Getting the Land Grant and getting possession

The settlement of York, as everywhere in Upper Canada, were very welcoming to new arrivals, and would help them with accommodations and food to help them get settled.  If a settler had family already in Upper Canada they would  often go and stay with them, and settle nearby, otherwise they'd get help from any other settler in the area where they wanted to settle.  At times the military barracks in York would offer shelter to new arrivals especially if they arrived too late in the year to start clearing their land and building a shelter.  If the weather was fine, the new arrival might just put up a lean to and roll out their pallet, after all, having just spent 12 nights on a Durham boat sleeping in the open, either on the boat or on the shore at night, then walking from Kingston camping along the way, what's a little more camping until you can get a basic shanty built.

Not only were the other settlers helpful, the Crown was also helpful.  The Crown wanted Upper Canada built up with settlers, especially those with military experience.  After the fiasco of the War of 1812, England wanted to make sure. We don't know if James came on his own, or if William came with him to help him get started.  We don't know where he would have stayed until he got his land grant, but to get his land grant and find out where it was, he had to go through some red tape.  As a soldier his land grant was assured, but he still had to deal with some bureaucracy first.

All land claims for Upper Canada in 1816, had to be registered in person in the town of York, which made for difficulties if you didn't plan on settling near York, especially since it meant another trip to York to finalize the claim 5 years later.  The petition had to be made in writing and delivered personally.  From all the research I've done, I haven't discovered yet, if this was a one day chore, or if it took several days, because the applicant had to visit 12 offices to get the paperwork finalized. The petition had to be accompanied with proof of age (had to be 18), a character reference, or in the case of a soldier his discharge papers, as well as a certificate of oath taking, obtained either from the Land District Board, or a local magistrate, proving having made an oath of loyalty to the Crown.  The petition has to first be taken to the Receiver General and  3 pound 10 sterling is paid for the patent and survey fee.  With receipt in hand then the paperwork needs to be taken to the Clerk of the Council, who submits the order and receipt to the Attorney General who issues a warrant for the lot to be assigned.  Then back to the Clerk for a license of occupation; then to the Surveyor General who assigns a lot, or agrees to the lot you've chosen, and issues a location certificate.  Then the certificate, the AGs warrant, the license now go to the Secretary of the Province to draw up the patent.  After that, it all goes back to the Attorney General for examination, and if all is in order it goes to the Lieutenant General for signature.  Once signed it's returned to the Civil Secretary for the seal of the province, and to the Auditor of Land Patents to be entered on the books,  and the Auditor transmits the patent to the Provincial Registrars office, so it could be entered into the provincial register.  Then and only then would the patent for the land be issued with a list of settlement duties to be done over the next 5 years, after which time having completed the duties, the registrant would come back and with proofs of settlement and development pay another 2 pound 10 sterling for completion of the patent at which point ownership of the land was secure.  From what I understand the patent could be received in 3 years, provided all the conditions were met, and the surveyor had come back out and approved everything.

Now the settler had to find the lot through what was dense forest.  Forest so thick that in daylight under the trees was like twilight.  The lots and concessions had been laid out, but there were no roads.  A surveyor would show the way to the lot as there had to be a precise survey with the boundaries clearly established as part of the settlement agreement, and without a guide it's doubtful the settler would ever find the lot.  

I imagine that on the way to the lot, the surveyor would point out where the nearest neighbors were, but if not, he'd want to find them quick.  Knowing the neighbors and working with the neighbors was key to survival.  The neighbors would provide shelter until the settler had shelter of his own, and would provide advice and help of every sort.  In turn, the new settler would do the same for others.

James Gray did have some neighbors within a mile or two, so he wasn't completely isolated, though I'm sure it felt like it from time to time, though that would not last long; if brother William wasn't with him already, he would be soon enough, as would Alexander, with George and John not far behind.

The order in which the settlement agreement was fulfilled was up to the settler, but suggestions were laid out that were quite practical and if followed would ensure success.   Suggestions were made complete down to all the recommended tools the settler would need to purchase, what crops to grow, and how many acres of each crop to plant.   

