Notes:

Ella is the daughter of Jane Matilda McCutcheon & Richard Lawrence Hamilton.

. 1876 Dec 7 - Acton Public School, results of a written examination in grammar: third Class, Ellen Hamilton 92%.
Ref: Acton Free Press.

. Ontario Marriage Registration # 3874, Acton, Halton Co., Ontario
Charles H Walker, Age 24/ b.1857, Resided Twp. of Erin, Born Erin, Manufacture,
Son of Elizabeth Walker & John S Walker, married
Ella Hamilton, Age 18 / 1863 in Twp. of Esquesing, Born Esquesing,
Daughter of Jame Hamilton an Richard Hamilton.
Wit: John Corraick, Erin & S M Law, Acton. Married at Acton, 15 Jun 1881. License.

. The Altar - Walker - Hamilton - In Acton, on the 15th inst., at the residence of the bride's father, by Elder A. Anderson of Hamilton, Mr. C. H. Walker of Erin Village to Miss Ella, the only daughter of Mr. Richard Hamilton of this village.
Ref1: ACTON FREE PRESS, Thursday, June 16, 1881 & in the Erin Advocate "
Ref2: ERIN ADVOCATE, Published every Wednesday.

NOTE1: A similar copy was written in Ella Hamilton's Bible & given to her eldest granddaughter, Jennie Walker's bible.

. 1881 Jun 23 - Mr. C. H. Walker & his newly made bride (Miss Ella Hamilton, of this village) returned from their wedding trip on Friday evening, after visiting friends in Toronto & Collingwood. They left for their new home in Erin Village on Saturday.
Ref: Acton Free Press, page 3, column 2.

. 1883 WELLINGTON COUNTY DIRECTORY:
The Erin Disciples church is a brick building, seating 300. It was erected in 1873, at the cost of $4,200. Services at 11 a.m.; Sunday school at 10 a.m. There are 75 members. The pastorate is vacant.

. Mr. C. H. Walker & his newly made bride, (Miss Ella Hamilton, of this village) returned from their wedding trip on Friday evening, after visiting friends in Toronto & Collingwood. They left for their new home in Erin Village on Saturday.

. 1897 Jan 14 - Erin, A grand musical entertainment was given by the ladies of the Disciple Church, in the Temperance Hill last evening. The programme consisted of vocal & instrumental music, solos & recitations.

. 1902 May 22. Obituary: Mrs. James Brown, Ruth Ann Hall, eldest daughter of Asa Hall, Esq. Born 1841 in Acton. Her husband lived 14 years. on Lot 1, Con 4, Erin, where he operated a saw mill. Friends form a distance were in attendance: Mr. Richard Hamilton (her father) & Mrs. C W. Walker, Erin. Ref: Acton Free Press.

. 1911 Census Erin, Ontario, Ella Walker, b 1863.
Ella sold up the foundry & house & moved with her girls to Toronto.

ERIN ADVOCATE Weekly Newspaper, Ontario:
. 1909 Aug 25 Wed.- Mrs. Chas. W Walker, of West Toronto, who has been spending a 2 weeks vacation with friends & relatives here, returned home on Saturday evening, sorry to leave, but looking forward to a return visit next year.
[Chas. Walker died in June 1908. Ella sold up the foundry & moved with her girls to Toronto in 1922 to nurse her dying daughter Kate Walker.]

. 1911 Jan. 4 - Mr. Frank Walker, Union Bank, Smith's Falls, at home. Mr. & Mrs. J. Felker, of Toronto, spent New Years with his mother, Mrs. C H Walker. May 24, 1911 - Mrs. J. Felker, Toronto; & Mrs. T. Justice & daughter, of Dauphin, Manitoba, are here on a visit to their mother, Mrs. C. Walker
. 1911 May 31- Mrs. J. Felker,
Mr. John Walker, who has been visiting his mother here, for sometime returned to Winnipeg on Tuesday last.
who has been here on a visit to her mother, Mrs. C. Walker, returned to her home in Toronto last week, accompanied by her sister Ruby.
. 1911July 12 - Mrs. J. Felker, Toronto, is here on a visit to her mother, Mrs. C. Walker.
. 1911 Oct. 18- Erin Fair Visitors: Mr & Mrs. J. Felker, Toronto, at Mrs. C. Walker's, 6,000 people attended the Fair last Friday.
. 1911 Dec. 27- Mr. & Mrs. J. Felker, of Toronto; Mr. Frank Walker, of Smiths Falls; Miss I. Walker, with their mother, Mrs. Walker.

. 1932 Jan 7 - Erin - Mrs. J. Felker an family &
Misses Irene & Ruby Walker of Toronto, Mr. Hughes of Regina Sask. [ should be son Babe Walker of Regina, Sask?], spent Christmas with their mother, Mrs. Ella Walker.

Notes2: For more Advocate social news, please look under the various individuals - PJA

. 1935 Wellington Co., voters list: Mrs. Chas. widow, Erin.

. 1938 Jun 30 - Ospringe - McCUTCHEON REUNION, held Saturday afternoon at the home of Mr Mrs Robert S McCutcheon, THIRD LINE, Erin, home offers McCutcheon settlers for 3 generations. The first McCutcheon came from Ireland over a 100 years go & purchased the home from the Crown.
Inspire of unfavorable weather in early afternoon, 110 guest registered. Games & races:
Races under 13: Helen Aitken & CHARLIE FELKER [born 1924]
After the races, supper was served on the lawn, President Robt. McC. called the guests to order & extended to all a hearty welcome.
MRS ELLA WALKER, gave a short history of the McCutcheon clan, which was very interesting.
Ref: Acton Free Press.

. ELLA HAMILTON'S FAMILY BIBLE: 12 X 9 X 4.5 inches thick. This Bible does not bear a publication date as such, but does have a publisher's note that it was entered into US Librarian of congress in 1876. The first entry for Richard & Jane's marriage was, thus entered at least two to three decades later. The Bible was then given to her eldest daughter, Jennie Walker, who in turned left it her eldest & only daughter, Marie Felker. The Bible then came to Marie's niece, myself, Patricia Felker Ahlberg.
> Here I would like to make interesting notation: Between the pages of Luke XXI -XXII, there are several dark blue ink spots. Additionally, caught up in the binding was a broken & spent wooden match head. Grandmother Ella was well noted for smoking a pipe! - So which came first the flying match head or spilt ink?

. First Family Record is a richly coloured Certificate of Holy Matrimony,
Richard Hamilton of Acton
& Jane M. McCutcheon of Erin Township
on Thursday, Jany 24th, 1861 at Hugh McCutcheons
by Revd. Joseph Unsworth, Congressional Minister, Georgetown.

. HAMILTON, ESTATE FILE, WELLINGTON, #8251, RG 2, 1917 Nov. 17
Petition of Ella Hamilton Walker: city of West Toronto, York Co., Widow
Jane M. Hamilton of the village of Erin, Wellington Co. left $1,000 in Real Estate. Signed, Ella M Walker
WILL dated 1 November 1910, Died "I devise & bequeath the sum to my daughter Ella Walker & for her & assign excepting the sum of $400 which I bequeath to my grand-daughter Jennie Felker - Residue to my said daughter." Executrix is my daughter Ella Walker.
Signed, Jane M. Hamilton
Witnesses: Janette McDowell, Erin, William McDowell Arch H. MacDonald Solicitor. Real Estate Description: 1/1 7 of an acre, being part of Easterly half of Lot #14, 9th concession of Erin, described by metes & Bounds in a Conveyance dated 1 May, 1891, from Charles Staples, of Golden, Colorado, & his wife to the said Jane Matilida Hamilton.

. Ontario Death Registration #5413, died Nov 17, 1917:
Born Erin, 78 , 1839, Erin, Residence 855 Keele St., Toronto, housework, widow, died of cancer uteri, for 1 year.

. DISCIPLES OF CHRIST.
Briefly then, the Esquesing church grew peacefully into the principles of the Campbellian reformation, & in June, 184 3, the first June meeting of the Ontario Disciples, was held. On that occasion the name "Disciples of Christ" or "Christians" was used. The site of this meeting house was near Norval, actually on the Menzies farm, Lot 8, 10th line, Esquesing. So small was the log building, that at the first June meeting, Ash records that numbers of the listeners had to vacate their seats in order to permit others to hear.
This Esquesing church was characterized by very strict discipline as to its members' conduct. For, with this strong desire to maintain the purity of the witness to the gospel, there was evident the air of exaltation & discovery which are elements in any youthful cause. There was not much experience to fall back upon, & the Bible was truly an honored medium of counsel toward maintaining a high standard of conduct with which to exalt the Christian profession; & who ca n deny the wholesomeness of such an aim? Consider the delicacy of the recording scribe who could indite upon his record s about a sister that had erred & been removed from fellowship- "for a crime mentioned in I Corinthians." ...This forest sanctuary to Christ which Esquesing folk raised, has long since passed from common knowledge, but the spiritual emanations from that Bible-loving people still grasp at the stars.

> Please see the McCutchons on the separate McCutcheon Family of Erin, Wellington Co., Ontario. at Rootsweb.com .

Research & transcriptions by PJ Ahlberg. Thank you. - - -

Birth:
'Mamma' & " Grama Hammy"

Buried:
Row 28, Plot 14

Mary married Charles Henry WALKER on 15 Jun 1881 in Acton, Esquesing Twp., Halton Co., Ontario. Charles was born on 6 Mar 1857 in Erin Village, Wellington Co., Ontario; died on 24 Jun 1908 in Erin Village, Wellington Co., Ontario; was buried in Erin Union Cemetery. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
'only daughter'p., Halton Co., ON

1. Jennie JENN WALKER was born on 11 Mar 1883 in Erin Village, Wellington Co., Ontario; died on 2 Oct 1959 in Toronto, York Co., Ontario, Canada; was buried in Erin Union Cemetery.
2. Ella Mary NELLIE & LAL WALKER was born on 20 Jul 1884 in Erin Village, Wellington Co., Ontario; died on 10 Jan 1968 in Dauphin, Manitoba.
3. Frank Edward WALKER was born on 23 Nov 1885 in Erin Village, Wellington Co., Ontario; died on 8 Jul 1930 in Sarnia, Lambton Co., Ontario; was buried in Erin Union Cemetery.
4. John Stewart BABE WALKER, .3 was born on 20 Aug 1887 in Erin Village, Wellington Co., Ontario; died on 9 Nov 1954.
5. Irene WALKER was born on 5 Mar 1893 in Erin Village, Wellington Co., Ontario; died on 9 Dec 1985 in Toronto, York Co., Ontario; was buried in Erin Union Cemetery.
6. Alice Louise WALKER was born on 24 Apr 1895 in Erin Village, Wellington Co., Ontario; died on 17 Jun 1921 in Toronto, York Co., Ontario; was buried in Erin Union Cemetery.
7. Ruby WALKER was born on 11 Mar 1899 in Erin Village, Wellington Co., Ontario; died on 10 Sep 1987 in Toronto, York Co., Ontario; was buried in Erin Union Cemetery.
8. Mary Lillian WALKER was born on 9 Aug 1901 in Erin Village, Wellington Co., Ontario; died on 19 Nov 1974 in Toronto, York Co., Ontario; was buried in Erin Union Cemetery.
9. Winnifred WALKER was born on 6 Jun 1904 in Erin Village, Wellington Co., Ontario; died on 10 Jul 1982 in Toronto, York Co., Ontario; was buried in Erin Union Cemetery.
10. Kathleen Hamilton KATE WALKER was born on 28 Jul 1905 in Erin Village, Wellington Co., Ontario; died on 12 Nov 1955 in Died of cancer.; was buried in Erin Union Cemetery.
11. Henrietta Charlotte WALKER was born on 5 Aug 1908 in Erin Village, Wellington Co., Ontario; died on 2 Dec 1908 in Erin Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario; was buried in Erin Union Cemetery.

Notes:

Richard L Hamilton, Part One:

Two Hamilton siblings married two McCutcheon siblings:
Richard L Hamilton married Jane Matilda McCutcheon &
his sister Hadassah Hamilton married John McCutcheon.

. 1840 - There were 2 flours mill on Lot 28 in Con 2 & 3. A Water on the next lot 29 in the third concession, there was a water saw mill.
Ref: A Sketch of Co. Halton, Canada West, 1862.

. 1846 Smith's Canadian Gazetter, Province of Canada West:
Esqsuesing, Twp. in Gore District, with excellent land & many good farms, generally well cultivated. What of superior quality is grown in this & adjoining townships. Nine hundred acres of Crown lands are open for sale at 8 Shillings per acre. 4 grist & 11 saw mills.

. 1852 Agricultural Census Chinguacousy Twp., Peel Co., Ontario
Hamilton, Con. 4, Lot 1, Chinguacousy, 100 Acres, 75 A. cultivated 43 A. under crops in 1851; 31 A under pasture 1851, 1 A. garden or orchard; 25 A under wild wood; 25 A. produced 400 bushels of wheat.
4 A. produced 80 Bsh. peas.; 4A. produced 150 bsh. oats; 10 Acres produced 15 tons of hay, 47 lbs. wool; 5 bulls, oxen or steers, 5 milch cows, 5 horses, 24 sheep, 4 pigs, 300 lbs. beef; 21 cwts. Pork.

* REMARKS on the January 1852 CENSUS, written by Allen Bowfield (b. c1825, also farmer in Chingoucousy.)
In reference to the soils: The nature of the soil will be best explained by stating that there are 2 kinds of land in the ward. The one may be called sandy loam. In the neighbourhood of which soil in a few cases most excellent building sand is founded. The sandy loam with sharp subsoil grows good wheat, barley & peas; The other goes by the name of clay land has a deep black top soil with heavy clay below. Grows first rate vegetables as good crops of hays & oats. Ward No. 2 is not as favourably situated for water as some localities. In many instances the farmer depends principally upon the well. The water of which is generally of superior quality. There are a few living streams. On one of which there is a grist mill. Incapable, however of doing must dry weather for want of bountiful supply of water. The average valve of land throughout the Ward is about seven pounds per acre.
Note1: No Fulled cloth or linen or Flannel implies James Hamilton, Sr. was no longer weaving.
. James Hamilton owned an high number of animals in comparison with most neighbors whose average was 2 bulls, 4 milk cows & double the number of sheep! These were likely raised for the market. Also indicates a dependable water supply. Not for nothing was James Hamilton a Canada Land Agent. - PJA 2011.

. 1856-66 Mitchell & Co.'s Canada Classified Directory Canada West: Halton, Acton. Hamilton, R., carpenter.

. 1856 son Richard L Hamilton was living alone in a long cabin near Acton, Esquesing Twp., Ontario, working as a carpenter, no doubt earning money to help support his mother & siblings. In 1864 Alex Hamilton emigrated first to (Ohio) & then Michigan to farm.

. Esquesing is a native word for which lies at the end.

. 1859 Acton Esquesing Tp., Halton Co., A Telegraph Station on the GTR.

. 1861 Jan 25 Enumerated twice,
> First in Flamborough Twp., Enumerated, but 'Family member not present':
Rebecca Hamilton, Toll Keeper, Age 46/1815 UC
Richard Hamilton, Carpenter, Age 26/1835 UC
Hadassa Hamilton, Laborer, Age 19 1842 UC
James Hamilton, Nursery agent, Age 17 / 1844 UC

> 2nd Peel Co., CHINGOUCOUSY TWP, Dist 5, P85"
Richard Hamilton, Carpenter, b Canada 26/1835, resides by himself, in Log 1.5 story cabin.

