The Esson Family

History of Esson's in Otonabee Twp.
1820 - Present

George Esson & Family
1776 - 1851

1st Generation

George Esson was born in Jul. 1776 in Kincardine Scotland. He married Margaret Shair Thompson in 1805. They lived near Kincardine, Scotland, Tulliallen Parish, Perthshire, Scotland, this was where some of their children where christened. This leads me to believe that they lived between Kincardine and Perthshire. His trade was a weaver and he made a reasonable wage, about 30 - 40 shillings a week. Then things took a turn for the worse. The industrial age had started, steam power and machines were changing the economic situation and the first to be hit were the weavers as machines took over, wages dropped to about 7 shillings and 6 pence a week for top quality material to 4 shilling and 6 pence a week for less skilled weavers. Also, the introduction of cotton hurt the business also.

To further compound the problems facing George was the fact that the Battle of Waterloo ended in 1815 and returning soldiers added to the work force made finding a job very hard and wages very low. So seeing his world crumbling around him, George gave some thought to immigrating to Canada to start a new life. A neighbour John Fife Jr. was also having a hard time finding work and George told him of his plans to go to Canada. They talked to John Fife Sr. and plans were made that both families would leave in the spring of 1820.

Now let me fill you in.
In 1820 George was 44 years old, a weaver by trade. Margaret his wife was 35, and three months pregnant when they left Scotland.
Children were Thomas 14,
Alexander 12,
Robert and Daniel (twins) 9,
Janet 6,
Thailon 4
Helen 4

Now in May of 1820 George sold everything and prepared for the New World, he would need food and supplies to last at l east until the summer of 1821 when they might have crops and a garden. They would need tools to clear the land, build a cabin, and make any necessary furniture or implements. Also they would need seeds for the crops they might plant and for the garden. To Margaret the list would seem endless but they could only take the necessities. The War of 1812 was over and Upper Canada was under the control of the British. There were towns in Upper Canada along Lake Ontario, Cornwall, Kingston, Cobourg, Port Hope, York (Toronto) and the rest of the land north of these towns was called "The Front." I guess this meant the front of the wilderness. It had only been traveled by the fur traders, missionaries and explorers. So George was going to bring his family here and carve out a home for his family, a very big undertaking for anyone, but with the economic strife and political pressures in Scotland I guess that it seemed the logical choice.

So on May 24th 1820 George Esson and his family along with John Fife Sr. and his family boarded the good ship "Hope" and saying good-bye to old Scotland they set off to create a new life for themselves in the New World.
Ships, "to use the term loosely", were not well equipped to carry passengers. There were no dining salons or cabins for passengers. Passengers had to fend for themselves, cooking on deck, staying out of the way of the sailors, helping out when needed, sleeping quarters were in the hold amongst the supplies and trade goods. It must have been a challenge in itself to entertain 6 children on the long voyage and to keep them from falling overboard. Oh, the patience and fortitude of our forefathers and mothers.

After enduring some three months at sea and weathering a few storms and illness, they landed at Quebec. They then traveled past Montreal and Kingston to Port Hope, this part of their journey was by ferry sometimes being pulled by horses on the shore if winds were not favorable. They arrived in Port Hope in early September. The women and children were left in Port Hope possibly camped in tents on the outskirts of town. George Esson, John Fife Sr. and his son John Fife Jr. then headed north to Rice Lake guided by the marks of an axe on trees where they found an Indian with a boat willing to take them across for the fee of about four dollars. Rice Lake is a long lake running east and west, only a small breeze can cause waves which can make the crossing very dangerous in a small boat. They landed safely in Otonabee Twp. near the Fourth Line on Sept. 14 1820 more than four months had passed since leaving Scotland. They struck their flint, kindled a fire and mixed some flour with Rice Lake water, using the fine ashes as a leaven for their cake. Then it was baked in a kettle buried in the ashes and covered with coals. John Sr. often said that it was the sweetest cake he ever ate. They then made their way to John Stewart's shanty where they were greeted with a "guid" Scotch welcome. They spent the night sleeping on the hearth with Mr. Stewart and his guest Sandy Spiers.

