‘S’ surnamesCity of Toronto residents A History of Toronto and County of York

ROBERT SARGEANT was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1813, and emigrated to Canada in 1834, taking up his residence in Toronto the same year. He engaged in contracting and building, and in 1837 erected the first brick house in the “City Block” for Mr. Atkinson. He continued in this business until 1850, when he opened a general store under the name of Robert Sargeant & Co., No. 2 St. Lawrence Block, which he conducted until 1862, afterwards commencing gardening, east of the Don. After spending seven years in this business he retired, subsequently receiving the appointment of City Inspector, and office which he held for seven years; retiring from the same into private life. In 1837 he married Miss Eunice Hutchinson, who died in 1858, leaving four children. (Vol. II, p. 143)

RICHARD SCORE, tailor, and importer of fine woollens, Toronto, was born in Devonshire, England, in 1807. His parents were John and Johanna Score. He spent his early life in England, where he learned the tailoring business with his father. In 1832 he married Harriett, youngest daughter of John Courtice, and in the following year came to Canada with his wife and one child. He settled in Toronto, and commenced business in 1845, on King Street West, in what was called Chewett’s Buildings, a few doors west of his present place of business. Mr. Score has four surviving children (three daughters and one son). His son is a member of the present firm of R. Score & Son. In politics Mr. Score is a Conservative, and in religion a Methodist. (Vol. II, p. 143)

FRANCIS H. SEFTON, dentist, was born in the City of Worcester, England, and is one of a family of nine children born of H.F. and Martha (Brown) Sefton. Francis was educated at the Ontario Dental College, and began practice on receiving his diploma. He married in 1833 Amy Firlde of Prescott, Ontario, of English extraction. (Vol. II, p. 143)

JOHN SHAW, builder, 102 ? Euclid Avenue, a York Pioneer, was born at Newmarket, Ontario, in 1822, being the son of William Shaw, a native of Queen’s County, Ireland, who settled in Little York in 1800. His mother was a daughter of William Hunter, a blacksmith and farrier, who emigrated from England with his family to the United States, and settled for a short time in Albany, N.Y. He came to Little York about 1797 with his six daughters, where he was employed by Governor Simcoe for some time as blacksmith and veterinary surgeon for mounted troops. He then moved a little north of Thornhill on Yonge Street, where he established himself in business. He was the first blacksmith established in this county. During the War of 1812, Mr. Shaw’s father belonged to the York Militia, and participated in the battle of York and some others. After the surrender of the town to the Americans the troops were billetted on the inhabitants. During their stay in the town, a portion of the flour, provisions, stores, etc., which had been sent out from England for the supply of the garrison and other purposes, was distributed by the American officers among the citizens. The Government issued a proclamation after the Americans left the town calling for the people to return the provisions, which was done in nearly every case. Among the other members of this family who emigrated to this continent may be mentioned George Shaw, who died at Niagara; John Shaw, sen’r, who settled in New York; and Joseph Shaw, who had a brewery at Little York, and subsequently died at Hogg’s Hollow; these were uncles of the subject of this sketch. The father of our subject, William Shaw, soon after his arrival in York, was appointed clerk in the Parliament Buildings, during the regime of Governor Simcoe, also under the administration of Governor Hunter, and subsequently died in New York while visiting some friends there. John passed the first ten years of his life in York, and then removed with his parents to Thornhill, where he resided until 1845, and there learned the trade of cabinet-maker, which business he continued until 1845, when he removed to Whitby, Ont., where he resided until 1873. He then removed to Toronto, and has since been engaged in business there as a builder. He was married in Whitby to Margaret, daughter of William Flint, by whom he has two sons and two daughters, viz.: William, Arthur, Margaretta and Louisa. He had four brothers and one sister, his eldest brother William, at Aurora, being the only one now living. (Vol. II, p. 143)

JOHN SHAW was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1809. He came to Toronto in 1857, and remained until 1870, when he removed to St. Louis, Missouri. After an absence of six years he returned to Toronto, where he has since continued to reside. In 1839 he married Jane, daughter of John Place, Esq., of Ballyfermot House, County of Dublin, Ireland, the result of the union being six children, four of whom are still living. (Vol. II, p. 144)

CHARLES SHEPPARD, No. 237 ? Yonge Street, was born in England, 1819, and came to Toronto, Canada, in 1821 with his father, Thomas Sheppard, who built and kept the “Golden Lion” Hotel, seven miles north of Toronto. In 1855 he married Eliza Cousins, by whom he had four children. Mr. Sheppard had been living in Toronto since 1864. He is one of the best shots in Canada, having won $8,000 in prizes with the rifle. He was noted as a great deer hunter, having with a comrade, Mr. John Perry, of King Township, killed fourteen in one day. About 1881 he lost the sight of his right eye from a cataract, and one year after he was afflicted in the same way in the left eye, but fortunately had an operation performed by Dr. Rosebrugh which saved the sight of both eyes. (Vol. II, p. 144)

