HomeMy WebLinkAbout2099THE REESOR MILL HOUSE
Altona
5415 Sideline 30 (North Road)
Concession 9, Lot 30
Hamlet of Altona, City of Pickering
PIN 611
May 2005
by
John W. Sabean
Historical Consultant
The Reesor Mill House, Altona
5415 Sideline 30 (North Road)
Concession 9, Lot 30
Hamlet of Altona, City of Pickering
PIN 611
SITE:
The Reesor mill house lies on Lot 30, Concession 9, at the end of a laneway that runs east
off of Sideline 30 a short distance south of the Uxbridge-Pickering Townline. It is situated in
the valley formed by a branch of Duffin’s Creek, and is reached by crossing over a small
bridge. The Reesor house was once part of a complex of buildings that included the four-
storey mill, a one-and-a-half storey frame house, and at least one barn, apart from assorted
outbuildings. Of the buildings, only the two houses remain, but the millpond is also still in
place, although the dam is now broken. The mills were important industries for Altona; the
mills at this location did the sawing and gristing, and down the road to the south of the
hamlet, the Nighswander mill processed wool.
The Hamlet of Altona itself is split between the townships of Pickering and Uxbridge. The
centre of the hamlet lies where Sideline 30 in Pickering meets the Second Concession
Road in Uxbridge at the Uxbridge-Pickering Townline. The villages of Claremont and
Stouffville are the closest neighbours, Claremont about seven kilometres to the east and a
bit south, Stouffville about the same distance to the west and a bit north. At its peak in the
1870s, Altona had a population of about 200.1
The mills that were built on Lot 30 flourished for about 100 years. They were built in the
1840s, probably by members of the Stauffer family, but they are chiefly associated with the
name Reesor. Abraham Reesor, Sr. and his son, known as Abram, operated the mills from
1850 to 1912. Thereafter a succession of owner-operators kept the gristmill running until it
burned down in 1944.
CONTEXT: THE REESOR FAMILY
THE REESOR FAMILY IMMIGRATION
On 26 October 1804, William Willcocks, a government clerk, wrote to his friend William
Berczy:
Six families in five Pennsylvania wagons come here last week from Pennsylvania to
purchase land. I spoke to one of the chief of them, Peter Risser, they are gone up Yonge
Street to view the lands there and in Markham, Vaughan & White Church [Whitchurch]. If I
can I will dispose of my Markham Land to them. Mr. Allen also saw them and talked with
them about the mill & 700 acres—they promised to come to us in a few days.2
The Reesor family, having endured an arduous six-week journey by Conestoga wagon
through Pennsylvania and New York State, had now arrived at their destination and were
ready to settle new lands.
The story of the Reesor family’s migration from Pennsylvania to Upper Canada in the late
summer, early fall of 1804 has been told many times, perhaps most definitively in The Reesor
Family in Canada, the genealogical record of that family from the time of their arrival in
Markham Township two hundred years ago.3 In the summer of 2004, descendants of the
early settlers gathered in Markham to celebrate the two-hundredth anniversary of their
ancestors’ arrival. To commemorate the event members of the Reesor family staged a
journey by Conestoga wagon from the original homestead of Christian Reesor on Reesor
Road to the Markham Fair Grounds where most of the festivities occurred.
In Upper Canada the Reesor family had finally found a home with some permanency after a
two-hundred year search. The Reesors, or Rissers, had, according to tradition, originally
come from the Canton of Berne, in Switzerland. They were Mennonites, a Christian sect that
practiced believer’s baptism and did not support the state churches of Europe, whether
Roman Catholic, Reformed, or Lutheran. For their religious beliefs they were expelled from
Switzerland. They travelled down the Rhine River to the Palatinate where they were more
favourably received.
In the eighteenth century there was a huge migration of about 100 000 Palatines who left to
take up free grants in Pennsylvania. Included among these were about 5000 Mennonites.
Peter Risser (1713-1804) chose to join this migration and set out from Rotterdam with his
wife Elizabeth Hershi (or Hershey) and two children. Peter took up a 271-acre grant in
Lancaster County. That farm is still in Risser hands, being the longest time one family has
been on one farm in Pennsylvania.4
Peter was ordained and served his church as a minister until his death in 1804. He gave a
parcel of land for a meeting house and a cemetery. A meeting house was built in 1760 and
it is still known as the Risser Meeting House.
