SKETCH III
DOCTOR TROYER AND HIS BIG WITCH TRAP
About a mile and a half east of Port Rowan the lake road is crossed by a deep ravine. At some time in the remote past this ravine was caused by the action of water, and the earth thus washed out, suddenly, no doubt, was carried out into the bay, forming an immense bar which, in course of time, sent up a growth of vegetation. This bar, or flat, contains about fifteen acres, and has been cultivated for more than a hundred years. The oldest apple trees in Norfolk stand, unquestionably on this flat. This flat is only a few rods from the public road, but the winding course of the ravine shuts off the traveller’s view of the old orchard, the buildings and the flat itself.
This secluded spot was the home of Dr. Troyer when every other portion of Norfolk was an unbroken wilderness. There is a beginning to every earthly state or condition; and as there are no existing records to prove the contrary, it is perfectly safe to assume that the log-cabin erected by Dr. Troyer on this flat, was the first human habitation erected in Norfolk by a permanent white settler.[1] Many people imagine that the public land records show who the first settlers were, but this is not so. The public records may show who obtained the first land patents in a certain locality, but they do not show who may have “squatted” on lands in that locality previously. This question of priority involves but a year or two at the most, and it is quite possible that one or more may have come with Troyer,[2] but no settlement antedates that made by him may well be assumed as a fact. When Frederick Mabee built the first log-cabin in Charlotteville, at the foot of the hill overlooking Turkey Point, Dr. Troyer lived on this flat. When Jabez Collver erected the first log cabin in Windham, and before the first log was laid on the ground where the town of Simcoe stands, Dr. Troyer was keeping house on this sunny, fruitful flat; and when old father Abraham Smith got ready to build his first cabin, Dr. Troyer took a day off and went down to give him a lift. Years before Daniel Hazen surveyed the township of Walsingham, the smoke had ascended from Dr. Troyer’s cabin on this flat, and when Major Backhouse first set foot on Walsingham soil, Dr. Troyer was looked upon as an old settler. As near as can be ascertained, Dr. Troyer built his pioneer cabin not long after the year 1790. He was of German descent, and came, probably from Pennsylvania.[3]
Dr. Troyer was Norfolk’s first medical practitioner. His patients were “far between,” and in his case it may be truthfully said that he had an “extended” practice. He was insanely superstitious, being a hopeless and confirmed believer in witchcraft. This peculiar mental malady caused him a world of trouble and made him ridiculously notorious. To prompt the recital of some witch story all that is necessary is to mention the name of Dr. Troyer in the presence of any old settler in the county. The name “Dr. Troyer” and the term “witches” are so interwoven in the minds of the old people that they cannot think of one without being reminded of the other.
The old doctor was terribly persecuted by these witches. All his troubles of mind and body were attributed to the witches who existed in human form and possessed miraculous powers for producing evil. He looked on certain of his neighbours as witches, one of the most dreaded being the widow of Captain Edward McMichael. Mrs. McMichael was a very clever woman, and to be considered a witch by the superstitious old doctor was highly amusing to her. She was a woman of strong mind and great courage, and it is said she frequently visited the lonely ravine and made grimaces at the poor old doctor from some recess or clump of bushes, just for the pleasure it gave her to tease and torment him. He was a great stutterer, and her appearance in the ravine would throw him into a fit of wild excitement, during which he would stutter and gesticulate in a threatening manner. He was a great deer hunter, but if he chanced to meet Mrs. McMichael when starting out on a hunting expedition he would consider it an omen of ill luck, and would turn about and go home. He kept a number of horse-shoes over the door of his house, and at the foot of his bed a huge trap was bolted to the floor where it was set every night to catch witches. The jaws were about three feet long, and when shut about two and a half feet high. There are people in Port Rowan to-day who have a distinct remembrance of having seen this witchtrap in Dr. Troyer’s bed-room. But in spite of this defensive means the witches would occasionally take him out in the night and transform him into various kinds of animals and compel him to perform all sorts of antics. Whenever he met with an experience of this kind he would suffer from its effects for sometime afterwards. One night the witches took him out of a peaceful slumber, transformed him into a horse and rode him across the lake to Dunkirk where they attended a witch dance. They tied him to a post where he could witness the dance through the windows, and fed him rye-straw. The change of diet and the hard treatment to which he was subjected, laid him up for a long time. It required several doses of powerful medicine to counteract the injurious effects of the rye-straw and restore his digestive organs to a normal condition. Strange as it may appear, Dr. Troyer believed all this, yet, aside from witchcraft, he was considered a sane man. He is described as wearing a long white flowing beard; and it is said he lived to be ninety-nine years old, and that just before his death he shot a hawk, off-hand, from the peak of the barn roof.[4]
Deacon Michael Troyer was the only son of Dr. Troyer. The deacon was the principal corner stone of the Baptist church of Port Rowan. He was highly respected by all who knew him, and when he was called to his reward, having reached a ripe old age, his loss was felt by the entire community in which he lived. He was a blacksmith, and the old blockhouse which served as a shop is still standing on the Troyer flat. In 1802 he was appointed constable for Walsingham.
