Sunday or public holiday, statutable or otherwise, these four streets,
by some happy charm, are fair to see and cheery. But when drest for a
festive gala occasion, when gay with banners and festoons, in honour of
a royal birthday, a royal marriage, the visit of a prince, the
announcement of a victory, they shew to special advantage.
So, also, they furnish no inharmonious framework or setting, when
processions and bands of music are going by, or bodies of military,
horse or foot, or pageants such as those that in modern times accompany
a great menagerie in its progress through the country--elephants in
oriental trappings, teams of camels clad in similar guise, cavaliers in
glittering mediaeval armour, gorgeous cars and vans.
And again, in winter, peculiarly fine pictures, characteristic of the
season, are presented here when, after a plentiful fall of snow, the
sleighs are on the move without number and in infinite variety; or when,
on the contrary, each long white vista, east, west, north, and south,
glistening, perhaps, under a clear December moon, is a scene almost
wholly of still life--scarcely a man or beast abroad, so keen is the
motionless air, the mercury having shrunk down some way below the
zero-line of Fahrenheit.
But we must proceed. From the Lake to the Landing is a long journey.
In the course of our perambulations we have already noticed some
instances in the town of long persistency in one place of business or
residence. Such evidences of staidness and substantiality are common
enough in the old world, but are of necessity somewhat rare amid the
chances, changes, and exchanges of young communities on this continent.
An additional instance we have to note here, at the intersection of King
Street and Yonge Street. At its north-east angle, where, as in a former
section we have observed, stood the sole building in this quarter, the
house of Mr. John Dennis, for forty years at least has been seen with
little alteration of external aspect, the Birmingham, Sheffield and
Wolverhampton warehouse of the brothers Mr. Joseph Ridout and Mr.
Percival Ridout. A little way to the north, too, on the east side, the
name of Piper has been for an equal length of time associated
uninterruptedly with a particular business; but here, though outward
appearances have remained to some extent the same, death has wrought
changes.
Near by, also, we see foundries still in operation where Messrs. W. B.
Sheldon, F. R. Dutcher, W. A. Dutcher, Samuel Andrus, J. Vannorman and
B. Vannorman, names familiar to all old inhabitants, were among the
foremost in that kind of useful enterprise in York. Their advertisement,
as showing the condition of one branch of the iron manufacture in York
in 1832, will be of interest. Some of the articles enumerated have
become old-fashioned. "They respectfully inform their friends and the
public that they have lately made large additions to their
establishments. They have enlarged their Furnace so as to enable them to
make Castings of any size or weight used in this province, and erected
Lathes for turning and finishing the same. They have also erected a
Steam Engine of ten horse power, of their own manufacture, for
propelling their machinery, which is now in complete operation, and they
are prepared to build Steam Engines of any size, either high or low
pressure. Having a number of experienced engineers employed, whose
capability cannot be doubted, they hope to share the patronage of a
generous public. They always keep constantly on hand and for sale,
either by wholesale or retail, Bark Mills, Cooking, Franklin, Plate and
Box Stoves, also, a general assortment of Hollow Ware, consisting of
Kettles, from one to one hundred and twenty gallons; Bake-Ovens,
Bake-Basins, Belly-Pots, High Pans, Tea Kettles, Wash-Kettles, Portable
Furnaces, &c. Also are constantly manufacturing Mill-Gearing of all
kinds; Sleigh Shoes, 50, 56, 30, 28, 15, 14, and 7 pound Weights, Clock
and Sash Weights, Cranes, Andirons, Cart and Waggon Boxes, Clothiers'
Plates, Plough Castings, and Ploughs of all kinds."
In 1832 Mr. Charles Perry was also the proprietor of foundries in York,
and we have him advertising in the local paper that "he is about adding
to his establishment the manufacture of Printing Presses, and that he
will be able in a few weeks to produce Iron Printing Presses combining
the latest improvements."
We move on now towards Newgate Street, first noticing that nearly
opposite to the Messrs. Sheldon and Dutcher's foundry were the spirit
vaults of Mr. Michael Kane, father of Paul Kane, the artist of whom we
have spoken previously. At the corner of Newgate Street or Adelaide
Street, on the left, and stretching along the southern side of that
Street, the famous tannery-yard of Mr. Jesse Ketchum was to be seen,
with high stacks of hemlock-bark piled up on the Yonge Street side. On
the North side of Newgate Street, at the angle opposite, was his
residence, a large white building in the American style, with a square
turret, bearing a railing, rising out of the ridge of the roof. Before
pavements of any kind were introduced in York, the sidewalks hereabout
were rendered clean and comfortable by a thick coating of tan-bark.
