THE WAGAR FAMILY

Recalls Some History of

Told by Michael Wagar

Kingston Whig Standard June 2 1933

To the Editor the Whig Standard.

Sir – Having noticed in the columns of your paper from time to time that many of your older readers have given us their memories of a day gone by, I would like to have my old neighbour Michael Wagar record a few of his impressions.

He was born on the old Wagar homestead, May 10^th, 1854 and is still living there, the third generation on this farm from the time the Crown granted the deed to William Everhart Wagar, his grandfather in 1793. Living with Michael is his son, Roy and his grandson, making five generations that have lived on the old Wagar homestead. Michael Wagar is the seventh son of Ephraim Wagar and Hannah Card, his wife. He was born on the homestead and of a family of nine there are only two surviving, Dr. Wagar and himself. Michael Wagar’s father lived till the ripe old age of eighty-nine years and as Michael himself is in his 80^th year and is still possessed of the keen memory and ready wit which has made him well known at Orange gatherings for over sixty years, he can still tell us many incidents of the old pioneer days as related by his father.

William Everhart Wagar, the grandfather, was born in New York State and was one of that band of people who preferred British rule after the American Revolution. He left all behind and came with the rest of the United Empire Loyalist to Canada. He was given Lot 3, second Concession, Fredericksburgh Township, by the Crown and here he married Elizabeth McCabe and became the father of twelve sons and two daughters. For eight of these boys he purchased land at Thompson’s Corners or Enterprise. This left two boys on the homestead as two had died when they were young. After William Wagar drew his grant, he proceeded to clear the land and erect the log cabin in which he lived till 1813, the house which he built later still stands today, a monument to the skill and honesty of the men who erected it. It is in a fair state of repair with its old bake oven, fireplaces and large stone chimneys.

William Wagar, as soon as he had clean sufficient land, sowed it and before many years had enough cleared and sowed to have grain for sale. He purchased the first team of horses owned in Fredericksburgh and used to draw his rye to Kingston to Morton’s Distillery. Here he was frequently pressed by the government to carry supplies to York and would be gone for days and weeks at a time without his family knowing his whereabouts. Michael still retains a vivid recollection of his grandparents who died when he was about seven years old. Truly a remarkable span of lives embracing as it does a period of over two hundred years.

Yours truly, A BY-STANDER, Sillsville, Ont.

SOME WAGAR FAMILY HISTORY

Napanee Beaver April 1937

Wesley Jas. Wagar, well known farmer of the Centreville district, living on the Enterprise Centreville Road, and who will in a few days celebrate his seventy-eighth birthday, was born and has lived all his life on the farm which was first settled on by his grandfather, George Wagar, one hundred years ago. His great grandfather, Thomas Wagar, was one of a family of United Empire Loyalists that came to Canada following the Revolutionary War in the United States and settled on the historic shores of Hay Bay near Adolphustown. Here, his grandfather, George Wagar was born and when a young man, made his way with his wife to the farm which has now been in the possession of the family for a hundred years. Here, a log house was built and the clearing of the land started under the usual hardships and privations of the pioneers of this country. To secure a deed of the land on which he had settled, it was necessary to take a trip to Toronto on foot, a week’s journey and mostly over a trail through the woods. On this farm, his father, the late John Wagar, was born nearly a century ago. Here Wesley Wagar was born nearly seventy-eight years ago, one of a family of four boys of whom he is the only surviving member.

