Who Was Jacob Walton?
Ernest Lowden Eaton
The Nova Scotia Historical Quarterly
Volume 5 Number 4, December, 1975
(Editor's note: ELE made hand written corrections to the original
publication. These have been noted with {brackets and italics together}.
Near my home was as old public cemetery. It was separated from
the two-room country school where we were sent. "for our education", by
the Parade Ground, on a part of which stood the Baptist meeting house.
Care of the cemetery was one of the duties of the Town or Township
Clerk. As far as I could ever learn, no plan or record of the
cemetery had ever been kept, except what everybody in general, and the
Clerk in particular, could remember. In addition to the minutes
of the Town Meetings, the Clerk maintained a registry of births,
marriages and deaths, in a neatly kept, hard-covered book, where
entries were voluntarily offered by the persons concerned. These
records ceased when the three townships in the county were merged in
1879 to form the municipality. In addition to the general
supervision of the cemetery, one other duty remained with the Town
Clerk, a registry of ear marks for the identification of cattle and
sheep, a faxcinating list of cuts in different positions on one or both
ears, such as crops, gads, half-pennies and slits. A standing
joke was "the thief's mark", a square crop off both ears; if cut short
enough, it could remove all other marks. There was no such mark
registered, but there was a crop off one ear.
The school had no playground and possessed just enough land beyond the
walls of the building to provide banking in the fall to exclude some of
the piercing winter winds. Each spring the earth was carefully
leveled off again, so the shingle walls and the sills could dry
out. For many years the school owned the building but not even
this tiny bit of land. An annual rental was paid to the Trustees
of the Cornwallis School Lands, an obligation which had its origin
before the Free School Act of 1863. The building had been built
by private subscription and a deed to the land was only received in the
early 1920's, after which the school section added a permanent
foundation. Presumably it had been set on loose stones so, in
case of dispute it could be taken away as a moveable, and not remain as
a fixture of the land.
The location of the cemetery, the Parade Ground and the school was
unique. When the Township of Cornwallis was laid out, after the
arrival of the New England Planters in 1760, four hundred acres was set
aside for a school. A part of this was an L-shaped farm lot of
sixty-six acres, Lot No. 1 in the Tenth Division of Farm Lots.
The Parade Ground and the cemetery occupied the remainder of the
rectangular trip, making a straight boundary line for the grantees on
either side. The school was set well back from the highway, and
although it had barely enough land to wipe the mud from farm boots, the
pupils made unquestioned use of the Parade Ground and thus had a much
larger play area than most rural schools possessed in their own right.
The cemetery was beyond the Parade Ground. When time permitted,
the more adventurous pupils occasionally slipped cautiously in.
At one time, three of the four sides of the cemetery had been fenced by
a neatly laid, dry stone fence, some four feet wide and a similar
height. Sometime afer 1844 the stones facing the highway were
removed to build a ramp to a large barn on the farm of Leander
Eaton. The stones from the remaining two sides were taken to
Kentville in 1945 to make a part of a rip-rap wall in front of The Oaks
Cemetery. It is doubtful if a wall ever existed on the fourth
side. A convenience road to the village store cut across this
side, fill for highway purposes was sometimes taken from there, and a
public highway was well established when the Province of Nova Scotia
took over all local roads in 1920. Although wild strawberries
grew in profusion in the cemetery, we all felt it much wiser to limit
our berry picking to the Parade Ground. In the cemetery we talked
in subdued voices, and were careful to walk only at the West of the
stone markers, which stood at the head of the easterly oriented
graves. At the first sound of the teacher's bell, summoning us to
the classroom, we always raced to the school with unusual promptness,
glad to be safe again within its protective walls.
In the cemetery were many fine examples of stone carving. A soft,
white, marble easily worked, was the most common. Newer stones
were gray, red or black granite, polished to a high gloss.
Older stones were rougher, brown, freestone or sandstone. Poorly
defined depressions marked still other graves, where stones, if ever
present, had crumbled away with the passing years. It was not
unusual for a new grave to encroach on one or more former burials,
where no surface evidence remained.
In our younger days, we searched the stones for familiar names;
that one was so-and-so's grandmother; a family group with final dates
near together reminded us of the toll exacted by diphtheria before the
discovery of anti-toxin; in a few cases tragedies associated with the
sea were recorded; most were early generations of our own families.
