History Of Ontario - Essa Township / Kempenfeldt - Nottawsaga River (the Swamp)

"The History of Simcoe County"
by Andrew F. Hunter.

First published in 1909 and reproduced in 1948
by the Simcoe County Historical Society.
ESSA

SETTLER Con. Lot.

AGNEW, John 10 1
AALEN, William 1 11
ANNETT, John 6 2
ARNOLD, James 11 5
ARNOLD, Alexander 11 5
ARNOLD, Thomas 10 3 (E1/2)
ASSIP, John 4 4 (W1/2)
AYHERST, William 10 11
BATEMAN, John 11 11
BELL, S. 10 11
BELL, Wm. 10 10
BLACKSTOCK, John 11 19 (E1/2)
BLACKSTOCK, William 9 18
BLACKSTOCK, Thomas 11 18 (E1/2)
BLACKSTOCK, John 11 9
BRICE, John (BRYCE) 1 6
BRICE, Robert (BRYCE) 1 6
BULLOCK, James 1 5
CASSIN, James 10 13
CHAPMAN, Charles 8 7 (E1/2)
COLEMAN, William 9 2
COLEMAN, Andrew 9 2
CUNNINGHAM, Wm. 9 5
DINWOODY, George 10 1
DOLEN, Michael 11 18 (W1/2)
DUFF, Thomas 9 1
GILROY, Robert 8 3
HALL, William 4 7 (W1/2)
HANDY, Charles 4 5
HIGHLAND, Wm. 10 10
JOHNSTON, John 4 7
KINLOR, Robert 6 2 (W1/2)
LEWIS, David 11 3 (E1/2)
LOWES, Daniel 11 6
MOONEY, Robert 7 8 (S1/2)
MOONEY, Henry 7 3 (E1/2)
MORRIS, Henry 9 7
MORROW, Hugh 9 2
McCLAIN, John 8 1
McClellan, David 2 7
McKEOWN, James 11 14
NICHOLSON, Thomas 8 6 (W1/2)
ROBINSON, James -- --
ROONEY, Henry 8 2 (W1/2)
ROSS, William 11 21
RUTHVEN, Alex 1 10
RUTHVEN, Robt. Sr. 1 7
RUTHVEN, Robt. Jr. 1 9
SMITH, James 4 11
SOMERVILLE, Pearce 7 8
SPEERS, James 10 12
SPEERS, Joseph 7 5
STEVENSON, Wm. 1 8 (W1/2)
STRONG, John 10 5 (E1/2)
STRONG, Wm. 10 5
TODD, Walter 4 3
WHITESIDE, Robt. 8 4
WILKINSON, Thomas 4 3
WILKINSON, Thomas, Jr. 4 3
WILKINSON, Arthur 3 4
KEMPENFELDT

SETTLER OCCUPATION

ATKINSON, John Blank
BALL, George (1833) Blank
BRYANT, Adam Blank
COLLINS, Charles Blank
FULLERTON, John Blank
JOHNSON, James Blank
LADD..... Innkeeper
LANE, Jonathan Blank
MANN, William Blank
OLIVER, Robert Capt. (see also Oro)
SUMMERS, James ( SOMERS) Blank
VANDEBURGH, Barnett Blank
ESSA

Like the other townships, Essa received its first quota of pioneers
at the south, settling northward in the order of their arrival.

This was, of course, the natural and geographical order
in which the settlement should take place,
for the expanding fringe of civilization advanced regularly.

The first settlement in Essa was accordingly made in the southeast corner
of the township, and the three men, to whom the honour is due
of making the first breach in the unbroken forest,
west of Cookstown of to-day, were George Dinwoody, Thomas Duff
and Samuel McClain.

These three pioneers "located" lots number one,
in the 10th, 9th and 8th concessions respectively,
along the townline between Essa and Tecumseth.

They had come from County Monaghan, Irleand, in 1825,
to York (Toronto), and were related to each other by blood and marriage.

Duff amd NcClain came first to view the land,
and while in the forest at the place,
they lay over night under a hemlock tree
on the Tecumseth side of the townline.

The removal of these settlers
(at least the families of Dinwoody and Duff)
took place from York (Toronto) to Essa
early in the summer of the year 1826.

While going to their new homes,
they were obliged to make their oxen swim
across the Nottawasaga River
to the south of the site of Cookstown,
or as the morass was called - "The Big Swamp."

This swamp continued to be an obstacle
to the pioneers for many years,
for they had to bring supplies
from Holland Landing and Newmarket;
and one of their earliest enterprises consisted in cutting
a trail through it, though it was still necessary
to "back" their supplies across it,
as it was impassable for vehicles,
and remained so for a long time
till a Government crossway was constructed.

These pioneers built a shanty upon the lot of Dinwoody,
which they called "home," for a brief period,
until further progress could be made,
the two familes living together for the first winter or longer.

Their nearest neighbours were those in the vicinity of Bond Head,
distant fully five miles.
George Dinwoody and Thomas Duff were thus
the two first actual settlers in Essa Township.

In course of time George Dinwoody prospered,
and in 1843 built a brick house,
which was the first brick house in Essa.

Robert Dearing, of West Gwillimbury,
was the bricklayer who did the work of laying the bricks
and mortar of this house. Mr. Dinwoody turned out as a volunteer
during the Rebellion of 1837,
and was the First Lieutenant of the Essa Company.

He was the first elder of the Presbyterian Church in Essa,
and served this locality in other ways during his long life.

He died February 23rd, 1885, aged 85 years,
his wife having died July 2nd, 1884, aged 93 years.

They had two sons viz., William and James.

William Dinwoody was the first white child born in Essa,
and when grown to manhood settled upon lot 3, concession 9,
of the township.

He died in 1906.

James Dinwoody was born here August 29th, 1828,
and still lives on the homestead on which he was born
more than eighty years ago.

The wife of Thomas Duff was Margaret Dinwoody,
a sister of George, the pioneer.

Thomas Duff was captain of the Essa Company of volunteers
who turned out at the time of the Rebellion of 1837.

He was one of the first elders of the Essa Presbyterian Church.

He was also the Home District Councillor for Essa in 1842,
travelling on foot from his home to the meetings of the council in Toronto,
but receiving no pay or travelling allowances,
as members get at the present day.

He died October 12th, 1875, aged 81 years,
his wife having died December 30th, 1869,
aged 70 years. In their family there were four sons,
John, William, Thomas and George;
also five daughters, Mrs. Alex. McKee
(who was killed in a railway crossing accident December 8th, 1896,
at Lockport, N.Y.), Mrs. Robert Sproul, Mrs. Dr. Norris,
Mrs. Jas. McBride, and Mrs. Rachel McKee.

His farm of 200 acres passed into the hands of John and George.

John Duff died March 4th, 1901, in his 76th year,
and his son, Major John A. Duff, of Toronto,
died two years later.

Another member of his family is the Hon. James S. Duff, M.P.P.
for West Simcoe, for which he was first elected in 1898,
and became Minister of Agriculture for Ontario, October, 1908.

George, one of the original pioneers family,
was a member of the Essa and County Councils for some years,
and Thomas has been licence inspector for Centre Simcoe since 1905.

Samuel McClain, the third person mentioned in this group,
became disabled shortly after his arrival,
and retired to York (Toronto), where he was joined by his family
from Co. Monaghan, Ireland, in 1827.

He died prematurely in 1832.

His eldest son, John, became his successor on the Essa lot
in November, 1835, and remained its occupant for many years,
afterward removing to Barrie, where he resided until his death,
April 29th, 1898, in his eighty-first year.

Of Samuel McClain's three other sons
- Samuel, William and Robert,
- William also became a resident of Essa,
and was reeve of the township for fifteen years
(1853-66, and again in 1868).

He then moved to Toronto where he entered the government service.

On the corner of George Dinwoody's land, a log Orange Hall
was built at an early date, and in pioneer years this was also
used for preaching by the Presbyterians,
for township meetings, and for the purposes of a schoolhouse.

Among the early teachers in this pioneer schoolhouse (in the thirties)
were Andrew Coleman, a Mr. Bird, and James Johnston,
all of whom are referred to at greater length in our chapter on the first schools.

Hugh Dinwoody, a brother of George,
settled at first on the Tecumseth side,
in this vicinity, and was also one of the pioneers.

His family came from Ireland to the settlement in 1834,
he himself having arrived here a year or two earlier.

