| Notes |
- A great deal of Canadian documents exist for John Willson, Esq., of which a selection is recorded here:
Note: No reference can be found that John Willson, Esq. was ever called or used the name John Miller Willson. - PJA 2010.
PART ONE:
John is the son of Sara Ladner & John Willson, Senior. .
* Deed (of unknown date) to John & James Willson for more land adjoining the first 100 Acres £29 - Jane & Rachel Drummond, only children of the Earl of Perth, Executed by Elias Bouodinot, Esq. Elizabeth Town, NJ.
Executed Elias Boudion, Esq. lawyer, ElizabethTown, NJ. [Date as below??]
* 1796 Dec 15, Tract of drowned lands along Wallkill, deeded to John & Samuel Willson from Joseph & William Sharp. (Deeds in the possession of Eva A Willson).
Ref: "Line of Descent of George Roger Gilbert"
. 1760 Oct. 16 - WILL of John Langstaff of Piscataway, NJ. To wife Mary & grandson John Langstaff, lands south of Ambrose Book. Witnesses John Willson, Jr. & John Arnold,
Note1: The 2, Langstaff & Arnold, also went to Upper Canada, where they were amongst many New Jersey exiles located near each other on north Yonge Street, Toronto. - PJ Ahlberg.
. John Wilson of Piscataway, Middlesex Co., Memorial, Summary now of Miramichi, Northumberland Co., 1786, joined troops at Woodbridge in 1777 in Forge Dept. Claim for 50 Acres & an house.
Ref: Commission for Loyalist Losses. # 12 /16 /187 -192, 63/115 & 109/320. Jan. 1787.
. Old United Empire Loyalists List
Wilson John Senr., (Home District) From Staten Island. Came in a settler in 1878 with 3 sons.
Ref: Appendix B.
Willson, John of Piscataway, Middlesex Co., Memorial, now of Northumberland Co., NB, sworn St. Johns, NB, 1786. He fled to the Army at Perth Amboy in 1777.
Schedule of LOSSES 81 Acres of land in Piscataway Twp., Middlesex Co., East New Jersey; 1 house, barn, out houses, Orchards, £1000; 3 Acres of Salt Meadow, £10; confiscated & sold by Congress; 5 Horses, £50; 9 Cows, £45; 4 young cattle, £8; Farming utensils & Household furniture £60,
Total: £1173. New York currency.
. 1784 May, Settled New Brunswick, Canada: John Wilson, Esq.:
8 in the family, 2 acres improved & a house.
. 1789 - 11 Jul 1793. John Willson, Esq. Sr., JP was the first Registrar for Northumberland, NB, 1787 to 1793.
John Willson & Family landed in New Brunswick, Canada in 1783 & was granted land on the Miramichi River, in Northumberland County. Gov. Thomas Carlton made him a Magistrate & Justice of the Peace. The salary for a magistrate in NB was £300 a year. His adventures there in this wild land would be enough for one lifetime, & to speak nothing of what preceded the Miramichi or what would come after.
A full history with documentation may be found at North York Public Library, Toronto & the Richmond Hill Public Library may be found under Richard Lawrence, John Brown Lawrence & John Willson of New Jersey, NB & Ontario. by P J Ahlberg, U.E., May 2009.
1791 Nov. 18 - Upper Canada Proclamation, creating the new province; & John Willson had already visited Governor J G Simcoe in Quebec City by the 17 Jun 1792 when Simcoe arrived Montreal & then again 26 July 1793 when he arrived in Niagara, Upper Canada).
. 1793 Apr 26, John Willson, JP, paid for a tombstone at Willson's Point, Miramichi, NB made for his grandson, Abraham Willson.
