Mitchell, Pioneer Settlers in Ontario, Canada

 by Roberta McGee

Andrew Mitchell was born in New Cumnock in 1745, the year of the Jacobite Rising. He married a much younger Anne Kennedy in 1796 in Ochiltree and took on the tenancy of Burnockhead Farm, Ochiltree in 1798 where he farmed until 1827, raising a family of eleven children there. 

The first of Andrew and Anne Mitchell's children to emigrate was Andrew Mitchell who was born in Burnockhead Farm. He was 23 years old when he emigrated to Canada in 1833. He was one of the early settlers in Spencerville in the Township of Edwardsburgh, Ontario, along the St. Lawrence River, and married a Scottish girl, Elizabeth Irvine Graham, in 1843. A few years later they moved to Northeast Hope, then to Elma Township and finally to Molesworth which was in Wallace Township in Perth County where they lived across the road from his brother John and his family. Initially they lived in shanties. Andrew, a farmer and a carpenter, and Elizabeth had at least eight children. Andrew died in Wallace Township, Ontario, in 1897.

Andrew & Elizabeth Mitchell and family - Ancestry shared by medievalgeek

Andrew and Anne's oldest son John Mitchell was born in Burnockhead Farm, Ochiltree, in 1798. He married Mary Gibson in 1826 in Old Cumnock. She was the daughter of William Gibson, a weaver then snuff box maker, in Cumnock. Snuff box making was a lucrative trade in the area in the first half of the 1800s. The boxes were made of wood, mainly sycamore, with highly decorative lids and fitted with a 'secret hinge' or 'invisible wooden hinge' to prevent evaporation of moisture in the snuff inside. The production of the boxes was at its peak between 1820 and 1830 but, after that period, it gradually died away mainly because the fashion of taking snuff began to decline. William Crawford was the self-acclaimed original maker of the snuff boxes. He was also, by his first marriage, the brother-in-law of William Gibson, Mary's father. In 1811 he introduced William Gibson to the snuff box making trade, who in turn spent five years teaching his son-in-law, John Mitchell, how to make snuff boxes. 

In 1852 John and Mary Mitchell decided to emigrate to Canada where John founded Molesworth, a small community located in the town of Huron East in Southwestern Ontario. It was on the border of the Township of Grey in Huron County and also on the border of the neighbouring County of Perth, where it was adjacent to Wallace Township. 

In 1852 Canada was still a British Colony. Over the years Treaties had been made by the British Crown with the First Nations to purchase their land. The First Nations were formerly called Indians and were the descendants of the original inhabitants of Canada who had lived there for thousands of years before explorers arrived from Europe. The land, on the shores of Lake Huron, became known as the 

Huron Tract. It was acquired by The Canada Company, a land company formed in the United Kingdom, and sold off in Lots to early settlers. For the settlers the prospect of owning land was an incentive. Acquiring land was made easier in 1842 when The Canada Company began a leasehold system whereby settlers had ten years to pay for the land. The largest group of settlers to Huron County were from Scotland. 

John immediately spotted an opportunity. He bought Lots 52, 53 and 54 which were situated beside a river. He believed that the intended Highway 86 would come through the river and, on this assumption, he built a store and post office on Lot 52. He sold Lots 53 and 54 to other settlers coming into the area. A dam was built on the river, followed by a sawmill, while also on Lot 52 a school and other houses and businesses sprang up. Pioneer settlers in Canada faced the challenging task of building homes and communities from scratch and initially they had to live in shanties. 

Mail carrier in front and John's daughter-in-law Maria and granddaughter in doorway
Source: Seaforth & Brussels and their Neighbourhood

Molesworth became a thriving community and John, Mary and their family, and extended family, settled well into their new lives with John becoming a Justice of the Peace there. As well as owning a store and a post office, John was a farmer and a saw miller. Religion played an important part in their lives. Their roots were Free Presbyterian, however, on the 1871 census his religion is recorded as Christadelphian with further censuses recording his religion as Presbyterian again. 

John died in 1873 but his family carried on in the community he had founded. In 1873 his son Charles built a Bee House on Lot 52 and became known as 'The Bee King', while his other son Robert, grandson Edward and great grandson Allen, carried on the tradition of storekeepers in Molesworth.