For a number of years, in the forties, and later,
he kept a store at Clover Hill on the Essa side,
this being the pioneer store at the place,
at which a lively trade was carried on at one time.

David Lewis had been a soldier and came from Toronto
early in 1825 to the vicinity of Cookstown to seek a 200 acre farm,
being entitled to 100 acres as a soldier,
and 100 as an intending settler.

Before he started from Toronto on this trip,
one of the men who had surveyed Essa,
had directed him to a surveyor's shanty
left standing on Buckley's Hill, a mile south of Cookstown,
where he could obtain shelter.

He had with him two men, and a little favourite dog.

By following the "blaze" along the townline
from the settlements near Bond Head,
they reached the shanty in time to stay in it the first night.

They found another surveyor's shanty beside the small creek
passing across the townline of Tecumesth and Essa,
by which he was able to know the place
which had been described to him,
and he chose a lot here at that time.

When returning to the settlements
they went astray and were lost in the woods
for two or three days without food or shelter.

The two men with him wanted, in this dilemma,
to kill the little dog for food,
to which Mr. Lewis would reluctantly consent
if they should fail to reach a settler's before noon next day.

Just before noon they came upon two men chopping in the woods,
and by these men the lost travellers were taken in to dinner,
and the life of the little dog was spared.

...next post

 

When Mr. Lewis came again to the locality the next season,
Dinwoody and Duff had arrived with their familes, and Mr. Blackstock had settled
on a lot up the east townline, so Mr. Lewis now chose No. 3, in the 11th concession,
facing the townline, and built a house upon it the same year (1826).

He brought his family from Hogg's Hollow to the Essa lot in March, 1829.

Those pioneers were not long the sole disturbers of the woodland peace,
for in the same year, 1826, (and partly during the next),
they were joined by another company,
all of whom located in the neighborhood.

Amongst the new arrivals were:
- John Blackstock, lot 9, con. 11,
Charles Chapman, lot 7, con. 8,
Robert Gilroy, lot 3, con. 8,
William Strong, lot 5, con. 10,
John Strong, lot 5, con. 10,
Henry Morris, (1828), lot 7, con. 11.

These settlers were chiefly from the North of Ireland.

John Blackstock had settled with his family almost as early as any of those
who have been mentioned in the former part of this chapter.

The Blackstock family were natives of the Co. Cavan, Ireland.

He did not live many years in the Essa forest, but died in the forties.

Of his family, John Blackstock, jr., died January 4th, 1884, in his 77th year,
and George Blackstock survived till June 16, 1903, aged 84 years.

Charles Chapman, the second pioneer in the above list, died June 20, 1867, aged 84 years.

Robert Gilroy, the third early settler mentioned in this list,
was a young man and may be classed with the group of Monaghan settlers
(Duff, Dinwoody, and McClain), as he was a relative of Mr. Duff and family.

He met with an accident with horses and waggon,
went to Toronto for cure and had an operation,
but died from the effects (March 11, 1843), aged 31 years.

William Strong was Township Clerk of Essa for a time.

After living on the lot mentioned (lot 5, con. 10),
he removed to Cookstown, where he died, January 28, 1852,
aged 43 years.

John, his brother, went west to the "Queen's Bush" with the movement in that direction.

James Strong, their younger brother, also went to the "Queen's Bush" and prospered there.

Henry Morris, the last mentioned, was the Simcoe District Councillor for Essa in 1843-4-5,
and again in 1849; and he was the first reeve of the township in 1850.

One account states, (and it is probably correct),
that the Perry family came next after Dinwoody and Duff to this neighborhood (in 1826),
but they really belong to Innisfil, and have been already mentioned in our sketch
of the settlers in that township.

William Perry built the first tavern in Cookstown on the Innisfil corner,
and this gave it the name of Perry's Corners.

Before the village got the name of Cookstown, there was a contest over how the place should be named,
and the strife waxed warm for a time. Hugh Dinwoody wanted it called Newtown Newbliss,
after a place in Ireland; but Ferguson wanted it called Redhill after another place in Ireland.

Mr. Cooke, solved the question in a way that suited himself,
as he was the first person that sold lots in it and registered the plan that way,
so the proposers of other names had to fall in line with this one.

Furhter north than the settlers already mentioned,
and at a slighter later period, there settled John Henry,
the pioneer at Thornton of to-day.

He took an active interest in the early education of the children of his neighborhood,
taught school in the forties, and Henry's schoolhouse was the name by which the locality was first known.

He was also a magistrate.

He died September 11, 1866, in his 75th year.

His two sons, James and Thomas, may also be classed amongst the pioneers of the locality.

Alex. Arnold settled on lot 5, concession 11, Essa, in 1832, and his son, James, came to Essa in 1834.

Near the same part of the township as the last mentioned,
others settled about the same time. James Speers came from Ireland in 1832,
married in 1838 and settled upon lot 12, concession 10,
which he had bought at an earlier date.

His younger brother, Hugh, may also be classed among the pioneers.

At the time of the Rebellion of 1837, the Essa company of volunteers mustered
at the house of the kinsmen, Jas. Speers in Tecumseth, before starting for Toronto.

Henry Rooney, a Waterloo veteran, of the west half lot 2, concession 8,
belongs to this early period, and William Cunningham, of the same neighborhood, as well as his brothers.

Among the later arrivals near Cookstown was Lieut.-Col. R.T. Banting,
who came in 1845 to ths locality. In 1851 he was appointed Township Clerk of Essa
and held the position for a great number of years.

He became superintendent of schools for Essa and served fourteen years in this capacity,
as long as township superintendents continued to be appointed, 1858-71.

He was appointed County Clerk of Simcoe in 1860 and held the position till his death, April 1, 1902.

Of the McBride family who settled near Braden's side road at a later time,
Margaret was unfortunately lost in the wreck of the Asia on the Georgian Bay,
September 14, 1882, aged 37 years.

The Indians found her body have it had been was washed ashore beyound Owen Sound.

Near Ivy, several settlers arrived about the year 1847.

These included George Davis, John T. Fletcher, John and James Lennox, James McQuay, Thomas Parker and Hugh Speers.

Of these, George Davis, J.P., became deputy-reeve of the township in 1861
and held the position until he was elected reeve in 1867.

He was chosen warden of the county in 1872, and died at the close of his year of wardenship.

The village of Angus was laid out at the time the Northen Railway was constructed in 1854,
by Jonas Tar Bush, a real estate agent, who had acquired part of lot 30 on which it is situated
between the Nottawasaga and Pine Rivers, and nearest the latter. John B. Smith
had one of the early sawmills near this place, and a post office was established here in 1856,
bearing the Christian name of Angus Morrison, then M.P. for North Simcoe.

 

THE WEST ESSA SETTLEMENT

Among the first in the western settlement of Essa were James Robinson, James Bullock, John Bryce,
Alexander and Robert Ruthven, senior, William Stevenson, William Allan, William Hall.

These men with their familes had emigrated from Scotland during the "radical times" in Glasgow,
preferring to face the forests of Upper Canada rather than endure the political and social oppresion of the Mother country.

They first settled in the County of Lanark, in the Ottawa River district,
but finding that region somewhat unpromising, they soon removed to Essa.

They were, indeed, part of the same Scotch migration which settled in the southeast of Innisfil.

Soon they became comfortably located, and they have left a large line of descendants in that beautiful farming district.

Alex. Ruthven, a weaver from the vicinity of Glasgow,
with his sons and brothers, Robert, William, George and James,
were amongst the best known settlers in this Scottish group.

William went to Elderslie Township, Bruce County, in the early years.

The brothers, Robert and George Ruthven, settled on lot 9, concession 1, Essa,
in the spring of 1832, and thus became pioneers in that settlement.

George was an assistant to Charles Rankin, surveyor, in the survey of Collingwood Township
in the summer of 1833.

This was the first township in the present County of Grey to be surveyed,
being then included in Simcoe County.

George Ruthven, while thus engaged, located a farm in that township at the time,
viz., lot 31, concession 12, and afterward settled upon it, becoming a pioneer of Collingwood Township.

On their way to make the survey of Collingwood Township in 1833,
they went from West Essa through the woods near to Angus of the present time,
an got their provisions over the Nine Mile Portage from Barrie, then just newly established.

Robert Ruthven, senior, a brother of Alexander, was also a pioneer in West Essa.