The next morning they walked up to the locality of the fourth line about Lot 21/22 Otonabee Twp. The township had been surveyed in 1819 into 1,000 acre lots. Upon arriving here, being hungry they again built a fire and set their oatmeal to boil. Alas, they had left their spoons behind at Mr. Stewart's. They whittled spoons from wood and while busy the shavings caught fire and before they were aware of it, a stub burned off and fell on their fire upsetting their porridge into the fire and leaving them without food. They decided that they had gone far enough. George said "we may as well take this land where we are. I will take this on the south." Mr. Fife took the land on the north, thus they established homesteads for their families and future generations. They then returned to John Stewart's shanty for the night, got their spoons and returned to Port Hope the next day.

Upon their return to Port Hope Mr. Esson and John Fife Jr. left for York, (Toronto) to obtain the claims (deeds) for the lands they had selected, walking all the way to York. They had to go before the land agent and take the oath of allegiance. The fee for administering the oath was 7 shillings and 6 pence. Then they were given a location ticket for whatever land they might select. This ticket entitled him to a free grant of 50 acres on completion of certain settlement duties, the second 50 acres upon payment of 4 pounds, and an additional 200 acres on paying 36 pounds. Upon receiving this grant they returned to Otonabee Twp.

George obtained his Free Land Grant on Sept. 19 1820, leaving the wife and children in Port Hope. This was late Sept. and they had to erect a shanty or cabin for winter was fast approaching. So George, John Sr. and John Jr. worked together to build their shanties, the Fife's being done first, Mrs. Fife and her children arrived at their homestead in late October.

The three shanties were about 18 by 20 built of logs with poles on top covered with green boughs. Beds were made by placing poles in the walls and covering them with hemlock boughs. The spaces between the logs were stuffed with grass and mud and the floor was dirt.

Food was porridge, cakes made with flour, apples, crab apples, wild raspberries, meat was anything from rabbits, squirrels, partridges and occasionally deer or do without.
The settlement duties consisted of building a shanty or house on a clearing of 2 acres. Also required was the clearing of the brush and timber along the lot line a total width of 6 rods. This had to be completed in 18 months. This clearing of the lot line was the makings of the first road allowances. Originally the road allowance was on the north side of the property, but at present it runs along the south side of the property.

The first winter they worked cutting and clearing the lot line and the land around the shanty. They had to be ready in the spring to plant their gardens and any crops so the more land they cleared the more crops they would have to supplement their food supply. Their main crop would be wheat for flour, also corn for corn meal and the usual garden plants carrots, potatoes, onions, turnips, parsnips, cabbage etc.

Animals would have to be bought as horses were needed to plough the land and move logs, cows were needed for milk and butter, pigs were a good supplier of pork, chickens for eggs and eating, and sheep for wool.

Margaret Esson was born in Port Hope on Nov. 10 1820, the first white child to be born in Port Hope. When Margaret was but six weeks old, middle of December, the Esson family moved up into Otonabee. The journey was an arduous one and was performed in the early part of the winter. The older daughter, Nellie, was placed on her father's back with her blanket wrapped around both, without which she surely would have frozen to death. Thence they tramped through the snow to their new home. The mother, with her new baby on her knee was drawn on a hand sleigh across Rice Lake.

When Margaret was seven month old, her mother became ill with the ague (a very prevalent disease at the time), and remained so for nine months, During this time her chief food was potatoes and occasionally gruel made with flour and water. Also a woman from Cobourg gave her a hen that laid an egg every day. This was always given to the sick mother, who said it was that which kept her alive. To add to their discouragement's, one day at dinner, the shanty caught fire. George Esson picked up his wife and baby, carrying them out and laid them on a flat stone in the snow. The shanty was burned to the ground and only a few things were snatched out.

