Toronto of Old Part 16

(The last named was for a long time the Stultz of York, supplying all those of its citizens, young and old, who desired to make an attractive or intensely respectable appearance, with vestments in fine broadcloth.)

A little to the north, on the left side of George Street, was the famous Ladies' School of Mrs. Goodman, presided over subsequently by Miss Purcell and Miss Rose. This had been previously the homestead of Mr.

Stephen Jarvis, of whom again immediately.--Two or three of these familiar names appear in an advertis.e.m.e.nt relating to land in this neighbourhood, in the _Gazette_ of March 23rd, 1826.--"For Sale: Three lots or parcels of land in the town of York, the property of Mrs.

Goodman, being part of the premises on which Miss Purcell now resides, and formerly owned by Col. Jarvis. The lots are each fifty feet in width and one hundred and thirty in depth, and front on the street running from King Street to Mr. Jarvis's Park lot. If not disposed of by private sale, they will be put up at auction on the first day of May next.

Application to be made to Miss Purcell, or at the Office of the _U. C.

Gazette_. York, March 10, 1826."

Advancing on Duke Street eastward a little way, we came, on the left, to the abode of Chief Justice Sir William Campbell, of whom before Sir William erected here in 1822 a mansion of brick, in good style. It was subsequently, for many years, the hospitable home of the Hon. James Gordon, formerly of Amherstburgh.

Then on the right, one square beyond, at the south-easterly corner where Caroline Street intersects, we reached the house of Mr. Secretary Jarvis, a man of great note in his day, whose name is familiar to all who have occasion to examine the archives of Upper Canada in the administrations of Governors Simcoe, Hunter and Gore. A fine portrait of him exists, but, as we have been informed, it has been transmitted to relatives in England. Mr. Stephen Jarvis, above named, was long the Registrar of Upper Canada. His hand-writing is well-known to all holders of early deeds. He and the Secretary were first cousins; of the same stock as the well-known Bishop Jarvis of Connecticut, and the Church Historian, Dr. Samuel Farmer Jarvis. Both were officers in incorporated Colonial regiments before the independence of the United States; and both came to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. Mr. Stephen Jarvis was the founder of the leading Canadian family to which the first Sheriff Jarvis belonged. Mr. Samuel Peters Jarvis, from whom "Jarvis Street" has its name, was the son of Mr. Secretary Jarvis.

On the left, one square beyond the abode of Mr. Secretary Jarvis, came the premises and home of Mr. Surveyor General Ridout, the latter a structure still to be seen in its primitive outlines, a good specimen of the old type of early Upper Canadian family residence of a superior cla.s.s; combining the qualities of solidity and durability with those of snugness and comfort in the rigours of winter and the heats of summer.

In the rear of Mr. Ridout's house was for some time a family burial-plot; but, like several similar private enclosures in the neighbourhood of the town, it became disused after the establishment of regular cemeteries.

Nearly opposite Mr. Ridout's, in one of the usual long, low Upper Canadian one-storey dwellings, shaded by lofty Lombardy poplars, was the home of the McIntoshes, who are to be commemorated hereafter in connection with the Marine of York: and here, at a later period, lived for a long time Mr. Andrew Warffe and his brother John. Mr. Andrew Warffe was a well-known employe in the office of the Inspector General, Mr. Baby, and a lieutenant in the Incorporated Militia.

By one of the vicissitudes common in the history of family residences everywhere, Mr. Secretary Jarvis's house, which we just now pa.s.sed, became afterwards the place of business of a memorable cutler and gunsmith, named Isaac Columbus. During the war of 1812, Mr. Columbus was employed as armourer to the Militia, and had a forge near the garrison.

Many of the swords used by the Militia officers were actually manufactured by him. He was a native of France; a liberal-hearted man, ever ready to contribute to charitable objects; and a clever artizan.

Whether required to "jump" the worn and battered axe of a backwoodsman, to manufacture the skate-irons and rudder of an ice-boat, to put in order a surveyor's theodolite, or to replace for the young geometrician or draughtsman an instrument lost out of his case, he was equally _au fait_. On occasion he could even supply an elderly lady or gentleman with a set of false teeth, and insert them.

In our boyhood we had occasion to get many little matters attended to at Mr. Columbus's. Once on leaving word that a certain article must be ready by a particular hour, we remember being informed that "must" was only for the King of France. His political absolutism would have satisfied Louis XIV. himself. He positively refused to have anything to do with the "liberals" of York, expressly on the ground that, in his opinion, the modern ideas of government "hindered the King from acting as a good father to the people."

An expression of his, "first quality, blue!" used on a particular occasion in reference to an extra finish to be given to some steel-work for an extra price, pa.s.sed into a proverb among us boys at school, and was extensively applied by us to persons and things of which we desired to predicate a high degree of excellence.

