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stouffvil and its pioneers a paper given before the york pioneer and historical society in toronto on april 21st 1931 by david stouffer the oldest living member of the stouffer family who come to the county of york upper canada in 1 804 the tillage of stouffvllle is situ ated about 30 miles from the heart of toronto on the canadian national railway and in a direc tion northeast from the city to be exact it is on the townllne be tween the townships of markham and whitchurch and consists main ly of lot 35 concession 9 or 200 acres of markham township and lot 1 concession 9 or 200 acres of whitchurch township this land along with the adjoining lot 2 concession 9 of whitchurch town ship was all owned originally and occupied by the pioneer abraham stouffer and his wife elizabeth and their two children after hav ing emigrated from pennsylvania to upper canada in the year 1804 stouffvllle is in the midst of a fine agricultural district and while it cannot boast of any large manu- facturirg establishments is supply ing the wants of the rural com munity very fully and is in a flourishing and prosperous eon- dltlon as we shall see later the population of stouffville is about 1300 about the niiuic doubtless stauffer is the original and correct way of spelling the family name but the government made the change when perpetuat ing the name of the pioneer of the thun switzerlandabrahani stauff er of chambersburg pennsylvania was the father of our pioneer abraham stouffer who was bora in 1780 he learned the milling trade at his fathers flour mill at chambersburg a knowledge which was to stand him in good stead after coming to upper canada in passing we note that there have been six abraham stoutfers in direct succession the last five of whom were and are still continuous owners and occupants of lot 2 concession 9 of whitchurch town ship in our county in pennsylvania from colonial days there were a goodly number of iteesors and stauffers who favored the loyalist cause and british institutions although they were no strictly speaking united empire loyalists they desired to live again under the british flag and so decided to change their plac of habitation from pennsylvania to upper canada a large colony of the stauffer family looked toward the county of waterloo to which in 1804 was directed one of the larger migrations of the time a distinguished descendant of this waterloo colony was the late rev byron h stauffer well known in toronto you will note that abraham immunity in naming its postoflice stouffer my grandfather was the shey at the same time abbreviated he name and called the place touffvllle had i been there at the sme and felt as i do now i would lave protested most strenuously fut then you see i wasnt there this explanation seems necessary in rder that the younger generation may know that we are one and the iame people with the stauffers the stauffer family can be trac ed back to 1c30 when daniel of that name was born in the town of only one of his name to settle in the county of york ho having married elizabeth reesor sister of the peter reesor who becomes c prominent figure in this sketch naturally he became attached to the reesor group of migrants to our county in 1802 it was decided that these families would seek homes in upper canada but not without investi gation they therefore appointed peter reesor an energetic and business directory imtmimmsmfsmmwwi legal mccullough button barristers solicitors convey- ancers o buttons block 3touffvlll money to loan norman borinsky barrister solicitor notary associated with the legal firm of oorley keen and howard oounsal j w seymour corley icc trusts and guarantee building room 605 302 bay street toronto ont telephone elgin 3153 and 3154 res tr 6343 george coltham ontario land surveyor surveys levels municipal engineering aurora ontario box 264 phone 8641 medical dr s s ball phpslclan and surgeon office cor obrien and main phone 196 coroner for york county thomas birkett insurance agency everything in insurance phone 18202 stouffville a c burkholder insurance tfanada life assurance also automobile and fire co anne lehman a t c si teacher of pianoforte playing and theory phono 4301 studio lehmans block drsira herbert freel dr ira freel consultation hours 9 to 12 am mon wed frl 6 to 9 pm tubs sat tues thurs sat afternoons by appointments only dr herbert freel 9 to 12 am tues thurs sat 6 to 9 pm tues and sat mon wed frl afternoons by appointment only a c kennedy chlropraotor churoh st stouffvllle monday wednesday and fridays 9 to 12 am dental e s barker lds dds honor graduate of royal college of dental surgeons and of tho university of toronto office in orublns block phone 8201 markham every tuesday office in wear block massey harris agency in tho old stand just south of tost office stouffvllle get your repairs and new implements now j p cassidy phone 902 george baker realtor and valuator farm and city property a specialty exchanges and small acreages stouffville ont e a grubin r o eyesight specialist honor graduate of the college or optometry of canada gold medal ist and first hermant prize winner in 1928 at stouffvllle every thursday friday and saturday office in the grubln block eye examined glasses fitted and re paired phono stouffvllle fcl06 say it ivith flowers no expression of sentiment more beanttful flowers for evert occasion muston sons phone 7001 stouffvillb ont dr d c smith honor graduate of royal college