Crown Grants of Farms Now Forming Fenwick Made in 1789 and 1801

[St Catharines Standard, November 26, 1951]

Members of the Fenwick Womens Institute with a number of visitors, heard with absorbing interest an address on the early History of Fenwick, presented by their hostess Miss M. De La Mater, as she entertained the ladies at their November meeting. Typefying many long hours of research on the part of Miss De La Mater,convenor of Historical Research this paper will form the nucleus of a Tweedsmuir village history for the local Women’s Institute.

History of Fenwick

The crown grants of the farms where Fenwick is now located were made in 1798 and 1801—two to David Sharp, two to Martin McClelland and one each to Benjamin Hill and Christopher Bert. The above information said the speaker, I have from an article written by Mr. Duff in our Pelham Pnyx some years ago. Those names are lost to us now, not one appears in the early Township records in Mr. Arbrushs office. In all probability they were early speculators.

However, there are some old farms near the village. To the north was the Haney grant, according to an old Historical atlas I have from Mr. Warren Ker, the Haneys settled here in 1808. From its architecture, I should judge that the old Haney house, where the Lovas family lives now, is one of the oldest houses around here. It is a low solid brick cottage type with fireplaces that have long been closed up. The windows with their many tiny panes and the wide front door with long narrow windows on either side, mark it as being a very old house, as too does the long woodhouse attached through which a team of horses bearing cord-wood could be driven in the old days.

All of four Haney homes were built on this grant—the Lovas, the Ker, the Walker and the Julian homes of to-day.

Nunn Farms

The oldest grave in Hillside Cemetery is that  Elizabeth Hamney, 1829.

South west of the village were the Nunn farms. In the early township records, Isaac Nunn’s name appears as an overseer of the highways in 1808. His house, now the Sherwood home is another old type of architecture with wide spreading gables and cornice returns and again the old hospitable front door and tiny window panes. This house has particularly beautiful lines. Isaac Nunn’s daughter married a Mr. Garrold and this was long known as the Garrold property. West across the fields stood the old Samuel Nunn house, now the Van Berkum home, another house of the same type.

Fought With Wolfe

Coming east along the same road on which the Old Isaac Nunn house stands, we come to the old Richard Dawdy house where the Smiths now live. It, too bears the gracious marks of an old house. However, the crown grant of land to the Dawdy family was east of the village of Pelham Centre, adjacent to the cemetery and the township hall which are both on Dawdy land. The pioneer  Dawdy house was the present Wicks home.

To the east of the Richard Dawdy house is the old Jennings place were the Maksyms now live, and here we come to the earliest date of all. In 1801 the name Laurence Jennings…..

Mrs Sylvester Keenan(nee Jennings) told me that one of her forebears fought with Wolfe at Quebec.

Going north we come to the Joseph Garner grant. Mr Garner did not come until 1840 so that he is a newcomer compared with the others. He built the low frame building which now forms the back of the present house. In 1873 the brick front was added.

First Sub-division

The property lying within the village was occupied for many years by Mr. and Mrs  Jos. Leppert, now the property of Prudhomme’s Nurseries. At the back of the house there stood until a year ago an interesting old stone building with huge stone fireplace and heating oven where Mrs Garner used to bake her bread, and a huge iron pot on a crane in which she used to make soap. Mr Garner had a crown grant of 150 acres on each side of Welland Avenue. His son, Mr. Alymer Garner, with keen foresight donated the road now known as Garner Avenue, and divided the land into lots, Fenwick’s first subdivision.

Continuing north on the Pelham Stone Road we find the old Reece house, built around the original low structure. Next to it stands the James Taylor house, the home of an early nurseryman. This house has the same gracious lines as the Richard Dawdy one,

Two Churches

The village had its real beginning in the building of two churches. Why two churches should have been built within one mile of each other I do not know. One was the New Connection Wesleyan Methodist and the other to the eastward, the Episcopal Methodist, known as the Bethany Church. In 1935 the Fenwick United Church celebrated its 100 th anniversary. Rev, Cropp  got out a booklet of the history of the church with the names of all the ministers for the past 100 years. Of the early history of Bethanywehave no records, but it is believed that both frame churches were built about the same time. In 1882 Bethany built a new brick church and only two years later came the union of the Wesleyan and Episcopal Churches in Canada. Each church had a membership of 55. For a time both churches were used, morning service in one and Sunday school and evening service in the other. In 1900 the two churches united forces and built the present edifice in the village. The old frame building was brick veneered, a basement put under it and the pulpit moved from the east to the west and placed in a T-shaped addition. A year or so later the brick parsonage was built and the frame parsonage moved, The Bethany church was sold to the Presbyterians in 1901.

Then the School

After the churches came the school. And here again I quote from Mr. Duff “The first school-house lot was leased (not deeded) in 1844 by Benjamin Corwin of Stamford to James Disher, Leonard Haney and Simcoe Chapman as town wardens for the township of Pelham in the county of Lincoln in the district of Niagara. The consideration of the lease was 5 shillings, and it was stipulated that the lease was to terminate if no school was maintained for a period of 5 years.