A second log house was at once built on the "Fairy Glen Farm". The babe was attended to by her brother, who first chewed the food himself then fed it to her. He said she became just like a little bird, opening up her mouth to receive it. After a while Margaret was taken to the home of Rev. Mr. Hayden at Cold Springs in the township of Hamilton as they has a cow and she could be fed properly on milk. There were no cows in Otonabee at this time. As her father was carrying her there , he became hungry and laying her down, began to eat the huckleberries growing around; but he wandered off and lost the child. After a desperate search he found her, but she was the colour of the earth, so covered was she with mosquitos. When the second log cabin was completed, Margaret was returned to her parents after an absence of six months. As there were no oxen, the men had to draw the logs for their shanties (and for burning) themselves. It took twelve men to pull one log, so one can imagine the tedious work, the men and women both worked skidding the logs into heaps, whilst the children gathered the chips and flung them on top to be burned. After a time some tried to make money by selling the potash made from the ashes in the burnt fallows, but never did succeed very well. Money was so scarce that the settlers forbade their relatives at home writing, as they could not afford the postage, which was one shilling and four pence.

When the logs were burnt the ground was hoed between the stumps and potatoes were planted. They grew abundantly in the rich, new soil. As long as the men had money, they got flour from Cobourg by tramping thirty miles along a blazed trail and carrying a bag home on their backs. But when the tiny supply of money was done, they got no more credit at Cobourg and had to thresh the little wheat that they grew themselves among the stumps by beating it with flails on the hard ground. This was done by the men at night after logging in the woods from early morn. They separated the chaff by throwing the grain in the air on a windy day and thus letting the chaff blow away. This was called "Winnowing". They took the grain, one bag at a time to the lake shore and on a tiny boat of their own making, went up the Otonabee River to Peterborough (then called "The Swamps"), pulling their boat over land past the rapids where the locks are now. As this was a good days work, the grinding had to be done at night and on the next morning they started home again with their precious freight.

When George Esson got oxen, his son made a wooden sleigh called a "Jumper" and took wheat to Cobourg four bags at a time. For a bushel of wheat he received not money, but the princely exchange of one yard of factory cotton or red bandana handkerchief. The reason of this was that on the front they grew enough wheat for their own use and had not yet begun to export.

George Esson had the first horse in Otonabee, and so was considered well to do. Then he bought three sheep at Cobourg and drove them up on the frozen lake. They were placed in a tiny pen directly in front of the door, but alas, a wolf came by one night and devoured the three. After a time , he got a cow and so had the luxury of milk and butter. They tapped the trees and made maple syrup and sugar. Fortunately they had a large pot for "boilin" down" which was very slow work when done in the house. One old woman, a new arrival, was told how to make sugar, but as she was not succeeding quickly enough to suit her, she glowered into the pot of boiling sap and impatiently exclaimed, "I dinna see however ye make sugar out o' that stuff, I hae; been boiling at it for twa long 'oors and I dina see anything like sugar yet." If there be a good run of sap during a day they had to work till midnight boiling it down to be ready for the next days run.

Until Margaret was nine years old, she had no boots or stockings. In winter she and the other children used to go out in their bare feet and see which could go the deepest into the snowbanks. When they became cold, they ran into the house and stood beside the fire, with the melting snow running down their limbs. When she was ten years old, she and a number of other children were driven down in a big wooden sleigh to Lang's house in Stewart's Clearance to be christened. The cause of delay in Baptism was the infrequent visits of a minister from Cobourg. As the sleighload was passing over a still existing corduroy road, the sleigh upset and all were thrown out except Margaret who held fast to a rope joining two corners of the sleigh.

Just about the same time she went to school in Keene for six weeks. That was all the schooling she received (even at that, she was possessed of a wide knowledge of affairs which home teaching had developed). Morning and evening she walked a distance of five and one half miles. The teacher was very brutal. He held that the only way to teach a child was by beating it continually. His favourite mode of punishment was to have the child hold the tips of their fingers together and then strike them with a heavy ruler. Every time they drew back and he fanned the air they received two strokes to atone for his loss of dignity. He never whipped them but they went home blistered. The only book used in the school was the New Testament and pieces of slate were used to write on. To help occupy the time, the teacher used to teach dancing, If the person applying for the teacher's position could read the tenth chapter of Nehemiah, he was accepted.

