Researched and written by Shirley Geigen Miller
Chapter II - Looking Back
Important as the Hall family was in the life of the village and the beginning of St. Anne’s, there was a settlement already here when they arrived. It’s time to look back, now, before going further forward.
Prior to the year 1800, the area known as Byron (and now part of the City of London) was a thickly forested wilderness, abounding with wildlife. Some first nations people periodically camped in the area, but there was no permanent settlement.
Nevertheless, the stage had been set for the arrival of the pioneers. In the Indian Purchase of 1790, the British had bought a huge tract of land (including the Byron area) from the native peoples. For 1,200 British pounds worth of merchandise (blankets, cloth, guns, rum, and so on), the British picked up much of what is now southwestern Ontario, leaving parcels of land in reserve for the “Indians.”
John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, made his famous scouting trip through the territory in 1793, passing either by or through what is now Byron. Simcoe and his party of soldiers and officers left Niagara-on-the Lake (then Newark) by sleigh on February 4. They were joined by a group of natives who guided them through the region, taking a river route to Detroit. The river was called La Tranche by the French and Askunesippi (Antlered River) by natives. Simcoe renamed the river, the Thames.
The governor’s secretary, Major Edward Baker Littlehales, kept a detailed journal about the trip.
From the journal, it is ascertained that the party camped for a night near Westminster Ponds. Then on February 15, Littlehales wrote: “We breakfasted at Delaware Indian village, having walked on the ice of La Tranche for five or six miles.”
That would be the day the famous troupe traveled past what is now Byron.
On their return trip from Detroit, Simcoe and company stopped at The Forks (now London) which, although uninhabited, struck the governor as being an ideal site for the capital of Upper Canada. His dream was never realized.
Simcoe also favoured making the Church of England the established church with special privileges in Upper Canada. This dream was instituted for a time but was not sustained.
However, his idea of settling the territory did come to pass – beyond his dreams.
Pioneers
“When the pioneers came for the first time to the Indian campgrounds along the Thames, they beheld … one of nature’s most beautiful panoramas … wildflowers bloomed in countless profusion.” So goes the idyllic account in the History of the County of Middlesex, Canada (Goodspeed, 1889).
The first white settlers, it goes on, were “Americans, driven from their country by the sentimental grievance which the new Republic created.” They were also, no doubt, attracted by the offer of free land.
The earliest pioneers were squatters, people on the move looking for a place to call home. Some stayed for a while and moved on, their names now forgotten. Other squatters were allowed to remain when they fulfilled settlement duties prescribed by the government of Upper Canada. Still other pioneers arrived to claim authorized land grants. They hailed from the United States, Great Britain, and other European countries.
This was the mix of people who established the settlement of Westminster (now Byron).
First-known Settler
Byron historian Roy Kerr pegs John Wells as the first-known settler of the area. On August 1, 1800, Wells of Partridgefield, Massachusetts, swore allegiance to the British crown and subsequently moved to Upper Canada. Later, he was granted 200 acres of Crown land - choice property running south from the Thames River. Part of it is now the central section of Springbank Park.
When Wells arrived, he faced an arduous task. The land was typical deep Canadian woods. In true pioneer fashion, he tackled the backbreaking work of clearing some land, building a log cabin, and moving his family to the site. Although the exact date of Wells settlement is not known, Kerr cites it as 1806. Wells’ great-great-granddaughter, the late Louise Calhoun Perry, believed he settled here earlier – in 1803.
In any case, John Wells helped build the community and was later appointed constable for Westminster. His descendants included Louise (a life-long member of St. Anne’s), who died April 9, 2007 at the age of 95. She still owned part of the original 200 acres at the time of her death. Her son, Jim Calhoun, who in 2016 remains an active and faithful member of the church, reported that his mother’s house and property were sold, probably in 2008. The sale ended the family connection to the land granted to John Wells more than 200 years ago.
The Wells family has contributed to St. Anne’s in various ways throughout its history. The lovely outdoor water fountain behind the church was donated by the family in memory of Louise Calhoun Perry.
