Townsend Township in Norfolk County is one of the many townships in this province owing its beginnings to the unique settlement strategies of Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe, our first head of government. One of his primary goals was to encourage new settlement by Loyalists who had served on the British side and who had not yet left the United States. Shortly prior his arrival in the province, the Lieutenant-Governor issued a proclamation on February 7, 1792 inviting prospective settlers with a promise of free land grants and ordered his notice published in the major American newspapers of the day. The Lieutenant-Governor’s strategy frequently proved successful in all details, but then some from the Patriot side also enjoyed the opportunities in Canada. Townsend Township counted both as its founders.
As a result of Simcoe’s notice some enterprising American entrepreneurs responded by forming settlement companies and applied to the government for entire townships in which to establish their clients. Petitions with dozens of signatures were submitted to the Executive Council of Upper Canada. Some of these schemes endevoured to uproot entire American neighbourhoods and re-establish them in Canada. Simcoe granted the whole township of Townsend, under certain specific conditions, and delegated the actual duty of locating settlers to Andrew Pierce and Associates, including Paul Averill who was the Associates’ representative. The latter’s concentration on attracting young and middle-aged men and women peopled Townsend with an energetic group of pioneers who provided continuity from the felling of the first tree through to the development of the villages.
Pierce and Associates has a name in history as one of the most ambitious of the settlement groups formed to assist prospective immigrants to Upper Canada. The company formalized a cross-border Upper Canada and New England connection headed by Andrew Pierce, of Southbury, Connecticut and five others named Samuel Jarvis and Strong Sturgess of Stamford Township, Welland County, Upper Canada, and John Beach and Andrew Beires of Newtown, Fairfield County, Connecticut and William Whelply of Lenox, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, “& their numerous Associates.” On February 20, 1793, Pierce, on behalf of himself and the others, prepared a petition requesting six townships in Upper Canada. The petition read in part:
“Petitioners being greatly pleased with the high Character they have heard of the Climate, Soil & many other natural Advantages of the province of Upper Canada and encouraged by the inducement held out by your Excellency in your proclamation of the 7th February 1792 are desirous of removing hither with their Families & effects provided they can obtain a United Settlement Sufficiently large for the accomodation of themselves & the numerous friends & dependents who are willing to follow their fortunes.” 1
Pierce requested two townships on the “North Banks of Lake Ontario.... & four other Townships wherever your Exely may be please to Allot”. In another document signed on March 18, he specifically promised to place “Fifty Loyal Families in each Township within the space of Four Years.” As a guarantee, he professed willingness “to give Bonds to the amount of Eighteen Thousand Pounds Sterling to be recovered with Cost of Suit provided he does not comply with the above written conditions.” The two documents were personally presented by Pierce to the Executive Council of Upper Canada four days later on March 22.2
The Council decided to grant only three townships, one being “Bristol upon Lake Ontario” another immediately behind it, and a third unnamed township “next adjoining that granted to Dayton.” Bristol is the present Darlington Township in Durham County east of Oshawa. The other two granted to Pierce & Associates were Townsend and Windham Townships in Norfolk County.
At this early date, all of the centre part of the province laid largely unexplored and not yet surveyed. In 1792 pioneer surveyor Augustus Jones prepared the first survey of the area marking out the route of the Governor’s Road (present Highway Number 2), that of the Pierce Associates named Exeter and, pending individual surveys, townships were estimated in relation to the Jones survey. Abraham Dayton’s grant to the south of the Governor’s Road became Burford Township in Brant County. To the southeast he laid out the present “Burford Gore,” which at one point had the names of “Townsend Gore” and then Oakland Township in Brant County. Townsend Township in Norfolk County adjoined this Gore in the south. Pierce originally gave it the name of Exeter. Simcoe changed this to Townsend.
With his plan approved, Pierce appointed agents to supervise the development in each of his townships, promising grants of land for their services. His agent in Exeter (Townsend) was Paul Averill, a New England carpenter and mechanic gifted in the building trades. The agreement required Averill to bring fifty settlers to Exeter (Townsend) within three years, then to share in the surveying and legal fees involved in developing the township, and finally to make representations before the Land Board for the settlers Pierce sent him. In return, Averill would receive 800 acres of land over and above his regular 200-acre entitlement as a settler, giving him a vested interest in the development. On the basis of this agreement, the Executive Council permitted Averill to make recommendations to them for grants of lots to applicants.
Paul Averill, son of Ichabod and Bathsheba (Pain) Averill, of Taconic Mountain, Sheffield County, Massachusetts, was a descendant of a family that had been in America for nearly one hundred years prior to the American Revolution. As a young man, Paul Averill pioneered at Dorset, Charlotte (now Bennington) County, near the southwest corner of Vermont, and served in the Dorset Regiment of the Charlotte County Militia in the War. Afterwards, Averill continued in Dorset, married, and fathered a family of seven children. His early experience pioneering in an undeveloped area made him a good choice for a Pierce agency in Upper Canada. The first three families in Townsend earlier pioneered within a thirty-five mile radius of Averill’s Vermont home.
Five months after the Pierce grant, on August 22, 1793, Deputy Surveyor William Hambly began his survey of Exeter. Following as it did the Augustus Jones survey of the Governor’s Road, Exeter was laid out to face due north towards that route. The concessions were laid out from north to south, the first bordering on “Burford Gore,” present Oakland Township, and cut off on an angle in the east by the irregular Grand River grant to the Six Nations Indians. Except in the angle, each concession ran a regular twenty-four lots wide. Hambly worked his way south until he laid out fourteen concessions, each marked by pickets. In all there were 324 two hundred acre lots and six part-lots, of which one-seventh were set aside for crown and clergy reserves to be leased out at a later date for funds to support church and state. This left two hundred and seventy seven lots each measuring two hundred acres available for pioneer families.
Hambly’s survey was “rough and ready” hindered by thick woods and swamps with the result that some of his measurements came under dispute and proved wrong. The thirteenth concession turned out to be too wide in places and the twelfth too narrow, a problem not officially recognized until 1816 when it was too late to change.