Until she married, Margaret always worked outside, always doing a man's work. She once said to me. "What would you think of starting to cut a ten acre field of grain with a sickle?"

Her bridal party rode to Peterborough on horseback, the bride's bridesmaid being chosen because she was the only woman around, excepting the bride, who could ride on horseback. On the way the bride's horse became beyond control and dashed on, with the bride clinging in terror to it's mane and the rest of the party in hot pursuit, However, there was no accident and the wedding took place in St. John's Church. This was the first English church built in Peterborough. They were married Oct. 15 1839. Margaret went to live with her husband on the Fife homestead for her husband had been the youngest son and he remained at the old home.

George seemed to fair quite well for in 1860 it shows that he had 200 acres on Lot 21 Con 4 of Otonabee Twp. There was a road on the north and south side of his property as well as up both sides. Here George Alexander, Jane and Isabella were born.

George Sr. died in Mar. 16, 1851 and left 56 children and grandchildren.

Obituary Printed in the "Peterborough Dispatch" dated May 22 1851.

George Esson on Tuesday 16th at his residence in the Township of Otonabee, aged 75 yrs. and 9 mos. Of an illness which he bore with exemplary fortitude and perfect resignation to the will of Heaven.
Mr. George Esson Sr., One of the oldest settlers of this Township, a neighbour, and a friend sincerely and universally esteemed and regretted. Mr. Esson leaves a widow and 56 children and grandchildren to deplore his loss.

George Esson, b-Aug. 1775, d-Mar. 16 1851
Married in 1805 in Scotland
Margaret Shair Thompson, b-1785, d-Aug. 9 1870

Their children were:
Thomas, b-July 16 1806 d-Jan. 15 1881, married Elizabeth Carr.
Alexander, b-Nov. 4 1808 d-Mar. 19 1882, married Jane Gillespie.
*Daniel, b-Jan. 24 1811, d-Dec. 18 1894, married Isabella Wood.*
Robert, b-Jan. 24 1811, d-Oct. 6 1888, married Nancy Ingram.
James, b-1812, d- in Scotland.
William, b-1812, d- in Scotland.
George, b-Jan 30 1813, d- in Scoltand.
Janet, b-Nov 2 1814, d-Feb. 28 1879, married David Nelson.
Thailon, May 31 1817, d-Oct 22 1882.
Helen, May 31 1817, d- in Scoltand.
Margaret, b-Nov. 10 1820, d-1909, married Alexander Fife.
George, b-Jan, 15 1823, d-Feb. 7 1877, married Sarah Unknown.
Jane, b-May 10 1825, d-Jan. 21 1916, spinster.
Isabella, b-1828, d-1887, married Evans Ingram.

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Daniel Esson & Family
1811 - 1894

2nd Generation

Daniel Esson third son of George Esson and Margaret Shair Thompson.
Also twin brother of Robert, was born in Kincardine, Scotland in Mar. 22 1811. He was 9 when he arrived in Otonabee Twp. He helped his father clear his farm and learned the ways of farming.

He married Isabella Wood, daughter of Robert Wood and Mary Hogarth of Roxburgshire, England. Mary Hogarth had died in England and Robert Wood married Alice Gillespie in Otonabee and they settled on Lot 13 Con 3 Otonabee Twp. in about 1836, so they where neighbours of George Esson, Daniel's father.

Daniel acquired Lot 23 Concession 6 from David Nelson, who received a Free Land Grant for it in 1820, So this became Daniel and Isabella's homestead. Later Robert Wood Esson's farm, Kenneth Wesley's farm, & Robert "Keith" Esson's farm.
Thomas his older brother bought Lot 22 Con 6, and his twin brother Robert bought Lot 24 Con 6 . This area was known as 'Essonville' by the locals at this time.

Daniel also acquired the farm on Lot 23 Con 5, and in 1860 build a 2 story brick house there, where he moved to in later years, Leaving the original farm to his son Robert Wood Esson.

