Indian mounted and rode it to Cooper's tavern for whisky. When he came back he was very much excited with his experience. In des cribing it to Mr. Dedrick he said, " Waugh ! but him fly. Blanket, him stick straight out behind ! " As a rule the Indians were honest and trustworthy. Mr. Dedrick freely loaned them whatever they asked for, and invariably they made returns at the time and in the manner agreed upon. Mr. Dedrick received his patent for the 200 acres he settled upon in 1797. Lucas Dedrick came from Pennsylvania, and was of German descent. He had four sons — John, Cornelius, James and Lucas ; and two daughters — Catharine and Hannah. John Dedrick, eldest son of Lucas, was four years old when the family settled here. He married Harriet Fick and settled on the homestead. He had four sons — John, William, Abraham and Charles ; and five daughters— Jane, Catharine, Hannah, Harriet and Susan. They all settled in Walsingham, Charles succeeding to the front part of the old homestead. The father •died in 1860, in his 72nd year. Cornelius Dedrick, second son of Lucas, married Nancy Spurgin, and settled on part of the homestead. He had four sons — Luke, Samuel, William and Austin ; and four daughters — Hannah, Sally, Lucretia and Jerusha Jane. All settled in Walsingham. James Dedrick, third son of Lucas, married Elizabeth Edwards and settled on part of the homestead. He had twin sons — Thomas and John; and three daughters — Jane, Salome and Elizabeth. 36 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Lucas Dedrick, youngest son of Lucas, married Catharine Rohrer, and settled in the home neighborhood. He had three sons — Cornelius, Luke and George W.; and five daughters — Catharine, Mary, Emma E., Nancy Amelia and Rebecca. All settled in Walsingham. Lucas died in 1883 in his 80th year. Catharine Dedrick, eldest daughter of the original Lucas, married Austin Stearns- as his second wife. By his former marriage Mr. Stearns had one son, John. For many years the old Stearns hotel in Point Rowan was one of the best known public-houses in the county, and the name will always remain a familiar one in the history of that old and pleasantly situated village. Mr. Stearns had no family by his second marriage, and after his death his widow married Abraham Countryman, an early carding-mill operator in Walsingham. By this union there were two daughters — Valetta (Mrs. Edward Backhouse) and Adella (Mrs. John Alexander Coates). After the death of Mrs. Countryman, nee Mrs. Stearns, nee Catharine Dedrick, Mr. Countryman married Clarissa Woodroof, by whom he had one daughter, Helen, who married Robert Biddle. Mr. Coun tryman married Lucy Smith as his third wife, by whom he had two, daughters — Lavina (Mrs. Dibble) and Nettie, who became the wife of Louis Fick. Being left a widower a third time, Mr. Countryman married Marguerette Johnson, daughter of William Backhouse, as his fourth wife. There were no children by this union. Hannah Dedrick, second daughter of the original Lucas, married John Backhouse. Her children are enumerated in the Backhouse genealogy. SKETCH V. ¦ FIRST WHITE BURIAL IN OLD CHARLOTTEVILLE— FREDERICK MABEE. The first white burial in old Charlotteville of which we have any account, traditional or otherwise, occurred in the year 1 794, on the hill overlooking Turkey Point. The body buried was that of Frederick Mabee, the old pioneer head of the Mabee family. Mr. Mabee had been living on the Point with his family about a year previous to his death, which makes it almost certain that the Mabee family was one of the first families that settled in old Charlotteville. He was buried in a walnut log coflSn. This rude casket was made as the old rain-troughs were made, and was provided with a tight-fitting slab which served as a lid. In after years when the remains were disinterred for the purpose of removal, the log coffin was apparently as sound as when first buried. Frederick Mabee was a U. E. Loyalist. Previous to the ¦close of the war of the Revolution his home was in the British colony of Massachusetts, but when the Americans gained their independence, that home was confiscated and himself and family subjected to bitter persecution. He had fought for British supremacy, and although the cause he fought for had been lost, he would cling to the old flag and sacrifice every thing rather than swear allegiance to the new Republic ; and, consequently, he and his fellow-colonists who had supported the old flag were driven out of the country with nothing but their personal belongings. The Mabee family fled into New Brunswick and settled at St. Johns. The new State of Massachusetts was exceptionally severe 38 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. with the U. E. Loyalists within her borders, subjecting them to most bitter persecution. After the war the legislature enacted a law providing for the banishment of leading Loyal ists, and it is said that three hundred and ten of the most distinguished citizens of the old colony were banished and their property confiscated. Among these were some sixty graduates of Harvard. But the feeling of hatred that actuated the Americans in treating with their Loyalist fellow-colonists was not confined to confiscation of property and banishment of person, as shown by the following letter, dated October 22nd, 1783, and addressed to a gentleman in Boston : " The British are leaving New York every day, and last week there came one of the d d refugees from New York to a place called Wall Kill in order to make a tarry with his parents, when he was taken into custody immediately. His head and eyebrows were shaved, tarred and feathered ; a hog yoke put on his neck, and a cow -bell thereon ; upon his head a very high hat and feathers were set, well plumed with tar, and a sheet of paper in front with a man drawn with two faces, representing the traitor Arnold and the devil." Before the war Frederick Mabee -had a good, home and kind and obliging neighbors, but during and after the war he and his family were subjected to all kinds of abuse. His old neighbors were turned into fiends, and, not satisfied with persecuting him and his family, they actually mutilated his poor dumb animals. There is a tradition in the family said to have been handed down by Mrs. Mabee to her children, which appears quite reasonable, and which, if true, explains how it came about that Frederick Mabee came to Long Point in advance of the general U. E. Loyalist movement, set on foot by Governor Simcoe about the year 1795. According to this tradition, one George Ramsay, a celebrated English hunter and fur-trader, had annually visited Long Point, while passing up and down the lakes, for many years previous to the first settlement. Indeed, it is said that this Ramsay had an encounter with the Indians FIRST WHITE BURIAL IN OLD CHARLOTTEVILLE. 39 on Long Point, while trading with them, as far back as the year 1760. It occurred (so the story goes) near the sand hills. The Indians, nine in number, seized Ramsay's liquors and other goods, and after becoming crazed with "fire-water," bound Ramsay hand and foot and determined on burning him alive. The attack was made in the night, and before the preparation for the burning was completed, the savage spirit succumbed to the liquid spirit of Christian civilization, and they decided to wait until morning. Eight of them stretched out in a drunken snooze around the fire, and the ninth was detailed to guard the prisoner. On this occasion Ramsay was accompanied by his nephew — a mere lad, whom the savages did not molest. During the night the boy secured a knife and severed the thongs which bound his uncle; and when thus freed, Ramsay made short work in sending his drunken captors to the " happy hunting ground," and made good his escape. Ramsay's home was in St. Johns. Peter Secord was a cousin of Frederick Mabee, and a U. E. Loyalist also. He accompanied the Mabee family to St. Johns, and, being an old hunter himself, a fellow-feeling sprang up between him and Ramsay at their first meeting in St. Johns. The latter invited Secord to accompany him on one of his trips up the lakes, and the invitation was gladly accepted. They visited Long Point and Turkey Point, and Secord was so taken up with the country that he made up his mind to return and settle on it, and induced his cousin " Feddie," as he called him, to do like wise. Ramsay was well advanced in years, and this was his last trip. The glowing account given by Secord of ,the abundance of game and the natural advantages of the country, led to a determination on the part of Frederick Mabee to migrate to Long Point and establish a home there. The Mabee party, it is said, started for Upper Canada in the fall of 1792, but they wintered in Quebec and did not reach Turkey Point until some time in 1793. They drove twelve cows, rode horses, and employed an Indian guide to pilot the way through the wilderness. 40 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Turkey Point was literally covered with wild-fowl when the family arrived there. It was a perfect bedlam of dis cordant sounds. The gabble of the wild turkeys, the scream of the geese, and the quacking of the ducks was something wonderful to hear. Deer were plentiful and tame. Sturgeon were so plentiful along the beach that all one had to do to capture them was simply to knock them on the head with a club. The Indians on the Point at this time, it is said, were rather a gay lot, being- very liberal in the use of paint and feathers. They were very fond of cow's milk, and were some times inclined to help themselves. The milk was kept in wooden troughs, similar to sap-troughs, and whenever the Indians showed a disposition to help themselves, Mrs. Mabee would check them by waving a piece of red cloth and pointing over the lake. This served as a warning to them, and meant that if they did not behave themselves the British red-coats would come and drive them oif the Point. Some members of the family claim that the settlement was made as early as 1791, while others say it was not made before 1794 ; but Mrs. Mabee and her family were living there in a comfortable log-house at the time of Governor Simcoe's visit in 1795. The grave of Frederick Mabee was there also, and a piece of ground known as the " Indian fields " had been cleared of its light growth of timber and cropped ; all of which make,s it appear quite reasonable that the family may have settled there, at least, as early as 1793. The Mabee party consisted of Frederick Mabee and wife ; Oliver Mabee, their eldest son, aged about nineteen ; Simon, the second son, aged about seventeen ; Pellum, the youngest son, aged about twelve — at least, these were the ages of the sons ,at the time of the Governor's visit ; two single daughters — Polly and Sally; and two married daughters — Nancy and Lydia, with their respective husbands — John Stone and Peter Teeple. It is said that Peter Secord, also, came with the Mabee family. Mrs. Mabee was awarded 600 acres of land, comprisino- Lots 8, 9 and 10 in the lake front of Charlotteville. Subse- FIRST WHITE BURIAL IN OLD CHARLOTTEVILLE. 41 quently, she married John B. Hilton, of New York, but he died three years after the marriage. The genealogy of the Oliver branch of the Mabee family is given elsewhere under the title, " An Old Pioneer Deacon," and that of the Pellum branch is given under the title, " The Boy who Waited on the Governor." Simon Mabee, second son of Frederick, was born in 1778, and was about fifteen years old when the family settled on Turkey Point. In 1799, he married Abigail, daughter of John Gustin, and, for a time, owned the land upon which the larger and better portion of the old village of Vittoria is built. Simon Mabee possessed a religious nature. He was emotional, warm-hearted and sympathetic ; and early in life gave himself up to the work of preaching the gospel. Among the early pioneer preachers who visited the little settlements throughout old London District, no man was better known or more highly respected' than Simon Mabee. It is said he gave that old pulpit war-horse of later pioneer times — Eldet McDermand — his first lessons in ministerial work. He finally settled in Oxford County where he raised his family. He had four sons — Samuel H., Walter B., John G. and Oliver D.; and eight daughters — Elizabeth, Anna, Nancy, Susanna S., Rachel C.,- Abigail, Lavinia and Mary. Elder Mabee's eldest son, Samuel H., settled in the States. Walter B. was twice married. He settled near Beachville and had two sons — Simeon and Walter; and seven daughters- — Abigail, Anna, Frances, Rachel, Alice, Catharine and Martha. John G. died in childhood. Oliver D. married Samantha, daughter of Aaron Barber, and settled in Goshen. By this union he had one son, Aaron; and two daughters, Abigail and Elizabeth. Subsequently, he married Mary Ward, by whom he had one son, Charles Byron. Mr. Mabee died in 1896, in Tennessee, in his 80th year. Elizabeth married Absolem Burtch, and settled at Burtch's Landing on the Grand River. Anna married Levi Burtch, settled in Oxford and left no children. Nancy married Eli Sage, and settled near 42 PIONEER sketches OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT, Ingersoll. Susanna S. married Philander King, and settled at Marshall, Mich. Rachel G. married John Clark, and settled near Woodstock. Abigail married Charles Harris, and settled near Ingersoll. Lavinia married Jacob McMichael, and settled in Townsend. Mary died in childhood. Polly and Sally Mabee, the two daughters of the original Frederick, who came to Long Point single, married respectively David Secord and Silas Montross. The former was a miller at Niagara, and the latter's family genealogy is given elsewhere. The Teeple and Stone families were prominent factors in the early days of the settlement, but they are unknown to the present generation of Norfolk citizenship. More than a hundred years have come and gone since Frederick Mabee was laid to rest in his rude coffin. To-day his great-grandsons are found in the ranks of busy men, scat tered all over the American continent, and his great-great grandchildren occupy seats in nearly every school-hoiise in the land. In fact, these descendants have become so numerous and so widely scattered that they meet as strangers, never dreaming that the old pioneer mother who pounded corn in the hollow of a white-oak stump on Turkey Point more than a hundred years ago, was their common maternal ancestor. SKETCH VI. BOXED UP BY HIS WIFE— ABRAHAM SMITH. Our pioneer Loyalist forefathers were subjected to a wide range of experiences. They left the new Republic at the close of the war in various ways, and according to family tradition one man was carried out of New Jersey in a box as freight by his wife. This man's name was Abraham Smith. It is not claimed that old father Abraham was the father of all the Smiths. This would appear too much like trying to " get a corner " on the human family. It is claimed, however, that he was the father of the first family of Smiths that settled in Long Point country. Why was he boxed up ? Well, Abraham Smith, who had emigrated from England to the British Colony of New Jersey, and had established a home there, fought for the maintenance of British supremacy when the colonies threw off their allegiance in 1776. For this offence he was given a certain number of days to either take the oath of allegiance to the new Republic or leave the State. Failing to get away within the prescribed time, his wife, who was a large, muscular Dutch woman, concealed him in a box, and in this way got him out of the country. The journey from New Jersey to New Brunswick for a woman in those times, burdened with a family of children, and a heavy box of freight, was no small task. After remaining a short time in New Brunswick they resolved to migrate to Western Canada. They reached Fort Erie about the year 1785 ; and it was while making this tedious journey that their youngest son, Abraham second, was born, being eight weeks old when they pitched their tent in the wilderness near the fort. The infantile Abraham was a 44 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. great curiosity to. the "noble red men," and when the first opportunity presented itself they captured him and carried him away into the forest. A search was instituted which resulted in finding him safe and sound, and none the worse for his three days' captivity. Owing to the difficulty he experi enced in after years, in his communications with the Indians, he often expressed a feeling of regret that his parents had rescued him, as then he would have grown up among them and would have been able to speak their language. Father Abraham's family consisted of six sons — William, Jesse, Solomon, Isaac, Samuel and Abraham ; and five daugh ters — Abigail, Charity, Hannah, Rachel and Mary. William, the eldest son, left the parental roof of ¦ bark at Fort Erie, and came up through the wilderness to Long Point country, where he lived with the Indians. In sketch " Charlotteville's First White Man " an account of him is given. That portion of Young's Creek Valley included in lot 15, 5th concession of Charlotteville, was an Indian village. Here William Smith made it his home with the Indians until the family came up, in 1793, and settled on the lot. For awhile the family lived as the Indians lived, but as soon as circum stances permitted a substantial log-house was erected on the bank of the creek. Every settler within twenty miles was invited to this "house raisen;" and Mr. Smith, who took one of the " corners," was the last survivor of the " corner men " at the " raisen." Abraham Smith built the first frame barn in the township, which is still standing. He was a wheelwright by trade, and some years later he constructed a horse-power mill for crushing grain. One of the stones used in this mill was placed in a hearth in the old house built by his son Abraham. It was afterwards removed and placed in the bottom of a well. Hiram, son of Abraham second, and late owner of the old homestead, attempted to bring the old stone once again to the surface, but the well caved in and the stone remains there still. Hiram is in possession of the old arm chair made by father Abraham when he sojourned in the land BOXED UP BY HIS WIFE. 45 of the " Jerseyites." It is very spacious, but it is said that " granny " Smith completely filled it. The family suffered great privation at first. It was hard work and very little to eat and wear. Land had to be cleared before the seed could be sown, and then the seed had to sprout,, and the plant develop and ripen before returns were had. Heads of unripe grain were pulled off", crushed with the hands. and eaten. Mrs. Smith baked bread for the sailors who passed up and down the lake. The flour was carried through the woods from the lake shore to the Smith home, and the bread returned in the same manner. The exchange was made pound for pound ; and inasmuch as a pound of flour with the added water, etc., made more than a pound of bread, a certain amount of " leavings " accrued to the benefit of the baker. The family brought two cows with them, and so precious was the milk that the children would eagerly lick up every drop when accident ally spilled upon the floor. There was plenty of game, it is. true, but in 1793 firearms and ammunition were mighty scarce in Charlotteville. On one occasion the cows strayed away in the woods, and Isaac went in search of them. He took his bow and arrows with him and brought home a fine lot of game.. This was the kind of guns and ammunition they had to kill their game with. During this early experience only one instance of Indian. treachery occurred. One night an Indian sought and obtained permission to lie on the hearth before the big fire-place. In the night he arose from his stone couch and, revealing an ugly-looking knife which had been secreted about his person,. stealthily approached Mr. Smith's bed, with evil intentions, no doubt ; but Smith had his eyes open, and was on the alert,, and at the opportune moment he sprang out of bed and seized him, wresting the knife from his hand and expelling^ him from the cabin. When the Indians heard of it the next day their indignation knew no bounds, and if the scoundrel had not suddenly taken his departure he would have received rough treatment at their hands. Abraham, the younger, was- 46 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. about eight years old during this first cruel pinch of privation, and he used to tell his children of an Indian dumpling which he found. It was hard and mouldy, but he said it was the sweetest morsel he ever tasted. The family came up through the forest from Fort Erie, and the only sign of a human habitation seen between the Niagara river and their place of destination, was a partially-roofed log hut which stood somewhere within the present limits of Simcoe. Father Abraham was a pioneer and the father of pioneers He died in 1809 in his 73rd year, and his wife Rachel died in 1831 in her 72nd year. If Abraham second, who was the last baby in this family, were living he would be one hundred and twelve years old. Each son and daughter of this old U. E. Loyalist received a grant of Government land. Isaac settled on the Otter Creek, near the present village of Vienna, where he raised a family. Jesse sold his U. E Loyalist grant to Oliver Mabee in an early day, and settled on the Grand River, in Kent County, Mich., not far from the city of Grand Rapids. He raised a family at this place. Solomon ' settled on Talbot street, in Malahide, where he was killed by a tree falling on him. He left a family of small children, who finally settled in the States. Samuel Smith settled and remained in Charlotteville. The genealogy of his family is given in sketch " A Pioneer Mother who weighed Four Hundred Pounds." Abigail Smith, eldest daughter of Father Abraham, married John Gustin. Her children are enumerated in the Gustin family genealogy. Charity Smith, second daughter of Father Abraham, married a Havens, and settled in Charlotteville. By this union she had three sons — Abraham, William and Robert. The latter succeeded to the Havens homestead. After the death of, Mr. Havens, Charity married Levi Churchell, of Charlotteville, and had one son, Levi. Hannah Smith, third daughter of Father Abraham, married Victor Brown. A sketch of his life is given in the Brown family genealogy. nOXED UP 1!Y HIS WIFE. 47 Rachel Smith, fourth daughter of Father Abraliam, married Robert Shonwr. Hor children are ouumoratod in the Shoaror ramiiy genealogy. Mary Smith, youiigosti daughter of Father Abraham, maiTiod Oliver Mabeo. Hor childron aro enumerated in the Maboi* family gonoalogy. Abraluim Smith, youngest son of Father Abraham, suc- coodod to the old liomostoad. Ho was twice married. By his first wilV, Sai'ah Baker, ho had two sons — Abraham and David; and four daughters — Rachel, Hannah, Sarah Ann and Rebecca. By liis second wife, Anna Baker, he hatl two sons — Isaac and Hiram ; luul throe daughters — Kva, Rhoda and Harriot, Rev. Abraham Smith, eldest son of Abraham, was a Baptist }iroa.olu>r. lit' was marriod three times, but he raised his largo raiuily with his first wil'o, Jane Baker, on his old homestead near Ni>w Sarum, in i\\o township of Yarmouth, Ho died in Aylnuu" at a, good old ago, lea\'ing four sons — Hosea, Johnson, Jvidson and Artliur ; aiid ,seven datightors — Sarah, Ann, J ulia, Saloma, Hannah, Naoma and Miniiio. All but one or two of this lamily are in the States. David Smith, second sou of Abraham, was born in 1824. Ho marriod Hannah E. Slingerlaiid, and settletl at Hougliton Cent re. Ho Hnally moved to Nortli Dakota and settled in the Turtle Mountain district, whore his family are now living; Ho died during the present year in his seventy-third year, leaving four sons — Hinun, Abraham, tioorgo and Charles ; and four daughtoi-s — Mary A., Rlioda A., Emily A. and Graoo D. Uaohol Smith, oldest daughter of Abraham, married Orin Rogers ami sottlotl at Boston. Siio died young, lea\ing no childron, Hannah Smith, socoiul daughter of Abraham, married Joseph Johnaon and settled at Boston. Mr. Johnson was the son of Mary Sitts, whose sad history is given elsewhere in this series. Stu'ah Ann Smith, third daughter of Abraham, marriod Anthony Upper, and settled finally at (Mtisvillo. Mich. In this 48 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. family were five sons — Abraham, Charles, Peter, Joseph and Zephaniah ; and four daughters — Anna, Nancy, Amelia and Rhoda. Rebecca Smith, fourth daughter of Abraham, married John, eldest son of Deacon Joseph Kitchen, of Charlotteville, and settled in Windham, near Delhi. They are both living. She is the mother of two daughters — Rozena, the wife of R. M. Wilson ; and Cynthia Alice, the wife of L. C. McConnell, of Malahide. Isaac Smith, eldest son of Abraham (by his second wife), was twice married. By his first wife (Abigail, daughter of Peter Mabee) he had two daughters — Agnes and Minnie ; and by his second wife (Sarah Johnson) he had two sons — Herbert and I. D.; and two daughters — Abigail and Eliza. The family settled at Galesburg, 111. Both father and mother are dead. Hiram Smith, youngest son of Abraham, by his second wife, succeeded to the old homestead. He was also twice married. By his first wife, Mary Johnson, he raised a large family, all girls but one, Arthur. By his second wife he has several children. Eva Smith, eldest daughter of Abraham (by his second wife), married William Monroe, and settled in Charlotteville. She had one son, Arthur, who is a grocer in St. Thomas. Subse quently, she married Israel Woodley and settled near Benton Harbor, Mich., where she died. Rhoda Smith, second daughter of Abraham (by his second wife), married Peter Mabee, son of Peter, and settled in Char lotteville. She had one son, William, who was recently elected Judge of Probate in a county in Montana. Harriet Smith, the youngest daughter of Abraham, married Charles 0. Learn, of Yarmouth. She has two sons — Charles and Cecil ; and one daughter, Stella. The family is living in Aylmer. The pioneer father of this numerous branch of the Smith family died in 1863, aged seventy-six. His wife, Sarah, died in 1837, aged forty-eight ; and his second wife, Anna, died in 1860, aged fifty-five. SKETCH VII. THE TOWN OF CHARLOTTEVILLE. It is not generally known that Turkej" Point was at first designed as the commercial and governmental metropolis of Upper Canada. The man who made this designation was Sir John Graves Simcoe, the first Governor of Upper Canada. He had a most wonderful faith in the future of the new province, and he was indefatigable in his efforts to open up the country and attract thereto the best class of settlers. One important work undertaken by him — a work which M'as the means of opening up the interior of the western peninsula of the Pi-ovince to rapid settlement — was the building of a road from Niagara to Amheratburg, It was a big undertaking in the primitive condition of things at that time, and in order to aid in the raising of means to carry it on, large tracts of land lying along the proposed line of road were sold to colonies of settlers. A good shai-e of the township of Norwich was sold in this wajr to a colony of Pennsylvania Quakers. The first Upper Canada Parliament convened at Newark, but an American fort standing on the opposite bank of the Niagara River detracted from the pleasing effect of the landscape view, and a change of location was deemed advisable. This was the state of affairs when the Governor visited Norfolk in 1795. He was engaged in the preliminary work of his great pioneer thoroughfare, and came down through the forest to the lake shore. The JIabee family had " squatted " on Turkey Point, being one of the very few families who had pioneered their way into the Long Point countrj'^ at this time. The Governor was very much pleased with Turkey Point. 4 50 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. The beach was much wider then, giving it the appearance of a tine esplanade ; and when viewed from the high bank on the mainland, with its park of evergreens in the rear, it presented a charming picture of nature. And then it must be remem bered that the adjacent upland desert of sand had not yet been exposed to view. It was carpeted with leaves and shaded with a light growth of forest trees. This sparsity of timber growth indicated easy work for the settler, and made a most favorable impression on the mind of the Governor, who had come down through the almost impenetrable forests of Oxford county. Timber possessed no commercial value in those days. It was looked upon as the great impediment in the way of settlement, and the lightly timbered sections offered the greatest inducements to settlers. Hence it is that the poorest sections were the first settled upon — the reason for which is often a matter of wonderment with the young people of our day. Governor Simcoe determined to make Turkey Point a town of great importance, and a Reservation was made for a town site and government buildings. The new town was named " The Town of Charlotteville," and the survey of a public thoroughfare ordered, connecting the new town with the Governor's Road. The surveyors were instructed to begin at the south-east angle of the township of Blenheim, in the county of Brant, thence running in as straight a line as the topography of the country would permit to the " Town of Charlotteville." The survey was made, but, owing to a miscalculation, the lake shore was reached some four and a half miles east of the Point, near Port Ryerse. The Reservation having been made in 1795 by Governor Simcoe, instructions were given to Thomas Welch, in 1798, by the Surveyor-General, " to take a sketch of the ground above the Point which may be suitable for a town." He was in structed that " the ground immediately above Mrs. Mabee's old house " had been set aside for that purpose. He was advised " to have regard to such a situation as may be fit for barracks and such other accommodations as may be looked for in pro viding space for a small fort." THE TOWN OF CHARLOTTEVILLE. 51 The old diary kept by Lady Simcoe during her husband's term of office has been preserved, and it contains the following entry pertaining to the Governor's visit at Turkey Point : "September 12th, 1795. The Governor returned and is far from well. He was pleased with Long Point, which he calls Charlotte Villa; the banks on the lake, 150 feet high; on the shore grew weeping willows covered with vines." The term " Long Point " is either meant for Turkey Point or for the section of country bordering on Long Point bay. This entire section from the dawn of the settlement has always been designated " the Long Point country," and this idea may have been on the mind of Lady Simcoe when she recorded this entry. In 1801 an Act was passed which provided " that the Courts ot Quarter Sessions of the Peace for the District of London should be holden in the Town of Charlotteville on the second Tuesday of the months of March, June, September and December." At this time no building of any kind had been erected in the Town of Charlotteville. The Town of Charlotteville antedates the Township of Charlotteville. It is necessary to understand this in order to know where, and what, the Town of Charlotteville was. When Governor Simcoe laid it out and named it in honor of Queen Charlotte, there was no township of Charlotteville. The name was given to the proposed town ; and when the township lying back of, and including, Turkey Point, was surveyed, it was named after the town. Turkey Point was so named on account of the great number of turkeys and other wild fowl found there. It is described as being a veritable hunter's paradise at the time the Mabee family squatted there. A portion of the town site having been thus made a public reserve, it became, as before stated, the district town of London District. When the district was organized in 1800, the courts were held at the house of James Monroe for the reason that no other house in the settlement was sufficiently commodious for the purpose; but shortly afterwards. Job Loder 52 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. built, a public-house in the Town of Charlotteville, and when the Court was established there it was at first held in Loder's house. The first Court held at Turkey Point was the fall term of 1802, which convened on the 14th day of September. A log jail was erected on the public ground made of squared white oak logs. The timbers had been laid up, but the struc ture was not completed. On the 25th day of June, 1803, the contract was let to James Monroe to finish it for £62 10s., provincial currency. The contract specifications were as follows : " The under floor, the sides, the ceiling, and the partition between the two rooms are to be laid and ceiled with inch and a half oak planks to be rabbeted and lapped, and spiked with 250 pounds of spikes of three inches in length, well headed and placed and drove regularly at proper distances from each other. A floor to be laid above the ceiling with inch and a quarter pine boards The building is to be shingled and weather- boarded with pine boards. Two doors are to be put in the jail — one to each room of the same size of that at the old jail ; also a window to each room, that window at the old jail to be cut and prepared so as to make the two windows for the new jail ; the whole to be finished in a workman like manner as soon as it can possibly be done— the whole of the materials to be furnished by Mr. Monroe; and one of the rooms to be finished, at least, proper for the reception of prisoners at or before the time of the setting of the next Court of Assizes in and for this district." The " old jail " referred to in the above specifications, the window of which was to be taken out and converted into two windows for the new structure, was the one built on the farm of Lieut. James Monroe. It stood in the woods south of " old Fort Monroe," within a few rods of the 4th concession line. Many years afterwards the logs of the old jail were used in the coastruction of a stable on the opposite lying lot. From September, 1802, to sometime in the winter of 1803, the Quarter Sessions were held at the house of Job Loder. During this time Job Loder was the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the Town of Charlotteville and his tavern was the capital of London District. He was appointed jailer, and this made him " turnkey " of the whole town. THE TOWN OF CHARLOTTEVILLE, 53 At a special session held October 4, 1803, the following entry was made in the Court journal : " His Majesty's Justices proposed and agreed to have a court-house erected on the public ground at the Town of Charlotteville, of the following description and size, that is to say : A frame building, forty feet in length by twenty-six feet in width, to be two stories high, the first or lower story to be ten feet between floor and ceiling, and the second or upper story to be eight feet high. The building to be erected on a foundation of white oak timber squared, the same to be sound and of sufficient thickness. The building to be shingled and to have two sufficient floors, an entry of eight feet wide to be made from the front door across one end of the lower story, from which winding stairs are to be erected to the second story, two rooms are to be partitioned off" in the second story for the jurors. Nine windows are to be made in front and ten in rear, of twenty-four lights, each 7x9. The front door to be made of inch and a half plank, six panels, and to have a good sufficient lock and key. Two windows are to be finished in the first story opposite each other so as to afford sufficient light to the bar, besides two windows of fifteen lights each behind the judge or chairman's seat. The rest of the windows are to be cased and nailed up for the present. The bar, table, justices' seat, benches for the bar, and a table for each jury-room and benches for the same, are to be finished. The three inside doors to be temporary. A seat and writing-table for the clerk to be made between the bench and the bar. " Note. — The house to be raised, shingled and weather- boarded and floored, the bench for the judge and justices, the judge or chairman's writing desk, clerk's seat and table, the bar and table and benches therefor, the entry, the stairs, the two jury rooms and tables and benches therefor, the four windows below and two above, to be finished, and the other three temporary doors to be made and hung. This compre hends the present contract proposed by the Court to be per formed by the next Assizes for the district." Tenders were called for, and on December 16th the following- proposals were received in open court : Alexander Hutchinson, at £28 1 5s.; Job Loder, at £250 ; and Jacob Bayard, at £234 7s. 6d. Bayard's tender was the lowest, but the mode of payment was not satisfactory to him and he withdrew his tender, leaving Mr. Loder in the lead. A contract was accordinglj^ drawn up 64 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. between Mr. Loder of the one part, and William Spurgin, Peter Teeple and Elias Foster, of the other part. The constables who served in the new court-house were not provided with staves until the year 1805. On the 13th of June in that year the following entry was made in the Court journal : " It is ordered that twelve staves for constables in- the district be procured, to be seven feet in length and. one inch and three quarters in thickness, with the name of a township on each staff" in plain, legible letters. John Benson, joiner, agrees to make them ready for use at the next Quarter Sessions, at two shillings and sixpence, lawful money, for each staff', which the Court agrees to allow him to be paid by the District Treasurer." We are led to infer from this Court order that there were only twelve organized townships in all London District at this time, namely: Charlotteville, Walsingham, Woodhouse, Townsend, Windham, Walpole, Rainham, Blenheim, Burford, Oxford, Delaware and, probably, Westminster. These town ships are named in the order of their importance as indicated by the record of business transacted by the District Quarter Sessions at this time. June 10th, 1807, the Court ordered "that Silas Montross shall have the liberty of the lot on which the court-house stands for the space of one year and as much longer as their authority may extend ; " but it does not appear to what use Mr. Montross put the liberty granted. James Monroe did not live to finish the jail at the Town of Charlotteville, as evidenced by the following Court order of June 10th, 1807: " It is ordered by the Court that one hundred dollars be paid out of the treasury for what work is done to jail, and the heirs of James Monroe, or his executors, are to quit the work and the contract drawn in 1803 to cease." Up to this time there had been no record kept of business accounts, and on the 8th of September following, the Court ordered that a book be procured in which to keep all accounts of the future, and also those of the past as far as it is possible to obtain them. THE TOWN OF CHARLOTTEVILLE. 55 When the war of 1812 broke out the court-house was used for barrack purposes, and one more public structure was added to the Town of Charlotteville. This was a fort, which was christened " Fort Norfolk." Fort' Norfolk was substantially constructed. It was enclosed with a double wall built of hewed oak timbers a foot square, with a six feet space between solidly packed with earth. Before it was completed a detachment of the 19th Light Dragoons, about fifty in number, were forwarded, and during the interval pending its completion the soldiers were quartered in Vittoria, near the spot where the brick residence of Joseph McCall stands. When peace was declared Fort Norfolk was abandoned ; but, owing to a blunder of some one in authority, a few twelve-pound cannon were left in the fort. Some of the old people will remember the cannon that played an important part in the old Fourth of June trainings, and which was sup posed to belong to John McCall. This was one of those left in the fort, but it was subsequently reclaimed and taken, with the others, to Kingston. The court house, jail, the fort, and the tavern of Job Loder all stood on the elevation above the flat. A hotel was built under the hill and kept by a man named Hatch. In 1833, during the cholera scare, a hospital was built at this place. It stood on the bank and was a barn-like structure, and was used but little, if at all, for the purpose for which it was built. The old Town of Charlotteville reached the zenith of its glory during the war. Temporary quarters for the officers dotted the hillside, and it was the scene of much activity. In 1815 the District Courts were removed to Vittoria, and the Town of Charlotteville relapsed into Turkey Point once more. No traces of its old-time importance remain, save a few surface irregularities indicating the spot occupied by the fort. As we view the cities, towns and villages that dot the territory once known as London District, it is hard to believe that the dreary waste at Turkey Point was, for thirteen years, the judicial metropolis for all this vast region of country. SKETCH VIII. THE FATHER OF NORFOLK PRESBYTERIANISM— JABEZ CULVER. A LITTLE more than a hundred years ago Norfolk was an unbroken wilderness. During all the preceding centuries her area, now checked off" into fertile, productive fields, and dotted with comfortable homes, lay in the lap of nature, subject only to the action of natural forces. No sound of civilization had ever disturbed the quiet solitude of her wooded valleys or reverberated along her shaded hillsides. No " click " of the settler's axe, or clarion note of that harbinger of the dawn of civilization — the chanticleer — had ever been heard in Norfolk a little over a hundred years ago. But the time came when the westward inarch of civilization demanded a surrender on the part of the " noble red man " of the wigwam villages and favorite hunting grounds of this interior portion of the New World. The transition of our county from a condition of primeval forest to a high state of cultivation and refinement, in one short century, is something wonderful to contemplate. The cause of this marvellous eff'ect is traceable to the superior qualities of our old pioneer stock. All honor to our brave old pioneers. They have all been laid to rest, but their children and their children's children have not forgotten the privations they suff'ered, the Christian altars they erected in their rude cabins, their patient industry, their love of home and the land of their adoption, and their strong faith in God which enabled them to persevere in the face of difficulties and overcome the obstacles which lay in their rough and uneven pathway. Such a man was Jabez Culver, the pioneer Presbyterian preacher, and paternal head of one of Norfolk's best and most THE FATHER OF NORFOLK PRESBYTERIANISM. 57 numerous families. In the early days of the American colonies, it is said that three Culver brothers emigrated from England to America, settling in the colony of Connecticut. The grandparents of Jabez Culver moved from Connecticut into New Jersey and were buried in the Culver burying ground near Schooley's mountain, about 136 years ago. The father of Jabez was buried in the family burying ground near Chester, Morris County. Jabez moved from Morris County into Sussex County where he owned considerable property. Culver's Lake and Culver's Gap, in that county, were named after Jabe^ Culver who owned the adjoining lands. He was a Presbyterian minister, and was pastor of a congregation near Deckertown, N.J., that worshipped in the " Beemer meeting house." It is said that during the war of the Revolution, Rev. Jabez Culver's sympathies were all on the side of the British, but being subjected to an overpowering American influence, and being the owner of considerable real estate, he chose the Bible in preference to the sword, and joined Wash ington's army as chaplain. Thus he was enabled to minister to the spiritual needs of the rebels without materially aiding in the overthrow of the British. When the new province of Upper Canada was organized, it is said that Jabez Culver journeyed from New Jersey to Newark on horseback, to consult with Governor Simcoe as to terms of settlement in the new province. The Governor knew the value of the man who came to see him, and he knew that the numerous Culver family and their many family connec tions in New Jersey would make the very best stock that could be obtained in his work of laying the foundation of a prosperous British commonwealth, and it is said he promised Mr. Culver a grant of 600 acres of land for himself, 400 acres for each of his married children, and 200 acres for each unmarried child. Rev. Jabez Culver's children were all born in New Jersey. One son, Nathan, met with a remarkable experience. He fell into a kind of trance, and was spirited away where he saw a 58 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. vision of the eternal world, which made such a vivid impres sion on his mind that it broke down his unbelief and led to his conversion. An account of this vision was published by his father after Nathan's death. One strange thing connected with the vision was the alleged fact of his being entrusted with a message of warning from the spiritual world to his brother-in-law, Stephen Kent. Kent was young, hale and hearty, but the message informed him that his death was near at hand, and it warned him to prepare for it. In two short months the summons came. He was accidentally drowned. This is a wdll authenticated fact, and it gives the vision a. serious signification, to say the least. Rev. Jabez Culver came to Norfolk in 1794. He settled on lot 1, 12th concession of Windham, and erected the first log house in the township. He had thirteen children, eight of whom — seven sons and one daughter — came to Norfolk with him. The Culver party included several families, making up a good-sized caravan. They brought a number of horses, several cows and some hogs with them ; and during the journey were frequently attacked by the wolves. Nathan Culver had previously died in New Jersey, leaving a little son about four years old, who was adopted by his grandfather. While camp ing in the Grand River swamp this little fellow, who's name was Jabez B., sat on a huge rattlesnake, but one of his uncles succeeded in rescuing him without serious consequences. It is. said that Long Point settlement contained but five families when the Culver party arrived, the Troyer, Mabee and Smith families being three of them. The present site of Brantford contained three houses, and near the spot where Jabez Culver erected his log cabin, a family named Cooley had squatted. This family bore an unsavory reputation, and the glow of advancing civilization soon drove them back inta the shadow of unknown regions. The lands taken up by the Culvers were heavily timbered, and during the first two or three years the marsh grass on Turkey Point was utilized as a. THE FATHER OF NORFOLK PRESBYTERIANISM. 59 common pasture ground. The young cattle and farrow cows were wintered on the Point, the young men alternating with each other as herdsmen Rev. Jabez Culver was ever an indefatigable worker as an ambassador of the Cross. He was Norfolk's first ordained preacher of the Gospel. He rode in a rude cart, consisting of a home-made wooden axle-tree, to which was attached a pair of shafts and the two front wheels of a " Jersey " linch-pin lumber waggon. A rope seat was arranged over the axle-tree and a bell was attached to the horse, so that while that animal was picking his own living during the hours of religious service, it might be easily found when the time came for jogging along to the next " appointment." As settlement advanced, he ojganized a congregation at Turkey Point, one in Windham, and, later on, another in Oakland. When he was no longer able to travel from place to place, he sat in a chair in his own house' and preached. In 1807 he wrote a lengthy account of his conversion and call to the ministry. This manuscript is preserved and in possession of Nelson Culver, of Normandale. A copy of Nathan Culver's vision is also in Mr. Culver's possession. Rev. Jabez Culver was ordained in 1760 in New Jersey, and yet the London District Court refused, in 1800, to grant him a license to marry, although a portion of his congregation went into court and acknow ledged him as their pastor. The following year, however, the court granted him a license after he had taken the oath of allegiance. He died December 29th, 1818, in his 88th year, and Anna, his wife, died March 10th, 1813, in her 74th year. In the old pioneer's family were nine sons — Ebenezer, Jabez, Nathan, Aaron, John, Michael, Gabriel, Griffith and Benjamin ; and four daughters — Phoebe, Anna, Freelove and Hannah. Ebenezer Culver, eldest son of Jabez, was born in 1756. He settled in Welland, and had one son and two daughters. Nathan Culver, second son of Jabez, was born in 1764. He died in New Jersey in 1792, leaving, as before stated, an infant son, Jabez B., who was adopted in his grandfather's family. 60 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Jabez B. Culver, only son of Nathan, was born in New Jersey in 1789, and was not five years old when his grand father's family came to Norfolk. He married Hannah Bacon and settled in Windham. In his family were six sons^ Nathan, Mahlon, Allen, William, Eli and Jabez; and five daughters — Clarissa, Malissa, Cricena, Miriam and Nancy. He died in 1841, in his 53rd year. The children of Jabez B. Culver, who are living, have passed into the " sere and yellow leaf" of a ripe old age, and yet they are the great-grand children of the old Windham pioneer. Michael Culver, sixth son of the original Jabez, was born in 1772, and died in New Jersey at the age of eighteen, four years before the family came to Norfolk. Griffith Culver, seventh son of Jabez, was born in 1778, and was sixteen years old when the Norfolk settlement was made. He settled in the Western States. Benjamin Culver, youngest son of Jabez, was born in 1780, and was fourteen years old when the family left New Jersey. When he was twenty-seven he was appointed constable for Windham by the Court at Turkey Point. He settled in Ohio, where he died single. Phoebe Culver, eldest daughter of the original Jabez, was born in 1757. There is no note of her death in the old family registry, and it is supposed she remained in New -Jersey. If she was alive when the family left New Jersey she would have been thirty-seven years old. Anna Culver, second daughter of Jabez, was born in 1759, and, if Jiving, was thirty-five years old when the family came to Canada. Freelove Culver, third daughter of Jabez, was born in 1762. bhe married Michael Shoaf in New Jersey, and came to Upper Canada with her husband and family when the Culvers came. Michael Shoaf was one of the mud-sills in the social founda tion of Norfolk. He was among the earliest settlers, and his name appears quite frequently in the Grand Juiy lists of the THE F.iTHER OF NORFOLK PRESBYTERIANISJil. 61 pioneer courts of London District. He settled on Lot 5, 13 th concession of Townsend, and had five sons — Jacob, Dennis, Michael, Vincent and Benjamin; and three daughters — Anna, Salinda and Dorcas, who married, respectively, Peter Martin, of Burford ; Job Slaght, and Adam Book, of Ancaster. The sons all settled in Townsend. Jacob Shoaf, eldest son of Michael, married Mary Carpenter. and had four sons — Philip, James, Michael and Elijah ; and five daughters — Nancy, Martha, Mary, Elizabeth and Margaret. Dennis Shoaf, second son of Michael, married a sister of Job Loder, and settled on part of the homestead. He had seven sons — John, Levi, Hiram, Gabriel, Alford, Daniel and David ; and four daughters — Elizabeth, Nancy, Lizana and Jane. Michael Shoaf, third son of Michael, married Elizabeth Baldwin, and had five sons — William, Jonathan, Isaac, Lewis and Summers ; and two daughters — Delilia and Phoebe Ann. Vincent Shoaf, fourth son of Michael, married Elizabeth Martin, and had six sons — John M., Levi A., Stephen S., Alson„ Moses and Adam ; and eight daughters — Mary Ann, Lydia, Angeline, Jane, Lavinia, Caroline, Marilla, Amelia, and one or two more whose names were not given, making si.xteen or seventeen in the family. Benjamin Shoaf, fifth son of Michael, married Margaret Walker, and had five sons — Baldwin, Franklin, Kinslej', John and Anson : and three daughters — Sarah Ann, Mary and Alice. The name " Shoft" has been Anglicized into " Shaw." Hannali Culver, fourth daughter of Jabez, was born in 1770, and died, single, in 1788, about six years before the family left New Jersey. The four sons of Jabez, whose names are omitted in this sketch, married four Culver sisters. Their children possessed a double portion of Culver blood, and a history of the four bi-anches is given in sketch " The Double Culver Quartette." SKETCH IX. RYERSON AND RYERSE. Very few'people in Norfolk can give a true explanation of this riddle in family nomenclature. Many foolish stories have been told from time to time, and each, in turn, was said to be the proper solution of the mystery. That the Ryersons and Ryerses are one and the same family is generally understood, but as to which of the two forms is the correct one, and why the name was changed by one branch of the family, are matters not generally understood. The explanation given here is that of one of the oldest living members of the Ryerson branch, and is, no doubt, the correct one. The correct form of the family name is Ryerson — a name that stands for one of the most distinguished New Jersey families in old colonial times. The Ryersons were U. E. Loyalists. In fact, a majority of the leading families in all the colonies were Loyalists, and impartial history informs us that the greater portion of the brains and wealth of the colonies was on the side of the Mother Country. This is admitted by all American writers. Mr. Dudley Warner says, " I confess that I never could rid myself of the schooboy idea that the terms British red-coat and enemy were synonymous, and that a Tory was the worst character Providence ever permitted to exist ; but those people who were deported or went voluntarily away for an idea, were among the best material we had in staunch moral traits, intellectual leadership, social position and wealth ; their crime was superior attach ment to England and utter want of sympathy with the cause RYERSON AND RYERSE. 63 of liberty of the hour. It is to them, at any rate, that Ontario owes its solid basis of character, vigor and prosperity." Professor Hosmer, in his " Life of- Samuel Adams," states that at the evacuation of Boston, 1,100 Loyalists retired to Nova Scotia with the British army, of whom 102 were men in official station, 18 were clergymen, 213 were merchants and traders of Boston, and 382 were farmers and mechanics. He says, " There were, in fact, no better men or women in America as regards intelligence, substantive good purpose and piety." He says, " They loved beauty, dignity and refinement," and that " their estates were among the fairest." Shortly after General Howe entered the city of New York, he was presented with an address signed by one thousand New York and New Jersey Loyalists, and steps were immedi ately taken for recruiting them into service. Oliver De Lancy, one of the most distinguished New York colonists, was com missioned a brigadier-general, with authority to enlist three battalions of volunteers. This troop numbered two thousand, and was officered by New York's wealthiest and most prominent citizens. Another well-known and influential Loyalist, Cort- landt Skinner, was authorized to recruit a brigade of five battalions, called the New Jersey Loyalists. Among the commissioned officers of Skinner's brigade were the heads of some of our most distinguished Ontario families, two of whom were Samuel and Joseph Ryerson, of New Jersey. It will be observed that Samuel Ryerse, of Norfolk, was Samuel Ryerson, of New Jersey, when he received his commission as an officer in this troop of New Jersey Loyalists. But when his name was enrolled it was written " Ryerse " through a clerical error. It was overlooked at the time, and when he came to draw his pay he was compelled to adopt the error and sign his name as it had been recorded on the army roll. In the war records he was known only as Samuel Ryerse, and as a U. E. Loyalist entitled to a grant of land in Upper Canada, he could be no other than Samuel Ryerse, and thus -we have the Ryerse family of Norfolk. 64 PIONEfiR SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Before the war Col. Samuel Ryerse, who was older than his brother Joseph, was a prosperous business man of New Jersey. He was well educated and exerted considerable influence in colonial aff"airs; and his wife, being a woman of more than ordinary intelligence, was a distinguished leader in colonial society. In 1783 the family fled to New Brunswick, where, in 1794, the Colonel met Governor Simcoe, who induced him to start a settlement at Long Point, Upper Canada. He came to the new country at once and built a log house on the lake shore at the mouth of the creek known as Young's Creek. This spot he named Port Ryerse, thus indelibly stamping his adopted name upon the map of the new province. Early in the present century he built a grist mill, and the port that bears his name became a trade centre of considerable import ance during the lives of his children. Col. Samuel Ryerse was a prominent character in the early pioneer times of the country's history. It was through him that Long Point settlement was first organized into a separate district, and this historical fact will always keep his name at the head of the list of our. old pioneers who settled in Norfolk in the last decade of last century. In the month of March, 1800, Colonel Ryerse received a packet from the Executive office at York, containing a Commission of the Peace for the new District of London, naming himself and sixteen others to be Justices of the Peace for the said district. The packet also contained commissions for the appointment of a Clerk of the Peace, Clerk of the District Court, Registrar of the Surrogate Court, Commissioners for the taking of acknowledgments of recognizances of bail or bails for the Court of the King's Bench, and a Dedimus Potestatem appointing Samuel Ryerse and two other commissioners for administering the oaths prescribed by law to the officers of the Government. Being thus constituted his Majesty's Commissioner of the Peace for the District of London, he called together those of the newly-appointed magistrates who resided in Woodhouse and Charlotteville, and administered to them and the Clerk of the Peace the oath of RYERSON AND RYERSE. 65 office as prescribed by law. This meeting was held April 2nd, 1800, at the house of James Monroe, in Charlotteville. William Spurgin was the first to take the oath, and then he, in turn, administered it to Colonel Ryerse, after which the latter pro ceeded in administering it to the others. The newly sworn justices at once held a special Session of the Peace, -with Colonel Ryerse in the chair. After taking the necessary steps for the holding of a Court of the General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, they adjourned. The first Court convened, April 8th, 1800, at Monroe's house, and Samuel Ryerse, being chairman, was Norfolk's first judge. In the history of pioneer times in our county, it will be thus seen that Colonel Ryerse played an important part. He was not only at the head of affairs at the beginning, but he remained a leader after the machinery of the district had been set in motion. He was the most prominent man on the Bench during the time the courts were held at Turkey Point. The old court record shows that he served as Justice of one of the Divisional Courts of Request almost con tinuously for jj^ears. In 1805, on November 16th, a special session of the Quarter Sessions was held at his own house at Port Ryerse, at which time. a Commission bearing the great Seal of the Province was read, whereby John Bostwick was made Sheriff" of London District. A story is told of a very funny thing that happened at Port Ryerse in the early times. A family by the name of Sprague had settled there, one member of whom was a bright. girl of fourteen or fifteen, named Polly. Buckskin was the only kind of dress goods obtainable by the poor settlers at this. time. In mild weather a single garment made of this material constituted the entire wardrobe of more than one buxom young lass in those times, and Polly Sprague was one of them. She had often been in the kitchen of the Ryerse home, which was a sort of headquarters for all Long Point settlement at this time, and she had witnessed the operation of washing clothing in boiling soap suds, and she resolved to treat her " buckskin slip " to the same process at the first opportunity. One day 5 66 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. she was left in sole charge of the Sprague cabin, and, taking advantage of the situation, she gave effect to her resolution. The reader may imagine the result. When the elder Spragues returned to the cabin they found the shrunken and ruined garment lying on the floor, and they found the unfortunate Polly in the potato hole under the floor. The situation was a bad one. There was no more buckskin in the Sprague house hold, and the Ryerse home was the only place in the entire settlement where a covering of some kind might be loaned until a. new supply of buckskin could be obtained. The luck less Polly was put into a barrel and carted to the home of Mrs. Amelia Ryerse-Harris, with an ox team, where her needs were attended to. Col. Samuel Ryerse had three sons — Samuel, George and Edward; and two daughters, one of whom, Amelia, married John Harris, Treasurer of London District, and settled in London. The other daughter married a retired British officer and settled in one of the West India islands. Samuel Ryerse, eldest son of Colonel Samuel, was about eleven years old when the family came to Long Point. He married Sarah Cyphor, of Newton, N.J., and, in 1808, settled on 365 acres of land located on Black Creek, a short distance above Port Dover. He had seven sons — Peter, Robert, Samuel H., Edward, Arthur, Isaac and George Collin ; and four daughters — Eleanor, Sarah Ann, Harriet and Hannah. Peter Ryerse, eldest son of Samuel, was thrice married. By his first wife, Mariah Kniffin, he had four sons — William, John, Thomas and George ; and one daughter, Elizabeth. By his second wife, Elizabeth Starks, he had two daughters, and the name of his third wife was Mrs. Mary Butler. Robert Ryerse, second son of Samuel, married Eliza Under bill, and settled on part of the homestead. He had three sons — Philander, Alfred and -James ; and five daughters — Sarah, Cynthia, Helen, Malissa and Erie. Samuel H. Ryerse, third son of Samuel, married Elizabeth Mandiville, settled on part of the homestead, and had one son. RYERSON AND RYERSE, 67 Samuel, and four daughters — Sarah Ann, Harriet, Rose and Martha. Edward Ryerse, fourth son of Samuel, married Elizabeth Bishoprick, settled on part of the homestead, and left no children. Arthur Ryerse, fifth son of Samuel, married Ann Donly, settled in Woodhouse, and had one daughter, Sarah Ann. Subsequently, he married Julia Marks as his second wife, by whom he had two daughters, Martha and Linnie. Isaac Ryerse, sixth son of Samuel, married Mary Chamber lain, settled on part of the homestead, and had two sons — Eugene and Frank; and three daughters — Anna, Emma and Elna. George Collin Ryerse, youngest son of Samuel, married Sarah Jane Orr, settled on part of the homestead, and had three song — Norman, Elmer and Arthur; and one daughter, Laura. Eleanor Ryerse, eldest daughter of Samuel, married George Kniffin and settled in Woodhouse. Sarah Ann Ryerse, the second daughter, married Frederick Fick and settled in Houghton. She had three sons — Collin, Wesley and Clinton; and four daughters— Cecilia, Amelia, Valdora and Naoma. Harriet Ryerse, the third daughter, married John Birdsall, settled in Townsend, and had two sons — ^John and Edward. Hannah Ryerse, youngest daughter of Samuel, married Samuel Chamberlain, and settled in Woodhouse. She had two sons — Samuel and Harvey, both of whom reside in Michigan. Samuel Ryerse, the father of this large family, died in 1844, in his 62nd year. Rev. George Ryerse, second son of Colonel Samuel, was a Baptist preacher. He married Elizabeth Vail and settled at Port Ryerse. Many of the old people of Windham and other back townships will remember with pleasure the old house on the hill -vvhere they used to go for cherry and other fruit supplies. Elder Ryerse subsequently married Nancy Shaw for 68 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. his second wife. He had five sons — William, James, Francis, Lewis and George ; and six daughters — Maria, Sarah, Amelia, Ida, Bessie and Helen. William married a daughter of the late Col. Isaac Gilbert and settled in Port Ryerse.- James married Sarah Ann, daughter of Emmanuel Winter, and settled near Port Ryerse. Francis married Elizabeth Potts, of Woodhouse, and settled near Port Ryerse. Lewis married Kate Kelly and settled at Point St. Ignace, Mich. Geokge married Caroline Lee, granddaughter of the late John Chad wick, of Charlotteville, and settled on the old homestead. Maria married John Austin, the carriage builder, and settled in Simcoe. Sarah married Charles Mabee and settled in Delhi. Amelia married a dentist named Barrett and settled in Buffalo. Ida married Captain Wesley Hazen. Bessie married in Saginaw, and Helen married J. Bottomly and settled in Lynedoch. Major Edward Ryerse, youngest son of Colonel Samuel, married Martha, daughter of Elnathen Underbill, and settled in Port Ryerse. He left no children. Colonel Joseph Ryerson fled into the Maritime Provinces after the war, and in 1799, came with his family to Long Point. He was awarded lots 23 and 24 in the lake front of Charlotteville. Col. Ryerson was Norfolk's first Sheriff, or, rather, the first Sheriff" of Old London District, being in attendance as such at the first District Court held at " Fort Monroe," April 8th, 1800. He held the office, consecutively, for about five years, being succeeded by John Bostwick. He was the first Treasurer of the district, holding the office about eight years. In 1807 the district received a grant from the Provincial Treasury, and Col. Ryerson was paid £5 for bringing the money from York to Turkey Point. The record shows that he received $470 for summoning the eight justices who served in the several courts for the year 1801. In 1807 he and his brother Samuel were associate justices for the Court of Request for Windham, Towns- end, Woodhouse, Walpole and Rainham ; and in 1809 they RYERSON AND RYERSE. 69 acted as justices in the Court of Request for the three latter townships. When the township was surveyed, a blunder was committed which caused a shortage in these lots, and by way of compensa tion the Go\- eminent made the Colonel a grant of the island known as Ryerson's Island. Col. Ryerson married Mehetabel Stickney in New Jersey, and when he came to Long Point he was thirty -nine, and his wife thirty-three years old. He died in 1854, in his ninety-fifth year, and Mrs. Ryerson died in 1850, in her eighty-fifth j^ear. Col. Joseph Ryerson had six sons — George, Samuel, William, John, Egerton and Edway M. ; and three daughters — Mary, Mehetabel and Elizabeth. Of these sons, Samuel was the only farmer; all the others were preachers. This generation of Ryersons seems to have been endowed with a passionate fondness for books and " book larnin'," as the Colonel used to express it. He used to say that " Sam." was the only one that was any good, and that when he sent the others out on the farm to work he would find them lying in a fence-corner or under a shade-tree, reading books. He used to say that when ever he bought a new book he was compelled to hide it, to keep his " good-for-nothing boys " from fighting over it. At last the old Colonel gave up in despair and let them have their own way. This meant attendance at Judge Mitchell's' District Grammar School, and the reader may rest assured that the old register contained no dilatory marks against the Ryerson boys. Five of them became Methodist preachers — John and William being noted divines. Egerton's life work is a part of our public histoiy, and need occupy no space here. Rev. George Ryerson, eldest son of Col. Joseph, was married three times. He was at the battle of Fort Erie as lieutenant in Capt. Rapelje's company, and received a shot in the mouth as he was about to give utterance to a fearful oath. This made a serious impression on Ms mind, and led to his conversion. By his first wife, Sarah, sister of Dr. John Rolph, he had one daughter, Frances, and one son, Joseph. The daughter married 70 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. John McLaughlin and settled in Wheatland, Iowa ; and the son was killed in the American civil war. By his second wife, Sofia Wyatt, he had one daughter ; and by his third wife, Isabella Sterling, of Rochester, he had one son. Dr. George, the Toronto politician. Samuel Ryerson, second son of Col. Joseph, married Eliza, daughter of Capt. McMichael, and settled on Lot 24, adjoining the old homestead. He died in 1826, leaving three daughters — Jane, Elizabeth and Sarah ; and one son, Henry. Jane mar ried Russell Clark, and settled near Buflfalo, N.Y. Elizabeth married Lorenzo Mitchell, in 1841. Her children are enumer ated in the Mitchell genealogy. Sarah married George Dresser, and settled in Beloit, Wis. Henry, the only son, went to sea in 1843, and was captain of a whaling ship. Rev. William Ryerson, third son of Col. Joseph, married May Griffin, of Grimsby. Of this union there were three sons — Joseph Edway, Smith and William; and three daughters, the names of the two youngest being Phoebe and Matilda. Joseph Edway was a Baptist minister, and at the time of his death (1864) was pastor of the Baptist church in Simcoe. He married Mary,, daughter of Elder Shoaf. Smith died on board ship while on his way to Australia. He left no family. William married Eliza Thorn and settled in Brantford, where he died, 'in 1886. The eldest daughter married Andrew L. Wilson, and settled in Brantford. Phcebe married Allen Wilcox, and settled in Virginia City, Montana ; and Matilda married David Burch, of Brantford, and settled in Chicago. Rev. John Ryerson, fourth son of Col. Joseph, married Mary Lewis, of Hamilton. He had one son, Egerton, who opened a law office in Stratford, where he died, single ; and one daughter, Mercia, who married Henry Hardy, of Brantford, who was Prosecuting Attorney for Norfolk County at the time of his death. Dr. Egerton Ryerson, fifth son of Col. Joseph, married Hannah Akeman, daughter of a farmer living near Hamilton. Of this union, the children died in infancy. Subsequently, he ryerson and ryerse. 71 married the widow of a clergyman named Armstrong, and one son and one daughter were the issue of this union. Charles E., the son, is a lawyer, of Toronto ; the daughter is the wife of Edward Harris, of London. Rev. Edway M. Ryerson, youngest son of Col. Joseph, married Emily, daughter of Rev. Daniel freeman, and subsequently he married her sister Phoebe. There was no issue from the first marriage. He had one daughter, Josephine, by his second wife, who married one Fitzgerald, a lawyer, of Ottawa. Mary Ryerson, the Colonel's eldest daughter, married Col. John Bostwick, and had four sons — Joseph, John, George and Henry ; and three daughters — Augusta, Mehetabel and Frances. Col. Bostwick settled in Port Stanley. Mehetabel Ryerson, the second daughter, married John Williams, a teacher, of Port Dover. Elizabeth Ryerson, the Colonel's youngest daughter, married Judge Mitchell. Her children are enumerated in the Mitchell genealogy. SKETCH X. A PIONEER WHEATFIELD. In the month of June, one hundred and one years ago, there was a little wheatfield near Port Royal which had been sown the fall before by a settler named Dedrick. It was only an acre in extent, and thickly .studded with stumps besides, yet no other wheat-field in the county of Norfolk from that time to the present, has ever been the object of so much solicitude on the part of as many people as was this little field. Never was the growth and development of the wheat-plant watched from day to day with greater interest, and never was the harvest-time waited for with more intense longing by a com munity of people possessing no pecuniary interest in the result. Mr. Dedrick was the sole owner of this pioneer wheatfield and he had only one or two neighbors, but on the 5th day of June a party of U. E. Loyalist settlers arrived at the mouth of Big Creek, consisting of a score or more of persons. Their arrival was a surprise to the two or three lonely settlers in the neighborhood, and they came with a scanty supply of pro visions. They brought only a small quantity of flour and bran with them, which was mixed together and dealt out in homoeo pathic doses and taken not oftener than the exigencies of the case demanded. This was the little community of persons that fasted and prayed as they waited and watched the ripening of the wheat in Mr. Dedrick's little clearing with so much interest. Among them were the Norfolk grand ancestors of five of our old families, and their experiences in that rosy month of June were never forgotten. True, there was an abundance of fish, but man cannot live A pioneer wheatfield. 73 by fish alone no more than " by bread alone." There were no supply stores in the country, and no amount of " tickling " in the virgin soil of old mother earth would induce her to give up her treasures sooner than the laws governing her processes would permit — laws which were inexorable in their nature, requiring time for soil preparation, seed planting and plant development. ' But these pioneers had no bread ; and no future promise of mother earth based on a " condition precedent," which required time for its fulfilment, could satisfy the present demands of their stomachs. In this extremity recourse was had to roots and buds of trees, which were gathered by the women and roasted and stewed in various ways as substitutes for more palatable and nutritious food. At last the golden grain was ready for the sickle, and the men all turned in to help cut it. It was thrashed out at once and the yield was sixty bushels. One half was fanned with the winds of heaven and sent to mill as a grist. John McCall owned the boat that carried the party up the lake and he took the grist to mill. But where was the mill ? the reader will ask. It was away down on the Niagara River ! When the little craft sailed away with its precious cargo, many a silent prayer went up from the hearts of those who waved adieus from the shore for a safe journey and a speedy return. In due time Captain John and his little crew returned with the flour; and when the boat came in view, such a shout went up from the mouth of Big Creek as was never heard in old Port Royal before nor since. And now comes the best part of it: that flour was divided equally among them, without any reckoning of debits or credits. We, the grandsons and great-grandsons of the old pioneers, know nothing of the hardships and privations of pioneer life ; but, alas ! neither do we know anything of that fraternal feeling and community of interest, which is a prominent feature of pioneer life. True, we are surrounded with comforts and conveniences never dreamed of by our forefathers, yet, the conditions of our life are less conducive to real happiness and 74 PIONEER SKETCHES OP LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. contentment, because these very comforts and conveniences make us more self-dependent and, consequently, more indifferent to the welfare of our fellow-beings. Avarice, pride, egotism, selfishness, hypocrisy, and a host of other evils follow in the wake, petrifying our souls, and curdling the milk of human kindness inherited from our grandsires. No wonder the withered features brightened, and the dim eyes kindled with a. new lustre, when the old folks spoke of the bright side of the old pioneer life. While travelling through the Southern States a few years ago, the writer conversed with many of the old slaves of ante bellum days, and all,, without a single exception, expressed themselves as having enjoyed life better on the old plantations when they were slaves. They said they were better fed, better clothed, and did not have to work as hard. They lived in little communities by themselves on the old plantations, free from cares and responsibilities, and were happier and more contented than they are now. But not one was found who would willingly return to the old conditions. They have had a . taste of liberty, and, although it has robbed them of happiness and contentment, it has forever made it impossible to live the old life over again. Call at one of our grand, modern homes and ask the wrinkled, white-haired occupant of the old arm-chair where she spent her happiest days. Without a moment's hesitation she will tell you that her happiest days were spent in the little old log-house that stood down by the creek pr at the foot of the hill. Is it because she was younger then and freer of aches. and pains ? Well, this may have something' to do with it, but it is not the main reason. Our mothers sometimes tell us that the days of their single-blessedness were their happiest ; but our grandmothers do not refer to their girlhood days ; they refer to a time when they were burdened with the cares and responsibilities of caring for a large family ; a time when the old crane in the big fire-place swung to and fro with its burden of big iron kettles ; a time when the winter's snow found its A PIONEER WHEATFIELD. 75 way through the " chinks " between the logs ; a time when the forest trees were being chopped down, and the fires in the " foller " lit the heavens with a lurid glare ; a time when every yard of clothing and bedding material needed for herself, her husband and her children, had to be spun, woven and made up by herself ; a time when she was wont to climb into an ox-cart with her children on a Sunday morning, and ride five miles over corduroy roads, and through mud-holes linch-pin deep, for the pleasure of sitting on a hard bench for an hour and listening to a good, old-fashioned Gospel sermon, delivered in a sledge hammer style. These were the happy days of our grand mothers; days of honest toil and social equality; days of mutual help, sympathy and encouragement ; days of heart-felt gratefulness and simple faith — in short, pioneer days. SKETCH XI. A PIONEER WHO LIVED IN THE EXECUTIVE LOG MANSION —THE AUSTIN FAMILY. As Charlotteville is the home of the McCalls, so is Wood- house the home of the Austins ; in fact, the bare mention of " Woodhouse " suggests the name " Austin." There are names which are peculiarly Norfolk names — names which were planted in the virgin soil of the county and so firmly rooted to the foundation of our social fabric that each succeeding generation adds to their strength. Among these old elementary names are the Austins of Woodhouse. Love of home is a leading characteristic with such families, and tends to good and desirable citizenship. When a family becomes numerous in the locality where the grand-ancestor built his pioneer cabin, it denotes on their part loyalty to country, fidelity to local interests and aff"ection for each other. Solomon Austin was one of our prominent old foundation builders. His family came to Upper Canada with a party of U. E. Loyalists, consisting of twelve families. • They came from Maryland and North Carolina, and arrived on the Niagara frontier as early as 1793. The Austins came from Orange County, North Carolina, and previous to the war of the Revo lution all had comfortable homes and kind neighbors ; but the terrible result of that war made them homeless and despised aliens in the land that gave many of them birth. It is said that shortly after the new province was organized these twelve families clubbed together and sent one of their number to the new country to learn what were the natural advantages of settlement, and the inducements oflF^red settlers A PIONEER WHO LIVED IN THE EXECUTIVE LOG MANSION. 77 by way of land grants, etc. The name of this trusted emissary was John Davis, who subsequently settled in Windham, a little north of Simcoe ; and later on his brother Robert came from North Carolina and settled near him. Mr. Davis reported favorably, and in due time the party was en route for the new country. They came in canvas- covered wagons, bringing their household eff"ects and a number of cows and other farm stock with them. BuflPalo, at this time, was a small village containing about a dozen houses. The party crossed the river at Old Niagara, and remained there a short time. In common with most of their fellow-Loyalists, they came into the forests of Upper Canada with little or no means. Governor Simcoe offered his executive log mansion at Newark to Solomon Austin, as a temporary shelter for his family until he could locate his land. He was awarded 600 acres for him self and wife and 200 acres for each of his children, to be selected by themselves from any of the untaken lands, which at that time included pretty much the entire province. But why did Governor Simcoe show Solomon Austin so much kindness ? Sir John Graves Simcoe had fought Eng land's battles in the war of the Revolution, and was a U. E. Loyalist himself. He had been an officer, and Mr. Austin had been a private in his command and had distinguished himself at some minor engagement, and his old General had not for gotten it ; hence the extra favors shown him and his family when they arrived in the new country. Mr. Austin was accompanied by his son Solomon when he made his tour of inspection in view of locating his lands. They had lived on high, leachy lands in North Carolina, and they made up their minds to locate their new lands in some pleasant valley where the droughts would not trouble them as of yore. Furthermore, they had resolved to build a mill, and this also made a choice of valley lands necessary in order to secure the required water-power privileges. They travelled through the forest on foot, and held a conference with Chief Brant at 78 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SET^TLEMENT. Brant's Ford (Brantford), and the chief pointed but a southerly course, toward the "big lake." They proceeded according to Brant's directions, and, in due time, came to a stream, which they followed to the lake. This was Patterson's Creek, and the place where they came upon it was near the spot where the old home of Elder Steinhoff was located. When they reached the mouth of the creek they found a squatter living in a log cabin on the east bank. This man's name was Walker, and was, no doubt, the first settler in Port Dover. They were very much surprised when they reached the lake, and, after a conference with Walker, took a westerly course up the lake shore. When they reached the mouth of Big Creek, they wended their way up the cedar-entangled valley of that stream to a point some distance above the site of the present village of Delhi. Nothing they had seen pleased them' as well as the little valley down which they had found their way to the lake, and so, taking a south-easterly course, they struck their old trail, and located their lands in what is now known as Lynn River Valley. They spent about three weeks in the forests of Norfolk, mostly, before they decided on a location. Unlike so many of our old Long Point pioneers, the Austins made a wise choice when they located their new homes. The natural surroundings of the old Austin homestead are picturesque and the soil is exceedingly fertile. When Mr. Austin and his son returned to Newark, they found the family suff'ering with that pest of pioneer life, chill- fever. This detained them a whole season in the Niagara settlement, and it was some time in 1794 before they were settled in Lynn Valley. They suffered, of course, the hardships and privations which fell to the lot of all the old pioneers. The war of 1812 broke in upon their work of home-building, and Solomon Austin and his four stalwart sons marched out of the little valley to fight for the Old Flag in the defence of their new homes. They were at the battle of Lundy's Lane, and before the war closed, it is said, each one of the sons had been promoted to the rank of captain. It is no wonder the Austins A PIONEER WHO LIVED IN THE EXECUTIVE LOG MANSION. 79 are noted for loyalty to country, fidelity to sound principles and love of home. The grand- American ancestor of the family emigrated from the border of Wales about 175 years ago, and settled on a little bay in the Petapsco River, about twelve miles above its entrance into the Chesapeake Bay, in Baltimore County, in the colony of Maryland. Here, on the Austin estate, was founded the city of Baltimore, in 1729. When the colonies threw off their allegiance, the Austins were wealthy and influential — as, indeed were all the leading Loyalists — but when the war was over they were reduced to poverty and subjected to persecution. The overthrow and expulsion of the Loyalist element proved an irreparable loss to the tone and moral worth of the colonies, but it proved a " God-send " to the new British Province of Upper Canada. It is but little more than a century since these victorious colonies, which had been long established, confiscated the homes of their old colonial leaders because they fought to put down rebellion, and with kicks and curses sent them pen niless into an unbroken wilderness ; but in 1893 the new Ontario met these same thirteen old colonies at Chicago before the assembled world, and clearly established her superiority over every one of them in the degree of material development attained, and in the intellectual status of her people as measured by the standard of her educational institutions What is the secret of this wonderful development in one short century ? It lies in the superior qualities which these old U. E. Loyalist foundation builders possessed and which they transmitted to their children. Let us not forget this important fact while boasting of the intellectual and industrial achievements and the moral excellencies of our people. Solomon Austin had four sons — Solomon, Jonathan, Philip and Moses ; and five daughters — Mary, Amy, Esther, Elizabeth and Anna. Solomon Austin, eldest son of Solomon, was twelve years ~old when the family came to Canada. He married Sarah Slaght, by whom he had six sons — Philip, John S., David, 80 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Jonathan, Abraham and Samuel ; and four daughters — Susan, Julia Ann, Mary Ann and Elizabeth, who married, respectively, Nathan Pegg, William Shand, Henry Raskins and Alfred Farnum. Philtp, David and Samuel married and settled on farms in WooDHOUSE. John S. and Jonathan established a carriage manufactory and built up a trade and a reputation for square, honest dealing, that any business firm might envy. Abraham became a Baptist preacher, and thirty years ago there were few Baptist Sunday School scholars in the County of Norfolk who did not know the familiar face of Elder Austin. Jonathan Austin, second son of Solomon, married Hannah Potts. He had two sons — William and John ; and six daugh ters — Charlotte, Mary, Joanna, Catherine, Elizabeth and Rebecca Ann. He and his younger son built the mills in Lynn Valley, known as " Austin's Mills." Four of his daugh ters — Charlotte, Joanna, Elizabeth and Rebecca Ann, married, respectively, John Wheeler, John Hinds, Thomas M. England and Rqbert Laning. Philip Austin, third son of Solomon, was born in 1790. He married Mary Slaght and succeeded to the old homestead. On one occasion during their early married life, Mrs. Austin was nearly frightened to death by a band of armed Indians who came to the house during the husband's absence, and coolly ordered a meal of hot buckwheat pancakes. . In their estima tion this was a great delicacy, being far ahead of anything " Ingin's squaw " ever made of pounded corn. They stacked their guns in front of the door, and Mrs. Austin proceeded at once to comply with their demands. She baked up all the "pan cake timber " she had, and the " noble red men " swallowed the red-hot flapjacks as they came from the griddle. When the material was exhausted the half -satisfied warriors shouldered their guns and went on their way. It was in a time of peace, and they were, no doubt, a band of hunters ; but at that early time to have such a band of armed Indians suddenly drop in' upon a lone woman, was enough to nearly frighten her to death. PIONEER WHO LIVED IN THE EXECUTIVE LOG MANSION. 81 Mrs. Philip Austin was the mother of seventeen children, fourteen of whom grew up to man's and woman's estate. There were six sons — Aaron, Isaac, Philip B., Joshua, Joseph and Oliver; and eight daughters — Nancy, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Mary, Hannah, Esther Ann, Emily Jane and Priscilla. It is said our best people come out of large families, and no one of our old families is more in evidence as to the truthfulness of this old saying than the family of Philip Austin. Among them we find some of Norfolk's most distinguished citizens. Four of these sons — Isaac, Aaron, Joseph and Oliver — have added dignity, tone and moral worth to the solid yeomanry of Wood- house, the first having served many years in the Township and County Councils as Reeve of Woodhouse, and the last is' at present serving in the same capacity. Oliver Austin is not' only a leader in township and county affairs, but he displays the same progressive energy in the advancement of agriculture and the support of every movement tending to develop a. stronger moral and religious sentiment among the people.. Joshua, the fourth son, stands for the first half of that old- familiar mercantile firm-name, " Austin & Werrett," that found its way into every household in the county years ago. Emily married her brother's business partner, George Werrettv Several members of this large family settled in the Western States, where they raised families and prospered. Philip Austin died in 1876, in his 83rd year, having survived his wife eleven years. Moses Austin, youngest son of Solomon, married , Mary Misner, and settled in Woodhouse. Subsequently, he built a saw-mill in the vicinity of Tyrrel, Townsend. He had four sons — Lewis, Edward, Nathaniel and William; and four daughters— Margaret, Mary, Sarah and Julia. These sons and daughters married and settled, mostly in Woodhouse and Townsend. Mary Austin, eldest daughter of Solomon, and first-born. child, married Henry Walker and settled near her father's- homestead. Her children are enumerated in the Walker- genealogy. , 82 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Amy Austin, second daughter of Solomon, married Selah Styles, and settled in Woodhouse. She had two sons — Peter and Selah ; and one daughter, Lavinia. Esther Austin, third daughter of Solomon, married- Raynard Potts, and settled just north of her father's homestead. Her children are enumerated in the Potts' family genealogy. Elizabeth Austin, the fourth daughter, married John Pegg. Her children are enumerated in the Pegg genealogy. Anna Austin, youngest daughter of Solomon, married David Marr, of Marr's Hill. The names of her children are given in the Marr genealogy. Solomon Au.stin and his pioneer wife both attained the age of eighty-two. None of their sons reached so great an age, except Philip, who reached his eighty-seventh year, being the last survivor of the family. Moses died comparatively young, being only about fifty-five, while Solomon reached his sixty- eighth year. For several years previous to Philip's death, the members of his large family held a reunion on the anniversary of his birth. At the last of these reunions there were present one hundred and thirty-seven descendants of Philip Austin, and the direct descendants of the original Solomon Austin numbered, at this' time, over seven hundred. If this was the number twenty years ago, what a mighty host they must be to-day ! But according to a family tradition, the destiny that gave Norfolk this vigorous and most excellent element, hung on a very slender thread at one time. It happened while Solomon Austin was fighting for British supremacy in America. As the story goes, he and six others were taken prisoners, and himself and another were condemned to death. Just before the time fixed for execution, Mr. Austin and another prisoner were permitted to go to a spring for a drink. They were accompanied by two guardsman, and when they arrived at the spring, one of the guards handed his gun to the other guard and lay down to take the first drink himself. While thus engaged the standing guard passed his comrade's gun over to Austin and gave him the wink to make good his escape. It A PIONEER WHO LIVED IN THE EXECUTIVE LOG MANSION. 83 was a narrow escape, but it proved successful. He knew the man who thus saved his life, and had always looked upon him as a bitter enemy; but he never saw him afterwards, and never knew what became of him. The twelve families referred to in the first part of this sketch, all settled in the Niagara and other Eastern sections, except the Austin families. As before stated, John Davis moved up from Niagara subsequently. Accompanying the party were several young men with no family connections. Two of these — John Pegg and Henry Walker — settled in Norfolk. John Austin, a young man, son of a brother of the original Solomon Austin, came with the party, and was awarded land in the County of York, where he settled, married, and raised a family. SKETCH XII. THE DOUBLE CULVER QUARTETTE. In the Culver family, of Norfolk, were four brothers who married four Culver sisters. The brothers were sons of that father of pioneers, Rev. Jabez Culver; and the sisters were daughters of Timothy Culver, who came to the settlement in 1796. It is the only case on record in the history of our old families, where four brothers married four sisters, all of the same name, and all the grandchildren of one common marriage union. Three of these marriages were solemnized in New Jersey, and the fourth, here ; but all settled here more than a hundred years ago, their posterity having become as " sands on the sea-shore," forming no inconsiderable portion of Norfolk's present population. The names of the brothers were Jabez, Aaron, John and Gabriel ; and the sisters names were Anna, Elizabeth, Miriam and Martha. They married in the order in which their names are written. Jabez Culver, jun., eldest brother in the quartette, was bom in New Jersey in 1760, and was thirty-four years old when he settled in Norfolk. His name frequently appears in the old court journal as a grand juror during the time the courts were held at Turkey Point. Jabez. Culver was the only one of the quartette who moved out of the county. When the fertile hard- wood lands of Yarmouth began to attract settlers, he moved up into Elgin County and settled on the Catfish Creek, north of Talbot Street. He had two sons — Timothy and Isaac ; and four daughters— Hannah, Catherine, Esther and Eunice. Timothy Culver, elder son of Jabez, jun., was born in New THE DOUBLE CULVER QUARTETTE. 85 Jersey. During the war of 1812 he returnetl to Now Jersey, where he married and died, leaving one son, Philip. When a young lad, this son came to Canada to look after a land interest which his father had forfeited by leaving the country at a time when his services were needed in its defence, and after a hasty visit went south, where he met with some start ling experiences. Where or when he died, or whether he died childless or not, are mattera of family history unknown to his relatives in Canada. Isaac Culver, younger son of Jabez, jun., married Jane Tuttle, and succeeded to the Yarmoutli homestead. He had one son, Ed^Adn, and three daughters — Esther, Emily and Calista — all of whom died young and without issue. Edwin married Ann Burns, and succeeded to the homestead. He had one son, John Mark, who died single ; and four . daughtei-s — Eliza Jane, Catherine, Emeline and Melissa, who mai-ried, respectively, E. A. Owen, D. A. Luton, W. S. Rogers and E. E. Sheppai'd. Hannah Culver, eldest daughter of Jabez, jun., was carried from New Jersej' in the arms of her Aunt Martha, wife of Gabriel Culver, on the back of a horse. She married Thomas Fincli, of Vittoria, and settled, finally, in Oxford County. Her children are enumerated in the Finch genealogv. Catherine Culver, second daughter of Jabez, jun., married John Learn, and settled near the old homestead in Elgin. She had seven sons — Andrew, George, Lj-man, Edwin, John, Philip and Charles ; and one daughter-, Catherine. The mother lived to be veiy old. Eunice Culver, third daughter of Jabez, jun., married Neil Close, and settled at New Sarum. She had six sons — Ajidrus, Charles, John, Oliver, George and Louis; and three dauglitei"s — Caroline, Eliza Ann and Catherine. Both parents attained a good old age. Esther Culver, fourth daughter of Jabez, jun., married Wheeler Kitclien, and settled in Townsend. She had three sons — Richard, Isaac and Jabez : and two daughtei-s — Esther 86 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Ann and Mary Eunice. Of this family, Richard settled in Monroe County, Missouri, Isaac settled in Woodhouse, Jabez settled in Michigan ; and the daughters married, respectively, Samuel Culver and Timothy Culver, both of Townsend. Aaron Culver, second brother in the quartette, was born in New Jersey, in 1766, and was thirty years old when he came to Norfolk. His pioneer log-cabin was erected on a knoll now included in one of the broad fields of the Loder-Culver farm. He brought a set of mill-irons from New Jersey, and when he had effected a settlement he set about looking up a mill-site. There was a good one on Patterson's Creek, where the town of Simcoe now stands; and when Governor Simcoe pitched his tent in the valley in 1795, on a spot now included in the Campbell Grove, Mr. Culver waited upon him and obtained a grant of the mill privilege. He built a mill on the site occupied in more modern times by the N. C. Ford & Co. mills. The little Culver mill was the pioneer mill of Simcoe, and was named "The Union Mill," for the reason, probably, that it was brought into existence by the united effort of all the settlers. The first land deed registered in the county from Townsend was in 1797, being a deed from Gideon Cooley to Aaron Culver. A reference to sketch, " Juries and Court Officials Made at Turkey Point," will show that Aaron Culver was, also, a frequent grand juror, and that he was one of the old treasurers of London District. He was twice married. By the Culver union he had three sons — David, Moses and Timothy ; arid by his second wife, Jane Fray, he had two sons — Aaron and George; and two daughters — Sarah and Jane. He died in 1849, in his 86th year David Culver, eldest son of Aaron, married Sarah White, and settled in Townsend. He had four sons — James, Nathaniel, Aaron and Joseph ; and three daughters — Martha Jane, Mercia and Sarah. Moses Culver, second son of Aaron, married Sarah Merritt, and settled in Townsend. He had four sons — Levi, Loder, William and Moses; and three daughters — Jane, Mary and Nancy. He died in 1835, in his 33rd year. THE DOUBLE CULVER QUARTETTE. 87 Timothy Culver, third son of Aaron, married Rebecca Pursley, and settled in Townsend. He had five sons — Philip, Mahlon, Oliver, Aaron and Thomas ; and two daughters — Jane and Amy. Aaron Culver, eldest son of Aaron by his second wife, married Stearns, and settled near Simcoe. He had three sons — Alvin, Ebenezer and Leamon. George Culver, second son of Aaron by his second wife, married Emily Musselman, and settled on the homestead. He had four sons — Sylvanus, Herbert, Mark and Ernest ; and two daughters, one of whom married John Bouprey, of Simcoe. Sarah and Jane, daughters of the original Aaron, married, respectively, .Joseph WooUey and Leamon Sovereign. John Culver, third brother in the quartette, was born in New Jersey, in 1768, and was twenty-six years old when he built his log-cabin in the Townsend wilderness. He came a little in advance of his father and brothers, and was the first Culver to effect a settlement in Norfolk. They left New Jersey early in 1793, but the season was spent somewhere about the Grand River, and they did not reach Norfolk before February or March, 1794. The ground was covered with snow, and after crossing the Grand River they had to chop their way through the brush-entangled forest. When they reached a certain spot on what is now Lot 1, 11th concession, Townsend, they pitched their tent. The snow was cleared away from the prostrate trunk of a huge tree, and a temporary shelter con structed with pine boughs and cow-hides. What a mighty transformation has been effected in Norfolk since Miriam Culver and her three babies cuddled together on a bed of pine boughs by the side of that log a hundred and three years ago ! And what were the thoughts of the brave young pioneer as he guarded that rudely constructed couch all through the " stilly watches " of that first night ? In our imagination we can see the leaping flames and the radiating shadows. It is midnight, and stretching away in every direction is a vast, unbroken and densely wooded forest. Old Townsend's first permanent settler 88 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. stands with his back to the crackling flames, and, with folded arms, peers into the outlying darkness. Hark ! What de moniacal, blood-curdling sound is that ? He listens. It grows louder. On a bed of pine-boughs, by the side of a fallen tree, lies old Townsend's flrst pioneer mother. She has had a hard day's tramp through the forest, and has fallen into a deep sleep with her babies nestled snugly in her arms. She is oblivious to her surroundings, and hears not the discordant howls of the blood-thirsty wolves. She is dreaming of her happy, far-away New Jersey home and the dear friends left behind. But the vigilant sentry disturbs not her slumbers. He heaps on more wood and sends the sparkling flames higher and still higher, for well he knows that this is a certain means of warding off attacks of wild beasts. John Culver was truely a pioneer of pioneers. He was a preacher, but never assumed the duties of the regular pastor. He was a poet, and in 1828 he wrote a volume of hymns which vas published as the " Upper Canada Hymn Book." He was somewhat eccentric in character, and towards the close of his life he became enamored with the doctrines of Universalism. ¦He had five sons — Michael, Gabriel, Darius, John Mark and Hiram ; and seven daughters — Rhoda, Sarah, Mary, Elizabeth, Miriam, Dorcas and Susanna. He died in 1834 in his 67th year, and his wife died in 1852, in her 80th year. Michael Culver, eldest son of John, was married three times. He had seven sons — Gabriel, Lewis, Dr. John, Mark, Darius, Hugh and Carlton ; and four daughters — Mary Jane, Sarah Ann, Harriet and Miriam. He died in 1869, in his 79th year, Gabriel Culver, second son of John, and his sister Elizabeth, Settled in the States. Darius Culver, third son of John, married Mary Heath, and settled on the homestead. He had two sons — Horace and Leamon; and four daughters — Evangeline, Amanda, Harriet and Mary D. He died in 1835, in his 37th year. John Mark Culver, fourth son of John, married Sarah Kern, and settled on the homestead. He had two sons — Ransom and Albert ; and four daughters - Emily, Roxey, Ruth and Miriam. THE DOUBLE CULVER QUARTETTE. . 89 Hiram Culver, youngest son of John, married Sarah Ann Stokes, and settled in Townsend. He died this present year in his 83rd year, and was the last survivor of his generation. Hiram inherited some of his father's mental peculiarities. As a mental arithmetician he had few equals. It is said he once computed the number of thirty-seconds of an inch around a two-hundred-acre lot, mentally, without making a mark of any kind. The grand total runs up into hundreds of millions, and the feat is one that few men, indeed, are able to perform. Hiram Culver had one son, James S., who died single. His four daughters — Miriam C, Amoret A., Louisa Jane and Amanda M., married, respectively, Edgar Bryning, Willard Walker, Thomas Giles and Albert Deming. Mrs. Bryning has in her possession one of the most valuable old books in the county. It is a concordance of the Bible, published in 1643, and brought from New Jersey to Norfolk more than a century ago, by Rev. Jabez Culver, father of the quartette in question. Rhoda Culver was the first-born child in the Townsend •cabin. She married James Lewis, and settled in Townsend. Of the other daughters of John, Elizabeth married Alexander Mcintosh, of Townsend; Miriam married William Wood, of Windham; Dorcas married Dr. Bostwick, and Susanna married Mark Hopkins. Gabriel Culver, youngest brother in the quartette, was born in New Jersey in 1774, and was twenty years old when his father settled in Norfolk. He married after he came to the settlement, and it is quite probable that his marriage was the first one solemnized in the township of Windham. During Governor Simcoe's visit in 1795, he called at Gabriel's little clearing and advised him to leave a clump of trees that stood in front of his cabin for a grove. The advice was acted upon and the, trees were spared. He had six sons — Asa, Jabez L., John, Ira, Orrin G. and Nelson C; and three daughters — Elizabeth, Nancy and Calista. He died in 1841 in his 68th year, and his wife died in 1866 in her 90th year. Asa Culver, eldest son of Gabriel, married Sarah Widner, and settled in Windham. He had four sons — Lewis, Descom, 90 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. John Asa and Alvin; and three daughters — Helen, Caroline and Sarah Jane. Asa, the father, died in 1879 in his 82nd year. Jabez L. Culver, second son of Gabriel, married Mary Chamberlain, and settled in Windham. He had four sons^ Dr. John G., Edwin, Louis and Dr. Addison ; and two daughters — Martha and Almira. He died in 1841 in his 42nd year. John Culver, third son of Gabriel, married Mary Boss. He had no children. Ira Culver, fourth son of Gabriel, married Desire Brown, and settled, finally, in Iowa. Benjamin Culver, of Norwich, is a son of Ira. Orrin G. Culver, fifth son of Gabriel, married Harriet Walker, and settled in Windham. He had two sons — Lyman and Leander ; and one daughter, Serena. Nelson C. Culver, youngest son of Gabriel, married Sarah, daughter of Abraham Young, the old Windham pioneer who lived to be nearly a hundred years old. He settled on the old homestead, but at present lives in a pleasant home on the lake shore near Normandale. He is the sole survivor of his generation. He has six sons — Omar, Asa, Ogden, Frank, Tom and Lemuel ; and five daughters — Calista, Mary, Susanna, Eva and Jennie. Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Gabriel, married John Mcintosh, and settled in Townsend. Nancy, the second daughter, married Col. Thomas Clark, of Waterford. Calista, youngest daughter of Gabriel, married Nelson Vasbinder. If all the people in Norfolk who are related to the Culver family were removed from the county, those remaining would feel lonely. They have become very numerous and influential, and it is no doubt a fact that a careful computation would show that the Culver connections would outnumber those of any other of our pioneer families, and that they own more cultivated fields and comfortable Norfolk rural homes than any other family. The Culvers are pre-eminently tillers of the soil. SKETCH XIII. TWO HIGHLAND LADS. When Charles Edward, son of the old Pretender, crossed over from France to Scotland, in 1745, with a handful of adventurers, it was the signal of a bloody civil strife. As was expected, many fiocked to his standard. The union be tween Scotland and England was gall and wormwood, at that time, to many of the old Highland clans, and as Charles Edward promised to dissohe it when he secured the crown, they embraced the opportunity of taking up arms against the English king. When this rebellion broke out, the subjects of this sketch were mere lads, whose native heath was on one of the many arms of old Argyleshire which extend out into the sea. Donald was just ten years old, and Rob, his companion, was several years his senior; These lads, in com mon with the Highland peasantry, had been inured to hard ships. They attended the flocks on the rugged hillsides, but mutton was not an everj-day article of diet in their humble homes. A slice of " bannock " or a bowl of oatmeal gruel was what they were more accustomed to ; yet they were hardy and robust. The sons of old Argyleshire are early in life inspired with a roaming spirit. Next to Inverness, it is the largest county in Scotland, yet it is so broken up by the sea that no part is more than twelve miles from either the open sea or an inland loch. The sea extends its numerous arms inland and says " Come," and the rugged peaks of old Ben Cruschan and Bedan-ambran look down from above with an inspiration of encouragement and whisper " Go," and thus it is that in every part of the civilized world the sons of " auld Argyleshire " are found. When Sir John Cope was defeated at Prestonpans by the forces of the young Pretender, a feeling of intense indignation was aroused all over the kingdom. Volunteers offered their services to the king in every county. Argyleshire was loyal 92 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. from centre to circumference, and a large body of the militia joined the king's forces. Donald and Rob were too young to go, but their fathers went. The decisive battle was fought on the bleak and dreary moor of Culloden. At a critical moment, when the left wing of the loyal forces were being weakened by a furious rebel onslaught, the Argyleshire militia tore down a park wall that stood in their way, and wildly rushed into the breach with drawn swords, and in thirty minutes the rebel forces were broken and utterly routed. This decided the fate of Charles Edward. When these loyal militiamen returned to their homes, the story of Culloden was rehearsed on the hillsides and in the valleys of Argyleshire, and many a youth was fired with an ambition to go out and measure swords with the king's enemies. The subjects of this sketch were thus inspired, and when Donald reached his twenty -first year, he and Rob enlisted in a High land regiment known as the " 42nd Highlanders." This was in 1756, and in 1758 we find them in the army of General Amherst in the expedition sent against Cape Breton. Their regiment was attached to the brigade under the command of Colonel Wolfe, and did noble service at the capture of Louisburg. The following year Wolfe's rank was raised to that of major-general, and he was sent against Quebec. Our heroes accompanied this expedition and took part in the capture of that strong fortress, thereby breaking the power of France in the New World for ever. After the capture of Quebec, they remained with the garrison during the winter. The Highland uniform was not suited to the rigors of a Quebec winter, especially one as severe as this proved to be, and the soldiers suffered so intensely with the cold that the nuns in the convent pitied them and knitted long woollen hose for them. The following summer they were transferred to Philadelphia, where, after three years' service connected with the Indian troubles, they were honorably dis charged from the army ; this was in 1763. They were now in the prime of manhood, and in the New World. .Their army record had exceeded their boyhood's fondest dreams, and now they would turn their attention to fighting the battles of civil TWO HIGHLAND LADS. 93 life in securing homes for themselves. The British colony of New Jersey offered many attractions at this time, and the two young Highlanders settled there. When the colonies threw off their allegiance, Donald and Rob each had young families and good, comfortable homes. They were fairly started on the road to prosperity, but their fathers had left their homes and young families to help put down rebellion, and so would they. They joined General Clinton on Long Island ; but we cannot follow them through the war of the Revolution. Poor Rob did not live to share with his old comrade the misfortunes that fate held in store for the Loyalists. The treaty of peace was signed in 1783, but it did not bring peace to the families of Donald and his fellow Loyalists. It meant contumely, re proach, persecution, confiscation of property and expatriation. They fled into the British provinces down by the sea, where the Old Flag still waved. After Quebec had been divided and the western portion organized into a separate province as Upper Canada, Sir John Graves Simcoe, its first governor, championed the cause of the refugee Loyalists. He obtained authority from the British Parliament to make them grants of land and help them in other ways, by way of remuneration for the losses they had sustained in their unflinching fidelity to the Crown. He visited Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, where- he addressed the Loyalists at public meetings. He told them of the wonderful advantages awaiting the settler in the new province, and promised them 600 acres of land each as an inducement to settle therein. Donald looked after his old friend's family, and after- Governor Simcoe's visit, a party, consisting of himself and family, the family of his old friend and several others, resolved to migrate to the new country. These two Highland lads were Donald McCall and Robert. Monroe, the grand- American ancestors of the two old Norfolk families bearing those names. Is it any wonder their descend ants have always been noted for their loyalty to British institutions, or that a warm, friendly feeling has always. existed between them ? SKETCH XIV. THE CLAN McOALL. Far was it from the mind of Donald McCall when he gazed upon his native heath in " Auld Scotia " for the last time that he was to become the founder of a mighty clan McCall in an interior part of the New World, which at that time was an unbroken wilderness roamed over by savages. Indeed, when he landed on our shore with his family, on that 5th day of June, 1796, he could not have dreamed of the wonderful increase of his posterity which one short century would bring about. Donald McCall was well advanced in years when he built his log cabin on Lot 18, 4th concession of Charlotteville more than a hundred years ago ; and to-day his great-grandson, the present Reeve of Charlotteville, is the owner and occupant of a part of this same old homestead. And right here lies the secret of the high standing attained by the family in the social circles of the to\vnship. While other families broke up and scattered, some going into other portions of the Province, and many others floating off to the great American Republic, the McCalls possessed an abiding faith in the land of their birth, and remained at home. All through the century they seem to have been actuated with the idea that old Charlotteville was good enough for them. In fact, it seems to be a principle inherent in the family to cling to the old land-marks. This love of home and of home institutions have made them numerous in the land where their old Highland forefather settled ; and it has placed them in comfortable circumstances and made them influential and highly respectable. The social fabric of South Norfolk is so interwoven with the McCall THE CLAN M'CALL. 95 element that it would fall to pieces were that element eliminated. In public matters it is the same. Whoever saw a Charlotteville Council or a County Council without a McCall factor in it ? And they are not content with framing muni cipal by-laws ; they must take part in provincial legislation ; and so we find the names of two different members of the family on the county list of past parhamentary representatives. Another principle inherited from the man who fought Eng land's battles for seven j-ears, is the principle of loyalty to British institutions. This is one of the distinguishing char acteristics of the McCall family. The war of 1812 brought them to the front in the Norfolk mihtia. In fact, there was no important action taken by our militia during those trouble- ous times that was not aided by a McCall acting as colonel, major or captain. Donald McCall and Elsie Simpson had five sons — John, Duncan, Daniel, James and Hugh; and three daughters — Catherine, Elizabeth and Mary. The old pioneer was past sixty when he came to Long Point. He settled on the lot mentioned on acpount of its rich, natural pasture advantages and its water privileges. He died early in the century, being surviv,ed by his -wife several years. The history of his early manhood is given in sketch entitled " Two Highland Lads." John McCall, eldest son of Donald, was ten years old when the colonies threw off their allegiance, and thirty when the family came to Long Point. He married Martha McCool, and settled on Lot 18, 6th concession of Charlotteville, which he received as a U. E. Loyalist grant. He was possessed of a rough-and-ready nature, and was a conspicuous personage in the settlement. He was endowed with a coarse vein of humor, and being an expert hunter, was one of the best known characters of his time. He died in 1839, in his 74th year, leaving one son, Daniel. His -wife died in 1858, at the age of ninety. Daniel McCall, only son of John, married Janet, daughter of Wilham Cowan, and succeeded to the homestead. He died 96 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. • in 1854, in his 48th year, leaving an only son, Daniel, who is the present owner of the old homestead. Major Duncan McCall, second son of Donald, was born in Baskingridge, Somerset County, New Jersey, in 1768. He married Jemima, sister of the original Noah Fairchild, and was the only son married when the family came to Long Point. Duncan remained behind one year, and came in 1797 with a stock of merchandise, which he disposed of in the manner described in sketch entitled " Old Fort Monroe," He was newly married, and his young bride came with the families in 1796. After spending a few years in merchandising — notably in the fur trade — he settled on his government grant, being Lot 22, 5th concession of Chailotteville. In 1798 his young wife died, leaving an infant son, Daniel, and a baby daughter, Margaret. This young mother is the subject of the sketch entitled, " A Young Mother's Grave." Mr. McCall married a second time ; and by his second wife, Mrs. Lockwood, he had one son, Duncan. In 1824 Major McCall was elected to a seat in the Provincial Parliament, retaining it until 1833, when he was stricken down with cholera while in Toronto attending to his official duties. He died in his 64th year. . Major Daniel McCall, elder son of Duncan, was, probably, the first white child born in Charlotteville. He married Hannah, daughter of Robert Shearer, and settled on the homestead. The children in this family who grew up were three sons — Daniel A., Francis and Simpson; and oiie daughter, who married William Nevett. All settled at or near St. Williams. Duncan McCall, younger son of Duncan, married Naoma, daughter of Oliver Mabee, and settled on Lot 1 2, 5th conces sion of Charlotteville. He had two sons — Samuel and Oliver. Subsequently, he married Rhoda Mann, by whom he had one son,. Joseph, who settled at Vittoria. Margaret McCall, only daughter of Duncan, was left a motherless babe in the little settlement a hundred years ago. She married Aquila M. Walsh and settled on the Walsh home- THE CLAN M'CALL. 97 stead. Her children are enumerated in the Walsh family - genealogy. Lieut.-Col. Daniel McCall, third son of Donald, was born in the New Jersy home in 1772, and was twenty-four years old when the family came to the settlement. He married Jane Decew, of Sussex County, New Jersey, and settled on Lots 22 and 23, 6th concession of Charlotteville. This son of the old Highlander inherited much of his father's martial spirit. He- served in the war of 1812 as captain of a company, and was at the battle of Fort Erie. He was at " Malcolm's Mill " with his company, and iij justice to Captain McCall and his men be lt said, they maintained their military integrity until all else had broken ranks and fled. In the sketch entitled " Grand- fat;.her's Tales of the War of 1812," an account is given of the part he played in the capture of the " Dickson bandits." Daniel McCall worked his way up in the Norfolk militia from corporal to lieutenant-colonel. In about 1798 he built a frame house on his land, arid many years afterwards it was moved to Vittoria, and is at. present occupied as a dwelling. Colonel McCall died in 1848, in his 77th year, and his wife died two years afterwards, in her 79th year. He left three sons — Duncan, Daniel and William ; and two daughters — Elsie- and Mary. Duncan McCall, eldest son of Colonel Daniel, married Fanny Harvey, settled in the Gore of Woodhouse and had three sons. — James Harvey, Edwin and Charles; and two daughters — Harriet and Isabel. Daniel McCall, second son of Colonel Daniel, was a school teacher. He taught a term in the Kitchen school-house, after which, his health failing, he went south, where he died with smallpox. William McCall, third son of Colonel Daniel, married Eliza beth McCoy, and settled on the homestead. He had two daughters — Maria and Rebecca, both of whom died single. Elsie McCall, elder daughter of Colonel Daniel, married 7 98 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. •Charles Perley, and settled in Burford. She had four sons — Daniel, Charles, Thomas and Allen ; and five daughters — Helen, Alice, Elizabeth, Phoebe and Charlotte. Mr. Perley 's farm com prised five hundred acres. He employed a large number of men, and in harvest time Mrs. Perley cooked meals, sometimes ¦for as many as 120 persons. Mary McCall, younger daughter of Colonel Daniel, married Jacob McKenna, and settled on Lot 19, 5th concession of Charlotteville. She had two sons — Daniel W. and Van Rans- saelar; and two daughters — Jane and Charlotte. The family finally moved to the States. James McCall, fourth son of Donald, was born in 1781, and was fifteen years old when the family came to Upper Canada. He married Nancy McQueen, and after a short stay near Port Rowan, settled on the old homestead near Vittoria. He had ;seven sons — Simpson, Daniel, James A., John H., David W., Duncan and Jacob; and three daughters — Phoebe, Elsie and :Susan. Mr. McCall died comparatively a youftg man, leaving a widow with a large family of small children, the eldest of whom, Simpson, was only about thirteen years old. Simpson McCall, eldest son of James, married Priscilla Lamport, artd succeeded to the homestead. He had four sons^ James H., George D., Thomas Simpson and Malcolm J.; and two daughters — Mary and Martha. A sketch of Mr. McCall's ,hfe is given elsewhere under the title, " Comforts of Old Age." Daniel McCall, second son of James, died single. James A. McCall, third son of James, went to the Western .States, married and had two daughters. John H. McCall, fourth son of James, married Ann Cowan and settled on part of the homestead. He had four sons- William, Arthur, Angus and John ; and five daughters — Nancy, Margaret, Mary Ann, Hannah and Emma. John succeeded to the homestead. David W. McCall, fifth son of James, married Harriet Mann, and settled on Lots 15 and 16, 7th concession of Char lotteville. He had five sons — Alexander, Thomas, Frank, Louis THE CLAN M'CALL. 99 and Walter ; and three daughters — Caroline. Ettie and Hannah. T'ho two eldest sons acquired considerable wealth in tho lum bering business — Alexander being the well known ex-Mayor of Simcoe. Duncan McCall, sixth sou of James, settled in California. Jacob McCall, youngest son of James, married Sarah Palmorstou and settled on Lot 8, 1st coucossiou of Charlotte- \-ille. He had one son, James W.; ajid two daughters — Susan and Mary. All settled in the States. Ph(,T?be McCall, eldest daughter of James, married, and settled in tho States. Elsie McCall, the second daughter, married William Good- land, and settled in Charlofctovillo. She had several children but all died in childhooil. Susan iMcCall, youngest daughter of James, marriod Chaun- cey Huff, and died young, leaving no children. Of James McCnll's family, Simpson and Jacob, the eldest and youngest, aw the sole survi\-ors. Hugh McCall, youugi^st son of Donald, was the baby, being only throe yeai-s old when tho family landed at the mouth of Big Creek in 1796. He marriod Earner, daughter of Captain John Haveland, of Townsend. He was possessed of a i-oaming disposition and was fond of adventure. Ha\-iiig a strong pixHlilootion for boating, he puixshased a vessel of Cross 0^ Fisher, and engaged in the shipping business, carrying surplus pro ducts from Long Point ports to Buffalo and other points, ivturniug with mercliaudise and sucli supplies fis were in demand in the sottlemont. Late in the season of 1819, he was caught in tho ice off Port Rowan, while trying to make that port with a carg-o of salt and other supplies. This caused a SJilt famine in tlie settlement, and salt went up to two dollar's a Ivvrivl. Mr. McCall was awarded a grant of land in the township of Sombnv, but he could not tie himself down to the task of impiwing it. For a time he eng-jigvd in the fvir traffic. Finally ho went to California, and did not return itntil he had giMwn old. He died in 1873, in his 81st year. His family 100 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. settled near Port Stanley. His son, Allen, kept a hotel for several years on the St. Thomas and Port Stanley gravel road. Subsequently, he moved to St. Thomas, where he died. George McCall, son of Hugh, was a carpenter, and he settled in Yar mouth, where he raised a family. Hugh had a daughter, Sarah, who died single. Catherine McCall, eldest daughter of Donald, was born in 1770, and came to the settlement at the age of twenty-six, being the wife of Lieut. James Monroe. Her children are enumerated in the Monroe family genealogy. Elizabeth McCall, second daughter of Donald, came to the settlement when she was fourteen years old, and became the wife of the original Noah Fairchild. Her children are enumer ated in the Fairchild family genealogy. Mary McCall, youngest daughter of Donald, was only nine years old when she came to the wilderness of Norfolk. . She married Ephraim Cole Mitchell, and settled in Charlotteville. In 1815 they settled in Bayham, where they lived the remainder of their lives. In the Mitchell family were three sons — Thomas, Simpson and George ; and two daughters — Elsie and Mary Ann. Thomas is still living ; Gkorge married Jane Harvey, and settled in Houghton; Elsik married a man named Stansell, and settled in Bayham; and Mary Ann married James McGuire, a shoemaker, and settled in Houghton. The McCall genealogy, as given in this sketch, was dictated by Simpson McCall, Esq., in his ninety-first year, from memory, which is a most remarkable feat for any man, young or old, to perform. SKETCH XV. TWO M.ARYLAND DUTCHMEN. Five yeai-s after the capture of Quebec by General Wolfe, and one year after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which put an end to the French and Indian war, and established English supremacy on the American continent, a child was born in Washington Countj-, in the province of Maryland, that was destined to become the pioneer head of a numerous famil}- in the settlement of a region of countrj- which was at that time unknown. The name of this child was Christian Rohrer, and he was just one yeju" old when the notorious " Stamp Act " was passed by the English Parliament. His parents came from Germany, and although their son. Christian, was born in America, they spared no pains in teaching him how to speak and write the language of his forefathers. This was a wise thing to do, and should never be neglected by foreign-born parents (^especially German) in the education of their American- born children. Its value in after life — especially in business pursuits — cannot be over-estimated. Christian Rohrer moi'ried Varonica Rehmein, who did not long survive her marriage. After her death he married Anna Baumwart for his second wife. 3Irs. J. B, Davis, of Port Rowan, a descendant of Christian Rohrer, is in possession of two old records which certainly are deserving of a place in some museum of antiquities. These relics are more than a hundred years old ; but it is tlie odd and wildly fantastic attempt at ornamentiition that cliaracterizes them rather than tlieir age. It is a print, or stamp, in high colors ; and at firat sight, i-^mind one of pieces of old, highly-colored wall paper, repi-esentiug the birds jmd foliage of some unknoA\Ti planet 102 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. far removed from earth. The papers are about sixteen inches square, and contain a number of small blanks on which are German inscriptions. They are old family-record designs, but the blank spaces are filled with matter that furnishes no family historical information except the date and place of Mr. Rohrer's birth, and the fact of his marriages. As to the date of Christian Rohrer's settlement in Walsing ham, there is nothing definite. Simpson McCall, Esq., says that Rohrer and Dedrick were living there when his grand father landed at the mouth of Big Creek in 1796, and that they each had a piece of wheat which had been sown the previous fall. If this be correct, the Rohrers were among the first — after Dr. Troyer — in effecting a settlement in the town ship of Walsingham. Mrs. Rohrer was a Baumwart (Bower), and her family came subsequently. Christian Rohrer had twelve children. By his first wife he had two— Martin and Fanny; and by his second he had ten — Henry, Mary, Margaret, Elizabeth, Catherine, Daniel, John, Susan, David and Jacob. Martin Rohrer never married, and Fanny married a man named Garrett, and settled in Baj'ham. Henry Rohrer, second son of Christian, married Eleanor McCleish, and settled in Walsingham. He had five sons — Daniel, John, Henry, Wallace and David ; and five daughters — Susan, Ann, Frances, Jane and Amelia. Daniel Rohrer, third son of Christian, married Jane McCleish and settled in Walsingham. He had eight children- — Martha, Orineus, Catherine, Phoebe, Mary, Susan, Amy and Stephen. John Rohrer, fourth son of Christian, married Mary Edwards, and settled in Nissouri. One son in this family, Jeremiah, settled in Norfolk. David Rohrer, fifth son of Christian, married Sophronia, daughter of Deacon Troyer, and settled in Illinois. Jacob Rohrer, sixth son of Christian, mai-ried Mary Ann Williams, and settled in Walsingham. They had one son, TWO MARYLAND DUTCHMEN. 