. WHY HE LEFT NEW BRUNSWICK:
Mr. Wilson further says, that when he left the Miramichi Settlement in the NB, he did it because the lands are not valuable for farmers & not worth clearing from the severity of the climate; that one of his sons-in-laws had already left the Settlement. Mr. Wilson says that a due care to provide for his family was the sole reason of this quitting Miramichi. He is his own person being better off there then he would possibly be elsewhere living almost without labour upon offices he possessed in that Country. A true statement, Signed, E B Littlehales, 16 July, 1794, Niagara.
. 1796 UPPER CANADA LAND PETITION & REVOLUTIONARY MUSTER:
UCLPetition 57. To John Graves Simcoe, Lieut. John Willson, Jur. He suffered much by this Rebel party (at the point of the bayonet) before the British Army Landed on Staten island, the making several attempts to join them but always hindered till when the British Army was Advancing [22 Oct 1776] from the White Plains (NY) to the Jersey. I then joined them at Woodbridge [New Jersey Dec 3, 1776] & went with them to Brunswick (NJ, Dec 16, 1776).
I then entered into James Christies' employ [i.e. the Quartermaster ] as a Forage master & ran Many risks of my Life, being twice taken Prisoner & confined but maid my escape & returned to my service again, till when the army returned from the Jerseys to Staten Island,
& embarked for the Head of Elk [river flowing towards Philadelphia, Dec. 1777] were my health would not admit of my going on board, to retrieved with my family on said Island where I continued till the commencement of the peace.
I then embarked with my family for Nova Scotia (since New Brunswick), where I drew 270 acres in Northumberland where I served in Sivil Commission & offices under Governor Carleton till July the 19th, 1793. There I set out with 60 men, women & children (Including my own family) for Niagara where we arrived on the 7th of next October. ... He wants Lots 4 & 5 on the River Humber & Lot 30 on west side of Yonge Street. March 25th, 1796, John Willson.
. 1777 Apr 26, OYSTER BAY, NJ: Upon the requisition of the Commissary General of Forage. You will be pleased to Detach a Captain, 2 Subalterns & 60 ranked & file, to cover and conduct a Foraging Party from the East end of Long Island & this shall be your sufficient Authority for so doing. Signed, T. Paterson.
. 1777 Dec 6, NYC HQ: Captains having horses are permitted to draw one ration of Forage from the 10th instant till further Orders,
no Forage to be drawn but for effective Horses.
Ref: Orderly book of the 3 battalions of Lowlier, commanded by Brigadier Gen. Oliver DeLancy 1776-78 at NYC.
. 1795, Jul 29 - John Willson, Junr. Town Lot and 400 Acres.
Ref: YORK REPORT, Summary of Land Grants. Ref: C2980, Page 178, etc.
. Schedule of grants to pay full fees to the Home District - William Jarvis Copy Books: Grant # 166 Wilson, John, Jun, 190 Acres, York, 12 Mar. 1794, U.E., Fee £3.5.2 Ref: Wm. Jarvis Papers, TPRL.
. UCLPetition 37C, W Bundle 2, Microfiche C2950.
Willson I, John Sur. UE, On March 16, 1810 John purchase York Town Lots 3 & 4 N side, Hospital Street for £100 & sold it at an apparent lost of £50, the next year to Jesse Ketchum.
. 1800 Apr 8 * FIRST APPOINTMENT for the first HOME DISTRICT, Toronto, are Magistrates Wm. James, John Willson, J Small, J McGill. Ref: Toronto Sundries, Quarter Session Minutes. [1, 2, 3, 4]
- PART TWO, New Brunswick, Canada to Toronto:
X-Reference: Richard Lawrence & John Willson Petition for RATIONS AT NIAGARA
The Simcoe Papers Toronto Public Reference Library & John McGill papers, TPL also, at the Baldwin Room: comprising 3 boxes of'True' hand written duplicates of correspondences & accounts for Upper Canada. Documents are In precarious state. Photocopies of the original documents may be seen in my book on R Lawrence & J Willson.