He was born in Glasgow and died November 21, 1879, in his 77th year.

It is one of the traditions of the West Essa setlement that one of the sons in the Ruthven family
was the first white child to cross the Nottawasaga River in the westward movement of settlement.

William Ruthven, of this settlement, was an early school teacher in the fifties near Cookstown.

About this time also, Charles Handy came out of Tosorontio,
where he had been living out of reach of neighbours,
and settled upon the west half lot 5, concession 4.

The Turnbull family and Mr. Brewster also belong to this early period.

James Robinson, settled in 1831 on lot 4, concession 1, Essa,
and after living a while here, moved to Tecumseth, and later to Vespra, where he died.

John Bryce, of lot 6, concession 1, settled in 1831, also.

He, like the other people in this group, went to the settlement by way of Bradford and Perry's Corners (Cookstown).

Thomas Bruce, another pioneer, had come first to the Township of Tyendinaga in Hastings County,
and afterward removed to West Essa. His Grandson, Geo. W. Bruce, of Collingwood,
was warden of the county in 1904, and is Lieut.-Col. of the 35th Battalion, Simcoe Foresters.

A true story, written by Ernest Bruce, of West Essa,
entitled "The Barn Raising," gained the prize for the County of Simcoe in 1890,
in the Montreal Witness competition.

It appeared in that newspaper, and related the story of how a barn
was once raised in pioneer days of West Essa without whiskey,
- an event that rarely ever happened in that period, or locality.

The Mormon movement in the early forties took some hold in West Essa.

A Mr. Lake was the Mormon missionary, and held services from house to house in the settlement,
the meetings being attended by crowds, as preaching from higher ideals was then scarce.

At these meetings, William Ritchey also did some preaching in an unknown tongue.

They baptized in Hall's Creek, having made a number of proselytes.

Before long these left their lands, several familes in number,
and like a swarm of bees they went off all at one time in covered waggons,
or prairie schooners, going to swell the Mormon settlement in Illinois or Missouri,
and later at Salt Lake City. At a later time some adherents of the Mormons
built a chuch or meeting house of that denomination in Alliston, but it is now obsolete.

"THE ESSA FLATS"

The tract known as the "Essa Flats" had good pasture lands,
and although they were not taken up quite so early as the higher lands,
yet settlers came upon them at a comparitively early time.
Walter Todd, a native of Yorkshire, Eng., settled upon lot 3, concession 4,
early in the thirties. He was District Councillor for Essa in the years, 1846-7-8.

John Assip, a native of Ireland, was another early settler about the same time,
and took up the west half of lot 4, concession 4.

He was a retired soldier, and a shoemaker by trade,
his knowledge of St. Crispin's craft being very useful in the backwoods in the early days.

ALLISTON

William Fletcher, a native of Yorkshire, Eng., had settled about the year 1825,
upon lot 3, concession 14, Tecumseth, in the vicinity of the present town of Alliston.

As his sons were growing up to manhood, he acquired at an early time,
a farm at the creek or river in Essa, where Alliston now stands,
and it is stated that he removed to this land in 1847.

The mill privileges of the stream had attracted him thither,
and in the following year, in conjunction with his sons,
John and George, he erected a sawmill there, and a gristmill in 1853.

A village soon grew up at these mills, William Turnbull being one of the first storekeepers.

In June, 1874, the question of incorporating the place as a village came up,
and the County Council appointed as census enumerator,
John Gilbert, whose census return showed that it contained
more than the requisite number of inhabitants necessary
for incorporation, so they passed a by-law to incorporate it as a village.

A bad fire in the winter of 1877-8 destroyed much of the business part of the place,
after which it was rebuilt in a more substantial manner.

The village, in 1884, granted a bonus to Knight & Wilson,
agricultural implement makers, for rebuilding the Vulcan Foundry,
and thereby secured for the place an industrial establishment.

Another severe fire visited Alliston in the early part of 1891,
and in the following year, the place, which by this time had been made a town,
raised $16,750 by debentures to construct a system of waterworks
for better fire protection as well as domestic use.

 

ADJALA
SETTLER Con. Lot.
BARNES, Michael 1 26
BEATTY, William 5 3
BEATTY, Matthew 5 4
BEATTY, Samuel 5 1 (W1/2)
BROWN, W. 5 10
BROWN, John 3 32
BARTON, Thomas 6 13 (W1/2
BARTON, William 6 14
CALLIN, James 5 16
CAMPBELL, James 7 13
CASSIDY, James 6 30
CASSIDY, William 1 29
CULLATON, Cornelius 4 21
COLEMAN, Joseph 5 32
CONNORS, Edward 6 12
CONNORS, John 6 14
CONNORS, Patrick 5 15
CONNORS, Michael 5 15
CONWAY, Matthew 3 28
CORRIGAN, James 6 9
COSGRAVE, James 7 1 (E 1/2)
COBEAN, John 3 3
CROSSAN, David 3 7 (W 1/2)
CREAGE, John 2 3
DARRAUGH, James 2 5 (W 1/2)
DEVINE, William 4 27 (E 1/2)
DUROSS, James 8 12
EGAN, Edward 7 15
EGAN, Kiran 6 13 (E 1/2)
EGAN, Michael, 5 9 (E 1/2)
EGAN, John 6 12
ELLIOTT, William 3 6 (E 1/2)
FARLEY, William 1 19 (W 1/2)
FARLEY, John 2 21
FARLEY, David 2 19
FEHELEY, James 4 13
FEHELEY, Patrick 4 14 (W 1/2)
FERGUSON, Hugh 5 31 (W 1/2)
FITZPATRICK, James 2 10
FOLEY, Michael 2 31
FORD, William 1 3
GALLAGHER, Patrick 5 31 (E 1/2)
GALLAGHER, John 3 30
GOULDING, Andrew 4 14 (E 1/2)
GRANNETT, Joseph 7 13
GUNNING, William 4 1 (W1/2)
HALL, Jones 3 6 (W1/2)
HAMILTON, James 6 10 (E1/2)
HAMILTON, Alexander 6 7 (W1/2)
HAMILTON, Thomas 6 10
HAMPTON, James, 7 14
HARCOURT, Luke 8 7
HAFFEY, Michael 5 14 (W1/2)
HOATH, Robert 4 4
HOATH, William 4 4
HEADON, John 7 10 (W1/2)
HEALY, Michael 5 29 (E1/2)
HEASLIP, Samuel 4 29 (W1/2)
HOLLEND, Felix 7 12
HOLLEND, Thomas 6 20
HUNTLEY, Harvey 7 14 (E1/2)
INNIS, James 4 6 (W1/2)
IRWIN, Thomas 4 31 (E1/2)
JACKSON, George 2 2
JOHNSON, William 7 6
KEOUGH, Owen 8 14
KEENAN, James, Sr. 6 15 (W1/2)
KEENAN, Robert 6 15
KEENAN, Thomas 6 16
KEENAN, James 6 19
KEENAN, John 3 16 (E1/2)
LANGLEY, Thomas 4 29
LEAVINS, George 1 16 (W1/2)
LEAVINS, James 1 17
LEAVINS, Edward 1 17 (W1/2)
LEE, John 2 7 (W1/2)
LEGGETT, William 2 5 (E1/2)
LIVINGSTON, Wm. 4 3
LYNCH, Morty 6 28 part
McGOVERN, Michael 4 13 (E1/2)
MAGGOTT, Edward 2 6
MALONE, John 5 13
MARSHALL, Alex 5 4
MARSHALL, James 5 3
MASON, Stewart 2 1 (E1/2)
MITCHELL, Robert 3 1
MORROW, William 8 9
MOORE, Robert 3 29
MORIN, James 5 19 (W1/2)
MORIN, John 5 20 (E1/2)
MOON, Peter 1 1
MULLIN, Michael 4 22 (E1/2)
MURPHY, Felix 5 6 (W1/2)
MURPHY, James 3 9
MURPHY, John 5 16 (W1/2)
McCAULAY, John 1 12 (W1/2)
McCABE, Thomas 6 17 (E1/2)
McCABE, Paul 6 17
McCANN, Michael 2 13 (W1/2)
McCARTHY, David 8 18
McCarroll, John 5 28
McCULLOCH, Henry 7 11
McCULLOCH, Robert 1 4
McCUTCHEON, Robert 1 30
McELROY, Patrick 5 18 (W1/2)
McFARLANE, John 1 14
McFARLANE, Terence 1 10 (W1/2)
McFARLANE, Felix 2 10
McGUNNIS, Thomas 4 1
McIIROY, Hugh 6 18
McKENNA, James 3 7 (E1/2)
McLEY, Copeland 2 8 (W1/2)
McLAUGHLIN, Lawrence 8 1
McMAHON, James 5 13 (E1/2)
McNAMARA, John 2 9
NEVINS, Robert 5 17
O'LEARY, David 7 2
O'NEIL, Henry 4 11
PATTERSON, Thomas 8 8
PATTON, Patrick 6 9
PENDLETON, William 1 13
PIDGEON, Samuel 3 9 & 10 E1/2's
PROCTOR, William 1 16
QUIERSON, Peter 6 3
REANY, William 2 4 (E1/2)
RYAN, William 5 26 (E1/2)
RYAN, Patrick 6 4
SIRRS, William 4 8
SHAW, Thomas 5 17
SLOAN, James 4 6 (E1/2)
SNELL, George 2 1
SMALL, Daniel 7 10 (E1/2)
SPELLIAN, Daniel 7 4 (W1/2)
STEWART, William 2 18 (W1/2)
TRIMBLE, Hamilton 3 31 (W1/2)
WALKER, William 5 8
WARD, John 2 6 (W1/2)
WEBB, John 1 23 (E1/2)