> 1861 Agricultural Census Chingoucousy Twp., Peel Co., Ontario. Enumeration District No 5, 2nd page of Page 110, Line 37.
Richard Hamilton, Con 4, Lot 4, 200 Acres, 110 cultivated, 88 A. in 1860, Under pasture in 1860, 20 Acres; Orchard/Garden 2 A., Woods 10 A., Farm value $12,000.
Fall Wheat 30A yielded 570 bushel., Spring Wheat 10A/200bu., Barley 21A/200 bu; Rye nil, Peas 5A /100bu; Oats 18A /100; Potatoes 21A /600 bu.; Turnips 3A /170Bu; Magul Wuztel [turnips] 1A /111 bu; Hay 21 bushels. [This census is somewhat blurry.]

. This Certifies that the rite of Holy Matrimony was celebrated between
Richard Hamilton of Acton & Jane M McCutcheon of Erin Township
on Thursday Jane 24th, 1861 at Hugh McCutcheons
by Rev. Joseph Musnworth, Congregational Ministries, Georgetown.
Wit: Stewart McCutcheon, Alex Hamilton.
Ref: Bible of Jane Matilda McCutcheon Hamilton.

. 1861 Jun 15 - MARRIAGE LICENSE.
Hamilton, RICHARD, born 'City of Toronto', residing Esquesing Twp., Age 26*,
Son of Rebecca & James Hamilton, married
McCUTCHEON, Jane M, Age 20 (=1841*), b. Erin, daughter of Mary & Hugh McCutcheon,
Wit: Stuart McCutcheon of Erin & Alex Hamilton of Esquesing, Ontario & Married 24 OCT. 1861 at the Congregational Church, Georgetown, Halton Co.
Note3: Brother Alex was witness at his wedding. It is possible that his mother was present at Richard's wedding as she did not emigrate to the US until 1864.The marriage license is just before Richard's birthday on April 20 when he would be 27 years old.

. 1861 January 24 - Congregational Church, Halton Co., Georgetown
Jane M McCutcheon, Born & resides Erin Twp., Age 20 /1841,
daughter of Mary & Hugh McCutcheon,
married Richard Hamilton, Age 26 / born 1836, Toronto, resides Esquesing Twp.,
son of Rebecca & James Hamilton.

* 1861 Jun 15 - MARRIAGE License Halton County:
RICHARD HAMILTON, born 'City of Toronto', residing Esquesing Twp., Age 26 / 1835,
Son of Rebecca & James Hamilton, married
JANE M. McCUTCHEON, Age 20 (=1841*), b. Erin, daughter of Mary & Hugh McCutcheon,
Witnesses: Stuart McCutcheon of Erin & Adaz Hamilton of Esquesing, Ontario.
Married 24 OCT. 1861 at the Congregational Church, Georgetown, Halton Co.
Note3:* The marriage license is just before his birthday on April 20 when he would be 27 years old 'Adaz" that is his sister Hadassah Hamilton.
XReference: His mother Rebecca Lawrence Hamilton's Land Grant states Town of York, Residence 1833.

. 1866 Toronto Peel Directory:
Richard Hamilton, Con 4 Lot 4, EHS, freeholder, Chinguacousy Twp.
James Hamilton: Con 4, Lot 1, Chinguacousy Twp.
John Hamilton Con 4, Lot 5, East Hurontario Street.
John Hamilton Con 6, Lot 25 house. Chinguacousy Twp. [ie. near Acton, Ontario].

. 1869 Prov. of Ont. Gazetteer & Directory Acton: A station on the Grand Trunk Railway, in the Township of Esquesing, County Halton, containing 2 flour mills, 4 sawmills, 2 shingle factories, 1 planing mill, 1 tannery, 1 foundry, 1 cloth factory, 4 churches, 1 common school, 3 hotels. The principal trade is in grain, lumber, cord wood, leather & hops. Land averages from $28 to $35 per acre. Distant from County Town 11 miles, from Toronto, 30 miles & from Guelph, 14 miles. Money order office. Daily mail. Population, 700. Hamilton, Richard, carpenter.

. 1873 Directory of County Peel, Chinguacousy - East of Hurontario St.:
John Hamilton, Lot 20, Con 5
Richard Hamilton, Lot 13, Con 6.
. 1881 Halton Co. Gazetteer, Hamilton,Richard, Carpenter, Acton.
. 1882 Hamilton, Richard, Acton, carpenter, Lovell's Business & Professional Directory of the Province of Ontario for 1882, (Montreal: John Lovell & Son, 1871), page 204.

. 1877 Peel Co. Atlas, Chinguacousy S Twp.,
Richard Hamilton, Farmer, Settled 1831, Brampton Post office, 1877 [deeded from his father?]
Mrs. Hamilton, Con 2, NDS, Lot 11, 100 Acres, non-resident 1877, Non-Resident;
Ada Hamilton, Con 4 E, Lot 2 Chinguacousy South, (now Peel Co.), 50 Acres, Non Resident.
Con. 3E, Lot 4, 150 Acres; Con 3E, Lot 3
Con. 4E, Lot 4, 200 Acres
Con. 4E, Lot 2, 50 Acres, Ada Hamilton, Chinguacousy S, Ada Hamilton [i.e. Hadassah?]
James Hamilton Con 4, Lot 1, Chingoucousy Twp.;
John Hamilton Con 4, Lot 5 also a John Hamilton Con 6, Lot 25 house. Chinguacousy Twp.

Note4: Wages in Upper Canada 1842: Carpenters, 6 s, 10 p. Halifax Currency per diem.

Note5: 1855 Transferred by his WILL: Richard Hamilton, Con 4 Lot 4, freeholder, Chinguacousy Twp. Halton. &
James Hamilton Con 4, Lot 1, Chingoucousy Twp.;
John Hamilton Con 4, Lot 5 also a John Hamilton Con 6, Lot 25 house. Chinguacousy Twp.
Note6: Concession 4 East is now located between Bramalea Rd. & Heart Lake Road, Peel Co., it was split in half, with the northern half becoming part of the town of Caledon & the southern half, along with the township of Toronto Gore, joining the town of Brampton. - PJA 2010.

Acton Tanneries of Beardmore
- Geo. Beardmore purchased the Acton plant 1864, Fire again destroyed the plant in 1872 & rebuilt the same year. About 1880 they built their Bracebridge plant. 1899 they build their brick warehouse. Ref: Esquesing Historical Society Newsletter May 1990.
- 1877 Feb 8 Acton Tannery, The number of sides tanned annual is from18,000 to 20,000, all South American stock, imported from NY & Boston, 2,000 cords of hemlock bark earth year @ $20,000. Wages for a large number of skilled workmen is $400 per month. 100 vats. 4 acres.About 1879 they opened a larger business at Bracebridge & the dispose of that tannery. In May 1883 they set to work tearing down & remodeling the Acton property Ref: Acton Free Press.

ACTON FREE PRESS:
. 1875 Aug 25 - Village Council met last Thursday evening. A petition was presented from J H Smith & others for a drain on Main street from opposite Richard Hamilton's. also, one from A Stephenson, R. Hamilton & others to have Willow st. graded from the corner opposite the Post Office to the new paw factory Both potions were laid over till next meeting.
. 1875 Nov 12 - Acton's Progress, Acton has Stephenson grown more the past 3 years than at any time, during many years of its previous history & the season now closing has probably been productive of a greater number of new buildings & a greater outlay of money than any previous year.
* Main Street: Wm. Stephenson - A 1 ½ story frame dwelling, 22 X 30, Gothic front, upright battens, neatly designed, & well finished, at a cost of about $800. Built by RICHARD HAMILTON.
. ROBERT AGNEW - ADDITION TO THE DOMINION HOTEL, RICHARD HAMILTON, builder. Cost about $300.
. 1875 Dec 16 - Acton Municipal: For the Council, we hear several new names mentioned, among them being, Richard Hamilton we have, however, no positive information from the parties themselves.
Note7: 65 Main St. N, Lot 28, Con 3, Cultural Heritage Value: Acton Veterinary Clinic: Built c. 1875 by Richard Hamilton, an esteemed carpenter credited by George Beardmore as Acton's best, on the former site of a woolen mill; The 5th or 6th brick home built in Acton; Representative of Gothic Revival style architecture including stone windowsills, bargeboard detail in gable, & dichrome [red & beige] brick detail under eaves, at corners and arch over windows.
Ref: Halton Hill Heritage Register, Phase 3 dated 2016.

> 1875 Dec 28, page 1 - Village of Acton, For Reeve, Dr. McGarvin - proposed by F Snyder & R. Hamilton. For Councillors: D D Christie, H J Hall, Ed. Moore - Proposed by R. Hamilton.
. Speeches of the Candidates: I am very sorry Mr. Hamilton is going to retire [from the race], as we have always been co-workers in the interest of the village. Glad to see that Acton is keeping her place among the villages of the county, & whether in the Council or out I shall do all in my power to help her to keep that place.
> 1875 Dec 30 - (A printed election ballot to be cut out & filled in:)
Election of Members for the Municipal Council for the village of Acton, in the County of Halton, On Monday, the 3rd day of 1876 January - For Councillors. #2, HAMILTON, Richard Hamilton, carpenter.

. 1876 Mar 2 - Acton Finance Committee reported the following accounts & recommended their payment. On motion of Messrs. Secord & Hamilton a committee was appointed to select the standing by-laws of the municipality & ascertain the cost of printing hem in pamphlet form.
. 1876 Dec 7 - Municipal elections will soon be on. Matters very quiet her yet no work of any new candidates. We presume the present Reeve & the ochre members of the Council will the exception of Mr. Hamilton, will soon be making their obeisance to the electors again.

>1876 Dec 28, Village of Acton, For Reeve, Dr. McGarvin - proposed by F Snyder & R. Hamilton. For Councillors: D D Christie, H J Hall, Ed. Moore - Proposed by R. Hamilton.
. Speeches of the Candidates: I am very sorry Mr. Hamilton is going to retire [from the race], as we have always been co-workers in the interest of the village. Glad to see that Acton is keeping her place among the villages of the county & whether in the Council or out I shall do all in my power to help her to keep that place.

****Date? Acton Village Council met on Tuesday evening. Councillors: Duncan Kennedy, Benjamin Nicklin, Thos. Easton, Peter McCass were proposed by R. Hamilton.

. 1877 Jan 18, p.3, The last meeting of the old Council was held shortly before noon on Monday, all the embers present except Mr. Hamilton.

. 1877 Feb 8, Beardmore & Sons have about concluded arrangements to remove their entire operations to Bracebridge & that the concern here in Acton will be closed in about a year fro this time. This step has been forced upon them by the growing difficulty of pricing sufficient bark at a reasonable cost. for several years past the supply has been brought long distances, even in some case as much as 20 miles by team & further by railway. It is quite probable that the building will be used for the manufacture of upper leather & other light stock, requiring but a very small quantity of [Hemlock] bark but a larger number of skilled workmen.
. 1877 May 3, page 3, - Mr. Richard Hamilton, ex-councilor of this village, has secured the contract or building & equipping Mr. Beardmore's new tannery at Bracebridge. He will probably be absent all summer.
Note8: The following construction was under the direction of Richard Hamilton:

. 1877 Aug 9, Beardmore's Tannery at Bracebridge. The Bracebridge Gazette of the 27th ult., gives an interesting account of the new tannery premises being erected at that place. The editor of the Gazette mentions having interviewed our friends, Mr. Richard Hamilton, the contractor & Mr. Z A Hall, the manager, by whom he was courteously received & from who he obtained information concerning the capacity of the building & the process of manufacturing leather: Tan yard, 65X112 ft., one story; leach house & bark shed 84X34 ft. with lean-to, 3 ft; dry house, 61x37ft., 5 stories; sweat pits, stone building, 45x345ft., one story; boiler house 35x45 ft., brick; engine house 14x35ft, brick; in the centre of the engine house there will b a brick chimney, 90 ft high, with a stone foundation 14x14ft, 6ft deep; the chimney being hollow at the bottom & consisting of inner & outer walls ob rick work, but tinselly carried in the solid, as the wall tapers on the outside.
There will be 8 coolers, 14x16ft, in the leech house. On the top of them will stand four tubs, 14ft. in diameter & 10 feet high. From the engine house to the yard a shaft will cross about 34ft. long, to work the hide mills & water pumps.
Tramways will run from the various buildings to the dry house & store shed & from the store shed to the wharf. A wire rope to turn the shaft in the dry house & work the hoist, will run from engine house to the dry house - thus the loads of hides will be conveyed to the different stories of the dry house, each floor of which is traversed lengthwise by a trimway working in the centre of hall on either side of which are five rooms, each containing 100 sides of leather; the dry house could thus contain, 5,000 hides, though in practice this number will not be reached, because some of the lower stories are occupied by a congress? of steam pipes.
About 450 cords of tan back [ Xtree pat??] have been delivered on the piling grounds at opposite sides of the river.
. 12 carpenters, 4 masons & an average of 10 laborers are employed on the works & the whole concern when finished will make so big a hole in $20,000, that the residue will be nowhere.
The Beardmore tannery will probably be the largest tannery in Ontario & certainly the model tanner in the Dominion. - . -

. 1877 May 10 - Complementary Supper: On the eve of Mr. Zolman Hall's departure from Acton, a number of his friends assembled at the Dominion Hotel to honor him with a complimentary supper, as a token to the universal esteem in which he is held in this his native place. ... removing to Bracebridge to take the management of new Beardmore tanner being erected there. The party comprised a large number of our most prominent citizens, ... Richard Hamilton. Mr. Hall responded warmly.
. 1877 Oct 25, To Acton Reeve Council, I am soon to vacate Acton Tannery, I am looking for a tenant, but have not yet heard of anyone to undertake so large a concern. [ & also] I hereby give notice that I do not now buy Hemlock Bark, as I have a full supply on hand. G L Beardmore, Acton Tannery.

. 1878 Feb 28 - We are pleased to see Mr. Richard Hamilton has recovered from his late illness enough to him to return to Acton from Bracebridge. He arrived home on Monday evening. [i.e. Monday Feb 25th].

. 1881 Halton Co Gazetter: Village of Acton: Richard Hamilton, carpenter.
. 1881 Oct 20 - Eramosa Fall Fair: Rockwood, last Thursday, Successful exhibitors: Agricultural Productions, Class 11, Grain etc. Indian corn: R. Hamilton.
1882 Jul 13 - Richard Hamilton - Assessment from $1100 to $800 on pt. lot Block 1 the owner.

. 1881 Dec 29, Thrus. - For councillors nominations there are in the field for elections, Messrs. Speight, Campbell, Moore, Richard Hamilton, John Kennedy, B Necklin & C T Hill.
For Councillors: Richard Hamilton, Proposed by G Havill, seconded by Thos. C Moore. Thos Easton, Peter McAnn & Ben Necklin, proposed by R Hamilton. The returning officer then declared the hour for receiving nomination expired. Speeches were made by a large number of those present.