MAY FLEET's ARRIVAL AT YORK Summary:
John Willson & 46 people assembled & left New Brunswick together in 1793 to come to Ontario. Many of these people had known each other back in the United States, during & previously to the Revolutionary War. The May Fleet journey began in May 1783 at Staten Island, New York with the British evacuation to New Brunswick & Nova Scotia.
* About Nov. 1791 John Willson visited the new Governor, John Graves Simcoe during his arrival in Quebec City. In 1792 new land was offered in Upper Canada. Here is part of that journey from Kingston to the Town of York, today's Toronto, on north shore of Lake Ontario:
On 11 July, 1793 the group took a ship around NB & UP the St. Lawrence River to Montreal. On the 17th of August, at Montreal, Commandant Isaac W Clarke* assigned the group an 6 extra Canadians to guide the 3 bateaux past the Rapids of Lachine. The open bateau were 30 feet long & propelled with both a moveable sail, ropes & barge poles.
Note2*: Com. General Isaac Winslow Clarke, Head Quarters at Lachine, War of 1812.
When they arrived at the Port of Kingston they were sick & needed treatment from the kind doctors at Fort William Henry. They promised to repay the Fort for the 1543 rations they had been assigned. Even though the Commandant risked having to pay for the rations from his own military salary, Capt. Porter* wrote, " humanity induced me to act as I have done."
Note3: Capt. Richard Porter, Esq., Justice of Peace, 60th Regt. granted 1200 Acres of land in the Town of Kingston, 1794.
The Assembly had arrived at Kingston 28th day of August. For a month they waited for the next bateaux "but did not gain Niagara until 7th October, 1793." The late Chief Justice, the Honorable William Osgood, said he would speak to Simcoe for the further 1529 Rations the starving & sick families again required upon their arrival at Fort George at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Upper Canada. (Also referred in the documents as Newark or Head of the Lake (Ontario). By return poste, Governor Simcoe ordered the Fort commandant to convey the Loyalist by the Government boat, to north bank of Lake Ontario to the Town of York. Gov. Simcoe & his Queen's Rangers had themselves only arrived on the 29th of July, 1793 in the new Capital of York.
* 1793 Oct 7 - THE SIXTY PEOPLE of this new MAY FLEET arrival at York, included an additional 14 members of whom it is likely the Kendricks joined up at Kingston. The names of those 12 families who made the journey are:
John Willson, Richard Lawrence, Patrick Cobgon (Colgan, Colgin?), Joseph Kendrick, Peter Whitney (signed), John Kendrick, Titus Fitz [Fitch], Duke William Kendrick, Samuel Sinclair, Samuel Osborn, Hiram Kendrick, Peter Long.
John Willson had signed for army provisions for the group & it was he that was required to sign a receipt on 2 Nov., 1793 for £100 their repayment in 3 years. Some of the assembly had already moved on from the area & thus leaving no chance of their earning money for to repay Willson.
THE KINGS MILL ON THE HUMBER - Now known as The Old Mill, Etobicoke, (Toronto), Ontario:
Gov. Simcoe gave a License to John Willson & to John Brown Lawrence to build & operate the Kings Mill on the Humber River. Both Willson & Lawrence were lawyers who had done legal business together on occasion back in Burlington, NJ. As well both were friends of Gov. Simcoe.
* 1797-99 KINGS MILL First Hand DESCRIPTION *
* The Kingsmill was located between the 2 roads on the west side of the Humber at the spring above at the meadow. * The Mill seat was a log structure 30 feet by 60 feet long built on a small island in the Humber. A dam & mill race were built to allow salmon & other fish free passage up & down without being destroyed in the race or by the mill wheel. No one was allowed to catch these fish. It was here also that one of Governor Simcoe's own horse was stolen while in pasture on John Brown Lawrence's land & it was recovered sometime after his death.
A beautiful cedar swamp provided fencing for the house at the spring on the high banks. The Kingsmill was on the lower end of the famous Toronto Carrying Place Trail. On the high sandy bank opposite Kingsmill there stood for over thousand years a large village of Seneca longhouses.