 

TOSORONTIO

SETTLER Con. Lot.
ARMSTRONG, Robert 1 4
CODY, John 7 8 (E1/2)
FLETCHER, Robert 3 3 (W1/2)
GUGINS, James 6 2
JENNINGS, John 2 10 (W1/2)
MURPHY, Andrew 2 2
MURPHY, Robert 2 3
McGIRR, George 7 2
McMULKIN, John 6 1
O'HEARN, Timothy 5 2 (W1/2)
REID, John 7 8
THOMPSON, John 5 3 (W1/2)
THOMPSON, Stewart 1 7
The following history is verbatim from the book "The History of Simcoe County"
by Andrew F. Hunter. First published in 1909 and reproduced in 1948 by the Simcoe County Historical Society.

 

ADJALA

As in the the other pars of this county, settlement in what people formerly called the wilds of Adjala
began at the south end of the township.

The first to arrive in the south east came by way of Albion and King Townships in the twenties.

Among these firtst arrivals were the following:
James Cosgrave, con.7, lot 1,
James Marshall, con. 5, lot 3,
Albert Marshall, con. 5, lot 4,
Felix Murphy, con. 5, lot 6,
Patrick Ryan, con. 6, lot 4,
Daniel Spillane, con. 7, lot 4.

The village of Ballycroy took its rise at an early date in the same neighborhood
where the above-mentioned settlers had been amongst the first to take up lands.

A serious fire occurred in Ballycroy in 1875, in which three young women met their death.

A marble headstone in the graveyard of St. James' Church, four miles north,
recalls the event with this inscription:

- "To the memories of Mary A. Fanning, aged 32 years; Margaret H. Daley, aged 24 years, and Bridget Burke, aged 28 years,
who perished in the conflagration which, on April 29th, 1875, destroyed the village of Ballycroy,
this monument is raised by their afflicted relatives in grateful recollection of their estimable qualities and early lives."

These young women were milliners in the store of Peter Small, which was one of the buildings destroyed.

Near this place, the Hunber River, which takes its rise in this county, passes from it into the adjoining County of Peel.

In the south west, in the vicinity of Mono Mills, a few settlers arrived about the year 1820,
and within the next few years the following took up lots in the adjacent parts of Adjala:

John Cobean, con. 3, lot 3,
Jones Hall, con. 3, lot 6,
James Darraugh, con. 2, lot 5,
Stewart Mason, con. 2, lot 1,
James McKenna, con. 3, lot 7.

The first named, John Cobean, was the constable of his neighborhood in the early years,
having been appointed to that office in 1836 or perhaps earlier.

A sad misfortune overtook the family of the second person (Jones Hall) named on the above list
in the early years of the settlement.

He sent his son, Joseph, a young man, for a froe (a tool used by the pioneers for splitting shingles),
to a settler's in a part of the adjoining Township of Tecumseth, near the eighth and town line corner.

Joseph lost his way in the forest and did not return home at night as his father expected.

Next day the father called out the settlers to search for him.

Many turned out to give help, and one of them, James M. Tegart, of Tecumseth,
came upon his lifeless body lying in the woods; he had perhaps died through fear of exhaustion.

They brought his remains to the house of one of the Tecumseth settlers,
Mr. White, and buried him in front of Mr. Tegart's farm.

This became the first burial in the cemetery a mile east of Tottenham;
other graves soon were added, and a regular graveyard began.

This was more than eighty years ago, and he was perhaps the first white man who died in Tecumseth.

No stone marks his resting place, but settlers of the locality for many years lamented the untimely end of poor Joseph Hall.

The last named person on the above list, James McKenna, died May 12th, 1885, aged 89 years.

To the northward of the Ballycroy settlers, a few others arrived about the year 1828. Among these were:

John Headon, con. 7, lot 10,
Harvey Huntley, con. 7, lot 14,
Owen Keough, con. 5, lot 10,
Henry McCullough con. 7, lot 11,
Patrick Patton, con. 6, lot 9,
Daniel Small, con. 7, lot 11.

James Hart, who took up lot 8 in the 7th concession,
was also one of the early settlers in this neighborhood,
his house being about two miles from Keenansville.

From an early year he was Township Clerk until his death,
which occurred February 9th, 1869, at the age of 48 years.

At Keenansville, which took its rise on Bailey's Creek at an early period,
as there was good water power on the stream,
Harvey Huntley was said to be the first settler,
having arrived about 1828, and took up the east half of lot 14 in the seventh.

Owen Keough was a native of County Cavan, Ireland, and reached a ripe age,
his death having occurred April 2nd, 1876, at the age of 96 years.

Henry McCullough, the fourth on this list, was District Councillor for Adjala in 1842-3.

Patrick Patton, the next on the list, was Division Court Clerk for a time,
and otherwise took part in the public affairs of the township.

Daniel Small was one of the first settlers, a patent for the lot above mentioned having been issued
in the name of his brother, James, in 1828.

He hewed out a home for himself and children;
and near the same place he breathed his last, September, 5th, 1890,
at the advanced age of 98 years. Peter Small, his son,
became a merchant in Ballycroy, and a reeve of Adjala for nine years (1867-1875).

Afterwards he resided in Toronto, where he was bailiff of the Division Court.

Another son, Patrick, was also a memeber of the Township Council on different occasions.

James Duross (lot 12, con. 8), one of the pioneers,
lived to be 113 years of age, having survived unti May 15th, 1896.

The reader may observe, from these notes on the Irish pioneers of Adjala,
how many of them reached great ages -- in the case of Mr. Duross,
far beyond the century mark, and many other cases nearly the century.

Whatever the cause, the facts show great strength of nerve and constitution on the parts of these Irish pioneers.

James Hamilton, with his sons, Alexander, Thomas and John, settled early on lot 10, con. 6.

This was a Presbyterian family, there being a few such mixed among the Irish Catholics
who formed the majority of the settlers in this locality. Mr. Hamilton, sr., died April 12th, 1858,
aged 80 years, and was interred in the family plot in the cemetery on the third line of Tecumseth,
where they attended church.

Luke Harcourt, an Irish Catholic, also settled in this neighborhood aat an early date.

He received a patent for lot 7, con. 8, in April, 1835, but appears to have lived at Keenansville
from the earliest years of that village, and worked at his trade as shoemaker, being like most shoemakers,
not blessed with a large amount of this world's goods.

He subsequently moved to the frontier part of this province.

Hon. Richard Harcourt, of Welland, Ont., is a grandson of this pioneer.

Besides the main stream of the Notawasaga, which passes in a northeasterly direction across the township, another branch parallel with the river itself, and crossing the township at a more southerly part, was sometimes known as Bailey's Creek.

This made an obstruction for settlers, the earliest and most numerous settlements being south of it. It was not easy to make roads across Bailey's Creek, or in its neighborhood, during the early years; accordingly, in 1843, the District Council of Simcoe expended money for a "trespass" road here.

As early as the year 1828, some settlers had begun to take up lots in the good lands just north of Bailey's Creek.

Among these were the familes of Connors, Kelly and Keenan.

