Stephen Pherrill (1783 - 1842)

Born 13 Mar 1783 in New Brunswick

Husband of Elizabeth (Russell) Pherrill — married about 1803 in New Brunswick

Descendants

Died 16 Apr 1842 at age 59 in Scarborough, York, Canada West

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Biography

Private Stephen Pherrill served for Canada in the War of 1812
Service started: 1812
Unit(s): Home District Militia Cavalry, 1st Regiment of York Militia, 3rd Regiment of York Militia
Service ended: 1814

Stephen Pherrill descended from a family that came from Maine, USA and settled in New Brunswick after the Revolutionary War. He was born near the St. John River, at a point where it separated Maine from New Brunswick. He married Elizabeth, the daughter of Jacob Russell in about 1803^[1][2] and the young couple, together with their infant child William Pherrill set out on the long journey to Upper Canada. Stephen rowed his wife and child in a small boat packed with their wordly possessions, up the St. Lawrence and up Lake Ontario to York, where he first took employment at Scaddings Mill on the Don River.^[1]

About 1806, Stephen obtained Lot 24, Concession B in Scarborough and started a farm.^[1] This was only ten years after David Thomson had led his family up the old Indian trail that would later be known as the Danforth Road and established the very first farm in Scarborough Township. Stephen's property was closer to the lake, along another old Indian trail. This one would become known as the Kingston Road.^[3]

When the War of 1812 broke out, Stephen placed his team at the service of the government and it was employed to convey soldiers, supplies and ammunition from Kingston to York and Niagara on the Lake.^[1][2] Stephen himself carried dispatches from York to Whitby and back. This involved swimming the River Rouge on horseback twice each trip, so he and his horse would arrive back at the farm on the return trip, wet and exhausted. At this point his wife would frequently share the task by mounting a fresh horse and carrying the dispatches on the rest of the way to York herself.^[1]

In 1812, he was part of Captain John Button's Company of the 1st York Militia^[4], where he was recorded as a member of the 'stationary express'.^[5]

By 1813, Stephen's dispatch cavalry company had been transferred to the 3rd Regiment of the York Militia. His company had no officers of its own, reporting directly to William Allan, Commanding Officer of the 3rd Regiment.^[6]

From at least as early as January 1814 until early in 1815, his unit was no longer considered part of the 3rd Regiment. He was regularly on Muster Rolls and Pay Lists for a small company called the "Kingston Road Detachment of the Home District Militia Cavalry for carrying dispatches".^[7] They reported to Lt. Thomas Taylor, an officer in the British Army and the Post Major at Fort York. Stephen is listed as one of four Privates stationed in Scarborough. There were also two Privates stationed in Pickering, including Noadiah Woodruff and four Privates stationed in Whitby, including Jabez Lynde and David Annis.^[8]

History of Scarborough reports that in the spring of 1813, when faced with suspicions of an imminent American attack "William Pherrill ... was detached as signal-man at the lookout post on Scarboro Heights, with orders to mount his horse and ride into York with the tidings the moment he spied the American vessels in the distance."^[9] While the Pherrill farm was certainly in an excellent location to watch for approaching enemy ships, William was only about nine years old in 1813 and likely had not been detached from any militia unit! But he may have kept watch on the bluffs and ran to tell his father to raise the alarm.

Stephen and his family must have watched with dismay on April 27, 1813, when General Sheaffe ordered the British regulars to retreat to Kingston in the face of the American attack on York, leaving the miltia and citizens to deal with the American invaders. The column of Redcoats would have passed the Pherrill farm on the Kingston Road during their retreat. Perhaps it was at that point that the booby-trapped gunpowder magazine exploded back at the fort. The blast hurled chunks of mortar and debris for half a kilometre, killing many of the attacking Americans outright and wounding many more. The American General Zebulon Pike was one of the fatalities. The blast could be heard all the way across the lake at Fort George. At the distance of the Pherrill farm, it would have been awesome and frightening. In the days that followed, the Pherrill farm was ransacked by the Americans despite the vociferous protests of Stephen's wife.^[1][10]

At some point after the war, Stephen joined many of the men of Scarborough^[11] in a petition to Sir Peregrine Maitland, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada,^[12] refusing to serve in a company of the 2nd Regiment of the York Militia under a Captain Daniel Brooke, asserting that he had "been publicly accused by his Brother-in-law with Felony and other heinous offences, which accusations have never to our knowledge been satisfactorily answered."^[13] It seems reasonable to assume that the offending officer was replaced. But it is interesting to note that the petition referred to a company in the 2nd Regiment of York. Records exist which show that Stephen was, at different points during the War of 1812, attached to both the 1st and the 3rd Regiments as well as the Home District Militia, but it appears that after the war he was mustered with the 2nd Regiment.

