1433] 



CANADIAN LOCAL HISTORY. 



TORONTO OF OLD : 



A SERIES OP COLLECTIONS AND BECOLLECTIONS. 



BY THE REV. DR. SCADDING. 



XLYIll. —(Continued.)— YO^G^ STREET — FROM THE SECOND CONCESSION (DEER 

 PARK) TO THE THIRD CONCESSION ROAD. 



Fifty years ago, ia Canada, English families, whose habits and ideas were more in harmony 

 with Bond Street than with the baeliwoods, had, in becoming morally acclimatised to the country, 

 a tremendous ordeal to pass through: how they contrived to endure the pains and perils of the 

 process, is now matter of wonder. One of Mr. Jackson's sons, Clifton, is locally remembered as an 

 early example in these parts of the exquisite of the period— the era of the Prince Regent and. 

 Lord Byron. By extra-sacrifieing to the Graces, at a time when articles de cosmetique et de luxe 

 generally were scarce and costly in Canada, he got himself into trouble. Of some of the mis- 

 haps that befell him, there is mention made elsewhere in these papers. To distinguish Mr. Mills 

 Jackson from another proprietor on Yonge Street, also called Jackson, the alliterative epithet, 

 "Jacobin," was sometimes applied to him, in jocose allusion to his political principles, held 

 by the official party to be revolutionary. In regard to the other Jackson, some such epithet as 

 "Jacobin" would not have been inapplicable. On the invasion of Canada in 1812 by the 

 United States, he openly avowed his sympathy with the invaders, and was obliged to fly the 

 country. He was known and distinguished as "Hatter Jackson," from the business which 

 he once followed. After the war he returned, and endeavoured, but in vain, to recover 

 possession of the land on Yonge Street which he had temporarily occupied. In the Gazctt^ 

 of Nov. 11, 1807, we have Mr. Jackson's advertisement. Almost anticipating the modem. 

 ■" Hats that are Hats," it is headed " Warranted Hats," and then proceeds thus : "The sub- 

 scriber, having established a hat manufactory in the vicinity of York on a respectable scale, 

 solicits the patronage and support of the public. All orders will be punctually attended to, 

 and a general assortment of warranted hats be continually kept at the store of Mr. Thomas 

 Hamilton in York. Samuel Jackson. Yonge Street, Nov. 10, 1807." An earlier owner of 

 the lot, at which we are now pausing, was Stillwell Wilson. In 1799, at the annual York 

 • Township meeting, held on the 4th March in that year at York, we find Stillwell Wilson elected 

 one of the Overseers of Highways and F'enoeviewers for the portion of Yonge Street, from lot 26 

 to lot 40, in Markham and Vaughan. At the same meeting, Paul Wilcot is elected to the same 

 office, "from Big Creek to No. 25, inclusive, and half Big Creek Bridge ; and Daniel Dehart, from 

 Big Creek to No, 1, inclusive, and half Big Creek Bridge." The "Big Creek" referred to was, 

 as we suppose, the Don at Hogg's HoUow. In 1821, Stillwell Wilson is landlord of the Waterloo 

 House, in York, and is offering to let that stand ; also to let or sell other valuable properties. 

 In the Gazette of March 25, 1820, we have his advertisement : — "For sale or to let, four improved 

 farms on Yonge Street, composed of lots Nos. 20 and 30 on the west side, and 15 and 20 on 

 the east side of the street, in the townships of York and Vaughan. These lands are so well 

 known, that they requiie no further encomiums than the virtues they possess. For title of 

 ■which please apply to the subscriber at Waterloo House, York, the proprietor of said lands. 

 P. S. — The noted stand known by the name of the Waterloo House, which the subscriber 

 at present possesses, is also offered to be let on easy terms ; as also an excellent Sawmill 

 in the third concession of the township of York, east of Yonge Street, only ten miles from. 

 :iowa, on the west branch of the river Don. StiUweU Wilson." — In 1828, for moneys due 