103 John ; and four daughters — Elizabeth, Eliza Jane, Almira and Melissa. Mary, Margaret, Elizabeth, Catherine and Susan, daughters of Christian Rohrer, married, respectively, James Price, Philip Underbill, David Underbill, Luke Dedrick and Titus Williams. They all settled, in Walsingham. In Philip Underbill's family were three sons — John, William and Edward ; and two daughters — Mary and Nancy, The descendants of Christian Rohrer are very numerous in Walsingham. The females have largely outnumbered the males, and the name, therefore, as it appears on the voters' lists of the township, is no indication of the numerical strength of the family. As voters they may be outnumbered hy some of the other old families, but a roll-call of the wives and mothers of Walsingham's voters, through whose veins course the Rohrer blood, would show not only the numerical strength of Christian Rohrer's descendants, but it would also show their superior industrial and moral qualities. In 1891, the autographs of seventy-six Rohrers, all living in the township of Walsingham, were obtained by a member of the Illinois branch of the family. Of course, the larger portion were girls attending the township schools, who will become wives and mothers in other families, thereby losing their own family name. Henry Baumwart was a brother of Mrs. Christian Rohrer. Mr. Baumwart, no doubt, came from near the same place his brother-in-law came from, although it is said he was a Pennsylvania Dutchman. He came after Mr. Rohrer, but just ho-w long after there is no evidence to show. He settled on Lot 12, concession A., Walsingham, between Port Rowan and Port Royal. He had four sons — Frederick, Henry, Jacob and David ; and four daughters — Mary, Catherine, Elizabeth and Susan. Frederick Baumwart, eldest son of Hemy, married Fanny Becker, and settled in the family neighborhood. He had one son, John ; and four daughters — Margaret, Maria, Catherine and Susan, 104 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Henry Baumwart, second son of Henry, was twice married. By his first wife, Nancy Foster, he had one son, Isaac, and four daughters — Mary Ann, Elizabeth, Anise and Laura. His second wife was Mrs. Rachel Huff nee Rachel Smith, daughter of the old pioneer athlete, William Smith. By this union he had several children who, after his death, settled in Michigan with their mother. When war was declared in 1812, Henry Baumwart had no inclination to take up arms against the land of his birth, and he left Canada, remaining away for several years. He returned, however, and ever after was a firm believer in the superior advantages which his adopted country possessed over the land of his birth in the development of a moral, law-abiding and God-fearing citizenship. Jacob Baumwart, third son of Henry, married Sarah Smith, and settled on the homestead. He had one son, Owen ; and two daughters — Susan and Mary. Owen succeeded to the homestead. Mary married Lot Spencer. David Baumwart, youngest son of the old pioneer, married Julia, daughter of Oliver Mabee, and settled in Charlotteville. By this marriage he had two sons — Henry and Gideon ; and four daughters — Rebecca Ann, Mary Jane, Rachel and Julia. Subsequently, he married Mary Frances, by whom he had two sons — Gabriel and David ; and one daughter, EHza. Susan Baumwart, daughter of the old pioneer, married Eber Decew; and her sister, Catherine, married Isaac Decew. The names of their children are given in the Decew genealogy. Elizabeth Baumwart, the third daughter, married William Ferris, and settled near Port Colborne, where she raised a family of five sons — William, Owen, Isaac, Joshua and J ohn ; and five daughters — Susan, Hannah, Mary, Elizabeth and Sarah. Mary Baumwart, the eldest daughter, married into the Rohrer family. The Dutch form of the family name has been discarded, and the Anglicized form — Bower — adopted in its stead. The pioneer head of the family died in the beginning of the second quarter of the century, and his widow survived him several years. SKETCH XVI. COMFORTS OF OLD AGE. ^-. iff ^^' >- •"Vi; Old age has its comforts as well as middle life and youth. Youth finds its com forts in hopes and aspira tions ; middle life, in achieve ments ; and old age, in golden fruition. There are only three steps from the cradle to the grave, marking three distinct periods of human existence. The first step means choice and preparation ; the second, busy activity ; and the third, rest and reflection. If we neglect the first, we shuffle into the second, where we are jostled about in the busy world, and if the active forces tumble us into a place of use fulness we may redeem ourselves ; but, whether chance permits us to make amends for the neglect of youth or not, time shoves us on into the third and last period, where for a brief time we live in the reflection of the past, and then comes the end. The youth who idles away the fleeting moments, without a thought or care as to the part he is to play in the great drama of life, not only robs himself of the real, solid comforts of youth, but he nips in the bud the comforts of middle life and old age as SIMPSON M'OALL, ESQ. 106 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. well. By thus idling away his morning hours, he is fox'ced to enter life's great contest with no fixed purpose in view, and without the qualifications necessary to ensure success ; and to fall short of success in life's contest is to make a comfortable old age quite impossible. There is one essential upon which the comforts of old age depend that is absolutely indispensable. It matters not how elaborately upholstered the easy chair may be, it cannot make up for a life ill-spent. Old age that possesses not the consciousness of having improved the golden opportunities of the past, and of having performed the duties of life fearlessly and conscientiously, knows nothing of the real comforts of old age. No more striking illustration of the comforts of a good, ripe old age can be found than that which the home of Simpson McCall, Esq., of Vittoria, presents. He is in his ninety-first year, and she who won his first love in the days of " auld lang syne," when she was known and admired by many a stalwart young settler as Miss Priscilla Lamport, is still the sharer of his joys and his sorrows. Together they have fought the battles of life successfully, and now, in their declining years, they sit under their own vine and fig-tree and enjoy the fruit of their industry together. It is very seldom, indeed, that we find a husband and wife who have lived as many years together ; and when we find people of their age possessing such vigorous mental powers and retaining so much of the intellectual attain ments of their younger days, it certainly calls for more than a mere passing comment. Mrs. McCall was born in the famous Cheddar cheese section of Somersetshire, England, in 1818, and to her intellectual accomplishments may be attributed, in no small degree, the large measure of success which has attended Mr. McCall's public life. Mr. McCall came of splendid parentage. He is the grand son of that staunch, loyal old Highlander, Donald McCall, who fought under General Wolfe at the taking of Louisburg, C.B., and, subsequently, at the capture of Quebec, His grandmother, COMFORTS OF OLD AGE. 107 on his father's side, was Elsie Simpson, sister of David Simpson, who was President Ulysses Simpson Grant's grand father. This would make Mr. McCall and U. S. Grant second cousins. Simpson McCall was the eldest son of James McCall, who was the fourth son of Donald McCall. Simpson was in his thirteenth year when his father died. At this early age the boy was called upon to exercise the mettle that was in him in assuming the cares and responsibilities of looking after things. There were six brothers and three sisters, all younger than himself, a -widowed mother and an aged grandmother to look after, beside the management of the farm. Of course, his uncles looked after things ; but from that time he felt that grave responsibilities were his, and he resolved to do his level best. When in his fourteenth year he summer-fallowed twenty- nine acres, and thus commenced the real work of life. Mr. McCall gave a good share of his life to the public, and this pubhc service is a matter of history, kno-Wn to everyone who keeps himself posted in public affairs. In his younger days, a repubhcan form of government seemed to him as though it might be the most natural form of government for a free, enlightened people. These early thoughts never led his sympa thies astray, or weakened his love for the Old Flag his grand father fought under. In 1832 he visited New York and New Jersey, and during this visit he made a careful note of the practical effects of republicanism in those States, and came home with a firm belief that republicanism may sound all right in theory, but in its tendency to develop a moral and order-loving citizenship it was, practically, a most dismal failure. In all his pubhc career, however, Mr. McCall has been moderate in deahng with party questions. He was always opposed to political ultraism, and he deplores the evils which have been caused by party strife. With him it has always been principles first, and party last. He has always been identified with one of the great political parties, but whenever his party departed from principle, according to 108 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. his judgment, he departed from his party. Independent in thought and action, he has always been a strong, fearless advo cate of any measure he conscientiously believed would tend to the betterment of township, county, or provincial conditions. H^s watchword has ever been " Economy." Mr. McCall has been an economist from the very morning he held aloft one end of the ox-yoke and, waving the ox-bow, shouted, " Come under, Buck ! " preparatory to the starting of the plough on that twenty-nine acre fallow, down to the present day. Economy in private life stamped prosperity on everything he touched ; and his advocacy of economy in the management of public aff"airs kept many a hard-earned dollar in the pockets of the taxpayers. Many illustrations might be cited in proof of this, but one only will be given here. When Mr. McCall first entered the District Council, in 1848, he found that the district printing cost the taxpayers too much money. He possessed sufficient business acumen to know that the price paid was an extravagant one, and he advocated the plan of letting the work by public tender. The result of this change was that the next year's printing bill was very much reduced. Among the many measures of retrenchment advocated by him during his fighting days were : Increase of Division Court jurisdiction, and thereby reducing the Quarter Sessions to two annual sessions, instead of four ; and the abolition of the Court of Chancery by merger with the Common Pleas. Of James McCall's family, only two are living — Simpson, the eldest, and Jacob, the youngest. Mr. and Mrs. Simpson McCall have been blessed with six children, all of whom are living and occupying prominent and useful positions in life — George, who occupies the old homestead, being the present Reeve of Charlotteville. SKETCH XVII. A YOUNG PIONEER WHO BROUGHT THE OLD FAMILY BIBLE— PRICE FAMILY. The head of one of our most numerous and highly-respected families came to Long Point before the province was four years old, and before the lands in old Charlotteville were sur veyed, a young man, unaccompanied by relatives and possessing no wealth; yet, although poor in this world's goods, he was abundantly rich in better things. He possessed a brave, honest heart, and when he landed at the mouth of Big Creek, on the 5th day of June, 1796, he stepped ashore with his Bible under his arm. The principles of Christianity had been instilled into his mind when but a child by a Christian mother, and faith in God was a cardinal principle firmly imbedded in the concrete of his being. The old Bible was dear to him because it was the word of the living God — the great chart of human life that taught him how to live, thereby learning how to die. It taught him how to be brave, patient and virtuous, and it taught him how to erect a Christian altar in his new home in the forest so that his children and his neighbors' children might at all times see and feel the bright and shining light that radiated from it. Is it any wonder that Thomas Price had the courage to turn his back on his New Jersey home and start off on a five hundred mile journey through an unknown region, and brave the hardships and privations encountered in the work of hewing out a home for himself in a dense, unbroken wilderness ? The same God who had com forted and solaced his mother, and watched over his cradle in New Jersey, would be just as near to him in his new home, 110 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. and would remain the same source of comfort in the hour of need. Thomas Price came to Long Point with the party of U. E. Loyalists that landed at Port Royal in 1796, a description of which is given in sketch, " A Pioneer Wheatfield." Thomas Price married Frances Montross, and settled on Lot 24, 3rd concession of Walsingham. Here, after the pioneer wedding, he took his young bride and planted a Christian home ; and here he raised his family, and by patient industry, prudent management and untiring per,-everance, made one of the most comfortable and most valuable homes in Walsingham in his day. This home was noted for its Christian influences and its generous hospitality. It was a home where the press of business cares and responsibilities were never permitted to interrupt or crowd out the daily religious exercises ; and, what is not at all common, it was a home where the younger members of the family were taught to take part in the religious exercises. Mr. Price believed in the Christian principle of returning good for evil, and his faith was exemplifled in his good works. To show the character of the man it is only necessary to mention one of many similar incidents which might be cited. One winter in the earlier part of his life he discovered that his corn was disappearing faster than it should, and he concluded to set a trap in the crib. A morning or two after, he found a man in the crib with both hands fast in the trap. He knew the man, and thus accosted him : "W'hy, good morning, Mr. Morrison, are you in trouble? Why didn't you call for help ? " He then liberated the unfortunate purioiner of corn, took him into the house, washed the blood off his wounded hands, bandaged them, and then made him sit down and listen to the reading of a portion of Scripture and the morning prayer. The poor fellow was then made to join the family at breakfast, but his appetite was not very good that morning, and the little he ate came near choking him. Mr. Price talked of different things but never once alluded to the unpleasant A TOUNG PIONEER WHO BROUGHT THE OLD FAMILY BIBLE. Ill dretimstance that was the cause of his neighbor's ^-isit. After breakfast Mr. Price invited him to come again, and bade him good morning. The effect produced by these " hot coa'.s " on Morrison's head was something terrible, and he sincerely repented of his misdeeds all the days of his life. During Duncan McCall's parliamentary term the hghthouse on Long Point was built. Mr. McCall was One of the Light house Commissioners, and when it was completed, in 1832, he appointed Thomas Price to the position of hghthouse-keeper. One wild stormy night a vessel went ashore about seven miles do-wn the Point. It was a fearful night, but Mr. Price and his family turned out of their comfortable quarters and hast ened to the -wreck where they rendered heroic aid in rescuing the unfortunate crew. Thomas Price had seven sons — Stephen, Peter, David, Thomas, Aaron, .James and George: and five daughters — Hannah, Leah, Phoebe, Rebecca and Eva. He died in 1836, in his 60th year. .Stephen Price, eldest son of Thomas, was married three timea By his first wife, Mary EUis, he had two s ms — ^Thomas and Dr. Ed-win, who settled in Aylmer ; and three daughters — Rosamond, Eva and Mary. There was no issue in the second marriage. By his third -wife, Esther Ann Franklin, he had three sons — W. P. Price (the Simcoe merchant), -Stephen and Horatio, who died young. Peter Price, second son of Thomas, married Mary Jane Gillespie and settled on the Charlotteville side opposite the old homestead. He had three sons — William G.. John M. G. and George : and four daughters — Emaline, Ruth. Sarah Jane and Almira. Peter died since this sketch was first written, in his 88th year. His youngest son, Greorge, occupies the homestead. David Price, third son of Thomas, never married. He also settled on the Charlotteville side. He is living and has reached his 8Sth year. Thomas Price, fifth son of Thomas, married Jane Woodruff 112 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. and settled in the home neighborhood. He had nine children — Martha Ann, Melissa, Harriet, Maria, Hannah, Edgar Culve'r, Daton, Addie and Bertie. All settled in the Price. neighbor hood. Thomas died in 1871, in his 61st year. Aaron Price, sixth son of Thomas, married Esther Hammond, and settled in Aylmer. He had one son, David. James Price, seventh son of Thomas, married Emmer Oaks, and succeeded his father on the old homestead. He had three sons — Aaron Wesley, DeWitt and George Wallace; and two daughters — Fanny and Flora. All settled near the old home. James died in 1882, in his 65th year. George Price, youngest son of Thomas, died quite young. ' As to the daughters of Thomas Price, the old pioneer, Hannah, the eldest and first born child, married Ephraim Tisdale, of Charlotteville. Her children are enumerated in the Tisdale genealogy. She was about eighty-four when she died. Leah died single, and Phcebe married Butler Hutchinson, and settled in Port Rowan. Rebecca was twice married — William Oaks being her first, and Richard Oaks her second husband. She died in 1878 in her 59th year, leaving no children. Eva, the youngest daughter, died single. Thomas Price, the old pioneer, was the son of Stephen Price, of New Jersey. In his father's family were six sons — Thomas, David, Stephen, Moses Comet, James and Benjamin ; and six daughters — Jemima, Hannah, Saria, Phoebe, Rebecca and Esther. The New Jersey home was at Elizabeth, in Union County. The New Jersey maternal ancestor's maiden name was Hannah Chandler. The father was born in 1753, and was forty-three years old when Thomas, his eldest son, a mere lad of nineteen, bade his parents and little brothers and sisters farewell, and started for the wilds of Upper Canada — falling in, by the way, with the McCall party of U. E. Loyalists. In after years, when his New Jersey brothers had grown into manhood, two of them — Stephen and James — came to Long Point settlement. The former was born in 1788, and the latter was born in 1796, the year Thomas left home. A YOUNG PIONEER WHO BROUGHT THE OLD FAMILY BIBLE. 113^ Stephen Price, third son of New Jersey Stephen, settled near his brother, Thomas. He was twice married. By bis- first wife he had three sons — Peter, Robert and .John ; and by his second wife, Jane Power, he had two sons — John Tower and Thomas ; and two daughters — Jane Elizabeth and Mary Ann. Peter kept a hotel at St. Williams several years. He was a great hunter, and was known as " Price Procunier." James Price, fifth son of New Jersey Stephen, .married Mary Rohrer and settled in the Price neighborhood. He had two sons — Stephen and John ; and three daughters — Mary, Hannah and Susanna. The descendants of Stephen Price, of New Jersey, have become very numerous and widely scattered. They are of Welsh origin, but it is not known when the grand-Americaa ancestor emigrated from Wales. SKETCH XVIII. NORFOLK'S GALLOWS. Since " Glorious Old Norfolk " has had a court jurisdiction (Of her own, she has never been obliged to perform the solemn (duty of hanging any of her incorrigible and blood-thirsty ^citizens. That such have lived within her borders may be vquite possible ; but the fact that there has been no occasion for '" springing the .trap " on any of them, is something for which ,our county is to be congratulated. That a gallows was once erected during the Court-house itimes of old Vittoria, for the hanging of two horse-thieves, is a little matter of history known to all. Indeed, were it not for ,^the fact that so many conflicting stories have been told and published relating to this affair, the writer would devote but little space to it. Several years ago a highly-,sensational account of it was published in a Chicago paper. It was a precious bit of fiction, the writer keeping Ryerson on his knees eighteen hours praying, to kill time, thereby preventing the sheriff from performing his duty until the arrival of the ireprieve. The following version of the affair was given by a living ,eye- witness, who was nearly a man grown at the time. He is >svell known' as a man of veracity, possesses a remarkably good .memory, and his description is, no doubt, correct. He says: "The culprits' names were Smith and Carr — : Smith was an American, Carr was an Irishman. The crime 'Committed was that of horse-stealing. The horse stolen be longed to a settler living near St. Thomas. They were tried and convicted at Vittoria, and sentenced to be hanged on a certain day in September, 1824, at one o'clock in the after- NORFOLK'S GALLOWS. 115 noon. The gallows was erected near the spot now occupied by the enclosed stairway leading to the front entrance of the Baptist Church. It was made of heavy timbers about ten inches square and in the form of a " bent," with the posts or upright timbers set in the ground. When the frame was com pleted and the holes dug, the workmen were unable to raise it. Several spectators were standing about, and Sheriff Rapelje called for help, but no one responded. The Sheriff repeated his request, but in a more peremptory manner, threatening to arrest the bystanders if they did not respond. Dr. Monroe then stepped forward followed by others. It was a heavy lift, being of sufficient dimensions to form a bent in a saw-mill. When the time for execution drew near, a cart drawn by one horse emerged from the jail, bearing the two prisoners, who sat back to back, and the constable, Abraham Havens, who had immediate charge of them. The Sheriff walked in front, and on either side of the cart walked two constables. When the cart came under the horizontal beam it halted, and the Sheriff climbed a ladder and adjusted the ropes. He then took out his watch and announced that the prisoners had fifteen minutes yet to live. Elder Freeman then came forward and offered up a prayer, followed by Dr. Ryerson. After these two prayers were made, the Sheriff again looked at his watch and said that eight minutes yet remained. The prisoners were asked if they had anything to say. Smith said nothing ; but Carr spoke a few words that brought tears into the eyes of nearly everyone in that mixed crowd of men, women and children. He warned the young men present never to throw aside the advice and counsel of their parents, and to shun bad company. He told them to take warning from his own sad plight and' lead honest, virtuous lives. He said he had been blessed with a praying mother, but he had not given heed to her instructions, and now he was about to suffer the terrible consequences of his neglect. "Carr must have occupied three minutes of the time, for when he ceased speaking, the Sheriff announced that five minutes yet remained. Immediately after this Dr. Rolph rode 116 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. up on horseback and handed the Sheriff a sealed packet. The sheriff broke 'the seal, glanced hastily at the contents, and then ordered the constables to ¦ reconduct the prisoners to the jail. The document was from the Lieutenant-Governor who had granted a reprieve for three months. Before the time expired it was renewed for another three months, at the end of which time they were pardoned upon condition that they immediately leave the country and never return. When the good news was communicated to the prisoners. Smith took his departure at . once, but Carr refused to go. He said he was guilty and deserved punishment, and that he would never be better pre pared to die. The next day the poor fellow was forcibly ejected from the jail, and was never heard of after. Smith was a hardened criminal. The very first night after he received his pardon, he stole a horse from Captain Owen, just south of Simcoe, and rode out of the country on it, crossing the river at Fort Erie, about two hours in advance of his pursuers. " The reprieve was granted in response to a numerously signed petition, and had been in Dr. Rolph's hands two or three days preceding the day fixed for execution, but was withheld to the very last moment in order that the ' example ' might not lose any of its force. William Parke was the jailer at this time." As before stated, the above account of this historical event was given by a creditable living eye-witness — in fact, the only person living who remembers all the connecting details. Edward J. Kniffin, the veteran shoemaker, was also an eye witness, and while he does not remember the particulars, he is quite positive in asserting that no such protracted prayer was made on that occasion as has been described in the various newspaper publications. Among the historical data bearing on this event, is the following item, clipped from an Erie paper. It bears no date and reads as follows : - " Richard Carr, an old Canadian octogeriarian, who had lived on this side of the lake for many years, died on Monday last, and was taken to Ontario for interment." The Hamilton Daily Spectator, of March 18th, 1884, pub lished an- interview had with Dr. M. J. Clark, who had met Richard Carr in Pennsylvania. Dr. Clark is a nephew of Dr. John Ryerson, and the interview was published two years after Norfolk's gallows. 117 that reverend gentleman's death. The following is a skeleton copy of the interview : " I had no idea that Carr was living, having heard nothing of him for thirty years ; I supposed him long since dead. His arrest, conviction, sentence and escape are events closely con nected with my family and childhood — my uncle. Rev. John Ryerson, being the clergyman who attended Carr to the scaftbld, and who prayed against time for the purpose of cheat ing the hangman. ... I was a child at the time, and it happened at Vittoria . . . about fifty-five years ago. . . Carr was a quiet, inoffensive young man, and so was Smith, who was condemned to die with him. . . . One day, I remember well, the village was thrown into great excitement by the discovery of a crime, for which the penalty was death. . . . Some one had stolen an ox. A diligent search resulted in the discovery of the hide, and suspicion fell upon Carr, who was known to be poor, and in whose house the odor of cooked meat still hung. . . . The culprits were brought on trial, and a jury of twelve fellow-men found no difficulty in consigning both of them to the scaffold, after the learned judge had expatiated for hours upon the enormity of the crime against God and man. . . . Among those who were horrified and shocked at the approaching execution wen:- my uncle, the spiritual adviser of the poor fellows, and Dr. John Rolph, whose memory still clings to the village. . . . Dr. Rolph was more excited than any other of Smith and Carr's sympathizers. He determined to ride to Toronto and intercede with the Governor, who, I think, was Sir John Colborne. Before depart ing on his hazardous errand of mercy, Dr. Rolph was closeted with my uncle. The latter subsequently told me that he had agreed to delay the hanging all he could by making the closing prayer as long as his strength and power would permit, pro vided that Rolph had not returned. Good Dr. Rolph calculated on getting back a few hours before the time set for execution. H e set out on the swiftest horse to be had in the village. . . . The days flew on and the people flocked in from the surround ing country. Uncle John did all he could to comfort the doomed men and lead them to a realization of a gj-eater mercy than man's, but they refused to be comforted. The fatal morning came, but without any tidings of Dr. Rolph. The hour arrived and the men were led out to die . . . Smith and Carr were placed in position and when the hangman's little preliminaries were over, the Sheriff was informed that all was 118 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. ready for the parson's final blessing or prayer. The Rev. John Ryerson got down on his knees and began the longest and most remarkable prayer on record. His voice was low, ptirposely, for he wished to husband his vocal strength. He prayed for about twenty minutes without creating remark, for long prayers were not so distasteful then as now. When he entered upon the second half hour, great restlessness was manifested. The sun poured down on the uncovered heads, and many did not hesitate to say aloud that they were getting too much of a good thing. . . . The murmurs rose higher and higher, but uncle prayed on and on without ceasing. An hour passed and he was still on his knees. There was now no relevancy in his appeal. He uttered merely words and disconnected phrases to consume time. The muscles of his throat contracted, his tongue was dry and clave to his mouth and his voice was husky ; but he prayed on, the words falling without meaning upon his hearers. He told me later that he did not know what he was saying, and that the only real prayer uttered in all that time was a silent one composed of four words : ' God hasten Rolph's footsteps.' ... At the end of an hour and a half there was quite an uproar, and the discontent had almost become a riot, when a voice cried : ' Here comes Dr. Rolph ! ' My uncle did not hear or heed the new tumult that now arose, but he prayed on, becoming weaker each moment. Soon the horseman approached near enough to be recognized, and the doctor dashed up to the very foot of the scaffold, scattering people right and left. He was too weak to speak or move, but a man in the crowd, snatching a document from his hand and mount ing on the back of the horse, shouted, ' Reprieve ! Reprieve ! ' It was so ; and that is how Carr and Smith were saved." The above version is more reasonable and does not contain as much of the sensational element as many others which have been published. But there was one man hanged on Norfolk soil. It occurred when Turkey Point was headquarters for London District. The criminal was a negro, convicted of robbing a store — an act which the law at that time made a felony, punishable by death. The store which was the scene of the robbery, was the second one in point of time started in Long Point Settlement. It was kept by one Cuinmings, and was located on William Culver's place — known in modern times as the old Joseph Culver farm, NORFOLK S GALLOWS. 119 near St. John's Church, south of Simcoe. After committing the crime, the negro tried to sell some of the stolen goods by peddling them among the settlers. The goods were easily identified, and this led to his arrest. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to be hanged, but before the day for execution arrived, he broke jail and escaped. Sheriff Bostwick offered a reward of S50 for his apprehension. A man named Robert Wood caught him in the cedars on Turkey Point, by first breaking his arm with a rifle shot. The sentence was suspended until he recovered from the effects of the wound. Joseph Kitchen was sergeant of the prison guards at Fort Norfolk at the time of this hanging. He saw the negro put into his coffin, and reported that he was alive when put there ; and it was his opinion that complete consciousness would have resulted, if the men charged with the duty of burying the body had performed their duty with less precipitation. A story has been told and, in fact, published from one end of the country to the other, pertaining to the hanging of this negro, which may or may not be true. It is a good story and will bear repeating in connection with this sketch. The man who was Sheriff of old London District at this time was endowed, it is said, with a sporting nature which caused him to quite overlook the proper dignities of his office, and came near subjecting him to an official decapitation. It is said this negro was to have been hanged on a Thursday, and that the week before, the Sheriff had received notice from a number of his distant sporting friends that they would be up to Long Point the following week for a few days' sport. This was jolly news for the gamey Sherift^but there was the hanging of that " peskey nigger." How could he arrange that ? Well, it is said, he did arrange it with the assistance of the negro himself. He went to his cell and asked him if he would as soon be hanged on Tuesday as on Thursday. " Well, Sheriff," said the negro, " you have bun so kind to me in de jail dat I don't want to spile yer sport. You can hang me on Tuesday, but do it early in the mawnin', just as I wake up." It is said he was hanged accordingly. SKETCH XIX. NEIL'S CORNERS AND COPE'S LANDING. In pioneer times, St. Williams was known as " Neil's Corners." It was named St. Williams by one, Dickinson, in honor of King William IV. " Duitcher's Corners " was named Port Rowan, and " Big Creek " received the geographical appellation of " River Rowan," in honor of Colonel Rowan, private secretary to Sir John Colborne. Old St. Williams is one of the pleasantest villages in Norfolk County. Its streets are level and beautifully shaded ; its gardens are rich, and its cosy leaf-embowered homes indicate a taste for arboriculture on the part of its home-owners. Its lake breezes are most delightful — being wafted just far enough over-land to temper their rawness. It is surrounded by one of the best sections of country in the county. The traveller who approaches St. Williams from the east or north for the first time, feels as though he had been suddenly trans ported to some far-off land of milk and honey, and he enters the old village so favorably impressed that there may be some danger of over-estimating its real merits. In the homes of St. William's are found the grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren of many of the old Long Point pioneers. The present Postmaster, Mr. John Cope, is a great- grandson of the man who first settled on the land upon which the Post-office and all the Walsingham part of the village stand. William Cope was the name of this old pioneer. The Cope family is of German descent. The Cope brothers were U. E. Loyalists, and were born on Long Island. Neil's corners and cope's landing. 121 They settled at Niagara in 1794, it is said, and two or three years afterwards, one of them, William, came up to Long Point and settled on Lot 24, lake front of Walsingham. Here, on the high bank overlooking Erie's broad expanse, he erected his log cabin about a hundred years ago. For many years the place was known as Cope's Landing. The fall before he came up he had put in a piece of wheat at Niagara, and when the harvest time came he went down to harvest it, leaving the young mother in the lonely cabin with her little children and a single loaf of bread. While at Niagara Mr. Cope was stricken down with a fever, and it was six weeks before he was able to return to his new home. During this time the pioneer mother had tastes of pioneer life that would have unnerved many a less courageous woman. There were two or three settlers in the vicinity, and upon these Mrs. Cope was forced to rely for necessary supplies, which she carried long distances through the woods. On one occasion, while carrying a pail of flour, she espied a wolf following in the trail. At first she was inclined to compromise by surrendering the flour, but when she thought of her hungry children in the little cabin with not a mouthful to eat, she looked up above the tree-tops for strength and resolved to cling to the pail and trust to Providence. The wolf followed but did not attack her, and she reached home in safety, although nearly exhausted. On another occasion two or three Indians stalked into the cabin in a most insolent manner, which, in honor to the old Long Point Indians be it said, was quite unusual. A small piece of cotton lay on the rude table, and the Indians demanded it. It was all she had and she determined to keep it, if possible. Placing her baby upon the cloth she stepped to the door and called for her husband. But the ruse did not work; the Indians knew that Mr. Cope had not returned, and they per sisted in their demands for the cotton. They, no doubt, would have forcibly taken it had not one of her boys, who was out shooting, fortunately shot off his gun. The report frightened the Indians, and they suddenly took their departure. 122 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Copetown, in Wentworth County, was named after a branch of the Cope family that settled there. William Cope, the subject of this sketch, was a God-fearing man of most exemplary character. He was quiet and unobtrusive in manners attended strictly to his own affairs, and won the love and respect of his fellow pioneers. He died in 1813, in his 57th year, leaving two sons — Jacob and Thomas. Jacob Cope, eldest son of William, married Elizabeth Procunier, and settled on the old homestead. He had four sons — Thomas, John, Peter and William Henry ; and one daughter, Margaret, who married James Lucas. She is now a widow and lives in St. Williams. Jacob Cope was at the battle of Lundy's Lane in Colonel Bostwick's command, and was wounded. Thomas Cope, youngest son of William, married Catherine Manuel, and settled on part of the old homestead. He had five sons — William, Frederick, Jonas, Thomas and Daniel ; and six daughters — Elizabeth, Sarah, Mary, Hulda, Jane Ann and Hannah. All settled in Norfolk, except two of the daughters. John Cope, the Postmaster of St. Williams, is a son of Frederick, second son of Thomas, and is one of Norfolk's ex-wardens, having occupied the Executive chair in 1894. SKETCH XX. THE OLD GUSTIN MILL. & It was a red-letter day for the old Long Point settlers when the first local grist-mill made its appearance. At first they were compelled to go all the way to the Niagara river to get their grinding done, or else be content with the home process of crushing the grain in a " stump mortar." Later on the celebrated "' sugar loaf " mill appeared, shortening the distance by several miles ; but when the first Norfolk mills made their appearance it was a time of general rejoicing in the settlement. In the early days the mills regulated their own toll rates without any regard to uniformity. Before there was any legislation on the subject the officers of the British army assumed the duty of regulating miller's tolls; but as settle ment advanced a need was felt for a statutory enactment that would establish a uniform rate for the new province. A bill was accordingly introduced in one of the early sessions fixing the rate at one-tenth in all water mills. This was the rule in England and in the neighboring States, and it ought to have been the rule established in this Province. But discreditable as it may appear, it is said that a member of the new Legislature, who was a Dutchman, opposed the rate fixed in the bill on the ground that it was insufficient. He said " von-tenth vas not kanuff to pay dot miliars to pild dose mills." He moved that it be raised " from von-tenth to von-twelf," and his amend ment carried. The people's representatives meant all right, but it would seem that a majority of them had never " ciphered " as far as vulgar fractions. The Gustin mill was the first mill erected on the old mill- site located just east of Vittoria on Lot 23, in the 3rd concession. John Gustin was a U. E. Loyalist of New York. He came to 124 PIONEER SKKICHKS OK LONCl POINT SETTLEMENT. Long Point in 1794 and drew Lot 1 1 in the Srd concession iu addition to the lot moutiouod above. Tho mill was oroctod during the latter half of the first doca,d(> of tho present coutury, about the time the Finch mill was built at Newport, or " The Glen," as it is now called. Tho oak tree whii-h fnrni.sluHl tlio ponderous shaft for tho big undm'-shot water whool, stood in the forest about throe miles north of Vittoria : and wlion it was ft'Ued and the timber prepared for romova.1, it required fourteen yoke of oxen to haul it to tho mill. It was o\or thrive feet in diameter, and the arms framed into it wore fifteen feet long, making a wheel over ninety Foot in cireumroronoi*. John Gustin was held iu high (^Htoom by his follow-pionoora. He was honest in business transa.ctions and temperate in his habits. He was one of the original mombors of the old Baptist church at Vittoria, which was organized in 1804. Ho was appointed constable for Charlottevillo in 1801 hy tho old London District Court which was hoKl a.t that time at the house of James Monroe. Mr. Gustin gave the mill [irojierty to his two sons — Isaiah and Eliphalet, who inherited tho stc^rling (inulitios of character which so signally distinguishod tlunr father. 'V\w Oustins wore honest millers, although tho })rovorbial "tuft of hair" did not grow in the palms of their hund.s. 'IMioy did good work and gave complete satisfaction to their numorouH patrons. To give the I'eador some idea of prices and tran.s])ortafcion cha.rgoH at this time, one incident will suffice, .lanuis McCall turned in wheat at the Gustin mill in tlie yimii- 1810, and ha.d it manu factured into flour. 1Vo humlrod barrels ol" this Hour were shipped to Quebec whore it sold I'or .Hi 16 ])or l)a^^^l. Tho charges for freight and inspection at Montreal amounted to $3 per barrel. This wheat averaged about forty bushels to the acre, and was marketed — as will be seen by thi< a,l)OV(( given figures — at over $2.50 net per bushel. 'IMiis i.s enough to make the farmers of our day sigh for " tho good old times." Isaiah Gustin, the second son, was fond of childron, and bitterly opposed to corporal imnishmont in tho schools. Ho lived in part of a house located on I^ot 22, which had i'ornierly the OLD GUSTIN MILL. 125 boon ()ce\ii)iod as a tavern by Thoma.s Finch. While Mr. Gustin was living in the place, the Di,strict Granunar School, taught by Dr. Kgortjon UyorsDn, ()('cu[)io(l tho other part of the honso. One of Uw pupils who was wont to disturb the doctor's montul soronity in those days, wa.4 Joseph Bostwick, a grandson of (Jolonel Bostwick, of Port Stanley. One day Enoch Moore passod by with his sleigh and young Bostwick pelted tlic^ occupants of the sleigh with snowballs. This was a gross violation of tho rnlos and tended to lower the dignity of tho London District Orannnar School, and tho worthy doctor (.ook tho young incorrigililo in hand. After dodging the ruler Hovoral times, tho doctor laid it over the boy's head, producing a slight cut on the face which bled a little. When Isaiah Gustin oanu' up from tho mill to dinner he heard of the affair ami saw the murk on Joseph's face. This was enough; he lost his oqnilibrium and inl'ormod tho dignified doctor that if he would 1)0 so kintl and obliging as to step out of doors he would mop the ground with him for several hundred yards around tho school-room ; but tho doctor declined the presslug invita tion, and Isaiah had to work off his pont-up wrath by indulging in an outpouring of verbal o.Kplosions, which wore everything but complinuMitary to the future Superintendent of Education or his little grannnar school. He assumed all sorts of menacing attitniloH and tauntoil the doctor with a lack of bravery, and told him ho was no soldior or ho would come outside and fight one of his own size. After awhile the women folks managed to get Isaiah into tho house whore his dinner was waiting, and tho storm blow over. John (histin married Abigail, daughter of Abraham Smith. Ho had throe st)n.s — Charles, Isaiah and Eliphalet ; and six daui'-htors — Abigail, Freelove, Jemima, Catherine, Salome and Sophia. Charles Gustin, tin* eldest son, wa.s a Baptist preacher. He married Nancy Sovereign and settled in Charlotteville, on one of tho lots drawn by his father from Government. Isaiah Gustin the .second son, married into the Edwards I'amil}', and settled on the homestead, inheriting a half-interest 126 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. in the mill. After the mill was sold the family moved out of the county. Eliphalet Gustin, the youngest son, married Sarah Edwards and inherited a half -interest in the mill. After the disposal of his mill interest he settled in Lobo on a 500 acre tract of land drawn by George Ryerson, on condition that he perform the settling duties on the whole in consideration of a deed of 200 acres of the tract. Abigail Gustin, eldest daughter of John, married Simon Mabee, the old pioneer Baptist preacher, and settled in Oxford, Freelove Gustin, the second daughter, married one Emmanuel, and subsequently, John Stone. The family settled in the States. Three of John Gustin's daughters married into the Wood family, and settled in Oxford. About the only descendants of the original John Gustin at present living in Norfolk, are the descendants of his son Charles, who had a son Charles and four daughters — Abigail, Patience, Elizabeth and Avangeline. Charles Gustin, son of Charles, and grandson of the original John, married Mary Underbill and settled on the old Ward homestead in Charlotteville. He had three sons — John, Eliphalet and Charles ; and two daughters — Jane and Amelia. John marred Ellen Barber, and is a resident of the county ; Eliphalet married Susan Hubbard, and lives near the site of the old mill ; Charles married Dorotha Canty and settled near Simcoe ; Jane married Amos Thompson and settled in Woodhouse, and Amelia married George Hall and settled in Walsingham. These great-grandchildren of the old pioneer all settled in Norfolk. Abigail Gustin, daughter of Charles, son of John, married Isaac Handcock, and settled near Mount Elgin ; Patience, sister of Abigail, married Daniel Ryan, and moved out of the county ; Elizabeth, another sister, married Jacob Sovereign, and settled in Fredericksburg, now Delhi ; and Avangeline, the youngest sister, remained single, and resides with the family of John Hubbard, of Woodhouse. SKETCH XXI. A STRICT FAMILY DISCIPLINARIAN. Individualism is a prominent feature of pioneer life. A young man who leaves the parental roof and all the fond associations of-. youth, and goes out into the world to hew out a home for himself, depending upon his own strong right arm for success, is a man of strong individuality. Such a man, of very necessity, is original in his methods. He relies upon self in his struggle with the world, and self-reliance develops orig inality in thought and action. Hence, we find in each of our old pioneers some striking characteristics which are peculiarly his own, and which distinguish him from his fellow pioneers. Robert Shearer, the father of the Shearer family in Long Point country, was not an exception to the general rule. He was born in Sussex County, New Jersey, and was left an orphan at a tender age. His guardian bound him out to a " Jersey Dutchman," a farmer, where for eight years the grass was not permitted to grow under his feet. His experiences during this apprenticeship bred a determination to put as many miles as he possibly could between his Dutch master and himself as soon as his time was out. This service had one good effect, however : it developed an ambition to secure a home of his own and be his own master. Accordingly, when the time came, he packed up his worldly possessions and, stuff ing them in the crown of his hat, started for Upper Canada. This was in 1797. He chose Lot 21 in the 6th concession of Charlotteville for a home, and put up his log cabin. The next thing necessary was a wife. Old Father Abraham Smith had come into the settlement several years before, and he had a 128 PIONEER sketches OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. number of comely daughters, who had arrived at a marriage able age, and Robert went over and chose Rachel, and they were married. Robert was now ready for the work of life, and he commenced to slash down the forest and clear up his farm, and if Rachel did not help him she was not a Smith. One attraction which had much to do in causing Robert to choose this location was the spring creek which ran through it, and which was abundantly supplied with speckled trout. To-day, one might as well fish for trout on the top of one of Charlottville's sand-hills, for there is no creek there now. Little did Robert think when he built his log cabin on the bank of this stream that his grandchildren would see dust blown from its bed by the winds. Robert Shearer was a family disciplinarian, and a strict one, too. He was a man of few words, and his rules would, no doubt, be considered arbitrary in our time. His commands were given by look and gesture, and were understood by his children. His mode of punishing his children for infractions of the family code was unique, and is worthy of special mention. Holes were bored in the logs of the house at various distances from the floor, corresponding to the height of the different members of the family, and of sufficient diameter to admit the thumbs of the offenders. When the youthful spirit bubbled over the prescribed limit, the paternal head of the home circle would bestow a withering glance upon the luck less offender and point to his or her aperture in the wall. This was all that was necessary. After time enough had elapsed for repentance, the young hopeful was permitted to remove his or her thumb. This custom was adopted, at first, by one of Robert's sons when he set up housekeeping for himself, although in his case a knot-hole in the door was made to answer in place of an artificial hole in the wall, and the nose of his incorrigible son had to do duty as a plug in place of a thumb. When war was declared in 1812, Robert Shearer offered his services to his country. At this time he had a considerable .«um of money in his possession, and before leaving his home A STRICT FAMILY DISCIPLINARIAN. 129 for the scene of hostilities he buried it behind the barn for safe keeping. His son John, who was t-welve years old at the time, was entrusted with the secret, so that, in case he never returned, the family might recover the money. Shortly after the close of the war he built the frame house now occupied by his grand son, which is one of the oldest and best preserved houses in the county. When he built his barn, the nails used in its construc tion cost a bushel of wheat for each pound. Robert Shearer had six sons — John, Joseph, Robert, David, Gabriel and James ; and six daughters — Hannah, Miriam, Eliza beth, Rachel, Esther and Jane. John Shearer, eldest son of Robert, married Margaret Leach, and settled in Charlotteville. He had four sons — Robert, John, Joseph and Duncan ; and -three daughters — Sarah, Susan and Rachel. Robert married Elizabeth Duncan, and settled on part of the homestead ; John married Hannah Winter, and settled on the lake front ; Joseph married Julia Fiddler, and settled in Charlotteville ; Duncan died single ; Sarah married Dugald Ferguson, and settled in Southwold, Elgin County ; and Rachel married John D. Palmer, and settled iri Norwich, Oxford County. Mr. Palmer, shortly after settiling, rode on horseback to the mouth of the Chippawa River for a bushel of salt, which cost him twelve dollars. Joseph Shearer, second son of Robert, died single. Robert Shearer, third son of Robert, married, Susan Tibbits, and settled in New York, where he died without issue. David Shearer, fourth son of Robert, married Nancy Barber, and settled in Charlotteville. He had two sons — William and Herbert ; and four daughters — Cynthia, Mary, Jennie and Aggie. William married Maggie Holmes, and settled in Townsend, near Rockford. He is at present a member of the County Council. Herbert married Pauline Fearman, and settled in Rochester N.Y.;. Cynthia married Dr. L. McLaughlin, and settled in Elgin County; Mary married Thomas A. Hall, a school teacher, at present located in California; Jennie married Rev. Henry Cox, a Baptist minister, and Aggie became the third wife of Ansley Heath, of Townsend. 130 pioneer sketches of long point settlement. Gabriel Shearer, fifth son of Robert, married Hannah Slaght, and succeeded to the old homestead. He had one son, Charles E., who married Ada D. Foster, and succeeded his father on his grandfather's old homstead. Gabriel Shearer had two daughters — Lavinia and Maria. The former mar ried Edward Hackett, of Vittoria, and the latter married Henry W. Mabee, of the same place. James Shearer, youngest son of Robert, died single. Hannah Shearer, eldest daughter of Robert, married Major Daniel McCall. Her children are enumerated in the McCall genealogy. Miriam Shearer, the second daughter, married Levart Beal, and had one son, John, who went to California. Elizabeth Shearer, the third daughter, died young. Rachel Shearer, the fourth daughter, married Aaron S. Barber. She had one child, but both mother and child were killed by a road accident. Esther Shearer, the fifth daughter, married Henry Beemer, and settled in Townsend. Her children are enumerated in the Beemer genealogy. Jane -Shearer, youngest daughter of the old pioneer, mar ried William Rosebrook, and settled in North Carolina. She had one daughter, Mary, who married G. M. Lawrason. The orginal Robert Shearer had one sister, Rachel, who married John Dolan, in New Jersey. After Mr. Dolan's death she came to Long Point with her family, consisting of four daughters — Maria, Delia, Martha and Cecilia; and one son, Michael S. Of these children, Maria and Delia became the first and second wives of Burdsey, son of William Smith. Martha married Henry Wade, who finally settled in Oregon ; Cecilia married Samuel L. Jones, and settled in Geneva, N.Y. ; and Michael S. married Elizabeth Oaks, and settled in Vittoria. He had four sons — John, James A., Burdsey and Alfred B. ; and three daughters — Cecilia, Rachel and Esther. James A., second son of James, occupies the village homestead at present. SKETCH XXIL LIEl*TENA>rr TEEPLE'S JHSTaKE. Peter Teeple and John Stone were the two fii"st young married men that settled in Charlotte-dlle. They were the sons- in law of the original Frederick Mabee, and came with that old pioneer and his family to Turkey Point in 1793. After the township was surveyed Peter Teeple settled near Forestville, on Lot 8 in the broken front. He was a U. E. Loyalist, having served as lieutenant of a cavalry company in the British army during the war of the Revolution. It is said that he took part in several notable engagements, and that while scouting in Virginia a bullet from the rifle of an American sharpshooter killed the horse upon which he was mounted. At the close of the war his company was disbanded at Halifax ; and, owing to his fine physique, being six feet two inches in height, he was offered great inducements to return with the troops and join His Majesty's Life Guards. He dechned the offer, and ever after considered the act as the great mistake of his life. Peter Teeple was one of Norfolk's fii-st Justices of the Peace, having that honor conferred upon him by ^-il•tue of the first Geneial Commission of the Peace for the District of London, dated at York, January 1st, 1800. Mr. Teeple was also one of three appointed at the same time to act as Com missioners for administering oaths prescribed by law to the officers of the Government. On the second day of April fol lowing he was sworn into office at the house of Lieut. James Monroe. On April 8th, the first session of the first court held on Norfolk soil, was held at Fort Moni-oe, and Squire Teeple was one of the sitting justices. 132 pioneer sketches of long point settlement. Squire Teeple and his wife were two of the constituent members of the old pioneer Baptist church, organized by Elder Finch in 1804; and when the acre of land was purchased from Oliver Mabee, in 1807, upon which to erect a " meeting house," Mr. Teeple became one of the first trustees. After the war of 1812 Mr. Teeple moved into Oxford county and settled on land granted by the Government. At that time land in the vicinity of Woodstock sold at from $1 to $2 per acre. This was only about eighty years ago, and to-day Oxford is known as the " garden of Canada." Surely, the fathers of that time had opportunities for securing homes for their sons which the fathers of our day do not have. True, the forest was dense and heavy, and the soil dark, damp and sticky ; but these were advantages in disguise, as the hard timber lands were more easily cleared than the pine lands, while the soil, which was considered too wet and not suffi ciently friable for cultivation, proved to be easily tillable and exceedingly fertile. Peter Teeple had three sons, William, Luke and Pellum, and one daughter, Susan. William, the eldest son, settled near Aylmer, in the township of Malahide. Pellum settled on the homestead in Oxford. Susan married Archibald Burch and settled near Woodstock. The Baptist Institute stands on land formerly owned by him. Mr. Burch had a son, William, who married a daughter of John Hatch, Esq., and settled at Woodstock. Luke Teeple, second son of Peter, was a tailor, shoemaker and tanner. The first two trades he learned in Oxford. Just before the war of 1812 he went to New Jersey on a visit, and while at his uncle's home the war broke out, and he was ordered to leave the country or take the oath of. allegiance. His uncle had a mail route from New York to some point in New Jersey, and he put young Luke on this route, thinking that while thus employed he would not be molested. He was arrested, however, in the following February, and cast into prison with about a hundred other British sympathizers. LIEUTENANT TEEPLE'S MISTAKE. 133 According to his version of the affair, these Loyalist prisoners were sorely tempted to desert their first love and join the American army. One by one they weakened, until fifteen only remained, Luke being one of them. At the close of the war they were liberated, and the uncle, although an American, gave Luke a present in token of his British pluck. When he returned to Canada he settled in Vittoria, purchasing the two- story frame house built by Caleb Wood, and which still stands on the hill-side in front of the Baptist burying ground, dark, windowless and vacant, fit companion to the weather-beaten, mossy old grave-stones which mark the background. On the flat opposite this house, Mr. Teeple built a tannery, which was operated by his son Alexandei' after his death. Luke Teeple had seven sons — Alexander, Jerome, Lisander, Thurmes, Glatten, Ridley and Latimer ; and four daughters — Mabro, Mobra, Clementine and Almira. Alexander was acci- dently killed while engaged in excavating a large stone on his farm. Excepting Charles Teeple, of Woodhouse, son of Alex ander, and one or two others, the name has become extinct in Norfolk. SKETCH XXIIL "THE GOOD OLD TIMES." When I was a little boy at Sunday School I used to read about the deliverance of the Israelites from their terrible bondage, and I used to think they were the most ungrateful people in the world. No sooner had Moses liberated them from their hard life of drudgery, privation and physical suffering, and started them on the highway leading to a life of indepen dent ease and luxury, than they sent up a howl in the wilder ness and wanted to return to the " flesh pots " of " the good old times " down in Egypt. In my childish innocency I thought it would have served them right if Moses had driven every last one of them back to the land of Goshen, where they might break their backs in the old brickyards and sink out of sight in the muddy deposits of the Nile. Since that tender time in my life, I have been wandering some forty years in the wilderness myself, and I have learned that modern Gentiles are quite as ungrateful as were the ancient Israelites. Did you ever hear people talk as though everything in our day was out of joint, and that the country and everything in it was going to the dogs as fast as it could ; and then roll their eyes ceilingward and heave a mighty sigh as they pine for a return of "the good old times" of our great-grandfathers' days? Of course you have, and you don't have to go very far from your own door-step to find one, either. To thus decry life and its wonderful possibilities in our day is base ingratitude. Let us call upon Jones and see what these possibilities are. Mr. Jones lives in a two-story brick mansion, warmed through out with hot air from a furnace in the basement, and lighted "THE GOOD OLD TIMES." 135 with kerosene lamps of gorgeous design — and if it were not a rural home it would be lighted with electricity. He rides to church over smooth, macadamized roads, in a carriage finer than any monarch in all Europe rode in one short century before his great-grandfather's time. The steam-engine threshes his grain, and the locomotive engine hauls it to market. He may sit on a spring seat with an umbrella over his head while he ploughs, harrows, cultivates, sows, reaps, binds his sheaves, rakes his hay, pulls his peas, digs his potatoes, and cuts his corn. Horse-power cuts his feed, grinds his apples, saws his wood, and digs his ditches. In the. house and on the farm machinery has monopolized so much of the labor that there is not enough left to harden the muscles of Jones or his wife, or give them a good appetite. After supper Jones dons his slippers, lights his cigar, sinks almost out of sight in a richly- upholstered easy- chair, and while the cat purrs at his slippered feet on the Brussels carpet, reads the happenings of the day before in all the wide, wide world ; and when the eight-day clock on the marble mantel points out the hour of bedtime, he retires to a bed which excels in comfort and elegance anything enjoyed by princes in " the good old times.'' But, instead of returning thanks for the marvellous blessings it is his privilege to enjoy, he growls about the low price of wheat and horses ; wonders what the world is coming to, and then drops off into the sleep of the discontented and ungrateful ! How was it in " the good old times ? " What were the possi bilities of life when Jones' great-grandfather settled on this same land ? These multiform comforts and conveniences of our day were unknown in "the good old times," not because our forefathers were strangers to wealth, but because inventive genius had not yet awakened from its long, dark night of sleep. There was plenty of coin of the king's realm in " the good old times," but all the king's coin and " all the king's men" could not procure what did not exist. True, during that early stage of pioneer life, when the log hut with its bark roof flourished, local circumstances governed the conditions of life, 136 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLE.MENT. making it one of great privation and cruel hardship ; but after the clearing had grown into a number of fields of fresh, new virgin soil, and the primitive shanty had given place to the more commodious frame house, with its massive fire-places and its twelve 7x9 pane glass windows, the conditions of life were different. Grist-mills, saw-mills, tanneries, and stores of merchandise had made their appearance ; mother-earth yielded up her treasures abundantly, and these were convertible into such comforts and conveniences as were known at that time ; and this stage of pioneer life represents that condition of things known as "the good old- times." Let us note a few of the comforts and conveniences of "the good old times": The old cord bed-frame was a veritable trough, and the only thing that made the squeaking old thing endurable was a plethoric straw tick. On arising in the morning, the first thing was to examine the fire in the big fire-place; if it were "alive," all right, but if it were " dead," then some member of the family had to wade through the snow a mile or two, to the nearest neighbor's house, to " borrow fire.'' Matches ? Oh, no ; they were reserved for our time. What light was needed beside that reflected by the fire-place was made by the " witch " — a saucer of tallow containing a coil of twisted cotton rag with its burning end hanging over the edge of the saucer. Candles came later, and were considered a great invention. Spikes ofl" thorn trees were used for pins — real pins had been invented, but they cost a half-dollar a paper, and nabobs only could afford to use them. The only base of supply for bedding and wearing apparel was the raw fiax and wool as produced on the farm ; and the entire process of converting this raw material into the various articles for domestic use was all done on the farm, by the women mostly. In "the good old times " human muscle and " elbow grease " were in great demand. Man power was the motor of that day; to-day, man thinks, and electricity, steam, and brute force does the grinding. All hail the great emancipation day. SKETCH XXIV. JAKE SOVEREIGN, THE PIONEER TAVERN-KEEPER. About a hundred years ago, Jacob Sovereign, one of eight German- American brothers who came to Long Point settlement before the present dying century was born, built a log cabin on a ridge in the unbroken forest that crosses east and west the front part of Lot 14, in the 6th concession of Charlotteville. Here, with his brave New Jersey wife — formerly Miss Eliza beth Pickle — and his three children, the eldest of whom, Frederick, was only twelve years old, was planted one of the main branches of the great Sovereign family — a family now widely scattered over the American continent by the many transplantings of a century. If the story of Norfolk's development during this first century of its history were written in detail from the time the sharp " click " of the settler's axe first broke the long and awful stillness down to the present time, what a wonderful tale it would be ! We can see in our imagination these primi tive log cabins, one here on the shady bank of a babbling brook, and one there on the sunny side of a chestnut ridge, and all intervening space covered with a dark and forbidding forest ; and around the cabin door and underneath the wide spreading branches, we see little bare-footed and bare-headed children skipping about. What of the life in these lonely cabins ? The days were full of toil, and the nights, oh, how long and dark, and full of strange, startling sounds for young mothers and timid children. If the veil were lifted, what fears, hopes — aye, and tears — would be revealed in the inner life of those rude dwellings in the struggle to meet the 138 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENI. crying demands of the hour, and in planning for the unknown future ! We shall never know the full meaning of such a life ; we can only catch a faint glimpse of it through our imagina tions. We never saw the brave old pioneer fathers and mothers who erected the first log cabins in Norfolk, but we distinctly remember the bent forms of our grandfathers, and the wrinkled, saintly faces of our grandmothers; and they were the little tots that gambolled around those first cabin a NORFOLK PIONEEE CABIN. doors, and sometimes cried for bread when there was no bread for them. But we have no more space in this sketch for our imaginations. After Jacob Sovereign had effected a clearing and made a start in the world, he turned his home into a tavern and kept it for. several years. It was one of old Charlottleville's first taverns, and the rough-and-ready settlers who used to gather at " Jake Savreen's tavern " and spin yarns and crack jokes before the big open-mouthed fire-place have long since passed JAKE SOVEREIGN, THE PIONEER TAVERN-KEEPER. 139 away. The old sand ridge remains, but the people who occupy it at present live in another world and know nothing of the old scenes enacted there so many years ago, or the conditions of life that prevailed at that time. Many a funny story was told at this old tavern, in-spired by copious drafts of " Uncle Jake's grog " ; and sometimes our grandfathers exhaCisted their fund of good humor by indulging too freely in pioneer " bitters," and then the curtain would drop on the funny part, and the spectators would witness something more tragical. A resort to the old game of fisticuff's was the usual way of settling all disputes in our grandfathers' days ; and the fellow who could wield his fists the most effectively was considered the most convincing disputant in all argumentative controversies — political, religious or otherwise. Jacob Sovereign lived to a good old age, and left two sons — Frederick and Henry ; and one daughter, Elizabeth. Frederick Sovereign, eldest son of Jacob, married Jane, daughter of Captain William Hutchinson, and settled on Lot 47, 1st concession, N. T. S. Middleton, about the time of the war of 1812, thus becoming one of the original pioneers of that township. This lot cost about $40.00 in addition to the settling duties. It adjoins on the north, and partly includes, the village of Delhi. Later on Mr. Sovereign purchased the north half of the lot lying directly opposite on the south side of Talbot Street. This 100 acres cost about $600.00, and put " Uncle Frederick" in possession of all the land on which the village is built, except that portion lying in Windham, which was owned and settled upon by Joseph Lawson a little time before Mr Sovereign settled on his land. Uncle Frederick had made his purchase, however, and had performed settling duties before Mr Lawson came ; he is justly entitled, therefore, to the honor of being the first to locate a home in the village he laid out and founded; and which was named after him. Fredericksburg it was called for many years, and when the Post-office was changed to " Delhi," the old people at that time never could become reconciled to the new name, and they clung 140 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. to " The Burg " as long as they lived. " Uncle Frederick " kept a tavern in Fredericksburg for more than thirty years. He was a great deer hunter, and in the early settlement his table was always plentifully supplied with venison and other wild game. On one occasion he witnessed an interesting fight between a herd of swine and a large black bear. The hogs were his own and were running in the woods on the opposite side of the creek just north of the village. The squealing of the hogs attracted his attention, and taking his rifle he went down the bank to . ascertain the cause. When he reached the creek he saw what was occurring on the opposite side, and he became an interested spectator. The hogs were nine in number, and every time the bear seized one in his powerful arms, the others would come to the rescue by hurling them selves violently against their adversary, tumbling him over and thus liberating the squealer. After enjoying the fun for some time, " Uncle Frederick " raised his trusty rifle and a bullet went flying across Big Creek that laid Bruin low in death. The flrst, last and only plug tobacco manufactory ever operated in the village and, possibly, in the county, was operated by " Uncle Frederick." He grew and cured his own leaf and pressed it into plugs. The manufactured plugs con tained nothing but pure tobacco leaf, molasses and Jamaica rum, and such were its good qualities that the old settlers preferred it to what they called " boughten tobaccar." " Uncle Frederick " donated the land occupied by the Baptist church in Delhi, becoming an early member of the church himself, and serving as deacon for many, many years. Indeed, when the familiar form and voice of Uncle Frederick Sovereign was seen and heard in the old church for the last time, one of the main pillars fell to the earth, and it lies there still. A long time ago he retired " to his farm east of the village, where he established a home noted for its Christian influences and its generous hospitality. He died in 1875. having reached his 89th year, and having survived his aged JAKE SOVEREIGN, THE PIONEER TAVERN- KEEPER. 141 companion several years. He had three sons— William L., Jacob and Alexander ; and one daughter, Mary Catherine, who married a man named Smith, by whom she had a daughter, Mary Catherine, who became the wife of John Carlyle. William L. married Mary Ann Kitchen ; Jacob died young, and Alexander married Eliza Putman. Alexander is the sole survivor, and has passed his 80th year. Henry Sovereign, second son of the original Jacob, married Margaret, daughter of Samuel Brown, and settled in Middleton also on a lot adjoining his brother Frederick. He had two sons — Jacob and G. Nelson ; and two daughters — Elizabeth and Emoline. . The elder daughter married Henry, eldest son of that staunch old Charlotteville pioneer, Benjamin Palmerston, who came from near Albany, N.Y., in 1811, and settled on Lot 8, 2nd concession of Charlotteville, where he raised a family of three sons — Henry, Joshua and Benjamin ; and three daughters — Anna, Jane and Sarah. Of this family : Henry married Elizabeth Sovereign, as above stated, settled in the 5th con cession, and had two sons — Henry B. and Nelson Sylvester ; and one daughter, Mary M. Joshua married Jane Fisher, and settled in Brant County. Benjamin married Elizabeth Monroe, settled on the homestead, and had three sons — Daniel, William and James ; and tv/o daughters — Mary Ann and Sarah Jane. Anna, Jane and Sarah married, respectively, Nathaniel Fairchild, Lewis Buckley and Noah Fairchild. After the latter's death, Sarah married Jacob McCall. Emoline Sovereign, younger daughter of Henry, married William Earle, by whom she had one son, William. Mr. Earle died comparatively young, and the young widow married John Ostrander, of Middleton. Mr. Ostrander was widely known as a leading citizen of that township. By this union she had one son, John ; and two daughters^^Sarah and Elizabeth. G. Nelson Sovereign, youngest son of Henry, died in 1846, in his 28th year. He left a son. Nelson. Henry Sovereign was one of Middleton's pioneer saw-mill men, having built one at an early day and operated it for 142 PIONEER sketches OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. several years. " Uncle Henry was a familiar figure on the streets of Fredericksburg for many years previous to his death. He had been a hard worker when in the prime of life, and had contracted rheumatism, which nearly doubled him in his old age and compelled him to use crutches. Notwithstand ing this fact, he was ever busy with his favorite old horse and wagon right up to the time of his last illness. It is said that in the younger days of this old pioneer he used two teams, alternating night and day, hauling bog ore to the old furnace at Normandale. He died in 1878 at the age of ninety. Jacob Sovereign, eldest son of Henry, built the first mills in the village, and has always been identified with the leading business interests of the village, and although in his 81st year he is at present actively engaged in the manufacturing industries of Delhi. Since 1850 he has served twenty-five years in the Middleton Township Council, during which he sat in the County Council thirteen years, and in the Warden's chair three years. In addition to this he has served as deacon in the Baptist church for over a quarter of a century. Elizabeth Sovereign, only daughter of the original Jacob, married Jonathan Wade, and finally settled at the "Five Stakes" in Elgin County. When she was married her father told her he would give her a span of horses and a wagon if she had a family of twenty children. She came within two of it. SKETCH XXV. THE EARL OF MAR, AND THE MARRS AND LEMONS OF NORFOLK. Every young student of Scottish history has read of the two attempts made to re-establish the house of Stuart on the Scottish and English thrones — the first by the Chevalier de St. George, in 1715, and the second by his son, the gay and daring " Prince Charlie," in 1745. It will be remembered that it was the Earl of Mar who raised the standard of revolt when the first attempt was made ; that 10,000 Highland clansmen joined his standard, and that the kilted revolters were held in check by the Duke of Argyle until they were finally dispersed. It will also be remembered that the first Pretender escaped from the Highlands and returned to France, accompanied by the disappointed and crestfallen Earl of Mar. Now, it is claimed on strong circumstantial evidence, that this old Scottish chieftain, who is described as Sir John Francis Mar, was a brother of Lawrence Marr, the father of David Marr, the old pioneer who settled on " Marr's Hill," in Woodhouse, at the beginning of the present century. It is said another brother or two besides Lawrence were implicated in this Jacobite revolt, and that Lawrence escaped into Ireland, and subsequently came to America and settled in Northampton County, Penn., near the little town of Bethlehem, on the Delaware River. If this grand-ancestor of the Norfolk Marrs was really the Earl's brother, it is quite possible that a few corpuscles of royal Stuart blood course through their veins. A grandson of Robert IL, the first Stuart who wore a crown, married the Countess of Mar, and secured the earldom. This Earl of Mar was the natural son of Sir Alexander Stuart. Later on, during the reign of James III., we find an Earl of Mar who was a brother of that king ; and a century or two 144 PIONEER SKETCHES 'OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. after we find another Earl of Mar entrusted with the guardian ship of the youthful James VI., who also succeeded to the throne of England as James I. It is said the Earl of Mar who led the insurrection in 1715 was a bachelor, and left a fine property in the vicinity of Paisley, County of Renfrew ; and it is said Lawrence was the only brother who married and had children. It is upon this condition of things that the descendants of Lawrence Marr base their expectations of receiving a fortune. It has cost them a considerable sum already by way of investigations, and the chances are that, after incurring additional expenditure, the fortune will still "be acomin'," as is the case with the for tunes of so many of our old families. As before stated, there is good circumstantial evidence in favor of the claim. Lawrence is said to be the name of the missing heir, and Lawrence was the name of the grand-ancestor of the family in America, and, according to a family tradition, he was a refugee from his native land on account of his participation in the Highland revolt. David Marr, the old Norfolk pioneer, had in his possession, it is said, a pair of massive silver knee-buckles and a pair of silver shoe-buckles which had belonged to his father; and if these silver trappings had been worn by him in the Highlands, it would signify a social standing several degrees above the commonalty of the Highland peasantry, to say the least. No doubt there are numerous unclaimed for tunes in Europe awaiting American claimants, but the difficulty is in furnishing the required proofs. With the stringent regis tration laws now in force, future claimants will have less diffi culty in tracing back their ancestry. Lawrence Marr died in Pennsylvania, leaving several sons and daughters. One of these sons, David, and one daughter, Mary, with her husband, Joseph Lemon, came to Long Point. It is said that Thomas, another son, started for Canada, but died on the way ; and that Richard Marr, late of Woodhouse, was a twig of this branch. David Marr had thirteen children, twelve of whom grew up. Two of the twelve were sons — Lawrence and David ; and THE MARRS AND LEMONS OF NORFOLK. 145 the daughters' names were, Sarah, Mary, Anna, Elizabeth, Eleanor, Susanna, Rachel, Martha, Margaret and Judith. David Marr was past sixty when he came to Long Point, and he lived but a few years after he came. Lawrence, eldest son of David, came to the new settlement in advance of his father. He came in about 1800, accompanied by his wife and his little brother David, who had not yet entered his teens. Lawrence was twenty-seven. His wife Rachel was the daughter of Colonel Butler, an officer in the British army, who lost his life in the conquest of Canada. Lawrence Marr made a wise choice of a home on the hill known as "Marr's Hill," being the fine, substantial home, at present, of A. W. Smith. He was twice married. By his first wife he had three sons — David, Robert and Joseph; and two daughters — Mary and Nancy. By his second wife, Naomi Strawbridge, he had four sons— Richard, Benjamin, Graham and Joseph. His son Joseph by his first marriage died young, and this accounts for the second Joseph. He also had five daughters by his second wife— Elizabeth, Rachel, Catherine, Mary Ann and Maria. Of these sons, Benjamin contracted a cold while- serving in a troop of horsemen during the rebellion, which resulted in his death. David was a Justice of the Peace, and if Norfolk ever had a magistrate who proved himself a " peacemaker," it was Squire Marr, of Woodhouse. The story of his labors as a peacemaker is not found in the public Records, as he settled nearly every case that came to him without the necessity of a trial in court. He was a man of peace, and a consciousness, of having been instrumental in bringing about a reconciliation between two belligerent neighbors was far dearer to him than.the acquisition of a few paltry fees. Robert, the second son, built a saw-mill on Black Creek, and met with marked success financially. Graham, next to the youngest son, studied medicine and became a doctor. David Marr, second son and youngest child of the original David, came to Long Point, as before stated, with his brother Lawrence while yet a mere lad. After remaining a year or. two in the wilds of the new settlement, he went back to Penn- 10 146 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. sylvania. Not meeting with a hearty welcome, he made up his mind to try it again as soon as he could earn money enough to pay his expenses. He earned f4.00 threshing out three stacks of rye for a Pennsylvania Dutchman, and with this money in his pocket he started alone, and on foot, for the new country once more. It is said this youthful pioneer walked every step of the way from the Delaware River to Marr's Hill — except ing, of course, ferryings across rivers. He learned the cabinet-making trade, was handy with tools, generally, and worked on any sort of, building job that had any money in it. He sent to England for a complete set of cabinet-making tools, which cost him $900, and he paid for the outfit by making 300 wheelbarrows during the war of 1812, at $3.00 each. He bought fifty acres adjoining his brother Lawrence on the south, and here he settled with his wife Anna, daughter of the old Lynn Valley pioneer, Solomon Austin. David Marr never went to school a day in his life ; but he attended thirteen sessions of a night-school taught by a man who never spent a day in school himself. He was one of Norfolk's pioneer cabinet makers, and many a night the sound of plane, saw and hammer was heard in his little shop all night long, in making coffins. He was industrious, upright and honorable, and was never plaintiff or defendant in any suit at law. He died in 1871, in his eighty-first year. He had six sons — Solomon, Joseph, Edward, John Hiram, William and Duncan D. ; and three daughters — Esther, Jane and Mary. Joseph succeeded to the homestead; Edward, Solomon and John Hiram settled in Iowa; Duncan D. learned his father's trade, and settled in Simcoe ; Mary died single, and Esther and Jane married, respectively, William Brooks and W. F. Nickerson. A number of the original David Marr's daughters married and settled in the States before his sons or himself came to Canada, but the descendants of the family in Norfolk know nothing about them. DaVid Marr was born in 1743, and his wife Sarah in 1747, and as he did not come to Canada before the year 1805, his large family were all grown up, married and settled somewhere, except the two youngest, Judith and David. THE MARRS AND LEMONS OF NORFOLK. l47 David Marr's old family Bible has been preserved, and all that is known of the family is learned from its time- stained old Register. It simply records the names of Sarah, Anna, Eleanor and Martha — ^who they married or where they settled no member of the family in Norfolk knows. Mary Marr, eldest daughter of the original David, married George Rymal, and settled at Hamilton. Elizabeth Marr, the third daughter, married Abraham Diltz, and settled in Harrison County, Kentucky. Susanna Marr, the sixth daughter, married Charles Redman, a school teacher, who died in Pennsylvania, leaving one son, David. Rachel Marr, the seventh daughter, married David Marr, and settled in Glanford, near Hamilton. Margaret Marr, the ninth daughter, married Andrew Labar, and settled at Trafalgar, where she raised a large family of girls. Judith Marr, the youngest daughter, married Abraham Labar, and settled in Norwich. John Labar, of Bloomsburg, is a son of Judith. It is said that Judith Marr was living with relatives at Hamilton at the time her brother David returned to Canada, and that he rested overnight at the place where she was staying, and the following day she accompanied him the remainder of his long journey. It is said they started at sunrise from the old Barton church on top of the mountain, and walked to their brother Lawrence's new home on Marr's Hill, reaching their place of destination at eight o'clock in the evening, having walked a distance of fifty-two miles over rough and uneven roads and through immense stretches of mere forest trails. It is said the original Lawrence Marr had five or six sons ; that he and his eldest son were Loyalists during the war of the Revolution, and that his remaining sons, including David, supported the cause of independence. The late Richard ,Marr, of Woodhouse, married Martha Marr, and had six sons — David, William, Thomas, Lawrence, Adam and George; and three daughters — Margaret, Rachel and Martha. 148 pioneer sketches of long point SETTLEMENT. Mary Marr, daughter of the original Lawrence, married Joseph Lemon, of New Jersey. It is said she and her husband' came to Canada. Two sons of this union settled in Norfolk early in the century — namely, Joseph and Jacob. Joseph Lemon settled in Woodhouse, near Port Ryerse. He had five sons — Alexander, James, Samuel, Thomas and Jacob ; and two daughters — Catherine and Nancy. Of this family: Alexander married into the Gilbert family, and settled in Woodhouse. He had one daughter, who married a man named Saulsbury. James married Clendenning, and settled on part of the homestead. He had three sons — Hiram, " Riah " and Joseph. Samuel went away; Thomas settled in St. Thomas ; Jacob married Charity Lemon, and settled in Elgin ; Catherine married Henry E. Collins, who finally settled near "Five Stakes" in Elgin; and Nancy married Ebenezer Gilbert, of Woodhouse. Jacob Lemon, brother of Joseph, the old pioneer, settled on Lots 5 and 6, in the Gore of Woodhouse. These lots are now divided into four or five valuable farms, con.stituting as fine a tract of land as lies in the county. Mr. Lemon possessed a jovial disposition, and in his day was one of the most popular citizens of Woodhouse. He had one son, Jacob, who was the youngest in the family. His daughters' names were : Catherine, Lavinia, Charitj^ Eliza, Sarah, Matilda and Rebecca Ann. Catherine married David Duff and settled in Woodhouse; Charity married Jacob Lemon ; Eliza married Henry Decew, and settled at Port Dover ; Sarah married Caleb Smith, and settled in Iowa ; Matilda married Joseph Lemon, and settled in Charlotteville ; and Rebecca Ann married Philip Pegg, and settled in Woodhouse. Jacob Lemon, the only son of Jacob, married Mary Ann Wheeler, and settled on the homestead. He had one son, Isaac ; and four daughters — Sarah Ann, Elizabeth, Esther and Rebecca. The Lemon families were prominent among the old Wood- house Methodist families, who lie buried in the old Woodhouse cemetery. SKETCH XXVI. A FAMILY OF FRENCH HUGUENOTS. The sons and daughters of " Glorious old Norfolk " are not excelled by those of any other community on the face of the globe, in all the qualities essential to the building up of a moral, free and enlightened commonwealth. This high social status is the growth of one short century. Not to any one pioneer element can it be attributed, but to a combination of elements. If the old foundation builders had been of one nationality and one temperament, or had they been of one re ligious faith, or all of the same political bias, we could not have attained so high a standing in so short a time. It is only by a commingling and an intermarrying of the best human elements gathered from all nations and all climes, that the highest development in the shortest possible space of time can be effected. One of our old Woodhouse pioneers added a French Huguenot element to the blood of Norfolk, which has been widely diffused, and which has materially aided in improving the general tone of our people. This element is represented by the well-known Decew family. There are numerous American branches of this family, and a variety of forms have been adopted by the various branches for spelling the name. The old French form was " De Ceaux,'' which became " De Ceue." Among the anglicized forms in vogue are " Deeou," " Decow," " Decue," and " Decew." Sometimes one of the latter forms is written with a capital " C," thereby preserving something of the French form. When the Reformation commenced in Germany and France its adherents in the latter country were called Huguenots — a 150 pioneer sketches of long point settlement. corruption of a German word meaning " confederates." The Decews espoused the Protestant cause, and, in common with their co-religionists, were subjected to cruel persecution. They fled from their native land and found a place of refuge in Yorkshire, England, where they settled. The date of this re moval is not known, but it probably occurred during the time the notorious Guise familj'^ were in the ascendency, before the dawn of the seventeenth century. Isaac Decew, of Yorkshire, England, came to America about 1685, and settled at Newcastle, Maryland, on land bought of William Penn. This was only four years after Penn re ceived his famous grant from the Crown, and three years after his interview with the Indian tribes, under the old elm tree at Shackamaxon, now Kensington. The first meeting of Quakers in America was held in Isaac Decew's house. In this family were four sons — Jacob, John, Isaac and Emmanuel ; and two daughters — Elizabeth and Susanna. The youngest daughter was the sole issue of a second marriage, the mother being one Susanna Aston, and the date of marriage, 1661. Of this gen eration, Jacob settled in Burlington, Vermont, where he lived and died. John remained in England, and died in 1721, in his 51st year. Isaac settled in Burlington Co., New Jersey, where he died ; and Emmanuel died in England in infancy. The descendants of two of Isaac's granddaughters are living in New Jersey at the present time. Jacob Decew, son of Yorkshire Isaac, had three sons — Isaac, Jacob and Eber. Isaac lived and died in Burlington, Vermont. Jacob was born in 1710, married Jane Duncan in 1736, and settled in Sussex County, New Jersey. Eber was bornifi 1712, and lived and died in Burlington. His descendants are living there still. Jacob Decew, son of Jacob, of Sussex County, New Jersey, had four sons — John, Edmond, Abram and Abner; and three daughters — Patience, Jane and Sarah. It is from members of this family the Canada Decews are directly descended. The family came to the Niagara settlement about 1788. It is said that Abram remained in New Jersey. John was a captain in A FAMILY OF FRENCH HUGUENOTS. 151 the Lincoln Militia in the war of 1812, and although a descendant of the progenitors of the real, simon-pure " Yankee," he proved himself a loyal son of his adopted country. Captain John Decew was born in 1766, and was twenty-two years old when he came to Canada. He secured a tract of land in Thorold and Grantham, on the Beaver Dam Creek, at what is known as Decew's Falls. He traded an axe and an Indian blanket for one hundred acres of this land, and gave a gold doubloon for another one hundred acres. Aided by Colonel Hamilton, of Queenston, who imported the necessary machinery from Scotland, Mr. Decew built the first saw-mill between the two -lakes, and sawed the first lumber in old Niagara district. Before the war of 1812 broke out. Captain Decew had built a commodious stone house at Beaver Dams — as it was called ; and this house was used for storing military supplies. It was here where Lieutenant FitzGibbon was stationed with a small force, when Colonel Harvey conducted his brilliant exploit at Stony Creek; and it was here where the heroine, Mrs. Laura Secord, de livered her message of warning to Lieutenant FitzGibbon, after her long walk of twenty miles. FitzGibbon, thus forewarned of the intended attack by Major Boerstler with six hundred Americans, was enabled to make that skilful arrangement of his little band of patriots in Captain Decew's woods, that led the invaders to believe they were surrounded by a large force ; and after a brief resistance, surrendered to only one-half their own number. In an account of this engagement written by Cap tain Decew, he states that the Americans were attacked by a small force of Indians in ambush, as they marched through the woods; that Lieutenant FitzGibbons advanced from the bar racks at Beaver Dams on horseback bearing a white flag ; that he informed them they were surrounded by an overwhelming force, and that it would be better for them to surrender as prisoners of war than to hold out against the merciless fury of the Indians. The ruse was a success, and every student of Canadian history is familiar with the result. In after years, while Mr. Decew was engaged in sawing into lumber one of the pine trees that stood in the woods where the Americans 152 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. had the skirmish with the Indians, a saw was ruined by coming in contact with a grape-shot which had been imbedded in the tree. While this scene was being enacted about his home, Captain Decew was a prisoner in Philadelphia awaiting execu tion with a number of others. He made his escape and, under many trying difficulties, succeeded in reaching Canada by way of Vermont, passing through Burlington in the guise of a drover, and meeting some of his relatives. He reached home in safety, and was afterwards placed in charge of the Commissariat at the battle of Lundy's Lane. After the war he built a grist mill, but the building of the Welland Canal ruined his mill-site and destroyed the value of his mill property. In his declining years he purchased a tract of land, containing a mill privilege, in the township of Cayuga, on which he laid, out and settled the village of Decewsville. He died in 1855 in his 90th year., Mrs. Thomas Faywell, of Port Dover, and Mrs. John Hicks, of Delhi, are descendants of Captain John Decew, as was also the late Mrs. Margaret Bloomfield, of Townsend. Abner Decew, brother of Captain John, married Elizabeth Flummerfelt, of New Jersey^ and came to Long Point in the last decade of last century, and settled in Woodhouse, near Port Dover. He was one of the old advance squad of pioneers who came into Norfolk to clear away the brush for the trench- diggers who came next in order, in the work of laying our social, religious and political foundation. He died in 182J6, having reached his 84th year. He had five sons — Eber, John, Isaac, Abner a-id Samuel ; and one daughter — Charity. Eber Decew, eldest son of Abner, married Susan Baumwart and settled finally in Michigan. In 1802 he was appointed constable for Woodhouse. He had four sons — Isaac, John, Abner and Samuel ; and one daughter. Charity. John Decew, second son of Abner, married Elizabeth Long, and settled in Woodhouse, He represented his township in Norfolk's flrst Council — the Talbot District Council. In 1801 he was appointed constable for Woodhouse, Walpole and Rain ham. He died in 1842, before the second session of the Council convened, and his vacant chair was taken by Axford Bowlby. A FAMILY OF FRENCH HUGUENOTS. 153 He had three sons — John, Eber and Abner; and four daughters — Elizabeth, Margaret, Charity and Mary; Isaac Decew, third son of Abner, married Catherine Baum wart, and settled near the homestead. He had three sons — Frederick, Samuel and Henry; and three daughters — Charity, Susanna and Elizabeth. Abner Decew, youngest son of Abner, and his brother, Samuel, both died single. Charity Decew, only daughter of the old pioneer, married Thomas Burger, who was one of the first two settlers in the township of Houghton — George Walker being the other. Mrs. Burger had three sons — Isaac, John and David ; and four daughters — Elizabeth, Sarah, Deborah and Catherine. John Decew used to tell a funny story of his boyhood's experiences. He worked a good deal for. Colonel Ryerson. The Colonel employed a good many hands, and when the horn blew for dinner it was the signal for a spirited race to the table. It was " first come, first served," and " de'il tak' the hindmost," for he, poor fellow, might be compelled to return to his labor with his appetite unappeased. Mr. Decew was only sixty-four when he died ; and his wife, who died in 1860, was seventy-two years old. Abram Decew, brother of Captain John and Abner, married Mary Hibler, and remained in New Jersey. He had a daughter, Jane, who came to Long Point with her uncle Abner, and married Colonel Daniel McCall about the year 1799. The preceding year, Mr. M cCall commenced to build a house, and this house was removed to Vittoria sometime during the century, and is still standing and occupied as a dwelling. Mary, another daughter of Abram Decew, married Simeon Hibler in New Jersey, and ten or twelve years after the close of the war of 1812 the Hibler family, consisting of Simeon and his wife, his parents, his brother Joseph, and his sisters Nancy and Jane, came to Long Point and settled in Vittoria, where Simeon carried on the business of blacksmithing. Nancy and Jane Hibler married, respectively, Peter Anderson and Richard Powell. SKETCH XXVII. A PIONEER "MEETIN"' AT FATHER ABRAHAM POWELL'S. Abraham Powell was a U. E. Loyalist. He and Israel Wood were brothers-in-law in New Brunswick, Mr. Powell having married Ruth, sister of Mr. Wood. This accounts for the similarity of names among the descendants of the two families in Norfolk. Both families came to Long Point about the same time — near the close of the last century. The Powell family settled in the south-easterly part of Windham, on what was afterwards known as Powell s plains, or " Buckwheat ' street." Here Mr. Powell built his log cabin ; and here, a little later on, he kept a small store. We have not been able to learn the date of the opening of this pioneer store, but it is claimed by some that it was the first store in Windham. Mr. Powell was a zealous Methodist of the old school. He was a very religious man, and meetings were held at his place at frequent intervals by the early missionaries who travelled about in the new settlements. Mrs. Philip Forse, who has reached her eighty-eighth year, hale and hearty, and in possession of much of the constitutional vigor that characterized her younger days, distinctly remembers one of these religious meetings which she attended with her mother when she was seven years old. Mrs. Forse was a daughter of John Tisdale-^ one of the original Tisdale brothers— who settled in Windham in an early day. Mrs. Forse describes the meeting as follows : " Uncle Powell was a good man. He was a strong Meth odist, and our folks were strong Episcopalians, but that didn't make any difference. It was different then ; the settlers were A PIONEER " meetin' " AT FATHER ABRAHAM POWELL'S. 155 few and widely scattered, and they all seemed like members of one common family. There was only one kind of ' meetin',' as we called it, in those days, and that was a religious meetin', and we all attended it. I remember a meeting at Uncle Powell's when I was only seven years old. It seems only yesterday, I remember it so distinctly. The meeting was held by a missionary named John Youmans, and when we got there he was sitting on a splint-bottomed chair, behind a little board table that had a tallow candle on it. It was a cold night, and it seems as though I can hear the fire snap and crack in that big fireplace now. It was a small log-house, with only one room. The bed had been taken (^own and put out of the way, and split slab seats put up for the people to sit on. I sat on a httle stool by the side of my mother, and next to the fireplace. When the neighbors had all come in Mr. Youmans opened the meeting. They didn't have hymn-books, but everybody, old, young, big and little, took part in the singing. The elder read two lines of the hymn, and then some one would start the tune, and before the middle of the first line was reached all the people would be singing with all their might. This was repeated until the hyinn was finished. I can see the sparkling flames leap up and disappear in that old fireplace now just as I saw them that night so many years ago, as I knelt by the side of my little stool and listened to the prayer of the mission ary and the hearty ' Amens ' that came from the benches. After reading a portion of Scripture, Elder Youmans com menced his exhortation by pointing towards Uncle Powell and shouting : ' Father Abraham, who have you in heaven ? Methodists ? No. Presbyterians ? No. Episcopalians ? No. Universalists ? No. Baptists ? No. Who then in the name of God have you in heaven, father Abraham ? ' ' CHRibTiANS,' shouted the elder in a loud voice. This novel way of intro ducing his subject made a lasting impression on my childish mind, and I have never forgotten it." In 1804 Abraham Powell was overseer of public roads for Norfolk County, District of London, as evidenced by an order 156 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. made by Nathan B. Barnum and Peter Teeple, County Com missioners. By this order Mr. Powell was directed to " perform the road labor from James Russell's mill to William Culver's mill, and through by Lot Tisdale's to the front road at Potter's Creek." Russell's mill stood on the site afterwards occupied by the old red mill at Vittoria. In this same year Mr. Powell had a hog skin tanned at Joseph Tisdale's tannery, as shown by the old tannery blotter. When he obtained the patent for his land he walked to York (Toronto) for it, and carried his daily rations with him. He had four sons — Jacob, Caleb, Israel W. and Sylvanus; and two daughters — Mary and Phoeibe. Jacob, the eldest son, married Elizabeth Jewell, and settled near the homestead. He was a carpenter and framer, and when the old red mill was built by the Tisdale's, in 1816, he helped to frame it, receiving twelve shillings per day as wages. He had five sons — Isaac, William, John, Henry and Caleb ; and four daughters — Sarah, Mary Jane, Maria and Eliza. Of this large family all are dead or gone away except Charles, son of Henry, who lives in Simcoe. Caleb Powell, second son of Abraham, married Eliza Forse, and settled near the homestead. He had two sons — William and Sydney. Sydney married his own niece and moved out of the country. This is the only case of the kind known among the old families, and it should go on record. Israel W. Powell, third son of Abraham, married Melinda Boss, and settled in Colborne, where he engaged in the mercan tile business. Previous to this he had served as a clerk in the store of Job Loder, in Waterford. Subsequently he left Colborne and went to Port Dover, where he engaged in business quite extensively. In 1841 Mr. Powell was elected to repre sent the county in Parliament, which position he held until 1848. Israel Powell had a family of seven or eight children, one of whom. Walker Powell, defeated Thomas W. Walsh in 1858, in a contest for parliamentary honors. He was succeeded by Aquila Walsh in 1861. On February 8th, 1842, the first A PIONEER " meetin' " AT FATHER ABRAHAM POWELL'S. 157 District Council convened at Simcoe, and Israel W. Powell was the first Warden. He was also a member of the first Municipal Council of the County of Norfolk, which came into existence January 28th, 1850, he being Deputy-Reeve of Woodhouse. In 1856 Walter Powell succeeded Lawrence W. Hunt as Warden of the County. Sylvanus Powell, fourth son of Abraham, died single. Marj' Powell, eldest daughter of Abraham, married Thomas Fowler, and settled in Burford. She had one son, Milton ; and two daughters — Phoebe and Eliza. Phoebe Powell, second daughter of Abraham, married Morris, son of Frederick Sovereign. They settled in Illinois. Six children and eleven grandchildren of Abraham Powell have lived on Powell's plains in Windham, and yet t-wenty years ago there was not a Powell in the neighborhood ; and in this year of grace, 1 897, the name is scarcely known in the county. SKETCH XXVIII. THE SONS OF OLD HENDRICK SLACHT. Hendrick Slacht was a German plantation owner in the colony of New Jersey. His plantation embraced 625 acres, and was located in the township of New Town, Sussex County. The old title deed for this tract of land is dated June 2 1 st, 1750,' and the grantee's name is written in the form given in the caption of this sketch. Hendrick Slacht raised a large family on his New Jersey plantation, and his descendants, to day, have become a mighty host, scattered all over the American continent. Three of his descendants — Job, John, and Richard — pioneered their way into the new Province of Upper Canada during the first ten years of its existence ; and from the very beginning of Norfolk's history the Slaght family has been an important factor in the growth and development of the county. Two of these brothers. Job and John, were Townsend pioneers, and the third, Richard, settled in the adjoining township of Oakland, Brant County. An old title deed, bearing date Oct. 6th, 1775, shows that Hendrick Slacht conveyed to Joab Slacht 170 acres of the Slacht plantation in consideration of £60 Proclamation money of New Jersey. There is every reason to believe that this Joab Slacht was a son of Hendrick Slacht, and the original Job Slaght, of Norfolk. In 1796, Job Slaght came to Niagara with his family, and in the following year the settlement in Townsend was effected. A sketch of this branch of the family is given elsewhere under the head, " The Old Pulpit Veteran of Waterford." From another old title deed we learn that one, William THE SONS OF OLD HENDRICK SLACHT. 159 Stirling, of Beckenbridge, conveyed to Richard Slacht a tract of land lying in Hardytown, adjoining the Slacht plantation. This old deed bears date Sept. I7th, 1774, and it appears quite self-evident that this Richard Slacht was also a son of old Hendrick, and the Richard Slaght who settled in Oakland. The daughters who married into the Cunningham family were of the Richard Slaght branch of the family. John Slaght, the old Townsend pioneer, married Elizabeth Clouse in New Jersey. An old title deed, bearing date Sept. 4th, 1800, shows that he obtained from Government his title to Lot 10, 5th concession of Townsend, upon which he settled with his family the following spring. The old deed still bears the massive pendant seal which forms such an object of curiosity to the young people of to-day. This old pioneer, who settled in the woods of old Townsend before this old, dying century had seen its first harvest time, is the grand ancestor of a numerous posterity, no inconsiderable portion of which is in corporated in Norfolk's present population. It is said that John Slaght was a machinist, and spent a good share of his time in the study of perpetual motion. He built the first saw mill at " Boston Corners," and some of the best white pine logs in the virgin forest of Norfolk were sawn into lumber at this pioneer mill. The old Court journal shows that on June 1 1 th, 1806, John Slaght was appointed constable for Townsend. In the old New Jersey title deeds and family business papers we find the names of Peter, Philip and James, who are mentioned as sons of Henry Slaght, and there is no evidence showing that this Henry, who died in about 1783, was not the original Hendrick Slacht who made the purchase of 625 acres in 1750. The old papers also reveal the names of two sons-in law, namely, Timothy Skinner and Jesse Sutton. Two of the daughters in this original Slaght family married into the Rob inson and Chambers families, and sett;led in Norfolk at an early date. The, family of Hendrick Slacht, no doubt, was a large one. John Slaght had seven sons — William, Henry, Philip, George, 160 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Joseph, Job and John ; and four daughters — Mary, Elizabeth, Anna and Sarah. William Slaght, eldest son of John, married Elizabeth Par ney, and settled on the homestead. He had five sons — Oliver, Ezra, Abraham, Freeman and David ; and one daughter — Amanda. Henry Slaght, second son of John, married Harriet Hazlc ton ; settled first in Nissouri, afterwards in Norfolk, and finally, in 1839, moved to Michigan. He had six sons — Alpheus, Thadeus,- Henry, Levi, Chauncey and Eber ; and nine daughters — Mary, Harriet, Sarah, Miriam, Charlotte, Louisa, Anne, Zil- pah and Cora. Philip Slaght, third son of John, was born in the pioneer Townsend home in 1804, and when twenty years old married Eliza Murray and settled, finally, near Bealton. He was indus trious and economical, and succeeded in acquiring several tracts of land, upon which he comfortably settled his sons. He had eight sons, five of whom grew up — Ira, Aaron, Hiram, Eli and Elias. There were, two daughters —Julia Ann and Mary Jane. Elias occupies the old homestead. Philip Slaght died in 1878, having reached his 74th year. George Slaght, fourth son of John, died single. Joseph Slaght, fifth son of John, married Palmyra Murray, and settled in Townsend. He had three sons, Louis, Gilbert and Albert ; and one daughter, Mary Ann. Job Slaght, sixth son of John, married Lavinia Shaw and settled near Simcoe. He had two sons. John Slaght, seventh son of John, settled in Norfolk, and had one son, Robert. Mary Slaght, eldest daughter of John, married Philip Austin, of Woodhouse. Her children are enumerated in the Austin genealogy. Elizabeth Slaght, second daughter of John, married Aaron Barber, of Townsend. Her family is included in the Barber genealogy. Sarah Slaght, daughter of John, married Solomon Austin. THE SONS OF OLD HENDRICK SLACHT. 161 This pioneer mother has handed down the story of her first ex periences as a pioneer housekeeper. Her experiences were shared, no doubt, by all her fellow pioneers to a greater or less extent. The trouble is, the particular facts in each case as related in the oft-repeated tales of our grandmothers, were not noted down while they were with us, and, unfortunately, we have forgotten them. After Sarah Slaght became a wife she worked out and earned a sufficient quantity of feathers to make two pillows. She grew a piece of flax the first season, and broke, hetcheled, spun and wove it into cloth for pillow cases and two bed-sheets. She started housekeeping with the indispens able cow, of course, and she had six bowls in which to raise the cream. Her cream crock was an old tea-kettle, and when she made butter she borrowed the churn of an accommodating neighbor. Girls, this is not an isolated case of shiftlessness,. it. was the way our grandmothers began the work of home-build ing in pioneer times. It was the " rough hewing " in the work: of preparing the timbers that formed the frame-work of what, in due time, became a prosperous, comfortable and contented Norfolk home. Mrs. Austin's children, and those of her sister Mary, who married Philip Austin, are enumerated in, the- Austin genealogy. Anna Slaght, daughter of John, married George Woodley, and settled in Townsend. She had six sons — John, Aaron, Martin, George, Philip and Abram ; and six daughters — Mary Ann, Hannah, Elizabeth, Sarah, Amanda and Nancy. The Woodley family has been identified with the old fami lies of Long Point country almost from the beginning of the settlement, and the remainder of this sketch will be devoted to a brief genealogical review of the family. It is said that three Woodley brothers — George, Tice and Levi — emigrated from Germany to the New World about the middle of last century, and that George and Tice settled in the colony of New Jersey, and Levi wandered away and was never again heard of. When the war of the Revolution broke out, George espoused the British cause and Tice the II 162 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT, JOHJf -WOODLEY. American. Each fought all through the war, and when it terminated, George married the daughter of Col. John Wagers, an Irish officer, and went to St. John, N.B., where he lived four years, He came to Upper Canada at an early date, and was one of the pioneers of the Stony Creek settlement. Before the close of the century he came up to the new town ship of Oakland, and set tled on what has long since been known as " The Mc- Key Farm." He was twice married. By his first wife he had three sons — Matthias, John and George ; and two daughters — Mary and Hannah. By his second wife, Elizabeth Bowman, he had one son, David, and four daughters — Elizabeth, Eliza, Marga ret and Abigail. The old pioneer died in 1827, hav ing reached a ripe, old age. Matthias Woodley, eld est son of George, married into the Malcolm family, and settled in Oakland, where he raised a family of seven children. John and George were twins. They were born, in 1795, at Stony Creek. rev. j. h. -svoodley. THE SONS OF OLD HENDRICK SLACHT. 163 The former served as a volunteer in the war of 1812, and subsequently married Mercy Johnston, and settled, finally, at Boston, where he raised a family of seven children. George, as stated before, married Anna, daughter of John Slaght, and settled east of Waterford, where he raised a family of eleven children. David Woodley, youngest son of the old pioneer, married Frances Ann Jackson, of Toronto, and settled at Boston. He had a family of eight children, seven of whom grew up. Only one of this family resides in Norfolk, and that is Mrs. Jacob B. Johnson, of Boston. One son, Jonathan H., is a noted Baptist preacher, stationed at present near Tacoma, in the State of Washington. The old pioneer's daughters married into leading families, and his descendants, to-day, are not only numerous and widely scattered, but they have preserved in a marked degree the many excellent social qualities transmitted to them by their worthy old ancestors. SKETCH XXIX. OUR FAIR DAUGHTERS. To the girls of Norfolk who, in this year of our Lord 1897, are anticipating the time when they shall preside over homes of their own, this sketch is especially dedicated. These daugh ters of ours will be the future mothers of " glorious old Nor folk " — not the wild, unbroken, forest-laden, beast-haunted Norfolk of a hundred years ago, but the cultivated, refined, garden-strewn and home-dotted Norfolk of to-day. As their great-grandmothers were the pioneer mothers of the first century, so will they become the pioneer mothers of the second century of our history. The forces of evolution are not spent. Wonderful as have been the fruits of inventive genius during the past century, human thought has not yet reached its limit. On the contrary, i^ has but just awakened from a long dark night of profound sleep, and the marvellous inventions and discoveries of the last half-century which have revolutionized the conditions of life and given us so many comforts and conveniences are but the first visible signs of this awakening ; and yet, when we compare the conditions of life a hundred years ago with those of to-day, it would seem that a point has been reached where further improvements are impossible. But the fact is, the era of thought is only begin ning to daAvn upon us, and what the result will be when the sun of the new day reaches high meridian is as far, or per haps farther, from the scope of our imagination as were the present realities from the wildest imagination of our fore- lathers a century ago. Therefore, our daughters who will take up the solemn' duties of wives and mothers at the OUR FAIR DAUGHTERS. 165 beginning of the second century of our history will be the pioneers of that century ; and when it, in turn, shall have passed away, young people will look back and wonder at the great changes which have taken place since the crude old times of their great-grandmothers, just as the young people now do. May God help these prospective wives and mothers to hold sacred the remembrance of these grand old pioneer mothers whose lives were devoid of so many of the comforts and conveniences which have been reserved for them, and may they fully appreciate the greater advantages which it is their blessed privilege to enjoy, and avail themselves of the grander and more varied opportunities for the development of a higher type of womanhood. If they do this they will prove true to their day and generation, and although the most advanced and latest improved means within their reach will appear as mere crudities in the brighter light which is to come, their great- grandsons will look back through the years and exclaim : "All honor to our brave old grandmothers and great-grandmothers, who toiled under so many disadvantages, and yet by perse vering industry, trust in an overruling Providence and an unflinching fidelity to duty accomplished so much, and who, with all their hardships and inconveniences, were brave enough to make the best of their surroundings and be content with the possibilities that confronted them. Every person must be viewed in the light of his or her surroundings, and be judged accordingly. This rule is not always observed. Sometimes we do our fair daughters a great injustice by judging them in the light of other days. We create in our imagination an environment 'for them, and then censure them for not being what it is impossible for them to be. In other words, we condemn them sometimes because they are not what other girls have been whose advantages or disadvantages were altogether different. We remind them of what their mothers or grandmothers did when they were girls, and we leave the disheartening impression upon their young minds that, somehow, there is a degenerating tendency in the 166 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. family. This is all wrong. God bless our girls ; they do not live in the days of their grandmothers, they live in their own days, and by the light of their own times they must stand or fall. Because they do not perform the same kind of duties their grandmothers did, or because they perform the same duties in an easier, more expeditious, or different manner, is no evidence that they are made of poorer stuff,. morally or other wise. If God in His infinite wisdom had ordained that these refined, poetical, music-loving and music-making daughters who add beauty, dignity and grace to our homes, had been called into being at the same time and under the same cir cumstances as their grandmothers were, they would have been as brave, as true and as self-sacrificing as their grandmothers were ; and if these dear old grandmothers had been held in reserve by the mysterious forces of nature for the times in which we live, they would have been as refined and cultured, and as graceful and charming as their granddaughters. Purity of motive and action, persevering industry, patient and cheerful resignation to the inevitable, and a firm deter mination to grapple with the possible, are the four cardinal principles involved in the development of a true and noble womanhood. Let us see what this means. 1. Purity of motive and action. In our great-grandfathers' days many foolish, superstitious notions prevailed, which have been driven back into the regions of darkness whence they came by the dawning of the era of reason. These notions influenced the minds of our grandmothers to a greater or less extent in the regulation of their conduct and in the manage ment of their household duties. For instance, they were averse to giving their daughters in marriage on a Friday, or the commencing of a new undertaking of any kind on that day. They were governed by the phases of the moon and the signs of the zodiac in pretty much everything they did. They made soap when the moon was in a proper phase, and to plant '• cowcumber " seed when the moon " wasn't " right was con sidered an act of gross ignorance on the part of anyone who QVR FAIR DAUGHTERS. 167 desired a good supply of " pickles." The unfortunate babe that was so thoughtless as to " cut its teeth " when the " sign wasn't right " was expected to have a " harder time " of it, and cause its mother an extra amount of trouble. Roots, barks and herbs must be gathered in the " right of the moon," and if " my ole man " killed the hogs in the " wrong of the moon " the '' dickens " would be to pay in the " fryin' of the fat." But all these vagaries did not make the motives which prompted their acts one. whit less pure. They lived in the days of the tallow candle, and they could not see as clearly as their grand daughters now see ; and the duty of the latter is to walk in the brighter light as faithfully and as conscientiously as the former did in their lesser light. 