In the early days, Centreville was a village of considerable importance. As the name implies it was the centre of the Township of Camden and here was the meeting place of the members of the Council Board in the old town hall that stood on the present site of the Masonic Hall and which was replaced some years ago by a fine stone building in the lower part of the village. At least four hotels or taverns as they were then called, furnished accommodation for travelers or a place where a supply of liquor could be obtained; a brick yard where an excellent quality of brick were made, some of which have stood the ravages of time for nearly a century on some of the old residences near the villages; several blacksmith shops which were busy from early morning to late at night; harness shops, cooperage, a shoe making shop, two general stores, two doctors, a cheese factory, together with the usual tradesmen made up the active life of the village at that time. Three churches with three resident clergymen provided the religious needs of the community; two Methodist churches (before the union) and a Roman Catholic church (St. Anthony) at the south of the village. It was in the stone school house to the east of the village, now fully a hundred years old, that the subject of this sketch received his education as did his father, the late John Wagar.

A member of the Methodist (now United) church, Mr. Wagar relates that as members of the early Methodist church his father and mother as well as his grandmother and grandfather would regularly attend quarterly services in the old historic Methodist church on the shore of Hay Bay, making the long journey by horses and wagon. Though well over three score and ten milestones, Mr. Wagar takes an active part in the work of the farm with his son, Theodore Wagar, of the fourth generation on the century old farm.

Mr. Wagar is a staunch supporter of the Conservative Party and a member of Victoria Lodge A.F. & A.M. of Centreville. For many years he was leader of the Centreville church choir and has been an active supporter of all church work.

G.T.C. WARD, M.D.,

MAYOR

Taken from an old newspaper clipping

The above is an excellent likeness of mayor elect, Dr. Ward, who will grace the civic chair for the present year. The Dr. is one of the many examples of what a young man of the right stuff - clear-headed, energetic and persevering, with a robust constitution to back it up - may attain to in this Canada of our. The Dr. Is of U.E.L. Quaker stock, his father, John Ferris Ward, now a resident of Napanee, being born at Trout Road, Kingston Township in 1818. His mother, also still living, was Mary Tremaine, and was born at Rodman, New York, of Puritan lineage.

The subject of our sketch, a very brief one, was born at Cataraqui, Ont., in 1856. He lived for a few years on a farm at Sandy Creek, N.Y., and afterwards attended Grammar School at Kingston, and the Bath school, when Mr. Burrows, our present Public School Inspector, was head master there. The Dr. graduated at Queen's University, Kingston, in 1879, and at once commenced the practice of his profession in Napanee, seventeen years ago. During these years, while not neglecting to work up a large practice, he has taken a deep interest in our municipal affairs, and served efficiently as councillor for East Ward for five years.

The Dr. may be styled a self-made man, and from the age of fifteen years was largely dependant upon himself. While living at Bath, for parts of two summers, he drove the mail from Kingston to Sandhurst and return daily. While a teacher he spent his holidays selling books and maps. At college he won by competitive examination the appointment of Demonstrator of Anatomy. By these various means he managed to get through college a little better than even with the world, and during the seventeen years of his residence in Napanee has worked up a large and lucrative practice. He taught school in South Fredericksburgh for a couple of years while a young man. No doubt a number of readers of these lines took their early lessons from him. Here he made the acquaintance of his future wife.

At the age of twenty he married Mary Elizabeth, daughter of the late David Robertson, of Sillsville, who died in 1881, leaving three children, Laura, Marion and Harold. Five years later he married Mabel L., daughter of the late George Herring, of this town, who is mother of little Grace Tremain, aged three years.

The Doctor's successful professional career and rise to the honorable position he has just been placed in by our citizens, should be an incentive to our young men to strive to emulate his example, and it is with this object in view that we have gleaned from him the above sketch.

J.J. WATSON

Napanee Beaver, Oct 15 1889

The history of some of the pioneer families of this county, if faithfully told, would be as interesting, and far more worthy of emulation, that the vivid fictions of our modern popular authors. It is to be hoped that the near future will produce some person with the necessary literary ability and archaeological taste who will devote the time and attention necessary to collate the fragments and place upon record in better form that has been done, the early of the U.E. Loyalist families of this county. That such a work would be received with hearty appreciation is evinced by the fact that only recently the life's story of one of these, told in youth's simple language, was awarded the highest prize in competition with a large collection of other traditionary tales, in which the authors were allowed to draw the long bow of imagination to their heart's content.

