King Township Residents from A History of Toronto and County of York

Charles Hambly, concession 9, lot 2, was born in Nova Scotia in the year 1808, and came to Upper Canada in 1828. A few years after his arrival he purchased from the Canada Company two hundred acres of land in concession 9, which from complete bush he, by energetic perseverence, converted into a good productive farm. As a matter of fact, he had absolutely to cut his way to his property, such then being the sparsity of settlement. He afterwards purchased six hundred acres of land, which has since come under the plough. Mr. Hambly has only served one year in the Township Council. Notwithstanding a very serious loss originating from a fire, Mr. Hambly has by industry and economy accumulated a very large estate. He was married in 1833 to Miss Mary Ann Hambly, daughter of William Hambly; they have seven children, viz.: William, Edwin, Charles, David, John, James, Bella and Elizabeth. He attends the Methodist Church, and is a Reformer in politics. (vol. II, p. 400)

John Hanlan, lot 27, concession 9, was born in the North of Ireland in the year 1815, and emigrated to Canada in 1835. He worked in Peterboro’ County for the first twelve months after his arrival,and then moved to York County, where he purchased lots 26 and 27, concession 10, in the Township of King, where he still resides, and in addition owns lot 27, concession 9, now occupied by his son George, whose sketch appears below. In 1840 he married Catharine Bell, of Tecumseth Township, by whom he has a family of nine children: John, George, William, Daniel, Mary, Ann, Elizabeth, Jane and Margaret. Mr. Hanlan is a Reformer in politics. George Hanlan was born in 1853 in Tecumseth Township. He received a Common-school education, and has since remained with his father on the farm. He married in 1883 Miss Strainer, of this township, by whom he has one son. (vol. II, p. 401)

Seth Heacock, who resides at Oakland Farm, Township of King. Is a descendant of Jonathan Heacock, who emigrated from Pennsylvania some time before 1800, and lived for a short time near St. Catharines, Ontario. From there the family moved to Yonge Street, north of Aurora, about 1804. They afterwards went to King Township and located on lots 26 and 27, concession 3, where they acquired four hundred acres of land , which was then completely bush. The children of Jonathan and Mary Heacock were Jane, John, Edward, Mary, Nathan, Catharine, Roland, Sarah, Nancy, Amos and Levi. Nathan resided in Niagara District, Township of Pelham, until about 1830. He then moved to the County of York, where all the rest of the family were settled. Our subject’s father was Edward Heacock, who, with some of his brothers cleared the land, where he lived until his death in 1864. About 1812 or 1813 Edward Heacock married Rachel Webb, one of a family also from Pennsylvania, who settled on Yonge Street, near Aurora, about 1803 or 1804, with many descendants in the County of York and elsewhere. The children of Edward and Rachel Heacock were Eliza, Delilah, Malinda, Seth, Mary and Ruth. Seth Heacock was born on the old homestead on June 23, 1822. He acquired a fair education for the times; but the clearing of land, making roads through the bush, ploughing among stumps and stones was the principal occupation at all hours to make both ends meet; his whole life having been devoted to farming, raising of stock and improving it as circumstances would permit until 1867. He commenced with thorough-bred Durhams and imported stock from the herd of Mr. Robert Symes, of Red Kirk, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. His Shorthorn Durham cattle are considered specially fine; he now owns about thirty head of the pure breed, which command high prices, having received as much as $520 per head, and are distributed over a large part of Canada and the United States. He is also breeding pure Southdown Sheep of the best breed, from imported stock, which are especially fine and in splendid condition. Mr. Heacock was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1876. He is a Reformer in politics, and in religion is inclined to be identified with the Society of Friends. He was married in 1847 to Hannah, daughter of Jesse and Eliza Walton, of Kettleby, Ontario; their family consists of eight children living and one dead: John Milton, George Washington, Eliza Celesta, Emma C., Addie A., Mary Lavilla, Rachel Alberta and Franklin W. John Milton in 1878 married Emma Louise Salter, family, one child, Mable L.; he lives at Midland City, County Simcoe. Addie A. in 1878 married Robert A. Starr; family, Ethel L., Edgar D. and Leanora, and lives in Whitchurch Township, County York. (vol. II, p. 401)

