From Blue Lake and Auburn Women’s Institute

Thomas Charlton

Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England

He was a man with a large frame, strong mind, get going and argumentative. He was a middle class gentleman. He was a dealer in provisions and groceries. He was married twice. His first wife Ellen Scott, died in England March 25, 1822. Her brothers were William Scott of Bellingham and Adam Scott, Bower, England.

At Ellen Scott’s funeral, the infant son Thomas Charlton, born March 25, 1822 was baptized at the side of her coffin, amid tears and sobs of pastor, father, brothers and sisters. This infant son died April 22, 1822.

Thomas Charlton and Ellen Scott had three sons and seven daughters.

Thomas Charlton married his second wife Eleanor Potts in 1823. They had eight children.

With this large family by the first wife, Ellen Scott, it seemed impossible to do more than make a living in New Castle. After the death of Ellen, business was less satisfactory than before. He began to be troubled with a spirit of unrest and a desire for a change.

Friends of the family had from time to time emigrated to America and from what was known of their success in the distant land, he had come to the conclusion that a move might be advantageous. There was no room to expand his business in England. He could only follow the beaten track and earn a meager livelihood. From beyond the Atlantic came reports that roused his curiosity and his expectations. Land was easily obtained over there, not upon the conditions of tenancy, but as owner of the soil. He might become a land owner and win independence.

Adam Charlton goes to New York

He send his son Adam, age 18 over to America to spy out the land and report whether he considered the move advisable.

Before leaving Adam visited all his friends. After took passage on the brig Sisters, Captain Blackburn which sailed from New Castle, April 4, 1824

The cargo consisted of coal and glass. The journey was rough. They arrived at New York, June 4, 1824.

Adam took passage up the Hudson River in a sloop owned and manned by negroes whom he found to be civil and respectable. From Albany he proceeded up the Erie Canal and Seneca Lake to Geneva.

From Geneva, Adam went to Robert Watson’s six miles distant, where he remained for the winter. He taught school during the first winter and in the spring made a trip by way of Buffalo and Detroit to Ann Arbor.

When he wrote to his father in England he suggested that they come to America as soon as circumstances would permit.

Acting upon Adam’s advice the father immediately commenced closing up his business and making the necessary arrangement and preparations for the journey.

Michael, the eldest son, was to remain in New Castle to settle up the business, and to collect some of the outstanding accounts, and come to America later.

Micheal’s parents had been gone a month when Micheal became homesick so he left the accounts and joined the family at Carlisle, where they were visiting friends and relatives enroute to Liverpool.

Charlton Family Arrives in New York

When they arrived in New York, the family persued the same route that Adam had taken the previous year. About forty miles from the Watson’s there was a break in the canal.

They either were ignorant of the distance or underrated the task of walking so far. Michael, Dorthy, Ellen, Margaret and Jane, the latter only a little past eleven years old, set out on foot leaving the father, mother, Rose Ann, Elizabeth, Isabella, (children by the first wife) and John Thomas on the boat.

The children had expected to meet their brother Adam who had set out to meet then on the way, but no such good fortune awaited them. They took provisions with them for the noon day meal, but unfortunately Michael forgot to bring his purse and had only a little money in his pocket. They were too proud to ask for shelter and at nightfall slept under a bridge. The night was long and wretched one. At the break of day they continued their journey. They were overtaken by a man with a team and wagon. He took them to his home to dinner after which they continued their journey. On reaching Robert Watson’s home where their brother had been staying they were disappointed to find that Adam had gone to New York to meet them and they had missed him on the way. Never did weary wayfarers more thoroughly appreciate rest, shelter, food and welcome.

The Watson family was not related. They come from England in 1801. The tie that drew them together was simply that they were all natives of good old Northumberland.

Adam found his father at the boat, and was disappointed that he had missed his brother Michael and sisters, so he hastened back to the Watson home where he got a team and wagon to move his father’s family and affects.

In a few days the entire family were housed and cared for in the comfortable homes of warm and generous friends, where they found that everyone they met was a friend of Adam.

The family would have gone to Michigan had circumstances permitted, but the means at the command of the father were nigh exhausted, and no time was lost in choosing a home for the family.

