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

First settlers on the Penetanguishene Road (Vespra and Oro). (From Kempenfeldt northward to Craighurst)
*The name of John Gough appearing on lot No. 10,
should properly appear on a gore lot numbered "Letter D",
between lots 10 and 11, the bend in the Penetanguishene Road
at that place not being shown in the list.
40 (Craighurst) James Johnson, 1820
39 George McLean, 1820
38
37 Richard Williams. 1822
36 William Richardson, 1821
35
34
33
32 Isaac Hart, 1819 John Bruce, 1819
31
30 Joseph Drury, 1819
29
28 James Watson, 1819 Charles Debenham, 1819
27 Francis Oades, 1819 Peter White, 1819
26 James White, 1819 (Dalston)
25
24
23 Charles Kerridge, 1828
22
21 John Brown, 1819
20 Samuel Brown, 1820 John Jones, 1819
19 Michael Bergin, 1819
18 William Partridge, 1819
17 Charles Partridge. 1820 (CROWNHILL)
16 Edward Luck, 1819
15 George Hickling, sr., 1819
14
13

 

THE PENETANGUISHENE ROAD Part 1 file:///C|/Users/Wayne%20Cook/Desktop/penetang1.html[22/02/2021 9:45:36 PM]

12 Richard Drury, 1820 Thomas Mair, 1819

11 Thomas Drury, 1820

10 *John Gough, 1820

9

8

7

6 Thomas Ambler, 1828 John Lawrence, 1819

5 George Oliver Wm. Johnson & Wm. Larkin

4 (Barrie Plot) (Kempenfeldt Plot)

THE VESPRA LOTS Proceeding northward from Kempenfeldt along the top of the hill,
an object of historic interest is Lawrence's graveyard, at lot 5,
in which lie many pioneers and their descendants.

From the marble slabs over the graves here and in the Episcopal cemetery onward at Crownhill,
maybe gathered almost the only remaining records of their lives.

The first house built north of Kempenfeldt was John Lawrence's in 1819,
on lot 5 (west or Vespra side). Beyong the "wide swamp" are several fine farms,
all settled quite early, on one of which (No. 11, west side)
lived a well known figure of former years-- "Tom" Mair.

He was a native of Yorkshire, and at an early date imported some very fine stock from England,
which became the progenitors of a valuable herd.

Captain Bonnycastle passed this way in 1835 and notes the agricultural enterprise of this pioneer--("The Canadas in 1841").

His name was correctly written Thomas Mair, though in the rough-and-ready speech of the settlers
he was known as "Tom Mairs."

Mair remained for many years the uncrowned king of stock breeders in this section of the country,
but latterly fortune smiled less graciously upon his affairs, and the prosperity which he had known
in his earlier days considerably declined.

He appears to have taken part with George Oliver in the building and operation of the early mills at Midhurst,
about 1825, and it is recorded that he was chirman of the Vespra township meeting in 1838,
assisting in various ways both before and after that year in the local government of his township.

He died December 11, 1877, in his 82nd year.

Advancing on our way northward the abode of James Wickens is reached at lot 13.

He was a native of Berkshire, Eng., and had formerly held a position as lieutenant
on the commissariat staff of the British army in the Peninsular War,
but had withdrawn from the service on half-pay and settled, first, at Penetanguishene,
and then on this lot. After settling here, he had a sawmill on the stream in the "Big Swamp" southward,
and the stream became to be known as Wicken's Creek.

In the parliamentary contest in Simcoe in 1836, Mr. Wickens was a candidate,
the other two being W.B. Robinson and Samuel Lount.

On this occasion Messrs. Robinson and Wickens were elected, the defeat of Mr. Lount,
who had been associated with Mr. Robinson in the representation of the county up to this time,
being attributed to the Government's distribution of land patents amongst a number of half-pay officers and soldiers,
settled in that county, especially in Medonte, to secure their enfranchisement.

