THE TOWN LINE BLAZERS

The Town Line Blazers were an unofficial group of Orangemen that operated in the Streetsville area of Peel County, Ontario in the 1830’s and 1840’s. They were all descended from Palatine Irish that had emigrated to Canada. The leaders of the group were Harry Cole and John Miller. By all accounts they were a hard drinking tough bunch. During the 1830’s they provided the ‘muscle’ for the loyalist side during the turbulent years of William Lyon Mackenzie. They loved nothing more than breaking up his Reformer meetings. They were named after the area in which they all lived - the town line dividing Toronto Township, Peel County and Trafalgar Township, Halton County, which is today Winston Churchill Boulevard. The first Orange Lodge in the area was formed in Harry Cole’s house on Lot 8, Concession 6, Toronto Township. It later moved to Whaley’s Corners, the corner of Steele’s Avenue and Town Line. Some of the family names connected with the Town Line Blazers were the Cooks, Coles, Cantelons and Sparlings. The following are newspaper articles on the group both pro and con.

OLD TIMES ON THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN PEEL AND HALTON

In 1837 Martin Switzer was an enthusiastic admirer of William Lyon Mackenzie. He denounced the Family Compact and openly was running bullets for the rebel leader to use. Switzer sheltered Mackenzie. Harry Cole was a loyalist of the old school. He raved against Switzer and threatened to shoot him. Happily the family compact was broken without blood being shed on the Town Line.

Wrestling with the mighty forests gave vent to part of the Tipperary settlers energy but that wasn’t good enough and the warrior spirit wouldn’t settle down. Harry Cole, his son Darby, and Sparling, able seconded by all the young men in the neighbourhood, became famous over the country as fighters and were known as the "Towline Blazers". Whisky was 15 cents a gallon, strong and good. This mixed with hot Tipperary blood created serious complications. Old timers say when the Blazers visited Streetsville the denizens walked softly and with blanched faces. The late Robert Miller, son of Jacob Miller, used to tell of this crowd coming home from Streetsville one night when someone remarked that not a single fight had occurred and no Town Liner had licked anyone. Harry Cole stopped and with his followers went back and cleaned out four of Streetsville’s seven barrooms. They used shillelahs in Ireland but in Canada they felt it unfair to use anything but bare fists.

ANOTHER VERSION BY MAJOR LACHLAN BRANT IN HIS MEMOIRS -

The modern gangster had his counterpart in south western Peel county a century ago, when ruffians, known as the Town Line Blazers terrified the district. They had much in common with things today, it is recalled in the memoirs of the late Major Lachlan Brant of Georgetown who lived there during his youth. The Town Line Blazers were handicapped by the lack of modern arms, Major Brant recalls, but they used clubs, knives, and fists to good advantage. They were led by a swashing, buckling giant, John Miller, who possessed the reputation of being able to drink more, fight harder, and catch more fish than any other man in the district.

Scorning the law, he set himself as a petty king of this part of Peel and ruled with an iron hand. When it became known that he and his men were on the rampage, women sought refuge behind closed doors, and the men left to pursue their business elsewhere. The traveller who chanced upon the marauders was usually poor physically and financially, when they left him at the side of the road.

The end of the gang rule came one night at an Evangelical Camp meeting place that Miller attended to have some fun and perhaps bring the gathering to a riotous conclusion. Ironically enough the words of the speaker made a deep impression upon him, and he made an abrupt about face. He abandoned his former ways, and never took another drink. He even persuaded many of his friends to follow his example and become good sensible citizens. He and his followers turned out to be good church goers.

STREETSVILLE AND PORT CREDIT HERALD - May 9, 1940

Ancient History Stage Coach Days - by Sandy McGregor

Ginger Harris was a splendid horseman, good feeder, driver and a great horse lover, but a poor financier. He, however, got a stage coach and a bunch of horses and started business. He tried the modern plan of securing business, by cutting rates and for a time took passengers from Harris’s corners to Toronto and back, given them their dinner in Toronto for a York shilling (12 ½ cents). In every barroom at every crossroad the merits of the different stages were discussed. Many were the races between them, and large crowds assembled at the Telegraph and Globe Hotels every night to see who was the winner as the eight foaming horses guided by Ginger and Buster, galloped home. Ginger Harris however, had the longest purse and soon Buster Sterling was driven to the wall.

AN EXCITING RACE WHICH ENDED IN A FIGHT

Everyone at this time was a horse lover and many were the races indulged in. A piece of road, one mile from the corner to a thorn tree on Bob Heynon’s farm, was specially prepared and called the Kildare race course. Here weekly races were held at which large crowds gathered. One famous race that is spoken of to this day was between Joe Rutledge'’ chestnut mare, by Caldumus, and a black horse, Eclipse, owned by Jim Watterson, owner of the Telegraph Hotel. This race was pulled off in June, 1850. Tommy Minnen was famous as a jockey at that time and rode Rutledge’s mare, while a negro jockey guided the Watterson horse. A large amount of money was put up and the Rutledge mare won by a neck. Another race between the Sir Totten mare of Tome, Bill, Pete and John Sparling and a horse of J. Barnett ended in a famous fight when the Town Line Blazers wiped the earth with the Streetsville crowd.

At a Streetsville Fair in 1851 the saddlebacks were coming down in a bunch from the Junction to the winning post, which was in front of Mike Caslor’s Hotel (the spot owned by the Goodison store). Darby Cole, the hope of the Town Line Blazers, was on his Caldamus colt. Joe Rutledge was on his chestnut, while the negro rode the horse of W. Laidlaw, who ran the Tyrone House. The negro was leading, Joe Rutledge was next, Darby Cole third, and about a dozen strung out behind.