It was from the last family that the village of Keenansville had its name.

Robert Keenan was District Councillor (1846-9), and reeve of Adjala, (1857), for twelve years altogether.

He died January 10th, 1903, aged 83 years.

Keran Egan, a native of King's County, Ireland, took up the E half of lot 13, con. 6, in 1829.

He had a bed of hemlock boughs for a time, while he prepared a more substantial shelter.

He spent his long lifetime near Keenansville, on the place where he first settled,
and died January 25th, 1890, aged 95 years.

Two brothers of his were also early settlers in the same neighborhood.

Hugh Kelly, a native of County Carlow, Ireland, took up the east half of lot 14, con. 5, in 1828,
or the following year, and was a lifelong resident in this locality.

About the same time as the preceding, two pioneers took up lot 14, con. 4., viz., Patrick Feheley,
on the west half, and Andrew Goulding on the east half.

Thomas Hollend and his son Felix also settled near Keenansville (on lot 12, con. 7), in the same period.

Michael Haffey settled upon the west half lot 14, con. 5, at this early period.

On the opposite lot in con. 6, where John Haffey lived at a later time,
Henry J. Peck, of Stanley, N.Y., found, in 1887, parts of the skeleton of a mammoth.

This is the only instance known of mammoth bones having been found in Simcoe County.

One of the molars is in Elmira College, N.Y.

The other bones are in the Geological Museum of Lafayette College, Easton, P.A.

On the lot south of Haffey, George Kidd settled during this first arrival of settlers,
and here arose the village of Athlone.

Farther west, on lot 10, con. 1, James Flynn settled at this time.

He was an assessor of the township for some years, until he moved to the United States.


In "North Adjala", which is the part of the township north of the wide swamp of the Nottawasaga River,
a settlement was made very soon after the southerly parts.

Among the first settlers in this part were the following:

William Cassidy, con. 1, lot 29,
Matthew Conway, con. 3, lot 28,
Michael Healey, con. 5, lot 29,
John Hoey, con. 4, lot 32,
Thomas Irwin, con. 4, lot 31,
Thomas Langley, con. 4, lot 29,
John Reilly, con. 6, lot 30,
William Ryan, con. 5, lot 26.

The first named on this list received a patent for his land in 1821, but did not actually settle so early.

The following history is verbatim from the book "The History of Simcoe County"
by Andrew F. Hunter. First published in 1909 and reproduced in 1948 by the Simcoe County Historical Society.

 

TOSORONTIO

One of the very first settlers to arrive in Tosorontio was Charles Handy,
who lived for a while on lot 3, concession 7, on the townline.

One account states that he arrived about the year 1826,
but if this is to early, he was, at any rate, a settler before any others in that part of the country.

After he had lived in Tosorontio for a while, he left the place
because he thought no settlers would ever take up land
and make clearings so far west in the forest wilderness as he then lived.

Accordingly, about 1832 he moved three miles east of where he lived,
having purchased a lot in Essa from an old soldier named "Paddy" Parsons.

A very singular career had Mr. Handy.

He was thrifty in an extraordinary degree,
and about the year 1840, while he was still a resident of West Essa,
he began lending money and followed this thrifty occupation
down to the day of his death.

After a time in Essa, he moved to Sunnidale,
and finally to the county town,
where he built a shanty in what was known as "Boys' Block,"
in which dwelling he lived until he died, October 30, 1890, aged 89 years.

Although he had accumulated the nice sum of $140,000,
he always lived in the small hovel, apparently in abject poverty,
and without the comforts of life which his wealth might have given him.

As in other townships of this county, there were land grants to U.E. Loyalists in Tosorontio,
but in greater numbers, it would seem, than in the others.

None of these lands, we may suppose, had ever been seen by those to whom they had been granted.

There is much light soil in the township, except toward the south end and a tract at the northwest corner,
and although the soil bore a valuable crop of pine timber,
this had no value in the earliest pioneer days.

Scarcely any of the U.E. Loyalist grantees became actual settlers.

The tract of upland adjoining the West Essa Scotch settlement
was one of the first parts of Tosorontio to receive settlers.

One of the earliest was John Hill, who took up lot 8, conecession 7, (a clergy reserve lot),
but transferred it to John Reid in 1837.

John Reid himself had settled in this part of Tosorontio in 1833.

He was a native of Dumfries Parish, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, (born in 1781),
had served a number of years in the militia, and then became a cotton weaver in Carlops, Peeblesshire,
following this branch of the arts of peace for fourteen years,
when he sold his household goods and left for Canada.

His sons, James and John, may also be named as among the first settlers of Tosorontio,
the latter coming in 1837, and his grandson, E.J. Reid, has been postmaster at Everett for some years.

Another pioneer in this locality was John Cody,
who settled upon the east half of lot 8, conecession 7.

Peter Cody was the District Councillor for the township in 1846-7-8.

John Graham, a native of Co. Fermanagh, Ireland,
settled on lot 9, concession 6, quite early.

There was a pioneer Methodist Church at this place,
and beside it a cemetery is the resting place of several early settlers.

In 1833 and 1834, "The Hills" of Tosorontio began to receive settlers
in greater numbers than before.

Also, about the same time, along the south of the township facing Adjala, several settlers "located".

In the first mentioned locality, the Latimer family were early residents,
James Latimer having been the District Councillor for the township in 1849.

Wm. Latimer belonged to the same neighbourhood,
and Thomas died January 6, 1904, aged 95 years,
having been an early settler on lot 10, concession 7.

John Fisher settled early (before 1837), on lot 10, concession 7,
at the side road.

The land here being good, he prospered and at onw time owned 400 acres.

He became reeve in 1868 and held the position for five years. Walter G. Fisher, the lawyer, of Alliston,
is a son of this pioneer.

Wm. Richey was an early settler near the same place,
but went west with the Mormon movement in the early forties from West Essa,
already mentioned in connection with that township.

A little further north, lot 15, concession 7, Thomas Crosbie was an early settler,
having arrived in Canada in 1839, and after living in West Gwillimbury
for a short time became one of the pioneers of the high ground in Tosorontio.

He died July 1, 1892, aged 80 years.

With the opening of the Hamilton and Northwestern Railway in 1878,
Everett became a central village. It was incorporated as a police village, January, 1909.

Furher west, on the third line, and two miles northward, on lot 16, (East half),
concession 2, at Brennan's mill, a hamlet arose about the railway time,
but it declined with the abolition of the mill.

Also at Tioga, lot 17, concession 4, where the Pine River crosses the railway, a saw mill was erected at the same time.

A few took up lots next to North Adjala at an early period.

Among these pioneers were the following:

Robert Armstrong, lot 4, con. 1,
Robert Fletcher, lot 3 (w half), con. 3,
Andrew Murphy, lot 2, con. 2,
Robert Murphy, lot 3, con. 2,
George McGirr, lot 2, con. 7,
John McMulkin, lot 1, con. 6,
Timothy O'Hearn, lot 2 (w half), con. 5,
John Thompson, lot 3 (w half), con. 5.

Robert Murphy settled in the township in 1828,
or soon afterward, and took an interest in its public affairs from the first,
having been the first reeve of the township in 1855,
and he held that position for several years afterward.

A member of the same family was reeve in later years,
Robert Murphy, and was warden of the county in 1903.

John Thompson received the patent for the above mentioned land
as early as January 13, 1829, and in course of time settled upon the land
George McGirr, who arrived before the rebellion, was reeve for some years in the seventies.

The northerly parts were settled much later than the south, chiefly by Irish Protestants, as in the older parts.

The Cherry family were among the first near Airlie, also the Jones family.

Henry, John and Joseph Kidd "located" lands in the first concession in the sixties,
having removed from the vicinity of Mono Mills.

Lisle, or Forest Lee, was surveyed into village lots on lots 25 and 26, concession 3,
in 1878, on the construction of the Hamilton railway.

Marshall N. Stephens built the first mill at Glencairn in,
or about the year 1853, and held a prominent place in the conduct of public affairs
in that portion of the county till his death in 1903.

He was one of the moving spirits for the construction of the branch of the Hamilton
and Northwestern Railway through that place in 1878.

 

THE PINE PLAINS

The Pine Plains were covered originally with a red pine forest,
which was removed by the lumbermen (wherever it had not been destroyed by fire)
many years ago, and the land being to light to cultivate, they were again covered
with a second growth of that timber.

