Stock photo
With files from The Keeper of the Scrapbooks — Christina ‘tina’ Camelon Buchanan — Thanks to Diane Juby— click here..
With files from Mary Ann Chabot
My grandmother was born Mary Scott, daughter of William Scott Sr. of Fallbrook,Ontario. She married my grandfather Richard Reynolds who was a lumberman. They both emigrated to Michigan in the early 1800s and a few years later they returned to Ontario in May of 1889.
The family settled near St. George’s Lake ( Oso Township) and my grandfather went to work at Allan’s Mills near Glen Tay. ( read- Allan’s Mills— Lanark County Ghost Town) Saturday was part of the work week in those days and it was very hard to spend time with family and he tried to find something closer. The new mill at Glen Tay opened up and it was busy which made housing very scare. However, they found a home that no one wanted– a haunted one. Rumour was in the area that this particular house was ‘badly haunted” but her grandparents decided to rent it, haunted or not. They lived in that house until 1883 when they moved to the toll house on Scotch Line.
When I moved to Glen Tay with my husband and family in 1961, my mother, Elizabeth Jones, with the help or Mr. Guy Leonard was able to show me almost exactly where the toll house once stood. It was on the west side of the straight stretch of the road just before the Y where the Scotch Line separates from the paved road. The road past Dr. Allan’s farm was referred to by my mother and Mr. Leonard as Kingston Hill. The toll house had been a light coloured, two storey frame building sitting very close to the road with a twin stile between the house and the gate. The gate itself was a wooden one with a box of stones on the back end to make it easier to operate.
The gate was to be closed as much as possible on the weekdays and when closed must be attended. It was left open for funerals or when there was no one around to attend it. The toll was 5 cents for a single horse vehicle, ten cents for a team and walking was free through the turnstile.
The first 7 dollars collected monthly went to the local council and anything over that was my grandmother’s wages beside the rent-free house. If the gate was closed at night, a lantern was lit, and placed on the gate post. This was left to my grandmother whether she wanted to stay up and tend to the gate. One story was told how a gypsy caravan paid their toll at night and went quickly up the Kingston Hill with a stolen neighbour boy. In short time riders from all points rescued the boy from the gypsies.
A travelling medicine road show came through the gates once and they told her to tell everyone about the show that was going to be right near Mr. Kelford’s home. Many people came to see the show and hear the music. However, the main event was a trained bear and that very evening he became angry and killed his trainer on the spot. The women and children ran from the place and someone shot the bear. The body was loaded into a wagon and they buried the man and the bear side by side in the grove of trees across from the road from the turn off.
There were weddings and loads of young people going to the dances in Stanleyville going through the gate. Some would tell my grandmother they would pay her on the way back knowing full well she would be in bed by the time they came back. But sometimes she would stay up and wait for them if there had been a good bunch going. She also told of an Irishman who kept a general store in Stanleyville but drew his wares from Perth. She recalled that most times he was the worse for wear on his trip after frequenting the drinking establishments in Perth. One trip made at Christmas that year a case of hard candy was spilled and a path of bright candy lay on the snow. My mother remembers picking them up and having the most candy of her young life.
Sometime in the mid to late 1890s my grandparents sold the toll gate and settled in the village of Crows Lake. As my grandmother grew near to the end of her life she would cry out sometimes and call in a clear voice you could hear her say,
“Open the gate Mrs. Reynolds!” and we would know that in her dear confused mind she was once again the keeper of the toll gate on the Scotch Line.
Editor’s Note- It has been reported that there was a second toll gate on the Scotch Line just past Rogers Road.
With files from The Keeper of the Scrapbooks — Christina ‘tina’ Camelon Buchanan — Thanks to Diane Juby— click here..
STOCK PHOTO
In the mid-1850s the Scotch Line Road Company established a toll-road from Perth
westward along eight miles (12.9 Km) of Bathurst Concession-1, the town line between the
Townships of Bathurst and North Burgess. The Scotch Line toll-road later came under the sole
proprietorship of Brockville businessman John Wardrope (1816-1893) click here
The Tay Valley township comprises the communities of Althorpe, Bathurst Station, Bells Corners, Bolingbroke, Bolingbroke Siding, Brooke, Christie Lake, DeWitts Corners, Elliot, Fallbrook, Feldspar, Glen Tay, Harper, Maberly, Playfairville, Pratt Corners, Scotch Line, Stanleyville and Wemyss.