JOHN SMALL, deceased, the first of the name in Canada, is a member of an old Gloucestershire family. He was born in Gloucestershire, England, in 1746, and came to Canada with Governor Simcoe, and settled in the then Town of York (now Toronto) in 1793. He left in England his younger brother, Joseph Atwell Small, D.D., Prebend of the Cathedrals of Gloucester and Bristol, and one of the Chaplains of the King. His house (Berkeley House) in York was built near the present corner of King and Berkeley streets, and is now occupied by his grandson, John Small, M.P. Mr. Small was appointed by the Imperial Government as Clerk of the Crown and Clerk of the first Executive Council in Upper Canada. This position he held until the time of his death, on the 10th of July, 1831, at the age of eighty-five years. James Edward, the eldest son living at the time of the death of John Small above named, was born in 1798, and is said to have been the third white child born in York. He served as a midshipman on the ship St. Lawrence, seventy-four guns, during the War of 1812. Mr. Small was elected as a member of Parliament twice for the City of Toronto, and in the year 1842 for the Third Riding of York. In 1843 he took the portfolio of Solicitor-General in the Baldwin-Lafontaine Cabinet. He was one of the representatives of Canada who proceeded to England for the purpose of negotiating with the Home Government for a representative Government. Subsequently he was appointed Judge of the County of Middlesex, which position he held until his death, which occurred in London, Ontario, on the 23rd of May, 1869, at the age of seventy-one. John T. Small, M.D., the eldest son of James Edward, was born at York in 1823. He was one of the pupils of the late Bishop Bethune at the rectory at Cobourg. He afterwards went to the Upper Canada College, and thence to the University of King’s College, which was then situated where the present Parliament Buildings are. Having decided upon adopting the medical profession, he went to the Old Country in 1845. After studying for several years in Guy’s Hospital, and in the hospitals of Paris, Edinburgh and Dublin, he took the degree of M.D. at the University of St. Andrew’s, and became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons for England in 1851. In the following year he returned to Toronto and commenced the practice of medicine. Dr. Small was married in Scotland in 1852, to Catherine Frances, the daughter of Alexander Herriot, of the Law House, in Berwickshire. Dr. Small is a Mason, having been initiated in the Order of A.F. and A.M. in 1845; and is a member of St. George’s Society. He is a Presbyterian, being a member of St. Andrew’s, the church of the Rev. D.J. Macdonnell. (Vol. II, p. 145)

ANDREW SMITH, founder and present Principal of the Ontario Veterinary College, is a native of Ayrshire, Scotland, and received his professional education in the Edinburgh Veterinary College, and graduated in 1861 with the highest honors. The staff of Professors and the subjects taught are as follow: Prof. Smith, V.S., Edinburgh, M.R.C.V.S., and Honorary Associate, R.C.V.S. (Principal), Diseases of Domesticated Animals; J. Thorburn, M.D., Edinburgh, Veterinary Materia Medica; M. Barnett, M.D., Animal Physiology; Prof Smith, V.S., and assistants, Clinical Instructors; Dr. Ellis, University, Chemistry; George Buckland, The History, Breeding and Management of Domestic Animals; J.T. Duncan, M.D., V.S., Demonstrator of Anatomy; J.T. Duncan, M.D., V.S., Histology. (Vol. II, p. 146)

HON. FRANK SMITH was born in County Armagh, Ireland, in 1822, and settled near Toronto in 1832. In 1849 he went to London, Ont., and engaged in business until 1866, when he made Toronto his home. The business which he has established in Toronto is that of an importer and wholesale dealer in groceries, wines and liquors. He for the space of nine years imported teas direct from China to New York, doing a very large business in this line. In 1881 he purchased a controlling interest in the Toronto Street Railway. Since then he has trebled its work, until now it employs over six hundred horses and traverses the principal streets of the city. While living in London he was an alderman for some years and subsequently mayor. In 1871 he was called to the Senate, and in 1882 to a seat in the Dominion Cabinet. He is also President of the Home Savings and Loan Company, President of the London and Ontario Company, President of the Street Railway Company, President of the Northern Railway Company, Vice-President of the Dominion Bank, Director in the Gas Company, and Director in the Dominion Telegraph Company. (Vol. II, p. 146)

