Jackson gives the following account of his first connection with Canada
and his early experience there:--"Having by right of inheritance," he
says, "a claim to a large and very valuable tract of land in the
Province of Quebec, I was induced to visit Lower Canada for the purpose
of investigating my title; and being desirous to view the immense lakes
and falls in Upper Canada, where I had purchased some lands previous to
my leaving England, I extended my travels to that country, with which I
was so much pleased, that I resolved to settle on one of my estates, and
expended a considerable sum on its improvement (the allusion is probably
to Springfield Park); but considering neither my person nor property
secure under the system pursued there, I have been obliged to relinquish
the hope of its enjoyment."
The concluding sentences of his appeal will give an idea of the burden
of his complaint. To his mind the colony was being governed exactly in
the way that leads finally to revolt in colonies. The principles of the
constitution guaranteed by the mother country were violated. One of his
grievances was--not that a seventh of the public land had been set apart
for an established Church, but--that "in seventeen years not one acre
had been turned to any beneficial account; not a clergyman, except such
as England pays or the Missionary Society sends (only five in number),
without glebe, perquisite or parsonage house; and still fewer churches
than ministers of the established religion."
He concludes thus: "I call upon you to examine the Journals of the House
of Assembly and Legislative Council; to look at the distribution and use
made of the Crown Lands; the despatches from the Lieutenant-Governor
[Gore]; the memorials from the Provincial Secretary, Receiver-General
and Surveyor-General; the remonstrances of the Six Nations of Indians;
and the letters from Mr. Thorpe [Judge Thorpe], myself and others, on
the state of the Colony, either to the Lords of the Treasury or to the
Secretary of State. Summon and examine all the evidence that can be
procured here (England), and, if more should appear necessary, send a
commission to ascertain the real state of the Province. Then you will be
confirmed in the truth of every representation I have made, and much
more which, for the safety of individuals, I am constrained to
withhold. Then you will be enabled to relieve England from a great
burden, render the Colony truly valuable to the mother country, and save
one of the most luxuriant ramifications of the Empire. You will perform
the promise of the crown; you will establish the law and liberty
directed by the (British) Parliament; and diffuse the Gospel of Christ
to the utmost extremity of the West. You will do that which is
honourable to the nation, beneficial to the most deserving subjects, and
lovely in the sight of God."
This pamphlet is of interest as an early link (its date is 1809) in the
catena of protests on the subject of Canadian affairs, from Whiggish and
other quarters, culminating at last in Lord Durham's Report.
Nevertheless, what the old French trader said of Africa--"Toujours en
maudissant ce vilain pays, on y reviens toujours"--proved true in
respect to Canada in the case of Mr. Jackson, as in the case likewise of
several other severe critics of Canadian public affairs in later times.
He returned and dwelt in the land after all, settling with his family on
Lake Simcoe, where Jackson's Point and Jackson's Landing retain his
name, and where descendants of his still remain.
Mr. Jackson had possessions likewise in the West Indies, and made
frequent visits thither, as also to England, where at length he died in
1836. Up to about that date, we observe his name in the Commission of
the Peace.
In the _Loyalist_ of May 24, 1828, a Biblical work by Mr. Jackson is
advertised for sale at York. Thus runs the notice:--"Just received from
England, and for sale at the book stores of Messrs. Meighan and Lesslie
& Sons, York, a few volumes of 'The History from the Creation of the
World to the death of Joshua, authenticated from the best authorities,
with Notes, Critical, Philosophical, Moral and Explanatory: by John
Mills Jackson, Esq., formerly Gentleman Commoner of Ball. Coll. in the
University of Oxford.'" (Then follow laudatory notices of the work from
private sources.)
Fifty years ago, in Canada, English families, whose habits and ideas
were more in harmony with Bond Street than with the backwoods, had, in
becoming morally acclimatised to the country, a tremendous ordeal to
pass through: how they contrived to endure the pains and perils of the
process is now matter of wonder.