Mr. Ketchum emigrated hither from Buffalo at an early period. In the
_Gazette_ of June 11, 1803, we have the death of his father mentioned.
"On Wednesday last (8th June), departed this life, Mr. Joseph Ketchum,
aged 85. His remains," it is added, "were interred the following day."
In 1806 we find Jesse Ketchum named at the annual "town meeting," one of
the overseers of highways and fence viewers. His section was from "No. 1
to half the Big Creek Bridge (Hogg's Hollow) on Yonge Street." Mr.
William Marsh, jun., then took up the oversight from half the Big Creek
Bridge to No. 17. In the first instance Mr. Ketchum came over to look
after the affairs of an elder brother, deceased, who had settled here
and founded the tannery works. He then continued to be a householder of
York until about 1845, when he returned to Buffalo, his original home,
where he still retained valuable possessions. He was familiarly known in
Buffalo in later years as "Father Ketchum," and was distinguished for
the lively practical interest which he took in schools for the young,
and for the largeness of his annual contributions to such institutions.
Two brothers, Henry and Zebulun, were also early inhabitants of Buffalo.
Mr. Ketchum's York property extended to Lot Street. Hospital Street
(Richmond Street) passed through it, and he himself projected and opened
Temperance Street. To the facility with which he supplied building sites
for moral and religious uses it is due that at this day the
quadrilateral between Queen Street and Adelaide Street, Yonge Street and
Bay Street, is a sort of miniature Mount Athos, a district curiously
crowded with places of worship. He gave in Yorkville also sites for a
school-house and Temperance Hall, and, besides, two acres for a
Children's Park. The Bible and Tract Society likewise obtained its House
on Yonge Street on easy terms from Mr. Ketchum, on the condition that
the Society should annually distribute in the Public Schools the amount
of the ground rent in the form of books--a condition that continues to
be punctually fulfilled. The ground-rent of an adjoining tenement was
also secured to the Society by Mr. Ketchum, to be distributed in Sunday
Schools in a similar way. Thus by his generous gifts and arrangements in
Buffalo, and in our own town and neighbourhood, his name has become
permanently enrolled in the list of public benefactors in two cities.
Among the subscriptions to a "Common School" in York in 1820, a novelty
at the period, we observe his name down for one hundred dollars.
Subscriptions for that amount to any object were not frequent in York in
1820. (Among the contributors to the same school we observe Jordan
Post's name down for L17 6s. 3d.; Philip Klinger's for L2 10s.; Lardner
Bostwick's for L2 10s.)
Mr. Ketchum died in Buffalo in 1867. He was a man of quiet, shrewd,
homely appearance and manners, and of the average stature. His brother
Seneca was also a character well known in these parts for his natural
benevolence, and likewise for his desire to offer counsel to the young
on every occasion. We have a distinct recollection of being, along with
several young friends, the objects of a well intended didactic lecture
from Seneca Ketchum, who, as we were amusing ourselves on the ice,
approached us on horseback.
It seems singular to us, in the present day, that those who laid out the
region called the "New Town," that is, the land westward of the original
town plot of York, did not apparently expect the great northern road
known as Yonge Street ever to extend directly to the water's edge. In
the plans of 1800, Yonge Street stops short at Lot Street, _i. e._,
Queen Street. A range of lots blocks the way immediately to the south.
The traffic from the north was expected to pass down into the town by a
thoroughfare called Toronto Street, three chains and seven links to the
east of the line of Yonge Street. Mr. Ketchum's lot, and all the similar
lots southward, were bounded on the east by this street.
The advisability of pushing Yonge Street through to its natural terminus
must have early struck the owners of the properties that formed the
obstruction. We accordingly find Yonge Street in due time "produced" to
the Bay. Toronto Street was then shut up and the proprietors of the land
through which the northern road now ran received in exchange for the
space usurped, proportionate pieces of the old Toronto Street. In 1818,
deeds for these fragments, executed in conformity with the ninth section
of an Act of the local Parliament, passed in the fiftieth year of George
III., were given to Jesse Ketchum, William Bowkett, mariner, son of
William Bowkett, and others, by the surveyors of highways, James Miles
for the Home District, and William Richardson Caldwell for the County of
York, respectively.
