Credit River Valley
Mississauga, Ontario
Canada
Descendants of Joseph Adamson (1786 - 1852) (Dundee, Scotland- Sheridan, Ontario, Canada)
Before Confederation in 1867 (when Canada became a country,
independent
of Britain)
there were two colonies along the St. Lawrence River: Upper Canada
(which is now
Ontario) and Lower Canada (which is Quebec). So everyone traveling
to the Canadas
would land in Quebec City in Lower Canada, before moving on to Upper
Canada if
they were going to York or Kingston.
In the early 1800s, what is now Toronto was called York. (Americans
torched the town
during the War of 1812 - which led to retaliation in Washington and
hence the Star
Spangled Banner).
Peel County is a county immediately west of York (City of Toronto).
Toronto Township
was a township in Peel County immediately west of York and north of
Lake Ontario.
Sheridan was a hamlet (originally called Hammondsville) in Toronto
Township
along
what was the Upper Middle Road . The Upper Middle Road was the road
from
York (Toronto) to Niagara and is now the Queen Elizabeth Way (about
a 12 lane
freeway called the QEW). Sheridan no longer exists at all. It is now
the interchange
of the QEW and Winston Churchill Blvd. Original Adamson settlements
were in the
Sheridan area.
There is a memorial cairn at the interchange, with Adamsons noted as
one
of the original settlers.
Erindale was a town at Dundas Road and the Credit River (a couple of
miles NE of
Sheridan). The Erindale area still exists, although it is swallowed
by urban/suburban
development. The Credit River got its name as the meeting place for
whites and
Indians to trade furs, and where credit was extended to the Indians
until the next fur
season. The settlement was originally going to be called the Town of
Toronto, but
was called Credit Village, then Springfield on the Credit, and by the
turn of the
century Erindale. There were 200 residents in 1877.
The initial church was called Toronto Mission, a white frame
structure
built in 1827
on land contributed by Peter and Joseph Adamson and four others.
Toronto
Mission was rebuilt in 1885 and is now St. Peters Anglican Church.
The last
christening at Toronto Mission was Henry Adamson. The cemetary where
many
Adamson's are buried is beside the church.
Dundas Road was the main road from York to London (Ontario) and was
built in
1794. In 1794 building a road in Upper Canada meant that a few Queens
Rangers
chopped down enough trees for a sleigh to get through in the winter.
A bridge over
the Credit was in place by 1810. A toll was placed in 1836 (10 cents
for teams and
5 cents for wagons). Most roads were planked in the mid 1800s, and
gravelled in
the 1890s, so Dundas probably was also. The road was paved in 1923.
Traffic lights
were addedin the 1950s, and Dundas was widened to four lanes in 1963.
Burnhamthorpe Road which runs E-W north of Dundas was originally
called
Adamson Road. The last Adamson homestead which was sold in the late
1980s was just off of Burnhamthorpe Road.
The Mississaugas were the Indians that lived in the Toronto Township
area before white
settlement. The Mississaugas sold their lands to the crown between
1805 and 1820. In
1808 there were 8 white families in Toronto Township. Dr. Joseph
Adamson
was the
doctor for the Mississauga Indians as well as for the white settlers.
Mississauga today is
a city and metropolitan area immediately west of Metropolitan Toronto
which
encompasses what was Toronto Township, Sheridan, and Erindale.
The record indicates that three children of of James Adamson and
Isabell
Cross migrated
from Scotland to Canada. Peter Adamson arrived about 1820 and
settled in the Erindale
area of Upper Canada. Erindale is now part of the City of Mississauga
which is west of
Toronto. Peter purchased land in 1821 and built Toronto House, later
called Thorne
Lodge, in Erindale.. This property was maintained until it burnt down
in 1965. Toronto
House was built was stone taken from the creek now known as Loyalist
Creek. Toronto
House was a beautiful solid stone house with five large fireplaces.
Dr. Joseph Adamson brought his wife and two small children this area
about 1823 and
settled in the Sheridan-Erindale area, in what was then Toronto
Township.
He was the
first Doctor in the township and treated the local Mississauga Indians
and the white settlers.
Later four more children were born in Upper Canada.
The Adamson family has lived continuous in this area. Many
Adamson's
from the Toronto and Mississauga area are descendants of Joseph
Adamson.
Submitted by Paul Adamson
July, 2001