2. Persevering industry. What young woman in Norfolk torday can read the story of our grandmothers' and great- grandmothers' lives in this old Long Point settlement without breathing out a prayer of thankfulness for the pleasanter places in which her lot is cast ? How laboriously they toiled I With what perseverance they struggled right in the face of almost insurmountable obstacles and under the most trying difficulties ; and what a wonderful work they accomplished by their persevering industry ! When we read the story we are doubly impressed with the truthfulness of the old saying that " truth is stranger than fiction." Our girls will not burn brush, spin, weave or cook on a crane, but they will have their duties just the same; and if the time not required in the care of the home be given to modern society work instead of " hetcheling " flax, they must, remember that great achievements in this world of action are won only by determined perseverence. 3. Patient and pheerful resignation to the inevitable. Where this principle is not imbedded in the very concrete of individual character, any degree of happiness or contentment is out of the question. To be content with our lot may be, and may not be, praiseworthy. If by the term " lot " we mean our surround ings, and these surroundings are bad, and the remedy for their improvement lies within our reach, then we should not be 168 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. content with our lot. This would be indolence — a something not compatible with intelligible happiness. To be cheerfully resigned to the inevitable is simply to fret not and worry jiot over matters and things which are quite beyond our reach. To worry and fret over what we cannot help is to rob life of its sweetest joys ; and why shouldn't it ? God has given us reasoning faculties, and it is His design that we shall make use of them for our own good ; and when we worry and fret over the inevitable we throw aside our reasoning faculties, thereby transgressing the divine laws which govern our being, and we are made to suffer the penalty — and, surely, the with holding of happiness is the most terrible penalty that could possibly be inflicted upon us. 4. A firm determination to grapple with the possible. This is the secret of all true success in life. Cheerful resignation to the inevitable, and a firm determination to grapple with the possible, will lead to ultimate success. Hope is the mainspring of a busy life. The young woman who is about to assume the cares and responsibilities of a wife and mother in this prosaic life, and who is devoid of the heavenly gift of ideality, is an object of pity. Every girl should set up an ideal, and this ideal should be placed at the highest point within the limits of the possible, and reason must be the sole guide in fixing these limits. The ideal, therefore, should always come within the apparently possible, although in this short and fitful life it may be seldom, if ever, attained. To this firmly planted ideal is attached the beacon star of hope. The happiest and most useful lives are led by those who keep the signal-fires of hope ever aglow, and who are constantly striving to reach their ideal. Indeed, so much depends upon this daily striving that it would seem as though the ideal ought to be placed a little beyond the practicably possible, just within the confines of heaven itself, so as to make it utterly unattainable in this life. Then the star of hope would ever beckon us onward and upward, bringing us nearer and nearer to our cherished ideal until we reach the end of the boisterous journey of life— and OUR FAIR DAUGHTERS. 169 then while we wait for the grim ferrym.an to row us over the turbulent stream that separates the impossible from the possible, we might behold, just across on the shining shore, our long-sought-for ideal. When the ideal is reached in this life hope is extinguished, and the sun of happiness goes down for ever. May the future wives and mothers of " glorious old Norfolk " place their ideals sufficiently high to enable them to make the best of this life and lead them across the border into the " perfect life that is to come." SKETCH XXX. A PIONEER MURDERED ON HIS 'WAY TO NORFOLK- BARBER FAMILY. The Old Baptist burying ground at Vittoria contains the graves of many of our old pioneers. Some of these graves are very old, and there is one that bears a date as far back as 1804. This is the tomb of Abigail Barber, the mother of pioneers. Forty-six years before this old grave was dug its occupant was born in the home of Jacob and Elizabeth Cosad, in Morris County, New Jersey. Mr. Cosad came from Holland about the middle of last century and settled at this place, where he lived until he reached a ripe old age. Both he and his wife died in the winter of 1812, and both had reached their eighty-eighth year. Before Abigail Cosad passed out of her " teens " she became the wife of Samuel Barber, a young business man of her own native county. Mr. Barber engaged in the mercantile business on Schooley's Mountain, and met with a fair degree of success ; but in the year 1800 he was stricken with the Western fever and resolved to migrate to the new Upper Canada El Dorado — ¦ Long Point settlement. At this time they had twelve children, whose names and ages were as follows : Elizabeth, 22 ; Matthias, 21; John, 19; Daniel, J8; Jane, 16; Mary, 14; Aaron, 13; Moses, 11 ; Miriam, 8 ; Elisha, 6 ; Samuel, 5, and Jacob, 3 years old. Elizabeth, the eldest daughter, married William Wier, and remained in New Jersey. She died in 1854, in her 72nd year. Daniel, the third son, also remained in New Jersey ; but Aaron S., late of Simcoe — father of Charles, the lawyer — is a son of Daniel. The Barber pioneer log cabin was erected on Lot 7, in the 9th concession of Townsend, adjoining, on the south, the a pioneer murdered on his way to NORFOLK. 171 present grand old village of Waterford. After locating his land, Mr. Barber returned to New Jersey to settle up his .business affairs, but before leaving he bargained for the grist mill and a quantity of land at Waterford. Little did the wife and children think when they bade the husband and father good-bye, that they would never see him again dead or alive. After many weary weeks of watching and waiting a suspicion was aroused in the minds of the family that some terrible thing had happened, and Matthias and John, the two eldest sons, started off for New Jersey to learn the cause of their father's delay. Those were dark days for the pioneer mother. She was left alone in a new, sparsely settled, densely wooded country, with her eight remaining children, the eldest son being only thirteen years old. In the dear old New Jersey home she had never suff'ered privations or endured hardships. For the first time in her life she was made to realize the terrible condition of being hopelessly separated from husband, children, parents and the friends of youth. Who, among us, to-day, are able to portray the feelings of that mother as she lay upon her rude couch and stared into the darkness made impenetrable by the surrounding forest, and thought of the home and friends so far away, of her absent children, and the probable fate of her husband and its awful consequences ? To-day a stream of carriages daily pass the spot where stood nearly a hundred years ago the log cabin in which Abigail Barber spent those sleepless nights. A few old scraggy apple- trees mark the place, yet not one in the mighty, busy passing throng knows anything about it, and but few, aside from her own descendants, know that such a woman as Abigail Barber ever lived. When Mr. Barber had settled up his business affairs he started for his new home in Canada mounted on a grey horse, and having a considerable sum of money with him. He was traced as far as Easton, Penn., and' no traces of him have ever been found since. He was, no doubt, waylaid and murdered by thugs who, in some way, had learned that he carried money with him. Owing to the loss of this capital the family were 172 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. unable to meet the payments on the Waterford property, and it reverted to the original owners. The great responsibilities that devolved upon Mrs. Barber, as a result of this sad affair, . were bravely met, but the trouble and sorrow weighing upon her heart soon broke down her constitution, and in 1804, only four years after she left her comfortable New Jersey home, she died, aged forty-six. Samuel Barber disappeared, or was murdered in 1800, being at that time in his forty-eighth year. Matthias Barber, the eldest son, married into the Petitt family and settled at Stony Creek, where he raised a family. John Barber, second son of Samuel, married Mary Slaght and settled on Lot 5, 9th concession of Townsend. He had seven sons — Jacob, Aaron, Henry, Joseph, Daniel, David and John Louis; and five daughters — Elizabeth, Abigail, Miriam, Lizana and Sarah. Jacob, the first-born son, died in youth. Aaron Barber, second son of John, married Nancy Heath, settled in Townsend and had five sons — Justus, John William, Frederick, Aaron and Samuel; and two daughters — Mary Maria and Martha. Henry Barber, third son of John, married Esther Kellum, settled in Townsend and had three sons — Lemon, Eli and Libius ; and one daughter. Ruby Ann. Joseph Barber, fourth son of John, married Sarah Ann Clement, and settled in Windham. He had no family. Daniel Barber, fifth son of John, married Elizabeth Snider, settled on the homestead and had four sons — Leander, Emerson A., Hiram and Alvin ; and four daughters — Sarah M., Elva Ann, Alice and Louisa. David Barber, sixth son of John, died in youth. John L. Barber, seventh son of John, married Abigail Shaw, settled in Waterford and had two sons — Alonzo and Henry ; and two daughters — Olive and Mary. Elizabeth Barber, eldest daughter of John, married Henry Kitchen, and settled in Townsend. Abigail died in youth. Miriam married Richard Kitchen, and settled in Townsend ; and Lizana and Sarah, the two youngest daughters, both died single. A PIONEER MURDERED ON HIS WAY TO NORFOLK. 173 John Barber was a pioneer deacon in the old Bloomsburg Baptist church. He let a most exemplary life, and died highly honored and respected in 1860, having reached his eightieth year. Aaron Barber, fourth son of Samuel, married Elizabeth Slaght, and settled at Boston. He operated a tannery and was noted for his sound judgment in business matters, being frequently appealed to by the old pioneers in the settlement of disputes. He was a natural peacemaker and exerted a power ful influence for good in the community in which he lived. He was a deacon in the old Baptist church at Boston for nearly half a century. He died in 1864 in his 78th year. He had four sons — Samuel, John, Moses and Aaron ; and five daughters — Maria, Cynthia, Nancy, Samantha and Elizabeth. The eldest son died in childhood. John Barber, second son of Aaron, married Rebecca Robin son, settled in Townsend, and had six sons — Joseph, George, Oliver, Ansley, Aaron, and Gary ; and four daughters — Mary, Elizabeth, Hannah and Eleanor. Moses Barber, third son of Aaron, married Elizabeth Disher, settled at Boston, and had one daughter, Elizabeth. Aaron Barber, fourth son of Aaron, died single. Maria Barber, eldest daughter of Aaron, married Benjamin Hazleton, and settled in Michigan, north of Jackson. She had eleven children. Cynthia Barber, second daughter of Aaron, died single. Nancy Barber, third daughter of Aaron, married David Shearer, and settled in Charlotteville. Her children are enu merated in the Shearer genealogy. Samantha Barber, fourth daughter of Aaron, married Oliver Mabee, son of Simon, and settled at Boston. Elizabeth Barber, youngest daughter of Aaron, died single. Moses Barber, fifth son of Samuel, married Nancy Nelles, and settled near Boston. This old pioneer was one of the veteran foundation builders of old Townsend. Like his brothers, he was exemplary in his daily walk through life, and 174 PIONEER SKETCHES. OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. left a record behind him of patient industry and fidelity to righteous principles that any young man may wisely emulate. He died in 1881 at the ripe old age of ninety-one years. Moses Barber had three sons — William, Abram and Henry J.; and five daughters — Nancy, Jane, Miriam, Louisa and Matilda. These children all married and settled in Townsend. William Barber, eldest sonof Moses, married Hannah Slaght, by whom he had one son, David, and two daughters — Abigail and Mary. Abram Barber, second son of Moses, married Martha Robinson. He had no children. Henry J. Barber, third son of Moses, married Arsula Phelps and had one son, Louis C. Nancy Barber, eldest daughter of Moses, married John Beemer, and had one son, Harry, and one daughter, Minnie. Jane Barber, second daughter of Moses, married William Olmstead, by whom she had one daughter, Martha Jane. Miriam Barber, third daught'er of Moses, married John Cline and had three sons — Moses, Henry and Frank; and four daughters — Martha, Delila, Nancy and Salome. Louisa Barber, fourth daughter of Moses, married Ransom Culver and had one son, Seymore. Subsequently, she married Calvin Adams, of Malahide. Matilda Barber, youngest daughter of Moses, married James McMichael. She had no children. Henry J. Barber, the youngest son of the house of Moses, has been a prominent man in township and county affairs, having served twelve years in the Township and County Councils as Reeve of Townsend. Elisha Barber, sixth son of Samuel, married Elizabeth Messacar and settled on Lot 12, 4th concession of Townsend. He died in 1856, in his b3rd year. He had six sons— Samuel, Hiram, Ira, Aaron, Elisha and Elias. Samuel Barber, eldest son of- Elisha, died single. Hiram Barber, second son of Elisha, married Lydia Slaght, settled in Townsend, and had two sons — George and Hiram ; and one daughter, Anna. A PIONEER MURDERED ON HIS WAY TO NORFOLK. 175 Ira .Barber, third son of Elisha, married Mary Ann Woodley, settled in Townsend, and had three sons — George, Ira and Ambert; and one daughter, Miriam. Subsequently he married Charity Ann Upper, by whom he had two sons — Charles and Frank ; and two daughters — Orpha and Ruth. Aaron and Elisha, fourth and fifth sons of Elisha, both died single. Elias Barber, youngest son of Elisha, married Abigail Johnson, settled at Boston, ,and had three sons — Johnson E., Elwin and Wilkie Collins. Jacob Barber, youngest son of Samuel, married Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac Smith, and settled in Townsend. He had one daughter, Jane, who married Dunham Hazleton, and settled in North Carolina. Subsequently she married Simeon Olm stead. Jane Barber, second daughter of Samuel, married William, eldest son of the original Abraham Smith, of Charlotteville. Her children are enumerated in the Smith genealogy. Mary Barber, third daughter of Samuel, married William Pitt Gilbert, and was left a widow with three daughters — Abigail, Eliza and Hannah Subsequently she married Stephen Olmstead, by whom she had three sons — Daniel, James and Gilbert; and two daughters — Hannah and Ann. Of these children, Abigail married Peter Mabee — her children are enumerated in the Mabee genealogy. Eliza married John Messacar, and settled just north of Waterford. Hannah married James Haze, by whom she had two daughters — Lucinda and Hannah. Daniel is living in Michigan; James settled and died near Delhi; and Gilbert settled, first in Middleton and finally in Michigan - the three latter are 01m- stead's. The two Olmstead daughters — Hannah and Ann, married, respectively, Abraham Snively and John Bostwick, both of Simcoe. Miriam Barber, youngest daughter of Samuel, married Joseph Kitchen, and settled in Charlotteville. Her children are enumerated in the Kitchen genealogy. She died in 1875, in her 84th year. SKETCH XXXI. A U. E. LOYALIST RANGER.— HAVILAND FAMILY Several years before the war of the Revolution, an Englishman named John Haviland emigrated from England to the province of New York, and settled in a little valley near the beautiful Hudson, between Manhattan Island and Albany. This little valley has ever since been known as " Haviland's Hollow." John Haviland had three sons, one of whom settled in the city of New York, the second remained in Haviland's Hollow, and the third, John, came to Canada. When the colonies threw off" their allegiance to the English king, in 1776, John Haviland, junior, owned two hundred acres of land lying within nine miles of the then city limits of New York. To-day, the great city covers this land and extends twelve miles beyond. When the war had reached a point where reconciliation was no longer possible, John Haviland sold this two hundred acres for what he could get and secreted the proceeds. His loyalty to the British Crown was his religion, and when the rebellious colonies declared themselves free and independent of the Mother Country, he viewed the act as the vilest of treason, and swore vengeance on all who sup ported or sympathized with it in any way. He was a man of strong passions, and being actuated by impulse, he did nothing deliberately. His zeal for the Loyalist cause blinded his eyes and seared his conscience, and led him into cruel excesses. He allied himself with that notorious troop known as " General Butler's Rangers." I have no apology to make for the acts which this guerilla band of " irregulars " may have committed. Let us remember that it was not an unusual incident of cruel A U. E. LOYALIST RANGER. 177 war, and that the American accounts of the part played by General Butler and his men during the war are, no doubt, highly colored and greatly exaggerated. Guerilla movements are contingencies of war ; and when nations lay down the implements of peaceful industry and take up the sword and the torch for the purpose of destroying human life and the accumulated fruits of industry, there will always be found an element of hot-headed fanatics who will not, because they can not, submit to cool, calculating, military discipline. In war times, when the demons of destruction are turned loose, these men lose their heads and plunge into excesses 'that shock the nerves of that portion of the civilized world which is at peace with all mankind. In 1803 John Haviland came to Long Point with his family, consisting of three sons — John, Benjamin and Daniel ;, and five daughters — Elizabeth, Mary', Eaner, Fanny and Loamy. He purchased six hundred acres of land in Townsend, comprising Lots 11 and 12 in the 1st concession, and Lot 12 in the 2nd concession. On these lots his sons settled, and the homes they made are classed among the best in Norfolk to-day. Mr. Haviland served in the war of 1812, and was wounded at the battle of Lundy's Lane. It is said that John Haviland came to the settlement with a considerable sum of money. When the Wentworth court house was built in Hamilton, he loaned the county $16,000 ; and when he died he left $12,000 buried in the giound. He stated the amount of this buried sum in his will, and also gave instructions as to how and where to find it. The place f burial had been located and recorded, no doubt, by a profes sional surveyor, as the executors were unable to find it with out the aid of one. Thomas Walsh was employed for this pur pose, and it is quite probable the notes that guided him in his wotk were his own. Two certain trees were designated as starting points and from these two straight lines were run in clining toward each other, the point of convergence being the point sought for. 12 178 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Es-riiER havila:. Mr. Haviland's life just lacked two years of being measured by a full century. John Haviland, eldest son of John, married Esther, daughter of Rev. Peter Fairchild, and settled on part of the Haviland estate. In this branch were two sons — Benjamin, and John ; and three daughters — Sarah, Mary Loamy and Ruth. The younger of these sons, John, died since the data embodied in this sketch were gathered, at the advanced age of eighty-six years. He settled in the south half of Lot 12. when a young man, clearing and improving it until it became one of the finest and most valuable farms for its size in the country. For sixty-seven years this grandson of the old " Ranger " was a leading and a shining light in the old Boston Baptist church, and one of the most exemplary citizens, rank ing among the solid yeo manry of old Townsend. He was twice married. By his first wife. Amy John ston, he had four, and by his second, Harriet Mal colm, nine, children. Benjamin Haviland, second son of the old pio neer, married Lucy Craw, and settled on the Havi- john haviland (the grandson A U. E. LOYALIST RANGER. 179 land estate. He had eight sons — Isaac, John, Joseph, William H., Benjamin N., James M., Andrew and George; and two daughters — Sarah and Charity. Just one half of these sons and daughters are dead. Joseph, the third son, died quite recently near Delhi, in his 76th year. He was married three times, and left five sons and eight daughters. William H., the fourth son, is the well-known " Elder Haviland,' the old veteran Baptist divine, who has labored so ihdefatigably in the work of building up the Master's. cause in Norfolk for so many long years. Entering the min istry when but eighteen years old, he has preached the good news for fifty-four consecutive years. During this time he founded seven churches, baptized over two thousand persons, mar ried about one thousand and buried about the same number. In addition to this he enjoys the proud satisfaction in his old age of having been the humble instrument in leading to EEV. W. H. HAVILA.NIi. conversion some twelve or fourteen persons who are now occupying pulpits as pastors of churches. Benjamin Haviland, father of this branch, was a great favorite with the Indians. For many years an old squaw and her family camped near Mr. Haviland's house, and she used to gather her pappooses about her every night and morning and pray in Indian. Daniel Haviland, youngest son of the old pioneer, married Mary Henry, by whom he had one son, David, and one daughter, Sarah. Elizabeth Haviland, eldest daughter of the 180 pioneer sketches of LONG point SETTLEMENT. old pioneer, married Benjamin Fairchild, and settled in Towns- end. Eaner Haviland, second daughter of the old pioneer, married Hugh McCall, and settled near Port Stanley. Loamy Haviland, the third daughter, married one Hodge, and subsequently Marshall Lawrence, of New York. Fanny Haviland, the youngest daughter, married Henry Cornwall, and settled in the Grand River valley. Mr. Cornwall won a wide reputation as an expert horseman. The six hundred acres of land purchased by John Haviland was heavily timbered. The timber had no commercial value, and it had to be logged and burned. On the portion cleared by his son Benjamin, it is said great walnut trees were logged and burned which would be worth $200 each were they standing to-day. On this same farm, now owned by Rev. William H. Haviland, some remarkable crop statistics are given, showing the wonderful fertility of the soil. In the early times a gentleman from Rochester, who was visiting Mr. Haviland, was struck with the fine appearance of a corn crop ; and he persuaded Mr. Haviland to measure one acre of it and carefully ascertain the yield in bushels of merchantable shelled corn. He did so, and found the yield to be eighty bushels. From a field on this farm an average yield of fifty bushels of clean, marketable wheat per acre, has been obtained. Two Englishmen were employed to harvest this crop with sickles at fifty cents per acre ; and it is said they averaged one acre each per day. This wheat sold at $2.25 per bushel. One valuable feature of the farm is a spring which bubbles out be tween two rocks, of such constant flow and in such quantity that three hundred barrels have been taken from it in one day, during a severe drought, without exhausting the supply. The water is ice cold in summer and never freezes in winter. SKETCH XXXII. CAPTAIN EDWARD McMICHAEL. Walsingham may boast of one of her original pioneers, with an assurance that the early settlers in all Long Point settlement, were they alive to-day, would join her in singing his praises. This man's name was Edward McMichael. He was of Scotch descent, and was born in Newton, Sussex County, New Jersey. His parents were in easy circumstances, and Edward was given the best education the schools in the colony at that time afforded. He married Elizabeth McAllister, a member of an influential family of that name in Phila delphia. When the war of the Revolution broke out Edward McMichael, being a Loyalist, enlisted in the British army, and was given a captain's commission. The McAllisters espoused the cause of independence, and thus we find Mrs. McMichael placed in an unenviable position, being the wife of a man engaged in deadly combat with the members of her own family. It was a trying ordeal, but she remained a true and faithful wife through it all. She prayed for her husband's safety ; visited him in camp, and ministered to his comfort ; but her petitions to the throne of grace were always accom panied with an earnest appeal that the God of nations would smile approvingly on the cause of liberty and grant success to her people in their struggle for independence. Wives and mothers who read this sketch may well breathe out a silent prayer of heartfelt thankfulness for the pleasant places in which their lot is cast, and for the absence in their lives of the terrible experiences which fell to the lot of this old pioneer wife and mother, during these seven years of strife and bloodshed. Captain McMichael lost an eye at the Battle of Trenton ; 182 pioneer sketches of long point settlement. and Mrs. McMichael used to tell her children of an incident that occurred there at the time of the battle. A Mrs. Trent, who had owned the ground whereon the town was built, opened her house for hospital purposes, and assisted in the work of caring for the wounded. Mrs. McMichael was there, and besides attending her own husband she assisted Mrs. Trent in caring for others. Among those brought in was an English officer who had lost a portion of one of his hands. While the wound was being prepared for the bandage, the officer became peevish and impatient. He remarked in a petulant manner that the " Americans were a hignorant pack of 'eathen. Why" said he, " their very hofficers cawn't write their own names." At this point Mrs. Trent remarked, pointing to the torn and bleeding hand, " If the American officers are unable to vjrite their names they know how to make their marks." Captain McMichael was with Cornwallis at the Yorktown surrender. During the afternoon of that memorable day, October 19th, 1781, Mrs. McMichael watched by the side of a sick woman in Yorktown. About two o'clock the patient began to wander in her mind. Her words were incoherent for some time, but suddenly she exclaiined in low clear tones : " In a few hours a new nation will be bOm into the world, or else it will be strangled in its embryonic state." About four o'clock in the afternoon the town crier, who was a Dutchman, was heard shouting, " F-o-u-r o'glock, f-o-u-r o'glock, und Cornvallis vas surrender." The sick woman heard the cry in the street, and she shouted, " Thank . God," three times, and it is needless to add that the wife of one of those British soldiers, who was at that very moment a prisoner of war, voiced the prayer which her patient had uttered. Mrs. McMichael watched the process of surrender until the last sentry-box had been vacated by a red-coat and filled by a blue-coat. Early in the spring of 1787, Captain McMichael started with his family — it was all he had left — for the wilds of western Canada. They had four children, one of whom had been sent on in advance with the family of Captain Frj^e. They came on horseback, under the leadership of an Indian captain EDWARD M'MICHAEL. 183 guide. Mrs. McMichael carried her youngest child in her arms, and the other two were tied in chairs suspended on either side of the horse, one balancing the other. Like all the early pioneers who came from the old colonies, they ran many narrow escapes from the wolves, and suffered untold hardships while making the journey. The McMichaels crossed the Niagara River in the month of August and remained in the Niagara settlement until the spring of 1794, when they came up to Long Point and settled on the lake front of Walsingham a little west of Port Rowan. Captain McMichael was a " leading and shining light " in the little settlement. He was most exemplary in character ; and being a man of more than ordinary intelligence, he became a " head-light " for his fellow pioneers. But the hardy settlers had no sooner learned to love him than they were called upon to mourn his loss. In the month of September, 1800, only six years after he erected his pioneer log cabin, he died, leaving a widow and ten children to mourn his untimely end. But the widow had passed through the crucible of fierce trials during the revolutionary war and in its terrible results, and she met this new trial of caring for a large family of fatherless children in a dense wilderness with a degree of fortitude that was highly praiseworthy. She died in 1839. The McMichael family consist3d of five sons — William. George, Henry, James and Hugh; and five daughters — Hannah, Julia, Eleanor, Eliza and Sarah. William McMichael, eldest son of Captain Edward, was a large, muscular, fine-looking man. He was an athlete of no mean degree. On one occasion a boat was being loaded with flour at Port Rowan, and Mr. McMichael was present and watched the men at work. Each barrel was handled by two men, and it seemed to be hard work for them. Finally, Mr. McMichael came forward and, seizing a barrel by the chimes, lifted it at arm's length and held it over his head with the greatest apparent ease. He married Cynthia Dodd, and settled in Walsingham. He had two daughters, who married in the Smoke and McGill families. Both settled in the States. 184 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. George McMichael, second son of Captain Edward, died single. In 1809 he was appointed constable for Walsingham by the Court of Quarter Sessions at Turkey Point. He enlisted in the war of 1812, and was killed at the battle of Fort Erie. Henry McMichael, third son of Captain Edward, died single also. He was drowned while crossing to Long Point, and his body was found down the lake some time after. James McMichael, the fourth son, married Mrs. Duicher, by whom he had one daughter. The family settled in the States. Hugh McMichael, the youngest son, never married. Hannah McMichael, the eldest daughter of Captain Edward, married William Backhouse. Her children are enumerated in the Backhouse genealogy. Julia McMichael, the second daughter, married Anthony Fick, and settled in Walsingham. She had three children — a son and two daughters. John, the son, was stricken with the gold fever in 1849 and started for California, and, as is supposed, was killed by the Indians on the western plains. Eleanor, the elder daughter, married George Tremaine, and settled in Detroit. Matilda, the younger daughter, married Warren Hunt, of St. Thomas, who died soon after the marriage. Subsequently she married George Salmon, son of the Rev. George Salmon, of Simcoe. Sarah McMichael, the third daughter, married a man named Dresser They settled in the States. Eleanor McMichael, the youngest daughter of Captain Edward, married Henry, son of Allen Ellis, Esq., of Mount Pleasant They settled in Walsingham, and had three sons — Edward, James and Wallace; and two daughters — Elizabeth and Hannah. Edward enlisted in the Northern army and contracted a fever, of which he died. James was also a soldier in the Union army, being captain of a company. He is living in Chicago. Wallace is also an ex-Union soldier, and is also living in Chicago. Elizabeth married Nicholas Mclntyre, and settled near Mount Pleasant. Hannah married Charles, son of Rev. Peter Jones, of Brantford, Chief of the Six Nation Indians. SKETCH XXXIII. A VETERAN EDUCATOR AND JUDGE. One of the most prominent characters in the history of Long Point settlement was Judge James Mitchell. He was born in Scotland and educated in Edinburgh University. Dr. Strachan, of historical fame, was a fellow-student at this grand old insti tution of learning, and he and Mitchell were ever after the warmest of friends. At the close of last century. Colonel Hamilton, a member of the Provincial Parliament, while visiting his native land, engaged young Mitchell to come out and serve as private tutor in his family, and this engagement was the means of bringing him into the new country. He served as private tutor until the district grammar schools were established, in 1807. His friend. Dr. Strachan, was a member of the Executive Council at this time, and through his influence, Mr. Mitchell was placed in charge of the London District Grammar School. He was granted Lots 21 and 22 in the 1st concession of Charlotteville, and on this grant, at his own pioneer home, the grammar school was established. Many of our most distinguished men of later times received their education at this little grammar school. When it is remem bered that such men as Dr. Egerton Ryerson, Dr. John Ryerson, Rev. William Ryerson, Rev. Edway Ryerson, Rev. George Ryerse, Ephraim Tisdale, and others of like calibre, were prepared at this school, exclusively, for their future work in life, the superior qualifications of James Mitchell as an instructor will be readily perceived. True, the old educa tional war-horse. Dr. Egerton Rj^erson, put a finishing touch on his education elsewhere, yet he always referred to the old grammar school as his little Alma Mater. 186 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Judge Mitchell was a busy man. Every moment that could be spared from his school duties was devoted to clearing and improving his land. In this way he found his recreation. By this alternate exercise of brawn and brain he preserved a vigorous manhood and accomplished many difficult tasks. There is good authority for stating that this school received an annual grant of £100 during the time Judge Mitchell had charge of it, although the total sum voted in 1807 for the support of eight grammar schools was £500. The District Grammar School was removed to Vittoria after the Court-house was completed at that place, in 1822. Several years before this, however, Mr. Mitchell, having re signed his charge of the school, had been succeeded by one of his old pupils, Rev. Egerton Ryerson. In 1819, through the influence of Dr. Strachan, he was appointed Judge of London District. When the new Court-house in Vittoria was burned, in 1826, the courts were removed to London. This change made it necessary for the Judge to reside in London a large portion of the time. This appointment was a most fortunate one for the country ; but it was a most unfortunate thing for the members of the Judge's family who remained on the farm, as they were deprived of the ennobling and stimu lating influence of his companionship for so much of the time during his long tenure of office. For twenty-four years and nine months Judge Mitchell held the position of District Judge. Nearly a quarter of a century he sat on the judicial bench, and during all this time, it is claimed, there were only three appeals made from decisions rendered by him ! " Acts speak louder than words," and the official record made by Judge Mitchell in the judicial annals of Upper Canada speaks louder in his praise than would the highest eulogy that might be written. For a portion of the time during which he served he was burdened with the duty of collecting tavern licenses, in addition to his ordinary judicial duties, and the yearly salary ^aid him by the Government in remuneration for his arduous labors A VETERAN EDUCATOR AND JUDGE, 187 amounted, it is said, to the enormous sum of £40. In token, however, of his sterling uprightness of character and the efficient manner in which he performed his judicial duties, he was presented with twenty-five acres of land in London, which he afterwards sold for $800. The success which crowned Judge Mitchell's judicial labors appears more wonderful when we remember that he was not a member of the legal profession. He was a learned man and was endowed with a judicial mind, although not versed in thi quibbles of the law. He possessed a keen sense of justice and a resolute will to administer it in all cases ; and as justice is the fountain-head of all wise and wholesome laws, his decisions were sound, and were generally accepted as final adjustments of all matters in dispute. During the war of 1812 the then grammar school tieacher took up arms in defence of his home. He was captain of a company of militia, and took part in the battle of Lundy's Lane. When he retired from the bench, in 1844, he returned to his farm, where he lived during the remainder of his life. Judge Mitchell had four sons — James, Lorenzo, John and Erasmus ; and two daughters — Elizabeth and Frances. Dr. James Mitchell, eldest son of the Judge, married Martha McKay, of Hamilton, and settled at Dundas. He died with cholera in 1853. ' Lorenzo Mitchell, the second son, married Elizabeth, daugh ter of Capt. Samuel Ryerson, and settled on the old homestead. They are now living in Port Ryerse. They had ten children, seven of whom fell victims to diphtheria and other maladies in childhood. Three daughters grew up, and married — Sarah, Jane Ann and Frances. Sarah married James Thomson, and settled in Paris. Jane Ann married Charles Winter, and settled in Michigan ; and Frances married C. C. Backhouse, barrister, of Simcoe. John Mitchell, the third son, died single in Detroit, with small-pox, in 1850. He was Professor of Penmanship in a commercial college in that city. 188 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Erasmus Mitchell, the fourth son, married Mary Sheridan, of Waltham, Mass., and settled on the homestead. He is at present living in Detroit. Elizabeth Mitchell, elder daughter of Judge Mitchell, mar ried John McDonald, Sheriff of Huron District, and settled in- Goderich. She had a daughter, Elizabeth, who married a lawyer, a son of the late Colonel Gordon, of Toronto. Frances Mitchell, the younger daughter, married Donald McDonald, the veteran senator, who died in 1880. After the Senator's death his family, a large one, moved to California. It is believed by many of Judge Mitchell's descendants that the notorious Henry Sovereign was tried and sentenced by their ancestor, but this is a mistake. Mr. Mitchell was simply a district judge, and had nothing whatever to do with the Court of Assize. The venerable Judge D. Hughes, of St. Thomas, was a young and rising member of the legal profession in the new and thriving town of London when the district courts were held there, and the many amusing incidents related by him in connection with Judge Mitchell's courts in those early times would fill a volume. Indeed, a most interesting volume of local history might be written on the experiences of the jurymen of old London District in their travels through the forest and in their attendance at Judge Mitchell's courts. The writer of such a work- would be able to find an abund ance of material to amuse as well as to instruct his readers. Judge Hughes speaks of a certain place in the forest which was a much frequented pioneer house of accommodation in those times. During court terms its means of entertainment were taxed to the utmost by the demands of jurymen and others having business with the courts. Many came long- distances on foot, bringing their rations with them ; while others came on horseback, prepared to purchase whatever supplies were needed during, the journey. There was one thing, however, that was supposed to be absolutely indispens able in those times, and that was simple, plain, old-fashioned A VETERAN EDUCATOR AND JUDGE. 189 whiskey. It would never do to take chances in obtaining this grand essential at the stopping places, and so pretty much every traveller carried his own supply. Near this popular tavern was a remarkable spring of clear, cold water, and it is said these pioneer jurymen were wont to pour their "grog" into this spring, and thus slake their thirst during their temporary stay. Nowadays jurymen drink watered whiskey, but in pioneer times they drank whiskeyed water. SKETCH XXXIV. 'WHISKEY A MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE. In the early days of old Long Point settlement, money was a scarce article among the settlers. Their wants were few, and the most of these were supplied by crude, home-devised means. An iron kettle was the great desideratum after the log-house had been erected — -in fact, it was an indispensable article of domestic use in the log cabin era. By its use a family supply of sugar, potash, soap and various other necessaries was ob tained. The "six-pail" kettle was the usual size, and more than one Long Point pioneer carried one of these kettles on his back from Niagara through the forest ; and we must not forget that the old-fashionod kettles, like the old-fashioned stoves, were much heavier than the kettles and stoves of like dimen sions are in our time. Tea was very expensive in pioneer times. It was a luxury quite beyond the reach of the settler, and but little of it found its way into the log cabins. A warm drink made by steeping various kinds of barks and roots was used as a substitute ; and a kind of coffee made of roasted corn and other home prepared materials was used. A cow or two, a few sheep, a yoke of oxen, two or three pigs, a few chickens and a big iron kettle, was considered a good .start for any family. With this outfit, the settler was pretty much independent of the outside world. The dairy was in full operation from the day the log cabin was built, as the cows were able to get their living in the forest. A supply of pork, also, was readily obtained in the start, as the pigs found an abundance of nuts to grow fat on. Skins of wild and domestic animals were tanned in troughs, and thus, material WHISKEY A MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE. 191 was obtained for footwear and various other purposes. An early supply of wool was available, as sheep, also, were able to subsist on Nature's supply of herbage. As soon as a little virgin soil was reclaimed and brought under cultivation, flax was sown and soon the settler was provided with two raw materials — wool and flax ; and necessity found ways and means of converting these two all-important products of pioneer life into nearly every article of bedding and wearing apparel needed. Coons were plentiful, and a home-made cap made of a home-tanned coon-skin, was just as comfortable, and far more durable, than the three dollar caps worn by us. In fact, as be fore stated, the pioneer's wants, out side of w"hat he was able to supply at home, were few ; and, consequently, there was not much use for money as a medium through which the settler might exchange that which he had and did not want, for that which he did not have, and wanted. Later on, this isolated, self-dependent condition, gave way to a system of barter, or an interchange of commodities. Saw mills made their appearance, and the settler exchanged saw- logs for lumber and shingles. Grist-mills were built, and the hollow in the white-oak stump was no longer used as a grain mortar. Tanneries were erected, and the old tan-trough went into decay and took its sickening odor with it. Stores of merchandise appeared here and there, and a sort of home market was established where furs and other commodities might be exchanged for articles of food and comfort which could not be produced at home ; and thus the settler's wants began to multiply. In this stage of development, numerous distilleries made their appearance. As we look back at this distillery epoch in our history, we feel inclitied to place a low value on the moral tone of pioneer society at that time. We often hear it remarked that whiskey was cheap and pure in those days, and that drunkenness was less prevalent than it is to-day. This sounds well as an apology for the enormous quantity of whiskey consumed by our hearty old 192 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. ancestors, still it does not quite remove the feeling that the moral tone of those times was not as good, so far as the use of in toxicating liquors is concerned, as it is in our day. But we must not boast, as individuals, of being more temperate in the use of ardent spirits on account of our superior virtues and moral excellences, for this would place our staunch old forefathers in a false light. We drink less whiskey than they did, not be cause we are better men and women, but because we live in a better age. Then, it was the fashion to drink whiskey ; now, it is not. Then, it was deemed a universal tonic for every weakness of the flesh, and was considered indispensable in the daily transaction of business; now, we look upon old king Alcohol as a deceiver, a mocker and a destroyer. If our fore fathers had seen the old tyrant in the brighter light of our times, they would have shown him less favors than we do, for their convictions of right and wrong were stronger than ours, and they were more courageous in giving their convictions practical effect, than we are. These distilleries made a market for rye and corn, and as the larger portion of the cleared lands in the settlement were especially adapted to the growth of these two cereals, they became the staple crops. The distillers operated with limited capital -which was sometimes tied up in stock, and, con sequently, they were not at all times able to pay the settlers for their grain in the coin of the Queen's realm. And even when they were in a position to pay cash, the price offered in trade was so much better, the settlers got into the habit of ex changing their grain for whiskey. In this way whiskey be came a sort of medium of exchange. It was not an unusual thing at this time for a well-to-do settler to have his cellar full of 50-gallon casks of whiskey. Of course the stock improved with age, and when he was able to hold it, it was as goT)d as so much money put out at interest with the advantage of re taining it in his own hands and realizing upon it whenever he wished to. The settler who " set 'em up " in a liberal way was more apt to find a market among the tavern-keepers for a WHISKEY A MEPIUM OF EXCHANGE. 193 barrel of whiskey now and then, then the fellow who did all his drinking out of a quart dipper in his own cellar. Every storekeeper dealt in it, and a barrel of whiskey might always be turned in on account, or exchanged for other supplies.. Whiskey was sound currency everywhere, and instances are recorded where labor contracts were based on a whiskey cour sideration. " Boot money ' at this time invariably meant whiskey ; and one instance is related of a man who- obtained! a wife in consideration of a barrel of whiskey, and after- she- married him he stole the whiskey and drank it himself. Whiskey during this period seems to have been- looked! upon as the "staff of life." It was found everywhere, at "raisin's," at " loggin' bees," at " plowin' matches," at ' quiltin's," at " buskin' bees," and, in fact, wherever the people assembled ; except, perhaps, at the weekly prayer meetings. Tho quantity of whiskey consumed by some of the- oFd pioneers is a sufficient proof that it must have been '' cheaper and purer " than it is to-day. When the business affairs of one- prominent old pioneer were settled up after his death, his dis tillery bill showed that he had consumed a half gallon of whiskey per day for some time previous to his death. The pages of Cross & Fisher's old daiy-book tell many a similar story ; but it will be sufficient to mention one case only. The name of a certain old pioneer, whose descendants are very numerous and highly-respected, appears on nearly every page of this old blotter. It seems that on the 22nd of July, in a certain year, this almost daily customer made up his mind that' he was squandering too much valuable time in buying his whiskey from day to day by the single gallon, and so he made a purchase of a 54-gallon cask of whiskey. On the 22nd of September— just two months after — the cask was empty, and the thirsty old pioneer was again buying by the single gallon. Oh ! yes ; whiskey must have been cheaper and purer in those days. 13 SKETCH XXXV. PIONEER CHICKENS HATCHED IN TRANSIT. An Irishman was once asked where he was born, and his Teply was, " 'Arrah, bedad, an' I wuz barn at Nantucket, Cape \Cod, an' all along the coast." Pat had about the same experi- ,ence in coming into the world that a brood of pioneer chickens ¦had which were landed at the mouth of Big Creek on the .5th day of June, 1796. They were hatched out during twenty- one of the days required for making the journey from New Brunswick to Long Point. Just where the first peep was heard the historian does not tell us ; it may have been among the " Thousand Islands," or, possibly, on the bosom of our own Lake Erie. Neither are we informed as to what particular breed they were; but they were " game," no doubt, and, like their pioneer owners, had to " scratch for their grub " .in the new country. Some hens would have idled away the time " cackling " over the danger of being devoured by wolves and other wild beasts of the forest, but the old hen that hatched these chickens was not that kind of a hen. She " clucked " business, and had no time to fool away in senseless -worry. She had laid her share of eggs and the time had come to " set," and so she set. She was a true pioneer hen. She did not fret about inconveniences and prospective dangers. Duty called and she r&sponded regardless of consequences. The hooting of the owls and the barking of the foxes did not deter her in the least in the prosecution of the duties incumbent upon her, or shake her faith in the future. Brave old pioneer hen ! The woman who owned this sensible old hen was the wife of Robert Henderson, who, with her husband and her son PIONEER CHICKENS HATCHED IN TRANSIT. 195 William, were three of the score or more, constituting the so- called McCall party that landed at Port Royal on the day above mentioned. The party included the families of Lieut. James Monroe, Robert Monroe, Donald McCall, Robert Hender son, Noah Fairchild and young Thomas Price. The genealogy of Donald McCall and his five sons is given elsewhere, as is that of the Price family also. Lieut. James Monroe received a U. E. Loyalist grant of land, and settled on Lot 14, 4th concession of Charlotteville, and built the house described in sketch " Old Fort Monroe." He had two sons^Robert and Daniel ; and one daughter, Mary. Robert Monroe, elder son of James, married Phoebe Wood, and succeeded his father on the homestead. He had three sons — David, Edwin and Henry. David died single. Edwin married into the Jewell family and settled on part of the homestead, which he still occupies. Subsequently he married into the Miller family for his second wife. His sons are in the States, and one daughter married John Marshall, of Char lotteville. Henky went away to the States. Daniel Monroe, younger son of James, married Olive Smalley and settled on Lot 13, 6th concession of Charlotteville. He had one son, William, who married Eva, daughter of Abraham Smith. William built the old tavern at Charlotte ville Centre, and occupied it a, number of years. Arthur, his only son, was born there. Mary Monroe, only daughter of Lieutenant James, married Ephraim Tisdale, and settled in Charlotteville. Her children are enumerated in the Tisdale genealogy Dr. Robert Monroe, the old pioneer and brother of James, settled on Lot 1 1 , concession A., which was a U E. Loyalist grant. He had five or six children, but they scattered; and their descendants are unknown to the writer. Two of his sons, Jesse and Samuel, settled, it is said, somewhere in Windham. One of his daughters, Elizabeth, married Philip Wilson, the Lynedoch pioneer. She is familiarly spoken of by the old people as " Aunt Lydia " Wilson. " Uncle Phil " Wilson was the first settler at Lynedoch. 196 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. His settlement was effected, about the time " Uncle Frederick " Sovereign settled at Fredericksburg, and the village that sub sequently gathered about his home ought to have been named " Philipsburg." On the return of General McArthur 's troop, after raiding the county during the war of 1812, they camped for the last time on Norfolk soil, on the spot now known as the Lynedoch picnic grounds. This beautiful park is the property of the Hon. John Charlton, and is pleasantly situated, commanding a fine view of the valley on either side. Philip Wilson was a prisoner of war at this encampment, and he ¦ was so impressed with the natural beauty of the place that he resolved to settle there. The old Bostwick road passed the cabin door, and although " Uncle Phil " and " Aunt Lydia " had no neighbors in the early days, their lonely home was frequently visited by land- seekers and strangers from the " Town of Delaware " and other distant Western points, as they came and went during the Court-house times in old Vittoria. " Uncle Phil " kept one eye on business chances, and he opened a tavern in the little valley ; but of all the people who enjoyed his warm hospitality in those early pioneer times, not one is left to tell the story ; and even the moss-covered tombstones in our graveyards do not reveal the names of all the early settlers who were wont to assemble at " Uncle Phil's " and tell bear stories and " swap yarns " with each other. Mr. Wilson operated the first mills at Lynedoch and met with a fair degree of business success. He died in 1863, in his 76th year, leaving one son, Abner, and two daughters — Catherine and Lucinda. The family of Dr. Robert Monroe were possessed with a roaming disposition, and the family genealogy as given here is, therefore, unavoidably incomplete. Noah Fairchild married Elizabeth, daughter of Donald McCall, before he came to the settlement. As a U. E, Loyalist he drew Lot 13, 5th concession of Charlotteville, upon which he settled. By his first marriage he had one son, Nathaniel ; and PIONEER CHICKENS HATCHED IN TRANSIT. 197 five daughters — Jemima, Elsie, Rebecca, Mary and Elizabeth. After the pioneer mother died, Mr. Fairchild married Mary Nevill, by whom he had one son, Noah ; and five daughters^^ Deborah, Mahala, Phoebe, Esther and Anseletta. Noah Fair- child died in 1833, in his 61st year. His wife Elizabeth died in 1806 in her 25th year ; and his wife Mary, in 18')6, in her 67th year. Nathaniel Fairchild, eldest son of Noah, married Anna Palmerston, and settled on the homestead, where he raised a family. His, son Henry married into the Tinbrook family, and settled in the township. One daughter, Elizabeth, settled in Michigan ; and another, Hetty, married into the Townsend Fairchild family. There was a daughter Jane, and another, Sarah, in the family. The father died in 1847, in his 44th year; and the mother clied the following year, in her 41st year. Jemima Fairchild, eldest daughter of Noah, married John Brown, of Middleton. Her children are enumerated in the Brown family genealogy. Elsie Fairchild, second daughter of Noah, married Francis L. Walsh. Her children are enumerated in the Walsh family genealogy. Rebecca Fairchild, third daughter of Noah, married David Hutchinson, and settled in Malahide. She is a widow, and has reached her 93rd year. Her children are enumerated with the Hutchinsons. Mary and Elizabeth Fairchild, youngest daughters of Noah, by his first wife, were twin sisters. The former married James Haze, as his second wife, and died childless; and the latter married Cornelius Corless, and settled in Townsend. Subse quently she married Peter Beal. She had two daughters- Rebecca and Mahala; the first of whom married in the Hazleton family, and the second one married Richard Churchill, and settled in Boston. Noah Fairchild, only son of Noah by his second wife, married Sarah Palmerston, and settled on the homestead. He had two daughters, both of whom died young. Mr Fairchild 198 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. died in 1839, in his 29th year His widow subsequently married Jacob McCall. Deborah Fairchild, eldest daughter of the original Noah, by his second wife, married John Blainey, and died in 1840, in her 31st year. Mahala Fairchild, the second daughter, died single in 1834, in her 20th year. Phcebe Fairchild, the third daughter, died single in 1837, in her 21st year. Esther Fairchild, the fourth daughter, settled in the Western States. Anseletta Fairchild, youngest daughter of the original Noah, niHrried Alanson Wood. The Fairchild family, of Charlotteville, are the descendants of Abiel Fairchild, of New Jersey. In the New Jersey family was a daughter, Rebecca, who married a Smith, and settled in that State. Subsequently, she was left a widow and came to Long Point, and lived with her brother Noah until her death, which occurred in 1847, in her 77th year. Noah Fairchild's family were victims of that dread destroyer of human life — consumption. Robert Henderson came also from New Jersey, and was accompanied by his wife and son William. He received a grant of Lot 24, 3rd concession of Charlotteville, upon which he settled. It was here where the brood of chickens found a home, and it is hoped they developed into fine cockerels and pullets, and that the crowing heard at the break of day in the little clearing, where the smoke from the Henderson cabin ascended above the tree tops, was a warning to the denizens of the forest, not only of the dawn of day, but of the dawn of civilization in Long Point country. Robert Henderson was a son of "Auld Scotia." Of his forefathers nothing is known, save that his father's name was Alexander. Robert came to America in 1773, and settled in Essex County, New Jersey; and it is said that during the three years previous to his settling in America, his home was on the " briny deep." His great-grand daughter. Miss Elizabeth PIONEER CHICKENS HATCHED IN TRANSIT. 199 Matthews, of Woodhouse, has in her possession the old " bulls- eye " watch carried by him during those three years of marine service. If this rare old relic, which has not ticked for many long years, were endowed with speech, what wonderful tales it might tell of oceans crossed and ports visited. Miss Matthews has also a pair of 'spoon moulds and a' flax spinning-wheel which were landed at the mouth of Big Creek a hundred years ago with the faithful old hen and her chickens. Mrs. Henderson's maiden name was Elizabeth Beadle. In the Henderson family were one son, William ; and one daughter, Elizabeth, who married Isaac Toms, of New Jersey. A few years after the family came to Long Point, Mrs. Toms became a widow with three children, and in 1816 Mr. Henderson drove to New Jersey with a one-horse wagon and brought his widowed daughter and her children to his Charlotteville home. Mrs. Toms had a horse of her own, and the two were driven tandem on the return trip, which required twenty-one days for its completion. . Albert Toms, a name well known in Norfolk, and one hold in high esteem by the old people, was the name of one of those fatherless children that rode in Grandpa Henderson's one-horse wagon from Essex County, New Jersey, to their new home in Charlotteville. The names of the other two children were Isaac and Charlotte, the latter of whom became the wife of Adam Matthews. William Henderson, only son of Robert, married . Janet Secord, and settled on a Government grant adjoining his father's land. He had six sons — Robert, William, John, Free man, James and Alexander; and six daughters — Hannah, Elizabeth, Jane, Margaret, Martha and Matilda. By a sub sequent marriage he had one son, Andrew ; and two daughters — Janet and Margaret. One of these daughters married Richard Mead, proprietor of ^that old land-mark, " Mead's Tavern." Another daughter married William Roach, father of the well-known George Roach, of Hamilton. The descendants of this little band of pioneer Loyalists have become so numerous and so widely scattered that a numerical computation would be impossible. SKETCH XXXVI. A YOUNG MOTHER'S GRAVE. In a lonely spot on the bank of Young's Creek, about a mile and a half north-west of Vittoria, may be seen the grave of a young mother that has been whitened by the snows of a hundred winters. The old mo,ssy tombstone bears the following inscription : Jemima Faiechild, Wife or Duncan MoCalI/, Died Octobbk 3ed, 1798, Aged 29 Yeaes." This young mother left two infant children — Daniel, who became prominent in after life ; and Margaret, who became the wife of Aquila M. Walsh. The following lines are inscribed on the old slab, and are still quite legible : " Weep not for me my children dear, I am not dead, but sleeping here. My days are past, my tomb you see, Prepare for death, and loUow me." These '- children dear '' grew up to man's and woman's estate in the new settlement ; married, raised families of their own, and then followed their mother to the silent abode of the dead.' These grandchildren married, raised families of their own, and they, too, have mostly gone to join the mighty host swallowed up by death. And yet this girl mother is not dead, " but sleeping here." Ah, yes ; some sweet day she shall awake and meet her children, and all her children's children, who have given heed to the words of admonition inscribed on this old marble slab : " Prepare for death, and follow me." A YOUNG mother's GRAVE. 201 What mighty changes have taken place since this old grave was dug in the forest ! Why, it is said that Daniel, her flrst- born child after coming into the Long Point wilderness, was the first white child born in the township of Charlotte ville. George Washington died comparatively a young man, and yet he was alive when this old grave was new. More than a hundred years ago this young mother came into the Norfolk wilderness with her brother's family and the family of her husband's parents, young, brave, and inspired with fond and glowing hopes for the new home that was to be erected in the new country ; but in t-wo short years and about four months her pioneer life ended, and she was laid to rest. The brush-entangled enclosure that contains this old grave is the old McCall- Fairchild family burying ground. The last burial in this old ground occurred in 1858, when Martha McCall, relict of the original John McCall, was laid to rest, having reached the ripe old age of ninety years. As one gazes at the grave of Jemima Fairchild-McCall, he is forcibly reminded by the prostrate ti*unk of a pine tree lying partially within the enclosure, of the many years that have come and gone since the grave was dug. This tree is about eighteen inches in diameter, and grew, no doubt, from a seed which took root in the mound directly above the breast of the sleeper. There it grew until it reached the size mentioned, when, owing to a disease of the heart, it became too weak to withstand the winds of adversity, and it fell to the earth. Its roots had penetrated the mould at the bottom of that grave, and now it must yield up its own mould to nourish other forms of life. There it lies, but how long it was after the grave was dug before that little seed germinated, no one knows. What a suitable place for serious meditation ! At the foot of the wooded bank the clear, cool waters of the stream flow past as they did a hundred years ago. Beyond lies the valley with its low-lying fields, and skirted on its opposite side by the railroad track. Off yonder are the church spires which mark the spot where staid, picturesque old Vittoria nestles among the" trees ; 202 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. and adjoining, in the rear, are old fields which have been tilled by many generations of the same family. All about are substantial homes provided with comforts and conveniences never dreamed of by our old pioneer forefathers when this old grave was new. But let us give the rein to our imagination, and call up the scene enacted on this spot a hundred years ago. It is a warm, hazy October day, and all nature is hushed. The grave has been dug and is ready to receive its dead. The pioneer who performed the task has gone home, and there is no one near except two or three Indians, who are sitting under the trees in idle but circumspect curiosity. We approach the grave and look in. The sides are uneven and irregular, and the mass of earth thrown out is mixed with chips and fragments of roots. While we await the coming of the burial party, we look about us. The murmur of the stream is louder and its volume greater. The valley beyond is covered with forest, and we look over the tree-tops into the dark line of forest trees that crowns the ridge beyond. It is forest in every direction, and the trees have a grander and more vigorous look. There are settlers here and there, and "slashings" varying in extent, but we cannot see any of them. The only signs of human habita tions seen anywhere are two or three faint columns of smoke rising above the tree-tops. The dropping of chestnuts, the saucy chatter of squirrels in the overhanging branches, and the distant " click " of a settler's axe, are the only familiar sounds we hear. But, hark ! What jolting, rattling sound is that ? It is the jolting of a linch-pin wagon and one or two carts over the newly laid corduroy down in the flat. A span of horses is attached to the wagon, on which rests a rude. coffin guarded by four settlers, who are walking, two on either side. The carts are drawn by oxen, and they are laden with women and children, some of whom have come a long distance through the woods. In the rear of the carts a small company of settlers follow on foot, and behind all are a few solemn- visaged Indians. The men converse in low tones, and the A YOUNG mother's GRAVE. 203 stillness of death hovers over the tree-tops. The click of the axe is hushed, and the handful of settlers have all come to the burial. It is the flrst time the grim messenger of death has taken a wife and mother from the settlement, and they all feel a personal bereavement. But they have reached the hill, and while the coffin is being taken from the wagon and carried to the grave, we will take a cursory glance at the individual members of this little company of pioneers. The younger women are clad in calico frocks and sunbonnets, while some of the older ones have donned their home-made flannel frocks and home-knit woollen hoods. Some of these frocks have been worn two or three winters, and are good for two or three more winters. The flannel that many of them are made of was woven in the " Jarseys." We see more than one young fellow barefooted, but the most of them, of both sexes, wear tan- colored cowhide shoes made of home-tanned skins. The older men wear clothes that, evidently, have seen better days, and more than one home-made coon-skin cap is seen. The young men wear " hickory " shirts, and many of them are in their shirt-sleeves ; and the old men wear shirts made of the same "Jarsey" flannel that the women's frocks are made of. We see no collars and cuffs in that assembly. But we cannot pursue our observation further, for they have formed a circle around the open grave, and we will join them and bow our heads in reverence while the Church of England beautiful burial service is being read. And now the grave is filled, the little group of pioneers have dispersed, and the last one has disappeared among the trees — and we are alone again. But we have been dreaming ! A hundred years have come and gone since this scene was enacted, and yet how real it has seemed ! But the ever-living Present is ours to improve to-day, and so we climb over the old rail fence, leaving the dead and buried past behind us ; but, somehow, we cannot quite shake off the words we have just heard : " Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." SKETCH XXXVII. A PIONEER MOTHER WHO WEIGHED THREE HUNDRED POUNDS. The largest woman in all Long Point settlement was "Aunt Nancy " Smith. It is said that she weighed three hundred pounds, and that the only way she could pass through an ordinary door was by crowding through sideways. The chair used by her is in possession of one of her descendants, and is certainly an object of curiosity. Her maiden name was Nancy Morris, and she married Samuel Smith, son of the old U. E. Loyalist, Abraham Smith. Her husband was a most excellent man, and his name ought to be enrolled among the distin guished personages of the early times in which he lived, Samuel Smith was noted for his unselfish nature and his many Christian graces. He settled on his U. E. Loyalist grant, being Lot 22, 5th concession of Charlotteville, and there ,he erected one of the purest Christian altars in the settlement. He was a man devoted to good works. He was never ordained to "rescue the perishing " by the formal " laying on of hands," but he preached the Gospel of salvation to his fellow-beings in all places and on all occasions by word of mouth and, which is far more effective, by his daily deport ment. He was no " doctor " of divinity, but he was a minister of divinity in every sick room he visited. He never graduated in theology in some great school of learning, but he could tell " the old, old story " in the simple, old-fashioned way in which it was first told ; and if the language used was not faultless in diction or elegantly rich in phraseology, it c?ime from an honest heart and was understood. After his boys were old enough to look after things at home, Mr. Smith spent a large portion of A PIONEER MOTHER WHO WEIGHED THREE HUNDRED POUNDS. 205 his time in going about the settlement doing good in various ways. No sick-bed escaped his visitation, and no destitute person failed to have a visit from " Uncle Sammy." He not only offered words of consolation and good cheer to the afflicted and the destitute, but he rendered substantial aid in so far as his means would permit. He was prudent and economical in his business affairs, believing that the accumulation of wealth which a man is permitted to make, and which it is his duty to make by honest industry, is simply held by him in trust to be used in the advancement of the cause of its rightful owner, the Author of our salvation and the great Giver of every good gift. Mr. Smith loved money for the good that it might enable him to do, and not for its own sake. He used to tell his chil dren that the most valuable legacy he could leave them was that of a good name. He certainly did leave this legacy to them, and to-day his descendants are prouder of it than they would be if it had consisted of a colossal fortune and an unsavory reputation. Samuel Smith had four sons — Abraham, David, Morris and Samuel ; and four daughters — Mary, Rachel, Ruth and Nancy. He died in 1850, at the age of seventy-three; and Nancy, his wife, died in 1828, aged fifty-two. Abraham, eldest son of Samuel, married, but left no children. David Smith, second son of Samuel, died single. Morris Smith, third son of Samuel, did not take to farming. He had a predilection for a life behind the counter, and found a place in " Young's Store," Vittoria. Very few people are living to-day who were waited on by this young clerk. Nearly all the girls who used to visit " Young's Store ' and merrily chat with young Morris as he waited upon them, have entered the silent abodes of the dead. The few who remain are wrinkled and grey, yet to them it seems but yesterday since Morris Smith tore off calico and weighed out saleeratus for them in the old store at Vittoria. But Morris fell in love, as most all nice young clerks do, and married Miss Harriet Walsh, daughter of that old veteran 206 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Registrar of Deed.s, Francis L. Walsh. He became a partner in the business which he entered as clerk, and settled in Vittoria. He had one son, Frank, who conducts a general store in Vittoria at present ; and two daughters — Ella and Mary. All three are single, and live in the old homestead with their aged mother. Samuel Smith, youngest son of Samuel, married Catherine Seger, and succeeded to the homestead. He had two sons, Seger and Walter ; and one daughter, Nancy. Seger married Mary Short, and settled on part of the homestead ; Walter married Margaret Schuyler, and settled on part of the homestead ; and Nancy married Thomas Moore, who settled on part of the homestead also. Mary Smith, eldest daughter of the original Samuel, married Trion Treadwell, and settled at Aylmer, Elgin County, where she raised a family. Rachel Smith, the second daughter, married Stephen Teeple, and settled in the township of Nissouri. She had several children. Ruth Smith, the third daughter, married Robert Young, and settled in Simcoe. She had no family. Nancy Smith, youngest daughter of Samuel, married Peter Young, the old Vittoria merchant. She had three sons.^ Robert, Charles and Frank ; and three daughters, one of whom married James H. McCall, the Vittoria merchant ; another married William, Wilson, of Simcoe; and the third married Dr. J. B. Kennedy, of Detroit. Charles and Frank Young are in Vancouver, B.C., and Robert is a bachelor in Vittoria. Among the descendants of the original Samuel Smith, there are only three male Smiths of the third generation, and none in the fourth. SKETCH XXXVIII. A JOLLY OLD PIONEER. Captain William Hutchinson was one of Walsingham's j oiliest old U. E. Loyalist pioneers. At repartee he had no equal among them. If he was not an Irishman, he was certainly equal to one in the large vocabulary of witticisms which he was able to command at all times and on all occasions. He was a tobacco chewer, and on one occasion Squire Backhouse lectured him in court for it. The Squire was very much opposed to the habit, and he told Mr. Hutchinson that tobacco- chewing was a nasty, dirty, filthy habit, and that he ought to be ashamed of himself for indulging in it. " Yes," rejoined Hutchinson, "it is a n-a-s-t-y, d-i-r-t-y, fi-l-t-h-y habit, and I am ashamed of it, but, your honor, it is the only one of which you are not guilty." .Captain Hutchinson's home was in New Jersey, that little state whence came so many of our old pioneers. When the war of the Revolution broke out he remained loyal, and allied himself with the British army and did some good work as a scout. His military services were varied ; and many stories are told of thrilling adventures and narrow escapes experienced by him during the war. On one occasion a scouting party to which he was attached was pressed into close quarters by a strong detachment of the rebel forces. Under the spur of the moment they secreted themselves in a clump of bushes, and the enemy passed so close to them that they could actually look into their faces and hear every word they uttered while passing. William Hutchinson was a widower at the close of the war. 208 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. and in common with all the U. E. Loyalists, he found it neces sary either to leave the country or swear allegiance to the new Republic. The latter he could never do, and so he fled to St. John, New Brunswick, where he married his second wife. In 1798, he came to Long Point with his family, and settled in Walsingham, near the Hazen settlement. His family consisted of five sons — Alexander, James, David, Joseph and George ; and three daughters — Mary Jane, Elizabeth and Catherine. William Hutchinson was sworn in as a Justice of the Peace, and sat on the Bench as Associate Justice in the early years of the old Quarter Sessions at Turkey Point. He sat as Judge, or Chairman, ^ro tern., at a session during the June term, 1804; and in March, 1809, he was elected Chairman of the Court, succeeding Thonias Walsh, Esq. In 1804, he was made Associate Justice for the Court of Request for Walsingham, and was reappointed for the same position in the following year. Alexander Hutchinson, the eldest son of William, was born in New Jersey, and was the sole issue of the first marriage. He married a daughter of John Backhouse, Esq., and settled in Walsingham. He had two sons — John and George ; and one daughter, Maria, who married John Smith. Alexander broke himself down with hard work. In 1803, he was appointed Deputy Sheriff for London District. When the plans for the new Court-house at the town of Charlotteville (Turkey Point) were perfected in December, 1803, he put in a tender at £281 5,«. Od., but was under bid by Job Loder. Ue was a prominent figure as Deputy Sheriff during the Court terms of the old Quarter Sessions at Turkey Point in 1803-4. James Hutchinson, second son of William, married Esther Backhouse, and settled near Port Burwell. He had three sons — William, Alexander and Haley ; and one daughter, Jane. David Hutchinson, third son of William, married Rebecca, daughter of Noah Fairchild, of Charlotteville, and settled on Talbot Street, in Malahide. In this family were five sons — a jolly old pioneer. 209 William, Abial, Noah, Edwin and Lewis ; and one daughter, Elizabeth. The mother of this family has reached her 93rd year. Joseph Hutchinson fourth son of William, married Julia Henchett, and settled on the old. homestead. He had one son, William ; and one daughter, Julia. Subsequently, Joseph settled at Fredericksburg, and lived to a ripe old age. George Hutchinson, fifth son of William, married Peggy Beard, and settled in Walsingham. Of this union there were six sons — Thoma!3, James, Alfred, William, Edward and Albert. Mary Jane Hutchinson, eldest daughter of William, mar ried Frederick Sovereign, the founder of Fredericksburg. Her children are enumerated in the Sovereign genealogy. This old pioneer mother was known far and wide as " Aunt Jane Sovereign,' and was noted for her generous hospitality and her quaint, off-hand manner of speech. She was an indefatig able worker, and found rest in busy activity ; and to sit still for any length of time was misery to her, She was a regular attendant at church, and to sit in a pew for a solid hour and keep awake until the old-fashioned " fourthly " had dragged out its weary length, was a cross that she was not always able to bear. On one occasion during a " protracted meetin' " the sermon had been unusually long, and when the "conference" exercises began " Aunt Jane " stood up, but said nothing. The kind-hearted pastor, divining that some great trouble was weighing upon her mind, called her by name and offered words of encouragement. " Oh !" exclaimed " Aunt Jane," as she looked up with arms akimbo, '' I've just stood up to rest my hips abit." As these lines are being written an old familiar scene presents itself. In my mind's eye I see the old fire-place aglow once more with its flickering flame. In it I see the old crane, and once again I hear the sputtering of the old iron tea kettle. In front stands the bent form of a dear old familiar figure. With arms akimbo, she looks into the glowing coals for a moment while the ashes from the inverted bowl of her clay pipe drops upon the old hearth. For a brief moment I turn 14 210 pioneer SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. aside to catch a glimpse of some other passing scene, and when I look again, behold, all is changed ! Was it only a phantom ? Verily so. The old chimney is dark, damp and musty ; the old hearth has caved in and the old crane lies buried in the dust. The old tea-kettle has yielded up its form and the elements of which it was composed have been incorporated into other and newer forms, and in the village cemetery I see a granite column whereon is engraved these lines : " Mary Jane, wife of Frederick Sovereign, died April 16th, 1868, aged 76 years, 2 months and 25 days. Elizabeth and Catherine Hutchinson, the two youngest daughters, married, respectively, James McKinna, and Daniel McKinna. Both settled in Illinois. Captain William Hjitchinson was one of Walsingham's most distinguished pioneers. He had a large circle of acquaint ances and a host of warm personal friends. His good-fellow ship was the natural out-flow of his warm genial nature. Captain Hutchinson knew how to entertain a friend, and he was the champion story-teller of the settlement. In business matters he was prompt and straightforward, and his word was as good as his bond. Had he craved political honors his rare popularity would have paved the way. SKETCH XXXIX. THE SONS OF CAPTAIN JOHN OAKS. Plants of the same genus, and even of the same species, when planted in difl'erent places and under varying conditions, show widely differing degrees of growth and vitality. Plants of the same species may be taken from different places and transplanted side by side in some new place, and although influenced by the same surroundings and subject to the same conditions of development, some will take on a vigorous growth, others will barely maintain their own existence, while others, still, will die out entirely. Similar effects are observed in the growth and development of the human family. In the settle ment of a new country the pioneer stock comes from a great variety of places, and the social conditions, tastes, habits, mdnners and customs of these vari^^us places differ from each other. When these various plants of the human family are transplanted side by side in the virgin soil of a new country, where all become subject to new conditions, some will take root readily and multiply rapidly, while others throw out branches very sparingly, and after a time some will entirely disappear. Indeed, sometimes we flnd that branches of old families coming from the same place have been reversed in their multiplying tendencies, by thus being transplanted in a new country. As an example of the working of these iiatural laws, the Oaks family presents a good illustration. In the section of New Brunswick, whence they came, the name was scarcely known; but when the stock was transplanted into the virgin soil of old Charlotteville, it took root and grew at a marvellous rate. To-day the name of Oaks occupies more 212 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. space on the township voter's list than any other name. Of course, the voter's list, per se, is no certain guide as to the numerical strength of the descendants of our old families, as some of them inherited a roaming disposition, and while they may have become numerous the fact of their being so is not apparent. The Oaks family are not possessed of a roaming disposition. They do not wander far from the parental roof, and the fact that they have become numerous is thus made doubly apparent. Sonie families who came earlier than they, and in larger numbers, have become nearly extinct, not only in Norfolk but elsewhere. Captain John Oaks was a sea-faring man, and his family saw but little of him. Two or three times a year he returned to his own port and visited his New . Brunswick home, biit these visits were of short duration. He died with smallpox contracted on board ship while homewa.rd bound, just one month before his yo'ungest child was born. He left three sons and one daughter, who grew up and married in New Brunswick. In 1804 two of these sons — James and Benjamin, with their families, came to Long Point and settled in the south-east corner of Charlotteville. Shortly after the third brother, Christopher, came with his family and settled a little west of his brothers on land purchased from the Mitchells. There was a sister, Sarah, who married Daniel Youmans in New Bruns wick, and she and her family also came to the settlement. James Oaks had four sons — James, Bradford, George R. and Hammond ; and seven daughters — Annie, Fanny, Hannah, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Caroline and Rachel. James Oaks, eldest son of James, married Mary Ann Dowlin, settled near Normandale and had two daughters — Mary Jane and Emoline. Subsequently, he married Annie Burlingham, by whom he had two sons — James and William Henry; and five daughters — Elizabeth, Delilah, Melvina, Annie and Fanny. Bradford Oaks, second son of James, married Mary Bur lingham, settled on Lot 23, 2rid concession of Charlotteville, and had one son, Elisha, who at present occupies the homestead. THE SONS OF CAPTAIN JOHN OAKS. 213 George R. Oaks, third son of James, married Eliza Burling ham, settled near Vittoria, and had one son, Hammond, and one daughter, Rachel. Subsequently, he married Mary Jane Bates, of Rochester, by whom he had two sons — George G. and Walter ; and flve daughters —Mary Jane, Eliza Ann, Emma, Arsula and Minnie. Hammond Oaks, fourth son of James, married Isabel Phillips, settled on Lot 24, lake front, and had seven sons — George, Bradford, Samuel, James, John, Hammond and Edward; and two daughters — Rachel and Caroline. Cf the daughters of James Oaks, Anna married Henry Williams, and settled in Southhold. Fanny became the second wife of " Uncle Billy " Smith, the pioneer athlete. Hannah married Jasper Underbill, and settled in Walpole. Elizabeth and Rachel married, respectively, M. S. Dolan and Asa W. Steves, and settled in Vittoria. Charlotte and Caroline married, respectively, Christopher Youmans and James You mans, and settled at Normandale. Benjamin Oaks, the old pioneer brother, married Mary Jewell in New Brunswick. He had flve sons — William, John, Benjamin, Charles and Reuben; and five daughters — Maria, Jane, Rebecca Ann, Emoline and Fidelia. All these sons died single except Benjamin, who married Jane Deace and settled near the old home. Maria and Jane married, respectively, Hiram McDonell and Charles Murphy, and settled in Char lotteville. Rebecca Ann married James Van Brooklyn and settled at Normandale. E.moline and Fidelia remain single. Christopher Oaks, the third pioneer brother, married Free love Simmons, in New Brunswick, in 1802. He was one of the early Long Point blacksmiths. At first he settled on fifty acres near his brothers. Here he worked at his trade, and many a nail made by him is still in use holding together some of Charlotteville's oldest buildings, while the men for whom they were made have long since passed away. This old pioneer was at the battle of Lundy's Lane, in Captain (Judge) Mitchell's company. He had four sons — William S., Richard, 214 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Christopher and Hanford ; and eight daughters — Elizabeth, Unce, Ann, Jane, Mary, Emmer, Freelove and Winifred, who married, respectively, McDonald, Olive, Lloyd, Jewell, Stover, Price, Carroll and Mabee. He died in 1847 in his 71st year, and his wife died in 1851, in her 66th year. William S. Oaks, son of Christopher, married Sarah Powell, and settled in Windham. He had onS son, Powell, who settled in the States ; and one daughter, Eliza, who married Edward R. Shane. Christopher, son of Christopher, never married. Hanford Oaks, son of Christopher, married Rebecca Ann Anderson and settled on Lot 15, 2nd concession of Ch-irlotte- ville. He had four sons — Lewis, Henry, Walter and John ; and two daughters — Sarah and Anna. The Oaks family is noted for quiet, unobtrusive manners, and warm attachment to home interests. SKETCH XL. A CASE OF CHURCH-GOING MANIA. The naine of Forse sounds more familiar to the old people of Norfolk than it does to the young people. It is one of many names we often hear mentioned by the old folks when they talk of life and times in their younger days, but which has become nearly extinct at the present time. Philip Forse was an early settler in Windham. When he built his log- house on or near the spot where the fine Widner residence now stands, on Lot 1, 13th concession, there were no settlers in Windham, except the Culvers and a few other families in the Colborne settlement. The Forses are of Dutch descent, and, it is said by the oldest living members, that the father of Philip, with his four sons — Philip, William, Peter and John — migrated from New Jersey to New Brunswick, and thence to Upper Canada. This makes it appear as though they had been U. E. Loyalists, but there seems to be nothing definite to show that such was the case. Philip Forse came first. He was married in New Bruns wick. He settled first on Lot 1, 1st concession of Woodhouse, and it was he who donated land for the first public burying ground in the settlement, being the older portion of the old Woodhouse Methodist grounds. About the beginning of the century he sold his Woodhouse land and settled in Windham, where he lived the remainder of his long life. He was a quiet, industrious and honorable man, and highly respected by his fellow pioneers. The late Duke Campbell, while speaking of his business integrity, said that his word was as good as his bond. Mr. Forse reached an extreme old age, being ninuty-four years old when he died. He left no children. 216 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. William Forse came several years later, and settled in Windham on " Buckwheat Street," as it was called. He had five sons — Michael, William, Philip, John and George; and four daughters — Ann, Eliza, Mary and Margaret. Michael and Ann were born in New Brunswick. Michael Forse, son of William, married Rebecca Jewell, and settled at first in Burford, and subsequently, in Vittoria, where he died. William Forse, son of William, married Amy Forse, and settled on the homestead in Windham, where he died. He had five sons — Charles, Henry, Edward, George and William ; and three daughters — Amanda, Isabel and Henrietta. Philip Forse, son of Williami, married Drusilla Boughner, and had no children. John Forse, son of William, was a captain in the militia. All the older people will remember the old hotel in Simcoe kept by him, and known as " Forse's Tavern." Captain Forse died a bachelor. George Forse, son of William, married Maria, daughter of Jacob Powell, and settled near the homestead. He had four sons — Edward, Henry, George and John ; and three daughters — Mary Jane, Theresa and Caroline. The family are nearly all gone ; but the father is living, having reached his 85th year. Of the daughters of William Forse, Anna married Samuel Fisher after she was fifty-six years old. She died within one week after her marriage. Mary married John Edison, and settled in Bayham. She left no children. Margaret married Amos King, and settled at the Rondeau. Peter Forse came in 1830, and brought the old folks with him. They settled in Windham also. Peter had three sons — Philip, John and George ; and three daughters, who came here — Amy, Catherine and Hannah. His father, Peter Forse, died in 1849, in his 82nd year. Philip Forse, eldest son of Peter, married Sarah Charlotte, daughter of John Tisdale, and settled in Windham. He had A CASE OF CHURCH-GOING MANIA. 217 three sons — Nelson, Thomas H. and John H. ; and three daughters — Maria, Helen and Margaret. John, second son of Peter, died single. George Forse, third son of Peter, married Eliza, daughter of Captain John Robins, and settled on the homestead in Windham. He had four sons — Edward, George, Charles and John ; and three daughters — Emily, Elizabeth and Rhoda. Five out of this family died with smallpox. The daughters of Peter Forse — Amy, Catherine and Hannah — married, respectively, William Forse, William Millard and Louis Laings. Philip Forse, son of Peter, was a ship carpenter, and many old people will remember with pleasure the various novelties, by way of miniature ships, which he made during his spare^ moments and presented to his young friends, who took pride in exhibiting them in various public places. In the Forse family we have a peculiar case of religious mania. The subject was John, son of Peter, the one mentioned as having died single. When a mere child he was religiously inclined. He grew up physically weak and exceedingly taciturn in disposition. His mania took the form of walking to church regularly. It was nine miles from his home on " Buckwheat Street " to St. John's church in Woodhouse, and doubling this distance it made a walk of eighteen miles every time he attended church. John Forse got it into his head that God had called him to perform this special duty, and for nine years he performed it. It is said that he never missed a Sunday during all this time. Through blinding snowstorms and in the drenching rain went John Forse, and always on foot. So regular was he in his church-going that people watched for him along the way, and his appearance, like the ringing of a church bell, was accepted by them as a monitor in the regula tion of time. SKETCH XLI. "MAPLE AVENUE," THE OLD MoMICHAEL HOMESTEAD. It is just one hundred years since James McMichael, a native of "auld Ayrshire,'' came to the New World to take advantage of the grand opportunities which at that time were so abundant and so varied for the acquisition of homes and the accumulation of wealth. He was born in 1772, and was, there fore, twenty-five years old when he came to America. He was the second son of George McMichael, and had two brothers — one older and one younger than himself. The name of the elder was John, and that of the younger, George ; and their mother's maiden name was Veronica Murdar. They had a sister Marion, who married Francis Cooper. It is said that James McMichael was the great-grandson of a brother of Alexander Peden, the old prophet in the days of the Cov enanters. James McMichael came to Pennsylvania, and after the township of Townsend was surveyed he came to Norfolk and purchased 400 acres of land, 200 of which, being Lot 9 in the 6th concession, is the old McMichael homestead, known at present as " Maple Avenue," the silver-medal model farm of Norfolk County. James McMichael was a man of keen, shrewd business sense, and he knew that these lands would rapidly increase in value as the new settlement developed. At the time he made his pur chase other lands lying nearer the settlement might have been purchased as cheaply ; but this advantage of location was not a matter of consideration with Mr. McMichael when he chose his lands. He did not buy for immediate settlement, and he knew " MAPLE AVENUE," THE OLD M'MICHAEL HOMESTEAD. 2 19 that in a few years the lands adjoining his own would be occu pied and improved. Timber, at that time, possessed no com mercial value, being looked upon as an impediment in the way of settling. The larger number of the incoming settlers chose, therefore, the lighter timbered lands, which ofi'ered less resist ance in the work of reclaiming the soil. This was another so- considered advantage which counted for nothing in the better judgment of Mr. McMichael. He realized the fact that the soil which produced a large, thrifty and dense growth of timber would have the right kind of stuff in its composition for a vigorous growth of grass, cereals and fruit-bearing trees, and he knew that the time was not far distant when the timber itself would become a source of revenue. White pine, rock elm, white ash, walnut and other varieties of timber might tower up as giant monopolists of the land, bidding defiance to the log-cabin builders in their enforced haste to reach the virgin soil ; but the time would soon come when these giants of the forest would be endowed with a commercial value. Further more, this particular lot possessed natural topographical ad vantages which may or may not have been recognized by Mr. McMichael when he decided upon its purchase. " Maple Avenue'' possesses rich, low-lying meadow lands and loamy, gravelly uplands in proper proportions, to make it one of the most valuable farms in Ontario for a mixed husbandry, being adapted to stock-raising, fruit-culture and the production of grain. These natural advantages have been followed up and developed to a marked degree by the present owner. After making his purchase, Mr. McMichael returned to Penn sylvania, where he joined his brother George, who had come to America; and the two purchased a farm in that State. Soon after, Mr. McMichael married Rosannia, daughter of Isaac Dermott, whose father had emigrated from Holland in 1750. After living on this farm for about twenty years, a serious flaw was discovered in the title, of so hopeless a nature that James concluded to abandon his interest in it and commence anew on his Canada land. 220 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. The oriarinal log-cabin of James McMichael was built near the spot where the palatial residence of his grandson, Joseph K., now stands. But his pioneer life in old Townsend was of short duration. Like the distinguished Edward McMichael, of Wal singham, he was cut down just as his fellow-pioneers began to admire his sterling qualities, and, like that old pioneer, left a widow and ten children to occupy his log-cabin and mourn his untimely end in a new country, far from home and among strangers. James McMichael left nine sons — George, Richard, John, James, Jacob, David, Isaac, William and Aaron ; and one daughter — Mary. The daughter was the eldest child. She married William Parney ; her children are enumerated in the Parney genealogy. George McMichael, eldest son of James, married Jane, daughter of Deacon Joseph Kitchen, of Charlotteville. He settled on the homestead, and by this marriage had two sons — Jose|)h K. and Oscar; and one daughter — Malinda. By a subsequent marriage he had one daughter — Emma Jane. He was a shrewd business man, and improved the homestead and accumulated wealth. In 1856 he was cut down in the prime of life, at the age of fifty-one years. Oscar died young, and Joseph K. succeeded to the homestead. Richard McMichael, second son of James, married Mahala, daughter of Ezra Parney, and settled on land adjoining the homestead. Among the grand old men whose names are recorded in the list of Norfolk's latter-day pioneers, the name of Richard McMichael will always occupy a place in the first column. He was one of nature's noblemen. He was large in stature, large in intellect, and large in good deeds. He was broad-minded and whole-souled, and his formulated opinions on all the leading social, political and religious questions of his day were moderate in tone and liberal in judgment. He was generous, hospitable and exceedingly popular. He did not crave office, but when it was thrust upon him as a duty, and he saw it in the light of duty, he never shirked it. For MAPLE AVENUE," THE OLD M'MICHAEL HOMESTEAD. 221 about fifteen years he served in the Township and County Councils, and during sixty years of his life he officiated as deacon in the Boston and Waterford Baptist churches. For years he led the political party of his .choice as the President of its organized association in the riding, and in this and every other capacity he won the esteem and confidence of all with whom he came in contact. Wheii his golden wedding was celebrated his nine children were all present, making it an event of unusual occurrence He died in 1889, in his eighty- third year. He left four sons — James, Jona than, Alexander and Cal vin; and five daughters — Letitia, Charity, Elizabeth, Josephine and Orpha. Alexander and Calvin suc ceeded to the old home stead. John McMichael, third son of James, married Matilda Murray, and set tled in Dumfries, where he raised a large family. James McMichael, fourth son of James, was married three times. He settled in Brantford, and raised a large family. Jacob McMichael, fifth son of James, married Lavinia, daughter of Simon Mabee, and settled on Lot 13, 5th conces sion of Townsend. This latter-day pioneer proved himself a worthy brother of Richard McMichael, and much that has been written of the latter will apply to Jacob as well. He was upright and honorable in all the busy activities of his life, and he left a record behind him of which his children may proudly boast. He was a model farmer and figured prominently in the various agricultural .societies. For many years he officiated as RICHARD M 'MICHAEL. 222 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. deacon in the old Boston Baptist church. He died at a ripe old age, leaving ten sons — Simon, Lafayette, James, David, Aaron, Hezekiah, Jacob, Homer, Arkell and Orvell ; and two daughters — Abigail and Mary. Of this family three are doctors in New York City, one is a doctor in Chicago, one a Baptist preacher in New York State, and one is an artist and another a merchant in the city of Bufl'alo. David McMichael, sixth son of James, married Jane McBride, and settled at Palermo, below Hamilton. Isaac McMichael, seventh son of James, married Calista Truax, and settled in Hamilton. William McMichael, eighth son of James, married Mrs. William Cunningham nee Martha Kern, and settled near Boston. Subsequently, he settled in Waterford, where he died. He was a close economizer, and accumulated wealth. He had four sons — Oscar, Walter, Romaine and Albert ; and two daughters — Mary and Valdora. Albert and Valdora occupy the fine old Waterford home with their aged mother. Aaron McMichael, youngest son of -lames, married Emily McMichael, and settled just north of Waterford, where he established a fine home. He is remembered by the old people as a " hale fellow well met," 'and known as " McMichael, the Dentist." He had three sons — Solon, George and Herbert ; and one daughter, Ida. Solon holds a prominent Government position at present, being Inspector of Customs for the Dominion. When James McMichael looked upon his native heath in " Auld Scotia ' for the last time, his proud ambition no doubt drew heavily upon his imagination as to what the future held in reserve for him. He was going to the New World to hew- out a home for himself. What would be the result ? Wpuld he succeed in the founding of a home, and would sons and daughters go out from that home who would " rise up and call him blessed," and so stamp his name upon the plastic institu tions of the new land as to command respect and admiration for his name ? ".MAPLE AVENUE," THE OLD M'MICHAEL HOMESTEAD. 223 Many years have come and gone since the name of James McMichael was recorded among the soil reclaimers of" glorious old Norfolk," and the family record has become a part of the century's history. If James McMichael and many others of our brave old pioneers might be permitted to see the wonderful transformation which has been brought about in one short century, as a result of their moral and material pioneer work, they would retire to their well-earned rest feeling fully com pensated for. the privations they sufft^red and the sacrifices they made. When James McMichael came to America he brought something with him far more valuable in the work of national foundation-laying than a brave heart and a stout pair of arms, he brought inherent principles of individual character, which he transmitted to his posterity, and which show a tendency to increased strength as the generations succeed each other. Summed up, these principles are : Reverence for God and sacred things; love of home, and a rigid observance of law and order. Joseph K. McMichael is not only the owner of a model farm, but he is a model citizen. Of course he is a model farmer, but like many other men he might be this and not be a model citizen. In the three grand duties of citizenship he is equally prominent, namely, relig'ous, social and political. As a business man he is prompt, upright and economical. As a a farmer, he is stock-raiser, grain producer and fruit grower ; and in architectural arrangement and arboricultural designs he is an artist. Under his guiding hand and watchful eye, " Maple Avenue " has become one of the most beautiful rural homes in Ontario. SKETCH XLIL A SOMNAMBULISTIC PREACHER. Whe:; the present century had commenced to reel off the second decade, a man living somewhere near Ancaster received a call to preach the Gospel. This man's name was Bates. The " old settlers " believe that he received a call to preach, l^ut they do not pretend to know just how the " call " was com municated to him, or by what means he was made cognizant of it. It is better so ; for if the particulars were known it is more than probable that the foundation would not be suffi ciently strong to hold up the story. Suffice it to say this man Bates received a communication in some miraculous manner commanding him to preach, and that he positively refused to obey the divine edict. Just why he refused is another item of information the '' oldest settler " cannot furnish. It may be that Mr. Bates considered it a case of mistaken identity, sup posing it to be intended for some other Bates, or for some man who resembled a Bates ; but, whatever the reason may have been, it is said he refused to obey the call. There was no whale in the woods of Upper Canada to swallow him for his disobedience ; and as he did not run away from duty and go to sea like Jonah of old, he escaped the whale. But he did not escape punishment. If he would not preach when he was awake, he would be compelled to preach when he was asleep. While awake he was master of the situation, and might lead his thoughts into by and forbidden channels if he so willed ; but when consciousness was lost in sleep, his mind, not being subject to his own will, was let out for " recess'' to roam and wander in a state of freedom. When awake it was his A SOMNAMBULISTIC PREACHER. 225 privilege to govern his vocal organs with an iron hand, com manding and enforcing silence when and where he would, but when will was led captive by the tyrant Morpheus, his tongue was at liberty to give expression to -whatever was impressed upon his mind. It was a sort of warfare between body and spirit. During the hours of wakefulness the body held the mastery ; but during the hours of sleep, when the nerve centres were at rest the muscles relaxed, and all the physical forces dormant, the spiritual part asserted itself,^ acting on the mental faculties and compelling the. vocal organs to give audible expression to words which he refused to utter when in con scious wakefulness. That part of man which dies not is never at rest ; and thus while we snore in utter unconsciousness of our mortal existence, we behold strange sights and hear wonderful sounds, and sometimes our vocal organs are constrained to give expression to these mysterious mental impressions. The old people looked upon this strange sleep-preaching as a judgment on Mr. Bates for his disobedience. They saw the hand of Providence in it. Indeed, in our grandfathers' days, every strange, unusual thing that happened was looked upon as a special act of Providence. If a settler did anything toward saving his crop on a Sunday, and the act was followed by some unfortunate event, it was interpreted as a direct judgment froin heaven. They did not realize the fact that the rains descended on the just and unjust alike, although they saw, or might have seen, a clear demonstration of its truthfulness all around them in the daily phenomena of life. When it became known that Mr. Bates preached in his sleep he was induced to travel about the country from one neighborhood to another, in order that the people might hear him preach, and it will not be doing our worthy old pioneers any injustice to slightly intimate that it was a motive of curi osity that brought them together to hear this strange preacher. People came to hear him who seldom went to hear a sensible preacher, but this man who knew not what he was talking 1.-) 226 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. about, drew the multitude after him, and his fame went out through all Niagara and the region round about Long Point. In 1813 a meeting was held in the palatial log-house of the old soldier pioneer, Donald McCall. The old log-house was thirty feet long and stood a little west of the spot now occupied by the brick residence of John McCall, on the north end of Lot 18, 4th concession of Charlotteville. About thirty settlers attended this meeting, among whom were, Oliver Ma bee, Richard Lanning, Abraham Smith, Elder Finch, Titus Finch, Josiah Cromwell, Levi Churchill, Frederick and Jacob Sovereign, and " Uncle Billy " Smith. There was one person at the meeting who was young in years, and he is the sole sur vivor of that assemblage. He was only eight years old, yet his young shoulders supported an old head, as his after life has clearly demonstrated — the name of that boy was Simpson McCall. Of course, Mr. Bates had gone to bed and was sound asleep when the congregation assembled. Unlike other preachers, he did not observe regular hours, and his congregation never knew when services were to begin — whether at early candle-light, at midnight, or, as sometimes happened, not at all. On this occa sion, however, the sleeper began to groan — an invariable pre liminary to the opening exercises — about one o'clock in the morning. After the groaning ceased, the somnambulistic preacher repeated the Lord's prayer, after which he announced his text, and preached a fifteen-minute sermon. A few nights after this a meeting was held at another place in the settlement, but it proved a dismal failure, notwithstanding the fact that the sleeping evangelist was prodded with pins and reminded in other ways of his duty. On the other hand, a meeting held in Woodhouse soon after was a "howling" success, as the worldly-minded would express it nowadays. The suc cessful meetings averaged about two a week. Nothing is known of Mr. Bates' family connections. SKETCH XLIII. THE JANSEN DE RAPELJES AND JOHNSONS OF LONG ISLAND. The historical data embodied in this family sketch was taken from an article published in the Brooklyn Eagle and is, no doubt, correct. By this showing, the Rapeljes, of Norfolk are enabled to trace their ancestors back to a remote period in American history. We are told that George Jansen de Rapelje was the leader of the Walloon families that settled at the Wallabout on Long Island, and that to him was born Sarah Jansen de Rapelje, the first white child born in New Nether lands, as New York was first called by the Dutch. Governor Minuet signalized the event by presenting her his ground brief to twenty morgens of land (about forty acres). George had t.wo brothers who came to America with him — Antonie Jansen de Rapelje, and William Jansen de Rapelje, the latter of whom died childless. From some caprice not explained, the descend ants of George dropped the de Rapelje and retained Jansen as their surname, which in time became Johnson, George being the great ancestor of Jere Johnson, jun., of historical fame. The descendants of Antonie de Rapelje dropped the Jansen de, re taining the Rapelje, and they are the Rapeljes and Rapelyeas as we now have them. Antonie bought a two-hundred-acre tract of land at Gravesend, which was known as " Anthony Rapelje's Bowery," long after the English conquest. He was represented as a man of unusual stature, with the strength of a Hercules. The specie loaning scheme so successfully worked by Major Wyckoff during the war of the Revolution, originated with 228 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. one Barent Johnson, a descendant of George Jansen de Rapelje, and the great-grandfather of Jere Johnson, juu; He was a firm patriot, and had two American officers quartered on him on parole. When they were exchanged, Mr. Johnson furnished each with large sums of money to be carried without the enemy's lines and paid over to Governor Clinton. The Governor, quick to avail himself of the opportunity thus presented for obtaining sound money for the State from the W^higs of the West-end of Long Island, appointed Major Hendrick Wyckoff to manage the business in the manner described in the sketch devoted to the Wyckoffs. Barent Johnson-Rapelje was a man of wealth for those times. The amount he loaned the State was $5,500, a sum equal to $50,000 in our times. These loans were made in specie and were so repaid by the State after the war. One George Martense, a neighbor of Barent Johnson, loaned the State a considerable sum of money in this way, and when the note was redeemed by the State, Mr. Mar- tense went to New York with a cart for his money. The pay ment was made in silver specie,/ and the bulk completely filled the cart. The Rapeljes, of Norfolk, are credited with being a proud spirited people. This is not to be wondered at when it is remembered that the blood of the Jansen de Rapeljes and the Wyckoffs, of Long Island, course through their veins. Abraham A. Rapelje, the old Long Point pioneer, was born on Long Island in 1776, the year the colonies declared their independence. He did not settle on the old homestead near Vittoria until after the war of 1812. He lived in the vicinity of Port Dover, and when the war broke out he raised a company of " Incorporates," and led them in fighting the battles of his adopted country, winning for himself a reputation — especially at Lundy's Lane — that distinguished him among the old pion eers. It is said he was entitled to 500 acres of land for his war services, but neglected to take the necessary steps to secure it, and was finally .obliged to accept Government scrip in lieu thereof, computed on a basis of eighty cents per acre. He THE JANSEN DE RAPELJES AND JOHNSONS OF LONG ISLAND. 229 purchased a hundred acres of land with a portion of this scrip and sold the balance to James Covington, Esq. As a further consideration for his war services his name was placed on the half-pay list by the home government, and during the remain der of his life drew the sum of $400 annualty. Mr Rapelje succeeded Colonel John Bostwick as Sheriff of London District. He 'settled on Lot 19, in the 3rd concession of Charlotteville, and built a fine residence thereon, which was destroyed some years later by fire. He died in 1841, in his 66th year, and was followed to the grave by a large number of sorrowing friends. Colonel Rapelje had a family of thirteen children, but those who grew up and married were four sons — Peter Wyckoff, Henry, Richard and Abraham B. and four daughters — Cynthia, Helen, Winifred and Elizabeth. Peter Wyckoff Rapelje, eldest son of the Colonel, was a lawyer. He lived and died in Vittoria. He married Sarah Ann, daughter of Colonel Potts, and had two sons — John and Arthur; and three daughters — Sarah, Helen and Clara. Sarah married Isaac K. Taylor, who occupied the old Rapelje homestead for many years, and the sons settled in the States. Henry Rapelje, second son of the Colonel, married into the Eraser family, and settled in Simcoe. He had one son, Clarence C. ; and three daughters — Minnie, Maude and May. Clarence C. is clerk of the County Court and Registrar of the Surrogate Court at the present time. Henry Rapelje served as Deputy Sheriff under his father, and when Norfolk was set ofl' old London District in 1836, as Talbot District, he was ap pointed Sheriff for the new District, holding the position until he vacated it in favor of Mr. Mercer, for a valuable considera tion. The transaction was deemed irregular, and Mercer was disqualified. Richard Rapelje, third son of the Colonel, married Henrietta, sister of Dr. Mclnnes, of Vittoria. He died soon after, leaving no children. Abraham B. Rapelje, youngest son of the Colonel, married 230 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Anna Thompson, and settled in Simcoe. He held clerical positions at the county seat and was succeeded as Registrar of the Surrogate Court by his nephew, C. C. Rapelje. He had one son, McGregor, and two daughters — Sarah and Anna. Cynthia Rapelje, the old Colonel's eldest daughter, married William Jewell, as stated in the Jewell genealogy. Helen Rapelje, the second daughter, married Duncan McGregor, and settled in the township of Shedden. Winifred Rapelje, the third daughter, man-ied Quintin Barrett, one of the old-time store-keepers of Vittoria, who died soon after his marriage. Subsequently she married Charles Perley, and settled in Burford. She is living, the sole survivor of her generation, and childless. Elizabeth Rapelje, youngest daughter of the Colonel, married Alexander, son of Captain McNeilledge, the old county parliamentary representative. They settled near Port Dover, and had two sons — Colin and Rapelje. In 1819 or 1820, the pioneer mother of the Rapelje family went home to Long Island to visit her mother. The journey was made with a horse, and buggy, and it took three weeks to complete the drive from Vittoria to Flatland's Neck. Her son, Abraham, fifteen years old, and her eight-months old infant daughter, Elizabeth, accompanied her. Mrs. Rapelje was a courageous, resolute woman, and the drive was made each way without serious mi,shap ; but the occupants of the old Dutch home were thrilled with oft-repeated stories of bears and wolves encountered in the wilds of the new country. SKETCH XLIV. THE OLD WYCKOFF HOMESTEAD ON LONG ISLAND. One of the oldest houses in the State of New York stands on Long Island, about six miles from Fulton Street ferry, Brooklyn, at a point known as Flatlands' Neck. It was built in 1664, and is pratically the same now as when built. The brick used in building the chimneys, fireplaces and side lining, and the shingles of best white cedar for roofs and siding, were imported from Holland. The roof shingles were not removed until 1890, when they were replaced with a tin roofing, and previous to 1819 no lath pr plaster was ever put on the walls. The dining-room has never been plastered or painted. The oak beams and flooring is the only ceiling, and from long wear, smoke from log flres and Dutch pipes, it long since assumed the color of walnut. The rooms are strongly suggestive of Dutch comfort and hospitality. The old house was built two hundred and thirty-two years ago, and has never passed out of the hands of the family. The present occupants are in possession of many choice old heirlooms, reminders of a time when pewter mugs for tea drinking, and pewter plates, eighteen inches in diameter and weighing several pounds, were in ordinary use as table utensils. In revolutionary times a large number of these quaint old table pieces were cast into bullets for the army. Four rods south of the house some trees mark the spot where two English spies were hanged before the American army was driven off Long Island. Originally, the estate was much larger than at present. It now consists of fifty-six acres and belongs to the estate of the late John Wyckoff, who died six years ago. Sarah Wyckoff, a sister of John Wyckoff, married 232 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Abraham A. Rapelje, also of Long Island, and the ancestor of the Norfolk Rapeljes. Elizabeth Wyckoff, another sister, was the mother of the second wife of Oliver Mabee, of Vittoria. Mrs. Mabee's maiden name -was Helen McGarren. The wife of Colonel Jacob Potts, a distinguished resident of old Charlotte ville many years ago, was another sister in the same generation of this old Wyckoft' family of Long Island. Originally, two brothers, Peter and Claus Wyckoff, emi grated from Holland to America. Claus settled in Monmouth County, New Jersey, and Peter settled at Flatlands' Neck, Long Island. The grandchildren of Sarah Wyckoff-Rapelje may thus readily trace their grand maternal ancestry back through more than a dozen generations to this Peter Wyckoff, who is supposed to have settled in Long Island about flfteen years after the landing of the " Pilgrim Fathers " on Plymouth rock. The Rev. Dr. Strong, in his " History of Flatbush," published in 1842, says: "It is believed that a settlement was effected in Flatlands as early as 1630, and in 1631 the town appears to have contained a goodly number of inhabitants." Two years ago the Brooklyn Eagle published a cut and minute description of this old family homestead ; and, after a careful search among the family records, says : " There is no doubt the Wyckoff ancestor of the present family was among the first to locate, and hence the homestead has been handed down from generation to generation for at least 260 years, while the house itself is 230 years old." The Wyckoff' estate was originally purchased from the Canarsie Indians. Peter Wyckoff, the grandfather of Mrs. Rapelje and Mrs. Potts, and the great grandfather of Mrs Mabee, was a weaver as well as a farmer, and the shop where he had his loom is yet in fair condition. His second cousin, Garrett Peter Wyckoff, who owned two or three farms near Flatlands village, and died about twenty-six years ago, aged ninety -five, was a carpenter. He built the great Dutch barn for Peter Wyckoff, the weaver, in 1809, and it is said this massive barn will endure for ages, barring accident by fire or phenomepal eruption. * THE OLD WYCKOFF HOMESTEAD ON LONG ISLAND. 233 During the struggle for independence, Governor Clinton made Major Hendrick Wyckoff a financial agent for obtaining specie loans from the people for the support of the cause of freedom. He was furnished with notes in blank by the Governor, and he filled them up with the names of the loaners and the sums loaned, as the money was paid into his hands. He had charge of all the money obtained in King's County, employing several sub-agents, who procured loans and brought the money to him. To the English, this was high treason on the part of both money-lenders and agents, and punishable by death or a prison-ship dungeon. It is said that the sum of $200,000 was obtained in this way and carried out of King's County, right in the face of the strictest surveillance on the part of the British, although at times Major Wyckoff was compelled to pass through their lines. On one occasion he was concealed over two days in a thicket of briars, from which he could see the English soldiers as they searched for him. After the close of the war, Major Wyckoff became a mer chant in New York. He died in 1791, at his father's house in New Lots, aged fifty years. His funeral was attended by the Governor, by many military officers and a large concourse of people as a tribute of respect to a hero who had made himself an exile from home and braved every danger for the cause of liberty. The present occupants of the old homestead have in their possession a large mass of old deeds and documents, some written in the Dutch language and some on massive parch ment'. There ate no Indian deeds, as they were destroyed in 1684, twenty years after the English conquest, by order of Governor Dongan, and new patents issued, thereby acknow ledging the British Government, and at the same time adding to the Governor's revenue. Under the new regime the Dutch towns were obliged to pay a quit-rent annually, which, for Flatlands, was fourteen bushels of winter wheat. Among the old deeds is the following : 234 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. " Know all men by these presents, that I, peter g. wyckoff, of Flatlands, King's county, have sold to peter r. wyckoff a piece of plain Land in said town, bounded east by John Lulofsen, west by the way, south by John Tunison, and north by peter K. wyckoff, containing about ten acres, and I do own to having received full consideration. "In witness my hand and seal this 7th day of March, 1731. " In presence of " PlETER GUILLIAMSEN, " PETER G. WYCKOFF. [Seal] " S. Gerritsen." Another paper is a slave "bill of sale," dated July 1st, 1800, in which John J. Jeromus and George Lott sell a negro named Harry, his wife. Bet, and their female child. Peg, to Abraham Wyckoff for $450. No data was obtained showing the history of the New Jersey branch of the family, except the simple fact of settlement made in Monmouth County by the original Claus Wyckoff. It is said that one Peter Wyckoff, a U. E. Loyalist, migrated from Long Island to Upper Canada early in the last decade of last century, and settled at the foot of the mountain near St. Catharines. He had married Catherine Plato in Long Island, and it is said his children were all born in Canada. When his youngest child, Peter, was three months old he returned to Long Island to settle up some business affairs, and was never seen again by his little family. He collected a sum of money and, as is supposed, was robbed and murdered on his way back. Subse quently, the young widow married John Clendenning, a miller, by whom she had one daughter, Catherine. In the beginning of the new century the family moved up to Long Point settlement, where Mr. Clendenning obtained employment as miller in Colonel Ryerse's mill at Port Ryerse. In the family were two sons — John and Peter Wyckoff; and two daughters — Margaret Wyckoff and Catherine Clendenning. John Wyckoff was born about 1794, presumably in the Niagara settlement. His boyhood days, as were those of his brother Peter, were spent in the Ryerse mill in rendering such THE OLD WYCKOFF HOMESTEAD ON LONG ISLAND. 235 aid as they could to their stepfather, who possessed a weak constitution. When the war of 1812 came on the Wyckoff boys enlisted, and poor John lost his life at the battle of Fort Erie. David J. Wyckoff, of Woodhouse Gore, has in his possession the red coat worn by his uncle John when he received the fatal shot. A little below the collar of the coat is a tell-tale perforation, which is painfully suggestive of the manner in which John Wyckoff lost his young life in the defence of his country. Although it shows that his back was to the foe, it does not prove that the handful of brave militiamen who were forced back upon Chippawa by many times their own number, were cowards. The lad who wore this old coat of faded red was the son of a man whose faith in the old empire could not be shaken by the misdeeds of passing politicians, or promises on the part of new-fledged demagogues of more favor able conditions based on untried experiments. These Loyalists had the courage of their convictions, and when the cause they so dearly loved fell upon their homes, involving them in hope less ruin, they laid a new foundation in the wilds of Upper Canada ; and when this new foundation was assailed by the same forces which destroyed the old, their sons marched to the front in companies and hurled back whole battalions of the invaders, preventing them for three long .years from get ting a firm foothold on Canadian soil. Peter Wyckoff, the second son, was born in the Niagara home in 1796. He served in the war of 1812, although but sixteen years old when the war broke out. In 1815 he mar ried Abigail Gilbert, and settled on land allotted him in the township of Malahide. In 1820 he purchased Lot 21 in the Gore of Woodhouse, where he lived the remainder of his life. He died in 1881 in his eighty-eighth year, having been mar ried three times. By the first wife he had four sons — John, Isaac Gilbert, Peter and David ; and four daughters — Amanda, Mary, Catherine and Abigail. By his second wife, Sarah Tomkins, of New York, he had two sons — David James and Joseph S. ; and two daughters — Margaret and Elizabeth. The 236 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. mother of the second family died in 1862, in her sixty-second year. By the third wife, Mrs. Eliza Olds, he had no children. Isaac G. Wyckoff is one of the best known citizens of old Townsend, having been identified with the municipal affairs of that township for a score of years. David James, half-brother of Isaac G., is the present occu pant of the old homestead. Margaret Wyckoff, only daughter of Long Island Peter, was born in 1792, being the eldest child. She married Isaac Gilbert. Her children are enumerated in the Gilbert genealogy. Catherine Clendenning, half-sister of Margaret, married Ebenezer Gilbert. From the time the original Peter Wyckoff came from Hol land with his brother Claus, down to the present time, "Peter" has been a favorite family name in each succeeding generation of Wvckoffs. SKETCH XLV. AN ILLUSTRIOUS ANCESTOR.