HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-00020"PICKERING TOWNSHIP HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PATHMASTER
WINTER EDITION VOLUME 2 NUMBER 2
WHAT'S INSIDE
Pickering has long claimed the site of the Seneca village of Gandatsetiagon to which Father
Fenelon came to teach school in the winter of 1669-70. Must we now forfeit that claim to
Scarborough?
The story of the O'Connor family ""since 1832"" is continued up to the present in this issue.
It's been a long evolution, from Denis the pioneer, through George with ""some cows"", to the
modern dairy farm with 250 Holsteins.
Cleeve and Jean Horne, respected Canadian artists, built their country retreat in Pickering
Township 40 years ago. No, not a rustic cottage, but a glass-walled hyperbolic paraboloid.
Pickering landowners Robert Isaac Dey Gray and Angus Macdonell were set to square off as
prosecutor and defence counsel in a famous trial scheduled for October 1804, when they were
lost at sea aboard the Speedy.
Pickering Township's finest thwart the bootleggers on Frenchman's Bay— in the 1920s.
GANDATSETIAGON
? ? ? ? Our Link to a Remote Past ? ? ? ?
by Tom Mohr
PART ONE: THE QUEST FOR THE VILLAGE.
Illustration: Map prepared by Rene de Brehant de Galinee in 1669. Note that North is at the
bottom. The legend beside ""Ganatsekiagons"" reads: ""It was here that Mr. Perray
[Jean Pere] and his party camped to enter lake Huron— when I have seen this passage,
I shall give it; however, it is said the road is very fine, and it is here the missionaries of
St. Sulpice will establish themselves."" (Dollier de Casson. 1903. Flyleaf)
Most residents of the area know little about Pickering's formative era. In spite of this, the one
""fact"" that many do seem to absorb is the story of a native village once located on
Frenchman's Bay, one that played host to a pair of missionaries who established the first
school in Ontario. On the face of it, this story seems ironclad. It is the one that was supplied to
the Board of Education when they wanted to celebrate our native past by naming a school after
the village — Gandatsetiagon. It is supported, to varying degrees, by both of Pickering's formal
histories: Wood's in 1911 and McKay's in 1961. In addition it is repeated in various village and
county histories, town reports, and educational programmes. The archaeological database of
the Canadian Heritage Information Network even places Gandatsetiagon squarely beneath
St. Martin's Anglican Church.
Yet, as one scratches the surface even a little, questions begin to arise. Descriptive phrases
start to take on a familiar pattern, suggesting a common source. Upon revisiting the existing
literature, what begins to emerge is the sense that Frenchman's Bay never did have a complete
monopoly on the site. Alternate locations have included Port Hope, Bowmanville, Whitby,
and the mouth of the Rouge River, although most of these are based upon obvious errors in the
interpretation of primary sources. One fact is clear, though. We do know that the village of
Gandatsetiagon was associated with the Toronto Passage.1
Water transport was all-important in a land without roads but these routes were often circuitous,
hence the use of portages or carrying places. The Passage du Toronto, as the French knew it,
was an overland trail, with twin branches leading from the Humber and Rouge Rivers to the
Holland River, thereby allowing passage from Lake Ontario to the upper lakes without having to
traverse Lakes Erie, St. Clair, and lower Lake Huron. This path was likely in use for thousands of
years, for even before French contact there was a far-flung trade network among the natives of
North America. With the coming of the European fur trade, the strategic importance of this route
became an issue for several colonial powers.
So who put the village on the Bay? The earliest known reference to this site occurs in the 1886
book, Picturesque Canada. The chapter on Central Ontario, prepared by J. Howard Hunter,
waxes eloquent and with confidence about Gandatsetiagon, Father Fenelon, and Frenchman's
Bay.
However, it supplies no inkling as to the author's sources and they remain a mystery —
rather, a research problem — to this day.
Having effectively struck a dead end with Picturesque Canada, research becomes more difficult
as one must approach from the other end of the sequence, with the historical documentation of
the French Colonial government. There are but three salient facts at hand: The village named"
"Gandatsetiagon; Fenelon's visit in 1669; and finally, the Rouge Trail.
Much of the early European activity in New France, including the area that would later become
Pickering Township, was conducted by Catholic missionaries. Those of the Society of Jesus
were best known, perhaps, but by no means exclusive. The Jesuits kept extensive records of
their actions, and the observations of the natives they encountered provide valuable
ethnographic material, useful even today. Father Fenelon, however, was of the Order of
St.Sulpice. The Sulpicians have not left a comparable written legacy because of a tendency to
keep their accomplishments in council between themselves and God. Additionally, what records
did exist were apparently burned during the French Revolution.
We are left with a brief description of Fenelon's mission in a contemporary book of the era,
The History of Montreal, written by his superior Francois Dollier de Casson. It states that in 1669,
Father Francois Salignac de la Mothe-Fenelon left the mission at Quinte at the request of the
native chief of Gandatsetiagon to minister to the spiritual needs of that village.
The next year he returned and there the account of his visit ends.2 But who were these villagers,
and why there, why then?