Other Early Settlers
The first pioneer settlement in Middlesex County was at Delaware. And that is where Archibald McMillan is believed to have come from when he settled in Westminster in about 1809. McMillan built a tavern on what is now the northwest corner of Boler and Commissioner’s roads, and was open for business the following year. Probably a crude structure at first, the tavern became a popular meeting place for area residents and a welcome stopping spot for travellers. McMillan operated his tavern until at least 1833. Other owners ran it until 1906.
McMillan’s original land grant included the area where St. Anne’s is now situated. His son, Thomas, bought half the acreage in 1843, selling it off in pieces – one piece being for the church, in 1853.
Another pioneer, Abraham Patrick, came to Westminster Township in 1810 from New York State. He is reported to have found McMillan’s Tavern and cabins occupied by John Wells, David Reynolds and Nathaniel Fairchild in the area.
Patrick settled temporarily, then proceeded to cut the road from Byron to Lambeth (North Street), which was a blazed trail at the time. Preferring the Lambeth area, he settled there instead. But Patrick’s case was not typical.
By late spring of 1810, after the survey of the first two concessions in Westminster Township had been completed, more settlers moved in to stay, on or near Commissioner’s Road. This increased the area’s population only slightly. When war broke out in June, 1812, there were still relatively few permanent residents.
The War of 1812
The war between the Americans and the British, 1812 to 1815, was fought in North America. At the time, Upper Canada (now the province of Ontario) was a British colony and as such, became a significant battleground.
Wartime activities had a major impact on those few settlers living along Commissioner’s Road in Westminster. The road was a principal passageway for troops, natives and raiders throughout the war.
Originally, the road had been part of a native trail that provided a convenient cross-country path all the way from the Bay of Burlington (now Hamilton) to the Detroit River. Even before war started, the Detroit Path had already been made into a road as an eastward extension of Longwoods Road. Since the extension was laid out by a provincial government commission appointed to build roads, it was called “the Commissioners’ Road.” It ran from Delaware to Dorchester, straight through Westminster.
“But woe betide those who were living along or in the vicinity of the Commissioners’ Road during the war,” said London historian Dan Brock, in a talk on “Byron and the War of 1812,” at Byron Library.
“Friendly Indians and His Majesty’s Troops took what they needed as they passed through the area, be it horses, cattle, pigs, grain, rails, etc.,” he said. “Sometimes, but not often, the commanding officers left vouchers for what they took.” [The vouchers were to be redeemed after the war.] “As for the enemy, whether raiding parties led by the local traitor, Andrew Westbrook, or the American army under the command of General Duncan McArthur, they might also take personal belongings such as clothing, blankets, utensils, watches and even razors as well.”
In his talk, Brock concentrated on wartime activities and events that took place along Commissioners Road, particularly in the section from just west of present day Boler Road to just west of what is now Wonderland Road. The historian cited numerous records showing that Westminster settlers suffered extensive losses and hardships due to plundering and pillaging by troops and others who passed through. But looting wasn’t the only war-related activity in the area.
In the summer of 1812, because some men in Delaware Township had pro-American leanings, a sizeable group of Canadian militia was sent to deal with the situation. Made up of the Niagara Dragoons, the Norfolk militia and members of the Oxford militia, the group travelled westward, along Commissioner’s Road on foot.
Soon after reaching what is now Byron, the Canadian militia arrested more than a dozen American sympathizers in the vicinity of Archibald McMillan’s tavern, just west of Boler Road. Then the men marched to Delaware where “they arrested the unsuspecting Ebenezer Allen, Andrew Westbrook and two other men,” Brock said.
The return trip on July 23, 1812 seems to have been fairly uneventful, aside from looting. The Canadian militia and their prisoners passed eastward along Commissioner’s Road en route to Burford.
Skirmish on Hungerford Hill
For generations of Byron residents, their defining moment in The War of 1812, was a skirmish that supposedly took place on Hungerford (now Reservoir) Hill. The sentiment developed because of an account published in The Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Middlesex, Ontario, in 1878.
