- Frederick Mabee was a United Empire Loyalist, whose home had at the British evacuation of New York, been confiscated, and himself and family subjected to indignity by many of his former neighbours because he declined to swear allegiance to the "New Republic", holding as he no doubt conscientiously did, that the grievances of the colonists should be settled by constitutional means rather than by the sword. Having heard of the wonderful fertility and natural advantage of the Long Point (or as it was first called, the Turkey Point) country in Upper Canada from his cousin. Peter Secord, a U.E. Loyalist who had accompanied him to Saint John from New York and who, being an old hunter, had already penetrated the wilds of Upper Canada with one George Ramsay, and Englishman, on a hunting and exploring trip, he resolved to form a small colonization party to open a permanent party at Turkey Point. Gathering many of his relatives together, including his son-in-law, Capt. Teeple, the "Mabee Party" as they were afterwards called, set out in the fall of 1792, but they wintered at Quebec and did not reach Turkey Point until some time in 1793. They brought some household goods, drove several cows, rode horses and employed an Indian guide to pilot the way through the wilderness. The men drove the animals along the shore, the women came in boats, going ashore at night to camp. During the journey through the wilds they sustained themselves largely on cornmeal and milk from the cows.
The party consisted of Frederick Mabee and Lavinia (nee Pelham or Pellum), Oliver Mabee, their eldest son, aged about 19; Simon, the second son, aged 17; Pollum, the youngest son, aged about 5; three single daughters, Polly, Betsy and Sally, and two married daughters, Nancy, with her husband, John Stone and Lydia, with her husband, Capt. Peter Teeple, and their four children. His cousin, Peter Secord and Thomas Welch, also came with the Mabee party. Frederick Mabee at once erected the first log cabin ever built at the new settlement, at the foot of the hill overlooking Turkey Point. Their corn was pounded in the stump of a walnut tree, the beetle being attached to a "sweep" like the "Old Oaken Bucket".
One year after the arrival of the party he died of apoplexy, and was buried in a hollowed-out walnut log coffin. He was the first white man buried in the new settlement, and a large boulder marks his tomb near Turkey Point. His widow subsequently married Lieut. William B. Hilton, a New York Loyalist of the Kings American Dragoons, but he died three years after the marriage. Large numbers of other Loyalists poured into the settlement shortly after, but the "Mabee Party" came in advance of the rest and became "squatters" until the lands were apportioned by the Crown to all the Loyalists.
Polly and Sally Mabee, two daughters who came to Turkey Point, single, married respectively Capt. David Secord, of Butler's Rangers, and Silas Montross, both U.E. Loyalists. The former was a miller at Niagara, but later settled on Catfish creek, west of Orwell; the latter lived at Turkey Point. The Mabee, Teeple, Secord, Montross and Stone families became prominent factors in the early days of settlement, but now their descendants are very widely scattered.
More than a hundred years have come and gone since Frederick Mabee and his sons and sons-in-law made the acquaintance of the wild, painted and befeathered savages of the north shore of Lake Erie, and where they were surprised and startled by the bedlam of discordant sounds, which daily rent the air, from the throats of the myriads of wild turkeys, geese and duck, as these sturdy pioneers staked out their new homes at Turkey Point. Today their great grandsons are found in the ranks of busy men, scattered all over the American continent, and their great-great grandchildren occupy seats in nearly every school house in the land. In fact, these descendants have become so numerous, and so widely dispersed, that they meet as strangers, never dreaming that the old pioneer mother who pounded corn in the hollow of a walnut stump more than a hundred years ago, was their common maternal ancestor.
