Augusta Smith

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-273852

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-112484
• Occupation: 1852, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; labourer
• Occupation: 1861, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer

Almon married Sarah Letson 15 Oct 1850, Greenbush (Kitchener), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Sarah (daughter of William Letson and Catherine Stoner) was born 1830, , Ontario, Canada; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Sarah Smith
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-112486
• Residence: 1850, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Other Events:

• Historic Building: 1596 Sawmill Rd., Woolwich Township, Ontario; squared timber log house, built by Captain Thomas Smith
• Interesting: life story, war, post, pioneer
• Military: War of 1812 -
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-48769

Notes:

Captain Thomas SMITH (Thomas, Jonathan) was born 14 Nov 1765/1767 in Surrey, Vermont. He died 15 Apr 1850 in Woolwich Township, Waterloo Co., Ontario and was buried in Old Methodist Cemetery, Woolwich Township, Waterloo co., Ontario.

Thomas was one of the pioneers of Woolwich Township, arriving there about 1806 or 1807, with his wife and children. he is described as well built, stout, five feet ten inches tall, an interesting character who had had many wonderful experiences, and who like to tell stories. He was the first squatter on the Crooks estates. He had entered Ontario in 1798 and settled in Jerseyville.

The Smith family log house was located on the east side of the Grand River opposite the mouth of the Conestogo which here flows into the Grand from the west. The house was a half mile east of the town of Conestogo, and it stood less than a hundred feet from the present (1995) Stroh brick farm home. The pioneers hand-hewn log house (with fireplace) was built 28 feet long, 26 feet wide, and two stories high. The ceilings were 6 to 7 feet high, the kitchen was 12 by 24 feet with a large fireplace; a winding stairway led to the four rooms above. During the long winter evenings the warm cheery fireplace was the centre of family social life and comfort....

It was here near Conestogo that the Smith's fourth child - Priscilla - was born on 3 January 1808. She is reported as having the distinction of being the first white child to be born in Woolwich Township however, the records are in disagreement for it is also reported that a son - Cushman - was born at Conestogo on 11 November 1806.

Thomas Smith fought in the War of 1812. His horse shot out from underneath him, he also shot and afterwards mustered out as a Captain. Thomas Smith's injury as Lundy's Lane brought him an annual disability pension of 22 pounds 2 shillings, 8 pence and 1 farthing about $65 per year.

The Smiths turned their home open to travellers staying in the area. The family lost their title to the land and house due to irregularities in the land records and after thirty years, took up a new homestead 1/2 mile north of Winterbourne and was named "The Holmwood Farm". In 1835 Thomas Smith inaugurated a stage coach service from Winterbourne through Kitchener to Cambridge (Preston) which he operated until his death in 1850

"Captain Thomas Smith (born 1767, died 1850) and descendants " by Raymond W. Kalbfleisch, Petoskey, Michigan, 1995. 174 pgs, illustrated, with index. Located at the Grace Schmidt Room, Kitchener Public Library, 929.2 Smith-K 1995

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THE STAGE COACH

In grandsire's day trade flowed southward to Preston and Dundas. Over muddy corduroy roads or through pitch-holes he rode to the poll or to court. For such errands there was not a public conveyance available until 1835. A Vermonter, Captain Thomas Smith of Winterbourne, then began a service to Preston, via Waterloo and Berlin. Other men followed his lead. The arrival of the stage-coach hastened the construction of a better highway. In 1837 the Dundas road was macadamized up to Preston, or possibly to Berlin. It was said of the coachman, "his only point of interest on the road is to save time and see whether the coach keeps the hour."

DAILY COACH

In 1848 the Deutsches Canadier carried Mr. Smith's advertisement, which reads,

Will go down every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and will return the day after: viz., every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Leaves home, Woolwich Post-Office (Winterbourne) always at 12 o'clock noon, the village of Waterloo at 2, and Berlin at 21/2 o'clock; and again, on the return, leaves Preston at 7 o'clock in the morning, Berlin at 9, and Waterloo at 91/2. The prices for carrying passengers, down or up, from Waterloo to Preston, 2 shillings and sixpence, and from Berlin 2 shillings York, and vice versa. He will arrive in Preston in time for the night coach to Hamilton, where travellers will find ample accommodation early in the morning for all parts of the world, and likewise find a coach ready to convey them farther westward. Thomas Smith


In 1845, as the appended notice shows, Captain Smith had met with opposition,

Mail Coach. A daily mail coach leaves the hotel of the under-signed (Preston) at 3 o'clock, p.m., for Berlin and Waterloo. Travellers are taken up and left off at suitable places. At five o'clock in the morning it leaves the hotel of W. Rebscher, Waterloo, calls at the hotels along the route and reaches Preston in time for the south-going mails. The coach is covered and rests on springs for the comfort of the passengers. George Roos, proprietor.