The Mitchell House & Apiary
Source: Seaforth & Brussels and their Neighbourhood

John and Mary were joined in 1853 by sister Margaret Mitchell, her husband John McNeish and their family. They took a farm beside them in Molesworth. Margaret was born in Burnockhead in 1817. She married John McNeish, a blacksmith, in 1841 in Old Cumnock. In 1851 they were living on the north side of Townhead Street in Cumnock and in 1861 they were living in Wallace Township, next door to Margaret's brother. 

The last child of Andrew Mitchell and Anne Kennedy to have links with Canada was Helen Mitchell who was born in 1803 in Burnockhead. Helen married Cumnock born Andrew Thomson in 1825 in Old Cumnock. Their first three children were born in Cumnock before they moved to Mauchline in 1832 where they went on to have another five children. In 1841 Andrew, Helen and their family were living in Cowgate, Mauchline. On the 1851 census the family was living in Cowgate Lane, Mauchline. Andrew was a shoemaker and sheriff officer. Helen appears to be deceased but I have been unable to track down her death. 

Andrew and his children moved to Canada after Helen's death. The 1861 Canada census shows Andrew living alone in Hawick, Huron County, Canada West. His children had married and settled down around the area. 

His oldest son Alexander Thomson married Canadian born Belinda Meredith in 1854 in Gore County, Ontario and they lived next door to his Uncle Andrew Mitchell, his mother's brother, in the Township of Turnberry, Huron County.

Son Andrew Thomson married Ann Eliza Fergusson about 1854 in Ontario. He was a cooper and died in 1899 in Chatham, Kent, Ontario. 

Son Hugh Thomson, a blacksmith, married Margaret Mair in 1853 at Riccarton, Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. They settled in Waterloo, Canada West, where Hugh died in 1898. 

Daughter Jean Helen Thomson married John Adams in 1858 at Waterloo, Ontario and after his death married William Scott in 1876 at Wellington, Ontario. Her father Andrew was living with them in 1871 at Proton, Grey South, Ontario.

Daughter Agnes Thomson, like her brothers, married soon after she arrived in Ontario. Her husband, James Angus Cooper, was born in Monkton, Ayrshire and they married in 1856 at Galt, Ontario.

An interesting account of James & Agnes Cooper's life in Proton

Source: 'The Township of Proton, 1982'

James emigrated from Scotland to Canada in 1853 settling for a time in Georgetown where he worked on the construction of the Grand Trunk Railway. In 1856 he married Agnes at Galt, Ontario. In 1859 they settled on Lot 7, Con. 14 of West Luther Township. The settlers who arrived before them helped them build a shanty and log stable on their property, which they called "Stoney Hill Farm". James operated a lime kiln on the hills of his farm. Their house was replaced by a store with living quarters, built by James on top of the hill. It was a typical general store of the time selling groceries, yarn, hardware etc. Mrs Cooper was much valued for her role as a midwife and nurse for the early settlement. To assist with her nursing she grew herbs in her garden'.

The Indians must have roamed freely amongst them. One day an Indian walked into their house while they were having dinner, gestured James to stand up, then he sat down in James's chair and ate the rest of James's dinner!

Middle Row left to right James Cooper, Andrew Thomson Snr., Agnes Thomson Cooper
Cooper Family - Ancestry - various

In 1881 Agnes's father Andrew Thomson was living with the Coopers. He died on 5th October 1887 at Luther West, Ontario. Agnes died on 29th July 1923 at Mount Forest, Wellington, West Luther having fractured her skull when she fell down some stairs at her home.

Youngest daughter Grace Thomson was born in 1845 in Mauchline and died on 21st June 1923 at Mount Forest, Wellington County, Ontario, one month before her older sister Agnes Thomson Cooper. She married her first husband James Hunter, a farmer, in 1865 at Grey, Ontario. James, who was born in 1828 in Berwickshire, Scotland and died in 1889 in Mount Forest, was a pioneer settler, having arrived in Canada with his three brothers in 1857 when they purchased a homestead of 100 acres. At that time the land was all bush and there were no roads. He paid $1.50 per acre for his land. In the early days he was appointed Justice of the Peace, holding the position until his death and established the Post Office at Egerton, Ontario, where he was Postmaster.

Grace Thomson Hunter - Ancestry shared originally by Brian Maier

Grace married a second time to John Moore in 1903 in Wellington County. She died on 21st June 1923 at Mount Forest, Washington County, Ontario.

The Canadian County Atlas Digital Project