During the early part of the 1600s the north shore of Lake Ontario was an area of conflict and
intrigue, involving a complicated dance between various First Nations groups and European
Colonial powers. The era saw the mighty Iroquois Confederacy drive the French from the lake
and scatter the local Huron — first north, then into virtual oblivion. The Huron, allied with the
French, and traditional enemies of their Iroquois cousins, were subsequently hunted down, killed,
displaced, or absorbed by neighbouring tribes, but effectively vanquished as a people.
The new mercantile economy of the land demanded that trade continue, and in the mid-1660s,
the Iroquois conducted an organised foray onto the north shore, establishing fortified settlements
at key spots on the trade network. It was the Seneca who established Gandatsetiagon to
control the trail, provide a stopping place on the route north3 and perhaps establish a fall-back
zone should their New York brethren be forced out by the hostile Susquehannock of
Pennsylvania. The size of the community has been estimated at some 500 to 800 residents,
which would have required a village site of perhaps 10 acres. Smaller satellite hamlets would
have seen use for farming, fishing, and other requirements of village infrastructure.
Furs were routed either to Iroquois settlements on the south shore of the lake and thence to the
British and Dutch of New York, or trade was conducted on site. The French, however,
were not about to let these parties cut the economic heart out of their empire and began to
re-assert their claim to the lake with the force of the military. In a decision that was likely
pragmatic, for life must go on no matter which Europeans held mastery of the region,
the Seneca of Gandatsetiagon requested a priest from the Quinte mission.4 Placing a
missionary in their midst would serve to confirm their co-operation with a cynical New France
even as goods continued to flow down the trail and across the lake to Albany and
New Amsterdam.
Fenelon stayed over the winter of 1669-70, a winter which current research suggests was not
necessarily as harsh as history tells us. A re-examination of the literature confirms that it was
Fenelon's friend and associate, Father D'Urfe who was reduced to hunting squirrels and
gnawing on fungus at Ganaraske, not Fenelon at Gandatsetiagon.5 Fenelon then returned to
Quinte and from there to Montreal to quarrel with the Intendant Frontenac in a wholly different
matter. Others followed him to Gandatsetiagon; traders, explorers, missionaries, and warriors
were drawn to the trail but until the coming of the Marquis de Denonville not much more was
heard of the village.
* * *
The main source for our knowledge of Fenelon's sojourn at Gandatsetiagon comes from Claude
Trouve who said simply: ""After his arrival [at Quinte] he [Fenelon] went to winter in the village of
Gandatsetiagon, inhabited by a separate branch of the Senecas who had come to the north
shore of which we were in charge. These people, who had begged us to go and teach them,
were delighted when their boon was granted so soon
after being asked.""
(Dollier de Casson. 1928. Pp. 359-360)
* * *
NOTES:
1 Robinson (1933), p. 20.
2 Dollier de Casson (1928), pp. 359-360.
3 Konrad(1981),p. 133.
4 Dollier de Casson (1928), p. 359.
5 Ibid.,p. 363.
REFERENCES:
Dollier de Casson, Francois. 1903. ""Exploration of the Great lakes, 1669-1670, by Dollier de
Casson and De Brehant de Galinee."" Trans & ed.: James H. Coyne. Ontario Historical Society,
Pipers and Records 4.
Dollier de Casson, Francois. 1928. The History of Montreal: 1640-1672. Trans & ed.:
Ralph Flenley. Toronto: J.M. Dent.
Hunter, J. Howard. 1882. ""Central Ontario"", in Picturesque Canada. Ed: George Monro Grant.
Toronto: Belden Bros. II: 621-654.
Konrad, Victor. 1981. ""An Iroquois Frontier: the north shore of Lake Ontario during the late
seventeenth century."" Journal of Historical Geography 7(2):129-144.
McKay, William A. 1961. The Pickering Story. Pickering: The Township of Pickering
Historical Society.
Robinson, Percy J. 1933. Toronto During the French Regime. Toronto: Ryerson Press.
Wood, William R. 1911. Past Years in Pickering. Toronto: William Briggs.
LAST ISSUE'S
What's it?
by Lys Laurence
ANSWER :
This item remains a mystery. ""Maybe something to do with textiles?"" ""Are you sure it's all
there?"" ""No"" are the only replies.
By the way, thanks to Pat McCauley for sketching the two items submitted by Jill Wollin.
THIS ISSUE'S
What's it?
This item is a perfectly proportioned 5.S cm sterling silver shovel. It is three-dimensional,
all silver, no pin or link, and approximately 100 years old, from New York. Just a silver.....shovel?
10"
"PART TWO
THE O'CONNORS SINCE 1832
By Pat McCauley
The previous issue of Pathmaster traced the story of the O'Connor family through three
generations in Canada. Arthur O'Connor took over the family farm on Concession 3 at the
Whitby-Pickering townline about 1913. His daughter, Marguerite, the family historian,
was the last O'Connor child born in the house her great-grandfather had built.
Her nine siblings were born in hospital.
Marguerite recollects that all the children had farm duties to perform. By now a herd of dairy
cows was established, and the cream separator and other equipment had to be scoured.
Electricity was installed in the barns in 1938 and shortly after in the house. The house was still
heated by a fireplace and stoves until 1956 when a furnace was purchased. Until this time the
back kitchen was not used in the winter.
