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

David Rogers, lot 1, concession 2, is the son of the late James Rogers, and grandson of Timothy, the deceased U.E. Loyalist, a sketch of whose life appears in these pages. After getting a little education he went to work at farming, and subsequently purchased the lot where he now resides (ninety acres), which he improved suitably to his own ideas. He has been very successful. He married Mary Armitage, daughter of Thomas Armitage; they have four children: Henry, Mary, Eliza and William. His religious views are those of the Society of Friends, and he is a Reformer in politics. (vol. II, p. 416)

James Rogers, lot 14, concession 2 (known as Maple Avenue Farm), is the eldest son of the late Timothy Rogers, and was born on the old homestead farm in 1834. He bought and took possession of his present farm in 1863, which contains one hundred and forty-five acres. He is much interested in stock breeding, of which his specialty is Southdown sheep and Berkshire pigs; he also devotes a great deal of his attention to fruit growing; his orchard contains about six acres of the most choice fruits of various kinds. He is a Conservative in politics, and is a member of the Christian Church. He married in 1861 Miss Sarah Tustian, who was a native Oxfordshire, England; they have five children: David A., Annie, Ida, Ella and Eva. Mr. Rogers has always taken a deep interest in the Agricultural Societies of the township and county in which he resides, and held the position of Councillor and Deputy-Reeve for four years, and is a Justice of the Peace. He is a descendant of Timothy Rogers, who emigrated to Canada from the State of Vermont, and who was the founder of the Quaker settlement on Yonge Street, near the Town of Newmarket. (vol. II, p. 416)

Timothy Rogers, deceased, was a U.E. Loyalist who settled on six hundred acres of land on or near what constitutes the present flourishing Town of Newmarket, in the year 1801. He emigrated from Vermont, U.S., and brought with him his children, seven in number, who each drew four hundred acres, and having the land laid out in town lots, Timothy may be said to be the founder of Newmarket. The following paragraph, extracted from an historical sketch which appeared in the Newmarket Era about five years ago, will explain itself: “The first white man known to have slept at Newmarket was Timothy Rogers, who in the year 1800, while on a prospecting tour between Toronto (then little York) and Lake Simcoe, followed the branch of the Holland River running to Newmarket, and there favourably impressed with the natural advantages of the place, and with a view to a more thorough examination of it and its surrounding locality, camped for a time upon the hill about where the North York Registry Office now is, and fed his horse upon the rushes that grew on the low land near by. He located and received from the Government a deed of lots numbers 92, 93, 94 and 95, and thus became the first individual owner of all the land upon which Newmarket was first built. This Timothy Rogers was the founder of what was so long known as the Friends or Quaker settlement on Yonge Street, and was greatly instrumental in influencing Governor Simcoe to locate Yonge Street upon the line where it now is. He made an arrangement with Governor Simcoe by which he was to bring and settle upon Yonge Street forty settlers, and the first instalment of these was located there soon after, and then followed the first settlement in and about Newmarket.” During his residence in Pennsylvania, when the war was raging between the revolted colonies and the British Government, Timothy from the nature of his creed took no part, and later in the War of 1812-14, he suffered imprisonment at the hands of the Government for refusing to disobey the dictates of his conscience. The old man died in the year 1844, after having lived a useful, peaceable and religious life and having seen his children grow up in comfortable circumstances. James Rogers, deceased, was the eldest son of Timothy Rogers, deceased, and was quite a youth when he came with his people to Canada. His whole life was spent in the work of clearing, chopping, and building houses for the accommodation of the incoming settlers, and he well deserves the appellation of a pioneer. He died on the old homestead, lot 95, concession 1, in the year 1854. John Rogers, son of the above, was born on the old home farm, and after receiving a Common School education, commenced to work, and assisted his father in clearing and cultivating. He was married in 1840 to Anna C. Doan, grand-daughter of the late William Doan (he composed one of the party who came from Pennsylvania with our subject’s grandfather). They have a family of six children: William, Timothy, Jonathan, Albert, Annie C. and Phoebe. (vol. II, p. 417)

Timothy Rogers, lot 11, concession 2, ws the second son of the late James Rogers, who emigrated to Canada from the State of Vermont with his father, Timothy Rogers in 1781; he was the founder of the Quaker settlement in the neighbourhood of the Town of Newmarket. Timothy was born on lot 95, concession 1, in the Township of King in 1809, where he remained until 1830, assisting his father and brothers, when he removed to his present lot after leaving home, which then contained two hundred acres of bush land, which he, with his sons, has put in a fine state of cultivation. In 1834 he married Annie Lloyd, a native Bucks County, State of Pennsylvania, U.S., a daughter of the late James Lloyd, a native of the same county and state, by whom he had nine children, viz.: James, David L., Mary, Sarah, William, Henry, Elizabeth, Thomas and Alice. Mr. Timothy Rogers died October 22, 1884. The sons of the above are men of sterling integrity. James holds the position of Justice of the Peace, besides other offices of responsibility. David L. is a physician of high standing, and is practising his profession in the Town of Newmarket. William is a dentist of the highest standing, and is practising in the neighbourhood of Richmond Hill. Henry has spent his lifetime on the old homestead farm with the exception of four years spent as a merchant at Eversley. He married Miss Jenet Scott, of the Township of King, in 1875. He is a Conservative in politics. Thomas has served in the Mounted Police in the North-West, and is now residing in Prince Albert, N.W.T. The sons and daughters of the above were all born on the homestead farm. (vol. II, p. 418)