^{At cockcrow Waterloo passengers seated themselves in the coach, while the whip stored the mail-pouch and carpet bags in the boot. With a blare of his horn he was then off for Berlin, where he picked up additional mail and passengers. His next stop was at Jost Stengel's tavern, between Centreville and Freeport. The stage crossed over the Grand River at Freeport on a toll-bridge. The coach was taxed sixpence and every passenger a half-penny. Then it wheeled directly to Preston.}

A History of Kitchener, W. V. (Ben) Uttley, Kitchener, Ontario 1937, pg 74-77

____________________

Captain Thomas Smith was born in the state of Vermont in the year 1767. He was among those who came to Canada a few years before the close of the eighteenth century. Capt. Smith married Mary Weaver, whose parents had come, along with many others, from the State of New Jersey, and lived in a small place called Jerseyville, near Ancaster. They first lived in the township of Beverly ; moved to the township of Waterloo, and as early as 1807, were in the township of Woolwich. The site of Capt. Smith's house was on the east side of the Grand River and opposite the mouth of the Conestogo, which here flows into the Grand from the west. Mr. George Stroh has lived on this farm fur many years, and Capt. Smith's old house stood within a hundred feet of Mr Stroh's residence. The old house was well built of hewn logs, 26x28 feet, and was two stories high. The ceilings were 6 feet 7 inches high. The kitchen was 12x24, with a large fire place and just inside of the front door, in the corner between it and the fire-place, was a winding stair which led to the four rooms above. It was here, on January the third, 1808, that their daughter Priscilla was born. She was their fourth child, but the eldest daughter, and the first white child born in the township of Woolwich.

Capt. Smith was a Lieutenant in the Canadian Forces during the war of 1812. At the battle of Lundy's Lane a musket ball struck his knee and the same shot killed the horse upon which he rode. In an old newspaper published at St. David's in the year 1816, there is a list of those who were entitled to receive pensions because of injuries received during the war of 1812-14. In this list is the name of Lieut Thomas Smith, late of the 2nd York. He was wounded at Lundy's Lane on the 25th July, 1814, and was entitled to receive a pension from and after the 23rd November, 1813. The pension amounted to twenty two pounds, two shillings, eight pence, one farthing yearly.

Many of the settlers up the river were much indebted to Capt. Smith and his family for many kind services. His home was always open to them whenever they were led that way, and for years this was the only outlet. It was here that Roswell Matthews stopped on his way up the Grand River in the fall of 1817. Here he left his wife and younger children for three months, during the winter, while he and the older sons went on up the river to cut the first tree and build the first house in Elora.

High up on the hill, on the east side of the road and north of Cox's Creek at Winterbourne, there is a log house on the same site as a former one. It was here, at the home of Alpheus Smith, that the prayer meeting was being held, on a Sunday evening, during which Alpheus Smith's father, the old captain fell to the floor unconscious and remained in that state until the following Sunday when he died. Alpheus Smith married Ann Weaver, from Ancaster, and it was their daughter Mary, or Polly, a life long resident of Winterbourne, who told me the story of Captain Smith, which she alone could tell, and that but three weeks before her death


With that large hearted kindness so characteristic of Captain and Mrs. Smith, they, in 1832, adopted Catherine Kennedy, who, like Mary Asia Wilbee, had been left motherless when a child. Catherine Kennedy grew up with the younger ones in the family until she married the late William Stork and is at present living in Winterbourne.

Like many other pioneers, Capt. Smith had neglected to secure a proper title to his property and was ejected by the Hon. James Crooks' estate. He then took up another farm half a mile north of Winterbourne; made another move and tried hotel keeping on the roadside south of Winterbourne and, giving that up, he returned to the Holmwood farm. For many years he carried the mail from Preston. Capt. Smith was described as "stout, well built, about 5 ft. 10 in., limped from the wound in his knee, and was a great one to tell stories." Mrs. Smith died on November 5th, 1845, at the age of 67 years. In later years the Captain lived with his younger son. During a religious meeting which was being held in the house he fell from his chair, stricken with paralysis, and died a few days later, on the 15th of April, 1850, at the age of 82 years and 5 months. Both are interred in the Methodist Cemetery at Winterbourne. The sons were: Alpheus, who married Ann Weaver. Alexander, who married Louisa Moss. They lived at West Montrose and died in Michigan. Cushman, who married Mary Asia Wilbee. Thomas married Sarah Heartwell. Stephen married Betsy Smith. William and Peter died young. Samuel married Jane Hanna. Their first home was a little north of Winterbourne, now known as the Holmwood farm. Here the old Captain died. Later they moved to the vicinity of Mt. Forest. The daughters were: Priscilla, married to Williams Sexton. Azubah, married to Willard Clemons ; they lived at St. George. Mary, married to Emanuel Gaukel. Roxy, married to Milton Woodward, and Elisheba, unmarried.