Arthur and Margaret O'Connor's children went to Union School # 1 (Almonds) which was situated
on the Kingston Road on Lot 1, Concession 2, at the townline. Originally built in 1881,
it was named after James Almond who settled in Whitby in 1837 just east of the Pickering-
Whitby townline. The small settlement around this intersection was known locally as Almond.
The original school building was later destroyed by fire but rebuilt in 1917. The O'Connor
children later attended Whitby High School.
Arthur and Margaret were staunch supporters of St. Francis de Sales church. Arthur had an
active career in the parish and was the first chairman for the Pickering Separate School Board.
As well, he was a member of St. Vincent de Paul Society, Holy Name Society, and the Knights
of Columbus. Margaret was a charter member of the Catholic Women's League formed in 1951.
She was the organist for St. Francis de Sales church for many years and the main contributor to
the St. Francis de Sales Centennial History published in 1966. Margaret was also a charter
member of the Almonds School Home and School Association.
Family members reminisce about Margaret's driving. She drove an early Model T in which you
pressed one pedal for forward and another for back. At times the car became stuck in a rut and
Margaret would wait for a strong ""pusher"" to come along and get her out. She never drove
again after the family bought a car with a gear shift.
In 1926, Arthur purchased the south half of Lot 35, Concession 3, Whitby, which adjoined their
original lot on the east. The increasing herd of Holsteins was then free to range over a larger
area and make use of the Lynde Creek which snakes south through the property.
Arthur was known as quite an amateur veterinarian. He took pride in ministering to any ailments
of his stock. However, if they could not be cured, he would comment that the hide would make
great leather! This quality in Arthur may have contributed to sons Denis and Terence becoming
veterinarians. They practised in Stouffville and raised their families there.
Arthur's and Margaret's daughters became professionals in several fields: Marguerite in
business, Patricia and Geraldine as nurses, Helen and Moira as teachers. Son George was a
Sergeant Pilot killed in the Second World War; less than one year after going overseas he was
shot down over the North Sea in 1945. Morgan was a member of the Ontario Regiment (Militia).
He and Maurice remained on the farm and gradually took over its operation. Arthur died in 1967,
and Margaret in 1984.
In 1954 Morgan and Maurice helped to establish the Ajax Dairy on Commercial Avenue in Ajax,
along with other local dairymen with names long known in the community such as Balsdon,
Westney, and Lishman. The business continued until 1963 when it was bought out by Ideal Dairy
of Oshawa. The milk produced by the O'Connor herd today is purchased by the Dairy Farmers of
Ontario.
In August of 1962 a fire of unknown origin destroyed three barns on the farm. According to an
account in the Ajax Advertiser of 30 August, only the quick action of Morgan and Maurice saved
ten calves and a three-year-old bull from death in the cattle barn. Neighbours rushed to save a
welding machine, parts of the milking machine, and a large milk tank before being driven back
by flames. However, the year's crop stored in the barns, including 10 000 bales of hay, was lost.
In 1973 the Ministry of Transport opened up the road allowance that lay between Lot 1 in
Pickering and Lot 3 5 in Whitby to establish Lakeridge Road (Regional Road 23), ending the
herd's access to the eastern pasturage. Morgan died in 1978. Maurice had married Marilyn
Kelly in 1958. They have six sons: Timothy Patrick, Gregory, Sean, Kelly, and Daniel.
A visit to the farm in November of 1997 gave me a small understanding of the level of
commitment required to manage a dairy herd of some 250 Holsteins. I was shown the
milking parlour where the cows stand in partitions while milking machines extract their milk into
sparkling glass containers.
In the hall leading to the stables, there was a large medicine chest and beneath it the deep
freeze containing semen and embryos for artificial insemination of the herd. In the stable area
were many individual stalls. One held a bull shortly to be shipped to Australia, while in another,
a cow who had lost an eye in a field misadventure, peered out contentedly with the other.
One huge cow seemed to fill her whole stall. She was nursing three new Japanese
beef-calves — another step on the evolution of the herd. In another room, long rows of cows
stood or lay down in an atmosphere quiet and restful. Outside, a long shed closed on three
sides and open to the south, with a deeply slanted roof, houses cows presently dried up.
They are allowed to roam at will and are fondly nicknamed ""the girls.""
Back in the ""office,"" Sean and Kelly, the fourth generation now running the farm were having a
quick lunch. Marguerite, Denis, Maurice, Terry, and Moira, members of the third generation,
had gathered to meet me. They affably responded to my questions regarding their family,
and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit with them.
In 1955, part of the east half of Lot 2, Concession 3 had been acquired and on this land a
new two-storey house has been erected by Kelly for himself, his wife Josie Peschisolido and
their son, John Joseph. Sean lives in the stone house which in 1982 was designated a heritage
site.
Obviously, the story of this family and the farm established over 165 years ago by Denis
O'Connor, is far from over.
Note: All land registry transactions may be found in the Land Registry Office, Abstract Indexes.
Thanks again to the O'Connor family for their interest and assistance.