The best British regulations to preserve the large runs of salmon & trout, also encouraged the cutting of trees along the river habitant. Old photos show graphically the hazards of spring break-up as ice boulders overflow onto the mill race & pond & on the island adjacent the Kingsmill.
. LUMBER from the HUMBER: One fourth of all lumber cut was due as rent payment to the Government. Thick pine slabs from the Kings sawmill were used in the Navy Hall at Niagara-on-Lake, Gov. Simcoe's home called Castle Frank; the First Parliament Buildings on Kings St., Toronto, & cedar was used to build the Howland's the Lambton Mill, a mile up stream at Dundas Street.
- Willson was paid from the public purse to deliver by oxen, the thick pine planks to Castle Frank on Bloor Street.
- 1798 May John Willson had cut lumber to build on his front lot in the Town of York.
. 1797 Jul 17 - Inhabitants to York Township & adjoining Townships, assembled, Inhabitants of the Humber:
John Willson, Esq.: Men 2, Women 1;
John Wilson, Junr.: Men 3, Women 2.
. 1797 Nov 9th - Lt. John McGill registered in his papers, an application from John Willson to purchase the Kings Mill which Willson found in need of improvements when he first took up the lease. A total of £299 income had been generated from 1794 -1796 the saw mill operations. Willson might have had an opportunity to purchase the Kingsmill, if Lieut. Gov. Simcoe remained in Upper Canada when the Mill lease opened up again in 1799.
. 1796 July 16 - From the government stores, Gov. Simcoe ordered to be issued to John Lawrence, Esq., a pair of French Bur Mill Stones & grist mill irons as needed for the befit of the settlers in that district. John Willson send the Government the first seven barrels of corn ears of flour that he had milled & measured on 20 October, 1796.
Note4: Is this the same French Burr mill stone sitting outside of current 'Old Mill Inn' on the Humber River? -PJA.
. Lease from the Kingsmill ran from 1 Jan 1796 to end of 1798. Unfortunately his partner John Lawrence died about the 10 July, 1798 & Willson friend & sponsor, Gov. Simcoe had returned to England due to ill health.
. ICE JAMS: Photos of ice jams at spring break up show clearly that the British engineers who chose this location in Upper Canada had no idea of the force of the Humber River in spring or the storm run off, especially with the increased deforestation would decimate the salmon fishery... Since Hurricane Hazel in 1957 the Humber Valley is considered a flood plain & is preserved as park land only. Contractors hired by the British to build the mill did not finish the job. The millstones cut too slowly & the mill race & pond & other repairs had to be done at the expense of John Willson. Willson was granted Lots 4 & 5 on the Humber River, but the Government mill on this property had to be leased out at the cost of half of the wood cut. The normal fee was usually one quarter of the wood cut. - P J Ahlberg 2009.
. 1799 Feb 13 - Petition for machinery for the mills at the Humber rejected. p226.
. 1800 Jan 12 - Proposal by the President respecting the mill on the Humber, p.202
. 1801 Oct 15 - Repairs authorized for the Mill at the Humber. page 156.
Ref: Report on Canadian Archives, 1891 edition.
( . 1804 Sep 15, York, Upper Canada. We understand the late heavy rains have done material damage to the roads in different parts of the country, insomuch as to render them in some places told impassible, by sweeping away the causeways & bridges. At the Credit the water suddenly rose to such a height as entirely to overflow the ground occupied by the Indians as an encampment, for the purpose of fishing, carried away all before it. The Indians, in the greatest consternation, narrowly escaped in the night, with their lives, after having lost their canoes, arms & other property. Considerable damage has also been sustained by individuals in many places in loss of corn, hay etc & particularly at & near Don river, in the breaking of Mill dams. We are informed that the Humber Mills are entirely destroyed.
Red: Morning Chronicle Newspaper, New York, NY., published Oct 2, 1804.)