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- Captain Peter Teeple was born near Trenton, New Jersey, July 14th, 1762. Bordentown is believed to be the locality. His parents were settlers from Holland in New Jersey and he was the youngest son of a well-to-do and fairly numerous family. He had at least three brothers - John, James and George - all of whom were in the Continental Army under George Washington in the War of Independence which raged from 1776 to 1783. After the close of the war some of John's descendants came to Norfolk and Elgin counties, the late Lyman Teeple, barrister of St. Thomas, being of that line. About the year 1779 Peter was still lving at the old home and then in his 18th year. Being possessed of a very handsome horse, he kept it carefully hidden from view of the contending armies, rightfully fearing it might be confiscated for war purposes. One day, however whilst leading it to water, he was surprised by the Patriot cavalry and forced to give it up. He afterwards stated that, being at that time unable to speak English (his family, as mentioned before, being Hollanders,) he was taken at a great disadvantage. The occurrence so angered the boy who prided himself on the possession of so handsome a horse that he immediately tied up a bundle of clothing and started on foot for New York, then occupied by the British, which he reached safely, and there joined the British cavalry. Having a good education and being naturally bright and intelligent, he soon acquired a fluent use of the English language, and being of tall and commanding presence and a good soldier, he rapidly rose to the rank of captain, and placed in command of a troop of cavalry of the body known as "The New Jersey Volunteers".
He took part in several notable engagements, and many times had an opportunity to forage for supplies for his troop among the supporters of the Patriot army which had deprived him of his beloved steed. On one occasion, while scouting in Virginia, a bullet from the rifle of an American sharpshooter killed the charger upon which he was mounted.
At the close of the war in 1783, Capt. Teeple's cavalry troop was disbanded at Halifax, and, owing to his fine physique, being six feet four inches in height, he was offered great inducements to proceed with the British army to England and accept a commission in His Majesty's Life Guards. He declined the offer and later expressed his misgivings as to the wisdom of his choice. He then left Halifax; proceeding with a large number of other disbanded soldiers, and many refugees, to New Brunswick, where Loyalist settlements had been established at Saint John and other points.
From being a captain of horse, he now became captain of a trading vessel plying between Saint John and New York. At Saint John he met and married, in 1785, Lydia Mabee, one of the five daughters of Frederick Mabee, a prominent Loyalist, whose father, Simon, a Hollander, and mother, Marie Landrine, a French lady, had settled near Sing Sing in the State of New York.
Capt. Peter Teeple and his brothers-in-law Capt. David Secord and John Stone, were the first young married men that settled in the Town of Charlotteville, as Turkey Point afterwards came to be officially named; and when the settlement was surveyed, Peter Teeple was granted lot 8 in the broken forest near Forestville. His wife, Lydia, was also granted 106 1/4 acres by the Crown, being part of lot 9, lakefront, Charlotteville. Nearby still stands an old tree known as the "Aunt Lydia Apple Tree," which yet bears fruit. It was the favorite apple tree of Lydia Teeple. There are trees in this orchard 100 years old, and near the old house is still standing a walnut tree which must be very ancient indeed. It measures nearly twelve feet in diameter and is an interesting relic in itself with its immense spread of branches.
Peter Teeple was one of the first five justices appointed, having that honor conferred upon him by virtue of the first General Commission of the Peace to the newly organized District of London, dated at York, now City of Toronto, January 1, 1800. He was also one of the original men appointed at the same time to act as commissioners for administering oaths, prescribed by law to the officers of the Government of Upper Canada. On the 2nd of April following, he was sworn into office by Samuel Ryerse, Esq., at the home of Lieut. Munroe at Turkey Point, which house is still standing (1899), and is now known as Fort Munroe. On the 8th of April, 1800, when the first session of Court was held that day, "District of London" was convened at Fort Munroe. Simon Mabee was sworn in open court as High Constable for Walsingham, and Squire Teeple was one of the sitting Justices. At a later date the famous Col. Talbot sat with him as an Associate Justice. His position then was equivalent to that of a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas now, and he came to be regarded as a thorough jurist. In addition to the above mentioned offices he was also appointed on 12th April 1800, a Justice of the Court of Requests and Commissioner of Highways for that Division of the District of London, comprising the townships of Charlotteville, Walsingham, Houghton and Middleton.
