On July 17th, 1797, the inhabitants of the Township of York and adjoining Townships were assembled to elect Town and Parish officers. The following individuals were elected. Town Clark: Thomas Barry Assessors: George Playter and Thomas Barry Collector: Samuel Heron Overseers of the High Ways: John Dennis for the Humber William Berzy for the German Settlement Nicholas Miller for Yonge Street John Ashbridge for the Bay Isaiah Skinner for the Don Abner Miles for the Town Town Wardens: Thomas Barry and Samuel Heron Constables for the Town: Duke William Kindrick and John Coon Constable for the Humber: Isaac Devins Dᵒ for German Settlement: John Stern Dᵒ for Yonge Street: Joseph Johnson In 1797, the official number of people living in York and the surrounding area was 437 - 260 males and 177 females. In York, there were 115 males and 97 females who were part of Freehold estate-owning families, along with an additional 29 single males - 241 in total. There were 59 inhabitants of the Don and Marsh - 32 males and 24 females who were part of Freehold estate-owning households, along with 3 single males. There were 29 male and 22 female inhabitants of the Humber - 51 in total. And there were 86 inhabitants of Yonge Street - 52 males and 34 females. The Freehold inhabitants in York were: ALLEN, William (2 males) BADGER, Gideon, (2 males, 2 females) BARRY, Thomas (3 males, 4 females) BERZY, William (4 males, 2 females) BURNS Esquire, Alexander (1 male) BURNS Esquire, David (1 male) CAMERON, Archibald (1 male, 1 female) CARRY, Bernard (3 males, 2 females) CHEWITT Esquire, William (3 males, 2 females) CONN, John (1 male) COON, John (2 males, 7 females) COOPER, William (3 males, 1 female) DUMONT, William (2 males) GRAHAM, Captain William (4 males, 2 females) HENDRICKS, Dayton (2 males, 1 female) HERON, Samuel (3 males, 2 females) HERSCHMER, Jacob (1 male) HUNT, Joseph (2 males, 3 females) KAHMAN, John Henry (1 male, 3 females) KINDRICK, Duke William (4 males, 3 females) KINDRICK, John (1 male, 5 females) KINDRICK, Joseph (2 males, 3 females) LODER, Job (2 males) MACAULEY, Doctor James (4 males, 1 female) McDOUGALL, John (3 males, 5 females) MARTHER, Samuel (2 males, 1 female) McBRIDE, Sergeant John (1 male, 1 female) McBRIDE, John (2 males, 3 females) MEALEY, Patrick (1 male, 2 females) MILES, Abner (3 males, 5 females) MILLS, Parker (2 males, 5 females) PINING, Peter (2 males) RIDOUT Esquire, Thomas (3 males, 6 females) RUGGLES, James (2 males) RUSSELL, The Honourable Peter (3 males, 1 female) SMALL Esquire, John (4 males, 1 female) SMITH, The Honourable David William (3 males, 4 females) SMITH, William (4 males, 5 females) THOMSON, Andrew (4 males, 2 females) THOMSON, Archibald (6 males, 5 females) THOMSON, David (6 males, 2 females) WHITE Esquire, John (4 males, 2 females) WILLCOCKS, William (1 male) WRIGHT, Edward (5 males, 3 females) The single men in York were: BELL, Alexander BISSELL, Ira BUSH, Fridᵏ COZENS, Jacob COZENS Junior, Daniel COZENS, Samuel D COZENS, Shivers ELLIOTT, James ENDICOTT, John HOLLOWELL, John HUTCHINS, Henry JOHNSON, Andrew LEACH, Joshua (Carpenter) MARGH, Michael McDONELL, John NASH, James NASH, Samuel PAYSON, Ephraim PERRIGO, James PITNEA, James SCOTT, Jonothan TATE, Robert TIERS, Daniel TIVY, Thomas WARD, Thomas WHITE, Augustus WITHERS, John WRIGHT, Malcolm The Freehold inhabitants of the Don and Marsh were: ASHBRIDGE, John (3 males, 1 female) BROWN, Frederick (2 males, 2 females) BURNS, Patrick (2 males, 1 female) CORNWELL, William (7 males, 3 females) MOSLEY, Benjamin (1 male, 1 female) PHILLIPS, Jacob (2 males, 2 females) PLAYTER, George (4 males, 3 females) PLAYTER, John (1 male, 2 females) PORTER, George (2 males, 2 females) SKINNER, Isaiah (3 males, 2 females) TERRY, Parshal (4 males, 4 females) WINTERS, Jacob (1 male, 1 female) The single men inhabiting the Don and Marsh were: MONTEITH, Hugh ST. CLAIR, Samuel WIPPLE, Samuel The inhabitants of the Humber were: ANDERSON, Elias (5 males, 4 females) COOK, Silas (7 males, 5 females) DAVIS, Benjamin (1 male, 1 female) DENNIS, John (2 males, 2 females) DEVINS, Abraham (2 males, 2 females) DEVINS, Isaac (1 males, 3 females) DEVINS, Levy (2 males, 1 female) LAWRENCE Esquire, John (2 males) McLEANY, John (1 male) SANDERS, Mathias (1 male, 1 female) WILSON Esquire, John (2 males, 1 female) WILSON Junior, John (3 males, 2 females) The inhabitants of Yonge Street were: CHAPMAN, Nathan (1 male) COMER, Jacob (3 males, 3 females) COVER, Nicholas (1 male, 2 females) DEXTER, Asa (1 male) DEXTER, John (2 males, 1 female) DITTERLANE, George (1 male) FISHER Junior, Jacob (1 male, 3 females) FISHER Senior, Jacob (3 males, 3 females) FISHER, John (2 males, 3 females) HAMMONWAY, Josiah (1 male) HARMON, Henry (2 males, 2 females) HILL, Thomas (1 male) HOLLINGSHEAD, Isaac (2 males, 1 female) HOLLINGSHEAD, William (1 males, 2 females) JOHNSON, Asa (2 males, 2 females) JOHNSON, Lawrence (6 males, 1 