. Nicholas Clinkenbroomer (Klingenbrunner) the first tailor of the Town of York states that he married a Sarah Sally White in York in January of 1799. The marriage was conducted by John Wilson J.P. because there was no Anglican Church in York as yet. Settled Yonge St. [1837 Chas Clinkenbroomer, 229 King St.; J. Clkinbroomer, Tailor , Duchess St.]
. 1799 Mar 23rd, John Willson advertised in the Oracle, York to sell Lots 4 & 5, the 50 acres & a most beautiful cedar swamp. Persons willing to purchase may know the conditions by applying to John Wilson, Esquire, on Yonge Street. When the lease expired it was purchased by Peter Whitney.
. 1800 May 26 - A Memorial of Indenture of Bargain & Sale, made A Memorial of Indenture of Bargain & sale dated 26 May, 1800, made between John Willson, Markham Twp., Esqr. & Rebecca his wife & Peter Whitney*, York Twp., whereby said John Willson hath granted a certain tract of land lying Lots 4 & 5, on the Humber, York Twp., 200 Acres. Signed & Sealed 26 May, 1800, John Willson, Wit: John Willson Jr. & Still. Willson., sworn before T. Ridout.
Ref: York Land Registry Office, Toronto
Note5: Peter Whitney resided on the Miramichi R. near John Willson & was one of the families brought with Willson to York. Later he lived Lot 3, Con 8 Markham near him.
. 1803 Apr 16, Sat. - On Tuesday night last, the saw mill situated on the Humber accidentally caught fire & was entirely consumed. We have not yet learned how the fire originated.
. 1804 Sep 22 - In our last week's paper, under the Oracle, we mentioned the Humber Mills as being destroyed. We are now happy to have it in our power to contradict that report & to inform the public that they have sustained little or no injury by the late floods.
Ref: The Oracle Newspaper.
. 1800 Jun 15 - Thomas Humberstone, Jr. was married to Ann Nancy Harrison, daughter of Christopher Harrison & Priscilla Peddle on 15 Jun 1800 in York, Ontario. They were married by Justice of the Peace John Willson of the Town of York because "there [was] no minister of the Church of England living within 18 miles of them." Thos. Humberston, L24, Con 1 W of Yonge St., He has a wooden leg, loss in War of 1812. [2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
- PART THREE, Life in Upper Canada:
. 1798 May 4, John Willson, Esq. Identification marks of Cattle, hoggs, sheep & swine: a swallow-fork in each ear.
UC LAND GRANTS:
. 1200 ACRES - Lots 4 & 5, on the Humber (adjoining the Kings Mill (Old Mill) June 1797;
. Lots 5, 6, 7, 8, Con 3,
. Dorchester Twp. South, Elgin County, 800 Acres (in the 'future Capital of Upper Canada', also near the land of Lt. Gen. John Graves Simcoe.) Lots 11-14, Con 480 acres. Lots 5, 6, 7, 8, Con 3, Dorchester South, 800 Acres
. Lot 30, Con 1 West Yonge Street, Vaughan, Settlement Duty paid 1801, finally granted Feb. 1809;
. Town of York Lots 3 & 4 N side of Hospital St., Purchased £100, Ontario St. to Sherbourne St. [1827 Bank of Upper Canada Building, 252 Adelaide St. E. 1830 Toronto's First Post Office, 260 Adelaide St. E.]
. From 1798 to about 1820 John lived at Lot 30, Con 1 Yonge Street. He ran a saw mill on his property & he was also a Justice of Peace. John's wife, Rebecca Thixton, died in June 1804 & was buried on her son property, at Lot 26, Yonge Street & Steeles.
(X-Ref: Wm. L. Willson for description of first burial site.)
A Record of the Marks of Horn Cattle, Sheep & Swine. For the Inhabitants of the Townships of York, Scarboro & Etobeconk:
. 1798 May 4th, 1798, John Willson, Esqr. - A Swallow-fork in each ear.