Peter Risser died in February 1804 at the age of 91. Apparently, his presence was all that
was keeping part of his family from leaving Pennsylvania. Once he was gone the last barrier
was removed. In the following summer five Conestoga wagons set out for new lands in Upper
Canada. Among those who made the trek were Christian and Fanny Reiff Reesor, their son
and daughter-in-law Peter and Esther Eby Reesor, and their daughter Elisabeth with her
husband Abraham Stauffer.
CHRISTIAN REESOR (1747-1806)
The head of the family that came to Upper Canada was Christian Reesor. He was the sixth
child, second son of Peter and Elizabeth Risser. His wife was Fanny Reiff. In 1786 they had
moved their family from Lancaster County to Franklin County in Pennsylvania, and it was
from Franklin County that the 800-kilometre trek began.
Having arrived in Upper Canada it was not long before they found a place to settle—Lot 14,
Concession 10, in Markham Township, along the banks of the Little Rouge River, near what
later became Locust Hill.
Early in 1805, Christian made an affirmation of allegiance before William Willcocks. His
signed statement read:
Christian Reser late of Pennsylvania but now of Markham Farmer a Menonist, 56 Years Old,
light Hair, gray Eyes five feet ten Inches high, having made the Affirmation prescribed by
law and made also the Declaration, Do subscribe the same at York the 26th Day of January
1805 Christian Reser
Affirmed before me at York Aforesaid
Will. Willcocks J P5
Unfortunately, Christian was not to enjoy his new land for very long. Only two years after his
arrival he was killed by a falling tree, while he and his family were working to clear the land.
He was buried on the property on a site overlooking the Little Rouge River.
Fanny stayed on the farm with the younger children until she died in 1818. The eldest son
Peter inherited the land, but since he had settled his own property, he sold this farm to his
brother Christian Reesor, Jr. Christian and his wife Elizabeth Cornell farmed the land. And
they build the two-storey stone house that still stands just north of the old family burying
ground (along Reesor Road).
PETER REESOR (1775-1854)
Peter Reesor was Christian and Fanny’s eldest son. He and his wife, Esther Eby, purchased
two 200-acre lots, Lots 3 and 4, Concession 9, Markham Township, along the Little Rouge
River and just west of the present community of Cedar Grove. This was land he had already
scouted out before 1804. In the late 1790s he had come alone on horseback to check out
the land. He found near Cedar Grove just the land he was looking for; it had a rich soil, mill
sites, and an abundant forest both for building and for supplying timber for his mills.
As Peter was about to set off for home he met Frederick Baron de Hoen, an ex-army officer,
who offered him 600 acres of land in Whitchurch Township in exchange for his horse and
saddle. Peter accepted the offer, removed the bridle from his horse and put on the halter
and then handed over the horse to the Baron. De Hoen objected, but Peter pointed out that
the offer had been for the horse and saddle only. He then walked the 800 kilometres back to
Pennsylvania carrying the bridle.6
Peter’s affirmation of allegiance described him as:
Peter Riser late of Pennsylvania but now of Markham Farmer a Menonist 30 Years Old,
Grey Eyes & fair Hair, five feet seven Inches high having made the affirmation & Declaration
prescribed by Law Do Subscribe the same at York the 3d Day of January 1805
Peter Reser
Affirmed before me
Will. Willcocks J P7
On his new land Peter Reesor built flour and lumber mills as well as a home for his family.
The present two-storey stone dwelling was built in 1830. Abraham Reesor (1815-1855), the
probable builder of the Reesor mill house in Altona, was the son of Peter and Esther Reesor.
ABRAHAM STAUFFER (1780-1851)
Christian and Fanny’s eldest daughter, Elisabeth, was married to Abraham Stauffer. They
settled on Lot 35, Concession 9, in the northeast part of Markham. Stouffville, the community
that developed on their land, took its name from them.
Stauffer’s affirmation of allegiance in late1804 described him as:
Abraham Stouffer late of Pennsylvania Farmer, Hazel Eyes brown Hair Six feet One Inch
high, born in Pennsylvania 28 Years Old a Menonist having taken the Affirmation & made the
Declaration prescribed by Law Do subscribe the Same at York the 28th Day of Decem’r
1804. Abraham Stouffer
Affirmed before me the Day & Year above written
Will. Willcocks J P8
Abraham and Elisabeth brought two children, Christian and Elizabeth, with them on the
journey to Upper Canada. Four more children were born in the new land: Abraham, John,
Fanny, and Jacob. Like his brother-in-law, Peter Reesor, Abraham operated mills in
Stouffville. He also purchased several properties in Markham, Uxbridge, and Pickering
Townships. One of those properties was Lot 30, Concession 9 in Pickering.
