Parkersville, Stephenson Twp, Muskoka

The school and the church are on the left side of the photo. On the right side, there is a boarding house which used to board lumbermen. It would seem that their work was done by the time this photo was taken.

This is a photo of the Parkersville Mill. The church is behind. I'm not sure what the 'pole' is in the middle. Seems to be a flaw in the photo. The boarding house (?) is different from the first photo.

The Forsyths attended church in Parkersville which is on the road between the second and third concessions of Stephenson Township. It would have been about a two mile journey from the thirteenth concession of Macaulay. The Forsyth children attended school here as well.

Currently, Parkersville is a left turn off Highway #11 and is located at the railway tracks. The other approach is north on District Road #4. It is a right turn at Beatrice and then several miles to where the railway intersects with the road.

Forsyth Land Documents

1871 Census - Agricultural Information

Muskoka District / Macaulay Township
Reference: C10023 - Roll 136
Enumerated by W. Kirk, April, 1871

p. 41 Entry 158
Forsyth, John........M....... 64, B. Scotland, Presbyterian, Farmer,
Forsyth, Charlotte....... F.........74, B. Scotland, Presbyterian

CONCESSION XII, LOT 9 (19-41 - page number and ?)
Tenant, 100 acres, 10 acres improved, 4 acres pasture, 400 bushels turnips,
1 house, 2 barns or stables, no animals

p. 42 Entry 161
Forsyth, John...............M.....34, B. Scotland, Presbyterian, Farmer
Forsyth, Mary..............F......30, B. Scotland (sic), Presbyterian, English descent
Forsyth, Charlotte.......F.........8, B. Ontario
Forsyth, Diana..............F........6, B. Ontario
Forsyth, Sarah Jane....F.........4, B. Ontario
Forsyth, John Thomas....M....2, B. Ontario
Forsyth, William Charles..M.. 11 mo....b. April

CONCESSION XIII, Lot 9 (10-42 - page number and ?)
Owner, 200 acres, 20 acres improved, 4 acres pasture
2 barns / stables, 3 cars/wagons/sleds, 1 plough
2 oxen, 3 milch cows, 4 sheep, 3 other horned cattle
2 sheep killed or sold for slaughter or export, 250 lbs butter
30 lbs of wool, 12 yards homemade cloth / flannel

1 acre wheat (12 bushels), 10 bushels barley, 100 bushels oats,
25 bushels rye, 15 bushels peas, 1 bushel corn
2 acres potatoes (250 bushels), 8 acres hay (10___?)

Map of Macaulay Township

Click on the title above for further history of the settlement of Muskoka.

History of Falkenburg / Falkenburg Station
"The Muskoka Road was built to North Falls (Bracebridge) in 1861. The survey of the Muskoka Road north of Bracebridge was done in 1860 and the road was built from Bracebridge to the north boundary of Stephenson Township in 1863. The settlers came as the road opened. The continuation of the road to Huntsville was not complete until 1871."

"In 1863 a post office opened (in Falkenburg). There were several hotels, a blacksmith shop, an Anglican Church and a school. In 1885, the railway reached Bracebridge and in 1886 it was extended to Utterson, in Stephenson Township, and on to Huntsville......The Northern and Pacific Junction railway......built its station two miles south, where a new village, Falkenburg Station, grew up. It became the center of the area and Falkenburg became a ghost town."

"There were 2 post offices only a few miles apart at one time. Falkenburg closed in 1894 (with the death of Mathias Moore), and the post office of Falkenburg Station remained opened until January 1, 1970."

Falkenburg Post Office was on Concession X, Lot 2/3, as shown on the 1878 Atlas of Muskoka District. This was the land of Mathias Moore, and it was not Free Grant land and therefore located between 1861-68. This lot is shown in red. Falkenburg Union Cemetery is located on Concession IX, Lot 2 and is also shown in orange. The SS No. 3 Macaulay School was built on Lot 4 of Concession XI in 1870 and is shown in green.