The original name of Exeter Township came from Pierce who found its wandering Nanticoke Creek reminiscent of the Troney River in the town of Exeter situated in the southeast part of England. On August 7, 1794, Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe changed this to Townsend in honour of Thomas Townsend (more frequently spelled “Townshend)” Lord Sydney, the British Secretary of State. Earlier in the century, Lord Thomas Townsend distinguished himself as one of the generals at the taking of Quebec during the Seven Years War.
When Andrew Pierce returned to his Connecticut home to enlist settlers for his townships, he found the keeping of his part of the bargain a challenge. The New Englander’s plans began to unravel in short order when his associates backed out of the agreement. For a time, Averill continued to have the help of associate Strong Sturgess of Stamford in the Niagara District of Upper Canada, but even he fell by the wayside.
There is some uncertainty as to who was actually the first to settle at Townsend, several families having arrived in different extremes of the township all within a few months of each other. Their relative isolation understandably would lead each to consider themselves “the first.” The earliest known official document of settlement was an obligation to settle in Exeter given by Gideon Cooley to Strong Sturgess on September 5, 1793.4
The first settlement in Townsend is traditionally claimed by the family of Peter Fairchild and this hardy pioneer certainly showed an early interest. Born in Dutchess County, New York in 1760, Peter came from a family of four sons and three daughters of Benjamin and Melissa (Hall) Fairchild. Peter’s father was born at Stratford, Connecticut on March 31, 1721, then moved to Dutchess County, New York, finally settling in Queensbury, Washington County, New York where he received a grant in 1775.5 During the American Revolution, Benjamin served as a Loyalist spy who scouted for General John Burgoyne’s army. The Fairchild family patriarch brought his family to Upper Canada seeking Simcoe’s largess in 1792. Benjamin Fairchild, Junior wrote of his father’s support for the Crown in his 1796 land petition:
“Petitioner’s Father was, during the late contest in America, from his Attachment to the British Government did as much as lay in his power to contribute in promoting the interests and welfare of his Country, by aiding and assisting all Scouts and other Parties which came within his reach with provisions, conveyances and intelligence... Petitioner’s father was so situated on the North River as to enable him to give great Assistance to all those desirous of coming into Lower Canada... & who was during the whole of General Burgoyne’s Campaign entrusted with the charge of [Reconoitering] the movements and other dispositions of the Enemy.... was frequently employed in the Secret Services.... he was most inhumanely and seriously dealt with by the Americans who not only deprived him of very valuable premises... frequently imprisoned him.... [left] almost destitute of every necessary of life a American family required for their support.”6
During the summer and fall of 1793 the Fairchilds were part of a group looking at newly surveyed lands along the Governor’s Road and in the interior of the province in Exeter (Townsend). Peter and his brothers Isaac, Daniel and Benjamin Fairchild, brother-in-law Mordecai Sayles, with Benjamin Green and Thomas Sayles, petitioned the Executive Council on July 24, 1793 requesting farm lots “on Jones’ land between Burlington Bay and the Grand River.” a request which received Council approval.7
As a part of the 1797 Townsend Report there is a section headed “Soon after the township was surveyed the following persons called at the office and said Mr. Pierce had no objection to their settling in Townsend....”8 Those named were Peter, Isaac and Benjamin Fairchild and Benjamin Green, all signers of the Jones’ Survey request with the addition now of Selah Styles and Isaac Whiting. The survey of Townsend was completed in early September 1793, from which time requests for settlement could be officially recognized. Of this group only Peter Fairchild, perhaps not satisfied with the allocation in the Jones Survey, chose Exeter at this time. The others took up their options at that locale several years later.
The family reminiscences of the Peter Fairchild settlement was recorded in Pioneer Sketches of Long Point Settlement by Norfolk County historian E. A. Owen:” 9
“The Fairchild family is one of the oldest in the township of Townsend. It is claimed that Sarah, fifth daughter of Elder Fairchild, who, it is said was born in the Townsend cabin on the 26th day of March, 1794, was the first white child born in Townsend....”
“Elder Peter Fairchild married Sarah Fuller in New Jersey, and when the Province of Upper Canada was only about three years old, he came with his family and settled in the wilderness about three miles north-east of Boston. They came in advance of the surveyor and it was several years before they had a neighbor.”
The 1797 Townsend Report supports the Fairchild family’s arrival by the spring of 1794 when this province was “only about three years old,” and postdates Hambly’s August 1793 survey. Whether Peter Fairchild “squatted” on his land prior to the survey remains undocumented. The Peter Fairchild grant was in the northeast corner of the township, lot 17 in the first concession and oriented towards his brothers by way of a creek that ran through the farm to the Grand River and thence to the Governor’s Road at Brant’s Ford, the present city of Brantford.
Another reputed to be Townsend’s first settler, Gideon Cooley was a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Charles) Cooley, of Brimfeld then Greenwich, Massachusetts. He was born in Brimfield on January 30, 1730/1 and moved with his parents to nearby Greenwich. In 1766, Gideon, a veteran soldier of the French and Indian Wars chose for his settlement 70 acres of land on Otter Creek at Pittsford, Rutland County, Vermont. He pioneered there under an agreement with Captain Ephraim Doolittle, the original proprietor, on the condition that he improve his land.
During the early 1770’s a dispute developed between New York and New Hampshire over this southwestern corner of Vermont. The famous “Green Mountain Boys” an ad hoc militant group was formed by those settlers supporting the New Hampshire claim. Gideon Cooley reached prominence in that contingent both before and during the American Revolution. During the American Revolution, The Green Mountain Boys became a patriot force and captured Fort Ticonderoga from the British, among other exploits. Gideon Cooley married in Greenwich, Massachusetts by intentions published on October 9, 1758, Elizabeth Osborn and they had five children born prior to the Revolution, four of whom- Gideon, Jr., Elizabeth, Calvin, and Luther, accompanied their parents to Upper Canada in 1793.10
The Gideon Cooley grant subject of the September 5, 1793 location ticket first went to Gideon, Jr. then was transferred to Gideon, Sr. This was designated as lots 1 and 2 in the fourteenth concession of Townsend. Another of Gideon Cooley’s sons, Luther Cooley, received a location ticket from Paul Averill for lot 1 in the twelfth concession of Townsend a year later on September 20, 1794. This was situated at the headwaters of Kent’s Creek, a feeder of Patterson’s Creek (now the Lynn River). These pioneer transportation routes oriented the Cooley family towards the Lake Erie settlements in the south.