Joseph Hollingshead, lot 1, concession 8, is the son of Anthony Hollingshead, who was born in Little York in 1800. The family were U.E. Loyalists, and during the War of 1812 Anthony, then quite a boy, drove a waggon which contained a number of American prisoners; he was also present when the powder magazine was fired during the Battle of York in 1813. His family consisted of seven children, of whom Joseph, our subject, was born in King Township in 1845. He acquired a Common School education, and afterwards went to farming. He operated his own farm, the locality of which is given at the commencement of this sketch, during the years 1867-8-9, which he the following year rented out and commenced the business of general merchant at Schomberg, to which in 1882 he added that of druggist, and is now doing a successful trade. He married in 1869 Mary A., daughter of Mr. John Proctor, of King Township, by whom he has two children, viz.: Alberta, born 1871, and Emma, born in 1874. Mr. Hollingshead is a strong Conservative, and attends the English Church. (vol. II, p. 402)

John Hughey, lot 69, concession 1, was born in York County in 1820. His father was James Hughey, a native of Ireland, who came to Canada in 1818 and settled on some land in York County. He bought one hundred acres off Yonge Street, which, after he had cleared, he sold and purchased the land now farmed by his son John, who succeeded to the property on the death of his father in 1871. John had only a Common-school education, and was early inured to all the hardships and privations of pioneer life. He was twice married; first to Miss Isabella Kerr in 1846; by this union there was no issue. He married a second time in 1854, his wife being Miss Sarah Thompson, from Ireland; they have nine children living, as follow: James, Jane, William, Samuel, David, Rankin, Nelson, Bell and John; two are dead – Wellington, who was drowned, and Lavinia, who died in 1860. Mr. Hughey belongs to the Presbyterian Church, and is in political temperament a Conservative. (vol. II, p. 403)

James Hutchinson, deceased, was born in England, and came to Canada in 1828 and worked as a farm hand several years. He subsequently bought one hundred acres of land in King Township, which is now owned by his son Martin. This land was entirely bush when he first located upon it, and it took him several years of laborious toil to put it in thorough farming condition. His labour, however, was well repaid, and he afterwards succeeded in accumulating property to the amount of $15,000. His death, which occurred in 1873, was much regretted in the neighbourhood, where his genial and kindly disposition had gained him numerous friends. His wife, Jane Hutchinson, survived him nine years, and she died at the venerable age of seventy-two years. Martin Hutchinson, son of the above, resides on the old homestead, lot 13, concession 2. He was born in King Township in 1836, and received a rudimentary education in the Common schools of the time. He early assisted his father on the farm, which he acquired at the latter’s death. He married Elizabeth Gray, of York Township, by whom he has six children, viz.: John, Thomas, James, George, Henrietta and Martin. He attends the Baptist Church, and is a Conservative in politics. (vol. II, p. 403)

William Hutt, lot 24, concession 2, was born in England and came to Canada in 1833. He had from his early years followed the occupation of shepherd, and on his arrival in York County worked the first year as a farm hand. The succeeding six years he rented a farm, and then purchased his present property on lots 30½ and 20, concession 2. He was married previous to coming to this country, his wife being Miss Gardner; they had eleven children, four only are living, viz.: Oliver, William, Walter and Amy. He is in religion a Methodist, and in politics gives his vote to good men and good measures. (vol. II, p. 403)

Charles Irwin, miller, Lloydtown P.O., is the son of R.P. Irwin, of Irish descent, who was born in Pennsylvania, U.S., and coming to Canada in the year 1818, settled near Aurora, where he followed his trade as millwright, and in which locality his son Charles was born in 1832. Charles was educated in Newmarket. He went into the milling business with his brother in Aurora in 1865. He bought his present mill and additional property in 1879, where he does a large and lucrative business. He married in 1857 Miss Tyson of Aurora, by whom he has five children as follow: Josephine, born 1858; Marion, born 1861; Kate, born 1867; Courtwright, born 1870; and William, born 1873. Mr. Irwin was a Councillor of Aurora for a number of years, and for the past nine years has been first Deputy-Reeve of the Municipality of King, and a Justice of the Peace. He is a Methodist in religion, and in politics is a Reformer. (vol. II, p. 404)

