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14 THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2004 | @ The Villages of Natcon Hits Stewarttown nestles between two hills The following is the fifth article in a series on the his- tory of the villages and hamlets which make up the Town of Halton Hills, pub- lished irregularly in The New Tanner during the Summer months. Much of the material comes from the Halton Atlas, first published in 1877. A number of other sources including family histories and books such as Halton's Pages of the Past by the late Gwendolyn Clarke, Halton Sketches by John McDonald and vari- ous books and pamphlets by local historian Mark Rowe. This week's article centres on Stewarttown, a hamlet almost swallowed now by Georgetown, but once the busy capital of Esquesing Township. REKKKEEK Stewarttown, on the Sev- enth Line (now called ~"¥rafalgar Road) dates back 186 years to 1818. Nestling between'two hills on the west branch of the Credit River (Black Creek) it de- rives its name from the Stewart brothers, John and Duncan, who were the first to take advantage of the abundant water. They built a dam and built a saw mill and a grist mill in 1820, an enterprise taken over by the Lawson family who oper- ated it for almost a century. The first settlers in the Township of Esquesing are believed to have settled in Stewarttown and area, many of them from Scot- land. It wasn't long until they saw the need for some form of governance in a province dominated by the Family Compact, an oligar- chy of wealthy families who, like Upper Canada's first governor, Lord Simcoe, intended to make the vast wilderness a carbon copy of the political class system in Great Britain. Gwendolyn Clarke in her informative book, Halton's Pages of the Past, records that the first organized at- tempt at local governance was a meeting of ratepayers at the farm home of Joseph Standish at Lot 13, 6" Con- cession on New Year's Day, 1821. At this time the town- ships were governed by the "Justices in Session," and continued until the passing of the Municipal Act of 1849 (known as the Baldwin Act.) So the first meeting at Stewarttown was staged un- der a warrant signed by LAWSON'S MILL in Stewarttown is shown in this repro- duction of an old photo taken before the Mill burned down in 1906. In the picture, from left to right, are Mr. And Mrs. Walter Lawson Sr., Misses Hettie, Mary, and Jane Lawson and Miss Pearl Richardson. Notice the spelling of "Stewart Town" on the mill front. William Thompson and F.S. Jarvis, Justices for the Home County, of which Halton was a part. The fol- lowing officers were installed: James Frazer, township clerk; Joseph Standish and Thomas Barbour, assessors; Charles | Acte Acton Agricultural Society Presents The 91* Annual ¥% Midway-Entertainment-Food Sept. 17,18 & 19, 2004 ADMISSIONS Fin) | hittle fairs in $7.00 Ontario" Come and discover why! Kennedy and John Stewart, town wardens; Thomas Fyfe, collector. Meetings were held at the Standish home until Tho- mas Thompson opened a tavern on Lot 13, west, on the seventh Line. It was dubbed "Long Tom's Tav- ern" and was also chosen for township meetings where the chief business was to define and settle dis- putes over fences, appoint pathmasters and supervise the registration of cattle marks to counter rustling. When township business was concluded it was cus- tomary to retire to the bar room for a social time. Often social times led to arguments and the discus- sions became violent especially after the Rebel- lion of 1837 when both sides has strong opinions. Neighbouring Scotch Block and many Esquesing farm- ers supported the efforts of fiery William Lyon Mac- kenzie to attain representative government. But the township also had many loyal Tories and Mac- kenzie admirers who drew the line at rebellion. A Stewarttown blacksmith shop was a meeting place for the rebels. They were rumoured to have fashioned spikes and spears there should a display of force be necessary. The Stewarttown Drill Shed, however, was also the headquarters of No. 2 Com- pany, 20" Batallion, under the command of Captain Applebe, a force to be reck- oned with should local people resort to violence. Around 1850 Stewarttown was a thriving village with three hotels, a tannery, sad- dle and harness maker, saddler, furniture making business, as well as a black- smith shop and merchants' shops. However, when the Grand Trunk Railway built their main line through Georgetown and Acton, busi- ness followed the railway, and Stewarttown's decline began although it remained the capital of Esquesing. Eventually a council chamber was rented from a company which built a brick store with living quarters and a hall overhead in hopes of selling it to council. No such luck. Council just rented part of it. Since the top floor was used for dances and community events it became known as the Community Hall. It wasn't until 1948 that the building was remodelled and included council cham- bers, a township clerk's office and community hall. It was in use until 1973 when Esquesing was col- lected into the arms of the new Town of Halton Hills. A number of businesses oc- cupied the building until Georgetown Little Theatre purchased it for their use. Fire destroyed it five years ago and a modern new brick facade building replaced it. Esquesing's first post of- fice opened near Stewarttown in 1820 and given the name of the town- ship -- Esquesing -- a word borrowed from the native people which means "Land of the Tall Pines" or as oth- ers contend "Land Between the Rivers" Someone ask the Indians. The post office moved to the village in 1840 and remained in op- eration until 1900 when Stewarttown got rural mail delivery from Georgetown. Although a grist and flour mill had much to do with Stewarttown, the area was also a hive of industry for hop-growing. For many farmers it was the main crop and hop picking became an industry which gave em- ployment to "considerable numbers of people". How- ever, the bottom dropped out of the market when brewers began to use sub- stitutes for hops. Although brick-making was never a commercial en- terprise, quite a number of homes, the school and the original community hall were fashioned from hand- pressed brick made from clay found in the area. There's been a school in Stewarttown since 1890 Continued on page 16 HILL'S HOTEL, where the late great Indian runner, Tom Longboat, boarded while practicing for the Marathon is shown in this old photo reproduction. Longboat would run from Stewarttown to Hornby during his distance training. BNTiny Seniors with ID Children (under 5 Free) Disabled Parking Only $12.00 WEEKEND PASS ASAI) $5.00 RSA) $4.00 Available at all Local Banks, Acton Pharma Plus & Actions (Alll prices include GST) PARADE Saturday 12 Noon featuring The Acton Citizens Band Peres i GIANT. TIGER aN tte RESIDENCE or Duncan Screwarr Esge ESOvesine. FROM THE HALTON ATLAS 1877