THE DAVENPORT BROTHERS

By Fred Blair, OMAH History Committee member and Family Historian
About 1810, 20-year-old Benjamin Davenport, his younger brother William, and William’s wife Sarah arrived in Upper Canada (Ontario) as former Black slaves. William was born in Virginia about 1792 and it was possible that the brothers’ surname originated there with slave owners named Davenport.
Gary E. French in his book, ‘Men of Colour’, wrote that the brothers worked in the Town of York (Toronto) “hauling oak timber by oxen from near what is now Davenport Station … across the Davenport Road to Yonge Street, and down Yonge Street to the Bay, where it was loaded to be shipped to England”.
As some former slaves sometimes lacked surnames when they arrived in Upper Canada, it was also possible that the brothers adopted their surname from the place they were living, Davenport Station.
Sometime between 1812 and 1814, William’s daughter Susannah was born in Amherstburg on the Detroit River in Essex County. The brothers would have been required to serve in their local county militia, but no record of the brothers’ involvement in the War of 1812 has been discovered yet. Sometime between 1818 and 1820, William’s son George was also born in Amherstburg.
In 1819, the brothers arrived in Flos Township in Simcoe County. They had a contract to supply venison and bear meat to the soldiers building the Penetanguishene Road. William also petitioned for a land grant that year as a “Man of Colour” and received Lot 51, Con. 1, on the west side of the Penetanguishene Road in Flos Township. Other Black families were receiving land grants nearby on Wilberforce Street in Oro Township.
In 1827, William’s son, William Jr., was born in Hillsdale. He was the last of eight known children. A number of William’s and Sarah’s children prospered in Simcoe County and contributed to their communities.
William Jr. became a carpenter, like his father, in Medonte Township. He built three surviving heritage buildings in the county, the O’Neil House Hotel in Springwater Township, the Davenport House and the Hillsdale Jail.
In 1828, William Sr. received a patent for 100 acres on Lot 2, Con. 2, Oro Township on Wilberforce Street. Sometime in the 1830s, the brothers built the Hamilton Inn on the Penetanguishene Road north of Hillsdale.
In 1833, William and his daughter Mary Ann were convicted of assaulting Mrs. Atkins and William was imprisoned for at least several months. His wife Sarah found work as a washerwoman to support their children.
William and Benjamin both served as privates in the Medonte Regiment of the Simcoe County Militia under Captain Alex Laing during the 1837 Rebellion.
Benjamin died before 1840. William died in Flos Township in 1853 and Sarah in 1862. They were both buried in Hillsdale Cemetery.
The Rev. Carl Wright is in the photo here with William’s and Sarah’s grave markers. Carl’s blog about the family is online at https://mysundayblog.com/2020/09/27/the-story-behind-a-familiar-community-name/ The photo of William is from ‘Medonte, a Township Remembered’.
OMAH Tribute – Dr. Richard (Dick) Johnston
By Mary Ann Grant, OMAH History Committee There are those in our community who make a huge difference and who enhance the lives of others by their actions and contributions; Dr. Richard (Dick) Johnston is one of those people. Dick Johnston has done this through his...
How an Orillian Facilitated the American Art Pottery Movement
By Fred Blair In 1850, at 37 years old, Frederick married Anna Brownrigg in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was employed as a bookkeeper in Michael and Nimrod Tempest’s Hamilton Road Pottery. In 1865, Frederick purchased the company. He employed from 10 to 31 potters in making...
Two Canadian Winter Olympic Sport Pioneers
By Fred Kallin The first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France, at the base of Mont Blanc in 1924. 2022 is very close to the 100th Anniversary of the those first Winter games. In this article we will recognize a couple of the early Canadian pioneers in the...
The History of the Lumbering Community of Martinville in the Copeland Forest
By Mary Ann Grant, OMAH History CommitteeBackground – An important story to tell David Kennedy, President of the Copeland Forest Association asked Mary Ann Grant, OMAH History Committee member, if she would be interested in researching the history of Martinville, a...
Ornaments from Christmases Past
By Mary Ann Grant Years ago, this writer became a collector of old-fashioned ornaments that fell out of favour with the advent of plastic. Whether antique, vintage or reproduction, they are precious for their beauty and unique design. They are not just the red...
A Tom Thomson Mystery
By Fred Blair If you found the name “Tom Thomson” on the back of a landscape painting, would you think of the Group of Seven? This is a wandering tale about a painting and the possible connections between four landscape painters and Stephen Leacock. In 1888, the...
Private Raymond John Gagnon
By Mary Ann Grant The son of Aimee and Emile Gagnon came to Rathburn, Ontario (Monck Road) from Alberta as a boy. The family operated a small strawberry farm on the 12th Concession of Mara Township. A happy-go-lucky lad, Gagnon enjoyed joking with his siblings and...
Is St. Columbkille’s Church in Uptergrove haunted?
Trish Crowe-Grande It is that time of year when the leaves change colour, pumpkins and fall mums appear on porches and there is a crisp coolness in the air. If you have taken any walks in your local neighbourhood or drives around town, you may have noticed...
The Man Behind the Badge – an OPP Officer with ties to Orillia
By Chris Johnstone OPP Museum Curator Robert George Beatty was born on July 18, 1904. At the age of 23, he decided to embark on a career in policing after his work as a Provincial Officer under the Ontario Temperance Act came to an end. He joined the OPP as a regular...
Orillia Hall of Fame Inductee author Marian Keith – Mary Esther (Miller) MacGregor (1874-1961)
Marian Keith was the pen name for Mrs. Esther MacGregor nee Miller. She was born in 1874 In the village of Rugby, Oro Township (now Oro-Medonte), to parents who instilled in her the value of education, a keen interest in learning, a love of good literature and a...