— WALKER FAMILY. Not many of our old families can trace their apcestry back to so illustrious a personage as the one claimed by the Walker family, of Woodhouse. This old Norfolk family are the lineal descendants of George Walker, Bishop of 'Derry, who, refusing to hold quiet possession of his bishopric, placed himself at the head of a troop and fell at the battle of the Boyne in the cause of Protestantism. He was bom of English parents in the County of Tyrone, in the early part of the 17th century. He was educated at the University of Glasgow, and, entering the Church, became rector of Donoughmore. When the Irish army of James II. entered Ulster and took possession of Kil- ,more and Coleraine, Mr. Walker sought refuge in Londonderry. The lands of this county were held by the Corporation of the City of London, having been confiscated during the reign of the first James. A colony of English and Scotch had been planted there and Londonderry, therefore, was English head quarters in Ireland during these troublous .times. The town was able to ward off attacks from the pike-armed Celts, but it was not sufficiently fortified to withstand a siege by regular troops. Lundy, the Governor, was prepared to make a surrender, but some of his officers and the citizens of the town protested against such an act, and firmly resolved to hold their position at all hazards. Bishop Ezekiel Hopkins was a strong advocate of passive obedience, and while he was urging the people to make no resistance, a Scotch lad interrupted him by shouting : " A good sermon, my lord ; but we have no time to hear it now." This lad was one of a daring band, known as the " thirteen Scotch apprentices," and immediately after the interruption this band of young Scotch heroes closed the gates and defied the enemy. It was now that Rev. George Walker 238 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. came forward, a man unknown and well advanced in years, and began to harangue the people to fight to the last. His words were words of inspiration to them, and so enthused did they become in their determination to hold their position or die, that Lundy would have fallen a victim to their fury if Walker had not protected him until he succeeded in escaping from the city. The particulars of the siege, which is the most memorable in British history, are known to every student of history, and it is not necessary to dwell upon it here. Mr. Walker and Major Baker became joint governors, assisted by Captain Adam Campbell. When the inhabitants were reduced to great extremity by hunger, Mr. Walker kept up their spirits by preaching rousing sermons to them in the Cathedral, and placing himself at the head of sallying parties. When the English fleet brought relief )Valker went to London, where he was warmly received, thanked by the House of Commons, created Doctor of Divinity by Oxford, and made Bishop of 'Derry by the King. It is said that Bishop Walker's portrait was in every house in England, and a lofty pillar was erected to his memory in Londonderry. A recollec tion of this terrible siege has been kept alive to this day by the Walker club and Campbell club of Londonderry. Just one hundred years after the battle of the Boyne a great-grandson of the old hero of Londonderry bade his young wife an affectionate farewell and came to America to learn for himself what the chances in the new country were like. He was favorably impressed, and resolved to return to old Erin for his girl wife ; but when he reached New York he received the sad intelligence that she had died in child-birth, and was buried. The cord that bound Henry Walker's heart to the " Little Green Isle " was thus cruelly severed, and he turned his face once more towards Maryland, but not accompanied, as he had fondly anticipated, by his bride of only one short year. But he was a true son of Britain, and found numerous friends among the persecuted U. E. Loyalists, whose homes had been conflscated by the victorious Americans. In the month of June, 1793, a party of these Loyalists, con- AN ILLUSTRIOUS ANCESTOR. 239 sisting of twelve families from North Carolina and Maryland, arrived on the Niagara frontier, and Henry Walker, who was twenty -five years old at the time, came with them. Solomon Austin and family were of this party, and soon after they effected a settlement in Lynn River Valley. Henry Walker married Mary, eldest daughter of Solomon Austin, and erected a home of his own among the Austins ; and before the sun had been given a chance to kiss the rich, virgin soil of the picturesque little valley the cooings of the first-bom Walker, of Norfolk, might have been heard mingling with the -warble of the birds as they flitted about among the ¦v^aving tree-tops. It is said that this pioneer baby was the first white child born in Norfolk ; but as similar honors are claimed by several other old families, it would be safer for the Walkers to confine their claim to the township of Woodhouse. This priority of birth has been claimed by the McCalls and Culvers also, but there are good reasons for assuming that Sarah Fairchild, who was born in Townsend March 26th, 1794, was the first white child born in the county ; that is, as far as the records produced would seem to indicate. In Henry Walker's family were two sons — James and Solomon; and two daughters — Rebecca and Esther. Mrs. Walker was entitled, as a daughter of a U. E. Loyalist, to a land grant, and if she or her husband had attended to it while Sir John Graves Simcoe was Governor, they would, no doubt, have secured it. The old pioneer died in 1834, in his 67th year. James Walker, eldest son of Henry, married Hannah Robinson, and settled near the old homestead. He was only sixteen when the war of 1812 broke out, yet he joined the militia forces and served during the last two years of the war ; and later on, during rebellion times, he was first lieutenant in a mounted troop of horsemen. James Walker was one of the pioneer magistrates of Woodhouse, and it may truthfully be said his magisterial duties, as well as the various duties devolving upon him as a citizen, were performed fairly, faith fully and fearlessly. He had two sons — Dr. Robert and William ; and three daughters — Phoebe, Mary and Rebecca. 240 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. As before stated, James Walker was only sixteen when the war of 1812 broke out. He was too young the first year to enter the ranks, but he drove a yoke of oxen in the trans portation service, and while at Fort Norfolk one day he became very much interested in a cannon. The bore of a 12-pounder looked larger to him than the bore of a modern Krupp would look to an old war veteran. It seemed big enough to thrust his head into it, and, boy fashion, he proceeded to put his surmises to a practical test. While thus engaged an officer struck the cannon a sharp blow with a cane, and young Walker was fired end-over-end a considerable distance — at least it seemed so to him. It was some time before he could be made to realize that he had not actually crawled into that cannon and been shot out of it. Solomon, second son of Henry, married Sarah, daughter of Nathaniel Osborne, and succeeded to the old homestead. He was one of the pioneer councillors of Woodhouse. He died in 1881, in his 77th year. He had four sons — Henry, Nathaniel Osborn, David Marr and Solomon ; and three daughters — Mary, Sarah and Alice. Of these sons, Nathaniel Osborne is the well-known Dr. N. O. Walker, of Port Dover, who has practised medicine in South Norfolk for over forty years. David Marr is Judge D. M. Walker, of Winnipeg, Man ; and Solomon is mining in the — at present — famous Rossland district. Rebecca Walker, elder daughter of Henry, married David Marr, Esq., of Marr's Hill. There were three sons in this family — Dr. Israel, James and Dr. Walker ; and two daughters — Caroline and Mary. Esther Walker, the younger daughter of Henry Walker, married Joseph Carpenter. They settled, finally, in one of the Western States. It was just one hundred years from the battle of the Boyne to the departure of Henry Walker for America, and it will be observed that more than another hundred years of the world's history has been made since Henry Walker built his log cabin among the trees in Lynn Valley. SKETCH XLVI. OUR GRANDFATHERS' STRUGGLE WITH THE FOREST. Near Delhi a field may be seen which, apparently, has been denuded of its natural growth of forest trees for as many succeeding generations of men as the oldest fields in old. Charlotteville ; and yet the transition from foi'est to cultivated. land in this field was made quite recently, and made quickly and comparatively easy, and at small expense. Every piece of timber-growth possessed a commercial value for purposes of manufacture into lumber, frame timber, rails, posts, stakes,,, hoop poles or fuel, which more than paid the cost of removal. from the land. Fire consumed the refuse quickly and inexpeur sively, leaving nothing but a thickly dotted mass of green and. charred stumps. The modern " Steelyard " stump lifter, posses sing such wonderful lifting power, with a mechanism so simple- and light, was run over the ground, and every stump, large and.. small, was torn from the earth, root and branch, and dropped upon the surface with its intricate mass of green, wiry, snake like roots exposed to sun and air. The ground was at once enclosed with a neat and everlasting fence made of these stumps; and, presto! — the wonderful transformation was effected. How different was the work of clearing land, iiir our grandfathers' days ! It was their hard lot to whittle out homes in a primeval forest at a time when human, muscle was the great and only fulcrum used in lifting the daily burdens of life in the struggle to make material improvements. Indeed, when we reflect upon the crude ways and means- made use of by our forefathers in clearing land, making roads and, erecting buildings, we get some idea of. the hard,', grinding 16 242 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. drudgery that marked their lives. Their only rule was thai of " cut and fit,' and they accomplished their arduous tasks.by " main strength and awkwardness." When we think of the crude methods and meagre appli ances prevailing at that time, and remember that a lack of means prevented many from even taking advantage of the best known methods, crude as they were, the task that con fronted them seems, indeed, a herculean one. A log shanty was erected on the bank of a stream or near a good spring ; and in front, in the rear, and on either side, as far as the eye could reach, nothing could be seen but the evergreen plumes and interlocked branches of giant forest trees, waving in stoical defiance of the lonely settler's boldly-laid plans for their ultimate extermination. It was a bold undertaking for one pair of weak, human, arms ; but the sturdy settlers believed that the labor of the day was sufficient for that day, and so they im proved the passing hours, firmly believing that other days would come, each with i.ts quota of work well performed, and that, ultimately, all would be crowned with success. They did not have the neat, easy-working tools that enables two men, in our day, to put up eight cords of stove-wood in a day. Their axes were crude and clumsy, and their cross-cut saws were regular man-killers. Many a forest tree stood erect a half-day after the settler had dealt his first blow before it came crashing to earth. But blow after blow, and chip after chip, laid the towering giants low, and in a short JOHN KITCHEX. OUR grandfathers' struggle with the FOREST. 243 time the sun was permitted to kiss a spot of virgin soil suffici ently large for a " garden patch." A well known Windham pioneer, now an octogenarian, was born and reared on one of the old homesteads of Charlotteville. After helping his father clear a large portion of the old home stead he married and settled on a wild lot in the woods of Windham, which he has long since transformed into beautiful fields, and which he still owns and occupies. This old pioneer related his experience in clearing land, and as it fairly repre sents the common experi ence of all the old pioneers, the story is given in his own words, as follows : " Yes, the old lady an' I have done our share of clearin' land. She was also born an' brought up on a Charlotteville farm, an' when she was a girl at home she used to pick up roots an' brush an' work in the ' foller ' ; an' after we settled up here in the woods she picked up chunks an' fired many a log-heap in these old front fields. She did all the milkin', too, mind ye, an' spun, an' wove, an' knit socks to sell to the storekeepers ; which is more than girls do nowadays, I tell ye. " When I commenced here I laid out to clear about ten acres a year, an' I guess I averaged about that much. There was pine timber scattered all over the hull lot. In some places it was ' sap-pine ' an' stood thick on the ground, an' in other places it was big white pine, some of which was four feet, or over, in diameter. No man who never had any experience in clearin' pine land forty or fifty years ago, knows any tiling MRS. JOHN KITCHl-N. 244 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. about the amount of labor involved in the undertaking. There was no market for pine logs, an' what the settler didn't need for fence rails or lumber for buildin' purposes, was an expensive obstacle in the way of clearin' the land. It was chopped down an' cut up into log-heap lengths, an' the logs were rolled up in big heaps. Several yokes of oxen an' a good supply of hands were needed to log up a pine ' foller,' and this was accomplished by makin' loggin' bees. At these bees whiskey was as free as water, an' when the work was over at night, the men would be as black as ' niggers.' When the ' foller ' was fired the hull neighborhood was lit up, but after , burning all the ' chunkin' out of the heaps the fires would die out, an', then the charred and slightly reduced logs would have to be snaked together and rebuilt into new an' fewer heaps, an' fired ' agin ' ; and this would have to be repeated 'til all the log-heaps in the 'foller' had been reduced to one or two, an' what was left of these would be snaked off into the joining choppin' to be used as chunkin' in the next " foller." My ! I have tugged away in this slavish manner, trying to get rid of pine logs that would make a thousand feet of clear white-pine lumber worth, to-day, thirty' dollars ; an' there were hundreds of trees burned up on this farm from each of which three such logs might have been taken. This would amount to $90 a tree, an' some of 'em had enough common lumber in their tops to bring the value up to $100, were they standing to-day. Why, a whole acre of the land where these trees stood, wouldn't sell for as much, to-day, as one o' them logs." ," When the first settlers came to Long Point it was a ques tion of gettin' something to eat as quickly as possible. They brought their families with 'em, an' they had no base of sup plies to draw on for the first year, as their sons had when they, later on, became pioneers in the back, unsettled portions of the county. The hardships suffered by the original pioneers for the first year or two, were far more severe than any suffered by those who came after them. The land was underbrushed an' grubbed, the large timber girdled an' seed scratched in among OUR grandfathers' struggle with THE FOREST. 245 the roots ; an' until a little food crop of some kind was pro duced, it was ' nip-an'-tuck ' to keep soul an' body together. " But when I came here in the woods sixty years ago, as one of the pioneers of this portion of the township, it was different. We came out from near-by comfortable homes, which were accessible to us for supplies while engaged in choppin' our first ' follers,' buildin' our log cabins an' gettin' ready for the first crop. " A large portion of this lot was covered with oak grubs, an' it would break the heart of any young feller now-a-days to even think of the number o' back-achin' days I put in swingin' that heavy old grub-hoe. " We grubbed in the day-time an' picked up and burned at night, an' many a night the old lady helped pick up and burn grubs 'till after ten o'clock. A quarter of an acre was con sidered a fair, average day's work at grubbin'. The soil was full o' small roots, an' after the crop was put in an' the old three-cornered drag had done its duty, these roots and vines had to be gathered into heaps, which looked like haycocks in the distance. " After the loggin' and grubbin' we considered the land ready for cultivation. Fire an' rot consumed the hardwood stumps in a few years, but it seemed as though the big black pine stumps would last till the crack o' doomsday. When I stumped a patch for my first little orchard the diggin' of the big stumps cost me seventy-five cents each, an' then it cost me 'bout as much to get rid of 'em an' fill up the holes. The pine stumps averaged about twenty-five to the acre, an' it cost about forty cents each, on an average, to have 'em pulled. Diggin' stumps by hand was a slow, tedious job. It was enough to break a feller's heart who was trying his level best to clear up 200 acres o" pine land. Diggin' stumps by hand was expensive, too, as it took a pretty good crop to pay for diggin' out the stumps on a given piece o' land ; an' then the ground was left full o' roots, an' you had tho stumps to bum oft" an' the holes to fill up besides. Stump fence ? Why, the stump fence is a 246 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SEITLEMENT. modern institution ; it hadn't been invented when I was in my prime. I guess the young folks in iny day didn't lie 'wake nights crackin' their brains tryin' to study up labor savin' schemes, like they do now-a-da,ys. "A man named Nelson Colt came over from Rochester an' helped me construct the first stump machine ever seen in these parts. It was built on a claw-hammer principle an' worked with a set o' pulleys. I used this machine till it killed a good ox for me, an' then I threw it aside. When the lever machine made its appearance I built a large one at a cost of $170. Next came the screw machine, an' I paid $80 for a set of irons alone ; an' at a sale the other day a similar set of irons, as good as new an' all complete, sold for ten York shillings. The screw machine had served its day an' nobody wanted it. Now, the powerful steelyard machine is doin' the work, an' I guess it's come to stay. Years ago, when I was bavin' my land stumped as fast as I could afford it, three men an' a yoke of oxen made up the usual outfit with the old lever machine. They went about stumpin' at five dollars a day, includin' board. This meant a a cost of gettin' the land stumped of from $5 to $30 per acre. In addition to this it took two men an' a yoke of oxen two days to dispose of the stumps on an average acre, after they were pulled. " Why, there are fields on this old farm that cost me fully $40 an acre to clear 'em, an' the land isn't worth $20 an acre to-day. If I had built my first cabin somewhere among the beeches and sugar maples, my life's work would have been a play spell in comparison with what it has been ; an' to-day I would have rich and productive fields, an' the old lady an' I would have much more to leave to our children than we now have." SKETCH XLVII. ISRAEL WOOD AND HIS FAMILY. The Wood family is one of Norfolk's oldest families. Israel, the father of this family, was a U. E. Loyalist, as was also his father, Caleb. Israel was twenty-nine years old when the colonies declared their independence. After tho close of the war the family fled into New Brunswick, and there several of Israel's children were born. Caleb died in New Brunswick, in his 72nd year. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Vail, survived her husband eight years — her death occurring in 1802, in her 78th year. Caleb Wood had two sons — Israel and Caleb ; and three daughters — Phoebe, Mary and Ruth. The youngest of these children was born in New Jersey twelve years before the colonies threw off their allegiance to the British Crown. About a hundred years ago Israel, who at that time was nearly fifty years old, came to Long Point with his family, which consisted of six sons and three daughters. He drew land on the lake front near Port Ryerse, upon which he settled. Owing to his advanced age the old settlers speak of him as " old Israel Wood." The names of his six pioneer sons were, Piatt, Samuel, Jacob, Israel, Caleb and James. The three daughters' names were, Phoebe, Sarah and Keturah. Israel Wood died in 1817, in his 70th year, and his wife, whose maiden name was Ruth Goold, died in 1829, in her 81st year. Piatt Wood, eldest son of Israel, married Sarah, daughter of Col. Isaac Gilbert, and settled on Lot 1 9, 2nd concession of Charlotteville. Here he lived and raised his family. He lived a quiet, industrious life, and died in 1839, in his 58th year ; and his wife died in ] 850, in her 67th year. He had five sons — Jacob, Isaac G., Israel H., Abraham H., and Andrew ; and six daughters — Phoebe, Betsy, Rebecca, Sarah E., Amelia and Hester Ann. That insidious destroyer of human life, consump tion, played sad havoc in this family. Of these eleven children 248 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. two — Andrew and Hester Ann — died in childhood. Sarah E. died at sixteen ; five died before reaching thirty ; Phcebe died at thirty-four, and Betsy reached her thirty-fifth year. Jacob alone attained a comparatively good age, having reached his seventy-second year. His widow survives him, and occupies the old homestead with three of her sons. Samuel Wood, second son of Israel, married Anna Vail, and settled in Charlotteville. He had four sons — William, Samuel G, James B., and Isaac N.; and six daughters — Ruth, Sarah, Elizabeth, Elinor M., Phoebe E., and Emily. Samuel Wood also led a quiet, industrious life, and died respected by all who knew him. In 1802 he was appointed Constable for Wood- house by the old Court of Quarter Sessions, before it was established at Turkey Point. William, eldest son of Samuel, married Miriam, daughter of John Mark Culver, and settled in Windham. He had four sons — Ira Mark, Dr. George W., Darius C, and James C; and six daughters — Sarah, Ruth, Mary A , PhcEbe M., and Estella A. Three sons of the original Israel Wood — Jacob, Israel and James ^ — married, respectively, Sophia, Jemima and Katrina, daughters of John Gustin, of Vittoria. All settled in Oxford County, where they purchased land at two dollars per acre. Caleb Wood, sixth son of Israel, married Elizabeth Davis, a distant relative of the notorious " Jeff Davis," who went down with the late Southern Confederacy. He settled in Windham, on " Buckwheat " street, where he raised his family. Caleb Wood was an active man, and took a greater interest in public matters than any of his brothers. He was a carpenter, and built many houses in his time, and also served his township as Tax Collector. In 1846 his busj'-life ended in his 58th year; and seventeen years later his wife followed him at the age of seventy-one. Caleb had seven sons — John J., Thomas D., Richard, William, David, George, atid Jacob ; and four daughters — Harriet, Angelina, Amelia Ann and Louisa. Phoebe and Sarah Wood, the two eldest daughters of Israel Wood, died young in New Brunswick ; and Keturah, the young est daughter, died in infancy. SKETCH XL VIII. OTHNIEL SMITH. " Oh, what a name !" I hear some young reader exclaim. Well, what is the matter with the name ? There is no reason in the world why even a common, every-dfiy Smith should always have a Joe or a John placed before it. Now, if the name form ing the headline of this sketch had been written Othniel Pegasus instead of Othniel Smith you would think it was all right. You would accept it without comment as a name pecu liar to some foreign language; but because the last part is simply Smith, you think the first part is out of place. If it was Othniel Smythe, for instance, it would, no doubt, have a more euphonious sound, but we cannot change it, and therefore you mnst accept it just as it is. Don't say, however, that you never heard the name before, as that would be evidence of carelessness in your Bible readings. The mother of Othniel, like all the mothers of her time, did not ransack every creation of fiction for names for her children, as mothers do nowadays. They chose names that stood for something — names that pos sessed a common noun significance of meaning, and were repre sentative of various types of character that had been demon strated in real life by actual living personages. The Bible was the only book consulted when our great-grandmothers made a choice of names for their babies. The mother of Othniel Smith had read the story of Othniel, son of Kenaz, and first judge of the Israelites, how he had delivered his countrymen from the tyranny of the King of Mesopotamia, and she admired his character. Othniel was expressive of something. It meant valor, patriotism, and fidelity to righteous principles, and she named her son Othniel. Looking at it in the light of our day and generation it was no baby name; but we must remember that when Othniel Smith was a baby the conditions of life made it impossible for 250 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. any baby to always remain a baby, as they sometimes do in our times, consequently they had no use for baby names. Thus it is that among the sturdy old pioneers who came into the wilds of this Long Point region of country a hundred years ago, we find so many Abrahams, Isaacs and Jacobs, with a copious sprinkling of Moses and Aaron, and not a few Abiels, Absaloms, Abners, Adonirams, Benjamins, Adams, Davids, Solomons, Ebenezers, Eliphalets, Ephraims, Jobs and Ezekiels, and even a few Barzillias, Zephaniahs and one Othniel. Among the old pioneer mothers we find in nearly every family a Rebecca — "of enchanting beauty;" an Elizabeth — "worshipper of God ;" Rhoda — " a rose ;" Matilda — " a heroine;" Catherine — " pure ; " Abigail — " my father's joy ; " Amanda — " worthy to be loved ; " Ann — " grace ; " Elinor — " light , " Eliza — " consecrated to God ; " Esther — "a star;" Eva — "life;" Hannah — "favor;" Jane — "the gracious gift of God;" Jem ima — " a dove ; " Nancy — " inherent excellence ; " Phoebe — " pure and radiant ; " Ruth — " beauty ; " or a Miriam, meaning " star of the sea." There is hardlj'^ a family without a Mar garet — " a pearl," and more than one old family boasted of a Mehitabel, which means " benefited of God." Life was no passing dream to the fathers and mothers who conquered the forests of Norfolk — it was intensely real, and the very names they bore had a significant meaning. Othniel Smith was one of the early pioneers. He was born in New Jersey of an ancestry that came from Cheshire, England. He had several brothers who, with himself, emigrated to Western Canada in 1778, or about fourteen years before it was organized into the Province of Upper Canada. The early Niagara settlement was thus liberally supplied with Smiths. In the closing year of last century Othniel came up with his family and. settled in the new Long Point settlement, and no one of old Charlotteville's pioneers made a wiser choice of land than he did. Who does not know of the A. W. Smith home stead, or " the Workey Smith farm," as it is commonly, but erroneously termed ? This beautiful and productive farm, consisting of Lot 24, 5th concession, has been occupied .by the OTHNIEL SMITH. ' 251 Smith family from the time father Othniel settled on it in 1800 to the present time. The present occupant, Andrew, is a son of A. W. Smith, and a great-grandson of Othniel, the old pioneer. Othniel Smith was a man well advanced in years when he came to the settlement, and his family were all grown up. He died in 1813, leaving four sons — Andrew, Samuel, Garrett and Abraham ; and one daughter, Rachel. Andrew Smith, eldest son of Othniel, was born in Niagara District, in 1781. He married Elizabeth Sovereign, and suc ceeded his father on the old homestead. He died in 1849, in his 70th year, leaving four sons — David, Philip, Daniel and Abra ham W.; and five daughters — Rachel, Patience, Elizabeth, Nancy and Mary Jane. Mrs. Smith died in 1817, in her 65ch year. Philip Smith, second son of Andrew, married Elizabeth L. Emes, and settled finally in Charlotteville. He had three sons — Warren T., Elbridge C. and John A. ; and three daughters — Mary A., Augusta A. and Emma L. Samuel Smith, second son of Othniel, married and settled near " Five Stakes," Elgin County, where he raised a family. Garrett Smith, third son of Othniel, settled near St. Thomas, where he raised a large family. The name of Garrett Smith appears on the pages of Joseph Tisdale's old tannery blotter for the year 1804. Abraham Smith, youngest son of Othniel, settled in the Lake St. Clair settlement, where he raised a family. Rachel Smith, only daughter of the old pioneer, married a man named Boughner, and settled near " Five Stakes," Elgin County. It is not known whether Othniel Smith was related to Abraham Smith, the pioneer head of Charlotteville's oldest Smith family or not, but there are good reasons for assuming that they were branches of one common family tree. Both were of English descent, and both came from New Jersey. Each had a son Samuel, a son Abraham, and a daughter Rachel ; and, what is more convincing than all else, it is said there was a striking resemblance between the sons and daughters in the two original families. SKETCH XLIX. A MAN WHO PRACTISES WHAT HE PREACHES. Early in the present century there were living in Green County, New York, four Van Loon brothers, descendants of an old Holland family. Three of these brothers — Jacob, Abraham and Evart — came to Upper Canada ; and the fourth brother, John, remained in Green County. Jacob came first and took up land at the mouth of what is known as the " Twenty-mile Creek." He was visiting in his native State when the war of 1812 broke out, and the American authorities detained him a year and a half before he was able to return to his family ; and while remaining under this proscription he spent a part of the time teaching a district school. While there may have been ample opportunity for escaping out of the country, he no doubt considered " discretion the better part of valor," and deemed a schoolroom a pretty safe place in war times. Mr. Van Loon married Sarah Smith in the State of New York, and was a pioneer teacher, surveyor and preacher in the Township of Walpole when that township was identified with the interests of Long Point settlement. They had three sons — Jacob, Thomas and Abraham ; and five daughters — Mary, Catherine, Susan, Caroline and- Jane, who grew up into man hood and womanhood. Jacob Van Loon, eldest son of Jacob, married Margaret Post, and settled on Lot 12, 6th concession of Townsend. He became a Baptist preacher, and for nearly sixty years has been familiarly known throughout the county as Elder Jacob Van Loon. During all these years he has never been without a pastorate for more than six months at a time. He had charge of the old A MAN WHO PRACTISES WHAT HE PREACHES. 253 Boston church for four years ; but, as he has always been an industrious worker, and in receipt of an income derived from his manual labor, he has spent a large portion of his life in the spiritual care and building up of weak churches that could ill afford to pay handsome salaries, and although in his eighty- sixth year he is still engaged in the good work. During his ministerial life he has married about eight hundred people, and out of this large number of conjugal knots tied by him, only two or three became untied. Elder Van Loon commands the respect and admiration of all who know him — and that means pretty much every -person in Norfolk — not because nature may have arbitrarily endowed him with some brilliant talent, but because of his goodness of heart, his unselfish regard for the welfare of his fellowmen, his amiable disposition, and his easy elegance of manners. Elder Van Loon is a man of the people. To the refined in taste he is ever a worthy companion, and to the humble cottager, who spends his days in life's rough quarry, he is ever a most welcome visitor. For nearly sixty years he has prayed by the bedside of the sick and dying ; spoken words of good cheer to the destitute and suffering, and administered consolation to sorrowing friends on hundreds of occasions, as they looked for the last time upon their beloved dead. When the final summons comes for this old pulpit veteran he will be mourned by all who know him. Elder Van Loon had six sons and three daughters, one of whom, Alfred, occupies the fine old Townsend homestead, and is the sole survivor in his father's family. Thomas Van Loon, second son of the original Jacob, married Elizabeth, daughter of Solomon Wardell, and settled in Wal pole. He had five sons^ Wellington, Solomon, Jacob, Hiram and Thomas ; and five daughters — Melissa, Mary Ann, Sarah, Jane and Carrie. Abraham Van Loon, youngest son of the original Jacob, died single. Catherine Van Loon, eldest daughter of the original Jacob. married Jacob Price, and settled in the township of Louth. 254 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Susan Van Loon, the second daughter, married Isaac Overholt, and settled in Rainham. She had six children, William Overholt, of Bealton, and Mrs. John Moore, of Boston, are of this family. Caroline Van Loon, the third daughter, married William Decew, and settled at Decewsville. " Mary Van Loon, the fifth daughter, married John Osborne, and settled in Louth. She had eight children, one of whom being Dr. J. W. Osborne, of Bealton. Jane Van Loon, the youngest daughter, married William Blackman, and settled in Rainham. SKETCH L. THE THREE EPHRAIMS, No name is more strongly suggestive of old Charlotteville than that of Ephraim Tisdale. From the beginning of the century down to the present time, there has been one or more Ephraims in every generation of the Tisdale family, and those of the first three are entitled to the honor of being classed as pioneers. There are seven Canadian branches of the Tisdale family, and the genealogy of each — except that of Ephraim — is given in another sketch entitled, " The Tisdale Brothers," The Tisdales, of Norfolk, are the descendants of an old Welsh family that settled in the County of Lancaster, England, where they rose to eminence through their acknowledged head. Sir John Tisdale, who was raised to the peerage. The Tisdale arms is minutely described in an old paper brought from New Brunswick by John Tisdale — the family crest being a peacock's head in natural colors on an azure field. Some time in the first half of the seventeenth century, the great-grandfather of our own Col. David Tisdale's great-grandfather, came to America and settled in old Massachusetts Bay Colony, receiv ing a grant of land which was described -as the town of Freetown. Walker Tisdale, the only son of the first Ephraim, who remained in New Brunswick, visited Freetown early in the present century and saw there, in the old Tisdale burying ground, the tombs of his great grandparents, being marked by two large horizontal granite slabs. During Cromwell's time, one John Paul, a Scotch Loyalist, fled from England and came to America, and his daughter was the grandmother of father 256 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Ephraim of this sketch. Ephraim's father' owned a shipyard in the vicinity of Boston. He conducted an extensive business, and was a leading influential man. Ephraim Tisdale, the father of the Norfolk Tisdale famity, was a sea captain. He owned a sailing vessel, and was em ployed in the West India trade; and it is said that during the early part of the war of the Revolution he was engaged in Government service in the distribution of army supplies. During the war he fought for old King George, and when the end came, with its independence for the Americans and its bitter persecution for the Loyalists, the Tisdale estates were confiscated and the Captain and his family subjected to ignominious treatment. Turning their backs upon the old home, they fled into New Brunswick. Here, on the St. John River, between St. John and Fredericton, and near a place called Waterbury, they settled on lands allotted to U. E. Loyalists. Although very much reduced in circumstances and surrounded with less favorable conditions, the Old Flag which they loved and for which they had sacrificed so much, still waved over their heads, inspiring them with renewed courage and increased energy, and they were soon on the road to pros-' perity again. Captain Tisdale resumed his seafaring life, as shown by an old document, which reads as follows : "BARBADOS. " By THIS Public Act, or Instrument of Protest, be it made known and manifest unto all men that on the day of the date hereof, before me, Valentine Jones, jun.. Deputy Secretary and sole Notary Public of this Island, personally came and appeared Ephraim 'Tisdale, Master or Commander of the schooner ' Polly,' now riding at anchor in Carlisle Bay in this Island, and George Furser, Mate, belonging to the said Vessel, who being duly sworn on the holy Evangelists of Almighty God, requested me, the said Notary, to make or draw a Protest "for the reasons following, viz. : For that these Appearers sailed from the Port of Parr, in the Province of New Brunswick, on the thirteenth day of December last past bound for the Island, and proceeding on their said Voyage on the nineteenth day the three EPHRAIMS. 257 of the same month, in the Latitude 40.00 North, and Longitude 60.30, met with a very hard Gale of Wind, which obliged them for the preservation of their lives to throw overboard eighty thousand shingles. Wherefore 1, the said Notary, at the Instance and Request aforesaid, did even as I do by these Presents publicly and solemnly Protest as well against the hard Gale of Wind aforesaid as against the Insurers and owners of the said schooner 'Polly' and the shippers of her cargo, and all Persons with them concerned, for all Costs, Losses, Damages, Hurts, Detriments, Prejudices and Incon venience whatsoever arising to these Appearers, or any others. with them concerned, for or by reason or means of the Acci dents and Misfortunes hereinbefore mentioned and set forth. " In Faith and Testimony whereof I, the said Notary,, have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal of office this Twelfth day of January, One Thousand and Seven Hundreds. and Eighty-five. " Valentine Jones, jun., (Seal). " D. Secy. & N. Public" The city of St. John, N.B., was at this time called the town? of " Parr," and it was at this place, on the 18th day of May,. 1783, where the first settlement in Canada of U. E.. Loyalists. was effected. We also learn that in 1786 Captain Tisdale had made a change from the Polly to some other vessel. His sons did' not all come to Long Point the same year. Lot came first.. He came in 1798, and from that year down to 1808, when the old Captain and his remaining sons brought up the rear, much correspondence of a highly-interesting character passed to> and fro between the " Town of Charlotte-vdlle, Upper Canada," and " Waterbury, New Brunswick." This correspondence has been preserved, and, if published, would throw much light on the life and times of a hundred years agoi Lot, writing to his sister Hannah in 1800, states that " peaches are plentiful," and that he will secure a supply, as a young widow has an orchard so heavily laden that " the trees have to be propped up." Who the " young widow " was who had such an orchard in Char lotteville in 1800, he did not say: It is supposed, however, that 17 258 pioneer sketches of long point settlement. she was Mrs. John Stone, nee Nancy Mabee, and that the peaCh orchard was located a little west of " The Glen," on the lot purchased and settled on in the following year by Ephraim, son of the Captain. , In 1807, Father Ephraim wrote to Lot, describing an over flow of the. St. John River. The water rose until it was twenty-seven inches deep on the floor of his house, and the fences on his farm were nearly all washed away. He states that he can sell his farm for £800, and that he expects to be able to come to Long Point in the following spring. In 1808 he came, and settled near Vittoria. He died, in 1815, in his seventy -flrst year. Ephraim Tisdale, son of the Captain, first came to notice as a cabin-boy on board his father's vessel, a few years before the war of the Revolution broke out. It is said ' he was also a captain of a trading vessel for some years previous to his coming to Upper Canada. In 1801 he was a married man, with two or three children. Lot had been in Long Point settlement for two or three years, and had written back many glowing descriptions of the country, leading other members of the family to a determination to come also. Accordingly, in 1801, Ephraim and his family, William, and their widowed sister, Hannah, who had married Israel Perley, and her three children, started for Long Point. They came in small boats, taking advantage of the numerous water-stretches that inter vened. At night the boats were drawn ashore and made to serve as a covering and protection for their sleeping berths. They came up along the shore and landed at the mouth of the ravine where now is located " The Glen." Ephraim settled on Lot 1-8, on the lake front, formerly taken up by John Stone, and here Ephraim, the grandson was born. Joseph Tisdale came to the settlement in 1802, and purchased a portion of Ephriiim's land, including the notorious "hollow," where he built his pioneer cabin. Ephraim did not possess the specu lative spirit that his brothers were imbued with, and he took no part in their basiness adventures. He stuck to his farm and THE THREE EPHRAIMS. 259 was contented with agricultural pursuits. He was appointed High Constable for the District of London, June 14th, 1803, and served one year. He had five sons — Henry, Lot, Ephraim, James and Benjamin; and five daughters — Elizabeth, Ruth, Philena, Matilda and Mary Ann. Henry Tisdale, eldest son of Ephraim, married Phoebe Teeple, and settled in Malahide. He had one son. Walker ; and two daughters — Tryphena and Submit. Lot Tisdale, second son of Ephraim, married" Margaret Shoemaker, and became a Middleton pioneer, settling near Courtland. He had four sons — Lot, George, Nicholas and William F.; and three daughters — Hannah, Matilda and Sarah. Ephraim Tisdale, third son of Ephraim, was twice married. By his first wife, Mary Monroe, he had three sons — Ephraim, James and William L.; and one daughter, Mary ; and by his second wife, Hannah Price, he had five song — Thomas P., Alonzo, David, Charles and Edward ; and two daughters — Margaret Ann and Mary Francis. James married Maria Coltman, settled on the homestead, and had three sons — Walker, Allen McNabb and John G; and six daughters — Mary, Nancy, Camilla, Caroline, Susan and Harriet. Benjamin married Caroline Williams, settled near the homestead, and had two sons— ^Albert and Eli; and three daughters — Elizabeth, Helen and another who married into the Oak's family. Elizabeth and Rurn married, respectively, James Spore and Rev. Horace Dean. Philexa married Ephraim T. Perley, and settled in Middleton, near Courtland. Mary Ann married a Teeple, and settled in Ohio ; and Matilda died single. Ephraim Tisdale, the father of this family, settled on Lot 18, 5th concession of Charlotteville, remaining there until he died. He served his native township in the Municipal Council, leaving a creditable record behind him. He served as sergeant in a troop of cavalry during the rebellion, and ever after held an official position in the Norfolk Militia. It is not necessary to tell the people of Norfolk that Ephraim Tisdale was a staunch Loyalist. This would be a waste of words. He was 260 pioneer sketches of long point settlement. notoriously loyal. He was fearless and outspoken in giving expression to his sentiments, politically, religiously or socially. He was upright and honorable in business transactions, and sympathetic and generous in social intercourse; but it was the hardest thing in his life to exercise charity in dealing with a man who scoffed at the Old Flag while claiming its protection. His grandson, George, son of Alonzo, occupies the old home stead at present, being the great-great-grandson of the original Ephraim Tisdale, who followed his sons to Long Point so many years ago. Ephraim Tisdale died in 1883, in his 83rd year. • In this branch of the Tisdale family are several leading and shining lights in the professions. Colonel D. Tisdale, son of Ephraim, is the present member for South Norfolk in the Dominion Parliament. He was a member of the late Tupper Government, holding the portfolio of Minister of Militia. In addition to this, he is a leading member of the Norfolk bar and Colonel of the 39th Battalion of Norfolk volunteers. SKETCH LI. A WOODHOUSE PIONEER WHO WAS A BRITISH NAVAL OFFICER. Isaac Gilbert was the son of an English emigrant who settled in the colony of New Jersey somewhere about the middle of last century. He was born in 1743, presumably in England. There are no records in the Gilbert family that throw any light on the history of the family previous to the settlement in Woodhouse ; but, according to a family tradition, Isaac enlisted in the British navy during the war of the Revolution, and was promoted to some minor official position. After the war clpsed he settled in St. John, New Brunswick, where he remained just a little too long to receive a U. E. Loyalist land grant in the new province of Upper Canada. In 1800 or 1801, he came to Long Point settlement with his family, and settled on Lot 4, broken front, of Woodhouse. They came up the lake shore in small boats and landed at Port Ryerse. The Ryerson and Ryerse families had settled previously, and for several years following the Gilbert settlement there was a trail leading through the woods from the home of Colonel Samuel Ryerse to the log cabin of Isaac Gilbert, which was oft trav ersed by the old pioneers and their families. Mr. Gilbert and his sons were as much entitled to a grant of land as any of the other U. E. Loyalists, but, unfortunately, they came too late to participate in the awards. They were not alone, how ever, in their misfortune, as Lawrence Johnson, the old Char lotteville pioneer, and several others, were equally unfortunate. Isaac Gilbert had three sons — Roland, Isaac and Ebenezer; and five daughters— Sarah, Ruth, Mary, Rebecca and Abigail, 262 pioneer sketches of long point settlement.. who came with him to Long Point. His two eldest sons were married when they came. He was a quiet, unobtrusive man, and a staunch Loyalist. He died in 1822, in his 80th year, and his wife, Mary, died on the same day, and within an hour of his own death. Roland Gilbert, eldest son of Isaac, married Phoebe Thurston, in New Brunswick, and settled on Lot 2, 1st conces sion, of Woodhouse. He had four sons — John Thurston, Henry, Hiram and Charles William Milton ; and three daughters — Hulda, Phcebe and Mary Ann. John Thurston settled near Fredericksburg, and raised a large family. Henky married a Disbrow, settled near Vittoria, and had two sons — William Romaine an4 Hiram ; and two daughters, one of whom married a Clunis.- HiRAM was a doctor, and died single at Vienna. Charles William Milton was a Wesleyan Methodist preacher, and lived in Delhi at the time of his death. Hulda married William Havens, and subsequently George Jones. ' Phcebe married Robert Havens, and settled in Charlotteville. Mary Ann married James Milner, a Methodist preacher. The pioneer mother of this family died in 1852, in her 77th year. Col. Isaac Gilbert, second son of Isaac, was born in New Brunswick in 1788. He married Margaret Wyckoff, whose family came to the settlement in advance of the Gilberts. Isaac settled near his father, and raised a family consisting of three sons— John, Edmond and Edwin; and two daughters — Sarah and Mary. John, eldest son of Colonel Isaac, married Christine Smith. They raised a large family, two of whom only remain in Nor folk — Albert and Samantha, who married William Culver. Two or three of John's sons settled in Bay City, Mich., one of whom, Peter, was elected-to a seat in the State Senate. Edmond, second son of Colonel Isaac, and the oldest living member of the family, married Harriet Smith, settled on the homestead, and is the father of one son, William Henry ; and three daughters — Mary, Sarah Jane, and Margaret. a pioneer who was a BRITISH NAVAL OFFICER. 263 Edwin, youngest son of Colonel Isaac, married Minerva Siple, settled near the old home, and left no children. Sarah, eldest daughter of Colonel Isaac, married Daniel Hazen and settled in Woodhouse; and Maky, the youngest daughter, married William Ryerse and settled in Woodhouse. Col. Isaac Gilbert was at the battle of Fort Erie, and also at Lundy's Lane. He entered service in the war of 1812 as an ensign and came out a captain ; and in after years was made a colonel in the old Norfolk militia. Colonel Gilbert -was a charter- member, so to speak, of the first Woodhouse municipal govern ment. Fifteen years before the municipal system came into operation, the township of Woodhouse was keeping house under the old " Town Commissioners' " system. A chairman, a clerk, an assessor, a collector and two church wardens were elected by the people to serve for one year, and the body thus formed was known as '' The Town Commissioners." One of the first " by-laws " enacted by the pioneer " Town Dads " of Wood- house, reads as follows : " All persons found drunk and staggering to-and-fro in the public highway is subject to dig up a stump twelve inches in diameter. In case of failure, then the offender to pay five shillings currency." The wisdom of this bit of pioneer municipal legislation will be readily seen when the danger of navigating a public highway dotted with stumps, for a man found in the "wobbly" condition described in the by-law, is taken into consideration. Col. Isaac Gilbert was elected a member of this primitive Council as Collector and Assistant Assessor, and the minutes show that his brother. Major Ebenezer Gilbert, was appointed Pathmaster. Col. Gilbert died in 1848, in his 61st year, and his wife died in 1871, in her 80th year. Ebenezer T. Gilbert, youngest son of the original Isaac, was married three times. By his first wife, Catherine Clen- dinning, he had two daughters — Lorinda and Lucinda ; by his second, Nancy Lemon, he had one daughter, Rosina ; and by his third wife, Mary Ann Potter, he had one son, Ebenezer ; 264 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETl'LEMENT. and one daughter, Nancy. Lorinda, Lucinda and Rosina married, respectively, William Pilkey, Adam Shelar, and Henry Blake; all settled in Woodhouse. Ebenezer married Mary Jane Oaks, and settled on the homestead. Major Ebenezer died in 1871, in his 75th year, and his third wife died the same year, aged sjxty-two years. Sarah Gilbert, eldest daughter of the old pioneer, married Piatt Wood, and settled on Lot 1 9, 2nd concession of Charlotte ville. Her grandson, Walter Wood, occupies the old homestead at present. Ruth Gilbert, the second daughter, married Robert McAl lister, and settled in Mount Pleasant. Mary Gilbert, the third daughter, married John McNelley, and settled in Windham. Rebecca and Abigail,, youngest daughters of the original Isaac, married, respectively, Alexander Lemon, and Peter Wyckoff, both of whom settled in Woodhouse. SKETCH LIL THE TISDALE BROTHERS. There were eight Tisdale brothers, seven of whom came to Upper Canada. The eighth brother. Walker, remained in New Brunswick, where he amassed considerable wealth. The names of the pioneer heads of the seven Upper Canada branches are, Ephraim, Lot, John, William, Joseph, Samuel and Matthew. A sketch of the Tisdale ancestors and the genealogy of the Ephraim branch of the family are given else where under the head, " The Three Ephraims, All Pioneers." The brothers did not all come to the new country at the same time. Lot came first, and it is presumed that he came as early as 1798, as a letter written by him at Staten Island, dated in that year, shows that he was then on his way to Long Point. He states in the letter, after giving a description of the island, ^hat he is about to take passage on a boat which is going up the Hudson as far as Albany. In 1800 he wrote a letter home describing a Charlotteville peach orchard, which is referred to more particularly elsewhere. In 1801 he went down to New Brunswick on a visit, and returned the same year accompanied by his brothers, Ephraim and William, and his sister, Hannah — Mrs. Perley. Joseph came the following year, and built his pioheer cabin in the ravine locally known as " Spooky Hollow." In 1808, John, Matthew and Samuel came to the settlement, bringing the old people and their younger sister, Joanna, with them. In 1810 Joseph went to ' New Brunswick and married, re turning with his bride and a stock of merchandise ; and soon after the " Tisdale Partnership " was organized for the purpose 266 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. of carrying on a general mercantile business. This pioneer syndicate included four of the Tisdale brothers — -Samuel, Lot, Joseph and Matthew, and Benjamin Mead. The written articles of agreement forming the fundamental law of this mercantile combine have been carefully preserved, and they show that the members bound themselves, under an indemnifying penalty of £40,000, to observe the rules and regulations embodied in the agreement for the space of ten years. The amount of capital furnished by each was as foUow-s : Samuel, £200 ; Lot and Joseph, £168 and 15 shillings in cash, and 25 barrels of flour, at £5 per barrel ; Matthew, £37 and 10 shillings ; and Benjamin Mead, £42 in cash, 50 barrels of flour at £5 per barrel, and a draft on one, Stewart, of Niagara, for £2. The draft was not accepted, however, and Mr. Mead's interest was reduced to the extent of its appraised value. It was a.greed that each partner should share the profits and losses in proportion to the amount of capital furnished by him, and that no partner should pay any private debt of his own out of the partnership assets. Lot Tisdale, Joseph Tisdale, and Mr. Mead were constituted "agents" for managing the business. Just two weeks from the day they went into the woods to get out the timber for the construction of their store the build ing was completed and the store in running order. This old store building is still standing and its massive frame is abund antly able to withstand the fury of the elements for centuries to come. It stands a few rods back from its original site, forming a woodhouse attachment to the Joseph Tisdale family residence just east of Vittoria. In 1812 Joseph Tisdale built the two-story frame house in the " hollow," which stood vacant and silent in the midst of its lonely surroundings for so many years after it was vacated by the family. When Mr. Tisdale built this house, with its massive chimney and its many fireplaces, it was christened ' Cedar Hall," and was looked upon by the settlers at that early time as a residence of magnificent proportions. Mr. Tisdale built a tannery at this place, and operated it several THE TISDALE BROTHERS. 267 years. In 1814 he and his brothers purchased Lot 21 in the 3rd concession, from James Russell; and, in 1816, built the " old red mill." Joseph Tisdale was a shrewd business man, and accumulated considerable wealth. In 1834 he was con sidered one of the largest landowners in Charlotteville. He was a firm Loyalist, and was promoted to a captaincy in the -first Norfolk militia. He died in 1864, having reached the ripe old age of eighty-six years. Lot Tisdale married Nancy Swain, and, after the "syndi cate ' was dissolved, settled in Ancaster. Subsequently, he r,y^ ¦ ;. ¦'t*^;t^^}r.',i>^ V- ^^il^. ME. AND MBS. .TOSBPH TISDALE. settled in Burford. He had five sons — Bradford, George, Lot, William and John ; and seven daughters — Maria, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Sarah, Rebecca, Susan and Amanda. Joseph Tisdale married Margaret Lawrence, of New Bruns wick. 'The children of this union were four sons — Joseph C', Valentine H., .lohn E. and William P.; and six daughters — Miranda L., Philena M., Margaret Jane, Frances Almira, Helen W. R. and Hannah Eliza. William Tisdale settled below Hamilton, where he raised a large family. His wife's mother exchanged the land on which the city of Hamilton is built for a barrel of pork. 2(j8 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Samuel Tisdale married Charlotte Lawrence, and settled near Ancaster also. He left two sons and two daughters. Matthew Tisdale married Abigail Axford, and when the partnership interests were closed out he went into Townsend, but finally settled in St. Thomas. He had two sons — Cyrus and Wallace ; and five daughters — Sarah, Susan, Martha, Maiy Ann and Amelia. John Tisdale married Sarah Britton in New Brunswick, He settled in Windham and had three sons — John, Ephraim and William; and eight daughters — Mary, Jane, Charlotte, Margaret, Maria, Ruth, Susan and Harriet. He died in 1841, in his 73rd year, and his wife Sarah died in 1850 in her 67th year. Hannah Tisdale, eldest sister of the Tisdale brothers, married Israel Perley in New Brunswick. She came to Long Point a widow, with her three children — Ephraim Tisdale, Ch.irles Strange and Elizabeth Moore. These children were brought up by their uncle, Joseph Tisdale. Ephraim T. settled near Courtland, and Charles S settled in Burford. Joanna Tisdale, sister of Hannah, married one Ellsworth and settled in Yarmouth. She liad two sons — Ephraim and William — anl four daughters. The old blotter used in the Tisdale store has been preserved, and from its time-stained pages the following entries are copied to show the prices obtained for merchandise at that early time : Mrs Duncan McCall. To 2 bowls @ 2/6 = 31 cts. Jame,s Je-well. To 2 yds. factory cotton , @ 5/ = 62^ cts. John Franklin. To ^ lb. tea ©14/ = $1.75. Stephen Underbill. To J lb. tobacco @ 6/ = 75 cts. THE TISDALE BROTHERS 269 Daniel Berdan. To 1 pr. wool cards ; . . . .@ 10/ = $1.25. 2 yds. flannel @ 6/6 = 81 cts. 4 skeins silk @ 1/ = 12| cts. 1 pitcher @ 12/ = f 1.50. Ca'eb Wood To i yd, cashmere @ 18/ = $2.25. Jacob Wood. To 3 lbs. sugar @ 1'6 = 18| cts. i lb. pepper @ 5/ = 62^ cts. James Cram. To i lb. alspice @ 5/ = 62^ cts. Francis L Welch. To 2 oz. indigo @ 36/ per lb. = $1.50. Mr. Cromwell. To 1 yd. brown coating @ 21/ = $2.62J. 1^ yds. Turkey stripe @ 6/ = 75 cts. Christopher Oaks. To 1 lb. nails @ 3/ =374 cts. Richard Lanning. By 6 bush. 5^ lbs. Rye ©12/ = $1.50. Abraham Smith. By 1 cwt. rye flour : ©34/ = $4.25. The unit price is marked in shillings and pence, New York currency — the form " 2/6 " being the old style of book entry, meaning two shillings and sixpence. In the entries quoted the equivalent of the unit price is given in dollars and cents. From this old blotter we learn also that common laborers received $1 per day, and hence all a man was able to earn in a day at that time was a little more than a yard and a half of factory cotton, or a pound and a half of pepper. He would have to work nearly two days for a pound of tea, and a whole week for as much sugar as he can now buy for a dollar and a half. 270 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. The descendants of the Tisdale family, as well as the general reader, are indebted to the daughters of Joseph Tisdale — Mrs. Dr. Palmer and Miss Margaret J. Tisdale— for much valuable data incorporated in these sketches. These ladies, with the daughters of Mrs. Palmer — Miss Charlotte J. and Miss Maggie E. — occupy the old home at Vittoria, and they have in their possession a most interesting collection of old papers and choice old heirlooms. In this collection may be seen New Brunswick newspapers and other publications more than a hundred years old. They have the first genuine china tea set that was brought into the settlement. During the McArthur raid in the war of 1812, Mrs. Joseph Tisdale secreted this tea- set in the bogs among the cedars. They have also the crude bedsteads and tables made by the pioneer brothers and used in their primitive log cabins. A dress made for Hannah Tisdale in New Brunswick a hundred and eighteen years ago, and the " punch-dipper " made by father Ephraim, and used by him when he plowed the " raging main," are among the heirlooms. In fact, it would require a whole chapter to enumerate all the curios contained in this collection. But it is the old family papers that are of special interest to the descendants of the Tisdale family. They are the family records of the dead and buried past. They reveal glimpses of the Tisdale inner life, their love of virtue, their warm attach ment to home, their abhorence of ignorance and vulgarity, their proud ambition to make their mark in the world, and their affection for each other. These papers show how, and with whom, they did busiiless ; and they sho w that every move made, although not always successful, was clear, open, frank and straightforward. " Cedar Hall " was made notorious after the family of Joseph Tisdale moved into the village, by the babblings of a few ignorant, superstitious people that did great injustice to the family. In this old mass of papers Joseph Tisdale and his brothers have left a record behind them which should be a matter of proud satisfaction to their descendants. PRESENT EDIFICE OF THE PIONEER BAPTIST CHURCH. SKETCH LIII. THE PIONEER BAPTIST CHURCH. The First Regular Baptist Church of Charlotteville, in Vittoria, is the pioneer society of that denomination in Norfolk County. True, the old Boston church assumed a definite form the same year, 1804, yet it was not formally organized until the following year, when a delegation from Charlotteville were in attendance. In 1798 Elder Titus Finch came to the settlement. Previous to this he had joined a Baptist church in a back settlement in Nova Scotia, and had been ordained by them to preach the Gospel. When he settled in Charlotteville the settlers were few and far between ; but he was an indefatigable worker in the Master's, vineyard, and for six years following the date of his ari'ival, he co-operated with the American missionaries that occasionally visited the settlement, in the promulgation of the Gospel. In fact, during these years Elder Finch did a purely missionary work, but in 1804 a sufficient quantity of material had been gathered to form a Baptist society and the organiza tion became a matter of history. Unfortunately, the minutes of this old pioneer church, for the first sixteen years of its existence, have not been preserved ; and that portion of its history, therefore, which is most essential to the purposes of this work, has disappeared with those who made it. Among the few old papers which have not been lost are a number of receipts for payments of subscription sums on " meeting-house account," and a deed for the acre of land on which to build a " meeting-house," and in which to bury the dead. The deed bears date, January 3rd, 1807, and was made by Oliver Mabee, to Peter Teeple and Lawrence Johnson, Trustees, in consideration of two pounds and ten shillings, to 272 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. be used by the Baptist Society of Charlotteville in connection with the Shaftsbury Association, for church purposes solely. The conveyance was witnessed by Richard Lanning and Joseph Merrill. The subscription receipts are dated in Woodhouse and signed by Daniel Ross, and are as follows : " Samuel Smith, 527 lbs. of wheat; Oliver Mabee, five bushels of rye; Thomas Smith, j£3, N. Y. currency ; Lawrence Johnson, £1 16s. ; Robert Shearer, £8, and another for £14 7s. 9d. ; John Gustin, £5 ; Joseph Merrill, 28s. 2d., and two others in favor of Samuel Smith. These receipts bear the date, 1809 ; but there is nothing to show when, by whom, or at what expense,, the " meeting house " was built. It was a commodious structure for those times, however, and superseded the original log structure. It was furnished with a three-sided gallery. The young people who used to attend the singing schools in that old meeting house were the parents and grandparents of our fathers and mothers, and they lived in a world that passed away before our world came into existence. Among the constituent members of 1804, were the follow ing : Elder Finch and wife, Lawrence Johnson and wife, John Gustin and wife, Peter Teeple and wife, Oliver Mabee and wife, Richard Lanning and wife, Joseph Merrill and wife, Samuel Smith and wife, Thomas Smith, Robert Shearer and wife, Abraham Smith and wife, Solomon Smith, Andrew McCleish and wife, and Levi Montross and wife. It was the .custom in those days for Elder Finch to preach a " harvest sermon " each season, at which time the sturdy settlers held a " harvest festival " of rejoicing and thanksgiving for the in gathering of the harvest. This is a grand old English custom, and is celebrated at the present time by numerous Baptist churches in the great American Republic. In the early days of the settlement. His Majesty's Justices of the Peace, who sat on the judicial bench in the kitchen of Job Loder's tavern at Turkey Point, commissioned to administer the affairs of London District according to law, refused to grant licenses to marry to all dissenting ministers of the Gospel. This caused a good deal of hard feeling, which paved THE PIONEER BAPTIST CHURCH. 273 the way for a more liberal construction and administration of the laws. The old court journal contains the following entry bearing date June 9th, 1807 : " Lawrence Johnson, John G^ustin, Samuel Smith, Robert Shearer, Robert Henderson, Thomas Smith and John Stone, members of the Baptist society, declare the Rev. Titus Finch to be their ordained minister. " The Court unamiously agree that the Rev. Titus Finch shall have license to marry people agreeable to the statutes of the Province in that case made and provided." From the old church book, commencing in June, 1820, the following historical matters have been gleaned : June 2nd, 1820 — Church granted liberty to George J. Ryerse to exhort and expound the Scriptures 'tvhen he thought proper. Oliver Mabee was church clerk from 1820 to 1827, and was succeeded by Geo. J. Ryerse. August 4th, 1827 — Liberty was granted to Lawrence Johur son, junior, to exhort and expound the Scriptures when he felt it his duty to do so. October 6th, 1827 — Resolved, " Not to receive an accusation against any member but in writing, signed by the complainant, and that after the regular steps had been taken as pointed out in Matthew, 18th chapter." November 8th, 1827 — Lawrence Johnson, sen. ; Lawrence- Johnson, jun. ; Samuel Smith ; Ben. Palmer3ton ; Oliver Mabee ; and Geo. Ryerse were delegated to attend an ordination council at Catfish Creek church, to ordain Samuel Baker. In the fall of 1827, and following winter, a large number- were added to the church by the evangelizing work of Elders William McDermand, Joseph Merrill and Simon Mabee. October 6th, 1828, the Walsingham church was organized and set off. Council convened at the house of Michael Troyer. Elder McDermand preached the sermon and Elder Merrill gave hand of fellowship. June 6th, 1829 — George J. Ryerse was ordained. Southwold chiirch was represented by Elder McDermand; Walsingham church by Deacon M. Troyer ; Bayham church by Elder Merrill; 18 274 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Malahide church by Elder Baker, and Townsend church by Elder Harris. After ordination the newly -made Elder baptized Hannah Clark. June 5th, 1830 — Thirteen members were set off and organized into a new church at Stony Creek. July 28th — It was resolved, " That any member absenting himself from covenant meeting or communion (which is to be held monthly) shall be enquired after or visited bj^ order of the church." It was also resolved at this meeting that the deacons be authorized " To tax the members according to their ability." September 1st, 1832 — Elder McDermand was engaged for one- third of his time at the rate of $100 per annum. January 26th, 1835 — Elder J. Stewart was engaged for the ensuing year at $150, with house and garden. March 28th — A petition was received from Peter Mabee, Fred ^ Sovereign and twenty-three others, praying to be set off as a separate church in Middleton — Fredericksburg. January 20th, 1836 — A request was granted to a number of members in the Kern settlement to be set off as a separate church. This church was organized Feb. 27th, with forty-one members. December 5th — It was resolved " To give Elder William Smith a call to preach every other Sunday for one year at not less than $50." Elder Smith replied as follows : " Will not engage for any length of time or for any fixed sum of money ; but will endeavor to attend every first and third Lord's Day in the month as long as the church manifests a disposition to attend the ministry and God is pleased to bless it to the good of the people ; and whatever the church feels disposed from time to time to give me, while my circumstances require it, will be re ceived with thankfulness." August 27th, 1837 — Oliver Mabee, Levi Churchell and David Bowers were appointed delegates to sit in council with Bayham church in the ordination of Shook McConnell. March 13th, 1839 — Elder Mabee was engaged as pastor for one year at $150. November 1st — A council was convened for the ordination of Samuel Smith. Walsingham sent Elder McDermand, Deacon THE PIONEER BAPTIST CHURCH. 275 M. Troyer, Deacon Cornelius Dedrick and Tyler Brown. Mid dleton sent Deacon F. Sovereign, Deacon William McLennen, and John Putman. 2nd Charlotteville sent Deacon Ben. Palmerston, Deacon Lawrence Johnson and Deacon Joseph Kitchen. It was decided not to ordain Mr. Smith at that time. Shortly afterwards he was granted a travelling letter. February 1st, 1841 — Elder McDermand was engaged to devote two-thirds of his time with the church for one year at $150. November 27th — A. C. Barrell, of Fredonia, N.Y., was engaged for one year at $300, with house, garden and fuel. In the winter of 1842-3 a series of " exhibitions " were held in the neighborhood, and the Church took exception to them as evidenced by the following resolutions : Resolved, " That the exhibitions performed of late in some of the school-houses, by the youth of our country and some of our church members, are very detrimental to the peace and progress of religion in the human heart : Resolved, " Therefore, that every member performing or attending any of the above-mentioned exhibitions, will be con sidered guilty of committing capital crime against the Church and will be treated as such." September l7th, 1844 — It was resolved to send Deacon Joseph Kitchen, Deacon Peter Mabee and Daniel Smith as a delegation to meet sister churches in Oxford, " to organize a system on which to establish an educational institution in this Province." At this same meeting Deacon Mabee was authorized to procure a candle-box and purchase a half-dozen candlesticks. In June,. 1848 — Abraham Duncan was engaged as pastor. Shortly afterwards he was ordained. In this same month Elder Duncan, Deacon Daniel Smith, Deacon Samuel Smith, John Shearer, David Shearer and Oliver Mabee, jun., were deputized to sit in council with sister churches, at the request of the Fredericksburg church, in the ordination of William McLennen. Of this delegation, Oliver Mabee is the sole survivor. January 3rd, 1849 — The following significant resolution was placed upon the church book : Resolved, " That in the exercise 276 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETl'LEMENT. of political rights professed by the members of this church, it will from henceforward be no reproach to their Christian standing in the Church." January 10th, 1851 — The first meeting was called to "take into consideration the necessity and Christian duty of building a new house of worship." Deacons Smith, Shearer and Mabee were appointed a committee to solicit subscriptions. They met with success, and Deacon D. B. Smith, Deacon Oliver Mabee, jun., Thomas Lamport, Alex. Teeple, Peter Young, Albert Ter- hune, and Wm. H. Ryerse were appointed a committee of seven to superintend the construction of the new church. The new church was dedicated May 30th, 1852. Of this committee, Mabee and Ryerse are the sole survivors. Previous to June 13th, 1820, about forty names were included in the list of membership. This was the period during which Elder Finch performed the most of his pioneer work. Between this date and June 10th, 1840, 149 persons were baptized — 51 by Elder George Ryerse ; 44 by Elder Wm." McDermand ; 21 by Elder Simon Mabee ; 20 by Elder Samuel Baker; 10 by Elder Isaac Elliott ; 3 by Elder Joseph Merrill ; 2 by Elder William Smith ; 1 by Elder Finch ; and 1 by Elder Stewart. In Novem ber and December, 1848, 62 persons were baptized by Elder Duncan and Elder George Wilson. Between March 16th, 1862, and April 12th, 1863, Rev. T. Baldwin baptized 52 persons ; and during January and February, 1867, Elder Vining baptized 14 persons. Rev. H. Cocks baptized 65 converts between December 26th, 1869, and January 12th, 1873 ; and Rev. T. Sinclair baptized 34 between April 6th, 1873, and April 2.3rd, 1875. - Ninety-three years ago the first Baptist church was organ ized in Norfolk County. To-day, there are thirty Baptist churches in the county, having a total membership of 3,028 persons. From the membership of the old mother church at Vittoria material has been taken from time to time to organize some four or five new churches. To-day, her membership num bers 181. J. W. Chadwick is the present clerk; and Rev. Thomas Shields is the present pastor. SKETCH LIV. PIONEERS IN METHODISM-JAMES MATTHEWS AND JACOB BUCHNER. Among the Methodist pioneers of old Long Point country no name occupies a more prominent place than that of James Matthews. During the troublous times of the Revolution, Joseph Ryerson and Mr. Matthews were warm friends and fellow Loyalists, and they came to Upper Canada about the same time. Mr. Matthews took up his U. E. Loyalist grant on Lyons' Creek, in the Niagara district, but his friends induced him to exchange it for land in Long Point settlement. The exchange was made for Lot 3 in the Gore of Woodhouse, where he settled and reared his family. Here was established one of the first Methodist homes in Norfolk, and here were held many of the early Methodist pioneer meetings which culminated in the organization of the first Methodist society in the county. This pioneer society has now its third church edifice standing where its predecessors stood — just north of the old Matthews' home stead. James Matthews was of English and Scotch descent, and his wife's people were Dutch. He fought for George III. in the war of the Revolution, as a cavalryman, but there are no family records in existence from which anything further can be learned of the family history previous to the settlement here. The pioneer experiences of the family during the log-cabin era of Norfolk's history were the common experiences of all. All were exposed to hardships, and there were few, indeed, who did not suffer cruel privations. 278 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. The late Holmes Matthews, seventh son of the old pioneer, who lived about twenty years beyond the " three score and ten " limit, said, while speaking of the old times : " It seems to me that the greatest sin of which the young people nowadays are guilty, is that of ingratitude. Instead of properly appreciating the wonderful advantages which it is their blessed privilege to enjoy, they grumble at this and find fault with that, and imagine that life, somehow, has lost all of its charms. Because a bushel of wheat will no longer command a dollar, and everything else has depreciated accordingly, they have got the idea into their heads that the struggle for exist ence has almost reached the line where patience ends and despair begins. Why. my father used to carry five bushels of wheat on the back of a horse through the woods all the way down to the Short Hills, in the Niagara district, to get it ground. In those days we didn't get even bread to eat three times a day that was made of wheat flour. Talk about the low price of wheat ? Why, I remember when father hauled wheat through mud-holes, up sand-hills, and over corduroy roads, all the way to Job Loder's mill at W^aterford, and sold it for two York shillings a bushel — half in trade and the other half in cash to pay taxes with ; and the trade was calico at four shil lings a yard, and everything else in proportion. Young people nowadays don't know anything about hard times." May the young men. of Norfolk ponder well these words of a man whose life extended back to an age that is • being too soon forgotten, and be led to prize more highly the patrimonial possessions which have been handed down to them — possessions which cost their grandsires so much self-denial and cruel drudgery. James Matthews was a member of old London District's first court jury, which sat at the house of James Monroe, April 8th, 1800. During the war of 1812 he served with his team in the transportation of army supplies: He died in 1818, having reached his 96th year. It is said he walked up to Windham the day before his ninetieth birthday and returned the follow ing day. PIONEERS IN METHODISM. 279 Mrs. Matthews nee Margaret Forse, drew land in Wood- house in her own right as the wife of a U. E. Loyalist. She died in 1839 in her 74th year. They had seven sons — John, James, Philip, George, Samuel, Adam and Holmes ; and three daughters — Sarah, Ann and Amy. John Matthews, eldest son of James, married Eliza Hazen, and settled in Windham, and subsequently in Charlotteville. He served in the war of 1812, and received a gun-shot wound in his knee at the battle of Lundy's Lane. John W. Matthews, who served in the Charlotteville Council six years, is a son of John, and one of our leading citizens. He has resided on Lot 8, in the 9th concession for fifty-four years, and was one of the pioneers in his section of the township. James Matthews, second son of James, married Maria Buchner, and settled in Walsingham, where he raised a family. Philip Matthews, third son of James, settled in Michigan. Philip also served in the war of 1812. George Matthews, fourth son of James, was born about the time the family came to Long Point. He married Jane Hazen, and settled in Woodhouse. He had four sons — George, John, Caleb and Adam Clark ; and four daugHters — ^Mary, Margaret, Phoebe and Elizabeth. George Matthews, the father of this family, was too young to serve at the breaking out of the war of 1812, but before it closed he was in the ranks. He died in 1860 in his 62nd year, and his wife in 1855 in her 56th year. Samuel Matthews, fifth son of James, married Margaret White, and settled in Woodhouse. Adam Matthews, sixth son of James, married Charlotte, sister of Albert Toms, and settled on part of the old homestead. Adam had one daughter, Elizabeth, who remained single. She occupies the old home. Holmes Matthews, youngest son of James, married Maria, daughter of Benjamin Mead. He settled on part of the old homestead, and had a family of three sons — George W., William and James. Mr. Matthews was a captain in the old militia, and during the rebellion he served in the Norfolk battalion of 280 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT: troops, as lieutenant in Captain Wilson's company. His com pany was with Colonel McNab on the frontier, and Mr. Matthews says that Captain Wilson was one of the party under Captain Drew that sent the Caroline over the falls. While McNab was at Scotland with a detachment of the forces in pursuit of Duncombe and his followers, two brothers, by the name of Walker, deserted the ranks, refusing to surrender their small arms and threatening to shoot down any one who molested them. They lived not far away, and were considered desperate characters ; and when a call was made for volunteers to go to their homes and capture the arms, no one responded. Finally, Holmes Matthews said that if one of the Havilands would accompany him he would undertake the job. Haviland volun teered, and the two succeeded in making the capture without bloodshed. Holmes Matthews was one of the very few men living in Norfolk in 1897, whose father fought in the war of the Revolution. In his younger days he enjoyed the reputation of being a good shot, and among the many good hunting stories he tells is the following : " I don't b'lieve in tellin' yarns, but I s'pose I can tell the biggest bear story ye ever heard. I killed a bear once with a single bullet at one shot an' put five holes in the bears hide ! Yes, sir, when I skinned that bear there were five holes in the hide all made by that one bullet. How did it happen ? Well, I'll tell ye all about it. Me an' brother Samuel was cleanin' buckwheat in the field when we saw a big lubberly bear comin' towards us through the corn. I had my gun and dog with me, but the gun was loaded with shot and I had no bullets with me. The dog made for 'im, but the bear was a big feller, an' he cuffed the dog about without the least worry. I told Sam to go to the house for a bullet an' me an' the dog would tree the bear while he was gone. I kept the dog at 'im 'til he showed the white feather, an' that meant a retreat up the nearest tree. When he got to the fence the fun began. When he tried to climb over the dog would seize 'im by one of his hind legs, an' then the bear would fall back an' knock the PIONEERS IN METHODISM. 281 dog over, an' try it agin. Once he tried to climb over the fence backwards, but he made a failure of it. At last he succeeded in scaliii' the fence, an' as he did so I let him have the charge of shot which sent him up a tree. 'When Sam got back I rammed down the bullet. He lay in the crotch of the tree, pretty well up, an' partially hidden by the thick leaves on the branches of the tree. He lay all doubled up, an' after a careful examination of the situation, I let 'im have it, when down he came, kerplunk, on the ground. The ball passed through his neck, one leg, and entered his body and penetrated his heart." Sarah Matthews, eldest daughter of James, married -John Butler, and settled in Woodhouse. Ann Matthews, the second daughter, married Daniel Hazen, and settled in Oakland. Amy Matthews, youngest daughter of James, married George Warwick, by whom she had one daughter, Margaret, who married Charles Wheeler, and settled in Michigan. Sub sequently Mrs. Warwick married Jacob Buchner, jun., and settled in Woodhouse. Jacob Buchner, jun., was a son of Jacob Buchner, the old Woodhouse pioneer, who settled near Port Ryerse soon after James Matthews came to the settlemsnt. The elder Buchner was a fellow-worker with Mr. Matthews in the cause of Methodism, being one of the original members of the first society. He was also a member of Norfolk's first court jury, that sat at the house of James Monroe, Charlotteville, as before stated, on the 8th day of April, 1800. The Buchner family suffered their share of the hardships that fell to the lot of all who came into the wilds of Norfolk without means, before the close of last century. A rude shanty, with blankets and the skins of animals hung up as substitutes for doors and windows — such was the Buchner home at first. The wolves were numerous, and Mrs. Buchner found it necessary to keep a loaded gun by her side when left alone, so that, when annoyed by them, she might at least frighten them away by discharging its contents at them. In this 282 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. pioneer family of Buchners were five sons — Philip, John, Shelar, Jacob and James ; and four daughters — Ann, Margaret, Clarissa and Jane. Jacob Buchner, sen., died in 1841, in his 79th year ; and his wife, Catherine, died in 1855, in her 88th year. Philip Buchner, son of Jacob, married and settled in Michigan, where he raised a family. John Buchner, second son of Jacob, settled in Walpole, where he raised a family. Shelar Buchner, third son of Jacob, married Martha Bink- ley, of Dundas, and settled on part of the homestead. He had three sons — John, William and George ; and four daughters — Nancy, Sarah, Ann and Mary. Jacob Buchner, fourth son of Jacob, married Mrs. Amy Warwick nee Amy Matthews, and settled, finally, in Houghton, where he died. He had one son, Mark ; and six daughters — Sarah, Matilda, Martha, Catherine, Mary and Eliza. The son succeeded to the Houghton homestead. James Buchner, fifth son of Jacob settled in Houghton also, where he raised a family. Of the daughters of Jacob Buchner, sen., Margaret married Jacob Jewell, and settled in Woodhouse ; Clarissa married George Ri tenor, and settled in Woodhouse ; and Jane married Thomas Chapman, and settled in Woodhouse. In the Chapman family were four sons — Jacob, George, William and James ; iand four daughters — Catherine, Elizabeth, Martha and Ann. SKETCH LV. A BRIGHT AND SHINING EXAMPLE.— JOB LODER. Away back in the early days of old Long Point settlement, before there was any occasion to organize a court to " hear and determine divers felonies, trespasses and other misdemeanors," a man appeared on the scene who was destined to play an important part in the pioneer work of the settlement, and stamp his name indelibly on the first page of Norfolk's history. This man's name was Job Loder, a native of Sussex County, New Jersey, and a millwright and house-builder by trade. In addition to this he possessed good business qualifications, and was industrious, ambitious and honest. A man of this char acter ought to prosper anywhere ; but it seems that Mr. Loder's business adventures in his native State were not crowned with success. He became hopelessly involved in debt, and, in order to get out of the difficulty he ran 'away, it is said, and came to Upper Canada. Is this the " leading and shining example ?" I hear the reader ask. Wait until you hear the story. This happened a hundred years ago, before the fiicker- ing rays of the torch of modern civilization had penetrated the human skull. It happened in the days of barbarism, when a man who, through misfortune, became unable to meet his pecuniary obligations promptly and fully, might be thrown into a dungeon, and his wife and little ones left to starve or subsist on cold, clammy charity. It happened in an age when the dead body of a man might be seized by a creditor, and taken from his weeping family and exposed in a public place, like a carcase in a butcher's shambles, until the debt was paid ; and it happened at a time when men and women were hanged 284 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. like dogs for the crime of theft. Nowadays, a man may fail in business whenever he feels like it, and by compromising with his creditors on a 17 per cent, basis, start up again on a grander scale than ever. If Job Loder were in business to-day in New Jersey, and misfortune overtook him, as it did a hundred years ago, the law would not permit his creditors to put their hands on his home if it did not exceed $1,000 in value, and it would compel them to leave him $200 worth of personal property besides ; and whatever might be left over and above these exemptions they would be compelled to take in full satisfaction of their claims, provided the debtor was a fit and proper subject for the benefits arising from the Insolv ency Laws. Job Loder did not take " French leave " of his creditors in New Jersey for the purpose of defrauding them ; he left them in order that he might be able some day to pay them every cent he owed them. That day came before the century had passed its second decade. The new settlement was a profitable field in which to exer cise the splendid abilities he possessed, and he prospered from the very start. When he had made a suflicient amount of money to pay off his old debts in New Jersey, he advertised that he would b^ at the Court house in Newton on a certain date to settle in full with his old creditors. Did he do it ? It is said that he did ; and in that noble act he became a " bright and shining example " for all men wdio would prove to the -world that they place a higher value on their personal honor than they do on a plethoric pocket-book. Every creditor received one hundred cents for every dollar of claim, with interest. These old claims were non-collectable here — indeed, they were outlawed in New Jersey — and their liquidation, therefore, was purely optional on his part. His business failure had been brought about by no fault of his ; and the law, by lapse of time, had forgiven the debts ; but the moral obligation, which was of too high a nature to be eff"ected by any statute of human creation, remained ; and, as fortune had given him the means, a BRIGHT AND SHINING EXAMPLE. 285 he could not, as an honest man, withhold it from its rightful owners. Simply performed his duty as an honest man ? Yes ; but how many business men in this year of grace, 1897, would be able to stand a test of this kind ? The almighty dollar is the " fire " that tries men's souls in these times. Is it not true that all men pass current to-day, as honest men, who claim all that the law allows, and who, tighten their grip on everything that the laiv will not compel them to give up ? Job Loder's honesty was measured by his conscience in the sight of God, and not by the limitations or prohibitions of a humanly devised statute book. After Mr. Loder had finished his business affairs in New Jersey, he purchased the finest covered carriage in the market, and rode out of the State in it. It was the finest turn-out that came into Long Point settlement up to that time ; and it is safe to assert that no man ever enjoyed a 500-mile carriage ride with a keener relish than did Mr. Loder on that occasion. How different from the first leave-taking of his native State ! How brightly the sun shone, and what a melody of music came from the feathered songsters, as he drove through the forest ! How gently was he rocked by the springing steel beneath his cush ioned seat, as the carriage rolled over the rough and uneven way ; and how his heart swelled with emotions of gratitude as he looked up through the tree-tops into the ethereal blue beyond, and thought of what he had accomplished in the past and what he hoped to accomplish in the future, in the new country which he had adopted as his own. In 1803 Job Loder kept a tavern in the " Town of Char lotteville," as Turkey Point was called at that time. In that year Mr. Loder's tavern was made judicial headquarters for all London District, and the courts were held there until a court house was built. Three years previous to this, Levi Comber had taken a contract to build a jail and court-house at the " Town of Charlotteville" for £312 10s. Od., but he failed to carry out his contract. On December 10th, 1 803, Mr. Loder contracted to build a jail and court-house at Turkey Point for £250, and 286 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. he was appointed jailer at a salary of £25 a year. ¦ The jail was built of logs, but the court-house was a frame structure. Job Loder built most of the pioneer mills in the settlement, including the Finch mill that preceded the Cross & Fisher mill, and the old original Gustin mill east of Vittoria. Early in the century he went to Waterford where he purchased the mill and enlarged it, built a sawmill and engaged in merchan dising. Israel W. Powell was a clerk in Mr. Loder's store at this time. When Ephraim T. Perley built his Burford mill, Mr. Loder put money in the enterprise, and the result was, that owing to financial embarrassment on the part of Mr. Perley, the mill passed into the hands of Mr. Loder's son. At the beginning of the second quarter of the century we find Job Loder in possession of a mill near Ancaster run by water drawn from three mill ponds. As at Waterford, he carried on a mercantile business in connection with the milling business. In 1827 he was visited by an old Long Point friend, and he informed his visitor that it was his intention to go into Hamil ton, build a steamboat, and put himself in a position where he could meet competition successfully. " Do you think you can make a success of your steamboat scheme ? " asked his friend. '' Make a success of it ? " replied the intrepid Job, '' did you ever know me to undertake anything in this country that I did not carry to a successful issue ? " In 1829 he went into Hamil ton in pursuance of his plang, but the steamboat proved an elephant on his hands, and he lost money in the undertaking. Among the early names in the pioneer history of our county, that of Job Loder will ever occupy a prominent and highly- honored place. It is one of the early familiar names that stands for individual honor, business capacity and business integrity. SKETCH LVI. CAPTAIN WILLIAM FRANKLIN. Just a century of the world's history has been completed since William Franklin came to Long Point. He was not a U. E. Loyalist and, consequently, did not draw land or receive any other favors from the Government. He was of English descent, and came from the State of Connecticut. He was an American, and as captain of a company of American militia men, had fought for independence in the war of the Revolution. After the war he retired to his home in Connecticut, -where he operated a ferry at a point on the Thames River, supposed to be the place where the town of Franklin now stands. In 1797 he came to Upper Canada with his family of seven children and his son-in-law, Hamilton Woodroof. Like many other American families that came to Long Point the Franklins were not prompted by political motives. In 1790 the population of Connecticut was 238,141, and in 1870 it was only 537,454, the increase during all this time being barely IJ per cent. per annum. A result so anomalous, where the general popu lation doubles itself every twenty-five years, is creditably explained by the fact that to all the new States of the Union, and the provinces of Canada, Connecticut has uniformly been a nursery of educated men of every class — of merchants and agriculturists, of lawyers and statesmen. The quota furnished by the little wooden nutmeg State, in the settlement of Upper Canada, although considerably less than that furnished by New Jersey and other States, has been a creditable one. A down- east " Yankee " may be given somewhat to '' sharp " practices, which fail to harmonize with the conservative notions of honest 288 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. old John Bull, yet a sprinkling of him is a valuable acquisition in every community. He . is industrious, enterprising and pro gressive, and no man can live by the side of him without being influenced, more or less, by the spirit of economical thrift that so signally characterizes him. William Franklin did not come to Upper Canada because he hated the New Flag which bore thirteen bright stars, and for which he had fought. Political matters had nothing to do with it. He came to Long Point settlement because it was a new country and a good country, and because the chances for securing homes for himself and his children were all that might be desired. He fought for inde pendence because that meant freedom from an unjust and un holy anti-British system of taxation, which was an outrage to the true spirit of British institutions. Indeed, the record that William Franklin and many other American pioneers of Nor folk have left behind them, prove that the men who took up arms to resist that iniquitous ' stamp tax were not, necessarily, unfriendly or disloyal to British institutions. There is not a true son of Britain, to-day, in any portion of the empire, who would not resist to the uttermost a like imposition. Captain Franklin finally settled on Lot. 14, 1st concession of Walsingham, and was a shoemaker by trade. He died about the year 1827, honored and respected by all who knew him. He left five sons — Benjamin, George, Augustus, William and Horatio N. ; and two daughters — Rebecca and Sarah. Benjamin Franklin, eldest son of the Captain, settled in Ohio. George Franklin, second son of the Captain, married Rachel, daughter of William Hazen, and settled in Bayham, where he raised a large family. Augustus Franklin, third son of the Captain, married Jane Smith, and settled on part of the homestead. He had four sons— Benjamin, Isaac, Nelson Byron, and Wellington ; and two daughters — Clarissa and Eliza Jane. These sons and daughters all settled in Walsingham. Nelson Byron was the late Dr. Franklin, of Port Rowan, and Miss Ann Franklin, of captain WILLIAM FRANKLIN. 289 that place, a prominent local vocalist, is a daughter of Dr. Franklin. William Franklin, fourth son of the Captain, married Martha, daughter of Andrew McCleish, and settled on part of the homestead. He had six sons — Ethan, John L., Andrew R, William, Benjamin W. and Harvey L. ; and one daughter — Louisa Jane. All settled in Walsingham, William succeeding to the homestead- Horatio N. Franklin, youngest son of the Captain, married Mary Rockafeller, a relative of the American millionaire of that name. He settled in Bayham and, subsequently, in Charlotte ville. He had two sons — Oliver and Horatio N. ; and one daughter, Hester. All settled in Walsingham. Sarah Franklin, eldest daughter of the Captain, married Henry Smith, and settled in Walsingham. She raised a large family, the most of whom settled in their native township. Rebecca Franklin, the Captain's second daughter, married Hamilton Woodroof, in Connecticut, and, as before stated, came with her husband in the Franklin party. They settled at Vittoria and raised a large family, the most of whom settled in Michigan. Dr. Benjamin W. Franklin, of Port Huron, is the fifth son of William Franklin, son of the original William. William Franklin, the third, present occupant in part of the old home stead, has seen seven generations of Franklins, and his chances for seeing the eighth are very good. 19 SKETCH LVII. TWO BROTHERS MEET IN DEADLY COMBAT AT LUNDY'S LANE— OWEN BROTHERS. The great whirligig of human events brings about a won derful variety of combinations and conditions in the affairs of men. The ever changing and shifting course of circumstances make and unmake men ; and the best that man can do, is to take advantage of opportunity when it is offered, and reconcile himself to the inevitable when opportunity is withheld. One_ of the strange incidents of life occurred at the battle of Lundy's Lane. Two brothers, Jessie and Abner Owen, were on opposite sides in that memorable struggle. The brothers did not hap pen to meet, and it ig supposed that each was ignorant of the other's whereabouts at that time. Jesse Owen was in the American ranks, and an account of the part he played in the battle, written by himself, has been carefully preserved by his descendants. From this writing the following is taken : " I enlisted at the beginning of the war and served until it closed. I was engaged in several battles. I was with General Brown when he crossed over to Canada on the 3rd of July, 1814, and took Fort Erie. I was at Chippewa, and afterwards at Lundy's Lane, July 25th. The battle at the latter place com menced before sunset and continued until midnight. The moon shone brightly. Generals Brown and Scott were both wounded, and the command fell to General Ripley. We were sorely annoyed by the British artillery stationed on a commanding elevation, and Colonel Miller, by orders from General Ripley, called for forty volunteers to take this battery. The number TWO brothers meet in deadly combat. 291 quickly responded, I being one of them. After divesting our selves of all superfluous clothing and tieing handkerchiefs around our heads, we started on the double-quick, and reaching the muzzles of the cannon, we drove back the artillerymen with our bayonets. Both parties were instantly reinforced and the struggle for possession was fierce and obstinate. Twice they were regained by the British, but after being repulsed the third time we were left in possession. Soon after the battle closed ; and at the next roll-call only eighteen out of the forty answered to their names." There are no records showing what particular part Abner Owen took in the battle. He was there with the Norfolk militia, and not being an artilleryman, he probably took no part in the hand-to-hand contest over the guns. He was a good horseman, and after the war was over he organized a troop of cavalry and became its captain, and ever after was known as Captain Owen. The Owen family in America are off-shoots of a very old and influential Welsh clan. M. F. Owen, of Indiana, has spent several years in the compilation of a genealogical history of this old Welsh family. From this work we learn that Dr. John Owen, the eminent Nonconformist divine; Richard Owen, the celebrated naturalist, who published original papers on every branch of the animal kingdom, living and fossil ; Robert Owen, the distinguished organizer and social theorist ; Robert Dale Owen, the celebrated statistician ; and many other prominent historical personages, bearing the name, are all twigs of different branches of the one old Welsh family tree. From the genealogical work referred to we also learn that one Ludlow Owen came to America in an early day from Wales, and settled in the Dutch colony of New York ; and that the Norfolk Owens are directly traceable to him. The Owen family are noted for originality in devising methods ; for love of variety in industrial pursuits ; and a tendency to roam. While these characteristic traits lead the talented to fame and worldly distinction, they prevent the small-minded from 292 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. acquiring riches as well as subjecting them to the charge of " crankiness," and sometimes of downright shiftlessness. The Owens do not take kindly to the soil. They look upon variety as the spice of life, and a rural environment is not in harmony with their tastes. They are much inclined to mechanical pur suits, and hence we find many millers among them. Ludlow Owen died in New York at the extreme old age of one hundred and two years, while engaged in cutting alder- brush near his home. He had a son, Epinetis, a miller, who came to Long Point settlement in the closing years of last century. Jesse and Abner were the sons of Epinetis, and young children at this time. At one time Epinetis Owen worked in Cross & Fisher's mill, and soon after he met with an accident in Vittoria th^t terminated his life. He left seven sons — Enoch, Elijah, Daniel, Israel, Asa, Abner and Jesse ; and three daughters — Anah, Mary and Phoebe, Enoch Owen was a Baptist preacher. He settled in Pennsylvania and raised a family, the name of his eldest son being Epinetis. Elijah Owen was a millwright by trade. He was of a roaming disposition, and it is supposed he settled somewhere in the Southern States. Daniel Owen settled on the Maumee River, in Indiana. He lived to be very old, and left a large family. The name of his eldest son was Chauncey. Israel Owen married Mary Anderson, and settled near Simcoe. Seven years after his marriage he left his wife with three children and went to Saline, Michigan, where he lived the remainder of his life. Two of these children grew up — Charles and Mary. The son married Barbara Wederick, and settled near Hagersville, and the daughter married James Higgins, and settled in Michigan. Asa Owen settled in Indiana. He left two daughters. Abner Owen was born in New York in 1783. He married Elizabeth Buchner, and settled in Woodhouse, a little south of Simcoe. He had six grown-up sons — Robert, Henry, Abner, TWO BROTHERS MEET IN DEADLY COMBAT. 293 Alfred, John and Stephen ; and two daughters — Lizana and Mary Ann. Captain Owen died in 1857, in his 75th year, and his wife died in 1860, in her 78th year. Robert Owen, eldest son of Abner, died from the effects of a cold contracted while on duty during the rebellion. He had one son, James, who died young ; and one daughter, Helen. Henry B. Owen, second son of Abner, married Rachel Ellis, of Mount Pleasant, and had two sons — Walter and Randall. Abner Owen, third son of Abner, married Lavinia Holt, and settled at Charlotteville Centre, where he operated a saw mill for a number of years. He had four sons — Dudley, Albert, Joseph and Abner; and three daughters— Lizana, Martha and Mary. The latter married J. V. Watts, the Walsh merchant. Alfred Owen, fourth son of Abner, married Caroline Burwell, niece of Colonel Burwell, and settled in Simcoe. He left no children. John Owen, fifth son of Abner, married Harriet Walker, by whom he had two sons — Robert and William. John is livii)g in Michigan. Stephen Owen, youngest son of Abner, married Isabel Craik, and had two sons — Edmond and Arthur. Lizana Owen, eldest daughter of Abner, died single. Mary Ann Owen, the Captain's youngest daughter, married Robert Dudley, and settled in Chicago, where she raised a family. Jesse Owen, the younger son of Epinetis, was a Methodist preaclier. He returned to New York when quite a young man, and was living there when the war of 1812 broke out. In 1807 he, married Anna Winter. He was ordained in New York, and his children were all born in that State. In 1830 he came with his family to Canada and was assigned to the London District Circuit. He lived in old-fashioned times and, of course, was an old-fashioned preacher, but the bravery 294 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. JESSE OWEN. displayed at Lundy's Lane, in fighting the battles of his country, never deserted him during the years he travelled through the for ests of old Londoii District in fighting the battles of the, great Prince of Peace and Righteousness. The stories he used to tell of hardships endured and privations suffered in his wanderings through the Canadian wilderness in those early days, would fill a volume. He was super annuated in 1852, and died in 1878, at the good old age of ninety -one years, at-Plainwell, Michigan. Many years before his death he was granted a pension for his war services. He had three sons — Daniel, Joel W. and Asbury ; and five daughters — Clarissa, Eliza, Anna, Mary and Caroline. Daniel Owen, first son of Jesse, maixied Eliza Gray, and finally settled in Allegan County, Mich., where he died very old and childless. , Joel W. Owen, second son of Jesse, married Cynthia, daughter of Dea con Joseph Kitchen, by whom he had one son, joel w. owen. TWO BROTHERS MEET IN DEADLY COMBAT. 295 Egbert A. Subsequently he married Mary Woodbeck, a school-teacher, by whom he had four sons — Millard F,, Jesse, Ernest and Charles ; and two daughters — Cynthia and Cora. He is in his 81st year, and lives in Otsego, Mich. He will be remembered by the old people as a carder and cloth-dresser in the old carding mill that stood on the creek below the old Gustin flouring mill, just east of Vittoria. Asbury Owen, third son of Jesse, married Jane Ross, of Woodhouse. He settled in Allegan County, Mich., where his wife died. Subsequently he married a Mrs. Potter. He died quite recently in Idaho, at an advanced age, leaving no children. Clarissa Owen, eldest daughter of Jesse, married Charles Jackson, and settled near Saline, Mich. She was the mother of twelve children. Eliza Owen, the second daughter, married Sandrus Pingrey, and settled in Minnesota. She had five children, one of whom, Joseph, is a lawyer and ex-member of the State Legislature. Subsequently she married Lot Lewis, by whom she had two children. Anna Owen, the third daughter, married Seth Ryerson, by whom she * had three sons — Jesse, John Wesley and James ; and three daughters — Mary, Sarah and Martha. Mary Owen, the fourth daughter, married Julius Marsh and settled in Galina, 111. She had two children. Caroline Owen, the youngest daughter of Jesse, married John Brazee, of Fort Erie, and settled in Barry County, Mich. She had three sons and five daughters, and recently died at a ripe old age. Anah Owen, eldest daughter of Epinetis, was bom in New York in 1774. She married Ebenezer Goodhue, and settled, at first, near Vittoria, and subsequently in Beverley. She had two sons and three daughters. The younger son, Ebenezer, died single, .with consumption, in 1849, in his 36th year, and the elder son settled in the States. One daughter, Sarah, married a man named Muma, and settled in Michigan. The second married a man named Depew, and had six sons — Timothy, 296 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. George, William, John, Michael and Henry ; and one daughter, Emily. Henry is a doctor in Chicago. The third daughter, Mary, married Moses Cornell, and had two sons — Owen and James; and five daughters — Phoebe Ann, Lizana, -Harriet, Abigail and Esther. Mr. Goodhue died in 1853, in his 81st year, and his wife died in 1852, in her 78th year. Mary Owen, second daughter of Epinetis, married a Tracy, and settled in New York. She left one son. Phoebe Owen, the youngest daughter, married Jacob Cope, and settled at St. George. She left four children, one of whom, William, was a Methodist preacher. The battle of Lundy's Lane was the most fiercely contested battle that engaged our brave militia during the war of 1812, and the terrible scene enacted on that moonlit July night, cast a shadow of sorrow over many a pioneer home in Long Point settlement. The man who owned the farm on which this memorable battle was fought, was James Lundy, and the road which passed through his farm was known as " Lundy's Lane," hence the reason for the name given the battle. In 1837 a son of this James Lundy — Samuel — came to Norfolk and settled in Townsend ; and Edward H. Lundy, son of Samuel, is the well-known Waterford merchant. SKETCH LVIII. TITUS FINCH, THE OLD SOLDIER PREACHER. In the year 1626 Charles I., finding that he had a refrac tory and unmanageable parliament on his hands, resolved to dissolve it. The speaker, John Finch, arose to announce the king's command, when two members thrust him back into his chair and held him there while the house proceeded with the business in hand. This John Finch was a loyalist and espoused the king's cause ; and from that time down to the present, the Finches have been staunch supporters of the royal cause in all emergencies. And in the new land the family offshoots have been not less renowned for their fidelity to the British Crown. The subject of this sketch is the old pulpit veteran of Vittoria, known far and near as Elder Finch. Titus Finch was a soldier in the British army, and came with his regiment to America to fight for old King George HI., in the war of American Independence. During the transit of his regiment, a married comrade and himself were stricken down with fever. The comrade, died, and the lonely widow turned her attention to the sick couch of Mr. Finch. So diligent was she in her care of the patient that a mutual feeling of affection was engendered between them, which culminated in their marriage. Mr. Finch was a very religious soldier. He never entered an engagement without having first invoked the Divine blessing on the undertaking. He was in General Clinton's army when the war closed, and was relieved from service at Halifax ; and although permitted to draw upon the commissariat for a year, he at once soiight for employment of some kind. Hearing of a back settlement where he might 298 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. probably find work, he went thither, and securing a small vacant cabin commenced housekeeping. The settlers were nearly all Baptists, and Mr. Finch was soon one among them in their religious work. His zeal won him many friends, who advised him to turn his attention to preaching the Gospel. He was ordained soon after, and thenceforward devoted his life's work to the ministry. He came to Long Point in 1798, and settled on land near - Vittoria, erecting his log cabin on the bank of Young's Creek. There were not many Baptists in the new settlement, but before six years had passed 5, way he succeeded in organizing a Baptist church. This was in 1804, and it is said to be the first Baptist church organized in Upper Canada — except it be the old Beamsville church which was organized during that same year. Elder Finch was an indefatigable worker. For years he received nothing but a black suit of clothes, annually, for his labors in ministering to the spiritual welfare of his little flock. So great was his zeal in the good work that a small sum was raised on two different occasions to send him out through the forest on local missionary tours ; first, in the direction of Woodstock ; and, afterward, in the direction of Aylmer. He preached in Vittoria over a quarter of a century, and left a record behind him which any preacher of the gospel might be pardoned for envying. During the war of 1812, General Brock called a meeting at the house of William Culver, near St. John's Church, south pf Simcoe, on his way up country. At that meeting it is said that 173 volunteered for service — among whom were -John and Hugh McCall and Titus Finch, the Elder's eldest son. Titus was taken sick soon after and was unable to go. This caused the Elder no little anxiety, as he was afraid it might be attributed to cowardice. George, a younger son, only sixteen, perceiving his father's discomforture, declared that he would go in his brothers place. The Elder gave his consent, and the boy in due time reported at headquarters. When the General came to him, as he passed down the line of new recruits, he halted and TITUS FINCH, THE OLD SOLDIER PREACHER. 299 asked George how old he was. The boy told him, after which the General remarked that he was too young, and that he was afraid his mother would be crying after him. George informed the General that his brother was ill ; that he came as a substi tute, and that he had his parents' permission. He was allowed to pass, and during the campaign, which resulted in the capture of the territory of Michigan, he won a gold medal, and wore it in after years, as some of the old people now living will remember. George Finch was the last survivor of this squad of volunteeis. The boat that carried them up the lake was owned by John McCall, and had a cannon on board. Elder Finch drew six hundred acres of land from the Government, part of which was Lot 19, in the 4th concession, where he settled. He had five sons — Thomas, Jerry, William, Titus and George ; and three daughters — the eldest of whom married into the Fuller family, and settled in Oxford. Nancj^ the second daughter, married Luke Teeple, and settled at Vittoria ; and Dancy, the youngest daughter, married John Edwards, and settled in Lobo. Elder Finch died in 1821, in his 79 th year. Thomas, eldest son of Elder Finch, married Hannah Culver, of Yarmouth, and settled in Oxford. He had three sons — David, William and Henry ; and three daughters — Martha Ann, Louisa and Jane. The sons are all dead. Jerry, second son of Elder Finch, settled in Oxford County, where he raised a family. William, third son of Elder Finch, married Hannah Barrett and settled on the homestead. He had six sons — Titus, James, Butler, William, John and Henry; and three daughters- Rebecca Ann, Gertrude and Luwinda. Of this family, TiTUS married Elizabeth Glover, and settled at Forestville. He had one daughter, Tamson, who married James Thompson. James married Sarah Ann, daughter of Elder Olney, and settled at Forestville. He had two daughters — Harriet and Ellena. Butler married Lavinia Raymond, and settled at Forestville. He had one son, Frank. William married Mary Jane Mabee, 300 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. and settled on Lot 9, 5th concession of Charlotteville. At present he owns and occupies the old Finch home, and the old homestead of his wife's father. He has two daughters— Marilla and Emma. John married the widow of his brother Butler, and settled on the old homestead. He had three daughters — Clara, Minnie and Grace. Henry married Matilda Simonds, and settled in Vittoria. He had one son, William. Rebecca Ann married John Boupry, and settled in Simcoe. She had four sons — Alexander, John, James and William; and one daughter, Helen. Gertrude married Duncan Walsh, and set tled on the old Walsh homestead. She had two sons — William and Aquila; and one daughter, Priscilla. Luwinda married Owen Falls, and settled in Simcoe. She had three sons — William, Frank and Harvey ; and four daughters — Catherine, Helen, Anna and Mary. Titus, fourth son of Elder Finch, married into the Drake family, and settled near Forestville. Subsequently he settled in Oxford County. George, youngest -son of Elder Finch, married Nancy Rockafeller, and settled in Oxford County on land drawn from the Government. SKETCH LIX. PIONEER ODDS AND ENDS. The first grist-mill in old Woodhouse was built by Colonel Samuel Ryerse, at Port Ryerse, and the first grist ground in it was grown on the old Misner farm just south of Simcoe. The grist was carried to mill on the back of a horse, and young Misijer had to turn the bolter by hand as the grist was being ground ; but it was a great improvement on the stump mill. Caleb Hazen started one of the first wagon shops in the settle ment on Lot 2, in the 1st concession of Woodhouse. He made crude ox-carts and two-skein, linch-pin wagons. In those days the settler who could afford to carry his wife and children four or five miles through the woods, over corduroy roads, to a Sunday meeting in a new linch-pin lumber wagon wholly paid for, and drawn by a yoke of oxen all his own, was supposed to be on the highway leading to prosperity. Colonel Rapelje brought the first spring carriage into the settlement, and for a while it was an object of great curiosity, especially to the children, who had never seen such a vehicle. The next innovation on the demo cratic plane of social equality was an importation of Cross & Fisher's,- consisting of a French horse, a cutter and a single open buggy. Roland Gilbert claimed the honor of having ridden in the first " democrat " wagon brought into the country. The nabobs who rode in carriages in those times had to pay for the social distinction it gave them. For purposes of taxation single and two-horse carriages, second stories on dwelling- houses, and each additional fire-place, were assessed at nominal sums fixed from time to time by statutory enactments — a one- story cabin made of unhewed logs, and containing one fire place, being exempt from taxation. 302 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. It is said that one James Wells, who lived on the lake shore at this time, allowed his enterprise to get the better of his judgment, and actually built a two-story house containing two fire-places. Coming to his senses after the house was com pleted, and fully repenting of his folly, he tore the house -down and reconstructed it on a one-story, single fire-place plan. The young people who read this must not condemn the system as smacking of barbarism, for they must remember that the same principle is still in vogue, the only diff'erence being in the manner of its application. Mr. Wells simply found that a little exhibition of enterprise subjected him to a, fine, and if his grandson is alive to-day, and is an enterprising man, he must pay a similar fine for a like purpose every time he indulges in a little "fix-up-itiveness " Of course, exemptions vary from time to time, but the principle remains — and it remains as a disgrace to the more enlightened times in which it is our blessed privilege to live. May the time hastily come when these evidences of home improvement will be exempt from taxation, and the man who lives the life of a troglodyte be compelled to bear his full share of the common burdens ; or, in other words, be compelled to pay a like sum for a like number of acres of land of like natural value, regardless of any artificial value which human thrift may have attached to it. Blacksmith shops appeared here and there from the very beginning. They were prime essentials in the work of settle ment. Hoes, forks, chains, clevises, axes, nails and pretty much everything of like nature, were made at these shops. They were exceedingly crude, clumsy and expensive, like many other hand-made articles in those days. In the early settlement the major portion of the A-orse-shoeing business was done by shoeing oxen, and it is amusing to hear the old people tell how they used to take their best girls sleigh-riding in ox sleds, and how they used to run horses — no, I mean oxen — with their " swell " rivals. Sometimes their roadsters would be a yoke of steers, and then the driver would have to walk and lead the nigh steer while his girl sat on the sled alone. Sometimes they would PIONEER ODDS AND ENDS. 303 gather a sleigh-load of girls and boys, and go singing and shout ing away through the woods on a crisp, moonlit winter's night to a spelling-match held in some log school-house. But what ever the occasion, if it were a bit icy, the oxen would require shoeing to enable them to keep their feet. It is astonishing how fleet of foot some of the oxen were. They were trained to it, and it was a common thing to see a yoke of oxen trotting along the road hitched to a clumsy two- wheel cart, in which would be seated some settler and his wife, while just above the sides of the rude cart-box might be seen from two to a half-dozen heads of the on-coming generation, bobbing about with every jolt of the clumsy, shambling old cart. To show how the sons and daughters of the first families pioneered their way into the unbroken forest of the back town ships, the following description, given by a silver-haired matron of one of our modern Norfolk homes, may be taken as the com mon experience of all. It is given in her own words, as fol lows : " When father (her husband) an' me settled here in the woods the only neighbors we had was screech-owls, wolves an' bears an' yawlin' wildcats. Our nearest human neighbor was four miles from us, an' it was nine miles to the settlement where mother lived — father was killed by a tree fallin' on him 'bout a year before we was married. The winter before we was married my ole man chopped on the land here, and towards spring he built a log shanty. The land between us an' the settlement was clay an' heavy timbered, an' when it broke up in the spring it was nearly all under water. My ole man had a yoke o' steers his father gin him, an' after we was married we borrowed a sled an' moved in here before it broke up. We just had one little sled-load o' stuff to commence keeping house with, and I rode on top of it an' father — that's my ole man — walked an' led the steers. That first summer we didn't have no cart or wagon, an' many a time we went out to the settle ment that summer on a Sunday, to meetin' an' to mother's, with the steers an' the crotch. Crotch? Why that was a 304 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. thing my old man made to haul logs on. It quirled up at the nose like a sled an' sprawled out so-fashion. You see one end of the log laid on the crotch an' tother end drug behind. Well, as I said, we went to meetin' an to mother's with that crotch. My ole man had a seat fixed on the crotch, an' when we went through mud-holes I would have to hold up my feet to keep 'em out of the mud. My ole man had to walk, and when we got out to the clearin' he would roll down his trowser's legs and put on his boots. We planted a little corn among the stumps, an' that fall we had some cornstalks of our own raisin'. I shall never forget to my dyin' day how proud I felt of them cornstalks. How happy I was when we went out to mother's that fall with a bundle o' cornstalks on the crotch for a cushion for my feet. It was our first crop, an' that bundle o' stalks was the most precious cushion I ever owned." I will simply add that this old lAdy lives in an elegant home, situated in a rich section of country, and supplied with all the comforts of modern rural life. These sons and daughters of the old Long Point pioneers possessed few advantages for acquiring even the crudest kind of a fundamental education. In the beginning, children received little or no education beyond what their parents were able to give them, and even where the parents had received a fair education in the older lands whence they came, they had not the time while struggling for a bare existence in the primeval forest to instruct their children in the commonest branches of learning. It is no wonder that so many of Nor folk's first generation of native-born citizens grew up into manhood and womanhood unable to read or write. As settle ment advanced, and a sufficient number of families had settled where it was possible for the children of each to gather at a common centre, a school was established. By united effort a rude log structure was erected, and the neighborhood canvassed for monthly subscriptions for the payment of a teacher's salary. These pioneers schools were established on purely voluntary principles. The average wage paid the teachers was about per month with board, and the average annual term was PIONEER ODDS AND ENDS. 305 three months of the winter season. If the number of families within reach of each other was five, for instance, and the total number of available children twenty, and each settler was willing to support the school and pay his share of the expenses, each would subscribe at the rate of $1.50 for each pupil sent, payable in monthly instalments of fifty cents. Of course this is assuming a three months' term with a teacher at $10 per month. In the case assumed the settler who sent two pupils would pay $3 for the term and board the teacher one-tenth of the time. There was no government appropriation for the aid of common schools previous to 1816. These pioneer schools were very crude as late as 1826, as shown by the following review of the school-days of one of Norfolk's "back-township" pioneers and best known citizens, who was born in an old Charlotteville home about eighty years ago, and educated (?) in one of these pioneer schools located not far from Vittoria. As he is a Justice of the Peace of many years' standing, we will let the squire tell his own story : " The first school-house in our neighborhood was a, little log structure, an' the last term that was taught in it was my first term at school, an' the master's name was Cornelius Schammer- horn. He kept three months, an' the last day we had a high old time. The master invited all the parents, an' he fetched three gallons o' whiskey an' a sack o' sugar to treat the hull caboodle of us. The old folks heard us read an' seen us write, an' then we had a Spellin' match. Everybody helped themselves to- sugar an' whiskey, an' in the afternoon we all played ball. In about 1826 father an' a neighbor built a little new frame school- house, an' the first master that kept school in it was Benjamin Tisdale. My next teacher was John Lanning, an' he never went to school a day in his life. Then came Daniel McCall, who kept three months an' then went off down south for his health, an' died. My next teacher was Phihp Smith. They hired him for three months, but after he kept one day he gave up the job, an' D. W. Freeman took his place. The next was old Laterette. They hired him the first day of November, 1832, an' he kept till Christmas eve, when 'e got drunk an' got 20 306 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. the grand bounce. Then they hired Sandy Ford for three months, an' he got through all right. The next winter they hired 'im agin', but after he'd kept for about a month he come to school one mornin' from Vittory drunk as an owl an' daubed all over with mud. A lot of us boys got 'im in the school-house, an' then we fastened the door an' made up our minds to give 'im a good smokin'. Some o' the boys boosted me up on the roof, an' then they handed up a board, an' I put it on top o' the chimbley an' sot down on it. After a while the smoke begun to ooze out through the windows, an' the boys kept up such a yellin' that father an' some o' the neighbors heard the racket, an', thinkin' the house was on fire, they came on the run, an' when we seen 'em acomin' we lit out in every direction. They busted the door open, an' when they took poor Sandy out he was more dead than alive. That ended his school work. He was the last teacher that kept school in that school-house. I 'tended school one term after this down to Smith's school- house. An Irishman named Boyd kept the school, and he had a peppery temper. Whenever a scholar made him mad (and that would happen many times in a day) he would grab his stick an' make a rush for 'im, an' if 'e got there before he got over his mad fit he'd make the dust fly out o' the poor feller's jacket, I tell ye. He was the the worst tobaccar chawer I ever seen. In them days a tobaccar-plug looked like an old-fashioned dough-nut.. It was a double twister, an' when straightened out looked like a piece of black inch rope about a foot long. Old Boyd kept one o' these plugs layin' on his table all the time, an' every little while he'd bite off about a half an inch, an' then he'd spit from one side o' the school-house to the other. Some times while readin' the mornin' prayer out o' the spellin' book, he'd stop an' bite off a wad from the double-twister, an' then he'd go on where he left off. But when he stopped the prayer to wallop a scholar he'd always begin over again with the words, ' We beseech Thee, 0 Lord.' When any of us were late in the mornin' the first question we asked was, ' Has 'e got through beseechin' yet? ' Poor old Boyd ! He gave me the finishin' touches to my education." SKETCH LX. A FAMILY OP PIONEER MOTHERS— MoCLElSH FAMILY. The McCleish girls, of Charlotteville, were known all over Long Point settlement, not by reason of any unusual traits of character possessed by them, but simply because there were eleven of them in one family, and each one had a brother. This was the enigmatical way of expressing it, and many a pioneer youth was led to believe there, were twenty -two sons and daughters in the family, instead of twelve — ^the only son being held in common by the eleven sisters. It served a purpose by teaching thoughtless youngsters the folly of jumping at hasty conclusions. The family name has become extinct in Norfolk, but the McCleish blood courses through the veins of a consider able portion of Norfolk's present population. These eleven McCleish sisters all became pioneer mothers, and their descend ants are scattered all over the Western States and Canada, and have become, numerically, as the " sands of the sea shore.'