Getting your tools and other goods required was all done by the barter system.  The settler would get what was needed on account  with a trader and in turn would pay in crops and potash.  Wood was so plentiful that other than what a settler needed for their own use for heating, cooking and construction, it would be burned.  The ash would be boiled down for potash, which was taken to the trader and shipped off to England for use in fertilizer.   It was a good system for the settlers.  There was so much wood that there was not enough use for it.   It's hard to imagine today that there was so much wood that unless it could be floated down the rivers and out the St Lawrence that it had no value.  The forests started at the lake and went on endlessly.  The logging companies had already scouted through and selected their areas for logging where there was a river nearby that would allow them to get the logs out in spring flood, and that was the lumber that was of value.

Step one in survival, the first priority was to clear an acre, get it burnt off, and build a shanty.  Think of it as the settler starter home.  The shanty was a very basic log cabin, a log box with a door, 18 feet by 20 feet with a log roof.  The roof logs were hollowed out and a row placed hollow sided up, and then another row on top hollow side down overlapping the upper edges of the log below, which kept out the weather.   Later a proper log house would be built, but this was basic shelter with a fire place at one end.   A work bee made up of the closest neighbors would have the shanty built by 8 men in 1 day.  Nobody ever refused going to a work bee, whether it was for clearing land, building a log cabin, raising a barn, bringing in crops, because doing it for your neighbor was like doing it for yourself.  The offer of food and whisky after the work was done, never hurt either.

Part of the settlement agreement was the development of the settlers half of the road along the front of the lot.  There were few roads at this time, just Yonge Street, Kingston Road and a few others, plus some town roads in the town of York, which was about 10 square blocks.   Road development depended on the settlers.  The settler had to remove all the timber and underbrush making a 10 foot wide swath as mapped out by the surveyors, cut the stumps low enough that a wagon could pass over, then sow with grass seed.  If the area was marshy, then planks or logs would be laid over the wet areas to build a level surface.  As you can imagine though, if you didn't have any neighbors your length of road will not be attached to anything until somebody settles the lot next to you.

Across the Pond: The Adventure Begins

The story passed down in the Gray family was that the first of the brothers, James, came to Upper Canada in 1816, with the others following over the next few years.   James Gray, the veteran soldier of the West Indies and War of 1812, after being honorably discharged from his 7 years of military service in Scotland in April of 1815, received his grant of land free and clear in 1816, and you had to show up in person to register your claim.  As a soldier there were none of the grant requirements that other settlers had, that had to be obliged over 5 years before getting clear title.  Whether he came alone or whether one of his brothers came with him, we don’t know, as there are no records of when some of the brothers arrived, but James did convince 4 of his brothers and his mother to make the journey later, with the last of them crossing in 1825.

Greenock, Scotland, where the Grays would most likely have sailed from…17 miles from Paisley

Another family story was the ‘the voyage took 16 weeks by sailing vessel, the boat drifted back, yet persisted and came on.’  The family lore didn’t elaborate on who’s trip that was, whether it was James or one of his brothers.   There was however, the ship ‘The Good Intent’ that took 2 to 3 months to make the journey in 1816; perhaps that was the ship that James was on.

From some reports of journeys from captains and passengers, the passage could be delayed by uncertain winds sending the ship the wrong direction, doldrums, storms, damage to the ship, fog, and fields of ice that held the ship fast for weeks with no forward momentum.  Weather was particularly bad in 1816. It was the ‘year with no summer’ due to heavy atmospheric dust from a volcanic eruption in Indonesia blocking the sunlight.  There was snow in Upper Canada in June and frost every month.  It must have been a nasty, damp, cold trip in 1816.