Abraham was one of the first trustees of the Altona Mennonite Meetinghouse. Both he and
his wife are buried in the cemetery beside the meetinghouse, on land that he once owned.
Elizabeth Reesor Stauffer’s gravestone is the oldest in the cemetery, dating from 1835.
CONTEXT: THE HAMLET OF ALTONA
That there was a small settlement in the Altona area by the1830s is indicated by the building
of the first schoolhouse—made of logs—in 1834. The school, in the northwest corner of
Abraham Stauffer’s lot, would have served settlers in both Pickering and Uxbridge
Townships.
NIGHSWANDER MILL
The earliest industrial building in the area that we know of was the Nighswander Fulling Mill,
in operation by John Nighswander by 1845. It was situated on Duffin’s Creek about a
kilometre and a half south of the four corners on Lot 31. According to family tradition this mill
was erected on the site between 1854 and 1857, by Samuel Nighswander who had
purchased the property from his brother Martin who held the patent on the land. We know
now, however, that the mill had been in place at least a decade earlier. After 1857 the mill
was run by Edwin Cliff. The mill went through a succession of hands as a carding mill, then
was purchased by Enos Nighswander in 1903 and converted to grist. In 1926 it was
converted again to a cider mill by Enos’ son Peter, who operated it with his son Harvey.
Harvey sold the cider mill in 1964 to Ken Cummings who continued to make cider until
1974. Public Works Canada later tore down the empty mill.9
REESOR MILL
In 1850, Abraham Reesor, who had been farming Lot 34, Concession 3 in Pickering
Township (down by Cherrywood), took over the running of two mills, a flour mill and a saw
mill, at the north end of Lot 30, Concession 9. The tradition in the family has always been
that Reesor built these mills, but according to the 1851 census the mills were not recent
constructions. Appended to the record of Abraham’s family is the note: “These are both old
mills, and are not at present worth scarcely a fraction of their original cost.”10 It would
appear then that the mills were built before Reesor bought the land—probably by Christian
Stauffer. Abraham Stauffer, Christian’s father, operated a saw and gristmill on Duffin’s
Creek not far away in what developed into the village of Stouffville.
Abraham Reesor (1815-1855) was the son of immigrants Peter Reesor (1775-1854) and
Esther Eby. Evidence from both the census record and the township assessment rolls
suggest that he was primarily a farmer even after he purchased the mills. The agricultural
part of the 1851 census shows him running a farm on Lot 30 with 75 acres under cultivation
(out of a total of 145 acres). In all of the assessment rolls in which he figures he is described
as yeoman, not as miller. The gristmill was probably operated by John Clark who is
described in the 1851 census as a miller. In any case, just five years after he began running
the mills Abraham died of typhoid fever.11
Reesor’s widow, Christina Shunk, took over the mills after her husband’s death, and she is
described as a mill owner in some of the records.12 She, of course, would have needed a
lot of help to run both the farm and the mills, and most of that would have had to have come
from outside the family as she had six children ranging from about 17 to 5 years of age. We
have records of only two of the millers who worked for her: Patrick Davidson and John Stover.13
In 1857, Christina married a local merchant, Joseph Monkhouse. Monkhouse took over the
running of the mills and the farm until Christina’s death in 1865 and probably for a few more
years until Abraham and Christina’s son, Abraham, Jr., came of age. Abraham, Jr., or
Abram as he preferred to be called, must have chosen to take his training as a miller rather
than as a farmer, for his occupation is always given as miller, and he let out the farming
operation to others—or at least until 1890 when he is shown in the assessment records as
operating both the mills and the farm.14
When Ross Johnston, travelling salesman for the Whitby Chronicle, dropped by in 1884, he
made this observation about the Reesors and their mills:
Just come over with me and have a look through the ‘Altona Mills’ close by on the south
side. Here we are, and here too is Mr. Abram Reesor the occupant, busy making repairs in
the mill-race. Building frame, three and a half stories, water power, old process, machinery
complete, mill been running about 20 years, capacity about 40 bbls. a day. Three run of
stones, business chiefly gristing and chopping at present, but intention is to do more
extensive business by and by. You have our best wishes Mr. Reesor for the success both of
yourself and your mill.
Then close by is Mr. Flavius Reesor [Abram’s brother], also a miller, and thresher as well.
His mill is a cider mill, and there is no lack of grists this season. He also runs a steam
thresher, termed ‘Sawyer’s Grain Saver.’ These Reesors work into each other’s hands you
see. The one threshes the grain and the other grinds it.15
Abram’s son Floyd chose not to follow in his father’s footsteps. He became a tool and die
maker. So after Abram died his widow sold the land. The mill then went through a series of
hands until it burned to the ground in 1944. The owner-operators were, in succession:
Wilmot Vanzant from 1914 to 1918, William Kaiser to 1920, William Jones to 1924, and
Hugh McIntosh to 1928. Earl Howsam purchased the mill in 1928 and had it remodeled.