- Andrew McCleish, the father of this large family of pioneer mothers, was a Scotch U. E. Loyalist, He came to Long Point before the present century was bom, and drew four hundred acres of land, comprising Lots 9 and 10 in the oth concession of Charlotteville. Mr. McCleish was not accustomed to farming ; and, in addition to his inexperience, he possessed a frail consti tution. His bush life, therefore, was far from being satisfactory to himself. He made slow progress in the arduous task of hewing out a home in a forest, and he was unable to retain all his land. In the central portion of this tract was a cranberry marsh, consisting of fifty or sixty acres, and the stories which have been handed down pertaining to the immense quantities 308 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. of berries taken from this marsh, sound as though they might have originated with old Baron Munchausen himself. It is said that on one occasion a party came over from the Boston settlement for cranberries, among whom were Benjamin Fair- child and one of the Corlisses, and that Hugh McCall went to the marsh with them and filled their sacks by scooping up the cranberries with a wooden shovel. The berries were put through a fanning mill, and when bagged up the party went home with .sixteen bushels. Mr. McCleish failed to turn this bountiful gift of nature into a source of revenue. Settlers far and near came for cranbeiries, and Mr. McCleish made no charges. At first the berry-pickers tendered the proprietor little donations of one thing and another, but finally they neglected even this little courtesy, and simply helped themselves without asking leave. This provocation led Mr. McCleish into a very foolish act. In 1819 he set the marsh on fire during a very dry time, and it burned until the following January, totally destroying it, root and branch. When McArthur's troops passed through the settlement, during the war of 1812, they set adrift a jaded young horse that had given out and become unfit for further use. Several settlers refused to take the poor beast in, but Mrs. McCleish took pity on it and gave it a home. Under her kind treat ment the animal rapidly recuperated, and for many long years afterwards it carried its kind benefactress about the settlement, as the oldest people living well remember. The marshes in Norfolk at this early day were infested with the dreaded " masasauga," and it is a wonder that so few of the old pioneers were bitten by them. Titus Finch was bitten by one in the McCleish marsh, but a copious draught of whiskey, taken immediately, counteracted the poison. The wife of Colonel Daniel McCall was bitten in the foot by a "^ rattler," and came near losing her life. In after years she gave birth to two children and, it is said, both of these children died in infancy, having turned spotted previous to death. Andrew McCleish died s6me time before the rebellion, aged A FAMILY OF PIONEER MOTHERS. 309 about seventy. The names of his eleven daughters were Fanny, Mary, Amy, Martha, Margaret, Eleanor, Jane, Phoebe, Ann Maria, Christiana and Leah, and the name of the only son was Andrew. Fanny McCleish married Thomas Shippey, a miller, and settled in Bayham. Mary McCleish married Isaac Smith, and settled in Norwich. , Amy McCleish married Isaac Procunier, and settled in Wal singham, where they raised a large family. Mr. Procunier was a lumberman. Martha McCleish married William Franklin, and settled in Walsingham. Her children are enumerated in the Franklin genealogy. Margaret McCleish married Whiting VanNorman, one of the VanNorman brothers of Port Normandale fame. Whiting served for a time as foreman for his brothers at the " furnace," and from there he went to Illinois. Subsequently he returned to Canada. They had four sons and three daughters. The sons settled in Minneapolis, and two of the daughters married and settled in Oxford. Eleanor McCleish married Henry Rohrer, and settled in Walsingham. Jane McCleish married Daniel Rohrer, and settled in Wal singham. Her children, and also those of her sister Eleanor, are enumerated in the Rohrer genealogy. Phoebe McCleish married Jasper Dresser, and settled in Brant county. Ann Maria McCleish married Granville Davis, and settled in Ohio. Subsequently she married David Stackhouse, and settled in Charlotteville. Her son William Stackhouse sue- ceeded to the homestead — Lot 2, 1st concession. Christiana McCleish married Walter Rockafeller, and settled in Walsingham. She had seven sons — Andrew, Alexander, William D-, Cornelius, Allan, Walter and Ralph; and three daughters — Adaline, Jane, and Hannah. The Rockafellers, 310 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. who, by the way, are related to the famous American million aire of that name, have become quite numerous in the township of Walsingham. Leah McCleish, the youngest daughter, married Eli Louks, and settled in Walsingham. She had one son, Andrew ; and two daughters, Sarah and Henrietta. Andrew succeeded to the homestead— Lot 6, 3rd concession. Andrew McCleish, the only son, was twice married. By his first wife, Jane Franklin, he had three sons, Andrew, George and Austin; and three daughters, Sarah, Rachel and Helen. Subsequently he married Mrs. Titus, nee Mary Dolan, by whom he had one son, Bruce. Mr. McCleish settled in Walsingham, and died in Aylmer when about sixty years old, and none of his children remain in Norfolk, The sons are all in the States — Andrew being in Michigan, one daughter settled in Mani toba, one in Aldborough, and Helen married James Chute, and settled on Nova Scotia Street, Malahide. The name has become extinct in Norfolk. SKETCH LXI. OFFSHOOTS OF WELSH NOBILITY— WALSH FAMILY. The Walsh family of Norfolk is an offshoot of one of the old noble families of Wales which was famous many centuries ago. The name was formerly written "Welch," but was changed to Walsh by the Norfolk branch of the family soon after making a settlement here. The father of the Walshes of Norfolk — Thomas Welch — was a descendant of that branch of the family that followed Strongbow (Earl of Pembroke) into Ireland in the twelfth century, remaining and establishing a holding in Kilkenny County where, for several centuries, they maintained a reputable standing. A sub-branch of the family settled in Tyrone County and became noted for uprightness of character and sterling worth. In 1740, Francis, the youngest of several brothers, left Dungannon and came to America, being a young man and single. I^e found employment as clerk in a mercantile house in Philadelphia, operated by one Pierce, a Quaker, whose daughter he subsequently married. Having a love for the sea, he gave up merchandising and engaged in maritime pursuits. During the war between France and Eng land his ship was seized by the enemy while making a voyage between Eurppe and America, and himself made a prisoner and carried to a French port, from which he soon afterward escaped and succeeded in reaching England. This Plancis Welch was the father of the old Long Point pioneer known to us as the original Thomas Welch. Although quite young, Thomas was a volunteer in the service of his country in her struggle -with France at this time, and took part in the battle of Laurel Hill. He acquired a good education, 312 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. and when peace was restored he became a surveyor and under- sheriff in a Pennsylvania county. Subsequently he married and settled in Maryland, where he was engaged in business as a sur veyor and conveyancer when the war of the Revolution broke out. He was offered a colonelcy by the American rebels, but he declined the offer. This subjected him to great peril, and he had much difficulty in escaping to a place of safety. He joined the British forces and served as an officer in a contingent of the army known as the Maryland Loyalists. For three years he was with his regiment at Pensecola, Florida, serving under General Dumford as assistant engineer. While stationed here the little garrison was attacked by 20,000 Spaniards and Indians, and he became a Spanish prisoner of war. At the close of the war he was employed to survey lands in New Brunswick for the U. E. Loyalist refugees, being engaged several years in this work. Returning to Maryland he married his second wife, and commenced proceedings to regain a portion of his real estate which, by some oversight, had not been con fiscated. Failing in this undertaking he came to Upper Canada in 1793, with his wife and two sons — Francis Leigh, the elder, nine years old, and Aquila M., the younger. He was at once employed to survey portions of Lincoln and Norfolk counties, and in 1796 was appointed Registrar of Deeds for Norfolk County, which embraced at that time the townships of W^alpole and Rainham, in addition to its present territory. When the London district was organized in 1800, he was appointed Clerk of the Peace, Registrar of the Surrogate Court and Deputy Secretary for ' the issue of land patents for the district. In 1810 he became Judge of the District and Surrogate Courts, at which time the County Registry Office passed into the hands of his son, Francis L. Walsh. Soon afterwards failing health forced him to retire from public life, and Mghly com plimentary addresses were tendered him on his retirement. The first election held in Norfolk, of which we have any account, was held at Avery's Mills, Waterford, and Thomas Welch, who served on this occasion, was the first Returning Officer. OFFSHOOTS OF WELSH NOBILITY. 313 The name of Francis L. Walsh will ever be revered by the sons of " Glorious old Norfolk." In the year 1808, while yet a mere lad, he was appointed Deputy County Registrar as evidenced by the following document : " Before us, Samuel Ryerse, Edward Watson, Thomas Welch, and Thomas Horner, Esquires, four of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace in and for the District of London, Province of Upper Canada, personally came and appeared Francis Leigh Walsh, Deputy Register for the County of Norfolk, in the said District of London, and took the necessary oath prescribed by law as Deputy Register for said County." T-wo years later he became Registrar, and from that time until his death, which occured in 1S84, Francis L. Walsh held the office of County Registrar, embracing a period in all of seventy-six years. For length of service, efficiency of work per formed, fidelity to office duties, and the large measure of love and respect won from those whom he served, it is quite pro bable that no public official in Norfolk was ever his peer. When his life's work was ended every man, woman and child, who knew him, felt the loss of a friend. His chirography was something wonderful. His eyesight remained good, and his hand steady right up to the time of his death. When he was an octogenarian he wrote the Lord's Prayer, the words " God save the Queen," and his name and the date on a circular space covered by a five-cent piece ; and on a surface equalling the size of a dime he wrote the Episcopal Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the words " God save the Queen," and his name and the date. He executed this marvellous feat ¦w'ith- out the aid of magnifying glasses, although to the naked eye they appear as mere blots. When placed under a glass, how ever, the writing is clear and legible, having more the appear ance of script print than handwriting. From 1821 to 1828, and again in 1835-36, he represented Norfolk in the Provincial Parliament. In 1861 his son, Aquila, became the County repre sentative, holding the position until Confederation, when he was elected by the North Riding as representative in the Dominion Parliament. In 1872 he retired. 314 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Francis L. Walsh, it may be truthfully said, is the father of our Registry laws. He built the first fire-proof registry office in the Province at his own expense, and he was the first to intro duce the system of keeping separate books for the different townships, thereby greatly increasing the public convenience and lessening the work of the office. Thomas Welch, the old surveyor, settled on Lot 12, in the 6th concession of Charlotteville. He had two sons — Francis L. and Aquila M. Francis L. Walsh, eldest son of Thomas, married Elsie, daughter of Noah Fairchild. He had five sons — Thomas W., Aquila, Walter, Lewis Francis and Christopher Leigh ; and six daughters — Harriet A.; Rebecca, Elizabeth, Almira, Sarah and Margaret. Thomas W. married Eliza Henchell, and settled in Simcoe. He was warden of the county in 1880 and 1881. Aquila married Jane Adams, daughter of Wm. Wilson, and settled in Simcoe. Walter married Mary Kitchen, aild settled in Simcoe. Lewis Francis settled in Massachusetts. Chris topher Leigh married Lizzie Holinwood, and settled in Port Ryerse. Hakriet A. married Morris Smith, and settled in Vittoria. Almira married Thomas K. Chadwick, and settled near Vittoria. Elizabeth died single, and Rebecca, Sarah and Margaret occupy their beautiful home in Simcoe, in single blessedness. Aquila M. Walsh, the younger son of Thomas, married Margaret, daughter of Duncan McCall, and succeeded his father on the homestead. He had three sons — Duncan, Thomas and Francis; and two daughters — Jemima and Mary. Duncan married Getta Finch, and succeeded his father on the home stead, his son William being the present owner. Thomas married Lucretia Mead, and settled on part of the homestead. Fraxcis married Mary Glover, and settled in Windham. Jemima married George Anderson, and settled in Charlotteville; and Mary married Albert Toms, and settled near Simcoe. It will thus be seen that the Walsh family are very much attached to the land adopted by their illustrious ancestor, the OFFSHOOTS OF WELSH NOBILITY. 315 old veteran surveyor. With one exception, the first three generations settled on Norfolk soil, and this fact alone speaks volumes for the loyalty of the Walshes and their strong attachment to home and native land. The male descendants of this old family have become nearly, if not quite, extinct in Wales, Ireland, France and Philadelphia. In Norfolk only is the name being preserved, and even here the male descendants constitute the smaller portion of the family increase. The Walsh family is entitled to heraldic honors. A silver plate, bearing thereon the family crest, was sent to Thomas Walsh in America, by one Walter Welch, of Dungannon, Ireland, but it never reached its destination. The heraldic emblein on the old family crest is a representation of the " green leek." SKETCH LXIL ONE OF THE OLD PIONEER DEACONS— OLIVER MABEE. The brave old pioneers who erected the first family altars in Long Point settle ment, were actuated by most praiseworthy motives. The foundation built by them was broad and deep. It was laid on a concrete composed of three ingredi ents — fear of God, love of home, and loyalty to coun try. This foundation will endure forever, and it is for us to see that the su perstructure is worthy of its foundation. One of the most prominent men among these old founda tion builders was Oliver Mabee. The Mabee family played an important part in the settlement from its very beginning;' indeed, it is more than probable that they erected the first log cabin in Charlotteville, if not in all Long Point country, as will be seen in sketch " Buried in a log Coffin." Oliver was a mere lad during his experience on Turkey Point, being about sixteen years old at the time of Governor Simcoe's visit His mother was awarded a U. E. Loyalist land grant of six hun dred acres on the lake front as the wife of a U. E. Loyalist. Oliver's land was located near Vittoria, but he sold it and OLIVEK MABEE. one OF THE OLD PIONEER DEACONS. 317 bought Jesse Smith's grant, being Lot 17, in the 5th concession. Here he settled and reared his family. He married Mary, daughter of the original Abraham Smith. Oliver Mabee was one of nature's noblemen. His education was quite limited, as, indeed, was the case with all the original pioneers who came into the settlement in youth. Just the time when they should have attended school, was the very time when there was no school to attend. No one of the pioneers of this class regretted, in after life, this lack of education more keenly than did Oliver Mabee. On one occasion while Mr. Mabee was discussing the advantages of an education with Judge Mitchell, he exclaimed, " Oh, well, Judge, you've got a good education, but I can outrun you.'' The Judge accepted the challenge, and Mabee came out second best. This little aff'air was the cause of much merriment in the settlement. Mr. Mabee was a God-fearing man. He set up a Christian altar in his home, and the fires kindled upon it were ever kept alive. His first duty was to his Creator, and it was the one desire of his heart that his children might grow up into useful, honorable and God-fearing members of society. For years he and Joseph Kitchen led the singing, alternately, in the old 'Vittoria Baptist church, and many of the old people remember with pleasure the whole-hearted earnestness that characterized his style of singing. These were the good old days of congre gational singing, when old " coronation ' thawed the hearts of men, and gave the Christian momentary glimpses of heaven. Deacon Mabee was proud of his home. He was affectionate in his family, and industrious, frugal and economical in the management of his affairs. He was very companionable, being o-enerous and exceedingly good-natured. In bjisiness transac tion he was quick and displayed good judgment. He kept himself posted in business affairs, and knew when and where to buy and sell as well as any man in the settlement. He drove to Niagara on one occasion with a load of truck, consist- ino- of pork, veal, butter, eggs and various other things. At this time Niagara was a larger town than York (Toronto), and 318 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT, SETTLEMENT. Hamilton did not exist. When Mr. Mabee arrived with his produce the "powers that were" in old Niagara would not permit him to sell roll-butter inside the town limits. In order to dispose of it he carried it outside, where he employed a woman to work it all up in pound patties. This was in 1825, a time noted for scarcity of money in the settlement. Oliver Mabee was noted for his loyalty to country. In the war of 1812 he was captain of a company of militia and took part in the battle of Lundy's Lane. He never wavered in his devotion to the Old Flag. His word was as good as his bond, and he had no respect for a man who was wilfully negligent in meeting business obligations. He served one year as High Constable for the District of London, being sworn into office, June 1st, 1805. Mr. Mabee had three sons — Peter, Gabriel and Oliver ; and five daughters — Elizabeth, Julia, Naoma, Rachel and Abigail. Peter Mabee, eldest son of Deacon Oliver, married Abigail Gilbert, and settled near Fredericksburg, Middleton. He had eight sons — Oliver P., Simon, Peter, William, Samuel, George, Frederick and Albert; and four daughters — Mary, Abigail, Eliza and Rhoda. Oliver P., eldest son of Peter, married Mary Laur, and was one of the Goshen pioneers in Middleton. He raised a large family. Simon, second son of Peter, married Fanny Leaton, and settled at Port Rowan. Peter, third son of Peter, married Rhoda, daughter of Abraham Smith, of Charlotteville, by whom he had one son, William. He subsequently married Eunice Visat, and by this marriage had two sons — Judson and Walter. He lives in Simcoe and is the well-known auctioneer. William, fourth son of Peter, and Samuel, the fifth son, both died single. George, the sixth son, married and settled in Michigan ; and Frederick, the seventh son, settled in Green City, Iowa. Albert, youngest son of Peter, served in the American civil war, and died single. ONE OF THE OLD PIONEER DEACONS. 319 Mary, eldest daughter of Peter, married William Shepherd, who was also a Goshen pioneer, having settled there in 1844. Abigail, second daughter of Peter, married Isaac, son of Abraham Smith, of Charlotteville, and settled on part of the Smith homestead. She had two daughters — Aggie and Minnie. Eliza, third daughter of Peter, married William Thorold, and settled at St. Williams. She had four sons — Charles, William, James and Frederick ; and four daughters — Mary, Fanny, Elsie, and Sophia. Rhoda, youngest daughter of Peter, married Edward Ordish, and settled in Dorchester. Gabriel Mabee, second son of Deacon Oliver, settled on the old homestead. By his first wife, Jane (daughter of Alexander Cowan), he had two sons — Alexander and Oliver D.; and two daughters — Mary Ann and Cecilia. Subsequently he married into the Blainey family, and by this union had four sons — Gabriel, Ira, James and Tyrus ; and one daughter — Elmira. Alexander, eldest son of Gabriel, married Eunice, daughter of Christopher Oaks, and settled in Charlotteville. Oliver D., second son of Gabriel, married Susan Williams, and settled in Middleton. Mary Jane, eldest daughter of Gabriel, married William Finch, of Vittoria. She had two daughters — Marilla and Emma, Cecilia, second daughter of Gabriel, married George Baker, and settled. in Michigan. Gabriel, third son of Gabriel, married Christine Winters, and settled in the States. Ira, fourth son of Gabriel, married Martha Jane Stitt, and settled on part of the homestead. James, fifth son of Gabriel, married Agnes Winters, and also settled on part of the homestead. Tyrus, sixth son of Gabriel, married Hannah, daughter of David McCall, and is the present owner of the David Shearer homestead. Elmira, youngest daughter of Gabriel, married William, son of Duncan Walsh, and settled on the Walsh homestead. 320 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Elizabeth MabeCj eldest daughter of Deacon Oliver, married Elder Samuel Baker, and settled on Talbot Street, in Malahide. In the Baker family were three sons — Simon, Oliver and Judson ; and four daughters — Rhoda, who married John Gillett, of Malahide; Mary Jane, who married a teacher named Roach, and settled finally in the States ; Sarah, who married Cyrus Abel, of Malahide ; and Jerusha, who married in the States. Julia Mabee, second daughter of Deacon Oliver, married David Baumwart, and settled in Charlotteville. Naoma Mabee, third daughter of Deacon Oliver, married Duncan, son of the original Duncan McCall. Her children are enumerated in the McCall genealogy. Rachel and Abigail, two youngest daughters of the old pioneer, married, respectively, Alexander Cowan and David Cowan, both of whom settled in Gananoque, Leeds County. Oliver Mabee, the youngest son of the original Oliver, mar ried Matilda Webster, and settled on Lot 17, in the 4th conces sion of Charlotteville, he has passed his 80th year, and lives in Vittoria. He had two sons — Henry W. and Robert Y.; and one daughter, Jane, who remains single. Henry W. married Maria, daughter of the late Gabriel Shearer, and resides in Vittoria. Robert Y. married Nora Raymond and settled on the Webster homestead in Vittoria. At present he is a merchant of Vittoria and a prominent member of the old Baptist church his grandfather was deacon of ; and, furthermore, he leads the singing in much the same spirit that characterized his grand- sire. SKETCH LXIII THE BOY WHO WAITED ON THE GOVERNOR— PELLUM MABEE. Whe.n' Governor Simcoe visited Turkey Point in 1795 he found Mrs. Frederick Mabee and her family living there as " squatters." They were living in a commodious log-house which stood at the foot of the hill, and they had cleared off the light growth of timber, and had cropped about thirty acres of land on Turkey Point, known as the " Indian Fields." The Governor remained two or three days, being engaged in laying out a town site, and planning for his future seat of government. He was very favorably impressed with the natural beauty of the place, and the Mabees spared no pains in making it as pleasant and comfortable for the gubernatorial party as they possibly could. Pellum Mabee, the widow's youngest son, was about twelve years old, and being a bright, active, pleasant little fellow, the Governor took an interest in him. The boy supplied His Excellency with cool sparkling water from a spring, run on little errands^ — not to the comer grocery for chewing tobacco, but in various other ways — and showed such a disposition to please and serve, and manifested with all such a remarkable spirit of native good humor, that the Governor became interested in him, and determined to make him a present. Accordingly, when the Viceregal party were about to leave, the Governor said' to .Mrs. Mabee : "Madam, I wish to make that little fellow a grant in his own name. I shall give him a patent for his father's improvement of thirty-three acres, and one acre at the foot of the hill including the home," and he ordered the entry to be made forthwith. No doubt the Governor considered this 21 322 PIOI^EER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. a grant of much consequence at the time — one that promised future wealth to the young grantee, as he had determined upon making Turkey Point a centre of great importance. But " the best laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft a-gley," and Pellum's estate was never broken into by a demand for city lots. For two or three short years the youthful Pellum was a " lord of the manor " on Turkey Point, but when Parliament moved to Little York in 1797 there was a " sickening thud " heard on the end of the Point, the paralyzing effects of which are felt to this day. Pellum gave up all hopes of becoming rich out of the proceeds of Turkey Point real estate, and so he learned the bricklayer's trade. Many years later he sold his land on the Point to Aquila Walsh, for a mere nominal sum. Pellum Mabee was a hunter, trapper and fisher. His only playmates in childhood were Indians. They taught him to shoot with the bow and arrow, and he became quite an expert in the use of that primitive weapon. All the old settlers remember the old Mohawk Indian chief, known in vulgar par lance as " Jo Injun," and his brother " George Injun." They lived and died on Turkey Point, each having reached an age exceeding a hundred years. They were great hunters, especially " Jo," and were great friends and daily companions of young Pellum. They taught him many tricks in the art of hunting and trapping. While living on the Point, it is said that he found bushels oi flint arrow heads where they had been buried in different places by the Indians. Pellum Mabee married Mary Layman, and settled on his mother's land grant. He had five sons — Landrine, George, Frederick, Simon and Pellum; and six daughters— Lavinia, Mary Ann, Esther, Drusilla, Elizabeth Ann, and Margaret. Landrine, eldest son of Pellum, married Almira Cartwright, settled on part of .the ihomestead, and had two daughters — Matilda and Hulda, George, seeond son of Pellum, married Mrs. Parmelia Stewart, settled on part of the homestead, and had two sons — George E., a school teacher, and Horace C. ; and one daughter, Edith. THE BOY WHO WAITED ON THE GOVERNOR. 323 Frederick, third son of Pellum, married Margaret Matheson, settled on part of the homestead, and had four sons — Walter, Peter, Kinsley and Frederick ; and two daughters — Isabel and Elsie. Simon, fourth son of Pellum, married Miranda Arnold. He had one son, Oliver ; and two daughters — Rachel Rebecca and Emeline Martha. Pellum, youngest son of Pellum, married Sarah A. Elliott, and settled on part of the homestead. He had four sons — Oscar, Henry, Ernest W., and John R. ; and four daughters — Josephine, Frances, Alice and Nellie. Lavinia, eldest daughter of Pellum, the old pioneer, married Jacob Simonds, and settled in the States. Mary Ann, the second daughter, married Jeremy Becker. She died young. Becker then married Abigail Jackson, the celebrated heroine of Long Point. Becker was frozen to death. Esther, third daughter of Pellum, married Curtis Griffin, and settled in Wyandotte, Michigan, Drusilla died single ; and Elizabeth Ann and Margaret, two youngest daughters of the original Pellum Mabee, married, respectively, James Crockett and Warren Cartwright, and settled in Port Rowan. SKETCH LXIV. OLD FORT MONROE AND THE COURTS HELD THERE. Old Fort Monroe is one of the choicest old landmarks in all that vast region of country formerly included in London District. It is still standing, and when the public is made acquainted with its history, it will, no doubt, be visited by many people. The name " Fort Monroe," although coined bj?^ the writer, will be deemed an appropriate one when the historical significance of the place is rightly understood. Fort Monroe stands on Lot 14, in the 5th concession of Charlotteville. It is centrally located and cannot be seen from the public road on either side. It was the dwelling-house of Lieutenant James Monroe, the old U. E. Loyalist pioneer, and was built just one hundred years ago. Mr. Monroe took up this lot in 1796, and in the fall of that year he began prepara tions for building the house. It is a two- story structure, its frame consisting of a series of "bents," with two cross-beams mortised and tenoned to the upright timbers. The timbers are pine, about seven inches square, and the " bents " are about four feet apart and tied together with girths, mortised and tenoned into the upright timbers, giving the building great strength. Indeed, if every nail were withdrawn and the frame laid bare to the fury of an Iowa cyclone, it might go rolling over the country like a Russian thistle, but it would preserve its integrity. A horse barn and a grain barn were erected about the same time, but the latter long since disappeared while the former was but recently torn down. A very little repairing would put the old house in a good shape to resist the forces of inevitable decay for another century. oo ts OLD FORT MONROE AND THE COURTS HELD THERE. 325 This old landmark was the first two-story house built in the London District,, and is, therefore, the oldest one standing. It was the first hotel in Norfolk, and in it was kept the first store — the goods having been brought from New York by Duncan McCall. But it is not these things that give the place its historical significance. It was the " District Town," or judicial and municipal headquarters, for London district for more than two years. It was a place where all matters in dispute arising in Elgin, Middlesex, Oxford, Norfolk and portions of Brant and Haldimand counties, were brought for adjudication, and a place where tavern licenses were issued and road improvement orders made for all that vast territory. The Court of Quarter Ses sions was established in Charlotteville, because that township was the centre of population in the year 1800, and it convened at the house of James Monroe, because it was the only house in Long Point settlement having the necessary accommodation. Colonel Samuel Ryerse was commissioned to set the new machinery in motion. A Commission of the Peace was issued for London District, and the new justices were sworn into office. On the. 8th day of April, 1800, the first court of the London District General Quarter Sessions was held. Samuel Ryerse, Esq., was chosen chairman, and his associate justices were William Spurgin, Peter Teeple, John' Beemer and Wynant Williams, Esquires. Joseph Ryerson, Esq., was the first Sheriff, and Thomas Welch, Esq., was the first Clerk of the Peace. The first Grand Jury was composed of the following persons : Daniel Millard, Nathan B. Barnum. William B. Hilton, Robert Monroe, Silas Secord,* Lucas Dedrick, John Davis, William Cope, Jacob Buchner, Peter Walker, Philip Forse, James Matthews and John Austin. The Peter Walker whose name appears in the above list was, no doubt, the squatter of that name who was living in a log cabin at the mouth of Patterson's Creek when the Austin's arrived there in 1794 on their land-hunting tour. How long Mr. Walker had lived there previous to that time is not known. 326 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. neither is it known how long he remained sole inhabitant of the territory now included in the village of Port 'Dover. The first High Constable was William Budd Gould, and the first Constabulary force for the District was made up as follows : Moses Rice, for Charlotteville ; Albert Berdan, for Woodhouse, Walpole and Rainham ; Simon Mabee, for Walsingham ; and John Muckle, jun., for Townsend and W^indham. Simon Mabee had charge of the first Grand Jury. Albert Berdan was the first Court Crier. Nathan B. Barnum and Finlay Malcolm were appointed Keepers of a Standard for W^eights and Measures. Daniel Millard was the first District Treasurer. The court divided the district into sections known as District Divisions, and established in each a Court of Requests, presided over by two or more justices. These divisions were changed from time to time as population increased and settlement advanced. At first the townships of Rainham, Walpole, Town- send and Woodhouse were grouped into one such division, in charge of Samuel Ryerse, Wynant Williams and John Beemer, Esquires. Thus was London District organized, although it had been marked out on the map of the Province two years previously. At this first term James Monroe was granted a tavern license — being the first one issued in London District. The statute labor of Joseph Woolley, of Walsingham, was fixed at two days, and that of Walter Anderson, of Charlotteville, at four days, in response to their petition for a reduction. The Grand Jurors for the summer term, 1800, were : Isaac Gilbert, Walter Ander son, Robert Henderson, Joseph Lemon, Lawrence Johnson, Daniel McCall, jun., Abraham Powell, Job Slaght, sen., Philip Sovereign, John Culver, Michael Shoft, William Dill and John Sovereign — Moses Rice, constable, in charge. John Backhouse took the magisterial oath as a Justice of the Peace. Hammond Lawrence was granted a license to keep a tavern at his house in Oxford. The following entry appears on the old journal in the minutes of this term : " Proclamation being made in due form and the Justices of OLD FORT MONROE AND THE COURTS HELD THERE. 327 the Peace called upon to give in their record, a conviction and six shillings fine against Daniel McCall, jun., for profane language on the 20th of June last." The new Treasurer gave bonds at this term for £122. At the fall term, 1800, the Grand Jurors were : Nathaniel Landon, Justice Stephens, David Palmer, Joseph F. Dun, Hugh Graham, Samuel Baker, John Fowler, Charles Burch, John W^ells, James Smiley, Elijah Mudge, Alexander Hay, John Mudge, Roswell Matthews, Reuben Dayton, John Eaton and Thomas Sayles. A motion was made for a movable stocks and whipping post, and Moses Rice was granted a license for keeping a tavern in Charlotteville Luther Cooley was fined £40 for selling liquor without a license. Thomas Horner was appointed Registrar for the counties of Oxford and Middlesex, and John Bostwick was appointed High Constable for London District. At a special session held November 10th, 1800, a contract was entered into with Levi Comber for the building of a court house at the Town of Charlotteville (Turkey Point) at a cost of £312 10s. Od., but Comber failed to carry out the contract. At the winter term, January, 1801, the Grand Jurors were: William Hambly, Stephen Bartow, Robert Davis, Leonard Clouse, John Coltman, David Secord, Joshua Fairchild, Benja min Fairchild, Charles Burch, David Palmer, Samuel Caulfield, Elisha Hoskin and Seth Putman. Hammond Lawrence, con stable, in charge. Robert Davis was fined £23 at -this term for selling liquor without license. One Ebenezer Allen, of the town of Delaware, was indicted on a charge of forgery, and Paul Averill was fined five shilHngs for Sabbath-breaking. Henry Bostwick was sworn in as Deputy Clerk of the Peace, Deputy Registrar, and Deputy Clerk of the Court. A motion was made at this time to allow Sheriff Ryerson certain sums for summoning the justices for the several courts for the year 1801, as follows: John Beemer, $50; Wilham Spurgin, $50; Peter Teeple, $50; Wynant Williams, 328 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Thomas Horner, $80 ; Daniel Springer, $80 ; John Backhouse, $80, and Samuel Ryerse, $80. Daniel Freeman and Jabez Culver, sen., came into court and prayed for licenses to marry — both refused. At this term the court took into consideration the subject of having a building immediately erected on a small scale for a temporary, district jail. The following is quoted from the court record : " It was proposed to build one twenty-five by fourteen feet from outside to outside, with timbers of the same thick ness of that proposed by the special sessions of the 13th December last, to be divided into two rooms, the one for debtors and the other for criminals, by a plank partition, and to have a double chimney in the middle, and to be ten feet between floor and floor. It is proposed by the court and James Monroe to have the said building erected very near to the dwelling-house of the said James Monroe, and if erected there the court agrees to allow, and the said James Monroe agrees to take, one hundred dollars per annum to act as jailer, to furnish a good house or room for to, hold court in gratis, and as soon as the district can build a sufficient jail and court house elsewhere, the said James Monroe agrees to allow the district an equitable price for the one now proposed to be erected. The justices do agree to try what help they, can pro cure in tlieir several divisions by subscriptions, and to allow to Conrad Zittle ten shillings. New York currency, per day, to superintend and work at the said building, and to pay him therefor out of the first assessed rates to be collected for this district. The above is the unanimous resolve of the court." At the spring term, 1801, the Grand Jury was made up as follows: Edward McMichael, Daniel Millard, Nathan B. Bar num, William B. Hilton, Robert Monroe, Lucas Dedrick, John Davis, William Cope, Jacob Buchner, Philip Forse, James Matthews, Walter Anderson and John Gustin. Daniel McCall, jun., came into court and took the oath of allegiance, according to law, as an ensign in the Norfolk OLD FORT MONROE AND THE COURTS HELD THERE. 329 Militia. The Constabulary force was re-appointed at this term as follows : John Bostwick, District High Constable ; John Gustin, for Charlotteville; Jonathan Sprague and Thomas Smith, for Walsingham; John Misner and John Decew, for Rainham, Walpole and Woodhouse. Moses Rice was fined two shillings for swearing, and for contempt of court he was put in prison two hours. Walsingham was set off" as a District Division, and Samuel Ryerse and John Backhouse were appointed to act as justices of the Court of Request in that division. Court to be held at the house of John Backhouse. Albert Berdan was indicted for swearing in the presence of Lucas Dedrick, one of the jurymen. Mordecai Sayles was put on trial for taking more than one-twelfth as toll for grinding and bolting at. his mill. The following witnesses appeared for the King : Leonard Sovereign, Jacob Glover, William Walker, Job Slaght, Jabez Culver, sen., Griffiths Culver, John Muckle, sen, Michael Shoft and Dennis Shoft. Sayles was convicted and fined £10. Joseph Chambers was fined two shillings for swearing. At the summer term, 1801, the following persons were sworn in as the Grand -lury: Abraham Powell, Jacob Potts, Joseph Lemon, Daniel McLaughlin, Titus Finch, John Sov ereign, Robert Henderson, Lot Tisdale, Michael Shoft, Philip Sovereign, Job Slaght, Philip Bush and John Troyer, At the fall term, 1801; the following names appeared among the Petit Jury: Andrew Steinhoff, John Steinhoff, Frederick Steinhoff. and Emmanuel Steinhoff. At this term David Palmer was fined two shillings for swearing, and Albert Berdan was fined £5, Halifax currency, for assault and battery. At the winter term, December, 1801, Noah Millard, of Townsend, was granted a tavern license. At the spring term, 1 802, the Grand Jury was as follows : Edward McMichael, John Coltman, Daniel Millard, David Secord, jun., Robert Monroe, Job Loder, Lucas Dedrick, William Cope, Jacob Buchner, Philip Forse, James Matthews, Jacob 330 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Sovereign and Elias Foster. Thomas Smith, constable, in charge. Susan, wife of Albert Berdan, came into court and relin quished her dower right on Lot 7, 1st concession, W^oodhouse, conveyed by her husband to Jonathan Williams. The Treas urer's bonds were raised to £240 — £120 by himself, £60 by Jonathan Williams and £60 by William Hambly. Nathan Wade was paid 15 shillings and Noah Fairchilds, £1 15s. Od. for work done on jail. At the summer term, 1802, we find the Grand Jury as fol lows : Ephraim Tisdale, Leonard Clouse, Leonard Sovereign, John Davis, Reuben Green, James Freeman, Benjamin Mead, James Derrickson, Joseph Wilson, John Bowlby, Peter Beemer, John Slaght and Morris Sovereign. Oliver Mabee was sworn in as juror in place of Bowlby. Mary, wife of Thomas Welch, came into court and relin quished her right of dower in 400 acres of land lying in the township of Humberstone, this day conveyed by the said Thomas Welch to Peter Hershey. Eber Decew and Samuel Wood were appointed constables for Woodhouse ; John Stone and Jesse Smith for Charlotteville ; William Dill and Ezra Parney for Townsend and Windham ; and Michael Troyer for Walsingham. Fifteen pounds was granted the sheriff for summoning jurors for the ensuing year. This was the last term of the Quarter Sessions held in old Fort Monroe. The old court record shows that there was a "town of Delaware" at the time London District was organized, and that the inhabitants thereof were not all peace-loving citizens. The most of the " presentments " made by the grand juries at Fort Monroe, were for assault and battery and petit larceny, and the larger number of these cases came from the " town of Delaware." No traces remain of the old log jail at Fort Monroe, and the old journal of Thomas Welch does not show that more than one man was ever confined in it. This man was Moses Rice, the pioneer tavern-keeper, and his term of imprisonment was only two hours. OLD FORT MONROE AND THE COURTS HELD THERE. 331 But the old building where these pioneer courts were held is still standing. The young people, of Norfolk may see the room wherein was erected the first judicial bench in all London District. They may stand in the room where, in their imagina tion, they may see the bar before which the evil-doers in all this vast region of country had to answer for their bad behav iour, and where orders were issued for the regulation of affairs in the uttermost parts thereof. They may sit where the first magistrates sat and tread upon fioors which were trodden upon by their gTeat-grandfathers nearly a century ago. They may also see the room where quite a different kind of bar was erected — the first of its kind in the district — a bar before which their great-grandfathers were sometimes prepared for an appearance before the other bar; and they may see the room where merchandise was first retailed in the district. If they care not for all these things, they may see the first two- story house erected in old Norfolk. SKETCH LXV. A FAMILY OF BOSTON PIONEERS- CORLISS FAMILY. The old Boston settlement in the township of Townsend dates back to the beginning of the present century. After the new province of Upper Canada had been organized. Sir John Graves Simcoe, the first Governor, championed the cause of the U. E. Loyalists. He visited them in the maritime Provinces, whither they had fled at the close of . the war, and induced them to migrate to the new province. Emissaries were sent into the new American States, amply supplied with circulars which gave a glowing description of the new province and the wonderful advantages awaiting those who chose to settle therein. The Governor's object, of course, was to induce all those who were friendly to British connection to migrate to the new colony; but the movement thus set on foot caused many American families to avail themselves of the golden opportunities offered to secure homes for themselves, and although they were not allotted free lands they were welcomed as settlers, and were permitted to take up lands at a trifling cost. The only distinction made between U. E. Loyalists and other settlers — if it really amounted to a distinction — was the reserve of the lake front for the former, which necessitated a rear settlement on the part of the latter. The Boston settlement was made by Americans and British emigrants principally. Among the first settlers were the Corliss and Beal families. They came from New Jersey about twenty years after that State ceased to be a British colony. They came because Upper Canada offered greater advantages in the securing of homes for themselves and their children, than A FAMILY OF BOSTON PIONEERS. 333 could be obtained elsewhere. The most desirable public lands in their native State were all taken, and of all the unexplored, boundless West, the western peninsula of Upper Canada was the only centre of attraction, at that time, for the people of New Jersey. These American families entertained no pre judices against the mother-country, and were not averse to British institutions. True, many of them had fought for inde pendence, but it was the defence of a righteous principle, and not hatred of British rule, that prompted them to take up arms. Lord Carlisle came too late with overtures of peace, and the severance of British connection was the legitimate outcome of the acts of injustice that caused the trouble in the family. When the trouble began James Corliss and his wife — whose maiden name was Sarah Sherman — were living on a Jersey farm. When Washington was placed in command of the colonial troops Mr. Corliss joined his little army and fought all through the war and never received a wound. When peace was restored he returned to his farm, and during the next twenty years his three sons — Ashur, Swain and Uriah — grew up and married. The little Jersey farm was a home for one family; but when this family had quadrupled itself a need was felt for more land, and the scantiness of the family exchequer made it imperative that it be cheap land. This con dition of things brought them to Boston in the year 1804. It was three weeks after making the start before they reached the Boston settlement. They brought a number of cows with them; and each morning, during the journey, the cows were milked and the milk put into the churn with the previous night's milking, and during the day's march over the rough and uneven way, the milk" was churned by the jolting of the wagon, thus furnishing the party with a daily supply of fresh buttermilk and self -churned butter. The party consisted of James Corliss and wife and his three sons and their families, and the family of Barzillai Beal. Ashur Corliss, eldest son of James, married Magdalene 334 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Hagerman in New Jersey. He had three sons — Ira, Abraham and Cornelius ; and one daughter, Charlotte. Ira settled in the Western States ; Abraham settled in Waterloo County ; Cornelius married Elizabeth, daughter of Noah Fairchild, and settled in Townsend ; and Charlotte married Cornelius Lane, and settled near Paris. Swain Corliss, second son of James, married Jane Burch in New Jersey. He had three sons — Barzillai, Joseph and Lionel; and four daughters— Charlotte, Olive, Jane and Sarah. The family moved to Michigan. Uriah Corliss, youngest son of James, married Mehitabel Lynch in New Jersey. In this branch were six sons — James, Daniel, Squire, George, Judson and Uriah ; and four daughters — Phoebe, Sarah, Amanda and Maria. James married Mary Nichol, and settled in Townsend ; Daniel married Rachel, daughter of Abraham Smith, of Charlotteville, and settled in Townsend ; Squire married Nancy Parney, and settled in Townsend ; George married Tryphena Malcolm, and settled in Townsend ; Judson married Fidelia Rice, and settled in Town- send ; Uriah married Fanny Bates, and settled in Townsend ; Phcebe married David Norton, and settled in Westminster; Sarah married Job Slaght, and settled in Townsend ; Amanda married Herman Fitch, and settled in Nissouri ; and Maria married George McCool, and settled in Boston. Uriah Corliss, the head of this branch, died in 1864, aged eighty-two years. The genealogy of the Corliss family, as given above, was dictated from memory by Sarah Corliss, the widow of Job Slaght, while in her 90th year. She lives in Port Ryerse, is remarkably bright and active for one of her age, being a great reader, and able to thread a needle without the use of glasses. When Sarah was sixteen years old she rode a horse from Boston . to Westminster through the forest to nurse* her sick sister, Mrs. David Norton. The sister died, leaving a young babe, which Sarah carried home with her on horseback. It took three days to make the journey. Her brother Daniel accompanied her, walking by the side of the horse. This was A FAMILY OF BOSTON PIONEERS. 335 in 1823, and the place where the city of London now stands was a wilderness. Governor Simcoe's trail was followed, and an occasional small clearing with its log cabin was seen ; but the country was mostly an unbroken forest. This lonely journey, especially the return with the motherless babe, after the death of her sister, made a lasting impression on the young girl's mind ; and to make the sad event still more impressive, they came upon an Indian battle-ground, as evidenced by pools of blood and the trampled appearance of the bushy under growth, and just beyond a group of wounded and bleeding Indians. Mrs. Slaght knows what it is for little children to eat the heads of unripe wheat and cry for bread. She is one of the very few living pioneers of old Long Point settlement whose early childhood days were spent in the original log cabins, subject to the trials, privations and inconveniences of primitive settlement in a dense forest. She lived in the era of the " stump " mill and the little hand mill furnished by the Government. The early settlers in the Boston settlement were mostly Baptists, and as soon as their log cabins were erected they held meetings, alternately, at their own homes for religious worship. At these meetings light was furnished by means of " fat pine " torches attached to the old stick-and-clay-mortar chimney. In 1805 Boston settlement was visited by American missionaries, - who organized a Baptist church, consisting of thirteen members, and Elder Peter Fairchild was ordained to minister to the spiritual comfort of the little pioneer church. Starting with thirteen names on the church book in 1805, she has furnished a membership for six powerful sister churches located around her, and yet this old mother-church is one of the largest in the Association to-day. When the war of 1812 broke out James Corliss was about sixty years old ; but, being a blacksmith by trade, he served as a smith in the shoeing of dragoon horses. His two sons, Swain and Ashur, . served in the ranks — the latter being at the battle 336 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. of Liindy's Lane. During the war Ashur Corliss received thirteen wounds. It is said that Swain CoHiss was the only man who stood his ground when the celebrated " Foot Race " took place at Malcolm's Mill. He stood alone, loading and firing at the invaders, until he sank exhausted against a tree, bleeding from numerous wounds. Even when surrounded by the Americans, and being no longer able to stand, he continued to load and fire. Not until the enemy closed in upon him, threatening to run him through with their bayonets, did he ground arms and surrender. His bravery won the admiration of the enemy, and they spared his life and carried him into a house near by. The firing was distinctly, heard by the Corliss families three miles away, and that night James Corliss, the father, dreamed that a venomous bee had stung him on the throat. Rising at once he told the members of his family that Swain was either dead or seriously wounded ; and he went out into the darkness, hitched his horses to a sled, placed a feather tick, pillows, etc., upon it, and started for the scene of the battle. He found him at the house where he had been taken, lying in a little pool of blood, which had oozed through his saturated clothing, and suffering intense pain. Owing to his critical condition it took nearly the whole day to convey him to his father's home. There were fourteen wounds on his body, some of which were nearly fatal, and it was some time before he was able to be carried to his own home. The Corlisses never boasted of their inherited loyality. They never claimed that the blood shed by Swain Corliss possessed any siipe?'-excellence by way of loyalty-tinctured corpuscles ; but there were some that did claim this distinction, who said that Swain Corliss was drunk on that occasion. If this is true, then what a pity it is that they were not all drunk, for in that case the Yankees would have been either killed or taken prisoners, and the bread mills of the wives and mothers of Norfolk would not have been ruthlessly destroyed. By a former marriage James Corliss had a son, George, who settled in Philadelphia, and became a celebrated machinist. He A FAMILY OF BOSTON PIONEERS. 337 built the great Corliss engine that attracted the attention of the assembled world at the great American Centennial Exposi tion in 1876. The reader will observe that no less than eleven Corliss families settled in Townsend, and yet, according to the County Atlas published in 1877, the name of Corliss appears but once on the map of Townsend. James Corliss, the old pioneer, died in 1817, at the age of sixty-three years. The history of old Boston Baptist church is, virtually, the history of Boston settlement ; and as the Corliss, Beal and Fairchild families made up its- principal constituent members, and Elder Peter Fairchild became its first pastor, a brief description of the Elder's family will not be out of place in connection with this sketch. The Fairchild family is one of the oldest in thetowBshipof Townsend. It is claimed that Sarah, fifth daughter of Elder Fairchild, who, it is said was born in the Townsend cabin oh the 26th day of March, 1794, was the first white child born in Townsend. This is a modest claim, to say the least, for if the dates in the old family Bible are correct, and Sarah Fairchild was born in Townsend, she was, probably, the first white child' born in the county. This honor has been claimed hy the McCalls, of Charlotteville ; the Walkers, of Woodhouse ; and the Culvers, of Townsend ; but if the Fairchild record be correct this birth occurred more than two years before the McCalls came to the country, and in the early part of the same year the other two families effected a settlement. Elder Peter Fairchild married Sarah Fuller in New Jersey, and when the Province of Upper Canada was only about three years old, he came with his family and settled in the wilderness about three miles north-east of Boston. They came in advance of the surveyor, and it was several years before they had a neighbor. Shortly after the arrival of the Corlisses and Beals the three families convened under the trees, near the spot where the old graveyard is located, and covenanted with each other as a preliminaiy step towards the organization of a 22 338 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POI?JT SETTLEMENI. Baptist church. This occurred October 21st, 1804, and on November 9th, of the following year, the church was formally organized. On the 21st day of October, 1806, Elder Peter Fairchild was regularly installed as pastor, a position he held for fourteen consecutive years. Rev. Peter Fairchild had five sons — Benjamin, Peter, Abial, Israel and Cornelius ; and seven daughters — Elizabeth, Esther, Rebecca, Rachel, Sarah, Ruth and Roily. In the family of Peter, second son of Elder Peter, were four sons — Alvin, Frank, John and Peter M. ; and three daughters — Alvira M., Sarah J., and Eliza V. Peter M. is the present occupant of the old homestead, and John is a Baptist preacher. The Fairchilds were numerous in New Jersey, and the two principal Norfolk branches are, no doubt, offshoots of the same old New Jersey family tree. SKETCH LXVI. A PIONEER DEACON AND FATHER OF DEACONS- JOHNSON FAMILY. Lawre.vce Johnson was the founder of one of Charlotte ville's most numerous and best known families. Especially does this fact become apparent when the growth and develop ment of the Baptist church in Long Point settlement is taken into consideration. He was one of Elder Finch's converts, becoming one of the first deacons of the old Vittoria Baptist church when it was organized in 1804. As a deacon, and as a member of the church, he was always found at the post of duty, ever ready, at all times and on all occasions, to help on the good work. He was fearless and conscientious in his religious duties ; and his deportment in the every-day activities of life, from the day of his settlement to the end of his long life, was marked by uprightness of character and a disposition to do good. The few old people who remain will remember the days when old Deacon Johnson and his wife came regularly to church, riding in a lumber wagon, and each seated in an old- fashioned, splint-bottom chair. Lawrence Johnson was a U. E. Loyalist, but he came to Long Point just a little too late to receive a grant of land. When the old home near Forestville was burned, the family records were destroyed ; but his son Richard, who lives on the old homestead, and has reached his eighty-fifth year, has a pretty good memory. ' From him we learn that the Johnsons are of Dutch descent, and that his father came from Pennsyl vania. Lawrence Johnson, it is said, was drafted by the Americans at the breaking out of the war of the Revolution, 340 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. and his father furnished a substitute for him. Subsequently he was again drafted ; and this time, being a Loyalist, he ran away and joined the British army, serving all through the war. When peace was restored he went to Nova Scotia, where he remained seventeen years. In the year 1799 he started for Upper Canada. He came by the way of New York, and while in that city he purchased a half-bushel measure. This measure is in possession of Richard Johnson, and bears the manufac turer's stamp, dated 1791, showing that the old relic is 106 years old. Mr. Johnson settled on Lot 3, concession A., Charlotteville, which lot he bought of Silas Montross. He married Margaret Montross, and had six sons — Lawrence, Peter, Levi, Samuel, Jeremiah and Richard; and three daughters — Eva, Leah and Maria. He died at the age of eighty-five. Lawrence Johnson, eldest son of Lawrence, married Nancy Butler, and settled in Charlotteville. He had one son, Ebenezer; and four daughters — Maria, Martha Ann, Julia and Nancy. Lawrence Johnson served in the war of 1812, and was at the battle of Fort Erie, and took part in several other engagements. Peter Johnson, second son of the old pioneer, married Catherine Newkirk, and settled in Bayham. He had four sons — Lawrence, Peter, Jeremiah and William ; and two daughters — Takie and Maria. His son William settled in Walsingham. Levi Johnson, third son of Lawrence, married Margaret Backhouse, and settled in Bayham, where he raised a family. There was a Jeremiah in this family. Samuel Johnson, fourth son of Lawrence, was a blacksmith. He married Martha Powers, and settled in Port Rowan. He had one son, who died single ; and four daughters — Margaret, Eva, Marilla, and one who married in the Schram family. At present Samuel is living near the old homestead, having reached his 90th year. Jeremiah Johnson, fifth son of Lawrence, married Ann A PIONEER DEACON AND FATHER OF DEACONS. 341 Edwards, and settled on Lot 1, concession A., Charlotteville. He had five sons — Jeremiah, Richard H., Izetus W., Salem L. and James L, ; and three daughters — Sarah A., Mary E. and Violet M. Deacon Jeremiah Johnson was a pillar in the old Forestville Baptist church. He was also a prominent man in municipal affairs. When the Municipal Act came into operation he was elected a member of the first Charlotteville Council and was repeatedly elected to the same position for ten or twelve years. A portion of the time he was Deputy-Reeve, and served in the County Council. His life, both in public and in private, was praiseworthy in all respects. He died at an advanced age, loved and respected by all who knew him. Richard Johnson, youngest son of the old pioneer, married Eliza Ann Kern, and settled on the old homestead. He is the last survivor, except one, of the pioneer organizers of the old Baptist church at Forestville. He had eight sons — Lawrence, Christopher, Samuel, Richard, John A., Edward, Charles and Coville ; and five daughters — Margaret, Elizabeth, Sarah Ann, Lucetta and Eliza. Eva Johnson, eldest daughter of the original Lawrence, married Richard Lanning, and settled in Yarmouth, County of Elgin. She had two sons — John and Coville. Leah Johnson, the second daughter, married William Hatch, and settled in Bayham. Maria Johnson, the youngest daughter, married Mark Ward, and settled near Normandale. Subsequently they settled in Illinois. SKETCH LXVIL A FAMOUS MIDDLETON PIONEER HUNTER— MIDDLETON BROWNS. The oldest man living cannot remember the time when the sand knoll on the east side of Lot 9, 8th concession of Charlotte ville, did not have a house on it, except, indeed, it be quite recently, since the old house has been torn down. This old relic, which was an imposing structure in its day, has been an abode for moles and bats since the time when the present active generation of men was not yet bom. It was here, in the early morning of the present century, that Samuel Brown, a New Jersey Loyalist, came with his wife and his five sons and four daughters and settled. He left New Jersey at the close of the war and settled on land in the Niagara District, which he afterwards drew from the Government. This family of Browns possessed a strong predilection for pioneering. Samuel Brown had settled his family comfortably at Niagara, and the only apparent reason for his move to the new Long Point settlement, and especially for chosing such a lonely spot in the interior of the township, is that he preferred an isolated life far removed from neighbors, where he might enjoy the solitudes of the forest. And from this lonely home four of the five sons went out as pioneers in the township of Middleton. General McArthur's troop passed the Brown home on their return after raiding the settlement. The family secreted themselves in the adjacent forest thickets until the invaders with their prisoners had left the ridge many miles behind. When the Brown girls became grandmothers they never tired of telling the story to their grandchildren. It was the one A FAMOUS MIDDLETON PIONEER 'HUNTER. 343 great event of that portion of their girlhood days spent on this lonely Charlotteville sand knoll. The names of the five sons were James, Victor, Samuel, John and George ; and the names of the daughters were Mary, Sarah, Elizabeth and Margaret. James Brown, the eldest son, was born in 1783, in New Jersey. He married Priscilla Vansickle and settled on Talbot Street, Middleton. Here on Lot 41, south, he kept a tavern for several years, and accumulated considerable property. He was one of the original pioneers on this first thoroughfare opened up in the township. Talbot Street was laid out in 1806, by Colonel Thomas Talbot, a member of Governor Simcoe's staff. The Governor granted numerous tracts of land to the Colonel, lying along the proposed roadway, but the opening of the road was not effected until about 1824, and then by local effort principally. The Browns were among the first settlers in the township west of Fredericksburg, and it is said their settlement was made soon after the close of the war of 1812. The Sov ereigns and Lawsons settled at Fredericksburg about the same time ; but it was not until about 1823 that a settlement was made as far west as Courtland by the Byerlays, Tisdales and others. Captain " Jimmie " Brown was an important personage in the early times. He was a staunch Loyalist, and dearly loved a red coat and cocked hat ; and when he had a sword dangling at his side he felt like championing the cause of Great Britain single handed. The old training days were red-letter days for Captain Brown. He was small in stature, but possessed a wiry, cast-iron constitution, which enabled him to withstand the buff"etings of life's billows for eighty-nine years. He died in 1871, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. J. A. Wilson, after a protracted and heroic struggle with the grim adversary. He was twice married, his second wife being a Mrs. Elizabeth House. He left one son, Talbot ; and four daugh<-ers — Margaret, Priscilla, Mary and Anna ; who married, respectively, John A. Wilson, Peter Johnson, Peter Cline and James Clinton. 344 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Victor Brown, second son of Samuel, married Hannah, daughter of Abraham Smith, the old Charlotteville pioneer. He was the only son in the family who did not take to bush pioneering. He preferred boating, and placed a mortgage on his wife's Government land grant, or, rather, land which had been exchanged for it, for a boat. The boat was lost, and the land passed into the hands of the mortgagees. Mr. Brown took his departure from Long Point, and his wife returned to her father's home, where she lived until she died. They had no children. Samuel Brown, third son of Samuel, married Mary Haley, and settled on the south side of Talbot street, about two miles west of his brother James. Samuel Brown was a pioneer of pioneers. He was a famous hunter and trapper. For ten or twelve years he lived in the solitudes of the tangled swamps and pine forests of Middleton, without neighbors, and before the "street" was opened up and traversed even by pioneer land-hunters. The experiences of Samuel Brown with his trusty rifle, his numerous traps, and his faithful dogs, during these years of pioneer life in the wilds of Middleton, if written down, would make an intensely interesting volume. If he had kept a diary with daily notations of his hunting experiences, the old relic would command a fabulous price to-day. The stories handed down to his grandchildren are numerous and varied, one of which, only, will be given here. After settle ment had become well established, the numerous jpacks of wolves that made night hideous in the Middleton woods were very annoying to the settlers, and a bounty of six dollars a scalp was paid as a means of exterminating them. Samuel Brown was one of the principal recipients of this bounty. One Sunday morning he discovered an old she-wolf in the woods, and from long experience he had familiarized himself with the animal's instincts, and he know at once that she was searching for a suitable place in which to bring forth her young. He stealthily followed her from place to place, until she came to the hollow trunk of a fallen tree which, after a careful examination, A FAMOUS MIDDLETON PIONEER HUNTER. 345 she marked as the place of her choice, according to wolfish custom. The manner of marking the lair, and the proper time to wait after the she- wolf has thus made known her intentions, before making an attack, are matters known only to the experienced hunter. When the proper time arrived Mr. Brown proceeded to capture the sheep thief and her family. The mother wolf was not at home, and to make sure of her he crawled feet foremost into the hollow tree, and when the wolf returned he shot her as she entered the log. He secured nine scalps and received $54 for them. This was pretty good pay in those times for a few hours work, and it was work of this kind that enabled Samuel Brown to pay for 400 acres of land. He possessed a rugged constitution, and attained a great age. In his family were five sons — Victor, Hiram, Squire, Henry and James , and three daughters — Hannah, Margaret and Priscilla. John Brown, fourth son of Samuel, married Jemima Fair- child, and settled on Talbot Street, nearly opposite his brother James. The old John Brown home and the old " Sam " Brown home farther west, were relics of a departed age before the present generation was born. John Brown had one son, Noah, who died single ; and four daughters— Elizabeth, Ann, Louise and Margaret. The latter, familiarly known as " Peggy " Brown, married David Long, a carpenter, who settled at Fredericksburg many years ago. Old " Aunt Jemima " was a familiar figure on the streets of Fredericksburg for many years after her husband's death. When the first construction train on the Air Line pulled into the village, a large crowd of villagers assembled to see it cross the high bridge, and the most astonished spectator among them was " Aunt Jemima.'' She was past eighty, and had never before seen a railroad locomotive. George Brown, youngest son of the old pioneer, was thrice married. By his first wife, Elizabeth Butler, he had three sons — Peter, Levi and Patrick ; and three daughters — Louisa, Matilda and Margaret Ann. He married a Boughner for his second wife, who bore him two sons — Daniel and James ; and three daughters at one birth— Emeline, Adaline and Caroline. -346 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. This is probably the only case on record in the county where birth was given to triplets, all of one sex, and all of whom grew up into womanhood and married. George settled in Middleton, about a mile south of his brother James, and lived to be eighty- four years old. He had no children by his third wife, Rachel Fonger. Mary Brown, the eldest daughter of the original Samuel Brown, married M. Vanalstine, and settled near St. Catharines. She raised a large family. Sarah Brown, the second daughter, married Louis Earle, who settled on a lot near her father's homestead. She had three sons — Samuel, James and Henry ; and five daughters — Electa, Elizabeth, Margaret, Melinda and, Phoebe. Elizabeth Brown, the third daughter, married Henry Butler, and settled in Windham, near Fredericksburg. Subsequently she married George Anderson, and settled in Norwich. She had a large family by her first husband, and two or three children by her second husband. Margaret Brown, the fourth and last daughter, married Henry Sovereign, the old Middleton pioneer. Her children are enumerated in the Sovereign genealogy. " Aunt Peggy," as she was familiarly called, possessed the same constitutional vigor and tendency to long life that characterized all the members of her family, having reached a ripe old age when summoned to join her forefathers in the silent city of the dead. . SKETCH LXVIII. PIONEER MASONRY. According to old Masonic history, the first Masonic Lodge in Norfolk made its appearance in 1822, as Townshend Lodge, No. 767. For thirty years previous to this date the status of the craft in Upper Canada was unsettled ; but during that year the clashings between the so-called " Ancients " and " Moderns" in the Mother Country came to an end, and the United Grand Lodge of England was the result. Right Worshipful Brother Simon McGillivray was sent to, Canada to reorganize the craft and unite the craftsmen of the Province. He succeeded in smoothing all difficulties and paving the way for the estab lishing of a Provincial Grand Lodge at York, in October of the year mentioned. Old Townshend Lodge had a large member ship in 1832 ; and in 1851 it was transferred to Simcoe under the name of St. John's Lodge, receiving its warrant of- con firmation, November 14th, 1853, and in 1854 was named Norfolk Lodge. In 1792 the Athol, or " Ancient " Grand Lodge, warranted a Provincial Grand Lodge for Upper Canada, and for a quarter of a century this lodge struggled for an existence at York (Toronto). In 1812 Amos Dodge, Eliakim Crosby, John Culver and several other pioneer masons petitioned a rival Provincial Grand Lodge which had established itself at Niagara, for a warrant to form a lodge in the township of Townsend. The warrant was issued June 24th, of that year, and reads in part as follows : " Know ye, that we, at the petition of our trusty and well- beloved brethren, Amos Dodge, Eliakim Crosby, John Culver, three of our Master Masons, and several other brethren, to be separated and formed in a lodge, do hereby constitute the said 348 pioneer sketches of long point SETTLEMElvfT. brethren into a regular lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, and do hereby authorize and empower our trusty and well-beloved Bro. Amos Dodge to be Master, Eliakim Crosby to be Senior Warden, and John Culver to be Junior Warden, and to form and hold a lodge in the township of Townshend, which is hereby designated number twenty-six, and at all times and on all occasions, in the said lodge, when duly constituted, to make Freemasons, according to the most ancient and honorable custom of the Royal York Craft, in all nations and ages throughout the known world ; and to — " The warrant is signed by William Emery, Deputy Grand Secretary. Among the old Beemer papers is a lodge certificate dated December 27th, 1815, and signed by Sherman Hyde, W.M., and Leonidas Burwell, Secretary, showing that John Beemer, Esq., was " discharged for necessary reasons rendered " from Lodge No. 26. On September 23rd, 1822, after chaos had given place to order, D.P.G.M. James FitzGibbon granted this old lodge a dis pensation, which declared that until a " warrant shrill be granted to their said lodge, under the seal of the Grand Lodge of England," it shall be "their sufficient authority." The following names were attached to the petition praying for this recognition : Oliver Smith, Sherman Hyde, John H. Dodge, Ezekiel Foster, Jacob Langs, Gabriel Culver and Morris Sovereign. The first three were made, respectively, W.M., S.W. and J.W. The dispensation granted bears the following head: " I, Simon McGillivray, Provincial Grand Master of the Province of Upper Canada, acting under His Royal Highness, Prince Augusta Frederick, Duke of Sussex, Earl of Inverness, Baron of Arklow, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, etc., etc., etc. Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Ancient Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of England, SEND GREETING : " It appears that these Townsend pioneer Masons maintained a sort of portable lodge. We find it at one time in the old " Red Tavern" in Oakland, and then at "Murphy's Tavern," just north of W^aterford ; and again we find it securely located in PIONEER MASONRY. 349 an upper room in Morris Sovereign's house at Waterford. There are traces of pioneer Freemasonry in various localities, but the evidences all point to the fact of there having been but one lodge in this section of old London District. In the old " Windham Meeting-house" burying-ground many a mossy old tombstone may be seen bearing the " square and compass," which marks the resting-place of one of these old pioneer members of Townshend Lodge, No. 767. Among the documentary evidences of pioneer Masonry in Norfolk is the following : "St. John's Royal Arch Chapter, No. 16, Holden in the town of York, Upper Canada. " To all enlightened Masons on the surface of the globe. " Greeting : Know ye, that Jacob Langs, junior, is a Royal Arch Mason, and, as such, is entitled to our recommendation." This certificate is dated, April I7th, 1817. Masonic history looks to Grand Lodge Registers and other provincial records for data ; and, according to this revelation, Waterford is made the cradle of Masonry in Norfolk, and to old Townshend Lodge is ascribed the honor of being Norfolk's pioneer lodge. Notwithstanding all this, the fact remains that old Charlotteville is not only the cradle of Masonry in Norfolk, but in all that vast region comprised in the old London District. The germ of all political, religious, social and fraternal development in all Western Ontario, between the old Niagara and Detroit River settlements, may be traced to old Charlotteville. The "Town of Charlotteville" was an historical fact as early as 1795. It was located at Turkey Point, and was laid out and dedicated to future greatness by Upper Canada's first Governor, Sir John Graves Simcoe. Here, at the house of Job Loder, was held the first meeting of Free and Accepted Masons in the old District of London. The minutes of this and succeeding meetings of the old pioneer Masons have been carefully preserved, an exact copy of which is given below: " Proceedings had at the first meeting of Free and Accepted Masons at the house of Job Loder, in the Town of Charlotte- 350 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. ville. County of. Norfolk, District of Loadon, and Province of Upper Canada, January 3', 1803. " Present, Bros. William Hutchinson, Wynant Williams, Joseph Ryerson, Thomas Welch, Job Loder, David Secord, and Alex. Hutchinson. " Resolved, — That they will apply for a regular warrant to the Grand Lodge of Upper Canada. " Voted, Bros. Joseph Ryerson, W.M. ; Williams, S.W. ; Hutchinson, sen., J.W. ; Welch, Secretary. Elected. "Resolved, — That Bro. William Hutchinson agreeing to furnish Jewells, etc., for the Lodge, to be reimbursed by the Lodge. " Thomas Welch, Secretary!' " At a meeting of Free and Accepted Masons, held at the same place, on the twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and three. " Present, Bros. William Hutchinson, Benjamin Caryl, Thomas Smith, Jacob Glover, John Heath, Job Loder and Thomas Welch. " Resolved, — That application be made for a warrant to hold a lodge at this town, in consequence whereof the brothers proceeded to choose officers for the said lodge, when the follow ing brethren were chosen : W.M., Bro. Wm. Hutchinson ; S.W., Bro B. Caryl ; J.W., Bro. Job Loder ; Secretary, Bro. Thomas, Welch ; Treasurer, Bro. John Heath. " The brethren present then took into consideration the ways and means for procuring a warrant and jewels for the lodge. " We, whose names are hereunto written, do promise to pay in advance, to be reimbursed whenever a sufficiency of money shall come into the treasury of the said lodge, the sums opposite our names, respectively, into the hands of the Treasurer, on or before the first day of June next ensuing, which Bro. Job Loder is hereby elected to receive from the Treasurer, and therewith purchase the Jewels and a Warrant for the said Lodge : Wm. Hutchinson, $10 ; Thos. Welch, $10 ; Benj. Caryl, $5 ; Job Loder, $5 ; John Heath, $10 ; Jacob Glover, $2. " Adjourned till March sessions next the first day. " Thomas Welch, Secretary." " Proceedings had at a meeting of Free and Accepted Masons at the house of Bro. Job Loder, at the Town of Charlotteville on the twenty -seventh day of September, 1804. " Present, Bros. Wm. Hutchinson, Chairman-elect ; Job pioneer masonry. 351 Loder, Junior Warden ; Alex. Hutchinson ; Thos. Welch, Secre tary ; — Bond, from York (a visitor). " Resolved, — 1st. That the officers of this society do stand, as heretofore elected for the ensuing year. " 2nd. That the Secretary-elect do notify each of the sub scribing members of this society who are absent from this meeting, that it is the particular request of the Master-elect tl^at all the subscribing members of this society do meet at this place on St. John's Day next ensuing, in order to consult on matters immediately concerning the future proceedings of this society. By order of the Master-elect. "Thomas Welch, Sec-elect." What these old pioneer masons did on St. John's day, 1804, will, probably, never be known. That a lodge was organized at an early date, and that it subsequently held its communica tions in the Court-house at Vittoria; that a meeting of the lodge was held on the night of St. John's Day, 1826 — the night the Court-house burned — and that the lodge records were con sumed with the general contents of the Court-house, are tradi tional matters of history, which have always been accepted as facts. The original documents which throw such a ray of light on Norfolk pioneer masonry, and from which I have copied so extensively in this sketch, are being preserved among the archives of Norfolk Lodge ; and it is to William P. Kelly, the present Secretary of that old lodge, the reader is indebted for kindly furnishing a transcript for publication. During the war of 1812, when American pillage laid waste the flouring mills of Norfolk, the torch was withheld in one notable case. This was in connection with the little Russell Mill at Vittoria. It stood near the spot afterwards occupied by the old Red Mill of the Tisdales. It was a little crude, unpretentious concern, but it was the only mill in all Long Point settlement, except the little Backhouse mill in Walsing ham, that was not committed to the flames by McArthur's raiders. It escaped the fagot, not because it was overlooked by the invaders, but by reason of the fact that General McArthur was a Freemason. Other mills had been burned, and it was 352 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. the intention of the enemy to burn this one also ; but Thomas Bowlby, the old Woodhouse pioneer, and one of Norfolk's pioneer Freemasons, met the invaders on the hill as they were approaching the mill, and, with a flag of truce in his hand, requested an interview with the General. An appeal was made in behalf of the wives, mothers and children of brother masons, the source of whose bread supply was being cut off,' and that appeal which was never made in vain, masonically, fell upon " attentive ears," although made to an invading foe, and the mill was spared. A still more striking exhibition of the wonderful potency of brotherly love as taught within the mj'^stic precincts of Free masonry, when exemplified in the hour of peril, occurred at Waterford during this same raid. The pillagers entered the county from the north — the region of darkness — and Morris Sovereign's mill at Waterford was the first one destroyed. Twice it was set on fire and each time Mr. Sovereign and a few of his friends extinguished the -flames -with sods. The third time it was fired all through the mill, and Sovereign was given to understand that in case he again interfered, it would be at the peril of his life. Not heeding the warning he once more made an attempt to save his property, when he was rudely seized, dragged to the top of the hilli followed by his pleading and sobbing wife — " Aunt Liddie," as she was familiarly called — where, just opposite the present Baptist church, one end of a rope was placed about his neck and the other end thrown over the limb of an oak tree, and as they were about to elevate him he gave the Masonic G. H. S. of distress, and he was spared. It is said that one or two of his friends were ' in the same box." At present there are six masonic lodges in Norfolk, having a total membership of 302 master masons. The name of each lodge, its location, its number, its membership, its present Master, its present Secretary, and the time of holding its regular communications, are given in -the order above written, as follows : — Norfolk, Simcoe, No. 10, 8.3, T. R. Atkinson, Wm. P. Kelly, Tuesday on or b. f. m.; Wilson, Waterford, No. 113, 41, PIONEER MASONRY. 353 James Ross, D. S. Bell, Wednesday on or b. f. m.; Erie, Port Dover, No. 149, 52, A. C. Matthews, J. Varey, Monday on or b. f. m.; Walsingham, Port Rowan, No. 174, 50, Frank Brock, James Ryan, Thursday on or b. f. m.; Fuedebick, Delhi, No. 2 1 7, 41, George Jeffries, A. W. Crysler, Monday on or b. f. m. ; Vittoria, Vittoria, No. 359, 35, R. S. Stalker, D. W. McCall, Friday, on or b. f. m. The lodges of Norfolk are included in District No. 6, whose present very efficient D.D.G.M. is T. R. Atkinson, of Simcoe. On December 13th, 1861, a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons was organized in Norfolk, which is known as Ezra Chapter, No. 23, with the following Council : Ex. Com. Chas. Kahn, Z. ; Ex. Com. C. W. Mathison, H. ; Ex. Com. Dr. John Clarke, J. At present the Chapter includes sixty-two members. The principal officers at present are ; Ex. Com. Dr. Wm. Kennedy, Z. ; Ex. Com. R. Brooks, I.P.Z. ; Ex. Com. C. A. Crosby, H. ; Ex. Com. Frank Reid, J. ; Ex. Com. Rev. R. Hicks, Chaplain ; Ex. Com. W. R Kelly, S.E. ; Ex. Com. Thos. Pusey, S.N. ; Ex. Com. J. G. Bottomly, P.S. ; Ex. Com. R. S. McGill, S.S. ; Ex. Com. R. S. Stalker, J.S. ; Ex. Com. W. P. Price, Treasurer ; Ex. Com. Jas. Fisher, Janitor. Regular convocations are held on Thursday a. f. m. in each month, excepting July and August. Among the first Companions of Ezra Chapter were the fol lowing ; Wm. M. Wilson, P.G.Z. ; Hon. M. N. Foley ; J. Wil liams, the old bandmaster; W. B. Osborne, the old county jailer; T. G. Mathison, present County Attorney and Clerk of the Peace for Halton County ; Judge D. M. Walker, of Winnipeg, Man.; R. C. Lyons, M. S. Park, and L. B. Brown, of the old VanNorman foundry firm. One of the most distinguished workers in Capitular Masonry in Norfolk, is J. D. Christie, Principal of the High School at Simcoe. Mr. Christie is P.G.S. of the Wilson District, and a zealous worker in all matters pertaining to the advance ment of Ezra Chapter. There is no Commandery of Templar Masons in Norfolk, but there are seven Norfolk Masons who are members of Odo De St. Anand Preceptory, No. 17, of Brantford. Their names 23 354 pioneer sketches of long point settlement. are as follows : W. P. Price, Robert Brooks, J. B. Jackson, T. R. Atkinson, Craig Boyd, Thomas Furlong and J. D. Christie. G. M. Gibbs, of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, Simcoe, is also a Knight Templar. Of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite 33-Degree Masons, there are eight members in Norfolk, namely — G. M. Gibbs and W. S. Wood, Simcoe ; Dr. Wm. Kennedy. Vittoria ; Arthur Bowlby and Russell Bowlby, Waterford ; Frank Brock, St. WilUams ; and Dr. E. Mefek, Port Rowan. Among the quaint old Masonic papers which our old Long Point pioneers brought into the wilds of Upper Canada with them, is the following certificate found among the old Masonic papers of Wynant Williams, Esquire. It is well preserved and reads as follows : " Universal — " To all Whom it may Concern : We do hereby certify that brother Wynant Williams is a Regular Registered Excellent High Excellent Mark Man, and Mark Master Mason, under the Warrant of the Grand and Royal Ark Vessel, in London ; and that during his stay amongst us he behaved himself as becomes an honest man and Mason. " Given under our hands and seal of this G. & R. A. V., in London, on the seventh day of May, 5792; of Excellent Masonry, 3284 ; and of Mark M., 2806." The above is signed by the Master, Senior and Junior War dens, and the Secretary. The oldest Masonic apron in the county is, probably, that of Col. Samuel Ryerse, which is at present in the possession of Isaac Ryerse, of Woodhouse, grandson of the Colonel. A copy of an address delivered by Dr. John Rolph, in the Court-house at Vittoria, London District, in 1824, on the occasion of the death of Colonel Nichol, shows that both of these distinguished gentlemen were members of the Lodge whose meetings were held in the Court-house at Vittoria. It will be remembered that Colonel Nichol, who was appointed by the Government to superintend the building of Brock's Monu ment, was thrown from his horse in the night-time, and precipi tated into Niagai'a's mighty chasm. SKETCH LXIX. A MARYLAND PLANTATION OVERSEER— POTTS. Among the many stalwart young Germans who were aided in emigrating to the American colonies, in the middle of the eighteenth century, was Raynard Potts, the grand-ancestor of the Potts family of Norfolk. This young emigrant settled, in the colony of Maryland, where he raised a family of sons and daughters. Jacob Potts, the old Woodhouse pioneer, was born in 1761, and was the eldest son. Raynard Potts was an over seer on a large tobacco plantation ; and, unlike most of the old overseers, he managed to control the field forces without the use of the "black-snake." He believed the black men and women who' bent their backs in slavish toil were human beings, and he treated them accordingly. He would not overburden them, and he looked -after their physical comfort. This method of treating the colored hands made him very popular among them, and thus gaining their good-will he was enabled to accomplish more for the benefit of his employers. Notwithstanding this fact, the owners strongly repremanded him for it. They said it was dangerous to show too much leniency in the management • of the slaves, and threatened him with dismissal if he persisted in his course. One day he excused an aged negro from further duty that day, because he had complained of being weak and tired, and when one of the owners learned of the fact he rode out on the plantation in a fit of rage, and threatened to horse whip the overseer. Mr. Potts dared him to make the attempt, giving him to understand that if he did so, the field hands would all resent it, and a plantation mutiny would be the result. The attempt was not made, but the too -merciful overseer was 356 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. at once relieved of his charge. An application of the principles of justice and mercy, was, of very necessity, destructive of the system of traffic in men and women, and no man could hold the position of overseer on the Southern plantations who looked upon the black man as a human being. Towards the close of last century the Potts family emigrated from Maryland to Upper Canada, and settled at Lyons' Creek, not far from the Falls. The family consisted of the father, Raynard Potts — the mother having died in Maryland ; Jacob Potts, the elder son, who had married in Maryland ; John Potts, a younger son, and two or three sisters. The names of these sisters, who they married or where they settled, are matters of family history, unknown to the descendants of Jacob Potts, the Norfolk family ancestor. In the year 1800 Jacob Potts and his family moved up- to Long Point settlement. John Misner and his family, and a part of the Slaght family, moved up with them. They drove their stock along the lake shore, and brought their goods in row boats. Jacob Potts settled on Lots 2 and 3, 5th concession, Woodhouse. Mr. Potts built the largest barn in that section of the settlement. It was built of logs, and was fifty feet long. When it was raised the help of every settler for fifteen miles around was required, and everybody said Mr. Potts would never grow a sufficient quantity of grain to fill it. In the early years the wolves were very troublesoine in this section, and it was necessary for Mr. Potts to build the walls of his log sheepfold high and very flaring at the top to keep the blood-thirsty pests from destroying his flock. He paid $2.50 an acre for his Woodhouse land, but it was at Lyons' Creek where he experi enced that pinch of destitution which fell to the lot of so many of our old pioneers. So great was this destitution that on one occasion the only possible sustenance he was able to procure for his little family was a soup obtained by boiling a bundle of green wheat. Jacob Potts was married three times. His first marriage occurred in Maryland. Of this union there were four sons — " A MARYLAND PLANTATION OVERSEER. 357 Raynard, Jacob, William and John; and two daughters — Elizabeth and Hannah. There was no issue by the second marriage. By his third wife, Mrs. Catherine Duff, nee Catherine Richards, he had two sons — George and Philip ; and one daughter, Catherine. He died in 1838, in his 78th year. Raynard Potts, eldest son of Jacob, married Esther, third daughter of Solomon Austin, and settled on part of the home stead. By this marriage he had two sons — Jacob and John. Subsequently he married Mrs. Catherine Decew, nee Catherine Baumwart, by whom he had one daughter, Margaret. He died in 1869, in his 87th year. Jacob Potts, second son of Jacob, married Helen Wyckoff', and settled in Charlotteville. Jacob Potts distinguished himself during the troublous times of the rebellion. He was born in 1785, and died in 1867, in his 83rd year. He was a Justice of the Peace, and his public life was such as to entitle his name to a place among Norfolk's distinguished sons. He had one son, Edwin, who figured prominently as a lumberman and speculator in pine timber. Edwin died in 1876, in his 68th year, and Dr. T. R. Potts, who died young, after acquiring high honors in his profession, was a son of Edwin. Colonel Potts had four daughters — Sarah Ann, Eliza, Rebecca and Helen. William Potts, third son of Jacob, married Jennie Davis, and settled finally near Fredericksburg. He had several sons and daughters, among whom were Susan and Nelson. John Potts, fourth and youngest son of Jacob, by his Mary land wife, died single in 1813, in his 25th year. George Potts, fifth son of Jacob, and eldest son by the third marriage, married Mary Buck, and settled on part of the home stead. He is living, having reached his 84th year, hale and well preserved. He has a remarkable memory, being able to relate incidents of bush life which occurred when he was only four years old. He was a muscular man, and could turn off more work in a day than any man in the Potts' settlement. He commenced the busy activities of his long life at a very tender 358 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. age, having dug and picked up a bushel of potatoes when he was three years old, and when he was ten he dug and picked up twenty-five bushels in a day. He could cradle an acre of wheat in an hour, and make an axe-helve in eighteen minutes. He was an expert with the cradle and scythe, and when only thirteen years old he took a man's place as a cradler and mower. He never learned a trade, but he could lay out and frame a building, and make a pair of boots. Indeed, his even ings were employed in making axe-helves for the market, and in making boots and shoes for the family. He used to block out and finish up for the market, as many as seven axe-helves during an evening, following a hard day's work in the woods. Mr. I'otts has a distinct recollection of a trip he made through the woods to Simcoe with his mother, when he was only four years old. They saw a bear perched in the crotch of a tree which stood near the site of the present cemetery. They hurried on to the store kept at that time by the Istte Duke Campbell, where Mrs. Potts related the circumstance. Arming themselves with guns, Mr. Campbell and another man accom panied them on their homeward journey, and when they came to the tree bruin was there still, but considering " discretion the better part of valor " he dropped from his resting-place, and made off into the forest in the usual lubberly manner. When George was a little fellow he was playing in the woods one day, with his little brothers and sisters, when a dry stub fell and killed one of them. This was always considered a great family mystery, as there was not a breath of air stirring at the .time. George Potts had three sons — Ambrose, Samuel and George ; and five daughters — Martha, Orillia, Eliza, Helen and Mary. George and Samuel occupy the old homestead. Philip Potts, sixth and youngest son of Jacob, married Fanny Buck, and settled in Galesburg, Michigan, where he raised a family. Elizabeth and Hannah. Potts, daughters of Jacob, the old pioneer, by his first marriage, married, respectively, Jacob A MARYLAND PLANTATION OVERSEER. 359 Lemon and Jonathan Austin. The names of their children are given elsewhere. Catherine Potts, only daughter of the old pioneer, by his third marriage, married a shoemaker named Powers, who settled in Elgin County. She had two daughters— Melissa and Rena. The descendants of Jacob Potts have become quite numer ous, and among the old family names none have a more familiar sound in Norfolk than the name of .Potts, * SKETCH LXX. NORFOLK'S OLD VETERAN HIGH CONSTABLE— PEGG. The name of Nathan Pegg has been a terror to evil-doers in Norfolk for over half a century. As early as 1840 he was ap pointed Constable by the old Quarter Sessions, and was reappointed from year to year, as was the custom at that time. Forty years ago he was appointed High Constable for Norfolk, holding the position down to the time of his death, which occurred since this sketch was first written. He reached his 87th year, but for several years previous to his death he had been unable to cope with the muscular doers of evil He spent his life in his county's service — a service that is underpaid and fraught with constant danger of receiving personal injury or of losing life itself — and it would have been a simple act of justice had the old high constable been granted a reasonable allowance during the declining years he spent in the old arm-chair.' Many of our higher public officials are permitted to retire from service while comparatively wealthy and not impaired by old age, and draw upon the Public Treasury during the NATHAN PEGG, THE OLD HIGH CONSTABLE. NORFOLK'S OLD VETERAN HIGH CONSTABLE. 361 remainder of their lives. This may be all right ; and if so, how much more righteous must be the claim of that official who has served the public at the peril of his own life in the suppression of vice, and in upholding the dignity of the law, until the burden of accumulated years has broken the strong man down and incapacitated him for further service, leaving him without that ample provision for old age which men engaged in the activities of private life are permitted to make ? The emoluments of the office of high constable kre not sufficiently lucrative to enable the incumbent to " feather his nest " — as is the case with many of the higher offices — and when the infirmities of old age make it no longer possible to attend to the duties of the office, he is justly entitled to, and should receive, a grateful recognition for his past services in some substantial way. Mr. Pegg had a wide experience in attending to tho duties of his office. He passed through many trying ordeals^tests that prove the kind of stuff a man is made of — and it is a matter of record that Nathan Pegg was a man eminently fitted by nature for the position he filled for so many years. On one occasion Mr. Pegg went over to Waterford to arrest a man named Gleason. It was a cold day and he wore a heavy overcoat and long woollen muffler. When he came in sight of the house he saw his man enter, but when he reached the door the man's wife said her husband was not at home. Mr. Pegg knew better and at once entered the house. In the kitchen he found his man armed with a heavy bar of iron, and, as the constable advanced, Gleason threatened to knock his brains out if he attempted to lay hands on him. The man then threw the bar of iron at Mr Pegg without serious effect, and the next instant the constable seized him. Gleason was a powerful man, and Mr. Pegg, encumbered with superfluous clothing, had his hands full. To add to the difficulty the man's wife came to the rescue, and, during the tussle, the two came near choking him to death by means of the woollen muffler -wound around his neck. On a table in the corner of the room lay an 362 PIONEER SKETCHES OP LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Ugly-looking" butcher knife, which Gleason finally succeeded in reaching. With this weapon he kept Mr. Pegg at bay and finally escaped from the house. During the struggle Mr. Pegg received several bad cuts on his wrists. The warrant having been destroyed a new one was issued on the following day. The man was arrested and tried, and the only punishment he' received was six inonths in jail. The High Constable assisted Constable Freeman Rose the night the latter received the terrible knife wound that ruined him for life. The prisoner was a colored tough, named Graves, who lived in the old " Negro Quarter " of Simcoe. It was a dark night, and when the constables reached Graves' house he was standing on the sidewalk. Rose stepped up and arrested him in the " Queen's name," and as he did so Graves knocked him down with a piece of chain and sprang towards the fence. He was armed with a heavy club ; and, as he scaled the fence, Mr. Pegg wrenched the club from his hands. The constables pursued and caught him, and as Rose was about to handcuff him the negro plunged a knife into Rose's abdomen, and, breaking loose from Pegg, made good his escape in the darkness. He Succeeded in getting out of the country ; and, years afterwards, was seen by Hon. M. Foley at a hotel in Alabama. The wound received by Mr. Rose was a serious one and nearly proved fatal. For a whole year he lay on his back and suffered great pain, and was never again able to perform any kind of manual labor. Before Mr. Pegg was appointed high constable he was sent to Lynnville to assist High Constable Dredge and Constable Tate in the arrest of one John Shaw, who had whipped a pound-keeper and taken out some impounded stock by force. They found their man at home, and stayed with him till noon, and then went away' without arresting him. Shaw was armed with a brass candlestick, which he adroitly concealed in such a way — snapping the slide whenever one of them made a move towards him — that they thought he had a pistol, and were thus scared away. Subsequently Mr. Pegg secured a warrant Norfolk's old veteran high constable. 363 for him, but the high constable wanted a hand in it, and so he went a second time, taking Fisher, Walker, Murch and Pegg with him. Shaw was not at home this time, but after search ing every house in the neighborhood they found him armed with a bowie-knife. Fisher wanted to knock him down, but this he was not warranted in doing. While moving about watching for a chance, Pegg suddenly seized him by the arms from behind and he was handcuffed. Shaw was tried and convicted, but escaped from jail by crawling through an eight- inch space under the stove, and succeeded in getting out of the country. In speaking of his life's work Mr. Pegg said : " I think a constable should be given the same powers and allowed the same means of defence that policemen in our cities have. The policeman carries his baton, and if his prisoner shows fight he is armed with the means of overcoming his resistance. When a constable steps up to arrest a tough he does so at his peril every time. When he lays his hand upon a man's shoulder he incurs a certain risk. The man may be armed with revolver or knife, and he may be in a proper mood to make instant use of it. It may be a test of physical strength, and in such case the officer, although he may be equal to his antagonist, is placed by the law at a very great disadvantage, as the law assumes that every man is innocent until he is proved guilty, and the constable is held strictly accountable for any injury he may do the prisoner in the act of overcoming his resistance, although such injury may be essential to the capture. At first I carried a revolver, but after a while I made up my mind that the risk of receiving a personal injury, through lack of the means of self-defence, was less to be feared than the risk 1 would incur by shooting a man in a moment of undue haste, and so I placed my revolver in a drawer and kept it there. I have spent my life in the business, and my experience teaches me that all constables should not be permitted to carry revolvers. Some may be entrusted with firearms on all occa sions, but they do not constitute the majority. A county 364 pioneer sketches of long point settlement. constable who devotes his time to his business deserves more pay. His clothes are frequently torn off him ; he is exposed to dangers, and, if liot endowed with a cast-iron constitution, will break down under it ; and though he be spared for a long life of service, as exemplified in my own case, he will be unable to lay aside a sufficient sum from the profits of the office to keep him during the few last years he spends in the arm-chair." The Pegg family of Norfolk, are descended from an Ameri can family of New Jersey. John Pegg of that colony had two sons, Nathan and John. The former died young in New Jersey, and the latter went down to Philadelphia while yet a mere lad, and engaged at such work as he could find to do. One day a caravan of North Carolina and Maryland U. E. Loyalists passed through the city en route for Upper Canada. Young Pegg fell in with the party and engaged with them as driver and caretaker of the cows and other stock the party were driving with them. This was the Solomon Austin party, consisting of twelve families, which arrived on the Niagara frontier in the month of June, 1793. Young Pegg came to Lynn Valley with the Austins, and subsequently married Elizabeth, fourth daughter of Solomon Austin, and settled near his father-in-law's home, on land drawn by his wife, as the daughter of a U. E. Loyalist. He died in 1850, at about the age of seventy-five, and his wife died in 1854. John Pegg had four sons — Philip, Nathan, Joseph and James; and four daughters — Joanna, Esther, Mary and Elizabeth. Philip Pegg, eldest son of John, married Rebecca Ann Lemon, and settled finally on the Round Plains. He had one son, Jacob ; and two daughters — Mary and Melinda. Subse quently he married Mary Morgan, but there were no children by this second marriage. Nathan Pegg, second son of John, married Julia Ann, daughter of Solomon Austin, son of Solomon, and settled in Simcoe. He was the old high constable and the last male survivor of his ' generation. He had three sons — Wesley, Austin and Robert; and two daughters — Sarah and Juha. Norfolk's old veteran high constable. 365 Wesley Pegg is one of Norfolk's veteran school teachers; in fact, his name is as suggestive of the school room, as his father's name is of the court-room. Joseph Pegg, the third son, died single, as did also his sister Joanna. James Pegg, fourth son of John, married Drusilla Rocka feller, and settled in Lucerne County, Pennsylvania, where he raised a family. Esther Pegg, eldest daughter of John, married William Murray, and settled on the Round Plains. She had three sons — Charles, Wesley and Wallace. Mary Pegg, the second daughter, married John Richmond, and settled in Simcoe. She had three daughters — Drusilla, Eliza, and one who settled in Kansas. Elizabeth Pegg, youngest daughter of the old pioneer, married William Williams, and settled in Norfolk. She had four daughters — Caroline, Annie, Julia and Minnie. SKETCH LXXL WHEN GRANDMOTHER SLAGHT WAS A GIRL. It was about seventy-five years ago when Sarah Corliss was a girl. At that time she was one of the smartest and best-looking girls in the Boston settlement. More than one young fellow, with a coon-skin cap and a brand-new hickory shirt, tried to get around the " old man," but Swain Corliss was not to be " got around " by every young log-roller that came along, whether he belonged to the home settlement or came from Turkey Point, or any other centres of Long Point refine ment. He did not bring up his girls in the dense woods and on the rich, sticky soil of old Townsend, to be carried off by fellows who were ijot " all wool and a yard wide." He had whittled out a home in the rough, and he knew that the youngsters who were " shinin' " around his comely daughters would have to do likewise if they ever had homes of their own ; and he had learned from the hard school of experience what kind of pluck a young fellow must possess, and what sort of stuff he must be made of to accomplish this task. He knew that his girls were duly qualified and abundantly able to perform their share of the labor in the work of home-building, and he determined not to accept any one as a son-in-law who was unworthy. This was all right if the standard had not been raised too high. To compare the average young man of the settlement with his own girls in all matters pertaining -to individual worth or moral excellence, was to place the young men at a very great disadvantage in their endeavors to win the over-watchful father's approval. " Love goes where it is sent " was a philosophical old saying ¦WHEN GRANDMOTHER SLAGHT WAS A GIRL. 367 in our good old grandmothers' days, and one that they religiously believed in ; and so Sarah Corliss fell in love with Job Slaght. It was in the days of bows and arrows, and Cupid, no doubt, was a better marksman at that time than he is nowadays. In those days Cupid was looked upon as a veritable tyrant. His darts were shot oft" arbitrarily without the least preconsideration as to matters of adaptability, mar riage endowments, " compatibility of temper " or worldly prospects ; and the invincible little missiles always " went where they were sent." Job Slaght was not " all wool " according to the standard of inspection adopted by Mr. Corliss, and so, when Sarah fell in love with him, the paternal head of the Corliss log-house raised a strong and vigorous objection. He told her she would lower the dignity of the house of Corliss if she married Job Slaght, -and that if she persisted in her unwise course he would be compelled to put down his cow-hide boot squarely and firmly, and nip the whole business in the bud. Was the bud nipped ? Sarah Corliss is within a few months of her 91st milestone in the journey of life, and as she can tell the story as well to-day as she could seventy years ago, we will let her tell it herself : " I never openly and wilfully disobeyed my father but once in my life, and that was when I got married. Father didn't like Job and he didn't want me to marry him. But you see I'd promised Job, and I had to either disobey father or break my word and honor with the man I loved and wanted to marry. Put any girl in a place like that, and if she is conscious of having a heart — and she would be if it wasn't calloused all over with the evil effects of a vain, trifling, idle life — she would be guided by its pulsations and the dictations of her own conscience rather than the cold business-like advice of a father, however kind and affectionate he might be. Job and I had to run away to get married. He hired a man to take us down to Squire Bowlby's in the night in. his lumber wagon. Nowadays the girls go away in a covered buggy, or in the cars, when they cut up a caper of this kind. Well, the Squire 368 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. married us, and on our way back we met father, who passed us without sayin' a word. When he got down to Waterford the tavern-keeper told him that we were lawfully married, and that the only thing he could do about it was to go home, make the best of it and get up a nice little " infare." Father didn't give us the " infare " or get over it till he saw that Job and I were gettin' along all right. We stayed at a neighbor's that night, and the next day we took possession of our home. My, what a pla«e it was ! Job's mother had been dead about eight years, and the old man had let everything go to rack an' ruin. The land had been cropped by the neighbors in any way to suit themselves, and even the fences had been carried off. Job was handy with tools, and he had been away from home workin' for himself. In the old log-house there were three old rickety, broken-down chairs, and an old square table. Well, the first thing Job did was to buy six cups and saucers, six plates, six knives and forks and a tea-pot. A bedstead was made by fitting small poles into auger-holes bored into the logs. These poles were about six feet long, and were small enough to have a good spring. The lower ends of these spring ' poles lay on a cross piece, one end of which was inserted in an auger-hole in the wall and the other supported by an upright. Job got a feather bed and some bedding from a man who owed him for work done, and being a carpenter he soon got things in a livable shape. In the barn there was a quantity of flax which had been grown before everything had gone to rack, and as soon as we got things righted up abit in the house,' Job went out to work and I pitched into that flax. Job broke it for me and then I took off the shives, hetcheled it, takin' out the tow, which was carded and spun on the big wheel like wool, and which furnished the fillin' in weavin' the coarser cloth used for towelling, tickin', bagging, etc. The fiax was spun on the little wheel. We were married in October, and during the winter I made up forty-three yards of cloth out of that flax, and this gave us a supply of table cloths, towels, sheets, tickin', bags, etc.; and while I was thus engaged. Job worked around WHEN GRANDMOTHER SLAGHT WAS A GIRL. 369 for wheat and pork, and, when not employed in this way, improved the time in makin' me a wash-tub, a little churn and two or three pails. In the spring Job bought a cow, and the busy work of life began. God in His mercy smiled on our efforts, and we prospered ; but, my, my ! how quickly it has all passed away. It seems only night before last that I climbed into that lumber wagon and bumped along over the corduroy by the side of Job, on our way to Squire Bowlby's, and yet many years have come and gone since Job's life work was ended, while I am passed ninety. Yes, tell the story to the young, and if it will inspire them with renewed courage in fighting the battles of life, or lead them to a keener realization of the rapid flight of time, you will be doing a good work." Job Slaght was a grandson of Job Slaght, one of the original pioneers of old Townsend, whose history is given else where in this volume. The " original " Job Slaght had five sons — Henry, Job, John, Cornelius and Aaron ; and three daughters — Elizabeth, Sarah and Mary. Henry Slaght, the eldest of these sons, married Abigail Heminover, and settled about two miles north of Waterford, in the 5th concession of Townsend. They had two sons — Job and Parney ; and two daughters— Elizabeth and Mary. Job, the elder of these two sons, married Sarah Corliss, the subject of this sketch. He succeeded his father on the old homestead, but subsequently sold out and settled near Port Rowan, where he died. His aged widow lives in Port Ryerse. They had two sons — Andrew and Philander ; and three daughters — Caroline, Phoebe and Mary. 24 SKETCH LXXII. OLD NEWPORT. Not many people in Norfolk ever heard of Newport, although thousands annually visit the spot where it once flourished. Old Newport is known to-day as " The Glen." Many of our young people have visited this beautiful little leaf -embowered summer resort, and sat beneath the grand old trees, or strolled beside the cool, clear waters of the murmuring brook that -vrinds around through what is called "Lover's Retreat," little dreaming that this quiet, peaceful resting-place was once a business centre of considerable importance. The spot where Sunday-school scholars now dance and skip in childish glee, was once the place where whiskey was made. It was the place where the " chaw-chaw " of the old upright saw -was heard in sawing logs into lumber. It was the place where the hum of machinery made music in the little valley, in grind ing wheat into flour and in " chopping'' rye and corn for the neighboring distilleries ; and it was the place where merchandise was sold to farmers who came with loads of grain from farms many miles away. What a wonderful transformation has been brought about ! Where once upon a time the air was laden with dust and the earth strewn with saw-dust, slab-piles and dirty pools of distillery slops, are now seen clean, winding walks, rustic bridges, green terraces, floral beautj'^ and clear waters. Is is claimed by one branch of the Mabee family, that Pellum, youngest son of the original Frederick Mabee, built the first distillery at this place, which he afterward sold to Silas Montross. Mr. Montross was an early settler, having settled on the lot adjoining Newport on the east, and he operated this ; old NEWPORT. 371 distillery at an early date. Elder Finch and his son, Thomas, built a grist-mill at Newport in 1807, which was burned down by the Americans during the war of 1812. Mr. Montross' distillery was sacked at the same time. The date of this event is given as May 14th, 1814. Before the embers were cold, plans were laid for a new mill. It was a loss deeply felt by the set tlers,, and they turned out en masse and helped to erect the new mill, which was built of logs, and completed and in opera tion within six weeks from .the time the old mill was burned. In the adjustment of losses the Finches received $500, or fifty per cent, of the appraised value of the mill. Thomas Finch had embarked in the mercantile business in Vittoria, which did not prove successful, and an interest in the Newport property was sold to one McQueen. But the complication was too much for them, and in about the year 1825 their interest passed into the hands of Cross & Fisher. The old firm had commenced to build a new mill, which was finished by the new firm after they came into possession. The business conducted by Cross & Fisher in Long Point .settlement was a success from the very start. Donald Fisher began his business career as a young clerk in the city of Montreal. Thomas Cross was a young Vermonter, engaged in the cattle trade. His principal market was Montreal, and it was while visiting this market he became acquainted with Mr. Fisher. This acquaintance ripened into friendship, resulting in the formation of a business partnership. But they were undecided as to the best place for the location of their business. They finally decided that it would be either Vittoria, in the Long Point settlement, or Amherstburg, in the Detroit River settlement. It seems they were unable to make a choice between these two, and so they left it to blind chance by tossing up a penny — heads for Vittoria ; tails for Amherst burg. ' Heads won. Thus it is that the merest chance some times changes the drift of men's lives, fixing thereby the future destinies of succeeding generations. They came to Long Point about the year 1816, and opened 372 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. a general store in Vittoria ; and when they purchased the Newport property they moved their mercantile establishment to that place. In addition to the distillery, grist-mill and store, they built a saw-mill — all of which they operated about ten years. During this time Newport was a busy place. They built two vessels, bought rye and wheat extensively, furnished "chop" for the Anderson distillery, and did a considerable shipping business. The annual volume of business transacted by them, amounted, it is said, to a sum varying from $50,000 to $60,000. The mill was propelled by an over-shot wheel, and old settlers speak in glowing terms of the excellence of the flour made there, and the quantity of flour received from a bushel of wheat being as high as forty-three pounds in some cases. Just before the Rebellion the firm dissolved, with assets aggregating $60,000. Mr. Cross never married. He died at the Anderson home stead in 1860, in his 72nd year. Mr. Fisher continued the milling business, but before the middle of the century was reached, the old mill was abandoned, after which it became a mass of ruins. Mr. Fisher died in 1867. Donald Fisher married Matilda, daughter of Silas Montross, and had two sons — John and Donald. The former married Harriet Sh^ppard, and settled in Michigan ; and the latter married Jennie, daughter of John Machon, of Vittoria. Miss Matilda, daughter of Donald Fisher, and her brother, Donald, are the present owners of " The Glen," and while this proprietorship continues the public may rest assured that the little resort will be kept morally clean. SKETCH LXXIII. A SINGULAR COINCIDENCE. The Misners of Norfolk are of Jersey Dutch descent. It is not known how many generations of Misners lived and died in New Jersey ; indeed, nothing is known of the family history back of John Misner, the old Woodhouse pioneer, head of the family in Norfolk. John and one brother came from Morris County, near Hackettstown, in 1790, and settled on Lyons' Creek, near the Falls of Niagara, In 1800, John Misner and his family came to Long Point settlement. They brought their household goods up in row-boats and drove their stock along the lake shore. John Misner settled on Lot 1, 4th concession of Woodhouse. Mr. Misner lived only twelve years in his new home. In 1812 typhus fever was epidemic in the settlement, and many deaths were caused by it, including Mr. Misner. One of the most singular coincidences on record in Norfolk county occurred at this time in connection with Mr. Misner 's death. As before stated, he had a brother who came from New Jersey to Canada with him. This brother remained at Niagara, and when Mr. Misner died a messenger was dispatched on horseback to carry the sad tidings to the brother at Niagara. Now, when this messenger reached a point about midway between Woodhouse and the place of his destination, he met a stranger on horseback who was, apparently, in as great a hurry as himself. In those days, when the country was sparsely settled and long stretches of unbroken forest lay in the way of the lonely traveller, it was quite customary when strangers met to halt and make enquiries about the way, and 374 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. not infrequently exchange complimentary bits of information pertaining to the nature of each other's business. Imagine the surprise of these two strange horsemen when they learned the nature of each other's business. The two Misner brothers had died at the same time, and the two messengers had been simul taneously dispatched with a similar message of death, and had met each other in the woods at a point about midway between the two bereaved homes. After a short interview each returned to his home without delivering the message entrusted to him, but bearing a new message which added to the grief of the two bereaved homes. We meet with many strange coincidences in life, but this one deserves special mention for its marked singularity. In 1801 Mr. Misner was appointed constable for Woodhouse, Walpole and Rainham. John Misner married Mary Shular in New Jersey, and had four sons — Jacob, John, Henry and Adam. All were born in New Jersey. , Jacob Misner, eldest son of John, was about thirteen years old when the family moved from New Jersey and about twenty-three when they came to Long Point. He went away from home when a young man, and" it is not known what became of him. John Misner, second son of John, married Elizabeth Lemon, and settled on the lot upon which old St. John's Church stands. He had seven sons — Jacob, Adam, Joseph, Henry, John, William and James ; and six daughters. The eldest daughter married into the Sharp family, and the names of the other five were — Esther, Sarah, Catherine, Rebecca and Ann. Henry Misner, third son of John, married Sarah Forsythe, and settled in Townsend. He had no children. Adam Misner, youngest son of John, was twice married. By his first wife. Temperance Williams, he had one son, Jacob ; and by his second wife, Elizabeth Smith, he had seven sons — Harmon, Adam, Joseph, Robert, David, James and Zebulun Landon; and three daughters — Susan, Charity and Rachel. Adam Misner, the father of this branch, was born in 1783, and a singular COINCIDENCE. 