Ref: York, Upper Canada Minutes of Town Meetings, Toronto Ref. Library.
. UPPER CANADA SUNDRIES:
Willson J., 1814 February 8, York, page 7839 & Willson, John, 1814 March 12, York, Pg. 8019-21.
Ref: Archives of Canada, microfiche C 9822-25.
* 1798 Dec 19th, York Officers of the York Militia: John Willson, Esq., Justice of the Peace, formerly Capt. of Militia, in Nova Scotia, to be a Captain in the York Militia.
. " 1802 June 28th, a wolf's scalp certified by J. Wilson, Esq., taken in part of assessment £1. "Page n515.
* 1800 Apr 8, Tuesday. The First Sitting in Upper Canada of the Home District Magistrates:
Wm. Jarvis, JOHN WILLSON, John Small, James Macauly, Wm. Willcocks, Wm. Allan, John McGill, Alex Wood, Wm. Chewett, James Ruggles, signed. Justices of our said Lord the King, assigned to keep the Peace of our said Lord, the King in the Home District & also to hear & determine divers felonies, trespasses & other incidences in the said District. Wm. Jarvis, Esq., chose chairman. Commission opened & read.
Ref: Home District Quarter Session of the Peace Minutes. [i.e. Toronto, York County, Ontario.]
. 1805 Sept 18. John married Catherine B Kuhn who was the widow of a man also named John Willson, who had died 1788 in Duchess Co., New Jersey. They moved northward to Hope (Sharon, Ontario) which is very near Lake Simcoe. Catherine's s on David Willson had split off from the local Quaker group, to start his own group called the Children of Peace, who were having a renaissance of intellectual thought & music. John taught school at the Children of Peace, & John & his 2nd wife Katherine were buried in the Sharon Burial Grounds. John remained Anglican & Bishop Strachan said officiated at his funeral. When eventual son Wm. Ladner Willson's land was sold, Rebecca & John were reburied together under cairn at the Holy Trinity Church in Thornhill, not far from their home on Yonge Street. The Sharon Temple / Children of Peace celebrated their 200 anniversary in 2008 with candlelight concerts & is open as a museum.
WAR of 1812.
. 1812 Sept 14-15. Wilson's & Denison's Companies were dismissed from the Garrison with the detachments from other companies.
. 1812 Oct 17: Ely Playter: I sent the company home as not more than half the company appeared & went down to Captain Wilson's to see after the rest. Stayed all night at Wilson's as my horse left me. On Oct 16 I received a letter from Col. Chewed wording me to march the 1st company to York. Went early to some peoples houses but they keep out of they way. I was much vex at their conduct.
Ref: Ely Playters Diary.
Garrison Orders: Captains for the day tomorrow, Capt. Willson
. 1812 Oct 19 & 29th 1s Militia; Nov 3rd; Nov 8th; Nov 11th; Nov 14th
. 1812 Dec 22, York, - This day the Militia Garrison at York, Officers & men, unanimously contributed to the use of the Society one day's pay per muster.
Ref: The report of the Loyal & Patriotic Society of Upper Canada (for the relief of militiamen's families.)
* * Recapitulation of Fort York, (Toronto), WAR of 1812,
As a captain of the 1st Regiment, York Militia on duty at the captured at Fort York, John Willson was arrested & jailed. John Willson was one of the six officers that signed the papers of Recapitulation to the American invaders. Geo. Playter's Diary tells us, like him, John Willson was armed with a musket & ready for action!
1812 Sep 13, Thos. Ridout's Garrison Orders, Captain for the day tomorrow: Capt Willson. Capts Willson & Denisons Companies together will the Detachments of the Country. Companies now attached to the different companies in the York Garrison shall be permitted to return to their respective homes until further orders, but to hold themselves in readiness to return at shortest notice if required & the officers belong to the companies will take the necessary steps for collecting the men if it is found necessary to recall them.
