Settler of township lots: Lots 6 & 7, Conc. 5, Stanhope

Location: Map point is the approximate location within Lot 7, Conc. 5 west of Buckslide Road north of Walkers Line Road.

Land acquisition:

• 1872 Lot 6, Conc. 5: Lands Liable to Taxation: Township of Stanhope Patent Register - 97 acres to John Thomas.
• 1861 Lot 7, Conc. 5: Lands Liable to Taxation: Township of Stanhope Patent Register - 100 acres to David Cummings (not in AH Family Tree); 1872 registered to John Thomas.
• 1872 Patent from The Crown. Ontario Land Parcel Register - Stanhope (Images 60 & 62).

Dates of residency: 

• 1870 Peterborough County Directory, Stanhope: John Thomas, Lot 6, Conc. 5
• 1881 Census of Canada, Stanhope:  John & Mary Thomas with 3 children
• 1883 Stanhope List. Source: In Quest of Yesterday by Nila Reynolds. Published by The Provisional County of Haliburton, Minden, Ontario 1973 pg. 312
• 1883 Stanhope Voters List: John Thomas, owner, Lots 6 & 7, Conc. 5

Other occupants:

• 1891 Stanhope Voters List: George Jones is listed at Lot 7, Conc. 5

Interesting facts:

As remembered by his granddaughter Amy Thomas,  this is a link to This Far by Faith: Readings in African-American Women's Religious Biography, which tells about the early life of John Thomas and his wife Catherine (page 159).

Granddaughter Amy Thomas was born at Kushog Lake in 1884. The following are excerpts from "Amy's Memoirs", as received from Michele Ferbeek by Gareth Kellett and Dave Bulford in 2004 for the perusal of the Haliburton Highlands Genealogy Group.

"My paternal grandfather, John Dorsey, was born in slavery. He married Catherine Ann Thomas, a freed woman, after she bore a cild whose father was her Master. She was an octaroon. Her mulatto mother, also a slave was a child of the owner.

After John and Catherine Ann were married he adopted her name to avoid detection in his escape from slavery. Together they made their way via the Underground Railway to Brantford, Ontario, Canada. They located in the township of Stanhope, Haliburton County. John & Catherine had fie children of their own: George, Charles Edward, Rebeckah Ann, John and Eurith Jane, plus her master's child, Mary Margaret Alice. They owned quite a large homestead where they spent the rest of their days.

My father, Charles Edward Thomas, lived on this homestead for a number of years. He finally sold out and moved near Minden, locating at Lindsay. John in Detroit and Rebecah Ann in Battle Creek. Eurith Jane passed away at the age of twenty one with influenza at Toronto, Ontario. Aunty's name was Martha Ann Rebeckah.

The former owner of Catherine Ann Thomas made several fruitless attempts to steal her and her child.

My maternal grandparents, Henry Pearl and Mary Patterson Pearl were from Green County, Pennsylvania. Their ancestory was Pennsylvania Dutch, Irish, Cherokee Indian, German and Negro. Later they located in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor, finally settling in Haliburton County, near Minden. They were never in slavery. My mother Eliza Jane (Pearl) Thomas was their only child, but they adopted a child Elmira Simms, who was about Mother's age. Grandfather was a soldier in the Civil War, was wounded in the arm, received an honourable discharge and a pension. He passed away at the age of 84 at the home of his granddaughter, Mrs. May (Collingwood) Kellett."

The monument to one of the families that settled Maryland and also owned slaves, who presumably took their last name.  John R. Dorsey changed his name to his wife's last name in order to elude authorities and make his way to Canada. Source: Ancestry.ca kimthomas505 originally shared this on 31 Aug 2012

Newspaper Advertisement: runaway slave named John, 27 October, 1846. Baltimore Sun Newspaper. Possibly John Dorsey. Source: Ancestry.ca kimthomas505 originally shared this on 25 Jun 2017
John Dorsey is thought to have escaped slavery and fled from Maryland sometime from 1848 to 1851.  When slaves escaped, their owners sometimes advertised in the newspaper, giving a description of the missing slave and offering a reward for their capture and return.  The Sun, Baltimore, 27 October 1846, p. 2:  "Ran away from the subscriber on Saturday the 24th inst., a Negro Man named John, about 5 feet 10 inches, black, with very thick lips, between 20 and 25 years of age; had on when he left a Drab Frock Coat, also took with him 2 Blue Frock Coats.  When spoken to has a downcast look.  I will give $50 if taken in the county, and $100 if taken out of the county and secured in jail so that I can get him again."

Preceding landowner: The Crown

Succeeding landowner:

• Lot 6, Conc. 5, Stanhope:
  - 1889 Charles E. Thomas, his son
  - 1891 William J. Moore. 1891, 1901 and 1911 Stanhope Voters Lists: William Moore, farmer
  - 1933 Clayton Stamp
• Lot 7, Conc. 5, Stanhope:
  - 1889 Reuben R. Henderson for $300 conveyance;
  - 1902 Alfred S. Mason. 1911 Stanhope Voters List: Alfred Mason
  - 1948 Thomas Wilfred Mason. 

Link to Settlers of Algonquin Highlands family tree

• John Dorsey Thomas, b. 1829, USA d. 8 Dec 1881, Victoria
• Catherine Ann Thomas, b. 1828, Maryland, USA   d. 17 May 1878, Stanhope, (Age 50 years)
• Children:
  1. Mary Thomas, b. 1849, USA 
  2. George James Wesley Thomas, b. 1852, Yankeetown, Maryland, USA 
  3. Charles Edward Thomas, b. 10 Mar 1854, Brantford,  d. 14 Jan 1919, Snowdon, Age 64 years)
  4. John L Thomas, b. 04 Dec 1863, Stanhope
  5. Martha Ann Rebecca Thomas, b. 21 Jun 1865, Ontario,  d. 10 May 1936, Battle Creek, Michigan, (Age 70 years)
  6. Urith Jane Thomas,  b. 1869, Ontario

Photo: John Dorsey Thomas, Catherine Ann Thomas, Former Slaves. Source: Ancestry.ca kimthomas505 originally shared this on 28 Apr 2014