Mary Smith, who died at Winterbourne in March, 1901, at the age of seventy-one years and six months, was a daughter of Alpheus Smith, and to her we are especially indebted for much of the family history here given.

When coming up the road, on the east side of the Grand river, past the village of Bloomingdale, we soon reach the townline between the townships of Waterloo and Woolwich. Here the road forks like the letter "Y." The left fork is the road past the old home of Captain Smith to the bridge which crosses the Grand river and thence on to the village of Conestogo. The right fork turns to the north, passing through the village of Winterbourne and on through the townships of Woolwich and Pilkington to Elora and Fergus. This is commonly called the "river road" because it follows the general course of the river.

At this corner, where the road divides, several of the earliest settlers made: their homes..

The Early History of Elora, Ontario, and Vicinity by John R. Connon

Historic Building:
The Smith family log house was located on the east side of the Grand River opposite the mouth of the Conestogo which here flows into the Grand from the west. The house was a half mile east of the town of Conestogo, and it stood less than a hundred feet from the present (1995) Stroh brick farm home. The pioneers hand-hewn log house (with fireplace) was built 28 feet long, 26 feet wide, and two stories high. The ceilings were 6 to 7 feet high, the kitchen was 12 by 24 feet with a large fireplace; a winding stairway led to the four rooms above. During the long winter evenings the warm cheery fireplace was the centre of family social life and comfort....

The Smiths turned their home open to travellers staying in the area. The family lost their title to the land and house due to irregularities in the land records and after thirty years, took up a new homestead 1/2 mile north of Winterbourne and was named "The Holmwood Farm".<sup>1a

1a</sup>"Captain Thomas Smith (born 1767, died 1850) and descendants " by Raymond W. Kalbfleisch, Petoskey, Michigan, 1995. 174 pgs, illustrated, with index. Located at the Grace Schmidt Room, Kitchener Public Library, 929.2 Smith-K 1995

Military:
Served in the Flank company of the 2nd York Militia Regiment under Captain Applegarth. Militia rolls names on him and petitions for compensation after the war listing their homes as being in Block 2 or Waterloo

Thomas — Mary Weaver. Mary was born 20 Aug 1778, of, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 5 Nov 1845, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Winterbourne Pioneer Methodist Cemetery, Winterbourne, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Mary Smith
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-48770

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-112915

Notes:

The Letson family in JOHN CANNON'S book on Elora and vicinity [first published in 1930] page 13

From Cox's Creek to the nearest house in the township of Pilkington there lay five miles of dense bush. with several black ash swamps. This was called the long woods and a sort of road was opened through it at the expense of General Pilkington. As late as 1833, the only clearing in this five miles was made by Wm. Letson on what is now known as the "Howlett" farm.

William — Catherine Stoner. Catherine was born 1806, , Ontario, Canada; died 1870, Middleville, Barry Co., Michigan. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Catherine Langhaus
• Name: Catherine Letson
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-30849
• Residence: 1851, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1870, Thornapple, Barry Co., Michigan

Notes:

In 1870 Catherine lived with her daughter Mrs. John Pender in Thornapple, Michigan.

Other Events:

• Land: Woolwich Township German Company Tract 075, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-112931
• Immigration: 1827, , Canada
• Occupation: 1852, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; farmer

Notes:

From Cox's Creek to the nearest house in the township of Pilkington there lay five miles of a dense bush, with several black ash swamps. This was called the long woods and a sort of a road was opened through it at the expense of General Pilkington. As late as the year 1833, the only clearing in this five miles of bush was one made by Wm. Letson on what is now known as the 'Howlett' farm.

Daniel Letson was the name of this William Letson's father, and his house stood between his son's and the river, which is here, because of one of the numerous bends on the river, quite a distance from the road. Daniel Letson was born in Pennsylvania, lived for a time in Utica, N. Y , and came to Canada in 1827. . His wife and family came with him but some of them soon returned to New York State and married there. In the Letson family there were: William born in 1801, married Catharine Longhouse; Rhodes married Helen LeBarr; Daniel was married and lived at Oswego, N. Y. Jeremiah married Eleanor Lasby; George married his brother's widow, Eleanor Lasby; Henry married Caroline Pinder; Nancy was married to Daniel Alvous and lived near Lockport, N. Y; Roxy was married to a Mr. Frost, near Lockport. N. Y.; Julia was married to Mr. James Smith and lived near West Montrose^.1a

The Early History of Elora, Ontario, and Vicinity by John R. Connon

Land:
1833 Assessment/census Woolwich twp 55 acres, s part lot 75 3 males over 16; 2 females over 16

Daniel — Ruth. Ruth was born Abt 1775, Of, New York State; died Bef 1852. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Ruth Letson
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-112932

Notes:

Ruth's maiden name may have been Danson.