On the shore of Lake Erie a few miles west of Old Fort Erie and the mouth of the Niagara River lies a small, unorganized community called Crescent Park in southeast Bertie Township, Welland County. On its eastern edge between present Crescent Road and Kraft Road, a young man named James Crane, who might only have been in his late teens or early twenties and single at the time, built his first pioneer home just after the turn of the nineteenth century. A rough trail known today as Dominion Road ran through his land near the start of the overland route westward.
It was rather unusual in those times for a single young man to be on his own lot with no family in the immediate area. James’ year of birth is not definitely known but a settler had to be at least eighteen years old to apply for Crown land and he received his approval in 1803. His future wife Ann lived to the time of the 1852 Census of Canada West and her age places her as being born about 1785.[1] James might also have been that age or possibly somewhat older than her.
Young James’ father, Robert established his settlement in Burford Township, Brant County, a considerable trek west then north through the woods. The Crane patriarch afterwards settled in Charlotteville Township in the Long Point Settlement as Norfolk County was then popularly known, and reunited his family in his chosen township.
There are very few records of James Crane the pioneer youth who started out in the Niagara District then settled, married and raised a family quietly in Charlotteville Township. It seems he generally lived the pastoral life of a farmer leaving the hustle and bustle of politics and power to others.
There are two entries for James Crane in the Abstracts of Deeds Register of Bertie Township—the grant of the lot in 1803 and the sale in 1815. On December 6, 1803 the Crown granted to James Crane a patent for all 124 acres of land in Lot 5 Concession 1 with the Broken Front on Lake Erie, Bertie Twp. Eleven and a half years later on June 6, 1815 (registered on May 15, 1816) James Crane sold to Benjamin Wintermute an 84 acre part of his lot for $625. The deed mentioned another 40-acre portion of land sold earlier by James Crane to William Dunmead. That sale went unrecorded by the county registrar.[2]
The southeastern corner of Bertie Township served as a launching point for several Norfolk County settlers, among them Abraham Smith and Reuben Alward of Charlotteville Township and Daniel McQueen the founder of Port Dover in neighbouring Woodhouse Township to name three. James Crane followed their example.
Immediately following his sale to Wintermute, James Crane made his first appearance in Norfolk County records. He was assessed at Charlotteville Twp. in 1815 at £23 and taxed 3 days of labour on the roads.[3] The small size of the assessment indicates that he did not own land at the time. Few people had money for taxes so service in blazing new roads served as their payment.
Interestingly the only other early record of James Crane came in the form of a London District Court record of his testimony against his brother. On April 15, 1818, James Crane was sworn to give evidence for the defense in a case against Jacob Crane. He again gave evidence on October 14, 1818.[4]
James’ brother Jacob Crane also made a brief appearance in the early land records of Bertie Township. On April 25, 1811 (registered on May 2, 1811) Daniel Alward and Elizabeth his wife sold to Jacob Crane 100 acres of land in Lot 25 Concession 1 from Lake Erie, Bertie Twp. Just over a year later on June 30, 1812 (registered on June 23, 1812) Jacob Crane and Elizabeth his wife sold the property to Thomas Moore (A123 #4035).[5] This brief settlement was a short distance west of the village of Ridgeway.
Jacob and Elizabeth then moved west to Charlotteville Township. On July 14, 1812, Jacob Crane purchased from Duncan McCall the substantial parcel of 300 acres in Lot 9, Concession 10 and the north half of Lot 11, Concession 10, Charlotteville Twp.[6] In the 1815 Assessment of Charlotteville Township, he was assessed at £165 and taxed 8 days of work on the roads.[7]
Jacob Crane was the subject of a London District Court case. On February 21, 1818, Jacob Crane put up a bond of £100 for his appearance at the next Court of Quarter Sessions to answer an accusation of larceny and the case continued on 15 Apr 1818. He apparently did not submit to custody peacefully. At the next quarter-session on July 16, Jacob came before the court and was indicted for committing an assault and battery on James Brown, the High Constable earlier on July 3. On October 14, 1818, Jacob was found guilty and fined £1 with costs then ordered imprisoned until the fine was paid. Even the meagre sum of £1 was hard to raise in land-rich but cash-poor pioneer Norfolk.[8]
The father of the two young men above, Robert appeared in the early records with his surname spelled “Cram”, an old Scottish name. Son Jacob used that spelling in one record but usually appeared as “Crane”. Son James always used “Crane”. Some grandchildren reverted to the earlier ancestral spelling.
Robert Cram was assessed at Charlotteville Twp. in 1811 with 200 acres of land, a house of round logs and 1 cow. During the War of 1812, he served in Bostwick's Company of the Norfolk County Militia. The last record of the pioneer father was the 1815 Assessment of Charlotteville Twp. in which his property was valued at £84, and his tax 6 days of work on the roads.[9]
Sources:
[1] The 1852 Census of Windham Twp., Norfolk Co. p. 95
[2] The Abstracts of Deeds Register of Bertie Twp., Welland Co. Vol. A referring to Deeds Book A page 130, Document Number 4972
[3] Yeager, William, Charlotteville Assessments 1808-1811, Norfolk Historical Society (Simcoe, ON)
[4] Fraser, Alexander, “Minutes of the Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace For the London District, 1800-1809, 1813-1818, in Twenty-second Report of the Department of Public Records and Archives of Ontario, 1933 (King’s Printer, Toronto, ON: 1934) p. 195
[5] The Abstracts of Deeds Register of Bertie Twp., Welland Co. Volume A referring to Deeds Book A page 71 Document Number 1954 and Deeds Book A page 123 Document Number 4035
[6] The Abstracts of Deeds Register of Charlotteville Twp., Norfolk Co. Volume A
[7] Charlotteville Assessments 1808-1811
[8] Fraser, Alexander, “Minutes of the Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace For the London District, 1800-1809, 1813-1818, in Twenty-second Report of the Department of Public Records and Archives of Ontario, 1933 (King’s Printer, Toronto, ON: 1934), p. 180, 183, 188, 195, 196
[9] Charlotteville Assessments 1808-1811