The street which supplied the passage-way southward previously afforded
by Toronto Street, and which now formed the easterly boundary of the
easterly portions of the lots cut in two by Yonge Street, was, as we
have had occasion already to state in another place, called Upper George
Street, and afterwards Victoria Street.
(The line of the now-vanished Toronto Street is, for purposes of
reference, marked with fine lines on the map of Toronto by the Messrs.
H. J. and J. O. Browne.)
What the condition of some of the lots to which we have been just
referring was in 1801, we gather from a surveyor's report of that date,
which we have already quoted (p. 64), in another connection. We are now
enabled to add the exact terms of the order issued to the surveyor, Mr.
Stegman, on the occasion: "Surveyor General's Office, 19th Dec., 1800
Mr. John Stegman: Sir,--All persons claiming to hold land in the town of
York, having been required to cut and burn all the brush and underwood
on the said lots, and to fall all the trees which are standing thereon,
you will be pleased to report to me, without delay, the number of the
particular lots on which it has not been done. D. W. Smith, Acting
Surveyor General."
The continuation of the great northern highway in a continuous right
line to the Bay, from its point of issue on Lot Street, _i. e._, Queen
Street, was the circumstance that eventually created for Yonge Street,
regarded as a street in the usual sense, the peculiar renown which it
popularly has for extraordinary length. A story is told of a tourist,
newly arrived at York, wishing to utilize a stroll before breakfast, by
making out as he went along the whereabouts of a gentleman to whom he
had a letter. Passing down the hall of his hotel, he asks in a casual
way of the book-keeper--"Can you tell me where Mr. So-and-so lives?
(leisurely producing the note from his breast-pocket wallet). It is
somewhere along Yonge Street here in your town." "Oh yes," was the
reply, when the address had been glanced at--"Mr. So-and-so lives on
Yonge Street, about twenty-five miles up!" We have heard also of a
serious demur on the part of a Quebec naval and military inspector, at
two agents for purchases being stationed on one street at York. However
surprised, he was nevertheless satisfied when he learned that their
posts were thirty miles apart.
Let us now direct our attention to Yonge Street north of Queen Street.
For some years previous to the opening of Yonge Street from Lot Street
to the Bay, the portion of the great highway to the north, between Lot
Street and the road which is now the southern boundary of Yorkville, was
in an almost impracticable condition. The route was recognized, but no
grading or causewaying had been done on it. In the popular mind, indeed,
practically, the point where Yonge Street began as a travelled road to
the north, was at Yorkville, as we should now speak.
The track followed by the farmers coming into town from the north veered
off at Yorkville to the eastward, and passed down in a hap-hazard kind
of way over the sandy pineland in that direction, and finally entered
the town by the route later known as Parliament Street.
In 1800 the expediency was seen of making the direct northern approach
to York more available. In the _Gazette_ of Dec. 20th, 1800, we have an
account of a public meeting held on the subject. It will be observed
that Yonge Street, between Queen Street and Yorkville, as moderns would
phrase it, is spoken of therein, for the moment, not as Yonge Street,
but as "the road to Yonge Street." "On Thursday last, about noon," the
_Gazette_ reports, "a number of the principal inhabitants of this town
met together in one of the Government Buildings, to consider the best
means of opening the road to Yonge Street, and enabling the farmers
there to bring their provisions to market with more ease than is
practicable at present." The account then proceeds: "The Hon.
Chief-Justice Elmsley was called to the chair. He briefly stated the
purpose of the meeting, and added that a subscription-list had been
lately opened by which something more than two hundred dollars in money
and labour had been promised, and that other sums were to be expected
from several respectable inhabitants who were well-wishers to the
undertaking, but had not as yet contributed towards it. These sums, he
feared, however, would not be equal to the purpose, which hardly could
be accomplished for less than between five and six hundred dollars. Many
of the subscribers were desirous that what was already subscribed should
be immediately applied as far as it would go, and that other resources
should be looked for."
A paper was produced and read containing a proposal from Mr. Eliphalet
Hale to open and make the road, or so much of it as might be required,
at the rate of twelve dollars per acre for clearing it where no
causeway was wanted, four rods wide, and cutting the stumps in the two
middle rods close to the ground; and seven shillings and sixpence,
provincial currency, per rod, for making a causeway eighteen feet wide
where a causeway might be wanted. Mr. Hale undertook to find security
for the due performance of the work by the first of February following
(1801). The subscribers present were unanimously of opinion that the
subscription should be immediately applied as far as it would go. Mr.