of dental surgeon and of the university of toronto dr neil c smith honor graduate of royal college of dental surgeons and toronto university also post graduate of rochester childrens hospital office commerce bank up stairs phone office 1011 residence 1015 veterinary s t bodendistcl vs bvsc veterinarian graduato of ontario veterinary college ofhoe at the mansion house phone 161 successor to dr j t storey gordon phillips licensed auctioneer experienced in farm stook implement and furniture sales phone stouffvllle 8405 for terms electrical contrracto house wiring farm work motors everything in electric estimates given ohas- nendiok phone 257 trusted man then 22 years of age to be their caleb to spy out tb2 land and report to them gladly accepting the responsibility he was not long in getting ready for the journey from near chambersburg over the aueghanles through new york state to the niagara frontier and so to the capital of upper canada he had only to groom his trusty young steed put on saddle and bridle and a few other items of equipment and start on his 500 mile journey of exploration in a tew days this young man of keen observation arrived at york and at the colonial laud office where he said ho wanted good land well timbered and with water power privileges for a party of intending settlers he was told to go about ten miles north and then ten miles east and he would come to the rouge river and there he would see what he asked for here in his mind he lo cated the reesor family but he then went a few miles farther east to what is now cedar grove this seoiued to him an ideal location and so he returned to toronto made such further arrangements were necessary and was about to mount his horse for the ride home wards when an exofficer of the british army accosted him with these words i hear that you are looking for land now i have title to 400 acres which i am told is good soil aud well wooded though i have never seen it it is about the centre of the township of whitchurch about 22 miles north of this i am willing to sell for i want to return to great britain peter said i am not prepared to buy yet i came to look over the prospects of settling here but i have no money with me whereupon the officer said i will give you those 400 acres for your horse saddle and bridle peter asked to see the title to the land had it inspected at the land office and accepted the offer un- sight unseen as we boys used to say when trading jack knives afterwards the officer wanted also he halter hut peter said nc a bargains a bargain not that peter reesor was close and stingy for he was a generous man especially to the poor but he accepted the scriptural injunction let your yea yea and your nay nay curious how peter reesor got mixed up with tho slouffers and with the affairs of some other souffville people as we shall see peter reesor continued to own these 400 acres until near the end of his lite when he willed 200 acres to his daughter mrs armstrong of markham and 200 acres to his daughter mrs wheeler of stouff vllle in due time the latter hold ing became the property of mrs wheelers soninlaw w b sanders afterwards reeve of stouffville and warden of the county of york mr sanders was in good health up to a few months before dec 18 1929 when he died at the age ot s4 after the nipiss- ing railway came to stouffville wood lumber and timber became much more valuable and mr sanders made good use of his opportunity by turning his beauti ful timber and excellent wheat land into a good return ot ready cash the value of the pioneers horse saddle and bridle nad grown into thousands of dollars we must now resume the narra tive for we have left peter reesor standing in these streets watching his horse being led away will the deed of the 400 acres in his pocket he walked the 500 mile3 back to his horse being led away with the sturdy stuff those men were made of when the prospect of such a journey afoot could not daunt them he was heartily welcomed by his people who were greatly en couraged by his report when he tcld them what he had done and that his intention was to make his home in canada his friends as was understood from the beginning at once decided to stand by him and accompany mm to the promised land peter urged his friends and relatives to sell their holdings and got their affairs in shape as soon as possible but it was 1804 before they were able to set out these families of reesor and stouffer immigrants belonged to the mennonite church spoke the german language were an in dustrious thrifty and godfearing peoplcand have contributed greatly to the financial and moral well-be- j ing of tho communities in which ed the choice and made a com- press in toronto from which he j niunity centre there one which was issued thousands of copies of hit for a number of years called paper the constitution the reesorville but is now markham contents of which being highly village j democratic and inflammatory la peter reesor and abraham their nature aroused the opposf- stouffer with their families and on ai anger of the loyalists or transports went about three miles tories who seized the press and farther east to where mr reesor dumped it into the bay nearby it had selected his home site now j wa3 fished out by somebody and known as cedar grove i afterwards was placed in john abraham stouffer prospected to borers building in stouffville the north through the woods forj now who do you suppose was about seven miles and coming to a he printer on that