But, be the cause whatever it may, the fact remains that Mr. Lount was ousted in this contest from his place
in the dual representation of Simcoe by Mr. Wickens. Had the result been otherwise,
there is no telling what effect might have been produced on succeeding events
--the precipitation of the unfortunate uprising of the following year in which Mr. Lount took a part;
so that the share which Mr. Wickens had in this country's affairs was an important one,
although not intentional on his part. He continued to represent Simcoe until 1841,
when the position was filled by Captain Steele.

Mr. Wickens was also connected in other ways with the municipal govrenment of Vespra,
as the minutes of its first council meetings show (January 3, 1842). He died May 20, 1847, aged 71 years.

 

On the same side and toward the north, came the dwelling of Jonathan Sissons, a native of Yorkshire, England, who came to Canada in 1834, and located upon lot 16. He was elected "commissioner" in 1838, and also held the office of "township warden" on several occasions after this. He subsequently served as reeve of Vespra, for eight years, a position afterward also occupied by his son, Jonathan Sissons, jr., who is now jailor. Mr. Sissons, senior, died June 29, 1880, in his 75th year. On the adjoining lot (No. 17) John and William Partridge had settled in 1819. They had come with the first group of settlers in that year. John Partridge died November 28, 1828, in his 62nd year. Chas. Partridge died July 2, 1880, in his 82nd year. John Partridge, jr., died May 4, 1893, in his 79th year. Wm. H. Partridge died in 1904, aged 78 years. From these have sprung a numerous line of descendants. Ministers of the gospel visited the outlying new settlements of Simcoe very seldom in those early years; a travelling missionary would sometimes pass through a settlement, and his visit would be an important event in its hitory. Such was the experience of this settlement. It is related that about the year 1830, Captain Phillpotts, aide-de-camp of Lieut.-Governor Sir John Colborne, with Mrs. Phillpotts and a company of friends, were travelling from Penetanguishene to Kempenfeldt. In this party was a clergyman. One of the settlers near Crownhill becoming aware of this fact, seized the rare opportunity afforded by the presence of the divine, and had his children baptized and those of some other familes in the settlement. The solemn rite was performed at a small brook by the roadside, the children having been previously arranged in a row for the purpose. Some of the parents were also baptized with their families, bringing back scenes of apostolic times. The episode recalls those in the life of Vladimir, the Russian evangelist, who baptized whole villages in groups. About two miles farther north (lot 26), at Dalston of the present, lived another notable figure in the person of Peter White, J.P., a native of Cornwall, Eng. He came with the first company of settlers in 1819. At the cabin of this man were held the first religious services ever held in Vespra. A log meeting house was erected on his farm in 1825, and in it Mr. White held services in connection with the Methodist Church for several years. The place was called White's Corners in the early days, and Dalston at a later time. On January 2nd, 1837, he was chosen township clerk of Vespra, a position which he held for a number of years. Mr. White died January 29, 1876, in his 90th year. His only son, Charles, occupied the homestead. At the time of his death, September 8th, 1908, he was suppose to be the oldest native of the county, having been born at Dalston, February 14th, 1824. Charles Debenham located in the same year with White (1819), upon the adjoining property (lot 27). Mr. Debenham taught the early school at Dalston. It is recorded that he was chosen one of the commissioners of Vespra for 1837, and one of the "wardens" of the township for the year 1839. He died November 29, 1852, aged 72 years. A mile further on, John Bruce and his wife, a pair of Scotch Presbyterians, located in 1819, and opened the first store in 1829. He also kept travellers; and in addition to this, their house was used as a place of public worship, thus making a threefold purpose for which the edifice was used. The travelling catechist, John Carruthers, called on them in 1832, and refers to his visit in his 'Retrospect," (p. 7). In 1835 (July,-- aged 46 years) Mr. Bruce died and the care of the household devolved upon his widow, Agnes, who remained hostess of the place for many years afterwards. She is described as a jolly, muscular woman, and is said to have on one occasion rolled a barrel of flour from Kempenfeldt to her own place, although this story lacks confirmation. Almost everyone acquainted with the settlement was familiar with the wayside tavern of "Nanny" Bruce, where Lord Elgin, Governor of Canada, once called, according to a report in circulation. Richard Williams took up lot 36 in July, 1821, and brought his family to the place in the following year.