The school trustees were Joseph Garner and James E, Hutt.

Mr George Kappler remembers attending this first school built in 1844. It was small framebuilding facing south. As  the  school yard was small, the children went across the road to play in what is now Mr. Will Boyes yard. There were no traffic hazards in these days. This frame building served until 1874 when a brick one-roomed school was built and the old building moved south east across the road to be made into a dwelling house. Many Fenwick residents of today remember the brick school, especially in the winters when the attendance was so large that the little ones had to get along the platform and the older pupils assisted the teacher in teaching. As the school population increased, a second room was formed by enclosing the two entry’s. Finally in 1910 the large brick two room addition at the front was added.

And the Taverns

After the cultural beginning of the village in church and school came the taverns. In 1845 George and Benjamin Diffin  built a hotel either where Mr. John Farr lives today or the Eberts and the place became known as Diffins Corners. It was an excellent location for a tavern where so many roads came together. At this time taverns were as common on the Canboro Rd. as gasoline stations are today. There were  two at Boyle, two at Wellandport, two at Attercliffe, two at Canboro and in the other direction two at Fonthill and three at Allanburg, counting the Black Horse built around this time. The Canboro Rd.  got its name from Benjamin Canby who bought the whole township of Canboro from the Indians and then linked it with Lundy’s Lane, using the old Indian Trail. It might be well to state that the taverns lost their right to sell intoxicating liquors in 1881, when a vote was brought about by the Temperance people to have Welland county brought under the Scott Act. Pelham gave the local option measure a majority of 86.

Fenwick Arrives

On April 1^st 1853 Diffins Corners changed its name to Fenwick when the first post office was opened with Leonard Haney as its first postmaster. I am sure Mr. Duff is right in thinking that our village took its name from Fenwick, the birth place of Dr. John Fraser

In Ayrshire, Scotland. Dr. Fraser was a very important man at this time. He was Reeve of Pelham from 1850 to 1856, and if you read the early township records you will see what an active part he and Mr. Dexter D’Everards took in the deliberations of the municipal council at old Niagara. He took considerable interest in politics being an advanced Liberal. In fact he is said to have thrown up a remunerative practice in Scotland in going against their best interests as he thought, in electing Sir George Murray, one of the Duke of Wellingtons generals, instead of the young Liberal he supported.In 1854 he attained prominence… most precious document to show you lent by Mr Armbrust. It is the record of the vote of 1854, arranged in three columns. The voter simply going in and on signifying his desire to vote, his choice was noted on the list opposite the candidate’s name, with a space given to annotations, 260 names appear on that list. In 1861 Dr. Fraser refused to be a candidate a second time. A doctor whose services were in demand for 50 miles, had no time to contest elections and travel as far Quebec  city to represent his constituents.

Dr Fraser took an active part in the separation of Welland county from Lincoln in 1856, and in securing the county town at Welland. As the first Warden of Welland county he laid the corner stone of the Welland County Court House, July 5, 1855, a building which a half a million dollar addition is to be added. Dr Fraser held other positions of honor and trust. And I think it a matter of pride that our village should bear the name of the birth place of a man of such force and talent and devotion to public service.

Another member of parliament who came from Fenwick itself was Dr. Henry R. Haney, M.P.P., for Monck, who died in 1878. He also served as superintendent of schools.

Timber Frame

One of the oldest buildings in Fenwick is Babcock’s store, of timber frame. Mr Brackbill built the store and had as partner Charles Diffin. An old never-failing well alone remains to mark where once stood the Brackbill residence moved away many years ago to become the Stringer home. The oldest dwellings are those of Mr. Armbrust, Mr.Shutic. Mr Gamble and Mr. Ker. These all have timber frames and are of hand hewn timber, and originally were a storey and a half. Mr Armbrust’s house was once the home of Rev Michael Baxter, a retired Methodist clergyman. It was he who gave Baxter’s Lane to the municipality in lieu of the road which originally connected Maple Avenue with Welland Avenue. He too built what today is the Red and White store for A.O. Stringer, an early teacher, who wished to retire to a mercantile business. A little marble altar in Hillside Cemetery marks his grave—1889. Mr Conn lived in the Shutic house. It was  he who planted the maple trees which give Maple Avenue its name. Mrs Lew Haney told me that she had often heard her husband tell of the pride he felt as a little boy at earning a penny for each tree he held upright for Mr Conn to fill in.

First With Hall

The Lauren Brown house was the first to be built with a hall.

Mr Sisler rebuilt the old Henry Miller home into what was considered at the time, a very fine house. He also built the Eastman house. In order that the bricks might retain their red color, he had them soaked in beer, an old German custom.

A drill hall, 120 ft by 100 ft of braced timbers and large double barn doors, once stood south of the United Church.

It was here that Captain Haney drilled a company of volunteer infantry which he had recruited for the 44^th battalion at the time of the Fenian Raid of 1866. For a long time the men kept their rifles here. Later it was used as a community hall. Mr Tunnicliffe remembers as a boy attending a 12^th of July celebration there with speeches and two bands in attendance. Later it held the exhibits when the fair was held here and still later it became a skating rink.