See the article below for more information.
http://www.ghosttownpix.com/ontario/towns/falkenbu.html

Forsyth and Forsyth related land is shown in yellow on the map.
To drive to the XIIIth Concession of Macaulay, turn right onto the Moore Rd (off No. 4 north of the Cemetery) and then immediately left onto the Little Rd. It is a rough dirt road which goes for about a mile and a half.)

Based on Map by MITIG Forestry Services Ltd, Huntsville. Ontario
Click on the map to enlarge it. There is no Lot 1 in Macaulay Township.

CONCESSION 11

Lot-Acres-Locatee-Location Date

5 100 Thomas Egglefield 25th November, 1870

6 100 William Inch 31st August, 1869

7 100 George H. Appleby 5th October, 1868

8 100 Jacob R. Tabor 3rd September, 1869

9 100 Louis Olimer 6th December, 1871 (1878 Atlas shows John Forsyth on this lot . Could this be an error on the map?)

10 100 David Yearley 29th October, 1872

11 101 Elon Olimer 20th June, 1873

CONCESSION 12

Lot-Acres-Locatee-Location Date

2 120 Thomas Quintten 8th September, 1869

3 100 Thomas Quintten 27th January, 1871

7 100 Samuel Loughead 5th June, 1869

8 100 Samuel Loughead 16th October, 1869

9 100 John Forsyth, Sr. tenant in 1871 Census (John Jr's land) but I have no corresponding land record.

10 105 John Forsyth, Jr. 20th July, 1869 This was Free Grant land which the railway went through in 1885. The Forsyths boarded railway workers.

11 101 William Jones 14th May, 1870

12 101 William Jones 14th May, 1870

CONCESSION 13

Lot-Acres-Locatee-Location Date

2 112 William D. Meggison 21st February, 1870

3 100 William D. Meggison 14th August, 1872

4 100 Michael Shaffer 17th September, 1869

5 100 Michael Shaffer 17th September, 1869

6 --- James McNee (Not on this list therefore located between 1861-68 and not Freegrant)

7 --- John Clarke (Not on this list therefore located between 1861-68 and not Freegrant)

8 100 John Clark 13th February, 1872

9 100 John Forsyth (Not on this list -Located between 1861-68 - Purchase - Deeded 1873)

10 103 John Jones 12th July, 1872

(The above is taken from http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wjmartin/macaulay.htm with land purchased between 1861 and 1868 added.)

Photos of Jessie Forsyth 1885-1965

Peacock monument at Kirk Cemetery, Macaulay Twp, Muskoka

1960 - age 75 - Jessie Peacock at the Peacock Family Reunion in Orillia

ca 1905, about age 20 - Jessie Forsyth, probably before marriage

ca. 1900 - about age 15 - A detail of Jessie Forsyth from a photo with Emma and George, her siblings taken before 1905 when George died and before her marriage

ca 1895 - about age 10 - Jessie Forsyth

ca 1890 - about age 5 - Jessie Forsyth, daughter of John and Mary of Macaulay Township

Jessie Forsyth Peacock 1885-1965

Jessie Forsyth was the youngest child of John and Mary Forsyth. She was born in Macaulay Township on November 6th, 1885. She married George Nelson Peacock, son of John Peacock and Mary Ellen Oliver, also of Macaulay Township, on the 9th of August, 1905. Jessie died November 9th, 1965 and is buried in the Kirk Cemetery, Bracebridge.

In the 1911 census, shown below, Mary Dales Forsyth who had been widowed three years, was living with Jessie and George Peacock.



