William French / Polly Thompson

Settler of township lots: Lot 6, Conc. 4, Stanhope

Location: Map point is the approximate location on this irregular, waterfront lot on the east side of Walkers Line on Kushog Lake running north to Switchback Drive. Kushog Lake is named Kahshahgahwigamog Lake in William French's 1877 mortgage document.

Land acquisition: 

  • 1861 Lands Liable to Taxation: Township of Stanhope Register - 94 acres to David Cummings
  • 1872 registered to William French.
  • 1872 Patent from The Crown. Ontario Land Parcel Register Index for Conc. 4 Stanhope (Image 71)
  • 1877 Mortgage for $230 on the property payable to William Lee. William & his wife Polly Ann signed this mortgage document with an "x". (Stanhope Museum collection #019.02.32)
  • 1878 Mortgage for $400 on the property + $400 for shares in the Building & Loan Association.  William & his wife Polly Ann signed this mortgage document with an "x".(Stanhope Museum collection #019.02.27)

Dates of residency:

  • 1870 Peterborough County Directory, Stanhope: Wm. French, Lot 6, Conc. 4
  • 1871 Census of Canada: Stanhope

Interesting facts:

William French and his family emigrated to Minnesota around 1880. Shortly thereafter, in 1882, William French, now a widower with nine children, married widow Sarah Ann McBride, who had two children. By 1906, William and Sarah had moved to Bentley, Alberta. William & Sarah lived the rest of their lives there.

Preceding landowner: The Crown

Succeeding landowner:

  • 1880 Reuben R. Henderson for $600
  • 1900 Richard W. Johnson
  • 1916 William Ferguson
  • 1929 Thomas W. Harrison B&S for $1,500

Link to Settlers of Algonquin Highlands family tree

Photo: Alexander Niven's Insurance Survey Notebook - Haliburton Highlands Museum

.

Regions