He had four sons- John, David, Michael and Cornelius; and five daughters- Elizabeth, Sophronia, Catherine, Susannah, and one who married Edward Bowan.[5] Of this family, John married Hannah Rockefeller, and settled, finally, in Illinois, where he died. David married Mary McDermand and settled, finally, at Clear Creek, where he died. Michael married Louisa Halstead and settled, finally, in Chicago, where he died. Cornelius married Malinda Rockefeller and settled at first on the homestead, but finally went to Illinois where he still lives. Elizabeth married Christian Becker and settled at Clear Creek. In her family were three sons- John L., Ephraim, and Cornelius; and two daughters- Mary and Azina.[6] Sophronia married David Rohrer and settled in Houghton. After Mr. Rohrer’s death she married Samuel Pettit and settled in Illinois, where she still lives. Catherine married Robert Stillwell and settled in Walsingham. Susannah married Nelson Bowan and settled in Houghton. The name of Troyer has become extinct in Norfolk, and but few descendants of the man who built the first Norfolk home remain in the county.
Deacon Michael Troyer met with an unusual experience in the earlier part of his life, which is worthy of being recorded. He fell into a trance and was dead to all appearances for three days and nights. His friends, thinking that he was dead, began to make preparations for his burial; and if the trance had continued a little longer he would, no doubt, have been buried alive. During this trance it seemed that his soul had been wafted away to the regions of eternal light where it feasted on supernal joys. When the time came to return to earth he was loth to go, and he begged permission to remain; but the blessed Saviour lovingly took him by the hand and informed him that He had a work for him to do on earth; that he must go back and attend to it, and that he might then return and remain for ever. This experience led to his conversion.
[1] There were several early settlers of whom Owen seems to have been unaware. Asa Holmes, Timothy Murphy, John Stacy, Christian Warner, and Silas Secord all preceded John Troyer in Norfolk County. Concerning Holmes, Troyer stated in his land petition dated March 3, 1797, “1790 I went from Fort Erie and explored the Land in the vicinity of Long Point where I found a man had settled by the name of Asa Holmes who lived in a Cabin and had cultivated about one Acre of Ground, he had come from Detroit and settled on the Premises, & he was anxious to leave the place... Bargained with him for his Improvement... paid £50 NYC. In the Spring following 1791 I removed my Family (having immediately after purchase put up a House)... Later surveys placed the Troyer property in Lot 20, Concession 1, Walsingham Twp., on Long Point Bay (Upper Canada Land Petition “T” Bundle 2 Doc. No. 73)
The Bill of Sale from Asa Holmes to John Troyer was filed in the Surveyor General’s Office (Walsingham Township Papers, Doc. No. 87). This document dated at Long Point on December 27, 1790, was witnessed by Silas Secord who apparently came with his wife’s stepfather John Stacy and Christian Warner in the summer of 1790. On July 8, 1794, Stacy and Warner wrote, “4 years ago went to Long Point and located Warner’s 400 acres and Stacey’s 200 acres…” Later surveys placed the Stacy property in Lot 6, Concession A, Charlotteville Twp. on Long Point Bay (Upper Canada Land Petition “W” Bundle 1, Doc. No. 33)
Earlier in the spring of 1790, Timothy Murphy, moved from Detroit and settled on what became known as Dedrick’s Creek in Walsingham Twp. On December 10, 1795, he noted that he “applied 5 years ago to Colonel Butler, then at the head of the Land Board… for vacant lands whereon he might settled… informed in the presence of Major Powell to take 400 acres at or near a creek called Trading House Creek, since known by the name of Murphy’s Creek, near Long Point…” Later surveys placed this property in Lot 14, Concession A, Walsingham Twp. at the neck of Long Point (Upper Canada Land Petition (“M” Bundle 2, Doc. No. 138)
Thus, Holmes and Murphy preceded Troyer, although neither was permanent. John Stacy and Silas Secord stayed on their locations in the front of Charlotteville Township so E. A. Owen was not even correct in saying that Troyer’s cabin was the first erected by a permanent white settler in Norfolk County.
[2] John Troyer’s brother Christian Troyer, and John Foryea came with him. Christian Troyer wrote on August 12, 1795 that he “came into the province in 1789 with his brother, John Troyer… settled at Long Point Bay under the same order as his brother” (Upper Canada Land Petition “T” Bundle 2, Doc. No. 2). Concerning Foryea, John Troyer noted, “When I removed there came a Man with me named Foryea and settled so near me that I supposed where the Front between us was not sufficient to accomodated both of us…” (Upper Canada Land Petition “T” Bundle 2, Doc. No. 73)
[3] John Troyer’s father, Michael Troyer (1734-1807) emigrated from Switzerland and settled in Berks County then Lancaster County and finally Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Marlene J. Grant, “The Troyer Family in the U.S. and Canada” in Mennonite Family History, Jan 1986, p. 31
[4] According to an early transcript of the since restored Troyer Family Cemetery, John Troyer died on February 28, 1842 aged 89 years 25 days. (“John Troyer of Long Point Bay, Lake Erie”, by George Laidler, Ontario Historical Society, Papers and Records, Vol. XXXIX, p. 36-37)
[5] The order of birth of the daughters mentioned here should be corrected. According to gravestone and census information they were Elizabeth born on May 12, 1811, followed by Catherine born on March 12, 1814, Mary born on July 12, 1815, Susannah born on November 21, 1817 and Sophrona born on 15 July 1820. Mary Troyer married on October 16, 1836 to John Bowen (London District Marriage Register).
[6] There were also two children who died young and were buried in Port Royal Cemetery—William M. and Hannah E.