REMINDERS OF THE PAST – THE GONDER HOUSE

By Eva Elliot Tolan

[There are many such articles by this historian in the Niagara Falls Library, digital collection, but this one that I found in my mother’s file is not there, circa 1950s’. Margaret Gonder, wife of first Welland citizen David Price, is my ancestral grandmother.]

Last week we had the privilege of visiting one of the very few old homes still remaining in the Niagara district. This was the old Gonder house on the Upper Niagara River, now the home of Mr. and Mrs. J.A. McTaggart.

Michael Gonder, the original owner and builder of this fine old house, was a Loyalist from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He had tried to remain neutral during the War of the Revolution, but was so persecuted by the rebels, even to the extent of having his buildings burned, that he finally decided to migrate to Canada.

Michael’s wife, Eva Snyder, sometimes referred to as “Rebecca,” refused to leave her Pennsylvania home, so she and her husband divided their four children between them, she keeping the two fair ones and he bringing the two dark-complexioned ones to Canada with him-these were Margaret and Jacob.

The Gonders stayed for a while at Niagara, (Niagara-on-the-Lake) waiting to buy a suitable piece of land. John Rowe, a resident of Stamford Township and former soldier in Butler’s Rangers, had received as part of his land grant, Lot 6 on the broken front of the Upper Niagara River, opposite Grand Island. This Michael Gonder purchased. He was classed as a “later” or “treasuery “Loyalist, because he purchased his land, instead of receiving it as a reward for military services, as did the original United Empire Loyalists. The later Loyalists, however, were also required to take the oath of allegiance to the British Crown before being given their deeds to their land.

On his land on the Upper Niagara River, Michael Gonder built what in those days was a very imposing dwelling in contrast to the usual log homes of the first settlers. It was built of stone, but some subsequent owner had the stones covered with stucco, this altering its appearance. The interior, too, has been altered by successive owners one of the most regrettable changes being the removal of the old fireplaces. However, in the attic and cellar may still be seen the huge hand-hewn oak timbers, marked in many places with the mark of the axe. The windows and doorways are wide and deep, indicating the thickness of the original stone walls.

At the back of the house on the second floor was the long, narrow loom room, home of that period when so much hand-weaving was done.

There were eight bedrooms in the old house, which, in early days was a favorite stopping place for immigrants and other travellers going west. The Gonder house was always open for these _.

During the latter part of the war of 1812-14 the Gonder house was used by General Drummond as his military headquarters. At one time, in later years, it was also used as a temporary barracks for soldiers stationed on the frontier.

While the Gonders were still staying at Niagara, Margaret, the daughter, had met and fallen in love with a man forty years her senior. This was David Price, an interpreter in the Indian Department. Naturally the father frowned on this affair but the couple had decided to elope at the first opportunity. Accordingly, after they were settled in their new home on the Upper Niagara River, Margaret’s father and brother went over to Grand Island to attend to some cattle they had pastured over there. A man came riding along the River Road with a white handkerchief tied around his arm. Br pre-arrangement Margaret wore a white sunbonnet as she worked outdoors in the garden, to indicate she was alone. So the couple rode away to Niagara to be married by Rev. Robert Addison of St. Mark’s Church. This was in 1800.

But as time went on all was forgiven. David price had acquired a farm on the Welland River on the site of the present city of Welland. Michael, leaving his Niagara River property to his son, Jacob Gonder, in his later years went to live with his daughter, Margaret  and her husband, David Price. When death finally claimed this old pioneer he was buried in the family burying ground on the Price farm, on the banks of the Welland River.

One of the Gonder girls of a later generation married a Sherk, so in time, the Gonder farm on the Upper Niagara became known as the Sherk place, and is still known by that name today among older residents.

Three-quarters of a mile back from the river, on the Gonder farm is the old Gonder family burying ground, where many of the Gonder family were buried. One of the old-gravestones marks the last resting place of Jacob Gonder. Jacob, as a young lad, came with his father Michael to live on the Niagara River. He was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1776, and died here in 1846. Here also is the last resting place of Jacob’s son, Michael Dunn Gonder, and his wife, Mary Ann Wait. The latter was a niece of the notorious Benjamin Wait, a resident of the Short Hills area, who, for a number of others, was sentenced to die for their share in the Rebellion of 1837-38. His sentence was finally commuted and he with a number of other, was banished to the penal colony in Van Dieman’s Land, for which he escaped some years later, returning to his home and family in Canada.