11"
"Names in the News
Cleeve Horne
1912-1998
PORTAIT PAINTER EXTRAODINAIRE
by John W. Sabean
Illustration: From a portrait of Charles Luther Burton, CEO of Simpson's department stores,
by Cleeve Horne
East of Claremont, in the eighth concession of Pickering, just south of the birthplace of
Tom Thomson, sits a house of international significance, yet little known among Pickering
residents. The setting is one of great beauty overlooking, as it does, a heavily treed valley with
not another building in sight. At the height of the fall colours, as I saw it not long ago, the view is
breathtaking. But it is the house that attracts attention.
The house is described as a hyperbolic paraboloid. That, for a few people, is enough to reveal
its secret. The rest of us will never comprehend the engineering feat it incorporates,
but we can admire the structure that endures after 40 years whose walls are entirely of glass.1
In the early 1950s, Toronto artists Cleeve and Jean Horne purchased a 200-acre (81 hectares)
property in Pickering Township which they intended to use as a weekend retreat. As artists,
they would not be satisfied with an ordinary country residence; they wanted one that would
""make a contribution to Canadian architecture and/or engineering.""2 In this they succeeded,
perhaps even beyond their own imaginations.
Cleeve Horne died this past summer at the age of 86. To be sure his chief residence and
his studio, and Jean's studio, were in Toronto, and Pickering was only a place to escape the
pressures of work. Nevertheless, Cleeve and Jean Horne, two very distinguished artists,
and the home they built in Pickering, are very much a part of Pickering's heritage.
Horne is best known for his portraits. Jean showed me a list of the people whose portraits he
painted between 1928 and 1991. They are all prominent names, from government and industry,
church and the military, the courts and universities, medicine and banking, among others—
over 130 of them. Among them are Jeanne Sauve, Roland Michener, Ernest McMillan,
R.S. McLaughlin, Pauline McGibbon, George Ignatieff, and two former residents of Pickering
Township: Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and Charles Luther Burton, former CEO of
Simpson's department stores.
Horne was also an accomplished sculptor. Perhaps his best work in that medium is the war
memorial he created (with Jean) for the Law Society of Upper Canada. Some of his sculptures
are well-known, even if the artist's name is not. These would include his busts of Alexander
Graham Bell in the Bell Telephone building in Brantford, of R.S. McLaughlin at the Royal Ontario
Museum (formerly in the Planetarium), and of William Shakespeare in the Shakespearean
Garden at Stratford.
One of the first prizes Horne won for his art was a study of the head of Shakespeare which he
entered into competition at the Canadian National Exhibition—at the age of 9. A few years later
a plaster model of his mother was exhibited at the Art Gallery of Toronto, and by the time he was
15 a work entitled ""The Reader"" was accepted by the Royal Canadian Academy for their
annual exhibition.3 In that same year, 1927, he began his formal training in art, going to England
to study sculpture under Dorothy Dick.
In 1930, at age 18, he entered the Ontario College of Art intending to study sculpture.
However, as Jean tells the story, Emanuel Hahn, Cleeve's teacher, was not impressed by his
work or by that of his mentor Dorothy Dick, so Cleeve decided to switch to painting.
Hahn told him that no sculptor ever successfully converted to painting. To Horne this was a
challenge, and he not only received his diploma in painting in 1934, but also won the
Lieutenant Governor's medal for ""first in painting."" He was the first to receive this medal, and,
in fact, according to Jean, the medal was created for him.4
Over the years, Cleeve received many honours including the Order of Canada and the Order of
Ontario.
Although this article is about Cleeve Horne, I cannot end it without saying something about Jean
Horne. Cleeve and Jean met when they were both students at OCA. She was a student of
Emanuel Hahn. Cleeve and Jean were married in 1939. The war and her children took up her
time over the next decade, but about 1949 she began to work in art again. One of her lasting
achievements is that she was the first woman sculptor in Canada to apply techniques of welding.
Heritage Pickering has begun the process of having the Horne home in Pickering designated as
a heritage site. Wouldn't it be a great project to arrange to have an exhibition of some of the
best of Cleeve and Jean's artwork exhibited in Pickering (perhaps even in the Horne home)
to show townspeople what a wonderful legacy they have left us?
Notes:
1 Knight (1959), writing shortly after construction was completed, tells the story of its creation.
Freedman (1990), pp. 174 178, looks at the structure 30 years later.
2 Freedman (1990), p. 175.
3 MacDonald (1977),p.467.
4 Personal communication.
References:
Freedman, Adele. 1990. Sight Lines. Toronto: Oxford.
Gauslin, Lillian M. From Paths to Planes. Claremont: the author, 1974.
Knight, James A. 1959. ""A Wild and Wonderful House that Soars,""
Canadian Homes and Gardens 36(1):14-52.
MacDonald, Colin S. 1977. A Dictionary of Canadian Artists. Ottawa: Canadian Paperbacks
Publishing Co. 3rd ed. 2:467-469.
12"
"The Speedy Connection 2
Robert Isaac Dey Gray and Angus Macdonell
by John W. Sabean
Illustrations:
- Portrait of Robert Isaac Dey Gray by William Berczy
- Portrait of Alexander Macdonell, brother of Angus, by William Berczy
That the peninsula known as Presqu'ile is today the site of a provincial park and not a town or
city is due to a disastrous accident in the Lake Ontario waters off its shores in October 1804.