However, after nearly 100 years of operation, the mill saw its last on 10 March 1944, when it
burned down.16 W.D. Alexander, of Toronto, purchased the property from Howsam and
turned it into a bird sanctuary.17
MONKHOUSE STORE (“China Hall”)
The year 1850 was a pivotal one for the hamlet of Altona, for not only did Abraham Reesor
come to restore the mills, but also two other entrepreneurs established what were to be
lasting businesses as well, which created the nucleus around which the hamlet would
prosper. Joseph Monkhouse and William Cooper built a store and a hotel.
Joseph Monkhouse (c1826-1903) originally came to Canada West in 1849 to operate a
store in Stouffville, but he soon came to the north end of Pickering Township to join his
brother Thomas. Here he established a business which was to be widely hailed during his
lifetime, and which would last for almost a century. The business was a store, which Joseph
created in 1850. It was here in 1853 that the Post Office was opened with Joseph as the first
Post Master. It would have been at that time that a name was chosen for the post office, and
therefore of the little hamlet that was taking shape around it.18
According to Joseph Nighswander, whose family goes back six generations in Markham
and Pickering, the hamlet was named after the city of Altona, near Hamburg, in Germany.
Much of the literature that the early Mennonites in the area read was published in the
German Altona, where the Mennonites had long enjoyed great freedom of worship when it
was under Danish rule.19
When Joseph Monkhouse left to run the Reesor Flour Mill, sometime after 1857, his brother
Thomas stepped in to take over the daily operation of the store. He was the chief clerk and
also the Post Master until he died in 1886. After a few years the business was so successful
that the old two-storey building was torn down and a new three-storey building was erected
in its place in 1865. The grand reopening was a major event with the Hon. George Brown,
himself, present to make a political speech. Ross Johnston commented in 1884:
Mr. Thos. Monkhouse (brother of the much-respected Reeve of Pickering) is the Post-
Master and mercantile man of the place, and keeps a fine variety of goods embracing all
lines needed in a country store. He is evidently doing an excellent business here. The
business was established in 1850 by his brother Joseph, who carried it on for 15 years,
since which time it has been conducted by Thomas. Can any mercantile house in the
township show a longer record?20
Once Joseph Monkhouse’s duties as miller ceased he turned to farming. He purchased Lot
32, Concession 9, and there carried on a successful farming operation. He also took up
politics and served on the township council for 10 years. A measure of his stature may be
taken from his election to several terms as Reeve of the township (1884-1887) as well as a
stint as county Warden (1887).21
When Thomas died in 1886, Joseph left off farming and returned to the store. By this time
the store had earned quite a reputation. The Stouffville Free Press ran this item in 1890:
The place is noted because of Mr. Monkhouse’s store. The store is noted not only because
of its large stock of dry goods and groceries, but especially because it carries the largest
stock of delf [sic] ware in this district. The whole of the upper flat of the large building
(erected about twenty-five years ago) is transformed into a veritable China Hall. The visitor’s
attention is first arrested by counter after counter covered with handsome Dinner and Tea
sets. This large assortment is found in a variety of colors in print and enamel, with plain gold
or spangle. Under these counters are arranged scores of Toilet Sets from the comparatively
plain to those of the most handsome design and superior quality. Next in order are arranged
large counters of glassware, plain and in colors. On both side of the building run wide
counters the full length, covered with a bewildering variety of fancy china. Much of this stock
comes by direct importation from Europe. This fact is indicative of prices at “China Hall.” No
one in this vicinity need go to Toronto to buy fine table ware.22
Thereafter the store was generally referred to as the “China Hall.” Monkhouse died in 1903
and the business was taken over by his son Willis (by Christina) who continued the business
until 1937. This building, too, eventually succumbed to the flames.
COOPER’S INN
In the same year that Abraham Reesor was purchasing the mills and Joseph Monkhouse
was creating his store, both near the southeast corner of Altona, William Cooper was
erecting the Altona Inn on the northeast corner of the intersection. The hotel was a mainstay
in Altona for 60 years before it fell victim to the Temperance Movement.
