Settler Robert Wade

Robert Wade
..Robert Wade, a pioneer settler who bought a farm half-way bet- ween Part Hope and Cobourg in the early 1820's documented the early life and activites of the country in a series of family letters to England that continued until he died in 1849. The letters were continued by his brother until 1867.

The Wade Papers
Mrs. Gwen Wilkinson read ex- cerpts from the Wade Papers Wednesday at the March meeting of the East Durham Historical Society. This rare collection of preserved family letters gives a fine detailed insight into the progress of life and attitudes of the Upper Canada pioneer Wade family in the 1820's and the correspondence continues right up to 1867 when Confederation took place. Ralph Wade
Ralph Wade, the brother of Robert Wade, continued the family correspondence of letters to England that his brother Robert had so meticulously recorded for 30 years from 1819 to 1949 when he died. The letters ended in 1867, when Ralph Wade, who also followed his brother to settle in Hamilton township died.

series of letters which make up the Wade collection were originally written by two English emigrant brothers who farmed east of Port Hope over a 48 year period up to 1867, when the last brother died.

Robert Wade wrote for 30 years to family and friends in Durham County, England, mostly to his father John (who died in 1825), and to his brother William (who died in 1823), and also to his sisters Margaret, Elizabeth and Mary, and to his youngest brother, Ralph, who also eventually emigrated in 1845 to settle near Robert and when me latter cued in 1849, Ralph continued the correspondence until his own death in 1867.

A condensed summary of the letters was first published by Howard Pammett in November 1967 in the Journal of Canadian Studies. Pammett had arranged with J. M. Vincent-Smith of London and Chesterfield, England, for a typescript set or the Letters to be sent to Canada for deposit in the Public Archives. Vincent-Smith's great-great-grandmother was a sister of the letter writers Robert and Ralph Wade Merely Wade, who used to reside near the Greenwood Tower on Peter Street was a grandson of Ralph Wade

The Wade letters as outlined by Pammett tell a great deal about life and the country in Upper Canada at the time for the early rural settlers, and the change in attitudes that these pioneers developed over the years after leaving their native England behind.

..FAMILY ORIGIN

The Wade family tree begins with George Wade of Langley, County Durham, England, buried nearby at Staindrop in 1639. Five generations later, Margaret Wade (after her marriage to a Colpitts) emigrated to New Brunswick in 1783.

In the next generation, her two nephews, Robert (born 1777) and Ralph (born 1797) emigrated to Upper Canada in 1819 and 1845 respectively, settling in the Port Hope district.

Pammett notes that the letters reveal little about the family background and fortunes, or the , reasons that prompted Robert Wade to emigrate in 1819. Only a few facts are evident -- they were probably a staunch farming family, had considerable capital, and were fervent Methodists.

Robert married Mary Hodgson about 1802, and before they emigrated they had eight children- -John (born 1804); Jane (born 1806); Mary (born 1807); Ann (born 1809); Margaret (born 1811); Ralph (born 1812); Elizabeth (born 1816), and William (born 1818).

Pammett suggests that perhaps unsettled postwar conditions in England, with falling farm prices, and industrial unrest, may have determined Robert and Mary to take their growing family to the opportunities of a new country.

. .THE OCEAN CROSSING

Robert Wade and his family sailed from Sunderland, England on,May 12, 1819, on the "William and Matthew” which carried 40 (?)

In his diary for May 29, Robert Wade notes that they had sailed 1,496 miles and outlined details about what their food supplies consisted of aboard the schooner.

.."In the cookhouse are two coppers and one oven and a large fireplace for the use of passengers. By rewarding the cook with a little spirits he makes ready a good deal of our victuals; we brought two bushels of bread meal which we find very useful; potatoes and oatmeal also for the children, being easily cooked; we make yeast so that we have brown and white bread.

"we bought a round of beef, and by dipping it in the sea a few times it kept fresh for nearly three weeks; tea and coffee are not good; oatmeal, barley and rice are best; raisins, prunes and preserved berries are very serviceable."

…A STORM, A PASSING SHIP, BAD WATER

The diary noted a storm lasting May 30 to June 9, a while within 50 yards of the ship, and occasional ships passing eastbound. By June 7 the water was so bad it could only be used to make soup.