Gideon Cooley’s daughter Elizabeth was born in Greenwich, Massachusetts on November 3, 1761 and grew up on her father’s homestead in Pittsford, Vermont. She married in Vermont to Gideon Omstead, or “Umpstead” as the name was sometimes spelled. Elizabeth, the widow of Gideon Umpstead filed a May 30, 1797 Upper Canada Land Petition stating she and her husband arrived in Upper Canada with their family in 1793:
“came to the province in 1793, then the wife of Gideon Umstead after agreeing with Andrew Pierce to take land in his township.... settled in the township under Mr. Pierce.... having now lived in the township 4 years and expending a large sum of money by improving on a certain lot, her husband departed this life, not having secured his lot of land.... widow with a large family of children....”11
Calculating four years back from May 30, 1797, predates the survey of the township. Indeed, this would place the Omstead family arrival at Townsend within just over two months of the grant to Andrew Pierce. Elizabeth, who by 1797 had remarried to Joshua Fairchild, received her patent on lot 7 in the first concession of Townsend west of the Peter Fairchild family location.12
Another Gideon Omstead, a young man of 24 years, arrived in Upper Canada from Vermont in 1792 and, a year later in 1793, received a promise from Lieutenant Governor Simcoe for 400 acres of land, a generous allotment when the usual entitlement ran half that size. Attached to his 1797 Upper Canada Land Petition was a certificate signed by Richard Beasley, J.P. stating, “Gideon Umpstead is an actual settler in “Pearce’s Township of Townsend since 1794.”13 This Omstead grant comprised lots 13 and 14 in the third concession, a part of which later forms the present village of Boston.
Reverend Jabez Collver, a reputed arrival during 1794 made an indelible mark in the district. Jabez was a son of John and Freelove (Lamb) Collver, of Black River, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Jabez was born in Connecticut on June 19, 1731, a descendant of an old New England family dating back to 1635, parts of which pioneered in early New Jersey. Upon reaching maturity, Jabez became a minister of the Presbyterian Church with a charge from the Connecticut Missionary Society to establish churches in newly developing areas. After thirty years at Wantage, New Jersey, he moved to Chemung County, New York by 1790 then established the church at Wysox, Pennsylvania in 1791.14 Collver arrived in Upper Canada in 1794 and chose for his location lot 1 in the twelfth concession of Windham Township immediately across the town line from the Cooley family. As they arrived in Upper Canada, his sons and cousins received grants in Townsend.
The family reminiscences of the trek to the district by Jabez’ son John, was recorded in Pioneer Sketches of Long Point Settlement by E. A. Owen:15
“John Culver, third brother in the quartette, was born in New Jersey, in 1768, and was twenty-six years old when he built his log-cabin in the Townsend wilderness. He came a little in advance of his father and brothers, and was the first Culver to effect a settlement in Norfolk. They left New Jersey early in 1793 but the season was spent somewhere about the Grand River, and they did not reach Norfolk before February or March, 1794. The ground was covered with snow, and after crossing the Grand River they had to chop their way through the brush-entangled forest. When they reached a certain spot on what is now Lot 1, 11th concession, Townsend, they pitched their tent. The snow was cleared away from the prostate trunk of a huge tree, and a temporary shelter constructed with pine boughs and cow-hides.”
After the first arrivals, Averill and Pierce did little to encourage additional settlement. Although the designation of “Pierce Settler” was given to the arrivals in Townsend, there is no indication that any of them were actually sent by the New England associate. Averill waited in vain for the influx of families from America promised by Pierce in 1793. If any did come to inspect the area, they did not stay long enough to form a settlement. Norfolk County historian E. A. Owen’s tradition of the Fairchild family recorded a lapse of, “several years before they had a neighbor.”
Paul Averill had a foot in both town and country. In May 1795, he received a grant of a lot in the town of Newark, now Niagara-on-the-Lake, the arrival centre for immigrant settlers.16 In July, he petitioned for a 200 acre grant as a resident in the province (A1/13). This included a glowing testimonial signed by some of the province’s leading citizens stating that in the two years they had known Averill, he had conducted himself as an “industrious and honest mechanic.” In Townsend, Averill identified for himself lot 9 in the eighth concession on Nanticoke Creek.
“36 years past I brought mill irons in to Canady for the purpose of erecting mills. After exploring a wild wilderness near one hundred miles full of wild devouring beasts, I stopped near where I now live, in Townsend before Woodhouse was surveyed.”
- Aaron Collver
April 16, 1830 17
Among the sons of Jabez Collver was Aaron Collver who dated a petition to the Executive Council on August 23, 1795 at Patterson’s Creek.18 He requested land in Exeter Township for a mill seat on the creek “due to my knollage.” Some uncertainty occurred as to whether the location was in Townsend or Woodhouse to its south. Collver established his home in Townsend, but for his mill he was favoured with a further grant of lot 1 in the sixth concession of Woodhouse two miles to the south “nearly where the Road crosses the Creek.” For his residence, he received lot 2 in the twelfth concession of Townsend about two miles upstream near the source of the creek. I use the word “favoured” because he was entitled only to the usual 200 acres of land and received a grant of 400 acres.
The pioneer road mentioned in connection with the Collver mill in early times had the lengthy but descriptive name of “The Road from Brant’s Ford to Long Point.” It ran from north to south through the centre of the province from the point where the Governor’s Road met the Grand River at Brantford, and meandered down through the Indian lands at Mount Pleasant to the new settlements in Townsend, ending at Long Point Bay on Lake Erie. Along the way, it passed through the Omstead and Averill grants and between the Gideon Cooley and Jabez Collver settlements then past Aaron Collver’s mill. This replaced travel on Patterson’s and Nanticoke Creeks during the seasons in which the road was passable. In time, the name shortened to Mount Pleasant Road, then numbered King’s Highway Number 24, and later still downgraded to “Regional Road Number 24” when a newer highway was built along the Townsend-Windham town line.