Cooper’s Inn, one of eight that existed in Uxbridge at mid-century, was located in a strategic
position. About mid-way along the east-west route between Claremont and Stouffville it
would serve as a stopping place for weary travellers and as a meeting place for local
residents. Cooper maintained the inn for five years, then retired at the age of 65, selling the
business to Andrew Lindsay. Lindsay apparently died shortly thereafter and the inn passed
through a number of hands until Andrew Brown purchased it in 1867.23
For nearly 40 years Brown operated a very successful business in Altona. By 1875 he was
able to renovate the premises by adding a new two-storey brick addition that housed a new
barroom on the first floor and above it a dining room and ballroom. During the latter years of
the nineteenth century, Brown’s inn was a very popular establishment and Brown himself was
a highly respected member of the community.
Ross Johnston was impressed with Brown and his inn when he arrived in a snowstorm in
1884. He remarked:
Making a fresh start I pushed on westward and finally reached the Altona Hotel kept by Mr.
Andrew Brown. Tired enough was I, as the roads were getting heavy. Andrew keeps a quiet
comfortable house and does his best to make his guests feel at home. He professed to be
a law-abiding citizen, and is therefore unlikely to give the License Inspector much trouble.
He has been 20 years in business here and elsewhere, and is very fond of gardening.24
Indeed, whenever liquor licenses came up for renewal, Brown was always able to secure
his. And to merit the respect of a largely Mennonite community, he must have dispensed his
spirits judiciously. When he died he was laid to rest in the Mennonite cemetery.
The inn only survived Brown’s retirement in 1906 by a few years—Local Option came into
effect in Uxbridge in 1910, making the business unprofitable. The building took on new
energy, however, when Oliver Madill remodelled it in 1921 to house and general store.
Madill remained in business for 32 years.
ALTONA MENNONITE MEETINGHOUSE
The emerging hamlet grew from these three public buildings—mill, store, and inn—and
more were to follow in short order. The next to be built was the Altona Mennonite
Meetinghouse. In fact, it may have been the first to be planned, for in February 1850 a
meeting was held in Stouffville to appoint trustees to oversee the erection of a new facility.
The Mennonites in the area had not lacked for a place to worship. They first assembled in
homes until that became inconvenient. When the first schoolhouse—made of logs—was
built in 1834, they used this as their meeting place. But by 1850 the congregation had
outgrown this building. The new trustees of the congregation, appointed in 1850—Abraham
Stauffer, Samuel Hoover, and Martin Nighswander—set about completing their mission.
Christian Stauffer donated an acre of land for the building and plans proceeded. The
building was completed by the end of 1852, and services began in the church early in the
new year. Continuous services were conducted in the meetinghouse until 1974. When all the
land around Altona was expropriated in 1972-73, at the request of the Trustees the
meetinghouse and cemetery were excluded. The building still stands, and in 1985 was
designated a heritage site under the Ontario Heritage Act.25
SCHOOLHOUSE (School Section 17)
Two years after the church was completed a new schoolhouse was built. The 1834 log
school sat right on the southeast corner of the intersection, just north of where the church
was erected. The new school was built across on the west side of Sideline 30 and a short
distance south of the intersection. It burned down in 1909 and another brick schoolhouse
was built in 1911 to replace it. This school continued in use as a schoolhouse until 1965.
Since then it has been used for such things as a community centre, a church, and storage
for an acting company. It now lies boarded up and abandoned.26
TEMPERANCE HALL
To complete the four corners a temperance hall was erected on the northwest corner. Just
when this building was erected is not now known, but it was probably in the 1850s or early
1860s. It was conceived by Abijah Jones, whose family had immigrated to Upper Canada
about 1805, as an alternative meeting place to the Altona Inn, which was licenced to serve
alcohol. One of its chief functions was to serve as a meeting place for the Universalist
Church, of which Jones was a member. It was torn down between 1923 and 1926.27
UNION CHURCH
Another church was built in 1875 just east of the four corners. This church served two distinct
congregations—the Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church (an offshoot of the old Mennonite
order) and the Christian Church (organized in 1872). Abraham Reesor, Jr. provided the
land, Daniel Barkey promoted the project and served as the superintendent of the union
Sunday school, and Noah Detwiler served as the first pastor of the church. Services
continued in this church until 1980. It now houses a Christian Day School.28
PROPERTY HISTORY
The first owner of Lot 30, Concession 9 was Amarilla McKay, by an Order in Council,
dated 8 July 1801, although the grant was not registered until 6 July 1807. McKay was the
daughter of a United Empire Loyalist, Jeptha Hawley, and was granted the land as a reward
to her family for her father’s services to his country. She was married to Samuel McKay and
they lived in Fredericksburgh in the County of Lennox and Addington, Midland District.
