Owen Chapter 52
Sketch LII
The Tisdale Brothers
There were eight Tisdale brothers, seven of whom came to Upper Canada. The eighth brother, Walker, remained in New Brunswick, where he amassed considerable wealth. The names of the pioneer heads of the seven Upper Canada branches are, Ephraim, Lot, John, William, Joseph, Samuel and Matthew. A sketch of the Tisdale ancestors and the genealogy of the Ephraim branch of the family are given elsewhere under the head, “The Three Ephraims, All Pioneers.”
The brothers did not all come to the new country at the same time. Lot came first, and it is presumed that he came as early as 1798, as a letter written by him at Staten Island, dated in that year, shows that he was then on his way to Long Point. He states in the letter, after giving a description of the island, that he is about to take passage on a boat which is going up the Hudson as far as Albany. In 1800 he wrote a letter home describing a Charlotteville peach orchard, which is referred to more particularly elsewhere. In 1801 he went down to New Brunswick on a visit, and returned the same year accompanied by his brothers, Ephraim and William, and his sister, Hannah—Mrs. Perley.
Joseph came the following year, and built his pioneer cabin in the ravine locally known as “Spooky Hollow.” In 1808, John, Matthew and Samuel came to the settlement, bringing the old people and their younger sister, Joanna, with them.
In 1810 Joseph went to New Brunswick and married, returning with his bride and a stock of merchandise; and soon after the “Tisdale Partnership” was organized for the purpose of carrying on a general mercantile business. This pioneer syndicate included four of the Tisdale brothers—Samuel, Lot, Joseph and Matthew, and Benjamin Mead. The written articles of agreement forming the fundamental law of this mercantile combine have been carefully preserved, and they show that the members bound themselves, under an indemnifying penalty of £40,000, to observe the rules and regulations embodied in the agreement for the space of ten years. The amount of capital furnished by each was as follows: Samuel, £200; Lot and Joseph, £168 and 15 shillings in cash, and 25 barrels of flour, at £5 per barrel; Matthew, £37 and 10 shillings; and Benjamin Mead, £42 in cash, 50 barrels of flour at £5 per barrel, and a draft on one, Stewart, of Niagara, for £2. The draft was not accepted, however, and Mr. Mead’s interest was reduced to the extent of its appraised value. It was agreed that each partner should share the profits and losses in proportion to the amount of capital furnished by him, and that no partner should pay any private debt of his own out of the partnership assets. Lot Tisdale, Joseph Tisdale, and Mr. Mead were constituted “agents” for managing the business.
Just two weeks from the day they went into the woods to get out the timber for the construction of their store the building was completed and the store in running order. This old store building is still standing and its massive frame is abundantly able to withstand the fury of the elements for centuries to come. It stands a few rods back from its original site, forming a woodhouse attachment to the Joseph Tisdale family residence just east of Vittoria.
In 1812 Joseph Tisdale built the two-storey frame house in the “hollow,’ which stood vacant and silent in the midst of its lonely surroundings for so many years after it was vacated by the family. When Mr. Tisdale built this house, with its massive chimney and its many fireplaces, it was christened “Cedar Hall,” and was looked upon by the settlers at that early time as a residence of magnificent proportions. Mr. Tisdale built a tannery at this place, and operated it several years. In 1814 he and his brothers purchased Lot 21 in the 3rd concession, from James Russell; and, in 1816, built the “old red mill.”[1] Joseph Tisdale was a shrewd business man, and accumulated considerable wealth. In 1834 he was considered one of the largest landowners in Charlotteville. He was a firm Loyalist, and was promoted to a captaincy in the first Norfolk militia. He died in 1864, having reached the ripe old age of eighty-six years.