 

Three sons in this family-- Richard, Thomas and John,-- entered the ministry of the Methodist Church. The Rev. Thos. Williams was the author of an interesting series of "Memories" in the "Orillia Packet" in 1890-1, which the Pioneer and Historical Society of this County has reprinted in pamphlet form. Another son, William, died September 12, 1895, in his 82nd year. Among the arrivals to settle on this side of the road at a slightly later date, yet during the early pioneer period, was the Caston family. Aaron Caston, a native of Suffolk, Eng., acquired at this time lot 40, adjoining Craighurst of the present day. He died March 25, 1882, aged 88 years. Marmaduke Caston, a member of the same family, died November 25, 1897, aged 70 years. THE ORO LOTS Buried in the heart of an almost boundless forest, as were the familes which settled along the Penetanguishene Road in 1819 and 1820, they underwent privations and hardships that differed but slightly from those regularly encountered by pioneers in other parts of Canada. Little else than the usual routine of bush life-- felling the monarchs of the woods, piling the brushwood, burning the fallows, and making their first clearings--served to animate their life in the backwoods. There were features, indeed, peculiar to the neighbourhood in question, but these were of a local character, and produced only minor points of difference. John Gough, the early settler on lot D, at the bend in the road, died March 23, 1877, in his 95th year. Among the earliest of those who settled on the Oro side in 1819 were the Drurys--Joseph, the father, with his two sons, Thomas and Richard. They were natives of the historic Kenilworth in Warwickshire, Eng., and have availed themselves of the free grant lands of the Penetanguishene Road thrown open for settlement in 1819. Thomas and Richard Drury, being both young men, soon became expert woodsmen, and thoroughly acquainted with the rivers and lakes of the locality. When Sir John Franklin made his memorable Arctic expedition in 1825 by way of Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay, these two men accompanied his party as assistants for some distance up the lakes. They opened in 1833, in company with Alex. Walker, of Barrie, the Sunnidale Road as far as the Nottawasaga River. A notable incident in the career of Thoams Drury was his marriage in the village at the Portage on Willow Creek,--a place that has now totally disappeared. Both of these men subsequently held the office of councillor and Richard Drury was reeve on different occasions in Oro Township. Charles Drury, a son of Richard, was also reeve of Oro for some years, and represented East Simcoe in the Ontario Legislature from 1882 till 1890. During the last two years of the term he was Minister of Agriculture. He was Sheriff of Simcoe County from 1894 till his death, January 12, 1905. George Hickling, senior, also located in 1819. He was a navy veteran from London, Eng., and a turner by trade. He did not understand bush life, but by perseverance and thrift it was not many years before he had a cultivated farm. He died October, 1836. His sons were: George, William, Ebenezer, John and Charles; his daughter, Eliza, became the wife of Edmund Drury, later of Vespra. Most of them became pioneers of the Penetanguishene Road, and were amongst those who lived to see this county advance from a state of unbroken wilderness to its present improved condition. The older settlers who have seen the transition of the forest from its primeval state into comfortable homesteads, are becoming exceedingly few. George Hickling, jr., became the pioneer on No. 52, in the Flos lots farther north on this military road. Wm. Hickling, who died September 22nd, 1892, was born in London, Eng., in the year 1806, and secured a position when but a young man as gentleman's attendant, which position he held until coming to Canada. His income being small and having a wife and one child, he was induced to try and better his circumstances by emigrating to this country, which he did in the year 1831. Upon his arrival here his circumstances were not the most encouraging, he having but fifty cents in his pockets with which to start life in a new country. He did not yield to discouragement, but came and settled upon a farm in Oro, where he lived until within a few weeks of his death. His strength of will and courage were soon put to the test by