FRANK SMITH, late Bursar of the Toronto General Hospital, was born on the 22nd day of April, 1809. He is the second son of Francis and Elizabeth Smith, of the County of Kent, England, both born in January, 1777. In the year 1832 their sons, Frank and Joseph, emigrated to Canada, and settled on land in the Township of March, Ottawa River, where they remained two years, removing to Guelph Township in 1834, where they took up seven hundred acres of wild land. In 1835 Frank married the fifth daughter of George Davis, Esq., of Guelph, by whom he had thirteen children. In 1851 he removed to St. Catharines, and was engaged in farming there until 1875, when he removed to Toronto, accepting the appointment of Bursar to the Toronto General Hospital, which he held for ten years. During the Rebellion in 1837-8 he served under Sir Allan McNab as Lieutenant in the 6th Gore District Militia. In politics he is Conservative, and in religion a staunch member of the Church of England. (Vol. II, p. 146)

FRED. SMITH, dentist, Queen and Berkeley Streets, was born in Liverpool, England, in 1852. In 1875 he passed the final examination at the London College of Dentistry, after which he practised his profession in Wales. In 1879 he came to Toronto, and established himself on Queen Street East. He now occupies a fine suite of rooms at the above address. (Vol. II, p. 147)

JAMES SMITH was born in County Cavan, Ireland, in 1820, and emigrated to Canada when eighteen years of age. On his arrival in Toronto he joined the Volunteers, and served about six months, during the close of the “Mackenzie Rebellion”. He then entered the employment of Mr. T.D. Harris, a King Street merchant, with whom he remained two years. He afterwards followed steamboating for fourteen years, and then took charge of the Restaurant at the Union Station, which he conducted for twenty-one years, having previously had some experience in hotel-keeping. Mr. Smith retired from business in 1879, his present residence being 389 Queen Street West. He was one of the originators of the “Queen’s Own Rifles”, in which corps he held the rank of captain. In 1849 he married Rebecca Armstrong, who died in 1858, leaving two children, three having died before their mother. Mr. Smith married a second time, his wife being Christina Byers, by whom he had nine children, five of whom are living. In politics he is a Conservative. He belongs to the Orangemen and Masons. (Vol. II, p. 147)