Lot Tisdale married Nancy Swain, and, after the “syndicate” was dissolved, settled in Ancaster. Subsequently he settled in Burford. He had five sons—Bradford, George, Lot, William and John; and seven daughters—Maria, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Sarah, Rebecca, Susan and Amanda.[2]Joseph Tisdale married Margaret Lawrence, of New Brunswick. The children of this union were four sons—Joseph C., Valentine H., John E. and William P.; and six daughters—Miranda L., Philena M., Margaret Jane, Frances Almira, Helen W. R. and Hannah Eliza.
William Tisdale settled below Hamilton, where he raised a large family. His wife’s mother exchanged the land on which the city of Hamilton is built for a barrel of pork.
Samuel Tisdale married Charlotte Lawrence, and settled near Ancaster also. He left two sons and two daughters.
Matthew Tisdale married Abigail Axford, and when the partnership interests were closed out he went into Townsend, but finally settled in St. Thomas. He had two sons—Cyrus and Wallace; and five daughters—Sarah, Susan, Martha, Mary Ann and Amelia.
John Tisdale married Sarah Britton in New Brunswick. He settled in Windham and had three sons—John, Ephraim and William; and eight daughters—Mary, Jane, Charlotte, Margaret, Maria, Ruth, Susan and Harriet. He died in 1841, in his 73rd year, and his wife Sarah died in 1850 in her 67th year.[3]
Hannah Tisdale eldest sister of the Tisdale brothers married Israel Perley in New Brunswick. She came to Long Point a widow, with her three children—Ephraim Tisdale, Charles Strange and Elizabeth Moore. These children were brought up by their uncle, Joseph Tisdale. Ephraim T. settled near Courtland, and Charles S. settled in Burford.
Joanna Tisdale, sister of Hannah, married one Ellsworth and settled in Yarmouth. She had two sons—Ephraim and William—and four daughters.[4]
The old blotter used in the Tisdale store has been preserved, and from its time-stained pages the following entries are copied to show the prices obtained for merchandise at that early time:
Mrs. Duncan McCall.
To 2 bowls…………………………………………………………..@ 2/6 = 31 cts.
James Jewell.
To 2 yds. factory cotton…………………………………………@ 5/ = 62½ cts.
John Franklin.
To ½ lb. tea………………………………………………………..@ 14/ = $1.75.
Stephen Underhill.
To ½ lb. tobacco…………………………………………………@ 6/ = 75 cts.
Daniel Berdan.
To 1 pr. wool cards………………………………………………@ 10/ = $1.25.
2 yds. flannel………………………………………………… @ 6/6 = 81 cts.
4 skeins silk…………………………………………………… @ 1/ = 12½ cts.
1 pitcher…………………………………………………………@ 12/ = $1.50.
Caleb Wood.
To ¼ yd. cashmere………………………………………………… @ 18/ = $2.25.
Jacob Wood.
To 3 lbs. sugar……………………………………………………… @ 1/6 = 18¾ cts.
½ lb. pepper……………………………………………………...@ 5/ = 62½ cts.
James Cram.
To ½ lb. alspice……………………………………………………..@ 5/ = 62½ cts.
Francis L. Welch.
To 2 oz. indigo……………………………………………………… @ 36/ per lb. = $4.50.
Mr. Cromwell.
To 1 yd. brown coating……………………………………………@ 21/ = $2.62½.
1½ yds. Turkey stripe……………………………………… @ 6/ = 75 cts.
Christopher Oaks.
To 1 lb. nails………………………………………………………… @ 3/ = 37½ cts.
Richard Lanning.
By 6 bush. 5½ lbs. Rye………………………………………… @ 12/ = $1.50.
Abraham Smith.
By 1 cwt. rye flour…………………………………………………@ 34/ = $4.25.
The unit price is marked in shillings and pence, New York currency—the form “2/6” being the old style of book entry, meaning two shillings and sixpence. In the entries quoted the equivalent of the unit price is given in dollars and cents. From this old blotter we learn also that common laborers received $1 per day, and hence all a man was able to earn in a day at that time was a little more than a yard and a half of factory cotton, or a pound and a half of pepper. He would have to work nearly two days for a pound of tea, and a whole week for as much sugar as he can now buy for a dollar and a half.