Over Columbus's workshop, at the corner of Caroline Street, we are pretty sure his name appeared as here given; and so it was always called. But we observe in some lists of early names in York, that it is given as "Isaac Collumbes." It is curious to note that the great discoverer's name is a latinization of Colon, Coulon, Colombe, descendant each of _columba_, dove, of which _columbus_ is the masculine form.

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XIV.

KING STREET--FROM GEORGE STREET TO CAROLINE STREET.

We now retrace our steps to King Street, at its intersection with George Street; and here our eye immediately lights on an object connected with the early history of Education in York.

Attached to the east side of the house at the south-east angle of the intersection is a low building, wholly of stone, resembling a small root-house. Its structure is concealed from view now by a coating of clapboards. This was the first school-house possessing a public character in York.

It was where Dr. Stuart taught, afterwards Archdeacon of Kingston. The building was on his property, which became afterwards that of Mr. George Duggan, once before referred to. (In connection with St. James' Church, it should have been recorded that Mr. Duggan was the donor and planter of the row of Lombardy poplars which formerly stood in front of that edifice, and which figured conspicuously in the old engravings of King Street. He was an Irishman of strong opinions. He once stood for the town against Mr. Attorney-General Robinson, but without success. When the exigencies of later times required the uprooting of the poplar trees, now become overgrown, he warmly resented the removal and it was at the risk of grievous bodily harm that the Church-warden of the day, Mr. T. D. Harris, carried into effect the resolution of the Vestry.)

Dr. Stuart's was the Home District School. From a contemporary record, now before us, we learn that it opened on June the first, 1807, and that the first names entered on its books were those of John Ridout, William A. Hamilton, Thomas G. Hamilton, George H. Detlor, George S. Boulton, Robert Stanton, William Stanton, Angus McDonell, Alexander Hamilton, Wilson Hamilton, Robert Ross, Allan McNab. To this list, from time to time, were added many other old Toronto or Upper Canadian names: as, for example, the following: John Moore, Charles Ruggles, Edward Hartney, Charles Boulton, Alexander Chewett, Donald McDonell, James Edward Small, Charles Small, John Hayes, George and William Jarvis, William Bowkett, Peter McDonell, Philemon Squires, James McIntosh, Bernard, Henry and Marshall Glennon, Richard Brooke, Daniel Brooke, Charles Reade, William Robinson, Gilbert Hamilton, Henry Ernst, John Gray, Robert Gray, William Cawthra, William Smith, Harvey Woodruff, Robert Anderson, Benjamin Anderson, James Givins, Thomas Playter, William Pilkington. The French names Belcour, Hammeil and Marian occur. (There were bakers or confectioners of these names in York at an early period.)

From the same record it appears that female pupils were not excluded from the primitive Home District School. On the roll are names which surviving contemporaries would recognize as belonging to the _beau monde_ of Upper Canada, distinguished and admired in later years.

A building-lot, eighty-six feet in front and one hundred and seventeen in depth, next to the site of the school, is offered for sale in the _Gazette_ of the 18th of March, 1822; and in the advertis.e.m.e.nt it is stated to be "one of the most eligible lots in the Town of York, and situated in King Street, in the centre of the Town."

To the left, just across from this choice position, was, in 1833, Wragg & Co.'s establishment, where such matter-of-fact articles as the following could be procured: "Bending and unbending nails, as usual; wrought nails and spikes of all sizes [a change since 1810]: ox-traces and cable chains; tin; double and single sheet iron: sheet bra.s.s and copper; bar, hoop, bolt and rod iron of all sizes; shear, blister and cast steel; with every other article in the heavy line, together with a very complete a.s.sortment of shelf goods, cordage, oak.u.m, tar, pitch, and rosin: also a few patent machines for sh.e.l.ling corn." (A much earlier resort for such merchandize was Mr. Peter Paterson's, on the west side of the Market Square.)

Of a date somewhat subsequent to that of Messrs. Wragg's advertis.e.m.e.nt, was the depot of Mr. Harris for similar substantial wares. This was situated on the north side of King Street, westward of the point at which we are now pausing. It long resisted the great conflagration of 1849, towering up amidst the flames like a black, isolated crag in a tempestuous sea; but at length it succ.u.mbed. Having been rendered, as it was supposed, fire-proof externally, no attempt was made to remove the contents of the building.

To the east of Messrs. Wragg's place of business, on the same side, and dating back to an early period, was the dwelling house and mart of Mr.