On Apr. 26, 1819, Stephen Pherrill, a yeoman of Scarborough, made a land petition. He was born in New Brunswick, arrived in Upper Canada 9 years ago, had a wife and 5 children, and had purchased over 70 acres of land. ^[14]

In the years following the war, Stephen and Elizabeth would rebuild the farm and add to their family. In 1831, Stephen built the first brick house in Scarborough Township.^[15][16] On April 11, 1832, he was granted a Crown Land Patent to all 140 acres of Lot 25, Concession B, Scarborough. (Now Kingston Rd. and Brimley Rd.)^[17]
Stephen wrote his will in June of 1837, reporting his intention to travel to New Brunswick to visit his mother who was apparently still living. Stephen died in 1842 and is buried in the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church Graveyard. St. Andrew's was the first church built in Scarborough. Stephen's widow remarried a couple of times and was still fighting with the estate of his executor up to her death^[18][19], but when she died she was interred with Stephen at St. Andrew's. Their graves are located behind the site of the original 1819 church. They are buried near other early pioneers of Scarborough including David Thomson and his family.^[20]
Scarborough High School was built on land purchased in 1919 from the Pherrill Estate. Laying of the corner stone for the school (later renamed R.H. King) was on June 29, 1922.^[21]

In 2009, the municipality approved the naming of a private lane off of St. Clair Ave E. as "Pherrill Mews". The staff report noted that the development was on the site of the Adna Pherrill farm on Lot 25, Concession B, Scarborough. Adna is named as the son of Stephen Pherrill who came to Canada in 1805 from New Brunswick.^[22]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} History of the Township of Scarborough 1796-1896 David Boyle, 1896. Pg. 42.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} History of Toronto and County of York Charles Pelham Mulvany & C.B. Robinson, 1885. Biographical notices. Pages 275-276.
3. ↑ History of the Township of Scarborough 1796-1896 David Boyle, 1896. Pg. 115.]
4. ↑ Library and Archives Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, RG 9 1B7, Mikan Number: 183676, Microform: t-10379, pg. 91.
5. ↑ Wikipedia describes Button's Troop as "part of the "Stationary Express' (likely a double entendre), running dispatches throughout the war between York and Kingston."
6. ↑ Library and Archives Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, RG 9 1B7: Mikan Number:183676: Microform:t-10384, pp. 941, 979, 1007, 1019 and 1003.
7. ↑ Library and Archives Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, RG 9 1B7: Mikan Number:183676: Microform:t-10379, pp. 502, 506, 510. 514, 518, 522, 526, 530, 534 538 542 and 544.
8. ↑ Many years later, David's grandniece Fanny would marry Stephen's grandson Tilmoth.
9. ↑ History of the Township of Scarborough 1796-1896 David Boyle, 1896. Pg. 231.
10. ↑ For more on the Battle of York see:The Battle of York and the Toronto Star, April 21,2013:The Battle of York 200 Years Ago Shaped Toronto and Canada
11. ↑ Including Levi Annis and several members of the large Thomson family.
12. ↑ The petition in question was undated, but Maitland was Lt.-Governor from 1818 to 1828..
13. ↑ History of the Township of Scarborough 1796-1896 David Boyle, 1896. Pp. 231-233.]
14. ↑ Collections Canada, Upper Canada Land Petitions (1763-1865), at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/microform-digitization/006003-110.02-e.php?&q2=29&interval=50&sk=0&&PHPSESSID=npfo6qij0n1rpue06msk2mqnj1, Microfilm c-2491, pages 351-352
15. ↑ History of the Township of Scarborough 1796-1896 David Boyle, 1896. Pg. 263.]
16. ↑ An Abridged History of Scarborough Robert R. Bonis, Scarborough Public Library, no date given. Page 5.
17. ↑ History of the Township of Scarborough 1796-1896 David Boyle, 1896. Pg. 285.
18. ↑ Last will & testament of Stephen Pherrill, June 1837 and associated documents.
19. ↑ Reports of Cases Adjudged in the Court of Chancery of Upper Canada, Volume 13; Alexander Grant, Rowsell, 1868; pp. 476-484.
20. ↑ Site Map of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church Cemetery. See #24 in the key.
21. ↑ Some Humble Yet Noteworthy Events on Scarboro Heights, "James McCowan Memorial Social History Society".
22. ↑ Staff Report to Scarborough Community Council, April 24, 2009: re Pherrill Mews

See also:

• Additional details at Stephen Pherrill [Cannot be published due to copyright issues, so this passage is only for family members personal information.]

• Rubidge Family Bible, submitted by Joan Gardner Moore.

• Roots Web - Elizabeth Russell

• Photos courtesy of Joan Gardner Moore.

• Birth source - age at death on marker, 59 years 34 days, counts back to 13 Mar 1783.