In the early years of the nineteenth century plans were drawn up to create on the peninsula the
Town of Newcastle which would also serve as the district capital. The plans included the
construction of a market square, hospital, school, courthouse and jail, and even a graveyard.
The town's harbour was to have a wharf and a lighthouse to mark the entrance to the harbour.
Construction of the first building, the courthouse, was begun in the spring of 1804. Plans called
for the building of a three-storey edifice with all the facilities necessary for court proceedings.
In addition, space would be available for the accommodation of judges, lawyers, and witnesses,
among others, as well as a jail.
The building would have been far enough along by the fall to have held the trial of a celebrated
case which was to be translated from York to Newcastle. However, the trial never took place;
the schooner Speedy, which was transporting the accused, court officials, and witnesses,
never arrived in the harbour, but was lost in a storm and was never seen again.
At the time of this disaster the population of the Town of York was only about 400 people.
The loss of the 20 people on board the Speedy, most of whom resided in York, represented
nearly 5% of its population. Among those lost were a number of leading citizens including a
judge of the Court of King's Bench; the solicitor-general of Upper Canada; a member of the
House of Assembly; a constable (who was also an auctioneer and poundkeeper);
a land surveyor; a justice of the peace and storeowner; a merchant and fur trader;
and an Indian agent, interpreter, and fur trader.1
The solicitor-general, Robert Isaac Dey Gray, was to have been the prosecutor at the trial.
Opposing him as defence counsel was Angus Macdonell, the member of the House of Assembly
for Durham, Simcoe, and East Riding of York. Both were landholders in the Township of
Pickering.
In 1799, Gray purchased from the Honourable John Elmsley, Chief Justice of Upper Canada,
and his wife Mary, lots 17,18, and 19 of the third concession, and lots 14,15 and 18 of the fourth
concession, a total of 1200 acres [486 hectares].2 This, however, was only one tenth of his total
holdings in Upper Canada, and it seems unlikely that he ever intended to clear the land himself
for settlement.
Gray was the son of loyalists James Gray and Elizabeth Low, who, at the beginning of the
American Revolutionary War, moved to Quebec, where Robert received his education.
With the help of his cousin Jacob Farrand (also a large landholder in Pickering Township)
he pursued a course in law, and was called to the bar in 1794. Almost immediately he was
appointed solicitor-general for Upper Canada. He also served as a district judge for the Home
District, as a member of the House of Assembly for the riding of Stormont, and as treasurer of
the Law Society of Upper Canada (1798-1801).
After his death his Pickering lands reverted to the Elmsleys who held them until 1832 when they
sold them to an in-law, John Simcoe Macaulay a Toronto businessman and politician.
Angus Macdonell owned only 200 acres [81 ha] in Pickering Township: lot 33, concession 7,
which he received as a crown grant in July 1804, just three months before his death.
He was born in Inverness, Scotland, the son of Allan Macdonell and Helen MacNab,
but just before the revolutionary war the family moved to New York State. Like the Grays,
the Macdonells were loyalists and moved during the war to Quebec. Macdonell's career seemed
to parallel Gray's for a time. He, too, studied law and was admitted to the bar 1794,
and in 1801 he was to succeed Gray as treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada.
He had been the first clerk of the Legislative Assembly from 1792 to 1801,
and from 1801 till his death he was a member of the House of Assembly.
Macdonell had other interests other than law, and his career might very well have led elsewhere
than politics. He studied chemistry, received in 1791 a patent for a new method of manufacturing
potash and pearl ash, and was superintendent of the Salt Springs at Louth for
Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe.1 The York Gazette said of him sometime after his
death that ""he was an easy going, pleasant companion, interested in chemical experimentation
and the writing of bad poetry.""4
At his death in 1804, Macdonells lands passed to his brother and heir, Alexander,
who was sheriff of the Home District, and who, incidently, was also the executor of the will of
Robert Isaac Dey Gray.5
Alexander sold the Pickering land in 1805 to William Allan, collector of customs,
inspector of stills and taverns, postmaster of York, and treasurer of the Home District.
Allan owned other property in Pickering, and Rev. Wood was to describe him as:
""the lakefront absentee who assessed the settlers' farms carved out with so much blood,
sweat and tears; who collected the taxes and made up the voters' lists for York East,
and who in 1835, imported Orangemen tenants on his farm, Lot 18, and 19, Range 3
[broken front].""6
Notes:
1 For literature on the Speedy incident see part 1 of this article in the previous issue of
Pathmaster.
2 All land transactions may be found in the Land Registry Office, Abstract Indexes.
3 Cruikshank (1923-193l),IV:39-40, 214-215; Green (1930), pp. 409-410.
4 As quoted in Firth (1962), p. 41n.
5 O'Brien (1992), p. 114.
6 Wood (1911),pp. 199-200.
References:
Cruikshank, E.A.(ed.). 1923-1931. The Correspondence of Lieut.
Governor John Graves Simcoe. Toronto: Ontario Historical Society.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography
Firth, Edith G. (ed.). 1962. The Town of York 1793-1815: A Collection of Documents of Early
Toronto. Toronto: Champlain Society.
