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Admiral Sir Charles Edmund Kingsmill 1855-1935
Admiral Sir Charles Edmund Kingsmill was the founder of the Canadian Navy. Born in Guelph, Ontario, he attended Upper Canada College and in 1869, entered the Royal Navy in Britain. In 1908, he returned to Canada to advise Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier on the creation of a Canadian navy. He served as the first director of the naval service from 1910-1920 and saw the new navy safely through a period of limited resources and... -
Andrew Edward McKeever 1895-1919
A World War I flying "ace", McKeever was born and raised in Elma Township. He enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1916 but, attracted by the life of the fighter pilot, transferred to Britain's Royal Flying Corps once he was overseas. From May 1917 to January 1918 McKeever was posted to the 11th Squadron on the Western front. An outstanding operator of the two-seater Bristol Fighter, he, with his various observers or gunners, shot... -
Baldoon Settlement 1804-1818, The
On September 5, 1804 fifteen families of Scottish emigrants numbering some ninety persons landed near this site. Named after an estate in Scotland, the settlement was sponsored by Lord Selkirk who later founded the Red River Colony. The low-lying and frequently flooded lands were difficult to work, malaria killed many settlers and the superintendent, Alexander McDonell, proved incapable. In July 1812 the colony was invaded by American militia who carried off its livestock. The remaining settlers ultimately moved back to higher land and in 1818 Selkirk sold his property. -
Battle of Pelee Island 1838, The
On February 26, 1838, a group of over 300 American supporters of William Lyon Mackenzie's rebellion, led by "Major" Lester Hoadley, captured this island. In response, Colonel John Maitland, commanding the Western District, dispatched five infantry companies supported by militia and Indians across the ice from Amherstburg. On March 3, fleeing a southward sweep by the main force, the Americans were intercepted off-shore from here by a detachment of 126 men led by Captain George... -
Battle of Ridgeway
On June 1, 1866 Irish-American revolutionaries called Fenians invaded Canada as part of an attempt to strike at Britain and support the creation of an independent Irish republic. The next morning Canadian militiamen from the Queen's Own Rifles, the 13th Battalion and the York and Caledonia rifle companies, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Booker, arrived here by train before marching on to battle the Fenian invaders. Contradictory orders and confusion on the battlefield... -
Battle of Stoney Creek 1813, The
On June 5, 1813, an invading United States army of about 3,000 men, commanded by Brigadier- General Chandler, camped in this vicinity. That evening some 700 British regulars of the 8th and 49th Regiments, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel John Harvey, left their encampment on Burlington Heights to attack the enemy. The assault was launched early the following morning under cover of darkness. In the fierce and confused fighting which followed, heavy losses were suffered... -
Battle of Windsor 1838, The
Early on December 4, 1838, a force of about 140 American and Canadian supporters of William Lyon Mackenzie crossed the river from Detroit and landed about one mile east of here. After capturing and burning a nearby militia barracks, they took possession of Windsor. In this vicinity they were met and routed by a force of some 130 militiamen commanded by Colonel John Prince. Four of the invaders taken prisoner were executed summarily by order... -
Battle of York 1813, The
Loyal residents of York (Toronto) were encouraged by early British victories in the War of 1812, but in 1813 they experienced first-hand the hardships of war. On the morning of April 27, an American fleet appeared offshore and began to send 1,700 soldiers ashore two kilometres west of here. At first only a small force of Ojibwa warriors was in position to resists the landing. After fierce skirmishing the invaders advanced, overcoming defensive stands by... -
Bishop Alexander Macdonell 1762-1840
Patriot, colonizer and priest, he was born in the Highlands of Scotland. In 1804 he came to Canada as chaplain of the disbanded Glengarry Fencibles and later became Auxiliary Bishop of Quebec. As the first Bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of Kingston, formed in 1826, he lived in this building and in 1831 was appointed to the Legislative Council of Upper Canada. In 1837 he founded Regiopolis College in Kingston and is buried in St. Mary's Cathedral in this city. -
Bois Blanc Island Blockhouses
Following the evacuation of the British military post at Detroit in 1796, a new establishment was begun on the Canadian side of the river at the site of Amherstburg, and two blockhouses were built on this island to serve as outposts. Following the armed attacks on Amherstburg by supporters of William Lyon Mackenzie during the Rebellion of 1837-38, the original defences on Bois Blanc (Bob-Lo) were replaced in 1839 by three new blockhouses and a... -
Burlington Races 1813, The
On the morning of September 28, 1813 a powerfully armed United States fleet comprising ten ships under the command of Commodore Isaac Chauncey appeared off York (Toronto). The smaller British fleet of six vessels, commanded by Commodore Sir James L. Yeo, was in the harbour, but on the approach of the enemy set sail to attack. After a sharp engagement, the British squadron was forced to withdraw toward Burlington Bay where it could take refuge... -
Burning of St. Davids 1814, The
On July 18th, 1814, during the final American campaign on the Niagara frontier, Major-General Peter B. Porter sent a detachment of militia from the United States encampment at Queenston to attack St. Davids. This force, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Isaac W. Stone, was joined later by a small group of American regulars. Despite opposition from the 1st Lincoln Militia, the enemy captured the village, looted it and burned most of the buildings. Stone was severely censured for this destruction of private property and summarily dismissed from the United States army. -
Captain A. Roy Brown, D.S.C. 1893-1944