rebel press clearing of about two acres on the wh t was a mere boy thomas same creek made enquiries ot the- shaw by name one of the most re- squatter through whom he fouud spected names you can meution in the owner russell hoag a pur- j connection with stouffville he chase was effected and immediate com- muni- possession given of lot 1 con cession 9 of whitchurch 200 acres the price is not known the records show that on julv 9 1s05 abraham stouffer pur chased from john williams lot 33 in the 9th concession of markham township 200 acres the consider ation being 62 10 shillings or s31g e sadta ivfau lot 2 in the 9th concession ot whitchurch was not taken from the crown until a few years later thus the holdings were consoli dated and the growth of a niunity and formation of a cipality made possible now why did not peter reesor and his brotherinlaw stouffer settle down along with the other reesor families this seems hard to understand for there was plenty of land while water privileges were convenient and they wished to be on the friendliest of terms with eaeh other but there seemed to have been a spirit ot inrte pendence and an urge for pioneer ing each wishing to work out his own destiny in his own wav and i believe this was the spirit ot the pioneers generally in those days my grandfather was a man ot great physical size and strength his 225 pounds were mostly bone and sinew and he was one who prided himself on being the head of the house thero arc some ot that kind even yet but i can easily beliove that his wife my grand mother must have been the neck as she seemed to have the faculty of moving the head in the direction she most approved and how could he deny her that privilege for had she not volutarily assumed equal responsibility with ner husband in their affairs through life even walked behind the wagon from pennsylvania assisting in every way possible caring for the child ren and preparing meals that all might come safely to this now home as soon as the family got possession of the first holding grandfather commenced clearing more land making the shack hab itable and building a mill dam and sawmill in this way he made his own lumber and soon attracted other settlers from miles around for they were yet few and far be tween on may 13 1s06 his son abra ham was born now this was a great event to me as this child was the first child born to the family in canada and besides this child was destined to become my father 38 years afterwards in the same year 1806 grandfather built his grist mill being a millwright as well as a miller tills new enterprise made a great stir in the district and as the means of bringing sealers to the neighborhood rarmers in the country and merchants and trades men of various kinds to the new village which for a time was call ed stouffers village came to reside in this city about unfortunately the grist mill was struck by lightning and burned to to the ground after having been in operation only a few years it had done good service and its owner with the willing cooperation of noighbors soon had it replaced this time on the south side of the townline the next important event was the j fifty one years ago will be 95 year- of age on may 9 this year i in good health aud walks down from 38 mcgill street to his office in the court of general sessions of peace every day that the court is in session when our population was only 600 we had no les3 than live taverns called by the whiskey trade houses of accommodation a better name would have been houses of intoxication however by the persistent efforts ot some of the churches the temperanc societies and a number of enthusi astic temperance workers among the laymen and women the senti ment of the people was changed so that at every election at which temperance was the issue we al ways had a large majority in favor of temperance of course we had our confedera tion demonstration on july 1 1s67 in the precession were first the union jack second a company of young men on horseback painted and feathered to represent our aboriginal inhabitants led by their chief pete kribbs third a company of youths on horseback to represent the coming generations of white people led by captain jim obrien fourth the sharon brass band led by their veteran conductor jesse doan one of the finest bands in upper canada at that time aud after the band came a host of people on foot some in buggies but not a single solitary automobilo arriving at william browns beautiful maple grove dinner was in readiness for the hungry crowd who received it with patriotic en thusiasm at 2 oclock the platform meeting was called to order by the chairman mr george flint senior in a rousing speech after which he called on several promi nent speakers who delivered patriotic addresses appropriate for the occasion the band filling in the intervals with their excellent music as the scotchman would say it was a grawn success th next order of business for stouffvllle was its incorporation in to a separate municipality which took just ten years after confedera tion in 1877 while james dougherty became its reeve the first two years edward wheeler was reeve the next two and w b sanders of whom we have been speaking the three following years there was much to oe done and the work was cautiously and pro gressive by undertaken each year showing some improvement the first important undertak ing was the construction of the water works system on the gravity plan during the reeveship of mr j h ratcliff