He left a very large library, and a complete register of the hundreds of civil marriages performed. An amusing incident was related by his youngest son, Pellum, in connection with one marriage ceremony he presided at about 1825. The laws of customs of that place required that where no regular license had been procured, the ceremony might be carried out at some public crossroads at the hour of midnight, the contracting parties appearing in night clothes the justice and one of more others acting as witnesses. In company with his son, Pellum, the Squire repaired o the spot, a lonely crossroad, on a very dark night. Presently two groups approached from opposite directions, one with the bride, the other with the groom. Upon meeting, and the two principals clad in white robes, stepping forward, at the hour of twelve, they were duly married according to law. Pellum, then a young man of sixteen, said it made a lasting and weird impression on his memory.
But a few years had elapsed after the Squire, as he was then called by virtue of his legal office, settled at Turkey Point, when the war of 1812-15 broke out. He had attained a good degree of prosperity, and he and his sons donned their swords to defend their new-made homes. The settlers formed volunteer companies and in recognition of his previous military rank and experience, he was chosen a Captain of militia, being then about fifty years of age. With his command he met the invading American troops at Queenston Heights and Lundy's Lane. His valuable flour mill was burned during this war by a party of Americans.
Squire Teeple and his wife were two of the constituent members of the old pioneer church organized at Vittoria by Elder Titus Finch, in 1804, and when the acre of land was purchased for 2 pounds, "New York Currency", from Deacon Oliver Mabee in 1807 upon which to erect a meeting house, Mr. Teeple became one of the first trustees, the other being Lawrence Johnson. The church was a commodious edifice for those times, and superseded the old log structure, and it was furnished with a three-sided gallery. The young people who used to attend the singing schools in that old meeting house have long since passed away, but they were full of rugged piety and simple faith.
In January 1851, a new church was built near the same site, and among the records of the members of the construction committee, we find the now locally historic names of Mabee, Teeple, Young and Ryerse, sons of the original pioneers.
A few years before his death in 1847, and pen and ink portrait of the Squire was obtained under peculiar circumstances. There came into that community (Centreville, Oxford County), a quadroon who had been a slave in the United States, and who had a talent for drawing, which his mistress allowed him to cultivate and even procured for him some instruction in the art. The squire's son, Pellum, learning this, brought the escaped slave home one day, and got him to execute a portrait of his father. It was drawn upon the flyleaf of a book, and he portrayed sitting with Pellum's son, Charles, an infant, on his lap. The original is still in the possession of the grandson, Charles, who lives at Marengo, Illinois. The drawing is quaint but well executed, and is said by those who remember the old squire to be a faithful likeness, the only exception taken being that the chin is too pointed. He resided at Centreville, Oxford County, during the later years of his life, and was finally laid to rest in the old Baptist cemetery near there by his son Pellum. He was methodical, dignified in bearing, of a commanding aspect, a strong advocate of temperance and was erect and soldierly to the last.
His wife Lydia was a very worthy woman, and they both lived long, she dying in 1845 at the age of 75, and he in 1847, aged 85. It is related of her that whenever she lost her temper and spoke sharply to anyone, she would soon after be found alone, pacing to and fro with clasped hands murmuring to herself for a time, "Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy."
Squire Teeple had thirteen children, of whom nine were sons, namely William Bullard, Luke, Edward Manning, Frederick Stephen, Henry, Oliver Mabee, Lemuel Covel, Simon Peter, and Pellum Cartwright; and four daughters, namely, Louvina, Susannah, Mary and Phebe. One of Frederick's daughters, Ellen, married the late David Sutherland, for so many years the leading merchant at Orwell.
Some of Capt. Peter Teeple's other children met with very stirring adventures during the war of 1812-15, and the Canadian Rebellion of 1837. A few details of these will be given here as follows.
