ROBERTSON
IHHDMHRKS or TOROHTO.
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AD1AN HISTORY
ETROPPUTAR
TORONTO
LIBRARY
CANADIAN HISTORY
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Gi
pa
S
I
ROBERTSON S
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO
A COLLECTION OF
HISTORICAL SKETCHES
OF TrlE OLD
TOWN OF YORK
From 1792 until 1833,
AND OF
Toronto from 1834 to 1893.
ALSO
Over Three Hundred Engravings of Old Houses, Familiar Faces and Historic
Places, with Maps and Schedules connected with the Local
History of York and Toronto.
PUBLISHED FROfl THE TORONTO "EVENING TELEGRAM.
Toronto:
J. ROSS ROBERTSON.
1894-
Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety -
four, by J. Koss ROBERTSON, at the Department of Agriculture, Ottawa.
mi~ iji UL.I i nn
Tf TO
LID^RY
CA
PREFACE.
The contents of chis volume scarcely require the commendation that as a general rule
makes up the literary prelude of all works, be they pamphlets bound in paper or encased
in more expensive covers. Whatever merit the book possesses is in the abundance of
information sought to be supplied. As a literary effort the articles will probably average
fairly well with the ordinary run of newspaper work. If the book enables the ceneral
reader to pass a pleasant hour with the memories of long ago, which cluster around
familiar faces and historic places, and is useful as a book of reference, the aim and
object of the publisher will have been fully accomplished.
" The Landmarks of Toronto " is a familiar line to readers of The. Toronto Evening
Telegram. Under that superscription during the past six years that journal has given,
as space permitted, glimpses of the hitherto unknown history of a metropolis that by an
evolution, the result of intelligence and industry, has given to the place in which we dwell
^n Importance in 1894 as the capital of a great province, which it could not claim in 1794
when it was the hunting ground of a couple of families of strolling aborigines.
One hundred years ago Chippewas in their wigwams were the only inhabitants to
welcome the first white man, who with axe in hand hewed from forest trees a primitive
log cabin on a half acre, now covered by palatial marts of business, valued in the millions.
The rise, the progress, the development and material advancement of such a place
should interest all who claim Toronto as a residence, whether as sturdy pioneers from
motherland, or as native-born descendants of those whose strong arms turned the forest
trees into homes, or, like the Egyptians of old, fashioned the clay into the conventional red
brick which to-day stands as a memorial of the early days of the closing century.
The effort of the publisher in this volume is to give a readable and reliable history of
the old houses and historic spots in the former town of York, with a glimpse at many of
the familiar forms and faces of those who have aided in upbuilding Toronto.
The period embraced covers York from 1792 until 1833, and Toronto from 1834, the
year of its incorporation as a city, down to the present year of grace.
These sketches were originally contributed by myself and by members of the staff of
The Toronto Evening Telegram, and have been prepared under my personal direction. No
effort has been spared to make each sketch accurate and trustworthy.
Since their newspaper publication each article has been carefully revised, not only bv
myself, but by those persons whose descendants were directly interested in the subject
matter of each article. With the advantage thus afforded of a perusal of family records
and other documentary material almost absolute accuracy has been secured.
It is true that the sketches are not in what may be termed chronological sequen ce,
nor are they, regarding location, in any way consecutive. This may be explained by the
fact that " The Landmarks " were written as separate and distinct articles, as each pre
sented itself to the writer, who had the assignment in hand. To have published the work
in any other form would have necessitated the preparation of each "Landmark," regard
less of numberless opportunities afforded of collecting information. Moreover, when first
published it was not contemplated that the volume now issued would occupy nearly six
hundred pages of printed matter.
The engravings given hare been reproduced from early pencil drawings, Canadian and
SEP 2 8 1982
fisn
PREFACE. iii
British lithographs, daguerreotypes, photographs and pen-and-ink sketches. Every care
has been exercised by the artists employed to faithfully preserve all the details of the
original drawings .
While very effort has been made to secure authentic information, it ia possible that
inaccuracies may have crept in. Should any such catch the eye of the reader, a notifica
tion sent to the publisher would assist the issue of an errata list during the year, a copy of
which will be sent to every subscriber.
Of this volume one thousand copies have been issued. The edition is limited to this
number.
A second volume of similar size will be issued in the coming autumn, which will also
be limited to one thousand copies.
The volume sells for one dollar and a half in paper and two dollars in cloth. To have
reproduced the work in the regulation book type would have materially increased its cost.
In fact, the entire book and engravings could not have been produced for less than ten
dollars per volume.
J. ROSS ROBERTSON.
TORONTO, May, 1894.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
C 1ST T E 3Sr T S.
CHAPTER I. PAGE
Two Famous Houses The Givins and
Castle Frank Governor Simcoe s
Residence 1
CHAPTER II.
Mackenzie s York Street Home 6
CHAPTER III.
History of Holland House The Home f
of H. J. Boulton 7
CHAPTER IV.
John Mclntosh s House 10
CHAPTER V.
History of Beverley House The Resi
dence of Chief Justice Robinson
Sometime Home of Lord Sydenham 11
CHAPTER VI.
Jordan s York Hotel A King Street
East Hostelry 13
CHAPTER VII.
First Bank in Upper Canada 15
CHAPTER VIII.
Cottage of Lieutenant Mudge His
Death and Grave 16
CHAPTER IX.
The First Brick Buildiug The Home of
Quetton St. Geort e 17
CHAPTER X.
The Gardeners Arms A Famous Yonge
Street Resort 19
CHAPTER XI.
A Queeu Street Block A Fated House 21
CHAPTER XII.
The Tecumseh Wigwam 23
CHAPTER XIII.
A Once Great Mercantile Row King
Street from George to Frederick
Streets in " The Twenties." 24
CHAPTER XIV.
College Avenue Lodge The Queen
Street Entrance 27
CHAPTER XV.
Bishop Strachan s Mansion Where the
Famous Prelate Lived and Died ... 28
CHAPTER XVI.
The Children s Friend (Jesse Ketchum). 30
CHAPTER XVII.
Universities, Old and New 34
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Old Globe Office 36
CHAPTER XIX. PAGE
A Sketch of the Grange The Home of
D Arcyand William Henry Boulton . 38
CHAPTER XX.
George Ridout s Mansion Sometime
Home of George Ridout and After
wards of the Bishop of Quebec 40
CHAPTER XXI.
Jonathan Scott s House A Reminiscence
ot Captain McGill and the Rebellion
of 1837 42
CHAPTER XXII.
Harper s Queen Street House A Dwell
ing Occupied by Many Well-known
Clergy 44
CHAPTER XXIII.
Richmond s Blacksmith Shop Queen
and Simcoe Streets 46
CHAPTER XXIV.
Andrew Mercer s Cottage An Early
Printing Office A Forged Will. . 46
CHAPTER XXV.
The Greenland Fishery A Well-known
Front Street Public House 48
CHAPTER XXVI.
Robert Beard s Hotel Church and Col-
borne Streets Early Masonic Halls
A Mysterious Murder 50
"CHAPTER xxvii.
Doel s House and Brewery More Re
miniscences of the Rebellion. . . 51
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Justice Powell s House A Famous
Judge 55
CHAPTER XXIX.
The Public Market The Pillory and the
stocks 59
CHAPTER XXX.
The Military Cemeteries 65
CHAPTER XXXI.
Forts French and English 68
CHAPTER XXXII.
Justice Campbell s Mansion ... 80
CHAPTER XXXHl.
The Checkered Store Some Well-
known Residents of Toronto 81
CHAPTER XXXIV.
The Jails of the County Many Sad
Scenes 33
CONTENTS.
C H A PTE R X XX V. PA G E
The Old Red Lion Hotel A Famous
Yorkville House William Lyon
Mackenzie s Election of 1831 88
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Berkeley House The Home of Major
Small and his Descendants 95
CHAPTER XXXVII
T. C. Capreol a residence The Kinuear
Murder and Mr. Capreol 99
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
The Bellevue Homestead The Home of
the Denisons Ill
CHAPTER XXXIX.
The Sun Tavern Further Reminiscences
of Wm. Lyon Mackenzie 113
CHAPTER XL.
The Old Blue School at York Dr.
Sirachan and other Famous Teach
ers 115
CHAPTER XL[.
A Sketch of Russell Abbey its Many
Occupants 120
CHAPTER XLII.
The First Catholic School 124
CHAPTER XLII I.
The Dixon House 126
CHAPTER XLIV.
Logan s Cottage and Garden The First
House on Church above Queen
street :. 125
CHAPTER XLV.
Home of Secretary Jarvis The Old
House on Duke and Sherbourne
Streets 128
CHAPTER XLVT.
The Smith Homestead The First Frame
House in York The Don House. . . 132
CHAPTER XL VII.
The Home District School The First
Public School in York Dr.
Strachan s First Residence 136
CHAPTER XLVIII.
The First Methodist Church Singular
Changes . 140
CHAPTER XLIX
Paul Bishop s House and Shop The
First Cab 142
CHAPTER L
Upper Canada College Famous Masters
and Scholars 144
CHAPTER LI.
The Post-offices Curious Recollections 155
CHAPTER LI .
Dr. W. \V. Baldwin s Residences Spa-
dina House and Avenue 167
CHAPTER LIII.
Alexander Wood s House First side
walk in Toronto 177
CHAPTER LIV.
A Yonge Street Corner 179
CHAPTER LV. PAGE
John Sleigh s House A Well Known
Duke Street Residence 180
CHAPTER LVI.
Freeland s Soap Factory Some Inter
esting Incidents Connected with it 1 82
CHAPTER LVII.
The Shakespeare Hotel The Actor s
Resort The Only Theatre A
Great Fire 186
CHAPTER LVIII.
Dr. Grant Powell s House Incidents
of the War of 1812 188
CHAPTER LIX.
The Scadding Homestead Henry Scad-
ding s House in Trinity Square,. . . 194
CHAPTER LX.
Mackenzie s Home in York street, ad
ditional particulars Dr. Hornby. . . 196
CHAPTER LXI.
Dr Widmer s houses An eminent Front
st resident 199
CHAPTER LXII.
John Farr s Brewerv Gore Vale and
Gore Vale Brook 201
CHAPTER LXII I.
Colborne Lodge, High Park The home
of John George Howard 204
CHAPTER LXIV.
Two old breweries Joseph Bloor and
John Severn, both of Yorkville. . . 207
CHAPTER LXV.
The Old Globe Corner second notice . . 216
CHAPTER LXV1.
The Farmers Storehouse Company. . . 218
CHAPTER LXVII.
The Jennings Church The First United
Presbyterians 219
CHAPTER LXVIII.
An early Bay Shore View 221
CHAPTER LXIX.
The McGill SquareJohn McGill
Colors of the Third York Militia . 223
CHAPTER LXX.
Thomas Mercer Jones Villa A Front
street House Afterwards the
House of Captain Strachan 22
CHAPTER LXXI.
Montgomery s Hotel The Place on
Yonge street Where the Mackenzie
Rebellion began and ended 227
CHAPTER LXXII
The Telegram Corner 239
CHAPTER LXX Ql.
The Steamer Frontenac First Steam
Vessel on Lake Ontario 243
CHAPTER LXXIV.
Cooper s Wharf 245
CHAPTER LXXV.
Hart s School 247
CHAPTER LXX VI.
Hayes BoardinglHouse A Once Popular
Resort for Members of Parliament 247
VI
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER LXXV1I. PAGE
The Customs Houses 251
CHAPTER LXXVIIJ.
Mackenzie as an Exile 261
CHAPTER LXX1X.
The McLean Homestead Formerly the
Residence of John Henry Dunn and
his son, the Famous Soldier 264
CHAPTER LXXX.
Bank of Upper Canada 268
CHAPTER LXXXI.
Donald Macdonald s House 271
CHAP PER LXXXIL
Wreck of the Monarch 271
CHAPTER LXXXIII.
ork House The Home of Judge
Hagerman and Lieutenant-Governor
Crawford 274
CHAPTER LXXXI 7.
A Once Popular Hotel The Ontario
House The Wellington Hotel. ... 274
CHAPTER LXXXV.
Old St. Andrew s Church 279
CHAPTER LXXXVI.
The Ridout Homestead 280
CHAPTER LXXXVII.
The York Militia 232
CHAPTER LXXXVIII.
Canada s Defenders Some Well-known
Names 285
CHAPTER LXXXIX.
Marvville Lodge The Home of Hon.
D. W. Smith 286
CHAPTER XC.
The City Hall 290
CHAPTER XCI.
The Bond-had Inn 292
CHAPTER XCI 1.
St. Patrick s Market 292
CHAPTER XCIII.
Miss Hussey s School 294
CHAPTER XCIV.
The Toronto Academy 295
CHAPTER XCV.
The Bostwick House 296
CHAPTER XCVI.
Elmsley Villa, Sometime Residence of
Lord Elc-ia 296
CHAPTER XCVII.
The Bank of British North America 299
CHAPTER XCVIII.
The Harris Shinplasters 301
CHAPTER XCiX.
Major Hillier s Cottage .303
CHAPTER C.
An Early Methodist Church Adelaide
and Toronto streets. 303
CHAPTER CI.
Elmsley House Where Now Stands
Government House 304
CHAPTER CII.
The American Hotel 306
CHAPTER CIII. PAGE
An Old Picture View of York 306
CHAPTER CIV.
A Directory of 1815 308
CHAPTER CV.
Early Days of York Biographical
Sketches 310
CHAPTER CVI.
The Court Houses 319
CHAPTER CVII.
The Railroad Stations 326
CHAPTER CVIII.
The Dennis Cottage Afterwards the
Ridout Warehouse, now the Cunard
Office 328
CHAPTER CIX.
TheCity In 1846 329
CHAPTER CX.
A West Market Street Block 332
CHAPTER CXI.
An Old Tar Michael Masterson 334
CHAPTER CXII.
The Waterloo Buildings Stone, Mac
donald s and Ellah s Hotels 335
CHAPTER CXIII.
Land Grants in York and Toronto from
1796 to 1861 337
CHAPTER CXiV.
Houses of Parliament 351
CHAPTER CXV.
Yorkjs First Stone Honse 359
CHAPTER CXVI.
King Street East in 1846 360
CHAPTER CXVII.
The British Coffee House, where now
stands the Rossin House 362
CHAPTER CXVIII.
George Monro s House Afterwards The
Black Horse Hotel 364
CHAPTER CXIX.
The British America Assurance Com
pany 366
CHAPTER CXX.
Assessment Roll of tha Town of York in
1833 367
CHAPTER CXXI.
The Lawn The Home of the Drapers. 377
CHAPTER CXXII.
The Central School 378
CHAPTER CXXIII.
The Coffin Block, now Gooderham s Cor
ner 380
CHAPTER CXXIV.
Two Plana of the Town 384
CHAPTER CXXV.
Caleb Humphrey s House Afterwards
Garside s Hotel 390
CHAPTER CXXV I.
Bank of Montreal 391
CHAPTER CXXVII.
The Crown Inn Afterwards a Newspa
per office 393
CONTENTS.
vu
CHAPTER CXXVIII. PAGE
Osgoode Hall 393
CHAPTER CXXIX.
Dr. Thomas Stoyell s House 397
CHAPTER CXXX.
The Mechanics Institute Now the Pub
lic Free Library 398
CHAPTER CXXXI.
The University Door 400
CHAPTER CXXXJL
The Assessment Rolls of the City for
1834 401
CHAPTER CXXXII1.
The Mills on the Upper Don Terry s
Mills and Helliwell s Brewery 427
CffAPTERCXXXIV.
Bishop Macdonnell s House 430
CHAPTER CXXXV.
A Celebrated Case The Mercer Will. .. 433
CHAPTER CXXXVI.
The MacNab Homestead 433
CHAPTER CXXXVII.
Dr Teller s House 437
CHAPTER CXXXVIII.
John Thomson s House 438
CHAPTER CXXXIX.
King and Bay Street Corner 439
CHAPTER CXL.
North-west Corner of King and Bay
Street 440
CHAPTER CXLI.
The Observatory 441
CHAPTER CXLII.
A Popular Bath House 442
CHAPTER CXLIII.
A Church Street Building 444
CHAPTER CXLIV.
An Adelaide Street Building 445
CHAPTER CXLV.
Abner Miles Store 445
CHAPTER CXLVI.
Simon Washburn a House Duke and
George Streets. 454
CHAPTER CXLVII.
Mathew Walton s House Afterwards
the Cavan Arms 455
CHAPTER CXLVIII.
Colin Drummond s House 457
CHAPTER CXLIX
The Black Bull Hotel 457
CHAPTER CL.
A Peter Street Residence The Home of
Robert Stanton 459
CHAPTER CLI.
Houses of Sir Francis Hincks 459
CHAPTER CL1I.
A Richmond Street Dwelling The Home
of Dr. Mewburn and Lawyer Turner 462
CHAPTER CLIII.
The Market Lane School 464
CHAPTER CLIV.
Crispin s Tavern 464
CHAPTER CLV. PAGE
Children s Hospitals 465
CHAPTER CLVL
John Hutchinson s House 468
CHAPTER, CLVII.
Alexander Legge s Building 469
CHAPTER CLV11L
John Beikie s Dwelling 469
CHAPTER CLIX.
The Macdonell House 470
CHAPTER CLX.
Joseph Bloor s House 476
CHAPTER CLX1.
Governor Simcoe s Carriage 477
CHAPTER CLXII.
A House of Two Doctors, Drs. Diehl and
King 477
CHAPTER CLXIII.
The Theatres of the Town 478
CHAPTER CLXIV.
A King Street View 491
CHAPTER CLXV.
Chancellor Jameson s House 492
CHAPTER CLXVI
The First Brewery of York 495
CHAPTER CLXVII.
The Queen s Wharf 495
CHAPTER CLXVIII
An Old Time Assembly Frank s Ho
tel ." 498
CHAPTER CLXIX.
St. Paul s Church, Bloor street 500
CHAPTER CLXX.
Church and Cathedral The History of
St. James 501
CHAPTER CLXXI.
Knox Church Buildings First Presby
terian Church in Toronto 510
CHAPTER uLXXri.
The First Municipal Election 511
CHAPTER CLXXIII.
Two Duke Street Mansions 513
CHAPTER CLXXIV.
An Old Corner King and George
streets 514
CHAPTER CLXXV.
A View on the Humber 515
CHAPTER CLXXVI.
An Early Wholesale House, Gamble &
Birchall 516
CHAPTER CLXXVIL
Street Nomenclature 516
CHAPTER CLXXVIII.
Fifty Years Ago Changes and Improve
ments 528
CHAPTER CXXXIX.
John Bishop s Block 529
CHAPTER CLXXX.
A Poplar Plains House The Residence
of J. S. Howard 531
CHAPTER CLXXXI.
The Man-of-war Cherokee 533
Vlll
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER CLXXXII. PAGE
An Old Law Office 533
CHAPTER CLXXXIII.
Sleepy Hollow The Home of John
Beverley Robinson 535
CHAPTER CLXXXIV.
An Old Foundry Cheney s 537
CHA PTER CLXXXV.
John Dugtran s House 538
CHAPTER CLXXXVI.
The General Hospital 538
CHAPTER CLXXXVIL
An East King Street Building Mrs.
Loders 540
CHAPTER CLXXXVIII.
House of the Duke of Kent Oak Hill
The J^haw Residence.. . 541
CHAPTE R CLXXXIX. PAGE
The Cawthra Houses . 543
CHAPTER CXC.
An Old Military Order Book. . 244
CHAPTER CXC1.
The Leslie Stores 553
CHAPTER CXCII.
Charles March s Shop 555
CHAPTER CXCIII.
The British Wesleyan Chapel. . . . 556
CHAPTER CXCIV.
The Rosedale Homestead House of
J. E. Small and the Jarvis Family.. 556
CHAPTER CXCV.
Moss Park Residence of Colonel and
The Hon. G. W. Allan. . . . .559
PAGE
Toronto Harbor 1793. Frontispiece
York in 1803. Frontispiece
Castle Frank. Frontispiece
Givins House (two views) opp.
Givins Library
Castle Frank . ,
Simcoe, Governor
Mackenzie s House 7
Holland House Front View 8
Holland House Garden View 9
Judntosh s,5John, House 11
Beverley House 12
Jordan s Hotel, King Street East 14
Bank, An Old 16
Mudge s, Lieutenant, Cottage and Grave 17
York s First Brick Building 18
Bird s Tavern 20
Queen st west, James to Terauley st. opp. 21
Gardeners Arms 22
Tecumseh Wigwam 23
College Avenue Lodge 28
Strachan s, Bishop, Mansion 29
Ketchum s, Jesse, House 31
University, The Old 34
University, The New , 35
Globe Office, Old 37
Grange, The cpp 38
Ridout s Mansion in 1820 40
" 1887 41
Scott s, Jonathan, House 43
Harper s, John, House 45
Richmond s Blacksmith Shop 47
Mercer Cottage PP- 47
Greenland Fisheries 49
Beard s Hotel 51
Doel Homestead and John Doel 52
Doel Brewery 53
" * and Homestead, another view 54
Powell s, Justice, House 60
Markets in York, The First five Views. 63
St. Lawrence Hall PP- 65
Cemetery Tombstones 66
Cemetery West of Garrison 67
Old Fort from Lake 69
Remains of opp. 69
Entrance to, 1796-1812. 71
Battery, South Side of 73
Officers Quarters, 1816 75
Bloci< House, 1888 77
West Entrance 78
East Entrance 79
Campbell Mansion opp 81 |
Checkered Store 81
Quebec Bank (two illustrations) 82
PAGE
York Jail, 1800-24 ...-. 84
Jail, North-east Corner King and Yonge
streets 85
Graves of Patriots 86
Jail, 1858-1894 87
Jail, 1840-1860 opp. 87
Red Lion Hotel 89
Ball and Public Room, Red Lion 90
Bar-room, Red Lion 91
View from Yard of Red Lion 93
Mackenzie Medal 94
Berkeley House 96
CapreoPs Auction Rooms 100
Capreol s House, Wellington street 102
Capreol, F. C 103
Capreol s, F. C , Residence, Clarence
square 104
Capreol, F.C., at Mr. Ogilvie s Window 107
Northern Engine, First 109
Railway Time Table, First opp. 109
Railway Ticket, First 109
Denisou House 112
Sun Tavern 114
I lue School at York 117
Russell Abbey 1 22
Russell, President opp. 1 22
Catholic School, First 125
Logan s Cottage and Garden 127
Secretary Jarvis, Home of Mr 130
Bishop, "Paul, Houses Built by 131
Smith Homestead, First opp. 132
Smith s Don House 133
Smith Homestead, corner King and
Sherbourne streets 135
Smith Homestead, King street east .... 137
Methodist Church, First 139
Bishop s Shop, Duke street 141
Bishop s Shop, south side Duke street. . 143
Seaton, Lord 145
U. C. College 146
" ""remodelled 149
" " Deer Park Buildings, .opp. 154
Post Office, First . , 156
Second 158
Third 159
Fourth 161
Fifth 162
Sixth 164
Seventh 165
Eighth and Present One.. .*. 166
Baldwin Residence, Early 168
Spadina House 170
" " Built Dec., 1836 172
Glen Cottage 174
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Baldwin House, Front street 176
Woods House 178
Yonge and Gould sts., Corner 180
Sleigh s, John, House 181
Freeland s Factory 184
Shakespeare Hotel 187
Powell s, Dr. , House 190
Powell s Burial Ground 192
Scauding House 195
Trinity square, No. 10 196
Mackenzie and Hornby Houses 198
Widmer s, Dr., House 200
Farr s Brewery 202
Farr s Brewery, second view 203
Howard, Mr. J. G 204
Colborne Lodge . 206
Howard Cairn 209
Severn s Brewery 212
Bloor s Brewery 214
Old Globe Office 217
Jennings Church 220
Old Fish Market, (two views) 222
McGill Residence 224
Mercer Jones Villa 226
Moodie.Col., Death of J. Montgomery 228
Anderson, Thomas 229
Sheppard, Thomas 230
Patriot Defeat 231
Anderson, J 234
Execution of Louut and Matthews 236
Telegram Corner, 1893, opp. 238
French & Wyman s Chair Factory 240
King and Bay Streets, 1846, S. W. cor. . 242
Steamboat Frontenac 244
Cooper s Wharf 246
Hart s School House 248
Haves Boarding-house 250
Custom House, First 252
Allan s Wharf Second Custom House. . 254
Columbus Shop and Third Custom House,
(two plates) 255
ColumbusShop and Fourth Custom House 256
Custom House, Fifth . . 257
Seventh 258
" " Sixth 259
" " Eighth 260
Rebellion, 1837, Lieut. -Governor s Pro-
lamation PP- 261
Mackenzie Cartoons 262
" Promissory Note 263
M cLean Homestead 266
Upper Canada, Bank of 269
McDonald House PP- 270
Monarch, Wreck of 272
York House 273
Ontario House, Old 275
Windmill, Old 277
St. Andrew s Chu: ch 279
Ridout Homestead opp 280
Ridout House Next 281
Maryville Lodge 287
York Harbor and Country, Map of 288
PAGE
York, 1794, Map of 289
City Hall, 1851 291
Bond Head Inn . 292
St. Patrick s Market 293
" " " 1893 opp. 294
Hussey s, Miss, School 294
Toronto Academy 295
Bostwick House 296
British North America, Bank of 268
Harris Shinplasters 300
Ryerson, Egerton 302
Hillier s Cottage 303
Methodist Church Adelaide street 304
Elmsley House 305
American Hotel 308
Toronto in 1828 opp. 308
Court House, Richmond street 320
Court House, 1837 321
Court House, 1894 322
Grand Trunk Depot, Old
Dennis House 329
West Market st 332
Masterson Cottage 334
Waterloo Buildings 336
Parliament House 1797-1813, First 351
" " Another view
opp. 35%
Parliament House 1818-24 353
House of Assembly, Proposed Plan, opp 354
" " " opp. 354
Parliament Buildings in the Forties 355
" " 1892 357
Kingston House 359
King st E 1845 6 opp. 360
" 1846 Two views opp. 360
King st, South Side two views .... opp. 360
Coffee House King st W 363
Monro s, George, House 365
Assurance, B. A. , Company, 366
Draper Residence, 1 he Lawn 377
School, Central 379
Coffin Block 381
South Side 382
North Side 383
York Harbor 1797 opp. 384
Toronto Harbour, Plan of 385
Humphrey s, Caleb, House 390
Bank of Montreal 392
Mirror Printing Office ... 394
Osgoode Hall 396
Stoyell s, Dr., House 397
Library, Public 399
University Door 400
Brewery on Don, 1820 427
Eastwood s, J., House 428
Helliwell House 429
Macdonell s, Bishop, House 431
Mercer s, Andrew, Will 434
MacNab, Sir A. N., Residence of 436
Telfer s, Dr., House 438
Thomson s, John, House 439
Cor. King and Bay sts., 1850 440
ILLUSTRATIONS.
XI
PAGE
Toronto Observatory 442
Blue s Bath House, Lamb s Hotel 443
Church st. Candy Shop -44
Auction Room, Adelaide st 445
Washburn s, Simon, House 455
Cavan Arms 456
Drummond s, Colin, House 457
Black Bull Hotel 458
Stanton House 460
Hincks , Francis, House 461
Hincks , Francis, First House 462
Turner House 463
Market Lane School opp. 464
Crispin s Hotel 465
Hospital, Second 466
Third 467
Fourth 468
HutcMnson s, J., House 469
Legg s, Alex., House 469
Beikie s, John, House 470
iMacdonell House 474
Bloor s, John, House 476
Simcoe s, Governor, House 477
King s, Dr., House 478
Theatre, First 478
Second 479
Third 481
Fourth 483
Fifth 484
Sixth 485
Seventh 486
Eighth . , 487
Ninth., . 488
PAGE
Theatre, Tenth 490
King st., Toronto, 1836 opp. 492
Jameson s, Chancellor, House 493
York s First Brewery . 495
Queen s Wharf 497
St. Paul s Church, 1841 499
" " 1861 5UO
Cathedral, First, (two views) 502
Second 503
" St. James 507
" Fourth 509
Knox Church 511
Knox Church, Second 512
Cameron s, M. C., Residence 513
S. E. cor. Kin^ and George streets 514
Hum ber Mills 515
Gamble & Birchall s Store 516
Bishop s, Paul, Block 530
Olive Grove 53E
Cherokee, The... 534
Robinson s, Attorney General, Office . . 535
Robinson s, John B. , House 536
Cheney s Foundry 537
Duggan s, J. , House 538
Hospital, Old 539
Hospital, Plan of Old 540
Loder s, Mrs. , Tavern 541
Shaw House, Oak Hill (two views). . . . 542
Lesslie & Sons Stores . = 554
March s Paint Shop 556
British Wesleyan Chapel 257
Rosedale Homestead 558
Moss Park . . 560
A. PAGE
Allan, G. W 561
Allan, William 251,366,559
Albion, Wreck of, Loss of Miss Powell . . 58
American Hotel, proprietors of 306
Anderson, Thos 227,533
Accident at Political Meeting in City
Hall, 1834 62
Arthur, Geo. Sir 378
Aylmer, Captain 476
B.
Baby Raymond 173
Bagot. Chas. Sir 34
Bain, James 289
Ball Celebrated, 1848 498
Ball in York, Fancy Dress, 1827.. 171, 193,333
Barclay, John Rev 241,278
Baldwin, Robert 169,543
Baldwin, W. \V 124, 167
Bank of Montreal, First Directors of . . . 391
Bank of Upper Canada 15,17
Bank of Upper Canada, Directors of. . . 270
Black Bull Tavern, Tenants of 459
Brant. Joseph 389
Branding a Convict - 56,62
Bard, Joseph 393
Beard, Robert 50
Berthon, M 395
Beikie, John 469
Breckenridge, Mrs. . . . . . 469
Birchall, T. W 366
Bishop, John 529 !
Bishop, Paul 142
Bouchette, Joseph 387
Bond, William 280
Bostwick, L 296
Boyd s Academy 241
Boulton, Att. -General 358, 436
Boulton, D Arcy 11-38, 294
Boulton, Henry John 8, 323
Boulton, Judge 8, 38
Boulton Library 39
Bloor, Joseph 211, 476
Borland, Alex 179
Brock, General Sir I 173, 189, 285, 542
Brown, Geo 216, 359
Brown s Wharf 185
Blue, Angus 444
Blue School and Dr. Strachan 118
Blue School, Pupils of 118
C.
Canada Company s Office 15
" Canada, Steamer 328
Canadian Institute ... 201
Canadian Punch 99
PAGE
Capreol, F. C 99, 111
Cameron, M. C 513
Campbell, Lieut 352
Campbell, William, Sir 80
Campbell, William 130
Cawthra, John 543
Chauncey, Commodore 191
Clarke, John 201
Craig, John 336
Crawford, John ... 391
1 Celebrated Ball, 1814 ". . . . . ." 493
j Checkered Store, Occupants of 80, 83
Chewitt, WiLiam. 352
Children s Hospitals, Officials of . . , 465, 468
Chisholm, William 238
City Theatre 325
Crimean War, Incident of 38
Crispin, Richard 454
Coates, Richard , 468
Colborne,John, Sir 66,144, 356, 464,533, 557
Collier, Thos 459
Columbus, Isaac 142
Cooper, William 245
Crookshanlr, Geo 268,299
Curiae Ganadensis 463
D.
Daly, Chas 461
Daily Telegraph ... 241
Day Cook of Abner Miles 441-450
Draper, Major 378
Draper, William Henry 377,534
Desjardins Canal Accident 50
Denison, F. C 112
Denison, G. T. 1st 111-113
Denison, G. T. 2nd Ill
Denison, G.T. 3rd HI
Denison, John 5, 111, 113, 177
Denison, R. L 112
Dennis, John 239, 328
Dent, Chas. J 386-
Diehl, Dr. 201, 477
Directory of 1815 208
Dixon. Alex 126
Dixon,B. Homer . . 306
Doel, John 51
Doel, W. H . . 51
Dorchester, Lord 384
Don Bridge, attempt to burn :.-.. 533
Drummond, Colin 457
Duel, John Small and John White. .97, 129
Duggan, Geo 136, 323 514
Duggan, John 538
Dunn, A. R. , Colonel 264
Dunn, John Henry 264
GENERAL INDEX.
Xlll
Durham, Lord.
PAGE
. 461
E
Eastwood, John 427
Elian, John 336, 362
Ewart a Wharf 185
Eltnaley, Chief Justice ... 304
Elmaley, John 296
Elliot, James 333
El 2 in, Lord 298, 378
F.
Fancy Dress Ball in York, 1827. . 171,193,333
Farr, Jas 219
F*nton, John 378, 464
Fletcher, Silas 219
Free Library Board 399
Freeland, Peter 182
First Masters U,C. College 148
First Catholic School, Pupils of .... 124, 126 j
First Directors Bank of Montreal 391 |
First Public Market 61
First Railroad Excursion from Toronto . 103
Fit at Railroad from Toronto 102
Fisher. Thos 515
Fitz-Gibbon, Colonel , 238, 282
G.
Gait, John 333
Gamble, Clarke 48, 119, 366.. 515
Gardeners Arms, Tenants of 19
Gardner, E. W 329
Grasett, H. J., Rev 510
Glen Cottage Poets 175
Glengarry Fencibles 2
Givina, Cecil 1,5
Givins, James : 1,5
Givins, Robt. C 2, 3
Gibson, David 229
Gibson, Wm 227, 238
Gore, Francis Sir 59, 328
Gurnett, Geo 290, 393
H.
Hagarty, Chief Justice 274
Hagerman, Alex 274
Hagernian, Solicitor General 358
Hamilton, Robt 377
Harbottle, Captain 533
Harper, John 44
Harris, T. D 138, 142, 301
Harris, W. R 142
Hart s School, Pupils of 247
Haunted House 132
Hayes, John 248
Head, Edmund \V., Sir 306, 358
Head, Francis, Sir 55, 230, 261, 278, 282, 292
Heffernan, Dennis 124
Helliwell, Thos 429
Helliwell, William 249, 380, 429
Heward, Major 324
Hillier, Major 303
Hincks, Francis 177, 459
Home District School, First Pupils of 24,136
Home, R. C., Dr 237
PAGE
" Horseboat " The 245
Horwood, Geo. C 276
House of Assembly, Walsh s Plans for ... 354
Howard, A, McLean 155
Howard, J. G 186. 201, 204, 278
Howard, J. S 155, 531
Howard, Ulick 221
Rowland, William P 219
Heddy, Joshua, Execution of 112
Hudson, Joseph, Rev 44
Humphrey, Caleb 390
Hunter, Peter, Governor 61
Hussey, Elizabeth, Miss 294
Hussey, Elizabeth, Miss, Pupils of .... 295
Hutchinson, John 468
I.
Indian Council 56
Inelis, Russell 276
J-
Jameson, Anne, Mrs 492
Jameson, Chancellor 492
Jarvis, F. S 557
J arvis, Sam Peters 129, 210, 557
Jarvis, Stephen 128, 238, 557
Jarvis, William,- 128
Jarvis, W. B 557
Jennings, Bernard 220
Jennings, John 219
Jennings, Robert; 220
Jennings, Wm 220
Jones, Augustus 390
Jones, Thos Mercer 226, 299
Joseph, Frank 274
K.
Kent, Duke of 128, 473, 541
Ketchum, Brothers The 30, 34
Ketchum, Jesse 30, 32, 34
Kildonan Settlement 57
King, John 477
Kinuear Murder 105
King Street Fires 1841 and 1843.. ..144 186
King Street, Residents of in 1836 491
King Street, Residents of in 1846 360
Knott, W r m : 439
Knox Church, Adherents of 279
Knox Church, Ministers of 511
L.
Latham, Jacob 513
Leach, W. T., Rev 243, 278
Lee, Dr 354
Lefroy, J.H., Captain 441
Legge, Alex. 468
Lesslie Brothers 553, 555
Library, Free, Board 399
Lieutenants of Counties 48
Lindsey, Chas 232
Lippincott, Richard 112
Loder, Mrs 540
Logan, John 127
Lome, "Marquis 210
Lount and Matthews, Death of 85
Lount, Samuel 232
XIV
GENERAL 1MDEX.
M PAGE
Macaulay, James 296, 359
Macdonald, John A 359
Macdonell, Alex 470
Macdonell, A. C 544
Macdonnell, Bishop 297, 430
Macdonnell, D. John, Rev 280
Macdonnell, .lohn 431
Mackenzie, Wm. L 6, 42, 53, 173,
196, 230, 261, 358.
Mackenzie, Wm. L. , Commissions issu
ed by him 264
Mackenzie, Wm. L. , Expulsion from
House of Assembly 113
Marsh Chas 555
Maitland, Peregrine Sir 210, 251, 533
Maitland s wharf 185
Marks, Grace 110
Market Lane, School Masters and Pupils
of 464
Masters of U.C. College, 1830-93. ..151, 155
Masterson, Michael 334
Matthews and Lount, death of 85
Mechanics Institute, First Office
bearers 398
Meikle, Miss 205
Mercer, Andrew 46, 433
Mercer, Will Case 48, 433
Medcalf, Chas. Sir 377
Meudell, F 257
Military Cemeteries, Those Interred
There 66
Miles, Abner 445
Milligan, G. W. Rev 280
Molsoii s Bank 544
Montgomery, John 219, 232
Monro, Geo 299, 364
Monro, John 364
Moody, Colonel 227
Morris, Wm 278
Morrison, John 366
Mudge, Z 17
Murray, Alex 182
Mysterious Murder 50
Me.
McBeth, Geo 251
McCutcheon, Peter 180
McDermott, Jas 110
McDonald, Donald 271
McGill, John, Captain 44, 223
Mclntosh Brothers 10, 113
Mclntosh, John 10
McKenzie, Jas 243
McLean Family 267
M cLean, Judge 265
McM aster, W. M., Captain 243
McNab, Allan 233, 433
N.
Newbigging, Jas 299
Newburn, Thos 462
Nolan Murder 480
Nominations for Office in Rebellion
Times Burlesqued 52
0. PAGE
Ontario House, Proprietors of 276
Ontario Lake.Steamers on.in 1829 1888.26,27
O Connor, Wm 529
Old Order Changes, The 98
Osborne, Wm 216
Osgoode, William 305, 395
Ox roasting, whole, at Queen s corona
tion 183
P.
Parish Stocks 325
Patterson, Peter 366
Patton, James 199
Patton, Major 196
Playter, Eli 219
Play ter, Emanuel 427
Playter, George 219
Pearson, Joseph 219
Perry, Peter , 459
Philips, Thomas, Revd 120, 359
Pillory and Stocks 62
Prices in Toronto 1799 61
Prices in York 1819 179
Port, George W 219
Post, Jordan 14
Postoffices, Toronto, Masters and Box-
holders 155, 157. 167
Postage rate 1842 160
Potters Field 253
Powell, Grant 188
Powell, W. D 55, 323
Powell Grave Yard .193
Proudfoot, Alex 463
Proudfoot s store 25
Proudfoot, William 180
Public Chastisement, A 62
Pupils of Hart d School 247
Q.
Queen s Coronation, Ox Roasted Whole 183
Queen s Wharf, Owners andLesseesof 495,498
R.
Raddish, Thomas 393
Read, D. B 304
Rebellion of 1837 232
Rebellion, Eve of 55
Rebellion, Incident of 42
Rebellion Times. Nominations for Office
Burlesqued 52
Red River Insurrection 56
Red River Insurrection, Trial of Con
spirators 56, 324
Richie, John 325
Ridout, Geo 40
Ridout, Geo. Percival 559
Ridoui, John, Death of 129
Ridout, Thos. Gibbs 189, 281
Ridout, Percival 211, 366
Rintoul, Rev. \V 278
Roaf, Rev 529
Robertson, J. Ross, and U. C. College. . 153
Kobinson, Sir John Bererley . .
11, 13, 356, 377, 533
Robinson, Hon. J ohn Beverley 535
GENERAL INDEX.
xv
PAGE
Robinson, Peter 207
Rolph.Dr WJ
Rose, John 21,
Rosedale House Celebrated Ball. . . . 5o9
Rowan, Wm
Russsll, Peter 120,
Russell, Peter, Death of 123
Ryerson, Egerton, Rev 302
S.
Savage, Geo 336
Scadding s Bridge .
Scadding, H., Rev 85 134, 195, 388
Scadding, John 134, 199
Shank, Colonel 542
Shaw, General 541
Shaw, Sophia, Miss 542
Slavery in Canada 129
Small Brothers, The
Small, Chas 97
Small, John 95, 290, 556
Small, John E 556
Spragge, J. G 380
Stanton, Robt 256. 459
Strachan, James 179
Strachan, John, Bishop. 28, 30,297,501, 510
,Strachan, J. McGill 226
Scarboro and Etobicoke, Inhabitants of 310
St. Andrew s Church, Adherents of 279
St. Andrew s Church, Trustees of 278
St. George, Quetton 19, 289
St. James Church, Congregations of
1803-90 501-510
St. James Church, History of 501-510
St. Lawrence Market 64
St. Patricks Market, Tenants of 94
St. Paul s Church, Rectors of 500
Selkirk, Earl of 57
Severn, John 211, 215
Seymour, Mrs 193
Sheaffe, General 286
Sheppard, Thos 229
Shepard, Joseph 219
Sherwood, Henry 173, 297
Sherwood, Samuel 185
Sleigh, John 180
Skinner, Colin 427
Skinner, Isaiah 427
" Speedy," Wreck of 319
Steamers on Lake Ontario in 1829-1888. 26,27
Stegman, John 286
Steward, Wm 255
Stewart, Chas. J 40, 207
.Street Nomenclature 515-528
Silverthorne, Aaron J 219
Silverton, J 219
Simcoe, J. G .Governor. . 2, 44 65, 225, 388
Simcoe s First; Visit to York 94
. Simcoe, J. R. , Captain 395
Sinclair Captain 271
.Smith D. W 286
Smith, James E 257
PAGE
Smith, William 132
Scott Jonathan 42
Scott, Thos. C 257
"Spoon Bill" of 1816 59
Stone, J 335
Stoufer, Abram 219
Stoyell, Thomas. , Dr 397
Smuggling, Extraordinary 253
Stuart, Geo. D., Killed 245
" Sugar John 444
T.
Talbot, Thos. , Colonel 249
Taylor, C. C 163
Telfer, Walter 437
Tenants of " Red Lion," Yorkville 94
Terry, Parshall 427
Tier*. Daniel 88, 95
Tinning, Rich 183
Tinning s Wharf 185
Theatre, City 325
Thomas, W illiam 219
Thomson, E. W 94, 238
Thomson, James 380
Thomson, John 438
Thomson, Poulett Diary of 13
Toronto Academy, Masters and Pupils of 295
Toronto Assessment Rolls. ..367, 401, 426
Toronto Churches in 1836 304
Toronto First Brewery and its occu
pants 495
Toronto First Municipal Election 511
Toronto Fort and its History 68, 80
Toronto First Cab , 142
Toronto General Hospital, old and pres
ent buildings 540
Toronto P. O., Masters and Box-
holders 155, 157, 167
Toronto Theatres, Managers and
Actors 478, 490
Toronto Semi-Centennial 387
Toronto in 1843 529
Toronto in 1846 329
Townsend Gang 23
Town of York Officers of 1799 397
Troops in Toronto During Century .... 80
Tully, Kivas 257
Turney, Stephen 188
U.
Upper Canada College, First Masters of 148
University of Toronto, Inauguration of 34
University of Toronto, Destruction of . . 36
W.
Walmsley, Thos 239
War of 1812 286
War of 1812, Orders Issued During. 544,553
Walton, Geo 363
Walton, Geo. Directory for 1833 379
Walton, Mathew 455
Washburn, Simon 454
Wedding, Singular 50
Weekes Duel 318
Weakes VVm... : 177
XVI
GENERAL INDEX
PAGE
Wreck of the Albion, Loss of Miss Powell 58
Weller, William 381
Wells. Colonel 28
Widmer, Christopher 199
Willis, Mary, Lady 334
Wintersfceen, Jacob 219
Whittemore, F 81,83
Whittemore, F. E 83
Wright, Ewd, one of Toronto s first
Aldermen 48
Wood, Alex 177
Wood s Warehouse, Goods Sold There. . 25
Y.
Yeo, James, Sir 436
PAGE
Yonge street Wharf, original stock
holders of 182
York, Inhabitants of 1805 312
York, Pioneer s Recollections of 26
York, Siege of 223
York and Toronto Land Grants 337, 350
York Town Officials, 1799 397
York, Marriage Licenses in 1806 256
York, Militia Officers of 1847 283
York, Wesleyan Preachers in 1833 289
Yorkviile ..." 213
Z.
Zimmerman, Samuel, Death of 50
PR
s
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
Sketches of Old Houses and Places of Interest from 1792-1890,
CHAPTER I.
TWO FAMOUS HOUSES.
The tlivln Homestead Who Built Them
and the Probable Date Interesting His
torical Reminiscences.
On Queen street west, where the wall of
the Asylum grounds stretches out on either
tnud in seemingly interminable lines of
yellow brick, a street, not very long and
not very wide, runs to the northward. An
inscription iu white letters, sta ding out
from a little blaek board on the corner
blacksmith shop announces that it is Givens
street. On either side are rows of smart,
modern bouses, with the reddest of bricks,
the greenest of window blinds, and the
brightest of stained glass transoms. In the
partially paved roadway chickens and spar
rows dispute the possession of whatever bird
edibles may be found.
Here stands in this year of grac , 1888, at
tfee top of the street just named, the oldest
house in the ci y, known as the " Givina
Homestead." It is interesting both from its
age and the history of its successive occu
pant?. Coining near one is struck with the
MT of tranquillity about the old place. Not
t sign of life is manifested save the ceaseless
twitter of birds ; the wind goes moaning
imong the shrubs ; the pines, black with
age, bury the dwelling in shadows, and |
gaunt acacias, with bare limbs, stand like j
lonely motionless sentinels before the door. |
The bright newness of the surrounding j
modern houses, the well-kept lawns, and |
tbe many colored flower beds seem to I
lout the weather-stained walls and grave
tarest trees.
A crescent ahaped pathway leads to the
Front door, with on either side a giant locust
tree, each planted by Colonel James Givins,
the builder of the house, some time before
its erection, probably between 1793 and the
close of the century. Beds of lilies of the
valley and myrtle plants, beloved by our
grandmothers, flank the path. Noticeable
is the substantial manner in which the
house was built. The masonry of the foun
dation is in perfect preservation ; it is said
that the stou for it was brought from Ham
ilton. Snch has been the care taken w th
the building that it is still a comfortable
residence.
THE EXACT DATE OF ITS BUILDING
is probably lost forever. Robert C. Givins.
of Chicago, grandson of Col. Givins, thinks
that the locust trees in front of the house
were planted about 1790, and he would fij
nearly the same time for the erection of the
building, but it is extremely doubtful if Col.
Givins visited Toronto at so early a period.
John Charles Dent puts the date at 1797
or 1798. Still, in view of the fact thai
Col. Givins bought the land front 1
Colonel Joseph Bouchette, a French-
Canadian, devoted to the English cause,
in 1802, as the records in the chj
registrar s office show, it would seem un
likely that the house was built before that
year. There were twenty-eight of these
lots, of which Col. Givins obtained one ;
they were known as the park lots, and con
sisted of one hundred acres each. The ac
companying illustration gives a front view
of the house as it now appears . Entering
the front door the visitor steps into a hall
from which all the rooms open. In the
apartment to the left is Col. Givins desk,
and numerous pieces of old furniture. What
formerly was the dining room is now trans
formed into the drawing room, and it is
here that much of intere t is to be found.
Perhaps a description of the artist s sketch
will convey the clearest idea of the apart
ment, its occupants and decorations. On
the floor is a carpet put down many yean
ago, but still in an excellent state of pre
servation. Beneath it blood stains, plainly
visible in the wood, are the result of Indian
battles and of the war of 1812, when the
wounded came to Mrs. Givins to ask
the exercise of her surgical skill. The
big fireplace, where big logs for
merly blazed, has been modernized.
IN AN EASY CHAIR AT THE LEFT
of it with her favorite cat and dog near by,
sits Miss Cecil Givins, a daughter of Col.
Givins, a life-long resident of the old home
stead, and a lady now in her eighty-seventh
year. Miss Givios was long a great belie
in Government and military circles, both
here and in the older settlements. Now
although only left by time the memory of
her social triumphs, her face and manner
still preserve the grace and beauty of youth
to a remarkable degree. Many are ik*
reminiscences that she loves to linger over.
LANDMARKS OP TORONTO.
Major-General Sir Isaac Brock and Chief
Joseph Brant hare danced her on their
knees when she was not yet in hei teens.
RESTING ON AN OTTOMAN
00* sees in the illustration the sword of
Colonel Givins, which h wore on April
2?h, 1813. On that day an American fleet
of fourteen vessels appeared before York,
and effected a landing about two miles west
from Church street. Colonel Givins placed
himself at the head of a force of sixty Glen
garry Fencibles and a few Indians, and
made a determined resistance to the land-
American artillery. Such is the historical
interest attached to the old sword. Many
other curious articles are scattered about
this apartment, including some fine speci
mens of ivory carving tent home from th
east by Dr. George, a table over 200 ye*rs
old, and a piece of the wood of the Royal
George, the famous man-of-war.
A few words must be said now about the
buildar of the house specially. On Novem
ber llth, 1791, Lieutenant General John
Graves Simcoe, first Governor of Upper
Canada, arrived at Quebec in the Triton,
THE LIBRARY.
ing of the American van, under Major | after a bluatering voyag*. For several
Forsyth. The Americans succeeded, how
ever, and very soon reinforced by the
main body under General Pike. Reinforce
ments immediately afterward came up to
Col. Givins aid in the shape of two com
panies of the 8th Regiment, 200 militia, and
50 regulars of a Newfoundland regiment.
The invading force proved too strong, how
ever, for the gallant colonel and his small
force, and they were driven eastward by the
years previous to this James Givins, a young
man of average stature, with a pleasant
round face, a military bearing and a fiery
temper, had been engaged in the not th- west.
Obtaining a commission of lieutenant in the
army, he is found at Niagara in the dark
green undress of the Queen s Rangers, acting
as aide-de-camp to Governor Simcoe. Not
liking Niagara, or Newark, as it was tbea
called, for his seat of Government, the Gov-
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
ernor, starting out on a cruise of discovery,
passed the mouth of the Humber on the
morning of May 4vh, 1793, and entertd the
bay of Toronto.accompanied.among others by
Lieutenant Givins, who had also journeyed
with him a few months before on a trip
from Niagara to Detroit In 1802 Colonel
Givins bought a park lot, on which he built
the Givins Homestead. He vas a pew-
holder in St. James from the first.
Colonel Givins name was connected in
1828 with an incident that made a good deal
of stir at the time. A committee of the
House of Assembly, desiring to have his
evidence and that of Colonel Coffin, Adju
tant-General of Militia, in relation to a
trespass by one Forsyth on Government
property at Niagara Falls, commanded their
presence at a certain day and hour. On
referring to Sir Peregrin* Maitiand, Lieut-
ant-Governor at the time, and also Com
mander-in-chief of the forces, permission
to obey the mandate of the House
wej) refused. Colonels Givins and Coffin
wer arrested by the sergeant-at-arms,
who made forcible entrance into their
houses. They were confined in gaol
un*fl the dose of the session. They appeal
ed, bat HO redress was to b had. Sir Pere
grine Maitiand was removed the next year,
and Sir George Murray, Colonial Secretary,
severely censured him for his action in the
ease. Colonels Giving aud Coffin brought
actions against tb Speaker of the House,
but they were not successful in their suits.
Coionel Givins kept up an active interest in
Canadian affairs until his death. He is
buried in St. James cemetery. Unfor
tunately there is no portrait in existence of
this man, who exerted so great an interest
upon the birth and youth of Toronto. The
bouse that he built will sooa be torn down,
but his memory will always be cherished
by those who would honor the early pioneer.
NOTE This house was pulled down in
18SML
Castle Frank which the Founder of Toronto
Kailt tor a Summer aud Winter Resort
i his Residence Here.
Stockton in one of his clever sketches
humorously tells of a man who started
oat alone to establish the nucleus of a
city in an uninhabited land. Ludicrously
absrd is tfce picture drawn of him dig
ging away on the great lonely plain, aad
yet how similar is the circumstance to
whkh Toronto owes its existence. The new
governor of a new-created province
goes cruising abcmt in a strange country
inhabited only by savages, andf earning to
a region of thickets, marshes and venomous
copperheads, draws his sword and exclaims
" Here will be built a great city in the
spring ? And sorely enough a log house
sprang up in the wilderness, and about the
log house a hamlet and out of the hamlet
a great and prosperous city. Here, then,
on July 26, 1793, on the schooner Miasissaga
came John Graves Simcie, Lieut. -General in
the British army, and first Governor od
Upper Canada, accompanied by his Execu
tive Council, his Queen s Rangers in their
dark green suits, his faithful aides, hia
surveyor and his canvas tent, which once
belonged to Captain Cook, th famous cir
cumnavigator. With a royal salute of 21
guns the Governor inaugurated his adminis
tration with a Council in the tent on Satur
day, August 3. Meanwhile Surveyor
Augustus Jones, who ws walking about
to look at the new town, remarked
that nothing was to be seen of it ex
cept the site. Colonel Talbot observed
that the party had. gone city hunt
ing and would lay out a magnificent city.
Returning to Niagara on the dissolution of
his Parliament, September 3, the Governor
and his family went back to spend the
winter at the new town of York, named
after the Duke of York, second son of King
George III. Hubs were built for the ac
commodation of the camp, the Governor and
his family passing the season in the canvas
tent.
THR DWELLING Of THE GOVERNOR
at Niagara was a small, miserable wooden
house. Naturally he wanted a habitation of
some kind at his new capital. During the
spring of 1794 the Governor built Castle
Frank, in the midst of the woods on the
brow of a steep high bank overlooking the
valley of the Don, at a point just a few
yards beyond the fence which now bounds
St. James cemetery at the north. A iars-e
portion of the land formerly belonging to
Castle Frank is now part of the burying
ground Immediately below the house, on
the south, was a deep glen, down which,
between hog-back formations, ran a stream
named Castle Frank Brook, which flowed
into the Don, just above a small island on
the west side. The marshes gave way on
the right at this point to good land covered
with elm, butternut and basswood trees.
The aite of tbe building is half an hour s
easy walk from town, and up to a dozen
years ago its location might have been
clearly recognized by a hollo .v in the
sand. The ground on each side of it
descended precipitously on the one hand
to the Don, and on the o 1 er to the
bottom of Castle Frank Brook ravine.
The position was elevated, bnt the view
was hemmed in by the trees that covered
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
alike the level land and the hill sides.
The spot is beautiful by nature. Around
Castle Frank were tall, white pines, and
the hill sides about are still thickly
wooded. To the east and west there were
views the forests cutting off the lands
cape in the other directions. To th:-
east the view was down upon the valley
of the Don, and to the west over the ravine
now in the cemetery.
CASTLE FRANK WAS A CHATEAU,
or cottage or summer house. It was not
occupied permanently by the governor and
his family, but it was doubtbss the scene
windows with shutters of heavy double
planks running up and down on one side,
and crosswise on the other, and thickly
studded with the heads of stout nails.
Of a similar construction was the door.
A chimney arose from the middle of the
roof. The walls were built of rather small,
carefully hewn logs, of short lengths,
clap-boarded. They presented a compara
tively finished appearance on the outside,
but after a time took the weather-
stained colour that unpainted wood
assumes. Inside, the finish was rough, in
fact the interior was never fully com-
XV
CASTLE FRANK.
of nearly all the social life in the little
settlement during Governor Simcoe s ad
ministration. The building was oblong,
of the dimensions of thirty by fifty feet
the former being the frontage, which was
toward the south. The facade was much
like that of a Greek temple. At the
jrable end, in the direction of the road- ,
way leading from the infant capital, was
a door but no windows. The trunks
of four large, well-matched, un-barked
pine trees answered for columns sup
porting the pediment or the projection
oi the whole roof. On each side were four
pleted. A slight attempt at a division
into rooms had been made but never fully
carried out. Entering the front door the
visitor found himself at once in an apart
ment extending the width of the build
ing and about half its length. On one
side was a big fire-place. At the real of
this was another room of similar dimen
sions with a fire-place in the opposite wall.
This cleared space in front of the building
was but a few yards across, and from it
to the site of the town ran a narrow car
riage-way and bridle-path, cut out by the
soldiers "and carefully graded, traces of
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
which may still be found. In what spirit
of humorous contempt for their surround
ings was it that these city founde: s,
accustomed to the conveniences of large
towns, designated their log houses, in the
midst of a wiiderness filled with savages,
beasts a 1 ; d suakes, by such appellations as
Castle Frank, Lambeth Palace, Pine Grove
and Oak Hill ?
CASTLE FRANK RECEIVED
its title from the five-year old son of Gov
ernor Simcoe, although the Rev. Dr. Henry
Scadding, from whom nearly all the infor
mation here given in regard to it was ob
tained, points out that there was a
" Castel-f ranc near Rochelle, which
figures in the history of the Huguenots.
The Iroquois had given to the governor the
title " De yonyn hokrawen," signifying
" One whose door is always open," and on
the young master of thecastle.who appears to
have been a great favourite with them,
as he sometimes was attired in Indian
costume, they conferred the honour of
chieftainship, and named him Deyoken,
which means " Between the two objects."
" A warrior s fate befell the young chief
tain. After the lapse of seventeen years
he was a mangled corpse in that ghastly
pile of English dead which closed up
the breach at Badajoz in 1812." In spite
of the unavoidable discomforts of life at
Castle Frank and at York, many were the
compensating pleasures, especially for the
soldier pioneers who formed almost the
entire male population. Governor Simcoe s
mind was absorbed with schemes of govern
ment and war. Those who had sport
ing proclivities might gratify them to the
full in the forest where bear, deer and
wolves, and all sorts of small game abound
ed. Woodcock and snipe made the low
lands their home. Salmon were speared
by night in the Don, and the bay and lake
were filled with fish of all kinds. Until
Governor Simcoe s departure, in 1796,
Castle Frank s rough roof covered many
a gay party, brought up by boat or on
horseback. Among them the governor,
moving about with military mien by the
side of his lovely, charming and accom
plished wife, whose maiden name lives
in " Gwi lim"-bury, where Benedict Ar
nold received a grant of 5,000 acres of
land. Her father was one of the aides of
General Wolfe, and was killed at the taking
of Quebec. She lived until 1850. Francis
and his young sister were by their parents
side, and in their train Secretary Major
Littlehales, Aides-lieutanant Talbot and
Givins, Surveyor Jones, and what guests,
male and female, the gubernatorial party
might have. Chief Joseph Brant, no doubt,
visited it, and Colonel Butler, his associate
at Wyoming.
AETER GOVERNOR SIMCOE S
retirement Castle Frank was frequently
used by President Peter Russell and his
family for a picnic, excursion party or ball,
when the guests were taken up the
Don in boats. That these tiips must have
been full of pleasure we learn from a letter
of Mr. Russell, written in December,
SIR JOHN GRAVES SIMCOB.
1796, in which he says : " I hope the
ladies may be able to enjoy the charm
ing carioling (sleighing) which you must
have on your bay and up the Don to Castle
Frank, when an early dinner must be pic
turesque and delightful." Captain John
Deniaon, an officer in the English militia,
came to Canada from Hedon, York
shire, in 1792, and a first settled at
Kingston, but in 1796 he moved to York,
and for a time lived at Castle Frank
by permission of the Hon. Peter Rus
sell. He bought a park lot which des
cended to his heir, Colonel George Tay
lor Denison, from whom Denison avenue
is named. About 1806 Castle Frank
closed, and tenantless, began to show
signs of decay, and in 1829, fired by
some salmon fishers of the Don, the
house built \>y the founder of Toronto
went up in smoke, leaving not a vestige
but a quantity of iron from the nails
which thickly studded the doors and win
dow shutters.
LANDMARKS OP TORONTO.
CHAPTER II.
MACKENZIE S YORK ST. HOME.
The House Where William Lyou Mackenzie
Edited "The Constitution" and from
Which he Fled at the Rebellion.
On the west side of York street, what is
now 184, half way between Queen and
Richmond, separated from the pavement by
a few feet of yard and a low fence, and partly
shaded by a couple of not over-healthy
looking trees, stands a modest two-storey red
brick house. During the stormiest period
of a peculiarly stormy career that irre
pressible patriot William Lyon Mackenzie,
made this dwelling his home and workshop.
Here were his papers, pen and ink ; here he
thought out and wrote down those burning
words that set all Canada aflame ; here he
planned tliat ill-advised and ill-fated rebel
lion, and here he left his family when he
fled with a price set on his head. Without
entering into a discussion of the question
which belongs to the domain of the philo
sophic historian and not the simple topo
grapher what results have evolved from the
influence exerted. by the great editor with
the little body and massive head, it may be
remarked that a gr.at part in Canadian
affairs has been p ayed in this unpretentious
dwelling. Here then early, in 1836,
Mr. Mackenzie came with his
family and effects, ranting the house, a com
paratively new one, having been occupied
previously but a little" time by its owner
from Dr. Hoine. At that time it was the
only building on the square, at each -corner
of which stood a poplar tree, and there
were but two or three others on the whole
street. The front, which looks now as then,
is well shown in the artist s illustration. It
was on the 4th of July, 1836, a significant
date, as Charles Lindsey, Mr, Mackenzie s
biographer, observes, that the first number
of The Constitution was published. Already
French Canadians had held insurgent meet
ings.
SEVEKAL THOUSAND MEN
had armed themselves to fight if necessary
against what they claimed to be the coercive
measures of. the Imperial Government, and
events seemed hurrying on with resistless
tread. A little rear room behind the dining-
room, entered by steps leading up from the
back yard, had been converted into an office
and sanctum. In this apartment the fear
less editor prepared those inflammatory
articles, one of which appeared in the issue
of the paper on July 5, 1837, when he asks,
" Will Canadians declare their independ
ence and shoulder their muskets ? and sup
plements the question by an affirmative
appeal. This is followed, in the Constitution
of August 2nd, by the publication of a vir
tual declaration of independence. Then
meetings of the insurrectionists are held,
200 in all it is said, some attended with con
flicts of the opposing factions. The events
of the succeeding months belong to the his
tory of the rebellion. At length the open
outbreak so long expec:ed occurs. The in
trepid editor has thus far been a conqueror
with the pen ; he is now about to essay his
tyle with the sword.
There are yet living many in Toronto who
remember that December morning in 1837 ;
and there are also, though it is nearly half a
century since, not a few still hale and hearty
in our midst, who took up arms to aid in
restoring peace. Of these the Honorable
George W. Allan, of Moss Park, Mayor of
the city so far back as 1856, is one. He, with
pardonable pride, displays in his museum
the cross-belt, cartridge box and bayonet he,
as one of the Bank Guard, was equipped
with on that occasion. The la eF. A. Whit
ney, whose son afterwards commanded the
University Company of Rifles at Ridgeway,
was one of Mr. Allan s colleagues. Mr.
Allan, at the time a pupil at Upper Canada
College,felt it no small trouble to his youthful
self-importance that he should have to return
to school as soon as the Christmas holidays
were over. T e Venerab e Alexander Dixon,
rector of Guelph, and archdeacon in the dio
cese of Niagara, was another of these youthful
warriors. Mr. Clarke Gamble was yet
another, and ha narrowly escaped with his
life at the skirmish which subsequently
took place at Montgomery s.
Some one has said that the result of every
ba tie hinges on a mistake ; there cer
tainly was a Miscalculation in the plans
of the insurgents. Captain Anderson and
Colonel Moodie are shot on the evening of
Monday, December 3rd, and then in hot
haste chase one another the fighting of
Tuesday night, the panic of Wednesday,
Thursday s defeat of the insurgents, and the
flight of Mr. Mackenzie with a reward of
1,000 offered for his capture.
AITEB, MUCH WANDERING,
many narrow escapes and considerable hard
ship, the patriot leader reaches Amer
ican soil. Meanwhile the distressed
ladies and children of Mr. Macken
zie s family experience wretched days
and nights of doubt and misgiving,
arst trembling for the fate of husband,
lather, son, secondly fearing for the safety
;o the important letters and documents per-
:aining to the rebellion that were in the
louse, thirdly in a state of continual appre-
leusion by reason of the oft-repe.tted visits
of the authorities. As soon as the news of
an actual outbreak reached the Government
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
MACKENZIE S YORK STREET HOME.
officials the York street house was put
under the strictest surveillance. A guard
was stationed at the door and patrols paced
up and down before it. Every ten or fifteen
minutes soldiers walk in and make the most
thorough search from cellar to girret,
they look under the beds, thrust
their swords through them, peer and pry in
every nook and cranny of the building ; nor
is this attention intermitted by night. Al
though the only inmates now are women and
children half a dozen civilians are domiciled
in the dining-room at evening to watch there
until morning. Ostensibly they are sent
for the protection of the occupants who,
however, decline to receive them in that
guise and denounce them as spies. Protest
is vain unti Mrs. Mackenzie s grandmother,
an old lady of 88 years appeals to their
manly instincts asking if they are not
ashamed to force themselves into the
residence of defenceless women, and
at this they go away. Some of these
men still live in Toronto. Mr. Mac
kenzie s papers hung in files from the ceiling
in his bedroom at the south side of the
house and in his office at the rear. Singu
larly enough, although the plumes of the of
ficers at times touched them they were never
noticed, and the only ones seized were a
few found hidden within the curtains of an
old-fashioned bed. Immunity from the
frequent visits of the soldiery was al
lowed to the inmates for the first time
during church service on the Sunday morn
ing following the outbreak. Seizing the op
portunity the ladies kindled fires in four
wood box stoves and burned every letter
and document in the house. Scraps of
charred paper were sailing upwards from
the chimneys as the people came pouring
out from their places of worship ; soldiers
returning to resume search saw them and
rushed in, but they were too late ; every
thing had been destroyed. It frequently
happened th it prisoners arrested after the
rebellion was quelled were marched by the
house, bound two by two with stout ropes,
and they invariably lifted their hats as they
passed. The family remained in the house
about a fortnight after the events narrated,
Mrs. Mackenzie joining her husband Dec.
29th, at Navy Island.
CHAPTER III.
HISTORY OF HOLLAND HOUSE.
A Celebrated Toronto Mansion Named after
the Famous House in Kensington where
Charles James Fox Lived.
This is Holland House. Not the Holland
House whose foundations were laid in
Kensington parish, London, in 1607, by Sir
Waiter Cop- , who styled ib Cope Castle,
and which passing from him at death to his
daughter and heiress, Isabel, the wife of
Sir Henry Rich, afterward created first
Earl of Holland in 1624, was subsequently
known as Holland House and made famous
throughout the world by the goodly com
pany of men and women that frequented it
from the times of Charles James Fox, who
lived part of his life there to that
of Monckton Milnes, including every
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
HOLLAND HOUSE FRONT VIEW.
person of note who lived in or visited Eng
land, among; them By ion, Sir Humphrey
Davey, Tallyrand and Madame de Stael.
From 1799 to 1840 there was scarcely in
England a man distinguished in politics,
science and literature, who was not enter
tained there, and perhaps more sparkling
bon mots and brilliant repartees have been
uttered in its dining room than in any apart
ment of any house in the world.
But it is not of the Holland House of Lon
don that this article treats, but of its name
sake, the Holland House of Toronto. A
little west of Bay street, between Welling
ton street on the north and a lane called
Piper street on the south, m dway in a yard
filled with trees and shrubbery, there now
stands a turreted castle-like building. On
the south the view of the grounds and the
lower part of the building is shut out by a
tall, indented board fence. At the north
the yard is enclosed partly by a high brick
wall and partly by an iron railing. Gravel
led walks lead up to the entrances.
In each of the two- atoreyed wings
are two large, square, three panelled win
dows. Near the four corners of the roof are
massive, turret-shaped chimneys. The
whole building is stuccoed and lined in imi
tation of brown stone. From the north, Hol
land House is severely plain. Although not
resembling the Kensington House, there is a
suggestion of it architecturally in the lower
and flanking wings of the Toronto mansion.
Judge Boulton was an English gentle
man, a lover of horses, a spirited rider.
and a wit. In 1831 the Hon. Henry John
Boulton, the son and heir of Judge Boulton,
and the second son of Secretary Jarvis,
erected on the location of the paternal resi
dence the present baronial-like structure.
Henry John Boulton was born in the
famous English house,and ha commemorated
the fact by naming his Toronto home Hol
land House He was Solicitor-General for
Upper Canada, and in 1833 was appointed
i Chief Justice of Newfoundland. On his de
parture the mansion was let successively to
Mr. Truscodd, the first private banker in
Toronto, and to the Emslie and Sherwood
families. It was then purchased from the
Boultons by Alexander Manning, who lived
there for a time with his family. A daugh
ter dying in the house, the place became dis
tasteful to Mrs. Manning, and Holland
House was then taken by the Reform Club,
but is now vacant Dr. Scadding says :
" It was at Holl nd House that the Earl
and Countess of Dufferin kept high festival
during a brief sojourn in the capital of On
tario in 1872. Suggested by pub
lic addresses received in infinite va
riety, within Holland House was written
or thought out that remarkable cycle of
rescripts and replies , exceedingly wide
in its scops, but in which each requisite
topic was touched with consummate skill
and in such a way as to show in each direc
tion genuine human sympathy and hearti
ness of feeling, and a sincere desire to cheer
and strengthen the endeavor after the good,
the beautiful and the true.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
CHAPTER IV.
JOHN MclNTOSH S HOUSE.
The Dwelling on Yonge Street Attacked by
a Mob on William Lyou Mackenzie s Be-
tarn from Exile.
For nearly thirty years William Lyon
Mackenzie had been fighting for a principle,
experiencing the bitterest poverty, endur
ing exile, suffering imprisonment, even
sparring with death ; losing all things but
hope, faith in the right and belief in him
self. Now after eleven years of outlawry
in the United States complete amnesty
having been granted to him the
last one to be pardoned he returns
to the city of which he was the first mayor
and reaches Toronto in March, 1849. At
this time there were four houses on the east
side of Yonge street, between what is now
Queen but was then Lot,and Shuter streets.
The farthest north was a rough-cast build-
ing and south in order were one frame and
two red brick dwellings. They were owned
by four members of the Mclntosh family,
named respectively Charles, James, Robert
and John. These buildings have since been
remodelled into stores. John JMcIntosh s
house, which is shown in the illustration,
was of red brick and stood a short distance
from the north-east corner of Queen and
Yonge streets. It is now a dry-goods
store. Good s foundry extended in the
rear of it back to Victoria street,
and between it and Mr. Mclntosh s
property there was a gateway. A portion
of Mr. Mclntosh s house was occupied at
the time by the Rev. Alexander Stewart,
the father of Mr. Mclntosh s first wife. In
the red brick house next north to it Robert
Mackenzie s family lived until they left
Canada. An orchard extended back of it to
Victoria street. The houses were probably
built about 1822. The land on which they
etood was the first ground sold north of
Queen street for building lots. Charles
Mclntosh, who lived in the northernmost
house, was the captain of the Cobourg,
one of the first steamers on the lake. John
Mclntosh once represented North York in
the Provincial parliament. He was the
father-in-law of William Lyon Mackenzie, and
it was in his house that the exiled patriot
came to \isit on his return to Toronto in the
e\r y spring of 1849, and his reception was a
riot. Rumour had flown around during the
afternoon of Thursday, March 22, that there
would be trouble in the evening. Mackenzie
was in town. With the coming of night
dirty, ragged, intoxicated men and boys be
gan to assemble until several hundreds
were gathered. They carried torches and
in their midst were borne aloft effigies of
Mackenzie, Attorney-General West and
Solicitor-General \\ est. Suddenly the mob
sent up a shout of " fire" and rushed
to a point on Yonge street not
far from the Mclntosh house. The alarm
was false, but it served the intended pur
pose and swelled the ranks of the rioters.
Then the crowd with all the confused babel
of a mob starts down Yonge street. Turning
eastward on King street it march s past the
old market building, wheels to the right,
passes by the doors of the police station, and
directing its course along Front street, stops
at the residences of the Attorney and Soli
citor Generals West, where it burns the
effigies o, these officials before their win
dows. Preserving up to this time
as much restraint as could pos
sibly be expected from a mob, that
is, no destruction of life, limb 01
property, cries of " Death to Mackenzie ! "
" To Mclntosh s 1 " break the charm. With
flaming barrels of tar luridly lighting the
darkness this wild wave of humanity surges
up from the foot of Yonge street. Peace
ful citizens run to their homes, bolt door
and bar windows. Pushing, squeezing for
place there are at least two thousand in
the mad mob ; they choke Yonge street
splashing and stumbling through mud ankle
deep, with ribald songs, frightful chorus
of curses, the most dreadful shouts and im
precations, flaring torches, shrill yells,
hideous grimaces, sharp report of fire
arms and above all strident cries
for Mackenzie s life they press forward.
Poor Mackenzie I What a welcome to get
after all these years in the city that as
mayor he first governed ; but he must have
become pretty well us d to almost every
thing by this time, By midnight the whole
crowd had assembled before John Mc
lntosh s house. Yonge street was full.
The tar barrel was set on end in
the middle of the roadway and two more
barrels were placed by it. The discharge
of fire-arms became general : cries of
Colonel Moodie," were fiercely ejaculat
ed mingled with demands for Mackenzie s
surrender. Then an attack was made on
the house, bricks, stones and sticks were
hurled at it ; every pane of glass in the
windows was broken ; stones weighing six
or seven pounds were sent crashing through,
carrying glass and sash along. Whispers
passed among the leaders that if Mackenzie
could be got at he would quickly be dis
posed of. The four policemen at hand
were impotent. They arrest a law student
but the rioters knock the constables down
! and rescue their comrade. In the front
ranks of the crowd were several aldermen.
Hervey Price, barrister, son of the Commis
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
11
-x: ^
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^^^^^^i^Wtemi-iau^^a
JOHN M INTOSH S HOUSE.
sioner of Crown Lands, was attacked,
severely cut about the head, and but for the
interference of one of the policemen would
have been killed. Tne fury of the mob in
creasing the constables stationed themselves
at the door and prevented it from breaking
in. While the utmost lawlessness pre
vailed at the front of the house
some of the rioters made their
way to the rear through the gate and
made a similar attack in that quarter with
every kind of missiles at hand. Great stones
were hurled through the windows of Mr.
Montgomery s house nearly opposite. At 4
o clock in the morning the mob left the Me-
Intosh house and went to the residence of
Mr, Brown of the Globe, where windows and
blinds were smashed. Friday night another
crowd gathered at Mr. Mackenzie s stopping
place, but two hundred special constables
were on hand re-inforced by many private
citizens in an attitude of defence and 60
soldiers who had been brought down from th
barracks. Nothing was done beyond noisy
demonstrations. Saturday night another
rabble gathered, but learning that the Mc-
Intosh house would be protected by a strong
force, no attempt was made to molest the
inmates, the crowd contenting itself with
breaking gas-lamps and windows on Bay|and
Bond streets and in sections of the city
where there were no constables. After this
no further display of violence was made against
Mr. Mackenzie, and in 1850 he brought his
family from New York to Toronto and took
up his residence here, where he continued to
live until his death, Aug. 28, 1861.
CHAPTER V.
HISTORY OF BEVERLEY HOUSE.
The Residence of Chief Justice John Bever*
ly Bobiuson and Temporary Home of
Poulett Thomson. Lord Sydenham.
The accompanying illustration shows a
house at the north-east corner of John and
Richmond streets which nearly all
Torontonians of the present time will
readily recognize, though so altered
from its original condition that it is
very doubtful if a resident of the early
part of the century could identify it.
The oldest part of Beverley HouseJ was
built sometime about the war of 1812, by
D Arcy Boulton, eldest son of Judge Boul-
ton, brother of Henry John Boulton and
father of William Henry Boulton. At first
it was a small brick cottage, and up to 1820
was the only building on the square bound
ed by John, Simeon, Richmond and Queen
streets, and stood near the south-west
corner of this enclobure. D Arcy Boulton
lived here until 1816, when he moved to a
large frame dwelling on the west side
of Frederick street, just south of
King street, and opposite the old post-office.
This building is still standing, thouyh
greatly altered and changed in appearance.
This Frederick street residence is a very old
building, and an interesting incident is con
nected with its history. In 1813 when York
fell into the hands of the United States
forces, Prideaux Selby, Receiver-General of
the Province, was living there, and at the
-
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
time of the invasion he was on his death- bed.
The provincial moneys were in his keep
ing, and to save them irom falling into
the hands of General Dearborn and Com
modore Chauncey, Mrs. Selby and Mrs.
William Allan hit upon a most ingenious
plan, The confidential clerk of the Receiver -
General was William Roe, familiarly known
as Billy Roe. An order was procured from
General Sheaffe and the Executive Council ;
Mrs. Selby and Mrs. Allan dressed Bi.ly up
as an old woman, an old horse and waggon
were procured, three bags of gold and a
large sum in army bills were pitched
into the waggon, and in his
guise of old woman Mr. Roe
safely drove out to the farm of Chief Justice
Robinson on the Kingston road, east of the
Attorney-General, afterward Chief Justice
John Beverley Robinson, took it. He first
added a wing to the westward, then raised
the whole building, put on a verandah,
built stables to the north-west, and these al
terations and additions changed it from the
modest little brick cottage into the dwell
ing house as it now appears. Chief Justice
Robinson, who was made a baronet, and
whose eldest son is now Sir Lukin Robin
son, lived here until his death. Sir J. B.
Robinson was one of the pew-holders in St.
James church from its commencement.
During the war of 1812 he was a lieutenant
of volunteers, and it was the death of At
torney-General Macdonell, who was killed
at Queenston Heights while acting as
General Brock s aide-de camp, that made
BEVERLEY
Don bridge, where he buried the treasure.
Afterwards the army bills were given up to
the invaders, but th;- gold was not found,
and after the departure of the Americans
Mr. Roe returned it to the authorities in the
parlour of the Rev. Dr. John Strachan. At
the same time Mr. Roe took the Receiver
General s iron treasure chest and hid it in
the house of Donald McLean, clerk of the
House of Assembly. Mr. McLean was killed
while opposing the landing of the Americans ;
his house was plundered; thechest was found
and broken open and about a thousand
dollars in silver were taken. From the
Frederick street house Mr. Boulton moved
to the Grange. On his giving up the cottage
at the corner of John and Richmond streets,
the vacancy which Mr. Robinson at a
unusually early age was appointed to fill. Sir
John Robinson gave the site of Osgoode
Hall, s x acres, to the Law Society and the
name which the building bears was his sug
gestion. Bcverley House was temporarily
the residence of Poulett Thomson, after
wards Lord Sydenham, while Governor-
General of the Canadas in 1839-40. It is
aid that he built the kitchen range connec
ted with the house and that this was the
indirect cause of getting the Union measure
through the Upper Canada Parliament.
Poulett Thomson gives an insight into his
manner of life in a letter written to a friend
in 1840, from Montreal, but which may be
applied to his life in Beverley House as
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
13
well. He says : " Work in my room till 3
o clock, a ride with my aide-de-camp till 5,
work again till dinner, at dinner till 9, and
work again until early next morning. This !
is my daily routine." After establishing
the union of Upper and Lower Canada,
Poulett Thomson was raised to the peerage,
with the title of Baron Sydenham of Syden-
ham in Kent, and Toronto in Canada. He
died in 1841 in Kingston through a fall from
his horse as he was ^preparing to return to
England. His age was 42 years. After Sir
J. B. Robinson s death his widow, Lady
Robinson, made Beverley House her home
until she died, when it was taken by her
son, Christopher Robinson, Q. C., who still
lives there.
CHAPTER VI.
JORDAN S YORK HOTEL.
A .sketch of one of the best public houses in
York and several objects of interest adja
cent to it.
Dr. Samual Johnson has said that there
is nothing which has yet been contrived by
man by which so much happiness is produc
ed as by a good tavern or inn. If this be so
then on the south side of King street be
tween Princes street to the west and Berke
ley to the east but Widmers lane now
runs between -stood a storey and
a half frame building, with dormer
windows along its roof, which
must have afforded infinite pleasure to the
early inhabitants of York. This was the
celebrated " York Hotel," kept by John
Jordan. At a very early period this was
the first-class hotel not only of the town
but of all Upper Canada. It was one of the
oldest houses in York and as early as 1820,
it presented a dilapidated appearance. Its
foundations had given away, allowing this
building to sag and appear as if about to
topple over into the street. In the ball
room of this house before the completion of
the Legislative Buildings which were to
take the place of those burned by the
Americans in 1813 the Parliament of Upper
Canada sat for one session. Dr. Scadding says
that members of parljamentand othervisitors
considered themselves in luxurious quarters
when housed there. Probably in no instance
have the public dinners or fashionable as
semblies of a later era gone off with more
eclat or given more satisfaction to the per
sons concerned in them than did those
which from time to time in every season
took place in what would now be considered
the very diminutive ball room and dining
hall of Jordan s, When looking in later
times at the doorways and windows of the
older buildings intended for public and do
mestic purposes, as also at the dimensions
of rooms and the proximity of the ceilings to
the floors we might be led for a moment to
imagine that the generation of settlers
passed away, must have been of smaller
bulk and stature than their descendants.
But points especially studied in the con
struction of early Canadian housi s in both
provinces were warmth and comfort in the
long winters. Sanitary principles were not
much thought of and happily did not require
to be much thought of when most persons
passed more or their time in the pure outer
air than they do now. Mr. Clarke Gamble
says that in 1820 Jordan s, although
still considered first-class, looked antique
when compared with the Mansion House
which stood a little to the west of it on the
north side of King street, and that it was
rapidly losing its patronage to the newer
hotel, a long, white two-storey wooden
building. The landlord of it was Mr. De
Forest, an American who had lost both his
ears, but who concealed the defect by the ar
rangement of his hair A large and hand
some model of a full rigged ship was
perched for many years on the roof tree of
the Mansion House. In 1819 A. N. Bathune,
D.D., D.C.L., the successor of Bishop
Scrachan in the See, came from Montreal
as a young man to study divinity under Dr.
Strachan. Of his arrival in York he says :
We crossed the Don over a strong wooden
bridge, and after half a mile s drive alight
ed at Mr. D^Forest s inn, the best in the
place, though Jordan s, nearly opposite,
notwithstanding its low, shabby exterior,
was the more popular one. I then made
my way to the boarding house, where I was
to reside on the north side of King street, a
little east of Nelson street, (originally New
street), and although a mean looking habi
tation, it was pretty comfortable, and the
company, law clerks and clerks in Govern-
ment offices, was intelligent and agreeable.
At the north-west corner of King and
Princes streets the second public pump in
the town was placed in 1824, cost
ing 36 17s 6d, the first well hav-
ing been dug the same year at the Market
Square and provided with a pump, the
whole costing 28 Is 3d. One of the first
buildings on King street stood just across
on the north-east corner of King and Prin
ces street. It was erected by a Mr.
Smith, who was the first man to take
up a building lot after the laying
out of the town. Before Jordan s Hotel
was erected, Paul Marian, a Frenchman,
had built at the rear of the lot a large
dome-shaped structure of brick for a bakery,
and in 1804 he advertises to sell bread to
the people of the town delivered at their
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dwellings for cash at the rate of nine loaves
for a dollar. At the same time Francois
Belcour, another Frenchman, is plying the
same trade. He advertises to make his
bread in two, three and four pound loaves,
as may suit the convenience of families ; he
offers to return one pound of bread for
every pound of flour sent to him, and also
offers to bake beef for all who may wish it
baked. When Jordan s hotel was built
Marian s oven fell into disuse, but after the
abandonment of the hotel it was repaired
and enlarged and in it was baked much of
the bread supplied to the soldiers in 1838-9.
About the first stone pavements JaM in
York were on the sidewalks about Jordan s.
They were flat stones from the lake beach,
of irregular shapes and surfaces and m; de
a very uneven foot path. Mr. Jordan was
one of the pew-holders in StU James church
from its commencement, and was one of the
signers to a congratulatory address pre
sented to Lieutenant-Governor Francis Gore
on his return from England in 1815.
CHAPTER VII.
FIRST BANK IN UPPER CANADA.
Tbe Brick Building at the South-cast Cor
ner of Kins; and Frederick Streets Its
Builders, Occupant* and History.
The four corners of King and Frederick
streets form one of the most distinguished
localities in the city, distinguished almost
from the very first settlement of York, and
distinguished yet. But the complexion of
its fame has changed, and it must be noted
now chi fly for showing the mutations of half
a century. Before the second decade of the
century had slipped by these four corners had
Become the chief business places of the
nascent capital. Here were the four general
stores or shops of the town. At the north
east corner John Baldwin s, now occupied
by the Canada Company ; at the north
west, Alexander Wood s, which, though re
modelled and altered and recently narrowly
escaping total destruction by fire, has again
been patched up for occupancy. And in
this connection it may be remarked as a
somewhat singular fact that very few of the
old buildings have been destroyed by fire.
On the south-west corner was D*Arcy
Boulton s. On the south-east corner, about
the year 1818, William Allan, father of the
Hon. George Allan, erected a strong,substan-
tial, thick-walled brick, building, the
present appearance of which the illustra
tion can best show. The King street
front has been somewhat altered since its
construction. Originally there was one
large arched doorway in the centre, with
two windows at each side corresponding to
those at present on the upper floor. The
central window of the five in the second-
storey was arched to match the doorway
below it. A short distance south on the
same side of Frederick street, where stands
the present Newsboys Home, were the first
post office and custom house on the premises
of Mr. Allan, who was postmaster and col
lector. The building was partly log and
partly frame. Mr. Allan was also inspec
tor of flour, pot and p?arl ash, and inspec
tor of shop, still and tavern duties. His
dwelling was down on the same square
near the bay shore. Mr. Allan occupied
a very prominent position in York circles of
every kind. In 1812 Mrj or Allan is com
manding a detachment of volunteers, and
Colonel Allan s name is appended to the
articles of capitulat on April 27, 1813, sur
rendering York to the commander of the
United States troops. He was one of the
two treasurers of the fund raised for the
erection of the first St. James church in.
1803. In 1801 he was returning officer at a
public election. Later he is Associ
ate Justice W. Allan, Esq. In this
building then at the south-east corner of
King and Frederick streets, Mr. Allan
opened a general store, the stock consisting
of such a mixture of merchandise as hard
ware, spirits, silks, butter, cheese, in fact
everything saleable in the community. At
the legislative session of 1821 was an
nounced the royal assent to the act passed
in 1819 for the institution of a bank which
was to be situated at York, the seat of gov
ernment of the province, and was to be
known as the Bank of Upper Canada. The
stock was not to exceed 200,000. It was to
be opened when the deposits amounted
to 20,000. The Government was allowed
to subscribe for 2,000 shares, and it was de
clared that the institution might expire by
limitation in 1848, The bank did not begin
operations before 1822, then for nearly half
a century it did a good business, but at
length became embarrassed, burdened with
unsaleable lands taken as security and failed
in 1866. Its incorporators were William
Allan, Robert C. Home, John Scarlett,
Francis Jackson, William Warren Baldwin,
Alexander Legge, Thomas Ridout, Samuel
Ridout, D Arcy Boulton, jr., William B.
Robinson, James Macaulay, Duncan Came
ron, Guy C. Wood, Robert Anderson and
John S. Baldwin. When the bank began
business, and Mr. Allan b came its pre
sident, somewhere about 1822, the building
of which this article treats was divided, the
bank taking the corner part, the entraBce
to it being on Frederick street, where the
large window now is, shown in the illustra
tion. The vault of the bank, not much liko
16
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
AN OLD BA*K.
vaults nowadays, may still be seen at the
western end of the cellar. The wall is of
brick, about a toot thick at the front, but
much thicker at the sides and rear. The
interior dimensions are about three feet
square. The door is of iron, half an inch in
thickness. Two locks like ordinary door
locks, only stronger, were relied on to defend
the treasure. At the point where the vault
is located the outside foundation wall
of the building is over three feet
through and of stone. The bank
occupied these premises quite a num
ber of years. John W. Gamble,
who had been Mr. Allan s partner, succeeded
him in the business and was in turn succeeded
by William Gamble who opened in this
building the first wholesale establishment in
York. Afterwards a brewer by the name
of .Townsend occupied it partly as a resi
dence and partly, as a brewery ; the other
part of the brewery at the rear has since
been taken down. Early in the fifties John
Mason moved there using it as a residence
and boot and shoe store. During Mr.
Mason s occupancy William Hamilton, of
the St. Lawrence foundry, had part of the
building and it was there that he established
the business. Mr. Mason remained about
twenty years and at hie departure Joseph
Clegg opened a fruit store and the same
business is now carried on by J. Stinaon, the
present occupant.
CHAPTER VIII.
COTTAGE OF LIEUT. MUDGE.
ihe Douse in Which One of Sir John
< olbornc s Aides-de-Camp Shot Himself
His Tombstone.
Rapidly tumbling to decay, with clap
boards falling off, broken roof overrun with
Virginia creepers, and general appearance
of dilapidation, there stands near the foot
of Emily street on the west side of the way,
a narrow building of wood surmounted by
a brick chimney, now made to
serve as a barn, but which was
once a cottage. It is of considerable age, for
in 1825 it was considered quite an old house.
The entrance to it formerly led through
quite a yard from Wellington street. This
old building has a tragic interest. Here
lived Lieutenant Zachary Mudge, an officer
of artillery and one of the aides-de-camp of
Sir John Colborne. He bore a name famous
in the scientific annals of Devonshire. The
sight of Lieut. Mudge and Sir John Colborne,
both tall, stately, handsome men walking in
company to service at St. James church on
a Sunday morning was a one which many
turned to look at and admire. In the long
pew on the west side of the Governor s seat
in church sat the military officers, and here
beside Lieutenant Mudge at times might be
seen Major Browne, a brother of Mrs. He-
mans, the poetess ; a young ensign,
one of Sir Peregrine Maitland s aides-
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
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LIEUTENANT MUDGE S COTTAGE.
de-camp, who was a direct des
cendant of the Hon. Robert Boyle,
the scientist ; also Major Powell, Captain
Grubbi, Major Hillier, Captain Blois and
Captain Phillpots, brother of Bishop Phillpots
and an officer in the Royal Engineers who
once attended Sir John Colborne on a trip to
Niagara Falls on horseback. But to return
to Lieutenant Mudge. He was a bachelor.
For some reason which was never learned he
one day in this little house on Emily street
placed a musket to his heart and pulled
the trigger, killing himself instantly. His
death was deeply regretted. His remains
were interred in the old military burial
ground. His tombstone at the north
western corner of St. John s Square, bears
the following inscription : "Sacred to the
memory of Zachariah Mudge, Esq., Lieut,
in the Royai Regiment of Artillery and pri
vate secretary to His Excellency Maj.-Gen.
Sir J. Colborne, K.C.B., Lieut. -Governor of
this province, who departed this life 10th
Juue, 1831, aged 31 years." The Government
now owns the building in which Lieutenant
Mudge sought and found death, and has
joined to it cloister-like looking additions to
serve the purpose of coal and wood bins and
storage rooms.
CHAPTER IX.
THE FIRST BRICK BUILDING.
The House at tbe North-east Corner of Kim
and Frederick street*. Erected iu 1807,
now Occupied by the Canada Company.
At the north-east corner of King and
Frederick streets stands a square brick
house, with a tinned roof and a porch orna
menting the facade. A substantial, well-sized
building, with an air of respectability even
now, it must have been a grand mansion
in the days when built, for it
was the first brick structure erected
in Toronto, all the others being frame. Dur
ing the progress of the French Revolution a
French Royalist officer and Chevalier of the
Order of St. Louis by the name of Lawrence
Quetton emigrated to Canada. It was on
St. George s day that he first trod on Eng
lish territory, and to commemorate the fact
he assumed the surname of St. George. H
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acquired a large tract of land north of York
known as the Oak Ridges. He established
numerous stations for trading with the In
dians, one of wh : ch was at Orillia in 1802.
For partner he had Gen. Ambrose de Farcy,
who kept a store on the road between Nia
gara and Queenston, in the house of the
Comte de Puisaye, a French officer who
published a volume of memoirs and
of whom Carlyle, Thiers and Lamartine
speak in their works. In 1805 Quetton
St. George established himself in business
at York, getting all his wares direct from
New York. He prospered so well that in
1807 he built the house now known to all
residents of Toronto as the Canada Com
pany s building. For its construction he
broaght the first bricks ever seen in York
from Oswego or Rochester. The street
floor and part of the cellar were used by Mr.
St. George for carrying on his general mer
cantile business. The rest of his house was
occupied as a residence.
THERE STILL MAY BE SEEN
evidence of its life as a store at the north
west corner of the building. Mr. St.
George continued to conduct his business
here until 1817, when having formed
an acquaintance with the Baldwins
he transferred his King street property
to James Spread Baldwin, father of Canon
Baldwin and uncle of William A. Baldwin
the Reformer. Mr. Baldwin s brothers
were W. W. Baldwin and Admiral Baldwin.
He continued to carry on the business
established by Mr. St. George for some
time and then retired from active life and
went to Montreal to live. Some ti*ne after
this the Canada Company took the house
which it still occupies renting it now from
a son of Canon Baldwin. At the close of
the Revolution in France Mr. St. George
returned to his native country where he
passed the balance of his life. The power
ful organization known as the Canada Land
Company has played a great part in the
colonization of Canada. Managed in Lon
don, it was established at York in
1826, its first office beine a room in the
Steamboat Hotel in the market block on
Front street. From the beginning land
owners and others regarded it with disfavor
to overcome which and please the people of
the town Commissioner Gait of the com
pany gave the famous fancy dress ball at
Frank s hotel, at which Lady Mary Willis,
personating Mary Queen of Scots, did the
honours of the occasion for the commissioner
in the absence of his wife. Perhaps no
building in the city is better known, and
its removal will take away a landmark
from what was once the most important
part of the town.
CHAPTER X.
THE GARDENERS ARMS.
An Old Yon-re Street Hostelry with Which
was Connected Tauxhall Gardens, Once a
Popular Resort.
At an early date Yonge street, within a
distance of a couple of miles, boasted three
roadside inns, which were well patronized
by travellers to and from York, not only aa
a halting and watering place for tired horses,
for the passage of the Blue Hill ravine, a
little distance further north, was a tremen
dous struggle with a load, as indeed
were many places on Yonge street,
but also as a place of refreshment for drivers
and passengers. Drinking was much more
universal, and men drank more heavily in
those days than now. The old brewers tell
how they regularly furnished the clergymen
of that time with barrels of their best beer.
Far north on Yonge street was originally
the Green Bush Tavern, a pine tree painted
on its sign. Landlord Abrahams conducted
it and afterwards moved it down near Queen
street. The next tavern going north, just
above the Sandhill, where once was a solitary
Indian grave, but which is now built up, was
the Gardeners Arms. Its sign exhibited
a heraldic arrangement of horticultural
implements. It was a two-storey frame
building with a one-storey narrow extension
in front and a small wing at the north end.
Before it were troughs and a pump for
watering horses and cattle. It was a house
of good repute. Thirty years ago it was
kept by Matthew Ward. Fifty years ago
its landlord was Thomas Naylor. The land
on which the Gardeners Arms was built origi
nally belonged to the Emslie estate. In
1829 it was sold by Mary Emslie to Richard
Brewer who, in 1854, sold it to William
Allan. In 1871 it was sold to John Lamb
who two years later transferred it to
Mr. Joseph Jackes, the present owner.
For some years the Gardeners Arms nas
not been a place of public entertainment.
The building has been utilized for various
trades and occupations. It is still stand
ing, the second building below Charlea
street, on the east side ot Yonge, but wear
ing an air of dilapidation in the weather
stained frame work, the broken windows
and the rickety roof. Waggons of all kinds
by the dozen, old and broken, litter up the
yard. At one end is a coboler s little shop.
In the wing is a rag shop with piles of rags
heaped about which women and children
are assorting.
Just north of the Gardeners Arras was the
Vauxhall Gardens, a resort conducted in
connection with the tavern and deriving ita
name from the celebrated London gardens.
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where readers of Thackeray s Vanity Fair"
will remember Jos. Sedley drank too much
arrack punch. The garden, with orchard
in its rear, waa surrounded by an ordinary
fence. The entrance was on Yonge street,
through an archway on which was painted
" Vauxhall Gardens." Nothing remains of
orchard or garden but a reminiscence, as
it is flashed into momentary existence
by the magic wand of memory.
CHAPTER XI.
A QUEEN STREET BLOCK.
The Row of Buildings Between Tcraulay
and Jnmes street A Houae two Occupants
of Which came to a Violent Death.
Along the north side of Queen street, be
tween James and Teraulay streets, stretches
a row of buildings, all with tb exception
of the two easternmost ones having an ap
pearance of age. They are now, in thia
year of grace 1888, given over to
boot and shoe men, barbers, and
all the motley array of occupa
tions which buildings that have
aeen their best days usually present. This
is one side of the square on which the new
court house will stand. With the exception
of some on the ; James street side the other
buildings en the block have been pulled
down to make way for the new edifice. Be
ginning at the corner of Teraulay street the
first-building is a little low structure now
occupied as a buteher shop. This building
was put up about 1825 and at first formed
two small cottages which some time aftet-
wards were converted into shops. Behind
the butcher shop are two small houses and
sheds which were built by Joseph Bird,
about forty years ago. Next to the
butcher shop is the frame build
ing now known as Lennox s hotel.
It was built in 1827, by John Bird,
and was occupied by him at first as a gen
eral store and residence. The house has
been somewhat altered from its original ap
pearance. When it was built the floor was
considerably higher than the street and
was reached by an ascent of four steps run
ning up the side of a railed platform. The
front projection was subsequently added by
James Spence. In the rear is a brick addi
tion put on by James Lennox, the present
occupant, which a little red lamp, suspended
over the Queen street entrance, declares to
be Dufferin Hall. John Bird bought the
laud on which the house stands from James
Macrvulay in 1820. At that time there was
a little cottage, painted green, standing on
the B te. Mr. Bird met a mysterious death
in 1830, and it is supposed that he was mur
dered. Dying intestate, by the law of entail
then in force, the property descended to Jos
eph Bird, his son. Joseph acted honourably,
however, and of his own accord divided ap
the property among his sisters, keeping for
himself the Queen street house, in which he
opened a tavern. Upon Joseph Bird s death
in 1859 his will was found to direct that the
place should either be mortgaged or sold.
Consequently the executors mortgaged it,
but the rent waa not sufficient to
pay the interest, taxes and tfae ex
pense of keeping it in repair. Then
they wished to sell it, bat could not
on account of the word " or " in the clause
"mortgaged or sold." Subsequently th
building society which had advanced 1.600
on the property sold it at auction. It waa
bought by " California " MetcaH, a man
who, having failed here went to California
at the time of th gold exci temer. t, waa suc
cessful, made money, came back to Toronto,
paid his debts and invested In real estate.
Some time afterwards the property was held
for a brief space by a man named Robert
son. It then came into the possession of
William Charlton, who continued it as a
tavern for many years up to about 1860.
CharJton was the first assistant engineer of
the fire brigade. A few years later, about
the time of the Fenian raid, he was killed at
a fire on Shuter street by a balcony falling
on him. After his death Mrs. Charlton, bis
widow, managed the business two years,
when she married John Elliott. She then
transferred the property to James Spence,
who in turn conveyed it to James Lennox,
the present occupant. In a shed at the
rear of the house, now torn down, a man by
the name of Dawes once kept a rag shop.
Next to the Lennox house on the
east runs a passage, on the other
side of which is a low, wooden building of
considerable age, occupied from the first and
still occupied as a black-smith s shop. Long
ago an American by the name of Treat car
ried on business there. He was succeeded
by Rowell, Fitzgerald and the present occu
pant. The house to the east of the shop
was built by Rowell, and used by him as a
residence, John Boxall bought Ro well s
house, and also built the one next fo it. Be-
Tiind these two houses used to be a little
cottage, some time ago pulled down. The
brick building, with the letters, " k Globe
Foundry," stretching a^rass its front, is
next. The land on "which this stands was
first owned by Geortje Hutchison. His
daughter, Mrs. Bannett, inherited the prop
erty which she sold to Edward Beckett.
Originally there was a little cottaga on the
site with a porch which a Mrs. Manus rent
ed, aud where she kept a small hardware
shop for many years. On Mr. Beckett?*
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coming into possession, he built a foundry
at the rear of the lot, and on the street the
brick building where he sold the pots and
kettles he made. Mrs. Beckett, who after
ward became Mrs. McNeil, owned and
lived in the house next to the foundry. The
property at the corner of James street,
originally belonged to a man named Blevins.
The two corner buildings are of quite mod
ern construction. There is a cottage on
James street in the rear of the Queen
street corner where a man by the name of
Perkis lived. He was a sailor and Jboat
builder, and oncj he built quite a large ves
sel in his back yard which was dragged
down to the bay on rollers by oxen. Not
far from this standing back from the street
in a square rough-cast house where Miss
Hussy once taught school. Years ago the
rest of the square was a pasture field and
there was an orchard in which the children
delighted to get.
In the rime of J oseph Bird, some of the
adjoining property was owned as follows :
Ishmael Iredale, at the south-west corner,
and Dr. Trainop at the south-east corner of
Queen and Bay streets. James Patten
owned the north-eastern corner of Queen
and James, Isaac White the south-west of
James and what is now Albert but was then
Jeremy street. Mr. Patten owned the
south-east corner of Albert and Teraulay,
and south of his property was the plot
sixty feet wide given by Joseph
Bird to one of his sisters, while directly op
posite on the other side of Teraulay was a
similar plot given by him to the other sister.
The south-west corner of Teraulay and
Albert was in the possession of Mr. Abbott,
and the north-west corner of Teraulay and
Queen in the possession of Mr. Emery. The
material for the new court house is now
under consideration and it will be but a
short time before a magnificent pile of stone
will be reared upon the site of the primi
tive houses of York.
CHAPTER XII.
THE TECUMSEH WIGWAM.
An Old Bloor Street Log Cabin, Once a
Favourite Kesort tor tbe Young Men of
tlic Town.
The illustration shows a little, low, one-
storey log cabin, with a verandah, or, more
properly, what an old Dutch burgher would
call a " stoep," or stoop. It stood at the
north-west corner of Bloor street and Ave
nue road, on the site now occupied by
Albert Nordheimer s residence. It was
known as Tecumseh Wigwam, and was for
a long time a favourite resort for young
men of social tastes and equally social
habits, especially on Sunday. It was built
about 1820. It continued to be a drinkmg-
place up to about 20 years ago, when it was
destroyed. In the fifties it was kept by an
old man by the name of King. His son,
George King, was a member of a notorious
band of robbers known as the Townsend
gang, who were the terror of the country.
George was convicted of the murder of a
stage driver, and about thirty yeara ago was
hanged at Cayuga.
THE TKCtJMSEH WIGWAM.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
CHAPTER XIII.
A ONCE GREAT MERCANTILE ROW
The Block OH the South Side of King Street,
Between George and Frederick Streets -
As It Formerly was, and is Now.
The block on the south side of King
street, between George and Frederick, is
one of the most interesting sections of the
city. Here were laid the foundations of
Toronto s mercantile prosperity, and here
also were the first beginnings of education
in York. Starting at the corner of George
street, it may be of interest to trace the
history of the block. At the south
east corner then of King and George streets,
where now is a brick hotel, formerly stood a
wooden dwelling, At its east side was a
small low stone addition. Dr. G. Okill
Stuart lived in the dwelling and June 1,
1807, opened in the little stone structure
the Home District School, the first school of
a public character in York. Its first pupils
were John Ridout, William A. Hamilton,
Thomas G. Hamilton, George H. Detlor,
George S. Boulton, Robert Stanton, William
Stanton, Angus McDonell, Alexander
Hamilton, Wilson Hamilton, Robert
Ross, Allan McNab and among
subsequent scholars were John Moore.Charles
Ruggles, Edward Hartney, Charles Boulton,
Alexander Chewett, Donald McDonell,
James Edward Small, Charles Small, John
Hayes, George Jarvis, William Jarvis, Wil
liam Bowkett, Peter McDonell, Philamon
Squires, James Mclntosh, Bernard Glennon,
Richard Brooke, Marshall Glennon, Daniel
Brooke, Henry Glennon, Charles Reade,
William Robinson, Gilbert Hamilton, Henry
Ernst, John Gray, Robert Gray, William
Cawthra, William Smith, Harvey Wood
ruff. Robert Anderson, Benjamin An
derson, James Giving, Thomas Playter
and William Pilkington. Girls were
also admitted to the school and on the roll
are the names of those who were the belles of
Upper Canada more than half a century ago.
The master, who afterwards became Arch
deacon of Kingston, is described as a very
tall, benevolent and fine featured ecclesias
tic. His pulpit delivery was curious, mark
ed as it was by unexpected elevations, and
depressions of the voice and long closings of
the eyes. Afterwards Dr. Stuart s house
was bought by George L , subsequently Col
onel Duggan, who occupied it as
a shop and residence. Mr. Duggan and
Dr. Stuart did not agree very well,
and it was the custom of the former to get
up and walk out of the church whenever the
Doctor preached at St. James. It is also
related of him that he once kept a jury out
all night, he bsing the only obstinate mem
ber. Mr. Duggan was living in the house
at the corner of King and George streets in
1820, and in the street guide published in
1833-4 his name is found as the proprietor
of a general store. Dr. Thomas Duggan
at ^ the same time occupied part of the
building. In those days the numbers
on King street ran toward Yonge street,
instead of from it as now. In 1833 the
number of this corner was 61 ; now it is 189.
In the street guide or directory of that year
the information is given that this building
marked the corner of the Home District.
For a great many years there was a wide
vacant lot to the eastward of Mr. Duggan s
property, and in the Gazette of March 18,
1822, this is offered for sale as a building
lot and described in the advertisement
as eighty-six feet in front and one
hundred and seventeen in depth, and
as being "one of the moat eli
gible lots in the Town of York, and
situated on King street, in the centre of the
town." The first building erected on this
lot was a frame structure put up by Arm
strong & Beaty and occupied by them as a
boot and shoe store. In the directory of
1833-4 Armstrong & Beaty, boot and shoe
makers, are its occupants. It was then
numbered 55 and 57. Its number now is
193, and is used as a tinware establishment,
and is much the same in appearance as it
was then. The first building to go up east
of the Duggan House was a small frame
house built by William and Thomas Foster.
These brothers subsequently went into busi
ness in Toronto, and being both shrewd
nd persevering, were most successful.
They are remembered as being upright and
straightforward in all their dealings. In
the directory above mentioned the name of
W. Foster alone appears as occupying
"No. 59 King street. The Foster house was
put up before 1828. Where it stood is now
a brick building numbered 191 and used as
a jewellery store. In 1833 George Donning-
ton occupied part of the Foster building
as a provision store. Next to this
was the Armstrong & Beaty building
mentioned above. Then came a yellow
frame building erected before 1828 and oc
cupied as a saddle shop by a man named
Sullivan. Subsequently it was taken by
John Sproule, a wholesale and retail grocer
and wine merchant and Government con
tractor, who had possession of it in 1833.
Its number then was 53. It is now 195.
The building is now standing and used
as a restaurant. It is shown in the
illustration. Next to this was a frame
building shown in the accompanying sketch
as a saloon, numbered 199. It has been
torn down to make way for a brick
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
25
building now in process of erection.
Its original number was 51, and it
was used in 1833 by Robert McKay
as a grocery and liquor store. Next is a
little modern structure, and beyond this the
store of George Monro for a long time the A.
T. Stewart of York, and afterward Mayor
of Toronto in 1840, and member of Parlia
ment for the South Riding in York in 1844-
5. Associated with him in business was his
brother John. It seems difficult to realize
that the little two-storey frame building
shown in the cut should once have been one
of the grandest mercantile establi-hments in
town, but such is the fact. In 1833,
John Gallagher, a tin and
iron worker, and Robert Tranior,
a boot and shoe maker occupied it. Its num
ber then was 49. It is now 203. In Mr.
Monro s time it was residence as well as
store. On the west side of it, where the
little two-storey square frame building,
shown in the illustration, now stands, was a
tasteful flower garden and a trellised
verandah, with cages of canary birds. Next
to Mr. Monro s premises was a small brick
tenement. In the year 1832 Mr. .Clarke
Gamble was called to the bar, and W.
D Arcy Boulton built for him in the vacant
space between his house and this brick
building a law offica. Mr. Gamble s office
was a little east of where the
hieroglyphics of Yoot Loy are now
to be seen. In 1833 Mr. Gamble
had hung out his sign, and the directory of
that year gives his number as 47. The
building was afterward enlarged and re
modelled, and nor forma part of the brick
house next to the corner. Studying law in
Mr. Gamble s office were : Wm. H. Boul
ton, D Arcy Boulton, Allan Cameron, John
McLean, Archibald G. McLean, iSir James
Luk ; n Robinson, John Strachan, son of the
late Bishop Strachan, Matthew Crooks-
Cameron, afterwards Sir Matthew Crooks
Cameron, Hon. G. W. Allan, William W.
Harvey and Judge Scott.
We are now at the south-west corner of
King and Frederick streets. Here
originally stood the store of D Arcy
Boulton, a large frame building, painted
white. Mr. Boulcon was barrister and
imsrchant, and practiced law as well as
kept shop. The firm afterwards became
Boulton and Proudfoot. Sometime before
1830 the brick building seen at the corner
in the illustration, and numbered now 211-
213 was built by the firm and used as a
general store. The partnership was
dissolved, and in 1833 William Proudfoot
alone dealt there, the number +hen being
45, in wioes, liquors, dry-goods, etc. In
the forties No. 211 was an eating house,
kept by one Bloxom, a coloured man. Pro
bably it was about 1833 when the plan of
numbering houses superseded the method of
distinguishing them by signs which told
their own story, such as a crowned boot,
tea, chest, axe, saw, fowling piece, p ough,
gobdfen fleece, anvil, sledge-hammer or
horseshoe. On the north-west corner of
King and Frederick streets was the shop
of Alexander Wood, in front of which the
first sidewalk in Toronto was laid down.
Mr. Wood s brother had been engaged in
business in York both alone aud in partner
ship with Mr. Allan, and at his death
Alexander came here to settle up the estate
and until after the war of 1812 he continued
the business. He was a bachelor and lived
above his store. He returned to Scotland where
he died intestate and it was some time be
fore the lawful heir to his property was
established. Wood and Alexander streets
run through land that once belonged to him
and they are named after him. On the cor
ner diagonally across from Mr. Boulton s
building, at an early date stood the building
now occupied by tne Canada Company, and
since we are in the mercantile district of
infant York it may be interesting to show
the varied assortment of goods advertised
in 1805 as havii g jusc arrived from New
York. They are as given in Dr. Scadding s
Toronto ol Old : Ribbons, cotton goods,
si;k tassels, gown trimmings, cotton binding
wire trimmings, silk belting, fans, beaded
buttons, block tin, gloves, ties, cotton bed,
line, bed lace, rollo bands, ostrich feathers,
silk lace, black veil lace, thread do., laces
and edging, fine black veils, white do., fine
silk mitts, love handkerchiefs, Barcelona do.,
silk do., black crape, black mode, black
Belong, blue, white and yellow do., stripsd
silk for gowns, chambray muslins, printed
dimity, split straw bonnets, Leghorn do., im
perial chip do., best London ladies beaver
bonnets, cotton wire, Rutland gauzj band
boxes, cambrics, Irish linens, callimancoes,
plain muslins, laced muslins, blue, black and
yellow nankeens, jeans, fustians, long silk
gloves,*velvet ribbons, Russia sheetings,
India satins, silk and cotton umbrellas,
p-irasols, white cottons, bombazetts, black
and white silk stockings, damask table
cloths, napkins, cotton, striped nankeens,
bandanna handkerchiefs, catgut, Tickenburg,
browu holland, creas a la Morlaix, Italian
lute strings, beaver caps for children. Hyson
tea, Hysoii chanlon in small chests, young
Hy^on, green Souchong and Bohea, loaf
East India and Muscovado sugars, mustard,
essence of mustard, pills of mustard, capers,
lemon juice, soap, Windsor do., indigo,
mace, nutmegs, cinnamon, cassia, clovea,
pimeato, pepper, best box raisins, prunes,
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
coffee, Spanish and American segars, Cay-
enn? pepper in bottles, p?as, barley, castor
oil, British oi , pickled oysters, chiuaware
in small boxes and sets. suwarrow,
boots, bootees, men s, women s and chil
dren s shoes, japauned quart mugs, do.
tumblers, tipped flutes, violin bows, brass
wire, sickles, iron candlesticks, shoemakers
hammers, knives, pincers, pegging awls and
tacks, awl blades, shoe brushes, copper tea
kettles, snaffle bit, leather shot belts, horn
powder flasks, ivory, horn and crooked combs,
mathematical instruments,knivea and forks,
suspenders, fish hooks, sleeve links, sports
men s knives, lockets, ear-rings, gold topaz,
do. gold watch chains, gold seals, gold
brooches, cut gold rings, plain do., tearl
do., silver thimbles, do. teaspoons, "shell
sleeve buttons, silver watches, beads, paste
board, foolscap paper, second do., letter
paper, black and red ink, powder, wafers
and a miscellaneous supply of literature.