female) KETCHUM, Senaca (1 male) KETCHUM, Jesse (1 male) LAWRENCE, Richard (2 males, 4 females) LIPPENCOTT, Richard (1 male) LYONS, John (3 males, 1 female) MILLER, Nicholas (3 males, 2 females) MONSHEAN, Balser (4 males, 2 females) PHELPS, Joseph (1 male, 2 females) SMITH, Frederick (1 male) STOCKS, John & Richard (2 males) WEGLE, George (1 male) YARNS, Thomas (1 male) YARNS, William (1 male) In June 1795, François Alexandre Frédéric, duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, met with Simcoe in Niagara during his travels in the United States and Upper Canada. Frédéric learned a great deal about the country, "the attainment of which was greatly facilitated by the generous openness of Governor Simcoe." The plan conceived by General Simcoe for peopling and improving Upper Canada seems, as far as he has communicated it to us, extremely wise and well arranged. Frédéric then described Simcoe's plans for the establishing of a capital, London, to be located on a river he has renamed from De la Franche to the Thames. Later on, he wrote that: Governor Simcoe intends to make York the centre of the naval force on Lake Ontario. In 1795, François Alexandre Frédéric, duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, described York. During our residence in Naryhall, Messrs. Dupetitthouars and Guillemard took the opportunity of the return of a gun-boat, and made an excursion to York. Indolence, politness to the Governor, and the conviction that I should meet with nothing remarkable in that place, united to dissuade me from this journey. My friends informed me on their return, that this town, which the Governor had fixed upon as the capital of Upper Canada, before he thought of building a capital on the Thames, has a fine extensive road, detached from the lake by a neck of land of unequal breadth, being in some places a mile, in others only six score yards broad; that the entrance of this road is about a mile in width; that in the middle of it is a shoal or sand-bank, the narrows on each side of which may be easily defended by works erected on the two points of land at the entrance, where two block-houses have already been constructed; that this is two miles and a half long, and a mile wide; and that the elevation of the shore greatly facilitates its defence by fortifications to be thrown up on the most convenient points. Later, while discussing Lord Dorchester's plan to transfer the seat of government in Upper Canada to Kingston: The friends of Kingston further allege... that York is an unhealthy place, and will long remain so, from the nature of the ground, which separates the bay from the lake. Click here for the full-size image. Description: Watercolour painting of Harbour, circa 1793, looking west from the mouth of the Don River. Author: Elizabeth Simcoe In her diary on Monday, July 29th, 1793, Elizabeth Simcoe described leaving Niagara and arriving at Toronto for the first time the next morning. In July of 1793, Toronto was just a bay covered in forest and no town had been established yet. Her husband, the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, had a soldiers' camp set up at the site of present-day Fort York. Mon. 29th - We were prepared to sail for Toronto this morning, but the wind changed suddenly. We dined with the Chief Justice, and were recalled from a walk at nine o'clock this evening, as the wind had become fair. We embarked on board the "Mississaga," the band playing in the ship. It was dark, so I went to bed and slept until eight o'clock the next morning, when I found myself in the harbour of Toronto. We had gone under an easy sail all night, for as no person on board had ever been at Toronto, Mr. Bouchette was afraid to enter the harbour till daylight, when St. John Rousseau, an Indian trader who lives near, came in a boat to pilot us. Library and Archives Canada, no. 1972-118-2 Elizabeth Simcoe was born Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim in England. The exact date and place of birth are uncertain, as she was orphaned as a baby and lived with her uncle, Admiral Graves, and her aunt Margaret. She married her uncle's godson, John Graves Simcoe, when she was sixteen. In 1791, her husband was appointed the first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, and they made the trip from England. After spending some time in Quebec and then Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake), she arrived at York on July 30th, 1793. In 1796, her husband was given a leave of absence and the Simcoes left for England, never to return. During her time in Canada, she kept a diary and produced many sketches and watercolour paintings of her surroundings. François Alexandre Frédéric, duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, described her in 1795 as: ...timid, and speaks little; but she is a woman of sense, handsome and amiable, and fulfils all the duties of the mother and wife with the most