On June 12,1819, when they had sailed 2,329 miles, three other vessels were in sight. Fighting against headwinds, Robert records the comment: "We have run many hundreds of miles in tacking north- west to southwest, often being satisfied to keep our longitude"

On June 18 they saw a solitary fishing boat on the Grand Banks and next day dined on cod they caught themselves. June 22 was William's first birthday; "He has grown very strong and fat since he came to sea... Elizabeth is tired of the sea and says she would like to have fields again to gather cowslips and a cow to give us milk."

…SIGHTING AMERICA FOR THE FIRST TIME

After a sudden gale on June 25, when they had travelled 3,270 miles, they had encouraging signs nearing land, including two timber-laden vessels in sight; and on the 28th day they sailed past Cape Ray into the Gulf of St Lawrence.

The captain chilled their blood with tales of wrecks caused by fog and ice. Next day, reaching 3,485 miles out, they passed Anticosti Island, where they were able to buy fresh provisions, milk and water.

On July 5, after anchoring overnight at a small north shore village, they sailed with seven other vessels up the river; each evening they anchored and were able to go ashore for milk, berries eggs and soap. The entry for July included a vivid description of a French habitant farm

..QUEBEC ARRIVAL

The Wade family arrived at Quebec on July 9, after travelling about 3,900 miles, and were happy to rest up, especially as William to was ill with the "White Flux."

The sea diary closes with a lengthy but interesting account of Quebec, its timber rafts ("masts for the Navy, the largest trees I ever saw"), Indians, garrisons, markets, inhabitants, prices , wages, etc.

arrange for him to buy a suitable farm.

..STEAMBOAT TO MONTREAL

On July 28, they boarded the steamboat for Montreal (10 shillings per person, two pence for each child under 10 years, baggage free), and arrived next day at Montreal, a town of 15,000 to 20,000 persons that impressed them greatly by its vigorous activity.

Carts took them nine miles to Lachine on July 31, where Robert engaged passage in a Durham boat, for $2 each person and $1 per cwt. for his 26 cwt. of baggage. The trip to Prescott was tiresome, taking eight days; Robert found the riverside farms "stony and barren, their crops chiefly wheat and white peas "

. .SON WILLIAM DIES, THEY GO ON TO KINGSTON AND SMITH'S CREEK-THE TRIP ON LAKE ONTARIO IS ROUGH

They stayed five days at Prescott, where little William died; he was buried "amongst the soldiers that fell in the battle of Ogdensburg." From Prescott they went by steamer to Kingston, arriving about August 12; a few days later they pressed on by schooner to Smith's Creek, an uncomfortable voyage of three days.

..ROBERT WADE'S FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SMITH'S CREEK

Pammett notes that Smith's creek was made a port of entry in 1819 as "Port Hope", a name that gradually replaced the earlier one. He noted that On Aug. 19, 1819, Robert Wade described it in his diary as "a small Harbor on the , lake and had its name from the ' first settler who is still living."

..WADE DESCRIBES TOWN BUILDINGS EXISTING IN 1819

Wade writes that there are four ; stores, two taverns, two breweries, two distilleries, a grist-mill, a saw- mill and a carding mill; it is the chief market between Kingston and York.

..THE PORT HOPE-COBOURG AREA

Pammett notes that following the 1788 Treaty by which the Mississaugas gave up title to the Quinnte-York lands along Lake Ontario, Lieut- Governor John Graves Simcoe by proclamation in 1792 set up the lakefront Counties including Durham and Nor- thumberland, each stretching north into the wilderness.

The front parts of the townships on the Lake,' including Hope township in Durham and Hamilton township of 'Northumberland , were surveyed within a few months to receive increasing numbers of settlers, mostly late Loyalists from. the United States.

The hamlet of Smith's Creek had begun in 1778 around a trading post, and Cobourg's first settler came in1798.

..LAKE TRANSPORTATION WAS THE SOLE COM- MUNICATION

Pammett points out that com- munications were then possible only by water, and Lieut-Governor Simcoe encouraged early surveys of river systems such as the Trent and the Ganaraska.