Shelby Township N.Y. - 1825

They decided on a farm in the Township of Shelby, south Medina NY. They moved in a log house with a clearance of twelve acres. The claim was bought on credit for $200. The change to the entire family from the life that they had been accustomed in the City of New Castle was not an agreeable one, and their pioneer experience was found sadly deficient in romantic interest. On the contrary they found life hard and unpleasant.

The choice of land did not prove a good one. Their first years in America were not crowned by a very large measure of worldly success.

They lived at Shelby for two years, and then moved into the village of Medina NY where they remained until the year 1830.

East Dumfries – Canada - 1830

South Dumfries Township, Brant County, Concession 1 South, Lot 11

Mr. Thomas Charlton and family arrived in America July3, 1824 and left for Canada the last Monday of August, 1830 arriving at their destination September 6, 1830. They settled in East Dumbries, as it was called at the time, the part of the Township East of the Grand River.

Mr. Charlton had been directed to the land on which he settled by Mr. Michael Turnbull who made the acquaintance of his family when working at Garbutt’s mill in Wheatland NY. Mr. Turnbull had purchased the righ of 50 acres for Mr. Charlton from a Mr. Ale.

On Mr. Charlton’s arrival he had difficulty in getting possession of his property and was obliged to move into a cabin belonging to Mr. Turnbull.

When Thomas Charlton and family left Medina NY their personal effects were loaded upon one wagon and the load was a heavy one. The roads were bad a good deal of the way and progress was slow. He started with a number of sheep, one died the first day and when he reached Lewiston he sold the rest for about half price.

On Sept.29^th, through the intervention of the agent for Mr. Dickson of Galt, to whom the land belonged, Mr. Charlton obtained possession of the 50 acres and commenced plowing. He later moved into the log cabin south of Blue Lake Creek.

Clearing up the wooded land was not the work that Mr. Charlton was accustomed, but he worked away bravely. He had settled upon excellent land and at that time the market for wheat was very good, the price obtained being usually about one dollar per bushel, not withstanding the distance from the seaboard.

For a year or two Mr. Charlton obtained assistance financially from his son Michael. Both he and MR. Turnbull urged Michael to move to Canada and buy land near them.

Onondaga Township – Canada – 1836

In 1836 Thomas Charlton sold his land in Dumfries to his son Michael and moved to Onodaga Township on the east side of the Grand River near Newport, where he purchased Indian land which was valued and paid for a good many years after he settled there. The population around him was a mixture of white people and Indians belonging to the Six Nations Confederacy. The children of his second family did not receive the good education that the first family had received.

Mr. Charlton lived at Newport until his death, July 20, 1857 at the age of nearly 79. His wife Eleanor died at the same place, Jan.16, 1845.

The Charlton Family

The first famly with the exception of Thomas who died in infancy all came to America.

The two sons Michael and Adam remained in New York State when the family moved to Canada

When the family came to America in 1825 Jane went to live with James Watson’s family where she stayed for four years. Later she went to George Gray’s where she lived until she was married to George Gray Jr. in 1832.

Elizabeth lived at old Mr. Watson’s and later with her brother Adam. She married Henry Horner of Blenheim Township, Canada, and had four sons and four daughters

Rose Ann lived with Andrew Gray for ten years. She came to Canada and had a private school in Paris, Ontario.

Ellen lived at Mr. Dixon’s for two years.

Isabella married Mr. Griffin of Sharon, Wisconsin.

Dorothy lived at home until she married.

