The Move to Ontario

Rational
  Clearly when there are 14 children in a family and only one farm, not every male in the Steel family was going to become a farmer.  In fact for whatever reason John Steel did not do very well by his sons. Records from the Pontiac County registry office in Campbells Bay and as transcribed by John B. Steele read as follows:

                                                            Entry 3430

        " This is the last will and testament of John Steele, the Elder of the Township of Clarendon
              in the Cty of Pontiac, farmer, being weak in body but of sound mind, memory and
             judgement do declare and say considering the certainty of death and the uncertainty of
            time thereof is desirous of disposing of the property which it hath pleased God to allot to
             me. I will and direct that my debts and my funeral expenses be paid out of my personal
              and moveable property by the legaties to whom the greater part of my property is
               bequeathed.
         I give, devise and bequeath to my children John, William, Henry Elizabeth, Janet and Mary
          one dollar each to be paid by the legaties hereinafter named.
           The rest residue and remainder of my personal moveable property in the dwelling
          building or elsewhere I give devise and bequeath to my son Thomas Steele and Joseph
          Steele son of my daughter Elizabeth to be held between them, subject to the payment of
          the debts and legacies herebefore mentioned. I give devise and bequeath to my said son
         Thomas Steele and to the said Joseph Steele all that lot or parcel known as the Sout West
          half of the Northwest half of Lot number 13 in the third range of the said Twp of  Clarendon.

     I also will and direct that provided my daughter Catherine remains unmarried and t
          also will and direct that provided my daughter Catherine remains unmarried and take
          charge of the house et.c. that she is to get her living, clothing etc.., and if it is for her
          interest to leave the dwelling occasionally for a short time say one or two months it shall
           not invalidate her right to return and be in the same position.""

  The above was signed sealed and delivered as the last will and testament of
           John Steel on April 12th 1875 before the following witnesses.

                                                          Robert Lewis
                                                          Alexander Wilson
                                                          Edmund Heath

Clearly there was very little incentive for many of the Steele family to stay
                         in Pontiac County.


 

                        Nipissing Township

    Three of the Steele Brothers Move to the area of Nipissing,Ontario. This section will deal with these three brothers, their ove and the history of their families. They were:
                                                            HENRY
                                                            THOMAS
                                                           JOSEPH

Early Nipissing Settlement

Historically the frontiers of settlement in Ontario were the large tracts of land in the Huron and
   Ottawa territory. Settlement along the Ottawa River valley was in fact based on agriculturre and to a
     greater extent lumbering. Improvements in transportaion resulted in the settling of lands along
       routes connecting the Ottawa River and Georgian Bay. Regardless of reports of unsuitable
  agricultural land, the government of the day, in the interests of expanding settlement, gave incentives
    to the population to move northwards by building roads, advertising for settlers and giving away
                       and selling land to a colonization company
   The inception of North Bay in 1882 as a major transportation and commercial center required it to
  have a diversified agricultural base and the railroad which joined North Bay to southern centers was
     instrumental in spawning other communities such as Nipissing, Powasson, Bonfield and Verner.

Government Legislation

The legislation that laid the basis for the agricultural development in Ontario North, was the
   Free Grants and Homestead Act of 1868 which opened to settlement selected free lands in
                       the Nipissing and Algoma territories.
The attraction of free land up to 200 acres per head of household and in addition 100 acres for
    every child of eighteen as well as the option to buy additional acreage at minimal cost proved most
    alluring to many settlers including the Steeles whose prospects in Quebec were not overwhelming.
    However attached to the grants were conditions. These included requirements for clearing, cultivating,
    building construction and a six months per year residency requirment. Failure to meet these
    requirements ceded the land back to the Crown and it became available to another settler. These
    were the conditions under which the Steele brothers settled in Nipissing County.

It is not surprising that they did not all succeed in agricultural endeavours.
 
 
 
STEELES FARM
The barn in the background is on the land owned by Joseph Steele and is located in Nippissing Township.  Joe Steele great-grandson of Joseph Steele and Dave Clutchey grandson of Henry Steele are in the foreground.
Remnant barn on the Joseph Steele homestead in Hotham Township Nippissing County.
STEELES HILL
The land was hilly, rocky, full of trees.  The soil was rocky, clayey and difficult to till. 

Photos by Beth Clutchey


 


Subsequent pages will chronicle, as completely as we can, the stories of the three brothers who pioneered in Nippissing.  Descendants of any of the three brothers are invited to comment on, add to, or correct any of the following information by Emailing the Webmaster Dave Clutchey at:  clutchey@naples.net


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