Settler of township lots: Lot 32, Conc. 6, Stanhope

Location: Map point is the approximate location within this 100 acre lot running south from Barry Line Road east of Airport Road.

Land acquisition: 1902 from William Liscomb. Ontario Land Parcel Register - Stanhope (Image 191).

Other land:

• Lot 10, Conc. 4, Stanhope - 1889 from William James Cooper. Ontario Land Parcel Register - Stanhope (Image 109)
• Lot 12, Conc. 4, Stanhope - 1922 2 acres from Thomas McLeod Sisson. Ontario Land Parcel Register - Stanhope (Image 130). This is Matabanick Inn.
• Lot 12, Conc. 5, Stanhope - 1944 from Leigh Laverne Sisson. Ontario Land Parcel Register - Stanhope (Image 96). This is Homestead Cottages, now Pines on Boshkung.

Other residency: Lot 22, Conc. 6, Stanhope was patented to Mathias John Barry in 1927.

Dates of residency: 

• 1899 Stanhope Directory Maple Lake: Lot 22, Conc. 6
• 1901 Census of Canada, Stanhope: Thomas & Lillie R Archer, no children at Lot 22, Conc. 6
• 1901 Stanhope Voters List: Lot 22, Conc. 6
• 1903 Business Directory, Stanhope: Thomas Archer, Maple Lake
• 1903 Stanhope Voters List: Thomas Archer, farmer, Lot 32, Conc. 6
• 1905 Death of infant daughter Gracie Archer at Lot 32, Conc. 6, Stanhope
• 1906 Death of infant Sons Nelson Ray Archer and Johnnie Roy Archer at Lot 32, Conc. 7, Stanhope
• 1911 Stanhope Voters List, Stanhope: Thomas & Lillie R Archer, no children at Lot 32, Conc. 6
• 1911 Stanhope Township Post Office List: Lot 32, Conc. 6
• 1928 Stanhope Voters List: Thos & Lillie Archer at Lot 12, Conc. 4; also son Harold & Della Archer.
  • Thomas Harold Archer, b. 02 May 1903, Stanhope, d. 12 May 1986  (Age 83 years)
  • Della Isabella Boice, b. 22 Jan 1898, Stanhope, d. 27 Aug 1987  (Age 89 years)

Other residents:

• 1911 Stanhope Voters List: Tice Barry and Herbert Horsley are listed at this location.
• 1901 and 1911 Census of Canada, Stanhope: Emma (Clark) Thompson (Matilda Emma Ezida Clark)
  - b. 1881, daughter of George Nelson Clark, Thomas Archer's father-in-law
  - also her children: Edith (b. 1892 when Emma was 11?), Thomas H., Stella M., & Martin
  - Emma's husband Thomas Henry Thompson (d. 1943 Lindsay) is not living in the household.

Interesting facts:

Matabanick Inn [Lot 12, Conc. 4, Stanhope] was started by Tom & Lily Archer in the early 1920’s. Son Harold Archer sold out his shares in the Inn to open Archer’s Store on Hwy 35. The historic inn was demolished in 2013.

The inn is built on an Indian camping ground on Boshkung's eastern shore. While digging its foundations, the late Thomas Archer and his sons, Harold and Stanley, uncovered pieces of broken pottery and other articles which indicate it might have been the site of an Indian village. Source: In Quest of Yesterday by Nila Reynolds. Published by The Provisional County of Haliburton, Minden, Ontario 1973 p, 15

The late Thomas Archer, builder of Boshkung's Matabanick Inn, was a skilled wood worker who in addition to picture frames and the like carved several violins although he himself had no musical talent.  Source: Dream of Excellence by Nila Reynolds. Haliburton Highlands Guild of Fine Arts 1976 Pg 22

Also in his 1966 Collection of Sketches, "The Tourist Industry", Clayton Rogers tells the story of the start of the tourist industry in Stanhope Township: "About 1922 Mr. and Mrs. T. H. Archer (Mrs. Archer being a daughter of Mr. Geo. Clark) - purchased a property on the west shore of Boshkung Lake from Mr. Thos. McSisson. They immediately proceeded to erect a summer hotel on the property, naming it Matabanneck Inn - translated 'The meeting place of friends.' Mr. and Mrs. Archer with their sons Harold and Stanley operated this place for many years serving the fishing fraternity in the spring, families of holiday folk in the summer and taking in groups of hunters for the deer season. They also manufactured their own boats and was a well managed family enterprise. In 1944 the management and property was taken over and operated by the younger son and his wife,. Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Archer still operate this house."

Preceding landowner: 

• 1882 Hiram D. Sawyer from The Crown
• 1897 William Liscomb

Succeeding landowner:

• 1916 Claire H. Sisson. 1928 Stanhope Voters List

Link to Settlers of Algonquin Highlands family tree

• Thomas Edgar Archer, b. 1873, Fenelon Falls, d. 1953 (Age 80 years). Buried: Maple Lake Cemetery
  Parents:
  • John Archer, b. 05 Dec 1847, Ontario, d. 23 Feb 1913, Toronto, (Age 65 years)
  • Rebecca Redner, b. 27 May 1850, Ontario,  d. 5 Oct 1911, Ridout, Muskoka, (Age 61 years)
• Lillie Rebecca Clark, b. 30 Sep 1884, Haliburton, d. 2 Jan 1963  (Age 78 years). Buried: Maple Lake Cemetery
  Parents:
  • George Nelson Clark, b. 17 Jun 1851, Ontario, d. 01 Jan 1940, Haliburton, Age 88 years)
  • Fanny May Burrows, b. 17 Mar 1852, Whitby,  d. 31 May 1935, Dysart, (Age 83 years)
• Children:
  1. Gracie Archer, b. 24 Dec 1901, Stanhope, d. 21 Sep 1905, Stanhope, (Age 3 years) COD: Penphigus 12 days
  2. Thomas Harold Archer, b. 02 May 1903, Stanhope, d. 12 May 1986, (Age 83 years)
  3. Johnnie Roy Archer, b. 27 Jan 1906, Stanhope, d. 21 Oct 1906, Stanhope, (Age 0 years) COD: Summer complaint
  4. Nelson Ray Archer, b. 27 Jan 1906, Stanhope, d. 17 May 1906, Ontario, (Age 0 years) COD: Measles
  5. Stella May Thompson, b. 28 Aug 1909, Maple Lake, d. 1998 (Age 88 years) [Adopted]
  6. Stanley Edgar Archer, b. 13 Sep 1909, Stanhope, d. 11 Jun 1995 (Age 85 years)