Hale's proposition was accepted, and a committee consisting of Mr.
Secretary Jarvis, Mr. William Allan, and Mr. James Playter, was
appointed to superintend the carrying of it into execution. Additional
subscriptions would be received by Messrs. Allan and Wood.
At the same meeting a curious project was mooted, and a resolution in
its favour adopted, for the permanent shutting up of a portion of Lot
Street, and selling the land, the proceeds to be applied to the
improvement of Yonge Street. There was no need of that portion of Lot
Street, it was argued, there being already convenient access to the town
in that direction by a way a few yards to the south. We gather from this
that Hospital Street (Richmond Street) was the usual beaten track into
the town from the west.
"It had been suggested," says the report of the meeting, "that
considerable aid might be obtained by shutting up the street which now
forms the northern boundary of the town between Toronto Street and the
Common, and disposing of the land occupied by it. This street, it was
conceived, was altogether superfluous," the report continues, "as
another street equally convenient in every respect runs parallel to it
at the distance of about ten rods; but it could not be shut up and
disposed of by any authority less than that of the Legislature." A
petition to the Legislature embodying the above ideas was to lie for
signature at Mr. McDougall's Hotel.
The proposed document may have been duly presented, but the Legislature
certainly never closed up Lot Street. Owners of park lots westward of
Yonge Street may have had their objections. The change suggested would
have compelled them to buy not only the land occupied by Lot Street, but
also the land immediately to the south of their respective lots;
otherwise they would have had no frontage in that direction.
In the _Gazette_ of March 14, 1801, we have a further account of the
improvement on Yonge Street. We are informed that "at a meeting of the
subscribers to the opening of Yonge Street held at the Government
Buildings on Monday last, the 9th instant, pursuant to public notice,
William Jarvis, Esq., in the chair, the following gentlemen were
appointed as a committee to oversee and inspect the work, one member of
which to attend in person daily by rotation: James Macaulay, Esq., M.D.,
William Weekes, Esq., A. Wood, Esq., William Allan, Esq., Mr. John
Cameron, Mr. Simon McNab. After the meeting," we are then told, "the
committee went in a body, accompanied by the Hon. J. Elmsley, to view
that part of the street which Mr. Hale, the undertaker, had in part
opened. After ascertaining the alterations and improvements necessary to
be made, and providing for the immediate building of a bridge over the
creek between the second and third mile-posts, the Committee adjourned."
All this is signed "S. McNab, Secretary to the Committee. York, 9th
March, 1801."
A list of subscribers then follows, with the sums given. Hon. J.
Elmsley, 80 dollars; Hon. Peter Russell, 20; Hon. J. McGill, 16; Hon. D.
W. Smith, 10; John Small, Esq., 20; R. J. D. Gray, Esq., 20; William
Jarvis, Esq., 10; William Willcocks, Esq., 15; D. Burns, Esq., 20; Wm.
Weekes, Esq., 15; James Macaulay, Esq., 20; Alexander Macdonell, Esq.,
the work of one yoke of oxen for four days; Alexander Wood, Esq., 10;
Mr. John Cameron, 15; Mr. D. Cameron, 10; Mr. Jacob Herchmer, 5; Mr.
Simon McNab, 5; Mr. P. Mealy, 5; Mr. Elisha Beaman, 10; Thomas Ridout,
Esq., 4; Mr. T. G. Simons, 4; Mr. W. Waters, 5; Mr. Robert Young, 10;
Mr. Daniel Tiers, 5; Mr. John Edgell, 5; Mr. George Cutter, 10; Mr.
James Playter, 6; Mr. Joseph McMurtrie, 5; Mr. William Bowkett, 6; Mr.
John Horton, 4; Mr. John Kerr, 2. Total, 392 dollars.
The money collected was, we may suppose, satisfactorily laid out by Mr.
Hale, but it did not suffice for the completion of the contemplated
work. From the _Gazette_ of Feb. 20 in the following year (1802), we
learn that a second subscription was started for the purpose of
completing the communication with the travelled part of Yonge Street to
the north.