JOHN SMITH. Instructive and interesting as a perusal of the lives and antecedents of the various characters connected with Toronto’s rise and growth may prove, it is without undue precipitation that we pronounce the opinion that the family of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch have the claim of possessing a peculiar interest in matters relating to the early history of the city. Proud they have a right to be, who, tracing their descent to the early pioneer, feel that they are in possession of a heritage which will not depreciate in value in the hands of successive generations. Individually or collectively, however, they must all give way, in point of interest, to the family to whose record this space is devoted. At the commencement of the reign of George III, was born in Nottinghamshire, England, one William Smith, who in early life acquired a knowledge of architecture and engineering, and who was employed on account of his skill in these branches by the monarch upon one of his royal palaces. In the year 1774 he was sent by the British Government to superintend the construction of works at Cape Breton. Upon his arrival he drew a large tract of land, which proved a valuable coal mine. This he developed, and in 1792 freighted a vessel with coal and sailed for New York where he disposed of his cargo and made his way to Newark (now Niagara). The following year (1793) he joined General Simcoe, and came with him to explore that section of the country of which Toronto is now the capital. He found three Indian wigwams east of the Don on the river banks (lot 15), one of which contained the Chief Kashago; the only white settlers then being William Peak and his family. The latter had been settled there some time, and knew the locality well, and often accompanied General Simcoe on hunting and fishing expeditions, that being Peak’s principal occupation. The Governor gave Mr. Smith choice of land, and he selected one-fifth of an acre – a town lot – being what is now the corner of King and Sherbourne Streets. In the fall of 1793 he returned to Niagara to be with his family during the winter, and in the spring of 1794 brought them to Little York, and having erected a log hut upon lot 15, settled there. He assisted Governor Simcoe in drawing plans for the building of “Castle Frank”, the old summer house on the heights west of the Don, and in various ways brought his knowledge to bear in planning, surveying and laying out the future city. He followed his business of builder and contractor for many years, during which time he constructed many public and private buildings. He erected the first English church; also the residence of Secretary Jarvis on the corner of Sherbourne and Duke Streets; and subsequently, in company with his son-in-law, John Thompson, laid the foundation of and erected the lighthouse on the Island. He was a volunteer in the War of 1813, and was taken prisoner at the capitulation of York in April, 1813. He died in the year 1819, at his residence on the corner of King and Sherbourne Streets, and was buried in the old churchyard of the English church, now St. James’ cathedral. His life was a long and useful one, as well as eventful, and he lived long enough to see the muddy little York, at whose birth it may be said he presided, growing into life and vitality, with a prospect of future greatness which it has more than realized. Mr. Smith had a family of six children, viz: Thomas, William, Mary, Betsy, Sally and Samuel. Thomas was killed at the Battle of Queenston Heights. William, who was born in England in 1781, succeeded his father in the business. In 1814 he purchased the adjoining lot (14) two hundred and seventy acres, from George Cook for $5,000. In the year 1819 he purchased the Governor Simcoe property, lot 15, east of the Don, from John Scadding. He erected a tannery at the Don in 1820, and shortly afterwards opened a store adjoining the old family residence on King and Sherbourne Streets, which he conducted until 1832. In taking to his father’s business he branched out into the mercantile line, and accumulated a quantity of real estate. He purchased the Helliwell property, where the brewery now stands. He was the first Assessor and Collector of York and Markham townships. He was likewise a volunteer in the War of 1812, and was taken prisoner at the battle of York. He died in 1839, leaving six children. His life-long cherished sport was hunting, and, as game of all kinds was then abundant, sport in plenty was to be had. John, whose name appears at the head of this sketch, is the oldest son of the late William Smith, and was born in 1811, at the old home at the corner of King and Sherbourne Streets. He is the only male survivor of the family, and now resides on the old Simcoe property. Only a few years since he presented to the York Pioneers that time-honoured old log cabin which was removed to the Exhibition Grounds with appropriate ceremony, and which continues to be an object of historic interest to visitors, as well as to the inhabitants of the city. John, when a boy, received his first schooling in Michael Doyle’s house on Duke Street, Mr. Blair being the teacher; then at the old yellow school-house at the corner of Ontario and King Streets, at which Mr. Cassells was teacher; and later at the Masonic Hall, which opened in 1824 under the tutorship of Thomas Appleton, after which he attended James Padfield’s school – Secretary Jarvis’ old house – corner of Sherbourne and Duke Streets. Mr. Smith’s mother (Julia Ann Lewis) died when he was sixteen years of age. He succeeded his father in business, and in 1846 married Mary Magarham, by whom he had nine children. He was present at the skirmish near the Don Bridge during the Mackenzie Rebellion. Mr. Smith is in politics a Conservative, although he has ever resisted the pressure brought to bear upon him by friends whose desire was that he should accept office, municipal and political. In concluding this family record, it should be stated that Mr. Smith has in his possession an old clock made by the late Jordan Post, one of the first clockmakers in York, which ticks just as merrily as it did three-score and ten years ago when the old man constructed it, and which can scarce be excelled as a time-piece at the present day. Mr. Smith is still hale and hearty, and, possessing, as he does, a retentive memory, adds to the pleasure, as well as the profit, of the present generation by recounting the strange events and appearances which in the old days surrounded “Little York”. (Vol. II, p. 147)

JOHN T. SMITH, deceased, was born in London, England, 1805. In 1826 he emigrated to Canada, and soon after his arrival in Toronto served the public in the capacity of mine host at the Masonic Arms Hotel, West Market Square, where his genial manner won for him hosts of friends, who later elected him to a seat in the Council Board for St. Lawrence Ward, which he held for several years. He was one of the first to assist in organizing the present Gas Company, in which he was a stockholder, and a Director until his death, September 10, 1877, aged seventy-two years. During the Rebellion of 1837 he served as a volunteer. He was twice married, first to a Miss Moore, of Quebec, and on her demise, he married in 1857 a daughter of Frederick East, an old English naval officer. Mr. Smith was for many years a member of the Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, he was also a member of the English Church. (Vol. II, p. 150)

WILLIAM SMITH, waggon-maker, was born in Oxfordshire, England, in 1821, being the eldest of a family of two sons and two daughters. In 1832, his parents, John and Mary (Mason) Smith, came to Canada with their children. On the voyage out, on the ship Alexander, the smallpox and cholera broke out among the passengers, and Mr. Smith lost a sister two years old by the former, and while waiting at Prescott for a boat to take them to York, the mother died of cholera, in a shop there, leaving the father to look after three young children. Mr. Smith’s uncle and grandfather died at Montreal of the cholera. After reaching York his father rented two rooms on Yonge Street, and obtained work as a mason’s clerk. He afterwards became a labourer in Helliwell’s Brewery, and died in 1849. His second son, Alfred, is a cooper in Drayton, Ontario. William Smith learned his trade with Reuben Parkinson, with whom he was for seven years. He began business for himself in 1843, and in 1847 purchased the property where his business now is, and on which he erected a waggon shop. He now gives employment to eight men. In religion Mr. Smith is a Methodist; he belongs to no political party, but votes on principle. In 1845 he married Edith, daughter of William Dellamore, a farmer in York Township. (Vol. II, p. 150)