...DANFORTH ROAD WAS FIRST PRIMITIVE ROAD

Simcoe also engaged Asa Danforth to build the first a primitive trail from York to Kingston at $90 a mile; in the three years to December 1799. this Danforth Road extended from York to Kingston at $90 a mile; this Danforth Road extended from York to Cobourg, so that sleighs and wagons could travel the route most of the year.

NEWCASTLE DISTRICT FORMED IN 1802

In 1802 the Newcastle District was formed from the Counties of Durham and Northumberland for administrative purposes (land grants, census, taxes, roads and bridges, schools,) and in 1818 after another Indian land "surrender" this District was extended in- definitely north.

By 1816 the Danforth Road was almost impassible, and in the next two years it was rebuilt as the Kingston road, following parts of the Danforth Road. This permitted regular stage and mail service at all seasons along the lakefront.

HOPE-HAMILTON GEOGRAPHY

Pammett notes that the Hope- Hamilton area was, on the clay plain with a limeston base created when the ancient Lake Iroquois receded to its present Lake Ontario boundaries. Such clay-silt plains in formed the richest growing soils in Upper Canada, when well-drained, and were particularly good for grain and fruit crops.

But settlement continued to cling to the lakefront; when Charles Fothergill of Port Hope rode his horse to Rice Lake in February 1817, he noted:

"There is one farm farther back than six miles from Lake Ontario in this direction--an Irishman of the name of Goheen lives upon it. Beyond this house a wild hut but very (?) District Assessment and Census rolls for 1819, Hope township had by then, 754 settlers, (which also included the people living in the hamlet of Smith's Creek) and had 150 households as well as two grist mills, five saw mills, four inns, two shops, and five stills.

Hamilton township is recorded to have had 981 people and 165 households in existence that year and also one gristmill, four sawmills, three inns, one shop and no stills.

The Methodists of Hope township were visited by circuit -riders from 1813, holding services in inns and homes, but no churches were built until the next decade; Hamilton township had its first Anglican and Methodist Churches in 1820 at Cobourg. It is believed that both Port Hope and Cobourg had small private schools by this time, but there is no immediate evidence available to confirm it.

Thus, noted Pammett, by the time Robert Wade and family sailed into Port Hope harbor in August, 1819, the district was already thriving with about 1,700 people in over 300 log cabins, a well as inns, mills, shops and other amenities.

The frontier had been pushed north to Rice Lake and Cavan Township. Water and road tran- sport was available both east and west by this time.

..WADE BUYS A LAKEFRONT FARM

Pammett notes that since Wade had financial means, he did not have to delay until the Newcastle Land Board gave him a location for a homestead.

After looking at several farms, he purchased 200 acres near the lakefront, just three miles from Smith's Creek and two from Cobourg.

(Today this property is known as lot 27, concession A in Hamilton , Township.)

Wade paid 270 English pounds for the property or the equivalent of $1,200 with the property being immediately available for him to take possession.

The farm consisted of two log houses, 30 acres cleared and a hay crop standing; it was on a good road and only half a mile from a school.

Wade's description of the homestead brims with enthusiasm. .."The land is of the first quality and a small creek runs through it; the wood that-it grows is beech, elm, basswood, oak, birch, ash, manic and asp. I have bought six milch cows from 18 to 24 dollars each, two horses and one foal from 50 to 60 dollars. Mutton, beef and veal sells from 3d. to 4d. per pound, pork at 6d , butter from 10 to 16d , cheese six to nine d. .milk 2d; per quart; hay two pounds, 10 shillings per ton; wheat- five shillings per bushel; barley, white peas and Indian corn, four shillings. Buckwheat three shillings, six d.

Wade warned that English goods were dear; tea five to six shillings per pound, better than in England; sugar- one shilling; coffee three shillings, 6d rice- 9d 1, salt 1 -shilling per stone.

The new settler also stressed in His letters that labor "was very dear," and noted that "a man in haytime and harvest had one dollar a day or a bushel of wheat; one bushel in 10 for threshing and they had one half of the hay for mowing and making it.

