(By Watson Kirkconnell, M.A.)
Racial stocks in Canada are notoriously unstable. All who have considered the question know that the original pioneer families in some sections of the country have almost completely disappeared. At the time of the tercentennial celebration at Quebec it was stated that only some 400 French-Canadian farmers could trace back their holdings to grants from the French Crown. Ontario, though settled much later, makes a similar showing. In the township of Kingston, Frontenac county, only one farm remains with the family to which it was patented.
Great credit is due to these rare families. Their unbroken record of labor in a neighbourhood makes them the real founders of its prosperity, and their ancestral tradition of occupancy gives them a love for their homes that makes for national stability.
Surviving Pioneer Families in Victoria
The present writer undertook recently to discover what proportion of the original pioneer stock of Victoria is still to be found in the county. It was decided to treat only of those who originally received the land from the Crown. Permission was obtained to consult the Domesday Books in the vaults of the Crown Lands Department at Toronto and a list of all the Crown grants in the County (some 4000 in all was laboriously copied out. This list was then checked, township by township, and according to lot and concession, with a recent directory of the county. Two lists, sorted out into alphabetical order, were then prepared for each township, one showing the names of the patentees whose descendants still hold the original farms and the other the names of the patentees still represented locally but not on the original farms. As many men received more than one parcel of land, only the number of patentees (and not the number of patents) were taken into consideration. All cases of double and multiple grants were eliminated by checking.
The net result of this research work are shown in the table which follows. Column "A" represents the number of men in each township to whom land was granted. Column "B" records the number of original patentees whose descendants (through the male line) still hold the original farms. Column "C" shows the number of patentees whose descendants (through the male line) are still to be found in the township but not on the original farms. Column "D" is the sum of "B" and "C", or the total number of pioneer patentees still represented in the county.
Township
"A"
"B"
"C"
"D"
Emily
456
63 or 14%
145 or 32%
208 or 46%
Ops
354
56 or 16%
89 or 25%
145 or 41%
Mariposa
417
22 or 5%
97 or 23%
119 or 28%
Verulam
248
25 or 10%
41 or 17%
66 or 27%
Fenelon
275
18 or 7%
53 or 19%
71 or 26%
Eldon
352
56 or 16%
99 or 28%
155 or 44%
Somerville
143
13 or 9%
18 or 13%
31 or 22%
Bexley
69
0 or 0%
7 or 10%
7 or 10%
Laxton
143
26 or 18%
9 or 6%
35 or 24%
Carden
204
41 or 20%
42 or 20%
83 or 40%
Digby
50
8 or 16%
9 or 18%
17 or 34%
Dalton
117
24 or 20%
20 or 17%
44 or 37%
Totals
2828
352 or 12%
629 or 23%
981 or 35%
Remarks on the Statistics
Investigation thus shows that over one-third of the patentee pioneers of Victoria are still represented in the county by their descendants in the male line. The additional instances where their blood persists through their female descendants' intermarriage with other families still found locally would doubtless, if it could be traced, raise the proportion of pioneers surviving to over one-half. Further, many of the patentees unrepresented were land speculators and beneficiaries of grants to U.E.L. descendants, who did not settle on their lands but sold out later to others who did occupy permanently and may therefore be regarded as the real pioneers on such lots. A checked list of such pioneers by private purchase would raise out figures still higher, but its preparation is, unfortunately, impracticable.
The bona fide statistics for patentee survivals through the male line, as shown above, are, however, in themselves sufficiently remarkable. A record of 981 patentee families in a single county persisting for the better part of a century is most unusual in Ontario.
Close inspection of the individual townships brings out illuminating differences in their records.
Emily was the first municipality thrown open for settlement, yet it has the highest number of surviving families. There are 63 actually on the same farms and 208, or nearly one-half of the original total still in the township. The solid nucleus of this survival is the band of 142 families of Irish Roman Catholics who came in with the Robinson Immigration of 1825 and settled in the northern concessions of Emily. Most of these families still persist. It might also be noted that Humphrey Finley, the first settler in Emily and therefore in the whole county, is still represented on Lot 15, Concession 1 the original holding.
The original settlers of Ops were largely of the same Roman Catholic Irish stock (though only partially of the same immigration) and have shown the same phenomenal stability.
In Eldon the patentees were chiefly Scotch and chiefly from Argyleshire. The degree of persistence here exceeds that in Ops and almost equals that in Emily. Practically every surviving patentee family is Scotch.
Mariposa, Fenelon and Verulam were taken up piecemeal by English and Irish Protestants. The record in these townships has been somewhat spoiled by land speculators but even so it seems as if their pioneer stock had lacked the coherence of the more homogeneous settlements in North Emily, Ops and Eldon.