JOSHUA GRAFTON SNIDER, livery, etc., was born in the Township of York, December 29, 1833. His grandfather, Martin Snider, was born in Germany; he lived in the United States until the close of the Revolutionary War, when he removed to New Brunswick; he afterwards came to York Township, his son, Thomas, the father of Joshua, being only eighteen months old. Thomas Snider was eighteen years of age at his father’s death. He resided on the old farm until he came of age, when he moved to a farm of his own in the rear of the old homestead, where he lived until his death in 1856. On January 3, 1833, he married Catherine Grafton, daughter of Stewart Grafton, by whom he had seven children. Joshua Snider was working on a farm of his own until his father’s death, when he went on the old homestead farm which he worked for about ten years. He then went to York Mills, where he remained for three years. His wife, a daughter of Thomas Lackie, whom he had married in 1857, died there. He then went to Cincinnati. In 1871 he came to Toronto, where he has been ever since. In 1873 he married a Miss McCallum. In politics he is a Reformer. George S. Snider, the second son of Thomas Snider, was born in 1836. In 1861 he married Elizabeth M. Walker. (Vol. II, p. 150)

MARTIN EDWARD SNIDER, dentist, Bay Street, Toronto, was born in the Township of York in 1845. His father, Thomas Snider, was born in New Brunswick in 1810, and came to Little York about the same year with his father, Martin Snider, a U.E. Loyalist, who took up land in the Township of York, where he died. The wife of the elder Martin Snider died in York Township at the age of one hundred and three. The father of our subject lived in York Township from 1810 until his death, which occurred in 1856. In 1849 he was commissioned a Lieutenant of the York Militia; two commissions sign by Lord Elgin and one by Sir Edmund W. Head. At his death he left a widow and five sons, as follow: Joshua Grafton lives in Toronto; George Stewart lives in Toronto; Thomas Albert lives in Cincinnati, Ohio; Martin Edward, and John Elgin live in Toronto. Martin Snider received his first education at the old Grammar School, and began his studies at Upper Canada College in 1857, being then twelve years of age. In 1861 he began to study his profession in Toronto; he spent one year in the United States. In 1867 he returned to Toronto, where he has been ever since. His wife is Hannah Wilkinson, daughter of one of the oldest settlers in the town of Muddy York. He has been Returning-officer for St. George’s Ward for thirteen years. In politics he is a Reformer. (Vol. II, p. 151)

ALBERT W. SPAULDING, dentist, 51 King Street East, was born in Durham County in 1848. His father was Joseph Lovell Spaulding and his mother Sarah Hepinstall. Mr. Spaulding taught school for five years, in Huron County, after which he studied dentistry with Mr. W.C. Adams, in Toronto. In 1878 he graduated at the Toronto Dental College, where he afterwards taught, during the sessions of 1880-1 and 1881-2. (Vol. II, p. 151)

JAMES SPENCE, carpenter and builder, was born in County Armagh, Ireland, in 1808, and was the eldest in a family of four sons and four daughters. His parents were Thomas and Margaret (Whitten) Spence, both of whom were born in the County of Armagh. While he was still a boy he came to Canada, and located at Kingston where he served three years learning the carpenter trade. Then he came to Little York, and for a few years worked with John Harper. For many years he did work for Judge Hagerman and Chief Justice Robinson. In 1835 he built the house in which he now resides at 99 Elizabeth Street. He bought the lot from Judge Hagerman, and paid $300 for it. Mr. Spence has held several public offices. In April, 1856, he was appointed License Inspector for St. John’s Ward, and has in his possession a watch which was presented to him by the hotel-keepers as a mark of their esteem. For twelve years he was Assessor in different Wards, St. James’, St. Andrew’s and St. John’s. He was collector for St. John’s Ward for three years, and represented that Ward in the City Council for the same length of time. He has made considerable money in real estate transactions. Mr. Spence married Eliza Lockie, born in Tyrone, Ireland, by whom he has had one son and three daughters. The son, Thomas, is dead. He was in the Toronto Custom House for eight years. His daughters are married, the eldest is Mrs. Foster; the second to William Reid, who is in the Custom House; the third to James Carruthers, a bootmaker on Teraulay Street. In politics Mr. Spence is a Conservative, in religion he is a member of the Church of England. During the Mackenzie Rebellion Mr. Spence went out to find Dr. Rolph, whom he wanted to attend his wife who was ill. As he made very anxious enquiries after the doctor, and refused to tell his business, he was arrested by his own party on suspicion of being a rebel, and was taken before a magistrate (John Armstrong), who sent two volunteers to accompany him in search for the doctor. He was afterwards released, and served with the volunteers under Captain Powell, and was on Yonge Street at the dispersion of the rebels. (Vol. II, p. 152)