Victor in aerial combat over Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the First World War's leading fighter pilot and German national hero, Arthur Roy Brown was born at Carleton Place. In 1915 he qualified as a civilian pilot and was commissioned in the Royal Naval Air Service. In the thick of vicious air fighting in 1917-18, Brown is credited with at least 12 enemy planes, earning the Distinguished Service Cross and Bar. Though the Canadian's downing of... -
Captain Miles Macdonell
Born in Scotland about 1769, Mile emigrated with his father 'Spanish' John, and other members of the family to New York in 1773. Following the Revolution, they settled near Cornwall at St. Andrew's West. In 1811-12 he became Lord Selkirk's agent, and let the first Band of settlers to the Red River colony. The Nor' Westers endeavored to destroy the Settlement, and arrested Macdonell on a false charge in 1815. Released without trial, he returned to his farm in Osnabruck township, but later moved to his brother's residence at Point Fortune, where he died in 1828. -
Captain Samuel Anderson 1736-1836
This property formed part of the extensive lands granted to Capt. Samuel Anderson, U.E.L., one of the first persons to settle on the site of Cornwall. Born in New England of Irish parents, he served with the British forces during the Seven Years War. At the outbreak of the American Revolution Anderson was imprisoned by the rebels after he had refused a commission in the Continental Army. He escaped in 1776 and was appointed a captain in the 1st Battalion K.R.R.N.Y. He became a justice of the peace for this area in 1785 and later served as the first judge of the Eastern District. -
Capture of Fort Niagara 1813, The
In the early morning of December 19, 1813, a force under Colonel John Murray, consisting of detachments of the 100th and 41st Regiments, Royal Scots, Royal Artillery and Canadian Militia, embarked in bateaux at the foot of this ravine. Crossing silently to a point above Youngstown, N.Y., they attacked Fort Niagara, killing or capturing its American garrison. -
Capture of Fort William 1816, The
In 1812, the Earl of Selkirk settled dispossessed Scottish highlanders on Red River valley lands granted by the Hudson's Bay Company. The HBC's rival in the fur trade, the North West Company, feared the new colony would block its trade and supplies. Clashes between traders and colonists culminated with the killing of twenty settlers in the Massacre of Seven Oaks on June 19, 1816. News of Seven Oaks reached Selkirk as he was travelling westward... -
Capture of the "Somers" and "Ohio," The
On the night of August 12, 1814, seventy seamen and marines, led by Captain Alexander T. Dobbs, R.N., embarked in this vicinity to attempt the capture of three armed U.S. schooners lying off American-held Fort Erie. One of the six boats used had been carried some 25 miles from Queenston, while the others were brought overland from Frenchman's Creek. Masquerading as supply craft, the force boarded and seized the Somers and Ohio, the Porcupine alone... -
Capture of the "Tigress" and "Scorpion," The
Some 25 miles southwest of here lies the Detour Passage between Drummond Island and Michigan's upper peninsula. In August 1814, it was occupied by the armed U.S. schooners "Tigress" and "Scorpion", whose intention was to prevent supplies reaching the British garrison at Michilimackinac. On September 1 a British force of seamen, soldiers and Indians under Lieuts. Miller Worsley, R.N., and Andrew Bulger left Michilimackinac in small boats to attack the enemy. The "Tigress" was boarded... -
Champlain's War Party 1615
In September, 1615, a small party of Frenchmen commanded by Samuel de Champlain, and some five hundred Huron Indians, passed down the Trent River on their way to attack the Iroquois who lived in what is now northern New York State. Joined by a band of Algonkians, they skirted the eastern end of Lake Ontario and journeyed southward to a palisaded Onondaga village near the present site of Syracuse, N.Y. Champlain was wounded, the attack... -
Christian Warner 1754-1833
Born in Albany County, N.Y., Warner served in Butler's Rangers during the American Revolution, and settled in this vicinity shortly after the corps was disbanded in 1784. Converted to Methodism, Warner became the leader of one of the earliest "Methodist Classes" in the province. Services were held at his home, and in 1801 a simple frame chapel was erected on his property. It became known as the "Warner Meeting House" and was the first Methodist... -
Colonel Arthur Rankin 1816-1893
Born in Montreal, Rankin moved to this province about 1830 and qualified as a deputy provincial surveyor in 1836. The next year he was commissioned as an ensign in the Queen's Light Infantry and captured the enemy's flag in the "Battle of Windsor" (December 1838). He commanded the Ninth Upper Canadian Military District 1855-1861 and the 23rd Essex Volunteer Light Infantry Battalion 1866-1868. Vigorous and enterprising, Rankin organized the group of Ojibwa Indians which toured... -
Colonel Elizabeth Smellie 1884-1968
This celebrated Canadian army nurse and public health authority was born in Port Arthur. In 1909 "Beth" Smellie became night supervisor at McKellar General Hospital. Joining the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1915, she served in France and England. Elizabeth Smellie was demobilized in 1920 and three years later became Chief Superintendent of the Victorian Order of Nurses for Canada. She re-entered the army in 1940 and a year later supervised the organization of... -
Colonel James Givins
This school bears the name of, and is located on land formerly owned by, Colonel James Givins, who came to Canada after fighting on the British side during the American Revolution. In 1791 he was commissioned in the Queen's Rangers and subsequently served as Indian agent at York from 1797. Appointed Provincial Aide-de-Camp to General Brock during the War of 1812, he was highly commended for the courageous manner in which, in command of a... -
Colonel John Prince 1796-1870
Here, on a portion of his former estate, is buried Col. Prince who emigrated from England in 1833 and settled at Sandwich, Upper Canada. As commanding officer of the Essex Militia, he stirred up a violent controversy by ordering the summary execution of four members of an armed force sympathizing with Mackenzie's Rebellion which invaded the Windsor area in December, 1838. He represented Essex in the legislative assembly 1836-40 and 1841-54. Prince was appointed the first judge of the Algoma District in 1860. Colourful and eccentric, he became one of early Sault Ste Marie's best known citizens.