Lot 23 Con 6 is a very hilly piece of property and clearing it must have been very difficult, some of the fields in the "Back 50" are just ridges cleared with lowlands on either side and run northeast-southwest.

I can remember going there and seeing the original log cabin, which had been moved into the barnyard just east of the pond, being used as a tool shed and workshop.
A small stone house with two bedrooms upstairs was built, with a clapboard kitchen attached, later a two story brick house was built and the stone part was the kitchen and the clapboard addition was used as a summer kitchen and later as a storage shed.

Lot 23 Concession 6

Lot 23 Concession 6

Article by Flossie Tinker
Hitching His First Horse Embarrassing For Jock Wood - Daniel's Brother in Law

To learn to harness, hitch, and drive a horse was after all a somewhat complicated task when one was used to the simple task of yoking Oxen.
In the early 1800's when Jock Wood of Otonabee, bought his first horse he wanted to make no mistakes with the unaccustomed animal. He went to his brother-in-law Daniel Esson, for full instructions. To prevent any blunders being made later, he insisted , therefore , that these instructions be written, so one by one Daniel dictated them to his son, Thomas Sandy.
At last the big occasion came for Jock to hitch his horse to drive to Allandale (Lang) for the mail. One direction after another he read and carefully followed until the process of harnessing the horse and hitching it to the buckboard was completed. Splendid ! Jock surveyed it, felt pleased as punch as everything stood ready for action. Now the last direction. He took the paper and read "Hit the horse with a gad and yell, Gang Aheed."
Excitement surged through him, He'd soon know how to hitch the horse without reading directions.
He hit the horse with a gad and it dashed wildly up the road leaving him standing there, screaming "blue murder" after it.
Poor Jock saw his buckboard bounding over the rough road and banging against trees until it was smashed. That accident, Jock concluded, was sufficient reason for not speaking to Daniel for many months. He declared the faulty directions had not told him to mount the seat of the buckboard before applying the whip to the horse.

Daniel Esson b-Jan. 24 1811, d-Dec. 18 1894, son of George Esson married Isabella Wood abt. 1835.
They resided in Otonabee Township on Lot 23 Concession 6.

Their children were:
George, b-Oct. 17 1840, d-Nov. 26 1927, married Jean 'Jane' Speirs.
Mary, b-Mar. 14 1844, d-Mar 26 1845
Margaret, b-Feb. 2 1846, d-Jul. 20 1920, married Daniel Esson (son of Robert).
Alice, b-Jul. 4 1848 d-Apr. 8 1875, married John Plunkett.
Isabella, b-Aug. 29 1850, d-Jun. 3 1917, married George Fife.
*Robert, b-Nov. 10 1853, d-Oct. 9 1926, married Clara Robertson.*
Daniel, b-Feb. 9 1855, d-Mar. 30 1935, bachelor.
Thomas, b-Aug. 15 1859, d-Dec. 4 1924, married Isabella Byram.
James, b-Feb. 4 1863, d-Jul. 17 1934, married Margaret Hope.

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Robert Wood Esson & Family
1853 - 1926

3rd Generation

The farm Lot 23 Con 6 was left to Robert Wood Esson who married Clara Robertson Mar. 30 1881, daughter of Thomas Robertson and Adeline Henderson Reynolds of Norwood. They raised a family of one son, Kenneth Wesley and 5 daughters.
Leaving the original farm on Lot 23 Con 6 to his son Kenneth Wesley Esson, Robert and Clara later moved to Lot 23 Con 5.

Lot 23 Concession 5

Robert, b- Nov. 10 1853 son of Daniel Esson married Clara Robertson in Nov. 1881.
They also resided in Otonabee Township on Lot 23 Concession 6.