Just here a York Pioneer s Recollections
of Little York in 1828, cannot fail to be of
interest. He says : When I first came
to York in July, 1828, I was a lad of twelve
years of age. The town contained about
three thousand inhabitants, mostly English,
Irish and Scotch, and a few Americans and
native Canadians. The impression fiist
formed by me on being here a few days was
that of it being a scattered village, the
houses being built, with a few exceptions, of
frame, with gable ends to the street, the
chief street, as now, being King street.
The roads on all thoroughfares of the town
were like most village roads in dry weather,
fairly good. No material, however, was
used to improve them, in consequence
of which in the fall and in rainy weather
they were almost impassable for vehicles.
The winters set in generally early, and the
frost made the roads better, and as sleighing
could be looked for almost to a certainty
through the winter months up to the end of
March, there was not much to complain of.
So far as^ locomotion was concerned, the
sidewalks, except in dry weather, were in
no better state than the streets. This state
of affairs, however, did not last long, as
shortly after 1830 improvements on the
street and sidewalks commenced, and on the
latter some flagging and plank walks were
laid down.
Quite a number of our wealthiest men,
merchants, professional men and govern
ment officers, kept their carriages. The
most in use by the merchants was a kind
of four- wheeled light waggon or waggon
ette, made for one or two seats,
and strongly made for rough roads.
The society of the town was excellent,
and among the Government officers and
man
leading merchants and professionaji
much refinement and education existed, and
York being a garrison town there were one
or more regiments of Imperial troops sta
tioned here, the officers of which were con
sidered an acqaisition to society, and many
of the fair daughters of York formed marri
ages with these gallant fellows.
The chief business part of the town at that
time, 1828. was King aad Front streets, the
western limit being Yonge > s^reet, and the
eastern limit the Don bridge. There we^e,
however, many excellent private residences
west of York on Yong.?, Front and Dundas
streets, as far wst as the garrison.
Dundas street, now Queen, was the
northern limit generally of the town,
although there were sotrre first-class private
dwellings north of Dundas and Lot streets,
but there were no streets laid out except
Yonge street, and that street was an old
military road, cut out before 1800 on the
first settlement of the old Province of Upper
Canada. It was cut out by the English
Government, by Governor Simcoe and his
troops, the Rangers, leading to upper lakes,
and was, and is now, over forty miles long,
bearing the name of Yonge street. The
country improved rapidly after the war of
1812, and in 1828 there were many fine
farms under cultivation on the Kingston
road, Yonge street, Lot street and Dundas
street west, with comfortable farm houses,
and the farmers generally were well to do,
and there were pretty fair taverns
for the time on these roads.
Stages ware established on all lead
ing roads, to the town in 1828. Hamilton
and London were very small villages. The
town of Kingston was the chief and largest
town in the province, and from the fact of
it being a naval and military station it was
only second in importance to Quebec. There
was a tribe of Indians on the Indian reserve
of Port Credit, 16 miles west of York, and
they frequently had their eamping ground
on the green near the old jail. The men
lived by fishing, and the squaws made
baskets and bead work, and the Indian boys
were very expert with bows and arrows, and
the sons of the towns people soon were
equally so ; striking a copper or half-penny
off a willow twig at some yards distance
was no uncommon feat.
In 1829 among the many steamers plying
upon the lake were the Can n da to Niagara ;
the Dalhousie and Toronto, between King
ston and Prescott ; the Niagara, Queenston
and Alciope, between Kingston, York and
Niagara ; and the United Kingdom be
tween the two formr ports. From 1830
to 1833 were added, among others,
the Cobourg, vV illiam the Fourth, and
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
27
the Great Britain and as years advanced
the steamboat accommodation advanced,
and, in 1842 the Canadians cou d boast of as
fine a line of steamers and sailing vessels as
on any of the inland waters, a
daily line of steamers being formed
between Toronto (old York) and
Montreal to connect with a daily line to
Quebec. At this date, 1888, the tonrjage on
o-flr lakes has reached as follows : Ntrtnber
of vessels, 1,275 ; number of steamers, 610;
gross tonnage, 81,724 ; total net tonnaee,
129,548. JThe ereat <^mpetition of our car
rying trade by railway has given a check to
the increase in our tonnage of late years, but
it is steadily increasing, and, in fact, it ia
not alone our merchant marine and our city
which has made such rapid strides (the city
now numbering nearly 150,000 people), botour
unrivalled railway service and general im
provement of the country at large, all of
which should excite admiration.
It is something for a York pioneer to say
at this date that after a lapse of sixty years
in this locality he h&s a lively recollection of
Muddy Little York with its three thousand
inhabitants, surrounded as it was a few
y*ars previous to 1828 by a wilderness, and
thai the first white perspn born here in 1800
in a log cabin on Duke street, (the late
much reaped* d Andrew Heron), only a
short time ago passed away from our midst.
CHAPTER XIV.
COLLEGE AVENUE LODGE,
A.*. Oild little Structure at the Foot of ibe
Broad Mall leading up to the University
of Toronto.
On the western side of the grounds sur
rounding Osgoode Hall spring out from
Queen street two parallel streets forming
one noble avenue fringed with four rows of
chestnut trees, leading up to Queen s
Park and to the University. Regarded
as two separate streets, the one
further to the west is College avenue.
It belongs to the corporation and was laid
out in a very primitive way about 1825. In
the original planting of the avenue numer
ous trees and shrubs were mingled together
much as in a wild wood. Just before the
building of the first University edifice in
1842 another street to the eastward of Col
lege avenue and adjoining it, was laid out
and designated Park lane, after the London
thoroughfare leading from Oxford street to
Piccadilly and skirting the east side of Hyde
Park. Afterward the name was changed to
University street, which it still bears, a
confusing nomenclature, however, in view of
the parallel College avenue. The horse chest
nuts phmted at the same time were
brought here from the United States.
for although now very numerous about To
ronto these trees were then a rarity in the
neighbourhood. In the year 1832 Mr.
J. G. Howard, the well-known archi
tect and civil engineer, built four lodges of
the design in the engraving. One of these
lodges was at the western side of the main
gate of College avenue. Another was at the
eastern side, so that the entrance was
flanked with two buildings, that looked
amid all the surrounding foliage rather
picturesque. About a dozen years ago the
eastern lodge was torn down, but the west
ern one remains as it was forty years ago.
The other two lodges were on College street
the entrance running west to the park from
Yonga street. One stood at the north-
wast corner of College and Yonge streets
and the other further west on College street
011 the same side a short distance east of
Beverley street. Both these have been torn
down. The easternmost one was oc
cupied by Robert Carleton, the fore
man of the corporation and the other
further west by Thomas Hornibrook, the
College avenue constable. At all these
entrances were wooden gates, which were
kept closed and only opened on application
to the caretakers. No heavy waggons were
allowed to pass. At a comparatively recent
period University street and College avenue
were separated by a fence. The cottage
shown in the engraving at the north-west
corner of College avenue and Queen street,
is now occupied by Mrs. Fitzpatrick,
the widow of Mark Fitzpatrick, who
was a caretaker and lived there
for many years previous to his death. He
was injured in one of his feet and the Uni
versity now pays a pension to Mrs. Fitz
patrick. The trees along the avenue were
planted by Mr. Fitzpatrick. The lodge at
the north-east corner ot University street and
Queen street which was torn down about a
dozen years ago, was occupied for eighteen
years up to its demolition by Geo.Hunt, now
constable at the market. Previous to its
occupancy by Mr, Hunt, George Stacey
was caretaker and lived there. Mr. Hunt
put up an addition of two rooms to the
lodge in which he lived for which he was
reimbursed by the corporation at the time
of the desrruction of the building.
The lodge is so small and so oddly out of
keeping with its surroundings that one
can not pass by and not have his attention
attracted to it. Around it runs a row
of wooden pillars supporting a low portico ;
horse chestnuts overshadow it, and in the
early summer from their great bunches of
white flowers drift down upon its roof fra
grant storms of falling blosso*ns. It is not
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
COLLEGE AVENUE LODGB.
much bigger than the little yellow box that
a cripple wheels every morning to its station
across the roadway with his small stock of
fruits, nuts, candies and daily newspapers.
Something, too, of an ecclesiastical air is
there about the gray, rough-cast little cot
tage, with its single chimney, conspicuously
large for the size of the building
one door like that of a chapel and
its Gothic arched windows shaded by white
curtains like surplices in their purity.
George Wells made the lodge his bachelor
quarters for a time. He was the son of
Colonel Wells, once of the 43rd regiment,
and inherited natural artistic gifts and a
handsome form. Colonel Wells was decor
ated with the gold medal of Badajos, and
after retiring from the army built and occu
pied the pretty home called Davenporb,
which was afterwards used as a re
sidence by his son, Colonel Wells,
who distinguished himself in the Cri
mean war, and on his return to
Toronto was publicly presented with a
sword of honour. Two-thirds of the way
up College avenue to College street the in
tersecting road leading to the Park from
Yonge street was the once famous Bowling
Green, a level sward with a circular bank
around and on the bank fine trees, where
the old resident* of Toronto used to go
every pleasant afternoon to play bowls.
The green was named Caer-Howell, after
the original owner of the land,
who called all the property he possessed
here Castle Howell, in honour of the mythi
cal Hoel, from whom all Ap-Hoels trac
their descent. Hera was a racket court also
in high favour with the officers ot the Gar
rison, and the grounds were often brighten
ed wi*h the gay dresses and fair fac& of
lady visitors. Shortly after the park was
laid oat tiie popularity of the green began
and it continued up to about R yrors ago.
Henry Layton, the proprietor, kept a little
hotel near by where players and spectators
might get refreshments, and perhaps no
spot is more dearly cherished in the memory
of old residents of Toronto than the Caer
Howell Bowling Green.
CHAPTER XV.
BISHOP STRAP HAN S MANSION.
The House in which the First Bishop of To
ronto I>ivd and Died A Brief Sketch of
the Bishop.
By a not unnatural correlation of ideas
the house which the Rev. Dr. John Strachan
built for a private residence came to
be known as the Bishop s Palace and now
converted into a private hotel is known as
the Palace Boarding House. It is not
strange that it should have received this
high sounding appellation. In the first
place it was a palace compared with
the other buildings of York at the
time of its erection, and then Dr. Strachan
came to be bishop, although twenty years
later. But the building never was a palace ;
nerer was anything more than a private re
sidence. In 1818 Dr. John Strachan, rector
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
29
BISHOP STEACHAN S MANSION.
of St. James ebusch and rr.aster of the Dis
trict Grammar school, built in a large yard
at what is now No. 130 Front street, a resi
dence of capacious dimensions, with exten
sive and complete appurtenances. It ia a
two-storey building with a gable, facing the
south, and ia not unlike the Grange in gen
eral design, but differs with that structure
in that us additions to it have b*n made.
It remains now as when built. Ths bricks
used in the cbnatruction of th* house were
manufactured oa the spot, and it has the
distinction cf beiag the first building
erected in iork from bricks made here.
The house, with gardens and grounds oc
cupied the entire square, bounied on the
west by Simco* street (old ftr&r*a strees,,
Wellington street,(old Market street,) York
street and Front street. In 1833, the west
or York street front was sold, and Mr. J,
Q. Howard erected a brick villa for Mr.
Thomas Mercer Joes, one of the Com
missioners of the Canada Company. This
villa was occupied for years by Cajt.
Strachan, then by Mrs. Skae, aui was
recently purchased by Mr. David Walker. It
is to be torn down during the next few months.
Sever*! brick hoaaes had previously been
put up but the material was brought irom
Kingston or Montreal. The year after the
building of the house and just as the family
was nicely settled in it Jerries Strachan, a
book-seller, of Aberdeen, and a brother of
th doctor, paid himw visit, James had
seen his brother since one day twenty years
before, when he set out with a slender purse
from Scotland to become a schoolmaster
in Canada. One can easily conceive the
worthy Scotchman s astoni liment as pass
ing along the rough streets, past
scattered iittle frame buildings of the town,
with the memory of his brother s former
poverty in his mind, he suddenly comes upon
the imposing facade of the new mansion,
surrounded by its large and handsorm
grounds, No wonder he pauses acd, gravely
addressing his brother, says, " I hope it s
i come by honestly, John 1" On his return
1 James Strachan published " A Visit to the
Bovine* of lipped Canada in 1819," a bopk
now very rare, and much sought aft-
collectors. In this book, speaking <
society of York at the time, he says :-
"The society, both as it respects the iadi
and gentlemen, is very superior, and suet
as few towns in England can furnish.
30
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
judges, the Crown officers, the heads of the
different departments, several professional
gentlemen, merchants and officers on half-
pay all living with their families in the
greatest harmony, cannot fail of rendering
York exceedingly agreeable and to strangers
interesting." Dr. Bethune, who came to
York the same year, gives a similar ac
count of the society of the town.
He says : " There were a few scattered
houses on King street as far up as the resi
dence of the Lieut. -Governor, and on Front
street, at lone; intervals, they reacted
nearly to the old garrison. There were
njso a few on Dake, Yonge and Queen
streets. There were bat three brick
edific.es in the town, and, exclusive
of the military, the population was
about 1,200. Though inferior in size
and condition to my of our present vil
lages York took a high rank as to seeiai po
sition. From its being the seat of Govern
ment the society was excellent, having not
less than twenty families of the highest re
spectability, persoas ol refinement and
many of high intellectual cnlture. To these
were added a small sprinkling of military.
For the size cf the place there was a large
amount of hospitality exercised, and on a
handsome and bountiful scale." The three
brick houses of which Dr. Bethune speaks
as being the only ones of the kind in
town were Dr. Strachan s house, the
building erected by Quetton St. George
at the north-east corner of King and
Frederick streetis, now occupied by the
Canada Company, and the building directly
opposite on the south-east corner of the
same streets, afterward the first Bank of
Upper Canada. Among the hosts of that
clay none was more lavish in his hospitality
than Dr. Strachaa. Not without interest
will be found a sketch of the life of this ex
traordinary divine, who lived in the finest
house in tfte town, gave entertainments that
outshone those of the Lieutenant-Governor
himself, rode about in a grand coach with a
hemispherical top, and was at once priast,
soldier and diplomatist. In stature he was
slightly under the medium height, with a
Mitton-like head. John Strachan was born
at Aberdeen, Scotland, April 12, 1778. At
the age of nineteen he began his career as a
teacher at Kettle. With the execution of
Governor Simcoe s scheme to have a gram
mar school in every district of the Province,
and a university at the seat ot Government,
young Strachan was selected a& a teacher.
He accepted the offer and sailed from
Greenock in August, 1799. He first went
to Kingston, where he studied divinity,
under the Rev. Dr. Stuart, the rector of the
town, and in the spring of 1803 was admit
ted deacon. In
next year he
and appointed
Cornwall where
the early summer of the
was consecrated pnest,
to the mission a$
he built up a famous
school. He married Mrs. McGill, nee Miss
Wood, one of the prettiest girls in Corn
wall, in 1807 In 1812, through the efforts
of General Brock, he was transferred to York
to succeed Dr. Stuart. He arrived in August
of that year, and p/eached his first sermon
at the parish church before the legislature
on the war. IE 1813 by his remonstrances
with General Dearborn and his threats he
saved York from being burned. At York
he established the famous District Grammar
School. In 1818 he was appointed member
of the Executive and Legislative councils,
remaining in the former until 1836, and in
thfe attar until 1841. To his ex
ertions are due the establishment of the
University of Toronto and of Upper Canada
College. He laid the ccrner stone of Trinity
College. When the diocese of Quebec was
divided it 1839, the Honourable hid
Right Reverend John Strachan, D.D.,
LL.D., was made first bishop of the See
of Toronto and was conseciated by the
Archbishop of Canterbury. He died at his
Front street house, November 1, 1867. The
pall bearers at his funeral were all old
pupils of his York school. They were
Ven. Archdeacon Fuller, Rev. Dr. VY. Mac-
Murray, Vice -Chan ceJlor Spragge, F. fl.
Howard, William Gamble and John Ridout.
He lies buried in the chancel of St. Jamea 1
Cathedral, a great monument to a great man,
CHAPTER XVI.
THE CHILDREN S FRIEND.
Tbe Lite and Public Beneficences of Je**e
Ketchnm who did much for schools and
churches in Toronto and Buffalo.
Among the early settler* of Yonk was a
quiet, shrewd man of average stature, homely
in appearance and in manaer-s who came to
the infant capital from Buffalo somewhere,
about the beginning of the century to attend
to the affairs of an older brother who
had previously settled here and built
a tannery. The name of the new
comer was Jesse Ketchum, and
for nearly half a century he was.
one of the most prominent citizens of the
place. The Gazette of June llth, 1803,
speaks of the death of his father, Joseph
Ketchum, as occurring cm Wednesday, June 8,
at the advanced age at So years, and men
tions the fact that ths fcijiai of the remains
took place the following day. On hia ar-
I rival here Jesse assumed the management o(
j the tannery which was located at the south-
j v/est corner of Newg*te (now Adelaide) and
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
31
Yonge streets. It stretched along the south
aide of the former street nearly over to Bay
street, and along the west side of Yonge
street almost down to King were ranged
high stacks of hemlock bark. He owned the
property up to Queen street, beyond which
stretched the woods. Across from his tannery,
which stood on the 8. w. corner of Newgate
and Yonge, he built a residence, a mansion
in those days of York. It was a large frame
building, painted white, and stood at the
north-west corner of Yonge and Adelaide
streets. The illustration, represents it
very accurately. Dr. Scadding describes it
as a dwelling in the American style, with a
square turret hearing a railing rising out of
the ridge of the root. Perhaps Jesse Kefc-
chum may be credited as being the first one
tainiog to secular education and religious
instruction, and to his generosity is due the
fact that the quadrilateral bounded by
Queen, Adelaide, Yonge and Bay streets in
filled to a remarkable degree with chorcheis
and religious and educational institutions.
Hospital street, now Richmond street
passed through his land and he opened and
named Temperance street. The Bible and
Tract Society obtained its house on Yonge
street from him on condition that it should
distribute books to the amount of the ground
rent in the Public schools every year, an
agreement which is still faithfully carried
out by the society, which also secured
the ground rent of an adjoin
ing building under the proviso that
books should be given to Sunday
JESSE KETCHTTM S HOUSE.
to introduce sidewalks into the embryo city.
The streets were in a deplorable condition
at certain seasons of the year on account of
the mud ; Yonge street was particularly bad,
aad it was with the greatest difficulty that
loads could be drawn along it. The sidewalks
which ME. Ketchum laid out were of tan
bark, clean and dry. The exact date of the
building of his house is not known, but it
was probably in 1813 or 1814. It was de
stroyed about 1838 or 1839 and the land cut
up into building lots. The house did not
ccme down to the corner, but stood a little
distance back from both streets; about it
was a cluster of outhouses. In the
early days of York Jesse Ketchum
was one of the most liberal of its
citizens, especially in all matters per-
schools in a similar manner. Ee gave a
site for a temperance hall, also several
acres for a children s park at Yorkville, aud
this Public school on th? Davenport road, a
liUle way from Yongs street, now bears the
name of "The Jesse Ketchum School."
The ground is named the Jesse Ketchum
Park. Ifi 1820 among the contributions to
a common school was Mr. Ketchum s sub
scription, unusually large for that time, of
$100. Other subscriptions were : Jordan
Post, 17 6s 3d ; Philip Klinger, 2 10s,
and Lardner Eostwicfe, 2 10s. From
these names it would appear that not all
the York pioneers were of English or Scotch
extraction. In April 1822 Mr. Ketchum s
name is down for a subscription to
build a bridge over the Don to coat
82
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
325. At the annual town meeting
of 1806 he was appointed one of the over-
tea is of highwajjjS and fence viewers, in
1800 Yonge street did not extend down to
the bay, bat stopped at Queen street, the
land south of this to the water s edge being
simply vacant lots. When Yonge street
was cut through, a street further to the
eastward was closed and the owners of the
land receipted proportionate pieces of it far
the ground taken to lay out Yonge street,
and in 1818 the names of Jesse Ketchum,
William Bowkett, James Miles and
William Richardson, appeared aa be
ing entitled to such divisions of
the closed thoroughfare. On the east Mr.
Ketchum u property was bounded by what
was formerly called Upper _Geprge street,
Mr. Ketchum was a pew - holder
in St. James church. He was a house
holder, and continued to reside here until
he returned to Buffalo in 1845. One of his
daughters married Colonel E. W. Thomson.
She died in 1833, leaving one son called Jttsse.
In Buffalo, as in Toronto, Mr. Ketchum
was known for his great and practi
cal interest in schools and for his generous
gifts, which won him there the affectionate
title of " Father Ketchum." His brothers
Seneca and Oliver were also charitably dis
posed. Jesse Ketchum came of Welsh origin,
three brothers coming toAmericain the 18th
century and settling in New York State.
The eldest brother was Seneca, who came to
Toronto in the early part of this century
and established a tannery on Yonge street.
Jesse, the second son, after whom the
aecond son of each family has been named,
on the death of his father was placed on a
farm in New York State. The family was
a large one, and at the death of Jesse Ket
chum, senior, it was scattered. Young
J esse remained on the farm until he was
quite a lad. Then on account of the harsh
treatment of his employers, particularly his
mistress, he ran away and joined his elder
brother Seneea at York, who then
conducted the tannery, the manage
ment of which Jesse assumed after a
time on account of his brother s religious
aberration of mind. Jesse s family was a
very large one and members of it are now
intermarried withtheWarrens,of Rochester,
and the Adams, of Massachusetts, the lat
ter of which families has given two presidents
to the United States. In 1843 Miss Sher-
bourne, only child of Mr Ketch -m s sister-
in-law, married the Baron De Fleur.
in rLnox church, to which Mr. Jesse Ketchum
gave the land, and in large part built, there
is a tablet with an inscription reading to
the effect that it was erected in loving
acknowledgment of the Christian lite and
beneficence of Jesse Ketchum. Painted on
the wall cf his tannety used to be a
sign that there was plenty to eat for mn
and beast, but nothing to waste. In Buffalo
f Jesse gave a huge donation in land and
money for schools. The magnificence of his
gilt may be inferred from the fact that there
are now in Bui*Io twelve Jesse Ketdbum
public schools and that a sum of money is
set apart for the annual distribution of gold
medals in these schools forever. The medals
are of coin gold, valued at twenty
dollars each. On one side they bear the
name of the prize winner and for
what awarded and on the other a medallion
of Jesse Ketchum. In the possession
of the family is a picture showing all these
schools with a portrait of Mr. Ketchum in
jt the centre. It seemed as though the more
Mr. Ketchum acquired the more he gave
away. What he did give (away in
Toronto, Buffalo and other towns, if esti
mated at its value to-day, would reach an
enormous sum. Near Orangeville he gare
away a large plot, intending it for a sailor s
home. Whf-n he gave up business
he established all his old employes in profit
able pursuits, and during his management
of the tannery, whenever a man married he
almost invariably gave him a plot
of ground on which to build a house and
sometimes furnished him with money to
erect the building. Mr. Ketchum was a
great churchman and also a great temper
ance man. His elder brother Seneca was
also. The latter used to go about the
country distributing Bibles and giving away
plots of ground for chapels and churches.
Seneca acquired a large plot of ground near
Orangeviile, which at his death fell into the
possession of Jesse, who turned it over to
his son Jesse, known in Toronto as Jesse
the youtger. A part of it turned out to be
very valuable. The best part of Orange
ville is built on it now. Jesse had two sons,
Jesse, known as " Jesse the younger" and
William who was elected to the Dominion
parliament, and who was celebrated in his
time for being the handsomest man in To
ronto. William died in middle age. Jesse
jr., married and lived for quite a long time
on his property at Orangeville, leaving a
large family, nearly all of whom survive.
Among other possessions of the Senior Jesse
was a large tract of land where the town of
Port Credit now stands. In buffalo he had
a fine residence, in which he lived up to his
death, and which is now occupi
ed by members of the family on
North street, probably the moat fashionable
street in that city. A great many descend
ants of the brothers of Je=se now liv" in the
United States. The Rev. Dr. W. H. Withrow
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
33
has written a very interesting memorial of
Jesse Ketchum, from which some excerpts
are taken, also quoting Dr. John Carroll in
the same connection, the latter of whom
says that the first dollar he ever earned was
pi id to him by Mr. Ketchum ior planting
potatoe- where Knox church now s f a ids.
Dr. W) throw says: "One of my earliest
recollections is of a silvery-haired
old gentleman who used to visit the
Sunday schools of Toronto. We all knew
what to expect when he appeared. In the
first place we received some kind and
fatherly words of counsel and encourage
ment, the burden of which was : Be good,
be true, be honest, be brave I Then from
the capacious pockets of his overcoat he
would produce a number of instructive and
interesting books which he loved to dis
tribute with his own hands to the eager-
eyed boys and girls. The Christmas holi
days of hundreds of boys and girls in both
countries are gladdened by the gift of
Christmas books, for the distribution of
which forever provision was made in the
last will and testament of this man. His
own Childhood was poor and neglected,
full of toil and sorrow, and he knew how to
sympathize with the sorrows of childhood,
and he lored to add to their innocent joys. "
There is distributed a large amount, some
times a thousand dollars, in reward books
among the Sunday School scholars of this
city, the result of Jes-e Ketchum s bounty.
It is hard to conceive of Yonge stree t,
with its bustling crowds of people, as it once
was, a narrow road running through a pine
clearing in which stood blackened stumps.
Yet this was its aspect when Jesse Ketohum,
a poor homeless boy, landed from a
little schooner on the pebbly beach,
and trudged on foot through the mud to
seek a home with his elder brother on Yonge
street, and in course of time the penniless
boy became th<- owner of the whole block
bounded by Adelaide, Queen, Yonge and
Bay streets. At the south-east corner of
this block stood his house, a large, square
wooden building, a very grand one in its
day. In the rear was the old rambling tan
nery, with its rows of deep tan vats filled
with a dark-brown liquid, looking like tre-
mendoosJy strong tea, and its mounds of
red brown leather tan bark, which was such
capital stuff for the boys to jump and play
upon, and the stacks of hemlock bark and
the quaint mill where the patient
mill horse went round and round
he livelong day, grinding the
bark and the not very savoury piles of hides
and rows of currier s blocks. In that block
tkere were four years ago six churches and
a temperance hall in which Jesse Ketcfaana
gave largely in land and money, J
Mr. Ketchum was born a* Spencetown,
New York State, in 1782. His mother died
early. The father lived to a great age. Jesse s
boyhood was a particularly hard one. H
was put out to live with a couple from whom
he suffered much from the capricious 1 temper
of his mistress. Mr. Ketchum used to eeR
how once, boy-like, he had forgotten his new
coat in the field ; his mistress found
it and tore it all to fbreds and then
threw it on a bush. Afterward she picked
it up and showed it to him, alleging that
through his carelessness the hogs had torn
it to pieces. Jesse was sixteen years old when
he ran away in a state of complete destitu
tion to seek a refuge with his elder brother,
Seneca, in York. Seneca at that time was
managing a farm and small tannery on
Yonge|street, ( a little south of HoggsHollow.
His education was defective, but he did
what he could for his own improvement,
and long after he was the father of a family
he gave a schoolmaster free quarters to
teach him grammar, arithmetic and hand
writing. At eighteen years of age he was
married. About the time of the war between
the United States and Great Britain an
American by the name of Van Zandt sold
his property at the corner of Yonge street
and Adelaide then Newgate street and
Jesse Ketchum and his wife seized the op
portunity to establish themselves in the
tannery business there. Of his religious life
Dr. Carroll says that he was always a
church-going man, and had always
family prayer in his house twice a
day. At first his family held a
pew in the English church, but when
the Methodists opened a meeting house in
1818 the itinerant preachers were frequent
guests at Mr Ketchum s hous?. Mrs.
Ketchum, however, was a Presbyterian, and
her husband carne to have proclivities that
way himself. About 1820 the late Rev.
James Harris, then a young Presbyterian
minister from the north of Ireland, came
here and Mr. Ketchum gave him free
quarters for many years, till at length
Mr. Harris married Mr. Ketchum s second
daughter, when he was given a house
as well as a housekeeper. When the
first Sunday school in York was organ
ized by the Rev. Mr. Osgoode
in November, 1818, in the newly-bailt
Methodist chapel, Mr. Ketchum was one
of the teachers, along with Messrs. Patrick
Morrison and Carfrae and he was its most
liberal patron. The first Bible Dr. With-
row ever owned was inscribed with his
name and when the school children went to
Mr. Ketchum s kitchen for their first exarai-
34
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
nation the ladies of the house gave them
tea, without doubt the first Sunday school
party ever held in York. In 1845 he re
turned to Buffalo, where he gave a plot of
ground worth $20,000 for a normal school
and secured an annual donation of $300
worth of books to the children of the city.
This public benefactor died at Buffalo Sep
tember 7, 1867, in the 85th year of his age,
mourned by thousands of children.
CHAPTER XVII.
UNIVERSITIES OLD AND NEW.
The History ot the Cireat Canadian Seat oi
Learning Projected in the Early Days of
York.
Buildings have their vicissitudes as well
as men, but was ever design of builders
more completely thwarted than that an
edifice intended for the home of the muses
should become an asylum for the insane,
and instead of the smooth flowing
measures of Homer and Virgil should
icsound with the cries and wailings
of mad women. As early as 1791
and before Governor Simcoe had
left England to take charge of his newly
created Canadian province he suggested to
Sir Joseph Banks, president of the Royal
Society, the desirability of "a college of a
higher class " in the colony. Of course at
that time scarcely any students could have
been found to attend the college if it had
been established, but something of provision
was made for its existence at a future day
by the grant for such a purpose of a larg"
portion of public land. In 1819 Gourlay
thought the province still unpreptred for a,
college, but suggested that batches of
twenty five students should be annually
sent from Upper Canada to the English
Universities, and supported there at the
public expense. An elaborate model of a
great educational institution was prepared,
but when the time came to eetabJish the
Univcisity of Toronto it was rejected, and
the work of drawing up a new plan was
given to Mr. Young, a local architect who
followed the style of architecture of which
Girard College, Philadelphia, is a type.
On April 23, 1842, the corner-stone was laid
wi h all ceremony. The greatest procession
which had ever been witnessed in Upper
Canada marched up the avenue to the site
of the new University building in Queen s
Park, occupy! g part of the ground on
which the nt w Parliament buildings are now
being erected. The soldiers of the 43rd
Regiment bearing arms lined the route
of the proce&siou. The Chancellor, Sir
Charles Bagot, the Governor-General of
the time and brother of the then Bishop of
Oxford, accompanied by the officers of th
University and his suite, took their places
in a pavilion erected for the pui pose, close
to the north-east corner where the stone
was to be laid. Fronting this was an
amphitheatre of seats filled with ladies
and between the pavilion and the amphi
theatre the crowd stood. In Curiae Cana-
denses is the following description of the
scene : " The vast procession opened its
ranks and his Excellency the Chancellor
with the President, the Lord Bishop of To
ronto on his right and the senior visitor, the
Chief Justice on his left, proceeded on foot
through the College a venue to the University
grounds. The countless array moved for-
THE OLD UNIVERSITY.
ward to the sound of military music. The
sun shone out with cloudless meridian splen
dour, one blazs of banners flush
ed upon the admiring eye. The
Governor s rich Lord-Lieutenant s dress,
the Bishop s sacerdotal robes, the
iudicial ermine of the Chief Justice, the
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO
35
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O
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7 "
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iSl
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L x lMf f :. : >
*s. ja .\VA\\\\ A -_\ 1 m .\v\\ . i ,
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36
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
splendid convocation robes of Dr. McCaul,
the gorgeous uniforms of the suite, the ac
coutrements of the numerous firemen, the
national badges worn by the office-bearers
of the different societies, and what, on such
a day St. George s must not be omitted,
the red crosses on the breasts of England s
congregated sons, the grave habiliments of
the clergy and lawyers and the glancing
lances and waving plumes of the First In
corporated Dragoons, all formed one moving
picture of civic pomp, one glorious spectacle
which can never be remembered but with
satisfaction by those who had the ^ood fur-
tune to witness it." Only a part of one of
the buildings of the plan was erer erected.
It is shown in the illustration, and is only a
wing, the intention having been to extend
the building several hundred feet to the west
ward. The wing had a frontage of from
sixty to seventy -five feet. It was
built of beautiful white cut stone. It
is being torn down as the new
Parliament buildings K U P and the
material is used in their construction.
This building was not long use 1 as an
educational establishment ; indeed about
1856, and for some few years afterwards, it
was converted into a branch of the Provin
cial Lunatic Asylum.
Built in 1857, the present University,
situated on an elevation to the west of the
ravine in Queen s Park, is the crowning
architectural elory of Toronto, rivalled only
in Canada by the Parliament Buildings at
Ottawa, and probably equalling in magni- ;
ficence of effect any educational institution <
on the continent. They are of free stone in ;
the Norman style of ai chitecture, and were
designed by Cumberland & Storm, Toronto, j
architects. There is a general resemblance
in style to the English colleges of the middle
ages The stone is for the greater part in
the rough, and although finished only thirty ,
years ago, the buildings already wear a \
venerable aspect. Site and structure com
bine most harmoniously to impress the
beholder at the same time with a sense of
solidity and grace. Upon the compleion
of i he work, presiden , professors and
students migrated in a body from the Parlia
ment buildings, on Front street, which they
had temporarily occupied for several years
The principal front of the new University
faces the south, and is 100 yards in length.
The general outline is nearly in the form
of a square with an internal quadrangle
about two hundred feet wide facing the
north and open to the park. In the centre
is ; massive tower one hundred and twenty
feet high, which adds much to the com
manding appearance of the pile and from
the top of which is disclosed a prospect of
great beauty and variety. The east front
is two hundred and sixty feet long. In
it is a separate entrance sui mounted by
a smaller pointed tower. The west end
is two hundred feet long. The entrance
hall and grand staircase are of beautiful
proportions and finished with great ela ora
tion of detail. Ihere is much fine carving
throughout.
On the evening of February 14th, 1890,
! occurred the disastrous fire by which the
1 whole of the University, w th the exception
of the Physical Science Department, was
destroyed. When morning broke on Feb
ruary 15th, the priceless library of nearly
I 35,000 volumes, containing not only many
rare editions of general works, but also
j many documents in connection with Cana-
: dian history, was a thing of the past. The
] cause of the fire was never fully explained.
Owing to the scarcity of water little could
i be done to arrest the flames.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE OLD GLOBE OFFICE.
the Brick Bnilding Recently Torn Down
:it the South-treat Corner of King anct
Jordan Streets.
Where the Canadian Bank of Commerce
has now erected its splendid structure of
brown stone on the south-west corner of
King and Jordan streets, formerly stood the
first church of the WesUyan .Methodists in
Toronto. It was the first building erected
on the spot, and originally was a low wooden
chapel forty feet square facing north and
standing a little way back f . om the street.
It was built by Mr. Petch. On each side of
the building at the gable end facing King
street was a door, i hrough one the men
entered and through the otner
the women. The same division
of sexes was observed within. the
pews on cne side being set apart for men and
on the other for women, precisely as is the
custom now in Hebrew synagogues. The
Methodist body soon grew too large for the
church and it was enlarged to 60 feet in
length, the frontage rem ining the same.
In 1833 the Methodists gave it up for reli-
g ous purposes and as so frequently befalls
an abandoned church it --vas converted into
a place of amusement under the high sound-
ine title of the Theatre Royal. Theatrical
representations were given here for several
years, and then about 1837, Angus Dallas
bought the property and erected on it the
three-storey brick building shown in the ac
companying cut, which was recently torn
down to make way tor the building recently
completed.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
37
,*-
THE OLD " GLOBE " OFFICE REMODELLED.
Here Mr. Dallas carried on a wooden ware
business. For quite a number of years part
of the building was occupied by the agency
of the Commercial Bank, of which the late
Mr. Charle.- S. Ross was manager. Mr. Dallas
transferred the property in 1850 to George
Brown, of the Globe, and a portion or it was
occupied by that journal as its first office.
A flight of steps led up through three heavy
stone arched entrances into a lobby about
eight feet broad, fiom which the stores and
offices opened. About twemy years a,
the front of the building was remodelled and
given the appearance shown in the second
picture. The Globe occupied the westerly
side of the building as a business office, its
press room being in a brick addition at
the rear of the building. At one time a
part of the building was occupied by the
Farmers & Merchants Bank, which sub
sequently closed its doors. The staff
of the Globe then included many men who
have since made their name famous in the
world. Erastus Wiman, Wm. Edwards,
and Charles J. Haroourfc were reporters.
C. W. I unting was an employe in the com
posing room, and at a later date foreman.
Provincial Librarian Houston was another
reporter and Gordon and Gsorge Brown were
just beginning their journalistic careers.
The composing room was on the second floor
and on the third floor were the editorial
rooms. In the Crimean war, before
the era of the Atlantic cable, the
paper had a great sale on the days when
the Europ an mail arrived. Mr. Houston
was a reporter on the paper at the time
of the completion of the cable. There was
a general election in England, and he by a
shrewd scheme was the tiist to get the
results from the wires, and thereby enabled
to get out a special edition. When the
Globe moved into its present office on King
street the lower part of the building was
38
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
divided into shops and occupied by Wm.
Wharin, the jeweller, David Wilson, the
boot maker, and the centre office in 1866
was the business office of the old Daily
Telegraph in Robert-en & Cook s time. Since
$iat time np to its demolition the building
was used for shop*. At one time there was
cigar store in the western part
of the building. It was a great lounging
place for the officers of the regular
fcroops stationed here and one of them was
arrested one day for having jocularly riddsn
irifl horfae into the shop. That was when
fhe 13th Hussars were in Toronto and the
gon of the officer is now one of the best
tnown men around town. At one time in
its early history a part of the building was
eccnpied by the late Dr. Barclay as a private
residence. The illustrations show the
building as it was originally and after it
was re-modelled.
CHAPTER XIX.
A SKETCH OF THE GRANGE.
The Finest Specimen of the lions* Architec
ture of York now the Krsideuce ot Pro-
If nsor Cioldwin Smith.
At the head of John street, looking down
to Queen street, surrounded by spacious
grounds, stands one of those low, roomy
houses which affoid the best type of a gen
tleman s residence. It is a solid, substantial
two-storey structure of brick, wi h wings -it
the west and a conservatory extension at
the east. A columned porch and a gable
with an ceil de bo3uf window at the
south relieve the main part of the house
from the severe simplicity which the facade
would otherwise present. The general as
pect is that of an English mansion, which
evidently furnished the model. This is " The
Grange," one of the finest places and one of
the best known houses in the city. The
main building was erected about: 1820 by
D Arcy Boulton, eldest son of Justice Boul-
ton. Justice Boulton lived in the house, and
his three-cornered hat, made by " Rogers,
York," still hangs in the hall. A
wing and the conservatory are later ad
ditions. The Grange gate, now crowded
back to the head of John street, was
originally on Queen street and the house
was reached by a sweeping drive through
the grounds beginning at the east side ot
McCaul street. Justice Boulton was a great
lover of horses. He drove a pretentious
phaeton, and his team, Bonaparte and Jeffer
son, were the crack pair of the day in York. Ol
these two horses a very curious story is told.
Bears were common about the town in its
early days, and it is said that Bay street
was originally r.amed Bear street f om the
fact that a bear was once chased down it to
the water. In 1809 Lieutenant Fawcett of
the 100th Regiment came upon a large bear
in Yonge street and cut the animal y s head
open with his sword. It is related tha* a
large bear once strayed upon the Grange
pasture a little to the west of tha house.
Bonaparte and Jefferson saw tire
monster and at once attacked
bruin by plunging at him wjth
their fore feet. The Grange is probably the
finest specimen of the beginning of the brick
era at York, and as such is particularly in
teresting, although rendered additionally so
from its associations. From its erection up
to the present time it has always played an
important part in the social life ot York and
Toronto, and many are the tales its walls
could tell of balls and routs and dinner
parties, of fair women and notable men.
Lord Elgin, when Governor-General of
Canada, was the guest there o" William
Henry Boulton, who was Mayor of Toronto
at the time. Mr. Clarke Gamble, who
breakfasted with Lord E gin on this occa
sion, was greatly impressed by the Earl, and
he describes him as a man out of ten thou
sand. This is a historical association with the
"building, memorable from the great public
services of Lord Elgin afrerward in China
and India. The Boultons were very hos
pitable people and entertained largely.
D Arcy Boulton was a gentleman of polished
manners, and his father, the Justice, was a
type of the old school English gentleman.
D Arcy was one of th first men called to
the Bar in Upper Canada, but h abandoned
the law for commercial pursuits, and at
length retired, leaving his business in the
hands of Wm. Proudfoot. As was almost
invariably the custom in those days, the
Grange was built in the centre of a hundred-
acre park lot. Mr. Boulton named it the
Grange on its completion after a fam
ily estate in England, and it has
since borne the name. Mr. Boulton lived
at the Grange until his death in 1844, after
which his widow continued her residence
there with her eldest son, William Henry
Boulton. The widow of the latter married
Professor Goldwin Smith, who lives there
now. The artist s sketch gives a good view
of the front of the house from the south.
Crossing the threshold one enters a square
hall, at the right of which are the two draw
ing-rooms and at the left the dining-room.
All these rooms are finished in black walnut,
as iv ere most of the gentlemen s residences of
the day. At the west of the house proper ii
a "large library, recently built in the place
of Mr. Boulton s grapery, where DOW is
stored the library of Professor Smith.
During Mr. Boulton s time the Grange
w
H
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
wa* one of the duel centres of the
Family Compact^ It is related that an
>ndian once entered the bedroom
of irfrs. D Arcy Boulton, said with the
exclamation " My pretty squaw," patted
her on the cheek and walked out. An Eng
lish officer once lost his way in the thick
woods about the house, and at
tracted by the smoke from the chim
ney, sought shelter and was hospitably
entertained. In the rear of the house
there used to be a race track reach
ing up to College avenue. Part of the stand
for spectators is still standing. . The big
elm trees in front of the house were planted
by the Hon. William Cayley. Near by is a
young tree which was planted by Lord
Lansdowne. The hall, with its polished
oak floor and antique furniture, is one of
the most interesting features ot the
house. Here are some fine wood carv
ings over two centuries old. This hall
was de-igned by the Hon. Wm. Cayley.
Everything about the house is kept as nearly
as possible as it originally was, In the
windows are the small panes of glass put
in when the house was built. All the
wood-work except the floors of the ground
floor is of the most substantial black wal
nut In the dining 1 room are fine cabinets
and sideboards filled with old china and cut
glass. Here is one of the wine glasses of Gov-
ernor Simcoe.fi rst Governor of Upper Canada.
As its base is a little round
knob so that it cannot be set down,
and precludes all possibility of heel
taps. At his recent visit to Toronto
Lord Lansdowne drank the Queen s hea th
from it. Before his departure Lord Lans
downe presented Professor Smith with a
portrait of Lord Shelbourne, which hangs
on the wall. The dining-room is small and
does not comfortably seat more than four
teen persons, so that much that has b;en
said about the convivialities of the Family
Compact gatherings there are prob.ibly
exaggerations. Ranged on the walls
are 13 portrrits of celebrities in English
history painted by G. E. Sintzenick from
the originals. The pictures and the
possessors of the originals are the Earl of
Essex, owned by the Duke of Sutherland.
Lord Fairfax, Lieut. -Col. Fairfax, Sir
John Eliot, Earl of Su Germains,
John Hampden, Earl of St. Gernvdns,
Sir Henry Vane, British Mnsstim,
General Fleecwood, the Misses Fieetwood,
Andrew Marvel, British Museum. Admiral
Blake, Wadham College, Oxford, R. Baxter,
Dr. Williams, John Bunyan, Mrs, Oive,
Milton and Pym. There is a picture of
Cromwell, th; original of which is
in the Pitti palace, having bsen rent
as a present by Cromwell himself to the
Grand Duke of Tusciny. The late Mr,
Fairfax told the copyist that the painting ot
bis ancestor, Lord Fairfax, is the only one
in existence taken from life. Lord Fairfax in
Yorkshire, was familiarly known as " Black
Tom." The wound which he received on
the chin at the battle of Edgehill is shown in
the painting. The picture of Sir John Eliot
differs very much with the one for which "he
sat during his last imprisonment in the
town of London, which is too painful
to be copied. The portrait of Sir
John Eliot s friend Hampden is mentioned
in Lord Nugent s memorial of Hampden,
as presented to the family, in whose posset
sion it now is, by the son of Sir John TSltofc..
Macaulay remarks of it that it is probably
the only reliable portrait in existence qf
Hampden. Baxter s picture is the best pf
the two known of him. It is the one $il
most editions of the " Saints Rest,"
Bunyan has only one original picture
from which all portraits of him
are taken. On the south wall of the dining
room hangs a large portrait of a Spanish
officer, painted by Sebastian Moro. At the,
head of the hall is a somewhat rude bus|
of Sir Charles Baeot, Governor-General of
Upper Canada, which is supposed to be the
first bust modelled in Canada. About tb.5
house are pictures of scenes around the resi
dence of Professor Smith s father in Berks
county, E ng. , views of Eton and Oxford, where
Professor Smith was educated and a por
trait of a lady member of the fami .y who
danced at the famous ball at Brussels on the
night before the battle of Waterloo After
Professor Smith s donation of his fine lib
rary to Cornell University he set to work to
make another collection of books which is
now the finest private collection
in the city. The most valuable
book in it is Tableaux Historiques in four
large volumes. They contain illustrations
of scenes in the French Revolution, with
descriptive articles accompanying them, and
the value of the work is that the volumes
were published contemporaneously with the
Ro volution.
40
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
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RIDOUT S MANSION IN 1820.
CHAPTER XX.
GEORGE RIDOUT S MANSION.
A palatial residence which sank by de
cree* Into a hotel and then iulo a wretch
ed tenement house.
Up to the latter part of last year there
tood on the west aide of Dorset street, a
building which was once a palatial mansion
but which at the time of its demolition had
become a dilapidated rookery with an un-
eavoury reputation. The building, which
w-as frame, afterward stuccoed, was two
stories in height. Its walls were reared
from a solid foundation planted on a slight
prominence in the centre of a large block
of beautifully wooded land covering
the entire space bounded by the
westerly Kne of the Government
House grounds, Wellington, John and
King streets. The house was built by the
late George Ridout about 1820, and at that
time it was considered a stately mansion fit
for a king, with spacious rooms and exten
sive outbuildings, the front door guarded by
*. portico that lent an air of nobility to the
house <- ven in its decay. After a residence
in the house of about ten years Mr. Ridout
disposed of the property to a trust and loan
con.pauy. Its next occupj.nt was Bishop
Charles James St<:WArt, second bishop ot
Quebec, a man of saintly presence and
character, long a missionary in the southern
townships of Lower Canada before his ap
pointment to the episcopate. Bishop
Stewart bore a striking resemblanca in
shape of head ad facial expression to King
George the Thiid. The bishop s duties called
him to all parts of Canada, and he found it
desirable to have a western diocesan
in York on his periodical visits to Upper
Canada. This, as an old dittccory or 1834
says, was " his residence when in town."
In 1834 Capt Philip .Us, R.E., aide-d-
camp to his Excellency, Sir John Colborne,
occupied the dwelling. The next tenant was
Judge Jones. During Ids occupancy the house
was the scene of maity festivities and gay
parties extensively patronized by the then
leaders of society. Dr. Boys, burg .r of King s
College, afterward occupied it. This brings
its hi-tory down to about thirty-five years of
the present time and marks the era when the
vicissitudes that finally brought the former
beautiful place into local disrepute first be
gan to appear. Subsequent to the year
1850 pei hap> a year after that date it
was pressed into the service of the city
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
THE HOUSE IX 1887.
registrar, and while Samuel Sherwood occu
pied that position the building was his
residence. The officers of a regiment of
regulars stationed at Toronto had their
quarters in the former palace of the bishop
and the locality soon afterward acquired an
unenviable notoriety as the resort of
dissolute characters. On the regi
ment being ordered home the building;
was converced into a hotel bearing the
name ef the London House, a title which
c.ung to it up to the time of its demolition.
As a hotel it was a decided failure and soon
closed its doors to the travelling public for
)ac<i of patronage. In the meantime its
ownership had changed hands, and it \\ as
afterwards transferred to Mrs. Crawford,
the widow of Lieut. Governor Crawford,
About 1871 the late Mr. Bugg acquired a
twenty-one years lease of the premises.
The lease wag up to about a year ago held
by the trustees of the deceased gentleman s
estate, Mr. Charles Bugg being the agent,
when it became the property of James
Robertson & Co. , manufacturers, under whose
instructions the work of demolition waa
carried out. In recent years the Lon
don House gained an unsavoury reputation
on account of the bad character of some of
its inmates. Its location and commodious
rooms rendered it peculiarly suitable for
tenement purposes, and the apartments be
came the homes of thriftless tenants, who
lived in such dense squalor as frequently to
call forth outbursts of indignation from the
city authorities. In a communication ad
dressed to Mayor Howland a prominent
physician who had been calied in to exam
ine a child which had died in the wretched
place under suspicious circumstances,
characterized the house as a " hotbed at
disease. The illustrations represent h
building aa it was in 1820 and in 1887.
42
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
CHAPTER XXI.
JONATHAN SCOTT S HOUSE.
The home of a York butcher with * sketch
or Captain John McGill- Where the scouts
were posted In the Mackenzie rebellion.
The illustration shows a house built about
the year 1825 by Jonathan Scott, a butcher
in the market on the east side of Yonge
street, a little above the Green Bush tavern
at what was later the corner of Yonge and
McGill or Magill streets, on the site where
the Y. M. C. A. building now stands.
The Yoiige street house shown in
the sketch for a time was
the only house of any size between the
Green Bush tavern and the Red Lion hotel
at Yorkville. Mr. Scott used frequently to
cross the fields back of the Green Bush inn
for a near cut home. The bricks of which
the house was built were made from the
clay of the foundation. Mr. Scott was a
thorough Englishman, honest and straight
forward, and a man very much respected.
It was in front of this house that one of the
pickets was killed at the outbreak of the
Mackenzie rebellion. Here on the day of
the march of the patriots in town Sheriff
Jarvis was posted with a detachment of
riflemen. At this point some of the Jarvis
scouts flanked Mackenzie s forces and com
menced to fire at the pikemen. The first
volley killed a pikeman by the name of
Henderson, from Sharon. Two men were
wounded, one in the arm and the other in
the foot. Mr. Charles Durand says that on
the following morning, coming down into
town from Bloor street, he came upon the
dead body of Henderson still lying in the
roadway. Mr. Thomas Anderson has given
the following interesting account of the
occurrences of that December day. He
says: "I was working in a- building
at the north-east corner of Yonge and
Richmond streets, where I conducted
a watch store. The rebels were to meet
over my store on the Monday before the
fight at Montgomery s, but there was a girl
hanged in front of the jail on Toronto street
that day, and there was such a crowd in
town that the arrangements fell through.
I knew that the rebels were out at Mont
gomery s, for I think mv brother John, who
kept a dry-goods store on Yonge street,
went out to join them on Monday night.
But bright and early Tuesday morning I
started. 1 left my wife at our p ace and
took my double barrelled gun and walked
along up Yonge street. Up near Jonathan
Scott s corner, McGill street, "I met- Sheriff
Jarvis coming down. Good morning, Ander
son, said the Sheriff, looking closely
at the gun I wa*> carrying. Good morning,
Sheriff/ I answered, it s a nice day. I
passed on. He did not try to arrest me,
although he knew where I was going. I had
a gun. He had no arms and iTwouTd Have
fought 1 think before 1 could have been
kept from going out to join the rebels.
When I got out to Montgomery s two or
three hundred rebels were there. This was
on Tuesday and all that day the Reformers
from the township were coming in. Some
rode in, some marched and a good many of
the farmers were driven in by iheir young
sons, who took the waggons back again.
That night as you know we marched down
as far as McGill street and then fell bac
when we could have chased Sheriff Jarvis
men right back into the city. Things would
have been different if we had had a
leader. Poor Mackenzie meant well and
was brave enough but he was no soldier. If
old Col. Van Egmond had been there that
night all the loyalists in Toronto, and there
were not many just then, could not have
kept the city from us. But he wasn t there
and we missed our chance." Thomas Shep-
pard, who was in the front rank of the in
vaders, tells the story thus : " That
Tuesday night we made a start. Mackenzie
ordered" us to march down Yonge street and
away we went. He led u*. I was in the
front rank along with Thomas Anderson
and his brother John. We stepped quietly
along until we were coming out of the woods
at Jonathan Scott s corners. All at once
some Tories who were in the brick house there
with Sheriff Jarvis fired on us. I don t
know but they fired another volley before
they ran. They took the back track quick
enough, and if our fellows had only been
steady we would have taken the city that
night. I don t know what started our men
running, but most of them made off up
"ionge street as fast as the other fellows did
down to the town. For a while some of us
at the front stood our ground, and I was
firing away among the last of them. But
after three or four minutes of this work I
said to myself, here, a handful of us can t
go down and capture Toronto, so we took
after the rebeis, who were making for
Montgomery s again." When Jonathan
Scott s house was torn down several years
ago to make way for the Young Men s Chris
tian Association a sum of money was found
in the old building. Mr. Scott bought the
land from Capt. John McGill, a soldier witu
an interesting history whose name is per
petuated in McGill street. Capt. McGill
was an officer in the Queen s Rangers, the
corp* commanded by Lieut -Col. S mcoe,
afterward first Governor of Upper Canada,
and with that corps he fought in the war of
the American Revolution. During tl
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
ISlew Jersey campaign in 1779 he and Co!.
Simcoe were both taken prisoners and con
fined in the county jail at Burlington. A
plan was devised for the Colonel s eecape,
Captain McGill volunteering to get
into his commanding officer s bed and im
personate him while he made his way
out. The attempt was frustrated by the
breaking of a lals.i key in the lock of
a door. For this act of devotion Col. Simcoe
afterward offered the captain an annuity or
the office of quartermaster of cavalry, the
latter of which he accepted. In 1793 he
was Commissioner of Scores for Upper Can
ada, and in one of the first issues of the
Oracle he offers ten guineas reward for the
discovery of the thieves who had stolen a
gdndstone from the King s wharf at Nia
gara. The next year he and Allan McNab
were at Niagara advertising for carpenters
for the public buildings to be erected at
York, In 1801 he is at York, and his name
is down for $16 among the list of subscrib
ers for the improvement of Yonge street.
In the old records he is dubbed "the Hon
ourable Captain McGill," and under this
title his name is found as one of the
committee appointed in 1803 with full
power and authority to apply the money
teceived from subscriptions toward the
erection of the first church in York. This
was St. James, Naturally he | was one of the
pew-holders in the church from its estab
lishment and he was a regular attendant.
In the same year he advertises in the Oracle
as "agent for purchases " for pork and beef
to be supplied to the troops at York, King
ston, Fort George, Fort Chippewa, Fort
Erie and Amherstburg. In 1805 he is In
spector-General of Provincial Parliament
accounts. In 1818 he is RecL iver^-Geuerai
and Auditor-General of land patents. Cap
tain McGill at an early date became the
owner of the park lot, just east of Yonge
street. On it near the southern edge of
the forest which stretched away to
the northward, he built a house which wa.s
standing in McGill square in 1870. For a long
time it was occupied by Mr. McCutcheon,
who in accordance with his uncle s will as
sumed the name of McGill and became well
known as the Hon. Peter McGill. The
Metropolitan church and St. Michael s
Cathedral now stand on the park lot of
Captain McGill, the former on what was
McGill square. Further north, running
east from Yonge street, is McGill street.
CHAPTER XXII.
HARPER S QUEEN ST. HOUSE.
A Dwelling Occupied by Several Well-
Known (Jlersyuieu. and Subsequent!;
Convened into a Store John Harper.
In the year 1818 Richard Harper came to
Toronto with his son John, and upon his
arrival bought the acre of land forming the
south-east corner of Queen, then Lot street,
and Simcoe, then Graves street, and ex
tending to Richmond, then Hospital street,
on the south. Richard Harper first
built a house for the occupancy
of his family on the north side of
Queen street, just west of Simcoe and
a little distance back from the street. It
was pulled down recently and a new build
ing erected on the site Dy Mr.Thos. Walmsley.
Subsequently Mr. Harper put up the frame
dwelling shown in the illustration at the
south-east corner of Queen and Simcoe
streets. Here the Rev. Joseph Hudson,
military chaolain to the forces, lived about
1830. Mr. Hudson was a clergyman highly
esteemed by the people as a pulpit orator
and greatly beloved as a man. Occasionally
he officiated at St. James church. He
was the first minister who ever wore the
academical hood over the ordinary vestment
in Toronto. Mr. Hudson endeavoured
to have a church erected east of Bathurst
street near the military burial ground for
the accommodation of the soldiery, and he
wen i so far as to lay out with a plow the
ground plan of the church. At the same time,
this was prior to 1830, he complained to the
commander of the forces of the great incon
venience to which the troops were subjected
in having to march two miles from the bar
racks to St. James church, especially
at those seasons when the weather
and roads were unfavourable. He re
marks that even in June the roads
were in such a condition that the soldiers
were prevented from attending service four
Sundays in succession, and suggests as the
beat method of obviating the difficulty the
erection of a chapel on the Government re
serve for the accommodation of the forces.
The Horse Guards did not favour Mr. Hud
son s plan, and instead gave one thousand
paunds to St. James church, on condition
that accommodation for the troops should
be permanently provided. Subsequently
the Rev. John Wenham, assistant minister
of St. James , occupied the Harper house.
About 1849-51 it was occupied as a
residence by Mr. Owen, of the firm of
Owen, Miller & Mills, manufacturers of car
riages, whose establishment was on King
street, now numbered 153, west of the
Revere block. Later on, about 1853-55
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
the house was converted into a store and
occupied by one named Johnson. It is
now a flour and feed store. For some
time Burleigh Hudson kept a fbur store in
the building. John Harper, who came here in
1818 with his father, died recently at the
age of 83 years. He was a contractor and
built St. Michael s Cathedral, the Cawthra
Mansion, now Molson s Bank ; the general
hospital, the new tort, part of the asylum
and other well known city edifices. He was
one of the arbitrators of the University
buildings at Toronto and of the Parliament
buildings at Toronto. Mr. Harper was a
Baldwin Reformer arid a great friend of Sir
Francis Hincks. He was one of the oldest
members of the York Pioneers, and by his
death the city lost the last surviving alder
man of the first corporation of Toronto.
CHAPTER XXIIL
RICHMOND S BLACKSMITH SHOP.
The Old Building n the North-east Corner
or Queen and Sinicoe Streets The Brown-
Cameron Election Riot of 1857.
Another old landmark that has passed
away with the march of civilization, one
that will be remembered by the college
boys of 1845 50, and up to I860, is the old
blacksmith and wheel-wright shop which
stood at the north-east corner of Queen and
William, now Simcoe, indicated in the
engraving. It was occupied by Messrs.
Richmond one William Richmond, a wheel
wright, and Robert Richmond, a black
smith. In their respective lines they were
about as yood workmen as could be found
in Toronto. The little plot of ground in
front of the shop was, in the summer time,
a great place for the boys ot Upper Canada
College to play marbles. Old man Rich
motid and his two or three sons were well
liked by all the boys and as well by every
one in the neighbourhood. The family lived
in the house to the north of the shop.
Within a tew yards of this shop in
1857, the celebrated Brown-Cameron elec
tion riot took place. Clinkunbroomer s
brick house on the north-west corner was be
ing built. A lot of bricks to be used in build
ing were piled at the road side, and it is
needless to say were put to the very best
possible use by the rioters. The friends
of John Hillyard Cameron had come down
from the. neighbourhood of St. Patrick s Mar
ket, while the George Brown faction assembled
round the corner of this street, making
Richmond s blacksmith shop their coign
of vantage. Bob. Moody and five hundred
from St. John s Ward came down to help
the Reformers, and the pile of bricks
that stood about twenty feet square was
levelled almost to the ground before the
rioters got through exercising themselves
with these missiles. The hot part of the
riot occurred on Queen street, a little west
of Sheppard s Marble Works, although on
Queen street, from Sc. Patrick s Market to
Simcoe, many houses had not a complete
pane of glass. In the old times when he
college boys wanted their sleighs fixed they
always brought them to Richmond, and if
the boys had been out cutting shinnies
near the White bridge, or in the neigh
bourhood of Rosedale, or Ridout s bush,
now Sherbourne street, they always had
the shinnies trimmed by one of the
Richmond boys, who were not very heavy in
their charges, in fact were so good-natured that
unfortunately their good nature was fre
quently imposed upon. The old shop dis
appeared when Jones hotel was put up
seme years ago. The sons are now living
in the neighbou hood of Sarnia. They are
well-to-do, and have the respect and good
will of a large number of the old people
who livedjinthe vicinity of Qneen and Simco
streets.
CHAPTER XXIV.
ANDREW MERCER S COTTAGE.
An Early Tork Printing Office, at the Cor
ner of Bay and Wellington streets The
Story of a Forged Will.
When Chief Justice Scott came to York
he brought with him Andrew Mercer for
whom he secured preferment. Mr. Mercer
grew wealthy and early in the century
bought a plot of ground at the south
east cornet of Bay and Wellington
streets, upon which he built a cottage, stand
ing until recently upon the site of Wyld,
Grasett & Darling s warehouse. In 1801
John Bennett succeeded Messrs. Waters &
Simmons, and became the printer and pub
lisher of the York Gazette and Oracle, a
journal established a few years before
at Newark, now Niagara-on-the-Lake, and
recently transferred to York on the change
of the seat of government. At this time
the publishers of papers did not style them
selves editors, but simp y printers or pub
lishers. In the same year the printing
office of the Gazette and Oracle is estab
lished in the house of Mr, A. Cameron
on King street, and a notice is issued
stating that subscriptions to the paper
will be received there and at the Toronto,
Coffee House, York. For six months of
this year the paper appears printed on blue
sheets. The stock of white paper bad be
come exhausted and no more could be re
ceived until the opening of navigation. In
1804 John Bennett began the publication at
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York of the Upper Canada Almanac, which
he still conducted in 1813, at the time of the
w*r with the United States. There were lieu
tenants of counties in 1804 as follows : John
Macdonell, Glengarry ; William Fortune,
Prescott; Archibald Macdonell, Stormont;
Hon. Richard Duncan, Dundas ; Peter
Drummond, Greiiville ; James Breaken-
ridge, Leeds : Hon. Richard Cartwright,
Frontenac ; Hazelton Spencer, Lennox ;
William John-ton, Aldington ; John
Ferguson, Hastings ; Archiba d Macdonell,
Marysburgh ; Alexander Chisholm, North
umberland ; Robert Baldwin, Durham ;
Hon. David W. Smith, York ; Hon. Robert
Hamilton, Lincoln ; Samuel Ryetse, Nor
folk ; William Glaus, Oxford ; Hon. Alex
ander Grant, Essex ; Hon. James
Baby, Kent ; Middlesex is vacant.
In the Crown Lands Office of Ontario at
this time another old English term i* in use.
This is "Domesday Book." Thy record
of grants from the beginning of the organi
sation of Upper Canada is entitled " Domes
day Book," and it now consists of many
folio volumes. During the war of 1812
Bennett at first fought on the British
side, but afterward deserted to the United
States forces, and was killed at the
siege of Fort Erie. As early as 1802 his
name appears as a subscriber to the amount
of $6 to the improvement of Yonge street
between the town of York and Lot No. 1.
Mr. Cameron, in whose house his printing
business was conducted at the same time,
was one of the committee to supervise the im
provement of the street. During the war
of 1812 the printing ofnce was removed to
the house of Andrew Mercer at the corner of
Bay and Wellington streets . During the
occupancy of York by the American forces
the office was entered by the soldiers, the
press broken in pieces and the
type scattered. For a time Mr. Mercer
had charge of the publication of
the York Gazette, and before his death he
used to exhibit to his friends parts of the
press made useless on that occasion ID
1822 Andrew Mercer s name is found as a
ubscriber to the building of two bridges
leading over the Don to the south. In tha
autumn of 1815 Lieutenant-Governor Gor
returned to his duties in the province,
from which he had been absent during^
the war. On his arrival he was met by
delegation of citizens and" presented wifn a
congratulatory address signed by a number
of men, among whom is Andrew Mercer.
On Mr. Mercer s death a scandal
arose over his estate. A will
was found, but the courts declared it a
forgery. Mr. Clarke Gamble went to Eng
land to look up the heirs but he failed to
find any and the property, valued at a large
f\im, was escheated to the crown. The
Government, however, gave Mr. Mercer s
son, in whose favour the will was drawn,
a tract of land and a sum of money.
CHAPTER XXV.
THE GREENLAND FISHERY.
A York Hotel to which a Sailor Gave a
>:inie Its i. :i milord nue nf the First Alaei--
men of Toronto.
On the north-west corner of Front and
John streets stands a plain two-storey frame
building which, unlike many of the earlier
building-, has never been diverted from the
purpose for which it was originally erected.
It now bears in modest letters over the
entrance the sign "Beauchamp House."
About 1825 Edward Wright built this house
as a hotel and conducted it as such
for many years. A travelling sailor,
who had been on a whaling voyage
and possessed quite a good deal of artistic
ability, coining along and being in need of
money, Mr. Wright engaged him to paint a
signboard for his inn. Accordingly on one
side of the sign he painted an Arctic or
Greenland scene, and on the other vessels
and boats engaged in the capture of a whale.
The work was well executed and the pic
tures spirited. They attracted much atten
tion, and proved to be the source of an in
creased revenue to the landlord. Beside
the pictures the sign bore the name of the
proprietor and the words "Greenland
Fishery." It was from this design of tha
sailor that the house derives its name.
When York was changed to Toronto and
from a town transformed into a city
Mr. Wright became one of the aldermen
of the first corporation. Subsequently Mr.
Wright gave up the hotel business and
for ~ some time lived in the littla
frame dwelling adjoining to the north on
John street. At this period there were a
number of small drinking houses adjoining
the " Greenland Fishery " which were
much frequented by soldiers from the
garrison. In the artist s illustration the
hotel as it is now, is shown and also the
little dwellings at the side, in which Mr.
Wright lived. Mr. Wright had a son living
in the States, who had been very successful
in business. It was while on a visit to him
that he died. Since its construction the
hotel building has been renovated through
out, partly rebuilt and somewhat enlarged,
and is now in a very good state of repair.
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CHAPTER XXVI.
ROBERT BEARD S HOTEL.
A Once Famous Hostelry at the Corner or
Church and Colborne Streets Early Ma
sonic HailD A .Mysterious Harder.
At the north-east corner of Church street
and Colborne street, which latter was
formerly called Market Lane, once stood a
frame hotel kept by a coloured
man whose name was strangely
at variance with his colour, for it was
Snow. The old settlers who can remember
him say he kept a good hostelry, ;;nd indeed
landlords of colour seem to have been much
more succ- ssful here in the first half of the
century than now towards its close. From
about 1841 to 1845 one of the most popular and
well patronized inns in Toronto, t specially
well favoured by country folk, occupied the
ground at the head of Toronto street, which
is now taken up by the postoffice. It was
a frame building, and conn cted with it
were stables quite extensive for that day.
Its proprietor was a coloured man by the
name of (Tames Mink, who retired from the
business with a fortune. On the Tonawanda
reservation of Indians in New York State is
a chieftain who is the possessor of wealth
and a pretty and accomplished daughter.
Unwilling to marry her to one of his red
brethren he has caused th>5 statement to be
circulated that a fertile farm of generous
acreage is to be the Indian maiden s dowry
whenever a pale-face of standing and char
acter may win her hand. Somewhat simi
lar was the desire of Mr. Mink, who offered to
give 10,000 to any respectable white man
who would wed his daughter. Miss Mink
did, it was said, find a white man who mar
ried her. and they made their wedding trip
to the Southern States, and, with a villainy
that we are pleased to say characterizes few
white men, sold his bride into slavery and
abandoned her. Through the efforts of
Mink s friends in Canada, and the payment
of a large sum of money, Miss Mink WEI s
freed and brought back to Toronto, and
lived for years with her father in
the old home ou the hill, on the east side
of the Don and Danforth road
Returning to the site o f Snow s inn, at
the corner of Church and Colborne streets,
we find that somewhere about 1848 the
frame building was torn down, and in its
place the late Joshua Beard put up the
brick structure shown in the illustration,
and only slightly altered on the
ground floor from its original design.
Snow occupied the new hcel for four or five
years. He had with him in partnership a man
named Wright, but for some reason or other
they did not agree, and concluded to give up
the hotel, Snow renting the Epicurean Re
cess, which stood on the site of the Ontario
Chambers, the first door south of the
alley-way, next to McWilliam & Everest s,
No. 25, on the east side of Church screet.
After Snow s departure Robert Beard
kept the hotel for five years, ana
then Azro Russell, brother of the
Russells of the St. Louis Hotel, Quebec,
leased it f jr seven years. In the days of
the old Parliament of Canada, Beard s, or
Russell s was the popular hotel of Toronto,
and the resort of leading merchants, mem
bers of parliament and politicians. The
late Samuel Zimmerman, of Niagara Falls,
the railway magnate, was a constant guest
here, and the last time he said good-bye in
Toronto was when he jauntily walked out of
the hotel with his grip in hand, and entered
the omnibus for the Great Western Railway
station. Within sixty minutes he was laid
low in death, a vict m of the terrible rail
way disaster on the Western, at the Desjar-
dins railway bridge, near Hamilton, The
dinners at Russell s were noted for their
excellence. Gus Thomas, who Bas so
steadily worked himself into wealth a,nd
position, was at one time a bell-boy in
Russell s, and Smith, his old partner in the
firm of Smith & Thomas, was the book
keeper. Tom Mulholland and Ned Gray
were bartenders, and dispensed umo.ue
drinks for the patrons of the" house. Both
were considered adepts in mixing. After
Russell gave up the lease of the house
John Montgomery, famous in rebellion
times by the burning of his Yocge street
hostelry, kept Russell s for three or four
years. This finished the career of the build
ing as a hotel. During the tenancy of the
Beards and Russells the upper floors of the
building were occupied by the Knights
Templar, who had a hall, handsomely fur
nished, and considered one of the best
Masonic meeting places in Canada. The
rooms on the s.outh side of the upper floor
were leased by Rnyal Black Preceptory No.
96, of the Orange Order. After Montgomery
retired the building was vacant for a short
time, and then converted into stores. The
upper floors of the hotel were built specially
for St. Andrew s Lodge of Freemasons, the
north room was fitted as a blue or craft
room and the south room was used as a
supper room and rec ption apartment.
After St. Andrew s Lodge moved to the
upper floor of the east wing of St. Lawrence
Hall buildings, the Russell Hotel lodge
rooms were leased by the Knight Templar
Encampment of Geoffrey de St. Aldemar.
The room was very handsomely fitted up.
After the Templars left their room to
go to the Toronto street Temple, Messrs.
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51
ROBBET BEABD S HOTEL.
Torrance and Geo, Ewart had the north and
south stores respectively. Then James E.
Smith & Co. leased the corner, while Robert
Spratt had the north store. John Holmes
& Co. succeeded Smith&Co. , and Spratt, and
finally Messrs. Milbum, Bently & Pearson
leased the building. Across from this house,
at the south-east corner of Church, stood the
Edinburgh Castle tavern, an old and cele
brated hostelry. Snow s Royal Exchange
in later years became the Youns; Canadian
billiard saloon. In the alley-way referred
to above, now known as Mark lane, and
directly north of the entrance to the saloon,
once occurred a mysterious tragedy. At
early morning a man was found standing
against the wall of the building, dead, with
a hole in his heart. The mystery of his
death was never solved.
CHAPTER XXVII.
DOEL S HOUSE AND BREWERY.
Tins Bntldlngs where the Rebellion of 1837
WR Nourished The Scene of the Quarrel
Between Dr. Morrison and Mackenzie.
In the year 1818 John Doel, a native of
Somersetshire, England, left the United
States and settled in York. His journey
from Philadelphia to York occupied a
month, and from the former place to Nia
gara a week, the boat being obliged by
bad weather to put in at Sodus Bay. At
Niagara he waited for three days for a
passage to York. In the year 1827 Mr.
Doel built a frame two-siorey dwelling-
house at the north-west corner of Bay and
Adelaide streets, which is still standing,
but somewhat altered from its former con
dition, as the corner has been cut out for busi
ness purposes. The original house is shown
in the illustration drawn from a picture
in the possession of his son, Mr. William
H. Doel, of Eglinton. At the rear of the
house on Bay street Mr. Doel built a frame
brewery in the shape of an L, running
back about one hundred teet. This was
one of the early breweries of York, and
here beer of good repute in the town and
iieighbourhood was manufactured down to
the year 1847, when the building was
accidentally burned. Mr. Doel s name is
linked with the early postal service of
York. For many years he undertook and
faithfully accomplished the delivery with
his own hands of all the correspondence
of the place that was thus distributed.
Mr. Doel and his wife survived to a good
old age, he dying in 1871, aged eighty-one
years. For many years the family lived in
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
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THE ORIGINAL DOEL HOMESTEAD.
the house in a state of continual apprehen
sion in regard to the stability of the lofty
spire of a church close to their residence.
In 1862 the spire actually fell, doing con
siderable damage, but it happened to
the eastward instead of the westward, thus
escaping the house. In the local troubles
of 1837 Mr. Doel took a prominent part,
and his name has become associated with
the leaders ot the party of reform. In
1827 Robert Randal, M. P., was sent as
a delegate to London in behalf of the so-
called aliens or unnatural ized British sub
jects of United States origin. A series of
burlesque nominations, supposed to be made
by Randal to the Colonial Secretary, ap
peared at the time, issued by the friends
of the officials of the day, in which Mr.
Doel s name is set down for the postmaster-
generalship. The document is as follows :
" Nominations to be dictated by the con
stitutional meeting on Saturday next in
the petition for the redress of grievances
to be forwarded to London by Ambassador
Randal ; Barnabas Bid well, President of
Upper Canada, with an extra annual allow
ance for a jaunt for the benefit of his health
to his native S^ate of Massachusetts ; W.
W. Baldwin, Chief Justice and Surveyor-
General to the militia forces, with 1,000,000
acres of land for past services, he and his
family having been most shamefully treated
in having grants of land withheld from
them heretofore ; John Rolph, Attorney-
General and Paymaster-General to the
militia, with 500,000 acres of land for his
former accounts as District-Paymaster faith
fully rendered ; Marshall S. Bidwell,
Solicitor-General, with an annual allowance
of as much as he may b pleased to ask for,
rendering no account, for the purpose of
encouraging emigration from the United
States, and a contingent account if he
shall find convenient to accompany
the President to Massachusetts ; the Puisne
Judges to be chosen by ballot in the market
JOHN DOKL.
square on the 4th of July in each and
every year, subject to the approval of W.
W. B., the Chief Justice ; their salaries to
be settled when going out of office. Jesse
Ketchum, Joe. Sheppard, Dr. Stoyell and
A. Burnside, executive and legislative
councillors. Joint secretaries, William
Lyon Mackenzie and Francis Colling, with
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
63
all the printing ; John Carey, assistant
secretary, with as muh of the printing; as
the joint secretaries may be pleased to
allow him ; Moses Fish, inspector of public
buildings and fortifications ; J. S. Baldwin,
contractor-general to the province, with
a monopoly of the trade ; T. D. Morrison,
surveyor-general and inspector of hospitals ;
Little Doel, postmaster-general ; Peter
Perry, chancellor of the exchequer and re
ceiver-general. The above persons being
thus amply provided for, their friends,
alias their stepping stones, may shift for
themselves ; an opportunity, however, will
be offered them for doing a little
business by disposing of all other public
ance with the events of that time, and the
principal actors in them, will have a proper
appreciation of this burlesque. During
the exciting times immediately preceding
the Mackenzie rebellion Mr. Doel s house
and brewery were the principal rendezvous
of the patriot agitators, and here was
held meeting after meeting. The largely
attended meetings of the Retormera were
held in the brewery. The principal leaders
of the movement met for private con
sultation in the house. On August 2,
1837, William Lyon Mackenzie published
in his paper, the Constitution, " a declara
tion of the Reformers of Toronto to
their fellow-Reformers in Upper Canada,"
THE DOBL BREWERY.
offices to the lowest bidder, from whom
neither talent nor security will be required
for the performance of their duties.
Tenders received at Russell Square, Front
street, York. The magistracy, be.ing of
no consequence, is to be left for after con
sideration. The militia, at the particular
request of Paul Peterson, M. P. for Prince
Edward, is to be done away altogether
and the roads to take care of them
selves. The Welland Canal to be stopped
immediately, and Colonel By to be recalled
from the Rideau Canal. N. B. Any sug
gestions for further improvements will be
thankfully received at Russell Square as
above." Only those who have an acquaint-
which was virtually a declaration of inde"
pendence. It entered into a long recital
of grievances, declaring that the time
had come for their redress, and resolving
to call a convention of delegates at Toronto,
with authority to appoint commissioners
to confer with similar commissioners else
where, the whole to have the power of a
congress in finding a remedy for grievances.
This document, drawn np by Mr.
O Grady and Dr. Rolph, was taken to a
private meeting at Elliott s tavern, at
the corner of Queen and Yonge streets,
where it was read and discussed, after
which it was submitted to a meeting of
Reformers at Doel s brewery, there adopted.
54
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
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a permanent vigilance committee appoint
ed, and a plan of procedure estab
lished similar to that in operation in
Lower Canada, which was the holding of
mass meetings throughout the country.
Mr. Mackenzie was selected to attend
these in the role played by Mr. Papineau
in the lower province. At another meet
ing held at the brewery, not far from this
in point of time, a plan proposed by Mr.
Mackenzie for uniting, organizing and regis
tering the Reformers of Upper Canada into
a political union, was adopted. Thus mat
ters ran along, public meetings being
held every where throughout the country
to the number of several hundred, until
early in November, when a mob attacking
Papiueau s house he sent an appeal to
Mackenzie to support the Lower Canadian
Reformers in a resort to arms. Mackenzie
was convinced that the crisis had come,
and he invited the following persons to
meet him that night at Mr. Doel s house
to consider the situation : Dr. T. D.
Monrison, a physician ; John Mclntosh,
a retired vessel owner ; Robert Mackay,
a grocer ; John Armstrong, an axe-
maker ; Timothy Parsons, a dry-goods
merchant ; John Mills, a natter ; Thomas
Armstrong, a carpenter ; John Elliott,
an attorney ; William Leslie^ a bookseller,
and John Doel, the brewer, at whose
house the meeting was to be held. All
invited came. Dr. Morrison took the
chair. Mr. Mackenzie took the floor and
explained his views. He said that the
wrongs of Canada were the same as those
of the thirteen co onies. Redress from
Great Britain was hopeless. The House
of Assembly was pa ked ; the endowment
of a hierarchy was begun ; provincial funds
were squandered ; the government was
converted into a detested tyranny. Then
he went on to say that Governor Head
had placed four thousand stand of arms
in the City Hall and had sent all the
troops to the lower province. Mac
kenzie s plan was to take Dutcher s foundry-
men and Armstrorg s uxe-makers, who
were reliable, seize Lieutenant-Governor
Sir Francis Head, who was at Govern
ment House, guarded only by a single
sentinel, carry him to the City Hall as
a prisoner, seize the arms and ammu
nition there and the artillery in the
old garrison, arouse friends in town and
country and proclaim a provisional govern
ment. Mr. Doel objected to the plan.
Dr. Morrison manifested the greatest
astonishment, declaring that the scheme
was hi^li treason, and that he would
not be entrapp d into any such course.
It is said Dr. Morrison w&s not opposed
to the plan, but that he mistrusted one
of the persons present and would not
commit himself. At any rate, there was a
violent altercation between Mackenzie,
Morrison and Doel. The meeting was
broken up, and Mackenzie; left the house
in a passion and never returned to it.
Mr. Doel refused to take any further part
in the operations of the Reformers.
On November 18 a meeting was held at-
tsnded by a dozen leaders, at wlrch another
p an of operation was agreed on. The
organized bands all over the country were
to collect at Montgomery s hotel, under
the supervision of Mackenzie and Dr.
Rolph, and march down Yonge street on
Toronto, Thursday, December 7. The
fiasco which followed is Wdl known, and
has nothing to do with Mr. Doel s house
or brewery or himself.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
JUSTICE POWELL S HOUSE.
The Life and Public Services oT one of tbe
Ablest Chief Justices of tpper Canada-
Hi!* Judicial and Diplomatic Career.
But a few weeks ago a building was
torn down near the north-east corner of
York and Front streets which was once the
residence of one of the earliest and best
judges of Upper Canada, the Hon. William
Dummer Powell. The house shown in
the illustration represents the building as it
was during Judge Powell s occupancy.
Originally the rear of it was a small log
house, which was subsequently clapboarded.
When the boards were torn off at the time
of its demolition the logs were found to be
"in a state of perfect preservation. In front
of this and connected with it was a frame
structure two stories high, presenting its
facade to York street, and but a little way
back of it, ornamented with a porch or sort
of verandah. The house was painted white.
A curved driveway and path led up to the
front door. About a dozen years ago a
brick addition was put at the front of the
building, projecting out to the York street
sidewalk, which was divided inro stores.
The Hon. William Dummer Powell came of
a very old Welsh family. The family estate
in Wales was Caer-Howell. The name is
Ap Howell, of which Caer-Howell, " How
ell s Place, the title given by the Chief
Justice to his park lot at York, is a relic.
The grandfather of the Chief Justice came
from England to America as secretary to
Lieutenant-Governor Dummer. His grand
mother was sister of Litutenant-Governor
Dummer. His father was John Powell, of
Boston, Mass. The Chief Justice was born
in Boston in 1755. At th age of nine years
56
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
he was sent to England to be educated.
From England he went to Holland to ac
quire a knowledge of French and Dutch, and
in 1772 he returned to Boston. He was
called to the bar in 1779. Previously to
1791 he had resided tor a time in Lower
Canada and had rendered valuable aid to
the United Empire Loyalists in obtaining
She Act of 1791. In May, 1789, he left
Montreal for Detroit, which was in posses
sion of the British His sister has described
in a journal the voyage, which was made
principally in boats. It took the party ten
days to reach Kingston. It took four days
to traverse the lake from Kingston to Nia
gara, where they were met by Chief Jo
seph B ant. An Indian council was being
held at Fort Erie, which they visited, and
Miss Powell gives the following graphic de
scription of it : " Each tribe formed a cir
cle under the shade of a tree. They never
changed places but sat or lay on the grass as
they liked. The speaker of each tribe stood
with his back against a tree. The old wo
men walked one by one and seated them
selves behind the men. The squaws pre
served a modest silence, but nothing is done
without their consent and approbation. The
chiefs are remarkably tall and finely made,
and walk with a degree of grace and dignity
you have no idea of. I declare our beaux
looked quite insignificant beside them." Two
nundreu chiefs were at this council, dele
gates of the Six Nations. One of these was
Ked Jacket, gorgeously dressed in a scarlet
coat and waistcoat richly embroidered . On
the ninth of June the party reached Detroit,
in drawing the boundary line betwerii the
British and American possessions Detroit
was left in the hands of the Am ricans and
a new town was built on the other side of
the river, where court was established and
the Hon. William Dummer Powell was the
first judge who presided over this court.
He was appointed a Commissioner of the
Peace of the Province of Quebec in 1789. In
1791 he was appointed Commissioner of
Oyer and Terminer and Jail Delivery for
Quebec, and in 1792 to th-; same office in
Upper Canada. On the third of September,
1792, Judge Powell presided at the Court
of Oyer and Terminer for the District of
Hease in Upper Canada, and the next year
at the same court in the parish of Assump
tion. At this court James Baby and Alex
ander Grant were his associates on the bench.
A prisoner who was convicted was sentenc
ed to be burned in the hand, and the sen
tence was carried out in the presence of the
court. Judge Powell presided in the Court
of Oyer and Terminer and Jail Delivery
yearly, and at times twice a year, in the
s veral districts into which the Province
had been divided from 1793 down to his re
tirement from the bench in 1825. Chief Jus
tice Powell bore an important part on the
British side in the war of 1812 He was at
iTork at this time and was the. confidential
agent of the Governor, who was in England
at that time. A letter written by Sir Isaac
Brock to Sir George Prevost states that the
Chi?f Justice and his third son, Mr. Grant
Powell, Under-Secretary of State at Ottawa,
had the confidence of the civil and military
authorities of that day. The Chief Justice
held important communications with the
Am ricans after the investment of York in
1813. In 1818, at the Richmond street court
house, before Chief Justice Powell, Justice
Campbell, Justice Boulton and Associate
Justice W. Allan, occurred the trial of the
prisoners who had been confined in Fort
William for two years for the insurreo.
tion in the Red River country. The ac
cused were Paul Brown and T. T. Boucher,
for the murder of Robert Semple on June
18, 1816, John Siveright, Alexander Mc-
Kenzie, Hueh McGillis, John McDonald,
John McLaughlin and Simon Fraser as ac
cessories to the same crime, and two men
named Cooper and Bennerman for taking,
April 3, 1815, eight pieces of cannon and
one howitzer from the house of Thomas,
Earl of Selkirk, and putting in fear of their
lives the people in the house. The cannons
were described as being two brass field
pieces, two brass swivels and four iron
swivels. The counsel for the Crown were
Attorney-General Robinson and Solicitor-
General Boulton. The counsel for the pris
oners were Samuel Sherwood, Livius P.
Sherwood and W. W. Baldwin. Thejuty
in the three trials were George Bond. Jo
seph Harrison, William Harrison, Joseph
Shepperd, Peter Lawrence, Joshua Leach,
John McDougall, jr., William Moore, Alex
ander Montgomery, Peter Whitney, Jona
than Hale, Michael Whitmore, Harbour
Stimpson. John Wilson, John Hough and
Richard Herring. Excitement waxed hot,
but Chief Justice Powell exhibited a re
markable degree of professional ability and
impartiality. The prisoners in eac^ case
were acqui ted. A brief sketch of this
famous trial will not be out of plac^, for out
of the issues involved arose what is now the
Province of Manitoba The fifth Earl of
Selkirk, a man of great vigour of mind and
body, of considerable cultivation and the
author of several literary works much
steemed in their time, one of them being
an exhaustive treatise on emigration, secur
ed a tract of land for emigration purposes
ind established a settlement at the con-
luence of the Ass^niboine and Red Rivers.
-This becam ; known as the Selkirk Settle-
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
57
ment. The land was a part of the territory
held by the Hudson Bay Company. Miles
Macdnnnell, formerly a captain in Gover
nor Simcoe s troop, the Queen s Rangers,
appointed by the Hudson Bay Company
first Governor of the District of Assiniboia,
was made Superintendent of Affairs at Kil-
donan by the Earl of Selkirk, the name of
the young settlement being derived from
Kildonan, a parish in th^ County of Suth
erland, from which the greater part of the
settlers had emigrated. In 1813 the popu
lation of the settlement was abouc one hun
dred persons. At this rime the North-west
Company of fur traders of Montreal was a
rival of the Hudson Bay Compmy, the
former trading in the area drained by the
streams flowing into Lake Superior and the
latter in the region watered by the rivers
running into Hudson s Bay. The North
west Company did not look with a friendly
eye upon the Kildonan settlement, consider
ing an agricultural colony in such close
.proximity to their hunting grounds a dan
gerous innovation. It was resolved to break
it up, and in pursuance of this purpose the
Indians were told that they would be made
poor by the new comers who would drive
away the buffalo. At the same time the
colonists were told of the better
prospects open to them in other settle,
ments and were offered pecuniary as
sistance if they would move. Then attacks
were made on the houses of tne colonists,
and acts of pillage committed. In 1815
Govemor Miles Macdonnell was taken pri
soner by Duncan Cameron, the agent of the
North-west Company, who was stationed at
a post called Fort Gibraltar and sent to
Montreal. The result was that the same
year the inhabitants of Kildonan dispersed,
some making their way to the established
Canadian settlements, and others proceed
ing northwards to find a means of returning
home frum Port Nelson by way of the Hud-
Bon s Straits route. The latter, however,
only reached the northern end of Winnipeg
Lake, establishing themselves at Jack River
House, when they were p3rsuaded by Colin
Robertson, agent of the Hudson Bay Com
pany, to return, he assuring them that a
number of Highlanders were coming by way
of Hudson s Bay to take up land at Kildo
nan. The next year the Highlanders
arrived, and the re-established settlement
claimed a population of two hundred per
sons. Duncan Cameron made an attack on
the revived colony, and in retaliation Colin
Robertson with his Highlanders seized Fort
Gibraltar, Cameron s stronghold, and recov
ered two field pieces and thirty stand-of-
arms taken from Kildonan. A strong feel
ing was excited among the Indians who were
in the interest of the North-west Company.
In 1816, Mr. Semple, Governor of the Hud
son Bay Company, arrived in person on the
scene to adjust the difficulty if possible. On
the eighteenth of June an angry conference
was held, which resulted in a riot.
The Montreal Company s Indians, to the
number of seventy, headed by the half-
breeds Cuthbert, Grant, Lacerte, Fraser,
Hoole and McKay attacked Mr. Semple
and his party. In the fight that ensued, Mr.
Semple was killed with five of his officers
and sixteen of his men. Out of this affair
sprang the memorable trials that took place
before Justice Powell in the old York Court
House. In 1815 the Earl of Selkirk being
interested in the progress of his Red River
colony, left England to pay it a visit. On
his arrival in New York he heard of the
destruction of property at Kildonan and the
dispersion of his emigrants. Then the news
reached him of the partial re-establishment
of the colony. He at once sent a trusty
messenger by the name of Lagimoniere with
the assurance that he would soon arrive in
person bringing proper protection. Lagi-
moniere however was way-iaid and mur
dered before reaching his destination. Peace
having just been established between Great
Britain and the United States, a great many
regiments were disbanding. Lord Selkirk
persuaded eighty-four men of the De
Meuron, twenty of the Watteville. and a
few of the Glengarry Fencible Regiments,
to accompany him to the Red River settle
ment. On reaching the Sault news came of
the second dispersion of the colony and the
killing of Governor Semple and his men.
The party at once pushed on to Fort Wil
liam, where agent McGillivray, of the
North-west Company, was established with
about two hundred French Canadians and
sixty or seventy Indians. In their hands
were the prisoners taken at Kildbnan.
Armed with the authority of a
justice of the peace, Lord Selkirk is
sued a ^warrant for the arrest of McGilli
vray. He surrendered himself and two of
his friends who came with him to offer bail
were also arrested. Without a leader the
force at Fort William released their Kildo-
man prisoners, but on Lord Selkirk s at
tempt to arrest the men concerned in the
slaughter of Governor Semple, the gates of
the fort were closed and resistance was
offered. Lord Selkirk s men came off vic
torious in the struggle and the men were
arrested, and after two years confinement
at Fort William, were brought to York for
trial, charges being preferred against them
by Lord Selkirk, of high treason, murder,
robbery and conspiracy. Lord Selkirk was
not present at the trial. Two years later
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
before Justice Powell, a suit was brought
against the Earl by members of the North
west Company for conspiracy to ruin its
trade. Daniel McKenzie obtained 1,500
and William Smith 500 damages lor false
imprisonment. Two years later in 1820
Lord Selkirk died at Pau, in the south of
France. When on the bench, Justice
Powell had a humorous way, so Dr. Scad-
ding relates, of indicating by a kind of quiet
by-play, by a gentle shake of *;he head, a
series of little nods or movements of the eye
or eyebrow his estimate of an outre hypo
thesis or ad captandum argument. He was
one of the pewholders in St. James church
from its commencement, and his pew was a
long narrow enclosure in the gallery oppo
site the Lieutenant-Governor s pew, provided
with a high screen at the back to keep off
the draughts from the daor in the gallery
just behind. The inside of the pew and
the screen were lined with dark - green
baize. The justice s particular place
was in the centre of the pew, where he
usually sat surrounded by the members of
his family. The Justice was a man of rather
less than the ordinary stature, with fea
tures round in outline and a florid face, a
partially bald head and milk white hair.
His portrait painted by Gilbert is in the
possession of one of the lady members of
his family, but there is no picture of him in
Osgoode Hall. He was a very religious
man, and some years before his death he
built a brick burial vault at the head of
Simcoe street, which remained in existence
until ten or fifteen years ago, when it was
torn down. It is said that he used to go
there to pray. Jtle wrote a pamphlet on the
ecclesiastical land question, in which he re
commends the reinvestment of the property
in the Crown, which he says will apply the
proceeds equally for the support of Christian
ity without other distinction, and con
cludes by saying that if the wise provision
of Mr. Pitt to preserve the law ot the union
between England and Scotland, by preserv
ing the Church of England predominant in
the colony, ana touching upon her right to
tithes only for her own advantage, and by
the same course as the church desiderates in
England the exchange of tithes for the
fee simple must be abandoned to the
sudden thought of a youthful speculator,
Mr. Wilmot, secretary for the colonies,
who had just introduced a bi 1 into the Im
perial Pa: liament for the sales of the lands
to the Canada Company let the provision
of his bill cease, and the tithes to which the
Church of England was at that time law
ful y entitled, be restored. She will enjoy
these exclusively of the Kirk of Scotland ;
but if all veneration for the wisdom of our
ancestors has ceased and the time is come
to prostrate the Church of England, bind her
not up in the same withe with her bitterest
enemy, force her not to an exclusive associa
tion with any one of her rivals, leave the
tithes abolished, abolish ail the legal ex
change for them and restore the reserves to
the Crown. Justice Powell s predecessor
on the bench was Chief Justice Scott.
His successor was Sir Wi lian Campbell.
A severe blow was dealt to Jus
tice Powell in 1822 by the loss of his
daughter, who was drowned by the wreck
of the packet ship Albion off the Head of
Kinsa e. April 22. Her fate was the more
distressing to her relatives and friends,
as she was in New York at the time of the
sailing of the previous packet on which a
number of York people made the voyage,
but for some reason she did not accompany
them. The Cork Southern Reporter gave
the following account of the wrek : "The
Albion, whose loss at Garrettstown bay was
first mentioned in our paper of Tuesday,
was one of the finest class of ships between
Liverpool and New York, and was five
hundred tons burden. We have since
learned some further particulars by which
it appears that her loss was attended with
circumstances of a peculiarly afflicting
nature. She had lived out the tremendous
gale of the entire day on Sunday, and
Captain Williams consoled the passengers
at eight o clock in the evening with the
hope of being able to reach Liverpool on
the day but one after, which cheering ex
pectation induced almost all of the passen
gers, particularly the females, to retire
to rest. In some shoit time, however, a
violent squall came on which in a moment
carried away the masts, and there being
no possibility of disengaging them from
the rigging, encumbered the hull so
that she became unmanageable and drifted
at the mercy of the waves till the
light-house of the old Head was discovered,
the wreck still nearing in, when the captain
told the sad news to the passengers
that there was no longer any hope-, and
soon afterward she struck. From thence
forward all was distress and confusion.
The vessel soon afterward went to pieces,
and of the crew and passengers only six
of the former and nine of the latter were
saved. The names of the passengers were :
Mr. Benyon, a London gentleman ; Mr.
N. Ross, of Troy, N. Y. ; Mr. Conyers and
his brother-in-law Major Gough, of the
68th Regiment ; Mr. and Mrs. Clarke,
Americans ; Madame GardMer and her
eight year old son ; Colonel Provost ; Mr.
Dwight, of Boston ; Mrs. Mary Pye, of
New York ; Miss Powell, daughter of the
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
59
Honourable William Dummer Powell, Chief
Justice of Upper Canada ; Rev. Mr. Hill,
Jamaica ; Professor Fisher, New Haven,
Connecticut ; Mr. Gurner, New York ;
Mr. Proctor, New York ; Mr. Dupont and
five other Frenchmen ; Mrs. Mary Brews-
ter, Mr. Hirst, Mr. Morrison, and
Stephen Chase." By one of the Acts
passed during the administration of Gov
ernor Gore, the foundation was laid of a
parliamentary library to replace the one
destroyed or dispersed during the occupa
tion of York by the Americans in 1813.
In the session of 1816 the sum of 800 was
voted for the purch ise of books for the use
of the Legislative Council and House of
Assembly. At the same session the sum of
3,000 was recommended to be granted to
Governor Gore for the purchase of pla e,
the joint address of the houses to the
Prince Regent on this subject being as fol
lows : " To his Royal Highness, George
Prince of Wales, Prnce Regent of the
Uniie-d Kingdom of Great Brieain and Ire
land. May it please your Royal High
ness : We, his Majesty s most dutiful and
loyal subjects, the Legislative Council and
House of Assemb y of the Province of
Upper Canada in Provincial Parliament
assembled, impressed with a lively sense
of the firm, upright and liberal administra
tion of Francis Gore, Esq., Lieutenant-
Governor of Upper Canada, as well as of
his increasing attention to the individual
and general interests of the colony, durinsr
his absence hare unanimously pass id a bil<
to appropriate the sum of three thousand
pounds to enable him to purchase a service
of plate commemorative of our grati
tude. Apprized that this spontaneous
gift cannot receive the sanction of our be
loved Sovereign, in the ordinary mode, by
the acceptan e of the Lieutenant-Gover-
nor in his nanu and behalf, we, the Legi^.
lative Council and Assembly of the Province
of Upper Canada humbly beg leave to ap
proach your Royal Highness with an earnest
prayer that you wi 1 ! approve this demon
stration of our gratitude, and graciously
be pleased to sanction in his Majesty s name
the grant of the Legislature in beha:f of the
inhabitants of Upper Canada. Wil iam
Dummer Powell, Speak r L"gi>lativeCouncil
chambers, March 26, 1816 ; Allan Maclean,
Speaker Commons House of Ass mbly.
March 25, 1816." This was the f amour Spoon
bill, and the house that passed the measure
was a few weeks later abruptly dismissed.
Mr. G. S. Jarvis, of Cornwall, states that
the carriage of Chief Justice Powell wa a
rough sort of omnibus which would
compare with the jail van used now.
The menfory of Chief Justice Powell is
preserved in William street, formerly called
Dummer. Simcoe street north of Queen
was formerly called William, but since the
first street west has been changed from
Dummer to William, the orLinal William
street north of Queen has been called
Simooe. Judge Powell projected and gave
the land for Dummer street which
has been changed to William street. Mr.
D. B. Read, who has written a sketch of
Justice Powell, say; that up to the
war of 1812 Judge Powell had been a
puisne judge. In 1815 he was promoted
to the Chief Justiceship. The last time
he presided in court was in Trinity term,
1825. At the Michaelmas term the He-
porter notes that Justice Campbell took
his seat upon the beach in place or Chief
Justice Powell, who retired. The Chief
Justice survived his retirement from the
bench nine years. Three years of this
time he spent in England, accompanied
by his wife and daughter. The rest
of his life was spent in quiet retire
ment in Toronto, where he died in his
seventy-nin f h year. His wife survived
him, and died in 1849, in her ninety-first
year. Dr. Gwynne afterwards lived
in the house. Then it fell to a cheap
lodging-house and was finally purchased by
Mr. Aid. VerraL , who pulled it down to
make room for the stables of the Verral
Transfer Company. Mr. Verral has kindly
given Mr. J. Ross Robertson a half-a-dozen
of the logs from the original buildiug and
out of these a couple of chairs and a table
are being made by The Rogers Company.
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE PUBLIC MARKETS.
The First Public Market in Toronto nud th.
structures Subsequently Erected on thf
Same Site-The Pillory and the Stocks.
In the year 1799 Peter Hunter, who had
acted as President of the Province of Upper
C.uiada since the retirement of Governor
Simcoe, was appointed Lieutenant-Governor,
and in August of the same year he arrived
at York in the spring and was met on land
ing by the Queen s Rangers, who escorted
him home, when later in the day he received
congratulations on his safe arrival and ap
pointment. The Governor travelled about
considerably until the spring of the next
year when he took up his residence at the
Garrison and called "a meeting of parlia
ment. During the next three years of the
Governor s administration, public business
of various kinds was transacted. In the
Gazette and Oracle of July 13th, 1799, we
60
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
61
read the following advertisement: "0.
Pierce & Co, have for sale : Best spirits by
the puncheon, barrel, or ten gallons, 20;
per gal. ; do. by the single gallon, 22s ;
rum Dy the puncheon, barrel, or ten gallons,
18s per gal. ; brandy by the barrel, 20s per
gallon ; port wine by the barrel, 18s per
gal. ; do. by single gallon, 20s per gal; gin
by the barrel, 18s per gal ; teas, Hyson, 19s
per Ib ; Souchong, 14s do. ; Bobea, 85 do. ;
sugar, best loaf, 3s 9d per Ib ; lump, 3s 6d ;
raisins, 3s; figs, 3s; salt, six dollars per
barrel, or 12s per bushel. Also a few dry-
goods, shoes, leather, hats, tobacco, snuff,
etc., etc. York, July 6th, 1799." These
prices appear to be in Halifax currency. In
1803 the population of York had increased to
such an extent that there was an impera
tive demand for a public market. Accord
ingly the Governor appointed weekly market
day and a place where the market should be
held, saying in his proclamation which
appeared in the Gazette of 3rd Novem
ber, 1803, " Peter Hunter, Esquire,
Lieu tenant-Governor, <kc." " Whereas
great prejudice hath arisen to the inhabi-
t mts of the town and township of York and
of other adjoining townships from no place
or day having been set apart for exposing
publicly for sale, cattle, sheep, poultry and
other provisions, goods and merchandise
brought by merchants, farmers and others
for the necess >ry supply of the town
of York and whereas great benefit and ad
vantage might be derived to the inhabitants
and others by establishing a weekly market
at a place and on a day certain for
the purpose aforesaid ;
"Know all men that I, Peter Hunter,Esq.,
Lieutenanc-Governor of the said Province,
taking the prem.ses into consideration, and
willing to promote the interest, and advant
age, and accommodation of the inhabitants
of the Town and Township aforesaid, and
of others, His Majesty s subjects, within
the said Province, by and with the advice
of the Executive Council thereof, have or
dained, erected, established and appointed,
and do hereby ordain, erect, establish and
appoint, a public open market, to be held
on Saturday in each and every week during
the year, within the said town of York :
(The first market to be held therein on
Saturday), on a certain piece or plot of land
within that town, consisting of five acres and
a half, commencing at the south-east angle
of th -! eaid plot, at the corner of Market
street and New street, then north sixteen
degrees, west five chains sevente n links,
more or less, to King street ; then alona
King street south seventy-four degrees,
west nine chains fifty-one links, more or
iess, to Church street ; then south sixteen
decrees east six chains thirty-four Knka
more or less to Market street ; then along
Market street north seventy-four degrees
east two chains ; then north sixty-four
degrees, east along Market street seven
chains sixty links more or less, to the
place of beginning, for the purpose of ex
posing for sale cattle, sheep, poultry, and
other provisions, goods and merchandize,
as aforesaid. Given under my hand and
seal at arms, at York, this twenty-sixth
day of October, in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and three, and
in the forty-fourth year of His Majesty s
reign. P. Hunter, Esquire, Lieutenant-
Governor. By His Excel ency s command,
Wm. Jarvis, Secretary." The present St.
Lawrence Hall occupies a part of this allot
ment. Governor Hunter had establishedja
Market Square.but as yet, there was no Mar
ket building. In the Legislative session of
1814, an act supplementary to Governor
Hunter s was passed, empowering the Com
missioners of the Peace for the home dis
trict to fix upon certain days and hours,
and to make rules and regulations for the
conduct of the market, which are to be
posted on the dooi s of the Church and
Court house, la 1820 appeared an adver
tisement in the Gazette asking for tenders
for a market- house. This first market
was simply wooden shambles forty-five feet
long and thirty feet wide running
north and south and situated in the middle
of the square. Four years later the Market
Square was enclosed on the east, west and
south sides " with a picketing and oak
ribbon, the pickets at ten feet distance from
each other with three openings or foot
paths on each side." These wooden
shambles constituted the public market up
to. three years befora the town of York was
transformed into the city of Toronto. The
digging of a public well here, near King
was an event of considerable interest in
the Lowii. Dr. Scadding says : " Group*
of school boys every day scanned narrowly
the progress of the undertaking ; a cap of
one or other of them, mischievously pre
cipitated to ,he depths where the labourers
mattocks were to be heard picking at
the shale below, may have impressed the ex
ecution of this public work all the more
indelibly on he recollection of some of
them." The Upper Canada Gazette states
that this was in 1823. An official adver
tisement in the Gazette of June the 9th,
1823, calls for proposals to be sent in to
the ffiee of the Clerk of the Peace, " for
the sinking a well, stoning and sinking a
pump therem, in the most approved
manner, at the Market Square of the gaid
town (of York), ior the convenience of the
62
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
public." It is added that persons desirous
of contracting for same must give in
their proposals on cr before Tuesday, the
first day of July next ensuing ; and the
skmatnre " by order of the co art" is that
of M S. Heward, Clerk of the Peace, H
D., (Home District.)
The tender of John Hutchison and George
Hetherington was accepted. They offered
to do the work "for the sum of 25
currency on coming to the rock, with the
addition of seven shillings and sixpence per
foot for boring into the rock until a
sufficient anpply of water can be got, should
it be required." The work was done,
and the account paid July 30th, 1823.
The charge for boring eight feet cwo
inches through the rock was 3 Is. 3d.
The whole well and pump thus cost the
county the modest sum of only 28 Is. 3d.
The charge for flagging around the pump,
for " logs, stone, and workmanship," was
5 2s. 4d., paid to Mr. Hugh Carfrae,
pathmaster. A well was sunk in the
marker square and provided with a
pump for the convenience of the
public. This well now exists some
where under the present market. Auc
tions were held in the square, Patrick
Handy and Patrick McGann being two of
the most humorous and best known men in
this line. The pillory and stock? were set
up here, and continued in use until the year
Toronto assumed the municipal dig
nity. In 1804 Elizabeth Ellis for being a
nuisance was sentenced to six months im
prisonment and to stand in the pillory on
two market days for two hours at a time.
The same year a man by the name of Camp
bell was given the same punishment for
using "seditious language." The stocks,
the pillory, the lash and the brand were in
practice at York probably from
its settlement. In 1798 Joseph
McCarthy was burned in the hand
pursuant to his sentence. Public floggings
were frequent. Dr. Scadding relates that
he once saw at the market place " the horrid
exhibition of a public whipping. A dis
charged regimental drummer, a native
African, administered the lash. The sheriff
stood by keeping count of the stripes.
The senior of the two unfortunates
bore his punishment with stoicism, en
couraging the negro to strike with
more force. The other, a young man, en
deavoured to imitate his companion in this
respect but soon was obliged to evince by
fearful cries the torture endured."
During the war with the United States
the magistrates in 1814 fixed ascale of prices
for the military authorities to pay at the
market for provisions. It was as follows :
Flour per barrel, 3 10s ; wheatper bushel,
10s ; peas per bushel, 7s 6d ; barley and
rye, 7s 6d ; oats per bushel, 5s ; hay
per ton, 5 ; straw per ton, 3 ; beef on
foot.per wt 2 5s ;beef,slaurhtered,per )b.,
7^d.; salt pork, per barrel, 7 10s; pork, per
carcase.per pound, 7Jd ; mutton, per lb.,9d ;
veal, per lb., 8d ; butter, per In, Is 3d ;
bread, per loaf, of four pounds, Is 6d. How
much prices had fallen by the restoration
of peace may be seen from the table of
prices current at the York market as given
by James Strachan in 1819. it is as fol
lows :
Beef, per lb., 5s.7<l; mutton, per lb., 6s 7d;
veal, per lb., 6s 7d ; pork, per lb., 7a
lOd ; fowls, per pair, 3s to 4s ; cheese, 6d
to 7d ; butter, per lb., Is 3d; eggs,
per doz., Is 3d ; peas, per bush., 5s 6 i ;
potatoes, per bushel, 2s to 2s 6d ; oats, per
bushel, 3s to 3s 9d ; turnips, per bushel, Is
to Is 3d ; cabbages, per head, 2d ; flour, per
cwt., 15s to 16s 3d; flour, per barrel, 1
7s 6d to 1 10s ; tallow, per lb., 7d to 8d :
hay, per ton, 2 ; straw, per bundle, 3d ;
wood, per cord, 10s to 12s 6d.
In April, 1822, peace then reigning, York
prices were : Beef, per lb, 2d to 4d ; mat-
ton, 4d to 5d ; veal, 41 to 5d ; pork, 2d to
2^d ; fowls, per pair, Is 3d ; turkeys, each,
3s 9d ; geese, 2s 6d ; ducks, per pair,
Is lOd ; cheese, per lb. 5d ; butter, 7d ;
eggs, per dcz. , 5d ; wheat, per bushel,
2s 6d ; barley, 28 Ibs., 2s ; oats, Is; pease,
Is l^d ; potatoes, per bushel, Is 3d ; tur
nips, Is ; cabbages, per head, 2d ; flour,
per cwt., 6s 3d ; flour, per barrel. 12s 6d ;
tallow, per lb, 5d ; lard, per lb, 5d ; hay,
per ton, 2 10a ; pork, per barrel, 2 10s ;
wood, per cord, 10s.
In 1831 the wooden market building wai
torn down and in its place was erected
a quadrangular brick building with arched
gateway entrances at the sides. Around it
were set posts with iron chains dependent.
This building filled the whole square with
the exception of roadways on the ^ast and
west sides. Around the four sides of this
new market above the butchers stalls ran
a wooden gallery. Here in 1834 occurred
a frightful accident A political meeting
was being held and the gallery was over
crowded. While one of the sp akers was
haranguing the assemblage part of the bal
cony gave way precipitating the people to
the floor below. In the descent many were
caught upon the sharp upcui ved iron hooks
of the butch rs stails. The kil ed and
wounded on this occasion were : Son of Col.
Fitzgibbon, injured severely ; Mr. Mountjoy,
thig h broken; Mr. Cochrane, injured severe
ly ; Mr. Charles Daly, thigh broken ; Mr.
George Gurnett, wound in tne head ; Mr.
LANDMARRS OF TORONTO.
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
Keating, injured internally ; Mr. Fenton,
injured ; Master Gooderham, thigh broken ;
Dr. Lithgow, contused severely ; Mr.
Morrison, contused severely ; Mr. Alder
man Denison, cut on the head ; Mr.
Thornhili, thigh broken ; Mr. Street, arm
broken ; Mr. Deese, thigh broken ; another
Mr. Deeae, leg and arm broken ; Mr.
Sheppard, injured internally ; Mr. Clieve,
Mr. Mingle, Mr. Preston, Mr. Armstrong,
Mr. Leslie, (of the Garrison), Master
Billing Mr. Duggan, Mr. Thomas Ridout,
Mr. Brock, Mr. Turner, Mr. Hood, (since
dead), severely injured, &c.
THE SECOND MARKET.
The city directory of 1833-4 says :
" The centre ot the market, for farmers
waggons, &c. Over the butchers shops are
a range of warehouses, part occupied by
Gillespie, Jamieson, & Co., who also occupy
the north-west corner of this large build
ing, fronting King street, over part of which
is the Commercial News Room. The north
east corner, fronting King street, is H. M.
Mosley s Auction and General Commission
Warehouses, who have part of the ware
house over the butchers shops. The large
room over the entrance ia for general meet
ings, &c., connected with the town."
Names of the butchers and residence*.
1. James Todd, 5 Richmond street.
2.