There is no evidence that the McKays ever lived on this property—or that they had ever even
seen it. She was exempted from having to complete the settlement duty, so when she sold
the land it was probably still virgin forest. In February 1809, Samuel McKay, Amarilla’s
husband, sold all 200 acres to Simeon Morton. Morton was probably either an agent or a
speculator as he resold the land only two months later to Abraham Stauffer.29
Abraham Stauffer, the next owner, had settled five years previously on land in northeast
Markham Township, but over a number of years added to his holdings by purchasing land in
Uxbridge and Pickering Townships as well. It would appear that he bought these properties
for his children as he left the administration and further sales to them. It was Christian
Stauffer, Abraham’s son and heir, who sold 50 acres of Lot 30 to Peter Ramer and 100
acres to Jacob Stouffer (Christian’s son) in 1843. Christian was a lad of five when his family
had made the journey to Upper Canada from Pennsylvania. In 1849 he moved his family to
Washington, south of Waterloo, Ontario.30 In preparation for that move he donated the land
on which the Altona Mennonite Meeting House was built.
The two parcels of land that Christian had sold to Peter Ramer and Jacob Stauffer were
purchased in 1850-1851 by Abraham Reesor. By his will, prepared in October 1854 and
registered in February 1857, Abraham Reesor passed the land on to his son Abraham, Jr.
31
In 1914, Wilmot J. Vanzant took over the property by grant from Mary Jane Reesor,
Abraham Reesor, Jr.’s widow. Vanzant sold to Mehetabel Kaiser in 1918, and Kaiser to
William A. Jones in 1920. Hugh S. McIntosh owned the land from 1924 to 1928, when he
sold to Wilfred Earl Howsam. Howsam kept the land until October 1944, when he sold to
Donelma Securities, Ltd.
From Donelma the land passed in turn to Andrew Wilson Thomson and his wife in 1957, to
Gladys Defoe in 1968, to Alvin Wayne in 1968, and finally to Century City Developments,
Ltd. in 1969. Century City was the owner when the land was expropriated by Her Majesty the
Queen in 1972-1973.
BUILDING HISTORY
The Reesor mill house is a two-storey brick structure, clad in stucco.32 The front—facing
west—has three bays with a centre door for each floor. There is evidence that a porch was
once attached, but it has long since been removed. There are wings to both the north and
south, and there is a chimney at each end of the roof of the main building.
The date of construction of the house is most likely about 1850 or 1851, although it may be
earlier.33 The Reesor house is described in the 1851-52 census as being a two-story brick
house.34 In it lived Abraham Reesor; his wife Christina; six children ranging in ages from 13
to 1; Margaret Cock, perhaps a servant; and a carpenter, Joseph Edmiston. Edmiston may
have been employed by the Reesors to rebuild the mills and to help build this house and
perhaps the mill hands house as well.
By the 1861 census Abraham Reesor had died and his widow, Christina Shunk had
remarried to Joseph Monkhouse. The house was again described as a two-storey brick
house. Living with Joseph and Christina were five Reesor children (ages as given ranged
from 20 to 11); a daughter of Joseph and Christina (three years of age); a labourer, William
Maxwell; and the Altona school section teacher, Archibald McSwene.35 The labourer was
probably employed on the farm, of which Monkhouse had 117 acres under cultivation.
The censuses of 1871 and 1881 do not provide any references to house types, but the
Illustrated Historical Atlas of Ontario County, published in 1877, has a picture of the house,
the mill, and a bit of the mill pond. The house shown is a two-storey brick house with a wing
on the south side.36
Sometime after 1877, perhaps because the house was too large for their family, the
Reesors appear to have abandoned the two-storey brick house for a smaller one-and-a-half
storey frame house. In the 1891 census, e.g., there are just three members in the family:
Abraham, his wife Mary Jane, and their son Floyd. They are said to be living in a wood
house of one-and-a-half storeys, with 6 rooms. Ten years later the census return declares
the brick house to be vacant, and a wooden house to be inhabited.37 How long the house
remained empty is not known.
The Reesor mill house is Georgian in style, although a modified version. This is the building
style that would have been most familiar to Abraham Reesor. He had grown up in the Peter
Reesor house, which was a two-storey stone house in the Georgian style, built in 1830. He
would also have been aware of other Georgian-style Reesor homes, such as that of his
cousin Christian Reesor, Jr., built on the original Reesor homestead on Lot 14, Concession
10, Markham. Georgian was the style that the Reesor’s left behind them when they
immigrated to Upper Canada. And it was the style they used—with modification—when they
built their homes in the new lands. Abraham was simply following in a Reesor tradition when
he built the mill house in Altona.38 The chief obvious differences between the Reesor homes
in Markham and the mill house in Altona are that the Markham houses are built of stone and,
being larger, have five bays, while the Altona home is built of brick and has only three bays.