. 1882 Jul 13 - Court of Revision met on the 5th ins. The following changes were made in the Assessment Roll:
9. Richard Hamilton - Assessment reduced from $1100 to $800 on pt. lot block 1, is owner.
. 1882 Dec 28 - Richard Hamilton - nominated by Wm. Hemstreet, 2nd by A A Secord, Sr.; H.W. Storey, Nominated by Richard Hamilton. For Councillors: R. Hamilton.

. 1883 Jan 11 - Richard Hamilton desires us to state that he did not consider himself a candidate at the recent municipal elections.
* 1883 Mar 15, p. 3 - Mr. Richard Hamilton, of Acton, who is to take charge of the building department of J. McMillan & Co.'s, Lumbering Mill, has moved into Erin. - Reported in the Erin Advocate.
. 1883 May 31, p3 - Mr. R Royce has moved into the residence on Main Street, recently purchased from Mr. R. Hamilton.
. 1884 Mar 6 - Acton, Messers. R. Hamilton & C Walker, of Erin, were in town on Monday.
. 1884 Apr 17 - Advertisement: 2,000 Cords Hemlock Bark wanted @ $5.50 per cord, delivered at their Tannery in Acton before Nov 2, 184, Bark must be bright on flesh, flat & full 4 feet long, curled or damaged bark only received at a proportionate reduction. We wish it distinctly understood no bak will be received after the first of Nov without special contact. Beardmore & Co.
. 1884 Jul 10 - Demands Immediate Attention. Owing to the careless or want neglect of Beardmore Tannery mangers, late quantities of tan bark & other deleterious substances are allowed to run into the stream passing through Acton & large quantities of bark etc, are now to be seen in the steam & along its banks all the way to Limehouse. If continued, this will have the effect not only of filling up the stream & ponds, but will inevitably kill the trout with which the stream abounds. The practice of dumping the bak into the stream is certainly an illegal one, & should be immediately prohibited by the proper authorities.

. 1887 Oct 20, Thursday - A large number of citizens attended the World's Fair at Erin yesterday. !
. Erin show yesterday was a great success. The weather was delightful & visitors crowded in swarms. The village didn't begin to accommodate the people. The reputation of this far-farmed exhibition has been fully sustained.
. 1887 Dec 1 - Mr. Richard Hamilton, of Erin as in town (Acton) yesterday.
. 1888 Feb 9 - Mr & Mrs Richard Hamilton, of Erin, were visiting friends this week.
Mr & Mrs. Chas. H. Walker, of Erin, visiting friends in Acton last week.

> 1889 Oct 17, Erin, Mr. Richard Hamilton has just returned from visiting all over Michigan & other parts of the States, meeting relatives he had not seen in about 33 years. [i.e. since 1856!] Page 2 as copied from the [Erin] Advocate.

* 1896 Jun 4 - Richard Hamilton of Erin, a former resident of Acton is preparing the planks for the saw vats at the tannery. He has put in nearly all the vats at the tanner for 30 years [1866]. Republished in the Acton Free Press on 1916 Jun 1.
. 1897 Feb 11 - Mr & Mrs Richard Hamilton, Erin, were in town yesterday.
. 1899 Wellington Co. Directory, Hamilton, Richard, grocer. Population 700.

. ACTON'S EARLY DAYS: At the corner of Mill & River Streets occupied part of the site of John Holt was old woollen mill. It was built by Richard Hamilton, on of the best carpenters Acton ever had. He built it for his own residence about 70 years ago [1869]. He previously built the residence on Fairview Avenue, near Fairview Cemetery. After living there for a short time he sold that house to David Williamson, who lived there from shortly after his marriage until he went over to the Malcolm McPherson farm in Nassagaweya. Richard Hamilton lived in the brick house a good many years. ... The late George Beardmore thought no one in the community could put in (tannin) vats equal to Richard Hamilton.
Mr. & Mrs. Hamilton's only daughter (only child) married Mr. Charles Henry Walker, manufacturer, of Erin Village & the family sold out their interests in Acton & moved to Erin. Mr. Hamilton went into the grocery business there & continued until his death [in 1909].

Crossing River Street, which was opened when Acton Plow Company's works were built, we come to the Acton Creek. The source of this splendid stream is the spring on the third line, a little over a mile to the north, where it comes from the rock. The creek flows through the Near property, supplying the trout ponds & hatchery ...across Main Street into Fairy Lake which covers 88 acres. Many a trout have I caught in the bed of the creek when it meandered among the willows. Many a dozen speckled beauties have I seen caught in the big mill pond from flat-bottomed boats or long rafts.
Ref: Acton Free Press, 1939.

* Hamilton family photo available c 1895 Erin.

History of the Acton House Richard Hamilton built:
. 1926 Nov 18 - Old Times Along the New Highway: Beside the home of stone mason Malcom Kennedy's the wee cottage with a history. It was built by John Hold when he erected the Wollen Mills on the lot where M. J H Reid's fine brick residence now stands. Mr & Mrs Sidney Smith reside there while there palatial residence was being erected. It is known as Fairview Place for the past 50 or 60 years, Mrs C S Smith lived their most of her married life & where she passed away last spring.

> > > The fine home of James H Reid, at the corner of Main & River Streets, was erected by the late Richard Hamilton, carpenter and contractor, for himself & his wife and Miss Ella, their daughter. It was a perfect piece of construction and when built was regarded as one of the best houses in this country. Mr & Mrs Hamilton resided there until Richard gave up his contracting work & more to Erin, where he went into the grocery business.
Mr Robt. Royce purchased the property when Mr & Mrs Hamilton & daughter removed from Acton. Mr Royce's daughter, Mrs Orr was left alone through the removal of her children to make their way in life. After them, James H Reid, a retired farmer purchased the property & for the last 12 or 15 years has made this home. Mr. Reid has kept the place as neat as a new pin all the time.
River Street was at one time the site of the Mill race & flume from the dam to the Wollen Mills.When Acton Plow Co. was established, over where the Hydro Power Station & mason Kitting Works are now, the course of the stream was diverted & the old mill race was discarded & River St. opened.The fine old car pine timbers of Plow Factory went up in smoke when the factory was destroyed by fire 30 years ago [1901] 50 years ago I saw many shoal of speckled trout & under the old log bridge there I caught my fear share of them under the grass banks further down steam. On the north side of stream there was a saw mill on the Smith property. I remember when lumber was sawn there. Between the old mill & stone house, there was at one time a carriage shop of Tom Easton. Other houses on Main street were the first brick cottage built by Charlie Holmes, Royal Exchange Hotel (now Bank of NS & Patterson's Meat Market). Wm. Overton's blacksmith, the old school lane, Smith's Shingle Factory, Store Glove Leather Tannery. Mary is calling me to dinner. I must go. Signed, The Red Man McCutcheon.

Acton History Contd.
Across Ransom Street (now Fairview Ave) from the Cook Homestead: Richard Hamilton built a fine frame house of attractive design shortly after he was married, about 80 years ago. dick Hamilton, was on of the best carpenters ever had in Action. This house he regarded with much pride. It was one of the finest houses the village then possess, but he didn't live there long. He took a fancy to but a brick house for a home down town & shortly after the Acton Plow Co. was organized in 1874 & bought the old Holt Mill property & part of the Sidney Smith frontage on Main St., he bought from the Company the lot at the corner of Main & River Streets & but his new home. It was a fine brick house this time & still stands there in good state of repair. James H reed is the present owner. It was the 5th or 6th brick house erected in Action. David Williamson & his bride resided there next, as well as Wilson Ramshaw for quite a time. Next to Hamilton was Esra Adams.
by, The Old Man of the Big Clock Tower (regular column) in Acton Free Press, published 1937.11.25.
. 1979 Aug 29, Dr. Ron Trenton, Esquesing Historic Society is trying to preserve Acton's past by cataloging the town's older buildings..He is living in a house build in the 1860 or 1870, The building was constructed by Richard Hamilton, who also built what is now Rott Little School. When he was renovating it , he found parts of a newspaper dated 1879 behind some wallpaper. He learned of the building's hasty by asking neighbors.

.1901 Jul 18, Obituary: Wm. Marsales, an early resident for nearly 70 years was resident in Action, Lot 1, Con 5, deacon of Disciples of Christ, Bearers, Richard Hamilton.
Note: Will Mmarsales operated the rolling machine at the mill, & owned part of the land on which the tannery was built.
. 1902 May 22. Obituary: Mrs. James Brown, Ruth Ann Hall, eldest daughter of Asa Hall, Esq., Born 1841 in Acton. Her husband lived 14 y. on Lot 1, Con 4, Erin, where he operated a saw mill. Friends from a distance were in attendance: Mr. Richard Hamilton & (his daughter), Mrs. C W. Walker, Erin.
Ref: Acton Free Press.

. Land Registry Office, ACTON VILLAGE. Lot 28, Con 3
. 1856 May 28, Instrument 355C Mortgage, Reg 4 May 1856, Richard Hamilton.
. 1863 Nov 25, Instrument #54 F Quit Claim, Reg 11 NOV 1864, Richard Hamilton.
(Investment group Wm & Mary Glass; subdivided lot). The next lot is the Halton Disciples of Christ Church, South of Mill Street. (Document is too faint to know for sure who was the grantor/grantee. There was much land speculation in Acton & consequently continual land partitioning by the Glass-Adams etc. PJ Ahlberg. )
. 1872 Mar 25, Bargain&Sale, Wm. Stephenson & Wife, to Richard Hamilton, 34 acres, Part West Half Lot 28, Con 3, $1.
. 1874 Jul 22, B&S, Wm. Stephenson, to Richard Hamilton, Part W Half, subject to a certain mortgage, $50
. [also found in] VILLAGE of ACTON. Copy Book Vol. 11, 8 OCT 1874. (i.e. duplicate copy) Richard Hamilton, Carpenter of Acton.

ACTON VILLAGE, Abstract Book Lot 2 Block 14.
Ins. 355, Mortgage 2 & 1856. Reg. 4 MAY 1855 Grantee: Richard Hamilton.
1863 Nov 25, Instrument 54. Quit claim, Reg. 11 NOV 1864. Richard Hamilton.

Ontario Land Registry Abstract Esquesing Book 711
Lot 32, Con 28, Esquesing, Halton Co.
. 1872, Mar 25, Bargain&Sale, Wm. Stephenson & wife, to Richard Hamilton, 34 Held perches, Part of Wly. Half of Lot 28, $7.
. 1874 July 22, Partial, Wm. Stephenson, to Richard Hamilton 36 sq. perches of Part Wly Half. Subject to a certain Mortgage. $1.
- . -

Page Two:
Died, Richard Hamilton, died Feb 4th 1909
Ref: Bible of Jane Matilda McCutcheon Hamilton.

> Died, Hamilton - In Erin, on Thursday, February 4th, aged 74 years.
Ref: Acton Free Press, published 11 Feb 1909, p. 2.

. OBITUARY1: Mr. Richard Hamilton, of Erin Village, died very suddenly last Thursday. He had been at his usual work & business about the store the day before & death came without warning. The funeral on Sunday afternoon was very largely attended. Mr. Hamilton spent his boyhood & middle life in Acton & was highly esteemed here. He was a house carpenter & builder & was foreman carpenter for Messrs. Beardmore & Co. at the tanneries for many years. During his residence here Mr. Hamilton built one of the first brick houses in town - the comfortable residence at the corner of Main & River streets, at present owned & occupied by Mr. J. H. Reed & family. About twenty years ago he removed to Erin. Mrs. Hamilton & her daughter, Mrs. C. H. Walker, survive. Mrs. Walker was bereaved by the death of her husband last fall.
Ref: Acton Free Press, 11 Feb 1909, P 3, Col 2.

. OBITUARY2: That "in the midst of life we are in death" was most impressively forced upon Erin, Ontario, attended by a large number of sorrowing friends. The pallbearers were H. Mathews, D. McCleland, G. F. Sutton, J. D. Leitch, H. R.Smith & H. Barbour., one of our prominent & most highly esteemed citizens, was, almost without a moments warning, summoned from the activities of his life to the realities of the unknown world beyond. Up to the moment he was stricken Mr. Hamilton was in the enjoyment of his usual good health & his unexpected & startlingly sudden death within 24 hours thereafter, came as a great shock to his family, to his friends & to the community at large.
Deceased was born in Toronto 73 years ago, was for many years a successful builder & contractor & some 25 years ago came to Erin, where he engaged in the grocery business & won the respect & esteem of every one with whom he came in contact during that quarter of a century. His genial presence will be greatly missed in business, religious & social circles.
His youngest brother predeceased him by only nine months & those who survive are Alexander of Bangor, James of Grand Rapids, Mrs. Warner of Fairville, Mrs. McCutcheon of Grand Rapids & Miss Rebeckah Hamilton, Fairville, all in Michigan.
On January 24, 1861, he married Jane McCutcheon of the 3rd line, Erin & she & an only daughter, Mrs. C. H. Walker are left to mourn the loss of a faithful husband & a loving father. They have the sympathy of all. Deceased was a devout member of the Disciple Church & a member of the A.O.U.W. Services were held by Rev. G. O. Black in the above church on Sunday afternoon & the interment took place to Erin Cemetery, the funeral being attended by a large number of sorrowing friends.
The pallbearers were H. Mathews, D. McCleland, G. F. Sutton, J. D. Leitch, H. R.Smith & H. Barbour.

ESTATE FILE, Richard Hamilton died 4 Feb, 1909. Application of Jane Matilda Hamilton, widow, of Erin, Wellington Co.
Real & personal, valued at $3,050.00.
Richard Hamilton of Village of Erin, County of Wellington, Merchant.
All in favour of Jane Matilda Hamilton & thence of any surveying children.
The property #13 East side of Main Street, Erin, W 1/2 Lot 15, 10 Con., Erin Twp. According to a Plan of Survey made by Charles J. Wheelock, Esq., filed at Guelph.
Signed, R. Hamilton. Witness Humphrey Matthews, Erin, Harness Maker & Wm. M. Dowell, Barrister-At-Law.
PROPERTY $1,800. - . -
Securities A.O.W.W. 150.
FARMING IMPLEMENTS 300.
STOCK-IN-TRADE 300.
$3,505.00

. 1919 Jun 12. Obituary: In his young manhood Mr. John Bell learned the trade of carpenter & framer. He & the late Richard Hamilton built numbers of the buildings in Acton & vicinity. They built the store on the site of the Secord block on the south side of Mill Street for Mr. Benzie, one of our early merchants. This store was burned down about 50 years ago. [1869]. When the Civil War broke out in 1862 the family moved to Niagara, NY & joined the American Army.

JOHNSON COUSINS: Cousins Richd. Lawrence Johnson, Senior live also in Esquesing Twp. as did his brother Robert Lawrence Johnson (Lot 30, Con 1.) & also his son Richd. Lawrence Johnson, Junior, also live in Acton, & surely must have have known each other. R L Johnson, Jr. was born 1869 & thus 30years younger than R L Hamilton.