Wade's letter com- mented:" Labor will always be dear as long as land is given away. They are now measuring several thousand acres on the north side of Rice Lake and there are a good many waiting to receive it, and I intend to apply for a grant shortly

RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

Concerning religion. Wade's letters noted that they had two church ministers, one at the Courthouse (Cobourg) , the other at Smith's Creek; the chief of the inhabitants were Baptists; they are a few Methodists and he said the Wade's family has been preaching at the Creek once a fortnight.

..URGES HIS BROTHER TO IMMIGRATE

Robert Wade urged his brother Ralph Wade to emigrate, but not to think of drawing land. He warned that "It was so far back that it would be some time before it would be of much value and besides it was very difficult settling new town- ships."

Wade stated that he only in- tended doing his settling duties, for example clearing five acres and building a log cabin;

. ."We have 18 months to do it in and then we receive our deeds for which we pay five pounds, ten shillings for and then we can sell or do what we please with it.

In his next letter Nov.7,1820, Wade describes his farm.:"No buildings but two old log houses, the one we repaired up for our- selves and the other for our cattle. The size of our house is 22 feet by 18 feet; we have partitioned three small bedroom off below and have (?) is very dear and we have done all our work ourselves: we have lined the inside with boards and have a boarded floor.

.."The country around here is improving very fast; there have been seven frame houses built within a mile of us since we came here. We intend to build a house in two or three years' time and plant an orchard this fall or spring.

After a lengthy dialogue on farm technique, Wade describes how they kill a beast in the rural country.

WADE DESTCRIBES PIONEER METHOD OF SLAUGHTERING CATTLE

..”the way to kill a beasty in this country is to have a bee, for example, five or six of the neigh- bors to assist them; they take him in the -pasture without fastening him and with a little axe they fell him, cut off his head, take off his hide, quarter him, and im- mediately take him to market. .."We have cleared 75 acres of land, and a man will chop an acre in eight days and five men will log it in a day if the weather is dry. I have sown a good deal of the new land with wheat and the remainder I intend to sow in the spring with barley and oats.

. ."We do not plough the new land; we just harrow it with a drag in a triangular way and a team will sow an acre in a day. I intend to clear 15 or 20 acres this winter.

Robert Wade mentioned that his son, John, had rented a farm one mile from Cobourg for 10 English pounds a year with a good log house; instead of cash, John had to pay half in wheat at 4-6 a bushel, and a ton of hay at two English pounds-10, the remainder in improvement of the farm;

. .RELIGIOUS VIEWS

Robert Wade comments on religion in his letter: "There are a good many American Methodists here. but we do not join with them as they differ a good deal from us .."We have been very well and since we came here have never had to employ a doctor. Our children have all grown very stout; you . would scarcely know them...We all return brother Ralph for his present of books; they were very acceptable as books are very scarce here…My taxes this year are eight shillings, seven pence and a man five days to the highways.

A letter of March 5,1821 to friends at Shotton, England expresses confidence in his new found country. .."Steady men may do very well . here with a family. Blacksmiths taylors and weavers may do well. Last summer, a very dry season, the hay crops were very light, Wheat .peas, barley and indian corn were in general very good. Prices of grains are very low, stock of all kinds lower than last year.

..DESCRIPTION OF EXTREME COLD WINTER WEATHER

.."The weather was in January very cold, but steady until the 25th when we had the coldest weather ever known in this province, .. "The mercury was 22 to 24 below zero. We had great difficulty to (?) mills...Mr Radcliffe preaches once at fortnight at our house.

On Christmas Day, 1822, Robert Wade wrote his brother Ralph to inform him of the death of Elizabeth, age six of a lung in- flammation. He also provided an insight into his financial position since he had first come to America.

.. "When we left England we had a little upwards of 500 English pounds with property to the amount of 200 pounds more; our voyage and travelling expenses were nearly 100 pounds.

. ."I bought this farm for 300 pounds or 270 pounds sterling. I paid down 200 pounds and was to pay the remainder in 18 months our house being very bad it cost us 10 pounds to repair it; stock to the farm and utensils and a little furniture cost us a 100 pound more; we had our bread and con to buy for two years.