Perhaps because the Reesor mill house is somewhat hidden away at the end of a laneway
the compilers of the North Pickering Project inventory, produced in 1974, missed this house.
It was, however, included in the more recent inventory of the federal airport lands in Pickering,
completed by Unterman McPhail Associates for Heritage Pickering.39
Further up the lane from the Reesor mill house is a smaller one-and-a-half storey frame—
partly board and batten—house with a three-bay front. This is traditionally known as the mill
hands house. It is an unusual structure for this area having a saltbox-shaped roof. Over the
years the house has undergone a number of alterations. Most notable are the dormer and
the board-and-batten cladding (the west side has a stucco exterior).
For some unknown reason the city’s assessment rolls assign a construction date of 1920 to
this house. This is obviously in error as the house is pictured with the mill and the miller’s
house in the Illustrated Historical Atlas of 1877, where it is shown with its saltbox design.40
While it is difficult to determine for sure what the actual building date might be, it is most
likely that it was built about the same time as the miller’s house itself. John Clarke, the miller
who worked for Abraham Reesor, was living in a one-and-a-half storey frame house in 1851,
and this could well be the house here under discussion.41 It is also probably the house that
Abram Reesor and his family lived in during the 1890s when their numbers were few and
they had left the larger brick house vacant.42
This house also was missed by the compilers of the 1974 inventory. It was included in the
2001 inventory completed for Heritage Pickering, with the comment that it “contributes to
[the] character of [the] hamlet of Altona.”43
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
The Reesor Mill House is one of the oldest surviving structures in the hamlet of Altona. In
age it is rivaled only by the older (frame) section of the Altona Inn, and perhaps by the mill
hands house. The Mennonite Meeting House is just a few years younger. The mill house
served as a residence for the Reesors who were both mill owners and farmers. The mill is
gone, but the house remains along with the millpond. Both, however, are in need of repair.
The Reesor family of Altona (and Cherrywood) are part of the larger Reesor family who
pioneered in Markham and later in Pickering Township, and are themselves a part of the
Mennonite community whose settlement is so important both to Markham and the western
portion of Pickering Township. Their history and their buildings are very important to the
heritage of Pickering.
While not unique in its architecture, the Reesor Mill House is one of a number of houses built
in a modified Georgian style by the Reesor family—a style that they brought with them from
Pennsylvania. It is significant, then, in the context of the Reesor family and of the Mennonite
community in general, and in the context of the hamlet of Altona.
Among the “Guiding Principles of Future Green Space Planning” as determined by the
federal government is the statement that “Cultural heritage should be maintained with
emphasis on revitalizing and enhancing the Hamlet of Altona.” With this in mind it is
imperative that the Reesor Mill House and the mill hands house both be preserved, along w
ith the other historic buildings in the hamlet, especially the Altona Inn, the Mennonite
Meeting House, the Union Church, and the former public school.
Notes:
1. C.E. Anderson & Co., The Province of Ontario Gazetteer and Directory (Toronto:
Robertson & Cook, 1869).
2. Reesor Family in Canada, The Reesor Family in Canada, 1804-2000 (Markham: The
Reesor Family in Canada Genealogical and Historical Society, 2000), p. 5.
3. Reesor Family in Canada (2000), pp. 3-6. G. Elmore Reaman, The Trail of the Black
Walnut (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1957), pp. 103-105. Blodwen Davies, A String of
Amber: The Story of the Mennonites in Canada (Vancouver: Mitchell Press, 1973).
4. Isabel Champion (ed.), Markham 1793-1900 (Markham: Markham Historical Society,
1979), p. 52.
5. “Oaths of Allegiance,” The York Pioneer (1961), p. 30. Reesor Family in Canada (2000),
pp. 13, 21.
6. Davies (1973), pp. 23-31.
7. “Oaths of Allegiance,” p. 30.
8. “Oaths of Allegiance,” p. 29.
9. Joseph M. Nighswander, “A Brief History of Altona,” More Pioneer Hamlets of York
(Pennsylvania German Folklore Society of Ontario, 1985), Vol. 9, pp. 21-28. Joseph M.
Nighswander, “The Altona Apple Butter Mill,” Pathmaster 1:4 (1998), 29-30. Paul Arculus,
Mayhem to Murder: The History of the Markham Gang (Port Perry: Observer Publishing,
2003), pp. 27-28, 111-112.