. 1856-66 Mitchell & Co.'s Canada Classified Directory Canada West:
Carpenter & Builders, Acton. Hamilton, R., carpenter.
. 1871 Ontario Directory: Acton West; Village, A large quantity of wheat is purchased here. There is a considerable mfg. of flour, lumber & leather. Hamilton Richard, carpenter.
. 1892 Ontario Gazetteer & Directory, Hamilton, Richard, grocer & crockery.
. 1898-99 Western Ontario Gazetteer & Directory: Erin, Hamilton, Richard, grocer.

Transcriptions by PJ Ahlberg. Thank you- . -

Richard Lawrence Hamilton, Part THREE, Life in Old Ontario

. PIONEERS of OLD ONTARIO:
One of the great privations at the beginning was in the long intervals between regular religious observances. I remember when we were crossing the ocean, William Hunter, who afterwards settled in Chinguacousy, came to our quarters & had prayers with us every night & morning. After we arrived at our new home the first regular services were held by the Rev. Mr. McMurchy, who came over from Eldon township for the purpose. John Gunn, father of the founders of Gunn's Limited, was a volunteer helper. He made a regular practice of reading Scriptures & praying with the old people of the settlement, who, owing to growing infirmities, were unable to attend the regular church services that were held. Daniel Cameron was another who helped in this same way.

When church services were held, people travelled as much as 30 miles to take part, said Angus McDougall, the son of the speaker.
I have known them, even in my time, to come in lumber-wagons from as far as Sutton on the south, Uptergrove? on the north & Woodville on the west to the old stone church at Beaverton. Their earnestness was shown not only in the distance they travelled but in the patience with which they sat through services lasting from eleven o'clock till four, while their simple faith & devout thankfulness were voiced in the Psalms which filled the old church with a stern melody. Duncan Gillespie was the precentor. He read the Psalms line by line & then led the congregation as they sang in praise & thanksgiving. The favourite Psalms were the 103 & 123rd. …

. A CHINGUACOUSY VILLAGE:
Few men witnessed more varying stages of the pioneer period than did Abraham Campbell, whom I met at Lot 28 on the first concession of Chinguacousy in July, 1899. Mr. Campbell spent his life on the farm on which he was born when Chinguacousy was the farthest settlement north of the lake. As a child & youth he saw other pioneers pass his door on their way to the virgin forests of Dufferin, Grey & Bruce. He was witness of the annual summer pilgrimage of the men from the newer lands of the north to the older settlements of the south in search of employment in which they might earn bread for the winter. As the forests of the northland were pushed back before the attack of the axe-men, he viewed the winter procession of teams by which the grain of the north country was hauled toward lake ports. To all this Mr. Campbell was able to add what his father had told him of days prior to the period covered by his own recollection, the period when even the Niagara district was young. His father as a youth was at Queenston Heights, Stoney Creek & Lundy's Lane & one of the most prized possessions of the Campbell homestead, when I was there in 1899, was an iron pot,18 inches in diameter, captured from the American forces at Stoney Creek & still doing duty in the Campbell homestead over eighty years later.
Ref: WHEN OAKVILLE RIVALED TORONTO 1879.

Mr. Campbell's father & 6 brothers took up 1000 in Chinguacousy about 1820, after having journeyed from the old family home in Lincoln County by an ox-team. From Cooksville to their locations, the way led over a road made through the bush with their own axes. A quarter of a century later Campbell's Cross, on the highway connecting north & south, was a scene of bustling life." There was a tavern there containing 18 rooms," said Mr. Campbell, "& in those rooms I have known 20 or 30 people to be accommodated over night. As late as two o'clock in the morning I have seen the bar-room so full of people that one could not get near the bar itself. There were three stores in the village at that time & they were all busy places. Whence did the business come? Largely from the north country, which by that time had begun to produce a surplus. I have seen as many as one hundred teams arrive with grain in a single day. Part of the grain was bought by local merchants & teamed by them to Port Credit for shipment by water. Some of the farmers hauled their own grain all the way to the lake port.

" Teaming this grain was real labour. Between Chinguacousy & the north, hauling was possible only in winter & even then 25 to 30 bushels made a load. In coming down the Caledon mountain it was necessary to put a drag on the sleighs. Those who did their own teaming to Toronto or Port Credit frequently used ox-teams & sleighs to Campbell's Cross & then borrowed wagons for the journey to Toronto. On some of these journeys the snow was up to the backs of the oxen when north of the Caledon mountain, [Hwy. 10/ Hurontario St., Halton Co. - PJA], - while south of our place the animals wallowed to their bellies in slush & mud. Some of these northern farmers came from as far back as Owen Sound with grass seed, venison & pork for sale, the round trip occupying well over a week. At times the nights were spent in the bush while sleet or rain beat in through the partial covering afforded by the forest. But the people were happy with it all. Return cargoes usually consisted of groceries & a half-barrel of whiskey & as long as the latter kept the interior warm, exterior cold did not matter much to the hardy men of that day.

"At the period covered by my earliest recollection bears & wolves were common in Chinguacousy. I have more than once seen cows come home with flanks & udders so badly torn that the animals had to be killed. During the 'thirties, 'forties & 'fifties, the father of Kenneth Chisholm, who for years represented Peel in the Legislature, made staves from the oaks that covered a good deal of the township. The staves were hauled to the Credit by oxen, floated down the stream to the Port & thence shipped to England. About 1860, while I was assisting in removing an old oak stump, we unearthed a tool that had been used in splitting staves.

"One of my earliest election recollections is connected with the contest in which Colonel Ed. Thompson defeated William Lyon Mackenzie in the year before the Rebellion [1837]. That was the most exciting electoral battle we ever had. The electors of Caledon, Chinguacousy & Toronto townships all went to Streetsville to vote. The polls remained open for a week or two & for most of that time my father was engaged in hauling Tories to the voting place. On the last day of polling five or six teams were massed &, headed by bagpipes, took the last of the voters to the poll.

When Oakville rivaled Toronto: Robert W. Brock, whom I met at Belfountain about the same time that 1 had the interview with Mr. Campbell, gave some further information of early days in Peel & Dufferin. "At the time of my earliest recollections," Mr. Brock said, "the Centre Road had displaced the first concession of Chinguacousy was the leading highway to the north. In the late 'sixties, I have seen that road black with teams & traffic going on day & night. This continued until the old narrow gauge T. GK & B. was built to Owen Sound & markets were opened at Orangeville, Shelburne & Dundalk. Then the glory of Churchville & Streetsville began to wane.
Ref: When Oakville Rivaled Toronto, 1879. - - -

Birth:
Obituary says he was married Jan 24, 1861.

Died:
DOB also given on Death Cert. COD: cerebral heamorrhage after a few hours, Grocer.

Buried:
Row 20, Plot 14, with his wife & granddaughter Henrietta Charlotte Walker.

Richard married Jane Matilda MCCUTCHEON on 15 Jun 1861 in Georgetown, Esquesing Twp., Halton Co., Ontario. Jane was born on 10 Oct 1841 in Acton, Esquesing Twp., Halton Co., Ontario; died on 17 Nov 1917 in Toronto, York Co., Ontario; was buried in Erin Union Cemetery. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Jane is the daughter of Mary Stewart & Hugh McCutcheon.

Two Hamilton siblings married two McCutcheon siblings:
Richard L Hamilton married Jane Matilda McCutcheon &
his sister Hadassah Hamilton married John McCutcheon.

. 1911 Apr 8 Census Erin, Jane Hamilton, b 1840.

McCUTCHEON, Hugh (d.), b. Co. Down, Ire., in 1793, d. in 1859, age 66. His father was John McCutcheon & his brothers were Robert & William. William, set. on the 5th line Erin, in 1829. The late Hugh McCutcheon, came to Canada in 1830, settling first, in Lower Canada & in 1833, came to Erin Tp., where he owned 100 acres, Lot 9, Con. 3. He was of a religious turn of mind & was a constant attendant of the Congregationalist Church; in politics, he was a Conservative.
He m. Mary Stewart, who d. in 1893, age 96.
Issue: William, in Kansas; John, Mich.; Thomas, Robert, Manitoba; Stewart,
Mrs. Richard Hamilton & Mrs. Allan Smith, Erin Village & Mrs. Robert Little (d.).

* Jane had a speech impediment & called her husband Witchard, much to his enduring delight. In the fancy grocery store in Erin, Jane sold mincemeat which she had made in barrels. When there was wedding in the village, Jane would be called on decorate the wedding cake. Also Jane like to paint pictures on plates, said granddaughter, Ruby Walker.

. 1911 Nov 22 -Erin Advocate, Ontario - Mrs. R. Hamilton is visiting her granddaughter, Mrs. J. Felker, Toronto [i.e. Jennie Walker].

ACTON FREE PRESS:
. 1879 Jul 17 - RUNAWAYS - On Sunday last a Mr. R. Hamilton with his wife & daughter were coming home from a friend's residence, the horse suddenly became frightened & shied across the road throwing Mrs. Hamilton & daughter out of the buggy; more or less inuring both of them. Mr. Hamilton, accompanied by Mr. John Story, was out with the same beast again on Monday & it ran away the second time. Both of the occupants were thrown out & each received bruises & cuts.

. 1883 May 31, p3 - Miss Ella Davis is visiting her Hamilton friends. [i.e. Just before they move to Erin, no doubt.
2. Or is that visiting Hamilton, Ontario? - PJA.]
. Mr. R Royce has moved into the residence on Main Street, recently purchased from Mr. R. Hamilton.

. 1887 Dec 29 - Mr. & Mrs. Richard Hamilton, of Erin, visiting friends here [in Acton] this week.
1902 May 22, Obituary of Mrs. Ruth Ann Hall Brown of Acton. Her father Asa hall was a Methodist Circuit Rider. Following friends from a distance were: Mr. Richard Hamilton & Mrs. C W Walker, Erin.

. 1913 June 11 - Michigan Passenger Lists: Jane Hamilton, Born Erin Canada, Age 73, Widow, Residence, Erin, Ont., Nearest relative: Daughter, Mrs. Ella Walker, Erin, Can.
Ever in US, no; Passage myself. Destination: Bro-in-law, Rev. Jas, Hamilton, 436 Ethel Ave., Grand Rapids, Mich.
Height 5' 4", Complexion, dark; Hair grey, Eyes blue.
[Accompanied by granddaughter Irene Walker.]

* 1917 Nov 22 - Mr. & Mrs. William Williams & Miss Annie McCutcheon attended the funeral of the late Mrs. Richard Hamilton, at Erin, on Monday.
. Died. Hamilton - at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Ella Walker, Pacific Ave., Toronto, on 1917 November 17, Saturday, Jane McCutcheon, widow of the late Richard Hamilton, of Erin, in her 78th year.

. 1927 Nov 22 - OBITUARY: Mrs. Richard Hamilton. There was laid to rest in Erin Cemetery on Monday the remains of one who four many years as a native resident of Acton. She died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. C H Walker, in West Toronto, on Saturday after a prolonged illness.
Mrs. Hamilton was a daughter of the late Thomas McCutcheon, of Erin. She came to Acton as a bride between 50 & 60 years ago. Her husband, the late Richard Hamilton, who died at Erin 8 years ago, was a contractor here. For years he did all the building at the tanneries for Beardmore. & Co. He built the house on Fairview Avenue, now owned by Mr. Robert Stanley & the brick house at the corner of Main & River Streets, now owned by Mr. J H Reed & occupied both of them. Thirty years ago or so the family removed to Erin. Their only child, Mrs. Walker, survives. Mrs. Hamilton was a woman of very fine character, an natural Christian worker & a kind & helpful neighbor. The funeral was held from the Disciples' Church, Erin. Rev. Mr. Munroe officiating.

. JANE MATILIDA HAMILTON, ESTATE FILE, WELLINGTON County, #8251, RG 2 1917 Nov. 17.
Petition of Ella Hamilton Walker: City of West Toronto, York Co., Widow
Jane M. Hamilton of the village of Erin, Wellington Co. Left $1,000 in Real Estate.
Signed, Ella M Walker.
WILL dated 1 November 1910, Died: I devise & bequeath the sum to my daughter Ella Walker & for her & assign excepting the sum of four hundred Dollars which I bequeath to my grand-daughter Jennie Felker. Residue to my said daughter.
Executrix is my daughter, Ella Walker.
Signed, Jane M. Hamilton.
Witnesses: Janette McDowell, Erin, William McDowell. Arch H. MacDonald Solicitor. Real Estate Description: 1/17 of an acre, being part of Easterly half of Lot #14, 9th concession of Erin, described by meters & Bounds in a Conveyance dated 1 May, 1891, from Charles Staples, of Golden, Colorado & his wife to the said Jane Matilda Hamilton.

. Ontario Death Registration #5413,
died Nov 17, 1917:
Born Erin, 78 y, 1839, Erin, Residence 855 Keele St., Toronto, housework, widow, died of cancer uteri, for 1 year.

. DISCIPLES OF CHRIST.
Briefly then, the Esquesing church grew peacefully into the principles of the Campbellian reformation & in June, 1843, the first June meeting of the Ontario Disciples, was held. On that occasion the name "Disciples of Christ" or "Christians" was used. The site of this meeting house was near Norval, actually on the Menzies farm, lot 8, tenth line, Esquesing. So small was the log building, that at the first June meeting, Ash records that numbers of the listeners had to vacate their seats in order to permit others to hear.
This Esquesing church was characterized by very strict discipline as to its members' conduct. For, with this strong desire to maintain the purity of the witness to the gospel, there was evident the air of exaltation & discovery which are elements in any youthful cause. There was not much experience to fall back upon & the Bible was truly an honored medium of counsel toward maintaining a high standard of conduct with which to exalt the Christian profession; & who can deny the wholesomeness of such an aim? Consider the delicacy of the recording scribe who could indite upon his records about a sister that had erred & been removed from fellowship - "for a crime mentioned in I Corinthians." ...This forest sanctuary to Christ which Esquesing folk raised, has long since passed from common knowledge, but the spiritual emanations from that Bible-loving people still grasp at the stars.

Please see the McCutcheons on the separate McCutcheon Family of Erin, Wellington Co., Ontario. at Rootsweb.com. - - -

Birth:
Lot 9, Con 4

Died:
855 Keele St., Weston, ON. COD: Cancer Uteri, 1 year.

Buried:
Row 20, Plot 14. Red Granite monument.

Notes:

Married:

On 24 OCT 1861 Congregational Church, Georgetown, Halton Co.


[Aside note: Brother Stewart McCutcheon also got married in this church in 1869].

Notes:

PART ONE:

James Hamilton, born 23 June 1801, Baptized 28 Jan 1801, at Church of Ireland (Anglican), Drumragh Old Church, Blackfort Road, Drumragh Townland, Drumragh, County Tyrone.
Father James Hamilton, Mother not listed. (The graveyard is also called Drumragh Graveyard.)
. Strabane is situated in the civil parish of Donacavey. The relevant Church of Ireland, Anglican, records are divided between the following parishes: Bar, Clanabogan & Findonagh, or The relevant Presbyterian records are in Fintona.

. 1828 Jul 4, LANDED: James Hamilton, Steerage Passenger Ticket 46, Cost: £2 15s 6s, Paid.
Departure: Quebec, Lower Canada, Arrival Montreal, Lower Canada.
Vessel: St. Lawrence Steamship fee was 11th Tup. upwards.
Note1: Well not definitively verified that this is our James Hamilton, however, he is the only James Hamilton listed for 1828 (single, i.e. no wife or family accompanying him.)