3. John Graham, Caroline street.
4. Robert Atkinson, 26 Lot street.
5. William King, Caroline street.
6. Thomas Balderson, 12 Front street.
7. William Glendinning, Caroline street.
8. T. Nightingale, Yonge street road.
9. J. Baker, Black Bull, Lot street.
10. W. Lenton, Duchess street.
11. T. Wilson, Market Lane.
12. W. B. Walker, York street.
13. Jonathan Scott, Yonge street road.
14. John Linfoot, Elizabeth street, Macau-
lay Town.
15. John Sleigh, March street west.
16.
17. P. Armstrong, Yonge street road.
18. Thomas Allen, Front street.
19. S. Watson, Henrietta street.
20. James 0-ikes.
21. J. Mason.
22 Jas. Parker, Lot street west.
23. Jonathan Dunn, Lot street west, near
the Common.
24. John Bishop, 6 Market Lane.
25. Robert Barnes, Duchess street.
26. James Petch, Lot street west.
27. Thomas Bright, Princess street.
28. L Thompson, Lot street west.
29. Benson Wheeler, 80 Yonge street.
30. B ice John, Yonge street.
31. Spears and Davia.
32. John Betteridge, King street.
33. Francis Langdrill.
34.
35.
Over the shops, at the south end of
the market, is the General Printing Office
of G. P. Bull.
Market Master, Curry Colson, 3 Market
Lane.
Assistant do., Patrick Connell, 7 King
street.
The market weighing machine is outside
the market on the Day shore."
The damage done to the northern end of
the quadrangle during the great fire of 1849
led to the demolition of the whole building,
and the erection of the St Lawrence Hall
and Market. Over windows on the second
storey at the south-east corner of the red
brick structure now removed, there ap
peared, for several years, two signs, united
at the angle of the building, each indicat
ing by its inscription the place of " The
Huron and Ontario Railway " office.
THE ST. LAWRENCE MARKT.
This occupied the block bounded by King
and, Front streets, and east and west Mar
ket Squares, East Market Square being a
continuation of Jarvis street. The building
is in the form of a capital letter, I. It
was erected in 1850 to meet the pressing
exigencies of the citizens. The hall is ap
propriated for meetings and public exhibi
tions, and is capable of accommodating one
thousand persons. The principal object of
the designer of this edifice, Win. Thomas,
WPS to ensure its complete usefulness as
well as ornamentality, for, while the hall is
used for public purposes, in its rear runs
the St. Lawrence Market, a range of arcade
200 feet in length by 29 feet in breadth, with
neat stores on each sida, at the end of
which is another frontage south, consisting
of general stores. The King street front
age of the St. Lawrence Hall is 140 feet in
ex-tent. The entrance to St. .Lawrence
Market in the rear is in the centre of the
frontage by an archway, forming a line of
(hops on each side and a transverse piazza.
100 feet in depth, over which are, on the
first floor, pub.ic rooms. On the upper
story is the hall, 100 feet in length by 38
feet 6 inches wide, and 34 feet high ; the
entrance to the hall from the public stair
case is under the gallery at the north end,
with a saloon, etc. The finishing of the
interior is in pood style, with dado and rich
cornice, the ceiling is boldly covered with
rich pannelled centre and emblematical en
richments. The front is wholly of cut stone
of the Roman Corinthian order, from the
example of Jupiter Stator, the centre being
tetra&tylc po.tico of three-quarter columns.
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
65
with sculptured tympauum of the pediment,
surmounted with a rich attic, the carved
work throughout the enrichments is of a
rich and varied character. The cupola
forms a circular open temple of the Corin
ihian order, which contains a fine-toned
large alarm bell, weighing 2,130 pounds.
The aggregate cost of these buildings was
7,000. The first floor is used by
the Health Department into ofSoes
and rooms tor various societies,
while the third floor is the public hall, at
one time the finest and most aristocratic
place of amusement in town. Hers all the
concerts, lectures and entertainments
were given up to a compara
tively recent period. It was here
that Jenny Lind gave her two concerts
before Toronto audiences, Otto Goldschmidt
afterward her husband, being the conductor
of the orchestra on those occasions. The
hall is but little used for entertainments of
this character now. The remainder of the
building is but two stories high and is de
voted to market purposes, the lower part of
the structure connecting the King and Front
street transverse buildings, being known as
the Arcade. At the sides sheltered by
sheds, are stalls for vendors of every kind
usually found in a market. The stores on
the east and west sides of the King street
Arcade are private property, built on the
land leased from the Corporation. The
stores in the west wing were for years the
places of business of Lyman, Farr & Co. ,
then Lyman, Elliott & Co., druggists, and
to this day one of the shops is occupied as a
drug establishment. The stores on the east
side were at one time tenanted by George
Ewart, the grocer, Mabley & Co. and Gra
ham & Co., the Temple of Fashion. Mabley
& Co. left Toronto twenty-five years ago
and started business as tailors in Detroit and
subsequently in Cincinnati. These estab
lishments in these cities are jthe largest of
the kind on the continent. The father of
th Mableys died a few years ago.
CHAPTER XXX.
THE MILITARY CEMETERIES.
Hundreds of Obliterated and Forztten
(iravcs in the Soldiers Burial Ground
The Tombstones that Still Remain.
Tht soldier finds a nameless grave in time
of war, and in this respect he is not much
better off in time of peace, for of the graves
in the military burying grounds of Toronto
by far the greater part are forgotten and
obliterated. On the establishment of the
seat of government at York and the station-
5
ing of troops here a clearing was laid out
in the thick brushwood at what is now St.
John s Square, at the western end of Wel
lington place, and devoted to the burial of
the dead. It is an ancient cemetery, for in
it was buried a child of the first Governor
of Upper Canada Sir John Graves Simcoe
a fact commemorated on the exterior of
the mortuary chapel over his own grave
in Devonshire by a tablet with the inscrip
tion : " Katharine, born in Upper Canada,
16th Jan., 1793, died and was buried at
York Town in that province in 1794."
The cemetery as laid out was of an oblong
shape ; its four picketed sides direct d ex
actly toward the four cardinal points of
the compass. The staking out of streets
here was a comparatively late event and
occurred at the second extension of York
westward. In this old burying ground
once occurred a scene which might have taken
place in some warlike tribe of savages at
the obsequies of their chief. Captain Bat-
tersby, a British soldier, sent out co take
command of a provincial corps during the
war of 1812, was the owner of several mag
nificent horses to which he was greatly
attached. On the conclusion of peace at
the close of the war, when the captain was
ordered home, many of his brother officers
and residents of York offered to purchase
his horses, but he steadily refused to sell
them up to the day before his departure
for home, when it became known what his
purpose was in regard to his favourites.
He ordered a squad of soldiers to lead the
animals to the burying ground, where they
were all shot dead. He preferred this fate
for them to the uncertainties of their condi
tion in the hands of another owner. The
carcasses were buried on the spot where
the shooting took place. In this burying
ground were interred the remains of Benjamin
Halloweil, a near connection of Chief Jus
tice Elmsley, and father of Admiral Sir
Benjamin Halloweil, K. C. B. He died on
Thursday, March 28th, 1799, in the seventy-
fifth year of his age, and the funeral was
held from the house of Chief Justice Elms-
ley on the following Tuesday at one o clock,
the interment being at the Garrison Bury
ing Ground. Mr. Halloweil was one of
the first owners of a park lot on the old
road leading down from Fort Rouille.
With the extension of the city west
ward the old burial ground was aban
doned and the ground levelled off into a
square. The only existing indication that
it sver served as a cemetery is a row of
tombstones ranged along the fence at the
western boundary of the square. Some
are of marble, some sand-stone and others
wood. At the northern extiemitv of the
66
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
line is the headstone of Lieutenant Zacha-
riah Mudge, private secretary of Governor
Colborne, who shot himself June 10, 1831.
Only two graves removed is a small stone
bearing the simple inscription : " John
Saumariez Colborne, born May 1, 1826,
died July 30, 1829." He was the son of
Sir John Colborne, one of the Governors
of Upper Canada, Near by are several
broken stones with undecipherable inscrip
tions, on one of which only the words :
" Archibald Currie, of Glasgow, Scotland,"
can be made out. Here as in the newer
cemetery are several soldiers who came
to their deaths by accident. Privates
\Villiam Jewell and Michael Jewell,
drowned, and Patrick Raftery killed on the
railroad. The next stone is to the memory
of Barbara Mary, daughter of the Rev. J.
Hudson, who died July 17, 1831. He died
in the Harper House, corner Queen and Sim-
coe. Themostnoticeablething about this row
of grave-stones is the number of women
Matthew Moorhead, Robert Morris, Frede
rick Rudinan, Michael Farron, James
Forsyth and John Forsyth, soldiers. At
the extreme south of the line is the most
pretentious memorial. It is a recumbsnt
stone to the memory of Mackay John
Scobie, who died August 26, 1834, aged
eighteen years, and Kenneth Scobie, who
died September 10 of the same year, aged
twenty-five years. They were sons of the
late Captain James Scobie, of the 93rd
Highlanders, and of the 4th Royal Veteran
Battalion. The stone was placed over the
remains by Hugh Scobie, of Toronto, a
brother of the deceased brothers. These
memorials above mentioned are all that
remain to mark the names of those who
were consigned to mother earth there during
the period. of sixty years that this plot was
a burial ground. The next military burial
ground was at Dufferin street, where the
Great Western Railway now runs, just
back of the exhibition main building. Only
OLD CKMETERY TOMBSTONES.
aad children it memorialises Charlotte,
wife of John Armitage, of the Ordnance
Department, who died April 8, 1819 ; Mar
garet Ryan, wife of William Ryan, of the
Canadian Rifles, who died in 1835, and
Julia Courtney are buried here. The
children are the infant daughter of W.
and Emma Harrington ; infant son of
Matthew Moorhead ; infant children of
Joseph and Jane Raymond ; infant daughter
of George and Catharine McEwan ; infant
son of John and Bridget Prickett ; infant
son of James R. and Mary Ann Mc-
Gowan : infant daughter of Major Charles
Levings ; infant son of George and Mar
garet Long ; infant son of J. E. and M.
Sharp ; infant daughter of David and
Mary Weitch. The oldest stone here
is that to Mrs. Armitage, bearing the
date April 8, 1819. The latest is that to
Private William Jewell, 1862. The other
stones are to the memory of John Blaber,
five or six interments were made there
when, on account of the unsuitable quality
of the soil, burials were discontinued and
th i remains removed to the cemetery west
of the old fort. The first military hospital
was close by the Grand Trunk railway
under the hill, near where the cattle sheds
now are, at tha foot of Tecumseth street.
It was a small brick building. It was after
ward turned into an emigrant hospital.
The cemetery west of the old fort is now
rankly overgrown with grass and thistles,
and no effort is made to keep it in condi
tion. There are about two hundred graves
distinguishable by the mounds ot earth.
In the whole cemetery there are only twenty -
eight stones or wooden slabs standing
to tell who lies beneath. A few
broken stories have fallen ; most of them
are undecipherable and the rest are name
less. All the headstones are of the simplest
and plainest character. There is not a monu-
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
67
merit or shaft in the yard. On a few
graves are simple wooden crosses without
any inscription. Here and there is a square
picketed enclosure about a grave, the
fence in a very dilapidated condition and
overgrown with grass, thistles and ivy.
But one grave bears token that its
occupant is still cherished in memory.
Tho grave is that of Sergeant-Major F.
W. Gathercole, of C School of Infantry,
who died at the new fort, Toronto, February
13, 1883, aged forty-two years. A neat
marble slab, simple but quite as pre
tentious as any in the cemetery, bears
the inscription that it was erected by his
comrades in affectionate remembrance.
About the grave the grass and thistles
have been cleared away, and four pots
of geraniums in bloom had been placed
graves is one of Walter Toronto Lewis,
the one year old son of Mr. and Mrs.
Frederick Lewis, who died in 1868. The
13th Hussars has the greatest number of
burials. At two graves are tiny marble
slabs, not over five inches wide and a
foot high, bearing simply the inscriptions i
" G. M. and G. F. S." They are evidently
remembered, for loving hands had recently
propped up the broken and fallen me
morials with pieces of wood. Most of th
stones bear inscriptions to the effect that
they were erected by comrades. But little
attempt at decoration has been made oa
the slabs. Here and there is a flag, a
pair of crossed swords, a wreath, a cross,
a crown, and other usual emblems of this
character all very simply executed.
Among the dead who lie here are :
CEMETERY WEST OF THE GARRISON.
on it. The stone marking the resting place
of Assistant Commissary-General, John
Moira McLean Sutherland, is broken and
down. Everything about the grounds bears
evidence that they are seldom visited.
The proportion of soldiers drowned among
the twenty eight whose names are deciph
erable is large. They are John Manley
Rattle, Deputy Assistant Commissary-Gen
eral, J. Ramsey Akers, Ensign in the 16th
Regiment, James Walsh, Private in the
80th Regiment, and Corporal John Smeeton,
of the 13th Hussars. Several graves are
those of the wives and children of
soldiers. The head-stones range in date,
from 1860 down to that of Private E. A.
Heath, of C School of Infantry, who died in
1885, being the most recent. Among the
Trumpeter James McMahon, 13th Hassan;
Rachel, wife of Sergeant-Major William
Ross, of the 4th Artillery ; Isabella Thom
son, Private George Miller, 13th Hussars,
and Colour-Sergeant John Hanney, 47th
Regiment. Over how many a now for
gotten and even obliterated grave have
the customary volleys here been fired
those final honours to the soldier always
so touching. In the mould of this old
cemetery what a mingling from distant
quarters I Hearts finally at rest here
fluttered in their last beats, far away
at times, to old familiar scenes beloved
in vain long ago ; to villages, hedge*
rows, lanes, fields in green England and
Ireland in rugged Scotland and Wales.
68
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
CHAPTER XXXI,
FORTS, FRENCH AND ENGLISH.
A. Sketch of Fort Ronille, Commonly
Known as Fort TorontoThe Old Fort at
Garrison Creek as It Was and Is.
In 1679 the neutrality which existed be
tween the English and French in regard to
the domain of the Five Nations on the south
tide of Lake Ontario was broken, ana in
that year La Salle, with the permission of
the Aborigines built a small stockade
at the mouth of the Niagara
river tor the purposes of a trading post.
The advantage derived from this by the
French was so great that in 1722 Governor
Burnett, of the Province of New York,
erected a trading post on the west side of
the Oswego river at its mouth. Then re
spectively in 1725 and 1728 these simple
trading stations of the French and English
were transformed into stone fortresses.
As an offset to the English rival.
Fort Oswego, the Count de la Galis-
Boniere, the then Governor - General
in 1749, gave direction for the estab
lishment near the mouth of the Toronto
river for so the Humber was then called
of a stockaded trading post, and asked the
Government of Louis the Fifteenth to send
an officer, fifteen soldiers and some work
men to construct the post and occupy it.
The men were sent, commanded by Officer
Portneuf. The pass between Lakes On
tario and Huron by way of the Humber was
known as the Toronto pass, and as early
as 1686 Governor-General de Denonville
had recommended the erection of a fort at
the Lake Huron end of the pass to prevent
the English from passing through, but the
suggestion was never acted on. At the
Ontario end of the pass however a fort was
built, and what manner of fort it was may
be known from the description of Captain
Pouchot, the last French commandant at
Fort Niagara in 1760. He says : The fort
of Toronto was at the end of the bay, on
the side which is quite elevated and covered
by flat rocK,so that vessels cannot approach
within cannon shot This fort or post was
a square of about 180 feet on a side externally
with flanks of fifteen feet. The curtains
formed the buildings of the fort. It was
rery well built, piece upon piece, but was
cnly useful for trade. A league west of the
fort is the mouth of the Toronto river, which
in of considerable size. This river commu
nicates with Lake Huron by a portage of
15 leagues, and is frequented by the Indi ms,
who come from the north." Captain Got her
Mann shows in his "Plan of the Proposed
Toronto Harbour," dated December 6, 1788),
that there were five buildings within the
stockade which he marks out as well as tke
bounds of the quadrangle enclosed by the
palisades, the line of which was visible, and
some of the cedar posts still standing at the
time of his visit. The ditches where th? posts
had been set, and the hollows where the build
ings stood were visible down to ten years
ago, when the ground was levelled and all
traces of the fort destroyed. Since the
erection of the fort, nearly a century and a
half ago, a great portion of the southern
side has been washed away. Dr. Scaddiijg
remembers seeing a number of flat stones
from the beach laid down on the ground in
juxtaposition, and this he conjectures was
an oven. Although the fort wa,s commonly
known and mentioned as Fort Toronto, yet
the official name conferred uuon it was Fort
Rouille, in compliment to Autoine Louis
Rouille, Count de Jouy, Colonial Minister of
France trom 1749 to 1754. From the outset
the trade carried on at Fort Toronto was for
the benefit of the King s exchequer, and that
this royal trading post was a source of profit
appears from despatches which state that
losses sustained at other trading stations
will be made good by the Fort Toronto
trade. In 1754 the only occupants of Fort
Toronto were one officer, two sergeants, a
storekeeper and five soldiers. The number
of canoes sent up was five, each canoe con
taining goods worth about seven thousand
French fivres. The price given for good
beaver skins was from three livres ten sous,
to five livres a pound. It is evident from
the complaints made #nd from the testimony
of the French that Fort Toronto directly
after its establishment was injuring the
t ade of Fort Niagara, as surely as Fort
Oswego was ruining that of Fort Frontenac
across the lake. Francois Piquet, a member
of the fraternity of St. Sulpice, made a trip
of exploration along the shores of Lake
Ontario in 1752, in a royal boat supplied for
the purpose. At Fort Frontenac he found
trade ruined by the English fort at Oswego,
or Choueguen, as the Indian name is. Here he
fared badly. He complained of the pork
and bacon and lamented that there was not
enough brandy on hand to wash a wound.
But when he reached Fort Toronto he found
a striking contrast. He says : " The wine
here is of the best ; nothing is wanting in
the fort; everything is abundant, fine and
good." Here the Mississaga Indians
flocked around him in great numbers
picturing the happiness their young men,
women and children would feel if the
King of France would only be so good to
them as to the Iroquois and send them mis
sionaries. "But," they sadly exclaim, "in
o
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
69
.
70
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
place of a church he has only given us a
canteen." The priest told them that they
had been treated according to their own
desires. Still he was much inclined to in
vite them to his mission at the mouth of the
river Oswegatchie, opposite Prescott, but as
he was under orders from the Governor
to confine his proselyting efforts to the Iro-
quois he went on bis way to Fort Niagara.
He finds that the trade there had
been diminishing since the erection
of Fort Toronto and he strongly
recommends the discontinuance of the latter
Fort. At the same time he deprecates the
policy of greed as displayed in the en
deavour to pass alloyed silver among the
Indians and in the demand of ten beavers
for an equivalent for which the English
only asked two. "True it is," he says,
" that French brandy is preferred to Eng
lish rum, but that|doesn t prevent the Indians
from going to Oswego." But it was to be
only a short time before the Fort of
Toronto was to be not merely
discontinued, but absolutely destroyed
and the question as to what were
the beat trading places taken out of the
hands of the French forever. The jealousy
between the English and French in the
northern part of this continent was rapidly
growing. Each was doing its utmost
to attach the Indians to itself as allies.
The English were steadily encroaching on
the domains of the French Crown. The
relations between England and France were
becoming strained. In the same year that
the French priest drank the good wine
at Fort Toronto, Governor de Longueuil
wrote to the Minister at Versailles that the
English were inducing the Indians to de
stroy the French and that they would give
a good deal to get the savages to destroy
I ort Toronto. Later he writes : "Every
letter brings news of murder ; we are men
aced with a general outbreak, and even To
ronto is in danger." Four years later, in
1756, war was declared between England
and France on the question of North Amer
ican boundaries and the seven years con
flict began, which ended in the cession to
England of almost all the French domain
on the North American continent. To
ronto was the scene of a plot in 1757
which was all but successful. Ninety
Mississaga Indians were on their way to
Montreal to assist the French. When they
reached Fort Toronto, where chey encampeci ,
finding that the only occupants of the fort
were M. Varren, the storekeeper, and M.
de Noyelle with ten men under him, it oc
curred to them that the opportunity of
pillaging the fort and getting possession of
the brandy stored in it was too good to be
lost, notwithstanding the fort was occupied
by their friends. A French "servant girl
learned of the plot and infcimed M. de
Noyelle, who lost no time in sending
to Fort Niagara for help. At four
o clock on the afternoon of the next
day, two batteaux with sixty-one soldiers
under command of Captain de la Feste and
M. de Puisun, ran into the bay. Each boat
had a swivel gun at the bow. When they
neared the shore they sent a volley of can
non and musket balls over the tops of the
Indian wigwams, and summoned the savages
at once to a council. The Indians confessed
the plot, but endeavoured to palliate their
treachery by saying they had heard the
English had driven out the French.
But Captain Pouchot says that all they
wanted waa the brandy. But a year of
existence was now left to Fort Toronto. In
1756 Montcalm captured Fort Oswego.
Three years later Colonel Bradstreet cap
tured Fort Frontenac, and at the same time
Colonel Haldimand re-captured Osweeo.
Governor De Vaudreuil, the second of the
name, in 1758 ordered all the available
troops to be sent down from the west for
the protection of Fort Niagara. At the
same time he gives orders to the command
ant at Fort Toronto to collect all the Indiana
possible and forward them to the same
place, directing that if the English should
make thir appearance at Fort Toronto it be
burned at once, and the garrison fall back on
Niagara. The Indian hunter had drank his
last glass of French brandy in Fort Toronto,
for only a short time afterward Vaudreuil s
orders were carried into effect. The next
year after a siege of thr ee weeks Niagara
surrendered. When Sir William Johnson,
who succeeded General Prideaux, killed in
the trenches at Niagara, had captured that
fort, he sent Lieutenant Francis with 30
men to reconnoitre Fort Toronto, purposing
on his return to despatch a force to destroy
it. All Lieutenant Francis found were five
piles of burned timber and three rows
of charred and broken cedar posts.
Tequakareigh, a chief of the Chippewaa,
returned with Lieut. Francis, and was
granted an audience by Sir William, the
result of which was the chief promised
Sir William to abandon the French cause
and live in friendship with the English.
Then Sir William sent him back to his tribe
to keep his engagement, having clothed
him, given him gifts, and suspended an
English medal about his neck
in place of the French one he wore.
Fort Toronto was never rebuilt. In 1760
Major Robert Rogers, an officer who had
distinguished himself in the war, visited the
site of it on his way to take possession of
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
71
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72
LANDMARKS OP TORONTO.
the western forts vacated by the French.
He < ays : " There was a tract of about three
hundred acres cf cleared land round the
piac where formerly the French had a fort
called Fort Toronto. The soil is principally
clay. The deer are extremely plentiful in
this country . Some Indians were hunting
at the mouth of the river who ran into the
woods on our approach very much fright
ened. They came in, however, in
the morning, and testified their joy at
the news of our success against the
French. They told us we could easi y
accomplish our journey from thence to De
troit in eight days ; that when the French
traded at that place, the Indians used to
come with their peltry from Michilimackinac
down the River Toronto. 1 think Toronto a
most convenient place for a factory, " the
Majoradds, meaning by factory, trading post.
Captain Gother Mann, an officer of the
Royal Engineers, was instructed in 1788 to
examine Toronto harbour, take soundings
and look over the whole locality with a view
to the establishment of a settlement
here. He drew a ground plan of the old
French fort, showing the lines of the stock
ade and the five little parallelograms, inside
being the storehouse, a little in advance of
the others, and the quarters for the keepers,
officers, soldiers and men employed. Cap
tain Mann entitled his map, "Plan of the
Proposed Toronto Harbour, with the Pro
posed Town and Port by the Settlement."
He expresses his opinion that the
beat position for a fort to protect
the proposed settlement is the ex
act spot to-day occupied by the
stone barracks. From this point slantingly
across the entrance into the harbour he
takes soundings and finds the water to vary
from one to four fathoms in depth. Captain
Mann also lays out a town on paper, making
the town plot exactly square, consisting of
eleven equal-sized blocks each way, a broad
strip of reserved ground in front, a large
patch of commons in the rear and the sur
rounding country cut up into farms and
roads. In the time of Augustus Jones, the
land surveyor brought over by Governor
Simcoe, the Toronto river had come to have
another name St. John s river. Augus
tus Jones makes a survey of the
broken front concession of York, and
from this it is evident that the
old French fort stood two chains or 132 feet
from the present Dufferin street. Mr. Jones
observes the remains of an old forge, and
notes that the timber is birch, b ack oak,
bech and hemlock, the soil clay. In
Anchinleck s history of the war of 1812 he
ehows that the old French fort stood nearly
half way between the landing place of the
Americans in 1813 and the old fort, and a
little west of the stone barracks. Dr. Scad-
ding, from whose history of Fort Rouille
this description is condensed, severely criti
cizes the historians Benson J. Lossing and
S. G. Goodrich, and points out many
errors into which they have fallen, as
to history, topography and orthography.
At the time of the capture of York by the
United States forces, the site of Fort To
ronto had been previously selected as the
point of debarkation, but on account of the
heavy w inds the boats were carried far to
the westward, where the landing took place.
When in 1878 the Government secured a
large portion of the Garrison Common for the
Industrial Exhibition, the site of the French
Fort was included in the survey. Previous to
that time a d ilapidated wooderi*fence had en
closed the area of the fort. This fence did
not form a perfect square, as the original lines
of the palisades did not run at right angles
either to Dufferin street or the shore of the
bay. When the ground was prepared for
the park, it became necessary to remove this
fence and level the mounds and fill up the
depressions which were the sole remains of
the first settlement at Toronto. That the
historic spot might not be lost, a cairn of
unhewn stone was mounted upon a huge
granite boulder brought up out of the en
trance to the bay by dredge, bearing this
inscription " This cairn marks the
exact site of Fort Rouille, commonly
known as Fort Toronto, an Indian
Trading Post and Stockade, Established
A.D. 1749, by order of the Government of
Louis XV., in accordance with the recom
mendations of the Count de la Galissoniere,
Administrator of New France 1717-1749.
Erected by the Corporation of the City of
Toronto, A.D. 1878." For six years the
cairn served its purpose. It then began to
settle, and it was felt that a more suitable
memorial should take its place. At the
semi-centennial in 1884, of the incorpora
tion of Toronto as a city, and the
restoration of the name which had
been lost, for nearly half a century,
the foundation of a monument
was laid by the then Lieutenant-Governor
ot Ontario, the Hon. John Beverley Robin
son. Three years later on the occasion of
the 50th anniversary of the reign of Queen
Victoria by means of grants from the city,
donations from the Industrial Exhibition
Association and the Associated Pioneers of
the City of Toronto and Ancient County of
York, and subscriptions fiom individuals
sufficient funds were raised to
complete the monument, which was
unveiled by the Marquis of Lins-
downe, Governor General of Canada
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
73
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
on the opening day of the Exhibition, Sept.
6th, 1887. The monument consists of a
substructure of rough atone five feet in
depth and twelve and a half feet square at
its lowest part, diminishing by steps to
about twelve feet square at the surface.
For four feet are three courses of cut Credit
Valley stone to a block forming the main
body of the pedestal, five feet square and
five and a half feet in height. Over this is
a course projecting eight inches and there is
a block forming a transition from the square
to the round form upon which rests
the column, a shaft in eight di
visions, tapering from five feet at
the base to two feet at the
summit which terminates in a conical apex.
The height from the surface is about 30 feet.
The cost was $2,500. On the north side of
the pedestal is the inscription, "Fort To
ronto, an Indian Trading Post, for Some
Time Known as Fort Rouille,was Establish
ed Here A.D. MDCCXLIX, by order of
Louis XV. " This monument commemorates
much. It is commemorative of Indian,
French and English supremacy. It
links the civilized present with
the savage past. It celebrates the
beginning,by the primitive system of barter,
of chat great commerce which has made
Toronto the actual metropolis of Canada.
It is the joining of old Toronto with new
Toronto. It is not improbable that but for
the establishment of this French trading
post some other site might have been chosen
for the capital of the new province. Here
nearly a century and a half ago were
piled on the grass for exchange
the products of European mills and
factories on one side and the pelts
of wild animals and articles of native
workmanship on the other. Here met the
vivacious Frenchman and the taciturn In
dian, and between them founded Toronto.
After the destruction and abandonment of
Fort Toronto by the French the site re
mained deserted, nor was any attempt made
to re-establish a settlement of any kind in
this vicinity until more than thirty years
afterward, when Governor Simcoe in 1793
laid the foundations of York, four miles to
the eastward of the French stockade.
During Governor Simcoe s administration a
new fort was built and a stockade
erected around it, on the west
side of Garrison creek, east of the site
of the old fort. In this creek, before
the woods were cut down, salmon
used to be caught for quite a distance up
the valley. The Government common at
the water s edge on the centre of which the
fort was built on elevated ground was ori
ginally a portion of a great circle radiating
a thousand yards from its centre, the fort.
The eastern entrance to the fort was
reached by an ascent from the ravine ol
Garrison Creek. The arched gateway waa
protected by strong iron studded portals.
Within a sentry and the guard house on the
left, beyond the loop-holed block house on
one side and the quarters of the men, officers
and commandant on the other. Up to
1849 the buildings on the east side oi the
enclosure were pretty much the same as in
the year 1800. Some of the log houses had
been clapboarded and given a semi-respect
able appearance. The row of log houses on
the left hand side of the entrance were
standing in 1859, and were the same build
ings erected in 1796 by the Queen a Rangers,
the first military regiment quaitered at
York Garrison The Rangers came from
Niagara in the spring of 1794, and in an old
Masonic record, discovered by Mr. J. Ross
Robertson, we find that the Queen s Rangers
Loige, or " Lodge No. 3 of Ancient York
Masons," met in York Garrison in 1799-
1800. The building in which they held
their meetings was the south house in the
row of log houses above mentioned. The
fire of 1812 did not in any way affect this
row of buildings. There were four houses
in the row, each with about twenty feet
front and twenty-five feet deep. A veran
dah or shed ran the entire length of the
front, and in wet weather the sentry on
guard, instead of standing in the sentry
box, which stood on the north of the veran
dah, would kill time by walking to and fro
under this protecting shed. The house,
adjacent to the gateway or entrance, waa
the guard room, the second and third
houses were mess rooms, and the fourth or
south was used by the engineers attached to
the Queen s Rangers for drawing plans, and
they kept the shelves filled with various
publications, maps, etc., and an array of
general literature. An ingenious brother
had employed his spare time in decorating
the tipper part of the entrance with squares
and compasses in brass -headed tacks. Had
the authorities at the War Office known
that her Majesty s property was put to
such use, a remonstrance from the Govern
ment migh*i have been the result. On
Lodge nights a primitive altar, made by the
carpenter of the Rangers, was used to sup
port the volume of the sacred law, and
tallow candles in sconces gave light to the
Lodge while at work, while the bright log
fire in the old-fashioned fire place made the
atmosphere of the room pleasant and agree
able. Miss Cecil Givins, sister of Colonel
Givins, who waa superintendent of the
Indian affairs in 1797, an old lady now
nearly ninety years of age, has a perfect re-
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO
75
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76
LANDMARKS OP TORONTO.
collection of this building in 1807. It was
onlj a mile from Pinegrove the house Miss
Givins resided in, near the corner of Dunel
street and the Brockton road to York Gar
rison. In a former sketch a picture of this
old landmark was given. Miss Giviiis
resides at Pinegrove to-day. Passing
through the fort grounds and out beyond
by the western gate one comes upon the
Garrison reserve, a large open space in the
eastern part of which a military cemetery
was laid out in modern times, and a con
siderable distance wesD of it the white stone
barracks, farther on west, the location of
the present rifle butts, still farther the site
of the old French fort, and be
yond Gibraltar Point, the extreme
western limit of the peninsula.
On the other side eastward of Bathurst st.
is the old military burying ground. In the
early days of the fort there was a battery at
the southwestern part of the enclosure.
The main half -moon battery, including a
small semi-circular bastion for the flag
staff extended along ths brow of the pali-
aded bank, south of the parade, which was
in the centre of the enclosure. From this
the royal salutes used to be fired on the ar
rival and departure of the Lieutenant-Gov
ernor and at the opening and closing of the
legislature. Overlooking the ravine of
Garrison Creek was the south-eastern bas
tion with a single twelve-pounder which
formerly was fired every day at noon.
The knoll on the east side of the creek was
covered with a number of buildings for the
accommodation of the troops in addition to
the barracks within the Fort. Here also,
not far from the edge of the bank, stood a
block house loop-holed as frontier forts
were for Indian warfare.. It was sur
rounded by a stockade of pickets. East
ward, on the brow of the bay, were the
surgeon s quarters, and further eastward
still the commandant s quarters, commonly
known as Lambeth palace, though why the
name of the official residence of the primate
of all England should be given to a military
building is not quite clear. In Limbeth
Palace lived Major General j3t!neas Shaw, for
a time, previous to his ownership and occu
pancy of Oik Hill. Garrison common and the
old fort are the battle field of Toronto. Here
fell General Pike, leader of the victorious
Americans, just as General Wolfe,
leader of the victorious English, fell
on the Plains of Abraham and
General Brock on Queenston Heights.
Of the invasion by the American forces
John Lewis Thomson in "Historical Skf tones
of the Late War," writes : " Agreeably to a
previous arrangement with the Commodore,
General Dearborn and his suite with a
force of 1,700 men embarked at Sackett s
Harbour, on the 22nd and 23rd of April,
1813, but the prevalence of a violent storm
prevented the sailing 1 until the 25ih. On
that day it moved into Lake Ontario and
having a favourable wind arrived safely be
fore Yorfc at 7 o clock on the morning of the
27th, about one mile to the westward of the
ruins of Fort Toronto and two and a half from
the town of York. The execution of that
part of the plan which app ied immediately
to other attacks upon York was confided to
Colonel Pike, of the 15th Regiment, who
had been promoted to the rank of Brigadier
General, and the position which had been
fixed upon for landing the troops was the
site of the old fort. The approach of the
fleet being discovered from the enemy s
garrison, General Sheaffe, the British com
mandant, hastily collected his whole force,
consisting of 750regulars and militia,and 100
Indians and disposed them in the best inan-
ner^to||resist the landing of the Americans.
Bodies of Indians were observed in groups
in different directions in and about the
woods below the site of the fort, and num
bers of horsemen stationed in the clear
ground surrounding it. At eight o clock
the debarkation commenced ; at ten it was
completed. MajorForsyth and his riflemen
in several large batteauxwere in the advance.
They pulled vigorously for the designated
ground at the site, but were forced by a
strong wind a considerable distance above."
The exact spot where the Americans landed
is the point where Queen street if extended
in a straight line would strike the water. It
is called Wolfe s cove, and is just within
the curve of the Humber bay. Circum
stantially the same is the account given by
Dr. Scadding, who writes : " The debark
ation was opposed by a handful of Indians
under Major Givins. The Glengarry
Fencibles had been dispatched to aid in this
service, but in attempting to approach the
spot by a back road they lost their way. A
tradition exists that the name of Grenadier s
Pond, a lagoon a little to the west, one
of the ancient outlets of the waters
of the HumV>pr, is connected with the
disastrous b wikbrmentof a party of the re
gular troops at tnis critical period. It is at
the same time asserted that the name Grena
dier s Pond was familiar previously. At
length companies of the E ghth Regiment,
of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and
of Incorporated Militia, made their appear
ance and disputed the progress inland of the
enemy. After suffering severely they re
tired towards the fort. Then occurred the
fatal explosion of that day. Just inside
the western gate of the fort was the western
battery with the magazine at the right of
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
77
the entrance. As the Americans pressed for
ward through the gate th - magazine explod
ed, killing atoout 200 Americans, among them
General Pike and some of the defending
force. The Government House of the day,
a large rambling cluster of one storey build
ings, was shattered to pieces by the concus
sion, and on the restoration of peace, Chief
Justice Elmsley s house, on King street,
was bought and converted into
Government House, but for a long
time afterward it stili went by the name of
Blmsley House. At the time of the invasion
of Canada, the fort at York was manned by
th* 3rd Regiment of York Militia. In the
regimental order book o July 29th, 1812,
occurs this note : " In consequence of an
Sergeants Knott, Humberstone, Bond and
Bridgeford. Continuing, the note says :
" Major General Brock has desired me,
Captain Stephen Heward to acquaint the
detachment under my command of
his high approbation of their orderly
conduct and good discipline while under
arms ; that their exercise and marching far
exceeded any that he had seen in the pro
vince. And in particular he directed me
to acquaint the officers how much be is
pleased with their appearance in uniform
and their perfect knowledge of their duty."
On the 13th of October General Brock was
a corpse on Queenston Heights, and in the
following April York was in the hands of
the invaders. "Toronto " was the counter-
BLOCK HOTTSB, OLD FORT, 1888.
rder from Major General Brock, command
ing the forces for a detachment of volun
teers under the command of Major Allan to
hold themselves in readiness to proceed in
batteaux from the head of the lake to-mor
row at 2 o clock, the following officers,
non-commissioned officers and privates, will
hold themselves in readiness to
proceed at 2 o clock for
the purpose of being fitted with caps,
blankets and haversacks as well as to draw
provisions. On the r arrival at the head of
th* lake regimental coats and canteens will
be ready to be issue i to them." The names
given are Capt. Heward, Lieut.
Btchardaon, Lieut. Jarvis, Lieut. Robinson,
sign of the York garrison, July 23rd, 1812.
Among the British kiHed at the battle ot
York was Captain McNeil, who fell at the
head of his company of Grenadiers of the
8th Regiment. His body was buried by the
Americans on the spot where he died. In
after years the waters of the Lke washing
away the bank close up to the grave, Major
Winnett, commanding the 68th Regiment
at the fort, on May 9th, 1829, had the re
mains removed to the Garrison bnriai
ground. A firing party and the band at
tended, and the remains were followed to
the place of interment by the officers
of the garrison and a procession of
the inhabitants of the town and vi-
78
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
cinity. As portions of the clay bank
along the bay have fallen away numerous
skeletons have been exposed and military
ornaments and pieces of firearms and other
weapons found. Mrs. Murney wrote a
manuscript narrative of the events of those
days during which the Americans held York,
taken down from the lips of her mother,
Mrs. Breakenridge, who took refuge at
Baron de Hoen s house, four miles up
Yonge street. Mrs. Murney writes
in regard to Captain McNeil : " My
mother saw the poor 8th Grenadiers
come into town on the Saturday and
in church on Sunday with the handsome
Captain McNeil at their head, and the next
day they were cut to pieces to a man. " On
the beach, protected by some earthworks,at
from the carrying places or narrow part of
the Island. Mr. Lossing, the historian who
visited Toronto in 1860, says that this block
house was situated on the high east bank of
the Don, just beyond the King
street bridge. It is possible
that Mr. Lossing may have fallen
into this error by seeing the log house now
on the Exhibition grounds, which stood at
that time in the place indicated by Mr.
Lossing on the property of Mr. John Smith.
The old Fort, as it is to-day, though fast
falling into decay and wholly useless now
for defensive purposes, gives a fair idea of
what it was m the war of 1812. Entering
the enclosure from the east the first build-
ins; the visitor approaches is a long, narrow,
one-storey shed, about 25x100 feet in di-
WESTERN ENTRANCE, OLD FORT, 1888
the mouth of the Garrison creek, on the site
of the present Queen s wharf were to be seen
for many years a row of cannon, dismounted,
spiked and rendered wholly useless
by the regular troops before their re
treat to Kingston. Loose canister shot
were also frequently washed up by
the waves at this point. These
memorials of the capture of York
were afterward sold to a Toronto foundry
and melted up. The earthworks remained
for many years. In connection with the
fort it may be stated that at an early date a
block house stood on the bank of the artifi
cial channel known as the " Little Don,"
not far from the site of the first Parliament
Buildings, and the stone jail recently torn
down. It commanded the road which led
mensions. It is of comparatively recent date,
and is now used as a gun shed by the To
ronto FieldjBattery. Here all the guns of the
battery are kept and here weekly drills are
held Wednesday evenings. South-west ot
this is the old block house with loop holes
for muskets. It is the older one of two
buildings on the ground, the other also
being a block house similar to it. This
block house is two stories high, the upper
storey projecting over the lower, a style of
military architecture sometimes seen in
pictures of old forts built with an
especial view to Indian warfare. It is
now used as an armoury by Colonel
Fred. Denison s troop of the Governor-Gen
eral s Body Guard, the senior corps in the
Canadian service. The troop was first
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
79
organized by Col. G. T. Denison, sr. , and it
has always been commanded by a Denison.
West of it is a small frame house used for
washing purposes. At the north-west cor
ner of the first long shed is a brick two-
storey building with a log fence around it.
It was formerly used as a magazine, and is
placed between the two block-houses so that
access to it might be had from either. It is
now used as a storage house. West from this
fe the second block-house, similar to the first
in siee and architectural design. These
were the two first buildings in the fort en
closure. Back of this is a shed recently
put up for the guns of the artillery. On
axe opposite or north side of the road run-
nine; through the grounds between the two
block -houses is a wooden building, the
east end of which the first building one
with an enormous chimney. This was th.-:
cook house and bake shop. The great oop-
psr kettles are still to be seen and the huge
ovens perhaps bigger than those in any city
bakery of to-d;iy. South west from the
cook house but still on the north side ot the
road is a one storey brick building used for
the superior officers quarters and mess
room. The eastern gable overgrown with
ivy presents a picturesque appearance. The
ivy was planted by a soldier fourteen years
ago. At the north-west extremity of the
fort enclosure is a large two storey frame
building with a frontage of about two hun
dred feet that was used for the soldiers bar
racks. It is now the armory of B troop of the
Governor-General s Body Guard, Major
Dunn commanding. The band also uses part
of it for practice rooms. At the west side
EASTERN ENTRANCE, OLD FORT, 1888.
entering the fort approaches ou the north side
of the roadway was the old guard house.
At the east end of this was a sentry box and
a tradition exists that an old soldier once shot
himself in it. The other end of this building
was used as a fire engine house in later
years. The next two portions of this
same building were staff sergeants
quarters. The next structure forms a
double, one-storey house, in which were the
officers quarters and the orderlies rooms.
This is on the north side of the road. The
next house on the same side of the road, a
little to the west, is one -storey, frame,
roughcast. It was put up twenty-five years
ago tor a canteen. The old canteen, which
was in a hollow to the westward, was burned
down, necessitating the erection of a new one.
Farther west is a one-storey block house
of this building is a pear tree that still
yields fruit, which was planted thirty -five
years ago by Lieutenant Landon, who
brought it wich him from Connecticut. At
the extreme west of the yard, just back of
the soldiers barracks, is a little brick
building, which was the armour
er s shop. In the west centre of the
enclosure are two long, narrow one
storey, whitewashed bdildings, each divided
into three cottages These have always
bsen reserved for married soldiers and their
families. East of these is a stone magazine
with an iron roof, surrounded by a high
stockade. Loose powder for making cart
ridges tor all the field batteries in Ontario
is now stored in it. In front of it is a flag,
pole with a ball at the top. This was erected
in honour of the Princess Louise, when sh
80
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
visited the fort. The Royal Standard was
raised on that occasion, and perhaps it never
will be again on that cole. Along the em
bankment on the bay side are seven seven
inch thirty-two pounders bearing the dates
1843 and 1844. The guns are partly dis
mounted, rusted inside, and wholly useless
for warfare now. The embrasures are filling
in and going to decay. Near the south em
bankment stood the dead house, which has
been pulled down. All around the en
closure of the fort is an embankment with
an inclined stockade or row of pickets
something like a chevaux de
frise and beyond this a ditch. A well
with a filter attached is at the north-west
corner of the fort ; it used to supply all the
soldiers with water but it is now dry.
Under the building once occupied as quar
ters by the superior officers is a great vault
of solid masonry with two heavy iron doors.
This was the treasury. All the buildings,
especially the soldiers barracks, where is
is kept a large store of sabres,
lances, drums, saddles, and all the
equipments for cavalry are boarded
up and heavily barred with iron. This
measure was found necessary to shut out
tramps, boys and thieves who once infected
the grounds at night. Among the troops
stationed at the Toronto forts have been
these -1st, 8th, 13th (Hussars), 15th, 17th,
30th, 32nd, 40th, 41st, 42nd, 47th, 68th,
79th, and the Royal Canadian Rifles, an
Imperial Colonial Corps of some sixteen or
more companies, including Newfoundland
rifle companies, disbanded about 1870,
about the time of the Red River Expedi
tion, a regiment that had more medals of
different kinds than any one of her British
Majesty s regiments, being drafts from all
other corps, stationed in the New and Old
Forts, sometimes to the number of eight
and ten companies. The 100th Royal Cana
dians recruited around Toronto, stationed
in the Old Fort in 1860, when the depot was
in charge of Capt. Clark, Dr. Widmer s son-
in-law, and a Lieut. Fletcher. This com
pany acted as a guard of honour to H.R.H.
the Prince of Wales, with a companv of
Royal Canadian Rifles, at the amphi
theatre on John street or the Govern
ment House. At the time of the
Kiel rebellion the Rifles, Colonel Fielden
commanding, were quartered in the soldiers
barracks, and it was from there tht they
started for the first Red River expedition.
No Imperial troops have been quartered at
the Fort since, and the only occupants of the
buildings now are the employes of the mili
tary department and their families. All
the military stores for this district, such as
rifles, tents, blankets, and knapsacks are
kept in the frame buildings west of the old
Fort, at the eastern end of which Colonel
Alger has his office. A great grass grown
mound rises from a level field also west of
the fort. Here are stored boxes on boxes of
rifle ammunition, milUons of rounds. (Jyer
seven acres are in the fort enclosure, which it
bounded on the south by the Canadian Pacific
railroad tracks running between the trenches
and the bay, on the north by the Western
division of the Grand Trunk railway, on
the wast by the Garrison Common and on
the east by the road leading to the Queen s
wharf, or Bathurst street. Over to the
west on the higher ground, overlooking Ifee
bay and commanding the entrance to tbe
harbour, are the white cut stone barracks
erected during the administration of Lieu
tenant-Governor Sir John Colborne.
CHAPTER XXXII.
JUSTICE CAMPBELL S MANSION.
A Soldier who Became Chief Justice of
Upper Canada Sir William Campbell s
Last Illness, l>eaili and Jiurial.
On a gentle elevation at the head of Fred
erick street, commanding a view of tfee
bay and situated a little back from
Duke street, is a large brick house in
the style of architecture which prevailed in
the early brick period of York frowi 1807
to about 1825. It is much like the Grange,
Dr. Strachan s house, and o&xer buildings
of that class. Half a dozen steps lead up
to a large porch or stoop in front of the
big hall door, on either side of which are
two windows. On the floor above are five
windows at the front. A sort of half gable
springs from the straight line of the roof
in which is an oval window. This is
the mansion which Chief Justice S
William Campbell erected in 1822. Sir
W Iliam Campbell was born in Scotland in
1758. He entered a Highland regiment as
a soldier, and came to America at the time
of the revolt of the colonies. He wa*
taken prisoner at Yorktown in 1781 when
Cornwallis surrendered , In 1783 he emigra
ted to Nova Scotia, where he settled
down and began the study of law. After
p actising theie nineteen years he waa ap
pointed Attorney-General for the Island
of Cape Breton, a post which he held
twelve years. In 1811 he was promoted to
a judgesh p in Upper Canada. It was
while in this position that he sat on
the bench in 1818 at the trial of the men
accused of ultatder, hig;h treason, robbery
and conspiracy in the troubles growing out
of the rivalry in the North-west between the
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO
81
Hudson s Bay Company and the Montreal j
North-west Company of fur traders in 1815
and 1816, the other judges being Chie
Justice Powell, Justice Btmlton, and Asso
ciate Justice Allan. In 1815 Justice Camp
bell was appointed Chief Justice to suc
ceed Chief Justice Powell. Justice Camp
bell died m 1834 at the advanced age
of seventy-six year?. Dr. Henry, author
of " Trifles from my Portfolio," who
attended MB* Hf his last illness, thus des-
km eminent patient s ease : " My
patient became very weak towards
the end of the year ; his nights were
restless ; his appetite began to fail, and
he cooid only relish fcid bits." Hera the
doctor remarks that medicines proving
<>jeless he prescribed snipes. Continuing,
fce aays : " At the point of the sandy
peninsula opposite the barracks are a num
ber of little pools and marshes frequented
by these detectable little biwk, and here
I used to cross over in my skiff and pick
up the Chief Justice s panacea, OH fchi?
delicate food the poor old gentleman was
supported for a couple of months, but the
frost set in, the snipes flew away, and Sir
William died " Justice Campbell s venerable
head covered with its snow-whics hair, had
for many years been a familiar spectacle to
the worshippers at St. Jamas , and his fune-
r l at that church WAS worthy of the
dignity he had ever maintained on the I
beoch. It was a double funeral. At ,
thfe same hoar and within the same walls
the final obsequies took p ace of Mr . Ros-
wiell Mount, a member of the Lower House,
representing Middlesex, who had died at
York. The Legislature w*s in session at
the time, and attended in a body with the
members of the bar and the judges. The
funeral oration on this two-fold occasion
was pronounced by Archdeacon John
Strachan. The York Courier of the day
in its description of the funeral remarks
that twenty residents of York were present
whose combm - d ages exceeded 1,450 year?.
After the death of Sir William Camp
bell the Hon. Jamts Gordon, formerly
of Amherstburgh, made his mansion hi*
home for many years. Mr. Gordon was
a very generous member of St. James ,
giving largely toward supplying its needs
and his daughter, Miss Gordon, following
her father * example, gave $1,000 ii
1872 toward the completion of the edifice ,
in accordance with the plans of F. W.
Cumberland. Subsequently Ttrence O NeJl -
an auctioneer, lived in it tor thirty years. It
was then purchased by John Strathy,
who lived there until his death, and the
place was afterwards sold to the present
pwner, Mr. John Fensom.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE CHECKERED STORE.
A Sketch or the History of the North-welt
Corner of Toronto and King Streets The
Occupants of the Various Building*.
In the spring of 1886 a building was torn
down at the north-west corner of King and
Toronto streets to make room for the new
Quebec Bank buildings which now adorn
the street intersecting. Though not a
historic corner in itself this present central
business portion of the city is near the
localities famed as the scene* which marked
the history of the settlement of York.
Opposite it to the eastward stood the jail
where Lounfc and Matthews suffered on the
scaffold. The north-west corner was not
THE CHECKERED STORE.
always graced with the structures
which have stood on it in recent
years. The tirit owner ol the lot was
Thos. Robt. Johnston, a carpenter, who held
the property from the Toronto street lane to
King street. In 1831 a man named R A.
Parker erected the checkered store, a two
storey frame building, selling notions, or as
an old pioneer put it, everything from a
needle to an anchor. la 1834 Parker moved
to the south-east corner of King and Yonge
streets, to the site of John Kay s olil store,
now the n w building owned by Alex Man
ning and occupied by J. E. Ellis & Co. He
was succeeded by Robert McClure, a tall,
thin Scotchman, who carried on the auc
tioneering business and did a thriving trade.
Mr. Robert Shanklin, over fifty years ago,
worked in this building for Mr. McClure,
the auctioneer. After the death of Roberc
Johnston and also of his wife Margar t
Lawrence, Ezekid Francis Whittemore was
married to their daughter Margaret, and
had a marriage portion as devised to her by
the will of her fathe- , which was a portion
82
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
of the property on Toronto street. She
nerer had any claim on the checkered store
and lot on the corner of King and Toronto
streets. By this will of Robert Johnston,
his eldest son, Richard Lawrence Johnston,
who is yet living, became, after his mother s
death, the owner of the lot and checkered
Btore. This Richard L. Johnston sold to
E. F. Whittemore some time after Whitte-
more s marriaere to his sister Margaret.
When McClure gave up the store in 1846
Whittemore tore down the old checkered
tore and erected in its place the structure
demolished two years ago. On its completion
Thoa. Rigney & Co. occupied it for about
three years. Then Rigney went to New
York and the firm became E. F. Whitte
more & Co. (Thos. Rigney, Wflittemore and
Rutherford), Then the firm was dissolved,
Thos. Rigney retiring, and it became Whit
temore, Rutherford & Co. In 1855 the
40 TEARS AOO.
partnei ship was disvuved, Whittemore
keeping possession oi the building and start
ing a general banking and brok
ing business taking in wirh him two forme:
employes, Elswotd Chaffey and Edmund
Morris. This business was conducted until
1859 when Mr. Whittemore died. Mr.
Rutherford died about three years ago. At
the death of Mr. Whittemore, Chaffey &
Co. sprang into life to give way to R, J.
Kimball & Co. , H. J. Morse & Co , and
finally Gzowski & Buchan, which latter firm
occupied the front part of the building on
King street up to the time of its
destruction. The property had remained
in Mr. Whittemore s hands until two years
before his death, when he sold it to the
Hon. L. H. Holton, of Montreal, from whom
it passed to Sir David L. Macpherson. The
value of the corner where the checkered
store stood was estimated at $25 a foot.
About 1860 the rear portion of the building
was divided into a couple of shops and an
entrance on Toronto street led to the offices
into which the upper part of the building
was divided. The shop north of the To
ronto street entrance was that of C. A.
Backas, the bookseller and newsdealer, for
QUEBEC BANK.
years the postage stamp depot of the city.
It was also the resort of newspaper mcu,
and in a little nook at the south end of the
counter, many a time and oft the iate
William Lyon Mackenzie used to regale any
friend he met with reminiscences ol the re
bellion or accounts of the book trade salei
in New York, which he was in the habit of
attending. The first and second floors were
lawyers offices and the front roem on the
upper floor was the location in 1364 of the
" book and job printing office" of J. Ross
Robertson. The Grumbler, a well-known
humorous weekly, was issued here. Subse
quently the entire upper floor was leaded t
Mr. Bates, the pioneer in the commercial
college. line, the title of the institution being
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
"The British American Commercia College. 1
The Quebec Bank subsequently became the
possessor of it for the sum of $43,000. After
the Wilding became a baukiug cstaHish-
ment the opper flats were utilized as law
yers offices, and many are the now foremost
lawyers of Toronto who struggled through
their first brief in this place. Latterly
bucket shop operators conducted a business
there. The building when torn down showed
proof of the good work of other days. Ex-
Mayor Skeard was the architect and George
Brown the builder. Both are dead, but the
solid brick walls and substantial workman
ship bore testimony to the honesty of the
men of the old time.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE JAILS OF THE COUNTY.
The Scene* of many an Execution The
* Hanging of Lonnt and Matthews The
Prison of the Captured Fenians.
The first jail of York was situated on the
south aide of King street, between Yonge
and Toronto streets. As Dr. Scadding
describes it : "This was a squat, un-
painted wooden building with hipped roof
concealed from persons passing in the street
by a tall cedar stockade, such as those
which we see surrounding a Hudson s Bay
post or a military wood yard. At the
outer entrance hung a billet of wood sus
pended by a chain communicating with a
bell within. The English criminal code, as
it was at the beginning of the century, hav
ing been introduced with all its enormities,
public hangings were frequent at an early
period in the new province. A shocking
scene is described as taking place at an
execution in front of the old jail at York.
The condemned refuses to mount the scaf
fold. On this the moral suasion efforts of
the sheriff amount to the ridiculous were
not the occasion so seriously tragic. In
aid ot the sheriff the officiating chaplain
steps more than once up the plank set from
the cait to the scaffold to show the facility
of the act and to induce the man to mount
in like manner ; the condemned demurs
and openly remarks on the obvious difference
hi the two cases. At last the noose is
adjusted to the neck of the wretched culprit
where he stands. The cart is withdrawn
and a deliberate strangling ensues. In
April, 1811, the sheriff, Beikie, reports to
the magistrates at Quarter Sessions that the
sffls of the east cells of the jail of the Home
District are completely rotten ; that the
ceilings in the different rooms are insuf.
ncient, and that he cannot think himself
safe should necessity oblige him to confine
any persons in said cells or debtors rooms.
An ordr is given in May to make the
necessary repairs." The spike nails wanted
are not to be had in York ; the Lieutenant-
Governor is appKed to with the result that
carpenter Leach gets them in the month -ol
July following. In December of the same
year the sheriff again complain* to the
magistrates that " the prisoners m the cells
of the jail of the Home District suffer much
from cold and damp, there be ing no method
of communicating heat from the chimneys
nor any bedsteads to raise the straw
from the floors which Ke nearly, if not
altogether, on the ground. A small stove
in the lobby of each range of cells, together
with some rugs or blankets will add much
to the comfort of the unhappy persons con
fined," he adds. Later than this posts of
turned wood with round tops, the lower
part painted a pale blue, ike upper part
wfcite, were set up about the town to mark
the jail limits. *The yard about the
jail was enclosed with a high picket
fence. The second jail in York was
erected in 1824. It was a good, sub
stantial, plain-looking two-storied red brick
building. At that time, on the north side
of King street, stretching between Toronto
and Church streets, was a vacant lot. Aft
the west aide of this field, with gable front
ing south, about thirty feet from To
ronto street, and a little distance back
from King street, enclosed on three sides
by a picket fence fifteen feet high, stood the
new prison at what would now be nearly
the corner of Toronto aud Court street*.
Directly across the vacant lot to the east
ward, and relatively in the ^ame position
with regard to King and Church streets, *
court-house was built at the same time pre
cisely like the jail in external architecture,
At the top of each was a pediment like thaS
of a Greek temple. Pilasters of cut-stono
ran up the front and outer sides of each
building. At the aides were lesser gables,
a portion of the wall rising in front of them
finished square and sustaining chimneys,
The entrances were on the south and were
reached by flights of staps. It was origin
ally intended that lanterns should have sur
mounted both buildings, but on account
of the cost these were discarded to enable
John Hayden, the contractor, to make the
pilasters of stone instead of Roman cement.
The cost of the two buildings was 3,800.
The plans were by Dr. BaldwinandMr.&wait.
The coiner stones of the edifices were laid
on Saturday, April 24, 1824, by the tiea-
tenant-Governor attended by his staff and
84
^LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.}
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
acnompanied by the members of the Execu
tive Council, judges, lawyers, magis
trates and principal inhabitants of
York. A sovereign and a half
sovereign, several silver and copper
coin 5 and some newspapers were deposited
in the stone. The jail and court house
were never torn down, but were remodeled
and form part of the buildings now stand
ing on thir sites. York Chambers, at the
oorner of Toronto and Court streets, com
prises the old jail. In 1&J6 J. Young pub
lished, among other pictures of old Toron
to, lithographic views of the jail and courv
house which may now and then be found in
the possession of old residents. Near the
front entrance of the jail stood the parish
stocks. The open space in front of the jail
and court house became the public place
of the town after the erection of these edi-
the Sheriffs room, after receiving the
announcement that there could be no for*
Dher delay, the white collars on each suie
or his face were wet through and thrxragh
with the tears that were gushing from hid
eyes and pouring down his cheeks. Ha waa
just realizing the fact that nothing inrtfew
could be done, and in a few moments after
wards the execution actually took place."
The jail yard was enclosed oa three, sides
with a picket fence about fifteen r eet bfgh
In this yard Lount and Matthews .were ex
rented for participation in the Mackenzie
rebellion. The governor of the jaii was
Mr. John Kidd.
Mr. Charles Dor and, who was confined in
this jail with Lount and Matthews, gives
the following account of their execution :
" The hours of April 12, 1838. were th*
saddest we ever spent. None of us couW
THE JAIL, K. E. CORNER KING AND TORONTO STREETS 1824-1840
ficea, and was called Court House Square.
Here on one occasion William Lyon Mac
kenzie was borne aloft in triumph by the
crowd, wearing around his neck and on
his breast a massive gold chain and medal,
and here, also, on another occasion, he waa
pelted by a mob with missiles of evewy kind.
A touching incident connected with Wil
liam Tjyon Mackenzie is thus related by
Dr. Scadding as occurring on *be steps at*
the court house : " Sentence of death had
been pronounced on a young man 0*02 em
ployed in his printing office. He had ben
vigorously exerting himself to obtain from
the executive a mitigation of the extreme
penalty. The day and even the hour for
the execution had arrived and no message
of reprieve had been transmitted froto tbe
Lieutenant-Governor. As he came out of
sleep and we were all early astir. It was a
fine . pring morning. Looking through the
window of oar room we saw the scaffold. It
was bnilt by the Iste Mr. Storm, His fore
man was Matthew Sheard, then a fine young
Yorfcsbireman, afterward mayor of the city,
"fie waa expected to share in tfee work of
bsfldiHg the seaSold. I ll not pot a heed
to it, said he ; Louot and Ma-tihews have
done nothing that i might not have done
myseS, and I ll never heEp to build a gal
lows to^bang them." So, without the fore
man s assistance, the gallows was erected
near the spot where the police court bnild-
ins; MOW stands. ABound the gallows the
Orange-snilitia stod in large numbers witfa
their muskets. The authorities dreaded a
rescue. White we were watco^ag and talk
ing we heard steps on the stairs, and then
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
tiie clank of chains. It was poor Lount
coming up, guarded by his jailers, to say
good-bye to us. He stopped at the door.
We could not see him, but there were sad
kearts in that room as we heard Samuel
Loant s voice, without a quiver iu it, give
us his last greeting : Be of good courage,
boys. I am not ashamed of anything I ve
done. I trnst in God, and I m going to die
tike a man. We answered liioi as well as
we could, and sorrow: ully listened until the
sound of his sturdy tramp and clanking
ckiins died away. I don t know why Peter
M uthews did not come up with Lount. but
i saw him as they were led through the jail
yard to rhe scaffold where two nooses were
swinging. They never faltered. I saw
them walk up the steps to the floor of the
scaffold as firmly as if they were on the
pavement. Again 1 saw them kneeling
while Bishop Richardson, who attended
Lount, and another clergyman who attend
ed Matthews, prayed. Deputy Sheriff
Robert Beard officiated. Lount and Mat
thews shook hands with the clergvmen, and
when we looked again their bodies were
dangling in the air. Matthews struggled
lurd but Lount died instantly. When the
bodies had been exposed for a ahort time
they were cut down and quietly buried in
the Potter s Field, near where tie Yoi kville
renue fire hall now stands. Thomas An-
GRAVES OF THE PATRIOTS.
dereon, who lives on Yonge street, and Mr.
Gibson, a builder, assisted iti 1843 in the re
moval of the bodies from the Potter s Field
to tb Necropolis, where they now lie near
the western fence, with a plain marble slab
TKT their remains, bearing the simple in
scription, * Samuel Lount, Peter Matthews,
1838. " The third jail of Toronto,
was built overlooking the harbour on a
green rear the bay side, not far from the
pre&ent comer of Front and Berkeley
streets. The latter street at that time was
continued down te the w.ater in a narrow
road. It was nearly on the site of this jail
that the Srst frame buildings were erected
before the end of the eigktfieu-th century for
the use of the Houses of Parliament Mid the
Courts of Justice. They consisted of two
halls, offices and a publie library. \Sfhen
the Americans captured York in 1813 these
buildings were burned and all the books,
documents and records in thm were de
stroyed. A plain cubical brick block was
put up on the same site for the uee of the
Legislature in 1818. It was accidentally
burned in 1824, and for some years after
wards the ruins were atill to be aeen. Then
in 1840 was erected the large structure of
Kingston grey cut limestone, part of which
is shown in the illustration. It was from
plans by Mr J. t. Howard,
and built by Mr. John Harper. It
cost $80,000. Wings radiated from
the central portion, wheve a turret was
placed. The bare walls were pierced high
up in each storey wit* a row of arched win
dows, and the whole building plainly said :
This is a prison. A stone wall a dozen
feet high encircled the whole stvuetare.
On the top of this wall a scaffelding was
erected, and old residents remembar a pub-
lie double execution which took p ace there
years ago. Long before daylight farmers
waggons came rattling into town, and early
in the morning a great crowd encircled the
jail. As the drop fell and two lives with
all their possibilities passed out from the
misshapen bundles of elwthes that hung
dangling between earth and sky all the re
pressed excitement of the assemblage burst
forth in a moan of horror. The entrance
to the jail was on the north from Front
street. On the roof was a small brnss can-
; i on used for firing salutes on the Quern s
Birthday and other occasions. The green
by the jail, running down to the water,
was a favourite play ground for t&e boys of
Toronto. Opposite was an old tavern. The
Fenian prisoners taken in the raid of 1866
were jailed in this prison and the
grand jury visited them to inquire if they had
all the comforts compatible with prison life.
Among these prisoners was a Catholic priest.
On the building of the new jail across the
Don the Front street structure was no longer
used for prison purposes. For a time it
was occupied by a safe manufacturing firm.
Last year the ground was purchased by the
Gas Company, and the building was iorn
down to make room for new buildings.
The fourth and present jail, on the east
side of the Don, is too well known to need
much description. It was buitt twenty-four
years ago. The material is white brick.
The facade is toward the south. It is a
TiT = p J\- J . " I f P* T =: i_~- i ;.. -
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
87
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88
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
simple aod massive looking structure. The
central portion is something like a Greek
temple in its architecture. On each side are
plain looking wings, and it is in these thai
the prisoners are confined. The east wing
is devoted to the males and the west wing
to the females. The capacity of the jail is
184 prisoners The accompanying illustra
tion gives an excellent view of the building.
CHAPTER XXXV.
THE OLD RED LION HOTEL.
Tbe Most Famous Hostelry In th Annals of
York Associations Which Cluster About
it William Lyou Mackenzie * Triumph.
Above B oor street a few doors, on the
east side of Yonge street, a huge sign with
a lion rampant painted on it, swinging above
the central entrance stands a large white
stuccoed building a little oot of plumb now,
barren of stucco in places and wearing
altogether an abandoned look, but worthy
of attention from the prominent part it
played hi social and political affairs
for over a quartet 1 of a century.
It is the famous old Red Lion
hotel, the first place for the accommodation
of travellers in the district, subsequently
known as Yorkville, and a hostelry which
for nearly eighty years kept its doors and
gates open for the accommodation of man
and beast. Deprived of its license two
years ago the old building now stands silent
nd mournful thronged with the ghosts of
bearded, bronzed farmers, patriotic reform
ers, intriguing politicians, bright eyed girls,
and spruce young men all classes that made
up the society of York and ita environs.
Its walls erfip with strains of music and the
merry flick-flack of dancing feet, with fierce
political harangues, noisy disputes and wine-
provoked laughter. The facade of the
6niT3Thg, as "sBown m tne illustration,
stretches along Yonge street over one huu-
dred feet. At first it consisted of the cen
tral or mam buildings ; afterward wrngs
and extensions were added. Originally this
famous old tavern was clap- boarded and
painted white, but, as is so frequent with
dd Toronto building, its walls were stuc
coed. In the windows are the antique little
square panes of glass as they were put in
the black sashes at the beginning of the cen
tury before anyone now living can remem
ber. Only a small portion of the ground
floor is now utilized, a little part as a fruit
tore, and the northern part, which
once was the bar-room with its heavy
*ak beams, as a flour and feed store. Per
haps to-day the most interesting featare
of tbe old inn is the ball-room in the second
storey. This is an apartment about 40 x 20
feet in dimensions and 18 feet high with
a ceiling arching from the sides. At each
end is a large old-fashioned chim
ney and fire-place. The walls are
covered with panels of wall paper
with narrow blue borders. At the basis of
the arch is a painted fhming red border.
From the centre of the areh depend hooke
for sconces, for the old hostelry was in its
prime before the days of oil ; when candles
were in universal use. This ball-room at
tracted the devotees of the dance who drove
out or walked in pairs from York to attend
the entertainments given there. How many
times through those antique winaows
have floated out the sounds of revelry.
How many a couple, whose voices
are now hushed in the tombs, have
whispered soft words in this room. Per
haps here many a maiden has breathed that
wonderful " Yes." Many an officer from
the Garrison or half-pay officers settled in
the neighbourhood frequented these social
gatherings and lent to them something like
an air of aristocracy. But to return to the
origin of toe Red Lion. When York could
claim to be nothing more than a little ham
let and when all the region back of King
street now so thickly populated was peopled
only with oak ad pine trees, Mr. Playter
received from the Crown a grant of
two hundred acres of land, upon one corner
of which the Red Lioa was subsequently
built. This property afterwards passed into
the hands of Mr. McDougall, who early in
the present century so!d it to Daniel Tiers,
who was an early settler, for in 1801 ac-el
1802 his name appears as subscribing to the
fund for improving Yonge street. Upon his
newly - acquired property, Mr. Tiers
built the Red Lion hotel on the
central portion of it, in what year
is not absolutely known, probably be
tween 1808 and 1810. Local historians
generally give the date as 180-7
or 1808, but it could scarcely have
been built before the latter date
at least, for in the Gazette of January
12, 1808, Mr. Tiers advertises that he has
opened a public house in the town of York.
This is the ad>ertisement : " Beefsteak
and beer house. The subscriber informs his
friends and the public hat he has opened a
house of entertainment next door to Mr.
Hunt s, where his friends will be setfred
with victualing in good order on the short
est notice and at a cheap rate. He will
furnish the best strong beer at 8d, New
York currency, per gallon, 3 drank in his
house, and 2s 6d,New York currency, taken
out. As be intends to keep a constant sopply
of racked beer, with a view not to injure
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
89
90
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
the health of his customers, and for which
he will have to pay cash, the very small
profits at which he offers to sell will put it
oat of his power to give credit, and he
hopes none will be asked. K. B. tie will
immediately have entertainment for man
and horse. Daniel Tiers, York, 12th Jem.,
1808." Like little stations on railroads
sometimes prore to be the nucleus
around which great cities grow, so
Tiers Red Lion Hotel may be
regarded as the germ of what was afterward
the flourishing incorporation of Yorkvitte,
and is now part of Toronto, and even now
no longer out of town will in the near future
be the heart of the city. The establishment
of the Red Lion was hailed with joy by the
farmers who wanted refreshments for theoi-
better, and even lu well kdttlad ijiat ricks
where the soil 1) olay %&d t&
carting heavy 66 in the bind atone
region of New York ^s^me United
States roads are not much batfer to-day. In
Sir John Vanbrugh s ewaedy of the " Pro
voked Husband, John Moody,
the journey of Lady Townley frcm EC
Ysrk to London, thus complains: Some
impish trick o: other plagued us ail th* day
long. Crack goes one thing ; bounce goes
another ; woa, says Roger ; then sowse, w*
are all fast set in a slough ; whaw, cries
Miss ; scream go the maids, and bawl just
as thof thy were stuck, aad so, mercy
on us, this was the trade from morning to
night !"
McTaggart in his Three yearsiaCanada,"
THE BALL AND PUBLIC ROOM RD LION 1808-88.
selves and their horses after the hard strug
gle involved in crossing the Blue Hill or
Rosedale ravine, the perils and labours of
which were locally famous. It was called ihs
B ue Hill because strata of blue clay cropp
ed out in places on both sides of the gorge.
The waggon track passed down and up by
two long difficult slopes cut in the steep
^ide of the lofcy banks. After
:hb aurumn rains, and during the spring
thaws the condition of the road was inde
scribably bai, and at this time the sam^
thing misfit be said of every rod of Yonge
street through its thirty miles of length.
Dr. Scadding extenuates the horrible condi
tion of Youge street by pointing out that
English roads a century fc^o -were not much
gives the following description of the meth
od of extricating a vehicle from a mud hole,
the time being as late as 1829. He says:
"There are few roads and these are general
ly excessively bad and full of mud -holes, in
which if a carriage fall there is great trouble
to get it out again. The mail coaches or
waggons are often in this predicament when
the passengers instantly jump off and hav
ing stripped rails off the fence they lift it up
by sheer force. Coming up brows
they sometimes get in ; the horses
are then taken out and yoked to the
stem instead of the front, and it is drawn
out backwards." la unpleasant proximity
to the Red Lion was the Potter s Field, the
general or strangers burying ground, which
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
91
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92
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
was located on the west side of Yong
street, above filoor. When it was laid out
for the purpose of a cemetery in 1825 this
was considered an out-of-the-way place, but
in 1845 the city had grown to such an extent
as to demand its removal to the pre
sent Necropolis. The builder who hired
the timber and put together the frame
of the Red Lion was a man by the name
of Sanders, who had come over with Gover
nor Simcoe and had afterwards settled in
the neighbourhood of Bloor street. He was
killed at the blowing up of the old magazine
in the war of 1812. The value of land i
those days and in this vicinity was extremely
small. Mr. Tiers once offered to sell the hotel
and the two hundred acres adjoining it to
WilHam Smith, the grandfather of the pre
sent John Smith, for $400 and this offer was
declined, the price beiug thought excessive,
for many a year a big pump and a trough
stood in front of the hotel for the refreshment
of wearied horses. The stage coaches made
this a regular halting place. The farmers
from Holland s Landing and other outlying
districts who were compelled to tam their
produce to York sometimes taking two or
three days in the journey, made a practice
of stopping here during the night and at
early morning proceeding to Sfi market
By staying a* the R?d En on instead of going
at ooce to town the farmers evaded double
toil at the Bloor street gate as they could
go to market and return the same day.
Thus U happened as the home district
grew in population the patronage of the
Red Lion increased and nightly it was
crowded with formers, who over their
glasses discusse.4 the future prospects of the
country, the political questions of the day
and the personnel of the officials of the
time, while frequently BO doubt " news
BKich older than their ale weat round "
Thf-se nightly assemblages made the Re i
Lion th* most important political centre in
the district when party feefing ran high. The
Bed Lion was one of the polling places for
the election of representatives for the
home district and ia those days
the balloting being prolonged for a
week at a time the wayside inn was an ani
mated and excited place. There are some
old residents who remember Tiers, and
speak of him as a typical landlord, pleasant
a-nd affable and much inclined to give orac
ular opinions on every question that might
arise. A writer in the March number of
Sibbald s Canadian Magazine for 1833 gos
sips thus about the first landlord of the
Red Lion
"An old acquaintance of mine, the land
lord of the Red Lion, who was a jolly
fallow, although his name was Tiers what
his wife s name was before marriage is now
forgotten for Tiers dropped upon the word
and blotted it out forever puzzled a gentle
man sorely in my presence by telling him
that he was tired of public life and must
retire from the bar. I, myself, was once
canvassing for a seat in parliament and ap-
plied to an Irish friend to let me hare some
wild land, that being considered the
only qualification necessary ia a member.
I began by telling my friend Tiers in tbe ele
vated an t patriotic style which the election
time produces that I was desirous of having
a stake in the country. Thin, says he,
you d better goto Oid Ireland for that same,
for the never a steak you H get in this country
fit to ait for love or money. " In the troubled
times between 1830 and 1837 the Red Lion
came prominently into view as a political fac
tor. Here the Reformers met, denounced the
oligarchy which ruled Canada, and formu
lated resolutions which they on ly then ad
opted, but which have since been ratified by
the people and now form part of the Con
stitution. One of the moat notable scenes
that the Red Lion ever witnessed occurred
in the ball room. To understand it fully it
is necessary to retrograde a little. in
the winter of 1831 William Lyon
Mackenzie was a memberof the Legislature.
On the 12th of December of that year he
was found guilty of a h%fr breach of the
privileges of the House for publishing in
his paper, the Colonial Advocate, articles
which were pronounced to be grossly false,
scandalous and defamatory. By a vote of
24 to 15 he was expelled from the House
the same day. On the afternoon of Mr.
Mackenzie s expulsion his friends to th
number of a thousand gathered together
aud proceeding to his house on Rich
mond street seized the man rejected
by the Assembly as a libeller, and carried
him through the streets in triumph
amid loud acclamations. They stopped at
the Parliamentary buildings and sent np
cheers of victory and defiance. Loud ctwers
were given for the R v. Egerton Ryerson,
the editor of the Guardian, who had
espoused Mackenzie s cause. Mackenzie
after this democstration addresse.i the
crowd from thr window of the Sun Hotel
and at the coi. 1 ision of his speech round
after round 01 applause was given for
the Sailor King, King William the
Fourth, Earl Grey and the Reform
Ministry. When Mackenzie had retired
ihe meeting was re -organized, and resolu-
;ions were passed sustaining hie course a a
politician and journalist, and pledging the
meeting to present him with a gold medal*
accompanied by an appropriate inscription
and address. At the same sitting at which
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO
93
94
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
Mr. Mackenzie s expulsion was decreed the
House ordered a new election of a member
in his place. The election was held
at the Red Lion, January 2, 1832. Although
the election was held on the same day that
town meetings were in progress throughout
the country, over two thousand persons were
present. The morning was clear and plea
sant, the weather mild and agreeable, and the
sleighing excellent. By 10 o clock the
farmers had assembled in great numbers
around the hustings, and soon afterward
" the Yonge street triumphal car carrying
the ensign of the United Kingdom, and
several Highland pipers passed down toward
the town followed by farmers in sleighs.
Forty sleighs came down into York and
escorted their champion to the polls. It
was generally believed that Colonel Wash-
burn would stand up against Mackenzie, but
he withdrew his name and gave his
been kept open for a week. The assemblage
was the largest ever witnessed up to
that time in the Home District on any
occasion. Upon the closing of the poll
the committee appointed to present the
medal and address followed by as many
as could get in proceeded to the ball room.
A great shout went up for Mackenzie. At
this there entered at the eastern end of the
ball-room a slight built man of scarcely
medium height, five feet six inches, with a
massive head, quite bald, high and broad in
the frontal region, well rounded, a long
broad chin, lips firmly compressed, deep
dimpled cheeks set in a framework of
whiskers, massive brow, over arching
deep set, keen, restless, piercing, blue
eyes that seemed to read one s very
thoughts and ceaselessly and expressively
active fingers that kept opening and dosing
nervously. This was William Lyon Mac-
FAG-SIMILE MEDAL PRESENTED TO WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE, 1832.
support to Mr. Street, who was introduced
to the electors by Col. E. VV. Thomson. Mr.
Mackenzie was proposed for his third candi
dature by Joseph Shepard, of York, second*
ed by Jogart of Whifcchurch. Mackenzie
made a speech, and the names of the candi
dates were submitted. A forest ot hands
went up when Mackenzie s name was pro
posed. But one hand was raised when Mr.
Street s name was presented. Mr. Street
demanded a ballot. At 1:20 o clock the
polls opened. At 3 o clock Mackenzie
had polled one hundred and nineteen votes
and his opponent one. The latter then
withdrew from the unequal contest. Over
one thousand voters stood around the polls,
and for twenty-four hours after the election
closed they continued to pour in. It was
estimated that five thousand votes would
have been cast for Mackenzie had the polls
kenzie. After the tumult had subsided
Charles Mclntosh, in behalf of the com
mittee presented Mr. Mackenzie with a
gold medal and chain and read an address
to which Mr. Mackenzie made a brief reply.
The heavy cable chain attached to the medal
contained forty links each about one inch in
length. The medal was- of fine workman
ship and cost $250. On one side were
the rose, thistle and shamrock with the
words, His Majesty King William IV.,
the People s Friend. On the other side was
the inscription, Presented to William
Lyon Mackenzie, Esquire, by his Constitu
ents of the County of York, Upper Canada,
as a token of the approbation of his Political
Career, January 2nd, 1834. A procession
was then formed in front of the Red Lion,
which wended its way to town. It was led
by a large sleigh belonging to Mr. Mont-
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95
gomery, drawn by four horses and filled with
a score of men and the Highland pipers play
ing vigorously. Following it came one hundred
and thirty-four sleighs,, carrying from fire
to fifteen persons. It was estimated that
two thousand men were in the line. The
march was past the Government House,
Parliament House, Mr. Cawthra s and Mr.
Mackenzie s houses, at each of which cheers
were given. A little printing press
kept warm by a furnace beneath it, stood
on one of the sleighs. As the procession
moved through the streets boys struck
off New Year s addresses and threw
them to the people. Over the press floated
a crimson flag with the motto : Xhe Li
berty of the Press." Other flags carried
aloft bore such legends as King William
IV. and Reform, Bidwell and the Glori
ous Minority, 1832, a Good Beginning,
A Free Press the Terror of Sycophants,
Much spirit was manifested in the proceed
ings, but general order and sobriety were
maintained. There was no treating of any
kind either at the polls or afterwards. Many
soldiers and non-commissioned officers of
the 79th Highland Regiment, then stationed
here, took a great interest in the election.
Quite a number went to the polls and join
ed the triumphal procession on ita entry in
to the town, cheering while the bag pipes
played, and the farmers rejoiced in their
victory. But they paid dear for their en
thusiasm. Governor Colborne ordered the
articles of war to be read at the head of the
regiment for several days, and directed that
the soldiers should be confined in the fort
during the great public meeting of
January 19th, and a so during the
whole week of the February
election. Upon the cessation of the public
demonstrations in the streets of the town
Mr. Mackenzie was carried into his house on
the shoulders of his exultant admirers." With
this episode the political history of the Red
Lion virtually ends. Public meetings and
elections were afterward held there, but
Mackenzie s triumph on this occasion was
the culminating point in its existence. Suc
ceeding Danii Tiers in the management of
this old hostelry were Messrs. Thos. Young,
who had the house in 1846-47, Wm. Trueman,
who had it in 1850, and Messrs. Price, Free-
Wan and Naylor, Thomas Elgie, George
Davis, Stephen Stroud, William Kirk and
Thomas Holmes. The hotel is now the
property of the Hon. Justice Falconbridge,
and is in the hands of R. J. Griffith & Co.
for sale, Most of the characters who fig
ured in the Red .Lion s history have gone
over to the great majority, and soon the
old inn will follow the course of all mun
dane things.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
BERKELEY HOUSE.
The Homestead of the Small Family at th
Corner of King and Berkeley Streets-
Major Small and His Descendants.
Among those who accompanied Governor
Simcoe from England to Niagara and thence
to York was Major John Small, a number
of an old family in Gloucestershire, where
he had been a major of militia and mili
tary instructor in 1778. Major Small
came over to Canada in the capacity of
clerk of the Executive Council and clerk of
the Crown. He arrived at Niagara Mon
day, April 13th, 1793. Of this event the
Gazette and Oracle, in its first number, pub
lished April 18th, 1793, says : " We have
had a remarkably warm winter ; the ther
mometer in the severest time has not been
lower than nine degrees above sero
by Fahrenheit s scale. Lake Erie has
not been frozen over and there has
been very little ice on Lake Ontario. On
Monday evening, April 13th, there arrived
in the river at Niagara his Majesty s
armed schooner, the Onondago, in company
with the Lady Dorchester, merchantman
after an agreeable passage from Kingston
of thirty-six hours. Among the passengers
were the following gentlemen : J. Small,
Esq., Clerk of the Executive Council
Lieut. McCacnof the 60th regiment, Cap
tain Thomas JTraser, Mr. J. Denison, Mr.
Joseph Forsyth, merchant, Mr. L. Craw
ford, Captain Archibald Macdonald and
Mr. Hathaway." On Thursday, May 3rd,
Governor Simcoe, who had reached Niagara
previous to Major Small s arrival, set out
tor Toronto around the head of Lake On
tario in boats, accompanied by several mili
tary gentlemen, one of whom was probably
Major Small. The same evening his Ma
jesty s vessels the Caldwelland Buffalo sailed
for the same place. This was the first visit
paid by Governor Simcoe to the site of York.
Their journey of exploration ended May 13,
when they returned to Navy Hall, Niagara,
by boat around the lake. The Governor
lost but lic tle time in making arrangements
to sectle at the place he had selected as the
site of hi new Capital. During the latter
part of July of the same year he sent for
ward in batteaux around the lake the
first division of the Queen s Rangers
from Queenston to Toronto, which had al
ready been christened York and shortly
afterward he sent another division in the
Onondago and Caldweil, following them
himself July 29 with his suite and the re
mainder of th Rangers in the war schooner
Mississaga, Major Littlehales being left at
Navy Hall for a few days to
96
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I I
on
W
p
O
03
O
W
!H
3
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97
arrange household matters for the Governor
The following spring Mc.jor Small built a
house at the south-west corner of an acre
plot of ground, extending from King street
to Front. Of this building Dr. Scadding
says : " Mr. Small s originally was one of
the usual low looking domiciles of the
country with central portion and two gable
wings, somewhat after the fashion of many
an old country manor house in England.
The material of Mr. Small s dwell
ing was hewn timber. It was
one of the earliest domestic erections in
York. When re-constructed at a subse
quent period Mr. Charles Small preserved
in the enlarged and elevated building now
known as Berkeley House, the shape and
even a portion of the inner substance of the
original structure. We have before us a
curious plan, undated but old, of the piece
of ground originally occupied and en
closed by Mr. Small as a yard and
garden round his primitive homestead,
occupied <vnd enclosed as it would seem
before any building lots were set
off by authority on the Government reserve
or common here. The plan referred to
is entitled A sketch showing the land
occupied by John Small, Esq., upon the re
serve appropriated for the Government
House.a t York , by His Excellency Lieut. GOT.
Simcoe. An irregular oblong, coloured red, is
bounded on the north side by King street
and is lettered within Mr. Small s Im
provements. Round the irregular piece
thus shown lines are drawn, enclosing addi
tional fepace and bringing the whole into the
shape of a parallelogram ; the parts outside
the irregularly shaped red portion are
coloured yellow, and on the yellow this
memorandum appears : This added would
make an acre. The block thus brought
into shapely form is about one-half
of the piece of ground that at present
appertains to Berkeley House. The
plan before us also incidentally shows where
the town of Yort was supposed to termi
nate ; an inscription front line of the town
runs along the following route : Up
what is now the lane through Dr. Widmer s
prop i ty, and then at a right angle east
ward along what is now the north boundary
of Kin? street, opposite the block which
it was necessary to get into shape
round Mr. Small s first improve
ments. King street proper in this
plan terminates at Ontario street ; from the
eastern limit of Ontario street the continua
tion of the highway is marked Road to
Quebec, with an arrow showing the direc
tion in which the traveller must keep his
horse s head if he would reach that ancient
city. The arrow at the end of the inscrip
tion just given points slightly upwards, indi
cating the fact that the said road to Quebec
tends slightly to the north after leaving Mr.
Small s clearing." Major Small was one
of that Mnall group of prominent men whose
rames continually occur in the old docu
ments relating to the early history of York.
His name is found as one of the largest sub
scribers to the Yonge street improvements
of 1801 and 1802. He was a pewholder in
St. James Church from its commencement
in 1803, and was a regular attendant at the
services. Later, in 1822, he with his sons
Charles and James E., subscribed to the
fund for the construction of two bridges
over the Don. He was an active member of
the Loyal and Patriotic Society of Upper
Canada, and was one of the com
mittee of the society that voted Andrew
Borland 60 for his bravery in the war of
1812 at Detroit, Queenston and York, he
having been shot six times at the latter
place. In 1801 Mr. Small was a candidate
for member of the House of Assembly to re
present conjointly the County of Durham,
the east riding of the County of York and
the County of Simcoe, but he was defeated by
Mr. A. Macdonell by a vote of 112 to 32
On the arrival at York of Lieut. -Governor
Peter Hunter a deputation of Quakers from
the settlement up on Yonge street came to
him to complain of the delay the Quakers
experienced in getting patents for their
lands, they being sent from one office to
another. The Governor requested the
members of the delegation to meet
him the next day at noon, and in the
meantime he issued orders to D. W. Smith,
the Surveyor -General ; John Small, clerk
of the Executive Council ; Mr. Burns,
clerk of the Crown, and to Mr. Jarvis, Sec
retary and Registrar of the province, to
explain why rhe patents had not been
issued. So vigorous were the measures the
Governor took to confirm the rights of the
Quakers that they returned to the settlement
with a highopinionof thenewadministration
and also with their patents. On the morn
ing of January 3rd, 1800, Mr. Small fought
a duel with Attorney General John White
in the grounds back of the Government
buildings. Mr. White was shot in the
hip and soon after died. Mr. Small
was indicted, tried for murder and acquit
ted. Amons the early residents of York
was a man who used to go about making
silhouettes for any one who would buy them.
Several of these are now cherished by the
old families of the town. One hanging in
the dining room of Berkeley House repre
sents Major Small in the costume
of the period seated on his favourite
horse, " 0:d Bob." It is called an excellent
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
likeness. On either side of it hang portraits
in oil oi the Major and Mrs. Small. The
former is represented as a fine-looking,
smoothly-shaven, gray haired man of the
English type of countenance. Before the
erection of the Government buildings the
meetings of the Executive Council
were frequently held in Berkeley House
and Governor Simcoe as well as all the
other notables of the day were frequent
visitors, for it was a well known fact that
Major Small kept open house. He would
stand in the doorway and call out to any
acquaintances who might pass by, "coma in,
1 have got a good dinner for you to-day."
Major Small died here in 1829. His wife
also died in the same building. About 45
years ago, Charles Small, the son of Major
Small, rebuilt and enlarged Berkeley
Hous. , giving it the appearance it now has,
as shown in the accompanying sketch. It
is a bis; rambling building, covering a larg
extent of ground, and from its peculiar
ities of architecture it seldom tails to arrest
the attention of the passer-by. There are
thirteen rooms in the building, all of which
are large, and several, such as the drawing
and dining rooms, at the west side of the
house, 18x45 feet in dimensions. Charles
Small was clerk of the Crown and Pleas
Court of King s bench, occupying the posi
tion held by his father before him. During
the life of Charles, Berkeley House was one
of the great social centres and few indeed
are the members of the old aristocracy
who have not danced or dined beneath its
roof. A dancing card for a ball
given at Berkeley House, February 18, 1857,
is lettered in gold on glazed white paper.
On the outside is the small coat of arms and
crest, and the order of the twenty dances
comprising the quadrille, polka, waltz,
galop, lancers, schottische, cotillion, and
polka redowa, is much the same as at a ball
of the present day. Charles Small and his
brother James E., were pupils of Dr. Stuart
at the Home District School. The latter
was one of the seconds of Samue
Jarvis in the duel with John
Ridout, in 1817, in which Ridout
was killed. A remarkable coincidence is
that Charles Small,who was an invalid dur-
inp the last years of his life, died in 1864
within a few feet of the spot where he was
born in 1806. Mrs. Charles Small possessed
considerable artistic ability and her pic
tures are now shown with pride by her
sons. She also died in the old home
stead. Twenty years ago when the present
Mr. John Small was making some
alterations in the house the workman came
upon the logs used in the construction of
the original building. In recent years the
old house has been converted into three
louses, numbered 299, 301 and 303 Eas*
iing street. The central one of these con
tains the remains of the log house erected
>y Major John Small, and it was here that
le lived and died. Like most homesteads
Berkeley House has its share of heirlooms,
not the least interesting of which is the
great dining table, at whose polished sides
ifty persons have frequently sat down. On
one side of the dining-room is a large rose
wood sideboard, and beneath it a cellaret, a
curiosity in these day?, being a big lead-
lined rosewood chest, brought from England
[or the keeping of wines and liquors. The
ancient windows are tongued and grooved,
so that when closed the sashes fit
snugly into the frame. All the woodwork
is hand made. Here and there are relics of
olden times a rosewood desk, with count
less pigeon-holes ; shoe-buckles, worn in the
days" when silk hose, knee-breeches and
powdered hair were in vogue ; steel and
ivoiyhooks for pulling on Wellington boots,
and old prints of rural English scenes, mel
low with age. At the birth of each of his
sons, John, James and Charles, Major
Small planted a pear tree at the rear
of the house. A few years ago two of the
trees being somewhat decayed, were cut
down, but the third one is still standing,
with a ereat bole two feet in diameter, and
what is more, it bears fruit of good quality
every year, and each spring is loaded with
blossoms. As it cannot be less than 90 years
old, it is undoubtedly the most venerable
pear tree in the city. Stretching out behind
the house is a fine lawn, which though still
of good proportions is much curtailed, for
the lot originally ran down to Front street,
and here where now arises the noise and
smoke of tie modern factory the present
Mr. John Small used to steal out with his
gun in the morning and shoot quai in the
thick asparagus beds at tha rear of the
paternal estate.
The Old Order Changed.
There are among the many changes in the
city during the last forty years few more
startling than the metamorphoses that hava
been wrought in th* western and north
western districts.
Young people of 15 or 16 can hardly b
lieve what changes have occurred, they have
been so strange, varied and numerous.
Take, for instance, the angle to the north
west of the city formed by Shaw and Arthur
streets. Here now (1893) are houses, stores,
and vacant land. There is a good deal c
the latter certainly, but none under cult
tion, yet in 1855 it yielded as fine agricul-
tural produce as could be desired.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
99
CHAPTER XXXVII
P. C. CAPREOL S RESIDENCES.
The Homes and Enterprise! f the Founder
of the First Railroad in Canada Remark
able Capture of Two Murderers.
Several centuries ago tBere HVed fn Half
a noble family by th name of CaprioK.
One branch of the family afterwards went
to France where descendants o e it are now
living. Another branch went to England
and taking up residence there Angli
cize! the name by dropping the final
letter, making it CapreoL Mr. Mor
gan in his history of celebrated
Canadians erroneously gives the family a
French origin under the name De Capriole,
but this spelling has never been adopted by
the branch which settled in France, nor has
the prefix ever been assumed. In June,
1803, was born to Thomas Capreol and his
wife at Bishop s Stortford, Hertfordshire,
England, a second son, who was named
Frederick Chase Capreol, Chase being the
family name on the side of the mother, who
was the niece of the late Sir Richard
Chase and a relative of the Marquis
of Salisbury. la 1828, when twenty-five
years old young Capreol was sent to Canada
to assist in settling up the affairs of the
Korth-west Fur Company. During Ms two
years residence he made his home in Mon
treal where die offices of t4te company were
located. Returning in 1830 he spent three
years in his native country and then came
bacfe to America. Soon after his arrirai on
the western continent he married Mies Sky-
ring, a young lady who had b en a passenger
on the same ship across the Atlantic. The
same year he esaae to Toronto, or York as it
continued to be for about twelve months,
and with his bride lived for a short thne at
the British Cofft e Howe, which s*ood where
now is tbe Ross in House, the landlord at
that time being Mr. Keating. Shortly after
ward Mr. Capreol bought a laige tract of
land at the Cr dit, and for a time lived
there. Comiag back again to Toronto, he
took up his *esidence for about a year on
the west side of Bay street, a little south of
King street, where the club bouse now
stands Leaving this houso, be moved into
the buikling at the north-west corner of
Yage and Melinda streets. Here on the
ground floor he condneted an auction room,
the upjer floor being ased for Irving
apartments for his farojBy. This was a latge"
long, roomy building standing directly on
the corner. It waa two stories, bat rather
low, originally it was olapboarded and
painted white, but afterward it was rough
cast. The front was on Yonge street. The
centre of the front of the building was top
ped with a flat roof, but at either pnd of the
facade, the building was projected several
feet, these projections being surmounted
with gables. At the rear on the
upper floor was a piazza running
the width of the house. The entrance to
the auction room was through a large door
with big windows each side on Yonge
street. On the edge of the roof was a long
board sign, with a white ground and in
black letters the words "Commercial Sales
Rooms." Over the main doorway leading
into the auction room was a large British
crown, carved in wood and surmounted by
a Maltese cross ; these emblems in recogni
tion of the loyalty of the owner, not only to
the Crown, but to the Order of Knights
Templar, of which he was a frater. Mr.
Capreol was a member of Geoffrey de St
Aldemar Precoptory of Knights Templar of
Toronto, and a member of King Solomon s
Lodge, A.F. & A.M., No. 22G.R.C. Mr.
Robert Townsend, when he was working for
Mr. Samue Rogers, well remembers the
minute instructions Mr. Capreol gave him
when he had to re-paint this ornament.
The entraEce to the domestic rooms
was through a door at the end of the house,
on the Melinda street side, and up a narrow
interior flight of stairs. At the rear of the
house, enclosed by a fence, was a capacious
yard, in the back part of which was a
building originally used as the Board
room of the Northern Railway Company.
This building was built by the Baldwin
family, and was afterwards occupied by
some of them from 1825 to 1832. At that
time it was taken by Francis Hincks, after
wards the Hon. Francis Hincks, as a whole
sale dry-goods house. On Mr. Hincks re
tirement Mr. Capreol opened a commercial
salesroom about 1840, which he continued
until about 1850. During the earlier stage
of the promotion of the Northern Railway
he had an office around the corner, entrance
from Meiinda street. Prior to this there
was a door in the south part of the building
on Yonge street, where an office for Punch
in Canada was kept. Punch in Canada was
a comic paper, published by Mr. DeWalden.
The cartoons and illustrations wore made by
the Shanleys. After Mr. Capreol vacated
the building it was occupied by several
people, and when the Government came
here about 1850 Lovell & Gibson had a
printing office in it. This continued for
many years, and finally Mrs. Cleland s
office was moved here, and business ws
carried on by Mr. Graham as
printer. After this the buildingr
100
LANDMARKS OF TOEONTO.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
101
was torn down. Mr. Hincks subsequent to
this was connected with the Farmers Bank,
and finally kept a store on King street,
near Mr. Joseph Roger s establishment,
opposite the Cathedral. Mr. Wi liam Gentle,
son-in-law of the late Mr. Dennis,
managed the business for him.
Somewhere about the year 1846 Mr. Capreol
gave up this house, bought the property on
the south side of Wellington street, west of
Yonge, where the warehouse of Hunter,
Rose & Co. now stands, and moved his
family into tha capacious residence which
had previously been erected on the lot by
Henry John Boulton. It was in the draw
ing-room of this house that Sir Allan McNab
was married, and here also were born most
of Mr. Capreol s children. The house when
Mr. C;ipreol bought it was frame, painted
brown, but during his occupancy it was
stuccoed. It was two storeys high,
with a flat roof, ornamented in the
centre with a small sable, a style of
architecture much in vogue at that time and
which may still be seen in such houses as
The Grange, Justice Campbell s house, and
the Palace Boarding House, The building
stood a few feet back from the street and
the little yard in front was protected by a
low railing. Sheltering the front door was
a large porch. At the rear was a broad
Terandah overlooking a spacious and prettily
laid out garden. A wing projected from
the rear. Here the family lived until
twelve years ago, when the house was
moved to No. 24 Clarence square
where it now stands, its front, bricked np,
bow windows thrown out and otherwise im
proved, but in the main the same building.
On the door of the Clarence square resi
dence may be seen the well worn brass plata
inscribed "Mr. Capreol," which did duty in
England more than a century ago. In the
dining-room hangs the portrait of
Mr. Capreol s grandfather painted by
Sir Joshua Reynolds. While liv
ing in the Wellington street hou<e
Mr. Capreol conceived the idea of carrying
through a railroad from Toronto to Lake
Huron, a project which had been much dis
cussed, but for which no active measures
had ever been taken. His first scheme was
to raise the necessary funds by means of a
lottery, the proceeds of the tickets to be
used in the purchase of 100,000 acres of land
along the projected Hoe of the road, the idea
being that the profit from the land would
pay for the whole construction of the road
The p an was viewed with distrust by some,
and condemned as immoral by others, and as
as a consequence it fell through. Defeated
in his first attempt Mr. Capreol did not give
up iu despair, but simply changed his course
and set to work to organise a company. A
bill granting a charter for the road was
drawn up and passed by the legislature, Lmt
the Governor-General reserved it for the
(Jueen s assent. When this new difficulty
was thrown in his way, people began to carf
the organizer of the road "Mad Capreol, "
but nothing daunted he set out for England,
laid the bill at the foot ot the thron-"- and ia
the short space o seven weeks was back
with the royal assent. The energ <tic found
er of the Canadian system of railroads of to
day lost no time in making arrangement*
with C. Story & Co., New York, contrac
tors, for the construction of the road. On
August 29th, 1849, the royal assent to the
bill authorizing the construction of the road
was received and Mr. Capreol ordered a
handsome silver spade and an orna
mental oak wheelbarrow for the occa
sion, Lady Elgin having consented
to break the first ground. On his return
from England Mr. Capreol had been ap
pointed manager of the road and styled
"father of the undertaking," but in th
face of the benefit he had thus conferred
upon Canada, and especially upon Toronto,
the honour of presenting the spade to Lady
Elgin was taken away from him, for the
directors, animated by jealousy, dismissed
him from his office of manager but a few
days before the first sod was turned. At
this time the whole board which dismissed
him so cavalierly had only 37 10s. at stake
in the enterprise while Mr. Capreol had spent
out of his private means 12,350. To re
compense him for this outlay he was voted
by the directors bond* to the amount of
11,000, and beside this sum h never re
ceived a dollar from fhe company ti!i about
teu years ago, when an annuity of $1,200
per year was granted him, which lapsed
at the time of his death. A eood
deal of sympathy was elicited on Mr. Ca-
preol a behalf in consequence of this unhand
some treatment by the directors ; the jour
nals of the day censured them severely ; the
prominent men of Toronto, the Board of
Trade and individuals sent petitions, numer
ously signed, for his re-instatement, but all
to no purpose. In the long memorial of
the peop 1 ^ calling for his re-appointment as
manager, they say, among other compli
mentary things: ""In the course of Mr.
Capreol s almost herculean labours during
the past four years, and at his own heavy
expense and great risk he has accomplished
results which the most hopeful looked upon
as nearly impossible, and has conqu red
obstacles which to men less sanguine and
energetic than he has proved himself
would have been found insurmountable."
The weather on the 15th of October, 1851,
102
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
103
was beautiful. On that day in the presence
of a great assemblage on the Esplanade, just
west of Simcoe street, opposite the parlia
ment buildings, L;tdy Elgin pressed her
dainty foot upon the richly ornamented
pu.de, threw up a little dirt into the hand
somely oarred oak wheelbarrow which
Mayor Bowes, who assisted in the ceremony,
wheeled a short distance and then emptied.
On this occasion Mayor Bowes was resplen
dent in a cocked hat, sword, knee breeches,
silk stockings and shoes, with silver
buckles. The road, later known as the
Northern Railway, was then entitled the
Ontario, Simcoe & Huron Railroad Com
pany. Many flags floated in the air about
the scene of the first breaking of the sod,
conspicuous among them being banners with
tile inscriptions "Never Despair" and
"Perseverance Conquers." The first loco
motive for the new road was built at Port
land, Maine. It was named Lady Elgin,
and a photograph of it now hangs
in the offices of the Northern Company.
The Lady Elgin weighed about twenty -
four tons. She had five-foot driving wheels
and a 14x20 cylinder. She was what is
technically known as an inside connected
engine, her works ail lying tinder the boiler
and ot of sight. She was of too light
calibre for anything but construction work
and at that she was put after her arrival.
Of all the men who had charge of the Lady
Elgin during her existence the whereabouts
of only one was known last year. That was
Philip Wan-en, of CoHingwood, then run
ning a freight engine between that place
and Toroato, and he had charge of the en
gine only a comparatively short time before
she was finally side-tracked. Other engi
neers were William Huckett, Silas Huckett,
Carlos MoCaul, Chris Hildebrandt, John
Legge, Josh. Metzker, Dan. Sheehan and
Dan Bracken. They are all dead now.
Before tbe railroad was opened the stages
did ail the basine-s, and as steam travel
took away the means of livelihood from
owners and drivers, the company gave them
positions on the road. The first accident
occurred on th road on the afternoon of
Sunday, July 16, 1853. A short distance
south of Weston the engine struck a cow,
throwing off the rails the coach, which
rolled down a steep embankment, totally
wrecking the car and severely injuring an
Irish passenger and two brakemen, who
were its only occupants. The baggage car
was prorided with chairs to do duty as a
passenger coach for the rest ot the trip and
tbe train proceeded on its way only to
strike a track and go off the track again
near Newmarket. The Lady Elgin was
used for shunting until 1880, when the
gauge of the road was changed. A portion
of the sod turned over by Lady Elgin on
the occasion of breaking ground for the
road was preserved by Mr. Sandford Flem
ing, a civil engineer, and by him presented
to the company, in whose offices at the foot
of Brock street it now lies encased in
an ornam ntal box The second engine
was the Toronto, built at James Good s
foundry on the north side of Queen street,
between Yonge and Victoria streets. At
8 o clock in the morning of May 16th, 1853,
the first passenger tiain ever run in Canada,
pulled out in the presence of a large crowd
from the little wooden shed opposite the
Queen s Hotel, which had been dignified .by
the name of station. The train was made
up of the engine Lady Elgin, a box car and
F. 0. CAPREOL.
a passenger car. There was no ticket office,
Alderman John Harvie, the conductor of
the train, selling i,he tickets on board. The
first ticket bought was by a shoemaker
named Maher, living on east Queen street,
who objected to paying a dollar to ride 30
miles. A dispute exists as to who was the
engineer. It was either Carls McCaul,
of Parkdale, or M. Huckett. The destina
tion of the train was Aurora. All along the
route people turned out in great crowds to
see the novel sight. Two hours after leav
ing th train whistled "Down Brakes" at
Aurora. Mad Capreol s scheme was a
great success. The first railroad ex
cursion in Canada was on the Queen s Birth
day of the same year. The spade with
which Lady Elgin threw up the sod on that
eventful October day is & beautiful imple
ment, now in the possession of Mr. Capreol s
104
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
105
family. The wood, silver and gold
are all natural products of Can
ada, and of Toronto workmanship. The
handle is bird s eye maple, but
almost completely covered with silver.
On the blade, which is solid silver, is a
large maple leaf in relief and engraved be
low it the British coat of arms with the
legends "Never Despair" and " Persever
ance Conquers." Where the handle joins
the blade is a richly chased band of silver
with a gold rose, shamrock and thistle in
alco relievo. On the silver plate half way up
the handle is the inscription "This spade was
used at the formal commencement of the
Lake Huron and Ontario Ship Canal by
Frederic C. CapreoJ, Esq., President of the
Company, Toronto, 17t h Sept. 1866." this
having been substituted for the original
inscription on the spade in regard to the
railroad. Above this higher up on the
handle is the erest of the Capreol family
with the motto : " Prends moi tel qoe je
suis. " On the cross-bar of the handle is the
coat of arms of the city of Toronto and at
either end heads of the British lion and the
American eagle. After Mr. Capreol s dis
missal from the management of the
enterprise which he brought into existence
he spent some time abroad in travel. While
on this trip he was presented in London
with a handsome service of plate,
consisting of seventeen pieces, a tribute by
the citizens of Toronto as a mark of their
confidence, esteem and gratitude for the
services which he had rendered to the city.
On his return to Toronto Mr. Capreol again
took up his residence here. In 1861 he
succeeded in getting a bill through the
legislature authorizing him to sell his lands
at the Credit by lottery, and with the
money to erect a large cotton
factory. This bill received the
Queen s assent, but Mr. Capreol s
attention having been drawn into another
channel in the meantime the project was
dropped. His new scheme was the construc
tion ot a canal to make direct communica
tion between Lakes Huron and Ontario the
idea being to shorten the distance by water
between the territories of the great west
and the seaboard about five hundred miles
and thus opening communication with Lakes
Michigan and Superior to facilitate the
passage of emigrants to the Hudson Biy
territories, the Red River and Saskatche
wan districts, and cveneually to form an im
portant Jink in a chain of communication
between Europe, the E*st Indies and Cnina
through British North America. The Lon
don papers devoted considerable attention
to the plan of the proposed ^sanal which was
named the " Lake Huron and Ontario Ship
CanaL" Ground for it was broken Sept.
17, L866, and offices of the company were
established in a building on the north side
of Wellington street, near Scott street. The
project was never carried through co com
pletion however. Of ail Mr. Capreol s varied
activities none is more remarkable or more
interesting than his capture, single-handed
and unarmed, of two murderers. As a piece
of detective work and execative ability it
Tiaa never been approached by &, civilian,
and it is doubtful whether it has ever been
equalled in sagacity, directness, triumph
over obstacles and expeditions execution by
any professional detective or officer. The
following account of this most remarkable
and daring capture is the narrative as re
lated by Mr. Capreol himself to his friend,
Mr, Herbert G. Pasll, who has kindly lold
it for this article. On Sunday evening
of July 31, 1843, the people of Toronto were
thrown into excitement over the startling
rumour that a horrible double murder had
been committed in a londy house on the
Yonge street road, many miles north of the
eity. The report which reached town was
that Thomas Ki). near and his housekeeper,
Ann Montgomery, bad been assassinated at
Mr. Kinnears residence, a solitary dwelling
lying back near the woods, a little beyond
Richmond Hifl, on the west side of the
Yonge street road. The woman s throat
had been cut from ear to ear. She waa
found in a wash-tub, *nd Mr. Kinnear had
received a blow on the back of the head
from some heavy instrument, fracturing
his skull There was evidence to show that
the work had been done by at least two
persons. It was believed that a large sum
of money was in the house recently Taken
there by Mr. Kinnear and that robbery was
the motive for the murder. As the people
came from their respective places of worship
that Sunday evening, they met excited
groups at the street corners discussing the
affair, for the murdered man was well
known in Toronto. The news spread quick
ly through the city, and many were the
eager questions asked : " Who were the
murderers?" " How many were th/ere?"
" Was a woman connected with the
work?" "Where had they fled?" Such
were some of the inquiries, but none could
answer th m. Among the last to hear of
the murder was Mr. Frederick C. Capreol,
one of the most prominent citizens of the
day and an intimate friend of Mr. Kinnear.
His children brought the news home on
thi ir return from church, and detailed all
the particulars they had heard about the
crime. Hurriedly potting on his hat, with
out a word to any of the family, he rushed
from the house on Wellington street, aad
106
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
hastened to King street in the hope
of finding some one who could give
him more news of the tragedy.
But the streets were almost deserted and he
met no one who could impart additional in
formation. He then went to the police
station, where he found an < fficer and a de
tective on duty.
" Are you doing anything about this mur
der ?" Mr. Capreol asked excitedly.
" No," replied the officer, sharply. " What
is your name, sir ?"
" You know rery well who I am," cried
Mr. Capreol, angrily. " This murdered
man was a particular friend of mine and
that is why I am so anxious about the mat
ter ."
We have nothing to do with the case,"
said the officer curtly, proceeding to make
an entry on the slate, as if to say " The in
terview is at an end."
But Mr. Capreol was not thus to b
bluffed, and he asked " Do you intend to do
anything about it ?
" Couldn t say ; could tell you better in
the morning," was the answer.
" But the morning will be too late to start
about it. The rascals could be in the States
by that time."
" We shall do our duty, whatever that
may be. We have no authority in th
matter," was the officer s response.
Seeine he could obtain no satisfaction
from the police, Mr. Capreol left the
station. At this time the founder of the
Northern Railway of Canada was strong
and agile and bold as a lion, and must have
been a man of undaunted courage to con
ceive the plan he undertook that night. On
leaving the station he walked rapidly to Yonge
street, questioning every person he met in
regard to the murder, and gaining the addi
tional information that on the day before a
suspicious looking man and woman had been
seen in a much-bespattered waggon driving 1
at a furious pace alonsr the Vaughan road.
For a few moments Mr. Capreol stood un
decided at the corner of Colborne and Yonge
streets. Then the determination seized him
to pursue and capture the murderers alone
if possible. At this moment Mr. Stevenson,
a mutual friend of the murdered man and
Mr. Capreo! came along.
" Hello ! Capreol, What are you doing
here ? Did you hear about Kinnear ? " he
exclaimed.
" Yes, and you are the very man I want
to se;; I propose to follow the murderers
and catch them and I want you to go with
me."
Me ? " cried Mr. Stevenson in surprise.
"Yes, why not J You have plenty of
time. You are strong as a giant. I have
just made up my mind to go. You were a
personal friend of Kinnear. 80 come
along."
" Of course I wi l not. Let the authori
ties take the matter in hand."
"The authorities? What do they care ?
I have just come from the station and ao-
body there knows anything about the affair
or will take any action until to-morrow."
" Well, Capreol, perhaps the whole affair
is a hoax, and we may see Kinnear to-
morrow morning laughing aver his own
resurrection. "
"It is not likely."
" Well, there s plenty of time."
" Plenty of time ? Why, my dear man,
they will be far away then. If once they
get into the States they will be safe
enough. "
" Oh, I guess they will not get as far as
that. Good night," and laughing pleasantly
Mr. Stevenson hurried home.
Asionished but not in the least turned
from his purpose Mr. Capreol rapidly walk
ed to the house of the Hon. Henry
Sherwood, then mayor of the city.
On arriving he found it in darkness, the
ianoily and servants having retired for the
night. He rang the bell and after a time a
man servant c-ime to the door.
"I want to see Mr. Sherwood at (Mice,"
said the caller.
" You cannot see him ; he has gone to
bed."
" I must see him immediately."
" But he has gone to bed."
" Then call him.
" But, I tell you he has gone to bed."
At this moment the window over the front
door was raised and the nightcapped head
of the Hon. Henry Sherwood was thrust
forth.
"Who s there? What s all the distur-
bance about ? Why, is that you my dear
Capreo!?"