The descendants of the Tisdale family, as well as the general reader, are indebted to the daughters of Joseph Tisdale—Mrs. Dr. Palmer and Miss Margaret J. Tisdale—for much valuable data incorporated in these sketches. These ladies, with the daughters of Mrs. Palmer—Miss Charlotte J. and Miss Maggie E.—occupy the old home at Vittoria, and they have in their possession a most interesting collection of old papers and choice old heirlooms. In this collection may be seen New Brunswick newspapers and other publications more than a hundred years old. They have the first genuine china tea set that was brought into the settlement. During the McArthur raid in the war of 1812, Mrs. Joseph Tisdale secreted this tea set in the bogs among the cedars. They have also the crude bedsteads and tables made by the pioneer brothers and used in their primitive log cabins. A dress made for Hannah Tisdale in New Brunswick a hundred and eighteen years ago, and the “punch-dipper” made by father Ephraim, and used by him when he plowed the “raging main,” are among the heirlooms. In fact, it would require a whole chapter to enumerate all the curios contained in this collection.
But it is the old family papers that are of special interest to the descendants of the Tisdale family. They are the family records of the dead and buried past. They reveal glimpses of the Tisdale inner life, their love of virtue, their warm attachment to home, their abhorence of ignorance and vulgarity, their proud ambition to make their mark in the world, and their affection for each other. These papers show how, and with whom, they did business; and they show that every move made, although not always successful, was clear, open, frank and straightforward. “Cedar Hall” was made notorious after the family of Joseph Tisdale moved into the village, by the babblings of a few ignorant, superstitious people that did great injustice to the family.
In this old mass of papers Joseph Tisdale and his brothers have left a record behind them which should be a matter of proud satisfaction to their descendants.
[1] The Tisdale brothers engaged in a number of early land transactions, but none in the third concession of Charlotteville Township to which Owen erroneously refers. The home property was in Lot 21, Concession 4 on the north side of the main road east of Vittoria. On December 28, 1810, Samuel and Mathew H. Tisdale purchased from Oliver Mabee 164-1/2 acres in Lot 21, Concession 4, Charlotteville Township. On October 1, 1811, Joseph, Mathew, Lot and Samuel Tisdale purchased from Oliver Mabee 1 acre in the south part of Lot 21, Concession 4, Charlotteville Township. On January 4, 1812, Lot, Joseph, Samuel and Mathew purchased another 30 acres in the lot from James Russell. On May 20, 1815, Samuel Tisdale sold his interest in 114-1/3 acres of this lot to Mathew H. Tisdale. Source: Abstracts of Deeds Register of Charlotteville Township. Later, Joseph Tisdale acquired all of this property having a total of 190 acres in Lot 21, Concession 4 in the 1841 Assessment of Charlotteville Twp. At that time Joseph also owned 200 acres in Lot 22, Concession 4, another 21 acres in Lot 18, Concession 1, and 190 acres in the adjoining Lot 17, Concession 1.
[2] In 1818, Lot Tisdale settled on Lot 163, south of Talbot Road Concession in Middleton Township After performing the required settlement duties, Lot petitioned on November 6, 1822 for the grant and received it. This location was renumbered Lot 22, Concession 1, South of Talbot Road. He was there as late as 1825 when the Assessment showed him with 8 acres cleared, 192 acres wood or wild, 2 oxen, 2 cows, 1 horned cow, all valued at 61 pounds, 8 shillings.
[3] John Tisdale had an additional, oldest, daughter Elizabeth, born in 1802 who married Benjamin Haviland. Source: Frances Lindstrom and Marguerite Stansell, “Ephraim Tisdale” in Loyalist Families of the Grand River Branch, UEL, p. 563
[4] Lindstrom and Stansell stated that Joanna Tisdale married Harding Ellsworth and had Ephraim, William, Mary, Lucinda, Naomi and Ruth Ellsworth.