Originally settled in 1816. Stanleyville is now a quiet little Hamlet with a small number of homes, farming and a big church.
Was there a Hazelton’s Furniture Ware House in Stanleyville?
The photo below of a Hazelton Furniture store, provided by a local contributor, is thought to have a Stanleyville connection, according to the caption. Specifically, the caption reads:
“My great-aunt Evelyn Dooher (1888-1974) wrote on the envelope containing this tintype photograph: “Hazelton’s Furniture ware room Canada about 1870”. Mother always kept this. I think they were cousins as she had pictures of the Hazelton girls.” Evelyn’s mother was Mary Ann (McParland) Dooher (1861-1939), who was born and raised in Stanleyville, near Perth, Ontario. If this photo was taken in Stanleyville, I wonder if the church to the right rear of the store could be St. Bridget’s.” —From the Perth & District Historical Society
well that is wrong –Karen Prytula said-
Hi Linda
I answered the question about the Hazelton furniture store a few years ago. It is in Newboro, not Stanleyville. See caption below the pic. It is right beside the church as you can see the church in the background on the right. I came across this information when I was doing some paid research for a McCann family in Ireland. [image: image.png]
Bye for now Karen Prytula
Circumscription: Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kingston
Type: 
Church
Rite: Roman (Latin)
History: 1889
Population: 160
Location: 87P5RM5R+92 
Address: 869 Stanley Road, Stanleyville, ONTARIO
Country: Canada
Related Reading
Minnie Jones — Born Next to the Old Lanark Toll Gate
For Whom the Toll Gates Tolled– Revised
Armstrong’s Corners: Cross Roads of History
The Toll Gates of Lanark County on Roads that Were Not Fit for Corpses
Allan’s Mills— Lanark County Ghost Town
BARBARIC RELICS
Lanark County’s Toll-Roads
| Name: | Mary Reynolds |
|---|---|
| Gender: | Female |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Age: | 30 |
| Birth Year: | abt 1861 |
| Birth Place: | Ontario |
| Residence Date: | 1891 |
| Residence Place: | Bathurst, Lanark South, Ontario, Canada |
| Relation to Head: | Wife |
| Religion: | Methodist |
| Can Read: | Yes |
| Can Write: | Yes |
| French Canadian: | No |
| Spouse’s Name: | Richard Reynolds |
| Father’s Birth Place: | Ontario |
| Mother’s Birth Place: | Ontario |
| Division Number: | 1 |
| Neighbours: | View others on page |
| Household MembersAgeRelationshipRichard Reynolds33HeadMary Reynolds30WifeWilliam Reynolds13SonSophia Reynolds9DaughterEdward Reynolds4SonElizabeth Reynolds2Daughter |
| Name: | Mary Reynolds |
|---|---|
| Gender: | Female |
| Racial or Tribal Origin: | Irish |
| Nationality: | Canada |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Age: | 60 |
| Birth Year: | abt 1861 |
| Birth Place: | Ontario |
| Residence Date: | 1 Jun 1921 |
| House Number: | 130 |
| Residence Street or Township: | Oso |
| Residence City, Town or Village: | Township of Oso |
| Residence District: | Frontenac |
| Residence Province or Territory: | Ontario |
| Residence Country: | Canada |
| Relation to Head of House: | Wife |
| Spouse’s Name: | Richard Reynolds |
| Father Birth Place: | Ontario |
| Mother Birth Place: | Ontario |
| Can Speak English?: | Yes |
| Can Speak French?: | No |
| Religion: | Church of England |
| Can Read?: | Yes |
| Can Write?: | Yes |
| Municipality: | Oso |
| Enumeration District: | 8 |
| Sub-District: | Oso |
| Sub-District Number: | 7 |
| Enumerator: | J Wesley Thomlison |
| District Description: | Comprising the whole township of Oso. Sharbot Lake, Oso station, Clarendon, Crow Lake |
| Neighbours: | View others on page |
| Line Number: | 23 |
| Family Number: | 141 |
| Household MembersAgeRelationshipRichard Reynolds63HeadMary Reynolds60WifeLloyd Reynolds22SonHarold Reynolds19SonEber Reynolds16Son |
lindaseccaspina 