As we grew up, we became aware that the cemetery was the final resting
place of people who had left no local relatives. Gradually these
forgotten graves assumed importance as visitors from far beyond the
confines of the province came in search of elusive details of their own
personal families. We learned, too, that records taken from
cemetery markers received a high rating for accuracy; no matter what
may be said for good or ill about people during their lifetimes, nor
how eloquent the funeral oration, vital statistics on a tombstone were
usually truthful.
Over the years, we became interested in the epitaphs. Most of
these bore tribute to a beloved wife, husband, parent, or to the
feeling of bereavement at the death of a child. But, among all
these one {stone} never
failed to claim our interest, differing not so much because of its form
or workmanship--actually it was a rather insignificant, brown, slab,
well away from the main gateway, and easily missed unless one knew just
where to look. What made it distinctive was the inscription in
Latin. With care, the name and words could be traced. For a
long time the final date was taken to be 1810. A recent cleaning
job throughout the cemetery now shows the date to be 1840. Two
small cuts with a tiny chisel made a difference of a generation in the
life span of the person buried there. Doubly
interesting--literally--has always been the fact that close beside this
stone is another one, very similar in size, material and style, with
the same name and a clear date of 1811. Who were these two men,
with the same name, so nearly the same age, buried side by side?
With the correction of the one date, the answer if obvious, they were
father and son.
Before we proceed farther, the reader may be interested in the two
inscriptions,
JACOB WALTON, MERCANT
Died October 11, 1811
In the 66th year of his age
JACOB WALTON, M.D.
Died April 18, 1840. Aged 55 years.
Si monumentum quaerus
circumspice
The Latin has been freely translated, "The results of my work are
around." More than one visitor has expressed sardonic humor at
these words about a doctor, in the middle of a cemetery!
Strangely enough, Dr. A. W. H. Eaton, the author of "History of Kings
County", published in 1910, usually so generous with his biographies of
the wealthy and the learned, mentions neither of these Walton
men. Of the Walton family, a bare six lines tells of the marriage
of William Walton, son of Jacob and Hannah Walton, in 1807, to Sarah,
daughter of Stephen and Amy Harrington, and in 1820 the marriage of a
younger brother, James, to Charlotte, daughter of Isaac and Eunice
Beach. Nothing more.
A third Jacob Walton, an old neighbor when I was growing up, is buried
in the cemetery at Jaw Bone Corner, a mile and a half away, He
was a large potato grower and shipper and also owned the brick yards at
Avonport. He built the large Victorian house on the north side of
the road leading from Jaw Bone Corner to Lower Canard. He died on
March 9, 1914, aged 87 years. This house and farm was recently
owned by Archibald Farms Limited.
To complicate matters further, there was a fourth Jacob Walton, who,
according to the Registry of Deeds for Kings County, lived at South
Alton, formerly known as Moores Mills. In 1846 he bought for ten
pounds from Thomas Tervit (his mark) fifty acres on the east side of
the Sherbrook Road, "the original draft of James Hamilton" and
"including lakes and roads". A quarter of a century later, in
1871, with no mention of relationship, this Jacob deeded two parcels of
land, of 64 and 125 acres, in the same general area, to Charles G.
Walton and Thaddeus Walton, "In consideration of decent support and
maintainence of him and said Jacob Walton and Eliason Walton, his wife,
in sickness and in health." A part of the dwelling house was also
set aside for the older couple. Incidentally, Sherbrook was the
early name for New Ross, and the Sherbrook Road is now spoken of as the
New Ross Road. Three weeks later Jacob Walton deeded two other
lots, of 200 acres and 850 acres, to Charles, Thaddeus and Wesley
Walton for the sum thirty pounds. A will of Charles G. Walton,
entered for probate in Kentville on May 3, 1918, left fifty dollars for
the upkeep of the Walton lot in the Blue Mountain cemetery, and the
residue to his nephew, Freeman A. Walton. Freeman Walton died on
February 4, 1919, and his wife, Effie May, on February 19, 1920.
Their children, from the age of thirteen down to two, were Grace Lavon,
Jerry Leverett, Clare May, Thaddeus Wilbert, Charles LeRoy and Annie
Evelyn. Although the records are silent on the point, one could
guess that the Asiatic "flu" epidemic of 1918 to 1920 could have struck
these families. Leverett G. Walton, a brother of Freeman, became
administrator of the estate of Freeman Walton, and guardian of the
children.
