Mariatown

Mariatown: An Early Loyalist Community

by John Johnson U.E.

Mariatown is located along the St. Lawrence River waterfront in the Municipality of South Dundas (formerly Williamsburg Township). The earliest mention of the community occurs in a registered plan of Dundas County in 1788. The County plan shows the area to be the first surveyed in the county.

By 1792, Captain Richard Duncan had established a residence, a business and was appointed the first administrator for Dundas County and vicinity. Captain Duncan administered the laws from Mariatown. The boundaries of Mariatown extend from the east side of Casselman Creek (originally Stata Creek) to Hanes Road (originally Muttonville Road).

The earliest County map has Mariatown spelled as Mariastown. The hamlet could have been named in honour of Captain Duncan’s daughter Maria or to honour the first 3 families to build homes whose wives were also called Maria.

The chief business of the county was conducted at Mariatown. In Mariatown’s early years, the town was the only polling place in Dundas County. Mariatown, as the largest community in Williamsburg Township had a grist mill and a fulling mill. A shipyard in the east end of town constructed St. Lawrence skiffs. Other businesses included a blacksmith, shoemaker, tanner, tavern, iron founder, merchants, Wagoneer, general store, and land surveyor. A one room school was also located in Mariatown.

Mariatown was originally laid out with homes having acreage to accommodate a small barn and a shed. The homes had cows, horses, pigs and chickens. Large vegetable and fruit gardens were also necessary. Families in the 1700’s and early 1800’s needed to provide their own food in most cases.

Cemeteries in Mariatown

Mariatown has three cemeteries. The oldest is Hanes Cemetery. The oldest legible stone is dated 1819. This probably is not the oldest burial but there are no earlier records available. The land changed hands several times until 1882 when Jacob Hanes gave the land and road to the United Church.

Mount Pleasant Cemetery is jointly owned by the Lutheran Church and Knox Presbyterian Church. In 1890, Charles Casselman conveyed one-half acre to the churches (eventually three acres in total). Fairview Cemetery was officially established in 1890 but burials took place earlier. No early records exist. The cemetery is located along the St. Lawrence River on the West half of lot 35.The Seaway Project preserved the existing cemetery by raising the ground level above the new projected water level. The existing graves were not disturbed but all monuments were raised to the new grade level. Hydro Ontario acquired 1.1 acres from Dorothy McCormick (my aunt) to extend the grounds of the cemetery north. Fairview and Hanes Cemeteries are administrated by the local United Church.

Churches

A Presbyterian church was built in Mariatown in 1831. In 1845, the church was purchased by the Catholic Church and later moved to Morrisburg. A Methodist church was built in 1847.Before the church was built, meetings were held from 1835 in the local school.

Mariatown and the War of 1812 -1814

The Dundas militia assembled at Mariatown on July 11, 1812 where the No. 1 and No. 2 Flank Companies were combined into the 1st Dundas Regiment.

Other notable events during the war at or near Mariatown were:

American Capture of Brigade of Bateaux October 1813
Passage east of opposing armies by land and water November 9, 1813
Capitulation of Hamilton (Waddington) New York November10, 1813 by
Royal Navy Gunboat & 50 soldiers of the Crown. Some accounts also have some Dundas militia involved.

Loyalist Families

Some of the Loyalist families who settled in Mariatown:
Alguire, Armstrong, Baker, Barkley, Barnhart, Bowen, Bowman, Bruce, Campbell, Casselman, Countryman, Crowder, Dillabough, Duncan, Dunn, Farlinger, Fetterly, Froats, Fraser, Gallinger, Gardner, Gordon, Grant, Hanes, Hare, Harris, Hart, Helmer, Hickey, Loucks, MacIntosh, Mattice, Markell, McConnell, McGregor, MacIntyre, McMartin, Marcellus, Marselis, Moore, Myers, Reddick, Rose, Schwerdferger, Scot, Shaver, Smith, Stata, Swerdfeger, Sypes, Thompson, Van Allen, Weaver, Weegar, Wells, Willard,
Young and Zeron.

Mariatown & My Family

I grew up in Mariatown and resided there for 61 Years. My grandfather John Dain purchased the McClatchie Farm about 1908 (Lot 36). Lots 36 and 37 were originally granted to Captain Richard Duncan. This location appears to be where Captain Duncan established his business and administrated the laws. The original building had a full second story added by my grandfather prior to 1918. The Dain Home is one of the few remaining older homes in Mariatown. My wife and I purchased the property
from my parents and renovated the home. During renovations we discovered the main structure was all post and beam. The beams were all hand hewed with no nails, just wooden pegs in the framing. When we added a new porch and dug around the foundation, we discovered two basement windows that had been filled on the inside. The windows on the outside had bars on them like you would see in a jail. Maybe this was a holding cell at one time. Local history suggests the original building was
constructed in the late 1700’s. My grandfather Dain’s mother was Cornelia Marcellus. Cornelia was a direct descendant of Johanna (John) Marselis a U.E.L.

John Dain Farm 1918

Mariatown and Change

Mariatown continued to grow until the establishment of the Williamsburg canal and lock at what would become Morrisburg. The building of the canals that took place on the front of Mariatown bypassed the community. Canal at Mariatown before Seaway Project The locks at Morrisburg were located approximately 1.5 miles east of Mariatown. With the new community of Morrisburg located at the Lock, businesses and people moved from Mariatown to Morrisburg reducing the
town’s economic importance and population.

Mariatown and the St. Lawrence Seaway

The construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway did not have near the impact on Mariatown as the other communities along the St. Lawrence River. Mariatown had some flooding at the East and West ends of the hamlet and a few houses were moved or destroyed. Mariatown was the community least effected along the St. Lawrence River by the Seaway project. Mariatown, today, including the original area of Lots 34 to 37 has become a community of approximately 210 homes. After the Seaway Project, Duncan Park was created on the waterfront.

Sources:

Information from Mariatown Then and Now by Phyllis Prosser and Gladys
& Buster Duval, The Story of Dundas by J Smyth Carter, Lynn Cook
research, Lutheran, United & Presbyterian records, Williamsburg Twp.
Statistics, recollections of past residents.

John Johnson U.E.