 

the trials and hardships of pioneer life, which were the most trying to him because he had never been accustomed to manual labour. Of the extent of character as to those trials and hardships none of the present generation know. The first wheat he planted he put in with a hoe and reaped it with a sickle, and after flailing it out and cleaning it with the wind he carried upon his back, a bushel at a time, to the Red Mills at Holland Landing to get it ground into flour, which was selling at that time for five cents a pound. He was an ambitious man, yet the extent of it was in getting five acres cleared which he thought would be all he would need. For eighteen years he battled manfully and in a limited degree successfully with the difficulties of farm life when he was called to England to receive £600 which a deceased aunt had left him. This was the turning point of his life, for upon returning to Canada he at once paid the remaining debt on his farm. Being now in the happy condition of freedom from debt, his "tact and push," his attention to business, his perseverance, soon started him upon a career of prosperity. Ebenezer Hickling settled at an early date on lot 19, concession 2, Oro. His house on this lot was on the rear of the land, that is, on the third line. It took fire and was burned down, January 5, 1832, leaving the inmates in a sorry plight. John Hickling, the fourth son, died March 30, 1887, aged 72 years. Charles Hickling, the youngest son, arrived on May 10, 1831, and was a lifelong resident of the Penetanguishene Road settlement, having seen its development almost from the beginning. He died on April 3, 1909, at the ripe old age of 93 years. Edward Luck became an early settler on lot 16. He was born at Albany, New York State, in 1806, and moved with his father's family to Simcoe in 1820. For twenty-two years, beginning in 1842, he taught school continuously in the Crownhill school. He passed over to the majority on February 4, 1890, being at the time of his death the oldest surviving settler in this part of the county. He had a large family of sixteen children, several of whom still survive. Charles Partridge, the pioneer of lot 17 has been referred to in connection with the lot of the same number on the Vespra side. This family came in 1819 with the earliest arrivals. Michael Bergin was the first settler on lot 19 on the Oro side. His wife was a daughter of Mr. Lodge, who lived with them, and her brother, Francis Lodge, may also be classed as an early settler here with them. They were members of the Roman Catholic Church, of which there were comparatively few members along this Military Road. Mr. Lodge, senior, died about the year 1840, having lived to be 105 years of age. When Michael Bergin died about the year 1852, Mrs. Bergin and her brother, Francis Lodge bequeathed their property to the church of their choice, and lived in retirement at Montreal, or in its vicinity. Reaching lot 20, we find it occupied by a member of the brown family, who arrived in 1819. John Brown, the head of the family, settled on the Vespra side, and his son, Samuel, across the road on the Oro side, on this lot. John Brown's daughter, Grace, became the wife of Abraham Jory in England, and Mr. Jory, who was a native of Cornwall, with his family followed his wife's people to Canada in 1847. He purchased lot 25, at Dalston, from the estate of John McDonald, the fur trader mentioned elsewhere in this work, and became an early settler. Mr. Jory died Aoril 17, 1882, aged 89 years. It was Samuel Brown's wife who waited upon John McDonald, just mentioned, during his last sickness, from which he died in 1828. James White, the first settler on lot 26, was a brother of Peter White, on the opposite, or Vespra, side, the two having been natives of Cornwall, England. James White's wife, (Pamila Draper), was of U.E. Loyalist descent, being a daughter of Joel Draper, of North Gwillimbury. Like other people born in this country, and used to its hardships, she made a sturdy, progressive, pioneer's wife. In the early days, the Indians travelled the Penetanguishene Road in considerable numbers, as it was the well beaten highway between the two lakes. Once when a pack of half-drunken Indians called at their place and became troublesome, she chased them with a pair of tongs, which they feared more than a tomahawk, as they did not know what the tongs were, or what injury they might inflict greater than a tomahawk might do.