CHARLES SPROAT, City Engineer, is the youngest son of the late Alderman Henry Sproat, who died in 1875. Mr. Sproat, sen’r, was a native of Cumberland, England, and came to Canada in the year 1821. He settled in York and devoted his attention to farming, but in 1844 he relinquished his agricultural pursuits and commenced business in the city as a merchant. He took an active part in municipal affairs, and in 1856 was elected Councillor, and, three years later, Alderman, for St. Andrew’s Ward. During his term of office, which extended over a period of seven years, he occupied the position of Chairman of the Fire, Water and Gas Committee, and also of the Board of Works, and was a genuine mover in effecting the introduction of the new fire system. In 1863 he withdrew from active participation in municipal affairs, and shortly afterwards purchased the brewery on Queen Street West, known as Cosgrave & Sproat’s; but a few years later he sold his interest in the concern and retired from business altogether. His son, Charles, the present city engineer, was born in Toronto in 1836, and received his education at Upper Canada and Knox Colleges. He selected the profession of engineer as his future carreer in life, and became a pupil of the late Frank Shanley, C.E., with whom he was engaged in the survey of the Toronto and Guelph Railway, afterwards amalgamated with the Grand Trunk, and, on the completion of this undertaking, on the Midland Railway survey. He was afterwards employed as Government Surveyor in the districts north-east of Toronto, and subsequently as District Engineer on the Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway, and in connection with the latter road he was later on promoted to the position of Resident Engineer. When Mr. Shanley entered upon the duties of City Engineer of Toronto, Mr. Sproat received the appointment of Deputy Surveyor, and it was under his superintendence, while holding that office, that the present sewage system of the city was constructed. Mr. Sproat next connected himself with the Georgian Bay and Wellington Railway, connecting Palmerston and Durham, in the capacity of Chief Engineer, and was afterwards engaged in the Canadian Pacific Railway survey in the Rocky Mountains, where he remained until his appointment as City Engineer of Toronto, on the 24th of September, 1883. In 1863 Mr. Sproat married Miss Frances Jane Lawrence, daughter of Mr. Joseph Lawrence, formerly of Toronto, but now a resident of Collingwood. (Vol. II, p. 152)

WILLIAM STANLEY, deceased, was born in Toronto in 1836. He was a painter by trade, and conducted a large and successful business in fresco painting, graining and decorating, which he commenced in 1859. He was a Unitarian, and a member of the Oddfellows Society. He was also connected with the Tenth Royals and Queen’s Own for many years; and was an active member of the Ontario Rifle Association. Mr.Stanley married in 1856 Elizabeth James, and at his death left a widow, two sons and four daughters. (Vol. II, p. 153)

RICHARD GEORGE STAPELLS, professor of music, 263 Berkeley Street, was born at Rochester, Kent, England, and came to Canada in 1873, locating in Toronto, where he has since remained. He studied under Thomas Harcourt, Esq., the choir-master of Rochester Cathedral, and George Newsome, Esq., a professor also of that city. Mr. Stapells is organist of Grace Church, and also gives vocal and instrumental instruction to pupils. (Vol. II, p. 153)

THOMAS H. STARK, M.D., 97 Bond Street, is a native of Beauharnors, Quebec, being the son of William Stark, school-teacher. He is a graduate of Trinity University and Trinity School, and was for some years Resident Assistant Surgeon at Toronto General Hospital, and in 1882 commenced practice in this city. (Vol. II, p. 154)

N.L. STEINER, marble dealer, Toronto, was born in Bohemia, Austria, in 1832, being the eleventh in a family of fourteen children. His father, Wolfgang Steiner, was a Government contractor. Mr. Steiner was educated in Vienna, and in 1848 left his home and went to New York, where he spent three years learning sculpturing. After having learned the business he was for a few months located in Buffalo. In 1852 he came to Toronto, and commenced business on Parliament Street, afterwards removing to King Street. His next location was at the corner of Yonge Street and Wilton Avenue, where he carried on a large business for twenty-four years, employing over thirty men. In 1880 he removed to his present place on the corner of Wilton Avenue and Victoria Streets. In 1876 Mr. Steiner married a daughter of the Rev. Dr. Leon Sternberger of New York. In 1880 he was elected to represent St. James’ Ward in the City Council, obtaining the largest vote ever polled. He sat for two years, and then retired. He was elected in 1883, being once more at the head of the poll – and in 1884 by acclamation. In 1870 he was commissioned a J.P. In politics he is a Reformer. Mr. Steiner is Past-Master of the A.F. and A.M. of Toronto, and also President of the German Society. (Vol. II, p. 154)