Ships records for this time period are sketchy, with most ships with steerage passengers simply listing ‘and 16 settlers’ or ‘and 29 passengers’ so we don’t know which ship James would have sailed on, but it would have been a brig, a 2 masted square rigged sailing ship used for the lumber trade coming from Canada, and rigged out by the ships carpenter with bunks two high on each side of the boat below decks for settlers for the return trip to Canada.  The bunks were 6 1/2 feet long and 18 inches wide.  Passengers provided their own straw filled mattress covered in cotton ticking, sheet and blanket.  They also prepared their own meals on board so they had to provision themselves for the journey, which under normal circumstances took 7 weeks.  The steerage was only 5 1/2 feet high so bumping ones head would have been a common event.  I imagine James, at 5’11” when he couldn’t be on deck, spent much of his time in steerage sitting, or lying down. Passage in steerage was 3 pounds 10 shillings and that got you your berth and 3 quarts of fresh water a day.  For another 3 pounds you could have your meals prepared.   As a veteran though, James sailed for free.

a two masted brig

As a soldier who’d already been to Canada, James would have had some idea of what food to take for the journey, but perhaps as a bachelor he opted for the meal plan/ships provisions!  Some letters I’ve found from settlers in Upper Canada to family in Scotland talk about the difficulty of cooking on board, as you had to fight to take your turn in the ships cookhouse.  One letter from a man to his brother suggested bringing enough salt pork and salt fish, oatmeal, potatoes, hard baked bread, and a little whiskey for provisions; whereas a letter from a woman had a much longer list with suggested amounts for each week and all the pots, pans, kettle, plate and cutlery.  5 pounds of oatmeal for a week seems extreme to me, but apparently it was common in Scotland for people to make enough oatmeal for a week, let it set up in a kitchen drawer, then slice it for their mid day meal, and they’d cook up fresh oatmeal for breakfast each day.  So perhaps 5 pounds of oatmeal for a week wasn’t overly much.

Both suggested just rough clothes for the journey, nothing fancy, as anything nice would be ruined by the salt water; and to take plenty of sturdy woolen clothes and practical boots for Canada.  Many Scottish emigrants to Upper Canada would come with nothing other than some clothes, their bed roll, an ax and a bible.

And so, across to Canada, up the St Lawrence to Quebec City.  It must have been fascinating sailing up the river, the beauty of the shores with the thick forests, pretty farms along the shores. At Quebec City, where they must have been amazed and impressed by majesty of the citadel up on the cliff, the passengers disembarked and took a steamship to Montreal which was as far as the boats could go, this was a relatively quick trip done in 36 hours.  Going back to Quebec only took 24 hours if you ever wanted to go the other way.

steamboat from Montreal to Kingston

After that came the Durham boat journey.  The Durham boat is an open boat, 8 feet wide by 40 to 60 feet long, with a sail and a crew of 10 voyageurs to pole the boat up the river, and in some sections of the river, the passengers would have to get out and walk along the shore, while the voyageurs pulled the boat through the rapids, the pace was very slow and it took 12 days.  The boat would be pulled ashore at night and those that didn’t want to sleep on the boat could sleep on the shore.  When going up river, the boat would have to stop every 1 1/2 hours for the crew to rest, and the boat would stop for meals with everybody out to cook their meals on the shore.  If you ever wanted to reverse the trip, going downstream took 3 to 4 days, a dangerous trip shooting the rapids.

St Lawrence Durham boat

Finally arriving at Kingston, Ontario, now with a walk of 166 miles to go!  There would be steamboats from Kingston to Toronto in just a few years, as well as a stage along the Kingston Road, but the stage was very rough on what was in many sections a corduroy (log) road, so most people would prefer the steamboat. At this point in time, there was no flour mill in York, and the nearest flour mill was in Kingston, so if you wanted flour, you had to bring your wheat to Kingston and then your flour back to York, so this track was well used by the settlers from York.  James brother William would see this opportunity and build a flour mill on the Don River.

Most of the Gray brothers would make this same journey and walk the same trail.  Another bit of family lore is that when Alexander Gray, James younger brother, would walk this trail, he came across a clearing with a half dozen log cabins and approaching a lady milking her cow, he asked, “Hou far is it tae Muddy York?”  She replied, ‘Ye’re standin i the middle o’t. laddie.”

The Kington Road, little more than a muddy path

The population of York (which would eventually become Toronto) in 1816 was 720 people.

My Gray Family Story Begins, Weaving My Family History From Paisley, Scotland to the Don River

I have a memory, as a young girl, sometime in the 1960s, of observing my parents, some aunts and uncles and my grandpa Harold Gray, sitting around my Aunt Marg (Peg) and Uncle Jim’s dining table, going through piles of photographs and papers, and making notes on the backs of photos, so that the names of the people in the photos wouldn’t be forgotten. It was already too late for many as nobody could remember who some of the people were.

