William Brown Jr. & Catherine Peacock

In November, 1870, William Brown (Sr.) acquired a free land grant
of 100 acres in Macaulay Township in the District of Muskoka. It
was located on lot 7 of concession IX. I don’t believe they lived on
this land; however, it is significant because Catherine’s father later
lived on lot 8.

These lots are roughly between District Road No. 4 and Highway #11.
(Click on the above orange title for a map. The red star is the cemetery
on Lone Pine Drive just off District Rd 4). This area between the roads
is now abandoned with little to suggest that the land was farmed more
than a hundred years ago. There is a road going west off Highway #11
which is probably the concession road but it doesn’t go right across to
District Road 4. The families along the concession road would have
walked less than two miles to attend the little Anglican church beside
the cemetery. (It was moved from Concession X after the railway made Falkenburg Station the new centre of Falkenburg in the 1880's.)

The Browns also obtained a lot on concession VIII of Monck Township.
The first lots in Monck Township, west of the Macaulay township line,
run roughly east/west instead of north/south. The Brown’s lot number
was A15 and on a recent map, it would be on the left side just after the
railway tracks on the Hillman Lake Road.

**FALKENBURG - A post-office in Macaulay Township, lot 2, 10th con., 6 miles from Bracebridge, and 68 from Barrie. The neighborhood was first settled in 1862 by Edwin Griffin, Sidney Tibbs, and Samuel Holditch. The Muskoka River, in the vicinity, provides almost unlimited manufacturing power.

Brown, Wm., plasterer............................. } Loughead, Robert, farmer
Clarke, Rev. John, Wesleyan ..........} Loughead, Samuel, farmer
Earnshaw, Joshua, farmer....................... } Low, David, farmer
Forsyth, John, farmer.................. } McNee, James, farmer
Galloway, David, shoemaker.................. } Miller, Robt., carpenter
Hamilton, A., farmer................................ } Moore, Francis, farmer
Holditch, Samuel, farmer......................... } Moore, Matthias, P.M.,
Jack, John, farmer.................................... } farmer
Jack, William, farmer ...............................} Palmer, John, farmer
Jackson, John, blacksmith....................... } Schafer, Samuel, farmer
Kirby, Nathaniel, farmer......................... } Stinson, Thomas, farmer
Levier, Chas., farmer............................... } Stinson, Robert, farmer

**Source: 1871 Simcoe Gazetteer on Wayne Cook's website

Below are the census records for this land in Monck Township in 1871
and 1881.

1871 Census – Muskoka District
(C10022 -end of reel)
Monk Township p. 10 Family 30

Brown, William, m. 47, b. Eng, Wes/Methodist, Stonemason, M.
Brown, Mary, f. 49, b. England, Methodist, M.
Brown, William, m. 22, b. England, Methodist, Farmer, M.
Brown, Catherine, f. 27, b. Ireland, Presbyterian, M.

1881 Census – Muskokoka District
(C13243 Reel)
Monck Township p. 15 Family 75/76
Brown, William, m. 32, b. Eng, W/Methodist, farmer, M.
Brown, Catherine, f. 38, b. Eng (sic), W/Methodist, Irish, M.
Peacock, Robert, m. 17, b. Ireland, W/Meth, Farm labourer, S.

Family 76/77
Brown, William, m.57, b. England, W/Methodist, Farmer, M.
Brown, Mary, f. 57, b. England, W/Methodist, M.