The patriotic story, written by an unidentified author, inspired local people in particular, to have pride in their heritage and in their new country. (Canada was just 11 years old when the Atlas was published.) Since the setting for the story really did exist (and still does in 2016), the account was especially poignant for most Byron residents - who accepted it as true.
Even the timing of the purported incident was believable.
On October 5, 1813, after the American victory at the Battle of the Thames (near present day Thamesville), the British Forces, Canadian militia and their First Nations allies, did in fact retreat in disarray. Many passed along Commissioner’s Road at today’s Reservoir Hill. And that is where and when the skirmish was said to have taken place.
The tale in the 1878 Atlas was essentially one of Canadian bravery, heroism and success. A brief recap is included here for background purposes:
After the Battle of the Thames, a small band of Canadian militia, convoying wagonloads of wounded men and baggage from the battle scene, was attacked by American riflemen at Hungerford Hill. The Canadians made their defence at the top of the hill and the enemy charged up the hill “in greatly superior numbers.” Shots rang out from both sides.
Despite the odds, the “gallant band of Canadians” fended off the attackers without losing a weapon or prisoner.
The heroine of the story was a Mrs. McNames, who lived nearby. She “sprang upon a baggage wagon” and with bullets whistling around her, brought ammunition and water to the troops throughout the engagement. (words in quotes taken from the 1878 Atlas)
In a country inhabited, as Canada was, by a people as brave and loyal as Mrs. McNames, although it might be overrun by a hostile army for a season, could not be conquered, as the sequel proved.”
Settlement Resumes
Once the war was over, surviving soldiers returned to their homes and an influx of new settlers appeared. Life went on.
Like in most pioneer communities, religious activity in the hamlet of Westminster was a rarity. At the time, the Church of England had been established by law as the state church of Upper Canada. Yet Anglicans, for various reasons, were slow to reach the settlers.
In most villages throughout the province, it was the Methodist circuit riders who first brought the Gospel to the people. This was probably true in Westminster as well.
Sometimes the Methodists came in conflict with the law which stated that only an Anglican priest or an authorized justice of the peace could perform marriages.
The late Orlo Miller, an historian and an Anglican priest himself, described one such conflict in his book, Gargoyles and Gentlemen, A History of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, Ontario (l966). The story is enough to make any modern Anglican cringe.
Miller wrote:
“Shortly after the close of the War of 1812 one Henry Ryan, a Methodist circuit rider, performed an illegal marriage ceremony in Westminster Township, south of London. He was charged with the offence, arrested, tried and found guilty. His sentence was barbarous – transportation for fourteen years to the penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania). The indignation of the Methodists of Upper Canada was intense and its effects were almost immediately felt by the provincial authorities. The sentence was suspended and Ryan went free, but the incident played its part in the eventual disestablishment of the Church of England.”
Bridging the Thames
Despite the flow of new settlers into the area, Westminster remained a small, rural community. One reason may have been that the river itself, although useful for travel, presented an obstacle for early settlers.
The Goodspeed history reports that as late as 1818, men crossing the Thames “had to ford the river at Byron, and carry their wives on their backs.” However, local residents took matters into their own hands and completed a bridge in 1825, connecting the settlement to the north bank.
“There was no contractor, the people forming a bee, drawing the timber in the fall of 1824, and building the structure at once.” (Goodspeed)
Three successive wooden bridges were built, as needed. Each of these replacements crossed the river from west of Centre Street. Then in 1905, a new cement and steel bridge was opened at the end of Boler Road. The early bridge site was not used again.
While the river may have presented difficulties to the first settlers, the Thames was soon to become the source of power for industrial development in pioneer Westminster. In the late1820’s, a carding and fulling mill was erected, and in 1834, Burleigh Hunt put up his two-storey frame grist mill and a dam across the river.
Burleigh’s feat was especially remarkable given his trying personal circumstances at the time. Just two years earlier, in 1832, his wife Fidelia and their two young children had died. The three were buried on a spot of McMillan land which, years later, became St. Anne’s Cemetery. The Hunt graves are the oldest ones on our church property today.
