Commissioners Road in the War of 1812
Author’s Note from Legend of the Paymaster’s Gold
The War of 1812-1814 really happened. It happened in Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec) and in the Maritime colonies (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland). Commissioners Road, where Sam, Eadie and Ben live, was there at the time of the War of 1812. In fact, it was a very important road in the small network of roads in the area. British soldiers and local militia used the road to travel between the Niagara and Detroit frontiers. Americans used the road to raid the Canadian settlers.
The shed-room was Annie Wareham's original log cabin
But Sam, Eadie, and Ben and their parents, as well as Dave and Mr. Tucker are made up by me. THey live in the present day and are just trying to figure out what was going on in their neighbourhood during the War of 1812, because they have heard about the Legend of the Paymaster’s Gold and want to find the missing gold. Annie Wareham, too, comes from my imagination, but she lived at the time of the War of 1812. Throughout the story, Sam and Eadie don’t know that Annie lived in their shed-room (which was her log cabin) and watched the War of 1812 march by on Commissioners Road! She wrote about it in her journal, only a scrap of which was found.
Phoebe McNames' grave in Brick Street Cemetary
I grew up on a farm very near Commissioners Road. We all knew about General Procter. He led some of the British soldiers during the War of 1812. And we all heard that story of how he might have lost some gold in a skirmish on Reservoir Hill. But no one has yet proved that the skirmish really happened, or whether gold really was lost. Captain Carroll and Captain Rapelje were real people in the local militias. Phoebe McNames was also a real person, recorded in various documents. Her gravestone is in the Brick Street Cemetary. But did the skirmish on Reservoir Hill really happen? If so, did Phoebe help the soldiers? You can Google all these names and find out more!
"This hill is really difficult," said Sam.
Reservoir Hill is there today, although a little changed from two hundred years ago! It has been widened and straightened to some extent, but if you go there, you can still see how steep and curving it was and how difficult it would have been for soldiers to climb up or down it on foot or horseback. Reservoir Park, at the top of the hill, contains the plaque that Sam and Eadie read. It tells of the American Andrew Westbrook and his raid against the Canadian settlers, and his being ambushed on the Reservoir Hill. It also tells of the death of Captain Carroll. I copied it exactly for this book.
It’s exciting to think that there was a pioneer log cabin as part of Sam and Eadie’s house. That is actually quite possible! I have seen such a case myself. The settlement conditions for applying for a grant of land, which Eadie learned from Dave in the library, are true. The settler had to build a cabin 16-by-20 feet, then clear 10 acres of land, a portion of the road, and trees for 100 feet back from the toad. In such a way, the landscape was settled in an orderly pattern and the roads were built. It was clever of Eadie and Ben to see how they could use that information to figure out the location of former log cabins in today’s landscape. And also to find the location of the original Tucker cabin (Lucy’s home).
Silversmith Hester Bateman made the hot water urn, creamer, and jug in this picture from the Birmingham Museum of Art
The fact that Eadie found two silver teaspoons at the site of the Tucker cabin is made up. But Hester Bateman isn’t. She really was a silversmith in the eighteenth century. Her work is highly regarded today and is very valulable.
Coins were scarce in Upper Canada at the time of the War of 1812. THere were few settlers, and there were few roads or towns to help the growth of stores and markets where money would be needed. The paymasters, who had to buy all the supplies that the soldiers needed usually paid the settlers with Army Bills just as Dave described. These were, in fact, paper promises, which were used as money. There were not yet any banks.
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Photo credits:
Drawings: Jo Shawyer
Phoebe McNames’ grave and Reservoir Hill: Jo Shawyer
Bateman silver: Sean Pathasema/Birmingham Museum of Art, from Wikimedia Commons