Aside from the similarity of names, there seems to be no link between
these and the Walton family of Canard. There are presently no
Walton's living in or near South Alton, and a search of the Blue
Mountain cemetery on April 29, 1973, failed to locate any markers with
the name. Deaths so close together of Charles G., Freeman A. and
Effie May Walton, with the care needed for six young orphan children,
could easily have used up any ready money in providing the necessities
of existence.
We shall, therefore return to Canard, where our search began. We
do not know when the first Walton came to Nova Scotia, nor from
where. The village of Walton in Hants County, according to W. R.
Bird in "Place Names and Places in Nova Scotia" is named for James
Walton Nutting a graduate of Kings College, a lawyer, land owner and
Baptist layman. The place names dates from about 1837. The
Walton name does not appear in any of the lists of Planters who came to
Kings County between 1760 and 1764. The family could have been
among the Loyalists. The present search reveals that the first
Jacob Walton had four sons, William, Jacob M.D., John and James.
The first mention of Walton property in the Registry of Deeds is the
purchase by Jacob Walton, Trader,
on March 1, 1788, from Stephen Chase, for two pounds, two-hundred acres
"second draught". Stephen Chase was a Cornwallis Grantee who
early acquired a share in the important mill property at what is now
known as Sheffield Mills. The location is not given, and reflects
the rather loose way in which timber lands were bounded. It was
for the buyer to find two-hundred acres of unoccupied land and then
engage a lot layer to mark the boundaries. Even when this was
done, it has been nearly impossible to establish many of these old
lines. Such points of record as, "A spring at the head of a
vault", "A sloping willow tree", "A bunch of white birch", "A poplar
stump", scarcely agree with the modern idea of a permanent bench
mark. The Nova Scotia pound currency was equal to four dollars of
Canadian money, and perhaps with two-hundred acres going for eight
dollars, this sort of title was all the transaction was worth.
The land could have been on the North Mountain, or Cornwallis {Mountain}, as it was sometimes
called. Then on October 3, 1789, Jacob Walton, Merchant, bought a
dyke lot on the Canard River from Moses Dewey for ten pounds.
From this time on, all references to him are as "Merchant".
Perhaps his first purchase of land accorded him the higher title.
At any rate, we hear no more of him as "Trader".
At some date Jacob Walton had lent 250 pounds on a mortgage to Moses
Gore of Lower Canard. On Jun 2, 1791, following the death of
Gore, Walton bought the 66 acres of upland dyke, and salt marsh, for
five shillings and his mortgage, subject, however to the dower rights
of Jane, wife of Simon Newcombe. Newcombe's daughter had married
Gore and the father-in-law had given them the farm without his wife's
signature. Death of the lady released this small
encumbrance. This was the main part of the Archibald Farms
Limited property, mentioned earlier. Next we find Jacob Walton,
Merchant, buying dyke lot on the Bowen Dyke, along the Canard River at
Upper Canard, from Joseph Chase for fifty pounds. Then on April
2, 1801, he buys from Moses Dewey, Jr., the 44-acre farm lot bequeathed
by his father, Moses Dewey, Sr., and with it "the south half of the
share and a half Lot No. 5 draughted by Captain Stephen West, 33 acres,
on which stand the dwelling house and barn." This is the property
which includes the community fire pond, known to many as the Willey
Farm, owned for several years by Roland Lockhart, and now by Scott
Brothers Limited. So much for the land acquired in Canard.
He had a large amount of other property as well.
Like most provident parents, Jacob Walton made provision for his
sons. William, the oldest, was established on the Dewey farm at
Upper Canard. James, the youngest son, remained on the Moses Gore
farm at Lower Canard. Jacob, M.D., practiced medicine at Upper
Canard. Strangely, among this comparative wealth, no mention
appears of John ever owning property. The reason is found in a
story whispered among the older people of the community. As the
story goes, John, as a young man, had a minor brush with the law.
