SKETCH VII
It is not generally known that Turkey Point was at first designed as the commercial and governmental metropolis of Upper Canada. The man who made the designation was Sir John Graves Simcoe, the first Governor of Upper Canada.[2] He had a most wonderful faith in the future of the new province, and he was indefatigable in his efforts to open up the country and attract thereto the best class of settlers. One important work undertaken by him—a work which was the means of opening up the interior of the western peninsula of the Province to rapid settlement—was the building of a road from Niagara to Amherstburg.[3] It was a big undertaking in the primitive condition of things at that time, and in order to aid in the raising of means to carry it on, large tracts of land lying along the proposed line of road were sold to colonies of settlers. A good share of the township of Norwich was sold in this way to a colony of Pennsylvania Quakers. The first Upper Canada Parliament convened at Newark, but an American fort standing on the opposite bank of the Niagara River detracted from the pleasing effect of the landscape view, and a change of location was deemed advisable.[4] This was the state of affairs when the Governor visited Norfolk in 1795. He was engaged in the preliminary work of his great pioneer thoroughfare, and came down through the forest to the lake shore. The Mabee family had "squatted" on Turkey Point, being one of the very few families who had pioneered their way into the Long Point country at this time.
The Governor was very much pleased with Turkey Point. The beach was much wider then, giving it the appearance of a fine esplanade; and when viewed from the high bank on the mainland, with its park of evergreens in the rear, it presented a charming picture of nature. And then it must be remembered that the adjacent upland desert of sand had not yet been exposed to view. It was carpeted with leaves and shaded with a light growth of forest trees. This sparsity of timber growth indicated easy work for the settler, and made a most favorable impression on the mind of the Governor, who had come down through the almost impenetrable forests of Oxford county. Timber possessed no commercial value in those days. It was looked upon as the great impediment in the way of settlement, and the lightly timbered sections offered the greatest inducements to settlers. Hence it is that the poorest sections were the first settled upon—the reason for which is often a matter of wonderment with the young people of our day.
Governor Simcoe determined to make Turkey Point a town of great importance, and a Reservation was made for the town site and government buildings. The new town was named "The Town of Charlotteville," and the survey of a public thoroughfare ordered, connecting the new town with the Governor's Road. The surveyors were instructed to begin at the south-east angle of the township of Blenheim, in the county of Brant, thence running in as straight a line as the topography of the country would permit to the "Town of Charlotteville." The survey was made, but, owing to a miscalculation, the lake shore was reached some four and a half miles east of the Point, near Port Ryerse.
The Reservation having been made in 1795 by Governor Simcoe, instructions were given to Thomas Welch, in 1798, by the Surveyor-General, "to take a sketch of the ground above the Point which may be suitable for a town." He was instructed that "the ground immediately above Mrs. Mabee's old house" had been set aside for that purpose. He was advised "to have regard to such a situation as may be fit for barracks and such other accommodations as may be looked for in providing space for a small fort."
The old diary kept by Lady Simcoe[5] during her husband's term of office has been preserved, and it contains the following entry pertaining to the Governor's visit at Turkey Point:
"September 12th, 1795. The Governor returned and is far from well. He was pleased with Long Point, which he calls Charlotte Villa; the banks on the lake, 150 feet high; on the shore grew weeping willows covered with vines."
The term "Long Point" is either meant for Turkey Point or for the section of country bordering on Long Point bay. This entire section from the dawn of the settlement has always been designated "the Long Point country," and this idea may have been on the mind of Lady Simcoe when she recorded this entry.
In 1801 an Act was passed which provided "that the Courts of Quarter Sessions of the Peace for the District of London should be holden in the Town of Charlotteville on the second Tuesday of the months of March, June, September and December." At this time no building of any kind had been erected in the Town of Charlotteville.[6]
The Town of Charlotteville antedates the Township of Charlotteville. It is necessary to understand this in order to know where, and what, the Town of Charlotteville was. When Governor Simcoe laid it out and named it in honor of Queen Charlotte, there was no township of Charlotteville. The name was given to the proposed town; and when the township lying back of, and including, Turkey Point, was surveyed, it was named after the town.
Turkey Point was so named on account of the great number of turkeys and other wild fowl found there. It is described as being a veritable hunter's paradise at the time the Mabee family squatted there.
