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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2100JONES-ELSON HOUSE 1065 Concession 2 Road Concession 2, Lot 1 Town of Uxbridge Ex-Elson PIN 181 March 2003 by John W. Sabean Historical Consultant Jones-Elson House 1065 Concession 2 Road Concession 2, Lot 1 Town of Uxbridge PIN 181 Ex Elson PROPERTY HISTORY The patent for Lot 1, Concession 2, Uxbridge Township was given to John Willson, 13 March 1805. David Willson, probably John’s brother, purchased the entire 200 acres four and a half years later.1 David kept the land for another 20 years and then began to sell the lot in parcels. Peter Sebodo purchased the southwest quarter in 1834, and sold the same land to Joseph Brown three years later. Brown disposed of his land to John Nigh in 1841. Abraham Stouffer then purchased 91 acres from Nigh in 1849, and turned them over to his son Christian. In 1850 William Cooper purchased two sections of land in the southwest corner, upon which he erected an inn. Five years later, Andrew Lindsay bought Cooper out. Lindsay ran the inn after Cooper, but did not retain all of the property. He sold portions of it to James Forsyth in 1856 and 1858. From Forsyth the land passed through several hands: Leonard Morden in 1860, Joseph Monkhouse later that same year, Jacob G. Hoover in 1868, Thomas Boothby in 1875, Fanny Lehman in 1880, and Jacob B. Hagey in 1895. When Abijah Jones, Jr. purchased the land in 1901, he came to stay. He lived on the lot for 40 years before selling to watchmaker Weyman E. Irwin in 1941. After Irwin’s death, his estate sold the land to Cecil Story in 1953. Story immediately disposed of the land to Ellwood and Isola Elson. The Elsons were in possession in 1972 when the land was expropriated by Her Majesty the Queen. PERSONAL HISTORY Willson Most of the patentees of the southwest corner of Uxbridge Township—Bostwick, Winn, Hazard, Millard, and Evans—were Quakers. None, however, except Millard, settled in Uxbridge.2 John Willson, the patentee of Lot 1, Concession 2, took the Oath of Allegiance before William Willcocks in York on 11 March 1805: JOHN WILLSON of Gwilingbury Yeoman Twenty three Years Old a Protestant, Dark brown Hair and Hazel Eyes five feet six Inches high, having taken the Oaths prescribed by Law do Subscribe the same at York the 11th Day of March 1805.3 John was not a Quaker, as evidenced by his swearing an oath, but David (his brother?), who purchased the land from him, became a noted Quaker after converting from his former Presbyterian faith. It was David Willson who founded the Children of Peace in 1812 and was the inspiration behind the building of Sharon Temple in the 1820s. Neither John nor David settled Lot 1, Concession 2 in Uxbridge, but about 1829 David began to sell the lot off in parcels— perhaps to help finance the building program in Sharon and to defray the expenses of Sharon Temple’s costly festivals.4 Cooper and Lindsay There is no record of any building having been erected in the southwest corner of Lot 1, Concession 2 before 1850. In that year William Cooper, already 60 years old, came to Altona and built an inn at a strategic location mid-way between Claremont and Stouffville. With his son James, Cooper ran the Altona Inn for five years, then retired and sold the business to Andrew Lindsay.5 Lindsay carried on with the hotel until his death about 1859. Not needing all of the land to run the business, Lindsay sold off several parcels north of the inn—most notably to George Morden and James Forsyth. Morden and Forsyth The Mordens and Forsyths were the earliest families to settle in southwest Uxbridge Township. David Morden brought his family up from Pennsylvania and shortly thereafter James Forsyth arrived in the same area on his own, having set out from Georgia. Forsyth married David Morden’s daughter, Eleanor. Their son, David, born in 1808, may well have been the first immigrant child born in Uxbridge Township. Nine more children were to follow —all being raised in what later became the hamlet of Glasgow.6 Monkhouse and Jones Joseph Monkhouse owned the parcel in question for about eight years, but did not live on it, his home being on the Pickering side of Altona, where he ran the mill and a store, and farmed at various times in his life.7 The family that occupied the lot the longest was that of Abijah Jones, Jr. It was Abijah’s father who built the Temperance Hall (probably in the 1850s) on his own land on the northwest corner of the hamlet of Altona. Abijah Jones, Sr. was a Universalist and used the Temperance Hall in part to hold religious services—when it was not in use as an alternative to the licenced establishment across the street.8 BUILDING HISTORY The Township of Uxbridge Heritage Inventory assigns the erection of this house to about 1860.9 This date corresponds to the time when the land was subdivided by Andrew Lindsay, and seems to be the most likely time for a house (or houses) to have been built. But whether the house was built for the Forsyths, Mordens or Monkhouses it is not now known. There is no documentation or tradition that reveals the exact circumstances of the building of the house. Even the evidence of the census data is inconclusive, because each of the property owners around that period had another property, which was their principal residence. The compilers of the North Pickering Project in 1974 failed to include this house in their inventory.10 Notes 1 All land transactions as per the Abstract Indices of Deeds. John Willson appears on Wilmot’s Survey Plan of 1805. David Willson’s purchase was dated 14 November 1809, but was not registered until June 1825. 2 Wilmot (1805); Sabean (2002), p. 8; York Pioneer (1961), pp. 28, 32, and (1963), p. 23. 3 York Pioneer (1961), p. 31, #64. 4 Sabean (2002), pp. 8-9. 5 Sabean (2002), pp. 11-12. 6 Todd (1980), p. 10. 7 Monkhouse was a prominent figure in Altona and in Pickering Township. He served as a Township Councillor and as Reeve. See Sabean (2002), pp. 5-6. 8 Gauslin (1974), pp. 207-208; Sabean (2002), p. 7. In the Census of 1881 Abijah Jones’s religion was given as Universalist. His wife and daughter Sarah (age 27) are described as “Free Thinkers.” Abijah Jones, Jr. and the other children are listed as Canada Baptist. 9 Woods (1991). 10 Yost (1974).