Settler of township lots: Lot 28, Conc. 4, Stanhope

Location: Map point is the approximate location within this 93 acre lot which runs from the south shore of Maple Lake south across Hwy 118 including Fry Lane

Land acquisition: On 11 July 1900, John James Sisson sold Mark Sisson this 93 acre "Broken" Lot for $350. An allowance of "one chain in perpendicular width" was reserved for a road along the shore of Kenatikgo or Maple Lake. John James Sisson then took back a mortgage of $100 on the property, with payments of $50 each due on 10 Jul 1901 and 10 Jul 1902. As a condition of the mortgage, Interest of 10% would be due if he defaulted on any payment. Mark Sisson also had to insure the buildings on the property, pay the taxes and perform any statute labour necessary. This information is found in Ontario Land Parcel Register index - Stanhope Conc 4 (Image 487) and Instrument #331 & #332 in Volume 95, page 48 - 51 in the Land Registry Deeds Copy book.

Other land:

• Lot 7, Conc. 3, Guilford - 1919 from C L & E Co Ltd; 1940 to Raymond Sisson. Ontario Land Parcel Register -Guilford(Image 28).
• Lot 6, Conc. 4, Guilford - 1886 Patented to Sarah Barnum (Sisson) from The Crown; 1907 to James Yarwood Powell;1859 1.5 acres to Loyal Orange Lodge.  Ontario Land Parcel Register - Guilford (Image 59}

Dates of residency:

• 1899 Stanhope Directory: Maple Lake
• 1901 Stanhope Voters List
• 1901 Death of Daughter Alice Sisson at Lot 28, Conc. 4, Stanhope
• 1901 Census of Canada, Stanhope: Mark & Jane Sisson
• 1903 Business Directory, Stanhope: Mark Sisson, Maple Lake
• 1903 Stanhope Voters List: Mark Sisson, farmer, Lot 28, Conc. 4
• 1911 Stanhope Voters List
• 1911 Census of Canada, Guilford: Mark & Sarah Jane Sisson at Lot 7, Con 4, Guilford
• 1911 Stanhope Post Office List: Mark Sisson, W. Guilford

Interesting facts:

Nelson Barnum had his home and store and the first post office in West Guilford on land that stretched along the south shore of Pine Lake. In 1906, he gave some of that land to his daughter Sarah Jane and her husband, Mark Sisson, and they took over the store and the post office. In 1931, the couple donated the property where they had their gardens for St. Andrew's Anglican Church. Source: Explore Haliburton by Susan Wilson (Stoddard Books, 1997, pg 82)

Maple Lake Post Office - 1901 to 1903: Lot 28, Conc. 4, Stanhope Township. Current address: Hwy 118, east of Fader Drive. The Postmaster was Mark Sisson. The Post Office would have been located at his property. He resigned in 1903 and then moved to West Guilford, He had been given land there by his father-in-law Nelson Barnum. He later took over the job of Postmaster from Nelson Barnum at the West Guilford Post Office in 1915 and served for 15 years.

The Maple Lake post office burned before the Sissons moved to Guilford but it prompted a local bard to write a song about it and the fight occurring there between rivals for the affections of a school teacher named Ina. All the lines still remembered are "Mark Sisson kept the post office in a shady grove. The school mistress came to get her mail, likewise to meet her love." The fight couldn't have amounted to too much because, "Mark Sisson had to kill a rooster to make a little blood." Source: In Quest of Yesterday by Nila Reynolds, p. 156.

The Haliburton Business Directory for 1918:
West Guilford, Guilford Tp - Sisson, Mark, postmaster and genl store

Mark Sisson was among a host of Haliburton men who worked on the Gilmour Tramway. Ibid, pg. 59

Sixteen children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Mark Sisson and in 1965, 8 boys and 4 girls were still living. The new house built beside the river at Guilford burned in 1918, but it was replaced by an even larger structure. It burned in 1946 after Mrs. Sisson had been widowed for some years. In the face of misfortunes, Jane Sisson never lost her zest for life which endeared her to young and old. The hospitality she and her husband extended to those in need of temporary accommodation, and the frequent parties held in the great house, will be long remembered. Ibid, pg 156

Preceding landowners:

• 1899 John James Sisson from The Crown

Succeeding landowner:

• 1914 William Taylor
• 1917 Robert John McBrien for $230
• 1927 William Henry McBrien for $1

Link to Settlers of Algonquin Highlands family tree

Photo 1: Mark and Sarah Sisson.