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B4 - PORT PERRY STAR - Wednesday, Oct. 12, 1994 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" Sketches of Scugog is a historical column written by local resident and historian Paul Arculus and published in the Port Perry Star the first issue of each month. [ J [ J ® Some Firsts in the Lake Scugog Region I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have expressed an interest in these monthly articles on the history of the Lake Scugog area. This is the twelfth in this monthly ser- ies and completes its first full year. There is so much of interest in' the his- tory of this region and so much yet needs to be thoroughly researched and record- ed. It is my goal to research as much of this history as possible and pass on the results to you in these articles. Many of you have asked if I am going to put these articles together in the form of a book. The answer is yes, but the book is a long way off. I need to complete much more research before I commit it to a book. So, you will have to continue your interest in these articles on a monthly basis for some time yet. To mark the completion of the first year of the Port Perry Star's publication of these articles, I have put together a series of "Firsts". Some of the information is a summary of previous articles, but I have added some new material as well. The First Settlers First white set- tler in Reach: Reuben Crandell arrived in May, 1821. First white child born in Reach: Lucy Anne Crandell, born Nov. 1821. First white settler in Prince Albert: Abner Heard settled there in 1824. First settler in Epsom: John Ensign in 1828. The first permanent settler in Cartwright was George Hall who settled on the 5th Concession in 1834. Cartwright was named after Richard Cartwright, a judge and member of the Legislative Council in the 1790s. Caesarea was first settled in 1837 by James Caesar. The first permanent white settler in Mariposa was Samuel Patterson, who established a homestead near what is now Manilla in 1827. The first doctor in Reach: Dr. E. Vernon who lived and practiced in Prince Albert from 1850. What is now the village of Little Britain was begun by Harrison Haight, who settled here in 1934. Lindsay The town of Lindsay was begun in 1827 by William Purdy and his sons Jesse and Hazard. The settlement was first known as "Purdy's Mills". In order to operate a sawmill they began to build a dam on the Scugog River in the winter of 1827. This eventually led to Lake Scugog being doubled in size and open to more extensive navigation. Beginnings of Commerce The first store in Reach was opened in Prince Albert in 1836 by George Leach. He also opened the first post office in Reach in 1840. The Reach Post Office (Prince Albert) was for many years the centre for mail distribution for the northern settlements in the townships of Reach and Brock, and Victoria County. The first post office in Victoria County Skelc by Paul Arculus HISTORICAL was opened at Jacob Ham's log store- house in what is now Manilla in 1837. Jacob Ham was a distant relative of Peter Perry's wife. 1848 saw the first stage coach operat- ed on Simcoe Street linking Prince Albert with Oshawa. The Firefly One of the first vessels to carry peo- ple and goods on Lake Scugog was Reuben Crandell's sailing skiff, the "Firefly". With it he carried cargo to and from the various ports on the lake: Caesarea, Port Hoover, Scugog Village and up the Scugog River to Lindsay. Also at this time, John Lasher ran a boat from Purdy's Mill to his settlement at Lasherville (Caesarea today). His vessel was operated by a horse-driven treadmill. Both Lasher and Crandell ceased operations when they saw Chisolm building his steamboat at the waterfront at Scugog Village. Crandell ventured into steamboat operations at a later date. The Woodman 1851 - The first steamboat, "The Woodman", was launched hes of Scugog lished in Joseph Bigelow's store, where Settlement House now stands. The present post office was built in 1912 and is the sixth location for Port Perry's post office. It was built on the site of the Sinclair Hotel. On this site in the evening of July 3, 1884, the fire which destroyed the whole of the commercial area of Port Perry, started in the black- smith shop in the stables behind a hotel here. Neil Sinclair owned the hotel then but it was run by Ben McQuay and was referred to as McQuay's Hotel. The first mailman in the area was Donald Cameron. He came from Glengarry in Scotland, bringing several settlers from his homeland in 1824. Nostalgic for news from his home, he gained permission from the authorities to carry mail from Whitby to his fellow Scottish settlers in the Beaverton area. He walked from Beaverton to Whitby once every two weeks carrying any mail which had accumulated. He charged a small fee for his services and delivered mail to settlers along the way between the two settlements including Reach on Lake SCENE ON LAKE 8CUGOG. and Uxbridge. 