375 was seven years old when the family came to Canada, While journeying from New Jersey to the new country he rode on the back of a horse behind his mother. One day while the mother was leading a horse belonging to a party who was moving in company with them, the horse jerked back suddenly and threw Mrs. Misner head formost to the ground, leaving the frightened young Adam sitting alone on the horse. Adam was seventeen when the family moved up from Niagara. Elizabeth Potts, who afterwards married Jacob Lemon, was about his own age, and when the party came to the mouth of Nanticoke Creek, she was afraid to ford it. Adam gallantly came to the rescue, and, taking her in his arms, carried her around in the lake on a sand bar. It is claimed that Adam Misner took to the mill the- first grist ground in Woodhouse. The mill was located at Port Ryerse, and the settlers had been notified that on a certain day the mill would be in readiness to grind, and when the day arrived Adam was sent to " The Port " with a bag of wheat. He carried the grist on the back of a horse, and was the first to arrive ; and while the grist was being ground, he had to turn the bolter by hand. Mr. Misner died in 1872, having reached his 90th year. Charles Misner, the Simcoe baker, is a son of Harmon, son o£ Adam. David, son of Adam, occupies the old homestead at present. The descendants of John Misner contribute in no small way to the individual worth that makes Norfolk's yeo manry second to none in our glorious province. SKETCH LXXIV. THE OLD WOODHOUSE SQUIRE WHO KISSED THE BRIDE. Thomas Bowlby was one of the pioneer magistrates of Woodhouse. Before the Rev. Francis Evans came to Wood- house, Squire Bowlby was frequently called upon to tie con jugal knots, and the knots tied by him were, no doubt, as securely tied and as productive of connubial bliss as the cues tied nowadays by the more dignified spiritual advisers of the people. Many leading Norfolk citizens of by-gone generations were launched on the sea of matrimony by Squire Bowlby. On one occasion a young German and his buxom sweetheart came to the Squire's to be made husband and wife. The blush ing bride was very plump and pretty, and when the little formality was gone through with, the Squire could not resist the temptation of planting the first kiss on her rosy lips. The "smack" that resounded through the room made poor Hans grind his teeth, and clinch his fists. Any Dutchman placed in like circumstances, who could witness such a scene without entering a vigorous protest, wouldn't be a Dutchman. " Py shimminy ! Meester, vot for you do dot ? " yelled Hans, as he beat the air in a paroxysm of rage. " Why, my dear fellow," exclaimed the Squire, smacking his lips so as not to lose any of the stolen nectar, " it is customary for the official performing the marriage ceremony to take, pre cedence in saluting the bride." But Hans was in no mood for being pacified by an explanation he did not understand, and while the Squire tried to explain the situation, the irate husband made a hasty preparation to leave. Placing Barbara between himself and the open door, he faced the Squire and. THE OLD WOODHOUSE SQUIRE, WHO KISSED THE BRIDE. 377 gesticulating wildly with both hands, gave that officer of the peace the following farewell salute : " Ef you vas not bigger ash I, Meester Squire, I vbod knock you mit mine fisht down. You vos no shentlamens. You got no pishness mit kissing dot Barbara, und I git eben mit you fur dot pishness. Py shimminy ! you git from your ped oud von mornings und your parns und dot udder pildings you vill not see. You old fools, I git eben mit you fur dot pishness, und I not pay you von t — m cent fur dot marrish pishness." During this outburst of pent up wrath Barbara tugged away at his coat tails, but Hans was determined on giving the Squire a piece of his mind, and he gave it. But the Squire did not grieve over the loss of his fee — the delicious flavor of that kiss was ample satisfaction for his magisterial services. Years afterwards, while in the western part of the county, he met the man who had threatened to " git eben mit him," and Hans took a handful of silver from his pocket and wanted to pay Mr. Bowlby any sum he chose to name for marrying him. He also begged pardon for threatening to burn, his barns. " Ash to dot kish," said the now middle-aged man of matured sense, " I vood do de same ting mineself now, ef I got a goot shance." The old Government deed for the Bowlby grant of 400 acres in the 1st and 2nd concessions of Woodhouse has been pre served with its massive pendent seal, and is in possession of Mr. Bradford Bowlby, present occupant, in part, of the old homestead. It was approved and signed by Peter Russell, October 24th, 1798. It was a grant made in consideration of certain settling duties to be performed by the grantee. It is said by members of the family that it was a U. E. Loyalist grant. If this be correct, Thomas Bowlby must have been the son of a U. E. Loyalist, as he was but a young child during the war of the Revolution. It is claimed by some that the American grand- ancestor of the family settled in Nova Scotia, and that Thomas, while a mere lad, was put on board an English vessel for the 378 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. improvement of his health, and that the vessel was captured by a French war ship, and that subsequently he was landed at a New Jersey port. It is claimed further, that Thomas fell in with a New Jersey planter named Axford with whom he lived for a time ; that he wooed and won the affections of the planter's ninth daughter, and married her, and that after their eldest child was born, in 1796, they came to Canada, and settled in Woodhouse. If this tradition be true, it leaves the connection between Thomas BoWlby and the U. E. Loyalists in the dark. A U. E. Loyalist was a subject of Great Britain who lived in one of the thirteen colonies, and who remained loyal to the Crown when the colonies threw off their allegiance in 1776. If it was Thomas Bowlby, of Woodhouse, who was on the vessel captured by a French man-of-war, he must have been a mere child, as the event must have occurred previous to the treaty of peace, in 1783, and even at this date Thomas Bowlby could not have been more than thirteen years old. It is said that Adam Bowlby,. of Waterford, a nephew of Thomas Bowlby, also came from New Jersey. In view of the above alleged fact, and also the U. E. Loyalist claim, it would seem that a part of the story, at least, must relate to the father of Thomas Bowlby. These old family traditions have lost many material connecting links since the old arm-chairs became vacant, and in the absence of positive documentary evidence we must make a wide allowance for them. It is said that Mr. Axford — Thomas Bowlby's father-in-law — was wealthy, and kept a number of colored servants, or slaves, as they were virtually at that time, and that he presented Mrs. Bowlby with one named Dinah. They brought this slave to Long Point with them, and it is said she was the first one of her race that came into the county. Before they left New Jersey, Dinah was as much the lawful property of Mrs. Bowlby as was the horses, and the cow that her father gave her, but if she came into Long Point settlement as such, she must have been smuggled in, for three years previous to this the new Legislature passed a law prohibiting the bringing in of any THE OLD WOODHOUSE SQUIRE WHO KISSED THE BRIDE. 379 more slaves, and providing for the final extinction of slavery in the Province. In after years Dinah wanted to marry, and there being no one of her own color here she went to New Jersey, and married. After her husband's death she returned to her old place with Mr. Bowlby's family, and subsequently married a white man, who kept a tavern somewhere in the western part of the county. After her second marriage she used to say that her first husband was much the better man. Dinah was an expert cook and a neat housekeeper, and it is said the sight of a hair in the butter would completely destroy her appetite for two weeks. It is said that Mr. Axford gave his daughter a considerable sum of money for investment in the new country, and a house keeping ohtfit that was considered elaborate at that time, yet a like outfit would not be accepted as a gift in our day, by any girl in quite moderate circumstances. A wagon load of house hold goods drawn by a span of horses ; a cow tied to the rear end of the wagon ; a young man occupying the driver's seat ; a young woman with a babe in her arms, and a colored female servant ensconced in a nicely arranged alcove — this was the pioneer Bowlby outfit that came to a halt where the old Bowlby homestead is located, in the second concession of Woodhouse. It is said the pioneer log-cabin was erected in 1797, just a hundred years ago. The cow — a present from Mrs. Bowlby's father — furnished the little party with milk and butter during the long, tedious journey. As in all similar cases, the jolting of the wagon churned the milk into butter, giving them a fresh supply each day. But the poor cow trudged that 500 miles only. to meet a horrible death in the Canadian forest. She browsed in the woods, and generally came home at night ; but one night she failed to put in an appearance, and the family supposed she had wandered away. After searching for her several days her dead body was found in the woods. Her tail had caught fast to the branch of a tree, and the poor brute had slowly died with thirst and starvation. Thomas Bowlby married Sarah Axford, daughter of a '380 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. wealthy planter in New Jersey. He had six sons — Axford, Richard, Thomas, Woolster, John Alexander and Abraham; and one daughter, Martha Ann. The eldest was bom in New Jersey, and the others in Woodhouse. Axford Bowlby, eldest son of Thomas, was born in 1794. He married Hannah, daughter of Philip Beemer, and settled near Port Dover. He succeeded John Decew in the first Talbot District Council. He had two sons — Lewis and Hiram; and two daughters — Sarah Ann and Helen. Richard Bowlby, the second son, died young. Thomas Bowlby, third son of Thomas, was born in 1801, married Harriet Lymbumer, and settled near the old home. He left one daughter, Sarah. Woolster Bowlby, the fourth son, died young, as did also Abraham, the youngest son. John Alexander Bowlby, fifth son of Thomas, was born in 1 808, and died in 1881, in his 74th year. He married Rachel Ann Birdsall, and succeeded to the old homestead. He had three sons — Alexander, Thomas and Bradford; and six daughters — ¦ Sarah, Martha Ann, Francis Almena, Annie Maria, Emma and Phoebe. Bradford succeeded to, and at present occupies, the old homestead. Martha Ann Bowlby, only daughter of the old pioneer, was bom in 1803, married Andrew Dobbie, and settled in Bayham. She had two sons — Thomas and Andrew. Squire Bowlby, the pioneer head of this family, was one of Norfolk's pioneer Freemasons. He was the means of saving the little Russell mill at Vittoria during McArthur's raid in the war of 1812, as described in sketch "Pioneer Freemasonry." In the early years of the settlement the nightly depreda tions of the wolves occasioned much loss and annoyance to the ' settlers. Tight pens built of logs had to be provided- for the herding of sheep during the night time, and, in spite of the utmost diligence, an occasional wolf would steal into the fold. One morning the Squire found a wolf in his sheep pen, and shot at it, but failed to kill it. In its efforts to escape, its tail THE OLD WOODHOUSE SQUIRE WHO KISSED THE BRIDE. 381 accidentally whisked through a crack between the logs, and' quick as a flash the Squire caught hold of it and called for his wife. When Mrs. Bowlby arrived on the scene she seized the caudal appendage with a death grip, and clung to it, while the Squii-e went inside and despatched the sheep thief with a murderous club. Some time during the first quarter of the present century, Adam Bowlby, a nephew of Thomas Bowlby, came to Canada from New Jersey. He was a poor boy, and lived with his uncle for a number of years. He married Elizabeth Sovereign, of Waterford, and settled at that place. He had five sons — Dr. Alfred, Dr. David, Ward, John the lawyer, and William ; and one daughter, Arsula. This family distinguished themselves.. with a good education. SKETCH LXXV. THE MAN WHO SURVEYED WALSINGHAM —HAZEN FAMILY. The first historical event in county history is the survey of its public lands, and the names of the surveyors are always found recorded on the first page of such history. Municipal history cannot ante-date settlement, and the surveyor is the forerunner of settlement. He goes into the unbroken wilder ness and, on nature's great blackboard, delineates a group of townships, sub-dividing them into tiers, lots and road allow ances, and in due time this group is organized into a county. Before the lands are surveyed they cannot be acquired or actual settlements made ; and all would-be settlers who " go in and occupy " before the surveyor has performed his duty, are mere squatters — not settlers. Thus it is, that among the first names appearing in the history, proper, of our county, are those of Daniel Hazen, Thomas Welch, and others, who made the original survey of our lands. But this work is not a history of our county ; it is simply a series of sketches of our old pioneers and their pioneer experiences; and if Daniel Hazen had not permanently settled on a portion of the land he surveyed, his family would not be entitled to a place in the series. So far as information in possession of members of the family is concerned, nothing is known of Daniel Hazen's ancestors. He was a U. E. Loyalist, but nothing is known as to his career, or that of his father, during the war of the Revolution. It is supposed, however, that the family fled to St. John, N.B., from New Jersey, at the close of the war. The family name THE MAN WHO SURVEYED WALSINGHAM. 383 has been a familiar one in the vicinity of St. John all through the century, and it is supposed the Norfolk Hazens are a branch of the same family. Daniel Hazen came to Niagara before Canada West was organized into a province. He had received a fair education for the times, and was a surveyor by profession. In 1796 he and Mr. Hamlin were sent up to Long Point to survey Charlotteville. This was the next year after Governor Simcoe visited Turkey Point. They surveyed the east line, ran up the lake and established the width of the township, and surveyed the line between Charlotteville and Walsingham. Hamlin commenced the Charlotteville survey, but was taken sick and was unable to complete the task. The survey was subsequently made by Thomas Welch. Mr. Hazen began his survey of Walsingham in 1796, and completed it in the winter of 1797-98. While engaged in the work he dis covered a spring in the interior of the township, near the Venison Creek, and far removed from any squatter's cabin, which he greatly admired ; and after he completed his work he chose this spot for a home. Others followed, and in a few years a little settlement was effected, which has ever since been known as the " Hazen settlement." Mr. Hazen was a man of unassuming manners and of more than ordinary intelligence. He was held in high esteem by his fellow-pioneers, being generous, upright and honorable in business affairs, and most exemplary in Christian character. He and his wife were constituent members of the first Methodist society organized in the county. This pioneer organization came into being in the beginning of the century, and has been known ever since as the Woodhouse Meth odist church. In the early pioneer days it is said that Daniel Hazen and his wife frequently walked from their home in Walsingham to this Woodhouse pioneer meeting-house. In fact, Mr. Hazen came quite regularly, and Mrs. Hazen accompanied him when the quarterly meetings were held, or about four times each year. It is seventeen miles " as the crow flies " from the Hazen home to the Woodhouse church ; 384 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. but if the footsteps of these old pioneers could be traced to-day, it would be found that, owing to the windings and deviations which the primitive condition of the roads and lack of bridges at that time made necessary, the distance traversed was much greater. They took a luncheon with them, and long before the sun took his first peep at the new-born day, these founda tion builders were well on their way. Only four times a year was this pioneer mother permitted to " go to meetin'," and yet for this small privilege she had to walk at least one hundred and fifty miles through stretches of unbroken forest, up and down steep hills, across numerous streams on the trunks of fallen trees and through miry swales ! What an example of Christian fortitude and patient perseverance in the very teeth of adverse circumstances— circumstances, I fear, which would put church-going altogether beyond the reach of the people of our day. In 1824 Daniel Hazen was nominated by his Walsingham friends for representative in the Provincial Parliament. His fellow-nominees at this time were Francis L. Walsh, Duncan McCall, George Ryerson, John Killmaster . and Walter Nichol. In those days candidates for parliamentary honors had to pay all poll expenses. Returning officers and poll clerks received a guinea, and the constables a dollar each per day. Nomina tions were made on Monday, and if more than the required number were nominated, a poll was opened at once, and remained open from day to day at the expense of the candi dates receiving the least number of votes, until they were assured in their own minds that no chances for victory remained. Sometimes these pioneer elections continued all through the week, and when such an event occurred it was a jubilee week for the freehold electorate. Every freeholder, was supposed to stand by his own colors, and any voter who so far forgot himself as to drink whisky from the barrel set up by a candidate he did not vote for, lost caste among his fellows, and was looked upon as a man of uncertain principles. In our times such a fellow would be dubbed a " sucker." The THE MAN WHO SURVEYED WALSINGHAM. 385 franchise was confined to freeholders, and a leasehold for 999 years would be insufficient to entitle a man to a vote. In this election the contest was closed on the second day, Mr. Walsh and Mr. McCall being then declared elected. At that time Walsingham had about sixty-nine votes, which were cast mostly for Mr. Hazen. This was the only time Mr. Hazen ever entered a contest for either parliamentary or municipal honors. Daniel Hazen's family was pretty well grown-up when he settled in Walsingham. He had five sons — William, Daniel, John, Caleb and Elijah. William Hazen, eldest son of Daniel, married Mary Ann, daughter of Caleb Hazen, of Woodhouse, and settled in Bay ham. Elijah, a son of William, married Jane Matthews, and settled in Walsingham. Daniel Hazen, son of Daniel, married Ann Matthews, and settled in Oakland. He had three sons — James, William and Daniel ; and four daughters — Lavinia, Amy, Alice and Margaret. John Hazen, third son of the original Daniel, married and settled in Bayham. He had no children. Caleb Hazen, and his brother Elijah, youngest sons of Daniel, settled in Walsingham. The latter married a daughter of Elder Neill, and settled on the old homestead. Elijah Hazen is remembered by the old people as a mail-carrier of " ye olden time." He carried His Majesty's mail on the back of a poor old horse from Port Rowan to Vittoria and return, once each week for several years. It was a big day's work, being about seven miles from his home in Walsingham to Port Rowan; and, during the first four years. His Majesty paid him the extravagant sum of seventy-five cents per week. Daniel Hazen had a brother, Caleb, who came to Long Point after the war of 1812, and settled in Woodhouse, near Port Ryerse. He had four sons — Wesley, William, Daniel and Freeman ; and three daughters — Mary Ann, Eliza and Jane. Wesley Hazen, son of Caleb, married Tamson McNally, but had no family. 25 386 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. William Hazen, the second son, married Cornelia Bost wick, and settled near Port Dover. He had one son. Freeman. Daniel Hazen, third son of Caleb, married Sarah Gilbert, and settled in Woodhouse. He had two sons — Wesley and Peter; and two daughters — Matilda and Margaret. Freeman Hazen, youngest son of Caleb, married Mary Ann Tinbrook, and lived at different places in the county. Mary Ann, Eliza and Jane, daughters of Caleb, married, respectively, William Hazen, John Matthews and George Matthews. The names of their children are given elsewhere. SKETCH LXXVI. TRIED BY GOD AND THEIR COUNTRY AT TURKEY POINT. "District The General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, holden OF at the house of Job Loder, at the Town of Char- LoNDON. lotteville, in and for the said District, on the fourteenth day of September in the forty-second year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George III. of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King and Defender of the Faith, and in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and two, before the Justices of the Lord, the King, assigned to keep the said District, and also to hear and determine divers felonies, trespasses and other misdemeanors in the said District committed, and of the Quorum." Thus wrote Thomas Welch, the old Clerk of the Peace, as he sat in the kitchen of Job Loder's tavern at Turkey Point, and put on record the proceedings of the first session of the court held at the Town of Charlotteville. It was not the first time he had written this legal caption, however, as the Court of Sessions had been in existence more than two years previous to this, having been held at the house of James Monroe. If a full record of all the court proceedings at Turkey Point had been preserved it would afford the people of this day and generation an intensely interesting mass of reading matter. It would reveal the true character of the men who laid the foundation of our social and municipal institutions, and show ns what manner of men our ancestors were. " Distance lends enchantment to the view," and now that we aro removed a hundred years from the time our forefathers began to lay the foundation of Norfolk's civiUzation in the wilds of Upper 388 PIONEER sketches OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Canada, we are quite apt tp forget, while singing their praises, that they had the same " Old Adam " to contend with that we have in our day. It was a rough work they had to do,. and none but rough-and-ready men were qualified to do it. , There were a few delicately, refined individuals who came into the woods at an early date, but they either died with a broken heart or made a dismal failure of their undertaking. Our fore fathers led sledge-hammer lives. They were of very necessity muscular, and they indulged freely in cheap whiskey. They were conscientious, but they were also rough and impulsive, and when they ran up against each other it was a word and a blow. They had no time or inclination for wordy disputations, and they had no respect for a coward or any man whose word was not as good as his bond. In our day suits at law are instituted mostly for the •enforcing of property rights — for values due, arising from broken promises and violated contracts. We rush into court with disputed accounts without the least compunction of conscience ; and we sue and permit ourselves to be sued for sums withheld and for damages arising from broken faith, and have come to look upon cupidity and double-dealing with indifference ; but to be dragged before the bar of justice on a. charge of assault and battery would be considered by us as very damaging to character. It was not so in our great-grandfathers' days. Their code of honor was quite different from ours. They branded the man who wilfully broke his word or viola'ted his pledge for personal gain or through malice with the mark of Cain ; but the man who was convicted of the crime of assault and battery did not lose caste in the social circle — provided he proved himself capable of taking care of himself and paid his fine like a man. Prominent among the "divers felonies, trespasses and other- misdemeanors" which the old pioneer justices had "to hear and determine'' was the grand jury "presentments" for assault and battery. To give the reader some idea of what happened in TRIED BY GOD AND THEIR COUNTRY AT TURKEY POINT. 389 the Turkey Point courts at that early time, the remainder of this sketch will be given up to transcripts from the old record. March 13th, 1805, John McCall was brought into court by William Hutchinson, Esq., charged with " high crime and misdemeanors." The prisoner asked Hutchinson what he wanted with him, and Hutchinson replied: "To find bail for the Peace and good behavior, and for your appearance at the next Assizes." The prisoner asked : " Will you take land or horses or money or dogs for security ? I have two good dogs.'' Hutchinson replied : " No, none but personal security will do." Benijah Mallory entered the court room at this juncture, and Hutchinson turned to him and threatened to send him to jail, and demanded bail for his good behaviour. Mr. Mallory refused to give it. He said he had done nothing and plead privilege as being a member of Parliament. Then McCall, the prisoner, spoke out and said : " Speak up, Captain Mallory, you are a gentleman. You are the only gentleman in the house." To this Hutchinson replied: "If you open your mouth again I will order you to be put in the stocks." McCall then gaped his mouth wide open and said, " I shall want some more whiskey." Hutchinson then ordered the prisoner to be put in the stocks. Alexander Hutchinson was on duty as Under Sheriff, and he took the prisoner out of the court-room ; and when they passed outside a number of McCall's friends rescued him. The under Sheriff' afterwards swore that the men who rescued the prisoner were Philip Fonger, Joseph Millar, Peter Coombs, Robert Monroe and others. These parties were forthwith arrainged for "aiding and abetting in the rescue of John McCall." They entered into recognizances for their proper appearance as follows : "Philip Fonger, Constable of Charlotteville, £100, with Silas Secord and John Misner as sureties for £50 each." "Joseph Millar, miller, of Charlotteville, £100, with Silas Montross and Silas Secord. as sureties for £50 each." 390 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. " Robert Monroe, farmer, of Charlotteville, £100, with Silas Montross and Joseph Spetler as sureties for £50 each. " Peter Coombs, £100, with John Heath and Joseph as sureties for £50 each. " Henry Bostwick, £100, with Lot Tisdale and John Benson as sureties for £50 each." Some time before this rescue of John McCall, Benijah Mallory, the representative in Parliament for London District, had been charged with making a wrong statement as to the number of fire-places in his house, for the purpose of avoiding taxation. But he proved to the satisfaction of His Majesty's justices, who sat on the judicial bench in the Temple of Justice at Turkey Point, that the two fireplaces complained of were in a camp, and not in his dwelling-house, and he was acquitted. This happened just before the McCall rescue, and a pugilistic feeling seems to have permeated the entire settlement. At the next term of Court we find the following indictments on record : " William Hutchinson, for Assault & Battery on Robert Monroe and Benijah Mallory." " John McCall, for Assault & Battery on William Hutchin son." " Samuel Ryerse, Thomas Horner and Joseph Ryerson, for an attempt to subordinate Benijah Mallory." " Joseph Ryerson, for grievous threatening against the life of Benijah Mallory." On the same page of the old journal we find this entry : " It is ordered that an house having two fireplaces be added to the assessment rate of Samuel Martin, and that two additional fireplaces be deducted from that of Benijah Mallory for the present year." Peter Coombs, one of the rescuers of John McCall, was indicted for petit larceny at the December term of that year. He was arraigned, pleaded not guilty, and asked to be tried " by God and his country." The trial jury was made up as fol lows : " Abraham Beemer, foreman ; Gabriel Culver, Isaac Petitt, William Walker, Francis Glover, William McCool, Champion Scovel, John Muckle, jun., John Dudbridge and Isaac Fairchild." TRIED BY GOD AND TH:^IR COUNTRY AT TURKEY POINT. 391 The following were the witnesses for the king : " Daniel McCall, jun., Edmond Frost, John Smith, Simon Mabee and Ethan Woodruff." The witnesses for defendant were " William Spurgin and Robert Shearer." The jury brought in a verdict of " Guilty," and the sentence of the Court was : " That he shall receive twenty lashes upon his bare back, well laid on," The Sheriff was ordered by the Court to see that the sent ence was put into immediate execution. This is the only case of public whipping on record for the first ten years of the history of the Court of Sessions. During the spring term of 1803, two of the most prominent Justices of the Peace in London District, were indicted for drunkenness, and another one for profanity. At the June term of this same year, the following quaint and amusing entry was made : " Francis L. Walsh, small Gent., of this District, is convicted of profane swearing of two oaths "before Peter Teeple, Esquire, his fine set at Two shillings, which he paid into the hands of the Sheriff." During the fall term of 1804, Alexander McQueen was brought into Court and fined one shilling for swearing. Oliver Thornton was also fined one shilling, at the same session, for a like offence. During the December term of Court, 1804, Peter Teeple, Esquire, and his wife, Lydia, were indicted by the Grand Jury for assault and battery. They pleaded " Not, guilty," and chose to be tried "by God and their country." Mary Cope was prosecutor. The trial jury was composed of the following per sons : " Daniel McCall, jun., foreman ; Amos Manuel, Joseph Chambers, Samuel Smith, John Barber, Gabriel Culver, Benjamin Culver, Griffith Culver, Jabez Culver, jun., Nesbett Culver, Robert Davis and Robert Henderson." Constable Philip Fonger had charge of the jury, and their verdict was " Not guilty." The Courts at Turkey Point were not always pressed with business. The following is a true copy of one day's work dur ing the September term of 1806 : 392 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG' POINT SETILEMENT. " The Court opened according to adjournment. The Court adjourned for five minutes. The Court opened according to adjournment. Thomas Horner, Esquire, resumes the chair as Chairman. The Gentlemen of the Court order that William Dill, of the township of Charlotteville, is not to be taxed for a house which he is now taxed for. (The Court adjourned) " Richard William Dease, C.P." It would seem that John Kern, Aaron Sprague and Elijah Millard had indulged in a little forbidden diversion, forthe record shows they were all fined three shillings and fourpence for " Sabbath breaking." The following is given as a sample of trial record, as taken from Thomas Walsh's old journal : "The King "j For feloniously taking, a bar of iron vs. j-from Sykes Towsley, of Oxford, on or about Mordecai Sayles. J the 20th Oct., 1806. " The Prisoner being arraigned at the bar plead ' Not Guilty,' and for his trial puts himself on ' God and his country.' " Jurors sworn — Joseph Beemer, Barzillai Beal, John Barber, . Abraham Beemer, Gabriel Culver, Benjamin Culver, John Dudbridge, John Heath, Joseph Lane, Amos Manuel, Matthias Messacar, and Isaac Petitt. " The Indictment read and the Jury called to hear the evidence. "Sykes Towsley called and sworn to give evidence to the Jury. " Elisha Haskins, sen., sworn to give evidence to the Jury. "John Ten ISroeck, Esq., Attorney for Defendant " The Jury retire, with Jacob Wood and Thomas Fuller, constables, in attendance. " The Jury return and bring in a verdict of ' Not Guilty.' " The Prisoner at the bar is dismissed by the Court. "The Petitt Jury are dismissed." During the June term, 1807, James Barnes was brought into Court, and fined one shilling for swearing one oath. It seems that the price fixed by the Court for this little indulgence of giving vent to the pent up wrath that occasionally troubled our brave old pioneer forefathers, was one shilling for each oath. The last entry in the old journal referred to, was placed there September 12th, 1809, and reads as follows : . tried BY GOD AND THEIR COUNTRY AT TURKEY POINT. 393 " Abner Owen, charged with Assault & Battery, and a Rench Warrant issued for him.'' It was at "Fort Monroe " and Turkey Point where the first tavern-keepers in all London District obtained their licenses. These pioneer taverns were crude establishments. Any settler having a log house large enough to partition off a bar in one end, a loft overhead not fully occupied by the members of the family, possessed the necessary accommodations for a first-class tavern. The first license granted was to James Monroe, who owned the only two-story frame house in all London District at that time. The date of this license was April 8th, 1800, and during this same first term of the old Quarter Sessions a license was granted to Hammond Lawrence, of Oxford. October 18th, 1800, Moses Rice, of Charlotteville, obtained a license; and on December 8th, 1801, Noah Millard, of Townsend, was granted a license to keep a tavern. Job Loder obtained his license for keeping a tavern at Turkey Point, March 20th, 1802 ; and a license was granted to Cornwall Ellis, of Walsingham — where Port Rowan now is — on December 13th, 1803, for keeping a public-house. On June 9th, 1807, Philip Sovereign was granted a license, as shown by the following entry of that date : " Philip Sovereign, £10 ; Henry Bostwick, £5 ; Alexander Hutchinson, £5 — ^Conditioned that the said Philip Sovereign does keep a good orderly house and allow no gaming or rioting to go on there ; this obligation to be null and void, or otherwise to remain in full force and virtue." It was customary in the early Courts for the wives of grantors of real estate to go into Court and make free and voluntary declaration of relinquishment of Dower rights. The following examples are taken from the old Court journal : " January 13th, 1801. Hepsebah Cooley appeared in Court, and relinquished her right of Dower to land of John Davis, being Lot 2, 14th concession, Windham." "April 14th, 1801, Amy, wife of Philip Forse, relinquLshed her right of Dower in Lot 7, 7th concession, Willowby, County 394 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. of Lincoln, District of Niagara, according to law, to Elijah Vincent, grantee of Philip Forse." " September 8th, 1801, Deborah Glover relinquished her right of Dower in land in the Township of Townsend, sold by her husband to Leonard Clouse." " December 8th, 1801, Elizabeth, wife of Paul Avery, appeared in Court and acknowledged that she freely and voluntarily relinquished her right of Dower to a certain piece of land sold by her husband to Job Slaght, being Lot 9, 8th concession, Townsend." " March 9th, 1802, Susan, wife of Albert Berdan, came into Court and relinquished her right of Dower in Lot 7, 1st con cession, Woodhouse, sold by her husband to Jonathan Williams." "June Sth, 1802, Mary, wife of Thomas Welch, appears in Court and freely and voluntarily relinquishes all her right of Dower in and to Four Hundred acres of land lying in the Township of Humberstone, this day conveyed by the said Thomas Welch and his wife, Mary, to Peter Hershey." "Mary, wife of Oliver Mabee, relinquished her right of Dower in Lot 21, 4th concession, Charlotteville, conveyed to James Russell." The above relinquishments were made at "Fort Monroe." Those given below were made after the court was established at the Town of Charlotteville, or Turkey Point. The regular formula is as given in the above-mentioned case of Mary Welch. " March 8th, 1803, Mary, wife of David Secord, relinquished her Dower right in Lot 19, 1st concession of Charlotteville." "December 13th, 1803, Margery, wife of Daniel Millard released her Dowei; right in Lots 13 and 14, 4th concession, Chariotteville." " Ann, wife of John Stone, relinquished her Dower right in part of Lot 18, 1st concession, Charlotteville, conveyed to Ephraim Tisdale." " March 14th, 1804, Lydia, wife of Peter Teeple, relinquished her Dower right in 106f acres, being part of Lot 9, lake front, Charlotteville, conveyed to John Kern." " Sarah, wife of Samuel Ryerse, relinquished her Dower right in Lots 23 and 24, 2nd concession, Charlotteville, con veyed to Joseph Ryerson." " Sarah, wife of Captain Richard Vanderberg, relinquished TRIED BY GOD AND THEIR COUNTRY AT TURKEY POINT. 395 her Dower right in part of Lot 8, 1st concession, Woodhouse, conveyed to Abraham A. Rapelje." " Christiana, wife of James Russell, relinquished her Dower right in Lot 19, 2nd concession, Walsingham, conveyed to WilHam Smith. "September 11th, 1804, Mary, wife of David Secord, rehn- quished her Dower right in 200 acres of land, conveyed to William Culver." "Catherine, wife of William Culver, relinquished her Dower right in Lot 8, 1st concession, Charlotteville, conveyed to David Secord, jun." " Submit, wife of Ephraim Tisdale, relinquished her Dower right in 25 acres, being part of Lot 8, 1st concession, Charlotte ville, conveyed to Lot and Joseph Tisdale." " December 11th, 1804, Abigail, wife of Simon Mabee, relin quished her Dower right in 100 acres, being part of Lot 24, 2nd concession, Walsingham, conveyed to Levi Montross." " January 26th, 1805, Parnel, wife of Benjamin Mead, relin quished her Dower right in Lot 15, 1st concession, Woodhouse. " June 13th, 1805, Fanny, wife of Thomas Price, relinquished her Dower right in Lot 11, 4th concession, Charlotteville, con veyed to Titus Finch." " Elizabeth, wife of Aaron Culver, relinquished her Dower right in 12 acres, being part of Lot 1, 6th concession. Wood- house, conveyed to John Davis." "Martha, wife of Gabriel Culver, relinquished her Dower right in 120 acres, being part of Lot 5, 11th concession. Towns- end, conveyed to Dennis Shoft." " Janet, wife of Andrew Steinhoff, relinquished her Dower right in Lot 24, 11th concession, Windham, conveyed to Jacob Lamb." " December 9th, 1806, Phoebe, wife of John Sovereign, relin quished her Dower right in 165 acres, being part of Lots 22 and 23, Gore of Woodhouse, conveyed to William Culver." " March 6th, 1806, Abigail, wife of John Gustin, relinquished her Dower right in 50 acres, being north part of Lot 20, 3rd concession, Charlotteville, conveyed to Simon Mabee." "December Sth, 1807, Maria, wife of Jonathan Williams, relinquished her Dower right in Lot 8, 1st concession. Wood- house, conveyed to Nathan Mann." "Mary, wife of Henry Walker, relinquished her Dower right in Lot 20, 1st concession, Woodhouse, conveyed to William Summers." "396 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. "September 13th, 1808,, Sarah, wife of Piatt Wood, rehn- quished her Dower right in 100 acres, being part of Lot 12, 4th concession, Woodhouse." The following peculiar description of property is found in the court record bearing date March Sth, 1808 : " Maria, wife of Matthias Steel, relinquished her Dower right on property conveyed to Abner Owen, described as ' the easternmost part of Sovereign mill, in Townsend.' " In the early days of the sessions one Ebenezer Allen, of the town of Delaware, was the prolific source of a good share of the business done by the court. He was one of several incorrigible citizens that formed a part of the new settlement at the town of Delaware at this time. He brought more than one of his neighbours to Long Point for assault and battery and other misdemeanors, and finally he was caught in the meshes of the law himself on a charge of forgery. He was tried, convicted and imprisoned in the jail at Turkey Point. He found it pretty cold there in the winter time without a fire, and on December 11th, 1805, we find the following entry in the journal : " Ebenezer Allen, a prisoner in the district jail, prayed the court to allow him the use of fire. Ordered that he be allowed the use of fire, provided he secure the sheriff' to his satisfaction, and if the sheriff is willing to comply with the conditional order a,nd not otherwise." One Andrew Westbrook and this Ebenezer Allen, each claimed a certain axe which was in possession of the court, and the court ordered that the axe " be left with Job Loder, the jailer till next jail delivery." In concluding this sketch, it affords the writer much pleas ure to state that the time-stained pages of the old record shows not a single case of theft, petit larceny, forgery or perjury on the part of the grandancestors of our old Norfolk : families. All persons charged with such criminal offences, were either settlers living beyond the confines of Long Point settlement, or mere " floaters," who were here to-day and somewhere else to-morrow. SKETCH LXXVIL CIlPTAIN ANDERSON, OF VITTORIA. One of the oldest and best known' families of Norfolk is- the Anderson family, of Vittoria. Captain Walter Anderson was one of the mudsills in our social foundation, and no name figures more prominently in the annuls of old Charlotteville during the first half of the century than that of Anderson. Walter Anderson was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland. He was born in 1753, and came to America and settled in the colony of New Jersey just before the colonies threw off their allegiance to the English king. He remained loyal during the trouble of the Revolution, but what particular part he played in the drama does not appear. At the close of the war a party of Loyalists took refuge in a New Jersey fort to escape the abuse that was heaped upon them by their victorious fellow- colonists, and Mr. Anderson was one of them. Being sorely pressed in their place of retreat, Mr. Anderson and a comrade managed to escape in the night, and wend their way into Pennsylvania. They were destitute of means, but had good constitutions, and were richly endowed with that native pluck which so signally distinguishes the sons of " Auld Scotia," making them equal to any emergency in every civilized portion of the globe. Mr. Anderson was a strict Presbyterian, and a ready talker withal, and he proposed to his fellow refugee that they travel as missionaries — he as a preacher, and his friend as an elder. The scheme was adopted and proved. highly successful. At one place in a back township they remained a whole week, holding meetings in a school-house and receiving material aid. Who but a Scotchman would have 398 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. thought of this ? They were thus enabled to avoid suspicion as to their being Loyalist refugees, and were housed and feted while making their way out of the country. They came to Upper Canada, and, after sending for his family, Mr. Anderson settled in the Niagara District on land which he drew as a U. E. Loyalist. In 1799 he came up to Long Point settlement with his family. His daughter, Rebecca, possessed a U. E. Loyalist right in her own name, and this she transferred to John McCall in consideration of his relinquishment of Lot 20, 4th concession of Charlotteville. The old Government deed for this Lot and Lot 12, in the 5th concession, has been preserved. It bears date May 17th, 1802, and is signed by Peter Hunter, Esq., " our Lieutenant-Governor of our said Province, and Lieutenant- General commanding our forces in our said Province of Upper Canada." Mr. Anderson was a stonemason by trade, and he was attracted to this lot by the plentiful supply of stone it contained. During the first session of the first term of the Court of Quarter Sessions, held at the house of James Monroe, on the Sth day of April, 1800, Walter Anderson petitioned for a reduction of his statute labor, and the Court granted the petition, fixing his labor for that year at four days. He was a member of the grand jury at this term of Court, it being the first grand jury in the Court history of old London District. As before stated. Captain Anderson was a staunch Presby terian. He was very strict in his home government and very positive in his religious opinions. He donated two acres in the village of Vittoria for Presbyterian church purposes, but he did not live to see a church edifice erected thereon. This stalwart old pioneer died in 1818 from injuries received in falling from a roof while engaged in building a chimney, being in his 66th year. Mary, his wife, died in 1814, in her 57th. year. Captain Walter Anderson had a brother, who settled in New York. William Anderson, a son of this brother, was a CAPTAIN ANDERSON, OF VITTORIA. 399 shoe merchant in New York city, but nothing more is known of this branch of the family. A number of Captain Anderson's children died in early childhood. Those who grew up were five sons — Walter, John, Joseph, James and Henry ; and two daughters — Rebecca and Elizabeth. Col. Walter Anderson, eldest son of Walter, was one of the solid men of old Charlotteville in his day and generation. He was ever at the front in all matters pertaining to public aff"airs. He was straightforward, out-spoken and very positive in his manners, and was looked up to as a leading citizen. When the venerable Simpson McCall first began to show signs of budding into a political stump speaker, he made a speech at a town meeting — at least it was what Mr. McCall at that time thought was a speech. It happened a good many years ago, and Mr. McCall is not quite so positive now that it was really a speech, as he was the next morning after it was delivered. Well, on the following day he met Mr. Anderson on the hill above the village, and that dignitary accosted him with : " Hello, you little rooster, when are you going to crow again ? " " Oh, I don't know," replied the rooster," " I 'spose at the next town meetin'." Col. Walter Anderson was a leading factor in the old Town Boards, filling various positions during the early stages of the , development of our municipal system ; and when the Talbot District Council was organized in 1842, he became one of the first members. During the rebellion he served as captain of a company of militia, and, subsequently, was appointed lieuten ant-colonel in the Norfolk militia, succeeding Colonel Rapelje. Lot 21, adjoining the old homestead on the east, was a clergy reserve, and this lot was leased by Mr. Anderson. He was a man of robust constitution, and kept up his horseback riding after he passed his 80th year. He died in 1869, having reached his 85th year. Colonel Anderson married Sarah McQueen, of 400 pioneer sketches of long point settlement. Port Dover, who survived him ten years, having reached the ripe old age of ninety years. They left nine sons and daugh ters — Mary Ann, who married Jacob Wood; Amelia, who married James Stone, of Normandale ; Rebecca Ann, who married Hanford Oaks ; James, who settled in Walsingham ;. John, who settled on the homestead ; Walter, who enlisted in the American civil war, taken prisoner at Vicksburg, and never heard of after; Henky, who settled in the States; Eliza, who married Dr. Dimon, of Port Rowan ; and Sarah, who became the second wife of Dr. Dimon. Joseph Anderson, second son of the original Walter, was a " church warden " in the days when township affairs were managed by the old " Town Commissioner " system. He married Sarah Spurgin, and settled near Normandale. He had two sons — William and Walter ; and five daughters — Nancy, Elizabeth, Amert K., Sarah and Mary Ann. Of this family — WiLLiAM married Julia Brown, and settled near Port Rowan; Walter married Mary Jane Thompson, and settled at Normandale; Nancy married Hugh Mabee, and settled at Port Rowan ; Elizabeth married Isaac Franklin, and settled near Port Rowan ; Amert K. married Oliver McCall, and settled finally at Port Rowan ; Sarah Jane married Dr. Byron Franklin, of Port Rowan ; and Mary Ann married John Fick, and settled in Walsingham. James Anderson, third son of the original Walter, died in 1808, at the age of seventeen. John Anderson, fourth son of the original Walter, never married. He lived a bachelor's life, and was credited with being an aider and abettor in a good many " larks " that broke the monotony of pioneer life in his day. He and his brother Henry built and operated the Anderson distilleries. The first was built on the lake shore above Normandale, and the second on the old homestead at Vittoria. John Anderson died in 1833. Henry Anderson, fifth and youngest son of the original Walter, was a baby in the arms of his mother when the family CAPTAIN ANDERSON, OF VITTORIA. 401 came to Long Point. He was born into the world in time to secure a vested right to land as a son of a U. E. Loyalist, and when he grew up he drew a lot near Lynedoch. Henry also served as a District Councillor. He was a hard worker and a man of business. He built a grist-mill east of Vittoria, and he and his brother John operated a large distillery busi ness. He died in 1873, in his 76th year, from injuries received in a road accident while returning from Port Rowan, having gone to that village on a matter of business. He, like John, never married, the two brothers having lived at the old home stead with their sister Rebecca. Rebecca Anderson, eldest daughter of the original Walter, came into possession of the old homestead by virtue of her father's will. She never married. She was born in Niagara District in 1788, and was eleven years old when the family came to Long Point. As before stated, it was through her U. E. Loyalist right that her father was enabled to secure a patent for the old homestead. She was thirty-one years old when she came into possession of the old home. She was her father's favorite heir, and he willed the bulk of his property to her. But " Aunt Becky," as she was familiarly called, did not fully avail herself of the advantage given her by her father's will. She was generous and open-hearted, and the old homestead was ever a welcome home for her bachelor brothers, and her purse strings always hung loose when the cry of want was heard. She possessed an individuality peculiarly her own, and, probably, no woman of her time in the county possessed more striking characteristics than she. A good share of the village of Vittoria was built on her land, and this called for a considerable amount of business tact on her part, and brought her frequently before the public. In these matters she proved equal to every occasion, showing much business ability and executive force. She granted the school section in which she lived, a leasehold of a lot of land, to be held by the lessees in perpetuity for school purposes, in consideration of " one barley corn per year." Of course, if the land be put to any other 26 402 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. use it will revert to her heirs. " Old Aunt Becky " died in 1863, in her 76th year. Elizabeth Anderson, youngest daughter of the original Walter, married John Graves Secord, son of Captain David Secord, the old U. E. Loyalist, who settled in an early day on Catfish Creek. John Graves drew land in the to-wnship of Lobo, and upon this land he and his young wife settled. Sub sequently they came to live on the old Anderson homestead, but Mr. Secord finally went away. The issue of this marriage' was two daughters — Mary Ann and Rebecca. The former became the wife of Henry Lamport, Esq., the old Vittoria merchant, now of Toronto ; and the latter married David P. Clark. Mrs. Clark is the present owner of the fine old Ander son homestead, which has been in possession of the family for ninety-five years. Mrs. Lamport died in 1865, in her 38th year. SKETCH LXXVIII. THE STORY OF MARY SITTS. <^«r / /I Previous to the break ing out of the war of the Revolution the settlements in the Mohawk Valley, in New York, were dotted -with peaceful and happy homes. Primitive condi tions of pioneer life had given place to substantial rural comforts. The log cabin had been superseded by the commodious frame dwelling-house, and the pole hovel no longer served as a substitute for the barn. The husbandman tilled his ^^'^'^- fertile fields in peace, and his little children romped and played without fear of molesta tion from any source. But when cruel war swept over the land, paralyzing colonial industry and devastating the homes of the people, a cry of lamentation was heard in the beauti ful little valley. A pack of inhuman monsters, bearing the outward forms of men, but inoculated inwardly with the virus of devils, passed through the valley, wrecking their vengeance on defenceless women and innocent children. These devils incarnate have long since entered the silent chambers of death to await the terrible doom held in reserve for them. . , . T •*".!!"¦ ' GRANNY " JOHNSON, reee MARY 404 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. In that great day when man shall receive, according to the deeds done in this life, there may be some mitigation for the wild red man of the forest ; but his white brother who spurred him on to hellish deeds, and not only joined him in the committal of them, but actually took the lead in some cases, setting such examples of heart-sickening butchery as to even disgust the heathen savage — surely, for such a man there can be no escape from the lowest and hottest region of Hades. The home of the subject of this sketch was in this peaceful Mohawk valley, in the little town of Minden, Montgomery County. The protracted struggle for independence had drawn pretty much every able-bodied man away from his home, leaving the women and children and the aged and disabled to carry on the work of the farms and take care of the hoiries. When the terrible things related in this sketch happened in Mary's home she was only seven years old. She had five or six brothers and sisters, some older and some younger, than herself. Besides the children there were Mary's mother, an aunt, and an infirm grandfather in the family. It was harvest time, and Mrs. Sitts and her sister were in the harvest field at work, and the children and their old grandfather were in the house. This was the condition of things when the savages fell upon the home. They were armed with bayonets and tomahawks, and it was their hellish custom to torture little children to death by impaling them on their bayonets. Little Mary escaped from the house with the baby and ran to the field, where she hid in a shock of wheat. The women had heard the fiendish yells of the savages and ran into the woods. Mary's escape was noticed, however, and when the butchery was completed at the house, the fiends proceeded to search for her. Poor Mary was unable to still the cries of the babe and this led to her discovery. The babe was torn from Mary's embrace and slaughtered in her presence, but she was spared. Just why she was spared, God only knows ; it may have been her personal appearance, as she was unusually bright and pretty. She and her grandfather were taken into captivity THE STORY OF MARY SITTS. 405 and led away into the forests, but at the end of the fourth day's march the old man became completely exhausted, and being unable to proceed farther, he was slaughtered by the savages, and his body left lying in the woods to be devoured by wild beasts. Mary was taken into the wilds of Western Canada, where she lived with the Indians in the Grand River Valley for eight years. When fifteen years old she was redeemed with a valuable consideration by Major Nelles. This occurred in the year 1787, and there is every reason to believe that Mary Sitts Nelles was the only white woman liv ing in the province at this time between the Niagara and Detroit river settle ments. When Governor Simcoe made his overland journey from Newark to Detroit in the month of February, 1793, the party, which con sisted of the Governor, Cap tain Fitzgerald, Lieutenant Smith, Colonel Talbot, Lieutenant Gray, Lieut enant Givens, and Major Littlehales, crossed the Grand River where Major Nelles lived. The place was known as " Nelles' house," and was one of the principal points on the main forest trail between the Niagara and 1 )etroit Rivers. In 1796 our heroine married George Cunningham, a Scotch- American, and settled on the Grand River, on the spot where Little York is now situated. Early in the century they came into Norfolk, and settled in Boston, being among the first settlers in that old settlement. They moved up in the latter part of summer, with all their personal belongings loaded on a sled, which was drawn by a yoke of oxen. She had four GEOKOB CUNNINGHAM, .J0N. 406 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. children at this time, the youngest of whom, George Cunning ham, she carried on her back as she trudged on foot behind the sled-load of household effects. The lot known as the Johnson homestead, at Boston, was purchased by Mr. Cunning ham, and here they settled. While engaged at a raising at the home of one of the Corlisses, Mr. Cunningham met with an accident which terminated his life. Subsequently Mrs. Cunningham married John Johnson, an Englishman, who came to the settlement a short time previous to Mr. Cunningham's death. Mr. Johnson was a man of admirable character. He was kind, aff"ectionate, noble and generous ; and no one among the old pioneers applied the golden rule in the daily affairs of life more closely than he did. He was a father and true counsellor to his wife's fatherless children, purchasing lands for them when they grew up, and manifesting at all times, as much interest ih their well-being as he would if they had been his own children. In consideration of his kindness and help, they signed over to him their rights in the old homestead as the heirs of George Cunningham. " Mr. Johnson, who was fourteen years his wife's senior in age, died in 1832, in his 75th year. Our heroine died in 1859, having reached her 8Sth year. . Mrs. Nelles — Cunningham — Johnson nee Mary Sitts, was born May 18th, 1772, in the Mohawk Valley home. Her father's name was Baldwin Sitts, and her mother's maiden name was Nancy House. She was the mother of seven children — Abraham and Nancy Nelles ; William, George, Henry and Andrew Cunningham, and Joseph Johnson. Captain Abraham Nelles, only son of Major Nelles, married Mrs. Uriah Adams nee Roily Fairchild, and settled in Townsend. He had three sons — Simon Peter, Joseph and Warner ; and one daughter, Nancy Candes. Simon P. Nelles, eldest son of Abraham, married Anderson, settled in Townsend, and had two sons — Alexander and Arthur, and one daughter, Eliza Jane. THE STORY OF MARY SITTS. 407 Joseph Nelles, second son of Abraham, married the eldest daughter of Dr. David Duncombe, and had one son, David Abraham ; and one daughter, Rhoda Mary. Warner Nelles, third son of Abraham, married a daughter of Richard McMichael, of Townsend, settled in Townsend, and had one son, Richard ; and two daughters — Helena and Mary. Captain Abraham Nelles died in 1879, aged eighty-four years. Nancy Candes Nelles, only daughter of Abraham, married Dr. David Duncombe and settled in Townsend. She had four sons — Abraham N., Or lando H., Truman W., and Charles E.; and one or two daughters. Nancy Nelles, only daughter of Major Nelles^ married Moses Barber, and settled near Boston. The genealogy of her children and grandchildren is given elsewhere in connection with the Barber familj^. William Cunningham, eldest son of the original George, married Sarah Slaght, settled in Boston^ and had two daughters — Rachel and Elizabeth; and one son, George. He subse quently married Martha Kern, by whom he had two sons — William and Samuel; and one daughter, Sarah, the wife of B. L. Chipman. He died in 1840 in his 44th year. George Cunningham, second son of George, married Mary Slaght, settled in Oakland, and had five sons — William, George, Andrew, Jacob and Joseph ; and a number of daughters. Henry Cunningham, third son of George, married Mary Slaght, settled in Boston, and had three sons — Peter, Abram and Moses ; and three daughters — Nancy, Elizabeth and Eliza. CAPTAIN ABRAHAM NELLES. 408 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Andrew Cunningham, youngest son of the original George, died before reaching manhood. Joseph Johnson, only son of John Johnson, married Hannah, daughter of Abraham Smith, of Charlotteville, and succeeded to the old homestead. Mr. Johnson died since this sketch -was first written, having reached his S8th year; and the young bride, who came to his Boston home nearly seventy years before, followed him a few months later, having reached her 88th year. "Uncle Joseph" and "Aunt Hannah" Johnson _ will ever be remembered for their generous hospi tality and sterling upright ness of character, and their names will always occupy a prominent place among the old settlers of Towns- end. They had four sons — Abram, John, Henry and Joseph; and three daugh ters — Mary Jane, Sarah Ann and Abigail Abram married Mary Woodley ; John married Mary Mc Gregor ; Henry married Hannah Phelps; and Joseph married Lizzie B. Mabee. All settled in Townsend — Joseph succeeding to the old homestead. Mary Jane married Israel Woodley and settled in Townsend; Sarah Ann married William Black, and settled at Boston ; and Abigail married Elias Barber, and settled at Boston also. Henry and Joseph are the sole sur vivors. Thus, we have the story of Mary Sitts. As before stated, no one knows why the savages spared the life of this little Dutch girl after cruelly slaughtering her brothers and sisters. But when we consider the number and individual character of UNCLE JOSEPH JOHNSON. THE STORY OF MARY SITTS. 409 her descendants, and the part they have played in the develop ment of Norfolk, may we not wisely conclude that He who rules over our destinies stayed the uplifted savage arm when little Mary was taken from that shock of wheat, for wise purposes known only to Himself ? During her captivity an attempt was made to scalp her, but a timely intercession on the part of a dusky friend, prevented the final consummation of the act. She received a scalp wound, however, which necessitated the wearing of a small silver plate adjusted to the scalp, as a protection to her brain. She had an elder brother, Jacob Sitts, who was not at home at the time of the massacre. This brother grew up, married, and settled in the valley, where his descendants became quite numerous. The Nelles family is of German extraction. In the early part of last century Heinrich Nelles settled in New York. About the time Mary Sitts was born Henry William Nelles, son of Heinrich migrated with his family into the wilds of Western Canada, to avoid the trouble that was brewing between the colonies and the Mother Country. In the party were the six sons of Mr. Nelles — Robert, William, John, Warner, Abraham and Peter — and five slaves. They came up the Mohawk River in canoes, thence over a portage into Wood Creek, and again into the Onieda. Finally they crossed the Niagara River and took up their abode in the wilderness, where the old village of Grimsby was afterwards founded. It is said that after the war of the Revolution the American Government offered to restore their lands if they would return to New York, and that Peter was the only one who returned. It is also said that the old Palatine church, which is still standing in the Mohawk River Valley, was built on land donated by Heinrich Nelles. Major Nelles, of " Nelles House " on the Grand River, was the second son of Henry William Nelles. It is claimed that the Duncombe family of Norfolk are the descendants of Sir Charles Duncombe, who came from England 410 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. to America in 1730, and settled in Massachusetts Bay Colony. Sir Charles had a son, Charles, who was born in 1741, and this Charles had a son, Thomas, who wa.s born in 1769, and who is the Canadian grandancestor of the family. Thomas Duncombe had two sons — Dr. Charles and Dr.. David, who came to Canada a year or two in advance of their father, and settled in Westminster, near the spot where the city of London now stands. In 1823 the father died, and in the following year Dr. David, who had studied medicine with his brother, attended lectures at Fairfield College, N.Y., there being- no medical schools in Canada at that time. In 1826 he settled in Townsend where he lived until death released him from his labors. He was born in 1802, and died in his 87th year. He was twice married. By his first wife, Mary Chapin, he had seven children, making thirteen in the family. Dr. Duncombe practised medicine for more than half a century, and during this time he was one of Norfolk's best known citizens. He was a sagacious politician, a skilful physician, and a shrewd,. successful man of business. The name of Dr. David Duncombe will always occupy a prominent place in the history of Norfolk County. SKETCH LXXIX. THE SIX MONTROSS BROTHERS AND SISTERS. The father of the Montross family was a U. E. Loyalist during the war of the Revolution, but he did not live to join his fellow-Loyalists in the work of home-building in Upper Canada. He did live, however, to suffer bitter persecution for his loyalty to the British Crown in those sorrowful days. His family fled into New Brunswick, where they settled on land set apart for expatriated Loyalists, who had suffered and lost every thing in the great struggle with their fellow colonists for the supremacy of British rule. Just before the century drew its last expiring breath, the children of this brave old defender of the flag having heard so many wonderful stories of the new Long Point settlement in Upper Canada — of its fine climate and its fertile lands which were being gratuitously granted to U. E. Loyalists and their children — determined to migrate there also, and secure homes for themselves. The family consisted of three brothers — Levi, Peter and Silas; and three sisters — Phoebe, Frances and Margaret. Levi Montross drew the north half of Lot 1, Concession B., Charlotteville. He was a very religious man, and in the prac tical exercise of his Christian faith in the every-day affairs of life, he was the worthy peer of his near neighbor and brother- in-law, Thomas Price. Before the municipal system came into operation he was one of the " Town Commissioners " for Char lotteville, serving as church warden. This term, " church warden," as applied to a township official in this country, is quite misleading as to its functional signification. The old 412 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. board of township or parish officers included two whose duty, in part, was to look after the poor and destitute. These two were called " church wardens," a name borrowed from England and not at all appropriate in its application to these officials. In England the " church warden " is an ecclesiastical official, whose duty is to look after the edifice of the church,' superintend ceremonial worship, and such like duties, in his parish. It is simply one of the many English terms which, owing to a different condition of things, have been ridiculously misapplied in the institutions of this country. Many of these incongruous terms have been dropped, and as our own peculiar institutions develop, our terminology becomes less English and more Canadian. As a church warden in those early days, Levi Montross left a clean record behind him. In 1806 he was appointed High Constable of London District, serving as such for one year. He died childless, willing his farm to his nephew, Peter Price. Peter Montross married a daughter of Zebulun Leach, and settled on land adjoining his brother Levi, which he drew from Government. For many years he kept a little store on this place, and during the rebellion he turned over, free gratis, his stock of powder to Major Backhouse, and his stock of flints to Simpson McCall — the latter having been sent -with a dispatch to Backhouse ordering that officer to forward the militia under his command. Peter Montross also died childless. He willed his farm to his nephew, Jeremiah Johnson, the old pioneer Baptist deacon. Silas Montross drew land on the lake shore adjoining " The Glen " on the east. Here he settled, having married Sarah, daughter of Frederick Mabee, and here he raised his family. Pellum Mabee started the nucleus of a distillery down at the mouth of the ravine, which passed into the hands of Silas Montross, and which was developed and operated by him until the premises were purchased by Cross & Fisher. During the War of 1812, a party of Americans landed at this place and burned the Finch mill and looted the distillery, carrying off a THE SIX MONTROSS BROTHERS AND SISTERS. 413 large quantity of whiskey. Mr. Montross died in 1824, in his 52nd year ; and Sarah, his wife, died in 1818, in her 40th year. In the year 1808, a session of the March term of the old Quarter Sessions Court of London District, was held at Silas Montross' house. At this session Thomas Welch, Esquire, sat on the bench as judge, or chairman, with Nathan B. Barnum. William Hutchinson and Samuel Ryerse, Esquires, as associate justices. The following persons were present as grand jurors : Aaron Culver, foreman ; Philip Sovereign, Nesbett Culver, John Slaght, Matthias Messacar, Morris Sovereign, Henry Beemer, Leonard Sovereign, Abraham Messacar, John Culver, Daniel Millard, William Robinson, and Michael Shoft. Abner Decew was the constable in charge of them. The Commission of the Peace and Statutes of the 35th of George III., was publicly read. The High Sheriff and con stables were called, and the latter answered to their names as follows : Abner Decew, Silas Dean, Charles Burch, William Winegamer, Garrett Smith and Manuel Allen. ' The justices present were then called to put in their recog nizances. After this the grand jurors were called, sworn and charged, after which they retired. After the usual proclamation was made, Finlay Malcolm and William Winegarner were called and sworn to give evidence to the grand jury. The Court then adjourned until four o'clock in the after noon ; and when it again convened, Alexander Taggart, Jesse Rice and Morris Thomas were fined fifteen shillings for non- attendance as jurymen. This session of the Court was held on the Sth day of March^ and the reason for holding it at the house of Silas Montross is not made apparent in the old record. It does show, ho-wever, that Mr. Montross was appointed Constable for Charlotteville and Walsingham at the June term in 1805. Silas Montross had five sons — Wilson, Horatio Nelson, Levi, Rodney and Anderson ; and three daughters — Matilda, Julia and Harriet ; who married, respectively, Donald Fisher, Lafevre and Samuel Gooden. 414 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Wilson Montross, eldest son of Silas, settled in Walsingham at first, but finally went to California with his family. Horatio Nelson Montross, second son of Silas, married Cynthia Story, settled on the homestead, and had four sons— Levi, James, Joseph and Alvin ; and one daughter, Adaline. Levi and Alvin were tinsmiths, and at one time were engaged in business in Simcoe. No data was obtained as to the genealogy of the family of Levi, third son of Silas Montross. Rodney Montross, fourth son of Silas, married Clarissa Green, settled on the homestead, and had five sons— John, Morris, Wilson, Lewis and Ansley ; and two daughters — Sarah and Mary Ann. Anderson Montross, youngest son of Silas, died single. Phcebe, Frances and Margaret Montross, the three original sisters, became the pioneer mothers of large and influential families. They married, respectively, Andrew McCleish, Thomas Price and Lawrence Johnson. SKETCH LXXX. OLD ST. JOHN'S CHURCH. The first move made towards the organization of a " Protes tant Episcopal Church of England for the County of Norfolk in the District of London, and Province of Upper Canada," as it was termed, was made January 3rd, 1803, at a meeting convened at Job Loder's house, at the Town of Charlotteville. John Backhouse, Esquire, presided over this meeting, and .Stephen Bartow officiated as " clerk." Jonathan Williams, William Hutchinson and Isaac Gilbert, were elected Trustees -" to represent said church." Two subscription sheets were •drawn up — one for the raising of funds for the support of an Episcopal clergyman, and the other for the raising of funds for the building of a parsonage. On the twenty-second day of the same month they met again at the same place, when it was resolved by motion of Jonathan Williams, " That the parsonage, when built, shall be a. joint property of the three townships of Woodhouse, Char lotteville and Walsingham, and the township in which the parsonage may be built, shall be answerable to the other town ships, and pay over the valuation of their shares of said parson age at the separation ; " also, by motion of Mr. Van Allan, ¦" That said parsonage shall he built in the township of Char lotteville ; " also, by motion of William Hutchinson, " That Samuel Ryerse, John Backhouse and Jonathan Williams, Esquires, be, and hereby are, authorized to enquire in what manner a glebe loi may be obtained from Government, and also to enquire in what manner a clergyman may be established .according to the custom of England." It was also resolved at 416 PKJNEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. this meeting that " £40 be offered as a support (to be paid in produce of this country) to a clergyman for the said three townships." The next meeting occurred on April 11th following, being Easter Monday. Jonathan Williams occupied the chair. A vote was taken to reinstate the previously elected trustees for the ensuing year ; also, to reinstate Stephen Bartow as clerk for the ensuing year. At the annual meeting held on Easter Monday, April 2nd, 1804, William Hutchinson officiated as chairman. Lot Tisdale was elected clerk, and Isaac Gilbert and Joseph Ryerson were elected church wardens. At this meeting a vestry was established, consisting of the following seven members ; Samuel Ryerson, Esq., Jonathan Williams, Esq., Stephen Bartow, Ephraim Tisdale, Israel Wood, Henry Van Allan, and John Backhouse. The church wardens and vestry were authorized " to collect the subscriptions and pay it over into the hands of John Backhouse, Samuel Ryerse, Thomas Welch, and Joseph Ryerson, for the use of the clergyman when he arrives." The record ends here, and we are unable to follow this pioneer movement further ; but it is said that an ecclesiastical benefice was subsequently secured, consisting of one hundred acres of land, located at Turkey Point. This glebe land was never improved or occupied for the benefit of the church, as the " Town of Charlotteville " was doomed to die in infancy and pass into history as a mere accidental condition of pioneer times. In. 1815 Vittoria became judicial headquarters, and when the new Court-house was erected it was used for a time for occa sional religious services, by the Episcopalians and Methodists — the Baptists having a meeting-house of their own. Early in the second decade of the century the Episcopalians decided to build a church edifice at Vittoria, and the location chosen was the rise of ground south of the village, on the side road running through the farm of Joseph McCall. The timbers were gotten out and delivered on the ground, but owing to changes in the OLD ST. John's church. 417 condition of settlement and other matters, the building was not erected. Some of the Charlotteville communicants had allied themselves with other denominations, while the number in the vicinity of Simcoe had increased. This state of affairs demanded a change of location, and a inore central point was accordingly chosen. Joseph Culver generously donated the land, and before the first quarter of the century was completed, St. John's Church was added to the pioneer churches of Norfolk. Old St. John's first regularly-established clergyman was the Rev. Francis Evans, a man of most exemplary character. The name of Francis Evans will always occupy a prominent place among the clerical pioneers of Norfolk. Both he and his wife possessed a fine education ; and their pleasing address, refined tastes and cultured manners exerted a most beneficent influence on the social status of those primitive times. They had a family of twelve children; and, being indefatigable workers themselves, taught them the dignity of labor and the blighting effects of idleness. Mr. Evans was so strongly impressed with the duty of parents in respect to keeping their children out of the demoralizing slough of idleness, that he used to say that if he could not find anything else for his children to do, he would make them pick up, scatter, and pick up chips until something turned up which might prove more profitable. The stipend received by Mr. Evans was insufficient for the support of him self, his wife, and his twelve children in any degree of luxury. Indeed, it was barely sufficient to provide the family with the common necessaries of life, and to make the struggle less severe the parsonage was converted into a boarding-house and a select school. The income derived from these sources, in addition to the stipend and the hard-eamed products of the glebe lands, furnished the means of a frugal livelihood — a condition best suited to the proper rearing of children and developing them into useful men and women. Three or four of the sons in this large family became clergymen, and one daughter married a clergyman. One of these sons. Rev. William Evans, subse quently became rector of St. John's, thereby proving himself a 27 418 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. "noble son of a grand old sire." Rev. Francis Evans was far in advance of the times in his enunciated opinions on the hygienic and economic phases of the temperance question. He was a staunch advocate of temperance, and by both precept and example did a noble work in moulding a more rational public sentiment on the demoralizing and devitalizing eflfects of strong drink. When the County Grammar School was established in Simcoe, Mr. Evans was placed in charge, thereby becoming the pioneer teacher in Norfolk's higher course of education at the county seat. Mr. Evans was an efficient educator, as shown by the large number of his pupils who have distinguished them selves in the various walks of life. Previous to the coming of Mr. Evans, the Magistrates did pretty much all the marrying for the Episcopalians, as all dissenting clergymen, especially Methodists and Baptists, were not at first allowed to solemnize marriages. This was the cause of much friction among the settlers, A story is told of a couple who came to the rectory from one of the back townships to be married. They came twelve miles through the woods with an ox team, and when they arrived at the rectory they objected to Mr. Evans' request to go on to the church, as it would add another mile to the journey, and make them that much later in reaching home. The clergyman did not believe in solemnizing marriages outside of the church, but he was liberal and obliging, and on this occasion yielded to the force of circumstances and consented to marry them at the rectory. But the house had but one room and this room had just been carpeted with a new carpet' woven by the busy fingers of the rector's wife, and being averse to having this carpet ruined by mud-bespattered applicants for admission to the mystic realm of matrimony, she suggested that the couple be " spliced " in the barn. This aroused the ire of the would-be husband, and he indulged in a little plain talk. He became abusive, but was suddenly checked by the blushing girl who stepped forward, and, with a wave of her hand, said : " No, John, no ; we will be married in the stable. If our OLD ST. JOHN'S CHURCH. 419 Saviour could be born in a stable, I guess I can be married in one" This stilled the storm and they were so married. The County of Norfolk is included in the Diocese of Huron. The present Rural Dean of the county is the Rev. R. Hicks, B.D., a gentleman emineijtly qualified for the position. The present Rector of old St. John's is Rev. Canon Young, B.D. The Rural Dean resides in the parish of Simcoe, which includes one hundred and fifty families. Outside of Simcoe parish there are eleven other English Episcopal churches in the county, located as follows : St. John's, Woodhouse, thirteen families, Rev. Canon Young. Trinity church, Waterford, nine families. Rev. Canon Young. St. John's church. Port Rowan, twenty-seven families ; St. William's, with seventeen families, and Gireh church. Rowan Mills, fifteen families — all in charge of Rev. Arthur Shore. St. Paul's church. Port Dover, thirty-six families, and Christ church, Vittoria, nine families — -both in charge of Rev. J. R. Newall. St. Alban's church, Delhi, nineteen families ; Christ church, Lynedoch, seven families ; St. Jude's church, Courtland, five families, and St. Paul's church, Langton, four families — all in charge of Rev. F. Leigh. The total number of Norfolk families adhering to the English Church is 311, and this represents a population of about 1,555. The actual church population of the parish of Simcoe is 709, being a little under the usual proportion, while in other places excesses are shown, so that the average is fairly repre sented by the above figures. The above statistical facts are taken from the returns for 1896, and it appears that in that year these 311 families raised the sum of $5,293.03 for church purposes, being an average of over f 17.00 to the family. This is a remarkably good showing and redounds to the credit of the givers. SKETCH LXXXI. THE OLD PULPIT VETERAN OF "WATERFORD. Rev. a. Slaght, of Waterford, is the grandson of Job Slaght, who, with his two brothers, Richard and John, came to Upper Canada from New Jersey in the early days of Long Point settlement. It has been said that the original Slaght brothers were U. E. Loyalists, but this is a mistake so far at. least as Job is concerned, as shown by the following copy of a, Magisterial Certificate: ¦ "State of New Jersey, Sus.sex County. "This may certify that on the 6th day of August 1777, before me, I the undersigned, one of the justices in and for Sussex county, voluntarily appeared Job Slaght, and took and subscribed the oath of abjuration and allegiance, as by law directed. (Signed) "Thomas Anderson." It will thus be seen that Job Slaght was a citizen of the new Republic the year following the Declaration of Independ ence, whatever he may have been previously. In the Water ford home of the subject of this sketch may be seen the old family Bible of Job Slaght, which bears the following bold inscription on the fly-leaf : "Job Slaght, his book, bought of Holmes & Pemberton, Srd December, 1793," And just here it will not be out of place to state that in the studio of Rev. A. Slaght are many choice old heirlooms which were brought from New Jersey by his grandfather more than a hundred years ago. In this collection are some twenty- THE OLD PULPIT VETERAN OF WATERFORD. 421 five specimens of old colonial paper currency of New Jersey, of various designs and denominational values. They are rare old specimens of great value. Mr. Israel Slaght, of Waterford, also has a number of similar specimens, one of which he mailed to the Queen ; and Her Majesty was so well pleased with it that she acknowledged the favor by letter and presented Mr. Slaght with a beautiful portrait of herself. In a little wooden box, with a hinged lid fastened with a wire hook, may be seen a pair of hose-glasses which, no doubt, came from "Faterland" among the personal effects of old Hendrick Slacht. In the old trunk are mechanical tools, bullet moulds, spoon moulds, the old outfit for obtaining fire, and various other relics of a by gone age, sad reminders of the crude lives that fell to the lot of our brave old foundation-builders. One of the most highly valued souvenirs in Elder Slaght's collection, is the silver medal won by his father, Aaron Slaght, in the war of 1812. Job Slaght had a New Jersey neighbor who was the owner of an incorrigible hog, as evidenced by the following old relic : "December 15th, 1785. " One hog trespassing on Job Slaght, damage priced by us, the under subscribers, at twelve shillings and sixpence. "AzARiAH Smalley. "ICHABOD BiDELL." In 1796, Job Slaght came to Upper Canada with his* family. After remaining about a year at Niagara, the family came up to Long Point settlement, and settled on Lots 8 and 9, in the Sth concession of Townsend. While at Niagara, Mr. Slaght purchased 1,400 acres of land from James Secord, taking his, bond for a deed. He was a blacksmith by trade, and came to Canada with considerable means for those times. The family came up along the lake shore in company with others, and brought horses, cows and other stock with them. Aaron, the youngest son in the family, was three years old, and rode on the back of a horse with his mother when they came up from 422 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Niagara in 1797, just one hundred years ago. The maiden name of this old pioneer mother was Elizabeth Johnson, who possessed all the sterling qualities of character that so signally distinguished her family. The original Avery Mill at Water ford was built with money furnished by Job Slaght. In 1805, he was appointed Constable for Townsend. In Job Slaght's family were fourteen children, eight of whom were living in 1807, when he made his will. The names of his five sons were — Henry, Job, Cornelius, John and Aaron. The three daughters mentioned in the will are — Elizabeth, Mary and Sarah. Henry Slaght, eldest son of Job, married Abigail Hemin over, and settled north of Waterford. He had two sons — Job and Parney ; and two daughters — Elizabeth and Mary. Job Slaght, second son of Job, married Patience Robinson, and settled near the " Five Bridges," Townsend. By this mar riage he had three sons — Philip, Matthias and Darius; and three daughters — Lavinia, Hannah and Lydia. Subsequently he married Elizabeth Mills, by whom he had seven sons — Silas, Hiram, James, Israel, Job, John and Levi ; and three daughters — Louisa, Melinda and Ellen. The Israel Slaght referred to as having presented Her Majesty with a specimen of old conti nental money, is of this family. He has in his possession an antiquated tin trunk, in which the old New Jersey title deeds are being carefully preserved. Cornelius Slaght, third son of Job, married Anna Dudbridge, and settled at Nanticoke Falls, Townsend. When his eldest son, Nathaniel, was eighteen years old, the family moved to Michigan in two covered wagons drawn by oxen. They settled in Ionia County, and subsequently, Nathaniel became interested in the lumbering business. John Slaght, fourth son of Job, married into the Malcolm family, and settled near Scotland, where he raised a family. Aaron Slaght, fifth and youngest son of Job, married Mrs. William Clark, nee Catherine Whitehead. By her first mar riage she had one son, -who was no less a personage than the THE OLD PULPIT VETERAN OF WATERFORD. 423 late Colonel Thomas W. Clark, of W^aterford. Mrs. Clark was left a widow and a mother at the age of eighteen. By this marriage Mr. Slaght had three sons — Lewis, Hugh and Aaron. Lewis died at the age of twenty-four; Hugh married Eunice Kellum ; and Aaron, the youngest son of Aaron, is the subject of this sketch. Rev. Aaron Slaght, who died in his 76th year, since this sketch was first written, was not only a pulpit veteran, but was one of the best known business men in Norfolk. He led a busy life, and was a busy man right up to his last illness. He was born in 1822, and the first twenty years of his life were spent on the farm. In 1842 he entered the Baptist College at Montreal, from which he graduated in due time. While pursuing his studies he also attended lectures at McGill College. Shortly after completing his theological course, he married Lucy A. H. Whitney, of Stanbridge, Eastern Town ships, and settled in W^aterford, where he immediately began his ministerial work. This was in 1845, there being no church organization in Waterford at that time. Some time previously Job Loder had erected a Httle chapel, and the religious meetings held therein had been of a non-denominational order. At the close of the young Baptist preacher's third year he had succeeded in organizing a Baptist church, consisting of eight members. This was in 1846, and Elder Slaght was the last sur vivor of this little pioneer church as at first constituted. Mr. Loder generously donated the chapel to the new church by deed of conveyance. It had been used for general purposes and was quite out of repair, but it was soon put in good shape, and the membership increased rapidly. One of the first resolutions put on record, after the chapel became the sole property of the Baptists and was put in proper repair, was to the effect of granting the privilege of its use, alternately, to the Methodists and othter denominations. Surely, the general community at this time had no reason to complain of uncharitableness on the part of the pioneer Baptist church of Waterford. Elder Slaght had charge of the Waterford Baptist Church 424 pioneer SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. for thirty-six years, and when he resigned his pastorate, in 1882, he had built a magnificent church edifice, costing $15,000, and had increased the membership to 360 communicants. But this is not all. During these thirty-six years seven churches had been founded in outlying sections, and no man was more instrumental in accomplishing this work than Elder Slaght. During this time he built up a church at Round Plains of sixty members, added a score or more to Simcoe church, and baptized as many as twenty-five in a day for Bloomsburg, while pastor of that church. At the time of his resignation the population of Waterford and Townsend was about 8,000, one-eighth of which were Baptist communicants. When he returned from the silver mines of Colorado in 1886, he took up the work at Lynnville, with only eleven .members, and at the end of a five- years' pastorate he had built up a church of sixty members. He had no statistics showing the number of persons baptized, or the number of conjugal knots tied by him, but the number of burial services conducted by this old veteran foots up to about 1,300, including many of the old pioneer preachers. He buried a large number of the old pioneers, including the first white female settler in the township of Townsend. Notwithstanding the many pastoral duties which have always crowded thick and fast upon the life of Elder Slaght, he was never without secular employment connected with important interests, demanding much thought and a large amount of executive force and business ability. He was always an agriculturist. He operated a nursery for about fifteen years, and was engaged in the milling and shipping business for about the same number of years in connection with his father. While engaged in the latter business the firm suffered fire losses amounting to $20,000. The annual volume of business conducted by them was very large — having reached, in some years, the respectable sum of $200,000. Last fall he and his partner consumed 22,000 bushels of apples in their evaporating works, and two years ago they furnished a market for 25,000 bushels. THE OLD PULPIT VETERAN OF WATERFORD. 425 In 1890 Elder Slaght was appointed Inspector of Mines for the Province of Ontario, and the duties of this office alone would have worried many a younger man. By virtue of his official position he was a Justice of the Peace, a fact not generally known. He was always interested in the cause of education, having served in " ye olden time " as a local superintendent of schools in his native township for a period of ten years. Elder Slaght was twice married. By his first wife he had two daughters — Lucy Ann and Mary Helen. They became the first and second wives of Dr. Backhouse. In 1849 Mrs. Slaght died, and subsequently Mr. Slaght married Sylvia A., daughter of Philip Beemer, by whom he had one son, T. R. Slaght, the Simcoe lawyer ; and three daughters — Theresa, who died young ; R. Minnie, who died single at the age of twenty- four, and Katie B., who occupies the old home with her mother. Sarah, eldest daughter of the original Job, married Abraham Messacar, and settled on the round plains. Her children are enumerated in the Messacar genealogy. Elizabeth, second daughter of the original Job, married Ezra Parney. Her children are enumerated in the Parney genealogy. ' Mary, youngest daugher of the original Job, married John Barber. Her children are enumerated in the Barber genealogy. Job Slaght, the old pioneer, made his will August 18th, 1807, which was witnessed by Benjamin Caryl and John Muckle. In this will he devised two hundred acres of land to each of his five sons, and one hundred acres to each of his three daughters, and bequeathed his personal property equally among them. For a general sketch of the Slaght family, see " The Sons of Old Hendrick Slacht." SKETCH LXXXII. ^ TAKEN IN BY A LAND SHARK— JOHN KERN. Among the many German families living in German Valley, Morris County, New Jersey, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, was the family of Christopher Kern. In the family were three sons — David, Christopher and John ; and one daughter, Anna. All were married and had families, and the old people were well advanced in years. Such was the family situation in 1799, when David, the eldest son, was seized with that impulse to emigrate which actuated so many New Jersey people at this time, and he came with his family to Upper Canada, and settled near Hamilton. The following year Christopher and John, with their families and the old people, left German Valley in the month of June and started for the new Canadian El Dorado. They brought horses, cows, sheep, pigs and poultry, and all their household effects with them, and it took six, weeks to complete the journey. The old people were very feeble and the long journey was too much for them. They gave out on the way, and never reached the new country. This throws a tinge of sadness over the event, yet it was better so, as the aged couple were ill-prepared to endure the rough life that awaited them in the wilds of an unbroken forest. John Kern brought $500 in cash with him. It was all he had, and he intended to purchase a home with it, but when he arrived at Niagara a land shark — or, in other words, an infernal scoundrel — met him and induced him to buy five hundred acres of land at a dollar per acre, which was represented as being of good quality and very desirable in every respect. Mr. Kern TAKEN 3N BY A LAND SHARK. 427 exchanged his capital for a deed of the land, and when he arrived in Long Point settlement he made the sickening dis covery that his land was absolutely worthless. This meant privation and a pinching destitution for a few years, that would have been a cruel experience for the old people. John Kern settled near Forestville, in what has ever since been known as the " Kern Settlement." He was a blacksmith, and being a hard worker and prudent manager, succeeded in hewing out a home for himself, which was amply supplied with the comforts of life as enjoyed in his day. He built and operated a still-house in connection with his other business, and was always busily employed at something. He was upright and honorable in every business transaction ; was a Presbyterian in his church relations, and was highly respected by all who knew him. June 10th, 1806, he was appointed Town Clerk for the Township of Charlotteville by the Court of Sessions. This was an unusual proceeding on the part of the court, but the township had failed to hold a town meeting the preceding spring, and the court was compelled to appoint the town officials. Christopher Kern, brother of David and John, settled near Woodstock, in Oxford County. He was one of the earliest pioneers of that county, and had to carry grist on the back of a horse to Ancaster, a distance of fifty miles. The old Chris topher Kern homestead is said to be one of the oldest homes standing in the County of Oxford. His son Jacob took an active part in the war of 1812. For some unknown reason the Oxford branch of the family changed the " e " in the name to " a," making it Karn instead of Kern. John Kern, the old Long Point pioneer, had six children when he came to Canada — two sons and four daughters. He served with his team during the war of 1812, and was at the battle of Lundy's Lane. His eldest son, Christopher, was also in his adopted country's service during this war. The children of John Kern were brought up to work. All were compelled to contribute in some way towards lightening the family 428 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. burdens. The girls worked both outside and inside, at what ever their hands could find to do. They grew flax, sheared sheep, worked in the fields, drove oxen, raked and bound grain, pitched hay and sheaves, spun, wove, made coverlets for sale, and made themselves useful in every possible way to get along. John Kern had three sons — Christopher, John and Samuel ; a.nd nine daughters — Mary, Catherine, Elizabeth, Sofia, Charity,- Anna, Sarah, Susan and Martha. Christopher Kern, eldest son of John, was born in New Jersey. He married Elizabeth Pease, and settled near Forest ville. He had two sons — Levi and Herbert ; and four daugh ters — Eliza, Charity, Sarah and Alvira. John Kern, second son of John, was born in New Jersey, and died single in Charlotteville. Samuel Kern, youngest son and last-born child of John Kern, married Maria Mabee, and settled on the homestead. He had two sons — William and John ; and two daughters — Melissa and Calista. Mary Kern, eldest daughter of John, was born in New Jersey. She married Timothy Culver, and settled in Townsend. Catherine Kern, second daughter of John, was born in New Jersey. She married James Stokes, and settled at New Sarum, Elgin County. She had five sons — John, James, George, Samuel and David ; and four daughters — Charity, Mary, Sarah and Sally Ann. Elizabeth Kern, third daughter of John, was twice married. By her first husband, Ebenezer Culver, she had two daughters — Martha and Adeline ; and by her second husband, Isaac Stockwell, she had two sons — John and George ; and four or five daughters. Mr. Culver caught a cold while performing military duty, and died from its effects. Mr. Stockwell's life was spent in Windham and Townsend. Sofia Kern, fourth daughter of John, was born in New Jersey. She married Nathan Smith, and settled in Norfolk. She had two sons — Levi and Nathan. Charity Kern, fifth daughter of John, married Joseph TAKEN IN BY A LAND SHARK. 429 Wicks, and settled in Dereham. She had five sons — John,, Amos, Walter, Joseph and Isaac ; and one daughter, Rhoda. Anna Kern, sixth daughter of John, married John Bryning, and settled in Forestville. She had four sons — Edgar, John, James and Alonzo ; and two daughters — Esther and Sarah Ann. Sarah Kern, seventh daughter of John, married John Mark Culver. Her children are enumerated in the Culver- genealogy. Susan Kern, eighth daughter of John, married William Fray, and settled in Charlotteville. She raised a family, two- of whom were Philip and John. Martha Kern, ninth and youngest daughter of John, married William Cunningham, of Townsend. By this union she had two sons — William and Samuel ; and one daughter, Sarah. Subsequently, she married William McMichael, and settled in Waterford. By this marriage she had four sons — Oscar, Walter, Romaine A. and Albert E.; and two daughters — Mary Jane and Ruth Valdora. Mrs. McMichael is the sole survivor of her generation. If she lives to see the snows of four more winters she will be. ninety years old, and yet she has the mental and physical vigor of a woman of seventy. She is one of the very few persons living whose parents settled in Norfolk County before the dawn of the nineteenth century. Mrs. McMichael's girlhood daj^-s were not spent in idleness. Fashionable young society ladies who visit Grandmother McMichael in her elegant Waterford home, are entertained with tales of a life unknown to them. She talks of a time when bears were frequently seen walking erect with stolen hogs in their arms, and of a time when the best girls in the neighborhood drove oxen for the boys who held the plough- handles. She speaks of a time when she, herself, wove nine teen yards of cloth in a day, and raked and bound after a cradler all day long in harvest time. Sometimes two yokes of oxen were hitched to the plough, and then it required an expert- 430 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. ox-driver to manage both yokes. Mrs. McMichael has driven a double team of this kind many a time. She says her father once hired a raw Englishman, and she and the new hand were set to driving a double ox team hitched to a plough. The Englishman took command of the leaders, but he knew nothing about driving oxen, and she made him drive the rear team until he had learned how to drive. In modern times her younger sons once happened to have occasion to hitch a yoke of oxen to a wagon, but they failed to accomplish the task, and she had to go out and do it herself. In relating the circumstance, she said : " At first they tried to ' co-bossy ' them into obedience, an' when that failed they jist yelled ' whoa-haw-gee ' at 'em till the poor brutes was almost scart out o' their hides." Mrs. McMichael relates a funny incident that happened when she was only three years old. It happened in 1814 while her father was in the distillery business, but we will let her tell the story herself : " There was a barrel o' peach brandy upstairs, an' I'd often seen the boys lie down and take a drink by puttin' their mouths under the spigot and turnin' • the tap, an' so one day I thought I'd try it myself. Well, after awhile the folks down stairs saw something leakin' down through the floor, an' when they came up to see what was the matter, they found me layin' in a puddle o' peach brandy stone drunk." Grandmother McMichael is a worker still, being able to put out her washing by nine o'clock on Monday mornings. May her days be many yet. SKETCH LXXXIII. THE BUCHNERS AND BOUGHNERS. The Buchners and Boughners are branches of one family tree. They are a numerous family, and widely scattered throughout Canada and the neighboring States. They are of German descent. The form " Buchner '' is more in conformity with the original style of spelling the name, and the one retained by the larger portion of the family. The Buchner family settled in the colony of New Jersey before the spirit of independence had divided the colonists into opposing factions, the one loyal and the other disloyal to the British Crown. The Buchners were loyal from beginning to end. They were loyal when it was the popular thing to be loyal, and when the advocates of independence had succeeded in winning over an overwhelming majority to their side, and the Loyalist element had dwindled into a hated minority, the Buchners still remained loyal. Their home was in Sussex County, and when the colonies threw off their allegiance they joined the British forces and fought for British supremacy on the American continent. In 1789, about six years after peace had been restored, four brothers of this family— Henry, John, Matthias and Martin — came to Upper Canada and settled at Lyon's Creek, and in the closing year of the century, Matthias Buchner or Boughner (as the name is spelled by this branch of the family), third brother of the quartette, came up to Long Point settlement, and settled on the west side of the Culver settlement, in the township of Windham. The family of Matthias Boughner drew some eight hundred acres of land in the 13th and 14th concessions, and the pioneer log cabin was 432 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. erected on Lot 6, 13th concession, where the present residence of Elias Boughner stands. In moving up from Niagara the usual trail along the lake shore was followed. The sons and daughters of Matthias Boughner were all pretty much grown up when the settlement was made in Windham. He and his sons were expert hunters, and did their share in exterminating the wild beasts that haunted the great Windham swamp. They were exceedingly fond of gunning, and many interesting stories are told of their experiences in the Windham forests in those early pioneer times, when "Rattlesnake Harbor" was a veritable den of rattlesnakes and the wolves and bears held high carnival in the brush-entangled cedar thickets. In those days deer were more plentiful than rabbits are now, and venison steak was an every day table delicacy. Miss Catherine Boughner, who resides at the old homestead, has in her possession an Indian tomahawk with a pipe-bowl head, with which Martin Boughner (son of Matthias) killed a bear. Mr. Boughner shot the bear, but being only slightly wounded, it turned and grappled with him. Throwing his empty rifle aside he seized his tomahawk and, managing to keep his right arm free from bruin's embrace, he succeeded in beating in the brains of the beast with the pipe-bowl head of the scalper. The great swampy heart of Windham remained a safe breeding ground for bears long after they had been driven out of the forests and lesser swamps of the older townships ; and the adjacent settlers, therefore, were subjected to rather more than their share of the nocturnal depredations of these lubberly pests. It was almost impossible for these settlers to keep pigs and sheep. Bruin was particularly fond of fresh pork ; and the agonizing squeal of some unfortunate porker, as he was being hugged in the embrace of death by his lubberly enemy, was a sound that frequently broke the " stilly watches of the night." On one occasion Mr. Boughner and his son Peter saw a bear seize a hog and start off with it. They went in pursuit of the pig-stealer, armed with an axe, and caught up with him THE BUCHNERS AND BOUGHNERS. 433 just as he was about to jump over a log with his prey; and, as he did so, Peter buried the axe in the bear's back. The axe caught fast in bruin's vertebral column and Peter lost his hold on the handle and fell backwards to the ground. The bear immediately turned upon him, and had it not been for the ugly wound given him, that Boughner's name would have been "Dennis" instead of Peter. Martin Boughner was a better shot than his brother Peter, and killed more bears probably than any other member of the family. It is not known how many he killed, but he never shot more than two in any one week. The trusty old rifle used by him is being preserved by his daughter. Miss Catherine Boughner. She has, also, the old deed given by Matthias to her father, bearing date, January 7th, 1812. It is very lengthy, all written out, and cost ten shillings and fourpence -threefarthings to register it. Matthias Boughner's day was passed when the war of 1812 came on ; but, as he had fought in the defence of the Old Flag in the war of the Revolution, so did his sons in the war of 1812. His son Martin was taken prisoner at the engagement at Malcolm's Mills. The old pioneer had six sons^— Peter, John, Matthias, Alex ander, Martin and Joseph ; and four daughters — Mary, Elsie, Christine and Anna. Peter Boughner, eldest son of Matthias, married Sarah Robbins, and settled on Lot 8, 13th concession, Windham. He had five sons — Matthias, Daniel, Peter, John and Wesley ; and five daughters — Sarah, Mercy, Mary, Elsie Ann and Elizabeth. John Boughner, second son of Matthias, married Rachel Smith, and settled finally in the township of Southwold. He had five sons — Abraham, Sydney, John, Wesley and Isaac; and two daughters —Mary Ann and Lavinia. Matthias Boughner, third son of Matthias, married Sarah Misner, and settled on Lot 1, 9th concession, Townsend. He had six sons — John, George, Stephen, Nathan J., Robert and Zebulun Landon; and three daughters — Lavinia, Hulda and Emily. He died in 1855, in his 78th year. "28 434 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Alexander Boughner, fourth son of the old pioneer, married Gertrude Glover, and settled near Aylmer. He had four sons — Frank, Torrey, Robert and John; and five daughters — Deborah, Eliza, Christine, Arsula, and another who married into the Westover family. Martin Boughner, fifth son of the old pioneer, succeeded to the old homestead. He was twice married. By his first wife, Elizabeth Wade, he had seven sons — Hiram, Alanson, Martin, Nelson, David, William and Nathan W.; and six daughters^ Drusilla, Sirena, Cynthia, Mary and Ann (twins) and Jane. By his second wife, Mrs. Adams, nee Catherine Rose, he had one daughter, Catherine. In 1806 he was appointed Constable for Windham by the old court of Quarter Sessions. He died in 1861, in his 77th year. Joseph Boughner, youngest son of the old pioneer, married Nancy Merritt, and settled in the township of Dereham. He had one son, Jacob; and four daughters — Sarah, Christine, Elsiiia and Jane. Mary Boughner, eldest daughter of the old pioneer, married Deacon Jacob Beam, of Beamsville. She had no family. Elsie Boughner, second daughter of the old pioneer, married Noah Millard, and settled in Oxford County. Anna Boughner, the third daughter, died single; and Christine, the youngest daughter of the old pioneer, married Nathaniel White, and settled in Woodhouse. The name of Buchner, or Boughner, is one of the most familiar names in the county As will be seen by the genealogy of this branch, they are inclined to large families. This has multiplied them rapidly and increased the name to an extent not exceeded probably by any other name found in the list of Norfolk's foundation builders. The Buchners are not a family of office-seekers. Their church affiliations are mostly with the Methodists. They are socially inclined, unobtrusive in manners, upright and straightforward in the everyday affairs of life ; and, taken in all, are fairly representative of Norfolk's best citizenship. THE BUCHNERS AND BOUGHNERS. 435 Were we to carry the genealogy of this branch of the Buchner family a generation farther, we would be introduced to Mr. Elias Boughner, one of Windham's most popular and best known citizens of the present time. Mr.' Boughner occupies the old ancestral homestead ; that is, the portion whereon was erected the original home. He is prominent in his church, in his political party, and in social circles. He possesses a sunny nature, and his " latch-string " always hangs on the outside. He has served in the council chambers of his township and county, and no man ever served better. On two occasions he has been the standard-bearer of his party in the parliamentary elections of the North Riding of Norfolk — the first, in opposition to the late John B. Freeman ; and the second, in opposition to the present member, Mr. E. C. Carpenter. The political fates were against him ; but he made a good fight, and had the satis faction of polling the largest vote ever cast by his party for a parliamentary candidate in the riding. As before stated, Henry Buchner was the eldest of the original quartette of brothers. When they left New Jersey, in 1789, one of Henry's daughters, who was married, remained there. All of his children were born in New Jersey, and when the.y came to Niagara the two youngest — Annie and Henry — were balanced in baskets, hung over the back of .one of the pack horses, and it is said that while passing along the side of a mountain, little Annie, who was on the lower side, was nearly frightened to death by the swinging out of her basket. It made such an impression on her childish mind that she never forgot it, and when she sat in the old arm-chair in her declining years, known by every old settler in the south-western portion of Windham as " old aunt Anna Howey," she never tired in relating the incident to her many grandchildren. The original Henry Buchner had a son Christopher, at whose home he died, having reached a good old age. After the father's death, Christopher moved up to Norfolk County, and settled in Middleton, on Lot 33, on Talbot street south. One Harmonias Van Alstine had previously taken up this lot, and 436" PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. he and Mr. Buchner exchanged locations. This was in about the year 1828. Christopher had three brothers — John, Martin and Henry ; and three sisters — Elsie, Elizabeth and Anna. Of this famil.y, Christopher was the only son who settled in Norfolk, but two of the daughters of the original Henry — Elizabeth and Anna — married, respectively, Capt. Abner Owen, of Wood- house, and Daniel Howey, of Windham, and became pioneer mothers of two of our old Norfolk families. When Christopher Buchner settled in Middleton, bears and wolves were very numerous, and game of all kinds was plenti ful. The cranberry and huckleberry swamps of Middleton were vast pest holes, where rattlesnakes multiplied ad libitum and she bears found a safe retreat for the rearing of their cubs. In those days the settlers were frequently compelled to turn out of their beds in the night time and drive away the bears and wolves from their pig and sheep pens. The pens were built of logs, and if not bear-proof and wolf -proof, it was impossible to provide the family with pork, mutton and wool. The late William R. Buchner, was a son of Christopher, and succeeded to the Middleton homestead. He died January 26th, of the present year (1897), and his son, A. 0. Buchner, is the present occupant of the old homestead. .Jacob Buchner, the old Woodhouse pioneer, whose family genealogy is given in connection with the family of James Matthews, was a cousin of the four, original Buchner brothers, treated of in this sketch. He came to Long Point direct from New Jersey. SKETCH LXXXIV. THE STEINHOFF BROTHERS. Ever since the village of Theresaville or Birdtown (now the town of Simcoe) made its appearance in the forest of Nor folk, the name of Steinhoff has been familiar to its people. One of the original brothers settled near the place in the begin ning of the century, and the old homestead is still in possession of the family. The Steinhoffs are of German descent. The grandancestor settled in one of the American colonies, and after the War of the Revolution, seven brothers — Andrew, Emmanuel, Joseph, Frederick, John, Benjamin and Leo — came to Upper Canada. They had a sister, Hannah, who married William Dell — which became Dill — and settled in Windham. The Steinhoff"s settled, at first, in the Niagara district, but when Long Point settlement began to attract settlers Andrew moved up from Niagara and settled on Lot 2, in the 6th concession of Woodhouse, which had previously been taken up by one Jacob Lamb. Lamb's Government patent was dated August 15th, 1803, and he sold the lot to Steinhoff for £100. Andrew Steinhoff and his brothers — John, Frederick and Emmanuel — were in the settlement before this, however, as the old court journal shows that all four sat in court as petit jurors at the fall term of the court of Quarter Sessions held in the Monroe House, in 1801. Only three of these brothers settled in Norfolk — Andrew, Frederick and Emmanuel. There is noth ing to show where John settled, or what became of him; indeed, it is quite possible that the seven were not all brothers. It is said that Benjamin and Leo settled near Toronto, and that Joseph settled above St. Thomas. 438 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Andrew Steinhoff married Jennie Malcolm, and had four sons — Peter, Finley, Levi and Hugh ; and five daughters — Sarah Ann, Katie, Elsina, Emry and Arsula. Mr. Steinhoff died in 1814, with a fever brought on by exposure while engaged in military service. Rev. Peter Steinhoff, eldest son of Andrew, married Elizabeth Dill, and settled on the homestead. He was a Baptist preacher, and did his ministerial work, not as a pastor, properly speaking, but rather as an evangelist, working wherever his sense of duty led him, or where the field seemed most inviting. He died in 1871, in his 70th year. Elder Steinhoff had eight sons — Andrew, William, Finley, Abram I., Hiram F., Walter, Peter N., and Benjamin F. ; and two daughters — Maria and Clarisa. Finley Steinhoff, second son of Andrew, married Sarah Ann Smith, and settled on land adjoining the old homestead. He had two sons — Hugh and Orlando ; and five daughters — Elsie, Loiva, Adeline, Juliet and Emily. Levi Steinhoff, third son of Andrew, married Anna Beemer, and settled in the States. Hugh Steinhoff, fourth son of Andrew, married Alvira Fero, and settled in Windham. He had two sons — Lewis and Leamon. Sarah Ann Steinhoff, eldest daughter off Andrew, married Richard Dill, of Windham, and had five sons — Jacob, Peter, John, Levi and James ; and four daughters — Harriet, , Sam antha, Jane and Ann. Katie Steinhoff, second daughter of Andrew, married Jacob Smith, and settled in Townsend. She had two sons — Squire and McFarland, and several daughters. Elsina Steinhoff, third daughter of Andrew, married Abram Petitt, and settled in Windham. She had eight sons — Lyman, Duncan, Finley, Abram, Ford, Isaac, Esmond and Walter ; and six daughters — Theresa, Melissa, Eliza, Louisa, Susanna and Mercia. Emry Steinhoff, fourth daughter of Andrew, married William Landon, a Baptist preacher. She had no children. THE STEINHOFF BROTHERS. 439 Arsula Steinhoff, fifth and j^-oungest daughter of Andrew, married into the McLean family. Frederick Steinhoff, the original pioneer brother, married Mary Bamhardt, and settled in Woodhouse. There was a mill privilege on his land and he built arid operated a sawmill and cloth factory. He died about forty years ago, being about seventy at the time of his death. On one occasion, during Mr. Steinhoff's early pioneer life, a big lubber of a bear seized one of his porkers and walked off with it. The porker weighed about 200 lbs., and it aroused Steinhoff's combativeness to see his meat carried off in this manner right before his eyes, so he rallied the forces at his command and started in pursuit. Bruin hugged his squealing captive to death as he waddled off with him, and when he reached a good place in the woods he buried his prey bj' the side of a log.- Before he had finished the job, however, his pursuers were upon him, and he went up a tree. The guns were turned upon him, and a fusilade kept up until the ammu nition gave out, but Mr. Bear never even changed his position. Thinking that the riddled and lifeless body of the pig-thief was lodged in the tree in such a way as to prevent it from falling, they proceeded to cut the tree down. After a good deal of hard work the tree fell ; and the supposedly dead bear jumped up, and, after putting his human and canine assailants . to an ignominous flight, leisurely made his way off into the forest. Frederick Steinhoff had seven sons — Andrew, Jacob, John, Joseph, William, Isaac and Hiram; and one daughter, Hannah, who married Alexander Van Brooklyn. Of these sons the only one living is Isaac Steinhoff", of Simcoe, who has reached his 81st year. Emmanuel Steinhoff", the original brother, settled in Wood- house also. He had no family. SKETCH LXXXV. NORFOLK PRESBYTERIANISM. The father of Presbyterianism in Norfolk County, was Jabez Culver, the grandancestor of the most numerous branch of that family. He was ordained in New Jersey in 1760, and came to Long Point settlement with his family in 1794, and built the first log cabin in Windham. He was not only the first Presbyterian minister, but the first regularly ordained minister of the Gospel that came into Norfolk as a permanent settler. He was an indefatigable worker in the Master's vine yard, and as early as 1806 he had succeeded in organizing a little church at his own house, which stood near the site of the old Windham meeting house. This was the pioneer Presbyterian church of Norfolk, and after it was organized its founder organized a congregation at Turkey Point, and also one at Oakland. He was known as "Priest Culver" in the early days of the settlement, and was a man well' advanced in years when he came. The character of the man, the incidents connected with his settlement and the manner in which he conducted his ministerial labors among the settlers, are given elsewhere in connection with the family history. It does not appear from the evidence handed down to us, that any effort was made to gather these primitive congrega tions into a Presbytery or union of any kind ; and when the fatherly old pastor was no longer able to travel through the forest and care for his little fiocks, they wandered away from the fold and were gathered in by other shepherds. While the old veteran was able to sit in his arm-chair and preach, the W^indham church was kept together ; but when his life's work came to an end, in 1819, the Windham church also ceased to NORFOLK PRESBYTERIANISM. 