We have had so many extraordinary historical characters who have played a part in our past and it’s always a pleasure to engage in the research necessary to properly document their contributions to our collective history.
Over the next six months, I shall endeavour to portray some of these historical characters as part of a series of biographical articles. We'll begin with an examination of the life and contributions of Augustus Jones.
Augustus Jones was a renaissance man holding many important roles within the history of Upper Canada.
Jones was a North American-born Upper Canadian farmer, land speculator, magistrate, militia captain and surveyor. He was born in 1757 or 1758 in the Hudson River valley of New York and would later flee as a United Empire Loyalist to Upper Canada. Jones trained as a surveyor in New York City before settling in Upper Canada, where he played a significant role in the surveying and planning of what was then Upper Canada, which included our area. He would serve as a militia captain and a magistrate in addition to his work as a surveyor and land speculator.
Jones had two Indigenous wives, a Mohawk wife and a Mississauga wife with whom he both had children. The details of his personal affairs and double families were widely known at the time, and it appears that it has caused some confusion and controversy among historians.
Jones' marriages to Indigenous women, and the children he had with them, no doubt were an important part of his life and work in Upper Canada. His dual families and relationships with the Mississauga and Mohawk tribes helped facilitate his interactions with the local Indigenous communities during his surveying and other activities.
A short list of Jones’ contributions to our local history and that of Upper Canada as a whole:
- As a surveyor: Jones was appointed as a Crown surveyor in Upper Canada in 1787. It is in this capacity that he surveyed townships and town sites throughout central Upper Canada during the 1790s, including our area.
- As a road builder: In addition to his surveying work, Jones functioned as a "master road builder," directing the cutting and clearing of Yonge Street in 1796 connecting York (Toronto) to the Holland River (see my earlier article on the building of Yonge Street).
- As a militia captain: Jones served as a militia captain in Upper Canada from 1794 to 1811.
- As a magistrate: Jones also served as a magistrate in Upper Canada.
- As a land speculator: His aim was to amass large personal landholdings like other great landholders of the day.
- As a farmer / pioneer: After leaving government service in 1800, Jones farmed for around 17 years in Saltfleet Township (near Hamilton on the south shore of Lake Ontario), becoming a prominent settler in the area.
When I am researching the history of the period, I invariably come across constant references to Augustus Jones, and his key role in the development of Upper Canada in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
If we assess an historical figure by their notable achievements, Augustus Jones must surely be close to the top of the list in Upper Canadian history.
Jones was a prolific surveyor in Upper Canada during the 1790s, laying out townships and town sites between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, along the Grand River, the north shore of Lake Ontario, and the Detroit River.
I mentioned above Jones’ militia service, magistrate service, and land speculation abilities but he was so much more. He served as the Crown paymaster locally regarding the payments made to the local Indigenous peoples that occurred at the Baptist Church in Holland Landing.
Many argue that perhaps his most notable service was indeed his ability to bridge the relationships between the colonial government and Indigenous communities in Upper Canada. His name appears in the history of the building of the first Methodist church in Newmarket when he was able to employ the local Indigenous peoples to construct the early church / school. It is surmised that it was his idea to baptize the Indigenous if they so desired and allow them to bury their young in the old cemetery on the grounds of the old Alexander Muir, the location of that first Methodist church.
From our local histories, we learn that ‘On Sunday July 23, 1836, the first anniversary, a very important missionary meeting was held at Newmarket and was attended by several Indigenous from Holland Landing and Lake Simcoe. On that Sabbath afternoon, the Rev. Egerton Ryerson preached to a large gathering which the church was too small to accommodate. Peter Jones, the famous Indian missionary, had been an early convert to Christianity by the missionaries along the Grand River. He was the son of Augustus Jones, the surveyor of Yonge Street. En route to the Indians of Holland Landing and Lake Simcoe with two of his native helpers, he visited this meeting and addressed the crowd. This is the first record of Peter Jones visiting Newmarket and the Indigenous to the north.’
Peter followed in his father’s footsteps and continued his work with the Indigenous of the area and maintained a connection to Newmarket and the area.
Augustus Jones also played a part in an ‘historical hiccup’ that concerned some government paperwork (a copy of a treaty).
It seems that the 1787 purchase of land from the Mississaugas was being protested and Simcoe scrambled to produce said deed covering the Toronto-Matchedash Purchase. Essentially, the deed had been lost. It was likely because of this oversight that the second and consequential survey of Yonge Street, conducted by Augustus Jones was substituted for the original Alexander Aitkin survey. Had they not lost the original documents, August Jones may never had been engaged to conduct another survey of the future Yonge Street.
In my earlier historical articles in this ‘NewmarketToday Remember This’ series, I emphasize the importance of the building of Yonge Street in the history of what was then York County. It is through the part that Jones played in its construction that he deserves to head any local ‘historical hall of fame’ along with Simcoe and Timothy Rogers.
Whether you call Richmond Hill, Oak Ridges, Aurora, Newmarket, or Holland Landing home, you owe Jones a vote of gratitude as he was instrumental in the development of your community. It was Jones who was charged by Simcoe with the task of surveying and clearing Yonge Street, directing the cutting, and clearing work done by the soldiers and saw the completion of this road in 1796.
We know that Jones farmed an area around present-day Richmond Hill making him an important early settler in the region.
In addition to surveying and overseeing the construction of Yonge Street, Augustus Jones was also involved in the surveying and building of several other major roads in Upper Canada:
- Dundas Street (Governor's Road): Jones surveyed the route for Dundas Street, also known as the Governor's Road, which connected Hamilton to Woodstock under a commissioned by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe in 1793.
- Jones led survey teams that cut many of the first sideroads and concession roads into the Niagara Peninsula and north shore of Lake Ontario, facilitating settlement in these areas.
- He was also involved in surveying and overseeing the construction of other early roads and transportation routes throughout Upper Canada, setting up the grid of concession roads.
Surveyors like Jones would map out the proposed routes for roads like Yonge Street and Dundas Street, then oversee the actual clearing and construction of these roads by crews of soldiers and workers. It is likely that if you live on one of the original ‘major transportation routes’ in the area, Jones likely was responsible for laying it out and having it built.
Sources: Biography – JONES, AUGUSTUS – Volume VII (1836-1850) Augustus Jones Finishes the Road - Early Days in Richmond Hill [PDF] Wellington County History Augustus Jones - Wikipedia [PDF] made to fit your world. - The Association of Ontario Land Surveyors AUGUSTUS JONES (C. 1757-1836) (Hamilton Historical Board P… [PDF] Crown Surveys in Ontario Settlement and Political Division - Upper Canada Land Surveys Road Building and Colonization in Early Ontario, 1850–1890 Augustus Jones (c. 1757 – November 16, 1836… - Flickr [PDF] AUGUSTUS JONES - Krcmar Surveyors
Newmarket resident Richard MacLeod, the History Hound, has been a local historian for more than 40 years. He writes a weekly feature about our town's history in partnership with NewmarketToday, conducts heritage lectures and walking tours of local interest, and leads local oral history interviews.