James Ross, deceased, was born in Ireland, and was brought to Canada when an infant, his father being a soldier in the 49th Regiment of Foot. James in early life learned the trade of a tailor and began business on Sherbourne Street, in little York. He served during the War of 1812-14. He continued his business in little York until 1821, when he bought two hundred acres of bush which he cleared and placed under cultivation. He volunteered as a private to aid in suppressing the Mackenzie Rebellion, and he also made the service clothing of Robinson’s Company. He lived a long and useful life and was highly esteemed by all who knew him. His death occurred in 1875. John Ross, son of the above, was born in 1811 in little York. He has devoted his whole life to agriculture and purchased his present farm, lot 7, concession 4, in 1836. His early experience was such as has been the lot of many, and he suffered all the inconvenience and hardships of a pioneer life. In 1836 Mr. Ross married Emma Elson, of England, they had eleven children, all of whom are alive and prospering, their names being as follow: Thomas, Philip, Sarah, James, Carrie, Elizabeth, Henry, Richard, William James, Ruth and John. Mr. Ross is a member of the Disciple Church, and is a Reformer in politics. (vol. II, p. 419)

Robert Ross, lot 11, concession 6, was born at Niagara in 1797. His father, John Ross, was born in Ross-shire, Scotland, in 1730. He belonged to the regiment known as the Cameron Highlanders, in which corps he was for over twenty-one years a sergeant, and served through the whole of the war between England and her revolted Colonies. He was appointed Barrack Master at little York, in the year 1800, which he held until his death in 1805. Robert’s mother was Elizabeth Brooks, who was born in Birmingham, England, in 1750, and died at little York in 1828, aged seventy-eighty years. Our subject was one of a family of ten children, and commenced life as a shoemaker, having been apprenticed to that trade when he was twelve years of age. He worked at his trade in little York until 1828, and then moved to a locality a little south of Aurora, on Yonge Street. In 1832 he occupied his present lot and erected a saw-mill on a small tributary of the Humber, which passed through his farm. He was married in the year 1820 in the house of Dr. Strachan (afterwards Bishop Strachan), his wife being Maria Smith, who was born in New York State in 1803. Her father, Richard Smith, was of English birth, and was a U.E. Loyalist. After the War of 1812-14, Mr. Smith went to Penetanguishene, where he had a son, Robert H., born, who it is stated was the first white child born in Penetanguishene; another of his sons, Walker Smith, was Sheriff of Simcoe County for over thirty years. The family of Robert Ross, by this marriage, consisted of five sons and seven daughters; four sons and two daughters only are living; one son, Walker, is Indian Land Agent at Cockburn Island. For the last fifty years Mr. Ross has resided on his farm, a great portion of which time he operated his saw mill, which, though now in other hands, still does good work. Despite his advancing years Mr. Ross maintains good health, which it is hoped will long continue. His memory is still active, and the events of his youth are fresh and green to his mind’s eye. The City of Toronto presented somewhat of a different aspect to what it did when Mr. Ross, as a boy, traced a bear cub a few rods from where the Union Station now stands, or gathered brushwood on the site of St. James’ Cathedral. He was in the Militia in 1813, and was present at the Battle of York. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is a Reformer in politics. On January 8, 1885, Mrs. and Mr. Ross celebrated their sixty-fifth wedding day, and both are healthy and quite strong yet. (vol. II, p. 419)

John H. Ross, machinist, King P.O., was born on lot 7, concession 4 of King Township, and is the son of the late John Ross, mentioned in another sketch. He had a limited education in his early years, and was apprenticed to the trade of blacksmith when only twelve years old, and had also the opportunity of acquiring that of a machinist before he was twenty. He purchased his present machine and blacksmith’s business in King in the year 1868, which he has since enlarged, and is now doing a large and prosperous business in machinery of all descriptions. He married in King Township in 1869 Miss A. Stewart, daughter of Mr. James Stewart, by whom he has five children, viz.: Maddie, Lillie, Edwin, Nellie and Agnes. He is in religion a Baptist, and casts his vote for the Reform Party. (vol. II, p. 420)

George Rotsey, deceased, is a native of England, and emigrated to this country in 1835. His trade was that of a mason and plasterer, at which he worked in Toronto for two years. He subsequently located in Newmarket, and while there served on the side of the Crown during the Rebellion of 1837. In 1846 he bought lot 19, concession 2, which was at that time uncleared, and by perseverance and toil converted it into the fine and productive farm which is now in the possession of his son, William Henry. He died in 1884, leaving a widow and seven children, viz.: George, James, John, Joseph, Sarah, Matilda and William Henry. He was much respected by his neighbours as an honest, upright man, and trustworthy in all his dealings, and his good management enable him to leave a large estate to his inheritors. (vol. II, p. 420)