In what probably formed the first official land transaction in Townsend, John Bemer purchased from Gideon Cooley for £100, lots 1 and 2 in the fourteenth concession of Townsend on November 13, 1795 and established his homestead on lot 1. The lot 2 property John Bemer transferred to his brother Joseph upon the latter’s arrival in the spring of 1796. In another transaction, Luther Cooley transferred his settlement rights to his father Gideon who made that location a mile up the town line his subsequent home.
In the final weeks of 1796, it became apparent to Townsend settlement agent Paul Averill that the four-year term of his stewardship was approaching an end without Pierce’s fifty settlers in the township. He began looking for adult sons of the newly arriving pioneers to fill out his quota.
In one instance, Averill looked close to home. Singly and in groups, sons and cousins of Jabez Collver came to the area from New York and New Jersey looking for a location in Townsend. On November 24, 1796, eight of the Collver family received their 200-acre land recommendations from Averill in the southwest corner of the township. They were Aaron (Lot 12 Concession 2), Benjamin (Lot 3 Concession 11), Jabez, Jr. (Lot 6 Concession 13), John (Lot 1 Concession 11), Gabriel (Lot 5 Concession 11), Nesbitt (Lot 7 Concession 11), Timothy (Lot 6 Concession 11) and Timothy, Jr. (Lot 6 Concession 12). Michael Shaw, who married a daughter of Jabez Collver, Sr. received his Averill ticket for lot 7 and half of 8 in the 13th Concession earlier on October 13th.19
“Your Petitioner is just arrived with her Family Consisting of 3 sons (the youngest of whom is 18 years of age) and 2 daughters from Orange County in North Carolina where her husband and Eldest son bore arms in support of His Majesty’s Government during the Rebellion & lost their lives in its defence at Charlestown- Her son above mentioned had been employed as a Conductor of the waggons, which conveyed Lord Rawdon’s Troops to Cambden.... her present eldest son was constrained to secret himself during the greatest part of the war from the Rebels.”
- Margaret McCool
July 12, 1794.20
A large family group establishing itself in Townsend during 1795 was the McCool-Walker combination. In 1794, Margaret McCool, left widowed during the American Revolution brought her two sons and three daughters from Orange County, North Carolina to Ancaster Township, Upper Canada. A year later, her son William received a warrant for lot 5 in the ninth concession of Townsend between the Cooley and Averill locations. William McCool married Margaret Walker and William McCool’s sister Margaret married William Walker. Their brother Joseph McCool, who settled next to his brother on lot 6 in the ninth, married Sarah Walker creating three brother-sister unions. Anthony Dougherty, a son-in-law of Margaret McCool, arrived in her party from North Carolina, “through extreme fatigue... upwards of 900 miles.” His grant was lot 9 in the tenth concession at the source of Black Creek, a stream which meets Patterson’s Creek near Port Dover.
The brothers William, Isaac, John, and Ralph Walker received Averill tickets dated on December 26, 1796 for respectively Lot 1 Concession 9, Lot 8 Concession 8, Lot 2 Concession 8, and Lot 8 Concession 7. Also from North Carolina, their father’s tale of survival in the American Revolution and subsequent trek to Upper Canada told in the 1794 petition of William Walker, Senior paralleled that of Margaret McCool.21
“Just arrived with his Family, (Eleven in number, Four of which is men able to bear Arms) from North Carolina, has suffered everything but Death by the American Revolution, had property in Land, 800 acres all of which was taken from him and Sold by the Rebels.... you will please to consider his long travel near 1000 Miles and give him a grant that he may immediately improve.”
- William Walker
10 Jul 1794
Barnabus "Barny" Perry chose for his location a lot along the Townline next to John Walker, lot 1 in the eighth concession. Selah Styles came into the township looking for opportunities to establish a mill. A loyalist sergeant during the American Revolution and afterwards a master millwright, he settled on lot 18 in the first concession of southeast Townsend.22 Isaac Whiting settled nearby on lot 14 in the first concession. Jonas Omstead received lot 11 in the sixth concession. Charles Cooley, a younger son of Gideon, came of age and chose Lot 11 in the eighth concession for his home.
There were land transactions bringing in new settlers during the year. An early sale, which likely occurred in 1796, was mentioned in the 1797 Townsend Report. Lot 9 in the eighth concession “... was taken up by one of the Omsteds under Mr. Pierce’s authority and sold to John Muckle with Omsted’s improvements for valuable consideration.”
Although recommended by Averill for a lot in the south, Benjamin Doyle, a blacksmith chose for himself lot 16 in the second concession in the north near the Fairchilds. The Averill designation for the lot, Eli Danforth, gave his rights to Doyle whose “neighbours, were desirous of retaining him amongst them on account of his trade.”23 The story of Benjamin Doyle was included in the Norfolk Pioneers section of this website.
Paul Averill approached several of Upper Canada’s patriarchs and invited their grown sons into his area. The list of those he enticed reads like a “Who’s Who” of some of this province’s early families- Bender, Buchner, Davis, Gilbert, Lymburner, McMichael, Misener, Muckle, Overholt, and Pettit- to name a few.
Averill’s momentum increased in the new year. Locations in early 1797 went to John Brooks (Lot 7 Concession 4), Neil Brown (Lot 3 Concession 3), Alexander Carpenter (Lot 18 Concession 9), Gideon Dudley (Lot 10 Concession 7), Josiah Gilbert (Lot 12 Concession 4), John Muckle, Jr. (Lot 12 Concession 3), Samuel Nunn (Lot 12 Concession 8), Gilbert Olds (Lot 6 Concession 3), Andrew Ostrander (Lot 11 Concession 6), Ezra Parney (Lot 6 Concession 5), Isaac Pettit (Lot 14 Concession 7), Uriah Pettit (Lot 7 Concession 10), Thomas Sayles (Lot 6 Concession 1), Henry Slaght (Lot 7 Concession 5), Philip Stanbury (Lot 1 Concession 6), John Thompson (Lot 18 Concession 3), John Weirs (Lot 19 Concession 3), William Weirs (Lot 20 Concession 3), Andrew Willson (lot 11 Concession 12) and William Willson (Lot 12 Concession 12).