Coarse grasses also took root and covered it in stinted proportions.

One also meets with unusual forms of plant life not found elsewhere in the district,
including the sweet fern, which grows in abundance on some of the sandy
and rocky tracts in counties north and east of Simcoe.

Starting near the apex of Cornhill in Sunnidale,
the Pine Plains extend in a southeasterly direction
and cover portions of three townships.

In shape the Plains have the outline of a beaver tail,
with a length of ten miles, and a breadth of seven miles at the widest part,
and as the larger portion lies in Tosorontio,
this is the more suitable place to mention this prominent natural feature.

Owing to its great size, it has had the usual budget of traditioms of lost travellers,
nondescript animals, tame beasts run wild again, all based on more or less foundation of truth.

Sir Sandford Fleming was the first person to place on record a description of the Plains,
so far as can be ascertained, having described them under the name of the "Burnt Lands"
in his sketch of the Valley of the Nottawasaga

(in the Canadian Journal,
vol. 1) written in 1852-53.

He had become acquainted with the Plains while assistant engineer of the Northern Railroad about that time,
and some parts of them, at least, had been overrun by fire at an earlier date.

The land being so light, a strip of Tosorontio and of the adjacent Township of Essa
were annually in the land tax sale for many years,
farm lots having been once patented, mostly by lumbermen,
but after the timber was removed they were not considered worth the taxes.

 

ORO MEDONTE

SETTLER Con. Lot

ALIBONE, George 8 9 (E1/2)
ANDERSON, Thomas G. 12 24
ARCHER, William 1 69 (W1/2)
BAILEY, John 12 6
BAILEY, Robert 6 1
BEARD, James 11 2
BARR, Walter 11 6 (E1/2)
BARR, George 6 11 (E1/2)
BELL, John 7 8
BELL, James 7 8
BORLAND, John 11 22
BOYD, William 10 16 (E1/2)
BOYNTON, John 3 9 (W1/2)
BRADLEY, William 1 56
BROOMLAW, John 1 70
BROTHERSTONE, Jane 9 6 (W1/2)
BRIMSMEAD, Richard 11 5 (E1/2)
BUNTON, Conway 5 5 (E1/2)
BYRNES, John 2 57
BURNFIELD, James 6 14
BUTCHER, Joseph 12 8
CALLAGHAN, Patrick 4 6 (W1/2)
CALLAGHAN, John 5 7
CARTHEW, John 10 17
CAVANAGH, Thomas 10 6 (NE1/4)
CHAMPAGNY, Peter 10 15
CONNOR, Michael 4 9
CONNOR, John 4 8
COOK, James 10 2 (SE1/4)
COOK, John 11 2
CRADDOCK, Joseph 12 23 (SW1/4)
CRAIG, Thomas Sr. 1 43
CRAIG, Thomas Jr. 1 44
CRAIG, John 1 43
COWAN, Samuel 6 6 (E1/2)
DAVENPORT, Benjamin 1 70
DOLLER, Joseph 10 19
DOUGLASS, William 8 7
DUDDY, Thomas 7 7
DUNAGHAN, Miles 1 75
EPLETT, John 9 12
EVANS, Joseph 6 8 (E1/2)
FITZGERALD, Charles 6 4
FLANAGHAN, Michael 3 8 (E1/2)
FOWLER, John 8 8 (E1/2)
FOX, James 11 8 (E1/2)
FOX, James 10 20
FRENCH, Samuel 4 7 (E1/2)
FRAWLEY, Cornelius 3 10 (E1/2)
FULLERTON, John 9 7 (E1/2)
GANTON, David 3 8 (W1/2)
GOSS, Joseph 11 7 (W1/2)
GRANT, John 5 1
GREENLAW, Robert 2 49
GREENLAW, James 2 50
GROUETTE, Wm. 13 22
HALLEN, George 13 11
HARVEY, John 5 13 (E1/2)
HINDS, John 3 1 (W1/2)
HOLT, Zechariah 4 1
HORSBURGH, Alexander 9 8 (SE1/4)
HUGHES, Patrick 1 60 (W1/2)
HUSSEY, John 3 6
INGRAM, Robert 1 49
INGRAM, James 1 50
INGRAM, George 3 5
INWOOD, John 8 8
JACQUES, Franklin 1 41
JAMIESON, John 13 1 (E1/2)
JAMIESON, Ann 5 10
JOHNSON, David 2 54
KEARNS, William 10 6 (SE1/4)
KELLY, Thomas 9 10 (E1/2)
KENT, William 10 12
KINGHORN, Andrew 5 6 (W1/2)
LAING, Alexander 1 42 (N1/2)
LAWLER, Cornelius 12 1 (W1/2)
LEONARD, James 1 69
LITTLE, Robert 6 1
LIVINGSTON, Dougald 11 6 (W1/2)
MILLER, Robert 6 12
MILLER, Alexander 6 13
MILLIKEN, Thomas 1 54 (S1/2)
MOON, Henry 10 16
MOON, Edmund 9 15
MOON, George 3 56
MORAN, John 2 41
MORDAN, Robert 5 12
MOREHEAD, Graham 1 53 (N1/2)
McARTHUR, Patrick 3 1
McCABE, Michael 9 20
McCARROLL, Robert 9 1
McCLURE, Samuel 7 3 (E1/2)
McCONDRA, Thomas 5 5 (W1/2)
McDONALD, John 6 8 (W1/2)
McHUGH, Daniel 13 1 (NW1/4)
McHUGH, Peter 13 1
McKAY, George 1 72 (N1/2)
McKINLEY, John 11 3 (E1/2)
McKINLEY, Duncan 11 3
McKINLEY, Donald 8 2
McLEAN, Dougall 10 10 (E1/2)
McLEOD, Malcolm 2 52
McMURRAY, Michael 4 9
McNAMARA, Lawrence 3 10
NICHOLL, Robert 1 65
NICHOLL, S. 9 22
O'DONNELL, Patrick 6 2 (E1/2)
ORTON, John 9 7 (W1/2)
PARKER, Thomas 4 7 (SW1/4)
PILGRIM, Henry 9 14
POWER, William 4 6 (E1/2)
QUAIL, Thomas 9 5 (E1/2)
REARDON, Jermiah 7 5 (E1/2)
REID, Archibald -- --
RILEY, Thomas 9 19
ROBINS, Jethro 7 7 (E1/2)
ROSS, Richard, Colmer 7 15
ROSS, William 5 8
RUTHERFORD, Allan 11 9
RUTHERFORD, Justus 6 9
SEAL, John 6 6 (W1/2)
SHANAHAN, John 3 9 (NE1/4)
SHANAHAN, Thomas 3 7 (E1/2)
SHIRE, Charles 10 1 (W1/2)
SLEIGH, Edwin 8 15
SMYTH, Traverse 1 53 (S1/2)
STEELE, Elmes 12 9
STEVENS, John 9 8 (W1/2)
STOKLEY, James 1 71
SWITZER, William 10 1 (NE1/4)
TERRY, Jane 7 3 (W1/2)
THOMAS, John 8 16
THOMPSON, William 7 10
THOMPSON, Dougald 11 3 (NW1/4)
THORNTON, Peter 11 1 (E1/2)
THORNTON, Thomas 11 1 (W1/2)
TEARNING, John 9 10 (W1/2)
TURNER, George 1 59
WALKER, George 7 1 (E1/2)
WATT, William 4 11 (E1/2)
WHELAN, John 12 7 (W1/2)
WILLIAMS, Joseph 7 5 (W1/2)
WILSON, Lieut. George 10 14
YATES, John 2 53

 

