A piece of land on the lake
By Jennifer Weymark/Archivist
One of the oldest items we have in the archival collection is a land deed. The deed is for the sale of 200 acres of lot 7 on the Broken Front Concession in the Township of Whitby and it is dated April 20, 1815.
The deed is important not only because of its age – a little more than 200 years old – but also because of whom the sale of the land was between and the land itself. The people named on the deed are Eleazer Lockwood and his wife, Rusha, and one John Hanary (Henry). John Henry is the father of Thomas Henry and the lot being sold is now where Henry House can be found.
We know from the land registry documents that Eleazer Lockwood received the 200-plus acres of Lot Number 7 through a Crown Grant in 1812. Lockwood arrived in this area around 1794 with Benjamin Wilson.
The deed became part of the collection in 1967, along with another four other deeds all dealing with lot 7 of the broken front. These deeds are vital pieces when it comes to understanding how the land that makes up much of Lakeview Park was originally used.
The 1815 deed is the first piece, as it shows us that Lockwood’s Crown Grant turned out to be a little bit larger than the traditional 200 acres. This is due in part to the fact that the lot was along the waterfront. The jagged edge created by the lake gave these lots the name “broken front” and also meant that some lots were larger or smaller than the traditional 200 acres. Land registry records show us that Lockwood’s grant ended up being approximately 250 acres.
The deed also shows us the anglicizing of the Henry last name. This deed shows that in 1815, the family was still going by their more Irish surname. The spelling of their last name transitioned from Hanary or Henery to Henry by the time the lot was once again sold in 1830.
This deed also lists both Eleazer Lockwood and John Hanary as residing in the Township of York. York was one of the earliest townships created in the area and can be seen on maps of the area as early as 1792. As the population grew, the township was divided up. By 1851, this area was known as Ontario County.
Deeds are a wonderful research tool that allows us a little peak into how the land around us has changed in the past 200 years or so.