When the constable, a personal friend, came to make the arrest, young
Walton seized a gun, fled up stairs and threatened to shoot if he was
followed. The constable, the friend, felt he was safe from the
threat, climbed the stairs and was shot. Young Walton sought
refuge in the United States and never returned. An unusual sequel
to the story came to light, following the death of Jacob Walton, M.D.,
as we shall see later. James Walton, according to local
tradition, was an astute business man in his own right. When the
Wellington Dyke at the mouth of the Canard River was being constructed
(1815-1823), most of the farmers in the area were active
participants. James Walton, on the other had, lent money to the
other farmers, taking various collatoral as security. The cost
far exceeded the estimates, and most of those involved saw their homes
sold by the sheriff to pay the bills. James Walton secured
payment of his accounts by accepting a block of sixty-nine acres of the
choicest of the new land, a splended addition to an already valuable
property.
And now to describe one of those surprise windfalls, which come so
rarely to the researcher. In the Registry of Deeds at Kentville is an
insignificant title passed over by the writer time after time, and one
wonders if Dr. A.W H. Eaton, in his thorough study of county affairs,
may have done the same. A Power of Attorney from one Griffin B.
Walton of Gates County, New York, to William H. Walton of Cameron,
Stuben County, New York, dated January 1, 1847, appears in Book 14,
page 306. Ordinarily a Power of Attorney is merely the signing
authority of one person given to another. Searched on this
occasion merely to be sure nothing was missed, here, of all places, was
a family story, two pages of close writing, linking together many of
the bits and pieces of the Walton businss and sending me to the
Registry of Probate to look up the beautifully executed will of Jacob
Walton, M.D. In the very next page of the Registry of Deeds was a
deed from William H. Walton and Elizabeth, his wife, giving still more
details.
Jacob Walton, M.D., was, as we have seen, the second son of the first
Jacob Walton. Where he studied and where he may have conducted
his early practice, we have no immediate record. However, when he
was forty-four years of age, on June 29, 1829, he bought eighteen acres
of land at Upper Canard from John and Eunice Chase. This is on
the south side of the road, for many years the home of Robert W. Starr,
and recently sold to Dr. Andrew and Moira Booth. Most of the land
had been disposed of otherwise before the Booth purchase, but they {have the beautiful tree shaded grounds
and house. Dr. Walton} died on April 18, 1840. After
the usual directives about collecting and paying bills, is a most
unusual clause, "I direct my executors after the erection of the
house on the David Chase farm" to pay an annuity to Margarey Toy Walton
and to Nancy Fuller, with the final residue of the estate to two
nephews, William H. Walton and Griffin B. Walton. The house was
to be built by the executors for rent, apparently as a source of money
to pay the annuities to the two women. The main part of the
present house was built at this time and used as a private
school. Although commonly spoken of locally as "The Dr. Walton
School", there is nothing on the records to indicate that any person in
the family operated the school. The Power of Attorney from
Griffin B. Walton to {William}
H. Walton was dated to permit the final closing of the Dr. Walton
estate. A sale of the property was effected through William H.
Chipman to Dr. Jonathan Borden, a distinguished graduate of Harvard
Medical School, on November 13, 1847. But who were these nephews
in New York state?
It is interesting that the law, then as now, is meticulous in the
disposal of property of a person no longer here to speak for
himself. The bequest from Doctor Walton to the nephews was
conditional on them being found within a year. Otherwise the
property would be distributed among other nephews in the local
area. And not only must the legatees be found, but they must
establish their identity. The various depositions, finally
accepted by he court, confirm and supplement the local story.
An affidavit by Sarah, the widow of William Walton of Canard, fixes the
date of the hurried departure of John Walton at 1807 or 1808. The
most comprehensive affidavit, amplified by cross questioning, was by a
Mrs. Patience York of New York state who traced in some detail the life
of John Walton in that country. She had gone through a form of
marriaage before a magistrate with John Walton the beginning of July,
1817. They lived for a time on land bought from his
father-in-law. They separated on August 25, 1821, and she
petitioned for a divorce. A son, William H. Walton was born to
them on April 19, 1821, and a second son, Griffin B. Walton, was born
on August 28, 1820. She had married her second husband in August,
1832. After leaving his wife, John Walton lived with Sally Nigh,
wife of Isaac Nigh, still living and not divorced. Sally Nigh
bore John Walton two children before moving to Allegheny County, and
two after the move. Sally had one child previously while living
with her husband. John Walton later moved to the state of Ohio
and died there about August 1841. She had been informed of this
by his executor. Several other depositions established that the
family in Canard had kept in touch with the wanderer. On one
occasion Jacob Howe, who had lived with the first Jacob Walton, gave
gold and silver coins to John Walton, sent to him by his mother.