ORO

SETTLER Con. Lot

ADAMS, John 8 27
ADAMS, James 9 26 (E Pt)
ALGEO, William B. 11 23
ALLINGHAM, J.D. 11 24
AMBLER, Thomas 1 6
ANDERSON, George 11 18
ASHFIELD, John 6 9
BARBER, Luther 3 6 (E1/2)
BASKERVILLE, William 13 14 (E1/2)
BASS, Malen 3 12 (E1/2)
BAILEY, Thomas 6 18
BATTERS, Charles G. 7 17
BELL, Gilbert 8 7
BERGEN, Michael 1 19
BLAIR, William 8 6
BLACK, Hector 9 12
BONE, David 13 10 (E1/2)
BROWN, Samuel 1 20
BROWN, George 12 11 (E1/2)
BROUGH, Charles, Rev. 14 13
BUCHANAN, Francis 13 7 (W1/2)
BUSH, James 5 12 (W1/2)
CALDWELL, George 2 12
CALL, John 2 21
CAMERON, Duncan 12 6
CAMERON, Daniel 12 12 (W1/2)
CAMERON, Malcolm 13 6 (W1/2)
CAMPBELL, Arch 5 17
CAMPBELL, John 7 17 (W1/2)
CARTHEW, Arthur 13 22 (S Pt)
CHAPEL, John 2 11
CHEDWICK, Richard 3 7
CLARK, John 10 2
CLARK, Alex 10 1
CLARK, Joseph 14 8
CLIFFORD, Henry 2 30
CAUGHLY, Daniel 2 14
COLEMAN, James 14 7 (S1/2)
COTTON, Noah 10 14 (E1/2)
CRAWFORD, Henry 10 14 (W1/2)
CREA, William 3 14
CROOKS, Richard 9 23
CROOKS, Richard 12 20
CROSS, William 1 33
CURRIE, Edward 9 5
CURRIE, John 10 6
CUPPAGE, William 13 2
DAVIS, Edward F. 12 22
DARKMAN, George 2 15
DELAY, John 2 E
DRURY, Thomas 1 11
DRURY, Richard 1 12
DUNSMORE, William 6 16 (E1/2)
EDDY, George 2 24
EDWARDS, Joseph 2 31
ELSMERE, Joseph 4 1 (W1/2)
EMMS, James 1 31
FELL, Isaac 14 11
FELTERS, Mary 14 10 (N1/2)
FERGUSON, George 6 14 (E1/2)
FERGUSON, Thomas 14 8
FIRTH, George 7 15
FITZGIBBON, Thos 13 1
FLAHERTY, John 2 10
FORSTER, Richard 2 24
FRAZER, William 14 14
FRAZER, John 4 20
GALBRAITH, John 9 10 (S1/2)
GALBRAITH, Angus 10 8
GALBRAITH, Donald 10 13
GARDINER, William 2 23
GARDINER, John 2 25
GILCHRIST, Duncan 8 6
GILLESPIE, Arch 9 11
GOSLING, John 2 24
GOUGH, John 1 E
GRAHAM, William 3 11 (WPt)
GRANT, Donald 7 12 (E1/2)
GRAY, William 3 14
GRUETTE, Peter 12 20
HALL, H. 10 16 (E1/2)
HAMMOND, John 12 1 (E1/2)
HART, Isaac 1 32
HARTWELL, William 2 11
HARDY, John 13 6 (E1/2)
HARKLEY, John 4 1 (Pt)
HARRISON, Wm. 10 12 (W1/2)
HATCH, William 7 14 (W1/2)
HAWKINS, Charles 3 5 (E1/2)
HEPBURN, Caesar 4 12 (W1/2)
HICKLING, George 1 15
HICKLING, Wm. 2 20
HICKLING, Ebenezer 2 19
HOLDSWORTH, Thomas 10 16 (W1/2)
HODGES, Richard 12 24
HORN, Peter 12 15
HUGHES, George 1 6
HULLICHAN, Patrick 13 15
HUNT, Wm. 1 40
JACKSON, Samuel 5 12
JACKSON, John 2 3
JARRETT, Charles 11 1
JENNINGS, Henry 6 11 (E1/2)
JERMEY, Samuel 10 12
JERVIS, John 2 F
JOHNSON, Matthew 14 7 (N1/2)
JOHNSON, John T. 3 12
JOHNSON, Benjamin 2 27
JONES, John 5 13 (E1/2)
KEATING, Horace 12 23
KERRIDGE, Charles 1 23
KYLE, Wm. 12 1 (W1/2)
LALLY, Edmund 5 28
LAUDER, Walter 5 9
LANGMAN, Nicholas 14 6 (W1/2)
LANGMAN, Joseph 14 6 (E1/2)
LAWRENCE, John 1 7
LITSTER, Henry 12 9 (E1/2)
LEIGH, John 13 16
LEITCH, Angus 8 2 (NE1/4)
LEONARD, Wm. 2 28
LIVINGSTON, Neil 9 7
LOFTUS, James 3 6 (W1/2)
LOCKE, Joseph 13 13 (E1/2)
LUCK, Edward 1 16
MARSHALL, John 14 12 (W1/2)
MILLAN, Daniel 6 14 (W1/2)
MITCHELL, William 12 12 (S1/2)
MOFFATT, James 14 9 (E1/2)
MONK, Charles 6 27
MONRO, Jeremiah 5 10
MORRIS, John M. 4 11 (E)
MORRIS, Noah 4 11 (W1/2)
MORRISON, Thomas 14 10
MONTGOMERY, Henry 2 29
McCALLUM, Peter 10 6 (NE1/4)
McARTHUR, Duncan 8 7
McARTHUR, Duncan 9 5
McCUAIG, Duncan 5 16
McCULLOCH, Robert 6 16 (W1/2)
McDONALD, Michael 10 15
McDUFFIE, Peter 9 1
McDUFFIE, John 10 2 (W1/2)
McDOUGALL, Arch 6 14
McEACHERN, Duncan 8 12
McEACHERN, John 8 11
McFAYDON, John 9 10
McKAY, Angus 9 12
McKENZIE, John 8 16
McKERROLL, James 10 1 (W1/2)
McLEAN, George 1 39 (N1/2)
McLEAN, John 10 4 (E1/2)
McLEOD, Donald 12 12 (N1/2)
McLEOD, John 13 8
McMILLAN, Duncan 9 10
McMILLAN, John 11 8
McNAB, Alex 10 1 (E1/2)
McNIVEN, John 8 3
McPHERSON, John 13 7 (E1/2)
McVITY, Wm. B. 11 25
McVITTOE, Charles 10 25
NAISH, James 13 13
NORMAN, George 12 16
O'BRIEN, Edward G. 2 2
OADES, Francis 1 27
OLIVER, Robert 1 1 (E Pt)
OLIVER, George 1 18
ORMSBY, James 12 14 (E1/2)
OVERS, George 2 40
PAILK, William 9 13 (E1/2)
PARKER, Simon 6 6 (W1/2)
PARTRIDGE, Charles 1 17
PAXMAN, John 11 8
PEARCE, Joseph 7 15
PERKINS, Wm. 8 16
PRENTIS, James 8 1 (NW1/4)
PULFORD, George 8 14
PUTNEY, Robert 6 8
RAWL, John 13 17
REID, Duncan 9 2 (E1/2)
REID, John 3 15 (E1/2)
REID, Hugh 9 2
REID, Wm. 14 10
RICHARDSON, Samuel 1 5
RICHARDSON, Wm. 1 36 (W1/2)
RICHARDSON, Jesse 5 10 (E1/2)
ROBERTSON, George 13 10 (W1/2)
ROSS, Malcolm 8 17
RUTHERFORD, Wm. 12 8 (E1/2)
RYALL, Edward 12 19 (W1/2)
SCOTT, John 11 10 (SE1/4)
ST. DENNY, Henry 2 26
SHAW, Henry 10 12 (S1/2)
SIMPSON, Wm. 11 15
SINCLAIR, John 3 16 (E1/2)
SMITH, Matthew 4 7 (E1/2)
SMITH, John 6 11
SMITH, Duncan 9 6
SMITH, John 9 13 (W1/2)
SMITH, Peter 11 20
SUMMER, Edward 2 D
SWAN, Robert 11 15 (W1/2)
TABOR, James 13 14 (W1/2)
THOMAS, Samuel 4 8
THOMAS, Samuel 5 13
THOMPSON, John 11 6 (W1/2)
TUDHOPE, Walter 8 1 (NE1/4)
TUDHOPE, William 11 7 (NE1/4)
TUDHOPE, George 11 6 (E1/2)
TURNER, Benjamin 4 12 (E1/2)
TURNER, Edward 8 2 (Pt)
USHER, Frederick 1 8
WALKER, Edward 3 8 (W1/2)
WALKER, John 4 9
WALKER, Joseph 7 3 (E1/2)
WATSON, James 1 28
WHITE, James 1 26
WHITLEY, John 3 28
WHITING, George 10 11 (E1/2)
WILSON, John 10 15
YOUNG, John M. 14 12 (W1/2)
The following history is verbatim from the book "The History of Simcoe County" by Andrew F. Hunter. First published in 1909 and reproduced in 1948 by the Simcoe County Historical Society.
ORO