441 exist as a church organization. Soon afterwards the Meth odists effected an organization, and finally built a church edifice near the spot where Jabez Culver ministered to his little pioneer flock. At the dissolution some affiliated with the Methodists, some were absorbed by the other denominations, while others stood aloof until the Rev. John Bryning came over from Mount Pleasant and gathered up the fragments and organized a Presbyterian congregation in Simcoe in the year 1820. The original membership of the pioneer Windham church, as far as can be learned, consisted of the following persons : Aaron Culver and his wife, Elizabeth ; Jabez Culver, jun., and his wife, Anna ; John Culver and his wife, Miriam ; John Beemer, Esq., and his wife, Hannah; and Miss Susanna Horton. The latter was a daughter of Samuel Horton, the old Windham pioneer blacksmith, of " Buckwheat Street." Miss Horton was about seventeen at this time — 1806^and subsequently she became the wife of Abraham Young, the old Windham pioneer, -who lived to be nearly a hundred years old. Mr&. Nelson Culver, of Normandale, one of the staunchest Presbyterian mothers in Norfolk to-day, is a daughter of Mrs. Young, nee .Susanna Horton. Rev. John Bryning was an indefatigable worker also. He travelled through the woods and went about the settlement from cabin to cabin, gathering up the lost sheep, and soon he had them organized into a congregation. Services were held in the school-house, and the cause grew and flourished. After eighteen' years of prosperity it was decided to erect a church edifice. The old subscription list has been preserved, the following being a correct copy : "December 16th, 1838 " At a preliminary meeting held at the house of Alexander Graik, in Wellington, preparatory to a general meeting to be held to-morrow evening at the same place, for the purpose of devising measures for the erection of a place of worship in Simcoe, of the Presbyterian Order, in connection with the United Synod of Upper Canada. '442 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. " We, the undersigned, agree to pay (for that purpose) the sums severally attached to our names : £ s. d. £ s. d^ Peter O'Carr 25 0 0 Oliver T. Ashbough 1 5 0 Abraham Young 12 10 0 I. Fero 1 5 0 John Polly 4 0 0 B. B. Smith 1 5 0 Joseph Tilney 5 0 0 Mrs. Davies 1 5 0 Alexander Craik 7 10 0 Samuel Chadwick 5 0 0 Francis Byfield 2 10 0 Jabez L. Culver 2 10 0 John Bryning 2 10 0 Robert Culver 1 5 0 "William Wilson 2 10 0 John Brooks 1 5.0 T. J. Mulkins 3 10 0 Alexander Crawford 1 5 0 "William Hardy 2 10 0 Francis P. Rose 1 5 0 William P. Wilson 15 0 Archibald McEwen 1 0 0 William Salmon 2 10 0 Andrew Mclnnis 5 0 0 John McGill 5 0 0 Jacob Langs 2 10 0 Thomas Tate 15 0 Robert Waddel 1 0 0 J. W. Powell- 2 10 0 D. Sutherland 2 10 0 Daniel Matthews 2 10 0 In 1843 contentions arose in the church which resulted in a- separation. Those who were in sympathy with the Free Church movement went out from their brethren and organized themselves into a new church, and erected a church edifice on Norfolk Street. The " Auld Kirk" division retained the old church edifice which had been built on the gore in front of Alexander McCall's residence. In 1875 the two branches were reunited, and the Free Church building on Norfolk Street was sold to the Grangers. In 1884 the present St. Paul's church was erected at the cost of $12,000. The first regular pastor of the " Auld Kirk " was the Rev. George Bell, and the first " Free Church" pastor was the Rev. Andrew Wilson. After the- reunion the first pastor .was the Rev. W. M. McNeil, and the present pastor of St. Paul's is the Rev. W. J. Dey, M.A., a gentleman of scholarly attainments and winning manners. There are eight Presbyterian churches in Norfolk to-day under the charge of four pastors, having a total membership of about 1,280, and about half that number of communicants. These pastoral charges are located as follows : Simcoe ; Port. Dover and Vittoria ; Lynedoch and Silver Hill ; Delhi, Wind ham and Waterford. The Norfolk churches are included in the Hamilton Presby tery, which includes forty -five ministers and sixty-five churches.. SKETCH LXXXVI. CAPTAIN MEAD— A VICTIM OF THE McARTHUR RAID. Benjamin Mead was a familiar name among the old pioneers of Woodhouse when this old century was new. The fine old home of the Meads, located on the old gravel road west of Port Dover, has long since passed into strangers' hands, yet the place is still referred to as the old Mead homestead. Benjamin Mead was the son of Richard Mead, of St. John, N.B. He was born in 1774, and when a mere lad was appren ticed to a tanner. When the U. E. Loyalists of the Maritime Provinces began a movement for the settling of Upper Canada, young Mead, seeing an opportunity of securing a home for himself in the new country, bought off his time and fell in with the westward march. He came to Long Point about a hundred years ago, and secured Lots 8 and 9 in the 1st conces sion of Woodhouse. Subsequently he married a young lady who had come to the settlement with the Dedrick family. She was of German descent, as also are the Meads. In about 1800 the parents of Benjamin came to Woodhouse, where they spent the remainder of their lives. The court records show that Benjamin Mead was a member of the Grand Inquest at the spring term of the old Court of Quarter Sessions in 1802, held at the house of James Monroe. Mr. Mead was prudent, industrious and enterprising. He possessed good business abilities, and made money from the very beginning of his pioneer experiences. During the first decade of the century he built a tannery on his land, which was in operation during the war of 1812. When the war broke out he enlisted in his country's service, and was captain 444 pioneer sketches of long point settlement. of a company of militia. He had about $4,500 in cash at the time, and in order to secure this money in case of possible invasions, he buried it in the centre of the public road opposite his home. During the McArthur raid the invaders passed his place, burning his tannery and dwelling-house on their way. Mrs. Mead made an effort to save her household effects, but as fast as she carried the goods from the burning home the Americans seized them and threw them back into the fire. Mr. Mead received no wounds during the war, and there is no evidence to show that he took part in any of the principal engagements. Just before the war he joined the Tisdale brothers in a mercantile adventure at Vittoria. The partners in this concern consisted of himself and Samuel, Lot, Joseph and Matthew Tisdale. The five deputized three of their number to manage the business, Mr. Mead being one of the tl^ree. The particulars pertaining to the organization of this mercantile Syndicate are given in sketch, " The Tisdale Brothers' Business Combination," and need not be repeated here. It appears to have been a short-lived affair, and in the dissolution Mr. Mead withdrew his interest in merchandise, taken from the general stock, and moved it to his own place, where he started a little store of his own. Two or three years after the war he and one Stebbins built a schooner and engaged in the carrying business. The schooner was named The Elizabeth, in honor of Mrs. Mead. Mr. Mead was a shrewd business man. He possessed two faculties in a marked degree — one for making money and the other for taking care of it after it was made. Sometimes he kept large sums of money secreted on his premises, and on one occasion his wife found a considerable sum under a barrel in the cellar while engaged in righting up things. After he had passed the high meridian of life he joined the Methodist Church, and spent the afternoon and evening of his existence in the quiet and peaceful enjoyment of his well-earned home comforts. In 1824 he was importuned by his many friends to accept a nomination as a candidate for parliamentary honors, captain mead. 445 but he positively declined the favor, preferring the quiet of private life. He died in 1857, in his S4th year; and Mrs. Mead, who was eleven years his junior, died in 1848, in her 64th year. Captain Benjamin Mead had two sons — Richard D. and George ; and six daughters — Catherine, Hannah, Rebecca, Maria, Lucretia and Mary Ann. Richard D. Mead, elder son of Benjamin, was bom in 1815, married Hannah, daughter of William Henderson, the old Charlotteville pioneer, and settled on the eastern portion of the Mead homestead. He kept a tavern during the rebellion, and in 1839 went to London, where he kept a tavern. Indeed, Richard Mead spent the larger portion of his life in the busi ness of tavern-keeping. He returned to the old stand, but left it a second time for a hotel in Caledonia. Subsequently he kept a hotel in Simcoe, and when he began to feel the weight of accumulated years he quit the hotel business and retired to the old homestead, where he lived the remainder of his life. Lieut. " Dick " Mead was cut out by nature for the business of tavern-keeping. He was socially inclined, and being of a genial nature he knew how to attract and entertain his guests. But he did not inherit his father's business acumen. When the Hamilton and Port Dover plank road was built, he, in company with two or three others, secured a contract for clearing off the timber and grading the roadway between Port Dover and Jarvis. After the tender was made,, and before the contract was closed, Mr. Mead submitted the figures to his father, who, after making a careful computation, informed him that the tender only amounted to fifty cents per rod, and that it would ruin them financially if they were awarded the contract. They did undertake it, however, and the consequence was Mr. Mead lost his valuable farm. During the troublous times of the rebellion, Lieut. Dick Mead's tavern was a popular resort for Loyalists. Captain Jacob Powell organized a company of light infantry for service, and the lieutenancy was reserved for the man who 446 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. succeeded in raising the largest number of recruits for the company. Richard Mead and Lewis Mann were the principal aspirants for the position. They furnished a larger number than was needed, and each was awarded with the position — the former as First and the latter as Second Lieutenant. Mr. Mead died in 1865, in his 51st year. He had three sorts — John, Richard and Robert ; and two daughters — Caroline and Miranda. Robert is the present proprietor of the " Mead House," Port Dover. George Mead, younger son of Benjamin, married Elizabeth Wilson, and settled on the homestead. He had three sons — William, John and Walter ; and two daughters^— Candace and Caroline. This famil.y settled in the States. Catherine Mead, eldest danghter of Benjamin, married Frederick Gibbs, and settled in Walpole. She had two sons — Benjamin and William ; and one daughter, Nelly. Hannah Mead, the second daughter, married Zeal Welch, and settled in the States. She had one son, Benjamin, who married Catherine Dedrick, and settled in Walsingham, where he raised a family of four sons — Abraham, William, Madison and James ; and three daughters — Harriet, Susan and Jane. Sub sequently Benjamin Welch married Rebecca Jewell, by whom he had a second family. Rebecca Mead, the third daughter, married Reuben Bacon, and settled in Charlotteville. She had one daughter, Eliza, who married Philip Vasbinder. Subsequently Mrs. Bacon married John Gifford, of South Cayuga, by whom she had five sons — .Edward, Maxwell, Benjamin, George and Thomas; and two daughters — Maria and Elizabeth. Maria Mead, the fourth daughter, was born in 1809. She married Holmes Matthews, of Woodhouse. She died in 1881, in her 73rd year. Her children are enumerated in the Matthew's genealogy. Lucretia Mead, the fifth daughter, married Thomas Walsh. Her children are named in the Walsh genealogy. Mary Ann Mead, the youngest daughter, married John CAPTAIN MEAD. 447 McBride, and settled in Woodhouse. They are both living, but there are no children or grandchildren to visit them in their beautiful home in Port Dover. They settled in the woods, and after clearing up a good Woodhouse farm, came to Port Dover, where Mr. McBride engaged in the drug business, and continued it for more than a quarter of a century. When he retired from business he sold out to Robert M. Taylor, who had been his faithful clerk for sixteen years. Mr. McBride has been a busy man in private life, and also a prominent man in public affairs, having served in the municipal councils of his township and village, and as a Justice of the Peace. Captain Benjamin Mead was one of the foundation builders of Norfolk. He raised a family of eight sons and daughters, all of whom married, yet the county where he settled a hundred years ago contains few of his descendants, and the , family name has become nearly extinct. The descendants of Captain Mead, through the Vasbinders, have reached the seventh generation. The captain had a brother, Israel, who settled in the States, and the grandchildren of this brother have visited their Norfolk relatives. SKETCH LXXXVII. A MASTER FOUNDATION BUILDER— REV. DANIEL FREEMAN. If any one 'of our old pioneers is entitled to this special distinction, it is Daniel Freeman. He came into the wilds of the new country with his young wife and two little infant sons before the present century had dawned upon the world. He came as an ambassador of the Cross, and he spent his life in ministering to the spiritual welfare of his fellow pioneers. Surely, such a man played a most important part in laying the solid foundation upon which our social fabric is built. The name of Elder Freeman will ever stand out as one of" the leading headlights in old Long Point pioneer times. He was bom in 1769, in New Jersey, and was the elder of the two sons of Andrew Freeman. The name of the other son was William, who raised a family and died in New Jersey. William's grandchildren settled in the State of Michigan. Daniel married Phoebe Swazie, in New Jersey, and when their second son was two years oldjthey came to Long Point settlement. This was in the year 1800, and just before leaving their New Jersey home Mr. Swazie presented his daughter with the Swazie family Bible. This choice old heirloom is at present in posses sion of Miss Phoebe Amelia Freeman, of Windham. The family is of English descent, and remained loyal to the British Crown during the troublous times of the war of the Revolution.. Elder Freeman was thirty-one years old when he came to- the new country. He drew Lot 24, 4th concession of Charlotte ville from Government, and here he erected one of Norfolk's. first and purest Christian family altars. He was a zealous Methodist, and to him is ascribed the honor of gathering the nucleus of Norfolk's first Methodist society. He was the: A MASTER FOUNDATION BUILDER. 449 leading spirit in the building of the first church edifice in the old Woodhouse cemetery grounds, and all this had been accom plished by him before he had been in the settlement two years. The old cemetery is sacred ground. In its soil are incorporated the ashes of a large number of the old pioneers and a mighty host of their descendants, and one historical fact connected with this old burying-ground, of no slight importance, is that the first grave dug in it was for little Mary Swazie Freeman, the first-born child in Elder Freeman's Charlotteville home. The old circuit-riders of London District " fought a good fight," which would have been impossible had they not " kept the faith " ; and if any one class of men be more entitled to " a crown in glory " than another, surely it is these pioneer mis sionaries of the Gospel. Elder Freeman spent the larger por tion of his Canadian life in the forests between the Niagara •and Detroit rivers. No man could endure the hardships and withstand the privations that fell to the lot of these men, if he were not endowed with a good constitution and exercised an implicit faith in that " Father who careth for His children." Elder Freeman was blessed with a fair constitution, but the fording of rivers and the constant exposure to the inclemency of the weather broke down his health while yet in the prime of life. It is said that the first Protestant evangelical sermon preached in the city of Detroit was delivered by Elder Freeman. He di^d in 1835, in his 67th year. The old record of the courts held at the house of James Monroe, shows that on the 31st of January, 1801, Elder Freeman applied for a license to marry, and that the court refused his petition. At this early time licenses to marry were withheld from dissenting ministers of the Gospel, and much hard feeling was caused thereby. Rev. Daniel Freeman had five sons — John Ogden, Joseph, William Gilbert, Daniel Wesley and Isaac Swazie; and four daughters — Mary Swazie, Mary Ann, Amelia and Phoebe Almena. John O. Freeman, the eldest son, was born in 1796, in New Jersey. He married Mary Moore, and settled on Black Creek, 29 450 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Woodhouse, where he built and operated a sawmill. He died in 1850, in his 53rd year. He had one son, Daniel; and two daughters — Mehitabel and Mary. Joseph Freeman, and his brother William G., died in childhood Daniel Wesley Freeman, fourth son of Rev. Daniel, was born in 1807. He married Isabella, daughter of Rev. John Bailey, and, on Lot 4, 10th concession of Windham, he established one of the finest rural homes in the county. D. W. Freeman was one of Norfolk's most distinguished citizens. He was educated at Cazenovia, New York, and from the time he left college to the time of his death, he was identified in some way, with the educational interests of his township. There is not a man in Windham who has seen fifty years, and whose school days were spent in the old schools of that township, that does not remember with pleasure the periodical visits of the old Superintendent. His .dignified geniality brought out our best behaviour and commanded our unqualified respect. He encour aged us in our youthful aspirations, and spoke words of appro bation and sympathy to us ; and, somehow, each time the old Superintendent bade us a kind adieu, we felt there was a place of usefulness awaiting each of us somewhere in the great, wide world. When D. W. Freeman was but a lad of eighteen, the respon sibilities of a Sunday School Superintendent were placed upon his young shoulders, and from that time to the close of his busy life he held the position. He was a most exemplary young man, as evidenced by the fact that he superintended the Sunday School work for nine years previous to his marriage. He commenced at the bottom round of the ladder as a school teacher, and thus qualified himself, by a practical experience, for a successful performance of the duties of a superintendent. D. W. Freeman was a busy man. He was a model farmer himself, and was deeply interested in the agricultural interests of the county — serving, for many years, as Secretary of the County Agricultural Society. He was a Justice of the Peace, and performed the duties of a general conveyancer; and in A MASTER FOUNDATION BUILDER. 451 addition to all his other duties, he served for many years as Clerk of the Division Court of his township. When his busy life came to a close his remains were followed to the tomb by a host of sorrowing friends ; and a place was made vacant that few men are able to fill. Daniel Wesley Freeman had six sons - — John Bailey, Daniel, William, Francis Wesley, Charles Edwin and Isaac Wilbur ; and four daughters — Phcebe Amelia, Henrietta Jane, Mary Emma and Rachel Isabella. John Railey married Jane Scatchard, and succeeded to the old homestead. He was a model farmer and a most exemplary citizen. He represented the North Riding of Norfolk in the Provincial Parliament for twelve consecutive years, gaining in popularity during the whole time. His public career was cut short by his untimely death, which occurred November 22nd, 1890. The name of John Bailey Freeman will always occupy a prominent place among the distinguished sons of Windham's old rural homesteads. Mary Ann Freeman, second daughter of Rev. Daniel, married into the Beemer family, and settled at Stony Creek. She had a son, Daniel, who studied medicine, and settled in New Orleans ; and a daughter, Phoebe. Amelia Freeman, the third daughter, married Rev. Edwy M. Ryerson, and died young, leaving no children. Phoebe Almena Freeman, the fourth daughter, married Rev. Edwy M. Ryerson as his second wife. She had one daughter, Josephine, who married a lawyer named Fitzgerald, of Ottawa. Isaac Swazie Freeman, youngest son and last born child of Rev. Daniel, was born in 1814. He married Mary Bradley and settled near Vittoria, where he operated one of Norfolk's first carding and fulling mills. He had three sons — Lewis, John and Edgar, and one daughter, Mary. John settled in South Carolina, and Edgar settled in Illinois. Isaac S. Freeman died in 1863, in his 50th year. There are no Freemans of the second generation, and very- few of the third generation, in Norfolk. Miss Phoebe Amelia, eldest daughter of the old Superintendent, and Mrs. John B. Freeman, occupy the fine old Wii^dham home at present. SKETCH LXXXVIII. THE OLD FURNACE. In the days of our grandfathers the " furnace " was a place of great importance. It was a busy place where a large number of moulders, patternmakers and other workmen were employed in manufacturing all kinds of stoves at that time in use, iron pots, kettles, smoothing irons, sleigh-shoes, ploughs, pails, bar- iron for all sorts of purposes, and numerous other articles. The buzz of industry continued day and night, and the furnace fires were kept in a white glow. It was christened Port Normandale in honor of its proprietors, the Van Normans, and it was the principal trade emporium in old Long Point settle ment when the site of Chicago presented nothing but prairie mud and the wild Indian's wigwam. In the early days of the settlement Noah Fairchild made the discovery that certain boggy sections contained peroxide of iron, and he always declared that it existed in paying quantities, and that a little capital only was needed to convert the ore into useful utensils. Finally, in 1818, Mr. Fairchild drew the attention of one Samuel Mason, an Englishman possessing some experience in the handling of iron bre, to the fact that Charlotteville contained large quantities of bog ore ; and, after making an investigation, Mr. Mason resolved to build a .furnace. Government land patents at this time reserved all mines, minerals and white pine timber. The bog ore; therefore, belonged to the Government, and the first move made by Mason was to secure a Government permit to make use of it. The permission was granted without stint or limit. At this time one Samuel Long owned a pottery at the mouth THE OLD FURNACE. 453 of the creek on the lake shore, which had been in operation about eight years. Mason selected this place for the location of his furnace, and he purchased the lot and Long's interests, accordingly. The first work undertaken by Mason was to change the course of the creek and build a proper sluice way. He was a hard worker and possessed a rude, coarse nature ; and while engaged in this preliminary work had no use for hat or pantaloons. On one occasion the Governor of Upper Canada, while visiting Fort Norfolk, expressed a desire to interview the English capitalist who proposed to develop the bog mines of Norfolk, and Colonel Salmon and John Harris were deputized to present His Excellency to the distinguished ditch digger. Mason was found at work, bare-headed and up to his knees in mud. Being quite unpresentable, the Colonel ' advised him to put on his " trousers," but Mason, could not see any necessity for taking this extra trouble, and he declared that he would not "put on his breeks" for the Governor or any other man. For some reason Mason did not carry his plans to a suc cessful issue. In about 1822 his interest was transferred to Joseph Van Norman and George Tillson, and Hiram Capron, of Rochester, assumed the management of the business. Mr. Tillson withdrew from the business in 1825 and established a forge on the Otter creek, known as the " Dere ham Forge.'' This forge was the germ from which has developed the present neat and prosperous town of Tilsonburg. When George Tillson built the first home at this place there were only six settlers in the entire township. The Tillsons and Van Normans were related by marriage, and were noted for their generosity and business enterprise. Indeed, the secret of Tilsonburg's growth and business prosperity may be attributed, in no small degree, to the enterprising spirit of E. D. Tillson, son of George, the old pioneer. Mr. Capron withdrew from the old Normandale business simultaneously with Mr. Tillson, and from this time on the works were controlled by the Messrs. Van Norman — Joseph and 454 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Benjamin. They possessed ample capital, and the business was rapidly developed. Previous to this Normandale was known as " Potter's Creek," so named on account of Long's pottery. In 1829 the Van Normans placed the management in the hands of Elijah Leonard and his son Louis, who were expert American iron-workers; and during the ten years following, the volume of business transacted at Normandale was immense and exceedingly profitable. The ore was abso lutely free, and it was near by and easy of access. It was hauled from the bogs to the furnace in the winter time by farmers, at a cost of from $2.50 to $3.00 per ton, in trade; and as the Company had no competition, they fixed their prices and regulated their margins of profit to suit themselves. Notwithstanding this fact, the business was a good thing for the settlers. It furnished them employment in the winter time, and by this outside means they were enabled to procure their supplies, although the prices charged were exorbitant. . A large force of men were employed at the works, and this made a home market for much of the settlers' produce. The enormous consumption of charcoal at the furnace proved another source of profit to the settlers, as it devolved upon them to furnish the needed supply. The burning of charcoal pits enabled more than one settler in those days to pay for his land, and, at the same time, get rid of the timber which was an impediment possessing no commercial value. Twenty -five cords of wood made one thousand bushels of charcoal, worth $50 ; and when it is remembered that this work was done at times when the work of the farm did not command attention, this advantage to the settler will be readily seen. In 1840 the furnace had reached the zenith of its prosperity. It is said that the Van Normans at this time were worth $100,000, but the wondrous prosperity which crowned their efforts at Normandale turned their heads. The Leonards had started business for themselves in St. Thomas, and the Van Normans ventured too much on their own knowledge of bog ore, and this led them into difficulties which caused their THE OLD FURNACE. 455 ruin. They determined to duplicate their Normandale works at Marmora, but they miscalculated on the nature of the ore at that place, and the adventure crippled them financially. The Normandale business suffered a decline from which it never recovered, and about the year 1852 it ceased to exist. The bog ore in Norfolk was by no means exhausted. Con siderable quantities of it were found in Houghton, of which a small portion only had been taken. The first Charlotteville ore was taken from Lot 11, in the 7th concession ; and after the most prolific beds in this township had given up their treasure the township of Windham was entered and a consider able supply taken from the vicinity of Nixon. The Van Nor mans operated a branch forge in Doan's Hollow, where they manufactured axes and other articles. There was a forge also in Lynn Valley operated by the Austins. The bog ore of Norfolk yielded from forty to sixty pounds of iron from one hundred pounds of ore, the average being about fifty pounds. When the original test was made a bar of iron was made of the sample, being about a foot in length, which was kept in the Fairchild family for many years as a ¦ keepsake. The Norfolk ore was of a superior quality, con taining percentages of silver and lead which made the iron more malleable. It is said that a stranger once visited the furnace and obtained permission to experiment with a quan tity of melted iron. With the aid of certain instruments and chemicals he extracted the silver and lead from the mass, and the iron thus treated was so brittle that it could not be used for the purpose intended, and the enterprising stranger was relieved from further duty. There is something very peculiar about this bog iron ore. It is a formation, a something that grows, and its value depends quite largely upon its age. It is a hydrated peroxide of iron, found only in wet, springy bogs. It begins to form at the head of a stream, and its growth, or formation, is caused by the action of the water in forcing the iron rust through the lower-lying bogs. Sometimes this ore forms on the bottom of 456 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. the lake, as evidenced by quantities of it being washed ashore. Just what this substance is, that is thus converted into iron, has often been a subject of discussion, but Ehrenberg,, the eminent German naturalist, determined that it proceeds from the shields of animalcules, and it was his opinion that the mineral itself is composed of incalculable multitudes of these shields. This is a most reasonable theory, as the alluvial soils, bogs and lake bottoms where bog ore abounds, are literally alive with animalcula. A gentleman from Hamilton was in Charlotteville quite recently prospecting among the old bog ore beds in view of making shipments to that city, but the result of his investigation was not ascertained. Elijah Leonard, the iron-worker employed in 1829 to superintend the Normandale works, was no less a personage than the veteran old Senator, the Hon. Elijah Leonard, of London, and head of the well-known firm of E. Leonard & Sons. Frank E. Leonard, Esq., one of the sons, who was a member of the first London Aldermanic Board, and who was elected Mayor of the city in 1857, learned the trade of mould ing, as did also his brother Lyman, in the old Normandale furnace. Their brother Louis clerked in the Messrs. Van Nor man's store at the same time. From a published autobiography of the Leonard family, under the head, " Primitive Iron Foundry," the following extracts are taken : " We lived on the east bluff in a frame house, on a lot owned for many years by Mr. Tolmie, but the building has long since disappeared. The furnace consisted of a brick stack or chimney, about thirty feet high and five feet " bosh," built on the side of the hill. Motive power was obtained from the fine stream of water running through the village, which kept in motion an overshot wheel about fourteen feet in diameter, that in turn drove a double piston bellows by means of cranks. Only one tuyere was employed to admit the blast. My father (the Hon. Senator) had charge of the works, and directed the mixing of ore and charcoal in the top house. The material was dumped into the furnace by barrows, and the iron, when THE OLD FURNACE. 457 melted, ran down into a hearth about two feet wide and five feet long. Into this receptacle we dipped our ladles and carried off the product direct to the flasks. When in full blast we took off two heats in twenty-four hours. At this time Nor mandale was a thriving place, the furnace requiring about four hundred men directly and indirectly getting out and teaming ore, burning charcoal, working about the furnace, and .attending to the mercantile part of the establishment. The site of the furnace can yet be located, but in place of smoke, and glare, and heat, and the throb of the bellows, all is quiet save the murmur of the ever-running stream. A vegetable garden takes the place of the top house, and the side hill is covered by a goodly sized orchard." SKETCH LXXXIX. TALKS WITH A PORT ROWAN PIONEER MOTHER —MOTHER ELLIS. Among the old people of Norfolk who are living in this year of grace, 1897, there is only one here and one there who lived in Long Point settlement previous to the war of 1812, and who was old enough to have a distinct remembrance of the events immediately preceding and leading up to the declaration of that war. Mrs. Elizabeth Ellis is one of the very few who have thus been blessed with a long lease of life. If she sees the close of the present year she will have entered her 94th year, and her mental faculties are apparently unim paired. Born in 1804, she came to Long Point settlement when she was about seven years old, and for the past eighty- six years she has witnessed the wonderful growth and develop ment of her adopted country. The following is the story of her life as told by herself : " I'm almost ninety-three years old, an' for the past seventy- one years I've lived right here in this house. My ! my ! since I came here with my parents in 1811 there have been great changes. My father's name was Marks Barrett. He was a Pennsylvania Dutchman, and, during the war of the Revolu tion, he was a British Loyalist ; but he didn't come to Canada in time to secure a U. E. Loyalist grant o' land. I was about seven years old when we moved to Canada, and I remember that we stopped at a settler's house for bread and butter. Father made known our wants in English, and the settler refused to grant the request ; but when father spoke in Dutch, the settler, who was a Dutchman, made us all come in and eat dinner with 'em. TALKS WITH A PORT ROWAN PIONEER MOTHER. 459 , and he gave us supplies and wouldn't accept pay for 'em. I tell you the Dutch people are awful kind to each other. My father settled near here and died quite a young man. When I was a girl I used to work out and spin. I did a job o' spinnin' for Joseph Kitchen's folks down in Charlotteville, and we had lots o' fun. Hannah Gilbert, who afterwards married James Haze, was there helpin' in the spinnin', and when we got our day's work off we used to go after wild strawberries. Mr. Kitchen was full o' mischief, and he tried to scare us with rattlesnake stories. We thought he was only foolin', but one day he threw a snake with seventeen rattles on it right through the window, and it caught on the spindle o' my wheel. While I worked there I used to go over to Billy Smith's place, on the next farm, and wrestle with Fanny, his wife. My ! my ! the girls enjoyed themselves in them days. Nowadays pride has turned everything to vanity, and young people know nothing about the real pleasures o' life. " I married James Ellis, a son of Cornwall Ellis, who came from the Susquehannah Valley to this country about ninety-five years ago, and took up this lot of two hundred acres. Right out there in the bay where them boats are anchored, Cornwall Ellis planted an orchard. From the end of the pier away around here to the west it was hard, dry ground then, and many a bushel of peaches I picked in that orchard after I was married. My husband got the east half and his brother the west half of the lot. Port Rowan was built on our lot and the Wolven lot which joined it on the east. Cornwall Ellis was a great hunter and trapper. " William Finch's wife was my sister, and I was down there when the Americans burned their mill in the war of 1812. My, but them Kentucky soldiers were big, swarthy-looking fellows. When they sacked Port Dover a Mrs. Steele, a friend o' mine, refused to let 'em enter her house. She had packed a basketful of choice crockery, for safe-keepin', and when she began to sass the Ya-nkees one of 'em jumped into the basket and smashed all the crockery, and then it was awful the way Mrs. Steele cussed and swore. 460 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. " I've been a member of the Baptist Church in Port Rowan sixty-eight years. I was a convert at the time of the great revival here. When Elder William McDermand commenced his wonderful work here, there were only two Baptists in the neighborhood — Deacoh Michael Troyer and Mrs. John Kill- master. The meetin's were held in our barn, and hundreds were unable to get inside. It was a mighty reformation. The work accomplished by the Spirit of the Lord was miraculous. Every one was under conviction, and it seemed as though nearly every one was converted. Night after night, and all night long the air was filled with the melody of human voices singin' praises to God. There was one family who kept away from the meetin's. The father of this family was a drunkard and a very wicked man. An extra effort was made to save this man. Elder McDermand appointed a prayer meetin' at the man's home, and requested a number of us to attend. We did so, and the elder attempted to lead in prayer, but he was speechless ; he then tried to read a hymn, and once again he tried to pray but it was no use. At last he give up, and announced that the Lord refused to give him utterance. Shortly after that the man died, in what condition God only knows. The old people refer to this copious out-pouring of the Spirit as the great reformation in Port Rowan. The infiuences of this great revival were felt for twenty years. It commenced with a mere handful, and before it ended 240 sat down to the communion table. " Before I was married the soldiers used to train near our house, just east of Port Rowan, and I used to see 'em whipped for goin' to the village and gettin' drunk, as they sometimes did. I never forgot the land o' my birth, and one time durin' the rebellion Colonel Burwell requested me to cook breakfast for a number of his soldiers. I told 'im I wouldn't do it, as the- Queen was abundantly able to take care of her o-wri soldiersl " I shall never forget that shower of meteors — it happened nearly seventy years ago. It was about eleven o'clock at night when I woke up and saw it. It shown brightly through the TALKS WITH A PORT ROWAN PIONEER MOTHER. 461 windows an' lit up the room. I went outside an' the air seemed completely filled with fallin' stars ; they came right down all about me, an' I put out my hands and tried to catch some of" 'em. They seemed to fall at my feet and I tried to pick 'em up. The shower continued for some time. Some thought the world was comin' to an end, but it always seemed to me that- it was a harbinger of the great reformation that followed so soon after in Port Rowan. "In IS 13 there was a tavern here kept by a man named Cooper, and one store kept by a man named Burnham. Besides these two buildings, there were probably four or five other houses. At that time an American, by the name of Dickson, was engaged in smugglin' goods from the other side into this port. George Ryerson came up here one day with six soldiers to arrest Dickson an' confiscate his goods. The boat lay down there in the bay in plain sight of the house here, an' when Ryerson arrived he an' Dickson had a fight. Dickson finally surrendered, an' Ryerson put the soldiers on board the boat an' told 'em to sail into Port Dover with the prisoners and cargo. When they sailed away the cargo was secreted in the marsh,. an' Dickson, soldiers and all, headed for the Land o' the Free an' never showed up again on this side. " My ! how we used to suffer here with the mosquitoes. In my early married life I've walked up an' down the road with my baby in my arms to keep it from bein' devoured, body an' soul, by the mosquitoes. It seems like a big story to tell, but I've seen a solid mass of mosquitoes all over my old out-door oven more 'an two inches thick." Marks Barrett had three sons and five daughters. His sons- — Philip, Marks and Henry — all settled west of Big Creek. Elizabeth Barrett, the subject of this sketch, was one of the five daughters of Marks Barrett. She was the mother of four teen children, ten of whom — five sons and five daughters — grew up and married, except Caroline, the eldest, who remained single, and lives with and cares for her aged mother. John Anderson, the eldest son of Mrs. Ellis, lives in Port. 462 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Rowan, and is a grape wine manufacturer of good repute, being the owner of two fine vineyards. John was an expert hunter and trapper in former days — the days when Edward Foster was a terror to the beasts of the marshes and thickets, the birds of the air and the finny tribes that inhabit the waters. If there is anything that John Anderson likes, it is to sit down at the close of a hard day's work — never before — and relate his hunting and trapping experiences. Joseph Ellis, the second son, married Sarah Anderson. They live in Port Rowan. Aaron Ellis, the third son, married Jennie Bauck, and settled in Walsingham. Daniel Ellis, the fourth son, married Naoma Stone,- and settled in Walsingham. William Ellis, the fifth son, married Margaret Holmes, and settled in Walsingham. The four daughters who married were Matilda, Mary, Eliza beth and Ellen. They married, respectively, Abraham Country man, William McCallum, John Elisha and Thomas Cowan. Elisha and Cowan settled in the States ; the others settled in Walsingham. SKETCH XC. A JEWELL AT LUNDY'S LANE— JEWELL FAMILY. The Jewell family came to Long Point with the Oaks family in the early dawn of the century. The pioneer head of the Jewell family, Ezekiel, was a brother-in-law of the Oaks brothers, and all came from the same neighborhood in the Province of New Brunswick. Ezekiel Jewell settled on 200 of the 2,500,000 acres of Crown Lands, which were set apart by the Constitutional Act of 1791 for the support of a Protestant clergy. This Lot was No. 13, 1st concession of Charlotteville, and the terms of occupancy were as follows: Seven dollars per annum for the first seven years, fourteen dollars for the second seven, and twenty-one dollars for the third seven years. It was a leasehold for twenty-one years with a pre-emptory right to purchase at the end of the tenure ; or, in case of a non-desire to purchase, a vested right, which was transferable to a would-be purchaser for a consideration based upon the value of the tenant's improvements and the natural advantages of the land. One- seventh of all the Crown Lands in the new province were thus tied up, thereby impeding materially the development of the new country. Settlers would not go upon these lands as tenants of the Crown while desirable lands might be purchased cheaply, and the result was that for many years these numer ously scattered tracts of wild unimproved lands lay upon the face of the settlements, marring and disfiguring them like ugly festering blotches on the otherwise fair young face of a child. And not only as eye-sores did they exist, but they added to the burdens of the settlers by preventing that neighborly touch or contiguity in settlement that makes possible a minimum. 464 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. expense in the construction of public roads, the support of Public Schools, and in the enjoyment of various social advantages. Ezekiel Jewell was known in the settlement as a quiet, unostentatious, good-natured and peace-loving man. He was loyal to his country, warmly attached to his home, and well disposed in all his intercourse with his neighbors. Mrs. Jewell's maiden name was Freelove Oaks. They had six sons — James, Ezekiel, Reuben, William, Thomas. and Abraham; and three daughters — Jane, Rebecca and Elizabeth. With the exception of Abraham, their children were all bom in New Brunswick. The father died in about 1830, on the lot he had chosen for a home. James Jewell, the eldest son, was one of the noble sons of Young Upper Canada that so signally distinguished themselves in the war of 1812 for their sterling patriotism, their intrepid courage, and their marvellous efficiency as undisciplined soldiers on the field of battle. The story of 1812 contains enough martial glory, as it is rehearsed in our Public Schools, to inspire " Young Canada " with the spirit of national patriotism. Is there a boy in all this fair and prosperous land of ours, so stupid and utterly devoid of noble impulses, as not to be thrilled with patriotic emotions as he reads of what his great- grandsires did at Queenston Heights, at Frenchtown, at Stony Creek, at Beaver Dams, at Chrysler's Farm, at Chateauguay, at. Lacolle and at Lundy's Lane ? Surely if " Young Canada " ever displays a lack-lustre devotion to country, the fault will not lie in a dearth of wholesome nourishment. James Jewell enlisted as a volunteer in Captain Abraham. A. Rapelje's company of " Incorporates," as the old settlers. term it. Jewell's company was with General Riall when he- retreated to Lundy's Lane, after the repulse at Chippewa. On that memorable July 24th, 2,000 Canadians stubbornly resisted an attack of 4,000 Americans under Generals Brown, Ripley and Scott. Let us recall this unequal struggle to our minds.. Slowly the smaller body yield their ground ; inch by inch they A JEWELL AT LUNDY'S LANE. 465 fall back overwhelmned by double their own force. Who is that private in Rapelje's company who has thrown down his musket and is pelting the invader with gravel stones ? It is James Jewell, of Norfolk. His musket has been discharged so rapidly it has become too hot to handle, and he has thrown it aside ! He cannot wait for it to cool, and so he fights the enemy with such weapons as are at hand ! Five o'clock arrives and the few are giving way to the many, and Chippewa is about to be repeated. But, hark ! What martial music is that heard in the distance ? A glad shout goes up above Niagara's awful roar, and the fiery steed of General Drummopd comes snorting and prancing along the river road followed by 800 men, brave and true. Riall's men are faced about, and 2,800 loyal defenders of British-Canadian homes grapple with 4,000 American invaders in an embrace of death that continues until midnight, and which virtually terminates the war and immor talizes our noble old grandsires and their handful of redcoat and Indian allies. James Jewell drew one hundred acres of land in York county for his war services. He never married. Ezekiel Jewell, second son of Ezekiel, and his brother Reuben, settled in the States. William Jewell, fourth son of Ezekiel, married Cynthia Rapelje, and settled in Charlotteville, near the present Walsh station. He • had four sons — Thomas, Henry, Abraham and John; and six daughters — Matilda, Helen, Adelaide, Rebecca Ann, Jane and Cynthia. Thomas Jewell, fifth son of Ezekiel, died single. Abraham Jewell, youngest son of Ezekiel, married Jane Oaks, and settled on the homestead. He had four sons — ' Ezekiel, George, William and John; and three daughters — Freelove, Emmar and Rebecca. Jane Jewell, eldest daughter of Ezekiel, died single. Rebecca Jewell, the second daughter, married Michael Forse, and settled near Vittoria. Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Ezekiel, married Jacob Powell. 30 SKETCH XCI. WALKED 500 MILES TO TELL HIS FRIEND HE WAS CON VERTED—DEACON KITCHEN. One of the most promi nent characters among the old settlers was Deacon Joseph Kitchen. He was noted for his uprightness of character ; his off-hand, square-toed "Yes"-and- " No" way of doing business ; his fearless independence in thought and action, and his powerful physique. Mr. Kitchen was not a U. E. Loyalist. He was born in Newton, Sussex County, New Jersey, and came into the world a little too late to take part on either side when the big family quarrel broke out. He did not behold the light of day until after peace had been established, and when the first fracas did occur after he was big enough to fight, which happened in 1812, he was one of the first men in his neighborhood to offer his services in fighting the Yankees. He served his adopted country during that war, and was sergeant of his company. He was under Captain McCall at the notorious battle of " The Foot Race," and it is said his company was the last to break ranks and run. While stationed at JOSEPH KITCHEN. DEACON JOSEPH KITCHEN. 467 Burlington Heights, Colonel Hamilton sent him west with an important despatch, and while pursuing his way through a lonely stretch of woods, two Indians sprang out from a thicket and caught the bridle of his horse. One of them had a gun, and, as quick as a flash, he pointed it at Sergeant Kitchen's face and ordered him to dismount. Leaning over as though about to comply, he quickly drew his sword from the opposite side, and, knocking the muzzle of the musket upward, which sent the discharge over his head, he dealt the Indian a powerful blow, with the intention of splitting his head. He struck a little to one side, burying the sword in the Indian's shoulder, directly under his right ear ; and such was the force of the blow that he was unable to retain his weapon, and when the Indian fell, it went with him. The other Indian had no gun, and when his companion fell he ran into the woods. Richard Lanning, who had previously settled on Lot 16, 5th concession of Charlotteville, and Mr. Kitchen, were warm friends. Mr. Lanning came from New Jersey also ; and when he was leaving he called at the tannery in Newton, where Mr. Kitchen worked, to bid him good-bye. Lanning was a religious man, and at this parting interview he beseeehed his friend to repent of his evil ways and become a Christian. Young Kitchen's mind was deeply impressed with the earnest solicitude which his friend, Lanning, manifested for his soul's welfare, and shortly afterwards he " experienced religion." After his conversion his joy knew no bounds. He had been a wild young man, and it seemed as though he must take his friend Lanning by the hand and tell him the good news ; but his friend was in the wilderness of Upper Canada, 500 miles away. The longer he lingered, however, the stronger the impulse became to go to him, until at last he packed his knap sack with all his earthly belongings and, strapping it on his back, started off through the forest on his long pilgrimage on foot. He followed the Hudson River as far as Albany, and then took a westerly course, reaching the shore of Lake Ontario back of Rochester, which, at that time, contained only three 468 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. houses. Following the lake shore a short distance he crossed to the Niagara River, and came up the shore of Lake Erie to the "Town of Charlotteville"— Turkey Point. His experiences during this long journey, alone and on foot, if written, would make an intensely interesting tale. He was lengthy of limb and possessed great powers of physicalendur- ance ; and as incredible as it may appear, this young pioneer athlete averaged fifty miles per day in making this journey. When night overtook him, he would lay down on the beach, or wherever he might be, using his knapsack for a pillow. He was greatly annoyed by the wolves, and was several times attacked by them. When Mr. Kitchen reached his friend Lanning's house, the meeting between the two old friends may be imagined much better than it can be described. Mr. Kitchen's conversion had not been a sudden transition " from darkness to light,'' which so many of the old-fashioned Christians experienced. It had been a gradual process, and was quite too " rational " for the times. After explaining its nature to his friend, Lanning exclaimed in utter astonishment : " What ! Why, Jo, you don't know anything about religion ! True conversion is jist like poppin' out of a tar barrel into the blazin' light of the noon day's sun ! " This was very discouraging to the young convert, who had walked 500 miles, enduring so many hardships, just to tell his friend that he had been converted. In fact, the disap pointment was so keenly felt, that for years afterwards he doubted whether he had ever been converted. If it was not a political motive that brought Joseph Kitchen into Upper Canada, as was the case with many of his U. E. Loyalist neighbors, it certainly -vyas a religious motive that brought him here. He was pleased with the country while making his visit, and he resolved to settle here. After looking about a little, he finally settled on Lot 20, 6th concession of Char lotteville. The Shearers, McCalls, Tisdales and others had previously settled in the immediate neighborhood, and thus he had neighbors in the start'. He was a tanner by trade, and after DEACON JOSEPH KITCHEN. 469 making a beginning he built a tannery and operated it for a number of years. The tanning business proved very remunera tive, and put its owner on the highway to prosperity. Many tales are told of the wonderful feats of strength per formed by Mr. Kitchen during his younger days. It is said that he once undertook the splitting of a thousand rails in a day, on a wager. He split 700 in the forenoon, and having cut his foot, was unable to work in the afternoon, thereby losing the wager. He was the champion mower of the township. On one occasion a so-called expert mower came along and chal lenged Kitchen for a mowing contest. Mr. Kitchen looked him over, and then offered a wager that he could mow on his knees and beat him across the field. The wager was accepted, and Kitchen won. In his younger days, " Jo " Kitchen was a pugilist of no small renown, as more than one meddlesome, conceited settler had occasion to remember. One winter he and James Haze took some truck to Hamilton to sell, and a very funny thing happened while returning. Mr. Kitchen was lying in the bottom of the sleigh-box and Haze was driving. Some dis tance west of Ancaster they came up to a man on foot, who asked for a ride. Seating himself by the side of the driver) a conversation at once sprang up between them, and learning where they were from, the stranger said : " There's a d Yankee up there in that Long Point settle ment somewhere, named Jo Kitchen," and then he asked Haze if he knew him. " Oh, yes," replied Haze, " I'm w-ell acquainted with him." " Well," continued the incautious stranger, '' He thinks he's a great fighter cos he licked a brother o' mine once ; but if I ever set eyes on the Yankee galoot, I'll lick the tar out of him." Quick as a fiash Kitchen sprang up and caught the stranger in his powerful arms and threw him head-first into a snowbank, exclaiming, as he did so : " I'm that d Yankee galoot your 're talkin' about ; what more do ' ye want ? '" 470 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. The team was going at a brisk trot, and shouting " whoa," he sprang out of the sleigh, but the stranger did not stay to even say " thank you " for the ride — if he ever ran for his life it was on that very occasion. Mr. Kitchen was peacefully inclined, and never " picked a quarrel." It was only when some bully showed a disposition to step on him, or shove him into a corner, that he demonstrated his ability to take care of himself. He was a singing school master of " ye olden times," and he kept his voice remarkably well up to the time of his death. Deacon Kitchen was a pillar of strength in the old Baptist church in Vittoria, and when he died there was a broken pillar in his church, and a vacancy created in the community in which he lived that very few men, indeed, are able to fill. Deacon Kitchen married Miriam Barber in 1809, who bore him twelve children. Three died in childhood, and one, Hannah, grew into womanhood, and died single. Of the eight who married, two were sons — John and Egbert M. ; and six were daughters — Charity, Jane, Mary Ann, Ruth, Cynthia and Martha. The old pioneer died in 1868, in his 82nd year, and his wife survived him seven years, dying in 1875, in her 83rd year. John Kitchen, the eldest son, married Rebecca, daughter of Abraham Smith, of Charlotteville, and settled on Lot 22, 11th concession of Windham, being one of the pioneers of that township. He had two daughters — Rozena and Cynthia. Both are married, and living. The old people are both living. Egbert M. Kitchen, the youngest son and last born child, mar ried Abigail Weir, and succeeded to the old homestead. He had three sons — Richard, Joseph and William ; and one daughter, Maude. The eldest died in childhood, and the others remain single. Both father and mother are living. Charity Kitchen, the eldest daughter, married Michael Segar, and settled in London. She had one daughter, Frankie, who died single. Father and mother are both dead. Jane Kitchen, the second daughter, married George DEACON JOSEPH KITCHEN. 471 McMichael, of Townsend. She had two sons — Joseph K. and Oscar ; and one daughter, Melinda. Joseph K. succeeded to the homestead. The other children, together with the father and mother, are all dead. Mary Ann Kitchen, the third daughter, married William L. Sovereign, and settled at Fredericksburg. She had three sons — Albert, Frederick and Job ; and three daughters — Tamson, Hannah and Miriam. Frederick, Job and Tamson, and the father and mother, are dead. Ruth Kitchen, the fourth daughter, married Albert Trehune, who settled on Lot 19, 6th concession of Charlotteville. She had three sons — Gilliam,, Joseph and Edwin ; and one daughter, Cynthia. Both father and mother, the eldest son, and the daughter, are dead. Cynthia Kitchen, the fifth daughter, married Joel W. Owen, of Vittoria, and had one son, Egbert A. The mother died young. Martha Kitchen, the sixth daughter, married Albert Tre hune, as his second wife. She had one son, Albert ; and one daughter, Lily. Both are married, and both parents are dead. Of this large family two only are living — John and Egbert M. There are no Kitchens in the fourth generation, and only two in the third, upon whom the propagation of the name depend ; and they are Prof. Joseph Kitchen, of Brooklyn, and Dr. William Kitchen, of Detroit, sons of Egbert M. Kitchen. SKETCH XCIL THE OLD MUD CHURCH. One of the most prominent old county landmarks was the " old mud church " that stood on the corner of Colborne and Union Streets, in the town of Simcoe. ' It was built by a generation of men who have mostly passed away, and for many years after the last hymn of praise to the God of all genera tions echoed within its walls, the old relic stood crumbling into decay, a sad reminder of by-gone times. What especially characterizes this old land-mark is the fact that it was the first, last and only Congregational church edifice erected in the county. Congregationalism made a good vigorous start in Norfolk, but it was soon absorbed by the other religious denominations. The only apparent cause of Congregational decadence in Norfolk, lies in the fact that the people have never evinced a strong predilection for democratic institutions — religious, political or social. The " fathers " who laid the foundation of our social fabric were strongly imbued with anti-republican ideas; and the superstructure built on this foundation has been shapened and fashioned by their descendants, who inherited their ancestors' likes and dislikes. The distinctive principle of Congregational church polity is that every Christian church or congregation is entitled "to elect its own officers, to manage all its own affairs, and to stand independent of and irresponsible to all authority, saving that only of the Supreme and Divine Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ." They regard the Sacred Scriptures as their only standard, and hold that human traditions, fathers and councils, canons and creeds, possess no authority over the faith the old mud CHURCH. 473 and practice of Christians. They deny that there is any scriptural authority for uniting congregations of worshippers under a recognized central power that is, in any way, superior to that of each or any pastor of a congregation. This is the speciality which distinguishes Independency or Congrega tionalism from Episcopacy and Presbytery. In matters of doctrine, the early Independents occupied the same position as the other sections of the Puritan family. They held in substance the evangelical doctrines of the Re formers of the Westminster Assembly, and of the Thirty-nine Articles. They were quite numerous as early as the days of •Queen Elizabeth. History informs us that in a speech made by Sir Walter Raleigh in the House of Commons in 1692, on the subject of a law to transport the Brownists — as they were offensively but untruly named — he thus refers to their numbers : " If two or three thousand Brownists meet at the .-seaside, at whose charge shall they be transported, or whither will you send them ? I am sorry for it, but I am afraid there are nearly twenty thousand of . them in England ; and when they are gone, who shall maintain their wives and children ? " Some eminent leaders among them were put to death ; others were transported, while the larger number retired to Holland. In 1620 the Mayflower landed about a hundred of them in the -New World, and from this germ grew several prosperous democratic commonwealths which aided materially in the building up of an independent and mighty Republic on this •continent. In these New England States Congregationalism flourished like "a green bay tree." One of the first things .done by the " pilgrim fathers," after they effected a landing, was to found a Congregational church at Plymouth, which was placed in charge of John Robinson. But Congregationalism has flourished in Episcopal England .also. After the Toleration Act of 1689 was passed, an ineffectual effort was made to bring about a degree of affilia tion between them and the English Presbyterians. Ih 1730 they united with the Baptists and Presbyterians, under the 474 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. name of the Three Denominations, for the protection of their civil and religious liberties. Next to the Methodists the Con- gregationalists are the largest dissenting body in England. The largest confederation of its churches is known as " The Con gregational Union of England and Wales," and so jealous are they of their peculiar doctrines on the proper mode of church government, that at the time this union wjis effected it was declared not to be a court of appeal, or to possess in the slightest degree any legislative authority that might in any way arbitrarily affect any individual church. The old " mud church " was sold to T. R. Atkinson several years since. He tore down the gloomy old relic and converted the ground whereon it stood into something more cheerful (?) looking ; that is, a yard where grave-stones and tall sepulchral monuments are exposed to view and kept for sale. When Mr. Atkinson removed the foundation he found, in one of the corner-stones, two bottles containing several papers. A detailed account of this discovery was published in the !Norfolk Reformer, and it is from this publication the following information is gleaned. The last surviving trustee of this extinct church organiza tion was John E. Martin. One bottle contained a Declaration of Faith, and the Church Order of Discipline of the Congrega- tionalists or Independent Dissenters. The other contained a Catechism on the Construction and Government of Christian churches, by John Roaf. The corner-stone was laid in 1844,, five years before Talbot District merged into the County of Norfolk. The document reads as follows : . "The foundation-stone of this building was laid on the twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-four, in the seventh year of the reign of Victoria Queen of Great Britain, etc., Whom God preserve ; Sir Charles Metcalf being Governor of British North America. This erection is for the use of the Congregational Church of this town and vicinity, which was organized on the tenth of the present month by the Rev. William Clark, of the THE OLD MUD CHURCH. 475 Congregational Union of England and Wales, minister, now the elected pastor of the church,. Joseph Tilney and Robert Gibbons, deacons. The following are the names of the Building Com mittee chosen in public meeting by the subscribers : — William Clark, Dr. G. H. Parke, Philip Beemer, Robert Gibbons, Duncan Campbell, Aaron Culver, C. J. Dredge, Aaron Culver, jun , Dr. J. B. Grouse, G. J. Mulkins, Joseph Tilney, John Murray, John Mclntyre, Joseph Culver, Adam Bowlby, Peter O'Carr." A careful review of the above list of names will show that at the final dissolution of Congregationalism in Norfolk, all the other denominations participated in the absorption of its membership. SKETCH XCIII. THE ROBINSON FAMILY OF TOWNSEND. Somewhere about the year 1772 a young Englishman named Cuthbert Robinson, and his wife Hannah, left their native parish in old Yorkshire, England, and came to the New World to participate in the marvellous advantages which, at that time, prevailed for the acquisition of homes and the accumulation of wealth. They settled in the Province of New Jersey, and remained loyal to the king during the war of the Revolution which followed so soon after their settlement. William and George, the pioneer heads of the two branches of the Robinson family of Townsend, were born in the New Jersey home — the former in the year the colonies threw off their allegi ance to the British crown. These sons inherited their father's lOve for the Old Flag, and although they remained twenty-two years in their native province after the signing of the treaty of peace which made it a State of the new Republic, their prefer ence for British institutions suffered no change. In 1805 Cuthbert Robinson and his sons, who were married and had families of their own, gave effect to their political preferences by emigrating to Upper Canada. They left New Jersey early in the spring. Going up the Hudson River as far as Albany they entered the Mohawk valley and came by way of Utica, crossing the Niagara River at Black Rock. They came direct to Townsend, where Job Slaght and his brother John had pre viously settled. Captain William Robinson, eldest son of Cuthbert, was born in New Jersey in 1776. He married Sarah, daughter of Hendrick Slacht, of New Jersey, and, at the time of his settle ment on Lots 4, 5 and 6, 7th concession of Townsend, had the ROBINSON FAMILY OF TOWNSEND. 477 three children. Cuthbert Robinson lived with the family of his son William. He died in 1829, in his 86th year. Captain Wm. Robinson was a sturdy pioneer. He was industrious and persevering, and when the war of 1812 brok& out he had effected a large clearing on his land, and was fairly started on the highway to prosperity. He laid aside the im plements of peaceful industry and took up arms in defence of his adopted country, serving as Captain in the Norfolk militia.. His busy life closed prematurely, in 1829, being only fifty- three years old ; and his wife Sarah followed him in 1840, in her 67th year. He had five sons — Richard, William, Thomas, George and John ; and four daughters — Hannah, Sarah, Mary and Eliza. Richard, eldest son of Captain W^illiam, was born in New Jersey in 1797, and was eight years old when his father settled in the wilderness on Nanticoke Creek. His boyhood days were spent in the woods of old Townsend during the log' cabin era. They were days of incessant toil and few privileges. Although but fifteen years old when the war broke out, he- enlisted at Waterford and served until its close. His son Hiram, of Waterford, is in possession of the old musket his- father carried during his war service. He visited the old Ne-w Jersey home after the war, making the journey both ways on foot. He married Anna, daughter of Henry Yerks, and settled on Lot 3, 7th concession of Windham, where he hewed out a home for himself in the face of many painful difficulties. In 1829 he undertook the task of carving another home out of the forest in the 2nd and 3rd concessions of Townsend. Some- of the finest white pine and hard maple timber in the virgin- forests of Norfolk grew on these lots, and in the work of clear ing, trees were felled and burned which would, if standing to-day, command fabulous prices. Methods of sugar making;. thrashing and cleaning grain, and farming operations generally, were crude in those days, but patient industry and unfiinching perseverance overcame all difficulties and placed him on the list of Townsend's solid yeomanry. In 1836 his wife died, and in the following year he married Mrs. Nancy Firman, of Bloomsburg. He died in 1873, in his 76th year, being, survived 478 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. by his second wife nearly twelve years. There was no issue by the second marriage. He had four sons — William, James, Elias and Hiram ; and seven daughters — Eliza, Maria, Sarah Ann, Hannah, Getty, Rebecca and Elizabeth. Of this large family, William, who was born in 1818, married Marilla Murray, of Townsend, and is living at present on the old homestead. He has reached his 80th year, and yet he is the great-grandson of Cuthbert Robinson, the Norfolk grand an cestor of the family. James married Bridget, daughter of the late John O'Donnell, of Delhi, and settled in what is known as Egypt, in Windham. He was one of the pioneers in that section of the township. On one occasion, during his earlier experiences, his Townsend friends asked him to get up a " paring bee," but " Jimmy " had no apples and he couldn't see how it would be possible for him to have a "paring ])ee." He was ordered to provide the refreshments and the guests, would attend to the other matters. The party brought a plentiful supply from the Townsend orchards, and " Jimmy's paring bee " was long remembered as a leading event in " the land of Egypt." On one occasion Jimmy went to Fredericksburg (Delhi) with his ox team for a coffin. He was detained until late in the night, and it was so dark he could not see his hand before him. Seated upon the coffin he shuddered at the blood curdling howls of the wolves as his faithful cattle wended their way among the stumps that dotted the forest-lined roadway ; and in the lonely cabin-home a young wife sat trembling at the horrid echoes that resounded through the forest, and fearful lest the coming of the morrow's dawn would reveal the awful fact that her husband had met with some terrible mishap. When Jimmy and his bride settled in Egypt they had no clock, and on one occasion this deprivation was the cause of two suppers being eaten in one night. They had resolved to visit the old folks in Townsend, and purposed getting an early start. They arose in the morning, as they supposed, prepared and ate their breakfast and then waited for the break of day. Becoming weary of waiting they again retired to bed, and, after what seemed another night's sleep, they arose a second time THE ROBINSON FAMILY OF TOWNSEND. 479 and ate what proved to be a breakfast. Whether the inter- -vening meal was a second supper or a first breakfast they were never able to discover. In 1848 he left Egypt and settled on Lot 1, 2nd concession of Townsend. On this farm was a ridge covered with second-growth timber, and it has always been supposed that some refugee had cleared off the original forest at some time ante-dating the first known settlements in the county. James resides at present on Lot 6, 4th concession, and has reached his 79th year. Elias married Frances Bailey, and settled on part of the homestead. He died in 1867, in his 42nd year. Hiram married Abigail, daughter of Samuel Lundy, and settled in Townsend. He is living at present in Waterford, having reached his 66th year. Eliza married Jacob Cole, and settled, finally, in Walsingham, where Mr. Cole died. She is living in Lynedoch, and has reached her 76th year. Maria married James Coe, settled in Townsend, and died in 1847, in her 25th year. Hannah married Oliver Slaght, and settled in Townsend. Both are dead, she having died in 1851, in her 24th year. Getty married Geo. Kent, of Delhi. Both are dead, she having died in 1856, in her 28th year. Rebecca married Oscar Wilson, and settled in Walsing ham. She is a widow in her 67th year. Elizabeth married William Cole, and settled finally in Michigan. She is a widow, and has reached her 63rd year. William, second son of Captain William, was born in New Jersey in 1799, and was six years old when the family left New Jersey. He married Susan, daughter of Sherman Hyde, and settled, finally, on Lot 11, 7th concession of Townsend, where he died in 1879, in his 81st year. His wife died in 1890, in her 82nd year. He had three sons — John, Sherman and Walter; and six daughters — Sarah, Clarinda, Lucinda, Esther, Louisa and Lizana. Of this family, John, who was born in 1826, married Mary, daughter of William Parney, and settled in Townsend. He was a Justice of the Peace and a deacon in the Baptist church. In 1870 he settled near Delhi. In 1884 his wife died in her 56th year, and, subsequently, he married Mrs. John Shaver. He died in Waterford in 1894, having 480 pioneer sketches of long point settlement. reached his 68th year. Sherman settled in Walsingham,, where he died. Walter married Larinda Smith in 1862, and settled on the homestead. He has in his possession the old flint-lock musket brought from Yorkshire by his gredt-grand- father a hundred and twenty-seven years ago. Hannah, eldest daughter of Captain William, was born in New Jersey in 1801, and was four years old when the family came to Canada. She married James Walker, of Woodhouse.. Her children are enumerated in the Walker genealogy. Thomas, third son of Captain William, was born in New Jersey in 1804, and was the baby when the family settled in Townsend. He married Amelia Vasbinder, and settled in Oak land. Subsequently he moved to Goshen, and from there to- Tilsonburg, where he died in 1858, in his 54th year. His two- sons settled in Michigan, and his only daughter married John Havens, of Otterville. George, fourth son, of Captain William, was the first-born child after the settlement in Townsend. He married Mary Ann Holmes, and succeeded to the old homestead. His wife died in 1848, in her 36th year, and subsequently he married. Caroline Holmes. He had several children by each wife. He died in his 54th year, in 1861, and after his death the old Robinson homestead passed into strangers' hands. His second wife lives with her son Ezra, at Oil Springs, Ontario. Mary, third daughter of Captain William, was born in 1812,. and married William, son of William Smith, of Charlotteville. Her children are enumerated, in the Smith genealogy. She died in 1867, in her 56th year. George Robinson, second son of the original Cuthbert, was- bom and married in New Jersey. He settled on Lot 16, Sth concession of Townsend, and died in 1858, in his 86th year. He had three sons — Thomas, William and Martin; and three daughters — Martha, Rebecca and Sarah. The two eldest sons. settled and died in Windham, and the youngest' died in Town- send. Martha married Abram Barber, and Rebecca married John Barber, both of Townsend. Sarah married Barzillia- Beal and settled in Townsend. SKETCH XCIV. DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON— THE MESSACAR FAMILY. The words " died with their boots on," is a well-known figurative expression applied to those who cling to life tena ciously, persevering in their worldly undertakings until, over come by an accumulation of infirmities, they drop dead in their tracks. In this sense, to die with one's boots on is to stub bornly resist the ills that flesh is heir to, pursuing life's pur poses with the plodding patience of the cart-horse that falls in the traces while pulling at his load. But the expression is applied to the subjects of this sketch in a literal sense. The two pioneer heads of the Messacar family, of Townsend, died with their boots on. One was found in the woods where the limb of a tree had fallen upon him, and the other was found in the woods with a plank in his arms where he had fallen dead while engaged in repairing a bridge. High water had floated some of the planks off the stringers of the bridge and the old pioneer was engaged in the work of replacing them. Not returning when expected a search was made, which resulted in the finding of his dead body. He had picked up one of the stray planks and was in the act of carry ing it to the bridge when he fell dead. He was lying in the mud, with his arms tightly clasped about the plank. This was Abraham Messacar, who settled on the Nanticoke Creek, near the present Rockford Post-office. The Messacars came from New Jersey with the Slaghts. Abraham Messacar married Sarah, daughter of the original Job Slaght, in New Jersey. He had two children — Abraham and Job when the family came to Canada. They were quite 31 482 pioneer sketches of long point settlement. young at the time, and while en route the pack horse on whicji they rode took fright at the sudden appearance of an Indian in paint and feathers, and threw off" both children. It was a great experience for the youngsters, and they never forgot it. Mr. Messacar built and operated one of Townsend's pioneer sawmills. The white pine timber in the vicinity of the mill was as good in quality as any in the county, and during the old pioneer's time nothing but prime, clear logs taken from a virgin forest was sawed into lumber at this mill. Abraham Messacar had seven sons — Abraham, Job, Henry, Nicholas, John, Caleb and William ; and two daughters — Mary and Elizabeth. Abraham, eldest son of Abraham, was born in New Jersey. He married Margaret Beal, settled at Rockford, and succeeded his father in the milling business. Hei had three sons — Eli C, Horace G., and Rolph; and ten daughters — Hannah, Sarah, Mary Jane, Hortense, Martha Ann, Harriet, Ellen, Celia, Margaret E. and Ruth H. Job, second son of Abraham, was born in New Jersey. He was married three times. By his first wife, Hannah Yerks, he had five sons — Abraham, James, Aaron, George and Edwin; and six daughters — Eliza, Sarah, Arvilla, Maria, Lorinda and Mary. By his second wife, Elizabeth Landon, he had one son Enoch. By his third wife, Esther Ann Bowlby, he had five sons — Alfred, Louis, David, Adam and John A. ; and two daughters — Frances and Lucy. Job Messacar had nineteen children and his brother thirteen, making thirty -two in all. A father and son in the Parney family had thirty-nine children, and in these four Townsend families were seventy-one children, all Parneys and Messacars. Job settled at Rockford, or Nanticoke Falls, as it was called by our grandfathers. Henry, third son of Abraham, was twice married. By his first wife he had three sons — Warren, John and William ; and three daughters — Mary, Martha and Melinda. By his second wife he had two daughters. He settled in Michigan. Nicholas, fourth son of Abraham, married Sarah Wymer, DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON. 483 by whom he had one son. Subsequently he married Getty Yerks, by whom he had four sons — Hiram, Eli, Louis and Alford. John, fifth son of Abraham, married Lutitia Esmond, of Norwich, and settled just north of Waterford. By this marriage he had one daughter. Subsequently he married Eliza Gilbert, by whom he had two sons — Gilbert and Allen ; and one daughter, Susanna. Caleb, sixth son of Abraham, was twice married. He settled in Townsend and had two daughters by his first wife; and one son, John, and one daughter. Rosy, by his second wife. William, seventh and youngest son of Abraham, married Phoebe Lawrence, and settled in Townsend. He had one son, Charles ; and four daughters — Jane, Ann, Augusta and Anice. Mary and Elizabeth, daughters of the original Abraham, married, respectively, Murphy and Dr. Pomeroy. John Messacar, pioneer head of the other branch of the family, settled north of Waterford. As before stated, he was accidently killed in the woods by a branch of a tree falling upon him. He had five sons — Henry, John, William, Abraham and Matthew ; and two daughters — Mary and Sarah. Henry, eldest son of John, married Anna Chambers, and settled on the homestead. He had one son, Levi; and three daughters — Euphemia, Nancy and llannah. John, second son of John, married Sarah Clouse, and settled south of Waterford. He had four sons — Louis, John, Aaron and Abraham; and three daughters — Elizabeth, Amanda and Mary Jane. William, third son of John, married Anna Slaght, and settled in Burford, where he raised a family. Abraham, fourth son of John, married Martha Walker, and settled near Waterford. He had four sons — Walker, Eli, Alexander and Levi ; and three daughters — Mary, Sarah and Euphemia. Matthew, fifth son of John, married Mary Clouse, and settled in Oakland, where he raised a family. John Messacar, late of Houghton, was a son of Matthew. SKETCH XCV. THE SQUIRE OF COLBORNE— BEEMER FAMILY. It only lacks three years of being a century since John Beemer, of Colborne, was made a Squire. It was on All Fools' Day, in the year 1800, that the packet containing the first General Commission of the Peace was placed in the hands of Thomas Welch by Colonel Samuel Ryerse. By virtue of this commission seventeen residents of London District were made squires, and John Beemer was one of them. In the beginning of the century the Colborne settlement had a John Beemer, Esquire, and now, in its closing years, the old village still boasts of a John Beemer, Esquire. But these latter day squires are not the figure-heads their old ancestors were. In the early years of the settlement a squire was a personage of great consequence. He was assigned to keep the district, and to "hear and determine divers felonies, trespasses and other misdemeanors " committed in the district. He sat upon the judicial bench and charged the juries. In session he and his associate justices granted licenses to keep public-houses, and preachers of the Gospel could not marry among their own congregations without having first obtained a permit from the " Squires " in session. The squire in those days was judge and reeve combined ; for being assigned to " keep the district," he had a voice in the management of pretty much all matters connected with the judicial and civil affairs of the district. The pioneer squire was a man of dignity, and the unlucky wight who was so thoughtless as to indulge in a little profanity in his presence was generally brought before the bar of justice and taxed for his indulgence at the rate of one shilling for each oath. THE SQUIRE OF COLBORNE. 485 Squire John Beemer was a son of Philip and Maria Beemer, of New Jersey. The old family Bible is in possession of Mrs. Charles Beemer, of Simcoe, and from its time-stained register is learned the fact that this Philip was bom in New Jersey, in 1739, and his wife, Maria, in 1747; that they were married in 1761, and that they both died in 1811. John Beemer, Esq., eldest son of Philip, of New Jersey, was born in 1762. He married Hannah Lewis, and came to Canada in 1787, settling at the Forty-mile Creek, in the Niagara District. They lived there ten years, and just one hundred years ago they came up to Long Point settlement and settled on what is known as the Carpenter Farm, adjoining the village of Colborne, in Townsend. March 6th, 1804, he obtained a Government patent for Lot 1, 13th concession, upon which the Townsend por tion of the village is located. When the Divisional Courts were instituted in 1800, as Courts of Requests, the townships of Rainham, Walpole, Woodhouse and Townsend were grouped under one Court of Requests, and Squire Beemer was appointed to act as one of the associate justices. In 1804 he officiated in a like position for Townsend, Windham and Burford, and in the following year he was acting Justice in the Court of Re quests for Burford, Blenheim, Townsend and Windham. After war was declared in 1812, General Brock held a meeting at the house of William Culver, south of Simcoe, and it is said Squire Beemer attended this meeting and spoke rather dis paragingly of a prospective war with the United States. The object of the meeting was to recruit volunteers for the Detroit expedition, and it is said the ultra-Loyalists were shocked by Mr. Beemer's speech, and then and there made up their minds that the Squire of Colborne was hardly as patriotic as a Squire of King George III. ought to be. Squire Beemer was one of the first deacons of the first Pres byterian congregation organized in the county. He was a man of strong individuality, and his name will always be enrolled among Norfolk's most prominent foundation builders. When the history of the public institutions of our county is written. 486 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. the name of John Beemer will appear on its first page as one of the four Justices of the Peace who sat on the Judicial Bench of the first court held in Norfolk County. John Beemer, Esq., had four sons — Levi, Philip, John and Frank ; and five daughters — Anna, Maria, Mary, Hannah and Susanna. He died in 1828, in his 67th year. Levi Beemer, eldest son of John, married Elizabeth Culver in 1808, and died in 1812, leaving one son, George, and one or two daughters. Philip Beemer, second son of John, was bom in 1789, at Grimsby. He .was eight years old when his father came to Long Point settlement. In 1816 he married Mary Ann Bloom- field, of New York, and settled on Lot 1, 13th concession of Town- send. Philip Beemer was an officer in the militia during the war of 1812, as evidenced by the following copy of an old document : " Isaac Brock, Esquire, President, administering the Govern ment of the Province of Upper Canada, and Major-General commanding His Majesty's forces therein, etc., etc., etc., to Philip Beemer, Gentleman, Greeting: Reposing especial confidence in your loyalty, courage and good conduct, I do hereby appoint you to be ensign in the Second Regiment of Norfolk militia, during pleasure, and of which Robert Nichol, Esq., is Lieutenant- Colonel. You are carefully and diligently to discharge the duty of ensign by exercising and well disciplining both the inferior officers and men of the said militia. And I do hereby command them to obey you as their ensign, and you are to observe and follow all such orders and directions as you shall from time to time receive from me or any other your superior officer, according to law. " Given under my hand and seal at arms, at, York, the Twelfth day of February, 1812, and in the Fifty-second year of His Majesty's reign. " Isaac Brock ' During the war Mr. Beemer " kept bach." on his farm at Colborne, when not on duty. At the time of General McArthur's raid he owned a span of valuable carriage horses and an old mare. Fearing that the " Yankees " might " take a shine " to his THE SQUIRE OF COLBORNE. 487 roadsters, he took them back into the woods and secreted them, leaving the old mare out in plain sight as a blind. When the Americans came up they caught the mare, and the hidden horses, being separated from her, kept up such an incessant whinnying that the attention of the raiders was attracted to them and they captured all three, and took their owner prisoner, besides. Philip Beemer, son of John, had five sons — William, Levi, James G., Hiram C. and John ; and one daughter, Harriet. He died in 1846, in his 58th year. Of this family, William married Catherine Jane Westbrook, and settled in Colborne. The late Charles Beemer, of Simcoe, was a son of William. Levi married Eliza Gage, and settled in Hamilton. James G. studied medicine and died single, in his 24th year. Hiram C. settled in Lansing, Michigan. John married Mary A. Barber, and succeeded to the old Colborne homestead. Subsequently he married Sarah Wood. He is the present Police Magistrate of Simcoe. Harriet was born in 1819, and married Jonathan Austin. Both are living, having reached a ripe old age. John Beemer, third son of the old Squire, was born in 1800. He married Mary Ann Freeman, and settled on the homestead. He died young, leaving one son, Daniel, and one daughter, Phcebe. Frank Beemer, youngest son of the original John, died in childhood in his 13th year. Anna Beemer, eldest daughter of the original John, died single in her 22nd year. Maria Beemer, the second daughter, was born in Niagara District in 1793, married Eliakim Crosby, and settled on what was subsequently known as the Kent Farm. During the war of 1812 Mr. Crosby was unable to stand the pressure, and he abandoned his farm and returned to the land of his birth, settling in the State of Ohio. Mary Beemer, third daughter of John, was the baby when the family came to the settlement. She married Nathan Lyon in 1818, and settled on the lake front in the township of Malahide. She had two sons — Nathan and Calvin; and one 488 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. daughter, Hannah. Calvin succeeded to the homestead. Mr. Lyon had a family by a former marriage, and Mahlon E. Lyon, ex-Warden of Elgin County, is a grandson of the first wife. Hannah Beemer, fourth daughter of John, married Axford Bowlby. Her children are enumerated in the Bowlby genealogy. Susanna Beemer, fifth and youngest daughter of John, the old pioneer, was born in 1805, married Peter O'Carr, and settled in the home neighborhood. She had four sons — John, George, Lewis and James ; and three daughter.s — Calista, Eliza and Melinda. Mr. O'Carr died in 1856, in his 63rd year. Henry Beemer, the old pioneer who settled near Waterford at the beginning of the century, was a cousin of the old Squire of Colborne. He was born in New Jersey in 1780, and was eighteen years younger than John. He came single, and married Catherine Sovereign. He had four sons — Philip, Peter, Abraham and Henry. Philip Beemer, eldest son of Henry, married Abigail Parney, and settled in Waterford. The " Beemer House," of W^aterford, was one of the best known and best kept homes for the accommodation of travellers, in the county. For over a quarter of a century Philip Beemer kept this old land-mark. He had two sons — Lewis and Elias; and two daughters — Sylvia A. and Roxey. Peter Beemer, second son of Henry, married Elizabeth Culver, and settled near Waterford. He had two sons — William and Hiram ; and two daughters — Mary and Martha. Abraham Beemer, third son of Henry, married Eunice Culver, and settled near Waterford. He had four sons — John, Levi, Wesley and Charles; and four daughters — ^Sarah Ann, Lizana, Mary and Charity. Henry Beemer, youngest son of Henry, married Esther, daughter of Robert Shearer, of Charlotteville, and settled in Townsend. He had four sons — Daniel, Leamon, Oliver and Nelson; and one daughter, Mary, who married Alexander Turnbull, of the American Baptist Pub. Society. Daniel THE SQUIRE OF COLBORNE. 489 married Mary, daughter of Simpson McCall, of Vittoria ; Leamon married Jennie, daughter of Rev. Shook McConnell, of Malahide; Oliver married Mary McMichael, and Nelson settled in Wyoming. The grand ancestor of the Waterford Beemer family died in 1848, in his 68th year, and his wife Catherine died in 1851, in her 75th year. Henry Beemer had two Brothers — Philip and Peter — who came to Canada in an early day ; and it is said Philip settled in Norfolk and Peter in Oakland. It is also said that Peter kept a pioneer tavern in that township. No data was received pertaining to the history of either of their families. SKETCH XCVI. FREDERICK SOVEREIGN AND HIS NORFOLK DESCENDANTS. The history ojf the Soverein — Sovereen — Sovereign family is involved in vague traditions. It is said that during the troublous times of Maria Theresa there lived in Germany four Protestant brothers named Soverein. One of these brothers enlisted in the " King's Life Guards " under Joseph IL, and died single. The other three emigrated to America about the middle of last century, and settled in the colony of New Jersey, in the County of Morris. Soon after settling here twa of the brothers, who were young men and unmarried, died from the effects of drinking too freely of cold spring water while- engaged in harvest work and being in an overheated condition. The surviving brother, whose name was Frederick, married Lavinia Culver in New Jersey, and raised a large family ; and when the war of the Revolution broke out it is said he espoused the Loyalist cause. Another tradition, said to have been dictated by Rev. George Sovereign, son of Frederick, son of the original Frederick, in his old age, is quite without the possibilities, as every student of German history will readily perceive. According to this story, Frederick, the grand ancestor, served all through the Thirty- Years' War, and when it closed he returned to the old home, and finding his parents dead, his brothers gone to sea, and the little ancestral home in the hands of strangers, he resolved to leave the country and seek his fortune in the New World. He embarked on an "American" vessel, and after he arrived in New Jersey he married an "American girl." FREDERICK SOVEREIGN AND HIS NORFOLK DESCENDANTS. 491 Comment on this wonderful story is unnecessary, as the stu dious reader will remember that the Thirty-Years' War came to a close in I64.8 by the signing of the treaty of Westphalia. According to the list of Frederick's children appearing in the record dictated by his grandson George, Anna was the tenth child and the only one whose birth date — March 1st, 1765 — is given. From this we might safely infer that the old ancestor was married somewhere about the year 1745 ; but according to the tradition, this wedding must have occurred not many years after the close of the German Thirty-Years' War, which would make old Father Frederick a youth whose tender brow had been exposed to the snowy blasts of more than a hundred and forty winters when he led his New Jersey bride to the hymenial altar. There are many traditions current among our old family descendants that do as much violence to the possi bilities as this, but as this one is given such high credit by some distinguished members of the family, it is the only one occupying space in this series of sketches. Traces of the old Sovereign home on Schooley's Mountain, New Jersey, still exist. Here the ancestral parents spent about fifty-five years of their married lives ; and during this time thirteen children were born to them, and all had grown up and married. In the closing years of the century the Sovereigns migrated to Upper Canada, settling in Norfolk County. The party consisted of twelve families, including the Henry Beemer, Clouse, Heath and Searls families. Frederick Sovereign and his wife were well advanced in years, and pioneer life for them was of short duration. In 1802 the old man was at the pioneer home of his son Frederick, in Char lotteville, where he rendered some assistance in laying up a rail fence around a turnip patch. This was the man, remember, who had served in the Thirty- Years' War previous to 1648 ; but if another reference is made to that tradition the reader will shock his intelligence by concluding that the old veteran must have enlisted seventy or eighty years before he was born. He was an old man, however, when he died. In the early years 492 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. of our century little children were taken by their parents to view two mounds which marked the spot where he and his aged wife were buried. One of these little children is now the aged Mrs. Job Slaght, of Port Ryerse, who says they were the first graves she ever saw. The site of those mounds is now marked by a clump of elm trees standing about thirty feet north of the palatial edifice known as the Dr. Bowlby residence in Waterford. In the original Frederick's family were nine sons — David, Jacob, Leonard, Henry, John, Frederick, Philip, Morris and George ; and four daughters — Catherine, Elizabeth, Anna and Eva. David Sovereign settled on the Round Plains. He had four sons — Henry, John, Anthony and Lawrence ; and five daughters — Anna, Elizabeth, Catherine, Mary and Sophia. The first-named son in this family is the notorious Henry Sovereign, whose well-known criminal act shocked the inmates of every home in the land. He was always perverse in dis position and extremely obstinate and self-willed. It is said that when a boy his mother upbraided him for excessive butter eating, and it threw him into such a terrible rage that he swore he would eat no more butter while he lived. It is said he kept this oath inviolate. David's daughters married, respec tively, into the Glover, Smith, Lefier and Beemer families. Jacob Sovereign, second son of Frederick, forms the subject of a separate sketch entitled, " Jake Sovereign, the Pioneer Tavern-keeper." Leonard Sovereign, third son of Frederick, was bom in 1763, and settled at Waterford, where, with his brother Morris, he developed a milling business and founded the village. He died in 1823, in his 60th year, and Ruhamah, his wife, died in 1828, in her 63rd year. In their family were five sons — William, Philip, Joseph, David and Leonard ; and five daugh ters — Phoebe, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine and Ruhamah. These daughters married, respectively, Jacob Langs, Adam Bowlby, Ezekiel Foster, Oliver Blake and Josiah Smith. William, the FREDERICK SOVEREIGN AND HIS NORFOLK DESCENDANTS. 493 eldest son, married Diana Bloomfield, and settled on the Round Plains, where he raised a family of three sons — Horace, Jere miah and Leonard ; and three daughters — Mary, Eliza and Jane. Philip settled at Oakville. Joseph died in 1850, in his 49th year. David studied medicine and became an M.D. Leonard married Sarah Ann Fluelling, and succeeded to the old homestead. He was a shrewd business man, and amassed con siderable wealth. He was enterprising and liberal-minded, and the evidences of prosperity everywhere abounding in the beautiful village of Waterford are due in no small degree to his broad, progressive ideas and persevering industry. He was one of Norfolk's solid citizens, and the fine village home, with its background of broad, fertile fields, which he left behind him, constitute one of the most valuable and most pleasantly situated homesteads in Ontario. Mr. Sovereign died quite recently at an advanced age. He left one son, Louis L., and two daughters — Mary F. and Alice, who married, respec tively, Leamon Becker and J. E. York, both of Waterford. The son succeeded to the homestead and is one of Waterford's leading citizens at the present time. Henry Sovereign, fourth son of Frederick, died in New Jersey. He left two sons — Richard and Joshua ; and one daughter, who married into the Harpingdon family. John Sovereign, fifth son of Frederick, married a daughter of Joseph Culver, and settled near his brother Frederick. His name appears in the grand jury lists in the record of the first London District courts held at " old Fort Monroe " before the close of last century. In John's family were three sons-^ Robert, Freeman and John ; and two daughters— Nancy and Elizabeth. Frederick Sovereign, sixth son of Frederick, was about twelve years old when the war of the Revolution broke out. In about the year 1786 he married Patience, daughter . of Henry Brown, of New Jersey. Mr. Brown had served as a private in the British army, and had come out with General Wolfe and participated in the capture of Quebec. Frederick 494 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. had four or five children when the move was made to Long Point settlement. He took up Lot 24, 6th concession of Char lotteville. Both he and his wife were tall and muscular, and were endowed with irony constitutions. Frederick died in 1860, in his 97th year — having survived his wife four years. In their family were six sons — Morris, John, George, Solomon, Thomas and Louis ; and three daughters — Nancy, Elizabeth and Sarah. It appears from the data furnished that the daughters were the eldest, and were " bom in New Jersey. Nancy married John Gustin, and died young. Elizabeth married into the Martin family, and Sarah died young and single. Morris, the eldest son, was born in New Jersey in 1794. He married Phoebe, daughter of Abraham Powell, and settled in Illinois. He died in 1864, in his 7lst year. John settled in the western States also. George was bom in 1798, and was, probably, the first baby born in the pioneer home. He was a Methodist preacher, and died in the States in 1890, in his 93rd year. Solomon had a twin brother, who died in infancy. He was born in 1800, married Jane, daughter of William Smith, of Charlotteville, and settled in the western States. He died in 1896, his life being nearly measured by the nineteenth century. Thomas was born in 1801, and died in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1888, in his 87th year. Louis, the youngest son, was born in 1812, became a doctor, and settled in Illinois, where he died in 1887, in his 75th year. , Philip Sovereign, seventh son of the original Frederick, married a daugter of Joseph Culver, and was also one of the grand jurors that attended the courts held at "old Fort Monroe." In this branch were three sons — Charles, Philip and William ; and five daughters — Amy, Mahalie, Elizabeth, Mary and Nancy. The latter died young. Morris Sovereign, eighth son of the original Frederick, was a baby in New Jersey when the colonies threw off their allegiance. He settled at Waterford and operated with his brother Leonard. He was one of Norfolk's pioneer Free- FREDERICK SOVEREIGN AND HIS NORFOLK DESCENDANTS. 495 masons, and in sketch " Pioneer Freemasonry " an account is given of , the burning of the Sovereign mill during the war of 1812, and his narrow escape from hanging on that occasion. This old pioneer died in 1835, in his 60th year ; and his wife, Lydia, died four years previously, in her 52nd year. According to the family genealogy dictated by Rev. George Sovereign in his old age, there were seven sons in the Morris branch — namely, Abraham, David, Vincent, Samuel, Leamon, Morris and Lawrence ; but according to data gathered at Waterford, five sons only .were named — Samuel, Leamon, Morris, Lawrence and Daniel. There were two daughters in the family — Elizabeth and Harriet, who married, respectively, James Green and Barton Becker, both of Waterford. Samuel married Amy Robbins, and settled in Windham, where he raised a family. Leamon married into the Culver family, and settled in Simcoe, where he established a reputation for origin ality in merchandising methods. He was a well-known char acter in his day, and when death released him from his labors no man was ever more generally missed on the streets and in the business circles of Simcoe. He left two sons — Sylvester and Charles, and two daughters. Morris settled in the States ; Lawrence settled on Round Plains ; and on an old tombstone in the old burying ground at Waterford we learn that Daniel died in 1857, in his 52nd year. George Sovereign, ninth and youngest son of the original Frederick, also settled at Waterford. It is said that the Sovereigns operated a distillery in connection with their other business ; and that it was here where the Turkey Point Indian, known in old times as " broken-nose Jo Injun " met with the experience that gave him this distinguishing mark. Jo was fond of " fire-water," and spent a large portion of his time loafing around the distilleries, where he put his injun-uity to practical account in devising ways and means of securing an occasional drink. One day he visited the Waterford dis tillery and showed a disposition to help himself. George Sovereign objected, and a fight ensued, and in the melee the 496 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. bridge of Jo's nose collapsed under one of George's sledge hammer blows. In George's family were five sons — William, Hugh, Daniel, George and Morris; and four daughters — Charlotte, Sarah Ann, Polly and Margaret. As the Rev. George does not name a Daniel in the family of Morris, this Daniel in George's family may be the one buried in the old ground at Waterford. Catherine Sovereign, eldest daughter of the original Frederick, married Henry Beemer, and settled at Waterford. Her children are enumerated in the Beemer genealogy. Elizabeth Sovereign, second daughter of the original Frederick, became the pioneer mother of the Clouse family. She had three sons — Jacob, John and Abraham ; and four daughters — Anna, Mary, Sarah and Elizabeth. These daugh ters married, respectively, into the Hunter, Messacar (two) and Slaght families. Anna Sovereign, third daughter of Frederick, married John Heath, in New Jersey, in 1792, and settled in Townsend. Her children are enumerated in the Heath genealogy. Eva Sovereign, fourth and youngest daughter of the original Frederick, married Ephraim Searls, of New Jersey, who came to Norfolk with the Sovereigns. In her family were three sons — William, Philip and Moses. The Sovereigns are noted for their frank, off-hand man ners, their persevering industry, and their physical robustness' and tendency to long life. SKETCH XCVII. PIONEER MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. In the early days of the settlement the all-important ques tion was how to facilitate the means of travel. The settlers were few and far between ; and this " between " was an unbroken forest crossed by streams, sand ridges with almost perpendicular sides, and miry swales. They were not troubled with the scientific problems demanding a solution at the pre sent time as, for instance, the proper proportions of a turnpike, the best approved methods of draining, or the most scientific way of preparing and applying a metal covering. It was a question of how to find a track through the woods wide enough for an ox-cart to pass through ; of how to get over the streams and up the hills, and how to pass over the bogs without danger of sinking beneath the surface. The first roads were run where the natural obstructions offered the least resistance, and this accounts for the old cross-lots roads that everywhere abounded^ For more than a year after the new province was organized there was no system devised for the regulation of these matters. Sir John Graves Simcoe and the most of his subjects were U. E. Loyalists. They had passed through the war of the Revolution, and had not forgotten what an effective means for the propagation of sedition the old town-meetings in the colonies had proved to be, and they were averse to the adop tion of the system in the new province. The magistrates and the omnipresent constable in Quarter Sessions assembled, were early imbued with power to deal out justice to the settlers and regulate and manage local affairs. The "squire" was a 32 498 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEiMENT. consequential personage in the early times. . The Province was divided into districts, and from time to time sub-divisions into other and separate districts were made, and each district was governed by a Court of Quarter Sessions. The enabling Acts of the Legislature were ambiguous and vaguely defined, and a very great latitude was allowed the justices in the exercise of the powers delegated to them. From the opening of the first session of the Legislature down to the adoption of the muni cipal system there was no material change in the principle underlying the management of municipal affairs. The house holders and freeholders subject to assessment were permitted to assemble themselves together once a year and elect certain township officers, but the officials thus elected and the town- meeting itself were subject, to a greater or less extent, to the supervising control of the almost autocratic Court of Sessions. The " Sessions " was the " Star Chamber " of pioneer times, not that it abused its powers, but by reason of the scope of the powers invested in it. Its function was not confined to ", keep ing the peace in the said district, and also to hear and deter mine divers felonies, trespasses and other misdemeanors," it was a council for the administration of municipal affairs for the entire district. In order to facilitate the manifold duties of the Justices in Session, it was early enacted that "any two or more justices, acting within the limits of their jurisdiction, may assemble, sit and hold a court, to be called a Court of Requests, on the first and third Saturdays of every month, at some fixed place within their divisions, said divisions to be determined by the Justices in Session." These divisional courts were authorized to hear and determine all matters of debt where the value of the claim did not exceed a certain fixed sum. Thus was laid the foundation of our Division Court system. In 1798 Walpole and Rainham were annexed to Norfolk County, and these two townships with Townsend and Wood- house, formed one of these divisions after the district was organized in 1800, the presiding justices being Samuel Ryerse, PIONEER MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 499 John Beemer and Wynant Williams, and the court was held at the house of James Clendenning, in Woodhouse. In 1801 Walsingham was given a Court of Requests under Samuel Ryerse and John Backhouse ; and in 1804 we find the Courts of Requests constituted in London District as follows : Walsingham, under Elias Foster and William Hutchinson; Charlotteville, under Peter Teeple and N. B. Barnum ; Wood- house, Walpole and Rainham, under Wynant Williams and John Coltman ; Townsend, Windham and Burford, under John Beemer and William Tyler ; and Blenheim, Oxford and Dela ware, under Thomas Horner, Daniel Springer and Thomas Ingersoll. These Courts of Requests exercised authority over the over seers of highways, as evidenced by the following Road Order issued by the Charlotteville Court of Requests : " Norfolk County, District of London. "Charlotteville, Sept. 20th, 1804. " Ordered by the Commissioners that Abraham Powell, overseer, perform the labor on the public roads from James Russell's mill to William Culver's mill, and through by Lot Tisdale's, to the Front Road at Potter's Creek. "Nathan B. Barnum, " Peter Teeple." Even members of Parliament were forced to rely upon the Court of Sessions for remuneration for their services, as the following entry in the old journal, dated March 12th, 1806, will show : " It is ordered that a full rate of assessment be collected for the present year, and that one-fifth be added to pay Benijah Mallory, Esq., the representative in Parliament for the District of London, for his services as such for thirty-nine daj'^s in the second session of the fourth Provincial Parliament, at ten shillings per day, amounting to £19 10s. Od." The early settlers in Upper Canada were, in the main, honest, peaceable and industrious. For many years they were 500 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. -wholly occupied in hewing out homes for themselves, and the principal demand on the Legislature, therefore, was for a pro vision of ways and means for the opening of public highways and the building of bridges. The continuous advance of settle ment necessitated an annual " tinkering " with the assessment and statute labor laws, and the laws creating parish and town ship officials and defining their duties. Although the changes were numerous they were trifling in their nature, and did not materially lessen the authority of the justices or give the electorate more power in the management of their local affairs. Taxation was based on fixed or specific valuations. In other words, all taxable real and personal property was particularized, and a fixed value placed thereon by statutory enactment for purposes of taxation ; and as property rapidly appreciated in value in the development of the new country, the laws were frequently altered. In 1819 a more general assessment law was enacted from which the following is quoted : " Every acre of arable pasture or meadow land, twenty shillings ; every acre of uncultivated land, four shillings ; every house built with timber, squared or hewed on two sides, of one story in height, with not more than two fireplaces, twenty pounds, and for every additional fireplace, four pounds ; every dwelling-house built of squared or fiatted timber on two sides, of two stories in height, with not more than two fireplaces, thirty pounds, and for every additional fireplace, eight pounds ; every framed house under two stories in height, with not more than two fireplaces, thirty-five pounds, and every additional fireplace, five pounds ; every brick or stone house of one story in height, with not more than two fireplaces, forty pounds, and for every additional fireplace, ten pounds ; every brick or stone house of two stories in height, with not more than two fireplaces, sixty pounds, and every additional fireplace, ten pounds ; every grist-mill run by water, with one pair of stones, ' one hundred and fifty pounds, and every additional pair, fifty pounds ; every saw mill, one hundred pounds; every merchant's shop, two hundred pounds ; every store-house, two hundred pounds ; every horse of the age of three years and upwards, eight pounds; oxen of the age of four years and upwards, each four pounds ; milch cows, three pounds ; horned cattle PIONEER MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 501 from the age of two to four years, twenty shillings ; every close carriage with four wheels, kept for pleasure, one hundred pounds ; every open carriage with four wheels, kept for pleasure only, twenty -five pounds; every two-wheel vehicle, kept for pleasure, twenty pounds ; and every wagon kept for pleasure, fifteen pounds." In 1815 the Legislature voted £2,000 for building a jail and court-house at Vittoria, and, in 1823, the justices were author ized to borrow £1,000 to complete it. In 1826 it was destroyed by fire, and the district town was established at London. Charlotteville was the centre of population in the early years of the settlement. For some reason, ih 1809, there was no town meeting held in the township ; and the justices in session had to take the matter in hand, as shown by the following entry : " There having been no town meeting held in and for the Township of Charlotteville according to law, on the 6th day of March, 1809, the Court do appoint the following town officers : Town clerk, John Kern ; assessors, John Kern and Francis L. Walsh ; collector, Silas Montross ; pound-keepers, Robert Hen derson and Robert Monroe ; town wardens, John Stone and Titus Finch ; overseers of roads, John Loder, Moses Rice, Silas Montross, Job Loder, Piatt Wood, Daniel McCall, jun., Robert McCracken and Richard Lanning." To show how the township clerks earned their pay in pioneer times, the following entry, dated June 11th, 1806, will suffice : " It is ordered (by the squires, of course) that the several town clerks within this London District, in future, and includ ing the present year, to receive five shillings lawful money of ¦this Province, for each hundred names which shall be contained in the population by them made out and to be made out, pro vided such population roll or rolls be made up carefully and in due time." In these primitive times it did not require a large box to hold the public cash. On June 13th, 1805, the following minute went on record : 502 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. " District treasurer's account examined and approved — except one certificate for a wolf's head, which he promised to account for. Cash in the treasury, £1 18s. lid." In pioneer times bounties were paid for wolves' heads, and when there was no cash in the treasury the bounties were paid with " certificates," which were made a legal tender for the pay ment of all public dues. As late as 1836 the bounty paid for a wolf's head with the ears on was £1 10s. Od. It is no wonder that many settlers in the back townships paid for their lands with " wolf's-head certificates." As the revenues of the Province increased, legislative grants for the opening of roads and building of bridges became larger in amount and more wide-reaching in their application. Of the sum apportioned to London District, in the grant of 1807, the Justices in Session at Turkey Point ordered £50 thereof to be applied in the Township of Westminster, and £150 to be laid out on the north side of the River Thames, so as to meet the provincial road through the Western District. Joseph Ryerson was allowed five pounds for carrying this money up from York. Our grandfathers looked Upon old-fashioned legal phrase ology with a sort of superstitious awe, and hence we find their old contracts and business papers encumbered with a jargon of superfiuous words and phrases. The following is a sample : " Received of Joseph Tisdale in full of all Dues, Debts and Demands, from the beginning of the world, down to this date, as witnessing my hand. " Jas. Chittendon. " Amherstburg, 28th November, 1804." The oldest town minutes of the township of Charlotteville, which have been preserved, are those of 1836, the last year of Norfolk's history as a part of London District. At this town meeting, which was held at Lamport's tavern, Vittoria, Daniel McCall was chosen chairman, and the assembled freeholders elected the following parish or township officers : John Bell, town clerk ; Walter Anderson, Joseph Kitchen and .Joseph PIONEER MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 503 Anderson, town commissioners ; Ephraim Tisdale, assessor and collector ; Ephraim Tisdale and Murdoch McLennan, pound- keepers ; and Ephraim Tisdale, Benjamin Palmerston and Chris topher Kern, fence viewers. Of the twenty-five pathmasters elected, not one survives — the late Thomas Hart being the last one. The electors determined a lawful fence for the ensuing year, as follows : Height, four feet and six inches, to be staked or locked. The running at large of domestic animals was voted as follows ; Boars, rams and entire horses over two years of age prohibited ; " all horned cattle not prohibited." Pound- keepers' fees and duties were defined as follows : For impound ing horses and horned gattle, one shilling per head, each to be fed thirty pounds of hay per day, and watered twice each day ; fee for feeding,-per head, sixpence ; and for delivery, per head, one shilling. The assessor's roll at this meeting gave the popu lation of the township as 856 males and 722 females. In 1838 a general law was enacted regulating the appoint ment and duties of township officers, but the old-time powers of the Justices in Session were retained. Indeed, under this " modern " Act a town meeting could not even be held without the clerk having first obtained a warrant from the Justices of the Peace. The only thing in the Act pointing to the coming municipal system was the provision made for three additional township officers, termed " Town Wardens." The Act provided that these wardens " and their successors duly appointed, shall be a corporation to represent the whole inhabitants of the township for which they are town wardens, and as such, may have and hold the property of, or belonging to, the township, and shall and may sue, prosecute or defend, in all present ments, indictments or actions for and on behalf of the said township." They were also constituted a sort of court of appeal for persons who felt aggrieved on account of statute labor exactions on the part of the overseers of highways. With this exception the authority of the Justices in Session was not materially lessened bj' the Act. In this same year the Justices of Talbot District were authorized to levy an additional 504 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. assessment to liquidate the cost of the new jail and court house at Simcoe, which the creation of the new district in 1837 made necessary. In 1826 the townships of Walpole and Rain ham were annexed to the County of Haldimand, and Norfolk became Talbot District, with the same territory it has at present. The first Talbot District Council, under the District Council Act, convened at Simcoe, February 8th, 1842, and consisted of nine members : Israel Wood Powell (warden), Walter Ander son, Thomas Backhouse, John B. Crouse, Nelson Eagles, James L. Green, Lawrence H. Hunt, Jesse Millard and Peter O'Carr. Mr. Powell was not elected warden by his fellow councillors ; he received the wardenship by letters patent under the great .seal of the Province, signed by Sir Richard Downes Jackson, .K.C.B., administrator of the Government. The document was dated at Kingston, December 23rd, 1841. These first District Councillors were not only loyal, but they felt the dignity of their position, as evidenced by the wording of one of the forty rules drafted at this first session. In effect it provided that no councillor should speak disrespectfully of the Queen, the Royal Family, or those in authority ; nor should they use " unmannerly or indecent language against the pro ceedings of the council or against particular councillors." Dr. Crouse championed the cause of education, and before the session ended the townships were divided into school sections as follows : Townsend, nineteen ; Windham, ten ; Middleton, four ; Charlotteville, eleven ; Woodhouse and Gore, including Simcoe, eleven ; Walsingham, six ; and Houghton, three sections. Many requests were made for roads and bridges, and numerous applications made for the position of clerk. Three names were presented to the Governor for choice, with the understanding that whoever was chosen must be a resident of Simcoe on or before the first of May following. A statute labor bill was passed, which became law on February 12th, 1842 ; and the preparation of an address of welcome to the new Governor- General, Sir Charles Bagot, G.C.B., closed this first session of the Talbot District Council. PIONEER MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 505 At the second session Frederick Thomas Wilkes received the appointment of clerk, and Axford Bowlby took a seat in the council as representative from Woodhouse, in place of John Decew, deceased. These district councils came to an end in 1849, when. Norfolk became once more the County of Norfolk, and the County and Township Municipal system came into operation. The first Municipal Council of the County of Norfolk, con vened on Monday, January 28th, 1850, being composed of nine members — John Becker Crouse, reeve of Woodhouse, warden ; Israel Wood Powell, deputy -reeve of Woodhouse ; Thomas W. Clark, reeve of Townsend ; Oliver Blake, deputy-reeve of Townsend ; Lawrence H. Hunt, reeve of Windham ; Simpson McCall, reeve of Charlotteville ; Roger Crysler, reeve of Middleton ; Titus Williams, reeve of Walsingham, and Peter Coughell, reeve of Houghton. Stephen J. Fuller was the first county clerk. The warden was sworn into office by the district judge, William Salmon. In 1851 Simcoe was represented in the council by N. C. Ford, the first reeve. At this second council Lawrence H. Hunt was elected warden, an honor which was conferred upon him for five consecutive years. He was elected the sixth year, but declined in favor of Walker Powell. Mr. Fuller died dur ing this term, and James Ermatinger became the second clerk. In 1857 Aquila Walsh was returned reeve of Simcoe, and Simpson' McCall was elected warden. Since 1857 the warden's chair has been occupied as follows : 1858, Daniel Matthews, Windham; 1859-60, Simpson Mc Call, Charlotteville; 1861, Peter Young, Charlotteville; 1862- 63-64, Wm. M. Wilson, Simcoe; 1865-66-67-68-69-70, D. Matthews, Windham; 1871, Jacob Sovereign, Middleton; 1872-73, Dr. John Wilson, Simcoe; 1874-75, Jacob Sovereign, Middleton; 1876-77, Dr. John Wilson, Simcoe; 1878-79, Wm. Wilson, Simcoe ; 1880-81, Thomas W. Walsh, Simcoe ; 1882, John Ostrander, Middleton; 1883, D. A. McCall, Charlotte- 506 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. ville; 1884, Wm. Dawson, Charlotteville; 1886, Charles Dickison, Houghton; 1886, Ozias Ansley, Woodhouse; 1887, Dr. Tweedale, Walsingham; 1888, Roger Crysler, Middleton; 1889-90, L. L. Sovereign, Waterford; 1891, R. M. Wilson, Windham ; 1892, H. W. Ansley, Port Dover ; 1893, J. G. Wyckoff, Townsend ; 1894, J. Cope, Walsingham ; 1895, J. D. Clement, Windham ; 1896, 0. Hendry, Simcoe. The year 1896 was the last year under the old Municipal , Act system. The present council (1897) came into existence by virtue of an Act which divides the county into five divisions numbered and styled " County Council Divisions," each being entitled to two representatives elected by the people. The old council had increased to twenty-five members, while in the new there are only ten. The new members and the divisions they represent, are as follows : Dr. T. Snider and Wm. Shearer, for Division No. 1, includ ing Townsend and Waterford. James Leask and Geo. Brown, for Division No. 2, including Windham and Delhi. Dr. J. M. Tweedale and W. Kelley, for Division No. 3, including Middleton,. North Walsingham and Houghton. Wm. Dawson and W. H. Anderson, for Division No. 4, including South Walsingham and Charlotteville. Oliver Austin and H. W. Ansley, for Division No. 5, including Woodhouse and Simcoe. Geo. Brown, of Division No. 2, died before the new council convened. Dr. Tweedale became the first warden under the present system. SKETCH XCVIII. A FATHER AND SON BLESSED WITH THIRTY-NINE CHILDREN— PARNEY FAMILY. If all our old pioneers had multiplied themselves as rapidly as Ezra Parney and his son William did, the sons of " Glorious Old Norfolk" would have a cinch, to-day, on every inhabitable portion of the civilized globe. The great American Republic would be peopled with our own kindred, and the fertile regions of our own great North- West would not be beckoning to over crowded Europe for people to come in and occupy the land, as it is now doing. But it is better for future generations yet unborn that all of our old pioneers were not so blessed. The Parney family is one of the old families of Townsend. Ezra Parney was one of the few pioneers who had established a home in that township when the present century dawned upon the world. The Parneys are of Irish descent, and when Ezra was born into the world, in 1780, the family name was " Penny," but through some caprice, the reason of which does not appear, the name was changed to Parney. The original Job Slaght lived in the Niagara District several years before he came up to Norfolk with his family, and it was while living there that Mr. Parney became acquainted with them; and when they moved up in 1797, Ezra Parney, who was seventeen years old, came with them. Subsequently he married Elizabeth, daughter of Job Slaght, and settled on land donated to her by her father, located on the Waterford road, in the 5th concession of Townsend. It is just a hundred years since Ezra Parney came into the 508 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. woods of Townsend, a seventeen-year-old boy, kinless and moneyless, to chop out a way for himself. He was brave, industrious, patient and persevering; and the record of his busy life's work shows how well he succeeded. He it was who cleared off the ground whereon was built the first Waterford mill, and as he had learned the blacksmithing business in his younger days, he was one of the first, if, indeed, not the first, to ply that trade in old Townsend. His home, north of Water ford, was a well-known place in the early times. It was located on the main line of settlement, and in addition to his blacksmithing work he kept a house of entertainment for travellers. He was a quiet, industrious man, and had no crav ing for public positions. The old court journal shows that he was appointed constable for Townsend and Windham in 1802. Ezra Parney had seventeen children all by one mother, fourteen of whom grew up and, with one exception, mar ried. There were seven sons — William, John, Henry, Cor nelius, Aaron, Vincent and David ; and seven daughters — Abigail, Elizabeth, Nancy, Mahala, Amanda, Emily and Charity. The old pioneer died in 1865, in his 86th year, having survived his wife nine years, she having died in 1856, in her 72nd j^ear. William, eldest son of Ezra, was born in 1802. He learned the blacksmithing trade in his father's shop, and married Mary McMichael, and settled near the old homestead. He was the father of twenty-t-w^o children, which, added to those of his father, make a grand total of thirty-nine. No other family in Norfolk can show a record like this ; indeed, it is doubtful whether any family in Ontario can beat this record. There were two mothers in William's family ; by the first wife he had seven sons — Ezra, James, Richard, William, Eli, Freeman and Leamon; and three daughters — Mary, Jane and Rosa mond. William and Mary were twins. By his second wife, Mary Buck, he had seven sons — John, Louis, Elias, Warren, Lyman, Charles and Walter; and three daughters — Caroline Amanda and Abigail. Two, whose names are not given, died A FATHER AND SON WITH THIRTY-NINE CHILDREN. 