. Hamilton J. H., in Canada Company's office, 4 Richmond St., [1833.]
. Hamilton James, Land Agent, King St. West [1837 Directory]
. & perhaps also: Hamilton, James, Camelion Tavern, Church St. Toronto
. (purchased:) Hamilton James, Con 4 Lots 4 & 5; Con 3, Lot 22, Chinquacousy Twp., E of Hurontario Street.

1837 Toronto & Home District Directory
. Tavernkeeper at George Third Inn, Town of York & Camelion Tavern 1837.
. Hamilton, Ja's, Con 4, Lot 4*, Chinguacousy, East of Hurontario Street
. Hamilton, James, Con 4, Lot 5, Chinguacousy East, Halton Co., Ontario
. Hamilton, James, Con 4, Lot 1, Chinguacousy East
. Hamilton, James, Con 3, Lot 22, Chinguacousy East.

Note2: * On the adjoining Lot 4, but in Con 3 was located Aeneas Shaw, Jr. - his father (Col.) Major A Shaw Senior, was an American Revolution acquaintance & gave reference for John Willson, the grandfather of Mrs. Rebecca Lawrence Hamilton'.
Previous owner C4 L4: The early tax assessment rolls (beginning in 1827) & the 1851 & 1861 census enumerations for Chinguacousy list several residents with "square lumber" & "plank" dwellings. This is evidence that plank construction was feasible during this early period. The James Forrest mill on Lot 4, Concession 4, WHS, is listed in the 1827 tax roll. It is not known if the Forrest mill or a more distant mill was in operation by 1822. If built by 1822 using sawn planks, the subject dwelling would be among the earliest examples of plank construction in the township.
Ref: Heritage Background Report - Plank Dwelling (LeFlarpland House), City of Brampton, 2012.9.77. for Lot 9, Con 4, Chinguacousy.

Note3: Now 12911 Creditview Rd., 1875, brick farm house. Ref: H54.3.
Address reference point: is now near Mayfair United Church. Originally the 3rd Line.
Lot W1/2 Lot 23, Con 3 is now & 13089 Creditview Rd.
Part E. half Lot 24, Con 4, # 13278 Creditview Rd., the Taylor - Eclin House)
Part E. half Lot 23, Con 4 is now # 1488 Old School Rd. near Mississauga Rd., the 1879 Sharpe Schoolhouse).

. 1840, Jul 16, Thus. - Heir & Devisee Claim 213
James Hamilton of Chinguacousy Twp. & William McConnell of the same place, yeoman, claims as executors in the WILL of James Hamilton, deceased.*
Lot East half 5, Con. 4 East of H. Street, Chinguacousy, Home District, Original Nominee James Hamilton, Claim allow.
Ref: Upper Canada Heir & Devisee, H1151, p202, Archives of Canada.
Note4* Perplexing!
This would seem to imply James Hamilton Senior was the executor of HIS father's will. No mention of is found in the two Hamilton biography's about his father accompanying him to Canada. It is a little too much of a co-incidence that our James Hamilton would live on the same Lot 5, Con 4 as another James Hamilton. Further research is required. - P J Ahlberg.

. 1852 Agricultural Census Chinguacousy Twp., Peel Co., Ontario
Hamilton, Con. 4, Lot 1, Chinguacousy, 100 Acres, 75 A. cultivated 43 A. under crops in 1851; 31 A under pasture 1851, 1 A. garden or orchard; 25 A under wild wood; 25 A. produced 400 bushels of wheat.
4 A. produced 80 Bsh peas; 4A. produced 150 bsh. oats; 10 Acres produced 15 tons of hay, 47 lbs. wool; 5 bulls, oxen or steers, 5 milch cows, 5 horses, 24 sheep, 4 pigs, 300 lbs. beef; 21 cwts. Pork.
> REMARKS on the January 1852 CENSUS, written by Allen Bowfield (b. c1825, also farmer in Chingoucousy.)
In reference to the soils: The nature of the soil will be best explained by stating that there are 2 kinds of land in the ward. The one may be called sandy loam. In the neighbourhood of which soil in a few cases most excellent building sand is founded. The sandy loam with sharp subsoil grows good wheat, barley & peas; The other goes by the name of clay land has a deep black top soil with heavy clay below. Grows first rate vegetables as good crops of hays & oats. Ward No. 2 is not as favourably situated for water as some localities. In many instances the farmer depends principally upon the well. The water of which is generally of superior quality. There are a few living streams. On one of which there is a grist mill. Incapable, however of doing must dry weather for want of bountiful supply of water. The average valve of land throughout the Ward is about £7 per acre.
Note5: - No Fulled cloth or linen or Flannel. i.e. James Hamilton no longer weaving.
. James Hamilton owned an high number of animals in comparison with most neighbors whose average was 2 bulls, 4 milk cows & double the number of sheep! These were likely raised for the market. Also indicates a dependable water supply. Not for nothing was James Hamilton a Canada Land Agent. - PJA 2011.

. 1877 Peel Co. Atlas
Richard Hamilton, Farmer, Settled 1831, Brampton Post office, 1877 [deeded from his father?]
Mrs. Hamilton, Con 2, NDS, Lot 11, 100 Acres, non-resident 1877, Non Resident;
Ada Hamilton, Con 4 E, Lot 2, Chinguacousy South, (now Peel Co.), 50 Acres, Non Resident.
Note6: By 1855 Transferred by his WILL: Richard Hamilton, Con 4 Lot 4, freeholder, Chinguacousy Twp. Halton. &
James Hamilton, Con 4, Lot 1, Chingoucousy Twp.;
John Hamilton, Con 4, Lot 5 also a John Hamilton Con 6, Lot 25 house. Chinguacousy Twp. [i.e. Caledon]
Note7: Concession 4 East is now located between Bramalea Rd. & Heart Lake Road, Peel Co., it was split in half, with the northern half becoming part of the town of Caledon & the southern half, along with the township of Toronto Gore, joining the town of Brampton. - PJA 2010.

PART TWO

. 1912 BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY1: James Hamilton, the father of Alexander Hamilton, was born in County Tyrone, near Strabane, Ireland & came to Canada in 1828. Shortly after emigrating he was married to Rebecca Lawrence. In Ireland he had been engaged in linen weaving, but immediately on coming to Canada took up farming & later went into the real estate business. He was successful in both these ventures & might have become a wealthy man if he had not placed too much confidence in his friends & wreaked his own fortune by going security for others. At his death there was nothing left for his wife & family of seven children, all of whom were under age.

For further research: In 1861 wife Rebecca Lawrence Hamilton was the toll keeper on the Snake Road, at Burlington. The toll house belong to the Hamilton & Milton Road Company. Did James have business dealings with the Hamilton & Milton Rd. Co.? - PJA.

. Summary: Hamilton & Flamborough Road Co. vs. Binkley for the recover of $10 toll paid by him. The plaintiffs' toll-gate being the only one on their Townline or Brock Road, 6 miles in length.
Hamilton & Brock Road Co. was incorporated 1853 Dec 5 to construct a plank, macadamized graveled road from the Upper Burlington Bridge at Freeman's Tavern on Brock Rd., between the Twps. of East & West Flamborough.' Later on 1867 Dec 9 they amalgamated with Hamilton, Waterdown & Carlise Rd. to be called the Hamilton Milton Road Co.
Ref: Ontario Reports, Vol. 9, Ontario High Court of Justice, 1885. . - .

PART THREE: 1892 BIOGRAPHY2:

ALEXANDER HAMILTON. This gentleman is one of the influential & respected residents of Ganges Twp., Allegan County, (Michigan) residing on section 20. He is extensively engage in fruit-growing & the nursery business. He was born October 3, 1836, in Halton County, Canada, to James & Rebecca Hamilton.

James Hamilton was born in the North of Ireland & was there reared to farm pursuits, his education being limited to the common schools. In early life, he learned the linen weaver's trade, but never followed his trade after coming to America, which was about 1828. He locate in Halton, Canada, where he was married to Rebecca Lawrence, a daughter of Capt. Richard Lawrence. Her father died when she was very young & she was reared by an older sister. Nine children were given to this couple, two of whom died when young.

Those living are Richard, of Canada,
Note8: He resided Acton - died Erin, Ontario;

Alexander, our subject;
Mary J., wife of Samuel Wanner;
Hadassah, widow of John McCutcheon;
Note9: John McCutcheon, born Ontario - died 28 Mar 1911.
The Rev. James, of Coldwater, Michigan, William J., of Canada & R. Lizzie.

Although James Hamilton lived on a farm in Canada, yet his general business was dealing in real estate. Both in Ireland & in Canada, he was a member of the Orangeman's Society. He died in 1858, his wife living until 1890. The parents of James Hamilton were James & Mary Hamilton, natives of the North of Ireland, but of Scotch descent.

Our subject began working out at the age of 17, at the death of his father.
Note10: If Alexander were born in 1836 + 17 years, means James Hamilton died 1853 (or more possibly in 1854, owing to the conflict of Alexander's date of birth.)

He was the oldest son at home & help to educate his younger brothers & sisters. He completed his own education after the age of 21 years (c.1857-8).
[More of this biography continues under this brother, Alexander Hamilton, 1892 Biography.]
Ref: Portrait & Biographical Record of Kalamazoo, Allegan & Van Buren Counties, Michigan. Printed 1892, Chicago, p. 728.

Linen Weaving in Ireland
The preparation of an acre of flax for the spinning wheel required 8 days' work, at different intervals, utilizing 4 men & 8 women & two horses. The profit resulting from an acre of flax land, sowing the crop & converting it at harvest into 11 webs of linen was about 6 pounds. It was the most expensive of all crops, particularly in wet seasons.
The making of linen in Ulster was a domestic industry, carried on in the country home & was organized within the family hierarchy. The father wove, did the marketing & any business associated with it & trained his sons when they were of an appropriate age. The men also did some supplementary farming or fishing, depending on the locality & circumstances. The mother looked after the house, spun the flax, taught the younger children to prepare it for her & in due course trained her daughters in her skills.
During the first half of the 19th century the greatest social problem in Ireland was the problem of poverty, as illustrated in Table 1. Large areas of land were under the control of landowners living in England. The average wage for farm laborers in Ireland was eight pence (8d) a day. This was only a fifth of what could be obtained in the United States & those without land began to seriously consider emigrating to the New World. 
Despite a persistent lobby of support, a major scheme for state-aided emigration was not attempted. A very modest experiment in 1823-5 (about 2,000 were sent to Canada at a cost to the government of over £20 a head) caused misgivings about the prohibitive costs of such schemes & in any case the increasing flow of voluntary emigration suggested that State intervention was not needed. Distressed weavers, particularly from Scotland & the north of England, were also assisted to settle in Canada. The average ocean voyage that season was about 45 days; some vessels took more than 60 days in crossing.
Ref: Ordinance Survey Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of Co. Londonderry; & Ireland Before the Famine, G. O Tuathaigh. - - -

Birth:
Drumragh Parish, born 'near Strabane'. Alt Name: J H Hamilton.

Died:
Note: Two biographies give different death dates.

James married Rebecca LAWRENCE, DUE in c 1831-33 in Halton County, Ontario. Rebecca (daughter of Lieut. Richard LAWRENCE, , UE and Mary WILLSON, DUE) was born on 4 May 1815 in Town of York (Toronto), York Co., Ontario; died on 17 Feb 1890 in Ganges, Allegan Co., Michigan; was buried in Taylor Cemetery. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

. The 1892 Biography of Alexander Hamilton says his grandmother died when Rebecca was but young & she was raised by an older sister. The most like possibilities for the 'older sister' could be:

1. Elizabeth Lawrence Tarbox, living in 1821 at Caledon East, Peel Co. & fairly close to James Hamilton at his farm in Chinguagousy Twp., Peel; or is Rebecca was still in Toronto with:

2. Second eldest sister, Margaret Lawrence Johnston, who lived at 179 King St. East, Toronto, which is based on Richard Hamilton, Rebecca's eldest son's statement that he was born in Toronto. King St. was a principal street in Toronto, where indeed, James Hamilton would have done business with the Canada Land Company.

. DOB 1815; UCLP at age 18, Married c 1833, at about age 18; First child at c. 19 years old.

UCLBooks, 1833 Feb 7, Thursday, York Council Chamber, Present Peter Robinson, Geo. H. Parkland, Jos. Wells.
Rebecca Hamilton, Petition H179, Wife of James Hamilton of Toronto, Yeoman. Praying for a grant of 200 Acres of land, as the Daughter of the late Richard Lawrence, formerly of York, an U.E. Loyalist. Recommended.
Ref: UCLBook, C105 p 354. Note1: Rebecca was age 17y 9m 3d.

. Upper Canada Land Petition #179, 1818 Apr 14,
Patented: 1833 Jul 4: Lot 7, Con 18, Garafraxa Twp., [Gore District], Wellington Co., Ontario.
* [ later transferred to EAST Garafraxa Twp, in Dufferin Co.]
Witnesses to Oath of Rebecca Hamilton, Page 179a, C2052, Home District (Toronto),
We, D'Arcy Boulton the Quarter Chairman & Steven Washburn … Clerk of the Peace certify that Rebecca Hamilton personally appeared at the general quarter Sessions of the Peace in & for said Home District this day & is recognized by the Magistrate to be a Daughter of the late Richard Lawrence of the Township of Harwich in the Western District of London, formerly of the Twp. of York, deceased, who retained his Loyalty during the late war [1812] without suspicion of without suspicion of aiding or assisting the Enemy. Dated at the Court House of York (Toronto), the 28th day of February, 1833.

Quarterly Session of Peace, Home District:
. 1833 Feb 28, Thurs. Present D'Arcy Boulton Jun, Esq. Chairman, Grant Powell, Esq. JP, Clerk of Peace having reported to Court that the Grand Jury summoned them for 1 O'clock this day. Report of David Gibson, Surveyor of Hwys. granted. Rebecca Hamilton appeared in open-Court & was recognized to be the Daughter of the late Richard Lawrence, deceased, an United Empire Loyalist, whereupon a certificate was signed.

. 1834 Dec 19, UC Sundries, Petition of Rebecca & James Hamilton of the Twp. Nassagaweya,
Petitioner Rebecca Hamilton, the daughter of a UE Loyalist received a grant of Lot 7, Con 18, Garafraxa Twp.
Petitioners are residing & cultivating a lot of land in Nassagaweya Twp. , upon which he has nearly 40 Acres of improvement. In consequence of possessing this farm, they are from the distance of the grant, unable to quit their present residence & become occupiers of the Garafraxa Lot. Yet your petitioners part to allow a deed to be issued, upon the grounds they are already settlers in the very District in which the grant is, the value of the same is of importance to them, for the provision their family. Should it be the pleasure of your Excellency to grant them title, the land will be improved by having the power to let it on lease, otherwise your petitioners cannot occupy in person the Lot & will be subject for forfeiture.
Signed for Jas. & Rebecca Hamilton, City of Toronto, 29 Dec 1834, Tos. Talbot.
Envelope: Referred to Comm of Lands to report therein. 31 Dec 1834.
. Cannot be granted under present regulations.1835 Apr 8, John Robison, Com. of Crown Lands Office, Toronto. Forward the report.
Ref: UC Sundries C6884, p1279.
Note2: Lot 18 SW Con 7 was granted 1824.9.21 Patent to Ann Headly & the NE half patent was granted 1824.922 to Jesse Meredith.

