Bastard, Ontario

Bastard Township, Leeds County, Ontario, Canada

What was Bastard Township is now part of Rideau Lakes Township. 

The American Revolution ended in 1783. In the next decade or two, the British government searched for land in Canada, still under British rule, where Loyalists could settle. They were concerned about American incursions into Canadian territory, and wanted to populate regions near the border. Offers of land attracted many Americans, even some who, like my 4g-grandfathers, Dennis BURGESS and Benjamin HUNTLEY, had fought on the American side. They were called Late Loyalists.

Early Exploration and Settlement

Early explorers of the area that became Bastard (Rideau Lakes) Township reported irregular land, rocky and swampy, unsuitable for agriculture. The Gananoque river, to the south, was hard to navigate, and had steep, rocky banks. 

Loyalists in Canada

After the American Revolution, those American Colonists who had been loyal to the British Crown became
uncomfortable and unwelcome. Many left or were expelled, and went to Canada, where they were known as United Empire Loyalists (UE or UEL).

The area now called Leeds County, along with most of Canada, was under British rule from 1763 to 1867. Leeds county was first settled by English speakers in 1784, immediately after the American Revolution, by UE Loyalists. It was surveyed in 1792 as one of the 19 counties created in preparation for more UE Loyalists to settle here. In 1800 Leeds, Grenville and Carleton Counties formed Johnstown District. The boundaries and names have changed many times over the centuries.

The British government developed a practice of granting large tracts of land to "leader and associate" groups, on condition that at least 50 loyal families should be settled within four years in each township. The leader assumed responsibility for settling a township, and was rewarded with a large personal land grant, up to 1,200 acres, and his associates 200 acres or more. [RoLL, p. 33]

HUNTLEY and BURGESS

Some of my ancestors spent a generation or two in Canada after the American Revolution. The 4 grandparents of my 2g-grandfather, Erwin HUNTLEY, left VT and settled in Bastard. Erwin's parents later migrated to MI, where he was born in 1823. 

My 4g-grandparents Benjamin HUNTLEY and Hester, with their younger children, moved from Rutland County, VT to Bastard between 1785 and 1789.

My 4g-grandparents Dennis BURGESS and Betsey LYON brought their large family (about 11 children) to Bastard from Pittsford, Rutland County, VT in 1796-7. 

My 3g-grandparents, Enoch HUNTLY and Betsey BURGESS, were married about 1801, probably in Bastard. Enoch and Betsey were both small children when their families moved to Bastard. They had 2 children in Bastard. About 1820, Enoch, with Betsey or a second wife, moved to Macomb County, MI, where Erwin was born in 1823.

Abel STEVENS, the Road and the Furnace

One of the leaders was a Baptist elder and pioneer named Abel STEVENS, from Pittsford, VT. He had played an interesting role in the Revolution, acting as a kind of double agent. He petitioned the Crown for land, and eventually brought more than 100 families to Bastard and Kitley Townships, in Leeds, Ontario, Canada. Among these were the families of Dennis BURGESS Sr and Benjamin HUNTLEY Sr, my 4g-grandfathers. [AS]

Abel's brother, Roger STEVENS, was a UE Loyalist, "a large landowner in Pittsford, aroused the wrath of local rebels by refusing to renounce his allegiance to the Crown—an act of defiance that led to his arrest and imprisonment and the confiscation of his property." [RoLL, p. 34] Roger died of drowning in 1793. Abel appears to have been much more of an opportunist than a loyalist. He wanted to develop the iron ore deposits in the southern corner of Bastard, and needed to bring in settlers.

Abel STEVENS made several trips, bringing groups of settlers to Bastard and Kitley, mostly from VT, starting in 1789. "He immediately left for Vermont and in February 1794 returned to Upper Canada with six families. This group 'went into the Wilderness with our Cattle and Effects,' cutting a trail through the woods from the vicinity of Williamstown [Brockville] to their chosen location in the southern fertile corner of Bastard township. The new settlement came to be known as Stevenstown." [RoLL, p. 35]

The American westward expansion after the Revolution was largely driven by the promise of free land. Loyalist parts of Canada were not the only places offering land, so it is unclear why Dennis BURGESS and Benjamin HUNTLEY joined Abel STEVENS and his group. They were from Pittsford, VT, and had similar religious affiliations. Maybe it was a cult of personality?

Roger STEVENS, originally from VT, was a British secret agent during the American Revolution. After the war, as a large landowner in Pittsford, VT, he "aroused the wrath of local rebels by refusing to renounce his allegiance to the Crown—an act of defiance that led to his arrest and imprisonment and the confiscation of his property." [RLL, p. 33] As a result, in the early autumn of 1789, he settled on the boundary of Montague and Marlborough on the Rideau River, about 25 miles NE of the area that would become Bastard Township. He built the first sawmill on the Rideau River, but he drowned in 1793.