 

James White was born, December 3, 1800, and died May 10, 1879. His widow died August 10, 1889, at the age of 85 years. In their family there were two sons; William, who died April 22, 1884, in his 51st year; and James, jr., both being occupants of the homestead. There were also several daughters: Mary (Mrs. Wm. Gardiner, of Oro); Elizabeth (Mrs. Edward Osborne, of Dalston); Livinia (Mrs. Bristol, of Syracuse, N.Y.); Harriet (Mrs. Chas. White, of Dalston); Lydia (Mrs. Herman H. Cook, of Toronto), and Lucy (Mrs. J.L. Cook, of Toronto). Francis Oades, of the next lot (No. 27), was a native of Egham, England. He was the patentee of the lot (in 1823, although he had arrived at the beginning of the settlement in 1819, or very soon afterward), and died June 8, 1859, aged 76 years. His son, James, had died on Christmas Day, 1851, aged 35 years. A mission was early established by the Episcopalians at White's Corners, now Dalston, the pulpit being supplied by the Rev. S.B. Ardagh, of Shanty Bay, and many a time in the diary of that faithful worker appeared the entry--"Service at White's School House, Penetanguishene Road." James Watson, a native of Stirlingshire, Scotland, located lot 28, in 1819, with his father's family, living continuously there until his death on August 5, 1888, at the ripe age of 83 years. When Joseph Drury made a beginning on lot 30 in 1819, only two of his sons came with him; others remained in England, of whom Edmund came later and settled in concession 2, Vespra. The two who came (Richard and Thomas) have already been referred to , as they took up lots farther south on the road the following year. The next early settler was on lot 32, viz., Isaac Hart, a native of Exeter, Devonshire, Eng., who had settled first in Schenectady, N.Y., where he married a Miss Terwilliger, of that State, and of Dutch descent. On coming to Canada in 1819 to live, they had by that time three sons, who soon grew up to be hard working boys. These worked faithfully at felling the pines down the hills on their land, and burning them; and by the year 1831 they had the largest clearing along the Penetanguishene Raod. After getting the land cleared, Mr. Hart grew quantities of corn, etc., which he sold to the soldiers of the establishment at Penetanguishene, and thus he prospered rapidly. Altogether he had a large family of twelve,--nine sons and three daughters. Of the sons there were: George, William, Abraham, Isaac, John, Nathan, Jacob, Thomas, Charles, nearly all of whom became permanent residents of this county, and helped to increase its wealth. William Richardson located about two miles farther north on lot 36, in February, 1821. In the month of September, 1852, a company of three persons, then but recently arrived from Scotland, who were travelling from Flos to Innisfil, spent a night with Mr. Richardson and his wife, and found them even at that time in comfortable circumstances, with a good house and a large clearing. They were kind and hospitable to their guests, as most of the older settlers always were. Their particular delight consisted in showing these visitors, with a good deal of well merited pride, the result of their labours in the backwoods. A large bed of growing tobacco was an object of special interest. Their guests were entertained till midnight with an account of their early settlement in the wilderness thirty years before, and how they had to bring their flour from Holland Landing by boat to Kempenfeldt, and then carry it home through the forest, besides many other stories of their early life in the bush. The carrying of grists by the pioneers through long distances seems to have been a universal topic of conversation. The following story was told in later years by Giden Richardson, one of the sons of this pioneer, the events referred to having happened as long ago as 1825. "The bears were so numerous that his father kept the pigs shut up in front of the door of the dwelling house, and had to keep a little log heap burning at night for the purpose of frightening the bears away from the sty. The swine had to be penned every enening, but one Saturday night, it being wet, no fire was kindled, and Mr. Bruin of course took advantage of the situation and came amongst the pioneer's swine, which lay between the log heap and the door step. The bear made a charge at one of the pigs, knocking it through the door into the middle of the house, which was all one room. Of course it wakened up all the inmates of the house--the faher and five sons.