. Land Registration Office Dufferin County,
Lot 7, Con 18, East Garafraxa Twp. Abstract Book B20, p42.
. 1836 Mar 11, Patent, crown to Rebecca Hamilton Hamilton, Rebecca.
. 1836 Jun 16, Registered 1836 Jun 29, BN&S, James Hamilton & his wife Rebecca Hamilton, to James Pattulo, 200 Acres.
. 1879 Mar 28, Bargain&Sale James & Robert A. Pattullo, to Kenneth Pattullo, [to both each]. All the timber on 10 acres with right of way.

Note3: Purchaser: James Pattullo. Others settlers began to arrive at an early period, doubtless sent forward by the enterprising Land Agent at York. In the autumn of 1820 Alexander Pattullo, native of Prestonpems, near Edinburg, but more recently a resident of Glasgow, arrived at Rockside, having left behind him his wife & family of 3 sons & 2 daughters, wile he spied out the land & prepared a home for them. In a letter from Paisley dated Apr 2, 1823 he stated that a young man James Pattullo who was about to emigrate to Canada & intended to settle in Caledon along with his father who had preceded him, offered to convey letters.
Ref: Rockside Pioneers.

. Biography: At James Hamilton's death there was nothing left for his wife & family of 7 children, all of whom were under age. It was in this crisis that Alexander Hamilton's sterling character made itself evident. Though but 18 years old, [1854 or 55], he assumed the care of the family & until the day of his death none of them ever went to him in vain for assistance of any sort. His devotion to his mother was particularly beautiful, & even when the others were able to contribute to her comfort he never yielded his privilege of being the first to bear burdens in her behalf; & this even when hard times often made it difficult to provide for his own family as he wished.
Husband James Hamilton died about 1856 to 1858. 'He might have become a wealthy man if he had not placed too much confidence in his friends & wreaked his own fortune by going security for others.' So this would have been a timely investment for him or the widow Rebecca Hamilton. Perhaps the tollgate didn't live up to expectations for development. In the meantime, son Rev. James Hamilton moved to Michigan & number of close relatives were also in Michigan too.
. Rev. James Hamilton, Jr. "God-fear mother dedicated him to the service of the pulpit before he was born" in Feb. 17, 1843, Trafalgar, Ontario. . -.

* XRef: This biography continues at 1892 & 1912 Biographies of Alexander Hamilton & at James Hamilton.

Note4: Husband James Hamilton died in 1855 probably in Esquesing Co., Halton County, Ontario. Rebecca had moved to Flamborough Twp., Wentworth County by the time son James Hamilton was baptized a Methodist.
By 1856 son Richard L Hamilton was living alone in a log cabin near Acton, Ontario. He was working as a carpenter, no doubt earning money to help support his family.
In 1864 Alex Hamilton went to Ohio & afterward to Michigan to make fruit farm to Saughatuck, MI. Mary Jane Hamilton landed in the US in 1866 so it would seem probably she would have lived with her mother Rebecca, at least up to that time.

. 1859 Flamborough West, Canada West., Tp. in Co. Wentworth. For office Post office see: Strabane.
Ref: The New World in 1859: Being the US & Canada.

. 1861 March Census, East Flamborough, Wentworth Co., Ontario, Broken Part Lot 14, 2nd East Concession,
Rebecca Hamilton, age 46, Toll House, W. Methodist, Widow, One half story frame house. *Family member ABSCENT on Census day.
Alex Hamilton, Age 23, b 1838, Nursery Agent, born Upper Canada, W. Methodist.
Richard Hamilton, Age 26, b 1835, Carpenter, born Upper Canada, frame house. *Family member ABSCENT on Census day.
Mary Jane Hamilton, Age 22 b1839, Labourer
Hadassah Hamilton, Age 19, 1842 UC [No occupation listed], *Family member ABSCENT on Census day.
James Hamilton, Age 17 b1844, Nursery Agent, attending school. *Family member ABSCENT on Census day.
Wm. J Hamilton, Age 15 b1846, Labourer, attending school.
Rebecca Hamilton, Age 7, b1854, attending school.

. Description of Flamborough tollhouse: Neighbor murdered previous to Rebecca Hamilton taking up the house which was: The tollhouse is quite a small room & the ceiling is very low & usually a lock was applied to the door. Woodrack rails, likely cedar, surrounded the tollhouse; there was plenty of room in the shanty to stoke a blow with the stick; a 6 o'clock sounded in neighboroughood! Undoubtedly there would be quite a bit of gossip about the tollhouse where Rebecca & family lived.

. 1857 Jan 29th, Extracted from a previous coroner's murder inquest that took place:
The day previous at a shan't on the New Waterdown road, near Burlington Heights, where John Lawry killed another man supposed to have gone to the shanty for the purpose of robbing awry of his money. Lawry is about 60 years of age & Hopkins near as old.
John Smith, a teamster, was going out to the woods for cordwood & was passing the toll gate about 6:30, Wednesday morning when the toll keeper called after him & his comrade that John Hopkins came to the tollhouse about an hour before daylight that he had a letter for the toll keeper who then let him in Hopkins had a stick in his hand about 4 feet 6 inches long such as used woodrack rails & made a blow at him the tollkeeper, John Lawry. There was a fierce encounter till he succeeded in getting the stick & gave Hopkins blows to the head. Witness saw no blood on the floor. The toll keeper wanted to send word to the Watertown police.
John Gilmour resided on the hill about 100 yards from the tollhouse. Half an hour after sunrise Lawry came up the hill & called there was a dead man there near the door. He went to the house where he was told the same story. Lawry looked wild & he was glad to get out of the house, he did not appear to be drunk. The tollhouse is quite a small room & the ceiling is very low. The deceased's cap & handkerchief were lying at his feet. Gilmour asked how the deceased fall. He finally said the fell on his back, but the witness could see from the head wounds he would fall on his side. He had struck him 5 or 6 times after he was down, knocked out 2 teeth & he was determined to rub out the marks.
Lawry was a nice man, a very quiet neighbor, Never saw either of them worse of liquor. Witness has frequently seen the deceased this winter, but never saw the muffling on his feet before; had seen the shawl tied on his head, as if to keep off the cold. There was plenty of room in the shanty to stoke a blow with the stick, but not much blood on the floor inside, measuring about 3 or 4 inch broad. The previous day Hopkins was in witnesses house said he had broke his axe & said he to go to Hamilton to borrow one.
Ann fully deposed she slept at her son-in-law Hopkins' house on Tuesday night. He was going to Hamilton to borrow one. Thinks Hopkins could be about Gilmour's when the 6 o'clock bell rang. Hopkins had worn rans on his feet sine the thaw. Dr. Ryall deposed the deceased's body had contusions on head, face, 2 on thumb, & extensive 5 fractures into the brain.
John Flynn deposed the deceased told him David Smoke proved to lend him an axe & would leave the axe or word at the tollhouse.
[No further followup found, but he did not do jail time as by the 1861 Census he is the toll keeper outside of Waterdown on what is now called Waterdown Road. Back in those days Snake Rd. was called the Waterdown Rd. or the road to Waterdown]
Ref: Toronto Globe & Mail Newspaper.

Note5: One can imagine the widow Rebecca Hamilton taking up residence in this toll house where the neighbors would no doubt remind her & her family of the infamous history of this toll house. Lock you doors!

GANGES, Michigan
. 1878 - Allegan is county seat, 3,000 inhabitants on the Kalamazoo river, 25 miles nw of Kalamazoo, 2 Grand Rapids railroads pass through Allegan. 3 flouring mills, 2 saw mills, 2 planning mills, 1 foundry & 1 woolen mill.
It is an excellent farming twp. & near the lake the land is devoted chiefly to the cultivation of peaches. In the spring of 1880 the number of peach trees reached 84,000, of which 30,000 were 445 years old over. The fruit of Ganges is mainly sent on the Chicago W Michigan Railroad. It was of her son Alexander Hamilton who started these very fruit trees. - PJA
Ref. Polk Michigan State Gazetteer.

. 1887 Michigan Crop Report, Ganges. Large meteor seen through the fog on evening of May 23, first appearing in the east. 45 degrees above the horizon, moving north. Optical phenomena, Ganges 2 May: Solar halos were observed (i.e. weather - planning forecast); Hails 31st May. This phenomena would have been much discussed in the neighbourhood. - PJA.]

. 1888 Jan 7, Benton Harbor. Mrs. John Teetzel died' Wednesday, aged 74 years.
. 1888 Jan 5, Mrs John Teetzel whose death was noted our least issue, left 7 children. Funeral will occur on Friday afternoon.
Mrs. Hamilton, of Peachville, Michigan, a sister of Mrs Teetzel, accompanied by her husband & son Alexander, arrived yesterday afternoon.
Note6: Rather than her late husband, it was her son Rev. James Hamilton, junior, along with Rebecca's other son Alexander Hamilton.) There are several 'Peachvilles' in Michigan. Allegan is the 'Peach Belt' growing area of Michigan. - PJA

. 1890 Michigan Death Registration:
Registration #1600, died 17 Feb 1890, widow, aged 74y 11 months, Ganges Twp., Allegan Co., Michigan.
[Born 17 Mar 1815, compared with her Monument date, equals born 4 May 1815. ] Cause of Death: Slow paralysis.
Born Canada, parents Mary & Richard Lawrence.
Note7: Rebecca Lawrence-Hamilton was living with daughter Mary Jane Wanner at the time of her death.

Transcripts & reach by PJ Ahlberg, U.E., Thank you. - - -

Birth:
Born Lot 25, Con 1 Yonge St., Toronto. Until 1818 her father was living in York/Toronto, ON.

Died:
COD: Slow paralysis. Aged 74y 11m. = 17 Mar 1815. Widowed. Dau. of Mary & Richard Lawrence.

Buried:
Ganges. 74y 9m 13d. 'Mother', Tall grey monument with wheat sheaves. "Hamilton"

Notes:

Married:

Notes:

James's son, James Hamilton, born c. 1801, was a flax weaver in Ireland. The family were also farming & surely must have grown flax also.

Recorded for further research:

. 1796 Irish Flax Growers
Flax Growers List of 1796, known officially as the Spinning Wheel Premium Entitlement List, or more commonly the Flax Growers Bounty List.
The Irish Linen Board published a list of nearly 60,000 individuals in 1796. Spinning wheels were awarded based on the number of acres planted. People who planted one acre were awarded 4 spinning wheels & those growing 5 acres were awarded a loom.

Hamilton, James, Aghaloo, Tyrone
Hamilton, James, Bodoney Upper Tyrone
Hamilton, James, Camus,Tyrone
Hamilton, James, Cappagh, Tyrone
Hamilton, James, Desertcreat, Tyrone
Hamilton, James, Donacavey, Tyrone
Hamilton, James, Donaghedy, Tyrone
Hamilton, James, Donacavey, Tyrone

Hamilton, Audrey, Drumragh Parish, 1 spinning wheel
Hamilton, John, Drumragh Parish, 4 spinning wheels
Hamilton, Martha, Drumagh Parish, 1 spinning wheel
A List of Persons to whom Premiums for sewing Flax-seed in the Year 1796 have been adjudged by the Trustees of the Linen Manufacture.

. "Pursuant to the Scheme offered by them for encouraging the Growth of Flax throughout the Kingdom, viz. 'To the Person who should sow between the 10th Day of March & the 1st Day of June 1796, with a sufficient Quantity of good sound Flax-seed, any Quantity of Land, well prepared & fit for the purpose, not less than 1 Acre -4 Spinning Wheels, - 3 Roods 3 Ditto, -2 Roods-2 Ditto, 1 Rood-1 Ditto. And to the Person who should sow in like Manner any Quantity of like Land, not less than 5 Acres, a Loom, or Wheels, Reels, or Hatchells to the Value of 50 Shillings & for every 5 Acres over & above the first 5 a like Premium.'
Every Person preferring Reels may have 2 of them in lieu of a Spinning Wheel.

. Spinning Wheel Premium Entitlement List, Flax Growers Bounty List - 1796:
In the 18th Century Ulster gained a worldwide reputation as a producer of fine linen, which is made from flax. From time to time, the Government introduced incentives to encourage more people to grow flax.

In 1796 the Irish Linen Board published a list of people who had received bounties for planting flax. This was known officially as the Spinning Wheel Premium Entitlement List, but was generally called the Flax Growers Bounty List. Only the name & civil parish of the beneficiary was recorded & there is no further detail available.

. Over 60,000 people in Ireland received incentives, of which over 40,000 were based in Ulster. Donegal & Tyrone had the highest number of recipients, reflecting the importance of flax in the local economy. People planting one acre of flax received 4 spinning wheels & those who planted 5 acres received a loom. Only the name, town & civil parish of the beneficiary was recorded & there is no further details available. The barony was listed instead of the parish in a few of the records. - - -

Birth:
Scotch descent.

Died:
Alt: 1778, Aged 93, b1778 Strabane. (Son James left for Canada 1824.)

James married Mrs. Mary HAMILTON, .1. Mrs. was born est 1779± in Northern Ireland; died est 1827± in Strabane, Tyrone Co., Ireland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:


Died:
(Son James left for Canada 1824.)

Notes:

PART ONE:

Richard is name after his grandfather, Richard Lawrence, Esq., [The Third, 1719-1726.] & in family remberances going back to Richard the Lionhearted.

. 1771 July 5, List of letters, remaining in the Post Office, Richard Lawrence, Shrewsbury.
Ref: NY Gazette.
. Richard Lawrence, Upper Freehold. Ref: Roster of the People of Revolutionary Monmouth County.

. 1783 New Brunswick, Chrineyonce Vanmater & (Lieut.) Richard Lawrence, UE. petitioned together for land in Prince William Co., NB.
Note1: This land grant adjacent to his brother John Lawrence, was not taken up because it had previous legal encumbrances. - PJA 2101.

. Richard Lawrence carried a English Bible giving his & siblings' birth dates. He must have carried this Bible with him at the end of the American Revolution & then to NB & finally to Upper Canada. The Bible was then given to his youngest child, Rebecca. Grandson Walter Hamilton is the last known owner of the Lawrence Bible.

. 1776 Jul 15, Letters Remaining in the Post Office, New York: Richard Lawrence, Staten Island. Ref: New-York Gazette & Weekly Mercury.

. OLD UNITED EMPIRE LOYALIST LISTS: Laurence, Richard, Home District, Loyalist from N. Brunswick. Ref: Appendix, Appendix B.