One of Mr. Jackson's sons, Clifton, is locally remembered as an early
example in these parts of the exquisite of the period--the era of the
Prince Regent and Lord Byron. By extra-sacrificing to the Graces, at a
time when _articles de cosmetique et de luxe_ generally were scarce and
costly in Canada, he got himself into trouble.--In 1822 he had occasion
to make his escape from "durance vile" in York, by opening a passage,
one quiet Sunday morning, through the roof of the old jail. He was
speedily pursued by Mr. Parker, the warden, and an associate, Mr.
Garsides; overtaken at Albany, in the State of New York; apprehended
under a feigned charge; and brought back to York. Among the inhabitants
of some of the villages between Albany and Youngstown, a suspicion arose
that a case of kidnapping was in progress, and Messrs. Parker and
Garsides were exposed to risk of personal violence before they could
reach the western bank of the Niagara river, with their prey. By a happy
turn of affairs, a few years later, Mr. Clifton Jackson obtained a
situation in the Home Colonial Office, with a good salary.
To distinguish Mr. Mills Jackson from another proprietor on Yonge
Street, also called Jackson, the alliterative epithet, "Jacobin," was
sometimes applied to him, in jocose allusion to his political
principles, held by the official party to be revolutionary. In regard to
the other Jackson, some such epithet as "Jacobin" would not have been
inapplicable. On the invasion of Canada in 1812 by the United States, he
openly avowed his sympathy with the invaders, and was obliged to fly the
country. He was known and distinguished as "Hatter Jackson," from the
business which he once followed. After the war he returned, and
endeavoured, but in vain, to recover possession of the land on Yonge
Street which he had temporarily occupied.
In the _Gazette_ of Nov. 11, 1807, we have Mr. Jackson's advertisement.
Almost anticipating the modern "Hats that are Hats," it is headed
"Warranted Hats," and then proceeds: "The subscriber, having established
a hat manufactory in the vicinity of York on a respectable scale,
solicits the patronage and support of the public. All orders will be
punctually attended to, and a general assortment of warranted hats be
continually kept at the store of Mr. Thomas Hamilton, in York. Samuel
Jackson. Yonge Street, Nov. 10, 1807."
An earlier owner of the lot, at which we are now pausing, was Stillwell
Wilson. In 1799, at the annual York Township meeting, held on the 4th
March in that year at York, we find Stillwell Wilson elected one of the
Overseers of Highways and Fence-viewers for the portion of Yonge Street
from lot 26 to lot 40, in Markham and Vaughan. At the same meeting, Paul
Wilcot is elected to the same office, "from Big Creek to No. 25,
inclusive, and half Big Creek Bridge; and Daniel Dehart, from Big Creek
to No. 1, inclusive, and half Big Creek Bridge." "The Big Creek"
referred to was, as we suppose, the Don at Hogg's Hollow.
In 1821, Stillwell Wilson is landlord of the Waterloo House, in York,
and is offering to let that stand; also to let or sell other valuable
properties. In the _Gazette_ of March 25, 1820, we have his
advertisement:--"For sale or to let, four improved farms on Yonge
Street, composed of lots Nos. 20 and 30 on the west side, and 15 and 20
on the east side of the street, in the townships of York and Vaughan.
These lands are so well known that they require no further encomiums
than the virtues they possess. For title of which please apply to the
subscriber at Waterloo House, York, the proprietor of said lands. P.
S.--The noted stand known by the name of the Waterloo House, which the
subscriber at present possesses, is also offered to be let on easy
terms; as also an excellent Sawmill, in the third concession of the
township of York, east of Yonge Street, only ten miles from town, on the
west branch of the river Don. Stillwell Wilson."
In 1828, for moneys due apparently to Jairus Ashley, some of Stillwell's
property has been seized. Under the editorial head of the _Loyalist_ of
December 27th of that year, we find the following item:--"Sheriff's
Sale.--At the Court House, in the Town of York, on Saturday, 31st
January next, will be sold, Lot No. 30, in the first Concession of the
Township of Vaughan, taken in execution as belonging to Stillwell
Wilson, at the suit of Jairus Ashley. Sale to commence at 12 o'clock
noon."