" Yes, I want to speak to you. Will you
give me credentials to pursue the murderers
of Mr. Kinnear and his housekeeper ? "
" Credentials ! Credentials ! I don t
understand, Capreol, credentials did you
say?"
" Yes. If you will give authority to
pursue the murderers I feel confident I can
bring them back within two days. All I
ask is your authority. I will bear ail the
xpense my -elf. "
" Wait until the morning, I have gone to
bed." At this the man in the hall chuckled.
" Yes, so your servant has told me half a
doi3n times, but if I don t get authority nn-
til morning the murderers will escape.
"Oh, no. I ll see about it then and the
detectives shall be placed on their track. "
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO
107
MR. CAPREOL CLIMBING INTO MR. OGILVIE S WINDOW.
" But why not (dace me on the track now?
In two hours I will be on the lake in "The
Transit" and in six hours I will intercept
them at Lewiston, for they hTe probably
gone that way. "
I an t ao it now, Capreol, I am going
to bed. Good night," and the window was
closed. At the same time the hall door
was shut, but not before a voice was heard
exclaiming exultingly : "Didn t I tell you
he had gone to bed 1"
Disappointed, but more determined than
ever, MF. Capreol turned away from the
Mayors house and hurried to the Church
street wharf where "The Transit" was
lying Here he found a man sitting on the
rail enjoying a pipe.
He greeted him with the inquiry : " Are
you Captain Richardson ?
Why ?" was the monosyllabic question
in return.
" Because if you are, I want you to get
up steam immediately," cried Mr. Capreol.
But Captain Richardson, for it was he, did
not more or appear in the least excited.
Striking a match he deliberately re-lighted
his pipe, which had gone out. Then he
calmly asked :
" Have you got one hundred dollars
about you ?"
" Yes/ answered Mr. Capreol, " I will
give you a cheque right away for the amount
if you must be paid in advance, although I
think the charge extortionate merely to go
across the lake."
" Is it a bogus ch que ?" asked th- doubt
ful captain, without moving his position.
" No ; it is a good honourable cheque. I
am Mr. Capreol and I want to get over to
Lewiston before 3 o clock to-morrow morn
ing. You hare heard about the murder on
Yonge street, I presume ? Well, I am pur
108
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
suing the murderers, and I hops to inter
cept them at Lewiston. Come, move like a
good fellow and set up steam."
" What did you say your name was ?"
queried the captain.
"Capreol."
Capreoi ! Capreol 1 I don t know that
name. How do I know you are not the
murderer yourself, trying to cut the coun
try ?"
At this Mr. Capreol grew indignant, but
restraining his anger he said : " Do you
suppose, captain, I would take this course
if I were the murderer ?"
" I don t know ; it is very likely ; it is
not a bad idea ; but I guess it is all right,
only I want cash, not a cheque. How do 1
know the cheque is good ?
" I assure you the cheque is good."
" Well, I am not poing to risk anything ;
I want cash.";
Checked again, Mr. Capreol thought a
moment, then taking from his pocket his
pocket-book all the money he had with him
abonc $13 he gave it to the captain, say
ing : " Get up steam and be ready for me in
one hour from now. In the meantime I will
go and get the balance."
" AH right," returned the captain, " but
if you don t come back in an hour with the
money I don t move, and you don t get this
back either."
But where to get the balance at this time
of the night was the next problem that con
fronted Mr. Capreol. Leaving the wharf
at the corner of Front and Yonge streets,
he nearly ran against Mr. Carruthers, a
wealthy friend, to whom he appealed for
help.
"I am sorry, Capreol," said that gentle
man, " bat I don t exactly care to advance
money on such a hare-brained scheme as
yours. I am thinking more on your own
account. I would not go if I were you.
The whole city will be talking about yon.
Your family do not know anything about it,
you say. Come along with me, and leave
the matter to the authorities. "
" A curse on the authorities. Good night
to you, and thank you for nothing," cried
Mr. Capreoi in a rage as he dashed up the
street, leaving Mr. Carruthers standing
amazed at the correr.
At Melinda and Yonge streets he paused,
feeling almost baffled. But suddenly an
idea occurred to him. I ll try Mr. Ogil-
vie," he exclaimed to himself. Mr. Ogilvie
then lived over his store on the south side
of King street, a few doors west of Yonge,
in the building now occupied by .r ulton &
Michie. In two minutes Mr. Capreol was
rattling away at the front door of his
tore. But on this night circumstances
seemed to thwart the amateur de
tective at every turn. It happened
that Mr. Ogilvie s chamber was upstairs at
the rear of the building, and knock as loudly
as might be he could not be aroused. Find
ing he could not awaken Mr. Ogilvie, Mr.
Capreol went around to Melinda street with
something like despair in his heart, for he
knew that solid gates and a high brick
wall barred the entrance to the yard in he
rear, A few moments was spent in exami-
natijn of the formidable-looking barrier,
then, realizing that every moment was
precious, he essayed the feat of scaling the
wall, a feat which even Jean Valjean
might have despaired of. Time after time
he fell back to the ground. Once he
heard or thought he heard footsteps ap
proaching from Jordan street. In dismay
he crouched by the wall, not knowing how
to account for his suspicious actions if a
policeman had discovered him in the attempt
to climb over the wall. But no one ap
proached, and re-assured he again get to
work at his almost impossible task. The
wall was as smooth as brick and mortar
could make it. There was not the
slig .test hold for hands or feet. At length
taking out his penknife, by dint of hard
labour, he managed to dig out mortar
sufficient to give him the scantiest-holed for
his toes and the tips of his fingers. After
several heavy falls, with torn clothes, bleed
ing hands, bruised and scratched limbs,
without a hat he finally, half an hour before
midnight, had the satisfaction of sitting ex
hausted astride the top of the wall. On
recovering his breath he prepared to de
scend, a rather dangerous teat, as the
ground within the wall was several feet
lower than the sidewalk. At 1 ngth h
found himself in Mr. Ogilvie s back yard,
his trials near at an end, as he thought, but
indeed they had only fairly commenced.
At the rear of the store was a door.
Upon this he rapped and pounded and
kicked for nearly ten minutes, but all
to no purpose. Mr. Ogilvie was a sound
sleeper and his windows were closed. Then
he began a search for a stone or a piece of
wood to throw against the glass, but neither
could be found. The yard had been newly
planked and swept and was as smooth and
clean as a billiard table. Not until now
had he lost heart, his condition was worse
than before, for now he was a prisoner, as
it was impossib e to scale the wall several feet
higher as it was 011 the inside than on the street
side. Then it rushed upon him that Mr.
Ogilvie was probably not at home. Sitting
down on the stt ps he gave himself up to
lespair. Suddenly the recollection of
his murdered friend aroae. " They must,
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
109
they shall be brought to justice," he ex-
c aimed ad .-printing up he began anew an
examination of the pi-emises. All at once
his eyes lighted upon the pipe which carried
w*ier from the roof. This pipe was fastened
perpendicularly to the wall about five feet
from Mr. Ogilvie s chamber which was
*b nt twenty leefc from the ground. It was
a desperate ehance,for how could the window
be reached at that distance from such a
precarious position as one clinging to the
pip* would be placed in. Mr. Capreol did
the window five feet away, he
saw that his feet were nearly on a
level with the sill. The Venetian blinds
were open and held back against the wall
by strong old-fashioned staples. This
helped him in one way as it gave him a
better hold than the pipe furnished, but the
projection of the blind increased the diffi
culty of reaching the window sill with his
foot. At length panting, utterly exhausted
and nearly fainting, he obtained a foothold
on the sill. Then with the blade of hi
THE LADY ELGIN THE FIEST NORTHERN ENGINE.
FAC-SIMILE OF THE FIRST NORTHERN RAILWAY TICKET.
ot hesitate long. Clutching the pipe
desperately, hand over hand up he went.
The frail tube shook and trembled and bent
as if about to fall aw..y from its fastenings.
The bands holding it quivered and creaked
M if :rained to their utmost. The perspi
ration stood oat in great drops all over the face
of the bold climber. Once.*ookina down he
was seised wit! vertigo, and would have
fallen but remembering his mission and his
family, hie grasp tightened, and with
clenched teeth he continued the perilous
ascent. Finally looking westward to
knife, he raised the lower sash of the win
dow SD aa to get his fingers under it. The
next moment he had pushed up the sash
and stepped into the room. There on his
bed lay Mr. Ogilvie in sound sleep.
Sitting down for a few moments
the bold intruder watched his sleeping
friend while he recovered his own com,-
posure. Then advancing to the bedside,
he gently shook the sleeper. The effect was
magical. lu an instant Mr. Ogilvie had
sprung to his feet, seized the supposed
burglar by the throat with an iron grasp
110
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
that choked him and rushing him to the
op^n window, was about to hurl him out
when he recognized the face of his friend.
Releasing his hold, frightened and
pale, Mr. Ogilvie stood in astonish
ment looking at his strange visitor
who stood before him bareheaded,
with bloody hands and torn garments.
Rapidly Mr. Capreol explained the situa
tion while Mr. Ogilvle dressed.
"A hundred dollars? certainly. There
are twenty-one sovereigns," and the mer
chant counted the gold in his visitor s hand.
Borrowing a pair of trousers and a hat, Mr.
Capreol hastened to make his return to the
boat, which he found waiting ready tor
operation.
The remainder of the story can be better
told by quoting from the British Colonist
of 2nd August, 1843 : The article used was a
doubl"eT);uTeIled gun belonging to Mr. Kin-
near. Mr. Kinnear came to Toronto on
Friday late in the afternoon, remained all
night, and went home the next day between
two and three o clock p.m. He had invited
a friend named Capt Boyd to dine with him
th following day. Capt. Boyd called at
the house and finding all the doors open and
the house apparently de-erted, had the
place searched, and the body of Mr. Kin-
near was found in the cellar covered with
blood. Capt Boyd dispatched a messenger
at once to Aid. Guruett. After mature
deliberation a warrant was made out for
Ann Montgomery, the housekeeper, and
James McDermott and Grace Marks, th.p
servants. The warrant was placed in the
hands of Mr. Kingsmill, the High Bailiff.
It was found that Grace Marks and Mc
Dermott had been at the City Hotel in the
morning, and had gone on the steamer to
Lewiston with a horse and waggon, the
property of Mr. Kinnear, and lots of luggag.
Mr. Capreol, a friend of Mr. Kinnear,
chartered the steamer Transit, and atone
o clock in the morning accompanied Mr.
Kingsmill in pursuit, an I the two were
taken into custody in a house near the quay
at Lewiston at five a.m. Tney were placed
in separate rooms and brought to Toronto
about midday. Their contradictory stories
about Naiiiiy led to a search, and the body
was found in a barrel in the root-house,
evidently strangled, a handkerchief being
found around her neck, with marks of such
a deed of violence. The prisoners were pri
vately examined. James McDermott is
fire feet, six inches in height, and has been
in Canada for six years, during one of which
he was with Capt. McDoneU. of the Glen
garry Light Infantry. He had been dis
charged in May, and lived with Mr. Kin-
near only a month. He was of slender
build, swarthy, and of a forbidding aspect.
Grace Marks, the female, although wholly
devoid of educition, possessed good features,
and in point of personal appearance was
much superior to her paramour. Mr. Kin-
near was a brother of Mr. Kinnear, of Kin-
loch, Cuparfife, Scotland.
The Colonist says that Mr. Capreol went
after midnight t the residence of Mr.
Ogilvie. who when he was roused out of
bed, and the circumstances explained to
him, handed Mr, Capreol a cheque for
thirty pounds, to enable him to engage the
steamer and proceed on las journey. But
for this circumstance the prisoners might
have escaped detection.
As soon as the High Bailiff discovered
where they were stopping at Lewiston, he
cautiously proceeded (w.th om- of the crew
of the steamer that had brought them over,
and who could identify them) to their bed
rooms. Going into the room where Mc
Dermott lay Mr. Kiugsmill softly approach,
ed the bed to see if he could identify him
according to the description given. His
heart at that time (according to the High
Bailiffs description) was heaving violently,
his countenance looked almost black, and
he had the appearance of a fiend. There
was another person sleeping at the same
time in the room, who, after being informed
of the murder, immediately got up and ap
peared in every way disposed to render as
sistance. The girl, who asked repeatedly
what was the matter, with affected sur
prise at being disturbed, was made to dress
first. Having given her in charge to the
person with him, the High Bailiff then
went up to McDermott s bed, who from the
motion of his eyelids appeared to be only
feigning sie: p. The following dialogue
then took place :
High Bailiff (rousing up prisoner) " Come
Mac, I want you, get up."
Prisoner " What, what do you want me
for ? What s the matter ?"
High Bailiff " How came you not to pay
the dues on the horse and waggon ?"
Prisoner " Because I had not got the
money."
High Kailiff " Well get up and dress
yours"if, I want you."
The prisoner up to this time, as the High
Bailiff, was in plain clothes, appears not to
hav-j recognized him, but the young man
who had been sleeping in the room with
aim, pronouncing the name of "Kingsmill,"
bhe truth of his position seemed to flaeh
across his mind.
Prisoner "Ah, I see it now. I know
what you want me for. But have you
found Nancy yet f
High Bailiff" No ; where is she ?"
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
Ill
Prisoner " Have you offered any reward
for her ?"
High Bailiff "No."
Prisoner "Well, you find Nancy out
You get hold of Nancy. She ll tell you all
about it. It was all owing to her. She
was at the bottom of it. 1
The High Bailiff then having taken a
variety of keys, a gold snuff box and other
things out of the prisoner s pockets, tiec
them up iii a handkerchief. As soon as he
was dressed he handcuffed him, and got him
downstairs. Several then being in the
bar-room he very prudently took the prisoner
into another room. Upon the passage to
Toronto the girl Marks voluntarily made
the statement previously published. Both
parties, however, denied all knowledge oi
N ancy.
Both McDermott and the woman Marks
were convicted of murder on their trial.
The trial of McDermott took place on
Friday, 3 d November, 1843, William Hume
Blafce for the Crown, John Duggan for the
friends of Kinnear and Kenneth McKenzie
for James McDermott. McDermott was
foonrl guilty and executed 21st November,
1843.
McDermott was hanged in the old Berke
ley street jail. Grace Marks was sent to
tbe penitentiary for life. She was pardoned
a few years ago, and is now Jiving some
where in the United States. Strange to say
Mr. Capreol was never reimbursed by the
authorities for the expense he incurred in
bringing these two murderers to justice
This remarkable man dted at his residence
No. 24 Clarence Soaare, October 12, 1886,
aged 83 years. His r, mains are buried in
St. Jamerf Cemetery Although the Cap
reels-have lived in Canada for jusc half .,
century his is vhe only death that has oc
curred in the family during that period.
NOTE The locomotive " Toronto," before
referred to as being built at Good s factory,
on Queen street east, was on its completion
taken thence to the railway track, by
Queen and Yonge streets. A few yards of
movable rails were laid, and these, as the
ei gine was moved over them, were taken up
and again re-laid. The progress made waa
astonishingly slow, it taking fully a week
to get the great engine from Queen to Front
treet.
CHAPiER XXXVIII.
THE BELLEVUE HOMESTEAD.
The Old Family Residence of the Denisons
Seventy Years Aso Tlie Execution of
Caotalu Joshua Buddy.
When Mr. Ru.-sell, President of Upper
Canada Executive Council, was about to
leave England in an official capacity in com
pany with Governor Simcoe to emigrate
to Canada in 1792 he persuaded his old
friend, Captain John Denison, of Hedon,
Yorkshire, to accompany him. Captain
Deniaon first settled at Kingston, but
in 1796 he removed to York, and
for a time, by permission of Mr.
Russell, who was then administering
t he Government, he occupied oast;e Frank.
He then took up his residence with his family
in a cottage on the north side of Front street,
near Bay, which was a u-o owned by Mr. Rus
sell. This house; was one of the earliest speci
mens in York of an English rustic cottage
with verandah and sloping lawn. Afterward
it was occupied for a t me by Major Hillier
of the 74th Regiment, aide-de-camp an^i
military secretary to Lieucenant-Governor
Sir Peregrine Maitland. In the.Oaz&tte and
Oracle of 1803 Mr. Russell advertis d this
property for sale describing it as the " fron-
town lot with an excellent dwelling hous j
and kitchen recently built thereon in which
Mr. John Denison now lives in the town o:
York, with a very commodious water lot
adjoining." On the site of this cottage was
afterward built Dr. Baldwin s residence
which subsequently became a military
hospital and then the head office of the To
ronto & Nipissing railroad. The next year
Mr. Russell insta led his friend in the new-
:y erected homestead of Petersfield, on the
nortn side of Queen street, near the head of
Soho street. Colonel George Taylor Deni
son, the son ami heir of Captain John Deni
son, in the year 1815 bought park lot 17
and part of 18, adjoining the property of
Mr. Russell, occupied by his father, and
built thereon the same year Billevue.
The original drive up to the homestead is
now known as Denison avenue. The house
shown in the accompanying illustration was
a larg;; pleasant abode lying far back from
^ueen street but visible from it through a
ong vista of trees. From this old Beltevue
lave spread branches at Dover-court,
rlusholme and elsewhere, in most of which
m antitude for military affairs is marked.
/ olonel Denison s grandson, G. T. Denison,
s the author of a work on "Modern Cavalry,
ts Organization, Armament and Employment
n War," a book highiy esteemed in strategi
112
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
cal literature, and i( A History of Cavalry,
which obtained the Czar s prize. Col. F.
C, Denison, M.P., C.M.G., is another
grandson. The farm was one of the hun
dred acre park lota and half of the next. Its
boundary on the west was what is now
Bathurst street. The first owner of the pro-
perty was Major Littlehales, aide-de-camp
and first secretary to Governor S:mcoe,
whom the Duke de Lioncourt describes as
" a well bred, mild and amiable man who
has the charge of the whole correspondence
ot Government and acquits himself with
peculiar ability and application." Major
Littiehales afterwards attained the rank of
Lieutenant-Colonel and in 1802 was
created a baronet. In 1801 he was appoint
ed Under Secretary for Ireland, a post
which he held for nineteen years. On
son ? son, erected at his own cost, near the
old Bellevue homestead, the Church of St.
Stephen and took steps to make it in perpetu
ity an ecclesiastical benefice. Mrs. Denison
the widow of Captain John Denison surviv
ed him many years, and for a long time lived
in a bouse shaded with willow trees and
surrounded by a flower garden and lawn on
the park lo; originally owned by David
Burns, the first lot westward from that
of Colonel Givins, whose house now -stands
at the head of Givins street. This
house was afterwards occupied by
Mrs. Dtnison s son-in-law, Mr. John
Fennings Taylor, who was for many
years Chief Clerk and Master in Chancery,
firtt to the legislative council of United Can
ada and then~to the Senate of the Dominion.
It was at Colonel Denison a house, BeUeroe,
"^--""."--c^
BBLLEVUE DENISON HOUSE.
Governor Simcoe s recall, Major Littlehales
returned to England, and his park lot be-
c^m; the possession of Peter Russell. In
accordance with an early Canadian practice
Captain John Denison selected a picturesque
spot on the Humber, where he purchased a
tract of over 1,000 acres and set
a few acres apart as a family but ial place,
entailing at the same time the sur
rounding estate. In 1853, although entails
had been annulled by act of parliament,
his heir, Colonel G. T. Denison, first con
nected the land and burial plot with his
family and descendants for all time by con
verting it into an endowment for an ecclesi
astical living to be always in the gift of the
legal representative of his name. Thisis-known
as St. John s Cemetery on the Humb r. In
1857 Robert Britton Denisou, Colonel Deni-
that Captain Richard Lippincott died, a
soldier whose life was marked by a bold
deen. Captain Lippincott was the father-
in-law of Col. George Tayloi Denison whose
eldest son was named after him Richard
Lippincott Denison. On the 12th of April,
1782, Captain Lippincott who was a native
of New Jersey but then living in New"i"ork,
acting under the orders of the " Board of
Associated Loyalists of New York,"
executed by hanging near Middleton,
Joshua Huddy, an officer in the
American army, Huddy having put
to death in like manner, Philip White, a
relative of Captain Lippiucott, who had
been captured within the American lines
while paying his mother a stolen visit on
Christmas day. A paper was fastened on
Huddy s breast, containing this inscription!
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113
" We, the refugees, having long with grief
beheld the cruel murders of our brethren,
and finding nothing but such measures car
rying into execution therefore determined
not to suffer without taking vengeance tor
the numerous cruelties and thus
begin, having made use of Captain
Buddy as the first object to present to your
view and further determine to hang man
for man while there is a refugee exist
ing. Up goes Huddy for Philip White."
The surrender of Captain Lippincott wtvs
refused by the Loyalist authorities. Wash
ington then ordered the execution of an
officer of equal rank to be selected by
lot from the prisoners in his hands.
The lot fell on Captain Charles Asgill,
of the Guards, a youth of nineteen.
He was respited until the issue of a court
martial h?id on Captain L ppincott was
made known. The court acquitted Lippin
cott, but in the mcantim Lady Asgill, the
captain s mother, had appealed to the King
and Queeu of France, and the Count de
Vergennis, Minister of S:ate, was directed
to ask Washington for Captain AsgilFs life
in the joint names of the King and Queen
of France as a tribute to humanity.
Washington granted the request, but it was
not until the next year when the war was
ended that Asgill and Lippincott were
set free. Captain Asgill succeeded
to his father s baronetcy. 1)r. Scadding
relates that CoL O Hara, of Toronto, re
membered dining at a table where Gen. Sir
Charles Asgill was pointed out to him as a
man who had been condemned by Washing
ton to be hung, and who lived for a year
under sentence of death. Captain Lippin
cott received a grant of three thousand acres
of land near Richmond Hill, a few miles
south of the tract of five thousand acres
which the Crown granted to Benedict Ar
nold. Captain Lippincott died in 1826,
aged 81 years, having received half-pay
from the English Government for the period
of 34 years.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE SUN TAVERN.
Tbe Hotel Where the Flnt Step in the Road
to Insurrection Was Taken by the Mae-
kenzle Reformer*.
Among the early residents of York were
three brothers whose names are linked w : th
the history of the lake marine. In 1835
each of the brothers commanded a ves
sel. John Mclntoah was captain of the
Three Brothers, Charles Mclntosh com
manded th; Superior, and Robert sailed
the Eunice. John acquired considerable
real estate in the town, and about 1825
was built a large square white frame
8
edifice, for hotel purposes, at the north
west corner of Yonge and Queen streets,
opposite Good s foundry, on property
owned by him. The hotel, at first named
the Sun Tavern, was originally occupied
by Charles Thompson, then by landlord
Wilson. About 1830 Thomas Elliott^
brother-in-law of John Mclntosh, as
sumed the management of the hotel, which
became well known as Elliott s Sun Tavern.
Mr. Mclntosh being the brother-in-law
of William Lyon Mackenzie, naturally
enough this inn became the headquarter*
of the leaders of the Radical parry, and
here were held the meetings and here
were passed the resolutions which event
ually led to the rebellion. Although the
hotel did a very thriving business under
Elliott, it was not ranked with Jordan s
York Hotel or the Mansion House as one
of the fashionable hostelries, but drew
its custom largely from the rural popula
tion. The open land to the north of Elliott s
was the place generally occupied by the
travelling menageries and circuses when
such exhibitions began to visit the town.
On December 12, 1831, William Lyon
Mackenzie, then a member of the Assem
bly, was declared guilty of a breach of
the privileges of the House, he b^ing ac
cused of libel upon the Lieutenant Governor,
and was expelled by a vote of twenty-four
to fifteen. Those votine for the expulsion
were Attorney-General Berczy and Messrs.
Boulton, Brown, Burwell, Elliott, Fraser,
A. Fraser, R. Inerersoll, Jones, Lewis,
McMartin, McNab, Macon, M rris, Mount^
Robinson, Samson, Shade, Vankoughnet,
Warren, Werden and Solicitor-General
Thomson. Against the expulsion were
Messrs. Beardsley, Bid well, Buel , Camp
bell, Clark, Cook, Duncomb, Howard,
Ketchum, Lyons, McCall, Perry, Randal,
Roblin and Shaver. Four members, Messrs,
Wilson, Cook, Chisholm and Jarvis were
absent, but it was stated that they would,
if present, have voted to expel Mr. Mac
kenzie. On the day of the expulsion a
delegation of petitioners, to the number
of 930, waited on the Lieutenant-Gover
nor, praying him to dismiss a house
tainted with judicial partiality. Public
indignation was aroused to a great de
gree, nor was it soothed when the peti
tioners having been received in the audience
chamber and the petition presented, they
were dismissed with the curt reply :
" Gentlemen, I have received the petition
of the inhabitants." Years were still to
elapse before the Radicals app aled to
force, but even at this time the precau
tions taken betrayed the fears of the
Government. Mr. Mackenzie, in his descrip-
114
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115
tion of this event, says : " The Govern
ment House was p o ected with cannon,
loaded, served and ready to be fired on
the people." The regiment in garrison
was supplied with a double allowance
of ball cartridges, and a telegraph placed
on the viceregal residence to command
the services of the soldiers, if necessary.
Mr. Mackenzie restrained his followers who
advised violent measures, Instead ot being
his day of humiliation, as his enemies intend
ed, this was really his day of triumph.
His expulsion won for him the sympathies
of the people, who, after the return of
the petitioners from Government House,
proceeded to Mr. Mackenzie s house in
large numbers and carried him through
the streets with acc amations, and finally
escorted him to the Sun hotel, from
one of the windows of which he ad
dressed the people, after which cheers
were given for the Sailor King, Earl
Grey and the Reform Ministry. Charles
Lindsay, Mr. Mackenzie s biographer, says
that after the Reform leader had re
tired the meeting was re-organized and
resolutions were passed sustaining the
course he had taken as a politician and
journalist, complaining of the reply of
the Lieutenant-Goverao. 1 to the peti
tioners as unsatisfactory and insu ting,
asserting the propriety of petitioning the
Sovereign to send to the province in
future civil instead of military gover
nors, and pledging the meeting as a
mark of their approbation of his conduct
to present Mr. Mackenzie with a gold
medal, accompanied by an appropriate
inscription and address. This meeting
was followed by Mr. Mackenzie s re
election by an overwhelming majority,
the presentation of the medal by his
admirers at the Red Lion hotel and
another popular ovation. It was at the
Sun hotel that the famous " Declaration
of the Independence of Upper Canada"
was taken for the approval of a com
mittee previously appointed, consisting
of Messrs. James Harvey Price, O Bierne,
John Edward Tims, John Doel, John
Mclntosh, James Armstrong, T. J. O Neill
and Mr. Mackenzie. This document was
adopted at Doel s brewery July 31, 1837.
This declaration was the first step in the
roa l to insurrec ion. It committed all who
accepted it to share the fortunes of Lower
Canada. The machinery of agitation
and organization was put in motion. Vigi
lance committees were appointed by the
Refo mers which became shortly after
ward the nuclei of military organizations
Shooting matches with turkeys for the
victims were got up ; drilling was prac
ticed with more or less secrecy ; feu
dt joie on Yonge street with . a hundred
rifles in honour of Papineau would occa
sionally startle the town, and events
were hastening toward the end. At the
outbreak of the rebellion Elliott was
still in charge of the San. On his death
he willed the property which he had
bought from Mr. Mclntosh to his heirs,
under such provisions, however, that a
spscial act of parliament was made neces
sary to allow his wife and children to
transfer it. Mrs. Elliott is still living
at a good old age at Highland Falls.
After Mr. Elliott s death Landlord
Daniels, the father of Judge Daniels, of
L Orignal, took the inn. The name was
changed to the Falcon, and at a late
date was occupied by a man named
Fulljames, who subsequently managed the
Craven Heifer. It was on the opposite
side of the street that Sheldon Ward
lost his life by a scaffold on a building in
process of erection giving way with him.
CHAPTER XL.
THE OLD BLUE SCHOOL AT YORK.
Tbe District Grammar School and itg Fam
ous Head Dr. John .* t rnrhaiTsEducat ional
Methods -Masters and their Pupils.
As the name of the Rev. Dr. Eliphalett
Nott is indissoluhiy linked with the educa
tion of youth in New York State, so the
name of the Rev. Dr. John. Strachan is in
separable from the early history ot educa
tion in Upper Canada. Both men were
alike pastor and master. Dr. Strachan
might aptly be callel the little
school-master, for from his boyhood he
was successfully engaged it; the profession
of teacher. At the age ot 16 he was in
charge of a school at Carmyllie, Scotland,
having under him the grown-up sons of the
farmers of the neighbourhood, and it speaks
plainly for his tact and firmness that even
at that early age he was able to keep them
under control. While teaching here he still
found time to keep up with his studies, and
during the winter attended lectures at
King s College, Aberdeen. Two years after
ward he went to Denino, where
he had obtained a better appoint
ment. H<: remained there for two
years, still keeping up his academical
studies. While at Denino he was largely
indebted, as he himself has stated, to the
instruction of the Rev. Dr. Brown, after
wards professor at Glasgow, and Thoma
Duncan, afterwards prcfe^sor at St. An
drew s. Then lor two years more up to
1799, he had charge of the parish school at
Kettle. Here he had 82 pupils, among them
116
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
being Thomas Campbell, the poet, D. Wilkie,
the artist, and J Barclay, the naval com
mander. In 1799, a poor young man
in purse, but rich in a \rell-trained
mind he came to Upper Canada and took a
tutorship in a Kingston family. In 1807,
mainly through his exertions, an act was
passed establishing a grammar sehool in each
district of the province, and very soonthr^e
superior schools were started at Cornwall,
Kingston and Niagarai, and later at York
and other districts of Upper Canada. These
schools were for pupils of boih sexes. Dr.
Strachan s Cornwall school is famous and
on its books were the names of very many
celebrated in the annala of Upper Canada.
So successful was his work here, and so
well was he beloved that in 1833, fo.ty-
two of his rormer scholars presented him
with an address in which they say :
" Our young minds received there an im
pression which has scarcely become fainter
from time of the deep and sincere interest
which you took not only in our advance
ment in learning and science, but in all that
concerned our happiness or could affect our
future prospects in life. " Among the sign
ers to this address are the names : Robin
son Macau ay, McDonell. McLean, Jones,
Stanton, Bethune, Jarris, Chewitt, Boulton,
Vankoughnet, Smith and Anderson. Part
of the icply of Dr. Strachan to his former
pupils address gives an insight into his
method of teaching. He says : " It has
ever been my conviction that our scholars
should be considered for the time our chil
dren ; and that as parents we should study
their peculiar dispositions if we really wish
to improve them, for if we feel not some
thing of the tender relation of parents
toward them, we cannot expect to be suc
cessful iu their education. It was on
this principle I attempted to proceed."
While Dr. Strachan was in the height of his
success as a teacher at "the Cornwall school
the fame of which had spread not only
through Upper Canada but also through the
lower provinces Lieutenant-Governor Gore
in 1812 offered him the parish of York. The
clerical income was small and there was no
parsonage, but the Governor added the
chap aincy of the troops at 150 a year, and
as a still further inducement held out the
promise of establishing a school. Dr.
Strachan accepted the offer, and on August
2id, 1812, the first Sunday after his
arrival, he preached a sermon on
the war before the Legislature in
the parish church. It was not lone before
a district grammar school was established
at York after the model of the one at Corn
wall. For a time before the erection of the
new building, an obscure frame building of
the most ordinary kind on the north side of
King street, just east of Yonsre street, was
occupied as the school house. Soon afterward
a larg : field almost square, containing six
acres, filled with huge piae stumps and small
ponds of water in which cray fish were abun
dant, was set apart. Through the middle of
this field from north to south :ran a shallow
swale where water collected after rains. The
whole field was covered with the natural
herbige that usually grows upon clearings.
This block was designated College square,
the block south of it being termed Church
square and the reservation to the west of
that Court House square. In the minds of
those who laid out these plots the expecta
tion waa that they should remain orna
mental pieces of grounds or small parks
surrounding the buildings and the in
stitutions for which they were set apart.
The College Square was bounded on the
south by Adelaide street, on the north by
Richmond street, on the east by Jarvis
street, and on the west by Church street,
These are the modern names, Church street
being the only one of the four that has re
tained its original nomenclature ; Adelaide
was formerly Newgate street, because the
jail stood near it. Richmond was Hospital
street and Jarvis was Nelson and then New
street. The new District Grammar School
building stood at the soutn-west corner of
this lot, 114 feet from its western and 104
feet from its southern boundary. The rest
of the block was the playground of the school.
The building was a good sired frame struc
ture, fifty-five feet long and forty feet wide,
of two stories, each of a respectable altitude.
The gables faced east and west. On each
aide of the school were two rows of ordinary
sash windows, five on the ground floor and
the same number on the floor above. At
the east end were four windows two
above and two below. At the west
end were five windows and the
entrance door. The whole exterior of
the bu Iding was painted of a blueish hue.
Within on the first floor, beyond the lobby,
was a large square apartment. About three
yards from each of its angles a plain timber
post helped to sustain the ceiling. At about
four feet from the floor each of these quasi
pillars began to be chamfered off at its four
angles. Filling up the southeast corner of
the room was a small platform approached
on three sides by a couple of steps.
On this was a desk about eight feet
long, its lower part cased over in front
with thin deal boards. On the floor
along the whole length of the southern
and northern sides of the chamber were nar
row desks set close against the wall with
benches arranged at their outer side. At
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right angles to these running out on each
side into the apartment stood a series of
shorter desks with double slopes and
benches placed on either side. Through the
whole length of the room from east to west
between the rows of cross benches
thei e was a wide vacant space. The
walls and ceilings and desks and seats
were all of unpainted pine of a yellowish
hue. During school hours this room pre
sented the usual aspect of a school interior.
The ruler of this place was Dr. John
Strachan. The Rev. Dr. Bethune, after
ward Bishop Strachan s successor in the
Episcopate, came to York in 1819 as assist
ant teacher in the Grammar School. Of his
first visit to the school, after describing it
as a capacious wooden building standing on
an open common, a little in the rear of St.
James churchyard, he says : "On
entering it for the first time with
the reverend principal on a bright Septem
ber morning fresh schoolboy feelings were
wakened up at the sight of forty or fifty
happy young faces, from seventeen down to
five years of age. There was a class of only
two in Greek, who took up Horace and Livy
in Latin, and there were three Latin forms
below them, the most numerous and
sprightly reading Cornelius Nepos.
None were much advanced in mathe
matics, and, with the exception
of the senior two had not passed the
lourth book of Euclid. Everything was
taught on the same plan as at Cornwall, but
at York the pupils were much less advanced
and the head master rarely took any share
in the actual work of instruction. I had
had the opportunity of seeing both schools,
and though the glory of the former was
never approached by the Tatter, still there
are reminiscences connected with the school
at York more fresh and liveiy than could be
awakened by tiie more celebrated one at
Cornwall." On public days when ex
aminations were being conducted or di -
bates were going on, the exercises were
Held up-stairs in a long room with a par
tially vaulted ceiling on the south side of
the building. At the east end was a plat
form. Everybody in town used to attend
on these occasions, from the Lieutenant-
Governor down, especially the parents of
the scholars. Dr. Scadding, who attended
this school, has preserved many facts in
regard to it from which much of the infor
mation in this article is derived. At the
examination on August 7, 1816, John Claus
spoke the prologue in which he advises
Governor Gore, then at the head of affairs, to
distinguish himself by attention to the
educational interests of the country. The
other boys who took part in the exercises
were : John Skeldon, George Skeldon,
Henry Mosley, John Doyle. Charles How
ard, James Myers, John Ridout, Charles
Ridout, John Fitzgera d, John Mosley, Salt
ern Givens, James Sheehan, Henry Heward,
Allan McDonell, William Allan, John Boul-
ton, William Myers, James Bigelow, Wil
liam Baldwin, St. George Baldwin, M. de
Koren, John Knotfc, James Givins, Horace
Ridout, William Lancaster, James McGill
Strachan. David McNab, John Harraway,
Robert Baldwin, H-nry Nelles, Warren
Shaw, David Shaw, Daniel Murray. This
is the order of examination of the Home
District Grammar school for Wednesday,
August 11, 1819: First day The Latin and
Greek c^ses, Euclid and trigonometry.
Second day Prologue by Robert Baldwin.
Reading class George Strachan, "The Ex-
celleuce of the Bible ;" Thomas Ridout,
"The Man of Ro=s ;" James McDonell,
"Liberty and Slavery ;" St. George Bald
win, "The Sword;" William McMurray,
"Soliloquy on S eep." Arithmetic class-
James Smith, "The Sporting Clergyman;"
William Boulton, jr., "The Poet s
New Year Gift;" Richard Gates,
"Ode to Apollo;" Orville Cassall,
"The Rose." Bookkeeping Class, William
Myers, " My Mother;" Francis Heward,
My Father ;" George Dawson, " Lapland."
First Grammar Class, Second Grammar
Class" Debate on the Slave Trade." For
the abolition Francis Ridout, John Fitz
gerald, William Allan, George Boultou,
Henry Heward, William Baldwin, John
Ridout, John Doyle, James Strachan.
Against the abolition Abraham Nellea,
James Baby, James Doyle, Charles Heward,
Allan McDonell, James Myers, Charles
Ridout, William Boulton, Walker Smith.
First Geography Class, Second Geography
Class James Dawson, " The Boy that
Told Lies ; " James Bigelow, " The
Vagrant;" Thomas Glassco, "The Pariah
Workhouse ; " Edward Glennon, " The
Apothecary." Natural History Class De
bate by the young boys " Sir William
Strickland," Charles Heward : " Lord Mor-
peth," John Owens ; " Lord Harvey," John
Ridout ;" Mr. Plomer," Raymond Baby;
Sir William Yonge," John Fitzgerald;
"Sir William Windham," John Boulton;
" ft r. Henry Pelham, Henry Heward ;
"M.. Bernard," George Strachan; "Mr.
Noel," William Baldwin ; " Mr. Shippen,"
James Baby ; " Sir Robert Walpole," James
Myers; "Mr. Pulteney," Charles Baby.
Civil History Class William Boulton,
"The Patriot;" Francis Ridout, Th
Grave of Sir John Moore ;" Saltern Giv i .
"Great Britain ;" John Boulton, "Eulo y
on Mr. Pitt;" Warren Claus, " The Indian
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
119
Wairior ;" Charles Howard. " The Soldier s
Dream;" William Boulton, "The H roes
of Waterloo." Catechism Debate on the
College of Calcu.ta. Speakers, " Mr. Can
ning," Robert Baldwin ; Sir Francis
Baring," John Doy e ; " Mr. Waiuwright,"
Mark Burnham ; "Mr. Thornton," John
Rnott; "S.rW. Scott," William Boulton;
"Lord Eidon," Warren Claus ; "Sir S.
Lawrence," Allan Macaulay ; " Lord
Hawkes bury, " Abrah am Nelles ; "Lord Bath -
urst," James McGill Strachan; Sir Thomas
Metcalf," Walker Smith ; "Lord Teign
mouth," Horace Ridout. Religious Questions
and .Lectures, James McGill Strachan,"
Anniversary of the York and Montreal Col
leges anticipated for January 1st, 1822 ;
Epilogue by Horace Ridout. As to the
names which appear in * he above programmes
it is unnectssary to say anything. They are
all familiar names in Toronto to-day. The
reader will see at once that in the above
exercises there is a great deal of recitation
and declamation to a little examination.
In the prologue pronounced by Robert Bald
win (in verst) the administration of Hast
ings in India is eulogized. Sir William Jones
is apostrophized in connec ion with his
Asiastic researches, the Marquis of Well a-
ley and the college founded by him at Cal
cutta suggests the necessity of a similar in
stitution in Canada, and Sir Peregrine Mait-
land, who was probably present, is told that
he could immortalize himself by establishing
such an institution. The epilogue is a dog
gerel on United States innovations
in the English language. For the great
er part the examinations were conducted
oiaiiy. Parliamentary debates Avere of
frequent occurrence. On ordinary occasions
theie took place in the main school room,
but on public days they were held up stairs-.
These debates consisted of th delivery of
speeches somewhat abridged which had
been made in the House of Commons. The
objeco aimed at in Dr. Strachan s system of
education was a speedy and real prepara
tion for actual life. He himself knew from
experience how early a youth may enter
upon the serious work of life, and he sum
med up his object in the following sentence
spoken to his pupils : Th time allowed in
a new country like this is scarcely sufficient
to sow the most necessary heed, very great
progress is not therefore to be xpected ; if
the principles ace properly engrafted we
have doDu well." He was conn:. ually im
pressing upon his scholars the fact that the
learning acquired at school was only the
foundation and that they themselves must
lay the superstructure. There was a system
of mutual questioning in clas>es which
stimulated thought and research. In the
higher classes every boy was required
to furnish a set of questions for
his classmates on the understanding
that he should give the correct reply in
case the answerer failed. Then there were
rhetorical contests for which one boy chal-
"eiged another. Dr. Strachan was a strict
< I ciplinarian and well he needed to be, for
his scholars were continually thrown in con
tact wich Indians, half-breeds and bad sp-ci-
mens of French adventurers, n logging was
rare and only resorted to in cases of obsti
nacy, wanton cruelty or some word or act of
immorality. For lesser offences the punish
ments were varied and frequently suggested
themselves, for in everything Dr. Strachan
had freed himself from routine and
he wished his scholars to do the
same. He might sentence a boy
to stand against a post with his pockets
turned inside out, or he might make mm
kneel for a few minutes or stand with out
stretched arm holding a book. An apple or
marble brought out during school hours
wou d likely result in the exhibition of the
contents of the pockets. A boy once giving
an audible twang on a jewsharp during work
hours was compelled to stand up on a de=k
andjjiay an air for the entertainment of the
school. Of sports during play hours there
were not so many as now. Mr. Clarke Gam
ble "savs that cricket was wholly unknown,
and that ball was the most popular game,
both among the boys and girls, the former
playing with a ball as hard as i* was possi
ble to make it, and the latter with a soft
ball. In the winter of course snowballing
was in high favour. Once a year, before the
midsummer vacation, a feast was allowed in
the school room, to which all contri
buted. Dr. Scadding humorously remarks
that it was sometimes rather a riotous affair.
The District Grammar School received its
appellation "The Blue School" from the
tact that it was painted blue. This was not
done until 1818, for in that year Dr. Strachan
advertised a course of popular lectures on
natural philosophy at two guineas the course,
the proceeds to be laid out in painting the
District School. Apropos of this, (jourlay
in his "Sketches of Upper Canada" leuaarka:
"Schools and colleges, where are they?
Few yet painted, though lectures on natural
philosophy are now abundant." M>-. ^imn- I
Armour, a graduate trom Glasgow Univer
sity, was first appointed as assistant
and then succeeded Dr. Strachan as
master of the Grammar School. He
was an ardent sportsman and when
flocks of wild pigeons new oxer he
town and guns were popping and bang
ing on every >ide he could scarcely restrain
himself sufficiently to attend to his classes.
120
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO
Afterward Mr. Armour became a clergy
man of :he Church of England and officiated
for many years in Cavau township. Mr.
A:mour was succeeded by the Rev. Dr.
Thomas Phillips, formerly of Whitchurch,
Herefordshire, where he had been master of
a school. He was a Cambridge man,
having graduated in 1805. He was
the ideal of the good, venerable English
country parson of the old type. He wore
the old-fashioned clerical costumr, shovel
hat included, and powdered his hair, except
when in mourning. Dr. Phillips was a fine
scholar according to the standard of the
time. He introduced into the District
Grammar school the text books in use at
Eton at the time, much to the dis
gust of the br>ys, and school boys
in Greek and Latin co-day will ap
preciate the difficulties that stood in the
way of their grandfathers when they learn
that the Greek Grammar was in its un
translated state. All the notes and elucida
tions to Graeca, Minora and Homer were
in Latin, and into that language the boys
translated the Greek. Lexicons and voca
bularies were translated not into English
buc into Latin. Dr. Philiips was at the
head of the Grammar School in 1825, and at
that time was one of the last wearers of
powdered hair in York. He was old-
fashioned even for those times in every
sense. In reading the creed he always con
formed to the old English custom of turning
towarc s the east. Dr. Phillips died
in 1849, aged 68 years, at Wes
son, on the Humler, where he
founded and organized the parish of St.
Philip. His body was borne to the tomb
by his old pupils. Dr. Phillips was ap
pointed vice-principal of Upper Canada
College when it was opened in 1830. George
Anthony Barber accompanied Dr. Philiips
to York in 1825 as his principal assistant,
and continued with him in that capacity.
Although cricket was not played in Canada
in 1825, yet nearly ha.t a, ceniuty later when
the game had become a social
institution Mr. Barber, who had givm
enthusiastic encouragement to it, was
recognized as the greatest local authority on
the subject. During the time of Dr.
Phillips a soit of shed or lean-to was put up
over the western end of the school house.
During recess in wet weathtr the boys
played here, and they were directed to call
this their gymnasium. This is the first
time the word was ever applied in York.
With the establishment of Upper Canada
College the Grammar School bega.ii to de
cline. The building was moved from its
digital position <o the south-east cor
ner of Jaivis and Stanley streets, the
latter, formerly March, now Lombard street,
and was degraded into a junk shop. More
than a dozen years ago it was pulled down
to make way for solid brick walls. The
six acres of play-ground are built up and no
trace remains of the old Blue School.
CHAPTER XLL
A SKETCH OF RUSSELL ABBEY.
The flame of tbe President of Upper Canada
The Administration off Peter Russell
Subsequent Occupants off the Abbey.
Veter Russell was one of the founders of
York, and from the time of the establish
ment of the Province of Upper Canada was
one of the leading members of the new Gov
ernment, having come over with Governor
Simcoe from England in an official capacity.
On Governor Simcoe s adoption of York as
his capital Mr. Russell came over from
Niagara, and built a house near the bay
shore, and the foot of what is now Princess,
but formerly was Princes street, the original
name having been conferred upon it in hon
our of the children of George th e Third. In 1796
Governor Simcoe was ordered to the West
Indies. He met his parliament at Niagara
May 16th, and prorogued it June 3rd. On
his departure in the autumn of that year a
provisional Government was established,
with Peter Russell at its head, under the
title of President or Administrator. Early
in January of the next year President
Russ ll s York house was destroyed by fire,
and shortly afterward he built the residence
which became generally known as Russell
Abbey. Like Governor Simcoe, President
Russell spent part of his time at Niagara,
his departures and returns being announced
by salutes of artillery. According to the
York standard of houses at that time, Mr.
Russell s residence was a rather pretentious
edifice. It was frame of one storey, but ex
hibited considerable architi ctural taste and
elegance. To a central building were at
tached wings with gables to the south.
Over each of the windows was a pediment
or decoration. In front of the house was a
low stone wall with a light wooden paling
at the top, surrounding a lawn shaded by
tall locust trees. The house stood at the
south-west corner of Princess and Front
streets. The design of the building sug
gested an ecclesiastical style of architecture
from which the name Abbt y may have
sprung. It was also spoken of as the
Palace, but whether it was s=o called from
being the residence of the man who for
three years administered the Government
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
or whether because it was the principal
house on the street, which was f hen Pttlace
street, is not clear. Mr. Ru-sell was a de-
se ndant of the Bedford Russeils. The Irish
family to which he belonged was a trans
planted branch of the Aston-Abbott s sub
division of the iamiiy, and a marriage connec
tion had long existed between this branch oi
the great English family of Russells and the
Baldwins of the County of CorK. Russell
Hill, near Toronto, is named from Russell
hill in Ireland which in turn is natmd from
the IrLh Russell family. During the Revo
lutionary war, President Peter Russell had
been Secretary to Sir Henry C intou, Com-
mander-in-Chief of the British forces in
America, from 1778 to 1782.
His portrait, preserved in the Baldwin
family, shows a portly gentkman with a
face full of character not unlike that of
Thomas Jefferson. At a very early period
Mr. Russell became convinced that York
was no ephemeral settlement, but a hamlet
destined to become a great city. Impressed
with this belief he strove to lay the founda
tion of a great landed estate and his at
tempts in this direction b, ought down upon
him much censure and much lidicule. As
President he had peculiar facilities for the
selection ar.d acquisition of Crown lands.
The duality necessary in the wording ot
patents by the Admini-trator to himself
made him a veritable Pooh Bah, and the
people spoke cf him as " the man who
would do well unto himself," and this ap
pellation was not without good reason as the
following list of properties advertised by
Mr. Russell in the Gazette of 1803 to be told,
gives ample evidence. The advertisement
reads :
" To be sold, the front town lot, with an
excellent dwelling house and a kitchen re
cently built thereon, in which Mr. John
Denison now lives, in the town of York,
with a very commodious water lot adjoin
ing, and possession given to the purchaser
immediately ; the lots Nos. 5, 6 and 7 in the
second, and lots 6 and 7 in the third con-
ces-ion of West Flamloro township, con
taining 1,000 acres, on which there are some
very good mill seats ; the lots 4 and 5, in
first concession of East Flamboro , with
their broken fronts, containing accordii g to
the patent 600 acres more or less ; the lots
1, 3 ar.d^ in the seco d, and ots 2 and 3 in
the third concession of Beverley, containing
1,000 acres ; the lot 16 in the s cond and
third concession of the township of York,
containing 400 acres ; the lots 32 and 33
with their broken i routs, in ;he first, and
lots 31 and 32 in the second, concession of
Whitby, containing 800 acres ; the lots 22
and 24 in the eleventh, lot 23 in the
twelfth, and 24 in the thirteenth and
fourteenth concessions of Towusend, con
taining 1,000 acres ; lots 12, 13 and 14 in
the first and second concessions of Char-
lottevilie, Immediate y behind the town
rjlot containing 1,200 acres ; the lots 18 and
17 in the first concession of Delaware town
ship on the river Thames, containing 800
.icres ; the lots 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7 in the tenth ;
1, 2, 4, 6 and 7 in the eleventh ; 3, 4. 5 and
7 in the twelfth concession of Derf ham,
containing 3,000 acres, with mill seats
thereo -, and the lots 22, 24, 25. 26 and 28
in the first ; 22, 23, 25, 27 and 28 in the
third, 22, 24, 25, 26 and 28 in the
eleventh, and 22, 24, 25, 26 and 28
in the twelfth concession of No: wich, con
taining 600 acres, with mill seats thereon.
The terms are either cash or good bills of
exchange on London, Montreal or Quebec
for the whole of such purchase, in which
case a proportionably less price will be ex
pected or the same for one moiety of each
purpose and bonds properly secured for
principal and interest until paid for the
other. The prices may be known by app.i-
cation to the proprietor at York, Peter
Russell." From this advertisement it will
be seen that the President proposed to sell
9,200 acres of land besides retaining pro
perty in York. Mr. Russell s plans to
create for himseif a big fortune came to
.ittle, however. John Denison, whose name
appears in the advertisement as oc
cupying one of Russell s farms, had
been persuaded by that gentleman
to emigrate to Upper Canada f when
the President first insta led him in Castle
Frank on the Don, subsequently at one of
his houses in York, and lastly on one of his
farms at Petersfield. In 1805 Mr. Denison
advertised to sell potatoes grown on Mr.
Russell s faim at Petersfield for four shil
lings a bushel in quantities of not less than
ten bushels if delivered, or three shillings
on the farm, and two years later he repedts
the advertisement, specifying the tubers as
blue nose potatoes. In 1803 Mr. Russell
advertised a reward of five guineas for the
thieves who stole his tui key hen and young
ones from this faim. Th- re are some points
on which President Russell seems to have
been inconsistent. For instance, complaint
having been made of depredations in the
Indian fishing places and burial grounds, he
issued the following proclamation : " Where
as many heavy and grit vcus complaints
have of late been made by the Missiasaga
Indians of depredations committed by some
of his Majesty s subjects, and others upon
their fisheries and burial places, and of
other annoyances suffered ly them by un
civil treatment in violation of the friendship
122
LAMDMARKS OF TOROJSiTO.
EH
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EH
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PH
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W
PRESIDENT RUSSELL.
1223
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
123
existing between his Majesty and the Mis-
sissaga Indians, as well as in violation of
decency and good order : Be it known,
therefore, that if any complaint shall here
after be made of injuries done to the fish
eries, and to the burial places of the said
Indians or either of them, and the peisons
can be ascertained who misbehaved himself
or themselves in manner aforesaid, such
person or per.-ons shall be proceeded against
with the utmost severity, and a proper ex
ample made of any herein offending. Peter
Russell, President, administering the
Government, Alexander Burns, Secretary."
This was dated December 14th, 1797.
The complaint as to disturbance of burial
grounds related to the ancient Indian burial
plot, known as the Sandhill, north of York
on Yonge street. Before the year 1813
the Indians had s lected another burial
ground and had removed there most of the
bones and relics deposited at the Sandhill.
The Sandhill is now completely obliterated.
On the other hand although in 1772 Lord
Mansfield had given his famous judgment in
the case of James Somerset, a slave taken
over to England from Jamaica, saying :
" Villeinage has ceased in England and it
cannot be revived. The air ot England ha^
long been too pure for a slave and every
man is free who breathes it. Every man
who comes into England is entitled to the
protection of English law whatever oppres
sion he may heretofore have suffered and
whatever may be the colour of his skin."
And notwithstanding tho fact that an Act
had been passed by the Provincial Legisla
ture at Niagara in 1793, looking to the total
extirpation ot slavery, by prohibiting the
importation of slaves, and ordering all chil
dren born in slavery to be freed on reaching
the age of twenty-five, Peter Russell owned
and traded in slaves, despite his vigorous
protection of the Indians. In February,
1806, he inserted the following advertise
ment in the Gazette and Oracle: "To be
sold, a black woman named Peggy, aged 40
years, and a black boy, her son, named
Jupiter, aged about 15 years, both of them
the property of t he subscriber. The woman
is a tolerable cook and washerwoman, and
perfectly understands making soap and
candles. The boy is taL and strong
for his age, and has been em
ployed in the country business, but
brought up principally as a house servant.
They are each of them servants for life. The
price of the woman is $150. For the boy
$200, payable in three years with interest
from the day of sale, to be secured by
bond. But one-fourth less will be taken for
ready money. Peter Russell." Per
haps the reason why Mr, Russell
desired to sell these slaves may
be found in the face that a few years before
Peggy had run away. In the paper of
September 3, 1803, Mr. Russell advertised
that his black servant Peguy not having bis
permission to absent herself from his service
the public are cautioned from < mp oying or
harbouring her without her owner s Uave.
Whoever will do so, he adds, may ex
pect to be treated as the law directs.
Within the memory of many men now
living, there used to be in York,
a pure negress called Amy Pompadour,
who had been legally presented by
Miss E izabetii Russell, the sister of Presi
dent Russell to Mrs Captain Denison. In
1801 Mr. Russell was o subscriber to the
fund for the improvement of Yonge street.
In 1803 he was one of the committee of sub
scribers entrusted with the erection of St.
James church, and he was one of the pew-
holders in the church from its establishment.
Peter street derives its name from Mr. Rus
sell. In 1799 Mr. Russell retired from the
presidency of Uopei- Canada. Peter Hunter
having been appointed, Lieutenant-
Governor. Mr. Russell died at Russell
Abbey, September 30, 1808. The Gazette
and Oracle of the following day thus an-
uouuc d his death : " Departed this life
on Friday, the 30th ultimo, the Hon. Petc:r
Russell, Esquire, formerly President of the
Government of the Province, late Re
ceiver-General and member ot the Execu
tive an.i Legislative Councils, a gentleman
who whilst living was honoured and sin
cerely esteemed, and of whose regular and
amiable conduct the public will long retain
a favoured and grateful remembrance." The
same journal of Octoier 8th, gives thvj fol
lowing account of hia funeral which took
place Oct. 4th : "The remains of the Hon.
Peter Rus-e.l were interred on Wednesday
the 4uh instant, with the greatest decorum
and respect. The obsequies of this accom
plished gentleman were followed to the
grave by His Excellency Lieutenant-Gover
nor Gore, as chief mourn r, with the princi
pal gentlemen of the town and neighbour
hood, and i.hey were feelingly accompani.
ed by all ranks, evincing a rever
ential awe for the Divine dispensation-
An appropriate funeral sermon was preached
by the Rev. Okill Stuart. The Garrison,
commanded by Major Fuller, performed with
becoming dignity the military honours of
this respected veteran who was a captain in
the army on half pay/ This Major Fuller
was the father of the Rev. Thomas B;ock
Fuller, in 1873 Archdeacon of Niagara.
Mr. Russell s entire estate p ssea at
his death into the hands of hia maiden
sister, Miss Elizabeth Russell, a lady of
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
great refinement, who survived her brother
many years and made Russell Abbey her
home until her death. At her decease she
willed the whole property to Dr. William
Warren Baldwin including the valuable
family plate embossed with the arms of the
Russell?. Atter the death of Miss Russell,
the Abbey became the residence of
Bishop Macdonell, a Scotch Roman
Catholic prelate. Dr. Scadding,
from whom most of the informa
tion contained in this article is obtained,
says that his Episcopal title was at first
derived from Rhesina in Partibus but after
ward from Kingston, Ontario, where his
home usually was. His civil duties, as a
member of the Legislative Council of Up
per Canada required his presence in York
during the Parliamentary sessions. In 1826,
Thomas Weld, of Lutworth Castle, Dorset
shire, was consecrated as Bishop Mac-
donell s coadjutor in England under the
title of Bishop of Amylee, but he never
came to Canada. He had been a layman
and mairied up to the year of 1825, when
on the death of his wife, he entered the
church, in one year was made a bishop and
afterward became the well-known cardinal.
It has been supposed by some that Bishop
Macdoneli s occupancy of President Russell s
house gave it the name of ths Abbey, but
this is an erroneous supposition for it was
so styled long before his occupancy.
About forty years ago Dr. Bradley, an erai-
stration agtnt, lived in the Abbey. After he
vacated it, about thirty years ago, a nejjro
family named Truss, the male members of
Which were shoemakers, lived and carried
on their business in the Pres dent s old
home. In those days Captain Strachan, the
son of Bishop Strachan, was or.e of the best
dressed men about town. Speaker Truss, a
large pompous n gro, stiove to emulate him
in the way of dress, and great amusement
was afforded by his attempts in this direc
tion. No matter what kind of clothes the
captain mi^ht appear in one Sunday, the
next Sunday Speaker Truss was sure to
come out in some sort of an imitation of it.
Some years ago the old house was torn down
and all traces of it have now disapoaared.
CHAPTER XLII.
THE FIRST CATHOLIC SCHOOL.
A Sketch of Dealt Heffernan, Ome of 1U
Masters, and tb Subsequent History of
the Building Until its Destruction.
About the time of the Mackenzie rebellion
a humourous and clever Irishman by the
name of Deuis Heffernan came to Toronto.
He was a s ight, dark-complexioned man
about five feet ten inches in height. His
fami y and connections were good, and he
himse f had been welt educated, was an
accomplished scholar and one of the
best mathematicians of his day. Shortly
after coming to Canada he was one day
thrown from his horse and picked up for
dead. The fall injured him internally but,
although he did nut die, he recovered only
after several y<. ars of illness, which drained
alike his strength and his purse. On par
tially regaining his health he decided to
turn his accomplishments to account and
become a school master. Accordingly
he opened a private school in his
residence, which he owned. This was a
two-storey frame house on the south side of
Richmond street about o: e hundred feet
east of Church street. The house was a
common enough looking structure standing
on the street line. It was about twenty
feet front with a gable. The door was on
the east of the front and beside it was one
w ndow. Up stairs was one window and
also a small one in the attic.
These were the only windows on the
street front. There were two rooms upstairs
and two on the ground floor, with a small
extension which served as a kitchen. It
was in the front room, up-?tairs, that he
opened his school about 1839 or 1840. It
was a m xed private school, and although
Mr. Heffernan was a Roman Catholic, among
his scholars were some Protestants, in 1841
Mr. Heffernan had about twenty pupi s,
most of whom were boys. At that time the
Catholic church owned quite a large tract of
land at the corner of Jarvis, then Nelson,and
formerly New, and Richmond streets,extend-
ing westward along the south side of Rich
mond street. It originally belonged to the
Church of England, being a gift from the
Crown. In 1841, through the energy and
liberality of the Hon. John Elmsley, the
son of the second Chief Justice of Upper
Canada, on the lot now turned into a lawn
at the rear of ihe Lombard street fire hall,
was erected fcr a school house the frame
building shown in the illustration, the side
of which was on Richmond street, the
gables fronting east and west. At the
south-east corner of Jarvis and Richmond
was a two-storey frame hotel, kipt at first
by Richard Sullivan and afterward by
Thomas Quinn, a very clever man, whose
sister had married Mr. Sullivan. West of
the school-house, on the fire hi 11 lot,
was the residence of the late Charu a Dun-
levy, proprietor and editor of the Mirror
for many years. This was a rough-cast
buildine. Mr. P. B. McLoughlin was its
first teacher. Mr. John Mu vey says that
he was the first Catholic boy that entered
the first Catholic school in Toronto, having
cone previously to the Central school.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
126
Later Mr. McLoughlin was appointed to the
mastership of the District school (the fore
runner of the Common school) at the corner
of Berkeley and Duke streets, where the fire
hali now stands. It was at this school
under the tuition of Mr. McLoughlin that
the late Chief Justice, the Hon. Thomas
Moss, received a great part of his elemsn-
tary education and whose distinguished
career at the Toronto University was a
onrco of pride to Mr. McLoughlin. Geo.
A. Barber, of cricket fame, was first school
superintendent. To the Hon. John Elm^ley
the early Catholic youth of Toronto ow td a
great debt of gratitude from his ceaseless
seal for their welfare and advancement.
arithmetic, grammar, spelling and geo
graphy being all the branches taught.
Senator Frank Smith, Mr. Wi Ham Hender
son and Mr. Hugh Miller, who were ac
quaintances of Mr Heffernan, remember
him as a slight man of average stature, gray
haired and somewhat bald headed. His
wife, a Protestant, who was very much
his senior, was a pleasant, gray-
haired lady, who many a time saved
a boy from a severe whipping. Old pupils
say that at one time Mrs. Heffernan assist
ed her husband in teaching, she having
charge of the girls upstairs, while Mr. Hef
fernan taught the boys downstairs ; but
this arrangement was only for a short time.
THE FIRST CATHOLIC SCHOOL IN TORONTO.
He was a father to them as well as mentor-.
There are many yet living who remember
how proudly he marched at the head of his
Sunday school scholars in line from the
Richmond streit school house Sflnday after
Sunday to old St. Paul s for late mass,
there being no other Catholic church in the
city. Mr. Mulvey possesses now what he
ralaes as a treasure, a Bible received at his
h mds for attention at Sunday school in
1843. Mr. Heffernan was installed as
te%i3her in the school-house in the fire
hall lot. He could scarcely be called
a pedagogue, for he rather drove than
led his pupils through the intricacies
of rudimentary learning, reading, writing,
In 1843 there were about forty -scholars in
the school, the larg T proportion bsing boys
ranging in age from sevf;n to six
teen years. Among them were Mr. Jamos
Herson, of St. Lawrence market ;
Mr. John H. Hasson, bookkeeper for Mr.
John Burns, the carriage manufacturer,
ex Aid. John Mulvey and Mr. James
Shannon. Mr. Heffernan s only relative in
Canada was a niece, a pupil at the school,
who afterwards married William Murphy,
one of four brothers, three of whom were
under her uncle s instruction. Mr. Murphy s
father was a cooper by trade, as were two
of his sons. For o long time Mr. Murphy
senior, after him his son William, and later
126
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
his son John, kept the tavern known as the
Coopers Arms, a two-storey frame building
at the north-west corner of Scott and Wel
lington streets. Ten years ago the property
was sold to the Western Insurance Com
pany for $10,000, and the old tavern was
torn down. Of the Murphy brothers, John,
Michael, William ana Stephen, William
afterwards became councilman of Toronto,
Michael married a Miss Mulwy, a pupil of
the school. The school-house was furnished
in the plainest manner. At one end of the
boys room was a platform for the princi
pal s desk, and fac ng this were row of
eats without backs, and long, flat, narrow
tables. The hours were from nine o clock to
noon, and from one to four. The terms of
tuition were from fifty cents to a dollar a
month. A few years late- Mr. Timothv
McCarthy succeeded Mr. Heffernan as
teacher of the Catholic school, a position
which he occupied from 1843 to 1847. In
1841 the national school system was intro
duced in the school. Hon. John Elmsley
was then school trustee, and Hamilton Hun
ter was superintendent of education. Mr.
McCarthy says that during his time as mas
ter school was held up-stairs, except on
Sunday, when Mr. Elmsley and Mrs King,
the wife of Dr. John King, one of the pro
minent physicians of the day, would come
and teach the children the catechism. Mr.
McCarthy was succeeded by Mr. Taft, and
he by AJr. O Halloran. The first died in
London, England, where he taught school
after leaving Canada. The last died on
shipboard on his way to California. Mr.
McCarthv, who was an intimate friend of
Mr. Heffernan, describes him as being very
harsh and severe to his pupils, but a very
agreeable and good-natured man socially.
In 1851 Mr. McCarthy was appointed to a
position in tne c.:stom-house, whieh he held
until che first ot the year (1887). On leav
ing the school Mr. Heffernan was appointed
mail clerk on the City of Toronto, one of the
first three mail boats running beeween this
city and Kingston, the Princess Royal and
the Sovereign being the other two Mr.
Andrew Carruthers, an old post-office official,
was clerk on the Sovereign, and Mr McGil-
vrav on the Princess Royal Capt Thomas
Dick, who built and owned the Queen *
Hotel, was one of the proprietors and cap
tain of the City of Toronto. Mr. Heffernan
died.n August 7th, 1858, aged 59 years.
The school-house, which was afterward
roughcast, was for a time subsequently used i
b J the Sisters of Charity, and later by the !
Christian Brothers. Some years ago the
property was sold by tne Catholic Church,
and part of it was purchased by the city,
when the building was torn down.
CHAPTER XLIII.
THE DIXON HOUSE.
Its Owner and First Occupant-Alderman.
Churchman and Philanthropist.
Until about five years since there stood on
the corner of Jarvis and Gerrard streets a
large brick house consisting of two storeys
and an attic, with a turret on the eastern
I corner. It was surrounded by a lovely garden,
and had in its rear a small orchard, a por
tion of whi::h still remains. Here lived
from 1847 until his death in 1855 Alexander
Dixon, some time alderman of this city.
I Mr. Dixon was born in Ireland and came
; to Toronto about 1830, and for many years
carried on business as a saddler s iron-
i monger in the premises now occupied by F.
E. Dixon, at 70 King street East. Mr!
Dixon at first resided at his place of busi
ness, but latterly removed to Jarvis street
He was most emphatically "a fine
old Irish gentleman." He was an
Orangeman, yet he commanded and
obtained the respect of the Roman Catholics
The Church of England possessed no more
devoted adherent, yet he was ever ready to
recognize the self-devotion and earnestness
displayed by others who were not members
of his own communion. Mr. Dixon
combined with shrewd business habits
a great lore of books and
literature. He could quote Shakespeare,
Spencer, Scott or Burns alike readily.
To any genuine tals of sorrow or distress he
never turned a deaf ear. There are those
now residing in this city who can tell of his
kindness and unfailing friendship, at the
time such sympathy was sorely needed.
Chiefly owing to his exertions Trinity
church was erected in 1843
Mr. Dixon, at his death, left a widow and
large family. Of Mrs. Dixon, who died in
18/7, nothing t;t pleasant memories remain
if the sons, the eldest, Alexander, is Arch-
deacon and Rector of Guelph. The second,
illiam, was, as Emigration Agent iu Lon
don, a conscientious servant of the Do
minion ; he died in 1873. The third, John,
was once prominent as a Freemason. Fred
erick, the youngest, was second in com
mand at Ridgeway. Mr. Dixou s surviving
daughters reside in Toronto.
CHAPTER LXIV.
LOGAN S COTTAGE AND GARDEN.
The First House Built on Church Street
Above Queen Street-Some Early Market
Gardens of the Citj.
Interesting chiefly as the first hous
erected above Shutor street on Church street
is the little cottage which stood, until a few
Years ago, when it was torn a own to make
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
127
room for modern improvements, on the east
side of the way one door above the corner
of Shuter street. About the time of the
Mackenzie rebellion, John Logan.a gardener
and floris , who is remembered by some of
the older residents of the town as a tall man
of pleasant manners, obtained possession of
this corner and built the small one and a
half storey cottage shown in the illustra
tion, one door above the corner. At the
corner Logan put up a small hot house,
and at the rear of this and the cottage
WHS his garden, where he cultivated
vegetables and flowers for the market. Ex
tending :rom the cottage around the garden
was a low picket fence, and within it a c ose
hedge, always kept neatly trimmed. Boys
making trips out into the woods be-
few weeks ago this also w.is torn
down. About the sams time that Mr.
L igan conducted his garden several
other market gardens were in ope rat on
in the city. Robert Mansfield cultivated a
garden on Spadina avjnue, opposite
Knox College. The garden was
surrounded by a tall, circular
board fence. In connection with
the garden he also conducted a beer saloon
in his cottage adjoining, and young men
were in the habit of walking out to his place
across the fields on Sunday to drink beer
in the garden, which on that day waa
furnished with tables and chrdrs. Mansfield
had two daughters, who married brothers,
Joseph and William Milligan, both
painters. On the east side of Yonge
-*
J| - - |Tu"T*l
> I 1 "- ^ r-JrfO, -
LOGAN S COTTAGE AND GARDEN .
yond used to stop to look at
the pretty floweis growing in the
yard, and to admire the general air of
neatness and cosiness which prevailed
about the cottage and surrounding grounds.
Logan used to stay at home and attend to
the cultivation of the garden while his wife,
a small, handsome woman, drove the wag
gon down to market where she sold the pro
duce. In its later years the cottage had
been unoccupied and falling into decay
presented a picturesque appearance with its
piazz i in front all over-grown aa was the
roof with moss. At a later date was erected
at the corner the one and a half storey
building shown in the picture. From
about 1868 until half a dozen years ago
John Elliott occupied this as a saloon. A
street, a little north of what is now
VVellesley street, about a hundred yards
back in the fields, stoo 1 another little cot
tage surrounded by gardens, known as
Frank s gardens from their proprietor.
At the north-east corner of Sherbourne
street (formerly Caroline) and. Front (form
erly Palace street) stands to this day the
original house in which Mr. Jas. Leslie,
sr., lived when he commenced the nursery
business, which his family have so success
fully carried on for year.-. Leslie s garden
extended to the east and north
of the house and were quite extensive.
South of Bioor street on the east side of the
way stood the well-known Garden rs* Arms,
above anri behind which were vegetable and
fruit gardens and orchard, the produce of
128
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
which found its way to the city market.
Like Mansfield s, this garden, styled Vaux-
hal Gardens, was a favourite r sort for
youn^ men. The Gardeners Arms, in a
state of dilapidation, is still standing (1893).
CHAPTER XLV.
HOME OF SECRETARY JARVIS.
An Old House With a History Which Stood
at th" South-east Corner o! Duke and
Streets.
When the Independence of the United
States was established, among the United
Empire Loyalists vho came to Canada
and settled here were two first cousins
William and Stephen Jarvis descendants
of the same family which numbered among
its members Bishop Jarvis, of Connecti
cut, and Dr. Samuel Farmer Jarvis,
the church historian. Both the cousins
were officers in incorporated colonial regi
ments during the war of the Revolution.
Before Governor Simcoe arrived at Niagara
DO assume the administration of the province
of Upper Canada, William Jarvis had been
appointed by the crown Provincial St^cretary
and Registrar. In a letter dated Pimlico,
March 28, 1792. addressed to his rela
tive, Munson Jarvis, St. John, New
Brunswick, Mr. Jarvis writes : "I am
in possession oi my sign manual from
his Majesty constituting me Secretary
and Registrar of the province of Upper
Canada, with power of appointing my
deputies and i\ every other respect a very
full warrant." Secretary Jarvis was the
first Grand Master of Masons in Upper
Canada, and in the same letter, speaking
of his appointment to this office, he
says : " 1 am also very much flittered
to In enabled to inform you that th-
Grand Lodge of England have within these
very few days appointed Prince Ed
ward afterwards Duke of Kent and
father of Queen Victoria who i^ now in
Canada, Grand Master of Masons in Lower
Canada, and William Jarvis, Secretary
and Registrar of Upper Canada, Grand
Master of Ancient Mas ns in that
province. However trivial it may app -ar
to you who are not a Mason, yet I assure
you that it is one of most honourable ap
pointments that th^y could have conferred.
The Duke of Athol is the Grand Master
of Ancient Masons in England. Lord Dor
chester Governor General of the province
of Quebec before its division into Upper
and Lower Canada with his private secre
tary and the secretary of the province,
called on us yesterday and found us in th-:
utmost confusion with half a dozen porters
in the house packinar up. However, his
Lordship would come in and sat down in
a small room which was reserved from
the general bristle. He then took Mr.
Peters home with him to dine : hence we
conclude a favourable omen in regard to
his consecration which we hope ; is not
far distant." It was the intention
to establish an episcopal see in Upper
Canada to correspond with that in Lower
Canada, and this Mr. Prfters was expected
to become the first bishop of it. But the
see was not established at that time, nor
was the plan carried into effect until 1839,
when the Rev. Dr. John Strachan was
appointed first bishop. Continuing his
letter, the Secretary writes : " Mrs. Jarvis
leaves England in great spirits. I am
ordered my passage on board the transport
with the regiment, and to do duty with
out pay for the passage only. This
letter gets to Halifax by favour of a:i
intimate friend of Mr. Peters, Governor
Wentworth, who goes out to take posses
sion of his goverrrmnt The ship that 1
am allotted to is the Henneker, Captain
Winter, a transport with the Queen s
Rangers on board." Entering at Niagara
on the duties of his new offi ;e when
Governor Simcoe came to Toronto, Secretary
J.irvis accompanied him. His cousin
Stephen also came hre. As soon as York
was laid out the Secretary selected the
park lot bounded on tha east by George
street, and at the corner of Duke and
Sherbourn streets William Smith built
for him in 1794 or 1796 a finely finished
large house of hewn logs, clap-boarded on
the ootside. The material for the house
was cut on the spot. The building, which
was two stories and a half in height, faced
on Sherbourne street. It was built directly
on the street lines, and the main entrance
was through the Sherbourn street then
called Caroline street door, over which
there was an attempt at ornamentation.
Quite a long extension ran back along
Duke street, and there was an entrance to
the house from that street. Farther along
was a fence with a high peaked gate open-
ing from Duke street into the lot where
were built capacious barns, outhouses and
a root house tor the S ;crotary, who brought
with him from Niagara a number of horses,
cows, sheep and pi^s. About the house
were planted fruit trees, amo:ig which
were many pear trees, for the pear
seems to have been an especial favourite
with the early settlers. At the rear of
the house was a roomy verandah. The
building was pni it?d white. At the time
of its erecti >n thii house was probably
the largest building in the town of York.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
129
The la-T<e room at the corner on the
ground floor was converted into an office,
the living rooms of the family being at
the rear and up stairs. Up &tairs above
the Secretarj a office was the large drawing
room where balls and parties were fre
quently held. It was reached by a
handsome flight of winding stairs from
the main hall. In one of the outbuildings
adjoining the house a man by the name
of Marshall, in the employ of the family,
cut his throat through disappointment in
love, he having aspired, it is said, to the
hand of a young lady high above him in
social station. Secretary Jarvis was a
man of great note in his day and of
sti iking personal appearance, being over
six feet in stature, well proportioned,
with a fine face and head. No portrait
of him is known to exist in Canada, but
there is said to be one in the possession
of the fami y in England. His name is of
very frequent occurrence in the archives
of Upper Canada during the administra
tion of Governors Simcoe, Hunter and
Gore. He was a pew-holder in St. James
church from its commencement. In the
Gazette and Oracle of November 3, 1803,
his name may be found appended as Pro
vincial Secretary to an order of Governor
Hunter appointing a day and place for
holding a weekly public market at York.
He was foreman of the jury which in
1800 tried and acquitted Major John
Small for killing Attorney-General John
White in a duel. Following the custom of
the time he was a s aveholder, and in
the early part of March, 1811, he com
plained to the court that a negro boy and
girl, his slaves, had stoleu silver and gold
from a desk at his house and escaped
from their master, and that they had
been aid d and advised by one Coacbly,
a free negro. The accused having been
caught, the court ordered that the boy,
name 1 Henry, but commonly known as
Prince, be committed to prison ; that the
girl be returned to her master, and
Coach!y be discharged. Secretary Jarvis
presided at a meeting of the subscribers
for the improvement of Yonge street on
Monday, March 9, 1801, and after the
meeting the committee went in a body
to view that part of the street which Mr.
Hale had in part opened, and after ascer
taining the alterations and iniprov ments
necessary to be made and proricting for
the immediate building of a bridge over
the creek, between the S cond and third
mile posts, they adjourned. On one
occasion Secretary Jarvis came very near
losing his placf. It was during the admin
istration of Governor Hunter, a man very
9
peremptory at times in his dismissals.
The Quakers from up Yonge street sent a
delegation, he ded by Timothy Rogers and
Jacob Lundy, to the Governor c molain-
ing of the difficulty and delay they ex
perienced in getting the patents for their
lands, whereupon Mr. Jarvis and several
other officers of the province were ordered
to appear the next day before the Gov
ernor, together with the deputation of
Quakers. Pointing to the Quakers,
the Governor exclaimed, " These gentle
men complain that they cannot get their
patents." Each of the official tried to
exculpate himself, but it appeared that the
order for the patents was more than a year
old, and Mr. Jarvis was found to be the
one most to blame. The unfortunate Secre
tary could only say that the pressure of
business in his office was so great that he
had been absolutely unable up to the
present moment to get these particular
patents ready. " Sir," was the Governor s
reply, " if they are not forthcoming, every
one of them, and placed in the hands of
these gentlemen here in my presence at
noon on Thursday next, by George I ll
un- Jarvis you !" It is not necessary to
remark that the Quakers returned with
their patents. Secretary Jarvis died in
1818. His grandson, Col. Jarvis, was the
first military commandant in Manitoba.
Jarvis street was opened through the
Secretary s park lot after his death by
his son, Samuel Peters Jarvis, whosa name
it bears. The opening of the street neces
sitated the destruction of the residence of
S. P. Jarvis, a handsome structure of the
early brick era of York, which stood in he
line of the new thoroughfare. Part of the
offices attached to the house were turned
into a dwelling on the west side of Jarvis
street, and some years ago the gravel
drive to the door of the old house might
have been traced out by the acute ob
server. Throughout the house was fitted
with black walnut. This interior wood
work was bought by Captain Cart hew and
put into his house at Deer Park on Yonge
street. Samuel P. Jarvis was one of the
parties in a duel fought on the morning of
July 12, 1817, a short distance north of
Grosvenor street and a little way back from
Yonge street. His opponent, John
Ridout, was killed. A few years after
the death of Secretary Jarvis his resi
dence met the fate that so frequently
befalls the mansions of the great. The
property was cut up by his son. A
man by the name .if Lee took the house.
He was an Englishman and conducted
an English chop house and billiard room
in part of the building. He also put up
130
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
LANDMARKS OP TORONTO.
131
a small addition on the Sherbourue
street side. Early in the twenties James
Padfiekl rented a portion of the building
from Lc e and started a school. His first
scholar was Mr. John Smith, who now
lives over the Don ; the second pupil was
Nancy Bright and the third James Stafford.
After this pupils came to the school in
considerable numbers. When the school
was broken up in 1824 Isaac Columbus came
into possession of the house part of which
he converted into workshops of various
kinds, for he was a jack of all trades,
using the remainder as a residence.
Columbus., who was a native of France,
wag one of the characters of early York,
in a small troup and post themselves at
the door throngh which they allowed
no one to pass until Columbus had com
pleted their orders. As remarked, the
talents of Columbus were veiy versatile.
In the Jarvis house he opened a gun
shop, a jewel ery shop, a blacksmith shop,
which on the Duke street extension,
and for a time afterward was occupied
by Paul Bishop, and a factory for the
manufacture of stove pipe?, he having cb-
tained a contract for a quantity of stove
p pes. In these varied occupations he
employed quite a number of men, among
whom were James Bright and Paul
Bishop, both blacksmiths by trade and
\~>J!**J>*- - .!" IfwJMMb
s STCv-riteffl J - .-J-
HOUSES BUILT BY PAUL BISHOP ON THE SAME SITE.
peculiar in many respects, but good-
natured, good-hearted, charitable, and a
very clever workman. Dur ng the war
of 1812 he was employed as armourer to
the militia stationed at the Garrison,
near which he had a forge. Many of
the swords carried into battle by the
officers were manufactured by him, and
although pei haps not Damascus blades they
did excellent service. Before moving into
the Jarvis house he lived on the west
side of Sherbourne street, a little north
of Duke, and in both places he was still
patronized by the soldiers of the Gar
rison, who, in order to get their work
finished expeditiously, would come down
both of whom married daughters of Mr.
Columbus. Mr, Bright and his wife are
still living at advanced ages on King
street, a short distance east of the Don.
The gun and jewellery shop was at the
corner of Duke and Sherbourne streets. The
stovepipe shop was further down on Sher
bourne. Colurbus was equally at home
whether required to make a serv ce of
plate, pull a tooth, make aud insert a
new set of teeth, jump the battered axe
of a woodsman, make skate blades, or th
irons of an ice boat, put in order a sur
veyor s theodolite, or replace an instru
ment lost from a draughtman s case. He
was the schoolboy s friend, and tHey vwd
132
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
to flock to him in great numbers to get
iiieir little matters attended to. Dr. Scad-
iing once having left an article for
repairs, with instruction that it must be
made at a rpecified time, Columbus re
torted that " must" was only for the
Kinc; of France. He was an out-and-out
royalist, and refused to have anything to
do with the York Liberals who wore then
beginning to agitate reform, on the ground
that the modera ideas of government
hindered the King from acting as a good
father to his people. The expression
" first quality biue," used by him to in
dicate an extra quality for wnich an extra
pric^ was to ba paid, passed into a sort
)f proverb among the school boys of
4he time who gr w into the habit ot
applying it to persons and things held
by them to be of a high order of excel
lence. The name Isaac Columbus was
Minted over the door of his workshop on
Sherbouim street, and his daughter Mrs.
bright, says that Columbus is the proper
orthography of the name, although in some
early York papers it occasionally appears as
Inac Collumbu*. Aft r some years spent
in the Jarvis street house, Mr. Columbus
fell into financial trouble ; his property
was taken from him ; his health iailed,
and he went to live with his daughter
and son in-law, James Bright. Here in
She house which they now occupy east
of the Don he died at a very old age.
Mr. Coiumbusmoved into the Jarvis house in
1824 and lef c it ab ut 1832, when it was taken
by Mr. James Kidr), the father of Mr.
John Kidd, who lived there until 1837,
when he built a one-storey and a, tic
dwelling across the way on the south-west
corner of Jarvis and Sherbourne streets.
This building is still standing but elevated
to two stories and an attic. Mr. Kidd
died here in 1844. During the cholera
*pidemic in Toronto it is said several per
sons died of the dread disease in the
Jarvis house. Either from this story or
from the tale of the suicide, the old man
sion after a time acquired an uncanny repu
tation and was commonly reported to
be haunted. During Mr. Kidd s occu
pancy strange, unearthly noises were
heard at night in the big i oom formerly
ttsed by Secretary Jarvis as an office, and
no one could be persuaded to occupy it,
so it was left vacant On several occa
sions in the dead of night Mr. Kidd
en one of these ghostly outbreaks would
creep down to the deserted chamber,
lamp in one hand and pistol in the ether,
to solve the mystery if possible, but on
bis app oach the noises would cease and
ao trace of any visitor could be found.
Once a man by the name of Baxter,
recently arrived in Canada, came ;o the
house to spend the night. He, b.ing igno
rant of the reputation of the house,
was assigned to the haunted room.
Several times during the night he was
heard tossing restlessly on his bed.
The next morning he appeared at break
fast pale and haggard, and declared 1 e
would never pa?s another niht in that
room. In 1848 Paul Bishop, who had
acquired the property, tore down the
old house and erected on the ground
the two brick houses shown in the illus
tration, and the one-storey cottage a little
further to the east. Of the two houses
built together, which are now standirg,
James Peacock owns the coiner one, ai d
William Goldring the one east of it.
CHAPTER XLVI.
THE SMITH HOMESTEADS,
The First Frame Home in York and One of
the First Buildings on King Street The
llou.se Over the Don.
When Governor Simcoe in 1793 came
from Niagara to what is now Toronto in
qu<ist of a site for the seat of his Govern
ment, there came in his train an experienced
builder by the name of William Smith. He
remained here during the fail and
winter and assisted in laying out the
town which the Governor had chosen
for his capital. In the spring
Mr. Smith went over to Niagara
and returned, bringing his fan ily with him.
After the laying out of the town plot he waa
the first to draw a building lot. It was the
north-east corner of King and Sherbourne,
the latter b:nng then named Caro.ine street,
after that Princess of Wales, afterwards so
unhappily famous as Geoige the Fourth s
Qu en Caroline. The same year Mr. Smith
put up a log cabin on his newly acquired
land for the temporary residence of his
family. The next year this was pulled
down and at the eastern end of the plot was
built a frame house, which is reported to be
the first frame house built in York, and
c-rtainly was one of the very first houses
of any description on King street,
which by the way was termed Duke stve t,
and the modern Duke street Duchess street
in the laying out of the town, in compliment
to the Duke of York, son of George the
Third, and the Duchess of York, eldest
daughter of the King of Piusiia. Subse
quently, by an agreement made between
William Smith and his son William, jr.,
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who was but thirteen years oM on his
arrival at York, and who was one of the
pupi .fi of Dr. Okill Stuart at his Horn 1 Dis
trict School, the young man acquired the
western portion of the lot and buiit a frame
addition to his father s house, married and
settled down, and there in 1811 his first
child, Mr. John Smith, who now lives across
the Don, was born. Both the buildings
erected by the father and son are still stand
ing, somewhat changed from their original
appearance. The houses were built of
wood cut on the premises and at the rear of
the houses there is to-day a scable the
wood of which is of the same variety as the
tress trowing in the vicinity. Mr. Smith, the
elder, built many of the earlier houses of
York and also the bridge over the Don on
what is now King street, but was then
rheKingston road running between York and
Kingston. That these ea"ly loa: and frame
houses have stood in such good condition
down to the present time is due mainly to
the excellence of their construction. Among
the men whom Governor Simcoe brought
with him to build his embryo city were
timbermen from Nova Scotia and other
lower province expert hewera and dove-
tailers of logs, and Englishman skilled in
whipsawing and cutting joists and rafters.
The wood too was guod, consisting princi
pally of oak and pine. Mr. John Smith
has some oak cut by his grandfather in
1794, thit is in a state of perfect preserva
tion, and out of which he is having picture
frames made. In 1802 William Smith, sr.,
was one of the subscribers to the fund for
improving Yonge street, and in 1815 his name
is appended together wi h th it of his
son Wi liam to the address of welcome pre
sented by t le citizens of York to Lieutenant
Governor Gore on hh return from England,
Ssptember 27th, 1815. M . William Smith,
&r. , lived i i his King street house until 1819,
when he died. His picture, in the p )s-
session of the family, shows a fine-featured
man with powdered hair and a queue. His
face bears a striking resomblanc ; to that of
Lafayette. Ther ; also came to York
with Governor Simcoe in 1793 Mr. John
Scadding, father of the Rev. Dr Henry
Scadding, of this city, canon of Toronto
and author of Toronto of Old," " The
Four Decades of York, Upper Canada " and
" The First Bishop of Toronto, a Review
and a study." In 1796 Mr. Scadding ob-
tai icd a grant from the Government of the
whole of the lot No. 15 on the fast bank of
the Don, consisting of about 250 acres with
a broken front on the lake in th? first con
cession, the southern division stretching
south to the lake, being known as the first
concision, while that stretching north
ward was termed the second concession.
Governor Simcoe was recalled the same
year and Mr. Scadding returned to England
with him. Previous to his departure tin put
Mr. George Flayter, the father of the present
Mr. John Playter, in charge of the
property, installing him in the log
house which had been built in the
east branch of the Don just south of the
Kingston road, and which may now be
seen at the Exhibition ground. In this
house Emanuel Playter was born in 1798.
He died in 1869 About this log cabin an
orchard had already been set out, the trees
having been brought from the United States,
and as late as 1832 one of the trees of this
orchard, a sweet apple of excellent quality,
was still standing. In 1817 Mr-. Scadding
returned to York and laid out his land on
the north side of the Kingston road
in building lots of ones, two, three
and five acres. These lots were sold,
Georg Playter buying the one just east
of the Don. William Smith, jr., bought all
of Mr. Scadding s land south of the road,
about fifty acres in 1819. In 1818 George
Playter built a frame house one and a half
stories high, and 18x32 feet in dimension on
his plot just north-east of the present King
street bridge over the Don. On purchasing
Mr. Scalding s p -ODerty William Smith,
jr., started to build a tannery near the river
which was in operation in 1820. He then
bought George Playter s newly built house
and moved itacross the road, a little way back
from it to h s own land, an easy task at that
time, as the ground was level and rheroidway
had not been cut down as it now is. In
this house were lodged the employes of the
tannery, Mr. Smith preserving his residence
at the corner of King and Sherbourne sts. ,
where all his family were born until 1832
when he decided to occupy the D >n house
as a residence. He had previously built
an addition to it for the ac3ommodation of
the tannery men and when the tamily took
possession of the house another addition of
18 x 13 feet was put on at the east side.
After the death of William Smith the pro
perty came into the hands of his son John
Smith, who made various additions to the
house from tim; to time until it assumed its
present proportions. The sitting room
now is th j original house built by
John Playt;r. In it stands a tall hall
clock, the case of which was m de by Jor
dan P >st, and which is prob ibly the first
clock case ever manufactured in York. In
the parlour at the east wng of the house
hang the family portraits. In 1879 Mr.
Smith had the old log cabin, built in 1794,
removed to the Exhibition grounds, where
it now stands. The illustration shows the
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
Don homestead, with the tannery and the
log cabin in their original positions. The
land on which they swnd has been expro
priated by che city for the purpose of
straightening and improving the Don river.
Mr. Smith built a new house on the east
side of the Don, where he died.
CHAPTER XLV1L
THE HOME DISTRICT SCHOOL
The First Public School iu York and the
Home of the First Rector ot St. James
< ol. tieorge Duggan s House.
Early in the century, probably not later
than 1805, the Rev. Dr. Okill Stuart
built a modest frame house as a residence
for himself on the plot of ground owned by
him at the south-east corner of King and
George streets. At the south-east corner
of his house, and attached to it, he con
structed a small low stone building, not
much bigger than a root-house. The stone
walls stood in their native rudeness, but
they were atterward covered with a c Dating
of clap-boards. In this primitive school
house the first public school of York was
established, and on the rolls of its pupils
one may read the names of boys who be
came rich and celebrated men and of
girls who blossomed into the belles of the
growing capital. The school was called
tue Home District Schoo 1 , and it was
opened on the first of June, 1807, by the
Rev. Dr. Okiil Stuart, who taught there
several years. Dr. Stuar^ had tiiken up
his residence in York as early as 1803,
as rector of the Anglican congregation,
which, at that time, before the erection of
the first St. James church, held their
services in one of the government build
ings. In March, 1799, there was a day
of general thanksgiving for the late victo
ries of the British, and prayers were
read at 11.30 o clock in the north
government building. Dr. Stuart had not
arrived at this time, and prior to his ap
pointment and afterward during his absence
Mr. William Cooper read the prayers.
This Mr. Cooper was the owner o Cooper s
whart, a favourite landing place near the
foot of Jarvis street. D/. Scadding relates
that a launch took place at the ship yard
adjoining Cooper s wharf once on a Su iday.
All attempts to get the boat into the water
the day before had been vain, and to
prevent any accident which delay might
have occasioned she was got off the ways
on Sunday. As might be expected, Mr.
Cooper was one of the pew holders in St.
J*me.s church from its establishment, and
i& 1802 was one of the subscribers to
the improvement of Yonge street. At the
beginning of 1803 Dr. Stuart had arrived
in Toronto, for the Oracle and Gazette of
January 22 of that year has the following
account of th ? proceedings of the sub
scribers toward the fund for the erection
of the first St. James church : " At a
meeting of the subscribers to a fund for
erecting a church in the town of York,
holdeu at the government buildings on
Saturday, the 8ih of January instant, the
Hon. Chief Justice Eimsley in the chair :
Resolved unanimously that each subscriber
shall pay the amount of his subscription
by three instalments, the first being one
moiety in one month from this day ; the
second being a moiety of the residue iu
two months, and the remainders in three
months ; that Mr. William Allan and Mr.
Duncan Cameron shall be treasurers and
shall receive the amount of said subscrip
tions, and that they be jointly and severally
answerable for all moneys paid into their
hands upon the receipt of either of them ;
that His Honour the Chief Justice, the
Honourable P. Russell, the Honourable
Captain McGill, the Rev. Mr. Stuart,
Dr. Macaulay, Mr. Chewett, and the two
treasurers be a committee of the subscribers,
with full power and authority to apply the
moneys arising from subscriptions to the
purpose contemplated : provided, neverthe
less, that if any material difference of
opinion should arise among them resort
shall be had to a meeting of the sub
scribers to decide ; that the church be
built of stone, brick or framed timber
as the committee miy judge most expe
dient ; due regard being had to the superior
advantages of a stone or brick building
if not counterbalanced by the additional
expense ; that eight hundred pounds of
lawful money be the extent upon which the
committee shall calculate their plan, but
in the first instance they shall not ex
pend beyond the sum of six hundred
pounds, if the amount of the sums sub
scribed and paid into the hands of the
treasurers, together with the moneys which
may be allowed by the British Govern
ment amount to so much, leaving so much
of the woik as can most conveniently be
dispensed with to b^ completed by the
remaining two hundred pounds ; provided,
however, that the said six hundred pounds
be laid out in such manner that Divine
worship can be performed wish decency
in the church ; that the committee do
request the opinion of Mr. Be: ray re
specting the probable expenses which will
attend the undertaking, and respecting the
materials to be preferred, due regard being
had to tbe amount of the fund as aforesaid,
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and that after obtaining his opinion they do
advertise their readiness to receive proposals
conformable thereto. N. B The propriety
of receiving contributions in labour or mate
rials is suggested to tho committee. A. Mac-
donell, secretary to the meeting." Dr.
Stuart preached the sermon at the funeral
of the Hon. Peter Russell, Wednesday,
Oct. 4, 1808. On the second attack
of the Americans on York one ot the Unired
States officers, hospitably entertained by
the ladies of the town, was a brother-in-law
of Dr. Stuart, Brookes by name. Church
and school wore closely a lied in the early
days of York, and both are inseparable
from the history of the house at the south
east corner of King and George streets.
Returning to the school, contemporary
records show that the first names entered
on its books were those of John Ridout,
William A. Hamilton, Thomas G Hamilton,
George H. Detlor, George S. Boulton,
Robert Stanton, William Stanton, Angus
McDonell, Alexander Hamilton, Wi son
Hamilton, Robert Ross, and Allan McNab.
Afterward there came to the school John
Moore, Charles Ruggles, Edward Hart-
ney, Charles Boulion, Alexander Chewett,
Donald McDouell. James Edward Smill,
Charles Small, John Hayes, George and
William Jarvis, William Bowkett, Peter
McDonell, Philemon Squire-, James Mc-
Intosh, Bernard, Henry and Marshall
Glennon, Richard Brooke, Daniel Brooke,
Charles Ree.de, William Robinson, Gil
bert Hamilton, Henry Ernst, John Gray,
Robert Gray, William Cxwthra, William
Smith, Harvey Woodruff, Robert Ander
son, Benjam n Anderson, James Givins,
Thomas Playter, William Pilkington, and
boys by the names of Belcour, Hammeil
and Marian, prob ibly sons of th > French
bakers and confectioners of tint clay.
Among the girls names are many afterward
distinguished in the society of Upper
Canada. The Rev. Dr. John Strachan,
afterward first bishop of Toronto, suc
ceeded Dr. Stuart as incumbent of Sr.
James in 1813. The Home District
School came to an end, and in its place
Dr. Strachan establi hed the District
Grammar School. Dr. Stuart, on leaving
York, became rector of St. George s church,
Kingston, and Archdeacon of Kingston.
On his departure Colonel George Duggaa
bought Dr. Stuart s properly. Co onel
Duegan was an Irishman of strong pre
judices. He came to York at an early
date. Oddly enough, he had an insuperable
aversion to Dr. Stuart. Th-it divine was
a tall, benevolent and handsome man,
bnt he had a peculiar delivery, and
whenever he ascended the pulpit Colonel
Ducrgan would invariably rise and walk
out of church with the greatest gravity.
This became such a regular performance
that it ceased to attract attention,
and the congregation came to regard it as
a part of the service. Colonel Duggan
gave and set out the row of Lombardy
i poplars which once stood in front of
St. James church, and which may be
seen in old engravings of King street,
when it became necessary to remove these,
a .id the vestry voted theif destruction,
Colonel Duggan came vary near assault
ing T. D. Harris, the church warden,
who was entrusted with the work of
superintending their removal. Another
instance of his strong prejud ces is
given in the story how he once kept a
jury locked up all night by obstinately
standing out against the o .her eleven
members. They had their revenue, how-
ever, for they kept tin Colonel awake
the whole nighi, and so tortured him with
tricks and pranks that he was glad
to give in next morning when court
ni -t. In 1815 Colonel Duggan was one
of the signers of an address welcoming
Lieatenant-Governor Francis Gore back
to Upper Canada from England. In
1822 he was a subscriber to the fund
Tor the erection of two bridges over the
Don. He once stood for the town against
Attorney -General Ro inson, but was de
feated. After Mr. Dnggxn, Patrick Hugheg
opened a dry-goods store in the building.
His stock wa. largely exposed on the out
side during the day and during the evening
it was indoors The old building shown in the
illustration has long since yielded to
the march of progress, and the boys
and girls who pored over their books
wichin its walls are all dead, and the
mossy marbles rest upon Dr. Stuart and
Colonel Duggan. Still it is a memorial
of the first public school of this town and
of the first rector of St. James .
Of those who were pupils and who have
also long since passed away may be men
tioned : John Ridout, who in his very early
youth was a midshipman on one of the lake
gunboats in the war of 1812, and who met
his death in a lamentable manner before ha
had completed his twenty-first year ; Angu
McDonell, than whom no man in Toronto
was better known ; the Smalls, whose
descendants are in Toronto at the present
time ; W illiam Cawthra, who erected the
large stone house on the north-east corner of
King and Bay str ets, now occupied by the
Molsons Bank : Thomas Playter, whose
family is still in the city ; and Allan McNab,
of whom the stories told are legion.
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FIRST METHODIST CHURCH IN YORK.
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CHAPTER XLVI1L
THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCH.
A Sketch of the Primitive Wesley an Cbapel
on Ring Street Afterward Converted Into
the Theatre Uoyal.
The year 1818 was noteworthy in the an-
nals of York as an era of extensive build
ing operations. Numerous stores, private
residences and other buildings were erected,
several of which were of a more pre
tentious style of architecture than those
previously existing i n the capital. In
thesumm.rof this year was erected the
little church shown in the illustration.
It was the first place of public worship of
the Wesleyan Methodists in York. The
chapel was a little low common-place-look
ing frame structure, originally forty feet
square, but afterward enlarged to forty
by sixty feet. Its builder was a Mr. Perch.
It stood a few feet back from what is now
the corner of King and Jordan streets,
but at the time of its erection Jordan street
had no existence. It was on the south
aids of Kine 1 s:reet and stood north and
south. On the site of the chapel was after
ward built Hay s furniture establishment.
The little chapel had a solitary double
door-way op;ni:tg toward King street.
Oa each side of the entrance was a window,
which, as compared with the siza of the
building, were of considerable dimensions.
Three windows of similar size lighted
thj interior from each side. The in
terior was fitted up with a high square
box -like pulpit at the end. Rude wooden
benches were ranged along each side, leav
ing a narrow passage down the middle
from the door to the pulpit. The entire
cost of the building was about $250, and
it is said that the congregation were three
years in raising this amount. This seems
strange to any one contemplating the
wealth of the Methodist denomination in
Toronto to-day. From the little wooden
chapel at thy corner of King and Jordan
streets the magnificent Metropolitan
church is a long step in less than half a
century. In the first Methodist church
the custom prevailed of separating the men
from the women, the fornu-r sitting on
the right hand entering the building,
the latter on the left. This practice of
separating the sexes in places of public
worship camejtom the East, and is still
followed~by~the Jews in their synagogues.*
It also exists at the present day in
some of the Engli-h churches. Formerly,
among the arCicTes of enquTi y sent from a
Diocesan to church -wardens, was the
question : " Do men and wom^n srt
together indifferently and p/omiscuously,
or as the fashion was of old do mun sit
together on one &ide of the church and
women upon the other ?" In English
churches the usage differed fro:n the prac
tice of the Methodtots in Toronto ; the
north of the church was the place of the
women and the south that of the men.
The same custom of j-eparating the sexe
also obtained in the Greek church,
In 1688 Sir George Wheler, in his
" Account of the Churches of the Primi
tive Christians," says that "this custom
seems not only very decent, but now-adays
since wickedness so much abounds highly
necessary, for the general mixture of man
and women in the Latin Cnurch is noto
riously scandalous and little less is their
sitting together in the same paws in our
London churches." At the time of th^
erection of the chapel this part of King
street was but sparsely built np, there
being nj house on the south side between
the chapel and thj corner of Bay street,
where stood the private residence of
Mr. Jordan Post, a well-known clock-
maker of that day, whose name is com
memorated in Jordan ,-treet. Mr. Post s
shop was near the south-west corner of
King and Yonge streets. Between this
shop and the chapel the only building
was Shepherd s blacksmith s shop, which
stood about half way between Yonge
street and the present site of Jordan street.
Opposite was a solitary two-storey house,
where a family by the name of Smith
carried on a bakery and confectionery
business. The end of this house abutting
on the street is shown in the illustra
tion. Oa the western side of the chapel,
and at its rear, was an orchard extend
ing southward to Wellington street,
beyond which trees and shrubs stretched
down to the water s edge across the road
leading to the Garrison. The Wesleyan
chapel continued to be used as a place
of worship for fifteen years. In 1833 it
was converted for a time into th " Theatre
Royal."
And in the same building where had re
sounded the eloquence of the early Method
ist ministers the playgoers of York listened
to the soliloquies of Hamlet, followed the
woes of Juliet, and sat aghast as the cupidity
of Shylock was skilfully placed before them.
To the first Methodist church and the
change afterwards made in it may be ap
plied the Shakespearean quotation " We
know what we are, but we know not what
we may be."
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CHAPTER XLIX.
PAUL BISHOP S HOUSE AND SHOP.
An Early .Smithy Where the Vint Cab Con
structed in York Was Bnilt The Corner
of Duke and Sherbourne Streets.
Among the early settlers in York was
Paul Bishop, a French Canadian, who estab
lished himself in business here as blacksmith
and wheelwright. On the north-east corner
of Duke and Sherbourne streets, the latter
then uaroline, a little distance back from
the street, Bishop built a good-sized frame
blacksmith shop, fronting southward on
Duke street. It was clapboarded and had a
shingle roof. Through its wide open doors
the forge within might ever be aeeu glow
ing, while the merry ring of the hammer on
the anvil sounded. About thirty feet from
the shop, at the east side of it, were some
trees, and at the rear of the shop, on the
west side, stood one tree.
For many years he was the principal
workman in his trade in the town, and in
1831 his shop was in its full vigor. All
about the yard were scatt red wheels and
broken vehicles brought for repairs. The
first caF buwtTh York" was constructed in
his shop. On the opposite side of the street
just east of the house built by Secretary
Jarvis at the south-east corner of Duke and
Sherbourne and then occupied by Isaac
Columbus, a French gunsmith and jack of
all trades, Bishop built a small one storey
red brick cottage for a residence. The four
sides of tfie roof sloped down in equal
triangles from the peak. In front were tw>>
windows. The door was reached by a short
flight of side steps with a railing and a little
stoop such as is fr quently seen
in the older houses to-day. This cottage is
stffi standing in good repair. Mr. Bishop
married one of the daughters of his neigh
bour, Columbus. James Bright, a black
smith, who with his wife now lives over the
Don at an advanced age, married another
daughter, and Henry Robinson, a gunsmith,
wedded the third and youngest daughter.
Bishop was a pleasant, well-liked man. He
spoke fairly ^ood broken English. While
conducting business at his Duke street shop
he bought large quantities of iron from T.
D. Harris. At length reverses came and he
was obliged to transfer his shop and house
to other hands. T. D. Han is, to whom he
was largely indebted for material, obtained
possession of the shop, which he
moved forward and converted into dwel
ling, which are now standing. Bishop left
the city about 1846, immediately after his
(allure in bnsiness, and went to Penetan-
guishene, where he died some years ago.
A year or two previous to 1848 T. D,
Harris, having come into possession of the
property owned by Paul Bishop, at the
north-easc corner of Duke and Sherbourne
streets, where he can led on the black-
smithing business, Mr. Harris moved the
frame shop forwa r d to the street line, en
larged and re-modeled it, and after rai&ing
it on stone foundations, about three feet
high, divided it into two dwellings, two
stories in height, which were stuccoed
brown. Flights of steps gave en
trance to the doors, elevated by the stone
foundation. At the west end of the coiner
wall Mr. Harris inserted in the foundation
a stone bearing the inscription T. D. H.,
1848, being his initials and the date of the
transformation of the shop into dwellings.
These buildings are still standing, although
beginning to show signs of age and decay.
Mr. Harris was in business at his store
on the south side of King street, be
tween Frederick and George streets, on a
site recently occupied by O Connor s hotel,
and torn down to make room for two red
brick dwellings. The firm was Watkins k
Harris. In 1833 they moved to 68 King
street east. The shop was known as the
"Sign of the Anvil and Sledge." Mr.
Harris then dissolved partnership and about
1850 moved to the brick building now occu
pied by Greo. Keith, 124 King street east.
He was succeeded in the wholesale business
by Mr W. R. Harris. In 1829 Air. Harris
had established a hardware business in the
first named King street shop, a little west
of the market, in connection with John
Wakins, of Kingston. From an adver
tisement of 1833 the stock of hard
ware stores at that time may be lea; ned.
It consisted of such substantial materials
as bending and unbending nails, as usual,
wrought nails and spikes of all sizes, ox
traces and cable chain?, tin, double and
single sheet iron, sheet brass and copper,
ba.r hoop, bolt and iron of all sizes, shear,
blister and cast steel, with an assortment of
such coods as cordage, oakum, tar pitch
and rosin and patent machines for shelling
corn. Money being scarce, Mr. Harris
issued scrip redeemable by himself
which passed current through the town.
These were of the denomination of 7^d.,
Is. 3d. and 2-. 6d. cy. They were about the
size of the present Dominion currency bil:s
and popularly known as shinplasters, thus
showing that that word much antedates the
civil war in the United States where it is com
monly supposed it had its origin. Mr. Harris
did a very extensive business for many
years. His store was supposed to be fire
proof. This belief prevailed to s-nch aji ex
tent during the great fire of 1849 ia the store
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124 King street east that no effort was made
to remove the contents of the building. For
a long time it resisted the flames, but at
length fell a Yictim and everything was de
stroyed. After this disaster Mr. Harris
retired from business. In the year 1841
a great fire had raged in the western
part of the town destroying the western half
of the block bounded by King, York, Pearl,
then Boulton and Bay streets. Mr. Han-is
at the time of that confligration was chief of
the fire brigade and had been for several
years, but immediately after the fire he
resigned his office, and Robert Beard was
appointed as his successor. It is related
ihat once Mr. Harris, who for twenty-five
years was churchwarden of St. James", nar
rowly escaped a dangerous personal encoun
ter with George Duggan over the removal of
some Lombardy poplars which stood in
front of the church on the King street side.
The vestry had resolved that they should be
destroyed, and Mr. Harris carried out their
decision in the matter not without risk to
himself. A humourous incident once re
sulted from the presentation by Mr. Harris
of a set of colours to the John Watkins, a
schooner commanded by Captain Thew ply
ing between York and Niagara, the colours
being given by Mr. Harris in honour of his
old friend, whose name the boat bore. In
some way ithappened that these colours were
made of the particular pattern which ves
sels in the Royal service are alone allowed
to carry. One day while the John Watuns
was lying securely moored in the Kingston
harbour gaily flaunting her new colours
Captain Thew was astonished to find his
vessel boardfdbya body of man -of -war s-
men from a neighbouring British war ship,
who hauled down and seized the flags flying
from her masts as the exclusive insignia of
the Royal Navy. The flags were afterward
restored to Captain Thew on his explana
tion of the case. After the retirement < f
Mr. Harris from business he was appointed
harbour master of Toronto, and occupied
that position up to the time of his death.
CHAPTER I*
UPPER CANADA COLLEGE.
The HUtorv of the Educational Institution
Established by Sir Johu Colborne -with a
Mcetoli of its Foamier ami His Public
Services.
The circumstances attending the origin of
Upper Canada College and Royal Grammar
School, the original name of this educational
institution are these: In theyesr 1798 agrant
of 549,000 acres of land from the public do
main wag made by the Crown in response to
a joint address of the Legislative Council
and Assembly of Upper Canada wh : cli pray
ed that His Majesty would be
pleased to direct his Government in the
province to appropriate a certain
portion of the lands c f the Crown as a fund
for educational purposes, including the es
tablishment and support of a respectable
Grammar school in each district thereof and
also a ooilege or university for the instruc
tion of youth in the different branches of
liberal knowledge. The province at that
time was divided into four districts. Of
the above mentioned lands 190,573 acres
were assigned by the Impeiial Government
to a general Board of E -ucatiou of th
Province, established ia 1823 for the sup
port of Grammar and Common school?. In
1826 there were three hundred and fifty
common schools, and eleven dist: ict or
Grammar schoois in the province, the form
er having an attendance of eight thousand
pupils and ihe lat er of about three hun
dred. The residue of the grant, which
was 358,427 acres, was regarded by the pro
vincial government as applicable to the sup
port of the contemplated ui iversity, and an
exchange was made by the Imperial Govern
ment of Crown reserves of an equal quantity
of and with the view of securing the imme
diate establishment of the University. It is
to Sir Jonn Colborne, one of the greatest
governors of this province that Upper Cana
da College largely owes its establishment.
In October 1828 his predecessor, Sir Pere
grine Maitland, who was on the point of
leaving Upper Canada, having been appoint
ed to the government of Nova Scotia,
paid York an invo untary visit. He
was on his way to Niagara, journeying
from Quebec, through the Rideau Canal,
when a storm having arisen on the
lake, the royal yacht Bullfi os, Commodore
Barrie commanding, was forced to put in
York harbour. The same paper which
chronicled the departure of Sir Peregrine
Maitlaud .-mnounced that the ship Corinthi
an hid arrived in New York, and the Niagara
Gleaner says that on Monday, November
10th, "His Excellency Sir John Colborne
paid a visit to the Fal s. His own carri ge,
drawn by four Fpirited horses, furnished by
Mr. Chrysler, carried his Excellency s ady,
her sister, Miss Yonge, and five chi dren.
His Excellency went on horseback, accorn-
pani d by Captain Phil potts, of the Royal
Engineers. In the m antime the steamer
Canada went to Lewiston, took in his Ex
cellency s luggage, and was ready to receive
his Excellency and family at an ear y hour
on Tuesday morning. On the departure of
the vessel a salute was fired Jrom Fort
George." The Gleaner adds that "his
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
145
Excellency was highly gratified with the
first view of the province and the friendly
reception he met with, also the good things
he partook of at the hotel, much of which
was thy product of the province." Sir John
C<i!borne was a distinguished military
officer. Dr. Scadding says r= garding him :
" We remember his first passing up the
central aisle of St. James church. He had
arrived early in an unostentatious way, and
on comiag within the building he quietly in
quired of the first person whom he saw
sitting in a seat near the door which wa*
the Governor s pew. The gentleman ad
dressed happened to be Mr. Ber
nard Turqnand, who quickly recogniz
ing the inquirer, stood up and
extended his right arm and open hand in
the direction of the canopied pew, over
which was suspended the tablet bearing the
royal arms. Sir John and some of his family
after him then passed on to the place indi
cated. At school," continues Dr Scadding,
" in an edition of Goldsmith, then in use,
the name of Major Colb:rne, in connection
with idle account of Sir John Moore s death
at Corunna, had already been obssrved, and
it was with us lads a matter of intense in
terest to learn that the new Governor was
the same person. The scene which was
epitomized in the school-book is given
at greater length in Gleig s
Lives of Eminent British Military
Commanders. The following are some par
ticulars from Colonel Anderson s narrative
in that work : I m<^ the General, Colo
nel Anderson says, on the evening of the
16th, bringing in a blanket and sashes, He
knew me immediately, though it was almost
dark, squeezed me by the Kand and said
1 Anderson, don t leave me. At intervals
he added Anderson, you know that I have
always wished to die in this way. I hope
the people of England will be satisfied. I
hope my country will do me justice. You
will see my friends as soon as you can. Tell
them everything. 1 have made my will and
have remembered my servant. Colborne
has my will and all my papers. Major
Colborne now carne into the room. He said
most kindly to him and then said to Mr.