 

I AM FROM THE DRURY FAMILY : (MY GRANDMOTHER was Viola Mae Drury-Handy)

When Joseph Drury made a beginning on lot 30 in 1819,
only two of his sons came with him; others remained in England,
of whom Edmund came later and settled in concession 2, Vespra.

The two who came (Richard and Thomas) have already been referred to ,
as they took up lots farther south on the road the following year.

The next early settler was on lot 32, viz., Isaac Hart, a native of Exeter, Devonshire, Eng.,
who had settled first in Schenectady, N.Y., where he married a Miss Terwilliger, of that State, and of Dutch descent.

On coming to Canada in 1819 to live, they had by that time three sons, who soon grew up to be hard working boys.

These worked faithfully at felling the pines down the hills on their land, and burning them;
and by the year 1831 they had the largest clearing along the Penetanguishene Raod. After getting the land cleared, Mr. Hart grew quantities of corn, etc., which he sold to the soldiers of the establishment at Penetanguishene, and thus he prospered rapidly. Altogether he had a large family of twelve,--nine sons and three daughters. Of the sons there were: George, William, Abraham, Isaac, John, Nathan, Jacob, Thomas, Charles, nearly all of whom became permanent residents of this county, and helped to increase its wealth. William Richardson located about two miles farther north on lot 36, in February, 1821. In the month of September, 1852, a company of three persons, then but recently arrived from Scotland, who were travelling from Flos to Innisfil, spent a night with Mr. Richardson and his wife, and found them even at that time in comfortable circumstances, with a good house and a large clearing. They were kind and hospitable to their guests, as most of the older settlers always were. Their particular delight consisted in showing these visitors, with a good deal of well merited pride, the result of their labours in the backwoods. A large bed of growing tobacco was an object of special interest. Their guests were entertained till midnight with an account of their early settlement in the wilderness thirty years before, and how they had to bring their flour from Holland Landing by boat to Kempenfeldt, and then carry it home through the forest, besides many other stories of their early life in the bush. The carrying of grists by the pioneers through long distances seems to have been a universal topic of conversation. The following story was told in later years by Giden Richardson, one of the sons of this pioneer, the events referred to having happened as long ago as 1825. "The bears were so numerous that his father kept the pigs shut up in front of the door of the dwelling house, and had to keep a little log heap burning at night for the purpose of frightening the bears away from the sty. The swine had to be penned every enening, but one Saturday night, it being wet, no fire was kindled, and Mr. Bruin of course took advantage of the situation and came amongst the pioneer's swine, which lay between the log heap and the door step. The bear made a charge at one of the pigs, knocking it through the door into the middle of the house, which was all one room. Of course it wakened up all the inmates of the house--the faher and five sons. When

 

When daylight came they tracked the bear down the lane, and saw also the tracts of two cubs,
which could not have been far off, as, at the approach of the men,
they heard the old bear give a large whistle to warn the little ones of danger.

After having been assaulted in the night time the pigs scampered away and went to the Northwest House on lot 35 (Vespra)
--so called because owned by Mr. McDonald, a Northwest trader.

Two or three days afterward Rev. Thomas Williams and the narrator went into this house
and found the pig that had been struck, lying dead."

Mr. Richardson had a family of seven sons, all of whom became pioneers of the neighbourhood:
John, Gidenn, William and George settled in Flos, James in Vespra, Robert at Edgar, and Henry at Craighurst.

George McLean, a native of Dundee, Scotland, located in 1820 upon lot 38.

He died February 7, 1859, aged 61 years.

His family included James, of Kempenfeldt, who died March 23, 1892, at the age of 56 years;
John, whose death occurred on December 20th, 1889, and was for years a dealer in grain;
and George, who remained upon the homestead.

 

PENETANG1.PDF (attached here)

 

DRURY FARM