scrupulous exactness. The performance of the latter she carries so far as to be of great assistance to her husband by her talents for drawing, the practice of which, confined to maps and plans, enables her to be extremely useful to the Governor. Click here for the full-size image. Description: Watercolour painting of Harbour in 1793, looking west to the Queen's Rangers camp. The camp would eventually develop into Fort York. Date: 30 July, 1793 Author: Elizabeth Simcoe John Graves Simcoe was born in Cotterstock, England, in 1752. His father, a captain in the Royal Navy who was involved in the Siege of Louisbourg in 1758, died in 1759. He had intended for his son to pursue a military career as well, and John eventually chose this path, entering the British Army in 1770. He was sent to the Thirteen Colonies, seeing action in the American Revolutionary War. He was wounded during battle in 1782 and returned to England, marrying Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim that year. In 1790, he was elected as a Member of Parliament, but resigned when he was appointed as the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada on September 12, 1791. He held this position from 1791 to 1796. In 1793, he established York. François Alexandre Frédéric, duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, provided his opinion of Simcoe when they met in 1795. In his private life, Governor Simcoe is simple, plain, and obliging. He inhabits a small miserable wooden house, which formerly was occupied by the commissaries, who resided here on account of the navigation of the lake. His guard consists of four soldiers, who every morning come from the fort, and return thither in the evening. He lives in a noble and hospitable manner, without pride; his mind is enlightened; his character mild and obliging; he discourses with much good sense on all subjects, but his favourite topics are his projects and war, which seem to be the objects of his leading passions. According to Henry Scadding in Toronto of Old, on Thursday, May 9th, 1793, the Niagara-based Upper Canada Gazette reported the following: On Thursday last his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, accompanied by several military gentlemen, set out in boats for Toronto, round the Head of the Lake Ontario, by Burlington Bay; and in the evening his Majesty's vessels the Caldwell, and Buffalo, sailed for the same place. The Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, had left for Toronto on May 2nd, and would return to Niagara on the 13th, as reported in the May 16th Gazette. An earlier letter, dated April 5th, 1793, from Simcoe to the Lieutenant-Governor of Lower Quebec, Major-General Clarke, suggests that Simcoe's May visit to Toronto was his first. Credit: Exclusive permission to reproduce this image was very kindly provided to the Toronto Project by the Map and Data Library, University of Toronto. This image may not be reproduced. Original link found at here. Click here for the full-size image. In 1788, Alexander Aitken (sometimes spelled Aitkin), a deputy surveyor, had prepared an initial survey of York Harbour on the instructions of the Governor-in-Chief, Lord Dorchester (Sir Guy Carleton, First Baron Dorchester). In 1793, he was asked by the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, to prepare a new survey, which included the proposed location of a blockhouse to command the entrance of the harbour, as well as a battery and barracks for the Queen's Rangers. The soundings for this survey were taken by Joseph Bouchette. Credit: Exclusive permission to reproduce this image was very kindly provided to the Toronto Project by the Map and Data Library, University of Toronto. This image may not be reproduced. Original link found here. Click here for the full-size image. In 1788, Captain Gother Mann of the Royal Engineers, instructed by Lord Dorchester (Sir Guy Carleton, First Baron Dorchester) to conduct military surveys of the Great Lakes, prepared a survey and plan for "Torento Harbour." The plan, dated at Quebec the 6th of December, 1788, covered a large area extending roughly from High Park to the Don Valley, and north of Eglinton Avenue. Mann's layout for the area included a common area in the centre, residential lots around this area, and reserved government land along much of the shoreline. The ruins of Fort Rouillé can be seen on the survey. Accompanying the plan was the report of Deputy Surveyor General John Collins, in which he advised that the shoreline was too shallow for wharves or quays to be practical, and that a prevalent west wind would make it difficult for ships to leave the harbour. In 1759, Sir William Johnson had described in his diary the initial discussions of peace and trade in the region between the British and First Nations, particularly with the withdrawal of the French from Fort Rouillé, also known as Fort Toronto. Two years later, on July 