History of Simcoe County
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by Andrew .F. Hunter (1863 - 1940)
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by Andrew .F. Hunter (1863 - 1940)
COULSON'S CORNERS, AND NORTHWARD
One of the first settlers north of Bradford, before that town came into existence, was William Robinson, who came to Canada from King's County, Ireland, in the year 1822, though he was of English descent. In the "old country" he had been a lieutenant in the Yeomanry. Soon after reaching Canada, he kept a shoe store in Holland Landing for five years. He bought lot 15, con. 8, (a mile north of Bradford), 200 acres from the Canada Company, and when his wife, with the family arrived in 1829, from Ireland, they all settled upon the land. Their house became the resting place of many travellers and early settlers. At the wedding of their daughter, Mary, the settlers arrived by ox teams; there were no less than sixteen yoke of oxen gathered, and the only horse in the township. Mr. Robinson had four sons - Gilbert, William, George and David, and three daughters. The homestead was the south half, and David, the youngest son, afterwards occupied it. When Gilbert, the eldest son, married in 1835, he settled on the north half of the lot. William, jr., at first settled on lot 14 (N. half), con. 4, Innisfil, and afterwards went to the "Queens Bush" when the tide of settlement flowed in that direction. Mr. Robinson, sr., bought lot 22, con. 1, Innisfil for George, who was accidently killed by a falling tree in 1843. Prince Belfry, who married William Robinson's daughter, Mary, settled on the opposite lot, viz., lot 16 (N. half), con.8, in 1830. Altogether, there were ten sons on the Belfry family of East Gwillimbury, and six daughters, two or three other sons, besides Prince settled hereabout, about the same. The buring-ground on Ira Belfry's farm, to the west, was the one Bradford people used at first.
About the time William Robinson came, Christopher Burns settled on lot 15 (S. half), con. 9.
At an early date also, two notable settlers took up lots in the ninth concession - John Thorpe and Mark Scanlon; the former, S. half lot 17, con. 9, the latter, S. half lot 16, con. 9. Both men were partly advanced in years when they came, but active. Thorpe, in course of time, became crippled with hard work and even palsied; but infirm and palsied though he was, he once shouldered his gun and shot a large bear that ventured to trespass on his crops.
They went into mill operations soon after their arrival, and, in accordance with the Government policy of the day to grant mill sites, they received grants of land for mills on the stream. They built a grist mill in 1824 or 1825 on shares. About the year 1832 they dissolved partnership, and Mr. Scanlon, alone, then built a sawmill, and afterwards another. The first sawmill was equipped with an old-fashioned "gate-saw," which was one of the earliest kinds of saws adapted to motive power, the driving power in this case being water power, as everywhere else at the time.
Others thought Thorpe & Scanlon were making money at this business, so opposition mills were established on the same stream. There were on it as many as six sawmills at one time, owned as follows: - Mr. Mackie (whose mill, Mr. Woods ran for a time), Mr. Scanlon (two mills), George Thorpe, Enos Rogers, Issac Rogers (whose mill passed into the hands of Zachariah Evans). The railway company once established a flag station by the name of Scanlon, where the track crosses this useful stream, but afterwards abandoned its use. Mr. Scanlon was a native of the County Carlow, Ireland, was made a justice of the peace in 1847, and died June 26th, 1871, aged 74 years.
George Evans and family came to this neighborhood about the year 1826 from Durham County, Ontario, where they had settled upon coming from County Caven, Ireland a few years earlier. In this family there were seven sons: - John, William, Thomas, James, George, Samuel and Arnold; also two daughters: - Jane and Catharine. James remained on the original homestead, lot 14, con. 10. A son of the latter was George M. Evans, who was reeve of West Gwillimbury for some years, and Warden of the County in 1883. Zachariah Evans, who was clerk of the township for more than 21 years, and who died in 1906, was the third son of James Evans.
In 1822, John Coulson took up lot 15, con. 11, on which he soon made a backwoods home for his family. His name, afterwards, was given to the "corners" there, and to the hill on the "Main Road," where his large conspicuous red house and barn were familiar landmarks to the early travellers along the road. He was a friend of John Carruthers, the travelling catechist, who often stayed over night there on his northern journeys (as he states in his book), as well as did many other early travellers. One of his sons, James, was killed by a falling tree in the winter of 1827, leaving a widow and two children. In the same year, another son, Robert, received a patent for part of lot 13 in the 10th concession. John, the eldest, afterwards lived on the original homestead, and William Coulson was a member of the first Township Council in West Gwillimbury.
West of the Coulsons, on lot 13, con. 11, the Kneeshaws settled early, William Kneeshaw being the head of the family. The settlers of this family were Thomas, John and Robert.
About 1830, James Tindall, a native of Yorkshire, Eng., settled on N. half lot 16, con. 12. He took an active interest in education, and was one of the promoters of Ebenezer Methodist church at Deerhurst. His son, William, was an early teacher at the "Hollows," in this township, and afterwards became a minister in the Methodist denomination.
Near this place, and about the same time, there came an Irish oddity by the name of John Gill, who erected a "Beer Shanty," the first of its kind, along the Main Road. He had no wife, but lived alone. He was a ventriloquist. In his shanty was a great old-time chimney into which he used to "throw" his voice for the edification of the travellers and loafers staying at his "hotel." He also kept the letters for the accommodation of the settlers of this neighborhood before a regular post office came into existence.
Previously to 1825, John Cayton settled on S. half lot 13, con. 12. He was a well-known figure in the early days, and for some time after he arrived he was the northernmost settler. In 1825 a movement was on foot among the settlers of the Penetanguishen distrcit to extend Yonge Street northward from Clayton's farm to the head of Kempenfeldt Bay, and thereby complete the overland communication between York and Penetang. The contract for the construction of the part as far north as the site of Churchill was secured by Cayton, but owing to his slight acquaintance with the forest, he sub-let the work to the Warnica brothers, of Innisfil, who had taken the contract of the remainder, as far as the Bay.
Another well-known resident of the neighborhood will now come under notice, as he settled in '31 or '32 - Joseph Fennell, J.P., at one time a reeve of the township, and a member of the Council for many years. The post office near the townline of Innisfil is named after this pioneer. He was a member of the Church of England, and was the means of establishing a church at Coulson's Corners, where his remains have their resting place.
About this time three brothers, of the name of Cosgrove, located at lot 15, con. 14, - William, Archibald and George. The two former had wayside taverns on the Main Road. Soon after their arrival a large burial pit of the ancient Huron Indians was discovered on the farm of William. The discovery of a large number of human skeletons in one pit associates itself with war in the minds of those who are unacquainted with Huron mode of burial. Perhaps it was on account of this discovery and the popular error with regard to its origin that William named his tavern "The Fortune of War," although another account states that on the signboard of the inn there was the figure of a man with his leg shot off in war.
At the time of the general influx of settlers in 1832, and after it, there came a number of emigrants from England and formed a settlement in the vicinity of lot 10, con. 12. From the hilly character of the neighborhood, the settlement has always borne the name of "The Hollows." John Garbutt settled here in 1823. He was one of the early magistrates of the township. His children walked daily to Churchill school, a distance of 7 miles.
Nathan Jackson, a native of Yorkshire, England, was another early settler at "The Hollows." arriving in 1837 and settling on N. half 11, con. 13. He had belonged to the Methodists in Yorkshire, and kept up his membership on coming to this country. He died, April 28th, 1892, at the advanced age of 91 years.