In the _Gazette_ just named we have the following, under date of York,
Saturday, Feb. 20, 1802: "We whose names are hereunto subscribed,
contemplating the advantage which must arise from the rendering of
Yonge Street accessible and convenient to the public, and having before
us a proposal for completing that part of the said street between the
Town of York and lot No. 1, do hereby respectively agree to pay the sums
annexed to our names towards the carrying of the said proposal into
effect; cherishing at the same time the hope that every liberal
character will give his support to a work which has for its design the
improvement of the country, as well as the convenience of the public:
*the Chief Justice, 100 dollars; *Receiver-General, 20; *Robt. J. D.
Gray, 20 (and two acres of land when the road is completed); John
Cameron 40; *James Macaulay, 20; *Alexander Wood, 20; *William Weekes,
20; John McGill, 16; Wilson, Humphreys and Campbell, 15; D. W. Smith,
10; Thomas Scott, 10; *Wm. Jarvis, 10; *John Small, 10; *David Burns,
10; *Wm. Allan, 10; Alexander McDonell, 10; Wm. Smith, 10; Robert
Henderson, 10; *Simon McNab, 8; John McDougall, 8; D. Cozens, 8; Thomas
Ward, 8; *Elisha Beaman, 6; Joseph Hunt, 6; Eli Playter, 6; John
Bennett, 6; *George Cutter, 6; James Norris, 51/4; Wm. B. Peters, 5; John
Leach, 5; John Titus, 5; Wm. Cooper, 5; *Wm. Hunter, 5; J. B. Cozens, 5;
*Daniel Tiers, 5; Thomas Forfar, 5; Samuel Nash, 5; Paul Marian, 3;
Thomas Smith, 3; John McBeth, 3." It is subjoined that "subscriptions
will be received by Mr. S. McNab, Secretary, and advertised weekly in
the _Gazette_. Those marked thus (*) have paid a former subscription."
In the _Gazette_ of March 6, 1802, an editorial is devoted to the
subject of the improvement of Yonge Street. It runs as follows: "It
affords us much pleasure to state to our readers that the necessary
repair of Yonge Street is likely to be soon effected, as the work, we
understand, has been undertaken with the assurance of entering upon and
completing it without delay; and by every one who reflects upon the
present sufferings of our industrious community on resorting to a
market, it cannot but prove highly satisfactory to observe a work of
such convenience and utility speedily accomplished. That the measure of
its future benefits must be extreme indeed, we may reasonably expect;
but whilst we look forward with flattering expectations of those
benefits we cannot but appreciate the immediate advantage which is
afforded to us, in being relieved from the application of the statute
labour to circuitous by-paths and occasional roads, and in being enabled
to apply the same to the improvement of the streets, and the nearer and
more direct approaches to the Town."
The irregular track branching off eastward at Yorkville was an example
of these "circuitous by-paths and occasional roads." Editorials were
rare in the _Gazettes_ of the period. Had there been more of them,
subsequent investigators would have been better able than they are now,
to produce pictures of the olden time. Chief Justice Elmsley was
probably the inspirer of the article just given.
The work appears to have been duly proceeded with. In the following
June, we have an advertisement calling a meeting of the committee
entrusted with its superintendence. In the _Gazette_ of June 12, 1802,
we read: "The committee for inspecting the repair of Yonge Street
requests that the subscribers will meet on the repaired part of the said
street at 5 o'clock on Monday evening, to take into consideration how
far the moneys subscribed by them have been beneficially expended. S.
McNab, Secretary to Committee. York, 10th June, 1802."
In 1807, as we gather from the _Gazette_ of Nov. 11, in that year, an
effort was made to improve the road at the Blue Hill. A present of Fifty
Dollars from the Lieutenant Governor (Gore) to the object is
acknowledged in the paper named. "A number of public-spirited persons"
the _Gazette_ says, "collected on last Saturday to cut down the Hill at
Frank's Creek. (We shall see hereafter that the rivulet here was thus
known, as being the stream that flowed through the Castle Frank lot.)
The Lieutenant-Governor, when informed of it, despatched a person with a
present of Fifty Dollars to assist in improving the Yonge Street road."
It is then added by "John Van Zante, pathmaster, for himself and the
public,"--"To his Excellency for his liberal donation, and to the
gentlemen who contributed, we return our warmest thanks."
These early efforts of our predecessors to render practicable the great
northern approach to the town, are deserving of respectful remembrance.