Green, Ernest. 1930. ""The Search for Salt in Upper Canada,"" Ontario Historical Society,
Papers and Records 26:406-431.
O'Brien, Brendan. 1992. Speedy Justice. Toronto: The Osgoode Society.
Wood, William. 1911. Past Years in Pickering. Toronto: William Briggs.
13"
"Winter Edition
SOCIETY NEWS
by Tom Mohr
PTHS CONCERNED OVER FUTURE OF HISTORIC CHURCH
The PTHS was recently contacted by the Friends of St. Francis de Sales Church in Pickering
Village out of concern for the future of their beautiful place of worship. This is the Catholic
church that graces the west side of Church Street. With its Gothic architecture,
its stained glass windows, and a spire visible for miles, St Francis helps to define the village
itself. The parish is once again experiencing growing pains and a new Catholic church is
planned for a more northerly location.
Many of the parishioners fear that this time, their 128 - year- old edifice is threatened.
An engineering survey commissioned by the Archdiocese has presented a litany of structural
faults and needed repairs that could cost as much as a half-million dollars.
The Willings report has been further interpreted to suggest that the church is unsafe and as a
result worship has been severely curtailed. This year, for the first time within memory,
there was no Christmas Day Mass at the Church of St. Francis de Sales.
It is important to note that a building's structural integrity may be appraised in two different
manners, each guaranteed to produce different results. One method promotes disposal,
the other encourages conservation.
Willings and Associates were asked to provide a figure that would bring the church up to
present Ontario Building Codes, not taking into account that the building is exempt by way of its
age and apparently ignoring the fact that the church has thus far resisted the ravages of time —
it isn't about to collapse tomorrow and if it were unsafe, it would be condemned as such.
However, among the requirements listed by Willings is a recommendation for a new copper roof
to replace the existing shingled one. Such a measure might be aesthetically pleasing and more
historically appropriate, but surely it ranks as an improvement, not a necessity. It can hardly be
considered a serious liability.
Heritage Ajax responded to Willings with a survey conducted by the Advisory Committee of the
Architectural Conservancy of Ontario. This is a group of professional architects who donate their
time to prepare assessments of heritage buildings. Their findings were dramatically different
from the engineering survey. The ACO recognises many of Willings' concerns but stresses that
little action is urgently required. A church is the same as any other building, home,
even the family car; each requires regular maintenance to remain in good order.
Any action needed to preserve the church can be applied in phases,
with more serious problems receiving priority.
With all due respect, it would appear that the Archdiocese of Toronto has deemed the
Church of St. Francis de Sales to be redundant, in favour of a bright new edifice that would
better serve the changing population density of the parish. There are apparently no plans at
present to destroy the building, but those in the heritage community observe that the best way to
conduct a slow demolition is to allow a structure to fall steadily into disrepair until the inevitable
occurs. It would be shameful for this cornerstone of both Pickering and Ajax to be allowed to
decay until it is pulled down.
Many members of the congregation wish to be allowed the right to worship at St Francis de
Sales as they have for years, as did their forefathers. Our historical traditions are a valuable
part of the social fabric of both communities, no matter what religion we practice.
A letter from the Society has been sent to His Eminence Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic requesting
assurance that the church will continue to serve as a living memorial to the spiritual and
cultural health of our neighbourhood.
In a late addition to this story, it appears that as of January 18, Ajax Council is prepared,
without application by the owner, to designate this property as an important heritage site.
This strategy for preservation is new to our area, but has been successfully implemented in other
jurisdictions. What effect the process will have upon the question of the Church of St. Francis de
Sales remains to be seen. Stay tuned.
(Readers may refer to Pathmaster Vol. 1, No. 3 for Pat McCauley's description of
St. Francis de Sales' long history of serving the spiritual needs of Ajax and Pickering's
Catholic community.)
A MULTICULTURAL PERSPECTIVE.
The first settlers of the old Township of Pickering sprang from predominately English, Scottish,
and Irish roots, with more than a smattering of Germans thrown in for good measure.
These demographics have changed dramatically in the ensuing years, especially during the last
half-century. Our population now includes representatives of every race, creed, and colour.
Cultural diversity has become an influential aspect of our community's historical timeline,
and we would like to hear some of the tales of how this area became home to those from near
and far. We intend to publish some of these ""immigration stories"" as a regular feature in
Pathmaster. Please contact Lys Laurence at (416) 287-1374 for more details and editorial
requirements.
BUT IS IT KOSHER?
Along a similar vein, our President is currently researching a subject that seems to have faded
somewhat from our collective recollection. Since the turn of the century, Pickering's scenic
lakefront location and rolling hills have provided a perfect locale for recreational activities.
Folks would come by boat, train, and later, by car, just to picnic for the day or to spend some
idyllic time staying at local resorts. According to some bits and pieces of information,
there were some communities out this way that catered primarily to a Jewish clientele.
Kids came out to summer camps, including one supposed to have been located near the site of
the Canadian Tire Store at Liverpool and Kingston Roads. Evidence of some local
anti-Semitism does exist, but that is not to be the focus of this project. If you have any
memories regarding the Jewish experience in Pickering Township, from either an inside or
observational perspective, please contact Tom Mohr.
