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i "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, April 4, 2000 - 21 ORONTO'S Mount Pleasant Cemetery is the resting place of some of that city's most influential citizens. The cemetery stretches form Yonge Street on the west side across Mount Pleasant Road, to Bayview Avenue on the east, some 200 acres. More than 180,000 people are buried here. On the western edge of the cemetery, close to Yonge Street, there is a large and impressive mausoleum containing the remains of Captain James Fluke. Many visitors to the cemetery thought that Captain James Fluke had earned his title and amassed great wealth from profits acquired on the seven seas. Those assumptions were quite erro- neous. He had earned his captaincy in the 3rd Company of the Cartwright Volunteers at the time of the Fenian raids in the 1860's. James Fluke had become an extremely wealthy man as a result of his business enterprises and land speculation in and around what is now Blackstock, early in that settlement's history. James Fluke was born in 1824 in Northern Ireland. As a young infant, under the care of his mother, he was among the many thousands who emi- grated to Canada in the second and third decade of the nineteenth century. When he was but a teenager, he made his way to Cartwright Township and was among the first settlers at Tooley's corners. Tooley had opened a hotel at the intersection. By 1844 Fluke had opened the first general store in the community, to become the second commercial enterprise in the hamlet. A short time later he purchased the south-east corner of the intersec- tion and built a hotel. As was common at that time, the name of the hotel was changed several times. In 1865 it was licensed as the Australia House. By 1869 it had been renamed the Royal Exchange. In 1877 it became the first hotel at the intersection to be called the Royal Hotel. The hotel at the north west corner, owned by William Hooey later became known as the Royal Hotel. By 1880 Fluke's hotel had been renamed the Exchange Hotel. The reason for the choice of the name Australia House is not clear. By the late 1850's the growing com- munity had a hotel at each of the four corners and the settlement changed its name to Williamsburg. Sometime in the early 1860's Thomas Mason was appointed as the hotel's manager, freeing Fluke to attend to further land acquisitions and business ventures. James Fluke next established a blacksmith shop directly to the south of his hotel. He also purchased the 100 acre parcel diagonally across the road. This is the property containing the present Anglican Church. He built two homes here and then sold them but retained the 98 acre parcel sur- rounding them He then bought two parcels of land on the shore of Lake Scugog in the sixth concession. One was a ten acre parcel in lot five and the second was east of that, a 100 acre parcel on the western half of lot seven. These parcels were at either side of Samuel Ferguson's 130 acre property. Fluke soon ventured south to Cadmus where he bought all the land surrounding the pond and erected a grist mill. He also bought 24 acres on the north side of the Cadmus road. The grist mill was torn down in 1982. Fluke's Exchange Hotel was destroyed by fire on January 30th, 1880. Within three months he had built a new hotel and business was flourishing again. Fluke assumed a leadership role in the community by becoming the Cartwright Township Assessor in 1846, a Warden in 1848 and was the Township's auditor from 1858 to 1876. In 1869 he began a lengthy service as the bailiff of the 12th Division Court. With retirement in mind, Captain James Fluke began selling off some of his properties and in 1882 bought an impressive home at 340 King Street in Toronto as his retirement home. In 1889 he sold his Cadmus mill to William Brown and in 1890 sold a major portion of the western section of his lot five, concession six property to the township so that they could establish a more substantial road in that area. With the sales of his properties, Fluke later moved a few doors west to an even more impressive home at 444 King Street West. It was at this last address that he died in 1894 at the age of 70. There are many ironies in Captain James Fluke's resting place in Toronto's Mount Pleasant Cemetery. He is buried very close to Dr. H.A. Bruce, one of Scugog's most accomplished sons. Dr. Bruce was the founder of Wellesley Hospital in Toronto and became WWeitliaar oo cy CARTWRIGHT TP \ Willian Hooey VILLAGE or WILLIAMSBURGH, Jarrres Fluke Blackstock pioneer | Capt. James Fluke ~ GEORGE TAIT BLACKSTOCK George Tait Blackstock (1857-1921) after whom the village of Williamsburg was renamed in 1887. Blackstock is buried in the Toronto Mount Pleasant Cemetery close to Captain Fluke and Dr. H.A. Bruce. Ontario's Lieutenant -Governor in 1932. Dr. Bruce was born just south of Blackstock in 1868. Dr.-Bruce's father, Stewart Bruce undoubtedly had busi- ness dealings with Captain Fluke. But probably the most ironic fact is that Captain James Fluke's elaborate mausoleum is located only a few meters from the unusual underground vault where George Tait Blackstock is buried. The community known as Tooley's Corners and Williamsburgh, was renamed after George Tait Blackstock in 1887. Blackstock was a prominent lawyer who rose to prominence as the counsel for the Canadian Pacific Railway and was also a noted criminal lawyer. He was also ran twice as the candidate for the riding of Durham West. Someone places a floral tribute at the door to Captain Fluke's mausoleum from time to time. The identity of that person is a mystery. ~ As | was finishing this article, | heard i | of the passing of my friend Bill i | --] |= Ferguson. | had the pleasure of workin | ad I ' i p A | -- Jno| {Two ET with Bill on several occasions; at the | 0 "ora . =] ; iS r= 1% : : : war | gov. Rai) i RN EMERY Cow Eo museum, at the Historical Society and | (ce recent) wr : r ~ IN ; I BE: i . ' ati : | Jet sree we | RBryans| 3 pen ST | SIRI Lreoas | 52 at the old Ratepayers Association which ~ Wo es] $! . | Ww y é 12 4 | / < y : 2] Wrecguend so RL 8 28) HELLIS LS Bill and 1 helped to establish many log, , Roced Allowance Ocl Corncevscorn 4 Kk S . . . . git Commerei oN Fatal Ta red | mtn cre eee hm ps seh years ago. | enjoyed working with Bill. enert |Home Ho femeiey He was honest, straightforward and | fic Q Ivete had a great background knowledge of Za Nees this community as well as a sense of Town. 1) y vat, | | humour. iprerayl | Bill was born in Cartwright and was Prune |W : i descended from Cartwright pioneers ww. ' Ah Jorn AX worthy. Jottn Ax rvorihy . Solr Axweriiy pn ak ' 4 Over the last few years Bill had ibis « hy worked conscientiously at researching a Cartwright's history. Often, when we sav | 2 12 met at the museum archives, he would LOT NO Il LOT N° ask me when I was going to write.some- thing further about Blackstock. By co- incidence, Bill, here it is. 1 hope that you enjoy this from your vantage point of a Higher Realm. The village of Williamsburgh (now Blackstock) in 1877 showing James Fluke's Hotel (Royal Hotel), and Blacksmith shop located at the south- east corner of the intersection. A section of his 98 acre property, just east of the village, (upper right) can also be seen.