Anderson, Remember you go to and
tell him it is my request, and that I expect
he will give Major Colborne a lieutenant-
colonelcy. He thanked the surgeons for
their trouble. He pressed my hand close
to his body and in a few minutes died
without a struggle. He had been struck by
a canuon b.ill, Tiie shot, we are told, had
completely crushed his shoulder, the arm
was hanging by a piece of skin, and the
ribs over the heart, besides being broken,
were literallv stripped of flesh. Yet, the
10
narrator adds, he sat upon the field collect
ed and unrepining as if no ball had struck
him, and as if he were placed
where he was for the mere
purpose of reposing for a brief space
f rr m the fatigue of hard riding. Sir John
Colborne himself afterwards, at Ciudad
Rodrigo, came within a hair s breadth of a
similar fate. His right shoulder was shat
tered by a cannon shot. The escape of the
right arm from Mnputation on the field at
the hands of some prompt military surgeon
on t!vat occasion was a marvel. The limb
was saved, though greatly disabled. The
want of symmetry in Sir John Colborne s
tall and graceful form permanently occa
sioned by this injury was conspicuous to the
SIR JOHN COLBORNE LOKD SEATON.
eye. We happened to be present in the
Council chamber at Quebec in 1838 at the
moment when this noble-looking soldier
Mteral y vacated the vice-regal chair and
installed his successor, Lord Durham, in it
after administering to him the oaths." The
exchange was not for the better in a scenic
point of view although the featu-es of Lord
Durham as his well known portrait shows,
were very fine, suggestive of the poet or
artist. Of late years a monument has been
erected OH Mount Wise at Plymouth, in
honour of the illustrious military chie; and
pre-eminently excellent man whose memory
has just been recalled to us. It is a statue
of bronze by Adams, a little larger than
life, and the likeness is admirably pre
served. When seen on horseback at paratle
or reviews soldiers always averred that he
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147
greatly resembled " the Duke." Dr. Henry,
in " Trifles from my Portfolio," thus wrote
of him in 1833, " When we first dined
at Government House we were
struck by the strong resemblance he
bore to the Duke of Wellington
and there is also, Dr. Henry continues, a
great similarity in mind and disposition as
well as in the lineaments of the face. In
one particular they harmonize perfectly,
namely, great simplicity of character and
an utter dislike to show ostentation. On
the four sides of the granite pedestal of the
statue on Mount Wise are to be read the
following inscriptions : in front, John
Colborne, B iron Seaton, Borne MDCCLXX
VIII, Died M0CCCLXIII," on the righ.
side, " Canada, Ionian Islands," <>n the left
siie " Peninsula. Waterloo," on the remain
ing side : " In Memory of the Distinguished
Career and Stain ess Character of Field Mar
shal Lord Seaton, G C. B. , G. C. M. G. , G. C . H. .
This Monument is erected by his Friends
and Comrades." Accompanying the family
of Sir John Co. borne to their place in the
church at York was to be seen every Sun
day for some time ;i shy-mannered, black -
eyed, Italian featured Mr. Jeune, tutor to
the Governor s sons. This was afterwards
the eminent Dr. Jeune, master of Pembroke
College at Oxford, a great promoter of re
form in that university and Bishop of Lin
coln. Sir John himself was a man of
scholarly tastes, a great student of history
and a practical modern European linguist.
Through a casual circumstance it is said that
full praise was not publicly given at the time
to the regiment commanded by Sir John
Colborne, the 52nd, for the particular
service rendered by it at the battle
of Waterloo. By the independent direction
of their leader the 52ud made a sudden flank
movement at the crisis of the fight and
initiated the final discomfiture of which
the Guards got the sole praise. At the close
of the day when the Duke of Wellington
was rapidly constructing his despatch Col.
Colborne was inquired for by him and could
not for the moment be found. The in
formation evidntly desired was thus not to
be had and the document was completed and
sent off without a special mention of
the 52nd s deed of " derring do." During
the life-time of the great Duke there was much
reticence among the military authorities in
regard to the battle of Waterloo from the
fact that the Duke himself did
not encourage discussion on the sub
ject. All was well that had ended
well appeared to have been his
doctrine. He once checked an incipient
dispute in regard to the great event of the
18th of June between two friends in his
presence by the command half -jocose, half-
earnest, " You leave the battle of Waterloo
alone !" He gave 60 for a private letter
written by himself to a friend on the eve of
the battle, and was heard to say as he threw
the document into the fire, " What a fool
was I when I wrote that !" Since the death
of the Duke an officer of the 52nd, subse
quently in holy orders, the Rev. William
Leeke has devoted two volumes to the
history of the 52nd or Lord Seaton s regi
ment in which its movements on the field of
Waterloo ate fully detailed. And Colonel
Chesney in his "Waterloo Lectures, a Study
of the Campaign of 1815," has set the great
battle in a new light and has demolished
several English and French tra;iit ; ons in
relation to it bringing out into great promin
ence the sei Vices rendered by Blucher and
the Prussians. The Duke s personal sensi
tiveness to criticism WHS shown on another
occasion. When Colonel Gurwood suddenly
died, he, through the police, took possession
of the Colonel s papers and especially of a
manuscript of table talk and other area
designed for publication and which had it
not been on the instant ruthlessly destroyed
would have been as interesting probably as
Boswtll s. On Lord Saaton s departure from
Canada he was successively Lord High Com
missioner of the Ionian Islands and Com-
mandt.r-in-Chief in Ireland. He then retired
to his own estate in the west of England,
where he had a beautiful seat in the midst
of the calm, rural, inland scenery of Devon
shire, not far from Piympton, and on the
slope descending southward from the sum
mit of Dartmoor. The name of the house is
Beechwood, from the num rous, clean, bold,
magnificent beech trees that adorn its
grounds, and give character to the neigh
bourhood generally. In the adjoining vil
lage of Sparkwell he erected a handsome
ichool house and church. On his decease at
Torquay in 1863 his remains were deposited
in the church at Newton Ferrers, the
ancient family burying place of the Yongea.
Mrs. Jam eson s words in her " Winter
Stories and Summer Rambles," express
briefly but truly the report which all that
remember him would give of this distin
guished and ever memorable Governor of
Canada.
Sir John Colborne she says, incidentally in
the introduction to the wo: k just named,
whose mind appeared to me cast in the anti
que mould of chivalrous honour and whom I
never heard mentioned in either Province
but with respect and veneration. Dr.
Henry in " Trifles from my Portfolio," once
before referred to uses similar language, " I
believe" he says "there never was a soldier of
more perfect moral character than Sir John
148
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
Colborne, a Bayard without gasconade as
well as sans peur ft sans reproche." The
title " S atou"we may add was taken from
the name of an " ancient seaport town of
Devon, the MorHunumof theRoman pe iod."
Befote the arrival of Sir John Colborne
at York educational affairs had received
& good deal o f attention from the people of
the province and at the beginning of his ad-
mini Oration a great impatus was given to
the cause of learning by the estab ishmant
of a more advanced educational institution
than had hitherto existed here. It had
long been considered advisable to afford fa
cilities to the youth of Upper Canada for
obtaining a njore thorough e aication than
was to be had nt such institutions as the
Home District Grammar School which up to
the year 1829 was the most advanced educa
tional institution in York. There was a
good deal of discussion on the subject; pub
lic feeling was aroused and several peti
tions were presented in the legislature.
The outcome of the discussion was that Up
per Canada College was established by an
order of the Provincial Government. From
its name and the circumstances attending
its foundation, Upp^r Canada College was
intended to meet a provincial want in
higher education. In the spring of 1829 it
had been determined to proceed at once
with the erection of suitable buildings, and
in the Loyalist of May 2nd of that year
occurs the following advertisement :
" Minor College. Sealed tenders for erect
ing a school-house and four dwelling-houses
will be received on the first Monday of June
next. Plans, elevations and specifications
may be seen after the 12th inst. oa applica
tion to the Hon. Geo. Markland, from
whom further information will be received.
Editors throughout the province are re
quested to insert this notice until the first
Monday in June, and forward their accounts
for the sum to the office of the Loyalist." In
the Upper Canada Gazette of December 17,
1829, this advertisement is printed :
"Uppsr Canada College, established at
York. Visitor, the Lieutenant Governor
for the tim ; being. This college will open
after the approaching Christmas vacation,
on Monday, the 8th of January, 1830, under
the conduct of the masters appointed at
Oxford by the Vice-Chancellor and other
electors in Ju y last. Principal, the Rev.
J. H Harris, D. D., late Fellow
of Clare Hall, Cambridge. Classical Depart
ment ; Vic -Principal, the Rev. T. Philips,
D. D. , of Queen s College, Cambridge ; First
Classical Master, the Rsv. Chas. Mathews,
M. A., of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge ;
Second Classical Master, the R-v. W. Boul-
on, B. A., of Queen s College, Oxford ;
Mathematical Department, the Rer. Chas.
Dacle, M. A., Fellow of Cain s College, Cam
bridge, and late Mathematical Master at
Eliz ibeth College ; French, Mr. J. P. De La
Haye ; English, WrMng and Arithmetic,
Mr. G. A. Barber and Mr. J. Padfield ;
Drawing Master, Mr. Drury. Signed, G.
H. Markland, secretary to the Board of
Education." Sir John Colborne on his
arrival in Upper Canada was fresh from
the governorship of Guernsey, one of the
Channel Islands. During his administra
tion there he had revived a decayed public
school now known as Elizabeth College.
Biing of opinion that the new country to
which he had been transferred was not ripe
for a unive-sity on the scale contemplated
in a royal charter which had been procured
he addressed himse f to the establishment
of an institution which should meet the
university wants of the community. Be
tween the schoal or "minor college" as it
was popularly ca led, which resulted from
this decision of Sir John and the institution
which he had recently been engaged in re
viving, there exists a very close connection
and some particulars in regard to the Chan
nel school may not be out of place in view
of its relation to the Canadian Institution.
Elizabeth CoU^ge, Guernsey, was originally
called the " School of Queen Elizabeth" as
having been founded under letters patent
trom that Sovereign in 1563 to be a " Gram
mar school, in which the youth of the Island
may be better instructed in good learning
and virtue." The temple or church of the
suppressed Order of Grey Friars Friars,
Minors or Cordeliers with its immediate
precincts, was assigned for its use, together
with eighty quarters of wheat rent accruing
from lands in different parts o? the island,
which had been given to the friars for d s-
pensutions, masses and obits. By the
statutes or 1563 the school was divided into
six classes and books, and exercises were
Appointed respectively for each, the scholars
to be admitted bnng required to read
perfectly and to recite an approved cate
chism of the Christian religion by heart. In
all the six classes the Latin and Greek lan
guages were the primary objects of instruc
tion, but the sta utes permitted the master
at his discretion to add something of his own
and to concede something for writing, sing
ing, arithmetic and a littl p ay. For more
than two centuries the school proved of
little public utility. In 1799 there was
but one pupil in the estab ishment.
In 1816 there were no scholars. From
that date to 1824 the number fluctuated
from 15 to 29. In 1823 Sir John Col.
borne appointed a committee to investi
gate all thj circumstances connected with
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
149
150
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
the school and to ascertain the best mode of
assuring its future permanent efficiency and
prosperity without perv.rdng the intention
of the foundress. The result of this was a
new building figured at a cost of 14,754 2s
3d, the toundation stone being
laid by Sir John in 1826.
On August 28th, 1829, the revived institu
tion was publicly open d with one hundred
and twenty pupils. On that day, in the
absence of the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir
John Colborne, who was then in Canada,
General Ross, the bailiff and jarats
of the island, headed by a proces
sion consisting of the Principal, Vice- Prin
cipal and other masters and tutors of the
schooi, together with the scholars, repaired
to St. Peter s church, when prayers w r -re
read by the Dean, Dr. Durand, and the Te
Ueum and other anthems were sung. They
then returned to the college, where, in the
spacious examination hall, a crowded as
sembly was addressed by the bailiff and
president director, Daniel De Lisle Brock.
Colonel De Havilland. the Vice-president,
and the Rev. G. Proctor, B.D. , the new
principal. on the antiquity, objects, apparent
prospects and future efficiency of the insti
tution. Under the new system the work of
education was carried on by a principal,
vice-principal, a first and second classical
master, a mathematical master, a master
and assistant of the lower school, a commer
cial master, two French masters and an
assistant, a master of drawing and survey
ing, besides extra masters for the German,
Italian and Spanish languages, and for
music, dancing and fencing. The course of
instruction for the day scholars and those
on the foundation included divinity, history,
geography, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French,
English mathematics, arithmetic and writ
ing at a charge in the upper school
ot three pounds a quarter, and in
the lower or preparatory school of one
pound a quarter. For drawing and survey-
in? fifteen shillings a quarter extra were
charged. The terms for private scholars
including all college dues and subscriptions
for exhibitions and prizes of medals varied
ftv m 60 annually with the principal, of
46 annually, with the first c assical
master. The exhibiiions in the revived
institution were one of 30 a year for four
years founded by the Governor of Guernsey
in 1826 to the best classical scholar a native of
the baiiiwick or son of a racive,fourfor four
years of at least 20 per annum founded by
subscription in 1826 to the best scholars
severally in divinity, classics, mathematics
and modern languages, one for four years of
20 per annum founded in 1827 by Admiral
Sir James Saumarf z to the best theological
and classical scholar, one of
20 per annum for four years
from 1830 to the best classical scholar given
by Sir John Colborne in 1828, and two from
the lower to the upper school of six pounds
per annum for one year or more, founded by
the directors in 1829. Naturally the system
upon which the new Upper Canada College
was modelled was that which was then
adopted in most of the great public schoo s
in England. The classes were first opened
on the 8th of January, 1830, in the building
on Adelaide street, which had formerly been
used as the Home District Grammar School.
Here it continued for more than a year. In
the summer of 1831 the range of buildings
represented in the first of the accompanying
sketches was completed, and the in
stitution was removed to the site
which it has since occupied,
opposite Goveinment House, what was
originally a very broken piece of ground
denominated Russell Square. In the mes
sage of the Lieutenant-Governor to the
Legislative Assembly in 1831 it is stated
that from the original giant of land by the
Crown 66,000 acres had been set apart for
the support of Upper Canada College and
Royal Grammar Schooi. The management
of Upper Canada College was from its
foundation in 1829 until March, 1833,
under the control of its own board
of directots and trustees, when by an
order of the Lieut< nant-Governor it
was transferred to the council of King s
College, and by the Act of 1837 was incor
porated with and formed an appendage of
the University of King s College, subject to
its jurisdiction, and it thus remained until
the first of January, 1850, when the University
Act of 1849 came into force, which, while
declaring that the College was an appendage
of the University, conferred upon it the
management by its own council, subject to
the authority of the head of the University,
as to the disallowance of any statute or
rule ; also with an Endowment Board. By
the Act if 1853, Upper Canada College was
placed under the control and management of
the Senate of the University, with power to
make statutes for the good government and
regulation of the college, and for the prin
cipal and masters and the fees and general
management of the business and affairs gen
erally. Under this authority a commitCeeap-
pointed by the Senate, consisting of five mem
bers constitutes the Board of Management
of the college, trhich is entrusted with the
administration of its financial affairs, so far
as regards the disposition of its income, and
subject to the Lieutenant-Governor in Coun
cil as to the capital and endowment. In
the constitution of this committee the Chan-
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
C -llor and Vice-Chancellor are members ex-
effioio, and three members are elected by
the Senate. The grounds and buildings
cover an area of ten acres. During the
first fire years of its existence the College
was endowed with 268 acres of land, ex
clusive of the block on which ifc is built, and
of another valuable block of land in Toron
to. It also received a grant from the Pro
vincial Exchequer of 200 in 1830, 500 in
1831, and 1,000 per annum for several sub-
seqnent years. The establishment has ever
sinceits foundation enjoyed a high reputation
as a seat of learning, and the distinguished
success of its pupils at our universities and
in various walks of life has often been com
mented upon. Many of the most prominent
men in the Dominion owe their early train
ing to Upper Canada College.
The institution has now been in existence
for sixty years. Some years ago it began to
be apparent that its accommodation and ap
pointments were inadequate to its nqui e-
ments. Enlarged and improved accommo
dation became an absolute necessity, if the
College was to meet the demands of the
country, and to maintain its reputation and
efficiency unimpaired. Not only was ad
ditional room needed for educational pur
poses, but there was an imperative need of
additional boarding accommodation, and
also of additional t> achers.
In the winter of 1876 7 a committee of the
Senate, consisting of the Hon. the Vice-
Chancellor, Chief Justice Moss, Colonel
Gzowski, Hon. Justice Morrison, and Judge
Boyd, wa-* formed to consider the best
means of securing additional facilities, and
early in the spring this committee presented
its rep rt. The report recommended the
carrying oat of many improvements, the
cost of which was estimated not to exceed
$50,000. In an exhaustive report addressed
by the Vice-Chancel or to the Honourable
the Provincial Secretary it was shown that
the income of the College might be invested
in a manner which, while perfectly safe,
would yet be much more productive, and
that the increase of revenue they acquired
would be quite sufficient to pay interest
OP. the amount borrowed from capital or
raised by the way of loan without impair
ing, and, indeed, with every prospect of im
proving, the efficiency of the educational
department. It was suggested, too, with
the view of enlarging the character of the
College as a Provinci .1 institution, and of
meeting the constantly increasing demand
for admission from pupils in the country,
that the masters residences on the east side
of the College should be converted into
boarding-houses by the erection of a
mansard roof, and of an additional
building in the rear two stories high,
of which the ground floor could serve as a
dining-room and the first floor as apartments
for servants. A detached building in the
rear was also converted into a sanatarium,
to which pupils afflicted with severe illness
or contagious diseases might be at once re
moved and placed under the special care of
the medical attendant, with such assistance
as might be deemed necessary. The final
result of the committee s action was the
erection of the additional buildings which
appear in the second of our illustrations.
They were completed and first occupied in
the month of April, 1877. The architect
was Mr. G. W. Lloyd, of Sandwich, whose
plans were drawn and executed under the
supervision of Mr, Kivas Tullv, of the Pro-
v nuial Department of Public Works.
The original college building will be re
membered by many residents of Toronto.
It was a building of plain red
brick, about eighty feet in depth by eighty-
two feet wide, two storeys in height, with
square, wifle windows, without any preten
sions to architectural effect. The old build
ing is still retained in its entirety, but in
front of it has been erected an imposing
addition eighty-five feet front by forcy-four
feet in d pth, two storeys in height, with a
high French roof. The principal entrance
is in the centre of the front, giving access
to a hall fourteen feet wide, running the en
tire depth of the united buildings. On
either side on the ground floor is a large
class-room forty-two feet by thirty-three
feet. Opening on to the centre hall is a side
hall nineteen feet wide, forming a tide en
trance, and containing also the principal
stair-case, seven feet in width, giving access
to the first floor above. The whole of the
first floor of the new addition is devoted to
the purpose of a chapel or general college
hall, and is a magnificent room, eighty-two
feet long by forty-two feet in width, twenty-
eight feet high, finished in genuine colle
giate style The roof is Gothic, supported
by eight timber principals, with bold open
work curved ribs springing from corbels in
the walls. The ceiling is divided by panels
by moulded ribs, with tilling in of diagonal
boarding, and rich moulded cornice all round
all finished to show the natural wood. The
hall is lighted on three sides by thirteen
large mullioned windows, and the remaining
side is devoted to the reception of the tablets
commemorating the scholastic triumphs of
many of Canada s foremost men, both of past
and present days, and to excellent life-s ze
portraits of the founders of the College, and
of the various principals since its founda
tion. A high, massive wainscotting of wood
runs around the room, and the oak floor is
152
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
arranged ID platforms of varying height
round the central floor space. The Jold
building has been re-modelled and re-fitted
throughout with new windows and floors
and every necessity of school life, and now
contains on the ground floor, six class rooms
varying in size from thirty-three by forty-two
to thirty-two by nineteen feet, besides
laboratory and senate room, and on the first
floor four class rooms, two thirty-eight by
thirty-two arid two thirty-two by twenty-
eight feet, and also a library and reading-
roc m for senior pupils. The new roof of
the old building contains three large music
and drawing-rooms and space for various
other purposes. In the basement of the
new building is a large play room and the
furnaces for heating. The provision for
heating and ventilation is of the most effec
tive and thorough character, hot air fur
naces being employed and a system
of capacious main fresh air ducts
and xhaust flues communicating with ex
haust shafts, in which a draft is maintained
by carrying up in them the smoke pipes of
the furnaces ensure at all times an ample
supply of pure air. The whole of the
drainage also was remodelled and put in
perfect condition. The exterior of the
building is designed in a modified Elizabe
than style, and has a marked collegiate
character with considerable picturesque
effect in detail and general treatment. The
windows have arched heads with mullioned
and tiarsom frames, divided by vertical
piers in the brick work, with ornamental
hoiizontal bands of stonework and moulded
string courses. The angle piers are carried
up and finished with high pinnacles, which
serve a so as chimneys and ventilating
shafts. The central projection is finished
with a gable with ornamental copings and
finials, and frontispiece marking the princi
pal entrance, flanked with columns carrying
a richly moulded and carved pediment, with
the arms of the college above the doorway.
A steep pitched French roof, with rich
crestings crowning the whole, is broken up
by gables dormi-r windows and open work
parapets, and in the centre is a bell turret
of handsome design, terminated with vane
and flagstaff, rising to a total height of one
hundred feet. The exterior of the old build
ing was also re-modelled in all its details,
and in character harmonizing with the new.
An entire new roof, similar but somewhat
plainer in detail, was put on.
The yearly prospectus, issued under the
authority of the college, gives full particu
lars as to the course of instruction, disci
pline and examinations. From this pro
spectus it appears that the college can ac
commodate three hundred pupils. Though
capable of containing so many, the number
in each class is strictly limited, in order
that the pupils may enjoy ihe combined ad
vantages of a private and public Bchool
education, and that, by the strict attention
being pa-d to tha peculiar disposition of
each pupil, he may be not only imbued with
the principles of a high-toned morality, but
led to exemplify these in daily life. This
desirable object is further secured by the
boys being under supervision in the
play-ground. The college is divided into
six forms or classes, and the regular curri
culum extends over six years course of
study ; though, by steady application and
hard study some boys are able to pass
through the six forms in five or even four
years. The full curriculum embraces an ex-
t- nded course in Latin, Greek, Mathematics,
French, German, English Grammar, Litera
ture and Composition, History and Geo
graphy, both ancient and modern, experi
mental Ch-mistry, Physiology, Biblical
Knowledge, the usual Commercial Branches,
Drawing, Music, Gymnastics, Fencing and
Drill Exercises. Pupils may eutsr at any
time and at any period of the course, but
the best time to enter is at the commence
ment of the session in Seprember, when the
classes are remodelled for the year. The
qualification for admission into the first or
lowest form is, that the intending pupil
possess a fair knowledge of English Read
ing, Spelling, Writing, and the first four
rules of Arithmetic. Pupils ought to enter
the first lorm about ten or eleven years of
age, though they may be received at an
earlier age if qualified. Applicants for ad
mission to the higher forms are subjected,
if necessary, to an examination correspond
ing to the form for which their previous
general studies may have fitted them. Four
great examinations, oral and written, take
place during the collegiate session : 1st.
The Christmas examination, in modern lan
guages and science, during the three days
preceding the Christ mas holidays. 2nd. The
Spring examination, in classics and
mathematics, from the 1st to the 4th
February. 3rd. The Grammar examina
tion, on the two days preceding ths Queen s
Birthday. 4th. The Promotion ex
amination, for one week or longer, to
wards the end of June immediately preced
ing the Midsummer holidays Those pupils
who fail at this promotion examination, in
any or all of the subjects, may, if it be de
sired, be re-examined at the opening of the
College on September 1st. Five exhibitions
are competed for annually in subjects ( f the
fourth form, and five in subjects of the fifth
form. Successful comp -titors are entitl
ed to free tuition for one year.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
153
No one whose age will exceed 17 on the
30th June of the year in which the examin
ation is held can compete in the subjects of
the fourth form. The examinations are
entirely conducted by gentlemen wholly
unconnected with the college. A certificate
of good conduct, signed by the head master
of the school from which the candidate
comes, is in all cases requisite.
The principal prizes given at Upper Can
ada College are the Governor-General s
prize, the mathematical prize, the classical
priz^i and the English prize. These are in
addition to the four exhibitions or scholar
ships, which are also competed for each
year. Another prize is the J. Ross Robert-
eon prize or prizes. These prizes are eleven
in number, one in each class of the College,
and are therefore competed for by the en
tire college. The priz3s consist of from one
hundred to a hundred and fifty volumes,
and one given for general proficiency in all
subjects except classics and foreign lan
guages. The competition forth: se priz.s is
very keen and creates the greatest rivalry
amongst the pupils. Within two years
Upper Canada College will be removed from
its present site to the new site selected for
it by the Minister of Education, in Deer
Park, at the head of Avenue road, on the
Baldwin estate, just outside of the northern
limits of the city of Toronto. This is the
highest land about Toronto. The reason
for this change is that the college has out
grown its site. The ten acres about the
present college buildings have grown to be
very valuable proper y, estimated now to be
worth over three quarters of a million dollars.
The University, which has the control of
this land, will ground-rent it. The terms of
the agreement between the University and
the College are that the University is to
give the College thirty acres for its new
building, put up and equip the edifice and
endow the College to the amount of $100,-
000. The University will thus obtain by
this arrangement from the property and the
endowment upwards of $800,000, aft r
eqnipping and endowing the new college at
Deer Park,
The new grounds are beautifully situated,
nd portions are well wooded with oak and
maple, the ground rising gently towards the
north and standing well up over the sur
rounding country, with a pleasant outlook
in every direction. The building is to be
placed on the highest e evation, and will
have a view over the city to Lake Ontario.
The property fronts on Clinton avenue,
which is to be block paved and increased to
one hundred feet wide and planted with
shade trees, and Avenue road, wh ch is to
be increased to a width of one hundred and
twenty-five feet and made a fine driveway
from the city, terminates at the centre of
the property, the new college facing this
street. The grounds will be tastefully laid
out with driveways and walks, etc., and
planted with shade trees, ample room being
reserved for recreation and exercise grounds,
cricket creases, bail grounds, lawn tennis
courts, etc. The plan of the new building,
which was designed by Mr. George F. Du-
rand, architect, of London, Ontario, is
ready, and f ul y approved. One hundred
and thirty thousand dollars has been ap
propriated toward the erection of the buil -
ing. The work is to be completed by
August 1890.
The plan of the new college building is
arranged in the form of a hollow rectangu ar
parallelogram, being 250 feet front by 165
feet deep ; the quadrangle in the centre is
160 feet by 100 feet ; here the boiler house
is located. The building is designed to ac
commodate from 250 to 300 boarding
students, besides the requisite staff of mas
ters and the necessary staff of servants re
quired for household put poses. The front
building, which faces south, is 250 feet long
by 45 feet wide, and the wings are 165 feet
long by 45 feet wide. The elevations are
designed in the modern Romanesque
style fre. j ly treated, and while iree
from ornamental detail, a pictur
esque effect is obtained by the division of
the parts and grouping of the mass, the in
ternal use of the building as for class rooms,
assembly hall, dormitories, residence, etc.,
being brought out and emphas : zad by the
treatment of the exterior. In the centre
portion of the main front, centring on Ave
nue road, is the arched loggia entrance with
an imposing tower 20 feet square rising to a
height of 165 feet to the finial, the open
arcade being 55 feet long and 16 feet wide.
This portion of the building projects 25 feet
from the adjoining curtains, and is 60 feet
high from the ground line to the cornice of
the roof. Over the main entrance is located
the Assembly Hall, to be used at the open
ing and closing exercises, for lectures
and other entertainments, etc.; is empha
sized externally by large, bold, circular head
windows extending through two storeys,
which have terra cotta enriched impost and
string courses. The tower forming the
centre of the group has a gable containing
the coat of arms of the college, which was
established in 1829. The upper portion of
the tower having view balconies and a
clock face in each front, 10 feec in diameter,
which can be seen for a radius of many
miles. The curtains flanking the c.ntral
portion on each side are three stories and
basement, the walls being 46 feet from the
154
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
ground to the roof cornice ; the corner
pavilions, which project seven feet from the
curtains, are four stories and basement,
with a height of 56 feet to the cornice, are
finished with steep pitch roofs, with dor
mers, gables, etc. The east and west wings
are three storeys high, besides the base
ment, the height to the cornic being the
same as the front curtains.
The roofs are to be covered with slate
throughout (there being no deck or flat por
tions), are of steep pitch, sub-divided by the
dormer windows, lighting the attic, the sky
line being varied by the use of gables and
the grouping of the chimneys. The ma
terials to be used in the fronts are
red Credit Valley sandstone, in
random course rock face work, to
the height of the basement (-ix feet), and
red pressed brick above the pi nth course,
with terra cotta panels and string courses,
the openings to be trimmed with rock face
red sandstone. The main entrance arcade
is to be built of sandstone to the height of
the first door (25 feet), and is sparingly
carved and ornamented, the columns of the
arches being of polished red new Brunswick
granite. The college boys entrance TO the
class-room corridor on the west sid is given
its relative prominence and expression in the
design, by being finished with a tower sur
mounted with a flag pole. The main entrance
has a large vestibule, and the haL is fifteen
feet wide with an encaustic tile
floor, the connecting corridors be
ing twelve feet wide, leading to all portions
of the building. To the left
of the main entrance as you enter is the
principal s office wi;h vault and toilet-room,
and in the west wing are located the class
rooms, ten in number, three masters rooms
being provided, and a waiting room for the
janitor. To the right of the entrance hall
is the board-room and library and reading-
room (53 feet by 24 feet), the south-east
corner being set apart for the principal s
residence, containing twelve spacious rooms
with all modern conveniences. The east wing
on the ground floor contains the dining hall,
serving and store-rooms and pantries, and
the matron s and housekeeper s rooms, each
being provided with separate entrances,
the kitchen being located in the basement,
with convenient dumb-waiters, etc,, to the
upper floors. On the upper floors two hos
pital wards are provided, with nurses
rooms, etc., so that in case of sickness the
pupil can be completely isolated from the
rest of the college. The assembly hall, over
the main ent 1 auce, on the first floor, is 76
feet long by 50 feet wide, with a ceiling 25
fetthigh, which ia finished with moulded
beam* and panels of wood, and will seat
over 600 people. The main staircases,
four in number, each eight feet wide in the
clear, are easy of access from any portion
of the building, and are enclosed between
brick walls as a preventive to the rapid
spreading of tire. The first and other floors
over contain 50 single and 100 double rooms
for the college boys ; nlso the masters
studies and bedrooms, which are placed so
as to command the various corridors on
each floor, and are disposed so aa to give
each master the oversight and charge of
about 30 boys.
In the basement, which is to be eight and
one-ha f feet in clear, and standing six feet
out of the ground, is located ihe recreation
rooms, drill hall and armory, with wort-
shops, storerooms and janitor s quarters.
The plumbing will be completed in the best
manner, with the most approved modern
sanitary appliances. The fixtures will all
be trapped, and being closely grouped, can
be thoroughly ventilated through indepen
dent ventilation pipes. The class-rooms ara
proportioned to the most liberal modern
sanitary requirements, each room having an
allowance of at least 300 cubic feet and 20
square feet of floor space to each occupant.
These rooms are lighted in almost every
instance from the left side of the student
and the windows, which are four feet from
the floor are equal in area to one-quarter of
the floor space in each room ; the most
distant pupil will not be seated more than
18 feet from a window. The dormitories
have over 1,000 cubic feet allowed to each
pupiJ, and are well lighted, not more than
two pupils being allowed to * ach room.
The heating is to be by low pressure
gravity steam, supplied by two boilers of
wrought steel. The class rooms are
baited by indirect radiat rs, with fresh air
supply ; uhese are placed under the win
dows, the vitiated air being removed
through registers on the < pposite side of the
rooms leading into duc:s connected whh
two large exhaust shafts, which are continu
ally heated, and are over 80 feet high.
The fresh, heated air is to be supplied at
the rate of 200 cubic feet per minute to each
< ccupant, at a velocity not exceeding fiv
feet per second. Prior to the establishment
of the University of Toronto in 1843, Upper
Canada College stood in the position of a
University to the Province, and this ia
shown by the branches included in the
course of study such as Hebrew, the higher
mathematics, logic, metaphysics and aa
much language and classics as are now re
quired for a degree in arts. Since 1843
Upper Canada College has been simply a
preparatory school to the University and
as such it will continue. The new Oolles;*
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155
will be preferable to the old in many re
spects, one of the chief of which is that it
will be out of the city. The boarding hou e
has always been filled. In the new build
ing there will be increased boarding ac
commodations, and<bach boy will have his
own room to .himself. There will als > be
work rooms for boys whoss tastes lead
them to mechanical employments. In 1885
there were 280 boys on the enrolment of
Upper Canada College. Now there are 370.
Principals of the College from its estab
lishment are : The Rev. J. H. Harris, D.
D., 1829-1838; the Rev. John McCaul, L.
L.D, 1838-1843; F. W. Barron, M.A.,
1843-18616 the kev W. Stennett, M.A.,
18561861 Geortje R. R. Cockburn, M.A.,
1861-1881 J M. Buchan, M.A., 1881-1885.
and the present principal, George Dickson,
M. A. , from 1885, The visitor is his Honour
Sir Alexander Campbell, K.C.M.G., Q C.,
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. The Col
lege Board consist s of the Hon. John Beverley
Robinson, Chairman, Larratt William Smith,
D.C.L. , the Hon. John Macdonald, the Hon.
Samuel C. Wo- d and William Barclay Mc-
Murrich, M.A.
The Principal and First English Master
is George Dickson, M. A.; the Masters are :
First Classical Master, William Wedd, M.
A. ; Second Classical Master, and Superin
tendent of the College Bearding House,
John Martland, M.A. ; First Mathematical
Master, and Study Master in College
Boarding House, George B. Sparling, M.
A.; Second Mathematical Master, Alex
ander Charles McKay, B. A.; French and
German Master, Charles Whetham, M. A.;
Science Master and Resident Assistant
Master in College Boarding House , Alex
ander Young Scott, B. A., M. D., C. M.
The Assistant Masters are : First Assistant
Classical Master, and Resident Assistant
Master in the Supplementary Boarding
House, vVilliam Jackson, B. A.; First
Assistant English Master and Com
mercial Master, Andrew Stevenson, B. A.;
Junior Assistant Master, and Assistant
Master in the Supplementary Boarding
House, Henry Brock, Esq. ; First Assistant
Modern Language Master, Joseph Black-
stock, B.A. ; Second A sistant Classical
Master, and Resident Assistant Master in
College Boarding House, John Taylor
Fotheringham, B. A. ; Second Assistant
Modern Language Master, Archibald Hope
Young, B. A. ; First Assistant Mathematical
Master, Thomas Henry Rogers, B.A. ;
Drawing, Richard Baigent, Esq. ; Music
Master, Theodore Martens, Esq. ; Gymnas
tic, Fencing and Drill, Sergeant Thomas
Parr ; Bursar, J. E. Berkeley Smith, Esq. ;
Physician, James Thorburn, M.D.
CHAPTER LI.
THE POST OFFICES.
ketch of the Eight Bull dings Used as Post
Offices, With an Account of the Method!
of Transacting Business.
The first post office of York was a small
unpretentious log house situated on the east
side of Frederick street, a little south of
King street, on the site of the present News
boys Home, No. 43, and opposite the house
which is still standing of the late D Arcy
Boulton. The post office business in those
early days was not sufficiently large to
prevent Mr. William Allan, father of the
Hon. G. W. Allan, the first post
master, from holding the post of
collector of customs and several other posi
tions in addition at the same time, besides
carrying on a mercantile business. Letters
were few, postage was high and mails were
extremely irregular in the early part of the
century when stages and sailing vessels
furnished the only means of communication.
During the winter months travel was diffi
cult and York was almost wholly cut off
from communication with the rest of the
world. English mails were very infrequent,
and letters and papers mailed in the
old country in November were not
expected to reach the capital of Upper
Canada before the ensuing spring. The
difficulties of intercourse fostered and de
veloped the art of letter writing, an art now
lost in this age of the railway, telegraph,
telephone and type writer. One business
man now sends and receives more letters
daily than the whole population of York
did annually in the days of its infancy. The
old log building, which was used as a post-
office up to 1827, has been long destroyed,
and but few can even remember it. The
artist s sketch gives a good representation
of it.
On the retirement of Mr. Allan from the
postmastership Mr. J. S. Howard, father
of Mr. Allan McLean Howard, was ap
pointed in his stead in 1827. At this time
Mr. Howard was building a residence on
George street, and pending its completion
the postoffice was moved from the log build
ing on Frederick street, which belonged to
Mr. Allan, and established temporarily in a
small one-story house which stood on the
south side of Duke street, half way between
George and New street*, No. 5 the latter
subsequently Nelson and now Jarvis street
on the dte of the present Clyde hotel stables.
Mr. Howard alone, with little assistance at
this time, found small difficulty in condut-
ing the whole business of the office.
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LANDMARKS OP TORONTO.
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
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The accompanying illustration gives a good
view of the second post-office of York,
which was used as such until 1830.
Mr Howard s new residence having been
finished about 1830, the post-office was
transferred to it. This was a two-storey
frame building of good size on the west side
of George street, a little way below Duke
street, directly in rear of the Nipissing hotel.
The building is still standing, and occupied
as a dwelling, Nrs. 58 and 60. It was origi
nally clapboarded, but now the outside is
roughcast. The post-office was in the
south end of the building, en
trance to it beins; had through the smaller
of the two doors shown in the cut of the
house. The remaining part of the building
was occupied by Mr. Howard and his family
as a residence. The post office was located
here up to about 1836.
The box holders in 1831 were : Govern
ment office, Attorney General, Surveyor-
General, Hon. James Baby, Hon. J. H.
Dunn, Colonel Coffin, Upper Canada Bank,
Seventy-ninth Regiment, Commissary De
partment, Dr. Strachan, John Robinson, Mr.
Macaulay, Henry Boulton, Peter Robinson,
John Baldwin, J. Smith, George Millard,
Andrew Mercer, J. H. Markland, ,Christo-
pher Hagerman, Egerton Ryerson, James
Armstrong, Francis Collins, John Carey,
Robert Staunton, Simon Washburn, C.
Stowe, S. P. Jarvis, William Dummer
Powell, William Campbell, John McGill,
George Crookshank, Mrs. Macauley, Dr
Harris, Duncan Cameron, R, Room, T.
Wenham, Francis Billings, Dr. Widmsr,
Board of Education, Corporation, John
Ewart, Mr. Sherwood, Colonel Wells, In
dian Department, Engineering Department,
House of Assembly, Legislative Council.
1823 the postage paid by newspapers was:
Colonial Advocate, 67 16s 9d ; Courier,
65 17s Id ; Gazette, 19 lid ; Canadian
freeman, 26 3s Id ; Christian Guardian,
254 7s ; Sapper and Miner, 7 11s 9d.
In 1835 there were the following addi
tional box-holders : Marshal S. Bidwell,
Christian Guardian, Mr. Gilkison,
Clarke Gamble, i . D. Harris, A. B.
Hawke, Haggerty & Drapsr, Mr.
Jameson, W. B. Jarvis, Mr. Murray,
W. L. Mackenzie, Colonel O Hara, Father
O Gi-ady, Mr. Ross, Mr. Radenhurat, Ridout
family, Dr. Rolph. C C. Small, Mr. Stin-
son, Bernard Turquand. The numbsr of
post offices in Canada in 1828 were 101.
The miles of established road were 2.368,
the number of miles travelled by post per
week were 8,768. In 1831 the increase was
follows : From 101 to 151, from
from 8,768 to 13,213,
of the post office
as
2,368 to 2,896,,
The gross revenue
department in Upper Canada was as
follows : 1832, 15,344 Kb 4d ; 1833,
17,943: 1834. 18,910 6* 6d. The box
rent in 1832 was 27 Is 3d ; in 1833, 30 ;
and in 1834, 35 17s 6d. It was in 1831
that the first boxes were put in thi post
office by Mr. Howard for the accommoda
tion of the public. Daring these years Mr.
Howard received *;he following commission
for keeping accounts with those Transacting
business at the post office : 1832. 111 17s
id ; 1833, 135 8s lOd ; 1834, 94 Os 2^(1.
The following is the contract made between
Jedediah Jackson and Jacob Cook, from
whom Cooksville is called, for carrying the
mails in 1831 :
York, 9th April, 1831.
Mr. Jacob Cook.
Sir, 1 hereby make offer to take the
mail from Hamilton to Ancaster for the
coming year agreeable to the terms of your
contract, subject to such alterations as the
department may make for the better con
veyance of the Sandwich mail route, for the
sum of twenty-five pounds currency, pay
able quarterly, and that you may satisfy
Mr. Howard, the agent at this place, with
the arrangement, that I may draw the same
subject to the fines in case of neglect of per
formance. Yours truly,
JEDEDIAH JACKSON.
In presence of David Botsford.
I accept of the above offer.
Jacob Cook, York, 9th April, 1833.
In presence of David Botsford.
About the year 1832 Mr. Howard built as
a private residence for himself a fine large
red brick building of threj stories on the
north side of Duke street a little east of
George street and just east of the Bank
of Upper Canada. This bui ding, No. 28,
Duke street, which is still standing;
in a state of good preservation, is
shown in the illustration. About 1836
the post-office was moved from th; George
street building and installed in the west
corner of the new mansion where it remained
until somewhere about 1838. After ap
pointment of Mr. Howard s successor to the
postmastership Mr. Howard gave up the
building as a residence, and it was taken by
Mr. Huson Murray, who lived there ;\
lone tim \ On his vacating it Mr. T. D.
Harris occupied it as a residence.
The third post-master was Mr. Charles
Berczy. On the north side of Front street,
just west of Yonge street, where Me-
Master, Darling & Co. s warehouse now is,
stood in off the street a two storey brick
building. Attached to it ran out nearly
to Yonge street a one storey frame
building, and in this Mr. Bercry established
the fifth po^t-offic . The post-office build-
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
ins stood on the site of the present
Bank of Montreal, No. 2 Front street
west. In front of it were posts and
chains. At this period the foot of Yonge
street was one of the most unsavory locali
ties in town, being covered with
small shanties in which the lower
classes lived. Near by, on Yonge street,
was a tavern called the Post-office Tavern.
It was kept by a man named Hall. Loung
ing in front of this tavern was frequently to
be seen McDermott, who afterwards b< came
notorious as the murderer of Mr. Kinnear.
Where Davidson & Hay s establishment now
is was a livery stable. Adjoining it was a
row of frame build ings called Hunter s Row
and above this rows of shanties. Hotels
were numerous. Where the Bank of British
North America stands was a tavern called
the Ship Tavern, a brick building dis
tinguished by the sign of a ship. The name
of the proprietor was Murphy. He after
wards built a large hotel on the north
side of Wellington street, directly east of
the Western Assurance building, known for
years as the Western hotel. Across the way
from the Ship Tavern was a hotel kept by
Mr. Morris Malone, a well-known man.
Postmaster Berczy lived in the brick
house to which the post-office was
attached. Previous to this it had been
the residence of Chief Justice Macaulay.
Early in the forties the post-office was re
moved to Wellington street. The ground
was bought in 1845 by the Bank of Montreal
and the first bank building was erected on
it, This was torn down a few years ago to
make way for the present splendid edifice
which adorns the site. In 1842 the post-
office staff consisted of the postmaster, three
clerks, one of whom was Mr. George H.
Wilson, and one letter carrier. During
the summer months the mails were con-
Teyed by boat and in the winter by
stage. East and west there was but one
mail daily to the principal points ; to other
places the mail went once a week There
was one English mail a month. The rates
of postage were as follows Hamilton, 4^d ;
Cobourg, 7d ; Kingston, 9d ; Cornwall,
11^ 1 ; Montreal, Is l|d ; Three Rivers, Is
4d ; Quebec, Is 6d ; Halifax, 2s 9d ;
Prince Edward Island, 3s 3d. No en
velopes were used ; the sheets of paper
on which the letters were written
being folded and sealed with \\ax or wafers.
Some Engli-h banking houses still cling to
this old method, among them Baring Bros.
andCoutts & Co., of London. There was
no such thing as postage stamps. Paid letters
were stamped with red ink, u paid letters
with black ink. Every letter mailed was
forwarded whether it was paid or not, in
the latter case payment being collected al
the other end of the route. This system
and also the rates of postage which had
been in vogue from the beginning continued
up to the introduction of postage stamps.
Accounts were kept with the banks, met
chants and all reputable people,
the billb being sent in once a
month. There were single and double
rates of postage. A letter without anything
enclosed went for the single rate. If a
dollar bill was put in the postage was
doubled. If two bills were put in the post
age was doubled again. Everyone was
asked whether his letter required single or
double postage, and as an extra measure of
precaution the clerks would pry the ends
open and look inside.
From early in the forties up to 1853, the
whole business of the Toronto post office was
transacted in a small low building on Wel
lington street, situated on the present site of
the Imperial Bank corner, No. 34. This
building, which is shown in the accompany
ing illustration, was of brick. It stood on
the north side of Wellington street, west of
Leader lane. Its frontage was narrow but
it ran back a greater distance along the
lane. The delivery office was a room about
twenty by forty feet, and the distributing
room was an old cellar-kitchen about twenty
feet square. The staff up to 1850, consisted
of the postmaster, three clerks and
a letter carrier. The postmaster was
Mr. Charles Berczy, and the clerks were
John Armstrong, Christopher Walsh and
W. H. Pearson, who, in 1847. succeeded
Mr. George H. Wilson, now of the Bank of
Montreal. John McCloskey was letter-
carrier, and a charge of one copper was
made on each letter delivered by him. At
this time and up to 1850, the English mails
were only delivered fortnight .y by stage
from Halifax in winter, and partly by steam
boat in summer. Ths rate of postage on
English letters was Is 2^d sterling, or Is 4d,
Haiifax currency about 27 cents; the
postage to Halifax was 2s 9d : Quebec,
Is 6d ; Montreal, Is 2d ; Kingston, 9d ;
Windsor lO^d, the lowest rate of postage tc
any point b.ing 4^1. In 1850 there were
only about four hundred boxes in the post-
office. Postage stamps were at this time
unknown, and the postage on paid letters
had to be paid in cash to the postmaster.
Respectable firms were allowed an account,
which was duly rendered each mouth and
paid on demand.
Up to 1852 the postoffica department was-
under the control of the Imperial Govern
ment which was represented by Mr. Stay-
ner, but at this time almost simultaneously
with the introduction of the bonding s
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
161
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through the United States, the business was
transferred to the Canadian Government
and the mai s began to arrive once a week
via Boston and New York alternately.
The mails were conveyed in charga of con
ductors, of whom there were three, Messrs.
McNamee, Mai one and McGiliivray, two
taking the mails to the above posts re
spectively and one extra to supply in case of
need. The conductor taking the outgoing
mills waited at his post for those coming in
and this system continued for many years.
Mr. C. C. Taylor, of the Custom House,
from whose " Toronto Called Back," much
information has been obtained regarding
this post-office, narrates the following cir
cumstances illustrating the economy of the
Government at that day. He, in company
with Mr. John Kay, Mr. Patrick Hughes,
and three others on their way from Eng
land, accompanied the mails from Boston,
arriving! at Suspension bridge on Saturday
night too late to connect with the
train tor Toronto. Being anxious to
get home they telegraphed for a
tpecial train to meet them at Hamilton, the
charge to b3 forty dollars. On arriving at
Hamilton they found an engine and one car
ready, and then they took aboard Mr.
Malone with the English mails, hoping to
receive from the post-office authorities a
fchare of the cost of the special train. The
trip was mad 3 within an hour, perhaps then
the fastest time on record. On the following
Monday one of the party waited on Post
master General Michael Hamilton Foley,
stated the case and asked for a part of the
expense for carrying the mails, but his reply
was that the letters would have been in
quite time enough for the merchants by the
first regular train on Monday morning, and
sc the trayellers had to pay the whole of
the bill.
When the present office at the Receiver-
General, on the west side of Toronto street,
Nos. 10 and 12. was built in 1852, for anew
post- offi ce.none but the most sanguine doubled
its capacity for all its requirements for many
years to come, but while it was still a com
paratively new building it was found to be
quite inadequate to the rapidly-growing
business of the city and a new and larger
structure was erected. The building is in
the Ionic style of architecture, from the
appropriate design of Messrs. Cumberland &
Storm. It has a frontage of 48 feet, with a
depth of 90 feet. The front is of cut stone.
The large public hall, with enriched oak
and plate-glass letter-box, had three com
partments, intersected by Doric columns,
with delivery windows and a separate en
trance for ladies. The building, which cost
3,500, reflected credit upon its architects,
and also upon the contractors, Messrs Met-
calf, Forbes & Wilson. On
the appointment of Mr. Joseph
Lssslie as postmaster, the post-office
was removed from Wellington street to the
new building on Toronto street, the change
being made in January, 1853. Shortly after
this date postage stamps were introduced
and the whole postal system underwent a
change. The money order system came into
operation in February, 1855, when the larg
est sum for which an order was granted was
10, the commission being Is 3d. Early in
the following year the amount was extended
to 25 with a graduated scale of charge from
3d to 2s 6d. In the Wellington street
post-office there had been but one
hundred and fifteen boxes. This number
was increased to one thousand in the To
ronto street office, and drawers which had
p-eviously been unknown were introduced.
About a dozen clerks made up the staff.
There were two carriers one for the east,
the other for the west end of the city, their
fee being a penny for every letter delivered.
No greater evidence of the growth and the
expanse of the commerce of Toronto can be
given than by a comparison of the first rude
log post-office and the imposing facade of
the present tine edifice on Adelaide street,
Nos. 38 to 42, at the head of Toronto
street. A more suitable location could not
have been chosen than that on which it
stands, surrounded as it is by buildings in
every way worthy of the neighbourhood and
in close proximity to the business portion of
the city. The building which is of brick,
faced with cut stone, elaborately ornament
ed, was built from the design of Henry
Laneley, architect. It covers* nearly the
width of Toronto street. It is three stories
high surmounted by a mansard roof and
extends through th block to Lombard street.
It was erected in 1873, Mr. Joseph Lesslie
being postmaster. The internal arrange
ments are admirably adapted to the never
ceasing business transacted. A side door at
the western end of the building leads by a
staircase to the offices of the post-office in
spector, his assistant nnd other officials. In
the Toronto street office the number of box-
holders was quite large, but by the exten
sion of the delivery system they have been
reduced until the present number is less
than three hundred. There are six daily
deliveries in the business portion of the city,
four in the more thickly populated resi
dence quarters, and two in the outside divi
sions. With the exception of Wednesday
and Sunday an English mail is made up
every day, all the mails going by way
of New York, but ooe weekly
which is sent by way of Quebec,
164
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
EIGHTH AND PBESKNT POST OFFICE.
At first in the present office postage ac
counts were kept with the principal mer
chants of the city as in the early days of
York, a charge of five per ent. being made
for keeping the books, bat with the later in
troductions of the prepaid system this has
been abandoned A few years ago Mr.
Lesslie was succeeded in the postmaster ship
by! Mr. Thomas C. Patteson ; who holds the
office at the present time. In 1882 the
hu iness of the post-office was transacted by
52 clerks and 55 letter carriers. The fol
lowing statistics of that year may be of in
terest :
Number of orders issued, 15,115; num
ber ot orders paid, 56,072 ; amounC of or
ders issued, $253,839 65 ; amount of orders
paid, $1,205,218 83 ; amount deposited in
Sayings Bank, $420,693 ; amount withdrawn
from Savings Bank, $310,359 82 ; sale of
postage stamps, $200,470 09 ; cash taken at
Savings Bank and money order branch,
$677.218 59 ; amount paid, $1,515,57865;
number of registered letters forwarded,
282,133; number of registered letters de
livered, 342,670; number of ordinary letter*
deivered, 3,135 363.
In 1885 the staff consisted of the postmaster
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
167
and assistant postmaster, fire first-cJass,
twelve second-c ass and forty-nine third-
class clerks. There were seventy -four let
ter carriers, three caretakers, seven porters,
ninety-five street letter boxes and three
branch post-offices. The business transacted
this year was as follows : Amount of orders
issued, $309,203 ; amount of money orders
paid, $1,356,163; number of orders paid,
80,086 ; amount of deposits in post-office
savings bank, $495,364 ; amount of postage
stamps sold, $228,751 ; number of letters
delivered by letter carriers exclusive of
box holders and general de ivery 7,937,461,
number of letters posted, 11,288,680, num
ber of post-cards posted 3,328,260. The
staff at the present time consists of the post
master and his assistant, seventy- eight
c erks, eighty four carriers and thirteen
porters.
According to the report of the Post
master General there were delivered in
Toronto by carriers in the year 1887, 220,
598 letters and 58,945 newspapers, making
total of 279,543. During the same time
there were issued 22,398 money orders to
the ralue of $346,486 02.
CHAPTER LIL
DR. W.W.BALDWIN S RESIDENCES.
A Cerner of Hiitorlral Interest An Inci
dent in William Lvon Mackenzie s Career
Spadina House and Bpadina Avenue.
One of the most interesting buildings in
the early history of York is the little frame
tructure shown in the illus ration which
stood at the north-west corner of Front
and Frederick streets. Its first c aim to
distinction is in connection with Dr. Wil iam
Warren Baldwin, whose career is a
part of the history of Upper Canada. Dr.
Baldwin was a medical graduate of the
University of Edinburgh. He began life as
a physician in Ireland. On coming to
Canada he commenced the study of law
and became a leading member of the bar.
On his arrival at York in the early part of
the century from the first Canadian home
of his father on Baldwin s creek, in the
township of C arke, Dr. Baldwin en
deavoured to tun; his educational acquire
ments to advantage by becoming a school
teacher. In 1802 he advertised in the
Gazette and Oracle as follows :
" Dr. Baldwin, understanding that some
of the gentlemen of this town have ex-
p ssed some anxiety for the establishment
of a classical school, bes;s leave to infoim
them and tl:e public that he intends on
Monday, the first of January next, to op n
a school in which he will instruct twelve
boys in writing, reading and classics and
arithmetic. The terms are for each boy
eight guineas per annum, to be paid quar
terly or half-year y \ one guinea entrance
and one cord of wood, to be supplied by
each of the boys on opening the school.
N. B. Mr. Baldwin will meet his pupili
at Mr. Willcocks house on Duke street.
York, December 18, 1802."
There is no record of Dr. Baldwin s suc
cess in this educational enterprise. The
Mr. Willcocks, at whose house Dr. Bald
win proposed to teach, was one of three men
by this name all early and prominent resi
dents of York. William Willcocks, the
one referred to, was father-in-law of Dr.
Baldwin, and in 1802 was Judge of the
Home District Court. He was one of the
pew-holders in St. James church from its
earliest days, and was one of the sub
scribers to the Yonge street improvement
in 1801. From him, Lake Willcocks, a lake
in the Oak Ridges has its name, he being
the early owner of the spot. Here, at a
later period, was Larchmere, an appellation
in part derived from the little lake within
view of the windows of the house.
Larchmere was for some time the home of
William vV illcocks Baldwin, th* great
nephew of William Willcocks. The
house was destroyed by fire previous to
1873. Mr. Willcocfcs was also the owner
of the park lot directly west of Spadina
avenue. This lot, or a part of it, was
afterwards owned by Mr. Billings, a well-
known commissariat officer, long stationed
at York. He built the house subsequently
known as Englefield, which later was the
house of Colonel Loring, who, at the time
of the taking of York in 1813, had his horse
killed under him. Colonel Loring died
here. Mr. Billings and Co onel Loring
both had sons who died early. Colonel,
then Captain, Loring, was taken prisoner in
the battle of Lundy s Lane, in July, 1814.
The treaty of peace was signed at Ghent,
December 24, 1814, soon after which time
Captain Loring was released. The Mon
treal Herald of February 4th, 1815, has this
innouncement :
" At Prescott on Thursday, January
26th, the ladyif Captain Loring, aide-de
camp and private secretary to his Honour
Lieut. Gen. Drummond, was safely de
livered of a daughter. The happy father
had retuined from a state of captivity
with the enemy but a few hours previous
to the joyful event." Another member
of the Wi Icocks family was a peculiar
character. His name was Charles. In
1818 he issued an advertisement in tbe
Upper Canada Gazette proposing to publish
168
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
169
by subscription a history of his own life,
but it is extremely doubtful whether he
ever got enough subscribers to make the
work a success. This is the advertise
ment :
" The subscriber proposes to publish by
subscription a History of his Life ; the
subset ipti< n to be one dollar to be paid by
each subscriber, one-half in advance, ihe
other half on the delivery of the book,
themon<y to be paid to his fgent, Mr.
Thomas Deary, who will five receipts and
deliver the books. Charles Wilicocks, late
lieutenant City of Cork Militia. York,
March 17th, 1818."
The sameCharles Will cocks once imagined
he had good grounds for challenging his
iclative, Joseph Wilicocks, to a duel.
Joseph did not; appear, however, at the
hour appointed for the meeting. Charles
waited what he deemed a reasonab e time,
and then chipping off a small piece of b;u k
from a tree, he stationed himseif at duel
ling distance from the mark and fired his
pistol at it. As the ball buried itself in
the mark he cried out : " Oh, Joe, Joe, if
you had only been he:e." Previous to
1807 this Joseph Wilicocks, who was an
ultra-reformer, had been Sheriff of the
Home District, tut had lost his office by
giving a vote contraiy to the policy of the
Lieutenant -Governor. He was returned
as a member of parliament, nnd after hav
ing been imprisont d for a breach of privi-
Ifge he was re-e ected and again took the
lead of the reformed party. In 1807 he
began the publication of the Upper Canada
Guardian, an rpposition paper. The
Guardian came to an end when the war of
1812 broke out. Its editor at first was
loyal and fought on the Canadian side,
but afterward deserted to the Americans,
taking with him some of the Canadian
militia. He fell in the ranks of rhe Ameri
cans at the s ; ege of Fort Erie. The Mon
treal Herald of October 15 h, 1814, thus
publuheshis death :" It is officially an
nounced by General R pley that the traitor
Wilicocks was killed in the sortie from Foi t
Erie on the 4 h ult., greatly lamented by
his general and the army." Dr. Baldwin
did not remain long at the house of Mr.
Wiilcocks, for in 1804 he was the occupant
of the hou^e at he north-west ccrr.er of
Front and Frederick streets, and here, in
that year, his son Robert was born, who
was Attf rn< y-Gencral for Upper Canada
in 1842. Dr. Baldwin made this house his
home until the invasion of York
by the Americans in 1813, after which he
with Ms family lived with Miss Elizabeth
Rursell, at Russell Abbey, a house descr bed
in a previous paper. The circumstances
leading to this, which occuir. d at the
time of the invasion, are thus given by Dr.
Scadding in Toronto of Old, who quotes
from a manuscript narrative taken down
from the lips of the late venerable Mrs.
Breck Bridge by her daughter, Mrs. Murray :
" The ladies settled to go out to Baton
de Hoen s farm. He was a good friend
of the Baldwin fami y, whose real name
was Von Horn, and he had come out about
the same time as Mr. St. Geoige and
had been in the British army. He had
at this time a farm about four miles up
Yonge street and on a lot called No. 1,
Yonge street wrs then a corduroy road
immediately after leaving King street, and
passing throush a dense forest. Miss Rus
sell, sister of the late President Russell,
loaded her phaeton with all sorts of neces
saries, so that the whole party had to
walk. My poor old grandfather, Mr. Bald
win the father of Mr.. Breckenridge
by long persuasion at length consented to
g.ve up fighting and accompany the ladies.
Aunt Baldwin the wife of Dr. W. W.
Baldwin and her four sons, Major Ful
ler, who was an invalid under Dr.
Baldwin s care, Miss Russell, Miss
Willcocke one of the family
above mentioned and the whole caval
cade sallied forth; the youngest bey, St.
George, a mere baby, my mother, Mrs.
Breckenridge, carried on her back nearly
the whole way. When they had reached
about half way out they heard a most
fright ul concussion, ma all eat down on
logs and st; mps fr ghtened terribly. They
learned afterwards that this terrific sound
wap occasioned by the blowing up of the
magazine of York garriion, when fiva
hundred Americans were killed, and at
which time my ur.cle, Dr. Baldwin, was
dresi-in? a soldier s wounds ; he was con
scious of a strange sensation ; it was too
great to be called a sound, and he found a
shower ot stones falling all around him,
but he was quite unhurt. The family at
length reached Baron de Hoen s log house,
consisting of two rooms, one alove and ona
below. After three days Miss Russell and
my mother walked into town just in time
to prevent Miss Russell s house from r eing
ransacked by the soldiers. All row re
turned to their homes and occupat : ons, ex
cept Dr. Baldwin, who cominued dressing
wounds and acting as surgeon until the ar
rival of Dr. Hackett, the surgeon of the
8th regiment. Dr. Baldwin said it was
most touching to see the joy of the poor
wounded fellows when told that their own
doctor was coming back to them. My
mother, Mr?. Breckenridge, saw the poor
8th Grenadiers come into town on the
170
cLAJsDMARKS OF TORONTO.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
171
Saturday and in church on Sunday, with
the handsome Captain McNeil at their
head, and the next day they were cut to
pieces to a man. My father, Mr. Brecken-
ridge, was a student at law with Dr.
Baldwin, who had been practising law after
giving up medicine as a profession, and
had been in his office about three months
when he went off like all the rest to the
battle of York. The Baldwin family all
lived with Miss Russell after this, as she
did not like being left alone. When
the Americans made their second attack,
about a month after the first, the gentle
men all concealed themselves, fearing to be
taken prisoners like those at Niagara. The
ladies received the American officers.
Some of them were very agreeable men
and were entertained hospitably ; two of
them were at Miss Russell s ; one of them
was Mr. Brookes, brother-in-law of Arch
deacon Stuart, then of York, afterwards
of Kingston. General Sheaffe had gone off
some time before, taking every surgeon
with him. On this account Dr. Baldwin
was forced out of humanity to work at his
old profession again and take care of the
wounded. The name of Baron De Hoen
is sometimes spelled De Hayne and de
Haine. His farm, where the refugees fled
for safety on the American invasion, was
offered for sale in the Gazette of March
25th, 1820, the advertisement describing it
thus : " That well known farm No. 1, west
side of Yonge street, belonging to Capta n
de Hoen, about four or five mil"S from York,
210 acres. The land is of excellent quality ;
well wooded, with about forty acres
cleared ; a never-failing spring of excellent
Water, barn and farm house. Applica
tion to be made to the subscriber at
York, W. W. Baldwin " The name of Dr
Baldwin occurs in the list of pew-holders
in St. Jamea church from its commence
ment. In a series of burlesque nominations
of officers for Upper Canada, made in 1827
by the friends of the officials of the day,
Dr. Baldwin is put down as Chief Justice
and Surgeon-General to the militia forces.
This conjunction of offices was suggested
by the two professions which he had prac
tised. It was added in the burlesque that
he be granted " one million acres of
land for past services, he and his family
having been most shamefully created in
having grants of lands withheld from them
heretofore." This refers to the extensive
properties which Dr. Baldwin became owner
of as tha legatee of Miss Elizabeth Russell,
who had inherited her brother s vast estate.
There is a resemblance in the careers of
Dr. Baldwin and Dr. Rolph, both early
and notable settlers. Dr. Ro ph began
life as a physician in Gloucestershire. On
arriving in Canada he adopted law as a
profession, and after acquiring a high stand
ing at the bar he returned to his original
pursuit in which also he gained a splendid
reputation. Dr. Rolph became a member
of the Hincks ministry from 1851 to 1854,
and Dr. Baldwin was called six months
btfore his death, while his son waa
Attorney-General, to the Legislative Coun
cil of Upper Canada. Dr. Baldwin was
one of the counsel for the defence in the
c lebrated trial in 1818 of a number of
prisoners brought down from the Red
River settlement on charges of high treason,
murder, robbery and conspiracy, pre-
ierred against thim by Lord Selkirk, the
founder of the sett ement. Dr. Scadding
thus relates a court-room scene in which
Dr. Baldwin played a part :
" On the 12th of January, 1813, as a duly
empannelled jury were ictiring to their
room to consider of their verdict a re-
mai k was addressed to one of their
number, namely, Samuel Jackson, by a
certain Simeon Morton, who had been a
witness for the defence ; the remark as the
record notes was in these words : Mind
your eye 1 to which the said Jackson re
plied, Never fear ! The crier of the
court, John Bazell duly made affidavit of
this illicit transaction. Accordingly, on
the appearance in court of the jury for
the purpose of rendering their verdict, Mr.
Baldwin, attorney for the prosecution,
moved that Jackson be taken into custody,
and the judge gave order that Samuel
Jackson do immediately enter into recogni
zances, himself in 50, and two sureties in
25 each, for his appe arance on the Satur
day following, at the office of the Clerk of
the Peace, which, as the record somewhat
inelegantly adds, he done. He duly ap
peared on the Saturday indicated and plead
ing ignorance, was discharged." At a fancy
dress ball, given at Frank s hotel in 1827, Dr.
Baldwin appeared as a Roman Senator, and
his two sons, William and St. George, ;is the
Dioscuri. On the death of Peter Russell
his property passed into the hands ot his
sister, Miss Elizabeth Russell, who be
queathed it to Dr. Baldwin. Russell Hill,
which had its name from President Russell,
was long the residence of Admiral Augustus
Baldwin, and in one of tha brandies of the
Baldwin family Russell is continued as a
baptismal name. The modest little frame
house at the corner of Front and Frederick
streets has other claims to r.otice than the
fact of its being the residence of Dr.
Baldwin. It was one of the places where
the foundation w; s laid of the great wealth
of the Cawthra family and was occupied
172
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
173
by Mr. J. Cawthra, senior, after Dr. Bald
win had given it up as a place of resi
dence.
Another claim to distinction which this
house pissesses IP its connection with the
early career at York of William Lyon Mac
kenzie. In 1824 Mr. Mackenzie established
at Niagara a newspaper, afterward widely
known as the Colonial Advocate. Mr. Mac
kenzie had kept a drug store in York several
years before this time, but had removed to
Dundas, whence he again moved to Niagara
on the establishment of his paper. After
is-uing the journal for about six months at
Ni gara he moved it to York in November
of 1824. By his relentless exposure of the
abuses which prevailed at th? time Mr.
Mackenzie aroused the animosity of the
controlling faction of the government,
and Inw bitter was the fight may ba in
ferred from this incident.
When the remains of General Brock were
re-int ;rred at Q.ieenston Heights in Sep-
temb r, 1824, a bottle filled with coins and
newspapers was placed by some one in a
fissure of the roc :, and was thus entombed
with the remains of th ; dead hero. Not
long afterwards it became known that among
the papers contained in the b >ttls was a
copy of Mr. Mackenzie s Advocate. No
sooner did intel igence of this circumstance
come to the ears of the authorities than
th-yhadth; fouiidation torn up and the
obnoxious newspaper removed from the
b >utle, in order, says a writer, that the
ghost of the immortal warrior might not be
disturbed by its presence and the structure
its If rendered insecure.
At the time of the removal of the Advo
cate from Niagara to York the h ;stile feel
ing of the factions was at its height. When
Parliament met January 11, 1825, it became
evident that the stinging editorials of Mr.
Mackenzie had worked a change in public
opinion, and that the Family Compact was
in the minority. Some of the younger
members of this faction, which had hith rto
been supreme in the province, were filled
with hatred against the man who had so
bitterly denounced the abuses of the day
and so violently attacked their fathers,
uncles and relations. Seventeen months
later a party of these young men proceeded
t<> Mr. Mackenzie s printing office and set
about the demolition of the establishment.
This incident took place in the house form
erly occupied by Dr. Baldwin, and it is
a form of the Journals of the Hous ; were thus
described by Mr. Mackenzie s biographer :
" O ie fine summer evening, to wi^ : the
8th of June, 1826, a genteel mob composed
of persons closely alii d with the ruling fac
tion walked into the office of the Colonial
Advocate at York, and in accordance with
a p econcerted plan set about the destruc
tion of type^ and Dress. Three p ges of th .;
piper in type on the composing stones were
broken up and the face of th ; letters bat
tered. Some of the typj was then thrown
into the bay to which the printine office
was contiguous. Some of it was scattered
on the floor of th.3 offi e, more of it in the
yard and in the adjacent garden of Mr.
George Munro. The composing stone was
th rown on the fl :>or. A new cast-iron pat ;nt
lever press was broken. This scene took
p^ace in broad daylight, and it was said
ihat one or two magistrates who could not
help witnessing it never made th: least
attempt to put a stop to the outrage. The
valiant tjpj destroyers who chose for the
execution of their enterprise a day when
Mr. Mackenzie was absent from th >. place
were most of them c osely connected with
the official party then in a hopeless minority
in the Legislature, and had recen Jy been
exasperated by a succession of defeats.
Mr. Baby, Inspector-General, wa.s repre-
s nted on the occasion by two son*, Charles
and Raymond, student j at law. Mr. Hen:y
Sherwood, son of Mr. Justice Snerwood,
gave his personal assistance. Mr. Lyons,
confidential secretary to Lieutenant-Gover-
nor Maitland, was there to perform his
part. To save appearances Sir Peregrine
Maitland found it necessary to dismiss
Lyons from his confidential situation, but
he soon afterwards rewarded him with the
more lucrative position of registrar of the
Niagara district. Mr. Samuel Peters Jarris,
on-in-law of the late Chief Justice of the
Court of Queen s Bench, performed his
part, and found his reward in the appoint-
m -nt to an Indian Commissionership.
Charles Richardson, student at law in the
office of the Attorney-General and commis
sioner for taking affi lavits, showed his zeal
for the cause of h s official friends, and re
ceived in requital th office of the Clerk of
the Peace for the Niagara district. James
King, another clerk of ass ze and student
at law in Solicitor-General Boulton s office,
did not hesitate, to give his active assi-:t-
anc >. Mr. Charles Heyward, son of Colonel
Heyward, Auditor-General of land patents
and clerk of th - peace, and Peter Mac-
dongall, a merchant and ship owner in
York and an intimate friend of Inspector-
General Baby, completed the list of eight
against whom the evidence wa? sufficiently
strong f /r conviction." Mr. Mackenzi;
brought an action for damages against
the rioters, and recovered a verd ct
of 625. A subscription was set on foot
by some of the friends of the defendants.
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and in this way a great part of the amount
was raised.
It is related that as Mr. Baby handed his
son Raymond the amount which he was to
pay, as his share of the damage* awarded,
he remarked : " There I go and make one
great fool of yourself again !"
The house at the north-west corner of
Front and Frederick streets was destroyed
by fire many years ago. We have seen
that Dr. Baldwin lived here up to the time
of the American invasion, after which he
made his home at Russell Abbey. On
the death of Miss Russell he became the
owner of her property, which augmented
in no slight degree his previous posses
sions.
Soon after falling heir to this large estate
Dr. Baldwin laid out Spadina avenue on a
grand scale. Spadina is derived from an
Indian word meaning a sudden rise of land.
Oa Spadina hill, at the head of the street of
that name, nearly three miles from the
water s edge, Dr. Baldwin built Spadina
House. This was burned down in 1835 and
the next year the present Spadina House,
shown m the accompanying illustration,
was built. This was for a time the resi
dence of Dr. Baldwin and afterwards of his
son. the Hon. Robert Baldwin, the first in
heritor of the newly established patrimony.
It is to Dr. Baldwin s liberality that this
part of Toronto owes the magnificent width
of 160 feet of Spadina avenue through its
mile and a half of length and the expansion
of Queen street to the width of 90 feet.
Queen street here was the southern bound
ary of the park lot inherited by Ur. Bald
win, which was known in Peter Russell s
tim^ as Peterwfield.
Dr. Scadding says that Dr. Baldwin, " a
liberal in his polickal views he nevertheless
was influenced by the feudal feeling which
was a second nature with most persons
in the British Islands some years ago. His
purpose was to establish a family
in Canada whose head was to
be maiatained in opulence by
the proceeds of an entailed estate. Thre
was to be forever a Baldwin of Spadina. It
is singular that the first inheritor of the
newly established patrimony should hav;
been the statesman whose lot it was to
carry tfaroHflh the Legislature of Canada
the abolition of the rights of primogeniture.
The f on grasped more readily than the
father what the genius of the North
American continent will eirdure and
what it will not." The farm yard of
the Spadina homestead is at the north
west of the house. Running from the
northwest corner of the farm yard to the
creek at the bottom of the ravine, which
has been variously known as Davenport,
Spadina and Roseda e creek is a path about
one eighth of a mile long. This was origin
ally a goose walk. Miss Willcocks was very
fond of poultry, and to gratify her Dr.
Baldwin had this path cut through the
woods and enclosed with a fence cf split
rails, and every day in pleasant weather
Miss Willcocks would drive her ducks and
geese down the walk to the stream. At a
later period the walk became a favourite
strolling place for the family and visitors at
the house on account of the picture; que scen
ery. To-day it is one of the must charming
bits ot natural scenery about Toronto. On
either side it Is bordered with bushes and
arched above with tall native forest trees.
Shortly after the building of Spadina
house, Dr. Baldwin built a little cottage of
logs, heavily thatched, along the path about
half way down the hill. This was a tiny
affair, not more than ten feet long and six
feet wide. It was fitted with seats and a
table, and was a favourite resting place for
those wandering along the goose walk,
which by this time had been dignified by
the name of the Glen walk. In this cottage
was kept a book, still in possession of the
Baldwin family, and visitors of poetic in
clination were invited to write verses in it.
The cottage was burned down about the
year 1850, but the poetry inspired in it re
mains.
The verses iu the G en cottage book date
from 1820 to 1827 Among the versifiers
are Admiral Baldwin, Judge Robert B.
Sullivan, Miss Anna M. Baldwin, Mi*.
Sullivan, Dr. William W. Baldwin, Hon.
Robert Baldwin, R. R. Baldwin and H?nry
BaMwin, of Belleville ; Dr. Henry Sullivan,
Miss M. A. Phillips, John J. Morgan, of
New York, and George We K Stephen
Uwynn, an old servant in the family and
one of the survivors of the crw of the
American ship Patriot, which wao lost on
the Atlantic, November 24, 1806, wrote >
metrical account of the wreck. The follow
ing verses takes from the book, were writ
ten by Admiral Baldwin on the changing of
the goose walk into the Glen walk :
THE GANDER S COMPLAINT.
I believe the good folks of Spadina are mad;
If no f < mad their good sense strangely
wanders
To change into fairy land this pieje of
ground
That was given to us geese and ganders.
Must we tamely submit, must we give up
our rights
Without trying fo break up this faction ?
Can t we threaten a flight, turn rebels out
right,
Or consult Dr. B. bout an action t
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Then up stepp d a grey headed gander and
said :
" Good friends, there is one way I ll
show it,
To keep our estate and secure us our bread
Tis for every e;oose to turn poet."
Dr. Baldwin lived for a time on the west
side of Yonge street just above King. In
Walton s directory for 1833-34 the occu-
Sints of No 23 Yonge street are "Baldwin,
octor W. Warren, Baldwin Robert, Esq ,
Attorney s Office and Dr. Ba dwin s Surro
gate Office round the corner on King street
I95J."
The next door neighbour of the Baldwins
at this time was Francis Hinck., their ten
ant and friend who kept a wholesale ware-
bouse at No. 21 Yonert street. The subse
quent career of Mr. Hir.cks, afterwards so
widely known as Sir Francis Hincks, has
become a part of the general history of the
countiy.
At the north east corner of Front and Bay
streets there was built about he beginning
of the present cr.ntury one of the ear L-st
examples in these parts of an English-look
ing rustic cottage, with verandah and slop
ing lawn. To the norih of it once st^od a
fine thorn tree, a relic of the woods that
once ornamented this 1 ca ity. This
property, described in 1803 as a front town
lot with an excellent dwelling house and a
kitchen recently built th< reon. with a very
convenient water lot adjoining, was
owned at this time by Mr. Peter Russoli
and wa occupied by Mr John Denison.
Mr. Russell advertised it for s ile, but evi-
d<ntly he did not sell it, for it subsequently
along with other properties of Mr. Russell,
fell into the hanris of Dr. Ba dwin. Major
Hillier, of ths 74th reg.m nt, aide-de-camp
and military secretary to Sir Peregrine
M&itland, occupied the cottnge for a time
during his administration. In 1822 M;.jor
Hillier was one of the subscriheis to a fund
for erecting two bridges over the Don.
On the site of this ornamental cottage
Dr. B Id win erected the a bstantial bri k
mansion for a town residence where he died
in 1844. The building, a picture of which
is g ven, subsequently b-came a military
ho.-pital, then the head office of the Tor<nro
an Nipissing railr ad, and but re ently
was di.-mm:led and on its site large ware
houses will be erected.
12
CHAPTER LIII.
ALEXANDER WOOD S HOUSE.
The Store and Dwelling of a Scotch Bache
lor Who Made His Home at York for
Many Years First Sidewalk in Town.
Among the first settlers of York was Mr.
Wood, a Scotchman from Stonehaven, near
Aberdeen, who at first associated himself in
business with William Allan, then one of
the most prominent men of the town, and
later s parating himself from Mr. Allan,
carried on an independent business at the
north-west corner of King and Frederick
streets. Mr. Wood died about the begin-
n ng of the century, and his brother Alex
ander Wood came over from Scoiiand to
take charge of his estate, he having been
succes;>fui in his luercantile career at York.
Mr. Alexander Wood was a bachelor, and
seeing an opportunity to make more money
he continued the business left by his brother
in the same spot, until some time after the
war of 1812. Like his brother. Mr. Wood
was successful in his commercial operations
here, and acquired considerable property in
the northern part of the town. The streets
running eastward from Yonge street above
Cariton street, pass across land formerly
owned by Mr. Wood, and their names
Wood and Al xander we: e given in his
honour. Shortly after the war Mr. Wood
retired from active life, but continued to
reside in the building in which he had car
ried on business. It is said that the first
sidcwaik laid on the muddy foo p tha of
York was put down before Mr Wood s
store. Mr. Wood was one of the pew-
holders in St. James church from its com
mencement. In 1801 he was one of the sub
scribers co the improveme t of Yonge >treet,
that improvement being the building of a
bridge over the creek, and ravine between
the second and third mile posts, and a so
was ippointed one of the committee to over
see tha work, one member or which was to
i spect the work in person daily. The other
members of this commiitee were Dr. James
Macaulay, William Allan, John Cameron,
Simon McNab and William Weekes, the
last of whom was killed in a duel fo ight at
N aaara in 1806. Mr. Alexander Wood was
the secreta- y of tie Loyai and Ptitnotio
Society of 1812. In th taking of York in
1813 Andrew Borland w ,s captured, rt>c iv-
1111, inthe struggle six gun shot wounds, rom
which he never recovered. Mr. D Aicy
Boulc n presented a pe.ition to the society
in favour of Mr. Borland, who had \i* en hia
clerk, and at a meeting of the members of
the committee held Juno 11, 1813, tho Rer.
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Dr. Strachan, chairman, Alexander Wood,
secretary, William Chewett, William Allan
and John Small being present, the minutes
state that, the petition of D Arcy Boul-
ton, Esq., a memb r of the society in favour
of Andrew Borland, was taken into conside
ration, and the sum of sixty dollars was
roted to him on account of his patriotic and
eminent services at Detroit, Queenston and
York, at which latter place he was n:ost
severely wounded. The order to pay the
money was signed by Alexander Wood.
Borland afterwards had a pension of twenty
pounds a year. Mr. Wood returned to
Scotland where he had estates known as
Woodcut and Woodburnden, near Aber
deen. He died intestate, and it was a long
time before the rightful heir to the estates
in Scotland and Canada was found. Dr.
Scadding gives the following interesting
personal reminiscences of Mr. Wood and his
house. Ke saysj: " The windows of the
part of the house that had been the store
were always seen with the shutters closed.
Mr. Wood was a bachelor, and it was no
uncosy sight towards the close of the short
ening autumnal days before the remaining
front shutters of the house were drawn in
for the evening to catch a glimpse in pass
ing of the interior of his comfortable quar
ters lighted up by the blazing logs on the
hearth, the table standing duly spread close
by, and the soli ary himself runr nating in
his cnair before the fire waiting for candles
and dinner to be brought in. On sunny
mornings in winter he was often to ba seen
pacing the sidewalk in front of his premises
for exercise, arrayed in a long blue over
coat with his right hand thrust for warmth
into the cuff of his left sleeve, and his left
hand into that of his right." The house
which Mr. Wood occupied as store and re
sidence has been repaired several times.
Recently it was partly burned, but
it was pitched up and fres
coed anew, and is now to external appear
ances as good as ever. About the time Mr.
Wood retired from business, retail prices in
York ruled as given by James Strachan, a
brother of Bishop Strachan, who paid thj
town a visit in 1319. The retail prices are
as follows, payable in Halifax currency :
Green Tea, per lb., 5s ; Souchong, per lb.,
7s 6d ; Hyson, per lb., 8s 9d ; Loaf Sugar
per lb., Is 3d ; Muscovado Sugar,
per lb., lid ; Maple Sugar, per lb.,
7d ; Oatmeal, per lb., 9d ; Barley,
per lb., 9d ; Rice, par lb., 7d ;
Candles, perlb., Is 6d ; Soap, per lb., lid ;
Coffee, per lb., 2s 2d ; Chocolate, per lb.,
2s 9d ; Pepper, pjr lb., Is lOJd ; Allspice,
per lb., 2s 6d ; Cheese, Eng., per lb., Is
10d; Cheese, Am., per lb., lOd ; Butter,
Is per lb. ; Pork, p -r barrel, 5 10s ;
Flour, per barrel, 1 10s ; Salt, per barrel,
1 ; Spirits, per gal., 7s 6d ; Reduced Rum,
per gal., 5s ; Brandy, par gal., 12s 6d ;
Hollands Gin, per gal. , 10s ; Treacle, per
gal., 6s 3d ; Alum, per lb,, lid ; Copperas,
per lb., 6d ; Tobacco, all kinds, per ib., Is
6d ; Sole leather, psr lb., Is 6 1 ; Cow hides,
per aide, 12s 6d ; Cow hides, per side, 1 ;
Calf skins, p.-r skin, 10s 5d ; Calf skins, per
skin, 17s 6d ; Nails, all sizes, per ib., lid ;
Window gi*s-, p_r 100 ft, 4 ; Window
glass per 100 ft., 4 10s ; Putty, per *.,
9d ; Iron, Swedish, per cwt., 2 10s ; Iron,
lEnglish, per cwt., 2 ; Crawley steel, per
b ., Is 3d; Blistered seel, per lb. , Is Id;
Iron pots and pans, per lb. , 61 ; Plough
share moulds, per lb. , 6d ; Shovels and
spades, each, 5s ; Wen s shoes, per pair,
7s 6d ; Men s shoes, per pair 15s ; Women s
shoes, per pair, 5s ; Women s shoes, per
pair 12a 6d; Flannels, per yard, Is 10<i to
3s 9d; Cloths, p>r yard, 6s 6d 2 5s;
Indian cottons, per piece, 1 1 5s ;
Printed cottons, per yard, Is 2s ; Check
cottons, per yard, Is 10|d 2* fid ; Sir. pad
cotton, per yard, Is lO^d- -2s 6d ; Irish
Linens, per yard, 2s 7s 6d ; Russia sheet -
ing, per yard, 2s 61 3i ; Blankets, per
pair, 1 1 15s.
CHAPTER LIV.
A YONGE STREET CORNER.
The Corner of Vouge and Gould Streets-
Erected About the Time of the Incorpora
tion of the City.
About the time that the town developed
into a city John Wesley, a King street
seedsman, purchased a plot of ground
at the south-east corner of Yonge
and Gould streets, and erected on it the two-
storey brick building shown in tke illus
tration. The deed to the property was from
the McCutcheon estate. Here Mr. Wesley
kept a seed store for several years. At the
time of the erection of the building Mr.
William Reynolds conducted a bakery at
the north-east corner of Francis and King
streets. In the fire of several years later he
was burned out, and in the same
year he purchased Mr. Wesley s
property. But it was not until
1842 that he moved his business there.
At this time on the north-east corner of
Yonge and Gould streets was a small build
ing put up about the same time as Mr.
Wesley s by a man named Lioness. On the
occupation of the south-east corner by
Mr. Reynolds an addition was put
to it running back on Gould street
by Mr. Baxter, on : of the prominent build
ers of that day and the father of Aid. John
180
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
Baxter. Here Mr. Reynolds carried on the
bakery business for about 30 years when he
surrend red it to his son Frank, who re
mained there until he took another place on
Queen atre.-t. Since that tinu there has
been a number of baker tenants. In the
early days Gould street was only
opened aa far east as Victoria
street, the land beyond being
CORNER TONGE AND GOULD STREETS.
a wood known as McCutcheon s bush. Peter
McCutcheon inherited the bulk of Colonel
John McGili s p:operty, and by authority
of an Act of Parliument assumed the name
of McGill, under which he became well
known through Upper Canada as the Hon.
Peter McGill. The two brick buildings
south of and adjoining tht corner once looked
as though they might hare been transported
from some early Dutch settlement in New
York State. They were erected in 1848 by
Mr. Reynolds, William and Joseph Steams
and John Brown being the builders. After
wards they were rented for various purposes
until pulled down in 1889.
CHAPTER LV.
JOHN SLEIGH S HOUSE,
A Keildence on Duke Street in What Was
Once tbe Most Aristocratic Section of the
City of Toronto.
In the year 1835, John Sleigh, a 1 utcher,
built the two stony rough-cast house shown
in this illustration on the north side of
Duke street, in what was at one time
one of the most fashionable residence
quarters of the town. To the eastward
of it stood the mansion buiit by Sir William
Campbell and adjoining it on the west was
the fine residence of Mr. James S. Howard.
Mr. Wm. Campbell, for years the Clerk of
Assize iu this city, occupied this house for
years. Mr. Campbell was a son of Sir Wm.
Campbell. Mr. Wm. Campbell, son of the
occupant of the Sleigh house, is now Clerk
of the Crown at Chatham, Ont.
Further on was the stately building ot the
Bank of Upper Canada which had been re
moved from its original location at the cor
ner of King and Frederick streets.
This building is now a Roman Catholic
institution. Opposite Mr. Sleigh s house
on the south side of Duke street were also
handsome houses. In one of them lived
Cuptam Truscott, one of the financiers of
that day, who afterwards moved to Buffalo.
In another William Prcudfooi, the head of
the Bank of Upper Canada lived. At a later
date Mr. Proudfoot built Kearsny House, on
the site of Frank s nursery earden, one of
the early gardens of York, which occupied
a plot of ground ntar the Sand
hill on Yonge street Of this later
residence Dr. Scadding says : Kearsny
House, Mr. Proudtoot s, the grounds of
which r ccupy the site of Frank s nursery
garden, is a comparatively modem erection,
dating from about 1845, an architecture!
object regarded with no kindly glance by
the final holders of hares in the Bank of
Upper Canada, an institution which in the
infancy of the country had a mission and
fu filled it, but which grievously be
trayed those of tbe second generation
who, relying on its traditionary sterling
repute continued to trust it." With Kcars-
ny Houss too is associated the recollection
not only of the president so long identified
with the Bank of Upper Canada, but of the
financier; Mr. Cassells, who as a kind ot
deus ex machina engaged at an annual
salary of ten thousand dollars was ex-
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
181
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
pected to retrieve the fortunes of the in"
stitution, but in vain, although for a series
of years after being pronounced mori
bund it continued to yield a handsome
addition to the income of a number of
persons. Mr. Alexander Murray, subse
quently of Yorkville and a merchant of the
olde;i time of York, occupied the residence
which preceded Kearsny House on the
Frank property. Mr. Sleigh lived in this
Duke street residence several years, during
which he conducted the butcher business in
Toronto. He afterward moved to Yorkville.
The Duke street house is still standing
CHAPTER LVI.
FREELAND S SOAP FACTORY.
One of the Early Manufacturing Establish
ments of York Some Interesting Inci
dents Connected frith its History.
The following sketch will at once be re
cognized by all of our older citizens as a
familiar friend. They will also remember
it with pleasure as an institution which
contributed largely to their comfort by
helping to throw light upon the dark days
of this city s early history.
The originator, builder and presiding
ge.uius of the establishment, was the late
Mr. Peter Freeland of Glasgow, Scot
land. In the year 1819, Mr. Freeland emi
grated to America, crossing the Atlantic
in the first passenger ship run by the Allan
line of steamships. Arriving in New York
he very soon travelled north to Montreal,
where he and his brother, Mr. William
Freeland carried on the soap and candle
business until the year 1830, when he sold
out and came to Toronto, then called York,
where he erected a large and well-appointed
manu acturing establishment.
Our engraving is copied from the orig
ina , now in the possession of Mr. Robert
Freelacd of this city, and drawn by him
over forty years ago.
The land, and land covered by water,
upon which the building was erected, was
purchased the west half from Judge
Sherwood in 1832, and the east half in 1836,
from Peter McDougall. The factory was
frame and stood on the wharf at the foot of
Yonge street on the east side. The water
lot extended from Scott to Yonge
street, and from the top of the
bank to the windmill iue, and owing
to the fact that a most the whole
property was land covered with water, the
soap works had to be built on cribs sunk
with stone. The dimensions of the building
were ninety feet by forty, and three storeys
high, having large Double doors in each end.
Some of the iron soap-kettles, and sections
of kettles, were imported from Scotland, aa
at that early date there were no facilities
for making them in Canada. The balance
of the machinery or plant was made in
Canada, < xcepting the candle moulds,
which had to be imported from the
United States. The iwo large sheda
shown in the foreground of our sketch, that
is the long one to the right, and that in the
centre, were used for storing wood ashes,
lime and ice. From the ashes the potash
alkali for converting the tallow, grease,
rosin, &c., into soap, was extract
ed. The lime was used for causticis-
ing the above - named aluali by mixing
it in certain proportions with the ashes pre
vious to leaching with water. The ice was
used in waim weather for the purpose of
hardening the candles in the moulds, so
that they might be more easily extracted.
The larjre shed to the left was a storehouse,
where rendered tallow in barrels was
stored, the supply being drawn from Cana
da, the United States, and Russia. her
raw materials were used in large quantities,
such as palm oil from the west coast of
Afiica, and rosin, principally from the
Carolina s.
The buildings shown in the rear of our
sketch are the warehouses on the Yonge
street wharf, which were built in 1841 on crib
work, sunk with stones in twelve, or
more, feet of water. Very few of the
original stockholders of the Yonge
street wharf are now alive. Many
once well known names were included in
the list, which is as fo lows :
T. D. Harris, hardware merchant ;
Peter Freeland, soap manufacturer ;
W. D. Taylor, soap manufacturer ;
W. Ross, merchant^ Alex. Ogilvie, mer
chant ; G. B. Dickson, merchant ; H. J.
Boulton, Esq. ; Andrew Mercer, Esq.; W. A.
Baldwin, Esq.; Alex. Rennie, baker; Geo.
Douglas, gentleman ; John Somerville, gen
tleman ; Franklin Jackes, gentleman ; Geo.
Lawrence, of Broekville, merchant; D vid
Paterson, merchant; Chas. Berczy, E q.;
Thos.Carfrae, Esq.; John Eastwood, station
er ; Thos. Clarke, hatter ; Joseph Rogers,
hatter ; Geo. Bostwick, wheel-wright ; J.
M. Strange, auctioneer; Thos. Thompson,
shoemaker; Jamts Leslie, stationer ; Thos.
Rigney, merchant ; H. M. Sutherland, gro.
cer ; Chas. Thompson, gentleman ; Richard
Tinning, wharfinger ; John McMurrich,
merchant ; Gi o. Moore, merchant ;
Edwin Bel), chandler; Samuel
Shaw, cutler ; George Bilton,
tailor ; Richard Laurie, gentleman ; Stan-
bus Daniel, innkeeper ; John Robertson,
merchant ; John Ritchie, builder ; J. C.
Gibson, merchant ; Ed. McElderry, James
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
183
St. Clair, Richmond Hill, merchant ; Geo.
B. Willard, ironmonger ; Win. Flock, mer
chant ; Walter Rose, gent eman ; Robert
Beard, John Bell, E-q., Wm. Ketchum,
Esq.; James Charles, merchant; Geo.
Denholm, merchant ; John C. Bett-
ridge, merchant ; John Armstrong, mer
chant ; Jesse Ketchum, tanner ; John East
wood, merchant ; John Elgie. innkeeper ;
Jeremiah Iredale, tinsmith ; John Gibson,
plasterer ; Catherine Drummond, widow ;
Robt. Walker, tailor ; Thos. Dick, gentle
man ; Wm. Townsley, brickmaker ; Wm.
M. Westmacott, merchant ; Peter Paterson,
jr., merchant ; Alex. McGregor, innkeeper;
Alex. Murray, merchant ; Wm. March, shoe
maker ; Archiba d Laurie, merchant (Mont
real) ; Richard Brewer, bookbinder ; Peter
Brown, carpenter. The water frontage was
leased by Peter Freeland to trustees lor the
shareholders. The trustees were Robert Bald
win and Pecer Paterson. The wharf was built
by Richard Tinning and the capital put in
by the company was 3,112 10s. The whole
of the stock was subsequently acquired by
Peter Freeland and the lease caacelled, and
the property now belongs to the Freeland
estate.
The bay was full of wild ducks in the
early days, and were so plentiful around
the wharf that Mr. Freeland used to shoot
them from the factory door or windows.
Mr. Richard Tinning was one day walk
ing along the shore, when some ducks flew
up from the water. He fired at them with
out looking where the shot was going, and
it crashed into the windows of the factory.
Mr. Freeland ran out, with a number of
men, to repel the invaders. In the factory
was a tame muskrat that used to dine on
fish caught by the men. The fishermen dried
their nets alongside of the factory, and one
day the muskratgotintothenetand was being
hauled in. He swam around inside of the
wooden floats frying to make his escape;
finding that he could not dive under them,
he suddenly sprang over and thus made his
escape.
The Indians used to catch large quanti
ties of muskrats on the Island, and wr>uld
land their canoes and cargoes of muskrats
skins on the beach, which was very wide at
this point.
During the war of 1837 labour was so
scarce that Mr. Freeland could not get men
enough to cut the soap into bars. He then
ran the soap into boxes, and sold it in one
solid mass, as the boxes formed it into
shape.
After work was done the men employed
in the factory would sit around the kitchen
Are moulding bullets.
Mr Freeland livid in rooms fitted up in the
factory at the time, and coming home late one
cold winter night, he found a soldier lying
on the snow, under the influence of liquor.
H sent some men who were working late
to bring him in. They wrapped him
in buffalo skins, and left him in the factory.
After a while he awoke, found himself in
the darkness, and creeping about came to
one of the large soap kettles, about twelve
feet deep. Seeing the window on the other
side, he thought it was a barrier to his
further progress, and trying to get over it,
or around it, he fell into the kettle, which
was empty. The servants, aroused
by the noise he made, came upon the
scene with lights, but thought he was safer
in than outside of the kettle, so he stayed
there until morning, when Mr. Freeland put
in a ladder and fished him out. Then he
stole along the shore, trying to avoid obser
vation, and thus reached the Garrison.
The neighbours used to keep a hole open in
the ice, during the winter, for the purpose of
procuring water. One day Chief Justice
H igermau s cow came to take a drink at
the hole, and fell in, and could not get out.
Mr. Freeland s workmen came to the res
cue, and got her out, brought her into the
factory, and when she was warmed turned
her out. One of the men followed to see
where she would go, and she made her way
directly to Chief Justice Hagerman s
yard.
The ruins of Dr. King s old building were
opposite the factory. On occasions of pub
lic rejoicing, it was customary to roast an |px
whole in the cellar of the building. On the
occasion of the Queen s coronation, a large
ox was roasted in the cellar of this house,
and was taken down to the Market square
by Mr. James Brown, on a sleigh drawn by
four horses, where a great festival and din
ner was given to the peop:e.
Mr. Freeland s tallow used to be brought
in schooners from Rochester. A schooner
thus loaded was once caught in a terrible
storm off the Island, and the sailors threw
the cargo of tallow into the lake. At the
same time there was a considerable amount
of salt on board, which might much better
have been thrown overboard, instead of the
more valuable tallow, the salt being in the
hold and the tallow on deck. For weeks they
were fishing up this tallow along the shore of
the lake. Many tricks were practised by these
Yankee tallow merchants, as for instance,
on opening one of the barrels a large stone
was f und imbedded in it, weighing about
one hundred pound?, which Mr. Free and
had paid for as tallow.
On Sunday torenoon a number of boys
were sailing around the factory on planks.
One of the bovs fell into the water, and was
184
LANDMARKS OP TORONTO
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
185
in danger of being drowned. He h id sunk
two feet below the surface of the water, and
all hop} of saving him was gone, when sud
denly an old workman, by the name of John
Lawrence, ran irom the cabin in which he
lived, partially dressed, jumped into the
water, swam out to and snatched the boy
by the hair, and deposited him among the
spectators on the bank, then walk
ed off to his dwe ling, asking no thanks.
Lord Elgin landed atthe Yonge street wharf
when he first visiteJ. Toronto. Thousands
of citizens thronged the approach to see
him land. The windows of the factory
were invariably lighte .1 up with candles on
public occasions, such as the Queen s birth
day or coronation.
During the winter the steamer Chief Jus
tice Robinson landed her passengers at the
Queen s wharf, and one spring tha ice was
cut all the way up to Yonge street wharf,
in order to get in a steamer with a cargo
of spring goods.
The American steamers used to arrive on
Sunday morning, and crowds of people went
down to see them land. The wharf was a
popular promenade for the people an hour
or two before church time, to watch the
boats come in.
O>ie of the early schooners that brought
tallow to the factory was the Peacock, Capt.
Vollar. Oa oae occasion the boat was
froz ;n in at Charlotte harbour. Mr. Free-
land went over and offered a reward to any
one who could cut her out. Many tried,
but none could effect it. At last the tal.ow
had to be brought on sleighs around the
head of the lake to Toronto.
On one occasion Mr. Freeland went to the
States to purchise tallow, and after secur
ing a large quantity at a tallow-rendering
establishment, he went b ick to his hotel.
Coming down after dark to see the
place he saw the fires all going, and
thought it looked rather dangerous, so
he said to them, " I don t like the look of
this place, roll my barrels out into this
field." Accordingly five hundred barrels
were rol ed out, and he paid for the ex
pense. Next morning he saw the whole
place in ruins, and his tallow over in the
field safe. The Yankees complimantad him
upon his caution.
Urquhart was one of the early lessees of
the wharf. After him came Wm. M.
Gorrie, then Upton & Co., then Woolley,
H 11 & Tnurston. and then the Milloys.
During the trouble of 1837, Mr* John
Robertson, wholesale merchant of Yonge
street, was one of the men on guard at thi
City Hall, Tne next morning he came up
to his office on some business, and met Wm.
M. Gorrie, who spok ; to him about the re-
billion, uttering some disloyal sentiments,
upon which Mr. Robertson pulled his
bayonet out of its scabbard, and threatened
to run him through if he made use of that
expression again. This warning had the
desired effect.
The engineer who built the wharf was
named Roy The next wharf east of this
was cal ed Browne s wharf. Close to this on
the east was Ewart s. The city map of 1842
shows seven wharves the Queen s,
at the foot of Bathurst street ; the Commis
sariat wharf, at the foot of John
street, which has long since d sap-
peared ; Tinning s wharf, at the foot of
York street, where it still stands ; the
Yonge street wharf, Freeland s ; Brown s,
east of Scott street ; next Ewart s,
and lastly Maitland s wharf, at the
foot of Church street. By this map
the entire northern part of the city appears
to b ; fields and bush. No building of any
consequence appears north of Queen, then
Lot street, wi.h the exception of a few
houses on Yonge street.
Mr. Freeland, a!on4 with other property
owners, had a dispute with the city as to
the northern boundary of the lots. Ex
perts were employed to dig into the ground
to find the original bank. Bishop S:rachan
used to walk, up that way from the church
to his palace. For years a relic around the
factory was a bombshe , supposed to have
been used in the war of 1812 or the rebellion
of 1837.
For years an old schooner remained high
and dry on the lot alongside of the fac
tory, and was a playground for the
boys, swinging from its pendant ropes and
halyards. A large schooner was built above
the Greenbush Tavern on Yonge street. It
was brought down Yonge street, night after
night, and day alter day, for about a fort
night. It was launched at Yonge street
wharf.
In the early days there was a magnificent
row of oak treea at the top of the bank,
west of Yonge street. A son of Mr.
Joseph Rogers, hatter, shot a racoon up
in the branc ies. There was an old hickory
tree on th-3 bank, near the fastory, one half
of which, it ii said, bore hickory nuts and
the other half haws.
A managerie once visited the town, and
during the day the elephants were brought
down to the bay. They buried themselves
in the water all but the tips of their trunks,
and were with great difficulty brought out
again.
Samuel Sherwood, formerly Chief of Po
lice and City Registrar, once saved the life
of a little coloured boy who fell off the
wharf into the bay. Gorrie saved another
186
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
boy by jumping into the water with a rope
around hia waist.
The Cherokee was an English war steamer
which visited the harbour. The commander
put up a target on the island and practised
ball-shooting. Under the treaty with the
United States ouly one war ship was al
lowed on the lakes. An old woman on the
island was frightened almost to death
by the shots wh zziug around her cottage,
Mr. Fn-eland had an ice cellar dug out
of the bank on Front street, opposite the
American Hotel.
The two boys named Dean on summer
nights would bring out their drums and
bang away for an hour or two erery Friday
evening on the edge of the hill.
The deeds of the property only gave the
frontage to the water edge, so that the fac
tory had to be built on cribs, sunk in the
water. Some of these foundations were
discovered when i he G. W. R. built their
station on the site.
When the Freeland boys wanted to fish
they had not far to eo ; they just put their
polts out of the windows and managed it
that way.
The Grand Trunk Railway cars used to
run on the edge > f the bank on the south
ide of Front street before the building of
the Esp ana ie, ad in the lower right hand
corner tf our sketch may be seen what was
intended to represent the railway tracks.
In the early years of the history of To
ronto many once famous steamers, whose
names are unfamiliar to the present genera
tion, brought their cargoes of valuable
freight to the dock and warehouses shown
in our sketch. On one occasion a schooner
laden with wood was wrecked [in a storm,
and was driven ashore at the foot
of the bank, a few feet south of the
street line of the row of brick building* now
on the corner of Front and Yonge streets.
So careful was Mr. Freeland that, not
withstanding the it flammable material kept
in the building, no fire ever occurred. He
was the last man in the building to see that
everything was safe. He was a consistent
Reformer, and took an active interest in po
litical and religious matters. He was a dea
con in the Congregational church, of which
ause in this city he was one of the origina
tors, and was for many years treasurer of
the Bible Society.
Mr. Freeland died in 1861. He left
two sons, William and Robert. Mr. Wm.
Freeland is a barrister, now residing on Bay
street, Toronto, and Mr. Robert Free-
land is cosmopolitan, his business taking
him to most of the large cities of America
He is an inventor of soap-making ma
chinery.
CHAPTER LVII.
THE SHAKESPEARE HOTEL-
A Hostelry Formerly Much Patronized by
Actors -The Only Theatre in Town Half
a Century Ago A Great Fire.
Half . a century ago there stood where
the present Shakespeare hotel now stands,
at the north-east corner ot York and King
streets, a medium-sized frame building,
two stories in height and painted white.
It had a gable fronting on iork street, and
the entrance was on that street. This
building was erected about 1831 and in it J.
Rob nette Garside kept a mechanics board
ing house. In 1835 J. Jamieaon kept a
boarding house here. In 1843 James Mir-
field, an Englishman, kept a hotel here. It
was called the Shakespeare hotel. A
sketch of the house may be seen iu J. G.
Howard s view of Chewett s buildings
in the City Hall. On August 21, 1843,
a great fire ravaged this part of
the town, and the western half of the
block bounded by King, Pearl, (then Boul-
ton,) York and Bay streets, consisting
mostly of frame houses, was almost totally
destroyed. The fire occurred in the day
time. In those days the facilities for
giving the alarm and for extinguishing
fire were lamentably inadequate. The
only engines were little goose-neck hand
machines, so called from the pump part of
engine projecting above the deck. The
pipe came up through this with a turn
at the top to which the hose wag at
tached. Each engine was manned with
sixteen men, eight on each side at the
brakes or side bars by which the pump
ing was done. These engines threw only
a five-eighth or three-quarter inch stream
about 140 feet. The British Colonist gives
the following account of the fire : " A
dreadful fire broke out yesterday forenoon,
about halt-past ten o clock, on King street
west, within a short distance from Stone s
hotel, on the opposite side of the s reef. At
a rough guess from thirty to foity houses
are said to be destroyed, the neighbourhood
being a very crowded me. The tire is said
to have broken out in the rear of Baker s
tavern, the Prince Alfred. At 11:30 it was
at its great height, extending along King
street and back to Broad lane, covering
nearly one hundred square yards, and the
heat by this time was so intense on King
street that many of the roofs of the build
ings opposite be-gan to take fire.
Among the tenants were Messrs. March,
Byman, Baker, Titson, Brown, Wright,
Cleggett, Harris (coloured man), Mrs.
Roberts (Joiners Arms), and Mr. ConnelL
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
187
**
S!
5
188
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
. . . . If anything on such an occasion
is deserving of censure it is the mischievous
aeal of friends, who, without being known
or connected in any way with the fire de
partment, display tb.3ir anxiety in pitching
out furniture and gutting people s houses in
spite of every remonstrance that can be
urged. Mr. M rfield was much annoyed by
a set of this description. One fellow in his
anxiety to make himself useful was carrying
away a clo-ik to some place of safety no
doubt. Another had commenced to bundle
everything into the street, and it was only
by very rough measures that the house was
freed 1 1 oi them. . . . The rear of the
Shakespeare hotel was binned. Immediate
ly after this fire T. D. Harris a promiaen
hardware merchant of the city, who was chi f
of the fire brigade, resigned his position.
Curiously enough, nine yews later Mr.
Harris suffered threat loss by a conflagration
which totally destroyed his store and stock.
Old residents will recollect the hanging of
Stephen Turn y for the murder of Win.
McPhiliips at Markham in 1844. Turney
boarded at the Shakespeare hotel with
his wife at the time. Turney was arrested a
few d iys after the murder by J. B. Townsend,
who at one time was a soldier and dfter-
wards a policeman. Both Townsend and
Turney had served in the same regiment.
He went ou*; to Markham to locate the
murderer, and when returning to Toronto
met Turney and arrested him. The Hon.
Frank Smith was a fallow cle k with Mc
Philiips and both were in the employ of
Francis Logan, who ha I a large store in
Toronto and a store in many of the adjoin
ing villages. There was no theatre in town
then, so to accommodate the people of
Toronto a, sma 1 ! frame theatre was built at
the rear of the hotel to the east with its
entrance by a lane from Ki >g street, and
nearly a hundred feet in off the street.
This place of amusement seated about
three hundred. There were no galleries
but tiers of elevated seats rose above
one another at the rear of the pit
Notwithstanding the limited tacilities some
very good plays were presented here.
Old residents remember with particular
satisfaction the acting of the Thornes in
comedy, e-pecially Mrs. Thome s rendition
of the part of Lady Gay Spanker in
"London Assurance." Tragedies were also
performed at ttmes. On account of its
proximity to the theatre, the Sh ikespoare
hotel became a popular stopping place for
th3 actors and as such it is principally
noted. The theatre continued op;n until
John Ritchey built the Lyceum a little
south of King street, the entrance to it
being through the arch- way next to what
is now No. 99 King street west. Mr,
Ritchey, who was a builder, also put up
the block of brick buildings known as
Ritchey s Terrace, on the north side of
Adelaide street, west of Sheppard, on the
land where his large carpenter shop form
erly stood. Soon afterward the King
and York street theatre was torn down.
The hotel was conducted for many years
by Mr. Mirfield until his d- j ath. His
widow carr ed on the hotel afterwards, and
subsequently married Capt. John Kerr, one
of the most popular men on the lakes.
Capt. Kerr was the mate of the steamer
Eciips. , which for so many years ran on
Lake Onta-io. The captain was a fine
portly gentleman, stood over six feet in
height and was larpe in proportion. He
was li ced by all who knew him. Soon
after his death Mrs. Kerr gave up business
and went out of the c ty. During Captain
Kerr s time he was the owner of a very fine
Newfoundland dog, that kept watch at the
house and followed his master as he wou^d
wend his way to the Market. The dog had
around his deck a brown collar with a brass
plate attached to it, and on the plate was
engraved "Whose dog art; you?" "lam
John Kerr s dog." Miss Fanny Mirfield,
the only daughter of Mrs. Mirfield, married
Mr. Robert Wilson, who for years had the
hotel out at the junction of the Dundas and
Lambton roads, opposite the Peacock.
After that hotel was pulled down by the
Credit Valley Railway, Mr. Wi son went to
Brampton, where he now successfully car
ries on the same business.
CHAPTER LVIII.
DR. GRANT POWELL S HOUSE.
i Richmond Street Dwelling, Oner the
Residence of a Prominent Figure In th
War of 1*18 Incident! of the War.
Among the early residents of York was
Dr. Grant Powell, the third son of William
Dummev Powell, who is described as a
handsome reproduction on a large scale of
his father, the Chief Justice. Dr. Powell
was born in Norwich, England, May 24,
1779. After receiving a liberal and medical
education in the land of his birth he mi
grated to the United States about the
beginning of the century and settled at
Stillwater, N. Y . , where he began the
practice of his profession. Here, in 1805,
he married Miss Bleecker, of the well-
known Knickerbocker family of that name.
Dr. Powell practised medicine in Stiiiwater
until 1811. when the prospect of war be
tween the United States and Great Britain
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
189
led him to give up his p. notice and move to
Canada. He settled in Montreal at first,
and practised a short time there ; then he
came to York about the beginning of 1812.
We learn from a letter written by Sir
Isaac Brock to Sir George Provost that
duriig the war Dr. Grant Powell had the
coiifidence of the civil and military com
manders.
In a letter addressed to Colonel Baynes
from New York, July 23, 1812, General
Sir Isaac Brock writes : "I wish very
much something might be done for Mr.
Grant Powell. He was regularly brought
up in England as a surgeon. I intended
to have proposed to Sir George to ap
point him permanent surgeon to the
marine department, but I now seriously
think the situation would not answer.
His abilities I should think might be
more fully emp oyed now that so many
troops have been called out." Subse
quently Dr. Powell was appointed surgeon,
having charge of all hospital arrangements
on the Niagara frontier.
Mr. T. G. Ridout made a memorandum
May 5, 1813, in which Dr. Powell s name
appears. This is the memorandum :
" I left York on Sunday the second in
stant-, at noon, at which time the Ameri
can fleet, consisting of the Madison, Oneida,
and ten schc oners with the Gloucester
were ying at anchor about ten miles from
the Garrison, wind-bound by a south-east
wind. All their troops were embarked the
evening before, excepting a small party
who burned the large block house, gov
ernment house and officers quartern.
At nine in the morning a naval officer
came down to town and collected ten
men out of the taverns where they had
been all night. The commissariat maga
zines were shipped the preceding days
and great quantities of the provisions given
to our country people who brought their
waggons down to assist the Americans to
transport the public stores found at Mr.
Elmsiey s house and at Boulton s barn.