Burleigh’s mill was the one bought out by Cyrenius Hall in 1836.
Other businesses were attracted to the settlement and some familiar early Byron names appeared on the scene – Herrington, Coombs, Flint, McEwan, Hood. The community bustled with activity as farmers from miles around brought wheat to the mill for processing. Plus there was the traffic of the stagecoaches.
The Stage Line
Beginning in 1828, and continuing for some years, Westminster was a stopover spot for the stagecoach line which ran between Niagara and Sandwich (now Windsor).
Bringing mail and passengers across the region, the stages (horses and carriages) provided the first overland public transportation in the area. The trip must have been gruelling. It took four days to cover the distance, and the roads at the time were described as being in a “tolerable state of repair.” The word “rugged” comes to mind.
The stages left Niagara at 3 a.m., arriving at Brantford the first night. Leaving there at 4 a.m., they proceeded to Westminster where they spent the second night. Again they set off at 4 a.m., reaching Arnold’s bridge on the Thames, the third night. Another 4 a.m. departure allowed them to arrive at Sandwich the fourth night, in time to cross over to Detroit the same evening. The return trip was similar, and the stages went through, in both directions, three times a week.
For Westminster, being on the stage route was another drawing card for businesses and settlers. Nevertheless, expansion was never rapid in Westminster, as it was in nearby London.
The Forks of the Thames
Settlement in Westminster (now Byron) pre-dated settlement at The Forks (now London) by at least two decades. Then in 1826, Peter MacGregor, who had operated an inn in London Township across the river from Westminster, moved to The Forks and became London’s first settler. He was quickly joined by others and London burst into existence. A courthouse was built, streets laid out, a weekly newspaper produced, banks opened, businesses established. By 1836, London’s population had reached 1,246.
In 1853, the same year St. Anne’s Church was founded in Hall’s Mills, London saw the arrival of the Great Western Railway. (The first train completed its journey from Hamilton in a “speedy” six hours.) Rail travel, which was extended to Windsor the following year, opened London to even further growth. On January 1, 1855, with an estimated population of 12,000, London officially became a city.
Churches had already responded to the religious needs of the developing London community and several denominations had organized congregations.
St. Paul’s Church
As early as 1829, the United Church of England and Ireland sent a missionary priest, the Reverend Edward Jukes Boswell, to establish a congregation and build a church in London. However, it was the energetic Irishman, Reverend Benjamin Cronyn, who saw the completion of London’s first Anglican church – St. Paul’s – in the heart of the village.
Cronyn arrived in 1832 and was the first rector of St. Paul’s. The church itself, a frame building, was opened and consecrated in 1834. It was not to last long.
On Ash Wednesday in 1844, a disastrous fire burned the wooden church to the ground. A new organ, recently installed, was among the contents lost to the flames.
With Cronyn still in charge, the congregation held worship services in the Mechanic’s Hall, while a new brick church was constructed. The new building, with a seating capacity of 1,000, was opened on Ash Wednesday in 1846. It remains as London’s oldest church, and the core of present-day St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Cronyn himself stayed with St. Paul’s. After the Diocese of Huron was established in 1857, covering what is now called southwestern Ontario, Cronyn was elected the first Bishop of Huron and St. Paul’s was designated the cathedral of the diocese.
It should be noted that Cronyn was the first elected bishop in the history of the Anglican church in Canada. All previous Canadian bishops had been named by the Crown of England. (In his day, the monarch was Queen Victoria.) Although Cronyn’s election had been permitted, his consecration still had to be performed in England by the Archbishop of Canterbury – which took place in Lambeth Palace on October 28, l857.
The name “Huron” was chosen for the diocese at the suggestion of the Hon. G. J. Goodhue of London, because the area “comprised the hunting ground of the Hurons, whose council fires had for ages lighted up all parts of these western forests.” (from a publication of the Diocese of Huron.)
Before St. Anne’s Church was built, some Anglicans of Hall’s Mills probably made their way to St. Paul’s, on occasion. But they must have looked forward to having a parish church on home ground.