Bexley and Somerville were opened up much later than the six southern townships and the rest of North Victoria much later still. Some patents in North Victoria are even dated in the present century. Comparison with South Victorian townships is therefore very unequal. If such a comparison be undertaken, it will throw into even bolder relief the remarkable stability of South Victoria and at the same time betray the essential non-agricultral character of the northern townships. In Bexley, the first northern area to be opened, not one farm remains with its original owners. In the other townships the proportion ranges from one-eleventh to one-fifth. No figures are given for Longford as that township was not patented to settlers.
Persisting Pioneer Families in Emily
There now follow lists for each township of the actual pioneer patentees who are (1) represented on the original farm and (2) represented otherwise in the same township. In the former list the farms are indicated. The concessions are shown in Roman numerals and the lots in Arabic numerals.
The farms of the following 63 Emily pioneers were granted to them by the Crown and still remain in the same family:--- Moses Begley, X 16; David Best, I 12; Henry Best, I 13; James Boate, V 22; William Boate, V 22; John Callaghan, XIII 9; Patrick Callaghan, VII 7; John Carroll, VII 16; Timothy Carroll, VII 16; Martin Carroll, VIII 10; Michael Costello, X 10; Timothy Dorgan, XI 14; Bartholomew Downey, IX 6; Thomas Fee, V 12; William Fee, V 12; Humphrey Finley, I 16; Dennis Fitzpatrick, VIII 12; James Flaherty, IX 22; Thomas Flaherty, IX 22; Daniel Flynn, IX 10; Michael Flynn, IX 10; William Ford, II 8; George Franks, VII 22; Martin Harrington, XI 8; Timothy Heenan, XII 3; Patrick Herlihey Sr., XII 14; Patrick Herlihey Jr., XII 14; Patrick Hickey, X 10; Michael Houlihan, XII 7; Henry Jackson, II 18; David Kennedy, XIII 3 and XIV 3; Wm. Kennedy, XIV 2; Wm Laidley, IV 3; James Madigan, XII 13; Michael Madigan, XII 13; John Milloy, VIII 3; Peter Milloy, VIII 3; John Mitchell, IV 13; Timothy Morrisey, X 17; Patrick Murtha, XIII 13; Edward Morrisey, IX 14; Michael McAuliffe, IX 20; John McCarrell, III 18; John McFeeters, XIV 17; William McGahey, XII 2; Samuel McGee, II 10; Arthur McQuade, V 9; Edmund O'Donnell, VI 23; John O'Leary, IX 6; Richard Padget, XIII 9; Bartholomew Piggott, XI 5; Daniel Piggott, XI 5; Edmond Piggott, X 4; John Scully, VII 2 and IX 2; Charles Shaw, IV 3; Henry Sheerin, III 17; John Smith, XIII 6; Dennis Sullivan, VII 20; John Sullivan, XII, 21; Tobias Switzer, V 18; John Toole, II 4; Daniel Winn, VIII 2; Robert Winn, VIII 1.
The family names of the following 145 original patentees are still to be found in Emily but not on the original farms:--- Edward Bailey, David Balfour, James Balfour, William Barrett, James Best, John Best, Wm. Best, John Blackwell, Wm. Bradley, Cornelius Callaghan, Jeremiah Callaghan, Samuel Carew, Thomas Carew, Edmond Callaghan, Charles Chambers, Patrick Clancy, John Clark, John Collins, Michael Collins, Dennis Connell, George Connell, John Connell, Patrick Connell, Samuel Cottingham, William Cottingham, Samuel Davidson, Daniel Donoghue, Dennis Donoghue, Maurice Donoghue, John Dorgan, Francis Duffy, Thomas Elliot, Robert English, William Elliot, Henry Fee, Samuel Ferguson, Daniel Fitzpatrick, Patrick Fitzpatrick, John Flynn, Terence Flynn, Michael Flaherty, Patrick Flaherty, John German, Hugh Graham, Abraham Groves, Thomas Groves, David Guiry, Sarah Hamilton, Abraham Henderson, David Henderson, Francis Henderson, James Henderson, Robert Henderson, Thomas Henderson, William Henderson, Dennis Hennessy, Dennis Houlihan, Wm. Houlihan, Anthony Hunter, Thomas Houlihan, William Irwin, John Jackson, Michael Jackson, Robert Jackson, Andrew Jamieson, Samuel Jamieson, Henry Jones, Hugh Jones, Humphrey Jones, Adam Jones, James Jones, John Jones, Robert Jones, James Laidley, James Lang, William Lang, John Latchford, Michael Lowes, Richard Lowes, Geo. Miller, John Miller, Wm. Miller, Joseph Mills, Wm. Mills, John Magee, George Mitchell, James Mitchell, Jeremiah Mitchell, Robert Mitchell, Thomas Mitchell, Wm. Mitchell, Zachariah Mitchell, Henry Moore, John Moore, James Moore, Thomas Moore, David Mulcahey, Wm. Mulcahey, James Murray, Peter Murtha, Martin McAuliffe, Edward McCall, Isaiah McCall, James McCall, James McCarrell, Robert McCarrell, Wm. McConnell, Anthony McDonald, Wm. McMullen, Dennis O'Connor, Neil O'Donnell, Francis O'Leary, Samuel O'Leary, Timothy O'Leary, Patrick O'Neil, George Padget, Wm. Parker, John Pogue, Eliza Patrick, Wm. Piggott, Michael Powers, John Rehill, Mark Robinson, Samuel Robinson, David Rowan, Thomas Rowan, Robert Sherin, Edward Sullivan, Michael Sullivan, Adam Thornton, David Thornton, John Thornton, Wm. Thornton, Jabez Thurston, Wm. Thurston, John Twomey, Maurice Twomey, Elliot White, Richard White, Wm. Wilson, Samuel Windrim, George Winn, Henry Winn, Simeon Wright.