2a ae The Scugog. It was built on the Lake Scugog waterfront by Hugh Chisolm of Whitby. Chisolm was talked into coming to Scugog Village by Peter Perry. Perry was interested in developing the lum- ber trade on Lake Scugog. Chisolm built a vessel, 100 feet long with side paddle wheels and powered by a 20-horsepower woodburning steam engine. Chisolm himself captained the vessel for three seasons. The boat was owned by Rowe and Cotton of Whitby. Trees were cut down on the land sur- rounding Lake Scugog, particularly in Victoria County at the north end of the lake. The Woodman made its way three times a week from Scugog Village up the lake to the Scugog River and then on up to Lindsay. Timber was gathered at various locations on the way for the Woodman to tow in booms to Scugog Village where the logs were cut and squared before being shipped across land to Perry's harbour at Windsor (now Whitby). First SawMills The first sawmill was erected in 1846 at the waterfront of Perry's village. Perry convinced Thomas Sexton, George Paxton and Daniel Way to build steam powered sawmills to cut and square the lumber gathered to be shipped south to Lake Ontario. More Post Offices The first post office in Port Perry was not opened until 1851. It was estab- first mailman specifically for Reach was William Thomas who lived in Oshawa. He carried mail from Oshawa to Prince Albert twice a week beginning in 1840. He travelled on horseback up Simcoe Street. Schools The first school in Reach was set up somewhere in the vicinity of the pres- ent Port Perry waterfront. It was a sim- ple log structure and built under the leadership of Elder Scott of the American Missionary Society. He hired as its first teacher, Aaron Heard. He was the son of Abner Heard, the first settler in Prince Albert. His pupils were the children of the Mississauga who lived in the area. Churches Many services of worship were held at various locations throughout this area in the 1830s and 40s. The first churches in Reach were built in 1848. Three churches were built this year. The first, a Methodist church was built on the 11th Concession, the second, a Presbyterian church on the 12th Concession and the third, also a Presbyterian, was built in Utica. Causeway The first floating bridge to join Scugog Island with Port Perry was con- structed in 1856. The first permanent road known as the "Causeway" was built in 1884. First Councils The first Cartwright council was organized in 1837 with James Caesar as chairman and treasurer. Council mem- bers were: J. Workman, Matthew Emerson and Alexander Muirhead. John Emerson was the Clerk. The first Reeve of Port Perry was Joseph Bigelow. Port Perry was part of the Municipality of the Township of Reach until 1872, when it was incor- porated as a village and a separate municipality. The first council was elect- ed at that time. The members were: Joseph Bigelow, John Phillip, William Tait, Caleb Crandell and Allan Sexton. Duncan McKercher was the first clerk and Henry Gordon the first treasurer. The first constable appointed by the council was Robert McKnight. Scugog Island In 1855, Scugog Island became a sepa- rate Township, the Township of Scugog. Its first councillors were: Matthew Emerson, Solomon Fralick, James Gamble, Josephe Reader and Daniel Williams. The council chose James Gamble to be the first reeve. John Foy was the first township clerk. Matthew Emerson was also on the first Cartwright Council in 1837. At that time, most of Scugog Island was in Cartwright township. The whole of Scugog Island became a part of Reach in 1851. The Railway Peter Perry began promoting the idea of a railway from his harbour at what is now Whitby, to his settlement on Lake Scugog in the 1840s. Unfortunately, his untimely death at the age of 59 in 1851 reduced the impetus for the idea. The first public meetings to advance his propo- sal were not held until 1854. Finally on Oct. 6, 1869, enough sup- This sketch appeared in the Anglo American Magazine in 1854. It is a sketch of Water Street looking north from Mary Street. The buildings from left to right are: (1) the Mason and Phillips Hotel, this was originally Peter Perry's store built in 1844 and expanded to become a hotel after his death in 1851. (2) William Sexton's sawmills. (3) William Ross' sawmill located in the present Bird's Eye Park north of Scugog Memorial Library. (4) The sawmill of Thomas Paxton and Company built on a site just north of the the Latcham Centre. See Chisolm's steamship the "Woodman" in the background. port had been gained to officially turn the first sod. The first train ran on Nov. 15, 1871, but regular service did not begin until June 1, 1872. The railway was extended to Lindsay in 1876. Lindsay had been a railway centre for many years. It saw its first train in Oct. 1857. Lindsay at that time was linked by rail to Port Hope. That line was extend- ed to Beaverton in 1871, to Orillia in 1873 and to Midland in 1878. Another line, the Toronto and Nipissing Railway, was built from Toronto to Uxbridge in July 1871 and then extended through Lindsay to Coboconk in 1872. Lindsay was also linked by rail with Haliburton in 1878. Peter Perry arrived on the shores of Lake Scugog in 1844 and purchased the site of present day downtown Port Perry from Elias Williams. He opened a store at the waterfront and began a settle- ment which he named Scugog Village. After his death in 1851, it became known as Port Perry. 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