We propose to include in this list one who is not only a truly representative man of his time and his generation, but every root of his genealogical tree springs from good old Loyalist stock, and whose nature has imbibed all the patriotism of his U.E. ancestors. We refer to John Joseph Watson, Esq., of Adolphustown, whom we might properly term Captain Watson. The father of this well-known and highly esteemed resident of our county was born in Manchester, Eng., and by his father, as well as by choice, was dedicated to his country's service. At the age of eighteen years he joined England's Navy, and dispatched to the coast on Guinea in the suppression of the slave trade. Later, ill health compelled him to retire, and he came to Canada. When the war of 1812 broke out he joined the colonial forces, and as an officer of the gallant Glengarry regiment, went through the campaign and was wounded at Lundy's Lane. We may add that his days were undoubtedly shortened from the exposure he underwent during this campaign. He finally settled in Adolphustown, where he found congenial association with the U.E. Loyalist refugees.

Now we have to trace Mr. Watson's maternal ancestry.

When England's colonists on this side of the water became disaffected, Joseph Allen was engaged in an extensive and prosperous business in the county of Monmouth, in the state of New Jersey. As a Quaker he was a non-combatant, but loyalty as well as business thrift induced him to supply the British troops in New York with beef, flour and other necessaries of life. He thus drew upon himself the animosity of the rebels, and during a temporary absence they raided his mills, and with his own horses and wagons carried off his ample stores. His conscientious scruples were so overcome that he cast off his Quaker garb, went to New York, obtained a Captain's Commission, returned, raised a troop of cavalry among the still loyal colonists and attacked the rebels, who had robbed him, carried their half-finished block-house and barricades by storm, and destroyed the place, with the exception of the stone residence of a widow lady; an old school mate, who had remained loyal to the King whom her husband had served as Lieutenant. During the campaign that followed he many times proved himself a gallant officer. At the close of the war he returned, but his property had all been confiscated and his own life was in such jeopardy that he and his family escaped with difficulty. During his hiding his faithful negro slaves refused to disclose where he was, though strung up three times and nearly suffocated.

Joining the refugee band of U.E. Loyalists, under Major Vanalstine, on the 16th June, 1784, the Allen family landed at Adolphustown. His family, consisted of a wife, two sons and three daughters, besides three faithful slaves - Tom, Sam and Mary.

Among the grants made by a grateful sovereign to Capt. Allen was 2,700 acres on Point Traverse, what is now known as the McCauley estate at Picton, 600 in Marysburgh, 1,000 acres in Murray and 800 acres in Adolphustown.

It was here that Mr. Watson's father courted and won the youngest daughter of Captain Allen, and from that union sprang the subject of the present sketch - Captain J.J. Watson, a good portrait of whom heads this memoir. The latter was born in 1816, and is therefore 73 years of age, though from his appearance, his firm and elastic step, his mental and physical activity he would scarcely be taken for more than 60. He had the advantage of a good education in a private school established by some gentlemen at Kingston. In 1846 he married Gertrude Allen, a second cousin and direct descendant of the sturdy old loyalist, whose devotion is noted above. Mr. and Mrs. Watson had two children, but their youngest daughter died two years ago, the heaviest affliction they have yet been called upon to bear. The other, Mrs. Duffett, has come with husband and family to cheer the home and comfort the declining years of the old people, and a joyous, happy family circle it is.

Mr. Watson's public career has been marked with ability and foresight in the manifold positions of trust and responsibility in which he has been placed, and his record stands pure and unsullied. For his judicial skill and integrity, manifested in his management of important cases before the grand jury, of which he was foreman, he was selected as the first magistrate of his township after the separation.

He was for nine years a local Superintendent of Schools, during the regime of the late Dr. Ryerson, and seven of his reports were marked with so many practical suggestions of value, and were considered of such importance, that they were printed in the educational journal of the time.