Among the papers was an old brittle creased document, which was the discharge papers for my 3x great uncle James Gray dating from 1815. Somebody decided in the aims of preserving the original that photocopies should be made and the wording gone over in ink, as the original ink was very faint, some words were already lost in the creases, with that in mind in the translation there might be a few mistakes.

It reads: His Majesty’s 1st Battalion, 90th Regiment of Foot, whereof General Thomas Graham, Lord Lynedoch is Colonel. This is to certify that James Gray, Corporal, born in the Parish of Old Church, Renfrew, in or near to the town of _________, Renfrew, hath served in the said Regiment for the space of nine years and 231 days, as likewise in other Corps, according to the following Statement, but in consequence of The Princes Agents Proclamation of the 24th September 1814 being discharged having completed his limited service of 7 years….to prevent any improper use of this Discharge, by it’s falling into other hands, the following is a description of the said James Gray, 28 years of age, 5 feet 11 inches in height, sandy hair, grey eyes, fair complexion….

Grampa Gray (Harold) said that it was due to James Gray’s service in the British Army, that James and 4 of his brothers, Alexander Gray, John Salmond Gray, George Gray, and William Gray (my Greatx2 Grandfather), would emigrate to Canada. With that in mind, and since James was the eldest brother that we know of, we will start our story with James. James Gray, born 1791, in Lanarkshire, was a weaver in Paisley, Renfrewshire, when he enlisted with His Majesty’s 1st Battalion, 90th Regiment of Foot, Perthshire Volunteers (light infantry)  in 1808, and served until April 26,1815.

Men from Scotland from artisan and middle class households enlisted due to the downturn in the weaving trade, and the general poor state of the economy, with two years of poor crops in 1799 and 1800, plus pressure from Napoleon affecting trade. In 1806 a system of ‘limited service’ was introduced to attract recruits, with infantry serving for a period of 7 years. Good timing for our James and a good thing too, because I’m sure there was no way he knew what he was getting into. At least only being enlisted for 7 years meant there was light at the end of the tunnel, unlike for the lifers, who’d signed their lives away.

The uniform of the Perthshire Volunteers was a red wool jacket with white facing, grey pantaloons, bearskin crested leather helmets of light calvary pattern and black gaiters.

Imagine if you will, how hot that uniform would be in the tropics.
James was 5 foot 10 1/2 with a fair complexion, sandy hair and grey eyes. I’m sure he looked very handsome in his dress uniform.

Part of the daily routine for a soldier was keeping his uniform looking sparkling which took about 3 hours a day, every day, getting ready for daily ‘parade’. That started with dressing their hair which had to be kept at 10 inches in length to allow it to be tied back and end before the collar. The hair was held stiff using pomade, grease, or wax, which they then had to powder white. In the Caribbean, using grease caused problems as the smell was attractive to rodents and bugs. Once their hair was done, they started on their uniform. All the white leather needed to be whitened with pipe clay, the cross straps, the belt; the boots needed polished black with blacking and wax, the 3 dozen brass buttons had to be shined, their gaiters had to be whitened with clay and put on wet so they’d dry snug. Then the weaponry, their musket had to be polished to a shine with emery and oil, as well as the cartridge case, and the sword and scabbard.

The British soldier of the time, did have a cooler more relaxed fatigue outfit that they would wear in the fort, when not on parade, or guard duty, with off loose white canvas pants, a white linen shirt with a short white wool jacket, a black felt forage cap, which was much more comfortable than the dress uniform for doing camp chores and drills, not necessarily much cooler, but more comfortable.