To the northern area were attracted back from the Governor’s Road two brothers of pioneer settler Peter Fairchild – Benjamin and Joshua. They received recommendations from Acting Surveyor General David W. Smith for lots 19 and 12 in the second concession and lot 13 in the first respectively. For lot 15 in the first concession, he recommended Benjamin Green.
During the spree of Averill recommendations in 1797 some rather dubious items began to creep in. An overriding government consideration limited settlers in Upper Canada to one grant of 200 acres each. If they had already received such an allocation, anything further was not warranted without special permission from the Executive Council. Two instances of abuse of this regulation by Averill were brought to the attention of Acting Surveyor General David W. Smith on March 23, 1797 who took the matter before the Council a week later. Beniah Williams and Anthony Upper reported the suspicious circumstance that they were informed by Averill that it was of no consequence they had previously received lands and, taking one dollar from each, he promised them recommendations for lots at Townsend.25
The agent’s hubris scandalized the Council and brought an immediate end to his granting powers at Townsend. The Executive Council ruled that “Paul Averill has abused the trust reposed in him” and ordered that “no recommendations of his shall be received in future, nor the recommendations of any other person in the name of Andrew Pierce.” Averill was ordered to present a list of those he had recommended for grants for the Council’s review.25
In all there were ninety-seven names of “actual settlers” on the list Paul Averill prepared for the Executive Council of Upper Canada in the spring of 1797. Rather than accept the report at face value, on April 11, 1797 the Council ordered that all those recommended by Averill appear before them “to make it appear that they come under the description of settlers whom the said Averill was authorized to recommend.” They were also required to bring proofs they had improved or commenced to improve the lots they were permitted to occupy. The Council further ordered Acting Surveyor General David W. Smith to prepare an analysis of those who were entitled. Smith’s remarks were included with Averill’s report and presented to the Council on July 4, 1797, recorded in Upper Canada Land Book C, Page 314. This thereafter was known as “The Townsend Report”.
Caution is advised in using this document in determining the population of Townsend in 1797. Some “non-settlers” were allowed as they had not yet been granted land elsewhere or they were filling out additional entitlements allowed by the Council. By his own admission in his May 1797 land petition, Paul Averill placed only “upwards of 40 families.”26 Counting those settlers mentioned earlier in this story, there were fifty-one resident families, including Averill’s own by March 1797. The non-settlers continued to live elsewhere, patented their Townsend grants, then sold them soon afterwards.
Acting Surveyor General Smith caught seven instances of individuals shown as actual settlers, who lived on lands elsewhere, to which Averill pleaded ignorance. One more that Smith noted in passing but let stand became a local scandal. An 1800 land petition filed by Martha Collver26 noted that lot 1 in the tenth concession of Townsend was entered to one Ebenezer Averill, Jr. “who never came to the Province.... it is known that he is not more than 16 years of age.”
Another oddity of the list arose in several occasions where two men were named for the same lot. Such was the case of Bethuel Baron and John Bender, and of Barzilla Buch and Alexander Carpenter, none of whom actually lived there. In a third case, there were three names, Eli Danforth and Robert and Thomas Davis all on the same lot. Smith made a decision in each case and wrote beside the losers, “No appropriation made”.
The following “Report of persons recommended by Paul Averill with the lots wished for by them, and other circumstances relative to the township of Townsend” was presented to the Executive Council of Upper Canada on July 4, 1796 with comments and analysis by Acting Surveyor General David W. Smith.
Despite a residency requirement placed on grants in 1793, all those named in the report were given crown grants for the recommended lots, whether or not they resided at Townsend. The transcriber has inserted an asterisk following the names of those confirmed in other sources to have settled on their grants.
All name spellings are as given in the report. The second column “Authority” was all attributed to Paul Averill by way of dittos, with the exception of the last three: Cooley, Gideon, Senior “Warrant no 2”; Shaw, Michael “Warrant no 387; and Colver, Ebenezer “Order of Council”.
The column headed “Date”, refers to the date of authorization for grant by Paul Averill. Next, in the column “Sworn” is the date on which the grantee swore an oath of allegiance to the Crown. In this column, the initial “N” indicates “The oath not yet returned. This is followed by the Justice of the Peace who attested to the oath. The fifth column contains the lot and concession of the requested location. Under the entry are miscellaneous remarks, if any made by David W. Smith.
Those marked with an asterisk are believed by the author to have been non-resident grantees who continued to live elsewhere. All remarks are those of David W. Smith, unless preceded by “Ed. Note”, my own notation.
Oath of
Grantee Date Allegiance Sworn By Whom Lot/Con
Ashley, Solomon William 9 Mar 1797 10 Mar 1797 G. Forsyth, Esq 14/ 9
Averill, Ebenezer, Jr 24 Nov 1796 N 1/10
Not known whether he is of age
Baron, Bethuel 9 Jan 1797 20 Oct 1796 J. Small, Esq 7/12
Bender, John 3 Jan N 7/12
No appropriation yet made as a John Bender appears in Gainsboro
Boom, John 15 Feb 14 Feb 1797 R. Hamilton, Esq 12/7
Boom, Nicholas 15 Feb “ “ 12/6
Bogar, Laban 14 Feb 4 Feb W. Dickson, Esq 12/10
Brooks, John * 7 Jan 14 Jan W. Dickson, Esq 7/4
This quiets a warrant to him for 200 acres dated 11 Oct., 1796 and order of Council, 12 May 1796
Brown, Neil * 9 Jan N 3/3
Buchner, Christopher 3 Jan 15 Oct 1796 W. Dickson, Esq 8/12
Buchner, Daniel 5 Jan 5 Jan 1797 I. Swayze, Esq 7/6
Supposed to be the same person as Daniel Buchner which quiets a warrant for 200 acres to him,
dated 24 Oct., 1796
Buchner, Peter 3 Jan 3 Jan 1797 W. Dickson, Esq 6/4
Buch, Barzillai 3 Jan “ “ 18/9
Carpenter, Alexander * 19 Jan 19 Jan 1797 J. Muirhead, Esq 18/9
Cogden, John 6 Feb N 15/3
Colver, Aaron * 24 Nov 1796 “ 2/12
Said to have been sworn in the Council office
Colver, Benjamin * “ “ 3/11
Colver, Jabez, Junior * “ “ 6/13
Recommended by His Honour
Colver, John * “ “ 1/11
Said to have been sworn in the Council office
Colver, Nesbitt * “ 13 Feb 1797 Samuel Ryerse, Esq 7/11
Recommended by His Honour
Colver, Timothy * “ N 6/11
Recommended by His Honour
Colver, Timothy, Junior * “ “ 6/12
From Memorandum on the original paper
[Ed. Note: Under “Remarks” for Gabriel Colver, Nesbitt Colver, and Timothy Colver,
there is a joining bracket beside which is written, “Old Mr. Colver and his connections
were remitted by His Excellency the Lieut. Governor to locate lands in this township.”]