in 1897 our reservoirs are about 3 miles north of the village on what is called the ridgesand furnishes an abundant supply of pure cold spring water has a fall of 10s feet to the village and cost 525000 which was paid off in 1927 and is now supplying an annual revenue of 2800 it is al so a great success solving also the question of fire protection which was badly needed the village has also a splendid public library under the carnegie benefaction which is greatly appreciated next conies the hydroelectric ford trucks serve many businesses for almost every hauling purjmwe there is a ford truck which is adapted for the work bodies aro available for tho lton chassis which or designed for use in many different industries the ford truck is available with 1313incli and 157inch whcclbase there is an option of 66 or 51 rearaxle gearratios to meet the specific require ments of road and load dual reur wheels are available at small additional cost the ford chassis is strong and reliable among its most important features aro tho use of 40 dif ferent kinds of steel and f more than twenty ball and roller bearingo others are tho torquetube drive the threequarter floating spiral bevel gear rear axle the cantilever rear springs the large fully enclosed mechanical brakes the heavy front axle and spring fourspeed transmission and factory cabs which have shalterlcss glass wind shields for sufcty come in and let us help you decide what typo of ford truck will best suit your purposes tub canadian trucbv d f holden phone 18402 stouffville ontario founding of a postoflice which took place in 1832 with c d sheldon as postmaster succeeded in 1833 by w h doyle who was succeed ed by john boyer who for some time was quite an important busi ness man of the place about this time tho wife ot our pioneer died and he had also the misfortune of losing the use ot his hand through an accident his public family also had grown up and so he gave his business and part of his farm into the hands of his eldest son christian who also being a practical miller carried on the business successfully for a number of years in 1818 christian stouffer hav ing a family of boys growing up lured for their sakes to what was system another profitable ad dition which will be paid tor by 1939 and thus help to reduce the taxes ot the people of stouffvllle then conies the horticultural society which adds its beatifying touch and is doing wonders towards making stouffville one of tho fair est healthiest and most desirable residential towns in ontario along with these we have good and continuation schools seven protestant churches two firstclass banks fine public park municipal oversight of the ceme tery and a good roads system we have also foundry and machine shop planing mill chopp ing mill creamery gold fish hatchery two grain elevators all kinds of stores and several public halls crowning these we have a highways crowded but accidents few thousands of cars out undet influence of fine weather thousands of motorists went travelling on the highways over thu weekend to enjoy the mild air and warm sunshine and many of ihem spent the time inhaling gasoline fumes from the car ahead traflla was the heaviest of the year on all highways but there were no serious upon this deep and broad and accidents and few minor ones strong foundation is being built a provincial and suburban police of superstructure which while only ncera verc kepl bu8y tliroughou tua fairly commenced has in it the in- d d eveni 8u the herent elements of endurance and expansion endless flow of traffic going in both i directions tho kingston dundas and hamilton highways were black i with vehicles all through the day and at night the headlights seemed like fireflies in the distance lots of traffic but no accidents was tho pleased announcement ol police officers sunday night cargoes and then reloading with the products of our fields forests mines rivers and lakes for dis tribution to the ends of the earth with the opening up of this through navigation will also come the almost unlimited hydroelectric powers which will convert our dominion into one or the greatest industrial countries in the world yes the pioneers of this domin ion have laid the foundations ot our citizenship deep and broad and strong deep in the principles of righteousness peace and industry broad in the principles of tolera tion cooperation and education strong hi the principles of faith faith in our country faith in our people and faith in our god canadian wins skating trophy they have lived like other pioneers i our pioneer they were prepared to enter heartily lived at my fat r g clendennig funeral director and embalmer private ambulance phone 9000 markham ontario into the task of transforming this wooded country into cleared farms and fruitful fields those were times of hard work and many privations but they were as a rule a healthy hardy hopeful honest people who wcro destined in a few- years to have the satisfaction of seeing their labors amply rewarded in preparing for tho migration ot 1804 they built four large and strong canopied wagons in which to carry and protect their goods and als to shelter their little ones in case of storm the3e wagons were drawn by four and when required six horses they had also a number of cows to supply milk on their journey as well as young cattle there were a few leading roads such as they wcro but in many places they had to cut their way through the trackless forest steadying the wagons on mountain