The morning had been rainy, and coming to the stretch, Joe Rutledge by a liberal application of a Beech gad, was drawing to the front, when the negro‘s colt, Harkaway, rolled over several times, becoming entangled with the Rutledge mare and thus enabling Darby Cole to win. Whisky was then only 20 cents a gallon and with hot Tipperary blood this did not finish the race. In front of the old Telegraph Hotel the fight started. The Town Line Blazers were drawing the claret from the noses of the Streetsville men. Joe Rutledge was wild, for the Streetsville horse to be beaten and the Streetsville men to be thrashed was too much for one day. His father, Commodore Rutledge, who was lame, was leaning on his blackthorn viewing the combat. Joe meant no filial disrespect but he needed the blackthorn. He grabbed it, his father falling flat on the verandah. Joe made terrible havoc among the Town Line Blazers with the stick; a man went down at every crack and soon the Town Line Blazers were glad to fly to the Town Line for safety. The Blazers still say it was unfair to fight with a stick, as the rules were nothing but knuckles.

Some of the famous horsemen of their day were James Elliott, owner of Eclipse of Ontario House; John Sterling, owner of Caldimur, of the Tyrone House; and W. Laidlaw, owner of Harkaway.

OLD TIMES ON THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN PEEL AND HALTON by Rob. Roy - Streetsville Review and Port Credit Herald - May 29, 1913

What is known of the old survey in Toronto Township was surveyed and opened for settlement in 1806. In 1808, the Township had only eight white families within its boundaries. The new survey was a dense forest of oak, elm, maple and beech trees closely covering the ground. Bears and wolves infested the area. Indians were numerous and not too friendly.

The first settlers to penetrate the area were William Kindree who settled on Lot 9, Town Line, the Divine Farm; Amos Kindree who took Lot 9, Concession 10, now Dave Cordingley’s farm; and Nathan Kindree, Lot 10 on the Town Line, now J. B. Waites’s Farm. These three brothers came in 1810, really squatters as the official survey was made in 1819. The Kindree were of Dutch origin.

In 1815 the next settler, Harry Cole, came and settled on Lot 8, Town Line, now owned by John Cook, ex. Deputy Reeve. Then from Tipperary and Kilkenny Counties came the Cooks, Sparlings, Millers, Cantelons, Dolmages, and Orrs. Isaac Waite came from Cumberland, England later. The first years none but the stout Irish hearts could have faced, but many were homesick.

The fist money the settlers made was from the sale of their ashes. An ashery was built on the farm of the present owner George Mason. Then a market was found for the white oak. The lumber was cut and split into staves, drawn to the banks of the Credit River in winter and floated down to Port Credit in the spring, loaded on schooners and taken across the lake. The white oak stave business was booming in 1823. They procured pine for building and burned the rest to clear the land for farming. The first settlers carried wheat to Springfield to the mill of Mr. Magill The toll charge was one half of the price that they received for their wheat. They purchased their groceries there until the Streetsville stores started. Marriages were performed in Springfield by the Reverend Mr. McGrath.

A new log building was erected in 1823 for a school house on the east corner of Lisgar behind where Wm. Chamber’s house now is. This was replaced by a building of hewn logs. Lucy Axford taught here for years. Jim Cantelon, Sam Cantelon, George Sparling, Joseph B. Waite, Henry Cook, John Cook, and Dave Orr attended.

Some years later Mr. Hyde, Reeve of the Township had section defined, and those at the lower end were to attend the brick school that stood just at the Streetsville junction. They rebelled and started a school house on the corner of the farm of John Miller used up until then for a residence for his men. About this time the school on the 9th Line, taught by Andrew Porter, had been abandoned and a brick building put up on the east corner of the tenth concession where pensioner McGill resided. These schools were one lot apart. There were fights between the two schools as many of the pupils were grown men. When the brick house was built, William Sparling, Jos. Orr, Thomas Robinson were trustees. The contractors jerried the job and the building had to be stayed with rods and props the first winter. It ended in a lawsuit in which the trustees nearly lost their farms. Two masons had worked at the job both called Jimmy Davidson, one Scotch and one Irish. Cross examination brought amusement at the trial both being regular Sam Millers. The building had to be torn down and the present one - white school - was put up by Mr. Gallie in 1871. John Hooper, Mr. Galbraith, now Public School Inspectors of Peel.

Mr. Metcalf, early in the history of the settlement, built a store and a hotel at Lisgar. He was followed by John Hunter, Amos Kindree, Moffat, John Holliday and Mason Bros. There was another hotel five lots up at Whaley’s Corners, another at Harris’s Corners, and seven in Streetsville, as a result much harm was done by drinking by the settlers.

In the little log school house beside the tavern at Lisgar the first religious services were held. Methodist preachers did duty. Class meetings were held on Sunday mornings at Thomas Robinson’s house, later in the house on John Miller’s farm, used as a school house, and weekly prayer meetings were held there. These buildings sufficed until 1840. Very few deaths had occurred until this time and burial had been on the west corner of Ollie May’s farm.

On January 29, 1840 a deed was registered when John Switzer sold to Samuel Switzer, David Mason and Hugh Mason, trustees of Eden Cemetery. In 1841 Switzer’s church was built and was a place of worship for years. Able preachers thundered at the sins of the time and in 1866, when Reverend Charles Fish came to the circuit, he started revival meetings which dulled the glory of the Town Line Blazers.

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