Their children were:
*Kenneth, b- Oct. 22 1882, d- Mar. 7 1956, married Flora Morrison.*
Florence, b- Mar. 26 1884, d- Feb. 7 1971, married Joseph Morrison.
Clara 'Emiline', b- Nov. 15 1888, d- Dec. 1 1957, married Russell Renwick.
Mary, b- Jun. 13 1892, d- Jul. 10 1974, spinster.
Roberta, b- May 16 1896, d- Mar. 14 1978, spinster.
Hazel, b- 1898, d- Aug 24 1903, Age 5.

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Kenneth Wesley Esson & Family
1882 - 1956

4th Generation

Kenneth Wesley Esson married Flora Morrison daughter of John Morrison and Elizabeth Mary Harvey .
A little over a year later Kenneth's sister Florence Esson married his wife's brother Joseph Morrison and lived just south of them.

Kenneth took over the farm on Lot 23 Lot 23 Con 6 and He and Flora raised a family of 3 boys and 2 girls including a set of twins.
The twins Robert "Keith" and Grace Adele born April 1918, interesting note, "Keith" was found to be allergic to milk as a baby and survived by catching the juices squeezed out of oatmeal porridge and feeding him this, also he was kept warm by placing him in a basket placed on the open door of the cook stove.

Kenneth and Flora retired to the farm on Lot 23 Con 5 as had his parents and grandparents, leaving the farm to Keith and his wife Laura Taylor. Keith sold the farm in 1974 the farm having been in the family for almost 140 years.

Lot 23 Concession 5

5th Generation Kenneth, b- Oct. 22 1882 son of Robert Wood Esson married Flora Morrison Dec. 25 1912.
They also resided in Otonabee Township on Lot 23 Concession 6.

Their children were:
*Kenneth 'Murray', b- Apr. 12 1914, d- Jan. 8 1992, married Jean Garbutt.*
Grace Adele, b- Apr. 22 1918, d- Feb. 16 2004, married Irvine McIntosh.
Robert 'Keith', b- Apr. 22 1918, d- Dec. 18 1996, married Laura Taylor.
Hazel 'Fern', b- Aug. 20 1919, d-____, married Alfred Doig.
Ivan 'Elwood', b- Jun. 2 1921, d-Jun. 23 1989, married Doreen Bidgood.

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Kenneth "Murray" Esson & Family
1914 - 1992

5th Generation

Kenneth "Murray" Esson eldest son of Kenneth Wesley, married Jean Isobel Garbutt youngest daughter of Charles Wellington Garbutt and Ethel Jane Charlton of Lakefield on Jun 15 1946.
After residing in Peterborough for 8 years yearning for the open spaces of country life, Murray bought a hobby farm of 11 acres on Lot 26 Con 6 a half mile north of his homestead.

Lot 25 Concession 6

Murray worked at Canadian General Electric in Peterborough, and He and Jean raised a family of four, 3 daughters and one son. In his spare time he had a stable of ponies, a total of over 18 which where the delight of his children when growing up. He also had large gardens of flowers, vegetables, raspberries and strawberries, sharing all with friends and neighbours.

Lot 25 Concession 6

Kenneth 'Murray', b- Apr. 12 1914 son of Kenneth Wesley Esson married Jean Isobel Garbutt in June 15 1946.
They resided in Otonabee Township on Lot 25 Concession 6.

Their children were:
Sheila Jean, b- May 30 1948, married Roy Garrett.
*Ronald Murray, b- Jan 13 1950, married Marion Jean Davis.*
Glenda Marie, b- Dec. 28 1953, single.
Darlene Ann, b- Dec. 8 1961, married Jack Little.

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Ronald Murray Esson & Family
1950 - Present

6th Generation of Esson's in Otonabee Township
186 years and counting.

Ronald Murray Esson, son of Kenneth Murray Esson married Marion Jean Davis, daughter of Donald Davis and Audrey Renwick of Otonabee Township on Oct. 23 1970.

They reside in Otonabee Township on Lot 26 Concession 7.

Lot 26 Concession 7

Their children are:
Roger James Esson, b- May 20 1971, married Michelle Ferguson Jun. 12 1999
Derek John Esson, b- Mar 10 1974, married Tara McCrostie Oct. 21 2006

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