fording rivers and making bridges over smaller streams until in six weeks of strenuous work and some adventure they arrived at their destlnatlonready to hew out of the forest their future homes whon they arrived in markham township at the river itougc peter reesor pointed out to ills people tho place ho had selected for tho principal part ot tho group and bure enough they heartily approv- then called the queens bush and settled in the county of oxford lie disposed of his stouffville properly to edward wheeler a wide awake young devonshireman who had married our peter reesors daughter i s ra anl l o abraham stouffer grairir veg titer s home from 184s to october 27 1s52 when he died very suddenly ot apoplexy at the age of 72 years peter reesoi died in 1854 at the age of 79 wideawake uptodate newspaper called the stouffvllle tribune and a good brass band stouffville being surrounded by such excellent farms and gardens has become noted for the amount cgetables fruit horses now what have our pioneers abraham and elizabeth stouffer accomplished in the forty years of their active business life in stouffvllle they have secured goo acres of good land built mill dam and sawmill built two gristmills built houses barns and outbuild ings formed thd nucleus of a now community of which stouffville is the centre and have left a family of 1085 descendants now living this is no small accomplishment for one man and his wife and i am proud today to be counted as one of their grandsons from 1848 as miller and mer chant for the district edward wheeler became for some years one of the leaders of tho community tho village prospered and grew al though not very fast along with our physical improvements came ftll land eggs i now ladies and gentlemen when and where dons all this im provement start why ot course vva have to look back to the pioneer days ot which we have been speak ing when not only abraham and elizabeth stouffer but also the other hundreds of sturdy men and women of vision and action who laid the foundations of our citizen ship along the frontiers of our great dominion what sir wilfred laurler pro phesled is coming true the twentieth century belongs to canada this dominion has only fairly started on her career every year is opening to our view the ucw and wonderful potentialities ot our lands our forests our mines our lakos and rivers and our waterpowers we are a wonder and an astonishmont to all who have given to our dominion serious thought i i believe that those who ore per former toronto professional triumphant in england i ijoidon with an xliibltion of school figure skating which stood out almost in a class by itself harold xicolson canada at the london ico club recently carried off the first cup presented by the national skating association for international style competition the even is open to professionals who have practised on british rinks during the season nicolson was placed first by all seven judges and but for the fact that he had only boen in england for a 75000000 order given to germany by soviet berlin completion of negotiationi between soviet representatives and german industrialists clinching the purchase of 75000000 worth of german materials was officially an nounced recently the ordors ara designated to further the execution of the russian fiveyear plan ami will help to improve the employment situation in germany details of the agreement wcro withheld by the soviet delegation while the german industrialist lea- yeek since his voyage from canada gue intimated the text might be madi would undoubtedly have given as per- public when ratified by the govern fct an exhibition in free skating as ment the credit terms will extend he dlo in tho sohool figures from 14 to 28 months it was uuder- harold klcolson is a native of switz- stood with the rate of interes ro- oriand vho came lo canada somo strlcted to a figure 2 per cent in years ago last year he acted as pro- excess of the prevailing relchsuank fesslonal al the toronto granite rink discount rates argentine exports increase over 1930 falls tower looted niagara falls out for the second time within a week aud tho third this year burglars visited the obscr- buenos aires arg argentine ex- v tower at falls view thli ports for the first quarter of 1931 time the intruders spent consider- showed an iucrcaso in volume but a j a time inside selecting the most decrease in value as compared with i valuable articles and got away with the same period ot 1930 the national j goods valued at around 400 othoc statistical depariinent announced rej visits had netted the thieves littl of valuo cently the exports were valued at 112- 014000 gold pesos approximately justice is the great interest of man sevon seas laden with spices 113408000 ae compared with 189- on earth daniel webster so tho intellectual and moral ad- muted to hvo 25 years from now vanccmcnt of our people for tho will witness the great ships of the churches and schools wore dolnir sevon seas laden with spices llielr part faithfully and success- fruits vegetables and other tropical 987000 gold pesos for tho first quarter tu i merchandise coming up through of 1530 that the decrease was due whoovor degrades anothet degrade nrinmnl nretns il nvtnfr our rlver3 m ana koi entirely u thi lower prices of exports men and whatever if- said or don duthebeulonof lwm ssr xnlf cerca sl h fact tho a t to mowalter whit lyon mackcnzio had a printing tributlng as they go their precious fofeased 10ss000 tons over 1930 man