Settler of township lots: Lots 9 & 10, Conc. 6, Stanhope

Location: Map point is the approximate location within the 100 acres of Lot 10, Conc. 6 fronting Boshkung Lake Road.

Property acquisition:

• 1861 & 1866 Lands Liable to Taxation: Township of Stanhope Patent Register - 100 & 95 acres to Caleb Davis.
• 20 Sep 1866 Patent from The Crown. Ontario Land Parcel Register - Stanhope Conc 6 (Images 29 & 32).

Other properties:

• Lot 11, Conc. 6, Stanhope: 1876 7 acres from his father, Joseph Davis (patented 1876). Ontario Land Parcel Register - Stanhope (Image 41).
• Lot 13, Conc. 6, Stanhope: 1904 North 50 acres from William Welch. Ontario Land Parcel Register - Stanhope (Image 83)
• Lot 14, Conc. 9  and Lot 14, Conc. 10, Stanhope:
  - 1874 This 54 acre lot was registered as a Free Grant through the Free Grant and Homestead Act of 1868 under the locatee name Caleb Davis.
  - 1874 according to the Free Grant  Register under the Free Grant and Homestead Act of 1868 but the Ontario Land Parcel Register (Image 149) shows Lot 14, Conc. 9 being patented to James Upton in 1911 and  Lot 14, Conc. 10 (Image 139) being patented to Arthur Hewitt in 1920 from The Crown.

Dates of residency:

• 1861 Arrived in Stanhope. Source: In Quest of Yesterday by Nila Reynolds. Pg 303
• 1870 Peterborough County Directory, Stanhope: Caleb Davis Lot 9, Conc. 6
• 1871 Census of Canada: District 58 Stanhope Lot 10, Conc.6
• 1881 Census of Canada, Stanhope: Caleb & Eliz Davis with 2 children and Philip Davis b. 1801
• 1883 Stanhope Voters List: Caleb Davis, owner, Lots 9, 10 & 1, Conc. 6
• 1890 Stanhope Voters List: Caleb Davis, owner, Lots 9, 10, Conc. 6
• 1891 Stanhope Voters List:  Lots 9 &10, Conc. 6.
• 1893 Stanhope Directory: Boskung
• 1901 Stanhope Voters List:  Lots 9 &10, Conc. 6.
• 1901 Census of Canada, Stanhope: Caleb & Mary A Davis with 2 children
  1903 Business Directory, Stanhope: Caleb Davis, Boskung, Lot 10, Conc. 6
  1903 Stanhope Voters List: Caleb Davis, farmer, Lots 9, 10, Conc. 6
• 1909 Death: Lot 10, Conc. 6, Stanhope
• 1911 Stanhope Voters List: Mary Ann Davis (widow - Caleb died in 1909) was listed on the  at Lot 9 Conc. 6 and Lots 9 & 10, Conc. 6.
• 1911 Stanhope Post Office List: widow M A Davis, Boskung at Lot 9, Conc. 6
• 1917 Death of Wife Mary Ann Davis at Lot 17, Conc. 9 & 10, Stanhope
• 1918 Stanhope Post Office List: Mrs. M A Davis, Boskung at Lot 6, Conc. 9 but this is a reversal error

Interesting facts:

Caleb Davis was one of Queen Victoria's own guards. He arrived in Haliburton in 1861. Source: In Quest of Yesterday by Nila Reynolds. Published by The Provisional County of Haliburton, Minden, Ontario 1973 pg. 303 & 305.

The first Crown Patents for lands near Halls Lake were issued to Caleb and Joshua Davis. Together they were given approximately 500 acres bordering the outflow from Halls to Bushkung Lake, now known as Buttermilk Falls. These lands may have been significant to the logging agents using the waterways. Source: Echoes of the Past, compiled and written by Ed H. Devitt & Nila Reynolds

Allan Carter Hewitt was a baby when his father, Benjamin Hewitt, drowned in 1889 while hunting in Peach Lake at 31 years old. When his mother married William Moore in 1891, Allan went to live with Caleb Davis and his second wife Mary Ann Moore. Caleb was his brother to his grandmother Ann Davis Carter. Allan's mother Mary Carter had lived with Caleb when she first came to Canada.

Thomas Mason, Caleb Davis, and Captain William Welch were looking for land around when they encountered surveyor, Mr. G. R. Stewart, who had just finished Stanhope's crown survey in 1860. Guided by Stewart's instructions, the 3 arrived at the extreme northwest shore of Big Boshkung which the surveyor had enthusiastically recommended as suitable for homesteading since it was accessible by water and not too distant from the Bobcaygeon and Peterson roads. Davis took up lots 9 & 10 on the 6th concession. Ibid pg 305

Preceding landowner: The Crown

Succeeding landowner:

• Lots 9 and 10, Conc. 6: 1909 willed to his widow Mary Ann Davis north half, & nephew Allan Hewitt south half.
• 1911 Stanhope Voters List; 1917 Albert Ernest Mason south half;
• 1918 Angus Coulter north half;
• 1924 John Moore;
• 1931 Clifford Barry;
• 1937 Wilfred Mason & Elvin Johnson
• 1948 Elvin Johnson
• Lot 11, Conc. 6: all illegible but probably the same as above

Link to Caleb Davis Family on the Settlers of Algonquin Highlands family tree website

Photo 1: Excerpt from the will of Caleb Davis (Ontario Land Registry Copy Book Inst. #475 - FHL Film # 008266938)

Photo 2: Alexander Niven's Insurance Survey Notebook, Haliburton Highlands Museum.