Mosley, the princ.i.p.al auctioneer and appraiser of York, a well-known and excellent man. He had suffered the severe calamity of a partial deprivation of the lower limbs by frost-bite; but he contrived to move about with great activity in a room or on the side-walk by means of two light chairs, shifting himself adroitly from the one to the other. When required to go to a distance or to church, (where he was ever punctually to be seen in his place), he was lifted by his son or sons into and out of a wagonette, together with the chairs.

On the same (north) side was the place where the Messrs. Lesslie, enterprising and successful merchants from Dundee, dealt at once in two remunerative articles--books and drugs. The left side of the store was devoted to the latter; the right to the former. Their first head-quarters in York had been further up the street; but a move had been made to the eastward, to be, as things were then, nearer the heart of the town.

This firm had houses carrying on the same combined businesses in Kingston and Dundas. There exists a bronze medal or token, of good design, sought after by collectors, bearing the legend, "E. Lesslie and Sons, Toronto and Dundas, 1822." The date has been perplexing, as the town was not named Toronto in 1822. The intention simply was to indicate the year of the founding of the firm in the two towns; the first of which a.s.sumed the name of Toronto at the period the medal was really struck, viz., 1834. On the obverse it bears a figure of Justice with scales and sword: on the reverse, a plough with the mottoes, "Prosperity to Canada," "La Prudence et la Candeur."--A smaller Token of the same firm is extant, on which "Kingston" is inserted between "Toronto" and "Dundas."

Nearly opposite was the store of Mr. Monro. Regarding our King Street as the Broadway of York, Mr. Monro was for a long time its Stewart. But the points about his premises that linger now in our recollection the most, are a tasteful flower-garden on its west side, and a trellised verandah in that direction, with canaries in a cage, usually singing therein. Mr.

Monro was Mayor of Toronto in 1840. He also represented in Parliament the South Riding of York, in the Session of 1844-5.

At the north-west corner, a little further on, resided Mr. Alexander Wood, whose name appears often in the Report of the Loyal and Patriotic Society of 1812, to which reference before has been made, and of which he was the Secretary. A brother of his, at first in copartnership with Mr. Allan, and at a later period, independently, had made money, at York, by business. On the decease of his brother, Mr. Alexander Wood came out to attend to the property left. He continued on the same spot, until after the war of 1812, the commercial operations which had been so prosperously begun, and then retired.

At the time to which our recollections are just now transporting us, the windows of the part of the house that had been the store were always seen with the shutters closed. Mr. Wood was a bachelor; and it was no uncosy sight, towards the close of the shortening autumnal days, before the remaining front shutters of the house were drawn in for the evening, to catch a glimpse, in pa.s.sing, of the interior of his comfortable quarters, lighted up by the blazing logs on the hearth, the table standing duly spread close by, and the solitary himself ruminating in his chair before the fire, waiting for candles and dinner to be brought in.

On sunny mornings in winter he was often to be seen pacing the sidewalk in front of his premises for exercise, arrayed in a long blue over-coat, with his right hand thrust for warmth into the cuff of his left sleeve, and his left hand into that of his right. He afterwards returned to Scotland, where, at Stonehaven, not far from Aberdeen, he had family estates known as Woodcot and Woodburnden. He died without executing a will; and it was some time before the rightful heir to his property in Scotland and here was determined. It had been his intention, we believe, to return to Canada.--The streets which run eastward from Yonge Street, north of Carleton Street, named respectively "Wood" and "Alexander,"

pa.s.s across land that belonged to Mr. Wood.

Many are the shadowy forms that rise before us, as we proceed on our way; phantom-revisitings from the misty Past; the shapes and faces of enterprising and painstaking men, of whose fortunes King Street hereabout was the cradle. But it is not necessary in these reminiscences to enumerate all who, on the right hand and on the left, along the now comparatively deserted portions of the great thoroughfare, ama.s.sed wealth in the olden time by commerce and other honourable pursuits,--laying the foundation, in several instances, of opulent families.

Quetton St. George, however, must not be omitted, builder of the solid and enduring house on the corner opposite to Mr. Wood's; a structure that, for its size and air of respectability; for its material, brick, when as yet all the surrounding habitations were of wood; for its tinned roof, its graceful porch, its careful and neat finish generally, was, for a long time, one of the York lions.

Mr. Quetton St. George was a French royalist officer, and a chevalier of the order of St. Louis. With many other French gentlemen, he emigrated to Canada at the era of the Revolution. He was of the cla.s.s of the n.o.blesse, as all officers were required to be; which cla.s.s, just before the Revolution, included, it is said, 90,000 persons, all exempt from the ordinary taxes of the country.

The surname of St. George was a.s.sumed by M. Quetton to commemorate the fact that he had first set foot on English ground on St. George's day.