Abel STEVENS, brother of Roger, was a controversial figure. He was a kind of double agent during the war, and seems to have been more of an opportunist than a patriot. The promise of free land led him to Niagara in May 1793, to petition the executive council of Upper Canada, on behalf of himself and five "associates"—Thomas HARRISON, Benjamin COLEY, John BARNES, Caleb COLEY and Roger STEVENS (only a few months before Roger drowned)—to grant them an entire township for settlement. [RLL, p. 35]

Abel STEVENS became leader of a settlement in the southern corner of Bastard (now part of Rideau Lakes) Township, Leeds County, Ontario, about 20 miles west of Elizabethtown. This came to be called Stevenstown, now called Delta. Abel managed to bring more than 100 families to Bastard and Kitley townships, mostly from VT. Benjamin HUNTLEY Jr called himself one of STEVENS' settlers. 

This location was chosen because it was near a falls on the Gannonoque River, which seemed ideal for a mill. This was at the future site of Lyndhurst. Then a large iron deposit was discovered in a gore between Bastard (Rideau Lakes) and 9th (Yonge) Townships. (A gore is a gap between adjacent surveys.) Abel was determined to mine and process this ore, and made many petitions.

In order to take the iron product to market, and for general purposes, a new road was needed. There was already a road from Elizabethtown (Brockville) to Bastard, which STEVENS and his group came in on. This road was extended to Lyndhurst. In autumn 1798, a further 30-mile extension to Kingston Mills, near Kingston, was commissioned, and Abel STEVENS hired 16 men for the work. These included Benjamin HUNTLEY, Enoch HUNTLEY, and Enoch's future father-in-law, Dennis BURGESS. I think Benjamin must have been Benjamin 87, age 18, not his father, Benjamin 29, age 57. Enoch was about 15, and Dennis BURGESS about 42.

The new road was 30 miles long, 30 feet wide, and included 13 bridges. All 16 men were promised 400 acres in return for their work, but it's not clear that they all received it. Enoch 88 HUNTLEY was granted 200 acres in 1802, and Benjamin 87 HUNTLEY received 200 acres in 1831. See below.

Curiously, there is a township named Burgess, next to Bastard, and a little further north, a township named Huntley. The Burgess Township was named after Rev. Thomas Burgess, Bishop of Salisbury, no known relation to Dennis.

The village of Elizabethtown was renamed Brockville, after the British General who led the British army in their victory at Fort Detroit in 1812. It's still in Elizabethtown Township. 

The counties of Leeds and Grenville were joined in 1850, forming the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Ontario, but they often appear seperate in maps after 1850. Not to be confused with Leeds Township and North Grenville (sometimes spelled Greenville) Townships.

The township of Bastard was laid out in Concessions, which are strips of land about 1.25 miles in width, running SW to NE. Each Concession was divided into 200-acre Lots, of width 0.25 miles. There were some slight variations. See [RoLL, p. 33].

On 3 Mar 1803, Benjamin HUNTLEY appeared in the records of a church in Chantry. "The first church organization known in this part of Eastern Ontario was organized as a Baptist church on March 3rd 1803 at the home of Banjamin [sic] Huntley, situated on the road from Bricks School to Plum Hollow. This farm was later owned by Orrison Lillie." The record also mentions "...Stoddarts School, now called Brick School Corners, two miles north east of Chantry..." Plum Hollow is about 3 miles east and 1 mile south of Chantry. That puts Benjamin's farm just over 2 miles east and 1 mile north of Chantry.

BURGESS and HUNTLEY land in Bastard and Kitley

Benjamin HUNTLEY had moved his family to Canada, and was living in Elizabethtown (later called Brockville) as early as May 1789. On 13 Oct 1789, he was granted 200 acres by the Crown, having sworn to have "neither served the King nor Congress during the late War." 

A list of early property owners in Bastard [RoLL, p. 568] dated 14 Feb 1798, has:

Dennis BURGESS on Lot 18 Con 8. He was "On the Lot with his family."
Enoch HUNTLEY on Lot 9 Con 9. Also "On the Lot with his family."

William TITUS on Lot 13 Con 8. Also "On the Lot with his family." [Son-in-law of Dennis BURGESS]
Benjamin HUNTLEY on Lot 1, Con 6, "This lot said to be reserved, he asks another."

The British Crown began distributing patents for land in Bastard on 8 Jul 1799, but Benjamin HUNTLEY didn't receive one. He was promised 400 acres for his help building a road in 1798.