The lower block-house and government,
buildings were burned on Saturday. Major
Givins and Dr. Powell s houses were en
tirely plundered by the i nemy and some
persons from the Humber. Jackson and
his two sons and Sudden, the butcher, had
been riding through the country order
ing the militia to come in and be put
on their paroles, which caused great num
bers to obey voluntarily and through
fear. Duncan Cameron, Esq., delivered
all the monies in the Receiver-General s
hands to the amount, as I understand, of
2,500, over to Captain Elliot, of the
American navy, th enemy having threat
ened to burn the town if it was rot given
up. On Friday the 30 h the Chief Jus
tice, Judge Powell, my father. Dr.
Strachan and D. Cameron called upon
General Dearborn, requesting he would
allow the magistrates to retain their au
thority over our own people. Accordingly
he issued a general order, saying it was
not his intention to deprive the magis
tracy of its civil functions ; that they
shou d be supported, and if any of the
United States troops committed any depre
dation a strict scrutiny into it should
follow. The gaol was given up to the
sheriff, but no prisoners. The public pro
vincial papers were found out. but or
dered to be protected, so that nothing was
destroyed, excepting the bo< k, papers,
records and furniture of the Upper and
Lower Houses of Assembly. It was s id
they had destroyed our leiters and taken
away the cannon. The barracks were not
burnt. The American officers said their
force on the 27 sh was three thou and
land force and one thousand seamen and
mariners, and that their Joss was tire
hundred killed and wounded. T. G. Ridout,
Kingston, May 5, 1813." During the war
Dr. Grant Povell bore an important re
lation to the Governor-General, and per
haps the condition of affairs in York after
the second attack of the Americans in
July, 1813, cannot be better described
than by quoting the communication made
by Dr. Grant Powell and Dr. Strnchan
to the Governor-General on August 2, 18l3,
wh ch was as follows :
" \Ve beg leave to state, for the info ma -
tion of his Excellency the Governor Gen
eral, that about/ eleven o clock on Satur
day morning the enemy s fleet of twelve
sail were seen standing for the harbour.
Almost all ihe gentlemi n of the town hav
ing retired, we proceeded to the Garrison
about 2 o clock and watchfd until 3
o clock, when the Pyter, the Madison and
Oneida came to anchor in the offing, and
the schooners continued to pass up the
harbour with their sweeps, the wind hav
ing become ight, then coming to abreast
of the town, the remainder rear the
Ga-rison. About. 4 o clock several boats
full of tr< ops la ded at the Garrison,
and we. 1 earing a white flag, desired
the first offi er ->e met to conduct us to
Commodore Cuauncey. We mentioned to
the Commodore that the inhabitants of
York, consisting chi< fly of women and
children, were alarmed at the Approach of
the fleet, and that we had come to know
his intention r specting the town ; that
if it were to be pillaged or destroyed we
might take such measures as were :ill
190
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
191
in our power for their removal and pro
tection. We added that the town was
totally defenceless, the militia being still
on parole, and that the gentlemen had
left it having heard that the principal in
habitants of Niagara had been carried
away captive, a severity unusual in war.
Commodore Chauncey replied that it was
far from his intention to molest th? in
habitants of York in person or property ;
he was sorry that any of the gentle
men had thought it necessary to retire,
and that he did not know of any person
taken from Niagara of the description
mentioned. Colonel Scott, the commandant
of the troops, said that a few persons
had certainly been taken away. The Com
modore told us that his coming to York
at present was a sort of retaliation for
the visits our fleet made on the other
side of the lake and to possess himself
of the public stores and destroy the fortifi
cations, but that he would burn no houses.
He mentioned something of Sodus, and the
necess ty of retaliation should such measure
bs taken in future. He like
wise expressed much regret at the destruc
tion of our public library, April 27th, in
forming us that he had made strict search
through his fleet for the books ; many of
them had been found whicii he would
send back by the first flag of truce. He
then asked what public stores were here,
a question which we could not answer. In
parting both the Commodore and Colonel
Scott pledged their honour that our
persons and property shou d be re-pected,
and that even the town should not be en
tered by the troops, much less by any
gentleman there. As we were quieting the
minds of the inhabitants the troops took
possession of the town, opened the jail,
liberated the prisoners, taking three soldiers,
confined for felony, with them ; they
visited the hospitals and paraded the few
men that could not be removed. They
then entered the stores of Mr. Allan
and Mr. St. George, and secured the con
tents, consisting chiefly of flour. Observ
ing this we went to Col. Scott and in
formed him that he was taking property.
He replied that a great deal of officers
luggage had been found in Mr. Allan s store,
and that all the private property was to be
respected. Provisions of all kinds were
lawful prizes, because tfiey were the sub
sistence of armies ; that if it prevailed
in the contest the British Gov- rnment
would make up the loss, and if they
were successful their Government would
most willingly reimburse the sufferers.
He concluded by declaring that he would
seize all provisions he could find. The
three schooners which had anchored
abreast of the town towed out between 11
and 12 o clock on Saturday night, and we
supposed that the fleet would have sai ed
immediately, but having been informed by
some traitor that valuab e stores had been
sent up the Don, the schooners came up
the harbour yesterday morning. The troops
were again landed, and three armed
boats went up the Don in search of the
stores. We have since learned that
through the meritorious exertions of a
few young men, two of the name of
Playter, everything was conveyed away
before the enemy reached the place. Two
or three boats containing trifling articles
which had been hidden in the marsh were
discovered and taken, but in the main the
enemy were disappointed. As soon as
the armed boats returned the troopi
went on board, and by sunset both soldiers
and sailors had evacuated the town. The
barracks, the wood-yard, and the store
houses on Gibraltar Point were then set
on fire, and this morning at daylight the
enemy s fleet sailed. The troops which
were landed acted as marines and ap
pear to be all they had on board, not more
certainly than 240 men. The fleet con
sists of fourteen armed vessels. Ours ia
left at Sackett s Harbour. It is but
justice to Commodore Chauncey and Colonel
Scott- to state that their men -while on shore
behaved well, and no private house was en
tered or destroyed. " At the close of the war
Dr. Powell resumed the practice of his
profession at York. Some years later he
was appointed Clerk of the Assembly and
Judge of the Home District Court, and
on the death of the Clerk of the Legislative
Council, in 1828, he was also given
this position. All these places he held up to
the time of his death in 1838, aged 59 years.
At the time of receiving these appoint
ments Dr. Powell transferred his medical
practice to Dr. Widmer, but he remained ex
aminer of the Medical Board up to his death.
Dr. Powell had the direction of the
building of the old hospital which stood
at the north-west corner of King and
John streets. The hospital was a spacious,
unadorned matter-of-fact two-storey struc
ture of red brick, one hundred and
saven feet long and sixty- six feet wide.
It had by the direction of Dr. Grant
Powell the peculiarity of standing with
its sides precisely east and west and north
and south. At a subsequent period it
had the appearance of having been jerked
around bodily, the streets in the neigh
bourhood not having been laid out with
the same precise regard to the cardinal
point The building exhibited recessed
192
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
\: PH ; . i s i! I
\ BHffiafy.i
J
-4-*l^H i . 1 1 a
WA ^\ *
LXW
j:^ j
^^^*=s^ 7
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO
193
galleries on thi north and south sides
and a flattish hippsd roof. The interior
was conveniently designed.
When the Houses of Parliament a| the
east end of the city were destroyed by
firs in 1824, the Legislature assembled
tor several sessions in the hospital building.
In thj fever wa"ds here, during the ter
rible season of 1847, friglitfu scene; of
suffering and death were witnessed amon,
the newiy-arrived emigrants. Herd it was
in ministering to them in their distress
so m my were st-uok down sonv: a l but
latally, others wholly s~> amongst the lat
ter several leading medical men and Bishop
Power, the Roman Catholic prelate.
Dr. Gtant Powell was one of the guests
at the fancy dress ball given at Frank s Hotel
in 1827, on which occasion he assumed
the character of Dr. Pangloss. His
name also occurs frequently in old docu
ments relating to the early history of York.
During D. . Powell s early residence in
York he lived far a tim-3 in tha north wing
of the old parliament buildings. He then
occupied the two-storey frame house, with
a rather large lot about it at tha south
west corner of Duke and George streets.
These houses were at a later
date moved over to Alice street. r l ho
house directly south of it was afterward
built by Mr. J. S. Howard and used by him
as a residence ani as the post office
In 1826 Dr. Powell bought from Mr.
Capels, a builder, the one storey white
cottage, standing at what now is
No. 146 Richmond street, on the north
aide, east of Simcoe street, adjoining the
house of the late John Harper. The
hou-e stood a few feet back from the
street, la the front was a p >rch. About
five feet in front of the porch and eight
feet in front of the main building was a
fence. At the tim3 of its purchase in
1826 the hous; consisted simply of the
central part. The wings at the east and
west and th ; kitchen extension at the rear
were afterwa d added. On the south
side of Richmond street, opposite the house,
DC. Powell owned an acre of land, which
was laid out in an orchard and g crden.
At the east and west side of the house
were fruit trees. Dr. Powell died in this
Richmond street house in 1838. Th ; build
ing was destroyed by fire in September,
1849. Dr. G ant P .well s house was one of
the houses Mackenzie decHed should be
spared as D;-. Powell was a friend of his.
Tne house was o d and quaint. Mrs.
S lyinour, Dr. Powell s daughter, now liv**j
in Ottawa, well remembers the war of ISO,
when all tiie ladies of the town were *
s embled in McGill s cottage where the
13
Metropolitan Church now stands. She waa
a girl at the time. She was sent ou; to pile
chipa under the large kettl -s in tLe yard on
which fojd was.b.iug cooked for the loyal
troops, an! she was told to look over the
fence at a nig pole down at Church street,
and if sh > saw the American flag there the
town had been taken, if the British the
Americans were bsaten. Dr. Pow
ell left two sons and five
daughters. Hia eldest son, Willi im Dum-
nur Powell, at his d^ath was Judge of
the Counties of Wellington, Waterloo and
Gray. The surviving son is Mr. Grant
Powell, Under Secretary of Stat , who
lives at Ottawa. Three daughters survive,
one of whom is the wife of Mr. John Ridout,
Reg strar of the County of York.
At th upper end of William stre. t on the
Caer-Howell reserve as it was called was
situated the old family graveyard of
th o Powells. Th ; reserve extended back
to the College aveuux The western half of
it was given to the city by Chief Justice
William Dummer Powe l. Three sides of
the lot were surrounded by a brick wa 1
eight or nine feet high. The eastern wal
batween the plot and the avenue was of
stone and a little higher than the other
sides. The entrance was from the wts.
where two iron gates were placed. Th&
vault itself was about twelve feet square,
the entrance to it also b ing from the west
through heavy iron or iron shod doors. It
was four or five feet above the ground and
about six feet below the surface. In it
were the remains of the Chief Justice and
his wife, Anae, Dr. Grant Powell his Son,
Margaret, Dr. Powell s daughter, who died
in 1841, and Augusta Jarvis, daughter of
the late S. P. Jarvis. These were the only
ones buried in the vault. Outside in thj
middle of the enclosure were buried Charles
Seymour in 1843, the farher of Mr. Grant
Seymour, of Ottawa, and at the foot of his
grave Bertie Stuart s eldest sister Mary.
The; Stuarts were cousins of the Seymours.
On either side the bodies of two infant
children of the late Dr. Gwynne. Half
wary between the vau t and the south wall
of th j enclosure was planted a slab in mem
ory of four children ot the Chief Justice,
three of whom were drowned : Thomas at
Kingston, Jeremiah, who was supposed to
have fallen into the hands ot pirates on his
return from Spain early in the century,
and Anne who was lost in the wreck of the
Albion in 1822. The fourth, Villiam, died
and was buried at Thorold. In later years
the slab had sunk so de ply in the ground
that it could not be distinguished. In tha
enclosure were two large trees, one a huge
o d elm just alongside the vau t and the
194
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
other at the south-west corner with its
branches hanging over William street.
There was also some low shrubbery growing
about. In September, 1868, the remains of
Charles Seymour were removed to St.
James Cemetery, his son Mr. Grant Sey
mour superintending the exhumation and in
that or the next year all the other bodies
were re-interred in the same churchyard.
CHAPTER LIX.
THE SCADDING HOMESTEAD.
The Old Farm House of Mr. John Scudding
and the Home of Dr. Henry Scudding on
Trinity Square.
Somewhere about the year 1856, the Cor
poration of the City of Toronto purchased
one hundred and three acres of what used
to b known as the Scadding Farm, just be
yond the limits of the city, on the east side
of the River Don, tor the two-fold purpose of
securing a site tor a new prison for the
county and city, and establishing in connec
tion therewith an Industrial Farm. Both
ideas were carried into eff ct ; and this ulti
mately, but only recently, brought about
the complete demolition of the old home
stead represented in our engraving. It
was a well-known obj ct and was situated a
little to the north-west of the present exten
sive prison buildings. The Scadding Farm
consisted originally of the whole of lot num
ber fifteen, broken front, extending from
the water s edge of the bay northward to
the first concession line, i.e., the present
Danforth avenue or Bloor street produoed
east across the Don, bounded throughout
its whole length on the east by what is now
styled Broad view avenue, but formerly known
as tin Mill road, and on its western side
by the windings of the River Dm. The
first patentee from the Crown of this lot
was Mr. John Scadding, an emigrant from
Devonshire, formerly of Luppit in that
county, where he and his forebears had
owned a property named Windsor. In
fulfilment of " settlement duties " he
put up a log house and barn of mo
derate dimensions, in the first instance
at the south end of his lot by the side of
the highway leading to Kingston ; which
buildings are duly shown on the early sur
veys of this quarter ; and so notable was
this improvement as a landmark by the
wayside that the bridge leading into York
over the river close by, was long popularly
known as "Scadding .s Bridge," an expression
that occurs for several years in the printed
accounts of the annual township meetings ;
and in the orders issued by the authorities
for the assembling of militia oompanies in
ease of an emergency, "Scadding s Bridge"
is named as an alarm station,
or place of rendezvous At i
later period Mr S wadding, having disposed
of his improvements and a few acres a~ this
point, erected more commodious buildings,
a farm house, large barn and aeommodatioc
for horses and cattle, all of carefully hewr
logs, some distance to the north of the sitt
first selected, which are the buildings after
wards pulled down in the Industrial Farm
grounds.
Lot No. 15, broken front, was a rough
piece of land to tackle for the purpose ol
bringing it into anything like a condition
of cultivation. It consisted of a long
line of steep hills, the eastern boundary
of the Don valley, densely covered
with very heavy timber chiefly
white pine ; and flats verging into marsh
towards the south, but to the north, also
supplied with a forest vegetation, elms of
great height and girth, bass-wood, butter
nut, walnut, wild crab-apples, wild cherry,
wild grape, wild currant and gooseberry
and prickly ash. For the lover of the
picturesque, the admirer of distant lake
views and near river scenes, the lot was a
most attractive one. Anyone fond of sport
ing could find continual employment for the
gun, the rod, the spear, the trap, the river
abounding with salmon at the proper sea
sons, and a number of other good fish at all
times, rock-bass, perch, pike, eels; while
the lands bordering on the stream were
alive -with genuine game, grouse, quail,
woodcock, snipe, plover, sandpiper and
wiW duck of various denominations, and
pigeons innumerable at the proper seasons ;
along with numerates fur-producinff ani
mal, the mink, the fox, the muskrat, the
marmot, squirrels in great variety, black,
red, striped and flying, to say nothing of an
occasional deer, bear and wolf. Snakes too
of many beautiful forms were numerous,
with turtles (the snapping and other) frogs
in variety, including the tree frog, lizards
and crayfish. Most lovely wild flowers were
scattered about everywhere. For the en
thusiast in almost every branch of natural
history, it was a paradise. But for the simple
agr culturalist bound to make a subsist
ence out of the artificial products of the
soil, the obstacles in all directions were
most formidable. The first patentee
of lot fifteen however, did all that was
possible to be done during his short
career in Can ida, and with the scant capital
at his command. Around the homestead
fields of grain, of wheat, rye, barley, oats
and maize were seen ; and orchards contain
ing a great variety of the finest kinds of
apple and other fruits, including the p -ach
and Siberian crab. The English filbert was
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
195
successfully cultivated, and rhubarb, com
monly called the pie-plant, was probably
for the first time introduced in these parts ;
asparagus beds and celery trenches were
laid out ; hemp was grown, and melons of
nil kinds and esculent gourds, great and
small. In the flower garden bloomed most
of the ordinary English Bowers, especially
roses of several species ; and the then
novelties of the laburnum, syringa and
periwinkle. The flats were converted into
meadows, where sheep were to be seen,
and all the usual domestic animals : *nd in
on the 1st March, 1824, by injuries received
from the falling of a tree. In our sketch of the
old homestead taken some years after the
sad event just mentioned, the most in
teresting portion perhaps is the little
lean-to seen attached to the end of the main
building, on the right. This lean to was a
relic of (Jastle Frank, having been con
structed of plank, flooring, ecantling and
other material rescued from that famous
building when going to decay and brought
down in rafts from its site, on the preci
pitous bank of the Don a little high up
convenient nooks here and there, stacks oi
hay. At one time a portion of the flats be
came a hop garden. A bold attempt was
made, too, to improve the marsh lands in a
sanitary point of view by cutting channels.
In the course of the excavations connected
with the straightening of the Don, tb^n
going on, the cribwork of a log causeway
across the marsh below the homestead was
brought to light, a contrivance of the first
owner of the property. The life of this
gentleman, who was a veritaule pioneer
of civilization, was brought to a sudden p nd
on the west side, (The proprietor of
lot number fifteen became the owner
by purchase, of the adjoining Castle
Frank lot, in the year 1821.) The
lean-to in question, put together out of the
debris of Castle Frank, was added expressly
for the accommodation of the youngest son
of the original patentee of lot No. 15, the
still surviving Rev. Dr. Scad ding, a sketch
of whose present residence, No. 10 Trinity
Square, we also give. At an early age the
subsequent historiographer of York and
primitive Toronto began on a small scale to
196
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
develop the literary ar;d archeological
tastes, which have since characterized him ;
>nd hero within the r arrow limits of a
Tery rustic study, commenced what ha
been a labor of love to the eminent divine,
schoolmaster nd historian, resulting in the
mucjmmon accumulation of licerary and
historical bric-a-brac which renders, at the
present moment No. 10 Tr nity Square an
object of s>me curiosity In the elevated
mans.ird of this house, whence most of the
spires, towers, domes, factory-shafts, flag-
tffs and other conspicuous objects of the
city, and a stretch of Lake Ontario
down to Sea borough heights, ca;i
all readily be viewed, the col ections
aad recollections embodied in the well-
known work, "Toronto of O:d," were
brought into form and committed to the
writt n page ; while the storeys below,
from the basement upward, teem with book
cases and books, many of the latter rare and
curious, bcinp specimens of early typography
or ths work of f.unous printers, volumes of
autograph documents, c ibinets of coins and
m d.ils, Gre^k, Roman, French and Eng
lish, portfolios of local views and portraits,
paintings, fine engravings, bronzes and
busts.
CHAPTER LX
MACKENZIE S YORK ST. HOME.
The House Where William Lyon Mackenzie
Edited The Constitution "Dr. liornhv
Edited The Constitution 1
the Hero of Hornby Hall.
Dr. Hornby,
i the west side of York street, which i-
now No. 184, halfway between Quaen and
Richmond, separated from the pavenu-nt by
a few f--et of yard and a low fence, and
p.irtly shaded by a couple of not over-
healthy-looking trees, stands a modest two-
storey red brick house. During the
stormiest period of a peculiarly stormy
car er, that irrepressible patri it, William
Lyon Mackenzie, made this dwelling h s
home and workshop. Here were his p p rs,
p.n and ink, here he thought ou: and wrote
down those burning words th>t set all
Canada aflame ; here he planned that ill-
advised and iil-fate.l rebellion, and here he
left his family when he fbd with a price on
his head.
The house was erected in 1830 by Major
Andrew Patton, formerly of the 45 :h regi-
rneat, barraok master of York Garrison, ana
hr> lived in it till 1835. Major Patton,
father of the collector, the late Hon. James
Patton, was born in 1771, near St. Andrew s,
Fifeshire, Scotland, and saw active service
in different countries, with the 6th, 10th,
92nd, a id 45 sh regiments. In 1798, whin
captain of the 92nd, or Gordon Highlanders,
and A.D.C. to the Marqu : s of Huntley, be
took part in putting down ths Irish re
bellion. In 1799 he serv -d under Sir Ralph
Abercrombie and ihe Duke of York in
Holland, and was in the battles of the
Helder, Bergen and Alkmaar. In 1801 was
again under Sir Ralph Abercrombie in
Egypt, and at the battle^ of Mandoru and
Alexandria, when the French were driven
out of Egypt, in 1807 was at the attack
on Copenhagen, under Welii >gton, then S.r
Arthur Welles ! ey. In 1809 was with Sir
John Moore at Corunna. Coming to Can
ada, Major Patton settled on a f trm near
Adolphustown, on the Bay of Quinte. Next
removed to Prescott, on being appointed
Barrack-Master at Fort Wellington, as well
as R"gistrar of the county of Grenvil e, and
afterwards was promoted to York. He died
in Toronto Augus. 15th, 1838, in his 68;h
year. In 1835 Mackenzie leased the hou^e,
and lived th.re until 1837, when he offered
the lease for sale. The advertisement ap
peared in the Constitution of Wednesday,
llth January, 1837, and read aa follow* :
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
197
ANDS AND PROPERTY FOR SALE,
i etc.
i si iii ;;;
lilS
A large, commodious and well-finished brick
dwelling-house, with garden, stable, etc.
TO LET.
To be leased for ore, two or three years, the
House, Garden, and Premises on York and
Hospital Streets, close to Lot Street, opposite
the Lawyer^ Hall, and possession given im
mediately. Substantial and well finished, with
two stories above ground, and an underground
story, Cellars, Cellar-Kitchen, excellent Drains,
&c. It was erected a few years ago by Major
Patton, now of Prescott, for himself and family;
he is the Proprietor. On the Ground Floor
there are a Dining Room, Parlour or Library,
with a Sitting-Room and Five Bedrooms up
stairs.
The Garden is spacious, in good order, and
filled with currants, raspberries, gooseberries,
grapes, a,nd choice fruit trees. There is a stable
for two horses, a woodshed, and a yard. Also
a well of the purest water to be found in To
ronto.
The situation is very high and healthy, ad
joining the Macadamized and paved streets,
extremely well suited for a family residence ;
within a few minutes walk of the Public Of
fices, Churches, Wharves, Marker, and Courts
of Justice ; the rent is reasonable. Mr Mac
kenzie, 173 King Street, will shew the premises.
December 12th, 1836.
Here, then, early in 1836, Mr. Mackenzie
came with his family und effects, renting
the house, a comparatively new one, having
been occupied recently but a little time I y
its owner, from Dr. Hornby. In 1835 it
was the only brick buildn g on the ;quare,
at each corner of which stood a pop ar tree,
and there were but two or three others on
the same street. The front, which looks
now as then, is well shown in the artist s illus
tration. It was on the 4th of July, 1836, a
significant date, as Charles Lindaaly, Mr.
Mackenz e s biographer, observes, that the
first number of the Constitution was pub
lished. Already French Canadians had
held insurgent meeting?. Several thou
sand men had armed themselves to fight
if necessary against what they c aim
ed to be the coercive measures of the Im
perial Government, and events seemed
hurrying on with resistless tread. A little
rear room behind the dining-room, entered
by steps leading up from the backyard, had
been converted into an < ffice and sanctum.
In this iipartment the fearless editor pre
pared those inflammatory articles, one of
which appeared in the issue of the paper
on July 5 h, 1837, when he asks, " Will
Canadians dec are their independence and
shoulder their muskets and supplements
the question by an ; ffirmative appeal. Ihis
is f\ how d; in the Constitution of August
2nd, by the publication of a virtual de
claration of independence. Then meetings
of insurrectionists are held, two hundred in
all, it is said ; . ome attended with conflict*
of the opposing factions. The events of
the mcc eding months belong to the
history of the rebellion. At Itngth th
open outbre; k, so long exp: cted, occurs.
The intn pid editor has thus far been a
corqueror with the pen ; he is now about to
essay his style with the sword. Some on*
h;;s said that the resu t of every butt e
hangs on a mistake. There ceitain y was a
miscalculation in the plans of the insur
gents. Ciiptain Anderson and Colonel
Moodie are shot on the c vening of Monday,
December 3rd, then in hot chase of one
another, the fighting of Tut sd-y night, ;h
panic of Wednesday, Thursday s defeat JE
the insurgents, and the flight of Mr, Mac
kenzie with a reward of 1,000 offered for
his capture. After much wandering, many
narrow escapes, and considerable hardship,
the patriotic leader reaches American soil.
Meanwhile the distressed ladies and children
of Mr. Mackenzie s family expedience
wretched dnys and nights of doubt and mis*
giving, fttst tremblirg for the tate of hus
band, father and son ; second, fearing for
the safety of the important letters and do
cuments pertaining co the rebellion that
were in i he hcue; thirdly, in a state of
continual apprehension by reason of the oft-
repeated visits of the authorities. As soon
as the news of an actual outbreak reached
the Government officials the York street
house was put under the strictest surveil
lance. A guard was stationed at the door
and patrols paced up and down before it.
Every ten or fifteen minutes soldiers walk
in and make the mo.it thorough -earch from
cellar to garret ; they look u"der the beds,
thrust their swords through th m, peer and
pry into every nook and cranny of
the bu Id ing, nor is this attention
intermitted by night. Although the
only inmates now are women and children
half a dozen civilians are domiciled in the
dining room at evening to watch there until
morning. Ostensib y they are sent for the
protection of the occupants, who, however,
decline to receive them in that guise and
denour.ee them as spies. This is continued
until Mrs. Mackenzie s grandmother, an old
lady of 81 years, appeals to iheir manly in-
stinct a , asking if they are not ashamed to
force themselves into the residence of de
fenceless women, and at this they go away.
Some of these men still live in Toronto. Mr.
Mackenzie s papers hung in fil< s from the
ceiling in his bedroom at the south side of
the house and in his office at the rear. Sing
ularly enough, although the plumes of the
officers, at times touched them, they were
never noticed, and the only ones seized
198
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
THK MACKKNZIE AND HORNBY HOUSES
were a few found bidden within the curtains
of an old fashioned bed. Immunity from
the frequent vi its of the soldiery was al
lowed to the inmates for the first time dur
ing church service on the Sunday morning
following the outbreak. Seizing the oppor-
tuni y the adies kindled fires in four wood
box stoves and burned every letter and
document in tlie house Scraps of charred
paper were sailing upward from the chim
neys as the people came pouring out of their
places of worship ; soldiers reluming to re
sume search saw them and rushed in, bu t
they were too late ; everything had been
destroyed. It frequently happened that pris
oners arrested after the rebellion was quelled
were marched by the house, bound two by
two with stout rope?, and thf-y invariab y lift
ed their hats as they passed. The family
remained in the hov.se about a fortnight
after the events narrated, Mrs. Mackenzie
joining her husband, December 29th, at
Navy Island After :he rebellion it was
taken by the government, first used by Col.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
199
Hill, and then by Bagot. Mrs. Patton sold
this large house to Dr. Hornby, a well
known medical man of the day. The cot
tage south of the large house was built by
Mrs. Patton in 1840. She lived in it until
1842, and then went to Prescott. It was
then rented to Mr. Hooper, the druggist, who
afterwards bought it.
Durin Dr. Hornby s time the house was
the scene of varied experiences. Sf me re
lentless debtors pursued the doctor with
writs nnd suit is, and obtained judgment in
due course. To make a seizure was another
matter, and for weeks the doctor kept the
bailiffs at bay. Every door and window
was bolted and locked, and for six or
eight weeks the siege was kept up. The
doctor would occasionally slip out of the
house when the bailiffs were out of sight,
and wander over to Crispin s tavern on the
north-east corner of Richmond and Yoik
streets, and here he would find his b.iiliff
friend.*, who had constituted Crispin s into
a sort of a guard house. He would chat and
smoke with them and enjoy their jokes, and
on one occasion Mr. Bend, who was a bailiff,
said : " Doctor, this siege reminds me of
that of Acre." " Indeed," said the doctor,
" which one ? for you know there were two,
one they got in, but one they didn t." With
this sally the doctor sailed our, and awaited
an opportunity to return to his castle unseen
by the bailiffs. Punch in Canada, a humor
ous periodical, published in the Capreol
building, on the north-west corner of Yonge
und Melinda, in Toronto, had the following
verses on the subject :
THE BALLAD OF HORNBY HALL.
O, bailiff, buttoned to the nose,
And booted to the knee,
Answer true what I ask of you,
But tell no fibs to me.
The ladder hoisted from the wall,
The flag athalf-m >st high,
What bodes your signal ? Tell me all
The wherefore and the why.
The fla<T, old genr, at half-mast high,
And the ladder from the wall,
Are signs of money that s owing by
The lord of Ho nby Hall.
The little bills came thronging in,
L : ke bees about a hive,
Until the bowers of Hornbee
With bees wuz all alive.
Then rose the lord of Hornbee,
And fled from his castle halls ;
He mizzled, and left yon brave ladye
Alone foi to keep the walls.
So we wuz ordered blockade to make
Before the castle gates,
No ; est, nor sleep, but watch to keep,
Me and my bully mates.
O, cold the rain beats on my hat,
The wind goes whistling by ;
But harde--, O, harder to stand than thai
Is the flash of yon ladye s eye.
And from the battlements, night and day,
Horrid she slangs at we ;
Bill Barlow s hair is gone quite grey,
From the language she used to he.
And this is the way, old gent, old gent,
The wherefore and the why,
From hour to hour we watch that tower,
My bully mates and I.
The poor folks suffer for the rich,
The great ones crush the small,
A story old, and often told,
The lay of Hornby Hall.
[This Landmark has been re-published, as
in its original publication several impor ant
details had been omitted. The story of the
house as re-written is from the pen of the
late Hon. James Patton, and was written a
ftw days before his death. It is rather a
coincidence that late in the afternoon of the
Thursday prior to his death Mr. Patton was
conversing in his office with a Tdegram re
porter on the subject of the old landmarks.
The reporter observed that it was important
to gee all i formation about these land
marks, as the old inhabitants were passing
away rapidly. " Yes, indeed," said the col
lector. There is no knowing how soon we
may all go." Twenty-four huurs later within
a few feet of where he sat, the kind-hearted
old gentleman had gone to his long home.]
CHAPTER LXI.
DOCTOR WIDMER S HOUSES.
he Residences Erected In the Eastern
Part of the Town tor One of the Moil
Eminent Surgeons of York.
Up to a very recent period there stood
m King street, nearly opposite Ontario
street, and directly west of Small s
house, a largs* frame two-stop y house
painted white. It was a plain square house
standing flush with the street, without any
porch, stoop or ornamentation. On the
ground floor were two windows on each
side of the front door. On the floor above
were five windows. This was the hou?e of
Dr. Chrisroplv.T Widmur ne f tne at
eminent physicians and surgeons of York.
He lived here for many years and then built
on the lower part of his lot, now about
174 Front street east, a large double
gibled red brick house of two stories,
ith a large two stor;ed wing at the west
200
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
side. The house
painted white,
which has since been
is now standing about
fifty feet back from Front street.
On the south and east side is a verandah
with a green roof. The house and grounds
are handsomely shaded with horse chestnut
trees. At the west of the grounds luns a
narrow pastasre-w; y just wide enough for a
tingle vehic e, known as Widmer s lane. It
must have been a very desirable place of
residence before the big brick factory was
erected opposite, shutting off the view of
the bay and filling the air with the whirl of
a rookery at the north-ea<-t corner of Sher-
bourne and Front streets is an old sisrn, in
dicating the street. The word Front has
been fastened over a portion of the original
sign but thp letters "ce are still plainly vis
ible. Before Dr. Widmer s settlement in
York he had been a staff cavalry surgeon
on active service during the Peninsula cam
paigns. Although at this time Dr. Wid-
mer was an elderly man, his small, well-
built form was erect and soldierly. His
dres was scrupulously exact. His hand
some face wore a rather sad expression but
flying wheels and the clash of machinery.
Now the house is reg ected and shabby
genteel. The frr-me Dwelling on King street
in which the doctor formerly lived has
been torn down to make way for a big
brewery. During its lifetime of less than a
century Front street has recf-ived three
christenings. It was original y named
King street in honour of the reigning sov<r-
eign George the Third. Then it was sty ed
Palace street, no doubt to indicate the fact
that it led direct y to the Parliament
buildings which in 1810 were called Govern
ment Houae. Tacked beneat h the eaves of
lighted up at the greeting of friends. A*
heart the doctor was a kind old man, but
he had been brought up among soldiers in
the license of the camp, and his manner at
times was brusque to rudeness, but he wis
very friendly with those who knew him
well. He was a splendid horseman and
his accomplished vvifa wus one of the most
graci ful questriennes sver seen in York.
Dr Widmrr s face bore a striking
resemblance to the pictures of Harvey,
the discoverer of the circulation of the
blood. There is a portrait of him in
the Toronto General Hospital. In 1828 Dr.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
201
Widmer finding h s practice too large for
his personal attention at his advanced age
entered into a pirtners-hip with Dr. Dieiii
which is thus announced in ihs Loyalist of
Nov. 15 of that y; ar : " Doctor Widmer
finding his professional engagements much
extended of late and occ isionally too
arduous for one person has been induced to
enter into partnership with Dr. Diehl a re-
sp ctable praciitioner, late of Montreal.
It is exp cted that their united exertions
will prevent in future any disappointment
to Dr. Widmer s friends both in ;own and
country. Dr. Diehl s residence is at pr sont
at Mr. Hayes boarding house, York." Dr.
Diehl died at Toronto, March 5, 1868. The
boarding house alluded to was on the
north-west corner of King and Ontario
treet, nearly opposite Dr. Widmer s
house. It waa kept by John Hayes, a man
of considerable prominence in York and
was noticeable as being in session time, like
Jordan s hotel, the abode of many members
of parliament. Dr. Widmer pursued his
profession with inexhaustible zeal and his
surgery was the scene of many a de.ica e,
critical and successful operation. The
doctor lived to a good old age preserving
his alert bearing to the last. One of his
daughters became Mrs. George Hawko.
The other daughter became Mrs. Clarke,
wife of the late Capt, Clarke, well-known
as an officer of the 100th Regiment and also
of the Royal Canadian Rifles.
CHAPTER LXII.
JOHN FARR S BREWERY.
Au Early Establishment ou Queen Street
for the Manufacture of Beer Gore Vale
and Gore Vale Brook.
On the sooth aide of Queen street, a little
west of Bellwoods avenne, in the valley of
the Garrison creek, which at this point was
called Gore Vale brook, was built a few
years prior to 1820 by John Farr
a brewery. It was a long, low-
Mng, dingy - looking building of hewn
logs. On the side toward ihe street
a railed gangway led from the road to a
door in its upper storey. Conspicuous on
the hill above tha va ley on the western side
was the house, also of hewn logs but cased
over with clap boards by Mr. Farr, the pio-
prietor of the brewery, a North of England
man in aspect as we 1 as in staidness and
shrewdness of chracter. His spare form
and slightly crippled gait were everywhere
familiarly recognized. Greatly respected
he survired nntl a few years ago.
Mr. Farr conducted the brewing business
at the Queen street brewery until 25 or 35
years ago, when he retired and the business
was transferred to John Wallis, at one time
member for West Toronto in the Dominion
Parliament. Mr. Wallia carried on the
business for years and then sold an interest
to the late John Cornell, who in turn con
ducted it up to the time of his
death, when it wns vacated. The
brewery which originally was of wood was
rebuilt of brick at a later period. Dui ing
the past year it was torn down and a brick
block erected on the site. In the early days
drinking was a more common habit than
now, and old brewers say that the beer was
better than that of the present time. There
was no duty to pay. Barley was cheaper,
being worth from thirty to forty c<nts u,
bushel, and as a result the breweis put more
malt in the beer. The wholesale price at
the breweries was a shilling a gallon. The
retail price was two pence a glass. Mr.
Farr s chief assistant in the old brewing bore
the name of Bow-beer. Dr. Scaddirg says
that at Canterbury many years ago,
when the abbey of St. Augustine
there, now a famous missionary col*
lege, was a brewery, on the beau
tiful turreted gatewry, wherein were the
coo. ers, the inscript on Beer-Brewer was
consp dious, the name of the brewer in oc
cupation of the grand monastic ruin being
Beer, a common name sometimes given as
Bere, but which in reality is Bear. The
stream, which &t this point is crossed by
Queen stre t,is the one that afterwards flowed
below the easternmost bastion of the old
fort. A portion of the ground between Furr a
brewery and the Garrison was once desig
nated by the local government ^nd set apart
as a site for a museum and institute of
natural history and philosophy, with
botanical and zoological garrlens attached.
The project originated by Dr. Dunlop, Dr.
Rees and Mr. Fothergill, and patronized by
successive lieutenant-governors, was pro
bably too bold in its conception and :oo
advanced to be justly appreciated and
earnestly taken up by a sufficient
number of the public fell to the ground.
The Canadian Institute is the kind of asso
ciation which was designed l*y Drs. Dunlop
and Rees and Mr. Fothergill, but lacking
the revenue which the rent of a few building
lots in a flourishing city would supply. The
stream flowing through (he ravine gave the
water power necessary for grinding. All
about the locality were th ok woods. At an
early period the whole d s rict was known
as Gore Vale. Gore was in honour of the
governor of that name. V-le denoted
the ravine which indented a
portion of the land through which
meandered the pleas; nt little stream.
Across from Fair s brewery, on the north
202
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
203
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
a.de of Qvuen street, are the buildings and
grounds of Trinity College. Oa the steep
mound which overhung the Gore Vale
brook on its eastern . id", just where it is
crossed by Queen street, was at an early
period a block house, commanding the
western approach to York. On the old
plans this military work is shown as also a
path lea ing to it across the common from
the Garrison, probably trodden oft n by the
relief party of the guard that wou .d be
:-tationed there in anxious times.
CHAPTER LXIIL
COLBORNE LODGE, HIGH PARK.
Tbe House of John George Howard, the
Giver of a Beautiful Pleasure Ground in
the Cily A Skt-teh of His Life.
At the extreme western end of the city
on a wooded eminence surrounded by the
most picturesque scenery in the neighbour
hood of Toronto, romm.indmg a magnificent
view of the Humber, stands an unpreten
tious stuccoed house. This is the house of
Mr. John George Howard, who in his pre
sentation of High Park to the city, has
^iven the most munificent gift ever made by
a private individual to the public in Upper
Canada. A curving driveway and a
rust c path ead up to the house from
the road which skii ts the shore of the bay.
On the first approach the visitor is con
fronted with specimens of Mr. Howard s
skill in carving. About the railings of the
verandah cling in natural attitudes the
forms of huge serpents and dragon*, carved
from great branches of trees and painted in
imitation of living monster--, with glittering
eyes and fiery mouths. The casual noctur
nal visitor might easily be frightened at
these apparitions, so lifelike are their undu
lating fold?. But within the house there is
a cheery welcome from Mr. Howard, who,
although one of the oldest residents of
Toronto, is still active and cheerful.
Before giving a further description of the
house and its surroundings it will not be
out of place to give a sketch <f the personal
history of his great benefactor of the ci!y.
Mr. Howard is a scion of ore of the most
illust ious families in the Un ted Kingdom,
being a descendant from Lord William
Howard of Na worth Cast e in the County
ot Cumberland, the " Belt d Will " of Sir
Walter Scott s well-known poem. John
Howard, the y< ungest grandson of Lord
William, was the direct ancestor of John
Q. Howard. Being dissatii-fied with the
arrangement of his father s property he left
Coily Cast e and went to the Fit mish town
of Tournay, where he ingratiated himseH
with the king, who gave h m for a eoat of
arms a doub e headed raven with the motto,
Mens Conscia Rtcti. Mr. Howard was born
on the 27th of July, 1803, at a village
twenty-one miles north of London, England.
When he waa nine years old he was sent to
a boarding-school in the town of Hertford,
where he remained until he had completed
his fourteenth year. At tilteen he was sent
to sea as a b y before the masr, that posi
tion having b:en secured for him through
Messrs. Taylor, Mosely & Hntchett, a pro
minent firm of Hamburg traders, whose
chitf p % ace of business was in Crutched
Friars, London. He followed the sea for
MR. JOHN Q. HOWARD.
two years, when he was compelled to
abandon a nautical life in const quern*
of perpetual sea sickness, a milady to which
he has ever since been subject whenever he
has had occasion to make a voyage across the
deep. Having learned navigation, practical
geometry and marine surveying, he turned
his attention to laad surveying, engineering
and architecture, a knowledge of which he
had acquired first in the office of an uncle
who was a contractor living at Kennington
Cross and afterwards in the office of Mr.
John Grayson, architect of Banner street,
St. Luke s, London. On leaving Mr.
Grayson he went on a tour through
the County of Kent. Being provided
with a letter of introduction to Counoil or
Scudamore, of Maidstone, he made the per
sonal acquaintance ef that gentleman, who
gave him a letter to the archbishop in
charge of the re-building of Leed s Cattle, a
stately structure about five miles from
Maidfctone, on the Athford road. He waa
emp oyed by the latter gentleman in connec
tion with the castlf, but soon threw up hm
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
205
situation, being very much annoyed by the
workmen, who called him " the little Cock
ney." He, howerer, obta nel emp oyment
in the office of the Cutbu hes,
a well-known firm of contracting
architects in Maidston-, where hj
remained for some tim ;. In 1824 he re-
turaed to London and entered the office of
Wm. Ford, architect, of MarK Li me, Lond :n,
and Colborne street, Bow road. In the follow
ing year Mr. Furd married Mr. Howard s sis
ter Sr.rah. Soon afterwards Mr. Ford took
Mi. S muel Paterson, architect, R. A., into
partnership, and the firm built several villas
und >r the latter s superintendence. On the
7th of May, 1827, Mr, Howard married
Mi s Jemima Frances Meikle, a young lady
in her twenty-fifth year. Though the c >up e
were not b essed by offsp ing their m.irriaga
turned out a singularly happy one. Tue
u:\ion endured for more than ha f a century,
when it was severed by the death of Mrs.
Howard. In the autumn of 1827 Mr. How
ard was sent to Pentridge in Derbyshire, to
tivke Mr. Paterson s place on the Cromford
uanal, near Matlock. He subsequently re
sumed his p acj in Mr. Ford s office, where
h<! transacted business on his own account.
This arrangement continued until the year
1831, when, owing to the dfstress of the
times and the sparsity of building operations
in the neighbou hood of London, he began
tocastabout in his mind for a more profi.ab e
field of labour. Becoming impressed by the
glowing accountsgiven by a Mr. Cattermole,
an agent for the Canada Company, iu the
sp: ing of 1832 he resolved to emigrate from
England to Canada. He missed the vessel
in which his passage had been engag d, buc
on the 26th of June, accompanied by his
wif ..-, he sailed from London for Gravesend
in a steamer belonging to Captain Wallis.
After getting the luggage on board the ship
Emperor Al xander, Captain Boig com
mander, which lay at anchor opposite Ti!
bury Fort, Mr. Howard and his wife went
ashore, and on their return to the beach
found that the ship had sailed away with
out them. Mr. Howard engaged a boat and
some men, and after a hard chase the ship
was caught. This was the first of a series
of misfortunes which befel Mr. Howard
on tb.3 trip. An account of these is con
densed from a journal of the voyage kept by
Mr. Howard. A day or two later while Mr.
H >ward was shooting with his rifla the
boom jibed and striking him would have
c irried him overboard had not the captain
seized him by the legs as he was going over
the rail. Ou the same evening n e saw a
large meteor fall into the sea about 300
yard-s ahead of the vessel. Two days after
ward Mr. Howard an.l his wife went ashore
at Ryde, Isle of Wight, anl were again left
by the ship which th y had great difficulty
in overtaking with a sail boat. Notwith
standing these experiences Mr. H >ward and
a party went out shooting and fishing in the
morning, a few days later a hundred miles from
landand lost the ship, and did not find it again
uitil night. The next day another pxrty
went out in a small boat, and getting out of
sight, were not found until eighteen hours
afterward, having been drifting about on
the ocean all night, unable to see the lights
hung out at the masthe id or the bl >z of the
tar barrels set on fire, or hear the booming
of the c nnou which were fired throughout
h night for their guidance. Meanwhile a
child had died and a child had been born on
board the ship. Nothing else of an un
UrUal character occurred until the ship
was about a month out, when at five
o clock one morning all were awakened
by a terrible thumping on the deck and
cries of "lire. A mutiny had arisen. The
captain rushed upon deck in hi^ shirt, ran
to the fore chains, seiz -d the ring leader,
dragged him aft, and rope ended him. The
mutineers rushed to the rescue of the man
and knocked the captain down. They said
they were Englishmen and would stick
together, and swore they would shoot him,
for they did not want him, as they could
work the ship themselves. One was about
to deal the prostrate captain a heavy blow
when the mate seiz ?d him and the captain
regained his feet. By vigorous measures the
mutiny was quelled, and two hours later
quiet was re-tored. Of this Mr. Howard
says, " My wife and myself were both un
well. I kept my pistols and guns loaded
by the bedside as we expected to hear the
ruffians come down the cabin st ps, for a
set of greater blackguaids never sailed out
of England." That evening a storm arose
and the four top-gallant and royal masts
were carried away. On Mr. Howard s
birthday a wreck was pissed. Within the
next few days the captain and a passenger
fe l overboard, but both were rescued. After
arriving in the Gulf of St. Lawrence there
was another exciting incident one ni^ht
which Mr. Howard tells as follows in
his journal : " About 10 o clock I heard
an unusual noise upon deck, the captain at
the highest pitch of hi- voice calling to the
sailors to brace up the foreyard, and repeat
ing the order at least a dozen times, as if his
orders, from some c use or other, cou d not
be attended to. Mr. Hill, the mate, who
was with me in my first trip in the boat,
came to my cabin and told me to get up and
go upon deck, as there was no doubt but
the ship would be lost, for the captain and
the other mates were drunk, and the ship
206
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO^
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
207
was driving fast upon the rocks. I dressed
myself as quickly as possible and went upon
deck. Judge of my feelings when the first,
object that met my view was the shore, with
tremendous rocks running out into the sea,
and the breakers dashing over them
in a frightful manner. Horror was depicted
on almost every countenance, women clasp
ing their children in their arms and their
husbands running about the deck like mad
men. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and
in turning my head I saw the carpenter sitting
on the bulwarks with his axe ready to cut
the anchor stop if it should be necessary.
We had three good boats, but they wou d
have been crowded and swampsd, for there
were one hundred and sixty-two persons on
board, and a great many of them very bad
haracters," From this predicament, how
ever, the ship was saved by a change in the
wind, which, blowing from the land, drove
the vessel away from the rocks and into the
open water. On Sunday evening,
August 26th, the ship being off
quarantine, opposite Grosse Isle the cholera
was raging at the time a lamentable oc
currence took place, which Mr. Howard
thus relates : " The passengers of the
Minerva anchored near us had performed
quarantine and were returning on board.
When they came alongside their vessel
the ropes of the davits became en
tangled with the masts of the boat and
swamped her. From the deck of our ship
we could see upwards of twenty persons
struggling in the water, only nine of whom
were saved. The agony we felt at not being
able to render assistance, a 1 our boats being
on shore, was extreme. One of our boats
returning from shore went to their assist
ance and succeeded in nicking up four who
were taken to the island. One of them, a
fine young woman, was in a state
of suspended animation. She was quite
black in the face when taken from the
water, but rubbing her body with brandy
restored her, and by the following morning
she was quite recovered. An old man and
his wife were two of the others who were
saved by the crew of our boat. They were
completely soaked, and they wept bitterly
for the loss of their little b oy, who found a
grave in the ocean. The other was a little
fellow about four years old, brother to the
young woman already named, whose lively
countenance beamed thankfulness while
carried about in the arms of the brave sailor
who saved him. The young woman was
called upon to lament the loss of a sister,
who sank to rise no more." A child having
died just before reaching Quebec, a
party from the ship of which Mr.
Howard was one, went ashore with the body
to bury it and were directed to the cholera
burial ground. Mr. Howard says : "When
there we were obliged to wait for several
hours for a priest. There were no fewer
than seven or eight waggons with rough deal
coffins waiting in the hot sun for the same
priest. The coffins were nailed together of
unseasoned inch boa ds, the lids had shrunk
in and warped so that you could get your
hand in, and the stench from them was
dreadful. Still we remained until the child
waa buried." Ou the 14th of Septem
ber, 1832 Mr. and Mrs. Howard arrived
at York, having been eleven weeks
and three diys from London. His
first experience in York is thus told
by Mr. Howard : " Going up Church street
from the landing plac , I was very much
astonished to see in a huckster s window a
very handsome carving knife and fork for
sale, which I had made my brother-in-law a
present of before he left England. Going
into the shop, judge my surprise to find my
wife s sister, whom I believed to be in
Goderich. She looked half starved. She
had lost one child and the other was in a
wretched state." Mr. Howard had a letter
of introduction which he presented the next
spring to the Hoa. Peter Robinson. A few
days afterward some of his drawings were
submitted to Sir John Colborne, who pro
cured for him the appointment of draw
ing master at Upper Can-xda Col
lege at a salary of 100 per an
num. This was the foundation of Mr.
Howard s fortune. Several men immdiately
gave him orders for buildings, among whom
were Dr. Widmer and James G. Chewett.
Dr. Stuart, Lord Bishop of Quebec, calling
to pay his respects to Mrs. Howard, found
her busy washing in the kitchen. She took
her hands out of the wash tub, and the
Bishop shaking hands with her, remarked
that her small hands had never been used to
that kind of w ork, and if the la lies when
they came to Canada would unbend as she
had done and perform such work whenever
it was necessary Canada would have a better
name. The next year Mr. Howard waa ap
pointed the first city surveyor by Wil
liam Lyon Mackenzie, the first Mayor ot
Toronto, and the same year he put down
the first 11 foot plank sidewalks on King
street. From this time on for many years
Mr. Howard was one of the leading men of
Toronto, and in I/is professional capacity as
architect and surveyor he made many sur
veys and built many buildings, some of the
principal of which are surveys of the har
bour, the construction of sewers and vari
ous public works as city engineer, the pro
vincial lunatic asylum, tue plan of St.
James cemetery, the Wellington street
208
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
pose office, many churches and public build-
i.igs in various parts of the Dominion and a
great number of business houses and private
residences in this city. Or one
of Mr. Howard s achievements in thi
hasty erection of a spire on : St.
Paul s church, Yorkville, in 1841, Dr.
Scadding, in Toronto of O d, says :
" While crossing the First concession line,
now in our northward journey, the mom
ent comes back to us when on glancing along
<he vista to the eastward, formed by the
oad in that direction, we first notice*? a
Church spire on the right hand or southern
side. We had pass?d thai way e, day or two
before, and we were sure no such object
was to be seen there then, and yet unmis
takably now there rose up before the eye
a rather graceful towsr and sp re of consid
erable altitude, complete from base to apex,
and coloured white. The fact was, Mi-. J.
G. Howard, a well-known local architect,
had ingeniously constructed a tower
of wood in a horizontal, or
nearly horizontal position, in the
ground c ose by somewhat as a ship builder
puts together tb.3 mast of some vast ammi-
ral, and then after attending to the external
finish of at least the higher portion of it
even to a coating of lime wash, had in the
space of a few hours by means of convenient
machinery raised it on end and secured it
p Tman ntly in a vertical position. We
gather some further particu ars from a con
temporary account. The Yorkville spire
was raised on the 4th of August 1841. It
was 85 feet high, composed of four entire
trees or pieces of timber, each of that length
bound together pyramidica ly, tapering from
ten ftei base to one foot at top, and made to
receive a turned ball and weather-cock.
The base was sunk in the ground until the
apex was raised ten feet from the
ground and about thirty feet of the upper
part of the spire was completed, coloured
and painted before the raising. The oper
ation of raising commenced about two
o clock p. m. , and about eight in the even
ing the spire and vane were seen erect and
appeared to thost unacquainted with what
was going on to have risen amongst the
trees as if by magic. The work was per
formed by Mr. Joha Richey, the framing
by Mr. Wetherell and the raising was super
intended by Mr. Joseph Hill. The plan
adopted was this : Thre ; gin-poles, as they
are calle 1, were erected in the form
of a triangle. Each of them was
well braced and tackles were rove
at their tops ; the tackles were
hooked to strong straps about fifty feet up
the spire with nine men to each tackle and
four mi-n to steady the end with following
poles. It was raised in about four hours
from the commencement of the straining of
the tackles and had a very beautiful ap
pearance while ri ing. The whole operation
we have been to .d, was conducced as nearly
as passible in silence, the architect himself
regulating by signs the action of the groups
at the gin-poles, being himself governed by
the plumb line suspended in a high frame
before him. Perhaps Foatana s exp oit of
setting on end tb.3 obelisk in front of St.
Peter s in R >me suggested the pos
sibility ot causing a tower and spire
to bo suddenly seen rising above the
roof of the Yorkville St. Paul s. On a
humble scale we have Fontana s arrange
ment reproduced, while in the men at the
gin-poles worki ig in obedience to signs we
have the old Egyptians over again a very
small detarhme.it of them indeed as seen
in the old sculpture on the banKS of the Nile.
The original St Paul s before it acquired in
this singular manner the dignified appurten
ance of a steeple, was a long, low bam-like
wooden building. Mr. Howard otherwise
improved it, enlarging it by the addition of
an aisle on the west aide. When some
twenty years later, in 1861, the new stone
church was erected, the old wood
en structure was removed bodily to
the west side of Yonge street, together
with the tower, curtailed however of it
spire. We have been informed that the
four fine stems, each eighty-five feet long
which formed the interior frame of the
tower and spire of 1841 wvre a present from
Mr. Allan of Moss Pa; k, an 1 that the R v.
Charles Matthews occasionally officiating
in St. Paul s, gave ore hundred pounds in
cash towards the expense of the ornamental
addition now made to the edifice." In 1836
Mr. Howard bought a piece of land cou-
t tining 165 acres on the east bank of the
Humber to which he gave the name of
High Park. On the western side of this the
sam : year h built a residence there
which he named Colborne Lodge, in honour
of Sir John Colborne, who had been his first
benefactor and friend in York and had
given him the post of drawing master i.i
Upper Carada College which he tilled for
twenty three years. Oathe23 d of December
1837, Mr. Howard moved from Ch^wett s
building on King street where he hud lived
to his new residence, Colborne Lodge, High
Park. On the morning of the s :cond day
afterwards, Christmas, Mr. Howard shot a
deer and some quail at th*- rear part of High
Park. On Thursday the 7th of December
before moving from King street Mr. Howard
led the right wing of the scouting
party up Yonge street to attack the
insurrectionists who had congregated at
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209
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14
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
Montgomery s tavern. The party consisted
of the following men, appointed by Colonel
Samuel P. Jarvis : Lieut. John G. How
ard, Thomas Douglas Har ington, Govern
ment clerk, Robert Kelly, Government
clerk, William Davis, high constable, George
William Allan, law student, and six others
The party took Walker Smith prisoner.
Sir Francis Bond Head, the Lieutenant-
Governor, gave him his liberty, and he was
afterward made Sheriff of Simcoe County.
The rifle which Mr. Howard carried on
this expedition he still possesses and shows
with pride. The drawing room of Colborne
Lodge is filled with pictures, the post of
honour being occupied by portraits of Mr.
and Mrs. Howard, painted in 1848 by
Thomas H. Stevenson. At the rear of th?
house is a picture gallery which contains 127
pictures painted by Mr. Howard, which
have been donated to the city by him. A
few years ago Mr. Howard gave to the
Public Library of Toronto a library of 222
volumes, some of them being rare and
costly. Erom 1855 for four years Mr.
Howard sat on the bench with Chief Justices
Robinson, McLean and Richards. In 1883
he mayor and members of the corporation
visited Mr. Howard on his 80th birthday
and presented him with, an illuminated
address. In the same year the
Marquis of Lome conferred upon him the
dignity of a Royal Canadian Academician.
In November, 1888, Mr. Howard presented
Upper Canada College with alt his survey
ing instruments. In 1876 the corporation
of the city conferred upon him the title of
Forest Ranger, since which tima he has
made great improvements in High Park,
forming roads, making drains, surveying
the land, laying out the boundaries of the
park, and clearing away the underbrush.
Among the curious objects possessed by Mr.
Howard, are two very old car
riages, both of historical interest.
One of these is a large chariot
brought to Toronto about twenty-two years
ago by Major Tulloch. It was built in Lon
don for Captain Trollope for the purpose of
conveying his wife, Mrs. Trollope, from
place to place in England to give her
Shakespearean readings. Its cost was 800
guineas. The running gear of the other
and smaller carriage was given b\ r King
George the Fourth to Sir Peregrine Maitland
on his leaving England for Canada about
the year 1822. Sir Peregrine was recalled in
1828 and gave the carriage to Sir William
Campbell. At his death it was sold by auction,
and the late Chi f Justice Draper bought
it. He afterward sold it to hie groom,
who used it as a cab for several
years, when it was again sold by auction
and purchased by Mr. Howard for $40. He
had a new body and steps put to it. Both
of these carriages will come into the posses
sion of the city by Mr. Howard s will.
North-west of Colborne Lodge, and but a
short distance from the house, at the sum
mit of a very picturesque ravine, with fine
old oaks surrounding it, is the Howard tomb
and monument. It is approached by a path
bordered by French weeping willows and
fringed with triplicate rows of daffodils,
jonquils and roses. This plot of
ground, consisting of one-eighth of an
acre, is consecrated and reserved as the
burial place of Mr. and Mrs. Howard for
ever. The tomb itself is within an inner
enclosure. It was erected in 1875. The
lot in which is situated the tomb is enclosed
on the north side by a portion of the old
iron railing which surrounded St. Paul s
Cathedral, London, England, designed and
erected by Sir Christopher Wren in 1714.
The tomb, of which we give a view, was
erected by Mr. Howard in memory of his
wife and in readiness for himself.
The cairn is constructed with granite
boulders. Mrs. Howard was a Scotch lady,
which accounts for the cairn. Mr. Howard
himself " is a Masonic Templar therefore
the double pedestal, terminating with tha
Maltese cross." The cost of erecting the
tomb, including vault and iron railing,
amounted to $3,120. The granite boulders
are all bedded in Portland cement against a
brick shaf c in the centre, which supports
the marble pedestal. This weighs over ten
tons, and came from the Rutland quarries,
Vermont, U S. Engraved on a brass
plate, and fixed round one of the gate
posts of the old iron railing, is the follow
ing inscription : " Sacred to the memory of
John George Howard and Jemima Frances,
hia wife. John George, born 2 /th July,
1803 ; Jemima Frances, born 18th August,
1802, died 1st September, 1877. Aged 75
years." On a brass p ate fixed round the
other iron gate-post ;
" St. Pauls Cathedral for 160 years I did en
close,
Oh ! stranger, look with reverence ;
Man ! man ! unstable man !.
It was thou who caused the severance."
Nov. 18th, 1875. J. O. O.
The vicissitudes of the railing are
curious. After its removal from St.
Paul s it was purchased by Mr Robert
Mountcastle, Waverley place. St.
John s Wood, London, of Mr. J. B.
Hogarth, iron merchant, London, and
shipped by him in good condition, on board
the steamship Delta, for Toronto, on the
14th of October, 1874, Thi Delta went on
shore about five miles below Caps Chat
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
211
L ght, on the 8th of November. A portion
of the railing was recovered from the wreck,
and sent to Montreal by the salvage men in
the spring of 1875, in a very mutilated state,
but was brought from Montreal by Mr.
Howard, 17th of August, in that year, and
arrived in Toronto on the 21st of the same
month. It was repaired by Messrs William
Hamilton & Son, at the St. Lawrence
Foundry, Toronto, and finally fixed on the
stone curb, where it now stands, on the
18th of November, 1875.
On the north side of the cairn is a marble
tablet with this inscription : " Sacred to the
Memory of John George Howard and Jemi
ma Frances his wife, Jenvma Frances born
18th August, 1802, died 1st September,
1877, aged 75 years and 14 days ; John
George, born 27th July, 1803, died ,
aged ." Skirting the enclosure of
the monument runs a romantic path,
uamad the Lovers walk, which leads to the
old Indian trail, still distinctly to be made
out, which runs to Lake Simcoe. In the
low land farther east is Grenadiers Pond, a
small sheet of water, one of the ancient
outlets of the waters of the Humber.
A tradition exists that the nams Grenadier s
Pond is connected with the disastrous be
wilderment of a party of regular troops sent
to oppose the landing of the Americans dur
ing the war of 1812. It is asserted that a
number of the soldiers were drowned in the
lagoon on this occasion. At the same time
it is also asserted that the name Grenadiers
Pond was familiar previously. The noble
demesne now known as High Park consisting
of a wide stretch of varied surface com
posed of brooks, pond, hill and dale, land
scape and forest is the most beautiful
section of country lying around Toronto and
eminently adapted by its natural advant-
ag< s to the purpose of a public park. For
this magnificent play -ground the city has
Mr. Howard to thank. It consists at pre
sent of 310 acres, to which 45 acres will be
added. In 1873 Mr. Howard conveyed 120
acres to the corporation of the City of To
ronto by gift as a public park for ever. The
remaining 45 acres of Mr. Howard s estate
is in the hands of his trustees, Dr. Larratt,
William Smith and Samuel G. Wood, by whom
it will be transferred to the city with Col-
borne Lodge. The remaining 190 acres
contained in the park was purchased from
the esjate of the late Perciyal Ridout by
Mr. Howard, acting for the city. Mr.
Howard died in 1890, and was buried with
Masonic honors side by side with his wife
in High Park.
CHAPTER LXIV.
TWO OLD BREWERIES.
The Well-known Malting Establishment*
of Joseph Bloor and John Severn at the
Itaviue in Yorkvtllc.
Until 1830 or thereabouts Joseph Bloor
kept an inn near the market place of York,
conveniently situated for the accommoda
tion of the agricultural public. This inn
which was called the Farmers Arms, was
situated on the north-west corner of the
lane leading northward from the north-west
corner of Market Square and King street.
The lane was formerly known as Stuart s
Lane from the Rev. George Okill Stuart,
once owner of propsrty there. It was
afterwards called Francis. Lane, and is now
known as Francis street. That section of
the city, in Mr. Bloor s time, was known as
the Devil s Half Acre. On retiring with a
competency from the proprietorship of the
Farmers Arms, Mr. Bloor moved to York-
ville about 1830 and established a brewery
in the ravine north of the first concession
road. This brewery was a low, red brick
building one hundred feet long
and fifty or sixty feet wide. It
stood at the bottom of the ravine, on the
south side of tthe creek, a little
to the east of the present iron bridge
at the head of Huntley street. It
was in operation in 1835, and probably
for four or five years previous to that date.
The stream which was larger then than now
was dammed up at this point to give water
power for grinding. A big pond several
acres in extent was thus made and in the
spring the water would back up nearly to
Yonge street. The brewery was reached by
a roadway running down the ravine from
Bioor street at the head of Huntley street.
Picturesque as the spot is even now it was
still more so at that time when the woods
were thicker and nature in her primeval
beauty. At the top of the hill on thenorth-
ern side stood the cottage of Charles Jarvis,
from which steps led down the steep
declivity. There wa* an entrance
to the brewery at the south
side and also on the east
side. About this time all the
sand used in Toronto for building purposes
was drawn from the Island. Mr. Bloor
kept a team of horses for carting, and in
attempting to cross from the Island on the
ice with a load of sand, the team broke
through and was drowned. Mr. Bloor
kept the brewery but a few years. In con
junction with Sheriff Jarvis he entered
into a successful land speculation,
projecting and laying out the village of
Yorkville. which narrowly escaped being
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213
called Bloorville. That name was proposed
as also was Rosedale after the sheriffs home
stead, and likewise Cumberland, from
t ic native county of some of the sur
rounding residents. Dr. Scadding suggests
that Bloor, the name of a spot in Staflb -d-
shire, famous for a great engagement in the
wars between the houses of Lancashire and
York would have been a happy appellation.
Yorkville was at last selected, a name which
preserved that discarded in 1834 for To
ronto. Mr. Bloor accumulated a large
amount of property on the first concession
road, stretch.ug along the northern side
from its eastern end as far west as Gwynna
street and back to the creek in the ravine.
He subsequently sold this property. The
first concession road was afterward known
as St. Paul s roai and Sydenham road.
That Mr. Bloor s name should finally have
become permanently attached [to it in Bloor
street is a fact which may be compared
with the case of Pim ico, the well known
w^et end quarter o; London. Pimlico has
its name from Banjamin Pimlico tor
many year* the popular landlord
of a hotel in the neighbour
hood. Mr. Bloor was a quiet, pleasant
Englishman, widely esteemed and respected.
About forty years ago he b came identified
with the Bloor street Methodist church, to
which he gave largely during his life and by
legacy. Up to his death, which occurred
about twenty years ago, he lived in a cot
tage on the south side of Bloor street, at
the head of Gwynne street. This cottage,
which is still standing, although much eu-
larg id and improved, is soon to be torn
down. Of Mr. B.oor s five children all but
one are dead. The brewery, after being
given up by its origin il occupant, was con
ducted for a time by Mr. John Rose.
The British Colonist of October 31st,
1843, has the following advertisement of
Mr. Ross in regard to this brewery which
was then called Castle Frank Brewery :
" The subscriber begs respectfully to
acquaint the inhabitants of Toronto, and
this vicinity, that he has purchased the
above brewery from th -3 original proprietor
Joseph Bloor, Esquire, and from his com
petent knowledge of the business, and a
determination to make a first rite article, he
hopes to merit a share of public patronage.
AH orders left for Castle Fr.ink Brewery at
the shop of R. Cathcart, 147 King street,
will be thankfully received and promptly
attended to.
" JOHK ROSB."
" Castle Frank Brewery,
October 31st, 1843."
About thirty years ago the brewing business
was discontinued there, and the east of the
building was tenanted by an old Irishman
and after him by an old negro named Gas-
sidy. It was torn down about twenty years
ago. Mr. Robert C. Givins gives the follow
ing interesting reminiscences about the old
brewery.
" The old brewery," said Robert C.
Givins, formerly Bob Givins of Toronto,
now a resident of Chicago, Illinois, to a
Telegram reporter, who was sent to
that city especially to interview him.
"The old b.ewery, in the ravine, north
of Bloor street ? Why, true enough,"
said he, " that rakes up memories of sunny
days. Why, I had almost forgotten it.
Sit down, you have struck a line of remi
niscence I ought never to forget as I believe
I carry scars on me yet from accidents at
the old brewery."
"Accidents," queried the reporter.
"What kind?"
"Oh, you see," continued Mr. Giving,
smiling, "the time I recall was during that
great epoch in the sporting world of the two
continents, the Heenan and Sayer s prize
fight, which occurred in England, if I re
member right in 1860, and I think that fight
created more interest in the minds of the
Toronto boys at the time than the history of
England ever did. We had a 24 fo.-t ring
staked out to the old breweiy, and every
Saturday afternoon we met to do honour
to the manly art as we called it. Our
parents used to wonder how we got
so many black eyes and swollen
ears playing cricket or shinney,
never suspecting the true cause.
Now do you believe it, when I pick up a
paper and read the report of a prize fight,
doer fight, ch : cken dispute or any other hor
rible enterprise, my mind reverts to the old
brewery in the valley. Boys will be boys,
and while I doubt the efficacy of this kind
of early education as a foundation for true
Christian character, the Heenan and Sayers
fight was the topic of conversation among
the boys, and these prominent gentlemen
had many imitators in a small way. la the
winter time when we rode down the o d
brewery hill on sleds, this building served
as a meeting place and shelter from
the cold blasts that whistled down the
valley. I remember one dark night
one of the boys stumped a party of us to
go through the old sluice, which at one time
fed the wheel with water from the pond.
The brewery when in operation was run by
water power. This sluice was as dark M
night cou d make it. A superstition existed
among many in the village that this old
building was haunted, and notwithstanding
our frequent visits there in the day time,
there was not a boy in the neighbourhood
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215
who could be hired at any price to go through
it at night, and I have no doubt many believed
that it was actually haunted, because I re
member a story in circulation at the time
that one night an old watchman had oc
casion to go down there after an escaped
burglar, claiming that as he entered the old
building from the west door near where the
big vats were, he saw four ghosts playing
whist on the top of one of the vats, He did
not wait to catch the burglar, who either
escaped or was annihilated by the ghostly
occupants of the old building. Well the
Doys were s umped to go down and
crawl through the sluice one night, and one
asked, Cou d John C. Heenan or Tom
Sayers be stumped ? No, answered
one boy in the crowd, they are afraid of
nothing. Well then if they would not
be stumped, we should not be shouted two
or three, becoming brave at the mention of
the heroes of the day, so we followed the
nervy youth who originated this hazardous
proposition. It wa? the blackest nigh:
he could have selected ; thunder clouds
hung over the pond, and an occasional flash
indicated an approaching storm, and added
no little terror to the occasion. To many of
us this day seemed our last. Whew !
going through the old brewery at night.
Our hearts beat a lively tattoo against our
vests ; but Heenan would have gone, so
would Sayers. We eroped our way down
the hil 1 , and after stumbling about over the
rough ground and through shrubbery we
finally got, to the entrance of the old sluice.
It was 200 feet through into the big water-
wheel, which was located at one end of the
brewery. The gate of the sluice had long
been closed, and no water passed through it
from the pond, so we had a dry creep ; the
passage way was large enough for us to go
two abreast, but was very low ; we had to
creep on our hands and knees, and 1 doubt
if the prisoners who escaped from Libby
Prison through the tunnel, of whose perilous
trip you have probably read, experienced a
more breathless journey than we did. We
got alone, however, all right until we came
to the big wheel, and after we all climbed
through we stood erect inside the wheel
to get a rest before we ex
plored other portions of the
brewery. In the corner of the room where
the wheel was located we thought we saw
what first appeared to be a ray of light
peeping through a crack in the wall. We
all looked intently upon the corner where we
saw two big bright eyes glaring at us like
two ooals of fire. We were paralyzed for a
minute, not one of us mustering up courage
enough to speak. At last the leader
whispered Let s get, which we did, and
the way we scrambled out through thai
sluice to the entrance and got up the hill
can never be properly expressed. Upon
reaching Bloor street we walked hand in
hand home. Do you think Heenan 01
Sayers would have stayed ? said one of the
boys. Not much, said another. You
can just bet they would have vamoosed ii
they had seen those terrible eyes."
By the way, speaking of Bob Givins, he
was invited to speak at the grand celebra
tion of the opening of the. new bridge across
the Missouri river at Omaha, upon which
occasion 30,000 citizens of Omaha and Coun
cil Bluffs were present. This honour was
also conferred upon the governors of Iowa
and Nebraska and several United States
senators. Robt. C. Giving always sayi
something good when he gets on the platform,
and on this occasion he made a particularly
witty and telling speech. Just after passing
the Davenport road on the east side of
Yonge street, is the brewery and maltirg
house of John Severn, who settled in York-
vine and built the brewery in 1835. Ser-
eral years previous to this he had followed
his trade of blacksmith in York, and on
going to Yorkville he built a smithy and
worked in it for a short time. The bn-wery,
which is of brick and stone, was originally
built by the father of John Baxter, but was
extended from time to time by Mr. Severn
until now the building bears but a slight
resemblance to the structure of half a cen
tury ago. The brewery, which in its pres
ent condition, is several times larger than
Bloor s establishment ever was, overlooks
the ravine. Fifteen years ago there was a pic
turesque irregularity about the outlines of
Mr. Severn s brewery, the projecting gal
leries round the domestic portion of the
building i ndicating that the adjacent scen
ery was not unappreciated. Mr. Severn con
ducted the brewery up to the time of his
death, half-a-dozsh years ago, after which it
was managed by his son, George, for a time,
but is now unused. Mr. Severn left a large
property, which he disposed of by will. An
expensive litigation arose over a contest of
this will. The matter was set
tled recently, but not until $26,-
000 had been spent in the courts.
Like Mr. Bloor, Mr. Severn was an Eng
lishman, and like him he gave his name to a
street, Severn street having been . aid out
near his brewery. Mr. Severn was one of
the five first councillors or aldermen ot
Yorkville at the time of its incorporation in
1853, and this fact is embodied in the^ coat
of arms on the town hall. Of this building
which stands on tho west side of Yonge
street, but a short distance below Severn s
brewery, Dr. Scadding says : "The singular
216
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
Hotel de Ville which in modern times dis
tinguishes Yorkville has a Flemish look. It
might have strayed hither from Ghent.
Nevertheless, as teen from numerous points
of view, it cannot be characterized as pic
turesque or in harmony with its surround
ings. The shield of arms sculptured in
stone and tet in the wall above the circular
window in the front gable presents the fol
lowing charges arranged quarterly : A
beer barrel with an S I elow, a brick mould
with an A below, an anvil with a VV below,
and a jack plane with a D below. In the
centre in a shield of pretence is a sheep s
head with an H below. These symbols
commemorate the first fire councillors, or
aldermen, of Yorkville at the time of its in
corporation in 1853, and their trades or
callings, the initials being those respectively
of the surnames of Mr. John Severn, Mr.
Thomas Atkinson, Mr. James Walks, Mr.
James Dobson, and Mr. Peter Huttv. Over
the whole as a creat is the Canadian beaver. "
Along the ravine which has just been men
tioned in connection with the breweries w, re
the earliest public ice houses in the vicinity
of Toronto. They were rude slab buildings
thickly thatched over with pine branches.
Spring water ice gathered from the neigh
bouring ponds was he e stored by Mr.
Richards, an enterprising African, fifty
years ago.
CHAPTER LXV.
THE OLD GLOBS CORNER.
The Bite of tbe First News Depot In Toronto
The Old Globe Office and First Methodist
Charch.
At the corner on the south-west where
Jordan street runs at a right angle to King
street, some forty years since or more was
the Irving store, originally occupied by
William Osborne, a land agent. The house
was divided into two places of business.
Osborne had two daughters who carried on
a millinery business, while he was engaged
as a land and commission agent. The land
business was carried on at the corner store,
and the millinery business was carried on in
a smaller shop to the west. After Osborne
Bold out, the corner was occupied by Mrs.
Cook, a confectioner, a popular place for
lunch early in the fifties. Mrs. Cook after
wards moved to Yonge stieet, to the site of
the present Aquatic saloon, south of Spar
row lane. The small shop to the west was
rented to Sheik, a tobacconist. It was a
great lounging place for the officers of the
troops stationed here. One day one of them
was arrested for baring ridden his horse into
the shop. He belonged to the 13th Hus
sars. The house was then divided into three.
Mr. Faulkner occupied the corner as a shoe
tore, L. D. Campbell the centre as a news
store, and Mr. Macdonald, the dyer, the
west shop George Faulkner had a news
store afterwards in Campbell s place. Faulk
ner, however, sold out to A. S. Irving, who
had leased the corner shop from Mr. Faulk
ner, sr. L. D. Campbell came from Elinira,
N.Y., and was the first newsdealer who
started business in Toronto. It is worth
noting that part of his stock of papers were
all contained on a long shelf in the south
east corner of the little shop, and on a small
counter eght feet long on the west side.
L. D. Campbell was a smart, pleasing
American, good-natured, and an entertain
ing talker. Campbell was succeeded by
Er^stus \V iman, who later on moved into
P. C. Allan s present stand, the firm being
McDougall & Wiman. Wiman sold out to
Warne & Hall. The two east shops were,
about 1860, thrown into one for Mr. Irving,
who remained there with Macdonald till
the buildings were bought by Jacques &
Hay, who erected a warehouse. This, in
time, was torn down to make way for the
new Bank of Commerce building, which oc
cupies thin site, and that of the old Globe
oftice to the west.
Prior to the purchase by Mr. Dallas, for
quite a number of years part of the building
was occupied by the agency of the Commer
cial Bank, of which John Ross was manager.
Mr. Dallas, who had carried on a wooden
ware business, transferred the property in
1850 to George Brown, of the Globe, and *
portion of it was occupied by that journal as
a printing office. A night of steps led up
through three heavy stone arched entrances
into a lobby about eight feet broad, from
which the stores and offices opened. About
twenty years ago the front of the building
was remodelled and given the appearanca
shown in the second picture The Globe
occupied the westerly side ot the building as
a business office, its pressroom being in a
building at the rear. At one time a part of
the building was occupied by the Farmers
Bank, which subsequently closed its doors.
The staff of the Globe then included many
men who have since made their mark in the
world. Erastus Wiman was a reporter. C.
W. Bunting was foreman of the composing
room. Chas. J. Harcourt, now of Birming
ham, England, and the late \Vm. Edwards,
of Washing; on, were on the staff, while the
composing room was on the second floor
and on the third floor were the editorial
rooms.
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217
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CHAPTER LXVL
THE FARMERS STOREHOUSE CO.
An Old-fashioned Business Its Aim and
End Its Members and its Kules.
An institution that did good service
to the community some sixty years ago
is worth at any rate a passing notice.
It is not possible to do better than let the
records of the Farmers Storehouse Company
tell their own story. The Canadian Freeman, of
April 17th, 1828, contains this advertise
ment :
" A general meeting of the Farmers j
Storehouse Company will be held on the i
22nd of March next, at 10 o clock a.m., at j
John Montgomery s tavern, on Yonge !
street, The Bird in Hand. The farmers j
are hereby also informed that the storehouse j
is properly repaired for the accommodation
of storage, and that every possible attention
shall be paid to those who store produce
therein. JOHN GOESSMAN, Clerk. "
The following extracts are taken from the
minute book of the company, beginning in
1824.
Upper Canada Home district, 7th Feb
ruary, 1824
The farmers of the home district, taking
into consideration the benefit that the pub
lic might derive by the formation and
establishment of a general farmers store
upon a consistent plan, resolve as fol
lows :
1. That a suitable and convenient store
house be built in the Town of York.
2. That business be commenced therein
upon a capital that may be raised by sub
scribers for shares in a company ; the value j
of which shares shall be two pounds ten J
shillings currency each. Every subscriber
shall be considered a co-partner and sharer
in the profit and loss in proportion to the
number of shares he pays into the joint
stock, being at liberty to take any nnmi erof
shares not exceeding twenty.
3. A committee or board of directors shall
be appointed annually by vote of all the
subscribers, consisting of five or more of
the subscribers, who shall be vested with
the whole direction and management of the
business for the company, and authorized to j
build such a storehouse as may be deemed i
necessary for the concern, and at the proper i
time to employ a fit and proper person for a
storekeeper or clerk.
4. The person who shall be employed as a j
storekeeper or clerk shall procure sufficient
security or bonds to the committee or board .
of directors for the value of the property in-
trusted to him for a just and faithful trans
action of th* business.
5. His duty shall be to receive all produce
into the store and give proper receipts for
the same and at proper times to take the
produce to Montreal and dispose of it to
the best advantage ; to appoint an agent, r
agents, at that place, and other places where
it may be found necessary for the company ;
to purchase goods for the company (as near
as may be) to suit the different demands of
the subscribers, and also that the said clerk
on his return from Montreal or any other
place with goods purchased for the company
shall, before opening and exposing them for
sale, lay before the committee or board of
directors a fair and correct statement
of all sales and purchases made
by him for the concern, detailing all the ex
penses attending the same, for their inspec
tion, in order to prevent any fraud or
speculation on his part Also that the
said clerk shall once in every six months
make out and present to the said committee,
who shall meet for that purpose (a majority
of them being authorized in case all shall not
be present), a full and correct state
ment of all goods issued out of the store,
sold, bartered or anywise disposed ot ; also
the stock on hand with all other fair accounts
of profit or loss belonging to the concern
during the then last six months for the in
formation and satisfaction of all the stock
holders.
6. When the goods are received and exposed
for sale each subscriber or co-partner shall
have liberty to^take the goods or cash out of
the said store, to the amount of subscription
paid into the concern, but shall stand a debtor
to the company and be considered bound
to pay either in cash or produce, delivered
into the store sufficient and in time, that the
net proceeds thereof shall equal the amount
taken out in order to purchase more goods
for the next season.
7. The storekeeper or clerk shall be
authorized to sell goods to any person, either
stockholders or, not, at small profit* (regu
lated by the board or committee at their
half-yearly meetings), for cash or in ex
change for produce.
8. Every subscriber to these articles shall
pay into the hands of the committee or
board of directors 2 10s. currency on every
share they shall subscribe on or before the
for the purpose of paying ths ex
pense of building the said store- house, and
the remainder of their several subscriptions,
either in cash or produce fitting for a foreign
market, delivered in the store, equal to the
amount on or before the first day of ,
and the company agrees to meet at Mont
gomery s tavern on Yonge street, on the
first day ot May next, for the purpose of
choosing the committee or board of directors
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
219
for carrying the plan into execution record
ing to the foregoing resolutions and make
further arrangements thereunto.
Ninth and lastly. We, the subscribers,
hereby promise and agree, and by these pre
sents bind themselves each one of
us to the committee or board of di
rectors in behalf of the company, to pay
into their hands the amount of the several
shares annexed to our names, at the time
and in the manner and form agreeable to the
foregoing articles
i hen comes a long list of shareholders
among whom are those familiar names
John Montgonvry, of York, Jo b and Aaron
Silverthorne (two thorough Tories of the
most ancient type), the inevitable Thomsons,
of Scarborough, Eli Playter and William
Howland, besides hosts of others.
At a meeting held in January, 1825, these
resolutions were passed :
1. That Ely Playter be called to the chair.
2. That Ely Playter, Abraham Stoufer,
Joseph Pearson, Silas Fletcher, Joseph
Shephard, Jacob Wintersteen, James Farr,
George Playter ana George W. Port, be
appointed a committee or board of directors
for the purpose of carrying the concern of
the Farmers Stor^ into effect, agreeable to
the third article of the resolutions agreed
upo:i and subscribed to by the farmers of
the home district on the 7th day of February
last.
3. Than the said above-named com
mittee or board of directors do meet in
York, at Howard s inn, on day of next
month.
YOBK, June, 1824. The committe met at
Howard s Inn, pursuant to agree
ment, and after some inquiry at the
Surveyor-General s office and else
where respecting a water lot to build
upon, it was agreed that Ely and Geo.
Playter should be appointed to petition the
Governor- in-Council and endeavor to obtain
a grant for a water lot for the purpose,
and that until the event was known no
further proceeding would be taken. The
members of the committee present were :
ELY PLATER,
JOSEPH PEARSON,
SILAS FLETCHEB,
JACOB WINTERSTSBN,
JOSEPH SHEPHAED,
GEORGE PLAYTEB.
In consequence of his Excellency the
Lieat. -Governor s absence from York I did
not obtain an answer to our petition until
day of December, after which I wrote
to the committee to meet at Fair s Inn in
York OB the 4th day of January, 1825.
ELY PLATER.
YORK, 4th Jan., 1825.
Ely Playter, Abraham Stouffer, Jacob
Wintersteen and James Farr met at Fair i
Inn and waited until late in the afternoon.
No others of the committee coming, and
they not being a majority, agreed to meet
again at Montgomery s tavern on JTonge
street the 15th instant, and that notice be
given to those of the committee who were
not present.
HOME DISTRICT, YONGE STREET,
15th January, 1825.
At a meeting of the committee for regulat
ing the business of the Farmers store the
following resolutions were adopted :
1. That each one of the said committee
shall publish a notice and otherwise of each
one of the several subscribers to the said
store of $3 on each store. 2. That a store
house be built in the town of York on the
lot heretofore referred to 100 feet long, 20
feet wide, with 20 foot posts, made with
good, sound and sufficient material and
proper workmanship. Signed by Ely Play
ter and four others.
CHAPTER LXVIL
THE JENNINGS CHURCH.
The Organization of tbe United Presby
terian Congregation in Toronto The Old
Church on thfl Corner of Bay and Rich
mond.
Just fifty-one years ago, seven members
and twenty-one adherents of the United
Secession Church of Scotland, met in a
carpenter s shop on Newgate street, now
Adelaide street, and talked over the forma-
tion of a congregation and the building of
a church for worship. The Rev. .John
Jennings, who came to Canada in 1838,
was inducted pastor on 9th July, 1839.
The congregation met at first in the March,
or Stanley street Baptist chapel, up to 1840,
when they rented the Methodisi Episcopal
chapel, which stood on Richmond street,
the pr sent site of Richmond Hall, and in
1841 they purchased the building. In 184S
it was too small for the congregation, and a
new church was erected on the corner of
Richmond and Bay streets, as given in the
sketch. It was in the perpendicular Eng
lish Gothic style of architecture, of white
brick and cut stone dressings, having a
square tower at the west end, with octa
gonal termination and rich pinnacles, erected
from the designs and under the nuperinten-
dence of William Thomas, architect. It
had accommodation for 900 persons, and
cost about 3,000. The builders and con
tractors were Metcalfe, Forbes & Co. Earlj
in the sixties a great storm occurred in To
ronto, and one of the stone pinnacles at tha
220
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO
soath-east corner of the church was blown
down and fell through the roof. The stone
in its flight downward detached a piece of
wood with a nail in it, which also fell, the
nai! piercing a Testament in one of the
gallery pews and, punctured the book
through to the text : Mark vii, 26, " And
the winds blew and beat upon that house ;
and it fell not ; for it was founded upon a
rock."
The building has since been torn down to
take room for the fine edifice of the Col
lege of Physicians and Surgeons u Ontario.
Dr. Jennings res gued the pastorate in
1874, and died two years afterwards, deeply
regretted. His family still live in Toronto
on St. Joseph street. One of his sons,
Mr. Bernard Jennings, is assistant-manager
of the Imperial Bank, Toronto. Mr.
William Jennings is one of the chief
engineers of the Canadian Pacific Rail
way, and Mr. Robert Jennings is
manager of the Bank of Commerce
at Paris, Ontario. One of his daughters is
married to Mr. Creelman, the well known
solicitor. The name of Jennings is to this
day a household word in the Presbyterian
homes of Ontario, and many of the old
families have preserved the name of John
Jennings in the boys of the present gener
ation.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
221
CHAPTER LXVIII.
AN EARLY BAY SHORE VIEW.
The Old Fish Market Steamboat. After
wards City Hotel and Coffin Bnlldinc
Where Stage Passengers Were Booked.
Oiie of the best known inns at York pre
vious to 1830 was the Steamboat Hotel
on Front street east. It was a two-
storey building, remarkable for the
spirited delineation of a steam packet
of vast dimensions extending the whole
length of the building just over the upper
verandah of the hotel. Its proprietor for
many years was a well known citizen named
Ulick Howard. In 1828, Mr. Howard, in
an advertisement, couched in the following
terms, offered to let his hotel. " Steam
boat hotel, York, U. C. The proprietor of
this elegant establishment.now unrivalled in
this part of the country, being desirous of
retiring from public business on account of
ill-health in his family, will let the same
for a term of years, to be agreed on, either
with or without the furniture. The estab
lishment is now too well known to require
comment. N.B. Securi;y will be required
for the payment of the rent and the fulfil
ment of the contract in every respect.
Apply to the subscriber on the premises.
U. HOWARD. York, October 8th, 1828."
Soon after this Mr. Howard rented the ho
tel, and the new landlord took down the
sign of the steamboat and re-named the inn
the City Hotel. What this elegant estab
lishment was is. those days may be learned
from the autobiography of Mr. John Gait,
Commissioner of the Canada Company and
founder of Guelph. He visited York in
1824 and again in 1827. On these occasions
he stopped at Fra-.ik s Hotel, which chen
enjoyed the reputation of being the best hotel
in the town. In 1827 he thus writes : The
reader is probably acquainted with the man
ner of living in Ameiican hotels, but with
out experience he can have no right notion
of what in these days is the condition of the
best tavern in York, which he de-cribes as a
mean two storey buildin?, conducted with
little regard to the comfort of its patrons.
Comparing York and Dover, England, in
another p ace Mr. Gait says : " Every
body who has been at Dover knows that it
is one of the vilest haunts on the face of the
earth except Little York in Upper Canada."
On the beach below the Steamboat Hotel, or
as it is in the accompanying illustration the
City Hotel, was at a later period a market
for the sale of fish. Bartlett has sketched
this in his "Canadian Scenery," and it is
from hi* picture that the view given is ob
tained. In this foreground are groups of
conventional fishwirea and squaws. At
about this same or a little later period than
this sketch, there was a sort of cribbing
along the front to prevent the water wash
ing the shore. The land did not at
that time extend out into the bay
as far as at present as may
be seen at a glance. At the water s edge
stood a one-storey frame building, very
.much like a diminutive barn. Within this
were two rows of tables or stalls, on which
the fish were displayed. To this place all
the fishermen of the town were in the habit
of coming daily with their catches. The
fish of the lake, such as trout, whitefhh,
pike, pickerel, perch, and sunfish were
much plentier and cheaper then than now.
Twenty-five cents was the highest price
ever demanded for the finest salmon trout.
Fresh salt water fish however
was an unknown luxury to the inhabitants
of the torn at this time. In thsse days
there were no fish stores about town as now.
Occasionally a fisherman s wife would peddle
fish about from house to house, but this was
not of frequent o< currence and it was cus
tomary for the heads even of the wealthiest
and most aristocratic families to do their
own marketing and carry their purchas s
home themselves. South of where St.
Lawrence hall now stands and between
that and the fish market was a poultry
yard. The old fish market at the water s
edge was discontinued about 1854 or a little
later. A little farther west, close by the
Ontario House, one of the early hotels of
the town, Market street from the west
entered Front street at an acute angle. In
the gore between the two streets a building
sprang up, which in conforming to its site,
assumed on one side the shape of
a coffin. This building of brick three
stories high, painted yellow, is still stand
ing in its original location at the junction of
Wellington, Front and Church streets. It
is shown in the illustration. The foot of
this building, which was always known and
is to this day as the Coffin building, was the
office where travellers booked themselves
for various parts in the stages, that from
time to time started from York. In the
early days I>aac Buchanan <fe Co. occupied
the main part of the buiiding, and after
wards Miller & Foulds. Subsequently it was
cut up into offices and is used l<y such now.
in those days of stage coaches travel was a
far different thing from what it now is.
Mrs. Jameson, in her journal at Toronto,
writes in 1836 : " It is now seven weeks
since the date of the last letters from my
dear, far-distant home. The Archdeacon
told me by way of comfort that when he
came to settle in this country there wa
only one mail post from England in the
222
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
.-J
*
-
GC
cs
O
_.V \,V
t-.C r.? *?
fjvfN"
S
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
223
Bourse of a whole year, and it was called,
as if in mockery, the Express." The Quebec
Gazette of 1792 advertises tins express as
follows : " A mail for the Upper
countries , comprehending Niagara and De
troit, will be closed at this office on Monday,
the 30th inst, at 4 o clock in the evening to
be forwarded from Montreal by the annual
winter express, on Thursday the 3rd of Feb.
next." In 1816 it took four days to reach
Niagara from York. An advertisement in
1816 announces that "on the 20th Septem
ber next, a stage will commence running
between York and Niagara : it will leave
York every Monday and arrive at Niagara
on Thursday, "and leave Queens-
town every Friday. The baggage
is to be considered at the risk of the owner
and the fare to be paid in advance." In 1824
the mails were conveyed the same distance
via. Ancaster in three days. In the same
year Postmaster William Allan advertises
that th mails are made up at York on the
afternoon of Monday and Thursday and
must be delivered at Niagara on the
Wednesday and Saturday following and
within the same period in returning.
William Weller in 1835 was the proprietor
of a line of stages between Toronto and
Hamilton, known as the Telegraph Line.
He advertised to take passengers through
by daylight on the Lake road during the
winter season.
CHAPTER LXIX.
THE M GILL SQUARE.
The Site of the Metropolitan and it*
Original Owner Something About One of
the Old Inhabitant!.
John McGill is a name familiar to all
Canadians. He came to Canada with the
Queen s Rangers in 1790, and was adjutant
of that reginf nt in 179T,and commissioner of
stores for Upper Canada in the same
year. Mr. McGill was an active citi-
I3n of the old town of York.
So late as 1833, Walton in his " York Com
mercial Directory, Street Guide and Regis
ter," when naming the residents on Lot
street, as he still designates Queen street,
makes a note in arriving at two park lots to
the westward of the spot where we have
been pausing, to the effect that " here this
street is intercepted by the grounds of Capt.
McGill, S. P. Jarvis, Esq., and Hon. W.
Allan, past here it is open to the Roman
Catholic church, and intended to be carried
through to the Don bridge."
Mr. McGill was first owner of the park lot
on Queen street. Situated in fields at the
southern extremity of a stretch of forest,
the comfortable and pleasantly-situated
residence erocted by him, for many years
seemed a place of abode quite remote from
the town. It was still to be en in 1870
in the heart of McGill square, od was long
occupied by Mr. MeCutcheon, * brother of
the inheritor of the bulk of Mr. McGill s
property, who, in accordance with hi
uncle s will, and by authority of an Act of
parliament assumed the name ot McGill,
and became subsequently well known
throughout Canada as the Hon. Peter
McGill
From Mrs. Seymour, of Ottawa, a daugh
ter of Dr. Powell, we have a lot of interest
ing facts. Mrs Seymour has a distinct
recollection of all that occurred in York, at
the time of the war.
There was a detachment of a few com
panies of the 8th Regt. stationed at the
time in York, who were established as a
support of the York Battalion of incorpora
ted militia. On the evening of Saturday,
the 25th of April, 1812, a party had assem
bled at McGiii cottage, hearing that the
American fleet had arrived near the har
bour. It was then arranged that at all
hazards the records and public documents
of the province should be preserved, ac
cordingly a haughty official was entrusted
with them under directions to take them to
Kingston. He took his orders, (and his
leave) departing straightway on foot by the
old Kingston road.
Meanwhile the Ame-icans had secured a
lauding and advanced on the old fort.
j Mrs. Seymour, then Miss Powell, and the
; other ladies, gathered in McGill Cottage,
I were busily employed in cooking bread and
i other rations for the comfort of the troops,
I when an explosion was heard, which proved
to be the blowing up of the magazine.
This, of course, was the signal for the cap -
ture of the garrison, and in a few minutes
the inmates of McGill Cottage saw that
they were prisoners in their own native
town, by the sudden appearance of the
Stars *and Stripes in place of
the Union Jack. After this two
or three Americans were despatched to
McGill Cottage for the purpose of protecting
the ladies from any insults that might be
offered to them from .the camp followers
that are always found in the wake of an
army.
Prior to all this, a flag ha 1 been prepared
by the ladies of Toronto, and presented to
the regiment of incorporated militia. In
their desire not to let the flag pass out of
their possession they requested Mrs. Mc
Gill to take charge of it, on the capitulation
of the town. This provoked a reply from
one of the Jadies to the effect that it was
odd that a flag, which was presented by
224
LANDMARKS OF TORONT0. 6
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
225
the women of York to their defenders should
be brought back back by one of these self
same defenders and entrusted to the donors
for safe keeping
Mrs. Seymour states that the conduct of
the Americans, officers and men, was beyond
all praise, they emulating each other in their
desire to render their unpleasant duties as
little disagreeable as they possibly could to
those who were in fact their prisoners,
making them really more than guests.
(The lounder of McGill College in Mon
treal was of a different family. The late
Capt. James McGill Strachan derived his
name from the marriage connection of his
father with the latter.)
lu the Gazette and Oracle, of November
13th, 1803, we observe Mr. McGill, of York,
advertising as "agent for purchases" for
pork and beef to be supplied to the troops
stationed "at Kingston, York, Fort George,
Fort Chippjwa,Fort Erie and Amherstburg. "
In 1818 he is Receiver-General, and Audi
tor-General of land patents. He had form
erly been an officer in the Queen s Rangers,
and his name frequently occurs in
" Simcoe s History " of the operations
of that corps during the war of
the American Revolution. From that
work w learn that, in 1799, he, with
the commander himself of the corps, then
Lieut. -Col. Simcoe, fell into the hands of
the revo utionary authorities and was treat
ed with great harshness in the common jail
of Burlington, New Jersey ; and when a
plan was devised for the Colonel s escape,
Mr. McGill volunteered, in order to further
its success, to personate his commanding
officer in bed and to take the consequences,
while the latter was to make his way out.
The whole project was frustrated by the
breaking of a lalse key in the lock of a door
which would have admitted the confined
soldiers to a room where " carbines and
ammunition" were stored away. L eut.-
Col. Simcoe, it is added, in the history just
named, afterwards offered Mr. McGiil an
annuity, or w make him Quarter master of
Cavalry ; the latter, we are told, he ac
cepted of, as his grandfather had been an
officer in King William s army ; and " no
man, "Col. Simcoe himself notes, "ever
executed the office with greater integrity,
courage and conduct." The southern portion
of Mr. McGill s park lot has, in the course
of modern events, come to be assigned to re
ligions uses. McGill square, wh clT contained
the old homestead and its surroundings and
irhich was at one period intended, as its
name indicates, to be an open public square,
was secured in 1870 by the Wesleyan
Methodist body and made the site of its
principal place of worship and of various
15
establishments connected therewith. Im
mediately north, on the same property, th
Roman Cathoiica had previous y built theii
principal place of worship and numerous
appurtenances, attracted possibly to the
spot by the expectation that Mc
Giil square would continue for
ever an open ornamental piece of ground.
A little farther north a cross street, leading
from Yonge street eastward, bears the name
of McGill. An intervening cross-street pre
serves the name of Mr. Crookshank, who
was Mr. McGill s brother-in-law.
About 1802 it is reported that " at a
meeting of the subscribers to a fund for
erecting a church in the Town of York,"
Capt. McGill is one of a committee of sub
scribers to raise funds. Capt. McGill was a
pew-holder in St. James church in 1818.
In the Gazette of March 14th, 1801, we find
reported a meeting of subscribers to the
opening of Yonge street. A list of the sub
scriptions is given in dollars : " Hon. J. Mc
Gill, $16 " We find that John McGill was
Recorder pro tern of an Encampment of
Knights Templar who met in Kingston in
1800, and in an MS. of November 2nd,
1800, we find John McGill and Alexander
McNab, both of the Queen s Rangers, en
tered as members of this Masonic organiza
tion.
In an account for printing, the Govern
ment of Upper Canada to John Bennett,
Government printer, dated 24th June, 1805,
we find the account 63. 5s. 9 J. marked :
" Examined. Signed, JOHN McGiLL, In-
spector-Gen l P. P. Ace is. A true copy.
JOHN McGiLL, Inspeotor-Gen l P.P. Accts."
In the number for May 30th, 1793, of the
Upper Canada Gazette or American Oracle,
we h ive ten guineas reward offered for the
recovery of a government grindstone :
" Ten guineas reward is offered to any per
son that will make discovery and prosecute
to conviction, the thief or thieves that have
stolen a grindstone from the King s wharf
at Navy Hall, between the 30th of April
and tbe 6th instant. John McGill, Com.
of Stores, etc. , etc., for the province of
Upper Canada. Queenstown, 16th May,
1793."
226
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
CHAPTER LXX.
THOMAS MERCER JONES VILLA.
The House Occupied by Him at tbe Corner
of Front and York streets and Afterwards
by Captain strut-ban.
Near the north-west corner of Front and
York streets, surrounded by grounds of
considerable extent, stands a brick villa
adorned with verandahs and more irregular
and picturesque in outline than most of
the buildings of York, for although not
one of the earliest houses still it was
into the occupation of Captain James McGill
Strachan. He was the son of Bishop
Strachan, ana was named after his uncle
James Strachan, a bookseller of Aberdeen,
and Mr. McGill, the founder of McGill col
lege at Montreal, into whose family Dr.
Strachan married. From 1816 to 1819
James McGill Strachan w.is one of the
pupils at his father s Home District Gram
mar school. He married a daughter of Chif
Justice Robinson, and the house of Mr. Jones
being adjacent to his laiher s was a con
venient p ace of abode for him. He occu-
built the yea;- before the town of York
became the village of Toronto. It was de
signed or built in 1833 by John G. Howard
for Thomas Mercer Jones. A tall brick
wall surrounded the grounds at the street
line completely shutting them from the
sight of passers-by. This wall was similar
to the adjoining wall in front of Bishop
StTichan s house which probably suggested
tbe idea to the builder. Mr. Jones lived
here for a time, and then the property passed
pied it as a residence until about 1860, when
it was bought by John Skae, better know a
aa Johnny Skae, at one time a California
millionaire. He paid about $20,000 for the
property. His mother and sisters lived
here until 1887, when the property was
sold to David Walker for $75,000.
It extends three hundred feet on York st. by
two hundred feet on Front street. A bloek
of stores is now being erected in front of the
olti villa which is Boon to be torn down, and
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
227
with the erection of the modern places of
business will disappear some of the fine tree-
which have ornamented the residences in
that part of the town.
CHAPTER LXXI.
MONTGOMERY S HOTEL.
The Scene of the Beginning and the End
of the Mackenzie Rebellion in Toronto-
Accounts of Eye Witneotes.
A clapboard house with a lean to behind,
standing in prosaic loneliness in an uneven
stretch of garden ground, streaked by rugged
fences witii a few stalwart relics of the thick
forest that was the last redoubt of the fight
ing patriot who gave Montgomery farm its
place in history. This is all that marks the
ground. In the squat cottages on the
side road the black lettered sign " lots for
sale on easy terms," across Yonge street
or the red brick villas further north in the
land that was once within the fences of the
historic farm, there is nothing to waken the
memories that ought to cling to the camp
ground of Mackenzie s men. A two-storey
and mansard brick hotel occupies the sit* of
the country tavern in which former gen
erals and colonels plotted the overthrow of
tne Family Compact. And on Yonge street
and near the hitching post in front of the
hotel the Loyalist Colonel Moodie was shot
dead on the Monday night of the rebellion
week, as he tried 10 ride through
the patriots line. To the field close to that
side of the rad that runs west from Yong >
street two or three hundred yards south of
Eglinton the outposts were driven before
the Loyalist musketeers, who marched up
from the city thirty-one years ago. Shel
tered by the trees that then lifted their bare
branches above the spot pictured by our
artist, the half-armed, badly generalled,
but courageous rebels stood out
against the enemy. But natural
courage and pikes were a poor defence
against the bullets and grape shot that the
Loyalists were pouring into the woods. For
a few minutes the patriots held their ground.
The fire from the flint locks of the well
armed enemies grew hotter. The Loyalists
closed in on the besieged rebels. The dread
of being surrounded startled the men who
were fighting hopelessly among the trees.
They wavered as the enemy pressed in, and
their ranks brake in the twos and threes of
straggling fugitives who hurried away from
the scene of defeat as the flames from the
tavern fired by the Loyalists in celebration
of their victory, g owed in the smoke
cloud that darkened the clear air
of that chilly December afternoon. The
leaders of the forces that met in battle are
gone. Even their memories are dead to all
but the student or the yearly thinning group
of Reform and Loyalist pioneers, who either
treasure the memory of Mackenzie and his
colonels or gloss with a touch of kindly
forgetfulness the seeming frailties that do
not endear <he names of Mackenzie, Lount
and Matthews to the old settlers who fought
with the conquerors of 18^7. But in the white
house on a hillside near Hogg s Hollow the pic
ture of the patriot chief hangs high upon the
wall. Here lives Mr. Anderson, who at the
time of the rebellion was working
as a watchmaker in a build
ing on the north-east corner of Yonge
and. Richmond streets. The city was small
then, the tollgate used to bar the road in
fronfc of the Indian clock then, and laud,
" Why," said Mr. Anderson," I foolishly
missed a chance of buying two acres on
Yonge stre -t, near Elm, for $300. My father
was a Tory, but I was a pretty lively young
man, and used to run with the Reformers
who took up with Mackenzie as soon as he
came to the city. My brother John and I
sided with him and attended at the printing
office when Dr. Rolph and all the Reformers
of the city met. Any one who wanted to
see the country happy had to be a Reformer
in those days. Why, you couldn t collect a
cent of debt from any of the Family Com
pact crowd if they didn t want to pay you.
You could sue and get judgment all right,
but you had to pay your own costs, for no
matter how good the man was, if he be
longed to any of the Family Compact houses
the judgment would come hack from the
sheriffs officer marked nulla bona. All
along we expected to straighten things out
at the polls until Sir Francis and his crowd
swamped us at the election in the summer
of 1837. Why, his men distributed tickets
giving titles to farms on the lake shore road
and in the bush that no one ever
knew were farms. Thete were no
such farms, but with these tickets in
their hands the hired men would go to the
polls and swear that they got four dollars a
year out of farms that they did not own nor
no one else ever did own. But tnese ticket
holders swore enough votes through*to beat
us Reformers who had property in the
country, and after that we saw that there
was nothing before us but a fight, We met
oftener in Mackenzie s office. Lount,
Matthews and other Reformers used to
come in, and we were all arming for the re
bellion. The reliels were to meet over
my store on the Monday before the
fight at Montgomery s, but there was a arirl
228
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
229
hanged in front of the jal on Toronto street
that day and there was such a crowd in
town that the arrangement fell through. I
knew that the rebels were out at Mont
gomery s, for L think my brother John, who
kept a dry goods store on Yonge atreet, went
out to join on Monday night. But bright
and early Tuesday morning I started. I
left my wife, as she remembers, at our place
and took my double-barrelled gun and
walked along up Yonge street. Up near
Jonathan Scott s corner, McGill street, I
m*t Sheriff Jarvis coming down. Good
morning, Anderson, said th ; sheriff, looking
closely at the gun I was carrying. Good
THOMAS AN0KRSOK.
morning, sheriff, I answered ; it s a nice
day. I passed on. He did not try to ar-.
i est me, although he knew where I was
going. I had a gun. He had no arms, and
I would have fought. I think, before I
could have been kept from going out to
join the rebels. When I got out to Mont
gomery s two or three hundred rebels
were there. This was on Tuesday,
and all that day the Reformers
from the township w^re coming in.
Some rode in, some marched and a good
many of the farmers were driven in by their
young sons, who took the waggons back
aain. That night we marched down as far
as McGill street and the i fell back, when
we oould have chased Sheriff Jarvis men
right into the city. Things would bar*
been different if we had had a leader.
Poor Mackenzie meant well, and
was brave enough, but he was ae
soldier. If old Colonel Van Esmond
had been there that nisrht all the Englisk
in Toronto and there were not nrmy juai
then could not have kept the city from as.
But he wasn t there, and we missed oar
chance. After we got back to Montgomery s
I was on guaid part of the night. Wedne-
day morning we marched down to Bloor
street, and after we got back Mackenzie
and Lount went off with eighty or a hundred
men. They were away stopping the Hamil
ton stage, and in the evening they brought
the mail bags which they took to the
tavern, where Mackenzie opened them.
I was not very well acquainted
with Lount or Matthews. Lount wa a
member of parliament and they were
colonels while I was a young private. Bat
they were both fi <e men. Lount was am
azemaker up near Holland Landing. An
axe was a big thing in the bush in thoae
days, and if a man had not money Lount
used to make him an axe and trust him for
the pay. In that way he started many a
poor fellow. He made axes for the Indiana
up there, and tome of them came down to
Toronto to see if they could not save hina,
but of course it was ah no use, poor fellows.
After I left Montgomery s I saw them ae
more in Ire or death until years later whe
David Gibson and I dug up their
bodies from the old Potters field, near
Bloor street. When they were first buried
it was ticklish times for Reformers. David
stepped quietly into the field and dropped a
marble in Lount s grave, so that it might be
told from Matthews . William Lyon Mac
kenzie came up just as we were lifting the
bodies into the waggon, and the three of as
rode in the waggon to th Necropolis, where
we buried these murdered men, for I call it
murder, in one grave.
Thomas Sheppard, an old pioneer,
ws a rebel, as were all the
family. Mr. Sheppard says : The Sheppard*
in the old days were known all over the
country as Reformers and my brother Mike
and I busied ourselves election time work
ing for Mackenzie. M. thought we could
break the Family Compact by sending the
right sort of men to parliament, but the
last election before the rebellion they
drowned us with crooked votes. After that
Mackenzie used to tell us we would have t*
shoulder muskets to get our rights. The
leaders met quite often in Toront*
that summer after the election, and
230
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
in the early fall the word was passed
tor U8 to commence drilling. Mike and I
then lived at the mill bick of Lansing, up
Yonge street. We would take our muskets
and join the other Reformers who were
drilled by an old soldier who worked I
think in Mackenzie s printing office. We
drilled at Uncle Jake Fisher s farm in
Vaughan. Mackenzie used to ride out from
the city and watch the old soldier put the
farmers through their facings. All the men
from our neighbourhood carried mu-kets,
but Mackenzie had only a brace of pocket
pistols. Altogether we must have drilled
at Uncle Jake s four or five times before we
were called out. I knew the day set
for the muster at Montgomery s. The
Monday night before the fight I was
sittii g by the fire at mother s getting ready
to join the rebels on Tuesday when we heard
a knock at the door. My mother hurried
across the floor to open it and there stood
Samu 1 Louut with fifty Reformers from up
Lloydtown way. They had marched thirty
miles down from the street and were tired
and cold and hungry. Poor mother couldn t
do enough for them when she saw who they
were. They crowded around the fire, and
after getting all they could eat Lount order
ed them to ff.ll in and away they marched
down to Montgomery s. Next day I said
good-bye to my wife and the folks at home
and went down to join the boys. There
were seven or eight hundred of them at the
tavern, I suppose; tine fellows, too, men
who had families and fa:ms to fight for.
Some farmers drove in from up country,
with their boy. They were brave enough,
and if they d all had muskets they would
have beaten the Tories I believe. Lount
and other blacksmiths who were Reformers
made a lot of pikes, but these were no
weapons for real fighting. But that Tues
day night we made a start. Mackenzie or
dered us to march down Yonge street, and
away we went. He led us. I was
in the front rank, along with Thomas
Anderson and his brother John. We step
ped gently along until we were coming out
of the woods at Jonathan Scott s corners.
All at once some Tori< s who were in the
brick house then with Sheriff Jai vis, fired
on us ; don t know but they fired another
volley before they ran. They took the
back track quick enough, and if our fellows
had only been steady we would have taken
the city that night. I don t know what
started our men running, but moat of them
made off up Yoi-ge street as fast as the
other fellows did down to the town. For a
while some of us at the front stood onr
/ground, and I was firing away among the
last of them. But after three or four
to myslf,
go down
minutes of this work, I said
here a handful cf us can t
and capture Toronto so we took after the
rebels who were making for Montgomery s
again. Next day Sir Francis sent out
Baldwin and Rolph with a flag of truce, bat
nothing came of it. Early Thursday morn
ing, the day of the fight at Montgomery s,
Col. Peter Matthews took a couple of hundred
of the best shots and started away to attack
THOMAS SHEPPARD.
the Tories who were guarding the Don
bridge. John Anderson, my brother Mike
and I were with Matthews men. It was
while we were away that the Tories came up
to the farm. If we had been there with our
musket things might have been different but
when all the men who had gooa weapons
were away with Matthews the men under
Lount had no chance to stand ag; inst the
muskets and cannon brought against them.
Matthews led us around the Don bridge,
when we cams on the Tories. We fired a
volley and th;y scattered and didn t wait
for more. Then he marched us four miles
down the Kingston road to a tavern,
where we had supper at hr Majesty s
expense. The man gave us what we
wanted and charged it to the Government.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
231
I suppose. By this time we had heard
about the ending of the fight at Mont
gomery s and knew that all was over with
the rebellion. I stayed guard at the tavern
while the others were in at their supper and
in an hour my turn came. Then I had a
chance to speak to Matthews. Let s make
for the Rouge, said I to him. We can seize a
stone-hooker there and get c ear across the
lake to the States. He didn t like the idea
and lost his life by thinking we had a better
chance to get off by straggling in couples
than by making a break all together for the
Rouge. We stayed in at the tavern
ston, whose sons used to live in
Yorkville, quickly raised a crowd of armed
Tories, surrounded the house and fired in
at the window* until Matthews gave him
self up. Johnston took him down to To
ronto and got his blood money. Sunday
afternoon we were overtaken. We went
into Silverthorne s, out near the Humber,
for dinner. This Silverthorne was a Re
former, although the rest of his folks were
Tories. While we were eating
our dinner Mr. Silverthorne ran in
from the door and told us that
some men on horseback were coming up
SCENE OF THE PATKIOT DEFEAT.
that Thursday night, and Friday morn-
ins; we said good-bye to each
oth?r and took the track through the
wood, John Anderson, Mike and I kept to
gether. That night we slept at the house of
a ft iend east of Yonge street. Saturday noon
we put into John Milne s house. We had
driven there. It was at this house
tha; poor Matthews was captured. He and
some more rt bels tried to dodge in at the
back door. But a neighbour named John
ston spied th m and sent his little girl over
on wi errand to see who was in the house.