James served in the Lesser Antilles, being primarily at Fort Charlotte, St. Vincent, West Indies, waiting and keeping prepared for action.  1808: St Vincent 1809: January fighting in Martinique; based at Fort Royal; October – recalled to St Vincent; 1810: January fighting at Guadeloupe, Trois Rivieres; St Kitts, Basseterre; 1811: St Vincent 1812: St Vincent; received draft from 2nd Battalion; after the 2nd battalion arrived there were upwards of 1000 soldiers at Fort Charlotte, 1813: St Vincent, April – earthquake helped with rebuilding: 1814: St Vincent; May – to Canada; June – Quebec; Montreal; Kingston; October – Fort George; 1815: Fort Niagara; June – to England; arrive in England August 3rd,1815

The daily routine when in the fort: Up to the sound of a drum 2 hours before sunrise, make up your bed which involved taking your sheet and mattress outside to shake them out, rolling them up and placing it on the bed frame which has now been folded up with the frame being hinged in the middle so that the bottom of the frame could be flipped back over the top of the frame. This made room for tables down the middle of the barracks for meals and working on the maintenance of their gear. Then they washed their hands, face, neck and ears and combed their hair using water from a barracks bucket. This was all done in the dark, or by a little candlelight. At first light they’d assemble for morning parade in their casual fatigue uniform. After roll call, the soldiers went on to drills or to assigned duties. At 9 am they’d return to barracks for breakfast prepared by the mess orderlies. After breakfast they’d get their uniform ready for full dress parade at 11. After parade they were dismissed for dinner. After dinner they’d either continue with assigned duties or have free time which was often spent, chatting, drinking, gambling, airing their bedding and seeing to their personal chores. Some soldiers would have side jobs: hair cutting, shoe repair, musket repair, servants to officers, cooking and baking, etc. At 4:45 the bugle would call for 15 minutes to supper. Supper at 5 pm, then more free time until 8 pm roll call. 8:30 back to barracks. 9pm the drum corp would perform tattoo just before lights out.

In the year 1807, the year before James enlisted and went to Fort Charlotte, 150 soldiers at Fort Charlotte died of tropical diseases; yellow fever, dengue fever and malaria were endemic. The fort held 600 soldiers so this was a huge loss.

You can’t currently visit the enlisted men’s barracks at Fort Charlotte as it is used as the women’s prison today, but from the aerial photo below it is the long building to the right and in 1808 – 1815 the barracks had a door at one end and a small window high up on the far end wall, so it was dark, and dank and likely mosquito infested, not too mention stinky from the bodies of 500 – 600 men who didn’t bathe.  The floors were not washed but only swept out as washing the floors would only lead to more humidity and moss and mold growth.  

The parade ground is up the hill from the barracks and the gun emplacements have the cannons facing inland, as the threat at the time the fort was initially built was from the land side not the sea. The higher section of building on the land side of the gun emplacements holds the officers quarters which were a little brighter than the infantry barracks. Of the buildings to the right of the parade ground, there is a laundry, a bakery and an armory.

Fort Charlotte, Kingstown, Saint Vincent 2020

“The regiment arrived at Quebec on the 20th of June, 1814, at Montreal on the 29th of the same month, and up the St Lawrence to Kingston on the 8th of July, whence, after a stay of three months, it commenced its march for Upper Canada on the 13th of October. On its arrival at Fort George, the 90th at once crossed over to Fort Niagara, in the United States territory, which it occupied until the 22nd of May, 1815 hostilities having ceased, the fort was given up, and the regiment returned to Fort George, from which it marched on the 1st of June, march back to Kingston, sail on to Montreal and to Quebec to sail on its way to England. After an uneventful voyage, Spithead was reached on the 3rd of August” 1815
reference: https://archive.org/stream/recordsof90threg00delarich/recordsof90threg00delarich_djvu.txt

For his service James Gray was given a grant for land in Upper Canada on the Don River, East York and his brothers followed him to Canada. James, age 26, was the first to arrive, in 1817, with younger brother William, age 15. Alexander arrived in 1818, age 14. John arrived in 1819, age 20. George arrived in 1825 with his wife Mary MacMillan Gray and infant son Thomas, and mother Janet Salmond Gray. James eventually settled at Lot 9, Conc 3, west side Don Mills Road, second farm south of York Mills Road

My husband and I moved to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and I once I had more time to devote to looking into the family history, I was quite surprised to discover that James Gray’s service was primarily at Fort Charlotte, Kingstown, on the island of Saint Vincent. I’d been to Fort Charlotte, but this meant I had to go again and look at the Fort with a different perspective.