The book [LO] contains a record of land grants, grouped by family, which is very useful. Unfortunately, it doesn't tell us how much land was granted, or the exact location. Grants were usually about 200 acres.

The 200-acre property in Lot 9 Con 9 was under the name of Enoch HUNTLEY since Feb 1798. Enoch was only 15 or 16 in 1798, so this must have been his father's land. On 17 May 1802, Enoch was granted a patent for this property. He sold 77.5 acres on 2 Feb 1816 for £50 to Carey KNAPP. [source] On 30 Jun 1835 he sold 52+ acres for £20 to Ira PARISH. [source] On 17 Oct 1849 he sold more land in Lot 9 Con 9 for £20 to Josiah BULLARD.

Enoch moved to MI by 1820, and the only records of him in Canada after 1806 are these land transactions, so he may have been living in MI while still owning land in Canada. The landowners in 1880, shown in the map above, included LILLIE, BULLARD, STEVENS and HUMPHRIES. The road that cuts across the property, in the 1880 map, was later called Daytown Road.

Another 200-acre property called Lot 18 Con 8 was the home of Dennis BURGESS and family, since Feb 1798. He was formally granted a patent for this land on 17 May 1802. Dennis BURGESS died about 1810. On 21 May 1812, his eldest son, Josiah D. BURGESS, sold the 200 acres in Lot 18 Con 8 for £440, a large sum at the time, to Seth WARNER. Josiah removed to MI about 1821. (See below.) By 1880 this land was owned by J. BARSTOW Jr and Sr, as shown in the map.

Lot 13 Con 8 was granted on 6 Aug 1819 to William TITUS, son-in-law of Dennis BURGESS. As mentioned above, he had lived on the property since 1798. He sold 50 acres on the front end to Jonathan B. DAY on 25 Apr 1837. His son John L. TITUS inherited the rest. The 1880 map, above, seems to have J. TITUS and L. D. McCOLLUM as property owners.

Benjamin HUNTLEY Jr was still in Bastard in 1833, when his son Reuben was born. Most of his siblings had removed to Lapeer County, MI about 1820, and he followed them between 1833 and 1837. On 10 Feb 1831 he was granted by the Crown all 200 acres in Lot 15 Con 9, about 2 miles southwest of the Enoch HUNTLEY property. [source] He sold the property 39 days later, on 21 Apr 1831 to Stephen SEAMAN for £100. It appears in the 1881 map above, next to Upper Beverly Lake, with property owners E. WOODS and W. M. CAMPBELL.

Military

In the early 19th Century, Captain Jeremiah DAY commanded a company of the 2nd Regiment of the Leeds Militia consisting mainly of men from Bastard Township.

German BURGESS served at Port Henry in 1814. He and his brother, Clossen BURGESS, both served at Kingston in 1815.

Benjamin HUNTLEY served in 1823, 4 and 5, location unspecified. This was probably Benjamin 87 HUNTLEY, son of Benjamin 29 HUNTLEY and Betsey LYON, received 200 acres in 1831.

William TITUS served in 1820, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6, location unspecified. He served with DENNIS B. TITUS and Vincent B. TITUS, possibly his brothers.

Sources

[AS] Abel Stevens Biography

[ASK] Abel Stevens on The Knowltons website

[CL] Census Records for Leeds, Ontario, Canada 

[CLU] Ontario / Crown Land Use Policy Atlas

[DM] The Delta Mill Conservation Report

[HM] The Heritage Map of the Township of Rideau Lakes and the Village of Westport, available at the Rideau Lakes History Center, in Delta, Leeds, Ontario

[L] Land Petitions in Upper Canada 

[LO] The Loyalists in Ontario: The Sons and Daughters of the American Loyalists of Upper Canada (1973) by William D. Reid (requires Ancestry license)

[MOC] 1880 Maps of Ontario Counties

[OLR] Onland / Ontario Land Registry Access

[OSM] Old Stone Mill, Delta, Ontario

[RLPL] Rideau Lakes Public Library

[RoLL] The Rear of Leeds & Lansdowne : the making of community on the Gananoque River frontier, 1796-1996 by Glenn J. Lockwood (1996)

[SF] Smiths Falls Digital Archive

[TB] True blue : the Loyalist legend (1985) by Stewart, Walter (free to borrow)

[TOC] Transcribed Ontario Censuses

[TWHL] History of Leeds and Grenville Ontario, : from 1749 to 1879, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers (1879) by Thaddeus William Henry Leavitt

[WPH] The Witch of Plum Hollow

Updated 4 Feb 2023 by William Haloupek. Contact haloupek at gmail dot com.