He served with the militia, and during the troubles of '37 was on duty at Kingston, and in 1869 was glissaded as Captain. He was afterwards tendered the rank of Lieut.-Col., but declined, rather than take the necessary course for qualification.

He is probably the oldest postmaster in the province, if not in the Dominion, having served in that capacity for thirty-seven years.

But it is as a municipal representative that his ability, integrity and foresight have been best displayed to the great advantage of his township and the county. He was a member of the County Council before, during and after the separation, being the contemporary and co worker of the Hon. John Stevenson, Sidney Warner, J.D. Ham, Philip Booth, Mr. Percival, Ebenezer Perry, John Murphy, and others whose names will long be cherished as public benefactors of this county. He lent valuable counsel and assistance in framing an equitable and satisfactory basis of separation and in bringing about the settlement. It was by the combined efforts of Messrs. Watson and Murphy that in the last year of union the late Sidney Warner was elected Warden of the United counties, and thus guided the intricate negotiations to a successful issue. In the year 1870, Mr. Watson was himself honored by being place in the warden's chair. It was conceded that no man had more worthily earned the distinction, and at the close it was unanimously stated, and so recorded in the proceedings, that he had discharged the duties with marked ability and impartiality. The records of the County Council contain ample evidence of his activity and skill as a municipal legislator. He marked the dangerous practice of levying a tax that was insufficient to meet current expenses, and had the courage to advocate that the taxes should be increased to create a sinking fund to lift the burden of debt, a scheme that was not accomplished till nearly fifteen years later; he was chairman of the committee which recommended that reeves be elected directly by the people instead of by the councillors, and this and other important amendments to our municipal law were adopted by the government. He was on the committee that had in charge of the erection of the Court House and Jail, and in his address as Warden advocated the building of our present safe and commodious registry Office. The records also show that when other committees had failed to obtain the just rights of the county in a participation in the government appropriation for jails. Mr. Watson, in the incredulity of all, obtained another committee, and at a subsequent session had the satisfaction of reporting $6,000 as a result of their memoir. These prominent instances of his success, and a long record of faithful services in the county council, entitle him to the esteem and grateful remembrance of the whole community, and will be to his memory an imperishable memorial.

Mr. Watson has been frequently importuned to seek honor in a wider sphere of legislative action, but has preferred rather to give way to men more ambitious for place and honor. He was a schoolmate and playfellow of the Right Hon. Sir John Macdonald. As boys there were intimate, and the Premier of to-day holds pleasant recollections of the associations of those happy times. During the visit of the Right Hon. gentleman and Lady Macdonald to the county a few years ago, they were guests at Mr. Watson's comfortable and delightful residence, and whenever engagements would permit retired to that quiet home for rest or recreation. As simple John A. Macdonald and John J. Watson, they recorded their first vote together at Bath in the year 1836 for John Solomon Cartwright, and they have many a pleasant reminiscence of those days to relate.

In private life Mr. Watson has been a successful man. He has been farmer, grain dealer, merchant and ship owner and in all has managed to accumulated a goodly competency. His residence at The Village of Adolphustown is one of the most comfortable, as his grounds are among the most picturesque in the county.

Mr. Watson naturally holds in great reverence the memory of his U.E. Loyalist ancestry. When it was proposed to erect a memorial church under the auspices of the Church of England, he contributed a beautiful site, has aided liberally by his means in the construction, and has induced his friends to do likewise, so that he will soon have the supreme satisfaction of seeing it worthily completed.

He has friends almost innumerable in all parts of Canada who hope that he may live to the ripe old age of his forefathers, and his biographer may say that he sustained untarnished the heritage of a noble name bequeathed by his ancestors.

