Part 39 (1/2)
This house used to be known as Olive Grove; and was originally built by Mr. Campbell, proprietor and manager of the Ontario House Hotel, in York, once before referred to; eminent in the Masonic body, and father of Mr. Stedman Campbell, a local barrister of note, who died early.
Mashquoteh to the left, situated a short distance in, on the north side of the road which enters Yonge Street here, is a colony transplanted from the neighbouring Spadina, being the home of Mr. W. Warren Baldwin, son of Dr. W. W. Baldwin, the builder of Spadina. ”Mashquoteh” is the Ochipway for ”meadow.” We hear the same sounds in Longfellow's ”Mushkoda-sa,” which is, by interpretation, ”prairie-fowl.”
Deer Park, to the north of the road that enters here, but skirting Yonge Street as well, had that name given it when the property of Mrs. Heath, widow of Col. Heath of the H. E. I. Company's Service. On a part of this property was the house built by Colonel Carthew, once before referred to, and now the abode of Mr. Fisken. Colonel Carthew, a half-pay officer of Cornish origin, also made large improvements on property in the vicinity of Newmarket.
Just after Deer Park, to avoid a long ravine which lay in the line of the direct route northward, the road swerved to the left and then descended, pa.s.sing over an embankment, which was the dam of an adjacent sawmill, a fine view of the interior of which, with the saw usually in active motion, was obtained by the traveller as he fared on. This was Michael Whitmore's sawmill.
Of late years the apex of the long triangle of Noman's land that for a great while lay desolate between the original and subsequent lines of Yonge Street, has been happily utilized by the erection thereon of a Church, Christ Church, an object well seen in the ascent and descent of the street. Anciently, very near the site of Christ Church, a solitary longish wooden building, fronting southward, was conspicuous; the abode of Mr. Hudson, a provincial land surveyor of mark. Looking back southward from near the front of this house, a fine distant glimpse of the waters of Lake Ontario used to be obtained, closing the vista made in the forest by Yonge Street.
Before reaching Whitmore's sawmill, while pa.s.sing along the brow of the hill overlooking the ravine, which was avoided by the street as it ran in the first instance, there was to be seen at a little distance to the right, on some rough undulating ground, a house which always attracted the eye by its affectation of ”Gothic” in the outline of its windows. On the side towards the public road it showed several obtuse-headed lancet lights. This peculiarity gave the building, otherwise ordinary enough, a slightly romantic air; it had the effect, in fact, at a later period, of creating for this habitation, when standing for a considerable while tenantless, the reputation of being haunted.
This house and the surrounding grounds const.i.tuted Springfield Park, the original Upper Canadian home of Mr. John Mills Jackson, an English gentleman, formerly of Downton in Wilts.h.i.+re, who emigrated hither prior to 1806; but finding public affairs managed in a way which he deemed not satisfactory, he returned to England, where he published a pamphlet addressed to the King, Lords and Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, ent.i.tled, ”A View of the Political Situation of the Province,” a brochure that made a stir in Upper Canada, if not in England, the local House of a.s.sembly voting it a libel.
Our Upper Canadian Parliament partially acquired the habit of decreeing reflections on the local government to be libels. Society in its infancy is apt to resent criticism, even when legitimate. Witness the United States and Mrs. Trollope. At the same time critics of infant society should be themselves sufficiently large-minded not to expect in infant society the perfection of society well developed, and to word their strictures accordingly.
In the preface to his pamphlet, which is a well-written production, Mr.
Jackson gives the following account of his first connection with Canada and his early experience there:--”Having by right of inheritance,” he says, ”a claim to a large and very valuable tract of land in the Province of Quebec, I was induced to visit Lower Canada for the purpose of investigating my t.i.tle; and being desirous to view the immense lakes and falls in Upper Canada, where I had purchased some lands previous to my leaving England, I extended my travels to that country, with which I was so much pleased, that I resolved to settle on one of my estates, and expended a considerable sum on its improvement (the allusion is probably to Springfield Park); but considering neither my person nor property secure under the system pursued there, I have been obliged to relinquish the hope of its enjoyment.”
The concluding sentences of his appeal will give an idea of the burden of his complaint. To his mind the colony was being governed exactly in the way that leads finally to revolt in colonies. The principles of the const.i.tution guaranteed by the mother country were violated. One of his grievances was--not that a seventh of the public land had been set apart for an established Church, but--that ”in seventeen years not one acre had been turned to any beneficial account; not a clergyman, except such as England pays or the Missionary Society sends (only five in number), without glebe, perquisite or parsonage house; and still fewer churches than ministers of the established religion.”
He concludes thus: ”I call upon you to examine the Journals of the House of a.s.sembly and Legislative Council; to look at the distribution and use made of the Crown Lands; the despatches from the Lieutenant-Governor [Gore]; the memorials from the Provincial Secretary, Receiver-General and Surveyor-General; the remonstrances of the Six Nations of Indians; and the letters from Mr. Thorpe [Judge Thorpe], myself and others, on the state of the Colony, either to the Lords of the Treasury or to the Secretary of State. Summon and examine all the evidence that can be procured here (England), and, if more should appear necessary, send a commission to ascertain the real state of the Province. Then you will be confirmed in the truth of every representation I have made, and much more which, for the safety of individuals, I am constrained to withhold. Then you will be enabled to relieve England from a great burden, render the Colony truly valuable to the mother country, and save one of the most luxuriant ramifications of the Empire. You will perform the promise of the crown; you will establish the law and liberty directed by the (British) Parliament; and diffuse the Gospel of Christ to the utmost extremity of the West. You will do that which is honourable to the nation, beneficial to the most deserving subjects, and lovely in the sight of G.o.d.”