Two school mates identified the hand writing of John Walton.
Obviously Dr. Walton himself knew of the two boys. The Probate
Court accepted the identification and only minor bequests went to the
local relatives.
Among the properties specifically mentioned in the Power of Attorney
were "a quarter part of the farm formerly occupied by William Walton
deceased, known as the Dewey Farm"; the David Chase farm on which the
house was to have been built; "the undivided half of 1262 acres on
Cornwallis Mountain in Kings County surveyed and laid out to Jacob
Walton who was the father of the late Jacob Walton on the 9th of April
1788 upon different rights obtained from grantees or their heirs"; also
half of two other mountain tracts laid out to Zephaniah Stark and
Joseph Thorpe. Of less tangible value, perhaps, was "the
undivided half of a pew in the Baptist meeting house in Canard" and "a
share in the Brick School House near the residence of James Walton."
All of this gives a picture of Jacob Walton M.D. as a man of
substantial business interests, in addition to his medical practice and
surgery, evidence that the epitaph on his grave stone was intended to
be much more than a reference to the patients who may have preceded him
to a final resting place.
Each of the other three Jacob Walton's demonstrated in his own way
strong sense of property. The last one, he who died at Canard in
1914 at the age of 87 years, vastly exceeded the life span of the
others, and during the latter part of his life business reverses
claimed his life savings.
Jacob Walton--an unusual name, and each an unusual man.
THE
WALTONS OF CANARD GENEALOGY
Jacob Walton 1: Parents and birthplace unknown. He
may have been a Loyalist. Born 1745, died October 11, 1811.
Wife, Hannah, maiden name unknown. Firt referred to as "Trader"
later as "Merchant" and grave marker so inscribed. Buried in the
public cemeter, Upper Canard. Acquired numerous valuable
properties. Children: William, Jacob M.D., John, James.
William Walton 2 (Jacob 1) :
Married ---12, 1807, in Corwallis, to Sarah, daughter of Stephen and
Amy Harrington. He lived on "The Dewey Farm" at Upper Canard
where the Community Fire Pond now is. He probably had no children.
Jacob Walton 2 (Jacob 1) :
Medical Doctor and Surgeon. Born 1785, died April 18, 1840.
No record known of marriage. Buried at Upper Canard beside his
father. The same row has many unmarked graves. His stone is
inscribed "Si monumentum quaeris circumspice". He lived at Upper
Canard. His unusual will directed a house to be built after his
death, now occupied by Dr. Andrew Booth.
John Walton 2 (Jacob 1) :
Moved to New York state in 1807 or 1808. Married July 1817
Patience --- . Separated August 25, 1821. Died in Ohio
state August 1841. Children: William H., born April 19,
1819, lived in Cameron, Stuben County, New York. Griffin B., born
September 28, 1820, lived in Gates County, New York state. John
Walton is said to have had four other children, common law, from Sally
Nigh, wife of Isaac Nigh. He is said to have left Nova Scotia
hastily because of a shooting incident.
James Walton 2 (Jacob 1) :
Farmer, Married November 23, 1820, Charlotte, daughter of Isaac and
Eunice Beach. Lived at Lower Canard, beside what was then known
as Huntley's Brook. Children: Jacob, James, Simpkins,
Almira Ann, married to Leonard Rockwell of Church Street.
Jacob Walton 3 (James 2, Jacob 1) :
Born 1827, died March 9, 1914. Buried in Jaw Bone Corner
Cemetery, Canard. Married (1) Naomi --- who died September
1892. (2) Jessie Messenger who died 1932, aged 88. A grower
of potatoes and dealer, and also operated a brick yard at
Avonport. He lived on his father's farm at Lower Canard, where he
built the large Victorian house on the north side of the road, recently
owned by Archibald Farms Limited. This house was construced by
Silas Patterson, a local builder of fine homes. Children:
First marriage, Minnie, first wife of William S. Woodworth, M.D., born
1860, died August 5, 1892.; Lily, married to a Methodist clergyman,
Rev. --- Buckley.
Simpkins Walton 3 (James 2, Jacob 1)
:
Married Maria A. ---, Lived on the farm at Upper Canard previously
occupied by his uncle William, which he sold October 11, 1884, to Frank
Borden, and moved to the mid-western United States. There were
several children. A son, Simpkins Walton Jr., a dentist, visited
the area briefly about 1960.