Surviving Pioneer Families in Ops
Descendants of the following 56 pioneer patentees in Ops still hold the original farms today:-- Robert Blaylock, XI 5; Francis Brady, V 6; William Brady, V 6; Owen Carlin, VI 9; Arthur Collins IX 15; John Connell, III 7; Wm. Corley, IV 20; Charles Cornell, XI 7; Andrew Costello, I 22; John Cudahee, I 10; Patrick Cunningham, VIII 15; John Deyell, VIII 4 and 5; George Downey, VIII 6; Timothy Finnegan, II 13; James Graham, II 24; Wm. Graham, I 24; Peter Greenan, VI 9; Abraham Hartley, X 18; Sampson Hazelton, IV 21; Thomas Hawkins, VIII 8; Joseph Hickson, IX 9; John Hickson Sr., IX 8; John Hickson Jr., IX 8; Timothy Heenan, IX 19; Samuel Jamieson, VII 8; Patrick Leddy, III 20; Thomas Lee, VI 5; John Logie, VII 20; Isaac Moynes, II 28; John Murphy, V 11; Michael Murphy,V 11; Roger McHugh, V 14; Patrick McHugh, III 5; Michael McCabe,VII 5; David McGahey, VI 14; Wm. McGinnis, XI 21; Alex. McNeil, III 26; Elizabeth Pogue, X 1; James Pogue, XI 1; William Pogue, I 16; Charles Peel, XI, 19; Thomas Ray, III 15; James Rea, X 6; William Rea Jr., X 6; Joseph Reynolds, VII 5; Robert Reynolds, VII 5; Wm. Reynolds, VII 5; Thomes Robertson, VI 15; Edward Shaw, XI 2; Richard Shaw, IX 5; John Shea, V 8; Mary Shea, V 8; Edward Tully, V 18; Peter Tully, V 9 and 18; John Walker, VII 15; Benjamin White, X 25.
The following 89 patentees' families are represented but not on the old farms:--- Thomas Bell, Philip Bennett, Wm. Best, James Blackwell, John Blackwell, Wm. Blackwell, Michael Brady, Philip Brady, Garrett Brock, Samuel Brown, Charles Burke, Elizabeth Burke, Patrick Burke, Robert Clarke, Catherine Collins, Timothy Collins, Richard Connor, David Corneil, James Cudahee, James Cunningham, John Cunningham, Joanna Curtin, John Ellis, Philip Farrelly, Daniel Finnegan, Patrick Finnegan, Duncan Fisher, Patrick Fitzpatrick, Robert Finnegan, John Graham, Andrew Hall, James Hall, Cornelius Hogan, James Hogan, John Hogan, Patrick Hogan, Martin Hogan, Richard Houghton, Alex. Hunter, Francis Hutton, James Hutton, George Jackson, John Kennedy, James Kerr, Wm. Jackson, Patrick Lee, William Logie, John Lynch, William Lynch, James Maloney, John Maloney, Thomas Miller, Dennis Murphy, Samuel Magahey, Andrew Magee, Francis McCabe, James McCabe, Patrick McCabe, Bernard McGeough, Charles Naylor, John Naylor, John Nugent, Thomas Nugent, Maurice O'Connell, Patrick O'Connell, Samuel Parkin, John Peel, James Powers, Michael Quillan, David Ray, Thomas Rea, William Rea, James Reid, Wm. Robertson, Thomas Robinson, Jeremiah Scully, James Shea, Thomas Simons, John Sloan, Robert Thorne, Daniel Twohey, Dennis Twohey, James Twohey, John Twohey, Thomas Twohey, James Walker, Ann White, George Wilson, James Wilson.
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