Settler of township lots: Lots 28, 29 & 30, Conc. 5, Stanhope

Location: Map point is the approximate location within this 100 acre Lot 30, Conc. 5 at the east end of Maple Lake on the channel to Green Lake. North Shore Road south along the west side of Airport Road.

Land acquisition: 1901 all lots from James Melville's widow, Catherine Elizabeth Melville, in 1901. Ontario Land Parcel Register - Stanhope (Images 253, 278 & 328).

Other locations:

• Lot 31, Conc. 4, Stanhope:
  - 1870 This 100 acre lot was registered as a Free Grant through the Free Grant and Homestead Act of 1868 under the locatee name Benjamin Clark.
  - 1873 Lands Liable to Taxation: Township of Stanhope Patent Register - 101 acres David Copeland
  - 1899 Patent from The Crown; 1901 sold to Robert Wesley Baker. Ontario Land Parcel Register - Stanhope (Image 507)

Dates of residency: 

• 1893 Stanhope Directory: Benjamin Sawyer, Maple Lake Lot 31, Conc. 4
• 1901 Census of Canada, Stanhope: Banjamin & Florence Sawyer with 4 children at Lots 28, 29 & 30, Conc. 5
• 1901 Stanhope Voters List: This settler was listed at all these lots
• 1903 Business Directory, Stanhope: Benjamin Sawyer, Maple Lake, Lot 30, Conc. 5
• 1903 Stanhope Voters List: Benjaman Sawyers, farmer, Lots 28, 29 & 30,Conc. 5
• 1911 Census of Canada, Stanhope: - Lot 30, Conc. 5 - Benjamin & Florence Sawyer and 8 children
• 1911 Stanhope Voters List: This settler was listed at all these lots
• 1911  Stanhope Post Office List: Benj. Sawyer, Maple Lake Lot 28, Conc. 5
• 1918 Stanhope Post Office List: Benj. Sawyer, Maple Lake Lot 28, Conc. 5
• 1928 Stanhope Voters List: Lot 29, Conc. 6 and Lot 30, Conc. 5

Other residents:

• Ernest Fetterly and Benjamin J "Long Ben" Sawyer
    - 1911 Census of Canada with wife Rebecca, daughters Mabel & Elsie and son Wilfred at Lot 28, Conc. 5, Stanhope
    - 1911 Stanhope Voters List: Ernest Fetterly, laborer at s e pt Lot 30, Conc. 5 Stanhope

Interesting facts:

B. J. Sawyer was one of the first commissioners of the first telephone system in Haliburton County in the 1920s. Sawyer was reeve of Stanhope from 1911 to 1948 (28 years). Both sons, Gordon and George, were Stanhope Councillors and in 1979 Sawyer's grandson, James Harrison, was reeve of Stanhope and warden of the county. Source: Echoes of the Past, compiled and written by Ed H. Devitt & Nila Reynolds p. 329

It was the proudest boast of B. J. Sawyer, twice county warden and for 15 years reeve of Stanhope, that his township financed and built the first telephone system in the provisional county of Haliburton. Unfortunately for those interested in its early history, the records of the Maple Lake exchange prior to the 1940's are no longer in existence. Source: In Quest of Yesterday by Nila Reynolds. Published by The Provisional County of Haliburton, Minden, Ontario 1973 p. 329

Benjamin J. Sawyer was the Reeve of Stanhope from 1917-1930 and 1948-1949. Sawyer built Maple Lake Lodge which catered to sportsmen. Source: Ibid p. 705. See ad below Image #5.

The first publicized account [of taking trout from Kennisis Lake] dates to the fall of 1930 when B. J. Sawyer, who had a hunting camp on Little Kennisis, noticed fish jumping. In July of the following year his son, Ross Sawyer, a woodsman of no little skill, caught a 20 pound trout while trolling with a copper spoon and several days later J. J. himself, even then one of the oldest trappers ranging the north, achieved his heart's desire when he landed a 12 pound salmon trout from the lake which the Indians told his grandfather contained no fish. Ibid. pg 146

Ross Sawyer told of how his father, Long Ben Sawyer the noted trapper and woodsman, watched an Indian friend - Joe Kennises, melt lead ore which he molded into lead slugs for his muzzle loader - this beside the Kennisis lodge on the lake which bears his name. Source: Dream of Excellence by Nila Reynolds. Published by Haliburton Highlands Guild of Fine Arts and Haliburton School of Fine Arts. 1976 pg. 8

In his 1966 Collection of Sketches, "The Tourist Industry", Clayton Rogers tells the story of the start of the tourist industry in Stanhope Township: "In 1932 Mr. & Mrs. B. J. Sawyer erected quite a commodious summer hotel on the north shore of Maple Lake, one of the most beautiful summer hotels on the north shore of Maple Lake, one of the beautiful sites in the township. This lodge, called Maple Lake Lodge specialized in fishing and hunting parties."

Read THE SAWYER CONNECTION AND THE LEGACY OF "LONG BEN" by Mabel Sawyer

Preceding landowner: 

James Melville received the patent on these lots in 1872. 1882 James Melville. 1911 Stanhope Post Office List: C. Melleville, Maple Lake BUT Benj Sawyer, Maple Lake is also listed on this and the 1918 Stanhope Post Office List

Succeeding landowner: (blank)

Link to Settlers of Algonquin Highlands family tree

Photo 1: Benjamin James Sawyer, his wife Florence (nee Powell) and son Roscoe Sawyer, from Deloris Bailey:
Photo 2: B.J. Sawyer's five sons, from Deloris Bailey: Front: Benjamin Gordon Sawyer, Elmer Sawyer, Unknown; Top: Clair Sawyer, Unknown

Photo 3: Simon Redner/Demill and Benjamin James Sawyer. Simon is on the left. Source Mabel Sawyer Brannigan

Photo 4: Ben Sawyer. Ancestry.ca photo

Photo 5: Sawyer built Maple Lake Lodge which catered to sportsmen. Source: In Quest of Yesterday by Nila Reynolds. Published by The Provisional County of Haliburton, Minden, Ontario 1973 p. 705.