Cooley, Charles * “ “ 11/8
From memorandum on the original paper
Danforth, Eli * 2 Mar 1797 4 Feb 1797 W. Kennedy Smith 16/2
Davis, Robert 9 Jan N 16/2}
Davis, Thomas 9 Jan “ 16/2}
[Ed. Note: Under “Remarks” for Robert Davis and Thomas Davis, there is a joining bracket beside
which is written, “No appropriation made.”]
Dougherty, Anthony * 16 Jan 5 Sep 1795 N. Pettit, Esq 9/10
Doyle, Benjamin * 2 Mar N 9/10
No appropriation made
Dudley, Gideon * 11 Jan 11 Jan 1797 James Muirhead, Esq 10/7
Forsyth, William, Junior 7 Dec 1796 5 Jan “ 14/8
Garner, George 4 Feb 1797 11/10
Oath taken in the Council office. This quiets a warrant for 200 acres to him
dated the 27 Jul
Gilbert, Josiah * 7 Jan 12/4
Oath taken in the Council office. This quiets a warrant for 200 acres to him
dated 13 Oct 1796.
Gregory, Moses 7 Jan 4/8
Oath taken in the Council office. This quiets a warrant for 200 acres to him
dated 14 Oct 1796.
Jenkins, Solomon 9 Jan 20 Oct 1796 J. Small, Esq 7/9
Kemp, David, Jr. 2 Mar 7 Mar 1797 W. Dickson, Esq 13/2
Lymburner, John 9 Jan 7 Jan W. Dickson, Esq 1/3
Lymburner, Mathew 9 Jan 7 Jan “ 2/2
Lock, Jacob 4 Mar 10 Mar J. Muirhead, Esq 21/4
McLary, James 19 Jan 20 Jan J. Muirhead, Esq 8/6
McCool, Joseph * 24 Nov 1796 9 Jan “ 6/9
McCool, William * “ 5/9
The Oath taken in the Council office. This quiets a warrant for 200 acres to him dated 15 Oct. 1796.
McLaughlin, Edward W. 19 Jan 1797 20 Jan 1797 J. Muirhead, Esq 8/1
Said not to be the same man mentioned in order of Council 4 No 1794
McMichael, Isaac W. 18 Feb 24 Feb W. Dickson, Esq 14/2
Warrant issued 28 Dec 1827 (sic)
Malcolm, Finlay, Junior 9 Jan 14 Jan W. Dickson, Esq 1/2
Malcolm, John 9 Jan 14 Jan “ 1/1
Marigan, James 15 Feb 15 Feb J. Small, Esq 7/2
Misener, John 7 Jan 7 Oct 1796 W. Dickson, Esq 3/7
Meyers, John 4 Feb 4 Feb 1797 “ 18/2
Morgan, John Stile 21 Jan 1797 26 Jan 1797 W. Dickson, Esq 17/9
Muckle, John, Junior * 6 March N 12/3
Nunn, Samuel * 3 Jan 1797 28 Jan G. Forsythe, Esq 12/8
Olds, Gilbert * 11 Feb 11 Feb “ 6/3
Omsted, Gideon * 24 Feb 1796 N 13&14/3
Said to be promised 400 acres by Lieutenant-Governor from memorandum on the original papers.
Omsted, Jonas * 24 Nov 1796 N 11/6
From memorandum on the original papers.
Ostrander, Andrew * 25 Jan 1797 10/1
Oath taken in the Council office. Having received only 100 acres and wishing to
remove there, which quiets a warrant for 200 acres to him 17 October, 1796.
Overholt, Jacob 14 Feb 14 Feb 1797 W. Dickson, Esq 13/7
Overholt, Isaac 14 Feb 14 Feb W. Dickson, Esq 14/7
Pettit, Isaac * 20 Jan N 14/7
For a lot on the original papers.
Pettit, Uriah * 24 Nov 1796 N 7/10
From memorandum on the original papers.
Perry, Ezra * 5 Jan 1797 5 Jan 1797 I. Swayze, Esq 6/5
[sic: Parney, Ezra]
Perry, Barney * 24 Nov 1796 19 Jan J. Muirhead, Esq 1/8
Pier, Stephen W 9 Jan 1797 7 Jan W. Dickson, Esq 3/5
See a letter from the Surveyor-General of 18 Apr 1811 (sic), filed with township report
Rogers, Benjamin 9 Jan 20 Oct 1796 J. Small, Esq 6/10
Sales, Ahab 9 Jan 1797 20 Oct 1796 J. Small, Esq 5/1
Sales, Thomas * 9 Jan 20 Oct 1796 “ 6/1
Singer, John 14 Feb 14 Feb 1797 W. Dickson, Esq 15/7
Slaght, Henry * 5 Jan 7/5
Oath taken in the Council office. This quiets a warrant for 200 acres to him, no. 524.