In our chapter on the Early Marine of York, we shall meet with Stillwell
Wilson again. We shall then find him in command of a slip-keel schooner
plying on the Lake between York and Niagara. The present owner of his
lot, which, as we have seen, was also once Mr. Jackson's--Mr. Jacobin
Jackson's, is Mr. Cawthra. (Note the tendency to distinguish between
individuals bearing the name of Jackson by an epithet prefixed. A
professional pugilist patronized by Lord Byron was commonly spoken of as
"Gentleman Jackson.")
As we reach again the higher land, after crossing the dam of Whitmore's
mill, and returning into the more direct line of the street, some rude
pottery works met the eye. Here in the midst of woods, the passer-by
usually saw on one side of the road, a one horse clay-grinding machine,
laboriously in operation; and on the other, displayed in the open air on
boards supported by wooden pins driven into the great logs composing the
wall of the low windowless building, numerous articles of coarse brown
ware, partially glazed, pans, crocks, jars, jugs, demijohns, and so
forth; all which primitive products of the plastic art were ever
pleasant to contemplate. These works were carried on by Mr. John
Walmsley.
A tract of rough country was now reached, difficult to clear and
difficult to traverse with a vehicle. Here a genuine corduroy causeway
was encountered, a long series of small saw-logs laid side by side, over
which wheels jolted deliberately. In the wet season, portions of it,
being afloat, would undulate under the weight of a passing load; and
occasionally a horse's leg would be entrapped, and possibly snapped
short by the sudden yielding or revolution of one of the cylinders
below.
We happen to have a very vivid recollection of the scene presented along
this particular section of Yonge Street, when the woods, heavy pine
chiefly, after having been felled in a most confused manner, were being
consumed by fire, or rather while the effort was being made to consume
them. The whole space from near Mr. Walmsley's potteries to the rise
beyond which Eglinton is situated, was, and continued long, a chaos of
blackened timber, most dismaying to behold.
To the right of this tract was one of the Church glebes so curiously
reserved in every township in the original laying out of Upper
Canada--one lot of two hundred acres in every seven of the same area--in
accordance with a public policy which at the present time seems
sufficiently Utopian. Of the arrangement alluded to, now broken up, but
expected when the Quebec Act passed in 1780 to be permanent, a relic
remained down to a late date in the shape of a wayside inn, on the right
near here, styled on its sign the "Glebe Inn"--a title and sign
reminding one of the "Church Stiles" and "Church Gates" not uncommon as
village ale-house designations in some parts of England.
Hitherto the general direction of Yonge Street has been north, sixteen
degrees west. At the point where it passes the road marking the northern
limit of the third concession from the bay, it swerves seven degrees to
the eastward. In the first survey of this region there occurred here a
jog or fault in the lines. The portion of the street proposed to be
opened north failed, by a few rods, to connect in a continuous right
line with the portion of it that led southward into York. The
irregularity was afterwards corrected by slicing off a long narrow
angular piece from three lots on the east side, and adding the like
quantity of land to the opposite lot--it happening just here that the
lots on the east side lie east and west, while those on the west side
lie north and south. After the third concession, the lots along the
street lie uniformly east and west.
With young persons in general perhaps, at York in the olden time, who
ever gave the cardinal points a thought, the notion prevailed that Yonge
Street was "north." We well remember our own slight perplexity when we
first distinctly took notice that the polar star, the dipper, and the
focus usually of the northern lights, all seemed to be east of Yonge
Street. That an impression existed in the popular mind at a late period
to the effect that Yonge Street was north, was shown when the pointers
indicating east, west, north and south came to be affixed to the apex of
a spire on Gould Street. On that occasion several compasses had to be
successively taken up and tried before the workmen could be convinced
that "north" was so far "east" as the needle of each instrument would
persist in asserting.
The first possessor of the lot on the west side, slightly augmented in
the manner just spoken of, was the Baron de Hoen, an officer in one of
the German regiments disbanded after the United States Revolutionary
War. His name is also inscribed in the early maps on the adjacent lot to
the north, known as No. 1 in the township of York, west side.