* 1813 Apr 25 - York. Capt. John Willson, 1st York Militia, Prisoner of War at surrender of the Garrison of Ft. York 27 Apr 1813, captured by the Army & Navy of the US at York.
VERIFY UC SUNDRIES JR OR SR?
WillsonJ.1814 February 8York PAGE 7839
Willson John1814 March12York PAGE 8019-21
. 1814 Jun 10 - Men drafted in Capt. Wm. Jarvis Co., York Militia: STILLWELL WILLSON* formerly of Capt. Ridout 3YM,
Ira Kendrick, substitute for PETER LAWRENCE*,
Wm. Kendrick substitute for THOMAS JOHNSTON* formerly 3rd Reg. Capt Hamilton,
JOHN VANZANTE, Osborn Cox, all formerly 3rd Regt. York,
Isaac Vanderburgher* of 1st York Militia who is a substitute for Joshua Leack & John Willson of Capt Ridout's 3YM,
Jenlay Cameron of 1YM under Capt. Wilson, substitute for Thomas Wilson(*?) of Ridout's 3YMilitia.
Note6: All these are relatives* or neighbors & acquaintances.
Verify: It would appear that John Willson Jr. was likely still ill for him to hire a J. Cameron as his substitute . - PJA].
. John Willson #14005, Capt. of 3rd Reg. York Militia, Captured by Dearborne & Chauncy on 27 May 1813 at York U.C.,
. John Willson #14006, Lieutenant of 3rd Reg. York Militia, Captured by Dearborne & Chauncy on 27 May 1813 at York U.C.
Ref:
. UCLPetition 219, L Bunde 3, C2954, p660
To Sir Peregrine Maitland, Lieu Gov. of UC, In Council
The Petition of John Willson, The Elder, Esq., of Markham,
Humbly Sheweth
That your petitioner, an American loyalist, and in the royal service during the American Rebellion, was among the first settlers of this Province, wherein he has ever since remained, & was again on service as Captain commanding a company of the 1st Regiment of York Militia during the late war, part of the time (in York Garrison) in 1812 & was on duty till the capture of York [ June 1813].
Your petition has received from Colonel Allan, who commanded the militia at York whilst your petition was on the duty, the accompanying certificate of his service, but as your petitioner did not command a Flank Company, he is informed by the Adjutant-General of Militia he cannot obtain his (the Adjutant-General's) Certificate for Land. John Willson, York, 28 June 1820.
. I certify that Capt. John Willson, of the 1st Regt. York Militia, was on duty in the Garrison of York during the winter of 1812, and the spring of 1813, under my command, as well as subsequently. He at all times did his duty faithfully and punctually, and with great zeal., Signed, Colonel Wm. Allan, Commander Militia & York Garrison, 15 June 1820.
Envelope: Deferred for Lt. Gov. Maitland, Entered Land Book K, page 411.
. Obituary notice: "At Hope Village, East Guillimbury, on the 8th inst., much & generally regretted, John Wilson, Esq., a native of the Province of New Jersey, aged 90 years & 14 days. Mr. Willson was a U.E. Loyalist & for a long period an active magistrate in the province of New Brunswick. He emigrated into Upper Canada 35 years ago [1793] & contented to enjoy good health until with a few days of his demise. At his request, expressed on his death bed, Doctor Strachan, Archdean on of York, went out to Gwillimbury & performed the last offices of the church over the remains. The venerable dignitary delivery a funeral oration in the chapel of the Children of Peace, in Hope, on the occasion, which was attended by a great concourse of friends, acquainted & relate vies the deceased.".
Ref: Colonial Advocate, Published 16 Jul 1829.
Hope, E. Gwillimbury is also now know as Sharon, Ontario.
