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
IAKDMARKS OF TORONTO.
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LANDMARKS OF TORONTO.
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 Colbo 