10 Census of 1851-52.
11. John W. Sabean, “The Altona Inn,” Pathmaster 4:3&4 (2002), p. 27.
12. John Lovell, The Canada Directory for 1857-58 (Montreal: John Lovell, 1857).
13. Pickering Township: Assessment Roll for 1857 (MS 8115).
14. Pickering Township: Assessment Rolls for 1865-1899.
15. Traveller [Ross Johnston], “Our Town and County,” Whitby Chronicle (12 December
1884).
16. “Reesors History of the Old Mill” (Unpublished, n.d.)
17. Mrs. Barkis Reesor, “Local History of Altona” (Unpublished, n.d.). Tweedsmuir Histories,
Altona Women’s Institute. Voters’ List, Township of Pickering, 1946.
18. Max Rosenthal, “Early Post Offices in Pickering Township” (Unpublished 1965).
19. Nighswander (1985), p. 21.
20. Traveller (1884).
21. J.E. Farewell, County of Ontario (Whitby: Gazette-Chronicle Press, 1907), pp. 141-150.
22. Anonymous, “‘China Hall’ Altona,” The Tribune (Stouffville, 16 November 1930). Mrs.
Thomas Dunkeld, “Local History of Atha and Altona Pioneers,” The Tribune (Stouffville, 27
February 1947).
23. Sabean (2002), pp. 27-29.
24. Traveller (1884).
25. Dunkeld (1947). Nighswander (1985), pp. 23-24. Joseph M. Nighswander, “The Altona
Mennonite Meeting House,” Pathmaster 1:2 (1998), p. 19.
26. John W. Sabean, “One Room Schoolhouses in the Federal Lands of Pickering,
Markham and Uxbridge” (Unpublished report, 2003), pp. 16-17. Nighswander (1985), pp.
22-23. Joseph M. Nighswander, “Altona Public School SS #17,” Pathmaster 3:1 (1999), p.
3. William R. Wood, Past Years in Pickering (Toronto: Briggs, 1911), pp. 179-180.
27. Lillian M. Gauslin, From Paths to Planes: A Story of the Claremont Area (Claremont: The
Author, 1974), p. 207.
28. John W. Sabean, “Altona Christian Missionary Church,” (Unpublished report, 2003).
Lillian Byer, “Altona Christian Missionary Church, 1875-1975,” (Unpublished, 1975). Gauslin
(1974), p. 96. Nighswander (1985), p. 24.
29. Index to Land Patents, MS 693, Reel 157; Pickering Township Papers, MS 658, Reel
395; Abstract Index to Deeds; Thomas Ridout, Pickering Township Map (1823).
In the spelling of names I have chosen Amarilla over Amorilla and McKay over McCay,
although both variations occur in the documents. As for Stauffer/Stouffer, Abraham and his
son chose to use the spelling Stauffer, while other family members preferred Stouffer. I have
used both spellings, whichever is appropriate to the individual.
30. Reesor Family in Canada (2000), p. 26. George Walton, The City of Toronto and the
Home District Commercial Directory and Register (Toronto: T. Dalton and W.J. Coates,
1837).
31. Abstract Index to Deeds. George C. Tremaine, Tremaine’s Map of the County of
Ontario, Upper Canada (Toronto: George C. Tremaine, 1860). J.H. Beers, Illustrated
Historical Atlas of the County of Ontario, Ont. (Toronto: J.H. Beers, 1877).
32, The Unterman McPhail inventory mistakenly calls this a frame structure. Unterman
McPhail Associates. Inventory of Heritage Properties, City of Pickering: Interim Report,
Federal Lands. Toronto: Unterman McPhail Associates, 2001. The brick for this house may
have come from the Cherrywood brick works, as Reesor had moved to Altona from
Cherrywood. In 1854, when the meeting house was built it utilized brick from Cherrywood,
according to Joseph Nighswander.
33. “Reesors History of the Old Mill.” The City of Pickering’s assessment records put the
date of construction at 1930, wildly out of date.
34. Census of 1851-52.
35. Census of 1861.
36. Censuses of 1871 and 1881. Beers (1877), p. 37.
37. Censuses of 1891 and 1901.
38. Joseph M. Nighswander, personal communication.
39. G.M. Yost Associates, Architectural Evaluation of the North Pickering Project and the
Toronto Area Airports Project Sites (2nd ed. June 1974). Unterman McPhail Associates
(2001).
40. Beers (1877), p. 37.
41. Census of 1851-52.
42. See above. Censuses of 1891 and 1901.
43. Yost (1974). Unterman McPhail Associates (2001).