Stanbury, Philip * 27 Feb 27 Feb 1797 G. Forsyth, Esq 1/6
Stevens, Elijah 9 Mar 10 Mar “ 15/9
Steward, Abner 30 Jan 30 Jan G. Fosyth, Esq 10/11
Stone, John 7 Jan N 13/4
Sutton, John 4 Feb 25 Feb 1797 I. Swayze, Esq 8/5
Swartout, Conelius 9 Jan 20 Oct 1796 J. Small, Esq 8/11
Thompson, John * 25 Feb 25 Feb 1797 Isaac Swayze, Esq 18/3
Not the same man as in Stanford
Tongie, William 11 Jan 11 Jan 1796 J. Muirhead, Esq 17/3
Has received 100 acres in addition.
Walker, John * 28 Dec 1796 2/8
Oath taken in the Council office. This quiets a warrant for 200 acres to him dated 28 Dec. 1796, not the
same man as in Oxford on the Rideau
Walker, Isaac * 28 Dec 8/8
Oath taken in the Council office.
Walker, Ralph * 28 Dec 8/7
Oath taken in the Council office.
Walker, William, Junior * 28 Dec 9 Jan 1797 J. Muirhead, Esq 1/9
Wier, John * 30 Jan 1797 31 Jan G. Forsyth, Esq 19/3
Wier, William * 30 Jan 31 Jan “ 20/3
Willocks, Benjamin, Jr. 19 Jan 20 Jan J. Muirhead, Esq 2/6
Wilson, Andrew 17 Jan N 11/12
Not the same man as in Crowland.
Wilson, James 17 Jan “ 13/12
Not the same man as in Saltfleet, Ancaster, or Oxford on the Rideau.
Wilson, William * 17 Jan N 12/12
Wright, Gabriel 11 Feb 11 Feb 1797 G. Forsyth, Esq 5/3
Cooley, Gideon, Senior * 13 May 1796 1/12
The oath taken in the Council office. Described for patent.
Shaw, Michael * 13 Oct 1796 7 & 1/2 8/13
An old Ranger, son in law of Jabez Colver and recommended by His Honour
Colver, Ebenezer 8 Oct 1796 4/10
4/14
The oath taken when originally located. In Lieu of the salt springs in Louth.
Surveyor General’s office, 5 April 1797
(Signed) D. W. Smith, A.S.G.
Memoranda
By the instrument between Andrew Pierce and Paul Averill upon which your Honour permitted the latter to recommend settlers in Townsend, Mr. Pierce engages to give Paul Averill eight hundred acres of land on certain conditions in case he put on six actual settlers in the township.
In the anticipation of obtaining which Paul Averill in his original memorandum sets his name opposite to the numbers in the margin herof viz. Lot 7, Concession 7 & 8, Lot 6, Concession 7 & 8, Lot 9, Concession 8 being five lots- or 1000 acres reckoning 200 acres granted to him by order of Council the 12 August, 1796, in addition to the above 800 acres.
This last lot is reported taken up by one of the Omsteds under Mr. Pierce’s authority and sold to John Muckle with Omstead’s improvements for valuable consideration.
In the same memorandum were the following names as if actual settlers in Townsend but your Honour’s directions being read to Mr. Averill and he professing not to know whether they had received lands before or not and expressing a desire to do what was proper I searched the office and finding there was reason to believe they had other locations they were not accepted by me, viz.
Elias Long Lot 5, Concession 7
Jacob Long “ 6 “ 6
Charles Burtch
John Pettit
John Kelly
William Shaver
Richard London “ 4 “ 6
Soon after the township was surveyed the following persons called at the office and said Mr. Pierce had no objection to their settling at Townsend but as they did not bring any authority with them a memorandum only was made thereof, viz.
Isaac Fairchild Lot 13, Concession 1
J. Whiting “ 14, “ 1
B. Green “ 15, “ 1
P. Fairchild “ 17, “ 1
Selah Styles* “ 18, “ 1
Benjamin Fairchild “ 19, “ 2
* to be Warranted P.R. [initials of administrator Peter Russell]
The following persons also applied to the office for permission to make actual settlement in this township but having prior locations in the province, were informed the township would not be thrown open sooner than the first of June next and that no authority or security could be given them.
Joseph Fairchild Lot 12, Concession 1 & 2
Levy Lewis, Junior “ 1, “ 7
John Muckle “ 9 “ 8
“ 10 “ 9
Benaiah Williams “ 13 “ 8
Benjamin Crumb “ 16 “ 8
John Pettit “ 3 “ 9
Nicholas Huggerman “ 8 “ 9
Stephen Emmett “ 13 “ 9
Philip Bender “ 20 “ 9
Joseph Smith “ 8 “ 10
Jabez Colver’s wife “ 4 “ 12
John Colver’s wife “ 9 “ 12
Levy Lewis, Senior “ 1 “ 13
Aaron Colver’s wife “ 3 “ 13
Michael Shaw’s wife “ 5 “ 13
_________ Beamer} “ 1 “ }
and & 14
Samuel Williams} 2 “ }
Exclusive of the foregoing there remain 110 lots and 11 pieces of lots besides the necessary reserves.
Surveyor General’s Office
5th April 1797
(signed) D.W. Smith, A.S.G.
At the end of The Townsend Report, Smith wrote, "Exclusive of the foregoing there remain 110 lots and 11 pieces of lots besides the necessary reserves." Plenty of land remained for more pioneers to move in but there were few new resident names. The township was "thrown open" in the parlance of the day and additional grants were made to answer earlier requests by those entitled, regardless of whether they intended actual settlement or not.
In this manner, grants were made to loyalists and children of loyalists to fill out their Orders in Council. These included Levi Lewis, Sr. and Jr. of Saltfleet, John Muckle of Lincoln, Benjamin Crumb of Caradoc, John Pettit of Grimsby, Stephen Emmett of Grantham, Philip Bender of Stamford, and Samuel Williams of Saltfleet. Jabez, John, and Aaron Collver and Michael Shaw who already had grants also obtained additional land in the right of their wives. While these "absentee" grants continued in the 1797 to 1799 period, a lull developed in the growth of farm settlement at Townsend. Large sections of the township remained undeveloped well into the nineteenth century.