The children belonging to Thomas Charlton and his second wife Eleanor Potts were:

John Thomas Charlton b1823Oct23 England d1881March11ManitowaningOntario age 58 years

Mary Ann Charlton b1825Oct22 died infancy

James Charlton b1827April28 Selby NY Froze to death on Green Bay Beach Wisconsin in 1853 age 26 years

William Henry Charlton b1829Aug5 Medina NY

George Charlton b1832Feb20DumfriesOntario Drowned in Wisconsin River 1854 age 22 years

Peter Charlton 1834Oct30DumfriesOntario

Joseph Charlton 1837Feb2OnondagaOntario remained in Onodaga until his death

Mary Ann Charlton 1839Sept6OnondagaOntario (earlier Mary Ann died)

Adam Charlton

- Newcastle upon Tyne, England

- Shelby Township NY – 1824

- Ayr – West Dumfries – Canada – 1849

- Iowa – America – 1855

Michael Charlton

-

Newcastle upon Tyne, England

- Shelby Township NY – 1825

- Garbuttsville NY

- East Dumfries – Canada – 1832

Michael Charlton came to America with his family in 1825 and settled at Shelby NY. He stayed with the family but a short time. He soon procured a position as a clerk for Philip Garbut, who had a flour mill, plaster mill and a store at Garbuttsville on Allans Creek near Scottsville NY and a store at Mumfordsville near Caledonia NY. Michael held this position until he moved to Canada 1832.

When in Garbuttsville he married Mercy Maria Bowerman in 1832. He settled in East Dumfries near his father, and after a few months he bought his father’s property. Here he accumulated over three hundred acres. He remained on this property until his death in 1854.

Michael Charlton was a shrewd businessman and his wife was a woman of much more than ordinary ability. She most efficiently seconded her husband’s efforts to get along. His intelligence and worth were duly appreciated by his neighbours, by all of whom he was highly esteemed and often consulted.

Thomas Charlton Quotation

I ploughed with a wooden plough all the cleared land and sowed it with wheat seed which I had brought from Medina NY. I broad-cast by hand, covering it with the hand-made drag of a tree. Then I began to clear some land for spring planting and a garden. I erected a shelter for the horses, cow and sheep. The grass was cut between the tree trunks with a scythe to feed the stock.

It was piled near the shelter. Wood was gathered by the children and piled near the shanty door. They also put earth around the shanty to keep out the cold. We caught fish in the creek, shot wild animals for meat and prepared these for winter. The shanty was small and we required more room. The winter evenings were long but afforded time for teaching the little boys by candle light. The older girls had been educated in England and were a big help. I wanted to carve a farm in this new land that has been the source of my anticipated independence. I have learned that to gain independence it will be by the sweat of brow and the strength of my back. My problem is to insure that my family are not separated by the source of this hard won independence. The solution to this problem will be some highly subjective expectations for each member of the family.

Eleanor Potts Quotation

When I married Thomas Charlton he had seven daughters and two sons, Adam and Michael. Our son Thomas was born in England in 1823. During our stay in American our daughter Mary Ann who died in infacy in 1825 was form. We also had two more sons James in 1827 and William Henry in 1829. George was born in Dumbries in 1832 and Peter in 1834.

When we left America all our possessions were loaded on one wagon drawn by a well harnessed span of horses. A cow and a flock of sheep followed behind the wagon. Several sheep died the first two days, when we arrived at Lewiston we sold the rest. On the wagon we had a trunk with clothing and bedding, three beds, a crib, chairs, table, stove and a cupboard to hold supplies, some cooking utensils and dishes. We slept in a hand made tent at night and made our meals along the way. When we arrived at the Indian shanty, north of blue Lake Creek, the beds were set up along one wall, the cupboard, table and chairs along the opposite wall. The stove was at the end with a stovepipe for a chimney. The shanty had a dirt floor with a window in each end and one door. From the break of dawn until sunset it was hard work to make a living. We were fortunate that the two boys and girls remained in America. They all managed to get to visit us, each time bringing necessary food and building items, and seed for planting. There was no school in the area and the closest church was “Her Majesty’s Chapel of the Mohawks”.

The two older boys Adam and Michael and their father decided that we needed a larger cabin and that the clearing should be south of the creek and up the hill. Preparations were made to clear the trees for the buildings and make a path south to the Governor’s Road. This log cabin was larger with a ladder to the second floor for sleeping quarters. Blankets separated our sleeping quarters from the rest of the first floor. Wooden eave troughs were put on the cabin in order to collect rainwater and a well was dug by the cabin. Spring water was hauled from the creek. The cabin had a pine floor and a chimney. A shelter was also made for the animals. It was a happy day for all of us when we moved into the larger space.