THE SETTLEMENT OF SHANTY BAY
Even before the survey of Oro in 1820, it was the intention of the Government to devote part of it to the philanthropic uses of a coloured colony. A few coloured settlers were located, but for some reason or other the initial enthusiasm of the project died out, and nothing further on the part of the Government was done until about 1830. In connection with this proposal they appointed Lieut.-Col. Edward George O'Brien, who had settled in Oro and founded the community of Shanty Bay, to act as Government Agent for the location of the negro immigrants.
He had, at the age of fourteen, entered the naval service as midshipman on board H.M. frigate Doris, but the peace with America in 1815 blighted his hopes of advancement in the navy. A lengthy extract from his "jottings," made while in the service, appears in Thompson's "Reminiscences," and describes his first experience of life at sea. Leaving the navy, he entered the army for a time and served in the West Indies, where his health failed him, but soon after he again went to sea and made numerous voyages to the East. Illness forced him to leave the service and come to Canada.
In his pretty log cottage at Shanty Bay he dwelt during the first years after his settlement, and his relations with the settlers of the neighbourhood were of the most friendly character. Mr. Thompson in his "Reminiscences" has preserved a glimpse of his residence as it appeared in 1833, and has also recorded various incidents in his career.
In those early years he was a commissioner of the Court of Requests at Barrie, and occupied the position of chairman of the Quarter Sessions for the Simcoe District. He was one of the first magistrates in this locality.
When the uprising of 1837 took place, he called together a company of stalwart settlers, and marched for Toronto; but before arriving there he received instructions from Sir F.B. Head, the Lieut.-Governor, to proceed to Bond Head and remain there to take charge of the place, for there had been some disaffection in the district. After Simcoe had been erected into a county, Mr. O'Brien and his family removed to Toronto, where they resided for many years. He began business in the city as a land agent, and was subsequently Manager of the Provincial Insurance Company, unti 1857. In 1848 he became partial proprietor of the Toronto Patriot newspaper, but on May 25th of the following year occured the great fire which destroyed the Patriot printing office. Shortly afterward Mr. O'Brien sold his share in that newspaper to Mr. Ogle R. Gowan.
Lieut.-Col. E.G. O'Brien's life, as well as that of his wife, have been warmly eulogized by their comtemporary generation. Their charitableness caused them to be respected by people of all shades of opinion; and it is recorded that to Mrs. O'Brien, Toronto is indebted for its first ragged school. Several members of their family became distinguished in various ways. Lieut.-Col. Wm. E. O'Brien was commanding officer of the 35th Battalion, Simcoe Foresters, resigning October, 1897, and was member of the Dominion House of Commons for Muskoka; Lucius R. O'Brien was generally acknowledged to be the foremost Canadian artist in his day; while Henry O'Brien, K.C., of Toronto, is a well-known member of the legal profession. In the burial ground of the Shanty Bay church, which they mainly assisted to establish, Col. O'Brien and his wife are buried, and over them an Irish cross bears the following words:

"In loving remembrance of Edward George O'Brien, who died September 8, 1875, age 76; and of Mary Sophia, his wife, who died October 14, 1876, age 78. This stone is raised by their children. He having served his country by sea and land, became A.D. 1830 the founder of the settlement and mission of Shanty Bay. She was a true wife and zealous in all good works. Faithful servants, they rest in hope."​

THE HALF-PAY OFFICERS ALONG THE SHORE
Shanty Bay with its old associations was the centre of a movement which has much interest from an historic point of view. The movement referred to consisted in the bestowal of land along the lake shore to retired British half-pay officers by the Government of Upper Canada. This practice had been followed by the Government for some time previously, but when Sir John Colborne became Governor in 1828, for some reason or another he formed a preference for the Lake Simcoe section, and advised almost all the half-pay officers who applied to him for grants to settle on the north shore of Lake Simcoe. There was, accordingly, about the year 1830, a demand for sites along the Oro shore, where a delightful view of the scenery of the lake could be had. But the soil being poor and stony many of those who located found to their sorrow that they could not live upon scenery alone, and the subsequent stampede was almost as hasty as the rush to get located.
The folowing is a list of those officers of the army and navy who obtained land grants, beginning at Kempenfeldt and proceeding eastward to Hawkestone: Captain Ross, Capt. Oliver, Col. O'Brien, Capt. E.A. Walker, Capt. Monck, Major Adam, Major Laurie, Capt. Charles McVittie, Col. Wm. B. McVity, Col. Davis, Johnson Allingham, and Col. Carthew.
Each oficer received a grant from Sir John Colborne, the Lieut.-Governor, the land being distributed amongst them in proportion to their rank and services. It was usual at that time to allot the land to officers according to a statutory schedule taking account of the length of time in the service and the quantity of land to which each class was entitled; and the Oro allotments were made in this way. (See chapter on land Grants Vol. 1).
Reference has been made in former chapters to some of those whose names are mentioned in the preceeding list. Capt. Robert Oliver has been mentioned in connection with Kempenfeldt. Prior to locating in Kempenfeldt Capt. Oliver resided on the site now known as "Woodlands," in a large, substantial log edifice owned by Eli Beman of Holland Landing, the occupants being (besides himself), his wife, 3 sons, 2 servants, with Meyrick Lally, and John McWatt (who had arrived in 1832 on the newly constructed steamer).
Major James Adams received his land grant near Oro station in 1832, and became one of the earliest magistrates in Oro. He was the Home District Councillor for the township in 1842, and in the following year was the first Treasurer of the District of Simcoe, but died a few months after his appointment. Descendants of his have lived in the same neighbourhood since that time.
Capt. E.A. Walker moved from his first "location" near Shanty to the county town and represented Vespra Township (with which Barrie was then included for municipal purposes) as District Councillor throughout the entire period of the Simcoe District Council (1843-9).
Col. Wm. B. McVity afterward became the first Clerk of the Peace when the County of Simcoe was organized. He died April 6, 1877.
Capt. Monck was a cousin of Lord Monck, the first Governor-General of the Dominion of Canada.
Capt. Malcolm Ross of the King's Regiment received 1,400 acres in 1832 in concessions 7, 8 and 9, near the shore.
Several of the half-pay officers who have been mentioned were located at or near Hawkestone. Amongst those who occupied a conspicuous position in the locality was Lieut.-Col. Arthur Carthew, late of H.M. 64th Regt., an officer of Cornish origin. But he did not dwell permanently at Hawkestone. Some time after 1836 he built a commodious house on a part of the Deer Park property on Yonge Street, the interior fittings of which, according to Dr. Scadding in "Toronto of Old" were of solid black walnut, had been bought from the Jarvis' family residence by him, and transferred without much alteration to Deer Park. Col. Carthew is also said to have made extensive improvements on property near Newmarket. He died on October 4, 1878, at the advanced age of 82 years.
These officers, in settling on the lake shore, encountered the usual hardships of the backwoods. Rev. Isaac Fidler met with one of these officers at Newmarket in 1832, and refers to him in his "Observations in the United States and Canada." As already mentioned, Sir John Colborne did all in his power to induce well-to-do immigrants to settle north of Lake Simcoe; but, with few exceptions, nothing was gained by the experiment but a sorrowful experience.
The settlement of the half-pay officers, so unique in its conception, was evidently an attempt to follow the classic policy of the Romans, who settled the veteran or retired soldiers on the outlying colonial frontiers to establish there "communities of loyal, able and valiant citizens." The plan looked all right on paper, but was unpractical for modern times.
The grantees of these lands, although receiving estates which were larger than what one would call "small holdings," and which were not in accordance with more recent land policies and the prevalent views of to-day as to what the size of land grants should be, did not impede settlement, as the land along the shore generally was somewhat stony in places and the soil not always the best. (It was not such land as practical people would take up first.) On the contrary, the officers had usually some wealth, and in making their disbursements for clearing and for what they needed, they circulated money and helped to make times good. In nearly every case, they lost money by their settlement while the community gained it. After selling their land for what they could manage to get for it, they generally moved to the towns where they passed the remainder of their days. Thompson's summary from his "Reminiscences," will form a fitting conclusion to our own remarks on these officers:-

"Where are the results of the policy which sent them there? What did they gain- what have their familes and descendants gained- by the ruinous outlay to which they were subjected? With one or two exceptions, absolutely nothing but wasted means and saddest memories."​