W. ST. CROIX, 7 North Street, Toronto. Among the many who have settled in Toronto in the past thirty years, and added to its substantial growth and prosperity, there are few who have overcome greater difficulties and achieving an honourable success in business than the subject of this sketch. Mr. St. Croix was born on the Island of Jersey in 1834, of Huguenot extraction. In early life he learned the trade of bricklayer and plasterer, and later travelled through France, England, and a portion of the United States, arriving in Toronto in 1854 with only one York shilling, which constituted his entire wealth. He not only struggled with poverty, but, being in a strange country, was wholly unable to comprehend the language of the people. For the first year after his arrival he worked as a journeyman, during which time he improved his leisure hours in the study of the English language. He soon after began business for himself in a small way, which gradually increased until it assumed vast proportions; with honesty, industry and frugality for his motto, his labours have been crowned with success. During the past thirty years he has erected many public and private buildings, among which were the present Police Station and Court House, near the Post Office, Phoenix Block on Front Street, and several warehouse blocks on Yonge Street. In 1880 he purchased a portion of the Elmsley Estate, west of Yonge Street, consisting of one thousand feet frontage on Bloor Street North and St. Mary Street, upon which he has erected about forty handsome two-storey brick residences, a portion of which he has sold and rented, besides many other private residences in various parts of the city. He has annually employed from sixty to seventy-five men. As an instance of the amount of labour performed in one branch of his business – plastering – in one year, his contracts amounted to thirty-five thousand dollars. The average wages he has paid his men during a period of thirty years has been one dollar and twenty-five cents to two dollars per day. More recently he has enlarged his business, and now contracts for the construction of buildings from the digging of the cellar to the finishing and turn of the key. At the present time he owns over fifty beautiful residences and stores in various parts of the city. In politics he is a Reformer; in religion, a member of the Bond Street Congregational Church, where he has acted in the capacity of a deacon for many years. In 1860 he married a daughter of James Kerr, an old resident of Toronto, of Scottish extraction. (Vol. II, p. 154)

QUETTON ST. GEORGE. In 1791, when the French Revolution was raging, a British Legion was raised in England for the purpose of rescuing Louis XVI, then a prisoner in the Tuileries, and restoring him to the throne of his ancestors. Two brother, Laurent and Etienne Quetton, went over to England and enlisted. The Republicans were then a cruel race, the guillotine and confiscation of property being the order of the day. They were particularly hard on those families which were known to have some member fighting for the King. On that account the Duc d’Angouleme, who was then in London taking a great interest in the organization of the said Legion, advised all Frenchmen who enlisted in it to change their names, and assume for a time a nom de guerre. The brothers Quetton were therefore enrolled in the army list as Laurent and Etienne St. George. They went over to France in October, 1791, and from that year they were engaged in active and hard service. Etienne was shot and died on the field of honour at Brestien, the 8th of December, 1798. Laurent was more fortunate, and rose rapidly. He was born at Verrazses, near Montpelier, in the Province of Languedoc, June 4th, 1771. He was barely twenty when he joined the British Legion. The official record of his campaigns shows that he distinguished himself in many engagements, and was gradually promoted. In April, 1796, we find him Lieutenant-Colonel, and in June the same year he was made Chevalier of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis. In 1798, the Royalist armies being completely routed and all but annihilated by the Republicans, some of the survivors were fortunate enough to escape to England, where those who belonged to the British Legion were treated as retired British officers, and received grants of land in Canada. Among them was Colonel St. George, who then resumed his proper name of Quetton St. George; his descendants still retaining the two names. His grant of land was on the Oak Ridges, at the corner of the four townships of Vaughan, Markham, Whitchurch and King. Several other French officers, General de Puisaye, Count and Viscount de Chalus, and others were also located at Oak Ridges, in what is known to this day as the French settlement. Their first attempt to examine their location was not made by rail, nor even by stage or waggon. Having left York on horseback, when the came to Hogg’s Hollow they found the river so swollen that any attempt at wading through it, the only was of getting across in those days, was out of the question. They left their horses at a farm, and were directed to an Indian path where a pine tree felled across the stream did duty as a bridge for foot passengers. They went up to the Ridges on foot. Some of them actually settled on their lots; but the Chevalier de St. George very soon came to the conclusion that a man who had not been brought up to it was more likely to break his back than to make a fortune by felling trees and piling them into log heaps to clear the land. He returned to York, and started as a merchant at the corner of King and Frederick Streets. He became very popular with the farmers at Markham, then the best settled township north of York. He traded also with the Indians, and a few years ago an old house fire-place was to be seen in Rama Island, Lake Simcoe, which was known to have been a fort, as they called it in those days, where he met the Indians every year. His business prospered, and he built the first brick house in York, still a very good and substantial one, now occupied by the Canada Company. He entered into partnership with Julius Quesnel and John Spread Baldwin, under the name and style of Quetton St. George & Co. Some curious documents of Custom-house entries of those days are still preserved, and may be seen in the house of the same name founded by his son, and now situated on King Street, a few doors west of Yonge Street. After the legitimate Kings of France had been restored to their throne, Quetton St. George, then an independent man, very naturally wished to revisit his native land and relatives. He was received with great distinction by King Louis XVIII. His title of Chevalier, which had been given him in an informal sort of way when King and Princes were prisoners or exiles, was duly confirmed and registered, and he was given besides the decoration of the Lys, a distinction specially reserved for those who had remained true to their legitimate King during those troublous times. He was about returning to Canada when he died, at the comparatively early age of fifty, after a most eventful and honourable life. A son of his is still living at Oak Ridges, and some grandchildren in the Province of Quebec. (Vol. II, p. 155)