1911 Census - Macaulay Township, Muskoka, Ontario
Peacock, George....... Head..............b. Mar, 1886........age 25
Peacock, Jessie......... Wife...............b. Nov, 1885........age 25
Peacock, Gertrude....F.....................b. Jan, 1906........age...5
Peacock, Hazel.......... F....................b. Jun, 1907.........age..3
Peacock, Marjory..... F.....................b. Dec, 1908.........age..2
Peacock, Clarence.....M....................b. Aug, 1910........age..10/12
Forsyth, Mary, Mother-in-law, W..b. Sep, 1840..........age 70

The family members born after 1911 are:

John Melville b. June, 1912, died June 25, 1912, buried Kirk Cemetery

George Murray b. 1 June, 1913, died 11 June, 1968, buried Kirk Cemetery

Elmore Leroy Willis b. 14 July, 1915, d. 199_, Massena, New York

Eileen Mary b. 15 Sept 1917, d.______ Toronto, Ontario

Kenneth Merle b. 24 Jan 1922, d. May 14, 1987 (of Fenwick) St. Catherines,Ontario

Glenwood Nelson b. 25 Jan 1924, d. _______ Bracebridge,Ontario

Maurice Beatty b. 2 Jan 1926 d. 4 Sept 1927Whooping Cough, Bur. Kirk Cem.

Terrance Morley b. 9 April 1927, Sturgeon Fallsd.19_____Bracebridge

Helen Yvonne b. __ Dec 1935, d. 2009, Bracebridge, Ontario

The following was written by Jessie:

"In the fall of 1908, we were living in Falkenburg and heard a farm was for sale - lot 12 on the 4th and 5th concession of Macaulay. George Peacock and his father went over to look things over and came back home, and George said he was going to see the man who had it for sale.

"We bought the farm in December, 1908 and moved over there in January, 1909. We had three children, 3 girls (including) a baby born on December 14th , 1908. There was no house on the farm, only a barn and two log cabins down by the creek where someone had a camp one time. George fixed the smaller one up for us to live in till we got a house built. It was fixed up warmer than the other one. We moved there in January on a very cold day.

"The flat road ran through our place in the winter when the men drew logs, bark and wood to town. George’s brother was cutting logs on the farm and the men were boarding at our place and sleeping in the other cabin. They had a box stove in the cabin to keep warm. The men went home to Bracebridge on Saturday nights. It came an awful cold night. We couldn’t get our cabin warm and George went into the other cabin and picked the box stove up in his arms and carried it into our cabin (it still had fire in it) and attached it up to our cook stove.

"In the spring, we built the first part of our house and worked at it in our spare time. We had one cow and one horse. We had a very good garden that year which helped out. We also had lots of raspberries to pick.

"The next year (1910) our first boy was born. Unfortunately he was drowned at Maplehurst in 1930. My husband passed away in 1948 and I have lived on this farm ever since (January 1909), elsewhere only when I visit my family. My son Murray and his son Keith do the farming now, but the farm is the only place that is like home to me."

-Written by Jessie Forsyth Peacock

Clara Emma Forsyth Peacock 1883-1949

Clara Emma Forsyth was born January 8th, 1883. She married Thomas Peacock on the 1st of June, 1904 . He was the son of John Peacock and Mary Ellen Oliver of Macaulay Township. Emma died July 28th, 1949 and is buried in St. Thomas' Anglican Cemetery in Bracebridge. It is located on District Rd #4 north of the town.

The monument reads:
Thomas Peacock, b. 1882 d. 1950
Clara (Forsyth) b. 1883 d. 1949


1911 Census - Monck Twp., Muskoka
Con. A lot 15 – This is the same lot and concession as William Brown and Robert Peaock’s land. William Brown was married to Catherine Peacock. Robert was Catherine's brother. Perhaps John Peacock, the brother of Catherine, bought Wm Brown Sr.'s land after he was widowed. Or he bought Robert Peacock's land after the death of Robert in 1899. The Thomas below is the 4th son of John Peacock and Mary Ellen Oliver. )

9/12
Peacock Thomas, Head, Sep, 1882, 28
Peacock Clara E., Wife, Jan, 1883, 28
Peacock Gladys M., F, Feb, 1906, 5
Peacock Elissa A. (Alma) F, Feb, 1908, 3
Peacock Aleen O. (Orma) F,b. Aug, 1910, 9/12