Townsend's original grantee, Andrew Pierce lost interest in his project during the 1797 period when administration of the settlement came directly under the Executive Council of Upper Canada. He sold his rights to William Berczy, head of a Toronto settlement company placing German immigrants. In October 1798, Berczy moved to block the grants to Averill's settlers, placing his claim before the Council. The following letter was transmitted by the Secretary's Office to Peter Russell, President of the Executive Council:
Secretary's Office 8th Novr. 1798
Sir,
Mr. Berczy claims by Caveat as follows:
To all Whom it may Concern
William Berczy of York in the Province of Upper Canada, Gentleman, makes known that he as well for himself and for Dedric Conrad Brewer, Charles Lewis Bruer, and their Associates and by their authority or Power of Attorney hereby enters his Caveat against the granting of any Deed ot Title Whatsoever to the Whole or any part or parcel of three Townships or Tract of Land known by the Townships of Windham, Townsend, & Darlington (formerly Bristol) to Andrew Pierce, Strong Sturgis, John Black, Andrew Bruers, & William Whelply, and their Associates, or to any of them or to any other person or persons, other than the above Claimants- that is to say Dedric Conrad Brewer, Charles Lewis Brewer, William Berczy and their Associates known by the name and description of the German Company- they the said Conrad Brewer, Charles Lewis Brewer, William Berczy & other Associates having acquired the right and Claim of the said Andrew Pierce & his associates thereto & are now prepared to present their Petition to Government for the purpose of having the Grant of the said Townships ratified & Confirmed to them, their Hairs & assigns.-
In testimony Whereof he hath hereunto set & Subscribed his hand this Seventh day of October in the Year of Our Lord 1798-
W. Berczy27
Finding no sympathy in this province, Berczy carried his case all the way to the Colonial Office in England. Although approved by the Executive Council of Upper Canada, many of the settlers did not receive their Crown Deeds until as late as 1801. For its duration, this dispute served as a deterrent to interest in settlement at Townsend.
The opening of lands in the townships to the south, found attractive for their proximity to Long Point Bay and Lake Erie, acted as a magnet in the late 1790's and the first decade of the 1800's drawing new arrivals away from the inland township.
During their formative years, various townships in the central part of the province drifted in and out of the Long Point Settlement as local spheres of influence developed. Townsend started out facing north as a result of its survey pre-dating the townships to the south on Lake Erie. The settlers in the north looked towards the upper Grand River and the Governor's Road for their direction. Those in the southern part of the township were drawn by their major transportation route, Patterson's Creek, to look southward, an orientation further emphasised by the construction of "The Road from Brant's Ford to Long Point" in 1795.
From the time that the county system was introduced in 1793, Townsend was included in Norfolk and as a part of the larger London District, regardless of its settlers' orientation. The first Justices of the Peace appointed for the district, John Backhouse and Samuel Ryerse, both lived in the southern part of Norfolk near Lake Erie, Ryerse being the handiest. The Townsend settler who had a legal matter to settle necessarily had to travel down the river or road to Woodhouse Township.
With the establishment of the District Court of the Quarter Sessions system of government, the regional capital at Charlotteville, also on Lake Erie, became the focal point for all and any civil and judicial matters affecting Townsend. The first appointed Justice of the township, Judge John Bemer, lived in the extreme southwest corner acting as its anchor.
In social matters ranging from friendships to certain religious faiths, those in the north continued to look northward towards Oakland, Mount Pleasant and Brantford, but most of Townsend was drawn firmly into the Long Point Settlement sphere.
After selling out his interests at Townsend, Paul Averill continued to pioneer in other areas. A tradition of this energetic ancestor's later life was written by great-grandson Mortimer G. Averill of Muskegon, Michigan in 1900:28
"After the settlement in Canada, Paul, Sr., went to New York State and worked, and did business in different locations there. He helped to build a mill near Niagara Falls; and while engaged in that enterprise discovered the "burning spring," which is still there,and has been seen often by visitors. He returned to Canada, and settled at a place called Otterville, in Oxford Co., Ontario. A family record stated that he built the first grist mill ever operated there; and it is said that up to a few years ago a set of mill stones that he made with his own hands were still in existence. He at one time lived in Oakland Co. in this State (of Mich.), but only for a brief period; I am quite positive he returned to Canada and died there."
1. Upper Canada Land Petitions (UCLP), “P” Bundle 1, Document 58 (P1/58)
2. Fraser, Alexander, Ed., Eighteenth Report of The Department of Public Records and Archives of Ontario, 1929. The King's Printer (Toronto: 1930), P. 25
3. Avery, Clara A. The Averill-Averell Family, p.p. 1906. P. 333-337
4. UCLP B2/103
5. Gilmore, Jean Fairchild. Early Fairchilds in America and Descendants. Gateway Press, Inc. (Baltimore, MD: 1991), P. 19-20
6. UCLP F3/103
7. Fraser. 1929, P. 50
8. Fraser. 1931, P.13
9. Owen, E. A. Pioneer Sketches of Long Point Settlement. William Briggs (Toronto: 1898). P. 337
10. Cooley, Mortimer Elwyn. The Cooley Genealogy. The Tuttle Publishing Company Inc. (Rutland, VT.), P. 485-491
11. UCLP F3/40
12. Gilmore, P. 58-59
13. UCLP H4/54
14. Yeager, William R., Sources In Collver-Culver Genealogy. Norfolk Historical Society, P. 10-11
15. Owen, P. 87
16. UCLP 1/26
17. Archives of Ontario, The Township Papers Collection, Lot 14, Gore, Woodhouse, RG 1, C-IV, MS 658, Reel 527
18. UCLP C1/33
19. The Townsend Report by Paul Averill presented to the Executive Council of Upper Canada on 4 Jul 1796 in Upper Canada Land Book C, p. 314
20. Upper Canada Land Petition “M” Bundle 2 p. 152
21. UCLP W1/9
22. UCLP S1/26 and S3/129
23. UCLP D5/101
24. UCLP W2/86
25. UCLP A (1796-1840)/7
26. UCLP "Ca" Pt 1/14
27. Cruikshank, E.A. The Correspondence of The Honourable Peter Russell. Ontario Historical Society (Toronto, ON: 1936), Vol. 1, P. 34-35
28. Avery. P. 335