Settlement by Halladay Family in Leeds County
First Farm in Village of Elgin Owned by Charitable Settlers
Oct 22, 2009
It is believed that the family crossed the St. Lawrence River into Canada by ox sled in January 1801. They left behind their many relatives and friends because of the political and social upheaval.
Ebenezer Halladay Farm in South Crosby
Fortunately, they joined many like-minded people in South Crosby, Leeds County. When Noah died in January 1802, the ten children’s ages ranged from 23 to three.
In 1818, their eighth child, Ebenezer, born 1795 in Vermont, purchased land from his older brother Samuel that eventually became the town of Elgin. He cleared land, built a log house and, in 1819 married Jane Leggett who was born in Wicklow, Ireland.
The couple had five children during those years when their farm was beginning to prosper. Ebenezer was greatly saddened when his thirty-year-old wife died in 1827.
Olds Family and the Hungry Summer
Father of five young children, Ebenezer was heartbroken and refused to marry again. It is told that one night a vision of his deceased wife appeared to tell him to remarry. He saw the face of a woman he didn’t know. Some time later, while traveling, he stopped for a night’s lodging at an inn where he met Parthena Olds. She was the woman whose face he had seen.
Parthena’s parents Moses and Keziah (Shaw) Olds arrived in Leeds County in 1781. During the hungry summer of 1788, they suffered greatly as did many others. They subsisted on ground nuts, and whatever they could find. Moses travelled forty miles to procure a peck of corn and a bushel of wheat.
After their marriage in 1830, they raised their six children together with the five from Ebenezer’s first marriage. The 1 1/2-storey home they built in 1844 is the oldest historic stone structure in present-day Elgin. Ebenezer and Parthena regularly provided accommodation in their home for travelling parsons.
Halladay’s Corners and the Rideau Canal
Construction of the Rideau Canal began in 1826. Ebenezer’s place of settlement became known as Halladay’s Corners. With the additional activities related to the canal, more people moved into the area. Blacksmiths were in great demand for forging iron fixtures.
For the huge Jones Falls dam and locks, sandstone blocks were quarried at a Halladay property near Elgin. Rough cut at the site by a crew housed there, the blocks were then hauled on a road pushed through for the purpose. Using ox-drawn sledges, local farmers transported the blocks in winter. On-site stone masons did the finishing work on the huge blocks.
Mormon Missionaries in Upper Canada
During the 1830s, Joseph Smith’s Mormon missionaries arrived in Upper Canada. Persuasive speakers at town meetings, they recruited a considerable number of citizens. In 1834, 135 covered wagons congregated in Halladay’s Corners and left for Mormon settlements in the United States.
Several more local families left for the Mormon’s gathering place in Missouri in 1837. Records show that some disillusioned followers returned to their homes in Canada.
Land Donations for Schools, Church, and Community Hall
An injury that blinded Ebenezer in one eye when he was a boy did not hinder him. He served as a Private with the 2nd regiment of Leeds (1815) and at the Battle of the Windmill in 1838. On the farm, he operated the first cheese factory in the area.
Sons Benjamin and Phillip worked with their father in development of Elgin. They sold lots for newcomers to establish homes and businesses. As well, over time, they donated land for the first two schools and the South Crosby Community Hall. The Evangelical Methodist Church (now United Church) and Halladay Burial Ground are both located on land they donated.
In 1850, in honor of the Governor General of Canada, the 8th Earl of Elgin, the village was officially named Elgin.
Parthena died May 10, 1881 of measles; Ebenezer March 17, 1884 of gangrene that resulted from burns. Their daughter Caroline, born in 1841, resided with them during their later years. They and many more family members are buried in the Halladay Burial Ground.
Most members of Parthena and Ebenezer’s large family stayed in the area of their birth. Some later resided in Victoria County and Bruce County, Ontario. One daughter moved with her husband and sons to a homestead in Saskatchewan. The name Halladay is still represented in the village of Elgin.
Source:
History of Leeds and Grenville: Ontario from 1749 to 1879 byThad. W. H. Leavitt,
Brockville Recorder Press, 1879
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