Settler of township lots: Lot 24, Conc. 3, Stanhope

Link to the Jones family on the Settlers of Algonquin Highlands Family Tree website

Location: Map point is the approximate location within this 99 acre lot which runs south of Maple Lake at Steeplechase Drive.

Land acquisition: 

• 1870 This 99 acre lot was registered as a Free Grant through the Free Grant and Homestead Act of 1868 under the locatee name Thomas Jones.
• 1923 Patent from The Crown. Ontario Land Parcel Register - Stanhope (Image 417).

Other land:

• Lot 25, Conc. 3, Stanhope - 1915 from his father, Thomas Jones. Ontario Land Parcel Register Index - Stanhope Concession 3 (Image 437).
• Lot 25, Conc. 4, Stanhope - 1915 from his father, Thomas Jones. Ontario Land Parcel Register Index- Stanhope Concession 4 (Image 283).
• Lot 20, Conc. 6, Stanhope - 1924 from Fred Griffin; 1937 to Robert Wesley Baker. Ontario Land Parcel Register Index - Stanhope Concession 6 (Image 106).
• Lot 31, Conc. 6, Stanhope - 1921 from Henry Crarey; 1962 to John Middleton. Ontario Land Parcel Register Index - Stanhope Concession 6 (Image 181).
• Lot 31, Conc. 7, Stanhope - 1923 from Charles Deacon; 1951 Oran & Ether Fader. Ontario Land Parcel Register Index- Stanhope Concession 7(Image 187).

Dates of residency:

• 1903 Stanhope Voters List: Thomas Jones, Jr, farmer, Lot 24, Conc. 3
• 1911 Census of Canada, Stanhope: Thomas J & Eliza F Jones, 2 children and his parents Thomas & Elizabeth Jones
• 1911 Stanhope Voters List: at Lot 25, Conc. 4 and Lot 24, Conc. 3.
• 1911 & 1918 Stanhope Post Office Lists

Interesting facts:

T. Jones Jr. represented Maple Lake on the 1900 committee that merged the Maple Lake Church with the 21 member congregation at Pine Lake Church, both of which met in school houses, to build the frame Maple Lake Church at Clarke’s Corners.  Source: In Quest of Yesterday by Nila Reynolds. Published by The Provisional County of Haliburton, Minden, Ontario 1973 pg.  326

Maple Lake Post Office - 1903 to 1959: The Postmaster from 1903 to 1950 was Thomas Jones Junior, who operated a store, blacksmith shop, sawmill and planing mill, sold ice, and had two gas pumps from 1927 onward.  The post office began in the store, then moved to a room in the new brick house built by John Billing in 1908, and then to a frame structure attached to the back of the house. Upon his resignation in January 1950, his daughter Juliet Harrison became the Postmaster in the same location.  The post office was closed on April 30, 1959.

Preceding landowner: The Crown

Succeeding landowner:

• 1924 Levi Owens 2 acres for $150

Photo: Alexander Niven's Insurance Appraisal of  Lot 25, Conc 3. & Lot 25 Conc. 4. Feb 3, 1880 for Thomas Jones Senior, father of Thomas James Washington Jones. Courtesy of Haliburton Highlands Museum