* DEATH OF JOHN WILLSON: In your letter of the 24th ult., 1829, you asked about one John Willson who died at Hope (Sharon, ON) about. This old man was called Squire Willson. He was David Willson's stepfather, my father's stepmother's second husband (Katherine Kuhn). Her first husband, also called John Willson, died about 1788 in Duchess County, New York). She soon after married Squire Willson who was a man highly respected. He came, I believe for NS in Gov. Simcoe's time & was by the Governor much thought of. He had a large family by a former wife, but none by this one. There are a number of great grandchildren, living in the Twps. of York & Scarborough. Service of the Canada Company at the time of the settling of Goderich & neighborhood. When these old people became helpless, David Willson took them home and kept them until they died. They died poor but honest. They once had property which his children spent for them.
Ref: Extracted from a letter of 5 December, 1869, Holland Landing Richard Titus Willson.
. A still more complete family history & pictures may be found at North York Public Library, Toronto & at the Richmond Hill Library, under Richard Lawrence, U.E., John Willson, & John Brown Lawrence of New Jersey, NB & Ontario. Research & transcriptions by P J Ahlberg, U.E, May 2009. Thank you. - -- - [4, 6, 7, 8]
- Lot 4 - 5, Con 2 & 3 on Humber [River]
North York Book 86, p45 & NY Book 87, p 3
. 1798 Oct 24, Patent, Crown, to John Willson, All (170?) Acres
. 1800 May 26, John Willson et ux, to Peter Whitney, Lots 4 & 5, in all Acres
. 1807 May 8, Peter Whitney et ux, to Jos Haines Jr, Lot in all
. 1827 Mar 19, B&S, Jos. Haines, Wm. Cooper, £320, Lot 4 & 5
. 1880 Apr 21, Grand, Peleg Howland to Mary Ford, $1800, Part 1 Acres S. Dundas Street.
. 1883 Apr 2, Ken Chrisholm, to Credit Valley Railway, $333, Part acre.
Note:7 Adjacent lots 1, 2, 3 belonged to John B Lawrence, Esq.
Ontario Land Registry Abstract Vaughan Book 179, p96
Lot 30, Con 1 West of Yonge Street { later renumbered as Lot 4, Con 1 West side Yonge St.
. 1810 Mar 29, Patent, Crown, to John Willson, Senior, All 210 Acres.
. 1811 Sep 15, Bargain&Sale, John Willson Senior et ux, to Stilwell Willson, £300, All 210A.
. 1819 Jan 30, Mortgage, Stillwell Willson, to Wm. Allan £175, All Acres
. 1822 May 23, B&S, SW, to Wm. Allan £175, All Acres
. 1823 Jul 26, Wm Allan to Henry John Boulton, £168, NE 55A.
. 1824 Jul 16 Indenture, SW, to Andrew McKendry, £12.10, 1/4 Acre.
. 1831 Aug 2, B&S, Stillwell Willson, to Jos. Milburn, £125, SWHalf 50 Acres of rear.
Note8: Lot 30, Con 1 WSY, Vaughan was a given for his partipation in the War of 1812.
Ontario Land Registry Abstract, Town of Toronto Book 684, p127
Lot 3 North side of Richmond St.,
. 1802 May 19, Patent, Crown, to James Elliott, 3/5 Acre
. 1804 Feb 23, B&S, Jas Elliott etall, to Jno Vanznate, 3/5 Acre
. 1805 Sep 5, B&S, Jno Vanzante, to T B Gough, All
. 1810 Mar 12, B&S, T B Gough, to Jno Willson, Senior, All
. 1811 Jan 29, B&S, Jno Willson, to Jesse Ketchum.
Ontario Land Registry, Toronto Book 683, p78
Lot 2, West side of George St, TOWN OF YORK
. 1801 May 20, Grant, Crown, to Saml Nash
. 1805 Feb 14 B&S, Saml Nash, to Jon Willson
. 1806 Oct 28, B&S, John Willson Senr eteux, to Joseph Willocks, W Half.
Note: Adjacent Lot 1 George St., is registered 1811 JANY 13 to daugher, Alice Osborn Vanzante. - - - [9]
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1739 - 1829 (90 years)