On proceeding to Canada, he, in conjunction with Jean Louis, Vicomte de Chalus, and other distinguished _emigres_, acquired a large estate in wild lands in the rough region north of York, known as the "Oak Ridges."

Finding it difficult, however, to turn such property speedily to account, he had recourse to trade with the Indians and remote inhabitants. Numerous stations, with this object in view, were established by him in different parts of the country, before his final settlement in York. One of these posts was at Orillia, on Lake Couchiching; and in the Niagara _Herald_ of August the 7th, 1802, we meet with the following advertis.e.m.e.nt:--"New Store at the House of the French General, between Niagara and Queenston. Messrs. Quetton St.

George and Co., acquaint the public that they have lately arrived from New York with a general a.s.sortment of Dry Goods and Groceries, which will be sold at the lowest price for ready money, for from the uncertainty of their residing any time in these parts they cannot open accounts with any person. Will also be found at the same store a general a.s.sortment of tools for all mechanics. They have likewise well-made Trunks; also empty Barrels. Niagara, July 23."

The copartnership implied was with M. de Farcy. The French General referred to was the Comte de Puisaye, of whom in full hereafter. The house spoken of still exists, beautifully situated at a point on the Niagara River, where the carriage-road between Queenston and the town of Niagara approaches the very brink of the lofty bank, whose precipitous side is even yet richly clothed with fine forest trees, and where the n.o.ble stream below, closed in towards the south by the heights above Lewiston and Queenston, possesses all the features of a picturesque inland lake.

Attached to the house in question is a curious old fire-proof structure of brick, quaintly b.u.t.tressed with stone: the walls are of a thickness of three or four feet; and the interior is beautifully vaulted and divided into two compartments, having no communication with each other: and above the whole is a long loft of wood, approached by steps on the outside. The property here belonged for a time in later years to Shickluna, the shipbuilder of St. Catharines, who happily did not disturb the interesting relic just described. The house itself was in some respects modernized by him; but, with its steep roof and three dormer windows, it still retains much of its primitive character.

In 1805 we find Mr. St. George removed to York. The copartnership with M. de Farcy is now dissolved. In successive numbers of the _Gazette and Oracle_, issued in that and the following year, he advertises at great length. But on the 20th of September, 1806, he abruptly announces that he is not going to advertise any more: he now once for all, begs the public to examine his former advertis.e.m.e.nts, where they will find, he says, an account of the supply which he brings from New York every spring, a similar a.s.sortment to which he intends always to have on hand: and N. B., he adds: Nearly the same a.s.sortment may be found at Mr.

Boiton's, at Kingston, and at Mr. Boucherville's, at Amherstburgh, "who transact business for Mr. St. George."

IMPORTS AT YORK IN 1805.

As we have, in the advertis.e.m.e.nts referred to, a rather minute record of articles and things procurable and held likely to be wanted by the founders of society in these parts, we will give, for the reader's entertainment, a selection from several of them, adhering for the most part to the order in which the goods are therein named.

From time to time it is announced by Mr. St. George that there have "just arrived from New York":--Ribbons, cotton goods, silk ta.s.sels, gown-tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs, cotton binding, wire tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs, silk belting, fans, beaded b.u.t.tons, block tin, glove ties, cotton bed-line, bed-lace, rollo-bands, ostrich feathers, silk lace, black veil lace, thread do., laces and edging, fine black veils, white do., fine silk mitts, love-handkerchiefs, Barcelona do., silk do., black c.r.a.pe, black mode, black Belong, blue, white and yellow do., striped silk for gowns, Chambray muslins, printed dimity, split-straw bonnets, Leghorn do., imperial chip do., best London Ladies' beaver bonnets, cotton wire, Rutland gauze, band boxes, cambrics, calicoes, Irish linens, callimancoes, plain muslins, laced muslins, blue, black and yellow nankeens, jeans, fustians, long silk gloves, velvet ribbons, Russia sheetings, India satins, silk and cotton umbrellas, parasols, white cottons, bombazetts, black and white silk stockings, damask table cloths, napkins, cotton, striped nankeens, bandana handkerchiefs, catgut, Ticklenburg, brown holland, Creas a la Morlaix, Italian lutestring, beaver caps for children.

Then we have: Hyson tea, Hyson Chaulon in small chests, young Hyson, green, Souchong and Bohea, loaf, East India and Muscovado sugars, mustard, essence of mustard, pills of mustard, capers, lemon-juice, soap, Windsor do., indigo, mace, nutmegs, cinnamon, ca.s.sia, cloves, pimento, pepper, best box raisins, prunes, coffee, Spanish and American "segars," Cayenne pepper in bottles, pearl barley, castor oil, British oil, pickled oysters.