Marriage: Earle Clyde BARNES, 22, mechanic, Bracebridge, Bala, s/o Charles BARNES (b. London England) & Anna Katherine GILBERT, married Gladys May PEACOCK, 18, clerk, Falkenburg Monck Tp., Bracebridge, d/o Thomas PEACOCK (b. Muskoka) & Clara Emma FORSYTH, witn: Thomas PEACOCK & Douglas FRASER both of Bracebridge on Feb. 4, 1925 at Bracebridge

George Forsyth 1881-1905

Jessie Forsyth, George Forsyth and Emma Forsyth ca. 1900 - The three youngest children of John and Mary

George Forsyth was the fifth and youngest son of John and Mary Forsyth, and he was born April 1st, 1881 in Macaulay Township. He died at Huntsville Hospital on December 21st, 1905, possibly of meningitis. He was buried in plot 48 at the Utterson Cemetery.

Elizabeth Forsyth James 1880-1956

At Aunt Lib and Uncle Will's in New Liskeard. Aunt Emma Forsyth (Mrs. James Forsyth) is in it as well as her daughter Vesta and husband ---Hampson from Utterson. Aunt Lib is on the far right.
Sarah and "Lib" Forsyth - Mrs. Robert Montgomery and Mrs. William James
(or is it "Lib" on the left and Sarah on the right?)

Elizabeth Ellen Forsyth was the fifth daughter of John and Mary Forsyth. 'Lib' was born in Macaulay Township in 1880. On June 9th, 1903, she married William Lawrence James, son of William Matthew James and Eunice Bradford. He was born in Lanark County, Ontario.
1911 Census - Hilliard, Nipissing District, Ontario
James William, Head, Apr, 1875, 36
James, Elizibeth, Wife, Jan, 1880, 31
James, Lawerance, M, Apr, 1903, 7
James, Dorothy, F, Jun, 1906, 4
James, Edna, F, Jul, 1910, 10/12

Obituaries for Mr. & Mrs. William James (copied from newspaper clippings of Mrs. Gertrude Kennedy, August 16, 1980)

Mrs William James, formerly Elizabeth Ellen Forsyth. Born Falkenburg near Bracebridge seventy six years ago. Daughter of late John and Mary Forsyth. Married to William James June 10, 1903. Celebrated Golden Anniversary in 1953. In 1909, Mr. & Mrs. James moved north to Thornloe where they lived for nine years before taking up residence in New Liskeard. When they moved to town, they moved to a house on Grill Street where they were still living at the time of Mrs. James' death. Mrs. James was an active worker and faithful member of the Presbyterian Church all her life and she will be missed not only by the church group, but also by the younger people in whome she was especially interested. Surviving, besides her husband, are two daughters, Dorothy James at home, Mrs. James McKenzie (Edna) and son, Lawrence, all of New Liskeard; two sisters, Mrs. Hary Mortimer of Mortimer's Point, Muskoka Lake, and Mrs. George Peacock of Bracebridge and a brother, Robert of Port Sydney.

Mr. William James Long time resident of Northern Ontario died sudenly at his Grill Street home Friday, May 30th. He was in his 83rd year. Born in Lanark County, Mr. ames spent all his working life in the lumber business. He worked for some years in Bracebridge before coming to the district in 1909 and was associated with the _______ Lumber Company for close to forty years.

Mary Alison Forsyth Mortimer 1876-1966

Rob Forsyth husband of Sarah Ann James) , Mary Forsyth Mortimer and William James (married to Lib Forsyth) Probably 1950's

Mary Alison Forsyth, the fourth daughter of John and Mary Forsyth, was born in Macaulay Township in October, 1876. She married J. Henry 'Harry' Mortimer, a carpenter. When the census was taken in 1911, they were living in Medora Township. Mary died in 1966. They are buried in St. James Anglican Cemetery, Lot 29, Concession C, Mortimer's Point, Medora Twp, Muskoka.
The monuments reads:
Mary A. Mortimer, wife of Henry J. Mortimer, b. 1876 d.1866