The girl went back and told that
there were strangers at Milne s : John-
to the house. We started up from the table
and footed it away through the woods.
Just as we were nearing the river we heard
a horseman behind us. It was a Tory neigh
bour of the Si verthornes. He told us that
we had not a gho~t of a chance to get away,
and that the governor w> uld pardon us if
we gave ourselves up. We took the chances
and went off with him. He drove us into
Toronto and we were lodged in the old par
liament buildings. We were members
of parliament until near Christ ms, and
then they carted us off to the jail. We were
put into a cell in the south-west corner.
Looking out from my window one day I
232
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
looked my last on poor Samuel Lount.
They were bringing him into the gaol that
he never left until they led him out ^o the
gallows. He was strongly guarded, loaded
down with shackles, and looked a heat-
broken man. We were never brought to
trial at all. They did better for John An
derson and old John Montgomery. They
gave them what thsy called a trial and
sentenced them both to the gallows. John
Anderson took his sentence quietly,
but they say that old John
Montgomery turned on the chief
justice and the lawyers who were against
him and said : " Yon think you can send
me to the gallows, Lut I tell you that when
you re all frizzling with the devil, I ll be
keeping tavern on Yonge street." And
sure enough he came back and kept tavern
at the old spot. We were all kept in the
jail on Toronto street until June the 8th,
when they packed us off to Kingston on the
steamboat. John Montgomery and John
Anderson were pardoned and they were in
the crowd that marched in chains down to
the Yonge street wharf. We thought it was
Van Dieman s land sure The mothers and
wives of the rebels crowded around to see
the last of us as they thought. I tell you it
was a hard parting with the old folks, who
stood there on the wharf looking after the
steamer until we were out of sight. At
Kingston we were marched to Fort Henry,
where we were supposed to stay until her
Majesty was ready to give us a free passage
to Van Dieman s land. There were with
m John Anderson, John Montgomery,
Wilson Reed, of Sharon, Mr. Kennedy,
Thomas Tracy, John Stewart, Leonard
Watson, John G. Parker of Hamilton,
Mr. Stockdale, Gilbert Morden, Mr.
Brophy, Mr. Marr, my brother Mike and
I. We were not well sttt ed before the
colonel in charge of the fort eyed us all
over. Now, prisoners, said he, I ll not al
low you even to drive a nail in the wall or
deface this room in any way. I couldn t
help thinking how well we minded him
when we du^ our way out through
the wall. We were not long in prison
before we commenced to think about
getting out. One day we were talking of
it, and Gilbert Morden asked who would
try to loosen the stones. I will, I said, and
with a little hard work managed to loosen A
stone six inches square. We put it back in
its place and toid the bailiff that we wanted
lime to sweeten the air of the cell. He
brought in the lime,and we made the mortar
that plastered up the crack so that he
couldn t see it. Then we heard that Lord
Durham was coming through, and we drew
up a petition asking him to set us free. A
few days before the 29th of July hs walked
through our cell and told us that
he had forwarded our petition. That didn t
satisfy us much, and when we heard that we
were going to bs shipped to Van Dieman s
land pretty soon we thought we were not
likely to get much good out of his Lordship s
forwarding our petition. We mat that; Sun
day morning and decided to bolt. Some of
us worked on all day trying to make the
hole in the wall bigger. I was in that
crowd, and the others tore her Majesty s
bedding into strips for rope ladders. At
midnight we were all ready. Each man had
a number and waked his turn to crawl
through the hole in the wall. John G, Parker
was the first to go. Then one after another
we made our way to the yard. It was as
bright as noonday outside. Parker looked
up at the sky and whispered I wonder ia it
going to rain. Not a drop, I answered and
just at that moment a burst of thunder
started us. Five minutes after it was as
dark as pitch aid the rain was coming down
in sheets. But for that we would never
have passed the sentry who was on the wall.
Old John Montgomery slipped into the pit
in front of the cannons. Parker who was
with him kept right in but John
Anderson, Mike and I lifted him
out. He couldn t walk, but was just able to
limp along. John was a heavy weight, and
we had an awful time in helping him to
scramble over the wall. But at last we
landed him on the other side and steered
our way along to the woods. Then we
waited for sunrise. When it was daylight
the provisions we brought with us from the
fort were divided. After breakfast we began
to get ready to make our tracks, each man
for himself. It was hard work for th
poor rebels who had been together tor so
many weeks to say good-bye. Just as w
were going one of the men spoke up for hav
ing a short prayer meeting, and down in the
wet grass we all knelt while Parker, Wat
son and Brophy prayed that the Lord would
lead ns safe across the St. Lawrence. Then
we said good-bye to each other and arranged
to meet at Watertown. Poor John Mont
gomery cried like a child as we said good
bye to him. "It s all right boys," said he,
" you ll get safe off, but I, with this lame
leg, I ll never see the States ; they ll catch
me sure." But John was one of the first
to get across. Every man but Parker and
Watson dodgd the Tories. We then wan
dered through the woods, travelling in the
darkness and sleeping in the light for eight
days. We had nothing to eat but a couple
<.f pounds of salt poik and the bean > and
potatoes we could steal from the farmers all
this time. O.ie dark night we struck out
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
233
from the woods near Brock ville and borrowed
a boat and rowed across the river. The peo
ple there used us grandly when they found
that we were rebels. They boarded us free
and drove us to Watertown, were we met
all the boys from Fort Heniy except Parker
and Wilson who were captured. Together
we all went to Lewiston, where we had a
good time. Mother and my wife crossed
over to see us, and it was then I first saw
my child, born while I was in prison. After
the folks left for home most of us went
westward. Mike and I chopped cordwood
for three years until two good Tories, old
Gen. Thorne and Joel Harrison,
took round a petition for the
Sheppard boys and we were p irdoned.
Thomas Anderson escaped from Toronto a
few days aft r the fight at Montgomery s
farm, and made his way to Alabama, where
he lived for a couple of years, when he re
turned.
Of Mr. Montgomery and the inn
Dr. Scadding says : The great conspicu
ous way-side inn usually called Mont
gomery s was at tha time of its destruction
by the Government forces in 1837 in the
occupation of a landlord named Lingfoot.
The house of Montgomery, from whom the
inn took its name, he having been a former
occupant, was on a farm owned by
himself, beautifully situated on rising ground
to the left, subsequently the property and
place of abode of Mr. James Leslie. Mr.
Montgomery had once a hotel in York
named " The Bird in Hand," on Yonge
street, a littk to the north of Elliott s. We
have this inn nam d in an advertisement
to be seen in the Canadian freeman of
April 17, 1828, having reference to the
Farmers Store Company. "A general
meatin? of the Farmers Storehouse Com
pany" says the advertisement "will be held
on the 22ud of March next at ten o clock,
a. m. at John Montgomery s tavern on
\onge street The Bird in Hand. The
farmers are hereby also informed that the
storehouse is properlj repaired for the ac
commodation of storage, and that every
possible attention shall be paid to those who
shail store produce therein. John Goess-
mann, c erk." The farmers store was at the
foot of Nelson st. Mr. Goessmann was well
known Deputy Provincial Surveyor, of Han
overian origin. In an address published in
the Weekly Register of July 16, 1824, on the
occasion of his retiring f : om a contest for a
seat in the House as representative for the
counties of York and Simcoe, Mr. Goess
mann alluded sfollows to his nationality:
"I may properly say," he observed, " That
I was a bora British subject before a great
number of you did ever draw breath and
have certainly borne more oppressions dur
ing the late French war than any child
of this country that never peeped
beyond the boundary even of this
continent, wh n only a small twig of
that all crushing war struck. Our Sovereign
has not always been powerful enoug i to de
fend all his dominions. We the Hanover
ians have been left the greater part during
that contest to our own fate ; we have been
crushed to yie d our privileges to the sub
jection of Bonaparte hia greatestantagonist."
The following account of the battle at Mont
gomery s farm is condensed from Mr. Chas.
Lindsey s Life and Times of William
Lyon Mackenzie On the night of th
3rd of December Mr. Mackenzie who had
now been nine days in the country oreani-
ing the movement of the rebellion, arrived
at the house of Mr. Gibson, some three mi es
from the city. He there learnt with dit may
that in his absence Dr. Rolph had changed
the day for making a descent upon Toronto
from Thursday to Monday. Various
reasons have been assigned for this
change. There was a rumour that a war
rant was out for the arrest of Mr. Mac
kenzie for high treason, which was true.
Regarding the change of day as a fatal error
Mackenzie despatched one o r Gibson s ser
vants with a message to Lount who resided
near Holland Landing some thircy-five
miles from Toronto, not to come till the
Thursday at first agreed upon. But it was
too late. The messenger returned on Mon
day atternoon with the reply of Lount that
the intended rising was publicly known
all through the north, that the men had
been ordered to march and were already on
the road. The rude pike formed the
weapons of the majority ; a few had rifles,
there were no muskets. Much annoyed,
at the unexpected change in ths programme
Mackenzie with the natural intrepidity of
his character resolved to make the best of
it. When Lonnt arrived in the evening he
brought only about eighty or ninety men
exh \usted with a march of between thirty
or forty miles through deep mud and d s-
pirited by the news of the reverse in Lower
Canada. Though Dr. Rolph had mat Mac-
kensie that morning at Mr. Pierce s
housa on Yonge street, a couple of miles
from Toronto they had no intelligence
of the state of the town after ten o clock.
Rolph had returned, and no messenger came
to bring Mackenzie and his friends any news
of what was going on in the city. Regarding
it as all-important that communication with
the city should be cut off far the purpose
of preventing any intelligence being
sent to the Government, Mackenzie advised
the nlaciner of a anard uoon the road
234
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
and that the handful of jaded men who had
arrived should summon all their powers of
endurance and march on the city that night.
No one seconded his proposal. Lount,
Lloyd and Gibson protested against what
they regarded as a rash enterprise. They
deemed it indispensable to wait till the con
dition of the city could be ascertained, or
till they were reinforced to render the
hazard of venture in which all
concerned carried their lives in their
hands, to reasonable limits. Thus
whether the attack would be likely to be
attended with success, spur their friends
into activity with a view to an att ck the
next evening and bring Drs. Rolph and
Morrison back with them. Captain Ander
son, Sheppard and Smith volunteered to join
him. They started between eight and nine
o clock. Before they had proceeded far
they met Mr. John Powell with Mr. Archi
bald Macdonald, mounted, acting as a sort ot
patrol. Mackenzie pulled np, and with a
double-barrelled pistol in hw hand briefly
JOHN ANDERSON.
the golden opportunity was lost. Delay
was defeat. At this time the Lumber of
men under Lount, reinforced as they would
have been in the city, would have been
quite sufficient to effect the ntended revo-
lut on, since the Government was literally
asleep, and it was not embarrassed by a
superfluity of true friends. Failing in this
proposal Mr. Mackenzie next offered to
make one of four who should go to the city
i.d ascertain the state of matters there,
JOHN MONTGOMERY.
informed them of the rising, and adding
that as it was necessary to prevent intelli
gence of it reaching the Government they
must surrender themselves prisoners, and
in that character go to Montgomery s hotel,
where they would be well treated. Any
arms they might have about their persona
they must surrender. They replied that
they iiad none, and when he seemed scep
tical as to the correctness of the rtp y they
repeated it. Mackenzie then said : " Well.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
235
gentlemen, as you are my townsmen and
men of honour, I should be ashamed to chow
that I question your word by ordering you
to be searched. " Placing the two prisoners
in charge of Anderson and Sheppard he then
continued his coui se with his remaining
comrade towards the city. Before they had
sot far Powell, who had returned, rode past
them. While he was passing Mackenzie
demanded to know what was the object of
his return and to d him at his peril not to
proceed. Regardless of this warning the
Government messengers kept on. Macken
zie fired at him over his horse s head, but
missed his mark. Powell now pull
ed up and coming alongside
Mackenzie placed the muzz e of a
pistol close to his antagonist s breast. A
flash in the pan saved the life of the in
surgent chief. Macdonald now also came
up on his return. He seemed much
frightened, and being unable to give any
satisfactory explanation, was sent back a
second time by Mackenzie, In the mean
time Powell escaped. He dismounted, and
finding himself pursued, hid behind a log for
a wkile and then by a devious course
proceeded to Toronto. He at once pro
ceeded to Government House, and
aroused from his slumbers the Lieutenant-
Governor, who had gone to bed with a sick
headache. His Excellency placed his family
on board a steamer in the bay the winter
being unusually mild there was no ice to
impede navigation in company with that of
Chief Justice Robinson, n ady to leave the
city if the rebels should capture it. Mac-
kerzL hiving sent his la -t remaining com
panion back with Macdonald to Mont
gomery s hotel, now found himse t alone.
A warrant had for some time been out
for his arrest on a charge of high
treason, and the Government, informed
of the presence of the men at
Montgomery s was already astir. It would
have been madness for him to proceed ccm-
panionless to the city into the very jaws of
the lion. He turned his horse s head and
set out for Montgomery s. Before he had
proceeded far he found lying upon the r ad
the dead body of Anderson, who had fallen
a vietim to Powell s treachery. Life was ex
tinct. Anderson and Sheppard as already
stated were escorting Powe 1 and Macdonald
as pr soners to the guard room of the patriots
at Montgomery s hotel. Powell who
in being captured had twice
protested that he was unarmed, slackened
the pace of his horse sufficiently to get be
hind his victim, when he shot him with a
pistol through the back of the neck. Death
was instantaneous. Sheppard s horse stum
bled at the moment and Powell was enabled
to escape. As there was now only one guard
to two prisoners, he could not have hoped
to prevent their escape. Macdonald followed
his associate. On which side life had first been
taken it would be difficult to determine, for
when Mackenzie got back to M< ntgomtfry g
hotel, he found that Col. Moodie, inflamed
by liquor, had in trying to force his way
past the guard at the hotel at whom he.
fired a pistol had been sho by a rifle. The
guards who reiuined the fire missed their
aim, when one of the men who was stand
ing on the steps in front of the hotel levell
ed his rifle at Col. Moodie, of whom the
light of the moon gave him a clear view,
and fired the fatal shot. His name
I have recently learned from one
to whom he related the circum-
s f ance, was Ryan. He sometimes went
by the name o: Wallace. After the retreat
of the rebels he fled northward and took
refuge in the woods on the shore of Lake
Huron, where, apart from any human being,
he dragged out a wretched existence during
the whole of the winter, gnawing roots and
herbs. In the spring, when he had been re
duced to a skeleton, he fell in with a vessel
going to the States and thus made good
his escape. He never returned to Can
ada. Lount s men were a good deal dis
pirited by the death of Anderson. And
they had no particular reasons for being in
good humour. Llngfoot, by whom Mont
gomery s hotel was kept, had no provisions
to offer them, and none could be procured
that night. The handful of countrymen,
exhausted by their long march, with no
man of military experience to excite the r
confidence, had to sup on bad whis
key and recline upon the floor,
where many, from sheer fatigue, fell
sound asleep. The rest were still uneasy
as to the state of things in the city. The
bells had been st t a ringing, and they were
uncertain as to the rumours about the ar
rival of steamboats full of Orangemen and
other loyalists. They had expected to
learn the exact state and condition of the
city from their friends there. Mackenzie,
with three companions, as we have seen,
had failed to reach the city when the wish-
e 1-for information might have been ob
tained. Other messengers were sent,
but none return d. They were
made prisoners. By midnight the
numbers were increased, and by morn
ing Mackenzie with his usual impetuosity of
disposition again proposed to march on the
city, but he was again overruled. Next day
the relative forces of the two parties was
such that the patriots might if properly
armed have obtained certain coi quest. They
had between seven and eight, hu idred men,
236
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
but many of them were unarmed.
The rest had rifles, fowling pieces and pikes.
Many of chose who were unarmed re
turned almost as soon as they discovered
there were no weapons for their use. Pro
visions, including fresh and salt beef from
a loyalist butcher w rio "lived"" up Yonge
street, about two miles above Montgomery s,
were obtained ; for Lingfoot, the keep
er of the tavern, though a Tory, WM not
disinclined to turn an honest penny by serr-
armd insurgents. On Tuesday he sent *
flag of truce to the rebel camp with a mes
sage asking what it was they wanted. There
is no reason to doubt that this was a strata
gem to gain time. The bearers of this
message were Dr. Rolph and Mr.
Robert Baldwin, with Hugh Carmichael
as flag bearer. Mackenzie replied :
" Independence and a convention to arrange
details." Lounfc says Dr. Rolph seeretiy
advised him to pay no attention to the mes-
EXECUTION OK LOUNT AND MATTHEWS.
ing the rebels. On the Thursday morning
the day of the retreat Mackenzie paid Sing-
foot s bill for victualling the whole of
the mn and as he con d not make
change he gave him two dollars too much
remarking that it might go towards the next
bill. Sir Francis Bond- Head claims to have
had three hundred supporters in the morn
ing and five hundred in the evening, but the
statement has been disputed. His fears
may be judged by his holding parley with
sage, but to proceed. Lount was advi ed
by Mackenzie to march his men into the
city without loss of time and take up a posi
tion near Osgoode Hall, on Queen street.
Mackenzie then rode westward to the larger
body of insurgents, near Col. Baldwin s
residence, and ordered an instant march
on the city. When they reached tke
upper end of the College avenue
a second flag of truce arrived. The answer
brought by Mr. Baldwin and Dr. Rolph was
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
237
that the Lieutenant-Governor refused to
comply with the demands of the insurgents.
The truce being at an end Dr. Rolph secret
ly advised the insurgents to wait till six
o clock and then enter the city under the
cover of night. Reinforcements to the
number of six hundred were expected in the
city and they were to be ready to join the
forces from the country as soon as the
latter ar> ived, Accordingly at a quarter to
six the whole of the insurgent forces were
at the toll bar on Yonse street, about a mile
from the principal street of the city on
which the Government House, west of the
line of Yonge street was situated. Macken
zie harangued the men, attempting to inspire
them with courage by representing that
there would be no difficulty in taking the
city. The actual force claimed by Sir
Francis Bond - Head on Tuesday night
was ab ut five hundred. The patriot
forces were a half armed mob,
without discipline, headed by civil
ians, and having no confidence in
themselves or their military leaders. Lount s
men, who were armed with rifl a, were in
front, the pikemen came next and in the
rear was a number of useless men, having no
other weapons than sticks and cudgels.
Captain Duggan, of the volunteer artillery,
another officer and the sheriff s horse fell
into the hands ot the insurgents when they
were within about half a mile of the
city. At this point they were fir d
upon V.y an advanced guaid of Loyal
ists concealed behind a fence, and whose
numbers, of which the insurgents could
have no correct idea, have been variously
estimated at from fifteen to thirty, and shots
were exchanged. After firing once the
Loyalists, under Sheriff Jarvis, started back
at full speed towards the c ty. The front
rank of L r unt s men, instead of stepping aside
after firing to let those behind fire, fell down
on their faces. Those in the rear fancying
that the front rank had been cut down by
the mu kets of the small force who had
taken a random shot at them.being without
arms, were panic stricken, and in a short
time nearly the whole force was on the re
treat. Many of the Lloydtown pikemen
raised the cry : " We shall all be killed,"
threw down their rude weapons and fled
in great precipitation. Mackenzie, who
had been nar the front, and in more danser
from the rifles behind than the musketry of
the Loyalists, stepped to the side of the road
and ordered the men to cease firing,
being of opinion that one of the insurgents
who had been srhot, fell from a rifle bullet
of an unskillful comrade. The impetuous
and disorderly flight had in a short time
taken all but about a score above she toll-
gate. Hoping to rally the men, Mackenzie
sent Alves back to explain to them that the
danger was imaginary and putting spurs to
his horse he followed at a brisk
pace immediately after for the same
purpose. When they came to a halt
he implored them to return. He coaxed
and threatened. He would go in front
with any dozen who would accompany him.
Relying upon the succour they would meet
in the city, he offered to go on if only forty
men would go with him. Two or three
volunteers presented themselves, but the
general answer was that they would go in
daylight, they would notadvance in the dark
The majority lost no time in returning to their
homes. And although some two hundred
additional forces arrived during the night
the wJiole number on the \V ednesday had
dwindled down to about five hundred and
afty. Dr. Home s house, close to Yonge
street was the rend< zvous of spies. Hia
house was therefore burnt by the rebels as
those of Montgomery and Gibson were
subsequently by the Loyalists. Wednes
day opened gloomily upon the prospects of
the insurgents. Dr. Rolph left for the
States. Dr. Morrison remained in his
house, Mackenzie, Lount, Alves and several
others set off on horseback to
collect arms to intercept the western
mail. The mail stage coming into Dundas
street the principal western entrance into
Toron o, was captured, and with the
driver, mails and several principals waa
tlaken to the rebel camp. Among
the letters were ?ome addressed by
the President of the Executive Council to
persons in the couniry and containing infor
mation that the Government expected soon
to be able to make an attack at Montgom
ery .- . Mackenzie not knowing that Dr.
Rolph had fled, wrote to him to send
the patriots timely notice of the intended
attack, but of course he got no answar. The
messenger never returned. A man on horse
back told them that the Government intended
to make the attack on .Thur^day and the in
formation proved correct. Thursday found
division in the patriot camp. Gibson ob
jected to Mackenzie s plans though
they were sanctioned by Cilonel
Van Egmond who true to ori
ginal understanding had just
arrived. Gibson s objections led to a coun-
cil-of-war. This caused great dslay. The
plan suggested by Van Esmond and adopt
ed by Mackenzie, was to try to prevent a&
attack on Montgomery s till night, in the
hope that by that time large reinforce
ments might arrive. And there waa somo
reason in this as this was the day original
ly fixed for the general rising, and a noti>
238
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
fication of the alteration had been sent on y
to Lount s division. Our men had a force
of five hundred and fifty ready to bring
down, and many others who were
on the way, but when they found
it was all up with the patriots,
to save themselves they pretended they had
come down to assist the Government to
quell the insurrection. Under these cir
cumstances the only hope of the patriots
seemed to lie in preventing an attack till
night. In order to accomplish this the city
mast be alarmed. Sixty men forty of th rn
armed with rifles were selected to go to
the Don bridge, which formed the eastern
connection with the city, and
destroy it. Bv setting the bridge
and the adjoining house on fire
it was thought the Loyalist force might be
drawn off in that direction and their plan
of attack broken up. A party was sent
eastward as agreed upon. The bridge and
house were fired and partly burnt and the
mails intercepted. But the delay
of two hours occasioned by the coun
cil ot war proved fatal. Three steam
ers had in the meantime been bringing
reinforcements to the alarmed Governor.
Having at length determined on an attaak,
Sir Francis Bond-Head assembled the over
whelming forces at his command under the
direction of Col. Fitzgibbon, A ijutant Gen
eral of the Militia. The main body was
headed by Col. McNab, the right wing
being commanded by Col. S. Jarvis, the
left by Col. William Chisholm assisted by
Mr. Justice McLean. Major Carirae of the
militia artilleiy had charge of two guns.
The order to march was given about twelve
o clock and at one the Loyalist and the
patriot forces were in sight of one
another. When the sentinels at Montgom
ery s announced that the Loyalists were
within sight with music and artillery the
patriots were stiil discussing their plans.
Preparations were at once made to give
them battle. Mackenzie at first doubting
the intelligence ran forward till he became
convinced by a full view of the enemy. When
he returned he asked the small band of pa
triots whether they were ready to encounter
a force greatly superior in numbers to them
selves, well armed and provided with artil
lery. They replied in the affirmative, and
he ordered th : men into a piece of thin
woods on the west side of the road, when
they found a slight protection from the fii e
of the enemy they had to encounter. A
portion of the men took a position in an
open field on the east side of the wood.
The men in the western copse had to sus
tain nearly the whole fire of
th* artillery from Toronto and never
said Mr. Mackenzie, " did men fight more
co*irftgeously. In the fa~e of a heavy fire
of grape and canisier, with broadside fol
lowing broadside of musketry in steady and
rapid succ ssion, they stood their ground
firmly and killed and wounded a large num
ber of the enemy, but were at length com
pelled to retreat." Some are of the opinion
that the fighting lasted an hour, but there
are different opinions on this point. Mac
kenzie rema ned on the sc ne of
action till the last moment and
till the mounted Loyalists were just
closing upon him, " So unwilling was
Mackenzie to leave the field of battle," gays
an eye-witness, " and so hot the chase after
him that he distanced the enemy s
horsemen only by 30 or 40 yards by his
superior knowledge of the country and
reached Col. Lount and our triends on the
retreat just in time to save his neck. In
the presence of the militia the Lieutenant
Governor determined to burn
Montgomery s hotel and Gibson s dwel
ling-house. Sir Francis Bond - Head
has given the following account of this
burning " Volume after volume of deep
black smoke rolling and rising from th
windows of Montgomery s tavern now at
tracted my attention. This preat and lofty
building, entirely constructed of lumber and
planks, was soon a mass of flames whose long
red tongues sometimes darted horizontally
as if revengefully to consume those who had
created them and then flared high above the
roof. As we sat on our horses the heat
was intense. Montgomery was not p party
to the conspiracy for eff ctine a revolution.
He had no foreknowledge of the outbreak.
Only a few days before he had vacated his
tavern, "which had been rented to Mr.
Lingfoot, with whom he was bo ti ding for
a month, till he could move to a private
house in the neighbourhood. Much
stress was laid on the fact
at the trial that Montgomery
had at the r< queft of the butcher s boy put
down on a piece of paper a memorandum of
the quantity of meat furnished to LJngfoot,
the boy being apprehensive that the chalk
fijrurjs would rub out. But this is all he
had to do with the rebellion in Canada."
Mr. John Montgomery has written a very
similar account to that of Mr. Shepard, given
in the former part of this article.
NOTE In reference to the charge contain-
!QO this . article of corrupt practices at the
1837 election it is only fair to say that upon
legal investigation it was found incaoable of
proof. Colonel E. W. Thomson was the
successful candidate,
IVENlN6-TBIEGRAM||||, M w EH|1|CTI
1893.
(op. 238)
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
239
CHAPTER LXXII.
"THE TELEGRAM" CORNER.
The Buildings that hare Stood at and
Near the Corner of King and Bay Streets.
The land on which The Telegram build
ing stands was patented to William Smith
on 20th May, 1808, and l>v him sold on -W 1 -
June, 1808, to Quetton St. George, and T>y
him sold on the 19 ;h November, 1813, to
John Dennis. Mr. Dennis made a will, bur
owin^ to the property not being sufficiently
described, it was necessary to have a part
tioued deed between the heirs of John
Dennis, whereby the property on the south
west corner of King and Bay streets, became
the property of Rebecca Richard
son, the wife of the late Bishop
Richardson, and daughter of the
late John Dennis. Through her it be
came the p operty of the late Mrs. M. 1.
Roaf, and is now owned by William Roaf.
Mr. Dennis, in his life-time, conveyed 40 ft.
on the west side of Bay street, commencing
57 ft. 9 inches south of King street, to one
McPhail, who erected a chapel on said pro
perty, which stood there for many years.
The property subsequently pass?d into the
hands of Mr. Dickson, who erected the pre
sent building.
The National Club building came from
Mr. Dennis to Martha Bryant, who sold it
to the late Bishop Richardson, and this also
became the property of the late Mrs. Roaf.
The property on th south side of King
street west, as far as Stovel s building,
belong to Messrs. William and James R.
Roaf. The land on which Stovel s building
stands belongs to DC. Richardson, and the
land on which the block of buildings to the
west of Stovel s building stands, belongs
to Thomas Johnston, whose mother was a
daughter of the late John Dennis.
The property from the south-west corner
of King and B iy street to the south line of
the National Club is owned by Wm. Roaf.
Old Colonel Dennis, the father of that
well-known family, told Mr. Thomas
Walmsley a short time before his death that
he remembered sixty years ago the little one-
storey frame or roughcast dwelling, which
stood on the site now occupied by The Tele
gram, and that from the corner of Bay and
Kingdown to Market street (Wellington),and
west along King street to the Rossin House,
was one large garden of fruit trees. Indeed,
west of Stovel s building on King street to
York stre3t, tha trees in 1818 were so thick
that it was with greac difficulty that
paths were cut through the woods. Of the
iRtle rough-cast dwelling we have no en
graving, but we have an excellent drawing
of French & Wiman s chair factory, a two-
storey frame building, which stood on the
corner, and was built about 1825, and re
mained there until about 1840.
A little west of this was a large frame
building, which for years was occupied by
Jacques & Hay as a workshop in connection
with their cabinet business. About 1840
the frame chair factory was torn down and
a respectable two-storey brick building was
put up and occupied by Robert Da vis & Co.,
the grocers. They occupied the entire ground
floor as a shop and wine cellar, the upper
part of the building being occupied by the
family. After Mr. Davis moved his private
residence up town the upper rooms were
rented to various parties. The late George
Ridout, the barrister, occupied the upper
floor as law offices for a considerable period.
In 1880 the building was torn down and
The Telegram building erected.
South of The, Telegram office, which is 57
feet in depth, stood for years the Primitive
Methodist chapel, which was erected in
1832, for the congregation of that sect then
gathered in Toronto. It was a substantial
and respectable building. The build
ing was of red brick, with
six or seven steps leading up
to the entrance, on both sides of which were
long windows, so constructed in order to
give light, not only to the ground floor of
the church, but also to light the stairs,
which led on the right and left up to the
galleries. The building was about seventy
or eighty feet deep, and would hold com
fortably about six hundred people. In the
earlier years the building had an ordinary
square roof, but later on a pediment was
placed in front, which added to the appear
ance of the building. At the same time the
red brick was modernized by the entire
front being stuccoed and painted. Early in
the year 1829, Mr. William Lawaon, a
Primitive Methodist local preacher, settled
in the old town of York, and preached with
great regularity in the market square. He
then formed a society, and wrote to the
Primitive Methodist Conference in Eng
land for a missionary. One was sent out
who arrived in 1830, and took the society
thus formed into the connection of the said
conference. There were connected with this
station in 1833 five travelling preachers,
fourteen local preachers, two hundred and
fifty members, and forty-two distinct con
gregations. The stationed preachers in
York were the Rev. J. Partington, Rev.
Wm. Lyie, Rev. J. Arthur, and Rev. T.
Lowden. The Rev. Mr. Lyle and the Rev.
Mr. Summersides were the preachers at
tached to this church. The church was a
popular meeting place in the early days, and
240
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
241
was known among the young people as the
" match factory," from the tact that a great
many young men and women who attended
the church afterwards entered into the holy
bonds In 1850 the church was torn down.
The Primitive Methodists went up to
Alice street church, now a carriage factory,
and the building now occupied as a saloon
was put up by the well-known California
Dickson, a gentleman of unlimited wealth,
who owned large rac:s of land in this coun
try and many Valuable properties in To
ronto. He erected the building for the late
Henry Beverley, by whom it was occupied
as a restaurant and club house. Beverley
had former, y bsen over at the Athenaeum,
on King street, in what was formerly
Lamb s hotel, or Turton s buildings. He
continued on Bay street for some years.
Daring the latter part of his lease he intro
duced the concert business as a feature for
an evening s entertainment, and the late T.
D. Corrie and G orge Aitken, both popular
singers, drew crowded houses for months.
L. M. Bay lies, who afterwards married Miss
Mary Gladst ne, the actress, and went to
Australia, managed this concert hall for a few
years. From 1864 until 1866 it was vaca.nt,
In 1867 Robertson & Cook, the publishers
of the old Daily Telegraph, rented it as a
job printing office, and for the publication
of the Daily Telegraph newspaper. It was
a busy spot in those times. The composing
room had an average of thirty men work
ing in it. The job printing department had
from forty to fifty nun and boys, and the
press rooms and counting offices had a
goodly number. In all there were about
one hundred and fifty men and boys em
ployed about the building. The job bu-i-
ness was most succes ful, and it was not an
uncommon thing for the ten Gordon presses
in the job room to be running night and
day for months. All the leading theatrical
work for the travelling companies through
out the Dominion was executed in this job
room. In 1872, through the treachery of
politicians, and a determination on the part
of thp proprietor to fiee himself from the
shackles which bind all party newspapers
and issue a paper in the interests of the peo
pie the Daily Telegraph was forced out of
existence, and its subscription lists were
sold to the first Mail company, which in
a few years swallowed up, as ail such en
terprises do, the spare cash the trusting
partizans could get together. The building
was then vacant for a short time, when it
was purchased by William Roaf, at the
auction sale of Dickson s estate, and it was
then rented as a saloon, billiard and bowl
ing al y. The basement of the building
haa for the past four years been cojupied as
16
the circulation room of The Evening Telt-
gram, and is connected with the publishing
house on King street. The upper storey is,
under the old lease, still rented as a saloon,
and will continue so for another year, when
the property will be remodelled, and rented
for a more respectable purpose. South
of ths saloon in 1833 up to 1872,
stood a couple of white frame
houses. In 1833, and for many years later,
they were well known to the boys of Toron
to, for here it was that John Boyd had his
commercial academy. Tne doorway to the
north of the building was the entrance to
the school, and the doorway at the south
the entrance to Mr. Boyd s private house.
Hundreds of the boys of Toronto received
their tuition at the hands of Mr. Boyd. He
was an excellent teacher,one who commended
not only the respect of the people at large,
but of the pupils, who were so carefully
looked after by him in their younger days.
In the British Colonist f the 29th Decem
ber, 1841, appeared the following advertise
ment in regard to Boyd s school :
" The annual examination of this flourish
ing seminary took place on the 26th inst.,
in the presence of many respectable inhabi
tants of this city. The Lord Bishop of
Toronto, assisted by Rev. W. T. Leach,
and Robt. Baldwin, E<q , had the kindness
to examine the different classes. * * *
The school numbers nearly one hundred and
thirty pupils, boys and girls, the children
of substantial tradesmen and residents of
Toronto. * * * Mr. Boyd was compli
mented by the Bishop on his great merit aa
a teacher, and on the superior skill and un
wearied diligence which he manifested in
conducting so large a school."
South of Boyd s building was a large square
rough-cast house, with six or seven steps
leading up to the platform, and old fashion
ed front door, with skylights, and circular
window. Th : s was the hou?e of the Rev. Jas.
Richardson, for many years editor of
the Christian Guardian, aad father of Dr.
James Ricnardson, surgeon and physician of
St. Joseph street, and brother of the late
Mrs. John Roaf, and also of Mrs. Brett,
who now resides on Bloor street. From
this south there was nothing for years but a
garden, extending to Wellington street. A
few years later, about 1840, the row of
buildings on both sides of Bay street were
erected. In those days Bay stret was a
fashionable street. Rev. Dr. Bare ay of St
Andrew s Church, lived there, the late James
F. Smith, of Smith & McDonald, the grocers,
lived in this row, the Mi-ses Skirving had
a popular school in what is now part of
a city shirt factory. The late Mr. Henry
Joseph lived next door. In Miss Skii vine s
242
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
243
chool many of the residents of Toronto,
both boys and girls, received their early
training. The late E. F. Whittemore occupi
ed one of the brick row, and at the corner of
Wellington at , and in the building now occu
pied by a commission merchant, the late Dr.
Primrose lived for some years. Across
irom this house, where Brock & Co. s stand,
the late John Salt, the hatter, resided,
while his shop was in Victoria Row, Kinp
street east, where Lawson s is now located.
On the opposite side of ths road, in the
building now used as a typs agency, the late
James Michie lived for years. Next door
north Patrick Freeland s family lives to
day. Freeland s soap was at one time as
well known in Canada as Day & Martin s
blacking is known in the old country. The
next house north was the residence for years
of Mr. Russell Inglis. Mr. Inglis, an Ed
inburgh boy, in his earlier years was
a clerk in a large wine shop in
that city, and frequently waited oh Sir
Walter Scott when he came in to order his
supply of wines and liquors. North of Mrs.
Inelis Mrs. Elizabeth Dunlop res ded, and
north again Capt. W. F. McMaster. The
building at the corner, now occupied by Mr.
Charles Walker as a hotel, was at different
times in the early days the residence of Mr.
D. 0. French and Mr.Kahn, both dentists,
and also of the late Judge Connor, and
was afterwards occupied by the late Rev.
Mr. Stimson, who resided there while he
was engaged in the publication of a church
periodical. Some time before his death he
sold out his interest in the property, and this
with the pjoperty in the rear, was purchased
by Mr. J. Ross Robertson, the present
owner, who also is publisher and proprietor
of The Evening 7elegram.
CHAPTER LXXIII.
STEAMER FRONTENAC.
The Pioneer Vessel In Steam .Navigation on
Lake Ontario, Plying Between Klngnton
and Niagara, Stopping at York.
Steam navigation on Lake Ontario began
soon after the close of the war with the
United States. The first steamer on the
lake was launched at Ernettstown on the
Bay of Quinte, in 1816. Curiously enough
she was named the Frontenac, after the
Count De Frontenac, one of the Governor-
Generals of New France. 14 the seventeenth
century, after whom also was named Fort
Frontenac, (Kingston), one of the earliest
trading posts and military stations on the lake.
Previous to this all the trade and
travel on the lakes had been done
by sailing craft. The Frontenac, as
the illustration shows, was a side
wheel steamer, schooner rigged, of
five hundred tons burden. The length of
her deck was one hundred and seventy feet,
and the breadth thirty-two feet. She cost
15,000. Her commander was Captain
James McKenzie, a retired officer of the
Royal Navy. She began her trips the year
after she was launched. The next year,
1818, the Provincial Legislature passed a
law to the effect that the usual space oc
cupied by the engine and machinery in a
steam vessel with the requisite stowage of
wood that being the material then
used instead of coal should occupy
one third of the vtssel and
that such vessels should only pay light
house or tonnage duti< s on two-thirds of
their measurements. At first Captain Me-
Kenzie did not have over much confidence in
his vessel, for early advertisements were
thus qualified : " Steamboat Frontenac will
sail from Kingston for Niagara, calling at
York on the 1st and 15 h days of each
month with as much punc uality as the
nature of the lake navigation will admit of."
He soon acquired confidence, however,
in himself and his boat, and an
nounced his dates with greater precision.
Travelling in thess days was expensive,
compared with what it is now, as the adver
tisement of the Frontenac, which appeared
conspicuously in successive numbers of the
Kingston Chronicle, occupying the width of
two columns, with a cut of the steamer
at the top, will show. This advertise-
mpnt in the Chronicle, April 30,
1819, reads : " The steamboat Frontenac,
James McKenzie, master, will in future
leave the different ports on the following
days, Kingston for York, oa the 1st, llth
and 21st days of each month. York for
Queenston, 3rd, 13th and 23rd days of each
month. Niagara for Kingston 5th, 15th
and 25th days of each month. Rates of
passages from Kingston to York and Nia
gara 3. From York to Niagara 1.
Children under three years of age half price,
above three and under ten, two-thirds. A
book will be kept for entering the names
of passengers and the berths which they
may choose at which time the passage
money must be paid. Passengers are al
lowed sixty pounds weight of baggage.
Surplus baggage to be paid for at
the usual rate7 Gentlemen s servants can
not eat or sleep in the cabin. Deck
passengers will pay fifteen shillings,
and may either bring their
own provisions or be fur-
244
LANDMARKS10F TORONTO
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
2*6
rushed by the steward. For each dog
brought on board five shillings. All app i-
eationa for pabsage to bs made to Captain
McKei ZIP, on board. Freight will be
transported to and from the above places at
the rate of four shil.ings per barrel bulk and
flour at the customary rate, delivered to the
different consignees. A list of their names
will be put in a conspicuous pace
on board, which must be deemed
a sufficient notice, and the goods taken from
the steamboat will be considered at the
risk of the owners. For each small parcel
2s 6d, which must be paid on delivery.
Kingston, April 28, 1819." The Frontenac
was subsequently burnt at or near .Niagara
about 1825. What was left of her hull was
broken up, and the remnants of her ma
chinery sold as old iron. A full history of
the Frontenac and her career is given in
another portion of the Landmarks. No
doubt many of the pioneer inhabitants of
Toronto will fel a very vivid interest in
this subject. The work done by the earlv
mariners in preparing the way for the pre-
ent lake traffic was most valuable to Ca
nada at large.
CHAPTER LXX1V.
COOPER S WHARF.
One of the First Lauding Places ID Toronto
Harbour History of a Site Well Known
to Many Now Living.
Bartlett, in hia " Sketches of Canadian
Scenery," gives a very accurate drawing of
Cooper s Wharf, which was situated at the
foot of Church street, and in later years be
came known as MI itland a Wharf, and at
present ia known as Sylvester s. William
Cooper, the owner, came to this country in
the latter part of the last century. There
were two or three brothers William settled
in Toronto about 1795 and engaged in
the wharfage business, probably about 1808.
The wharf ran out from the beach, for at
that ltime,of course, there was no Esplanade.
Thejwharf, was long and importantlookiijg and
was the fa vourite.landina place for schooners
and the first steamers that ran on the lake
in 1816,discharged their cargoes at Coop-r a.
The wharf had a large storehouse, with a
covered way in the centre, and between the
north end of this dock and the store, was a
ship building yard of, for those
days, no m an dimensions. On
one occasion a launch took place on
Sunday. An attempt to get che vessel off
on the preceding day had failed. Delay
wou!d have been dangerous to the ponderous
mass, and according y the launch had to bt
effected on the Sabbath. Mr. Cooper was
a prominent resident cf . the town. His
first residence was in a frame houaa that
stood adjoining and directly west of the
Ontario House, or, as it wa*
afterwards known, " The Wellington
Hotel." The site is now occupied by the
Bank of Toronto and adjoining buildings.
The Ontario House, which is shown in the
illustration, was a three storey structure,
built in a style common then at the Falls of
Niagara and in the United States. A row
of lofty pillars, well grown pieces in face
stripped and smoothly planed reached
from the ground to the eaves and supported
two tiers of galleries which, running be
hind the columns, didnot interrupt their ver
tical lines. In 1803 the Anglican corgre-
gatiou used to assemble for woiship pri
or to the erection of St. James church, in
the parliament building, at the east end of
i he city, and before the appointment of th
Rev. Mr. Stuart, or in his absence, Mr.
Cooper used to rt-ad the service. Mr. Cooper
was a pew-holder in St. James from its com
mencement till 1818. He resided in later
years on Simcoe street (now William). One
of his sons was a pupil of Upper Canada Col
lege, and at the College and University dis
tinguished himself in many branches.
This ton is now a prominenc divine ia con
nection with the Ang ican Church. In
the Gazetfe of February 20th, 1802, we find
Mr, Cooper down as a subscriber to the
opening up of Yonge street, and in a i
matters of public interest he seems to have
taken a prominent part. He was a pro m-
inent Mason in 1SOO, and is the firsc Mason
that we have any record of be^ng initiated
in this city. In the Minutes of R iwdon
Lodge, No 498, on the English Register, at
the meeting on 27th May, 1800, we find that
" The petition of Mr. William Cooper was
received and accepted," that at tae meet
ing on the 10th June, " Brother Wil
liam Cooper was passed to the degree of a
Fellow Craft," and on June 27ih " Brother
William Cooper was raised to the sublime
degree of a Master Mason. " Old Lodge re
cords show that many a friendly chat about
craft matters was held in the little office on
Cooper s wharf. About 1845, John Mait-
land leased the wharf and improved it.
The old horse boat with its four horses
used as a power to turn the paddles,
ran from Mait!aud s to the Island every
hour. The fare was seven pence half-penny,
including return. It was a great privil ge
for the boys to drive the horses. Privat,
a Frenchman, had a large hotel on the
Island, located where the water now runs
through the eastern entrance. The horse
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boat was well patronized. The centre Is
land in these days was the place of attrac
tion. Hanlan s was only fr queated by
camping and shooting parties.
CHAPTER LXXV.
HART S SCHOOL.
A Private Educational Establishment for
Ko.r* on Churcb Street Some Incidents
of School Boy Life that Occurred There.
On the west side of Church street, nearly
midway between Queen and Richmond sts, ,
stands a small two storey double frame
house, Nos. 126 8 the lower floor of which is
now occupied by a newsdealer and
another shop. The whole build
ing was once occupied as a school and
residence by Mr. Hart, a small gray haired
Irishman, who habitually wore eye-glasses
and a suit of iron gray tweed. The school
was started about 1843, and continued until
1848, The gchool room was on the ground
floor of the northern half of the building.
The remainder of the house was occupied by
Mr. Hart as a residence. Thirty or forty
pupils, all boys, attended the school, among
whom were William and B. Hart, the sons
of the master, E. W. Gardner,
John Dixon, P. Bethune, J. Dalrymple,
W. Mulholland, Raymond Baby, Dr.
John King, William Liddell, Walter and
Henry Kidd, Tip and Gordon Helliwell,
Sam and Tom Allen, the latter now
a resident of Ottawa, William Pearson,
Secretary of tb.e Gas Company, and James
Tilt, Q. C. The school room was ar
ranged in a peculiar fashion. The master
sat behind a high desk on one side with his
back to the wall. Around the other three
sides were ranged one continuous
row of benches with desks in front
of them, Ou these benches the boys sat,
every one with his back to the
master and his eyes to the wall. By this
method of arranging his pupils he could
watch every boy s movements unknown to
him, and frequently when two boys >vere
racing pens across the desk he would quiet
ly descend from h s perch, and stepping on
tip-toe across the room, would suddenly
seize each by the shoulders, greatly to their
consternation. English branches and Latin
constituted the course of study at the
school. Mr. Hart was very attentive to his
duties, very humourous, and although very
passionate at times, was rather a
favourite among the boys. He seemed to live
in constant dread of his wife, a tall, lean,
angnlar and wiry-looking woman. A switch
of nine tails was his weapon of punishment.
It was his habit to mention how many
blows pandies, they were called in the
school-room vernacular the convicted boy
w.s to receive. The customary number was
eight, four on each hand. John Dixon used
to give great amusement to the boys and
great vexation to the master by his argu
mentative resistance to punishment by the
cat. After dodging and squirming to avoid
the blows, he would dispute the count until
the master became so confused and enraged
that he would give him two or three extra
cuts with the stick end of the cat, bat John
invariably beat him on the count. With
all his supposed cleverness as a master the
smart boys would outwit him. One gave
him every day for three months the same
problems worked out by the Rule of
Three. School hours were from nine to
twelve and from one to three except;
on Saturdays, when the boys were given
a half holiday. The plank sidewalk in front
of the building was used for marbles, peg-
tops and other school boy amusements.
The elder boys, nearly every one ol whom
owned a rooster, indulged in the more ad
vanced sport of cock fL hting in the adjoin
ing field of Mr. Jarvis. The lane at the
south of the house was the battle
field, and here nearly every day a pugi
listic encounter took place. On several
occasions J. Dairy mple, after a truant s
trip of a week, was brought to the
school-room by his mother, tied hand and
foot and in a cart. These were red-letter
days for the master, who would superintend
his disembarkation with great glee, rolling
up his coat-sleeves, flourishing his instru
ment of torture and calling out in exultant
tonea, " Bring him in, bring him in by the
nape of the neck till I give him a taste of the
flail."
CHAPTER LXXVL
HAYES* BOARDING HOUSE.
A Popular and Fashionable Place or Enter
tainment for the Early Legislators off
Upper On 11 ad -.
Among the principal places of entertain
ment in early York was the boarding house
of Mrs. Hayes, at the north-west corner of
King aud Ontario streets. it was com
monly known as Hayes Boarding
House and was once the popular
and fashionable resort and dwelling place
of the members of the Legiilature
while sojourning here in pursuance of their
duties. Mrs. Hayes had been a Mrs John
son, and it was by her first husband that
the building at the corner of King and On
tario streets, was put up, and the boarding
house established somewhere about the time
of the war of 1812. The parliament build
ings were then in that quarter of the town.
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and the house, by reason of its nearness
to the parliament house and the excel
lence of its fare, quickly commended itself
to the favour of the early legislators
ot Upper Canada. The frontage on King
street was forty or fifty feet. The bui ding
consisted of two rather low stories, and ao-
ot-mmodated about twenty guests. There
was one door in the centre of the house
with two windows on either side. After
the de; th of Mr. Johnson, his widow
married John Hayes, a bricklayer ard
plasterer. This was some time previous
to 1820, for in that year Mrs. Hay? s was
conducting the boarding house while the
husband worked at his trade. Mr. Hayes
the name is also spelled in old papers Hay
and Hays was a well-known man in his
day. He was one of the subscribers to the
fund collected in 1822 for the erection of
two bridges over the Don. In 1815 his
name was among the signers of a cotnp i-
mentary address to Lieutenant- Governor
Francis Gore. Mrs. Hayes was a stout,
good-natured womav, a good cook and
manager and the embodiment of a.
hospitable landlady. Opposite her house
was Jordan s hotel, where many legislators
also stopped during the session. Board at
these places was at this time three and
four dollars a week. Mrs. Hayes con
ducted the establishment with succ ss
until about 1830. On the removal
of the parliament buildings farther west, the
legislators naturally chose living quarters in
that section of the town. After the abandon
ment of the building by Mr. and Mrs.
Hayes, tlvj property was bought by a man
named Mitchel 1 , a tanner, who had a place
of business on Queen street where Davits
biewery now stands. He converted it into
shops and at the rear of the lot he built a
dweHing for himself fronting on Ontario
street, where he died. Hayes boarding-
house was of frame at first but subsequently
it was rough-cast. It is still standing looking
ve:ry much as it did seventy years ago with
the exception that the windows and doors
have been altered to suit busineis require
ments. Mr. William Helliwell, foimerly of
York, now of Highland Creek, remembers
the building and its frequenters. He says :
At about ten o clock in the morning,
when the Legislature was in session, might
be seen issuing from the doors of Hayes
boarding Louse, John Wilson of Went-
worth, the Speaker of the House of Com
mons, or as it was then called, House of
Assembly (clad in home spun sheep s gray
clothing, for he made it a point of
duty in those days to wear home
manufacture) followed by Capta ; n Ma-
thews of Lobo, Doctor Lafferty of Lincoln.
Hugh McCall, Absolom Shad , Burwell
Allan, N. McNab, Phillip Vankoughnet,
Archy McLean and many other members of
the then parliament;, and at times would be
assembled at public dinners given by the
Speaker, John Wilson, and provided by the
hostes?, Mis. Hayes, all the grandees and
fashionable ptopl of York, inc uding that
eccentric man, Colonel Talbot, of Talbot
street, clad in sheepskin with the wooi side
out. I have often seen this gentleman on
his visits to York, in the winter time, driv
ing Lady Sarah Maitland out in his sleigh,
dressed in fheepskiu. Of this remarkable man
the late Charles Dent has written a very
interesting biography, from which the fol
io vving sketch is largely taken :
Thomas Talbot sprang from a family
long celebrated in English and Continental
history. Readers of Shakespeare are famil
iar with that scouige of France who was
defied by Joan of Aic, and who, with his
son John Talbot, fell biavely fighting his
country s batries on the field of Castillou.
R aders of Macaulay are fami iar with
Richard Talbot, the notorious sharper,
bully, and pimp, known as " Lyirg Dick,"
one of the greatest scoundrels of the years
immediately succeeding the Restoiation,
who was raised by James the Stcond to the
Earldom of Tyrconnel. " Lying Dick " was
a member of the Irish branch of the Talbot
family which settled in Ireland during the
reign of Henry the Second, and became
possessed of the ancient baron : al castle of
Maiahide in the County of Dublin. The
Talbots of Maiahide trace their descent
from the same stock as the Talbots who
have been Earls of Shrewsbury since the
middle of the loth century. The father of
the iubject of thi* sketch was Richard Tal
bot of Maiahide. His mother was Margaret,
Baroness Talbot, and he himself was born
at Maiahide on the 17th July, 1V71. He
spent sonn years at the public free school
at Manch ster. He received a commission
in the army when only eleven years old. In
1786, when he was sixteen, he was aide-de
camp to his relative the Maiquis of Buck
ingham. His brother aide was Arthur
Wellesley, the illustrious Duke of Welling
ton, with whom he maintained a life-long
friendship. In 1790 young Talbot joined
the 24th Regimint, then stationed at Que
bec, as lieutenant. On the at rival of Lieu
tenant Govei nor Simcoe Lieutenant Talbot
became his private secretaiy and continued
as such until just before th; Governor s re
moval from this country. At this time
there was nothing of the misanthrope about
Lieutenant T^lboc. His constitution wa-i
robust and his disposition chei rfu . He was
fas idicufl about his personal aooearance and
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251
was keenly alive to everything going on about
him. He was with Governor Simcoe on the
expedition which created York and on his
other journeyings. On one of these the
party encamped on the present site of Port
Talbot and here for the first time he de
clared his intention of settling in Canada.
In 1796 Talbot became Lieutenant Colonel
of the Fifth Regiment of Foot, and was on
active service on the continent. On the
conclusion of the Peace of Amiens, March
27, 1802, he sold his commission and pre
pared to carry out his intention of settling
in the wilds of Canada. Why no one
knows. He once said, " Miss Johnston,
the daughter of Sir I. Johnston, was the
only girl I ever loved and she wouldn t
have me." Colonel Talbot obtained a grant
of 5,000 acres of land in tha southern part
of the Upper Canadian peninsula bordering
on Lake Erie, including the ^ite of what
afterwards became Port Talbot. He cross
ed the Atlantic, reached the spot he had
selected on his tour with Governor Simcoe
nine years before, and with an axe cut
down the first tree. The land was an un
broken forest. The nearest point to civil-
fz ition to the eastward was Long Point,
sixty miles away ; while to the westward
the aborigines were the lords of the soil.
He was accompanied by two or three stal
wart settlers and with their assistance he
erected on a high cliff overhanging the lake
a range of low buildings of logs, shing ed.
This he called Castle Malahide. For many
years Col. Talbot ruled with imperial sway,
He assembled the settlers at his house on
Sundays, read to them the English service,
and after this ceremonial passed the whisky
bottle around among his congregation.
Though never a religious man he solemnized
marriages and baptized the children. In
transferring land no deeds were given nor
books kept. The only records were sheet
maps, each lot marked off in a square. The
Colonel merely wrote the purchasers name
in the square selected. If he afterward
sold the lot the Colonel erased his name
with a piece of rubber and inserted that of
the new pui chaser. Colonel Talbot com
manded the militia of the district in the
war with the United States. One of the
earliest settlers in the Talbot district was
the afterwards celebrated Dr. John Rolph.
St. Thomas is called after Colonel Talbot s
Christian name. Colonel Talbot used to
make annual visits to York, and many
s ories are told of his eccentricities. For
sixteen years he assumed the blanket coat
and axe, slept on the bare earth, cooked
three meals a day for twenty woodsmen,
cleaned hi own boots, washed his own
linen, milked his cows, churned the butter
and made and baked the bread and of this
last accomplishment he was very proud.
In his eightieth year Colonel Ta bot left
Canada and started for Europe, attended
by George McBath, a valst whom he treated
as a companion. Ou their return to Cana
da McBeth married and Colonel Talbot
made his horn? with him in London, Ont. f
until his death February 6, 1853. By his
will he left McBeth 50,000. He was
buried in the church at Tyreonnel on the
journey to which place from London his
body was left unprotected in the barn of a
wayside inn over night a strange con
trast to the death and burial of his friend,
the Duke of Wellington, who had died
three months before.
CHAPTER LXXVI1.
THE CUSTOM HOUSES.
A Sketch of Toronto a* a Customs Port
from fts Establishment In ISJ1 to tbe
Present Time.
In 1801 York was nride a customs port,
and on the 25 :h of August of that year
Colonel William Allan, father of
Senator Allan, was appointed the
first collector of customs. In a little one-
storey frame building on the east side of
Frederick street, a little south of King and
between the post office and his dwelling,
Mr. Allan established the first
custom house. At the foot of
Frederick street was the Merchants wharf,
the property of Mr. Allan, the earliest
landing places for the larger craft of the
lake. In the frame storehouse, erected
later and owned by Mr. Allan here,
he afterward established the custom
house. This store house at a subsequent
period was converted into a distillery.
Mr. Allan, who also held several
other public offices, also remained collector
until 1828 In 1824 he made a trip abroad,
and on July 1st, jusb prior to his departure
he appointed Mr. James S. Howard, the
father of Mr. Allan McLean Howard, as his
attorney, authorizing him to transact all the
business of his various offices during his
absence, and such was his confidence in Mr.
Howard that Mr. Allan declined to take
any tecurity for the fulfilment of the trust.
Mr. Howard at this time acted as collector,
postmaster, deputy inspector and treasurer
for the Home D strict. Subsequently he
was appointed postmaster and in 1843
treasurer. On August 21st, 1828, Mr.
Howard received a commission from
Lieutenant-Governc-r Maitland as lieuten
ant of the First East York Regiment.
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The practice of smuggling was common in
the harbour of York in the early days. In
the issue of the Gazette of November 30,
1820, che schooner Industry was advertised
for sale by the Custom House authorities as
having been taken in the act, and on the
17th of October, 1821, Mr. Allan reports to
the Magistrates at Quarter Sessions that he
has seized ten barrels of salt, in which were
found concealed kegs of tobacco to the value
of five pounds and upwards, brought to
York from the United States in an Ameri
can schooner, named tha New Haven, A.
Johnson, master. The magistrates declared
the whole forfeited to the king. At this
time a system of illicit reciprocity was in
TO^ue, and Canadian products \vere smug-
g.ed into the United States in various in
genious ways. On one occasion Daniel
Lambert, a gigantic wax figure returned,
from Canada to the United States filled
with articles which it was sougnt to intro
duce into the country without duty. The
Albany Argus thus describes the circum
stances : " Daniel Lambert turned smuggler.
This mammoth gentleman of wax who is
exhibited for the admiration of the
curious in every part of the country, was
lately met on his way from Canada by a
Custom house officer who remarking the
rotundity of Daniel s corporation had the
curiosity to subject it to a critical insp.-ction
when lo instead of flash and blood or even
straw the entire fabric of this un
wieldy gentleman was found to be composed
of fine E iglish cloths and Kerseymere."
The second collector of the port ofYork was
George Savago, who was appointed Sep
tember 26, 1828. Mr. Savage announced
his appointment in tha following advertise
ment : " His Excellency, the Lieutenant-
Governor, having been pleased to appoint
me to the Collectorship of Customs for this
port, I b j g leave to acquaint the merchants,
ship owners and others having business to
transact with this branch of the revenue
after the first day of October next, that I
have temporariry established an office in
part of the premises fronting on Duke
street, occupied by Mr. Columbus. George
Savage, Collector, York, 26:h Srptetnbar,
1828." Mr. Savage afterward removed the
custom house to a low one-and-a-half storey
brick cottage on Scott street near Welling
ton street. Thomas Carfrae liv^d in one
end of this house and the custom
house was in the other end of it.
D . Scadding says of Mr. Savage :
" Bu ky in form and somewhat consequential.
in manner, Mr. Savage was a conspicuous
figure in York down to the time of his
death in 1835 when he was succeeded by Mr.
Thomas Carirae. Mr. Savage was, as his
office required him to be, vigilant in respsct
of the dues leviable at the port of York.
But the contrabandists were occasionally
too adroit for him. We have he \rd of a
number of k gs or barrels supposed to con
tain spirits confidentially repjrted to him
as sunk in the depths of tha bay near one of
the wharves, which kegs or barrels when
carefully fished up and conveyed to Mr.
Mosley s rooms to be disposed of by auction,
were found on being tapped to contain harm
less water, but while Mr. Savage and
hia men were busily engaged in making
this profitless seizure, the real wares,
teas, spirits, and so on, which were sought
to ba illicitly introduced were landed with
out molestation in Humber Bay." Mr.
Savage was a watchmaker and jeweller, and
carried on business on King street. He
was collector until September 9th, 1835.
On September 22 of the same year Thonns
Carfrae was appointed as his successor. Mr.
Carfrae subsequently was an alderman of
the city. Mr. Carfrae was the
originator of the Potter s Field,
or, as it was officially styled, " The York
General or Strangers Burying Ground,"
which was situated on the west side of
Yonge street, just above Bloor street. In
practice it was the Bunhill Fields of York,
the receptacle of the remains of those
whose friends declined the use of
St. James churchyard and other early
burial plots. Wa .ton s directory for
1833 gives the following infor
mation in regard to it : This institution
owes its origin to Mr. Carfrae, jr. It com
prises six acres of ground and has a neat
sexton s house built close by the gate. Th
name of the sexton is John Wolstencroft,
who keep? a registry of every person buried
therein. Persons of all creeds and p ;rsons
of no creed are allowed burial in this ceme
tery; fees to the sexton 5s. It was institu
ted in tha fall of 1825, and incorporated by
Act of Parliam <nt, 30th January, 1826 It
is managed by five trustees who are chosen
for life, and in case of the death of any of
them, a publ c meeting of tke
inhabitants is called when they
elect a successor or successors
in their place. The present trustees, 1833,
are Thomas Carfrae, junior, the collector of
the port.Thomas D. Morrison, the physician,
Peter Paterson, the iron merchant, John
Ewart, the builder, and Thomas H; j lliwell,
the brewer. Although a remote locality in
1826, the Potter s Field in 1&64 was more
or less surrounded by buildings and inter
ments in it were prohibited Many |of the
remains were removed to the Necropolis,
the successor of the Potter s Field. Mr.
Carfrae is buried in the Necropolis, Mr.
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Carfrae was collector until June
1st, 1840. The deputy coUector
under him was William Steward.
In 1837, Mr. Steward furnished for the
city directory of that year the following
table of imports from the United States ;
Prohibited : Arms, ammunition, books, such
as are prohibited to be imported into the
United Kingdom ; base coins, fish, dry or
salted ; train oil, blubber or skins of crea
tures living in the sea, tea. Free : Ashes,
bullion, beef, bread, bacon, biscuit, corn,
cocoanuts, cordwood, cabinet makers wood,
diamonds, drugs, dye-woods, fruits, meat
and fish, being fresh ; flour, flax, grain, un-
ground ; guns of all kinds, hay, horses,
olives, pickles, -pitch, paintings, pozzolona,
pumice stone, punk, Parmesan cheese, pearls,
precious stones, prints, raisins, sponge,
sausages, turpentine, tar, vermicelli, whet
stones, wine. Admitted at the duty of 20
per cent. : Candy, sugar, cotton manufac
tures, glass manufactures, tobacco manu
factures, refined sugar, soap. Admitted at
the duty of 30 per cent. : Books and papers,
clocks and watches, leather manufacturer,
linen manufactures, silk manufactures,
Musical instruments were admitted at the
duty of 15 per cent.; goods, wares or mer T
chandise not being enumerated or otherwise
charged with duty. Duties charged by
weights and measure : Salt 6d per buahel
hams, hemp, live stock, lathwood, lumber,
logs, masts, meal, pork, rice, raisins, resins,
raw hides, staves, shingles, tortoise shell,
tow, tallow, timber, wood hoops, wood.
Admitted at the duty of seven and one-half
per cent. : Alabaster, anchovies, argot, anis
eed, amber, almonds, brimstone, botarge,
currants, capers, coral, cork, dates, essences
of bergamot, lemons, roses, citron, oranges,
lavender, rosemary, emery stone, fruic, dry
in sugar or wet in brandy ; figs, honey, iron
in bars, unwrought pig iron, incense of
frankincense, juniper berries, lava or mal-
tan stone for building, marble medals, nuts,
oil of olives or almonds, ostrich feathers,
spirits Is per gallon, sugar 5s per cwt., mo
lasses 3s per cwt., wine (in bottles) 7d per
gallon, and further 7i per cent, ad valorem
and Is each dozan quart bottles.
The next building occupied as a
custom house was a small one storey
brick building on the north side of
Front street between the Newbigging
House, now the site of Mr. John Mac-
donald s warehouse and the Coffin
Block. Like many buildings of
its class it was hip roofed. In
the centre of the building was a door reach
ed by a flight of steps, and on either side of
it was one window. The successor of Mr.
25C
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
Carfrae in the co lectorship was William
Moon K^lly. Some trouble arose over his
administration of affiits and it was made
the subject of a parliamentary inquiry. Ai
thi& time collectors were paid by commis
sions and not by a stated fee, and this sys
tem paved the way for m my abuses. Smug
gling was very common, and there are
prominent and wealthy men now living in
the city who laid the foundation ot
their fortunes by smuggling. Kelly con
tinued to act as collector until 1843, when
be resigned and was nppointed Warden of
the Rerormatory at Pen tanguishene, an of
fice which he held until a recent date. He
now lives at Penetanguishene. In August,
1843, Robert Stanton was appointed col
lector. Mr. Stanton was the editor and
publisher of the Gazette, and he in part
changed its name to " The U. E Loyalist."
Mr. Stantcn, who was King s P -inter for
Feb. 3, Jordan Post to M. Woodruffs ;
July 13, Hiram Kendiick to Hester Vander-
bure ; Ddc. 28, Jarvis Ashley to Doro:hy
McDouga.1 ; 1808, Jan. 13, D Aroy Boulton,
jr., to SaLy Ann Robinson ; March 17,
James Finch to M. Reynolds; April 9,
David Wilson to Susannah Stone ; May 2,
John L msgtaff to Lucy Miles; May 30, John
Murchison to Frances Hunt ; August 8, John
Powell, E-q., to Miss Isabella Shaw; Sepr.
12, Hucrh Howard to E iza Muir ; 1809,
April 14, Nicholas Hagarman to Polly
F. etcher; May 18, Wi liam Cornell to
R ioda Te ry ; Juns 19, John Ashbric ge to
Sarah M-rcer; June 21, Jonathan Ash-
bridge to Hannah Barton ; July 15, O.in
Hale to Hannah Barrett ; August
5, Henry Dean to Jane Brooke ;
D c. 14, John Thompson to Ann Smith ;
1810, March 8, Andrew Thomson to Sarah
Smith ; March 30, I*a c Pilkingtou to Sarah
Upper Canada, lived in a substantial brick
house on Peter street, commanding the view
eastward along ths whole length of Rich
mond street. Mr. Stanton s father was an
i ffijer in the navy, who between the years
1771 and 1786 saw much active service in
ih-s East and West Indies, in the Mediter
ranean, at the sieare of Gibraltar under
General Elliott, and on the American coast
during the Revolutionary war. From 1786
to 1828 he was in the public service in
several military and civil capacities in
Lower and Upper Canada. In 1806 he was
for one thing issuer of marriage licenses at
York, and his memorandum ftf the names of
those who plighted their troth is very terse.
It reads thus :
"1806 Nov. 26, Stephen Reward to
Mary Robinson ; same date, Ely Playter to
Sophia Bramau ; D -c. 11, same year, Geo.
T. Demson to E . B, Lippiucott ; 1807
McBride ; June 2, Thomas Bright to Jane
Hunter ; July 3, John Scarlett to Mary
Thomson; Sept. 10, Williim Smith to Elea
nor Thompson ; June 22, William B. Sael-
dr>n to Jane Johnson ; July 30, Robert
Hamilton, g j nt., to Miss Maria Lavinia
Jarvi-s ; 1811, Sept. 20, George Duggan to
Mary Jackson." The family of Mr. Stanton,
senior, was large. It was augmented by
twins on five several occasions. Not far
from Mr. Stanton s house, a lesser edifice of
brick of comparatively late date, on th<>
north side of Richmond street, immediately
opposite tha premises, associated
with the memory of President Smith, may
be noted as having been built and occupied
by the distinguished Admiral Vtvnsitt irt,
and the fi s* example in this region of a cot
tage fur i h d with light tasteful verandahs
in the m >u in style. Robert Stanton con-
ti uied in office as collector of the prt of
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
267
York until Novenbtr 10, 1849. Seme
trouble arising from his administration he
resigned. He was aft rward appointed
Clerk of the Court of Queen s Bench and
Common Pleaa. After an interval of a
month, during which W lliam Pring was
acting-collector, William F. Meudell on the
first of January, 1850, was appointed col
lector. He remained in office until 1858,
when he was transferred to Belle-
Tille. April 1, 1858, Robert Spence
WAS appointed collector. He remained in
office until his death, February 25, 1868,
of the building of the brick custom house
shown in the picture of the proposed Espla
nade improvements the customs business
had been t ansacted in buildings rented for
the purpose, the locations of which have
been mentioned. When the new brick
building erected by the Government, after
plans drawn by Mr. Kivas Tully, the archi
tect and civil engineer, was completed the
Custom House was transferred to it.
This building stood on the site of the pre
sent Custom House at the south
west corner ot Front and Yonge streets
when Thomas C Scott, surveyor, acted as
collector until November 5, 1868. On
November 6, 1868, James E. Smith was
appointed, and continued to act until
November 29, 1879, when troubles arose
which led to his resignation. John Douglas
held the office of collector from December
1, 1879, to April 13, 1881. April 14
1881, ths late James P.itton was appointed,
and continued in office up to his death,
Oct llth, 1888. Since that time Mr. Douglas
baa been acting collector. Up to that time
17
Originally it was as shown in the illustration,
but in after years an iron railing was put up
around it. This rai ins; now encloses one
side of the grounds of the Reform Club.
For a long time after the establishment of
York as a customs port there was no examin
ing warehouse. Goods were opened and
examined in the stores of the parti. 8 wko
imported them. The first examining ware
house was a small frame building belonging
to the Heward estate, which stood on the
site of the present examining warehouse.
258
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
just south of the Custom House. This was
rested by the Government for years as an
examining warehouse. In 1870 a fire broke
out in Stanton s block, on the south side of
Front street, just west of the Custom
House. At that time there was but little
space between the block and the Custom
Hous ?. On the fall of the roof and walls of
the adjoining block ths Custom House roof
was crushed in and the building set on fire.
The plans of Mr. Windyer, architect, were
then chosen, and the p esent fine building
was erected in accordance with them, the
Government in the meantime buying the lot,
which is now left vacant as a protective
measure, to the west of the Custom House.
In the Anglo-American Magazine for 1853
the plan drawn up by Mr. Kivas Tully for
the arrangement oi the city frontage
shown in the illustration, is thus described :
" Wherever slips and streets are shown on
the original plan of the cicy frontage I
propose to divide the 66 feet equally south
of Front street, one-half to be bridged so as
to carry the level of Front street over
beyond the railway line with an inclination
to the wharves ; the other half to form an
inclined plane from Front street to the level
of the railway line, thereby maintaining the
communication north and south of the in
sulated railway line. The width of these
streets being 66 feet, I propose to divide as
follows : Bridge, 26 feet ; parapet, one-
half one foot ; sidewalk, six feet,
street 26 feet, retaining wall, one-half
foot, si lewalk six feet ; total, 66
feet. The Esplanade, which is 100 feet
wide, I propose to divide equally, also ap
propriating th3 southern Lialf for railway
interests and maintaining the public
thoroughfare on the north half as fol
lows : Esplanade, 43 feet ; fence, one-half
one foot ; sidewalk, six feet ; three
lines of rails, twelve feet each, 36 feet ;
pier for bridge, one half three feet ; side
walk for railway, four feet ; fence, one
foot ; sidewalk, six feet ; total, 100 feet.
The Esplanad , which I would recommend
being called Union street, would be nearly
equal to the width oi King street with six
feet sidewalk for foot passengers. If the
space appropriated for railway purposes
would be sufficient, the directors ot the
different lines would have to purchase a
right of way south of the Esplanade from
the different parties through wrho>e prop
erty the railway passes. The railway line
is placed on the southern side of the E^pla-
nade for greater facility for trains out to
the wharves, on y crossing a sidewalk, and
it would be advisable to prevent the railway
from crossing the street on the northern
side. When the railway stations are con
templated bridges on the Front street level
could be constructed to connect the build
ings north and south of the railway line so
that a level crossing would bs avoided. The
number of bridge : that would be r< quired for
the whole front, as shown on the origi
nal plan, would be fifteen from Simcoe
street on the west to Berkeley street o v tho
east. For the present traffic^five mighy be
considered sufficient, the remainder to be
eventually constructed as a matter of jus
tice co all parties. With respect to con
structing the breast-work on the southern
side of the Esplanade of stone, I cannot soe
the necessity of doing so unless the line is
removed south to command a depth of nine
feet of water at the lowest period. This
would bring it nearly to the windmill line.
The lessees of water lots have the power
also of filling up their lots to the windmill
o
line, so that the expensive stone fencing
would be covered up in many instances. A
timber breast-work twelve fe t wide is all
that would be required for the present,
sufficiently close and strong to prevent the
bank from being washed away by the
action of the water. At the slips opposke
the streets, a stone facing sloping to the
water would be judicious and would be a
great improvement on the timber contri
vances which have already cost the city
probably as much as wou d have made per-
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
259
O
.3
"7
o
.?
n
o
z
G
f
_ il Ci- . i-^? , L 4.1
_ ,
W "
260
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
manent and substantial slips. West of
Simcoe street where there are no pro
jecting wharves at present and beyond the
line contemplated by the original p ans, I
would recommend the stone facing to be
constructed with jetties, to be used as pub
lic wharves. In all the propositions that
have been laid before the publiCj not one of
them makes any provisions for the general
drainage alon^ the front of the city. Are
the drains allowed to deposit their refuse in
Mr. Tully s design for the Toronto
Esplanade, shown in th accompanying
illustration, is a bird seye view from the
North American hotel. The building in the
foreground, with the flag flying, is the
Custom House, standing on the site of the
present Custom House building, at the
south-west corner of Yonge and Front
streets. At the time of the burr.ing
of thi custom house there stood
at about No. 26 West Front street
the slips where they empty themselves? no,
surely not; some provision must be made for
remedying the i -creasing evil, otherwise
the health of the citizens will, be endanger
ed. The evil is very great even now ;
witness the rank vegetation round the
wharves. Wha f will it be when this city
numbers 100,000 inhabitants. Provision
should therefore bs mide for drainage con
jointly with the construction ot the Espla
nad-."
a large three-storty brick building,
nearly square, with a big porch in front.
This building which stood a little way back
from the stre -t, had been built by Judjre
Jones as a residence. Later it hr>d been
turned into a hotel called Ihe Rochester
House, conducted by Landlord Hanlan, an
uncle of the famous oarsman. This build-
i ig was rented by the Goyernment from
E;lward C. Jones, th2 g >n of Judg-3 Jones,
and here the custom hou-e bnsineM was
JJ.D . 18 3
BY His Excellency SIR FRANCIS BOND HEAD,
Baronet, Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, fec. <fcc.
To.tlic Queen s Faitbful Subjects in Upper Canada.
In a time of profound peace, white every one was <jtiielly following liis occupations,
feeling secure nnd< r llie protection of our Laws, a band of Rebels, instigated by a few malignant and disloyal men, hm
liad llic wickedness and audacity to assemble with Arms, and to attack and Murder tlie Queen s Subjects tin tlic High
way to Burn and Destroy their Property to Rob the Public Mails and to threaten to Plunder die Banks and to
Fire the City of Toroato.
Brave and Loyal People of Upper Canada, we have been long suffering from the
acts and endeavours of concealed Traitors, but this islhe first time that Rebellion has dared to shew itself openly in the
land, in the absence of i/wasion by any Foreign Enemy.
Let every man do his duty now, and it will be the last time that we or our children
nail see our lives or properties endangered, or the Authority of our Gracious Queen insultfid by such treacherous and
ungrateful men. MILITIA-MEN OF UPPER CANADA, no Country has ever shewn a finer example of Loyally and
Spirit lion YOU have given upon this sudden call uf Duty. Young and old of all rairks, are flocking to the Standard
of their Country. What has taken place will enable our Queen to know Her Friends from Her Enemies a public
enemy is never so dangerous as a concealed Traitor and now niy friends let us complete " til what is begun let u
not return to our rest till Treason and Traitors are revealed to the ight of day, and rendered harmless throughout the
land.
Be vigilant, patient and active leave punishment to the Laws our first object
is, to arrest and secure all those who have been g uilty of Rebellion. Murder and Robbery. .Ami to aid as in this,
Reward is hereby offered of
One Thousand Pounds,
to any one who will append, and deliver up to Justice, WILLIAM LYON M ACKENZE ; and FIVE HUNDKED
POUNDS to any one who will apprehend, and deliver up to Justice, DAVID GIBSON or SAMUEL LOITXT or
JESSE LLOYD or SILA9 FLETCHER and the same reward and a free pardon \vill be given to any of their
accomplices who will render this public service, except he or they shall have committed, in his own person, the crime of
Murder or Arson.
And all, but the Leaders above-named, who have been seduced to join in
this unnatural Rebellion, arc hereby called to return to their duty to their Sjvereigj> to obey the Laws and to live
henceforward as good and faithful Subjects and ihey will find the Government oCiheir Qneen as indulgent as it is jus
GOD SAVE THE QLEEN.
Thursday, 3 o clock, P. M.
7th Dec. 4S$y
$" The Party of Rebels, under their Chief Leaders, is wholly dispersed, and
flying before the Loyal Militia. The only thing that remains to be done, is to find
them, and arrest them.
R. STANTON. Printer to the QUEEN S Most Excellont Mojosty.
(op 261)
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
261
carried on until the completion and
occupation of the present building in 1876-
The site of ths Rochester House is now
taken up by a fine business block. Through
the kindness of Mr. McLean, Chief Clerk of
the Customs, from whom much of the in
formation given in this article was obtained
we are enab ed to give the following state
ment of the customs business for 1887. The
receipts were $4,273,038 78. The exports
were valued at over $3,000,000, and the im
ports at over $21,000,000. The receipts for
1887 are not exceeded by those of 1888.
The volume of business during the past year
has ben large, bnt the transfer to the free
list of coal, etc., has reduced the receipts.
CHAPTER LXXVIII.
MACKENZIE S AN EXILE,
His Escape from Toronto Fac Similes of
the Proclamation for His Arrest and of
Money and Commissions Issued by HU
C!overnm>.
Thursday, the seventh day of D.cembar,
1837, was the turning point in the career of
Wilii vm Lyon Mackenzie. At four o clock
on the afternoon of that day a proclamation
was issued by Sir Francis Bond Head, of
fering a reward of one thousand pounds for
the apprehension of Mackenzie, and a re
ward of five hundred pounds for the deliv
ering of David Gibson, Samuel Lount, Jesse
Lloyd or Silas Fletcher. The accompany
ing illustration is a/ac simile of this procla
mation. Mr. Mackenzie always kept a copy
of thi& proclamation framed and hung up in
a conspicuous part of his house. The tailure
of the insurrection through the defeat of the
insurgents in the battle at Montgomery s
farm resulted in the complete financial ruin
of its moving spirit. Although not rich, yet
at the time of the outbreak Mr. Mackenzie
was in gcod circumstances. His
printing establishment was the largest and
best in Upper Canada. His account for
public printing the previous year was $4,-
000. His bookstore contained 20,000
rolumes, and he had an extensive building.
He had town lo s in Dundas, a town lot in
Qarafraxa, and a claim to a portion of the
immense Randall estate. A large amount
was owing to him, and all he owed was
about 750. All this property was lost.
Alter the battle at Montgomery s,
Mackenzie, although closely pursued
and rep atedly fired at, after many
narrow escapes from capture suc
ceeded in reaching the American shore on
the Monday following Thursday s battle.
On the thirteenth ot December Mackenzie
and Renselaer Van Renselaer, an American,
landed on Navy Island, a small island in the
Niagara River, a short distance above
the Falls. This island was a Britisk
possession having been awarded to
England by the treaty of Ghent.
Representations had been made to
Mackenzie that a force of volunteers
two hundred and fifty strong with two pieces
of artil ery, four hundred and fifty stand of
arm 3 and provisions and ammunition in
abundance would jo n him in occupation of
the island. Calling at Whitehaven Grand
Inland on the way to Navy Is and from Buf
falo. Mackenzie found instead of several
hundred men only 24 volunteers waiting to
accompany him. On noticing this little
group he sink, inert and spirit
broken, up m the frame of a
cannon where he passively reclined
until aroused. But notwithstanding
this crushing disappointment the enterprise
was not abandoned and the word was given
to push off. Mr. Charles Lindsey, Mr.
Mackenzie s biographer, writes : "A pro
visional government of which Mr. Mac
kenzie was president, was organiz d on the
island. A proclamation dated Navy Is
land, December 13 h, 1837, was issued by
Mr. Mackenzie, stating the objrcts which
the attempted resolution was designed to
secure and promising 1 three hundred acres
of public lands to every volunteer who
joined the patiiot standard. A few days
after another proclamation was is ued
adding $100 in silver, payable by
the 1st May, 1838, to "ihe proffered bounty.
The fulfilment of the promise? held out in
these proclamations must, however, be de
pendent upon the success of the cause in
which the volunteers were to fight. By way
of burlesquing the rewards offered by Sir
Francis Bond Head for Mackenz e and
others, the first proclamation offered
the turn of 500 for the Lieutenaut-
Governor of Upper Canada. The offering
of this reward was the main cause that in
duced Sir Francis on his return to England
to forego his intention of passing through
the States. At his rtquest Sir John Har
vey, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia,
secured him a passage in a vessel sailing
from Ha 1 if ax. The patriot flags with its
twin stars, intended torepresent the twoCan-
adas, was hoisted, an I as a government, even
though it be provisional, is nothing without
a great seal, this requisite was also obtained.
Besides tha twin stars, the great seal showed
a new moon breaking through the surround
ing darkness with the words, Liberty,
Equality. The Provisional Government
issued promises to pay in sums of one and
ten dollars each. They are said to have
been freely taken on the American side, but
what amount was issued I cannot ascertain.
The best proof of the truth of this assertion
262
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
364
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
it to be found in an official report of one of
the patriot generals to Mackenzie, dated
January 26, 1838, relating an offer of the
owner of the brig Virginia to sell her for
$8,500, and take his pay in bond?.
Dr. Rolph was appointed on the 28ch of
December to receive all the moneys which
might be subscribed within the Unit; d
States on behalf of the C .no dian patriots
struggling to obtain the independence of
their country, but he declined to act in that
c ipacity. " The force at Navy Island gradu
ally swelled from the original little party of
twenty-six to about six hundred, but in
January, 1838, Navy Island was evacuated.
Meanwhile what was called the Patriot
Army of th; North-west had been organized
in Michigan for the purpose of making a
descent on Canada, henry S. Handy, of Illi
nois, had been appointed Commander-in-
chief. His command extended over the
whole of Western Canada. The other offi
cers were James M. Wilson, major-general ;
E J. Roberts, brigadier general of the first
brigade ; Dr. Thella, brigadier-general to
command the first brigade of French and
Irish troops to be raised in Canada.
A number of c:lone s were also appointed
and sworn in. The following cut is a fac
simile of a blank commission signed by
Henry S. Handy, and countersigned by E.
J. Roberts, General Handy was superseded
by General Bierce,but afterwards re-appaar-
ed upon the scene as the mover in a new or
ganization. Predatory frontier movements
continued for some time till the agitation
subsided, peace was lestored and a general
amnesty granted to all who had participated
in the rebellion.
CHAPTER LXX1X.
THE WLEAN JHOMESTEAD.
The Birthplace of Col. Alexander Roberts
Dunn, and Later the Residence of" Chief
Justice McLean.
At the head of Catharine street stands an
old fashioned mansion which dates back to
the early days of York ; it is of frame, two
storeys, painted dark oehre, with a hip roof
and bordered on two sides with a veran
dah. It was built somewhere about 1820
by the Hon. John Henry Dunn, long Re
ceiver-General of Upper Canada.
In 1822 Mr. Dunn was one of the sub
scribers to the fund for the erection of two
bridges over the Don. At a much later
period, when Messrs. Dunn and Buchanan
were returned as members for the town,
there was conspicuous a train of railway
carriages in the pageant d. awn by horse
power with the inscription on the sides of
the carriages : " Do you not wish you may
get it T" the allusion being to the Grand
Trunk, which was then only a thing of th
possibilities. Mr. Dunn was one of the reg
ular attendants at the old wooden church of
St. James. Mr. Dunn afterward presented
to the congregation of the " second temple"
of St. James a costly and fiue-toiied organ
which, with the whole church, was des
troyed ly fire in 1839, after only two years
of existence. Mr. Dunn had previous y
provided the first wooden church with a
communion plate, the gift of which was
acknowledged in tha Loyalist of March
1, 1828, as follows: "The undersigned
acknowledges the receipt of 112 18s 5d
from the Hon. John Henry Dunn, being
the price of a superb set of communion
plate presented by him to St. James church
at thi-* place. J. B. Macaulay, church-war
den. York, 23rd Feb., 1828." Here Mr.
Dunn lived with his family until the death
of his wife, and here all his children were
born. On the death of Mrs. Dunn, a new
three-storey house of brick, with win&s, was
built for Mr. Dunn in 1835 by Mr. John G.
Howard, the architect, at the north-wet
corner of Front and Bathurst streets. On
leaving this house, Mr. Dunn for a time lived
in a small brick house on the norib side
of Queen street, near Ma k ham
street, which has since been torn down. The
house at Front and Bathurst street was
rented by the government and occupied as
quarters for the officers at the garrison.
It afterwards came into the possession of
John Dickey. Later it was occupied as an
agricu iural implement factory and
still later by John Doty. Mrs. Dunn
was one of the graceful lady
chiefs in the high life of York in
the olden time. Mr. Dunn at a later period
returned to Eng and, where he died. His
eldest son is now living in Sussex. Of the
daughters of Mr. Dunn, one married an
officer in the E >g ish army and the other
became the wife of a Frenchman. The
house at the head of Catharine street is a
retired family house, almost hicldeu from
the general view by a grove of trees.
Originally a quiet looking gate led
into a straight drive up to the
house out of Queen street. At this
time the grounds extended to Adelaide
street, west to Brock street, along Brock
north to Queen and about 400 feet along
Queen street. There were few market
gardens in those days and a great part of
the land was cultivated as a vegetable gar
den. Where the Methodist chapal now
stands was a potato patch. On the south
side of Queen .street, west of Brock
street were woods and swamp land,
a great place for shooting snipe. Mrs.
Dunn was a crreat lover of flower*, and her
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
265
roses were among the finest
grown in York. During Mr. Dunn s occu
pancy of the house it was known as Dunn-
stable, but that title is no longer retained.
In this house was bo:n in 1833 the famous
Alexander Roberts Dunn, who not only had
the honour of sharing in the charge of the
Light Brigade at Balaclava in 1856, but
who of the six hundred then won the
highest meed of glory. Dr. Seadding
says of him : "Six feet three incl^s in
stature, a most powerful and most skilful
swordsman and a stranger to fear, Lieu
tenant Dunn instead of consulting his own
safety in the midst of that frightful and
untoward melee deliberately interposed for
the protection of his comrades in arms. Old
troopers of the E eventh Hussars long told
with kindling eyes how the young lieutenant
seeing Sergeant Bentley of his own regi
ment attacked from behind by two
or three Russian lancers rushed upon
them single handed and cut them
down ; how he saved the life
cf Serreant Bond, how Private L-rvett
owed his safety to ths same friendly arm
when assailed by Russian hussars. King-
lake, the historian of the Crimean war, re
cords that the Victoria Cross placed at ;the
disposal of the Eleventh Hussars was un
animously awarded by them to Lieut. Dunn,
the only cavalry officer who obtained the
distinction. To the enthusiasm inspired by
his brilliant reputation was mainly due
the speedy formation in Canada of the
Hundredth Regiment, the Prince of Wales
Royal Canadian Regiment in 1858. Of
this regiment, partly raised through his
instrumentality, Mr. Dunn was gazetted the
first Major, and on tne retirement of the
Baron de Rottenburg, from its command,
he succeeded as its lieutenant-co onel. At
the time he had barely completed his
twenty-seventh year. Impatient of in
activity he caused himself to
be transferred to a command
in India, where he speedily attracted the
notica of General Napier, afterwards Lord
Napier of Ma^dala, and he accompanied
that officer in the expedition against King
Theodore of Abyssinia. While halting at
Senafe in that country he was accidentally
killed by the sudden explr sion of his rifle
w.ule out shooting deer. The sequel can best
be given, as well as an impression of the feel
ings of his immediate associates on the
deplorable occasion by quotinp the touching
words of a letter addressed at the time to
a near relative of Colonel Dunn by a
brother officer. In no regiment, says this
friend, was ever a commanding officer so
missed as the one we have just so unhappily
lost, such a courteous, thorough gentleman
in word and deed, so thoughtful for others,
so pa: feet a soldier, so confidence-inspiring
a leader. Every soldier in the regiment
misses Colonel Dunn. He was a frif nd, and
teit to be such, to every one ot them. The
regiment will never have so universally
esteemed a commander again. We all f -el
that. For myself I feel that I have lost a
brother who can never be replaced. I can
scarcely yet realize that the dear fellow is
really dead, and as I pass his tent every
morning I involuntarily turn my head ex-
p cting to hear his usual kind salutation
and to see the dear handsome face chat has
never koked at me but with kindness.
I breakfasted with him on the morning of
the 25th, and he looked so well as he started
off with our surgeon for a day s shooting.
Little did I think that I looked on his dear
old face for the last time in life. I cannot
describe to you what a shock the gad news
was to every one both in my regiment
and indeed to every one in the camp, our
dear colonel was so well known and so uni
versally liked and respected. Next day,
Sunday, the 26th of January, he was buried
about 4 o clock p.m. I went to look
at the dear old fellow before his coffin was
closed and his poor face, though looking so
cold, was yet so handsome and ths expres
sion of it so peaceful and hippy. I cut off
some of his hair which lately he wore very
short, a lock of which I now send you, keep
ing one for myself as the most va uable
souvenir I could have of one I love very
dearly. And I knelt down to give his cold
forehead a long farewell kiss. He
was buried in uniform as he had often
expressed a wish to me to that effect. Every
officer in the camp attended his funeral and
of course the whole of his own regiment, in
which there was not a single dry eye as all
stood around the grave of their lost com
mander. He has been buried in a
piece of ground near where our
camp now stand* at the foot of a
small hill covered with ahrubbery, and
many wild flowers. We have had railings
put round the grave, and a stone is to be
placed there with the inscription. In
memory of A. R. Dunn, V. C. Col. 33rd
Regiment, who died at Senate on the 25th
January, 1868, aged 34 years and seven
months. Thus in remote Abyssinia rest
the mortal remains of one who in the happy
unconsciousness of childhood sported
here in grounds and groves on Queen street."
Chief Justice McLean, in 1837 who had
come to York from Cornwa 1, bought the
Dunn mansion and lived in it up to his
death in 1865, since which time tho house
has been occupied by his son, Mr. A. G.
McLean.
266
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
267
The father of Jusiic^ McLean was Col
onel Neil McLean, late of St. Andrew s, in
the County of Stormont, Upper Canada.
He was born at Mingary, in the Island
of Mull, in the year 1759. At an early
age he served as ensign and lieutenant in
the Royal Highland Emigrants or 84th Regi
ment. The regiment was disbanded after
the American Revolution, and Mr. McLean
placed on half pay on the 24th of June,
1784. In 1796 he was made Captain in
the Royal Canadian Volunteers, and served
in Montreal, Quebec and York, until
that corps was disbanded. He was then
appointed Sheriff of the Eastern D strict,
and in 1812 he was again in active
service as Colouel of the Stormont Militia
and Commandant of the Dbtricfc, taking
part in the battle of Crysler s Farm. After
the war he was appointed Legislative Coun
cillor of Upper Canada. He married the
youngest daughter of John MoDonell, of
Leek, who, with his two brothers Mc-
Uonell s, of Coulaquhi and Aberholder, emi
grated from Scotland with a number of
their dependents and clansmen to the
British possessions in America. When
the rebellion broke out the brothers re
mained true to their country, and leaving
their property on the Mohawk River mad
their way through the wilderness to Can
ada. John McDonell, of Leek, died in
Montreal and was buried under the parish
church. Colonel McLean had three sons
and five daughters ; the sons were John,
Archibald and Alexander. John, the eldest,
was at one time Sheriff of Froutenac and
subsequently Registrar of the Counties of
Glengarry, Stormont and Dundas.
He served through the war of 1812.
Alexander, the thiid son, also served
through the war, being severely wound
ed when leading the attack at Ogdens
burgh. He was for some years member
for Stormont and Commandant of the
Eastern District. He died at Cornwall in
1875, aged eighty-two years. Colonel Mc
Lean s second son, Archibald, was born at
St. Andrew s on the 15th of April, 1791,
and was educated in Cornwall at the cele-
b. ated Dr. Strachan school. When six
teen years of age he came to York and
studied law with Mr. Firth, the then At
torney-General. In 1812 he got a commis
sion in the 3rd York militia, and was
wounded at Queenston Heights while assist
ing Lieutenant-Colonel McDoneil, aide de
camp to General Brock, who, when wounded,
called to him : " Archie, help me !" Owing
to delay in extracting the ball Mr. McLean s
life was for a time despaired of, and for
several months he could not return to
his daty. Mr. McLean was in York when
it was taken by the Americans. He carried
the colours of the 3rd York militia to a
place of safety, burying them in the woods
behind Mr. John McGill s house which
stood where the Metropolitan church now
stands. He then made good his escape
and reported himself at Kingston. After
this he raised a company for the incorpo
rated military from amonflf the Highlanders
of Glengarry. He commanded this company
at Lundy s Lane, where he was taken
prisoner and held part ot the time in close
confinement until the close of the war.
After peace was proclaimed, dec ining a
commission offered him in the regular army,
he r< sumed the study of the law under Dr.
W. W. Baldwin, and was called to the
bar in 1815. He then established himself
at Cornwall, where he continued to re
side until his appointment to the bench
in 1837. He married Miss Joan McPher-
son, a daughter of John McPherson, of
Three Rivers. In 1817 Mr. McLean was
retained by the North-west company to
tane evidence relatirg to the difficulties
between the North-west Fur Company and
the Hudson s Bay Company, which had
led to the killing of Governor Semple and
bis men. In 1820 he was elected to the
Parliament, of Upper Canada from the
County of Stormont, and continued a mem
ber of the House until 1837, when
he was appointed to the bench,
having been twice Speaker of the House.
In 1825 he went to England to press the
claims for pensions of those who had served
during the war of 1812, and succeeded in
having these c aims allowed. On being
called to the bench in 1837 he came with his
family to Toronto, arriving here about a
month before the breaking out of the rebel
lion. A few days before that event, in con
versation with some of his brother judges,
he expressed his fears that there wou d
be trouble. " Oh," said one of them,
" McLean, you re afraid." " Ye?." he
said, " I am afraid we will be caught nap
ping," and sure enough there was not a
soldier in the town when Mackenzie as
sembled his forces at Montgomery s Hill
When the bells rang out the alarm he, with
his eldest son, John, took bis horses
and doing to the old fort they got ar
tillery harness, and lumbering up a twelve-
pounder, drove to the City Hall, where
the loyal people were assembling. As they
drove up the word went through the hall :
" Here come the rebels I" A hundred
guns were levelled when fortunately^ they
were recognized by Chief Justice Robinson.
In the attack on Montgomery s Hill
Judge McLean commanded the left wing.
He was afterwards sent to Washington
268
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
with despatches to the British Minister,
and when en route would have been taken
as a kostage by the sympathizsrs of Mac-
kenz e, who was then on Navy Island,
had it not bjen for the care of his warm
personal friend, though political adversary,
Marshall S. Bidwell, who, with some of
the leading people of Rochester, kept
watch to prevent any one from seizing him.
His career on the bench is one of the tradi
tions of the LAW Society. His judgment
in the celebrated Anderson case excited
more popular feeling and gratitude than
any judgment ever delivered in Cenada.
On the retirement of Sir John Robin
son Judge McLean was appointed Chief
Justice of Upper Canada, and in 1863
he was made President of the Court of Ap
peal. He died on ths 24th of October,
1365, in his seventy-fifth year. At the re
quest of the Law Society and the profes
sion generally his funeral was a public one.
In commenting on his death the Upper
Canada Law Journal wrote as follows :
" The manner of the late President of the
Court of Appeal upon tho bei:ch was dig
nified and courteous. Unsuspicious and
utterly devoid of anything mean or
petty in his own character, his conduct
to others was always what he expected
from them. The profession g >nerally,
the young student as well as the old practi
tioner, will long remember with affection
his courtesy and forbearance in chambers
and on the bench. Others will think of
him as an entertaining and agreeable com
panion and a true friend, while others will
call to mind the stately form of the
old judge as he approached and en
tered St. Andrew s church, where he was
a constant and devout attendant, rain or
sunahine, until his last illness, which termi
nated in death. Archibald McLean was
a man of remarkable and commanding
presence, tall, straight and well formed in
p rson, with a pleasant, handsome face
and a kind and courteous manner ; he
looked aud was every inch a min and
a gentleman. He belonged to a race most
of whrm have now passed away the
giants of Canada s early history. He
was one of those honest, brave, enduring,
steadfast men sent by Providence to lay
the foundation of a country s greatness.
The funeral cortege pioceedsd to the Ne
cropolis, where, amidi-.t the sorrow of all
who knew him, were deposited the mortal
remains of the Honourable Archibald Mc
Lean, the brave soldier, the upright judge,
and the Christian gent eman 1 Mrs. Mc
Lean, who survived her husband, came
of Highland descent, her grandfather
being the man who accompanied Dr. Cam
eron, brother of Lochiel, his first eousin,
to Scotland after the forty-five. Dr.
Cameron was taken, and was the last
man executed. Her grandfather was par
doned and offered a commission which he
declined. He emigrated to Canada and
assisted in the defence of Quebec, being
one of the defenders of the Sanlt aux
Matelot, where Montgomeiy was killed.
One of his sons was killed during the
siege. He was offered payment for his
services and for his house, which was
burned by a shell, but the old High
lander replied : I take nothing from
the House ot Hanover. Mrs. McLsan
died in 1870, leaving seven children,
four sons and three daughters. Of the
sons John Neil, the eldest, died at Pres-
cott in 1875 ; Archibald G. is a barrister
in Toronto ; Thomas A. was an ( fficer in
the Queen s Own at Ridgeway, and sub
sequently raised and commanded the To
ronto Garrison Battery. The youngest,
Neil, lives in Brock ville."
An admirable full length paint
ing of Chief Justice McLean exists at Os-
gooda Hall. The grounds about the old
homestead have been reduced in extent un
til now there are only about three acres. The
entrance is now from Catharine street,a short
and comparatively new street opened by
the Hon. George Crookshank, and named
by him in honour of hi-i daughter, Mrs.
Stephen Heward. The site of the house
was once selected as tho location for a drill
shed, but the price asked, $42,500, was
considered too high, and the purchase was
not made.
CHAPTER LXXX.
BANK OF UPPER CANADA-
The Earliest Banking Institution In Upper
Canada, Which, After a Successful Man
agement of Nearly Half a Century, Closed
It* Doors.
At the legislative session oI1821 was an
nounced the royal assent to the Act passed
in 1819 for the inst taticn of a bank which
was to be situated at York, the seat of gov
ernment ot the province, and was to be
known as the Bank of Upper Can
ada. The stock was not to exce.fd
200,000. It was to be opened when
the deposit amounted to 20,000.
The Government was allowed to subscribe
for 2,000 shart s, and it was declared that
the institution might expire by limitation
in 1848. The bank began business some
where ab^ut 1822, taking the corner part of
the building which is still t tending at the
south-cast corner of King and Frederick
streets, the entrance to the bank being on
rederick street. The vault of the
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
269
(I
I I A -^^Pj^jaS^sS .} : : ro . . -
270
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
nt much like vaulcs nowadays may still
be seen at the wes ern end of the cellar.
The wall is of brick, about a foot thick at
the front, but much thicker at the sides And
rear. The interior dimensions are about
three feet square. The door is of iron, half
an inch in thickness. Two locks like ordin
ary door locks, only stronger, were relied
on to defend the treasure. At the point
where the vault is located the outside
foundation wall of the building is over
three feet through and of stone. The bank
occupied these premises quite a number of
years. The incorpDrators of the bank were
William Allan, Robert C. Home,
John Scarlett, Francis Jackson,
William Warren Baldwin, Al xinder
Legge, Thomaa Ridout, Samuel Ridout,
D Arcy Boulton, jr,, William B. Robinson,
Jam s Macaulay, Duncan Cameron, Guy C.
Wood, Robert Anderson, John S. Baldwin.
Mr. William Allan b -came the first presi
dent of the bank. The business of the
bank growing too great for its cramped
quarters at the corner of King and Frederick
streets, a fine structure was erected at the
north east corner of Duke and George streets,
to which the banking business was removed.
In the midst of the agitation which pre
ceded the Mackenzie rebellion, a commercial
crisis ai < 1 ed the publi : discontent. So fa r as the
Bank of Upper Canada and Mr. Mackenzie
were concerned, the case is thus related by
Mr. Charles Lindsey. "In May, 1837, the
New York banks suspended specie pay
ments, and those of Montreal followed. In
Toronto the Bank of Upper Canada was
looked upon as the prop of the
Governmenc, and it was probably as
much for political as commercial reasons
that Mr Mackenzie advised the farmers to
go to the counter of the b.ink and demand
specie for their notes. At the same time he
had small confidence in the security which
most of the banks then gave for the re
demption of their issues and it must be ad
mitted that the previous conduct of the
managers of the most important of these in
stitutions in refusing to answer reasonable
questions put to tnem before a committee
of the House was not calculated to inspire
confidence. As a po i ical weapon against
the Government, an attempt to drain the
banks of their specie bye: eating a pmic
could have no sort of just.fication < xcep in
times of revolution. vVhile Mr. Mackenzie
produced a run upon the Bank of Upper
Canada a resort to armed insurrection was a
contingency to which many werelookingwith
alternate hope and fear, hopi that it
might be avoided, fear that it would
come." The Bank of Upper Canada
tank " iiu/eniou-S n sui af ficrhf.
ing off the wolves that wished to
carry away its gold and silver, leaving its
own promises to p iy in their place. The
notes were paid in silver, and time waa
gained in the counting. The bank kept a
number of its own friends at tha counter
asking specie and what was pid out to
ihem during the day was trundled back in
a wheeibarrow at night. A stratagem of
this kind had the double advant
age of economizing the specie
and by pro ongiog the specie payment tend
ing to restore confidence. If the Upper
Canada banks had suspended specie pay-
men:; their charters would have been liable
to forfeiture. Chiefly to p.-<;venr, this re
sult Sir Francis Bond Head called an ex
traordinary se sion of the legis ; ature on the
19th June. In the con se of the session
which lasted about a month, a bill of
pro pective indemnity for pu; suing such
a course was pussjd. In the mean
time the Commercial Bank at Kingston had
suspended and the Farmers Bank at To
ronto stopped sjon afterwards. The Gov
ernment loaned 100,000 by the issue of
debentures to the Bank of Upper Canada,
30,000 to the Gore Bank, and 40,000 to
the Commercial Bank. But when tho re
bellion came the suspension of sp cie pay
ment followed. Wm. Proudfoot afterward
became the head of the Bank of Upper
Canada, an institution which in the in
fancy of the country had a mission and ful
filled it, but which grievously betrayed
those of the next generation, who, relying
on its traditionary sterling repute, con-
ti .ued to trust it. In the days of the
bank s decline Mr. Cassels, engaged at an
annual salary ot t n thousand dollars, was
< xoected to retrieve the fortunes of the in
stitution, but in vain, although for a num
ber of years after being pronounced
moribund it continued to yield a handsome
addition to the income of many persons.
For nearly half a century after its estab
lishment the bank did a good business, but
at length it became embarrassed, burdened
with unsalf-ab e lands taken as security/ *nd
failed in 1866. The propjrty was then pur-
cha ed by ,he Christian Brothers, an or
ganization of the Roman Catholic Church,
and was dedicated De La Salle Institute, a
school for boys conducted by the Brothers,
Since its first purchase two additions bavo
been made to the eastward. The property
known as D La Salle Institute and St.
Michael s school now comprises the lots
numbered from twenty to twenty-eight
Duke street inclusive.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
271
CHAPTER LXXXI.
DONALD M DONALD S HOUSE-
A Queen Street Bwelllvc, Destroyed in 1887.
Associated With Two Veneration* of
Canadian Public Men.
For just over fifty year* from 1836 stood
on the south east aide of Queen street, a few
doors to the west of Spadina avenue, a
house closely associated with the social
and political life of the province.
This residence was a rough-cast frame
building with a short flight of steps from
the front door descending to the street.
It was erected by W. B. Jarvis in 1836, its
first occupant being the late R. G. Turner.
Mr. Jarvis afterwards occupied the dwel
ling and in 1850 sold it to the late Honorable
Donald McDonald, who resided there until
his death in 1879.
Mr. McDonald was the eldest son of
Alexander McDonald, of Inverness-shire,
Scotland, and came to Canada about 1817.
He filled tor many years the office of assistant
commissioner to the Canada Company.
In 1858 Mr. McDonald was elected a mem
ber of the Legislative Council of Upper
Canada. This position he continued to hold
until Confederation, and was subsequently
Senator in th Dominion Parliament.
Mr. McDonald married very early
in the " forties," Frances, daughter
of Judge James Mitchell, of the
London District court ; they had a
a large family. Mrs. McDonald now resides
in Los Angeles, California (1893).
Mr. and Mrs. McDonald were famous for
the lavish hospitality they extended to their
large circle of friends, as well as to transient
visitors to the city.
The officers of the various regiments
stationed in Toronto during the " fifties "
and " sixties " were constant visitors to the
house, besides others who were noted in
politics or other walks of life.
After Mr. McDonald s death his widow
resided in the house for some little time.
When she left Toronto it was put to various
uses, and in 1887 it was pulled down and its
site, as well as that of the beautiful garden
in its rear, disposed of for building purposes.
CHAPTER LXXXII.
WRECK OF THE MONARCH.
A Freight Steamer Wrecked In Her First
Sa<on on the Island Back of Privats
Hotel.
The steamer Monarch, Captain Sinclair,
stranded about five o clock on Saturday
morning, November 29th, 1856, on the
other side of the Island. At the time the
snow was falling heavily, with a strong sea
from the east and it was very dark. The
captain who was on deck, judging of his lo
cation by the length of tim; whbh he took
to come from his last stopping place,
conceived that he was west of the
lighthouse point and turned his boat to
wards the city when discovering his mistake
he endeavoured to turn out towards the
lake again. A heavy sea drove her on to
the shelving clay whsn she stuck fast. Her
deck load was completely washed off and hsr
hold filled with water, and it was with diffi
culty that the crew got ashore. A
daily pap?r of that time says :
" The boat lies in a bad position,
but as the w, ather is moderating she will
suffer no harm for a day or two. In the
meantime the agent in this city of he
North-Western Insurance Company has
telegraphed to Oswego for a steam tug and
pump, by which means she will likely be
got off. Both vessel and cargo are insured
to a consi lerable extent. The insurance on
the boat expiring yesterday, Sunday, She
was built at Kingston at the commencement
of this season., and is owned principally by
Messrs. J. & D. Shaw, of Kingston, and
the captain." The steamer went ashore im
mediately in the rear of Privats
hotel, not more than fifteen yards from
the beach. The bow of the boat
pointed towards the west. The side of
the hull toward the shore did not at the
time appear to have suffered any very
material ) d;mage, but on the lake
side, part of the bulwarks had b^en washed
away. The shore for a mile and a half to
the westward was strewn with the remains
of the goods that formed the deck load.
Empty sugar hogsheads, barrels of fi^h,
bales of dry-goods, cases f stationery,
packages of books and furniture, straw beds
and m^ny other things, among them several
cases addressed to the Legislative As
sembly. The tea was very high when
the steamer went ashore, for the goods were
all thrown up far above smooth water
mark. The purser had a narrow
escape from b^ing washed overboard, but he
succeeded, though not without much diffi-
culty,the lights having been all extinguished,
in saving his most important books The
cargo of the Monarch consisted chiefly of
sugar and fish belonging to the Messrs.
Mitchell, of Toronto, all of which was in
sured, A great many o tiers had goods
aboard. A quantity of goods belonged to
Messrs. Birrs, McCuaig & Co. , of Hamilton.
The vessel was valued at $40,000, and she
was insured for $30,000.
On the Tuesday and Wednesday following
the Saturday of the wreck there was a vio
lent storm which broke the hull of the Mon-
272
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273
c
bj
H
c
DC
18
274
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
arch in three places and caused all hope of
getting her off to be abandoned. A part of
the machinery of the Monarch was saved.
Her careo was a total loss, with the excep
tion of five hundred ^barrels of fish which
he had on board. The Monarch was a new
freight steamer plying between Montreal
and Hamilton, stopping at Toronto.
In 1862 Captain Richardson reported that
the breach in the late peninsular was about
half a mile wide and that the old line of
beach had moved so far that the boilers of
the wrecked Monarch once high and dry on
the beach with its top about ten feet above
the sut face of the lake was then in deep
water about one hundred yards out in the
water.
CHAPTER LXXXIII.
YORK HOUSE.
The Mansion of .Incise HagLrman, After
ward* Occupied by Llenl. -Governor Craw
ford and Now Vsea for Government
Offices.
At the north-east corner of Wellington
and Simco3 streets stands the three storey
brick building with towering chimneys and
a verandah in front which is shown in the
accompanying illustration. To the north
adjoining it on Simcoe street is a two storey
addition. Shortly before the Mackenzie re
bellion of 1837, this house was built by
the Hon. Christopher Alex. Hagerman, who
had moved to Toronto from Kingston which
he had represented in parliament. Com
pared with the standard of dwellings in
those days the Simcoe street dwelling was a
tine mansion, the main building being used
as the family residence and the addition as
Mr, Hagerman s law office. Contrary to the
custom of the period but a small yard was
connected with the house, not more than
now usually adjoins a city dwelling;.
Although Mr. Hagerman s looks were some
what marred by an accident to his nose,
which gave his tace a peculiar appearance,
he had his portrait painted and imbedded in
the wall of his house. Neither was his facial
deformity a bar to success in love: making
for he was three times married, once to a
Canadian lady and twice to Eng ish ladies.
During his occupancy of the house it was
celebrated for its hospitality. He enter
tained largely, and gave royal dinner parties.
On the occasion of the return of his eldest
daughter from a visit to England, he gave a
grand ball in her honour, the memory ot
which still lingers in the minds of old
gentlemen, who were then gallant bsaux.
This lady was shortly afterward mar
ried to Mr. Joseph, who came here
from England as seer tary to Lieutenant-
Governor Sir Francis Bond H ad. Mr.
Frank Joseph, a descendant of Mr.
Joseph is now living in Toronto. Pre
vious to the anion of the Provinces in 1842.
Mr. Hagerman was Attorney-General. He
was earnestly opposed to the union. After
its consummation he was made Judge of the
Queen s Bench. Judge Hagerman afterward
give up his residence at the corner of Wel
lington and Simcoe streets to Mr. Nantin, a
rich West Indian, who died there about
1847. He himself moved into the next
house east on Wellington street, now a
boarding-house, where he died shortly after
ward. Subsequently the Hagerman mansion
passed into the possession of John Wil-
loughby Crawford, a lawyer and the partner
of Chief Justice Hagarty. He made the
house his home until his appointment as the
third Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario in
1873, a post which \\i held until 1875. On
his removal to Government House he trans
ferred the property to the Provincial Gov
ernment. The main building, known as York
House, has been used for the Attorney-Gen
eral s offices, and the addition to the north
ward as the Immigration Bureau.
CHAPTER LXXXIV.
A ONCE POPULAR HOTEL
North-west Corner of Chnrch and Welling
ton (Street - Formerly the Ontario House,
and Later the Wellington Hotel.
Where the Bank of Toronto now stands at
the north-west corner of Wellington, or as it
was once called. Market street, and Church
was built in the days of Little York, a hotel
in a style then common at Niagara Falls and
in the United States. A row or lofty pillars,
well grown pines in fact, stripped and
smoothij planed, reached from the ground
to the eaves and supported two tiers of gal
leries, which running behind the columns
did not interrupt their vertical lines. At
first it bore the name of the Ontario House,
and its first landlord was William Campbell.
