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Joseph — In last month’s Focus on Scugog, we mentioned that surveyor John Shier named a street after his daughter Maria and that street no longer exists. en Reuben Crandell, in 1827, purchased the land west of today’s Simcoe Street, he hired John Shier to survey the property. On the south side of the land he used Crandell names: Crandell, Clark, Caleb (two of Crandell’s sons) and on the north side he used the names Rosa and Lilla (now Simcoe Street) and directly in- between Rosa and Lilla, Shier placed a street named Maria which he had named after his daughter. In the late 1860s Crandell sold the Rosa to Lilla property to Joseph Bigelow. To handle the legal aspects of the sale, Bigelow hired Whitby lawyer Samuel Cochrane. Samuel Cochrane was born in Whitby in 1837. He had trained as a lawyer in To- ronto and opened his office in Whitby in 1862 and the following year was appointed as Crown Attorney for Ontario County. As well as his court duties he was much in demand for his expertise in real estate matters. Cochrane advised Bigelow to develop the Port Perry land but increase his profits by eliminating Maria Street and in its place locate two new streets. To replace Maria, the streets, Bigelow and Cochrane were created. Samuel Cochrane To further enhance Bigelow’s investment Cochrane also suggested more streets flowing east and west to enable Bigelow to sell off even more residential lots. These streets were named; McDonald, Paxton, Balsam and Bay Streets. . | * McDonald Street was named after an up-and-coming lawyer 26 7) ts and politician from Kingston, John A. Macdonald. However, a 2 slight misspelling was overlooked by the surveyor John Shier. Paxton Street was named after Bigelow’s wife’s family name, Paxton; Bal- sam because there was an abundance of balsam trees on the property and finally Bay Street, simply because at that time the street ran into a pleasant bay on Lake Scugog. In 1854 Joseph Bigelow had married Elizabeth Paxton. Her brothers Thomas, George and Charles Paxton held extensive parcels of land in Port Perry, particularly along the waterfront. Thomas and George had built a mill at the Port Perry waterfront in 1852. This is where the library is now situated. When Joseph Bigelow acquired the property west of today’s Simcoe Street, Elizabeth selected a lot where they could get the best view overlooking the village. Joseph dutifully kept a large lot (now #178) on Cochrane Street and hired H.R. Barber of Oshawa to design and build an imposing residence. It was completed in 1877 and still stands as one of the stateliest homes in the area and an outstanding example of Italianate architecture. Unfortunately their lawyer Samuel Cochrane died before this later project was begun. Cochrane was only 35 years old when he died in 1872 in Whitby. His father, also named Samuel lived until 1889. Samuel Junior was buried in the Union Cemetery, Oshawa. By Paul Arculus Focus on Scugog PS atetcal Sit) ol aa oe 28 FOCUS - MARCH 2015