INFORMATION ON OUR FIRST NATIONS HERITAGE REQUESTED
The process of clearing and settling Pickering Township has been going on for two hundred
years now. In fact, the year 2000 provides a reasonable date to celebrate the bicentennial of
initial settlement in these parts. But that's strictly European settlement. These lands were
occupied by the First Nations for millennia before European contact. (See this issue:
""Gandatsetiagon: our Link to a Remote Past""). To get an adequate picture of where they lived
and by what means they survived (""settlement patterns and subsistence strategies""
in Anthro-speak), we must look to the material remains of their culture. This usually takes the
form of stone tools and bits of pottery which give us hints as to a former native occupation.
Archaeological interpretation of these artifacts requires more than just a look at an ""arrowhead""
in a box. Conclusions are drawn on the basis of exactly where a piece was found, what was
found in association with it, and a multitude of other indicators. Still, often the isolated find is all
we have to work with.
PTHS President Tom Mohr is attempting to gain a greater understanding of precontact native
activity in the Pickering/Ajax area as part of a larger research strategy and is appealing for
public assistance. Many old-timers or their families have encountered a variety of artifacts in the
area over the years. Not all of these are native in origin. Trade axes and glass beads have been
recovered from a number of sites, and taken as part of a wider picture, they provide important
data about who was where, and when. This project is being conducted under licence and the
supervision of both the University of Toronto and the Ministry of Citizenship, Culture, and
Recreation, Ontario's regulatory body in regards to archaeology. Artifacts will be identified as to
type and cultural affiliation, physical details, and location of find recorded, but the goods will
remain in the hands of the owner.
Consider passing your knowledge along to the community at large.
That interesting bauble on your bookshelf could help to tie together a cultural landscape that
would offer all of us new perspective on our collective past.
PATHMASTER AS A RESEARCH TOOL
Finally, we are always interested in receiving photographs, stories about individual heritage
interests, even reminiscences of the ""old days"". Plus, if any of our readership wishes to inform
the public of a research project, or even just wants to get a question out to an interested
community, drop a line to the PTHS at one of the numbers on the masthead or email to
mohr@scar.utoronto.ca.
14"
"The Liverpool
COMMENTARY
Commentary on the Liverpool House from Margaret McBurney and Mary Byers,
Tavern in the Town: Early Inns and Taverns of Ontario (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1987),
p 84.
After mid-century, travellers reaching Pickering found a pleasant hostelry awaiting them at
Liverpool Corners near the Pickering harbour (Highway 2 and Liverpool Road). Known as
Secker's Hotel or the Liverpool Hotel, it was built in 1878 by Robert Secker, an enterprising
Englishman who settled there in the mid-1850s and achieved notable success with his hotel and
also, the records show, with the ladies.
Although illiterate, Robert Secker succeeded in the hotel business even at a time when traffic
along the Kingston Road was diminishing. Part of his success may have resulted from an
unusual domestic situation that provided him with added (and free) female help.
Secker had a legal wife, Harriet, in England, as well as two more 'wives' in Canada.
The census of 1861 recorded that Robert Seeker had a 'wife' named Eleanor
(sometimes Helen or Ellen). Ten years later, the census showed that two children,
William and Susan, had been born to them. When the census-taker returned in 1881 he found
Secker involved in a ménage a trois that was, to say the least, unusual. Eleanor/Ellen
(now aged fifty-three) was still in residence, but a younger woman was also on the scene,
listed as the mother of his 'natural' daughter, Minnie. The new 'wife' was Sarah Newman,
and she became Seeker's sole legatee. His will clarified matters a bit, as he left everything
to 'Sarah Newman, generally known as Mrs. Sarah Secker, who has lived with me for a number
of years' and to 'our natural daughter, Minnie Secker.'
Shortly before Christmas 1878, the Whitby Chronicle reported in detail one of the many festive
dinners held at Secker's. Thirty guests were in attendance. After a sumptuous meal 'served early
and in splendid style by Mrs. Secker' and 'a very temperate use of the ample liquids,'
the guests settled back to enjoy singing and toasts. The final toast was made to 'our Host and
Hostess, and success to their new hotel which they propose building.' That new hotel, now the
Liverpool House, contained, when completed, thirty-two rooms, including a parlour for the ladies.
The second floor was a rabbit-warren of small rooms, most of them no larger than nine feet by
seven.
When Robert Seeker died, the Pickering News of 27 November 1896 wrote of him:
""Deceased was 75 years of age, and has been a resident of Liverpool for many years where he
conducted an hotel business until some 3 or 4 years ago, when he retired, being a man of
considerable means.""
MAKING OUR OWN HISTORY
We began our new season in September with a basic course in genealogical research led by
professional genealogist Ronnie MacCarl. Taking the name Levi Annis as an example,
Ms. MacCarl took us step-by-step through the process she followed to construct his family
history. She had photocopied pages from primary sources such as Ontario Vital Statistics,
marriage records and wills, and abstract land registers to show us not only what she had found
but what the documents look like and what data they reveal.