Mr. Campbell at one time kept the North
American Hotel on Front street, where Mac-
donald s warehouse now is. In The Patriot
of May 23, 1837, is found this advertise
ment: "North American Hotel, Front
street, Toronto, William Campbell, grateful
to his friends and the public for past favours,
b"?s leave to inform them that he has this
spring refitted the above establishment in a
superior manner, and solicits a continuation
of their liberal patronage." The successor
of Mr. Campbell in the management of the
Ontario House was John Hutchinson. In
1837, the proprietor was David Botsford,
and in The Patriot of May 23, 1837, and
several successive dares, appears the follow-
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
275
276
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
ing advertisement under the heading of a
picture of au old-fashionerl stage coach
drawn by four horses: "Ontario House,
Toronto City, Upper Canada. This large
*nd commodious fstab ishment is now newly
and beautifully fitted up for the reception of
ialies and gentlemen visiting Toronto ; ita
accommodations are s< cord to none in Canada
in point of comfort. The spacious gallery
nd promenade render it particularly de
lightful as they overlook the harbour, city
r,d its environs. The parlours are spacious
and elegantly furnished with bedrooms at
tached, airy and pleasant The beds are
large and double, well suited for summer or
winter, and it may not be amiss to state that
they are warranted free from vermin or in
sects of any kind, and will be kept so. The
table will ba supplied with the choicest of
fche market, and every attention will be
afforded that is possible for the comfort of
tfae guests. A splendid pianoforte wish a
choice selection of music for the usa of ladies
or gentlemen. Strangers visiting the Nia
gara Falls to spend a season, might while
sway a few days very p easantly in visiting
the c pi al of Upper Canada ; the streets an-
macadamiz d, consequently the driving is
d lightful for several miles round the city.
We have a garrison containing a regiment of
soldiers who on parade make a beautiful dis
play wirh their full band. The ?plendid
teamer Transit plies daily, leaving Q-ufjens-
ton a r ter the arrival of the passengers from
Buffalo and the Fall?, say 1 o clock p.m.,
rendering it an ea-y and pleasant i ty a ride
The Ontario House is most convenient to the
wnarf and the business part of the city. A
baggage cart will always be in attendance at
she boats to carry baggage free of expense,
and the proprietor looks forward to the
opening of navigation for that patronage
which his exertions merit. N.B. For the
ccommodation of the country gentry wish
ing to dine before leaving town th; dinner
Siour through the summer season will be at
2 p.m. Extra dinners furnished on the
shortest notice. Charges reasonable, and
Mils of fare furnished to every gu st. Con
fident y hoping that all expectations may bs
seal zed I subscribe myself the pub ic s mo?t
dfe voted and humble servant, David Botsf ord. "
The proprietors of :he ; Oitario House up
to thi time it became the Wellington hotel
were : William Campbell, Mr. D Bering.
Thomae Pearson and Hi;<;m G. B rnnrd,
from 1839 to 1841 inclusive, Mr. Hutchin-
arou wh > formerly kept the City Hall and
David Botsford. Mr. Campbell was pro-
pi ietor of ihe Oi tario House before; he took
the North American hotel. Thomas Pear-
ion had the North American from 1843 to
1846 Hu was succ eded by Georee C.
Horwood. At thio time Jam; 8 Bell, known
among his acquaintances as "Big" BeU, was
the landlord > f the Sir Francis B nd Head
Hote , a famous Tory resort during the
Mackenzie troubles, situated on the west,
side of Church street, a little above Colborne
street. At the same time Russel Inglis was
th^ assistant of Willi; m Campbell in the
management of the North Am M-k an Hotel.
The Examiner of May 14, 1845, announces
that the We.lington Hotel has been newly
furnished by Mr. Inglis, who for seven
years superintended the North Am lican
Hotel, while occupied by Mr. Campbell.
Bsll and Ing is are the namss at the foot of
the advertisement. About a year after
taking possession of the Wellington, Mr.
Bell died. Mr. Inglis married his daughter
and continued to conduct the business. He
afterward managed Weller s line of stages.
The Wellington Hotel was a very popular
hostelry, patronized largely by people from
Whitby, Cobourg and Hamilton, and by
members <,f the legislature when in session.
On the ground floor at the corner of the
main building as shown in the accompany
ing illustration, was the dining-room, a large
hall with one great table running down its
length where all the guests sat, each, as was
the custom of the d-iys, with a bottle of
sherry or port before him, for c aret was but
little drank, and champagne had not reach ad
its subs quent popularity. Unlike the
custom of the present time all the
fishes were p aced on the table
at once, ana everyone helped himself.
The meals were breakfast, lunch, dinner
and tea. The prices for transient guests
were a dollar a day or for permanent on ^s
from four and a ha f to five dollars a week.
Next to the diningrcom were the office and
reading-room. Beyond that, in the addi
tion, was the bar-room, and at the corner
of the two storey extcn-ion wis a private
sicting-room. This was the first room
which Willinm Lyon Mackenzie entered in
Toronto on his return from his ong exile.
Several members of his family had assem
bled to meet him, and from there he went
to the house of Mr. Mclntosh on Yonge
street, when a small riot took place. From
the extension a large wing ran back.
Although the rooms of the Wellington were
lirge, they were not numerous, and under
the management of Mr. Inglis the hotel
acquired such a popularity that he was
compelled to rent \ he two upper floora of
the Coffin House Block, at the gore formed
by Wellington, Front and Church streets,
for the accommodation of his guests, and on
the walls of this building may still be de
ciphered the sign, Wellington Hotel. The
water front at this time was not built m>.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
277
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
and a fine view of the bay was to be had
from the piazzas of the hotel. The stages
from the east, west aud north stopped here,
bringing in their daily influx of
visitors. From eighty to one hundred
persons daily partook of the hospitality
of this house. In connection with it were
( xt nsive stables on Colborne street, near
Church, which were pulled down only a
short time ago. At the rear of the hotel,
from Wellington to King street, formerly
ran a thoroughfare called Henrietta street.
This has been closed up and the land taken
up by the roadway divided between the
property-owners on botn sides Not far
from the Wellington was another hotel
called the St. Lawrence, and in The Patriot
of May, 1837, E. McElderry advertises :
" For sale or to let, that well-known house
the St. Lawrence Hotel, in Market street,
corner of Yonge street, facing the bay and
near the steamboat wharf, being in one of
the healthiest parts of the city and centrally
located. The house is spacious and roomy,
having upwards of forty apartments, laid
out in the neatest manner and in thorough
repair, with a handsomely fitted up bar
room ; also stabling, with an excellent well
of water in the yard."
On giving up the Wellington Mr. Inglis
took and for a long time managed the
Western Hotel, on the north side of Wel
lington street, between Scott and Yonge
streets. The Wellington sank to the level
of a tenement house, and was afterward
torn down, and on its site was erected the
present Bank of Toronto. When it was de
molished the wood of the pillars was found
to be perfectly solid.
CHAPTER LXXXV.
OLD ST. ANDREW S.
Sketch of the Old Church that Stood on the
S. W. Corner of Church ami Adelaide.
Fifty years ago, when the population : f
Toronto was 5,000, there were three Pres
byterian congregations in the city : One,
Mr. Harris , which worshipped in a small
church on the site now occupied by Knox
Church ; one, St. Andrews, of which this
article gives the history ; and one, the
United Secession congiegation, afterwards
better known as the Bay street Presbyterian
Chuich, which was organized in 1837,
though it had no settled pastor before the
induction of the late Dr. Jennings in
July, 1839. Old St. Andre 1 ws. Church
was organ zed in 1831. Hon. William
Morris, or Perch, was a member
of the Legislative Asserabty of 1830,
and connected with the Church of Scotland.
One Sunday morning while on his way to
the Episcopal church he passed the ruins of
the former Parliament House, and the sight
suggested to him the possibility of securing
the ruined building and converting it into
a place of worship in connection with hia
favourite church. Perhaps the contempla
tion of these ruins detained him ; at all
events, he was late at church, and ju-t as he
entered, the Episcopalian clerk was reading
the 132nd Psalm :
" I will not go into my house, nor to my bed
ascend ;
No soft repose shall close my eyes, nor sleep mj
eyelids bend,
Till for the Lord s design d abode I mark the
destin d ground.
Till I a decent place of rest for Jacob s God
have round."
The coincidence so impressed him that
the impression became an inspiration to
him ; the next day he called a meeting oi
his associates, who were, of like faith, an
organization was formed, subscriptions re
ceived, and the list bears the names of some
of the most prominent men of that time,
among them the men of the 7lst and 79th
Highland regiments then stationed at York.
Thus the accidental reading of those par
ticular lines on that particular Sunday
morning just as a certain man who happen
ed to be late was entering an Episcopalian
church, originated the Presbyterian church
in Toronto. The corner stone of the build
ing was laid in June, 1830. On 19th
June, 1834, the opening service was held in
the church. It was an unpretending brick
building, plastered externally to represent
stone, with a tower a steeple was added
a few years later from drawings by Mr. J.
G. Howard erected at the south-west cor
ner of Adelaide and Church [streets. The
church was dedicated one year later, with
R ^v. Win. Rintoul as the first pastor. He
was afterwards Professor of Hebrew in
Knox College. Rev. Wm. T Leach,
who afterwards became an An
glican minister, was the second,
and the late Dr. Barclay occupied the
pastorate 28 years. When the corn r stone
was removed a few years ago fragments of
the Freeman and Gazette were found wrap
ped around the bottle, which contained,
among other things, the names of the first
trustees. They were : James F. Smith,
Thomas Carfrae, Jr., Jacob Latham, Alex
ander Murray, John Ewart, Hugh Carfrae,
Walter Ro-,e. The minute book of 1830 is
kept in the archives of St. Andrew s church
on King street, and is an interesting, neatly-
written book, with the money matters all
recorded in Halifax currency.
When, in 1843, a large portion of the
Presbyterian church in Scotland seceded
and formed what is known as the Free
Church in Scotland, Rev. Dr. Burns came
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
279
over to Canada as a representative of this
latter church, and advocated a disruption
of St. Andrew s, while Rev. Dr. Norman
Macleod came to represent the old church.
The representation of Dr. Burns met with
so much sympathy that, in 1844, a consider
able portion of St. Andrew s congregation
withdrew and declared its allegiance to the
Free Church. The outgoing party united
with the Irish Presbyterian church and to
gether they formed what is known as Knox
church. Later the Irish element of Knox
church withdrew and formed Cooke s church.
Among the prominent disruptionists were
Hon. JohnMcMurrich, Hon. Isaac Buchanan,
James Shaw, Wm. Ross and Peter Brown.
Among those who remained loyal to the old
church wera Hon. Chief Justice McLean,
Lieut -Col E. W. Thomson, John Cam
eron, John Robertson, John Jacques and
Hugh Scobie, all deceased. Perhaps George
Michie more than any other was instru
mental in holding the old congregation to
gether. Ju ige Wilson, Isaac C. Gilmour
and Henry Fowler were also among the
loyal adherents, and of later date, Wm.
286
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
Mitchell. John Kay, Alexander T. Fulton,
Robert Hay, Geo. H. Wilson, James Mac-
lennan and the latj James Bethune. Hon.
Oliver Mowat was at one time a manager of
the church ; the i ate Angus Morrison, at
one time mayor, also stood by the old
church.
A clipping from the British Colonist of
15th March, 1838, shows that at that period
the kirk was in want of a prec ntor. The
advertisement reads as follows :
PRECENTOR
WANTED FOR ST. ANDREW S
Church he must be perfectly capable
of teaching vocal music and of leading
a choir, and he must be of good moral
character. Applications to be made to
Mr. Wm. Ross, corner of King and i onge sts.,
by whom the duties and emoluments of the
office will be made known. Toronto, March 4,
1838.
The Rev. D. J. Macdonnell succeeded Dr.
Barclay, and on the building of the new S .
Andrew s, on the corner of King and Simco3
streets Mr. Macdonnell went with the
majority of the congregation. Fifty-eight
of the original congregation decided to je-
maiu in the old chu ch and in 1876 the Rev.
G.M. Miiligan, of Detroit, was called to the
pastorate. The old church was snbsequent-
ly sold for $12,000 and a new church built
on the corner of Jarvis and Carlton, where
tha congregation now worships under the
care of Mr. Miiligan.
CHAPTER LXXXVI.
THE RIDOUT HOMESTEAD-
The Residence of .Surveyor General Ridont,
tlM Senior Member la Canada of the Ex-
telv* Family of that Name.
So early as iSOCM?- William Bond had
established in York a nursery garden and
introduced there most of the Ufeful fruits.
In 1801 Mr. Bond was devising; to sell his
York property as appears from a quaint ad
vertisement in the Oazette of that year. He
therein advertises his lot as follows : "To
be given away, that beautifully situated lot
No. 1, fronting on Ontario and Duchess
streets; the buildings thereon are a small
two and a half storey house with a gallery
in front which commands a view
of the lake and bay, in the
cellar a never failing spring of
fine water and a stream of tine water run
ning throug i one corner of the lot ; there is
a good kitchen in the rear of the house and
a stable sufficient for two cows and two
horses and the lot is in good fence. The
conditions are with the person or persons
who accept cf the above present that he, she
or they purchase not less than two thousand
apple trees at three shillings New York
currency each, after which will be added as
a further prest nr, about one hundred apple,
thirty peach and fourteen cherry trees
besides wild plums, wild cherries, English
gooseberries, white and red currants, etc.
There are forty of the above apple trees
as also the peach and cherry trees planted
regular as an orchar.l,much of which appear
ed in blossom last spring, and must be con
sidered very valuable, also as a kitchen gar
den will sufficiently recommend itself to
those who may please to view it. The above
are well calculated for a professional or inde
pendent gentleman, being somewhat retired
about half way from the lake to the late
Attorney-General s, and opposite the town
farm of the Hon. D. W. Smith, afterward
Mr. Allan s property. Payment will be
made easy. A good deed and posses
sion given at any time from the
first of November to the first
of May next. For further
particulars enquire of the subscriber on the
premises, William Bond, York, Sept. 4,
1801." The price expec: ed was $750. On
this occasion Mr. Bond s pr< perty did not
find a purchaser, and in 1804 he advertised
it again, but now to be s >ld by auction with
his right and title to a lot on Yonge street.
The Gazette of August 4, 1804, has this ad
vertisement : " To be sold by auction at
Cooper s tavern in York, on Monday, the
twentieth day of August next at eleven
o clock in the forenoon, if not previously
disposed of by private contract, that
highly cultivated lot opposite Bennett s
printing office containing one acre together
with anurs ry ihsreon of about ten thousand
apples, three hundred p.?ach and twenty
pjar trees and an orchard containing forty-
one apple trees fie for bearing, twenty -seven
of which are full of fruit, thirty peach and
nine cherry trees full of fruit, besides black
and red plums, red and white curiusit*,
English gooseb. Tries, lilacs, rose bushes,
also a very rich kitchen garden..
The buildings are a two and a h-ili storey
house, a good cellar, stable and smoke-house.
On the lot is a never failing spring of ex
cellent water and a fine creek running
through one corner most part of the year.
The above premises might be made very
commodious for a gentleman, at a smill ex
pense, or for a tanner, brewer or distiller,
must be allowed the most convenient place
in York. A view of the premises by any
person or psrsons desirous of purchasing the
same will be sufficient recommendation.
The nursery is in such a state of forward
ness that if sold in from two to three years,
at which time the apple trees will be fit to
transplant, at the moderate price of one
*wf--;^-eiis
(op. 280)
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THE BIDO
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(op. 280)
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
281
shilling each, would repiy a sum
double thai asked for the whole and leave
further gain to the purchaser of the lot,
buildings and flourishing orchards thereon.
A good title to the above and possess 1 on
given tt any time after the 1st of October
next." This property was the northern
portion of what became af erwarda the
homestead plot of Mr. Surveyor-General
Thomas Ridout, ar. The Ridout home
stead, which was of frame, stood
on the north side of Duke street,
50 or 60 feet back from the roadway,
a little east of the head of Princess street.
The entrance was from Duke street. Two
views of the house are given, one from the
south, the other from the north. The pic
tures accompanying this article were made
in September, 1858, by Mr. H. P. R.
Creas, now one of the Superior Judges in
British Columbia. On the right hand of
the first one giving the front view of the
old Ridout house from Duke street is the
old Indian burial ground which was on the
bank of the stream which ran through the
valley from Moss Park and thence pas:
John Small s property to the bay. Further
to the rear will be seen the paling which
surrounded the private graveyard in which
the numbers of thi Ridout family were
buried. The old houses in the foreground
were occupied by a shoemaker who lived in
one of them up to a recent date. In the
extreme left will be seen thj tower of St.
James church as it appealed before the
spire was complete, ana to the right is the
tower or spire of old St. Andrew s church,
at that time on the corner of Adelaide and
Church streets The other picture presents
the rear view of the house taken from the
opposite side of the valley. The figure in
the foreground is Mr. Thomas G. Ridout,
cashier of the Bank of Upper
Canada. The structure, which is
still to be seen in its primi
tive outlines, is a eood specimen of the old
type of early Canadian family residences of
a superior class, combining the qualities of
solidity and durability with those of snug-
ness and comfort in the rigours of winter
and the heats of summer. In the
rear of Mr. Ridout s house was
for some time a family burial plot, but
like several similar private enclosures in
the neighbourhood of the town it became
disused after the establishment of regular
cemeteries. Mr. Ridout was the father of
a numerous prrgeny and tribal head so
to speak of more than one family of con
nections settled here bearing the same name.
He was a fine typical representative of the
cheerful, benevolent-minded Englishman, of
port y form, his hair now white, naturally.
his usual costume of the antique style. Mr.
Ridout was one of the pewho ders in St.
James church from its commencement and
was churchwarden in 1818. He was one of
the subscribers in 1822 to the fund for build
ing two bridges over the Don. As
Surveyor - General he laid out in
1819 the six acre square field
north of the St. James church plot, which
was originally known as College square,
and was intended to become and continue
for ever an ornamental piece of ground
around an educational institution. In 1811
Mr. Ridout divided the great space origi
nally set apart as a reserve for Government
buildinps into a number of moderate
sized lots, each marked on the
map of that date with the esti
mated yearly rent in dollars as reported
by the Deputy Surveyor Samuel S. Wilmot.
In 1801 Mr. Ridout was one of the sub
scribers 10 the improvement of Yonge
street. In 1806 Mr. Ridout was Clerk of the
Peace of the Home District, as the following
advertisement in the Gazette of August 6 h,
1806, shows : " Notice is hereby given that
the commissioners of highways of the Home
District will be ready on Saturday, the 23rd
day of the present month of August
at eleven o clock in the forenoon
at the Government buildinps, in the town of
Vork, to receive proposals and to treat with
any person or persons who will contrive to
open and make the road caUed Dundas
street, leading through the Indian reserve
on the River Credit, and also to erect a
bridge over the s^id river at or near where
the said road passes. Also to bridge and
causeway in aid to the statute labour auch
road passing through the Huron District,
when such works are necessary and for
the performance of which the said
statute labour is not sufficient. Thomas
Ridout. Clerk of the Peace Home District."
From 1816 to 1819, among the scholars at
the Home District Grammar School, were
Thomas Ridour, jr., Francis Ridout, John
Ridout, Charles Ridout and Horace Ridoat.
Mr. Simuel Ridout was for a time Sheriff
of York County. It was John Ridout, the
young son of Surveyor- General Ridout, who
was killed in a duel on the morning of July
12. 1817, and it was from the o d home
stead on Dufee street that he started before
daybreak, accompanied by* friend in his
teens for the field where he mt his death.
282
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
CHAPTER LXXXVII.
THE YORK MILITIA.
The Regimental Orders I*ned to the Pint
West York Militia Before and After tbe
Outbreak of the Mackenzie Rebellion.
At the end of 1837 the agitation headed
by Mackenzie had developed to such
an extent that an outbreak was ex
pected hourly. On the last day of Oc
tober Sir Francis Bond- Head had refused
the offer of A volunteer company to guard
the Government House, preferring to wait,
as he expressed it, till the lives or property
of her Majesty s subjects should require
defence. To the very last the Lieutenant-
Oovernor refused to resort to any measure
of precaution against the threatened insur
rection. Oa the second of December a
Freemason, who resided in Markham, in
formed Captain Fitzgibbon that bags full
of pike heads and pike handles had
been collected, and that he had ob
served a 1 the signs of a rapidly ripening
revolt. Captain Fitzgibbon sought out
Judge Jones, to whom he reported what
he had heard. They went before the Exe
cutive Council together, where the state
ment was once more repeated. Mr.
Justice Jones exclaimed : " You do not
mean to say that the~e p-op e are going
to rebel ?" Cap ain Fitzgibbon replied
that undoubtedly they were ; when Mr.
Jones, turning to the Lieutenant-Gover-
nor, contemptuously exclaimed : " Pugh !
pugh !" The length to which the judge
carried his obdurate scepticism may best
b illustrated by the reception he gave
Captain Fitzo;ibbon on the night of the out
break. " The over-zeal of that man," he
complained, "is giving me a great deal
of trouble." The insurgents were already
at Montgomery s. Nor is his all. Sir
Francis Bond-Head made it a matter of
boasting that in spite of the remonstrances
which, from almost every district in the
province he received, he allow> d Mr. Mac
kenzie to make deliberate preparation for
revolt, that he al owed him to write what
he chose to say, what he cho&e to do,
that he offered no opposition to
armed assemblages for the purpose of drill.
Nor did he rest satisfied with doing noth
ing to check preparations, the naiure of
which he understood so well ; he encouraged
the outbreak. For this purpose he sent
all the troops from the province, and
boasted that he had laid a trap to
entice Mackenzie and others into revolt.
The leaders of the local militia had not
been wholly idle, however. There had
been drills and preparations looking to an
a tack on the city.
The Weekly Register of April 26, 1822,
speaks of the West York Militia in con
nection with the account of a presentation
of colours by Sir Peregrine Maitlaud to a
militia battalion on the occasion of the
anniversary of St. George. The report
reads thus : " Tuesday, the 23rd instant,
being the anniversary of St. George on
which it has been appointed to celebrate
his Majesty s binhday, George IV., the
east and west legiments with Cap ain But
ton s troop of cavalry, which are attached
to the North York R giment on the
right, were formed in line at eleven o clock
in the forenoon on the road in front of tke
Government House, and a guard of honour,
consisting of one hundred rank and file
from each regiment, with officers and ser
geants in proportion, under the command
of Lieutenant-Colonel Fitzgibbon, were
formed at a short distance in front of
the centre as the representatives of the
militia of the province, in order to re
ceive the rich and beautiful colours which
his Majesty has been graciously pleased
to command should be prepared for the
late incorporated battalion as an honcur-
ab e testimony of the high sense which
his Majesty has been pleased to enter
tain of the zeal and gallantry of the militia
of Uppsr Canada. At 12 o clock a royal
salute was fired from the Garrison, and
the Lieutenant-Governor with his staff
having arrived on the ground proceeded to
review the widely extended line, after
which the band struck up the National
Anthem of God Save the Kiug. His
Excellency then dismounted, and accom
panied by his staff on foot, approached the
Guard of Honour so near as to be dis
tinctly heard by the men, when, un
covering himself and taking one of the
colours in hia hand, in the most dier-
nified and graceful manner, he presented
them to the proper officer with the follow
ing address : Soldiers, I have great satis
faction in presenting you, as the representa
tives of the late incorporated battalion,
with these colours a distinguished mark
of hi? Majesty s approbation. They will
be to you a proud memorial of the past,
and a rallying point around which you will
gather with a acrity and confidence
should your active services be required
hereafter by your King and country.
His Excellency having remounted, the
Guard of Honour marched with band play
ing and colours flying fiom right to lett
in front of the whole line, and then pro
ceeded to lodge their colours at tbe
Government House." The pap^r adds :
" The day waa raw and cold, and the
crround beinar verv wet and uneven, the men
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
283
could neither form nor march with that
precision they would otherwise have exhi
bited. We were very much pleased, how
ever, with the soldier-like appearance of
the Guard of Honour, and we were par
ticularly struck by the new uniform of the
officers of the West York aa being partic
ularly well adapted for the kind of war
fare incident to a thickly-wooded country.
Even at a short distance it would be diffi
cult to distinguish the gray coat or jacket
from the bole of a tree. There was a veiy
full attendance on the field, and it was
particularly gratifying to observe as much
satisfaction on all sides, The coloms,
jphich are very elegant, are inscribed with
the word Niagara, to commemorate the
services rendered by the Incorporated Bat
talion oo that frontier, and we doubt not
that the proud distinction which attends
these banners will always serve to excite
the most animating recollections whenever
it shall be necessary for them to Wc.ve
over the heads of our Canadian heroes
actually formed in battle array against
the invadirs of our country." Appended
are given the regimental orders issued in
1837 and 1838 :
Lt. -Col. James G. Chewett.
Major George T. Denison.
Captains : Thoa. Deniaon, B. Turquand,
Thos. Fisher, J. C. Godwin. R. N. Hard
ing, Walter Rose, Clarke Gamble, Wm.
Stennett.
Lieutenants : John Powell, R. L Deni
son, John Caldwell, Miles B. Stennefct, Ed
mund Ridout, Colley Foste-, George Steg-
man, Wm. Spragge, Geo. P. Ridout, G. D.
Wells, Wm. Boulton, Theodore Hart.
Ensigns. Augustus B. Sullivan, Geo. T.
Denison, Alex. Shaw, Wm. Jas. Coates,
George Shaw, Edwin (J. Fisher.
Qr. Mr. I. Murchiion, A. Dixon.
First Regiment W. York Militia,
Toronto, 29 May, 1837.
Reart L Orders.
1. Captains commanding, and Officers in
charge of Companies, will warn their Com
panies to attend General Muster on Monday,
5th June, next, at ten o clock a. m., to as
semble on the ground near the Toll Gate on
Lot street, in rear of the Garrison. The
limits of the several Companies remain the
same as last year.
2. James Anderson is appointed Sergeant
Major. Robt. Stanton,
CoL C m g.
First Regt. West York Militia,
Toronto, 13th Dec. 1837.
Regt l Order.
Lt. Col. Chewett will take the necessary
measures for carrying into effect the accom
panying Militia General order :
He will cause such officers as may be at
disposal to tak- such sections of the city
(within the limits ii the Regt.) as he may
deem proper for duly warning all the men
to attend muster who are off duty, special
care being taken that such as are known to
have hitherto evaded doing any duty be
called upon to attend.
Nominal lists are desired to be kept of all
persona warned to attend muster.
Capt. and Adjt. Turquand will communi
cate with and assist Lt. Col. Chewett on
this i ccasion, and will be p e <sed to report
to the Col, Com g on Friday evening next,
at 6 o clock.
(Sgd) Robt, Stanton,
Col. Com g.
Adjt. Genl s Offia*, Toronto,
13th Dec., 1837.
Mil. Gen l Order.
His Excellency the Lieut. -Governor will
inspect the 1st East York or Toronto Re st.
and the 1st West York or Toronto Regt. on
Saturday next, at 12 o clock (noon), in front
of the Parliament Buildings.
Col. Stanton and Lt. Col. Duggan will
take immediate measures for calling out the
above Reg ts with exception however of
such men as actually may be engaged upon
active military duty.
Tne formation will be in open column of
companies right in front of the first East
York on the right of the line, and front of
the column.
By command,
W. O Hara, A. A. Gen. Mil.
Field states to be handed in to the Asst.
Adjt. General on the ground.
W. O Hara.
It is necessary that the Sedentary Militia
of the town should furnish two officers and
fifty men daily to parade at the Parliament
House, at three o clock p.m., for duty unll
further orders. Each Regiment should
furnish one officer and twenty-five men,
and commanding officers should make their
arrangements according y.
J. B. Macaulay,
16th Dec., 1837 Col.
1st West York Militia,
Regimental Orders, 17fch Dec., 1837.
No. 1. Captain Gamble will be pleased to
warn 25 men and a sergeant of his company
to mount guard to-morrow afternoon ; t
3 o clock, at the Parliament Houa*. H
will take the first 25 men on his list. Mr.
Fitzgerald is attached to the oompany pro
tern, who will assist in carrying these order.-;
into effect.
No. 2. Captain Gamble will at the same
time also be pleased to warn the next 25
men on his list and a non-comm d officer
to be on guard at the same place and hour
284
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
on Saturday next, the 23nl instant; they
will then have timely notice.
No. 3. Captain Gamble will have the
goodness to furnish the Adjut. with a nom
inal list of all persons liable to Militia duty
within the limit of his company, and if not
already doc, will appoint at least three
ergeants to the company.
It is understood, that, in ail cas; j s where
m n are regularly warned and cannot at-
tend, they will be required to find a substi
tute.
By order of the Lt. -Col. commanding.
(Signed) B. Turquand, Cap!;. Adjt.
To Capt. Gamble,
1st West York Militia.
An officer will be required to mount
guard with the men agreeably to Militia
General Order of the 15 ch inst.
B. T.
Similar orders have been this day issued
to the following officers, notifying their
respective appointments as hereunder, viz :
To Lt. E. Ridout for this day and Friday
the 22nd, Mr. Kent attached ; to Capt.
Gamble for Monday, ths 18th, and Satur
day, the 23rd, Mr. Fitzgerald attached ;
to Capt. Rose for Tutsday, the 19ch, and
Sunday, the 24th ; to Lt. Coates for Wed
nesday, the 20fch, and Monday, the 25th ;
to Lt. Dcilton for Thursday, the 21st, and
Tuesday, the 26th.
By order.
(Signed) B. T.
Adjutant General s Office,
Toronto, 20th October, 1838.
Militia General Order.
The officers commanding the 1st Regi
ment of East York, and the 1st Regt. of
West York Militia will immediately call
oat from their respsctive regiments for ac
tive service until lurther orders a force con
sisting of the following numbers :
Capt. Subs. Sergtf. Rank
and fi e
1st East York 1 4 4 100
1st West York 1 4 4 100
Total.... 2 8 8 200
The officers in command of the above
Regiments will communicate wirh the As
sistant Quarter Master General through
Colonel I, S. Macauliyfor the purpose of
providing the necessary quarters.
By command.
(Signed) Richard Bullock,
Adjt. General Militia.
As many of the corps as can be advised
should be warned this evening, that, in the
even of any alarm of fire or otherwise thev
should parade irainedia civ opposite ths
Government Buildings and wait for orders.
(Signed) I. S, Macaulay,
25th October, 1&38 Col. Militia.
Col. Jan. G. Chewett,
Com g West York.
Regimmtal O der. 26 :h October, 1838
in obeiience to the Militia General Order
of the 24th inst. Capt. Gamble is required
to warn 100 men of his company to hold
themselves in readiness for active service.
15th Nov ; mber, 1838.
Regimental Order.
1. In the event of Caph. Gamble not
b.ing able to furnish the requisite comple
mem of men from his own company in ac
cord >nc3 with the Militia General Order of
the 24th alt., he will warn from Capt. Me
Knight s company whatever number of men
may be found necessary to fill up the va
cancy.
2. Lieut. Dalton and Ensign Powell are
attached to the company on service, and
will immediately report themselves to Cap .
Gamble commanding.
9th November, 1838.
Regimental Order.
Officers in command of companies will,
immediately upon the receipt of this, in
form the officers, non-commissioned officers
and privates of their respective companies,
t hat, in case of any alarm the Parliament
Buildings is the place of meeting for the
1st West York Militia, and that it it re
quested i hat every exertion will be used by
officers to secure a prompt attendance.
J. G. Chewett, Lt. Col.
1st West York.
Regimental Order.
1st West York Militia.
With reference to che Regimental Order
ofiheQ.h inst., pointing out the Parlia
ment Buildings as the place of meeting for
the 1st West York Militia in case of sudden
alarm, the enclosed plan, showing the posi
tion each cotnp my will respectively take on
coming to tha ground is transmitted to your
c ire, and the Col. desires you will be par
ticular in seeing that it be properly ex
plained and understood by the officers,
non-com d officers and men belonging to the
company under your command in order to
prevent the possibility of mistake or con
fusion in such an event.
No. 2. The company drill of the regiment
will recomm nee ard will ba con inued in
the following days respectively un;il further
orders, viz :
Comp ny
No. 1 and 6, Nov. 24, 30, Deo. 7, 13, 19, 25
" 2 and 7, Nov. 26, Dec. 1, 8, 14, 20, 26
" 3 and 8, " 27, " 3, 10, 15. 21, 27
4 and 9, " 28. " 4, 11, 17, 22, 28
" 5 and 10, " 29, " 5, 12, 18, 24, 29
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
235
a such time and placs as may be found
most convenient for the company. Officers
in command will be pleased to report the
sam > to the Colonel and furnish a field state
of each drill, together with the u~ual re-
tnra of arms and accou rementfi, etc., etc.
Toronto, 20 h Nov. 1838
Ordered. J. G. Chewet^,
To Major Turquand, Lt. Col.
1st West York.
Plan showing the position of each com
pany in case of sudden alarm :
No. 7 No 8
2 TABD 3
o
No. 5 =o
No. 4
FAKLIAMKNT
N 6
West
Eas
Wing
BUILDING.
Wing
No, 3 No. 1 No. 2
J. G. Chewett, L\ Col.,
1st West York.
See Mili ia General Order 19th Nov., 1838.
" Militia " " 24rh " "
" Militia " " 24th " "
Toionto, 27th Nov. 1838.
Regimental Order.
With reference to the Militia General
Order of the 24th October, to provide a
fore 3 for GU y from the 1st West iork
Militia, consisting of 1 Cipt., 4 subs., 4
Sergla. and 100 rank and file, and orders
from the Commandant of Militia cf this
day, I have to direct that officers com-
manding companies will furnish the i um-
bjr of men opposite their respective names
on Saturday, the 1st December, at 9 a.m.,
opposite the Parliament Buildings to re
lieve Captain Gamble s
Captain Rose, 1 serg
" Witlard, 2 "
1 "
Tod,
Buneg,
Hawke,
Sax en,
Boulton,
16 rank and file
30
16
11
15
8
4
4 sergts 100 rank and file
In future absentee? will be punished as
the law directs. Officers will notify their
men to that eff.ct.
Officers to ccmm^nd the above force are
Captain Willard, L\ Coates, Lt. Wake-
field, Ensign Tay or and Ensign Fitzgibbon.
J. G. Chewett, Lt. Col.,
1st Wet York.
Note : Copies have bsen forwarded to
the officers c< mmanding companies. J.G.C.
CHAPTER LXXXVIII.
CANADA S DEFENDERS
Men Who*r Heroism Assured tbe Kxf tenee
f a Second 4ireat > at ton an this Continent
gome We)l*Known Names.
During the summer of 1812 there was a
muster of all available men in Richmond
Hill and the adjacent townships about half
a mile south of the village in front of Col.
Fulton s, now the Vanderburg farm. The
Richmond Hill LibfrcU gives an account of rt.
This was a personal inspection by Sir Isaac
Brock.
Alter the customary drill under the eye of
the commander-in-chief the governor re
quested that all who were willing to go to
the front for active service to advance one
step forwatxi. Every man all along the line
took the step but one, and he, perhaps,
thinking of a home surrounded by loneli
ness and a family that might be left
without a bread -winner, hesitated ;
but only for a moment,
for almost immediately, he, too, stepped to
the line. It wa not long before some of
these men had their patriotism put to the
test, for the same fall many a veteran
had to shoulder the musket that had done
duty at Brandywine and Germantcwn, and
many a young Canadian who had never
hea d the c;mnon roar marched away from
all that was dear to them to the tune of the
" British Grenadiers," many of them to re
main to fill the ghastly trench at
Niagara, where friend, and foe so recently
arrayed in deadly conflict w.re laid un-
coffined side by aide to await the bugle call
that shall sumrco i them to the last review.
We are told of two brothers of the Canadian
militia who, at Queenston Heights, fought
side by side in defence of their Canadian
homes, when, in the moment of vk
tory, a shot pierced the lungs of the
younger, a youth of seventeen years, and
he fainted and fell. The brother clasped
him in his arms, and, amid a tempest of
shot and shell, bore the dying boy from the
field and laid him on the grass. He revived
for a moment and, with a loving, lingering
look into his brother s face, while the life
blood ebbed from his fatal wound, he feebly
breathed, " Kiss me, Jim Tell mother-
that I was" not afraid to die !
when the blood gushed from his
mouth and the brave spirit took
its flight. Many as fearless of death as he
were referred to by the gallant Brock, when
he, struck by the bullet of an American
sharpshooter, while the death-agony was
upon him, shouted : "Never mind me. Push
on the York volunteers." Those were times
286
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
of grief and sorrow, for it is said that there
coald not ba & gathe ing of any kind, even
in the far woods, but in the rustic congre
gation a widow s cap or a bit of crape would
show that ^isolated as they were
they had not been uaseathed by the
horror* of war and all along the
front when the sun ro?e on the tragic scenes
of the s opes of the Queenston Heights, of
Chippewa, Lnndy s Line and Fort Erie it
shone upon the pa e, cold faces of many a
young Canadian, the pride of some home.
E irly in the fall of 1812, while the regu ars
and tile volunteers were assisting Gen
erals Brock and Sheaffe at the front,
th York militia were ordered to York to
defend the town and " hold the fort." Capt.
John Arnold s company, the 1st R giment
of York mi itia, consisted of fifty me i.
many of whom did duty that winter at the
barracks. In looking over an old parch
ment-bound muster roll, issued by the Gov
ernment during the eventful period between
1812 and 1815, we came upon the following
well-knowr names :
John Arnold, captain ; James Miles, lien-
tenant ; Merser, ensign ; sergeants : Sam
twl Forrister, Jacob Brown Christopher
Hilts, John Langstaff. Among the privates
David Sprague, "Henry Proctor, Thos.
IVisby, Obediah Rodgers, Joseph WV>odard,
Jno.Malnard, Peter Stover, Henry Phillip?,
Simon Teal, Abraham Van Horn, Joshua
Hemmenway, Jacob and Charles Lunaw,
John Nigh, Jacob. John and George Hilts,
Mark Shell, Joseph Walls, Dan Horner,
Christian Hendricka, John Fierheller, Aquil-
la Bennett, Fred Quanc?, John Stiver,
Richard 8 r ooks, John Tipp, Ailin Perkins,
Henry Teal and William Ho lingshead.
There is also a list of all the Tunkers and
Mennonites living on th 3rd and 4th con
cession of Markham, within the limits of
Capt. Arnold s company. Among these are
Bakers, Doners, Eyers, Nighs, Shells,
Stakeleys, Heisies, Homers and Hoovers.
These names are interesting to us, as they
show who were some of the early settlers in
this locality.
CHAPTER LXXX1X.
MARYVILLE LODGE.
The Home of Surveyor-General David TT.
Smith, with Two Early Maps of York,
Showing Its Location.
Among the pioneers who came to 1 ork
in the train of Gowrnor Simcoe was David
W. Smith, Surveyor -General of the new
province.
Mr. Smith became the possessor of
about 20,000 acres in the province, and
was th original owner of the park lot,
which constituted the Moss Park estat*.
In fact he owned about one-half of the
present Toronto. He was the author of
" A Shore Topographical Dascriptkm ot
His Majesty s Province of Upper Canada
in North America, to which is annexed a
Provincial Gazeteer," a work of consider
able antiquarian interest now, pre-ering
as it does tin early names, native, French
and English, of many p aoes now known
by different appellations. A second edition
was pub ished in Lnudon in 1813, and
was designated to accompany the new map
published in that year by W. Faden,
Geograph T to the King and Prince Rjgent.
The original work was eomp ; led at the
desire of Governor Simeoe, to illustrate an
earlier map of Upper Canada. In 1804
there were Lieutenants of counties in Upper
Canada, an office th it does not appear to
hive been kept up, and among them we
find the Hon. David W. Smith as Lieut nant
Governor of this county. in this con
nection it shocld be stated thit there
is to-day in th ; Crown Lands office, On
tario, a book called tha " Doom- day Book,"
b ing a record of grants of land, from ihe
beginning of the organ ; zation of Upp^r
Canada to th? present time. Mr. Smith s
house was at the east end of the town.
It stood on the north side of King street,
a little east of Ontario street, in a great
vacant lot. The house which was one storey
high is shown in the illustration. It was
called Maryvi le, and its location is given in
both of the maps drawn by M>\ Smifch in
1794, both of wh ch accompany this article.
The houae faced King street. At one end
was Mr. Smith s office. About two hundred
feet to the east of the he use were the stables
and outhouses. The house was built in
1794. It was ot frame, and owing to the
the fact that it was painted yellow, it after
ward acquired the appellation of " The
Ye low House."
In 1800 D. W. Smith, as Acting-Surveyor
General, issued the fo lowi g advertisement:
" Surveyor General s Office, 19 :h December,
1800. Mr. John Stegman : Sir, All per
sons claiming to hold land in the town of
York, having been required to cut and burn
all the brush and underwood on the said
lots, and to fell all the trees which are
standing thereon, you will be pleased to re
port to me, without delay, the number of
the particular lots on which it has not been
done. D. W. Smith, Acting-Surveyor
General." In the GcaxtU of March 14th,
1801, Hon. D. W. Smith is down as a sub-
scr.ber for $10 for the opening and improv
ing of Yonge street. In the Gazette of 1794
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
287
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
MAP OF YORK ITS HARBOUR AND YORK COtTNTY.
we read the following notice: "Surveyor
General s Offise, Upper Canada, 15fch July,
1794. Notice is hereby given that all par
sons who have obtained assignments for land
on Dundas street, leading from the head of
Burlington Bay to the upper fork? of the
River Thames, and on Yonge street leading
from York to Lake Simcoe, that unless a
dwelling house shall be built on every lot
under certificate of location, and the same
occupied within one year from the date of
their respective assignments, such lots will
be forfeited on the said road^. D. W.
Smith, Acting-Surveyor General." In 1801
John Stegmaii, a German, who had been an
officer in the Hessian army, was the Sur
veyor in York. He was directed in 1801,
by D. W. Smith, as Acting-Surveyor Gene
ral, to examine and report on the condition
of Yonge street.
Years after Mr. Smith had ceased to
occupy Maryville, the cottage was taken
by Mr. Castle, a school master, who kept a
school there in one of the large rooms of the
house. At the ride of the building was a
small extension where Mr. Castle u-eH to
imprison refractory boys for puni-hment.
Afterward a woman kept school there for
some time. The old house was torn down
about forty years ago. The two maps
are from the collection papers recently
secured by the Public L brary through the
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
289
LAST PARK
TO PAR* FIVE
DISTANCE i FURLONC.
A/>VG STREET
Council Off> re
//ot/se Grounds
T *<Up
HARBOR
MAP O* PABT OF TOWN OI YORK, 1794.
effort of Mr. B iin. The papers were col
lected by Col. D. W, Smith, son of the last
British officer who commanded the For f , of
Niagara, given to the Americans in 1796.
Col. Smith, the younger, accepted the
position of Surveyor- General nrder Gov.
Sitncoe in 179S, and held that < ffic until
1804. Wben he left the count! y he received
19
the thanks of all branches of the Govern
ment under which he served and a bonus
amounting to 329 6s. S^d. He succeeded
to a baronetcy in Northumberland and died
in 1837.
The first map shows the entira site of
York from the east limit at the Don to the
west limit at the Garrison. It also snow*
290
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
the site of Castle Frank with a Government
Park, Scadding s farm and bridge over the
Don, the Garrison and Western Block
House, Russell square (U. C. College
grounds), Simcoe place (Government
House grounds), and the north boundary
which to-day would be about a mile north
of the Davenport road. This map also
shows the harbour and peninsula, for in these
days the eastern entrance had not been
formed. The town plot is marked " City
of York." The larger map shows the
Goveinment House and grounds, south of
King street, on the site of the old jail and
the location of Maryville on the north-east
corner of King and Ontario streets. Th ;
grounds were beautifully laid out. The
maps and elevation of the house are beauti
fully drawn, equal to what could be done in
the best architect -; office in Toronto to-day.
In 1799, according to a memorandum
written by John Sm ill, clerk of the Execu
tive Council, the place where Toronto now
stands did not amount to much even as a
village. The Executive at that time appa
rently were doing all they could to populate
York, as the following will show: Lots in
York, reserved for particu ar trades : Nos
19, 18, 17, 4, fronting on Lot street ; Nos.
12, 9, on Hospital street ; Nos. 6, 5, on Rus-
s-11 street; No. 10, on Newgate street The
whole lot are to be divided into half lots,
and to be reserved for persons who shall
actually build and carry on the following
trades thereon, viz. : Tinman, B acksmith,
Saddler, Wheelwright, Cooper, Shoemaker,
Baker.
In one of the bound volumes is a docu
ment which interests Toronto property
holders of tc-day. It reads :
Council Offl.ce, Dec. 29, 1798.
YONGE STREET.
Notice is hereby given to all persons fettled,
or abotit to fettle on Yonge Street, and whofe
locations have not vet been confirmed by order
of the PRESIDENT in Council, that before
such locations can be confirmed it will be ex
pected that the following conditions be com
plied with :
That within twelve months from the time they
are permitted to occupy their respective lots
they do caufe to be erected thereon a good &
fuf >ient dwelling houfe, of at least*]6 feet by
28 far & clear, and do occupy the fame in
Person at tor a f ubftantial TENANT.
JOHN SMALL, C. E. C.
John Small was the c .erk of the Honour
able the Executive Council of Uppir Can
ada, and grandfather of John Small, M.P.
for East Toronto The Hon. D. W. Smit!
returned to England in 1804 and in th
.-ame year he was Knighted. He died in
1817. White in Canada the Surv. yor-
General was in good terms with the nobility
and great Englishmen of his time as his
letters show. He left behind him a re
markable collection of autograph letters
and record?, now in the possession of the
Public Library.
CHAPTER XC.
THE CITY HALL.
Th* Home of the Municipal Fathers for the
Fast Forty Years.
The present City Hall dates trom 1844-45.
It was designed by Mr. Lane, an arch t?cr,
of some repute, and designed after the
Italian style. It cost originally $45,000,
and was built by Messrs. McDonald &
Young. In 1851 it was altered and im
proved so as to increase the cost to
$75,000. Since that tima about $75,000
has been laid out on the building,
making the gross expenditure to date in
the neighbourhood of $150,000. When
first built it was intended to supply the
w:-mts of the corporation and give roomy
offices to the Mayor and offic als. There
was a range of shops there on
each side of the main building, while the
centre building was occupied in the base
ment by the police station and cells. In
ths rear was a large and commodious vege
table and fruit market the first market
being to the south at the water s edge.
Th3 building has a frontage of 140 feet
with two wings of 178 feet extending to
the bay. The police court was in the
room occupied now by the executive com
mittee room. At a later period it was
removed to the south end of the west wing.
This was when George Gurnett was P.
M. About 1863 a verandah ran along
the west side of the City Hall building.
It was at the north end of this that
Greenwood, the murderer, was exposed in his
coffin after his suicide at the jail. The excite
ment was intense.and doubts were expressed
as to whether the real Gre -nwood had
committed suicide, so the authorities ex
posed his face in his coffin before
burial. The City Hall has been
c langed c mpletely, and every year
some alteration is made. The Council
Chamber is the same as it was 50 years
ago, except that it has been re
painted aud decorated and made more
comfortable. The paits of the building
formerly occupied as thops are DOW the
offic ?s of the City Treasurer and the City
Engineer. The old vegetab e market
was liberally patronized, and in the old
days every house in the city used to send
for their vegetables to this market of
course since an establishment of so many
shops where vegetables are vended, a
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
291
292
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
market specially for vegetables has not been
needed, although many think a large vege
table market would be popular in Toronto.
CHAPTER XCI.
THE BOND-HEAP INN.
An Old Hostelry Which Stood an the West
Side of Church Street Between hi us. and
Colborne Streets.
About the year 1825 William Cooper, not
however the wharfinger of that name, built
a two-storey inn on the west aide of Church
street, between King and Colborne streets.
It was of frame, painted white with green
shutters. It was a good sized house for
those days, but rather small for modern
L. Allen, who kept the inn under the name
of the " Head Inn." In later years it was
kept by John Irwin, the alderman.
CHAPTER XCIL
ST. PATRICK S MARKET.
The Second Public Market in ih CKy
Erected in 1836 on Land Given for the
Purpose by ! Aroy Boulton.
On the north side of Queen street west,
between numbers 234 and 240, stands a
small white brick building surmounted by
a little tower. Although it is not much
larger than a good sized butcher s shop, this
is a public market. In 1836. D Arcy Boul
ton gave to the City of Toronto the land on
which it stands, running back from Queen
ITLTL. I ft
ideas. Mr. Cooper conducted this hostelry
for many years under the name of Cooper s
Hotel. In 1836 it was taken by James Bell,
a big framed, big hearted landlord, who
afterwards kept the Wellington Hotel. Mr.
Bell, to distinguish him from others of that
name, was popularly known as " Big Bell."
Sir Francis Bond-Head was appointed gov
ernor the same year that Mr. Bell took the
property, and he being a staunch Tory,
iiamed the hostelry after the new governor,
the " Sir Francis Bond-Head Inn," and put
up in front of the building a swinging sign
bearing a portrait of Sir Francis wi o was
represented as uttering the words: "Let
them come if they dare !" the allusion being
to an expression of hie prior to the Macken
zie rebellion. This inn was the headquarters
of McGraw s troop at, the outbreak of the
ibellion. It was a great resort on the
twelfth of July, and was the stopping place
for many of the county lodges coming into
the city to take part in the Orange demon
stration. Mr. Bett was succeeded by George
street one hundred aud twenty-three feet to
a lane, on condition that the corporation
should erect a market; there, and that it
should be maintained as a market tor all
time. Before this the land was unoccupied.
It was part of a lot originally granted to
Mr. Boulton by the Crown, and consisted
of three city lots. Soon after the gift had
been accepted by the city under the con
ditions imposed by the donor, a small
frame building was put up on it. This was
the second public market place in Toronto.
It was named St. Patrick s Market, because
it was in St. Patrick s ward, which then
ext uded from Queen street north to York-
ville, and from Yonge street west to a little
beyond Dundas street. At the time west-
endrs were anxious to have the market,
thinking it would draw residents to that
part of &. city and thereby enhance
the value ot land. Among the property
owners in the neighbourhood who welcomed
the new market, all of whom are dead now,
were : James Ltnnon, John Harbron, Dr.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
293
294
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
Tims, William Flaherty and Arthur Clifton.
Early tenants of butcher s stal s were John
West, John Crealock and Jonathan Dunn,
i he latter at one time a member of the
Common Council. In 1856 William Dunn
had stalls Nos. one and three, William Cox-
enham had stall No. two and John Crea
lock stall No. six. The market was small
and at no time could it accommodate a larger
number of marketmen. After a time the
frame building fell into decay and was re
placed by the present brick structure, which
in turn ia fal ing into ruin. Themaiket
did not fulfil the great expectations cherished
by the residents of the west end, but they
store. This building, a saloon, was the firt
brick building devoted to business purpose*
on West Queen street.
CHAPTER XCIII.
MISS HUSSEY S SCHOOL.
Am Early Educational Institution on Queen
Street, < oiidncted by a Kind as Well as
Capable Teacher.
On the west side of James street, about
sixty feet back from that thoroughfare, and
a short distance north of Queen street,
stands a square two-storey roughcast build
ing with one ot those hipped or cottage
roofs that the early builders delighted in.
nerertheless adopted as a motto the legend :
"bet West Toronto Flourish." Subsequently
the city bought the land extending north
ward from the market plot to St. George s
church. This plot is now called St. Pat
rick s SQuare. The land on which St.
George s church now stands, was given to
that society by the widow of W. H. Bculton,
son of D Arcy Boulton la 1838, Mr.
Thomas Mara erected on the lot immedi
ately west of th market a three storey brick
building, the first tenant of which was
Angus Mclntoah, who kept there a grocery
It ia now unoccupied, and shows signs of
dilapidation, and at no distant clay will be
torn down, for it stands on the block selected
for the site of the new court-house building.
In this building Miss Eliza Hussey kept a
school as ea lyas 1831, and in Walton s
directory of 1833 4, we find on Lot street,
west of Elgin, Hussey s Day School. In
front of the bui ding originally were three
one-storey buildings, with dormer windows,
on Lot street, and the entrance to theschool-
house was by a three-foot gateway from Lot
street. Miss Hu se.y continued in this
JH-,
ST. PATRICK S MAKKET, 1893.
(op.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
295
school until about 1854, when she gave it
up, and became desirous to sell the property
for which she wanted 1,200, a mattt-r of
$5,000. She made a proposal to Mr. T. H.
Ince, to give her an annuity of 108 per
year for her life, and on these terms she
2ave the deed. The property passed out of
Mr. Ince s hands about 1868.
Miss Hu-sey s school is one that will be
remembered by many of the boys and girls
of Toronto, now grown into manhood and
womanhood. Miss Hussey had the reputa
tion of being an exce.lent teacher, and her
school WPS patronized by all who sought to
have their chidren brought up with a tho
rough knowledge of not only the four rules,
but some acquaintance with social deport
ment.
Among the citizens of Toronto who re*
ceived their early education from Mi-s
Hussey, are : Mr. Thompson, Mammoth
Hous ; Mr. Wa ker, of the Golden Lion ;
Alex. H;imilton,paincfcr ; and French Snar is.
Miss Hussey was kind as well as stric:.
She always kept some kind of lunch on her
table for any pupils that might be hungry.
Miss Hussey died in Mr. John Wightman s
house about fourteen or fifteen years ago.
Toronto Academy will be best remembered
by the native residents of to-day, who have
grown up with the city. The four brick
buildings that originally preceded the
Queen s Hotel were ordinary dwelling
houses, ei ected by C.ipfc. Dick many years
ago, and having served their time as dwel
ling-houses were all ihrown into one, and
Knox s College was located there as a per
manent institution. At the rear of these
four buildings was the frame erection given
in the engraving, a plain building, clap-
boarded, with iis porch and belfry to give
importance to its front. It was calculated
to hold, and did for that matter, about two
hundred pupils, and although it was really
known to t ha public as Knox Academy, it
was in reality styled "Toronto Academy."
The first principal of the school was the
Rav. A ex. Gale, who afterwards removed
to Logie, Mount Albion, six miles from
Hamilton, where he kept school for many
years. While he was princ pal he was as
sisted by Dr. Laing and the late Thos.
Henning, whose death was chronicled a few
d ys ago. Finally the College removed to
Eimsley Villa on Yonge street, north of
the Avenue, and the Iront buildings being
removed for the Queen s Hotel, this build-
CHAPTER XCIV.
THE TORONTO ACADEMY.
The Preparatory BoyV and Clrl> School on
Front Htroet that Stood at the Bear of tho
Queen * Hotel.
Of all old school houses in Toronto the
ing was removed still further in the rear,
and was used as an outhouae, storeroom,
and kitchen for the hotel. Among the
boys who were pupils at the Toronto Aca
demy were the late Thomas Moss, after
wards Chief Justice, Mr. W. A. Rattray,
the newspaper writer, Mr. Robert Sullivan.
296
LANDMARKS OP TORONTO.
V
-^
//
^i<^/ "^*"
^^\
on of Judge Sullivan, and in latter days one
of Upper Canada College s brightest pupils.
Mr. William Fraland, now residing on Bay
street, Mr. Langley, the architect, Mr.
James Smith, the architect, and Mr. John
Murray Smith, manager of the Bank of
Toronto in Montreal. Many men who have
made their marks in Canada received their
early training at the Toronto Academy.
There was one female pupil at this school,
a girl remarkable for her aptness at mathe
matics an 1 classics, Miss Jane Gale, daugh
ter of Rer. Alex. Gale, the principal.
This young lady afterwards married the
Rev. Mr. Inglias, of Hamilton. Miss Gala
had extraordinary ability, and it was
nothing uncommon for her father, when
some of his friends were at the house,
to hand his daughter a difficu t Greek
or Latin author, and request her to
translate at sight, which she did with
the greatest ease. In mathematics she was
phenomenal, and an intricate question in
mental arithmetic, that would require an
ordinary mind four or five minutes with
pencil and paper, would be answered
by her in a few seconds. Miss Gale
had a brother, Mr. James Gale, who at one
time was a teller of the Commercial Bank of
Hamilton, and he likewise had considerable
ability.
CHAPTER XCV.
THE BOSTWICK HOUSE-
The First Residence of Lurdner Kottwirk
ThB Yalue of the Property in 1810 and
Its Value To-day.
One of the worthiest of York s early set
tlers was Mr. Lardner Bostwick, who by
thrift and energy fr6m small beginnings
amassed a fortune, and at his death left a
handsome competency and likewise an hon
ourable name. His property in York com
prised a square acre on the south-east
corner of King and Yonge street, and when
selected, was no doubt intsnded as a site
for a house and garden which being on the
outskirts would be convenient for business.
The acre cost four hundred dollars. To
day it would probably bring a million and a
half dollars, taking the Kins; street front at
$2,OOJ par foot, the Yonge street front at
$1,030 and the Colborne street front at a
few hundred.
Mr. Bostwick s house and shop stood near
the present Golden Lion. It was a storey
and a half frame cottage paint d white.
The sketch is fr >m an old picture made in
1820. Among the subscriptions for a com
mon school we tmd the name Lardner Bost
wick down for 2 10s. Mr. Bostwick, in
later years, resided in Yorkville Just be
fore reaching Yorkville commons, on the
left, was an ornamental suburban residence,
the family homestead of the Bostwicks. It
was the first building in that locality.
CHAPTER XCVL
ELMSLEY VILLA.
The Home of Captain John EIniUey and
the Residence During His Stay in To*
ronto of Lord Elgin.
Almost as soon as Governor Simcoe had
selected York as the capital of Upper Canada,
before the commencement of the present
century, Chief Justice John Elmsley and
the first Dr. Macaulay selected two adjoin
ing park lots, both of them fronting of
cours* on Queen street, Dr. Macaulay s
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
297
being bounded on the east by Yonge street.
They then effected an exchange of land with
each other. Dividing these two lots trans
versely into equal portions the Chief Justice
chose the upper or northern halves and Dr.
Macaulay the lower or southern. Dr. Ma-
caulay thus acquired a large frontage on
Queen street and the Chief Justice a like
advantage on Yonge street. The northern
portion of these halves descended to the son
and heir of the Chief Justice, Captain John
Elmsley, on the death of his father in 1805.
On this property north of where Grosvenor
street now runs westward of Yonge street,
was a solitary green field with a screen of
lofty trees on three of its sides. In its
midst was a Dutch barn or hay-barrack
with a movable roof. The sward on the north
ern side of this building had drank human
blood. It was the exact spot where a fatal
duel was fought early in the morning of the
12th of Ju y, 1817, an account of which has
been given in a previous chapter. Captain
John Elmsley in his younger days was a
lieutenant in the Royal Navy. In 1832
with his friend Mr. J affray Hales, afterward
of Quebec, he left the naval service. In 1837
he was appointed to the command of a Gov
ernment vessel carrying two swivel guns on
the lower St. Lawrence. A short time sub
sequently he settled for a period on his es
tate at Toronto, where he expended consid
erable sums of money in farming operations.
Later he undertook the command of a vessel,
the James Coleman, trading on his own ac
count between Halifax and Quebec.
The love of the water never left
him and afterwards for a time he
commanded th.-; Sovereign, one of the miil
steamers on Lake Ontario. He owned a fast
saili ig cutter of twenty-two and a-half tons
burden named the Dart and in 1832 he ad
vertised her for sale at York. Somewhat
later than 1837 Captain Elmsley was ap
pointed to a seat in the Upper House.
Captain Elmsley was a skil til .-aid popular
lake captain. He was a man oi fine hearing,
and it is said that he greatly resembled his
father, the Chief Justice. In 1839 he visit
ed Brockviile. There were in the vicinity
of Brock vile at that, time a number of mili
tia men who had as a reward for their ser
vices in the war of 1812 been granted scrip
entitling them to cla ; in land from the Gov
ernment. Captain Elmsley foresaw that the
ownership of these claims might be turned
to good account and so he was bent on ac
quiring them, a-i claims could be had at a
large discount from their real value. He
procured assignments of many claims and
these were the foundation of his wealth as
a large landed proprietor. Captain John
Elmsley did not follow in the footsteps of
his father in the matter of faith and religion.
The Chief Justice was a staunch Protestant
and a member of the church of England.
He was one of the principal founders of the
bui ding of St. James church. In the year
1834 Captain Elmsley became a convert to
the Roman Catholic church, although up to
that period he had like his father and
mother been a staunch Protestant. The os
tensible cause of his change of faith was the
reading of the Roman Catholic Bishop of
Strasburg s observations on the sixth chap
ter of St. John s gospel. Mr. Eimsley sat
isfied his own mind and published a pam
phlet which he circulated through the pro
vince giving ths reason for his change of
faith. His former pastor, the Ven
erable Archdeacon Strachan came out
on the other side with a pamphlet and
sermon and sent a nicely bound copy of his
production to his old Iriend the Roman
Catholic Bishop Alexander Macdonnell.
His Vicar-General William P. Macdonald
flared up at once anl in spite of the Bishop s
remonstrances published " Remarks on the
Eucharist" in refutation of his old school
fellow Dr. Strachan. On reading this Dr.
Strachan is said to have exclaimed : " It s
all light, diamond cut diamond, Scotchman
against Scotchman." The controversy went
no further. Captain Elmsley notwith
standing his secession from his mother
church continued in act of charities and be
nevolence. Many poor citizens, some now
living, had reason to acknowledge assistance
from his bounty and the Roman Catholic
church profited largely by his benefactions.-
He gave facilities for the establishment of
St. Basil s College and other Roman Catho
lic institutions on hisestate. Captain Elm
sley married a daughter of Chief Justice
Sherwood ;;nd somewhere about the time of
the Mackenzie rebellion built on his estate
E msley Villa, a sketch of which is given.
Elmsley Vilia was also for a time the resi
dence of Captain J. S. Macaulay, who mar
ried ;i daughter of Chief Justice Elmsley.
The Hon. Henry Sherwood, Solicitor General
had his residence at E msley Villa in 1846.
A portion of the sandhill elevation to the
westward of Yonge street a little south of
Yorkville had its name Clover Hill from the
designation borne by one of Captain Elm-
sley s houses. The rustic lodge with dia
mond lattice windows at the gate leading in
to the original Clover Hill wason the street
a little farther on. At the time of his de
cease Captain Eimsley had taken up his
abode in a building apart from the principal
residence of the Clover Hill estate, a build
ing to which he had given the name of
Barnstable as being in fact a portion of the
outbuildings of the homestead turned into a
298
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO..
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
299
modest dwelling. Barnstable was subse
quently occupied by Mr.Maurice Scollard,a
veteran attsche of the Bank ot Upper
Canada. The burning by a mob of
of the Parliament buildings at Montreal on
che night of the 25th of April, 1849, in con
sequence of the passing of the Rebellion
Losses Bill, and the subsequent riotous
manifestations in that city had satisfied
Lord Elgin and his ministers i hat it would
be desirable to remove the seat of Gov
ernment to some place containing a less tur
bulent population, and where more respect
was paid to constitute.l authority. The de
termination finally arrived at was that the
remaining sessions of the existing parlia
ment should be held at Toronto after which
the seat of Government should be transfer
red alternately to Quebec and Toronto for
periods of four yeais. A few weeks before
arriving at this conclusion the Governor-
General paid a visit to Upper Canada. He
reached Toronto on the 9th of October and
was received by the psop e with mingled
enthusiasm and apprehension, for it was
known that many persons were disposed to
hold him personally responsible for the Re
bellion Losses Bill and there was some fear
of a riot. His Excellency landed from the
steamer at Yonge street wharf where he was 1
met bv a large concourse including; nearly
all the prominent citizens, by whom he was
escorted to his hotel. Certain hostile de
monstrations were made by a few persons as
the cortege moved up Yonge .-treet. Se
veral stones and rotten eggs were flung at
the Vice-Regal party who preserved their
composure. Thirteen persons were arrested
and as the grand jury were then in
session the culprits were forthwith present
ed and committed to prison. Lord Elgin
took up his quarters t mporarily at Ellah s
hotel on King street west, but soon after
wards removed to E msley V lla, a stiucture
built on the rising ground to the north of
the Yonge street branch of the College
avenue. Elmsley Villa as its n;ime implies
was once the property of Captain John
Elmsley. It was subsequently converted
into KnoxCollege and stood on the site
now occupied by the Central Presbyterian
church on the corner of Grosvenor and St.
Vincent streets. The Governor continued to
reside there during his stay in Toronto and
the place thus became permanently asso
ciated with his name. Elmsley Villa after
ward was occupied by Knox College from
the time of its removal from the site now
occupied by the Queen s Hotel to the com
pletion of the present edifice on Spadina
avenue.
CHAPTER XCVII.
THE BANK OF B. N- A.
One of the Early Financial Institution* of
the City of Toronto Established Here in
the Year 1837.
The Bank of British North America was
organized to do business in Toronto
iu 1837. Its establishment in Toronto
is heralded in The Patriot of May 23rd,
1837, by this advertisement : "Bank of
British North America. Capital, one mil
lion sterling. Provisional committee for
conducting the affairs of the bank in To
ronto. The Hon. George Crookshank,
Thomas Merc r Jones, E=q., George Monro,
Esq., James Newbigs;ing, Esq. Arrange
ment! are in progress for the commence
ment of business in Toronto as early as
possible and in the|meantime applications
on the affairs of the bank may be addressed
to the members of the provisional com
mittee. Robert Carter, commissioner for
the court directors." A year later it was
well under way and in the same journal of
August, 1838, the directors of the Bank
of British North America advertise from St.
Helen s Place.London, a half yearly dividend
of three per cent, on the paid up capital of
the bank payable on the shares registered in
the colonies at the branch banks at Montreal,
Quebec, Toronto, Halifax, St. John s, New
Brunswick and St. Johns, Newfoundland.
The bank at its start in Toronto WHS
located in the brick building at the south
east corner of King and Frederick street?.
Patrick Hunter was a^ent of the bank while
it was in this buiuiing. In 1843. Mr. J.
G. Howard, the aichitect, built for the
bank at the north-east corner of Yonge and
Wellington streets a handsome solid edifice
of cut stone which might have endured for
centuries. In 1871 this was deliberately
taken down block by block and made to
give place to a structure which should be on
a par in magnificence and altitude with the
buildings put up in Toronto by the other-
banks. " Mr. Howard s building at the time
of its erection was justly regarded as a
credit to the town. Its design was preferred
by the directors in London to those sent iu
by several architects there. Over the
principal entrance were the royal arms ex
ceedingly well carved in stone on a grand
scale and wholly disengaged from the wall
and conspicuous over the parapet above
was the great scallop shell, emblem of the
gold digger s occupation, introduced by Sir
John Sloane in the architecture of the Bank
of England. The royal arms of the old
bui ding have been deemed worthy of a place
over the entrance to the new and present
bank which is situated on the same site.
300
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
301
CHAPTER XCVIIL
THE HARRIS SHIN PLASTERS-
Kreryihing Passed for Money During the
Suspension of Specie Payments in the
Years Succeeding tbe Mackenzie Rebel
lion.
In the year that Queen Victoria ascended
the throne of England and for a year or two
thereafter, Upper Canada suffered great in
convenience from the scarcity of fractional
currency caused by the suspension of specie
payments in consequence of the Mackenzie
rebellion. The banks having obtained per
mission to suspend specie payments all per
sons were ob iged to make change as best they
oou .d. The result was that merchants and
shop-keepers of every grade gave due bills to
their customers. The corporation of the
city of Toronto at the same time issued one
dollar bills payable with interest and guar
anteed by the municipality. The due bills
of the grccers, butchers and dry-goods mer
chants at length increased to such an extent
that people became shy of accepting them.
As a way out of the difficulty Mr. T. D.
Harris proposed to the corporation that it
isiue fractional currency sufficient lor the
ordinary wants of trade. Mr. Sherwood who
was mayor at the time suggested that Mr.
Harris might issue such a cuir ncy on his
own responsibility and in accordance with
this suggestion he did so. Ac first he had
printed on common paper by a Toronto
printer bills in the denominations of TJd.,
Is. 3d. and 2~. 6d. These bills wore out so
quickly and were tern so easily that he had
a plate made by R-iwdon, Wright, Hatch &
Go. of New York, and bills of the same de
nominations as those previously issued prin
ted on good bank note paper. A facsimile
of one of these bills is shown in the accom
panying print. The bills declared on their
face that they were redeemable in sums of
one dollar at the Sign of the Anvil andSledg .
They were guaranteed by the firm ot which
Mr. Harris was a member, the Anvil and
Sledge being the well-known sign ot that
firm of hardware dealers. The business had
been started in 1829 on King street a little
east of George street, the name of the firm
at that time being John Watkins & Co.
Mr. Karris waa the company. In 1832 and
from that date to 1839 or later the firm was
Watkins & Harris. In 1832 the business
was carried on in a building on the south
side of King street nearly opposite the
present Clyde hotel. Befor^ 1838 however,
it was removed to a brick building standing
where the Clyde hotel now stands No. 158,
King street east. While occupying this
building Mr. Watkins interest in the busi
ness w;is bought out by Mr. Harris and the
name above the door was aimply T. D.
Harris. Mr. Watkins was at this time pre
sident of the Commercial Bank of Kingston
and his home was there. Mr. Harris sub
sequently moved to the building No. 124
King street east. The firm then became T.
D. & W. R. Harris and afterward Harris,
Evans & Co., and under th latter name the
business was carried on at No, 124 King
street east until 1860 when it was disc >n-
tinued altogether. The brick building No. 158
had in the meantime been burned. When it
was re-built it became the Clyde hotel. The
ong nal building was put up and owned by
Mr. Murchison at one time the fa&nionabie
tailor of the town. It was erected about
1832. The Harris shinplasters, for such they
were called at the time of their issue, quick
ly drove a!l the one dollar bills out of circu
lation. They were paid out by the firm in
the years 1838 and 1839 and the total amount
put, out was several thousand dollars. Altho
the promise on their face wasthat theyshouJd
be t edeemed only in sums of one dollar.
Mr. Harris never refused to redeem them
for any amount, less or greater and with
the exception of those lost, destroyed, or
never presented for redemption all were
paid in government currency. The Harris
bills were issued in Halifax currency, eight
of the lowest, four of the intei mediate and
two of the highest denomination beine
equivalent to a dollar or sixty pence. They
bore the signature of Watkins & Harris and
also of John J. Evans at that time the cash
ier of the firm and later the partner of Mr.
Harris. These shinplasters went out of cir
culation after the banks resumed specie
payments in 1840. At this time business
was transacted in various currencies. York
and Halifax currency differed. In the for
mer, seven an da-half pence made a shilling
and in the latter twelve pence. 1 ha Gov
ernment paid all its accounts with Mexican
silver dollars. Watkins & Harris was the
only firm in Toronto to issue shinplasters,
but two other business houses beside it cir
culated copper and brass tokens to take the
place of pennies. These were imported
from England and the firms to issue them
were Watkins & Harris, hardware dealers ;
Perrin & Co., dry-goods merchants, and
Terence J. O Neil, auctioneer. Perrin & Co.
occupied the , " chequered store" which
stood where the Bank of Quebec now stands.
Their token was of copper with a man
threshing grain on one side and the motto,
"No labor, no bread," on the other. Th
tokens of Watkins & Harris were also of
copper. On one side was a ship and on the
other the legend ** To facilitate trade "
30*
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
REV. EGERTON RYERSON, D D., \Vesleyau Methodist
Divine, Superintendent of Education in Canada from
1841 to 1876. Born 1803. Died 1882.
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
303
O Neil s auction _roQjns were in the first
building east of St. "James 1 cathedral. His
tokens were of brass, thin and common look
ing, but in those days almost a biass blank
passed for money ; they circulated freely,
CHAPTER XCIX.
MAJOR HILLIER S COTTAGE
Tb Little Rustic Cattage That Occupied in ;
Early Times ihe Baldwin Corner, tbe N.
E. Corner ol Promt and. Bay Street*.
The block of ground between Bay, Yonge,
Wellington and Front is not exactly square.
The broken line on Front street, starts the
lot from tha Rank of Montreal to the Bald
win House on the corner of Bay.
Right on the corner, where the
Baldwin House stands, a little to the north
and easr, stood for years one of the earliest
examples of an English rustic cottage, with
verandah and sloping lawn It was occupied
by Major Hillier of the 74th Regt., aide-
canvoand military secretary to Sir Peregrine
Maitland. The (well j developed hawthorn
tree to the north of the site of this cottage,
Guille, Major Hillier, Capt. Blois, Caps.
Philpotts, brother of the Bishop
could be seen. The Hillier house
was owned by the Honorable Peter
Russell and after his death in 180S all his
prop?rty was advertised for sa e. In of
fering this property it is spoken of as " an
excellent dwelling houss iu the town of
York, and described as being in the posses-
won of Mr. John Denison. The building
referred to, situated as it is further men
tioned in the advertisement, on a " front
town lot, with a very convenient water lot
adjoining." This " ornamental cottage" was
the one in the engraving and afterwards oc
cupied by Major Hillier. The town resi
dence of Dr. Baldwin was erected on the
site of this house about 1840. It was after
wards occupied by Mrs. John Ellah as a
private hotel and in 1863-64 as a military
hospital and the la-t occupants wera the
Toronto, Grey, Bruce and Nipissing
railroad offices. The building is now dis.
mantled, preparatory to being torn down for
warehouses.
on the Mercer property, was standing up to
1886, when it was cut down. John Carr,
the late harbour master, told the writer that
the tree was panted by Lieut. -Governor
Simcoe in 1794. This he had from the Hil
lier family. Major Hillier was a prominent
subscriber to the building of the Don bridge
in 1822, and was a well known member
of St. Andrew s Masonic Lodge.
A,t fit. James Church in the pew
o! jLieut-Nludge, Sir John Colborne s aide,
the fanaifiar faces of Major Powell, Caot.
CHAPTER C.
AN EARLY METHODIST CHURCH.
One of tbe Finest Ecclesiastical Edifices in
Upper Canada iu 1833 at tbe Corner of
Adelaide and Toronto Streets.
In 1818 was erected the First Methodist
church at York. It stood a few feet back
from what ia now the corner of King and
Jordan streets, but at that time Jordan
street had no existence. This continued
to be the only place of worship ior
304
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
the devoted followers of John Wesley, other
wise the Methodist denomination, from the
time of its erection to _1833, when it was
converted into a theatre. Two years be
fore the latter date the membership had
increased to such an extent that the cfficia
board determined to erect a church better
suited to the requirements of the body, and
obtained a site on what is now the corner of
Ade aide and Toronto streets, being a por
tion of the present court house block.
Here a new brick church was completed in
1833 and was considered one of the best
and most commodious ecclesiastical edifices
in Western Canada. In 1836 the churches
of the city were : St. James, Anglican, two
Presbyterian, one Baptist on March street,
one Congregational on George street, on<
Primitive Methodist on Bay street, one
CHAPTER CI.
ELMSLEY HOUSE.
The Site of the Present Government Home,
formerly Chief Justice Elmsley s Resi
dence. Later that of the Governors.
The first Government House at York, a
one-storey frame building, waa shattered to
pieces by the explosion of the magazine at
the time of the invasion of York by the
Americans in 1813. This ruin led on the
restoration of peace to the purchase of Chief
Justice John Elmsley s house at fhe south
west corner of K ng and Simcoe streets and
its conversion into a Government house.
This frame buildm? known later as Govern
ment House was originally the private resi
dence of Chief Justice Elmsley. For many
years after its purchase by the Government
Roman Catholic on Power street, one Catho
lic Apostolic, a little west of Bay street
presided over by the Reverend George Ry-
erson, and more important than any of
these, architecturally speaking, the Ade
laide Street Methodist Church. This con
tinued to be used as a place of worship
down to comparatively recent times when
other and larger accommodation having
been provided for the congregation its fur
ther employment for ecclesiastical purposes
became unnecessary. It was demolished a
few years ago and another building has
arisen on its site.
it was styled " Elmsley House." As at
Quebec the correspondence of the Governor-
in-chief was dated from the " Chateau St.
Louis" or "Cas le of St. Louis" so here thar
of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Western
province was long dated from Elmsley
House. John Elmsley, the builder of the
house, was the son and heir of Alexander
Elrnsley, of the parish of Marylebone, Mid
dle sex, England, and the nephew of the
celebrated London publishers^Elmaley &
Brother, and also of the comical critic and
editor, Peter Elmsley of Oxford. He was
born in 1762 Mr. David B. Read, Q C.,
in his rece_ntly_ published " Judges of Upper
Canada and Ontario, has given a biograph
ical sketch of Chief Justice Elmsley. The
future Chief Justice of Upper Canada was
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
305
called to the bar of Eng and at the Middle
Temple, May 7, 1790. He had been at the bar
only six years and a half when he received
His Majesty s letters patent appointing him
Chief Justice of Upper Canada, to succied
the Hon. William Osgoode, the first Chief
Justice of Upper Canada, who had been
promoted from that office to the chief judi
ciary of Lower Canada. The King s patent
appointing Mr. Eimsley, was dated Novem
ber 2l6t, 17%. His uncle, the London
publisher, wasa friend of the Duke of Port
land, and it is said that Mr. Eimsley owed
his appointment to the bench to the patron
age of the Duke. He fi r st took his seat as
Chief Justice at the Court House at New-
one hundred acres directly west of the
Macaulay lot, the eastern portion of which
latter lot was Yonge street. The Chief
Justice preferring land that lay higher ef
fected an exchange with Dr. Macaulay,
giving the southern half of his lot for the
northern half of his neighbour s. Hia incli
nation as well as interest prompted him to
be one of the principal promoters of the
opening of Yonge street aud in 1800 he
presided at a public meeting to conbider the
best means of opening up that thoroughfare
and was a subscriber to the fund raised for
that purpose. The Chi f Justice
acquired a tract of land at the
southwest corner of King and Simcoe
1.
ark, (Niagara) January 16th, 1797. In the
performance of his duty as Chief Justice he
held criminal courts of Oyer and Terminer
in the various judicial districts of the pro
vince at Newark, York, Kingston, Corn-
wa 11 and Johnstown once a year down to
the Court for the Home District, held at
York on February 14th, 1801. The Chief
Justice while residing m York took mnch
interest in the material progress of the place.
By his order an explanation of the town
plot of York as laid out was made in 1800.
At pvrblit meetings he was frequently chair
man. He was one of the founders and early
pewholders of St. James Church. In 1799
daring the temporary absence of Governor
JSunter in the Lower Province, the adminis
tration of this province was entrusted to a
eommut/ee of which Chief Justice E msley
was one oi the members. The Chief Justice
va& the original pouesaor of the park lot of
streets and here about the beginning of the
century he built E ; msley House, which
after its purchase and conversion into
Government House after the war of 1812,
was for the greater part of its existt nee
occupied by the Governors and Lieutenant-
Governors who there dispensed the hospi
tality suitable to their station. The Gov
ernor s residence has been more than once
added to and improved and there seems to
be a disposition on the part of those
who have the control of the viceregal
mansion to preserve in its ?
s >me of its antiquity. In Chuf
E msley s time the practics of branding
pillorying had not yet gone out. At 5
Court held bj him at York. Noverab&r fttn,
1798, one co&Ticted prisoner iras sentenced
to be pab fcr/ vhi;>ped eaA another to be
Vrarned in the hand. The same year at
New Johnstown a prisoner convicted of
306
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
perjury was sentenced to be pilloried three
times and imprisoned six months. At the
Court held in York, November 26th, 1798,
the Attorney -General moved in the case of
three prisoners brought up for sentence
that they be permitted to transport them
selves not to ba transported, but to trans
port themsolves. Chief Justice Elms ey
performed his duties in such a sa:isfu.ctory
manner that on the resignation < f Chief
Justice Osgoode he was appointed to suc
ceed him in the Chief Justiceship of Lower
Canada, October 13th, 1802. In his new
office Chief Justice Elmsley was con-picuous
for his fidelity and zeal in the public service.
In 1804 he was appointed to the Speakership
of the Legislative Council of that province.
He had on y filled the office of Chief Jus
tice of Lower Canada for a period of three
years when death cut short his career at
Montreal in July, 1805. In October,
1855, the Government offices were removed
hither from Quebec, and Toronto once more
became the capital of Canada. The Gov
ernor-General Sir E imund Waiker Head,
who had succeeded Lord Elgin towards the
close of the preceding year did not reach
here until November. The old structure
known as Government House which stood
in its own grounds on the corner ot Simcoe
and King streets had been refurnished and
fitted up for His Excellency s reception and
here he abode dunng his four years stay in
Toronto. In the old d ys bef >re the uniou
of the provinces in 1841, the building had
been used as an official residence by five
successive Lieutenant-Governors of Upper
Canada, namely, Francis Gore, S;r Pere
grine Maitland, Sir John Colborne, Sir
Francis Bond Head and Sir George Arthur.
Sir Edmund was the last Governor General
to occupy it as Toronto has not been the
seat of the Government of Canada since hid
time. For a t me Eimsley House was used
as quarters for the officers of the garrison.
Dur ng their occupincy a fire broke out in
the building, Th ; present Government
building was put up on the same bite about
twenty years ago. Previous to its erection
for some years th unoccupied Government
grounds, ware a favourite place for holding
Sunday school gatherings.
CHAPTER CII.
THE AMERICAN HOTEL.
An Old Hostelry Which Was Until Recently
One of i e Best Known HOUSI-J, in i nuada
The American Hotel at the north-ea-,t
corner of Front and Yonge streets whii-h in
af.-w months will b; level with the ground
to make room for the Board of Trade build
ing, is ens of th 3 beat kn^wn hotels in Cana
da. Between its site and Scotc street was
in 1830, and f >r years p:-?v ously, a frame
residence built by Chi-.f Justice Scott, when
he was Attorney-G neral. This house was
after that the residence of the Hor Levius
Sherwood and was torn down about fifty
years ago. In the cellar of this house on
the occasion of the Queen s coronation, a
huge ox was roasted and was carried in a
large waggon, down to the market p ac: on
King street and the inhabitants tf the town
were regaled with a feast free of all ex
pense. Tne lat James Browne, the whar
finger, held the lines over the horses as the
hug e roast was drawn through th ; streets.
Mr. Rennie bought the corner about 1840,
and erected thereon th? br ck bui ding
known f >r yeai s as the American hotel It
was built on the land f >rme lv owned by
Chit f Justice Scott. Mr. Rennie was the
proprietor of the hotel in 1849. Ab ut this
time thelocility &.bout|her^ was a favourite
place fo shooting snip . The hotel has had
ma iy landlords. AmongstthemwereMr Pier-
son, an American and Mr.David Walker now
of the Walker House. Mr. Mackie was
auo her tenant. Mr. Eds til was the last
prior to the closing up. The prope ty for
years was in the p ss ssion of the late Ro
bert Wilkes. This gentleman was a zealous
advoca e of temperance and when h owned
the hotel, offered his tenant a reduction of
$1,000 a year in the rent if he wou.d close
the bar room, but this offer was declined-
Finally the Board of Trade bought the Bite>
CHAPTER CIIL
AN OLD PICTURE-
A. View ot York From Gibraltar Point -An
Old Steamer.
Mr. Hornet Dixon, the Consul-General of
the Netherlands, and an enthusiastic reader
of the old Landmarks, sends us a unique
"aquarint " to-dayitwouldb oalled a "chio-
m type" of "York from Gib altar Point,
dedicated to his patron Sir Peregrine Mait-
lan , Lieut -Governor, and the gentlemen of
Upper Cnnida," by Jam s Gray, L-n ion,
England, Dec. 1st, 1823. The o d picture is
in size 21^x11 iuche.-. The steamer repre
sented as going out of the harbour is the
Quee ston, a small steamer which ran in
from Toronto to Niagara. The view
gives a fair represe tation of the ci;y, si ow
ing the xtieme east, with the bridges over
the Don, and the Garrison on the west. The
bu.ldings on ihe city front are not very dis
tinct, i Ut many can be readi y rec gnized.
These points noted cannot be seen to d van
tage in the reproduction, but in th original
can be a eu with the naked eye, while details
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
307
308
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
can be brought out with the aid of a
strong glass. Mr. Dixon in his travels
through France came across another inter
esting picture. When he visited Paris, he
walked i*to his room in a quiet hotel, near
the Rue St. Honoie, and to nis surprise saw
hanging over the mantel one picture of a
scene that seemed rat! er familiar. A closer
examination proved that it was a tinted
lithograph of a " Sleisrh scene, Toronto, C.
W., dedicated by permission to the officers
of the 83rd Regiment." " Painted by G. T.
Downman, published March 26th, 1853
(private plate)." The siza of this plate is
30x22$ inches and it represents Toronto
Bay in winter with a large number of
aleighi on the ice. Mr. Dixon secured the
picture, and has it at " The Homewood."
CHAPTER CIV.
A DIRECTORY OF 1815
The Old Bonnes of York An Interesting
MS. from the Papers ef Chief Justice
Kobiuson.
Mr. Christopher Robinson, Q C. , who,
like all old Torontonians, is interested in
the landmarks of his birthplace, sends ua a
very interesting and antique document, in
the snaps of a partial directory of Toronto,
made after the war of 1812-15. It gires the
names of the owners and a correct list of
the houses which were built before the war,
the list bsing limited to that part of the
town of York bounded on the west by Peter
street, on the east by New street or, as it
in now called, Jarvis street. We give the
Hit as it was written in 1815, and following
it some notes locating i he dwellings, so that
the residents of to-day may^know something
about the old toots :
Statement showing the number of houses and
other buildings (not including barns, stabler
root houses and the like), which were built be^
fore the late war, in that part of the town of
York, bounded on the east by New street, and
on the west by Peter street.
FRONT STREET.
1. Mr. CrookshanK.
2. Mr. Beikie.
3. Bskerlin, a discharged soldier from De
Wat tevilles Regiment. Built by John Endicott,
of Yonge street.
4. Mr. Justice Powell.
5. Mr. Hagerman built by William Weeks.
Esq.
6. Count Joseph DePuisaye -burnt 27th April,
1813.
7. Mr, Markland built by Mr. President
Russell.
8. Mr. Justice Sherwood built by Mr. cott.
MARKET STREET.
1. Riley built by Hugh MacLean.
2. Government House formerly Elmsley
House.
3. Mr. Cartwright now Colonel Foster s
office.
4. Barrack Master Hartney-huilt by the
Hon. James Baby.
5. Kxerojtive Council and Surveyor-General s
offices -built by the Hon. Robert Hamilton of
Queenston.
6. John Ross sines removed.
7. Mr. Chewett.
8. Mr. Mercer built by Alexander MacNab,
Esq., who was killed at the Battle of Wa^rloo.
9. North-east corner, opposite Mr. Mercer s.
10. North-west corner built by Thomas Job-
bit, a discharged soldier from the Queen s
Rangers.
11. Mr. Berczy since removed.
12. Nicholas Clinger The blacksmith.
13. Mr. Baby built by David Bnrns, Esq.
14. Angus Cullachie Macdonell, Esq. burnt
by accident in the time of the war.
15. MacLachlin s slaughter house, opposite
the south-west corner of the Market square,
now a tavern.
KINO STREET.
1. A small house, south of Colonel Fosters .
2. High Carfrae, a discharged sergeant from
the Queen s Rangers.
3. Joseph Dennis built, by Monsieur Quetton
St. George.
4. Jordan Post, jr., an emigrant settler.
5. William Knott, a discharged soldier from
the Queen s Rangers.
6. Carpenter s shop.east of William Knott s
Built by Mr. Dugpan.
7. John Dennis, shlpwriflht from the Dock
Yard at Kingston.
8. Lardner Bostwick, an F migrant settler.
9. The Jail, since taken down.
10. The Episcopal church since repaired and
enlarged.
11. School house. Market square burnt by
accident in the time of the war.
NEWGATE STREET.
1. The Widow Caldwell built by Mr. Hugh
Howard.
2. Mr. Jesse Ketchum an Emigrant settler,
by trade a tanner.
3. John Dennis built by Angus Cullachie
Macdonell, Esq.
HOSPITAL STREET.
1. Mr. Chief Justice Robinson built by
D Arcy Boulton. jr., Esq.
2. Mr. Chewett s servant, John Doggit.
3. M*3. Long, The Black Woman.
4. Mrs. Flannagan, from Ifonge street.
5. A log house, owned by Mr. Mercer.
6. Mr. Colin Drummond.
LOT STREET.
Not a building lot of any kind throughout
this street, but one.
1. Formerly owned by Joshua Leech, lately
the Court house.
Recapitulation
Front street 8 houses.
Market street 15
King street 11
Newgate street 3
Hospital street 6
Lot "street 1
Total 44 Buildings.
The following notes wnl give the reader
an idea of the old spots. For mu h of th
informat on we are indtbted to Mrs. Sey
mour, mother of Mr. Grant Seymour, an old
Yoru Ionian.
FRON / STREET.
L i%* Cr&ekehank house stood at the
1 north-west corner of Front and Windsor
streets. It was a frame hous?, and at a later
date Mr. Crookshank built the residence on
,ne n^rtn-easit corner of Front and Peter,
and which was pulled down a few yeara ago.
m&
(op. 308)
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
305
2 Mr. Beikie was the Sheriff of Yoik at
this early datw and his house stood a little
west of the north-east corner of Windsor
and Front.
3. Eskerlin s house is the old half way
house west of the Greenland Fishery. De
Watteville Regiment was one of the dis
banded Hessian or German Regiments
which fought for the British Crown in Can
ada in 1812-15.
At the time of the war in 1812, Dr. Powell,
grandfather of Mr. Grant S ymour of
Ottawa, was living as a tenant in the
house known as the " Greenland Fishery."
He was desirous of buying the property
which was then, in posbessio i of Mr. Hart-
ney, the Barrack Master at the Old Fort in
York. Mr F[artn y s sen is now an officer
of the House of Commons of Canada. There
was some trouble about the title and the
sale of the house was never completed. Mr.
Justice Powell never lived in the hf use as
the list issued indicates. He passtd all his
life, and died, in the old h >use ne >r the cor
ner of Front and York streets. The fram^
houses to the west of the Greenland Fishery,
and the houses to the west again Mrs. Sey
mour has a distinct recollection of in 1816.
5 Judge Hageiman s house, in 1815, was
situa ed a little east of Mrs. Mainland s
house. She lived between York and Bay st.
Hagermm s house was past Yonge streat,
east of Yonge street wharf. Mrs. Seymour
remembers it as a low frame house.
6. Count Joseph De Puisaye, was a
French Royalist refugee. He obtained 1 inds
in the Orik Ridges. He owned the lot at
the north-west corner of Front and Bay,
and probvbly lived there. H. J. Ecu. ton
bought the property afterwards.
7 Mrs. Maryland s house which was built
by President Ru sell, was east of Yonge.
8. Mr. Jus ic; Sherwood s house occupied
the site of the American Hotel. It was
originally a one-storey long frame, and
afterwards had a second storey added. It
had a pretty garden in front. It was built
by Chief Justice Scott, who afterwards
built the long low cottage on Scott street,
where Hugh G enn.the mate of the Transit,
lived in later years.
MARKET STREET.
1. Rileyhouse is ;is hard to find as "the
well-known Mr. Riley who kepr the hotel."
2. The Government House, formerly
E msley house, stood on the site of the pre
sent Government House. It was part
frame, rough cast and brick. It was burnt
down above thirty years ago.
3. Mr Cartwright was living i i Kingsto-i
during 1812-13 14. His house stood on the
plot of ground occupied by the Baruhart
house on Wellington street.
4. Barrack master Hartney lived in t
house directly west of the Executive Coun
cil offices. The late John Ginty occupied
the liouse afterward*.
5. The Executive Council and Surveyor-
General s ( ffi es were on the north-west cor
ner of Wellington (Market) and York. It
was built by the Hon. Robert Hamilton, of
Queenbton. It was in latter years the
family residence of Chief Justice Draper,
and was known as "The Lawn."
6. John Ross, the undertaker, of York.
His house was on Market street, eaat of
York. Ross took charge of General Block s
body after the battle of Queenston. It
was this act that led him, it is said, to fol
low up the business, of which to-day would
be called "funeral director." He lived
from 1825, oil Adelaide street, west
of the north corner of Peter.
7. Mr. Chewett s house still stands. It
is on Wellington street, east of Dr. Thor-
burn s, and was the family mansion of the
Chewetts. It is now occupied by Mr.s.
Osborne, and the east part is a livery stable.
8. The Mercer House, which stood on
Wyld, Darling s corner, was bui t by Alex
ander McNab, who was killed at the Battle
of Waterloo. Andrew Mercer bought ch
property about 1820.
9. North-eas corner Bay and Wellington
frame nouse, resident unknown. Hawke s
lunch house was a mill in later years.
10. North-w st corner Bay and Welling
ton, built by Thom?s Tobbit. Mrs. Tobbit
afterwards sold candies on Richmond st
and was liberally patronized by the school
boys.
11. Mr. Berczy s house was in rear of the
Imperial Bank. The house was built by
Peter McDougall, a well known merchant
of York.
12 Nicholas Clinger, th3 blacksmith,
near the British Bank corner.
13. Mr. Baby s house, about corner of
Yonge and Col borne.
14. Angus Cullachie Macdonnell s house.
Mr. Macdonell was a barrister. He was
one of those lost in the Speedy. His house
was near the corner of Yonge and Market.
15. MacLachlin s slaughter-house was at
the south-west corner of Front and Market
square. It was afterwards a tavern.
KINO STREET
1. A small house. This was above th
N. E corner of Adelaide and Ptter streets.
2. Hugh Carfrae s house, King Street,
north of the Mail office. The brick house
for years occupied by Dr. Campbell was
buiic by Mr. Cirfrae.
3. Joseph Dennis house stood where Tkt
Telegram Office stunds, on the corner of Bay
: and King streets.
310
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
4 J( rdan Post s.junior, house was on the
south-east corner of King and Bay, after
wards the sice of Jacques & Hay s oid ware
house.
5. William Knott s house On site of the
Cawthra mansion, now Molson s Bank.
6. Carpenter shop Earl of Knott s house
Site of the Canada Life s new bui ding.
7. John Dennis house Site of Ridout s
coiner.
8. Lardner Bostwick s Sice of the Golden
Lion, King street east.
9. The Gaol At bouth-ewt corner King
and Leader lane.
10. The Episcopal Church Site of St.
James Cathedral.
11. School-house Market Square. This
house stood to the west of West Market
street. The building stood in off Market
lane, now Coiborne street, and was in later
years the Masonic Hall.
ADELAIDE (NEWGATE) STREET.
1. Mrs Caldwell, widow of D;. Caldwell,
of Penetanguishene. Site of this house was
near Peter street. The h< use stood on the
north side of Adelaide street and was built
by Mr. Hugh Heward.
2. Jesse Ketchum, north-west and south
east corner Yonge and Adelaide streets.
3. John Dennis" house no trace of this
house,
HOSPITAL (RICHMOND) ST.
1. Chief Justice Robinson North-east
corner Richmond and John ; now residence
of Chris opher Robinson.
2. Deceit House No trace.
3. Mis. Long, a coloured woman The
first coloured inhabitant of York.
4. Mrs. Flanagan s house No trace.
5. Mercer s log house no trace.
6. Colin Drummond s no trace.
QUEEN (LOT) STREET.
1. Joshua Leach s house. It stood on
Queen east of Yonge, and in the centre of
the bio k between Yonere, Victoria, Queen
and Richmond streets. It faced south. It
was about 150 ieet south of the south line of
Queen street. It was the first court house.
CHAP ER CV.
EARLY DAYS OF YORK.
A Return of Inhabitant!! Made E ghty
Years Aso The First Directory of the
Town ol York Biographical Sketches of
ihe Head* of Families in York as iT-n
In the 4 enu* of the Town Taken In 1805.
We have purchased from M . Peter Pater-
son a copy of the list of the inhabitants oi
York in 1805. It is one that many hundreds
in this city will be interested in, as the first
return of r,he inhabitants of York, made in
1805. Many of those whose names are in
the list have their descendants in Toronto,
and their names will be familiar not only
to the few of the generation that is passing
away, but to many of those who are now in
the prime of life in this the city of their
sirth. The return is, we believe, the first
ever made to the authorities of what was
then a little hamlet of five hundred peop e,
bhe pioneers of civilization on the sice of the
modern me ropolis. We copy from the
original M V S. The list gives ;he names of
the heads of families, the number of women,
the male children over sixteen and under
sixteen, the female children over sixteen
and under sixreen, the number of servant*
n each family, the toral number of pers n
in each family, with the grand total of the
inhabitants, men, women, and children.
A RETURN OF THE INHABITANTS IN THE TOWN
SHIPS OF 8CARBORO AND ETOBICOKK, TAKEN
IN MARCH. 1805.
8CABBORO
Heads
of Families.
c
i
Womtn!
Male
ch d n
F m le
ch d n
I Servants. I
!
&
eo
CO
1-H
co
CO
i "
c
c
>
o
A
t-.
5
T3
tj
>
O
T3
P
William Corn well . . .
]
]
]
1
1
1
1
]
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
I
4
5
14
7
9
4
1
9
1
13
1
4
4
5
1
1
5
5
1
1
1
10
10
10
103
James Elliott
1
1
1
i
2
3
*i
i
1
1
1
* *
Daniel Herri ck
William Jones
Andrew Johnson
Stephen Johnson
William Knowlls
1
1
4
i
2
Reuben Patrick. ....
James Palmer
1
1
5
2
Thomas Simpson
Isaac Secor
I
1
1
2
Isaac Sector, j r
Smith
Archibald Thomson.
Andrew Thomson. ..
David Thomson
1
1
1
1
1
1
4
4
5
2
i
Total
22
12
7
30
5
26
ETOBICOKE
John Henry
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
i
1
18
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
I
I
1
1
I
I
1
1
1
i
1
"i
1
i
2
i
i
i
2
1
1
1
1
i
2
2
2
2
1
3
2
2
2
2
1
2
1
i
i
"3
6
2
5
6
2
2
S
3
7
5
9
5
6
4
5
4
2
1
li
Jacob Reemer
.Levy I)e fins
John Endicott
Andrew Gray
William Hooton
Ingorsal
Michael Miller... ..
Jacob Phillips
Benjamin Renolds..
Col. Samuel Smith..
Alexander Stuart...
Alexander Thomson
Anthony Trimmer..
Richard Wilson ....
Jacob \Vinters ....
James Wilson
Martiness Badgerow
Total..
17
2
It
2
21
i
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
311
A RETURN OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE TOWN OF YORK, TAKEN IN MARCH, 1805.
Heads of Families.
G
V
"o
6
o
^3
O
Male
h d n
m le
I d n
Servants.
a
H
4
1
5
2
6
2
3
3
1
8
9
4
1
8
7
2
1
3
4
3
1
4
1
1
1
6
1
5
1
1
3
1
5
1
3
7
2
6
6
1
8
3
4
7
2
3
2
1
9
4
2
11
3
8
2
2
6
1
1
2
6
i
i
t
<
8
Heads of Families.
a
"o
6
fc
1
o
4-1
O
Z
Male F m le
ch d n ch d ri
Servants.
a
t
CO
B
O
B
3
c
O
Under 16.
s-
| Under 16.
S
I Under 16.
William Allan, Esq.
1
1
1
2
J am cs McBride
1
1
1
3
1
2
1
7
4
1
2
7
1
10
6
4
1
1
1
7
11
5
2
3
2
3
8
11
1
7
1
3
4
8
2
4
6
6
1
3
3
6
3
1
1
2
5
4
1
2
2
2
9
4
1
1
2
2
1
4
4
4
7
474
Christian Mires
John McDonell
1
1
1
2
1
i
2
1
i
John Aise
J hnMcBeth
1
1
1
1
i
i
* *
i
2
i
2
1
John Beikie, Ksq
1
1
1
2
Thomas Mosley
Donald McLean
Wm. War n Baldwin
1
1
1
1
1
2
Andrew Mercer ....
John Mclntosh
1
1
1
1
i
i
i
4
1
1
4
3
1
T*-\Vn Uacil
1
1
1
William Nott
William N ight
Gideon Orton
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
3
9
..
3
4
Russell Olmstead. . . .
1
Samuel Olmstead. . . .
1
Samuel Osburn
1
1
1
1
i
2
1
i
2
1
2
1
i
4
i
2
i
i
2
2
1
i
4
2
t
1
John Battiea Stitte .
Wm. Chewett,Esq .
William Cooper
1
1
1
1
1
Hon. W. D. Powell..
Georere Purvis
1
1
1
2
2
1
2
2
i
i
Kzekial Post
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
John Pinkerton
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
i
1
i
i
Francis Pollard
D. Cameron, Esq....
Hon. Peter Russell . .
Thomas Ridout, Ezq
Samuel Ridout
1
1
1
2
John Ross
1
1
1
1
i
i
4
1
Peter Robinson
1
William Robinson,..
1
James Robinson
1
i
1
1
Isaac Columbus ....
1
1
1
2
2
John Rablin
1
1
1
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
T
J
i
Att y-Gen. T. Scott
Pev. G. O K. Stuart
Mrs, Small
James Crawford ....
1
1
1
1
1
1
John Debtter
1
Wm. Smith
]
i
j
Wm. Smith, jr
.
Quetton St. George
Thomas Stoyells
Mrs. Fly
j
(
*
1
1
i
i
1
Nancy Forbes
Thadyus Gilbert ....
1
i
!
\
3
Daniel Tiers
*
i
John Thorn
i
Joseph Thornton . . .
John Vanzatitee...
Garret Vanzantee .
Wm. Wilcocks, Esq
Charles Wilcocks .
Sheriff J. Wilcocks
Wm. Weekes, Esq.
Alex. Wood. Esq . . .
Edward Wright...
Patrick Ward
William Waters .
Jami.s Wilson
^
..
1
1
j
i
I
i
2
i
1
11
1
i
Eliphatel Hale
I
Robert Henderson.
Thomas Hamilton.
Caleb Humphreys.
Mrs. Herchmer ...
Stenhen Howard- .
Hugh Heward
4
Thomas Hind ....
.
Mrs. Williams
8
Wm. Halloway
Elizabeth Lewis...
Catharine Davis . . .
Francis Helcour . . .
Isaac Mitchell . .
;
5*
Samuel Jackson
Joseph Kendrick . . .
Hiram Kendrick . . .
Peter Kuhn
George Fox
10*
21
8
Thomas R. Johnson
Total
N .Klingenbru nner .
Daniel Laughlin . . .
Alexander Legg . . .
John Lyons ....
* Hon. John McGill.
Geo. Crookshank.
Allan McNab.
Alex. Me 1 onnell.. .
Dr. Jas. Macaulay.
Hugh McLean
Paul Merrian .
312
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
A RKTUR> OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE TOWNSHIP OF YORK, TAKEN IN MARCH, 1805.
Heads of Families.
(B
3
4-t
O
o
,
No of Women.
M
ch
cc
u
<o
>
O
ale
d n
to
rH
14
T3
c
&
F r
c l
c
1 1
(H
<s
>
n le
il d
1C
i 1
t,
V
T3
a
!-
Servants.
I-H
C5
1
Heads of Families.
No cf Women.
a
9
%
<M
o
fc
M
ch
2
f-t
o
o
ale
d n
e
rH
ti
13
C
s
F t
ch
CO
rH
5
*
O
n le
1 n
<o
r-i
tl
O
13
J
Servants.
"5
1
John Ashbridge
Jonathan Ashbridge
Klias Anderson .
\
1
1
1
1
1
3
10
1
4
2
7
9
4
10
2
1
9
4
1
7
6
1
1
1
6
4
3
5
3
6
6
2
6
3
4
3
1
1
1
2
3
8
10
3
1
5
7
3
5
3
5
3
3
1
2
6
3
3
1
8
9
1
8
1
8
10
8
9
4
Walter Moody
1
1
1
2
1
1
2
8
1
9
1
1
1
1
4
2
4
2
7
10
7
9
3
6
1
4
6
1
5
5
4
6
15
4
2
6
8
12
1
6
2
5
9
2
1
4
1
1
1
8
1
494
in-
in
en
;il
at
us
ell
s.
[c-
D.
nd
as
->!-
le
eh
of
Hugh McPhie
1
2
8
3
Thomas Mercer
1
1
1
3
3
1
Thomas Adams
Frederick Brown . . .
Asa Bacon
1
1
1
i
1
1
Jacob .McCoy
1
1
1
Patrick Burns
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
3
3
1
4
i
2
3
1
3
Henry McGrrry .
John Burkholder. . . .
Francis Brock
Wm. Marsh
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
4
3
1
i
2
i
- 2
3
3
2
6
1
Win, Marsh, jun
Leonard Marsh
George Bond
John Brown
Benjamin Mosley
Daniel Cozens
Jacob Coo .ner
1
1
i
4
1
3
Alex. Montgomery..
Andrew McGlashen.
Bernard Gary
James Chesney
Geor_e Castner
1
1
Andrew Clark
2
Abraham Chronic e.
John Clunis
1
1
1
1
1
1
i
i
2
1
1
i
3
1
1
John Mittleberger...
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
i
2
::
Jacob Clock
Samuel i >. Cozens. . .
Shivers Cozens
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
i
1
3
3
3
1
2
1
2
i
i
i
2
1
3
2
3
6
2
1
t)
John Campble
1
John Denison
1
1
1
1
1
]
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
]
2
i
2
1
i
2
1
1
2
i
i
i
1
2
3
i
i
2
1
i
i
George Denison
Mrs. Ruggles
Abraham Devins
Isaac Devins ....
Col. ^neas Shaw...
Joseph Sheppard. . .
Samuel Sinclair
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
i
i
4
i
i
Benjamin Davis
Jacob Delong
John Diver
\Vm ^t-prrit-f
Francis Dunne
John Everson
Parshal Terry
James Everson
A dam Everson
reu. v . xioen
Jas. Vanostrand ....
Cornl s Vanostrand.
John Wilson ....
1
1
1
1
1
1
i
i
i
i
i
2
i
3
i
2
i
3
1
Samuel Eve:-son
R. Ferguson, Esq.. .
Thomas B. Gough. ..
Alex. Gray
Jonathan Wilcott..
Malcolm Wright
i
i
i
Alex. Galloway
i
i
i
3
3
i
i
2
2
3
Peter Wilney
Wm. Walker . .
1
1
i
1
1
Zachariah Galloway
Geo. Weagle
1
Samuel Heron
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
i
i
A aron Wilson
1
1
1
111
tl
>wr
i 1
3 f
ads
res
rec
nea
he
Ho<
rs
s
der
an
e f
u ze
s .
11 i
1 .. 2 .. 3 ..
1 .. 1 .. 1 ..
8226 115 231131 24
ae return of the
i of York taken
ias previous y be
Dllowing bioeraphi*
of families at th
umed that the cens
t, although such w
s Shaw, Col. Givir
Playters, Angus IV
jn, R. Henderson,
are not included.
one of the ear y a
its of York. He w
d custom house c
itst merchants. J
s and early chur
During the war
Thomas Hill
"W illiam T-lill
Stephen Ellis
Christian H end ricks
Christoph r Harrison
Joseph Harrison. . . .
T. Humbertson
i
i
i
i
i
1
1
i
2
2
1
3
1
Total
Supplementary t
habitants of the t(
March 1805. whicl
given, are added th
sketches of the he
time. It may be p
of 1805 is fairly cor
known names as JE>
Alexander Grant, t
Donneil, Biron De
W. Smith, and othe
William Allan ws
most prominent n-si
the fii>t postmaster
lector and one of th
was one of the orgai
wardens of St. Jami
Jonathan Hale .
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
Joseph Hanes
John Hanes
Richard Heron
Henry Hutchens
Lawrence Johnsm..
Abraham Johnson..
Joseph Johnson
i
i
i
2
1
2
-
Thomas Johnson ....
Nicholas Johnson. . .
James Johnson..
1
1
1
1
1
i
1
i
i
3
4
i
2
3
Thomas Jobet
Jesse Ketchum
Jesse Ketchum. jun
Zebulon Ketchum . .
John Kindrick
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
i
1
2
3
i
i
i
i
i
2
i
]
2
3
3
2
3
4
3
3
2
Duke W. Kindrick..
Richard] -wrence..
John McDougall ....
John McGill. Esq....
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
313
1812 he was an officer i i the York militia.
His first piace of residence and place of
business was on the east side of Frederick
street south of King street.
Alexander Burns, in 1797, was the secre
t*ry of President Peter Russell, who was
then administering the government of the
Province.
David Burns, who had been a navy sur
geon, was the first Clerk of the Crown for
Upper Canada, and one of the Masters in
Chancery. He was the owner of the park
lot, situated between that of Col. Bouchette,
or later Col. Givins, and William Chewett.
He died in 1806.
John Beikie came to York about the be-
f inning of this century. He was one of the
rst members of St. James church in 1803
In 1811 and 1812 he was sheriff of the
Home District and at a later period he was
clerk of the Executive Council. He was a
tall, upright, staidly moviner form generally
enveloped in a long, snuff coloured over
coat. Where Windsor street now appears
with its iron gates opening into a little
village of vMas, formerly stood Mr
Beikie s abode He was Grand Secretary
of the Masonic body for a time.
William Warren Baldwin was a medical
graduate from the University of Edinburgh
and began life as a physician in Ireland.
On coming to Canada at the beginning of
the century he commenced the study of law
in which he became very successful. He
was a member of St. James church from
1803. He acquired the bulk of Peter Rus
sell s large property on the death of that
gentleman s sister. He had many residences
in town, the principal of which were Spadin i
House at the head of Spadina avenue, and a
mansion at the north-east; corner of Front
and Bay streets.
John Bennett was the printer and pub
lisher of the Gazette and Oracle, the first
paper published in York. He became its
proprietor in 1801, succeeding Waters &
Simons, and was such in 1807. In 1804 he
pub ished at York the Upper Canada Al
manac In 1805 he was Government prin
ter. His office was at the house of A. Cam
eron, King street. The family lived on the
north side of Duchesa street, a few feet
from Sherbourne street. Mrs. Bennett was
a midwi e, and for years a sign over the
door read, "Isabella Bennett, midwife,
from Glasgow." She lived here up to 1837.
Wi liam Chewett was in Quebec as earlj
as 1772. Shortly after Governor Simcoe s
arrival at York, he moved to the n w capi
tal and was Registrar of the Hom^ District.
For a long time he was an attache of the
Surveyor-General s D partment. He was
the original possessor of the park lot next
west to that of David Burns He was one
of the founders of St. James church in 1803.
He bore the title of Colonel.
William Cooper was the builder and
owner of one of the first wharfs and ware-
homes in York. It was at the foot of
Church street and was always known as
Cooper s Wharf. He was one of the found
ers of St. Jam s church in 1803, and prior
to the erection of that bu-lding and the ap
pointment of the Rev. Mr. Stuart as incum
bent he was in the habit of reading the ser
vice to the Anglican congiegation which
met in the old Parliament building-.
Hugh Carfrae was an ear y York settler,
and in 1823 he was pathmaster of the town.
Archibald Cameron was elected collector
" at the town meeting held at the city of
York on the 4th day of March 1799."
John Cameron was a resident of York as
early as the year 1801. In 1808 he was the
publisher of tne Gazette. In 1813 he pub
lished it at Andrew Mercer s house on Bay
street. He still conducted this paper as the
official organ of the Government in 1815,
and was also the publisher at the same time
of the Upper Canada Almanac.
Duncan Cameron was one of the early
settlers. He bore the appellation of Honour
able. He was one the foundtrs of St. James
church in 1803. He was the owner of the
park lot formerly owned by Captain S
Smith, west of the Gore Vale ravine. In
1818 he was trustee for the Mall, a public
walk along the front of the city granted
to the people. His house was the B;ckford
House of to-day. Gore Vale was occupied
after his death by Miss Janet Cameron,
an excellent and benevolent lady.
John Ciark was a miller at the Humber.
His name appears in an advertisement in
the Gazette of 1803.
George Cutter had settled in York in
the year 1800. In the spring of 1801 he
subscribed ten dollars toward the improve
ment of Yonge street.
John Conn was the captain of a sloop ply
ing between York and Niagara. From
some pecu iarity in her contour she was
popula IT spoken of as Captain Conn s Cof
fin. He still commanded her in 1812.
Isaac Columb was a Frenchman who
settled here about the beginning of the cen
tury. He was a clever workman in meCals.
During the war of 1812 he was armourer to
the garrison, and lived near it. He after
ward opened a shop in the house former iy
occupied by Secretary Jarvis, at the south
east corner of Sherbourne and Dukestree f s.
John Edgell had taken up his residei ce
in YorK prior to March 1801, for on the
ninth of thatmonth he subscribed five dollars
towards the improvement of Yonge street.
314
LANDMARKS OF TORONTO,
Collier Drummond built the house on the
corth-west eorner of V ctoria and Richmoi.c
street?. He afterwards had a lumber yarc
off Yonge street, opposite Trinity sq 