1901 Census - Blyth Village, Huron County
(west of Toronto, close to Lake Huron)

McKinnon Donald B., Head, Oct 8, 1836, 64
McKinnon, Mary, Wife, M, Jan 7, 1844, 57
Forsyth, Mary, F, Domestic, S, 1878, 22 (Identity not confirmed)


1911 Census - Medora Township, Muskoka, Ontario
Mortimer, Henry, Head, Mar, 1867, 43
Mortimer, Mary A., Wife, Oct, 1876, 34
Mortimer, Lila A. M.,F, May, 1902, 9
Mortimer, Elmore C. W., M, Oct, 1903, 7
Mortimer, Augusta E., F, Nov, 1905, 5
Mortimer, Henry E., M, Jun, 1907, 3
Mortimer Mary H., F, Jul, 1909,1
Mortimer, Oscar Gowan, M, May, 1911, 1/12

Robert Scott Forsyth 1874-1962

ca 1915 - School picture from SS Macaulay No. 7 from Gary Denniss' book on Macaulay Township. Three children of Robert Forsyth are shown in this photo. (Click on photo to enlarge)

Robert Forsyth and Sarah Ann James

Rob Forsyth husband of Sarah Ann James) , Mary Forsyth Mortimer and William James (married to Lib Forsyth)

Robert Scott Forsyth was born in Macaulay Township in 1874. He was the fourth son of John and Mary Forsyth. He married Sarah Ann James, the daughter of William James and Eunice Bradford, on the 20th of April, 1898. Sarah was born in Lanark County, Ontario in 1872 and died in 1962. Robert died in 1962 and both are buried in the Stephenson Cemetery on the Port Sydney Road.

Note that in 1901, they lived on Lot 9 of Con XII of Macaulay Township. This might have been the land that John Sr. and Charlotte lived on.

1911 Census - Macaulay Township, Muskoka, Ontario
Forsyth, Robert, Head, Jul, 1874, 36
Forsyth, Sarah Ann, Wife, Nov, 1872, 38
Forsyth, Ann, F, Feb, 1899, 12 (Eunice)
Forsyth, Hilda, F, Feb, 1901, 10
Forsyth, Mabel, F, May, 1905, 6
Forsyth, Lloyd, M, May, 1907, 4
Forsyth, Olive, F, Jun, 1909, 1

1901 Census -Macaulay Township

p. 5 Line 7 - Lot 9, Concession 12, 150 Acres

Forsythe, Robert, b. 30 July 1876, 26, Scotch, Presbyterian

Forsythe, Sara A., b. 28 Nov 1872

Forsythe, Clara U., b. 27 Feb 1899 (Eunice)

Forsythe, Hilda, b. 7 Feb 1901

Note: Hilda married Peter E. Olsen who is buried at St. Thomas' Anglican Cemetery, Bracebridge.

James Cockburn Forsyth 1872-1948

James Cockburn Forsyth was born in Macaulay Township in 1872, the third son of John and Mary Forsyth. He maried Emma Rose Scott, daughter of Robert and Susan Scott, on the 24th of October, 1900. James and family moved to Moosejaw, Saskatchewan but returned several years after their daughter, Vesta (b. 1914) was born. They lived in Utterson, Muskoka. He died in Stephenson Township in 1948.

James and Emma are buried in the Stephenson Township Cemetery (Lot 22 Con VII) Port Sydney Rd. The monument reads: Emma R. Forsythe b. 1882 d. 1963, James C. Forsythe b. 1872 d. 1948

1901 Census - Stephenson Township, Muskoka-Parry Sound
Forsythe James C., Head, May 27, 1872, 28
Forsythe Emma R., Wife, Mar 27, 1881, 19

1911 Census - Moosejaw, Saskatchewan
Forsyth, James, 15 Main St, Head, May, 1872, 39
Forsyth, Emma, Wife, Mar, 1882, 29
Mccarger, Blanch, F, Cousin, Mar, 1894, 17
Mccarger, Pearl, F, Cousin, Dec, 1900, 11
Forsyth, Wilfred, Son, Oct, 1904, 7
Hut, Katie, F, Domestic, Jun, 1895, 16