.."In the first (year) we were in hopes that we should be able to raise something from the farm, but it was in such a condition that our expenses were more than our in- come.

.."Our prospects are not very great, but through the blessings of Providence, I expect to pay off all in three or four years. We pay no tithes, our taxes are 10 shillings per year and five days' work on, the high roads.

.."We have cleared 40 acres and have 70 under cultivation; we have sown 10 acres with wheat this fall that we burnt off in summer.

.."Our crops last summer were eight acres of wheat, 32 bushels per acre; five acres of barley, 2 bushels per acre; 18 acres of oats. and 45 bushels to the acre; two the acres of Indian corn, 30 bushels per acre and 20 horse-loads of pum- pkins per acre.

POTATOES YIELD

Wade noted that they had also one half acre of potatoes which yielded 150 bushels; an acre of flax and a little hemp. There was five acres of meadow and the rest in pasturage.

"Our stock consists of six cows, one yoke of oxen, two horses, 12 young cattle, 18 sheep and 10 pigs. We want to increase our cows to 10 or 12 and our sheep to 40 or 50. the farm is now worth 500 pounds and would let for 35 pounds per annum. Wade noted that they had also done the 'settling duties' on their grant in Otonabee, that is, clearing out the road and chopping betwixt three and four acres.

"It has cost 12 pounds; we shall , not do any more with it at present," he stated. "It is very good land and will be of use to the family some time. We have made no cheese this summer but about 20 pounds of butter per week; we have sold it from eight to 10 d. per pound. .. "We are very well situated for selling our produce being only three and a half miles from Port Hope and the same from Cobourg from where flour, pork, butter and cheese are sent down to Montreal and Quebec by water and from thence to the West Indies.-.We have two itinerant preachers and four(?)

Continued from page 5 ..WADE DESCRIBES INDIANS IN HIS LETTER OF 1822

.. “ We have lately had the Missowanga tribe of Indians in our neighborhood; they came out to receive their yearly presents from the government of clothing, guns, ammunition and other things, which they receive for their land; they consisted of upward of 200 men, women and children; they carried baskets, brooms, wooden shovels and other things to sell; they are a simple, inoffensive people and show human nature in its lowest state. We have had a few bears in our neighborhood this summer but they were soon destroyed; they live on berries and Indian corn; they seldom attack any animal but pigs and then when they are pinched with hunger.

In his next letter on Oct. 13, 1823, Robert wade beings his letter with news of the birth of a boy in January named Charles. He described the other children as growing fast and all healthy. He talks again about farm and crop prices and news of neighbors from the same part of England.

The following year in a letter date Sept. 119, 1824, Robert Wade tells his brother Ralph that it has been a busy summer and they have built a barn 44 feet by 34 feet and 16 feet high. He said it has cost them about on hundred dollars besides their own labor which he stressed was considerable.

"We have made 50,000 (bricks) to build a house next summer. We got a man to do the moulding, the rest we did ourselves; a man will mould 4,000 or upwards in a day.... We have finished our harvest; our crops were 20 acres of wheat; five rye, six oats; four peas, a little barley, one acre of flax and half an acre of potatoes.

On May 25, 1825, Robert began his letter with news of the marriage of his daughters Jane and Mary, the first to Benjamin Mathews who bought a lot nearby after trying to pioneer in the Otonabee bush, and the latter to Cornelius Webster who tried storekeeping briefly and then bought a farm two miles from Port Hope; both of these were young Englishmen with some capital. Another daughter, named Maria had been born in April.

He also made brief mention of the "Canada Land Company” which would buy all the Crown Reserves and half the Clergy Reserves.

DESCRIBES CONSTRUCTION OF HIS HOME

Robert Wade's next letter of Sept 3,1825 talks about his healthy growing family and a busy sum- mer with an early harvest.

"We have built a brick house 44 feet long and 20 feet wide, with a stone cellar under the whole of it. Cellars are very necessary here to keep the cold in winter and heat in summer," he stressed.

Wade said his house was two stories high. He said they would have two rooms and a passage through the middle in the lower story and three rooms in the_ other He stated that they have built their new home further down the farm than the old one.

.. "It is the common custom here to build close to the road,"