At the time of the capture of York in 1813, Baron de Hoen's house, on
lot No. 1, proved a temporary refuge to some ladies and others, as we
learn from a manuscript narrative taken down from the lips of the late
venerable Mrs. Breakenridge by her daughter, Mrs. Murney. That record
well recalls the period and the scene. "The ladies settled to go out to
Baron de Hoen's farm," the narrative says. "He was a great friend," it
then explains, "of the Baldwin family, whose real name was Von Hoen; and
he had come out about the same time as Mr. St. George, and had been in
the British army. He had at this time a farm about four miles up Yonge
Street, and on a lot called No. 1. Yonge Street was then a corduroy road
immediately after leaving King Street, and passing through a dense
forest. Miss Russell, (sister of the late President Russell) loaded her
phaeton with all sorts of necessaries, so that the whole party had to
walk. My poor old grandfather (Mr. Baldwin, the father of Mrs.
Breakenridge) by long persuasion at length consented to give up
fighting, and accompany the ladies. Aunt Baldwin (Mrs. Dr. Baldwin) and
her four sons, Major Fuller, who was an invalid under Dr. Baldwin's
care, Miss Russell, Miss Willcox, and the whole cavalcade sallied forth:
the youngest boy St. George, a mere baby, my mother (Mrs. Breakenridge)
carried on her back nearly the whole way.
"When they had reached about half way out," the narrative proceeds,
"they heard a most frightful concussion, and all sat down on logs and
stumps, frightened terribly. They learned afterwards that this terrific
sound was occasioned by the blowing up of the magazine of York garrison,
when five hundred Americans were killed, and at which time my uncle, Dr.
Baldwin, was dressing a soldier's wounds; he was conscious of a strange
sensation: it was too great to be called a sound, and he found a shower
of stones falling all around him, but he was quite unhurt. The family at
length reached Baron de Hoen's log house, consisting of two rooms, one
above and one below. After three days Miss Russell and my mother walked
into town, just in time to prevent Miss Russell's house from being
ransacked by the soldiers.
"All now returned to their homes and occupations," the narrative goes on
to say, "except Dr. Baldwin, who continued dressing wounds and acting as
surgeon, until the arrival of Dr. Hackett, the surgeon of the 8th
Regiment. Dr. Baldwin said it was most touching to see the joy of the
poor wounded fellows when told that their own doctor was coming back to
them." It is then added: "My mother (Mrs. Breakenridge) saw the poor 8th
Grenadiers come into town on the Saturday, and in church on Sunday, with
the handsome Captain McNeil at their head, and the next day they were
cut to pieces to a man. My father (Mr. Breakenridge) was a student at
law with Dr. Baldwin, who had been practising law after giving up
medicine as a profession, and had been in his office about three months,
when he went off like all the rest to the battle of York."
The narrative then gives the further particulars: "The Baldwin family
all lived with Miss Russell after this, as she did not like being left
alone. When the Americans made their second attack about a month after
the first, the gentlemen all concealed themselves, fearing to be taken
prisoners like those at Niagara. The ladies received the American
officers: some of these were very agreeable men, and were entertained
hospitably; two of them were at Miss Russell's; one of them was a Mr.
Brookes, brother-in-law of Archdeacon Stuart, then of York, afterwards
of Kingston. General Sheaffe had gone off some time before, taking every
surgeon with him. On this account Dr. Baldwin was forced, out of
humanity, to work at his old profession again, and take care of the
wounded."
Lot No. 1 was afterwards the property of an English gentleman, Mr.
Harvey Price, a member of our Provincial Government, as Commissioner of
Crown Lands, whose conspicuous residence, castellated in character, and
approached by a broad avenue of trees, was a little further on. In 1820,
No. 1 was being offered for sale in the following terms, in the
_Gazette_ of March 25th: "That well known farm No. 1, west side of Yonge
Street, belonging to Captain de Hoen, about four or five miles from
York, 210 acres. The land is of excellent quality, well-wooded, with
about forty acres cleared, a never failing spring of excellent water,
barn and farm house. Application to be made to the subscriber at
York.--W. W. Baldwin."
Baron de Hoen was second to Mr. Attorney-General White, killed in the
duel with Mr. Small in 1800 (January 3rd). In the contemporary account
of that incident in the Niagara _Constellation_, the name is
phonetically spelt _De Hayne_. In the above quoted MS. the name appears
as de Haine.