J. J. WATSON AND THE DUFFETT FAMILY

J.W. DUFFETT - FORMER WARDEN - LAST MALE MEMBER OF U.E.L. FAMILY

The Napanee Beaver Feb 12 1975

The death of John Watson Duffett recently in Kingston at the age of 88 and the announcement of his burial at the J.J. Watson cemetery at Adolphustown stirs memories for many in this area particularly among those who are interested in the history of his United Empire Loyalist land.

The fact that John Duffett’s middle name was Watson and that he has been buried in a cemetery by that name is the clue which leads to a story of a pioneer family which made up a generation that made Canada a nation.

  John Duffett served as reeve of Adolphustown township and was Warden of Lennox and Addington county in 1941. He was 88, so was born in 1887. What was the world of John Duffett, the world he entered 20 years after confederation?

Well, John Duffett’s great-grandfather was a Watson who was in the British Nay and fought in guinea in the slave trade uprisings and later came to Canada and served with the army in the War of 1812 and was wounded at Lundy’s Lane.

His grandmother was a daughter of Joseph Allen, who was a Quaker with a prosperous milling business in New Jersey. He gave up his faith and took up arms while the rebels destroyed his property during the American Revolution. He raised a company of Loyalists and destroyed the rebel settlement. He came to Adolphustown in 1784 with Major Vanalstine and brought his family and three slaves. He was granted over 5,000 acres at four different locations, including 800 in Adolphustown.

The Watson and the Allen families were joined in the next generation with the marriage of a Watson son and the youngest of the Allen Daughters. Their son was John Joseph Watson. He married a second cousin, Gertrude Allen. They had two daughters, one them Mr. Duffett’s mother.

J. J. Watson attended a private school in Kingston, and according to a biography in The Napanee Beaver of 1888, the elder of their two daughters died in 1886 and their other daughter, Mrs. William Seeley Duffett, who had been living in Ottawa, came to live with them, along with her husband and their family.

The Duffetts had two sons, Harold and John. Dr. Harold W. Duffett was a Napanee physician for many years and died Aug. 20 1974. The death of John Duffett is the end of the family name for both Harold and John Duffett had daughters only, two each.

J. J. Watson was a remarkable man. He was the first magistrate in Adolphustown after the separation of Lenox and Addington County from Frontenac in 1864. He was superintendent of schools under Egerton Ryerson, the father of Ontario’s public school system, and wrote articles which were published in educational journals. He was a captain in the militia in Kingston and postmaster for 37 years. He was on county council before, during and after separation and on the committee which built the county court house and jail at Napanee. He was Warden of the county in 1870, the year The Napanee Beaver began publication, and was the leader in the plan to build a registry office here.

  John Joseph Watson went to school with Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, when the Macdonald family lived in the Adolphustown area, and they cast their first vote together at Bath in 1836 for John Solomon Cartwright. Sir John A. and Lady Macdonald stayed at the Watson home on visits to the area in later years and the Watsons were frequent guests at the Prime Minister’s residence in Ottawa.

Mr. Watson was a successful merchant (he built the store at Adolphustown) and a ship owner, farmer and grain dealer, and gave the land for the Anglican Church of St. Alban the Martyr at Adolphustown and helped in its construction, which was underway at the time The Beaver’s 1888 biography was published.

THE WAY FAMILY

The Picton Times Aug 4 1951

Way Family Reunion at Wellington, Aug. 15

Several hundred members of the Way family will gather at Wellington, Wednesday, August 15 for their annual reunion.

Officers of the family group are: Mrs. Harold Pitcher; president; Miss Helen Dellege, vice-president; Mrs. J. J. Way, secretary; Glenn C. Way, Historian.

The following article deals with the Way family history;

Way Family

In 1642, a group of English colonists in Taunton, Mass., under the leadership of Rev. Francis Doughty, who had been ordered to leave because his preaching did not please the authorities, resolved to settle in the Dutch territory of New Netherlands to be free from religious persecution. They were granted 13,332 acres of land at Maspet, first called Middleburg, and later known as the English Kills. The tract embraced the present town of Newtown, which is now a part of the Borough of Brooklyn in Greater New York.