What plants did our pioneers use when they wanted to make soap, to treat a burn, to feed their
horses, to keep bugs away, to sweeten their breath, or simply to decorate their
houses? Our October guest speaker, Dennis Pollock, who is normally to be found tending the
gardens of Black Creek Pioneer Village, told us of a vast array of plants for which the early
settlers found use, and showed us specimens of a many of these plants which he still grows in
his heritage gardens.
Dr. Zebediah Zonk, Phrenologist and Victorian entertainer, was our November speaker.
He demonstrated the ""science"" or system (as he prefers to call it) of phrenology by reading the
heads of a number of volunteers and interpreting the bumps according to a chart which he had
on display. In between readings he entertained us by asking riddles that date from the
Victorian era, and by showing us his collection of curiosities which he has gathered from
around the world (such as Lady Godiva's wardrobe). In his other guise as John Dale Warburton,
he put the practice of phrenology into historical perspective and showed us some rare books
from the phrenological library.
15"
"Coming events:
General Meetings of the Pickering Township Historical Society
Day: Second Tuesday of the month, September through June
Time: 7:30 p.m. place: East Shore Community Centre, 910 Liverpool Rd.
WINTER SPRING SCHEDULE
Tuesday. 12 January 1999
Guest speaker: Lorne Smith
Markham's official town historian, Lorne Smith, will address the society on the history of the
Berczy settlement.
Tuesday, 9 February 1999
Guest speaker: Ron Brown
Author and popular speaker, Ron Brown, will talk about some of the lost villages in the
Toronto-Pickering area.
Tuesday, 9 March 1999
Guest speaker: Dennis Mann
This Brougham resident and PTHS member has often been described as
""Canada's Quintessential Storyteller"". He will bring us a discussion of the virtues of oral history
versus the formal written history of a community. (We'll ask him to toss in a couple of his tales as
well)
Tuesday, 13 April 1999
Guest speaker: Pickering Village Museum Staff
One of the casualties of the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837 was
Pickering's Peter Matthews, who was hanged for his efforts to reform the government of the day.
Was he a traitor or a patriot? Pickering Museum Village staff will present the results of their
research on the day after the 160th anniversary of his execution.
Tuesday, 11 May 1999
Guest speaker: Helen Skinner
The PTHS and the Pickering Horticultural Society will welcome Spring with a joint meeting to be
held at the O'Brien Room of the Pickering Recreational Complex. Helen Skinner will discuss the
subject of Pioneer Gardens of Ontario. The Horticultural Society will also be featuring a show of
Victorian Floral Design.
Please note the new location for this meeting only.
Tuesday, 8 June 1999
Guest speaker: Richard Schofield
Our guest from the Scarborough Historical Society will speak on the subject of Port Union,
formerly part of the Township of Pickering.
Rum Running in Frenchman's Bay
From Pickering News, 1 June 1923, p. 8.
Submitted by Judith Goulin
It has been well known for some time that boot-legging on a gigantic scale has been going on for
a considerable time along the lake shore. The method adopted by the boot-leggers has been to
bring it by boat to a convenient point where it could be unloaded on to motor cars and then taken
into the city. The provincial police got a tip one day last week that a cargo of whiskey was
enroute from Belleville and was likely to be unloaded at Fairport. Two members of the Provincial
police were despatched to the scene to capture the shipment and to effect the arrest of the
outlaws. After waiting for some time the boat appeared just west of Frenchman's Bay and the
work of unloading proceeded rapidly. The officers waited until the cars were loaded and the
seizure was made on the sideroad leading to the Dunbarton school.
There were five cars in the party, but one succeeded in escaping by turning his car on to the
G.T. railway and driving along the ties. A second tried to follow, but a tire blew out and he was
caught. Thus the four cars were captured which contained 118 cases of whiskey and seven men
were arrested. They were taken to Whitby where they were charged before P.M. Clark with a
B.O.T.A. They pleaded not guilty and were released on furnishing $1,000 bail each.
One of the men had over $1,700 on his person, but none of them carried fire arms.
Their trial will take place on Friday at Whitby. The liquor secured is valued at $8,000 and was
taken to the Dispensary at Toronto.
CORRECTION:
In the article on the Cronkhites in the summer issue, the names of the sons of Robert and Marion
Cronk should be Robert, Herbert Willard, and Lyndon; the last named daughter of Myra and Alan
Lishman should read Marion Louise. The emphasis is on the names by which they were
commonly known.
PICKERING TOWNSHIP HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Editor: Lys Laurence
Editorial Assistants:
John Cormier
Pat McCauley
Tom Mohr
Gayle Quintilian
John Sabean
Design: John Cormier
Hands On Art & Design
Pathmaster is the newsletter of the Pickering Township Historical Society and is issued quarterly:
September, December, March, and June. Address correspondence to PTHS, c/o 842 Naroch
Blvd., Pickering, Ontario, L1W 1S9.
Board of Directors:
Honourary President Dr. William McKay
President: Tom Mohr 839-1221
Vice President: John Sabean 831-3811
Recording & Corresponding Secretary: Gayle Quintilian 428-1248
Membership Secretary: Anne Bridge 649-5473
Treasurer: Tony Poirier 839-6885
Advocacy & Preservation Chair: Jerry Paris 839-5474
Publications Chair: Lys Laurence (416) 287-1374
16"