Jesse Ketchum (March 31, 1782 to September 7, 1867) was an American-born tanner who became one of York’s larger landholders, a Reform member of the Upper Canada assembly from 1828 to 1834, and a donor to schools, churches, and temperance halls. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography records that he moved his tannery to Buffalo, New York, after 1837 and settled there himself in 1845.
Life in brief
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | March 31, 1782, Spencertown, Columbia County, New York |
| Died | September 7, 1867, Buffalo, New York |
| Role | Tanner, landowner, assemblyman, philanthropist |
| Toronto connection | Ran a tannery at York; member for the County of York 1828 to 1834; gave land and money to schools, churches, and temperance causes |
From Spencertown to Yonge Street
Ketchum was the fifth son of Jesse Ketchum and Mollie Robbins. After his mother died when he was six, he was placed with a tanner in Spencertown, where he probably learned the trade. At 17 he ran away to join his brother Seneca, who had settled in Upper Canada in 1796 and farmed on Yonge Street north of York. He married Ann Love, who died in 1829, and they had three sons and three daughters. He later married Mary Ann Rubergall, with whom he had three more children.
The tannery and the war years
Ketchum built his fortune on tanning. His tannery stood at the southwest corner of Adelaide and Yonge streets and stretched along Adelaide nearly to Bay Street, according to the Lost Rivers of Toronto site, which draws on the older local histories Original Toronto and A Glimpse of Toronto’s History. During the War of 1812 several recent American arrivals left Upper Canada rather than serve in the militia or swear allegiance. One of them, the American tanner John Van Zandt, had to sell quickly, and Ketchum bought his property at York. Wartime demand for supplies brought profit, which he reinvested in town lots and in farms across the County of York. He gave building lots to his employees.
He enlisted in the 3rd Regiment of York militia and was paroled after the American capture of York in 1813. During the brief occupation his loyalty came under suspicion, and Attorney General John Beverley Robinson was directed to have him arrested and tried if an inquiry supported the charge. No arrest followed.
Schools and churches
Ketchum helped pay for the first common school in York, completed in 1818, after the Common Schools Act of 1816 left building costs unfunded, and townspeople elected him a trustee. In 1832 he funded an infant school for children under seven. He founded the York Sunday School Union in 1823 to stock libraries for Sunday schools of every denomination, and he gave prize books to children each year.
A Methodist, he attended St. James’ Anglican Church, the only church in town, while helping to establish a Methodist chapel in 1818 and a secessionist Presbyterian congregation in 1820, later Knox Presbyterian Church, with gifts of land and money. A Toronto District School Board history adds that he gave six acres (2.4 hectares) at Davenport Road and Bay Street for a school and public park, and the school that carries his name still stands. That page gives no date for the gift. The Stones of Rebellion transcription of the plaque at the site dates it to 1856, on the west side of Davenport Road at Bay Street.
Break with the Family Compact
His opposition to the governing circle began in 1820 over the York school. John Strachan persuaded Lieutenant Governor Sir Peregrine Maitland to withhold school funds, and when the elected trustees resigned, Strachan installed his own nominee as teacher. The dispute over the clergy reserves deepened the rift. In December 1827 Ketchum chaired a public meeting against Strachan’s “Ecclesiastical Chart,” and in 1831 he and Egerton Ryerson drafted a petition from the “Friends of Religious Liberty” asking that all denominations be treated equally.
In the assembly
In 1828 the County of York elected Ketchum and William Lyon Mackenzie to the assembly. Ketchum held his seat until 1834, when he declined to stand again because he disliked the turmoil. His support for the Reformers was so close that opponents mocked him as “King Jesse” and Mackenzie as his “jackal.” He opposed Mackenzie’s expulsions from the House and suffered during the York riots of 1832. In December 1834 he helped organize the Canadian Alliance Society, and in 1836 he and James Lesslie were chosen to deliver the Reformers’ reply to Sir Francis Bond Head.
Why he stayed out of 1837
Ketchum still hoped for peaceful reform. He skipped the July 31, 1837, meeting at John Doel’s brewery because he expected Mackenzie to propose a coup, refused to sign the resulting declaration, and broke with his former allies. He took no part in the rebellion, though his son William fled Upper Canada afterward. The events themselves are covered in the article on the 1837 Rebellion in Toronto.
Temperance and savings
Ketchum was vice-president of the York Temperance Society, founded in 1830, and built two halls for its meetings. The school board history says that in 1837 he gave land for Temperance Street on condition that alcohol never be sold on it. He also helped found the Upper Canada Bible Society (1828), the Upper Canada Tract Society (1832), the Home District Savings Bank (1830), which served working people, and the York Mechanics’ Institute (1832).
Buffalo and death
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography says he moved the tannery to the outskirts of Buffalo soon after the rebellion and remained in Toronto himself. Its reasons were that the Toronto site had grown too valuable for tanning and that Buffalo gave the business wider prospects and security for his son William. He put the Buffalo profits into nearby farmland, which became very valuable as the city expanded. In 1845 he transferred his Toronto property to the children of his first marriage and moved to Buffalo with his second family. He kept giving to churches, schools, and temperance societies. He died there on September 7, 1867, and Buffalo closed its schools on the day of his funeral.
Where sources differ
Some secondary pages treat the move of the tannery to Buffalo shortly after the rebellion as Ketchum’s own departure, and the Canadian Encyclopedia says only that he moved his business there after the rebellions collapsed. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography separates the two: the tannery moved soon after the rebellion, and Ketchum himself moved in 1845. The date of the Davenport Road land gift is also unsettled: the school board gives none, and the plaque transcription gives 1856.
Who was Jesse Ketchum?
A tanner and landowner at York who sat in the assembly from 1828 to 1834 and gave land and money to schools, churches, and temperance societies.
Did Jesse Ketchum take part in the 1837 rebellion?
No. He refused to sign the Toronto Reformers’ declaration and broke with Mackenzie, according to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
When did Ketchum leave Toronto?
The tannery moved to Buffalo after 1837. Ketchum himself moved there in 1845.
Why is Temperance Street so named?
The Toronto District School Board’s history of Ketchum says he gave the land in 1837 on condition that no alcohol be sold there. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography does not mention the street.
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography, “Ketchum, Jesse,” vol. 9
- Toronto District School Board, Jesse Ketchum Public School, “Jesse Ketchum’s History”
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Jesse Ketchum”
- Stones of Rebellion, plaque text “Jesse Ketchum”
- Lost Rivers project, “Jesse Ketchum’s House and Tannery” (citing Original Toronto and A Glimpse of Toronto’s History)
Related reading
- William Lyon Mackenzie and Upper Canada reform
- The 1837 Rebellion in Toronto
- The history of Yonge Street
- John Strachan and the York school dispute
- People of Toronto history
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 23). Jesse Ketchum: Tanner, Reformer, and Benefactor of York. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/jesse-ketchum
MLA: “Jesse Ketchum: Tanner, Reformer, and Benefactor of York.” History of Toronto, 23 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/jesse-ketchum. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Jesse Ketchum: Tanner, Reformer, and Benefactor of York.” Last modified October 23, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/jesse-ketchum.
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