Of the other children of Peter Teeple, little or nothing is known of special note to the writer, except the dates of their birth, and death, and also that Oliver Mabee Teeple was also a captain at Lundy's Lane, but it is hoped that if any survivors, should read these lines, will as speedily as possible contribute their quota to the history of their ancestors before it is too late, and above all, that they will prove worthy successors of those sturdy "Pilgrim Fathers of Canada", who for the sake of what they believed, rightly or wrongly, to be their duty, were willing to undertake, not only the perils of war, but also the hardships and privations of hewing out for themselves, and for their children, in the wild forests of Norfolk, Oxford and Elgin, new homes and habitations, destined after one hundred years to become an important part of a great and mighty state.
Note - Three of the direct descendants of this pioneer Teeple family reside in Aylmer, grandsons and granddaughter of George Teeple, who was a brother of Captain Peter Teeple, the subject of this article. They are D.J. Teeple, John M.Hale, and Mrs. (Dr.) Cline, George Teeple's son, John, married Eliza Johnson and they cleared land and settled north of Kingsmill. John's son, Stephen, the father of D.J. Teeple married Eliza Corporon, and they went to Iowa in the early days, along with the family of William Teeple, also a son of George Teeple, Stephen fought in the American war of 1860-65, and was killed in battle. He is buried in Savannah, Georgia. John Teeple, D.J. Teeple's grandfather was one of the first to be buried in the cemetery at Rogers' Corners, one of the historic landmarks of this district. William Teeple, another son of George Teeple, built the house, a half-mile east of Orwell, now owned by Stanley Snelgrove, deputy-reeve of Malahide township.
Phoebe Teeple, a daughter of George Teeple, married Charles Tozer, John M.Hale, and Mrs. (Dr.) Cline are son and daughter of Mary Tozer, daughter of Phoebe Teeple, and are therefore great grandchildren of George Teeple, brother of Captain Peter Teeple.
John Teeple, grandfather of D.J. Teeple, of Aylmer, is buried at Rogers' Corners Cemetery. He died in 1851, aged 47 years. Deacon W.L. Teeple, grandfather of the late Jennie Teeple, of Aylmer, is buried at Orwell. He died in 1859, aged 72 years.
During the progress of the war of 1812, McArthur's army made a raid through this county, and halted at the home of Deacon William Davis, where they secured his red coat and a large quantity of maple sugar which he had in barrels. He was conducted to the farm of Deacon William Teeple adjoining, a half-mile east of Orwell. This farm is now owned by Stanley Snelgrove and it is said that the house was put up by barter, only $2 in actual cash having changed hands in the whole transaction.
Deacon Teeple was divested of his red coat and while this was being done he retained a belt which he wore around him, in which he carried a sheath knife, etc. An Indian noticing this became possessed of envy and desired to see it and try it on. He refused to return in and the Deacon who was slight, but wiry, dashed the Indian to the ground and gave him a severe choking. An officer standing by ordered the Deacon to stop, but made the Indian return the belt. Deacon Teeple and Deacon Davis were taken prisoners, later being allowed to go on parole.MABEE and TEEPLE FAMILIES
Other settlers on Talbot street about that time were Samuel Harper, Onesimus G. Bradley, John VanPatter, who owned the land in Aylmer now known as Walkertown; Summers, Cascadden, and Laurs.
Deacon William Teeple, before Deacon became coupled with his name, had a cousin named William Teeple living near where Kingsmill now stands. The Deacon was a lithe, active little man, and his cousin, a big, stout man, so to distinguish them, one was called little Teeple, and other big Teeple.
As before intimated, the Baptist Church at Aylmer dates back to 1810, when the few settlers congregated at Deacon William Teeple's or Deacon William Davis'. The settlement grew as new settlers arrived and it became imperative that more suitable accommodation must be provided. Isaac Ostrander provided the land at Rogers' Corners and Deacon Teeple and Deacon Davis provided the lumber. The church was also used as a school and continued there for 28 years. In 1844 a large frame church was erected in Aylmer on the site of the present fine brick edifice, which was constructed in 1871."
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