The next year the little town was burned by the Indians and the settlers fled across the bay to Connecticut. They returned after the war and in 1652 a goodly company arrived from New England towns and villages, and others came directly from England. In 1653, when war broke out between England and Holland, the settlers fled across Long Island Sound to Stamford, Conn., but returned later that year. In 1656 the settlers began to have doubts as to their right to the lands ceded to them by Governor Peter Stuyvesant and decided to pay the Indians for the land they occupied. The price agreed upon was one shilling per acre and each colonist paid according to the number of acres he had.

The deed from the Indians is still in existence and shows that JAMES WAY paid two shilling - but he later purchased more land. No record has been found of James Way’s arrival in America, but records show that he was a resident of Newtown in 1652, and that he embraced the principles of the Quakers.

On March 30, 1676, he was elected one of the eleven “Overseers” of the town. He lived until October 2, 1685, and left a will in which he made bequests to his wife, Ede, three sons and three daughters. His son, Francis, seems to have left no will, but his widow, Elizabeth, married Peter Buckhout in 1712. He had two sons and two daughters. His son, James, became blind and died 1767. His wife was Hannah Leverich, daughter of John and granddaughter of Caleb who was son of Rev. William Leverich (1602-1677) first pastor of the Newtown church.

The last mentioned James Way had three sons, Francis, James and John. James settled on Staten Island. Francis and John settled at Fishkill in Dutchess County. Francis Way of Fishkill had five sons and five daughters. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Jose Gorsline, a Huguenot. Daniel Way, eldest son of Francis, settled at Northport, Ontario, after the Revolutionary War and his brother, John, settled near there in 1805. Another brother, Jose, lived at Brunswick, Rensselaer county, and had a daughter, Deborah, wife of John Kotchapaw of Picton. They were grandparents of Sir Rodmond Palen Roblin, one-time Premier of Manitoba. Another brother, Francis Way Jr., had a son, Lawrence Daily Way, who settled at Pickering, Ontario, in 1811. He had a large family, all of whom removed to Michigan in 1838.

John Way, brother of Francis of Fishkill, married Mary Losey, who died in 1769. After her death, he removed to Halfmoon Township - then in Albany but now in Saratoga County. His son, Daniel B. Way (1762-1840) removed in 1800 to Bethel, near Picton, and settled on the farm where his great-grandson, Arnold D. Way, spent his entire life.

James Way, brother of Daniel B. Way, was grandfather of Rev. David B. Way (1795-1865) who was great-grandfather of the family historian.

The Three Way Pioneers in Canada

Daniel Way (1743-1829) settled at Northport in 1789. He had served as a private in the Second Regiment, Duchess County Militia, in which his father was a Lieutenant. That he was no favorite of his father is evidenced by a bequest in the latter’s will of “Five pounds as his birthright.” His other children shared equally. His wife was Jemima Kilburn. They had eight sons and one daughter. The latter was wife of William Heliker of Whitby. James, his eldest son, married Sarah, daughter of Abraham Cronk in 1792. He was then a widower. The name of his first wife is unknown. Samuel Way’s wife was Catherine Pine. Daniel married Catherine Fox, and Benjamin’s wife was Catherine Chisholm. Nothing is known concerning Henry, John, Joseph and Francis. They probably died unmarried, or in childhood.

John Way, brother of Daniel, married Mary (Molly) Budd. He enlisted in the 3^rd New York Regiment June 4, 1777 and served as Private, Corporal and Sergeant, until the end of the war. He later lived at Greenbush, Reneselaer County and in 1805 removed to what is now Prince Edward county. The graves of John Way and his wife are in an old cemetery on the Foster farm near Northport. Two of his daughters married in New York and did not go to Canada. Mary was wife of William Anderson who was member of Parliament, Margaret married Richard Sprung, and Letitia was wife of John Tripp. His son, Francis, left no descendants, John married Mary, daughter of William Casey and his wife, Martha Robinson, and Benjamin R. Way married Lydia Gorsline Adams. The names of her parents are desired.