. 1776 MUSTER: Richard Lawrence:
. 1777 Feb - 24 Apr - Lawrence, Richard - Private, General Hospital (2 Richards) Muster roll of Capt. Wm. Gray's NYV. Lieut. 1st Co.
. 1777 Aug 24, - Private Richard Lawrence, 3rd Bat De Lancey's Brigrade, C1880,p1
. 1777 October 24 - Capt. Gilbert C Willett, 3rd Battalion of Oliver De Lacey, p. 28, at Long Island, #20, Richard Lawrence [Job" Tat? Host or Western? blurry]. {Ref C1880,p7)
. 1777 Dec 24, Priv. RL, 3Bat DeLancey's Brigrade, C12880,p16;
. 1778 Apr 24 - Rich. Lawrence, 3rd Bat. Oliver DeLacey. C1880, p22 & ?Compare Priv RL, NYV, C1874p5;
. 1778 Apr 24, Priv RL, #BDeLancey's Brigrade, C1880,p22, 38;
. 1778 Jun 24, Priv RL, 3BDeL, C12880,p28;
. 1778 Sep 4 - C1880, p38; 1778 Oct 24, c1880, p39;
. 1778 Dec 24, Priv RL, 3BDeL, - Discharged Dec 24th '78. C1880,p50.
. 1779 November 29, Capt. Thomas Hewlett's Co. NYV - Savannah, Quarter Masters Gen. Dept. & Hewlett's Coy. C1874p49;
. 1781 Apr, Priv RL, New York Volunteers, c1874,p60 & 1781.12.24 p82;
Ref: British Military & Naval Records, p49, RG8 Vol C, Printed, 1874. Elsewhere there is a UEL claim for supplies of horses & wagons for Trenton New Jersey.
Ref: British Military & Naval Records, C1880,p1, RG 8, C Series, & Copy Arch. Canada: Ward Chipman Muster.

British Headquarters Papers (Carleton Papers or American Manuscripts):
Richard Lawrence (31688)
. 1782.5.27, Account for Outstading debs for forage, New York, commissary General Dept., Doc 4668, Film M355, page 4668, Item 31688;
. 1783.11.21, List of Original Wills, Wills in custody of Secretary of NY, page 9671 (14); Film M366, Item 31689.

. NB Land Petitions:
* Note2: 1787 After the American Revolution four Lawrences lived near each other in Saint Johns, New Brunswick: Mrs. Alice Lawrence Leonard (Thomas) Lot 1; Lieut. John Lawrence Lot 101; Lieut. Richard Lawrence was on Lot 169 on the other side of the Saint John River; along with sister Mrs. Margaret Lawrence Nicholson (Arthur) at Lot 52. An important Lawrence family friend, Rev. J Odell of NJ, was adjacent to his land grant as well.

. Richard gave up his land claim in Prince William because of a prior legal entanglement by an earlier French Canadian inhabitant. Richard also made failed landed petitions with his Monmouth, New Jersey neighbours', Corneilis VanMater* & Capt. Richd. Lippincott, (BUT much later he would again be adjacent to R. Lippencott on Yonge St., Toronto) - PJ Ahlberg.
Note3: *John Vanmater was a witness to Richard's father, William Lawrence, d. 1795 in Middletown, NJ.

. 1782 May 27, Richard Lawrence, Outstanding Debts for Forage, New York, Accounts, Commissary General Dept., pg. 4668, (1.3).
Ref: British Headquarters Papers, (Carleton Papers or American Manuscripts), Microfilm M355, Ref: MG23 B1, Item Number 31688.

Research Item, (probably someone else, but should be verified):
. 1783.11.21 - Richard Lawrence, List of Original Wills, Document: Will in custody of Secretary of NY.
Document Pg. 9671 914), fonds: British Headquarters Papers, Carlton Papers or American Manuscripts, Microfilm M2369,
Ref: MG23 BA Item # 31689.

. 1783 DEC 12, PROVINCE OF NEW BRUNSWICK LAND GRANT, NB Archives. George the Third grant to Rev. James Fraser, Edward Rogers, Anthony Rogers, Arthur Nicholson, Esq., John Willson, Junior, Richard Lawrence, Stillwell Willson & James Walsh 2,238 acres on the northwest branch of the River Miramichi in the County of Northumberland. The first track beginning at the alder Stake on the easterly bank or shore of an Island being in the said Branch.
To John Willson Junior: Lot 1, 200 Acres; To Richard Lawrence the Lot 2 , containing 232 acres, Stillwell Willson, Lot 4, 240 acres. Registered the 12 December, 1793, Thomas Carlton, Lieutenant Governor, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.

. 1789 Aug 11. To His Excellency Thomas Carlton. Province of New Brunswick, Memorial of Richard Lawrence of Miramichie,
Humbly Shewth, that our memorialist has been all the last War in the service of His King & Country, most of the time as a Volunteer in the Army. That a lott of Land has been assigned to him at Prince William in the County of York, but being then a young single man he resigned it. That he is now settled at Miramichie & likes the country, wishes to live by farming in reference to fishing.
Your Memorialist therefore prays you Excellency may be pleased to grant him a Lot of Land adjoining a lot assigned to Arthur Nicholson, Esq. on the north east side of the North West Branch of Miramichie & your memorialist is duty bound will Pray.
Richard Lawrence, [Undated, but delivery time about 4 - 6 weeks.]
Envelope side: Memorial of Richd. Lawrence - Complied with 25th Sept. 1789.

. 1795 June, there were still only 14 housed in the Town of York.

** See photo Photo Original Land Patent may be found at North York Central Library, Willowdale:
. UC Land Petition 5, Bundle, L Bundle 2, 1795 of York, Richard Lawrence, Sr.
Ref: C2124, p804. Ont. Archives. Original document is preserved at the North York Public Library, Yonge Street, Toronto. Very large parchment document with an attached was large beeswax seal.
*Researchers who had other relatives who received an UC Land Grant may wish to see what this very impressive document looked like. This also helps in part to understand why the administration of land granting was so slow.

. 1796 Apr 6 - To His Excellency John Graves Simcoe, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor & Commissioning his Majesty's forces in Upper Canada. Major General.
The Memorial of Richard Lawrence Late of the Province of New Brunswick in Nova Scotia That your Memorialist Entered in the Service of His Britannic Majesty at the beginning the Late rebellion continued in the same till the Peace of Eighty three & that since that time he accepted a Commission of first Lieutenant for the County of Northumberland in New Brunswick which he is ready to produce if required - & being Desirous of remaining a Subject to the King of Great Britain in this Province.
Humbly Prays that his Majesty's most gracious bounty in Lands may be Extended to your memorialist for the following Lotts Viz Number 25 on Yonge Street Eastward & 2 other Lotts in the Rear of Said Number 25 second Concession also a Lott in the Town of York, Number 18 in the second range Which he has improved as well as No 25 Yonge Street & such other quantity of Land as to your Excellency in your Wisdom may seem meet - & your Petitioner as in Duty Bound will ever pray. Signed, 6 April, 1796, Richard Lawrence.

There are 5 other Upper Canada Land Petitions for Richard Lawrence.
. The original parchment & seal, LAND GRANT for Lot 25, Concession 1 Yonge Street, east side, 200 Acres, will be found at the Canadian Room, North York Public Library, on Yonge Street, Toronto.
. 1796 July 30 - Granted Lot 18 D, Duke St., Town of York / [now renamed as: 79 Adelaide, Toronto.] (The next Lot 19 Duke, was granted to Samuel Osborn & his wife, Mrs. Alice Willson Osborn).
. 1802 May 5 Date of Patent or 18 Duke St., D Block, 1/5 Acre to Richard Lawrence.
Ref: Robertson's Landmarks of Toronto, Vol 1, p339.
. Lots 1 & 2, Con 4, Vaughan Twp., 400 Acres.
Note4: 1796 Oct. 8, is the day he paid his land settlement fees & is sometimes incorrectly quoted as the day he was FIRST granted this land. - PJA.

. UCLPetition 15, Y Batch 5, p417. -1801 Jul 16 - East Side Yonge St, Lot 25, Nothing done to the Street. [i.e. no logs cleared].

. 1801 Dec 15. East Side Yonge Street, Lot 25, Logs in the Street, not burnt.

. 1802 Feb. 21, Lot 1, Con 5, Vaughan Twp., 200 Acres granted to wife, Mary Willson Lawrence.
. 1803 Post Office Letters, downtown Toronto: This issue contains a list published by the postmaster of uncalled-for letters lying in the post-office at York:
. Richard Lawrence. (Original Toronto Post Office was one street over from Richard's 179 King Street house. However by
. 1803, Richard was now up on Yonge & Steeles.)
Ref: Vol XIL, The Oracle, Saturday Jan. 15, 1803, No. 28, Total No 610.
Note5: McGill had the 1000 Acres at Lot 25, Con 2, adjoining Richard Lawrence's Land Grant.

Ontario Lands Registry, Metro Toronto Book 683, p131 [Note: Version 2]
Lot 18, South side King St., Town of York
[Original Version 2 adds:] Abstract Town of York, S.S. King
St., Pt of Town Lot 18: Abstract of all Instruments affect 38.5 feet on South side of King St East x 120 feet deep coming at N.E.L. Town Lot 18 on South of King St & running West & being par t of sd. Town Lot 18.
. 1802 May 17, Patent, Crown, to Ricd Lawrence, All Contg. 1/5 Acre
. 1805 Feb 13, Patent, Crown, to Beasley et all, all condj 15 acre,
. 1805 Feb 19, Mem. Grant, Richd Beasley, survg. Trustee of Tos Barry & Wm. Allan, to Rev. Geo O'Kill Stuart of York, £321.17.16., All et all. Being 1 C in front X 2c deep. To hold unto sd. Grantee his heirs & assigne forever. Sg. by Grantee.

Abstract North York Book 16, p3
Lot 25, Con 1 Yonge Street East, York Twp.
. 1808 Sep 15, Patent, Crown, to Richard Lawrence, All 190 acres.
. 1806 Jan 20, Registered 20 Mar 1806, Bargain&Sale, Richard Lawrence et ux, to The B Gough, East Half.
. 1819 Aug 20, B&S, Richard Lawrence, to John S Baldwin, £250, West Half Acres.

Abstract, Metro Toronto, North York Book 128, p21
Lot 24, Con 2 West, York Twp.,
. 1798 Dec 31, Patent, Crown, to Wm. Jarvis, All 200 Acres
. 1805 Dec 31, B&S, Thos. B Gough, to Richard Lawrence, All 200 A
. 1809 May 1, B&S, Richard Lawrence, to Jacob Fisher Jr, £100, All 200 A.
Note6: Adjacent, Lot 23, Con 3, Sawmill, water badly supplied, Peter Keiffer, 1851.

Abstract Markham Book 91, p22
Lot 27, Con 1 East Side Yonge St. , Markham Twp.,
. 1803 July 15, Crown, to John Leslie, All 190A
. 1804 Aug 31, Bargain&Sale, Thos. McMichen etux, to Richard Lawrence, £100, All 190 Acres.
.1805 Jun 29, B&S, Richard Lawrence et ux, to John Arnold, £100, All 100A.
[Beside brothers-in-law, Wm. L Willson, Lot 26; Samuel Osborn Lot 27, & Stillwell Willson The Elder, Lot 30.]

Abstract York Region, Vaughan Book 185, p4
Lot 1, Con 3, Vaughan
. 1802 May 17, Patent, Crown, to Mary Lawrence, All 200 A
. 1821 Feb 21, B&S, Richard Lawrence et ux, to John Guthrie, £100, All.
[Near Fairbanks Lumber/ Railway tracks & Steeles W, 2020].-

Ontario Land Registry Abstract, Vaughan Book 190, p4 & 32,
Lots 1 & 2, Con 4, Vaughan Twp., York Co., [Keele Street], p4 & p32.
. 1805 Feb 1, Patent, Crown, to Richard Lawrence, All 400 Acres each [Lots1-2 @ 200A.]
. 1805 Feb 1, B&S, Richard Lawrence et al, to Thomas McMicking. All 190 A, 200 Acres for Lot 1. & Lot 2 190A.
Note7: Adjacent Lot 4, Con 3, was a sawmill, Michel Fisher, 1851.
Lawrence's most productive grant Lot 25 1ES was also part of the Willson sawmill land. Thus the summary suggest Lawrence searched for land that could yield water & tree resources, as opposed to strictly farm land. - P J Ahlberg 2016.

. 1805 to 1815 at least - Richard Lawrence received Tavern Licenses for the Twp. of York.
. March 1801, The Special Sessions of Peace, held the "The Court are of opinion that 6 persons are a sufficient number for Keeping Tavern in the Town of York, for the year ensuing.
. 1805 Dec 28, The undermentioned persons prayed to be admitted as fit persons for receiving Licenses to Keep Taverns in the Home District for the Year next ensuing: Richard Lawrence.
. 1806 Mar 20 - sells East ½ Lot 25, Con 1 ESYonge St.
. 1807 - Richard Lawrence owned Lot 18D, south side of King, west of Frederick St. Brother-in-law Sam. Osborn was on the next lot 19D.
Ref: Toronto Sundries, Home District. Quarter Sessions.

Special Sessions of the Peace, York, Tavern License for year ensuing,
. 1815 Dec 30, Town of York: Richard Lawrence, York Twp., Granted.

Note8: Various sources state the Joseph Abraham ran the first inn called the Green Bush at Steeles & Yonge at the North east corner. In an area noted for tall trees, it must have been a large balsam tree indeed that stood in front of the Inn. The NE corner belong to his brother-in-law Wm. L. Willson. Further research may show the exact location of Lawrence's tavern.

Regulations included: No excess drinking, no profanities or gambling; sufficient sheds, stables and/or barns were required for the patron's horses, carriages & wagons. The innkeeper should also have at least 4 good beds in addition to those for his family. All of these regulations were controls to limit taverns & increase inns.
Ref: Margaret McBurney & Mary Byers, Tavern in the Town: Early Inns & Taverns of Ontario. - P J Ahlberg). - . -

PART TWO: Tracking Richard Lawrence Though Documents:

. 1759 Aug. 20, Monday born, Middletown, Upper Freehold Twp., Monmouth Co., Prov. of New Jersey. Father William Lawrence's carpenter's shop along with his brothers.
. 1776 to 1783. American Revolution, New Jersey 1st Volunteers, Christies' Quarter Master Department. He was a volunteer in the army most of the time.
. 1776 Richard is on Staten Island, NY.
Note9: UCLPetition Richard gave a reference for Sarah Lakerman Willson who was on Staten Island since 1776, the beginning of the War & therefore, Richard Lawrence too was on Staten Island.

. 1785 New Brunswick. Purchased land at Musquash Island on the St. John's River from Capt. Richard Lippincott also of NJ.
. 1786 New Brunswick. By this time he is married to Mary Willson. [Further research: Records of the Anglican minister traveling though the Miramichi?]
. 1787 Jul 25, Wants land at Prince William, Queensborough, NB. allotted primarily to the Queen's American Rangers (& to future brother-in-law Arthur Nicholson, (ELIZABETH LAWRENCE).
. 1789 Jul 27, Land Grant: A little beyond the Sandy Point, opposite, Between Island by Johnston Basto, West Branch of Miramichi River, Northumberland County, New Brunswick.
. 1789 Sep 25 - Granted land at Willson's Point, Miramichi, New Brunswick. Richard builds log gaol at nearby, Newcastle, NB.

Northumberland Co., New Brunswick, Deed Registry Books, Grantor:
. 1793 June 15th - Richard Lawrence & Mary Lawrence to William Babcock, Vol 2, Pg. 97, Deed £20 for 200 Acres, 22 cleared with Stockable Dwelling House, 3 Commons Pasture. Signed, John Willson, Esq., JP of Inferior Court of Common Pleas.