In our progress northward we now traverse ground which, as having been
the scene of a skirmish and some bloodshed during the troubles of 1837,
has become locally historic. The events alluded to have been described
from different points of view at sufficient length in books within reach
of every one. We throw over them here the mantle of charity, simply
glancing at them and passing on.
Upper Canada, in miniature and in the space of half a century, curiously
passed through conditions and processes, physical and social, which old
countries on a large scale, and in the course of long ages, passed
through. Upper Canada had, in little, its primaeval and barbaric but
heroic era, its mediaeval and high-prerogative era, and then, after a
revolutionary period of a few weeks, its modern, defeudalized,
democratic era. Without doubt the introduction here in 1792 of an "exact
transcript" of the contemporary constitution of the mother country, as
was the boast at the time, involved the introduction here also of some
of the spirit which animated the official administrators of that
constitution in the mother country itself at the period--the time of the
Third George.
We certainly find from an early date, as we have already seen, a
succession of intelligent, observant men, either casual visitors to the
country, or else intending settlers, and actual settlers, openly
expressing dissatisfaction at some of the things which they noted,
experienced or learned, in respect of the management of Canadian public
affairs. These persons for the most part were themselves perhaps only
recently become alive to the changes which were inevitable in the
governmental principles of the mother country; and so were peculiarly
sensitive, and even, it may be, petulant in regard to such matters. But,
however well-meaning and advanced in political wisdom they may have
been, they nevertheless, as we have before intimated, exhibited
narrowness of view themselves, and some ignorance of mankind, in
expecting to find in a remote colonial out-station of the empire a state
of things better than that which at the moment existed at the heart of
the empire; and in imagining that strictures on their part, especially
when acrimonious, would, under the circumstances, be amiably and
submissively received by the local authorities.
The early rulers of Canada, Upper and Lower, along with the members of
their little courts, were not to be lightly censured.--They were but
copying the example of their royal Chief and his circle at Kew, Windsor,
or St. James'. Of the Third George Thackeray says: "He did his best; he
worked according to his lights; what virtue he knew he tried to
practice; what knowledge he could master he strove to acquire." And so
did they. The same fixity of idea in regard to the inherent dignity and
power of the Crown that characterized him characterized them, together
with a like sterling uprightness which commanded respect even when a
line of action was adopted that seemed to tend, and did in reality tend,
to a popular outbreak.
All men, however, now acquiesce in the final issue. The social turmoil
which for a series of years agitated Canada, from whatever cause
arising; the explosion which at length took place, by whatever
instrumentality brought on, cleared the political atmosphere of the
country, and hastened the good time of general contentment and
prosperity which Canadians of the present day are enjoying.--After all,
the explosion was not a very tremendous one. Both sides, after the
event, have been tempted to exaggerate the circumstances of it a little,
for effect.
The recollections which come back to us as we proceed on our way, are
for the most part of a date anterior to those associated with 1837;
although some of the latter date will of course occasionally recur.
The great conspicuous way-side inn, usually called Montgomery's was, at
the time of its destruction by the Government forces in 1837, in the
occupation of a landlord named Lingfoot. The house of Montgomery, from
whom the inn took its name, he having been a former occupant, was on a
farm owned by himself, beautifully situated on rising ground to the
left, subsequently the property and place of abode of Mr. James Lesslie,
of whom already.
Mr. Montgomery had once had a hotel in York, named "The Bird in Hand,"
on Yonge Street, a little to the north of Elliott's. We have this inn
named in an advertisement to be seen in the _Canadian Freeman_ of April
17, 1828, having reference to the "Farmer's Store Company." "A general
meeting of the Farmer's Storehouse Company," says the advertisement,
"will be held on the 22nd of March next, at 10 o'clock, a.m., at John
Montgomery's tavern, on Yonge Street, 'The Bird in Hand.'--The farmers
are hereby also informed that the storehouse is properly repaired for
the accommodation of storage, and that every possible attention shall be
paid to those who shall store produce therein. John Goessmann, clerk."