A portion of the town site having been thus made a public reserve, it became, as before stated, the district town of London District. When the district was organized in 1800, the courts were held at the house of James Monroe for the reason that no other house in the settlement was sufficiently commodious for the purpose; but shortly afterwards, Job Loder built a public-house in the Town of Charlotteville, and when the Court was established there it was at first held in Loder's house. The first Court held at Turkey Point was the fall term of 1802, which convened on the 14th day of September.
A log jail was erected on the public ground made of squared white oak logs. The timbers had been laid up, but the structure was not completed. On the 25th day of June, 1803, the contract was let to James Monroe to finish it for £62 10s., provincial currency. The contract specifications were as follows:
"The under floor, the sides, the ceiling, and the partition between the two rooms are to be laid and ceiled with inch and a half oak planks, to be rabbeted and lapped, and spiked with 250 pounds of spikes of three inches in length, well headed and placed and drove regularly at proper distances from each other. A floor to be laid above the ceiling with inch and a quarter pine boards. The building is to be shingled and weather-boarded with pine boards. Two doors are to be put in the jail—one to each room, of the same size of that at the old jail; also a window to each room, that window at the old jail to be cut and prepared so as to make the two windows for the new jail; the whole to be finished in a workmanlike manner, as soon as it can possibly be done, the whole of the materials to be furnished by Mr. Monroe; and one of the rooms, to be finished, at least, proper for the reception of prisoners at or before the time of the setting of the next Court of Assizes in and for this district."
The "old jail" referred to in the above specifications, the window of which was to be taken out and converted into two windows for the new structure, was the one built on the farm of Lieut. James Monroe. It stood in the woods south of "old Fort Monroe," within a few rods of the 4th concession line. Many years afterwards the logs of the old jail were used in the construction of a stable on the opposite lying lot.
From September, 1802, to sometime in the winter of 1803, the Quarter Sessions were held at the house of Job Loder. During this time Job Loder was the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the Town of Charlotteville and his tavern was the capital of the London District. He was appointed jailer, and this made him "turnkey" of the whole town.
At a special session held October 4, 1803, the following entry was made in the Court journal:
"His Majesty's Justices proposed and agreed to have a court-house erected on the public ground at the Town of Charlotteville, of the following description and size, that is to say: A frame building forty feet in length by twenty-six feet in width, to be two stories high, the first or lower story to be ten feet between floor and ceiling, and the second, or upper story to be eight feet high; The building to be erected on a foundation of white oak timber squared, the same to be sound and of sufficient thickness; the building to be shingled, and to have two sufficient floors, an entry of eight feet wide to be made from the front door across one end of the lower story, from which winding stairs are to be erected to ascend to the second story, two rooms are to be partitioned off in the second story for the jurors: nine windows are to be made in front and ten in the rear, of twenty-four lights each 7 x 9. The front door to be made of inch and a half plank, six panels, and to have a good sufficient lock and key. Two windows are to be finished in the first story, opposite each other, so as to afford sufficient light to the bar, besides two windows of fifteen lights each behind the judge, or chairman's seat. The rest of the windows are to be cased and nailed up for the present. The bar, table, justices seat, benches for the bar, and a table for each jury-room and benches for the same are to be finished. The three inside doors to be temporary. A seat and writing table for the clerk to be made between the bench and the bar.
"Note, The house to be raised, shingled, and weather-boarded and floored, the bench for the judge and justices, the judge or chairman's writing desk, clerk's seat and table, the bar and table and benches therefor, the entry, the stairs, the two jury rooms, tables and benches therefor, the four windows below and two above, to be finished, and the other three temporary doors to be made and hung. This comprehends the present contract proposed by the Court, to be performed by the next Assizes for the district."
Tenders were called for, and on December 16th the following proposals were received in open court: Alexander Hutchinson, at £281 5s; Job Loder at £250; and Jacob Bayard at £234 7s. 6d. Bayard's tender was the lowest, but the mode of payment was not satisfactory to him and he withdrew his tender, leaving Mr. Loder in the lead. A contract was accordingly drawn up between Mr. Loder of the one part, and William Spurgin, Peter Teeple and Elias Foster of the other part.
The constables who served in the new court-house were not provided with staves until the year 1805. On the 13th of June in that year the following entry was made in the Court journal:
"It is ordered that twelve staves for the constables in the district be procured, to be seven feet in length and one inch and three quarters in thickness, with the name of a township on each staff in plain legible letters. John Benson, joiner, agrees to make them ready for use at the next Quarter Sessions, at two shillings and sixpence, lawful money, for each staff, which the Court agrees to allow him to be paid by the District Treasurer."