Jared Irwin, manager of the York County Industrial Home, comes of a purely American ancestry. His grandfather, Charles Irwin, came to Canada from Pennsylvania in the first years of the present century, and settled on the line of the Indian trail which subsequently became the important highway known as Yonge Street. He served his country in active service in the War of 1812-’14, and died at an advanced age, leaving a number of children. One of these, Thomas, having married Miss Phila Pearson, a sister of the present County Registrar, started life upon a bush farm in the Township of Tecumseth, Simcoe County. Here the subject of the sketch was born in 1839. He assisted his father in the pioneer’s task of clearing the land, always taking advantage of such opportunities for education as were then possible, and continued to devote himself to the farm until 1860. He then left the now fine homestead to begin life for himself, and ultimately settled upon a farm adjoining the Town of Newmarket, where he continued to live till appointed to his present position in 1882. He was married in 1861 to Miss E.J. Armitage of this township. Their family consists of Herbert E., born 1862; Eli Franklin, born 1867; James Walter, born 1869; and Caroline Lenore, born 1880. (vol. II, p. 404)

Reverend William Jenkins, deceased. In connection with the early history of York County, the part played by the subject of this sketch was not an unimportant one. It is stated that he was the first ordained preacher in York County, but in the absence of any comlete information on the point, it would be perhaps as well to leave it debatable. The Reverend William Jenkins was born in Scotland, and was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and was married in that city. He came to Canada in 1812 with the object of advancing the Gospel of Christ amongst the Indian tribes, but was soon obliged to relinquish his noble and praiseworthy calling on account of ill-health, which compelled his to return to the Old Country. He was, however, soon enabled to resume his duties, and in 1818 he returned to Canada, and settled in little York, where for many years he preached the Word. He ultimately located in Markham township, where he died in 1843. The first sermon he delivered in Markham was given from a tree stump, there being no churches, nor indeed any building capable of accomodating a number of people. The humorous often finds an entrance into matters of graver moment, and an anecdote is recorded of the Reverend William Jenkins, that was quite characteristic, and which exemplifies the truth of the axiom. An old man who usually occupied a position right in front of the pulpit, habitually went to sleep during the reverend gentleman’s discourses. This fact alone would probably not have brought such a severe castigation upon the unfortunate sleeper as he eventually received, but that his capacity for snoring equalled in its vigour the most sounding declamations of the preacher, and it is a question as to which was the greater sufferer, the minister or his congregation. However, the continuation of the old man’s discordant slumberings at last produced a crisis. On one occasion while expouding to his hearers some important theological point, he was so annoyed at the snoring of the old man, that he stopped short in his sermon, and bestowing hearty cuff on the sleeper’s head with his Bible, remarked that if he could not be made to hear the Scriptures, he would make him feel them. The Reverend William Jenkins spent a period of nine years amongst the Indians, and translated the Bible into the Indian language. He was a man of large attainments, and as a linguist could scarcely be excelled, having acquired a knowledge of twelve different languages. His cultivated mind, stored as it was with the learning of all times, rendered his sermons profoundly impressive, although they lacked neithter clearness nor simplicity. James W. Jenkins, lot 6, concession 6, son of the late Reverend William Jenkins, was born in New York State, while his father was at his missionary labours. He was brought up to farming, which he has always followed. He was married in 1845, to Miss Lazzetta Burnford, she being a grand-daughter of the Surveyor of Yonge Street. They had ten children, all of whom are living. Mr. Jenkins came to King Township in 1857, and retired into private life in 1879. (vol. II, p. 404)

Robert Kennedy, lot 9, concession 9, was born in Ireland in 1816, and emigrated to Canada in 1834. Soon after his arrival he settled in King Township, and purchased the farm he at present holds. He came to this country, if not exactly penniless, at least, without what may be termed capital, and has by industry, economy and strict attention to his affairs been prosperous above the average. His land was entirely bush when he first settled upon it, but his labour and untiring energy in a short time transformed the virgin forest into a fine productive farm. In addition to the substantial brick house he has built on the farm in this township, he has also built a similar one on a farm he purchased in Gore Township. Mr. Kennedy was married in 1844 to Mary Dennis, by whom he had six children, viz.: Catharine, Michael, Honora, Mary, Margaret and William. He is a follower of the Catholic Faith, and a Reformer in politics. (vol. II, p. 406)