25th, 1761, at Fort Niagara, Johnson wrote the following in his diary: Captain Butler from Toronto arrived here, and gave a very good account of the behavior of the Mississagays, Chippawas, Michilimakinacs, &c., during their residence there, and by their speeches, and everything else, seemed to be very hearty in our interest. He is to set off from here on the morrow. Then, on August 3rd, he wrote: Captain Fonda arrived here from Toronto, where he said the trade was over for this season; and that they had a great deal of goods yet on hand, which he offered to sell at prime cost, but could not dispose of them. He says the Indians all behaved extremely well who came there to trade; that they sell gunpowder at a bear skin for a pound. And on August 5th: Captain Fonda came to acquaint me he was going to Toronto, as he could not dispose of his cargo here... In his Journals, Major Robert Rogers, who was on his way from Montreal to Detroit to oversee the surrender of the French fort to the English, wrote the following: I embarked at Montreal the 13th Sept. 1760 (with Captain Brewer, Captain Waite, Lieutenant Brheme, Assistant Engineer, Lieut. Davis of the royal train of artillery, and two hundred Rangers) about noon in fifteen whaleboats... In his private diary entries of 1759, Sir William Johnson provided information about the fall of Fort Rouillé, also known as Fort Toronto. In 1759, British forces had laid siege to Fort Niagara. Initially second-in-command, Johnson was in charge after the death of Brigadier-General John Prideaux, and on July 25th the French garrison at Fort Niagara surrendered. On July 28th, Johnson would write the following: The evening of the 27th, I sent 3 whale boats with a party of above 30 men to reconnoitre Fort Toronto, and on their return, propose to send to destroy it. And on the 30th: At night Lieutenant Francis returned from Toronto, and reported that the enemy had burned and abandoned that post, and destroyed many things which they could not take along, viz. working utensils, arms, &c. On August 22nd, Johnson described a meeting with "the Chippaway sachem, Tequakareigh," and other members of the Six Nations. At that meeting, trade and peaceful relations between the English and Six Nations were proposed, as long as relations with the French were broken off. Tequakareigh... also desired I would send some person to the Mississagay town, near where Toronto stood, to hear what he should say to that nation... Credit: Photo reproduced with the kind permission of Alan L. Brown at www.ontarioplaques.com. By 1759, British forces were putting increased pressure on French positions in the area. Fort Niagara had fallen in July after a nineteen day siege. Québec City would be placed under siege for three months before falling in September. Feeling that Fort Rouillé could not be defended, the decision was made in July 1759 by the fifteen troops stationed there to set fire to the fort and retreat to Montréal. When it was destroyed, the fort was approximately 180 x 180 feet, and was made up of five buildings: the senior officers' quarters, the soldiers' quarters, a smithy, a magazine house and a kitchen. Credit: This image very kindly made available for reproduction by Geographicus Rare Antique Maps (geographicus.com) as part of a cooperation project with the Wikimedia Foundation. Click here for the full-size image. This Jacques-Nicolas Bellin map of the Great Lakes appeared in the 1755 issue of the Homann Heirs Atlas Major. Bellin made use of the most advanced French cartographic intelligence available at the time, which he had access to as chief engineer of the cartographic section of the Ministère de la Marine, the depository for journals and maps from New France. Established in or about 1750, Fort Rouillé, also known as Fort Toronto, prospered. In 1754, the inhabitants of the French Fort Rouillé included: - one officer; - two sergeants; - four soldiers; and - one storekeeper. The fort consisted of a guardhouse, storeroom, barracks, store, blacksmith, officers' quarters, and outbuildings. Credit: Photo reproduced with the kind permission of Alan L. Brown at www.ontarioplaques.com. Click here for the full-size image. Fort Rouillé, also known as Fort Toronto, was a French trading post established in or about 1750. The fort was named after Antoine-Louis Rouillé (1689-1761), the Count of Jouy, appointed in 1749 by Louis XV to oversee France's colonies. The Governor of New France, the Marquis de la Jonquière, had hoped that the fort would capture some of the trade between the Aboriginal population, many of whom were using the Humber River as a transport route, and the English fur-trading post located at the opposite side of Lake Ontario, at present-day Oswego, New York. The fort was located in the area that is occupied today by the C.N.E., next to the Windshare turbine, where a monument, as well as the outline of the original fort, can be found. |