HENRY STONE, undertaker, 239 Yonge Street, was born in Queen’s County, Ireland, in 1830, being the second eldest and only surviving one in a family of nine children. In 1831, his father Daniel Stone came to Canada and settled in Montreal, removing to Toronto in 1840, where he carried on business as a chandler on Wellington and Edward Streets, until his death in 1855. Henry Stone was educated in Toronto, and when twenty years of age began business as a chandler on Edward Street. In 1854 he was married to Susannah, second daughter of William Reid, who died 22nd November, 1880, in her forty-seventh year, by whom he has had fourteen children, four of whom are dead. In 1869 he bought out Chadwich Fawkes, undertaker, and has carried on that business ever since. In politics he is a Conservative, and in religion a Methodist. (Vol. II, p. 157)

ISAAC STONEHOUSE, retired, was born in England in 1812. His father, Joseph Stonehouse, was a carpenter by trade, and was born in Yorkshire. He came to Canada in 1819, with one of his sons, and settled on a farm in Etobicoke Township; the rest of his family followed him a year later. About 1854 he moved into Toronto, where he remained until his death, which occurred in 1858; his wife was Martha Rushforth. Isaac Stonehouse was farming in Etobicoke until 1854, when he came to Toronto. He is now living retired, and been so for some few years. He has one son and five daughters. In politics Mr. Stonhouse is a Reformer; in religion a Methodist. He has been a member of the Fruit Growers’ Association for ten years. (Vol. II, p. 157)

WILLIAM THEOPHILUS STUART, M.D., is a son of the Rev. James Stuart, and was born in Markham Township in 1853. He received his early education at Brantford, and later attended the Upper Canada College and Trinity Medical School, graduated in 1877 as M.B. In 1877 his acquirements gained for him a gold medal at Trinity University as well as the University gold medal, and Star gold medal at Toronto University. He commenced the practice of his profession in this city, where he remained one year, afterwards visiting the hospitals of Great Britain, and returning again to Toronto, has since continued a resident, having an extensive and increasing patronage. In 1877 Mr. Stuart became connected with the Central College as Lecturer on Anatomy and Physiology. In 1878 he was appointed Practical Chemist to Trinity Medical School. He is one of the visiting physicians to the Home of Incurables. He devotes much time to the study of Chemistry and Mineralogy. In 1881 he was married to Miss Maggie B. Gibson, of Lachine, by whom he has two children, a son and a daughter. (Vol. II, p. 157)

LESLIE M. SWEETNAM, M.D., is the eldest son of Mr. Matthew Sweetnam, Post-office Inspector, of Toronto, and was born in Kingston, Ontario, on the 1st of August, 1859. He was educated at the Grammar School, Kingston, the Model School, Collegiate Institute, and Upper Canada College, Toronto. He attended the Toronto School of Medicine, and graduated M.B. at Toronto University in 1881; and M.D., Ch.M. at Victoria University, Cobourg, in the same year. He was Resident Physician and Assistant House Surgeon on the staff of the General Hospital, Toronto, in 1881. Dr. Sweetnam commenced the regular practice of his profession in Toronto in 1882. He is a medical man of more than ordinary promise, and has a large and steadily increasing practice. He is on the medical staff of the House of Providence. (Vol. II, p. 158)