509 young. The father of this large family died in 1872, in his 71st year. John, second son of Ezra, was born in 1805. He married Ellen Lane, and settled in Townsend. He had one son, Wesley, and one daughter, Rhoda. He died in 1888, in his 84th year. Henry, third son of Ezra, was born in 1809, married Ann Armstead, and settled in Townsend. He had one son, David, who succeeded to the homestead. Henry died in 1873, in his 65th year. Cornelius, fourth son of Ezra, met with a tragical death.. He went hunting, and failing to return, a search was instituted, which resulted in the finding of his dead body in the woods, with his rifle lying beside it. A bullet wound was discovered in the back of the head, and his rifle had not been discharged ;. and as it was known that he had a bitter enemy, it was sup posed that he met foul play. He died single. Aaron, fifth son of Ezra, was born in 1817, married Nancy Messacar, settled in Townsend, and had one daughter, Adelaide. He died in 1887, in his 7lst year. Vincent, sixth son of Ezra, was bom in 1819, married Esther Forest, settled in Walsingham, and had one daughter, Amanda. He was a pioneer school teacher, and died in 1881, in his 63rd year. David, youngest son of Ezra, married Elinor Wymer, and settled on the old homestead. He had one son, Dufferin, and two daughters — Sarah and Roxey. Abigail, eldest daughter of Ezra, married Philip Beemer. Her children are enumerated in the Beemer genealogy. She died in 1890, in her 84th year. Elizabeth, second daughter of Ezra, married William Slaght. Her children are enumerated in the Slaght genealogy. Nancy, third daughter of Ezra, married Squire Corliss. Her children are enumerated in the Corliss genealogy. ¦ Mahala, fourth daughter of Ezra, married Richard McMichael. Her children are enumerated in the McMichael genealogy. She died in 1893, in her 83rd year 510 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Amanda, fifth daughter of Ezra, married William Lutes, the old carriage-builder of Lutesville. She had two sons — Charles and David; and one daughter, Emily. Mrs. Lutes died in 1876, in her 57 th year. Emily, sixth daughter of Ezra, married Levi Messacar, and settled in Townsend. She had one son, Louis, and one daughter, Elizabeth. Charity, youngest daughter of Ezra, married William Cole, and settled in Oxford. SKETCH XCIX. WpNDERFUL PEDESTRIAN FEATS OF A PIONEER FATHER AND MOTHER— TIMOTHY CULVER. One hundred and one years ago the first Timothy Culver settled in Norfolk. Since that time many Timothy Culvers have been inscribed on Norfolk's voters' lists. In fact, there has not been a generation of Culvers, from the original Tim othy down to the present time, that did not have its full quota of Timothys, and it would puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer to describe the various degrees of consanguinity existing between the descendants of any one Timothy and those of another. But it is the old original Timothy Culver and his wife that form the subject of this sketch. As before stated, more than a century has elapsed since this old pioneer built his log cabin in Norfolk, yet he had previously made two visits to the new settlement. The Jabez Culver families came to the new country in 1794, and Timothy, who was first cousin to Jabez, came to visit them in their new homes. He made the long journey on foot, and not being fully satisfied, he made a second visit, accompanied by his wife. They walked from New Jersey to the new settlement in Norfolk and back, making a round-trip walk, mostly through forests, of more than a thou sand miles. What a herculean task for a wife and mother to perform ! What a wonderful story it would be if the incidents of each day's experience during that long, tedious -and dangerous journey were minutely written down ! The staff, which was the only weapon of defence carried by the old pioneer, has been carefully preserved, and is at present the property of Timothy Culver, of Waterford. It is nearly five feet in length, and 512 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. made of a rare old New Jersey shrub. It has a large brass head, globular in form, and its lower end is fitted to a sharp- pointed steel tip, about six inches in length. While tramping through the forest they were attacked by a hungry wolf The brute advanced with open mouth, and Mr. Culver pinned it to the earth by thrusting his spear, or staff rather, down the animal's throat. Three daughters of this pioneer father and mother married three sons of Jabez Culver in New Jersey before they came to Canada, and hence the motive which prompted this hazardous undertaking may be readily understood. The New Jersey home circle had been broken, and three of their daughters had gone to an unknown region of wilderness, and it was a desire to learn something of their destiny that sent the brave mother off through the forest on foot. Their visit was made in the fall of 1795, and Mr. Culver was very much pleased with a patch of turnips which his son-in-law, Aaron Culver, had grown that season in his little clearing. He concluded that land which would produce such fine turnips must be good land, and he determined to bring out the rest of his family and settle in the new country himself. They came the, following season with all their personal belongings, and erected a log cabin on land drawn from the Government. In 1801 he purchased Lot 1, 12th concession of Townsend, from Gideon Cooley, paying £83 4s. Od. for it. Timothy Culver had three sons — Nesbitt, Timothy and Ebenezer; and five daughters — Anna, Elizabeth, Miriam, Martha and Eunice. The first three of these daughters came to Canada in advance of their parents as the wives, respectively, of Jabez, jun., Aaron and John Culver. The three sisters had married three brothers in New Jersey, and when the family came, the fourth sister, Martha, married a fourth brother, Gabriel Culver. And it is said the fifth sister, Eunice, and a fifth brother — Benjamin Culver — were engaged to be married, but owing to his dissipated habits the engagement was broken off. Eunice married Abraham Beemer, and subsequently WONDERFUL PEDESTRIAN FEATS. 513 William Schuyler. The jilted Benjamin turned his back on his kindred, and settled in the new State of Ohio, where he died single. These inter-marriages between the families of Jabez and Timothy Culver were quite without the ordinary course of events in our old family genealogies, and as all four unions were pioneer heads of large and important families, they are treated of in a special sketch entitled, "The Double-Culver Quartette." Nesbitt Culver, eldest son of Timothy, married into the Bacon family, and settled on the Townsend side of the settle ment. He had three sons-^Robert, Nesbitt and Clark; and two daughters — Eunice and Patty. Robert, the eldest son in this family, died in 1871, in his 72nd year. Nesbitt Culver, the father of the family, died in 1813, in his 40th year. Timothy Culver, second son of Timothy, married Mary Kern, and settled on the Townsend side of the settlement. He had five sons — Ebenezer, Samuel, Timothy, Lewis and David ; and eight daughters — Patty, Charity, Catherine, Elizabeth, Esther, Mary Jane, Sarah Ann and Lizana. Ebenezer, youngest son of Timothy, married Elizabeth Kern and settled on the Townsend side of the settlement. He had two daughters — Martha Ann and Eveline. SKETCH C. THE FOUR-AND-TWENTY FAMILY OF WALSINGHAM. Among , the original log-cabin builders of this old Long Point country were two Samuel Browns — one of Charlotteville and the other of Walsingham. It is just one hundred years ago this very year (1897) since Samuel Brown, of Walsingham, came into the Norfolk Wilderness. He finally settled on Lot 22, and built his pioneer cabin on the lake shore just above Cope's Landing. The deed for this land bears date May 20th, 1802, and is a Government patent. It is said this old family are of English descent. Among the old family papers "which have been preserved is an old deed showing that the ancestor of Samuel Brown came to America in old colonial times, and settled in Massachusetts Bay Colony. The James Brown mentioned in the deed was probably the grandfather of Samuel, and possibly of Charlotteville Samuel also. There is a similarity of names in the two families, and so far as the fragmentary scraps of their family history are concerned, there is nothing in the way of assuming that such is the case. The deed is a rare old document, and is deserving of a reproduction in connection with this sketch. The following is a copy, verbatim : " Bee it Known unto all Men by these Presents — That We, James Swinerton and Benjamin Swinerton, both of Salem, in the County of Essex, in the Province of the Massachussets Bay in New England, Husbandmen, For and in consideration of the Sume of Eighty Poijnds, Province Bills of Credit to Us in hand paid, or secure to be paid, by James Brown of Salem, in the county and province aforesaid. Husbandman, wherewith we THE FOUR-AND-TWENTY FAMILY OF WALSINGHAM. 515 confess ourselves fully satisfied, contented and paid, Have bar gained and sold, and by these Presents do Fully, cheerly and absolutely bargaine & sell enfeof and confirme unto the said James Brown aforesaid, a piece or parcel of land Situate in the Township of Salem, in a place commonly knowne by the name of the Northfield, Butted and Bounded as followeth — Easterly Forty-three Rods & half on John Hig- ginson. Southerly Twenty Rods & half on John Loomis and John Watters, Westerly Thirty-five Rods & half on .Jonathan Flint, Northerly on John Jacobs. To Have and to Hold the aforesaid piece or parcel of land which con tains Eleven acres, be it more or less, with all our Right, Title And Interest therein, with all the Profits, Privileges and Appur tenances in anywise thereto belonging, unto the said James Brown, his Heirs, Executors, Administrators and Assigns, for his and their own proper use and behoof e forever, free and clear without any manner of Reclaime or Contradiction of Us, the .said James and Benjamin Swinerton, our Heirs, Executors, and Administrators, the said Eleven acres of land aforesaid unto the said James Brown, his Heirs, Executors, Administrators .and Assigns, against all manner of persons whatsoever shall .and will Warrant, Acquit and forever Defend by vertew of these Presents. " In Witness whereof. We have hereunto set our Hands and Seals, with our Wives, who took acquit their Right of Thirds or Dower in ye abovementioned Eleven acres of land, Saleth the Fourteen Day of June, in ye Ninth year of his Majesty's Reign George, etc., Annoquo Dommini, 1723. ^'Signed, Sealed and Delivered \ " The mark of in Presence of us, ("James x Swinerton. 0 " Daniel Ling, T " The mark of "Paul Langdon. ) "Benjamin x Swinerton. O ¦" Witnesses for Sarah Swin erton, " The mark of "Abraham Goodale, "Sarah x Swinerton. 0" "Henry Holden. It is said Samuel Brown was a Loyalist, but the oldest living members of the family in, Norfolk know nothing of the history of their Norfolk ancestor previous to his settlement here, or of his pioneer experiences in Walsingham a hundred 516 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. years ago. It is a pity that so many of our old pioneers are debarred forever from contributing their quota of information in the great story of pioneer life in Norfolk. " Oh, if I had noted down the stories of pioneer life so oft repeated by the old folks ! " is what we hear in too many of our modern homes. But the old arm-chairs have long since become vacant. They have been stowed away in some cobwebbed recess of the garret, among the trumpery of a dead and forgotten past, and the tales of bush life which the old folks never tired of rehearsing, and which fell as discordant sounds upon ears attuned to a modem life of ease and comfort, were lost forever. The fact that we fail to appreciate a source of information until we no longer have access to it, is a law of our being. We cannot justly appre ciate that which we never felt the loss of. It is said that Mr. Brown served in the commissariat. department of some loyal troops during the war of the Revolu tion. He was married three times. His third wife, Mrs. Joshua Hoy, nee Phoebe Purdick, had a family of six or seven children by a former marriage, and these children, together with his own, including himself and wife, made a family of twenty-four members. This was the largest family in Wal singham, and was known by the old pioneers as the " Four-and- twenty family." It is said that the descendants of this family outnumber, in the Province of Ontario, those of any other pioneer family of Norfolk. They are widely scattered through out the province, and, owing to their inherited love for the Old Flag and the institutions it represents, only a small proportion have traded off their Canada birthrights for messes of Yankee pottage. Much difficulty was encountered in learning the names of this numerous and mixed family. There were twenty-two children; it is said, but the names of only twenty-one are given ; and as these were dictated from memory by Samuel's youngest son, who is now a feebly old man, the family genealogy as given here may not be absolutely correct. Samuel Brown had two children by his first wife — Samuel THE FOUR-AND-TWENTY FAMILY OF WALSINGHAM. 517 and Rachel. By his second wife he had seven sons — Joshua, George, Eli, Abraham, Moses, Tyler and William; and two daughters — Mabel and Elizabeth. By his third wife he had two sons — Isaac and Peter; and two daughters — Phoebe and Emily. Mrs. Brown the third, by her former marriage with Joshua Hoy, had one son, Joshua, and five daughters — Annie, Elizabeth, Lury, Almira and Lucy. Samuel, eldest son of Samuel, never married. He settled on the St. Clair River in an early day and lived and died there. Rachel, only daughter of Samuel by his first wife, married a man named Fonger, and settled near Hamilton. Joshua, son of Samuel by the second wife, settled at first near Tilsonburg, but subsequently the family settled in one of the northern counties. Mabel, daughter of Samuel by his second wife, married Samuel Smith, and settled on land upon which a portion of the city of St. Thomas is built. Elizabeth, full sister of Mabel, married Joseph Darby, and settled near Hamilton. George, full brother of Mabel, settled on Talbot Street, near New Sarum, where he raised a family. Eli, full brother of Mabel, married Staley Dustan, and settled in Dorchester, where he raised a family. Abraham, full brother of Mabeil, married Electa Dustan, and settled in Houghton. By this union he had two sons — Enoch and George; and one daughter. Electa. Subsequently he married a second wife, by whom he had one or two daughters. Moses, twin brother of Abraham, married Sarah Treadwell, and settled near the old home. He had four sons — Josiah, Alfred, Abraham and Stephen Henry ; and five daughters — Emeline, Mary Jane, Mandy, Julia Ann and Louisa. The mother is living with her daughter, Mrs. Charles Brandow, of Walsingham. Tyler, full brother of Mabel, married Sarah Fick, and settled on part of the old homestead. He had two sons — Louis and Leonard; and two daughters — Elizabeth and Nancy. Louis succeeded to the homestead. 518 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. William, full brother of Mabel, settled in the States. Isaac, eldest son of Samuel by his third wife, was born in 1808, married Harriet Smith, and settled on part of the old homestead. He had nine sons — Willard, Henry, Samuel, Peter, Isaac, Emerson, Albert, George and Isaiah ; and five daughters — Matilda, Lucy, Sarah, Rebecca and Harriet. There were fourteen children in this family, and — excepting Sarah — they all grew up, married and settled in Walsingham. Peter, full brother of Isaac, married Rebecca Smith, and settled in the 2nd concession of Walsingham, and is still living. He had no children. Phoebe, full sister of Isaac, married Timothy Abbott, and settled near Port Royal. She had four sons — Robert, Daniel, Jacob and Peter ; and a number of daughters. Emily, full sister of Isaac, and youngest daughter of Samuel, married Edward Bowan, and settled in Burford, where she raised a family. Joshua Hoy, only son of Mrs. Brown by her former husband, died single. Annie Hoy married Abraham Smith, and settled on the St. Clair River. Elizabeth Hoy married Brinton Brown, and settled in Dereham, on the site of the present village of Brownsville. When they settled here it was a wet, miry, densely -timbered section of wilderness, and when he reached the afternoon of life he used to tell his grandchildren how the bull-frogs called for old Brown and his boys from miry water-holes that now form beautiful and fertile fields and village gardens. Lury Hoy married Edward, eldest son of Elias Foster, the old Walsingham pioneer. Her children are enumerated in the Foster genealogy. Almira Hoy married Samuel Harper, and settled on Talbot Street, in the Township of Malahide. Lucy Hoy, the twenty-third member named in this family of " four-and-twenty," married James Carpenter, and settled in- Walsingham. SKETCH CL "NED" FOSTER AND HIS DOG " GUNNER "-FOSTER FAMILY. Prominent among the old families of Walsingham are the Fosters. In every quality essential to the development of a virtuous and prosperous community of home-dwellers and home-owners, the Fosters are not excelled by any of our old families ; and, like some of the other old families, are fondly attached to the home neighborhood. Almost within sight of the very spot where the ancestral log-cabin stood are several Foster homes, noted for their refining infiuences and hearty hospitality. In this contiguity in the work of home-building, the Fosters evince a love for the environment of home and an affection for each other — two highly-commendable family characteristics. It was during the first year of the present dying century that Elias and Mary Foster set up their pioneer home in the wilds of Walsingham. It was the first cabin erected west of Big Creek, and was located near the marsh on the front of Lot 5, about two miles west of Port Royal. They came to Long Point in 1800, but remained the first season near Port Rowan. After Mr. Foster located his land, he went up with his two sons, who were quite young lads, and cleared a small plot of ground and erected a cabin. Leaving the boys with a cow and a small quantity of corn, he returned for the remainder of his family and household effects. Adverse circumstances prevented his returning for several days, and during this time Edward and Daniel B. Foster had such an experience of pioneer life that fell to the lot of but few boys in the early settlement of Long 520 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Point country. They were mere children, alone in a dense forest, and with cows' milk and a little Indian corn as their only source of supply. The corn was crushed with an axe on a hard-wood stump, and the crushed grain soaked with milk and eaten. They were brave little fellows, and it is no wonder that Edward, the elder, who was but nine years old at the time, became a famous hunter and a terror to the wild beasts of Walsingham when he grew into manhood. The American grandancestor of the Foster family was a native of Amsterdam, Holland ; and it is said the property which he owned in that city, and which he sold at a mere nominal sum when he came to America, has become very valu able owing to changes brought about in the improvement of the old city. The Fosters settled in Long Island, and when the colonies threw off their allegiance to the British Crown, Elias Foster was a young man. His sympathies being on the side of the King, he left the Island and migrated to New Brunswick, settling at a place about nine miles from Fredericton. He was twice married, but whether he married his first wife before leaving Long Island does not appear. He was left a widower ill New Brunswick with a number of children, and he married his second wife in that province. One daugjiter by his first wife married David Millard, and settled near St. Catharines, but aside from this the Norfolk Fosters know but little about the first wife's children. In 1800 Mr. Foster came with his second family to Long Point settlement, consisting of two sons — Edward and David B.; and two daughters — Lucy and Harriet. The eldest was about eight years old, and, it is said, all were born in New Brunswick. On the 25th day of June, 1803, the old pioneer took the oath of a Justice of the Peace and occupied a seat on the judicial bench at that term of the old London District Court of Quarter Sessions, and in the following March he was appointed Justice of the Court of Requests for the Township of Walsingham. The old foundation-builder died in about 1833, having reached a good age. " NED " FOSTER AND HIS DOG " GUNNER." 521 Edward Foster, elder son of Elias by his second wife, was born in 1792, in the New Brunswick home. His boyhood days were spent in the wilds of Walsingham before the war of 1812 became an historical fact. He was resolute and fearless, and ' possessed an irony constitution. In all his varied experiences ¦of bush life there was but one occasion when every hair on his head stood straight up on end, and that was when he came in contact with the only pure white bear ever seen in the forests of Norfolk. In the early years of the settlement the marshy meadow- lands at the mouth of Clear Creek were utilized by the settlers as a common pasture ground for their cattle. The grass grew luxuriantly, and where it was not mowed the cattle were able to pick their living to a greater or less extent during the winter season. It was the custom for some young member of the family to look after the cattle, and when Edward met with his hair-lifting experience he was about sixteen years old and thus engaged. While returning from the marsh one day he came upon the prostrate trunk of an immense hollow tree. The ground was covered with snow, which was well packed all about the large opening in the tree, and he noticed a number of rabbit tracks in the. snow, and concluded that the hollow tree contained a rabbit's nest. A short distance above was a smaller hole, and placing his dog at this opening to head off escape, he crawled into the hollow tree through the larger opening, and proceeded in search of the rabbits. As he crept along he came to a large recess in the hollow, when he was startled by the snapping of a massive pair of jaws and the glittering of two beastly eyeballs. There was a dim light in the passage, and in an instant the awful truth flashed upon ' his mind that he was in a bear's den. He felt the bear's hot breath on his bare head, and he thought — well, what would a boy think placed in such a predicament ? Strange to say the bear did not attack him, and he lost no time in making his exit; and when he did so he blockaded the entrance with pieces of timber, and went home and reported his experience. 522 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. The storjj^ was not credited, as such a thing as a white bear in Norfolk had never been heard of. But in the early morn ing following young Foster conducted two or three neigh bors to the place, and after a short but vigorous attack the bear, which proved to be pure white and of massive propor tions, was driven from his citadel and killed. At this time ammunition was very scarce in the Walsingham woods, and when young Foster was caught in close quarters his tomahawk and faithful dog were his principal means of defence. What an interesting volume of thrilling anecdotes it would make for the boys of Norfolk to-day, if young Ned Foster's adventures in the swamps and forests of south Walsingham had all been carefully written down. His .remarkable intrepidity in the moment of peril not only helped him out of inevitable difficul ties, but it got him into many a close corner that, a less courageous youth would have avoided. Bruin had no terrors for Ned Foster. He delighted in teasing a she bear by playing with her cubs, trusting to his faithful dog " Gunner " and his own nerve for safety. Although bears were very common it was an amusement fraught with danger, and on more that one occasion the brave young pioneer came near losing his life. When the war of 1812 broke out, Edward was about twenty years old. He enlisted and served in the Commissariat Department ; and when the surviving veterans were enrolled on the pension li.sts of 1876-77, he was one of the bounty recipi ents. Three years after the war closed he married Lury Hoy, and settled on the homestead. From the close of the war to the middle of the century, Ned Foster was one of the busiest and best known men in the township of Walsingham. The old homestead is one of the best farms in the county, and Mr. Foster and his boys brought it to a high state of cultivation and material worth. In the days when " Ned " Foster was a terror to wild cats, a rat-skin was a " coin of the realm." Its value fluctuated between two and three York shillings, and possessed an intrinsic value at all times, which made it a medium of exchange in business transactions. A rat-skin was " NED " FOSTER AND HIS DOG " GUNNER." 523 sound money equalling, at least, an English shilling in value, and the marsh in front of the Foster home was literally alive with rats. In other words, adjoining the Foster homestead was a prolific mine of English shillings, and all one had to do was to go in, pick them up, and possess them. Mr. Foster kept fifty or sixty rat-traps, and it is said he caught as many as 1,700 in a single year. He was an expert trapper, succeeding where others failed. He could hold his breath while skinning a rat, and could average sixty an hour. He was no less an expert in the use of the rifle. The Foster larder was at all times abundantly supplied with venison, and wild game of all kinds. He believed that enough was as good as a feast, and yet he sometimes shot two deer before breakfast. After settlement along the front was well advanced, he built a hunting shanty on Deer Creek, in the 11th concession, where he would camp for several days at a time. One night he and a neighbor, who was hunting with him, lost their bearing in the woods, and after wandering some- time they came upon an Indian hut in charge of a lone squaw, and they resolved to remain there until morning. The squaw was in a sulky mood and unable to understand a word of English. Late in the evening the noble red man of the house returned with a fine young fawn. He, too, was sulky and unable to understand English ; and while his squaw was trying to explain matters in Indian, he eyed his unwelcOme guests with distrustful and vindictive glances. Finally the squaw removed her dusky lord's moccasins and washed his feet, after which she prepared and cooked the tender venison, serving " the man of the house " first, and with the choicest cuts. The guests were served in a manner, however, and remained in the shanty until morning. But Mr. Foster was not always fortunate enough to find a sulky Indian's shanty to sleep in. Many a night he lay upon the ground in the Wal singham woods, guarded by his faithful dog " Gunner." The densely wooded hollows and ravines north of the homestead were infested with wild cats and wolverines ; and one year Mr. Foster kept a record of the number of wild cats he killed. o24 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. but when the number reached sixty he gave up the count. It is said that more than a hundred bears were killed by him, and that the old rifle still retains its reputation as a dead shot in the hands of a good marksman. Mr. Foster used to tell an amusing story of a bear that tried to carry off two of his hogs. The swine had made a nest under a bridge, and one day a big bear made a raid on them. The squealing of the hogs attracted Mr. Foster's attention, and taking down his rifle he went over to ascertain the cause. The bear was trying to get away with a hog in each arm, but he could not accomplish the task. The hogs were good-sized ones, and every time bruin attempted to pick up his second victim the first would slip out of his arms. It was both amusing and instructive as an object lesson, being a clear demonstration of the fact that a bear cannot concentrate his mind on more than one object at a time. After enjoying the fun for some time, Mr. Foster added one more notch to his bear-killing record. Mr. Foster possessed a fine physique and a robust consti tution. He enjoyed a good degree of health, and was endowed with more than the ordinary measure of strength and nerve, as will be shown by mentioning a hunting incident that occurred in his fighting days. He was returning home through the woods after one of his hunting expeditions, with two hind quarters of venison suspended from the barrel of his rifie, which was thrown over his shoulder. Suddenly a deer bounded up very Close to him, and in an instant the rifle dropped from his shoulder and an off-hand shot did its work just as effectively as would have been the case had the weapon not been freighted with the two quarters of venison. Mr. Foster took a prominent part in the municipal affairs of his township, leaving a public record behind him that any man might be reasonably excused for envying He lived to see the bears totally exterminated in Walsingham — the last one having been killed about twelve years previous to his death, which occurred in 1878, in his 86th year. His -wife survived him six years, and died, also, in her 86th year. Eight of her nine " NED " FOSTER AND HIS DOG " GUNNER." 525 children grew up and married, all of whom were at her bedside when she passed away. There were six sons in the family — James, Edward, Isaac, Henry, Elias and Nelson; and three daughters— Emily J., Elizabeth and Matilda. Excepting the eldest and youngest, all married, and settled in the home neigh borhood — Nelson succeeding to the old homestead. Daniel B. Foster, younger son of Elias, married Elizabeth Beaman, and settled on the homestead. He lived to a good age, comparatively, and died in 1870, leaving no children. Lucy Foster, elder daughter of Elias, married Henry Baum wart. Her family is noted in the genealogy of the Baumwart family. Harriet Foster, younger daughter of Elias, the old pioneer, married John Soper, and settled in Bayham, where she raised a family. SKETCH CIL CAPTAIN JONATHAN WILLIAMS. Conspicuous among the foundation-builders of " Glorious Old Norfolk " at the dawn of the present century was Captain Jonathan Williams. We find his name recorded in the old court journal under date of March 9th, 1802, as surety for Colonel Joseph Ryerson, in the sum of £60, when that gentle man was appointed treasurer for London District ; and, on March 14th, 1804, it is recorded that Jonathan Williams was appointed coroner for London District. Mr. Williams was also one of a handful of pioneers who laid the foundation for a Protestant Episcopal Church of England in the County of Norfolk. At the first meeting called for that purpose, at Job Loder's tavern, at the Town of Charlotteville (Turkey Point), January 3rd, 1803, Mr. Williams was elected a trustee ; and when the first vestry was organized on Easter Monday, 1804, he was elected one of its seven members. The American grandancestor of the old Williams family of Norfolk, emigrated from Wales in colonial times, and settled on Long Island. When the war of the Revolution broke out most of the families on Long Island remained loyal to the Crown, and prominent among these was the Williams family. Jonathan, who had married Miss Maria Titus, of Long Island, and who was about twenty-four years old when the war broke out, enlisted in a Loyalist contingent of the British army, and served as captain of a company all through the war, receiving a wound, the marks of which he carried to his grave. Near the close of the century Captain Williams came to Long Point, and finally settled on Lot 7, 1st concession of CAPTAIN JONATHAN WILLIAMS. 527 Woodhouse, which he purchased of Albert Berdan. At this time he was about forty-nine years old, and had a family of seven children. When the war of 1812 broke out the Williams family were in comfortable circumstances. Their home was one of the best in the settlement, but when McArthur raided the county it was reduced to ashes with all its contents by the invader's torch. It was mid-day, and the family were seated at the dinner table when the American pillagers surrounded the home. Mrs. Williams was ordered to remove her valuables at once, but without waiting for the order to be complied with, the torch was applied, and a Loyalist home representing the fruits of fourteen years' patient industry in the wilds of a new country, together with many choice old heirlooms brought from the old Long Island home, were consigned to the flames. A mirror which was highly prized by Mrs. Williams — having belonged to her mother in the old colonial days — was saved by her son Isaac at her urgent request. It has been preserved, and is a rare old family heirloom. One chest with its contents was also saved, but aside from this the entire contents of the two- story house — including a quantity of broadcloth stored for military uses — together with the outbuildings, were totally consumed. Captain Williams drew a life pension for his services in the war of the Revolution, and after his death Mrs. Williams drew a pension as a soldier's widow. He died on the old Woodhouse homestead in about the year 1832, in his 81st year. His wife survived him several years, and died in her 85th year. The Captain had eight sons — John, Titus, Elijah, Francis, Isaac, Charles, Henry B., and Horatio N. ; and two daughters — Nancy and Mary. Nancy Williams, elder daughter of the Captain, was bom in Long Island, and was the first bom child. She married Henry Bostwick, and settled at Port Dover. She had one son, Henry, and four daughters — Maria, Clara Ann, Cornelia and Cynthia. Mary Williams, second daughter of the Captain, was bom in Long Island. She married lawyer TenBroek, and settled 528 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. in Doan's Hollow. Subsequently Mr. TenBroek settled in. London, where he died. He was the first pioneer lawyer of note appearing in the early history of the settlement. In the TenBroek family were three sons — Henry, John and Charles;, and three daughters — Mary Ann, Helen and Maria. John Williams, eldest son of the Captain, married Hetty, daughter of Colonel Ryerson, and was one of Norfolk's pioneer school teachers. He was superannuated, and settled finally in Houghton, where he died, leaving one son, George. Titus Williams, second son of the Captain, was born in Long Island in 1790. He and John were the only lads in the- family who were old enough to render material aid in erecting- the pioneer cabin home. They were the boy pioneers of the- Williams family, and their boyhood days were marked with strange and thrilling adventures of bush life. When Titus was, only eighteen years old he received an Ensign's commission. in the 2nd Regiment of Norfolk militia. When the war of 1812 broke out he enlisted in one of the fiank companies, and was appointed lieutenant. Subsequently he joined the regulars. under Colonel Chambers. Liedtenant Williams was at Detroit with General Brock at the time of Hull's surrender, and he- was placed in charge of the force that conveyed the officers. captured at Detroit to Fort George. Owing to a disaffection among those operating the ferry on the Grand River, he was. given a detail of thirty men and placed in control of ferry transportation. While thus engaged a number of American sympathizers conspired to capture his force, but being warned he made good his escape. He was promoted to a captaincy, and was at the battle of Fort Erie ; and while falling back to- Chippewa with his company, succeeded in capturing Captain King and thirty Americans. Captain Williams was taken prisoner while attempting to procure a quantity of flour which had been buried at the Sugar Loaf mill, and sent to Philadel phia. While en route he and his fellow prisoners were detained. at different points, Pittsfield, Mass., being one of them. While at this place he was confined with a number of officers takeui CAPTAIN JONATHAN WILLIAMS. 529 prisoners at Philipsburg, and the treatment accorded them by the Americans was of such an exasperating nature that Captain Williams lost control of himself, and, seizing an axe, chopped down the Liberty pole. For this act he was placed in close confinement ; and it was fortunate for him that he was, for the populace were very much excited and would, no doubt, have taken the matter into their own hands had he not been closely guarded. During the war there had been more or less desertions from the British army, and some of these deserters had been taken in arms and executed. By way of retaliation, twenty- three British prisoners, including Captain Williams, were imprisoned at Philadelphia and condemned to die, in case the British Government failed to apologize for its manner of treat ing deserters. The feeling subsided, however, and the Captain was liberated May 18th, and July 5th he arrived home. He was immediately appointed adjutant of .the 4th Regiment of militia, remaining with that regiment until after the battle of Lundy's Lane. He was next promoted to a commanding posi tion in a force of regulars stationed in Norfolk, and when the regiment was ordered home to recruit, the Colonel offered him a captaincy in it, but he declined the commission. During the remaining months of the war he served at Fort Norfolk as quartermaster and paymaster. After the war he held a posi tion in the Norfolk militia as major, and afterwards as colonel, until incapacitated by the infirmities of old age. A detailed account of Colonel William's military career during the war of 1812, dictated and partially written by himself in his old age, is published in the County Atlas. ¦ Col, Titus Williams was twice married. By his first wife, Elizabeth . McCallum, he had four sons — Jonathan, John, William and Henry ; and three daughters — Mary Ann, Abigail and Maria. By his second wife, Susan Rohrer, he had five sons — Isaac, Nelson, Colborne, Charles and Titus; and three daughters — Ehzabeth, Harriet and Emily. In 1827 he settled on Lot 18, on the Walsingham lake shore. 34 530 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. This lot had been taken up in an early day by a man named White, who lived on the place with an only daughter. Accord ing to an old tradition, a bloody tragedy was enacted on this spot more than a hundred years ago. As the story goes, White and his daughter came to the Walsingham shore in advance of the early settlement, and were possessed of considerable means. They erected a cabin on the spot since occupied by the Williams home, and here they lived on amicable terms with the Indians until the latter learned that the " pale-face squaw " and her white companion were ' abundantly supplied with the " wam pum " of civilization. This knowledge bred an evil desire in the hearts of a few bad Indians, to attack the white man's cabin and seize the wonderful treasure. Now, both White and his daughter were expert shots and were well armed and amply supplied with munitions of war; and when the attack was made, full seven very bad Indians were suddenly and unceremoniously transformed into seven very good Indians ; and people living in the neighborhood to-day point out the exact spot where these seven Indians were buried. Such is the story, and it is given here for just what it, is worth, and no more. No living person knows whence came this man White, or whither he went after he sold his land. It was known by the first settlers, however, that he had a con siderable sum of money by hun. Col. Titus Williams attained a ripe old age and died respected by all who knew him. Elijah Williams, third son of Captain Jonathan, married Abigail Parkes and settled near; Port Dover. Subsequently the family settled in London. He had three sons — Jonathan, William and Joseph ; and two daughters — Annie Maria and Fanny. .1 Francis Williams, fourth son of the old Captain, married Amy Cassidy, and settled in the States. Isaac Williams, fifth son of the Captain, was born in Long Island, and was the baby when the family came to Long Point. He married Sarah Dowlan, by whom he had two sons — Francis and Titus; and five daughters — Sarah, Maria, Mary Jane, Catherine and Ann Caroline. CAPTAIN JONATHAN WILLIAMS. 531 Charles Williams, sixth son of the Captain, was the first-born child in the Woodhouse home, and probably the first Williams born in the county. He married Ann Higgins, and settled near Port Dover. He had two daughters — .Sarah and Margaret. Henry B. Williams, seventh son of the Captain, married Susan Walker and settled in Houghton. He had two sons — Jonathan and William Henry ; and one daughter, Helen. Horatio N. Williams, eighth and youngest son of the old pioneer, married Damaris Burlingham, and settled in Houghton. He had four sons who grew up — Elisha, Henry, Harmon and Charles ; and two daughters — Elizabeth and Damaris Cornelia. Mr. Williams died in 1850, in his 42nd year, and subsequently Mrs. Williams married Henry U. Clark. She was left a widow a second time, and died quite recently at Port Dover. One of the most prominent names appearing in the early history of the settlement, and one repeated many times in these sketches, is that of Wynant Williams, Esq., of Woodhouse. This distinguished old pioneer came to America from London, England, in 1792, and in 1795 he received an appointment as cornet in a troop of cavalry connected with the militia of Sud bury County, New Brunswick, commanded by Ichabod Smith. Before the close of the century he came to Upper Canada and secured four hundred acres of Government land in the township of Gwillimbury, Home District ; and when London District was organized, in 1800, he was a resident of Long Point settlement, and was commissioned one of the first Justices of the Peace. From this time on, Wynant Williams, Esq., played a conspicuous part in the work of foundation-building. In 1805 he received a grant of Lot 20, Woodhouse Gore, which passed to his son Samuel, in 1812. He also owned Lot 7, in the 2nd concession, opposite the Jonathan Williams homestead. In 1815 he willed the upper half of this lot to his sons Benjamin and Wynant, and the lower half to his sons Henry and Philip. What is known as the old Wynant Williams . homestead is now the fine rural home of John Alexander, and the old Williams home, -which was also destroyed at the time of McArthur's raid, stood 532 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. near the spot where the modern brick residence of Mr. Alexander now stands. Mr. Williams' work in the public affairs of the settlement is recorded elsewhere in these sketches and need not be repeated here. Wynant Williams, Esq., had five sons — Samuel, Henry, Wynant, Benjamin and Philip ; and two daughters — Elizabeth and Hannah. Samuel met with accidental death by drowning ; Henry settled in St. Thomas ; Wynant died single in Toronto; Benjamin married Dorothy McCoy, settled in Woodhouse, and had three sons — William, Henry and Benjamin; and one daughter, Jane ; Philip died at the age of eighteen ; Elizabeth settled in St. Thomas ; and Hannah died young. So far as known, these two old Williams families were not related to each other. SKETCH cm. BACKHOUSE FAMILY— MAJOR JOHN BACKHOUSE. The Backhouse family of Norfolk are the descendants of one of the oldest and most distinguished Quaker families of England. Lancashire is the original home of the family, although for many generations the name has been a common one in Yorkshire. A history of the Backhouse family has been published in England, extending back for 250 years. The book is entitled : "The Descendants of John Backhouse, yeoman, of Moss Side, near Zealand Redman, Lancashire." •John Backhouse, the old Walsingham pioneer, left his native shire in 1793 and came to America ; and after spending a year or two in New York and three years in New Jersey, he came to Niagara. In 1798 or 1799 he came on to Long Point settlement, and took up Lots 16 and 17, in the 1st con cession of Walsingham. During the first few years he spent a portion of his time at Niagara, where he had certain business interests. Mrs. Backhouse, whose maiden name was Margaret Longbottom, died in the early years of her pioneer life, and the Major went back to England and married Jane White, a dairy maid and a former acquaintance. The grazing advantages in the Backhouse settlement were excellent, and Mrs. Backhouse's knowledge of cheesemaking was turned to practical account in the home manufacture of cheese. It is said that this old English pioneer was close-fisted and somewhat inclined to over-exaction in the treatment accorded to those who were employed in his service. A story is told of the way one of the McMichael boys looked out for himself while in the employ of Mr. Backhouse as cattle-man. The cattle were herded in different places, and McMichael seldom had an opportunity to participate in the regular meals with the family. He often 534 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. went hungry, and no provision was made to meet the require ments of his case. The cheese was cured in the barn, where it was kept covered with chaff, and the neglected cattle-inan availed himself of this means of supplying the wants of the inner-man. A cheese was taken from the barn and carried to a place convenient for use and secreted, and when this was consumed another was put in its place and in this way McMichael and his fellow-workers managed to make up for deficiencies in the ordinary table d'hSte. When the second Mrs. Backhouse died the Squire married a third wife — one Hannah Haines ; but he had no children by this union. John Backhouse was one of the seventeen residents of London District included in the first batch of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace. The commission was received April 1st, 1800, but Squire Backhouse was not sworn into office until the following June term of the Court. During the spring term of the following year the township of Walsingham was set off as a District Division for judicial purposes. A divisional Court of Requests was established, and Squire Backhouse was ap pointed an associate justice for this Court, which was held at his own house. Squire Backhouse was an adherent of the Church of England, and on January 3rd, 1803, he and a number of other Episcopalian settlers met at Job Loder's tavern, at Turkey Point, to consider ways and means for the organization of a Protestant Episcopal English Church in the settlement. Mr. . Backhouse presided at this meeting, and at a subsequent meet ing he was deputized to learn how a glebe lot might be obtained from Government and a clergyman secured. He was made a member of the first vestry, and was also one of the first church wardens. In June, 1809, he was sworn in as High Constable for the District of London. Before the war of 1812 Squire Backhouse built a grist-mill and sawmill on his land in Walsingham. The grist-mill was the first one erected in the township, and was overlooked by the American General McArthur during his mill-burning raid. backhouse FAMILY. 535 It was a bonanza for Mr. Backhouse, as the little Russell mill at Vittoria — the one saved by a Masonic appeal — was not of sufficient capacity to meet the requirements of the time. During the war Squire Backhouse was Major of the 1st Norfolk Militia, including Charlotteville, Walsingham, Windham and Middleton. When Finch's mill was burned the Major was at Turkey Point with two or three hundred militiamen ; and, as alleged by the old settlers, he prevented a landing of the Americans at Fort Norfolk by making a vain display of his bright red uniform on the heights above, while the enemy was approaching the fort. He was blamed for this, because a com plete preparation had been made to give the invaders a warm reception when they landed. A company of regulars were lying in wait in the fort, and a detachment was stationed in the cedars to cut off retreat by taking possession of, and disabling, the boats. At the summer term of the Quarter Sessions held at Vittoria in 1824, Squire Backhouse was chairman, and for years after he was remembered by the young men of that timp, for the charge he gave the Grand Jury on that occasion. He told them that as the Grand Inquest they were the conserva tors of law and order and the morals of the District, and that it was their bounden duty, individually as well as collectively, to discountenance immorality and irreligious practises even to the suppressing of infidelity and the destruction of anti-Christian publications. A charge of this kind would naturally be remem bered by the young people as a sort of memento of the less tolerant ideas that prevailed at that time. By his first marriage Squire Backhouse had four sons — William, John, Abraham and Thomas ; and three daughters — Mary, Elizabeth and Esther. These children were all born before the family came to Long Point. By the second marriage he had one son, Henry, and two daughters — Jane and Nancy. As before stated, he had no children by his third wife. William Backhouse, eldest son of the Major, was born in Eno-land. He married Hannah, daughter of Captain Edward McMichael, and settled on Lot 23, a few lots distant from the 536 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. old homestead. He had thirteen children, all of whom grew up and married. There were four sons — George, John A., James Jackson and Edward ; and nine daughters — Elizabeth, Margaret, Jane, Hannah, Jemima, Eleanor, Amelia, Mary Ann and Matilda. Of this numerous family, George married Elizabeth Haines, of Malahide, settled at Port Burwell, and has reached his 81st year. John A. married Sarah Bostwick, and settled on the old homestead. He died in 1876. James Jackson married into the Saxon family, of Bayham, where he also settled and died. Edward married Violet, daughter of Abraham Countryman, of Port Rowan. He settled at Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he still lives. Elizabeth married Rev. Romulus Cook, a Methodist preacher. She has reached her 94th year, and is living (1897) in Chicago, with her son. Dr. Cook. Margaret married Levi Johnston, and settled in Bayham. After Mr. Johnston's death she married Samuel Cairns, of Waterford. She died in 1887. Jane married David Smith, and settled near Simcoe. She died in 1892. Hannah married Peter Vanderberg, settled in Iowa, and died in 1893. Jemima married John Roberts, of Bayham, and after his death she married Jesse Ball, a surveyor, of Vienna. Eleanor married King Cooper, and settled on a farm in Iowa, where they still live. Amelia married James Willard, a storekeeper, of St. . Williams. She lives there still, a widow. Mary Ann married John Taylor, and settled on a farm in Walsingham ; and Matilda married Isaac Foster, Esq., and settled near Port Royal. The descendants of William Backhouse are very numerous and widely scattered. He was commissioned a Justice of the Peace, and led a quiet, industrious life. John Backhouse, second son of the old Major, marriec^ Hannah Dedrick, and settled on the homestead. In John's family were Lucretia, who married Thomas Smith ; Emma, who married Frederick Bouck ; John, who married Sarah Ann, daughter of Elder William McDermand ; Adelaide, who mar ried a man named Brandow ; Cornelius, who died single ; Mary Ann, who married John Alexander ; and Hannah, who married backhouse family. 537 Frederick La Fortune. John, the only married son in this family, succeeded to the homestead. Abraham Backhouse, third son of the Major, married into the Alway family, and settled at Clear Creek, Houghton. In this family were two sons — John and Abraham, who died single ; and six daughters — Margaret (Mrs. William Rusling, of Houghton), , Amelia (Mrs. Henry Perley), Hannah (Mrs. Albert J. Nevills), Emma (Mrs. Ceremus Smith), Matilda (Mrs. Smith), and Mrs. Walter Brown, of Aylmer. Mrs. Perley was a well-known school teacher in an early day. Thomas Backhouse, fourth son of the Major, married Amelia Young. He inherited the Major's mill property, and won a reputation for himself as a citizen that any man might envy. He was upright in character, honorable in business transactions, and refined in manners. In his social affiliations he was exceed ingly pleasant and agreeable, and was one of the most popular citizens of his township in his time. He had two sons — John D. and Thomas ; and three daughters — Jemima, Ruth and Matilda. Of these sons and daughters, John D. married Sarah Dedrick, and settled in the home neighborhood ; Thomas died single; Jemima married Lucas Dedrick, and settled near the old home ; Ruth married in the Barrett family ; and Matilda married a lawyer named Holt, and settled near Port Rowan. Mary Backhouse, eldest daughter of the old -Major, was born in England. She lived a single life, and was past eighty when she died. Elizabeth Backhouse, the second daughter, married Alexan der Hutchinson. Her children are enumerated in the Hutchinson genealogy. Esther Backhouse, third daughter of the Major, married James Hutchinson. Her children are also enumerated with the Hutchinsons. Henry Backhouse, fifth and youngest son of the Major, and the only son by his second wife, married into the Smith family, and had three sons — Thomas, Alvenza and Jugurtha ; and one daughter, Jane. No data was furnished as to the marriages of Jane and Nancy, the Major's youngest daughters. SKETCH CIV. OLD WOODHOUSE CHURCH, THE CRADLE OF NORFOLK METHODISM. It was only about seventy-one years after the name " Meth odists " was first given to the Wesley brothers and their fellow college students, and only sixty-one years after the first Methodist Society was organized in London, England, that this old Wood- house Methodist church first assumed a definite form. This was about the beginning of the present century, and only about nine years after the founder of Methodism died. As a system of organ ized Christian effort for the evangelization of the struggling masses, Methodism has been a marked success from its inception. The name was given to the young college students by a student of Christ Church, in allusion to the exact and methodical manner in which they performed the various engagements which a sense of Christian duty induced them to undertake, such as meeting together for fhe purpose of studying Scripture, visiting the poor and the prisoners in Oxford jail, at regular intervals. During the life of its founder, Methodism spread over the United Kingdom, the continent of Europe, the States of America and the West India Islands; and when John Wesley died, in 1791, there were 80,000 members of Methodist Societies. The first Methodist preachers in America were Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmoor, who came from England to New York about thirty-two years before the Woodhouse Methodist church was organized. Methodism possesses a most wonderful vitality. It will take root, grow and multiply where nothing else will. It is adapted to every clime and to all nationalities. It is the great harbinger oooao d ffiOO OLD WOODHOUSE CHURCH. 539 of advancing civilization ; and it not only pioneers its way into the primeval forest at the first click of the settler's axe, but it also remains behind and adjusts itself to the highest and best cultured social developments. There is a social side to Methodism which makes it very popular with the masses ; but the secret. of its great influence over the people lies, no doubt, in the intense earnestness of its appeals to the emotional side of human nature. The old circuit-riders of London District were heroes in their Master's cause. They were men of iron nerve. The heat of summer, the snows and icy blasts of winter, and the beasts of the forest, had no terrors for them. They pioneered their way through stretches of entangled forest and malarial swamps, with all their earthly belongings tucked away in their saddle bags, with a singleness of purpose that proves their sincerity and stamps their names with reverential respect. When a brother in Christ was found in some remote settlement, his log cabin was made a temporary temple of worship. Every little clearing was visited for miles around, and the settlers induced to assemble at the Christian brother's cabin to hear the Word preached, and from these primitive gatherings was developed the nucleus of a future Methodist Society. Unfortunately, all the old papers and early minutes of the Woodhouse Methodist Society have either been destroyed or carried away by some person or persons unknown. We are left in the dark, therefore, as to the early history of this old church; and must accept, instead, the traditionary fragments gathered from the oldest living members. Before the present century was bom, a log school-house had been erected on the sand knoll a little west of the present resi dence of William Matthews, on Lot 2, in the Gore of Woodhouse. This was one of the first school-houses erected in Norfolk, and it would be interesting to know who the first teacher was, and what the names of his pupils. In this school-house the early missionaries held their meetings, and a Sunday School was also held here. These meetings and this Sunday School were not .540 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. denominational. At this early period of our history, no religious movement was distinctly denominational. Settlement was sparse, and no religious services or any kind of organized move ment was possible, except by united effort. Philip Forse was , the original owner of the lot whereon stands the church edifice. Both he and his wife were Methodists, and yet it is very doubt ful if, when he donated the land, in the beginning of the present century, for a church site and burying-ground, he anticipated the time when it would be owned and controlled exclusively by the Methodists. The land was donated to meet a matured want on the part of the settlers at large, for a public burying-ground, and it was donated for this purpose ; and on the moss-covered old tombstones that crowd each, other in this sacred old city of the dead, may be read the names of old pioneers of every kind of religious faith, and also those having no religious faith. And when the first little church was erected in the first year of the new century — as is supposed — settlers of all religious beliefs, as well as those of no faith, contributed a helping hand in its erection. The first religious services were conducted principally by the Methodists — ^as, indeed, had been the case when services were previously held in the log school-house — and a Methodist Society was at once organized. The first local preacher in charge of this pioneer Methodist Society was Elder Daniel Freeman ; and the first body buried in the grounds was Elder Freeman's little daughter, Mary Swazie. It is said that Andrew Smith, Cok Isaac Gilbert, Thomas Marr and Samuel Decew were pioneer trustees, and that Samuel Decew was the first Recording-Steward. Among the original members were the following : James Matthews and wife, Philip Forse and wife, Mrs. John Bowlby, Mrs. Joseph Lemon, Frederick Sovereign and wife, Mrs. Charles Hanners, Daniel Hazen and wife, Daniel Freeman and wife, Philip Austin and wife, Jacob Buchner, and George Salmon and wife. The latter was not related to Colonel Salmon. It is said that Daniel Hazen and his wife came to the meet ings on foot ; that Mr. Hazen came quite regularly, and that OLD WOODHOUSE CHURCH. 541 Mrs. Hazen accompanied him at least four times each year — when the quarterly meetings were held ; and that they walked through the forest all the way from their home in Walsingham. It was seventeen miles, as the crow files, from their pioneer- cabin to the little meeting-house ; but if the footsteps of this pioneer father and mother could be traced to-day, in the wind ings and deviations that a new and sparsely-settled country made necessary, the distance would be much greater. They carried a luncheon with them, and long before the sun kissed the new-born day they were well on their way. Is it any wonder that Methodism grew and flourished ? In 1818 the little pioneer society had outgrown its church edifice, and a larger building became necessary. David Marr- superintended the construction of the new building, while all put- their shoulders to the wheel, and in due time it was completed and paid for. Among the additional names appearing on the Recording Steward's book at this time were : Colonel Isaac Gilbert and wife. Colonel E. M.- Gilbert and wife, John Gilbert- and wife. Colonel Joseph Ryerson and wife, Robert Monroe and wife, Ephraim Tisdale and wife, Shelar Buchner, Jacob Buchner, jun., and wife, and Reynard Potts and wife. In about 1860 the Society resolved to build a brick edifice- of still larger proportions. The contract was let to'j^George Scott and Holmes Matthews — the former superintending the mason work and the latter the wood work. The old building was sold to the contractors and taken down by them, and the material made use of in the building of the sheds'and for other purposes. The lumber used cost $2 per thousand. The building was furnished with a tall spire, from the top of which the workmen could plainly see people moving about on the streets of Simcoe. Subsequently the spire was blown down during a severe storm, and the present belfry was constructed. Before the lot from which the church grounds were taken passed out of Colonel Salmon's hands, an enlargement of the- cemetery grounds became necessary. The Colonel was offered 542 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. ¦ $200 per acre for additional territory, but he stubbornly refused to sell ; and after his estate passed into other hands, the Society purchased ten acres at $60 per acre. Every avail able spot in the old grounds had been utilized ; yes, more than utilized, for it frequently happened that the digging of a new grave was but the opening of some unmarked and forgotten old grave. What a reminder is this of the utter insignificance of human life and the oblivion of death ! The longest series of revival meetings ever held by this old Society occurred in about the year 1828, under the leadership of Elder Prindle. It continued for fourteen consecutive weeks, and was, in a true sense, a regular old-fashioned protracted meeting. Elder Prindle was a veritable mountain of fie.sh. It required two chairs to hold him when seated, and he could not climb into or out of a wagon, except by means of a ladder, which he always carried with him. He was a Freemason, and it was during the Morgan excitement the long protracted meetr ing was held. Morgan's mysterious disappearance had occurred only about two years previous to this, and all sorts of wild rumors had been in circulation as to what became of him. An anti-Masonic feeling existed among many members of the Society, and the love these bore for Prindle was not strength ened by the fact of his being a Mason. They said his corpu lency was caused by his having swallowed Morgan — a story which many a youngster at that time fully believed. Although circulated as a rough joke on the corpulent preacher, it was about as reasonable as nine-tenths of the stories that were set afloat as veritable facts. Certainly, the alleged fact of having found Morgan's boots inside of a large sturgeon caught in the Niagara River was fully as reasonable as the Prindle joke would be if told as an actual fact. The annual tea-meetings held in the old Woodhouse church have long enjoyed a reputation for their large attendance, their bounteous spread, and their pleasurable entertainments. The first one was held shortly after the present church building was completed, and the sum of $160, net, is said to have been OLD WOODHOUSE CHURCH. 543 realized. This was a marked success, and has never been excelled by any subsequent eff'ort. Norfolk Methodism has enjoyed a century's growth, and here, as elsewhere, its growth has been phenomenal. From the published statistics of 1897 we learn that the larger number of Norfolk circuits are included in the Simcoe District, which forms the seventh in the Hamilton Conference. The remaining circuits are included in the Norwich District. The circuit which includes the old mother church, and which ought to bear her name, is known as the Port Dover circuit. The number of Norfolk circuits, including Kelvin, is thirteen, embracing a total membership of 3,378 souls, besides eighty-nine catechu mens. Of course this entire membership is not included in Norfolk's population, but it must also be remembered that many Norfolk Methodists are numbered in outside circuits, so that the number given is probably fairly representative of the strength of Methodism in Norfolk. The membership of the Ep worth League and other auxiliary societies are classified in districts, and the totals for Norfolk, therefore, cannot be gleaned. Rev. C. T. Bennett, B.A., is the present chairman, and Rev. W. E. Pescoi?t, B.A., the present secretary of Simcoe District. The former is the present pastor of the old pioneer mother church. SKETCH CV. THE GERMAN SETTLEMENT IN MIDDLETON. Throughout these sketches frequent reference is made to the superior moral characteristics of the pioneer heads of Nor folk's old families. This moral excellence on the part of the old foundation-builders accounts for the superior moral worth of the citizenship of " Glorious Old Norfolk" to-day. As to nationality our grand ancestors came from everywhere, and the best blood of all civilized Christian nations is incorporated in their posterity. Through the intermarriage of the descendants of the old pioneers the original elements have become blended, and thus we have a composite type of citizenship that makes us the most highly-developed people in the world. We sometimes speak of this or that element in our population as a " foreign " element ; but if this means anything, it is that the element in question, having been added to the mixture at a more recent date, has not yet become incorporated in the common mass. It will lose its identity in a, generation or two, however, and although the feature of distinctiveness will be lost forever, the fusion will add tone and vigor to the composite whole. There are elements of population which would lower the common standard, but thanks to the divinity that makes and unmakes nations, such elements have never fastened themselves upon the soil of Norfolk. The man who built the first permanent white man's home in the Norfolk wilderness was a Pennsylvania Dutchman, and from that first settlement down to the present time, men and women through whose veins coursed the blood of some old Dutch or German family, have played an important part in making the country what it is. But it is those hardy German families that came to us at the close of the first half of the present century and settled in THE GERMAN SETTLEMENT IN MIDDLETON.. • 545 the pine forests of Middleton that form the special subject of this sketch. These German pioneers have performed a most difficult task. They have converted a dark forbidding forest into fruitful farms, and the enjoyment which they derive from good, comfortable homes in their old age, is a just and fitting recompense for the hardships and privations suffered during the first ten or twelve years of Middleton bush life. Being natives, mostly, of the old kingdom of Wurtemberg, they received a fundamental education, and were trained to habits of industry and frugal economy. Born in humble peasant homes, their lot was the common lot of the peasantry in all old European countries — a life devoid of luxury and devoted to slavish toil, and utterly hopeless as to future prospects of promotion or of acquiring homes for themselves. Notwithstanding this fact the sons and daughters of old Wurtemberg have reason to feel proud of their " Faterland." It is a small country — being only a little larger than the western peninsula of Ontario — and yet it has a wonderful history, extending all the way back to the decline of the Roman Empire. It has a fine climate, and is rich in natural resources. The educational institutions of Wurtem berg are not excelled by those of any country in the world, having so limited an area. The land that gave birth to the larger number of these Middleton pioneers, gave the world such men as Schiller, Uhland, Brentz, Baur, Strauss, Kepler, Stiefel, the Gartners, Schonbein, Wachter, Hetch and the famous Dannecker. To show the industrial status of this little king dom with its population of only 1,818,539, it is only necessary to state that, in 1871, the total value of land, houses, railroads, movables, etc., was estimated at 2,710,000,000 florins, and the income of the people at 276,000,000 florins. The old fathers and mothers who made up the vanguard in the Middleton settlement were boys and girls in old " Fater land'' when the good King William I. succeeded his father — Duke Frederick II. — as king of Wurtemberg, and began his long prosperous reign over th3 newly-made kingdom. About the year 1840 these boys and girls had become men and women. The kingdom had prospered under the new reign as it had 35 546 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. never before, and many a young peasant in Wurtemberg, and the adjoining States of Bavaria and Baden was seized with a determination to raise above their inherited environments, and become lords of their own manors. But they could not do this in their native land, and so they resolved to migrate to the new world. There was no sacrifice of ancestral homes and distinguishing social positions when these old German pioneers bade their fellow -laborers farewell and turned their faces towards the new land. They came not with money to buy lands, but with stout hearts, clear consciences and willing hands. They knew that in Upper Canada work was plentiful, wages good and lands cheap ; and that these were sure and certain stepping-stones to the acquisition of homes of their own. They had been reared in the religious faith of their fathers, and they knew that in the new British province there were no domineering creeds or titled aristocracy ; and they had the intelligence to understand that British institutions in the new world guaranteed to every man the fullest possible measure of civil and religious liberty, without being subjected to the danger of social upheavals and periodical political disruptions that follow in the wake of republicanism. ' Not being able to speak the English language, and being compelled to engage at farm work for wages, they sought out homes among those who were able to speak — in a measure at least — their own language. On the Twenty-mile Creek, near St. Catharines, there was at this time a Pennsylvania Dutch settlement ; and the old settlers being then alive and in com fortable circumstances, were able to communicate in a German dialect. It was here where many of the original German pioneers of Middleton found employment. Here they worked on farms for two, three or four years, earning the money that made up the first payments on their Middleton lands. The original German settlement ih Middleton was confined to a section bounded on the east by Big Creek, south by Charlotteville, west by the Bartlett sideroad, and north by Talbot Street. Of course, this territory was not all occupied by German settlers, but the original settlement was nearly all THE GERMAN SETTLEMENT IN MIDDLETON. 547 included within the boundaries mentioned. The most of this territory was a dense, uninhabited pine forest previous to the coming of the Germans. To the Beck family belongs the honor of establishing the first German home in the settlement. It is said that Jacob Beck had some means when he left Wurtemberg — at least he was sufficiently forehanded to rent a farm on what was called the Fifteen-mile Creek, which he worked for several years previous to his Middleton settlement, which was effected somewhere about the year 1845. The Becks were prominent among their fellow countrymen, and it might be truthfully said that it was through their influence and leadership the settlement was founded. The next family to effect a settlement was, probably, that of Jacob Kohl. Others followed in quick succession, and in 1854 we find the settle ment well established, and consisting of the Beck, Kohl, Gehring, Demuth, Fluher, Hanselmann, Veit, Voigt, Glenk, Beyer, Arn, Armbrust, Renter, Immel, Hoerber, Jauss, Fick and Loe wen- stein families. It is quite possible that other families had come in previous to this time, and, if so, their names are unintentionally omitted in this sketch. Since 1854 many new families have come in, and these, with the increase of the old families, have extended the settlement in all directions. The old settlers were adherents of the Lutheran Church ; and as early as 1848 the little settlement was visited by Lutheran ministers, who preached to the settlers in their homes. The little congregation thus organized met at regular intervals at the home of some settler, and listened to the reading of the Holy Scriptures by Matthias Voigt. In 1851 a certain pulpit adventurer, by the name of Wert, came to the settlement, and after he had succeeded in collecting some funds he took his departure. Shortly after this the Rev. A. Ernst, an American Lutheran clergyman, came up from Rainham, where he had been laboring, and organized a Lutheran Church. He preached his first sermon February 28th, 1854, and, on the following 3rd day of April, founded the new church with eighteen or twenty families. In the following June the church joined the Synod. During this same year John Veit donated four acres 548 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. of land for church and cemetery purposes, and on November 26th it was dedicated. In January, 1855, Rev. E. Roder, a foreign Indian missionary, was called to the settlement. He was the first regular pastor, the services being held in the public school-house. On the 27th day of February following the parsonage was completed, and a month later the first church edifice was completed. It was a log structure, 22 feet wide and 32 feet long, and was dedicated on the 14th day of April. In December, 1860, Rev. E. Roder was called away, and Rev. Sprangler succeeded him. About this time the need of a more commodious church edifice was felt, and as the settlement had grown to the northward, the present site was decided upon. A new parsonage was built, and in 1863 the present neat and tasty church edifice was dedicated. According to Lutheran church statistics for 1896, the Lutheran population in the settlement is put down at 325 souls, and the total number of communicants at about the same number. There are sixty-four voting members, and as these are represented by heads of families, mostly, the number of Lutheran families cannot be very much short of that given for voting members. The church is included in the Canada District of the Missouri Synod. There is a Parochial School in con nection with the church, having a list of thirty-eight pupils. The present pastor is the Rev. R. Kretzmann, a scholarly gentleman of most pleasing manners. A post-office is located near the church, which bears the old country appellation of Rhineland. It is served bi-weekly ;from Delhi, and is kept at present by Philip Ullman. The names of the constituent members of the church are as follows : Matthias Voigt, Leonhard Demuth, Jahann Armbrust, Leonhard Veit, Friedrich Veit, Georg Beck, Leonhard Schott, Georg Jauss, Georg Immel, Leonhard Voigt, Nikolaus Mueller, Leonhard Glenk, Jahann Veit, Michael Hoerber, Heinrich Immel, Wilhelm Zimmer, Thomas Jauss, Christoph Loewenstein, Jacob Koehler, Georg Schuessler and Martin Jauss. Previous to 1845 a few German families had settled on the e ast side of Big Creek, and the nucleus of a Methodist Society THE GERMAN SETTLEMENT IN MIDDLETON. 549 had made its appearance among them. In 1846 Jahann Han selmann came to the settlement, and in 1857 a Methodist church edifice was erected on the west side, on land donated by Mr. Hanselmann. The Rev. Stephen Morley was the first pastor. The constituent members of the society were the following : Gotlieb Staib, Conrad Stuertzinger, Jahann Loehl, Leonhard Hanselmann, Jahann Hanselmann, Jahann Gehring, Michael Fluher, Heinrich Beier, Matthias Geiger, Wilhelm Shaefer and Daniel Munz. Of these pioneer members Mr. Shaefer is the only one living. The old Hanselmann farm is one of the finest in the settle ment, and is at present occupied by Jahann (John), son of the old pioneer. When Leonhard Hanselmann settled in the Middleton pine forest, the boards needed as a covering for his pioneer log cabin were carried up the steep bank of Big Creek by himself and wife. Jacob Beck, the original settler, had two sons — George and Michael. George Beck was not only prominent among his countrymen, but he was a prominent citizen of Middleton, having served his adopted township as a councillor for several years. Father and both sons are dead. Jacob Kohl was a son of old Wurtemberg. As before stated, he built the second log cabin in the settlement. He had five sons — John, George, Conrad, Michael and William; and a num ber of daughters. The Kohl family were related to the Becks, and have always been held in high esteem by their fellow countrymen. Mr. Gehring had three sons — John, George and Andrew. The latter succeeded to the old homestead. Leonhard Demuth came from Bavaria, near the Wurtemberg line. He had one son, Leonhard, and four or five daughters. Michael Fluher had one son, John, and a number of daughters. Mr. Fluher established one of the most popular homes in the settlement, and his children married into leading families. Leonhard Hanselmann had one son, Matthias, and one daughter, who married Henry Ryder. 550 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Leonhard Veit and his brothers came from Wurtemberg. Leonhard had one daughter, Margaret, who became the wife of Michael Veit, one of the best known citizens in the settlement at the present time. Jahann Veit had three daughters. He was prominent in the original movement for organizing a church, and donated the land on which the first church edifice was erected. He was. a weaver by trade, and the proceeds of his loom gave him a good start. Matthias Voigt was also a prominent character in pioneer church matters, and exerted himself in keeping together the little congregation before the church was organized. He came from old Wurtemberg, and had three sons — Frederick, John and Matthias. The latter succeeded to the old homestead. Leonhard Glenk, in the early days of the settlement, was left a widower with an only daughter. Subsequently he mar ried again and moved to Rainham, where he raised a family. Heinrich Beier was born in the old Grand-duchy of Baden. He had three sons — John, Henry and Ely ; and a number of daughters. Cornelius Arn came also from Baden. He had four sons — Cornelius, Ely, John and Charles ; and a number of daughters, one of whom, Phoebe, married David Staib. Jahann Armbrust was a leading figure in the settlement and a prominent member of his church. In common with all the pioneer settlers, Mr. Armbrust saw pretty tough times in the Middleton woods. When he had chopped and burned off his first little fallow he was too poor to buy an ox team or tools too work with. His nearest neighbor was a mile away. He borrowed an ox team of one neighbor and a plough of another — carrying it on his shoulder a mile through the woods — when he turned the first furrow on his land. During the early years of the settlement he and his neighbors lessened the pinch of privation as much as possible by seeking harvest work and other kinds of employment on the older farms in the outlying districts. One season he and John Veit worked in Norwich during harvest time, and they returned with three THE GERMAN SETPLEMENT IN MIDDLETON. 551 hogs taken as part pay for their services. They were fourteen miles from home, and after completing their last day's work, set out on their long walk, driving the hogs before them. A good share of the way led through the woods and the night was very dark. Before reaching home they were caught in a terrific thunder storm, which made it so dark they could not see their hands before them, and had it not been for the rapid flashing of the lightning procedure would have been impos sible. A few days after this experience the hogs strayed away and returned to the home of their former owner. It was dur ing a time of great hardship, and while Mr. Armbrust bewailed his prospective loss, Mrs. Armbrust said she didn't blame the hogs a bit for running away from such a place. Mr. Armbrust had two sons — George and Charles ; and one daughter, Catherine. The Renter brothers,- Jahann and Heinrich, were natives of Wurtemberg. Jahann settled east of Big Creek, and raised three sons — John, Henry and Gideon ; and a number of daughters. Heinrich settled within the boundaries of the original settlement, and had one son, John, and two or three daughters. The Immel brothers were also natives of old Wurtemberg. They settled on Lot 34, in the 2nd concession. Heinrich Immel had one son, Leonard, and one daughter, Eliza. Georg Immel was a shoemaker by trade. He left the old country ini 1846, and after living three years in Buffalo, worked at his trade five years in the Twenty-mile Creek settlement before he came to Middleton. While clearing his first fallow he cut out and skidded up one hundred select pine logs. The logs were clear and averaged nearly three feet in diameter, yet the most he could get for them was a York shilling a log. He had two sons — Jacob and John, the latter of whom occupies the old homestead. Christoph Loewenstein worked on farms in the Twenty- mile Creek settlement four years, during which time he saved $400 dollars of the wages earned. With this money he came up to Middleton in 1851, and made a part payment on Lot 29, 552 PIONEER SKETCHES OP LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. 3rd concession, which he purchased and settled upon. Mrs. Loewenstein had been employed in the city of Buffalo previous to her marriage, and when she came into the pine forest of Middleton the awful solitude of her surroundings and the nightly howling of the wolves nearly frightened her to death. For her it was a terrible experience, and she persuaded her husband to sell a part of his land so that she might have a neighbor. Mr. Leowenstein had three sons — John, George and Jacob ; and three daughters. John occupies the old homestead. The old people are both living. The Jauss brothers — Georg, Thomas and Martin — settled on Talbot Street. All three are dead. Thomas Jauss succeeded George Beck as German representative in the Middleton Council. He was popular among his fellow-countrymen, and left a good public record behind him. His son, George, occupies the homestead, and is a member of the Township Council at present. As before stated, many families have come to the settlement since 1854, and they have added moral worth to the general community. It was a fortunate day for the township of Middleton, and the county at large for that matter, when Jacob Beck and his sons built their log cabin on the west bank of Big Creek. It heralded the addition to our population of an element that will make it better. Being assimilative, its most beneficial effects will be realized when future generations tread our streets and till our lands. Our German citizens are models of patient industry, moral uprightness of character and sterling honesty ; and the evidences of thrift everywhere abounding in the settlement, prove that they are also adepts in the practice of good wholesome economy. This sketch would not be complete without mention of a man who left his Wurtemberg home when but a boy, and came to America to seek his fortune. He was only nineteen years old when he applied for work at the farm of John Kitchen, Esq., in the spring of 1854. He could hardly speak a word of English, and had nothing to rely upon but his hands ; and yet this man built up a comfortable home of his own, and occupied THE GERMAN SETTLEMENT IN MIDDLETON. 553 a seat in the Middleton Conncil for about twelve years, refusing the Reeveship on one occasion. This man's name was William Armbrust, a nephew of John Armbrust. " Billy " used to relate a very funny thing that happened •during the first summer he worked on Deacon Kitchen's farm. The Deacon was called away on business one day, and before leaving home he set " Billy " at cultivating corn. The cultivator was new, and the Deacon told him he would hang him if he ran against anything and broke it. There was only one stump in the field, and when Billy came to it he ran against it and broke the cultivator. He did not fully understand what the Deacon had said, and about the only thing he could make out as to what was to be done in case he broke the cultivator, was the word "hang," and as he couldn't hang the horse, and not having been in the country long enough to have a desire to hang himself, he concluded to hang the cultivator. Accordingly, he unhitched the horse and carried the cultivator to the bush near by, where he accomplished his purpose by bending over a stout sapling. He then put out the horse and strolled into the village to await furthur orders when the Deacon came home. Billy saved his earnings in true German style, and after he was married, settled on Talbot Street, where he kept a hotel for flfteen years. After Thomas Jauss met with the sad accident which terminated his life, Mr. Armbrust was elected to a seat in the Township Council, which, with the exception of one year, he held up to the time of his death, which occurred quite recently. His farm, lying on the south side of Talbot Street, just above the site of the old hotel, consists of 140 acres, and is nicely situated. In Mr. Armbrust's family were two sons and seven daughters. The old German names have become Anglicized, and in some cases they have quite lost their identity. Jauss has become Youse ; Kohl (the German word for cabbage) has become Cole, and Jahann Renter, removed one generation, becomes John Ryder. In another generation or two our German element will have no remaining characteristics to distinguish it from the general mass of our citizenship. SKETCH CVL THE WELCOME LATCH-STRING— THE FAMILY OF JOHN HEATH. There are very few homes in Norfolk to-day the doors of which are not bolted and barred during the night ; and should a belated traveller, weary, foot-sore and far from those who know him, call at one of these barricaded modern homes for shelter, a voice from within would inform him that at the village a few miles away he would find a public-house, where he could procure such accommodations as he needed. No money ? Why^ then he would be dubbed a common tramp, and treated with utter contempt. The true circumstances of the case would not be enquired into, and the unfortunate stranger would be uncere moniously ordered off the premises. Were it in the day-time, he might be offered a bite to eat, but during the " stilly watches > of the night " the latch-string hangs on . the inside. This was not the condition of things during the log-cabin period of our history. During those years there were plenty of bears, wolves, wild cats, porcupines and rattlesnakes ; but the swamps and forests of Norfolk were not infested with beasts and reptiles in human form^ — these are the outgrowth of our more advanced civilization. Much is said, nowadays, about the decline of good, old-fashioned hospitality and the soul-withering effects of an ever-increasing greed for " filthy lucre "; but we must remember that hospitality, as well as every other human attribute, is gov erned by the ever-changing social conditions of life. In these days the steam-horse distributes among us unknown characters, who prowl about our streets, crack our office safes and burglarize our rural homes, and the prudent man is compelled by these THE WELCOME LATCH-STRING. 555 changed conditions to bar his doors and windows and keep at arm's length every unknown supplicant for favors that comes along. But these vicious parasites of civilization were not found in the woods of Norfolk, and when the latch-string dan gled on the outside of the cabin door in the night time, it was a sign of welcome to the hospitality within. One of the most hospitable cabins in pioneer times was that of John Heath. The Heath latch-string was never taken in at night. Whoever approached, at any time in the night, was at liberty to pull the string and enter. It was not necessary to knock or awaken any of the inmates — simply enter and enjoy the needed shelter. In the winter time it was no uncommon thing for Mr. Heath to awaken in the morning and find one or more Indian or white guests stretched out comfortably on the hearth before the big fireplace. John Heath was one of Norfolk's pioneer Freemasons, and by reference to sketch " Pioneer Masonry, " it will be seen that he was one of the prime movers in the organization of the first lodge in Norfolk. The fact of his being a Mason saved him from serious loss during the McArthur raid. After burning the mill at Waterford, the invaders, passing southward, halted at the home of one of Mr. Heath's neighbors, who begged them not to plunder his premises, as he was an American himself ; and in reply an officer exclaimed : " We are living on our friends and fighting our enemies," and they proceeded to plunder the premises. When they reached Mr. Heath's place, that sturdy old pioneer appealed to the General, masonically, and they left him in quiet possession of his hard-earned goods and chattels. John Heath was a son of David Heath, of Hunterdon County, New Jersey. It is said that David came from Bedfordshire, England, with two unmarried brothers, and that one of these brothers was murdered in Trenton, New Jersey. David mar ried Mary Worthington, but whether in England or in New Jersey, tradition saith not. John Heath married Anna, daugh ter of the original Frederick Sovereign, of Schooley's Mountain, S56 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Morris Co., New Jersey. Her mother's maiden name was Xiavinia Culver. John was born in 1763, and was about thirty- five years old when he settled in the Townsend woods, in 1797, with his wife and one baby. The pioneer cabin was erected just a hundred years ago, somewhere near the spot where the fine old home of Ansley Heath now stands, on Lot 2, in the 11th concession. Mr. Heath was a large, muscular man, being six feet and two inches in his bare feet. He was a reedmaker by trade, and understood, also, the weaver's trade. He was the champion back-hold wrestler in the New Jersey neighborhood in which he lived ; and it is said he once broke the arm of a New Jersey contestant. He was very supple and, in his younger days, ¦could turn a hand-spring over a haycock quite easily. Although a powerful man, he was as tender as a woman in his affections, and was exceedingly warm-hearted. On one occasion he had a veal calf to kill, but lacked the courage to kill it. Finally he hired an Indian to do the job. The Indian went out and mur- who, when he was ninety years old, walked from his home to Hackettstown, a distance of ten miles, and sang an pld Revolutionary war song. This occurred July 4th, 1876, and when the writer saw him in the fall of that year he was a model of well-preserved manhood. He was " straight as an Indian," possessed a ruddy complexion, and a warm, genial nature, and his hair was as white as snow and hung down over his shoulders. His mother attained a great age. She cele brated her hundreth birthday by indulging in a horse-back ride; being- accompanied by her son, David, who, at that time, had scaled his 80th year. Joseph Culver and his wife, Phoebe, came to Long Point settlement at the close of last century, and settled in the Gore of Woodhouse. His family consisted of one son, William, and three daughters — Nancy, Phcebe and Amy. The son wasi a pioneer poet and the culvers. 561 married, and had three children, Adam being the baby. 1 he three daughters married three of the original eight Sovereign brothers — Philip, John, and probably Leonard. The latter is a mere conjecture, founded on the apparently relative names of Leonard's children and the supposition that the " Rhuamah " (wife of Leonard), inscribed on the old tombstone, and the " Amy " mentioned in the Culver family, are one and the same person. They all came from the same place in New Jersey, and all came together. The two families were early connected, as the records show that the original Friedrich Soverein, the German ancestor, married Lavinia Culver, of New Jersey. Joseph Culver and his wife died on the Wooodhouse homestead. It is said that William Culver, only son of Joseph, clerked in a store in Hackettstown in his boyhood days for a man named Gustin. He married Catherine Fisher, in New Jersey,, and was about twenty-eight years old when the family caine to Long Point. In the early years of the century he operated. a pioneer mill on the lake front — presumably on the stream known as " Barnum's Creek." Subsequently he settled on the- eastern portion of the Gore lands taken up by the family, being the well-known homestead of the late Joseph Culver.. Mr. Culver kept a pioneer tavern at this place, and it is said the second store in the county was started here by a mam named Cummings. During the war of 1812 General Brook held a meeting at, the house of William Culver, for the purpose of recruiting volunteers for his Detroit expedition. This meeting is referred, to more fully in the Finch family genealogy. During the- McArthur raid the swarthy Kentuckians painted the Culver- tavern a howling scarlet. They filled themselves full of pioneer " budge," and turned everything inside out. After committing, all the " deviltry " they could think of, they " borrowed " Mrs. Culver's favorite New Jersey horse, and proceeded on their home-pillaging tour. William Culver died in 1829 in his 59th year, leaving twO' sons — Joseph and Adam ; and two daughters — Elizabeth and Charity. 36 562 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Joseph Culver, eldest son of William, was about three years old when he came to the settlement. He married Jemima Backhouse and succeeded to his father's homestead. He was a generous^ industrious and highly-esteemed citizen ; and the old home of " Josie Culver " will not be forgotten until the present generation have all passed away. Mr. Culver was subject to fainting spells in his declining years, which was the cause of his meeting death in a calamitous manner. He was engaged in burning refuse on the farm, and, as is supposed, fell in a faint and was so severely suffocated and burned that it caused his death. This sad event occurred in 1872, when he was about seventy-seven years old. He had one son. Dr. Backhouse Culver, who settled in Port Dover; and two daughters — Amelia and Emma. The former married Hiram Bowlby, of Woodhouse Gore, and the latter married Walker Powell, the old Parliamentary representative. Adam Culver, second son of William, was the baby when the family came to Long Point. He married Nancy Leach, and settled on the town-line side of the -Gore homestead. He died in 1880, in his 83rd year, having survived his wife eight years. He had two sons — William and John; and five daughters — Catherine, Elizabeth, Hester, Nancy Jane and Flora. The sons settled on the homestead, and are both dead. William married Ruth W^ood, and left one son, Charles W., who at present occupies the homestead. John married Lavinia Rouse, and left six sons — William, Albert, James, Charles, Herbert and John ; and two daughters — Mary and Sarilla. Of the daughters of Adam Culver, Catherine married Isaac Decew, of Charlotteville, and had four sons — Thomas, William, Culver and John S.; and five daughters — Martha Jane, Isabella, Emma, Alice and Elsie. Elizabeth married John Butler and settled in Woodhouse. She had one son, Hamilton, and one daughter, Sarah E. Hester married Thomas Davis, and had a family of ten children. Nancy Jane married Duncan Marr, of Woodhouse. She has no children. Flora married Joseph Cullimore, settled in Woodhouse, and had one son, John Adam. A PIONEER POET AND THE CULVERS. 563 Elizabeth Culver, elder daughter of William, -was about three years old when the family left New Jersey. She married Captain Medcalf, a British soldier. The day McArthur's soldiers raided Culver's tavern the Captain was caught in a rainstorm while out hunting, and when he returned his red coat was hung up to dry. When the Americans arrived and espied the coat the effect produced on them was similar to that produced on a turkey gobbler at sight of a red rag. Captain Medcalf built a carding-mill in Lynn Valley, and finally settled in Elgin County. Mrs. Medcalf left no children. Charity Culver, younger daughter of William, was born in the Woodhouse pioneer cabin before the new century was born. She married William Rusling, and settled in Woodhouse Gore. Mr. Rusling was a tailor, and made coats for the officers in the war of 1812. He was born in Lincolnshire, England in 1791, and was the son of Joseph Rusling, a Methodist preacher Originality was a marked trait in his character, which made him a conspicuous and well-known personage in the later pioneer times. Being endowed with a warm, generous nature, he was exceedingly companionable, and early in life fell into the drink habit. The family emigrated from England to New Jersey when " Billy " was a mere child, and it was while learn ing his trade and conforming to the customs of the " Knights of the Goose," in those times, he contracted this very common, yet ruinous habit. " Billy " worked his way into Long Point settlement, and learning that Rev. Daniel Freeman, who was a particular friend of his father, was living in the settlement, he made that gentleman a visit Mr. Freeman asked him how lono- it had been since he had written to his father, " Billy " said he had not written home in seven years. " My dear boy," said Mr. Freeman, "you sit right down and write to your father and mother," He did as advised, and his father received the letter on a Saturday; and the following morning he preached on " The Return of the Prodigal Son," breaking down in a flood of tears in the middle of his sermon. 564 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. Young Rusling returned to the New Jersey home at the urgent request of his father, but after remaining one year he came back to the settlement. He married in 1815, and after he reformed he devoted his life to the work of temperance, lecturing and organizing temperance societies in various parts of the country. Mr. Rusling narrowljr escaped being devoured by the wolves while returning from the old " Sugar Loaf " mill with a load of flour. It was forty miles from the mill to his home, and when about half way his sleigh broke down. Being far from a settler's house and having no tools, he was very much delayed in patching up the break. Night overtook him, and he had a long stretch of forest to go through. It was very dark and the wolves howled on all sides. He had a double-barrelled gun and some ammunition with him and he resolved to make the best of his precarious situation. Finally a pack was seen approaching the sleigh. He fired and killed two of the brutes, and while the remainder of the pack fell back to devour the carcases, he tied a rope which he happened to have with him to the rear end of the sleigh, letting it drag on the ground behind. The wolves, thinking (?) this was a trap of some sort, were afraid to attack the sleigh, and skulked behind. This gave Mr. Rusling ample opportunity to load and dischargfe his gun until their hunger was appeased, when they filed off into the forest. Daylight appeared before he was again attacked, and he reached home in safety. William Rusling was a pioneer poet, and after his reforma tion composed several temperance songs. The two quoted below are among the best. The first has a counterpart, styled " The Contrast," which is omitted here : "THE RECLAIMED." I had lost all my pleasures, they had fled like a dream, And from no point of heaven could happiness beam ; The cup of strong poison in madness I drjiined. And naught but confusion and anguish I gained. A PIONEER POET AND THE CULVERS. 565 I had lost- my existence, and was lost to mankind, A poor wandering creature, to misery consigned ; That cup of fell poison was the source of my woes ; Oh, it had blotted out reason and stole my repose. I had lost reputation, and by all was despised ; With the foul blight of rum I oft was disguised, My friends all retreated whenever I came, And my woes were ^3ompleted in loss of my fame. I had lost the affection of children and wife ; This foul cup of poison was the bane of my life ; Yet in madness I grasped the soul-damning draught. At their tears and their sadness like a demon I laughed. "HURRAH FOR THE TEETOTAL MILL." Two jolly old topers once sat in an inn Discussing the merits of brandy and gin. Said one to the other, "I'll tell you what, Bill, I've been hearing to-day of the Teetotal Mill. "You must know that this comical mill has been built Of old broken casks when the liquor's been spilt ; You go up some high steps and when at the sill You've a paper to sign at the Teetotal Mill. "You promise by signmg this paper, I think. That wine and strong spirits you never will drink ; You give up, as they caU it, such rascally swill, And then march right into the Teetotal Mill. "There's a wheel in this mill that they call self-denial, They turn it a bit just to give you a trial ; Old clothes are made new, and if you're iU, You are very soon cured by the Teetotal Mill." Bill listened and wondered, and then he cried out, " Why, Tom, if it's true what you've been telling about. What fools we must be to be here sitting still, Let us go and take a look at the Teetotal Mill." While they gazed with astonishment there came up a man. Diseased and blear-eyed, his visage was wan ; He mounted the steps, signed the pledge with good- will, And went for a turn in the Teetotal Mill. 566 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. When he came out he was the picture of health, And walked briskly on in the highway to wealth, And as onward he passed he cried with a will, "Success to the wheel of the Teetotal Mill.'' The next that went in was a man and his wife; For many long years they'd been living in strife. He had cursed and abused her and swore he would kill, But his heart took a turn in the Teetotal Mill. And when they came out, how altered was he ! Steady, honest and sober ; how happy was she ! At an end is their strife — " No, youshant " ; " Yes, I will " — And together they prayed for the Teetotal Mill. Next came a rough fellow as grim as a Turk, To curse and to swear seemed his principal work. He swore that very morning his skin he would fill. And drunk as he was he reeled into the Mill. And what he saw there I never could tell, But his conduct was changed and his language as well ; I saw when he turned round the brow of the hill. That he knelt and thanked God for the Teetotal Mill. The poor were made rich and the weak were made strong, Grim want was unknown for the purse was made long ; These miracles puzzled both Thomas and Bill, But they both took a turn in the Teetotal Mill. A little time after I'heard a great shout, And turned to see what the noise was about. 'Twas the children and wives of Tom and poor Bill Shouting their praises for the Teetotal Mill. In the Rusling family were six sons — William, Thomas, Adam, David, Joseph and John ; and seven daughters — Mary, Catherine, Elizabeth, Minnie, Anna, Hannah and Charlotte. Mr. Rusling died in 1872, in his 81st year, being survived by his wife nine years. Mary Rusling, eldest daughter of William, and first-born child, married John' Smith, settled in Simcoe, and had one son, Hamilton ; and three daughters — Charity, Catherine and Mary Ann. A PIONEER POET AND THE CULVERS. 567 William Rusling, eldest son of William, married Margarita Backhouse, and settled in Walpole. He had a familj^ of daughters. Thomas Rusling, second son of William, married Eliza Deming, and settled finally in Charlotteville. He had three sons — Walter, York and Leland ; and four daughters — Theresa, Erie, Cornelia and Kate. Adam Rusling, third son of William, married Eliza Roberts, settled in Walpole, and had no family. David Rusling, the fourth son, married Sarah Pursley, settled in Townsend, and had five sons — John, Leamon, Lincoln, Wallace and Sylvester; and two daughters — Melvina and Mary Jane. Joseph Rusling, the fifth son, married Jane Fitch, settled in Bayham, and had two sons — William and Heman; and two daughters — ^Josephine and Lily. Elizabeth Rusling, the third daughter, married William Hunter, settled in Simcoe, and had two children — William and Ann Jane. Catherine Rusling died young. Minnie Rusling, the fourth daughter, married Edward Mc Dermand, settled at Port Burwell, and had one son, Arthur. Anna Rusling, the fifth daughter, married Lemuel McDer mand, settled at Port Burwell, and had three daughters — Mary Ann, Ona and Adelia. Hannah Rusling, the sixth daughter, married John Long, settled in Waterford, and had three sons — William, James and Arthur; and five daughters — Lily, Minnie, Lena, Charity and Ada. Charlotte Rusling, the youngest daughter, married John Chadwick, and settled on the old Rusling homestead. She had one son, John, and one daughter, Ada. John Rusling, the youngest son, married Eliza Gaffrey, and settled in Townsend. He had four sons — Charles, William, Ambrose and Harry ; and five daughters — Minnie, Charlotte, Nellie, Erie and Adelia. SKETCH CVIII. THEN AND NOW. How few of us truly appreciate the marvellous age in which we live. Wonderful inventions and startling discoveries have come so thick and fast upon us that we have lost the sense of appreciation and come to look upon all things as possible. We are no longer surprised at what happens, for everything seems possible, and there is certainly nothing startling about the mere realization of a possibility. But these wonderful means of com munication and transportation which we enjoy were considered — if considered at all — as absolute impossibilities by our fore fathers one short century ago. This modem machinery, which seems almost endowed with life and intelligence, was not even dreamed of by our grandfathers. Their wildest imaginations failed to grasp the realizations of our day. We live in the age of the dynamo ; and does it not seem strange that the only fact known to the wisest .men of all antiquity, pertaining to electricity, was the fact that a piece of amber, when rubbed, attracts light and dry bodies ? And not until sixteen centuries of modern history had been completed and added to the countless ages preceding them, was the dis covery made that other substances possess the same property as amber. The man who made this discovery was Gilbert, of Col chester, and he it was who invented the word electricity, from electron, the Greek word for Amber. Previous to the birth of father Ephraim Tisdale the only electric machine in use in experimenting with electricity was a glass tube rubbed with a piece of cloth ; and Donald McCall, of Charlotteville, was twelve years old before the world discovered that lightning was THEN AND NOW. 569 electricity ! Is it any wonder that we have not yet succeeded in casting out the last vestage of a dense superstition inherited from a line of ancestors extending all the way back through the ages to father Adam himself ? Is it any wonder that the lightning's flash and the thunder's loud roar were looked upon as outbursts of pent up wrath on the part of the gods who were supposed to inhabit tbe ethereal regions, or that the early Christians looked upon these natural — but to them, mysterious — phenomena as the manifestations of Jehovah ? Ever since Adain and Eve departed from Eden to occupy and till the earth, the human family have worn clothes made of woven materials of various> kinds, yet, previous to the appearance of " Uncle Billy " Smith among the Indians of Charlotteville, the old world had never seen such a thing as a power loom ; and from the time when Abraham went into the tent and said unto Sarah, " make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth, " right down to the present generation, the principle of grinding grain into meal and flour was not materially changed. It was simply two mill-stones — the upper acting upon the lower; and although enlarged in various ways and made more effective by the application of wind, water and steam power, it was the same old principle, and not until within our own lives was it supplanted by a new and vastly superior principle, known as the " roller process." Of course, we have not yet quite forgotten that a few such wonderful inventions as the telephone, the phonograph, flouro- scope and the wonderful X ray, were never enjoyed by mortal man previous to our own day and generation ; but the conditions of life, which have been revolutionized in our day by the inven tion of labor-saving machinery and the application of superior, newly-discovered methods of performing the ordinary duties of life, are already looked upon by us in an indifferent manner, as though they had always existed. Why, when the venerable Simpson McCall, Esq., of Vittoria, was a child there was not an engineer in the wide, wide world who believed that it was possible to construct a locomotive that could gain much speed. 570 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT. ascend a moderate incline, or draw a heavy load, unless the wheels were provided with a cogged rim to work on a corre sponding rack along the rails. What a revolution has been effected by railroads, and what a mighty interest is represented by the railroad corporations of the world ; and yet there is not a man or woman in Norfolk, who has reached the eightieth mile-stone in the journey of life, who does not remember things that happened before the first railroad passenger was drawn by a locomotive. The speed made at first was but little faster than the walk of a horse, and it is only sixty-seven years since the fact was clearly demonstrated that the railroad system was a feasible means of rapid and economical transportation. Fifty-four short years ago the first telegraphic message, transmitted by wire, was sent over a line connecting the cities of Washington and Baltimore ; and six years later the first sub marine cable was laid, between Dover and Calais. To show the vast importance of this invention in the transmission of intel ligence over the civilized world, it is only necessary to state that during the twenty-one years following this first successful experiment, 213 cables were laid in various parts of the world, having a total length of 45,783 miles. By means of the telegraph the barriers of time and space have been broken down and all parts of the world have been brought into neighborly touch. The great modem printing press gathers up the news as it fiashes over the wires from the four quarters of the globe, and thus we are enabled to read to-day what happened yesterday in every part of the civilized world. Do we realize the great importance of these wonderful advantages ? Our great-grand fathers knew nothing of these things. When Dr. Troyer settled in Walsingham the world had never seen a cylinder printing press, and our century was fourteen years old before a newspaper was printed by machinery, steam-propelled — the issue being a copy of the London Times, dated November 28th, 1814. The manufacture of glass can be traced back to a great antiquity, and yet only three years before the American grand- THEN AND NOW. 571 ancestor of the Wyckoff family built the old home that is still standing on Long Island, the only rooms furnished with glass plate were the principal chambers of the king's palace in England ; and the modern plate-glass window made its first appearance in Boston, only forty-four years ago. The little twelve 7x9 pane windows of our grandfather's days, with their wrinkles and blisters and cumbersome sashes, did not let in much light, but they let in all the light that illuminated the times in which they were used. Previous to the year 1814 the scientific world had never produced a permanent picture by the influence of solar radia tions, and it is only fifty-eight years since the old-fashioned daguerreotype was invented. Is it any wonder our old pioneers left no portraits of themselves, or that the walls of their rude dwellings were destitute of the pictures of the homes of their childhood left behind in other lands ? Among the ten thousand and one conveniences which we enjoy, and which were unknown and unheard of in the first homes of Norfolk, is the friction match. This little conven ience, of itself, is enough to stir up feelings of gratitude within us for the glorious privilege of living in the latter part of this grand old century. The only means known in our grand father's days for obtaining fire was by igniting tinder with a spark made by striking fiint and steel together. The old brim stone match was considered a wonderful invention by them, as the sulphurated point ignited much more readily than the tinder. Our grandmothers had no sewing machines. They sewed by hand, and what artificial light the old fire-place did not furnish, was obtained by means of a tallow "dip," which drizzled melted grease on everything with which it came in contact Of course, the tin candlemoulds was considered another great invention in the " good old times," and the fanci ful old brass candlesticks and artificial snuffers and trays found . here and there, show that those of the old people who could aff'ord it, were just as desirous of " out-shining " their neighbors 572 PIONEER SKETCHES OF LONG POINT SETTLEMENT.' as some of their grandchildren are to-day. But we do not live in a candle-snuffing age. Ours is the brighter light furnished by mineral oil, gas and electricity ; and yet, previous to 1850 the world had never heard of a kerosene lamp or an illumin ating mineral oil as a commercial commodity. Only seventeen years before the birth of Jabez Culver, the old Windham pioneer, the old world had never heard of such a thing as a pianoforte ; but for many years after this none but nabobs could aff'ord to avail themselves of the benefit of Schroter's invention. In fact, it is only within the la.st quarter of a century that the moderately well-to-do have been able to indulge in this, at first, much coveted luxury. Like all the multitudinous blessings reserved for our day and generation, now that the piano has come within the reach of all, we some how fail to appreciate it as we should. It would require whole volumes to give a full description of the conveniences and possessions enjoyed by us, which the con centrated wisdom of all the ages from the beginning of history down to our own grandfather's day, had not yet deemed possible. What a long dark night it was ! We who have witnessed this glorious awakening of thought and tasted of the fruits thereof, would not care to live another hour were the lights put out and the wheels of time turned back one short century. The present year is worth more in a life on earth than two like the one immediately preceding it, a hundred of our grandfather's years, or five hundred in any preceding era of the world's history. Life does not consist of years, but of blessings enjoyed and knowledge gained. Indeed, if Adam had lived until Upper Canada became a British province, he would not have acquired as much knowledge of himself, the old world in which he lived, or the hidden and mysterious forces of nature, as might be acquired in this present year of grace." God help us all to fully appreciate our glorious advantages and make the most of them. HUMANUM EST ERRARE. Dear reader, you have no doubt discovered some errors in these sketches. I discovered some myself after it was too late to make corrections. If I were permitted to re-write them there might be fewer errors ; but to make them absolutely free from error would require the gift of superhuman power. That this and all other human efforts fall short of perfection is quite in harmony with the nature of things. Even the very text-books used in our schools — and we claim they are the best in the world — contain hundreds of errors. Imperfection is stamped upon the best that man can do ; but before passing judgment upon the merits and demerits of these sketches the just critic will consider the unreliability of the only remain ing sources whence the necessary information could be ob tained. Do this, and we shall part as friends. Finally, if you have discovered that your branch of the family has not been treated of as fully as some of the other branches, or that your family has been entirely overlooked, you will please remember that I have given you over seventy pages more than I promised you, and that the value of the book must be measured by what it contains, and not by what it does not contain. Treasure the good and the true there is in it and overlook the trivial and erroneous, and you will be satisfied and I will never regret having written it. The Author. INDEX PAGE Ante-settlement History 15 Austin Family, Genealogy 79 Anderson " " 398 Allen, Ebenezer, of Delaware . . 396 Abbott, Timothy 518 Bloomsburg, Origin of 557 Beaver Dams 151 Bates, the Somnambulistic Preacher 224 Baker, Elder Samuel, Family of, 320 Buffalo, in 1793 77 Baltimore, Founding of 79 Beal, Levart. 130 Barber. Family Genealogy .... 170 BuTLEPv's Rangers 176 Burger, Thomas 153 Burch, Archibald 132 Becker, Christian, Family of . . .32 Bostwick, Col. John . 71 Bostwick, Henry, Family of . . . . 527 Birdsall, John 67 Baumwart Family Genealogy . . 103 Beemer " " . . 484 Brown Family (Walsingham) .. ,514 Brown " (Charlotteville),. 342 Brown, Brinton (Brownsville) . . 518 Backhouse Family Genealogy . . 533 Buchner — Koughner Family Genealogies 281, 431 Bacon, Reuben, Family of 446 Barrett, Marks, " " 461 Bowlby Family Genealogy .... 380 Bowlby, Adam, Family of 381 Bryning, John " " 429 Baptist Pioneer Church 271 BoupRY, John 300 Culver Family (Priest Jabez). . . 56 Culver ". (Timothy) 511 Culver " (Joseph) 560 Culver " (The quartette). 84 Culver, Simon, of N. Jersey 560 PAGE Cope Family Genealogy 122 Cowan, William, Family of 27 Countryman, Abraham 36 Churchell, Levi, Family of 46 Chamberlain, Samuel, Family of 67 Close, Neil, Family of 85 Cunningham Family 407 Crown Lands ; . 463 Congregationalism 472 Crosby, Eliakim 487 Clouse Family 496 Chapman, Thomas, Family of . . 282 Cline, John, Family of ; 174 Charlotteville — First white man 23 First white burial 37 Burial of first pioneer mother. . 200 Clendenning, John 234 Corless, Family Genealogy .... 332 Decew Family Genealogy 149 Decew, Isaac, Family of 562 Decewsville, Founding of .... 152 Dower Rights, How relinquished in pioneer times 393 Buncombe Family 409 Dobbie, Andrew, Family of 380 Dedrick Family Genealogy 35 Dolan, Jamea, Family of 130 Davis, John 77 Dill, William, Family of 438 Ellis, Allen, Esq., Family of . . . 184 Ellis, Cornwall 459 Earle, Louis, Family of 346 Elsworth Family 268 Fredericksburg, Origin of .... 139 Fick, Frederick 67 Fick, Anthony, Family of 184 Franklin Family Genealogy 288 Finch " " .... 299 Falls, Owen, Family of 300 576 INDEX. Foster Family Genealogy 519 Freeman " " 448 Fray, William 429 Forse Family Genealogy 215 Fisher, Donald, Family of 372 Fairchild Family Genealogy .. 196 Fairchild, Rev. Peter, Family of 337 Fowler, Thomas 157 Ferris, William 104 German Settlement, History of 514 Gibbs, Fred., Family of 446 GiPEORD, John, '• " 448 Gilbert Family Genealogy .... 261 Gilbert, William Pitt, Family of 175 Goodhue, Ebenezer, Family of. .. 295 Gustin Family Genealogy 125 Grist-mills — Smith horse-power mill 44 The Union mill 86 The Gustin " 123 The Finch " - 371 The Russell " 35 Goshen Settlement 28 Huff, William, Family of 27 Havens, Abraham, Family of . . . 46 Hoy, Joshawa, Family of 517 Henderson Family Genealogy . . 198 Hutchinson " " . . 207 Haviland " " .. 178 Hibler, Simeon, Family of .... 153 Houghton's first settlers 153 Hazen Family Genealogy .385 Heath " " 556 Indian Anecdotes— Experiences of Uncle Billy Smith ; 23 A ride for whiskey 35 How Mrs. Mabee kept the Indians out of her milk troughs 40 Treachery in the Smith cabin.. 45 Mrs. Austin's guests 80 Story of George Ramsay 38 Mrs. Cope's experience 121 Captivity of Granny Johnson. . 403 How Sergeant Kitchen killed the Indian 467 Story of White and his daughter 530 An Indian butcher 556 Incidents of Pioneer Life — Waiting for the' first Walsing ham grist 72 Incidents of Pioneer Life — Coji. Baking pancakes for the Indians 80 Baking bread for the sailors . . 45 Polly Sprague's experiment . . 65 Naming babies in pioneer times 249 Trouble with the witches .... 30 Picture ot the " good old times " 135 Life in the first cabins 137 Uncle Frederick's hogs and the bear 140 Story of the corn thief 110 Mrs. Oope and the wolf 121 How Mrs. Austin commenced keeping house 161 Abigail Barber's experience . . 170 Whiskey as a medium of exchange 190 A pioneer burial 20U Aunt Jane at ' ' protracted meetings " 209 Locating homes in the wilder ness 77 The first night in the forest . . 87 A pioneer meeting 154 The struggle with the forest . . 241 How Holmes Matthews shot the bear 280 Odds and ends 301 Pioneer cranberry picking .... 308 Hunting wolves for bounty .... 344 Grandmother Slaght's story . . 365 Kissing the bride 376 How Mrs. Hazen went to meet ing 383 A pioneer election 384 Married iu a stable 418 Tales of Grandmother Mc Michael 429 The Boughners' experi ences w ith the bears ; ' 432 How the bear beat the Stein hoffs 439 Grandmother Ellis's story .... 458 How "she and father" com menced in the woods 301 Pioneer schools 301 Jimmy's ride on the coffin .... 47S Ned Foster in a white bear's den .522 How pioneer churches were organized 539 Pioneer hospitality 554 Johnson Family Genealogy .... 339 Johnson, Joseph, Family of, ... . 408 Jewell, Family Genealogy .... 463 INDEX. 577 PAGR Kitchen Family (Charlotteville). 470 Kitchen " (Townsend).... 557 Kitchen, Wheeler, Family of . . 85 Kern Family Genealogy 426 London District School — The pioneer school 185 Why Gustin wanted to mop the earth with Egerton Ryerson 125 Lemon Family Genealogy 148 Long Point — Charlevoix's Description in 1721 20 McNiff's Report 21 Origin of the Lighthouse .... Ill Learn, John, Family of 85 Loder, Job 283 Lundy, James 296 Loyalists, U. E — Massachusetts Persecution .... 37 Their Standing in the Colonies 62 Lynedoch, Founder of 195 Labar, Abraham 147 LouKS, Eli, Family of 310 Lanning, Richard, Family of . . 341 Leonard, Hon. Elijah 456 Lyon, Nathan, Family of 487 Lutes, William, " 510 Lee, Thomas, M 558 Murray, William, Family of . . . . 365 Misner Family Genealogy .... 373 Montross " " 411 Messacar " " 481 Municipal Government 497 Methodist Pioneer Society .... 538 Mead Family Genealogy 445 Monroe, Robert 91 Monroe Family Genealogy .... 195 McNeilledge, Alex., Family of. 230 Mitchell Family Genealogy . , 187 Mitchell, Ephraim Cole 100 McDonald, Donald (Senator) . . 188 McDonald, John (Sheriff of Huron) 188 Medcalf, Captain 563 Matthews Family Genealogy . . 279 Mabee, Frederick 37 Mabee, Simon, Family of 41 Mabee, Oliver " 316 Mabee, Pellum " 322 McMichael Family (Townsend). 218 McMichael " (Walsingham) 183 McKenna, Jacob, Family of ... . 98 McClkish Family Genealogy . . 309 37 PAGB McCall, Donald 91 McCall Family Genealogy 95 McCall, Simpson, Sketch of 105 Marr Family Genealogy 144 Norfolk's Gallows — The Smith and Carr reprieve . . 114 Hanging of the Negro at Tur key Point 118 Newport, History of 373 Nelles Family ;. . 406,409 O'Carr, Peter, Family of 488 Organization of London Dis trict 324 Oaks Family Genealogy 212 Owen Family Genealogy 292 Our Fair Daughters 164 Olmstead, Stephen, Family of . . 175 Palmerston, Ben., Family of . . 141 Price Family Genealogy Ill Perley, Charles, Family of 98 Perley, Israel, of New Bruns wick 268 Pioneer Odds and Ends 301 Pioneer Chickens 194 Pioneer Freemasonry 347 Pioneer Tavern Licenses 393 Pioneer Athletes — Feats of Uncle Billy Smith 24 " Joseph Kitchen 470 " William McMichael.. 183 " John Heath 556 Port Dover, The First Settler. . 78 Port Normandale — History of the Old Furnace . . 452 Port Rowan in 1813 461 Powell Family Genealogy .... 156 Parney " " 507 Potts " " .... 355 Pegg " " 364 Petitt, Abram, Family of 438 Presbyterian Pioneer work .... 440 Robinson Family Genealogy . . 476 Rapelje " " .... 227 Rusling " " .... 563 Rohrer " " 102 Ryerson " " .... 69 Ryerse " " .... 66 Ryerson, Seth, Family of 295 Ryerson's Island . .'. 69 Rockafeller, Walter, Family of 308 Ramsay, George, Story of 38 Roach, William 199 578 INDEX. PAGE RoSEBROOK, William 130 Richmond, John, Family of .... 365 Smith, Nathan, Family of 428 Smith, Jacob, Family of 438 Smith, Father Abraham's Family 43 Smith, "Uncle Billy's " Branch. 26 Smith, Samuel's " 204 Smith, Abraham's " 47 Smith, Othniel's Family 250 Shearer Family Genealogy .... 129 Stone, John 37 Stearns, Austin '36 Styles, Selah, Family of 82 St. Williams 1-20 , Shoft Family Genealogy 60 Secord Peter 39 Secord, Capt. David 402 Stackhouse, David 309 Slaght Family Genealogy 158 Slaght, Genealogy of Job's Branch 420 Sovereign Family Genealogy . . 490 Sovereign, Jacob, Family of . . 139 Sitts, Mary, Story of 403 St. John's Church 415 Stokes, James, Family of 428 Stockwell, Isaac " 428 Searles, Ephraim " 496 Steinhoff Family Genealogy . . 437 Spurgin, William 65 Toms, Isaac, Family of 199 Thorold, William, Family of .. 319 Townsend, Township of — First white child born 337 First deed registered . 86 First settler ,. . 87 Tillson, George 453 Trenton, Story of the battle of.. 181 Townships organized in London District in 1805 54 Then and Now 568 TenBroek Family 527 page Tisdale Family — Genealogy of Ephraim's branch 255 " " the other branches 258 Town of Charlotteville 49 Turkey Point — As seen in 1793 40 Governor Simcoe's visit in 1795 49 Its subsequent history 49 Troyer Family Genealogy 31 Teeple " " 132 Underhill, Philip, Family of . . 103 Upper, Anthony " . . 47 Van Norman, Whiting " 309 Van NpRMAN Bros., Business of 452 Van Loon Family Genealogy . . 252 Wade, Jonathan 142 Woodroof, Hamilton 289 Wilson, Philip, Family of 195 Wyckoff Family Genealogy .... 2.32 Walker " " .... 239 Wood " " .... 247 Walsh " " .... 311 Welch, Ben. , Family of 446 Windham, Tov/nship of — The first cabin-builder 56 First wedding in township .... 84 The first storekeeper 156 Woodhouse, Township of — First white child born 2.39 First grist ground in township 375 Woodley Family Genealogy 161 Williams " (.Jonathan) . . 526 Williams " (Wynant, Esq. 531 Williams, William, Family of..* 365 Wicks, Joseph, Family of 428 Young, Peter, " 206 Youmans, Daniel 212 Yorktown, Story of the sur render of 182 YALE UNIVEHSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 02164 1999 ::*^' *¦*!