. 1793 July - MAY FLEET *NJ *NY *NB *UC. Evacuation from NY to New Brunswick in 1783. Again the 'May Fleet' leaves around NB by ship & up the St. Lawrence River to Montreal, where John Willson called on Commissary Issac W Clarke for aid. The 60 people including Richd. Lawrence were in the party lead by John Willson, Esq.
. 1793 Aug 8 - Arrived at Quebec with 60 people. A dozen people remain here. Arrival by 3 bateaux at Kingston on 28 Aug., 1793. Received army rations & medical care. Detained over 30 days waiting for another boat. 1793 Oct. 10, group arrives at Niagara again sick & starved. 25 Oct, Governor J G Simcoe authorizes ship to pick up John Willson & associates.

. 1792 Sept. Fort George, Niagara. Lieut. Gov. Simcoe orders government ship to bring them Lawrence, Willson & all from Niagara to Town of York.
. 1793 Nov 2, Arrival at the Town of York, Toronto. Extracted from the documents on the hardships of this voyage to Upper Canada can be found also at 1) Roots.com under JOHN WILLSON.1 & 2.) more extensively in Richard Lawrence of NJ, NB & Ontario. Book may be found at North York Public Library, Toronto. & Richmond Hill Library - PJ Ahlberg, 2009.

. 1794 April 7 to 30 June, Paid for carpentry, Public Buildings at York. Paid £15 11 s. 3 pennies, on 10 July, 1794.
. 1795 June 1. Petitions for Lot 25, Con. 1 ES Yonge Street, York Twp., ON WHICH HE HAS ALREADY LOCATED. (Yonge & Steeles Ave., Toronto). Tavern here or and/or Vaughan. Sold 20.
. 1819 Aug. As a lieutenant he was granted 1000 Acres & an additional 400 Acres from his wife, Mary Willson.
* 1796 May 28, Cousin John Brown Lawrence presented Richard's land grant to his friend Gov. Simcoe:
. 1796 July 30, already built on it: 18 Duke Street, TOWN OF YORK. Today 179 King St. East, Toronto Downtown.
. 1796 8 Oct - Granted & lots in Vaughan, (just across the road from his Lot 25, Con 1 Yonge.) Steeles & Yonge Streets, tavern here or and/or at Vaughan.

. 1797 Minutes of the Town of York: Richd. Lawrence: 2 males & 4 females.Total six.
i.e. Ricd. & wife Mary & John, Mary, Marg., Eliz. & Mary Anne Lawrence.
Note10: Town of York had only 52 males & 34 females living on Yonge St., Toronto.

. Two Surveys of Settlers actually living on Yonge Street:
. 1797 Aug 3, York, Lot No. 25 East, 5 Acres cleared, Richard Lawrence is on the premises.

. 1797 Jun 27 - Oath saying he knew Sarah Lakerman, wife of John Wilson, Jur & that her father died within the British lines in the year 1776. Signed, Richd. Lawrence.

. 1798 June. Lot 25 East, Richard Lawrence, i.e. He is living on the lot) Four acres cleared. Small log house. Surveyed by David W Smith, Esq., Surveyor Genera.l { Is Wm. L. Willson, his brother-in-law on the adjacent lot, actually living with his sister Mrs. Mary Lawrence? - PJA.]

. 1802 Jan 12, Tuesday Richard Lawrence (7th) sworn to Petty Jury of 12 men. John Evenor the accused. When the miller was absent, John Evenor was seen taking a sheep away from the barn yard. Discharged because no Prosecutor was present.

. 1805 Mar 2. Richard Lawrence of Yonge St. who had received a license to keep a Tavern for House, at his dwelling house & who had removed from thence to another Public house; applied for leave to keep a Tavern under the same license in the house to which he had removed. The court do not find themselves authorized to comply with this request as they deem the License to be attached to the house recognize has been taken & not to any other.
Note11: 1804 Feb 1. Richard sells Lot 3, Con 4, Vaughan Twp. property. Coincidence?

. 1807 Jul 24 - Justice Robt. Thorpe's address, Summary: Whereas a goodly number of Independent Electors convented for discussing the sufferings whose situation was resplendent by many not his friends to be very deplorable of his losses which at first he yielding to their entreaties to represent them in Parliament in UC or England. A multitude of signatures, inc. Joseph Shepard, Richd. Lippincott, Alex. Montgomery, Baron Fred. DeHoen, Peter Muscleman, John Van Zantee, John Willson, [most likely junior] William L Willson, Stillwell Willson, James Finch. Richard Lawrence, William Johnson, George Taylor Denison, J Hale, Walter Moody, Peter Whitney, Garret Van Zantee, Sam D Cozens, Peter Winter.
Ref: Report on dn Archives, 1892.

. Ely started early. John Powell & Geo. Ridout soon overhauled me - fed at Buttanans? 18 miles - at Lawrence 17 miles, went on to Cantfields 11: a little after dark.
. 1809 Sep 29th - John Arnold & Ely Playter drew a load of ashes from [Richard] Lawrence's the AM. 47 bushels.
Ref: Ely Players Diary.

. 1815 Dec 30. Richard Lawrence received a Tavern License for Township of York. £12, Issuer James Kerr.

. 1818 Dec 26, Quarterly Session of Peace, Charlottesville, London District
$2 Costs of Court The said Sum for Wages to the said Alvin.
Ordered that as the License is Left in the behest? of the Magistrates all persons being desirous of keeping publick houses are required to attend on the last Saturday of this month precisely at 10 in the forenoon at which time the Bonds will be ready for signature, as an Act of the Legislature has passed to that effect.
The Court took into consideration the Tavern Bills & agreed as follows.:
Richd. Lawrence £3.10s & Wm. Lawrence £3.

Extracts from HIS CHILDREN'S LAND PETITION RICHARD LAWRENCE:
. 1818 Apr 14, Richard Lawrence is now in Woodhouse*, Ontario, daughter Margaret Lawrence.
. 1818 August 6, Mary Ann is with her parents at Long Pointe, Ontario.
. 1819 October 13, Richard is in Woodhouse now, wrote daughter Elizabeth Osborn-Tarbox-Lawrence.
. 1819 Aug 20 - Richard Lawrence sells West ½ Lot 25, Con 1 ESY for £350.
. 1820 April 11 & 20th, He is now in Charlotteville, London District, (Norfolk County).
. 1821 Feb 21, Sold Vaughan Twp. property of his wife, Mary Willson.
Note12: Woodhouse is now called Naticoke.

. 1828 - Photo of large wooden mill: Lot 1, Con. 2 East. Markham Township. Bayview Ave & Steeles Ave. Fish Mill, NE corner Steeles & Bayview in 1961. This grist & saw mill was built in 1830 by Benjamin Fish, next to the distillery that he owned (built 1828). Though the original mill was destroyed in a fire, Fish built a new one on the same site. Demolished in 1965, when the intersection of Bayview & Steeles was widened.
. The Town of Charlotteville:* When the war of 1812 broke out the court-house was used for barrack purposes, ... was christened" Fort Norfolk." The court house, jail, the fort & the tavern of Job Loder all stood on the elevation above the flat. A hotel was built under the hill & kept by a man named Hatch. In 1833, during the cholera scare*, a hospital was built at this place. It stood on the bank & was a barn-like structure & was used but little, if at all, for the purpose for which it was built. The old Town of Charlotteville reached the zenith of its glory during the war. In 1815 the District Courts were removed to Vittoria & the Town of Charlotteville relapsed into Turkey Point once more. No traces of its old-time importance remain, save a few surface irregularities indicating the spot occupied by the fort. The dreary waste at Turkey Point was, for 13 years, the judicial metropolis for all this vast region of country.
Ref: Pioneer sketches of Long Point Settlement. Published 1908.
Note13: Was this the cause of Richard Lawrence's disappearance? Note14: *Charlotteville is now called Delhi.

. 1831 May 3 - DECEASED of London District, wrote son, Richd. Lawrence, and also deceased was an Innkeeper, deceased per Jane Lawrence.
. 1846 Smith's Canadian Gazetter, Province of Canada West:
Harwich, Kent Co, Western District, soil extremely fertile, 1898 inhabitants. Timber - white oak, black walnut, maple, beech, hickory, basswood etc.

A more complete history with copies of ALL documents & photos may be found at North York Public Library, Toronto under Richard Lawrence, John Willson & John Brown Lawrence of New Jersey, NB & Ontario. By P J Ahlberg, May 2009. - - -

Birth:
Monday. Upper Freehold Twp.

Richard married Mary WILLSON, DUE est 1786 in New Brunswick, Canada. Mary (daughter of John WILLSON, .1, Sur. and Rebeka Thixton THICKSON(E)) was born est 1770 in Piscataway Twp., Middlesex Co., New Jersey; died est 21 Feb 1821 ± in Charlotteville, Norfolk Co., Ontario. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

. Richard Lawrence's New Brunswick Land Petitions indicate he was single March 1786 at Queensborough & married by August 1789 on the Miramichi. They could have been married by her father, a Justice of the Peace for Miramichi, or perhaps by an Anglican Minister in transit on the Miramichi, who had baptized a Willson child [Jonathan Willson 1783 & John Willson.III, born 1791?]
Further Research: However, also retained for further search: St. Andrews Church, Long Island. 1780 Oct 5, Married, Lawrence Mary & Lawrence, Richard. Vol. xxx, Page 56. This seems this would be too early for this Mary Willson.

. UC Land Petition 63, L Bundle 4 c 1808 p241
York, daughter of John Willson, [MARY WILLSON,] Richard Lawrence.
. To His Honor Peter Russell, Esq., president of the Government of Upper Canada etcetcetc. In Council:
The Petition of Richard Lawrence of the Township of York. Humbly shows That your Petitioner is a Loyalist & came from Nova Scotia about 3 years ago, [1794] that he is married to Mary, the daughter of John Willson, Esq. of Kings Mills on the Humber, who is also a Loyalist. That your Petitioner's wife having never received any Land, your Petitioner prays your Honor would be pleased to grant him 200 Acres in right of his said confer & is in duty bound your Petitioner will ever pray.
Richard Lawrence, York, 22 June, 1797.
Envelope: Ordered 200 Acres to wife of Petitioner as DUE, 1778 Dec 24. [Daughter of an Empire Loyalist.]

Ontario Land Registry Abstract Vaughan Book 185,
Lot 1, Con 3, Vaughan Book 185, p4
. 1802 May 17, Patent, Crown, to Mary Lawrence, All 200 A
. 1821 Feb 21, B&S, Richard Lawrence et ux, to John Guthrie, £100, All.

Note1: As of 2018 this land is now 1900 Steeles Ave. West, Fairbanks Lumber Co., Concord, Vaughan Twp., York Co., Ontario. As of 2018 this land is now 1900 Steeles Ave. West, Fairbanks Lumber Co., Concord, Vaughan Twp., York Co., Ontario. -PJA

Note2: Husband Richd. Lawrence had other land at Lot 1 Con 4, also the adjacent, Lot 25 across on Yonge St in York Township. In others words, all located on Steeles Avenue: First East at Yonge & Steeles to Dufferin St.]

. 1801 Children's schoolhouse, Condition of Yonge Street:
Lot No. 25 west & east complied with, Lot 25 East Side of Yonge Street; nothing done to the street & a schoolhouse erected in the centre of the street. This is the end of the Township of York.
Ref: Report to Surveyor-General D W Smith on the condition of Yonge Street in 1801, by John Stegmann, formerly a Hessian officer.
. On page 427 of Scadding's memoirs, he tells us that Elisha Pease taught in this early schoolhouse.
XReference: E. Pease was a witness of the WILL of John Willson, Jur. in 1818 & also John Johnston, 1852.
Note3: The schoolhouse was built in the road allowance in front of the Lawrence's property so the children could find it & not getting lost in the woods. Just a few lots away, Jacob Cummer tells us a black bear was digging up his garden. - PJ Ahlberg.

. DAUGHTER & WIFE of a TAVERN KEEPER:
Mary Willson Lawrence & her children, had much experience at Taverkeeping. Husband Richard Lawrence held a UC licensed tavern located on Yonge Street north. She & her friend, as noted below, Mary Thompson visited Miss Elizabeth Russel when Thompson was employed by the sister of THE most prominent & powerful man in Upper Canada. From extracted stories from Ely Playter's Journal we may see what life was like a woman tavenkeeper in early Upper Canada:
. 1806 Jan 11 - Thinking it was a tavern, Ely Playter & a companion mistakenly stopped & stayed over night at Mr. Miller's house. Implicit in the mistake at Millers & throughout his journal, is a parallel understanding that household life intersected with public life in taverns.

. 1802 May 2 & Sept 29 - Mary Thomson*, Playter's journal's Miss T - also lived at his house. She was the daughter of a substantial farm family from Scarborough Township. Her father, Archibald, was a master stonemason & a Justice of the peace from 1806. Nothing about her presentation in the journal suggests less than respectable young womanhood. It is difficult to account for her presence in the tavern rather than on her family's farm. [Scaboro Museum, 2016]. Certainly not a servant in the house, she socialized within the same circles as the tavern-keeper & came & went as she pleased.
Playter mentioned her almost exclusively in the parlour usually in the context of polite sociability, but once he noted, I seated myself by the Parlour fire & finished my letters to Mr & Mrs Rogers, it was one o'clock in the morning before I retired to bed. Miss T sat at her work till I had finished writing. This brief reference & others, imply Mary Thompson may have worked in the textile trade from Playter's tavern & continued so working after marrying John Scarlett of the Humber. Tavern-keepers placed tea tables in their parlours. Nor did anything about the emphatically public nature of their homes work to exclude the women of tavern-keeping households from local networks of female friendship & association:
The Tavernkeepers' daughters, Player saw Miss Beman, the Miss Jarvises, & Miss Robinson on their way home as they had been visiting & he gave my Sister's Compliments to her as they had requested in their letter" In their taverns these women crafted a female space for sociability, into which they also welcomed men.
Ref: Women, Men, & Taverns in Tavern-Keeper Ely Playter's Journal, by Julia Roberts, Guelph.
Note4: Mary Thomson's husband-to-be, John Scarlett was granted in 1817 Apr 2, Lot 19, south side of Richmond, that is across the street from husband Richard Lawrence. Ref: Town of York Abstracts, p263.

. 1837 - Toronto & Home District:
. 1799 - Population 224; 1800 - Population 1127. 1818 - Population 8,459.

Date & place of burial of Mary Willson Lawrence is unknown. Last known whereabouts of Mary Lawrence was noted in her daughter Mary Ann Lawrence's UC Marriage Bond of 10 August 1819, where permission to marry was obtained at Long Point in southern Ontario. Rebecca Lawrence says her father died when she was very young & she was reared by an older sister, implying perhaps that Mary Willson was dead between 1821 & 1831 when her husband died & thus making Rebecca about 16 years of age - not so 'very young'.

Richard Lawrence was an inn keeper in the Long Pointe to Harwich, Ontario, until his death about another 1 years later, about 1831.

A separate Willson Family Tree may be found at Ontario Ancestor; & also Rootsweb.com: John Willson of New Jersey & the Kings' Mill, Ontario. - - -

Birth:
Alt DOB: Est 1765 -1769.

Died:
Alt Loc: Harwich, Kent Co., Ontario