We are led to infer from this Court order that there were only twelve organized townships in all London District at this time, namely: Charlotteville, Walsingham, Woodhouse, Townsend, Windham, Walpole, Rainham, Blenheim, Burford, Oxford, Delaware, and, probably, Westminster.[7] These townships are named in the order of their importance as recognized by the record of business transacted by the District Quarter Sessions at this time.
June 10th, 1807, the Court ordered "that Silas Montross shall have the liberty of the lot on which the court-house stands for the space of one year and as much longer as their authority may extend; "but it does not appear to what use Mr. Montross put the liberty granted.
James Monroe did not live to finish the jail at the Town of Charlotteville, as evidenced by the following Court order of June 10th, 1807:
"It is ordered by the Court that one hundred dollars be paid out of the treasury for what work is done to jail, and the heirs of James Monroe, or his executors, are to quit the work and the contract drawn in 1803 to cease."
Up to this time there had been no record kept of business accounts, and on the 8th of September following, the Court ordered that a book be procured in which to keep all accounts of the future, and also those of the past as far as it is possible to obtain them.
When the war of 1812 broke out the court-house was used for barrack purposes, and one more public structure was added to the Town of Charlotteville. This was a fort, which was christened "Fort Norfolk."
Fort Norfolk was substantially constructed. It was enclosed with a double wall built of hewed oak timbers a foot square, with a six feet space between solidly packed with earth. Before it was completed a detachment of the 19th Light Dragoons, about fifty in number, were forwarded, and during the interval pending its completion the soldiers were quartered in Vittoria, near the spot where the brick residence of Joseph McCall stands. When peace was declared Fort Norfolk was abandoned; but owing to a blunder of some one in authority, a few twelve-pound cannon were left in the fort. Some of the old people will remember the cannon that played an important part in the old Fourth of June trainings, and which was supposed to belong to John McCall. This was one of those left in the fort, but it was subsequently reclaimed and taken, with the others, to Kingston.
The court house, jail, the fort, and the tavern of Job Loder all stood on the elevation above the flat. A hotel was built under the hill and kept by a man named Hatch. In 1833, during the cholera scare, a hospital was built at this place. It stood on the bank and was a barn-like structure, and was used but little, if at all, for the purpose for which it was built. The old Town of Charlotteville reached the zenith of its glory during the war. Temporary quarters for the officers dotted the hillside; and it was the scene of much activity.
In 1815 the District Courts were removed to Vittoria, and the Town of Charlotteville relapsed into Turkey Point once more. No traces of its old-time importance remain, save a few surface irregularities indicating the spot occupied by the fort. As we view the cities, towns and villages that dot the territory once known as London District, it is hard to believe that the dreary waste at Turkey Point was, for thirteen years, the judicial metropolis for all this vast region of country.
[1] For additional information about Charlotteville see “Charlotteville: The First District Capital” by R. Robert Mutrie in The Long Point Settlers Journal, Vol. 5, No. 2.
[2] Charlotteville was actually the capital of the London District, not all of Upper Canada. Its jurisdiction included the counties of Norfolk, Elgin, Middlesex, the south part of Brant and the west part of Haldimand. John Graves Simcoe, the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, was not knighted, so did not have the title “Sir” in front of his name.
[3] Called “The Governor’s Road,” this is the present Highway Number 2.
[4] Newark’s name was changed to Niagara-on-the-Lake. The reference is to old Fort Niagara across the Niagara River turned over by the British to the Americans by Jay’s Treaty in 1796.
[5] Since John Graves Simcoe was not knighted, his wife Elizabeth (Gwillim) Simcoe did not have the title of “Lady”.
[6] Owen’s references here and in succeeding paragraphs are based on “Minutes of the Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace for the London District, 1808-1809, 1813-1818” which were subsequently transcribed by Alexander Fraser and published in Twenty-Second Report of Public Records and Archives of Ontario (King’s Printer, Toronto, ON: 1933)
[7] In the early period, constables were given jurisdiction over more than one township, and sometimes two constables were appointed for two adjoining townships combined. In ordering twelve staves, the Court was foreseeing the day when each township would have its own constable. In 1805 nine constables were appointed for the first ten townships listed by Owen. In 1806, there appeared in the Court Minutes an appointment for “Delaware &c” indicating that another township had been formed. In 1807, thirteen constables were appointed for thirteen townships, which now included Dunwich and Aldborough under one constable. The first appointment of a constable for Westminster Township did not occur until 1815. (Source: Fraser, Ibid, p. 89, 98, 142)