Daniel P. Way, first cousin of Daniel and John Way, settled in Canada in the winter of 1800. He left a written record of his family and gave it to his daughter shortly before his death in 1840. A copy of this record was given to the writer by her son, Richard L. Hubbs, who was for many years Clerk of Prince Edward County and assisted the writer as long as he lived. Daniel B. Way served a Private in the 8^th Regiment Albany County Militia. His first wife was Jemima Mosher (1761-1806) who had eleven children - five of whom grew up and married. John the eldest, married Cornelia Fox, Sarah was wife of Benjamin Hubbs, Elizabeth of Archelaus Doxsee, David’s first wife was Janet Chisholm and his second was Elizabeth Brooks and Reuben B. married Lydia Gleason.

Daniel B. Way’s second wife was Abigail Reed (1779-1808) who was widow of John Spencer and ---- Giles. Her only son, William Way, married Hannah Tripp. The third wife of Daniel B. Way was Sabra Foster (1771-1841) a descendant of Stephen Hopkins who came in the Mayflower in 1620. She had four children, two of whom died young, Jemima who became the wife of William H. Heliker, son of William Heliker and Elizabeth Way, and Abigail who married John Thompson.

More than six thousand descendants of these three pioneers have been found in all of the Provinces west of Quebec and nearly every state in the U.S.

More than twenty years ago the late Gideon Way of Trenton invited the descendants of his grandfather, James Way (son of Daniel) to meet for a Family Reunion and the next year the invitation was extended to all of the descendants of the three pioneers. Each year since that time (except during the war) a Family Reunion has been held in Canada.

This year the Reunion will be held at Wellington on Wednesday, August 15^th. All of the descendants of the three pioneers are cordially invited. The big family gets together to visit and have a good time and listen to remarks by visitors from away. The Family Historian will try to answer questions that any one cares to ask. It will be a basket picnic. Tables will be spread at 12:30 (Standard Time), and many will remain for supper at about 8 p.m. A large attendance is expected. Wellington is 10 miles from Picton, 22 miles from Trenton and the same from Belleville, on Lake Ontario. Near the park is the oldest house in Ontario. Don’t fail to see it. Hope to meet you August 15^th.

Glenn C. Way, Family Historian.

DR. HIRAM WEEKS

Medical Profession in Upper Canada 1783-1850

Of Fredericksburgh, Midland District, appeared before Upper Canada Medical Board, July, 1820, and, being duly examined, was found fit to practise. But Dr. Weeks had been practising before the Board was established. He was born near Brockville, and studied medicine in New York. He had come to the Bay of Quinte about 1818. His field of practice extended along the bay on either side for many miles. Being a large, vigorous man, he was quite able to attend to his large practice on horseback. Dr. H.H. Wright remembers having seen him when young, about 1827, crossing the ferry from Adolphustown to Prince Edward county, equipped with his saddle-bags, containing drugs and instruments. He was the first doctor to use in this section the new medicine, quinine. Dr. Weeks was elected vice-president of a temperance society organized in Adolphustown, April 16, 1830. He died at his residence, Adolphustown, March 8, 1835.

THE WELBANKS OF MILFORD

Relating Recollections

Those Whom He Knew in the Early Fifties

The Welbanks Descended From U.E. Loyalist Stock

Daily British Whig Aug 24 1920

Picton Times –

T.H. Slaven, Hollister, California, the writer of “Recollections of the Welbankses of Milford” which appears below, will be eighty-eight years old on the 21^st of October. Mr. Slaven is the oldest of a family of twelve, only three of whom are now living – himself, Fred Slaven and Miss Mary Slaven, Picton. Mr. Slaven has a faultless memory, is a clear and expressive writer, and we hope to have many more interesting sketches of early life in South Marysburgh and Athol from his pen.