This pamphlet is of interest as an early link (its date is 1809) in the catena of protests on the subject of Canadian affairs, from Whiggish and other quarters, culminating at last in Lord Durham's Report.
Nevertheless, what the old French trader said of Africa--”Toujours en maudissant ce vilain pays, on y reviens toujours”--proved true in respect to Canada in the case of Mr. Jackson, as in the case likewise of several other severe critics of Canadian public affairs in later times.
He returned and dwelt in the land after all, settling with his family on Lake Simcoe, where Jackson's Point and Jackson's Landing retain his name, and where descendants of his still remain.
Mr. Jackson had possessions likewise in the West Indies, and made frequent visits thither, as also to England, where at length he died in 1836. Up to about that date, we observe his name in the Commission of the Peace.
In the _Loyalist_ of May 24, 1828, a Biblical work by Mr. Jackson is advertised for sale at York. Thus runs the notice:--”Just received from England, and for sale at the book stores of Messrs. Meighan and Lesslie & Sons, York, a few volumes of 'The History from the Creation of the World to the death of Joshua, authenticated from the best authorities, with Notes, Critical, Philosophical, Moral and Explanatory: by John Mills Jackson, Esq., formerly Gentleman Commoner of Ball. Coll. in the University of Oxford.'” (Then follow laudatory notices of the work from private sources.)
Fifty years ago, in Canada, English families, whose habits and ideas were more in harmony with Bond Street than with the backwoods, had, in becoming morally acclimatised to the country, a tremendous ordeal to pa.s.s through: how they contrived to endure the pains and perils of the process is now matter of wonder.
One of Mr. Jackson's sons, Clifton, is locally remembered as an early example in these parts of the exquisite of the period--the era of the Prince Regent and Lord Byron. By extra-sacrificing to the Graces, at a time when _articles de cosmetique et de luxe_ generally were scarce and costly in Canada, he got himself into trouble.--In 1822 he had occasion to make his escape from ”durance vile” in York, by opening a pa.s.sage, one quiet Sunday morning, through the roof of the old jail. He was speedily pursued by Mr. Parker, the warden, and an a.s.sociate, Mr.
Garsides; overtaken at Albany, in the State of New York; apprehended under a feigned charge; and brought back to York. Among the inhabitants of some of the villages between Albany and Youngstown, a suspicion arose that a case of kidnapping was in progress, and Messrs. Parker and Garsides were exposed to risk of personal violence before they could reach the western bank of the Niagara river, with their prey. By a happy turn of affairs, a few years later, Mr. Clifton Jackson obtained a situation in the Home Colonial Office, with a good salary.
To distinguish Mr. Mills Jackson from another proprietor on Yonge Street, also called Jackson, the alliterative epithet, ”Jacobin,” was sometimes applied to him, in jocose allusion to his political principles, held by the official party to be revolutionary. In regard to the other Jackson, some such epithet as ”Jacobin” would not have been inapplicable. On the invasion of Canada in 1812 by the United States, he openly avowed his sympathy with the invaders, and was obliged to fly the country. He was known and distinguished as ”Hatter Jackson,” from the business which he once followed. After the war he returned, and endeavoured, but in vain, to recover possession of the land on Yonge Street which he had temporarily occupied.
In the _Gazette_ of Nov. 11, 1807, we have Mr. Jackson's advertis.e.m.e.nt.
Almost antic.i.p.ating the modern ”Hats that are Hats,” it is headed ”Warranted Hats,” and then proceeds: ”The subscriber, having established a hat manufactory in the vicinity of York on a respectable scale, solicits the patronage and support of the public. All orders will be punctually attended to, and a general a.s.sortment of warranted hats be continually kept at the store of Mr. Thomas Hamilton, in York. Samuel Jackson. Yonge Street, Nov. 10, 1807.”
An earlier owner of the lot, at which we are now pausing, was Stillwell Wilson. In 1799, at the annual York Towns.h.i.+p meeting, held on the 4th March in that year at York, we find Stillwell Wilson elected one of the Overseers of Highways and Fence-viewers for the portion of Yonge Street from lot 26 to lot 40, in Markham and Vaughan. At the same meeting, Paul Wilcot is elected to the same office, ”from Big Creek to No. 25, inclusive, and half Big Creek Bridge; and Daniel Dehart, from Big Creek to No. 1, inclusive, and half Big Creek Bridge.” ”The Big Creek”
referred to was, as we suppose, the Don at Hogg's Hollow.
In 1821, Stillwell Wilson is landlord of the Waterloo House, in York, and is offering to let that stand; also to let or sell other valuable properties. In the _Gazette_ of March 25, 1820, we have his advertis.e.m.e.nt:--”For sale or to let, four improved farms on Yonge Street, composed of lots Nos. 20 and 30 on the west side, and 15 and 20 on the east side of the street, in the towns.h.i.+ps of York and Vaughan.
These lands are so well known that they require no further encomiums than the virtues they possess. For t.i.tle of which please apply to the subscriber at Waterloo House, York, the proprietor of said lands. P.
S.--The noted stand known by the name of the Waterloo House, which the subscriber at present possesses, is also offered to be let on easy terms; as also an excellent Sawmill, in the third concession of the towns.h.i.+p of York, east of Yonge Street, only ten miles from town, on the west branch of the river Don. Stillwell Wilson.”
In 1828, for moneys due apparently to Jairus Ashley, some of Stillwell's property has been seized. Under the editorial head of the _Loyalist_ of December 27th of that year, we find the following item:--”Sheriff's Sale.--At the Court House, in the Town of York, on Sat.u.r.day, 31st January next, will be sold, Lot No. 30, in the first Concession of the Towns.h.i.+p of Vaughan, taken in execution as belonging to Stillwell Wilson, at the suit of Jairus Ashley. Sale to commence at 12 o'clock noon.”