Recollections of Welbankses of Milford

Seeing an account of the death of Thomas Welbanks, of South Bay, not very long ago, in the Times, called to the writer’s mind the many Welbankses that he knew in the early ‘50s. In Milford there lived John B. Welbanks, a stalwart man in size, who had married Nancy Clapp, a splendid woman, and who had been a school teacher. When I was a small boy I attended her school in a log building on Jim Ackerman’s place. In Milford there also lived David R. Welbanks, a fine looking man, who kept a hotel. He had taken for his wife a Miss Lane, daughter of Squire Lane of South Bay. This good lady was also a school teacher. Hiram Welbanks in the late forties lived near Reuben Rorabeck’s, on or near what is now known as Royal street. His wife, who was an Ostrander, died in early life, and left him with two children, Frank and Cecelia. The last I knew of Hiram, he was in Kingston and held a job in the sheriff’s office. Then there was John Welbanks, of Royal street, a rich old -----. Mrs. Welbanks, his wife was an Ostrander and one of the best of women. There was a large family, and one of the daughters married Frank Case, a business man for many years in Picton. Fegan Welbanks was raised by John Welbanks, his uncle. He married and settled down in the Long Point country, I think. Squire Thomas Welbanks, the father of the late Thomas, lived on the north side of South Bay. He was a Minaker, one of the members of that estimable family among the early settlers in the South Bay country. Squire Thomas and his estimable wife raised a large family. I remember the names of several of them. There were Hamilton, the late Thomas, Andrew, Calvin, Hiram and their sisters Malvina and Gertrude. About twenty years ago I met Webster Welbanks, a son of Calvin’s, in San Francisco. He and his cousin, one of the Minaker boys, were in business there. At the head of South Bay there lived George A. Welbanks; his wife was also a Minaker. The children consisted mostly of girls. At the head of the bay also lived William Welbanks, generally known as “Bill” Welbanks. I don’t remember who his wife was. Anyhow there was quite a family of boys and girls. Of the boys I remember the names Palen and William, the latter I think married Tabitha Rorabeck who went to my school on Royal street in the early 50’s. Tabitha was a close student and became a school teacher. The last to mention of that numerous name is David Welbanks, who lived on the south side of South Bay. David had quite a large family of boys and girls. I named one of the girls – called her after my mother – Eliza. If she is living she will be near three score and ten. Abe, one of the boys, married Mary Hicks; and Mary, like all the other boys and girls on the south side, went to my school in ’51 and ’52. The Welbanks family descended from U.E. Loyalist stock.

THE WOOD TWINS

TWO AGED PICTON LADIES

The Toronto Globe July 13, 1901

The accompanying photogravure represents Mrs. Benson and Mrs. Marshall, twin sisters. The photo was taken May 7, the eighty-fourth anniversary of their birthday. They were born in the township of Sophiasburg, county of Prince Edward. Their father, John Wood, came from the State of New York, when a boy, with some settlers who were bringing in horses, and remained. He afterwards married a Miss Roblin, of U. E. L. stock, and settled on the shores of the Bay of Quinte, the old homestead commanding one of the many lovely views of the bay along the beautiful green, wood-clad sides of the high shore.

Mrs. Benson married at twenty years of age and lived for a short time in Hallowell Township, where some of her children were born, subsequently moving in with her husband’s father and mother.

Mrs. Marshall married later and was early, left a widow with three children, two of whom are living. Mrs. Benson had five children, four of whom are living. She also is a widow, since 1873. They and one brother, two years older, are the youngest and only survivors of a family of eleven children, most of whom lived to a good old age.

The brother, Peter Wood, lives on the old farm, in a house built on the site of the old home. They are all three remarkably active for their years and take as much interest in local happenings as they ever did.